#there is now a review process meant to prevent people from getting fired because they 'failed their prelims' in cases where that is

[unopenablebox]

jesus fucking christ it's good to have a contract though

[drawbauchery]

The Second Session

fic by cartoons-tothemoon

“So, let’s review, last session, we broke you down to many of your core traits and neuroses.”

“Thanks for reminding me, it’s not like I have the capacity to remember last week.” Skipper muttered.

“Well, now we’re here to build you back up, and work from that onwards.” Hans said. He had his hands folded plainly in his lap, and he’d changed the lighting in the office. Skipper hated it. He hated having to sit across from a smug as shit Hans as he waited calmly and quietly for Skipper to begin talking, with that terrible, blinding light that gave off a strangely clinical feel that makes him more uneasy than anything else. He wonders if Hans would let him sleep for the hour he was meant to spend here. Sure, he’d be paying $35 for a nap, which was crazy in of itself, but he knows from experience that sometimes all you need is a good nap to be a functioning person again.

“I’m not in the position to really diagnose you with anything, and even if I was, I’d still need more time to get to know your mind before I could really prescribe anything for your current conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“Plural. Like children trying to sneak into a cineplex in a trench coat, what was once one turned out to be two or more disorders standing on top of one another’s shoulders. Bouts of aggression and insomnia tied to intense paranoia, a complex that comes from being a leader, and a fear of depending on others. Abandonment issues, repression-“

Skipper waved his hands in a forceful sort of wave, “yes, thank you. Just tell me what to do about it already.”

“What?”

“Just fix me already.” Skipper seemed frustrated. “You’re the one who thinks I’m broken in the first place, the only reason I’m here in the first place is to prevent any future surprise tea parties.”

Hans sighed. They were barely even 5 minutes in, and Hans just knew he was going to be spending the rest of the session constructing arguments for statements Skipper constructed in seconds.

“If this was only to prevent any more…surprise visits from moi, then I would’ve been fine with just the first session. And I think you know that.”

He did. He did know that. Hans suggested the idea of a second session, and so did Skipper, in the way that you do when you’re bonding with people you have a rather hostile history with. No commitment was really stated, which left the ball in Skipper’s court, but what was he supposed to do after that thorough deconstruction, let it simmer in his soul for the rest of his known life?

He couldn’t even let it simmer for a whole week at this point, after all, he was already considering asking RICO of all people if he was too arrogant a leader and intentionally pushing people away.

RICO.

It made sense at the time, Kowalski would question where he was learning such jargon and be able to draw conclusions based on his recent absence, and Private would do nothing but validate him. Because he was just that nice, he supposed.

“Second, it’s not about being “broken” or “fixed” or what have you, the fact of the matter is that you have the most high-stress job in your already high-stress career. As much as I enjoyed our battles in the fish markets of Denmark, it’s not like the experience hasn’t done something to me, or you for that matter.”

Hans sighed, he was already just so exhausted by this…session. He’d even revealed that he too shared in mental health struggles if Skipper was willing to pick up the scraps left behind for him. Skipper looked a little surprised, sure, but fell back into an understood complacency sooner than later.

Was this the closest they were ever going to get to a true understanding of the other?

He supposed he’d have to take it.

“And lastly, I can’t tell you how to “fix” yourself. I’m a therapist, not a life coach. I’m not here to give advice, I’m here to examine your trauma, and give you a better perspective on how to move forward. However, I can’t take those steps for you. You kinda have to figure out a lot of those things on your own.”

Skipper looked positively moody about this, but less in a spoiled, petulant five-year-old sort of way, and more…accepting of it. He looked tired, and less because it was barely just a quarter past 1. It was an abstract tiredness, one not born of resting or restlessness, but a thing all its own.

Skipper sighed. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

“This is a timely process for a reason, Skipper. Many people can spend years in therapy trying to handle these exact issues.”

“I didn’t realize this was a life sentence in the making.” Skipper muttered.

God, this was already such a process. Hans could tell that Skipper couldn’t stand the vagueness of this all. He was an action guy, he wanted an easy solution of doing task A to accomplish thing B, and achieve reward C, and go on with his life.

No, not even an easy solution. A clear solution. Skipper was a problem solver. All of this was already so abstract, and he didn’t even know if he was so vehemently against this whole process just because it was him, or just because it was therapy at all. He even had a client who after a bad experience with a therapist in middle school decided to turn her sessions into stand-up, just because she was already so familiar and so bored with the process.

Maybe that’s what he needed to channel. Therapy in of itself was at the best of times uncomfortable and at the worst of times boring. He was already dealing with a high energy, high stress client, who was uncomfortable as all hell with being there. If he put him back into a comfortable situation, he may or may not get something out of him, and if he doesn’t, at the very least make him more comfortable with spending time with him at all, off the clock, at least.

“What do you like to do, Skipper? In your free-time?”

Skipper eyed him suspiciously. “Uh, why?”

“I’m trying something. Trust me here.”

That could’ve been phrased SO much better, from nemesis to nemesis, but Skipper seemed willing in the moment to run with that trust. “I like working on my combat capabilities, driving around, sometimes I watch TV and movies, I help Private bake when he feels like it, I nap, I gamble…”

Skipper seemed to be drawing a blank for whatever reason. Surely, he had things he did in his free time, right? It wasn’t like he was ALWAYS on the clock, he just never really thought of certain periods of time as…free. What even counted as free-time anyhow? Was it just time that wasn’t spent doing other things? Under that definition, no time was free.

“Can I say this to you as both a friend, an enemy, and somebody who’s known you for quite a few years at this point?”

Skipper nodded hesitantly.

“Jesus Christ, you need some hobbies.” Hans stated, matter of factly. “Working on your “combat capabilities,” as you put it, seems to be a literal constant considering your job as…however your job is defined, so it’s less play and more work than anything else. You mentioned helping Private bake “when he feels like it,” and I wouldn’t exactly call napping a hobby, or gambling a healthy one.”

Skipper shrugged. It’s not like “Stomp the Wombat” ever left the confines of the lair, anyhow.

“It just feels like you don’t have a lot of things you do just for yourself, you know? Driving around and watching TV are the only hobbies that feel wholly your own, something you don’t do for work or for others. Keep in mind that you can keep doing these things you enjoy, but perhaps you should find other things for yourself. Like an instrument, or a cooking class.”

“I told the boys that I joined a bowling league just to be here.”

“And did that seem believable enough for you to do to be here?”

His silence told Hans everything, but not the literal everything of Skipper “going to bed” at 8 just to climb through his window at 12:30, shimmy down the fire escape, and walk to Hans’s office.

But he probably could tell anyhow.

Of course, this kind of put a blight on Hans’s plans to make Skipper more comfortable while being here, and as he told him such, Skipper proceeded to lay down on the couch. Hans couldn’t tell the exact reason for the action, but it did seem to be a point of exasperation for him.

“Well, damn, sorry I “foiled your plot” to make myself comfortable in the den of the beast.”

“Skipper, you insult me. You really think I’d decorate my den with wooden sailboats? Absolutely criminal.”

“You seem to forget that.” He muttered. Hans ignored it.

“Although the hobby talk didn’t exactly lead where I thought it could…It did lead me elsewhere.”

“Goddamn it.”

“What skill have you always wanted to learn? What’s something that you’ve wanted to try for just, so long, and never got the chance to?”

Skipper began to pick at his lip. This whole talk already made him nervous, but now what was he supposed to say? That he figured he’d be in the back of a truck with is hand hanging out the taillight since he was 14, for whatever reason, so he didn’t even bother considering his top 3 colleges, let alone any future ambitions?

Still, if he was quiet for too long, either Hans would judge him, or he’d render his lips a bloody mess, and that’d be a whole different thing to deal with.

“…Archery sounds fun.” He said. Hans nodded.

“That’s interesting. It’s closely related to your pre-established interests but it’s closer to a sport now than something to be used in an actual combat situation, which sort of allows it to be separated from your work.”

Skipper nodded as well, allowing Hans to believe that that was his thought process from the start, and more of just curious to see if he could shoot a flame off a candle like Annie Oakley.

“You mentioned you liked baking with Private. Do you like the idea of baking itself, or just doing it with another person?”

“Food is meant to be shared?” Skipper seemed to be asking, but also stated in a very definitive way. “It’s a process. It’d be weird not to help in the process.”

Hans pulled his hand away from Skipper’s mouth, where a few small cuts were beginning to form. “If you’d like to have a session where we did a low-stress activity you wanted to do, and we talked while doing so, I think it’d put you in the best conductive environment possible to actually combat the problems that seem so visible to me. This was a good first development, though. I just don’t know if I can expect on accidental issues to identify and attack every time.”

Hans sighed and got up from his chair to stare out the window. Skipper didn’t know why he did this, outside of being a dramatic bitch, but it got him to look anyhow.

“It’s so incidental, many people struggle with balancing work and life as is, but this could easily be one of the main causes of your paranoia, as well as causing a level of detachment and depersonalization, which relates to how you relate to others.”

And well, damn. What was Skipper supposed to say to that?

“Our time’s almost up.” Hans said, checking his watch. Skipper was coming to realize how strange time in therapy was. It simultaneously felt like hours and seconds passing all at once. Perhaps it was because there were no clocks, like a casino. Or maybe it was because going to therapy at 1 in the morning didn’t exactly give you a sun to follow in terms of time. Hans handed Skipper a weird sort of rack with string on it, along with some tissues.

“It’s a loom. Fidget with something that won’t bleed for the next five minutes, if you would.”

Skipper glared at him for the snide comment, but Skipper didn’t exactly put it back where Hans had stored it originally. Picking at the strings inanely didn’t feel as satisfying as his usual fidgets, but it would work until he lost focus and the skin had time to heal.

“I’m giving you three assignments until our next session.” Skipper would’ve originally rolled his eyes at the idea of homework, but there was something that felt already strange about this session. Last session, he was so thoroughly antagonized and owned in such a way that his entire psychological history had been exposed, but this made last session feel like…a misstep. It was almost like Hans was trying to give the rug back to Skipper after it had already been so unceremoniously swept away from him.

He seemed as unsure about this as he was, he even confided about the state of his own mental health, something he probably wasn’t supposed to do. Which, honestly, made Skipper feel better about the whole thing. He didn’t like being guided, and as much as he detested having to do this whole thing with Hans in particular, the idea of having to figure out a stranger at the same time they were trying to figure out him sounded like a nightmare. More than this already was.

The whole session felt off, sure, but it wasn’t as off as it could’ve been, and he knows it could only be worse.

“I want you to begin researching archery, if you really want to pursue it as a hobby, you should try to learn what you can about it before jumping in and figuring out it isn’t what you thought it was.”

“I want you to pay a compliment to each of your team members in a casual way, this’ll strengthen your bonds with them, in a way that allows you to affirm that you appreciate them, as much as they appreciate you.”

Okay, that sounded like hippie nonsense, but who was he to judge at this point.

“And finally, I want you to pick out a recipe to prepare during our next session.”

“Wait, what?”

“A recipe. Something that’ll take less than an hour. I have a friend who’d give me access to their kitchen in the middle of the night, so we’ll be on neutral ground, and I’m sure it’ll be more believable to your “boys” that if you really are doing something in the middle of the night, that you have physical proof of it. Considering how weirdly secretive you are already, the idea you covered up secret cooking lessons with a bowling league doesn’t sound too far-fetched.” Hans was muttering at this point. All these things answered questions he figured he’d have, but nothing that helped with where he was NOW.

“I know it’s a weird idea, but the clients who have had the chance to do different, vaguely active things during our sessions tend to be more open and honest with me about things that they’re worried about, things that they struggle with, and they can make for more engaging sessions where you actually take in what I’m telling you, and makes it less of a lecture.” Hans sighed. “If you hate it, we never have to try anything like that again, but, I do really want you to give it a try. This is a two-way street, I can only give as much as I myself get. I just got lucky this week.”

Skipper stopped strumming the loom.

“Text me the address.” He said, and Hans would have burst with joy if such a thing was appropriate in present company, until he realized.

“I…don’t have your number?”

“Oh, no, session’s over! Wow, how did the time fly? Guess you’ll just have to figure that out for yourself, what a swell talk we had, doc,” Skipper yelled as he headed out the door.

“Pay at the front desk!” Hans yelled back before relaxing into his chair. Skipper was never going to be an easy client to deal with. Maybe he wouldn’t ALWAYS dance around the issues at hand, but he was never going to REALLY come clean about it. There may be things they never talk about, the same way Hans did.

And that was fine. Maybe it made what little he did learn all the more rewarding. Maybe it made what little he learned all the more meaningless if Skipper ever reached a point of complete and utter honesty with him, a fantasy he knew would never see come to light.

But who was to say, really?

It was all a matter of time.

After all, this was only the second session.

(Ahh! I can’t believe I didn’t post another fic for a whole! Month! I think it’s just because I didn’t really know what to do for the second session, and I think you can kinda tell, considering it’s not like Hans knows what to do either. Do you guys really want a whole fic series about Skipper going to therapy? I have no idea. It’s pretty fun, though. I don’t know how Hans became a therapist, either, but I guess that’s just what the dude does now. By the way, the client who turned her therapy sessions into stand-up comedy? That was just me in high school with my mandated therapist. I once gave a funeral to a squeaky toy I broke in the middle of the session. It was simultaneously so sad and so funny at the exact same time.

This fic will be up on my ao3, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tadstrangerthings, as soon as @drawbauchery posts it!)

[mhm2021]

Boost your immunity and fight Coronavirus

2020 could be a year full of medical, health, and monetary uncertainties. What was at first thought of because the straightforward contagion has exploded to become one full of life-claiming potentials? That’s right, and COVID-19 has taken and altered the lives of the many, to the purpose wherever even socializing will have grotesque effects. sadly, there’s no approach of avoiding the surface world. In such cases, precautional measures ought to be taken, like laundry hands, sporting a mask, maintaining a secure distance, etc.

Another way to reinforce one’s immunity is apparently by  taking immune-boosting supplements. These aren't meant to cure any diseases, however instead, they act as protection from foreign invaders. What makes such a supplement effective? Is there one that stands out from the crowd? affirmative, while not additional stir, here’s a comprehensive guide that uncovers everything we’ve compiled on a attainable resolution referred to as “Immuno Defense 4X”:

What is Immuno Defense 4X ?

Immuno Defense 4X is delineate as a proprietary mix designed to spice up the system via all-natural ingredients. above all, this formula is believed to accommodate sure nutrients that may simply combat and destroy foreign invaders (i.e., viruses, toxins, dust, bacteria, etc.). Consequently, our bodily cells can have earned the shield-like wall they be so we will be protected against viruses and infections. Normally, once folks hear of associate immunity boost, the primary of many vitamins that may come back up is ascorbic acid. Up till this time in time, ascorbic acid remains the highest decide for the foremost powerful inhibitor. However, JayLab professional insists that various alternatives ar even as made, if shortly strenuous. Hence, the explanation for Immuno Defense 4X. That said, succeeding set of queries that ar doubtless to scurry across one’s mind embody what different sources of antioxidants are often thought of and to what extent they're effective. To answer the pair, we want to research Immuno Defense 4X’s formula any .

What’s inside Immuno Defense 4X  ?

The Immuno Defense 4X includes four key ingredients deemed “defenders” that ultimately revamp, restore, and strengthen the system to all-new levels. They embrace (concentrations per two capsules): EpiCor(R) (500mg) .

EpiCor(R) may be a registered trademark of Embria Health Sciences L.L.C. Its contents square measure a singular and natural fermentation ingredient that mixes dozens of compounds and metabolites. Together, these elements square measure trusty to balance and strengthen immune reaction whereas alimentary bacterium within the alimentary canal. At the time of writing, fourteen totally different clinical trials testing the effectiveness of EpiCor(R) will be found, all of that have terminated betterment. Quercetin (500mg) Quercetin may be a variety of plant pigment found in fruits and vegetables. it's additionally remarked as a flavonoid that may enhance human health. As expressed during a 2019 review on the inhibitor activity of quercetin, “it is effective within the treatment and hindrance of human diseases since it influences glutathione, enzymes, signal transduction pathways, and ROS production.” However, the authors noted that quercetin is sometimes found within the pharmaceutical field thanks to its low absorption, solubility, and bio availability considerations. once it involves safety as an element, mountain peak noted that quercetin is usually safe {and will|and may|and might} be concerned to 1g per day; something a lot of can harm the kidneys.

Vitamin D (1000IU) Vitamin D is wide acclaimed for its role in metal and phosphorus absorptions and enhancing bone health. However, what many folks have did not notice is that it can also support the system. A 2012 review that assessed the link between vitamin D and also the system terminated the following: A deficiency in vitamin D now implies a risk of developing associate disease Immune cells square measure extremely probably to retort to vitamin D, that is indicative of the latter’s quality Can aid in eliminating infections like T.B., MS, and diabetes, to call a number of For those inquisitive what proportion vitamin D is simply right, Harvard Health publication noted that unless a doc has provided directions on significant doses, shoppers ought to avoid taking something extraordinary four,000IU per day.

Bromelain (150mg) Bromelain may be a variety of protein that's found in excess in pineapples. As per the claims created, it's been long accustomed treat sinuses, pains, gum issues, and wounds, among others. A 2016 review highlighted that bromelain contains medicament, antithrombotic, and immune-modulating properties, among others. In assessing clinical applications of bromelain, the authors summarized it as being: A safe and sure-fire therapeutic agent Can be accustomed treat respiratory disorder, sinusitis, arthritis, and inflammation Potent once it involves its immunomodulatory and anti-neoplastic effects (as well as medicament and anti-microbial effects) Frequently Asked queries (FAQS)What is that the advised use of Immuno Defense 4X? As expressed on the Immuno Defense 4X label, people ought to be taking a pair of capsules per day, either with or while not a meal.

Who is Immuno Defense 4X appropriate for?

For average age (over the age of 18) will like the body process of Immuno Defense 4X. this could either be taken to strengthen the system or to guard oneself from future viruses and/or infections. That said, it's vital that anyone World Health Organization is pregnant and/or nursing look for a physician’s opinion beforehand. constant applies to anyone taking prescribed medication. though this supplement is all-natural, these square measure simply preventive measures that one ought to fancy avoid any medication interaction and/or facet effects .

What results is expected of Immuno Defense 4X ?

By systematically taking Immuno Defense 4X, people will foresee the subsequent improvements: A boost within the overall strength of the system inside two hours’ time A balance among immune-boosting antibodies for fast response to foreign invaders Reduced time spent sick Deemed effective with/without the contagious disease immunizing agent Reduced risk of developing nasal congestion, skin irritations, blisters, inflamed areas, and lots of others .

How long can it takes to get Immuno Defense 4X ?

As delineated on the official web site, all U.S. and Canadian orders are received among three to six business days, whereas international orders could need anyplace between twelve and fourteen days. a while ought to be assigned for any customs-related delays.

Is Immuno Defense 4X protected by a money-back guarantee?

Yes, Immuno Defense 4X has been protected by a 60-day money-back guarantee. As long as client service is contacted relating to the refund among sixty days from the delivery date, the request can be accepted. However, some conditions could apply.

How much will Immuno Defense 4X cost ?

Immuno Defense 4X has been created accessible at the subsequent worth points:

1 Immuno Defense 4X bottle: $44.95

3 Immuno Defense 4X bottles: $114.95

6 Immuno Defense 4X bottles: $179.95

These costs embody not solely Immuno Defense 4X however additionally the 2 bonuses mentioned Above. A third incentive has been additional for bulk purchases (namely quite 3 bottles), that is none aside from a free registered dietitian employment from the founding father of JayLab professional, Jayson Hunter. Finally, shipping is free on all U.S and Canadian orders no matter the quantities purchased.

[prorevenge]

You try to cut my team in half so I outsourced your entire department.

This tale takes place over the course of many months and resulted in over 150 lay offs, all to save 22 IT Techs from losing their jobs.

I learned a long time ago that no one cares about the IT team at our company. They see us as "Those useless employees always complaining about rules."

We are a mortgage company, and those rules are the rules everyone follows to protect customer data privacy and to prevent theft. When your company suddenly loses 2 full payments for a house to some scammer in Nigeria and the FTC has questions for you, then it is time to change your policies.

This meant cutting legacy access, revoking unnecessary access, and correctly coding job titles in active directory to prevent people from granting their own access.

What this boiled down to was a meeting that I phoned into a year ago. This was one of those meetings where I did not need to be there. Budget meetings.

In this meeting the VP over the accounting department played a recording showing times when someone in the IT Tech team provided "sup par service." She tried using this as reason to fire half of the tech team.

The trouble was, that all of the people she played recordings of were already fired for giving terrible customer service. These people were replaced by 5 star techs who know what they are doing and give excellent customer service.

This started the whole chain of events that led to last week.

Since this meeting was every 2 months, VP has tried to use her position and influence to grow her team while shrinking ours.

Every budget meeting, I would show up and VP, who shall hence be referred to as Karen, would target my team. I would pull out the numbers, and pull out the logs showing how my team received a little over 3/4s of that team's call volume.

I show how my team of 22 techs personally receive more phone calls than every other inbound call employee by more than double the number.

I show how with the call volume we receive we still maintain a 98 percent satisfaction rating.

At the 3rd budget meeting the COO had been tired of "hearing the same excuses" and wanted hard data. He had a point. I was merely throwing out basic numbers without providing real data.

Our company was in the middle of a budget crisis and someone needed to be cut. These budget meetings were basically a way to defend our own department from the chopping block. Karen believed that the best defense was a good offence. She was right, but not in the way she thought.

When it became clear that the IT support team was on the chopping block, Karen starts to have her employees call into the tech center and have them make requests that she knows we can not assist with as that is handled by another company entirely. We are not able to transfer calls to an external line so the only thing we can do is give the number to call and hang up.

The negative CSAT's start to flood in after this. Every single call from that team regarding a vendor's password reset gets a negative csat. Our approval rating tanked to 72 percent in one day. I instantly took action.

First I contact a few of the users, on recorded calls, and ask them why they called the IT Tech team when they know we are not capable of resetting the vendor's password. She replied that she was told it was policy to do that now. I asked why she left a negative satisfaction rating and she said that those no longer count against the employee. That those are only used for macro metrics.

I walked over to Karen's office and walked in. "Karen, why are you having your team call mine to reset vendor's password?" Karen looked confused and stated that she did no such thing. She said she would talk to her team and make sure that they call the correct number in the future.

The calls did not stop. Now a few of her team were calling in with personal machines that were not an asset of our company. They were wanting things done which would violate license agreements with microsoft or dell. Each of these were refused and each of these were leaving negative CSAT.

It became clear that Karen was trying to tank our stats before the next budget meeting.

I let my boss know and he just gives me a sly smile. "The leash is off. Sick her." This is an inside joke between us as I am someone who is very detail oriented when I am focused. When you try and get my team fired because you want to grow your useless team, I am very focused on you now.

The first thing I do is enable call recording for every corporate employee as to not arouse her suspicions. Her team did not have call recording enabled because her team "handles CDP" on a daily basis.

I pull a live call and listen in.

"This is Employee with our company may I have your account number or your name?" The customer gives the name. "OK I have your account pulled up, are you wanting to make a payment?" Customer says yes. "Are you authorizing me to go ahead and make the withdraw from the bank account we have on file?" Customer agrees. "OK payment is processing. You will be notified in X days when it is complete. Your next due date is this date." The customer thanks her and he hangs up.

Entire phone call was 1:22. Short phone call so I listen to another. Similar situation. I listen to another and get the same thing. I start seeing a pattern here so I go through the rapidly building log and see that all of the phone calls are usually less than 1 minute and 20 seconds long. It takes well over an hour before an anomaly occurs and I see a 5 minute phone call.

The customer needed an extension and the employee was authorized to give her a 30 day extension to avoid a late fee if she would make a double payment next month. The person on the phone agreed.

At this point I also turn on the CSAT for her team only. I expected a largely similar rating as my team. I was not prepared for the nearly instant 50 percent rating that steadily dropped.

My boss comes over to my desk as he was getting the email notifications for the sub 75 percent csat rating and was flabbergasted at the sheer volume of negative reports.

Its now clear that there is no choice but to examine this further. I assign 4 people to review the negative calls from the other team and have them all. The amount of employees being downright rude to customers, not other employees but paying customers, over the phone was shocking. The negative tones in their voice, the unwillingness to fully answer questions, the extreme lack of empathy, and the shocking lack of mute button use was too much.

Then came another shocker. The number of customer facing employees was ridiculous. 152 employees to handle roughly 30 percent more calls than my team of 22.

I call the CIO.

$CIO - What you got for me?

$ME - I have something for you. Its incredibly evil, depressingly accurate, and can probably save the company a ridiculous amount of money.

$CIO - You know this is the second time you have said those exact words to me right?

$ME - Yup. But there is something I need to know first. I am not currently authorized to know it and I need to request it in a way that would not set off any red flags.

$CIO - What is that?

$ME - The starting pay scale for all account employees.

$CIO - Tell me your plan.

The next budget meeting was not a budget meeting. It was a IT Tech defend yourself meeting. The COO directed it and let Karen speak first.

Karen pulled out the same stuff as before. Calls upon calls to our group that were cherry picked as well as listing off dead zone times when we had people working but no one calling in. Then went on about how they could cut our group in half and hire more Account employees to reduce the workflow.

Instead of defending myself or my department, I played 4 of the short call recordings from Karen's department. I then pulled up the excel sheet that was color coded showing how many phone calls each account rep received and the length of time they were on. each call, and the customer satisfaction rating.

I explained the lack of high csat with my own little recording I liked to call a failtage. Its a montage of fail and her team were the stars. Before you ask, I did put music to it.

The recording starts off with an employee saying. "Yeah I guess I can take your payment." Then goes straight into one where a customer accidentally gave the wrong bank account info and said don't use that one. The rep responded with "Christ. What is the actual account number?" It only got worse from there.

This group was unmanaged for so long they were filled with rude and useless employees.

I then showed them a side by side comparison of each tech who received a call. I showed how my techs were receiving more than 4 times the number of calls, per rep, than her team was getting per day. I showed how we all were on the phone for well over 7 times the amount of time her team was on the phone for, and I demonstrated how each tech had double or tripple the satisfaction rating over all of her group.

Half the room that was uninterested in the conversation were suddenly interested when I closed out my presentation.

"In short, I saw no reason to defend the IT team today as I have successfully done so in every prior meeting. Since the last meeting, however, Karen has crossed the line and has had her team call mine in regards to things we have no access to."

I played the recording of me calling her minion. "As you can see here, she directed her team to call mine and to leave bad satisfaction ratings on my guys because of it. I have since deleted those CSAT's as they served no purpose whatsoever. " I then pulled out my next flowchart.

"This is the monthly expense, taken from the last 9 meetings, that our company spends on IT and Servicing departments." I look at the COO who was looking at me intently. "Before today I was on the defensive as I saw no reason to attack another group. But it is clear to me now that my team has a target on its back. That is why I now show you this."

It was a graph showing the starting pay scale for each IT and Servicing employee code as well as their average daily workflow. There was one glaring anomaly on this list. Account department had the highest starting pay scale with the least amount of work.

"So basically in laymen's terms, the Account department can reduced to one tenth of its current size, and we can reduce the pay scale to a little over one half as this department requires very little in the way of problem solving and critical thinking." I saw a few raised eye brows as well as one impressed smile from the CIO.

The COO ushers everyone out of the room except for me, my direct supervisor, and the CIO. He looked at me and said "Continue."

"Further, we can cut this department entirely and outsource THEM instead of IT. Since this group merely takes payments and sometimes allows extensions, we do not have to worry too much about technical ability. Outside of simply using windows we can hire high schoolers if we wanted to." This got a laugh from the CIO. Karen was staring through the window with this smug grin on her face the entire time.

"Now for my final bit for this meeting, I am going to play two cherry picked phone calls. These are the two most technical phone calls I could find from the last month for both departments."

I play a call where a payment fails to process and the rep realizes she typed in the wrong number.

I then play a call where it starts out with a user stating that her customer submitted a payment to the wrong CD. The tech breaks out into our procedure to prevent wire fraud. Thanks to the quick action of this tech we were able to reverse the CD and save this customer from losing their down payment.

The final masterful stroke was playing my final card. "As you all know, Karen has been coming after my team for months. She has been grinding her axe against us because she, like everyone else, has made the mistake that we are incompetent, inept, and useless to the company. What she did not know was that I have all of the logs showing the truth. The smoke she has been blowing for years is so thick that its ridiculous. Her team is highly replaceable and we both know my team would require extensive training and effort to replace."

The CIO spoke up. "With just 30 people, we can outsource her entire department and save the company millions a year. The next time we have a major IT issue, you will be regretting outsourcing us." He then pointed to the graphs and flow charts brought by both myself and Karen. "Her team is useless."

The next day I watched in pure joy as a term request came in for Karen. It came in with the double ** indicator at the beginning meaning this was a stealth term. To be done and coordinated with the person who will inform her of the termination. (Its not actually ** I changed that for here to protect identities.)

Over the next two months, the account team was shuttered. First they came for anyone with disciplinary issues or attendance issues. Then they laid off anyone who had been there a really long time. Then the newest employees.

The smart ones applied for other positions in the company or left before getting laid off. All the while the calls for payments were slowly shunted to the call center in India.

By the end of last week we only have 4 domestic accounts people who take escalations that the India call center is not authorized to take.

Do I feel guilty about being integral for 148 people being laid off? Yes quite. But I know it was necessary to keep my job and my health insurance. Without my health insurance I am a dead man.

The entire reason why this happened though, was because a division was slated to be cut and sent to India from the outset. Thanks to the actions of myself and my direct supervisor, we prevented it from being a sure thing that our team was going to get cut.

On top of that we cut out a festering wound in the company that was slowing it down and costing it money.

My team has not been brought up in the budgetary meetings since.

(source) story by (/u/TheLightningCount1)

[tomeandflickcorner]

Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Night Game

Before I get into this particular episode, I should take the time to mention an unfortunate bit of news.  Veteran voice actor Julie Bennet, who voiced the recurring The Real Ghostbusters character of reporter Cynthia Crawford in the episodes ‘When Halloween Was Forever’ and ‘Citizen Ghost,’ has recently passed away at the age of 88, from complications related to COVID-19.  My heartfelt condolences go out to her family and friends.  It probably goes without saying that it feels almost surreal to discuss this particular episode with the tragic loss of such a talented person hanging in the air.  Especially since she was not the first person we lost to this virus, and she probably won’t be the last.  But in a strange way, it almost seems fitting that this is the episode that’s next on the roster, given the nature of the episode as a whole.

Late one night, something strange happens at a vacant baseball stadium, with bright blue and red lights shooting up from the pitcher’s mound.  The lights soon vanish as quickly as they appeared.  But since this is occurring in the middle of the night, nobody is there to witness it.  We then cut to the following morning, with Winston entering the Firehouse, sporting a baseball jersey and matching cap.  He announces to his friends that he has two tickets to a baseball game, and asks if anyone is interested in accompanying him.  At first, Ray seems interested as he asks if Winston’s tickets are for a Yankees or Mets game.  However, his demeanor instantly changes when Winston reveals the tickets are for a Jaguars game.  The Jaguars, from what I can gather, are an in-universe minor league baseball team. But they’re apparently not very popular due to their long record of consistently losing.  Winston, however, remains a loyal Jaguars fan.  Regardless, Ray and Peter both turn down Winston’s second ticket. The same goes for Janine, who pretty much compares spending a day at the ballpark to getting fungus in the brain. Of course, Egon pokes his head into the room when he hears Janine mention fungus.  Because, as we know from the movie, he collects spores, molds and fungus.  So Winston tries to invite Egon to go with him to the game.  Egon almost seems interested, as he mentions an old colleague of his from his days at Columbia University once studied the dynamics of the curveball.  But Egon ultimately states he can’t join Winston, as he’s in the middle of an important project.  Finally, Winston turns to Slimer, who has chosen that moment to appear on the scene. Initially, it looks like even Slimer is going to turn down the invite.  Until Winston says the magic words by mentioning the popcorn, ice cream and hot dogs.  Naturally, Slimer is right on board with anything that involves him getting food.

So Winston and Slimer head off together to Jaguars Stadium. And we see the stands are almost completely empty, with only about ten people in attendance.  Sadly, most of the other spectators are not even paying attention to the game.  One guy is focused on reading the newspaper, and another person is clearly taking a nap. (Obviously, this was meant to further illustrate how unpopular the Jaguars are, buy why would you even pay for a ticket if you’re not going to bother watching the game?)  Winston, on the other hand, is still enjoying the game, telling Slimer (who is surrounded by a large amount of ballgame fare) that it doesn’t matter if the Jaguars lose.  Because regardless of the outcome of the game, the team did their best.  And that’s all that really matters.

Out of nowhere, the same spectral lights that appeared on the field during the night appear again.  This time, Winston was there to witness it.  (It’s unclear if anyone else saw it, since nobody else seemed to be even watching the game at this point.)  As Winston watches, the spectral lights caused a baseball to fly through the air at super speed, resulting in it hitting the ground, preventing the Jaguar Infielder(?) from catching it.  When the game ends, Winston heads back to the Firehouse to tell the other Ghostbusters what he saw.  But they’re all skeptical of Winston’s account, with Peter commenting on how he’d have an easier time believing something supernatural happened at the game if the Jaguar player actually caught the ball.  (Did they not hear the part where the spectral lights appeared?) Winston insists he knows what he saw and, to back up his story, he reveals he stopped by the library on the way back and found a book that discussed an old Native American legend that seemed to fit with what he observed.  According to Winston’s book, the supernatural forces of good and evil fight a battle on a certain site every 500 years.  And it turns out that the site mentioned in the legend coincides with the location of Jaguars Stadium.  Which is an interesting development, I must say.  Usually, it’s housing developments and hotels that are built over sacred Native American land.  This is the first time I heard of a baseball diamond being built over one.

Egon soon agrees that they probably should look into this. But first, they’ll need to get a special permit from Mayor Lenny.  Winston argues against waiting, as the permit process could take days, and who knows what could happen in the meantime?  For all they know, a major supernatural manifestation could emerge before the permit could arrive.  Regardless, Egon states that it’s too late at night to do anything, and the best thing for them to do was get a good night’s rest.  However, Winston insists on staying up a bit longer, as he wants to read more about the legend.

Sometime later, though, it appears Winston wasn’t willing to wait until morning to do anything, as he donned his Ghostbusting gear and elected to head back to Jaguar Stadium on his own.  Which is probably not the smartest move, but you still have to admire his dedication.  Upon arriving at Jaguar Stadium, Winston manages to convince the security guard to allow him access to the empty stadium.  Which the security guard agrees to on account of him being a big fan of the Ghostbusters.  When Winston and the security guard make it onto the field, they witness the spectral lights returning once again.  Jumping into action, Winston makes an attempt at firing his Proton Pack at the lights, giving the security guard the chance to get away and call the other Ghostbusters down there via a payphone.

By the time Peter, Ray and Egon make it down to Jaguar Stadium, they find the field has been encased within an ectoplasmic barrier. Egon soon comes up with a plan to blast a hole into the barrier by aiming their Proton Packs at the same exact spot.  The plan works, and they’re able to make it past the barrier, which closes up behind them almost instantly.  Upon getting past the barrier, they find Jaguar Stadium has been transformed into an ethereal looking baseball diamond.  Though they’re initially focused only on the rather tall ghostly figure standing before them.

The Ghostbusters demand that the figure, who is currently dressed like a baseball umpire, state what he did with Winston.  But at that moment, Winston appears behind them, completely unharmed.  Though he is now wearing a baseball uniform.  Winston proceeds to explain that, as the legend says, the supernatural forces of good and evil always choose their battle by the form of their surroundings.  And since Jaguar Stadium is currently located over the designated site of their battle, it was decided that their battle would take the form of a baseball game. And it turns out that, since Winston was present when the battle began, he has been allowed to play as a shortstop for the Good Team.  Because, as the Ghost Umpire states, when Good and Evil choose sides for battle, no one can be neutral.  Although, the Ghost Umpire states it’s too late in the game for Peter, Egon and Ray to join, so they should leave.  However, it’s ultimately decided that they’ll be allowed to stay and watch.  Especially when Egon seems to realize that they have a personal stake in this game.

It’s also established that, while nothing will happen to the losers of the game, the two differing sides are fighting for the fate of one human soul.  And if the Good Team loses the game, then Evil will torment the soul for the next 500 years.  Initially, Peter voices his disbelief that they took over an entire baseball stadium and probably caused a city-wide panic, all for one single human soul. But the Ghost Umpire counters this, by delivering one of my favorite lines of the episode:

“Just one soul?! Is there anything on this puny earth as important?  Isn’t even one soul worth all this effort?  And more?”

Words cannot describe how much I loved that line! Because it is absolutely true! Every single soul (and life, for that matter) is precious.  And it therefore deserves to be protected and saved, whenever it’s possible.

Anyway, as Winston heads back towards the field to resume his position as shortstop, Egon informs Peter and Ray that he’s surmised that the soul that’s at stake must be Winston’s, which is why he was allowed to participate in the game.  Peter voices his concern that the players on the Good Team don’t exactly seem like they’re well-equipped to play baseball, though Ray points out that they can’t have been performing too badly, as the scoreboard reveals that it’s been a steady 0 to 0 for the past 8 innings.  Although, this indicates that the game is currently in the final inning.

And so the game commences, with the Evil Team up at bat. The first batter strikes out, but the second batter manages to hit the ball.  Winston runs out to catch the ball, but the baseball apparently multiplies as it begins to fall.  Regardless, Winston still manages to catch one of the balls, so the Ghost Umpire declares that the second batter is out.  After the Ghost Umpire makes that call, Peter, Ray and Egon approach him to state that, while they’re not disputing his call, they feel that he should declare the game a forfeit, as the Evil Team clearly cheated and should therefore be declared the loser by default.  But the Ghost Umpire points out that the Evil Team is expected to cheat, as it’s in their nature to do so. That’s why they’re called Evil. Only Good is not allowed to cheat. Because if Good adopts the ways of Evil, it becomes Evil.  Okay, fair enough.

The ballgame continues, and eventually, the Evil Team manages to gain a single run before they reach their third out.  So it’s now 1 to 0, meaning that if the Good Team doesn’t manage to get at least 2 runs before the inning is over, then the Evil Team is the winner.  As the two teams switch, Winston takes his chance to approach his friends to let them know that he’s glad the Ghost Umpire allowed them to stay and watch, as they have no idea how important this game really is.

Before long, the Good Team manages to have a man on first and second.  At this point, the Evil Team calls for a time out so they can bring in a relief pitcher. This relief pitcher ends up being a gigantic ghost with an elephant-like trunk, and he manages to strike out the current batter out almost instantly.  Ray notes that the Good Team only has one more out to go, so they can only hope that the Good Team has their best hitter coming up.  To their surprise, it turns out that Winston himself is now up to bat. So the Ghostbusters are understandably nervous, especially when the Ghost Umpire informs them that Elephant Nose is Evil Team’s best pitcher.  Peter states that it’s not right that Winston’s fate should be decided by the outcome of a baseball game, and that there has to be something they can do. At this point, the Ghost Umpire casually comments that perhaps Winston would have an easier time against a different pitcher.  Upon hearing this, Peter gets an idea.  He points out that they’re not playing in the game, and nobody said they couldn’t cheat.  So, when they see Winston is one strike away from losing the game, he tells Egon that he and Ray will shoot Elephant Nose with their Proton Packs before he can strike Winston out, and that Egon should be ready with the Ghost Trap. Because if they catch Elephant Nose, then the Evil Team will have to use a different pitcher.  However, Egon is deep in thought, and right before Peter and Ray could activate their Proton Packs, he jumps in front of them to stop them from interfering.  Egon reminds them that the Ghost Umpire stated quite clearly earlier that nobody is neutral in this battle between Good and Evil.  Which means they’re not neutral, either.  And if they cheat, then Evil automatically wins the game.  So they can do nothing other than hope Winston can hit this last ball.

Naturally, Winston is indeed able to hit the next ball.  Not only that, he actually manages to hit a home run, resulting in the Good Team winning the game, 3 to 1.  With the game over, both teams vanish from sight, leaving only the Ghostbusters and the Ghost Umpire behind.  Egon turns to the Ghost Umpire, asking him if he was indeed trying to test them, and the Ghost Umpire more or less confirms this by stating they had to choose between cheating to help their friend, or trust in fair play and let Good win on their own terms. With those words, the Ghost Umpire disappears, cryptically stating that they might meet again someday.

After the Ghost Umpire departs, Jaguar Stadium returns to normal.  Egon voices his regret that he hadn’t been able to study the Ghost Umpire more closely. Though Peter states the fact that they saved their friend’s soul is reward enough.  Winston is visibly confused by this statement, asking Peter what he means by that.  Ray tells him that they figured out that the baseball game was to decide Winston’s fate, but Winston informs them that they got it all wrong.  It was actually Peter’s soul they were playing for.  Upon hearing this, Peter sinks to the ground in shock, having realized that, by nearly cheating, he came dangerously close to dooming himself.  He declares that, from now on, he’s only going to attend Mets games.  As for how the rest of this conversation goes, it’s not very clear, since the closing music drowns out their dialogue as the camera pans out.  But I believe they proceed to discuss the pros and cons of other baseball teams, as I distinctly hear Egon mentioning the Toronto Bluejays.

If you’re a fan of baseball, I can see you thoroughly enjoying this episode.  And it’s also quite entertaining from a philosophical standpoint, considering it involves a battle of Good vs Evil.  In addition, the artistic design of the players in the Good Team and the Evil Team are all very creative and unique.  For instance, the pitcher for the Good Team was a red skinned centaur, and another player had an almost dog-like face.  Although, the most interesting character was definitely the Ghost Umpire.  Especially since he was the most enigmatic ghost involved in the game.  As he clearly said, nobody was a neutral player. Which meant he couldn’t have been neutral, either.  But that left the question if he was one of the Good Spirits or the Evil Spirits. The fact that he did tempt the Ghostbusters to cheat might suggest that he was one of the Evil Spirits, but one could also argue that he was one of the Good Spirits, since Evil knew that Good would never make an unfair call while Good could not trust Evil to be impartial. Either way, the episode pretty much leaves it up to the viewer to decide, which is something that I did appreciate. Though, to my knowledge, the suggestion that the Ghostbusters might have another meeting with the Ghost Umpire someday never actually goes anywhere, as they never encounter him again.

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

[scifigeneration]

The Amazon is burning: 4 essential reads on Brazil's vanishing rainforest

by Catesby Holmes

Nearly 40,000 fires are incinerating Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, the latest outbreak in an overactive fire season that has charred 1,330 square miles of the rainforest this year.

Don’t blame dry weather for the swift destruction of the world’s largest tropical forest, say environmentalists. These Amazonian wildfires are a human-made disaster, set by loggers and cattle ranchers who use a “slash and burn” method to clear land. Feeding off very dry conditions, some of those fires have spread out of control.

Brazil has long struggled to preserve the Amazon, sometimes called the “lungs of the world” because it produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. Despite the increasingly strict environmental protections of recent decades, about a quarter of this massive rainforest is already gone – an area the size of Texas.

While climate change endangers the Amazon, bringing hotter weather and longer droughts, development may be the greatest threat facing the rainforest.

Here, environmental researchers explain how farming, big infrastructure projects and roads drive the deforestation that’s slowly killing the Amazon.

1. Farming in the jungle

“Deforestation is largely due to land clearing for agricultural purposes, particularly cattle ranching but also soybean production,” writes Rachel Garrett, a professor at Boston University who studies land use in Brazil.

Since farmers need “a massive amount of land for grazing,” Garrett says, they are driven to “continuously clear forest – illegally – to expand pastureland.”

Twelve percent of what was once Amazonian forest – about 93 million acres – is now farmland.

Deforestation in the Amazon has spiked since the election last year of the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Arguing that federal conservation zones and hefty fines for cutting down trees hinder economic growth, Bolsonaro has slashed Brazil’s strict environmental regulations.

There’s no evidence to support Bolsonaro’s view, Garrett says.

“Food production in the Amazon has substantially increased since 2004,” Garrett says.

The increased production has been pushed by federal policies meant to discourage land clearing, such as hefty fines for deforestation and low-interest loans for investing in sustainable agricultural practices. Farmers are now planting and harvesting two crops – mostly soybean and corn – each year, rather than just one.

Brazilian environmental regulations helped Amazonian ranchers, too.

Garrett’s research found that improved pasture management in line with stricter federal land use policies led the number of cattle slaughtered annually per acre to double.

“Farmers are producing more meat – and therefore earning more money – with their land,” she writes.

2. Infrastructure development and deforestation

President Bolsonaro is also pushing forward an ambitious infrastructure development plan that would turn the Amazon’s many waterways into electricity generators.

The Brazilian government has long wanted to build a series of big new hydroelectric dams, including on the Tapajós River, the Amazon’s only remaining undammed river. But the indigenous Munduruku people, who live near around the Tapajós River, have stridently opposed this idea.

“The Munduruku have until now successfully slowed down and seemingly halted many efforts to profit off the Tapajós,” writes Robert T. Walker, a University of Florida professor who has conducted environmental research in the Amazon for 25 years.

But Bolsonaro’s government is less likely than his predecessors to respect indigenous rights. One of his first moves in office was to transfer responsibilities for demarcating indigenous lands from the Brazilian Ministry of Justice to the decidedly pro-development Ministry of Agriculture.

And, Walker notes, Bolsonaro’s Amazon development plans are part of a broader South American project, conceived in 2000, to build continental infrastructure that provides electricity for industrialization and facilitates trade across the region.

For the Brazilian Amazon, that means not just new dams but also “webs of waterways, rail lines, ports and roads” that will get products like soybeans, corn and beef to market, according to Walker.

“This plan is far more ambitious than earlier infrastructure projects” that damaged the Amazon, Walker writes. If Bolsonaro’s plan moves forward, he estimates that fully 40% of the Amazon could be deforested.

3. Road-choked streams

Roads, most of them dirt, already criss-cross the Amazon.

That came as a surprise to Cecilia Gontijo Leal, a Brazilian researcher who studies tropical fish habitats.

“I imagined that my field work would be all boat rides on immense rivers and long jungle hikes,” she writes. “In fact, all my research team needed was a car.”

Perched culverts disrupt the water flow of Amazonian streams, isolating fish. Rede Amazônia Sustentável, Author provided

Traveling on rutted mud roads to take water samples from streams across Brazil’s Pará state, Leal realized that the informal “bridges” of this locally built transportation network must be impacting Amazonian waterways. So she decided to study that, too.

“We found that makeshift road crossings cause both shore erosion and silt buildup in streams. This worsens water quality, hurting the fish that thrive in this delicately balanced habitat,” she writes.

The ill-designed road crossings – which feature perched culverts that disrupt water flow – also act as barriers to movement, preventing fish from finding places to feed, breed and take shelter.

4. Rewilding tropical forests

The fires now consuming vast swaths of the Amazon are the latest repercussion of development in the Amazon.

Set by farmers likely emboldened by their president’s anti-conservation stance, the blazes emit so much smoke that on Aug. 20 it blotted out the midday sun in the city of São Paulo, 1,700 miles away. The fires are still multiplying, and peak dry season is still a month away.

Apocalyptic as this sounds, science suggests it’s not too late to save the Amazon.

Tropical forests destroyed by fire, logging, land-clearing and roads can be replanted, say ecologists Robin Chazdon and Pedro Brancalion.

Using satellite imagery and the latest peer-reviewed research on biodiversity, climate change and water security, Chazdon and Brancalion identified 385,000 square miles of “restoration hotspots” – areas where restoring tropical forests would be most beneficial, least costly and lowest risk.

“Although these second-growth forests will never perfectly replace the older forests that have been lost,” Chazon writes, “planting carefully selected trees and assisting natural recovery processes can restore many of their former properties and functions.”

The five countries with the most tropical restoration potential are Brazil, Indonesia, India, Madagascar and Colombia.

About The Author:

Catesby Holmes is the Global Affairs Editor at The Conversation

This article is republished from our content partners over at  The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.

[ppaction]

2018 Year in Review: 12 Ways We Resisted — and Won

We’re toasting to these hard-won victories.

It’s been an exhausting year. Almost every day of 2018 felt like it delivered new attacks by the Trump-Pence administration. Racist and discriminatory immigration policies. An expanded global gag rule. A new Supreme Court justice who could end Roe v. Wade.

But we haven’t been beaten down — we’ve been rising up. All year long, Planned Parenthood supporters joined us in resisting like hell. And we’re stronger than ever because of it: This year, Planned Parenthood reached a record 12 million supporters.

We spent the year putting our size and power to use. In 2018, Planned Parenthood supporters held 30,000 events across the country. That includes phone banks, local meetings, rallies, and voter registration drives. Altogether, an astounding 77,000 people attended these events. Another 54,000 people called their legislators to demand action to protect our health and rights. The results? Huge wins for our rights.

While we prepare for 2019, let’s take a victory lap to celebrate our major triumphs in 2018. In honor of our 12 million supporters, join us in cheering for 12 wins from the past year.

1. A Pro-Reproductive Rights Majority Won the House

This. Was. HUGE. This midterm election, we helped usher in an unparalleled, pro-reproductive health majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Make no mistake: This victory was a check on the Trump-Pence administration and its allies in Congress. Planned Parenthood Votes and Planned Parenthood Action Fund advocacy and political organizations ran their largest midterm electoral program ever. Across the country, they registered and mobilized millions of voters and knocked on more doors than any previous midterm effort.

We protested in the streets, at the White House, in the U.S. Capitol — and our work paid off. Pro-reproductive health representatives flipped a whopping 43 seats in the House. Five Planned Parenthood alumni won their local elections. A whopping 85 percent of Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s endorsed candidates won their elections — that’s over 200 pro-reproductive health leaders taking office. Supporters working and volunteering with the Win Justice (a campaign that includes Planned Parenthood Votes) made efforts to reach 2.1 million unlikely voters, especially voters of color, women, and young people. They knocked on 3.4 million doors; made 700,000 phone calls; and sent 1.9 million texts to get voters to the polls.

This win truly can’t be understated. When newly elected members of the 116th Congress are sworn into office on January 3, 2019, Congress will be joined by 43 new women, 22 new people of color, and 5 new openly LGBTQ people.

The House of Representatives will have a record-breaking 103 women total, including the first Muslim-American women, the first Native-American women, and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. Unprecedented in its diversity, this pro-reproductive health majority in the House will help protect our rights and freedoms in 2019.

2. We Delayed Trump’s Dangerous “Gag Rule” 

Each day the gag rule’s delayed, more people get the health care they need.

This spring, Trump waged his most dangerous attack on women’s health yet. His devastating “gag rule” would dismantle Title X, the one program meant to ensure that people with low incomes can access birth control, STD testing, cancer screenings, and other essential reproductive health care.

We immediately took action and succeeded in staving off the attack. How? By flooding the administration with comments. When the government proposes a regulation, the public gets 60 days to comment — and the administration is required by law to review every single unique comment. So we held rallies, marches, protests, phonebanks, and more. We let everyone know just how unpopular the gag rule is. Ultimately, we helped collect so many public comments — an astounding 500,000 — that we bogged down the process and delayed the gag rule from taking effect.

We’re still expecting the final gag rule any day now, but each day without it means that millions of people across the country can access the reproductive health care they need.

3. We Helped Strike Down a Dangerous 6-Week Abortion Ban in Ohio

Right after Christmas, the Ohio legislature blocked an unconstitutional six-week abortion ban, which would have been one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio were relentless in protesting the ban, and their voices were heard.

If it hadn’t been blocked, this legislation would have banned abortion before many women know they are pregnant. And that would have decimated a woman’s right to control her life at the most basic level —whether and when to become a parent.

4. Anti-Women’s Health State Legislators Failed to Block Patients from Care at Planned Parenthood

This year, Congress tried and failed to "defund" Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, state efforts to block patients from care at Planned Parenthood health centers were delayed.With encouragement from the Trump-Pence administration, anti-women’s health politicians in Texas, South Carolina, and Tennessee earlier this year asked the federal government to block Medicaid patients from preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers. Reproductive health advocates mobilized to protect access to care, submitting 13,000 comments in opposition to the states' requests. In light on this political pressure on the administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hasn’t moved forward in approving the states' unpopular requests.

The U.S. Supreme Court also delivered a victory for Planned Parenthood patients across the country. The Court refused to hear a case that could have opened the door for states to try to “defund” Planned Parenthood. Thanks to the decision, Medicaid patients can continue to rely on Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings, STD testing and treatment, and more.

5. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Stood Strong

After the second failed attempt by Congress to repeal the ACA during Trump’s term, the president tweeted his intention to "let Obamacare implode." Since then, the administration has tried and failed to attack the ACA so many times in so many different ways that it’s difficult to keep count.Thanks to the incredible grassroots mobilization of millions of women, men, and young people, the administration’s efforts to legislatively undo the ACA and its protections for health care were largely unsuccessful. The health care law remains firmly in place.People across the country can still enroll in marketplace plans that cover essential health benefits, like birth control — and get financial assistance to do so.

6. The Nation Rose Up for Sexual Assault Survivors — Even If the Senate Didn't

Once again, the #MeToo movement brought the power of survivor’s voices to the forefront, with unprecedented demands for perpetrators to be held accountable. This summer, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford courageously shared her allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Her bravery prompted a global movement to #BelieveWomen. Supporters joined us at rallies at the Supreme Court and state capitols across the country. They called, tweeted, and made videos to show Dr. Ford she wasn’t alone. Though Kavanaugh was confirmed to the bench, the swell of support showed a changing tide in how the public understands sexual assault.

7. We Delayed Trump’s Attempt to Let Medical Workers Use Religion to Discriminate Against Patients

The administration tried — and failed — to finalize a rule that would empower medical workers to use their personal objections as grounds to deny patients access to health care services. This rule could especially threaten women and LGBTQ people’s access to health services like abortion, hormone therapy, birth control, and sterilization.We sprung into action as soon as the administration proposed the rule. Partners and supporters submitted more than 200,000 comments (including 23,000 comments from Planned Parenthood supporters) expressing their strong opposition and pressuring the administration not to finalize the refusal rule. Nearly a year later, we have yet to see a final rule.

8. Trump Was Blocked from Rolling Back Access to Birth Control — Though We’re Still Fighting

Trump won’t give up on trying to let our bosses decide whether or not we get access to birth control. In 2018, he continued his goal of gutting the part of the ACA that requires employers to cover birth control. The move would roll back access to birth control for over 62 million women. But just as the year was drawing to a close, a federal court blocked Trump’s attack.

The fight is far from over: The administration's final birth control rules are set to be effective on January 14, 2019, though ongoing litigation could prevent them from taking effect. We need to show the administration and our elected leaders just how MANY of us oppose taking away our access to birth control. You can help by adding your name to our message to lawmakers.

9. We Said Goodbye to Some Harmful Anti-Abortion Trump Appointees

The Trump-Pence administration is like a who’s who of longtime anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-immigrant crusaders. But by the end of this year, a number of harmful appointees saw the door.

Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Scott Lloyd was demoted after mass public outcry — including Planned Parenthood’s repeated calls for his firing. For over a year, Lloyd put the health of young immigrant women at risk in efforts to further his personal anti-abortion agenda.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who used his position to attacks the civil rights of transgender people, immigrants, and people of color — resigned just before Election Day. Anti-birth control advocate Nikki Haley resigned as UN ambassador, leaving a trail of attacks to women’s reproductive rights across the globe. And anti-abortion foes Teresa Manning and Charmaine Yoest — both of whom came to the administration from the Family Research Council, an anti-LGBTQ hate group — left the Department of Health and Human Services after short stints.

10. States Protected and Expanded Medicaid

After the midterm election, 36 states and the District of Columbia adopted the ACA’s Medicaid expansion — including successful Medicaid expansion ballot initiatives in Idaho, Nebraska, Utah, and a Medicaid expansion bill in Virginia. That means a lot more women will get health care: Medicaid is the largest payer of reproductive health care coverage, paying for 75 percent of all public funds spent on family planning services.Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked an unfair work requirement that would have blocked Medicaid access based on employment — a discriminatory practice that would have a grossly disproportionate impact on women of color given systemic racism and historic barriers to care.

11. We Welcomed a New Planned Parenthood President

After 12 incredible years, Cecile Richards stepped down as president of Planned Parenthood, and welcomed Dr. Leana Wen — the first physician in nearly 50 years to head the organization. Dr. Wen is leading the fight to protect reproductive freedom.

12. We Held Our Biggest, Raddest Grassroots Training Ever

This June, more than 2,000 activists representing 48 states convened in Detroit for Power of Pink, the biggest, baddest, raddest grassroots training that Planned Parenthood has ever hosted. In two days of intense workshops and panels, reproductive rights activists learned how to center race equity in their local organizing, run data-driven campaigns, and help elect reproductive health champions in 2018 (and we did!).

With more attacks on the horizon and years of damage to undo, we're not backing down now.

[lil-birch]

004 - Yes, I was in Washington; NO, I was not on "vacation".

Ew. You know when you look at a word for a long time and it starts to sound and look radically different in your head? Yeah, that just happened to me with "vacation". Yikes.

ANYways

I'm in the ACE van on the way back to AZ and I've managed to leave my journal inside my work bag, so consider this blog entry to be a direct deposit of my thoughts processing one of the best/worst month-long experiences of my life (if this were in a pie chart, I'd say like... 80% best/20% worst (and considering the bad parts are meant to be learned from anyways, really only like 10% bad)). Besides, how bad can life be when it's being lived in an ethereal paradise? Rejoice! Rejoice even when sh*t is whack!

One of the best things? The view of the meadow halfway through the hike up:

Let's start with the schedule of this hitch:

6 am - wake up call. gentle sun trickling through the ponderosa pines to lift the eyelids. honey-nut-oat cereal with blueberry kefir and green tea is a must.

7 am - depart camp for Blue Lake trail.

7:30 am - begin Safety Circle, which is the crew's time to review what is important for us and the climbers around us. we then ask our Question of the Day (QOTD) as we stretch, which can vary from describing the person to your left as a dinner or releasing a cathartic screech that signifies your mating call. Very fun stuff to get the ol' Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) warmed up.

7:45 - 8 am - depart trailhead for Climbing Access Reroute worksite.

9 am - arrive at worksite. the fun begins.

The central focus for this month-long hitch was to utilize dry masonry practices by building staircases into pre-existing trail to reduce erosion, social trails, and thus allow natural biodiversity to flourish since the soil and hikers aren't trampling all over them.

(Staircase #1 w/ Anna & Staircase #2 w/ Connor)

I built two staircases with my crewmates and did some digging/retaining wall work with two other staircases. The key with building staircases is to gain a ton of height in the trail, as well as provide an easy surface for water to run over vs. the water running over the plain soil. So, we set taller steps with pinners (side rocks to hold steps in place with the power of ROCK!!!) until the staircase extends through the entire section of trail. Voíla! A functional staircase that will, deadass, last 100-200 years. Regardless of whether humankind destroys the Earth in the next 20-30 years or we get smacked by a meteor or whatever... that's still pretty neat. Generations of climbers will be able to use these trails! Even the mountain goats used our staircases!

(Yes, that is only a boulder, not a staircase. BUT SO! CUTE!)

So yes. Real-life Tetris™️, with pickmattocks to dig and double jacks to SMASH ROCK and heaving boulders around in rock nets and then breaking them into pieces with a drill. Siiiiiiiiick.

And the off-days... Olympic National Park!!!!! Seattle! Twisp! (I felt very creative in Twisp. It's really smol and snug.) Bellingham! Forks, the vampire capital of the United States! Wow! There's so much to explore in this state and we only broke the surface.

To be completely honest, there was more mental exploration than physical. Posts 002 & 003 centered more around specific themes I've been writing about in my journal as pertaining to my life, but in a general sense, I think I needed this hitch to regain my Self. Now that I'm in an environment where I'm contantly physically active, eating more nutritious foods, consistently meditating and practicing yoga, and being challenged to push my limits, it's a little unsettling to look back over the past year and see how unhealthy I was. Mental illness and all that aside, I continously put the needs of school, work, and extracurriculars ahead of nourishing my body and soul. As much as I do miss college (see also: my friends and my professors and theatre and the radio), I don't particularly miss the toxic environment surrounding academia.

Its been particularly difficult trying to find peace with that unhealthy behavior. With any of it, really. I'm finding that while digging through my experiences, the guilt of how I *should have* done something or how I *handled something with very little tact or was just an abnormally evil goblin* in a situation gets overwhelming. Past me isolated myself away from a lot of people because I wanted to stop being a burden, or felt I was annoying them, or just couldn't handle the aforementioned guilt. How do you come to terms with the fact that for such a long time, you felt like a completely different person because, deep down, you were so unhealthy and unhappy?

Cultivation is a great way to start.

This is a word I overused hecka in my spring senior research capstone (thanks, plant communication!) but it's such an apt descriptor. Like, my brain, body, and soul might have been overgrown with weeds and mold and weird bugs but I'll be damned if I can't get back in there, yank those suckers out, and start a whole new garden that's ready to flourish. I've got wood chips and a fire lit under my ass. It's time to recultivate these neglected spaces, to create a new way of living that actually feels how living is supposed to. I'm tired of the past preventing me from this new era of flourishing.

The best part about cultivation is that all you need to start it is yourself. This is also the hardest part, considering that if you don't particularly like yourself it's a bit harder to get started. But one day, you'll wake up and agree with the inner calm deep inside your head that something needs to change. That day is exuberant; I wish and hope that everyone experiences it.

Here's to sunshine and self-discovery.

🌞🌿

[minoraugmentation]

Impromptu Field Test (Route 17 Fest Day 3: Job)

“Kid, stop kidding yourself. What makes you think you’re qualified to work here?”

Seventeen considered revealing his true nature to the park ranger in front of him. Cybernetic enhancements, infinite energy, flight, super-speed and strength, resistance to bullets.

Seventeen quickly decided against it. ‘I actually want a real chance, and coming off as a lunatic isn’t the way to go.’

“I’m willing to put in the time for the training and such. Just tell me what I need to do, and I promise you I can do it.”

The ranger chuckled. “Kid, you’re an amusing one: I’ll give you that.” Seventeen’s expression remained neutral.

“Fine: I’ll humor you. How good are you with a gun?”

Gun training was one of the final trials the rangers had to pass before being allowed to work in the park.

“Now, kid: this isn’t some shooting game. It’s an extremely difficult test to pass: it took me multiple tries to get this down. So don’t get cocky.”

The idea seemed simple enough. Five human-shaped targets were stationed around the jungle, simulating poachers and potential situations. Each target had multiple bulls’eyes, and the difficulty of the situations would increase, starting with a wide-open still target, then a visible moving target, a hidden target, a moving hidden target, and finally a moving target that he had to shoot while chasing down as well.

“Five targets, eight shots. We’ll advance to the next target after you’ve hit the one you’re on. You’ll be graded on shot accuracy, both in terms of hitting the targets and if you can hit any bulls’-eyes. You ready?”

It had been a while since Seventeen had felt a gun in his hand. He had carried a pistol around for fun and knew how to use it, but he saw no need for it. It wasn’t as if he needed a gun to handle himself, so what was the point of keeping it around? He’d left it in the Lucky Foods van when he, Eighteen, and Sixteen had raided Son Goku’s place on Mount Paozu.

“Can I get a couple test shots off? To familiarize myself with the feel and recoil.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. It’s fully loaded, so you’ve got 15 shots there. Once you start, you’ll be finished once I hear eight rounds.”

“We can start soon, then.” And with that, he fired once towards the ground.

Two more shots, further away. Then two shots while running, one at a jog, and another closer to a “realistic maximum” pace.

‘After all, I don’t intend to use any speed beyond what is necessary.’

“I think I’m ready, officer.”

“You’ve got two practice rounds left, but hey: if you’re ready, then go for it kid!”

“With pleasure.”

The first shot fired and met the target. Immediately, another target began moving, running past Seventeen. Quickly turning, the cyborg fired once, sinking a bullet into the second target.

Now, to find a hidden target. The jungle provided cover, with trees to hide behind or climb and bushes to hide in. Quickly scanning the treetops, Seventeen did not find a target there, so he began to search the bushes around him. As he approached a neighboring shrub, he heard a shot and quickly dodged the projectile before rushing and firing at the third target.

The fourth was a moving target that he couldn’t see, so Seventeen closed his eyes. During his search for Sixteen, the cyborg had taken up meditation and tried to train his other senses, specifically hearing. Son Goku and his friends could detect energy signals and locate their enemies that way, but against someone like him who had no detectable ki, that proved to be a hindrance.

No: instead, Seventeen tried to use his hearing to locate the fourth target. Hearing some rustling, Seventeen closed in, found his target, and fired.

The fifth target then sprang to life, running away at a decent speed (though it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle thanks to his cybernetics). It ran into the thick of the jungle, using it as a cover to escape, hide, and potentially attack if the third target were any previous indication. But the cyborg knew he could trust his reflexes, and his regular speed still outmatched the target’s.

Seventeen began to realize how well-designed this training course was for the rangers. It tested reaction time, focus, and mental processing capabilities. While the first two targets weren’t overly difficult, the two hidden targets pushed those three qualities, and in a high-leverage situation against real poachers, those skills would matter much more. And this final target incorporated all of those with the difficulty of hitting a target while on the move, either preventing them from attacking the island or escaping with the animals.

‘If they’re going to try escaping, then I’ll have to approach them quietly.’ Seventeen picked up his pace while being aware of how much noise he was making. His searches for Sixteen usually took place at night, and he had worked on not creating a commotion during his search.

His search for Sixteen. Part of why Seventeen wanted this job was to honor his friend, and his search the past ten months had helped prepare him for this moment.

Using his ears to try and get a general idea of where the target was moving towards, Seventeen located the final target and discerned its direction of movement. He then closed the gap about halfway, and before it could react, fired one shot through the trees and made contact.

“Shit kid: you got them all. And in five shots too. Never seen anything like it!”

The ranger appeared with a tablet in hand. On the screen was a picture of the five targets, each with a clear mark where Seventeen had hit them.

“Impressive showing, but honestly? You need to work on your aim, kid.”

Seventeen raised his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Those targets have rings, and you didn’t hit a single bulls’-eye.”

"I wasn’t aiming for the bulls’-eyes.”

The ranger laughed. “Kid, that’s got to be the dumbest thing I’ve heard.”

Seventeen scoffed, handing the gun back to the ranger.

“Why would I aim for the bulls’-eyes on the targets when those are supposed to represent human vital points? I only wanted to stop the targets, not kill them.”

The ranger froze as he accepted his gun.

“Isn’t this job about protecting life? Even if my job is to stop somebody, I won’t resort to killing them to do it.”

“So you’re telling me that not only did you hit all five targets without missing, but you also purposefully avoided where we focused your eyes on the targets because you didn’t want to theoretically kill them?”

Seventeen only nodded.

“Holy shit. Come with me. You’re more than qualified, in my book.”

“Just like that?”

“Kid--no: what’s your name?”

“Just call me Seventeen for now.” He didn’t really want to explain his life story unless he had to.

“Alright then, Seventeen. This way.”

Seventeen and the ranger reached the edge of the island, where they came upon a small boat.

“I just need to make a couple of calls, but you’ll definitely be leaving here an employee. In the meantime, just sit tight.”

Seventeen nodded once more. Opening his bag, he took out the Red Data Book and began to thumb through it once more. After all, now that he was going to be on the island more frequently, it would help him to be familiar with the various life forms here.

‘Sixteen, I hope you’ll be proud of me here. You’d be the best at this, big guy.’

After about an hour, a jet-copter descended onto the island. From the aircraft stepped out an older gentleman.

“Damn it, Kazuki. What the hell are you thinking, just giving out a job? And to a teenager? What kind of joke is this?”

“Sir, I’m serious. Just watch the tape and review his performance.”

The ranger, who Seventeen realized to be Kazuki, handed the tablet to the other man.

“I don’t understand how you thought it was so urgent that I needed to be called out here. For some scrawny, baby-faced kid.”

Seventeen found it humorous watching the man’s expression morph from annoyance to shock in a matter of seconds.

“Kid, your name?

“Seventeen is fine.”

“Hell, you even have like a codename or something? What are you: ex-military?”

Considering the Red Ribbon Army did have a military history, Seventeen supposed the statement wasn’t that far off.

“That said, why’s your aim so bad? Can’t you hit the red on the targets?”

“Like I told Kazuki over there, why am I trying to kill people in this training exercise? I’m here to protect life, and I won’t take life to do so.”

“So you purposefully avoided the red areas? You think these poacher scum deserve any mercy?”

“No, but I’m not the one who needs to pass judgment on them. Those who sin and destroy maybe don’t deserve a second chance, and they probably won’t ever change. But that doesn’t mean I can deny them life either.”

The old man nodded. “If I didn’t know any better, that sounds like it comes from a personal place.”

Perhaps it did. There was no reason for Seventeen to have ever received a second chance, an opportunity to reform himself, to be something that didn’t involve killing Son Goku or causing destruction. But he had ultimately been given it, when he could easily have been hunted down without a second thought.

If he, the irredeemable, could deserve a second chance, then so did anybody else. Even the lowest of the low.

“Did Kazuki tell you the truth about the bulls’-eyes?”

“The truth?”

“Truth is, you’re right. This is about protecting the lives of the animals here above everything else, and so we want to avoid unnecessary killing as often as possible. The red on the targets is actually meant for you to avoid. If you hit two bulls’-eyes, you also fail the test. You get one mistake because sometimes killing is unavoidable, but any more than that, and I can’t deem you ready.”

“So between that, avoiding the pellets from the airguns on the hidden targets, shooting on the move, and having to hit the five targets in eight shots, nobody’s ever been this efficient. So for you to do it perfectly without me even telling you to not kill them means you can definitely work here.”

“I’d like that.”

“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to tell me your real name and everything.”

Seventeen froze. This would be a problem.

“The issue is I don’t have any memory of who I am. I only really know my name, and I doubt that it’s my given name.”

Kazuki groaned. “You’re kidding. It’s not just some nickname that people use because that’s how old you look?”

Seventeen chuckled. ‘I’ll have to use that one from now on.’

“No: nothing like that. I don’t even know if fingerprint testing, eye scans, or any method of identification would bring up matches in any database.”

Actually, Seventeen knew they wouldn’t. The majority of Dr. Gero’s modifications were so that neither he nor Eighteen could ever figure out who they were. As killing machines, they had no past before him, and no future after him. They lacked fingerprints, and their eyes, hair, and teeth were major parts of their alterations. Even DNA testing would fail.

Kazuki still seemed doubtful. “Really? Try it on the tablet here.”

Seventeen pressed his thumb on the screen, holding back his power to not crack it. The scan went before returning no match.

The older man pondered this. “Well, it is an issue, but it’s not an impossible one.”

Both Kazuki and Seventeen looked puzzled.

“Since this is a government job, we could technically create an identity for you to use. Get you all the documents, make it legit.”

The cyborg was stunned. He expected the lack of identity to be the end of the road. “You’d really overlook it?”

“Kid, we need help badly to protect this island. Poachers have become a bigger problem recently, especially since the whole Cell thing ten months ago. People decided that because the world was going to end, they could do whatever they wanted, and so criminals have become more emboldened since. I’m getting you this job, damn the consequences.”

Seventeen smirked. Perhaps things were looking up.

“I’ll just keep your name as Seventeen, no last name. Birthday?”

He could have picked his activation, but another date seemed more significant.

“May 26th.”

“Speak of the devil: the Cell Games date. Fine. I’ll make it that in Age 743, so you’ll be turning 25 in a couple months. Now, to discuss salary and logistics.”

“Does this job pay well?”

“Kid, this is a very dangerous government-funded job. Your annual salary is 25 million zeni. That’s what you’d be getting after some service time and a promotion, but I’m willing to offer you it from the jump.”

Very, very well indeed.

“I accept.”

“Good. Last thing, Seventeen: you’ll have to do the last part of the training.”

Another part?

“And that would be, sir?”

“Before you get thrown into the field, I want you to spend three months getting acclimated to the creatures on the island. All the species that live here, their level of endangerment, how they live, and all that. To help you out, another person will be with you during that time.”

Seventeen turned towards Kazuki. “You?”

“Nope: not me. I’m nowhere near qualified enough to get all that information. But that person is coming as we speak.”

The older man chuckled. “Is that so? So you really were confident I’d hire him.”

“Normally, the final training of learning about the island itself lasts only a month, but we’ve done these steps out of order. That, and sorting out all the logistics of getting that identification created is going to take some time. Sorry about that, but it’s the way it has to be.”

Seventeen nodded. “That’s how it is, then. So, is this person an expert in animals?”

Kazuki laughed. “Man, she’s an animal encyclopedia. Her name is Aki, and she’s one of the top zoologists in the world. In fact, she’s contributed multiple entries to that Red Data Book you’re holding, many of which are about creatures on this island. There’s nobody better to get you familiar with the island and the life on it.”

Suddenly, a boat pulled up to the edge of the island. Out stepped a woman with red-hair, a green shirt, and jeans.

“Hey there. Are you my new temp?”

Temp? Seventeen could already tell this was going to be interesting.

“I’m Aki. Nice to meet you!”

“Seventeen. Same.”

She smirked. “A mysterious man with a mysterious name. And someone of few words, huh? I’m looking forward to working with you.”

A/N: Extremely lengthy one, and it’s probably jumbled. This is basically a direct continuation of yesterday’s prompt, and it definitely leads into tomorrow’s. The end was inspired by DBS Episode 87, when Seventeen refers to Son Goku as his temp. I’ve always headcanoned that it was the zoologist who first referred to Seventeen as her temp when they first met (and in this case, worked together). Please continue to give feedback, guys!

[derkastellan]

Review: The Butlerian Jihad (Dune)

Where to start... Just having finished The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson I find myself disappointed by the whole thing, though the writing was on the wall hundreds of pages ago. I had originally hoped that the rather thick softcover would cover the topic so broadly displayed on its cover but even of that I remain in doubt...

The Butlerian Jihad is a prequel written to Frank Herbert’s Dune cycle. The inspiration is a historical event used in those books to explain the absence of thinking machines and artificial intelligence. Herbert always painted in broad enough strokes to leave the history of his world in mystery while also providing explanation as to the why of his specific setup. The forces in play he set up for his world seem like they either were never meant to be described in more detail, and if they were, one would wish a master such as the late Herbert himself would have done so.

Prequels often suffer from similar weaknesses but even as they do, this one reads more like a Michael Stackpole novel than a true installment of Dune. Stackpole I remember fondly for his BattleTech novels that I read as a teenager. He wove a set of events, provided action scenes, a little hint of sex here and there. He is a solid, entertaining author, firmly rooted in the craft of making action-oriented, logical books, even trilogies if needed. The book at hand can also at most claim this for itself: It has been crafted. As so many prequels it also fails to surprise or to add, staying firmly rooted within the canon of the books it tries to lead up to.

Now, fandom is of course a reason for this. A prequel often avoids changing established facts or at best makes them seem in a different light. A movie like Solo just plays out the moments once alluded to in throwaway sentences. That is, of course, tripe. The Star Wars movies known as the prequels, on the other hand, try to also paint a picture of a dying world, and as such they have something to offer even if the outcome is predictable. Somewhere in between The Butlerian Jihad finds itself.

Little did I know that this was the first book in a trilogy when I grabbed it. In picking up the book at a used book store the outside fails to mention this fact, though it is mentioned inside the cover in the form of an ad. This already explains a lot about the book because it clocks in at roughly 1 1/2 times the pages of the vastly superior God Emperor of Dune, while offering precious little in terms of plot development. I mean, books 2, 3, and 4 of the Dune cycle have sometimes been criticized for their pacing but I think The Butlerian Jihad has them beat. A rather too big cast is introduced to serve as backdrop for impressions that are meant to convey scale and nature of the conflict to us. Sadly, a lot of the book merely reads like filler, often repeating the same point about a character without any poignancy.

Example? Head sorceress Zufa Cenva of Rossak is incapable of appreciating anything about her lover Aurelius Venport or her daughter Norma Cenva at the beginning, middle, and end of the book. Aurelius in turn tries to find her acknowledgment at the beginning, middle, and end of the book. The only one of the three that has a minimal character arc is Norma, who, after finding a job, dismisses her perpetually angry mother. Her minimal yet entirely predictable character arc makes her seem at least somewhat interesting. 

Predictability is one of the main traits of the whole book. Now, prequels tend to be rather predictable as one can spot telltale signs of where a certain idea is heading. TBJ makes this all-too-easy. This wouldn’t be so lame were the book not constantly to praise humanity’s ability to surprise, something which the characters (and so in turn the authors) fail to do entirely.

The book also choses a weak setup. Thinking machines need not equate a singularity. The arch villain of the story, however, is “Omnius the evermind.” An AI ruling most of human-inhabited planets, he serves as a rather weak counterpart for the story. He is entirely predictable, seems to have little ideas of his own, a weak ability to execute on them, and frankly, plain dumb and ineffective. One wishes for “him” to encounter Marvin the depressed robot and commit robo suicide.

Now, Omnius watches everything through his watcheyes but nothing relevant for the plot to proceed. His processing capacity is apparently insufficient to monitor and surveil globally. Even after 1,000 years he seems to have completely miscalculated how many machines he needs to keep humanity in check - and he also seemed to have no impetus to build an ever larger array of thinking machines to bring up the number. He seems entirely content to keep a predictable contingent of somehow independent-yet-not-independent robots around and sulk on his worlds while humans live as slaves. His motivations are completely unclear and entirely illogical throughout the book. He does not appear alien or enigmatic but entirely indecisive, flawed, and unable to press a point. He shares thoughts among his various copies through a few update ships which transfer copies. Even just thinking how these updates could possibly work seems more interesting than the book itself.

His partner in crime is Erasmus, a somewhat independent robot which Omnius keeps around as a sort of entertainment or to see if he can create something helping to predict humans better. Erasmus is a good thinking machine in that he is also entirely predictable. But maybe just because he is a character in this novel... Having to serve as the villain standin he conducts experiments reminiscent of Josef Mengele, twin studies no less, and needless vivisections. Being a device he definitely serves as a convenient plot device... He also proves that the thinking machines are entirely stupid to begin with... leading to one of the weakest points in the book.

Erasmus has actually a wager with Omnius that he can trigger a revolt inside the slave population, proving to Omnius (in a sort of “I’m smarter than you” move) that he is useful in understanding what motivates them. He is entirely incapable of anticipating that this would lead Omnius to see humanity as a bigger threat than anticipated and hence in need of extinction. Erasmus weak logical thinking has no consequences because that copy of Omnius is conveniently eradicated through the following revolt and plot events that allows Erasmus to escape to serve as the villain in another book again.

Now, the events that Erasmus sets in motion prove that almost no human in this book shows any agency. Their priorities are set by outside forces. The core of human rebellion starts with Erasmus formenting unrest and telling Omnius about it and yet nothing of it is discovered by Omnius even after that revelation. Conveniently the most dangerous rebel leader and his people are in place right when Erasmus creates an atrocity, triggering a rebellion. Given the constant cruelty exposed by the cyborg Titans throughout the book this moment seems artificial, contrived, and reeks of deus ex machina, apparently one of the main ways this book is crafted.

As an example of a human plot device, Vorian Atreides is aboard an Omnius update ship also for plot convenience. His ship conveniently reaches the newly conquered colony Giedi Prime exactly as it has been retaken by free humans but before they can claim the world fully, offering an immediate window for his escape. He also manages to return to Earth exactly after the rebellion started there but before the rebels storm Erasmus’ villa of horrors in spite of the fact the rebellion started there.

In essence the book has a staggering variety of plot holes and events linked by deus ex machine timing. The contradictions in the plot are also striking. The Titans are a group of brains-in-jars that use giant robot bodies. They originally subjugated humanity through hacking the original AIs serving mankind with more aggressive programming to serve as their army. They in turn grew complacent and when the laziest one gave in turn too much self-control to a thinking machine, Omnius was “born” and immediately and rapidly took over.

One has to wonder... how? Omnius, after 1,000 years of rule (an often repeated point) seems to sluggishly keep his copies in sync, yet managed to outpace the Titans in his rebellion and took over before they could do anything to prevent it. Omnius is behaving like a fast-replicating computer virus when the story needs it and remains an indecisive villain the rest of the time. His inability to deal with human surprise is constantly reiterated yet the Titans find no way to foil him in a millenium.

The Titans, in turn, are weak characters as well. They are constantly aggressive, repeat the same personality flaws ad infinitum, and only make smart moves when it the plot requires a setback for the free humans. The Titans and Omnius never resort to a simple plan where a plan prone to failure presents itself. Agamemnon’s plan to destroy a shield generator in the first battle is foiled by concentrating troops and fire. Defending the thing that acts as main defense of a planet is not actually tactical genius but is presented as such. (Omnius’ spy probes manage to retrieve the perfect intelligence without anyone mentioning how - like how can they know about the Holtzman Scrambler in the first place?) In the second battle, Agamemnon wins by simply dropping a big thing on top of the shield generator instead. Agamemnon loses his third battle because he apparently has no means to think. Cymeks (brains-in-jars with robot bodies) are especially vulnerable against psionic suicide attacks by the sorceresses of Rossak. In order to deal with that problem, he goes to Rossak, and uses a cymek assault against the group most effective against them. The cymeks get annihilated by predictable means and the Titans leave. Why did we need that scene?

So, in two out of the three battles Agamemnon knows what’s his enemies’ strong and weak points are and completely fails to use them. If all the book wants to do is portray Agamemnon as an incompetent fool then it certainly does well. How did he ever win any battles before? He can’t win them with overwhelming odds and superior intelligence. Sun Tzu is disappointed in you, Agamemnon. How did you conquer an empire before?

The whole thing seems like a comedy of errors. Somehow it needs Erasmus’ duplicate folly of inciting dissent and killing a child in plain view to start a comparatively successful rebellion. The rebellion succeeds largely with element of surprise and few suitable weapons and even destroys a giant Titan. Days later the much bigger ranks of the rebels are incapable of offering any significant resistance to... more Titans, doing the same... because it is not convenient for the plot. It is not really explained how they succeed initially, but they do. They in turn fail to achieve anything inconvient to the plot. And they are all killed to prove how cruel the machines and Titans really are. To top the whole love affair with genocide, the free humans arrive ... months later? And then blast all of Earth with nuclear weapons. Which conveniently prevents that copy of Omnius to ever get cloned. Which hasn’t happened yet because plot.

The slave rebellion on the “free human” world of Poritrin in turn fails but is there to show how cruel humans can be, including another one of these scene of senseless gore that the book provides whenever it wants to make a lasting impact on the reader. One is left with the impression that machines are cruel, brains-in-jars are even more cruel, and free humans are often ignorant and cruel, too, unless they just happen to love their babies or hang out with their family. 2002 also did not seem like a year that needed the point “slavery is evil” reiterated, but somehow the book feels compelled to do so. In the end, all is swallowed by plot convenience: The rebellion on Earth succeeds as far as needed to move the plot forward. Several protagonists escape Earth. Then it falters all of a sudden in spite of having momentum. The rebellion on Poritrin runs in parallel and also suddenly falters in spite of spreading rapidly. The rebellion on Earth is supposed to be ignited by religious fervor inspired into it by one protagonist. The religious fervor of the Zensunni and Zenshiites kepts as slaves on Poritrin, however, proves entirely ineffective.

If all of this is meant as a deep parable on world events or anything I failed to notice it because of the weak writing and pacing of the book. As a prequel it fails to introduce anything new. Its characters are inconsistent. Their reasoning is weak and one is surprised that among the billions of humans in a thousand years no one had better ideas than this. Also, a big part of the story is driven by characters that feel they must act for some reason - like the impatient Agamemnon. How did they fail to act for centuries before? How did their constantly flaring tempers not put them in trouble much earlier? It is said that machines are incredibly patient but you can see the Titans are not. Why does Omnius keep slaves around at all? What does he need of humanity?

The book succumbs to the illogical behavior of its protagonists in the end. The free humans nuke Earth in a symbolical gesture. What is that meant to accomplish? Their reasoning does not make sense at all. They already know the rebellion there is dead. It however provides a good rationale for Omnius to keep humans around: as hostages.

The book revels in portraying cruelty and gore. It also meanders about in search of a plot point it actually, tries to make. All the things setting up the importance of Arrakis also have to happen in the same time frame as if hurriedly setting up a stage. Holtzman shields and Holtzman effect, glowglobes and suspensor fields, the importance of Arrakis spice, folding space - most of this is set in motion during this book, in course of the same few months, as if the authors want to emulate the old fallacy that technological progress is somehow supercharged during times of war (when it really is mostly the hunt for weaponized applications in reality). But there are ten millenia between this time and the next book - I hope they invented something after this war as well?

So, if you think my review meanders all over the place, then let me tell you this book does so much much worse. It portrays parallel story threads for the sake of other books that amount to little in this one. The motivations of both thinking machines and human characters are exceedingly simple. The biggest character arc in this book is reserved for Serena Butler: Starting as a humanitarian she goes from wanting to help people to being abused and tortured and ends up as wanting some sort of glorified revenge.

Unless the other two books are of a higher quality, I’m sure no plot contrivance will be left unattempted to force the needed outcome.

[pllandcompany]

Don't You Remember? (Part Two)

Summary: A case hits home for both Roman and Logan.

Warnings: discussion of medical procedures, illness, eating disorders, cursing, mention of past addiction, past minor character death, grief, I swear it's not all sad

Pairings: Platonic Logince, Platonic Analogical, nothing else intended but feel free to ship what you see

Tagged: @ziallwarrior  @thefallendog  @jakesmolbean  @a-ghosts @band-be-boss-blog  @thecatchat  @flyingfreeyt  @apologieslogan

Notes: And here's Part Two (finally)! Just a reminder to heed the warnings, some sensitive subject matter is discussed. As always, feedback is appreciated! Link to Part One is here.

In the week that passed, Roman returned to work although he was nowhere near his usual self. He became more and more irritable as his brother's surgery date approached, hounding Logan almost every day about his plan for surgery and what techniques and equipment he would use. They were having one of these "prep" sessions in the skills lab when Virgil came in and dropped a bomb that almost blew up everything.

"The tissue is going to be friable, Logan-"

"Dr. Taylor, please." He was getting really sick of correcting everyone around here. Why couldn't they just respect his request to remain professional and detached? It certainly prevented out of control moments like this one when emotions ruled one's behavior as opposed to logic.

"Anyway! The tissue will be friable, his heart muscle is weakened so you'll have to adjust your suture technique. And use the vicryl instead of the silk, it holds better, if you know what you're doing, you should have less bleeding."

"I do know what I am doing, Dr. Courtland, this is not the first time I have inserted a pacemaker."

"Well, it's the first time you've done it on my brother so forgive me if I want to make sure you don't butcher it!"

Logan took several deep breaths to abate the frustration that was building in his chest. "With all due respect, Dr. Courtland, you are being incorrigible."

"And you're being obtuse, Jarvis! He is my brother! My family! My flesh and blood! And I am not losing him behind your screw-up because you're too proud to practice! So go again and try not to puncture the dummy's heart this time!" Logan looked down and realized his scalpel was hovering dangerously close above the center of the plastic heart and his grip on the instrument was white-knuckled. He must have picked it up in his blind rage and that realization terrified the cardiologist. He swallowed nervously, trying to squelch the panic response but not being in an actual OR relaxed his resolve too much and he began to pant anxiously. Roman was about to rip into him again for daring to get worked up when Virgil entered in a rush, not realizing what he was walking into.

"Sorry, dude, I got caught up with a thousand intern questions, we can still make the meeting if we hurry...uh...everything okay, guys?"

"No! The good doctor here was just getting ready to kill our practice patient with a 10-blade and his crappy attitude!" Roman sneered in Logans direction, hands on his hips.

"Whoa, I heard yelling! What's going on here, Virg?" Patton stepped in at that point, pausing on his way to the cafeteria when he caught wind of Roman's shouting. "They're at each others' throats prepping for Remy's surgery," Virgil whispered to the fetal surgeon who closed his eyes and sighed tiredly. "This has been going on all week, guys, and you're not accomplishing anything. Let's try to calm down." Neither one of them even acknowledged Patton's admonishings, the headstrong cardiologist snapping back at Roman with a vengeance.

"He is my patient, not yours, you pompous ass! I am the one responsible for his welfare!"

"I am going to say this again and hopefully you'll get it through your thick skull: He. Is. My. Brother! You think I'm not responsible too?! Why the hell do you think I'm here making sure you don't screw this up to high heaven? And what meeting are you even talking about, Virgil? It's Tuesday, attendings have no meetings."

Virgil and Logan froze in place, setting off alarm bells in Roman's head. "Virgil. What meeting...are you talking about?" Silence persisted. "ANSWER ME!"

Logan was the first to speak up. "He means an NA meeting, Dr. Courtland. Dr. Davidson and I have been attending NA meetings together...because I am a recovering addict." Roman couldn't believe what he was hearing; he froze trying to process the shocking information. Suddenly, something came together in his brain. "So this is why you took time off from Hopkins. Because you have a drug problem so bad that you couldn't even practice medicine!"

"He's clean, Courtland, chill. First thing I did was test him." Logan winced at the admission; he was hoping Virgil wouldn't have needed to use that information although he did warn him that he would if he felt it necessary. Virgil wouldn't have disclosed that flippantly and Logan knew that but still...

Absolutely humiliating.

"Roman," Patton warned, "stay calm. Let him explain."

"No, save it, Patton. That settles it. Not only do I want a different surgeon, I want a damn good explanation as to why you two were keeping this secret from me!"

"To avoid this reaction exactly!" Virgil yelled back. "Dr. Taylor is excellent and you know it! You're just freaking out because it's your brother!"

"I am not having my own family operated on by a JUNKIE!"

"Roman, you need to back the hell down!!" Virgil was ready to jump in Roman's face had Patton not been there to hold him back. "Virg, stop! Everyone, please just calm down and let Dr. Taylor explain!"

Logan stood to meet Roman's eyes directly, mustering all of the authority in his bones. "That won't be necessary, Dr. Parker. Dr. Courtland may fire me if he so chooses. He can learn to live with the fact that he chose a lesser doctor based on his own prejudice as opposed to what's best for his beloved family. He can learn to live with the truth that regardless of my history, I am and will remain the best cardiothroacic surgeon in this hospital, probably in this entire area. For that reason alone, I am your brother's best chance at survival. But let's take it a step further. Not only am I more than skilled enough to save him, my drug-riddled past makes me uniquely qualified to treat him. You see, Doctor, I've been where he is. I've been sick and dying in a hospital bed with hardly any will to live and I came back from it! I came all the way back from that hell and saved not only my life but countless lives after! If you think that doesn't matter to me, if you think that doesn't make me take every SECOND of this case very seriously, then you, Dr. Courtland, mistake me. I am not a robot. This is very personal and that is what makes me excellent!" A thick blanket of silence coated the room as Roman visibly trembled from shame and residual anger. Patton and Virgil both had tears in their eyes, moved by the honesty of Logan's words. Roman finally ended the uncomfortable moment, sheathing his metaphorical sword and deferring his hubris to Dr. Taylor. "Very well then," he began, voice hoarse with concession, "you may...you may stay on this...my brother's case. I'm- I'm going to go...back to work." Roman made haste to his office while the others watched still frozen in shock. Logan closed his eyes and began to pace his breathing, bringing himself back under his usual rigid control.

"Virgil? Do we still have time for that meeting?" Logan whispered.

"Yeah, buddy," Virgil sighed. "We'll make time." Suddenly, Patton let out a sob. "Pat? Are you all right? What is it?"

"I just...I never knew...and all those times we pushed you to tell us what happened at Hopkins...I'm so sorry you went through that, Logan. And-and I'm so glad you're okay!" Patton broke down on his last sentence. Logan's mouth formed a thin line, feeling terribly uncomfortable with the whole dramatic, emotional situation he just caused. Between the argument and his outburst, the cardiologist had no idea how he was meant to salvage his reputation. Up to this point, he had successfully managed to remain an island amongst himself, impervious to people and their prying ways. Until Sanders-Stokes Memorial. The people here? Well, they seemed damned determined to get under his skin.

He'd never admit it but maybe, just maybe, a little part of him didn't mind.

Logan stepped forward and placed a tentative hand on the crying fetal surgeon's shoulder. Patton's head whipped around to stare at the unexpected touch. "Yes, I am okay...I hope...this is comforting to you, Dr. Parker? Um...Pat-Patton, I mean."

Both doctors stared at him in disbelief for a brief moment. They shared a glance and Patton broke into a watery laugh, Virgil chuckling quietly next to him. "Oh my God, yeah, you're doing just fine. Go to your meeting so your spirits don't get too low...gan."

Virgil and Logan groaned in unison as they both left.

****

To the relief of everyone close to Roman Courtland, Remy's surgery went off without a hitch. Roman sat in the gallery and watched the whole thing while Logan worked deftly and efficiently, placing the pacemaker in record time while still being his most careful. Roman had to admit, he hadn't had the chance to witness the cardio surgeon work and he was truly impressed. Logan really knew his stuff. And he was definitely tough too to have fought back from everything he struggled with to get to where he was now and...

Damn it.

Roman had to apologize. That realization is what brought him to the door of Logan Taylor's office with his metaphorical tail between his legs. Logan looked up over his reading glasses when he heard the knock on the door, bracing himself for another argument.

"Dr. Courtland. You'll be satisfied to know that I'm reviewing your brother's post-op labs now and they are holding steady. He seems to be thriving after surgery."

"Oh, yes, I saw him just a while ago, he's awake and responsive. He looks good considering, yes...anyway I...I just- I wanted to...say thank you? For saving his life. I know he has a long way to go but the fact that he can go anywhere at all is because of you so...thank you."

"It is no matter, Dr. Courtland. It is my job to save lives, I was merely doing that."

"I know and very well, might I add, I watched from the gallery and you were...are...just thank you. And also...I'm sorry. I was...awful to you, just horrible and I meant none of it. You didn't deserve the way I treated you at all and I am deeply and genuinely sorry."

Logan set down the file in his hands and sighed, leveling Roman with an intense look. "Patton told me that you were behaving strangely due to your experiencing feelings of intense grief. But besides from our first encounter with him, your brother was not in any exorbitant amount of danger or emergency that would have threatened his life. He was treated effectively and now has a positive prognosis due to swift medical intervention. I am...confused as to how to you began to grieve someone who hadn't even been lost. Unless..." Roman just stared at the carpet, suddenly fixated with the swirling patterns on the floor. "It wasn't your brother you were grieving, was it?"

Roman sat on the couch next to him and took a few grounding breaths before he spoke. "I lost my dad when he and I both were too young for any of this to happen. But Alzheimer's? It's an unforgiving and greedy disease. It sneaks up on you and your family and takes things from you one by one before you can even realize they're gone. By the time you know it's there, it's got almost everything. And you're left with...with nothing."

Roman froze for a split second before completely bursting into tears. "I mi-miss my dad...so much. Every day I miss him." Logan stood slowly and tiptoed his way over to the sobbing surgeon, perching hesitantly next to him. "Dr. Courtland...I am sorry, I never knew. When did he die?"

Roman wiped his face on his jacket, steadying himself with another deep breath. "It was years ago but some days, it feels like I got the call just yesterday."

Years ago? But why? How is this still affecting him so much? Logan was at a loss, no pun intended. Aside from its textbook definition, grief was not a familiar process to him. Despite his confusion, he allowed Roman to continue. "I was in high school when he was diagnosed. He died my sophomore year of college. Six months later, Remy got hospitalized for the first time."

Finally, something in Logan clicked. "And you had no time to process his death."

Roman smiled shyly at the cardiologist. "I...I guess not. My older brother was away at college for most of the time Dad was sick so taking care of him was me and my mom's job. And when she got overwhelmed and couldn't take care of herself, I did that too. I made sure there was dinner, that my little brothers' homework was done, that everyone stayed healthy. And then when everyone was asleep, I studied. First I would do my normal homework then I would research Alzheimer's and neuroscience for hours. I sort of had this naive thought that I would become the brilliant, young doctor that cured Alzheimer's and the first person I would fix would be my father. Then he died and Remy got so bad that he needed someone to take care of him so once again, I stepped up. I had to, I wasn't-wasn't...I wasn't losing him too. And he got better after a while, he was fine or so I thought until now...this week, I was just scared. Of facing the thought of losing Remy again."

"Of facing the loss of your father again." Logan whispered, making Roman pause for a moment before nodding. "Yeah...that too."

"Dr. Courtland. I do not have words to say that will assuage your grief. You know as well as I do that pain from grieving is only helped with time and acknowledgement, to both of which I think you could devote more of yourself. However, I do understand what it means to be under pressure placed on you by your family and to be able to withstand all of what you have and still maintain positivity and grace is...impressive. It is the mark of a very good man."

"But Remy-"

"-is a product of his own pain. Not your perceived shortcomings. You didn't fail him. Unlike me, you didn't crack under the pressure, you rose up."

"Hey, neither did you," Roman turned and placed a hand on Dr. Taylor's knee briefly, removing it and flopping his hands in his lap when he felt muscles tense up underneath his palm. "You are not weak for having an addiction and you're definitely not weak for getting sober. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

"I- I don't-"

"You've been going to meetings for a reason, Dr. Taylor. Something about treating my brother was hard for you and battling that on top of my petulance had to be overwhelming."

Logan stiffened slightly, uncomfortable with being read so easily. "You people here certainly have a way of invading one's privacy, my goodness."

"Well, Patton and Virgil have unusually high emotional intelligence for surgeons and I'm literally a brain ninja so there you have it! If it makes you feel any better, your secrets are definitely safe with us."

Logan pursed his lips in thought. "Fine. I will admit there were...moments that challenged me but I would absolutely do it again and again if it meant saving a life. I owe it to the universe for seeing it fit to save mine." Roman smiled warmly, nodding his head in silent agreement. "Well, I'd do everything again except for arguing with you, that part was extremely frustrating," Logan remarked dryly. Roman's stunned expression was met with a powerful smirk from the cardiologist and he couldn't help but let out a boisterous chuckle. "The good doctor knows sarcasm! Gotta say, I was not expecting that from you but I suppose I had that coming."

Logan's smirk faded into a look of understanding. "Do not worry. It is, how Dr. Parker would say...water under the bridge. I hold no resentment towards you."

Roman smiled again, more reserved this time as he amped himself up to ask his last question. "I'm glad. May I ask one more favor of you, though? Before I wear out my welcome?" He laughed nervously, drawing a curious look from Logan.

"You may ask although your apprehension concerns me."

"It's not bad, I promise, I just...could you..? Do you mind talking to Remy with me? About recovery, I mean? I know he said he would try this time with treatment but he's said that before and maybe hearing it from someone who's been there may, I don't know, inspire him to take it seriously? But if it's too much or awkward or something, don't worry about it. Forget I said anything, actually, I just need to be on him this time-"

"Roman." His name was called with such a gentle authority that it stole the neurologist's breath. Logan leaned over and with a trembling hand and tears in his eyes grabbed the stunned doctor's knee. Roman made a mental note that touch was to be initiated on his (associate's? Friend's?) colleague's terms in the future. Right now, he reveled on the fact that it was happening at all. Logan cleared his throat and eyes to speak again, the words healing both of them from this trying ordeal.

"Absolutely, Roman. I would love to."

[callie-the-snarky-geek-blog]

RvB16 Episode 7 Review: It Just Winked At Me

Last time on Red vs Blue: O’Malley came back bitches. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. No need to go into how Grif is all alone with only a talking lens flare and all the potential angst that writers can dig up from that. Or that Atlus is a dork who obliterated Tucker and Sister into subatomic particles. None of that’s important at all. Only O’Malley matters.

Alright, so this episode has been hyped for awhile. Joe hyped it up. Kyle Taylor (the Machinima director) hyped it up. Even Gus hyped it up. Any of this can mean anything. So as we enter the shortest episode so far (only 7 minutes… I guess Joe couldn’t make the episodes longer unless he’s holding them back for later), what has all the talk been leading up to? Well… I can say it was like nothing I’ve seen before!

Overview

So good news, Tucker and Sister are alive! Yay… yeah I knew that was coming. There is no way that they’d kill a long-time character and a fan favorite character they finally made a main like that. Also it looks like the blast sobered them up. So there’s your lesson kids: if you are drunk off your ass, being blasted by God is how you sober back up! Atlus tries to kill them a couple more times before finally realizing that ‘his’ protection is making that impossible. Also we find out that Kalirama is his sister, which explains her being the Queen of the Cosmic Powers. So goign into some speculating, Kalirama mentioned being the Daughter of Time. My guess has been that the villain is Chronos, the Personification of Time. It can also refer to Cronus, the King of the Titans and father of Zeus. If Joe made Chronos and Cronus the same person who Atlus overthrew and he and Kalirama and his kids trying to keep him locked up… wow and I thought the Church and Grif families were fucked up.

Since Atlus can’t obliterate Tucker and Sister, he goes with the option of ‘let my mindless minions do it’. So he summons up a cyclopes… I am NOT joking. Some may find this too bizarre, but as someone who likes mythical shenanigans I do NOT give a shit! Plus it fits the myth theme since cyclopes’ are part of both Greek and Roman mythology. So the cyclopes obviously isn’t a Halo character, so what did they do? They… put Gus in a costume/a ton of makeup and made him do it. Yes, you read that right. The cyclopes was RvB’s very own Gustavo Sorola. It is also, I believe, RvB’s first implementation of live-action within the show, at least on this level. It’s pretty good! I mean the cyclopes is butt ugly, but I’m pretty sure that was the point… sorry Gus.

So Atlus sicks… Grugh, I think? Screw it, I’m calling him Gus. My blog, my rules. Atlus sicks Gus on the two Blues. They understandably, make a run for it. At least until Sister quips that Tucker could prove how great a fighter she is. Which she meant as sarcasm… but Tucker of course has to decide to be Mr. Macho and face Gus. The result? Both the time gun and the sword get knocked away from him. I should also point out that Gus is about 100X larger than Tucker. So he can easily crush him… yyyyeah… not your best plan Tucker.

Back in the 6th Century (not the 16th like I wrote last week, Past Callie is stupid), Huggins is trying to figure out what to do now that O’Malley has gotten away and both she and Grif are stranded. Grif is currently… I guess looking for mushrooms since he mentions eating them later. Guess since he can’t talk Italian, that’s the only way he can survive, I mean it worked on the moon! Anyways, Huggins contemplates her options. Now because she’s talking fast, it’s hard to make out everything and for whatever reason,t he RT site doesn’t have a subtitle option that I REALLY hope they fix soon. But anyways, Huggins comes u with three potential solutions:

Wait it out and let time move along until she’s back in present day. This is ruled out because it would take far too long. This one is declared a ‘maybe’.

MURDER! Kill Grif and prevent at least one dirty shisno from fucking everything up! This is also ruled out as it goes against Huggins’ code and it’s also forbidden. Oh, but Atlus can obliterate people? I sense abuse of power!

Talk to Grif and convince him to team up so that they can find a way out of the 6th Century. But if she does this, thee penalty is getting tortured int he Underworld for all eternity. But this is the only option that could work, so… ye, she risks it.

Alright, so reasoning! Huggins goes to Grif, who is pretty much refusing to believe anything that is happening. Huggins tries to convince him to help her since otherwise hey’re both gonna die. Grif doesn’t buy any of it, especially when Huggins reveals that the Gods sent her to spy on them. SO he just walks away and Huggins is probably re-considering the murder option now.

Alright, back to the moon! Tucker tries to shoot Gus… and of course fails. Stupid guns! Sister retrieves both the time gun and Tucker’s sword as Tucker himself ducks inside the base. He tries to think of what to do… and sees his old armor set, giving him an idea. Gus reaches in and grabs what looks like Tucker, eating his head. Eww, Gus! That’ll ruin your teeth!  Also is this an Attack on Titans reference? I’m positive that it’s an Attack on Titans reference. But of course it was really the empty armor which Tucker stuffed with grenades. Which go off, distracting Gus and Tucker drives in with the Warthog, driving it straight into hos face. It finally knocks Gus down and Tucker along with him.

So it looks like Tucker wins, right? Haha… yeah… about that. Sister points out that normally when you beat the boss, they come back twice as powerful. You’d think that Tucker, living in a video game, would know this but meh. SO yeah, Gus gets back up and he is not happy. Hey Tucker, tell him that they should go to Vegas! That’ll make him REALLY angry I bet! Tucker runs into the caves and seems safe since Gus’ hand is too big… until Tucker says he needs to do it one finger at a time. And Gus can understand English, so… yeah…

Fortunately before Tucker can get grabbed, Sister channels her inner Xena and attempts to use the sword, jump down form the cliffs, and stab Gus in the head. But Tucker informs her too late that the sword only works for him. SO she gets smacked away and when Tucker exits the cave to help, he gets knocked over to her. Sister points out that cyclopes’ have a fatal weakness, so Tucker goe sin and… attacks Gus’ groin. I… don’t think that’s what she meant Tucker… but it works as Gus finally hits the ground. Well… not the defeat I was expecting, but it was a defeat!

Unfortunately, Atlus decides to sick Gus’ wife on them who is rather peeved that due to this, they can’t do hanky panky and have kids. Having had enough, Tucker and Sister FINALLY do what they should have done before: open a time portal and get the fuck out of there. Where do they end up? Well remember the medieval scene from Episode 1? Well they FINALLY connected it to the main narrative as the two end up on the same tower as medieval Grif and Simmons. And the two get arrested… WELP.

Review

This episode has had a lot of mixed reception so far. I haven’t seen anyone hate it, but many were disappointing. It’s understandable why. After all the hype, it was really just about a dumb joke. A very well shot dumb joke, but a dumb joke. There’s still so little about he plot we know, nothing advanced any further here, the episode was incredibly short, and it’s still unclear what all of this is leading us to. We’re on Episode 7 and no progress has been made. I think so far Joe has the opposite problem he had last year. Last year, he rushed it because he only ha done season. This year he has more than one, but due to it he slowed down. A little too much maybe. This coming off the heels of last week’s O’Malley plot bomb and… yeah I don’t blame people in being disappointed and viewing this as completely pointless.

I didn’t know how to feel during the first viewing… but when watching ti again to write this review, I was laughing so much. I got a LOT more enjoyment out of it. To be fair, I am always like that. I always like stuff on the second watch than the first one since I knwo what’s coming and I can better process it. And watching ti again… I don’t think that this was pointless at ll. There’s no major progression with the plot, and I agree that it’s been long enough. But… I got a lot out of this episode, even form Grif’s brief scene. Not just with plot, but the work on this episode is truly impressive imo.

Before we talk about that, lets do Grif’s scene. It’s only about a minute long and the only machinimated scene. Yeah, 95% of the episode was CGI animated. But Grif’s scene, while brief, was good. I wish we saw a bit mroe follow-up on how he’s doing after O’Malley left him stranded, but him living off mushrooms I can buy. Him also goign into denial over everything I can also buy. So not as much as I was hoping for with him, but good stuff that matches his character.

The scene’s actual importance is mainly setup for what’ll happen later. It also FINALLY gave us some time with Huggins’ since Episode 1. And OMG, I absolutely love her. Her rapid fire dialogue is kind of hard to make out, but her actress did a good job at it. Huggins is cheerful, but serious about her job. She understands the importance of what’s coming, but has to resort to breaking law since she’s in a position where otherwise, everyone is doomed. She’s cute, but also sassy as evident with her response when Grif calls her Tinkerbell (is that gonna be his nickname for her when he warms up to her? I want it to be!) Seriously I am already loving the interactions between Grif and Huggins and I am really excited to see more of it! Now how they’ll get out of the 6th Century IDK, but we’ll just have to wait.

Okay, back to the res tof the episode. As I said, pretty much the entire episode is CGI animated. it’s the first major CGI fight in the season, and it was awesome. Okay it was mostly running, but it was fun to watch. Tucker plowing the Warthog into Gus was freakin’ badass. The voice acting was also on point. I have never laughed harder at Jason Saldana’s performance than I have today and Becca continues to crush it as Sister. Seriously, going all Xena with the ‘alalala!’ war-cry had me dying. An ProZD as Atus… OMG ProZD. He was fantastic in this episode and it added so much to Atlus as a character. Like he is just enjoying the show and is so unimpressed with Tucker and Sister even when they win. His animation where he’s just celebrating watching Gus winning was also so freakin’ fantastic and again, dds to the character. Seriously, I wasn’t sure what to think of Atlus before, but he has already become one of my fav RvB villain ever after this episode alone.

So onto Gus… I have no idea how Joe talked him into this. I mean he’s done worst and IDT anything will be as bad as when he did the Baby Gus RT Short. That short man… anyways! I think Gus did really well! It felt like he was truly interacting with the environment. He didn’t have to do much acting aside form grunting and going around wildly, but it felt like he was playing a monstrous cyclopes. Credit also to Joe and his directing. I don’t knwo what inspired him to do this, but OMG I am so glad he did. I mean it looks weird and it’s ridiculous.., but it’s RvB. It’s always been weird and ridiculous. Plus using live action again sells the effect that the cyclopes is a monster compared to what we’re used to with the machinima. It sold the effect really well. So kudos to Joe and to Gus because shooting this and then editing it in had to be a nightmare.

It’s why I don’t think the episode was at all pointless. I mean we DO have some minor things. We find out that Kalirama is Atlus’ sister, the villain si indeed a locked up time God, get a taste of how powerful the Cosmic Powers forces are, have some characterization for Atlus, setup for Grif and Huggins’ plot, an actual fight scene after so long, and it FINALLY ties in the medieval scene. It’s also huge on a cinematic scale, which is probably why it’s only 7 minutes. I mena Joe and his team had to fully animate the episode, shoot Gus’ scenes where he’s pretty much just interacting with air, combined the footage together, likely do re-shoots if the live action was even slightly off, edit it all together with the machinima, and… yeah. This was likely a huge pain it he ass to do for everyone involved. But I appreciate that they did. Joe is going above and beyond what he has to do. he could just do solely machinima and it would be fine. But he’s trying new things, implementing more CGI, and taking the show to the next level. Is it a hit? That’s for one to decide on their own. I think it worked here, but I don’t think they should regularly implement live action as they did. Special occasions are fine though. But I still appreciate Joe trying things and putting in the effort when he doesn’t have to. He wants to make the show as good as he can, and I can absolutely respect that.

Final Thoughts

Did they hype this one too much? Maybe a little. It was not what I was expecting at all. But I don’t thin that’s a bad thing. Again, I appreciate them going out of their way to do this. Plus the animation, dialogue, and voice acting were really good. Can I understand why people don’t like this episode and are getting weary of the season? Absolutely yes. I do hoe that Joe starts to speed up the plot soon. But I still had a fun time watching the episode, and in the end that’s what matters: having a good time. It was weird and ridiculous and I wouldn’t have it nay other way.

[calliecat93]

RvB16 Episode 7 Review: It Just Winked At Me

Last time on Red vs Blue: O’Malley came back bitches. That’s it. That's all you need to know. No need to go into how Grif is all alone with only a talking lens flare and all the potential angst that writers can dig up from that. Or that Atlus is a dork who obliterated Tucker and Sister into subatomic particles. None of that’s important at all. Only O’Malley matters.

Alright, so this episode has been hyped for awhile. Joe hyped it up. Kyle Taylor (the Machinima director) hyped it up. Even Gus hyped it up. Any of this can mean anything. So as we enter the shortest episode so far (only 7 minutes... I guess Joe couldn't make the episodes longer unless he’s holding them back for later), what has all the talk been leading up to? Well... I can say it was like nothing I’ve seen before!

Overview

So good news, Tucker and Sister are alive! Yay... yeah I knew that was coming. There is no way that they’d kill a long-time character and a fan favorite character they finally made a main like that. Also it looks like the blast sobered them up. So there’s your lesson kids: if you are drunk off your ass, being blasted by God is how you sober back up! Atlus tries to kill them a couple more times before finally realizing that ‘his’ protection is making that impossible. Also we find out that Kalirama is his sister, which explains her being the Queen of the Cosmic Powers. So... I made a post a few days ago about Kalirama’s titles and she mentioned being the Daughter of Time. My guess has been that the villain is Chronos, the Personification of Time. It can also refer to Cronus, the King of the Titans and father of Zeus. If Joe made Chronos and Cronus the same person who Atlus overthrew and he and Kalirama and his kids trying to keep him locked up... wow and I thought the Church and Grif families were fucked up.

Since Atlus can’t obliterate Tucker and Sister, he goes with the option of ‘let my mindless minions do it’. So he summons up a cyclopes... I am NOT joking. Some may find this too bizarre, but as someone who likes mythical shenanigans I do NOT give a shit! Plus it fits the myth theme since cyclopes’ are part of both Greek and Roman mythology. So the cyclopes obviously isn’t a Halo character, so what did they do? They... put Gus in a costume/a ton of makeup and made him do it. Yes, you read that right. The cyclopes was RvB’s very own Gustavo Sorola. It is also, I believe, RvB’s first implementation of live-action within the show, at least on this level. It’s pretty good! I mean the cyclopes is butt ugly, but I’m pretty sure that was the point... sorry Gus.

So Atlus sicks... Grugh, I think? Screw it, I’m calling him Gus. My blog, my rules. Atlus sicks Gus on the two Blues. They understandably, make a run for it. At least until Sister quips that Tucker could prove how great a fighter she is. Which she meant as sarcasm... but Tucker, of course, has to decide to be Mr. Macho and face Gus. The result? Both the time gun and the sword get knocked away from him. I should also point out that Gus is about 100X larger than Tucker. So he can easily crush him... yyyyeah... not your best plan Tucker.

Back in the 6th Century (not the 16th like I wrote last week, Past Callie is stupid), Huggins is trying to figure out what to do now that O’Malley has gotten away and both she and Grif are stranded. Grif is currently... I guess looking for mushrooms since he mentions eating them later. Guess since he can't talk Italian, that’s the only way he can survive, I mean it worked on the moon! Anyways, Huggins contemplates her options. Now because she’s talking fast, it’s hard to make out everything and for whatever reason,t he RT site doesn't have a subtitle option that I REALLY hope they fix soon. But anyways, Huggins comes u with three potential solutions:

Wait it out and let time move along until she’s back in present day. This is ruled out because the Reds and Blues will still be time traveling, evil time God goes free, and the universe dies. This one is declared a ‘maybe’.

MURDER! Kill Grif and prevent at least one dirty shisno from fucking everything up! This is also ruled out as it goes against Huggins’ code and it’s also forbidden. Oh, but Atlus can obliterate people? I sense abuse of power!

Talk to Grif and convince him to team up so that they can find a way out of the 6th Century. But if she does this, thee penalty is getting tortured int he Underworld for all eternity. But this is the only option that could work, so... ye, she risks it.

Alright, so reasoning! Huggins goes to Grif, who is pretty much refusing to believe anything that is happening. Huggins tries to convince him to help her since otherwise they're both gonna die. Grif doesn't buy any of it, especially when Huggins reveals that the Gods sent her to spy on them. SO he just walks away and Huggins is probably re-considering the murder option now.

Alright, back to the moon! Tucker tries to shoot Gus... and of course, fails. Stupid guns! Sister retrieves both the time gun and Tucker’s sword as Tucker himself ducks inside the base. He tries to think of what to do... and sees his old armor set, giving him an idea. Gus reaches in and grabs what looks like Tucker, eating his head. Eww, Gus! That’ll ruin your teeth!  Also is this an Attack on Titans reference? I’m positive that it’s an Attack on Titans reference. But of course, it was really the empty armor which Tucker stuffed with grenades. Which go off, distracting Gus and Tucker drives in with the Warthog, driving it straight into his face. It finally knocks Gus down and Tucker along with him.

So it looks like Tucker wins, right? Haha... yeah... about that. Sister points out that normally when you beat the boss, they come back twice as powerful. You’d think that Tucker, living in a video game, would know this but meh. SO yeah, Gus gets back up and he is not happy. Hey Tucker, tell him that they should go to Vegas! That’ll make him REALLY angry I bet! Tucker runs into the caves and seems safe since Gus’ hand is too big... until Tucker says he needs to do it one finger at a time. And Gus can understand English, so... yeah...

Fortunately, before Tucker can get grabbed, Sister channels her inner Xena and attempts to use the sword, jump down from the cliffs, and stab Gus in the head. But Tucker informs her too late that the sword only works for him. SO she gets smacked away and when Tucker exits the cave to help, he gets knocked over to her. Sister points out that cyclopes’ have a fatal weakness, so Tucker goe sin and... attacks Gus’ groin. I... don’t think that’s what she meant Tucker... but it works as Gus finally hits the ground. Well... not the defeat I was expecting, but it was a defeat! 

Unfortunately, Atlus decides to sick Gus’ wife on them who is rather peeved that due to this, they can't do hanky panky and have kids. Having had enough, Tucker and Sister FINALLY do what they should have done before: open a time portal and get the fuck out of there. Where do they end up? Remember the medieval scene from Episode 1? Well, they FINALLY connected it to the main narrative as the two end up on the same tower as medieval Grif and Simmons. And the two get arrested... WELP.

Review

This episode has had a lot of mixed reception so far. I haven’t seen anyone hate it, but many were disappointing. It’s understandable why. After all the hype, it was really just about a dumb joke. A very well shot dumb joke, but a dumb joke. There’s still so little about the plot we know, nothing advanced any further here, the episode was incredibly short, and it’s still unclear what all of this is leading us to. We’re on Episode 7 and no progress has been made. I think so far Joe has the opposite problem he had last year. Last year, he rushed it because he only has done season. This year he has more than one, but due to it he slowed down. A little too much maybe. This coming off the heels of last week’s O’Malley plot bomb and... yeah I don’t blame people in being disappointed and viewing this as completely pointless.

I didn’t know how to feel during the first viewing... but when watching ti again to write this review, I was laughing so much. I got a LOT more enjoyment out of it. To be fair, I am always like that. I always like stuff on the second watch than the first one since I know what’s coming and I can better process it. And watching ti again... I don’t think that this was pointless at ll. There’s no major progression with the plot, and I agree that it’s been long enough. But... I got a lot out of this episode, even form Grif’s brief scene. Not just with the plot, but the work on this episode is truly impressive imo.

Before we talk about that, let's do Grif’s scene. It’s only about a minute long and the only machinimated scene. Yeah, 95% of the episode was CGI animated. But Grif’s scene, while brief, was good. I wish we saw a bit more follow-up on how he’s doing after O’Malley left him stranded, but him living off mushrooms I can buy. Him also going into denial over everything I can also buy. So not as much as I was hoping for with him, but good stuff that matches his character.

The scene’s actual importance is mainly setup for what’ll happen later. It also FINALLY gave us some time with Huggins’ since Episode 1. And OMG, I absolutely love her. Her rapid-fire dialogue is kind of hard to make out, but her actress did a good job at it. Huggins is cheerful, but serious about her job. She understands the importance of what’s coming but has to resort to breaking law since she’s in a position where otherwise, everyone is doomed. She’s cute, but also sassy as evident with her response when Grif calls her Tinkerbell (is that gonna be his nickname for her when he warms up to her? I want it to be!) Seriously I am already loving the interactions between Grif and Huggins and I am really excited to see more of it! Now how they’ll get out of the 6th Century IDK, but we’ll just have to wait.

Okay, back to the res tof the episode. As I said, pretty much the entire episode is CGI animated. it’s the first major CGI fight in the season, and it was awesome. Okay it was mostly running, but it was fun to watch. Tucker plowing the Warthog into Gus was freakin’ badass. The voice acting was also on point. I have never laughed harder at Jason Saldana’s performance than I have today and Becca continues to crush it as Sister. Seriously, going all Xena with the ‘alalala!’ war-cry had me dying. An ProZD as Atus... OMG ProZD. He was fantastic in this episode and it added so much to Atlus as a character. Like he is just enjoying the show and is so unimpressed with Tucker and Sister even when they win. His animation where he’s just celebrating watching Gus winning was also so freakin’ fantastic and again, dds to the character. Seriously, I wasn’t sure what to think of Atlus before, but he has already become one of my fav RvB villain ever after this episode alone.

So onto Gus... I have no idea how Joe talked him into this. I mean he’s done worst and IDT anything will be as bad as when he did the Baby Gus RT Short. That short man... anyways! I think Gus did really well! It felt like he was truly interacting with the environment. He didn’t have to do much acting aside form grunting and going around wildly, but it felt like he was playing a monstrous cyclops. Credit also to Joe and his directing. I don’t know what inspired him to do this, but OMG I am so glad he did. I mean it looks weird and it’s ridiculous.., but it’s RvB. It’s always been weird and ridiculous. Plus using live action again sells the effect that the cyclops is a monster compared to what we’re used to with the machinima. It sold the effect really well. So kudos to Joe and to Gus because shooting this and then editing it in had to be a nightmare. 

It’s why I don’t think the episode was at all pointless. I mean we DO have some minor things. We find out that Kalirama is Atlus’ sister, the villain is indeed a locked up time God, get a taste of how powerful the Cosmic Powers forces are, have some characterization for Atlus, setup for Grif and Huggins’ plot, an actual fight scene after so long, and it FINALLY ties in the medieval scene. It’s also huge on a cinematic scale, which is probably why it’s only 7 minutes. I mean Joe and his team had to fully animate the episode, shoot Gus’ scenes where he’s pretty much just interacting with air, combined the footage together, likely do re-shoots if the live action was even slightly off, edit it all together with the machinima, and... yeah. This was likely a huge pain in the ass to do for everyone involved. But I appreciate that they did. Joe is going above and beyond what he has to do. he could just do solely machinima and it would be fine. But he’s trying new things, implementing more CGI, and taking the show to the next level. Is it a hit? That's for one to decide on their own. I think it worked here, but I don’t think they should regularly implement live action as they did. Special occasions are fine though. But I still appreciate Joe trying things and putting in the effort when he doesn't have to. He wants to make the show as good as he can, and I can absolutely respect that.

Final Thoughts

Did they hype this one too much? Maybe a little. It was not what I was expecting at all. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Again, I appreciate them going out of their way to do this. Plus the animation, dialogue, and voice acting were really good. Can I understand why people don’t like this episode and are getting weary of the season? Absolutely yes. I do hope that Joe starts to speed up the plot soon. But I still had a fun time watching the episode, and in the end, that’s what matters: having a good time. It was weird and ridiculous and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (5 of 6)

After an indulgence of some procrastination, here’s the penultimate load of episode reviews for season 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation…

Episode 20: Tin Man

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise brings aboard the Betazoid mission specialist Tam Elbrun and takes him to a distant star system. Elbrun, whom Deanna Troi previously knew when he was a mental patient and she was a psychology student, has a history of mental instability due to overpoweringly strong telepathic capabilities that have been active since birth (most Betazoids develop their telepathic abilities in adolescence).  However, his unique skills are used for first contact situations with alien life. On this particular mission, Elbrun's abilities are needed to try to coax a giant sentient spaceship, code named "Tin Man," away from a star that is about to go supernova. It also comes to light that the star is in a Romulan-claimed area of space, and that this is a race to claim the living ship. Elbrun finds it impossible to filter out the thoughts of the Enterprise crew, but finds solace in meeting Lt. Commander Data, by whom Elbrun is initially puzzled, finding what he calls 'absence of mind'; he finds relief in developing a friendship with Data, who, being an artificial lifeform, has no organic mind to be read.

 When they arrive, the Enterprise is attacked and disabled by a Romulan Warbird that has overly stressed its engines to catch up to them. The Romulans race ahead to try and communicate with Tin Man. When Elbrun gleans from the Romulans telepathically that they intend to destroy Tin Man if they can't claim it, he sends it a telepathic warning to Tin Man. Tin Man suddenly comes to life and emits an energy wave that destroys the Warbird and further damages the Enterprise. Elbrun, now in communication with Tin Man, reveals that it calls itself Gomtuu. The creature is millennia old and formerly had a crew, but they were lost in a radiation accident. Due to a combination of remorse, loneliness, and a lack of purpose, Gomtuu wishes to die in the supernova. Elbrun requests to be beamed aboard the creature, but Captain Picard is cautious of this action. When a second warbird arrives, Picard lets Elbrun transport to Gomtuu along with Data to help procure the ship. Elbrun is initially overwhelmed by Gomtuu, but eventually comes to identify himself with the ship.

 With the supernova imminent, the elated Elbrun informs Data he will stay with Gomtuu, believing it is where he truly belongs. Moments before the start of the supernova, Gomtuu creates another energy wave that sends the Enterprise and the Warbird spinning out of the star system in separate directions before they are caught in the nova blast. As the Enterprise regains control, they find Data aboard the bridge, who reports what happened aboard Gomtuu. When Data discusses the events with Troi, Data acknowledges that like Elbrun with Gomtuu, the Enterprise is where he belongs.

Review:

This episode was apparently co-written by a trio of writers in response to the fire quality of the opening five minutes of the second season episode ‘Samaritan Snare’, and then further developed from that initial spec script when the show needed an episode that looked easy to put into production while other scripts were still being re-worked.  It’s a writing motivation I can certainly understand; some of my own writing decisions are in response to my dissatisfaction with other works in the same genre.  For example, I don’t like how some films, TV shows and even modern comics work in a mixed array of characters that gives the feeling they’re trying to essentially manufacture an air of diversity, rather than allowing the diversity to just be ‘part of the background’ and focus more on narrative.  As such, my novel work will hopefully include a level of diversity that matches what I’ve experienced in real life and that is just an accepted part of that world, thereby allowing the story to retain centre stage.

 Trek itself is the epitome of ‘diversity in the background’ because it’s never needed to really call any special attention to how mixed its various crews have been over the various shows.  It just gets on with telling the story at hand, and the diversity just shows itself through the performance and development of the characters and the issues their stories handle.  Sadly, ‘Tin Man’ fails to include any kind of character or issue exploration.  We don’t get into what Tam goes through as an overwhelmed psychic enough because we’ve got this living starship being sought by the Romulans as well as by the Federation, and Tam and the Romulans take up screen time that could have been spent really exploring the living ship idea.

 Frankly, I think the X-Men comics of the early 80’s did better with the concept of a living spaceship creature when they introduced the Acanti during the Brood Saga.  Maybe Trek should have asked Chris Claremont to ship in a script or two, considering the number of episodes I’ve noted to date that include stories covered better by his X-Men run than by TNG.  I also don’t get where Data’s ‘realisation’ about belonging on the Enterprise comes from, given that at no point in the entire episode does Data question whether he belongs on the Enterprise, nor does anyone else.  This final scene makes the episode all the poorer because it just doesn’t make sense, and yet the people who wrote it did so in protest over a previous episode that also made little sense in many areas.  Ultimately, I give this episode 4 out of 10.

Episode 21: Hollow Pursuits

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise in the process of transporting Mikulak biological tissue samples intended for use in combating an epidemic of Correllium fever on Nahmi IV. The transport of the samples is delicate, and when they find one of the sample containers is leaking, they are forced to destroy it to prevent the contamination of the other samples. Lt. Commander La Forge tells Commander Riker he is concerned that one of his engineers, Reginald Barclay, has been underperforming and notes that he is late to help with the sample transport. What La Forge does not realize is that Barclay has been in the holodeck acting in a simulation of other Enterprise crew members, avoiding contact with their real counterparts. La Forge requests that Barclay be transferred from the Enterprise but Picard recommends that La Forge take Barclay on as a "pet project".

 La Forge works at supporting Barclay as their team works to investigate the failure of unconnected systems around the ship. Picard invites Barclay to a bridge meeting to review the investigation, but slips up and accidentally calls him "Broccoli", a nickname given to him by Wesley Crusher, due to Barclay's tendency to 'veg out'. Barclay later returns to the holodeck to seek refuge in the simulated version of the bridge members. In talking to La Forge, Guinan suggests that Barclay is simply imaginative and that La Forge keep a more open mind towards him. On her advice, La Forge visits Barclay on the holodeck and discovers the exaggerated simulation of the bridge crew. La Forge suggests Barclay get counselling from Counsellor Troi, whose counterpart on the holodeck displays clear signs of sexual attraction towards Barclay. Barclay attempts to undergo a real counselling session with Troi, but freaks out when she tries to relax him with the appearance of actions his holodeck version of her would do, and ends the counselling session to flee back to the holodeck.

 When Barclay cannot be located to attend a briefing with Riker, Riker storms into the holodeck with La Forge and Troi to locate him. They find comical versions of the senior staff, with bumbling versions of Picard and La Forge, a slothful idiot version of Wesley, and an extremely short, comical version of Riker. Riker attempts to stop the program angrily, but Troi stops him saying it might traumatize Barclay and exploring this world can help them understand Barclay better. However, when they come across the sexed-up version of her, it's her turn to want to immediately stop the program, but Riker stops her, sarcastically throwing her own words in her face. They finally locate Barclay sleeping in the lap of a fantasy Dr Crusher.

 Suddenly, the Enterprise mysteriously accelerates to warp speeds, and Riker, La Forge and Barclay go to Engineering to discover the matter/anti-matter injectors have jammed; the ship will continue to accelerate until its structural integrity collapses unless the injectors are cleared. The team is unable to come up with any immediate solutions that will work in the limited time they have, but Barclay realizes all the failures they have seen have been connected by a human element: a member of La Forge's Engineering team has been present at each incident, so he surmises that somehow they became carriers of an undetectable contaminant. Using a process of elimination, they reduce the possible contaminants from 15,525 to 2. The contamination that has been interfering with the systems is quickly discovered to be invidium, which was used as part of the Mikulak samples. They are able to quickly repair the injectors, stop the ship, and set course for a nearby starbase to remove the rest of the invidium contamination. La Forge commends Barclay for his contribution in saving the ship.

 Barclay returns one more time to the holodeck and addresses the simulated bridge crew, believing it best he leaves them, and then deletes all of his holodeck programs but one.

Review:

According to a note on Wikipedia, the episode writer claims that the central guest character of Lt. Reg Barclay was meant to be a satire of Trekkies and their tendency to develop obsessions with certain characters, though notes on the Trek wiki site Memory Alpha refute this. Frankly, I’m inclined to believe the Memory Alpha notes more just because what the episode gives us isn’t consistent with the kind of satire Wikipedia seems to think this is.  If it was a satire of Trek fans, then Barclay would either be obsessed with the main characters and spending too much time with them, or he’d be spending too much time with totally made-up characters relative to the ‘real-life’ of the Trek world.

 What we instead get is Barclay playing out how he wishes he could be with real people in a fantasy world, and this is something I think everyone can relate to.  We all experience difficulties with friends and colleagues, and given access to holodeck technology, I don’t think there’s a single soul who wouldn’t want to re-create those moments of difficulty in ways we wish they had gone. Of course, the hidden trap in such an approach to resolving issues is that you can then be seduced by the fantasy to the point of neglecting reality, which in turn is what happens to Barclay, and it takes Geordi relating his experiences from the episode ‘Booby Trap’ earlier in the series to bring Reg out of his shell and out of what would ultimately be self-destructive behaviour.

 Barclay is a great guest character played by actor Dwight Shultz, who manages to reprise this role many times throughout the TNG TV show, as well as in the second TNG film and a number of episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.  It’s refreshing to see that someone can still be a bit of a ‘fish out of water’ in the world of Trek without being an alien, an android or something simply not human, and we also get good development of Geordi, as he gets a chance to be a sympathetic and tolerant commanding officer who is willing to help Barclay (we haven’t seen Geordi play this side of being a commanding officer much).  This isn’t quite the best of Trek, but it comes pretty damn close.  I’d give it 8 out of 10.

Episode 22: The Most Toys

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is called to assist the colony on planet Beta Agni II, which has suffered contamination to its water supply. They meet with the Jovis, a ship owned by the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo, a trader who so happens to have hitritium, the extremely rare compound needed to neutralize the contamination. The volatile substance cannot be beamed aboard, so Lt. Commander Data is assigned to make several shuttle trips to collect the cargo. Just before the final trip, Data is kidnapped, and his shuttle is rigged to explode. The Enterprise crew scan the debris and finding trace elements matching Data. As a result, they believe he is dead, and are forced to leave to continue their mission.

 Data is reactivated in a secured room and is met by Fajo, who explains he collects rare and valuable objects and has kidnapped Data due to his uniqueness. Fajo's assistant Varria tells Data to change out of his Enterprise uniform and to sit in his chair. Data refuses to follow orders and remarks that they are both Fajo's prisoners.

 Mourning the supposed loss of their friend, Geordi is certain that he is missing something about Data's destruction. Geordi takes his hypothesis to Picard and Riker, stating that the reason he can't find anything is there's nothing to indicate a malfunction. He explains that the only option is pilot error, but doesn't believe it as the odds are too vast to calculate. Picard gives him some words of solace and dismisses him. Picard and Riker select Worf as Data's replacement.

 In an effort to make Data comply with his wishes, Fajo says that he isn't at war with anyone and is in fact Data's liberator. He prods Data about whether or not he is capable of killing anyone, and Data states that he is programmed to never kill except in self-defence, and thus would be incapable of murder. When Data still refuses to submit, Fajo splashes a solvent on Data's uniform that dissolves it so he will be compelled to change his clothes.

 Geordi and Wesley run through Data's communications during the shuttle trips, with Geordi noting that Data follows protocol to the letter. Wesley further points out that Data didn't report the shuttle clearing the cargo bay of the Jovis on the final transmission, per protocol. Geordi and Wesley conclude that for Data to not follow standard procedures, such as not reporting something wrong, is not like him unless there was something wrong with Data himself.

 Data remains defiant against Fajo's attempts to make him an object of display, purposely remaining silent and immobile when Fajo shows off his collection to a rival trader. Only when Fajo threatens to kill Varria with a very rare and illegal Varon-T disruptor does Data agree to follow Fajo's orders and sits in the chair.

 The Enterprise crew arrives at the colony and uses the hitridium to neutralize the contamination, but finds it works far more quickly than it should and deduce that the contamination had been caused deliberately, leading them back to Fajo. They return to the last-known location of the Jovis to track Fajo down.

 Varria decides to help Data to escape. During the attempt they set off alarms that alert Fajo, and when he gets there, he uses the Varon-T disruptor on Varria, killing her without remorse. Data picks up the spare Varon-T that Varria had possessed and threatens to use it on Fajo. Fajo in turn threatens to murder more of his assistants if Data doesn't comply with his demands, believing that Data's programming will prevent him from shooting Fajo and to preserve the assistants' lives by submitting. Fajo further taunts Data to shoot him, mocking him as "just an android" incapable of feeling rage at Varria's death. Data states that he cannot allow this to continue and gets ready to shoot Fajo, much to the latter's shock. The Enterprise arrives and suddenly beams Data back aboard, discovering that the disruptor was in the process of discharging. Data is met in the transporter room by Commander Riker, and requests that Fajo be taken into custody, with Riker responding that arrangements have already been made. When Riker asks why the disruptor was energized, Data only offers that something may have happened during transport.

 Data visits Fajo in the brig, where Fajo laments the reversal of their situation, but says defiantly that he will again add Data to his collection one day. Data informs Fajo that his stolen collection has been confiscated, and all his possessions returned to their rightful owners. Fajo remarks, "It must give you great pleasure." Data replies "No, sir, it does not. I do not feel pleasure. I am only an android." He then leaves a stunned Fajo alone in the brig.

Review:

This is a decent Data episode, though nowhere near on the same level as ‘The Offspring’ from earlier in this season. Given the conclusion and how that feeds back to an earlier conversation with the guest villain, the episode seems to be an exploration into how a being of no emotion and pure logic handles captivity, villainy and where the line lies between a justified act of defence and an act of murder.  It’s intriguing to watch, but flawed in that apparently, the show’s producers tried to make the episode’s ending ambiguous.  Of course, they haven’t succeeded, because O’Brien detects Data’s weapon firing while Data is being beamed to safety.  Clearly that means Data was going to kill Fajo and had been in the process of firing, otherwise the transporter sensors couldn’t have detected and neutralised the weapon’s discharge.

 What might be ambiguous, however, is thy why. Why did Data fire?  Was it out of sheer logic, reasoning that killing Fajo was necessary to safeguard the lives of his crew and future victims of his collection-oriented piracy and kidnapping?  Was it because on some level of pure logic Data could not allow Fajo to keep stalemating him into compliance and captivity?  Or was it possible that at this time when Data lacked an in-built capacity for emotion, there was a brief moment where Data’s positronic brain developed a split-second of emotional awareness and he acted based on that?  My guess is it’s more likely to be one of the first two, but really, it’s in that one area that the episode makes its mark.  For me, the episode as a whole is worth around 8 out of 10.

Episode 23: Sarek

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Federation Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan has arrived on board the Enterprise with his human wife, Perrin. His mission is to attend a conference to lay the foundation for a treaty between the Federation and an alien race called the Legarans, after which time he will retire due to old age. Though Captain Picard and his crew attempt to provide for Sarek and have arranged for a chamber music concert for him, the ambassador expresses apprehension and annoyance. Picard is surprised when Sarek starts crying in the middle of the performance, an emotional trait Vulcans normally suppress.

 Across the ship, the crew members start to act with uncharacteristic hostility towards one another, leading to a large brawl in the Ten Forward lounge. The onset of the events is tied to Sarek's arrival. Ship's Counsellor Deanna Troi and Chief Medical Officer Dr Beverly Crusher believe Sarek may be suffering from Bendii syndrome, a degenerative neurological disease that only affects aged Vulcans. This condition causes individuals to lose control of their emotions and emit "broadcast empathy", destabilizing the emotions of others around them. Picard attempts to approach Sarek about this, but Sarek's aides deny that there are any problems. Picard asks Lt. Commander Data to speak with Sakkath, Sarek's assistant, who has mutual respect with Data; Data confirms that Sakkath has been attempting to channel his mental discipline into Sarek, but Sarek has been overwhelmed by the pressures of the conference. Picard directly confronts Sarek on the matter, who attempts to deny the problem. When Sarek breaks down emotionally in front of Picard, Picard realizes they may need to cancel the conference.

 As Picard prepares to cancel with the Legarans, Perrin arrives and suggests an alternative option: Sarek could mind meld with another, allowing him to temporarily transfer his emotions onto someone else. This would leave Sarek able to successfully complete the conference and maintain his dignity, reputation and honour. Sarek, however, warns of the possible dangers to the receiver's mind from Sarek's strong emotions. Picard willingly agrees to be the host. Sarek performs the mind meld with Picard, and is able to retain full control of his emotions for the duration of the conference. However, Picard, monitored closely by Dr Crusher, suffers through the numerous emotions that Sarek has pent-up for years, including his regrets of not being able to show his love for his first wife Amanda, their son Spock, or his current wife Perrin. With the conference successfully completed, Sarek prepares to take his leave. Picard lets Perrin know of Sarek's love for her, and Perrin says she has always known it. Sarek thanks Picard for his kindness, and with deep respect states: "We will always retain the best part of the other, inside us."

Review:

This is a great watershed moment for The Next Generation, as for a long time Gene Roddenberry had been adamant about not allowing the show to reference the original series directly.  However, with this episode that caveat was lifted, and by having Spock’s father appear on Picard’s Enterprise, we get the first truly explicit link between the two series since Dr McCoy appears in the TNG pilot. The long life-span of Vulcans meant the original actor for Sarek from the Original Series productions got to reprise the role, adding nicely to the continuity of the franchise.  It’s great seeing Sarek and Picard together, and the episode makes for an interesting metaphorical nod to dementia among the elderly, and with a proud Vulcan as the focal point, even Sarek’s denials of the condition and emotional outbursts are on-point for how some people might react when coming to terms with such ailments in real life.

 Less good, however, is having to sit through all the scenes where members of the main cast and others experience the random broadcasts of anger from Sarek.  They’ve all got that ‘characters acting weird for weirdness’ sake’ vibe to them, which is often the case with Trek.  Almost no one they hire to play a role can play that character possessed or mentally altered without making it blatant something had happened.  It would be nice if every once in a while, they could play such changes more subtly so the audience is genuinely surprised when it turns out what we’ve just seen was down to external influence x, y or z.  When it comes to mysteries, some people may like the over-telegraphing of something like Columbo.  Me, give me a traditional Poirot or Marple-style mystery where the solution takes some work to discover.  For me, these two sides of the equation bring the episode to a balances score of about 8 out of 10.

Episode 24: Ménage à Troi

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

At a reception aboard the Enterprise following a trade conference on Betazed, Counsellor Deanna Troi argues with her mother, Lwaxana Troi, about her insistence that Deanna get married and raise a family. At the same party, Lwaxana is approached by the Ferengi Daimon Tog of the ship Krayton, who is interested in Lwaxana in a sexual way, but also explains he would like Lwaxana to use her telepathy to help him in his business dealings. Lwaxana rejects him flatly, then becomes irate and remarks that she would rather eat Orion Wing Slugs than date Tog. Deanna tries to speak with Lwaxana in her quarters about the incident, but winds up becoming infuriated over Lwaxana's pet name for her, "Little One," and leaves.

 Afterwards, at the urging of Captain Picard, Commander Riker and his one-time flame, Deanna, decide to take a quick shore leave on Betazed while the Enterprise heads out on a routine mission studying a nebula. Lwaxana tracks down her daughter and Riker, with intent to encourage a renewed romance between the couple. She is just getting started when Daimon Tog beams down. As Riker expresses his surprise, Tog states that he has come for Lwaxana. When he is again rebuffed by Lwaxana, this time under pain of provoking an interstellar incident, Tog has himself and the others transported aboard the Krayton, leaving a confused Mr. Homn to wonder where his employer has gone.

 The three awaken in a cell aboard the Krayton. Tog then has Deanna and Lwaxana beamed into the lab of Farek, a Ferengi doctor who hopes to study Lwaxana's telepathy using mind probes. In the process of transporting them he leaves the women's clothing behind, saying that women are not worthy enough to wear clothes. Lwaxana pretends to be interested in Tog, and gains Deanna's return to the cell with Riker by agreeing to discuss with Tog a proposal to use her telepathic abilities in trade negotiations.

 Riker entices a Ferengi guard into a chess game, and once outside the cell, Riker quickly overpowers the guard. Once freed, Deanna and Riker attempt to send a message to the Enterprise, only to learn that the ship's communication system is secured by access code. As Lwaxana seduces Tog by rubbing his ears, she receives a telepathic message from Deanna asking her to try to get Tog's access code.

 Lwaxana has nearly gotten Tog to tell her the code when Farek walks in and catches her in the act. Farek threatens to humiliate Tog by revealing his incompetence to the Ferengi, but offers to forget the incident if Lwaxana is turned over to him for experimentation, despite the fact that the proposed tests may be lethal.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise leaves the nebula, which has been interfering with communications, and learn from Betazed officials that Riker and the Trois have been kidnapped. Returning to Betazed, the Enterprise crew discovers flowers indigenous to a Ferengi planet at the spot where Deanna and Riker were last seen. Picard orders a frequency scan to see if Riker has somehow sent a message, but are unable to pick up anything discernible. In fact, Riker has tapped into the system on the Krayton that suppresses Cochrane distortion from the ship's warp field, and modulated it to generate a signal using unsuppressed distortion into a pattern he hopes the Enterprise crew will recognize.

 In the midst of the search, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher is in final preparation to depart to Earth for his second attempt to pass the Starfleet Academy entrance exam. Just as he is about to leave, he realizes that the modulated interference itself may be the signal, and rushes back to the Bridge, missing his transport back to Earth. Decoding the signal, young Crusher finds Riker has provided the heading of the Krayton and the Enterprise heads out in pursuit.

 In the meantime, Deanna is experiencing great pain as she senses the mind probes being used on her mother. Riker, having finished setting up the modulation of the Cochrane distortion, arms himself and bursts into Farek's lab to free Lwaxana, but a standoff ensues when Tog enters with a phaser. Just then the Enterprise arrives, and Lwaxana buys the release of Troi and Riker by agreeing to stay with Tog and serve him both as a lover and a business partner. After Riker and Deanna are returned to the Enterprise, Picard begins to play the role of a jealous lover on Deanna’s advice, describing his love for Lwaxana and telling Tog that if he cannot have her no one will, and threatens to destroy the Krayton if she is not delivered to him immediately. When Picard tries to "win back" Lwaxana at the end, he recites parts of three William Shakespeare sonnets and Canto 27 of "In Memoriam A.H.H.", by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Fearing for his life Daimon Tog hurriedly beams Lwaxana directly to the Enterprise Bridge and leaves the area post-haste. So taken is Lwaxana by Picard's poetic profession of "love" for her that she takes her place on his lap in the command chair, causing Picard to quickly tell Ensign Crusher to "set course for Betazed", almost whispering "warp nine".

 Crusher is told that he will have to wait for another year before he can reapply for entrance to Starfleet Academy, but in the interim the Enterprise will continue to benefit from him. Picard also tells him that, in his eyes, he isn't an 'Acting Ensign' anymore and thus gives him a field promotion to full Ensign in light of his contributions to the ship and crew.

Review:

A Lwaxana Troi episode is generally never a good thing in my opinion, though this one is more tolerable than most with regards to Majel Barrett’s performance this time around, and for once the Ferengi make decent guest adversaries.  However, the bridge scene near the end when Picard starts quoting romantic poetry demanded an extensive fast-forward.  The whole thing felt forced, and while in one sense it would be considering Picard can’t really stand Lwaxana, someone who was coaching Data on acting back in the episode ‘Deja Q’ should have been able to give a more convincing performance. Clearly Ferengi theatre must be truly abysmal, if they have any, because that’s the only way I can see Daimon Tog buying Picard’s performance at all.

 Luckily, the B-plot surround Wesley missing Star Fleet Academy again and becoming a full ensign regardless is much better, and compensates for the main plot a fair bit.  However, it still indicates a bad TNG episode if you need a Wesley-centric story line to save the episode; after all, since when is it etiquette for the hard-to-write child character to surpass the boss’ wife and, in so doing, make the episode her influence has all but broken?  For me, this episode only racks up a mere 6 out of 10 while reminding me, as it should everyone else, that Majel Barrett’s best Trek performances are lending her voice to Starfleet computers.

[cat-the-dragon]

Even Now We Feel The Shape Of Your Absence

I blame @camsthisky and @comicroute for this. If you are not them, I am sorry, this is very angsty, and things aren’t getting fixed afterwards.

Read on Ao3

Damian swung through the Gotham sky.

He was alone, that wasn't in any way particular now, he'd grown tall and strong enough that no one particularly worried for him anymore. And he had been avoiding crippling or killing for long enough that they didn't particularly feel the need to protect Gotham's disreputable nightlife from him either.

But even without that, this wasn't a night where his family felt like monitoring him anyway.

Every year, when the anniversary came around, no one felt like butting in on anyone else's business, each one of them much too preoccupied with guilt and grief.

This was the night for mourning.

All of Gotham knew it. They knew this was the fifth year anniversary of one of their vigilante’s death. They knew it was the night when none of the Bats felt particularly benevolent. Some had tried to use the memory of their loss against them, maybe they thought the heroes would be sloppy on the anniversary. They weren't. They were furious and easy to anger because that was an easier emotion to process than the crushing guilt.

No one tainted their lost member's death anniversary with crime nowadays.

The streets were eerily calm as a result.

A full body cast didn't particularly appeal to people after all.

The outside heroes didn't contact them either.

They either understood and shared their pain and loss (and some of the guilty feeling); or at least were wary of setting of the Bats' tempers by disrupting their gloom.

Damian landed down on The Street.

It was bare of anything or anyone.

It hadn't been like that at first.

There had been candles and flowers all along the sidewalk and on the roofs around for the whole week after they found the body.

People had come by to pay their respects on the first anniversary too, left tokens.

But it had been a long time since the tragedy, other things had happened to push that one particular death away from the Gothamites' minds. Other deaths, other problems.

But not for the family.

Not for any of the Bats.

Or Robin.

The sidewalk was grimy but intact.

Damian felt there should at least have been a dent on the sidewalk to mark all the hurt this place had inflicted on his family.

But it wasn't the sidewalk's fault. Or even the rooftop up above's.

It wasn't even their departed member's fault.

It was their fault. Collectively, as a family. As allies.

They should have seen this coming, but they hadn't.

They had all been too absorbed in their own selves and their own problems that they hadn't seen the obvious. Hadn't predicted the predictable. Hadn't prevented the preventable.

Damian remembered the moment he'd discovered the tragedy. The moment they'd discovered they were one short.

How could he not?

It was engraved in his memories like an unhealing brand.

He remembered with shame how he'd first scoffed at the inquiry for his older ally. How he'd then said something insulting about his then already dead ally.

He remembered the tension mounting, the dread seeping in on their com channels.

He remembered the ping on the untriggered emergency beacon, the Batpeople converging toward This very Street.

He remembered the gasps, the questions, the mayhem.

He remembered Alfred asking if he needed to prep the medbay for emergency medical treatment.

He remembered the chocked up "no" that had felt like someone just announced the end of the world.

No.

No, no emergency medical treatment.

Nothing could have been done to save their lost partner.

He remembered the reality hitting him in the face like a sledgehammer along with the grief filled negation.

He remembered his own numbness as he made it to one of the surrounding roofs and saw the confirmation with his own two eyes in the form of a dislocated body painting the sidewalk... Not red, no, not on a black ground, just, glistening moisture and sparse reddish reflections where some light managed to reach the puddles.

He remembered the crowd of civilians gathering, curious and horrified.

He remembered the tentative way Father had reached for the prone form then lifted it.

He remembered the horror of having to do an inventory check amongst the blood.

He remembered the even bigger dread at hearing the words "intact grapple" and "spare line". At reviewing all the ways their ally could and should have saved themselves from the fatal end to their fall.

After that... After that was hard to remember amongst the haze.

They had needed to disguise the death, craft cover stories...

Father haunted the Wayne graveyard for months. In fact this was where he was this very night.

Damian... Didn't want to intrude, or otherwise disrupt any of the other's grieving, so he had found his own place to pay his respect.

So while Alfred cleaned the deceased's bedroom and Grayson sat in from of the costume cases and looked over pictures, hurting himself by seeing all the way in which he should have seen the decline in cheerfulness as a warning sign, Damian came here.

It didn't feel as intrusive this way.

Damian stalked to the small altar he had made here years ago.

It was modest, two plexiglass sheets as walls and a couple of clear glass roof-tiles to protect burning candles from the weather. The departed's two crests; the one they died in, and the one they had once worn; secured in a little cement slab on the ground under the shelter, so people passing by could know who was being grieved here.

After a cursory glance to confirm no one would be brash enough to try and attack him in this very place the day of his ally's death anniversary, Robin bent to his knees, then sat on the dirty sidewalk. He riffled through his utility belt to get his candle out. It was a big one that should burn on for hours, Damian had engraved his lost comrade's emblem on the side of it earlier in the day with a heated blade, as a preparation for this night.

The engraved emblem and sitting down was a special, annual thing. The candles were not, he swung by to light one at least once a month, usually a smaller one.

Damian took out his lighter and lit the candle then carefully placed it in the center of the altar, then he took out his other offerings.

The bouquet of blood red roses went with a bit of water in the small acrylic pipe he'd included to the side of the shelter to serve this purpose, then he artfully wrapped the black satin ribbon over it.

The drawing of the young (at the moment of their death) hero, being made on a cardboard drawing sheet, could stand on it's own at the back of the shelter without risks of becoming a fire hazard, though Damian took care to tape it securely for this exact reason anyway.

Now that the objects were out and arranged, there was no reason to keep putting back the next bit...

"They all miss you." Damian whispered, touching his fingertips to the old Robin emblem set in the altar. "They all..." He didn't choke up, but he had to take a deep breath. "I miss you too. I never thought this would happen, but you made it happen anyway, didn't you?"

Damian thought back on all the insults and attacks. He didn't drown in guilt for it anymore. Five years was a long time to learn to swim in one's guilt without going totally under. "Hireath. That's a Welsh word. It's a type of nostalgia for something that is forever gone and can never be recovered again. I miss the opportunity to have gotten a bond with you. I also miss the time before you left. They changed without you. They are always sad. They fight more too. Even Alfred has started to be irritable and confrontational toward Father. And Black Bat never comes by anymore. I think she feels guilty that she was on Hong Kong when it happened."

Damian didn't cry, that wasn't something he did. "She's not the only one. Everyone feels guilty that they missed the signs." I feel guilty that I was part of what might have pushed you to jump, he didn't say. "Nothing is the same anymore. I don't think I have to tell you about Father and Nightwing, I bet they're already apologizing to you. Oracle has become even more paranoid and controlling. I don't like her that much, but I'm starting to worry for her. She's overworking herself. Always tracking us, always demanding updates."

Damian rubbed at his brow. "I don't mean to whine, but. I wish you were back."

And they would never be.

Not only because no one who loved them was selfish enough to force them to come back to this life after they committed suicide, but also because there was no body anymore.

Damian went up to his knees, then climbed to his feet.

They could all thank Jason for that last one. And Damian in fact did.

When the death had been confirmed, Gordon had sent the family the vigilante version of their will; that had been left with her for safekeeping. It stated clearly to cremate their body so nobody could revive them.

Father had stalked off after hearing that, Damian didn't know whether Father would have respected that last wish, because Jason had stolen the body and cremated, then buried the ashes at different locations himself, before anything else could happen.

The lack of a body, thought problematic at first, had been a reason why they managed to disguise the simultaneous deaths by declaring them missing in a private plane accident rather that looking for a cover story with a body as evidence.

It also meant that that they had needed to wait for a whole year before they could hold the burial of an empty casket. That had not helped with Father's temper.

There was a flash of purple in the corner of his eye, and Robin turned to see the other hero who preferred to pay her respect in This Street. She tended to come by a bit later than him, so it didn't bother him.

He wondered if he was the one who ran late, or if she was early, but shrugged it off. He was done, he could let Batgirl have his place.

He prepped his grapple to fly away again, keep protecting this city, in their name as well as his own.

"Please rest in peace, Red Robin." He whispered as he took flight again over the rooftops of Gotham.

[womenofcolor15]

Breonna Taylor’s Boyfriend SUES Louisville Police Afer Tragic Shooting + Kentucky AG Has ‘Critical’ FBI Ballistics Report + Breonna’s Alleged Ex Given Plea Deal To Implicate Her

We’ve got a few updates in the Breonna Taylor case. Get news about her boyfriend – Kenneth Walker – suing the Louisville Metro Police Department, what Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron revealed about the FBI ballistics report and deets about Breonna’s alleged ex-boyfriend being offered a plea deal to implicate her inside…

It’s been five months since police carried out a “botched raid” that took the life of a 26-year-old black EMT. Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her home by police who raided the WRONG residence. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was charged with attempted murder because he reportedly shot one of the police officers who entered their home unannounced.

Twenty-two shots were let off by police officers, eight of them struck Breonna and killed her on March 13th.

Following the fatal shooting, Breonna’s family filed a lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. Now, her wrongfully accused boyfriend is doing the same.

Today, Kenneth Walker held a press conference to announce his lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department.

“The charges brought against me were meant to silence me and cover up Breonna’s murder,” he said. “For her, and those that I love, I can no longer remain silent. For her and those that I love, I can no longer remain silent,” he said.

Peep the clip below:

Kenneth Walker statement on lawsuit filed today. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/wQcYpcrvYB

— Travis Ragsdale (@TravisRagsdale) September 1, 2020

Respectable move by Kenneth.

The lawsuit names Mayor Greg Fischer, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine, LMPD Police Chief Rob Schroeder, former Chief Steve Conrad, the Louisville Area Governmental Self-Insurance Trust, 13 LMPD officers and unnamed officers, according to reports. Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Myles Cosgrove, and former Detective Brett Hankison were the officers involved in the shooting.

The 28-year-old is seeking unspecified monetary damages from the city and the police department for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and negligence stemming from the night Breonna was killed.

Kenneth’s attorney wants an immediate judgement for Kenneth’s immunity under Kentucky’s “stand your ground” law, which prevents officials from prosecuting anyone who acts in self-defense. The civil complaint was filed in the Jefferson County District Court today.

Also, Kenneth’s attorney claims his client didn’t fire the bullet that wounded a Louisville police officer that night.

"We know police are firing wildly from various angles," attorney Steve Romines told The Courier Journal. "The timeline and evidence at the scene is more indicative of (police) actually shooting Mattingly than it is Kenny Walker."

“Kenny continues to reel from the death of the love of his life, but he is also the victim and survivor of police misconduct — misconduct that threatens his freedom to this day,” the complaint said.

The Courier Journal breaks down the details of what happened the night Breonna was murdered:

In the complaint, Romines states that Walker was interrogated by LMPD under false pretenses the night of the shooting — and then wrongfully and illegally arrested, detained, charged and prosecuted.

After police used a battering ram to enter Taylor's apartment while serving a search warrant, Walker fired what he said was a "warning" shot, striking Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the femoral artery in his thigh.

Mattingly, along with detective Myles Cosgrove and now-fired detective Brett Hankison, returned fire, killing Taylor.

However, Romines told The Courier Journal Tuesday that he doesn't believe Walker shot Mattingly.

We can’t even imagine what Kenneth is going through after the love of his life was murdered right in front him. We pray for strength during this traumatic time and hope he prevails!

Speaking of boyfriends...

  Jamarcus Glover – a man police identified as Breonna’s ex-boyfriend and the focus of the no-knock raid – was arrested on drug charges last week and he was reportedly offered a plea deal that would have implicated Breonna in his alleged crimes.

  On Tuesday, we were told Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover was offered a plea deal, which would have required him to say that Taylor was part of his drug operation. Just now, the family’s attorney shared a picture of a plea deal that appears to show it is true pic.twitter.com/E9nsWQLKrb

— Roberto Aram Ferdman (@robferdman) August 31, 2020

  Jamarcus was offered a plea deal that required him to agree to confirm that Breonna was part of an “organized crime syndicate,” according to WDRB. On July 13th, Jamarcus was given the offer by the Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney office to avoid a 10-year prison sentence and be sentenced to possible probation on charges of criminal syndication, drug trafficking and gun charges.

They wanted him to admit that he and Breonna were “co-codefendants” and that she was also involved in the drug trafficking operation in Louisville through April 22nd. Did they not realize she was MURDERED on March 13th? So, how could she be involved in a drug trafficking operation through April 22nd?

Well, Jamarcus turned down the deal.

“The fact that they would try to even represent that she was a co-defendant in a criminal case more than a month after she died is absolutely disgusting,” said Sam Aguiar – an attorney representing Breonna’s family. We couldn't agree more.

Last week, the 30-year-old told the Courier Journal Breonna had NOTHING to do with any illegal drug trafficking. He said the information police obtained the night of her death was wrong and that the police are attempting to change the narrative of her death.

"The police are trying to make it out to be my fault and turning the whole community out here making it look like I brought this to Breonna's door," Glover told USA Today/The Courier Journal in a video interview from an unidentified location.

"There was nothing never there or anything ever there, and at the end of the day, they went about it the wrong way and lied on that search warrant and shot that girl out there," he said. 

After failing to post $50,000 bail on previous drug and trafficking charges, Jamarcus became a fugitive. Police arrested him hours after his interview with The Courier Journal on an outstanding warrant.

Jamarcus believes the police implicated Breonna in his alleged crimes because she bailed him out of jail before and she would receive packages at her apartment for him. He said “shoes and clothes” were inside the packages.

Commonwealth Attorney Tom Wine responded to Jamarcus' claims, stating the plea offer was a "draft" and that her name ended up being removed.

  Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine has responded, saying the plea offer was a "draft" and when he saw it, "out of respect for Ms. Taylor," he had Breonna Taylor's name removed. Also says there was information implicating Taylor in Glover's "criminal activity." pic.twitter.com/sQ5yra2f99

— Jason Riley (@JasonRileyWDRB) August 31, 2020

  Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine has responded, saying the plea offer was a "draft" and when he saw it, "out of respect for Ms. Taylor," he had Breonna Taylor's name removed. Also says there was information implicating Taylor in Glover's "criminal activity." pic.twitter.com/sQ5yra2f99

— Jason Riley (@JasonRileyWDRB) August 31, 2020

  Meanwhile…

  Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron name-dropped #BreonnaTaylor at GOP Convention but hasn't brought charges against the officers responsible for her death or acted in any way to get #JusticeForBreonna! We cannot heal without first getting JUSTICE. pic.twitter.com/NQmTeD2Mzm

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 26, 2020

  Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron - who spoke during the RNC last week & is a Trump supporter - revealed his office received the FBI ballistics report from the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor and said it's a "critical" piece of the investigation.

"That is a critical piece of this investigation," Daniel Cameron said on "Face the Nation."

"There's no video footage of the incident in question and Miss Taylor's passing. And I can announce to you today as part of those efforts early this week, we have received that ballistics report. Now, again, that is a critical piece of this investigation. It's not the end all be all. There are still some witness testimony and interviews that have to be conducted. But we do have that ballistics report. We will be meeting with the FBI at the beginning of this upcoming week to have a painstaking review of that information. And that will help us in the analysis that needs to be undertaken before we can get to final steps"

You can read a transcript of his full conversation here.

Let's get the ball rolling on Breonna Taylor's case so the people who murdered her, or at least negligently killed her, get prosecuted...ASAP!

Photo: Breonna's Family

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/09/01/breonna-taylor%E2%80%99s-boyfriend-sues-louisville-police-kentucky-ag-has-%E2%80%98critical%E2%80%99-fbi-ballisti