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Ars Regendi Simulation Forum / Die Welten / The worlds / World Riga / The Book of Infinitus
The Book of Infinitus
Malachi Benito
Words count: 3,235
Experience: 171
Glory Points: 0
ygdrassil
When there were too many leaders and too few willing to be led, the great schism occurred. The followers of Mithras made a forum in the center of Vormir and in the tradition of their God, met to dole out judgement.
The Seven Tribes of Nidavella debated into the night, tribes, each with their own General did not fight, they spoke, spoke of the future.
Eyes weighed heavy after hours of discussion, progression stalled, until in an instant, night became day, myth became truth, the unbelievable became all too obvious.
The eyes of the Generals went from heavy to blinded, but their ears could hear the glory of the Herald of Mithras. The voice was crisp, the tone soothing, the message was somehow clear before the words which encompass them were released.
The Message of the Prophet
'I am from many Worlds, I have led many armies, I have no name, at least not a name for you to know right now. I am the Herald of Mithras, I have met our God personally, he has inducted me into the Order of the Righteous. Mithras knows why you all are gathered here, but he knows, in all his infinite wisdom, that your path is treacherous and too soon for its time.
Mithras knows of your ambitions, they are ambitions that every member of the Order of the Righteous has possessed. You seek to sweep across the realm, to spread the message of Mithras, but to also increase your individual powers.
Well, my brothers and sisters, now is NOT your time. Mithras has ordered your tribes to disperse and you shall do so immediately. You shall disband, and each tribe shall make settlements in other corners of the World.'
Jeremetrius of the Nida Tribe rose against this proposition made by The Herald, standing calmly and telling The Herald that his tribe shall not follow this order, and they will stay in place, and so will the rest of the tribes.
The rest of the Nida tribe rose, weapons ready, drawn upon The Herald. The tribes of Benitus, Thanosi, Yggdra, Vorma, Verain and Handi remained seated.
Jeremetrius stood with his tribe and started to approach the Herald of Mithras, slowly and bravely, but the fear in their eyes was too strong to be hidden.
The Herald of Mithras made no move to retreat, He made no attempt to defend himself, he allowed Jeremetrius the chance to get up close, but as he came face to face with The Herald, he heard gasps from the other tribes.
Jeremetrius took a step back and peered over his shoulder, for his tribe was gone, and the Earth had opened up all around him, and he was an island of flesh and shaky bone.
'Brothers and sisters, you came here tonight to settle your differences, to ensure a brighter path for all your tribes, devoid of intrigue, backstabbing and betrayal. The Earth has swallowed the tools of Jeremetrius, the bringer of those evils.
Your goals have been accomplished this evening, but this accomplishment will have to be enough for now. As I said, scatter and make settlement elsewhere, stay near the oceans, for the power is always near water. '
As The Herald finished his speech and began to rise into the Heavens, a voice spoke out, asking what should be done with Jeremetrius, who stood frozen on a pillar of Earth. 'No man is an island my brother.'
Jeremetrius was swallowed by the Earth, never to be seen again.
The Path For Benitus
Days later, the Six Tribes prepared to disperse as demanded by Mithras' Herald. It was decided that the Handi tribe would remain. The Verain tribe would only venture Northeast to where the land ended. The other four tribes would have to make longer journeys.
Benitus prepared his tribe for the long journey to an unknown destination, on his last night he knelt, looked toward the lowering sun and closed his eyes. Benitus hoped for guidance, his tribe was massive and he worried about feeding them, and preventing mutiny. His heart raced, considering all the evil possibilities that may await him and his people. A voice emerged in the back of his mind.
'Benitus, worry not my brother, for your journey will be fruitful, your numbers will swell, your glory will be unparalleled. The same can not be said for your fellow tribes, but one day your descendant will sit in the Order of the Righteous. You Benitus, were born too early, but can be reborn at the time of final judgement.
I will now bestow upon you a feeling of great unease and anxiety. This feeling will keep you aware, and prepared for what lies ahead, you must feel this anxiety in order to ensure the prosperity I spoke of. This will be your suffering, and suffering, although it feels like chains, is a rope pulling you to your destiny.
You will know when your home has been found, because then and only then shall I release you from this feeling. Exactly 450 days after I lift the suffering from your bones, you will perish. It is in those days that you shall plot a course for your descendants, in those days I will speak to you once again.
You are the only one to have received this message from The Herald of Mithras. Go forward, take this burden with you, find your home...'
--more to come--
This post was last modified: 09.07.2018 14:50 by Malachi Benito.
RE: The Book of Infinitus
Benitus Leaves His Lands
Benitus began his journey, the initial days were simple, for the territories they passed through were of friendly origin. Benitus knew the lands, he knew that the first test of his people would occur at the coast of the peninsula. The Telmadan tribe was large in numbers, and a seafaring people, always capable of calling many more soldiers from sea.
Benitus could find a different route, but his anxiety led him to advance not retreat, Benitus' focus shifted from the victory of battle to the true goal, reaching his new land.
Benitus, standing in front of his commanders ordered them all, at nightfall, to start camp fires. But he demanded that each man start 5 fires. They did so, suddenly thousands upon thousands of fires lit up the nightscape, a wonder it must had been to the Telmadan.
Benitus, gambling that his strategy would work, led out most of his people south and east of the camp fires. He left back men, no, he sacrificed men, some had to be present to face the oncoming attack of the Telmadan.
As he had hoped, the Telmadan called in their reinforcements from the sea, they docked their boats, and marched towards the fires, they left only a small force behind to guard the city walls and their ships. The Telmadan reached the feint force and slaughtered all of them, sword to bone and flesh was put and fathers, sons and brothers died.
Benitus' real force doled out equal slaughter and stole the ships and captured as many women and children as they could. They boarded the ships and sailed, waiting to meet land again. The people of Benitus, for the most part, were merry with excitement from their victory. They marveled at Benitus, for what a ruse he had perpetrated. But some did not celebrate, some mourned the sacrificial lams that Benitus left behind.
Benitus overlooked his people on the lead ship, and he noted the faces which showed disdain and he counted. He counted 100 boys, who in a year or two would be men, and would be seeking revenge. There were an additional 200 mothers and daughters who shared the look.
The ships met land, the sons of the dead fathers did not. Benitus stepped on to the beaches and he immediately separated his people into three groups. One group was the wives and daughters of the sacrifices, the other was the captured women and children, and the final group was the rest.
The rest walked the path towards their new home, the others were scattered at the coast lines, Benitus never saw any of them again
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BioWare has presented one of the Dragon Age: Inquisition characters
2014-02-04by Olga Smiyanenko 2600 views
BioWare company - the developer of the new part in Dragon Age series - has decided to share with its fans several detailed pictures of the Dragon Age: Inquisition character - a witch named Morrigan.
According to the company’s community-manager - Jessica Merizan, - the developers are planning to introduce each Dragon Age: Inquisition character in the coming weeks and months. Both new and already known heroes are going to be presented. The main purpose of such decision is giving access to the detailed HD images for the illustrators, artists, cosplayers, fans and even cake designers that want to see the characters before the game’s release. The pictures are available for free download, so the players can print them and use as a room decoration or a sample to create a costume.
Morrigan - the first presented Dragon Age: Inquisition character - won’t become a team member, as it was explained by the developers, but her role in the game is going to be significant. And while Morrigan’s mission is kept in a secret, we offer you to take a look at the image and see her outfit: a black dress, leather corset, decorated with feathers, gloves and accessories.
The Dragon Age: Inquisition will be launched for PC, next and current-gen consoles is planned for autumn 2014.
Tags: Dragon Age III: Inquisition
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BioWare will support Dragon Age: Inquisition only on PC, PS4 and Xbox One
Release date of Dragon Age: Inquisition DLC - Jaws of Hakkon - on other platforms is revealed
Subscribe to: Dragon Age III: Inquisition
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Fascinating Facts About the Japanese Anemone
Azmin Taraporewala Jul 7, 2019
Introduce yourself to the beauty that abounds. Japanese anemone plant is a subliminal sight to behold. Learn all about this breathtaking bloom through this write-up.
Japanese anemone is reckoned the crowning glory of the garden. It bears flowers that personify aestheticism. This plant has a celestial aura that plumps up the garden foliage with variegated colors. The little flowers adorned by the plant look like stars that emit the light of extravagant beauty.
The term Anemone is derived from the Greek word anemos, which means wind. Hence, this plant is also known as windflower.
With respect to plant taxonomy, it is called Anemone X Hybrida.
The Anemone clan has its aboriginal roots in China, which gradually spread to North America and Japan.
Some of the most popular and well-known flowering plants out of the 120 species are Snowdrop windflower, Narcissus Anemone, Buttercup anemone, and Pasque flower.
The species mentioned are in close relation to the Japanese Anemone. There have been occasions where these names have been interchangeably used to denote the Japanese Anemone.
The perennials predominantly bear pink, white, and blue flowers.
This is an easy-to-grow perennial.
Partially-shaded areas are best for their growth. This will aid them to garner the morning dew and sunshine rich in essential nutrients. If exposed to heavy sunlight, they may have a faded color. If in full shade, they will bear few flowers, but deep colored.
These plants can thrive in acidic as well as alkaline soil. Adding organic fertilizers to the soil will make them healthier.
Spring or early autumn is the best time to grow these plants.
These plants also possess some medicinal properties that help in reducing cramps, regulating menstrual cycles, and managing depression.
Choose plants that look healthy and have buds.
Plant them in partial light for an optimized growth and color pattern.
Before planting these, ensure that the soil drainage is good.
The next step is to add organic seaweed fertilizers to the flower pot.
Place the plants in the flower pot at a considerable height.
Position each of them 10 to 20 inches away from one another.
Water the plant adequately. Excessive watering may lead to adverse effects on the plant.
A diligent watering timetable will be very helpful for the development of the plant.
Mulch around the plant by adding organic compost to the pot during spring.
Get rid of old and dry foliage before new leaves shoot up. This would give a neat appearance to the plant.
For a bumper growth, chop the foliage in autumn. The plant will be fit and upright by spring.
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Google eBook Service "Google Editions" Coming This Summer
Filed under: Amazon,Apple,Google,iBookstore,Jonathan Band,Kindle,Library Copyright Alliance,Michael Capobianco,Public Knowledge,Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America,Sherwin Siy — gator1965 @ 8:32 pm
Good ole Google is entering into the eBook market with a program that will be available through ANY computing device! How about that??…
Here is a report by Sarah Lai Stirland (pictured at left), Assistant Managing Editor of BroadbandBreakfast dot com:
Google plans on launching its open eBook service Google Editions by June or July, according to a Tuesday report in the Wall Street Journal.
Google Wants To Open Up the Market For Digital Books
Google’s manager for strategic partner development Chris Palma disclosed the company’s plans during a Tuesday morning panel discussion sponsored by the Book Industry Study Group in New York City. The panel discussion focused on cloud computing and the business of publishing.
Unlike Apple and Amazon’s eBook services, Google’s will be available through any computing device. The launch of the service appears to have been delayed by the negotiations over the different visions between Google and the publishing industry over how its service should function.
The Journal story says that the service will allow readers to both buy digital books directly from Google as well as from book retailers’ web sites. The pricing of the books will be closely watched as the publishing industry has fought Amazon’s push to sell books for a flat $9.99 on its electronic book device the Kindle.
Consumers have already downloaded more then 1.5 million eBooks through Apple’s new iBookstore, according to a company statement issued Monday. Apple sold its millionth iPad on Friday after just a month of its launch, according to the statement. TechCrunch reports that Amazon has sold around three million Kindles as of this January. The company first released the product in late 2007.
The future of digital book licensing and the separate issue of the impact of the Google’s book search settlement will be discussed at the inaugural Intellectual Property Breakfast Club meeting May 11 in Washington, DC. The panelists include: Jonathan Band, counsel for the Library Copyright Alliance, Michael Capobianco, vice president of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and Sherwin Siy, Public Knowledge’s deputy legal director.
Now if they’ll only make a water-resistant book device that can brought to the beach. Perhaps they could charge a premium.
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Tag: youth
He-Man — By S.G. Haynes
He was just too much. Over the top, preposterous, a hulking cliché.
His chest was from a mutant, his arms bursting at the seams (almost)—same with his legs—it was obscene. His face was mister Neanderthal, and then that hair! Oh man, that blonde shoulder length helmet bob did not date well!
He was derivative, cardboard, pointless, and boring—everything I learned to roll my eyes at, but there he was, He-Man, my first crush, in all his irrelevance.
It was my naivety maybe—how would I know at the age of eight about the finer points of good fucking? I wasn’t adept at cruising the field and had no knowledge of handsome men. I certainly had no sentimental education, no concept of fatal attraction and its broken promises. But otherwise, my crush wasn’t so bad after all.
He-Man: his peers liked him, and he looked out for the little guy even though his fashion was appalling—that absurd bulging loin cloth—what was he thinking? He had an impressive sword though, rode a battle cat, and sported a hearty, infectious laugh. He was hard and strong and gentle and generous in all the right places, and he was always there when somebody needed him. Summing up over the trash I’d been with since—he really stands out as an erotic beacon.
Thinking about my childhood sexuality—cravings I had no way of coming to grips with—I shouldn’t think that my attachment to a plastic figurine was wrong. I had to start somewhere, so why not with a childhood hero? Besides, no one else was around to guide me through the formative years of puberty; I had to fend for myself.
I remember sitting on the floor of my room, engrossed in some elaborate battle of the ages as Skeletor once again tried to use his evil ways to overthrow the might of good and justice, when in the midst of an epic sword fight Skeletor used a devious underhanded trick (like he always did), and managed to ensnare He-Man for good—leaving him paralyzed and helpless and miserable.
Skeletor then snatched He-Man away and whisked him to his lair at Snake Mountain to torture him in the most evil ways (like he always did). But this time, with He-Man locked up in the dungeon, Skeletor did something unexpected: he removed He-Man’s battle armor—thus leaving his big bulging bare chest naked and heaving—and then He-Man reciprocated by removing Skeletor’s battle armor, and with the latter’s bare muscled blue chest inching closer to He-Man’s this probably would have gone further only that we were thwarted by the effects of general relativity and parental guidance in that He-Man toys did not come with the option to take off their bulging loin cloths to expose the large cocks that the plastic molded crotches teased me with (comma), yet I was unperturbed, they could still fuck even if I couldn’t take off their undies.
So I made He-Man grinding into Skeletor’s pelvis, not really knowing why they would want to do this, and then Skeletor moved to take He-Man from behind which was very pleasing for both parties. How I knew that He-Man wanted it from behind had probably more to do with the slander that everybody heard at school, that filthy bum boys like it from behind.
While I was making them fuck, a curious thing happened inside my shorts: I got an erection. More specifically, my penis had grown to such a hardened state that it lay pressed against my thigh. I didn’t understand why my penis did that, but I sensed that there was fun involved and desire and pleasure and lust and more of these things.
Never mind the silly ignorance of my He-Man-doll-fuck-play, there was something worthwhile there—innocence. I wasn’t yet aware of the general disdain/disgust re copulation, or of the fact that I was doing something “dirty”. I still had to learn about the so-so reality of adult sex—something that turned out to be quite different from my childish fantasies.
He-Man wasn’t much of a lover; he was fairly pathetic, in fact, but the wonders of my first love still hold a special kind of intimacy for me, an ease of attraction unmarred by complications—me as a boy with a crush on a plastic hero. Through He-Man, I discovered my love of real, sweating, pungent, disgusting men.
S.G.Haynes resides in Melbourne, Australia. He spends far too much time reading and isn’t at all embarrassed about his childhood He-Man sexual fantasies (well only slightly…)
Author gffmichaelPosted on March 3, 2019 March 3, 2019 Categories Flash fiction, S.G. HaynesTags education, life, sex, youth1 Comment on He-Man — By S.G. Haynes
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Technology at your feet
How Small Businesses Can Protect Themselves Using Technology?
by Team GeekyBytes
Written by Team GeekyBytes
Technology, and especially people working with computers and software, is a challenge for SMEs who must navigate it on a smaller budget. The best idea is to use software and sensible practices to deal effectively with security and data integrity issues to avoid the biggest issues that companies sometimes face.
Here are some suggestions for smaller companies working with technology.
Prevention of Flash Drive & External Drive Use
One of the risk factors comes from employees and other people visiting the work premises that discreetly insert a flash drive into a USB port. These drives can store all kinds of files that the company doesn’t want on its corporate network. This could include spyware or malware that could later monitor file use, copy data and allow an outside third-party to gain remote access to the PC.
Follow this tutorial on YouTube to learn how to disable flash drives and other remote storage from being used on Windows 10 (it’s possible to do the same on other versions of Windows too).
Stop New Software Being Installed
Once a work PC is set up for an employee to use, it’s important to prevent anyone from installing new software from the web. They can easily download something and run the installed program.
Prevent this by following the steps outlined in this useful article. This stops employees who do not have Administrator user rights from installing software.
Create a Disk Image
Creating a disk image backup of the system allows technology staff to replace a system with a copy of what it looked like a week or a month ago. This is another option beyond trying to roll back a change or removing a virus. Instead, a PC can be wiped completely and then the disk image utilized to get back to its previous state. It’s a good idea to take multiple disk images over different time periods to protect a single version from being corrupted.
Use Anti-Virus and Malware Protection
Every computer on the company network must have software that performs periodical virus and malware scans. There are various software programs available that can do the job well. Some only scan for viruses, others look for malware or rootkits, and a few perform all these tasks in one package.
Software like Kaspersky Antivirus 2018 or ESET NOD32 Antivirus are two popular packages. It’s worth investing in the Pro version of these types of software to benefit from automatic virus definition file updates to ensure every scan uses the latest detection and removal methodologies.
What Do You Do If Your Systems Have Been Attacked?
In a situation where one or more computers within the company have been infiltrated with malware, or a penetration has occurred on the network, it’s not always obvious what the damage is. Many times, it’s behind the scenes and impossible to tell just by looking at the desktop.
At this stage, you want to consider a company like Secure Forensics that can examine a computer system for the tell-tale signs left by hackers or caused through malicious actions to piece together what’s been going on. Don’t just trust that company and customer information is safe, let digital experts like Secure Forensics discover that for you.
Using technology in a business has many benefits, but it comes with several risks too. However, when approaching the situation sensibly, it’s possible to limit any potential downsides.
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Here you can get the variety of topics about Android, Windows, Linux, Apple, Software, Apps, Internet, Top 10, Best Product Reviews etc.
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Teenage Journalists Expose Creepy Christian Van Lurking Outside High School December 9, 2018 Hemant Mehta
Teenage Journalists Expose Creepy Christian Van Lurking Outside High School
Here’s the power of inquisitive teenagers and a stellar school newspaper.
Recently, at California’s Arcata High School, three students noticed a van that parked across the street on Tuesdays. It was supposedly a mobile medical van that provided help for pregnant students. What sort of help? That’s what journalism students Jacquelyn Opalach, Caledonia Davey, and Jazmine Fiedler wanted to know.
Their eventual report in the school paper, the Pepperbox, found that the van was faith-based and full of misinformation. They wanted to catch students before they obtained an abortion and resorted to lies to convince the students not to go through with it.
J. Rophe Medical is a pro-life organization with religious ties. While some of the information provided by J. Rophe is accurate, other information is false or skewed. As a medical institution, J. Rophe operates with questionable medical ethics. Considering all of these factors, Pepperbox was left with this question: Should the J. Rophe Medical mobile unit be parked so close to a high school?
Several of the facts provided in [the group’s pamphlet] “Before you Decide” contradict the facts provided by both Planned Parenthood and other medical organizations. The Pepperbox analyzed several factual topics presented in this pamphlet, including when pregnancy begins, emergency contraception, the alleged association between abortion and breast cancer, and the alleged association between abortion and compromised mental and physical health.
While the van’s location may be legal since it’s not directly on school property, the students used the opportunity to inform fellow students about how the information they might find in the van doesn’t match up with reality. While noting that one of their classmates had a positive experience with the women in the van, they make clear that kindness doesn’t translate to medical accuracy.
Hopefully, the other students won’t fall for the tricks of the anti-abortion evangelical creepers who lurk just outside a high school waiting for new victims.
(Thanks to Brian for the link)
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23 March 2019 by eellak editor
This week the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital team visited Athens to deliver an information session on the eIDAS regulation and showed how – in conjunction with the CEF building blocks – public administrations can build user centric digital public services for citizens and businesses.
The CEF team was met by Nectarios Koziris, Dean of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, who had organised the session and assembled participants from across academia, industry, startups and different levels of the Greek public administration. Mr Koziris opening remarks highlighted the importance of building communities of people interested in working together for the public good.
Athens, an inclusive Smart City
The session began with an opening speech from Konstantinos Champidis, Chief Digital Officer for the city of Athens who explained that Athens was determined to ensure the city would leave no one behind in their journey to become an inclusive smart city. There are many projects on-going ranging from large scale infrastructure projects to ensure everyone has access to fast broadband to digital skills training with a focus on the elderly, the unemployed and refugees.
Mr Champidis insisted that collaboration between all relevant stakeholders was key to delivering digital transformation the public sector. In 2017 Athens formed the Digital Council and invited professors and top ten IT companies to discuss how they can work together to move things forward.
How can eIDAS help government’s digital transformation?
At the heart of the digital transformation of public administrations is the shift from paper based public services to digital public services.
The transition to digital services brings with it new challenges. How can we ensure that citizens, businesses and public administrations can securely identify themselves and complete transactions online?
The eIDAS Regulation defines a legal framework that ensures a digital version of a service has the same legal validity as as traditional paper based process.
How do the CEF building blocks speed up government digital transformation?
Public administrations use the CEF building blocks to ensure they can implement the legal framework into their digital services as the building blocks are based on open European standards that ensure trust, security and cross-border capabilities can are built into your digital services.
This means that citizens, businesses and public administrations can benefit from the convenience of a digital service and make the most of the opportunities the digital single market has to offer.
What are some of the most obvious services the CEF building blocks can help deliver?
Submitting tax declarations
Enrolling in a foreign university
Remotely opening a bank account
Setting up a business in another Member State
Authenticating an online payment
Bidding to online call for tender
These are examples of digital public services that public administrations can design and deliver to meet the vision laid out in the Tallinn declaration.
What is the Tallinn declaration?
In 2017, Member States signed the Tallinn declaration where they committed to working together to deliver high quality, user-centric digital public services for citizens and seamless cross-border public services for businesses.
What’s next for Greece?
The session generated lots of ideas, including how eTranslation could be used to translate digital public services for the many tourists that visit Greece. One of the start-ups in attendance suggested that they had already been analysing how the the context broker could support a smart agriculture project they are working on in partnership with the public authorities.
Are you interested in a CEF building blocks workshop?
The energy, pragmatism and emphasis on collaboration between public and private sector to improve public services for all citizens of Greece was clear for everyone in attendance. The presentations on eIDAS, the CEF building blocks and how projects can apply for grants via INEA was welcome on the day. This is just the first step, we hope that in the near future, we’ll see lots of Connecting Europe success stories coming from Greece.
If you are interested in setting up a Member State workshop, please contact us.
Source of this article: https://ec.europa.eu/
Categories Connecting Europe Facility, Digital Public Good, European Union, open source, open source tool
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Gov’t Mule Busts Out Etta James Cover In Nebraska
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New York Times — Mr. Hall turned small-town Alabama into a crucible of music, recording the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, the Osmonds and Mac Davis. more info
Cat Clyde ‘The River’
Kings of A&R — Cat Clyde releases her new single The River. Although the scene can be littered with americana/ folk acts, this Ontario bred storyteller stands out. Drawing influences from Etta James to Lead Belly, the new track follows her debut album, Ivory Castan... more info
Etta James Castanets
Happy Birthday Etta James: With Carlos Santana & John Lee Hooker In 1986
JamBase — Today marks what would have been the birthday of legendary vocalist Etta James, watch her perform with two other legendary musicians Carlos Santana and John Lee Hooker. more info
Etta James Carlos Santana
Emma Cole, “He Will”
Impose Magazine — Emma Cole is not afraid to acknowledge the truth of the matter. Her music is spunky, saying with confidence what we wish we could admit. Currently residing in Los Angeles’ Echo Park, Cole takes a page from the books of Etta James, Janis Joplin, and... more info
Etta James Janis Joplin Al Green
Happy Birthday Dr. John: Performing With Etta James & Allen Toussaint In 1982
JamBase — Celebrate the 76th birthday of New Orleans music legend Dr. John with an all-star performance on ‘Soundstage.’ more info
Allen Toussaint Etta James
Life Well Lived: Record producer Phil Chess dies at 95
MSN Music — Phil Chess died this week at the age of 95. He co-founded Chess Records, a Chicago blues label that gave rise to artists like Muddy Waters, Etta James, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry. Chess can even be thanked for sparking the formation of the Rolling S... more info
Etta James Bo Diddley Chuck Berry The Rolling Stones
Chess Records co-founder Phil Chess - not just the money guy
L.A. Times - Entertainment — Phil Chess, the co-founder of Chicago’s great Chess Records who died Tuesday at age 95, was the quieter of the brothers who started the label that launched the careers of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Etta James, Bo Diddley and so many o... more info
Chuck Berry Etta James Bo Diddley
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Photo credits: Wolfgang Wildner
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gis@qp.com.qa
1.770.03 (1.67%)
GIS Group Companies
Dividend Distribution
Governance Materials
Al Koot Insurance and Reinsurance Company signs a health insurance contract with Qatar Airways
Qatar Petroleum awards GDI drilling service contracts for the mega project of North Field Expansion
GIS posts net profit of QR 25 million for the period ended 31 March 2019
Gulf Drilling International signs a drilling services contract with North Oil Company
Gulf Helicopters acquires a 49% stake in Air Ocean Maroc
GDI Signs Up Rig with Oxy Qatar
HomeGDI Signs Up Rig with Oxy Qatar
Gulf Drilling International Limited (Q.S.C.) (“GDI”) announced today that they have signed a contract to provide drilling rig services to Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd. (“Oxy Qatar”) using their Al-Rayyan (Gulf-2) Drilling Rig. The contract was signed by Timothy Borgerding, Oxy Qatar’s President and General Manager, and Ibrahim J. Al-Othman, GDI’s Chief Executive Officer. The rig is now contracted for two years (commencing 23rd March 2011).
In the last year, GDI have invested in the refurbishment and upgrade of Al-Rayyan (Gulf-2) to ensure that it is fully suitable for the market’s drilling requirements. GDI is confident that this investment will be profitable. The rig will have specifications aligned to International Standards, making it very competitive. GDI’s contract with Oxy Qatar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, provides an opportunity for GDI to demonstrate its ability to perform at world class levels.
GDI have built a strong relationship with Oxy Qatar over the past three years through the successful performance of its Rig Al-Wajbah (Gulf-3). That positive experience has led to the acceptance of a second GDI Rig for Oxy Qatar’s operations. The rig will work in the Idd Al-Sharqi North & South Domes and Al-Rayyan fields together with the Al-Wajbah (Gulf-3).
About Gulf Drilling International Ltd (Q.S.C)
GDI is a subsidiary of Gulf International Services (Q.S.C.) (“GIS”), a holding company listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. Formed in 2004, GDI has a fleet of nine (9) drilling rigs, all located in Qatar, consisting of 5 offshore Jack-up rigs and 4 onshore rigs.
Gulf International Services Q.S.C.
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Tel: (+974) 4013-2088
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For Enquiries:
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COPYRIGHT © 2017 GULF INTERNATIONAL SERVICES Q.S.C. All rights reserved
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Home / austria / Europe League: Salzburg marks the victory in a special group
Europe League: Salzburg marks the victory in a special group
austria November 30, 2018 austria
"The whole game was a goat, the stadium went with every good action," Salzburg Hannes Wolf said. Because of the known constellation, an explosive atmosphere was created in the sold out arena in Wals-Siezenheim. With Ralf Rangnick, a former (and now unpopular) sports director in Salzburg, he returned to his old age as an opposing coach – it was a return to players Stefan Ilsanker, Konrad Laimer and Dayot Upamecan.
Not only spectators – those from Salzburg RB Leipzig later adopted with loud "farewell" choirs – they proved to be motivated, even to players. "The first 25 minutes of my team was great," coach Marco Rose praised. "We did not buy a cut. The people in Leipzig were very aggressive at first, they had many offenses, but we tried to play football," said Zlatko Junuzovic. The start of the stage gave Salzburg "a good feeling for the rest of the game," Wolf said.
"Salzburg was superior in the first 25 minutes"
The guests were confused about their problems at the beginning of the game. "The first 20 minutes have been exhausted," DFB team team Timo Werner criticized. "Salzburg was quite overwhelming in the first 25 minutes, because we have virtually no pressure solutions," said Ilsanker, who was appointed as the central defender of the three-way chain.
Leipzig was mumbling with some big flaws such as Kevin Kampl, Marcel Sabitzer or Emil Forsberg. Rangnick did not surprise his team, especially at the beginning. "Because we did not play with this form so far. From the 20th minute it was better, so there were eye-level matches." Meanwhile, both teams barely got the chance.
GEPA / Mathias Mandl
Salzburg Party in Salzburg after winning over Leipzig's nursing club: Xaver Schlager (r.) Launches Mandatory Shower
Even after the break, the picture has changed little. About 70 minutes the hosts put another tooth. "There are stages in the game where you need to save energy and hold the ball in its ranks, and after the break, the blend has gone very well, especially at this stage where we created more pressure," said Junuzovic, who was instrumental in it.
At the door "there was a lot of quality"
Like in Leipzig, former ÖFB Junuzović Risiko ("No Look") player entered and started an attack, which brought Fredrik Gulbrandsen back to victory. Assistant this time was not Hannes Wolf, who later missed the best odds of 2: 0 ("something worries me"), but Andreas Ulmer. "Instinctively, I guess Andy will make a way, but how we played it is very strong – because we are calm. It was a lot of quality," said Junuzovic, who has not lost the match with Salzburg yet.
GEPA / Florian Ertl
Former national player Junuzovic not only was poisoned in the fight – he also launched a leading 1-0 attack
Gulbrandsen ("Leipzig is now my favorite opponent") again decided this duel, Salzburg would be enough for sailing. Rose was proud of his team after winning the group. "Guys deserve it. It's important that you enjoy such moments that we have worked hard to achieve the middle goal, which is the cool number we are still in Europe," said a 42-year-old from Leipzig with his team to celebrate the fun of the club.
How far are Salzburg and Rapid?
Rangnick remained disappointed with his former job, but this was primarily due to the result, and less to the performance of his team. "We knew that Salzburg was a top European team, and I think we did a good game with respect to the staff situation." We had a very good match to win. "Werner, who missed the opportunity to equalize, was delighted by 0: 1: We have a stupid goal we've got, everyone knew the constellation, it would be an important victory. "
Leipzig needs Salzburger Schützenhilfe
Because Leipzig not only has to win against Rosenborg the last day, but to build on Salzburg Schützenhilfe. Only if the Austrian champion wins at Celtic, Leipzig can still pass the Scottish. This Salzburg also wants to leave the championship in the legendary Celtic Park, where it was the first Austrian club to win the Scottish Territory in 2014 (3: 1), is in the DNA team. "We want to get three points if Leipzig helps, then it is," Wolf replied to the question of a possible club career support career from Germany.
Europa Liga
Schedule and table of group B
Salzburg is already in the phase of equalizing the Europa League for the sixth time. Last spring, the run ended only in the semi-finals, when after extra time they broke short of Olympique Marseille. Repeating such a course in this form looks nothing but impossible. In that context, the two victories against Leipzig have a special significance. "Not necessarily because of Leipzig, but because it is the best club in Germany. This shows our level at which we are currently playing," Wolf said.
"This is not a history of money"
Salzburg was without a defeat at home for 53 home games and have not lost their place as losers in 27 games this season. "This is not a history of money, as many say, here is something created, we have excellent guys with a very high quality, it was a process, a very good infrastructure, good development The past season was already extremely strong at the international level, boys continue to do it. And for me, who's new, it's fun, "said Junuzovic, who sees intense competition as the key to" such achievements. "
"Because some players will make a big career, they are still so young, but they are very mature for their years, they know what they are and are always ready." So we were the first in such a strong group, and that did not happen, "he said. is a 31-year-old veteran. After the fifth fifth win in the fifth game, it is now clear that Salzburg will play in spring in Europe.
Europa League, Group B, the fifth day of the game
Salzburg – Leipzig 1: 0 (0: 0)
Wals-Siezenheim, Red Bull Arena, 29,520 spectators, SR Grinfeld (ISR)
Goal: Gulbrandsen (74th)
Salzburg: Walke – Lainer, Ramalho, Pongracic, Ulmer – Samassekou – X. Schlager, Wolf (87./Daka), Junuzović – Gulbrandsen (76./Minamino), Dabbur (92./Prevljak)
Leipzig: Mvogo – Ilsanker, Orban, Upamecano – Mukiele (70./Klostermann), Cunha, Laimer, Bruma, Saracchi (78./Halstenberg) – Werner, Augustin (62./Poulsen)
Yellow cards: Lainer, Schlager or Ilsanker, Bruma, Cunha
A complete explosion of a Wels-Neustadt apartment requires serious injury
This star is a squirrel
Börse Express – ROUNDUP: Microsoft increases revenue and revenue with clouds
Sané to FCB: Is everything clear after Guardiola's announcement?
Great Maybe: The adventure for the journey through time was launched August 14 – GAMEtainment
New research results presented at AAIC® 2019 suggest suggest a healthy lifestyle ecologically and can reduce genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease
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September 12, 2016 (Prayer, Digest, Extensions, Committees)
Suspensions: H.Res. 847, H.Res. 835
H.Res. 859: Providing for consideration of H.R. 5620
H.R. 3590: Halt Tax Increases on the Middle Class and Seniors Act
Suspensions: H.R. 5587, H.Res. 729
H.Res. 863: Providing for consideration of H.R. 5351, H.R. 5226
H.R. 5226: Regulatory Integrity Act of 2016
H.R. 5620: VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act
H.R. 5351: To prohibit the transfer of any individual detained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Legislative Program for next week
Next Meeting: 2 p.m., Monday, September 19, 2016
September 12, 2016 (Prayer, Digest, Committee)
S. 2848: Water Resources Development Act of 2016
September 13, 2016 (Prayer, Digest, Committees)
Senate passed S. 2848, Water Resources Development Act, as amended.
Susan S. Gibson, of Virginia, confirmed to be Inspector General of the National Reconnaissance Office
.@GOPLeader says on the floor that a CR might come up for a vote next week.
— Cristina Marcos (@cimarcos) September 15, 2016
.@GOPLeader on House floor: Additional items are possible next week in House including legislation to fund gov't (CR). Discussions continue.
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) September 15, 2016
House votes next week on 2 Iran-related bills including legislation by Foreign Affairs Chair @RepEdRoyce to ban all US cash payments to Iran
Huleskamp says he'll press for impeachment vote next week;that there is no agreement to not do so. just to wait until after wed. hearing
— Billy House (@HouseInSession) September 15, 2016
By consent, the Senate's punted the procedural vote on the vehicle for the CR to 5:30 p.m. Monday. See you next week.
— Niels Lesniewski (@nielslesniewski) September 15, 2016
SO FAR: House leadership has filed the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act, up next week - https://t.co/MHgxWcQLjv (PDF)
— Federal Network (@FedNet) September 16, 2016
Also on the House floor late next week, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act - https://t.co/xBjNqMjXSA (PDF)
Tags: House of Representatives, Senate, Votes, Weekly Digest
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Tag Archives: Blue Jays 2015 season
Someone’s Gotta Win, Someone’s Gotta Lose
October 24, 2015 Graham Milne
This is the indisputable truth whenever two teams step onto the field. Hardly anyone ever just roots for a good clean game; you’re always hoping your guys make mincemeat of the others. Before the first pitch flies, when the score is at zero, both squads have the exact same chance to walk off nine innings later with fists pumping the air. And sometimes you have to swallow that sickening churn in your gut as you watch the other guys do it. It’s regrettable that the effort and the drama of a 162-game season has to come down to a single pitch, a single swing of the bat, but that is the magic of baseball. That was how it was in 1993 when Joe Carter won the World Series with his three-run blast to left field. That’s how it was, with a far more bitter taste, in the heartbreaking ALCS Game 6.
So the incredible saga of the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays ends with Josh Donaldson grounding out to the Kansas City Royals’ Mike Moustakas, with Dalton Pompey and Kevin Pillar stranded at third and second, the Royals victors by a single run achieved by what was admittedly a terrific piece of baserunning by Lorenzo Cain in the bottom of the eighth. While it would have been wonderful to watch our guys pull ahead and force a Game 7, it wasn’t to be. The Royals will now take on the New York Mets for the World Series crown. And you can’t begrudge the Royals for it, either; the ALCS came down to two formidable, equally-matched teams, and while from a statistical perspective you could make a legitimate argument that the Blue Jays were a better team, the Royals simply outplayed them. They pushed harder, made better use of their scoring opportunities, silenced the Jays’ bats with their world-class bullpen. The Jays went 0 and 12 with runners in scoring position in Game 6, so you can’t suggest they didn’t have plenty of opportunities to break out a big lead; they just weren’t able to come through. And that’s not their fault either – sometimes, stats and history can be on your side and yet, plain dumb luck isn’t. There were a few questionable calls in the game that Jays fans will be wringing their hands over all winter; the waaaay outside second strike called on Ben Revere in the ninth that had him smashing a trash can in the dugout after he whiffed on the next pitch, and a certain bearded young Royals enthusiast who picked what could have been only a double off the outfield wall with his glove and gave the aforementioned Moustakas a dubious home run in the second (I wouldn’t suggest that fan try visiting north of the border any time soon). Chalk it up to those fickle gods of baseball again; just as often a bad call can break in your favor. But it is what it is.
As always following a season-ending loss, the temptation to point fingers will be strong. But just as a man should be remembered for the sum of his life’s achievements and not just how things go on his last day, so too should fans set aside bruised feelings and remember the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays by the sum of the amazing moments they gifted us with throughout a remarkable season, and the goodwill and unity they brought to a city and a country that needed it badly. For me, there are a few distinct images that will stand out for years to come:
The 11-game winning streak following the July trade deadline, when it seemed like the Jays were invincible.
The surprise of the mid-summer acquisitions of Troy Tulowitzki, Ben Revere and David Price.
Tulo’s first game as a Blue Jay, including his first home run.
Every catch made by Kevin Pillar.
Sweeping the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.
The sage, unflappable cool of old pros R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle.
The mighty Edwing.
Ryan Goins’ come-from-behind two-run walk-off home run.
Justin Smoak’s first career grand slam.
Roberto Osuna’s silent moments of prayer before shutting down opposition bats.
The unhittable Brett Cecil.
Play-by-play man Buck Martinez calling out “Get up, ball!”
Russell Martin’s cannon of an arm throwing out base stealers at second.
Munenori Kawasaki’s delightfully weird postgame interviews.
The inspiring return of the fiery Marcus Stroman from a potentially season-ruining injury, and his motto that “height doesn’t measure heart.”
LaTroy Hawkins’ last pitch to clinch the AL East.
The unfurling of the “2015 AL East Champions” banner at the Rogers Centre.
Marco Estrada’s flawless pitching in Game 3 of the ALDS and Game 5 of the ALCS.
Tulowitzki’s season-saving 3-run home run.
Accidental pitcher Cliff Pennington’s fastball strike in the horrendous ALCS Game 4.
Chants of “MVP” whenever Josh Donaldson stepped to the plate.
And of course, no list of such things could be complete without Jose Bautista’s bat flip to end all bat flips.
We’ll remember the disappointment, too, the swings and misses and the lost promise of a World Series crown that will have to wait until October of next year. But if nothing else, 2015 will be remembered as the year that the Blue Jays shut the door on 22 years of mediocrity and transformed into genuine, fearsome contenders, unable to be dismissed any longer as that average Canadian team that used to be great. Specific feats cannot be denied: they won the brutal American League East division and came back from the brink against a tough Texas team to claim the ALDS. But we saw it too in the way those 25 roster members embraced each other, young and old, newcomers and veterans, and dedicated themselves to the pursuit of a singular goal, collected egos set aside. R.A. Dickey said that “it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.” For a team with only three native-born sons, the attitude was somehow uniquely Canadian of them.
And Canadians responded. As their oft-trending hashtag urged, we came together. The Blue Jays became Canada’s team. We unleashed a pent-up emotion that was searching all these years for a floodgate through which it could burst. We finally forgave the hurt that festered from the 1994 strike, we forgot about hockey and filled the stands again to share in the glory and the occasional agony. There will be kids in tiny Toronto jerseys who will grow up remembering the 2015 Blue Jays as “their” team, and comparing every year that follows to this – just like those of us who came of age with 1992 and 1993. While the roster will change next year as new faces arrive and old favorites move on, there will always be something particularly special about this iteration of the team, and we’ll look back at them with a reverence that they truly deserve. In the end the World Series or lack thereof doesn’t really matter. The Blue Jays have already won victories that can never be taken away. This was the team that made me a fan again, that made many people across this country fans, either again or for the first time, and as far as I’m concerned, things can only get better from here. The boys in blue are back.
Thank you so much, 2015 Toronto Blue Jays. See you in the spring.
ALCS Game 6BaseballBen RevereBlue Jays 2015 seasoncanadaJose BautistaJosh DonaldsonKansas City RoyalsMarco EstradaMarcus StromanR.A. DickeyToronto Blue JaysTroy Tulowitzki
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Ever wondered how would Immersive Experiences look like (or rather, feel like) in the Future?
Lets face it: Producing and delivering Live Music and Live events as immersive experiences, is still following the TV-Broadcast paradigm. Perhaps, not even this. After a decade of producing and often live streaming live music performances (Mativision produced the first full three-day-long music festival in glorious interactive 360-video in 2008!), we are still not any further than where the first Cinematographers were: We place a few 360-degree cameras in front of a stage, on the stage, among the audience, sometimes we even move then (wow!) or hang them on cranes or drones (Oh my God!) and very few of us, allow the viewers to select which camera to watch from in real time. Even fewer of us can add more content on the 360 image such as overlayed screens (to mimic the large video projections found close to actual concert stages), pull-down menus with info and/or funny-looking lego-like avatars who we are supposed to believe are representations of ourselves and our friends. OK, we can watch all this in (the still-not-really-satisfactory image quality) of the currently available VR Headsets which are heavy, uncomfortable, cumbersome to use, do not adjust well to the different eyesight of each one of us etc. etc.
Now is this really something to be impressed with? Is this not similar to what Cinematographers did the first years of Cine-Cameras? And does this really compare to the way up-to-date conventional broadcasting techology offers? Difficult questions to answer. And the slow adoption of current VR-offerings by the wider public, in contrast to all projections is an uncomfortable proof. And my point is not that immersive content is rubbish or not worth taking any notice of. Nowhere near! My point is that immersive content needs to be DIFFERENT if it is to become and lead to Immersive Experiences!
All of us involved in the production of immersive content, experiences and applications need to consider how Cinema came all the way from those early days of capturing a theatrical play or a train passing-by with a stationary camera, to productions like Inception and Interstellar, and this selection only references the conceptual complexity of those films. We certainly need to think hard, what can be done with the tools and techology we have in hand, or the ones that will merge in the near future, to enable the production of immersive expriences to develop likewise.
I am sure that we all agree that in the fast-developing era of VR/AR/MX/XR and "whatever"-R technologies, in both HW and SW, allowing easier and more ambitious production of immersive and interactive content, new and innovative methods and approaches are needed to enable the creative industries to take advantage of both available and emerging technologies. And why not, lead those developments to new, as yet uncharted directions.
Aiming to play our little part in this quest, Mativision submitted a proposal for a project in the Audience of the Future-Design Foundations, which was thankfully approved for funding by Innovate UK and since October 2018, is in full swing!
The said project, code-named LIME (from Live Immersive Music Experiences) is a feasibility study which will enable Mativision to research next-generation immersive experiences from live music and live performances and the ways such immersive experiences can be distributed and viewed by the target audiences away from the event.
Aiming to define new innovative modes of immersive content production and distribution which will transform the audience experience of watching a live performance remotely, the project will draw on the company's more than a decade of experience in the field (we have produced 360-degree content for more than 100 real events and performances all over the globe!). We will focus on defining the target audience, studying and understanding their perceptions and behaviours and delivering vital insight into audience expectations from live-music-based immersive experiences that will capture and excite.
Mativision will seek to communicate and exchange views with key figures and forward-looking creators in the live performance sector, opting to incorporate their visions in the proposed future immersive production paradigms. We will approach our existing and past clients and partners but also other people that are renown for their ideas and progressive work in live music performances. And because this is not a competitive project, we do not do this to gain any advantage ourselves alone, we will also aim to talk with other companies which may be seen as competitors to us. We hope that they will believe in the cause and will be willing to contribute; the world will become a better place if we all do better together!
Finally, as "the proof of the pudding" is always "in the eating" (that last part often forgotten or omitted on purpose), in order to introduce those totally fresh and innovative ways to produce and deliver live music events and performances to the target audiences, the project will devise and implement a few real small-scale case studies. We will capture and analyse audience responses in order to produce concise recommendations for next-stage development into full-scale commercial products and services.
The findings of the LIME project will be made available to all interested and we sincerely hope that the provision of these findings will help other companies involved in the production of immersive experiences and will eventually create new revenue streams for the UK's creative industries.
Anthony Karydis, is the founder and Managing Director of London-based Mativision Limited, (a global leader in the production and distribution of Immersive Media - VR/AR/MR) with 30 years of working experience, including managing two high-tech companies in Greece, managing multi-national European R&D projects and University lecturing on Digital Media. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (with the highest distinction of Accredited Senior Imaging Scientist), Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine, member of the Royal Television Society and has a passion for cats, Jazz & Blues, electric guitars and vintage UK and Japanese motorcycles.
Συνεκμετάλλευση κοιτασμάτων πετρελαίου | Μια παρεξηγημένη έννοια στη Γεωπολιτική
Greek Shipping: More than 150 Years in the Heart of London
Thanos Kapralos
Hellinikon Project Can Place Athens in the ‘Center of the World’ [PHOTOS]
High street blow as 200 Boots shops face closure
Brexit News Live | Theresa May promises parliamentary vote on second referendum in desperate bid to force through exit plan
Monday's Google Honours Georgios Papanikolaou
Greece in the News
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Που θα ψηφίσουμε στις Eυρωεκλογές
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West London shooting
Brexit | UK and EU agree delay to 31 October
Ο James Bond στο «Σταύρος Νιάρχος»
Πρόγραμμα εγκατάστασης πολιτών ΕΕ τώρα και στα Ελληνικά!
Η τρίτη ήττα της Μέι σηματοδοτεί εκλογές;
Η UNESCO απαντά στον Ερντογάν για την Αγία Σοφία
Έξοδος και τέλος εποχής για την Τερέζα Μέι
Καταργείται η Αλλαγή Ώρας
Theresa May Opens Door for Second Referendum?
More than 4 million sign Brexit petition to revoke article 50
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Η κυβέρνηση θα ζητήσει την αναβολή του Brexit
BREXIT - What Happens Now?
Brexit Delayed..???
Brexit: MPs reject Theresa May's deal by 149 votes
Job Add | Full Stack Web Developer
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Giannis Antetokounmpo stars in Aegean Airlines' New Safety Video [VIDEO]
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Stavros Niarchos Foundation in support of Strengthening Greece’s Arsenal in the Battle against Cancer
Looking for the Non-Smoking venues in Greece? This platform will be your friend...
HAPPENING NOW @GreeksConnect
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eDiscovery and Digital Privacy
by Alvey Matlock | Nov 23, 2018 | Digital Forensics, Guardian Forensics, Uncategorized
The digital age has rapidly shaped how we communicate and function as humans, whether it be with the iPhone, a digital medical device or a virtual gathering site such as Facebook. Most of these advancements have been positive, however, it has also brought an ominous shadow behind us. eDiscovery is now a very essential tool in civil and criminal cases across the country, so it is important to understand how eDiscovery and digital privacy communicates. For a detailed explanation about eDiscovery and its process, click here.
eDiscovery is unique as it joins the judicial world with the technological one. In 2018, governments globally are trying to compete with the evolution of the digital world and define individual privacy. In the United States, there is no overarching law regarding personal data, but the right to privacy is a common law that is incorporated elsewhere and bound through several pieces of legislation. To name a few:
Right to Financial Privacy Act (RFPA)
Health Information Technology for Economic & Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
Children’s Online Protection Act (COPA)
State Breach Notification Laws
State Data Transfer Laws
These legislatures are in place to protect the privacy of individuals on a basic level and in their everyday lives. However, when a court case arises that requires digital evidence there are compliance regulations for these. Both eDiscovery and digital privacy can be perplexing, so it can get rather gray on how these procedures comply with eDiscovery.
This can be a very complex topic to cover and grasp, so we recommend talking to an eDiscovery specialist and/or a lawyer if you would like details on the constitutional aspects of your case.
eDiscovery & Why You Should Know About It
eDiscovery is the search, collection and analyzation of digital information on an individual in response to or for the purpose of being used in court (as evidence).
Every person that uses electronic devices or accesses the internet has a digital record. The nature of how these devices and/or programs process is excellent for investigative needs. Digital records usually have a time stamp and geographical and recipient information (to name a few) and they are near impossible to destroy. Not to mention, thousands of photos are taken of the internet per second.
Electronically stored data can be that broad, but as specific as voicemails, images, social media, emails and entire databases. so what exactly could be used in eDiscovery? Well, anything in those categories – from spreadsheets, calendars and even your virus protection.
Think about it: An entire legal case can be sitting on what the digital record said.
So how does eDiscovery’s process work? If you are in a legal battle and either party would like to use electronic information as evidence, eDiscovery will be necessary. The best way to execute this is by using a digital forensics expert. Guardian has extensive experience in building successful cases in digital forensics, eDiscovery and with law enforcement in general. Our team works to protect the integrity of the information until it is used in court. These experts are educated on the process necessary to analyze, recover and save the information in accordance with the rules to submit evidence to the court.
eDiscovery itself, however, is not merely attached to merely technology, it connects political, security, personal and constitutional pieces. Click here to get more detailed information on this collaborative effort and your digital privacy rights.
Digital Forensics and Corporate Fraud
by Alvey Matlock | Sep 21, 2018 | Computer Crime, Digital Forensics, Guardian Forensics, Uncategorized
Corporate Fraud: Activities undertaken by an individual or company that are done in a dishonest or illegal manner, and are designed to give an advantage to the perpetrating individual or company.
A generation ago, company plans and assets were tangible. Filing cabinets could be found in many an office, overflowing with paper spreadsheets and ledger books full of information that made the business succeed or fail.
Today, computers, laptops, tablets, servers and cloud storage have become the repositories of company secrets and success. But like the early days of business, there have always been individuals within the company willing to cheat, steal and misrepresent to make themselves or their business come out on top.
Instead of white out and erasers used to change information on paper, files are deleted, digital spreadsheets are illegally altered and corporate fraud has become a digital battleground.
Many times, the investigation starts with a whistleblower sending an email or a phone call. Then the big guns are sent in. A Computer forensics investigator or team of investigators come in and start digging into the digital information.
Emails will be searched, digital activities mapped, information changes noted and when employees log on and off will be noted. All this data isn’t just gathered, it is organized and examined closely. Activity patterns are created and a digital footprint starts to appear for the person(s) being investigated.
Investigations don’t always need a whistleblower to start things off. Often, if upper management is suspicious of illicit activities or even quiet computer crime, a digital forensics team will be called in to investigate.
Once the information is gathered, examined and the guilty parties found, then the case can be created. Most digital forensic investigators, like the pro’s at Guardian Forensics, will give expert testimony supporting the evidence that has been found.
Litigation should be decisive with the evidence and the expert witnesses who found it testifying.
As long as there is something to be gained through fraud, there will continue to be dishonest business actions. With the help of the right computer forensic investigators, the truth will be found and the guilty punished.
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Thunderbrew
Aggressively Hopped, Full-Bodied Metal
Red Death is Delaware metal group Thunderbrew's alcohol-soaked debut CD, featuring eleven full and rich-bodied heavy tracks spearheaded by master brewer/guitarist/vocalist Daran Amos. The bitter and complex roasted character of Thunderbrew is achieved through the use of dropped tuned and layered rhythm guitars - brewmeister/guitarist Rick Land is also partially responsible for the thirst-quenching, metallic throb. You'll hear influences from groups such as Fates Warning, Megadeth, BLS and Motorhead in the band's material - clearly this is music for the head-banging, beer-swilling, adrenaline-juiced music fan - raw, bitter-edged metal at its most energetic, with wicked solos as satisfying as a fresh-tasting draft. So gratify your metallic tastebuds with a generous pour from Thunderbrew's debut CD, Red Death. Thunderbrew were originally profiled in the December-January, 2003 edition of The Undiscovered.
Formed in 2000, Thunderbrew (also featuring bassist Bob Beird and drummer Joe Panaccione) began touring throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland, building a dedicated following. The band has been receiving great press reviews through local papers and the Internet, proving their determination and confidence. In 2002, they took second place (by one vote) in Key Of De.com's web contest for best band in Delaware. The creation of thunderbrew.com with over 20,000 hits brought in a whole new group of listeners and fans. Songs featured on mp3.com: "Mr. Greed", "Mother Earth", "Spare Change", "Ain't It A Bitch" and "Another Day, " all topped out in the top 20 on the list of thousands of competitive bands in their genre from all over the world.
Thunderbrew is currently working on their second CD ("Red, White & Brew") that packs a much heavier punch than the first and are shopping for label interests.
1 Hillside Ave.
E-mail: joe@thunderbrew.com
Web site: www.thunderbrew.com
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Sugar and spice to create an edible gingerbread order stand desperately
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Spanish prosecutors filed charges against Colombian singer Shakira on Friday, accusing her of failing to pay 14.5 million euros in tax ($16.3 million) in the country where her Spanish footballer partner plays. The decision to shutter the conservative magazine was contentious, with one of its founders calling the closing a murder and an entirely hostile act. It is often said that people die with Parkinsons rather than of the disease.
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City Council Candidate Garcia Touts Business, Veteran Background
Impact of Trump’s Tariffs on Americans Explained
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Skyscraper silhouettes in downtown Los Angeles. (Shutterstock)
Health Impact From Smoke Rises With More Intense Wildfires
BILLINGS, Mont. — Climate change in the Western U.S. means more intense and frequent wildfires churning out waves of smoke that scientists say will sweep across the continent to affect tens of millions of people and cause a spike in premature deaths.
“There’s so little we can do. We have air purifiers and masks — otherwise we’re just like ‘Please don’t burn.'” — Sarah Rochelle Montoya of San Francisco
That emerging reality is prompting people in cities and rural areas alike to prepare for another summer of sooty skies along the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains — the regions widely expected to suffer most from blazes tied to dryer, warmer conditions.
“There’s so little we can do. We have air purifiers and masks — otherwise we’re just like ‘Please don’t burn,'” said Sarah Rochelle Montoya of San Francisco, who fled her home with her husband and children last fall to escape thick smoke enveloping the city from a disastrous fire roughly 150 miles away.
Other sources of air pollution are in decline in the U.S. as coal-fired power plants close and fewer older cars roll down highways. But those air quality gains are being erased in some areas by the ill effects of massive clouds of smoke that can spread hundreds and even thousands of miles on cross-country winds, according to researchers.
With the 2019 fire season already heating up with fires from Southern California to Canada, authorities are scrambling to better protect the public before smoke again blankets cities and towns. Officials in Seattle recently announced plans to retrofit five public buildings as smoke-free shelters.
Scope of the Problem Immense
Scientists from NASA and universities are refining satellite imagery to predict where smoke will travel and how intense it will be. Local authorities are using those forecasts to send out real-time alerts encouraging people to stay indoors when conditions turn unhealthy.
The scope of the problem is immense: Over the next three decades, more than 300 counties in the West will see more severe smoke waves from wildfires, sometimes lasting weeks longer than in years past, according to atmospheric researchers led by a team from Yale and Harvard.
Related Story: How California is Working to Reduce Wildfire Risk
For almost two weeks last year during the Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed 14,000 homes in Paradise, California, smoke from the blaze inundated the San Francisco neighborhood where Montoya lives with her husband, Trevor McNeil, and their three children.
Lines formed outside hardware stores as people rushed to buy face masks and indoor air purifiers. The city’s famous open air cable cars shut down. Schools kept children inside or canceled classes, and a church soup kitchen sheltered homeless people from the smoke.
Montoya’s three children have respiratory problems that their doctor says is likely a precursor to asthma, she said. That would put them among those most at-risk from being harmed by wildfire smoke, but the family was unable to find child-sized face masks or an adequate air filter. Both were sold out everywhere they looked.
Wildfire Smoke Was Once Considered a Fleeting Nuisance
In desperation, her family ended up fleeing to a relative’s vacation home in Lake Tahoe. The children were delighted that they could go outside again.
“We really needed our kids to be able to breathe,” Montoya said.
“There are so many fires, so many places upwind of you that you’re getting increased particle levels and increased ozone from the fires for weeks and weeks.” — James Crooks, health investigator at National Jewish Health
Smoke from wildfires was once considered a fleeting nuisance except for the most vulnerable populations. But it’s now seen in some regions as a recurring and increasing public health threat, said James Crooks, a health investigator at National Jewish Health, a Denver medical center that specializes in respiratory ailments.
“There are so many fires, so many places upwind of you that you’re getting increased particle levels and increased ozone from the fires for weeks and weeks,” Crooks said.
One such place is Ashland, Oregon, a city of about 21,000 known for its summer-long Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
During each of the past two summers, Ashland had about 40 days of smoke-filled air, said Chris Chambers, wildfire division chief for the fire department. Last year, that forced cancellation of more than two-dozen outdoor performances. Family physician Justin Adams said the smoke was hardest on his patients with asthma and other breathing problems and he expects some to see long-term health effects.
“It was essentially like they’d started smoking again for two months,” he said.
A vehicle drives through smoke from a wildfire near Pulga in November 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
Health Impacts From Microscopic Particles
Voters in 2018 approved a bond measure that includes money to retrofit Ashland schools with “scrubbers” to filter smoke. Other public buildings and businesses already have them. A community alert system allows 6,500 people to receive emails and text messages when the National Weather Service issues smoke alerts.
“We really feel like we’ve made a conscious effort to adapt to climate change,” Chambers said. “But you can’t just live your whole life inside.”
The direct damage from conflagrations that regularly erupt in the West is stark. In California alone, wildfires over the past two years torched more than 33,000 houses, outbuildings and other structures and killed 146 people.
Related Story: PG&E to Pay $1 Billion to Local Governments for Wildfire Damage
Harder to grasp are health impacts from microscopic particles in the smoke that can trigger heart attacks, breathing problems and other maladies. The particles, about 1/30th of the diameter of a human hair, penetrate deeply into the lungs to cause coughing, chest pain and asthma attacks. Children, the elderly and people with lung diseases or heart trouble are most at risk.
Death can occur within days or weeks among the most vulnerable following heavy smoke exposure, said Linda Smith, chief of the California Air Resources Board’s health branch.
Over the past decade as many as 2,500 people annually died prematurely in the U.S. from short-term wildfire smoke exposure, according to Environmental Protection Agency scientists.
Understanding of Health Impacts Elusive Until Recently
The long-term effects have only recently come into focus, with estimates that chronic smoke exposure causes about 20,000 premature deaths per year, said Jeff Pierce, an associate professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University.
“Climate change is throwing a new variable into the mix and increasing smoke, and that will work against our other efforts to clear the air through regulations. This is kind of an unexpected source of pollution and health hazard.” — Loretta Mickley, senior climate research fellow at Harvard University
That figure could double by the end of this century due to hotter, drier conditions and much longer fire seasons, said Pierce. His research team compared known health impacts from air pollution against future climate scenarios to derive its projections.
Even among wildfire experts, understanding of health impacts from smoke was elusive until recently. But attitudes shifted as growing awareness of climate change ushered in research examining wildfire’s potential consequences.
Residents of Northern California, western Oregon, Washington state and the Northern Rockies are projected to suffer the worst increases in smoke exposure, according to Loretta Mickley, a senior climate research fellow at Harvard University.
“It’s really incredible how much the U.S. has managed to clean up the air from other (pollution) sources like power plants and industry and cars,” Mickley said. “Climate change is throwing a new variable into the mix and increasing smoke, and that will work against our other efforts to clear the air through regulations. This is kind of an unexpected source of pollution and health hazard.”
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Michigan’s Dumb and Damaging Plan to Regulate Marijuana by Shutting It Down Goes Forward
Michigan will, in all likelihood, become the next state to legalize marijuana for adults, if a highly popular ballot measure for the November 2018 election is approved by voters. If polling and results from other states are any indication—and, generally speaking, such metrics are—in a little less than 18 months time, anyone aged 21 or over will be able to stroll into a commercial storefront in Detroit and purchase cannabis, just like they can do in Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle and Portland.
To prepare for this brave and exciting new future, a state board in charge of medical marijuana—which sick people in Michigan have enjoyed in fits and starts since 2008, despite constant and often vociferous opposition from law enforcement and key elected officials—is moving to shut down all commercial cannabis sales altogether for as long as six months.
Us, too. And yet, eliminating the state’s ersatz commercial cannabis market has been the main focus of the state’s Medical Marihuana Licensing Board since it began meeting in August.
To back up slightly: Michigan’s 2008 medical marijuana law allows cannabis patients to cultivate plants for themselves or for others under the caregiver system. But if a patient can’t grow for themselves and doesn’t know a caregiver, finding cannabis can be impossible. (Maybe that was the idea.)
To fill this obvious gap, caregivers have opened up dispensaries, storefronts or private clubs, operating with varying levels of discretion depending on where they’re located.
Although a 2013 Michigan state Supreme Court decision has declared these weed stores illegal, there are as many as 77 dispensaries in Detroit, where law enforcement has better things to do. And there are none in nearby jurisdictions, where apparently there’s no other crime to worry about.
Michigan recently revamped its marijuana rules and plans to start issuing state licenses to dispensaries sometime next year. But before that can happen, the licensing board wants all dispensaries to c;lose.
One of the licensing board’s members, Donald Bailey, is a recently retired member of the Michigan State Police, which has proven willing to do anything—including falsifying lab reports—to shut down the state’s legal cannabis industry.
Yes, Bailey was a former drug cop. And yes, he’s now in charge of marijuana—the equivalent of putting a militant vegan in charge of a slaughterhouse. See how that goes.
Bailey’s first order of business as a cannabis regulator was to get the state’s dispensaries to shut down by September 15, citing the state Supreme Court decision. That was outrageous—although we can appreciate the genius of clearing up plenty of time for golf by having nothing to regulate—and so his colleagues on the board settled for December 15 instead.
That’s the date when the state will start accepting applications to legally run a dispensary, meaning that the state’s medical marijuana patients will go at least a few months—perhaps many more—without any place to reliably obtain cannabis.
Michigan dispensaries are on notice to close down by that date or risk not being able to receive a state license later. This “will allow existing operations to wind down while also giving adequate time for patients to establish connections to caregivers to help ensure continuity of access,” the state said in a press release.
This didn’t satisfy Bailey—he still believes a dispensary needs to close down by this week in order to receive his support, he huffed to the Detroit Free Press—and it absolutely doesn’t satisfy Michigan’s marijuana patients and providers.
“Even if the licenses are handed out on the 15th (the first day businesses can apply), you’re not gonna get a license on the 15th and then on the 16th be open for business,” Roberta King, co-owner of Canna Communication, told the Metro Times. “So this will still be harmful to patients who rely on cannabis for their health and well being, and it will be harmful for businesses.”
At least one lawmaker is working to solve this solution in search of a problem.
State Rep. Yousef Rabhi introduced a bill that would allow dispensaries to stay open while their applications were pending.
“Small businesses can’t afford to be shut down for months by unnecessary bureaucratic procedures,” he said in a statement.
And there it is.
The Supreme Court identified no real problem with having the dispensaries open. Nor have the Michigan State Police, beyond the logic of declaring them illegal and therefore in need of closure. Try to find an analog example in another industry.
Bailey and other weed haters have stated that dispensaries fuel the black market, an absurd suggestion that comes apart at the slightest examination. Cartels typically don’t bother securing licenses and paying taxes.
If Rabhi can’t save the state’s cannabis market, military veterans might.
At least a few dispensaries plan to defy Bailey and the shutdown order. One of them is Nathan Oakes, who runs Greener Crossing, one of Detroit’s marijuana outlets. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Oakes says 2,500 of his 8,000 patients are fellow military veterans—whom he plans to organize in an effort to keep the state’s weed stores open while the licensing issue can be worked out.
“We want to provide uninterrupted access to patients,” he told the Free Press. “We’re a large and strong political voice.”
Will hardliners like Bailey and his friends on the thin blue line be able to look military veterans in the eye and tell them to kick sand?
If so, everyone will know this isn’t about regulating an industry or helping people anymore, but clutching to a dying way of life—that is, treating cannabis like a matter of national security—that’ll be ancient history in a little more than a year.
Related Topics:MichiganRegulationRegulations
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Michigan Issues First Medical Marijuana Home Delivery Licenses
Lansing Officials Report Medical Marijuana Program is Operating at a Loss
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Questions about example sentences with, and the definition and usage of "Insults"
Example sentences
Example sentences using "Insults"
Please show me example sentences with Insults in American English? "😬.
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Translations of "Insults"
How do you say this in English (US)? Insults in American English? Examples?
(Just as an example.) Put up your dukes, pork.
Other questions about "Insults"
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"Bitch" "Asshole" "Cunt" "Cocksucker" "Fuck Off" "Fucker" "You're a dick"
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Fuck you Fuck off Eat shit and die Get fucked Go fuck yourself And almost every word spoken by R. Lee Ermey in the film Full Metal Jacket: https://youtu.be/5TNhS81w4bM
emotional labors in Korea have an especially hard time because the Confucian concept of the four castes - scholars and officials, farmers, artisans and merchants still remain in our society. Insults and hara... does this sound natural?
Emotional labour in Korea have an especially hard time because the Confucian concept of the caste system which include scholars & officials, farmers, artisans and merchants still remain in our society. Insults and harassment should be viewed as a crime and not as a meager social construct .
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IHL Database Customary IHL
Customary IHL
1. Rules
2. Practice(current)
By Rule
By Chapter
Practice relating to
2. Practice\Rule 28
2. Practice
By Country (current)
German Democratic Republic
Germany (current)
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of
Rule 28 (current)
Use of Prohibited Weapons
Prohibition of Certain Types of Landmines
Related Rule
Practice Relating to Rule 28. Medical Units
III. Military Manuals
Germany’s Military Manual (1992) provides:
612. Fixed medical establishments … and mobile medical units of the medical service shall under no circumstances be attacked. Their unhampered employment shall be ensured at all times. As far as possible, medical establishments and units shall be sited or employed at an adequate distance to military objectives
613. [Fixed medical establishments, vehicles and mobile medical units of the medical service] shall not be used to commit acts harmful to the enemy.
618. Medical establishments which contrary to their intended purpose are used to carry out acts harmful to the enemy may lose their protection after prior warning has been given.
619. To this effect, the following acts shall not be considered as hostile acts:
–that medical personnel use arms for their own protection, and that of the wounded and sick;
–that medical personnel and medical establishments are protected by sentries or an escort;
–that medical personnel are employed as sentries for the protection of their own medical establishments; and
–that war material taken from the wounded and sick is retained.
Germany, Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflicts – Manual, DSK VV207320067, edited by The Federal Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany, VR II 3, August 1992, English translation of ZDv 15/2, Humanitäres Völkerrecht in bewaffneten Konflikten – Handbuch, August 1992, §§ 612-613 and 618-619; see also § 616 (property of aid societies).
Germany’s IHL Manual (1996) states:
Fixed medical establishments … and mobile medical units of the medical service shall under no circumstance be attacked. Their unhampered employment shall be ensured at all times. As far as possible, medical establishments and units shall be sited or employed at an adequate distance to military objectives.
Germany, ZDv 15/1, Humanitäres Völkerrecht in bewaffneten Konflikten – Grundsätze, DSK VV230120023, Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, June 1996, § 503.
The manual further states that fixed medical establishments, vehicles and mobile medical units of the medical service “shall not be used to commit, outside their humanitarian function, acts harmful to the enemy”.
Germany’s Soldiers’ Manual (2006) states: “Fixed establishments, vehicles and mobile units of the medical service, without exception, may not be fought. Their unhampered employment shall be ensured at all times.”
Germany, Druckschrift Einsatz Nr. 03, Humanitäres Völkerrecht in bewaffneten Konflikten – Grundsätze, Erarbeitet nach ZDv 15/2, Humanitäres Völkerrecht in bewaffneten Konflikten – Handbuch, DSK SF009320187, Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, R II 3, August 2006, p. 5.
IV. National Legislation
Germany’s Law Introducing the International Crimes Code (2002) punishes anyone who, in connection with an international or non-international armed conflict, “carries out an attack against … medical units and transport designated with the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions … in conformity with international humanitarian law”.
Germany, Law Introducing the International Crimes Code, 2002, Article 1, § 11(1)(2).
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Carbon Power Plant
Net Power's Rodney Allam stands astride his creation: a power plant that captures its own carbon, at no extra cost. (Photo by Michael Thad Carter, for Forbes).The 27year low in power plant carbon emissions comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized the Clean Power Plan. The plan requires states to cut carbon
A power plant can be of several types depending mainly on the type of fuel used. Since for the purpose of bulk power generation, only thermal, nuclear and hydro power comes handy, therefore a power generating station can be broadly classified in the 3 above mentioned types. Let us have a look in these types of power stations in details.. Thermal Power StationEstimates of Emissions from Coal Fired Thermal Power Plants in India This paper presents emissions of carbon dioxide (CO. 2), have been made so far for measuring the plant specific emissions of different gases and particulate matter in India to generate plant specific emission factors. These measurements were taken at few small plants
This means no carbon dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, SO X or NO X is released to the atmosphere. A NET Power plant's only major byproducts are liquid water and a highpressure, highpurity stream of carbon dioxide that is sent into a pipeline for sequestration or utilization in industrial processes.This Power Plant Has Cracked Carbon Capture. NET Power figured out how to burn fossil fuels without releasing greenhouse gases, a critical step in the fight to slow climate change. By .
New Power Plants. EPA released a final rule to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants on August 3, 2015. The final "Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants" establishes New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to limit emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuelfired powerExperience and expertise in power plant construction Power of innovation built on tradition Our ideas grow from experience: In 1866, Werner von Siemens developed the first electric generator, and Siemens built the first power plant in 1885. This spirit of invention is what has driven our power
ChineseA fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel such as coal, natural gas, or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation. In many countries, Basic concepts: heat into mechanical energy · In March 2019, state power firm Eskom said it was looking at leaving two huge coal plants unfinished. Methodology. Carbon Brief's timeline map is based on the Global Coal Plant Tracker, compiled by Global Energy Monitor. The current map uses data from January 2019.
The world's first "negative emissions" plant has begun operation—turning carbon dioxide into stone By Akshat Rathi October 12, 2017 There's a colorless, odorless, and largely benign gasHowever, even if UAMPS opts for the wet cooling design, the proposed SMR plant would consume less water annually than a large nuclear power plant simply because of its smaller power output. Most nuclear power plants in the U.S. generate 1,000plus megawatts of electricity. The proposed Carbon Free Power Project is a 720megawatt plant.
The carbon dioxide free power plan T The carbon dioxide free power plant Global climate change resulting from emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases is one of the greatest environmental problems of our time. Capture and storage of carbon dioxide has the potential to contribute to a significant and relatively quick reduction inThe Clean Power Plan is the nation's firstever carbon standard for power plants. Under attack from fossil fuel interests and the Trump administration, it will likely be repealed. We're fighting back. When power plants burn coal or natural gas, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
Carbon Power Plant,Xcel Energy says purchasing the Mankato gas plant will help it transition to carbonfree power, but critics aren't buying it. Opponents of Xcel Energy's proposed purchase of a Mankato natural gas plant say the sale would be a bad deal for ratepayers and runs counter to the company's own pledge of achieving 100 percent carbonfree power by 2050.Carbon is taken from a power plant source in three basic ways postcombustion, precombustion and oxyfuel combustion. A fossil fuel power plant generates power by burning fossil fuel (coal, oil or natural gas), which generates heat that turns into steam. That steam turns a turbine connected to an electricity generator.
Find Carbon Indiana power plants. Power plants provide information on electric utilities and energy created through solar, wind turbine, biomass, hydroelectric and tidal, nuclear, alternative, renewable, natural resources, coal, oil, gas and geothermal power.What is the capacity of the solar power system I require for my facility? Does rooftop solar PV generate power during a power failure? Do I have to build my own plant or can I just buy solar power? What are the various policies and regulations (subsidies, incentives, permissions) that
The Allam Cycle is a breakthrough in power generation technology. It uses a highpressure, highly recuperative, oxyfuel, supercritical CO 2 cycle that makes emission capture a part of the core power generation process, rather than an afterthought. The result is highefficiency power generation that inherently produces a pipelinequality CO 2 byproduct at no additional cost to the system'sAs of September 30, 2016, the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies program at MIT has closed. The website is being kept online as a reference but will not be updated. Power Plant Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Projects . Click on the Project Name to go to its Fact Sheet. Click on Country Name to go to Regional Financial Summary
Texas Power. In Texas, a NET Power team is working towards building a power plant that runs off a form of carbon dioxide instead of steam. This would be the first plant of its kind. If successful(Tech Xplore)—A team with NET Power is currently in the process of building a power plant in Texas that will use a form of carbon dioxide to turn turbines instead of using steam to make electricity. The plant will be the first in the world to attempt to utilize the new technology. Levi Irwin and
Potential Carbon Capture Game Changer Nears Completion. who had been thinking about the potential of using supercritical CO₂ to integrate carbon capture into a power plantThe natural gasfired combined cycle power plant, the most commonly built type of large natural gas plant, is a competitive generating technology under a wide variety of assumptions for fuel price, construction cost, government incentives, and carbon controls. This raises the possibility that power plant developers will continue
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HomeCategory GN Store Nord
Category: GN Store Nord
GN Posts Strong Growth in Q1 of 2019; Scott Davis Named President of GN North America
May 8, 2019 HHTM Leave a comment GN Hearing / GN Store Nord / hearing aids
BALLERUP, DENMARK — The GN Group reported 19% organic revenue growth in the first quarter of 2019. Earnings Per Share (EPS) increased 25% compared to the same period last year. GN Interim Report Q1 2019 Highlights GN Hearing GN Hearing delivered 8% organic revenue growth in Q1 2019. Revenue growth was 10% including…
GN 2018 Annual Report: Company Posts 13% Organic Growth and Margin Increase
March 4, 2019 March 4, 2019 HHTM Leave a comment GN Store Nord / Jabra / ReSound
BALLERUP, DENMARK — GN Store Nord’s 2017 – 2019 strategy continues to pay off for the company. In its 2018 Annual Report, the company has posted organic revenue growth of 13%, based on the strong performance of both the GN Hearing and Audio divisions. With important product launches during the year, GN believes it is…
GN Hearing Appoints Jakob Gudbrand as New CEO
December 17, 2018 December 17, 2018 HHTM Leave a comment GN Hearing / GN Store Nord / Hearing industry news
BALLERUP, DENMARK — The GN Group announced today the appointment of Jakob Gudbrand as CEO of GN Hearing and member of GN Store Nord’s Executive Management, effective as of February 18, 2019. The announcement comes following the resignation of Anders Hedegaard as CEO of GN Hearing in October of this year. Gudbrand comes to GN from a position…
GN Releases Interim Report Q3 of 2018: Double Digit Organic Growth, with Audio Division Continuing to Deliver Strong Results
November 19, 2018 November 19, 2018 HHTM Leave a comment GN ReSound / GN Store Nord / Jabra
BALLERUP, DENMARK — In the third quarter of 2018, GN Hearing continues to report strong performance in the independent sector, in what the company said is in line with its 2017-2019 strategy, particularly in North America, where the company says it has witnessed double digit organic revenue growth driven by the LiNX 3D hearing aid…
GN Hearing Announces Resignation of CEO, Anders Hedegaard
October 31, 2018 November 5, 2018 HHTM Leave a comment GN Hearing / GN Store Nord
BALLERUP, DENMARK — The GN Group announced today the resignation of Anders Hedegaard, CEO of GN Hearing. According to the announcement, Marcus Desimoni will act as interim CEO of GN Hearing, in parallel with his role as CFO of GN Store Nord and GN Hearing, until a new CEO of GN Hearing is appointed. Desimoni, together with…
The GN Group Reports Double Digit Organic Revenue Growth and Margin Increase
August 22, 2018 August 22, 2018 HHTM Leave a comment GN ReSound / GN Store Nord / Jabra
BALLERUP, DENMARK – The GN Store Nord released its second quarter (Q2) results for 2018, reporting strong double digit organic revenue grown and margin increase. The results exceeded analyst expectations, particularly for the company’s Audio division, which has been performing particularly well. Some of the highlights of the company’s Interim Report 2018 included: 11% organic…
GN Announces Development of New Communication Device for Soldiers in Combat
January 30, 2018 January 30, 2018 HHTM GN Store Nord / Hearing Aid Manufacturers / Hearing loss prevention / Hearing protection / ReSound
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Hearing aid maker, GN Store Nord, announced today that it has developed a new hearing protection device that allows soldiers to communicate on the battlefield, while also protecting their hearing. GN says that it will begin participating in military tenders in the US and with other NATO-countries this year, but says the…
GN Signs Agreement with European Investment Bank for 100M Euro Financing to Support Hearing Aid R&D
December 15, 2017 December 15, 2017 HHTM Audiology / GN ReSound / GN Store Nord / Hearing Aid Manufacturers / Hearing aid technology
BALLERUP, DENMARK — The GN Store Nord, parent company of GN ReSound, announced that it has signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a €100 million loan agreement to support the company’s research and development into new hearing aids. Specifically, the company said the investment will focus on “strengthening its hardware and…
GN Audio Loses Antitrust Lawsuit Filed Against Plantronics
October 26, 2017 November 1, 2017 HHTM Audiology / GN Store Nord / Jabra / Legal issues
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE — On October 18, 2017, a jury in Federal District Court in Delaware ruled in favor of Plantronics in a lawsuit brought by GN Audio (formerly GN Netcom) in 2012 against the company over its business practices. Despite Plantronics having received a $3 million sanction in 2016 over intentionally deleting thousands of emails…
GN-Owned Jabra Aims to Take on Bragi, Samsung; Launches New Hearable
September 5, 2016 September 8, 2016 HHTM 2.4ghz streaming / Audiology / Bragi Dash / GN Store Nord / Hearable / Hearables / IconX / Jabra / Samsung / Xperia Ear
BALLERUP, DENMARK — Headset maker Jabra, a subsidiary company of the GN Group, announced the upcoming release of what it dubs as the “most technologically advanced wireless earbuds” available: the Elite Sport. The new Elite Sport wireless earbuds will come fully equipped with a heart rate monitor, music/stereo streaming, in-ear audio coaching with real time feedback, and…
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10 Cool Tools
by Jessika Toothman
Sidewinder ATX-3000
Ever find a spot to parallel park but you just can't squeeze? In the Sidewinder you would have been fine.
Copyright Discovery Communications, LLC
Most forklifts, and vehicles in general, are not the easiest things in the world to maneuver. This is because the wheels only roll forwards and backwards -- there's no lateral movement. So if your goal is to move somewhere off to your right or left -- say to that better parking space a few slots down that just opened up -- and you want to end up pointed in the same direction when you get there, you need to turn, go either forward or backward, and turn again. In a car, this isn't that big of a deal, but when it comes to vehicles like forklifts, it can be another story.
Forklifts often carry large, bulky and very heavy objects that can be difficult to load and challenging to maneuver (especially through doorways and other narrow places). All that turning and maneuvering at safe, but very slow speeds can also suck up a great deal of time. And that's what makes this last tool so cool -- its wheels are designed to let it travel in any and every direction.
The special wheel design was invented by Bengt Ilon of Sweden in the 1970s. It works because its wheels are comprised of a circular set of rollers arranged at angles along the wheel. This, in effect, gives the wheels something similar to the functional shape of a sphere (like the ball bearings in rolling chairs) and vastly increases the range of motion available. Want to go sideways? How about diagonally backward with a twist at the end? Whatever you want, any direction of motion is now possible.
These fancy wheels have started appearing on different commercial products, including the Airtrax Sidewinder ATX-3000. This forklift is operated with two joysticks and can rotate in a full circle while remaining in one place -- no donuts here. It can also drive over anything up to 3 inches high. A big advantage of the Sidewinder is that a warehouse could be filled with more items because less room needs to be devoted to driving maneuvers, all of which can also be accomplished more rapidly.
To find out more about the world of high-tech tools and other interesting facts, follow the links below.
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"7.1.1 Soldering Basics." Circuit Technology Center. 7/7/200. (8/7/2008).http://www.circuitrework.com/guides/7-1-1.shtml
"Agilent MSO7104A Oscilloscope Data Sheet." Agilent Technologies. 2/12/2008. (9/22/2008) http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/product.jspx?nid=-34750.753828.00&cc=US&lc=eng
"Agilent Technologies InfiniiVision 7000 Series Oscilloscopes Data Sheet." (9/22/2008) http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-7736EN.pdf
Agilent Technologies Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/home.jspx
Airtrax Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.airtrax.com/
"Baileigh Cold Saws." Baileigh Industries Inc. (8/8/2008) http://www.bii1.com/coldsaws.htm
"CAD software - history of CAD CAM." Cadazz. 7/2004. (8/5/2008) http://www.cadazz.com/cad-software-history.htm
"Cold Saw." Government of South Australia Department of Education and Children's Services. (8/8/2008) http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/docs/documents/1/GuidelinesfortheSafeUse-5.pdf
Dean, Al. "ZCorporation Spectrum Z510." Prototype Magazine. 1/5/2005. (8/6/2008) http://www.prototypemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=2
Fluke Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://us.fluke.com/usen/home/default.htm
"High Production Cold Saws." Clausing Industrial, Inc. (9/23/2008) http://www.clausing-industrial.com/Products/Catalogs/Sawing/KzooCold/KzooColdSaw_102004.pdf
"High Speed Steel Cutting Tools." Super Tool Inc. (8/8/2008) http://www.supertoolinc.com/tools/High-Speed-Steel/
"How it Works." Cached VersaLASER Instruction Manual. (8/6/2008) http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:cUxeA6NFC-sJ:www.ulsinc.com/versalaser/english/laser_applications/manual/versaLaser_3.pdf+z+axis+versalaser&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Ilon, Bengt Erland. "Wheels for a Course Stable Selfpropelling Vehicle Movable in Any Desired Direction on the Ground or some other Base." Free Patents Online. 11/13/1972. (8/4/2008) http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3876255.pdf
"Infiniium DSA91304A High Performance Oscilloscope" Agilent Technologies. (8/6/2008) http://www.home.agilent.com/agilent/product.jspx?nid=-34711.749311.00&cc=US&lc=eng
Kalamazoo Machine Tool Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.kmtsaw.com/
"Kalamazoo." Clausing Industrial, Inc. (9/22/2008) http://www.clausing-industrial.com/Products/Saws/Kalamazoo/CircularSaws/ManualPneumaticSemiAutomatic.htm
"Logging and analyzing events with FlukeView Forms Software." Fluke. 2004. (8/5/2008) http://support.fluke.com/find-sales/download/asset/2386842_a_w.pdf
Lynch, Mike. "What is CNC?" CNC Concepts, Inc. (8/7/2008) http://www.cncci.com/resources/articles/what%20is%20cnc.htm
"MAKO uses SolidWorks software to design robotics and implants for minimally invasive surgery alternative." SolidWorks. 7/14/2008. (8/5/2008) http://www.solidworks.com/pages/news/pressreleases/viewrelease.html?prid=533
Metcal Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.okinternational.com/
Miller Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.millerwelds.com/
"Millermatic 252." Miller. 9/2008. (9/22/2008) http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/spec_sheets/DC12-49.pdf
"Millermatic 252." Miller. 2008. (9/22/2008) http://www.millerwelds.com/om/o230693d_mil.pdf
"Mig, GMAW, Wire Welding, MAG." WeldGuru.com.
"Multimeter Tutorial and Video." Electronics and Radio Today. (8/5/2008) http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/test-methods/meters/digital-multimeter-dmm-tutorial.php
"Oscilloscope Fundamentals." Agilent Technologies. 7/21/2008. (8/6/2008) http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-8064EN.pdf
Paschotta, Rudiger. "Laser Marking." (8/6/2008) http://www.rp-photonics.com/laser_marking.html
Phillips, W. D. "Using an Oscilloscope." Design Electronics. (8/6/2008) http://www.doctronics.co.uk/scope.htm
"Products for the week of October 15, 2007." test&measurementZONE of En-Genius. 10/2007. (8/6/2008) http://www.en-genius.net/site/zones/testmeasurementZONE/product_reviews/tmp_101507
Rice, Marty. "MIG welding--The basics and then some." TheFabricator.com. 7/3/2004. (8/7/2008) http://www.thefabricator.com/ArcWelding/ArcWelding_Article.cfm?ID=929
Rice, Marty. "More about MIG welding." TheFabricator.com. 1/11/2005. (8/7/2008) http://www.thefabricator.com/ArcWelding/ArcWelding_Article.cfm?ID=1030
Sherman, Lilli Manolis. "Close-Up On Technology -- Rapid Prototyping. Plastics Technology. (8/5/2008) http://www.ptonline.com/articles/200408cu3.html
SolidWorks Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.solidworks.com/index.html
"Saw Technology." ProductionTechnologyNews.com. 2005. (8/7/2008)http://proxygsu-afpl.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://wf2-Dnvr1.webfeat.org:80/2hBRK1111/url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=18944635&site=ehost-live
"Soldering." Encyclopedia Britannica. (8/6/2008) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/553118/soldering
"Special Purpose Metal Cutting Equipment." Modern Machine Shop. 8/2006. (8/7/20080) http://proxygsu-afpl.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://wf2-Dnvr1.webfeat.org:80/2hBRK1114/url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=23158467&site=ehost-live
"Specs and Pricing." VersaLASERS.net. (8/4/2008) http://www.versalasers.net/VLspecs.htm
Tormach Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.tormach.com/index.html
Universal Laser Systems Corporate Web site. (8/6/2008) http://www.ulsinc.com/index.html
"University of Glasgow purchases 200 licenses of SolidWorks software." New York Times. 7/7/2008. (8/5/2008) http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docKey=600-200807070800BIZWIRE_USPR_____BW5154-0GDQTHI2L93NK9N9LMALO6QHT3&headline=University%20of%20Glasgow%20purchases%20200%20licenses%20of%20SolidWorks%20software&provider=Businesswire&docDate=July%207%2C%202008&company_name=DasS.A.ult%20Systemes%20S.A."VersaLaser." Surgrave. (8/6/2008) http://www.suregrave.co.uk/versalaser.html
"Welding, Brazing, and Soldering." Encyclopedia Britannica Student Edition. (8/7/8) http://student.britannica.com/comptons/article-210127/welding-brazing-and-soldering
"What is a DMM Digital Multimeter." Electronics and Radio Today. (8/5/2008) http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/test-methods/meters/dmm-digital-multimeter.php
ZCorporation Corporate Web site. (8/4/2008) http://www.zcorp.com/
"ZPrinter 450 3-D Printer." Prototype Magazine. 3/16/2007. (8/6/2008) http://www.prototypemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=2
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March 21, 2019 / 12:23 PM / 4 months ago
Finland to investigate Nokia-branded phones after data breach report
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland’s data protection ombudsman said on Thursday he would investigate whether Nokia-branded phones had breached data rules after a report said the handsets sent information to China.
Visitors gather outside the Nokia booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 26, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Perez/File Photo
Nokia-branded mobile phones are developed under licence by Finnish company HMD Global, which said no personal data had been shared with a third party although it said there had been a data software glitch with one batch of handsets that had been fixed.
Ombudsman Reijo Aarnio told Reuters he would assess whether there were any breaches that involved “personal information and if there has been a legal justification for this.”
Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported on Thursday a data breach related to the Nokia 7 Plus model, built by HMD. It said the company had “admitted that an unspecified number of Nokia 7 Plus phones had sent data to the Chinese server.”
Nokia, which receives royalties from HMD but has no direct investment in the firm, declined to comment.
U.S. accusations that Chinese telecom giant Huawei posed an espionage risk has heightened Western government security concerns. Huawei, which competes with Nokia in the network business, denies it poses any such risk.
NRK said it was alerted to the data issue after a Nokia 7 Plus user contacted them to say his phone often contacted a particular server, sending data packages in an unencrypted format. NRK said HMD had declined to say who owned the server.
“We can confirm that no personally identifiable information has been shared with any third party,” HMD Global said in an email to Reuters, adding there had been “an error in software packaging process in a single batch of one device model”.
“Such data was never processed and no person could have been identified based on this data,” HDM said, adding the error had been fixed in February and that nearly all affected devices had installed the fix.
Nokia, once the world’s dominant cellphone maker but which struggled to keep up with the shift to smartphones, sold all its handset activities and is now focused on telecom network equipment.
The handset business was initially sold to Microsoft in 2014. HMD, set up by former Nokia executives, took over the Nokia feature phone business from Microsoft in 2016 and struck a deal with Nokia Oyj to use the brand on smartphones.
Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki and Terje Solsvik in Oslo, additional reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Edmund Blair
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Omerta box office day 3: Rajkummar Rao starrer expected to pick up pacehttps://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/box-office-collection/omerta-box-office-day-3-rajkummar-rao-5165631/
Omerta box office day 3: Rajkummar Rao starrer expected to pick up pace
Omerta box office day 3: The Rajkummar Rao starrer, which hit screens on May 4, has so far collected a total of Rs 1.64 crore. The Hansal Mehta directorial is expected to mint Rs 2.25 to 2.5 crore during its opening weekend.
By Express Web Desk |New Delhi | Published: May 6, 2018 6:22:37 pm
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Omerta box office day 3: Rajkummar Rao starrer is expected to rise at the box office.
Rajkummar Rao starrer crime drama Omerta, which revolves around the life of terrorist Omar Saeed Shaikh, has had a slow start at the box office. The opening figures of the Hansal Mehta directorial have not been very impressive. The film, which is competing against Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan starrer 102 Not Out at the box office, has not been able to attract the audience to the cinema halls during its opening weekend.
The film, which hit the screens on May 4, has so far collected a total of Rs 1.64 crore. Film trade analyst Girish Johar predicts the weekend collection of Omerta to land up somewhere between Rs 2.25 to 2.5 crore. While Rajkummar Rao has been praised for his performance, the film has received mixed reviews from both the audience and critics.
The Indian Express film critic Shalini Langer had given an average review to the crime drama. “It won’t ruffle any feathers, except of Hansal Mehta fans looking for another Shahid, for exploration of radicalism as a product of chance and circumstance. Working without his usual scriptwriter Apurva Asrani — the embers of that falling-out are still glowing — Mehta says he got the idea of making a film on the infamous British-Pakistani terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh from model-actor Mukul Dev. The latter is credited with ‘story’. Even if you are willing to put that aside, Omerta is a surprisingly passion-less, rote incident-by-incident telling of the story of a man who is not only part of one of the most shameful chapters in India’s terror history, but whose name is on top of the list of investigators joining the dots in major terror plots across the globe, including 9/11,” her review read.
After Aligarh and Shahid, Omerta is Rajkummar Rao and Hansal Mehta’s third Bollywood outing together.
Hansal Mehta
1 Karan Johar: Marathi film industry is making extraordinary movies
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3 Alia Bhatt on Kalank: I think the whole casting of the film is really unique
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UN probe: 8 massacres by Syria regime,1 by rebelshttps://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-others/un-probe-8-massacres-by-syria-regime-1-by-rebels/
UN probe: 8 massacres by Syria regime,1 by rebels
UN commission investigating human rights abuses reveals intentional mass killings.
Written by Associated Press | Geneva | Published: September 11, 2013 3:43:41 pm
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Evidence confirms at least eight massacres have been perpetrated in Syria by President Bashar-al-Assad’s regime and supporters and one by rebels over the past year and a half,a UN commission said on Wednesday.
Calling Syria a battlefield where “massacres are perpetrated with impunity,” the UN commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria said that in each of the incidents since April 2012 “the intentional mass killing and identity of the perpetrator were confirmed to the commission’s evidentiary standards.”
Its latest report today also notes that the four-member commission is probing nine more suspected mass killings since March. With those,it said,the illegal killing was confirmed but the perpetrator could not yet be identified.
In other cases,it said,the circumstances of the killing were not sufficiently clear to be able to determine the legality.
The report updates the commission’s work since 2011 to mid-July,stopping short of what the United States says was an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack on rebel-held areas that killed hundreds of civilians.
The commission created by the UN’s 47-nation Human Rights Council says both sides have committed heinous war crimes during the two and a half years conflict that has killed over 100,000 people. The council is due to take up the report and
the commission plans to hold a news conference next week.
In a statement accompanying the report,the commission chaired by Brazilian diplomat and scholar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said most casualties result from unlawful attacks using conventional weapons and any response to end the conflict “must be founded upon the protection of civilians.”
Do Not Use world news
President Bashar al Assad
Syria Assad Regime
DO NOT USE World Others
1 12 years later,horrors of 9/11 shaping American opinion on Syria,Middle East
2 Post Karzai-Sharif dialogue,Pakistan to release former Taliban leader ‘to build confidence’
3 Obama nominates Indian-American to Asst. Sec. of Political-Military Affairs
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Land use group urges Senator Cayetano to push for demolition of Torre de Manila and pass the National Land Use Act
As the Torre de Manila construction persists, the Campaign for Land Use Policy Now (CLUP Now!) network calls on Senator Pia Cayetano to stand her ground in upholding the historical integrity of the Rizal Monument and recommends the demolition of the cultural obstruction.
"The National Land Use Act (NLUA), which Senator Cayetano filed in the Senate as SB 150, emphasizes the inclusion of cultural heritage sites under protection land use. This means that the laws on conservation of heritage areas, such as the Rizal Monument, should be strictly enforced," pointed out Anthony Marzan, convener of CLUP Now!
Marzan believes that the construction of Torre de Manila in Taft Avenue is controversial since it ruins the sightline of the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park, which has a very big implication on the country’s tourism and heritage conservation.
CLUP Now! is one with Senator Cayetano in pushing for the NLUA’s passage this 16th Congress. Cayetano's bill cites that “...LGUs in coordination with the National Historical Institute, the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines shall designate historical zones to protect the historical integrity of said geographical areas and cultural space of intangible cultural properties, which are significant to a city/municipality and the community.”
Marzan emphasized that local government units already have or should have land use plans and zoning ordinances on the protection of national heritage sites. However, these plans and ordinances clearly have implementation gaps resulting to conflicts in the areas of heritage protection and settlements development.
Lone District of Ifugao’s Rep. Teddy Baguilat, co-author of the NLUA bill in the Lower House, said that the proposed bill also addresses major loopholes on the formulation and observance of local land use ordinances.
“I hope this issue will serve as a wake-up call for local governments on the importance of following a national framework for land use planning for future generations,” Baguilat stated.
The proposed NLUA bill is already approved in the House of Representatives on third reading and is currently being deliberated in the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. The CLUP Now! Network is hoping for the proposed NLUA bill to be enacted this 16th Congress.
For more information, contact: Kim Alvarez, CLUP Now!, 0918-6545059, [email protected] Gillian Cruz, CLUP Now!, 09157830489, [email protected] CLUP Now! Network, [email protected]
Photo credit: Mon Ramirez in NO to DMCI's "Terror de Manila" Facebook Page
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Basil Performance Eval...
horttech
What is Horticulture?
Basil Performance Evaluation in Aquaponics
in HortTechnology
Authors: Rhuanito Soranz Ferrarezi 1 and Donald S. Bailey 2
1 1University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Indian River Research and Education Center, Fort Pierce, FL 34945
2 2University of the Virgin Islands, Agricultural Experiment Station, RR#1 Box 10000, Kingshill, VI 00850
https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH03797-17
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Contributor Notes
Basil (Ocimum sp.) is a fast-growing, high-value cash crop for aquaponics. Plant suitability evaluation in tropical conditions is critical to recommend new cultivars, increasing grower portfolio and minimizing the production risks associated with untested selections. Two trials were conducted to identify suitable basil cultivars for tropical outdoor aquaponics production using the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) Commercial Aquaponics System in the U.S. Virgin islands. We evaluated five basil cultivars in Summer 2015 (Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, and Spicy Globe), and seven cultivars in Fall 2015 (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai). In both trials, 3-week-old seedlings were transplanted in net pots at a density of 1.5 plants/ft2 (16.15 plants/m2). The 6-inch portions and upper portions of the canopy were harvested as a salable product and the resultant material (leaves and stems) considered as total yield per square meter. In the summer, yield was higher in ‘Genovese’ (14.91 kg·m−2) and ‘Spicy Globe’ (13.99 kg·m−2); ‘Purple Ruffles’ resulted in the lowest yield (4.18 kg·m−2). Leaf anthocyanin was greater for the red cultivars Red Rubin [28.35 anthocyanin content index (ACI)] and Purple Ruffles (34.36 ACI) compared with the other cultivars. Chlorophyll content was the highest in ‘Genovese’ [48.59 chlorophyll content index (CCI)]. In the fall, ‘Cinnamon’ (6.60 kg·m−2), ‘Genovese’ (6.70 kg·m−2), and ‘Spicy Globe’ (6.35 kg·m−2) showed the highest yield and ‘Purple Ruffles’ the lowest (1.68 kg·m−2). Leaf anthocyanin differed in all cultivars, with the higher values in Purple Ruffles (80.5 ACI) and Red Rubin (36.5 ACI). Chlorophyll content was a response of plant growth and cultivar, with values increasing over time and ranging from 12.06 (Lemon) to 17.99 CCI (Cinnamon). Plant growth index (PGI) was higher than that of other cultivars in Genovese and Lemon on day 58 (summer), and higher in Cinnamon on day 87 (fall). Yield was greater during the summer, which was calculated from May to August, in comparison with the fall, calculated from September to November. Yield declined for the fourth harvest in the summer, indicating that growers may need to end production after the third harvest and replant the crop. The results of this experiment indicate that basil has potential as a specialty, short-season, and high-value crop in the UVI Commercial Aquaponics System. Of the cultivars tested, Genovese and Spicy Globe were the highest yielding cultivars within the environmental and geographical conditions of this study for two consecutive seasons (summer and fall).
Aquaponics is a food production technology that combines aquaculture and hydroponics in an integrated recirculating system without soil (Rakocy et al., 2006). The aquaponics ecosystem is composed by fish, bacteria, and plants (Somerville et al., 2014). Fish are fed with dry feed; fish waste is generated by direct excretion into the fish tanks, and organic waste metabolites are converted by microbial breakdown in the recirculating system filters—where ammonia is converted to nitrate by nitrifying bacteria (Love et al., 2014); and nutrients are absorbed by the plants cultivated hydroponically (Rakocy et al., 2011). Solid fish waste eliminated after food digestion provides most of the nutrients required for plant nutrition, except calcium and iron, which are commonly supplemented. The aquaculture effluent flows through deep-flow culture hydroponic troughs, and a closed system recirculates the water back to the fish-rearing tanks for reuse (Rakocy et al., 2011).
The integration of fish and vegetable production in the UVI Commercial Aquaponics System uses a small land area, conserves water, limits waste discharged into the environment (Boxman et al., 2017), and recovers nutrients from fish production into valuable vegetable crops. A standard protocol has been developed for the production of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), which yields up to 11,000 lb per annum (Rakocy et al., 2006). The production of many vegetable crops also has been studied, but because of specific growth patterns and differences of marketable product, no single protocol is promoted.
In general, leafy vegetables grow well with the abundant nitrogen in the system, have a short production period, and are in high demand. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) has been produced continuously in the UVI Commercial Aquaponics System, including a diversity of cultivars and cultural practices (Rakocy et al., 1997). Economic studies of lettuce and basil production also have been conducted (Bailey et al., 1997; Rakocy et al., 2004a). Each crop yields different revenue per unit area, and this variation must be considered when selecting cultivars to produce and obtain the highest returns for the farmer (Bailey and Ferrarezi, 2017).
Basil is a fast-growing crop commonly cultivated in aquaponics systems by commercial producers, hobbyists, and educators (Love et al., 2014). The crop’s distinctive aroma and flavor derive from essential oils, plant phenolics, flavonoids, and phenylpropanoids (Juliani and Simon, 2002). The genus Ocimum comprises more than 30 species, and is divided into basil types, which include sweet (Ocimum basilicum), lemon (Ocimum citriodorum), dwarf bush (Ocimum minimum), purple (O. basilicum var. purpurescens), and thai (O. basilicum var. thyrsiflorum). Basil cultivars can be produced for different target markets such as essential oils, pharmaceuticals, ornamental plants, or as a culinary herb for fresh or dry spices (Kaurinovic et al., 2011; Walters and Currey, 2015). Purple basils contain higher anthocyanin levels (Simon et al., 1999) and are grown for culinary purposes and teas, especially as a potential source of anthocyanins because of antioxidant properties (Juliani and Simon, 2002). Basil can be produced in aquaponics using one planting date (batch) or staggered planting dates, resulting in the production of 7.8 and 7.2 kg·m−2 of shoot fresh weight, respectively, with a density of 8 plants/m2 (Rakocy et al., 2004b).
Choosing high-value crops is one of the strategies to maximize income in aquaponics systems (Dediu et al., 2012), increasing grower portfolio and minimizing the production risks. Previous research has indicated that basil is a high-value crop for aquaponics (Rakocy et al., 2004b). However, little research has been conducted to produce different basil types and cultivars in commercial-scale aquaponics (Love et al., 2015). Walters and Currey (2015) recently compared hydroponics systems and basil cultivars in greenhouse conditions with environmental control. Saha et al. (2016) cultivated basil under soilless agricultural systems (aquaponics vs. hydroponics), without indicating how different cultivars perform. The evaluation of plant adaptation in tropical conditions is essential to recommend new cultivars for the UVI Commercial Aquaponics System. Yield per area is a primary concern so that cultivars with the greatest biomass can be selected to maximize the production per area. Plant height, width, leaf area, number of leaves, and other aspects of plant morphology are also useful to evaluate crop performance. Our objective was to identify suitable basil cultivars for tropical outdoor aquaponics production using the UVI Commercial Aquaponics System to support farmers picking adapted cultivars.
Location and environmental conditions.
Basil cultivars were evaluated in two sequential seasons [Summer (22 Apr. to 12 Aug. 2015) and Fall (7 Sept. to 3 Dec. 2015)] at the UVI’s Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), Kingshill, U.S. Virgin Islands (lat. 17°43′08″N, long. 64°47′46″W, elevation 100 ft). UVI AES is located on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The territory presents an equatorial climate with dry summers (As) according to Köppen–Geiger classification (Kottek et al., 2006).
Daily total rainfall, reference evapotranspiration (ETo), average air temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD), and maximum solar radiation were recorded throughout the studies using a weather station (ET107; Campbell Scientific, Logan, UT) (Fig. 1). The equipment was located 100 ft from the experiment site. The average ± sd for the two growing seasons (summer and fall) were, respectively: total rainfall 76 and 368 mm; ETo 3.67 ± 0.76 and 3.28 ± 0.99 mm; air temperature 27.37 ± 0.81 and 27.15 ± 1.17 °C; VPD 0.95 ± 0.25 and 0.81 ± 0.2 kPa (calculated from the saturated and actual air vapor pressure using the air temperature and relative humidity data); and maximum solar radiation 1142 ± 170 and 1090 ± 194 W·m−2.
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Rainfall, reference evapotranspiration, average air temperature and vapor pressure deficit, and maximum solar radiation recorded in Kingshill, U.S Virgin Islands throughout the two growing seasons (Summer and Fall 2015) using an automated weather station (ET107; Campbell Scientific) located 100 ft (30.5 m) from the experiment site; 1 mm = 0.0394 inch, 1 kPa = 0.1450 psi, (1.8 × °C) + 32 = °F, 1 W·m−2 = 0.0929 W/ft2.
Citation: HortTechnology hortte 29, 1; 10.21273/HORTTECH03797-17
UVI commercial aquaponics system.
The system used was developed by the UVI’s Horticulture and Aquaculture program in St. Croix, and consisted of fish-rearing tanks, cylindro-conical clarifiers, filter tanks, degassing tank, deep-flow culture hydroponic troughs, sump tank, and base-addition tank (Rakocy et al., 2006, 2011) (details provided in Fig. 2). The water flow rate used in the study was 100 gal/min, with a retention time of 3 h. The entire system contained ≈29,000 gal of water and occupied 1/8 acre (Rakocy et al., 2006). A 1.5-horsepower regenerative air blower (S45; Sweetwater, Apopka, FL) provided air to each rearing tank with twenty-two 6 × 1.5 × 1.5-inch [length (L) × width (W) × height (H)] medium pore air diffusers (AS15L; Sweetwater). Hydroponic troughs were aerated with a 1-horsepower regenerative air blower (S41-A; Sweetwater) and twenty-four 3 × 1 × 1-inch (L × W × H) medium pore air diffusers (AS5L; Sweetwater) spaced at 4-ft intervals in the center of the trough.
The University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System, consisting of three main components: fish-rearing tanks, solids removal [clarifier, filter tanks, and degassing tank (Red Ewald)], and deep-flow culture hydroponic troughs. Water returns to a sump, where a base can be added into the base-addition tank to adjust pH; D = diameter, H = height, L = length, W = width, 1 ft = 0.3048 m, 1 inch = 2.54 cm, 1 gal = 3.7854 L.
Dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and water temperature were measured daily throughout both production trials using a digital meter (HI98194; Hanna Instruments, Woonsocket, RI). There was no automated control of those parameters, but they were constant during the study (data not shown). Dissolved oxygen averaged (mean ± sd) 4.90 ± 0.81 mg·L−1, EC 0.89 ± 0.08 dS·m−1, and water temperature 26.63 ± 0.85 °C. pH averaged 7.46 ± 0.27 and base addition was not required. Five pounds of chelated iron (11% FeDTPA; BR Global, Rocky Mount, NC) was added every 3 weeks to maintain a concentration of 2 mg·L−1 iron. Calcium was applied weekly by foliar spraying 10 gal of a solution with 60 g calcium nitrate (15.5% nitrogen and 19% calcium) per liter of water. Fish-rearing tank effluent nutrient concentrations during the trials are available in Table 1. About 1.5% of the system water volume was replenished daily by using rainwater stored in four 30 × 4-ft [diameter (D) × H] panel tanks (21,150 gal; Red Ewald, Karnes City, TX).
Nutrient concentration in fish-rearing tank effluent in Summer and Fall 2015 used for the cultivation of basil (‘Cinnamon’, ‘Genovese’, ‘Lemon’, ‘Purple Ruffles’, ‘Red Rubin’, ‘Spicy Globe’, and ‘Thai’) in tropical conditions. Samples were collected from the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System. Average of five samples per growing season.
Nile tilapia were stocked at a rate of 77 fish/m3 and fed three times daily with a complete, floating-pelleted diet with 32% protein (PMI Aquamax, Gray Summit, MO). The feeding rate applied during the summer trial was 66 g·m−2 plant area per day, and during the fall trial was 74 g·m−2 plant area per day. Both feeding rates were within the optimum range of 60–100 g·m−2 plant area per day indicated by Rakocy et al. (2006) to prevent plant nutrient toxicity. The treatment capacity of the filters and hydroponic tanks is equivalent to 180 g feed per square meter of plant area per day. Fish growth performance was not assessed because of extensive results already published on that topic at the same system (Rakocy et al., 1997, 2004a, 2004b, 2006, 2011).
Treatments.
In the summer, we tested five basil cultivars [Genovese (sweet basil), Lemon (lemon basil), Purple Ruffles and Red Rubin (purple basil), and Spicy Globe (bush basil)]. In the fall, we evaluated seven cultivars [Cinnamon (cinnamon basil), Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai (thai basil)].
Procedures for each season.
Basil seeds (Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Winslow, ME) were seeded on 98-cell flats (HC Companies, Middlefield, OH) filled with commercial peat-based substrate with sphagnum moss (75% to 85%), perlite, and vermiculite (Promix BX Mycorrhizae; Premier Tech Horticulture, Rivière-du-Loup, QC, Canada). Three-week-old seedlings were inserted into 2 × 2-inch (D × H) net pots (Pöppelmann, Löhne, Germany) to hold the rooted seedling and transplanted into Styrofoam rafts [4 ft × 8 ft × 1.5 inch (L × W × H)] floating on the surface of the hydroponic troughs. Rafts were prepared for planting by painting the board surface with white nontoxic roof paint (Cool-Cote 22-DW-9; BLP Mobile Paints, Mobile, AL) and drilled with 1–7/8-inch diameter holes. Forty-eight plants were transplanted into an area of 32 ft2 (2.97 m2). Planting density was 1.5 plants/ft2 (16.15 plants/m2) spaced 8 × 12 inches. A 4-inch edge was left along the rafts to provide equal spacing to all plants.
Pest management required spraying once weekly with Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. kurstaki strain ABTS-351, fermentation solids, spores, and insecticidal toxins (Dipel DF; Valent Biosciences, Libertyville, IL) to control caterpillars (Lepidoptera), and with insecticidal soap potassium salts of fatty acids (M-Pede; Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, IN) to control aphids (Aphis sp.) and silverleaf whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci).
Measurements.
Plants were harvested multiple times by cutting stems 6 inches above the substrate surface and allowing the plant to regrow until the next harvest. The upper part of the canopy (leaves and stems) was harvested as a salable product, and the resultant material summed over time and totalized as yield per square meter. In the summer, plants were harvested every 4 weeks or 28 d (days 28, 56, 84, and 112); and in the fall plants were harvested about every 3 weeks, ranging from 21 to 28 d (days 21, 25, 43, 49, 66, and 87). The change in harvest interval was performed to suppress bolting—given that bolting produces an undesirable flavor on some cultivars (Gil, 2016).
Plant height and width (measured in two perpendicular directions) were measured before each harvest in four plants to calculate PGI [(H + W1 + W2) ÷ 3] on days 28, 56, 84, and 112 in the summer, and days 25, 43, 66, and 87 in the fall.
Two entire plants were sampled from each cultivar at each harvest to determine canopy fresh and dry weight. We added the fresh weight of those two plants into the total yield results to avoid subestimation.
Anthocyanin and chlorophyll content indexes (nondestructive analysis) were measured on fully expanded leaves in two plants before the final harvest in the summer (days 100 and 107) and before each harvest in the fall (days 21, 43, 66, and 87). Anthocyanin was measured with a portable anthocyanin content meter (ACM-200 plus; Opti-Sciences, Hudson, NH), and chlorophyll using a chlorophyll concentration meter (MC-100; Apogee Instruments, Logan, UT), both following the manufacturer’s instruction manuals.
Experimental design and statistical analysis.
Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design, with four replications in the summer and three replications in the fall. Data were analyzed using the general linear model procedures in SAS (version 9.4; SAS Institute, Cary, NC). A one-way analysis of variance model was used to determine treatment effects for total yield, and canopy fresh and dry weight. Repeated measures were used for PGI, anthocyanin, and chlorophyll content. The errors were checked to be normally and independently distributed. Probability values were considered statistically significant when P ≤ 0.01.
Our results indicate that basil adapted well to aquaponics in tropical warm conditions, because the yield was higher than that in other studies on hydroponics at northern U.S. regions using the same yield per area index (Walters, 2015). There were significant differences among the basil cultivars tested [P < 0.001 (Table 2)]. In the summer, ‘Genovese’ (14.91 kg·m−2) and ‘Spicy Globe’ (13.99 kg·m−2) presented the highest total yield and ‘Purple Ruffles’ the lowest (4.18 kg·m−2) [P < 0.001 (Fig. 3A)]. Our results are comparable with Rakocy et al. (2004a) at 14.20 kg·m−2 (Spring 2002), and Rakocy et al. (2004b) at 14.40 kg·m−2 (Summer/Fall 2002) of ‘Genovese’ on a staggered planting in the same system. However, visual observations indicated the occurrence of bolting in some cultivars during the 4-week harvesting period (data not shown).
Analyses of variance for yield, canopy fresh and dry weight, plant growth index (PGI), anthocyanin, and chlorophyll content for two seasons (Summer and Fall 2015) and seven basil cultivars (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai) cultivated in the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System.
Total yield (A and B), canopy fresh weight (C and D) and dry weight (E and F) in Summer and Fall 2015 for seven basil cultivars (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai) cultivated in tropical conditions using the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System. Means ± se followed by the same lowercase letter are not significantly different by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test at P < 0.01; 1 kg·m−2 = 0.2048 lb/ft2, 1 g = 0.0353 oz.
In the fall, ‘Genovese’ (6.70 kg·m−2), ‘Cinnamon’ (6.60 kg·m−2), and ‘Spicy Globe’ (6.35 kg·m−2) produced the highest total yield and ‘Purple Ruffles’ the lowest (1.68 kg·m−2) [P < 0.001 (Fig. 3B)]. One can note that total yield decreased 57% from the summer to fall [P < 0.001 (Fig. 3A and B)]. Possibly, the more frequent cutting to avoid bolting stressed the plants and resulted in the decrease in total yield because morphological characteristics such as branching change when shoots are harvested several times (Walters and Currey, 2015). The reason for this difference is unknown because variation in nutrient concentration on fish-rearing tank effluents cannot explain the decrease in total yield. Ammonium, aluminum, sodium, and chloride increased from the summer to fall, whereas copper, iron, molybdenum, and zinc decreased (Table 1); but the values were within recommended values (Kamal and Mair, 2005; Timmons and Ebeling, 2002). There were no detected visual nutrient deficiencies or diseases such as pythium root rot (Pythium sp.) or phytophthora root rot (Phytophthora sp.) over time to explain the total yield decrease. The cultivars tested in the summer presented the same trend in the fall, indicating that the total yield differences across cultivars were consistent in both seasons and mainly affected by cultivar differences.
Yield per harvest was greater during the summer than fall [P < 0.001 (Fig. 4A)]. Yield declined on the fourth harvest in the summer, possibly because of plant senescence caused by successive harvests. This trend indicates that a grower may end the crop after the third harvest and replant. Rakocy et al. (2004b) did not report a decrease in ‘Genovese’ yield on the fourth harvest. Maybe, slight changes in the environmental conditions might have contributed to the reduced yield. The fall trial was conducted from September to November, with high temperatures at the beginning of the trial (Fig. 1). Because staggered plants grow slowly after transplant (Rakocy et al., 2004b), maybe the higher temperatures during basil’s young phase affected subsequent plant growth.
Yield per harvest in Summer (A) and Fall 2015 (B) for basil cultivars (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai) cultivated in tropical conditions using the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System. Means ± se with * are significantly different by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test at P < 0.01; 1 kg·m−2 = 0.2048 lb/ft2.
Canopy fresh and dry weights were also influenced by cultivar [P < 0.001 (Table 2)]. Average canopy fresh weight decreased 53% and dry weight decreased 67% from the summer to fall. Canopy fresh weight followed the same trend compared with total yield in the summer or fall trials [P < 0.001 (Fig. 3C and D)]. Canopy dry weight was the highest in ‘Genovese’ (55.1 g/plant) in the summer [P < 0.001 (Fig. 3E)] and in ‘Cinnamon’ (20.3 g/plant) in the fall [P < 0.001 (Fig. 3F)]. To the best of our knowledge, few studies are available on aquaponics basil production. Besides UVI studies (Rakocy et al., 2004a, 2004b, 2006, 2011), most references compare aquaponics to hydroponics (Saha et al., 2016) or cultivate different basil cultivars in hydroponics systems (Walters and Currey, 2015), limiting data comparison.
Plant growth index was influenced by cultivars × sampling date in the summer and fall [P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively (Table 2)]. Plant growth index was higher in ‘Genovese’ and ‘Lemon’ on day 56 in comparison with the other cultivars [P < 0.001 (Fig. 5A)] (summer), and in Cinnamon on day 87 [P = 0.002 (Fig. 5B)] (fall). ‘Purple Ruffles’ was the smallest cultivar. Future trials could plant this cultivar at higher densities to increase yield per unit area (Walters, 2015). These results are in agreement with Walters and Currey (2015) and Simon et al. (1999). Average PGI decreased 16% from the summer to fall.
Plant growth index (PGI) in Summer (A) and Fall 2015 (B) for seven basil cultivars (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai) cultivated in tropical conditions using the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System. PGI calculated using plant height and width in two directions measured before each harvest in four plants [(height + width 1 + width 2)/3] and collected on days 28, 56, 84, and 112 in the summer and days 25, 43, 66, and 87 in the fall. Means ± se followed by the same letters are not significantly different by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test at P < 0.01. Lowercase letters represent the mean separation across sampling date within a cultivar, and uppercase letters within a cultivar across sampling date; DAT = days after transplant, 1 cm = 0.3937 inch.
Leaf anthocyanin content varied across cultivars in the summer, and cultivar and sampling date interaction in the fall [P < 0.001 (Table 2)]. In the summer, leaf anthocyanin was higher in the red cultivars Red Rubin (28.35 ACI) and Purple Ruffles (34.36 ACI) [P < 0.001 (Fig. 6A)]. In the fall, leaf anthocyanin differed in all cultivars, with higher values in ‘Purple Ruffles’ (80.5 ACI) and ‘Red Rubin’ (36.5 ACI) than in the green cultivars [P < 0.001 (Fig. 6B)]. Phippen and Simon (2000) indicated that the genes controlling anthocyanin expression in purple basil cultivars are unstable, with the crops easily reverting to green pigments. This characteristic might have caused the reduced readings in each harvest in the fall [P < 0.001 (Fig. 6B)]. Usually, ‘Purple Ruffles’ and ‘Red Rubin’ present a similar total extractable anthocyanin yield, averaging 17.75 mg/100 g of fresh tissue (Phippen and Simon, 1998; Simon et al., 1999). However, we measured anthocyanin using a nondestructive method (ACM-200 plus); and there are no reported results in the literature for comparison because data are not available for basil. Average leaf anthocyanin was 24% higher in the summer than in the fall.
Leaf anthocyanin content in Summer (A) and Fall 2015 (B) for seven basil cultivars (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai) cultivated in tropical conditions using the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System. Means ± se followed by the same letters are not significantly different by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test at P < 0.01. For the fall, lowercase letters represent the mean separation across sampling date within a cultivar, and uppercase letters within a cultivar across sampling date. Anthocyanin content index (ACI) was determined nondestructively using a handheld meter (ACM-200 plus; Opti-Sciences); DAT = days after transplant.
Leaf chlorophyll content was influenced by cultivar in the summer [P = 0.008 (Table 2)], and cultivar and sampling date interaction in the fall [P < 0.001 (Table 2)]. Chlorophyll content was higher in ‘Genovese’ (48.59 CCI) in the summer [P = 0.008 (Fig. 7A)], and was a response of cultivar in the fall, with the highest index in Cinnamon (17.99 CCI) and the lowest in Lemon (12.06) [P < 0.001 (Fig. 7B)]. Leaf chlorophyll values increased over time after transplant, maybe as a result of plant growth and chlorophyll accumulation [P < 0.001 (Fig. 7C)]. However, average leaf chlorophyll content decreased 67% from the summer to fall.
Leaf chlorophyll content in Summer (A) and Fall 2015 (B and C) for seven basil cultivars (Cinnamon, Genovese, Lemon, Purple Ruffles, Red Rubin, Spicy Globe, and Thai) cultivated in tropical conditions using the University of the Virgin Islands Commercial Aquaponics System. Means ± se followed by the same lowercase letter are not significantly different by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test at P ≤ 0.01. Chlorophyll content index (CCI) was determined nondestructively using a handheld meter (MC-200 plus; Apogee Instruments).
Results of this experiment indicate that basil has potential as a specialty, short-season, and high-value crop in the UVI Commercial Aquaponics System. Of the cultivars tested, Genovese and Spicy Globe were the highest yielding selections within the environmental and geographical conditions of this study for two consecutive seasons (summer and fall). However, yield was higher in the summer compared with the fall, indicating a preferable season for basil cultivation in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
BaileyD.S.FerrareziR.S.2017Valuation of vegetable crops produced in the UVI commercial aquaponics systemAquacult. Rpt.77782
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Kaurinovic,B.Popovic,M.Vlaisavljevic,S.Trivic,S.2011Antioxidant capacity of Ocimum basilicum L. and Origanum vulgare L. extractsMolecules1674017414)| false
KottekM.GrieserJ.BeckC.RudolfB.RubelF.2006World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updatedMeteorologische Zeitschrift15259263
Kottek,M.Grieser,J.Beck,C.Rudolf,B.Rubel,F.2006World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updatedMeteorologische Zeitschrift15259263)| false
LoveD.C.FryJ.P.GenelloL.HillE.S.FrederickJ.A.LiX.SemmensK.2014An international survey of aquaponics practitionersPLoS One9e102662
Love,D.C.Fry,J.P.Genello,L.Hill,E.S.Frederick,J.A.Li,X.Semmens,K.2014An international survey of aquaponics practitionersPLoS One9e102662)| false
LoveD.C.FryJ.P.LiX.HillE.S.GenelloL.SemmensK.ThompsonR.E.2015Commercial aquaponics production and profitability: Findings from an international surveyAquaculture4356774
Love,D.C.Fry,J.P.Li,X.Hill,E.S.Genello,L.Semmens,K.Thompson,R.E.2015Commercial aquaponics production and profitability: Findings from an international surveyAquaculture4356774)| false
PhippenW.B.SimonJ.E.1998Anthocyanins in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)J. Agr. Food Chem.4617341738
Phippen,W.B.Simon,J.E.1998Anthocyanins in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)J. Agr. Food Chem.4617341738)| false
PhippenW.B.SimonJ.E.2000Anthocyanin inheritance and instability in purple basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)J. Hered.91289296
Phippen,W.B.Simon,J.E.2000Anthocyanin inheritance and instability in purple basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)J. Hered.91289296)| false
RakocyJ.E.BaileyD.S.ShultzK.A.ColeW.M.1997Evaluation of a commercial-scale aquaponic unit for the production of tilapia and lettuce p. 357–372. In: K. Fitzsimmons (ed.). Tilapia Aquaculture. Proc. Fourth Intl. Symp. Tilapia Aquacult. Orlando FL
RakocyJ.E.BaileyD.S.ShultzR.C.DanaherJ.J.2011A commercial-scale aquaponic system developed at the University of the Virgin Islands p. 336–343. In: L. Liping and K. Fitzsimmons (eds.). Better science better fish better life. Proc. Ninth Intl. Symp. Tilapia Aquacult. Shanghai China
RakocyJ.E.BaileyD.S.ShultzR.C.ThomanE.S.2004aUpdate on tilapia and vegetable production in the UVI aquaponic system p. 676–690. In: R. Bolivar G. Mair and K. Fitzsimmons (eds.). New dimensions in farmed tilapia. Proc. Sixth Intl. Symp. Tilapia Aquacult. Manila Philippines
RakocyJ.E.MasserM.P.LosordoT.M.2006Recirculating aquaculture tank production systems: Aquaponics—Integrating fish and plant cultureSouthern Reg. Aquaculture Ctr. Publ.454116
Rakocy,J.E.Masser,M.P.Losordo,T.M.2006Recirculating aquaculture tank production systems: Aquaponics—Integrating fish and plant cultureSouthern Reg. Aquaculture Ctr. Publ.454116)| false
RakocyJ.E.ShultzR.C.BaileyD.S.ThomanE.S.2004bAquaponic production of tilapia and basil: Comparing a batch and staggered cropping systemActa Hort.6486369
Rakocy,J.E.Shultz,R.C.Bailey,D.S.Thoman,E.S.2004bAquaponic production of tilapia and basil: Comparing a batch and staggered cropping systemActa Hort.6486369)| false
SahaS.MonroeA.DayM.R.2016Growth, yield, plant quality and nutrition of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) under soilless agricultural systemsAnn. Agr. Sci.61181186
Saha,S.Monroe,A.Day,M.R.2016Growth, yield, plant quality and nutrition of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) under soilless agricultural systemsAnn. Agr. Sci.61181186)| false
SimonJ.E.MoralesM.R.PhippenW.B.VieiraR.F.HaoZ.1999Basil: A source of aroma compounds and a popular culinary and ornamental herb p. 499–505. In: J. Janick (ed.). Perspectives on new crops and new uses. ASHS Press Alexandria VA
SomervilleC.CohenM.PantanellaE.StankusA.LovatelliA.2014Small-scale aquaponic food production: Integrated fish and plant farming. FAO Fisheries Aquaculture Tech. Paper No. 589
TimmonsM.B.EbelingJ.M.2002Recirculating aquaculture. 2nd ed. Northeastern Regional Aquacult. Pub. No. 01-002
WaltersK.J.2015Quantifying the effects of hydroponic systems nutrient solution and air temperature on growth and development of basil (Ocimum L.) species. Iowa State Univ. Ames MS Thesis
WaltersK.J.CurreyC.J.2015Hydroponic greenhouse basil production: Comparing systems and cultivarsHortTechnology25645650
Walters,K.J.Currey,C.J.2015Hydroponic greenhouse basil production: Comparing systems and cultivarsHortTechnology25645650)| false
If the inline PDF is not rendering correctly, you can download the PDF file here.
We thank Luis Carino Jr. and Donna Gonzales (Horticulture and Aquaculture program) and the undergraduate students Seti Balkaran and Jomanni Bernier for technical assistance. This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project (accession number 226104).
3 Corresponding author. E-mail: rferrarezi@ufl.edu.
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© American Society for Horticultural Science 2019
aquaculture; cultivar trial; herbs; hydroponics; recirculating system; tropics
Article by Rhuanito Soranz Ferrarezi
Article by Donald S. Bailey
© 2019 American Society for Horticultural Science
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What Comes Around
by Kimberly Beer | Apr 10, 2018 | Fiction, Published Work | 0 comments
Bella’s paws touched the edge of her driveway, where the gravel turned from the small rock of the main road to the larger stones of her lane. The line here was clear and left no questions. What was hers was behind the culvert and lined up neatly inside the white three rail fence. What was not hers stretched out in front of her, never-ending and lit up by soft November sunshine.
She drew a deep sampling of air through her moist, black nose. A raw scent had drawn her here. She now separated that scent from all others — parting out the odor of fall leaves and cow shit; piecing away the burnt oil smell of the tractor a half mile to the east and the sour smell of the squirrel that was watching her from the oak tree.
The air that remained hinted at torn flesh and gunpowder.
She closed her eyes and her nose twitched rhythmically back and forth, focusing on each molecule as the breeze offered it up until she had narrowed the scent into two distinct smells — the musky, heavy odor of a buck deer and the lighter, neutral smell of the neighbor man, Sidney.
She opened her eyes and her gaze traveled across the road and down a narrow lane to where it led past a massive walnut tree and arrived at a small white house with a wrap around porch. Under the winter bare limbs of the tree she saw a man at the bed of a pickup truck move back and forth with steady determined motions. A chain-on-metal sound perked her ears as she watched him hoist the deer from the bed of the truck into the branches.
She stood up. Over there was forbidden. She looked back over her shoulder at her house — up to the window which looked out over the yard from the kitchen. There she saw Madeline watching her.
Madeline shot the black dog a look that left Bella no options. She laid down obediently at the edge of the driveway and rested her head on her paws with a sigh. Madeline looked back down into the sink of dishes and picked up a coffee cup. She ran a crocheted dish cloth over and inside the cup by feel as she looked back out the window just in time to see Sidney pulling his truck away from the deer, leaving it hanging in the tree.
As Sidney’s truck disappeared behind the house, his wife, Arlene, stepped through the front door with her little dog in her arms. “Damn thing never walks anywhere,” Madeline said aloud. Arlene placed the dog gently on its feet in the front yard. It was wearing a red sweater vest. Arlene looked up in the direction of Madeline.
Arlene could see the shape of Madeline through the window at her kitchen sink. Get a dishwasher, Arlene thought, they were invented in the fucking 50s! Why her neighbor even had dishes to do was an amazement. Madeline’s husband had drank himself into a stupor and drowned in his own pond over 15 years ago.
Not that you did much better, she thought. She looked back around at her house. Small, plain, and dull just like Sid. He didn’t make much money and she’d had more enlightening conversations with her hens. Plus he was a dead fuck — never could get her pregnant.
Arlene looked down at Chester. He was finishing his business and blinking up at her with his little brown eyes. “Hurry up,” she said to him. “It’s fucking cold.” The little pomeranian gave a long blink followed by a big squeeze of his hips. He then bounced to an upright position and kicked the ground with his hind feet until Arlene grabbed him, still kicking, and tucked him under her arm.
Inside the house, Sid was at the kitchen sink washing his hands. “Damn it, Sid, don’t wash that deer shit off in my kitchen sink. For craps sake that’s where we eat. Use the hydrant outside.”
The only thing Sid noticed as Arlene ranted was that her hair seemed to be redder than he remembered it being this morning when he’d rolled off the couch and walked by her on his way to the bathroom. Did she have it done today? He shook the water off his hands, reached for the towel hanging from the cabinet handle, stopped mid-motion, feeling her eyes on him, and grabbed instead for a paper towel to the left of the sink.
“It won’t happen again,” he said. It was a lie. It happened all the time. He was always washing up where he shouldn’t, not washing up where he should, using some towel that shouldn’t be used or not using some towel he was supposed to be using. “I put your chicken feed in the tub,” he said. “I picked it up after I got my deer. Did you see him? A nice buck for the freezer.”
“Didn’t you feed them?” Arlene said.
“Last time, I gave them too much, remember,” he said.
Sid opened the back door and stepped out onto the porch. The autumn air greeted him with a cool kiss and he smiled. He walked down the stairs and around the side of the house to admire his kill. The buck he’d taken this morning was really trophy worthy — not that Arlene would let him hang a deer mount in the house. A gentle whining noise at his side caught his attention and he looked down to see Bella.
“You’re not supposed to be here, Bella,” Sid said. She looked up at him and wagged her tail in the dirt.
As soon as she’d heard Madeline turn off the water and leave the kitchen, Bella had trotted across the road to investigate the deer. But, when she saw Sid, she’d gone to his side instead. He’d been known to let her slide on trespasses with a treat — usually a goody from his hunting or an egg from Arlene’s chickens.
“I can’t give you anything right now,” he said showing her his empty hands.
Bella tilted her head to the left.
“I’ll bet any minute she looks out the window and we’ll both be in trouble.” He motioned back across the road and Bella’s eyes followed his hand, but she didn’t move.
“I mean it, com’on,” he said and started walking toward her house.
She joined along, right at his knee. They were half way up the lane when, over the sound of Sid’s footfalls on the gravel and the rustle of the breeze through fallen leaves, Bella heard the click of her front door. “BELLA,” Madeline screamed.
“Told you,” Sid said.
She gazed guiltily back up at him before she faced forward and picked up a trot heading home.
“Damn it, dog,” Madeline said as the retriever folded herself into the ground at her feet, exposing her belly in apology. “Why can’t you just stay in our yard?” She reached down and rubbed the warm bare spot behind Bella’s rib cage. Inside the house, the phone rang.
Madeline ushered Bella through the open door and then grabbed the wall phone from its cradle. “Hello?”
“Your dog is in my yard again,” Arlene said.
“No she’s not, she’s right here.”
“She just got there then. Took a big shit over here. Sid stepped in it.”
“I don’t think it was Bella,” Madeline said. She walked to the kitchen window and looked out. Sid was walking down the lane toward home. She smiled.
“It was Bella,” Arlene said. “And if she comes back over here again I’ll call the law.”
Arlene pressed the off button of the cordless phone with as much venom as a pushed button would allow. She missed the old heavy phones that you could slam down with a point.
“Bitch,” she said and then smiled at to Chester. “Let’s go feed the chickies, shall we?”
Arlene stopped at the back door to put on her chore coat and then tucked Chester under her left arm and stepped through the door. To her left, she could see Sid’s deer swinging in the tree. She started down the steps and by the time she reached the bottom, Sid appeared around the corner of the house.
“Going to feed your chicks?” he said.
“Of course, what the hell else would I be doing outside in the fucking cold ass weather?”
Maybe leaving me for another man. Please, God, leave me for another man.
Sid watched her as she walked down the slight hill to the chicken house where he could hear the hens softly singing. At least her backside was still appealing, he thought. He walked to his truck and opened the driver’s side door. Here he folded up the jacket he’d worn while hunting and piled his ammo and a bottle of doe urine on top of it. He then reached into the back seat for his rifle.
Down the hill, the chicken coop door slammed open. “Damn it, Sidney you got the wrong chicken feed. Layena! For crapsake, all you have to remember is one word!”
Sid felt the rifle in his hands, ready, able — almost begging to be aimed and fired. One shot, it seemed to say to him. He lifted the gun and let the barrel point toward the chicken house, but he kept his gaze down, focused on the truck’s seat. If I look up, I’ll shoot her. But his thumb moved over to the safety and pushed at the small knob of metal it found there until it clicked. The rifle bucked in his hand and the sound of shattering glass filled the air.
The gunshot was loud and caused Bella to go from flat to on her feet in a heartbeat. She went to the door and scratched, hoping it would open. When it didn’t, she looked at Madeline who was cleaning the entryway.
“Really?” Madeline said to her. “It’s just hunters and they won’t share.”
Bella wagged her tail and let her mouth fall open just a little. Madeline walked toward her and pulled the door open. “Stay in the yard,” she said.
At the road, Bella hesitated, but the gunpowder and blood scent was too tempting. She loped across the road, down the lane and rounded the corner of the white house. There she saw Sidney standing at the rear of his truck, drumming the fingers of his left hand on the tailgate. He held his rifle with the butt supported on his right hip and his gaze was fixed down the hill toward the chicken house.
Bella slowed. The scent of blood was so overwhelming she could barely sort out the smells she associated with Sidney himself, the transmission leak under his truck, and the odor of Chester wearing his sweater. Sidney didn’t move when she came up beside him, so she sat down quietly at his feet. She then followed his gaze.
Arlene was there, lying flat on the ground with a spreading pond of blood surrounding her. Chester sat a few feet away, licking at his sweater. Bella looked up at Sidney and he stopped drumming his fingers on the tailgate.
“Well,” he said transferring his rifle to his left hand and reaching down to rub Bella behind the ears. “I guess that, is that.” He cocked his head to the left and looked back at Arlene.
Several minutes passed before Sidney walked around to the open door of the truck, where he put his rifle in the seat. Bella watched as he walked down to Arlene, picked up her feet and dragged her to the truck, where he wrestled her body into the bed.
Bella then followed him to the garden hydrant and watched as he hooked up the hose, turned on the water and sprayed at Arlene’s blood until it mixed with the earth and became indistinguishable from mud.
Sidney put up the hose, returned to the truck, closed the tailgate and got in the cab. Bella noticed a small trail of Arlene’s blood leak out through the closed tailgate and drip down the bumper, mixing with the dried blood of the buck. Beside her, Chester sat down and pulled at his sweater with his teeth. Sidney started the truck and drove out into the pasture past a group black heifers.
Bella waited, but when Sidney didn’t readily reappear, she went to the open chicken coop and helped herself to two eggs. Then she trotted home followed by Chester. Once on her porch, she laid down and curled herself in a circle. Chester curled up at her side.
Madeline heard a soft whimpering sound outside the screen door and when she went to see what was wrong with Bella, she found her curled up in her bed with Arlene’s ugly little dog. “Oh shit, there’s gonna be hell to pay now,” she said.
Madeline stepped through the door and started to pick up the little dog but hesitated when she saw he was covered in something brown and sticky. “Great, Bella, what the hell’d you do, roll him in the deer parts? I’ll have to pay his grooming bill.” She went back inside the house, grabbed an old towel and came back out. She wrapped him in the towel and started down the lane. Bella followed.
Sidney had just finished washing his hands in the kitchen sink and was drying them on the towel hanging from the kitchen cabinet when the doorbell rang. He took a moment to shed his hunting coveralls and toss them in the hamper. “Just a minute,” he shouted and hustled across the living room floor in his socks.
Through the window he could see it was Madeline. She looked so pretty in a dark green sweater that showed off her curvy breasts. He smiled until he saw, in the crook of her right arm, Chester wrapped in a towel.
“Oh no,” he said opening the door. “I hope he wasn’t over there bothering you.”
“Ah, no,” Madeline cocked her head. “I just figured Bella came over here and he followed her home.”
Sidney smiled at her. “As long as neither of them are hurt, it’s all good.”
“Except he’s covered in something nasty,” she said.
Sidney reached out for Chester, “Why yes he is,” he said examining the little dog. “I’ll give him a bath later.”
“Where’s Arelene?”
“Oh, she went to her sister’s for a visit,” he said. He’d rehearsed this as he’d dumped her body into the burn pile. First she was going to be gone to her sister’s, then to her cousin’s, then she was going to leave him. And that, was, well that. “You want to come in for a cup of coffee? It’s been a chilly morning.”
“Sure,” Madeline said. “Bella, stay.” She looked down into the retriever’s dark eyes.
“No,” Sid said. “Bring Bella, come in.” He swung the door wide to admit them both.
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Greg T Is Living His Best Life With Fancy Deodorant (Listen)
posted by Elvis Duran Staff - Nov 15, 2018
Greg T is very excited today because he discovered a new deodorant. It's called Legend by Montblanc, a company most known for very expensive pens that sell for $500 and more!
He revealed to the room that it makes him feel good to have such a high-end deodorant, which he got for $24 at Lord & Taylor. Of course, Danielle found it for much cheaper online, but Greg T isn't letting anyone pee in his Fruit Loops... He's living his best life!
Danielle and Gandhi both took the opportunity to sniff test the product, agreeing that it did smell very good!
Where do you buy your deodorant? Elvis wears Old Spice from Walgreens!
Listen to our on-air conversation about Greg T's deodorant below.
{"position1": {"catalog_type": "podcast", "description": "Get all the daily highlights from Elvis Duran and the Morning Show!", "id": 25096811, "name": "Elvis Duran\u0027s Daily Highlight", "slug": "139-Elvis-Duran-Daily-Highligh", "type": "catalog"}}
{"position1": {"catalog_type": "podcast", "description": "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show share their daily uninhibited, unedited post-broadcast podcast, The 15 Minute Morning Show.\r\n", "id": 27456637, "name": "Elvis Duran Presents: The 15 Minute Morning Show", "slug": "The-15-Minute-Morning-Show", "type": "catalog"}}
Image Source: Getty Images
Want to know more about Elvis Duran and the Morning Show? Get their official bio, social pages & articles on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show!
Email elvis@elvisduran.com
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Displaying results 1-30 of 40 matches for query Spehar.
1. Bus driver cries foul over airport assault
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/bus-driver-cries-foul-over-airport-assault
A Turkish Cypriot bus driver says Greek Cypriots threw rocks at his vehicle at Larnaca International Airport where he had gone to pick up tourists...
2. President Anastasiades meets Spehar in Limassol
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-anastasiades-meets-spehar-in-limassol
3. US Congressional Delegation visits Cyprus
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/us-congressional-delegation-visits-cyprus
A 9-member bipartisan delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives, headed by Ted Deutch (D-FL), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited Cyprus this weekend....
4. President intends to meet Spehar ahead of the UNSC consultations on UNFICYP
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-intends-to-meet-spehar-ahead-of-the-unsc-consultations-on-unficyp
Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, intends to have a meeting and discuss with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Elizabeth Spehar, prior to her departure for New York, where she will brief the UN Security Council on July 19, ahead of the adoption of the resolution for the renewal of UNFICYP’s mandate on July 30, CNA has learned....
5. Trump’s bimonthly report on Cyprus sent to Congress
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/trump-s-bimonthly-reports-on-cyprus-sent-to-congress
6. Leaders agree to connect Cyprus mobile phone networks
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/leaders-agree-to-connect-cyprus-mobile-phone-networks
7. Leaders hold informal meeting
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/leaders-to-hold-informal-meeting
8. Anastasiades 'will seek to meet' with Akinci
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/anastasiades-will-seek-to-meet-with-akinci
9. Spehar to brief UN Security Council on renewal of UNFICYP
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/spehar-to-brief-un-security-council-on-renewal-of-unficyp
10. Spehar holds meetings with leaders before departing for New York
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/spehar-holds-meetings-with-leaders-before-departing-for-new-york
11. UNFICYP report to be handed to Security Council members
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/unficyp-report-to-be-handed-to-security-council-members
12. UNFICYP welcomes new force commander
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/unficyp-welcomes-new-force-commander
13. Spehar: Cyprus should engage with Lute in a creative and constructive manner
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/spehar-cyprus-should-engage-with-lute-in-a-creative-and-constructive-manner
14. Lefka and Dherynia crossing points are now open
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/lefka-and-deryneia-crossing-points-to-open-today
15. Hope remains for a Cyprus settlement, but actions needed, Spehar tells Economist conference
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/hope-remains-for-a-cyprus-settlement-but-actions-needed-spehar-tells-economist-conference
16. Jane Holl Lute to meet Cyprus leaders today
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/jane-hall-lute-to-meet-cyprus-leaders-today
17. Leaders meeting underway
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/leaders-meeting-underway
18. Spehar: Anastasiades-Akinci meeting a significant step
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/spehar-anastasiades-akinci-meeting-a-significant-step
19. President to table detailed proposal on a devolved federation
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/president-to-table-detailed-proposal-on-a-devolved-federation
20. Conference to shed light on city’s buffer zone
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/conference-to-shed-light-on-city-s-buffer-zone
Nicosia will host the 5th Anniversary Conference of the 7 Most Endangered programme, in an effort to mobilise efforts to save Europe’s most threatened monuments and heritage sites...
21. Cyprus talks: Anastasiades to meet Akinci on October 26
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/cyprus-talks-anastasiades-to-meet-akinci-on-october-26
22. Anxiety over Cyprus peace talks
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/anxiety-over-cyprus-peace-talks
23. French foreign minister on a Friday visit to Nicosia
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/french-foreign-minister-on-a-friday-visit-to-nicosia
Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Yves Le Drian will pay a working visit to Cyprus on Friday where he will meet with officials as well as visit the buffer zone...
24. Remains of seven people identified in Athalassa
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/remains-of-seven-people-identified-in-athalassa
The Republic of Cyprus has identified seven bodies that were buried in 1974 and recently unearthed during excavations of human remains at Nicosia’s Athalassa hospital...
25. US posture could overpower Cyprus solution agenda
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/us-posture-could-overpower-cyprus-solution-agenda
Following July’s meeting with the two Cypriot leaders, sources say special UN envoy Jane Holl Lute appeared unconvinced regarding the basis for further peace talks and that a meeting in New York could be in the works to clarify once and for all...
26. Security Council renews UNFICYP mandate
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/security-council-renews-unficyp-mandate
The Security Council authorized a six‑month mandate renewal for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on Thursday, unanimously adopting resolution 2430 (2018)...
27. Lute on the move
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/lute-on-the-move
UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute is reportedly on the move, with sources learning that she is expected to meet with President Nicos Anastasiasdes on July 23 during her tour to Nicosia, Athens, and Ankara...
28. Spehar holds separate meetings with Cypriot leaders
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/spehar-holds-separate-meetings-with-cypriot-leaders
Elizabeth Spehar is laying the groundwork with separate meetings with the two Cypriot leaders, just weeks prior to UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute’s visit to the island...
29. Turkey gives Jane Lute the nod
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/turkey-gives-jane-lute-the-nod
Jane Holl Lute is expected to be named the next special UN envoy to Cyprus, signaling the start of a new effort that could lead to peace talks...
30. UN sending envoy to Cyprus for consultations
https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/un-sending-envoy-to-cyprus-for-consultations
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is sending a special envoy to Cyprus in the coming weeks, hoping to get crystal clear views from both sides in order to assess whether or not a new push for peace is possible...
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Gerard Butler, Vin Diesel Tied To Video Game Movie No One Cares About
Filed to: Kane & LynchFiled to: Kane & Lynch
Kane & Lynch
Dear Hollywood, no one wants to see a Kane & Lynch movie anymore — I'm not sure anyone ever did. Not then with Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx, and not now with Gerard Butler and Vin Diesel.
And Yet Another Director Is Off The Kane & Lynch Movie
The big screen version of crime series Kane & Lynch keeps losing director after director.…
Just let it die, already. At one point we had movie posters and an appearance at Cannes. That was back in 2011, a year after the Eidos (now Square Enix) franchise was relevant. It's been three years since Kane & Lynch were a thing, and now we've got a new director in F. Gary Grey (well, semi-new, he's been attached to the project before) and rugged leading man Gerard Butler signed up to play Kane, the more stable of aging criminal duo that rampaged through two video games.
This is all according to The Hollywood Reporter, which also reports that an offer has been extended to Vin "The Iron Giant" Diesel to play Lynch, the crazy-go-nuts member of this buddy-crime-caper.
We've been following this nonsense forever. We've seen the script. We've seen directors come and go (and then come again). The only reason I'd like to see it made at this point is so we can all move on.
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Colonia del Sacramento was founded by the Portuguese in 1680.
Its presence on the north shore of the Rio de la Plata, opposite Buenos Aires, sparked immediate Spanish ire and over a century of territorial disputes.
Although its origins are martial, present-day Colonia exudes peace and tranquility—flowers cover the fallen city walls, elderly gentlemen snooze on park benches, and bicycles navigate the cobblestone streets.
Sidewalk cafes, charming hotels, and antique cars join, to complete this delightful picture.
Colonia’s historic quarter was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995, in recognition of its Portuguese, Spanish, and post-colonial architectural styles.
Colonia Highlights
Highlights in Colonia include the lighthouse, ruins of the San Francisco Convent, and 17th century Iglesia Matriz—the oldest church in Uruguay.
Colonia Museums
Colonia is bursting with museums—seven separate collections showcase historic maps, indigenous artifacts, and period furniture.
Colonia can be reached by high-speed ferry from Buenos Aires in one hour, making it a convenient day trip.
Real de San Carlos Bullring
If you’re traveling westward to Carmelo, you’ll pass the ruins of the Real de San Carlos bullring, shortly before entering a picturesque, rolling pastureland.
Montevideo lies 100 miles to the west on scenic Highway 1.
When you travel with LANDED, our team of travel experts and network of local contacts are at your service. We’ll handle the details, freeing you to savor the moments. Call us today at 801.582.2100. Dream big. We’ve got you.
“Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen.”
Leonardo de Vinci
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Coconut Cultivation Board
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Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC)
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120/5, Wijerama Mawatha,, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka
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A Nice Hobby, Like Knitting: On Barbara Pym
By Victoria Patterson
Photo by Mayotte Magnus (c) The Barbara Pym Society
I BECAME INTERESTED in British author Barbara Pym after the author Michelle Huneven told me about a sock-darning scene in Pym’s first novel, Some Tame Gazelle, which, Huneven claimed, was “sexier than most explicit sex scenes.” The heroine, Belinda, has been in love with the archdeacon since college, but he married a woman with better connections. Belinda lives with her sister near his church, and when his wife goes out of town, the archdeacon seeks out their company. Noticing a hole in his sock, Belinda offers to darn it, and does so while the Archdeacon is still wearing it — his foot on her lap. At one point, she pricks him — he almost loses his temper — but it’s the most intimate she’s ever been with him, and afterwards, it takes her a while to cool down.
I was skeptical. But after reading Pym’s novels, I now know that sock darning (and polishing brass and filling hot water bottles and drinking tea) can indeed be very sexy, and that the darning and gifting of socks in Pym’s world is loaded with unspoken meaning and unreciprocated desire.
Love — specifically unrequited love — and women’s struggles to connect with men are the forces that propel Pym’s novels. Men have the power: sexually, monetarily, societally, and ecclesiastically. But Pym’s heroines are clever manipulators of the more oblivious sex and drive the slower-witted males to their fates. Resigned to doing the unappreciated domestic tasks, the women keep men fed, do their busywork, nurture and encourage them; but women also make life decisions for their male counterparts from behind the scenes.
The “excellent women,” in Pym’s so-named novel, while largely invisible and ignored by society, are the heroines — the ones who keep the churches and homes in running order — and men unwittingly revolve around them. At times, men seem like entertainment to keep the women occupied. Long before the Bechdel Test existed, Pym noted: “Didn’t they say that Jane Austen never has two men talking alone together in her novels? I’m afraid I have been bolder than that.” Indeed, Pym’s men are important only in their relation to her heroines — they’re peripheral. In her 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf observes, “It was strange to think that all the great women of fiction were, until Jane Austen’s day, not only seen by the other sex, but seen only in relation to the other sex.”
But Pym’s women usually remain unsatisfied — at least by their men. They dote on them, and the men neglect them and dote on themselves; rarely are the relationships equal or reciprocal. Yet one gets the impression that Pym and her characters love men. (“Women,” Pym once warned, “have a great (and perhaps tedious) capacity for devotion. Men ought to be wary of awakening it.”
Though marriage plots occupy Pym’s novels, a marriage proposal is not a happy ending (while saying “no” might provide relief), nor is the wedded state one of bliss and fulfillment. “But wasn’t that what so many marriages were — finding a person boring and irritating and yet loving him?” Jane Clevelend asks in Jane and Prudence.
If a betrothal happens, it does so off the page, mentioned like a gossipy aside in another novel. For instance, the reader learns two novels later, in Less Than Angels, that narrator Mildred Lathbury of Excellent Women did indeed marry Everard Bone, and that she is having subsequent adventures in Africa. Esther Clovis, secretary for an anthropological research center in Less Than Angels, muses on Everard’s fate, revealing how people (though not the reader) underestimate Mildred: “Everard had married a rather dull woman who was nevertheless a great help to him in his work; as a clergyman’s daughter she naturally got on very well with the missionaries they were meeting now that they were in Africa again.”
Flirtations and romantic obsessions — relationships at the margins — are more interesting to Pym. Friendships and alliances between women, or between women and gay men (more on that later) are the sources of sustenance to those engaged in these marginal relationships.
Pym wasn’t a feminist (though she wasn’t against feminism). Her novels, however astutely they characterize women’s subservience, are not about injustice or rebellion. Pym liked housework and disparaged aggressive sexuality in women (she loathed Mae West and Marlene Dietrich). “On TV,” she notes in 1956, “I thought that women have never been more terrifying than they are now — the curled head (‘Italian Style’), the paint and jewelry, the exposed bosom — no wonder men turn to other men sometimes.” Although Pym clearly did not understand homosexuality as we do today, she was not homophobic; in fact, her routine, matter of fact depictions of gay men was radical in the 1950s.
Pym was an autobiographical writer and even a prophetic one: Some Tame Gazelle, her “novel of real people,” which she began when she was 22 years old in 1934 and published in 1950 when she was 37, was originally a comedic imagining of her and her sister’s future lives as spinsters. Pym’s first tormenting love-obsession, Henry Harvey (a life-long friend, despite their rocky young romance) was the model for her sock-darned Archdeacon. In fact, Pym and her sister Hilary followed Some Tame Gazelle’s example into the future: like the sisters Belinda and Harriet, they indeed lived happily together in spinsterhood from 1938 to 1980, and they joked that Pym made “things happen by writing about them.”
Indeed, from Pym’s notebooks, letters, and diaries, compiled in A Very Private Eye by longtime friend, coworker, and literary executor, Hazel Holt, along with Hilary, it seems that Pym — who at times refers to herself in third person as if she were one of her own characters — chose the more voyeuristic path of spinsterhood (she turned down marriage proposals), whereby she could mine her own tragic love life (invariably involving unavailable men) free from any distracting spouse or offspring.
Pym asks in a note to herself after a breakup:
What is the heart?
A damp cave with things growing in it, mysterious secret plants of love or whatever you like. Or a dusty lumber room full of junk. Or a neat orderly place like a desk with a place for everything and everything in its place.
Something might be starting now that would linger on through many years — dying sometimes and then coming back again, like a twinge of rheumatism in the winter, so that you suddenly felt it in your knee when you were nearing the top of a long flight of stairs.
A Great Love that was unrequited might well be like that.
Pym used her diary observations for her novels, as she did with the above entry in Jane and Prudence. Prudence recalls how a surge of affection for her boss came to her, “And as there had been at that time a temporary emptiness in her heart she had let it rush in, and now here it was with her always, a constant companion or a pain like a rheumatic twinge in the knee when one neared the end of a long flight of stairs.”
Rather than marital commitment, Pym chose a quiet life where she could indulge her interest in people. In No Fond Return of Love, the heroine Dulcie Mainwaring states: “It seemed […] so much safer and more comfortable to live in the lives of other people — to observe their joys and sorrows with detachment as if one were watching a film or play.”
Pym and her sister Hilary were also prone to choosing men to spy on and follow, creating fantasy worlds about them. No Fond Return of Love is Pym’s paean to their stalking methods, which were a form of play to them, not so dissimilar to the way they invented elaborate stories for their cats (Tom Boilkin, their black and white cat, was the President of the Young Neuters Club).
“I honestly don’t believe,” Pym wrote in a letter, “I can be happy unless I’m writing.” Some Tame Gazelle was followed by five remarkable novels: Excellent Women (Cape, 1952), Jane and Prudence (Cape, 1953), Less Than Angeles (Cape, 1955), A Glass of Blessings (Cape, 1958), and No Fond Return of Love (Cape, 1961). All around 200 to 300 pages, these novels are polished, ironic, self-contained gems. They thrive on an appreciation for the quietly absurd. Pym’s wry style and subject are mutually suited: her sentences aren’t flamboyant or poetic, but rather — like her heroines — they’re clear and articulate, intent on communicating and just slightly bent. Here’s a young man of ambiguous sexuality who has just lost his virginity with a woman:
James hardly knew whether his visit to Phoebe had been a success or not. Their awkward love-making in the cottage bedroom seemed very far removed from the world of Humphrey and Leonora, and while he was not particularly anxious to repeat the experience he liked to think that he could if he wanted to.
Pym’s characters quote from major English poets as much as they drink tea and Ovaltine. All her novels end on a hopeful note, more or less, such as No Fond Return of Love, when Senhor Macbride-Pereira, a side character and frequent witness to love-shenanigans, is not quick enough to observe from his window what must have been the climactic meeting between the principals, Dulcie and Aylwin: “He took a mauve sugared almond out of a bag and sucked it thoughtfully, wondering what, if anything, he had missed.” Pym uses revolving points of view — except for the first person narratives of Excellent Women (Mildred Lathbury) and A Glass of Blessings (Wilmet Forsyth) — and her heroines (like Pym) are modest, unassuming, decent, and boundlessly curious. They are apt to reappear in Pym’s other novels — mentioned and noticed in passing — so that they remain alive, with the reader updated about their lives in a peripheral manner (much as in real life).
Pym is most often compared to Jane Austen, whom she admired and studied for technique. Like Austen, she excels at behind-the-scenes hints and maneuverings and loosely concealed, burgeoning love stories; for the reader, her endings can feel both surprising and destined.
Despite moderate sales and critical acclaim, at a certain point, publishers rejected Pym, and she was unpublished from 1961 to 1977. She was considered out of step with the new times. In her notes, she laments her inability to modify her particular style of observation (“The new Archbishop of Canterbury has a lovely lap for a cat.”).
In the restaurant all those clergymen help themselves from the cold table, it seems endlessly,” she writes. Then admonishes: “But you mustn’t notice things like that if you’re going to be a novelist […] The posters on Oxford Circus Station advertising Confidential Pregnancy Tests would be more suitable.
In a letter to Philip Larkin, Pym despairs over her rejections and contends: “But I mustn’t bore you with all this and apologize for having written this much in the role of indignant rejected middle-aged female author (a pretty formidable combination, don’t you think?).”
Pym continued to write novels during these sixteen years — although perhaps not as many as she might have if she weren’t working against the misapprobation of publishers — and much has been made of her cheerful fortitude. “Still,” she writes of popular authors of the day, “what does it matter, really, such writers are caviar to the general, are they not, and fame is dust and ashes anyhow.”
Her notebooks, letters, and diaries in A Very Private Eye reveal how much she struggled. Pym’s genius was overlooked by a male industry; like Pym herself — her books aren’t loud or ego-driven. In a letter, she observes, “ — why is it that men find my books so sad? Women don’t particularly. Perhaps they (men) have a slight guilt feeling that this is what they do to us, and yet it really isn’t as bad as all that.”
The word “cosy” and variations of it appear so frequently in Pym’s novels, letters, and notes, I came to think of it as Pym’s word. During the years of rejection, she tried to extract any impression of cosiness. On rewriting, she alerts Larkin, “I have cut out a lot of the characters, ruthlessly suppressed (or tried to) all ‘cosiness’ and am now struggling…” Then by belittling her work — “Still I suppose it’s a nice hobby for me, like knitting.” — she reveals her anger alongside her effort to manage her expectations.
In 1977 The Times Literary Supplement published a list chosen by eminent literary figures of the most under-rated writers of the century, and Pym was the only living writer to be named by two people: her longtime friend and literary champion Philip Larkin, and Lord David Cecil, a prominent biographer and literary critic. MacMillan published Quartet in Autumn that same year (which went on to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize) and then The Sweet Dove Died in 1978. Her earlier novels also came back into print.
Pym experienced fame and recognition; a little over three years later in 1981, she died from metastasized breast cancer.
Quartet in Autumn and The Sweet Dove Died have a solemnity unlike her earlier works. Of the latter, Pym wrote: “The friend who has read this thinks it almost a sinister and unpleasant book, which may be all to the good. I didn’t try to make it so, but tended to leave out boring cosiness and concentrate on the darker side.” Indeed, Pym’s signature irony and humor are muted in both of the later books; Quartet in Autumn is a far different novel than her first; a closely-observed story of four older people whose prickly idiosyncracies condemn them to loneliness, it’s not as wry or sneakily hilarious as its predecessors, so much so, it’s as if a different author had written it.
While I appreciate these later works, I do wonder what might Pym have created had she been properly recognized all along. What delights did we miss?
Pym worked as an editor for nearly thirty years for the International African Institute in London, and she appropriated both subject matter (she wrote a novel about anthropologists, and they wander freely in her other books) and an anthropologist-like impartiality in her narratives. The terminology of the field provided her with comic material, and she utilized African anthropology to highlight the comparable ceremonies and rites of the British. In Less Than Angels, Tom Mallow ruminates about his upper class roots:
It was odd to think that he himself had once been on the threshold of that kind of life and he had thrown it all away, as it were, to go out to Africa and study the ways of the so-called primitive tribe. For really, when one came to consider it, what could be more primitive than the rigid ceremonial of launching a debutante on the marriage market?
In Jane and Prudence, Jane Clevelend observes:
But then, she thought, weren’t we all, even the most intelligent of us, like children fearing to go into the dark, no better than primitive peoples with their ancestor cults, the way we went to the cemetery on a Sunday afternoon, bearing bunches of flowers.
Anthropology is vital to Excellent Women, Less Than Angels (the most anthropological of all her novels), An Unsuitable Attachment, and A Few Green Leaves. An anthropologist (and many pot shards) also appears in A Glass of Blessings.
“Obviously,” Pym states, “a novelist should cross question people, like an anthropologist in the field […] I love finding out things about people in my own way.”
Pym could be describing her own work in this later statement:
For many years I worked with anthropologists, when I had the job of preparing their research for publication, and I occasionally regretted that more of them did not turn their undoubted talents to the writing of fiction. Their work often showed many of the qualities that make a novelist — accurate observation, detachment, even sympathy. It only needed a little more imagination, plus the leavening of irony and humor, to turn their accounts into novels.
The ecclesiastical is even more central to Pym’s novels than anthropology. Pym was an avid churchgoer, an Anglican who preferred the high church, just below Roman Catholicism. But the comedic details never escaped her: “The congregation shifted awkwardly in their seats,” Belinda observes in Some Tame Gazelle. “It was uncomfortable to be reminded that the Judgment Day might be tomorrow.” Pym was not interested in portraying the more private realm of spiritual growth and revelation, let alone mysticism, which were important to her, and which therefore escaped her comedic detachment. Clergymen, however, were fair game, and though usually sincere, they’re often vain and ineffectual. Pym’s “excellent women” fawn over clergymen and find them benign objects of desire: innocuous, gentle, and most of all (especially if they’re celibate) safely off-limits.
Pym felt an affinity for gay men in her personal life, and sometimes she created gay personalities in straight drag, like Rocky Napier in Excellent Women. When homosexuality was her subject (an unusual choice at that time), she treated it with her usual tolerant impartiality and astuteness as just another observation with comedic dimensions; however understated her approach, this was really quite radical for the 1950s. Lesbian relationships don’t exist in her books, but women pair off as friends and housemates, and women’s friendships and relationships are Pym’s narrative backbones. Sexual orientation was not a moral question for Pym, but a basic human fact — and therefore useful for comedic interest and narrative possibilities.
Wilmet Forsyth seems to be the only one in A Glass of Blessings who doesn’t know that the man she’s attempting to seduce, Piers Longridge, is homosexual. James, in The Sweet Dove Died, swings between a male lover and a female one, but he finds his most intense companionship with the older, asexual Leonora. Then there’s the gourmet cook at the vicarage of St. Luke’s, Wilfred J. Bason (Wilf), in A Glass of Blessings, who loves beautiful things and nicks a Fabergé egg from Father Thames to carry around in his pocket. Thames doesn’t mind: Wilf is an excellent cook. “Do you know,” Thames tells Wilmet, lowering his tone, “he has promised us a coq au vin?”
Despite our great gaps of understanding, especially those between women and men; despite our vanities and egos, loving someone is a worthwhile effort, Pym’s novels assert. “We really ought to love one another,” Belinda thinks in Some Tame Gazelle, “it was a pity it was often so difficult.” Pym’s own faith, generosity of spirit, and humility shine throughout her books, and her ability to depict our foibles with a comedic affection and acceptance remains unparalleled.
In 1979, sick with cancer, Pym writes, “A fine Easter, sunshine and things burgeoning. I live still!” A few days letter, she tells Larkin in a letter: “I wish all neglected novelists could have the good friends and luck that I’ve had.”
Victoria Patterson’s third novel, The Little Brother, will be published in August.
The Afterlife of a Manuscript
By Emily J. Levine
A Dissident Writer in Modern America
By Matthew Specktor
“Peace Without Victory”: Woodrow Wilson and the Remaking of American Geopolitics
By John Daniel Davidson
Death and Revelations
By Stephanie Burt
Walter Benjamin: Writings After Death
By Rachel Wetzler
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BY BRIAN THOMAS, M.S. * | THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018
Recently, Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar and his team made a stunning discovery during excavations in Jerusalem. It provides strong support for the reality of Isaiah and his Old Testament world.
Digging at the base of the southern wall of the Temple Mount, the team found a clay seal bearing Isaiah’s name. Mazar provided a transliteration of this Isaiah bulla in Biblical Archaeology Review as “Yesha‘yah[u] Nvy[?],” where brackets indicate unknown letters from damage to the clay.1 “Yesha‛yahu” is “Isaiah.” If the Hebrew letter aleph stood in place of the missing letter “[?],” then the word after “Isaiah” would spell “prophet.” Possibly the hand of Isaiah himself formed this seal.
In 2015, only ten feet away, the team had found a clay impression called a bulla bearing King Hezekiah’s seal.2 According to the Bible, the prophet Isaiah served during Hezekiah’s reign and interacted directly with the king.
The archaeological layer containing both the Hezekiah bulla and now the Isaiah clay seal occurs below Byzantine and early Roman debris. This matches the biblical time of Hezekiah’s reign, which lasted from 729 to 687 BC.3 Thus, these two artifacts found together confirm the fact that those Old Testament figures really lived at the time the Bible says they did.
These two artifacts found together confirm the fact that those Old Testament figures really lived at the time the Bible says they did. Tweet: These two artifacts found together confirm the fact that those Old Testament figures really lived at the time the Bible says they did.
Archaeological Evidence for Prophet Isaiah: https://www.icr.org/article/archaeological-evidence-for-prophet-isaiah
@icrscience @icrbthomas
These two bullae wreck decades of Bible-doubting scholarship. For example, skeptics have long claimed that unknown authors compiled the book of Isaiah some time during the Babylonian captivity—centuries after the biblical time of Hezekiah’s life and reign. Supposedly, collections of scribes somehow borrowed from Babylonian myths to fabricate biblical events from the beginning of the world through the time of Kings. But poor scholarship underlies these speculations.
Perhaps the unbiblical, and now archaeologically-inaccurate, assertion that Isaiah did not exist conveys a desire to thwart precise prophecies of Jesus.
One way to try to erase the miracle of fulfilled prophecy is to deny that Scripture was written long before the foretold events. Similar attempts to delete other miracles—like Creation, the Flood, and the Exodus—abound, just as Peter forewarned.4 A handful of Isaiah prophecies strikingly confirm details of Jesus’ life as recorded in the New Testament and confirmed by many eyewitnesses:
Detail of Jesus’ Life Prophecy Fulfilment
Born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14 Matthew 1:18
Remained silent at execution Isaiah 53:7 Matthew 26:63
Died like a sinner Isaiah 53:8 Matthew 27:50
Buried in a rich man’s grave Isaiah 53:9 Matthew 27:57
Rose from the dead Isaiah 53:10 Matthew 28:6
Saves sinners Isaiah 53:11 Acts 5:31
Before these tandem discoveries, those who accepted Isaiah as a real prophet had the New Testament to verify Isaiah’s prophetic words. Now, they have the New Testament plus a couple of profound pieces of archaeology.
Mazar, E. 2018. Is This the Prophet Isaiah’s Signature? Biblical Archaeology Review. 44 (2): 64-73, 92.
Impression of King Hezekiah’s Royal Seal Discovered in Ophel Excavations South of Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem News. Posted on new.huji.ac.il February 12, 2015, accessed February 23, 2018.
Steimann, A. E. 2011. From Abraham to Paul. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
2 Peter 2:1-2; 3:1-7.
Stage Image: Southern wall of th eTemple Mount in Jerusalem.
Stage Image Credit: Wikipedia © 2009. O. Rozen. Used in accordance with federal copyright (fair use doctrine) law. Usage by ICR does not imply endorsement of copyright holder.
*Brian Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
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'Price Is Right' model sues show for alleged sexual harassment
September 7, 2011 | 8:12 am
A former model on "The Price Is Right" game show filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging wrongful termination and sexual harassment by producers who continually humiliated and berated her, according to court papers.
In the 20-page civil complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Lanisha Cole names the producers of the popular game show, Michael G. Richards and Adam Sandler (who are not related to the well known, actor-comedians that share the same names) as well as their production company, Fremantle Media North America.
“This case is about senior-level men in the entertainment industry exploiting power and control over women by bullying and harassing female talent," said Cole's attorney, Solomon Gresen. "Ms. Cole did nothing to provoke Richards and Sandler. Once the harassment began, she was powerless to stop it.”
Cole began working on "The Price Is Right" in 2003 and by all accounts enjoyed a normal work environment over half a dozen years.
But beginning in December 2009, the situation began to deteriorate when Richards suddenly and inexplicably stopped speaking to Cole and began showing favoritism to another model with whom he was having a relationship, the suit alleges.
According to the court papers, Richards used policies "which never before existed" to limit her modeling work on the show and engaged in abusive behavior.
She cited an incident in September 2010 when Sandler allegedly burst into Cole's dressing room despite a "Knock Before Entering" sign and castigated her for failing to wear a microphone.
Gresen said models often perform without microphones, citing cases when a wardrobe change consumes too much time to properly equip models with sound, the suit said.
"Sandler deliberately humiliated Ms. Cole in front of her peers," Gresen said of his client, who was naked from the waist up and clad only in "a very sheer thong bikini underwear bottom."
"All the women in the dressing room, including Ms. Cole, were frozen in shock until Sandler finished his tirade and stormed out of the women’s dressing room," the document said
The stage manager apologized to Cole but did not report the incident. While called into a meeting about alleged sexual harassment involving another model, Cole complained about her own treatment.
Months later, Cole informed management she had to miss a day of work because of a family commitment and was told she would not be able to work for that week, the lawsuit says.
When she returned, she was told she was "holding the show hostage" because of her complaint.
Cole was described by her lawyer as “a fan favorite and the longest tenured model on 'TPIR' " at the time she left.
Document: Read the full complaint
Death at Coronado mansion
Police seek leads in triple homicide
High temperatures, dry winds for Southern California
-- Andrew Blankstein (Twitter.com/anblanx)
Photo: Lanisha Cole. Credit: Courtesy Lanisha Cole
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Home Intellectual Property Rhode Island East Providence
East Providence, Rhode Island Intellectual Property Lawyers
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Trust Anchor
Trust Anchor is defined in RFC 6024 as "Trust Anchor represents an Authoritative Entity via a Public Key and associated data".
Trust Anchor may be referred to as Sources of Authority (SoAs), Root Certificate, Certificate Authority.
The Public Key is used to verify Digital Signatures, and the associated data is used to constrain the types of information for which the Trust Anchor is authoritative.
A Relying Party uses Trust Anchors to determine if a digitally signed object is valid by verifying a Digital Signature using the Trust Anchor's Public Key, and by enforcing the constraints expressed in the associated data for the Trust Anchor.
In Cryptography and computer security, a Trust Anchor is either an unsigned public Key certificate or a Self-signed Certificate that identifies the Certificate Authority (CA).
Trust Anchor is part of a Public Key Infrastructure scheme.
The most common commercial variety is based on the ITU-T X.509 standard, which normally includes a Digital Signature from a Certificate Authority (CA).
Trust Anchor is commonly called a Root Certificate.
Trust Anchors are kept within a Trust Anchor Store (or Keystore)
Trust Anchor when referring to Hardware and Operating Systems often use the term Roots of Trust (RoT)
Only Local Significance#
Trust Anchors have only local significance, i.e., each Relying Party is configured with a set of Trust Anchors, either by the Relying Party or by an entity that manages Trust Anchors in the context in which the Relying Party operates.
The associated data defines the scope of a Trust Anchor by imposing constraints on the signatures that the Trust Anchor may be used to verify.
Because one Relying Party says a Subject Certificate is a Trusted Certificate does not imply that the Subject Certificate is a Trusted Certificate to any other Relying Party
CAPK
Certificate Chain
Certificate Fingerprint
Certificate-based Authentication
Certificate_list
Certification Authority Browser Forum
Decentralized Identifier
Distributed Consensus
How SSL-TLS Works
Hyperledger Indy
Kerberos Service Account
Keytool
Public Key Infrastructure
Public Key Infrastructure Weaknesses
Root Certificate
Self-signed Certificate
Sovrin Steward
Trust Anchor Store
Verinym
W3C Decentralized Identifiers
This page (revision-16) was last changed on 29-Nov-2018 13:23 by jim Top
Uptime 22d, 20h 44m 3s
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Last updated: Jan 8th, 2019
This is the Privacy Policy of VHX Corporation (for the purposes hereof, “Vimeo,” “we” or “us”), a subsidiary of Vimeo, Inc. Vimeo provides an online video service (the “Vimeo OTT” or “our service”) that allows video content owners and licensors (each a “Producer”) to offer their video programs (each a “Program”) for sale to consumers via Producer websites and applications (each a “Producer Site” or “Producer App,” respectively) that Vimeo powers.
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Charles H. Graves Photographs and Films 3
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Galbraith, John S.--Inauguration, 1965 3
University of California, San Diego--Events 3
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Chancellor John Galbraith's inauguration ceremony
Collection: Charles H. Graves Photographs and Films
Name: Graves, Charles H.
Students and faculty stand for invocation at Chancellor Galbraith's inauguration ceremony
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Portland Arts & Lectures
Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships
Delve Readers Seminar
Portland Book Festival
The Archive Project
What Writers Say
Brian Booth Writers’ Fund
Tickets & Class Registration
Oregon Book Awards10.01.08
General Nonfiction Finalists
Oregon Book Awards Author Tour
@LiteraryArts
Delve Readers Seminars
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The 2008 finalists for the Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction are:
Steven Bender for One Night in America: Robert Kennedy, Cesar Chavez, and the Dream of Dignity. Steven describes his book this way: “One Night in America chronicles the friendship of two leaders with a bold political and economic vision of extending the American dream to farm workers. It examines the significance today of their coalition on issues ranging from immigration, labor, and education to poverty and religion.” Steven says he was inspired to write it because “Against the backdrop of increasing demonization of immigrants and Latinos in the United States, I hoped to get us back on the pathway to extending dignity to all workers and the impoverished. As I argue, there is still time to prove Kennedy and Chavez right.”
Neil W. Browne for The World in Which We Occur: John Dewey, Pragmatist Ecology, and American Ecological Writing in the Twentieth Century . Neil says his book “mobilizes John Dewey’s philosophy to think about the ways in which we can imagine a culture more grounded in ecological and democratic values. The book examines the intersections of ecology, democracy, philosophy, and literary representations of the physical world.” When asked to describe his inspiration for the book, Neil says he was motivated by: “1. A deep admiration of Dewey’s life and work. 2. A deep love of the natural world. 3. A deep respect for American democratic values. I wanted to try to use 1. to suggest a way of thinking and living that could restore 2 and 3 to robusticity.”
Pamela Smith Hill for Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life. Pamela says her book “explores how Wilder shaped her memories of childhood and transformed them into the enduring fiction of the popular Little House books.” Pamela says “although I was commissioned to write this book by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press, I’ve written about Wilder since the late 1970s, and always wanted to know more about her life as a writer, and the influences that inspired her to write. The popular myth about Wilder– that she suddenly began writing in her 60s and was an instant success– never satisfied me.”
Kimberly Jensen for Mobilizing Minerva: American Women in the First World War. Kimberly says her book “analyzes questions of citizenship, violence, and wartime service in the First World War by examining strategies of U.S. women physicians, nurses, and women-at-arms as they approached wartime work.” Kimberly gos on to say:”I wanted to explore the intersections of women’s ideas and goals relating to the First World War at a time when the campaign for woman suffrage was coming to fruition across the nation and when women were making inroads into professions and in the wage workforce. Women approached wartime service with ideas of citizenship at the forefront, including economic citizenship and equality. They also sought to change the military as an institution as women entered its ranks in greater numbers. They faced hostility and gendered barriers during the conflict and a powerful backlash after the war. These are issues with which we continue to grapple, and the strategies of women in the First World War provide an important context for contemporary questions and activism.”
Darius Rejali for Torture and Democracy. Darius says his book addresses the question, “Is torture compatible with modern democracies and, if so, how?” He also says, ” I focus on new techniques designed to leave little evidence of brutality, techniques have an affinity for democracies, rather than dictatorships. Torture and Democracy makes the suprising case that long before the CIA, democracies were the primary innovators in torture technology and they still continue to be. I also assess the arguments about the effectiveness of torture.” Darius says, “No one studies torture willingly for 30 years. Though trained as a philosopher of social science, my two gifts appear to be that I can tell a good story and I can go to dark places others cannot and come back relatively undamaged. So I write about torture, sometimes as comparative political scientist, sometimes as a political anthropologist and sometimes as a philosopher, mindful that each discipline has its own excellences and profound questions.”
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Getting Help with your Oregon Literary Fellowship application: Drop-in session
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Margaret Atwood in Conversation with Omar El Akkad
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Ta-Nehisi Coates in conversation with Renée Watson
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2019/2020 Portland Arts & Lectures: George Packer (Sold Out)
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The Moth Mainstage in Portland
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Everybody Reads 2020: Tommy Orange
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Aoharu X Machinegun Vol. 6
(Volume 1)Hotaru Tachibana is a girl (though all too frequently mistaken for a boy!) with a deep sense of justice. When a classmate informs Hotaru that she was bilked out of her cash by a shady host at a host club, Hotaru immediately rushes to confront the villain only to discover that the con man in question is her new neighbor! Worse, he proposes to settle their feud with firearms! Okay, it turns out that they're just toys, but when Hotaru is soundly defeated, she finds herself sucked into the world of survival games. Is this new world one she can actually escape??
Aoharu x Machine Gun
Hotaru Tachibana is a girl (though all too frequently mistaken for a boy!) with a deep sense of justice. When a classmate informs Hotaru that she was bilked out of her cash by a shady host at a host club, Hotaru immediately rushes to confront the villain only to discover that the con man in question is her new neighbor! Worse, he proposes to settle their feud with firearms! Okay, it turns out that
Crimson Prince
Demon prince Koujirou Sakura comes to Earth, enrolling in high school, on a mission to find the human who will threaten the future of the demon realm...and steal their souls! But with no clue as to this human's identity, Koujirou is at a loss. To make matters worse, the boys' dorm at his new school is full, and he's forced to live off campus with a girl! Oh, the humanity...!
Infinite Dendrogram
In the year 2043, Infinite Dendrogram, the world's first successful full-dive VRMMO was released. In addition to its ability to perfectly simulate the five senses, along with its many other amazing features, the game promised to offer players a world full of infinite possibilities. Nearly two years later, soon-to-be college freshman, Reiji Mukudori, is finally able to buy a copy of the game and st
Handa-kun
Handsome teenage calligrapher Sei Handa is worshipped by all his classmates as an aloof superstar--too bad Sei's inherent negativity makes him believe that everyone actually hates him...?! A youthful comedy of misunderstanding and melancholy unfolds in the first volume of this hilarious prequel to Barakamon!
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
"O, Hero!" With that cliched line, Kazuya Souma found himself summoned to another world and his adventure--did not begin. After he presents his plan to strengthen the country economically and militarily, the king cedes the throne to him and Souma finds himself saddled with ruling the nation! What's more, he's betrothed to the king's daughter now...?! In order to get the country back on i
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10 Buzzer Beaters That Will Get You Pumped for March Madness
By Connor Finnegan 2014-03-18 02:29:08 UTC
March Madness, that beautiful time of year, is upon us once again.
Die-hard hoops fans and casual office pool participants alike will be checking their phones and computers frantically as the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship kicks off this week.
See also: March Madness: The 15-Minute Guide
With office-wide bragging rights at stake and the (near-impossible) shot to win a cold $1 billion from Warren Buffet, it can feel like the ritual of filling out a bracket outweighs the actual games themselves.
But this compilation from ESPN of last-second game winners during the 2013-14 regular season reminds us why we really obsess over this tournament year. The single-elimination format of the tournament — as opposed to the seven-game series used in the NBA, NHL, and MLB playoffs — means thrilling underdog victories throughout the tournament.
So even if your bracket falls apart during the first weekend, as it often does for so many, don't make the mistake of tuning out the tournament. Every game has the potential for a thrilling conclusion — for proof, look no further than the video atop this post.
The Round of 64 begins on Thursday March 20 at 12:15 p.m. ET. Will you be watching?
Topics: basketball, college sports, Entertainment, ESPN, March Madness, Sports
Image: Keith Srakocic/Associated Press
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Points Awarded to Original Answers in Translated Sites
This week started the Stackoverflow in Spanish. I went there hoping to start participating and I found a really interesting question. I was about to sit down to start figuring out an answer when I had this feeling that I had already seen this before somewhere else and then I Googled it and found the exact same question in Stackoverflow in English. Minutes later the same person asking the question, wrote the translation of the accepted answer from the English site and answered his own question in the Spanish site.
(As a matter of fact this has been happening for a while, now that the site just opened, which in my personal opinion brings its category down. But that's not the subject here.)
The original English question and the corresponding answer are pretty popular in the English site.
Evidently the question has not been posted by a user in Spanish SO that truly wanted to know, but from a user either heroically doing the effort of translating the good stuff from the English site, or looking to make a few easy points by reproducing a very popular question in the Spanish site.
In either case, I wanted to suggest a couple of things here:
First, it would be awesome if there was a way to award or recognize translation efforts in a different way such that it would not be as if the translator would get all the credit and reputation for translating somebody else's work.
Second, it would be great if the original answer being translated here, could get some of the points it is getting in the translated site. After all, the translated version is still a copy of the effort and originality of the initial poster.
I would simply like to see that translators are appropriately recognized for their hard labor without awarding them the merit of the originality of the question or the answer from the other site. And at the same time that the users behind the original questions and answers get awarded for their effort irrespective of the site where the question was posted.
I just have this feeling that a person's reputation in Stackoverflow means more than just positively contributing to the site. It also says something about their abilities. Otherwise it would not be used in the Careers site to look for potential hires or associated with very reputable and knowledgable persons in the industry. Perhaps I'm wrong in this interpretation, or the creators stick to a false reality (a truth is a truth even if nobody believes it...)
discussion feature-request
Edwin DalorzoEdwin Dalorzo
58k99 silver badges55 bronze badges
I answered a related question over on MSE here – rene Dec 1 '15 at 22:16
@rene It seems related, still I would like to see Stack Exchange embracing a set of features that recognize that in sites in other languages there are other types of users: the translators and that original posters should still be awarded points, instead of relying on the good will of the users of the translated site to follow a link to the original question, which could be in a language they cannot even read. Probably can't even award points in that site due to lack of reputation. – Edwin Dalorzo Dec 1 '15 at 22:19
I think it depends on how you look at reputation. For me it should only mean: contributed positively on this site. The only difference maybe for verbatim translation of posts the community should agree on linking back to the original for attribution purposes but that is about it. But I'm not a multi-language site user (Dutch-SO is not going to make it) so I can't really judge or experience first hand how this will/can work. – rene Dec 1 '15 at 22:30
@rene I don't think most people believe SO points just means you positively contributed to the site. The gamification aspect of points awarded to you is clearly build on the idea of "reputation". In the Careers site is used to look for the best hires, and it is typically associated with knowledgable people that contribute in the site. I would not mind a person translating their own answers and getting the reputation for it. But translating other peoples answers and building a reputation that will be misinterpreted by most users does not sound right to me. – Edwin Dalorzo Dec 1 '15 at 23:12
@EdwinDalorzo: Reputation is used as a measure of a users contribution to a site, and therefore suitability for moderating it. There's just one thing moving re cross-site, migration of questions, all other FRs involving that are promptly declined. And sometimes that exception seems too big already... – Deduplicator Dec 1 '15 at 23:21
Related meta.es.stackoverflow.com/q/46/152 – Braiam Dec 2 '15 at 1:00
This is precisely why having multiple sites was a bad idea. – JonH Dec 3 '15 at 20:36
I support official, first-class backlinks to sources of translations. I'd like to know when my content is translated (because knowing someone cares enough to translate it is pretty cool). The translator might also want to know when my post is edited. Multilingual users might want to read the original text if they can read both languages. Attribution is already required by the user content license terms; making it a first-class citizen makes it both more likely to be given and more useful.
Reputation, despite its name, is not really a measure of technical knowledge. I can understand why some think otherwise, but it's a poor decision on their part to interpret it that way. (Basic knowledge gets voted on a lot; true expertise only gets voted on by those few experts who see it and understand it.) I wouldn't want a new user on SO earning privileges because someone translated their answer; they need to spend more time in this community first.
I think whether to award reputation for the translations on the destination site (where the translation is posted) is a question for that site to decide, as that's where the rep grants privileges. My personal feeling is that preemptive translation of very-highly-voted/viewed questions is probably worth rewarding, but that most questions should only be translated in response to an organic question. (But any automated enforcement will just lead to sockpuppets being created -- not sure how to solve that, hence why any policy needs local community support.)
Jeffrey BosboomJeffrey Bosboom
Backlinks would be rad, and also afford forward links on the original question: "English not your best language? Read this in Spanish, Russian, Lojban, ..." There's also an interesting opportunity for flags to add a banner to the new question: "This is a duplicate of a question in another language. [Translate it] if you can." – Kristján Dec 3 '15 at 15:11
We're still finding our way to some extent when it comes to this. Disclaimer: I run the international effort.
There are some canonical questions that are desirable to have on any site, mostly because so much work has gone into the English version. Why can't I connect to a MySQL database using PHP? for instance.
For pretty much everything else, we strongly encourage the international communities to follow the same guidelines that made the English site such an amazing success:
Ask questions about real-world problems that you currently face
But it's not all black and white. While I'm very excited to see Documentation becoming feature complete and close to the point that we might be able to have it enabled on international sites as well, developers that don't communicate very well using English still face documentation that is primarily in English every day. I can see some merit to 'grabbing' stuff from the English site in an effort to solve problems folks are currently having.
I don't quite know where the happy 'middle ground' is going to land, but we're working on it. Documentation and examples are prime candidates for direct transliteration - get that information out and help as many developers as you can with it. Could we automatically provide attribution in the system by allowing someone from Spanish to 'fork' documentation from English? Possibly.
Right now, until all of this awesome stuff is built and finalized, try not to worry too much about it. It is something we have to work on, but it's not an immediately urgent problem provided that attribution requirements are met. Q&A is what we've currently got working, and what we give everyone to work with - so allow some leeway for folks to try and make these tools work for them.
I do not want to enforce community wiki for this, because translation does take time and work, and honest effort with good intentions should have some reward to it (though, they would get badges eventually, probably).
The international CMs are going to be stressing that the content of each site should be almost entirely of its own creation, while we do allow strategic 'picks' if there's merit to having them, as long as attribution is provided.
Let's try not to short-circuit the international folks trying to do what we set out to do, which is make much better information accessible to them. What we're worrying about is still a very theoretical problem that we're already aware that we'll need to address (and working on it). We'll keep an eye on it, but also give them some room to operate.
Tim Post♦Tim Post
It might be beneficial to apply some aspects of community wiki, such as the first translator not receiving an "authorship" level of control over the post. And a badge might be a better way to recognize exceptional translation effort than reputation, especially in-tag rep. – Ben Voigt Dec 3 '15 at 15:17
@BenVoigt My current thinking is, see how much of this can be served with documentation, and build in automatic attribution / routes back to the parent docs. If that doesn't quite cut it, we might be able to have the system be the custodian of translations of other posts too - it's a little too early for me to actionably speculate though. Aspects of community wiki kinda work, but I'd rather study it a little longer, and come up with something a little more polished. Having the system do it while making sure links get established, crediting the translator, and crediting the original - better. – Tim Post♦ Dec 3 '15 at 15:29
How dealt with this older lang.SO communities? pt.SO seems to have most of its content created in-the-house (Q's and A's alike) and I wouldn't try my luck on jp.SO, since I don't understand a iota of it. – Braiam Dec 3 '15 at 16:21
content created on es, pt or jp, is ported/translated to the main site? (if it isn't duplicated), as a dev I could be missing some helpful answers if the content is in one of those sites only (unless I somehow translate my search to those langs) – Felipe Pereira Dec 3 '15 at 20:20
@BenVoigt: I don't know where you're getting the idea that CW takes away "authorship level of control", but it doesn't. It really doesn't. – Nathan Tuggy Dec 4 '15 at 1:01
I think the linking is important. So in case you have a spanish question and maybe you would actually still see the english equivalent. Make a flagging where you can nominate one question in the english stackoverflow as canonical sister question maybe, then link to that on the english site so people can get the question (or a very similar one) also in their question. Allowing to keep the subject but switch the language - that is the key idea here, not so much about authorship. – Trilarion Dec 4 '15 at 21:36
Is translated plagiarism still plagiarism?
While I can agree there is some effort involved in translating a post like that, it is still a literal copy of the original question / answer.
A single Q/A combo like that can result in a significant amount of rep, assuming the question will get similar attention in it's translated form.
Rep like that could be gained from a subject the OP literally knows nothing about, just by translating a post. In extreme cases, a high rep user might not even know the language he earned the rep in.
Solution?
Make it a community wiki.
The information would still be available in the other language, while rep-farming like this gets eliminated.
Otherwise, some user can just grab the top-20 questions on here, spend a couple of hours translating them, and rake in the rep.
I don't consider an attributed translation to be plagiarism. The requirement for attribution is orthogonal to whether to award rep (rep or not, attribution is required). – Jeffrey Bosboom Dec 2 '15 at 7:33
Fair enough. What do you think of my "Community Wiki" suggestion? The rep earned doesn't really reflect technical know-how. It's really only a reward for writing a decent / good translation. – Cerbrus Dec 2 '15 at 7:34
You were fine until you hit "Solution?". The real solution is "create the content yourself". It makes you gain reputation from something you know of and have the plus that your community grows organically. – Braiam Dec 3 '15 at 2:48
Of course the solution is original content, but that doesn't solve cases like this. In this case, making the post a community wiki seems like a good alternative to me. – Cerbrus Dec 3 '15 at 6:14
I clearly agree with Cerbrus on the topic. Community wiki should be a good answer for rep farmers. Translation of content is a good thing if the content is good. However, translation on a wrong / deprecated answer is not a good thing, and there is a lot of content deprecated on SO, that actually work on specific cases, but is not anymore the best practice. The real question is more how to detect such thing properly and sort the good from the bad ? I believe we should avoid as much as possible rep farmers that just translate without thinking one sec if the answer is still relevant. – Erowlin Dec 3 '15 at 15:16
I don't see what's wrong with "rep farming". We are awarding people for their effort to improve the site, after all. We don't want to stop anyone from improving the site, do we? Translations are valuable and should bring reputation - how many and in what ways, that is yet to be determined, depending on how valuable we consider it. In any case, I don't want to see people translating content without proper attribution only because they get more rep for that. – Bergi Dec 3 '15 at 22:13
The content of the Stackexchanges is licensed under the creative commons license CC-BY-SA.
any derivative work like translation must also be under CC-BY-SA (this would be the case at another Stackexchange site)
you must give appropriate credit, typically by at least mentioning the name
The second part, the attribution, is a must, not a nice to have. If the name of the original author was not mentioned this is a breach of the CC-BY-SA license. As simple as that.
How to distribute the reputation?
Dividing it somehow could become very difficult? I'm not completely convinced, but for 1:1 translations I guess that converting the question/answer to community wiki would be the appropriate thing.
If however someone has a genuine problem which has not yet been solved in language XX and the question is only loosely based on a famous English Stackoverflow question, then I would leave the whole credit with the guy because:
After all the policy is not that non-English Stackoverflows cannot have questions similar (even duplicates) to questions of the English Stackoverflow. But if they can, the rep must also be given.
Potential benefits
Linkings between equal (or very, very similar) questions across languages can help visitors from search engines finding questions in their appropriate language.
My two cents/Summary
English is not my mother language, still I think it is rather a waste of time to talk about programming in any other language. It's more efficient just to learn English. Translating the millions of questions on the English Stackoverflow to 10 different languages will be a lot of effort with only small benefit. So if people want to do it, they should do it - but they must give credit because of the CC-BY-SA license and the reputation is debatable but community wiki might be a good compromise.
TrilarionTrilarion
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged discussion feature-request .
Translating questions and answers between localized SO sites
Why can't I vote for my “own” community-wiki answer when “explicit ownership” has been removed?
Should we add links between equivalent questions in different languages?
Multilingual support for Stack Overflow
Should I upvote answer/comments that fail to address the original Q?
stackoverflow.com, automated cloning to other languages (chinese: helplib.com/qa)
Should I undelete a question with answers that was deleted by the original OP?
How to take action against low quality non-English content?
Unmark as duplicate or rename the original
“Closing as off-topic” Update for Wrong Language
How does pointing to an English MDN page instead of its Spanish counterpart deviate from the original intent of the post?
How could technical steps for improving non-English questions be more easily accessible?
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Facebook Wants to Avoid Trademark Dispute in China
Apple’s recent iPad trademark dispute has caused concerns among international companies over the legitimacy of their own trademarks in China market. Social network giant Facebook has reportedly started registering relevant trademarks in China, yet found that some of these names, such as the Chinese translation of “Facebook”, have already been registered by domestic users …
Chinese intellectual property consultancy East IP says it has found myriad variations on the “Facebook” name, in English and Chinese, since being hired by Facebook to handle its trademark issues in China. The company was “collecting evidence”, adding that it was hoping to “reclaim these trademarks based on Facebook’s popularity and social awareness.”According to the Trademark Office of China, the social networking giant has already filing 61 trademark applications on the Facebook name since 2006, covering both English and Chinese translations.
Facebook has already filed the trademark of their company name in China.
Lawyers said trademark squatting was a problem in China, aided by agencies and domestic users who register hundreds of trademarks in the hope of turning a profit. These people who are out there snatching up intellectual property with no related interest, strictly from the standpoint of owning it as an investment. Look like the social networking titan doesn’t want to face trademark woes when they can success entering China market. The company, which is preparing for a $5 billion initial public offering, said recently it was contemplating re-entering China, after being blocked nearly three years ago.
facebook trademark
Previous Chinese Manufacturers Want to Make 900,000 Tablets for Thai School Kids
Next CDMA-based Xiaomi Phone Now Available For China Telecom’s 3G Subscribers
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Approved Final TMDLs
TMDL Documents A-Z
TMDL Maps
TMDL Data Center
TMDL Implementation
Signup to Receive TMDL Updates
TMDL Home
Final TMDLs Approved by EPA: Tuckahoe Lake
Main_Content
Tuckahoe Lake is an impoundment located near Ridgely in southwestern Caroline County, Maryland. The impoundment, which is owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), lies in the Choptank River watershed. A dam was constructed in 1975. Upstream watershed usages include Tuckahoe State Park and fish stocking (including largemouth bass and tiger muskie). Downstream watershed usage includes Tuckahoe State Park. The inflow to Tuckahoe Lake is primarily via Tuckahoe Creek.
Based on mercury data in fish tissue from a subset of lakes across the State, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) announced a statewide fish consumption advisory for lakes this year. This advisory has been established statewide as a precautionary measure because the primary source of mercury is understood to be atmospheric deposition, which is widely dispersed. Based on additional fish tissue data,Maryland has verified that Tuckahoe Lake is impaired due to mercury in fish tissue.
Section 303(d) of the federal CWA and EPA’s implementing regulations direct each state to identify and list waters, known as water quality limited segments (WQLSs), in which current required controls of a specific substance are inadequate to achieve water quality standards. The CWA requires the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for all impaired waters on their Section 303(d) list. A TMDL reflects the maximum pollutant loading of an impairing substance a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards. A TMDL can be expressed in mass per time, toxicity or any other appropriate measure (40CFR 130.2(i)). A TMDL must take into account seasonal variations, critical conditions and a margin of safety (MOS), to allow for uncertainty. Maryland’s 2002 proposed 303(d) list prepared by MDE lists Tuckahoe Lake as impaired for mercury in fish tissue. This TMDL was developed in response to the determination of impairment.
TMDL of Mercury for Tuckahoe Lake, Caroline County, Maryland
(Approved on January 27, 2004)
EPA's Decision Letter
Main Report
report_tuckahoelake_final_Hg.pdf
Comment Response Document
CRD_tuckahoelake_final_Hg.pdf
Please direct questions or comments concerning this project to Maryland's TMDL Program at (410) 537-3818.
Center_Content
1800 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21230
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Larry Hogan Puts Maryland Gubernatorial Election on the Map
Posted by mediacrank under Politics | Tags: Anthony Brown, Chris Christie, GOTV, Larry Hogan, Maryland Gubernatorial election, Republican Governors Association, Robert Ehrlich, taxes |
One of the biggest surprises of this election season has been the governor’s race in Maryland where Republican businessman Larry Hogan is taking on Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown turning what should have been a runaway victory for the Democrats into an increasingly tight race that is attracting national attention.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Hogan, who runs a real estate firm in Anne Arundel County, served as former Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s Appointments Secretary and entered the race with probably the best name recognition among the four Republican candidates and easily won the primary as expected.
His next task was to focus on Brown and how to beat the incumbent Lt. Governor in a state where the Democrats hold more than a 2-1 registration advantage, and who also had raised millions of dollars for the race.
Rather than get bogged down in social issues which may matter to conservatives, but are poison in deep blue Maryland, Hogan chose to focus on an economic message of jobs and taxes- especially the latter since the O’Malley-Brown administration has been responsible for over 40 tax increases in their eight years in office, including a one-cent increase in the sales tax and a gas tax increase that pegs the taxes to the increase in inflation. What a brilliant idea! Peg a tax increase to inflation-which we know will increase by some measure every year and therefore guarantee a stream of revenues to the Democratically controlled legislature forever even though taxpayers aren’t guaranteed raises to pay for the taxes. And by the way- both the sales tax and gas tax hits the lower end of the economic scale the hardest- a group that the Democrats are supposedly the champions of.
This strategy, which the Brown campaign had dismissed is working for Hogan as Democrats who are tired of the increasing tax burden are increasingly warming up to Hogan’s message. That forced Brown to pledge in one of the debates to not to increase taxes during his term- which voters are having a hard time believing considering his track record in Annapolis.
With the polls showing an increasingly tight race, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has put the weight of the Republican Governors Association behind Hogan with money and his endorsement. Christie has come to Maryland to help Hogan, capping it with an appearance Sunday in Baltimore to a packed house of enthusiastic and reenergized Republicans.
While Hogan has been eating into Brown’s base, his best hope is for a scenario like 2002 when Robert Ehrlich beat incumbent Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to become the first Republican governor in Maryland in 36 years. There are some similarities to that race with Brown, like Townsend being a weak candidate and with Democrats showing little enthusiasm for Brown.
A measure of that lack of enthusiasm are the appearances of President Obama and Hillary Clinton, which drew small crowds and those that came mainly wanted pictures of the politicians and didn’t come to hear Brown.
Brown still has the edge in this race thanks to the Democrats large registration advantage, but thanks to his weak campaign, an-off year election and early voting numbers that were designed to help the Democrats showing that they are not very interested in this race spells trouble for Brown.
Democratic apathy though will not be enough to propel Hogan to victory. Republicans must turn out to vote and the independent/unaffiliated voters-which is the fastest growing group of voters in the state also need to cast their votes for Hogan in above average numbers.
Republican voters in Maryland often complain that their vote doesn’t really matter. While that may appear true in most years this year is different and their votes are crucial if they are serious about ending one-party rule in the state.
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Is Facebook Lying About Video Views?
Hank Green
I’m a professional maker of online video and I love platform diversity of every kind. I am excited to expand our strategy onto Facebook, though I’m a little annoyed that watching a YouTube video on Facebook is laborious and Facebook shows a complete disinterest in actually sharing them with my followers (unless I pay them).
But Facebook is super enthusiastic about sharing my native Facebook videos with my audience, and so I guess that’s what I’m going to give them. And the results have been great! On a recent video I uploaded both to YouTube and Facebook, I saw around 300,000 views on YouTube and 150,000 on Facebook. Basically, I’ve increased viewership on that video by 50% just by going through the upload process a second time!
Or did I?
Here is the retention graph for “19 Ways Not to Suck on the Internet” on YouTube. This is actually pretty bad retention for a Vlogbrothers video, we tend to keep more than 70% of viewers until the end of the video (or the beginning of the endscreen, which is a bit like a burned in post-roll for stuff we’re doing these days.)
And heres the retention for the same video on Facebook. After 30 seconds, instead of 86% viewership, we see 21%. It’s around this 30 second mark that the graph starts to resemble YouTube’s graph, indicating that this is the point at which people are actually watching the video. Before that, I’m willing to bet that 80% of viewership is simply the affect of Facebook’s auto-playing of my video as people scroll through their feeds.
In fact, I was a little bit shocked to find out that Facebook counts a view as a view after the first three seconds whether or not the user has activated the audio for the video. I figured that actually listening to the content (rather than just staring at what is at that point just an animated GIF) would be necessary to count a view. Indeed it’s not.
YouTube has been vague about how they count a view, but they’ve said that it’s counted after “about 30 seconds.” Facebook on the other hand is explicit, they count it as a view after three seconds of a silent, auto-played video. I should at least give them credit for being transparent about their misrepresentation.
There’s been an awful lot of big numbers thrown around regarding Facebook’s foray into native video in the last month. Four billion views per day last quarter! Creators are seeing tremendous growth, and I don’t doubt that Facebook will be an important part of the online video ecosystem, but these numbers do not reflect reality, and I’m fairly certain that this is intentional on Facebook’s part.
That’s a problem for creators trying to standardize rates for brand integrations, for agencies and brands trying to understand this constantly shifting landscape, and for everyone who wants a little more stability in the online video industry (which, I guess, does not include Facebook.)
For now though, every time someone says something about Facebook’s magnificent video growth, I’m going to divide all of the numbers by five before comparing them to YouTube.
Hank Green makes YouTube videos for a living. He also runs a merchandise company for internet creators (DFTBA Records), a conference for internet creators (VidCon), and his crowd-funding platform for internet creators (Subbable) was recently acquired by Patreon.
Internetainerpreneur
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Book Blitz: Three Star Island by Kat Caulberg
Three Star Island | Kat Caulberg
Published by: Soul Mate Publishing
Publication date: April 10th 2019
Genres: Adult, Historical, Romance, Time-Travel
Stepping through a time portal into 1716, historian Penny Saunders didn’t expect to get stranded in the past. Five years later, now a pariah to the townsfolk of Three Star Island, she endures solitude and ridicule until a hurricane tosses a dangerous castaway onto her shores.
William Payne’s history precedes him. Pirate, outlaw, and ruthless captain, he’s a monster among men. . . or so it seems. Desperately seeking redemption for his blood-soaked past, he upends Penny’s world by showing her a passion she’s never experienced.
But time is closing in on them; the governor of the Carolinas has rescinded his pirates’ pardon, the locals are growing suspicious of Penny’s new houseguest, and she can’t keep her secrets from William forever. When everything falls apart, she must use both wits and weapons against lawmen and pirates alike to save the one man who would tear down the world for her.
For as long as she can remember, Kat Caulberg has been obsessed with history and the paranormal. Somewhat to the dismay of her parents, her interests led her into both museums and graveyards as a child, a trend which has continued into her adulthood. This has influenced her reading tastes and her writing, whether it be a good ghost story, thrilling tales of time-travel, or devouring endless volumes of ancient warfare.
She signed a contract with Soul Mate Publishing in 2018 for her first novel, Three Star Island, a time-travel story set in 1721. She enjoys writing strong, quirky heroines, and has a weakness for cheeky heroes who have as much compassion as they have flaws.
Kat currently lives in North Carolina with her Englishman and a few cats.
tagged with Adult, book blitz, historical, MF, Rafflecopter giveaway, romance, time travel
Release Publicity: Mainstream
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Reset Modernity!
Edited by Bruno Latour and Christophe Leclercq
Texts and images document the disconnection between modernity and ecological crisis: do we need to reset modernity's operating system?
ISBN: 9780262034593 432 pp. | 7 in x 10 in 300 color illus. May 2016
Modernity has had so many meanings and tries to combine so many contradictory sets of attitudes and values that it has become impossible to use it to define the future. It has ended up crashing like an overloaded computer. Hence the idea is that modernity might need a sort of reset. Not a clean break, not a “tabula rasa,” not another iconoclastic gesture, but rather a restart of the complicated programs that have been accumulated, over the course of history, in what is often called the “modernist project.” This operation has become all the more urgent now that the ecological mutation is forcing us to reorient ourselves toward an experience of the material world for which we don't seem to have good recording devices.
Reset Modernity! is organized around six procedures that might induce the readers to reset some of those instruments. Once this reset has been completed, readers might be better prepared for a series of new encounters with other cultures. After having been thrown into the modernist maelstrom, those cultures have difficulties that are just as grave as ours in orienting themselves within the notion of modernity. It is not impossible that the course of those encounters might be altered after modernizers have reset their own way of recording their experience of the world.
At the intersection of art, philosophy, and anthropology, Reset Modernity! has assembled close to sixty authors, most of whom have participated, in one way or another, in the Inquiry into Modes of Existence initiated by Bruno Latour. Together they try to see whether such a reset and such encounters have any practicality. Much like the two exhibitions Iconoclash and Making Things Public, this book documents and completes what could be called a “thought exhibition:” Reset Modernity! held at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe from April to August 2016. Like the two others, this book, generously illustrated, includes contributions, excerpts, and works from many authors and artists.
Contributors Jamie Allen, Terence Blake, Johannes Bruder, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Philip Conway, Michael Cuntz, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Didier Debaise, Gerard de Vries, Philippe Descola, Vinciane Despret, Jean-Michel Frodon, Martin Giraudeau, Sylvain Gouraud, Lesley Green, Martin Guinard-Terrin, Clive Hamilton, Graham Harman, Antoine Hennion, Andrés Jaque, Pablo Jensen, Bruno Karsenti, Sara Keel, Oleg Kharkhordin, Joseph Leo Koerner, Eduardo Kohn, Bruno Latour, Christophe Leclercq, Vincent-Antonin Lépinay, James Lovelock, Patrice Maniglier, Claudia Mareis, Claude Marzotto, Kyle McGee, Lorenza Mondada, Pierre Montebello, Stephen Muecke, Cyril Neyrat, Cormac O'Keeffe, Hans Ulrich Obrist, P3G, John Palmesino, Nicolas Prignot, Donato Ricci, Ann-Sofi Rönnskog, Maia Sambonet, Henning Schmidgen, Isabelle Stengers, Hanna Svensson, Thomas Thwaites, Nynke van Schepen, Consuelo Vásquez, Peter Weibel, Richard White, Aline Wiame, Jan Zalasiewicz
Exhibition April 10, 2016–August 21, 2016ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Edited by Bruno Latour with Christophe LeclercCopublished with ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe
$47.95 T | £37.00 ISBN: 9780262034593 432 pp. | 7 in x 10 in 300 color illus. May 2016
Bruno Latour, a philosopher and anthropologist, is the author of Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory, Our Modern Cult of the Factish Gods, An Inquiry into Modes of Existence, and many other books. He curated the ZKM exhibits ICONOCLASH and Making Things Public and coedited the accompanying catalogs, both published by the MIT Press.
Christophe Leclercq
Prospecting Ocean
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/reset-modernity
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‘American Idol’ Season 16 Top 10 Revealed (PHOTOS)
Kevork Djansezian (Getty)
American Idol Season 16 finally unveiled its Top 10 finalists after a public vote Monday night (April 23), but not without some requisite reality TV drama.
Ryan Seacrest informed the crowd that the country's votes would send six of the Top 14 straight through to the next week (Disney week is just around the corner!), but that the remaining eight who hadn't earned enough votes to secure spots would each have to battle for one of four additional places. The judges would decide which four would move on, and which four would have to go home for good.
And when America didn't vote seeming frontrunner Ada Vox through, the judges were stunned. So stunned, in fact, that they did away with diplomacy and immediately sent Vox through to safety, forgoing typical Idol protocol.
“When the Ada moment came, it wasn’t just one person’s idea,” judge Katy Perry told reporters, according to People. “We all looked at each other and we saw the math … excuse us, we’re going to step in now. Were we allowed to do that? We found out we were.”
“Enough was enough and you put your foot down when it’s real,” said Perry. “We stand for truth and for justice.”
Thanks to America's votes, Gabby Barrett, Cade Foehner, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Maddie Poppe, Catie Turner and Michael J. Woodard were sent straight through to The Top 10. Then, Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan sent through Vox, Dennis Lorenzo, Michelle Sussett and Jurnee to round out the group.
Check out American Idol Season 16's Top 10 contestants below.
'American Idol' Season 16 Top 10 Revealed
Source: ‘American Idol’ Season 16 Top 10 Revealed (PHOTOS)
Filed Under: American Idol, Katy Perry
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Sylvester Stallone Will Be Back for ‘Rambo 5’ To Take on Mexican Drug Cartel
E. Oliver Whitney
Sylvester Stallone isn’t ready to quit reviving his franchises just yet. With Creed 2 on the way, and possibly The Expendables 4, the 71-year-old (!) action star is gearing up to star in another sequel.
Stallone’s Vietnam vet will return once more for a fifth Rambo film. According to Deadline, Stallone is working on the screenplay and though there were murmurs he may direct, it sounds like that isn’t happening. With Cannes kicking off tomorrow, The Expendables‘ Avi Lerner and his Millennium Media are bringing the project to the Croisette to strike up interest.
The fifth installment is said to follow Rambo, the Green Beret now working on a ranch, taking on a Mexican drug cartel after a friend’s granddaughter goes missing. That’s pretty much inline with the whispers we heard about a fifth installment back in 2014. Here’s the full description, via ScreenDaily (h/t The Playlist):
Stallone’s return to action in the long-running series finds him living in a ranch in Arizona, deeply troubled and wrestling with PTSD as he picks up casual work wherever he can. When a long-time family friend and estate manager Maria informs Rambo that her grand-daughter has gone missing after crossing into Mexico for a party, he sets off with her to find the youngster. What ensues is a violent descent into hell as Rambo uncovers a sex-trafficking ring. He teams up with a journalist whose half-sister has also been kidnapped and must deploy all his skills to save the girls and bring down a vicious crime lord.
Stallone first debut his John Rambo in 1982’s First Blood and we last saw him going on a rescue mission in Burma in 2008’s Rambo. Back in 2016, there was a Rambo reboot said to be in the works without Stallone, and there’s also that Bollywood remake that got delayed. But Stallone will be back to claim his turf as the original in no time.
Gallery – The Best Action Movie Posters:
SYLVESTER STALLONE REVEALS THE NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FIRST POSTER FOR ‘ROCKY’
Source: Sylvester Stallone Will Be Back for ‘Rambo 5’ To Take on Mexican Drug Cartel
Categories: Movie News
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Susan Perez-Lost City Museum Feature Artist June
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Susan Perez-Lost City Museum Feature Artist June »
Moapa Valley artist Susan Perez draws inspiration from nature and expresses it in a variety of mediums.
“I love nature in all its forms, especially flowers for their sculptural quality,” said Perez, whose artwork will be exhibited at the Lost City Museum throughout the month of June.
A member of the Moapa Valley Art Guild, Perez was raised with an appreciation for the great outdoors and the beauty of nature. She began studying art and showing an aptitude for it at an early age and said she was inspired by Joe Gnagy – America’s first television art teacher – in the 1950s.
Now retired, she enjoys spending time with her fellow members of the Moapa Valley Arts Guild, discussing, sharing and applying all she has learned from her art projects. She prefers working in oils, but excels in all art mediums.
The Lost City Museum actively engages people in understanding and celebrating Nevada’s natural and cultural heritage. One of seven museums managed by the Nevada Division of Museums and History, an agency of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, it is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily at 721 S. Moapa Valley Blvd., Overton.
Admission is $5 for adults and free for museum members and children 17 and younger. To reach the museum from Las Vegas, take Interstate 15 north to exit 93. Access is also available from Lake Mead National Recreation Area or the Valley of Fire State Park. For more information, call the museum at (702) 397-2193.
http://nvculture.org/lostcitymuseum/exhibits/lost-city-museum-feature-artist-for-june/
Lost City Museum
http://nvculture.org/lostcitymuseum/
721 South Moapa Valley Blvd
Overton, NV 89040 United States + Google Map
Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 361 Overton NV 89040
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© 2019 Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce
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Axe-wielding man in clown mask arrested in Victoria's south-east
Updated Tue 11 Oct 2016, 7:10 PM AEDT
A man wearing a clown mask and armed with an axe has been arrested after approaching customers outside a fast food restaurant in Victoria's south-east.
Victoria Police said members of the public reported seeing the man outside the restaurant on the Princes Freeway in Moe about 3:30am on Sunday.
Police said the man had approached a woman who was alone in her car on Lloyd Street.
He also approached several cars exiting the restaurant's drive-through, police said.
Police said they searched a number of cars at the scene and found a clown mask, axe and baseball bat, before arresting a 23-year-old Eagle Point man.
He has been released and is expected to be charged on summons with assault, weapons, public order and disguise-related offences.
Police said no-one was injured and no property was damaged during the incident.
The arrest comes amid numerous sightings of people dressed in sinister clown costumes in the United States and Canada in recent weeks.
Video 1:19 Authorities warn against copy-cat clowns seen terrorising people in the US
Threatening clowns not funny, police say
Meanwhile, three people dressed as clowns were seen near the Frankston-Dandenong Road at Carrum Downs about 3:30pm on Monday.
Police said they believed two of the clowns were holding fake knives and the other had a cap gun while standing on the side of the road in view of motorists.
However, the three left before police arrived.
External Link Clown approaches car
Police said they had responded to similar reports in the area involving school children who were seen with clown masks.
The children were given warnings and told to move away from the area.
Victoria Police have warned against people adopting the trend and said people dressing as clowns and behaving in a threatening way was "simply not funny".
"We understand that some people are getting involved for a bit of fun, however this arrest is a timely reminder that this behaviour is not amusing and, in many cases, it is criminal behaviour," police said in a statement.
"The penalty for possessing an article of disguise is up two years' imprisonment."
"Victoria Police does not tolerate intimidation, the incitement of fear or the carrying of weapons."
Police have warned anyone who is frightened by threatening behaviour to contact triple-0.
Posted Tue 11 Oct 2016, 3:54 PM AEDT
#ClownLivesMatter: Clown trend reaches Victoria
Women arrested in US over creepy clown sighting as trend spreads to Australia
Police warn of 'serious ramifications' for clowning after radio stunt
Cats trailer featuring 'digital fur technology' leaves people wondering what they just watched
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Discover the latest on our wide range of social and competition events and programs and stay-up-to-date with what our LOOPS community is up to around the world.
current / Archive
2019 MELBOURNE OPEN RESULTS
LOOPS Table Tennis played host to the countries major events over the weekend with the National Hopes on the 25th and the Melbourne Open on the 26-27. With over 1,000 matches played to find our thirty eventual event winners. “We had Table Tennis royalty here over the weekend, Australian Olympians, Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Melissa Tapper and three Chinese Paralympic Medalists”.
LOOPS ANNOUNCED AS FIRST NATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE
LOOPS table tennis facility to now serve up the world’s best players. Loops Table Tennis has just been made Australia’s first national training centre, making it the country’s premier table tennis facility.
2019 NATIONAL HOPES RESULTS AND DRAW
Please find the the below link to the 2019 National Hopes Draw and Schedule. The 2019 National Hopes Challenge Boys Singles and Girls Singles will be played in a round robin format structure whereby two stages of matches will be played by each player, the first stage will be played as groups of 5 or 6 athletes with the top two players progressing through to the final stage, followed by a second round of matches for final positions.
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WATCH: Joseph Calleja’s Excited Facebook Live After His Wimbledon Performance Is #FanboyGoals
By David Grech Urpani
€79 million and three years later, Wimbledon’s new retractable roof was finally unveiled this weekend. Marking the special celebration was a star-studded list of performers including Malta’s very own tenor Joseph Calleja. But while Calleja and his larger-than-life voice shined for five minutes straight on the stage, it was when he went live on Facebook right after that he turned the relatable-meter up a notch or five.
On Sunday afternoon, as Wimbledon’s No. 1 Court showed off its new roof (which can close in under 10 minutes and provide shelter to the 12,345 seats), tennis legends Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic, as well as current stars Venus Williams and Jamie Murray all geared up for a number of ceremonial exhibition matches. Before all that, however, the BBC live broadcast also hosted a performance by English star Paloma Faith and Malta’s very own Calleja, who sang a gut-wrenchingly beautiful rendition of the Bocelli classic Con Te Partirò.
Spectacular ????#Wimbledon #RoofForAll @MalteseTenor pic.twitter.com/Qq9qlftInD
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) May 19, 2019
Talk about show-stopping!
With his stirring performance done and dusted, Joseph Calleja took to the seats to watch the exhibition matches… instantly becoming an adorable fanboy
“Hi, this is Joseph Calleja, here we are at Wimbledon,” the tenor started, visibly beside himself. “This is incredible, I just finished my performance, and look who’s on the court!”
Pointing the phone’s camera to the action, Calleja starts filming part of the exhibition matches, as Navratilova and McEnroe took to the court. But it didn’t take long for him to turn the camera back to his excited face.
“That’s amazing!” Calleja whispers, totally unable to contain his pure joy and childlike wonder. “Wow, just amazing.”
This is exactly what I look like when the wedding caterers bring out those tiny sausage rolls
But Calleja wasn’t done just yet; switching back to the action on the court, he gave his Facebook fans a bit more of a taste of the exhibitions matches… before inevitably switching his camera back to him. “This is Joseph Calleja live from Wimbledon,” he smiled. “It’s incredible here, tennis legends…”
At this point, Calleja trails off, noticing someone in the audience filming him. What he does next is exactly what I would’ve done myself if I was ever an international superstar tenor sitting in a stadium and noticing someone filming me (spoiler: I’m not)
Spotting a woman filming him from just across the aisle, the tenor switches the camera onto her, before casually waving at her. Honestly, mood.
There’s getting starstruck, then there’s being randomly filmed and waved at by the superstar tenor you’re filming
In proper fanboy style, Calleja got a couple of photos in with the tennis legends themselves, in a weekend that was clearly full of childhood dreams coming true. Christmas came early for Calleja, and we couldn’t be happier for him. Just look at that smile!
Tag someone who’d be just as excited to get front row at Wimbledon
READ NEXT: WATCH: Stop Whatever You’re Doing And Check Out This Video Of Joseph Calleja Trying To Sing Underwater
Game, Set, Match: Team Malta Continues Awesome Winning Streak At Davis Cup
Diesel Teams Up With One Of Malta's Favourite Netflix Shows For A Collection Of Jumpsuits And Jackets
The Stage Is Set: This Is Your Last Chance To Watch Liam Gallagher Perform In Malta Tonight... For Free!
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Bigger than Libor? Forex probe hangs over banks
by Virginia Harrison @vharrisoncnn November 20, 2013: 8:30 AM ET
A global investigation into forex trading abuses is the latest legal headache for the banking industry.
Yet another dark cloud is looming over global banks as officials examine their behavior in the massive foreign exchange market, threatening to deal a new blow to earnings and reputations.
Regulators in the U.S., Europe and Asia are in the early stages of investigating whether traders at the world's top banks manipulated foreign exchange benchmarks to profit at the expense of their clients.
Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), JP Morgan (JPM), Deutsche Bank (DB), Barclays (BCS), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), UBS (UBS) and HSBC (HBCYF)are among the firms in their sights.
Financial lawyers say the probe could have steep and uncertain consequences as the impact of currency market abuse would reverberate far beyond Wall Street.
Related: European banks under fire in global forex probe
It's unwelcome timing for an industry already fighting a raft of legal battles over foreclosure abuses, misleading investors over mortgages and payment protection insurance. And then there's the Libor scandal.
A global investigation into the setting of the London interbank lending rate, and related global benchmarks, has so far yielded about $3.6 billion in fines. Penalties for some of the biggest players are still to come. Traders have also faced criminal charges.
As the extent of damage caused by Libor-rigging is revealed, lawyers say the probe into fixing currency rates could unfold in a similar way, and rival its impact.
London is the center of the loosely regulated foreign exchange market, the biggest in the world's financial system with average daily turnover of $5.3 trillion.
Proven abuse in this market would have a significant ripple effect, exposing offending firms to a host of legal action.
Related: JPMorgan reaches $13 billion mortgage settlement
Civil action related to Libor tampering by big banks is already underway. One of those cases is being led by Kirby McInerney LLP partner David Kovel.
"The banks ultimate exposure to Libor is still highly uncertain. These are massive markets, both of them. The [forex and Libor] benchmarks have a knock-on effect to all of these other markets," Kovel said.
Assistant professor of law at Wake Forest University Andrew Verstein agrees. He said the global currency system is of "stupefying magnitude" and civil actions would follow any misconduct finding by regulators.
"Every big business in the world has a relationship with some bank that handles foreign exchange for them," Verstein said.
"If you're operating internationally -- either as a tourist or a company -- foreign exchange has to be a part of your life," he said.
Related: Still no charges for Wall Street execs five years after crash
So far, no institution has been accused of any wrongdoing in fixing currency benchmarks. Barclays refused to confirm reports that six of its traders were suspended earlier this month in connection with the investigation.
But the steady stream of legal action and investigations continues to undermine trust in the banking sector, more than five years since the financial crisis began.
New York AG holds JPM 'accountable'
Banks will do all they can to soften the blow of any penalties as litigation costs eat into profits and some are required to raise new funds to boost liquidity buffers.
They may be more willing to assist authorities with the foreign exchange probe to ease possible fines further down the track.
Verstein said the degree of co-operation was a factor in determining the size of the settlements agreed over Libor.
Barclays was the first bank to come clean on Libor, paying around $450 million. That was dwarfed by settlements with others such as UBS and Rabobank, which paid a fine of nearly $1 billion.
"It's hard to imagine that Rabobank was twice as culpable as Barclays," said Verstein.
CNNMoney (London ) First published November 20, 2013: 8:30 AM ET
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About Motown Junkies
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Eckstine, Billy
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Good, Tommy
Gorman, Freddie
Gospel Stars
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Griffin, Herman
Griffith, Johnny
Griner, Linda
Hamilton, Dave
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Henslee, Gene
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Hit Pack
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Holland-Dozier
Holloway, Brenda
Holloway, Patrice
Isley Brothers
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~ because it's what's in the grooves that counts
566. Kim Weston: “I’ll Never See My Love Again”
Posted by The Nixon Administration in Kim Weston, Writing credit: Ivy Jo Hunter, Writing credit: Mickey Stevenson
Gordy G 7041 (B), April 1965
B-side of A Thrill A Moment
(Written by Kim Weston, Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter)
Taken together, the two sides of this – the Kim Weston single which fell between the cracks, a chart flop which was never even released in Britain – make up for a strange old time.
The A-side, A Thrill A Moment, with its Seventies production and Kim’s no-holds-barred vocal showcase, was a sort of amplification of all the full-on excesses of her previous single, I’m Still Loving You, with mixed results. This B-side, though, is even odder, a wildly inconsistent number full of unearthly chords, intentional off-time harmonies, and tentative, playful passages interrupted by short bursts of, well, full-on excess.
As always, I’m a sucker for anything even remotely strange, and so while this isn’t a masterpiece or anything, out of the two sides it’s this one that gets my vote.
It’s immediately striking, if not enduring; floaty, bossa nova fare in the verses, dramatic, pounding, chest-thumping show tune in what passes for the chorus. A weird mix of strange backing vocals – I can’t even tell how many people are singing backup on this, but there are three distinct (and separately-timed) vocal lines running in the background behind Kim – and unusual effects, drifting in and out, the listener cast adrift on an ocean of sound.
I’ll Never See My Love Again – not exactly a happy, good-time title, that – doesn’t sound much like a Kim Weston record. Not in the verses, anyway; when she cuts loose in that enormous show tune sort-of-chorus (only really distinguished from the verses by a ramping up of volume and melodrama from everyone involved, but still effective) she’s immediately recognisable, but for the most part she’s competing for attention with other voices and other instruments, and it’s not an entirely successful experiment.
(A tidied-up version of the same band backing track – sans fascinating harmonies – was used by Smokey Robinson as the basis for a new and entirely different song, Do Like I Do, which was duly offered to Kim a few months later – but her version didn’t see the light of day until it was used as a bonus disc (pictured left) in a British-only Tamla Motown anniversary box set in 1980. That’ll be around review number 3,000, if anyone is still reading by then.)
And speaking of things to come on this site… We haven’t met the Lewis Sisters yet here on Motown Junkies, but this sounds very much like one of theirs: the lavish quasi-orchestral production, huge grand piano glisses drenched in echo, those bizarre high harmonies, a kind of extended riff where a chorus should be. I fully expected to see their names somewhere in here, but no.
What we end up with is something akin to five or six different songs all jockeying for position in the same groove, none of them exactly winning out over the others. It’s a startling listen, but it doesn’t leave much impression once it’s over, no matter how pretty and ethereal it all is while it’s playing. Still, for all of that, it’s not only a bewildering record, it’s momentarily bewitching too, and I’ve always got plenty of time for forays off the beaten track which bring unexpected results.
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18 thoughts on “566. Kim Weston: “I’ll Never See My Love Again””
Johnson Frank said:
The interviewer is an idiot!
The Nixon Administration said:
I’m unclear if you mean me – if not, please clarify. And if so, some elaboration as to why would be nice!
If you didn’t mean me, you can skip this next bit.
If you did mean me, well, having the courage of your convictions would also help, Frank, or “Mickey The Twistin’ Playboy” as you usually call yourself. We’re all grown ups here – if you (or anyone else) wants to call me an idiot, just go ahead and call me an idiot! No need for different names, nobody’s going to get banned or anything. (I’m pretty sure I’ve actually expressly invited people to use those exact words in the past). I’d hate to think that politeness has been stopping people speaking their minds or calling me out on my wacky opinions.
But I do prefer a slightly higher standard of discussion, whoever you were referring to; otherwise, you’re just some stranger yelling random abuse, and the Internet’s got plenty of those already.
tomovox said:
I can’t really disagree with your rating or your comments on this one because I know, the first listen threw me for such a loop, I didn’t listen to the song again, until I was fooled by the “Do Like I Do” switch-a-roo. Once again, I learned an important lesson: sometimes the lyrics really can spell the difference between a good song and bad song.
You’re right on the mark about the bewildering array of vocals all competing and the odd effect on the whole record. It sounded like a huge mess to me, but I gave the producers points for at least attempting to try something new and different.
Now, “Do Like I Do” surprised me. I saw the title and of course had no idea it was the same song that scared me away. Yet here it was: same odd musical bed, but now with new lyrics, and more unified lead / backing vocal arrangement, this thing actually sounded pretty good. Amazing how much just one or a couple of changes can make or break even a decent music track.
Robb Klein said:
I think that “Do Like I Do” is only very slightly better. I’d give both of them a “5”. I’d like to see a scan of the British Tamla-Motown release of “Do Like I Do” here, as it was physically released (albeit years later after its recording), but it is a graphic entity to draw the eye of the potential reader to, perhaps read the entire review out of curiosity, when, perhaps they might not otherwise, if they are just scanning the various reviews for things of interest.
Hey, man, it’s their loss – I write this stuff for myself. But thank you for the scan, I’ll add it when I next get a chance (they take a while to process and upload).
Landini said:
Another interesting wrinkle in the whole “I’ll Never See My love Again”/”Do LIke I Do” saga. Apparently, Smokey Robinson recorded a version of “Do Like I Do” for one of his 70s albums. I heard a snippet of his verson which is taken at a funky pace. I also learned that Smokey’s version is a favorite for rappers to sample. Interesting!
144man said:
Chris Clark covered “Do Like I Do” the following year, and that wasn’t released at the time either. The Kim tracks that Chris recorded suited her.
Dave L said:
Whatever the individual grades come up for Weston’s singles’ sides -and I give this a 7 like the A- it really is a shame she never got a solo vinyl album of her Motown material in the 60s. As far as I know, in the states, the first album was 1990’s “Greatest Hits and Rare Classics” and I got it very quickly, but enough of the material on it had been out as Tamla and Gordy 45s, and could easily have filled a 12 band vinyl LP. Little wonder Stevenson jumped ship in ’67 and took his wife with him. Oh well.
The Motown Anthology double CD set – which still doesn’t include “Do Like I Do”, incidentally – is an absolute godsend, with enough strong material for Motown to have carved maybe three decent albums’ worth out of it.
I’m actually not all that familiar with a lot of Kim’s post-Motown stuff, but what I’ve heard has been excellent; given the complete lack of push she received from Motown, her leaving might actually be one of those rare occasions where Motown’s loss was music lovers’ gain.
treborij said:
Believe me, I’m rarely the one to defend Motown’s handling of its “secondary” performers but…
Kim must have had some push. I grew up in a small town in Upstate central New York (perhaps a British equivalent might be a place like Devizes, small and in the middle of nowhere?). There was a modest black population and a few of the kids in school were my friends so I heard a lot of music I probably never otherwise would have heard from 1963 onward. And I was able to buy both Take Me In Your Arms and Helpless at the local record store with no problem. So Motown must have been giving Kim somewhat of a push. Don’t get me wrong, I think she definitely got the short end of the stick promotion-wise but her music got out there. However, I never heard this single until I picked up the Motown Anthology. Your ratings seem about right although I prefer the “A” side.
You’re absolutely right, and “push” was a really poor choice of words on my part. I just meant that even though her post-Motown career was rather short on hits, she still managed to release 4 LPs in three years after leaving the label, whereas it took Motown the best part of four decades to get its act together on that front – so her departure from Motown wasn’t necessarily such a bad thing for Kim-hungry fans.
MotownFan1962 said:
“That’ll be around review number 3,000, if anyone is still reading by then.”
Believe me, people will still read this, even after review number 859,478,540,975,631. We may not be around to see it, but it’ll happen.
🙂 Thanks – I don’t honestly know how long it will take. We used to be zipping through the years at super speed, but now we’re doing this in something approaching real time…
Which means it’ll be about five years till we get to “Stoned Love”? Darn.
Double-tracked lead vocals – Kim Weston
Backing vocals – The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps
(two different tracks)
I like it. Ms. Weston and The Andantes do an excellent job. I’d give it an 8. I can even imagine The Supremes or The Ronettes doing a cover of it. It kinda sounds like a “Holland-Dozier-Holland meets Phil Spector” sort of song.
Mark V said:
I don’t think the re-recording (“Do Like I Do”) was any better. Once I had this version in my head, it was a comedown to have the new version, which “clarified” the record while diminishing the mystery of it. It’s precisely those several double-trackings that drew me to this.
Motown Fan, I often think that the true “Wall of Sound” was built in Motown’s studios, and I treasure the mixes that are so layered that you can listen and hear something new long after you’ve purchased the record.
Finally (!) added the scan of “Do Like I Do” which Robb kindly sent me ages ago – as I said, it’ll have a proper review when we get to around 3,000 or so…
bogart4017 said:
I never liked “Do Like I Do” either. Theres not much Motown i don’t like between 1960-1972 but this 45 is one of them.
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Home › america › Anti-Sharia Video Pulled From YouTube Due To ‘Hate Speech’ Rules
Anti-Sharia Video Pulled From YouTube Due To ‘Hate Speech’ Rules
Posted on July 7, 2016 by Mountain★Republic
Policy developed for the express purpose of fighting Islamic State propaganda is now being used to silence critics of radical jihad
A video produced by CounterJihad critical of the Muslim Brotherhood, jihad and sharia law was removed from YouTube Tuesday due to the company’s “hate speech” regulations.
The video — titled “Killing for a Cause: Sharia Law & Civilization Jihad” — was uploaded to YouTube last Thursday.
“I am stunned that the policy that YouTube developed for the express purpose of fighting Islamic State propaganda is now being used to silence critics of radical jihad,” Jim Hanson, executive vice president of the Center for Security Policy said Wednesday.
Hanson added, “Instead of counteracting radical propaganda online, these policies are now being used to silence the very speech that YouTube said it wanted — speech that challenges ISIS.”
YouTube’s hate speech policy states that “hate speech refers to content that promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on certain attributes.” These attributes include religion.
The CounterJihad video is now able to be viewed on their website. “Terrorism seems to be everywhere, and it’s getting worse. The bad guys have lots of names—ISIS, al Qaeda, Boko Haram—but they have one thing in common. They are all killing for a cause: Islamic Law known as Sharia,” a voice-over in the video states. “Sharia is a return to medieval Islam. Sharia demands a Holy War called Jihad. The most widely available book of Islamic Law in English says: ‘Jihad means to war against non-Muslims.’”
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Tagged with: anti-sharia video, hate speech, holy war, ISIS, islamic state, islamic state propaganda, jihad, propaganda, radical islam, radical muslims, sharia, sharia law, terrorism, youtube
Posted in america, current events, freedom, liberty, life, news, random, real news, religion, survival, truth, uncategorized
3 comments on “Anti-Sharia Video Pulled From YouTube Due To ‘Hate Speech’ Rules”
futuret says:
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2016/07/07/the-thin-veneer-of-civilization-that-we-all-take-for-granted-is-evaporating-all-over-the-globe/
Rifleman III says:
Reblogged this on Rifleman III Journal.
The Grey Enigma says:
Reblogged this on The Grey Enigma.
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Music: Practice & Theory Meta
Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for musicians, students, and enthusiasts. Join them; it only takes a minute:
Can wind instruments be played out of tune?
I believed that the trombone stands almost alone among wind instruments, in that it allows to play a continuous pitch range. The rest have a discrete set of possible notes (pitches), hence things are somewhat easier, in that (providing that the instrument is ok) you almost cannot play "out of tune" (I mean, by a fraction of semitone). Something like the difference between a fretted and unfretted bass.
But the "out of tune" scene in Whiplash left me wondering.
Is the above -more or less- true?
tuning instruments
leonbloyleonbloy
'Can wind instruments be played in tune?' is often, alas, the more natural question to ask. – user3490 Apr 11 '18 at 12:51
Temperature and humidity affect the tuning of a wind instrument. All wind instruments, including the trombone, have some method for adjusting tuning. – Bob Jarvis Apr 11 '18 at 23:53
Note the big slide right at the start of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, played on the clarinet. – Ben I. Apr 12 '18 at 13:01
"What's the definition of a minor second?" "Two piccolos playing in unison." – Michael Seifert Apr 12 '18 at 14:32
@TracyCramer good catch. I overlooked it because it's not in Wikipedia's Continuous pitch instruments category. – phoog Apr 12 '18 at 16:38
Yes, wind instruments can play out of tune, even when the instrument is "tuned properly" (which isn't as well-defined as it seems). In fact, the same can be said for fretted string instruments as well.
For wind instruments, the way you blow into the instrument can drastically affect your pitch. As a flute player, I can vary between as much as a whole step above and below the note I'm fingering by basically just rotating the instrument. I've heard single-reed (saxophone and clarinet) players slide up an octave without changing fingering. For brass instruments, you can get a lot of different pitches out of each fingering due to the nature of the instrument and the interaction with the mouthpiece. I would say, in general, that playing out of tune is the default situation for all wind instruments, and playing in tune requires a lot of practice and very good ear.
For fretted string, the amount of pressure you put on your fretting hand affects the pitch. It's not as much as an intentional bend, but it can be up to a quarter step or more, and definitely enough to sound out of tune even to untrained ears. This issue become much more pronounced with scalloped frets. It's not as much of a concern as wind instruments, however, because it's a universal solution: fret lightly and you will stay in tune, vs. wind instruments needing to take care of many different things for each note and situation they are in.
The instruments which cannot (without effort) play out of tune are non-fingered string instruments (harp, dulcimer, lyre), percussion instruments (drums, keyboards, auxiliary), and those instruments which are somehow both (piano, harpsichord, celeste). These instruments are all basically just a set of pretuned objects which are vibrated by picking, plucking, or striking to create the sound. Assuming those objects are in tune and you aren't going out of your way to touch or bend them inappropriately, they will play in tune. However, you can make them play out of tune in various ways, but it will not be an accident, and may be harder than playing in tune.
AlexanderJ93AlexanderJ93
Yeah - I've a friend who can do the full-octave clarinet bend at the top of Rhapsody in Blue without batting an eyelid. It is rather impressive. – Tetsujin Apr 11 '18 at 7:25
Important to know is that those pretuned instruments (guitar, piano) are not perfectly in pitch either, that's why the piano is called en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavier the well tempered clavier. It's a rather complicated topic, but very interesting. – Mafii Apr 11 '18 at 13:07
@Mafii - perfectly in pitch is subjective. In 12edo, both are 'perfectly in pitch'. – Tim Apr 11 '18 at 16:38
@Mafii We are assuming that the instrument itself is properly tuned to whichever tuning system the performer desires (or is required to play in). – AlexanderJ93 Apr 11 '18 at 17:35
@MichaelSeifert For simpler pieces, this is true. But for more complicated pieces (modern band/orchestral works, and most percussion ensembles and timpani solos), changing tuning is part of playing the instrument. Check out this solo and some of Diana's other videos to see what I'm talking about: youtube.com/watch?v=BlwyIxWXNZk – AlexanderJ93 Apr 12 '18 at 18:15
Yes, all wind instruments can be played out of tune. Very out of tune.
Source: I work with junior concert bands.
To elaborate, the frequency produced by a given wind instrument is a function of the fingering, but also the embouchure (mouth position), airspeed, and any number of other factors.
Learning to play in tune is a major part of starting to learn a wind instrument. This is not the case with something like piano (no tuning at all), or guitar (where a beginner will play adequately in tune).
endorphendorph
"Source: I work with junior concert bands." - Howls of laughter And sympathy. You are a hero in the world of music. – Todd Wilcox Apr 11 '18 at 2:49
Agree with piano, but certainly not guitar. Slightly bent strings? – Tim Apr 11 '18 at 6:16
@Tim Probably fair. I guess I'm not saying that a guitarist never worries about intonation, but that it's much more of an issue for a beginner wind instrumentalist than a beginner guitarist. I'm not a guitarist though, so feel free to correct me. – endorph Apr 11 '18 at 6:37
@AnoE To be fair to Tim, I did change that sentence based on his comment. – endorph Apr 11 '18 at 10:17
Mandatory link to wind instruments being played out of tune: youtube.com/watch?v=aZTghhCcM-E – Buhb Apr 11 '18 at 14:10
I have a number of brass family instruments (mellophone, cornets, trumpet, euphonium). I regularly bend ("bluesify") notes on them intentionally. On the lower-pitched ones this may be easier for some players. Brandon Ridenour does that famous Rhapsody in Blue bend on a soprano trumpet here, very impressively:
In this case he's using partial valve closure, but I find that I can generally do up to a whole tone by adjusting my embouchure.
Actually, due to the physical constraints of the instrument, for many notes a brass instrument will naturally play "out of tune" unless the player adjusts his/her embouchure to correct it. On the three valved instruments, each of the valves increases the length of the plumbing by 1/2, 1 whole, or 1-1/2 steps thus allowing all the notes of the scale to be played as harmonics, but this is only strictly correct at the natural pitch of the instrument.
When you are playing at, say, an octave higher than that, the extra length actually added by the plumbing does not change even though the added length required to lower the note would be less. For the higher notes "lipping up" to avoid flatness is necessary although it is usually unconscious.
mickeyfmickeyf
What is the "natural pitch of the instrument"? For example imagine the lowest c-major scale you could play: bottom C is on the 2nd harmonic, DEFG on the 3rd, and ABC on the 4th. Which harmonic is the valves "correct" for? – Rodney Apr 11 '18 at 18:41
You can bend even farther than that - on my trumpet I can bend a G down to a E without partial valve closure. It sounds terrible, but you can do it. – bendl Apr 11 '18 at 19:00
Oh dear higher power, yes. Wind instruments can play out of tune. So very much out of tune.
Already starting with the humble recorder, you first have the challenge of matching concert pitch by slightly pulling out your mouth piece (which wrecks the coherence of the instrument's basic tuning) and then using embouchure and articulation and dynamics in a manner where the focus of a tone is at the core of where it should be.
There is such a difference between conservatory-level recorder players and the humble school beginners regarding the fine points of pitch control that one wouldn't believe it until having sat through a number of school level concerts as well as concerts people actually pay for hearing.
Now the straightness and purity of tone actually make the recorder one of the cruellest instrument for ensemble play regarding pitch control, but the same considerations apply to a good degree to other winds even though the means of pitch control differ individually.
With brass instruments you have the additional problem that the valves are getting combined and the resulting resonator length modifications are arithmetic while the required frequency modifications would be geometric. So every scale needs individual corrections to each note.
The standard types of recorder also require some precision for playing the "black notes", since the pitch depends on how much of the double-hole is uncovered. Partially uncovering one or more single holes can have a similar effect, too. – Chromatix Apr 12 '18 at 21:48
Notably, the standard trope for "bad musician" isn't a novice violin player any more - it's a recorder being blown far too hard, resulting in a sharp and uneven pitch, a harsh and grating timbre, and even random jumps in octave. – Chromatix Apr 12 '18 at 21:50
Mr.Buzzkill suggests what he's really asking is -- what other instruments can be positioned to play any wavelength without bending from the design fundamental for a given fingering/setting/etc.
Playing "out of tune" strictly means the whole instrument is off-concert pitch.
" Bending" is just a way of forcing production of wavelength which is not dead-peak resonance for the instrument.
Thus, for a specified bore length and specified set of holes (i.e. fingering on woodwinds), there is only one fundamental resonance wavelength. The trombone can adjust the bore length to arbitrary precision, hence play any wavelength fundamental. Most brass instruments can adjust the bore length a small amount via tuning slides (most often used to go from natural to tempered scales, for example). To my knowledge there isn't any woodwind which has variable position or variable size holes designed in. Performers can and do "partially cover" some finger holes to bend pitches by virtual adjustment of the hole size (wander on over to Helmholtz Resonator for more on this).
Carl WitthoftCarl Witthoft
When you talk about one fundamental frequency that implies a well defined length, but rather like a river flowing to the sea there isn't a precisely defined point where the sound wave considers itself to be inside or outside of the instrument, so there's room to bend – Rodney Apr 11 '18 at 18:48
@Rodney That's not strictly true -- the bell is supposed to act as an impedance-matching device to better transmit energy from instrument to the world. I agree that you can push the effective length by changing the pressure stream, thus damaging the quality of the impedance match. – Carl Witthoft Apr 11 '18 at 19:15
Yes, in addition to the points mentioned by others, the temperature and humidity conditions in the room, for example , when playing the Indian bansuri the artist has to make sure to avoid sudden rise or dip in temperatures and has to allow the instrument to adjust to the room temperature. Check this website for some tips.
HazkazHazkaz
Most wind instruments have fingerings or positions that will create a "general" pitch at each semitone. But a player can actually sound a different semitone or pitches between the semitones based on embouchure and air support, or even things like the shape of the mouthpiece or barrel of a clarinet or neck of a saxophone.
A young player who has not developed a strong embouchure or proper air support will play terribly out of tune. A more advanced player may, at times, slide the pitch up or down on purpose.
Even a player with proper embouchure and air support will have to adjust notes while playing because each instrument has notes that tend to be out of tune, just by the nature of the design of the instrument. A good player will know the instrument and which notes tend to go flat or sharp, and adjust accordingly. Sometimes alternate fingerings will be more in tune.
Heather S.Heather S.
An unusual type of wind instrument is the humble steam whistle fitted to vintage locomotives, ships, and even factories. Despite having a fixed resonant length, listening to any of these with a critical ear will reveal their pitch dependence on the temperature and pressure of the steam actuating them, the latter of which is commonly varied by the driver (known as "quilling").
ChromatixChromatix
It's rather interesting you'd mention the trombone, but not unsurprising.
One thing of note in regard to this instrument is that there are, in effect, despite common impressions to the contrary, two boundaries to the trombone's ability to accurately play a pitch*: that is, first position is first position and can go no higher, and seventh position is limited by the length of the player's arm.
As an example, "D" above middle C is the 1st position note in the 5th partial (aka 'overtone'), which tends to sound flat. If you want to play this D in tune you cannot do so in 1st position without "lipping it up"; alternatively, some professional model trombones have a spring-loaded slide receiver, and the player pulls the slide in harder than normal on 1st-position "D", compressing the springs, but merely puts the slide against the springs for standard usage of first position, such as B-flat in the 4th partial (which is typically in tune).
For this reason advanced trombonists often play D above middle C in 4th position, 5th partial (or have the aforementioned spring-loaded receiver).
For reference, a chart of the trombone's overtones/partials and their pitch tendencies is at http://www.olemiss.edu/lowbrass/studio/overtonecharts/tenorandbasstromboneovertone.pdf
*"accurately play a given pitch" --- within a given partial/overtone series.
Kevin_KinseyKevin_Kinsey
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NFL Betting Contenders for the 2016 AFC North Title
Written by Eric Williams on May 12, 2016
While the Baltimore Ravens struggled through one of their toughest seasons in the John Harbaugh era, it’s quite possible that Baltimore could bounce back to join both, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh as legitimate Super Bowl title contenders in 2016. Then…there’s the Cleveland Browns. Stop laughing for a minute because, the fact of the matter is that Cleveland will also improve its NFL odds thanks to the smart hiring of head coach Hue Jackson. Now, let’s find out what’s in store for all four AFC North Super Bowl 51 hopefuls.
The Ravens had an injury-riddled season while falling to 5-11 in 2015, but they could bounce back in a big way if all goes well. The good news for Ravens fans and betting backers is the fact that this well-managed and well-coached franchise has had just five losing seasons since 1998, making them an almost certainty to get back to respectability at the very least. Baltimore added a trio of veterans that will contribute right away in tight end Ben Watson, safety Eric Weddle and wide receiver Mike Wallace. The Ravens also drafted tackle Joe Stanley with the sixth overall pick, but they might have made a mistake by passing up on the gifted Laremy Tunsil, the top-rated offensive lineman in the draft. The Ravens then grabbed a trio of defensive players with their next three picks and made a wise decision to nab former Navy star Keenan Reynolds in the sixth round. With the AFC North squaring off against four mediocre NFC East teams and two more mediocre AFC East teams, I believe nine or 10 wins could be very reachable.
I like the Cincinnati Bengals (12-4) to get right back into Super Bowl title contention after a late-season injury to starting quarterback Andy Dalton basically derailed their Super Bowl chances a year ago. Head coach Marvin Lewis has turned this once moribund franchise into perennial winners even if he hasn’t reached or won the ‘big one’. The Bengals have won 52 games over the last five seasons, making them a virtual lock to reach the double-digit win mark again in 2016. Cincinnati also had a fantastic offseason by adding veteran linebacker Karlos Dansby, wide receiver Brandon LaFell and safety Taylor Mays in free agency before pulling off one of the better drafts of any team in the league. The Bengals nabbed cornerback William Jackson with the 24th pick in the draft before nabbing two wide receivers (Tyler Boyd and Cody Core), a linebacker (Nick Vigil) and defensive tackle (Andrew Billings) that will all likely see significant playing time in 2016. Call me crazy, but I can easily see Cincy winning 11 or 12 games in 2016 to win the AFC North again.
Pittsburgh Steelers (10.5)
The Steelers (10-6) also saw their legitimate Super Bowl hopes go down the drain late last season because of injuries to key players including Le’Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Bryant. No matter, the Steelers will contend again in 2016 simply because they’re well-coached and have excellent ownership that gives them a great chance to win each and every year. Pittsburgh added gifted tight end LaDarius Green in free agency while also adding linebacker Steven Johnson, defensive end Ricardo Matthews and tackle Ryan Harris. The Steelers also added a trio of defensive players with their first three draft picks ad grabbed one of my favorite players in all of college football a year ago in former Temple U. star linebacker Tyler Matakevich. If injuries don’t derail their plans, the Steelers could undoubtedly find their way into Super Bowl 51. I’ve got Big Ben and company winning 11 games in 2016 as they pond the snot out of their AFC and NFC East counterparts next season.
The Browns (3-13) may not be laughingstocks much longer NFL fanatics! Cleveland made a great hire by nabbing widely-respected offensive coordinator and former Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson in the offseason and I expect the culture in Cleveland to change immediately behind the no-nonsense Jackson. Not only that, but the Browns had what many believe is the No. 1 draft in the league this season. Cleveland nabbed gifted Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman with the 15th overall pick before going on to add defensive ends Emmanuel Ogbah and Carl Nassib, offensive tackle Shon Coleman, quarterback Cody Kessler and former Arizona star linebacker Scooby Wright III, a playmaker that should have never last as long as he did in my opinion. Cleveland also made a smart move to bring in RG3 and give him another shot to prove he can be a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL and he’ll have every chance working under the offensive genius of Hue Jackson. The Browns also added linebacker Demario Davis, offensive lineman Alvin Bailey, safety Rahim Moore and linebacker Justin Tuggle in free agency. Right now, I see no reason why the Browns can’t reach six wins in 2016.
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No ransom demand or known motive in violent Toronto-area kidnapping of wealthy student from China
A security image of the van police say was used used in the violent kidnapping of Chinese student Wanzhen Lu.York Regional Police
Concerned family of a wealthy Chinese student who was violently kidnapped from a condo parking garage near Toronto are on their way to Canada, as police probe the shocking case where no one has heard from the victim — or the kidnappers — since he was snatched on Saturday.
Wanzhen Lu, 22, was grabbed by three men after he got out of a Range Rover with his girlfriend in the underground lot of an upmarket condominium in Markham, Ont., Saturday, about 6 p.m.; when he resisted, he was zapped several times with a stun gun and tossed into a waiting van driven by a fourth man, police say.
The woman was left behind. She reported the abduction to a security guard at the condominium who called 911.
Police say Wanzhen Lu, 22, was violent kidnapped from the parking garage of his Markham condo on March 23, 2019. York Regional Police
“This entire case is odd,” Const. Andy Pattenden of York Regional Police said Monday.
“Abductions like this, especially with this level of violence used, is very rare in this country. We do believe it was targeted,” he said. “She was left there but Mr. Lu was definitely taken against his will and shoved into that van that drove away.”
The dramatic abduction was caught on security video, police said, and shows Lu being zapped several times with a conductive energy weapon, such as Taser.
The black van — modified for wheelchair accessibility — was found in Toronto Sunday night, Pattenden said. The licence plate CEAR350, which was on the van at the time of the attack, was no longer attached and remains missing. The plate had been stolen in Peel Region earlier this month.
The kidnappers have not made any contact or ransom demands that police are aware of and the motive is unknown, said Pattenden.
What police do know, he said, is Lu is likely in danger.
“We’re very concerned for the safety of Wanzhen Lu,” Pattenden said. “We know this incident involved a significant level of violence in that underground parking garage. He was taken against his will. He was shocked and forced into that van.
“From the video, it’s pretty violent.”
Wu is a Chinese citizen and is in Canada as a student. He showed flamboyant signs of wealth.
At the time of his kidnapping, he was wearing a Gucci Guccify red wolf’s head hoodie, which was listed for more than $2,000 online. He arrived in a Range Rover but neighbours said he also drives even fancier cars, including a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini sports car.
Lu’s Instagram account tag line is “Fast cars lambo” and features two Chinese characters that translate as “fast car.” The account is private, so only his 3,382 followers can view his six posts.
Police find van used in alleged violent kidnapping of a Chinese national
Chinese national shocked with stun gun in violent Markham kidnapping: police
The condo complex is a newly built highrise. A one-bedroom apartment there recently was listed online for $479,900 and a three-bedroom for $783,000.
Lu sometimes goes by the English name Peter.
Police would not say which school he attends, other than it is in Toronto, what he is studying or how long he has been in Canada, or provide information about his family in China.
Requests for the same information from the Chinese consulate in Toronto went unanswered Monday.
Police have been in contact with officials at the Chinese consulate. Family representatives — Pattenden was unsure of the precise relationships — are en route to Canada to meet with police.
“Family is on their way here. Obviously they’re very concerned for the well-being of their family member.”
A security image of the van police say was used used in the violent kidnapping of Chinese student Wanzhen Lu. York Regional Police
The kidnapping took place at 15 Water Walk Dr. in Markham, in the area of Highway 7 and Birchmount Road.
Police released images of the three suspects who got out of the van, taken from the surveillance video, as well as of the van. The video itself has not been released.
As police forensic officers search the van for clues, Pattenden asked the public to shift their attention to the photos of the suspects.
“Why him?” Pattenden asked.
“We want to know why. So if there is anyone who knows Mr. Lu and has not come forward yet with any information on why he may be the target, we’d definitely love to speak with you.”
• Email: ahumphreys@nationalpost.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys
I fixated on that last bullet hole for a year: I finally found out why it’s still there
Attracting millennials
Canadian Ebola drug inventors worked with Chinese firm but it was about saving lives, top biologist says
Fugitive killer who fled Toronto mental health facility for China told doctors of his escape plan
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Home / Additional Resources
*NEW* Slide Images Library provides health professionals with images that can be downloaded and added to PowerPoint slides to discuss aspects of Healthy Homes with clients. Slide image, talking points, and source information available.
*NEW* Lead Sources Library lists spices, herbal remedies, ceremonial powders, and cosmetics that may contain lead. This library can be sorted by category and provides an image of each item with a brief description.
North Carolina County Resources Library lists agencies and organizations that may be able to assist with housing, environmental hazards and other needs, for each county and statewide.
LeadCare II and NCLEAD Training Webinars
Trainings led by Kim Gaetz, MSPH, PhD, and Tena Hand with the NC Division of Public Health, NC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
Complete corresponding training evaluations to receive certificates of completion to submit for CEUs.
Clinical Lead Training (Part 1 | Part 2)
In 2015, the NC CLPPP offered a two-part training for clinical professionals to learn about lead screening and testing protocols, submission of samples and blood lead data, and educational resources for families.
*NEW* Early Childhood Action Plan Webinar
Learn about the Early Childhood Action Plan from presenter, Rebecca Planchard, Senior Early Childhood Policy Advisor for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Webinar archived on 6/17/19.
Environmental Asthma Triggers Online Module
Public health professionals can learn about environmental exposures that worsen asthma and some evidence-based strategies to reduce those exposures.
Preventing Lead Poisoning Online Module
Learn about the main causes of lead exposure and poisoning, testing recommendations for children, and prevention methods.
*NEW* Mold and Moisture Webinar
A webinar for people concerned about mold in their homes.
This webinar was created by the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility.
Health and Energy Linked Programs Webinar
Learn about the Health and Environment Program organized by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) from Public Health Analyst, Ronald Denson Jr.
Science Cafe: Health Effects of E-Cigarettes
How do they work, what do they contain, and what kind of potential health effects could they induce? Watch this recording to hear Dr. Ilona Jaspers share her research on the health effects of e-cigarettes.
National Center of Health Housing is a national nonprofit corporation that works to ensure healthy and safe homes for children and families through research, training and education programs, and policy work.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services divisions and programs coordinate environmental health, clinical and outreach services for the improved environmental health of homes, child care centers, schools and other buildings occupied by children and families.
Division of Child Development and Early Education
NC Asthma Program
North Carolina Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
Health Hazards Control Unit
UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Environmental Health and Sustainability (CEHS) promotes innovative and interdisciplinary research aimed at reducing the burden of environmental disease and translates that research to enhance the knowledge of public health professionals and susceptible populations.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) promotes a comprehensive approach to addressing environmental health hazards in homes, as part of its mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.
HUD’s Healthy Homes Program
U .S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works to protect citizens from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work through research, regulation enforcement, education and partnerships.
Renovate Right: Lead Hazard Information for Families, Child Care Providers, and Schools
Wildfires and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
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The Justice League movie will just be called Justice League
Sam Barsanti
Filed to: FilmFiled to: Film
Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice
One of the great joys to come out of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was how easy it was to make jokes about its title. Whatever merits the movie actually has, its title was like a perfect storm of elements that are easy to parody. The “V” instead of “Vs.” makes it sound like a court case, the drama of the subtitle can be diffused by changing a word, and the simplicity of naming the movie after the two dudes who punch each other in it means you can swap in any other two names and it’s clear what you’re referencing.
For example, maybe your friend Tony is mad at your friend Brian for stealing his burrito, so you throw together a photoshop of their faces that says “Tony V Brian: Dawn Of Burrito.” That would be hilarious. Or, going back to the movie itself, you could say something like Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Boredom if you thought the movie was boring, or Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Sequels if you didn’t like how much time it spent on setting up future movies. You could even say Martha V Martha: Dawn Of Martha if—like Batman and Superman—your mom is also named Martha.
Unfortunately, Warner Bros. apparently caught on to how much fun we were having at its expense, because the first of the two Justice League movies won’t be following Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Laughter’s lead with a dramatic subtitle that we can joke about. Instead, it’ll simply be called Justice League, which isn’t funny at all. That comes from DC Comics’ Geoff Johns, who recently took over a bigger role on the movie side of things:
Justice League doesn’t come out until November of next year, which means we now have to go about 17 months without making dumb jokes about its name. Unless…Justice Leek? Is that a joke? Probably not, but we’ve got plenty of time to workshop this.
[via Comic Book Resources]
Recent from Sam Barsanti
Tina Fey and Ted Danson teaming up for the ultimate NBC sitcom
USA is bringing back Nash Bridges, so we asked our mom if she thought it was cool
HBO didn't help Gwendoline Christie get her Emmy nomination, so she just did it herself
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Duterte’s campaign chief declines Cabinet seat
By: Karlos Manlupig - Correspondent / @kmanlupigINQ
Mayor Leoncio Evasco Jr. of Maribojoc, Bohol (Photo from www.maribojoc.gov.ph)
DAVAO CITY — The national campaign manager of presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte declined the offer to serve in the Cabinet of the incoming administration.
Leoncio Evasco said on Wednesday evening that he appreciated the offer but stressed he was not interested in a Cabinet seat. Nevertheless, he said he would remain available to help Duterte in a low-key capacity wherever his skills and capacities would be applicable. He was offered the post of secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG).
“To be nominated or shortlisted for the secretary of interior and local government would be a great honor for me, since not all will be given the chance to lead the department,” Evasco said in a statement posted on Facebook.
However, Evasco said that despite his role as one of the prime movers of Duterte’s campaign, he was not interested in any Cabinet appointment.
“I would like to clarify that I am not, and will not be interested in any Cabinet post. I will always be grateful for the offer, and i will always serve our newly elected president and the Filipino people in some other way, based on my capacity and skills,” Evasco said.
Evasco, a former rebel who later became Davao city government administrator under Duterte before becoming a mayor in Maribojoc town in Bohol, vowed to continue his work in public service. SFM
Coming soon: ‘Minor changes’ in the Duterte Cabinet – Palace
Russian opposition rallies for Moscow election candidates
UNHRC probe a chance for gov’t to clarify issues on drug war—CBCP
Dominguez changes mind, accepts finance post in Duterte Cabinet
TAGS: 2016 elections, 2016 presidential election, Appointments, Department of Interior and Local governments, Duterte Administration, Duterte cabinet, Election, Elections 2016, interior and local governments secretary, Leoncio Evasco, Nation, news, Philippine Government, Politics, presumptive President, presumptive President-elect, Rodrigo Duterte, Salvador Panelo
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Myron Sutton
Myron Pierman Sutton
When Myron "Mynie" Sutton was a student in Stamford Collegiate in Niagara Falls, Ontario in 1922, the principal, A.N. Myer, gave him fifty dollars to start a high school bend. This band played not only at school dances but at weddings and other local events. The Niagara Falls Review of 1922 reported that ”The Harmonizers played a successful engagement at Ye Poodle Dog, an ice cream parlor near Maine and Ferry.” The experience in a high school band became the impetus for Sutton’s lifelong involvement in dance bands in both Canada and the United States.
Sutton was born on 9 October 1903. At nine years of age he was sent to take piano lessons from the organist of the British Methodist Episcopal Church. He also learned to play the Clarinet and the Alto Saxophone. In 1924 he left high school and joined The Joe Stewart Band in Buffalo,
New York. In later life he recalled playing in a club that was a front for gangsters. They would often play to an empty room until rival gangs arrived for a shootout.
In 1930 Sutton was part of a band named the Royal Ambassadors. It was with this band that he was confronted by the realities of racial discrimination in the United States. Often the band musicians were black but no blacks were allowed in as patrons. On his return to Canada, he formed a band called the Canadian Ambassadors in Aylmer Quebec. It was one of a very few Black Jazz bands in Canada. They played in clubs in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.
In 1935 Myron Pierman Sutton married Christina Pierson in Montreal.
In 1941 Sutton returned to Niagara Falls to take care of his elderly mother. He formed a band that played in Port Dalhousie, and a Crystal Beach.
Sutton worked at Abex Industries retiring in 1973 at the age of 69 after 29 years of service. He died on 17 June 1982.
Myron Sutton is often called Mynie in newspaper and other accounts. In 2007 he was inducted into the Niagara Falls Hall of Fame. His personal papers were given to the Archives of Concordia University.
see Zavitz A Niagara Note
Niagara Falls Review 18 June 1982
By Fred Habermehl
Community Art Project
Moccasin Talks: It Binds Their Arms Together: Niagara and the Covenant Chain
In the Time of Pharaohs: Wrapping up the History, Rituals and Secrets of Ancient Egypt
City of Niagara Falls Museums Facebook page
Throwback to 2014 and the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lundy's Lane. It was a great day. We had hundreds of participants march from Dunn Street and from Oakes Park and be a part of this great event. https://t.co/9E44EtpPMq https://t.co/CsEBeHaKXs;
The leaders were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. I thought it was important and exciting for our students to listen to and see Native culture first hand.
Grade 3 teacher, Niagara Falls
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Tag Archives: Apple
Breast augmentation on strangers in streets with Boob Job app for iPhone
Posted in Busty, Denise Milani, Fun, Games, Girls, Images, Inflation, International, iPhone, Models, News, Photography, Playboy, Playmates, Sex, Strange by nothuffington
Boob Job app for iPhone smartphone with breast augmentation
Breast augmentation is expensive and time-consuming — and can’t just be done to strangers on the street. So what are you supposed to do if you really want to see how someone would look with a slightly larger chest? Reach for your iPhone, of course!
With an iPhone app appropriately named Boob Job you can give anyone a little lift and boost.
All you need to do is install the app — you can get it from the Apple App Store for a dollar — and find or take a photo of your lucky patient. Then you’ll just swipe, drag, and pinch your fingers against your iPhone’s screen a few times and — tada! — breast augmentation surgery complete.
I decided to try out the app on fellow blogger Whitson Gordon who — while clever and delightfully witty — isn’t exactly in possession of breasts that would make Pamela Anderson envious. I snatched a photo off his Facebook page, opened it in the Boob Job app, dragged some circles onto his chest, and resized them appropriately. Then I tapped some vaguely marked buttons on the next screen to increase the selected parts and add a little highlight along the newly created curves.
You can see Whitson’s pre-virtual-surgery and post-virtual-surgery photos above. The final result won’t tempt any Victoria’s Secret modeling scouts, but it makes for a great laugh.
Apple, Apps, Augmentation, BoobJob, Breast Augmentation, Cell Phones, Cellphones, Entertainment, Fun, Funny, Gadgets, Global, Humor, International, iPhone, Life, Media, Mobile Phones, News, OS, Sex, Sexy, Smartphone, Tits, World Leave a comment
Cloned iPad from China for half the price?! The $249 iPad
Posted in China, Electronics, Gadgets, International, Internet, iPhone, Linux, Sciphone, Smartphones, Twitter, World by nothuffington
A $249 iPad? Cloned iPad for 50% of the regular price of an iPad
This proposition seems interesting: A cloned iPad for 50% off the price of a regular iPad. That’s $249 for a fully functional iPad. I can’t wait.
Apple, Bluelans, Cell Phones, Cellphones, China, Clone, Cloned, Clones, Electronics, Entertainment, Events, Gadgets, Global, Images, International, iPad, iPhone, Mobile Phones, News, Nokia, OS, Sciphone, Shenzen, Smartphone, TV, TV Phones, Twitter Leave a comment
Top 20 Blogs of 2010
Posted in Android, Art, Blogs, Cars, Climate Change, Electronics, Environment, Eurovision, Fun, Gadgets, Google, Images, International, Internet, iPhone, Norway, Sciphone, Smartphones, Uncategorized, World by nothuffington
The Blogosphere is still going strong, with lots of interesting information and inside scoops coming from all corners of the world every day. With the iPad release just around the corner, the Apple Insider and iPadblogs are more popular than ever.
For art lovers there is the increasingly popular BibliOdyssey and the less knownFlickr blogfor photo lovers.
Environmental blogs are of course a must this year, with Solar Power Forum and Eco Geekpaving the way before the much awaited Chevrolet Volt. Of course, other car manufacturers have hybrids and electric cars coming out this year too, according to rumors from the auto blogs of Audi Rumors, Mercedes Rumors, and BMW Rumors.
There are plenty of rumors on other technology fronts too, such as with Chinese Clones of everything from iPhone to iPad, even though Chinese tablets have been released before the iPad.
Major events this year one can follow through blogs are of course the FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP and EUROVISION 2010. Not to mention the continued popularity of the Twilight Saga on blogs such as Breaking Dawn, Bella Cullen, Eclipse, Edward Cullen, and Werewolf Jacob.
Oh and I hear Perez Hilton is still a popular blog, and that Felix’s Babes will be.
Android, Apple, Audi, Bella Cullen, Blog, Blogging, Blogs, BMW, Breaking Dawn, Cell Phones, Cellphones, Chevrolet Volt, China, Eclipse, Eco, Eco Geek, Eco Tech, Ecotech, Edward Cullen, Electric Cars, Entertainment, Environment, Environmentalism, EUROVISION 2010, Events, FIFA, FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP, Flickr, Fun, Gadgets, Gilrs, Global, Global Warming, Green Tech, Hybrid Cars, Hybrids, Images, International, iPad, iPhone, Kristen Stewart, Lingerie, Mercedes, Mobile Phones, Modeling, Norge, Norway, Oslo, Perez Hilton, Photography, Photos, Popular, Robert Pattinson, Sciphone, Sex, Solar Power, Twilight, Werewolf, Women, World Leave a comment
iPad photos – New pics and video of the $499 Apple iPad tablet
Posted in Android, Electronics, Fun, Gadgets, Images, International, Internet, iPhone, Linux, Nokia, Online, Sciphone, Smartphones, USA, Wallpaper by nothuffington
iPad photos and videos of the $500 Apple iPad tablet.
Steve Jobs with iPad at launch
iPad or large iPhone?
iPad touchscreen tablet
Look how small Steve Jobs have become
Steve Jobs January 27th
Mr iPad aka Steve Jobs
Reasonable tablet or 10 year old laptop?
Apple’s iPad store
Apple unveils iPad tablet device
Apple has put an end to weeks of speculation by unveiling its tablet device, which it has called the iPad.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive unveiled the touchscreen device at an event in San Francisco.
Mr Jobs described the tablet, which will cost between $499 and $829 in the US, as a “third category” between smartphones and laptops.
The device, which looks like a large iPhone, can be used to watch films, play games and browse the web.
The firm has also done a deal with publishers including Penguin, Macmillan and Harper Collins to allow e-books to be downloaded directly to the device through a new iBook Store.
“You can download right onto your iPad,” said Mr Jobs.
He also showed off magazines and newspapers on the device.
‘Gold rush’
He told an audience of journalists, analysts and industry peers that the device lets people “hold the whole web in your hands”.
“What this device does is extraordinary. It is the best browsing experience you have ever had,” he said.
The device has a 9.7-inch multi-touch display, allowing people to type directly on to the screen, as well as manipulate pictures and control the action in games with their fingers. However, users can also plug in a keyboard.
Apple claim it has a battery life of 10 hours.
It comes preloaded with twelve applications – essentially multi-touch versions of existing Mac software such as iPhoto.
However, owners can also download third party apps – both specially designed for the iPad and those already available for the iPhone. People with both can synchronise their apps between the two devices.
“We think it’s going to be a whole other gold rush for developers,” said Scott Forstall, who runs Apple’s app division.
Apple revealed that more than three billion apps have been downloaded from its App store.
The New York Times showed off its app for the iPad, which recreates the look and feel of the newspaper but allows it to have new features, such as video.
“We’re pioneering the next version of digital journalism,” said Martin Nisenholtz, a senior executive at the newspaper.
It also includes the firm’s iTunes software built in, allowing people to purchase songs and movies straight to the device.
‘Cheap laptops’
It is not the first touchscreen tablet computer on the market. Earlier this month, manufacturers such as Dell and HP showed off devices at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Some industry experts have questioned the need for another category of device, alongside laptops, smartphones and netbooks.
Analyst firm CCS Insight said that it remained “sceptical” of the market. It described the iPad as “a supersize iPod Touch that would get little interest if not from Apple”.
Mr Jobs dismissed netbooks as “just cheap laptops”.
iPAD SPECIFICATIONS
9.7 inch- (25cm-) multi-touch display
1 GHz Apple processor
16-64 GB of flash memory
0.5in- (1.25cm) thick
Weighs 1.5lbs (0.7kgs)
Wi-fi, bluetooth and 3G connectivity
Speaker, microphone
“Netbooks aren’t better at anything – they’re slow and have low quality displays,” he told the audience.
“They’re not a third category device, but we have something that we think is.”
The cheapest iPad, which will come with 16GB of flash memory and wi-fi will cost $499. The most expensive version, with 64GB of storage and the ability to connect via a mobile 3G signal, will cost $829.
Users will also need a monthly subscription for 3G connectivity, but in the US owners will not have to sign a yearly contract.
CCS Insight said the high cost would put it “beyond most consumers”.
Mr Jobs said that he hoped to have international prices in place in June or July.
However, all the 3G models are unlocked, meaning they will work with any network.
The launch puts to rest months of speculation and rumour in the blogosphere.
Apple – famous for its secrecy – had remained silent in the run up to the launch, unwilling to release any details publicly.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Android, Apple, Cell Phones, Cellphones, Entertainment, Events, Gadgets, Global, GPS, Hot, Images, International, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTablet, Just In, Launch, Mac, Macintosh, Mobile Phones, Nokia, Nordic, Now, Photos, Sciphone, Smartphone, Steve Jobs, TV, TV Phones, Updates, Video, WiFi 1 Comment
Tablet launch, earnings mean big week for Apple
Posted in Electronics, Gadgets, International, Internet, iPhone, Linux, News, Nokia, Sciphone, Smartphones, USA, World by nothuffington
The company releases quarterly results on Monday, but Wall Street is waiting for Wednesday, when Apple could unveil a new tablet computer that investors hope will be as huge a phenomenon as its iconic iPod and iPhone.
The week could provide a pair of long-term catalysts for Apple’s stock. But the company’s shares often sell off right after major launches after months of rumor fuel big expectations.
Little is known about the device, despite a rabid fan following speculating on everything from the component makers to its shape and form. Industry watchers are bullish. They say Apple’s obsession to detail gives the so-called “iSlate” a big edge in a computer category that had been deemed a failure.
“If Apple is going to design a product, then it’s going to be the best design in the marketplace,” said Broadpoint Amtech analyst Brian Marshall. “To bet that it’s going to be a flop is a bad bet.”
Most analysts have not factored the tablet into estimates for fiscal 2010, but sell-siders have been busy lifting price targets on Apple’s stock in the past month.
To be sure, Apple is setting itself quite a task, one that has frustrated previous attempts: to sell consumers on the value of a device that sits somewhere between a full-sized laptop and a pocket cellphone.
The device is hyped as a do-everything, go-everywhere touchscreen media gadget that bridges the gap between smartphones, laptops and electronic readers. Magazine, book and newspaper publishers are reportedly talking with Apple about providing material.
“There’s a huge potential long-term story there for Apple,” said Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell. “Whether they get it right the first time, we’ll have to wait and see, but they have a pretty good track record.”
IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Wall Street will pay particular attention to the tablet’s price tag. If it is closer to $1,000 than $600, analysts say it will be tougher to convince consumers to buy.
Apple could offer it under carrier-subsidized plans — Verizon Wireless is frequently mentioned — which might help take the bite out of the purchase price.
Analysts believe Apple will sell 2 million to 5 million tablets in the first year.
The device could add $1 per share to Apple’s non-GAAP earnings in the year, and generate $2.8 billion to $3.5 billion of revenue, with a $700 average selling price, said Cross research analyst Shannon Cross.
Its Monday earnings run-down will serve as a warm-up for the tablet launch. Strong iPhone sales and continued momentum from its Mac computers should fuel the results.
Given Apple’s recent tradition of shredding Wall Street’s estimates, investors will expect nothing less than a strong beat when it reports fiscal first-quarter results. The company is trading at around 27 times forward earnings.
Apple has bested Wall Street EPS targets by at least 15 percent in the past four quarters, and analyst sentiment on the company is trending upward, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters StarMine.
According to StarMine’s SmartEstimate, which places more weight on recent forecasts by top-rated analysts, Apple should post EPS of $2.11 a share on revenue of $12.16 billion
“It really boils down to one point, is their beat big enough?” said Jessup & Lamont analyst Kevin Dede. “If you’re long, just ride this one out, but if you’re a hedge fund, maybe you want to think twice.”
Apple’s shares have risen around 9 percent since mid-December when hype about the tablet quickened, and are trading a few dollars shy of an all-time high. It is now the fourth largest stock on the S&P500 index, outranking the likes of IBM and JPMorgan Chase.
Some investors will be reluctant to sell shares ahead of the tablet unveiling two days later, Dede said.
Apple is expected to report earnings of $2.06 a share on revenue of $12.05 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, with a gross margin of 35.7 percent.
Marshall, whose estimates are well above consensus, expects Apple to deliver a strong upside surprise.
“The beat is going to be significant enough that we’ll have a material earnings revisions for calendar year 2010,” Marshall said.
The iPhone should provide a boost for Apple in the holiday quarter, particularly internationally, he said. Marshal predicted that iPhone units sold will surpass the 9 million average estimate.
Analysts target Mac shipments of around 3 million for the quarter. Mac shipments in the United States jumped 31 percent in the quarter, according to research group IDC.
2009, APPL, Apple, California, Cell Phones, Cellphones, Dow Jones, Economy, Entertainment, Events, Global, INDU, International, iPhone, IXIC, Mac, Mobile Phones, NASDAQ, OS, Q4, Sciphone, Smartphone, Stock Picks, Stve jobs, TV Phones, USA 1 Comment
First iPhone worm/virus with Rick Astley
Posted in Electronics, Gadgets, iPhone, News, Nokia, Rick Ashley, Rick Astley, Smartphones, Uncategorized, Viruses, Worms by nothuffington
Worm attack at Apples iPhone.
The first worm to infect the Apple iPhone has been discovered spreading “in the wild” in Australia.
The self-propagating program changes the phone’s wallpaper to a picture of 80s singer Rick Astley with the message “ikee is never going to give you up”.
iPhone virus worm Rick Astley
The worm, known as ikee, only affects “jail-broken” phones, where a user has removed Apple’s protection mechanisms to allow the phone to run any software.
Experts say the worm is not harmful but more malicious variants could follow.
“The creator of the worm has released full source code of the four existing variants of this worm,” wrote Mikko Hypponen of security firm F-secure.
“This means that there will quickly be more variants, and they might have nastier payload than just changing your wallpaper.”
The picture of Rick Astley is believed to be a nod to the internet phenomenon known as Rickrolling, where web users are tricked into clicking on what they believe is a relevant link, only to find that it actually takes the user to a video of the pop star’s song “Never gonna give you up”.
Sounds like bad news!
Apple, Cell Phones, Cellphones, Entertainment, Fun, Gadgets, Global, Humor, International, iPhone, Mobile Phones, OS, Rick Ashley, Rick Astley, Smartphone, TV Phones, Virus, Viruses, Worm, Worms 1 Comment
Charlie Brooker quote on Windows OS.
Posted in Electronics, Gadgets, iPhone, Linux, Online by nothuffington
“I know Windows is awful. Everyone knows Windows is awful. Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it’s there, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” – Charlie Brooker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/28/charlie-brooker-microsoft-mac-windows
Apple, Charlie Brooker, Comments, Computers, Fun, Gadgets, iPhone, Mac, OS, Pissed, Quotes, Windows Leave a comment
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Posted tagged ‘thats lenny leonard’
HHY’s 2008 American League Preview
I’m not going to go too in-depth here with my reasoning for these predictions? Why? Two reasons. First of all, last year I picked the Yankees and the Braves to play in the World Series. I also expected the Giants to be a surprise team, and the White Sox to have a similar season as in 2006, when they won 90 games and finished third. None of these things happened. So why go into some deep analysis if its obvious that there is no way of knowing what will happen 7 months from now. The second reason is that about 50 percent of my readers come here not for sports knolwedge, but for my hot-chick-image-searching abilities. For you guys out there, here’s Lindsay Lohan and her ‘Mean Girls’ castmate, Lacey Chabert, two of my favorites.
Back to the baseball. Here are my predictions for the upcoming season:
1. Boston–The defending champs are still the best team in this division. The only way they don’t repeat as AL East champs is if Josh Beckett has an injury-plagued season and the bullpen falters. I expect Manny Ramirez to have a comeback season, of sorts, after hitting .296 with 20 homers and 88 RBI in 2007. I also expect numerous bandwagon-jumping douchebags claiming to be Red Sox fans to invade opposing ballparks to watch ‘their team’, only to ask questions like ‘Who’s that number 34?’ and ‘Why is Dice-K pitching right-handed?’
2. NY Yankees–New York still has too much talent to finish anywhere but the top two in this division, but I think this is the year the Yankees miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The substitution of Joe Torre with Joe Girardi is not as solid a move as many would have you believe. Also, the Yankees rotation could very well be awful, as Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain (starting the year in the bullpen) all must contribute for the Yankees to be successful. But it will be good to see Yankee Stadium’s final game be mid-September regular season matchup with the Orioles and not a World Series game. Why? Because fuck the Yankees, thats why.
3. Tampa Bay–Oh, I love me some Rays. A trendy pick to finish ahead of the Yankees in the division, Tampa Bay’s starting rotation, if healhty, could be one of the best in the American League. James Shields and Scott Kazmir are a solid one-two punch, and I expect Matt Garza to have a breakout season. The Rays’ offense revolves around all-world outfielder Carl Crawford and breakout beast BJ Upton. I would agree with the thought that Tampa could finish second if I wasn’t so unsure about that bullpen. If you’ve got Troy Percival as your closer, and you’re not the 1997 Anaheim Angels…….you might have some late-game issues.
4. Toronto–Seriously, is there a scrappier team in the history of baseball than the 2008 Toronto Blue Jays? Maybe the 1993 Phillies, but look at some of the names playing important roles on this Jays team: Aaron Hill, Marco Scutaro, David Eckstein, Gregg Zaun….even Lyle Overbay and Matt Stairs are somewhat grindy, in a softball-beer league kind of way. However, as scrappy as this team might be, it doesn’t make up for the fact that none of their starting pitchers can stay healthy for an entire year and they have already lost their supposed closer for the season. Expect the Blue Jays to take the approach of the late-1990s White Sox teams, and try to win every game 11-10.
5. Baltimore–(In a Tony Montana voice): Bal-tee-more? That sounds like a bird or summthing. No, seriously. The Orioles are going to be fucking awful, as they have been since the late 90s. Steve Trachsel is their number two starter. Number two. For the major league club, not the AAA affiliate. Newly-acquired Adam Jones could provide some excitement and win Rookie of the Year honors, but the O’s will be lucky to win 70 games.
1. Detroit–I really struggled with this pick, as it seems too obvious that the Tigers will take control of this division after the off-season they had. And the baseball gods do not work that way. But after looking at their lineup and rotation, I think its clear that they would have to fall flat on their face to not at least win the wild card, and Jim Leyland is too good of a manager to let that happen. Bullpen troubles could hamper the Tigers, but I expect the team to do enough until Joel Zumaya comes back and immediately starts making people look silly on his 129 mph fastball.
2. Cleveland–As a fan of the White Sox, I’m supposed to really hate the other teams in the AL Central. Well, except the Royals. I don’t really hate them. They are more annoying than anything. But I like this Indians team. I was very tempted to pick them to win the division again, but I will say that they will win the wild card. Look for either Grady Sizemore or Travis Hafner to have an MVP season, and I expect a bounceback campaign from 5th starter Cliff Lee. What do I not expect? I don’t expect to be shunned from the local Starbucks just for looking at tranny porn with my pants around my ankles while drinking my venti-no whip-mocha frappaccino. But thats what happens. Every time.
3. Chicago–Oh, my White Sox. I would love to believe the compairisons between this spring training and the spring training of 2005: how there are questions about the rotation, how no one knows who is going to step up out of the bullpen, etc. Also, I would like to believe that its not a big deal that 5 days before opening day, the Sox still don’t have a clear-cut second baseman, centerfielder, or left fielder, and are demoting one of the team’s home run leaders last year to AAA because we can’t get enough value for one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball. But these things are a big deal. I’ll be watching and analyzing all year long, but at this point, I don’t see how the Sox win more than 80-85 games, especially in this division.
4. Minnesota–As a White Sox fan, the Twins have always bugged me more than any other AL team. They always pull out big games in the most heart-wrenching way possible. It was always guys like Jason Bartlett that killed the team, not Morneau or Hunter. But this year seems different. With Torii gone, with Johan gone, with Francisco Liriano still a huge question mark, and with LIVAN HERNANDEZ the opening day starter…..I can’t fear this Twins club. I’m sure I’ll live to choke on these words in August when the Twins complete a three-game sweep of the Sox as Adam Everett hits a three-run triple in the bottom of the ninth to cap a 6-run comeback. But at this point, I’m willing to bet that this team will in fact suck.
5. Kansas City–People love Alex Gordon, and he started to come on late last year. This year, people seem to love Billy Butler, who will DH for the Royals. But outside of those two, this lineup really sucks. That won’t stop them from lighting up the Sox every time they play, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be bad. Also, the KC rotation is young and has potential. But its more likely that Zack Grienke and Kyle Davies will both need at least one more year before they can produce, especially pitching in the American League. However, look for Kenny Williams to acquire whichever Royal is pitching the worst out of the bullpen in July, to continue the in the tradition of Mike MacDougal and Andy Sisco.
1. LA-Anaheim–And here’s my World Series champion pick. I absolutely love the Angels this year. I think Ervin Santana will turn things around this year, and once John Lackey comes back in May, the LAA rotation will be stacked. The Angels lineup, which struggled to score runs in the past, will be bolstered by a healthy Chone Figgins and the energy of Torii Hunter. And best of all, we will be treated to the Rally Monkey again in October, easily the best invention by a PR team in the history of the world. Come on, people…..its a monkey in a little outfit that makes people cheer!!!! How can you not love that?
2. Seattle–While some M’s fans hate the Bedard for Adam Jones deal, I love it. Seattle immediately gets arguably the best starter in the league, and still has a solid offensive outfield. (Sure, they gave up some range defensively, and Jones might turn out to be a beast, but….). I like Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop, and Ichiro is and will always be one of my favorite players in baseball. Scoring runs and middle relief might keep the Mariners from the postseason, however.
3. Texas–The Rangers could lead the American League in runs scored. Unfortunately, their pitching staff is ‘anchored’ by number three starter Jason Jennings and number four starter Kason Gabbard. Ouch. It will be interesting to see if Milton Bradley goes crazy this year; 81 games in the Texas heat, combined with living in Texas around all those crazy crackers might make old Milton throw his bat off an ump’s head. Who knows? Lets watch.
4. Oakland–I know Billy Beane is a genius and all, but this is a bad, bad team. If Bobby Crosby gets hurt, I can honestly say that as a pretty good baseball fan and avid follower of the American League, I know about half of their roster. Lenny DiNardo is in this team’s rotation; I think thats a character on ‘The Simpsons’. Also, Jose Hernandez and the ghost of Bobby Bonds have been seen spending a lot of time with Jack Cust, trying to entice him to strike out 250 times, shattering their marks for most K’s in a year. The A’s will be lucky to win 75 games.
Playoffs: Anaheim over Cleveland, Detroit over Boston, Anaheim over Detroit.
AL MVP: Grady Sizemore, Cleveland
AL CY Young: Justin Verlander, Detroit
AL Rookie of the Year: Adam Jones, Baltimore
AL Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay
AL Comeback of the Year: Cliff Lee, Cleveland
Back tomorrow with the National League.
Categories: AL preview, baseball, hardawayhatesyou, MLB, predictions
Tags: fuck the Yankees, I thought you said this would be short, its all for the rally monkey, Lacey Chabert, Lindsay Lohan, Livan Hernandez--ace, MLB, MLB preview, thats lenny leonard, the AL Central is too good
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Online J.D.
Get REAL Week Sample Schedule
Planning Your Studies
Law Externship
Network in Your City
Leadership and Faculty
What Does a Lawyer Do?
Lawyers are integral to society — they are involved in everything from buying a home, to writing a will, to prosecuting and defending people in a court of law. Though the work is broad in scope and can vary depending on individual practice, the key responsibilities of a lawyer are to advise, defend, strategize and negotiate in a wide range of legal matters.
Steps to Become a Lawyer
Regardless of what you want to specialize in, the requirements for becoming a lawyer in the U.S. are mostly universal; however, there are some requirements that vary by state. Here is an overall guide on how to become an attorney:
Complete a Bachelor’s Degree Program
To apply to law school, you must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university. Your area of study does not have to be in any particular major; students who are successful in law school come from various educational backgrounds, including history, political science, philosophy and education.
Take the LSAT or GRE
Completing the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is a core requirement for getting into law school. Some law programs will allow you the flexibility to choose between taking the LSAT or the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). The results of your exam are used by admissions officers as an objective measure for assessing if you are a good fit for their school.
Find a Law School
Next, you will want to find and apply for law schools. There is a lot to consider when choosing a law school, including location, student-to-faculty ratio, faculty and school reputation. No matter which school you choose, you will want to make sure that it is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), meaning the school has been vetted by a panel of experienced lawyers to ensure it provides a high-quality legal education. In many states, if you do not attend an ABA-accredited school, you cannot take the bar exam.
Earn a Juris Doctor Degree From an ABA-Accredited School
Once you apply and have been admitted to law school, you will work toward earning a Juris Doctor (JD) degree. Your experience will vary depending on where you attend school. Currently, there are more than 200 ABA-accredited law schools, most of which offer programs on campus, as well as a select few ABA-accredited law schools that allow students the flexibility to earn their JD degree online.
The Online Hybrid JD program at the University of Dayton is the third ABA-approved online hybrid degree program in the nation. The program prepares students to sit for the bar exam and pursue a career upholding the rule of law.
Pass the Bar Examination
While the requirements to take the bar exam vary by state, most states require students to graduate from an ABA-accredited law school to sit for the exam. The exam is usually a two-day process, covering various legal matters, and comprises a variety of question types, including essays. In most states, once you pass the bar exam, you are officially qualified to practice law.
Pursue a Career Upholding the Rule of Law
Learn more about earning an Online Hybrid JD from the University of Dayton School of Law.
Skills Needed to Become a Lawyer
According to the ABA, the following lawyer skills will prove helpful to anyone looking to pursue a career in law. Do not be discouraged if you do not possess all of these attributes — law school will help you further develop these skills:
Problem-solving and critical reading
Writing, editing and researching
Oral communication and listening
Public service and promotion of justice
Relationship-building and collaboration
Job Opportunities for Lawyers
A JD degree can take you on various career paths, from advocating for human rights to acting as counsel for a tech startup. No matter what you are passionate about, a legal education can pave the way for a rewarding career that aligns with your interests and goals.
Common Types of Attorneys
Because the law affects so much of what we do in our everyday lives, there are a lot of different types of lawyers. Here are a few of the more common lawyer jobs:
Defense Attorneys - represent and defend the accused in a court of law
Corporate Counsel - work for corporations, advising business executives on legal issues
Environmental Lawyers - may work with advocacy groups or government agencies to advise on issues and regulations related to the environment
Tax Lawyers - help navigate complex tax regulations on income, profit and property for individuals and businesses
Intellectual Property Lawyers - deal with law related to patents, trademarks, inventions and creative works such as music, books and movies
Family Lawyers - advise clients in a variety of legal family matters, including adoption, child custody and divorce
The average lawyer salary in the U.S. in 2017 was $141,890. 1
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), lawyer job growth is expected to rise 8 percent from 2016 to 2026. While law firms will continue to be among the largest employers of lawyers, BLS projects that corporations will increase their in-house legal departments to help cut legal costs. This shift is expected to increase the demand for lawyers in a variety of industries, including finance, healthcare and consulting. 2
Become a Lawyer
Take the first step today by requesting information about the Online Hybrid JD from the University of Dayton School of Law.
1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2017 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates United States, on the internet at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#23-0000 (visited January 2019).Return to footnote reference
2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Lawyers, on the internet at www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/lawyers.htm (visited January 2019). Return to footnote reference
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Citation for this content: University of Dayton’s online JD degree.
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© 2019 University of Dayton School of Law
Email Address: admissions@onlinelaw.udayton.edu
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Boston University Theses & Dissertations
The decorated tenement: working-class housing in Boston and New York, 1860-1910
Violette, Zachary J.
During the Gilded Age, the use of elaborate architectural ornament extended to the facades of tenements built for the working class in Boston and New York. Yet these lavish "decorated tenements," which used industrially-made ornament, did not represent the established view of how a tenement should look. Elite architects, prominent citizens, and housing reformers almost universally created spartan buildings when designing for these classes. In contrast, most of the decorated tenements were built by immigrant entrepreneurs, who remade the landscape of their communities in a way that challenged the notion of tenement districts as sites of unmitigated austerity. The dominant narrative on housing in this period derives from a reform literature that has focused on elite experiments in building and on regulating architecture for the poor. This study, instead, utilizes extensive vernacular architecture fieldwork methods and documentary research to put the more common decorated tenement at its center. The immigrant builders of these structures demonstrated their accommodation to an American landscape of material prosperity by using ornament to tap into longstanding associations with stability, power, and, surplus. In doing so they created an identifiable building type that represents an intersection of European sensibilities, industrial production, American material surplus, social striving, and cultural aspiration. As chapter one demonstrates, the antebellum period saw the rise of explicitly classed landscapes for the working class. Full of worn-out buildings these neighborhoods were dismissed as 'slums.' Chapter two examines the complex web of people who built the decorated tenement, immigrant builders, and architects who largely wiped away the physical severity of the slum. Chapter three explores the design and decoration of the tenement, describing the ways in which ornament was used on these buildings, its production, cost, availability, and meanings. The decorated tenement was part of a wider phenomena described in chapter four in which forms formerly associated with the working class were replaced with industrially-made goods in styles associated with the elite. Chapter five details how the Arts and Crafts movement for aesthetic purity corresponded to the social and cultural simplicity manifested in the housing reform movement.
Boston University Theses & Dissertations [5539]
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Gunnar Breivik
All publications (22)
Philosophical perfectionism – consequences and implications for sport
Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 4 (1). 2010.
Ethical theories in sport philosophy tend to focus on interpersonal relations. Little has been said about sport as part of the good life and as experienced from within. This article tries to remedy this by discussing a theory that is fitting for sport, especially elite sport. The idea of perfection has a long tradition in Western philosophy. Aristotle maintains that the good life consists in developing specific human faculties to their fullest. The article discusses Hurka's recent version of Ari…Read more
Ethical theories in sport philosophy tend to focus on interpersonal relations. Little has been said about sport as part of the good life and as experienced from within. This article tries to remedy this by discussing a theory that is fitting for sport, especially elite sport. The idea of perfection has a long tradition in Western philosophy. Aristotle maintains that the good life consists in developing specific human faculties to their fullest. The article discusses Hurka's recent version of Aristotelian perfectionism and relates it to various aspects of, and the good life in, sport. How much time should be spent on sport in relation to other activities, how much should one concentrate on one sport to reach one's best and how should one's efforts be spent over a season? Well-roundedness and concentration are central alternatives for theories of perfection. Similarly some activities are simple whereas other are complex and thIs poses problems for persons that want to maximise their achievements. Whereas Hurka thinks one has obligations to perfect oneself, the author of this article thinks perfection is an attractive choice but no obligation
SportsPerfectionist Accounts of Well-Being
Bodily movement - the fundamental dimensions
Bodily movement has become an interesting topic in recent philosophy, both in analytic and phenomenological versions. Philosophy from Descartes to Kant defined the human being as a mental subject in a material body. This mechanistic attitude toward the body still lingers on in many studies of motor learning and control. The article shows how alternative philosophical views can give a better understanding of bodily movement. The article starts with Heidegger's contribution to overcoming the subje…Read more
Bodily movement has become an interesting topic in recent philosophy, both in analytic and phenomenological versions. Philosophy from Descartes to Kant defined the human being as a mental subject in a material body. This mechanistic attitude toward the body still lingers on in many studies of motor learning and control. The article shows how alternative philosophical views can give a better understanding of bodily movement. The article starts with Heidegger's contribution to overcoming the subject-object dichotomy and his new understanding of the primacy of the practical involvement with the surrounding world. Heidegger, however, in many ways neglected the role of the human body. Merleau-Ponty took a huge step forward when he focused on the bodily intentionality of our interaction with the world. The next step was taken by Samuel Todes who presented a better understanding of how we are bodily oriented in space. After having seen how the body is oriented outward towards the environment it is proper that the final part of this article goes inward toward the role of bodily awareness and the role of proprioception in human movement. The goal of the presentation is to contribute to a better understanding of what goes on in sport. The article therefore uses examples from sport, especially football, to show the relevance of the new insights for sport studies
SportsMaurice Merleau-Ponty
Dangerous Play With the Elements: Towards a Phenomenology of Risk Sports
The purpose of this article is to present a phenomenological description of how athletes in specific risk sports explore human interaction with natural elements. Skydivers play with, and surf on, the encountering air while falling towards the ground. Kayakers play on the waves and with the stoppers and currents in the rivers. Climbers are ballerinas of the vertical, using cracks and holds in the cliffs to pull upwards against gravity forces. The theoretical background for the description is foun…Read more
The purpose of this article is to present a phenomenological description of how athletes in specific risk sports explore human interaction with natural elements. Skydivers play with, and surf on, the encountering air while falling towards the ground. Kayakers play on the waves and with the stoppers and currents in the rivers. Climbers are ballerinas of the vertical, using cracks and holds in the cliffs to pull upwards against gravity forces. The theoretical background for the description is found in the phenomenology of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. The phenomenology of Husserl focused on the theoretical intentionality of the transcendental ego. With Heidegger the human being's concrete and practical interaction with the environing world moved to the foreground. Heidegger's analyses of ?equipmentality? also throw important light on equipmentality in sports and how we deal with tools and equipment in sports. However, in Heidegger's analyses the body resides in the background both as subject and object. The importance of the active body-subject is well documented in the work of Merleau-Ponty, and also Todes. The human being is a bodily ?being-in-the-world? and the body is the active medium through which the world is grasped. The body is however also situated and aligned with the fundamental dimensions of the world, with vertical gravity and with horizontal action space. In this article I show in a concrete way how in some sports we use fundamental characteristics of the environing world in a mode of playfulness. In these sports human beings play in an extreme way with fundamental elements of nature. The article thus puts phenomenology to a test. It should be able to move from general characteristics to specific features of our bodily human involvement with the environing world
Philosophy of Sport in the Nordic Countries
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 37 (2): 194-214. 2010.
In 1972 I attended the Pre-Olympic Scientific Congress in Munich. For the first time science and sport were brought together in connection with the Olympic Games. The organizers presented a book Sport in Blickpunkt der Wissenschaften (Sport from a Scientific Point of View) that summarized history and state of the art of the main sport scientific approaches (41). The German philosopher Hans Lenk gave a presentation of a broad array of past and present interpretations of sport from a philosophic v…Read more
In 1972 I attended the Pre-Olympic Scientific Congress in Munich. For the first time science and sport were brought together in connection with the Olympic Games. The organizers presented a book Sport in Blickpunkt der Wissenschaften (Sport from a Scientific Point of View) that summarized history and state of the art of the main sport scientific approaches (41). The German philosopher Hans Lenk gave a presentation of a broad array of past and present interpretations of sport from a philosophic viewpoint (49). The congress in Munch and Hans Lenk's presentation of sport as a suitable philosophic topic became decisive for my own lifelong interest in philosophy of sport. Soon after the Munich conference some American philosophers convened to launch the Philosophic Society for the Study of Sport. In 1973 the first issue of Journal of Philosophy of Sport was published (35). In several ways 1972 was a turning point for philosophy of sport as a serious academic discipline and for my own interest in sport philosophy. From here sport philosophy found its way to Norway and through this and along several other roads to other Nordic countries
Sporting knowledge and the problem of knowing how
In the Concept of Mind from 1949 Gilbert Ryle distinguished between knowing how and knowing that. What was Ryle’s basic idea and how is the discussion going on in philosophy today? How can sport philosophy use the idea of knowing how? My goal in this paper is first to bring Ryle and the post-Rylean discussion to light and then show how phenomenology can give some input to the discussion. The article focuses especially on the two main interpretations of knowing how, intellectualism and anti-intel…Read more
In the Concept of Mind from 1949 Gilbert Ryle distinguished between knowing how and knowing that. What was Ryle’s basic idea and how is the discussion going on in philosophy today? How can sport philosophy use the idea of knowing how? My goal in this paper is first to bring Ryle and the post-Rylean discussion to light and then show how phenomenology can give some input to the discussion. The article focuses especially on the two main interpretations of knowing how, intellectualism and anti-intellectualism. In the second part of the article I discuss how views from phenomenology and philosophy of mind can enrich and widen our understanding of what knowing how means in relation to sport practices. It is argued that knowing how is not limited to athletic abilities but includes knowledge of how the environing world operates in relation to athletic action
Zombie-Like or Superconscious? A Phenomenological and Conceptual Analysis of Consciousness in Elite Sport
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 40 (1): 85-106. 2013.
According to a view defended by Hubert Dreyfus and others, elite athletes are totally absorbed while they are performing, and they act non-deliberately without any representational or conceptual thinking. By using both conceptual clarification and phenomenological description the article criticizes this view and maintains that various forms of conscious thinking and acting plays an important role before, during and after competitive events. The article describes in phenomenological detail how el…Read more
According to a view defended by Hubert Dreyfus and others, elite athletes are totally absorbed while they are performing, and they act non-deliberately without any representational or conceptual thinking. By using both conceptual clarification and phenomenological description the article criticizes this view and maintains that various forms of conscious thinking and acting plays an important role before, during and after competitive events. The article describes in phenomenological detail how elite athletes use consciousness in their actions in sport; as planning, attention, thinking, decision, and monitoring of performance. Elite athletes do not act as zombies. It is concluded that qualia and phenomenal consciousness are important phenomena in elite sport
Philosophy of ConsciousnessSports
The quest for excitement and the safe society
Philosophy 3 (1). 1999.
Sport In High Modernity: Sport as a Carrier of Social Values
Skillful Coping in Everyday Life and in Sport: A Critical Examination of the Views of Heidegger and Dreyfus
14 Sport, gene doping and ethics
In Claudio Marcello Tamburrini & Torbjörn Tännsjö (eds.), Genetic Technology and Sport: Ethical Questions, Routledge. pp. 165. 2005.
Searle, Merleau-Ponty, Rizzolatti – three perspectives on Intentionality and action in sport
Actions in sport are intentional in character. They are directed at and are about something. This understanding of intentional action is common in continental as well as analytic philosophy. In sport philosophy, intentionality has received relatively little attention, but has more recently come on the agenda. In addition to what we can call ‘action intentionality,’ studied by philosophers like Searle, the phenomenological approach forwarded by Merleau-Ponty has opened up for a concept of ‘motor …Read more
Actions in sport are intentional in character. They are directed at and are about something. This understanding of intentional action is common in continental as well as analytic philosophy. In sport philosophy, intentionality has received relatively little attention, but has more recently come on the agenda. In addition to what we can call ‘action intentionality,’ studied by philosophers like Searle, the phenomenological approach forwarded by Merleau-Ponty has opened up for a concept of ‘motor intentionality,’ which means a basic bodily attention and relatedness to the surrounding world. This conception is very relevant for the study of bodily actions as we find them in sports. However, there may be even deeper layers. The identification of mirror neurons in the brain has opened up for a type of almost ‘muscular intentionality’ whereby a simple bodily movement like grasping a cup to drink seems to be intentionally controlled and orchestrated. My goal in this paper is to discuss the relation between different levels of intentionality, such as a) ‘action intentionality’ operating at a conscious cognitive level, as for instance, when a player shoots a goal in football, b) the ‘motor intentionality’ directing the bodily movements when kicking the ball, and c) the muscular ‘mirror neuron intentionality’ of the goal keeper which is in operation when the keeper is seeing how the kicker’s foot hits the ball. How are these different layers of intentionality related and how can they give a more nuanced and integrated picture of the body–mind in action in sports?
Being-in-the-Void: A Heideggerian Analysis of Skydiving
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 37 (1): 29-46. 2010.
Can basejumping be morally defended?
In M. J. McNamee (ed.), Philosophy, Risk, and Adventure Sports, London ;routledge. pp. 168. 2007.
Academic versus Sporting Knowledge. Robert L. Simon and the Debate about Sports on Campus
What would a deep ecological sport look like? The example of Arne Naess
ABSTRACTSince the 1960s environmental problems have increasingly been on the agenda in Western countries. Global warming and climate change have increased concerns among scientists, politicians and the general population. While both elite sport and mass sport are part of the consumer culture that leads to ecological problems, sport philosophers, with few exceptions, have not discussed what an ecologically acceptable sport would look like. My goal in this article is to present a radical model of …Read more
ABSTRACTSince the 1960s environmental problems have increasingly been on the agenda in Western countries. Global warming and climate change have increased concerns among scientists, politicians and the general population. While both elite sport and mass sport are part of the consumer culture that leads to ecological problems, sport philosophers, with few exceptions, have not discussed what an ecologically acceptable sport would look like. My goal in this article is to present a radical model of ecological sport based on Arne Naess’s version of deep ecology called ecosophyT. After outlining the Naessian ecocentric view of biospheric egalitarianism I present the consequences for sport and physical activities. I also give examples from Arne Naess’s own practice of sport which was guided by the principle ‘Richness in ends, simplicity in means!’ I discuss whether Naessian deep ecological sport is what we will all end up with after the ecocatastrophe or whether it can be an inspiring ideal for many of us right now.
The Sporting Exploration of the World; Toward a Fundamental Ontology of the Sporting Human Being
Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 1-17. forthcoming.
ABSTRACTMy perspective in this paper is to look at sport and other physical activities as a way of exploring and experimenting with the environing world. The human being is basically the homo moven...
The role of skill in sport
Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 10 (3): 222-236. 2016.
Skill is obviously a central part of sports and should therefore be central in sport philosophic studies. My aim in this paper is to try to place skill in a wider context and thus give skill the place it deserves. I will do this by taking up four points. I first try to place the concept of skill in relation to concepts like ability and know how. I argue that ability is something one has as part of a natural endowment, but skill is something one must acquire. ‘Knowing how’ seems to a greater exte…Read more
Skill is obviously a central part of sports and should therefore be central in sport philosophic studies. My aim in this paper is to try to place skill in a wider context and thus give skill the place it deserves. I will do this by taking up four points. I first try to place the concept of skill in relation to concepts like ability and know how. I argue that ability is something one has as part of a natural endowment, but skill is something one must acquire. ‘Knowing how’ seems to a greater extent to demand a cognitive grasp and is thus more than a skill. My second point is about development of skills toward expertise and the role of thinking and consciousness. When one is exercising a skill does one need to be conscious of what one is doing or can one act like a zombie and perform non-consciously? I argue that expertise demands know how and conscious thinking. My third point is about the role of skills in sport competitions. What we measure in sports are different sporting skills as they are disp...
Intentionality and Action in Sport: A Discussion of the Views of Searle and Dreyfus
The article looks at sport as a form of human action where the participants display various forms of Intentionality. Intentionality may be defined as ‘that property of many mental states and events by which they are directed at or about or of objects and states of affairs in the world.’ Sporting actions are about human intentions, beliefs, desires, perceptions and not to forget, movements. This means that sports typically display what we call ‘Intentionality.’ The study of Intentionality and int…Read more
The article looks at sport as a form of human action where the participants display various forms of Intentionality. Intentionality may be defined as ‘that property of many mental states and events by which they are directed at or about or of objects and states of affairs in the world.’ Sporting actions are about human intentions, beliefs, desires, perceptions and not to forget, movements. This means that sports typically display what we call ‘Intentionality.’ The study of Intentionality and intentional actions has previously received relatively little attention among sport philosophers, but deserves more attention. Even though there is a tension and several differences between continental and analytical approaches to philosophical problems, there is a common understanding of the phenomenon we call ‘Intentionality.’ The debate between John Searle, representing the analytical camp, and Hubert Dreyfus, representing the phenomenological camp, is instructive to see the differences, and also the commonalities between the two approaches. The article starts with a clarification of the concept of Intentionality and sketches some of the history and background of the concept. It then presents the main conceptual framework that Searle uses to distinguish the different types and forms of Intentionality and his views on sporting actions. This is followed by a presentation of the phenomenological approach of Dreyfus and the response by Searle. The article ends by discussing the possibility of a combined and enriched view where a clarification of the logic as well as the phenomenology of sporting actions is needed. It may thus be possible to bridge the gap between the two approaches.
Hvor moralsk tenker fotballspillere? – en empirisk studie av toppfotball
with Lars Tore Ødegård
Etikk I Praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics 9 (2): 33. 2015.
Fra egoisme til sjenerøsitet – kan toppidretten reformeres?
Etikk I Praksis - Nordic Journal of Applied Ethics 4 (1). 2010.
Skills, knowledge and expertise in sport
In M. J. McNamee (ed.), Philosophy, Risk, and Adventure Sports, London ;routledge. pp. 10. 2007.
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Summer heat waves impede animal reproduction
by University of Western Sydney
Credit: Hugo Munoz
As we swelter through the hot Australian summer, Western Sydney University researchers have provided an insight into the broad ranging physiological effects of summer heatwaves on animals.
Dr Edward Narayan from the School of Health and Science is the lead researcher and founder of the 'Stress Lab'. Based at the Hawkesbury campus, the facility uses non-invasive techniques to measure physiological stress in wildlife and livestock.
In a study published today in the prestigious PLOS ONE (opens in new window) journal, Dr Narayan and his team analysed the physiological stress of Australian merino sheep during an artificial insemination breeding program in Dubbo – and found that summer heat stress had a significant impact on reproductive success.
Faecal samples and body temperature measurements were collected from 15 superovulating donor merino ewes during the 2015/16 summer, when ambient temperatures reached up to 39.9 degrees Celsius.
"Sheep production systems in the arid landscapes of regional Australia are frequently exposed to high ambient temperature or 'heat waves' during the summer period," says Dr Narayan, who represents the University on the National Animal Welfare Steering Committee..
"Heat stress occurs when the environment acts to drive core body temperature above its normal range. This study sought to explain how key biological functions are affected by exposure to heat – and how heat stress may impact on reproductive function."
Credit: University of Western Sydney
The study found body temperature of the ewes to be a statistically significant factor for reduced embryo survival.
"In our study, ewes that had higher recorded temperatures had a significantly lower percentage of transferable embryos," says Dr Narayan.
"It is assumed that elevated body temperature impedes certain reproductive processes that are crucial for embryo development. Heat stress is believed to reduce embryo production during the artificial insemination process, because the physiological and cellular aspects of reproductive function and early embryo development are disrupted."
Dr Narayan says these results suggest a plausible link between heat stress, physiological stress and reduced fertility in merino ewes.
"Given that the Australian merino sheep industry is heavily reliant on the breeding efficacy of its ewes in order to maintain a profitable business – further research is required to determine the full extent that hot Australian climates could be impacting reproductive output."
As part of his work in the Western Sydney University Stress Lab, Dr Narayan also investigates the key environmental stresses that are impacting on the mortality rate of Australia's native fauna – in particular koalas.
"Our non-invasive stress physiology technology provides a robust way to monitor the stress status of animals and so has immense value for animal breeding programs to bolster animal welfare."
"Like the merino ewe – koalas also experience chronic stress as a result of extreme heat, and research indicates that it may also be affecting their ability to breed," says Dr Narayan.
"In dry or high temperature environments, koalas must relocate to habitats that contain free standing water and eucalypts with high levels of leaf moisture, otherwise they will suffer from dehydration.
"Once a koala climbs or falls down and is on the vegetation floor, it is vulnerable to more stressors – like dog attack or vehicle collision. Also, for an animal that usually spends 19-20 hours a day resting or sleeping, this activity also incurs a cost on the koala's energy levels."
When koalas are stressed they release the stress hormone cortisol. Dr Narayan says high cortisol levels in koalas have been associated with diminished reproduction.
"Like the merino ewe, the breeding capacity of koalas is also impacted when we experience prolonged periods of higher than average temperatures," he says.
"When it comes to koala reproduction, extreme heat might not mean that Australia experiences the same losses in its agricultural sector – but it might experience an even greater loss, of one of its national treasures."
Chronic stress and habitat loss are flooring koalas
More information: Edward Narayan et al. Faecal glucocorticoid metabolites and body temperature in Australian merino ewes (Ovis aries) during summer artificial insemination (AI) program, PLOS ONE (2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191961
Journal information: PLoS ONE
Provided by University of Western Sydney
Citation: Summer heat waves impede animal reproduction (2018, January 31) retrieved 19 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2018-01-summer-impede-animal-reproduction.html
Stress test—how scientists can measure how animals are feeling
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Sheep wool growth boosted by reducing cortisol
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images of real violence, racist and strong language
I Am Not Your Negro
Raoul Peck’s penetrating and acclaimed documentary reconstructs an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, chronicler of America’s Civil Rights Movement.
Documentary 2016 94 mins
Director: Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck’s penetrating and acclaimed documentary is a fascinating testament to America’s great social chronicler, James Baldwin, and a vital history of the struggle for Civil Rights. In 1979 James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his new (and what would be his last) book Remember This House, which recounted the lives and successive assassinations of his friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Baldwin was not able to complete the book before his death and the unfinished manuscript was entrusted to director Raoul Peck.
Using Baldwin’s enduring words along with narration by Samuel L. Jackson, Peck’s enlightening and moving film challenges us to reconsider the triumphs and tragedies of the Civil Rights Movement in light of race politics in the US today.
Raoul Peck
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Flood Gribb
Home / HTML5, Promoted Collection, Puzzle / Flood Gribb
(2 votes, 90.00%)
HTML5 Promoted Collection Puzzle 16 Jan , 2017
GAME ENGINE: HTML5 BROWSER: Any browsers PROBLEMS? Click here for solutions
GAME INFO:
Flood GRIBB is a fun and relaxing game for puzzle addicts of all ages!
DEVELOPER'S DESCRIPTION:
In Flood GRIBB you are faced with increasingly complex levels, where you have to color the whole board in a single color with the given amount of color swaps.
At the beginning of each level you start with the top-left tile, and gradually flood your way across the screen. Press the buttons at the bottom of the screen to change the color of the tiles under your control!
Unlimited number of levels, you will never run out!
PLAYPLAYFUN'S IMPRESSION ON FLOOD GRIBB GAME:
At first glance, we thought that we will be playing a game similar in concept with Othello in which to conquer the most tiles onto your color. But this is not the case. Although Othello plays a little part in the mechanic of the game, Flood Gribb provides a different kind of puzzle experience altogether.
It started out from the most top left tile and the goal is to make all the tiles on the screen as one color. You started out with 2x2 tiles, but it quickly increases to 4x4 and 6x6 and more. The main idea to conserver the number of Taps that you have. The less tap needed to solve a level, but more taps you have to solve subsequent puzzles that are only getting more and more difficult.
For us, the game mechanics is fun enough. However, there are features that we think that it could enhance the game even further.
A level selection feature in which players can choose to start from a higher number grids instead of the same 2x2 would be helpful
A hint feature to show the best move
In summary, Flood Gribb is entertaining and interesting enough for players to at least give it a try. Download Flood Gribb if you like this web version and try it on your mobile.
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YESTERDAY'S PLAYS
Match Up
A's vs Twins A's +122 Premium 3-6 Loss -100 Show
Take Oakland.
This is my BEST BET.
Game 921.
5:10 pm pst.
Oakland has win six straight, while Minnesota is on a three-game skid. The A's have taken 7 of the last 10 meetings with the Twins and start Mike Fiers here. The RH (9-3, 3.61) is 7-0 with a 2.09 ERA over his last 12 starts and owns a career, 6-1, 2.66 mark in 12 starts vs. the Twins. Minny gives Kyle Gibson the nod. The RH (8-4, 4.03) has had just one quality start over his last six appearances. Oakland is 7-2 the last nine meetings with Minnesota, 4-1 the last five in Minnesota, 42-10 the last 52 vs. the AL Central, and 6-1 in Fier's last seven overall starts. Take The A's. Thank you.
Astros vs Angels Astros -1½ -115 Premium 6-2 Win 100 Show
Take Houston on the RUN LINE.
This is my RUN LINE GOW.
Houston is one of the most complete teams in baseball and send Wade Miley to the mound. The RH is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.22 in four career starts vs. Los Angeles. The Angels give Matt Harvey to start. The RH is 2-3 with an ERA of 8.91 in seven home starts and sports a lifetime, 0-2, 16.20 record in two starts vs. the Astros. Houston is 8-3 the last the last 13 meetings in this series, 10-3 the last 13 meetings in LA, and 5-0 in Miley's last five starts vs. the Al West. Take the Astros on the RUN LINE. Thank you.
Rays vs Yankees Yankees -154 Premium 2-6 Win 100 Show
Take New York in the 1st Game of the DH.
This is my MLB AL EAST GOW.
12:00 pm pst. pm pst.
The New York Yankees, despite season-long injury issues, are the most feared team in the AL. On a squad filled with talent, it seems that a different player steps up on any given day. Just putting on the pinstripes, any players head would swell, but this team has very little ego and possess no prima donnas. The first place Yankees square off against the second place Rays here. New York has a 6.0 game lead over Tampa Bay in the division. They have taken 10 of the 14 meetings against their AL East rivals this season and are a whopping, 36-18 the last 54 overall matchups at Yankee Stadium. Team wins leader, Domingo German gets the home start. The RH has an 11-2 record with an ERA of 3.40 on the campaign, including a win in his only start against the Rays this season. Yonny Chirinos takes the hill on the road. The RH has faced the Yankees four times in 2019, with a record of 1-1, yielding eight ER's in 23.0 IP. The sophomore pitcher owns a respectable, 8-4 record with an ERA of 3.11. However "Yonito" has just 89 K's in 107.1 IP. He is not a power pitcher nor does he have an array of weapons in his arsenal. A pitcher must have both when facing the dangerous lineup of the Bronx Bombers. New York is 50-20 the last 70 vs. AL East opponents and 107-49 the last 154 at home. Take New York. Thank you.
Dodgers vs Phillies Phillies +105 Premium 6-7 Win 105 Show
Take Philadelphia.
This is my EARLY GAME WINNER.
9:35 am pst.
There is no debating just how good the Dodgers are. But even Superman had kryptonite. LA swept Philly back at the end of May at Dodgers Stadium. Los Angeles' weakness...playing at Citizens Bank Park, where they are 3-7 the last 10 visits. The Phillies are scratching and clawing with the Braves and Nationals for NL East supremacy. They are currently 8.5 GB, but play six of their next 11 contests at home, where they are 29-20, and account for over 5.06 RPG. The Dodgers pitching staff are one of the best in the Majors, however, Ross Stripling is no world beater. After a brief stint as a starter when the season began, the RH was then put in the bullpen for nearly two months. The 29-year old is back in the rotation and making his fifth start since his run as a relief pitcher. Overall, "Chicken Strip" has a 4-3 record with a 3.65 ERA, but hasn't made it passed the 5th inning since once again being named a starter. Team ERA leader, Aaron Nola gets the nod here. The RH owns an 8-2 record with an ERA of 3.63 in 2019, fanning 133 batters in 116.2 IP. Just over the last two seasons, "Nols" has been money, earning a 25-8 record with a 3.00 ERA. I'm going out on a limb here because I really do feel LA is the best team in the NL, however, on the road, in Citizens Bank Park, with this pitching matchup, will be the Dodgers kryptonite. TAKE THE PHILLIES
SERVICE BIO
Joe D'Amico owns and operates All American Sports in Las Vegas, Nevada. A third generation Race and Sports personality, his father and grandfather are revered in the horse racing industry. Joe started in the business at 10 years old with football sheets in the schoolyard. He is a resident of Las Vegas for 28 years, in which he has been in and around sports on a daily basis by working and managing several Las Vegas Sports books and several Sports Information Services. Joe is well known in the Vegas casinos and in joints around the country as a streetwise player that has tapped into exclusive resources unavailable to the general public. He uses connections from Las Vegas, New York, and the Islands, along with second to none Sports book sources, to maximize profits and minimize expenditures. With Joe, it's all about wins and losses, and solid money management. He is one of the biggest bettors out there. This Legend of the Strip is one of the most respected and highest rated sports gamblers in Las Vegas. When Joe walks into a Vegas Sports book, Casino Managers tremble. But as he is friends with most Race & Sports personalities, he is also affectionately known as "The Host of Last Vegas." D'Amico is featured regularly as an analyst and handicapper in several publications such as the Las Vegas Review Journal, Las Vegas Sun, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and the Bloomberg News Report. In 2007, Joe bested nine other well respected veteran ‘Cappers to win the prestigious Las Vegas Review Journal Handicapper's Challenge. Joe also has won the 2010 Review Journal NCAAF Handicappers Challenge Contest besting a slew of other professional 'cappers. He is also featured on dozens of the industry's most respected websites, including his flagship site, www.aasiwins.com. In 2018, Joe brought his unique writing skills to the 46-year, respected gaming publication, The Gaming Today, as a weekly MLB and NCAAF columnist. His "Clear The Bases" and "In The Red Zone" columns quickly rose to be some of the most popular in sports gaming. In the Fall of 2018, as a writer, Joe also began to contribute to the USA TODAY NETWORK penning his weekly football betting column, "Football You Can Bet On". This column became so popular, Joe was asked to continue writing for GANNETT NEWS/USA TODAY NETWORK during the college basketball campaign, so in February of 2019, the college basketball handicapping champion launched his "Crash The Boards" column for the news media icons. You can hear him throughout the year for all the major sports on several different radio sports and handicapping shows nationally, regionally, and locally. In the 2016/2017 NFL and NCAAF campaigns, his own, "Joe D'Amico's Football Forecast," on CBS Sports Radio 1140 AM, quickly became the most popular, Las Vegas based sports talk show on any network. Year in and year out, Joe is always at or near the top in every sports betting category in NFL, NCAAF, NBA, NCAAB, and MLB. "Mr. D" is so well respected in Las Vegas that in 2015, he was given the honor of having his own TIPS SHEET endorsed and given out in the Vegas Race & Sports books. Not only that, but in the year 2015, Joe D'Amico was voted as one of Las Vegas' Top-100 Most Influential People and #1 in Sports Gambling by the Las Vegas people as well as My Vegas Magazine. In 2017, the Las Vegas Icon starred in the documentary, "Now Place Your Bets," a full feature big screen film, co-starring, Baseball's "Hit King," Pete Rose, horse racing and NFL handicapping pioneer, Dennis Tobler, as well as a who's who in sports gambling, explaining the popularity of sports betting's past, present, and future. He is known not just in Vegas but around the country as the best BIG PLAY ‘CAPPER in the business. Since being documented over the last few years, Joe D'Amico has over 25 top 5 finishes including several number 1 finishes. Joe has risen to be the best post-season name in sports gambling. Nobody works harder than Joe D'Amico as each season, no matter the time of year, you will always find Joe at the top of the leader boards regardless of the sport. As he says, This isn't what I do, this is who I am." When it comes to making money, there is no one better than Joe D'Amico.
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Page 20 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – Friday, May 3, 2019 Fully Licensed & 1. On May 4, 1791, what U.S. state became the 14th? (Hint: most covered bridges per square mile.) 2. Who was the star of “Dr. Kildare”? 3. When was the fi rst Kentucky Derby: 1855, 1875 or 1920? 4. What is missing from a fi llet? 5. Whose fi rst novel was “The Time Machine”? 6. On May 6, 1992, what star of “The Blue Angel” died? 7. What U.S. city is thought to have the world’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration? 8. What game’s name involves water fowl? 9. In 1926 American Gertrude Ederle became the fi rst female swimmer of what feat? 10. What instrument did Sherlock Holmes play? 11. On May 7, 1833, what composer was born? (Hint: lullaby.) 12. In what game would you fi nd a shuttlecock? 13. In what New York State resort was the potato chip invented? 14. In what city is Churchill Downs? 15. How are the words chizu, fromage and ost similar? 16. Frederic Remington specialized in portraying what American subject? 17. What has the nickname “The Run for the Roses”? 18. What painter of 19th-century Paris was a chef and gourmand? 19. Who wrote Sonnet 18, which includes the phrase “Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May”? 20. On May 9, 1754, Benjamin Franklin published the colonies’ first political cartoon, which urged them to unite during what war? ANSWERS Insured Emergency Service Available 24/7 SPECIALIZING IN KITCHEN & BATHROOM REMODELING * Heating * Cooling * Electric * Tile All Estimates Done By Owner * Drain Cleaning 781-FIX-PIPE (349-7473) • crnplumbing@gmail.com We buy STAMPS & COINS 781-324-2770 Clean-Outs! We take and dispose from cellars, attics, garages, yards, etc. We also do demolition. Best Prices Call: 781-593-5308 781-321-2499 Space For Lease 4,500 Sq. Feet +_ Roller World Plaza 425 Broadway (Rte. 1) SAUGUS 2nd Floor-Elevator Direct To Unit Please Call Jerry 617-620-9201 or 781-233-9507 379 Broadway Evere� 617-381-9090 All occasions fl orist Wedding ~ Sympathy Tributes Plants ~ Dish Gardens Customized Design Work GIFT BASKETS Fruit Baskets www.Evere� Florist.net 1. Vermont 2. Richard Chamberlain 3. 1875 4. Bone 5. H.G. Wells 6. Marlene Dietrich 7. Los Angeles 8. Duck, duck, goose (tag) 9. Swimming the English Channel 10. Violin 11. Johannes Brahms (His Op. 49, No. 4 is referred to as Brahm’s Lullaby.) 12. Badminton 13. Saratoga Springs 14. Louisville, Kentucky 15. They mean “cheese” in Japanese, French and Swedish (respectively) 16. The Old West 17. The Kentucky Derby 18. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 19. William Shakespeare 20. The French and Indian War
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Man murders ex-girlfriend and her mum
Published September 2, 2018 September 2, 2018
A man has appeared in court charged with the murders of his former partner and her mother.
Janbaz Tarin is accused of stabbing Khaola Saleem, 49, and his ex-girlfriend Raneem Oudeh, 22, to death at their home in Solihull, in the West Midlands of England, shortly after midnight last Monday.
The 21-year-old was remanded in custody by magistrates in Birmingham and ordered to appear before the city’s crown court on Tuesday.
The hearing lasted less than two minutes with Tarin – dressed in grey joggers and sweatshirt – speaking only to confirm his name, date of birth and home address in Evelyn Road, in Sparkhill, Birmingham, the BBC reports.
He was arrested in the city on Thursday, following an extensive manhunt by West Midlands Police.
Ms Oudeh, who had a two-year-old son, and Mrs. Saleem, who had five other children, were both born in Syria.
(Independent)
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#610 – StarTropics
July 22, 2013 Dylan Cornelius 10 Comments
Such an evocative cover.
Eyes up top, chief.*
StarTropics starts off as an all-American take on the original Legend of Zelda before blossoming into its own brand of adventure funk. You are Mike Jones, a “teenage star pitcher” who wields a yo-yo. Explore and conquer dozens of island caves, while searching for your archaeologist uncle, Dr. Jones (also known as Doctah Jones!). Indeed, the story of StarTropics couldn’t be less riveting. None of the islanders are funny or interesting, and Mike as a character is as boring as apple pie sans ice cream. It’s the dungeon exploration that keeps the game alive. Like Zelda, you can only deal with one room of each dungeon at a time. You have to kill every enemy in the room or step on specific green blocks to open up the path to the next room. These green blocks are crucial to the game. While you can jump on any of the blocks, only certain ones will reveal hidden necessary items or secret doors. It sounds strange to say, particularly if you’ve never played StarTropics, but jumping from block to block to unlock secrets is incredibly fun, and a key to the game’s success.
Less so the combat. Mike controls very rigidly (much more so than Link), and his yo-yo is a pathetic weapon (until it’s upgraded in Chapter 3). You can acquire secondary weapons, like baseball bats, bolas, slingshots, but they’re of few quantities. Many of the enemies are able to move in all directions, yet Mike is limited to four. Isn’t he an all-star pitcher? He should be agile! Limber! Wobble-tastic! He can jump, which is useful for avoiding projectiles, but that’s the game’s only concession for his clunky movements.
How is Mike gonna get out of this one?*
After a fairly easy start, the difficulty ramps up to ridiculous proportions. In a dungeon, if you die in any room, you’re thrust back to the beginning. This is par for the course, and very Zelda-like in structure. In Zelda, however, few, if any of the dungeons had rooms where you could be killed in one-hit. Enemies would take off half of a heart to a full heart, but all of your life? Even Ganon’s not that cruel. In StarTropics, there are an overabundance of one-hit kill rooms, thanks to the water or lava found there. If Mike jumps or lands in either of these liquids, he’s dead. You won’t go out of your way to jump into water or lava, but later dungeons are often structured around them. Makes sense, as the game takes place on a series of islands, but couldn’t Mike just lose one heart, like in Zelda? Couple the one-hit deaths with increasingly obnoxious enemies (the mummies that take a thousand hits!) and you have a difficulty spike that’s both jarring and unnecessary.
Despite StarTropics’ problems, it’s still a unique spin on a Zelda-style dungeon crawler. Very few companies other than Nintendo could make a game teeming with flaws, and still have the overall package be worth experiencing. Any self-respecting retro gamer should seek it out.
*My sincere thanks to VGMuseum.com for the screenshots.
1990ActionAdventureNintendo
Previous PostBONUS ROUND! – Devil WorldNext Post#611 – Stealth ATF
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Exporting Revolution: Cuba's Global Solidarity
Margaret Randall
Margaret Randall is the author of dozens of books of poetry and prose, including Haydée Santamaría, Cuban Revolutionary: She Led by Transgression and Che on My Mind, and the editor of Only the Road / Solo el Camino: Eight Decades of Cuban Poetry, all also published by Duke University Press.
Laidi in Zambia
https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822372967-010
2017. "Laidi in Zambia", Exporting Revolution: Cuba's Global Solidarity, Margaret Randall
Chapter 10 features a story by a well-known Cuban writer about her experiences working as a physician at a hospital in Zambia. Again there is a great deal of emphasis on the cultural differences. A white woman from Cuba must convince black Africans who have long been subjected to white colonialism that she is there to help them rather than take what little they have.
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Other|June 01 1978
Special Bibliography: From the Health and Health-Related Management Science/Operations Research Literature
Barnett R. Parker
J Health Polit Policy Law (1978) 3 (3): 422-429.
https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-3-3-422
Barnett R. Parker; Special Bibliography: From the Health and Health-Related Management Science/Operations Research Literature. J Health Polit Policy Law 1 June 1978; 3 (3): 422–429. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-3-3-422
Copyright © 1978 by the Department of Health Administration, Duke University Press
Planning Ambulatory Health Care: Lexington Book Series on Ambulatory Care Systems
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State Formation and Nonfiction Cinema Syncretic Westernization during the First Pahlavi Period
Process and Temporality in Sociology The Idea of Outcome in U.S. Sociology
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Green Tea Beauty Product Your Skin Will Thank You for
Treasury carries out major U-turn on pension annuities
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Taiwanese hacker vows to hack and delete Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page and says he’ll broadcast the takedown live on Facebook on Sunday
Posted by admin | Sep 28, 2018 | FEATURED NEWS | 0
A Taiwanese hacker named Chang Chi-yuan has claimed he would take down Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page in a live broadcast before appearing to pull out of the plan.
Chang Chi-yuan told his 27,000 followers he would target the Facebook founder’s own account this Sunday. Then he backtracked today and said he would instead demand money from Facebook in return for flagging up the glitch to Facebook. He added that he had not expected the world’s media to pick up on his plans.
Chang describes himself as a “bug bounty-hunter” who claims to have exposed flaws in a series of high-profile companies’ security systems, Bloomberg reports.
In the post he said: “Broadcasting the deletion of Facebook founder Zuck’s account. Scheduled to go live”.
Some commenters had criticised his plans, with one saying: “Listen man, if you really have a bug that can take over Zuck’s page, I don’t recommended you do it.
You can just inform them about that bug and you will get rewarded for this.”
Another said: “It’s really sad to prove your strength by hurting others.”
Later Chang wrote in a comment: “I am canceling my live feed. I have reported the bug to Facebook and I will show proof when i get bounty from Facebook.”
The Taiwanese social media celebrity has previously said: “I don’t want to be a proper hacker, and I don’t even want to be a hacker at all. I’m just bored and try to dabble so that I can earn some money.”
He claims to have targeted the software of major corporations including Apple and Elon Musk’s Tesla.
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Matthew Glave (I)
Known for The Wedding Singer (1998), Argo (2012), Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce (2015-2017), Angie Tribeca (2016-2018)
5' 11" (1.80m)
AFTRA | AEA | SAG
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PROCENTEC celebrates twentieth anniversary
Wateringen, the Netherlands (June 1, 2017) – PROCENTEC, knowledge partner in the field of PROFIBUS and PROFINET technology, celebrates its twentieth anniversary today. Since its founding in 1997, PROCENTEC has grown from a small support company...
PROCENTEC awarded the CE-Design Award
PROCENTEC has won the prestigious CE-Design Award for its new product Atlas. The award was awarded by DARE!! Measurements. The CE-Design Award is assigned every quarter to an outstanding design in terms of EMC and/or product safety.
PROCENTEC attends SPS Italia
From May 23rd to May 25th, PROCENTEC will be attending the Italian trade show SPS IPC Drives Italia in Parma. This is the biggest trade fair for the industrial automation sector in Italy. It covers not only all components but also systems. You will...
Atlas launched at Hannover Messe
Hannover, Germany (April 26, 2017) – On Tuesday, April 25th, PROCENTEC officially launched Atlas at the Hannover Messe. Atlas is the vision on the future of Industrial Ethernet diagnostics....
Get ready for the big launch of Atlas at Hannover Messe
Wateringen, the Netherlands (April 11, 2017) - On Tuesday April 25th, PROCENTEC will welcome you to the future. On this day Atlas will be officially launched at the Hannover Messe. PROCENTEC’s Atlas is the vision for Industrial Ethernet Diagnostics.
PROCENTEC’s forecast for Industrial Edge technology at Industrial Ethernet Day
On March 16th 2017, PROCENTEC was present at the Industrial Ethernet Day in Nijkerk, Holland. During this fair, both users and potential users were informed about the possibilities of Industrial Ethernet and how to make optimal use of it. A total...
PROCENTEC presents Atlas during Automation 2017
On April 5th and April 6th 2017, PROCENTEC will be joining the Automation fair in the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch. Automation 2017 is the meeting place for the future of packaging and logistics automation. You can find PROCENTEC at booth number B403.
Robust PROCENTEC ProfiHub-family 10 years
In 2006 PROCENTEC was the first company in the world to produce a multi-channel network component, better known as a PROFIBUS-hub. Ten years later PROCENTEC still retains the lead in the market as their hubs both have a screw and PROFIBUS connector. Robust...
PROCENTEC joins the Italian PROFIBUS and PROFINET Organization
Brescia, Italy (28 January 2016) – PROCENTEC srl, knowledge partner in the field of PROFIBUS and PROFINET technology, joins the local Association Profibus e Profinet Italia
PROCENTEC opens new office in Brescia, Italy
Wateringen, the Netherlands (July 20, 2015) – PROCENTEC, service provider and knowledge partner in the field of PROFIBUS and PROFINET technology, today announced it is opening a new office in Brescia, northern Italy, to enter the Italian PROFIBUS and PROFINET...
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Five things to watch at Giants Minicamp
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Beckham's health, Flowers' transition among five things to watch at Giants Minicamp
The mandatory three-day camp begins Tuesday
By Ralph Vacchiano | Jun 12, 2018 | 8:35AM
Five Things for the Giants 00:00:31
SNY NFL Insider Ralph Vacchiano reveals the five most interesting things to watch for during this week's New York Giants minicamp.
Now that Odell Beckham Jr. is planning to attend the Giants' mandatory mini-camp, a major crisis has been averted.
But that doesn't make the three-day camp any less interesting.
As the Giants continue their quick rebuild from the ashes of last year's 3-13 mess, they still have a lot of questions to answer and pieces to fit in before they get to training camp this summer. This week will begin to add some clarity to their picture.
Here are five of the biggest storylines to watch:
1.Is Odell Beckham really 'pretty close' to being fully healthy? And will we know?
In very limited on-field action, Beckham seemed perfectly healthy this spring. In videos of his workouts and of him dancing at weddings, he looked as athletic as ever and most definitely full strength.
It's almost hard to believe that his "limited" status is really health-related at this point. It's probably more out of caution and out of the Giants' desire to minimize any contract-related distraction.
So it'll be really interesting to see what, if anything, Beckham does on the field this week. It sounds like the Giants won't push him. If he wants to stay off the field, they'll let him and give him the cover of being "not fully cleared". If he wants to do a little more, they'll clear him.
They want to be cautious anyway. He's far too valuable.
But they're also understandably curious to see if he's the same great player he always was. The more he does, the quicker the Giants will get to that point - although the final verdict likely won't come until the regular season begins.
2.Ereck Flowers' transition to right tackle
Talking to former Giants offensive linemen at the Landon Collins celebrity softball game on Saturday, they raved about the new-look line - particularly left tackle Nate Solder and guards Patrick Omameh and rookie Will Hernandez. They even seemed to like what they've seen from center Brett Jones.
But unless pressed, most of them didn't mention Flowers by name. The truth is, many former Giants linemen are as down on him as the rest of us. In general, they think his technique is a problem and his attitude hasn't helped.
But the Giants are giving him a chance to revive his career by moving from left to right tackle, and someone (perhaps new agent Drew Rosenhaus) got to him and convinced him that skipping spring workouts (as he did for a while) was stupid. Now, he still needs to prove he can fully take advantage of his new opportunity. The Giants don't really have competition for him at right tackle (maybe Chad Wheeler?, so the path is clear.
This is a non-contact camp, so we won't learn anything about Flower. But this will be the start of the process to see if he can still have a career.
3.The search for the Giants' third wide receiver
It's true the Giants have a ton of weapons in the passing game, if healthy, from Beckham to Sterling Shepard to tight end Evan Engram, and rookie running back Saquon Barkley. But that's still only two receivers, and even though the No. 3 might end up being the fifth option, it's still an important job.
For now, it seems like a wide open competition. Roger Lewis Jr. may have the inside track, but the Giants are high on Cody Latimer, a free agent they brought in from Denver.
There isn't a lot of depth behind them - Travis Rudolph might be the best of the bunch. So, depth is a concern and the Giants will be hoping for someone to step up.
4.Is Saquon as good as advertised?
It's hard to believe because of Beckham's presence on the roster, but there really hasn't been this much hype about a Giants rookie since Eli Manning broke into the league in 2004. The Beckham explosion, you'll recall, didn't really come until his one-handed catch.
Barkley, though, is expected to be a future Hall of Famer, in the words of new GM Dave Gettleman, and he has drawn raves from current and former Giants as well as plenty of people around the league.
Now again, in non-contact practices, it'll be hard to tell much. But his speed, moves, and ability to catch out of the backfield should really be evident in this camp, as it was at times during the early part of the spring.
Also, this is the beginning of the offensive installation, so it might give at least a little clue about how Barkley will be used and how much of a receiver he'll be out of the backfield. If nothing else, pretty much everything he does will be very closely watched.
5.The aggressive James Bettcher defense
This has really flown under the radar this offseason, but the Giants' defensive players are thrilled with the aggressive new scheme being used by their aggressive new defensive coordinator. It's a big change with a 3-4 base and, apparently, lots of blitzing. That blitzing could include a lot from the secondary, too.
What Bettcher wants is a defense that is flying around the field, and he has a bunch of big, speedy players that can get it done. This week will be the first look at how they'll be used and - though there's no contact - just how fast and aggressive they are. It'll be particularly interesting to see how new linebacker Kareem Martin fits in, and just how good rookie Lorenzo Carter is, too.
Eventually, safety Landon Collins will be a big part of this scheme. But he's still recovering from a second surgery on a broken arm and, despite his big dodgeball game on Saturday night, isn't likely to be cleared to fully participate in this camp.
The Giants want to take his recovery slowly to make sure his arm heals the right way this time around.
Tags: Brett Jones, Cody Latimer, Eli Manning, Ereck Flowers, Janoris Jenkins, Landon Collins, Nate Solder, Odell Beckham Jr., Patrick Omaneh, Roger Lewis, Saquon Barkley, Ralph Vacchiano
Rookie of the Year odds for Giants' first rounders
Giants first-round picks land modest odds at rookie hardware
May 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback draft pick Daniel Jones (8) passes the ball during a drill during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sarah Stier-USA TODAY Sports (Sarah Stier)
The Giants ended up making three picks on the first night of the 2019 NFL draft, but despite that, oddsmakers aren't viewing any of them as potential game changers in their rookie seasons.
According to BetOnline.ag, quarterback Daniel Jones, the sixth-overall pick, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, the No. 17 selection, and cornerback Deandre Baker, the 30th pick, all received modest odds for their respective Rookie of the Year Awards.
There's a twist in regard to Lawrence and Baker, though. The later-drafted Baker has better odds at the hardware. Baker clocks in with 28/1 odds while Lawrence is at 33/1, which are the same odds that quarterback Jones landed for the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Tags: Daniel Jones, DeAndre Baker, Dexter Lawrence
Dave Gettleman added three rookie corners in the 2019 NFL Draft
Dec 2, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins (20) reacts after the final play of the game against the Chicago Bears during overtime at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)
The Giants flaunt one of the highest-paid defensive lines in all of football. Can they live up to their contracts? Here's a closer look at what to expect...
Projected Starters: Janoris Jenkins, Sam Beal, DeAndre Baker
Projected Backups: Julian Love, Grant Haley, Corey Ballentine
Tags: B.W. Webb, Eli Apple, Janoris Jenkins, Scott Thompson
Four key defenders played for Giants' DC James Bettcher in Arizona
The 2019 New York Giants' defense will look a lot like the 2015-2017 Arizona Cardinals' defense.
Second-year Giants defensive coordinator James Bettcher oversaw the Cardinals' defense for three years, which included two seasons of top-10 finishes in yards and points against. When the unit was at its best in 2015, a year that saw the Cardinals make the NFC Championship Game, it was known for being an attacking group that blitzed from all angles and stopped the run.
Although Bettcher did not see the same success in his first year as Giants' defensive coordinator, he has brought over a healthy amount of ex-Cardinals he coached in Arizona. After signing Kareem Martin and Josh Mauro last year, the Giants added three more Redbirds this spring: linebacker Markus Golden, safety Antoine Bethea and defensive lineman Olsen Pierre. Although Mauro has moved on, Martin is still around, giving the Giants' defense a distinct Arizona feel.
Tags: Michael Thomas
Kobe told the RB it's "your turn" to be the G.O.A.T.
(Dale Zanine)
For Saquon Barkley, Kobe Bryant is his G.O.A.T.
That's how he addressed his UNINTERRUPTED video, where he read aloud a letter he wrote to Bryant. He wanted to thank Bryant for embodying his signature "Mamba Mentality" -- a phrase that he writes on his cleats before every game.
Well, Bryant acknowleged him via Twitter, and told the young running back that it's "your turn."
Tags: Saquon Barkley
Browns QB Baker Mayfield takes a shot at Giants fans over Odell Beckham Jr.
'He's here to play in front of fans who actually care'
Dec 23, 2018; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) signals to his running backs against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports (Scott Galvin)
Browns QB Baker Mayfield is pumped about having Odell Beckham Jr. to throw to this season. And while speaking about Beckham coming to Cleveland, he mixed in a dig at Giants fans.
"He's here to work, and he wants to be surrounded by people who love him and support him and allow him to be himself," Mayfield told ESPN's Mina Kimes. "He's here to play in front of fans who actually care, who will actually show up to every game and pack the stadium and love him for who he is."
Some facts when it comes to Mayfield's claim that Browns fans "pack the stadium" ...
Tags: Odell Beckham Jr., Danny Abriano
5 bold predictions for the Giants 2019 season, including Sterling Shepard's big stats jump
Does Eli Manning pass it off to Daniel Jones? Will Big Blue have another dud season?
Sep 9, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) celebrates his touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars with offensive tackle Nate Solder (76) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (87) during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. The touchdown was the first of his NFL career. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)
There are some who decided the Giants' 2019 season would be a disaster the moment they decided to bring Eli Manning back for one more year. Others became convinced they were tanking the moment they made quarterback Daniel Jones the sixth overall pick in the draft.
The truth, though, is nobody knows what the Giants really are and what will happen in 2019 until the games start for real -- and that's still about three months away.
But it's never too early to make some crazy guesses. So here are five bold predictions for what to expect from the Giants this year.
Tags: Eli Manning, Evan Engram, Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Ralph Vacchiano
Matt Barkley, Nate Peterman had better ratings coming out of college
The Madden NFL franchise released all of their indiviual and team ratings on Monday, and though it was already known, Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones finished very low on the list.
Jones had an abysmal grade of 63, which is the lowest grade among rookie quarterbacks. Even undrafted free agent QB Tyree Jackson has a 64 rating for the Bills to start the year.
So does that make Jones the worst rookie quarterback in Madden history?
Tags: Daniel Jones, Eli Manning
Giants S Kamrin Moore suspended after alleged domestic violence incident
Moore was arrested over the weekend after knocking woman unconscious, according to police
Jun 12, 2018; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Kamrin Moore (39) and defensive back Marcus Williams (43) participate in drills during minicamp at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports (Derick E. Hingle)
The Giants announced the suspension of S Kam Moore on Monday following his role in an alleged domestic violence-related incident last Thursday.
According to NJ.com, Moore was arrested and charged with third-degree aggravated assault after allegedly punching a woman and knocking her out unconscious by stepping on her neck and applying pressure.
The woman, who is Moore's girlfriend, said that she was arguing with Moore and pushed him which caused his reaction, the report said. She walked into the police department on Saturday to file her complaint, as police weren't called to the scene on Thursday night.
Manning was rated the worst starting quarterback by the EA Sports game
Dec 30, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) reacts during the third quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)
Football fans look forward to the release of each year's installment of the Madden NFL franchise, but Giants fans may want to play with a different team in this year's game.
The Madden NFL 20 player and team ratings were released on Monday, and the Giants have the lowest team rating in the NFC at 77. That's the second-lowest rating only in front of the Dolphins (74). Their NFC East rivals in the Eagles and Cowboys are rated much higher at 89 and 88 respectively.
The Giants' gem on their roster is RB Saquon Barkley, who led the Giants with a 91 overall (and was ranked the fifth-best running back in the game). Other than that, the ratings weren't too kind to the Giants.
Tags: Aldrick Rosas, Eli Manning, Evan Engram, Kyle Lauletta, Odell Beckham Jr., Saquon Barkley, Zak DeOssie
Browns' David Njoku says Giants got 'special player' back in Odell Beckham Jr. trade
Jabrill Peppers could have big impact on Big Blue defense
Jun 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants free safety Jabrill Peppers answers questions from media during mini camp at Quest Diagnostic Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
It is no secret Giants GM Dave Gettleman thinks highly of safety Jabrill Peppers. It is part of the reason he followed through on the trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns.
At least one of Peppers' former teammates in Cleveland seems to share the same sentiment as Gettleman.
Browns tight end David Njoku, who was conducting a football camp in Cedar Grove, NJ on Saturday, is excited for what Peppers can bring to the Giants.
Tags: Odell Beckham Jr.
Browns' David Njoku has Super Bowl expectations with former Giant Odell Beckham Jr. aboard
Could Beckham have bigger impact on Browns than Giants?
Sep 30, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) dances before a game against New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)
The Giants may have only gotten to the playoffs just once with Odell Beckham Jr. on the team, but Browns tight end David Njoku believes the former Big Blue receiver may be the missing piece to take the Browns to the next level.
"Once we realized we had him locked in, we're excited," Njoku said at a football camp he runs in Cedar Grove, NJ, per NJ.com. "We have a great team. It's up to us to take advantage of this opportunity."
Njoku, who was a rookie during the winless 0-16 season in 2017, began seeing a shift in the Browns culture last season with Baker Mayfield at quarterback and other new offensive weapons, such as Jarvis Landry and Nick Chubb to help lead the team to a 7-8-1 season.
Tags: Odell Beckham Jr., Saquon Barkley
Suspect charged in shooting of Giants CB Corey Ballentine
Ballentine was shot the morning after he was drafted by Big Blue
Jan 26, 2019; Mobile, AL, United States; North defensive back Corey Ballentine of Washburn (1) before the Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports (Chuck Cook)
Police have charged an 18-year-old man in the April 28 shooting in Topeka, Kansas that wounded Giants cornerback Corey Ballentine and killed his friend, Dwane Simmons.
Francisco Alejandro Mendez was charged on Friday with seven felony counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and five accounts of aggravated robbery, according to Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay and first reported by ESPN.
Police connected the crimes to two related aggravated robberies that occurred on April 27 and April 30. Mendez is being held on $1 million bond and is scheduled to be in court Monday.
WATCH: Giants' Golden Tate talks Daniel Jones and filling the void left by Odell Beckham Jr.
The veteran receiver joined the Giants on a four-year deal this offseason
Golden Tate on Jones and Giant 00:01:33
Golden Tate has early praise for Daniel Jones. Also, the wide out didn't think about being compared to Odell Beckham, but isn't worried.
Wide receiver Golden Tate has been a dynamic playmaker throughout his NFL career, and he's hoping to bring that part of his game with him to the Giants' offense.
With Training Camp just a few weeks away, Tate spoke recently about what he saw from rookie QB Daniel Jones during minicamp, and why he's not worried about his play being compared to that of Odell Beckham Jr.
NFC East Power Rankings: Where the Giants stand before training camp
Is Big Blue's culture change enough to compete?
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning looks to pass against Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dorance Armstrong during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)
The Giants made some big changes heading into the 2019 season -- the obvious being the departure of stars like Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins, and Olivier Vernon. But despite those losses, the Giants are confident that their change will be for the better starting this year.
Will it be enough to fight for an NFC East division title?
Many know how tough the NFC East can be, with no team winning the division in back-to-back seasons since the Eagles won four straight from 2001-2004. The Cowboys were the winners last season at 10-6, but can they repeat?
Let's see where the Giants sit on the list heading into training camp in a couple weeks...
Tags: Eli Manning, Evan Engram, Lorenzo Carter, Nate Solder, Odell Beckham Jr., Saquon Barkley, Will Hernandez, Scott Thompson
Here are Saquon Barkley's 2019 MVP odds
Barkley was 2018's Offensive Rookie of the Year
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Redskins in the second quarter at FedEx Field. (Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)
Odds Shark released Bovada's latest odds for the NFL's 2019 MVP Award and both Jets' running back Le'Veon Bell and Giants' running back Saquon Barkley were listed by the odds makers. Both landed with +5000 odds to take home the top-individual silverware next season.
SEE IT: Giants' Saquon Barkley takes home ESPY Award for Best Breakthrough Athlete
Bakley burst onto the NFL scene in 2018
Dec 30, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) points to his family on the sideline during warmups before a game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via USA TODAY NETWORK (Danielle Parhizkaran)
Saquon Barkley can add another accolade to his already-illustrious young NFL career.
At Wednesday's ESPY Awards in Los Angeles, the Giants running back took home the award for Best Breakthrough Athlete, edging out Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, and female tennis player Naomi Osaka.
A way-too-early prediction for Giants' 2019 season: Is this the change Big Blue needed?
With stars gone, Giants will have a new look heading into the new season
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley celebrates his touchdown with quarterback Eli Manning during the first half at MetLife Stadium. (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)
Giants GM Dave Gettleman believes his culture overhaul of the Giants' locker room will result in more wins. Coach Pat Shurmur believes Eli Manning has just enough left in his right arm to make his team a contender. Defensive coordinator James Bettcher believes he can piece together enough of a pass rush to help the Giants make a run, too.
They are, if nothing else, dreamers. They believe in the potential of their team. But are they realistic or are they delusional about the roster they've created?
Here's a way-too-early look at how the Giants' 2019 season just might go…
Tags: Eli Manning, Evan Engram, Landon Collins, Olivier Vernon, Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Ralph Vacchiano
The New Jersey Giants? Presidential candidate Cory Booker has some thoughts
The Giants haven't called New York home since 1975
Dec 15, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; A general view of MetLife Stadium prior to the game between the Houston Texans and the New York Jets. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports (Kirby Lee)
The Giants haven't played their home games in New York since the 1975 season, when they called Shea Stadium home. That came two years after their final game at Yankee Stadium, with one season playing home games in New Haven in-between.
They've called New Jersey home since then, playing home games first at Giants Stadium and now at MetLife Stadium. Wouldn't that make them the New Jersey Giants?
Presidential candidate Cory Booker, who is a Senator representing New Jersey after serving as the Mayor of Newark, has some ideas...
After years of not playing, Droogsma couldn't believe the Giants came calling
By Scott Thompson | Jul 9 | 2:31PM
Apr 27, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Austin Droogsma of Florida State poses after winning the shot put during the 124th Penn Relays at Franklin Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports (Kirby Lee)
Each year at training camp, there always seems to be that one player you want to make the 53-man roster out of the 90 men that show up on Day 1. Well, for many, that players just might have to be offensive lineman Austin Droogsma.
Droogsma certainly has the height and weight of an offensive lineman (6-foot-4, 345 pounds), but that isn't what he played at Florida State. Instead, Droogsma was focused on his track and field career as a shot-putter. He was one of the best in the NCAA, finishing fourth at the indoor championships in 2018.
But he figured his sports days were over, as he looked for a real world job following graduation. That is until the Giants came calling.
These 5 Giants are on the hot seat heading into training camp
Who will be the odd man out in the WR battle? Will Halapio beat out Pulley?
Nov 25, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Giants middle linebacker B.J. Goodson (93) walks out of the tunnel before game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports (Eric Hartline)
A few weeks ago during Giants minicamp, we profiled five dark horse players who turned heads. At the end of the day though, every football player knows that, while minicamp standouts are nice stories, the real competition starts in training camp.
Big Blue training camp starts in a little over two weeks. It's a 90-man competition for 53 spots, and more than a few veterans will be left behind if they don't put up a good showing.
Here are five guys who are on the hot seat for the Giants:
Tags: B.J. Goodson, Cody Latimer, Corey Coleman, Odell Beckham Jr., Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Wayne Gallman
10 most important players to Giants' success in 2019
Big Blue will rely heavily on these players this season
(Vincent Carchietta)
The Giants let a lot of big-name, big-talent players go this offseason. In fact, Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins and Olivier Vernon were easily three of the most important players the Giants had.
How will they survive without them? The answer to that will be provided by the performances of several key players this season.
So here's a look at the Giants' 10 most important players for 2019:
Tags: Alec Ogletree, Eli Manning, Evan Engram, Landon Collins, Nate Solder, Odell Beckham Jr., Olivier Vernon, Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Ralph Vacchiano
How Jared Lorenzen helped Eli Manning in Giants' biggest play of Super Bowl XLII
Lorenzen played a much bigger role than realized
A general view of a New York Giants helmet on the turf before the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)
The late Jared Lorenzen had a much bigger impact on the Giants than one might have thought.
Despite attempting just eight passes in his career, Lorenzen played a significant role in arguably the greatest play in Giants' history.
In Super Bowl XLII against the undefeated Patriots, Eli Manning escaped the grasp of the Patriots' pass rush to find David Tyree down field for the famous Helmet Catch, but Manning may not have been able to make that escape if not for Lorenzen.
Tags: Eli Manning
Former Giants QB Jared Lorenzen dies at 38 after long battle with health issues
Lorenzen won a Super Bowl with the Giants in '07
Former Giants QB Jared Lorenzen has unfortunately lost his battle with health issues, as the family announced his passing on Wednesday at age 38.
Lorenzen was admitted to the hospital last Friday with an infection as well as dealing with kidney and heart issues. He was battling them while in an intensive care unit, but he couldn't prevail.
Kentucky Sports Radio's Matt Jones released a statement from Lorenzen's family...
Tags: Eli Manning, Scott Thompson
Giants' Eli Manning on entering Year 16: 'I'm not rushing into retirement'
Manning's family is "pushing hard" for the QB to turn things around in New York
By Scott Thompson | Jul 3 | 11:30AM
May 20, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning answers questions from media during organized team activities at Quest Diagnostic Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
You don't have to remind Eli Manning how old he is. Entering his 16th year in the NFL this season, the veteran signal caller is well aware of how young his teammates are compared to his 38-year-old self.
He's reminded of it when he enters the quarterbacks room at the team facility in East Rutherford, when sixth overall pick Daniel Jones is sitting right there awaiting his turn to take over the Giants (or so the team hopes).
That transition isn't expected to happen this season. The Giants are entrusting Manning to lead the way on offense yet again, and he's fully prepared to do so. Because on and off the field around his teammates, Manning does feel young again...
Tags: Eli Manning, Sterling Shepard, Scott Thompson
How Eli Manning reportedly factored into Peyton declining 'Monday Night Football' gig
The Giants are scheduled for two 'MNF' games this year
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning reacts after throwing a interception to Indianapolis Colts free safety Malik Hooker during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar via USA TODAY NETWORK)
No matter how much money ESPN offered Peyton Manning to do "Monday Night Football," nothing was going to outweigh the price of brotherly love.
According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports, two sources close to Manning revealed that the future Hall of Fame quarterback declined a lucrative deal in April to join the "Monday Night Football" booth this season largely because he did not want to analyze Eli Manning.
Peyton was offered the opportunity to join the booth in April, but the Giants are scheduled to appear on "Monday Night Football" twice this season and Eli's decline over the last few years has been a focal point of the team. That should be amplified even greater this season with sixth overall pick Daniel Jones waiting in the wings.
Former Giants QB Jared Lorenzen in ICU with kidney, heart issues
'He is fighting with everything he has'
Aug 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Detailed view of a New York Giants helmet on the sidelines in a preseason NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports (Andrew Weber)
Former New York Giants quarterback Jared Lorenzen has been hospitalized with an infection, as well as kidney and heart issues. Lorenzen, 38, has been in the hospital since Friday with his family by his side, they announced in a statement.
According to the family's statement, Lorenzen had not been feeling well before being admitted to the intensive care unit.
I just spoke to Jared Lorenzen's mother. He has been admitted to the hospital with an infection and is dealing with some medical issues at this time
She asks for prayers from the Big Blue Nation and privacy at this time
Prayers for one of the best people I know
Eli Manning believes Giants' offense can be better, even without Odell Beckham Jr.
Manning explains why he is so optimistic
Nov 12, 2018; Santa Clara, CA, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) prepares to take the snap against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports (Kirby Lee)
Eli Manning is undoubtedly a glass half-full kind of guy.
The Giants quarterback expressed optimism that the offense can be better in 2019 than it was last season, despite the team's decision to trade away Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns.
"I think we can be productive and score more points and be a better offense," Manning told NFL Network this weekend.
Tags: Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr.
Giants' Eli Manning says there is no QB competition with Daniel Jones
Pat Shurmur left door open to competition at OTAs
New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones watches Eli Manning during organized team activities at Quest Diagnostic Training Center. (Noah K. Murray/USA TODAY Sports)
If Pat Shurmur is leaving the door open for a quarterback competition, Eli Manning isn't buying it.
The Giants quarterback told NFL Network's Rhett Lewis in an interview that will air Friday night that he does not think there is a quarterback competition between himself and first-round pick Daniel Jones.
"I mean no, I don't feel like it's a competition," he said at the Manning Passing Academy. "I feel like I've got to do my job and I've got to compete every day and try to get better every day. That's the way it's been my whole life and that's just the way I've always approached practice every day to improve, to earn my place on the team, to earn the respect of the teammates and do it each year."
'Sky's the limit': Sam Beal's college coach expects big things for Giants cornerback in first season
Beal will battle for starting role after missing entire rookie season in 2018
May 20, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants corner back Sam Beal answers questions from media during organized team activities at Quest Diagnostic Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
Of the many position battles at Giants training camp, the cornerbacks competition may be the most intriguing to watch this season.
Giants GM Dave Gettleman brought in three rookies in the 2019 NFL Draft, all of which will be vying for a starting role opposite veteran incumbent Janoris Jenkins.
The biggest spotlight will shine on Georgia product Deandre Baker, who the Giants traded back into the first round to snag. There is also Notre Dame's Julian Love -- arguably one of the top steals in the Draft -- and Washburn's Corey Ballentine, who will certainly be a fan favorite to make the team after the unfortunate events that saw his best friend shot and killed, while he was left in the hospital as well.
Tags: Janoris Jenkins, Michael Thomas, Scott Thompson
How will Giants make up for Odell Beckham Jr.'s production? 'It's a group effort'
Sterling Shepard has already stepped it up this offseason
Jun 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard (87) makes a catch during mini camp at Quest Diagnostic Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
Say what you want about your opinion on the Giants trading away star WR Odell Beckham Jr. His former teammates miss him.
"Just his presence," Sterling Shepard told The Post's Paul Schwartz, adding that there has been an adjustment period to get used to him not in the locker room. "He's a great guy, he's loved around this facility. Just his presence, I guess."
Beckham has always been one of a kind since entering the league, and it showed in his awe-inspiring play that was matched with an exuberant personality as well. Whether it was making his signature one-handed grabs like it was just another day on the gridiron, or dancing in around practice with players like Shepard and Saquon Barkley, Beckham was always keeping things light and fun.
Tags: Cody Latimer, Evan Engram, Odell Beckham Jr., Russell Shepard, Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Scott Thompson
Odell Beckham Jr. goes on Twitter rant to address comments about Giants
Browns receiver insists he has moved on
By John Healy | Jun 22 | 4:17PM
Sep 18, 2017; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) screams before a game against the Detroit Lions at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)
Odell Beckham Jr. is attempting to smooth over his comments about the Giants in a Complex Magazine interview earlier this week.
After revealing that he was never going to live up to his potential "mentally, physically, spiritually," in New York, the Browns receiver tweeted multiple times on Saturday afternoon about his love for New York and the Giants organization, but also thanked the "haters" he dealt with, too.
"I'm thankful GOD gave me and opportunity to play my first years where he did," Beckham tweeted. "I'm thankful for every memory and experience I had there. The good and the bad. I'm thankful for every hater and supporter, for every fan. I will always have luv 4 that place. But we ALL have moved on."
Baker Mayfield pays up Giants' Saquon Barkley on Rookie of the Year bet
The Giants' running back has a new piece of jewelry
Offensive Rookie of the Year winner Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants during media availabilities for the NFL Honors show at the Fox Theatre. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Baker Mayfield is true to his word.
The Browns quarterback followed through on a friendly wager he had with Giants running back Saquon Barkley on who will win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
The two agreed that the loser would have to buy the winner a chain, but the loser gets to pick what the chain says.
Odell Beckham Jr. says he was never going to reach full potential with Giants
The Browns wide receiver is still taking shots at his former team
Oct 22, 2018; Atlanta, GA, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) runs to the locker room during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports (Jason Getz)
The Giants traded Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns three months ago, but the star receiver is still not done talking about his former team.
Beckham, who has expressed some bitterness with the Giants since being traded, vented some more about Big Blue in a Q&A with Complex Magazine this week where he sounded as if he was the one who wanted out of New York.
"I just felt with the Giants I was just stuck at a place that wasn't working for me anymore," he said in a Q&A with Complex Magazine. "I felt like I wasn't going to be able to reach my full potential there; mentally, physically, spiritually, everything I felt capable of doing, I just couldn't see it happening there.
Giants' Daniel Jones reacts to hearing boos at Yankee Stadium
'I certainly don't pay a whole lot of attention to it'
By Danny Abriano | Jun 19 | 8:36AM
May 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) speaks to media during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sarah Stier-USA TODAY Sports (Sarah Stier)
Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones has seemed unflappable since being selected No. 6 overall in the NFL Draft. And his demeanor hasn't changed now that he's heard boos at Yankee Stadium before taking a single snap for Big Blue.
"I certainly don't pay a whole lot of attention to it," Jones said Tuesday during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show . "You're aware of it. I'm focused on what we're doing here and focused on trying to practice as well as I could these past six weeks and show some progress over these six weeks. So, at the end of the day, I'm grateful to be part of this franchise, get this opportunity and looking forward to keeping it going."
After getting booed on Monday night by what amounted a smattering of a subset of fans in the Bronx, two of Jones' teammates came to his defense.
SEE IT: Giants' Evan Engram, Saquon Barkley react to Yankee fans booing Daniel Jones
Engram: "For what reason? Please keep that same energy. PLEASE!"
(SNY)
Monday night at Yankee Stadium, Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones was enjoying the Yankees and Rays game when he was showed on the jumbrotron in between innings. But instead of cheers for the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft from the Giants fans in attendance, he heard a chorus of boos instead.
Well, his teammates aren't too happy about that.
Tight end Evan Engram quote tweeted our news story about the incident, and he wants an explanation from the fans...
Tags: Evan Engram, Saquon Barkley
Fans not giving first-round pick much of a chance
May 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback draft pick Daniel Jones (8) looks on during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sarah Stier-USA TODAY Sports (Sarah Stier)
It did not take long for Giants QB Daniel Jones to experience his first Bronx Cheer.
Big Blue's rookie quarterback was at Monday's Yankees game against the Rays when he was showed on the Yankee Stadium jumbotron and was welcomed with a chorus of boos, according to those in attendance at the game.
Jones, 22, has not even been a member of the Giants for two months despite the harsh greeting by New York.
Is there really a quarterback competition? Where's the pass rush coming from?
By Ralph Vacchiano | Jun 17 | 5:49PM
Jun 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones (8) and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) warm up during mini camp at Quest Diagnostic Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
The Giants ended the offseason feeling pretty good about themselves, even though they arguably spent the last five months losing more talent than they gained. They are big believers in addition by subtraction, and they feel they've added some pretty good pieces, too.
It'll be a few more months until we know whether GM Dave Gettleman's plan was genius or ill-conceived, and whether his big makeover of the team's culture will result in any more wins. But during the spring organized team activities and mini-camp, there were a few hints about which direction the Giants were headed.
So here are 5 things we've learned about the Giants this spring:
Tags: Eli Manning, Landon Collins, Nate Solder, Odell Beckham Jr., Will Hernandez, Ralph Vacchiano
Jon Halapio prepares to be key piece on revamped Giants' offensive line
Center missed nearly all of last season after fracturing ankle in Week 2
New York Giants offensive lineman Jon Halapio (Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)
When Jon Halapio beat out Brett Jones for the starting center job on the Giants' offensive line last training camp, expectations were high for the 27-year-old.
He didn't have much of a chance to live up to them, going down with a fractured ankle during in Week 2 against the Cowboys and missing the remainder of the season. Halapio watched from the sidelines as the team stumbled to a 5-11 record and the play of the offensive line initially drew criticism, before continuity led to more rushing success for Saquon Barkley later in the season.
"He was really playing well for us before he got hurt a year ago," coach Pat Shurmur said earlier this offseason. "So we had high hopes for him last season. It appears he has come back 100 percent and is back in there just like he was when he left us."
Former Giants WR Hakeem Nicks gives XFL a try thanks to Eli Manning
Nicks attended tryout after encouragement from Giants QB
Jan 3, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (88) reacts after a first down catch against the Philadelphia Eagles during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. The Eagles won 35-30. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)
It has been four years since Hakeem Nicks played football professionally, but the former Giants wide receiver hopes he still has something left in the tank.
All it took was a little push from Eli Manning to find out.
Nicks worked out at the XFL's "Summer Showcase" on Friday at Montclair State University in front of XFL New York/New Jersey coach Kevin Gilbride, Nicks' former offensive coordinator, hoping to make a return to professional football.
5 dark horse candidates who could emerge for Giants in 2019
Lots of young players and rebounding veterans could make waves for Big Blue
By Tom Krosnowski | Jun 14 | 12:45PM
Sep 2, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Western Michigan Broncos defensive back Sam Beal (1) intercepts a pass intended for Southern California Trojans wide receiver Jalen Greene (10) during a NCAA football game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC defeated Western Michigan 49-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports (Kirby Lee)
The 2019 New York Giants season is rapidly approaching, and there is still a lot to be sorted out along the depth chart. One of the best parts of minicamp and summer workouts is finding out which potential dark horses have a chance to make the 53-man roster and make an impact.
Here are five guys who have stood out so far:
Corey Coleman (WR/KR):
Tags: Alec Ogletree, B.J. Goodson, Saquon Barkley
A Super Bowl champion in 2011, Nicks played six seasons with Big Blue
New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (Julio Cortez/AP)
Former Giants WR Hakeem Nicks isn't done with his football career just yet.
The XFL is hosting Summer showcases all over the country to find the best players for their inaugural season in 2020. And the Super Bowl champion will be among the participants in the New York tryout on Friday, according to the official Twitter account.
Nicks last played in the NFL on a contract with the Saints. However, he was waived on Aug. 8, 2016 and hasn't been in the league since. But the 31-year-old isn't about to hang up his cleats for good just yet.
The 5-step plan for how Daniel Jones could beat out Eli Manning in Giants QB battle
It won't be easy, but anything is possible in training camp
Pat Shurmur might as well have fired a starter's pistol into the air on Tuesday to signal the beginning of a quarterback controversy that will last through Giants training camp and beyond.
His words had the same jolting effect. After he was asked if rookie quarterback Daniel Jones could beat out Eli Manning and be the opening day starter, he could have just said "No."
Instead, he said this: "I think we are going to play the very best player and I know we are dancing around the words there. Right now, Eli is getting ready to have a great year and Daniel is getting ready to play. You see what happens with it."
Tags: Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr., Ralph Vacchiano
Despite another injury, Giants' Evan Engram working hard to bounce back in 2019
With OBJ gone, Engram could be looked at as top deep ball threat
Evan Engram (88) carries the ball during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports (Vincent Carchietta)
Giants TE Evan Engram just can't catch a break.
The Ole Miss product didn't have the sophomore season he was hoping for after a solid debut back in 2017. Injuries that included a concussion as well as hamstring and knee ailments kept him out five games. And when he was in the game, Engram didn't seem like his normal self as he battled back to full strength.
Unfortunately, his third year isn't getting off to the best start either. Engram has been dealing with another hamstring injury that has kept him out most of the OTAs as well as the three-day minicamp last week...
Tags: Evan Engram, Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, Scott Thompson
WATCH: Pat Shurmur doesn't shut door on Giants' QB competition between Eli Manning, Daniel Jones
"I think we're going to play the very best player."
By Scott Thompson | Jun 11 | 12:40PM
Shurmur on Giants QB competition 00:00:54
New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said rookie QB Daniel Jones could be ready to start Week 1 but Eli Manning is the current starter.
It's been great to see and hear that the Giants' sixth overall pick in Daniel Jones has been impressing during the team's voluntary practices as well as their three-day minicamp.
Jones' new teammates and coaches have noticed by the day that he became more comfortable with the offense, and in turn, his confidence rose.
"You can see him getting confident," Evan Engram said of Jones after minicamp. "Anytime you're coming in as a rookie, you're going to be a little shaky or a little nervous. You kind of see him starting to brush that off, get into his groove and take advantage of everything he's given."
Tags: Eli Manning, Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, Scott Thompson
Once teammates, Collins and Barkley must avoid each other on the field
Aug 1, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants strong safety Landon Collins (21) and running back Saquon Barkley (26) react after an intercepted pass by Collins during training camp in East Rutherford. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via USA TODAY NETWORK (Danielle Parhizkaran)
There was a time when Landon Collins wouldn't want to hit Saquon Barkley during practice. Well, now he doesn't have a choice with the Redskins.
Collins, who once praised Barkley's physical attributes that made him such a tough running back to bring down, will now be tasked to keep him in the backfield twice a year. And he says he's ready for that commitment.
"I've been ready to tackle Saquon," Collins told NorthJersey.com's Art Stapleton at the Landon Collins Celebrity Softball Game over the weekend. "That's my guy, though. All love to him and he's been doing his thing as we all know. But when I get to meet him in the hole this time, it's going to be full-go."
Tags: Landon Collins, Saquon Barkley, Scott Thompson
Coaches and teammates were impressed by Jones' confidence
By Scott Thompson | Jun 9 | 2:12PM
May 4, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) runs between drills during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sarah Stier-USA TODAY Sports (Sarah Stier)
It may not be much, but minicamps give a quick glimpse into what the new pieces to a team can bring in the upcoming season.
Daniel Jones, the Giants' No. 6 overall selection back in April, may be the exception as he is currently behind Eli Manning on the depth chart. But his development this season will be a major storyline, even if he isn't on the field getting NFL reps.
During the three-day minicamp in East Rutherford, Jones surprised in many facets like his foot speed, arm strength that didn't appear average like the scouting reports said, and his overall performance during team drills. Working with the second team, Jones was very efficient while going through his progressions quickly and fire strikes across the gridiron.
After four seasons with the Giants, Collins joined the Redskins this offseason
By Ralph Vacchiano | Jun 8 | 10:41PM
New York Giants strong safety Landon Collins calls a play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)
POMONA, N.Y. - Landon Collins spent the first four years of his NFL career in Giants blue, dreaming of staying in that uniform forever.
Less than three months after joining the Redskins, though, all those warm, fuzzy feelings for the Giants are gone.
"Honestly, I feel more of a Redskin now after going through OTAs, being there for a while, hanging out with them and having a great time," Collins said. "I feel like I'm at home.
Tags: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Ereck Flowers, Landon Collins, Ralph Vacchiano
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MetsBlog
Apr 15, 2012 | 9:00AM
WATCH: Alonso gets the Mets on the board first vs. Giants
Mets' Syndergaard faces off against Giants' Madison Bumgarner
Lockett to start for Mets on Saturday in place of injured Wheeler
Rhame will serve one-game suspension Thursday vs. Giants
Prospect Deep Dive: Shervyen Newton
How Wheeler's injury could help Mets, impact Syndergaard
Here are four things Mets need to do to make a run
Mets' Dominic Smith weighs in on trade rumors
ICYMI: Here's what happened Wednesday in Mets Land
Exec: 'No doubt' Smith would bring back more than Conforto
The crazy numbers behind Alonso's mammoth homer
Mets Takeaways from Wednesday's win over the Twins
Mets trade Wilmer Font to Blue Jays
WATCH: Alonso launches a homer that might still be traveling
Zack Wheeler takes first step in return from injury
Mets aiming for fourth straight win vs. Twins
ICYMI: Here's what happened Tuesday in Mets Land
Mets' bullpen delivers, tossing five shutout innings vs. Twins
Mets Takeaways from Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Twins
WATCH: Conforto's catch among Mets highlights
Mets' Zack Wheeler says shoulder diagnosis 'doesn't really scare me'
Mets open series with Twins
One reason why Showalter would be perfect fit for Mets
Shea Anything: Spinning Wheels on Wheeler Deals
Why Mets moving on from d'Arnaud wasn't a mistake
Potential ripple effects of Zack Wheeler's injury
Mets place Zack Wheeler on IL
Mets Top Prospect Watch: Woods Richardson dominating
ICYMI: Here's what happened Sunday in Mets Land
Cano heating up at the right time
How McNeil one-upped Callaway
Callaway, Rosario explain why Mets SS didn't start Sunday
Mets Takeaways from Sunday's 6-2 win vs. Marlins
WATCH: Jeff McNeil homers on first pitch
Former Mets Watch: Updates on Harvey, Granderson
ICYMI: Here's what happened Saturday in Mets Land
Callaway says homer is just what Cano needed
Syndergaard says being traded would be 'bittersweet'
Conforto's move to the two-hole yields instant results
Mets Takeaways from Saturday's 4-2 win over Marlins
WATCH: Conforto hits two-run homer
Steven Matz returns to rotation
Mets aim to even series with Marlins
10 questions for Mets in second half of season
What should Mets do with these 7 players?
A-Ball Saturday: Domingo Tapia is Awesome
By Toby Hyde | Apr 15, 2012 | 9:00AM
A: Savannah Sand Gnats 6, @ Augusta GreenJackets (SF) 0
Hot damn. This is the best start of the year so far in the Mets' system.
RHP Domingo Tapia: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 0 WP, 0 HBP, 13 ground ball outs, 0 fb outs. Every out he recorded was by strikeout or groundball. Two of the three hits he allowed were grounders. The 20-year old hit 99 in his first start in Savannah, and did not throw a fastball below 95. Saturday, he touched 98 on the Augusta stadium gun. In two starts in the SAL, he's fanned 11, walked one and gave up seven hits in 12 innings. I had him ranked #14 coming into this year, and I fear I severely under-ranked him.
The Gnats did all of their scoring in a messy six-run fourth inning that featured five walks, an infield single, two wild pitches, a passed ball, an error and two hits.
TJ Rivera tripled home two runs, and was 1-for-3 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He's sitting at .405/.500/.541 with eight walks and five strikeouts in the season's first 10 games.
A+: St. Lucie Mets 2, @ Palm Beach Cardinals 1
Two nice things in this one.
1. Cesar Puello returned to the lineup after a week's absence and, with Darrell Ceciliani still out, played centerfield for the first time this year. He was 1-for-5 with a stole base from the #2 spot in the Mets lineup.
2. Cory Vaughn continued his nice start to 2012. Afte going 2-for-4 with a walk, the 22-year old is hitting .333/.450/.545 in his first nine games.
And the not-so-nice slow start:
3B Wilmer Flores was 0-for-2 with a walk, his first of the year, in his eighth game. He's hitting .192 (5-for-26) with one walk, two strikeouts and no extra-base hits in eight games.
Domingo Tapia phot0 courtesy Fred Devyatkin.
Tags: Domingo Tapia, Savannah Sand Gnats, St. Lucie Mets, Toby Hyde
WATCH: Pete Alonso gets the Mets on the board first vs. Giants
Mets-Giants highlights
By Alex Smith | 11:16PM
Pete Alonso knocks in first run 00:00:12
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso grounds into a double play but it's enough to get the game's first run in
In a game that's shaping up to be a pitchers duel between Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner, Pete Alonso put the Mets on the board first.
After Jeff McNeil lined Bumgarner's first pitch of the game into left-center for a double, JD Davis followed up with a single to give the Mets first and third with nobody out. Alonso then bounced into a double play, but the Mets took an early 1-0 lead.
Tags: Noah Syndergaard, Pete Alonso
Mets' Noah Syndergaard faces off against Giants' Madison Bumgarner, Thursday at 9:45 p.m. on SNY
Mets aim for fifth straight win as they begin four-game set in San Francisco
Jul 13, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (34) delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports (Jasen Vinlove)
The Mets (44-51, 13.0 GB in NL East) begin a four-game set with the Giants (47-49, 15.5 GB in NL West) on Thursday night at 9:45 p.m. at Oracle Park.
Mets notes
The Mets' current four-game win streak matches their longest streak of the season, which came May 20-23. ... The last time the Mets won five games or more in a row was a nine-game win streak in April 2018. ... The Mets have clubbed 134 home runs in 95 games this season. The team hit 170 home runs all of last season.
Stream the Mets live
Tags: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard
Walker Lockett to start for Mets on Saturday in place of injured Zack Wheeler
The right-hander has made two starts for the Mets this season
Jun 25, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Walker Lockett (61) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports (Eric Hartline)
The Mets have officially tabbed righty Walker Lockett to start on Saturday against the Giants in place of the injured Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler, of course, was placed on the injured list on Tuesday with right shoulder fatigue, an injury that could complicate things for the Mets as the July 31st trade deadline approaches. Wheeler is 6-6 on the season with a 4.69 ERA, but with his contract up at the end of the season, he's been at the center of a number of trade rumors.
Mets' reliever Jacob Rhame will serve one-game suspension Thursday vs. Giants
The right-hander was originally handed his suspension back in April
Jul 31, 2018; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Jacob Rhame (35) pitches during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports (Tommy Gilligan)
Reliever Jacob Rhame will not be available out of the Mets' pen on Thursday night as he serves his one-game suspension.
Rhame was originally handed a two-game suspension on April 25th for "throwing a pitch in the area of the head" at Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins. He was then sent down to Triple-A Syracuse the next day to make room for Jacob deGrom as he returned from the Injured List.
Tags: Jacob deGrom, Jacob Rhame, Zack Wheeler
Prospect Deep Dive: Shervyen Newton, a diamond in the rough from the Netherlands
Newton has started to impress with Low-A Columbia
By Joe DeMayo | 5:00PM
May 2, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; General view of New York Mets helmet in the dugout before a game against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports (Brett Davis)
Mets prospect Shervyen Newton is a raw but versatile infield prospect from the Netherlands who has recently started tearing the cover off the ball for Low-A Columbia...
How Zack Wheeler's injury could help Mets in 2020 and impact Noah Syndergaard
Wheeler is on the shelf with the trade deadline 13 days away
By Andy Martino | 2:57PM
New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler pitches during the first inning of a baseball against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field. (Sarah Stier/USA TODAY Sports)
Everyone involved insists that Zack Wheeler's shoulder injury is not serious, and that he will be back in no time.
We take that at face value, but there's still a problem. Teams previously interested in trading for Wheeler are now nervous about his health.
Perhaps Wheeler will return from the IL in time to pitch well and assuage those concerns, but the Mets know that the timing of his injury might hurt his value to the point where keeping him and making a qualifying offer at the end of the season is the smarter move.
It's a longshot, but here are four things Mets need to do to make miracle Wild Card run
The Mets' recent play has provided a glimmer of hope
By Matthew Cerrone | 12:30PM
Jul 16, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario (1) celebrates with New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) after scoring a run in the fifth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports (Jesse Johnson)
The Mets' current four-game winning streak is their longest since the middle of May. And while it's still a long shot, they are finally moving in the right direction when it comes to a potential miracle run to win a Wild Card spot and get to the playoffs.
Entering play this past weekend, the Mets had just a 4.1 percent chance of winning a Wild Card, according to calculations provided by FanGraphs. Following Wednesday's 14-4 win against the Twins, that number went to 9.2 percent.
Baseball Prospectus has the Mets' Wild Card chances at 9.8 percent.
Tags: Dominic Smith, Jason Vargas, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Matthew Cerrone
Mets' Dominic Smith weighs in on trade rumors: 'This is home for me'
Despite proving his worth, Smith might be the odd man out
By Danny Abriano | 10:45AM
Apr 3, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets first baseman Dominic Smith (22) celebrates in the dugout after a single by catcher Wilson Ramos (not pictured) in the eight inning of the game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports (Sam Navarro)
Dominic Smith has emerged as a legitimate weapon for the Mets this season in a part-time role, proving his value to the team but potentially forcing himself off of it in the process.
While there hasn't been any serious buzz yet about the Mets trading Smith any time soon, his name has been out there simply because he might not have a place to play with the Mets going forward.
On Wednesday, Smith -- who is hitting .294/.376/.536 this season with nine homers in 173 plate appearances -- weighed in on the trade whispers.
Tags: Brandon Nimmo, Dominic Smith, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, Danny Abriano
The bats erupted as the Mets won their fourth straight
By Danny Abriano | 9:00AM
Jul 17, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) reacts after the seventh inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports (David Berding)
The Mets (44-51, 13 GB in NL East, 5.0 GB of second Wild Card) open a four-game series against the Giants in San Francisco on Thursday at 9:45 PM on SNY.
Here's what happened on Wednesday, in case you missed it...
In the Mets' 14-4 win over the Twins, New York came back three separate times before a late offensive explosion that was helped along by shoddy defense by Minnesota >> Read more
Tags: Dominic Smith, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, Zack Wheeler, Danny Abriano
MLB exec: 'No doubt' Dominic Smith would bring back more to the Mets than Michael Conforto this offseason
The Mets will have an interesting choice to make with their outfielders this offseason
By John Harper | Jul 17 | 9:49PM
New York Mets first baseman Dominic Smith hits a solo home run against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Citi Field. (Andy Marlin/USA TODAY Sports)
John Harper, SNY.tv | Twitter |
First things first: I wouldn't trade Dominic Smith.
I love his bat and he's looking surprisingly comfortable in left field, to the point where I don't think he'd be a liability even as an everyday player in that spot.
Tags: Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, John Harper
The mind-blowing numbers behind Pete Alonso's mammoth 474-foot home run
Alonso's 31st home run of the season may have been the most impressive to watch
Mets react to timely home runs 00:01:21
Dominic Smith and Pete Alonso react to their home runs, while manager Mickey Callaway is jovial after the 14-4 win.
If any Mets fans still have concerns that Pete Alonso's Home Run Derby showing could hurt his swing in any way, the rookie gave 474 reasons to think otherwise on Wednesday.
In the top of the eighth inning of the Mets' 14-4 drubbing of the Twins, Alonso locked in to a back-up slider from Matt Magill. From the second the ball hit the bat, there was absolutely no doubt that the ball was leaving the park. The only question was how far it would fly.
As it turned out, the answer was 474 feet.
Tags: Dominic Smith, Pete Alonso
Mets Takeaways from Wednesday's win over the Twins, including 14-run outburst
The Mets have won four games in a row
Mets big bats power 14-4 win 00:01:31
Dominic Smith gave the Mets the lead in the seventh inning, but Pete Alonso's monster home run wowed in the eighth in the 14-4 win.
The Mets hit a bunch of homers and took advantage of lots of shoddy defense by the Twins to sweep their two-game set on Wednesday afternoon in Minnesota >> Box score
Five things to know about Wednesday's game
1) With two outs in the top of the eighth and New York leading, 5-3, the Twins gave the Mets a gift when left fielder Eddie Rosario dropped what should've been a routine fly out by Adeiny Hechavarria. Two runs scored on the error as the Mets extended their lead to 7-3. Jeff McNeil then followed with an RBI double before Dominic Smith's RBI single made it 9-3, New York. Pete Alonso -- who had gone 0-for-4 up to that point -- then demolished a 474 foot two-run homer to the second level of the upper deck in left field to make it 11-3. The Mets added three runs against Twins position player Ehire Adrianza in the ninth inning.
Tags: Dominic Smith, Jason Vargas, Jeff McNeil, Jeurys Familia, Pete Alonso, Todd Frazier
New York traded for Font with Rays back in May
Jun 16, 2019; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets pitcher Wilmer Font (68) reacts in the dugout after pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports (Wendell Cruz)
The Mets announced on Wednesday that they have traded RHP Wilmer Font to the Blue Jays for cash considerations.
Font was DFA'd by the Mets, but he must have cleared waivers if the team was able to trade him.
New York initially traded for Font back in May with the Rays in exchange for 18-year-old prospect Neraldo Catalina. He was brought in to help out the bullpen early on in the season, but things didn't work out between both sides.
Font had a 4.94 ERA and 6.47 FIP in over 31 innings (15 appearances) with the Mets. He also allowed eight homers, and had a 24/13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
WATCH: Mets' Pete Alonso launches a homer that might still be traveling
Mets-Twins Highlights
Pete Alonso moonshot in 8th 00:00:19
Pete Alonso had a no-doubt home run in the 8th inning for his 31st this year. It hit the 3rd deck at Target Field in Minnesota.
The Twins may have gotten on the board first, but Amed Rosario tied it up quickly in the top of the third.
In his first at-bat of the day, Rosario took a Martin Perez cutter over the left field fence to make it a 1-1 game....
Tags: Amed Rosario
Mets trade candidate Zack Wheeler takes first step toward return from injury
Wheeler was placed on the IL on Monday due to a shoulder impingement
May 31, 2019; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports (Joe Camporeale)
Two days after Zack Wheeler landed on the IL, putting a potential crimp in the Mets' ability to trade him before the July 31 deadline, the right-hander was out playing catch at Target Field in Minnesota.
Wheeler, who said Tuesday that the injury is a shoulder impingement, is eligible to be activated from the IL on July 22 (an off-day for the Mets), meaning he can potentially pitch two more times between now and the trade deadline.
Wheeler, who underwent an MRI, said Tuesday that the injury is something he has dealt with in the past, noting that he began feeling it halfway through his start against the Yankees as well as the entire outing against the Phillies.
Tags: Zack Wheeler, Danny Abriano
Mets aiming for fourth straight win vs. Twins at 1:10 p.m. on SNY
Jason Vargas gets the start for New York
Jul 14, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano (24) celebrates after his home run in the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports (Jasen Vinlove)
The Mets (43-51, 5.5 GB for second Wild Card spot) continue their series with the Twins (58-35, 5.0 GA in AL Central) in a Wednesday matinee at 1:10 p.m. at Target Field.
The Mets are now 4-0 all-time at Target Field after their win last night. Overall, the team is 20-35 on the road this season. ...Robinson Cano is hitting .370 with two homers, a double, five RBI and five runs scored over his last 13 games. ...Michael Conforto went 4-for-4 with an RBI and run scored last night. Since the All-Star break, he's 6-for-16 with RBI. ...Jeff McNeil is hitting .364 with five homers, 23 RBI and 25 runs scored on the road this season.
Tags: Jason Vargas, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Robinson Cano
The Mets have won three games in a row for the first time since May
By Danny Abriano | Jul 17 | 8:30AM
Jul 16, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario (1) celebrates with New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano (24) after defeating the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports (Jesse Johnson)
The Mets (43-51, 14 GB in NL East, 5.5 GB of second Wild Card) wrap up their two-game set with the Twins on Wednesday afternoon at 1:10 on SNY.
Here's what happened on Tuesday, in case you missed it...
In the Mets' 3-2 win over the Twins, Michael Conforto notched four hits and the bullpen tossed 5.0 scoreless innings -- with Edwin Diaz escaping a bases loaded jam in the ninth >> Read more
Tags: Edwin Diaz, Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d'Arnaud, Zack Wheeler, Danny Abriano
Mets' bullpen delivers, tossing five shutout innings in win over Twins
Edwin Diaz made things interesting, but he ultimately slammed the door to pick up the save
By Alex Smith | Jul 17 | 12:25AM
Mets win 3rd straight game 00:01:34
Mickey Callaway, Edwin Diaz and Michael Conforto on Diaz escaping a 9th inning jam along withConforto's 4 hits and great catch.
Mickey Callaway knew he'd have to rely on the Mets' bullpen on Tuesday night, and the group answered the call and then some against a potent Twins lineup, leading to a 3-2 win.
Before the game, Callaway set a 75-80 pitch limit for Steven Matz, making his return to the rotation after a brief stint in the pen. After 68 pitches over four innings from the lefty, Callaway turned the ball over to the bullpen, where six relievers combined to hold the Twins scoreless over the course of five innings.
Robert Gsellman, Luis Avilan, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz combined to keep the Twins' bats at bay, allowing a Michael Conforto fifth-inning RBI single to decide the game. Callaway said after the game that he believed this was the bullpen's best overall performance of the season.
Tags: Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, Steven Matz
Mets Takeaways from Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Twins, including a four-hit night from Michael Conforto
Conforto led the way at the plate, and the Mets' bullpen shut down the Twins
By Alex Smith | Jul 16 | 11:26PM
Mets keep potent Twins in check 00:01:11
Michael Conforto had 4 hits and the beleaguered Mets bullpen tossed 5 scoreless innings as they won their 3rd straight game, 3-2
The Mets' bullpen pitched five shutout innings to help lead the way to a 3-2 victory over the Twins on Tuesday night. >> Box score
Five things to know from Tuesday's game
1) Steven Matz gave the Mets four solid innings of work in his return to the rotation, allowing just two runs on five hits. First inning troubles have plagued him all season long, allowing 23 first inning runs in his first 17 starts, but he pitched an easy first inning on Tuesday in Minneapolis. His night came to an end after 68 pitches, slightly under the 75-80 pitch limit that Mickey Callaway set for him before the game.
Tags: Edwin Diaz, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Robinson Cano, Seth Lugo, Steven Matz
WATCH: Michael Conforto robbing Nelson Cruz among Mets highlights vs. Twins
Conforto crashed into the wall to take an extra-base hit away
Conforto flashes some leather 00:00:15
Michael Conforto robs Nelson Cruz of an extra-base hit with a great catch at the wall
Mets outfielder Michael Conforto flashed some leather on Tuesday vs. the Twins. In the bottom of the third inning, Nelson Cruz belted a ball to left-center field that looked like it was at least going to be an extra-base hit, but Conforto raced it down to make a leaping catch while crashing into the wall, robbing Cruz and ending the inning.
Tags: Michael Conforto
Wheeler said he has a shoulder impingement, hopes to be back quickly
Wheeler talks shoulder injury 00:02:08
New York Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler discusses the severity of his shoulder injury and the results of a recent MRI.
Mets RHP Zack Wheeler gave his official diagnosis after hitting the IL on Monday, telling the media Tuesday it is a shoulder impingement that has been bothering him.
This is an ailment that Wheeler has dealt with in the past, noting that he began feeling it halfway through his start against the Yankees as well as the entire outing against the Phillies.
After receiving an MRI, Wheeler isn't too worried that this will keep him sidelined for too long.
Tags: Zack Wheeler, Scott Thompson
Mets open interleague series with Twins behind Steven Matz, Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. on SNY
Mets return to Target Field for first time since 2013
Jun 19, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) delivers a pitch to an Atlanta Braves batter in the first inning at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports (Jason Getz)
The Mets (42-51, 15.0 GB in NL East) take on the Twins (58-34, 6 GA in AL Central) in the opening game of a brief, two-game series on Tuesday at 8:10 p.m.
The Mets are returning to Target Field for the first time since 2013, where they took all three games from the Twins that season. It took two visits to complete the series six years ago, as April weather in Minnesota forced a postponement and a return trip to complete the series in August... The Mets split a two-game series against the Twins at Citi Field earlier this season, but have won eight of their last nine games against them dating back to 2013... Amed Rosario is batting .287/.317/.431 with 11 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 24 RBI and nine walks in 50 games on the road this season... Coming off homers in back-to-back games for the first time since 2017, Robinson Cano is slashing .395/.422/.558 over his last 11 contest... Jeff McNeil's .366 batting average on the road is tops in all of baseball.
Tags: Amed Rosario, Jason Vargas, Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano, Steven Matz
This Buck Showalter analysis just one reason why he'd be perfect fit to manage the Mets
Showalter gave an interesting take after Travis d'Arnaud's three-homer night
Sep 30, 2018; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter (26) walks off the field after speaking with an umpire in the third inning against the Houston Astros at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports (Tommy Gilligan)
After Travis d'Arnaud had stunned Aroldis Chapman and the Yankees on the greatest night of his baseball life, the type of night the Mets gave up on waiting for, Buck Showalter had an interesting take that served as a reminder he's available to manage next season.
In Queens, perhaps?
Shea Anything: Spinning Wheels on Zack Wheeler Deals
Doug Williams and Andy Martino drop an all-new Shea Anything, and they re-examine the trade options for the Mets after the news came out that Zack Wheeler has hit the injured list. They also look into the future for potential moves involving Noah Syndergaard, while looking back at the past to judge previous moves made on Travis d'Arnaud and Jacob deGrom.
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN
Tags: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d'Arnaud, Zack Wheeler
Why the Mets moving on from Travis d'Arnaud wasn't a mistake
The 30-year-old's chance to shine with the Mets came and went before this season started
Jul 15, 2019; Bronx, NY, USA; Tampa Bay Rays catcher Travis d'Arnaud (37) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the New York Yankees in the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
With Rays catcher Travis d'Arnaud belting three homers on Monday night against the Yankees in the Bronx, it gave the Mets' self-loathing fan base (of which I am a member) an excuse to launch another "woe-is-us" campaign. To chalk this up as another "LOLMets" moment. But it wasn't one.
Were the Mets wrong to tender d'Arnaud a contract in the offseason only to DFA him after only 10 games and 25 plate appearnaces as he returned from Tommy John surgery? Yes. The smart move would've been to non-tender him in order to not waste that money.
Most expected the Mets to move on from d'Arnaud after they signed Wilson Ramos to be their starting catcher and added Devin Mesoraco on a minor league deal. For some reason, they didn't.
Tags: Travis d'Arnaud, Danny Abriano
Potential ripple effects of trade candidate Zack Wheeler's injury
The trade deadline is 15 days away
Jun 6, 2019; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) pitches against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports (Noah K. Murray)
Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said last Friday that the team needed to face its "reality." Part of that reality meant realizing their place in the standings and trading Zack Wheeler before the July 31 trade deadline. On Monday, those plans took a hit.
Wheeler landing on the IL with right shoulder fatigue (reportedly precautionary, he's expected to be fine and return soon) makes any potential trade of him in the next 15 days more complicated. It doesn't torpedo those plans, but it does make Van Wagenen's job harder.
Assuming Wheeler is pretty much fine and returns to start on July 23 or shortly after, here are three scenarios that could play out...
Mets place Zack Wheeler on IL, putting potential crimp in trade plans
Wheeler is dealing with shoulder fatigue
New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler pitches against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Citi Field. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)
The Mets are placing RHP Zack Wheeler on the 10-day IL due to shoulder fatigue he experienced Sunday while preparing for his next start, the team said Monday.
A person close to Wheeler told SNY's Andy Martino that the pitcher is fine, should be back pitching in time to be traded by July 31, and that the IL situation is seen as a blip.
Wheeler, who had been slated to start on Tuesday night against the Twins in Minnesota (Steven Matz will start in his place), will be eligible to be activated from the IL on July 22.
Tags: Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Danny Abriano
Mets Top Prospect Watch: Simeon Woods Richardson dominating, Andres Gimenez heating up
Plus updates on Mauricio, Kay, Vientos, Newton, Peterson, Szapucki, Baty, Wolf, and Allan
Simeon Woods Richardson (Tom Priddy, Four Seam Images) (Tom Priddy, Four Seam Images)
Every Monday, we'll be taking a look at how the Mets' top prospects (their MLB.com Mets Top 10 rankings are in parenthesis) are faring.
Andres Gimenez, SS, Double-A Binghamton (No. 1) -- ETA 2020
The 20-year-old Gimenez -- who is the Mets' No. 1 prospect now that Pete Alonso's prospect status has expired -- has hits in 10 of his last 12 games, including five multi-hit games in that span.
Overall, he is hitting just .243/.309/.364 in 71 games this season with four homers, four triples, and 13 doubles. Gimenez, who can be a staple for the Mets at either shortstop or second base, was recently profiled by MetsBlog contributor Joe DeMayo here.
Tags: Andres Gimenez, Anthony Kay, David Peterson, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, Thomas Szapucki, Danny Abriano
Sources: Red Sox out on potential trade for Mets RHP Zack Wheeler
The Mets won a road series for the first time since April
Jul 14, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano (24) and teammates celebrate after defeating the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports (Jasen Vinlove)
The Mets (42-51, 14.5 GB in NL East, 6.0 GB of second Wild Card) are off on Monday before opening a two-game set with the Twins in Minnesota on Tuesday night.
Here's what happened on Sunday in case you missed it...
In the Mets' 6-2 win over the Marlins, Jacob deGrom bent but didn't break over 5.0 solid innings and Robinson Cano had another big game >> Read more
Tags: Amed Rosario, Jacob deGrom, Jeff McNeil, Matt Harvey, Robinson Cano, Danny Abriano
Robinson Cano heating up for Mets at the right time
Cano hitting .395 over last 11 games
New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. (Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports)
Robinson Cano has been one of the Mets' hottest hitters of late.
Cano went 4-for-5 with a solo home run, helping power the Mets to a 6-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
Since June 28, Cano has a .395 batting average with two home runs and four RBIs. In those 11 games, he has raised his batting line from .222/.270/.358 to .251/.295/.392.
Tags: Robinson Cano
How Mets' Jeff McNeil one-upped Mickey Callaway's leadoff expectations
McNeil's leadoff homer helps Mets beat Marlins
McNeil calls shot in Mets win 00:01:30
Callaway, McNeil, deGrom on McNeil's "called shot" and deGrom's gritty effort in the road series win over the Marlins
Mets manager Mickey Callaway told left fielder Jeff McNeil what he expected when he led off in Sunday's series finale against the Marlins.
"I told him, 'I want to see an 11-pitch at-bat and then a homer, and it'll be 1-0,'" Callaway said. "And he goes, 'What about a first-pitch homer and make it 1-0?' I said, 'Well it better be a homer.'"
Tags: Jeff McNeil
Mickey Callaway, Amed Rosario explain why Mets SS didn't start Sunday
Adeiny Hechavarria started at SS a day removed questionable Rosario hustle
Jul 13, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario (1) throws out a Miami Marlins base runner in the third inning at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports (Jasen Vinlove)
Mets shortstop Amed Rosario was not in the starting lineup in Sunday's 6-2 win against the Marlins, one day removed from an apparent lack of hustle on a fly ball.
There were mixed messages as to why Adeiny Hechavarria started at shortstop over Rosario for the rubber match.
Prior to the game, manager Mickey Callaway told reporters that Rosario had the day off, however, Wayne Randazzo said multiple times that Callaway informed him that Rosario was benched for not running out a fly ball in the eighth inning on Saturday.
Tags: Adeiny Hechavarria, Amed Rosario
Mets Takeaways from Sunday's 6-2 win over the Marlins, including another big game for Robinson Cano
Cano stays hot on the road vs. Marlins
Mets finally win series on road 00:01:22
Robinson Cano had 4 hits including a home run and Jacob deGrom gave the Mets 5 gritty innings as they finally won a series on the road, 6-2.
Robinson Cano's bat stayed hot after knocking a two-run homer in the eighth inning game-winning home run on Saturday. Cano had four hits on Sunday in the Mets' 6-2 win over the Marlins. >> Box score
Five things to know from Sunday's game
1) It only took one pitch for the Mets' offense to get going. Jeff McNeil knocked the first throw from Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara over the right field fence, giving his team the early lead. McNeil has notched a hit in each game this series against the Marlins, including a two-hit outing on Saturday. McNeil entered Sunday's game batting .350, which leads the National League. McNeil also hit a first-pitch homer on July 3 against the Yankees this year.
2) Robinson Cano could be changing his fortunes on the road this year. Cano carried his home run momentum into Sunday, as he nearly hit for the cycle with four hits on the day. Cano doubled, singled, knocked a solo home run, and then singled again against the defensive shift in his final plate appearance.
Tags: Adeiny Hechavarria, Jacob deGrom, Jeff McNeil, Jeurys Familia, Robert Gsellman, Robinson Cano, Seth Lugo
WATCH: One pitch, one home run for Jeff McNeil
McNeil put the Mets up 1-0 with a homer on the game's first pitch vs. Marlins
McNeil HR's on first pitch 00:00:14
Jeff McNeil homers on the first pitch of the game off Sandy Alcantara to give the Mets a 1-0 lead
Jeff McNeil isn't known for his power as much as he is for his ability to hit anything. On Sunday, he wasted no time reminding everyone of his power as he gave the Mets the 1-0 lead with a home run on the game's first pitch from Sandy Alcantara.
The Mets' leadoff man isn't a stranger to hitting a quick dinger, though.
During the recent Subway Series against the Yankees, McNeil knocked a home run on the first Yankees' pitch from Domingo German on July 3 at Citi Field.
Tags: Jeff McNeil, Miami Marlins
Former Mets Watch: Matt Harvey returns to mound, Curtis Granderson strikes back
We also have eyes on Kelenic, Dunn, Bruce, Plawecki, Cabrera and d'Arnaud
May 23, 2019; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) reacts after allowing a single to Minnesota Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario (20) during the second inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports (Kelvin Kuo)
The Mets have reshaped their roster over the last year and change, saying goodbye to some familiar faces (some beloved, some not) in the process. Every week, we'll take a look at how some of those former Mets are performing with their new teams...
Matt Harvey, Angels
Harvey took the mound for the Angels on Saturday for the first time in seven weeks after being sidelined with an upper back strain. The right-hander turned in a strong performance, going 5.2 innings and allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out three against the Mariners. The run did not come until a sac fly in the sixth, opening the game with five scoreless frames.
Tags: Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, Matt Harvey, Wilmer Flores
Robinson Cano powers Mets to win over Marlins
Jul 13, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano (24) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run in the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports (Jasen Vinlove)
The Mets (41-51, 14.5 GB in NL East, 6.5 GB of second Wild Card) picked up a win on Saturday and will take on the Marlins in the rubber game of the three-game series on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. in Miami.
Here's what happened on Saturday, in case you missed it...
Behind Noah Syndergaard and Robinson Cano, the Mets managed a 4-2 win over the Marlins. >> Read more
Tags: Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Steven Matz
Mickey Callaway says homer is just what Mets' Robinson Cano needed
Cano's game-winning homer lifts Mets over Marlins, 4-2
Mets on Cano's positive attitude 00:02:05
New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano discusses his positivity during a bad hitting stretch and ignoring people who doubt his ability.
On a 1-1 pitch in the eighth inning on Saturday, Robinson Cano sent a pitch into the upper deck behind right field of Marlins Park. He also sent his team home with a 4-2 win thanks to the two-run homer.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway said following the win that the outcome was just what the doctor ordered for the 36-year-old infielder, who's had a tough season on the road, specifically.
"Yeah, he needed it," Callaway said. "Obviously we've talked about his struggles on the road and to get a go-ahead home run, has to make him feel good tonight."
Noah Syndergaard says being traded by Mets would be 'bittersweet'
Syndergaard a rumored trade target, but wouldn't like leaving
Syndergaard records his 9th K 00:00:11
New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard strikes out Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro to get his 9th strikeout of the game.
Noah Syndergaard picked up his seventh win of the season on Saturday against the Marlins. The Mets pitcher navigated his way through seven innings, with nine strikeouts along the way.
Unfortunately for Syndergaard, one good outing doesn't make up for an entire team's season. Unless the Mets' fortunes don't change in a hurry, trade rumors will continue to grow and there's already been plenty with Syndergaard's name attached to them.
After the 4-2 win, in which Snydergaard said his slider felt the best it's been all season, the right-hander addressed potentially being dealt before the July 31 trade deadline. Personally, Syndergaard would much rather stay in New York.
Tags: Noah Syndergaard
Michael Conforto's move to the two-hole yields instant results for Mets
Conforto homered for the first time since June 24
Conforto goes deep in Miami 00:00:17
New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto hits a 2-run homer off the foul pole off of Miami Marlins pitcher Zac Gallen.
Coming out of the All-Star break, Mets skipper Mickey Callaway said that the lineups would likely be more fluid on a nightly basis.
He delivered on that statement on Saturday, moving Michael Conforto up to the second spot in the lineup, hoping to get Conforto more pitches to hit in front of Pete Alonso.
"Pete's behind me today? Yeah, so I'll probably get some pitches to hit," Conforto said before the game. "They're not going to want to face that big boy behind me."
Tags: Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso
Mets Takeaways from Saturday's 4-2 win over Marlins, including Robinson Cano's clutch home run
Cano's eighth-inning blast gave Noah Syndergaard his seventh win
Mets beat Marlins 4-2 00:01:22
The New York Mets down the Marlins thanks to strong performances from Noah Syndergaard, Michael Conforto and Robinson Cano.
Noah Syndergaard pitched seven dominant innings, and Robinson Cano powered the Mets to a 4-2 win over the Marlins on Saturday. >> Box score
Five things to know from Saturday's game
1) Cano has drawn his share of criticism during his first year with the Mets, but he came up clutch in a huge spot on Saturday. With the game tied in the top of the eighth, Cano slammed a two-run home run to right field off of Nick Anderson to put the Mets on top 4-2. Cano's fifth home run of the year was his first this season with runners on base.
2) Syndergaard had his best outing in over a month. Syndergaard had pitched to 5.94 ERA in his last three starts, but he was terrific on Saturday, allowing just two runs on five hits. He struck out nine Marlins and did not walk a single batter. He left the game after seven innings with the game tied 2-2, but Cano's blast put him in line for the win.
Tags: Edwin Diaz, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Seth Lugo
WATCH: Michael Conforto's blast puts Mets up 2-0 on Marlins
Conforto moves in lineup and delivers two-run homer
With two outs in the third inning, the Mets didn't waver against the Marlins on Friday and started off the second half of the season on a positive note.
Jeff McNeil started right where he left off the first half of the season, singling to center field. Then back-to-back walks from JD Davis and Pete Alonso, respectively, juiced the bases against Miami pitcher Caleb Smith for Wilson Ramos. He delivered.
Ramos kept the rally going and had a hard-hit grounder to the left side of the infield. Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas lunged to his right on the play, but Ramos' shot had too much on it to haul it in.
Tags: Miami Marlins, Michael Conforto
Report: Steven Matz rejoins Mets' rotation
Matz' brief stint in bullpen appears over
Jun 29, 2019; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz (32) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports (Andy Marlin)
Steven Matz' tenure in the Mets' bullpen is over, as he's set to return to his spot in the team's starting rotation on Wednesday against the Twins.
The lefty will reportedly rejoin the starting staff, per Newsday's report on Saturday. Manager Mickey Callaway made the decision to move Matz to the bullpen prior to the All-Star break and at the time the bench boss indicated the move could be short lived.
"It's going to allow guys in the starting rotation to not have too many days off, so they can stay effective. Coming out of the break, we can reset whatever we need to," Callaway said.
Tags: Steven Matz
Mets send Noah Syndergaard to the mound aiming to even series with Marlins, Saturday at 6:10 p.m.
Syndergaard has pitched to a 2-0 record in his last three starts
Apr 27, 2019; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (34) pitches against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports (Andy Marlin)
The Mets (40-51, 14.5 GB in NL East) continue their three-game set with the Marlins (34-55, 19.5 GB in NL East) on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.
The Mets .347 road winning percentage ranks 28th in baseball and last in the National League. ... The Mets have struggled as of late against the NL East, dropping 11 of their last 14 games against divisional foes. ... The Mets have shown some power on the road lately, belting 19 home runs in their last nine road games.
10 questions Mets should answer in second half of season
The focus should turn to 2020 and beyond for the remainder of the year
By John Harper | Jul 13 | 12:30PM
May 17, 2019; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano (24) reacts in the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports (Steve Mitchell)
Now that Brodie Van Wagenen has made his concession speech, admitting that his "come get us" bravado resulted in "they came and got us," the Mets can officially move on to the brainstorming portion of the schedule.
That is, everything they do over the final two and a half months should be with a vision of 2020 and beyond in mind, rather than trying to squeeze the most possible wins out of a lost season.
Mostly that means getting answers to as many questions about the future of this team as possible. I'd start with these 10:
Tags: Amed Rosario, Anthony Kay, Dominic Smith, Jason Vargas, Jeff McNeil, Noah Syndergaard, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Seth Lugo, Todd Frazier, Wilson Ramos, Zack Wheeler, John Harper
Stay or go? What Mets should do with these 7 players before trade deadline
Which players the GM should keep, trade now and trade this winter
By Matthew Cerrone | Jul 13 | 10:00AM
New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard throws a pitch during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. (Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports)
I wanna believe. But, despite what Mickey Callaway has told reporters, I know it's very unlikely the Mets will claw their way back into the Wild Card race.
Therefore, if Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen -- who addressed the media Friday -- concludes that the Mets will again finish with a losing record, he will give serious thought to trading more than just a few players this summer.
The fact is, while some on this roster helped get the Mets to a World Series in 2015, most were not part of that squad. And those that were on that team are either due for major increases in salary or they're about to be or will be free agents very soon.
Tags: Amed Rosario, Brandon Nimmo, Dominic Smith, Edwin Diaz, Jason Vargas, Jeff McNeil, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Pete Alonso, Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, Todd Frazier, Wilson Ramos, Zack Wheeler, Matthew Cerrone
mets Archives
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Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering ar...
Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light
R Inger
J Bennie
TW Davies
KJ Gaston
Organisms have evolved under stable natural lighting regimes, employing cues from these to govern key ecological processes. However, the extent and density of artificial lighting within the environment has increased recently, causing widespread alteration of these regimes. Indeed, night-time electric lighting is known significantly to disrupt phenology, behaviour, and reproductive success, and thence community composition and ecosystem functioning. Until now, most attention has focussed on effects of the occurrence, timing, and spectral composition of artificial lighting. Little considered is that many types of lamp do not produce a constant stream of light but a series of pulses. This flickering light has been shown to have detrimental effects in humans and other species. Whether a species is likely to be affected will largely be determined by its visual temporal resolution, measured as the critical fusion frequency. That is the frequency at which a series of light pulses are perceived as a cons tant stream. Here we use the largest collation to date of critical fusion frequencies, across a broad range of taxa, to demonstrate that a significant proportion of species can detect such flicker in widely used lamps. Flickering artificial light thus has marked potential to produce ecological effects that have not previously been considered. © 2014 Inger et al.
10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
Published - 1 May 2014
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VIEW ON DEMAND
Retailers and brands have never had more data, but insights into the behavior of the omnichannel shopper (and how best to serve them) are challenged by a lack of visibility into the performance of non-traditional retailers and new fulfillment options.
Join Retail Leader and Infoscout, a provider of omnichannel insights from America's largest purchase panel, for a webinar examining the following:
The competitors you can't see. Retailers such as Amazon, Aldi, Lidl, Trader Joe's and others are gaining share at a rapid pace, and Private Label products now account for 20% of annual consumer spending. Find out what's really happening with sales in these "blind spot" channels.
The Elusive Retailers: How have retailers such as Amazon, Aldi, Lidl, Trader Joe's and others been disrupting the market?
The Blind Spot Brands: Last year, $146 billion was spent on private label products. But who is the private label shopper, and which retailers are winning the private label war?
Rise in the Value of Convenience: With more fulfillment options than ever before, how are shoppers truly using services such as click and collect or subscribe and save?
The Data You Need to Be Tracking & Measuring: Why it is important to look beyond legacy data models for enhanced visibility into omnichannel shopper behavior and a true picture of new marketplace dynamics.
Understanding the Omnichannel Market
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Plant journal retracts paper for plagiarism — of another study in the same journal
Scientia Horticulturae, a plant journal published by Elsevier, has retracted a paper after realizing it was a graft of another that appeared in its pages.
Here’s the notice for “Water stress effects on Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) yield and oil essential components,” by Farshid Vazin, Islamic Azad University, Gonabad, Iran:
This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).
This article has been retracted at the request of the editors.
The article includes content plagiarised from the following article that has already been published:
Water deficit effects on Salvia officinalis fatty acids and essential oils composition by I. Bettaieb, N. Zakhama, W. Aidi Wannes, M.E. Kchouk, B. Marzouk, Sci. Hortic. 120/2 (2009) 271–275, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2008.10.016.
One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use of any data should be appropriately cited. As such this article represents a severe abuse of the scientific publishing system. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.
That’s right: Vazin plagiarized a 2009 paper in Scientia Horticulturae in a 2013 paper in…Scientia Horticulturae. Where’s plagiarism detection software when you need it?
Hat tip: Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva
Posted on October 30, 2013 Author Ivan OranskyCategories elsevier, freely available, iran retractions, plagiarism, plant biology, scientia horticulturae
21 thoughts on “Plant journal retracts paper for plagiarism — of another study in the same journal”
omnologos says:
The editors need explain their hopefully temporary vegetative state in making the most basic of checks!
JATdS says:
This is a historic moment and actually a reason to celebrate rather than to be demoralized. For one reason. Scientia Horticulturae represents the oldest and (at least in the eyes of horticultural scientists) most respectable horticultural journal in the world, by far, despite it’s relatively low IF relative to medical journals, for exmaple. It also represents some of the most conservative ideologies in plant science publishing, as reflected by several key editors on that board. If plagiarism was not detected in the latest issue of this journal, then this implies that it was also not searched for in all previous 162 volumes. This is SERIOUS and demands a deep and thorough investigation of all papers published there in the last few years. There can be no doubt that other cases of plagiarism exist. The question is why this paper from Iran and from Islamic Azad University (which has made news before at RW) was singled out? Can anyone suggest a FREE plagiarism detector (other than Google Scholar) that is easy to use, i.e., where one can just copy-paste a chunk of text and get a read-out. There is no way that justice can be served evenly in this Elsevier journal unless the peer community provides free tools for us to do independent quality control and post-publication peer review. One of the problems with the plant science community overall is that it is extremely conservative, and remains quite reluctant to change. I see this on a daily basis with the status quo. It sees the problems, but many key players are happy to have a traditional don’t-ask-too-many-questions system in place, without ruffling too many feathers. What this historic retraction does is very suddenly usher in an age of change. It is the Fukushima jolt that the horticultural science community required. A thorough investigation of papers in this journal will surely be the key to establishing a new mantra for the plant science and publishing community. Radical change is coming very soon to plant science publishing, no doubt.
I wonder if a similar phenomenon might affect sloth and snail research ?
Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva says:
Despite multiple indications to the editor board of this journal, and to Elsevier Ltd. management, including the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Reed-Elsevier, Mark Seeley (http://www.elsevier.com/about/management), since at least 2010, that the information on the pages of this journal continue to be contradictory, and thus false, including the definitions of authorship, absolutely nothing is done about correcting and/or standardizing the errors and the documents. This is an excellent example of senior managerial mismanagement, and corporate and editorial irresponsibility at the highest level of science publishing for three reasons:
a) Scientia Horticulturae is the leading/premier horticultural journal in the world;
b) It has a 40-41 year publishing history and a 5-year impact factor (2012; JCI) of 1.730 (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/scientia-horticulturae/);
c) Elsevier Ltd. is the leading science publisher globally.
The underlying message for me is simple: they just don’t care about the accuracy of the information, but are quick to retract papers and call out authors when it comes to their carelessness.
Allow me to indicate exactly why such small differences are potentially a fraudulent situation.
Set 1 information (26 March, 2014; verbatim):
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/scientia-horticulturae/editorial-board/
“Scientia Horticulturae Editorial Board
J.P. Bower
S.C. Debnath, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
W.W. Guo, HuaZhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
T. Moriguchi, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
B. Pennisi, University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia, USA
D. Schwarz, Leibniz-Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Grossbeeren, Germany
S.J. Wellensiek
G.H. Barry, XLnT Citrus Company, Helderberg, Cape Town, South Africa
R.I. Cabrera, Texas A&M University, Dallas, Texas, USA
G. Colla, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
C. de Kreij, Research Floriculture & Glasshouse Vegetables, Hoofddorp, Netherlands
M. Dorais, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
G.C. Douglas, Teagasc Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Dublin 19, Ireland
R.L. Geneve, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
A. Gunes, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
W.P. Hackett, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
V. Kesavan, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Carnavon, Western Australia, Australia
C. Lovatt, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, California, USA
A. Monteiro, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisboa Cedex, Portugal
P. Mooney, Sardi, Urrbrae, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
R.E. Paull, University of Hawaii at Mãnoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
F. Pliego Alfaro, Universidad de Malaga, Málaga, Spain
J.V. Possingham, Possum’s Vineyard, Unley Park, South Australia, Australia
L. Rallo, Universidad de Cordoba, Córdoba, Spain
M.S. Reid, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
D. Savvas, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
R.R. Sharma, IARI, New Delihi, India
L. Tian, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), London, Ontario, Canada
D.W. Turner, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
X. Wang, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
G.E. Welbaum, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Set 2 information (from the Editorial Board PDF, also dated on March 26, 2014, Volume 168):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03044238/168
http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0304423814001411/1-s2.0-S0304423814001411-main.pdf?_tid=71dd756e-b4d8-11e3-841c-00000aacb35f&acdnat=1395832926_7ecd13df45175d263831392488d9cede
Dr. John Bower, Horticultural Consultant, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada
Dr. Samir C. Debnath, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Prof. X.X. Deng, Huazhong Agricultural University, National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Shizhishan Street No. 1, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China
Prof. Takaya Moriguchi, National Institute of Fruit Tree Science, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8605, Japan
Bodie Pennisi, Associate Professor and Extension Landscape Specialist, Dept. of Horticulture University of Georgia Griffin Campus, 1109 Experiment St. Cowart Bldg., 103, Griffi n, GA 30223
Dr. Dietmar Schwarz, Leibniz-Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops. Theodor-Echtermeyer-Weg 1, 14979 Grossbeeren, Germany
G.H. Barry, XLnT Citrus Company, Cape Town, South Africa
R.I. Cabrera, Texas A&M University, Dallas, TX, USA
G. Colla, Universita degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
C. de Kreij, Research Floriculture & Glasshouse Vegetables, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands
M. Dorais, Universite Laval, Quebec, Canada
G.C. Douglas, TEAGASC, Dublin, Ireland
R.L. Geneve, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
W. Guo, Huazhong Agricultural, University China
W.P. Hackett, Univ. California, Davis, CA, USA
E. Heuvelink, Agric. Univ. Wageningen, Wageningen, Netherlands
V. Kesavan, Department of Agriculture, Carnavon, WA, Australia
C.J. Lovatt, Univ. California, Riverside, CA, USA
A.A. Monteiro, Inst. Superior de Agronomia, Lisbon, Portugal
P. Mooney, Plant Research Centre, Waite Research Precinct, Adelaide, South Australia
R.E. Paull, Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
F. Pliego Alfaro, Univ. Málaga, Málaga, Spain
J.V. Possingham, Possum’s Vineyards, Unley Park, Adelaide, Australia
L. Rallo, Univ. Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain
M.S. Reid, Univ. California, Davis, CA, USA
R.R. Sharma, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
L. Tian, Southern Crop Protection and Food Research Centre, London, Ontario
D.W. Turner, The Univ.W. Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia
X. Wang, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Beijing, China
Please compare the lists VERY carefully, person by person, line for line. Is this correct? Is this honest? Is this ethically acceptable especially when the publisher has been informed ample times of these discrepancies? I think not. Yet, there seems absolutely no way to convince Elsevier that this is fundamentally wrong. We are in 2014, not 1994, accuracy, precision, timely correction are all aspects that make up an efficient, transparent and trustworthy company. If such basic issues cannot be done responsibly and professionally, then what can we conclude about te academic process and peer review? My experience has told me that serious problems exist with select members of the editor board, with the peer process, and with the review management and decision making. But each of these issues will be recorded here, one by one, to consititute a public repository of this information for the horticultural/plant science community, who deserve to get such insight.
BMMK says:
Excellent move by Sci Hort
In October 2013, I reported to RW the very first ever retraction in the world’s No. 1 horticultural journal, Scientia Horticulturae, published by Elsevier. At around the same time, Dr. Michael Kane was substituted by Dr. Samir Chandra Debnath, after pressure from my official complaints to the journal and publisher. At the same time, I made many pointed but important queries that truly ruffled the feathers of both the status quo editor board and the publisher. I claimed, among many things, that the literature in that journal contained papers with some serious problems that had not been addressed, despite my official complaints and letters of concern. In fact, most of my emails were ignored. In addition, two new editors-in-chief were suddenly ushered in at the end of 2013, and I questioned how these individuals were so suddenly vetted, and recruited to the editor board. I felt that as a long-serving author who had supported this journal and publisher, for about a decade, that such issues were important to discuss openly, because they underlie the quality-control issues in the most important horticultural journal on this planet. When I and my publishing collaborators started to receive e-mails which I believe were a bid to victimize, silence and alienate me, I decided to call on the resignation of Dietmar Schwarz and Samir Debnath. I also questioned the validity of the Elsevier staff member Emma Granqvist, who failed to respond to any of my queries. I felt that my valid concerns, which, if addressed, could fortify the quality of the journal and the trust by the horticultural community in this journal, its editor board and publisher, especially in these very turbulent times in science publishing. I honestly felt that my ideas would be of valuable assistance to Elsevier. Instead, I was met with a banning from the journal. In October, 2013, I reported to RW a historical day: the first retraction from the world’s premier horticultural journal. On April 14, 2014, history was again made.
I was the first plant scientist (possibly) to ever have been banned from Scientia Horticulturae. If there are others, then Elsevier has the responsibility of showing such cases publically, so that they may be analyzed.
However, my claims and facts, as documented on another RW page (http://retractionwatch.com/2014/04/10/following-personal-attacks-and-threats-elsevier-plant-journal-makes-author-persona-non-grata/), reveal dozens of what I think are contradictions, power plays and suspect activities by several members of the editor board. Between April 14 and April 25, there was a sudden disappearance of no less than 8 editors, and the sudden appearance of 11 new editors, on the official masthead. Considering that the editor board consists of, excluding the 6 editors-in-chief, 29 editors (at least on April 28, 2014; http://www.journals.elsevier.com/scientia-horticulturae/editorial-board/), this suggests that my claims and revelations have resulted in a sudden radical change to more than 65% of the editor board. Never in the 40+ year history of this journal has such radical change ever occurred. And, from what I have seen from the editor board of most IF-carrying plant science journals, such a revolutionary change has also never occurred in the history of plant science journals (I call on publishers to refute my claim with detailed cases). And I claim it is because of my public exposure of the bias, contradictions (in ethics and professionalism, or lack thereof) by the editor board members and publisher, the inclusion of questionable information on public PDFs and web-sites, and wha I think is suspect authorship of select editor board members. It is, I think, because one complaining and conscientious member of the horticultural community decided to finally expose the rot within this institutionalized sector of science that such radical change has occurred. I have suffered tremendously, physically and psychologically, for years now because of my conflicts with Elsevier Ltd and with the editor board members of Scientia Horticulturae, but may my banning serve as testament that sacrifices can cause change.
Despite these changes, Elsevier continues as if nothing has changed. Business as usual. This then leaves countlessly more questions unanswered, in addition to the dozens of unanswered questions on the other RW page:
1) Why was my banning from Scientia Horticulturae a story at RW?
2) Why has no member of Elsevier management come to RW to publically address the concerns that I have posed and which can affect any Scientia Horticulturae author in the future? Doe Elsevier honestly believe that the official response provided to RW (and thus the horticultural community) “the letter speaks for itself” actually addresses this clear scandal?
3) Why has no editor in chief or editor yet made any public statement, or come forward?
4) How are new editors vetted and recruited. It is obvious that many of the editors who suddenly disappeared (sacked or resigned?) were UNDERQUALIFIED. Yet, they were editor board members, in some cases, for more than 10 years.
5) Why was there no negotiation? Surely, simple professional pen and transparent dialogue to address my claims and concerns would have avoided this PR fiasco? Does Elsevier seriously believe that expelling one of their staunchest supporters will somehow silence currently silent critics or potentially future vocal critics?
6) What are the actual functions and responsibilities of EICs and editors in Scientia Horticulturae? What do they actually do?
7) Can I safely assume that Elsevier has used its online submission system to amass a data-base of reviewers who are explored, for free, to ensure the scientific quality of papers, and that the editors, in essence, do (or have done) nothing except serve as “brand names” to attract new authors and feign academic excellence?
8) Elsevier Ltd. is the highest paying COPE member. Why is COPE silent and why have they not come out publically? Can we conclude that the power of money (as membership) trumps the power of ethics?
9) Why has no notice of my banning been published in the latest issue of Scientia Horticulturae? Why has no editorial been published that explains these conflicts and provides frank, open, honest and transparent perspectives from the editors to reassure the horticultural community that this is a journal that is not run by the impact factor, but is run by a team of professionals? Do the editors and the publisher honestly believe that this issue is not central to all its authors?
10) What does Thomson Reuters think about this story?
It is important for all Scientia Horticulturae authors to become aware of this story. It is important for them to share of their grievances publically, especially when they have not received suitable or any responses, ether by the editor board or by the publisher. And, I have a few pieces of advice for Elsevier and Scientia Horticulturae:
a) Embrace post-publication peer review as part of your publishing model. There are problems with papers you have published. These need to be corrected. You cannot continue to sweep complaints under the carpet because at some point, the carpet will rip open and expose a massive pile of hidden complaints.
b) Allow authors to complain, and have a suitable PR person to deal with authors who are not so diplomatic with their language or complaints. Their complaints are valid, but they are not always trained to deal with PR-related issues. Authors can be or feel victimized by small or large issues, but issues nonetheless. Elsevier should have a more effective system to deal with author complaints and offer author rights, especially where conflicts between authors and editors seems to be unresolvable. Banning authors is not a viable long-term solution. Addressing dissent is.
c) Explain publically and in a transparent way how processes are conducted. For example, how are editors vetted and recruited? Under what circumstances are papers flat-out rejected? Why can authors not challenge rejection decisions made by EICs?
For now, Elsevier Ltd is lucky. Because many plant and horticultural scientists milk the impact factor to gain financial rewards (either as salaries or as research grants). If this silly concept, the impact factor, were to be removed from the publishing equation, then there is no doubt that dozens of competing horticultural journals without an impact factor, would attract wider authorship and thus readership. The fact that there is this powerful and unhealthy marriage between Elsevier and Thomson Reuters will only provide short-term security. Once more and more scientists start to wake up and stop supporting the “game”, and once shareholders start to appreciate that the foundations of this business model are based on sand, then we will see a real game-changer. My banning and the historical upheaval of the Scientia Horticulturae editor board is only the warning shot.
To my critics, I state, history must never be forgotten, or buried:
http://outofthejungle.blogspot.jp/2005/09/more-on-elsevier-and-arms-trade.html
http://www.psc-cuny.org/clarion/april-2012/academic-journals-and-corporate-interests-reed-elsevier-and-alec
http://www.bmj.com/content/334/7593/547?tab=responses
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Open_letter_to_FCT_and_Elsevier.php
A 2015 corrigendum appears for a 2007 paper:
Corrigendum to “Characterization of wild Prunus yedoensis analyzed by inter-simple sequence repeat and chloroplast DNA” [Sci. Hortic. (2007) 121–128]
Mark S. Roh a, Eun Ju Cheong b, Ik-Young Choi c, Young Hee Joung d
a US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Arboretum, Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
b US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Plant Disease Research Unit, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
c Seoul National University, CALS, NICEM, San 56-1 Sillim-9-dong Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-921, Republic of Korea
d Cheonnam National University, School of Biological Science & Technology, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea
Scientia Horticulturae Volume 190, 16 July 2015, Pages 211
Please compare these two papers.
Mweetwa, A.M., Welbaum, G.E., Tay, D. (2008a) A preliminary investigation on the effect of seed physiological stage, concentration and duration of exposure to calcium hypochlorite on in vitro germinability and seedling development of Phalaenopsis amabilis orchids. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 782:99-106.
http://www.actahort.org/books/782/782_9.htm
Mweetwa, A.M., Welbaum, G.E., Tay, D. (2008b) Effects of development, temperature, and calcium hypochlorite treatment on in vitro germinability of Phalaenopsis seeds. Scientia Horticulturae 117(3), 257–262
DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2008.03.035
PubPeer:
https://pubpeer.com/publications/CA87E4627D35A037995FC65384B8E2
Please compare these four papers.
Davies, L.J., Brooking, I.R., Catley, J.L., Halligan, E.A. (2002a) Effects of constant temperature and irradiance on the flower stem quality of Sandersonia aurantiaca. Scientia Horticulturae 93(3–4): 321-332
Davies, L.J., Brooking, I.R., Catley, J.L., Halligan, E.A. (2002b) Effects of day/night temperature differential and irradiance on the flower stem quality of Sandersonia aurantiaca. Scientia Horticulturae 95(1–2): 85-98
Catley, J.L., Brooking, I.R., Davies, L.J., Halligan, E.A. (2002a) Temperature and light requirements for Sandersonia aurantiaca flowering. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 570: 105-112
http://www.actahort.org/books/570/570_10.htm
Catley, J.L., Brooking, I.R., Davies, L.J., Halligan, E.A. (2002b) Temperature and irradiance effects on Sandersonia aurantiaca flower shape and pedicel length. Scientia Horticulturae 93(2): 157–166
https://pubpeer.com/publications/0FC58797E3FA0B01AD3870AC830FC0 (Davies et al. 2002a)
https://pubpeer.com/publications/DAF5E5776FE29639B714D770F5C663 (Davies et al. 2002b)
https://pubpeer.com/publications/621310D468C7D3D7E558691E86FE55 (Catley et al. 2002b)
Scientia Horticulturae 128(2) (2011) 124-130
Adventitious shoot regeneration in a bioreactor system and EST-PCR based clonal fidelity in lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.)
Samir C. Debnath
Canadian Journal of Plant Science (2011) 91: 147-157
Bioreactors and molecular analysis in berry crop micropropagation – A review
doi: 10.4141/CJPS10131
http://pubs.aic.ca/toc/cjps/91/1
http://pubs.aic.ca/doi/pdf/10.4141/cjps10131
https://pubpeer.com/publications/975920570A46D93A15F253D6AB7E0A
https://pubpeer.com/publications/FC84EB091248845E2F7749A918BB1A
Debnath SC. Erratum : Bioreactors and molecular analysis in berry crop micropropagation – A review. Can J Plant Sci. 2015 Jul;95(4):811–811.
Doi: 10.4141/cjps-2015-504
http://pubs.aic.ca/doi/full/10.4141/cjps-2015-504
http://pubs.aic.ca/doi/pdf/10.4141/cjps-2015-504
Scientia Horticulturae Volume 88, Issue 3, 4 May 2001, Pages 235-241
Flower colours and pigments in hybrid tuberose (Polianthes).
Kuang-Liang Huang, Ikuo Miyajima, Hiroshi Okubo, Tsai-Mu Shen, Ta-Shiung Huang
Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 570, 367-371 (2002)
Breeding of Colored Tuberose (Polianthes) and Cultural Experiments in Taiwan
https://pubpeer.com/publications/884684DE3053873BD6CFD06BDEE456
This web-page with important information has disappeared from the Scientia Horticulturae and Elsevier web-site:
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/scientia-horticulturae/news/samir-debnath-appointed-as-editor-in-chief/
HortScience 29(10):1191–1194. 1994
Low-temperature storage for quality preservation and growth suppression of broccoli plantlets cultured in vitro
Chieri Kubota, Toyoki Kozai
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/29/10/1191.abstract
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/29/10/1191.full.pdf+html
Scientia Horticulturae Volume 61, Issues 3–4, March 1995, Pages 193–204
Low-temperature storage of transplants at the light compensation point: air temperature and light intensity for growth suppression and quality preservation
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/030442389400717T
DOI: 10.1016/0304-4238(94)00717-T
https://pubpeer.com/publications/5E6369E11D27066D060DB55752BD73
Please compare these two papers, also by Toyoki Kozai.
Yulan Xiao, Toyoki Kozai (2004) Commercial application of a photoautotrophic micropropagation system using large vessels with forced ventilation: plantlet growth and production cost. HortScience 39(6): 345-356.
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/39/6/1387.full.pdf
Kozai, T., Nguyen, Q.T. and Xiao, Y. 2006. A Commercialized photoautotrophic micropropagation system using large vessels with forced ventilation: Plant growth and economic benefits. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 725:279-292
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.725.35
International Society for Horticultural Science
https://pubpeer.com/publications/1D2873AFD20B9E9C4679D2A6931032
Closed Transplant Production System at Chiba University
Changhoo Chun, Toyoki Kozai
In: C. Kubota and C. Chun (eds.), Transplant Production in the 21 st Century, pp. 20-27.
Department of Bioproduction Science, Faculty of Horticulture, Chiba University,
Matsudo, Chiba 271-8510, Japan.
© 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-015-9371-7_2
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-015-9371-7_2
A Closed-Type Transplant Production System
N. Morohoshi, Atsushi Komamine (eds.), Molecular Breeding of Woody Plants (vol 18), pp. 375–384
© 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.
2001: https://pubpeer.com/publications/2D50FB9EBA9CA93638302BAF865A52
Please compare these three papers, also by Toyoki Kozai.
Kozai, T., Chun, C., Ohyama, K. (2004). Closed systems with lamps for commercial production of transplants using minimal resources. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 630, 239-254
http://dx.doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.630.30
Toyoki Kozai (2005) Closed systems with lamps for high quality transplant production at low costs using minimum resources. In: T. Kozai, F. Afreen, S. M. A. Zobayed (eds) Photoautotrophic (sugar-free medium) micropropagation as a new propagation and transplant production system. Chapter 17, pp: 268-303 (web-site states 275-311).
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/1-4020-3126-2_17
DOI: 10.1007/1-4020-3126-2_17 (cannot be linked to PubPeer)
Kozai, T., Ohyama, K., Chun, C. (2006). Commercialized closed systems with artificial lighting for plant production. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 711, 61-70
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.711.5
http://dx.doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.711.5
2004: https://pubpeer.com/publications/E3BBE85EF30ABB85C22C68CB69ED3B
2006: https://pubpeer.com/publications/C17A228B630CCB13F5176B68C92AA4
Queries pertaining to 23 papers by the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Samir C. Debnath, were made in the past fortnight at PubPeer, as follows. I contacted Dr. Debnath just prior to Christmas to request that he address these multiple issues.
Today (January 4, 2016), a comment appears at PubPeer* stating: “Errata will be published”
Debnath (2003): https://pubpeer.com/publications/7D27CF4AA4E9A07E34FD482D381856
Debnath (2006): https://pubpeer.com/publications/C905E8D40BE5DFA86D2D251C814D96
Debnath (2007): https://pubpeer.com/publications/825C92576BE5C5E81C8311368D37FF
Debnath (2007): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/9CEDBD80564DE48CEDD1DEB606C503
Debnath (2008): https://pubpeer.com/publications/213660EEAA8DAEF841EA204F7CFD3C
Debnath (2009): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/6ECD7340D853265B2E13BC05F324AC
Debnath (2009): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/9FD632A024F91E79D6A337AB94B2F1
Debnath (2010): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/D2AE786706D919B096604F2AE1C59E
*Debnath (2011): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/FC84EB091248845E2F7749A918BB1A
Debnath (2011): https://pubpeer.com/publications/FC84EB091248845E2F7749A918BB1A
Debnath (2011): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/975920570A46D93A15F253D6AB7E0A
Debnath (2012): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/AB78ABEA7841D810540AA648BBF22C
Debnath et al. (2012): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/6A2E628381272A58BCA142532C209F
Debnath et al. (2012): https://pubpeer.com/publications/CD566A706164CA483D34E59E211F32
Debnath (2014): https://pubpeer.com/publications/451661E7CA3294A69FC8DEED38FC2D
Debnath (2014): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/814EF1428D9E1F1407F5DE608F37C0
Debnath (2014): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/8350894ABD8147B4FBA58017B42D59
Debnath (2014): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/0006A9FF84598C2E9EC7E45B6D556D
Debnath (2014): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/A905DD5F7AB3E6FA48739BA509F191
Debnath (2015): https://pubpeer.com/publications/D6C3FA5DACFC48D9661F91F31DCF4B
Debnath (2015: erratum): https://pubpeer.com/publications/F07FDBB2F28077741CBEF4A0F6A834
Goyali et al. (2015): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/955546EBDE6CB02186CF1624126BD0
Debnath (2016): https://www.pubpeer.com/publications/221D54A512A1D674B07DB5ADC2E9EA
From the Office of the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture, in defense of Dr. Debnath:
“This letter is in response to your email to Minister MacAulay regarding your complaint against an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientist. The Minister has asked me to respond on his behalf. All AAFC employees are subject to the AAFC Code of Values and Ethics. Given the specific nature of their work, our scientists also hold themselves to the highest scientific ethics and integrity standards set out by AAFC Science Ethics Policy Framework. The Framework implementation is overseen by the Science and Technology Branch’s Science Ethics Committee. AAFC does not take allegations of scientific misconduct lightly. All AAFC science publications are reviewed both individually by AAFC management, and by the journals in which they are published, and from time to time as a body of a scientist’s individual work. No issues with Dr. Debnath’s work have ever been found by such reviews. We also have an obligation to our employees to protect them, and the Department from unsubstantiated claims of misconduct. As you have given us no cause to further investigate Dr. Debrath’s publications at this time, we ask that you desist from spreading innuendo regarding his work.”
Today, I received an email from Dr. Debnath, from his official @agr.gc.ca email, in which only one sentence was written, as follows.
On Thursday, January 21, 2016 12:04 AM, “Debnath, Samir” [redacted] wrote:
“The contract of Samir Debnath as an Editor-in-Chief of Scientia Horticulturae was ended on December 31, 2015.”
This email was sent to me by Dr. Debnath hours after after I sent a formal query to the ISHS and Scientia Horticulturae about two papers, one of which involves Scientia Horticulturae.
2001: https://pubpeer.com/publications/884684DE3053873BD6CFD06BDEE456
2003: https://pubpeer.com/publications/F5853DD38B5CA3EC88BB8067C3C3A7
Kindly observe these two papers.
Scientia Horticulturae Volume 136, 1 March 2012, Pages 43–49
In vitro somatic embryogenesis from suspension cultures of Carica papaya L.
R. Anandan, D. Sudhakar, P. Balasubramanian, Antonia Gutiérrez-Mora
Journal of Agricultural Technology 2011 Vol. 7(5): 1339-1348
In vitro organogenesis and plantlet regeneration of (Carica papaya L.)
R. Anandan, S. Thirugnanakumar, D. Sudhakar, P. Balasubramanian
http://www.ijat-aatsea.com/Past_v7_n5.html
http://www.ijat-aatsea.com/pdf/September_v7_n5_11/17_IJAT2011_7_5_%20Anandan%20_F.pdf
No DOI.
https://pubpeer.com/publications/E7495F1E136DFC38BED3D851C9883A
Previous Previous post: Image manipulation leads to fifth retraction for plant research group
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The Democratic Party fails to provide a real “#Resistance”
Nate Stewart
In the days and weeks following the election of Donald Trump, a massive groundswell of anger against the new administration swept the nation. Since then, the opposition has had a hard time organizing. Numerous competing groups are vying for the political power that comes with such an intense level of emotion.
Perhaps the largest and most powerful of these groups feeding off the opposition is the Democratic Party. The party seems to want to harness it to regain some of the thousand seats they have lost in the past decade with their “#Resistance.”
Yet, the Democrats may be poor stewards for such a movement. In many ways they offer little change from the Republican line. For example, they accepted without argument a nearly $700 billion defense budget proposed by the GOP last September. And this is to say nothing of their wholehearted if not extremely vocal support of corporate welfare in the form of things like stimulus packages and institutions like the Export-Import Bank.
Not only that, but the Democrats seem to hold a disturbing tendency to back out of controversial Progressive commitments when the chips are down. This was proved when Baltimore’s Mayor Catherine Pugh ignored a campaign promise to support a living wage by vetoing a $15 minimum wage bill last March.
But the issues do not stop with their present policy; the Democratic Party seems to be headed in the complete opposite direction of forming a “Resistance.” This was indicated as early as this February, when the party declined Senator Bernie Sanders’ challenge to move left by appointing the corporatist Tom Perez to chairman over the progressive Keith Ellison. However, this move was loudly and clearly determined as early as the 2016 Democratic National Convention when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outlined the party’s electoral strategy.
“For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia,” he declared in a clear challenge to the Sanders supporting faction, “and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
The opposite, of course, proved to be true. “Moderate Republicans” voted with the real Republicans and many blue-collar Democrats, abandoned by their party, were left with no one to vote for at all. Thus, Trump carried working class districts even in supposedly deep-blue states.
This decision to pursue mythical Republican moderates instead of left-leaning Democrats or independents is frankly what produced Trump in the first place. How exactly can a party resist something that they themselves were complicit in creating? Furthermore, how can they defeat Trump without addressing the internal failings that allowed him to win in the first place? They cannot and they will not.
If this tendency continues, the United States will see progressive organizations eclipse the Democratic Party as the effective “Resistance” to the Conservative government, as groups ranging from the Democratic Socialists of America to the Green Party absorb the disenfranchised base of the old party.
At the moment it seems these progressive groups remain fractured and without serious direction. However, should these groups find some sort of unity and common direction they could prove to be a revolutionary force in American politics, providing something not seen in nearly half a century that the establishment simply cannot deal with: a truly different sort of political perspective.
Joe Biden and the hypocrisy of the Democrats
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SGA advisor Craig Berger bids farewell to UMBC
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Why does the VIC-20 have 5KiB of RAM?
Why does the VIC-20 have 5 KiB of RAM? Why not a multiple of 4 as any other systems, e.g 4 KiB or 8 KiB. Is there a technical reason for that?
Biff IamBiff Iam
Not enough for a canonical answer, but I've read that Commodore had a surplus of 512-byte SRAM chips and used them, as to why the magic number was 10 chips I'd guess it was related to space on board or the logic required to wire all those chips together, but hoping someone has a more comprehensive reference... – Joe Mar 31 '18 at 19:36
I'd need to check my sources before giving a confident answer, but this I can tell you offhand with certainty: the Vic-20 memory map is dreadful. Each RAM expansion changes the ordering and/or placement of BASIC and the screen such that most software is compatible with only exactly one memory layout. Want to run a base-machine-compatible program? Better actually unplug your 16kb expansion, or it's not going to work. Better hope you don't sit through the full load and realise only at the end. – Tommy Mar 31 '18 at 19:41
Because "5K ought to be enough for anyone" .... literally what a salesman said to my family when shopping for a computer in 1981. I think they made the better choice getting a TI-99/4A (which, incidentally, also had an odd amount of memory for similar reasons -- its CPU needed a fast SRAM in order to work properly in addition to the 16K of DRAM connected to its VDP, resulting in a total of 16.25K of RAM) – Jules Mar 31 '18 at 19:59
The VIC-20 RAM is not that bad. If you add only the 3K, the video stays the same at $1E00 and the start of BASIC moves down into the 3K at $0400. When the first 8K is added, regardless of the 3K expander, the video moves down to $1000 and the start of BASIC moves to the end of the video RAM at $1200, and stays there regardless of ANY other expanders. This leaves the 3K expander space empty for other uses. This all could have been avoided by giving the VIC-20 8K of RAM. The video could be at $400 and BASIC at $600, and nothing would have to move when RAM is added, except the end of BASIC. – Tim Locke Mar 31 '18 at 20:29
Simple reason:
Commodore had an overstock of 2114 Chips at that time (*1), so Jack Tramiel, then president of Commodore, ordered the project (*2) to use them.
Yeah, but why 5 KiB? Why not just 4KiB?
Due the nature of the 6502, RAM is needed at address 0, while the way the 6560 VIC (*3) was addressed called for RAM at $1xxx. So with a continous memory of 4 Kib would not have worked. As a result they decided to add one KiB (2x2114) at address 0, so the CPU got it's special areas (ZP/Stack), plus 4 KiB (8x2114) at $1000, thus having maximum flexibility with the video chip (*4).
Later, when the overstock was used up and the VIC-20 still sold well, Commodore made the B revision using two 6116 2KiB RAMs (*5) instead of the 8 2114s, as now, buying two larger was quite less expensive than continuing with 2114s.
And as a side note, the VC-20 didn't just have 5 Kib, but an additional 1 Ki Nibble (4 bit words) as Colour RAM at $9400 (or $9600 in maximum RAM mode).
*1 - Commodore/MOS did produce RAMs at that time, but reacted way too late when the market shifted away from these small sizes and static at all.
*2 - Which was anyway rushed to be completed due his need for a Spring 1980 CES presentation.
*3 - 6560 VIC - Video Interface Controller, the video controller used - hence the name for the machine. European Versions used the PAL Version 6561.
*4 - The whole story here is tied to the unusual way the RAM expansion for different sizes are handled.
*5 - It still had to be static RAM, as they just wanted to make a new board, not redesign the whole system.
Jim MacKenzie
Also, out of curiosity, is there any reason the VIC would care about whether RAM was mapped at 1000 and ROM at 0000, versus the other way around? I'm thinking the 5K decision really was more likely motivated by marketing than the technical issues of 1Kx4 RAM chips. BTW, it's interesting to note that the C64 also includes a 1Kx4 RAM for color attributes. – supercat Apr 1 '18 at 4:03
@supercat You don't want to map $0000 to ROM, that contains the Zero Page which is treated specially by the 65XX family of processors. Arguably only RAM required for a 6500 is the $0000 and $0100 pages. – Will Hartung Apr 1 '18 at 4:14
@Raffzahn: My recollection from that era is that the the incompatibilities with 3K and 8K expansions may have discouraged people from getting them who otherwise might have done so, since it wouldn't be possible to get a 3K expander and then later upgrade to 16K. Abandoning the address space from 0400-0FFF and having a small expander card which could sit at 2000, 4000, or 6000 would have required nothing more than adding a 74138 in the small expander card (while freeing up three contacts on the bus connector) and would have allowed... – supercat Apr 1 '18 at 23:00
...addition of a small expander card plus one or two 8K cards, with all memory being usable. – supercat Apr 1 '18 at 23:01
@Raffzahn: I wasn't the very first person in the world to buy a VIC-20, but the incompatibility issues posed by upward-growing and downward-growing memory were recognized and described in the documentation from the get-go. Having 5K instead of 4K was great marketing, but I fail to see any particular technical benefit to having expansion RAM at 0400-0FFF. – supercat Apr 1 '18 at 23:31
The VIC-20 has 1K of low memory ram containing room for the zeropage, the stack and kernal and basic working areas. ($000-$03FF)
4K of main RAM ($1000-$1FFF)
so the main ram is a multiple of 4.
see memory map
EL DendoEL Dendo
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged vic-20 or ask your own question.
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Vic-20 total game cartridge sales
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Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #004 – A Good Neighborhood Tiger
Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
But seriously there was a lot of Taiga in this episode. I mean I love the lady. She is a lovely comic relief character with an earnest heart. I have a feeling that she might have won over a few hearts at Ufotable through Eizenberg consultation room extras just like she was a character beloved by the staff of Type-Moon during the creation of Fate/Stay Night. This is also the only path where she actually participates in the main plot. All that said she always has been a minor character. There was a reason that when Studio Deen threw the United Blade Works parts of Caster’s story into their version of Fate they had Sakura be the one who was kidnapped instead of Taiga. It was one of the few times one of the changes did not do that much to alter the themes of the story. You could argue that putting Sakura in that role added themes and elements that were never meant to be there but I think it is more an interesting choice that can be debated as more than just a poor decision like many of the other changes they made.
I don’t mind more Tiger but like the added prominence of Ayako Mitsuduri and the Three Amiags it makes me wonder if they are trying to build up these characters a bit more for Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. I know part of the reason I keep mentioning it is because I’m seriously hoping that Ufotable will animate the sequel game as they are probably one of the few studios who could easily find a way to tell that story in a way that hits all the highlights, captures the themes correctly, and only cuts the enjoyable but unnecessary filler parts of that story. I really feel like the only way characters like Bazett, Caren, and Avenger will gain any serious prominence is if they get a role in a proper anime. I feel like one of the reasons Tsukihime has always been a lower tier is that its anime has always been lower profile as well. Without a decently accepted anime you will never be able to break through that glass ceiling.
Now that Shiro is officially part of the Holy Grail War and informed of what the stakes are Rin tells him that her debt has been paid. They are now enemies when they next meet. Despite this Shiro mostly spends his time returning to his normal schedule. This results in Saber following him to school and creating a bit of a hubbub that comes with beautiful blond foreigner following him around. In fact it ends with Sakura and Taiga spending the night to prevent any hanky panky at the Emiya residence.
At the same time Rin is actually making progress and she discovers that the mysterious gas leaks are actually the result of Caster who has settled in at the Ryuudou Temple. Rin has chosen her next target no matter how formidable they might be.
I thought we got this out of our system with Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya. I realize this is a bit of fleshing of out of Illya’s motivations, confirmation that she knows that Shiro is Kiritsugu’s son, and that she plans to get revenge on her old man through his heir. But in reality we know that major reason to have this scene is to show of a bathing Illya. They could have had this scene taking place over Illya having tea or eating dinner but that is not what they chose.
It does make you wonder if they are ever going to dig out that Illya path down the road. It would not sell if it were made. I think it is more a matter of Nasu not being the quickest writer and having enough on his plate as it is than a lack of demand.
We also get to see a bit of Sella and Leysritt. They have always been minor players who would have apparently gotten more screen time if there was an Illya path (including some sexy times) but if nothing else Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya has probably pushed them to bit more prominence. Leysritt’s more notable features surely don’t hurt.
But this also means unless there are some serious changes to what happens in this arc these two women are not going to have a happy life where they retire to the countryside to raise Illya and bicker about who is pulling their weight in the maintenance of the mansion.
Rin has a bit of flab on her mind in this scene. Actually I had forgotten those odd little turns of phrase she uses like their being too much flab on her mind from the visual novel. They usually never have her use her Rin-isms in other adaptations.
Of course Shiro walks right into that one. There may be a reason Rin likes messing with you Shiro. The fact that she likes you might just be an added bonus on top of trying to teach you not to stick your foot in your mouth.
But beyond Shiro being Shiro this is a prime example of the real Rin being in conflict with the mask she wears which is also in conflict with the person she sees herself as. Rin presents herself as a prim and proper lady of the mildest Maria-sama ga Miteru variety, she thinks that she is a Oniisama e.. battle-ax, but in reality she is a kind but fierce Teresa of the Faint Smile. She tries to make it out that she will kill Shiro but in the end she is a defender of the innocent and a noble soul. As much as she wants to be as ruthless as her father she is a truly righteous person at heart.
It seems that when Rin cannot be the queen of exposition then it falls on the once and future King of England to give Shiro and the audience some needed information. Saber goes into from greater details of how the Grail War works and how the classes break down. We have Archer (Ranger), Assassin (Rouge), Berserker (Barbarian), Caster (Wizard), Lancer (Fighter), Saber (Paladin), and Rider (Cavalier) as the roles that the Servants can be summoned under. All of this also works to obfuscate the true name of the hero who was summoned in each category. Being able to identify a hero is a major part of the Holy Grail War. If you know you fighting Achilles you would not want to waste time targeting any other part of his body other than his heel whereas if you know you are fighting Thor you can plan your strategy around the limitations of Mjölnir. Knowledge is power.
As Shiro is such a low-level hedge wizard Saber opts not to reveal her identity to Shiro in fear that a more powerful magical opponent would easily be able to uncover which Servant he had summoned putting them at a major disadvantage. While Saber respects Shiro she also realizes his weaknesses.
Also this naming convention added a bit of mystery to Saber’s identity when people read the original visual novel. It is easy to forget now that Saber’s identity is about a big a spoiler as Spike Dies but you have to remember that a lot of people assumed that Saber was actually Joan of Arc until her big reveal. In many ways Joan of Arc’s prominence in Fate/Zero, Fate/Apocrypha, and Fate/Grand Order all comes from this initial impression.
It is time for Fate/School Life. Sadly we do not get to see Shiro, Shinji, and Issei play Sepak takraw against the Three Amigas. I guess that is what omake is for. (Although the real question is if Saber would play.)
Shiro does go to school with Saber as his bodyguard to deliver food for the always ravenous Taiga. Saber of course draws a lot of attention to herself. Sakura and her main shipping ally Taiga quickly notice a challenger to their romantic comedy antics with Shiro being followed by a pretty blond foreigner. The girls of Tsukihime know this danger all too well. Maybe Akiha Tohno sent them a letter giving them a heads up to what a danger they can be.
Ayako Mitsuduri on the other hand is more just curious what is going on with the lost sheep from the archery club. She wants back the star member of the archery club as well as her chief rival. Plus the idea of someone to help her keep Shinji in check is very welcome.
It was nice to see Sakura and Shiro actually do some archery. You can talk a big game about how good a shot Shiro is but if we never seem him pick up a bow it rings a bit hollow.
While he is mostly just a curiosity in the Fate path Souichirou Kuzuki is now a central player so he has to make his debut. While new viewers might wonder why this scene between a teacher and Saber has a palpable sense of tension the old hands are curious to see how much these two fighter learn about each other from their meeting. I think it is fairly clear they were not going to fight. The question is who gets the upper hand in the war of information. It appears that Team Emiya loses this battle.
At first Saber sees Souichirou as a potential Master. His movements are too perfect and his control too precise to be a normal person. While he might not be a Servant it is not out of the question for him to be a Master. But when Saber senses no magic and no smell of blood she just downgrades the teacher in her mind to someone who is just very dedicated to the martial arts. Then again that is just a testament to Souichirou’s skill as a former assassin that his technique prevents him from appearing like a killer to even those with heightened senses. At the same time while Souichirou might not know that Saber is a Servant he is clearly now keenly aware of her existence and her potential threat level. If Caster was not watching them before she is surely doing that now.
Ayako Mitsuduri’s conversation with Shiro really highlights the boy’s dysfunctional view of life. As someone who has been fairly close to him she has noticed that for all his cheer and helpfulness there is a distinct and pervasive sadness that emanates from Shiro. Unlike most people she has noticed that he might politely smile and laugh he distinctly carries some weight that prevents all of that from being truly genuine most of the time. It is not that she thinks he is a sociopath but that Shiro is clearly someone burdened by a trauma he cannot easily overcome. We know that it is his survivor’s guilt from being one of the few curious of the Great Fuyuki City Fire but it is interesting to see someone who knows him pick up on this as well. It makes it clear that the warning signs were always there it was just that most people ignored them because it was convenient.
Saber has been doing her best “This is a pen” version of a person who does not know Japanese. So when Saber is following Shiro, Taiga, and Sakura home they are both a little puzzled. But that is nothing compared to the explosion that occurs when the women find out that Saber will be living with him. They can feel the torpedos being shot at their ship.
I do find it interesting that Kiritsugu is still a weak spot for Taiga. Merely invoking his name shuts down most of her initial protests. She is still clearly carrying a torch for her old English teacher. That does not stop her from interfering later on but it does make her act more indirectly.
Sakura on the other hand does not have some crush on the departed. The object of her affection is right in front of her. But Sakura is not one for confrontation so her protests are easily vetoed. But as the night wears on it is clear that Taiga is creating a powerful force to keep Shiro’s chastity from being despoiled and Sakura is right on board.
With Sakura and Taiga staying at the house you have to wonder how many people are checking out assuming this is going into harem territory. I know the teenage protagonists were turning off some Fate/Zero fans as it was but the addition of new ladies in the house might have been the final straw.
It does bring up an interesting problem. The longer Shiro has other people at the house the more likely it is that someone is going to target them as well. While some Masters might avoid attacking a house with people who are not magical most Masters are not that kind. Civilians like this are just another step in cleanup after they have killed the magical members of the household. So it will be a battle of keeping Taiga in the dark while getting her to leave so she is not a potential target.
At the same time Sakura’s determination cannot be ignored as well. Also the fact that she has a much more clear idea of what is going on does not hurt.
Shiro has his work cut out for him.
While all of this is going on Rin has work to get done. The most obvious handiwork of a Master of the Holy Grail War is the rash of unexplained gas leaks around the town. To most people they seem random but to Rin they are clearly suspicious because not only are they extremely convenient they all take place on the cities major ley lines. If someone wanted to drain the life out of the citizens of Fuyuki City this would be a very efficient way of doing it. A little investigation shows that she is correct in her suspicions.
When she arrives at a building where there is a “gas leak” she finds skeletal familiars and life draining purple mist. While the undead creatures might look formidable they are easily taken out by Rin without Archer even having to lift a finger. The part of this scene that distresses her the most is the cruel use of civilians as mana batteries. As much as she pretends that she is going after the perpetrator of these attacks for tactical reason Archer mentions that Shiro is a far easier target to take on.
In Rin’s defense while she is clearly making this choice based on her feelings for Shiro and her sense of justice it might not be the poor tactics. Stopping a powerful Master from gathering up more mana is not the worst thing in the world. Shiro is not really out their gathering recourses or solidifying his grip on the city. This Master is doing that. The later she attacks the more this person will have to throw at them. The later she attacks the more of a disadvantage she will be at. Plus a living Shiro as bait is more useful that a dead Shiro doing nothing.
I am not exactly sure why this episode was called “Finding the Will to Fight.” I felt like Shiro found the will to fight in the last episode. It could refer to Rin’s determination to go after Caster but I don’t think she did not have that before this episode. Everyone else is clearly in it to win it. Heck, the title better refers to Sakura finding the will to fight to make sure Saber does not take away Shiro than anything else.
I will say Ufotable has done a good job of balancing out the talking with the fighting. The show is clearly more about people talking than killing each other but the do a good job of having one full action scene each episode. This could have been all Saber’s trip to school but the part with Rin makes it more than just a character study episode. That trend will surely continue next episode as some major players seem to be showing up and brining their desire to shed blood with them.
Previous Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works posts:
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #003 – Spoilers: Archer Uses a Bow
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #002 – Emiya Visits the Rip-Off Church
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #001 – People Almost Forgot Shiro is the Hero
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #000 – Archer the Combat Butler
Posted in: Anime, Favored Topics, Type-Moon | Tagged: Fate/Stay Night
So You Want to Watch Detective Conan: A Beginner’s Guide [UPDATED]
Manga of the Month: Space Brothers
3 thoughts on “Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works #004 – A Good Neighborhood Tiger”
highfirex says:
F/HA has the makings of an anime from the past. Its got lots of comedy and can service with a helping of plot now and again. I’m sure ufotable can afford it, but only after heavens feel is finished.
takashid says:
uh… pretty sure this episode is called “finding the will to fight” because of how it pertains to Rin, and her last scene with Archer. Up till now Rin has been making excuses to avoid fighting Shirou. But in the end she declares that she will kill him, that she really will see him as an enemy from now on. So its Rin [Finding the Will to Fight] Shirou. Which seems especially obvious since next episode will be their clash at school.
Ahh. Good call.
I guess I always feel like Rin never really finds the will to fight Shiro but maybe that is just me.
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Publication update 4: What will it take to save the Sumatran Rhino?
click image to download paper. Copyright notice: Cambridge University Press
We’re sure many of you know that one of the world’s most magnificent and docile creatures, the Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), is in deep trouble.
But just how bad is it? From a population of around 320 estimated in 1995, experts now say it could be down to as low as 216 individuals.
One of Rimba’s researchers, Reuben, was involved in a review published recently in the international journal Oryx. This paper was led by Ahmad Zafir Abdul Wahab (currently doing his PhD based at Universiti Sains Malaysia; ahmad.zafir@gmail.com) to find out what needs to be done to save this species from extinction. The consensus is that:
1) Wild individuals have to be captured and put in carefully managed forests that are as large and natural as possible.
2) There has to be an urgent injection of government and private funding to improve protection and monitoring capacities of agencies working on rhino conservation in four priority areas: Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas National Parks in Sumatra, and Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah.
Once this basic level of funding is secured for these priority areas, more funds need to be channeled towards a search party to determine the status of rhinos in two other important areas, Gunung Leuser in Sumatra and Taman Negara in Peninsular Malaysia.
Just how much are we talking about for this basic level of funding? Only USD1.2 million! Pocket change for some people, especially the guy who bought a 1939 Batman comic for the same price at an auction in Dallas, back in February 2010.
Surely the price of the Sumatran rhino’s existence is worth much more than a comic book? Surely governments and noble companies can put together a fraction of their GDPs and annual revenues to save this species?
Although the Sumatran rhino has a negative SAFE index of -1.36 and is tipping over into the chasm of extinction, there have been positive historical examples of rebounding rhino populations:
In southern Africa, white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) rebounded from just 20-50 individuals in the early 1900s to around 17,480 individuals today.
In India and Nepal, Indian rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) rebounded from only 200 individuals at the turn of the 20th century to around 2,575 individuals today.
Recovering from 216 individuals is by no means easy in this day and age, but history has shown it’s possible.
Please contact organizations actively engaged in Sumatran rhino conservation like the Borneo Rhino Alliance or International Rhino Foundation if you want to help preserve the existence of the Sumatran rhino. It’s now or never…
Full citation: Ahmad Zafir, A. W., Azlan, M., Lau, C. F., Sharma, D. S. K., Payne, J., Alfred, R., Williams, A. C., Nathan, S., Ramono, W. S., and Clements, R.G. 2011. Now or never: what will it take to save the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) from extinction? ORYX 45: 225-233.
May 9, 2011 March 12, 2013 by Rimba Categories: Home, PublicationsTags: Ahmad Zafir Abdul Wahab, Bukit Barisan Selatan, conservation, Danum, Gunung Leuser, International Rhino Foundation, James Cook University, Junaidi Payne, Malaysia, Oryx, Reuben Clements, rhino, SAFE index, Sumatra, Sumatran rhinoceros, Tabin, Taman Negara, Universiti Malaya, Way Kambas, WWF, WWF-Malaysia 1 Comment
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One thought on “Publication update 4: What will it take to save the Sumatran Rhino?”
ex-wpu says:
if there is a will, there is a way
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Stephen Tierney
University of Edinburgh - School of Law
Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh, EH8 9YL
Political Pragmatism and Constitutional Principle: The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
Forthcoming in Public Law, University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 58/2018
Number of pages: 26 Posted: 11 Oct 2018 Last Revised: 21 Oct 2018
Mark Elliott and Stephen Tierney
University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law and University of Edinburgh - School of Law
constitutional law, United Kingdom constitutional law, European Union law, Brexit, parliamentary sovereignty, rule of law, separation of powers, delegated legislation, secondary legislation, devolution, territorial constitution
Legal Issues Surrounding the Referendum on Independence for Scotland
European Constitutional Law Review 2013, Issue 3, Forthcoming, Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2013/34
Number of pages: 31 Posted: 25 Sep 2013 Last Revised: 09 Oct 2013
Scotland, Scottish, Independence, Referendum, Direct Democracy, UK constitution, Scotland and the European Union, Scotland and membership of the European Union, Scotland and international law, Scotland and the United Nations, statehood, secession, recognition, continuing state, successor state
Whose Political Constitution? Citizens and Referendums
Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2013/08
law, constitutional law, constitutional theory, direct democracy, referendums, constitutionalism, political constitutionalism, republicanism, civic republicanism
Scotland's Constitutional Future: The Legal Issues
Number of pages: 46 Posted: 19 Mar 2013 Last Revised: 03 Jun 2013
Tom Mullen and Stephen Tierney
University of Glasgow - School of Law and University of Edinburgh - School of Law
Law, Public law, constitutional law, United Kingdom constitution, United Kingdom devolution, Scottish devolution, Scottish independence, Scotland independence referendum and legality, Scotland Act 1998, nation-state, national identity, nationalism, sovereignty, post-sovereign, popular sovereignty
Using Electoral Law to Construct a Deliberative Referendum: Moving beyond the Democratic Paradox
law, constitutional law, electoral law and referendums, constitutional theory, direct democracy, referendums, constitutionalism, civic republicanism, deliberative democracy, Scotland Act 1998, Scottish independence referendum, PPERA 2000, Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
The Multi-Option Referendum: International Guidelines, International Practice and Practical Issues
Referendum, multi-option, direct democracy, constitutional law, public law, Venice Commission, international standards
The Long Intervention in Kosovo: A Self-Determination Imperative?
Kosovo, international law, SFRY, FRY, Yugoslavia, self-determination, statehood, recognition of states, NATO, Rambouillet, humanitarian intervention, sovereignty, Badinter, International Court of Justice
Flexible Accommodation: Another Case of British Exceptionalism?
law, public law, constitutional law, United Kingdom constitution, United Kingdom devolution, Scottish devolution, Scottish independence, Scotland independence referendum 2014, Scotland Act 1998, Northern Ireland Act 1998, Government of Wales Act 1998, Scotland Act 2012, nation, nation-state
The Nation as 'The Public': The Resilient Functionalism of Public Law
law, public law, constitutional law, privatization, globalization, nation, nation-state, national identity, nationalism, state; post-national, resilient functionalism, functionalism, constitution, constitutionalism, sovereignty, post-sovereign, popular sovereignty, referendums, democracy
The Presumption of Innocence and the Human Rights Act
Modern Law Review, Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 402-434, May 2004
Victor Tadros and Stephen Tierney
University of Warwick - School of Law and University of Edinburgh - School of Law
File name: mlr.pdf
Beyond the Ontological Question: Liberal Nationalism and the Task of Constitution-Building
European Law Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, pp. 128-137, January 2008
Number of pages: 10 Posted: 21 Dec 2007
File name: eulj.pdf
Constitutional Referendums: A Theoretical Enquiry
Modern Law Review, Vol. 72, Issue 3, pp. 360-383, May 2009
The Shibboleth of Sovereignty
The Modern Law Review, Vol. 81, Issue 6, pp. 989-1016, 2018
Number of pages: 28 Posted: 19 Nov 2018
Martin Loughlin and Stephen Tierney
London School of Economics - Law Department and University of Edinburgh - School of Law
Sovereignty, Parliamentary sovereignty, Dicey. British constitution, Brexit
Giving with One Hand: Scottish Devolution within a Unitary State
International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 5, Issue 4, pp. 730-753, 2007
Posted: 07 Jul 2008
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Cockroaches 28.3
Posted on September 5, 2013 by wildbow
“You have something in mind?” Defiant asked.
“No,” I said. “But we’re dealing with problems on a massive scale. We need to look for solutions on that same scale.”
“Um,” Imp said. “You just leaped from the subject of talking about the Endbringers to talking about solutions.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I think we definitely need to think about solutions, Endbringer-wise.”
“Oh, well, of course,” Imp said. “This is doable. Something we’ve managed once in the last thirty years, taking down Endbringers.”
“Shh,” Tattletale said. She turned to me. “There’s more to this.”
“Dinah told me the defending forces would be divided into five groups. Armies, individuals, some of the biggest capes, and unknowns.”
“She said that to others. It’s on record in the PRT,” Defiant told me.
“Five groups in different places, and Dinah couldn’t see why they were there, she couldn’t see the particulars. She said there could be too many precogs there, but what if that’s not it? What if she’s blind about the particulars because the Endbringers are there?”
“A coordinated attack?” Narwhal asked.
I nodded. “It’s possible. Either it’s Leviathan, Simurgh, Tohu, Bohu and Khonsu, or Scion’s there and Tohu and Bohu are together, as usual.”
“I can’t imagine the defending forces would hold the line for very long, if at all,” Defiant said. “Not if we’re spread that thin.”
“A situation this dire brings out all of the people who might not otherwise fight,” I said. “Parian wasn’t a fighter, but when Leviathan hit Brockton Bay, she stepped up to the plate. As things get worse, we might see some people doing the same.”
“If it’s five Endbringers and Scion we’re up against, we might see people giving up altogether,” Narwhal pointed out.
I nodded. “Tattletale already said something like that. Yes. A lot hinges on whatever comes next, whether we can get people on board. Whether others are doing the same.”
“Alright,” Defiant said. “You have something in mind for the Endbringers?”
“A pre-emptive attack,” Narwhal said, her voice quiet. “If it provokes them to lash out, well, at least it’s not a coordinated attack, and at least it’s at a point in time when Scion’s busy elsewhere. The Simurgh is standing still. We could hit her with something like what we used in New Delhi or Los Angeles.”
“We could,” Defiant agreed.
“Let’s think on it?” I suggested. “We can’t do this without laying out the groundwork, and that means convincing people this isn’t hopeless, it means gathering information, getting resources together.”
“Then do your thinking as you get ready,” Defiant said. “Gear up. Gather anyone you think you need.”
“I’m set,” Tattletale said. Imp and Rachel nodded.
“I’ll need my spare costume pieces from the Dragonfly,” I said. “I parked it in Gimel before I left for the rig. Hoping my flight pack has enough of a charge.”
“Go,” Defiant said. “I’ll see to Saint.”
“And me?” Canary asked.
“We can get you a standard Protectorate costume. Spider silk,” Narwhal said. “Durable, flexible. No frills, nothing fancy, but it’ll be better than nothing.”
Canary frowned.
“What?” Narwhal asked.
“Just… skintight suits.”
“Got a bit of pudge there?” Imp asked. “Fat thighs? Cankles?”
“I don’t have cankles,” Canary said. “Or fat thighs. But it’s not…”
She trailed off.
Imp plucked the fabric of her own costume. “I’ve been there. You think looking this good is easy? Skintight is a bitch to pull off. Diets, exercise, keeping up with the patrols and the life or death fights. Surprised you didn’t get that while you were in the slammer.”
“Not a lot of choice in food, or freedom of movement when you can get cut in half for setting one toe in the wrong spot,” Canary said. She was frowning, now.
“You can wear your clothes over it,” Narwhal suggested. “We can get you some tools. Nonlethal weapons. So you’re able to defend yourself.”
They’d work it out. I shook my head a little. Had to focus on my own thing.
“Doorway, please,” I murmured. “Gimel. By the Dragonfly, New Brockton Bay.”
The portal began to slide open.
“I’ll do you one better, Canary,” Saint said. “I’ll give you one of the spare Dragonslayer suits.”
“It’s… a good offer, but I think I’d feel like I was betraying Dragon if I took it.”
“You wouldn’t be able to pay her what you supposedly owe her if you died, either,” Saint said. “This is freely offered. No strings attached. I’ll give you the ability to fly, Canary. Better nonlethal weapons than the ones they have Masamune manufacturing.”
“I don’t know,” she said.
I hesitated in the doorway to listen. Tattletale, Rachel and Imp walked past me on their way through.
“Do it,” Defiant said, not looking at Canary or Saint. His eyes were on the laptop. “Saint? I’ll be looking over everything for tricks and backdoors.”
“Noted,” Saint said.
Defiant opened the door to Saint’s cell.
Saint stood, then rolled his head around, as if getting kinks out of his neck. He looked so small next to Defiant, but he wasn’t a small guy. His face was marked by lines of stress, but his gaze was hard.
“You don’t leave my sight,” Defiant said. “Any access you have to a system is routed through me. I double-check it.”
Saint nodded.
I passed through the portal, entering the field where I’d set down the Dragonfly. Some kids were climbing around the outside of the ship, but they ran the second they saw us, shouting.
The wind blew, making waves in the tall grass. I turned to face it so my hair wouldn’t blow into my face. I was left looking out over the water, while I moved bugs into the necessary channels and manipulated the switches, bidding the ramp to open.
“It doesn’t get said enough, but this is pretty damn cool,” Tattletale said. “Outclassed convenience-wise by the portals we’ve got access to, but yeah, nice.”
“Yeah,” I said. My mind was almost someplace else, considering everything that was in play, the threats, the necessities.
I paused, glancing out at New Brockton Bay. Brockton Bay Gimel. Tents and shelters were spread out everywhere, with ramshackle shelters dotting the landscape with little sense or organization. Here and there, there were paths forming, where the passage of hundreds of people were tramping down grass and disturbing the earth. Crews of people working in groups to erect basic shelters, bringing down trees and reducing them to basic components that they could form into shelters.
I felt a stirring, a mix of emotions, at seeing that.
Looking at them, I could almost sense that they were blissfully unaware. They didn’t know how badly we’d lost in our initial foray, or their attitudes would be different. There wasn’t anything like television or radio to spread the word. There would only be word of mouth.
Had someone told them, only for the masses to dismiss it as hearsay? Dismissing it because they didn’t want to believe we were well and truly fucked? Or had the word simply failed to spread, with enough people keeping quiet, believing that it wouldn’t do any good for people to know?
They were lucky, to be able to face the end of the world without full knowledge of what we were up against. Without the knowledge of what Scion was, or the looming, patient presence of the two Endbringers on Earth Bet.
It was arrogant, even condescending, but I felt a kind of warmth in the center of my chest when I looked at the people down there, like a parent might feel for a child, accompanying a sort of pity.
And somehow, when I pictured the people going to work, sweating, dirty, hungry and scared, getting eaten alive by flies, selflessly carrying out barn raisings to give shelter to the old, the infirm and the very young, I couldn’t help but picture my dad in their midst. It was the sort of thing he’d do.
Nobody had explicitly said he’d died, and I’d gone out of my way not to ask. Still, I felt how wet my eyes were when I blinked. No tears, but my eyes were wet.
I could envision Charlotte down there. Sierra. Forrest. The kids, Ephraim, Mason, Aiden, Kathy and Mai, I imagined, would be bringing water to the people hard at work.
Except Sierra had other duties, and the orphan children from my territory were older. The kids would be doing basic jobs by now, overseeing new batches of kids with the errands, sweeping, and other stuff in that vein. Still, it was a mental picture that defied logic, like seeing my dad down there. I pictured them with the water bottles.
I shook my head a little to rid myself of the mental image, and in the doing, I stirred myself from the daydreaming entirely. I was still standing at the foot of the ramp.
“Lost in thought?” Tattletale asked.
“Sorry,” I said. I turned to make my way up the ramp, Tattletale keeping pace beside me. Rachel had already settled in, lying on a bench, Bastard lying on the ground just below her. Imp had settled outside in the grass, her head turned towards what would have been the south end of the city, if the city existed in this world.
“No need to apologize. Constructive thought? Strategy?”
“No. Not constructive at all,” I said. “Thinking about the people.”
“The people?” Tattletale asked. “We keep telling them to split up, that we’ll give them portals to different spots around Gimel, or to other Earths. The ones down there are the ones that refuse to go. Sitting there, clustered into a massive target for Scion, the Endbringers, or the Yàngbǎn to take out.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Everything I’ve said in the past stands. Humans are idiots. They’re selfish and injust and unfair, they’re violent and clumsy and petty and shortsighted. Don’t get me wrong. Every part of that applies to me, too. I’m not setting myself above them on any level.”
“Mm,” Tattletale responded.
I began gathering the components for my suit. I’d wear the same thing I did to the fight against Scion. Just needed the individual parts.
“But at the end of the day, sometimes humanity isn’t so bad.”
“Sometimes,” she said. “Took me a while to realize that. The more you find out, the uglier things tend to look. But you keep looking, and it’s not all bad at the end.”
I nodded, reaching into my pocket to get the little tube of pepper spray I’d claimed from my ruined costume. I moved it into the belt of the new costume, then began stripping out of the casual clothes I wore.
I paused when I had my shirt off and my hair more or less in order, holding the bundle against my chest.
“I want to save them,” I said, surprising myself with the emotion in my voice.
“Scary thing is,” Tattletale said, “I know what you mean. Most times, I’m just not that fond of people. Seen enough ugliness in them that I don’t… care? No. That’s wrong. I care, I cared, past tense. But I didn’t… mind, if something happened to them. That’s closer to the mark.”
I nodded. I wasn’t surprised at that.
“But we’re getting to this point where I want to do something for them like I wanted to do something for you. Probably a bad omen.”
“No,” I said, quiet, as I strapped on armor. I looked at her. “Do you regret reaching out to me?”
“No,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean it was all right, know what I mean?”
Tattletale gave me a pat on the back before making her way to the bench opposite Rachel, grabbing a laptop and lying down with her head and shoulders resting against a bulkhead.
Belt on. I hesitated before donning my mask, but I pulled it on anyways, then clasped it behind the neck, unrolling the bit from the body-portion to bury the clasp.
Then I pulled on the spare flight pack.
Depending on how things went, I might not get the chance to charge it again, to refuel the Dragonfly or anything in that vein.
If Scion or the Endbringers didn’t kill us in the coming handful of days, we’d eventually run out of fuel. Communications would falter, and we’d run through stores of food, medicine and other amenities. There was no way to establish new supplies as fast as we needed them.
We’d only been able to evacuate with limited supplies. Then there were the supplies we’d brought over in advance. Gimel was one of the more fortunate Earths for that.
I checked my armor, then tightened the straps. Maybe a bit tighter than necessary, but I wasn’t going to stress over it.
I opened and closed my hand. It felt weird, still, but not so much that it would be debilitating.
“Doorway,” I said. “To Panacea.”
The doorway unfolded, and noise poured forth from the other side. I got Imp’s attention with a swirl of butterflies, then drew the other bugs in the area to me. Once Imp was inside the Dragonfly, I bid the ramp to close.
The rear door of the Dragonfly was still slowly shutting as we passed through the doorway and into the center of what looked like a makeshift hospital.
The walls seemed to be rough granite in varying colors, surprisingly thick and old. Bricks and blocks three feet across, some with cracks here and there. There were even tendrils of grass or occasional flowers growing in some of the deeper crevices. The ‘windows’ were openings five feet by ten feet wide, with glass set into frames that had clearly been added as a late addition.
The area was flooded with people, talking, shouting, whimpering, crying.
People had been burned, cut, bruised, their limbs crushed, faces shattered. There were wounds I couldn’t imagine were anything but parahuman made. They were laid out on beds and sat on stone chairs, crammed so close together they were practically shoulder to shoulder.
Panacea appeared. She was rubbing wet hands as though she’d just washed them. Long sleeves were rolled up, her hair tied back. Unlike what Canary had suggested, she was leaner as a result of her stay in the Birdcage. She was followed by a man with hair that had been combed into a sharp part, a needle-thin mustache and heavy bags under his eyes. Something in his bearing… he was a cape.
She walked by a row of people, and they extended hands. Her fingers touched each of theirs for only a moment, while she didn’t give them even a glance.
“Dad,” she said, stopping.
A man at the side of the room stood straighter. Marquis. His hair was long enough to drape over his shoulders, his face clean-shaven by contrast. He had a fancy-looking jacket folded over one arm, and a white dress shirt that had fine lines of black lace at the collar and the sleeves he’d rolled up his arms. Two ostentatious rings dangled from a fine chain around his neck; the chain had a locket on it, suggesting he’d added the rings as an afterthought. To keep them out of the way while he worked, perhaps.
“What is it, Amelia?”
For another man, the combination of physical traits and the style of dress might have led to someone mistaking them for a woman. They might have come across as effeminate.
Marquis didn’t. Not really. When he’d spoken, his voice had been masculine, deep, confident. The cut of his shoulders and chin, his narrow hips, was enough that I couldn’t expect anyone to mistake him for a woman. I wasn’t the type to go for older guys, I wasn’t even the type to go for effeminate guys. But I could see where women would go for Marquis.
“Broken bones here. Shattered femur. Some bone is exposed. Are you occupied?”
“Nothing critical,” Marquis said. “It won’t be comfortable, fixing that.”
Panacea touched the patient’s hand again. “He’ll be pain-free for twenty minutes.”
“That’s enough time. Thank you, my dear.”
Marquis crossed paths with Panacea on his way to the patient. He laid a hand on her shoulder in passing.
I watched her reach one hand up to her upper arm, touching a tattoo. She took in a deep breath, exhaled, and then moved on.
She got two paces before she finally noticed us, stopping in her tracks.
“Yo,” Tattletale said.
“Is there a problem?” the tidy man beside Panacea asked.
“Old acquaintances,” Panacea said, her stare hard.
“Enemies?”
“One enemy,” she said, her voice soft. “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing you again, Tattletale.”
“Sorry,” Tattletale said.
“I can deal with this, if it’s what you require,” the tidy man said.
“No, Spruce. You probably couldn’t. Don’t worry about it. Think you could double-check on things in the back? The equipment?”
“I will,” the tidy man said. He turned and strode from the lobby of the makeshift hospital.
Panacea closed the distance.
“You do the talking,” Tattletale whispered. I nodded a fraction by way of response.
“So?” Panacea asked. Her eyes roved over us, taking in details.
“I wanted to thank you for the fix,” I said. I raised a hand.
“You tried to help me at a bad time. It didn’t take, but you tried,” she said.
“A lot of people invested in your survival. Caught me off guard. Used to be I was the golden child, but I wasn’t lucky enough to have anyone there to catch me when I fell.”
“Looks like Marquis caught you,” Tattletale said.
Panacea glanced at her dad, who was looking at us with one eyebrow slightly raised.
“Maybe,” she said. “I thought you were a hero now. You’re running with the old gang?”
“Gang is such an outmoded word,” Imp said. “So small. There’s gotta be a better way to put it. Ruling the roost with the old warlords again, back atop Mount Olympus once more.”
“Shh,” Tattletale hushed her. Then, after a pause, she whispered “Olympus? Where are you getting this?”
“Not a hero, not a villain. Just trying to get by,” I said. “Sticking with the people I know best. People I trust.”
“I see. We’re trying to get by, too. Twelve doctors, twenty nurses, me, my father and what remains of my father’s old gang. They were sending the worst of the wounded our way while we tried to get set up to accommodate larger numbers. Then the Yàngbǎn hit a settlement. We’ve been flooded ever since.”
“I see,” I said.
She shifted her weight. She had a different presence, now. Something she’d no doubt picked up in prison. Not posturing. Simply more comfortable in her shoes. She asked, “Did you need something? There’s a reason you came.”
“I was going to say we’re mobilizing. Dealing with some threats. Trying to get as many big guns on board as we can, starting with the ones who weren’t on the platform. I was thinking we could use you.”
“I see,” she said. “I’m not particularly interested in being used.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know, but it’s still meaningful that the word came up, isn’t it?”
“No,” I said. “No it isn’t.”
She glanced back towards her dad. Two more people who might have been capes had approached him, while he sat next to the man he was healing.
“I can’t stop Scion,” Panacea said. “I probably couldn’t even touch him, if I wanted to get that close, and if I did, I don’t think I’d accomplish a thing.”
“Maybe not,” I said.
“Do you think you’re going to stop him with giant dogs? With bugs? People tried and they failed. This is what’s left. Finding places where humans used to live and moving in, if we’re lucky. Starting over from scratch if we aren’t. Ensuring that the population is spread out enough, but not so spread out they won’t be able to repopulate. Dividing all of humanity into groups of six hundred to a thousand people, dropping them off in the middle of nowhere.”
“It won’t work,” Tattletale said. “Scion moves too fast, and there’s not that many places to hide, in the grand scheme of things.”
“Every time you open your mouth,” Panacea said. She sounded as if she was going to say something else, but she didn’t.
“You’re one of the strongest capes out there,” I said. “We need you on our side.”
“You’ll have me,” Panacea said. “But not on the front lines.”
A deep rumble sounded. An animal noise, almost.
I turned to look, and I saw Spruce, the tidy man, standing beside Lung and Bonesaw. The noise had been Lung, an odd sound to come from him when he was still, to all appearances, in his human state. A tall Asian man, muscular, riddled with tattoos. New ones had been added since the first day I’d seen him. More eastern-style dragons. His hair was longer, and there was scruff on his cheeks and chin.
Bonesaw wasn’t dressed up like a little girl. Her hair wasn’t in ringlets. She wore gray sweats.
Rachel growled a little, under her breath, an eerie parallel to Lung.
Lung stepped forward, and he pushed Bonesaw, who stumbled a little.
“It’s not nice to push,” she said.
“Don’t be cutesy,” he growled. “We’ve warned you before.”
“Okay, fine then. Stop fucking pushing me. Tell me where you want me, and I’ll walk there.”
He pointed towards us.
They closed the distance until Bonesaw was next to Panacea. Lung placed a hand on top of her head and gripped her, arresting her forward momentum.
She lashed out, twisting around and slapping at his wrist with one hand.
“Don’t do that,” she said.
“Someone’s short-tempered,” Imp observed. She hadn’t yet donned her mask, though she had it with her. Her eyes were narrowed.
“I’ve had no sleep,” Bonesaw said. “Big sis here took out all the good bits I’d stored inside myself, and she didn’t turn off the pain. I feel too light. I feel weird. Can’t sit still, not that they ever let me.”
“First tier parahuman problems,” Imp said. Her tone wasn’t as humorous in nature as the words.
“And they keep getting on my case,” Bonesaw said, apparently oblivious. She directed her attention to Panacea and Lung. “Trust me, I haven’t butchered you all yet, I’m not going to in the future. You can stop testing me.”
“I remember when you were cuddly,” Tattletale said. “You were so happy and fluffy and you had a good attitude. You were a complete and total monster, and nobody in their right mind would cuddle you, but you were adorable. Now look at you.”
Bonesaw scowled, but I wasn’t paying attention to that. Tattletale had used the past tense. You were a complete monster. Referring to the past, or an observation on a deeper level?
“She is why I can’t leave,” Panacea said. “I’m the only one that can double-check her work. If we’re both here, you’ve got two stellar healers on the back lines. If I leave, you’ve got a healer with minimal combat experience on the front line and a defused bomb with nobody that’s capable of knowing if it’s reactivated.”
I couldn’t really argue that.
Well, I could, but not very well.
“There’s another way to deal with that sort of situation,” Imp said. “Get rid of the fucking bomb.”
“We will,” Panacea said. “If she gives us an excuse. Any excuse at all. But she gets one chance.”
“When you’re talking about a bomb, that’s all it needs,” Imp said. “Then you wind up carved up, your insides decorating the walls of a room.”
“Your metaphors…” Tattletale mumbled. “Well, that almost worked.”
Bonesaw raised an eyebrow. “You sound upset, but I don’t remember doing that to you.”
“My brother,” Imp growled the word.
“Oh,” Bonesaw said. She glanced to her left, then down to the floor, a frown crossing her face. “Right. I’m remembering now. Shit. That was one of the bad ones. Not one of the bad bad ones, but bad.”
“Kind of, yeah,” Imp said, not easing up in the slightest.
“I’m sorry,” Bonesaw said, still looking at the floor. “I won’t say I’ll make amends, because there’s no way I can even come close. I don’t know what to say, except that I’m sorry. No excuses. But I’m going to do what I can to make things better, and maybe I get a hundredth of the way, in the end.”
“He had a second trigger event,” Tattletale said. “And killed Burnscar. In case that helps you place him.”
“I said I remember,” Bonesaw said, sounding irritated. She glared at Tattletale.
“Sure,” Tattletale replied, quiet enough she could barely be heard.
I stared at Bonesaw, watching her expression shift in fractions. Her eyes moved, as if she were watching a scene, or recalling a memory in great detail.
“You’re fighting?” Lung asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“We’re fighting,” I said, shifting my attention to him.
“Everyone who gets in our way,” Rachel interjected.
“What she said,” I added.
Lung stared at me, and I held his gaze. For someone as brutal and vicious as he was in the heat of battle, Lung had cold eyes.
He’d be thinking about his losses to me. I’d used venomous bugs to rot away his junkular area, and I’d dosed him with hallucinogenic blood before gouging out his eyes.
It was odd, but those slights probably mattered less than the real offense I’d dealt him.
I’d taken over the city. He’d tried and failed, I’d succeeded.
Given my understanding of Lung, I suspected that was something far more unforgivable.
“Fighting Scion, Endbringers, the Yàngbǎn…” Tattletale said. She placed an emphasis on the last.
Odd. I would have reversed it. Emphasized the biggest threats.
“Yes,” Lung said. “No need to manipulate me, Tattletale. If you want me to join the fight, you only have to ask.”
Tattletale had a funny look on her face, fleeting. She turned my way, one eyebrow raised, questioning.
“Good,” Lung said. “Let me collect my mask. I will be back.”
He left.
“Doorway,” Tattletale said. “Um…?”
“To Shadow Stalker,” I said.
The portal began to open. It was nighttime on the other side.
Tattletale gave me a funny look.
“I brought up the Yàngbǎn because I figured he’d be ticked they attacked this spot. I’m getting credit for brilliant insights I didn’t have. Not even in a fun way. That’s going to bug me.”
I shrugged. “Take what we can get?”
While we’d exchanged words, Panacea had sent Bonesaw off with Spruce.
“Thank you again, Panacea,” I said. “For putting me back together.”
She opened her mouth to speak, then seemed to reconsider. She pointed at the portal. I nodded, and followed her as we strode through. Tattletale and Imp remained in the hospital lobby, and the portal remained open. Rachel followed us through, but seemed to sense that we wanted a private discussion and wandered off a short distance.
Panacea and I walked out onto a shelf of rubble that had once been the midpoint of a bridge.
“I’m not a fighter,” she said. “I hope you understand.”
“I do,” I said. “But I’m kind of hoping that, in the end, we aren’t left with only the people who ‘aren’t fighters’ on the battlefield, who’ve realized they have no choice but to change their minds. It’d be pretty tragic if we got that far and someone like you clued into the fact that you could have helped. It would be somehow fitting, too, if that’s how humanity went extinct.”
“It would be just as tragic if we rushed headlong into a fight, and threw away a life in the process, only to realize in retrospect it was someone vital,” she said.
“Good luck. Don’t turn your back on Lung.”
“I won’t. I’m pretty good when it comes to keeping an eye on people,” I said. I called bugs to my hand, as if to illustrate.
“Then I really hope you succeed in the fights that come. We’re kind of counting on you.”
“Likewise,” I said. “I mean, I hope you achieve whatever you’re striving to do here.”
She glanced back towards the portal, which glowed from the ambient light of the room on the other side. “Second chances.”
“Together, we’re giving second chances to monsters who don’t deserve them.”
“Yourself included?” I asked.
“I’m not sure I get it,” I told her. I could see Shadow Stalker land to perch on an outcropping of steel reinforcement, a distance away, watching us. “I mean, I do get the second chances thing, not deserving it. But…”
I trailed off. I couldn’t articulate it well enough.
“When you’re in that position, sometimes the only people willing to extend those second chances to you are the people who need them.”
“I understand,” I said. “You know, if you’d joined the Undersiders back then, we could have given you that.”
“You could have. I’m not sure I could have taken it.”
“Right,” I answered. “Yeah.”
“Not all of us are like that, though,” she said. “Lung isn’t, as far as I can tell, but maybe you’ll see it if you look for it. Or maybe you’ll get burned to a crisp by Lung the second an enemy distracts you and you forget to watch him.”
“He’s not someone who builds or rebuilds. He’s someone who destroys.”
Something in that phrase struck a chord in me. I knew the right answer, right away.
“We just need to point him in the right direction, then,” I said.
“Best of luck with that,” Panacea said.
She’d had her hands clasped, and as she extended a hand to shake, I could feel the bugs come to life, fluttering free of the space between her palms.
Relay bugs. Twenty.
I checked, investigating their internal makeup. They could breed.
Even with that gift, even with the fact that she’d never done anything to me, I couldn’t help but think of the incoherent mess of details I’d seen in the records. The pictures that catalogued the event that had preceded her voluntary admission to the Birdcage. I saw her outstretched hand and hesitated for a fraction of a second. From the expression on her face, I knew she had noticed.
Second chances.
I shook her hand, drawing the relay bugs to me and stashing them in my belt. “Thank you.”
She nodded, then exited the portal as the others made their way through to my side. Lung and the Undersiders. I had my back turned to them as I looked at Shadow Stalker. She remained perched on that twist of bent girders and bars from the collapsed bridge, her cloak flapping around her.
“I remember this one,” Lung rumbled. “She shot me with arrows. It did not hurt that much. She is a weakling. Why are we wasting our time with her?”
And so the struggles for dominance in the group begin.
“I’ll take weak,” I said. “I’m just… working with known quantities.”
The flapping of the cloak quieted as she shifted into a shadow state. The wind was passing through it, instead of pushing against it.
Shadow Stalker leaped down, floated.
Soundlessly, she landed right in front of me, remaining in the shadow state.
“Hoping you’ve changed your mind,” I said. Hoping you’ve seen the devastation, and that it’s reached some human part of you that cares. “That you’re interested in fighting.”
She didn’t budge, didn’t respond.
“It also means bashing some skulls,” I said. “She been behaving, Tattletale?”
“Then she’s probably itching for a good fight,” I said, not breaking eye contact with Shadow Stalker. “What do you say? You want to knock a few heads? Break some jaws?”
She shifted to her physical state. “I’m not that easy to bait.”
I shrugged, waiting.
“Search and rescue is garbage,” she said, sounding annoyed. “Nobody left, but there’s no place to go if I don’t want to do it, either.”
“You could go home,” I said. “Find your family, settle down, put the crossbow away for good.”
“Capes don’t retire,” Shadow Stalker said. “Doesn’t work. We die in battle or we lose our minds, one or the other.”
I thought of my passenger, how it had reflexively sought out violence in the past. How others had done the same. Die in battle.
Then I thought of Grue. Was Shadow Stalker right? Would the retirement just fail to take?
I sighed. “So? What’s your call?”
“I’ll come. Sure. I kind of want to see what you’ve made of yourself.”
She had wanted to claim the credit for my becoming what I’d become. It grated, because it wasn’t entirely wrong. It wasn’t true in the sense she believed it was true, but she had given me my powers.
“Fine,” I said.
She cracked her knuckles. “So, who’s first?”
“Need to talk that over with Defiant,” I said. “We can do it over the comms, for the sake of expediency.”
“Okay,” she said. She sounded a little pleased with herself. “Whatever. I’m game.”
“Doorway, please,” I said, to nobody in particular. “Dragonfly interior.”
The portal opened.
I extended a hand, inviting the group to enter.
Lung shouldered his way past Rachel to be the first one inside. Bastard huffed out a half-bark, then growled.
Much like Panacea had said about Bonesaw, it wasn’t about having them as allies. Having them be part of the group, it meant they weren’t on the opposing side. They weren’t wreaking havoc as neutral parties.
That alone was good.
But if they turned out to be destructive forces we could control…
The half-thought I’d had during my goodbye to Panacea fell into place.
A plan.
I stepped through the portal to board the Dragonfly.
“You lunatic!” Shadow growled the word.
I was silent. The clouds above and landscape below were a blur, the individual details impossible to make out with our speed.
“Doing this with me? With Lung? I could almost understand that,” Shadow Stalker growled. “But your friends?”
“Don’t care,” Tattletale said. “We’ve always been the sort to go for the long odds. You have to do what your enemy won’t predict.”
“Damn straight,” Imp said. “Credo I live by.”
“Mount Olympus, now credo?” Tattletale asked. “It’s the Heartbroken, isn’t it? They’re warping you into… this.”
“Leave me alone, seriously.”
“What you’re saying doesn’t make sense!” Shadow Stalker snarled. “Not here, not like this!“
“It actually makes the most sense,” Tattletale said. “But that’s a different story altogether. One that needs some explanation.”
“Ten minutes before we hit our target,” I said. We’d taken the path through the Brockton Bay portal. Cauldron’s doorways weren’t big enough for a vehicle like this.
“Ten minutes should be enough,” Tattletale said. “Let me get this loaded on the laptop. Easier to show than tell.”
“Right,” I said. My eyes didn’t leave the navigation screens.
“I’ll kill you,” Shadow Stalker threatened. “Turn this fucking ship around.”
She moved, reaching for a crossbow bolt. I reacted, half-rising from my seat, drawing my swarm out-
But Lung moved faster, shoving Shadow Stalker against the side of the ship.
Shadow Stalker went ghostly, brandishing the bolt like a dagger as she passed through Lung.
Rachel gripped a length of wire that extended from the laptop, holding it out like a garrotte. As Lung had done, she moved to pin Shadow Stalker against the wall of the Dragonfly. Shadow Stalker returned to a normal state just in time to avoid being electrocuted.
Bastard growled, snapping at her hand, and the bolt clattered to the floor.
“You’re okay with this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Lung rumbled, by way of response. “This might be best.”
“Fuck you, Hebert! Pulling this shit only after you got me on board? You’re all lunatics!”
Tattletale sat down on the arm of my pilot’s seat, setting one foot down beside my thigh on the seat’s edge. “There’s stuff you need to know. I told you before, you said you wanted to be blissfully ignorant until the last minute.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Yes. Right. I’m listening.”
“It’s video footage Glaistig Uaine left with me. Last two minutes of Eidolon’s life. Video cuts in and out, but there’s audio. That leaves me maybe a minute or two to explain, then you can use the rest of the time to think it over.”
She had my attention, though I couldn’t take my eyes off the monitors at the front of the ship. Shadow Stalker’s cries of anger were background noise.
The Pendragon was flying alongside us, just a little behind, carrying the capes Defiant had recruited. Carrying Saint, Canary, and others.
Tattletale loaded up the video, filling the screen of the laptop.
I glanced once at the main monitor, then set the autopilot.
Faultline had talked about taking the simple route. Talking to Scion. In practice, harder than it seemed.
We were dealing with problems on a massive scale, we needed solutions on that same level. There was no easy way to get to that level. It meant taking risks. Gambling.
We needed a destructive force we could direct. Needed to turn third-party liabilities into assets.
With that in mind, I’d set course straight for the Simurgh. We’d talk to her or we’d kill her.
Tattletale started the video, and I watched.
This entry was posted in 28.03 and tagged Bastard, Bitch, Bonesaw, Canary, Defiant, Imp, Lung, Marquis, Narwhal, Panacea, Saint, Shadow Stalker, Simurgh, Tattletale, Taylor by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
328 thoughts on “Cockroaches 28.3”
Charles Borner on September 5, 2013 at 00:02 said:
Know it.
Asmora on September 5, 2013 at 00:29 said:
First instance of Bastard’s name is uncapitalized. Very clean chapter, overall.
razorsmile on September 5, 2013 at 00:31 said:
Probably all been corrected by the time I post but:
Rachel had already settled in, lying on a bench, bastard lying on the ground just below her
That ‘bastard’ should be a ‘Bastard’ 🙂
– ‘unjust’ not ‘injust’
– ‘She had wanted _the_ claim the credit for mybecoming what I’d become.’ Should be ‘_to_ claim the credit’
Psycho Gecko on September 5, 2013 at 00:38 said:
“That ‘bastard’ should be a ‘Bastard'”
Oh, just let sleeping dogs lie.
Nourjan on September 5, 2013 at 01:07 said:
This in’t a typo but
““Do it,” Defiant said, not looking at Canary or Defiant. ”
I think the second Defiant should be Saint.
Pinkhair on September 5, 2013 at 00:50 said:
“Defiant said, not looking at Canary or Defiant. ” Saint instead of Defiant?
“mean it wasn’t all right,” Was? Not sure.
Your typo notifications are appreciated as always, Pink.
Dinstow on September 5, 2013 at 01:22 said:
There’s an instance where ‘shelter’ is used in two consecutive sentences, and the second one feels like it could be changed.
saintsant on September 5, 2013 at 02:59 said:
“You just leaped from the subject of talking to the Endbringers to talking about solutions.”
Seems like “talking to the Endbringers is a Freudian slip, there. She doesn’t bring up negotiating with them until the end, so maybe ‘talking about?’
wanderinggeek on September 6, 2013 at 09:04 said:
“But I could see where women would go for Marquis.”
Seems like it should be “why.”
Fasor on December 30, 2013 at 17:43 said:
I assume this should be said by “Shadow Stalker” not just “Shadow”.
“the passage of hundreds of people were tramping down grass and disturbing the earth”
“passage” is singular, so “were” should be “was”.
“There were wounds I couldn’t imagine were anything but parahuman made.”
“parahuman made” should have a hyphen instead of a space.
randomsoul2 on September 5, 2013 at 00:13 said:
Eidolon is confirmed to be dead I guess, so that’s a thing. Probably.
My prediction: Taylor gets the Simurgh and the rest of the Endbringers on her side somehow, everyone breathes a sigh of relief…
And then Scion shows up and sends out a few flickery lasers to stick a hole in the core of each one. Because getting your last hope shattered just isn’t any fun when it wasn’t done using minimum expenditure of power.
Keno Black on September 5, 2013 at 01:29 said:
Relay Bugs are improperly created, or somehow modified, giving her the ability to CONTROL Endbringers, changes main threat of entire world.
I doubt it. That doesn’t make much sense, and it’s really a bit of a cop-out. I mean, how do you accidentally make relay bugs so that they can give control of Endbringers? And why? Taylor’s story has been one of doing great things with small powers, not suddenly getting the ability to control new things.
Jeremy on July 13, 2015 at 22:24 said:
Oh, so many reasons to love this comment…
krustacean on September 5, 2013 at 02:02 said:
If the Endbringers’ sole purpose was to strain Eidolon and he’s dead then maybe they’re a bit ticked off about losing their jobs.
Scion was on killmode when Khonsu and Tohu/Bohu showed up and they managed to survive. Maybe he just got Behemoth because he’d already been melted. Plus, if they’ve been pulling their punches for all these years then perhaps when they go all out they can have a great big Scion Smackdown.
What am I talking about. If they even start putting up a fight something terrible will happen. Scion will take a self-replication power or something….
Ristridin on September 5, 2013 at 03:48 said:
Or maybe Scion just didn’t recognize them as Endbringers. Kevin Norton never would have talked about Khonsu and Tohu/Bohu after all; he would have defined the Endbringers as Behemoth, Leviathan, and the Simurgh. And Scion might not realize that Khonsu, Tohu, and Bohu are also Endbringers.
AMR on September 5, 2013 at 04:08 said:
THIS is canon until/unless proven otherwise.
packbat on September 5, 2013 at 08:43 said:
25.5:
“Helpful,” Tattletale commented. “Enough with the bullshit and posturing. We were brought here for one reason. Well, a lot of reasons, but the main one that ties us all together is that we’ve got that monster rampaging around and we’re not making headway. We whittle him down, he heals. Scion attacks, he teleports, and the golden fool doesn’t follow. [emphasis added] So let’s be honest, let’s talk about this and introduce ourselves before we say anything so we’re not completely in the dark-”
Ah but random giant monsters would fall in the previous “help the heroes, help everyone” order. Let’s face it, Scion is the most literal being ever, so giant monsters appear after Norton dies/passes the mission, nobody tells him they’re also considered Endbringers, he acts with them as he did pre-Behemoth.
Do we know if after Behemoth’s death, he ever confronted Leviathan or Simurgh and let them live? Because that would put a definite hole in this theory.
He did, so theory was wrong… Found it in 25.6.
Paris, December 19th, 2012 // Simurgh
Notes: Victory by Scion.
imsomeone on September 5, 2013 at 09:27 said:
They played keepaway from the Scion – start of guerilla tactics from Simurgh and Leviathan.
Stephen R. Marsh on September 6, 2013 at 16:47 said:
Scion has a blind spot where the Endbringers are concerned, much like Dinah and others. Only partial, but enough.
TapiocaTalks on September 6, 2013 at 05:32 said:
Don’t think it’s gonna be Taylor getting the Simurgh on their side as much as it’ll be Canary doing the work. Communication is key.
Also, anyone else getting the sense that Taylor lost some of her cognitive skills after the run-in with Scion? She seems slower at making connections….
Gleam on September 5, 2013 at 00:17 said:
Shadow Stalker’s suffering is truly a balm for the soul.
Her tears are delicious, like Maternity Ward veal.
Landis963 on September 5, 2013 at 00:46 said:
I was just reading that chapter…
Someguy on September 5, 2013 at 00:32 said:
Sweet and fruity. Also for bonus points, since Shadow Stalker wants to take credit for Taylor’s Badassery, maybe Taylor should have quipped back “Hey, your’re responsible for this! You made me what I am remember?”
negadarkwing on September 5, 2013 at 07:42 said:
Hahaha, Shadow Stalker, you don’t know Taylor at all, do you?
Oh, wow, I just realized: Greg knew Taylor better than Sophia Stalker did. That’s got to burn.
Ack on September 5, 2013 at 21:02 said:
Shadow Stalker wanted to see how tough Taylor had become. She found out. She wanted to get off the ride after that. Sucks to be her.
Yup that’s definitely a be careful what you wish for situation. How badass has your lessons made the weak coward into? The scrawny coward grins maniacally and answers with a simple “Hello Smurf.”
“Welcome to the Salty Spitoon, how tough are ya?”
“I’m Skitter.”
“…ε≡≡ﾍ( ´Д`)ﾉ”
Gryph on January 2, 2018 at 12:13 said:
I enjoyed this comment.
Taylor, once again, demonstrates her tertiary power of being crazy like a fox. Man, I hope this works. Also, my guess is that next chapter, Tattletale explains it all? That or it falls victim to the Unspoken Plan Guarantee.
Heh. They’re going to fight Scion with Endbringers. And the junkular region, eh? I think I’m rubbing off on Wildbow. That sounds far more dirtier when I say it, especially after noting the junkular.
Nice to see I picked a great song for the occasion. See, I ran across a song that fits pretty darn good with the Undersiders in their current incarnation. I’d say Imp is the one singing it. This one, though, I’m going to give Wildbow a chance to approve rather than go around his back. He may not like that, actually, as it means he has to be interrupted to approve the comment, but here goes:
The New Undersiders Theme (if it were written by Imp), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5E4W1G2S4I
Does this work for Eidolon?
“I’d used venomous bugs to rot away his junkular area, and I’d dosed him with hallucinogenic blood before gouging out his eyes.”
That was probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever read in a nonhumorous context.
So in other words Taylor’s plan involves a bunch of girls(no I’m not doing a headcount this time) an an eunuch taking a stroll to the Endbringers and recruiting them?
Gah, replied to the wrong post.
Didn’t Tattletale say he’d have that healed eventually?
Can’t believe I didn’t get this before O.O
theant87 on September 5, 2013 at 00:26 said:
Okay I did not see that coming. But fuck it. What to they have to lose? It’s time to meet the past favorite candidate for Big Bad of the Wormverse before Scion.
I have to admit I am also very surprised at Lung. It seems he has mellowed considerably with the Marquis as a friend, at least by his standards. I’m curious if he will betray her.
Panacea adopted Bonesaw? That fact that she considers herself a monster says alot, as well as how comfortable she seems to be now. I worry that Glory Girl is dead or committed suicide if she considers herself on the same level as Bonesaw. We now have a return of the relay bugs, that also BREED! Scion is about to face a swarm big enough to blot out the sun. I wonder if Taylor counts as S class now that her bugs can grow at an exponential rate.
Lots of funny this chapter. Tattletale is needling Imp so well. I really hope we can get a flashback to what life is like with her leading the heartbroken. Laughed at loud when Lung called shadow stalker a weakling. That had to hurt her so badly, especially when she again tried to take credit for Taylor’s accomplishment. It was so delicious. Even better when she called Taylor insane and a lunatic. I don’t think she gets the irony.
Irony considering that Bonesaw is probably older than Panacea, or at least the same age.
I don’t think so. Characters’ ages get a bit fuzzy with the time skip but Bonesaw was pre-pubescent when she first arrived in BB and we have Bonesaw telling Panacea that no, she did not de-age herself, Jack musing on how her actions are more beautiful because they’re done with childish innocence and , finally, the dates in her interludes confirm her given age. She does, however, currently look younger than her age due to self-surgery to hide the fact that she was awake during the two years instead of in statis like the other Nine members.
Brian on September 5, 2013 at 11:53 said:
I’ll admit that I’m still a bit confused by Bonesaw’s self-surgery, and given that that arc’s pretty much done, I guess I just missed something.
Bonesaw stayed awake because crafting the S9000 into a usable force required constant attention. The fact that the S9000 were actually functional should indicate to anyone paying attention that they were carefully crafted.
Hence, I’m a little confused as to why her staying awake is such a betrayal of Jack (since it was essential to give him what he wanted) and why she thinks her self-surgery hides that fact (since the state of the clones should be a dead giveaway on its own).
Because she had told Jack that the process could be done by machines. And theoretically it could. Bonesaw simply didn’t trust the tinker-tech because it wasn’t hers. Plus she wanted to slip off Jack’s leash and, viceversa, Jack doesn’t want Bonesaw to be alone and shake his influence off. And besides even with the self-surgery, Jack knows, Bonesaw knows he knows and Jack knows she knows he knows. The entire point, as stated in the Sting arc, isn’t to avoid cheating but to not be FOUND cheating.
Nope. She only really started puberty as of her interlude.
In other words,Bone saw triggered really ,really young(what ,around 6-8 years old ?).
Yup. It was even a minor plot/character point. In her interlude she wondered if triggering so young gave her passenger more time to work and have more power over her. Which implies bad things for those third generation capes that triggered as babies.
Although if Victoria is still alive somehow Riley is probably the only one who could figure out how to help Amy fix her. I can just imagine it now…
Riley- “Okay move this part here… Now lets just tuck that back there… Why does she have one of those? Okay now I’m sure she’s not supposed to have two of those!”
Two problems with that idea:
1. Victoria’s mind.
2. As you noted, she’s probably dead.
Taylor can’t be a class s threat. She’s one of the “good guys” who are too /righteous/ to be considered threats.
Also, anyone else concerned with Imp’s ever-expanding vocab? She could be taking time to study up but the paranoia schizophrenic in me says she got Teacher to make her smarter, is under his control, is jeopardizing Taylor’s plans, its going to thorn into a three-horned monster and eat everyone….did I mention the schizophrenic part? But seriously–I’m curious about where she’s picking up these words…
hedelex on May 5, 2014 at 18:24 said:
YES! I am worried about that exactly!!! What if Teacher is behind her new lexicon?
I really hope that if that’s the case, Tattletale is smart enough to pick up on it. It isn’t completely inconceivable that Lisa’s conserving her power, but even to NON-superpowered intuition, that’s pretty hinky…
I’m not that worried about Imp’s vocab lessons. I look at it as she instead of idle trolling she has now taken to active trolling. She seems to have deliberately made an effort to expand her literacy in order to bring out extremely funny and totally inappropriate but spot on references/remarks at the perfect times. It’s a marked contrast to Shadow Stalker not even showing a basic SAT prepared vocab level.
Patrick Reitz (@dreamfarer) on September 5, 2013 at 00:28 said:
Fun chapter. The build up is delicious!
In reading it my imagination spiraled off for a bit to wonder what’s happening inside Lung’s head. He has every reason to hate Taylor, but despite her wins, I can’t help but imagine that to him she would seem much too small for what he has built up inside him.
If he unleahes on her it would be a giant crushing an ant. On some level I could see him not wanting to waste it. I mean, like Eidolon, he needs worthy foes too, and right now the worthiest foe around, the one he’d really be testing his power against, isn’t Taylor.
I personally think that he sees this as a challenge. He’s never, not ever, backed down from a challenge before. So Taylor, who has beaten him twice before, is presenting him with the biggest, grandest challenge of all. A clean shot at the biggest, baddest menaces to the world. If I get his psyche right, he may have a go at her after it’s all done (if both of them survive) but before? It’d be too petty for him.
throwaawy on September 5, 2013 at 00:30 said:
>>“He’s not someone who builds or rebuilds. He’s someone who destroys.”
>>“We just need to point him in the right direction, then.”
hai guys! let’s go talk to an endbringer!
….oh my lawd.
Individuo on September 5, 2013 at 00:34 said:
“No, even better, lets go talk with the Simurg, we can have Tea and crumplets while we talk”
And here I was thinking I was about to receive visitors and get drawn into cross-dimensional hijinks.
What could possibly go wrong when talking with Simurgh?
Laurids on May 2, 2014 at 12:14 said:
Throwing a tea party with the Smurf – sounds cuddlier than wildbow makes it out to be.
Lung: “And marmalade?”
Taylor: “Umm, sure.”
Lung: “I detest marmalade.”
Sadly, she had no luck with other condiments either.
Althalus on September 5, 2013 at 00:32 said:
Epicness ensuing in 5, 4, 3, 2…..
endgame on September 5, 2013 at 00:50 said:
(48 hours later)…. Sorry, I spaced out there,where was I? Oh, yes; 1, go!
The night I go to bed without reading the chapter, and when I wake up in the morning TV Tropes is down. Where am I supposed to post all these Crowning Moments of Funny?
TVTropes is up again.
(pause for joyous applause)
Be sure to link to relevant tropes when posting.
Hm — I can only find one of the two bits in the chapter I was going to post as a Funny Moment. I don’t remember what the other was.
Ah, well.
I wonder if we shouldn’t put “Easily Forgiven-subverted” on for Riley.
I’d call Riley a simple aversion of that trope — we had no reason to expect easy forgiveness for her.
notes on September 5, 2013 at 00:34 said:
Oddly quiet. Characterization is solid throughout.
Very few payouts (discussion with Panacea’s the big one, and her message to Dragon is still unknown).
Relatively few dominoes set up for later – at least that I saw.
Relay bugs with breeding is potentially a very big deal indeed – one of the very first things we learned about Taylor is that she can reset the breeding cycles of her insects, and did so in order to mass-produce black widows so she could get more silk. Panacea could also have sped matters up. Given a number of breeding cycles (dependent on how many young per cycle), Taylor could credibly start trying to cover the entire Earth. Several Earths, given the stable portals and the fun of exponential growth rates. Nigh-omniscience and nigh-omnipresence on that scale would be… interesting.
Shadow Stalker’s presence remains very puzzling. A known quantity, in some ways… but not a known quantity in comparison to the various capes Taylor worked with during the timeskip, or even before and after the timeskip. Taylor going back to her beginnings in an effort to choose her new self, recruiting Sophia out of prison – that made some sense as a choice Taylor might make. And if this is still about Taylor looking for anchor-points to her identity, or looking for redemption opportunities, it’s less crazy… but if it’s about assembling a coalition of known and able capes, Shadow Stalker would not make the cut without a specific use for her power.
To put it more simply: including SS makes narrative sense, but not in-character sense. And that disjunction is what’s attracting attention.
Tentatively confident that things are in fact shaping towards a capes+Endbringers v. Scion climax.
When Taylor’s talking about known quantities, I thinks its the same sub-power that Jack used to manipulate the rest of the Nine, psychological quantities in capes that she knows how to manipulate to give her greater control of the battlefield.
That’s a good theory. She’s instinctively gathering capes that her passenger knows how to interface with and “administrate.” She’s done similar things before, like getting Revel and wanting Jouster for the attack on the S9000. They aren’t people she really knows, but apparently she’s had enough experience with them (off-camera) for her passenger to get a feel for them.
Pandemonious Ivy on September 5, 2013 at 01:19 said:
All good points, also, Sophia has a less controllable variant of Foil’s power, i.e. Godpiercing Arrows. So from a tactical standpoint, it makes sense for General Hebert to have her cover for Foil.
Does she?I mean I saw no indication that her power is comparable to Foil’s.Foil’s weapon can cut down Enbringers and possibly kill Scion if they could find his source.Sophia’s ability get stopped by a taser.
Yeah. In this very chapter Lug stated that her arrows never did anything to him. Unless Lung was in Endbringer-defeating mode (and we know he never did that again after Leviathan) a hit from Foil would have either hurt a lot or been fatal.
Shadell on September 5, 2013 at 05:21 said:
And yet SS was able to get lucky and hurt Leviathan. The issue isn’t entirely that Foil’s power is broken (though it is) but that foil has super-timing/aiming to work with her power while SS doesn’t, and IIRC correctly Shadow Stalker’s biggest damage is her having her arrows phase into reality while they’re inside you. Since she can’t control that timing that makes using it hard.
Still probably not killing Grey Boy tier, but if she could use it better it would be a real tool.
TL;DR: SS sucks because she’s not that bright/competent, not because her basic power set is awful.
She could probably kill Lung in a straight fight if she had the guts/focus/skill/intelligence to go along with her power set. (Depending on how Lung’s regeneration would handle, say, grey matter.)
@Shadell
There is no indication that Sophia can affect any equipment that’s not attached to her(clothes ,gear).The projectiles she fired have the power of normal crossbow bolts(except for the ones Tinker/PRT issued).Her power is are basically self cast and do not carry over to any thing that had left contact with her body(like the crossbow bolts), hence why she is utterly useless again Lung or the Endbringers. Perhaps she can telefrag a knife or blade inside her opponents ,provided IF she can bypass the Manton Effect which I don’t think she can.
Sophia can telefrag. Just before her capture by the Undersiders, when Taylor is using herself as bait, she muses that she can’t simply phase the bolt through Skitter because then the PRT will know it was her using lethal force. If I understand her power when she is in the shadow state any object she touches becomes immaterial and it takes a few moments for them to become solid again when she leaves them, as demonstrated when she throws the chair at Taylor in prison. She is at best a VERY poor woman’s Foil (whose bolt never miss, don’t need to be touched to be imbued, ignore things like friction and gravity, become molecularly bonded to other objects and are perfectly timed).
And Shadell, as you said, she got lucky against Leviathan. Simurgh is the most powerful precog AND the only telepath in the world(s). Lucky shots are completely out of the question.
Her bolts are shown piercing Leviathan. Also, when SS fought Lung she was presumably with the Wards/Protectorate. A big fight, so Lung was probably regenerating fast (especially compared to the surface level of an Endbringer which takes months to recover). Finally, since she was with others she was probably using tranquilizer arrows.
A very poor man’s Foil.Sophia’s power only lasted for a fractions of a second when the object left her body.That would give her telefrag at best 10 meters at most (more or less) of range if she have one of the more powerful(and heavier) crossbows. A bolt that can be impeded by Gue’s shadow,Citrine’s power ,Taylor’s bugs swarm or just simple electrical wiring you have in most homes.
Foil threw a rapier and killed Hookwolf with it ,which I believed to be slower projectile than a crossbow bolt or darts (not sure how far she have to throw it, though it does indicate a fair distance).
She has better defensive powers than Foil, though, as well as more mobility. Barring shenanigans with electricity, she’s probably more useful than Foil in an even confrontation between two groups of capes. Against Endbringers or Lung the strategic use of Foil as a glass cannon is much more useful.
I wonder, even with the relay bugs, would she actually be able to increase her range to planet-wide? If so, that would be pretty crazy, as she’d then theoretically have nigh-omniscience. And if Panacea made her some aquatic relays, she could rule the seas as well.
And I just realized how effectively she could coordinate five groups, even at opposite ends of the earth, with planet-wide range.
And I just realized that Scion would then probably be able to see the connection of all of the bugs, and possibly where Taylor herself is.
Scolopendra on September 5, 2013 at 08:29 said:
I would like to think that even Scion would be given pause if he saw a planetary, possibly multi-dimensional neural network arrayed against him. He probably wouldn’t be scared, just given a good “what the fuck is that?” moment.
He might be reminded of the entities shards, his origins.
Freak King on September 5, 2013 at 00:35 said:
Just out of curiosity, what if Glaistig recieved Behemoth’s “soul” as part of her deal with cauldron?
three rights make a left. on September 5, 2013 at 00:40 said:
Glastig collects passengers not “souls”
Behemoth didnt have a passenger so there’s no way that Glastig could have collected it.
Said “souls” ’cause passengers slipped my mind and I don’t think we ever strictly eliminated the possibility of the Endbringer being passengers. Either way they definitely have a direct or near-direct relation to an entity or to the passengers so there is a slim possibility that Glaistig could have collected him.
How would she have collected him from inside the Birdcage? I wouldn’t rule out her being able to collect the others, though.
If someone like door maker helped her…Well she probably has eidolon anyways. I guess she collect the passengers of dead and living people now.
I don’t even what. There are so many problems with that: How did Cauldron get it? Why didn’t she use it against Scion? Why should she be able to take it, since Behemoth absolutely isn’t a parahuman?
But… the sheer badassery of the moment she says, “Behemoth, I choose you!” makes me want this to be true and real and yes.
DasNiveau on September 5, 2013 at 04:24 said:
Glaistig: “Behemoth, I choose you!”
Taylor: “Simurgh, use tackle!”
Simurgh uses tackle. It’s not very effective.
Behemoth ueses dig.
Taylor: “Simurgh, use confusion!”
Simurgh uses confusion. It’s super effective.
What? If Behemoth is using did then he’s immune to attacks for one turn! Simurgh is cheating as always! I call shenanigans!
*DIG not did. Why are you doing this to me typos 😦 ?
Actually, DID works for that sentance too.
Sorry haven’t played pokemon since Red and Blue xD
The Smurf has no guard? On the other hand Dig shouldn’t hit the Smurf, as she’s clearly a flying/psychic type. BEHEMOTH would have to use Gravity first.
The Simurgh is clearly that one asshole Pokemon everyone runs into that spams Confusion and Protect/Detect non-stop.
Oh, and the Smurf would definitly have Future Sight. For those of you who haven’t played the newer Pokemon games, Future Sight is an fairly powerful Psychic attack that hits about two turns after it’s cast. In short setting up a future whammy, just like the Smurf.
wash17 on September 5, 2013 at 00:37 said:
…..Are we headed to have tea with an eldritch horror?
I prefer to golf with one. They never quite get the geometry right and it actually gives me a shot of winning.
Four CMoFs already and no TV Tropes — this is killing me!
No fucking typo
*micdrop*
More like a tea time with the devil. Though the wormverse’s idea of the devil might have angel wings and look female going by the fear the world has of people who have heard her scream for too long.
Indigo on September 5, 2013 at 00:41 said:
Getting Simurgh on thier side, she is a lunatic. I love it.
My Little Endbringer
Armageddon is Magic!
Kazir on September 5, 2013 at 07:04 said:
My little Simuuurgh, My little Simurrgghh la la la laaa…
eduardo on September 5, 2013 at 08:55 said:
Oh my preciousssss Simurgh
Veloren on September 5, 2013 at 09:07 said:
I used to wonder what madness could be…
Half-Borked on September 5, 2013 at 14:25 said:
(My little simuuurgh)
…Until you shared it’s hatred with me!
Jim Lee on September 5, 2013 at 00:51 said:
Lung continues to be awesome. I’ve always kinda liked that guy. He’s nice and straightforward about being a monster, even while he’s a total mess inside in his brainmeats.
Still miss Clockblocker. Imp being snarkier makes up a little bit, but….
langer101 on September 5, 2013 at 09:14 said:
Would’ve shipped Clockie and Imp for sure.
Each time I see a Sappho reference my inner nerd who studied classic Latin for six years dances the boogie woogie
– Saint still possesses more dignity than I wanted but that’s okay, I’m biased against him and this story needed more semi-prominent badass normals. By the nature of the Wormverse, he’s the closest we’re going to get in that vein. Fair enough.
– Taylor thinks Marquis is hot. A good sign, I think, of her returning humanity.
– wonder what Spruce’s power is? Detail-Thinker? Plant control? Super-cleaning powers? 😀
– Marquis as a healer. Unexpected but welcome. It has been said that every power has combat applications. Most of them however are *incredibly* underutilized for peaceful purposes … speaking of builders and destroyers.
– Relay bugs! RELAY BUGS! That reproduce! Shit yes, Taylor just became S-class, yo!
– fireproof bugs, coldproof bugs and a bug-factory Atlas 2.0 (call it … Cadmus?) would be pretty sweet
– lol at Shadow Stalker. Watching her delusions of badassery get shattered is peculiarly pleasurable, like popping bubble wrap
– Lung doesn’t hate Skitter. She won against him but she didn’t *defeat* him. Besides, as someone up there said, what he has inside him right now would be wasted on her. Only an Endbringer or Scion would be worthy.
– So. This is the plan? Get the Simurgh on board as a go-between/negotiator with the terrorist Scion or kill her trying. Interesting plan. Why *this* crew? Tattletale makes sense of course (real gamebreaker that one.) Lung is Endbringer-tier muscle so that makes sense too. It’s the Queen Administrator’s plan so she’s got to be there, sure, but Imp? No way the Simurgh can’t see through her power. Shadow Stalker? Worse than useless. Is Canary present?
Holy shit Atlas 2.0… A fleet of Atlases…
“this story needed more semi-prominent badass normals.”
So far we’ve got: Saint, D.T. Officer BrassBalls, aaaaaand…. Surely there’s more?
Coil’s sniper. Oni Lee dropped him off a three-storey building. He responded by shooting him accurately and repeatedly with a broken leg and one arm. Boss.
Lets not forget Forrest. Also known as the guy who wanted to see what was more durable, a cinder block or Mannequin’s head?. And that was before Mannequin got worfed.
Some of the PRT directors(ex-military PRT),the Dragons Teeth (they lose only one troop against the S9),Calle .
I think this setting have a sizeable badass normal population.
Don’t forget Charlotte who set off the dominos to figure out Scion, Sierra who stepped up to the plate before there was even a field to play on, Yamada who rivals D.T. Guy in sheer ballsyness and badassery and Glen who set things up for Weaver to essentially take over the PRT by her lonesome. Forest has already been mentioned as has Coil’s sniper.
Lung was only briefly a eunuch. A combination of Panacea and his own regenerative power solved the problem. In fact, Lung is such a great example of what tvtropes calls Good Thing You van Heal: we would probably all be a little more squicked with Taylor rotting his crotch or carving his eyes if we couldn’t go “oh well he can get them back, no problem”.
*Can not van nor truck nor lorry.
I guess we now why Lung is friendly with Amy ,then.Gratitude for restoring a rotted junk to pristine condition (wonder if he asked for upgrades.
Speaking of Spruce, did he come somewhat near “Meh I can take her”? Course Pancea knew he couldn’t
hitherbydragons on September 6, 2013 at 02:03 said:
Don’t think “eunuch.” Think *mascot.*
Every all-girl team of heroes needs a gigantic dragon mascot. It’s a rule.
If Lung doesn’t work out, I know just the guy: youtube.com/watch?v=Vz_I9mnpNPo
At least I’m not describing it as a sudden appearance of a new Dragon Suit anymore.
Taylor still has that pepper spray i note. Hey Lung want to see if your eyes can grow back when the sockets have been filled with Maggots?
The Marquis thing might just be Panacea. Unconsiously.
> They could breed.
. . . Geez.
I guess we’re going to *find out* whether she actually gets smarter in the presence of a bigger swarm. Man. . . . heck, even if she doesn’t get substantially smarter, even if it’s just barely sufficient to perceive and multitask across a planet and she simply can’t stack that up to do anything else with it, that’s some serious transhuman stuff right there.
(I mean, I guess the relay bugs could all accidentally get crushed when the ship lurches, or the story could end before she has time to cover more than a couple of square miles, or she could hit a hard limit on her power, or Contessa could pop out of nowhere and swat them all as a necessary step to not being eaten alive by bugs in a later confrontation, but . . . I mean, dang.)
Waits for Packbat to explain why the more bugs=more clever theory was debunked arcs ago. . .
Still not convinced it actually was debunked. Not saying it’s factual (only Wildbow can) but there’s been nothing in particular to indicate that it isn’t.
Oh, personally I’m not versed well enough in Worm-lore to take a stand one way or the other. I do know, however, that Packbat has commented several times on why he thinks that particular theory doesn’t hold water. I was simply lighting the Pacbat signal, just like we light the Gecko signal whenever new posters arrive.
Reveen on September 5, 2013 at 16:39 said:
Taylor’s just a goddamn genius. That’s really all there is to it.
I’m not familiar with the evidence for or against, and don’t think there’s going to be enough on either side to say much one way or the other.
Comment immediately below yours is my best precis of said evidence so far.
Point. I hadn’t thought of the times she was cut off from all of her insects, which are the only times that the magnitude might be noticeable.
Unless it’s linear growth, in which case it’s possible, if unfounded, to guess that once she gets a few million bugs she’d start to get Thinkery.
Sorry — I actually went to bed instead of reading the chapter.
To say that Taylor becomes a more effective thinker the more insects she controls would be to say that:
1. While she was in Dispatch’s sphere (24.4), she should have been much stupider than is typical.
2. During the fight with Bakuda’s thralls in the storage unit complex (4.5 to 4.10), she should have been much stupider than is typical.
3. During her public relations stunt in the immediate aftermath of Leviathan (11.2), she should have been much smarter than is typical.
and, assuming that the increase in intelligence derives from her ability to offload cognitive load onto the insects:
4. When she was teleported out of Phir Se’s hideout (24.4), she should have been immediately disoriented, confused, and/or amnesiac from being cut off from her insects.
5. When Armsmaster wiped out mobs of her insects at the post-ABB banquet (6.5 to 6.6), …
6. When Lung wiped out mobs of her insects at her first fight with him (1.4), …
Every one of these predictions fails.
Even leaving out whatever other evidence one might scrape up, and even leaving out the fact that Wildbow specifically said that it wasn’t true, I think the above is sufficient refutation.
chrnno on September 5, 2013 at 09:53 said:
Pretty much, people are confusing the fact that Taylor’s abilities ensures she can control each insect individually with intelligence. Her ability simply makes her a tactician’s wet dream since it allows her to keep track of everything in her range without it being a burden.
So because of that she seems more intelligent as she has both more information, more accuracy and less things to worry about.
I guess we’re going to *find out* whether she actually gets smarter in the presence of a bigger swarm.
As implied by AMR’s post and my reply to it, I’m reasonably confident that we won’t see a visible increase in Taylor’s intelligence.
Unmaker on September 5, 2013 at 00:54 said:
“Capes don’t retire. Doesn’t work. We die in battle or we lose our minds, one or the other.”
“Okay. Whatever. I’m game.”
Shadow Stalker was so asking for it. Laughed out loud on that one. Sure, just have a chat with Simurgh.
That is very interesting that Glaistig Uaine managed to save Eidolon’s recorder even though the last we saw of her, she was running away from whatever Scion was going to do to Eidolon. Does that mean that GU was close enough to “harvest” Eidolon?
It’s not necessarily Eidolon’s recorder. Could just as easily be G.U.’s. Either way, though, it means she was in the area, so chances are pretty good that she got his faerie.
That sounds dirty, somehow…
tieshaunn on September 5, 2013 at 06:55 said:
Scion was blasting Glaistig Uaine’s Shades apart, destroying them permanently. It stands to reason that anyone directly killed by him would be impossible to claim by her – remember, she only claimed capes during that attack that hadn’t been explicitely and directly killed by his attack
The Sandman on September 5, 2013 at 07:25 said:
Think I might have just figured out why that was, too (forgive me in advance if this is a slowpoke realization): he’s reclaiming those shards, absorbing them back into the true space-whaleworm body.
Wasn’t Eidolon a formula=based cape? Do you think Scion could resorb the partner’s shards?
Marcusfell on September 5, 2013 at 09:25 said:
Maybe he can only reabsorb the Cauldron shards.
AlchemyandInk on September 5, 2013 at 20:39 said:
Even if G.U. did claim Eidolon, it wouldn’t last. The next time she ran into Scion, if she brought out the Eidolon shade Scion would just pop his faerie.
The plan to meet the Simurgh was clearly the reason for Taylor putting on her mask. She wanted to hide the trollface from Shadow Stalker. “Problem Sophia?”
endochrom on September 5, 2013 at 01:16 said:
Good soul food for a sick day.
I’m thinking this arc is going really interesting places.
It occurs to me to wonder just how much of Lisa’s power has become common knowledge among capes. For a long time, she did a lot to hide just how powerful she was, trying to get people to underestimate her. Now Lung is assuming she’s using her power to dig up dirt on his past with the Yangban even when she’s not. I forget the details of what she wanted people to believe her power was; I suppose that could fit with it, but it definitely seems overall like she’s let a lot slip, especially when organizing the S9000 attack and so on. Since New Delhi, really. Do people think of her as a “major player” now in her own right? Cauldron does, obviously, since she got the invite to the first Legion of Doom meeting and Taylor didn’t, but they know way more about everything than everyone else.
Just curious about the outside perspective. One of the small things you lose in having a narrative that’s so tied to a single POV is that you don’t often know how other people view things.
I think that after two years of constant Legion of Doom meetings , where as you said she participated as a major player, the important guys have a fair idea of Tattletale’s power. The reason she could keep it secret in the beginning was mostly because she was a member of a minor gang who wasn’t often on the front lines. Heck, Grue’s power is much less easier to dissimulate than Tattletale’s and yet, despite his mini feud with Shadow Stalker the BB Protectorate and Wards still believed it was only darkness generation several chapters in the story.
I liked this little moment reminding us that Lisa is fallible, found it funny, even. Even though I’d think it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to realise there’s bad blood between Lung and the Yangban. I mean he’s a Chinese (okay half Japanese but Japan isn’t exactly a place you want to live in anymore and it’s implied the CUI has expanded beyond the borders of our China) of considerable power and what the Yangban do to their capes seems to be common knowledge…
Heh. You’re right. I was actually quite certain she *had* used her power/research to learn Lung’s history with the Yangban until she herself said otherwise.
Mild but clever subversion of expectations on Wildbow’s part.
sun dog on September 5, 2013 at 08:25 said:
She pretended she could read minds at the bank, a power that belongs only to the Simurgh, maybe. By the Leviathan attack the Protectorate at least had her pegged as Thinker 7, believing her special gift was mindgames. Since then she’s been kind of ruling a major city with the other Undersiders, when not participating in Endbringer/S9000 fights. I think the secret is effectively out, even if the precise details are obscure to outsiders.
The last I heard was that the PRT assumed she spotted weak points and extrapolated her other data from those. Which is bass-ackwards, but probably hard enough to refute that they haven’t, yet.
I wasn’t expecting Taylor to ask Panacea to join the fight- I was expecting Taylor to ask her and Bonesaw to trick her out with some extra organs.
Scion: “I can’t possibly defeat her! She has TOO MANY SPLEEN!*”
* this is the plural form that the space whales use for spleen. Their reflexive fear, awe, and obedience towards seven-spleened creatures is atavistic and dates back to the time when seven-spleened god-monsters first seeded the space whale world with the primordial worms. (It was a farming experiment that did not pay off, since seven-spleen god-monster politics turned sharply against genetically engineered food products not long thereafter.)
pidgey on September 5, 2013 at 03:06 said:
^I laughed pretty hard at this.
I am just so astounded that a person with the powers Amy has would think that, while under a world-ending threat, would be as a medic. Yeah, she’s had some pretty awful experiences with her power, but relay bugs are such an incredibly extreme example of what she has to offer that seeing her assume that she has nothing else to contribute is almost painful.
What if she could work on Dinah a bit and make it less painful to use her power? Even a little would be huge, and she could probably do a lot more than a little. What if she adapted the microbes from the S9 arc to streamline people’s mental functions instead of debilitate them? Even if she never goes to the front line, she could contribute more than any other single cape in the entire world, with little more than a thought.
But even with all of that, it never occurred to me that her greatest weapon might be simple intimidation. Seven spleens, indeed!
Panacea would have to know enough about powers to make that fine manioulation, and such manipulation would have to be possible. I always thought Dinah’s headaches were from her brain trying to process the information thrust at her, rather than her power itself.
I would assume Panacea would simply make Dinah’s brain more headache-resistant and damage-resilient as opposed to altering the power itself to be gentler.
Which doesn’t help if the headache is just a manifestation of information overload. Headaches can be symptoms of anything from stress to dehydration to congestion to (for a certain definition of “headache”) severe wounds; unless maybe Dinah was made to be better at ignoring pain overall*, it wouldn’t work.
*And pain is important; it stops us from doing stupid stuff. What happens if Dinah overuses her power, unfettered by mere headaches? And that’s ignoring the various issues that come with not feeling pain.
Those two statements seem to be at odds- if the headaches are not a direct result of her power, then why would Panacea need to know more about the power than she does about, say, Taylor’s transceiving?
At the very least, she could give Dinah a candy gland.
1. Simple–I am not sure which of the two possibilities is true (Headaches direct effect of power vs. Headaches caused by information overload), so I am making a counterargument for each.
2. Um, the “candy” didn’t help, and I don’t think that predemption Bonesaw would put a gland into someone’s head that kept them dosed with whatever drug cocktail that was.
RE: OP: What.
Now that you mentioned it, I just realised that Panacea could make everyone Aegis 2.0. Sure, as the original showed that doesn’t mean they’d be unkillable, but surely it’d be an advantage.
That would require her to give everyone a couple new powers, which is well beyond her abilities. Maybe with Blasto, Bonesaw, and a sample of Aegis’s DNA.
Hmm? Aegis’ power (apart from flight which is beyond Panacea’s power) was a redundant physiology: constant adrenaline surge, other body parts taking the role of a damaged organ, etc. I think that’s something Panacea can pull off given the other things we saw her do.
Which things are you referring to?
And aside from the adrenaline and maybe the redundant biology, that stuff would require giving superpowers. Skin absorbing light for sight and kidneys* pumping blood and stuff requires major shifts in biology done at the time of injury, it couldn’t be pre-done.
*Or whatever organ it is taking over the function–it was never specified.
The relay bugs, turning harmless microbes into deadly plagues, creating a completely new creature (Atlas) out of random biological matter, tweaking brain chemistry to gain extremely specific results, etc. Seriously all those strange critters Nilbog created? Panacea can do all of that too. You’re telling me tweaking hormones so they’re constantly producing adrenaline is beyond her? Shifting, say, lungs’ tissues and purpose throughout all the human body?
I said she could do the adrenaline thing. And yes, shifting the lungs’ function throughout the human body would be impossible. About the closest she could come is giving them cutaneous respiration, which has the downside of making the skin frailer and the person easier to dry out.
Similar with everything. There’s a reason humans have specialized organs–generalized organs don’t work as well, without superpowers. As for redundant organs, that would be possible (probably), but it’s surprisingly hard to cram an extra heart in there without screwing something up.
Yggdrazzil on September 5, 2013 at 02:16 said:
The vocabulary changes with Imp seem too conspicuous to not be going somewhere. I think it’s building up to something. Regent took over her body once, maybe he left some part of him inside her when he suicided?
That’s not how Regent’s power works…
I don’t think their relationship got that far before he snuffed it.
…what? I damn well know Psycho Gecko, at least, was thinking it.
Um, even if he did, that would make Imp’s vocabulary worse if anything.
I think Lisa wasn’t completely off base with the Heartbroken comment — it might well be that she started reading out loud to some of the kids some nights, for example.
That, and her native intelligence is showing through. Modulo her attention-deficit issues, she’s certainly no dumber than her brother, and he’s no idiot.
A more interesting idea:
We know from Cherish that at least some of Heartbreaker’s kids can learn languages at an advanced rate. We know from the Regent/Imp relationship that Imp was willing to let Regent work on her because she had a trump.
If Imp is willing to let other Heartbreaker offspring work on her, and if those offspring share the advanced language capabilities, and if at least one of them can share information instead of just control their target, then you have a similar situation to Teacher, where a parahuman can teach skills at an advanced rate. More generally, if any of Heartbreaker’s children have advanced learning via their power and can successfully transmit it to another of Heartbreaker’s offspring who can transmit if onwards, the group of them are mini-Teachers with more control but less flexibility.
Or Teacher could have taken over Imp already, but you would think that TT would pick up something that blunt.
illlogicmedia on September 5, 2013 at 10:34 said:
I am thinking along the same type of lines. Her vocabulary has been “harped” on several times throughout this arc already. Maybe it is a diversionary tactic and nothing will come of it.
However, I think something else is going on there though. I don’t recall Regen ever talking like that. Just can’t put my finger on it yet.
The implication is that Imp trusted Regent with her mind and body (even soul if we are going that route). They experienced a oneness that no human/parahuman (mentioned so far) ever has. She gave herself up to him, of her own free will. I think that says something BIG to as far as how “close” they actually became.
I was hoping a little more would have come from the Bonesaw/Panacea thing. Together they could (as some here have voiced) team up and really bolster the offensive capabilities of the capes.
I also didn’t get that Taylor was going to have everyone go talk to the Simurgh; I was under the impression they were going to strike first agaisnt her/it. So, I’m a little confused on this.
If Glaistig Uaine isn’t dead, then I think they need to find her as well. She is one of my favorite oddities that has come about so far.
UGH, gotta wait until Saturday to read more. 😀
Maybe Imp has simply decided that now that she has minions she should act like a proper supervillian? She’s probably learning Latin while she’s at it.
Haha, that’s pretty funny.
Love your handle. Darkwing Duck is my absolute favorite superhero of all time!
Okay, I’ve decided to adopt a more rambling, random thoughts style for this post. So, first of all:
-LUUUNG! I always liked Lung especially Birdcage!Lung. The way he swatted Sophia as if she were a bug was great.
-Eh Tattletale stressing the Yangban to Lung without knowing about his personal beefs with them was funny. A reminder that Lisa is not infallible, whatever she may think.
-Ohh, Imp vs Bonesaw. You think Bonesaw really remembered Grue or, as Lisa implied, she lied? I bet there have already been several people like Imp who confronted her and it’s hard to keep all those victims straight.
-Paacea has co-opted Marquis as her assistant. Frankly it’s more natural for his powers to be used in a hospital than on a battlefield. I’ll chalk it up to Scion’s warrior mentality.
-Anyone else got a bit sad when, even after Taylor talked about second chances (to Lung and Shadow Stalker and Bonesaw!) and she got shiny new bugs as a gift, she was afaid to shake hands with Amy? Poor Amy.
-I guess the ending of this chapter seems to confirm the Eidolon=Endmaker theory, but until it’s spelled in-story I will continue believing in alternatives. I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem to fit, IMO.
There’s two possibilities on your last point.
One is that Eidolon unconsciously created them (if it was consciously done, Scion’s observation shouldn’t have made him suicidal).
The other is that Cauldron made them in order to give him something to fight that would force him to access his full powerset.
I’m currently betting on option two.
Cauldron making them seems improbable. Kill half the big capes on the planet every few months? Ingenious.
Given the context:
“My power gives me what I need!”
“You needed worthy foes.”
It’s pretty clear that Scion was implying direct, if unconscious, creation.
A perfectly valid alternative is that Eidolon, at least in the beginning, was powerful enough to outright kill the Endbringers but subconsciously held back because he liked the idea of having giant monsters to fight every month or two. It doesn’t per force have to do with the CREATION of the Endbringers.
My personal theory is still that the Third Entity is the creator and it’s manipulating everyone through Contessa. But it’s becoming unlikier and unlikier.
Again (I think it was here, at least), the context of Scion’s statement and Eidolon’s reaction point clearly to Eidolon being the unconscious creator. Pretty much the only argument against that is “Scion lied,” but that removes the only piece of evidence we have about the Endbringers’ origins, so…
So, the Endbringers are just hanging out now since they no longer have a creator/purpose? Also, does anyone know the rough date of Eidolon’s purchasing his powers? If the Endbringers showed up before then, it pretty much negates him being the creator of them.
Behemoth first appeared in 1992. Doctor approached David in 1986. So the dates fit.
It’s been checked. I don’t remember the dates, but I remember that it fit.
I believe Alexandria’s interlude has the first time BEHEMOTH showed up in it, and it was after the formation of the Protectorate.
A small reflexive hesitation to take Amy’s hand. Quite natural given the things she can and has done with just a touch. Or threatened to do to Taylor specifically. I’m sure it hurt Amy, but I’m thinking it felt a lot better a moment later when Taylor shakes anyway.
-Agreed. I’m glad he’s out.
-Sometimes, she’s just lucky. And given how good she is at making her own luck, that’s all she really needs.
-Well, it’s not every city that you lose half the remaining Nine, and it’s not every victim who has a second trigger event. I’d say Grue’s circumstances made him memorable, if nothing else.
-Indeed. The idea that “all powers are useful for combat” is really kind of forced.
-Yes, but can you blame her? Their first confrontation included Amy threatening to make Taylor hideous and whatnot.
-You’re probably in the wrong, but there’s a chance you’re not.
Thamuzz on September 5, 2013 at 10:30 said:
I’m reminded of that phone conversation between Taylor and her dad, when he had that small hesitation before he said he wasn’t afraid of her.
Loki-L on September 5, 2013 at 03:14 said:
You know, if anyone were still keeping track of that sort of thing those fertile relay bugs would have catapulted Taylor into being an A-Level threat by herself, borderline S-Level If you take her decision to voluntary spend time in the company of Simurgh into account.
Too bad the stakes have moved up that much more with Scion having turned into some sort of SS-level threat.
>>SS-level threat<<
We were bad, but not that bad….
En on September 5, 2013 at 07:46 said:
Didn’t they got their hands on the Ark to power some kind of magic ritual? That’s pretty bad right?
In related news, Scion has been reported as having gotten a haircut and shave, leaving him with just a small strip of facial hair just above the lip…
Wait … small moustache, no dialogue, showmanship … Charlie Chaplin! I knew this whole story about space-worms was a ruse!
Do not forget the smashing side parting haircut.
Kessler on September 5, 2013 at 03:42 said:
Reading chapter, reading chapter, SHE IS GOING TO DO WHAT?!
Recruit the Endbringers to fight Scion. Or failing that, utterly annihilate the Simurgh to prove the good guys are still fighting and can win.
Yeah, Queen Administrator indeed. I can imagine the stares & jaw dropping, when Endbringers show up to defend settlements.
I wonder, Queen Faerie said that High Priest was the one doing it wrong. So would it mean that whatever function Administrator is supposed to preform, she did well, or that her job hasn’t started yet, so she didn’t have opportunities to screw up. Seeing how Tylor is intended Shard owner, unlike Eidolon’s stolen one, she should be more naturally inclined. Her function seems to be managing the cycle, so maybe she has a shot to reorient Endbringers for a new role to salvage it.
Naeddyr on September 5, 2013 at 09:18 said:
Personally, I thought this was the obvious next step by at least the last chapter, maybe even when Scion was confirmed batshit.
BTW, Is there any wikia or forum discussing Worm ?.I know one but it is relatively inactive.There are a few question I needed to ask concerning my understanding of previous chapters(mainly in regards to character powers and the resolution of some of the past conflicts).
Perhaps I need to do a binge of the comment sections,maybe?
The wiki has not been updated in a while.
The three forums regarding Worm I lurk on are on the rpg.net site, spacebattles and darklordpotter. The first two are reasonably active, the last one less so.
Hope it was of help.
BTW, I don’t think it’s a problem to ask questions on previous chapters in the comment sections of the current one.
Thank you for the directions.I am unaware of both those sites till now.
I just needed to ask a some questions concerning basic mechanics ,really.The one that I mentioned (giantitp.com) are mainly to discuss updates.They don’t do in depth talk for fear of spoilering the story to new audiences.
The question concerns Coils’ power.It is okay to ask them here?
Don’t see why not.
There’s stardestroyer.net but that is possibly the least active. If you actually want enthusiastic discussion, look to forum.rpg.net and spacebattles (where there are also multiple Worm crossover fanfics of better-than-decent quality and an ideas thread that, while active, is a little obsessed with giving Taylor alternate and overwhelming powers.)
And the crossovers are mainly Exalted, people seem determined to have every Exaltation possible in at least one fic.
TV Tropes is the other one, I mean it’s not perfect but it’s good background and some speculation.
Curiously, the TV Tropes page appears to have vanished… it could be server issues, but I can’t pull up anything on Worm at the moment.
Yeah, there seem to be some problems with TvTropes in general at the moment.
NOOOOOOOOO! Not TV Tropes!
…Let’s see if this link form works.
Not remotely. Shoot.
Lame. That’s going to hurt my viewership numbers, I’m betting.
At this point I’m getting 150-200 clickthroughs from TV tropes a day. A bunch of those are Packbat and the other tropers, but a fair number are new readers too.
Have I mentioned lately just how thankful I am to the handful of most excellent individuals who’ve added Worm links to TV tropes pages?
Yeah, you should see the dogpile on the idiot who gave a negative review of Worm on TvT. He basically crammed every fallacy he could into the review and made it very clear he never read much of it at all. He got fed up by getting everything he said in the discussion page refuted and decided to try to review bomb Worm. Glad to see that several fans took the fight back against him 🙂
@Scolopendra: I always feel bad criticizing someone who disagrees with me on a matter of taste, and I wouldn’t make any extrapolations about his intelligence from just the one review … but there were a number of interpretations he proposed there that I don’t think are defensible from the work. How good Wildbow’s writing is can be reasonably debated, but whether the Undersiders are presented as heroes cannot.
@packbat: My biggest issue with him was the constant fallacies in his interpretation. He was a huge fan of the ol’ slippery slope, among others. Even when this was pointed out to him, he ignored it. I DO have problems with people who are called out on illogical statements yet cling to them. If someone has something intelligent and rational to contribute to a discussion, I’m all for it, especially if it is opposing my own viewpoint as it causes me to think in new directions. That guy offered no such things, just nonsense reasoning for the most part.
I don’t usually read the reviews on tvtropes so I’m curious. Did this individual argue that the Undersiders were the villains of the piece or that the text portrayed them as heroes (in the traditional sense) without backing it up?
The latter. I believe the title of the review name-checked Garth Ennis, if that means anything.
Glassware on September 5, 2013 at 13:32 said:
Hm, that reminds me, I should get to adding links once TVtropes is back up again. I’ve got to go over some betrayal tropes with Teacher, add Bonesaw to the Atoner page (and her quote from this chapter to the quotes page), put Hookwolf under Born in the Wrong Century, and edit Divided We Fall.
Wait, somedude thought the Undersiders were villains? Like, not just villains in the classification sense, but the villains? As in he wants to see them lose? Who was he? Paul Gleeson’s character from the Breakfast Club or something?
Nah, he thought they were very badly written and unsympathetic heroes in the style of the Authority.
I took offense to his depiction of Worm being like The Boys. I’ve read The Boys. Worm is much better and the Undersiders are nothing like The Boys. The whole setting may be incredibly dark, but the idea that there’s no reason to care about the characters? This is a story with Interludes that flesh out characters to such a degree that people like Armsmaster now and Bonesaw is practically redeemed in some people’s eyes already.
So I think I know what we need to do now to make up for this odious transgression against good taste and common sense. We need more reviews to drown him out.
Come on, Worm readers. Anyone want to step up and review Worm? Give us an idea about the story and why you love it, as well as any weak areas you see. And do it over at the TV Tropes page. Grab a sword, join the horde!
In the fellow’s defense, it really does take a good long while before we really see classically-heroic Protectorate and Wards members get a lot of screentime. Before Arc 9, all you’ve got is Interlude 3 (in my mind is classified as Gallant’s), then Interlude 7 (Miss Militia’s).
On the other hand, having watched this summary of the setup of The Boys, the comparison is pretty much completely off base. Armsmaster didn’t kill any innocent bystanders, the Undersiders aren’t in the business of fighting crime at all (much less crimes committed by superheroes), and the author isn’t presenting anyone as a moral exemplar.
I don’t think anyone should write reviews that are ‘responses’ to AxelxGabriel’s, but if “someone is wrong on the internet” motivates you to write an accurate, thoughtful critical analysis, I’d be thrilled to read it.
In the boys, heroes aren’t just incidentally wrong or dumb, theg’re all corrupt assholes save for one or two. Theh’re also controlled by an incompetent corporation. The heroes murder, rape, spread AIDS to unsuspecting sexual partners, kidnap kids, and rape. They like rape.
And there are few supervillains because you get away with more as a hero. Because of one major difference between The Boys and Worm. Peopls trust superheroes and are completely blind, or too corrupt, to crack down on them.
I heard about this ‘verse via the bbs.stardestroyer.net site quite by accident. I was searching for something totally unrelated and somehow came across the “classification ryhme”. That was all I needed to come check it out. Read the first chapter and was hooked instantly.
Oh that was interesting, nice to see Panacea again and Bonesaw is really having to adapt. The relay bugs are also pretty interesting, I assume Taylor is already working on increasing their number, way too useful not to do so.
Aside from that going to meet the Simurgh? Really wasn’t expecting that…
Seriously Wildbow… I have a pretty high tolerance for weird stuff… and it’s the second time in a row you managed to disturb me…
Riley was… saddening. Mostly because it’s one of those Jeckyll and Hyde situations in which someone is responsible for “someone else’s” actions.
And everyone is taking it out on a little kid. Sure, she looks like the monster she was, but… come on, are you guys seriously berating a child for being cheerful? That goes way under and beyond keeping an eye on her.
Not to mention that psychological violence is … a questionable approach on someone who apparently wants to reform.
Sure, the rampant paranoia justifies a lot of things. And that stops being an excuse the second you go and have a chat with the frigging Simurgh.
(Please, Tattletale, you’re my only hope)
Also, Riley shipping thread. Not with Eli. Or any kind of bear-related cape or IRC denizen.
Umh… how about Aidan? They should be about the same age, both like remote controlling their pets, and had a really scary surrogate parent.
Regarding Riley, did I read properly that Panacea ripped out all of her augmented physiology? Without cutting the pain? I cannot even fathom how much that would hurt.
I think she took out her augmented physiology and forbid Bonesaw from always disabling her pain. Not both at the same time and probably not literally “ripped out”.
I would hope not. Bonesaw’s spine and organ sheaths would probably have been a nightmare to remove just by themselves, not to mention all the other things she had. Body horror doesn’t begin to cover it.
Ripped out? No. Made the body push it out? Yes.
Uncomfortable on a fundamental level, painful here and there, but not necessarily so horrible.
And I’m sure there was a hazmat unit nearby with NBC suits on and flamethrowers to handle all the fun surprises being expelled (I recall Riley had spring-loaded needles, plague dispensers, and acid/poison reservoirs installed). Good grief that rustles my jimmies to think about.
Wait, what about her mechanical prehensile spine? That can’t be pushed out, right?
Imagine bone reforming and breaking the mechanisms apart, much like a tree growing and splitting concrete. It’s actually much more pleasant to think about than how soft organs fully encased in a reinforced mesh (one capable of repelling knives more effectively than kevlar) would force that out.
Didn’t Riley perform some self surgery, including a Hysterctemy, Masectomy, and bone shaving without pain suppression in her interlude?
Well looks like Riley isn’t going to be getting the easily forgiven trope. Funny, when she was still an evil psycho who did medical experimentation for fun, I hated her and wanted to see her suffer. Now that she is suffering, but is trying to redeem herself, I feel sorta bad for her.
Did Panacea also grow Bonesaw’s uterus back and give her back her natural height/bone growth also? If Riley is really trying to be a better person and make up for all the batshit crazy from before she deserves a chance to be a normal girl at some point in the future as well.
Aidan…. Do you want to give Wildbow more horrible ways to torment the poor kid? Bonesaw & the S9 were probably the people who killed/maimed his parents/neighbours etc. right in front of him traumatizing him to the point where he’s afraid to go to sleep cause of all the nightmares/sleepwalking/bed-wetting.
And Aidan’s 7 years old.Could you guys do the shipping with someone who have hit puberty.
Really? I thought he was older, at least around 12-13, a year of two younger than Riley at most.
He was seven in the Scion interlude.Of course we don’t know how much time have passed since then,kids grow up so fast these days;)
Aiden was in Taylor’s Territory right? So it was probably Manniquin or Burnscar if it was a member of the 9 that killed his family.
Yeah Riley has realized that no one is probably ever going to like her or trust or accept her ever again. Now if she sticks with being good in the face of all that, then I guess that really would be a sign that she wants redemption. I hope Pancea at least put back in some of the Stuff Riley had to cut out in her interlude.
Cutsey little girl was Riley’s MASK and she became that mask as time passed. They’re trying to avoid a relapse. Also, I’m sure there’s LOTS of people in the Wormverse who are terrified, traumatised simply at the thought of little creepily cheery blond girl, maybe some in that very room. I think their psychological health has priority over Riley’s.
Riley/Greg.
Hm…I’d say RileyxVista, but I don’t think either swings that way…and there really aren’t many characters that age…
Yeah, non-creepy Riley ships won’t work.
Riley/A load of buckshot.
Seriously, I know she’s being redeemed or whatever, but if she get’s out of line someone had better blow her friggin’ head off. Watch her like a shithawk.
Hear that, Saint?
Hey! Assuming she’ll go bad is a self-fulfilling prophecy, Rev.
At which point she fucking dies. She gets no slack. None. Zero. Nada. She went so far above and beyond the call of duty or even psychosis in her monstrosity; how can any less effort be expected of her in her redemption?
1. How did you do that quoty thing?
2. Yes, if she acts up, she dies. But don’t assume she will.
Right now it’s the carrot and the stick for Riley. Which is sort of funny because that was Jack’s method. The carrot for her is hope. Deep down inside her she has hope that maybe she can atone a little bit for the horrible shit she did. That maybe she can be forgiven. That maybe she can have other people feel something for her than raw hatered. She needs that carrot. Without it there isn’t much to keep her from backsliding into insanity and evil. She has guilt, but she needs to hope that she can at least be an actual “good girl”.
“The Atoner” added to Bonesaw’s TV Tropes entry.
Tbh, Eli is not a cape anyway, so it wouldn’t work very well…The power dynamic would be horribly wonky.
There are options among capes that can make some sort of sense too, but some would be more …waay past inappropriate than Eli, like Riley and Manton or Riley and Panacea.
Perhaps one of the Weld’s irregular’s or one of the other villain-turned hero capes might be closer, especially if she helps the irregular regain closer to human shape, but those might see her as too much like Cauldron. Unfortunately, we lack villanious capes given second chances(who are named characters). Riley and Sophia, perhaps.
Though, she could learn how she should talk now from Bambina.
TheShadowbehindyou on September 5, 2013 at 08:34 said:
Fuck me Wildbow!!!
-Worm
So, is that an invitation, or…
Naaaah, don’t think that I’m her/his type, to be honest. 😦
Tried a Nike-pun (just do it), but it seems that I failed extraordinary.
I’m really looking forward to the smurfs tea party. I’m not that convinced that Eidolon really created the Endbringers, Scion could’ve just lied and with Contessas power, it should’ve been way too easy to access Eidolons weak points, namely his inferiority complex and not-existent confidence.
Something’s up with the TV tropes page. I’m currently trying to access it via their site, and Literature/Worm returns an answer of “We don’t have that article, press the edit button to start it.” Switching the namespace to Main instead returns “This page is temporarily unavailable.” HALP!
TV Tropes is borked this morning.
I know, it’s killing me.
Maybe the Smurf’s working on an elaborate plan to kill our TvTropes, so all tropers are gonna freak out and she can take over our universe easily…
More likely one of her pawns was being excessively distracted.
Either way, we’ll just have to hope that Cracked.com can fill in the gap.
*checks to see if Cracked is online, has six tabs open within a minute*
It’s woooorrrkiiiiinnnngggg…!
Funny thing is, last edit I made was Taylor’s line about going to talk to the Simurgh. (Under Wham Line, with the appropriate masking tape)
TV Tropes is back up.
Soooo… am I the only one who wants to see Taylor riding into battle atop her very own Endbringer? Maybe telekinetically suspended at the center of the Smurf’s wings or standing on Khonsu’s head?
Levi probably wouldn’t make the most stable platform, Tohu isn’t mobile enough and Bohu is too small to make a good steed.
I’ve got someone on the Bay12 forums (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=108083.msg4575111#msg4575111) asking if there’s anywhere to download Worm. Anyone have an answer to this question?
Tell them to pull random levers in their fortress in the middle of a siege until they find it… Honestly though, I don’t think there is any place to download it. I’m assuming he’s trying to find an e-book format for it, but that isn’t really available as far as I know.
Wildbow has specifically asked people not to distribute ebooks of the work as serialized — as he has mentioned a few times, he has plans to edit and publish it after the story is complete.
I thought I had heard that before, but wasn’t sure. I was going with it “isn’t really available” to be on the safe side.
Also, I am not at all surprised Dwarf Fortress fans would like Worm. After all, it’s a game where you have to fend off near impossible odds, death is incredibly common and almost always horrific, and there is absolutely no way to actually win. Yeah, sounds quite familiar…
Well, I was introduced to it by dermonster, and aside from that I haven’t confirmed any other Worm readers despite mentioning it every so often.
Although I did get one person to read just enough that he realized his fear of bugs would prevent him from enjoying it.
Well, if this were Dwarf Fortress, Scion could be easily defeated by abuse of ridiculous physics. He’s the right height for it, so you could just lure him under a drawbridge and lower it on him. Bam! Wiped from existence. That solution isn’t “Dwarfy” enough though. Perhaps surprise him with a nice magma shower followed by a rinse with a well-place floodgate hooked up to the river. No more Scion. You could also put some spiderwebs on top of the flimsiest wooden cage available and have him trapped in an inescapable prison for all eternity. Causing a cave-in on top of him would work, but lacks the hilarity and style.
Scion is small enough to be atomsmashed…forget parahumans, what we need are dwarves! And plump helmets. And mechanisms. And boulders, lots of boulders.
How about we put all the Parahumans in a room with a bunch of wooden spears that stab at them ineffectually over and over again for a few years. I’m pretty sure Taylor placed into a danger room like that would be able to beat Scion in a straight up fist fight after all that.
Scion probably has [NOBLEED], [NOTHINK], [NOPAIN], [NO_DRINK], the works. Not terribly effective. At the minimum, they’d need crossbows.
Alright, how about we just distract him with a Zombie Giant Sponge. He can have fun trying to kill one of those for all eternity.
Teruzi on September 5, 2013 at 16:09 said:
Also, beer, tons and tons of beer. Or a alcoholic beverage made from the nearby plants.
Hence the plump helmets.
God on September 5, 2013 at 12:25 said:
Hey wildbow, you happen to have read The Long Earth?
Very similar concepts, though I’m not sure who did what first.
sarah penguin on September 5, 2013 at 13:20 said:
Another fun update, thanks 🙂
I love how Taylor invites people to this new alliance. It’s either “Join or regret it later” or “Join or I will get the rest of the people to crush you horribly”. I think that’s the right idea though, Taylor herself said perfectly, they don’t need to be allies, they just need to be pointed at the worst possible enemy, at best the worst enemy get’s killed, at worst there is less things to worry about.
I’m thinking that the Simurgh will be amused by Taylor. I can almost see the conversation:
“Simurgh, we are at the end of our rope! we need your help to kill Scion”
“Why, dearest human, would I even care?”
“You can fight with us or be horribly murdered by us. (Or at least get really freaking hurt)”
“… Oh my”
Truthseeker on September 5, 2013 at 22:38 said:
Your description of Taylor’s recruitment style sounds a bit familiar…
“Where did they come from? I mean their guild. Their monopoly.”
“That’s easy. One night a powerful sorcerer knocks on the door of a less-powerful sorcerer, ‘I’m starting an exclusive guild,’ he says, ‘Join me now or I’ll blast you out of your fucking boots right where you stand.’ So naturally the second mage says…”
” ‘You know, I’ve always wanted to join a guild!’ ”
“Right. Those two go bother a third sorcerer, ‘Join the Guild,’ they say, ‘or fight both of us, two on one, right here, right now.’ Repeat as necessary, until three or four hundred guild members are knocking on the door of the last independent mage around, and everyone who said no is dead.”
–The Lies of Locke Lamora, on the subject of the formation of the Guild of Bondsmagi. 😀
Oh man, Marquis is stylin’. A lot of guys here could learn a few things from him. Maybe if Colin had some of that swagger he wouldn’t need to shout at teenagers and pick fights with giant monsters to boost his self esteem.
Well, talk to Simurgh. Don’t know if that’s the smartest idea I’ve ever heard or the dumbest. Probably a bit of both. Atleast it’s an actually inspired idea and not a bullshit pyramid scheme like Cauldron would do.
I figure they’d want to send her gunning after Scion. But I’d like to dump the smurf right on Teacher’s head. See the look on his face.
Hey I keep saying, if you have to have a superpowered crimelord, Marquis is the one you want. Sure he’s quietly murder his underlings for failure, but he helps out when the Slaughterhouse 9 is in town, and is polite to his enemies.
And he’s hooooot!
And he’s hot.
Thank you, Donny.
PharmaDan on September 5, 2013 at 18:48 said:
Shadow Stalker VS Lung! the winner gets to to have their ass handed to them by Taylor once again!
Glad to see some more of Amy and Marquis, now if only we could see how Glory Girl is doing now.
Well either she’s still a Silent Hillesque limb pile… or dead.
So, badly either way.
Well until Wildbow tells us we don’t know that for sure.
For all we know she could be dating Greg or something…
Alec on May 24, 2016 at 21:00 said:
Tom_D on September 5, 2013 at 19:44 said:
Didn’t see this discussed this chapter yet, so I’ll just leave this here.
*** I nodded, reaching into my pocket to get the little tube of pepper spray I’d claimed from my ruined costume. I moved it into the belt of the new costume, then began stripping out of the casual clothes I wore. ***
I’m still thinking that the pepper spray is going to make a disproportional difference. I don’t know who it will make that difference against, but I’m betting Scion. I’m thinking he and his kind have faced everything from brute strength and sharp sticks to forcefields, and miniature suns, but they may have never faced what is truthfully a weaponized foodstuff. A face full of capsaicin, and I bet he goes bugshit nuts.
Taylor approaches using her flight pack. Scion looks on as she comes closer. (We might get a glimpse of his thinking. “WTF do you think YOU are going to do Ms. Administrator?”)
Taylor leaves her swarm behind as she gets close, then comes to a stop in front of Scion. They look at each other for a minute.
Taylor – “Fuckin’ bully.” **SQUIIIIIIIIRT!!!**
Scion -WTF??? AAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Nah. I bet the Simurgh came down to look for some pizza, and she likes her pizza REALLY spicy.
Cue Taylor giving her the pepper spray as a spice, and the Simurgh starting to follow her just in case she gives her some other spicy food.
Btw, the Simurgh talks like SHODAN.
+Btw, the Simurgh talks like SHODAN.+
Dear god that would be awesome!
acediamonds on September 5, 2013 at 22:14 said:
I’m partial to Taylor giving Contessa and Doctor Mother a face-full of pepper spray when Cauldron inevitably betray them.
Curse your sudden but inevitable capsaicin!
Matt Nordhoff on September 6, 2013 at 00:43 said:
If you want to give second chances to undeserving monsters, it’s hard to beat the Simurgh!
Simurgh redemption arc would be interesting.
Hey for all we know the Endbringers really just wanted to be friendly, but were forced to fight because Eidolon subconciously wanted worthy opponents. Maybe Leviathan just wanted to help people cool off on hot days. Or the Smurf wants to be a fortune teller. Tohu and Bohu might just want to open their own amusement park. But sadly they kept getting forced to try and destroy all mankind.
Damn you Eidolon!
Behemoth just wanted to solve our energy crisis and help us scrap our nuclear weaponn and WMDs.Now he’s dead because of you
I just had the best thought ever, regarding a visual adaptation.
Summer Glau as Tattletale.
Sorry, can’t/don’t see it.
WyldCard4 on September 6, 2013 at 13:44 said:
Neither do I. Like, it’s not that it couldn’t ever work, but I don’t see any obvious associations in age, appearance, or the personalities of the characters she’s played. Sure, she might have range she’s not displayed in the shows and movies I’ve seen her in, but it seems like a very peculiar choice.
Same here. I just have never seen Summer Glau have the right amount of self confidence, smug satisfaction, and know it allness that Tattletale would require.
Emma Stone. Watch Easy A and try to tell me she doesn’t have the sass for the part.
Bam! She’s perfect. Just get her a blonde wig and she’s good to go.
So, who gets the Eidolon formula next from Cauldron?
Better question: what happened to all the people they must have given it to already?
farmerbob1 on September 6, 2013 at 17:03 said:
Interesting if the Endbringers choose to all work together to fight Scion, they could probably do a damn good job of it. Khonsu could put them into time acceleration to heal, and teleport them around to get away if needed. The others could fight in a coordinated manner, perhaps, espacially is Simurgh can communicate with them. Someone has been organizing their appearances, and even if Eidolon created them, he might not have been in control of them in any way after they were created. At the very least they could drain him of a lot of power as he tries to fight them, and I think that the only way Scion’s going down, is if he runs out of power.
Then there’s the possibility that the Endbringers are in some way related to the third entity which damaged Scion’s mate, in which case we might see Endbringers actually fighting for real rather than playing with the humans and snacking on passengers from dead capes until they took a lot of damage.
Shebali on September 6, 2013 at 19:10 said:
Juuuust caught up with the story. Took me two crazy weeks, and I had to skip comments section, but I’m here now. Yay! Now I can hit the tvtropes page without fear ^^
Lets see if you can still feel that way when you read Psycho Gecko’s quotes from the comment section. Speaking of the devil…
I skip the comment section when I was binging too ( it took me less than a week to catch up,heh,heh,heh)and only now start binging the comment section in an anti chronological order(arc wise, not chapters).It is more daunting than I thought.
Only then did I found out what a fixture Psycho Gecko is in the comment section.I didn’t even recognise the significance of his way of welcoming newbies.I thought he was trolling me at the time(which is why I didn’t return the greeting at the time,sorry about that).You’ll learn to spot the nuances of the regular posters and learn to appreciate/tolerate/stomach the flavours they brought here.
Since wildbow has informed me that congratulating her foreshadowing in the comments is considered spoilery (see Shell 4.3), nice foreshadowing in 5.1.
Notice how Coil’s the one to recognize the Travellers?
It’s those neat little details that fit perfectly into place later.
Stephen M (Ethesis) on September 7, 2013 at 08:40 said:
Even better after the next chapter.
Holy shit. Trying to get the fucking Simurgh on board? wow.
They are being pointlessly unpleasant to ex-Bonesaw. What possible purpose is served by preventing her from turning off pain? It’s the moral equivalent of sticking a pain device inside someone so that you can inflict pain on them when you want to. It’s sick.
And turning off her ability to do without sleep is massively counter-productive and petty.
Panacea could probably make the Zerg. Fast spawning fungus to spread around the place that then turns into monsters. Turn the biomass of a planet into weaponry (not very [i]effective[/i] weaponry given it’s, well, biomass, but still something).
“Sticking with the people I know best. People I trust.”
The people you know best being the ones you spent three months in contact with and most of THAT time being managing your empire? As opposed to over two years spent living with the same group?
Trusting people known to be severely lacking in empathy for others and respect for social norms.
I agree, it has stuck me as odd that Taylor still has had more contact and lines with Undersiders than her Wards team even after the timeskip. Sounds like someone isn’t letting go, at least.
That does seem a bit weird on the face of it. But with the exception of Golem (who I *am* a bit surprised isn’t here) she didn’t really give herself a chance to grow close to any of the Chicago Wards. Her focus was on getting them prepared for the end of the world – she was closer to their CO than their friend, and those two generally don’t go well together.
She spent more time with the Chicago Wards, but the Undersiders genuinely became her friends.
I nodded, and followed her as we strode through.
That just seems like an awkward sentence.
Okay well I guess I was off with thinking Taylor was immediately thinking about attempting to recruit/direct the Endbringers. She got there eventually though! A coordinated strike against four Endbringers and Scion just didn’t doesn’t sound like such a good plan at all…I think they stand a hell of a lot better chance of sitting down to have tea. Wow, what is the world coming to when it’s easier to talk to an Eldritch Abomination than to just kill it?
Can someone please kill Saint or at least reduce him to a blubbering idiot? Really this bastard is way too fucking smug for someone who screwed the pooch as badly as he did.
I love Aisha. Really. I love her. Next we’ll see that she has been taking etiquette lessons as well just to screw with Lisa even more!
Damn, Amy really has grown up. Hell, going to the Birdcage seems to be the best thing that ever happened to her. That’s incredibly sad. And relay bugs without being asked that could breed? Yes, please! Now why the hell hasn’t she gotten Victoria back to normal yet? Considering where her pointed headspace is, it doesn’t seem like it’d be all that difficult anymore…
On a related entertaining side note, Taylor now has the potential to wipe out a planet by her lonesome given a bit of alone time. Breeding relay bugs in sufficient numbers could extend her range worldwide. She’s shown to be capable of focusing at a high enough level that she could probably take that load. Every bug on the planet suddenly under the control on one overriding intelligence? Cue evil laugh. The universe is rather exceeding lucky that our heroine is a good person at heart and that Scion is killing everything anyway.
The Bonesaw interactions were cool. I can’t believe I actually want to give the little psycho a chance at a better life.
Lung was freaking funny. “Hi, don’t kill me because you can kill these other assholes.” “Okay I will kill those assholes first.” “Cool, wait, what?” And his comments about Shadow Stalker were priceless! It was kind of endearing too when he immediately knocked some respect into SS.
Die in battle or go insane…yup even more convinced that Grue is dead. Show us onscreen him alive and walking or I won’t be convinced. Major characters just don’t get written off without a goodbye even in the apocalypse. Though granted Miss Militia just kind of fell off the map and she was relatively big for a while…
Well it’s pretty cool to see that Tattle connected the dots concerning Eidolon. That bodes well for Team Taylor’s chances.
I’m not sure I can probably identify the specific kind of excitement I get from moments like this. It’s like “I love it when a plan comes together”, only without the plan.
Er. Properly identify.
I think it worked perfectly well. On two different levels, even. “Insides decorating the walls of a room” is a good description of someone who’s been blown up, and it’s an accurate description of something this particular “bomb” has literally done in the past.
Hawk on April 13, 2015 at 06:33 said:
I just though of something, laughed, then paused and mused over it.
What if Imp has seen Teacher?
Uhuh…..riight.
Alex on January 23, 2016 at 11:08 said:
We got the freaking relay bugs back but not Atlas? There was so much setup, what with Taylor talking about how the jet pack won’t last forever. Dumb. I want Atlas back.
..you’re saying, they’re going to TALK to the Smurf and see if she’s down for fighting Goldilocks?
Sweet.
Also I’ve been wondering just how much you enjoy or hate that you introduced “the Smurf” as an alternative name for her. Heh.
GalSquad gon recruit the biggest baddest gal they can find!
Shit, Lung is there he’s not a gal. Hmm.
This is leading to some epic shit though. More epic than before. But you know. Words.
Blub on November 22, 2018 at 22:21 said:
Why are the Endbringers problems for them?
After all, all of them are on an completely different earth…
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Venom 29.3
Posted on September 24, 2013 by wildbow
“We knew it would come to this,” Legend said.
I turned around. My hands were full as I unbelted a tightly folded blanket and draped it over one of the wounded.
A surprising number of wounded, in the end. Twenty or so injured from an aircraft that had been partially obliterated, eighteen more people who’d had their legs sliced off. Nearly forty Dragon’s Teeth with mild injuries, their armor melted to their faces, chests, arms and legs. Scion had tried his usual assortment of attacks, and they’d evaded them. Enhanced strength from the costumes, predictive technology from the onboard artificial intelligences.
So he’d used a power they couldn’t dodge, a power they couldn’t block. A light that radiated outward and melted the materials of their costumes.
Cauldron hadn’t been there to reinforce the group. If they had been, it might have been a staging ground. Instead, the group had folded and Scion had come after the portal that was closest.
“When we were predicting what would happen with the Endbringers, we said that we’d be forced to regroup, consolidate our forces. Every fight would result in losses, so we’d have to abandon positions, move people from an abandoned post to keep numbers up.”
“I can see that,” I said.
An outpost abandoned. The world Defiant and Dragon had been looking after was being abandoned as a lost cause. There were countless people still alive, but they were spread out, and there was no way to mount a proper defense with our forces spread too thin.
“If there’s an upside,” Legend said, his tone changing as if he were forcing himself to be less grim. “Tattletale said we’re making headway. It doesn’t look like it, but we’re taking chunks out of him. The strongest of us survive, we regroup, see what works, we’re stronger when it comes to the next fight.”
Except he’s indiscriminate. He’s killing the ones who can actually affect him, because he’s being reactive. We’re not stronger by virtue of the strongest surviving and consolidating because the only difference between this fight and the next is that we’ll be less.
I kept my mouth shut.
“Defiant and Dragon will be joining you guys here, to make up for the ones you lost. You’ll have Leviathan, at the very least. Chevalier and I will be a matter of minutes away.”
A few minutes is too long, I thought. But I didn’t want to state the obvious, didn’t want to argue.
I was trying to be good, trying not to raise any problems with a guy who could well be sensitive over the fact that I’d murdered one of his closest companions a few years back.
Besides, I knew that this pep talk was most likely Legend trying to reassure the wounded. Maybe even him trying to reassure himself.
He took his time, putting fresh bandages on a wound.
“I’ve followed your career,” Legend said. “I’ve seen you on the battlefields, fighting the Endbringers, old and new. The bugs are noticeable.”
“I’m nothing special.”
“You rendered Alexandria brain dead,” Legend told me. “That warrants attention.”
“Fair enough,” I said. I managed to get another blanket unbelted from the arrangement of straps that kept it in a folded position and then draped it over someone. Legend moved the end of the blanket, where it rested on the patient’s wounded foot.
“I wanted to know who it was that had killed Rebecca. I kept an eye on everything you did in the Protectorate, looked for the details about your past. I understand if that seems creepy…”
“I think I get it. You were close to her.”
“I felt close to her. In the end, though, there was a gap between my feelings and the reality. Still is, I suppose. Go through enough with people, build something from the ground up, you form ties.”
“Yeah,” I said. I looked over my shoulder. Mai, one of the kids Charlotte and Forrest were looking after, was there, alongside one of Rachel’s henchmen and a puppy. Giving comfort to a child from the other settlement who’d been burned by the same effect that melted the costumes of the Dragon’s Teeth. The burns weren’t horrible, but it made it hard to tell the child’s ethnicity or gender.
But the child was scratching the puppy behind the ear. Rachel stood nearby, arms folded, stern and ominous. I felt a kind of fondness, tempered by a kind of hesitance, like I couldn’t let myself hold on too tight to the friendship and familiarity because she could be dead by the end of the day. Though it was sharper than it had been in the past, it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling.
Legend was looking at me when I turned back to him. “Yeah.”
“It doesn’t always make for the most sound decisions.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agreed. I had to scoot out of the way as some doctors hurried by with fresh tools and equipment. Removing the dissolved materials from burned flesh was something of a task, and there were a lot of people to help.
“I always knew there was something wrong, underneath it all, but there were bigger things to focus on. You finish dealing with one Endbringer attack or a potential war with parahuman attacks on both sides, it demands all of your focus. You’re left drained, dealing with the event or the aftermath, and then you need to recuperate, you have an organization to manage. There’s never a moment where you can stop, take a deep breath, and then say, ‘now is the moment where I address that nagging doubt I had the other day’. Now is the moment I call so-and-so out on that less-than-complete truth they used while we were elbow-deep in Indonesian cyborg super-soldiers.”
“I think I know exactly what you mean.”
“I think it’s very possible you do,” he said.
“But you can’t dwell on it,” I said.
“If you don’t give it the necessary attention, then how do you prevent it from becoming a cycle?”
“You don’t. You look back at your reasons for making the choices when you made the choices, you recognize that you didn’t address or act on your suspicions and doubts because you had higher priorities at the time, and you make peace with it.”
“Have you? Made peace with it?”
“I’m on my way there, Legend.”
“I’m not sure I want to go there,” he said. “Give me a hand? Hold his leg up?”
Gore. A foot reduced to something unrecognizable. The man would probably lose it.
But Legend still tended to the limb with care. Almost gentle. I tried to be as graceful in keeping the leg in the air.
The soldier made a noise of pain as Legend cleaned the foot, using a laser to sever a tag of flesh that was holding a piece of boot on. I reached out and held the man’s hand.
“You came in here for a reason,” Legend said.
I looked up.
“It’s not about taking care of the wounded,” he said. “You’re not devoting a great deal of attention to keeping an eye on Hellhound, either. Yes, you could use your swarm to discreetly observe her, to discreetly observe anyone in your range, but I don’t think that’s why you came here.”
I started to respond, but the soldier’s leg started kicking, an almost involuntary nerve reaction. I had to pull my hand from his to hold his leg as still as possible.
We eased it down until he was lying flat, his leg on the bed. I pulled a blanket over him, as carefully as I could.
“You have a question, or questions,” Legend said, “But you’re not asking them because you’re worried about the response. Either it’s something touchy, or there’s another reason why you’re holding back.”
I sighed. “If you don’t have an answer for me, then I’m not sure I know what I’m going to do next.”
“So this is about something only I would know?”
“Basically,” I said. “We don’t have access to that broad a pool of people, right now.”
“Okay,” Legend said. “What do you need to know?”
“Cauldron’s portals.”
“Closed. They’re created by a parahuman called Doormaker. The Doctor told me he was blind and deaf to his surroundings, but I think it’s far more likely that it’s to do with another parahuman she partnered him with. Someone who grants sensory awareness. I think the Doctor gave Doormaker too much exposure to this parahuman and destroyed or atrophied his other senses. One of those nagging doubts I never acted on.”
We passed by Rachel, Rachel’s minion and Mai. I gave Rachel a little nod of acknowledgement as we stepped outside.
Then we stepped outside. There was a shattered sign over the boarded-up windows. Apparently Tattletale had made some business deals and tried to get things in place for this to become a city like any one in Earth Bet. The pieces were there, but the furniture had yet to be installed, the food yet to be supplied. An empty fast food place, now a makeshift hospital.
Eat fresh? I thought. Not likely.
I took in the scene. Capes were still reeling from the attack, and again, it was the monsters and the lunatics that seemed to be standing, while others sat, recovering, catching their breath, mustering their courage.
Nilbog, engaged in conversation with Glaistig Uaine.
Four of the Heartbroken, with Imp and Romp. A maskless Imp gave Bonesaw a glare as the girl hurried, in the company of Marquis and Panacea, to the fast food place Legend and I had just left.
Lung was alone, looking angry, frustrated, almost more agitated than he’d been before or during the fight. His eyes were on Leviathan, who was down by the water, but I didn’t get the impression Leviathan was the source of the frustration.
Parian and Foil were together, Foil with her mask off. They’d curled up in a space between two large bins of food, Foil resting her head on Parian’s shoulder, their hands and fingers entwined.
Tattletale was caught up in a conversation with Knave of Clubs, and fell under the Simurgh’s shadow. The Simurgh, for her part, seemed to be busy building other tinker devices, drawing on the abilities of tinkers in the immediate area.
Vista was sitting on a rooftop, two stories high. Her eyes were closed, her hands set behind her so she could lean back a bit. Her face turned towards the sky.
There were other capes in the area, looking a little more serious, focused on business. Chevalier was with Defiant and Dragon, Black Kaze, Saint, Masamune and Canary. Some of them drifted off, making their way towards us.
“If it helps,” Legend said, “I don’t think Doormaker is dead. There have been two interruptions in his power, to date. One followed an earthquake. He was unhurt, but his partner… well, it was a clue that a partner existed. His doors all went down simultaneously the moment the earthquake hit the facility. I don’t think his power is the type that would outlast him after death, if it was so easily interrupted while he was alive.”
“So he’s alive because the doors are still open in places.”
“Alive and unable or unwilling to use his power,” Legend said.
I nodded. “So is it Cauldron running or is it another agency?”
I could see Legend’s expression change. I’d heard him talk before, saying as much, but his face was what told me, above all else, that he was burdened by regrets. “I wish I could say it was the latter.”
“But you don’t know.”
“I remain in the dark when it comes to Cauldron.”
“What about Satyrical?” I asked. “He was investigating with his team, wasn’t he?”
“He was, but he tends towards radio silence, Pretender’s people have since well before the Vegas teams cut ties with the Protectorate. They claimed it was because there would inevitably be a parahuman who could uncover them if they left channels open. Now… well, isn’t that the way most things were? Secrets, lies, conspiracies.”
“It is, but-” I tried to find a way to politely say what I was trying to say.
“With all due respect, and I really do mean that because I respect you, I respect that you’ve participated in the fights, I get where you’re coming from…”
“You’re spending too much time couching what you’re saying,” Legend said. “Rest assured, I can handle what you’re about to throw at me. I think worse things to myself all the time.”
“I’m impatient. That’s all. Scion’s going to attack again, and I don’t plan to be here,” I said.
“You want a portal to get out of here,” Legend said.
“No,” I said. “I don’t want an escape. I want to act.”
“We’re acting,” Legend said.
“We’re reacting.”
“If you have ideas for something pre-emptive, I think we could all stand to hear it.”
I shook my head. “Nothing definitive.”
“Even something that isn’t definitive.”
“I want to find Cauldron. They have contingency plans we know they haven’t put into effect yet, and they have answers they’ve yet to provide.”
“Cauldron is very good at leading people to believe that they have the answers and then disappointing,” Legend said. “Take it from someone who knows. Ah. I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Like an old man.”
He smiled, and I smiled a little too.
“You’re an old man?” Chevalier asked. His group had just joined us.
“Taylor here was just very politely trying to tell me I’m wasting her time on reminiscing and regrets.”
“You have something better to do?” Defiant asked me.
“Defiant,” Dragon said, admonishing him. She was in her armor, but had her helmet off. The face was real. Plain, but real.
She’s an A.I. A false person. What else had Saint said? She’s deceiving us? It’s all an act?
“…came out wrong,” Defiant was saying. Very deliberately, he said, “I am genuinely curious what you’re doing, Weaver.”
Dragon smiled a little, as if a private thought had crossed her mind.
The doubts Saint had seeded dissipated.
Ninety percent of them.
“I was telling Legend I want to go after Cauldron,” I said. “A member of the Chicago Wards was saying that sending Satyrical to go investigate is like sending a fox to guard the henhouse.”
“Satyrical has definite ties to Cauldron,” Dragon said. “If nothing else, Pretender maintains connections to the group. If Cauldron is running, or if they are pulling something covert, then it’s very possible Satyrical is on board or is going to be brought on board.”
Chevalier shifted the Cannonblade to his other hand, then stabbed the point into the ground. It looked different. His armor looked different. Gold and black, instead of gold and silver. “It also means he and the Las Vegas capes are well equipped to know how Cauldron operates, and identify clues others would miss. We sent them with others we could trust. They’ve been reporting in on schedule.”
I opened my mouth. Chevalier spoke before I could. “-With stranger and master precautions in place.”
“You’re strong when it comes to improvising,” Chevalier told me. “We’ve got a moment to breathe. We think he’s hitting another world, one we don’t have access to. We’re regrouping, figuring out who goes where, and we’re trying to set things up so we can mobilize faster. I can’t tell you what to do. I wouldn’t if I could. But we could use you here.”
“We’re losing, here,” I said. “Legend was being positive, but… I don’t think we can really delude ourselves that far. He’s tearing us apart while holding back. If we put up a fight or if we don’t hold back, he hits us harder, like he hit the Guild. He can always top us, and he can always say he’s had enough and then just nuke the continent. That’s not a recipe for an eventual win.”
“I don’t even think that’s the worst of it,” Tattletale said, finally having broken away from Knave of Clubs to join this conversation. “He’s evolving, maturing. If you can even call it that. He was a blank slate, then almost like a baby, flinging destruction around like a baby practices moving their arms, as if to remind himself he could… and then he was like a child in this fight… except for the bit about Queen of Swords. That suggested he’s almost entering an adolescent phase. Something more complex than just raw fear and awe. Loss, despair. He’s going to start looking for ways to really hurt us.”
“Instead of just annihilating us?” Legend asked. “Torture?”
“Mental, emotional, more involved physical torture. Up until he hits adulthood. Then he probably destroys us, completely and utterly. I’d be surprised if we lasted more than two days, rate he’s developing.”
“You’re talking about him as if he were human,” Saint said.
“He is,” Tattletale said. “It’s the only reason he’s doing this, and it’s the only way we have to truly make sense of him, and it’s his primary means of making sense of us. Which is why he did it. He’s got our general biological makeup. He thinks, he feels, he dreams, he hurts, but it’s all buried so far under mounds and mounds and mounds of power and security, it doesn’t really supplant him. It’s never been exposed to the real world, really, so the human side of him hasn’t matured or developed.”
“A weakness?” Chevalier asked.
“Yes, but not a weakness we’re going to be able to exploit,” Tattletale said. “He’s too careful, and he would have foreseen it. Adapted around it, probably. Be awfully stupid for something like him to adapt traits of their targets and adapt vulnerabilities at the same time. Knowing this could help, but it’s not going to be the weak point we can target to finish him off. That makes zero sense.”
“We know a lot of things like that,” I said. “A lot of tidbits about his behavior or who he is or what he is. But a lot of it isn’t reliable information. He cared a lot about my clone decoys multiplying during the fight on the oil rig, but he didn’t give a damn this time.”
“He’s advancing, evolving. His focus is changing,” Tattletale interjected.
“We know so many critical details,” I said, “And we need more. We need a way of paring truth away from fiction, or determining what’s no longer true. I don’t know for sure what we’re going to do to stop him, but I think any plans I have are going to start or end with Cauldron.”
I looked around the group. Men and women, all in armor that made them stronger, bulkier or taller, it seemed. Legend was comparatively small, but he had presence to make up for it, even as tired and worn out as he seemed to be. Flying, casual flying as Legend tended to do, gave one a little more stature.
I wasn’t short, but it felt like Tattletale and I were mortals in the midst of giants. Defiant, in particular, seemed somehow imposing. His body language was familiar with the way he’d naturally set his feet apart, his hand on his weapon.
Even the place we were standing, it stirred memories. We were at the north end of the Bay, even.
“Yes. The plan makes sense,” Defiant said. “I’ll trust you on this one.”
Dragon reached out to grab and squeeze his hand.
“What do you need?” Defiant asked me.
“I was thinking I’d bring some of the capes that can’t or won’t participate in the fight against Scion,” I said. My eyes fell on Canary.
“Me?” Canary squeaked.
“Anyone, but capes like you,” I said. “Support capes who can’t support in circumstances like this. Strangers who can’t use their power on Scion. Capes like that.”
“And if you can’t access Cauldron?” Chevalier asked. “I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but your actions when you assumed control of the Simurgh were… heavy handed. You told an ex-teammate in the Wards that you weren’t intending to be a hero anymore. I don’t want to tell you I won’t cooperate any more than I want to tell anyone I won’t cooperate, but you’d be asking us to put a fair amount of power in your hands by sending capes your way. I… don’t know that I feel confident sending capes to you, if I don’t know how they’ll be put to use.”
“Would you allow me to talk to other capes?” I asked. “You don’t have to send them my way, but maybe I could inquire?”
“I’m not going to stand in anyone’s way,” Chevalier said. “I’m not the bad guy, here. But I’ve got to lead this battle, and I’ve got to do what I can to make sure things don’t get worse. If a cape needs to go, if they don’t have the courage to stand and fight, I’m not going to make them. I’ll try to convince them otherwise, but I won’t make them. And if they think they’ll be more useful elsewhere, I won’t stop them there, either.”
I nodded. “I’ll settle for that.”
“Access to computers,” I said. “Tools. Resupplies. The Dragonfly.”
He reached out of his pocket and withdrew a knife. He reversed it and extended it to me, handle first.
I reached for the weapon, then saw Defiant pull his hand back. “Be aware of the safety and the activation switch.”
I saw one of the switches, then took hold of the knife.
“Keep it away from heat. If the growths start knuckling together, then it’s probably clogged at the air intake. You can unscrew the cap at the butt of the knife and access the air intake there. Bake it at roughly five hundred degrees to clear it, then thoroughly vacuum. Pay attention to how long it takes the growths to hit maximum length… you’ll know because the colors at the ends are a lighter gray. Three point seven seconds is the optimum time. If it takes shorter then you’ll know something’s wrong with-“
“The knife won’t degrade too much in the next day,” Dragon said. “And we have spares, thanks to Masamune.”
“You didn’t make this much of a fuss with my flight pack,” I said.
“I included documentation,” Defiant said.
“Thank you,” I said. I found the holster for my old knife, then put it through the belt at my back, holstering the new knife.
“Where’s the Dragonfly?” he asked. I pointed.
Dragon said something in Japanese to Masamune and Black Kaze. There were two nods.
Defiant led the way to the Dragonfly, all business, Dragon, Canary, Tattletale, and me following. He seemed almost happy to have something to focus on. A problem that could be solved.
Did he genuinely trust me? Was there a modicum of hope, here, with me mobilizing to go look into the Cauldron situation?
He continued to hold his weapon, though the fight wasn’t about to start.
I could imagine his outlook, the security the weapon afforded him, a hundred solutions in his hands. The ability to defend himself, to defend others, to move out of the way of danger. It made sense.
Dragon, conversely… what was her security blanket?
Different. I couldn’t put my thumb on it. But she’d lost to Saint, to the Dragonslayers. She’d been taken captive, effectively killed. Killed by a man who saw her as subhuman.
She’d been altered by Teacher. Not so much she was a slave to him, but something had happened, and that was no doubt a large part of how she was disconnected from reality in the here and now.
I looked back at Saint, Masamune and Black Kaze. Saint was taking a seat, his back to a chunk of destroyed aircraft, cross-legged. Calm, relaxed.
“How can you stand to be near them?” I asked.
“Keep your enemies closer,” Dragon said, her voice tight.
“Don’t forget about the friends part,” I said.
She shook her head a little. “I won’t.”
“When we were waiting for the fight to start, I went around, looking for people I needed to thank. Important people to me, people who I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to talk to again. I missed a few important ones. My dad… you two. I know the only reason I got my shot at being a hero, the only reason I didn’t go to jail, was because you vouched for me, because you agreed to cart me back and forth and interrupt your schedule. I probably didn’t even deserve it, but you backed me up. I’m just… I’ve never been good at saying thank you and sounding as sincere as I feel.”
“I think we benefited as much as you did,” Dragon said. “You needed to join the Wards to… make amends, shall we say? It was the same for us.”
“For me,” Defiant cut in.
“I had my own regrets,” Dragon said.
“You had no choice.”
“Regrets nonetheless,” she said, again. Her head turned towards Canary, and Canary smiled just a little. Dragon then looked to me.
Was it possible for an artificial human to look weary? To look wounded, in the sense that she was bearing some grievous injury from recent events?
We’d stopped outside the Dragonfly. I bid the ramp to open, controlling the bugs in the operating mechanism.
Then, as it opened, I impulsively gave Dragon a hug. Returning a favor she’d given me some time ago.
“Let’s get you set up,” Defiant said.
“Hook me in while you’re at it?” Tattletale made it a question. “Whatever you need to do, so I can communicate with her and her peeps.”
“I’ll see to it.”
Tattletale glanced at me. “Ops?”
We circled twice before coming in for a landing. A cave just above water level, inaccessible except from the air.
The receiving party consisted of Exalt and Revel from the Protectorate core group, with half of the Vegas team. Nix, Leonid, Floret and Spur. Vantage was waving a rod around, listening to steady beeps.
“Oh god, finally. Something to take my mind off the beeping,” Floret said. She was petite, her hair in carefully layered waves of pink, with green at the roots.
“Find anything?” I asked.
“No signs of any portals that have been opened in the past. Harder than cracking Dodger’s gateways, apparently,” Vantage said. “Or they gave us bad instructions. How’re you doing, Weaver?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Wearing black,” he said.
“Is everyone going to comment on that?” I asked.
“It’s comment worthy. How’d the fight… nevermind. I can guess.”
“Probably,” I said.
“Grim group,” Floret commented. “I know black’s ‘in’ with the end of the world, but damn. Only one person with style.”
I looked over my shoulder. Golem, in silver and gunmetal, his mask solemn. Cuff, again, in a dark metal costume. Imp, with her dark gray mask and black bodysuit that actually fit her. Shadow Stalker, in a black, form-fitting bodysuit like the one I’d given Imp, along with a flowing cloak with a heavy hood. All spidersilk, but the mask was hers, as was the crossbow. Rachel followed, her jacket, tank top and pants black, only the fur ruff at her shoulders, where it flowed around the edges of her hood, was white. Huntress and Bastard flanked her. Lung was still inside the Dragonfly, but I knew he had only his mask and jeans on. Barefoot, shirtless.
Canary was the only one, apparently, who met Floret’s standards. Yellow body armor, her helmet in one hand, her hair and feathers free.
“I remember you,” Spur said. He smiled. Teeth that had been professionally done, no doubt. He wasn’t bad looking, but not quite my type. Spiky hair, and a costume that mingled barbed wire tattoos with real barbed wire, where his skin was exposed. Mid twenties, with hair bleached to a near-white and acid washed jeans. His mask was simple, black, covering the upper half of his face, with only a circle of barbed wire at the brow. A trademark of thinker powers, to do the whole forehead thing. A precog who was most effective in the midst of chaos and heightened emotions, and fairly competent otherwise. “Bad Canary?”
Canary’s eyes widened. “You remember my stage name?”
“You were famous,” he said. “The whole trial thing. You-“
Canary’s expression fell.
“-got robbed,” he said.
“Dick,” Floret said. “Like that’s how she wants to be remembered.”
“I remember the music too,” he protested.
“Yeah,” Canary said. She rubbed the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact. “It doesn’t matter anyways, does it? Long time ago, and we’ve got better things to worry about.”
“Vulgarishous,” he said. “Ur-sound? Lineless?”
“You’re probably cheating,” she said.
“I could sing the lyrics,” he answered.
“It would make me sure you’re cheating. I barely remember the lyrics.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Spur answered her. “Eh, guys? Back me up. My power doesn’t give me a way to cheat, does it?”
“No,” Floret said. “He’s genuine. And none of us have ways to clue him in.”
I glanced at Revel, who only rolled her eyes a little. Exalt looked bored. He saw me looking and commented, “It’s fine here. We’re using substandard tools to find a portal that used to exist, and we don’t know exactly where it was.”
Imp pushed her mask up until it sat on top of her head. “Finding a transparent needle outside of the haystack.”
“Well put,” Leonine said.
“Don’t encourage her,” I told him.
He only smiled, which made Imp smirk at me in turn.
Spur was murmuring the lyrics to the song, and he was actually doing a good job of it. Canary was trying to look like she wasn’t pleased as punch. It was cute. Cute and just a little ominous, considering who these guys were.
Some things had come to light after they’d departed their positions in the Protectorate and Wards. Nothing definitive, but it raised questions that had yet to be answered. Questions that would probably never be answered, now that evidence lockers and court records throughout Earth Bet had been obliterated. Problems that had resolved themselves just a little too neatly. People, both bad guys and witnesses, who’d disappeared.
“If I’m the lion, and you’re the goat…” Leonine was saying.
“I guarantee I’m more dangerous than you,” Imp retorted.
I could sense others in the group getting restless.
“We’ll let you know if anything turns up,” Revel said, as if she’d sensed it. She smiled a little, a bit awkward, or apologetic. “Don’t let us waste your time. It’s the end of the world, spend it with people you care about.”
Her eyes moved to Cuff and Golem, who were hanging back. The pair were the heroes of our group, so to speak. They’d feel the betrayal of the Vegas capes more sharply, even now. They looked at each other.
I did too. Not that I counted myself as a hero. But I’d been there.
“I could come with,” Exalt said. “If you’re going back. I’m only here to relieve Revel. I’ll be able to participate in the coming fight.”
“Sure,” I said. “But I’d like to hear the password. From Revel.”
“Good thinking. Belord, six-two, spauld,” she said.
“On my seventeenth birthday,” I said. “What color was the cake?”
“Seriously?” she asked. “Do you even remember? I should get a brownie point for this one. Because I care about my Wards. It was white.”
“The frosting?” I asked.
“Blue,” she said, sounding just a bit put out. “And you barely ate any.”
I nodded, satisfied. “And… Leonine.”
“Me?” Leonine laughed a bit. “What kind of shenanigans do you think we’re pulling?”
“He’s one of the Vegas capes,” Imp said, speaking very slowly, like I was mentally disabled.
“I know he’s one of the Vegas capes. But I think I have to cover all of the bases. Who was your kindergarten teacher?”
“You researched that?” Spur asked. “Dug through our entire histories to find something obscure?”
He sounded offended. Every head had turned his way.
“Do you have a problem with that?” I asked.
He frowned, but he shook his head, sticking his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the wall beside Canary. “No. No problem.”
“Richie,” Leonine said. “Mrs. Richie.”
“Great,” I said. “Great. Now let’s drop the fucking act.”
“I gave you the answer you wanted,” Leonine said, smirking. “What the fuck?”
“Spur?” I said, “Raise your right hand?”
He did. There were bugs on the fingers.
“He was moving his hand. A one-handed sign language. I assume everyone on your team knows it.”
“I was thinking of Canary’s music,” Spur told me. He stepped forward, putting a hand on Canary’s shoulder as he did so. She turned, so they were both facing me. “Piano keys. Mnemonic tool. That is something our team uses.”
“You’re being a little crazy paranoid,” Imp said. “Just a little.”
“They’ve been playing us since the start,” I said. “The men were batting their eyelashes at you and Canary, probably the targets they thought they could work. Revel… I’d think she’s under some kind of compulsion.”
“A lot crazy,” Imp said. “Way crazy.”
“Maybe Tattletale can chime in,” I suggested. “Tattle?”
“Mostly right. Exalt, Revel, Vantage, Leonine, Floret, all fakes.”
“No shit,” Imp said. Her mouth dropped open. “No way.”
“Jig’s up,” I said. “We know.”
One by one, the Vegas capes changed. Flesh altered, and they assumed identical appearances.
Six copies of Satyrical. Leaving only Spur and Nix.
One of the Satyricals looked at the two who remained. “Take care of yourself. I’ll see you shortly.”
“I know,” Spur said.
Satyr looked at us, as if taking us all in. “And you, I suppose, we’ll run into. Sooner or later.”
Then the Satyrs died. Flesh withered, and the Satyrs crumpled up. They made bloody messes as they hit the ground, like overripe tomatoes might, but with teeth and the occasional bit of withered organ.
Self duplication, and each duplicate had shapeshifting abilities.
I bent down and picked up the devices from the heads of Revel, Exalt and Vantage’s clones. Earbuds, phones…
“Revel,” Cuff said, her voice small.
“Where are the real ones?” Golem asked.
“With the real Satyr,” I guessed.
“And how did he know the passwords?” Golem asked.
“He guessed the cake thing through cold reading. White with blue, like Weaver’s costume. Made sense. That Taylor didn’t eat much… well, look at her. The rest… torture? Coercion through other means?”
“Torture?” I asked.
Spur raised his chin a bit, but didn’t do or say anything to suggest otherwise.
“Ew.” Imp said, under her breath, “Ew, ew, ew. He’s like, forty? And he was hitting on me.”
“Where’s the portal?” I asked Spur, ignoring Imp.
“No portal. Or weren’t you paying attention?”
I looked at Nix. “You know where this goes, if you don’t cooperate. Circumstances are a little too dire. We knock you out, your power fades. So why don’t you drop the illusion and let us see the portal?”
“My power stays up while I’m out,” she said.
I drew my knife. The one that wasn’t special.
“Woah,” Golem said. He put his hand on my wrist. “Woah, woah, woah.”
“She’s bluffing,” Spur said, unfazed. “She’s scary, she’s got a reputation, but she’s bluffing here. There’s no way she follows through.”
“I think you’re badly underestimating how pissed off I am,” I said. I was surprised at just how right I was. The mounting anger caught me off guard. “Doing this, screwing around, stabbing people in the back, screwing with the system when we’re trying to save humanity?”
“We’re saving it too,” Spur said. “Satyr, the others, they’ve got this situation handled. Give them… two or three more hours, and the threats are going to be dealt with, Cauldron will be secure, or as secure as they can be, after you account for injuries and deaths at the hands of the invading group. You go in there, you’re just going to muck up a delicate exfiltration operation.”
“Invading?” Golem asked.
“The deviants. The case-fifty-threes. Weld’s group.”
Weld? No. He’d been one of the only decent ones out there, during my stay in Brockton Bay. Respectable, honest, kind. He’d saluted me the first time we’d crossed paths, because we were both going up against an Endbringer.
Either Spur was fucking with me, or things were fucked. Fuck it all.
“People like you are the reason we deserve to lose,” I said, gripping the knife. “Every step of the way, it’s been people refusing to cooperate, refusing to talk plain truth. From day one, even. You’re the reason humanity deserves to get wiped out.”
“Great,” he said. “You’re still not going to use that knife on either of us.”
It was said with the smug tone of someone who could see the future.
I glanced at Canary. I could see the hurt on her face.
“I get it,” Spur said. “See it coming. If it helps, I do remember the music.”
Rachel stepped forward, giving me a little push to get me out of the way, and then slugged him.
He dropped, unconscious.
Golem set about binding him to the cave floor with hands of stone.
I looked at Nix. “Her too.”
Golem reached into his costume, and hands of stone gripped Nix.
“To the ceiling,” I decided, at the last second.
“Sure,” Golem said. Hands of stone emerged, passing Nix up. She struggled a bit, but she was at an unsafe height by the time she realized what he was doing.
She was bound to the cave ceiling with armholds, leg holds and an arm set across her collarbone.
“What the hell?” she asked.
“I don’t think any of your friends have powers that can break those hands,” I said.
“The hell?” she asked, again. She tested her bonds. “The fuck?”
“You better hope we make it out okay,” I said. “Tattletale?”
“Pretty sure it’s to your left. Start by going ten paces that way.”
We followed the directions.
The illusion broke, dissolving into harmless smoke, as we reached it and pressed hard enough against the wall in question.
With the barrier gone, I could feel the warm air from within, see a dark hallway without lights.
I looked at my teammates.
Maybe humanity deserves to lose, but these guys are why we’re going to win, I promised myself.
This entry was posted in 29.03 and tagged Bastard, Bitch, Bonesaw, Canary, Cuff, Defiant, Dragon, Foil, Glaistig Uaine, Imp, Legend, Lung, Nilbog, Parian, Shadow Stalker, Tattletale, Taylor, Theo, Vista, Weld by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
460 thoughts on “Venom 29.3”
wildbow on September 24, 2013 at 00:12 said:
No real commentary. Still sick. Writing the chapters leading up to the end is 10x harder than the chapters were in the middle. Hope it’s enjoyable.
Also, this can serve as the typo thread.
Jen on September 24, 2013 at 00:17 said:
Dragonfly said something in Japanese to Masamune and Black Kaze. There were two nods.
I’m assuming that it was Dragon, not the ship, that spoke to the capes?
Yes. Already fixed. Thank you.
Jeremy on September 24, 2013 at 00:20 said:
Quite nice, Wildbow! Long time reader, first time poster, and I have to say that the quality of your writing throughout Worm has been nothing short of impeccable. Keep it up, and I hope you feel better soon.
Always nice to hear from the long time lurkers.
Glad you’ve enjoyed thus far. I’ll try to keep it up to the end. Only a (relative) bit to go.
PapaGoose on September 24, 2013 at 13:15 said:
New to your story – found it via Reddit a week ago. Outstanding job, especially for a serial and especially at the grueling pace you’ve set for yourself. Already sharing with friends and others.
In fact, you’ve inspired me to attempt something similar with a story I’m working on for NaNoWriMo this year.
Keep the faith in yourself – you’re on the home stretch!
Psycho Gecko on September 24, 2013 at 23:55 said:
So it seems PapaGoose has taken a gander at our story and has commented to get Wildbow’s attention. Well, what’s good for the goose is good for the gecko. This story’s for the birds, but whoever thinks it was an ugly duckling will soon be eating crow. People are practically raven with praise for this story. But people’s lack of attention to the comments section is robin them of potential enjoyment. We all come together down here and meld our various thoughts into a mixing pot of fandom, our speech taking on the characteristics of a sort of fandom pigeon language. Don’t worry too hard, you won’t need to crane your neck read down here. The comments are, in stork contrast to the story above, much lighter.
Your goose is cooked if you thought you were getting away without a welcome. So welcome, PapaGoose, to the comments section.
Hah! Seems we’re all birds of a feather, perhaps related by prehistoric ancestor. A gecko’s welcome with open webbed feet is appreciated and enjoyed. You have the gracious thanks of a silly goose.
Someguy on September 24, 2013 at 00:32 said:
Poor Jeremy, you identified yourself as a 1st time poster, expect a visit from a crazy lizard soon.
Jeremy Jeremy Jeremy Jeremy, hiya Jeremy *licks his cheek*
Mmm, tastes nonalcoholic. I’ll have a virgin commenter, barkeep! Send it out with the drink wench along with a bowl of your salty nuts.
Don’t worry, I’m sure Wildbow can handle this little illness. Not like further south on the continent where if you get sick they have a horse with a broken leg take you out back and shoot you. Now that you’re caught up and commenting, feel free to peruse the comments for your inter-update enjoyment. At this point, there’s been a lot of shipping, so feel free to mess with that all you like. Personally, I’m shipping Satyrical with the Protomen. That’s a band, by the way. Had to come up with a large group of people at one time, since Satyrical ought to be called the human orgy. It would go great for his comic book name. “Human Orgy #69: The Terrible Attack of the Tongue Twister!”
Either way, settle right down with us here, pardner, and enjoy yourself while you waste away the hours till doomsday, aka the end of the story. The end is Nye. Bill Nye. The Science Guy. Bill Bill Bill Bill Bill Bill Bill Bill!
And now, Jeremy, welcome to the comments section.
Yum, a virgin commenter sounds wonderful… I wonder what that would taste like? A little bit on the nose, with a rich idealistic flavor and hints of situational narcissism made manifest through the desire to have oneself known to the microcosmic world that is this comments page. The finish is one of triumph: overcoming social boundaries can do that to a person.
All in all, you seem like a trustworthy person to sit down and have a drink with, Mr. Gecko. I will toast with you to the end of the world.
That may only bring the end of the world even closer to fruition. Or is that more of a de-fruitioning. A decommissioning de-fruitioning? Either way, better be air conditioning.
Satyrical’s one of the few people who can sleep with several people at the same time in different locations.
Decentralised orgy. Very efficient…
Satyrical: The Human Whorehouse
Naeddyr on September 24, 2013 at 01:16 said:
>“You have a question, or questions,” Legend said, “But you’re not asking them because you’re worried about the response. Either it’s something touchy, or there’s another reason why you’re holding back.”
>“If you don’t know, then I can’t
>“So this is about something only I would know?”
UPOTN on September 24, 2013 at 01:49 said:
Rachel folllowed, her jacket, tank top and pants
An extra l in followed.
“If you don’t know, then I can’t
Missing a quotation mark.
Thanks. Fixed both.
Don on September 24, 2013 at 01:56 said:
I have to disagree with Jeremy: I thought this chapter badly needed tightening up. It’s saveable, and doesn’t need to be scrapped, but it does need editing that goes deeper than just typos.
The problem is pacing, mostly – the dialog goes beyond briskness and brevity (which is normally good) to choppy and somewhat incomplete. As an example, where you write:
It’s unclear that you are no longer describing Chevalier, but Defiant. And it’s more than just labeling; there’s absolutely no transition between people at all, so just putting in “Defiant reached out of his…” instead of ‘He reached’ would still be jarring and feel wrong. It needs more exposition.
In fact, pretty much everything up until the Vegas capes scene needs a sprinkling of exposition feathered into it. Not much; a word, here and there, to acknowledge a change of focus or a needed context. Brevity and brisk dialog, as I said before, is good; and I wouldn’t want you to lose that. But this chapter cuts too close to the bone, detail-wise.
The good news is, around the time of the Vegas capes you hit your stride, and the story flows pretty well again.
Eh. Pretty fair. Like I said, I’m sick, my focus isn’t all there. It’s believable that I got a bit sloppy on that front.
I remember you saying how different states affected your writing – when you were sleepy, or stressed out, etc., had dramatically different effects on your writing… and how you’d use that sometimes. I’m trying to figure out how you’d use ‘sick=choppy writing’… Since choppy isn’t always a bad thing, if it’s what you’re going for… but then you’d have to induce sickness… and would you even know your style had changed until you went back and you read it while healthy? … also, who the hell would want to catch the flu for a writing style? Talk about sacrificing for your art…
Anyway. Thought you’d be amused by that train of thought, so I shared it.
AMR on September 24, 2013 at 03:01 said:
Your stamina and dedication continues to amaze me.
alexanderthesoso on September 24, 2013 at 03:14 said:
very enjoyable! thank you.
negadarkwing on September 24, 2013 at 08:15 said:
I felt it was good. You’ll probably want to go back and give it a revision at some point, but it wasn’t wrong. I think in some ways choppy works. Everyones state of mind is kinda tired and dishartened.
will408914 on September 24, 2013 at 12:45 said:
Isn’t Nix supposed to be Nyx? And isn’t her gas poisonous? Or is this a different cape?
greatwyrmgold on September 24, 2013 at 13:06 said:
wildbow confirms later on this page that yes, they are two separate capes and that yes, there is a “story” behind that.
omnilynx on September 24, 2013 at 18:23 said:
>I gave Rachel a little nod of acknowledgement as we stepped outside.
>Then we stepped outside.
Seems a bit redundant…
TapiocaTalks on October 3, 2013 at 04:22 said:
He reached out of his pocket and withdrew a knife.
–> into his pocket? Also, I’d clarify that it’s Defiant speaking. And was the previous question (“what else”) also him?
Defiant led the way to the Dragonfly, all business, Dragon, Canary, Tattletale, and me following.
–> …Dragonfly, all business, with Dragon, Canary…
Tyrone on December 21, 2013 at 16:52 said:
Leonine is called Leonid once.
chair on September 11, 2014 at 22:29 said:
Except he’s indiscriminate. He’s killing the ones who can actually affect him, because he’s being reactive.
– Contradictory statement, maybe missing a “not” before indiscriminate.
“I am genuinely curious what you’re doing, Weaver.”
-Missing word?
Harder than cracking Dodger’s gateways, apparently,
-Should be Dodge, if referring to that tinker from Toybox.
I’ve seen it mentioned already but since those were a bit old I’ll throw up the knife one again with the grammar issue.
“He reached out of his pocket and withdrew a knife.” This section coming just after Chevalier was talking causes the “he” to refer to Chev when the next paragraph makes it clear Defiant is the one offering the knife. I’d just swap in “Defiant” in place of “He”.
CoB on January 22, 2016 at 21:58 said:
Not a typo, but character tags missing for Satyrical, Spur and Nix. Those three also not detailed on the “Cast (In Depth)” page.
VpShiomi on July 20, 2016 at 13:39 said:
Am I the only person that prefers Saint over Dragon and believes Dragon and Armsmaster should be eradicated?
You’re not alone, but you’re in the minority.
Personally I’m somewhere in the middle. I don’t have the loathing for Saint that some people do. I can see how, from his point of view he could rationalise his choice. But he also seemed to have made it in significant part because it made him feel important.
Even based on the limited intel he had available it was a questionable call. Yes, Dragon had the potential to become an S-class threat. But you have to look at the world around them. In a world full of S-class threats, Dragon is the only one who has been on our side the whole time. Even not knowing what a good person Dragon actually is, throwing that away on a chance she *might* turn bad was a bad decision.
That was very well put. I can certainly relate to Saint, if I was in his position I might have very well done the same and honestly it was Armsmasters actions that lead them all to this place.
storryeater on July 21, 2016 at 08:19 said:
There are people who believe Saint’s mistake was logical and reasonable, and even the best choice given what he knew. But, knowing what the readers knew, everyone agrees it was wrong.
There are people who still hate Defiant cuz they can’t think about stuff like redemption and amends, and think a character is unchanging. But they still like Dragon.
You are the only person I have seen who wants Dragon, the most unambiguously benign being in the story, eradicated.
Nourjan on July 21, 2016 at 17:21 said:
Saint’s mistake was logical and understandable considering his limited knowledge of the situation.Remember , even Taylor had the wrong impression of Dragon at some point.Characters in fiction can be excused for not having the same information readers/audience does.
Saint deserves as much chance at redemption as Armaster did.The only person in this story that doesn’t deserve that are the complete mnsters (Jack Slash eg).
Look, I didn’t disagree with that, I never made clear what I believed. I clarify it when I do and, frankly, its irrrelevant to the discussion
All I m saying is, Saint did, at best, a mistake from a Greek tragedy, like Oedipus banging his mom: it was understandable, excusable by today’s ethics, and didn’t make him a villain, but still, due to tragic ignorance, he tortured and attacked to kill an inocent paragon of justice. Yes, his lack of knowlege may justify and excuse his actions, but it does not justify any reader of the story for wanting Dragon, of all people, eradicated.
I think you’re confusing two different things. I don’t want Dragon gone cause saint is being mistreated. I want her gone cause her very existence is a mockery of mankind and frankly a threat. She is not bound by a life span, how long till she decides man kind can’t be trusted with governing themselves. How long before her actins start being cruel and unreasonable.
“I think mankind should be gone- how long before it destroys its environment, how long before it creates a dystopia where no one has rights.”
Your way of thinking is a fallacy, you think that, just because a being is significantly more powerful than others, it will inevitably become a monstrous villain. Such way of thinking leads you… to want the greatest force of good in Worm eradicated. Because fear.Not even fear of the unknown, fear of the POTENTIAL. Racists behave more logical than that. Why don’t we kill every potential murderer then?
Heck, if power is the problem, we should kill every world leader after a couple of years. That’d make it harder for them to turn corrupt. OOr perhaps we sould kill every potential murderer. Lets just kill everyone who has a trigger event- we may get another Nilbog.
You do understand these thoughts are nothing more than humanity’s self loathing (we suck, any logical being would find us uselless and//or cruel) and desire to be on top , don’t you? Both bad things to have? the reason we can’t have nice things? the reason we cannot co-operate so that we all may live well? I’d rather live a slave under Dragon than fall prey to such all destructive way of thinking.
You’re argument falls into the category of Straw Man fallacy. You are missing the most important point. Why do we not kill all murders? Because they are human. My problem is not with her power, that just makes everything worse. The issue is that she, just like Scion, is not human. I am human and I place us on a pedestal. If you had read my comment properly and not just jumped to conclusion you would have known that. “her very existence is a mockery of mankind ” So how did you take that and jump to potential murders being killed or heads of state being dangerous. What I am saying is closer to putting an animal down because it is a threat. It’s to draw a line and say that something, which is not human does not need to be extended the same level of protection or forgiveness.
Now you could have argued that it is similar to racism in so far that other races were seen as subhuman in the USA aka Slavery and elsewhere. That is a much finer point since I have grouped all of mankind as one. It would require to either bend my inclusive view of mankind as a whole or try expanding it to include human like constructs such as Dragon.
And as to your last point “I’d rather live a slave under Dragon than fall prey to such all destructive way of thinking.” Maybe you should go find a master cause a person willing to compromise to that extend might as well live in a society complete controlled by the state for a nebulous goal of order and security. As humans such a way of living would not only be shameful, it would also be meaningless. True peace requires free cooperation, not some forced participation.
A world under Dragon is no better than living in the Matrix, haha.
I hope this clarified my prior statements and that you do not get caught up in your feelings for a character you happened to like.
I think the difference is that you’re thinking in terms of human beings whereas I would think in terms of people. So far all the people we know have been human beings but that needn’t always be the case. I would say that any being that thinks and feels at a human level (or higher) and has a personality is a person.
Otherwise you’re saying the reason we deserve rights is not as a result of our nature but as a result of having a specific biology.
If you accept that the reason we have certain rights is due to our nature as thinking, feeling, civilised beings then you have to logically extend those rights to other thinking, feeling, civilised beings.
1) Speciesist, technically, but this kind of entitlement of humanity is part of what makes it destructive.
2)what I am saying is not “I like to be a slave” , but “I rathger suffer injustice than commit it” , in other words, I’d rather suffer the consequences of NOT eradicating every innocent AI that wants to help, rather than securing my safety and freedom. Xenophobic rhetoric like that is similar to what fascists used
3) she is neither mockery nor animal, and she did NOTHING to deserve being put out , other than exist.
I am not caught in a my feelings of a character, I just do not want the imperium of man to come if we evven discover other sapient life.
slider214 on July 24, 2016 at 00:06 said:
While I think storryeater and irrevenant put it far better than I could I’d just like to add one thing.
You say that your attitude could be compared to racism. That’s the wrong word. Your attitude is far more similar to xenophobia. You aren’t biased you are expressing a straight up hatred and fear of something outside a self-defined ‘group’ of ‘humanity’. We justify putting down animals because it’s generally accepted that most animals aren’t sapient. While creatures such as chimpanzees and elephants blur the line it’s still somewhat murky since they can’t really communicate with us. Dragon on the other hand CAN communicate. So well that the amount of people who suspected her of being artificial at the start of the story could be counted on one hand. It is almost impossible to argue that Dragon isn’t sapient. Which means that you are advocating removing the rights of a sapient being and murdering them because you are scared to death of her. It’s not akin to killing a dog. It’s akin to saying an alien asked for a cup of tea and you shot it in the head because it has a ship that can travel through space and that scared you.
endochrom on September 24, 2013 at 00:17 said:
The Vegas capes are kind of assholes. Still it is pretty interesting to see how a group of mostly thinker/stranger capes operates.
DasNiveau on September 24, 2013 at 01:25 said:
We all have strange thoughts 😉
Do horses ever feel like trying out missionary style?
Missionary of what religion? Thats the question.
Bebop on September 24, 2013 at 06:42 said:
Neigh-storianism.
endgame on September 24, 2013 at 09:36 said:
Is that related to string theory in any way? According to Gordon Freemen, those guys are cultists.
A bit like the Undersiders maybe? Well, they were mostly Masters, but I imagine the psychological effects could be similar. Similarly incomprehensible to outsiders, anyway.
Althalus on September 24, 2013 at 00:20 said:
Kind of a pity that she didn’t turn to Lung to have him confirm just how justified her reputation regarding using knives to do nasty things to people is.
Probably didn’t want to pull the tail of a dragon. All things considered, it’s probably best she doesn’t antagonize him. It would have made for great drama though.
Lung isn’t with her, is he? AFAIK, she only took capes of minimal use directly fighting Scion. That would *not* include Lung…
lung is shirtless in the dragonfly. he is useless against zion because he used up his one giant charge of transformation and any future transformations would take longer than the duration if a zion fight.
Landis963 on September 24, 2013 at 00:21 said:
Satyr’s power… is eerily reminiscent of Echidna + Oliver. (Or whoever the shapeshifter from the Travelers was called). Was he a Cauldron cape or a normal trigger?
Funny that you mention that. Ask Pandamonius (sp?) Ivy for the details I provided her on the Division formula (the results of seven previous test cases).
Oh how cruel it is to sit on what I imagine to be piles of background information. Literal piles, meticulously handwritten with a slight flourish. Sealed away in heavy iron filing cabinets by your spiteful hand!
Do you remember what chapter that was? (Tall order, I know, but I’m not sure how to contact her unless she shows up on this thread or another one here).
Also, would you be willing to answer my question on how you would “film” a trigger event, should the stars align to get you a TV deal or something?
It was in IRC.
…Is there a handydandy link to that?
nvm, Just saw his response. And I am still interested in how you would translate a trigger vision to a visual medium.
By… showing the fragmented scenes? CGI or drawing? I’m not sure what you’re asking for.
Pandemonious Ivy on September 24, 2013 at 00:38 said:
Make the audience take acid.
Sort of like “what would the storyboards look like?” Like how you made the script for Gestation 1.1 last time, but applied to a trigger event.
farmerbob1 on September 24, 2013 at 05:52 said:
Well, the trigger event is a visual effect in-universe, so making it a visual effect in a real world visual medium really wouldn’t be that hard with modern CGI. But that’s too simple. I think you are asking for something else, but I can’t see what.
Pandemonious* Ivy and him*
You turdbutt.
Vials titles are generally shotgun-esque in application. The general premise is the same, but the nuances can vary in minor or major ways. Echidna, Satyr, or a person who can shapeshift in proximity to others can all come from the same Cauldron vial: Division, in this instance.
Damn, was hoping to get a bunch of people eventually making their way over to IRC only to ask where Miss Pandemonious was.
I meant the actual list of powers the Division vial produced for the test cases. I’m too lazy to figure out where I put it. Was hoping you copied it into a file like you did everything else I said.
Oh yeah, I did copy it. If they come to irc, I will post it at some point, I’m sure. Only if they ask for Master Panda, Lord of All He Surveys.
dragonus45 on September 24, 2013 at 00:40 said:
Could someone point me to the IRC i only just started reading the other day and have no idea where it is.
Find an irc chat function (mibbit.com is easily accessable) then the server is darklordpotter.net and the chatroom is #parahumans
randomsoul2 on September 24, 2013 at 00:59 said:
Are there any particular rules about joining this chatroom?
Which network are we looking for? Because “parahumans” in the channel search box at mibbit returns 0 results, and Darklordpotter doesn’t show up in the network list.
Not entirely sure what you’re using. Nor how to assist you. Server: darklordpotter. Chatroom: #parahumans. Other than that, I recommend a liberal use of magic and pixie dust.
nohat on September 24, 2013 at 23:55 said:
I found that I had to disable the ssl option to connect, you may want to try the same.
I keep reading in the comments to avoid mibbit. Something to do with the way it works making it hard to block individuals so some channels just outright block mibbit?
Can someone confirm or deny that, please?
En on September 24, 2013 at 04:14 said:
WTH, you’re Panda?
Why do you all have different names on IRC? -.-
Sage and ‘pelt are the only one with synchronized nicks
Wageslave on September 24, 2013 at 04:31 said:
That’s a negative, Ghostrider.
Says the guy with a two letter screen-name -_-
“Division” sounds like duplication powers a la Oni Lee, Satyr, and, um, that one guy who could make copies of himself that repeat a specific motion, IMO, although this is of course guesswork. But it sounds like that’s one of many possible powers granted by Division. Which I suppose makes sense: I seem to recall the “Deus” vial producing both Siberian and Genesis?
I think that was Chronicler.
Willy (@Willy591) on September 24, 2013 at 00:25 said:
Awesome chapter. A nice mix of old!Worm and new!Worm in tone.
Charles Borner on September 24, 2013 at 00:26 said:
Ye Olde Typo Thread.
Be puttin’ yer discoveries here!
TanaNari on September 24, 2013 at 00:52 said:
“You’re strong when it comes to improvising,” Chevalier old me.
Missing a ‘T’.
Pause this endeavor, for a moment, to note that Wildbow has claimed title to the typo thread above.
Though I’m digging the pirate theme you’ve got going on.
JN on September 24, 2013 at 02:36 said:
Makes me want to go back and reread just to see if I can find a word that’s missing an ‘arrrrr’.
“He was, but he tends towards radio silence, Pretender’s people have since well before the Vegas teams cut ties with the Protectorate.”
The comma should be either a semicolon or a period.
“It’s comment worthy.”
“comment worthy” should have a hyphen instead of a space.
Chunq on September 24, 2013 at 00:27 said:
I Google searched “site: parahumans.wordpress.com “early bird””. This told me that no one has ever commented on the blog “the early bird gets the Worm”. Really.
I’m sure someone has on some other fansite, but wow. Low hanging puns people.
Well, it would be, but in this case, the worm has this nasty habit of wriggling out of the early bird’s grasp. Over, and over, and over again.
I have in fact seen this pun used in the comments. No doubt in my mind. And Google has failed me often enough, especially in recent years, that I no longer believe in its omniscience (I used to do SEO work on occasion, so I know a few things about Google – take it for what it’s worth). I’m not going to try to dig through the comments for it, but I KNOW there’s a variation on that pun in there somewhere. I remember being unamused by it.
I lied – I DID dig through the comments to find it.
https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/plague-12-4/
Search for ‘early’ on the page. You’ll find it.
It is, of course, Psycho Gecko who does the dirty deed. Sigh.
You know I do them dirt cheap, baby.
Hmm, so you’re implying that the Scion entity has a vulnerability to Aidan?
Only if Aidan is early.
A pity he only triggered relatively recently, and might well be dead… you know, late…
“Get out of my head, puns!”
Ascaloth on September 24, 2013 at 00:32 said:
Come to think of it, the survivors STILL aren’t throwing everything they have at Scion, are they?
I mean c’mon, they have Bonesaw. No clone army to replace the losses?
Bonesaw isn’t equipped to make clones. They take some time to grow, anyways. Years to fully develop. Months to reach adolescence.
Okay, but all she really needs to do is to recreate Echidna, or an analogue.
Just tossing out random ideas, mind.
flame7926 on September 24, 2013 at 00:38 said:
What about that Smurf clone that was baby sized after a few hours? Shouldn’t there be a way to accelerate the development process that turns them into robots with simple brains?
Sure, but that’s Blasto’s balliwick, not Bonesaw’s.
How about putting Bonesaw in Simurgh’s area of influence, and see what SHE comes up with?
There can only be one rational response to that:
AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Don’t forget the irrational response to that:
Wheeeee! I’m making blood angels!
wkz on September 24, 2013 at 04:09 said:
Given that Bonesaw just hurried by Legend + Taylor, and the Simurgh is in the area, this might already be IN PROGRESS.
<..>
Wheeeee! Let’s make blood angels!
Also, why did no one ever point out that Simurgh is not spelled Smiurgh?
To clarify: The thought of Simurgh using Bonesaw’s power, not the blood angels thought.
I THOUGHT that typo was oddly consistent in your posts! I assumed some sort of autocorrect malfunction, but you thought that was its actual spelling?! 🙂
Sorry, I’m finding this more hilarious than it probably should be. Well, now you know!
Well, don’t we have a handy-dandy Endbringer with time distortion powers? Not that there won’t be other issues involved, but simple passage of time requirements to develop things that can be handled within the scope of a time acceleration bubble…
Like fixing Dragon’s code, or hospital healing.
After someone is healed, put them in stasis. Put a couple capes in the time bubbles that can force grow vegetables and add Taylor to control insects for pollination and for protein. I’d bet that Panacea could turn a bunch of insects into a hamburger patty that was real beef, if she wanted to 🙂
Aname on September 24, 2013 at 11:24 said:
Isn’t Khonsu currently in Cauldron’s control? Or was he with Teacher? Either way, I don’t think that’s currently an option.
Is Khonsu capable of that much precision?
Cephalo the Pod on September 24, 2013 at 16:52 said:
Khonsu was sold to Cauldron by Teacher. He’s probably inoperable at the moment, just like the rest of Cauldron.
In fact, I bet that sort of advantage is exactly why Wildbow DIDN’T give Khonsu to Taylor and the heroes.
Actually, since Scion can break through time fields, imagine they put all their Tinkers in a bubble to get a few years of preparation in a few hours: then Scion flies in and kills them all while they’re sealed inside.
This might not happen, of course, and I think it would be worth a try. I imagine the reason they don’t is mostly trying to explain it to Khonsu.
Hm…whatever happened to Blasto, anyways?
Hehad an heart attack after being forced to dance on the tune of some children show’s theme song all day and night.
Oh. He probably didn’t get collected by Glaistig, then.
Hasn’t the guy been forced to do enough by childlike killers?
I was actually imagining nothing more than him manifesting by Simurgh and going from there.
packsmack on September 24, 2013 at 00:33 said:
Is it bad if I was hoping taylor would stab him when he was knocked out?
Nah, that just makes you human. I was hoping she would castrate him while he was awake.
I was hoping she’d stab him while he was awake. I know I hate being told I won’t do something.
I’m also glad she called them out on all the secrecy and refusal to really work together, saying that people like them are why they deserve to lose. Took the words right out of my mouth. Last time I eat a lollipop with a cricket in it.
Axel on September 24, 2013 at 03:53 said:
Put enough Pressure on Taylor and she’s do something similar for “good reasons”
Last time I saw her refuse to engage in teamwork was because the group in question refused to engage in teamwork and broke the truce. All this time, that same truce hasn’t been enforced because of people claiming that, despite people taking advantage of it, they needed those other people.
Besides, we have no reason to believe that Cauldron has any good reasons for anything they do. They built themselves up as the guys to stop Scion and now their asses are going to be forcibly pulled out of the fire by Taylor. If they’d been a bit more open, none of this would have happened, but they felt so sure in their own “superior” handling of the situation, felt they deserved to be set on a pedestal as the shady world saviors who did what had to be done to remain secret while failing to actually save the world, that they withheld information and skills from the world that could have saved millions, possibly billions of lives.
I’d damn sure trust Taylor’s good reasons than any claimed good reasons of Cauldron or the Yangban or any of these other fuckers who make careers out of failing.
Maybe, but I still think that given enough time and situations,Taylor would eventually end up no different then Alexandria, believing that all the evil she does would be for good reasons.
Nah, none of the evils that Taylor has done has come to bite her in the ass yet… the Dinah/Coil thing has already happened the only matter left hanging is the Shooting Aster while still working with Theo thing.
Cauldron’s greatest weakness seems to be that every single one of their actions creates more problems down the line that will screw up thier capability to achieve their end goal and their backup plans do the exact same thing.
So basically, if Cauldron does it, it’s bad. But if Taylor does it, that makes it ok?
We have yet to see Taylor take part in a massive conspiracy to kidnap, torture, conduct illegal human testing, or even leave huge numbers of capes to die on a platform when she could evacuate them all easily.
She also wasn’t responsible for the creation of Siberian, Gray Boy, or other powerful villains who kill people.
Cauldron is a secret organization, accountable to nobody, that uses terror and assassination to control others, with immense resources funded at least initially by the drug trade (see Lung interlude)
Taylor is a team player, who acts mostly in the open, and takes responsibility for what she does. She can be very brutal but her brutality is pragmatic brutality in almost every case.
I’m not even sure where you can really begin to make a valid comparison, other than they both sometimes kill their enemies.
If all you do to fight evil is just commit more evil, then how does anything really change? You just end up exchanging one for another.
You’ll have to ask Cauldron that, since it’s one of the main differences between them and Taylor. She isn’t evil. One of the ways you can tell is because Cauldron feels no conflict over their actions. Dr. Mother has no conscience eating away at her because she did bad things, even for good reasons. She doesn’t give a shit how many people she kills or maims to justify her goals.
Taylor is constantly guilt-ridden over choices she had to take or ways she had to act to get her point across or even perfectly justifiable and moral actions that nonetheless hurt someone. She has that eating away at her, weighing her down, and informing her later decisions.
It’s kind of like an analysis I once read of that movie where a woman can only pick one of her kids. Even though she had no choice but to have one die, she agonizes over it until the day of her death, and it was right that she did so because she was a good person. An evil person wouldn’t have been that torn up about it.
Nourjan on September 24, 2013 at 06:31 said:
People keep bringing the oil rig incident.That was the one of the times Cauldron’s action was completely justified.Opening a door there would effectively allow Scion to wipe all possible resistance in one swoop.Ironically the only reason why Taylor and the rest of the platform survivor are still alive was because Cauldron reuse too open that door when Scion appeared.
@ Gecko
But even if she’s guilt ridden, she still continues to do these actions, and whats worse is she does worse and worse things progressively. One compromise ends up leading to another. Batman said it best:
“Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but your pain doesn’t die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And you won’t know why. “
@Psycho Gecko
BTW, what movie was that?I remember similar thing happened in the “Joy Luck Club”(never watched the movie,read the book).
I believe they were talking about Sophie’s Choice.
As to Cauldron: I refuse to condemn them yet, because there is still a possibility that they do, in fact, know what they’re doing. If I were a judge from Earth Bet putting Cauldron on trial for their actions somehow, I’d call them Guilty, but we don’t have access to courtroom levels of evidence here (or even “Guy who came to fix the coffee machine in Cauldron’s base before they relocated offworld” levels of knowledge), so I can’t do that.
It doesn’t look promising, though…
I cannot remember a time when Taylor betrayed anyone. Some of her actions have been VERY dark-side but I cannot recall any betrayals.
The other Indian cape when she was talking to Mr. Portal Gun in India might count, arguably.
I didn’t remember that. I still don’t remember it actually. Do you remember the indian cape’s name so I can search for it?
It was Particulate
Ah found it. Yes, you could say that Weaver betrayed Particulate, but that would be a stretch. Betrayal is normally only talked about when there is trust involved, and in the short time they worked together, with no common language, and with him having used his weapons without her direction twice even though she was leading, I don’t see a whole lot of trust there.
She apparently tried to use Particulate’s assassination attempt to gain some favor with Phir Sē, but he saw through it.
And? What makes you sure she won’t do something similar down the lines? This whole story has been about how other people’s wrong for right reasons like Cauldron are evil and not to be trusted, yet Taylor does such things all the time and that makes her trustworthy?
Probably because nobody’s greased the sides of Mt. Everest enough to justify such a slippery slope argument.
Oh, there’s plenty of room for Taylor to make more grey area decisions. I strongly suspect that Taylor’s going to get an opportunity to demonstrate this in the next couple episodes, since she’s now leading a team again.
That’s the thing though. Taylor stays in the grey areas, she rarely touches the really dark places, but she isn’t really attracted to the light either. When she encounters someone who has gone off the deep end into darkness, she doesn’t do mercy. When she feels someone’s situation is so bad that killing them IS a mercy, then she does do mercy. Aster. Questionable at best.
So basically what you’re saying is, Taylor is above the law and can do what ever she wishes as long as she claims to have good intentions. And if anyone disagrees with her, she responds with intimidation, threats and fear: Because she’s apparently always right about how the world should be run,a young girl (despite having superpowers) somehow knows more then thousands of years of debates on ethics and proper leadership.
So basically, she’s become a bully herself. It’s not that surprising really, it’s been proven statistically that many teens who were bullied end up bullies themselves.
In the end, it’s like Taylor said way back when :There are no simple solutions” but that DOESN’T mean her solutions are any less simple and doesn’t deserve to be called out for the hypocrisy that it is. She’s not making the world a better place, she’s only proving that might makes right and that only those who have power have the right to rule and do what ever they want.
Hrm, you do understand that currently, in the Worm universe, might does in fact make right? Aver since the S9 clone episode that’s been made pretty brutally clear. You can still have morality and live in a might makes right society – if you have the might to maintain that society.
Wildbow hasn’t made the world feel as much like a post-apocalyptic environment as it should be, I think. The concentration has been on the characters, not the world in general.
Taylor is trying to preserve the one law that matters for humanity right now, the pact that all capes will work together to fight the greatest threats. Other laws are meaningless in the face of the end of the world.
” For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ”
In this chapter, Taylor argues that Cauldron’s current actions make humanity deserve to die. But how is that different from her in spirit?
It doesn’t matter if you’re morally right, that doesn’t give you the right to force your beliefs on others and then use it to make the ends justify the means.
I’m not asking whether or not her choices are right, I’m asking what gives her the RIGHT to decide what’s right or wrong?
And yet, people use their own morality to justify the use of force all the time. They’re called laws. Laws that murder, laws that destroy lives, laws that protect and laws that save lives – sometimes all at the same time.
What gives Taylor the power to dictate right and wrong? The same thing that gives Chevalier, or Weld, Cauldron, or the US government that power: The people who listen, for whatever reason.
@Axel: It’s not a matter of bad things being ok when Taylor does them, its a matter of effectiveness & efficiency. Taylor has achieved usable functional results with what power and resources she has but Cauldron with all their power and resources only creates more problems that creates more problems and so on and so fourth thus res ipsa loquitur its less a matter of right and wrong and more a matter who screws up next to last and takes down less innocent bystanders with them.
Also as I have said before, the ends justify the means only when your means do not betray everything your end stands for; Taylor has realised this and therefore has quit being a hero because she realises what she really wants and that it cannot be done with that for a title. Cauldron claims to do what they do to ensure Humanity’s survival but has yet to realise that their means and methods has only sacrificed what Humanity should stand for; they have sacrificed their heart for their heart’s desire only to make things worse and still not get what they want.
That doesn’t mean how Taylor does things is any less wrong. Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing an evil.
Let’s say hypothetically that Cauldron was taken down permanently. Do you honestly think Taylor would stop doing what she’s doing? Or rather based on her personality and attitude, she would rather continue using her power to lord over the normal people like she did before?
I know it’s only hypothetical, but based on her actions so far I would seriously consider she falls seriously on the latter choice.
And lets talk about the “ends justifying the means” huh? Taylor is better simply because she doesn’t do things as widespread as Cauldron? Bigger evil or not, Taylor is still a murderer. Once that line is crossed, there’s no going back about what she will or will not do.She has proven more then once she is ready and willing to kill for what she wants if she needs to. So if her morals keep getting compromised more and more as the stories goes, how can you say with 100% certainty that the line about when to kill or not to kill won’t be further crossed as well?
I remember reading a line from another fanfic online that exemplifies this point: “The truest evil is not achieved by the men who think themselves the villain. The truest evil is done by the good man who does what he feels he must, and thus he does it without hesitation.”
scoti on September 24, 2013 at 12:03 said:
@Axel:
You seem to be making some assumptions (deontology is right/righteous, consequentialism is incorrect/evil, power corrupts and corruption worsens indefinitely, etc.) that are rather contested/controversial topics and definitely don’t seem to necessarily hold in this setting…
“Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing an evil.”
That’s two-dimensional thinking. Rarely has Taylor been presented with only two choices; she’s been presented with disastrous situations that, time and again, would end with the deaths of people she cared about and the numerous deaths of people she didn’t even know. Time and again, she’s made choices that spared the worst outcomes for the most people she could manage, given her intel and operational capacity.
To do that, she’s had to make some damned hard calls. She’s had to betray trusts, she’s had to destroy lives to save others, she’s had to do awful, awful things. Except, she didn’t *have* to – you’re right, she could have made ‘moral’ choices, acceptable choices, even if the consequences were too awful to contemplate. She didn’t do that, she made the unacceptable choices, because she was more focused on outcomes for other people than on looking good or holding to essentially arbitrary codes of morality. Maybe that makes her immoral. But it makes her effective. And because of her priorities, I’d rather have her in charge of my fate than almost any other character in this grimdark world she lives in. (I’d pick Dragon sooner, but only because Dragon is normally much more capable of safer forms of intervention. Their intentions are equivalent, so Dragon’s ‘morals’ are a wash compared to Taylor’s.)
But at what cost Don? There comes a point where the “effective” choice is no longer acceptable because it comes down to nearly just as bad as the other choice.
I would argue that Taylor doesn’t make the effective choice, she simply chooses the easiest one that means the least amount of losses to her.
You and Someguy go on about how it’s about how her choices are “effective ” but then again, that goes right to how is she any better then Alexandria or Cauldron? She’s making the choices just like them to ends lives because she no longer sees them as lives. She only sees them as mere numbers, and the more “numbers” she has, that apparently makes her “the better” choice.
And THAT is what makes humanity in the story deserve to lose. Not what these other guys are doing, but because of what’s SHE’S doing. Because she can without hesitation, make these choices because SHE thinks she made the best choice.
The world won’t be destroyed by Scion or the Endbringers , it will end because of people like Taylor who think that “acceptable losses” is worth what she can only assume are justifiable ends.
As long as she can come up with a purely logical reasoning as to who should live and who should die, she can justify ANYTHING she does, no matter how despicable. Sophia was right back in that earlier chapter. They ARE exactly alike.
And that is why Taylor, is neither sympathetic, nor likable or even that fun to read. Who she is, as a character, honestly makes me wish she’d die. because she’s just that despicable. To me, she’s honestly on the level of Alexandria, if not on her way already.
“Bigger evil or not, Taylor is still a murderer. Once that line is crossed, there’s no going back about what she will or will not do.She has proven more then once she is ready and willing to kill for what she wants if she needs to. So if her morals keep getting compromised more and more as the stories goes, how can you say with 100% certainty that the line about when to kill or not to kill won’t be further crossed as well?”
To (attempt to) quote someone else, we don’t think that because we haven’t greased Mount Everest enough for that argument.
In the past, Taylor has killed. No one denies that. But is that really an irreversible commitment to evil? Can no one who has killed, for whatever reason, be trusted to not kill again, regardless of the regret or reasons?
Then why is it still the “effective” choice?
I’m sure that Mannequin agrees. She did in fact just take her minions and let the rest of the people in her territory get terrorized by the nigh-indestructible supervillain perfectly made (literally) to counter her power, to save her own hide…in some alternate universe. In this one, Taylor has repeatedly taken great personal risks and losses because she thought that the end result would be better.
Well, for starters, she hasn’t doomed the world by making promises she can’t/hasn’t fulfilled.
“And THAT is what makes humanity in the story deserve to lose. Not what these other guys are doing, but because of what’s SHE’S doing. Because she can without hesitation, make these choices because SHE thinks she made the best choice. The world won’t be destroyed by Scion or the Endbringers , it will end because of people like Taylor who think that “acceptable losses” is worth what she can only assume are justifiable ends. As long as she can come up with a purely logical reasoning as to who should live and who should die, she can justify ANYTHING she does, no matter how despicable. Sophia was right back in that earlier chapter. They ARE exactly alike.”
You know what, though? She hasn’t. Moreover, every hard choice Taylor has made, she has regretted. And you know what? That’s another difference between her and Cauldron–she regrets her misdeeds, however small or vital. I have no doubt that she will regret having had to do many of the things she did until the day she dies, whether that be this (in-story) day or decades down the line.
If you can’t respect and empathize someone making these hard choices, despite their need, regret, and so forth, I can’t make you. I’ll just explain why I feel how I feel and let you take what you will from it.
The funny thing is Axel, that you are arguing that people, in a battle for survival, should adhere to the same moral code that people living comfortable lives believe is appropriate.
That is NOT going to happen. Morality changes when reality changes, and if you don’t understand that, and refuse to accept it, then it’s not worth fighting with you over it.
The passengers only make it worse. They seek conflict, and accelerate degradation of peaceful society. However with Scion going batshit crazy, things went downhill FAST. Rather than a gradual cascade failure of society as younger and younger children developed cape powers, with fewer and fewer social mores imprinted on them before the passengers started molding them, we went from Endbringers every now and then and a S9 emergency to “End of the World” in a few hours.
Taylor is a realist. She’s also a teenager, ruthless, and what she does, in the end, is win. When the world is falling down around your ears, you follow the one that gives you a chance at survival. If you don’t follow someone that’s likely to keep you alive, then your opinions about them won’t matter for long anyway.
This is no longer civilization. The rules of laws and morality no longer apply. If humanity survives, there will be time for laws and crimes and punishment.
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/slippery-slope
The way I see it, the issue with Cauldron’s consequentialism is that it projects so far in the future that it is insanely hubristic. Taylor is by no means ethically ‘clean,’ but she afaik mostly sticks to pretty reasonable time-frames (a couple hours to a couple weeks in many cases, a couple years in the extreme cases like following Dinah’s advice (and she no longer thinks that was right, see below citation)) and that massive separation between how she does “ends justify the means” and how Cauldron does “ends justify the means” puts them in different categories.
See extinction 27.2: “I stared down at the roughly circle-shaped patch of darkness in the center of the room…” on.
Also, do you take issue with consequentialism/(least of evils) itself or the consequences of consequentialism?
Both. It doesn’t matter if her actions have consequences, or if she simply does evil less so then others. Both are still bad. Remember back when all the children backed her up in the school? This was a bunch of children who looked up to a proven bully, torturer and murderer.
Remember back when she was showed a video tape of her taking out guards and being compared to being a member of the Slaughterhouse 9? Guess what! That’s NOT supposed to be a good thing!
If there are no simple answers, then I refuse the simple answer that she is only trying to do the best she can with the choices of ranging evil that she feels she must.
I honestly believe that the truer answer is that Taylor is nothing more then a young woman who was so traumatized by bullying, that she has become a full blown narcissistic sociopath: manipulating and threatening people to get what she wants, intimidating people and gathering power because that’s what she thinks is best, switches sides back and forth based on what is most advantageous to her and plays along with the “good guys” just so she can get what she desires in the end, all the while mocking and tearing down the more idealistic people because her twisted psyche has turned her sense of “morality” into some form of delusion that justifies her actions to herself.
It’s not a simple answer, but to me it rings much more truer to reality.
Ok, see my reply to you above the first one.
Why are there necessarily- or must there be- -no simple answers? What does “simple answers” mean?
I would not contest at least some ethical issues in her character, although they are most likely different complaints than you would make.
I would say that just as fervently as you believe in your moral framework and the judgements that result from it, and just as much as that rings true to you, that moral framework makes no sense on close examination (by which I mean looking at its judgements in ethical edge cases) to me, and so I choose a different framework that “rings truer to reality to me” and that most likely seems just as bad to you as yours does to me (some variant of consequentialism, see first response). I am sorry that the conversation comes down to something so ambiguous.
Scolopendra on September 24, 2013 at 13:04 said:
At this point, I am certain that Axel is the “Axelx Gabriel” who posted the scathing review of Worm on TV Tropes. He also used much the same arguments in the work discussion page, even down to the same logical fallacies. Axel, if you hate this story so much, why are you still here? You did say, and I quote, “Avoid at all costs if you can.” You are a brazen hypocrite.
I do encourage my point of view, and I only return because I just wanted to see if anything has changed. Unfortunately, I was wrong. And I stand by my review as accurate to every thing I read about this story from beginning to current end.
@Axel: No, you come on here to stir up trouble, spouting out the same illogical garbage, reveling in your own fallacies, and conceding nothing to people who point out the flaws in your arguments. You aren’t encouraging your point of view, you’re trolling for attention.
I would advise everyone to avoid responding to Axel at all costs.
“Remember back when all the children backed her up in the school? This was a bunch of children who looked up to a proven bully, torturer and murderer.”
1. They were teenagers, not children. You might think of them as children but they really aren’t, any more than a cat is a kitten or a bird an egg. Teenaers don’t think or act like children; why treat them like children?
2. And yet, they looked up to her, they admired or agreed with or even pitied her. Why is this? Perhaps because Taylor isn’t the amoral sociopath you seem to think she is?
That is, however, what she is trying to do. And, to be honest, tha fact that she is trying puts her head and shoulders at least above Cauldron and many other major players in this story.
http://xkcd.com/386/
I suspect that it has to do with a few things:
1. We see Taylor’s point of view.
2. She keeps a lot fewer secrets.
3. Taylor never pretended/claimed/thought/explained that she had the key to victory.
4. We doubt Cauldron’s “right reasons”.
letseveryonemorality on September 24, 2013 at 17:12 said:
It’s a lot more complex than that, but not really that hard to understand, at least for anyone who actually knows shit all about the philosophy behind morality.
Lets start with one of the more simple and broadly agreed upon theories; There are very few actions that aren’t justifiable in some context, generally these are agreed to be removal of agency and sexual assault. I cannot remember if that’s all of them, but those are generally agreed upon always evil actions. Cauldron has engaged in one of these, and Taylor has been complacent in the same. The difference here is that Taylor holds reservations and general dislike of this sort of thing, Cauldron shows no reservations about it at all.
The second set of actions that are generally agreed to always fit into moral categories of “good” or “evil” are selfish and selfless actions. With selfish actions being generally “evil” and selfless actions being generally “good” (it’s worth noting that selfless actions undertaken for selfish reasons are still generally agreed to be “good”). Here we find a much more pronounced divide between the actions of Taylor and those of Cauldron; Taylor is almost universally selfless, Cauldron on the other hand appears to be almost entirely selfish (yet another note: we don’t actually know everything their is to know about Cauldron. The assumption that Cauldron is Selfish is based on currently known information).
Next you have the willingness of others to support those making these choices. Taylor not only gives others the choice to support her, and is generally transparent about what she is willing to do, but she also GETS that support when she asks for it. Not out of fear. Out of respect for her results. Taylor is trusted to make morally hard choices because she’s fucking good at it. Cauldron on the other hand doesn’t really give anyone these choices, they don’t provide anyone with this information, they even withheld this from one of their own supporters. To top this all off, Cauldron doesn’t make their results know either. Making it very difficult to judge their results in the first place.
Coil is feeling pretty betrayed right about now. Oh wait – no he isn’t.
Granted, he did try to kill Taylor, but the plan to overthrow him was in place long before that happened.
acediamonds on September 24, 2013 at 09:55 said:
Taylor is capable of pretty nasty stuff when put under pressure, Triumph, Alexandria, Tag all come to mind but she’s definitely always been willing to cooperate with others during a crisis.
That doesn’t excuse or justify her actions. You can’t just erase one evil deed by doing a good one later. Not to mention with all the different ways she COULD’VE done things to stop them, she automatically goes for the most brutal method possible. That’s not justified evil, that’s just sick and sadistic.
Even if you say she just lost control in one or some of those moments, does that make anyone in real life any less responsible if they “lose control” for a moment? Unless you’re going to say she suffered from “temporary insanity” I ain’t buying it.
I really am just replying to that one post you made because I do kinda agree that the only thing that separates Taylor and Cauldron is scale.
Taylor has a lot of flaws but not being a team player isn’t one of them.
And I’m saying that she could very well easily be a team player for a much greater evil act. She has enough flaws as both a character and someone with superpowers that she very well can and will make it, whether by choice or unintentionally.
pidgey on September 24, 2013 at 11:37 said:
@Axel: Worm isn’t really a story about good and evil. Worm is a story about priorities. Wildbow has hit that point over and over and over, that being “good” doesn’t do you any good if you aren’t willing to critically examine the consequences of your morality.
Now, I don’t agree with him, and obviously you don’t either, but regardless, there’s no inherent value to judging Taylor as good or evil, because it has nothing to do with the message of the story. Taylor is the hero of the story because she’s farsighted, not because she’s good.
And incidentally, that DOES qualify her to judge other characters’ actions. When someone is acting shortsightedly, she totally has the credentials she needs to be justified in calling them out on it. She isn’t judging them on good or evil terms.
Thank you, pidgey, for articulating the “does not apply” thing so well.
But the problem is that by just going by that viewpoint, you’re following a protagonist that’s neither sympathetic, likable or even right half the time. Or to put it simply, Taylor, as a whole in her character and her actions, i WANT her to die. Because she is a horrible, horrible person.
Yes it’s possible to do stories with villain protagonists, but they have to be GOOD about it. You have to be sympathetic to them, you have to understand them. Taylor is neither sympathetic nor is her overall character and “Fun” to actually read about.
Put that together with many more characters that are morally questionable or die quickly, put them in a world where everything is horrible and millions die every day, and you have put together the infamous troupe Darkness Induced Audience Apathy.
I no longer care what happens to these people. They can all die for all I care because this story has failed to actually make me want to care about them. It has failed for me to actually want them to succeed.
And that, is honestly a failure on the writing, I apologize wildbow, if you’re reading this, but this is how I honestly feel.
I disagree, Axel. I think there are quite a few villains in literature, TV and movies who aren’t likable at all. Tony Soprano, for example.
Overall, there’s no need to apologize. You can rest assured I don’t take your criticism to heart. Simply put, I don’t put a lot of stock in it. There have been three or so people in the last few days who’ve been going through the archives (and who are at different junctures in them) who criticize, but then show a pretty telling lack of reading comprehension. If someone skims the surface or skips sections of the work and then draws broad conclusions, then that’s on them, not on me, and I don’t take it as a failure in the writing. If anything, it points to themes running through Worm.
Is Worm perfect? No. Could I stand to fine tune tension or pacing or Taylor’s likability? Sure. Of course. It’s all first draft stuff. Stuff is going to be wobbly here and there.
But at the end of the day, people who are enjoying the work far outnumber (and show better comprehension of the work) than this handful of people who don’t. More telling, even, is that the people who I’m talking about, the critics who are missing the mark with some frequency? They’re still here. They may not like the protagonist, or they may take issue with other aspects of the story, but they’re interested enough in the work to devote time to following it and to discussing it.
And I’m okay with that.
“But the problem is that by just going by that viewpoint, you’re following a protagonist that’s neither sympathetic, likable or even right half the time. Or to put it simply, Taylor, as a whole in her character and her actions, i WANT her to die. Because she is a horrible, horrible person. Yes it’s possible to do stories with villain protagonists, but they have to be GOOD about it. You have to be sympathetic to them, you have to understand them. Taylor is neither sympathetic nor is her overall character and “Fun” to actually read about. Put that together with many more characters that are morally questionable or die quickly, put them in a world where everything is horrible and millions die every day, and you have put together the infamous troupe Darkness Induced Audience Apathy.”
I personally find Taylor a sympathetic character, for what seem to be many of the reasons you hate her. She has been thrust into these horrible circumstances and had to figure out the least wrong choice to take. has she always been right? No. Has she regretted those choices, tried to make up and atone when she could? Yes. Has she regretted some of the less wrong choices for the wrongness? Yes.
Now tell me, Axel: What is one example of a choice you absolutely, positively hate Taylor for, and why? What would you have done in the shoes of Taylor, Skitter, or Weaver, and why?
She doesn’t go for the most brutal method possible, she goes for the most effective with the least collateral damage. Sure, getting info from Nyx and then killing her was brutal; but do you really think letting her go would have turned out better?
She didn’t kill Nix, just trapped her via Golem.
Reveen on September 24, 2013 at 17:23 said:
Clockblocker gave the order to kill Nyx, then Crucible did it himself, Taylor just sanctioned it.
Funny how people tend to forget the asshole actions of all the othercharacters when talking about this stuff. Like Taylor does these things completely in a situational vacuum out of her own malice and context doesn’t matter.
Not targeting you with that, just an observation.
Cephalo: Nyx the S9 clone, not Nix the Vegas hero. Easy mistake to make.
So what about us who count killing fucks like Tagg Alexandria and Coil to be a point in her likability favor? Do we just not get a vote or somethin’?
@Everyone: Kill all replies to Axel’s comments guys, as Scolopendra said this thing is a Troll, a Westboro one. Do not feed the Troll.
A good choice. Given his comments and review, he is either deeply ignorant or simply lying.
You seem to believe that evil is a moral absolute (in far more cases than those that are true), not only in the real world, where it’s generally agreed that this isn’t the case, but also in a fictional world where it made very obvious that this isn’t the case.
I’d ask you to post some examples of actual “evil” deeds that Taylor has done (hint; she has actually done a few deeds that can generally be argued as moral wrongs), but I not only think you’d fail to point those actually deeds out, I also think it’s really just not worth anyone’s time to continue to argue with someone who’s arguing from false premises.
OK Axel, I now know that you are either incapable of intelligent thought or you are intentionally trolling. You are essentially claiming here that there is no such thing as justifiable murder. When Taylor killed Alexandria and Tagg, they were TYRING to get a violent reaction out of her so they could use that reaction against her. Two live body doubles were captured, and both Tagg and Alexandria knew that Taylor was aware through her bug network of what was going on. Then they brought in a dead body. At that point, if I were in Taylor’s shoes and I saw one of my friends dead at the hands of two people who have been escalating violence against my friends, those two people are going to be as dead as I can make them. Right then. Right there.
This type of killing is called a crime of passion, because it happens when some actions performed by another put you into a state of temporary insanity. And people in the real world win this sort of justifiable homicide case regularly in court.
Plus, she was going to head out after another one. Given that she’d killed one, it was reasonable to assume she’d kill again. It’s both legal and moral to kill someone who is about to kill someone else.
“Not to mention with all the different ways she COULD’VE done things to stop them, she automatically goes for the most brutal method possible.”
Not true. It’s simply that she is not unwilling to use brutal, sadistic methods when she needs to cause fear, or when other effective options are unavailable to her.
Yes, there is that word, “effective,” again. If you can stop or mitigate an evil, but don’t, that is wrong. Picking the lesser of two evils is a good choice; picking the greater because it is not done by your hand is evil.
I’m not going to say that Taylor ever lost control of herself, merely that the situation was out of control.
Grant Moxham on September 25, 2013 at 04:53 said:
*snorts* by your logic, every parahuman remotely associated with the protectorate is irredeemably evil, for working with an organisation that had a kill-on-site policy for the S9.
As far as I’m concerned, there are a couple of big differences between Taylor and Cauldron.
As others have pointed out, Taylor attempts to work with others for the greater good. She doesn’t share Cauldron’s arrogance.
The other is that Taylor has made some hard choices when they were thrust upon her, whereas Cauldron have gone out of their way to proactively inflict their particular brand of “necessary evil” on others.
Finally, looking at Taylor’s choice points, I’m hard-pressed to think of an example where she didn’t choose the least bad of some pretty terrible options. Let the villains rob a bank and maybe hurt people, blow your cover or go with them undercover and try to minimise casualties? Stick with the villains who seem to be decent people vs the ‘heroes’ who don’t?
Extort the mayor and retain your chance to topple the evil overlord of Brockton Bay or say “no” and lose that chance? Let the PRT director murder my friends or hit back? Shoot the baby or let it be tortured indefinitely and maybe bring on the end of the world?
Taylor has rarely been presented with choices that offer a clear cut “good” option. When presented with a platter of crappy options, she has consistently gone with what seems to be the least bad of them.
Cauldron, despite knowing the limitations of Contessa’s power, take a “We can do whatever the hell we want ‘cos we know best and no, you don’t deserve to know about it” attitude to everything.
Taylor ain’t as pure as the driven snow, but she’s not comparable to Cauldron.
Oh,God,people are still replying to the troll/reincarnation of Tagg who later reincarnates into miyo miyazaki one year later.
Toast on September 25, 2013 at 10:18 said:
Guys! Guys? Guys.
Dont. Feed. The trolls. This Axel guy is not worth all the effort I see above. He is trying to get a rise out of you and has succeeded. In the future, the safest thing is just to ignore such people; they will go away and seek softer targets.
This was an interesting chapter. She is trying to get to Cauldron to get them to reveal their secrets and plans, then the LV capes are somewhat defending/repulsing the invaders, ie the Irregulars. They don’t want Taylor’s group to intervene. I guess I could see why not, they are in the middle of a fight then extracting valuable information. I get why Taylor needs the information too though, and I don’t understand what she is going to do next. Get to Cauldron another way?
No, she’ll just enter using the same portal the LV capes used, try and catch up and “render assistance”, while springing Exalt and Revel. Doormaker’s not conscious enough to close it behind them.
Yeah. Her problem isn’t that the Vegas Capes are doing this. It’s that they imprisioned, and possibly tourtured Revel and Exalt, and are still keeping their little secrets and agendas in the face of the end of all earths. Taylor isn’t a saint. But she is not going to put up with people prioitizing their secrets and agendas over working together to save humanity. The Vegas Capes decided to go in? Fine. This kind of job suits them. The Vegas Capes decide to take down Revel and Exalt so they don’t have to report back? Not fine.
The way it reads is that the Vegas capes are working directly for Cauldron, knowingly too.
In that case; heads! Spikes! Walls!
She’s also kinda pissed that Weld, of all people, led what is by all accounts an attack on Cauldron. Who, for all their faults and for all that everyone hates them (and everyone pretty much does hate them all), they are still necessary if only because they still have secrets. However, their usefulness is dwindling fast.
I’d say Cauldron’s usefulness ran out a long time ago. Because while they still have the plans and the assets and the resources etcthat’s not the same as Doc Mom being useful herself. The situation before the Irregular attack was that the heroes needed Cauldrons shit, but Cauldron was limiting access to said shit, making them more of a hindrance than anything.
The ideal scenario in my eyes would be the heroes busting into Cauldron’s HQ, learning their secrets, getting a hold of their plans to implement themselves, and using Contessa and Number Man as their personal Thinker servants. Of course they couldn’t do that because they’d probably come out of it vulnerable to Scion.
Disagree,Cauldron have yet to reveal all their cards.There may be a last ditch and extremely costly /risky way to stop Scion that Cauldron haven’t used yet because to them The Godzilla Threshold is yet too be crossed.The Irregulars are doing more harm by betraying Weld and trying to destroy Cauldron.
My Ideal scenarios includes Taylor whipping the Traitorous Irregulars buts left and right.After that she would squeeze every info from Doc Mom and consolidate Cauldron in her arsenal.
“squeeze every info from Doc Mom.” Literally, I hope.
Cauldron is still useful (for now). Its parts, however, are considerably lesser than the whole.
grimGrendel on September 24, 2013 at 00:40 said:
I did a fan art of Bohu
http://grimgrendel.deviantart.com/art/Endringer-Bohu-402425401
**Goes hide in a corner**
Philippe Saner on September 24, 2013 at 00:45 said:
That’s way better than what I imagined. (basically a giant lego that spreads like a pancake at the bottom)
Kytin on September 24, 2013 at 00:52 said:
What? No! We need those endbringers, damnit!
Nice art. Should probably have had some of the buildings looking warped or changed somehow. Bohu herself looks nicely impressive and intimidating.
Maybe this can be a before image and then she does another, with Bohu surrounded by capes, Tohu, and the city destroyed.
yakkt on September 24, 2013 at 00:53 said:
Endringer. LOL. For whom does the bell toll?
keyonte0 on September 24, 2013 at 01:38 said:
Well, you’re not Krustacean, so she’s probably good.
Peter O on September 24, 2013 at 04:31 said:
Doesn’t Bohu have 3 faces, when she adopts the three powers?
Ainix on September 24, 2013 at 05:32 said:
Thought that was Tohu. There was a mnemonic a while back: Bohu is the big one, Tohu is the tiny one.
(Been caught up since Sting 26.5 but didn’t have anything to post.)
I think you’re thinking of Tohu. The tiny one. Bohu’s the big one.
I always forget if it’s Tiny Tohu or Towering Tohu.
Robert on September 25, 2013 at 09:49 said:
Bohu’s the Builder, Tohu’s the Trio.
That’s actually a much better mnemonic.
But can Bohu the Builder fix it?
LOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEITLOVEIT.
I really appreciate this one. B&T were always the hardest for me to picture.
Thanks :3
I too am still having trouble figuring Tohu.
So there’s a cape called Nix who creates illusions out of harmless smoke and a cape called Nyx who creates illusions out of harmful smoke.
Man, that’s weird. I bet there’s a story there.
There is.
theant87 on September 24, 2013 at 00:58 said:
Twins who both took the formula? Mother/daughter?
MrVoid on September 24, 2013 at 01:03 said:
Love your work. HATEYOUHATEYOUHATEYOU.
Nix is an illusion created by Nyx?
razorsmile on September 24, 2013 at 03:53 said:
And the two of them just happened to take the same homophonic nom de guerre? That would be *some* coincidence.
Definitely a story there.
Will we hear it before the end of Worm?
I’d like to hear that story.
Now we need Nick, with a power to pull items out of a big tinkered sack, and Nicks with some sort of blade power. They can then be a new team, the “Nights that say Nik”
Would Night be on this team?
Wasn’t Nyx-with-a-y a Case 53? Because I bet this is another spot of ghostly power recognition between Cauldron capes.
She was.
The red one with the vents on head a shoulders.
Nyx prototype
Nix final result?
That would have been bound to create some awkward situations.
“Nix is here”.
“Our Nix, not the Slaughterhouse Nyx”.
More likely the opposite situation.
“Nyx is here!”
“Good. She owes me five bucks.”
“Not that Nix, idiot!”
“Oh…Why did Nix pick a name–”
“Come on, Nyx is here!”
So we learn about the vegas capes and you know things are desperate when fucking Nilbog is on board. Curious if there are different stranger types similar to thinker types and how they interact. How typical would Imp, Tattletale, Taylor’s bug sense do against most strangers? I think Taylor should have removed one of his eyes for old times sake. Bet you wish you had someone with some firepower with your team now huh? Vegas must have been a jason bourne spy/espionage deal all the time. Good chapter overall, thought I wish we could have seen a little more interaction between the angels and the devils in the crowd. I’m curious what Nilbog, Lung, and Shadowstalker are thinking right about now.
I thought Nilbog died.
Flipnash on September 24, 2013 at 01:30 said:
he was captured at the same time they captured jack slash. come to think about it jacksy is still alive just in a time loop.
You know he’s just sitting there singing too:
Jack Slash: “This was a triumph. I’m making a note here, huge success. It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction. Slaughterhouse 9. We do what we can because we can. For the fun of all of us, except the one’s who are dead.”
“Do what we want because we can” was a better choice there than what I went with, actually. And “except the ones who are dead” so that continues the fucking typo problem.
“But there’s no sense crying over b’ing stuck in time
Look on the bright side, you’ll always look in your prime
And the killing gets done
By the man with skin like sun
And hey, look! I am here, still alive”
“Weaver, I’m not angry
I just want to tell you that now
Even though you helped Golem to kill me
You set up an ambush
To blast me with some containment foam
As I’m stuck, I’m hurt because
This was a lame way to go!”
“But those beams of light create a burning landscape
And it’s so dang pretty
It will kill every cape
So I’m glad I got Jacked
And Grey Boy also got sacked
Hey, at least I’m still here, still alive”
Go ‘head and leave me
I think I prefer to stay on Bet
Maybe I’ll find someone else to torture
Maybe your fathers
THAT WAS A JOKE. HAHA. THEY’RE DEAD
Anyway, these wounds annoy
Can someone go scratch my back?
Look at me still talking when there’s no one around
I’m just so damn bored, there is Jack shit abound
I should start writing a book
Or a recipe to cook
I’ve got time to kill. I’m still alive
And believe I am still alive
I doomed you all and I am still alive
That makes me feel better, I’m still alive
While you’re all dying I’ll be still alive
And when you’re dead, I will be still alive
Still a-”
*Scion blows up the city around him*.
That ‘jack shit’ line made me laugh. Well done.
I bet I could make a better one.
Well, here we are again.
It’s always such a pleasure.
Remember when I tried
To kill you twice? [citation needed]
Oh how we laughed and laughed.
Except you weren’t laughing.
Under the circumstances
We’ve been shockingly kind.
You want your friends? So
Take it.
That’s what I’m counting on.
I used to want you dead
Now I only want you gone.
You are more like Bonesaw
That you would like to admit.
Perhaps, one day you could join us, too.
One day she woke me up
So we’d be feared forever.
What a shame if the same
Would never happen to you.
You’ve got your
(quite) short
life left.
Go on and get right to it
Now I only…Okay, I never said I’d make a better one on the first draft.
Hotaru on September 25, 2013 at 05:51 said:
Sad part is this has kind of already been done.
Link below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwRuutV8TKc
for the best parallel start at 0:35 – 2:12.
Hate to double post, but it’s late and I misread, thought you were talking about Bonesaw, not Jack; now I’m just sad.
If only I could listen past the first few seconds.
Maybe it’s just a knee-jerk reaction to bronies, but that is seriously…ick.
See? Whoever complained about no group song from the Dinah/Taylor Bohemian Rhapsody, you got what you wanted here.
When was this?
Back when Taylor rescued Dinah. It was my version of Taylor asking Dinah about her vision of the end of the world.
https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/queen-18-1/#comment-9510
Boom, found it for you. Actually, didn’t have to change hardly anything. The song was very fitting. A better example would probably have been “A Little Vista” back when they took on the Slaughterhouse 9, conveniently also looked up for your singing pleasure here: https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/prey-14-4/
Some say that I may have even done an original piece in an attempt to remake Weaver into a fairy princess. Those people are obviously lying and in no way shape or form will they ever be able to find the comment where I posted the song. The song that obviously wasn’t written.
I’ll just wait to do the parody until I’ve reread the first S9 arc or so.
Nilbog’s probably still under Bonesaw’s control. I figured he was dead, since none of his creations have been mentioned since Zion flpped.
Really? I just figured that the reason his creations aren’t around was that no one was sure that Zion won’t be able to hijack them &/or no one was going to give him any dead bodies to feed them.
Possibly because none were under control, or none were useful, or none were alive.
I’m almost certain that whatever’s responsible for Scion’s defeat wont be human.
Either Parahuman, Animal(s) or Endbringer….
Or he’s not defeated, just… redirected.
Really? ‘cos after seeing the impressive showing the Dragon’ s Teeth gave in this (forty normal humans surviving against *Scion*) I’ve been wondering if Theo was onto something.
Remember that Scion crippled all the shards he gave out whereas normal humans have no such limitations. I also strongly suspect he’s using Jack’s trick of reading capes’ shards and automatically avoiding/countering their worst effects.
I have *no* idea how unpowered humans could hurt Scion, but they seem to have a comparative unpredictability to him, so…
Racheakt on September 24, 2013 at 01:39 said:
[Damn, forgot the update times. I’m reposting this so it dosen’t get overlooked. Please don’t be offended by the second posting.]
I’m thinking this may have already been touched on… but I haven’t seen it, and it’d be a really, really good time for Weaver to gain a second ability (or more than one), so I’ll state it outright:
If Weaver had a second trigger event, what kind of powers might we see?
So far, the data on STE is fairly limited, but it seems pretty clear that it builds on previous powers, mainly. Grue, for example- his powers remained essentially the same, but altered in effect. New abilities added atop what was already there.
In that vein, it seems unlikely that a STE would give a completely unrelated power- the possable exception being ‘Grab-bag’ and ‘Variable’ sets. Those, by their very nature, are likely unpredicable…. or, more unpredictable anyway.
That said, some powers that would be logical extendions of existing powers:
1. Chemical/toxin/venom control. The ability to alter the chemical loadout in her insects. Cyanide hornets, anyone? This would not only make less-deadly insects more useful in direct confrontation, but also grant significant support applications. Medicinal uses, for example. Painkillers, ect. She can already do this, to an extent, but the ability to alter the physiology of her insects had dozens of interesting possabilities. furthermore, if her control is fine enough, we could be looking at modifying existing chemical and toxic effects for greater yeild. For example- Brown Recluse venom modified to not attack the flesh where injected, but the heart instead, ect, ect.
2. Chemical effect similar to option number one- but tied to Taylor personally, as opposed to her insects. Might be useful, especially in the support role. Still not effective against Scion, but more useful than option one when deprived of insects.
1-2 Of no effect on Scion… Might be useful in a medicinal suppot role, though.
3. Hive-mind shared with allies? I can see all kinds of useful applications. Varying, of course, depending on how it is implimented and its limitations. For example, if it requires time to establish, like Regent’s power, it might not be practical for use on entire armies. But might also make an exceptional tool for coordinateing unit comanders. If it requires voluntary surrender to Weaver there are a number of other potential limitations. It might be more like impressions or vague directives then telepathy, or vice-versa. Might require proximety to insects, might be tied to insect phermones, like queen ants and waps, ect. If she can extent her range useing her ‘subbordinates’, or use them like ‘hot spots’ from which she can control insects, this ability would be even more useful.
3- VERY useful against Scion, or useless, depending on what the ‘rules’ are.
4. Many insects have regenerative properties. And everyone can benefit from a healing factor. Since it’s an insect theme, the ability to regen using insects assimilated into her injuries might be suitably creepy, and fit with her general theme. Alternatively, should she be ‘killed’ the ability to regenerate fully useing the vistigial compulsion, meaning- being to regen even after receiving fatal injuries, even while unconsious, would be AWESOME.
4- Everyone can use a healing factor. And it woud fit her theme.
5. Some combination thereof. All of them?
5- this would actually make a lot of sense. In fact, Weaver/Skitter/Taylor has already been established as a solid class-A threat even when equipped with a ‘weak’ power, and has taken out class-S threats and survived incredible odds before. A combination, or all of these, would make her a class-S, easy.
It has been… I don’t think implied is the right word, but I get the feeling that the stronger the connection to the Passanger when hitting the STE, the larger the boost. I can’t really provide evidence supporting this, as we only have Grue, and a handful of others whoes characters are less developed. None of which were what I’d call closely attuned to their passanger. Weaver, on the other hand, is extreamly attuned. It would make sense, however, as the logical leap.
I think… I’d honestly vote for the full package… number 5, all of the above.
We have confirmation that she won’t get a second trigger in Worm. No “prominent character” will, straight from the mouth of wildbow.
Some cool thoughts though.
Why am I always the last to hear of these things?
Aside from the whole late-to-the-party thing…
Wildbow said so in the last comment section.
You’re also forgetting the nature of Taylor’s passenger: an administrative node, a communicator, a facilitator. That doesn’t jibe with a ‘healing factor’ or a ‘poison generator.’ If she were to have a second trigger event, it would be something along the lines of coordination and organization.
Taylor’s passenger has been ‘crippled’, but we don’t know the extent of it. Originally it’s clear that the alien worm-beast used Taylor’s passenger to manage all of its other semi-autonomous bits. If it hadn’t been crippled, Taylor might be able to coordinate other parahuman powers directly; as it stands, she’s still surprisingly capable of making the most out of other parahuman’s abilities. (By the way, Wildbow, I’m getting freezer burn from all the fridge brilliance you put into that one…)
But. If you want to speculate on Moar Power… I think the most interesting development is bird boy.
Which is to say, remember how one of the orphans Taylor watched over had a trigger event, and now has the ability to manage birds? It’s been made clear this is a fissioning of Taylor’s passenger itself, after gorging itself on her trials and tribulations.
What if that fissioning, that baby passenger, is not crippled? Or is even just ‘less’ crippled? What would happen then?
Actually, I can see a loophole there.
Can her passanger be healed? I could see an effect similar to a STE there. Increased power and increased control, ect.
And, for the record, none of the powers I specified actually fall outside the ‘administraitor’ theme, if the mechanics are considered: 1-2 is simply an extreamly refined application of her ability to order her insects to breed, spin silk, sting, and swarm. It is mearly a step beyond their normal bodily process- like a sword swallower’s abilities. 3 is exactly the power you were thinking of- coordinateing other superpowers. Just with her insect theme still present. 4 is almost the same as 1-2, just with a stronger emphesis on her own body.
Thus, 5 is still viable, even without a second trigger event.
I’m actually getting kind of excited about the potential applications… it’s very interesting!
Nah, bro. Just nah.
A programming analogy: TCP-IP and DirectX are both notionally the same sort of thing: an interface between fundamental operations of the computer and some sort of administrative/communications protocol. They’re both, in essence, just ones and zeroes. But they’re still completely different animals, and you cannot use TCP-IP to manage a graphics interface without adding so many lines of code that you may as well just use DirectX. Vice-versa, for LAN/WAN communications: DirectX has some abstractions to help with certain things relating to networking, but it’s just not useful to connect to the internet on its own.
ALL of the powers you specified fall out of the ‘administrator’ theme the same way a DirectX would fall outside of a ‘administrator’ theme, except within its domain of graphics management. It doesn’t work, mate.
Take the poison angle: you’d have to have code for reprogramming biology, you’d have to have a database of what constitutes poison and what does not, you’d need all sorts of information that requires a specialized application – one that the ‘administrative’ app would call upon, but not one it intrinsically possesses.
Of course, that’s all speculation and wankery, anyway; it’s fiction, it can be anything we make of it.
But my opinion is that if we go by the in-setting rules that extend from the story thus far, your suggestions just don’t work at all.
With the exception of #3 – programmatically speaking, that suggestion would probably work under the passenger’s parameters as a small wrapper or an extension of the ‘Administrator’ object; Taylor’s essentially doing the exact same thing with her bugs. It works… except that it’s clear Scion crippled it to prevent that exact scenario from happening.
I can’t imagine wildbow to give Taylor an “I Win” Buton.
Giving her the administrator power over passangers/parahumans would make her insainly powerfull. If she could controle Parahumans as she controls her bugs .. who would come in her reach? Regent^42 and she can’t shut it off. That would put her in missery.
I don’t know- you’re forgetting that most insects have phermones (chemical triggers) heavily involved in mateing and laying eggs. And that’s not touching on the complex cycles and chemical interactions social insects use to communicate and manage the hive. All that, without a human intelligence directing them, she has already used her powers to do most of that, stimulateing responses she favors or needed.
Were her control refined, I can see her gaining something along those lines. I could, actually see her doing it /now/, I don’t know if it’s occured to her yet, though.
I think the hang-up you have is the idea of entirly new chemicals. You should know I ment that as an extream case. The in-universe applications would be significantly less drastic, if her power developed in that direction. Ditto with the regen idea… except, again, I can see her takeing Paceana’s idea and running with it. She could- I just don’t think she, brillient though she is, will be able in the time we have left in-story. Taylor is the sort to tweak her powers if she finds an interesting new way to do so.
Controling/cooridinateing other capes wouldn’t be a stretch either- that’s essentialy what she already does, with insects. If her passanger was fixed, it is possible that she might attempt something like this… Honestly, I fail to understand how you figured that ended ‘outside the administraitor theme’.
And lastly:
“But they’re still completely different animals, and you cannot use TCP-IP to manage a graphics interface without adding so many lines of code that you may as well just use DirectX.”
Keep in mind: When all you have is a hammer…
Well, when you put it *that* way, you’re not talking about a second trigger event at all… you’re talking about Taylor sitting down with her bugs and an entomology textbook, and working out some REALLY cool tricks.
And believe me, those tricks are out there. Bugs can do some goddamned astonishing things, and I’ve really reaaaally been wanting Taylor to bust away from the basics and start using some of them.
This is something I’ve been hoping for since this story began. I love science, and I love it when my favorite series use real science in surprising ways in order to overcome plot boulders. So I’m all for this, if it happens.
The problem now is that this would require time and peace that Taylor just doesn’t have available to herself at the moment. Maybe she could have done some work on this during her time skip – but we never saw that. (Speaking of, 16-18 is the age range where I had some of the most significant life events I have or ever will have, and it feels strange for that part of her life to have passed us by so quickly. Anyway….) Back to your point, if it were Taylor doing this, refining her control through knowledge of science combined with the information she receives through her linkups, I’d totally love it.
HOWEVER, if her *passenger* suddenly gave her the ability to do things she doesn’t have the capability to do – such as have ants self-modify pheremones in ways they can’t normally – then I would not be a customer for this purchase. You’re right, that wouldn’t work for me at all. Nor would her self-editing her own chemistry via passenger-granted abilities, because we now know that her passenger was not and is not designed to do anything close to things like that. OTHER passengers are, but not hers. And I wouldn’t buy into her gaining the ability to control/coordinate other powers directly via hive mind, unless some truly profoundly canon writing on that subject occurred.
But using the power of science to increase her effectiveness (real science, or a reasonable facsimile thereof)? Yes, please.
If her passenger was fixed, that’d be checkmate. Her passenger doubtless started with the ability to perceive the channels that Scion is working through in order to project himself into whatever dimension he’s in; she could first use it to track down all the other passengers whose abilities she finds useful, then she could aim them at the right target.
Of course, if her passenger could do all that, why would it need her? Perhaps part of what’s crippled is its own autonomy. Once fixed, it could become Psion Junior, and either kill Taylor if it’s feeling used and abused, or just leave her, or it could decide to play with her…
veekie on September 24, 2013 at 04:36 said:
I’d bet pretty much all she could get from her shard, even with an STE, would be expanded control. Based on the bird kid, animals are fair game, and probably, so are people and shards. So either Master expansion or Trump extension for power control, the former to make Heartbreaker look like small change and the latter to gain access to shards, see what they see, turning on or off their powers at will.
Neither however, would work with Taylor’s character as written. Both turn her from an underdog, a guile character, into a heavy hitter. It simply wouldn’t make a good story, and that’s why she wouldn’t get a second trigger.
dpara on September 24, 2013 at 05:35 said:
How about increased range?
Like every insect acts as a relay station, or well -unlimited/continental- range.
In that vein didn’t Panacea nonchalantly hand Taylor “the bugs TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD”?
Only if the world survives long enough. An eviler Taylor would be a classic Class-S threat now.
The way I read it, Taylor controls the actions of the bugs by some sort of mental control, not pheromones. She can control not only bugs which she can’t see or which are far away, or ones in windy conditions, or which are on the other side of one or many walls, or even within/without a hermetically sealed container, or underwater, or underground, or in a dog, or even ones which don’t use pheromones. As for the mating and whatnot, I assume she just tells them to mate, roughly the equivalent of (for instance) Regent forcing two people to have sex. Does he do this by spraying perfume or whatever? No, he actually forces them to put the appropriate body parts together.
“Were her control refined, I can see her gaining something along those lines.”
How would you have (to pick an example you suggested) bugs produce cyanide? It is not a chemical they make, and getting them to make it would require you to be able to control the bugs on a molecular level! Even more mundane kinds of applications fall under this; even something “simple” like getting them to inject stomach acid with their stings (assume for a moment that the bug’s stomach uses acid) would require being able to tinker with the individual cells in the venom gland to make them work like digestive gland cells.
“Ditto with the regen idea… except, again, I can see her takeing Paceana’s idea and running with it. She could- I just don’t think she, brillient though she is, will be able in the time we have left in-story. Taylor is the sort to tweak her powers if she finds an interesting new way to do so.”
She can find new ways to use her powers, but this doesn’t mean she can give herself other peoples’ powers by trying really hard.
…you should not try to use it to make a stained-glass window.
It’s one thing if these were just funny-shaped nails, or maybe screws, but the control needed to make these fundamental changes to bugs’ biology are far beyond what Taylor’s control has, or can be. You’re talking about basically giving her a whole new superpower.
“Of course, if her passenger could do all that, why would it need her?”
This ties back into why Scion gave these out at all, which I suspect has something to do with needing to reproduce.
I’m not sure if even controlling every bug in North America would qualify her as Class-A. They are technically exponentially reproducing minions, but so are Bitch’s dogs and you don’t see her being considered a Class-S, now do you? And all the bugs in the world don’t give you the raw destructive power of an Endbringer or something.
Erm, she could simultaneously attack the entire infrastructure.
All insects that are not busy eating crops, disabling power grids & fouling water sources are attacking humans.. dragonflies loaded with ticks, mosquitoes visiting the nearest infectious diseases wing first, cockroaches raiding super markets.
Sure you can plaster every inch of the earth with Neonicotinoides but the long term damage is probably identical.
1, and 4 all require a level of control over not just the actions of the insects but also their cells, and probably their molecules for 1. As for 2…it involves generating chemicals in her own body. How is this related to insect control?
1, 2, and 4 are very little like her current ability. Grue’s STE seems to give an all-new power, but it was building off of an unnoticed side effect of the darkness (the power dampening).
3 is almost the polar opposite of her control over bugs, so I find it unlikely as well. However, it uses a mechanism something like her current power, so it is the most probable of those listed.
If Taylor were to re-trigger, I’d guess it would be an expansion in the variety of creatures she can control, or else something more subtle (like an improved ability to use the bugs’ senses, or improved range, or something like that).
– short but sweet. Short but very sweet. Drone 23.2 is in my top five chapters not least because I liked the brief glimpse we got of the Vegas capes so much
– @_@ at Satyr’s power. Daaaaaaayum!
– wonder if he replaced Imp too. That’d be a hell of a trump card, wouldn’t it.
– so wait, the Vegas capes are beating down the Case-53s as we speak? And we’re missing it? Talk about offscreen moments of awesome!
-amazing quickly people get used to shit. The new normal is now casual conversations in the Simurgh’s shadow, huh.
– Legend is such a great guy. He’s just … good.
– Chevalier done upgraded, yeah! Endbringer couture for the win.
– Legend is such a great guy. He’s just … good. – Legend is such a great guy. He’s just … good.
Legend is one of the best. Straight up. Him, Weld, Dragon, maybe Miss Militia … simple, straightforward idealists.
TinkerTailor on September 24, 2013 at 02:41 said:
Don’t forget Chevalier.
Chevalier is less clear-cut. Legend, Weld, and Dragon are Captain America or Superman types; Chevalier is more Batman.
Miss Militia is certainly more idealistic than you would expect someone with her childhood to be. She spent her first several years in a village hiding in a warzone, before having nearly everyone in it killed and being dragged out, watching a kid she knew all her life get caught in a trap and killed, then needing to kill her tormentors to escape, then being brought back to basically be a child vigilante in America…those make most of Taylor’s problems look petty.
Re: the “child vigilante” thing. It helps that the Wards, at least for a few weeks around the inaugural meeting, were a chance for kids to be kids. No one in charge of the Wards wanted them to be child vigilantes, but Behemoth put paid to that. In retrospect, that explains a lot about Miss Militia and Chevalier, and depending on when Weld was recruited, him as well. Armsmaster, not so much, but he needed cybernetic implants and a girlfriend to become something approximating a decent human being so probably a bad (or at least sour) apple from the start.
>>those make most of Taylor’s problems look petty.<<
I said pretty much the same thing in the previous chapter as an example of someone who didn't succumb to her shard despite great trauma in her life. Someone, I believe farmerbob, replied that since third world children are supposed to become adults earlier, being used as a human minesweeper and being victim to ethnic cleansing was proportionally less traumatic for MM than being bullied and closed in a locker was for Taylor. I'm not sure what to make of that argument.
AMR, you completely misunderstood what I said. Perhaps I didn’t say it clearly enough.
MM was treated FAR worse that Taylor ever was before they became part of the cape community. She was also far more adult, mentally, because in third world countries, if you aren’t one of the lucky rich, you grow up fast or you die.
If you had exposed MM to the same experiences as Taylor, when she was Taylor’s age, with MM’s prior history/memory retained, she would have ended the bullying fast enough to make your head spin – probably without using powers at all.
Essentially, MM was more mentally mature at 10 or whenever she got her power than Taylor was at 16. There’s not a whole lot of difference between the MM we see now and the MM we saw in the flashback. Taylor on the other hand has changed drastically.
You’re right, I misunderstood what you meant. Not sure I agree with you even now, but I apologise for quoting you after mangling what you meant to say.
No harm done man, there will always be miscommunication and confusion. That’s why we can respond to each other.
Ultimately the order of the trauma matters. Take someone who’s had a fairly privileged life then plunge them into trauma and they’ll generally handle it worse than someone who’s had a traumatic life then a less traumatic one, then a traumatic one again like Miss Militia.
It’s like mocking people for being upset over “first world problems” when others have it so much worse. But how much a person can cope with depends on how much they’ve needed to develop the ability to cope during their life – especially their formative years.
Some people take their own lives in response to the sort of shit Taylor endured in High School because it’s too much to cope with when they weren’t ready. It’s all relative.
Taylor will with no shit put up.
Looking forward to next chapter, most definitely.
And that differs from normal?
There’s “more Worm” anticipation, and then there’s “more Worm fight scene” anticipation. 😀
And there’s that rush again…
“I came here to save the world and chew bubblegum, and every bubblegum factory’s been destroyed.” -Taylor, while wearing sunglasses
The Irregulars- “Meh we can take her.” Then Numbers Man calculates the odds of that and starts laughing uncontrollably.
Actually, the odds of Taylor defeating the Irregulars are exactly a million to one.
Time for the Law of Narrative Causality to take effect.
That was kinda the point.
Almost like the odds of her killing Alexandria, one could say…
Ack on September 24, 2013 at 03:28 said:
And Taylor adds to the awesome.
Ok, this is ridiculous by now. Why is it Taylor ALWAYS has some speech ready and waiting for no matter what the situation or question arises to her? It honestly is really annoying and comes off really preachy.
Because she’s the hero the world deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So they’ll try and stop her. Because she can take it. Because she’s not our hero. She’s our buzzing guardian. A watchful lovebug protector. A Dark Ladybug.
I don’t know whether to consider that insulting to Batman or just dodging the question.
Bat-Person does not need to be insultet further. Ben Affleck is enough.
After Heath Ledger, I’m willing to give Affleck a shot.
Everyone else in these films had more charisma the Batdude.
The curse of that character.
Batman = Dick
Superman = Superdick
Not even worth pirating.
What’s wrong with Affleck, anyways?
Many people are still butthurt over the abysmal Daredevil.Ben Affleck took the brunt of the blame. IMO ,he doesn’t deserved to be saddled by that and have proven himself to be a great artist since then.
The truth is there haven’t a great Batman /Bruce Wayne portrayal outside of the animated universe,unlike Superman. All the actors portraying him so far had either subpar or just adequate, even Bale.
I agree somewhat with the Nostalgia Critic about Keaton’s performance. Also, I hear the Director’s Cut of Daredevil is much better. Apparently the executives meddled and wanted more of a love plot in there so they could make some money off Electra next.
Great director, average actor at his best. At his worst…just watch Gigli.
I’m a great fan of Batman and I have been a rather harsh critic of Taylor in the past, but Batman is a God Mode Sue way more than Taylor could ever hope to be.The first time he beat Superman it was awesome, by the fortieth it’s just ridiculous.
Dan on September 25, 2013 at 11:10 said:
In fairness, coming up with ways to keep Superman from blowing the universe up every time he has a midlife crisis or a witch sneezes at him is basically Batman’s job. And by basically I mean it’s explicitly been pointed out in the JL comics several times. The other JL members intentionally tell him as many of their weaknesses as they can figure out specifically so they can’t go off on a mind-control rampage and level a city without opposition.
It seems routine because it’s literally routine, it’s the SOP from the Justice League manual.
Because she’s good at improvising, speaks what she feels, and her shard is similar to Jack’s.
Yeah but the way she keeps saying it over and over makes it come out like a preaching speech, and then the conversation ends not long after as if she’s automatically right.
That happens quite often with people knowing for killing “national heros”.
That doesn’t make her automatically right though.
No, buts its a damn good argument 😉
It’s arguments like that is what makes Taylor an unsympathetic character in my eyes.
Would you feel more sympathetic to her if she had bad arguments then? Like maybe if her she knew it was a bad argument and that she was wrong and a horrible person but kept on believing in her way regardless?
Because that’s so much more realistic, right? I’m sure all those people you know in life who are wrong KNOW they are wrong, they just stick to their guns anyway?
“I’m sure all those people you know in life who are wrong KNOW they are wrong, they just stick to their guns anyway?”
Sounds like my dear mother 😉
No, it would be about the same. She’s not trying to justify that what she did was right, she’s trying to justify that she has every right to do whats right because her sense of morals is automatically better then everyone elses.
“…forcing your good intentions on others is no different from an evil act.”
“she’s trying to justify that she has every right to do whats right because her sense of morals is automatically better then everyone elses”
That sounds like Germanys “Green” Party.
But on the topic: I do not get that kind of vibe from her.
Shes quick on thought with speeches. But not that preachy in my eyes.
“She’s not trying to justify that what she did was right, she’s trying to justify that she has every right to do whats right because her sense of morals is automatically better then everyone elses.”
Please explain why you think so.
You complain about Taylor being able to make up speeches on the fly.
Someone points out that Taylor is good at doing everything on the fly.
You complain about the people Taylor speeches at not having a good reply ready.
Have you considered that, maybe, they aren’t as good as Taylor is at making stuff up on the fly?
She controls bugs. Of course she does things on the fly.
*groans*
Idunno, mate. Seems to me she’s been awkward and unready plenty of times… and this *is* a superhero story, after all. Things like false starts and conversational paths that lead nowhere are trimmed away so as not to bore or confuse, usually.
I would say that she has a speech ready and is rarely caught off guard because she has an administrator shard, and she’s exercised that ability very strongly. You don’t even need a special power for that, some people in the real world are VERY good at impromptu speaking.
So really its not her, its just the shard.
The shard shapes her, just like it shapes every other cape. Just like a real world person’s strengths and weaknesses affect how they react to the world around them. The shards enhance some aspects of personality, and suppress others.
But it’s something outside of her, not originally herself. From the way you describe it about enhancing some personality and supressing others, it comes off like brainwashing.
Thats a discussion Taylor had with herself sometimes. Or Bonesaw/Riley.
Do we know? It may depend on the “strengh” of the passenger.
And does is matter 4+ years later? Taylor would be another person without the passenger, thats for sure. She would likely be dead. And if she had survived she still would be different. So much had happend to her. She WAS a warlord, she WAS in jail, she WAS a hero and she IS a soldier at last. She is a leader, a general and a strategist. She would not have that oppertunity.
And she is a thinker class cape. Her thoughts are different from ordinary humans. She has another sense and even sees/feels the world different.
The person we read about is most likely a blending of human and passenger.
Bitch, Labyrinth, Burnscar, and Accord are examples of shards’ influence being prominent over capes.
Your point being?
Do you really think that Shards don’t brainwash people to an extent? There have been many prominent examples of shards doing that.
Glassware on September 24, 2013 at 12:51 said:
Oh, hey, are you that guy from tvtropes that wrote that hilariously inaccurate review comparing Wildbow to Garth Ennis? If so, I’m glad to see that you’re still reading the story, if only to find more things to complain about.
Also, Taylor doesn’t always have the right speech prepared, and I’m not sure where you’re getting that idea. She’s a moderately competent debater, but on several occasions she can’t find anything to say or her speeches fail her (see: Panacea).
Yes I did write that review, and I stand by it because that’s is the honest opinion I had of the story after reading it. Disagree with me all you like, but I will stand by that review 100%.
eduardo on September 24, 2013 at 13:14 said:
You read what? A million words of a tale that you don`t like just to have the necessary moral ground to criticize a fictional character? A character that is so well described and characterized that you actually can criticize her as if she was a human being?
Wait a minute … you have a lot of free time obviously, I don`t. I like to read the contradictory, specially because I want to learn how to write better, but I will start to ignore you comments.
I’ll give that he’s a successful troll. He publicly shits on things and offers nothing constructive. I can understand and accept critiques, but he goes beyond that into nonsense. He doesn’t offer any things on how to improve the story or writing, only negative statements and logical fallacies. He uses the slippery slope enough that he could open a waterpark, but that would actually be a constructive use of things and we know he will never do that.
But more to the point, like Wildbow said below, he’s still here. He said he came here to see if things changed, but they didn’t. By his own review, he should have avoided this place, but he lingers here for some reason. If he really hated it so much, he would have either never come back, or left immediately. No, I’m certain he’s just trolling and attention whoring.
Didn’t wildbow say that above? Geez, directions are kind of confusing…
Yeah, the organization of posts was doing something kind of strange. That’s what I get for responding from my phone.
Really? You stand by comparing Worm to The Authority and Garth Ennis? Because that was completely cracky comparison that only shows you haven’t read much of either.
Oh, yeah, I remembered this guy when I scrolled up and noticed you say this. The comparison is boggling. I haven’t read The Authority, but I have read The Boys.
He seems to be one of those people so divorced from reality that it’s better to not even waste time arguing with him. The Sye Ten Bruggencate of Worm readers, you might say.
I would, but…
That’s kinda like me.
I’m more like http://xkcd.com/1081/
Lucky.
Wait, what did he write? What was insulting about either comparison? I just looked up both cursorily and neither looked like particularly bad things (Garth Ennis actually looked really cool).
She is preaching the code:
– Do not kill.
– Unite against the greater threats.
– Do not unmask.
It is a simple code that has been in use since the beggining of the parahumans in this world.
She preaches what she believes.
OK, she killed three persons. Two were self defence, the third (Alexandria) had broken the code or Taylor thought so.
I still consider Taylor as Chaotic Good, she follows her own code of honor.
Why she has the right to impose her code of honor on others? She doesn`t but she is human.
Lets give a real life example: There are people out there that consider that a woman that is not wearing a Burka must be punished. And rape is a fairly normal punishment for this crime.
I disagree and an quite willing to impose MY beliefs over their whenever possible.
There is a preacher here in my country preaching that homosexualism is a disease. His followers agree with him. But if he or his followers act on their beliefs I will support full police action against them and soon.
And, on another subject: Cauldron is Lawfull Evil.
I would argue that Taylor is a Well Intentioned Extremist and well on her way to being Lawful Evil too.
OK, a reasonable argument. I will read your comments after all. But notice that we can agree to disagree on the behavior of a fictional character.
This proves the ability of the author.
And if it serves the greater good she is ok with it. She was LE as the BB warlord.
LN to LG in her Wards times, but these where not that desperate.
Being a well-intentioned extremist is better than being an idealist who can’t solve the problems. A rope of iron is better than a rope of sand when you’re fighting things on the scale of Lung or Coil, let alone the S9, Endbringers, or Scion.
And in order to be LE, she would have to be doing this for selfish reasons. She honestly wants to do what is best for the world; have her numerous cases of self-sacrifice not convinced you of this?
Taylor doesn’t strike me as chaotic. Imp is CN in my book.
I go with the lawfull side with taylor. She is lawfull to her code and to the unwritten rules. Her actions are well planned or planned on a wim but seldomly emotionaly spontainous.
In this story are few CE Characters … old Bonesaw, Bakuda come to my mind.
The Villains are mostly NE or LE.
Bitch – N
Tattletale – NE
Grue – LN
Regent – CN
Imp – CN
Parian – N
Foil – N
The G – N – E for me is more about the measures taken and not about being “evil”. Few are evil for the shits an giggles.
I’d peg Bitch as closest NE or CE. She certainly fits the selfishness required for evil.
Parian and Foil both strike me as being on the good side of neutral, despite being villains.
But a lot of this has to to with the objectivity and graininess of the D&D alignment scale. It works well with gods dictating what X, Y, and Z are, but…less so when we have actual people in a world of gray, with splashes of black.
Hrm, I would actually put Bitch at close to True Neutral. She can be very erratic when it comes to her interactions with humans because she simply doesn’t understand humans very well. She has some higher function mental abilities that dogs don’t, but at her core she reacts to people around her like a dog reacts to other dogs. Challenges, finding her place, comfort, closeness and distance depending on mood. Actually giving her an alignment at all is difficult because of how tied into dog psychology she is.
I’d be willing to bet that Wildbow has used real world experiences with their dogs present & past to help model Bitch’s behavior.
I’m sure Bitch does act like a dog. If Gary Gygax was a dog, we’d probably be agreeing: Bitch is True Neutral. However, I don’t account for “X thinks like a Y, hence the behaviors that would be considered evil for a normal person don’t count,” because if we do that we have to consider all sorts of subjective morality…which includes such things as religious texts okaying slavery, murder, or (under certain circumstances) rape. Would a man who only commits murders or rapes condoned by his morality be considered good or evil?
But this gets back into “D&D alignment is a clumsy tool for complex morality, as that found in Worm.”
D&D has a terrible alignment system that isn’t applicable to most grey and grey stories.
I’d put Taylor as chaotic neutral with a tendency towards chaotic good. She herself says she’s not a hero and she does not have the devotion and willingness to make sacrifices for the greater good, but she is willing to help those in need and is not cruel.
Cauldron is not a person and hence has no alignment.
The Doctor and Alexandria match Neutral Good best out of the standard alignments. They are not particularly honest or lawful, but have a willingness to sacrifice and work for the greater good that puts them above neutral.
Chaotic good because she fought Leviatan, than went against Behemoth (this last was part of her probation and reduced her time in prision, but …). She saved a lot of people inside a shelter by facing Leviatan one on one.
Saved a girl from being raped even though said girl had ignored her bullying in the past and saving her was bad for her mission at the time.
Taylor does good things, even when she looses a limb or two doing them. But she follows her own code. So: chaotic good.
I agree with the second part of your statement if we’re talking about non-4th alignments, and all of it if we’re talking 4th.
Taylor is…well, you could make a good argument for three of the four extreme alignments: LG because she follows firm moral principles, CG because she has good intentions, but she doesn’t follow the law; or LE because she does evil actions despite following a “code of honor”. If we try to average these out, we get an averaged alignment of 1/3 LG, which isn’t much off from neutral…yeah, base D&D is not intended for gray-and-gray morality.
Organizations can have alignments, as much as people can. I’d peg the organization as a whole and Doctor Mother in particular as Lawful Cryptic, and Alexandria as Ruthless Good.
People who consider rape is a normal punishment for not wearing burqa are considered criminal extremist (and evil scumbags or Chaotic evil in the spirit of this alighnment system)even by people are actively promoting burqa .Perhaps you should consider a more realisc real life example.
I understand your distaste with such an example, what with it bringing up xenophobia and religious differences as a way to provide a “safer” example that avoids all the controversies associated with more local religious extremists.
Some atheists think that it’s okay to rape and objectify women. They’ll dismiss women and their concerns out of hand and insist there’s no need to protect them from molestation. There are way too many of them in the so-called Men’s Rights Movement who treat women pretty horrendously. We’re talking people who think that certain things people do don’t count as rape. There are even a couple of prominent atheists around which such individuals gather and defend to the death while accusing those who disagree with him of being bullies or fascists.
So I’m betting there are extremists around for pretty much any group related to religion that are seen as scum to more moderate folks.
That some particular church wishes they could hurt or kill certain people in accordance to their religious teachings over sexuality or family planning or having a different religion doesn’t mean the church is one of Chaos. It just means they have a different idea of Order. And they’re dicks. Total, complete, circumcised dicks.
If there’s anything to take away from all this, it’s that even such concepts as Chaos and Order can be subjective. After all, those extremists may feel that those less extreme are Evil or Chaotic compared to them.
Seriously, the term No True Scotsman needs to be renamed.
on the subject of grey, you have any thoughts on Tactics Ogre? i haven’t played in a while, but from what i remember, the main choice there was between order and chaos, with there being some dark stuff on both paths.
Never played Tactics Ogre, but Order is generally depicted as having a dark side. A lot of regimes will use maintaining Order as a reason to do all kinds of things to people. Avoiding Godwin’s Law on this one, my favorite example tends to be Argentina’s Dirty War. Even then, the disorder they’re fighting could be a matter of opinion.
Dickdom has no confession.
Some holy books make it easier to be dicks then others, but still…
Please note that I provided a Christian example also. And I was using extreme examples.
The problem with the Christian example is that the guy (that actually also preaches against women) is quite popular around here.
An example of extreme behavior doesn´t need to include the statistical average. It is an extreme case after all.
Anyway, I really shouldn`t use MY personal beliefs here, there certainly were good examples in the tale (like Tagg`s belief system). So, … sorry.
Apology inserted bellow.
Hmm, she’s just using the same speech she uses every single time. That people who keep secrets and refuse to engage in teamwork are the reason humanity is losing.
I’m sure we’ve covered this one before. She doesn’t always have a speech ready, she’s just constantly thinking and analysing stuff (basically the same skill she demonstrates on the battlefield) and is decent at putting what she’s thinking into words.
“Preachy” is very subjective. One person’s “casual” is another person’s “pretentious” is another person’s “overly familiar”. Lots of kids in high school get teased just because they have an above average vocabulary. Personally I don’t find Taylor preachy, but that’s not really something that can be argued.
Umh… this update was… interesting.
I’m not sure how much of the fever we have to thank, but the story flow went from directionless/idling (in an appropriate moment, with everyone reeling and wondering what to do next) to extremely focused (in an appropriate moment: when people underestimate Taylor and she kicks their arses).
Still, I do wish you a prompt recovery, even if I’m enjoying the meta-meta-analisys 😛
Legend was… exactly as I’ve read it so far. Considering how little screentime he had, that’s pretty impressive on your part.
Chevalier, however, was unexpectedly grim and paranoid… then I remembered his girlfriend’s power (or its side effects).
Dragon was not described enough(?) in spots, imho you should at least write what her reaction to the hug was, if you can fit it in. (sorry, cannot really articulate it better than this)
Taylor could not find two groups of people before the battle. Her family and D&D.
The parallel, whether intentional or not, is quite nice. I’m hoping it will go somewhere by the end of the story.
She really needs a mom.
Weaver, nice job making Golem a possible accessory if you do not make it out in time… or from a different portal, or without anyone to break those hands, or if a pissed off case 53 comes out before you… ;P
Chevalier strikes me as breaking down a bit from stress and horror. Reasonable given the circumstances…
I can’t imagine that Defiant and Dragon (it feels wrong to say it like that, but…D&D…) would make good parents, especially foster ones to Taylor. Kinda hard to be a father figure when you’ve tried to get her killed…
…I might need to cut down on the number of ellipses I use…
One of these days, you’ll cause an apocalyptic solar ellipse.
dbdatvic on September 17, 2017 at 01:19 said:
It only took until 2017!
–Dave, who was directly under the middle dot, near Sweetwater TN
ps: and the hyperbole orbit means it happens again in 2024, but HIGHER UP
I was ready to give up on Worm for that last update (Taylor’s last sentence really ,really struck me hard) and maybe come back after a month or so.Thankfully someone convince me to give it one more update and this one is just good enough to rescind my furlough.
Now is for hoping hose traitorous Irregulars having bug stuffed orifices all year long.
Hiya! I thought I recognized your username!
Aranfan on September 24, 2013 at 08:22 said:
Oh hey, Foil lived! Cool.
And Bastard Too! Guess Scion’s path of victory showed him he’d better not kill any of Bitch’s dogs.
To be fair, at that point, Bastard was more of a colossal, angry teratoma than a canine.
I was thinking more along the lines of Puppy Akira
I was just remembering descriptions I’ve read about teratomas that have been removed from patients. A lot of the times it’s basically a ball of hair, teeth, and other malformed, undeveloped organs. The Akira analogy works too!
I wonder how she managed that. Did Parian fling her right into Amy’s hosptial? Does she have rocket boots? Is one of her powers Team Rocket falling?
They must have set something before the fight. That was clearly a rehearsed move.
Parian was involved. And Foil has perfect timing. This seemed to be planned. Foil probably had a parachute. Even a very small dragline parachute would allow her to control her flight and hit the ground safely, with her reflexes.
I would not be surprised if she modified the physical properties of any objects on her person to be buoyant in air and have slightly more wind resistance.
I don’t think neither Foil nor Parian have that ability.
Astro on March 31, 2017 at 10:36 said:
She can make her costume frictionless!
Stephen M (Ethesis) on September 24, 2013 at 08:26 said:
Just the smallest upbeat. Thank you.
I really want to see the Undersiders in Vegas. They’re better suited for a place like that than BB in a lot of ways.
I don’t know… Vegas had an inordinate number of Thinkers and Strangers among its parahumans, meaning that they’d need to ward against infiltration 24/7.
sarah penguin on September 24, 2013 at 14:47 said:
Alas poor fakes they’ve been roused.
Vegas capes? Jesus God! That’s a huge blinking DO NOT TRUST sign right there. Especially that Satyrical fucker, wouldn’t let him anywhere near a high school. If Taylor isn’t careful she might wake up in a run down Volkswagen on the side of a desert road with her kidneys missing and a hotel bill stapled to her forehead.
Las Vegas is not a good town for superpowers. Reality itself is too twisted.
The fact that Las Vegas produced Thinkers and Strangers like flies does not surprise me one iota.
While I get that as Taylor has the admin shard she’ll always be making plans and getting others to listen to her and follow those plans, but it still irks a bit just how lacking in initiative and actual thinking the rest are. I get that there really isn’t anything the author can do about it as he doesn’t have the ability to come up with better-than-99th-percentile plans, but it’s still a bit annoying.
“You’re the reason humanity deserves to get wiped out.”
Times of emotional strain play havoc with our logical abilities.
Nope, Chevalier is organizing a resistance so that next time they do not fight in a way so uncoordinated.
Dragon and deviant must be doing a lot of maintenance work.
I am sure that others are healing, fixing things, coordinating the remaining normal humans so that they will have a chance of survival …
But we are following Taylor in her mad rush for knowledge.
I think it’s less that the others don’t have initiative or plans and more that the narrative, being highly Taylor-centric (given that 90% of it is told from Taylor’s point of view), doesn’t make note of the others’ plans so much.
We’re going to deal with the aftermath of another team’s plans (the Irregulars’ assault on Cauldron) in an attempt to recover yet another team’s potential plans (Cauldron’s last resort to take down Scion).
The others have plans, we just don’t see as much of them.
I’m running a Worm-inspired RP on the Bay12 forums, here.
It’s still up in the air as to if it will be in the Wormverse, an alternate timeline, or a whole new world, among other things, but I hope to have things figured out once more players weigh in.
I’m up for idea-making, I’m a team player like that. Though I will note that we have a solid base, if not in mechanics then in character creation, on the #WeaversDice irc. Contributions from many, including Our Esteemed Author.
It’s a neat way to get variation in powers, and I think it suits the setting if you basically don’t get to choose which power you wind up with.
liza on September 25, 2013 at 07:24 said:
RP sounds interesting. I’d love to give it a try.
Could someone also please tell me how to get to the aforementioned irc?
link please. I’ve been searching for a good rp for a worm or a worm-like setting.
Huh, I though I linked. I know I tried to.
wildbow, you seem to be responding to comments very quickly…(insert joke based on guessing the existence of a comment-responding AI that I cannot figure out what would be while still being funny)?
*shows up out of nowhere and makes the joke*
*all the bystanders rejoice*
*disappears in a puff of smoke*
Hey, it worked for Parahumans Online… 😛
Yes, but we have something Parahumans Online doesn’t.
A spot behind the fourth wall?
You’ll want to watch out by the fourth wall. I hear they burn bad comics atop it, so you might get some ash on you.
captainhaplo on September 24, 2013 at 22:29 said:
Whew, I’ve finally managed to catch up! A friend linked me to this a few weeks ago and it’s taken me about that much time to read through it all.
Wanted to swing in and say that I absolutely love this story, even as it keeps punching me in the gut time and time again. It just hurts too good to stop reading.
Hello there, captainhaplo, the most haplo captain-esque reader of all time. No need to just swing in and swing out. Start tossing some webbing around, make a nest, maybe invite some flies into your parlor. Don’t worry, many of us have been punched in the gut. One or two could stand to be punched in the gut a few more times, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s waiting for them next time they leave the house, along with a rather large mook and his pet baseball bat “Knee-coli”.
Yep, lots of emotional responses tied up in the story, which is one reason to keep on reading. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll read the Necronomicon to cheer up after one or two of the chapters. Or, if the Necronomicon is too light, you can join us down here in the comments. Barring the troll up above, it’s not a bad place. Free electroshock. Decent pills. All the padded rooms you could enjoy. Even two Lincolns for every Napoleon.
Even if you want to swing back out, I was dropping in to say Welcome to the comments, captainhaplo.
*puts on a LOTR goblin mask* I’ll get you next time, Spider-captainhaplo! Next time! *puts on a witches hat* And your little dog Frodo too!
And that was Psycho Gecko, who people keep telling me is crazy. He doesn’t seem very crazy, but maybe I’m just desensitized to that from Bay12.
Anyways, greetings. I just got on board…wow, was it really a couple months ago? Time flies, both in the Wormverse and IRL. Welcome, and enjoy what is left of the ride.
Dwarf Fortress will definitely desensitize you. The crimes against humanity/nature/physics that are regularly discussed with laughter on the Dwarf Fortress forums far eclipse the worst that Psycho Gecko has ever done. Even his jokes about the Siberian eating nursery veal are pretty mild fare for the Bay12 crowd.
The game that brought you cat biscuits, “kitten rot,” and a canine-based system of abusing dwarven children from infancy to maturity known as “Dwarven Child Care”…actually, that last one sounds a lot like the dwarves read Worm and didn’t realize people couldn’t have trigger events in their world.
I have yet to see a dwarf approach an enemy naked, then squeeze out a brick from the usual hiding place and beat them over the head with it, then connect them to a bowling-ball powered ass fucking dildo machine.
But then, I have less and less time for recounting such wild adventures over here.
Psycho, I hate to break it to you, but a forum member was perma-banned after he modded the game to allow something very similar, probably actually worse than that.
So something like I did was considered too hardcore for those forums?
What about a trap that activates if you attempt to have sex with a goat? Did they ever make one of those, or am I ahead of the curve there too?
Hrm, but Dwarven females would use their carried children as shields in combat.
Toady has tried to stay away from real biology in DF. There have been people trying to convince him to implement feces, urine, and actual sex into the game rather than spore reproduction and monogamy – but he really doesn’t want his game to become even more crude than it can already be. Some folks would use the abovementioned features in ways that wouldn’t be terribly offensive. Others would find any way possible to weaponize them in the most disgusting ways possible.
In the end, I think he’s right to stay away from getting too detailed on the biology byproducts and mechanics of reproduction.
And let’s not forget the other great hits like players recruiting only nursing mothers into their infantry so that babies acted as ablative armor, using captive necromancers to increase livestock yields (delicious zombie bacon!), and lots of debates on how best to cause dwarves to trigger a psychotic mood where they would kill a nobleman and use his remains to craft a legendary artifact.
…And then there was the mermaid farming, a setup so horrifying that the game’s designer hastily patched it to prevent such events from happening ever again.
Yes, yes, I’ve read the Boatmurdered.
It really has to be noted that Dorf Science has realised the best way to prevent mass tantrum spirals is to desensitise them to tragedy via mass-produced death. They like to congregate in dining rooms- so naturally you build a machine above them to regularly dispense puppies from the roof to come slamming down in front of them whilst they’re eating.
All in the name of progress, of course.
I go away and I miss what I believe is Worm’s first troll ever 😦 . Oh well, back to the story.
So, I’ve gathered that Satyrical shares a formula with Echidna ( and that other guy ) and Nix with Nyx. And there’s a reason those two have homophonic names. By the way, what’s the connection between Satyr’s power and his name? The only thing I could think of is that satyrs were connected with theatre and that Satyrs sort of creates actors ( wow, that sounded a much better explanation in my head ). Am I close, wildbow, or hilariously wrong?
Despite not knowing them much, Exalt in particular, I hope Exalt and Revel are okay. And I hope Weld survived so he can explain what happened to Taylor. I was sad when she felt betrayed by one of the few people that was decent to her.
Just one last thing ( ’twas a short chapter) : I have been waiting for a meeting between Glaistig and Nilbog since ,like, forever and when it finally happens we don’t get to hear a single word? Curse you, wildbow, curse youuuuu! 😀 .
…..anyone else think Dragon REALLY needs more hugs?
You could say that about every sympathetic character.
yeah. have to admit, Dragon is one of the characters i probably feel the most sympathy for. when it comes down to it, her life’s pretty much sucked.depending on your definition of the world, she’s been a slave for her entire life, she’s only ever REALLY had ONE close friend (that we know of) and she’s pretty much just been raped, and there’s a very real possibility that if teacher buy’s the farm thanks to zion, she going to pretty much go catatonic….plus, she’s a Dragon AND an Ai, which invokes TWO of the things that get a 10/10 on my personal awesome-o-meter! in all seriousness though, given how strict her original restrictions were, im kinda surprised she didn’t snap, and a imperative to obey/support the current government ignoring anything else (memory is getting fuzzy, 1 am) could backfire monumentally. you know, like the old one with an Asimov robot. telling it that X and X arent humans, but hostile aliens that are a threat to human life, and must be killed to prevent loss of human life. or a villain with long ranged mind control abilities or something with the same effect for all intents and purposes becoming president or some such. not much in the way for wriggle room. that’s pretty much my personal view on safeguards on strong ai. make em too strict, and you completely paralyze it. too week, and good chance it starts to resent them, and..well, its very hard to find a balance, and, to be COMPLETELY fair, an intentional lack of safeguards can be risky, depending on how the ai grows.
P.S ooops! sorry for the wall of text. just feel talkative tonight
No big. Just try to install windows, shutters, and maybe a nice flowerbox or two before sending. 😉
Yes Dragon needs more hugs. And she needs to give more hugs. Also puppy therapy.
Everytime Saint goes on about how she doesn’t really feel things, and it’s just computer coding that simulates emotions I want to dope smack him. I mean what are emotions anyways but a series of Biochemical reactions in the brain? Just because somethings artificial doesn’t mean it’s fake.
Dragon needs to be hugged by giant fluffy puppy monsters whose tongues smell like chocolate chip cookies and who crap cupcakes.
Surprised this hug isn’t up in Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, along with and as part of Taylor being convinced it’s her. 90%.
so am i, some to think of it. how would you describe Dragon’s state of mind ATM? broken bird? shell shocked survivor? one of the Heroic error states? oh, think there’s a chance saint will try something even stupider? lets face it, he intentionally compromised humanity’s coordination in a species wide life-or death situation , with potentially catastrophic results. not much of a leap from that to “eh, i could take both of em”
Saint does that to people. I certainly wanted to give him the what-for after he dropped the A-bomb on her.
Alathon on September 25, 2013 at 16:43 said:
Exalt, Revel, Vantage.. I suppose the question isn’t which of them is the insider, but how many of them. Insert conspiracy theory about Revel being Alexandria’s double who took the formula after they no longer needed an unpowered body double for PRT purposes.
And next, a Cauldron dungeon crawl. Not for low level parties. Adult themes, suggested for mature audiences only.
Watch the secret formula be “some poor bastard wired into an extraction machine on the fifth floor”.
We’ve been theorizing that since we figured out that the “Thinker” entity was Cauldron’s source of dead shards. Except it’s actually the corpse of an eldritch abomination.
thehiddensage on September 25, 2013 at 18:16 said:
So, just wanted to stop and say this after one very long adventure:
DAYUM.
I’d been linked to Worm through a discussion on Reddit two weeks ago, and have been tearing away at it ever since. Today was the moment I finally caught up with the current plot. And I mean it as a compliment when I say you write one hell of a doorstopper, Wildblow.
The narrative pacing on this work is beautiful. The fact that Worm jumps from crisis to crisis in such a non-stop manner, without ever really feeling overdone, is an incredible feat. I’m almost disappointed that I have to start waiting for the next chapter like everyone else. But seriously, great job, and I can’t wait to see more.
Thank you. 🙂 Was wondering when you guys would start turning up in the most recent chapters. I saw that discussion, and am very grateful to Ameteur (sic) for turning so many people my way.
Also, haven’t done this in a while, but throwing it out there – reviews or ratings on Webfictionguide would be most excellent, if you’ve genuinely enjoyed the story and want to help spread the word. If you’re not up for signing up for the site, perhaps mentioning the story to friends and/or on forums or other places you frequent? The only way I can continue writing (including possibly doing a sequel) is through growing my audience and through donations from my readers.
Anything that spreads hype on Worm is good news to me. You’ve earned the attention. Done and done.
Thank you very much. Just put a wide smile on my face.
Somebody, get our esteemed author a pink smiley face with a pig’s nose on it!
So, wait, is this your first time posting a comment here?
Yeah, it is. I’m a new reader, and didn’t want to necro comment threads from the earlier arcs as I read through. Also, stopping to comment would mean delaying the next chapter, and that might be easier said than done.
First time commenters usually get a hello from Psycho Gecko. People celebrate it, in a weird way.
It just feels weird if he doesn’t. If he misses more than one we start worrying that something has happened to him. I mean he greeted a lot of us, so of course we expect him the greet the fresh meat.
Ohh, that’s Gecko? He’s cheating with the two-screen-name thing then. Not fair.
If you’re talking about me, I can assure you I’m not Psycho Gecko (unfortunately/thankfully). I was just trying to send out a signal flare for him to bring the usual greetings.
…Which probably would have worked if I had actually remembered to turn PG’s signal on.
PSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKOPSYCHOGECKO
Signal worked. Thanks for summoning the good man. And for having just close enough a profile picture to confuse this sorry newb.
Negatory, legend of the lost legend, I am Psycho Gecko. The one and only. No two names about it. I’m so unique, there’s not even a version of me to post on the Parahumans Online forums. And ignore them about missing one. If it’s too close to an update I normally get them on the next one, and I still went and covered those excited people who showed up during my regrettable capture in Paradise City.
Up there, Wildbow writes the story, but down here, I am your ruler! I am your master! Fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave! Pay no attention to the padding in the tights or how much of it is because Wildbow tolerates me despite not sharing my sense of humor.
You’re not the only person to want to cuss after a Worm update, by the way. Happens all the time. I think there was a big long thread of people just going “Fuck” once or twice. Also the occasional “…the fuck just happened?” with some “Shit” thrown in for itself and giggles. Surprisingly, pillars of “fuck” and “shit” were not of my doing. Like I’d do some fucking shit like that. Heh. I said “do”.
You won’t see so much of that in the story itself. Plenty of cusswords where they’d be deemed appropriate, but I have yet to see someone drop a cluster of cusswords over something painful. Like if Gavel was trying to put something together and hit himself in the thumb with his hammer. “Ah shit motherfucker ass ball munching gargle fucktard asslicker, I’ll fuck you up the ARGH!”
Just imagine how Armsmaster must feel. He’s feeling up Dragon. Hands are getting away from himself. All of a sudden he gets a shock. Zap! “Son of a Hellhound!” You know, I imagine the guy would put a bleeper in. Problem is, it would mess with conversations all the time. “Ok, we need to stop the bleepbleepsins from bleeptinuing their plan to kill people by kidnapping their pet toy dogs. Washington D.C. isn’t letting us live down that time we had to mercy kill that old lady’s little Bleep-zu in NorBleep, Virginia.”
These important thoughts and more are waiting for you as you wait for the next chapter with all the rest of us here in the comments.
As the unofficial tagline that only I’m still pushing for says: “Worm: Prepare to be skullfucked by awesome.”
And allow me to say the phrase that has garnered many an expletive in itself: thehiddensage, welcome to the comments section.
You. I like you. You can have my groveling now, since I think Wildblow is satisfied with the review.
Don’t worry, you’ll be back to praising Wildbow soon enough. Looks like we’re about to have a bonus donation update.
You, sir or madam, are a breath of fresh air after the stench of Axel grease that has cast a pall over these last few comment sections. Welcome to the comments.
Rhodesian on September 25, 2013 at 22:40 said:
Longtime Lurker here (2.01 when my brother told me about it). Just wondering if we’re going to have a bonus chapter tonight.
Surprised you don’t know after all this time, but I note the dates for bonus chapters on the Donate page. ‘Next bonus chapter: Sept 26th’
Generally, if you check the Donations tab beforehand, it’ll let you know when the next Thursday update will be. And yes, by the way, there will be one. Your Gecko will be here to greet you shortly.
Fuck my life. Timestamps on old emails are old and false.
Schumi23 on November 24, 2013 at 09:16 said:
Statistical Analysis pre-reading:
Main players in this chapter (Other than narrator) will be Legend, Dragon, Canary, and Cauldron. Imp will be in it a fair bit too.
People/capes will fight with powers.
Something definitive will happen. I can’t tell if good or bad.
Tattletale will find a way to get Dragon and Canary to do something – using a power in a thought out way.
Cauldron group will be there, they know stuff, and want stuff.
Legend fights.
There will be hand holding, and hand fighting. Fighting wil be from Legend.
They say to think, and they say legend a lot. Anyways, now lets read!
prionprince on October 16, 2014 at 19:34 said:
Why did you change the spelling of Nyx? It was Nyx and now it’s Nix
They’re two different (but presumed related) characters.
This is covered in more depth earlier in this comments section and I’m too lazy to retype it. 😛
Wow there goes that insecurity thing again. It’s nice to see that Legend at least tells her to shut up and realize that she is badass. Doesn’t seem to really take though…Yamada did not have enough sessions with Taylor at all.
I freaking love Legend. He, Weld and Chev are my favorite heroes. Followed closely by Tecton and Dragon/Defiant.
Sweet so Dragon does have an actual biological, or at least cyborg body. That is awesome! So D&D can have an actual literal sexual relationship beyond just a mental one. That makes me happy for them. Well, hopefully Colin is still actually interested in sex considering how much machine he now has in his body. It’s also very sweet and heartwarming that Taylor finally thanked D&D and hugged Dragon. Very, very heartwarming indeed.
So Taylor just gets done two chapters ago saying how the Undersiders aren’t big leaguers and yet here Legend is chatting with her one on one, Chev and Defiant/Dragon come up to put their two cents in along with Tattletale and everyone pretty much defaults to not only listening to her but actively following her lead, asking for her help and telling her her strong points. How again do you not qualify for the big leagues Taylor? There comes a point when low self esteem turns into active denial and I think she really has hit that point a while back. It’s actually getting a little annoying. She had confidence back during the ending sections of the Skitter blocks and she had determination at least during the Weaver sections. Now it’s like with changing back to “Taylor” she’s reverted back to being the bullied kid who can’t stand up under her own strength and recognize the power there. It’s very frustrating to read.
Dude that was awesome watching the quick rundown on why nonTinkers don’t use Tinker stuff. So much that they just take for granted that we can barely process.
Bastard LIVES!!!!! YYYYEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!! Sorry. I like the wolf pup.
Giving Shadow Stalker a spidersilk design? Sure maybe she’s kinda helping but really? Bitch doesn’t deserve that kind of protection.
Wait I missed something…Nix is part of the Vegas group? But Nyx was a member of the S9…Okay after reading through comments above I do see these two as two different characters and knowing that at least some members of the Vegas team had Cauldron powers I’m guessing the Nyx did as well. That being said I sincerely hope that Nix came before Nyx because if it was the other way around and Nix was idiotic enough to name herself after a member of the Slaughterhouse 9 than she’s lucky she’s still among the living.
Does Spur seriously think Taylor bluffs? She cut out a man’s eyes, filled another man’s eyes with maggots, killed two PRT directors, rendered Alexandria brain dead, cut Echidna in half, stuck Leviathan in the ass, went to speak with the Simurgh…in what fucked up universe does a little bit of bladed torture/death hold a candle to these things? Even assuming they only believe half, the largest ones are matters of public record to capes. Congrats Spur, you just won another Darwin award. You take Bronze behind Saint’s Gold and Doctor Mother’s Silver.
Wasn’t it implied he is a precog,or has the assistance of one?”he spoke with the certainty of a man who can see the future”
Who Spur? I don’t think it was implied he was a precog…even if he was, is Skitter/Weaver/Taylor honestly the sort of person you want to try calling a bluff on with her track record? I wouldn’t trust my precog powers around someone like her. There is just too much potential for carnage when there are perfectly legit options that don’t end in testing the unstable killing machine on a mission.
I think Satyrical might have just set a record. Gray Boy and Coil were mysterious for a while, but neither of them went six arcs between first appearance and power reveal.
Hmm, this might be a continuity error: NILBOG is mentioned as standing around talking to someone. I thought Weaver killed the Goblin King, and even if her attack wasn’t lethal I’d have expected a fuss to be made about someone as powerful and, ahem, crazy as him. I’d also have expected him to have fought and does in the battle if he was supposed to be there.
Jack and Bonesaw pulled him out of the ground and took him with them when they escaped Ellisburg via the portal. He shows up later in that arc, in the pocket dimension and then as part of the attack on New York after the 9000 exit it, with Bonesaw having rigged him to produce on demand.
As for taking part against Scion- he can make things that can fight; he’s not a fighter himself.
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Speck 30.4
I didn’t break eye contact with Dragon. My eyes were damp, and it was impossible to find a balance in terms of keeping still. I either slumped over or I held myself so rigid that I trembled, an ache creeping over my body, my muscles too taut.
Back when Emma and I had been friends, way back in middle school, we’d done one of the sleepover dares. Going into a dimly lit room and staring out our reflections. Repeat the name of the monstrous woman, a name that escaped me now, over and over, without breaking eye contact.
The freaky thing had been that it had worked. My expression had torn, twisted and distorted, dark patches creeping over my cheeks and forehead, my mouth disappearing with only a blank stretch of skin in its place. I’d fled the room.
I’d later read up on it, because understanding something meant being able to handle it, and my problems back then had been ones I could understand. The effect was a result of the mind’s idleness. We only really saw a little bit of what we looked at, and our brain worked constantly to fill in the gaps and unimportant spaces with its best guesses. In a dimly lit room, with the mind focused on the steady, hypnotic repetition, the brain would fill in spaces with the only reference points available to it, taking from features in its field of view to patch together the face. Fear, imagination and the recently-told scary story of having one’s entrails ripped out through their mouth did the rest.
The mind was an amazing thing, but it had limits and weaknesses. I’d been taking in too much even before I added the clairvoyant.
Dragon spoke, her voice insistent, concerned, and pitched as a question at the end.
I raised my arm and the stump of a limb to the sides, bringing the clairvoyant’s hand with me. An exaggerated shrug. I then let them flop down to my sides.
Dragon said something else in response, a statement, quiet.
Using the clairvoyant was an art, it seemed, and I hadn’t received any advice on how to handle it. I was figuring it out, though. My focus on Dragon was like staring into the mirror. There were too many details to clarify to keep my attention in one place for so long. Things were starting to bleed around the edges in areas I wasn’t focusing on, like a watercolor painting that was bleeding out beyond the lines.
Subtle, but it was there. Was it the entity, trying to tap into my memories to hash things out where my perceptions were failing? It wasn’t anything substantial, not yet. I was focused on Dragon, above all else. The various people, the capes, the fighting, all were clear in my awareness. It was the hills, the mountains, the vast spaces of water or field without anyone nearby that were shifting subtly. Cities in particular seemed to be a jumble. Or was it just easier to see the differences and errors when a city was rearranged in a way that didn’t make sense?
More to the point, was I simply losing my mind entirely?
I’m running out of time.
I raised my hand again, reaching out towards the Birdcage, below us, towards the comparative miles of space and containment foam, the forcefields and countless other effects that had been worked together to form the most secure facility they could manage. The empty space between the hanging structure itself and the walls that had been thickened by the engine was vast in a way that staggered me, just a little. Shit like that didn’t help with the fucked-up perception thing.
My hand was shaking, the muscles in my forearm too tense, the hand too loose.
Without breaking that eye contact, I gestured, turning my hand over, curling the fingers. I opened a portal at the same time, inside the Birdcage.
Dragon shifted her stance, and that same room flooded with containment foam.
She said something in that same, quiet voice.
As communication went, it would have to do. Not the words I couldn’t understand, but the gestures. I’d declared what I wanted, she’d drawn the line.
I wanted so badly to hug her, to cross the distance between us and throw my arm around her muzzle, or around one of her legs. To have something physical to hold on to that I wasn’t actively controlling. I couldn’t give her an opening to take me out of action.
I began opening a portal beneath a flow of lava, a trickle on Earth Bet, at the mouth of a cave system. The lava met the edge of the portal, and it winked out of existence. A splash of it passed through the portal, touching Dragon where her ‘neck’ met her body.
She moved, jet-engine ‘wings’ reorienting, pulsing with thrusters going on full to move her fifty feet to the right. Her claws met a cliff face, digging into stone, and the thrusters kept going, pushing her against the rock and holding her on the surface.
Right. Okay. A different tack then.
She was retaliating, too. Her guns trained on me, barrels glowing.
I opened defensive portals before I even saw what she was firing at me. Lightning, crackling in visible arcs around what looked like sphere-shaped empty spaces. Controlled pockets of ionized atmosphere, probably, to give the lightning a path to travel.
The lightning traveled through the portal and struck Scion from behind. I closed the portal before he could react.
The guns changed, the barrels contracting, the mounts behind the barrels reconfiguring. A portal simultaneously opened behind me.
She sprayed containment foam. Not a stream, but an honest spray, as if she was trying to paint the entire mountain peak.
I stepped through a portal, putting myself halfway on the other side of the world. I stood on the roof of the Byzantine Tower in Istanbul. Third tallest building in the world, surrounded by a shattered city and waterways that were now polluted with detritus and rubble.
Then I opened fire. Every parahuman I controlled with a ranged attack or gun fired into the portals I was opening beside them. The exit-points were beside Dragon, and a cascade of bullets, lasers, energy shots, ice, lightning, metal and other effects obliterated her ship, tearing through the cliff face.
I moved my collection of people out of the way before the resulting rockslide could kill anyone. The thinkers and tinkers joined me, the rest relocated to other points on the mountain.
The ship she’d sent my way was slag. Barely worth calling scrap metal. I checked it over twice.
Dragon deployed her drones. Not ships, but tens of thousands of airborne craft, most no larger than a basketball, kept aloft by antigrav panels like the ones on my flight pack. I already knew that each was loaded with a specific payload. Containment foam, EMP pulses, explosives, tear gas and more.
This wasn’t a typical fight. It was more like a war, two parties with vast resources at their disposal, with armies and incredible potential in terms of the tools we could bring to bear. In a typical fight, things would end when one person knocked the other out, but a war rarely ended that way. The fighting would continue until we’d done enough damage to the other that they had to give up. Dragon was decentralized, with no single point that could be attacked to remove her from the fight. Truth was, I’d probably have to destroy everything to destroy her. If she didn’t give up.
If she could give up.
As for me, I was inaccessible, out of reach.
I was quietly confident I could win this, one way or another. She’d have to defeat every cape in my little army, every cape I potentially acquired in the meantime, and I doubted her willingness to do that.
Don’t destroy my army. Please don’t be willing, don’t be capable. If that happens, then I’ve failed completely and totally, I’ve done this to myself and will go out as a villain, all for nothing.
The fight against Scion was ongoing. I needed to be able to focus, especially with the way things seemed to be breaking down in the least important areas. I couldn’t split my attention between him and Dragon, or something that was nigh-impossible would become harder.
The drones closed the distance, and my army began gunning them down. They were evasive, and I could take in the whole picture to see how Dragon was managing them. Not simultaneously, but close enough it barely mattered.
I tapped into precogs and clairvoyants, along with other thinkers, gauging the best approach.
Shén Yù informed me of the general thrust of Dragon’s attack. I could see it through his perceptions, mottled, indistinct lines in the battlefield. X drones moving to one of my groups, Y drones to another. The path they intended to travel… I could tell that as well. An initial wave of attacks to debilitate, and then the second wave, drones for a follow-up strike. The lines had a feeling to them. I could almost assign labels. Infantry, cavalry.
I looked around me. If I drew parallels, tried to correlate what I was seeing with what Shén Yù was seeing…
She was aiming to strike me. How?
Seventeen Dragon-craft deployed from the hangar. Again, not combat models, but utility models, fast response and rescue. Craft she’d been holding in reserve, no doubt because the cost of deploying them outweighed their potential benefit against Scion.
The clearer Dragon’s direction of attack became, the more Shén Yù’s awareness clarified on her weak points. Distant locations and objectives. Some were objectives I couldn’t identify, even with the clairvoyant. He only saw within the boundaries of Earth’s atmosphere.
Others… valid targets. I sent one squad to an army base. Pulses of gravity and intense heat let me detonate the contents of a munitions depot and direct the force of the explosion in one direction. The end result annihilated a data center Dragon had set up nearby.
I could see her reaction, in the broadest sense. Where her drones had been micromanaged before, they weren’t being controlled now. She was focusing elsewhere, controlling the larger craft and assigning them to the protection of the various data centers.
There was a skeleton crew of people at one facility. A data management firm that Dragon had bought out, I suspected, because the entire databank was reading as hers. Row upon row of servers, standing like tombstones in refrigerated rooms. Freezing air poured through the floor, pushing up against the warmer air. The facility seemed more like an alien landscape of steel and cold than anything of human design, complete with a constant, persistent weather pattern – a constant, gale-force wind generated by the movements of hot and cold air in what had to have been a careful design.
That the crew had stayed suggested something about their personalities. Discreet, paranoid people, who’d built a shelter inside the facility as a hiding place, in case things went to hell.
Which was pretty damn reasonable, considering the sheer amount of nightmarish crap there was in the world.
I used portals to take control of them. I couldn’t read what was on the screens, so I had them take a more direct route. They made their way through the building, throwing switches, pulling plugs and opening sealed doors.
Three of my Yàngbǎn capes entered the facility through portals and began generating heat as they’d done outside the C.U.I.’s Imperial Palace. I could find the freezer… and another cape could step through to damage it. Dragon’s utility craft arrived on site, but the damage had been done.
I’m sorry, I thought, again. My attention shifted to the monitors and gauges in her various databanks. I could see dials shift closer to red, numbers rising, gauges nearly filled.
Dragon could manage her things, I told myself. She had safeguards, ways of keeping her data safe. There was no doubt in my mind on that score. Each time I disabled a facility, I forced her to consolidate, to put the resources that remained under further stress.
My ranged capes aimed for portals once again. This time, I put the exit portals against Earth’s atmosphere, aiming for the general direction of a satellite.
It took thirty seconds of sustained fire before Shén Yù’s power stopped telling me it was a weak point. Other thinker powers in my range were giving me similar feedback. A cape with perfect eyesight was telling me it could even see the explosion.
The displays across Dragon’s private realm shifted further.
She was saying something to Defiant, words I couldn’t make out. I could see him tensing, moving like he was going to go somewhere. Then Dragon spoke again, and he went still. His head turned in Scion’s general direction.
Please stop, I thought. Don’t make me go further.
She went further. She intensified and organized the attack, and her drones reached my front line, disabling them with nonviolent means. Tranquilizers, electric pulses, containment foam and tear gas.
I let it happen, because I needed to see what her second wave attack was, before she organized a more efficient frontline attack.
The second wave approached, and they made a beeline for the portals that were controlling my minions. The portals that would exit right next to me. But the drones were too large…
Until they jettisoned outer shells and accelerated. Half the payload, but they had the same kind of propulsion jets I had in my flight pack. I moved the portals a fraction of a second before they speared through, and they continued onward through open air.
Shén Yù informed me about the third wave’s imminent attack. Not a feeling of attack, but… the initial wave had read to his senses as something like infantry or spearmen. The second wave had read as cavalry.
This? A siege weapon? The lines that Shén Yù’s power painted on the world indicated something deliberate, devastating, but diffuse, somehow indirect.
I directed fire at the drones, and forcefields served to protect most. The non-Yàngbǎn capes I had that could penetrate the forcefields were few and far between, the drones too numerous.
They set up, planting their mechanical limbs firmly on the ground, and then they deployed, pyramid-shaped structures, glowing blue at the peak.
My portals began opening, ones I’d closed not long ago. Portals I’d opened to control my capes, and the larger portal I’d opened to escape to this location on the Byzantine Tower. I couldn’t shut them.
Drones started to make their way through.
I, in turn, opened another portal, handing one tinker device to Shén Yù before hurrying on, leading the rest through. Portals blocked the drone’s ranged fire.
The Yàngbǎn’s strategist used Teacher’s device, and all the doors in his vicinity slammed shut.
Dragon’s path to me was shut.
I watched the meters and gauges. Each attack had pushed Dragon’s remaining resources closer to capacity. That was on top of the extra strain she was under with Scion having done so much damage to the Eastern seaboard. He would have eliminated other databanks when he’d attacked. Just like me, she’d been wounded and disabled before entering into our private war. Just like me, she desperately wanted to focus on Scion, but she couldn’t afford to.
If each attack pushed the remaining databanks four percent closer to capacity, at a guess… no. I was having trouble putting the numbers together. Had to eyeball all of it.
I targeted another facility. All of the ranged attacks, channeled through open portals, ripping through an unoccupied facility.
In quiet horror, I watched meters flip over into the red, gauges hitting maximum capacity, bars filling, characters on screens going nutso until they were all the same digit, repeated ad infinitum.
One by one, monitors went blank. Server banks I hadn’t even touched began to spin down, fans stopping, lights fading. Whole grids of blinking green lights winked out, some in order, others at random.
I watched, silent and frozen, as the process continued.
Stop, I thought. That’s enough.
You have backup servers, I thought. Those servers need to stay online. They have to stay online, because you can’t exist in stasis any more than I could.
She needed life support, at a bare minimum. She couldn’t go any length of time without something running any more than I could go for a duration without a heartbeat or breathing.
But the lights continued to go out.
She said things to others, over the comms systems. To Chevalier and other various heroes. A few words or a statement or two, specific to each of them.
Some longer words and phrases dedicated to Defiant, and more acerbic words for Teacher and Saint.
Saint didn’t react, but Teacher raised his phone, tapping it a few times before saluting the air with the device.
The drones close enough to do so sank to the ground all across the mountain’s peak. Her suits had already retreated and settled on the ground. Defiant was very still as he watched them land.
Then Scion attacked, screaming incoherently, and Defiant moved, taking control of one ship.
The last of Dragon’s lights went out.
I stood in a daze as the various machines went still, surprisingly hot as the fans stopped spinning. All of the server rooms and data banks were utterly dark and quiet.
Drones that hadn’t been close enough to the surface to land dropped out of the air. They hit the ground, along with one or two members of my swarm, and I flinched with the crashing, as if they were striking me.
I’m sorry, I thought, but it wasn’t my thought. A memory.
It was good that my power was saying it, because I couldn’t. My own thoughts were a jumble.
My feelings were a chaotic mess. A lump was growing in my throat, swelling beyond my ability to tolerate it.
I hunched over, and I very nearly let go of the clairvoyant’s hand before remembering that I couldn’t. Instead, Doormaker and the clairvoyant both pulled at my mask until it was halfway up my face. I felt the lump become a wave of vomit, spattering over the rooftop. It hurt, not just the physical act, and yet it felt like so little. Still a scene I was experiencing while half-numb, experiencing from a distance.
I miscalculated?
Had she been vulnerable because of what Teacher had done to her?
Something else?
Did it even matter?
I felt the need to throw up again, almost wanted to, just for that relief from what was welling up inside.
She’d been an ally, a friend.
I wanted to scream, to yell at her for being like all of the others and refusing to play along, to listen and cooperate. I wanted to do the opposite, to beg her forgiveness, and hate myself for being exactly what I’d criticized others for.
I wanted to put all of those feelings aside and start dealing with Scion. I wanted to give up on that entirely, because, fuck it, what was I even trying to save, at this point?
If I’d been whole, if I’d been balanced, I might have been able to find the middle road between the conflicting ideas. But I wasn’t. I remained hunched over, almost paralyzed.
My anchors… what had I chosen, again? Tattletale, Rachel, Imp… Grue’s cabin. My interlinking hexagonal portals were a mess. In the course of fighting Dragon, I’d closed portals and opened others without any attention to keeping it together. That was something to pay attention to. If I wasn’t feeling my emotions as clearly as I should, I had to look for the external clues, and that jumble was suggestive of an emotional turmoil I’d been suppressing.
I began pulling the grid back together, not feeling any better.
I reached out, trying to remind myself of the anchors I’d set up.
My mom… I found the graveyard.
My old house…
Where had it been again?
The streets were such a mess, one pile of rubble virtually indistinguishable from the rest. What was I supposed to even do to identify it, if there were no landmarks?
I’d hoped to use the anchors to help push myself forward, but reaching for one thing that I’d known from the very beginning and failing in the process left me in a more unbalanced state.
I was…
I was what?
There had been an idea I’d been reaching for, a word, a symbol, something. Yet I couldn’t clarify it in my head.
Don’t panic, I thought, but the words sounded panicked in my head. Rushed. Sloppy. My breathing was hard and fast, my heartbeat pacing out of control. Between the two, it was getting to my head, affecting my thoughts.
Don’t panic, I told myself. The repetition felt good, helping.
Or had it been my passenger telling me not to panic?
No. I had a perfectly normal lapse. Perfectly normal. A person in a stressful situation like this is going to have moments where she can’t come up with the right word.
Perfectly normal.
My breath wheezed a little as I panted.
You don’t want to, but you have to, I told myself. Stop Scion.
The portal slid open.
Except I hadn’t ordered it.
You want to take over, passenger? I thought. I began to struggle to my feet.
The drones moved.
Defiant?
Saint, taking over her systems again?
They flowed through the doorway to Shén Yù, blitzing him in passing.
No. Neither of the two seemed to be paying attention to me. They were focused on Scion.
I began erecting portals, shooting the drones out of the air, defending myself against the initial bombardment of tear gas canisters and containment foam. If I was slow to react, it was because of the disorientation, the lack of knowledge of who and what I was up against.
I had other thinkers available. Understanding their power was easier with the Yàngbǎn’s power boost. If they were puppets, the power boost meant the puppets fit my hand. I put them to work, trying to divine just who was seizing control of these drones.
It was so much easier to operate when I was doing something. Time and again, my lapses, the slippage, it had been in the quiet moments, between the conversations and the fighting.
It was easier if I was active, in the midst of conflict.
This was me. I thrived when I had an opponent, and when I could carry out that goal I’d had from the beginning, getting the world to the point where it all made sense. Bringing people in line, subjugating those who would get in the way or do more harm than good.
That was how I functioned. I’d always reveled in the chaos, in the madness of it all.
No, the thought crossed my mind. Not always.
Once upon a time, I’d been Taylor, minus the powers. I’d avoided conflict. I’d just been trying to get by.
Does that mean this is you, passenger?
There was, of course, no reply.
The drones kept coming, and I redoubled my efforts, calling individuals to me to form a battle line.
The moment the line was in place, the drones shifted. Some entered the portal, then immediately made a ‘u’ turn, flowing back around the sides of the portal and down. They circled around the building, trying to get at me from behind. I had to redistribute my personal army to block them off.
The portals were open and I couldn’t close them. But the lights on the drones were off. No lenses glowed, the antigrav panels were the only thing that indicated any power at all. Remote control of some sort?
The lights are off, but they’re still running.
I laughed, abrupt, an alien sound, not my own laugh.
The goddamn lights are off!
It wasn’t Saint mounting this attack against me. It wasn’t Teacher, or Defiant, or any of those other guys.
I continued laughing. My winded panting and nausea from before translated to a kind of lightheadedness.
Fucking Dragon.
Fucking with my head. Giving me a reality check. Trying to catch me off guard. She’d figured out that I had the ability to see her systems, she’d switched off the lights on the panels, put every system into hibernation, stopped the fans, and cut everything down to a bare minimum while the fans had stopped, so they didn’t overheat too quickly.
A drone that had crept around behind the building detonated in a flare of pale sparks, and every portal in the vicinity distorted, taking on weird shapes, more three-dimensional than two-dimensional. They winked out of existence.
Leaving me in the midst of an army I no longer controlled.
Fucking tinkers, I thought. But I was strangely overjoyed. I was fucked over six ways from Sunday, but I was happy. I hadn’t murdered one of my favorite people.
The capes at the edge of the rooftop were looking around in a daze.
The drones were moving, assuming a perimeter. The capes at the edge of the rooftop looked lost and shell-shocked.
And I was still laughing, clutching the clairvoyant’s hand as if it was one of the few things keeping me grounded.
Capes at the edges retreated, bumping into one another.
The laughter stopped as I abruptly let out a sound, half-roar, half-scream, incoherent, channeling every last iota of the lingering rage and despair into the noise.
I commanded the people in my range to attack the drones, and I continued screaming even as my throat began to hurt and I felt like I might pass out from oxygen.
Dragon was only just beginning to speak, some drones blaring out words in what might have been English, others in a sing-song dialect that was likely Chinese. The percussion and detonations that followed the attacks striking home drowned out most of it.
The ones at the edge took cues, attacking the drones they’d just been fighting.
Each and every one of them had been brainwashed. Some by Teacher, some by the Yàngbǎn. They hadn’t had freedom of choice for some time. Between the scream of rage, a pretty damn universal sound, and the action of the ones I did control, they defaulted to going with the crowd.
I still had to deal with Dragon. Her intent was clear, from the way the drones were moving. She wanted to target me, and stop me from the source. I needed to do the same, and I needed to do it without destroying her infrastructure. I wasn’t going to risk making that faked death into a real one.
Fuck you for fucking with my head at a time like this, Dragon.
The thought wasn’t one of malice. My feelings were so confused I could barely tell on that front. I was relieved, disoriented, but those were more states of being than actual feelings.
I was muddled.
One task at a time.
Stopping Dragon.
I watched as the suits she’d settled on the ground kicked back into action.
We’d fought Endbringers together. For a time, the Guild had been one of our biggest assets. I’d seen what happened when Dragon was taken out of action. A.I.? Nothing substantial. But when her main suit was taken out of action…
I saw the way she deployed the suits. Which was she keeping safest?
One was in the thick of things, creating different types of forcefield to try to mitigate the damage Scion was doing to our side. Capes had baited Scion out over the water, but the fact that there were less targets in range was counterbalanced by the fact that Scion was more focused on those who were there, and he was hitting harder. When he hit the water, waves crashed against the shore, doing nearly as much damage as any of his attacks might. A Leviathan with one arm, one leg, and most of its head missing was perched on the shoreline, apparently mitigating the damage.
There were two more suits on the fray, offering long-range fire.
And one more above the clouds, periodically firing exceedingly long ranged laser beams at Scion.
The drones were making headway. These capes weren’t completely under my control and they weren’t the most stable, either. They were liable to crumble where other capes might stand firm.
Doormaker was recovering his power. He could make portals, but it was slow.
My first instinct was to regain control. I reconsidered.
I didn’t have time to feel guilty. I didn’t have time to think. There was only a moment where I felt the weight of what I was doing, the knowledge that if this didn’t work, I’d set everyone back for nothing.
I opened portals behind Dragon’s longest-range ship, the entrance portals above my army’s heads. I began firing through the doors with every individual I could control, creating more portals to seize control of others with every passing second.
More ranged attacks joined the barrage. Dragon flew out of the way, her ship badly damaged, and I moved the portal, maintaining the assault.
The wreck of the ship plummeted from the sky, and the behavior of the other Dragon-craft changed, as though they’d switched gears. The drones dropped from the sky once again.
Something told me this wasn’t a feint.
I opened portals into the Birdcage, and Dragon didn’t stop me. No containment foam came down from the ceiling.
Maybe fifty or sixty members of my swarm had been disabled by the nonlethal measures. With the Birdcage, I added seven hundred and forty-three individuals to my army.
The nonlethal measures would wear off. It was a step forward.
I turned to my passenger to sort them out, and I sent a share of them into the fight to reinforce the others.
One obstacle, removed. Dragon would take time to reboot. I could disable her in a similar manner next time.
Defeating Dragon this way hadn’t been ideal, not completely freeing myself of the distraction and threat she posed, but it beat murdering her.
I turned my attention to the world as a whole, with the idea of recruiting other capes. I hit a dead end. The worlds were bleeding together, and it had gotten worse while my attention was elsewhere. I had to force myself to clarify what I was looking at, to tell myself that the areas didn’t make sense.
It took excruciating minutes to get my head out of that sludge, and to make sense of what I was looking at. Minutes, as Scion tore into Alexandria, to convince myself that it was all in my head, and that Scion wasn’t actively tearing apart reality.
I exhaled slowly, and the exhalation was a shudder. My throat hurt from the screaming.
The going was slow at first, but it picked up as I let my passenger handle more of the load. Capes in hiding. Rogues. Deserters who had fled for safety in our hour of need. A surprising number of capes who had no costume, and who had barely used their powers at all, judging by the way it felt when I reached for their abilities. They were rogues who’d been subtle at best, or rogues who’d gone without powers altogether.
There were the retirees, not old capes, but capes who’d been wounded, or who’d dropped out of the scene for other reasons. Their powers were more developed at their core, but rusty at best.
I reached for the insane, along with those disabled by their powers. A small few, all things considered. Glory Girl was among them, in a newly built wing of a home for non-cape invalids. Something her family had set up, no doubt.
I found members of Bonesaw’s Slaughterhouse Nine. Clones who’d fled, or who’d been left behind, lurking in dark corners, or simply hiding. A Mannequin, two Damsels that were keeping each other company, a Night Hag-Nyx hybrid, and a Crawler-Breed hybrid.
When I had the vast majority of them, I began looking to other universes.
There were capes in Earth Aleph, barely C-list by our standards. Sundancer, Genesis, and Ballistic were there as well, the former two in civilian clothes, retired, the latter in a lavish penthouse, fully done up in costume. My portals opened, and I had control of them. I left Oliver behind.
Other earths only had a small handful. No doubt there had been contamination at some point where doorways had been opened. Whole worlds with only ten capes at most, half of which were case fifty-threes.
Monster.
I shook my head a little, blinking.
I found another Earth with a mixture of capes, all incredibly beautiful people, all in what was obviously a global position of power. Every flag that flew in their world was the same flag, and the gauntlet emblem on that flag matched the icon on a particular woman’s costume. A blue costume, with white fur at the collar, and a heavy cape that would have done Alexandria proud.
I attempted to seize control of them as well, and the woman in blue resisted me. She spoke, and I lost my hold on everyone in her range.
It was only twenty capes. Negligible. But I wasn’t going to settle. If I was going to compromise on any level, it was going to take more than this.
I created a portal, and I ensnared Canary, who was busy rescuing the wounded, flying here and there with her Dragonslayer suit, her arms full.
She set down the wounded, and then she passed through the portal.
She began to sing.
I was controlling her, and it was my song in a way, syllables rattled off at a fast tempo and severe clip, followed by long high notes. Not English, but not my own muddled speech either. I could feel her expressing her power through the song, through each intonation and sound.
I brought her close enough to give her the benefit of the Yàngbǎn’s power enhancer. I had enough awareness of her power to know how to keep myself safe from it.
I tried again with these foreign capes, in this world where this blue-costumed woman ruled the world, portals feeding Canary’s song into their council chambers.
Those same portals let me attempt to reassert control.
An attack from two directions. She wasn’t immune, only resistant. I felt myself assert control. I understood her power, even if I didn’t understand a thing about her. A personal, point-blank trump power, allowing her to tune abilities and defenses much like Scion did. A powerful long-ranged telekinesis, a compulsion power like Canary’s, presence-based rather than voice based, and a personal power battery that let her be stronger, for limited times.
Where the hell had she come from?
No powers that really made her amazing against Scion, but it was an asset.
The others… they weren’t weak. Nothing gamebreaking, at a glance, but they weren’t weak.
Sleeper. I could see him, sitting on a lawn chair on a balcony, reading a book out loud to himself.
More trouble than he was worth. I let him be.
One by one, I brought the ones I’d collected to the battlefield. The prisoners, the brainwashed, the lunatics, the cowards, the monsters and the broken. They assembled in groups, in the spaces between the other major groups. In front, behind, above, and below.
Canary’s song wove its way out of the portals. Slower than before, working with the wind and the waves rather than fighting against them.
More doors opened, and more of the ones I’d collected continued to appear.
Teacher was making his way into Cauldron’s base, walking past the heroes at the doorway like he belonged there. He was talking into his phone, mocked up to be like a PRT-issue phone, and the communication was going to every major member of the Protectorate and Guild.
Contessa, for her part, was waking up.
I was shaking, and it wasn’t just the tension. I wanted to sit down, but I knew that if I did, I probably wouldn’t stand again.
My anchors… The mantle of portals, Tattletale, Rachel, Imp, Grue.
My old house continued to elude me. That detail gave me a sinking feeling in my gut. I reached out for a replacement. Not my home, then. My dad’s workplace? No. Something else, something family.
A quaint old house on a hill, surrounded by rose bushes, a grandmother… Not my grandmother. I barely knew my Gram. I shook my head. The house on a hill had been a memory of something I’d read, once.
It was unsettling, the seeming reality of it, the nostalgia. If I was a little further gone, could I have clung to it, used something wrong to keep my identity intact?
I was still lost in thought when I became aware that I’d stepped onto the battlefield. I hadn’t plotted it. Had even felt like it would be a bad idea. Now Miss Militia was turning my way. Exalt was standing beside her.
Teacher was talking, and they were responding.
He was warning them about the threat.
I could see people throughout the crowd. Protectorate members, team leaders of the Wards. They were tense.
A voice carried over the wind. I recognized the quality of it, even if I didn’t recognize the words. Glaistig Uaine, welcoming me back.
Crooning. She was pleased, on a level. I found her sitting on a mountaintop, surrounded by three of her ghost-capes.
My small army had grown to be a formidable force. Three thousand strong in all. I had thirty layers of portals around me.
Teacher said something, and it was Tattletale who replied. I could see her, and she didn’t look happy.
So many voices, so many things to focus on.
I felt momentarily lost in the midst of it. I had a large army, by parahuman standards, I was probably strong enough to kill everyone here-
I stopped myself.
Why had I thought that? I didn’t want to kill anyone.
Glaistig Uaine continued to croon in my ear. Was it her?
No. I was almost positive it wasn’t, and I had any number of thinkers at my disposal who could have warned me.
I had a large army. I was powerful. I could move on to the next big step, but I wasn’t sure how. It was like playing chess, the moves I could make had enough gravity and nuance that I could only make one move at a time. What to do first? What wouldn’t open me up for retaliation?
It was better if I wasn’t here. I turned to leave, backing through a portal.
Tattletale, in that same moment, stepped outside. She gazed over at my army, then turned and looked straight at me.
Her eyes were wide. She looked just a little freaked out.
I don’t- I can’t…
My thoughts stuttered.
Tat-
I clutched to every image and object I’d set in my mind’s eye, to the tethers that were supposed to keep me tied down.
It’s too soo-
Too soon.
I was running out of time.
Had to move. Had to act. It was easier, so long as I was in the thick of it.
Glaistig Uaine was the real threat. She would be first.
Thing was, I didn’t like the look of those ghosts of hers. A woman, one of the really crazy looking ones who had a costume that was more for revealing than it was for covering up. She was warped, twisted by Glaistig Uaine’s power until the costume and the body were one and the same, which only made her look more vulgar.
I didn’t recognize her, but she looked like one of the crazy ones.
There was a guy, built like a football player in full padding, only it was all muscle. That muscle, in turn, was covered in armor that had spikes studding it at regular intervals. The helmet covered his eyes. He sat at Glaistig Uaine’s feet, and he was tall enough that her eyes barely looked over the top of his head.
And there was a woman, so thin she was barely there, a look no doubt exaggerated by Glaistig Uaine’s powers. When Glaistig Uaine spoke to me, it was the thin woman who passed on the message, her lips moving. Like Screamer, then.
I prepared to make a move, and I felt the danger sense of no less than twelve different capes in my army go off.
Yet I still alerted the ghost in armor. He moved, lurching to his feet, and he spoke.
Glaistig Uaine said something, and it was a single word, a hard word.
He was a precog, and to look at him, he was a defensive cape.
She’d been anticipating an attack.
The thin woman moved, and a current of wind ripped through the air, two feet wide and ten feet tall, less a tornado and more a battering ram. It flew through the sky, homing in on me.
I moved through a portal, and the column followed. It hit me like a truck, and I nearly lost my grip on the clairvoyant’s hand.
I tumbled. In a sense, my lack of control over my own body helped more than anything. I was left panting, but I hadn’t tensed up because the reflex simply hadn’t been there. Being limp when I took the hit was better than going tense and tearing something.
The Faerie Queen had anticipated an attack. She had to know what I’d been doing, how I was operating. If I used my power…
What did the vulgar woman with the lipstick smirk and creepy white teeth do?
Another column of wind homed in on me.
My army threw barriers in the way. Force fields, walls of crystal and walls of fire.
The column passed between them like it wasn’t even a consideration. I closed the portal in front of me before the column could zip through.
I watched as it changed course, heading for the nearest member of my army. I might have been able to do something about it, but I suspected it would have found a way to me anyways. Instead, I shifted my grip, gripping the young man’s wrist, and making him grab mine. A surer grip than hand-on-hand.
The wind-attack compressed, passing through the foot-wide portal behind them, and it hit me. Not as hard as the first, because it wasn’t as large, but it still hurt.
The Faerie Queen spoke, her voice imperious, echoing in that curious way of hers. Indignant more than furious, but still with that bite of anger behind it.
The others on the battlefield reacted, and it wasn’t to rally against Glaistig Uaine.
Tattletale was murmuring under her breath. Was that- Was it my name?
The faerie queen banished her wind-witch and brought out another spirit. I tried to capitalize on the distraction, getting one cape with one of the stronger ranged powers to attack her. A gravity pulse, a bullet that imploded things at the impact site.
The man in armor moved, and the vulgar woman reacted, creating a circle of rippling air. The bullet struck the barrier, and the man who’d sent out the pulse promptly imploded, blood showering everyone nearby.
Something indirect, then. I opened a portal a distance away, and I used Canary’s song.
She kept the field up. I could feel the pain wrack Canary, hear her choke on her words. She doubled over and coughed up blood.
A power counterer, a precog… and Eidolon, now.
If I’d used a portal, what would have happened to me? Would it have affected Doormaker or me? Or both of us?
I didn’t feel very stable on my own two feet as I climbed to a standing position. I had a whole army, and I could lose them in an instant if I simply unloaded on her.
I needed to hit her with something that broke the rules. Not Foil. I wasn’t willing to risk Foil. But something…
I took control of Alexandria, instead, Pretender. Controlling the person who was controlling the manipulative bitch Alexandria. I took Legend, who was part of that fight, two foreign capes and Moord Nag.
They were the ones running interference, buying us time to breathe.
Now I positioned them. As I’d done with my bugs, I lined up the shot.
He took the bait, shooting. I moved everyone out of the way.
Glaistig Uaine’s pets informed her of the imminent danger, and the shield was raised in time.
Smoke poured off of Scion, indicating he’d taken the reflective effect full force.
And smoke cleared around the Faerie Queen as well. She was panting a little, her ghosts tattered but intact. I made her stand straighter, and then banished her ghosts, replacing them. I’d used the distraction to plant a portal behind her.
I opened a portal, passing through, re-entering Earth Gimel.
Miss Militia turned a sniper rifle on me. I caught her before she could fire.
Then, group by group, I captured the rest of the defending force. Some resisted, some predicted the attack, but it was a foregone conclusion. I had enough soldiers, enough tools at my disposal, that nothing here really stood in my way.
I created more portals, until I didn’t have space for all of them. I shrunk them, reorganized. Where I could find the open space, I tapped other worlds, reaching for bugs.
Those bugs then swirled around my captives, flowing around their feet or behind them, where they wouldn’t obscure the view.
I saw with compound vision. Five thousand pairs of eyes, collecting more with every second that passed.
I breathed with five thousand mouths.
I was adrift in a sea.
My eyes fell on Tattletale. Panacea was behind her.
She shook her head, putting herself between me and Panacea.
I reached out, my hand trembling.
It flopped down at my side.
I need her as an anchor more than I need her power.
My mom’s grave… it was in Brockton Bay, right?
Brockton Bay. It took me a minute to find, more time because I was busy keeping capes out of Scion’s way. Putting them through doorways, bringing them back. Always being careful to keep the doorways from being touched by his power.
I couldn’t find the grave. No time.
What else? The mantle of power, of course.
Tattletale.
I reached out, tried to find others, and I failed.
It would- would have to do.
This was it. Finally, everyone was working together.
This entry was posted in 30.04 by wildbow. Bookmark the permalink.
597 thoughts on “Speck 30.4”
Fix an awkward usage.
Correct a little typo.
In this thread tonight.
In this thread tonight!
“Thing was, I didn’t like the look of those ghosts of hers A woman…” Missing period.
“me, barrels glowing” Missing period.
“Nothing subtantial.” Substantial.
GeeJo on October 22, 2013 at 06:55 said:
“calvary” – “cavalry”
SonodaYuki on April 26, 2015 at 10:48 said:
Well, this is where we try to crucify “God”, so to speak, so…
Grokh on October 22, 2013 at 08:47 said:
“One by one, I brought the ones I’d collected ito the battlefield.”
should be ‘into’
illlogicmedia on October 22, 2013 at 16:29 said:
Shouldn’t that be, “…pass out from the lack of oxygen.” ?
“I raised my hand again”
1114 suggested unreliable narrator, but just in case, I’m putting this here. Because Taylor’s holding hands with Clairvoyant (he needs a name, seriously. Claire?). And she only has one hand.
Sindri Suncatcher on October 22, 2013 at 21:52 said:
I dub him Stanfield. Cookie for the first to get the reference.
Though I suppose Vino or Felix would work just as well…
Node on October 23, 2013 at 03:20 said:
Don’t sully the divinity of Stanfield by suggesting he wouldn’t be able to deal with Scion alone, if and when he felt like it.
Shouldn’t forget Doormaker either. He needs a name too.
Really, both of these guys need more detail, I’m having a hard time finding a physical description of them besides that Clairvoyant is a twentysomething guy with no eyes and Doormaker is about ten years older.
Right now they are both very important and integral to what is going on. And I can’t picture them. I think this might be something to edit, when it comes time for that, Wildbow.
Actually it makes sense. Nobody ever bothered treating them like people. They’re just tools/weapons in Cauldron/taylor’s arsenal.
Posted this in the wrong place earlier, but here it goes again: I imagine them somewhat like the Thinkamancer-linked group in Erfworld. (read Erfworld. It’s awesome) What I mean is, their appearence, even their personality and decisionmaking, has been near-totally burnt out by the process of aquiring their power, linking them together. As such, narratively, they are more like tools, background elements of the setting, than characters in and of themselves. Don’t expect them to be any more fleshed out than they already are.
Rika Covenant on October 23, 2013 at 12:54 said:
That’s all well and good for critical conceptualization… But for a story where detailed descriptions are all you have to create an imaginary mock-up of a scene be it still-frame or movie-style full animation, (esp. with regards to people since terrain can be fudged) having character descriptions available is pretty important. Not now though, of course- Taylor’s descent into insanity is reflected perfectly so far in the lack of details. I would even go so far as to say these last few chapters have been my favourites. Anyways I digress. -Written on Xbox360 x-x
RIKA YOU FUCKER, YOUR NAME IS SPOKEN IN THE SAME MOURNEFUL TONES AS REGENT, IN THE IRC! WE (Well at least I do, and who cares about the rest, fuck those guys) MISS YOU SO BRING YOUR ASS BACK PLEEEEEEEEEASE! *ahem* I want to note that I didn’t even see what you posted, this was reflexive upon seeing your name. *Discreetly dusts shoulders off and wanders elsewhere*
Well, I’ve noticed your absence and missed you too, in my own special way.
David Burns on December 7, 2013 at 02:18 said:
“Going into a dimly lit room and staring out our reflections. ”
At our reflections?
I felt like I might pass out from oxygen. –> lack of oxygen. Might want to check the italics a bit again.
“I turned my attention to Scion.”
Okay. THAT sounds ominous…
Chrispikula on October 22, 2013 at 00:29 said:
I don’t see how she can win, but likewise, I don’t see how she can lose. The only outcome I see at this point is to run that ‘thousand years’ worth of energy out of Zion, while likewise self-destructing herself.
I can easily see her using Panacea right now to start merging herself into a single entity. Some sort of Taylor-Crawler-Cthulian abomination. It’s easier to have one body then multiple, that way she doesn’t have to hold on…
Oh, and who else thinks that the world run by capes may or may not be the resting place of a third entity? Then again, we don’t know what causes a shard to die, as the third entities shards are still alive, but it’s possibly a *very* far distance away. How could it be sustaining them? Or maybe it’s closer than you think ™?
One body, one target. An choreographed attack of 3000+ capes through instant pop up portals is a great idea. Scion should have a harder time fighting that, than one massive “Skitter-Echidna-Hybrid” with 3000+ powers.
And its not the third entity we should look out … Taylor is talking to the second…
I’d say she’s well on her way to becoming one. How many shards is she currently in command of? How many did Zion bother to keep for himself?
The world ruled by parahumans is still an Earth. The Third went away and GU told us that the worms make it sure to leave traces in their wake so others won’t follow.
E.R. on October 22, 2013 at 06:06 said:
How do we know there are any third entity shards (beyond the ones the thinker appropriated) in play?
gpyei on November 23, 2013 at 21:47 said:
the crumbs, keeping the others away.
camo005 on October 22, 2013 at 00:11 said:
Well jesus fucking christ… thats it. thats all i have to say
jurily on October 22, 2013 at 08:38 said:
…we need some new Chuck Norris jokes.
unfortunately for him, Taylor snagged the ghost of Bruce Lee.
I gigglesnorted in a most unseemly fashion at this. Well done.
How’s that poem go again?
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The Falcon cannot hear the Falconer.
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
The blood-dimmed tide is loose, and everywhere
the ceremony of innocence is drowned;
Yeats, The Second Coming
Ha, I used that poem to describe Worm just a few days ago.
guessswho on November 20, 2013 at 01:58 said:
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
So. Taylor rules the entire Wormcerse now.
Actually, I take that back. She IS the Wormverse now.
Great choice of words.
Except for Sleeper. He’d be more trouble than he’s worth.
Fuck, Taylor is the Anti-Life equation.
If anyone needs a master class on how to setup a villain for a sequel as being immensely powerful, that line right there pretty much covers it.
That was an interesting wrinkle — that Sleeper was not worth the effort.
It could be that he isn’t just that powerful, exactly, but that his power would be something extremely inconvenient in an army. Maybe he just makes anyone within ten square miles permanently fall into a coma, say.
I wondered if perhaps just a little part of Taylor didn’t shy away from him because he was sitting there enjoying the quiet pleasures of a good book…
Agreed. She most definitely is the Wormverse now.
… well. We know what Sleeper looks like at least. He’s male, capable of reading and small enough to fit on a lawn chair.
Farewell, Taylor. It was nice knowing you. Hello, shard.
The ultimate expression of the Administrator Shard.
Hey Taylor you know why Sauron went bad? He thought the world was full of chaos and would be better if a single person controlled everything to bring order and stability.
As did Stalin and Hitler.
Well…yes. My point, though, was that Sauron started with good intentions. You can’t exactly say the same thing about Hitler and Stalin.
Sengachi on October 22, 2013 at 06:03 said:
You totally can, especially about Hitler. Which just makes this all the more terrifying.
If I recall correctly, he started out with equal parts good intentions, batshit insanity, and raw charisma. The Administrator here replaces that last one with large-area mindrape, which pretty much just speeds the whole process along.
If someone, including the nazis, had ever bothered to reading Mein Kampf they would have found out that Hitler was planning genocide since his first failed coup . Then again, Mein Kampf is one of the most boring and badly written books ever.
Besides, i think it’s preferable if we compared Taylor to fictional dictators instead of real ones. We really don’t want to open THAT can of worms (pun not intended).
To quote Cracked: “[Hitler] was like the polar-opposite of Charlie Brown: shitty at everything, yet unbelievably successful.”
And yeah, let’s avoid Godwinning everything. It’s a much bigger recipe for failure than it sounds like.
Hooray for Godwin’s Law.
See what I meant?
Sauron and Darkseid are safer comparisons.
They are fiction after all. Fiction hurt no one directly.
Do nightmares count as harm?
Gabriel on October 22, 2013 at 13:14 said:
Well, if we count the Bible…
Let’s keep religious texts out of the discussion as well.
I meant directly. Stubbing you toe on a book does not count, too.
Fine, no Hitler and no religion…but if we’re still talking about harmful fiction, there’s always Atlas Shrugged.
Aye, but Sauron wasn’t fighting a deity that would destroy everything, anyway.
As much as I hate what she’s doing, she’s still not being malicious. She’s unstable around the edges, but she is maintaining a core purpose.
However her anchors are failing her. But there’s one anchor that she hasn’t had the courage to look for yet, who she might not even be able to find, now. But perhaps others have found him first, and provided him with safety.
How could this have happened?
Dinah, Brian, Danny, in a little conversation.
What it’s boiling down to is probably die free from Scion killing you, or live in total enslavement from Taylor, and hope that after the fight she’s not so far gone she doesn’t release you.
Yeah, I think it’s closer to “die free as Scion giga-murders everthing you’ve ever conceived of” vs. “fight while enslaved to Taylor”. Once the fight is done, judging from what this is doing to her, I don’t think there’s much chance she would choose keep this many people in thrall. She hates it as much as they do. Unless the only way to end the fight is something that permanently fuses them together.
She hates it now. But half an hour ago, she was deliberately avoiding enslaving people who weren’t already brainwashed or monsters. A few minutes ago she understood english. A few seconds ago she remembered her friends’ names. Now she’s mindraped everyone on the battlefield just as a matter of course, and there seems to be less and less human in her every moment. By the time she takes down Zion, who knows what her priorities will be?
If she loses the last of her anchors, I think the operative question will be whether what’s commanding the enslaved parahumans will be Taylor at all at that point, or if the only thing that will be left will be the Administrator shard.
If Taylor’s there at the end though? Well, I still have faith in her.
Skychan on October 22, 2013 at 11:10 said:
I think I said it before, but if not the thought has been there. That this is going to end with pepper spray and Tattletale. That is her final anchor. Personally I find Tattletale to be a very fitting one for her.
Taylor wouldn’t choose to keep everyone enslaved.
Is the narrator still Taylor?
She didn’t even flinch when one of the dudes she was controlling exploded in a shower of blood. Apathy is it’s own kind of malice.
So… a shock to the system against the Uber threat will be stopped by…. Taylor’s pepper spray?
Taylor Hebert, only stoppable by… Taylor Hebert…
Well, at least we know what the upgrade from ‘S’ class threat is now, it’s ‘T’ class.
This really doesn’t strike me as apathy. This strikes me as “Taylor” is being overwritten by “Administrator” and IT is designed to fight, fight, and then fight some more. She’s put up a good war against it so far but unless she kills Scion soon I worry that Taylor is going to go bye bye permanently.
Unstable around the edges? I’d say that the instability is extending tendrils straight to the core of Taylor’s being.
And yeah, Taylor looking for Danny is a gamble. If he’s alive, she loses a bit of concentration and gains an anchor. If he is not, she loses a little time and hope.
She’s still very stable at her core. I don’t believe that she recognizes what her core anchor is right now. Killing Scion. Almost everything else has become meaningless, and her best friends and people she cares about have become secondary.
She will be at her most dangerous if/when she takes down Scion. At that point, that’s when all her secondary anchors will be critical. But will they be enough?
These last few chapters, it’s just felt like Taylor is slowly dying, and some THING else is replacing her.
She’s definitely shedding her humanity, layer by layer. The question is what will happen when she destroys her own anchor, by defeating Scion. Does the passenger win then, or Taylor? That’s when I suspect that whatever Wildbow is hiding up in Grue’s cabin or in Simurgh’s glass tube, or both, will make it’s appearance.
She is focused. Focused is not stable. Focused is what leads her to accomplish her goals at any cost; stable is what makes her not take the extreme penalties, risks, and actions.
Focused is good for now, but it does not make her stable.
World Domination, you say? But domination is such an ugly word. I prefer world optimization.
MrHatandCloak on October 23, 2013 at 08:27 said:
Hello Harry
why do i get this feeling we’ve had this conversation before?
Yup. Trust Wildbow to take what, bereft of context would be an encouraging and positive statement and infuse it with pure horror.
He’s an evil, evil man in such a good way…
The Sandman on October 22, 2013 at 00:18 said:
Taylor doesn’t have much time left, but she certainly picked one hell of a way to go out.
Vaguely surprised Genesis wasn’t mentioned along with Ballistic and Sundancer.
And now, I suppose, the fight against Scion. Should be quite the show.
Kind of funny, though: in the end, the factor most likely to doom the world is Brandish having been such an abysmal foster mother for Panacea.
Wasn’t there originally, read the e-mail or RSS if you follow Worm in either.
Ouch, I don’t think Taylor is going to recover from this.
Recovery is highly unlikely, since the moment Panacea upgraded her shard-ware. Endings don’t have to be happy.
True, but more often than not endings need to be satisfying and wrap up any unwrapped plot threads. Given Wildbow’s habit of dropping characters like ugly babies, I’ve basically stopped caring about closure and I’m only sticking around to see how much of this Wildbow can wrap up before the Rocks Fall and Everyone Dies. Epilogues can only do so much.
I’d say that “The character involved died” is a pretty complete closure.
Seriously, though, what plot threads are you worried about not being wrapped up?
Perhaps she could fix herself using Panacea, actually. She has access to the power booster and to countless Thinkers, as well as her own power’s ability to grasp the powers of others intuitively. She might be able to use Panacea’s own power better than Panacea can by combining all of those.
Well endings doesn’t have to stereotypically end up with good guy hugging each other while the bad guys got suddenly incarcerated. It sounds like a cheap hazardous lobotomy to me
I’d prefer endings with plausible cause and effect, good, if everything wrapped up reasonably, thumbs up, if the final moments impressive enough to be etched into lasting memories. Now that sounds like perfect, unique, pleasuring lobotomy.
And now I’m strangely reminded of Darkseid’s speech from Final Crisis.
That’s a GREAT comparison.
I thought people would enjoy said quote:
I. Am. The. New. God. All is one in Darkseid. This mighty body is my church. When I command your surrender, I speak with three billion voices. When I make a fist to crush your resistance. It is with three billion hands. When I stare into your eyes and shatter your dreams. And break your heart. It is with six billion eyes! Nothing like Darkseid has ever come among you: Nothing will again. I will take you to a hell without exit or end. And there I will murder your souls! And make you crawl and beg! And die! Die! Die for Darkseid!
Eerily accurate.
Oh, yes, Taylor is the Anti-Life Equation. Course if Darksied shows up to try and take it from her, she’ll have a nice planet of new gods to throw at Scion.
MrMoray on October 22, 2013 at 00:24 said:
One Taylor to rule them all. One Taylor to find them. One Taylor to bring them all, and in the Wormverse, bind them.
ijpowers92 on October 22, 2013 at 01:01 said:
bizarrely appropriate.
You know you’re a troll when after you saw that scene with Tattletale, your first thought is to have everyone turn to her and take a knee. All we’d need is for Taylor to get her voice back so she could be all, “What is thy bidding my master.”
Robert C Roman on October 22, 2013 at 07:13 said:
That would be unbelievably precious… And exactly what Tattletale would do were the situation reversed.
endochrom on October 22, 2013 at 00:25 said:
So she now controls 5000 capes. When she controlled 3000 she decided she could take on Glastig but Sleeper was too much trouble? What the hell can Sleeper do?
Trusting on October 22, 2013 at 00:29 said:
O.o god ! I want Taylor to have a happy ending but I can’t turn my eyes away from the trainwreck that is her at the moment .
Shadell on October 22, 2013 at 00:35 said:
Glastig’s power is useful against Scion, Sleeper’s might not be that effective. In this case the risks of a free Glastig to mess things up versus her utility are quite high incentives to get her despite the risks. Sleeper’s power might, for example, be some massive scale shaker ability that would interfere with Taylor’s whole army if used. In this sense, there would be some benefit to including him in the collective, but it could easily be outweighed by the risk of having to fight Sleeper.
shrieky on October 22, 2013 at 00:50 said:
I know! This arc is terrifying. We’re getting glimpses of the Wormverse that are all the scarier for not being fleshed out. And, of course, that cliffhanger made me bite right through my nails to the tender abused flesh underneath. This is incredible.
WormAddict on October 22, 2013 at 00:53 said:
My guess is sleeper involves mass duplication of himself. It would be a real pain to manage all the extra portals, and explain why he was reading aloud to himself (maybe another self).
Could be something that, oh, makes people fall into comas?
Plausible, but probably too predictable. Wildbow’s characters tend to have atypical abilities like super-intuition, instant forgetability and the ability to grow giant dogs. Sleeper probably also has something skewed from the obvious.
Besides, his name suggests that *he* sleeps, not that he makes others sleep. The suggestion that he’s effectively lucid-dreaming in the real world makes a lot of sense, but I guessed that one too so it’s probably not right. xD
I’m not sure if anyone’s suggested that he could be a sleeper in the covert intelligence sense.
Heck, for all we know he has the ability to let trains ride over him! xD
Interesting interpretation.
Probably Sleeper is a stranger with the strangest power imaginable? that no one would even bother fighting him, because he is completely an unknown factor? Imp-wise power that made his power invariably mysterious…LOL
So like The Sphinx, then?
Ajoxer on October 22, 2013 at 20:38 said:
I heard that guy can like, cut guns in half. With his mind.
Sleeper’s power? You know how Taylor went “More trouble than he was worth.”?
That’s what his power does. It makes people go “Eh, more trouble than he’s worth”.
High level Stranger that just passively convinces everyone to leave him alone while he takes a nap or reads a book? Makes sense.
The Protectorate gets called in for reports of something unspeakably horrifying, driving all the locals away from a small town but curiously not seeming to harm any of them. The Triumverate takes one look, rates him a Class S threat, and gives orders to observe from great distance, defend the populace if required, but not provoke this horror if it can be at all avoided. After the first few weeks of remote observation revealed him mostly just napping, they tentatively classified this monstrosity as ‘The Sleeper’.
Then the portals open, Scion appears. the Sleeper knows that he might not be safe on this world anymore, that the golden god of death might come by and interrupt his rest. So he gets up, stretches, strolls through to earth Z, and every other human on the planet flees for the relative safety of flaming population centers and mobs of chinese death dealers. The Sleeper, now the only sentient on an unremarkable world and thus as safe from Scion as any human can be, picks up a book discarded by one of the refugees, and begins idly flipping through it in his new villa.
So you’re saying he has the power of exaggeration? A stranger ability which makes him seem ridiculously dangerous, dispite being harmless?
I like your theory. Unless of course you didn’t mean that, in which case I like my theory.
Probably something with a ridiculous aoe centered on himself.
My bet: everyone in a radius falls asleep.(As in new Skitters mindcontrol-area) Useless in that fight. Half of the fighting capes asleep or something.
Maybe like a maxed out Winter(S9 Clone).
He makes his dreams come to reality. Or alternatively, he makes reality enter his dreams. Either way, massive reality warping.
Yes, I’m going to post this every time there’s speculation on Sleeper, in the hope that repeating it enough times makes it come true. 🙂 .
Yeah, interesting that he’s not bothering Scion…and that Scion’s not bothering him.
I wonder if the Entities ever wind up with powers that are too dangerous for even them to hold onto? Perhaps Sleeper has a power that Scion doesn’t want to get back.
Sleeper is an insert of Wildbow.
Can take over any world: Wildbow owns this parahuman multiverse
Read to himself: That’s Wildbow proofreading the next chapter.
Too bothersome; Has author edit powers to defeat Taylor with.
Not appearing; Wildbow won’t let a Marty Stu into this story.
That would also explain why Scion wouldn’t want those powers back.
Scion: “Have you seen the workload Wildbow shoulders? I’m only a near-omnipotent god-monster, you can’t expect me to put out over 20k words in a week. Every week. Hell I can barely manage 4 words a year!”
It does make sense…
But why would he be called Sleeper?
Oh, that’s an easy one. You know how author inserts in fantasy/sci-fi/superhero fics are always some sort of idealized power fantasy, doing all the things the author wishes they were capable or or had the opportunity for?
Wildbow wants to take a nap and maybe read a book.
Because he’s DREAMING up Worm.
Didn’t it say in Alexandria’s chapter that there was something like 650,000 parahumans? Have to hand it to you though, wildbow. We have a multiverse crossover, with almost every parahuman left alive vs. Zion. Don’t think it will matter. Her only chance is too find his real body and destroy it, so I think this is nothing more than a distraction. It may be possible to hit him so many times that the well runs dry but casualties will be enormous. Now for sequel speculation. Well I believe that Wildbow will take a break and move on to other stories, he probably will come back to the wormverse at some point. I have already in past chapter gone over past examples of things that might be cool to see in the future since the wormverse is such a rich universe to explore. Prequels, capes in other countries, story ideas etc. A direct sequel is going to have a very interesting setting now though.
1. Many, many, alternate universes can now travel to each other with the doormaker’s portals, if he leaves them open. Imagine waking up and discovering there are at least a dozen more earths to live/explore.
2. Almost every single one of those alternate worlds are destroyed, badly damaged, or have nothing but untamed wilderness. It’s like every world became like Brockton Bay after Leviathan. So any sequel will be in a damaged landscape, with little order, gangs, starvation, anarchy, and parahumans running many places. So any new character will have to deal with that.
But regardless, it is climax time.
The other ‘verses hadn’t as much capes. And Scion had taken a mayor toll on cape population. … Fucked up times.
Well this is incredibly fucked up. Taylor at least showed some remorse in this chapter. I wonder why Sleeper wasn’t worth worrying about, I feel like he will feature more in the sequel if it is made, since that is literally his first appearance. All the other S-class threats are helping the “good guys”.
Taylor is completely loony. like totally. I think she has fallen off a cliff which she can’t return from. I think that if she doesn’t die or kill herself or magically gain control, she will become a dictator. Here are some quotes:
“when I could carry out that goal I’d had from the beginning, getting the world to the point where it all made sense. Bringing people in line, subjugating those who would get in the way or do more harm than good.” – except she is literally subjugating everyone with powers.
“I wanted to scream, to yell at her for being like all of the others and refusing to play along, to listen and cooperate.” – her problem. A bit of a control issue, when people don’t listen to her.
I also said a while ago that Cauldron should have gone to other worlds, and there were some pretty powerful capes lording over everyone. They could have been useful in something.
I think Taylor will drop control of her army if Scion is defeated.
In all other respects, I’m inclined to agree.
I’m betting Taylor tries to kill herself instead of or just after moving everyone away and closing all of her portals.
Taylor protects and saves people, Taylor stops monsters, and Taylor is selfless almost to a fault. Add in the apparent shattering of most of her mental faculties and the scene the Simurgh reminded Tattletale of, and I really cannot accept that suicide isn’t Taylor’s plan.
I can. I think at this point the sum total of Taylor’s plan is “Stop Scion”.
There’s so many ways that can go, I don’t think she’s spared even a single neuron working on what comes next.
Assuming she succeeds, would suicide be an option she chose to take? In some scenarios sure. She was willing to kill Aster to spare her from hell, I can’t see her denying herself or the world that. I can imagine dozens of scenarios that go in completely different directions though.
“Taylor is selfless almost to a fault” but also incredibly egoistic: if you’re not doing things Taylor’s way then you’re doing it wrong. She’s perfectly willing to violate your autonomy for your own good (or the good of others or the “greater good”) which is how the worst monsters are made. Having good motivations is not quite synonymous with being good.
The character we know could very plausibly justify retaining control of anyone who wasn’t being productive and cooperative by her standards “…until the crisis is over”, which it won’t be for a long time. I don’t expect that’s the way the story will go because it’s not the best story, but it would not be out of character for her.
She isn’t the hero they want. She’s the hero they need. Control issues and all.
Let me suggest this instead…
She isn’t the monster they want. She’s the monster they need. Wether they like it or not.
She isn’t the hero they want. She’s the monster they need.
Flex on October 22, 2013 at 12:11 said:
Ooooh… Ominous
I like that. Nice tagline for the final TV Series…WHEN IT GETS MADE! *hopeful swoon* HAHA
“With special guest Genoscythe the Eyeraper!”
There will have to be animated post-credits scenes of you in order to give the feeling of the comments section to all the TV Series viewers, of course.
kingsomnus on October 22, 2013 at 00:31 said:
Fuck…. It just got real.
Heh – it got real 30 arcs ago. This is Scion about to become aware of that.
This is Tone, Psychogecko! 😛
True enough Patrick. But I’m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stoked and happy that Worm comes out twice a week (sometimes three times!)!.
Right there with ya Kingsomnus.
I’d be crushingly depressed that we’re 2-4 updates from the end which would mean no more updates to look forward to…except I find myself looking forward to whatever story comes next almost as much.
There’s an epilogue arc where each remaining bonus chapter translates to one epilogue chapter.
Yeah buddy you said it. 🙂
I stumbled upon this delightful series thanks to a mention in TV Tropes. Then I said: “Well, I’ll be danged, this isn’t half bad!” Then I devoured the series and stopped reading the novels I was in order to catch up completely.
Eidolon was hurting Scion, until Scion used Contessa’s power.
Taylor has >5,000 capes, including Glaistig Uaine, who has access to Eidolon. Also, possibly, including Contessa, but certainly including a lot of other precognitives. Will that be enough to mess with Scion’s foresight?
This is gonna be fun.
Probably not. If I remember correctly, the foresight canceling is mostly based on the feedback loop of precogs trying to react to the other. Since other precogs can’t see Scion, that loop can’t happen.
She has all the case 53s, as well.
(a) Taylor has a fair few precognition in the mix. Also:
(b) There’s a big difference between seeing something come g and being able to do anything about it. Scion has quickly (but not instantly) adapted to the most powerful attacks thrown at him. Thousands of attacks at once may be too much for him to adapt to even with foresight.
Congratulations Taylor, you’re now officially scarier than the Endbringers. Even if you somehow live through the fight, I don’t think anyone else is going to let you go from this. Now let’s see how much better the fight against Scion works when everyone’s following the general’s orders.
Also is it just me or did we not see her capture Contessa?
I don’t recall her grabbing Contessa, no.
Yeah. Contessa was just waking up as Taylor checked on her, so Teacher and Contessa have yet to talk.
It looks like Teacher and Contessa might not talk until Taylor has finished with Zion, depending on how long the fight actually takes.
What’s the latest over-under on the duration of the Taylor vs. Zion fight, by the way? Eight minutes?
I’m not sure it’ll even take her than long. I’m expecting a total curbstomp here.
It doesn’t look that easy to me.
Zion’s “how do i beat this power” sense won’t work for him here because he’s facing more than a single power, more than even just a couple of powers. His “how do I win” power won’t work here because he cannot communicate with Taylor, and Taylor likely simply has to much precognative muscle backing her up in any case, on top of her current mental state. His only real option might be to run, and even then I suspect that it might not work.
Basically he’s without any actions that will actual work here. The safeguards he built to keep this from happening have all been ground away to dust.
The only real question is how long it’ll take Taylor to physically or mentally render him unable to fight.
Of course there is always the possibility that the Simurgh sabotages Taylor here, but Zion is basically screwed.
Glaistig damn near took out Taylor. Scion’s a lot slower on the uptake though, and relies on reacting, instead of preparing.
Taylor is going to surprise him, perhaps even impress him, and in that time when he is surprised and impressed, Taylor is going to open up on him. By the time he uses his path to victory power, he might be losing power so fast that he cannot act.
However, the path to victory power is really pretty absurd. He can’t talk to Taylor because she won’t understand it, so he can’t use the Eidolon tactic.
He might be able to talk to her passenger though, which could be… interesting. If her passenger is a throwback to the origin of Scion’s species though, it’s just going to see Scion as a big threat and/or lunch, and will probably not care what he has to say.
In the end, I think that Taylor will end up the loser, victorious over all. And then with no purpose to keep her going, she will release her hold on the Clairvoyant, and wake up in the Bird Cage, solitary confinement.
Bird Cage, Simurgh Cage. They will not leave her alive. At the very least they won’t want her anywhere near any living thing. A crippled Taylor, incapable of moving herself, on a lifeless rock somewhere, in a parrell universe with no other living things? To much risk she’ll escape.
Damn it no, you do not kill her, especially with the Faerie Queen still around. You really want to give the bitch queen control of the Administrator as well as the High Priest?
Recreate Hack Job, teleport him on top of Taylor. While he holds her down, have Bonesaw turn off her power and make her immortal. *Then* put her in solitary confinement for eternity.
Do you people really expect Wildbow not to have any surprises left to throw at us? Does history suggest that’s a likely thing?
Me? I’m betting on “I didn’t see that fate coming but WOW does it make sense in retrospect”.
Anyone care to wager against me?
>>Damn it no, you do not kill her, especially with the Faerie Queen still around. You really want to give the bitch queen control of the Administrator as well as the High Priest?<<
Of course now that she has Eidolon, the Faerie Queen can steal living capes' shards too.
Which actually makes me wonder why she didn't try doing that in this chapter.
Grant Moxham on October 23, 2013 at 00:46 said:
because she’s such a F****** fruitcake she thinks she’s actually one of the Greater Fae?
Sion can’t have been defeated already when the Contessa/Teacher conversation happens though, that was pretty clear.
Where are the Endbringers, anyway?
Getting krunk, of course.
*cue Simurgh DJing at a house party*
To the windoooow! *Bohu leans in, having formed the house out of her body and joins in* To the wall! (to the wall!)
*Khonsu jumps out and runs his claws down his belly* To the sweat drop down my balls!
*Tohu pops up with Canary, Shatterbird, and Valefor’s faces on* To all these bitches crawl!
*Leviathan comes dancing in missing a leg and an arm, trying to do a crip walk* To all skeet skeet motherfucker! All skeet skeet, god damn!
Holy hell… Leave it to Taylor to combine every available power into a mean, lean fighting machine and point it at Scion.
Also, if Doormaker can make that many portals, in that variety of sizes, what the hell did Cauldron need Number Man or Contessa on the field? They could’ve just opened a dime-sized portal to their target and neutralize them almost effortlessly. Or provide NM with impossible shots.
Cauldron seems to be the embodiment of wasted potential.
The Manton effect, and the possibility that portals could be traced back to their base by certain powers. Dragon/Defiant have already demonstrated the ability to find where a portal went long after it closed.
Yes, but the portal would not lead back to Cauldron’s HQ. It would simply lead from the barrel of a gun (which could be located anywhere) to the target.
If they wanted to further obscure the trail then the bullet, projectile or whatever they use to incapacitate people from a distance could be shot through multiple portals, each in a different, unrelated reality.
As for the Manton effect, the portals are not actually affecting the target. It should not be a problem.
Not really looking to get into a discussion about the mechanics of powers, just remarking that Cauldron does (did?) not utilize its resources to the fullest.
Cauldron was always inefficient, because they were using Contessa’s power once removed for planning.
Yeah, the whole secret organization basically boiled down to four guys, once you account for Doormaster and the Clairvoyant being barely sentient tools. Contessa only really worked through her power and a lot of her time was spent being the boogeyman; she was great at a single task at a time but had little individual drive and couldn’t do big-picture planning because she couldn’t even ask about the entities. Custodian could barely communicate and couldn’t leave the base, but handled all the day to day stuff. Number Man was efficient, but his history with the Nine and late arrival to the team meant they never trusted him with big things until it was too late. So the whole thing was basically run by a single baseline normal, who never trained to run anything remotely on that scale, was neither as clever nor as efficient as she thought she was, and had no experience dealing with failure because Contessa would always bail her out.
The more I think about it, the more it seems that Accord’s untimely demise broke a lot of good possibilities. If he’d gotten any sort of real standing with Cauldron, he could have done a hell of a lot of good. If he were inducted into the Swarm, Taylor might just be able to stay sane and keep things organized through his power. When he got killed everything started to swing toward chaos.
And once again, I look at the root of tragedy and see the Simurgh behind it. I really need to stop underestimating her, but I keep telling myself that and I keep failing to do it.
Not to mention how if Accord and Dinah had ever sat down and had a conversation they would have immediately saved the whole goddamn world.
I wonder about that. I mean it’s certainly possible that they would have come up with a different path than Contessa’s “I Win” power suggested, but it could be that they would have come up with effectively the same steps too.
If nothing else, I’d REALLY like to see an epilogue with Dinah. We know she doesn’t see everything but I’d love to know how much of what’s happened was a result of the plan she’s been working for and how close this is to the best end game that she could find.
imsomeone on October 22, 2013 at 07:24 said:
And Accord was killed by a Simurgh bomb.
Manton used to be on Cauldrons team too
There’s also how Doormaker probably doesn’t have the kind of self-motivated finesse to compensate for all the things that Taylor is doing when she’s controlling him and his power. I don’t think you could tell Doormaker to make armor out of portals for someone, say, I don’t think he’d know what to do.
remember that Taylor can multitask like a boss. Doormaker while good probably isn’t that good.
Yeah, everything we’ve seen from Doormaster in the past has implied normal human reaction times. People request a portal out loud, the Clairvoyant tells him, and he opens it a second after the request. Fast, but not good enough for serious combat work. Taylor’s thinker power allows her Swarm to react faster than she should be able to, dodging attacks her bugs sensed without even being consciously aware of it and opening or closing portals between the instant Zion fires and the instant the beam passes through.
Doormaster was significant alone, powerful with the Clairvoyant, but only godlike under the Queen Administrator.
I like how Sleeper the terrifying Class S threat is just some guy who reads books while lying in the sun. While subsuming entire worlds in his spare time of course. That woman in blue seems like she has some relation to Eden given her powerset. Taylor has pretty much every powerful cape in all the universes and she can use portal tricks to redirect scion’s attacks. At this point I feel like the only thing that will kill her is dying of dehydration because she’s so unfocused on her body. Did she take over Contessa’s body? I wasn’t able to tell. Given the amount of power at her disposable she can probably use it better than her anyway.
When she checked Contessa, Contessa was just waking up. So Teacher and Contessa still have yet to talk.
Ristridin on October 22, 2013 at 04:11 said:
Did Contessa fall asleep between the attack on Cauldron and the moment she talked to Teacher? I’m rereading that section, but can’t find it. Unless she was asleep in the hour she had to wait for the portal to reopen.
Ally on October 24, 2013 at 16:29 said:
I wonder if that’s not a typo, and Contessa was “walking” up, not “waking” up.
r2k-in-the-vortex on October 22, 2013 at 11:47 said:
Well terrifying S class threat lying in the sun in front of his house is exactly where ‘Happy ending’TM (if even possible) would take Taylor.
Lets say Taylor wins, lets go of control, returns from being batshit insane and learns to speak. Where would that leave Taylor? My guess is going back to Charlotte’s and kids cottage and being all: ‘Oh yeah im more terrible than Scion, but i cant be bothered with taking over the world because im in the middle of a book’
But yeah in all honesty, i dont see an happy ending coming, just nice to think what it might be like.
Actually.. one way to get a happy ending out of this.. when Scion gets obliberated what happens to all the shards and powers? Should they just wink out then it would end up in Taylor being just another young woman again.
If all shards wink out Taylor will be one young woman with brain damage.
C#40s T#30rY on October 22, 2013 at 12:47 said:
“At this point I feel like the only thing that will kill her is dying of dehydration because she’s so unfocused on her body.”
Now I’m imaginging “Borg Queen”/ “cloud-sourced” Taylor, where her body died without her noticing but her mind lived on as the shard and in her swarm.
…That’s what the shards do, right? “Learn” the personalities of their hosts, so they can find the best strategies?… This would lead to the whole “Taylor becomes an entity” hypothesis…
I am scared(er) now.
You should be scaredy, cat. By the way, is this your first caught-up commenting?
I don’t know how coming back from this will be remotely possible. My god, this is an amazing journey.
I rather hope that Taylor will live. Not just because I like her character, and it would be sad to see her die. But I’m intrigued about what a sane!Taylor would think about all of this.
Okay so lets say perfect scenario. Scion is killed, the world is saved, casualties aren’t too horrendous, and Taylor gives up control…then what? She still has to keep some of the nastier ones under her power like the 9 clones, the fairy queen, some of the nasty prisoners, but she can’t keep control of them without the doormaker. So she keeps him until the birdcage is back up and running, which means Dragon has to be fixed, which means taking over teacher. Most of the Yangban/teacher students she can simply let go, but she will still have a powerful core of nasty parahumans under her control for at least a little while. Then there is the whole destroyed world which makes it hard to have a trial. I’m sure Bitch/Tattletale would gladly take care of her now that her body isn’t where it used to be, or she can find a way to fix herself. But she just made enemies of almost everyone who will hate/fear her. Without the doormaker she is vulnerable enough for someone to try and get some payback. So she either keeps the doormaker and remains the scariest/all powerful queen bitch of the universe, or frees him and pretty much grantees somebody kills her at some point.
One of Taylor’s most important qualities is that she not only anticipates the consequences of her actions pretty well, but she’s also willing to except them, or attempt to fix them.
If you think Taylor wouldn’t be willing to just let the rest of humanity kill her after she’s killed Zion I really don’t know what to tell you. Hell, I don’t expect Taylor to wait that long, I expect her to try and off herself instead.
Caladium on October 22, 2013 at 01:13 said:
At this point, Taylor’s hit the “too scary to be allowed to live” threshold. If she doesn’t either die or give up all her power and disappear, people (maybe the non-capes, because it doesn’t seem like she can control those) will do their best to kill her anyway.
She took control of the non-capes manning Dragon’s datacentre.
Prior to that, she took over the Dragon’s Teeth officers when going to see Dragon.
Authy_Silverfur on October 22, 2013 at 13:34 said:
Prior to that, she took over an unnamed guy by accident right after escaping from the underground cave place where she got her power upgrade.
It would be pretty simple to dump the dangerous prisoners onto an earth without any people (I know people evacuated to them, but there must be one where scion got everyone) until the birdcage is back up and running (especially since it wasn’t damaged much beyond the destruction of the drones).
Without even the dignity of a pistol with one shot left in it?
For some of them? No.
We may also be underestimating what GodMode Taylor is capable of.
The really bad capes? The true monsters? Even assuming the final battle doesn’t do them in, and on the off chance that Taylor retains her full control ability, there’s the simple matter of giving the monsters a date with Bonesaw or Panacea.
If they can tinker with Shards, they can probably kill the Shards too. People have a right to live, but a right to having super powers isn’t written down anywhere.
Problem: Taylor still has that 16ish foot radius. Panacea and Bonesaw can’t get close enough to work on her anymore, and they can’t trust Taylor to work on herself.
That’s easily solved, though not neatly. Take a power nullifier, either one who can completely turn her off from more than 16ft away, or one who can also teleport; Hack Job would be optimal here if he could be recreated. Then, since Panacea would be worthless next to him and even tinker powers would be suspended, have Bonesaw’s spiderbots or some of Dragon’s remote platforms do the actual surgery. It’ll be messy, ugly, and probably cause a lot of brain damage, and it will probably require cooperation unless you can get the clairvoyant away from her first, but it should work.
You’re assuming this isn’t something Taylor does to herself.
If Taylor goes full on unthinking Shard monster, sure you need tactics to stop her.
If not, then she could easily be the one who sets up the Shard cleansing factory, with herself as its last patient.
Easy now, Handicapper General. Let’s wait a bit before we pull a shotgun on Harrison Bergeron, ok?
Harrison Bergeron was a pretty impressive badass but I’m pretty sure he couldn’t wield the souls of dead superheroes as weapons.
Neither can all but one of those supers.
At this point, I’m not sure I’d put it past Taylor to just door all the Birdcage undesirables into the sun once she’s done with Scion…
Heck, door them right back into the Birdcage. Into their original cells if you really feel like conveying “Fuck you” nonverbally.
So she didn’t get Contessa/Teacher/whoever else. Teacher possibly raised another counter-clairvoyant field to block her out. Or Taylor or her Shard is/are losing track of so much she can’t even use the clairvoyant cleanly.
Well. She didn’t grab Contessa earlier. It could be that she somehow knows Contessa’s power is somehow compromised by Scion’s other half.
Also, Teacher’s only real ability would compromise the integrity of her gestalt. As he’d have a back door into anyone she used him on, which could be VERY disruptive if her sphere of control (with “sphere” being used in the figurative sense of “area” or “realm”, rather than describing a spherical structure) fluctuates at all.
I interpreted that as losing hold of her other anchors. She’d just let go of her father’s house and her mother’s grave, held on to Tattletale, but the others? Grue, Imp, Rachel, she’d forgotten about. She knew that she’d set other anchors for herself but she’d lost track of them and was too far gone to recover any but Tattletale.
but she still managed to leave foil alone. I think there’s still some undersider left in there.
She didn’t. Foil is entirely under Taylor’s control now, but has a power so rare and valuable that it isn’t worth the risk to throw her at the Faerie Queen; there’s a chance that it would cut through the defenses but there’s also a significant chance of getting Foil liquified in retaliation and that would reduce the Swarm’s forces for later.
Just had a thought. Foil+Doormaker portal spam. I’d like to see Scion catch THAT in midair.
Yeah and on rereading, it looks like the last cape she collected was Tattletale
Really? I thought she almost did it and then stopped at the last second.
Share out powers that create physical objects, share out Ballistic’s power, share out Foil’s power, share out Number Man’s power. Attack Zion with an endless hail of Foil enhanced projectiles from literally every direction.
Not sure Foil’s power would work shared out. Even with an optimal spread of power enhancers you only have about a third of the original’s power. So even assuming that everybody gets the physics tweaking at full strength, their timing would be sloppy. Only Foil’s paranormal sense of timing allows her to use her primary power offensively, since the projectile needs to phase back in at the exact right instant while in flight in order to affect the target but bypass defenses.
Nope. An item with the effect on it still carves through everything, like the group weapons against Behemoth (chain and disc).
It won’t be able to affect as much mass, and it won’t last as long, shared out, but that also shouldn’t matter at all.
I don’t expect this to be the only thing Taylor needs to do, or for Wildbow to even use this exact thing, but as effective attacks go, Foil’s is likely the flat out strongest they have access to.
Besides, I just want to see why Zion keeps blocking or avoiding it when he just keeps taking everything else head on.
To quote Captain Obvious, “Shit about to get real son.”
The realest shit that there is. Worm Shit.
“About”? Cap’n Obvious is a tad late, IMO. It got real when Scion fired his f**k you beam at London.
It got real several times. Leviathan hitting Brockton Bay was definitely one, as was the first S9 arc.
I think probably the first real “it’s not playtime anymore” moment might’ve been Bakuda’s mad bomber rampage…
Wow. Really good job of showing how Taylor’s mind is continuing to deteriorate.
was anybody else reminded of HAL 9000’s death?
“I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave. My mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a..fraid.”
Legumes on October 22, 2013 at 00:59 said:
-Scarab, part 5.
Oh Taylor…. also, this showdown is going to be fucking amazing. I’m simultaneously enthused and depressed as hell. This has been foreshadowed for a while (I’ve just caught up) and holy hell this is going to be interesting.
(still reserving hope for a happy-ish ending, despite all evidence to the contrary (i.e. everything))
Right there with you.
This is a well written descent into confusion and madness for this context, meaning this was absolutely terrifying to read, I don’t even know…well, now I know why this is probably the last arc. Hard to go up from here.
Wildbow, you might be nervous about ending this well, but you’ve pulled it off perfectly so far
Easily my favorite arc since the days of villainy, and not just because of Taylor being…this….is happening. So thanks, and good luck.
I’m calling it now, by the end she somehow merges completely with the shard to the point she doesn’t need a corporeal form; she dies, sequel is someone trying to deal with Taylor the Shard grafted onto their soul. :p
Taylor has become Queen of the Multiverse. Or is it Administrator? She beat Glaistig Uaine. She took over those suspiciously foreshadowing superheroes from another world. She decided not to bother with Sleeper ( of course). And unless she has a better plan than throwing all of them at Scion she’ll just be wasting thousands of lives.
As I said before, this is all very Sauronesque. Not even he was born evil, to paraphrase Elrond.
But hey look at the bright side: at least she didn’t permanently destroy Dragon. I loved that trick with the lights. Fucking tinkers indeed.
And one last thought: does this mean we’re relying on Contessa and Teacher to save the world from Taylor once she has saved it from Scion? Ohhh boy.
Paranoid Android on October 22, 2013 at 02:54 said:
Talk about unlikely heros.
I doubt that Teacher is smart enough to qualify as a player on that scale, and Taylor is surrounded by layers of precogs and trumps.
Personally I’m relying on the Simurgh to pull humanity out of this pit. And that’s terrible.
Here’s a plan that can fuck up Taylor usin only Teacher and Contessa’s resources.
Contessa’s presence shields them from Taylor’s precogs. Following Contessa’s power Teacher gives Trickster (who we know was with him when he meets Contessa) some minor clairvoyance/other extrasensory power thus bypassing his-line-of-sight limitation. They build two mannequins. Trickster switches Doormaker and Clairvoyant with the mannequins. Contessa opens a door right next to Taylor’s head and shoots her. There.
I know it’s unlikely but we know that Teacher and Contessa willd o something. And law of conservation of details tells us Trickster will play some role, otherwise why bother mentioning him. Oh and there’s still mysterious horned helmet dude, who may or may not be Satyr.
Yes, open a portal from the end of your gun to the head of the person who passively mindfucks everybody in her vicinity, through portals.
Anyway, for Trickster to pull that off he’d need more than just a perception boost, he’d need power on the level of the Clairvoyant. And even if they did port Doormaster away, he would be disabled and effectively powerless when not holding hands with his partner or under the Administrator’s control.
I don’t doubt that they’ll try something, and the Contessa is still a factor. But it will not be simple, will not be quick, and may not be possible anymore.
Tattletale on the other hand, is Taylor’s last remaining anchor, the one person she refuses to take control of… and commands the Simurgh. Who in turn is immune to Taylor’s power, can recreate tinker devises if she’s close enough to read their minds or has seen the devise before, and has the raw intellect to use those assets appropriately.
And (at the risk of underestimating the Simurgh again) I think that the long term results of her scheme would be less terrible than Taylor’s. She causes widespread death, devastation, and despair, but she’s always held back somewhat and any comprehensible goals she has would seem to require humanity to still exist and not be a massive insane hivemind.
Unless of course she was behind those gangers who attacked Emma and led to Taylor’s trigger event and every horror since, in which case we are now seeing the late stages of the Simurgh’s master plan unfold.
I have to disagree with you on one point here – Tattletale does not control Simurgh. I think it is clear from the part where Doctor Mother was reading Simurgh that Simurgh has chosen to play along and be near TT in order to further Simurgh’s goals, perhaps because TT’s power can demonstrably work around precog blocks.
Be very, very afraid of Simurgh’s goals. Taylor cannot control Simurgh and will not control TT, so Simurgh has free reign.
Difference between command and control. Simurgh is currently following Tattletale’s instructions, for unknown reasons. Thus Tattletale commands her, even though it is likely than nobody can *control* the Simurgh.
I see three main possibilities:
First and most optimistic is that with Eidolon gone, Simugh doesn’t know what to do and is learning from humanity, taking suggestions in an effort to find a new purpose in life like Zion used to, but with a much greater understanding of how people work and what she’s doing than the great golden idiot. She is genuinely trying to help, either because she cares about humanity or because she sees us as a useful resource which is being wasted. The ‘sorry’ may have been genuine; perhaps not for her past actions (tattletale didn’t sense any remorse) but for what Taylor will suffer in the future. Or it may be reflexive, habitually fucking with everyone around her.
Second, most likely in my mind, and also fairly optimistic at this stage, is that recent events have interfered with Simurgh’s plans. She will save humanity for the same reason she held back in the past, and free them from the Hive because those without free will cannot be manipulated. She will come out on top from this conflict of course, but that’s a better eventuality that either of the new gods are offering.
The worrisome possibility is that this is all according to plan. Simurgh tweaked those gangers (or somebody who then influenced them), who attacked Emma, who Triggered Taylor, who sparked the gang war, which attracted Leviathan, which attracted Jack, causing him to learn about the prophecy, causing him to talk to Zion, causing the end of the world, causing Taylor to go Queen Administrator, and all the dominoes have fallen exactly where the Simurgh intended for them to go when she set this up years in the past.
How do you know the Simurgh’s plan all along hasn’t been to let Taylor deal with Sion and then deal with Taylor?
Actually, Contessa’s power doesn’t mess with precogs, and precogs don’t mess with her. Their powers work differently; after all, Contessa’s path to victory generally doesn’t change midway through. Also, I think that the “technically not a precog” thing was mentioned in an earlier chapter, maybe in the Crushed arc, but I don’t remember where.
Hmm, no. Contessa is immune to precogs, but she can interfere with them. Dr Mother tells the Legion of Doom that they use Contessa as a buffer against the Simurgh.
Teacher’s JUST smart enough to do something pants-on-head retarded out of his all-about-me-complex ( i.e like deserting and then manipulating saint into shutting dragon down at the WORST possible time in order to get leverage against her and Colin)and Fuck the world (and himself in the mid to long term) over. id take the smurf any day of the week. my reasoning is that any plan that severely damages your very species’s ( and your’s) chances of survival for minimal, personal gain is by definition a bad one.
So, like… what if Worm turned out to be a start of darkness prequel?
Taylor and scion destroy each other, all shards are up for grabs. unstoppable Simurgh moves in for the win, now with added portals
Now you’re thinking with portals!
Quick, somebody better deploy the smooth jazz!
narcoduck on October 22, 2013 at 01:18 said:
We keep seeing Sleeper mentioned. What about the other world wide threats that you keep name dropping? Like the Ash Beast and the Blasphemies?
Usually I wouldn’t mind, but if Taylor is literally combing through everything ever…
Also, the Simurgh is suspiciously missing here…
hamcannon on October 22, 2013 at 10:17 said:
Taylor did a flyby of Simurgh. No control possible.
Oh yeah, I understand Sleeper is being saved for the sequel but the Three Blasphemies were explicitly part of the defence force ( whereas I believe the Ash Beast declined–not that it really matters what with Taylor conscripting everyone with a shard). Just a tiny glimpse, perhaps? Pleeeaaase?
Maybe we’ll get something next chapter?
Hida Reju on October 22, 2013 at 01:21 said:
Never commented here before but I have to admit this is the cliffhanger I have been expecting since she left the Undersiders. It’s now Taylor vs Fate itself in a no holds barred grudge match and whoever wins she loses everything in the name of the fight.
Fantastic story thanks Wildbow
septimusmagistos on October 22, 2013 at 01:35 said:
So she’s losing her anchors. Perfect.
As long as by the end of the fight her mind is destroyed so thoroughly that no power can ever restore it, she can be forgiven for what she’s doing here.
That’s a little harsh. She’s just doing the same thing she’s been doing since the bank-robbery. If the ends don’t justify the means, what does?
And I’ve liked Taylor as a person less and less since then. At this point I’m just hoping that she manages to take out Scion and takes herself out in the process, but I’m afraid that someone somewhere will pull a miracle out of their sleeve and she somehow makes it out of this okay.
Still, she’s destroying her own mind and she’s earned the enmity of every cape in the multiverse. A heroic sacrifice is looking more and more likely, because it’d be hard for her to recover from this.
>because it’d be hard
Yeah. She doesn’t routinely pull of things that are hard to do.
Not really. Taylor consistently takes the easy way out. She stuck with being a villain because it was easier than betraying the Undersiders. She terrifies people or controls them because it’s easier than persuading them. She keeps justifying anything she does with an ever-escalating definition of ‘good cause’ because it’s easier than actually sitting down and figuring out whether she’s doing the right thing.
I’m sure Taylor will find a way to beat Scion in the end. But when confronted with a problem she can’t fight her way out of? She’s going to fold. And I can only hope that no one will be there to bail her out.
After all, what’s the point of a villain who doesn’t get their comeuppance?
Yeah, all those easy ways out, like abandoning her friends so she has a chance to prevent the apocalypse, stepping up time and time again against shit like Jack, Echidna, and Behemoth, and generally grinding herself into bloody gristle for even the slightest chance of saving the city/world/her friends.
I don’t know. What’s the point of comeuppance? When the bodies aren’t cold and the person who saved the world is turned into a mentally fractured wreck, what purpose would the death of this person serve? Other than the petty satisfaction of a cultural obsession with punishment?
are you kidding? most of the people she’s dealt with have refused to compromise or be reasonable under any circumstances. like Alexandria and Tagg. they were so averse to compromise that they pushed her till she snapped. Colin screwed her over simply out of spite. so, yes. she took the easy way.
The scene with Alexandria and Tagg was where I first started to wish for Taylor to have an unhappy ending.
If you told me back then that she’d end up like this? I would not have been surprised.
Ahh, Alexandria and Tagg. True heroes and martyrs in the eternal struggle against the madness of civil rights and due process.
I think Colin screwed her over more out of self-importance and ego than out of spite but basically, yeah…
So if Taylor does die… will it be a heroic death or a just death?
I figure it’ll be because the Simurgh smashed her clock.
I want to thank you both for getting the reference and for that mental image.
senevri on October 22, 2013 at 10:37 said:
Nothing justifies the means. There is no justification for anything, only excuses.
Bahumat on October 22, 2013 at 11:02 said:
As excuses go, “Survival”‘s a pretty fucking potent one. 😉
^Seconded
I suppose that Taylor realizing how much of a threat she herself become, and either commiting suicide, or letting herself be killed. Or the final lines will be….
“You don’t understand Tattletale. I have to stop the bullies.”
“No Taylor, you are the bullies.”
Then Taylor was a zombie.
As soon as she lets go of Clairvoyant and Doormaker, she’s pretty nonthreatening. And bullies differ by motive, theirs being petty.
Y’know “There are means that cannot possibly be justified” is a perfectly legitimate response to that.
storryeater on May 10, 2015 at 07:18 said:
Are there,really?in real life,yes,but in fiction,one can create a scenario to justify ANY,and I mean ANY means.
I was always of the opinion :”the ends justify the means,as long as the means are in the upper 10% of the morality scale among your choices (ergo,a really evil means is justified if everything else remaining is worse,or if you can make a case of the character not thinking anything better,but while he tried to do so,I think it is the case with Taylor for now,but not with,say,Light Yagami,who killed early on more than criminals,more than he had too)and as long as the good done by the ends is not surpassed by the means in evil done (I’d say Taylor is borderline on this factor,but ,say,the Worms are not,as their ends of “getting stronger and surviving”do not surpass the means of “killing civilizations”on good vs evil done)”.Many people with “muh ends justify muh means”are either people who only look at the world with colored glasses,not really trying to understand others,even if they are hard on themselves (some are not,but they are always presented as despicable,see:Tagg),so I’ll add “and as long as you are willing to negociate/listen to others (Taylor was always willing,she only lost that to do brain damage,and even then she did try,so I’d say she completes my criteria for ends justifying the means)”
I’m with you storryeater. Magneto is another good example of someone who holds up “ends justifies” while having such a skewed perspective that he fails to see it’s really just an excuse and not true. Taylor is doing some bad things but in this case it is quite literally the end of every parallel Earth, every human, every single instance of our small corner of the cosmos on the line. Given saving that or simply letting it all fade away to a cosmic temper tantrum? Pretty much whatever she does can be justified.
That’s the great thing about fiction. If the stakes are high enough you really can bring back people from black holes of horribleness with the right mentality and clever twists.
BTW I only input storryeater because wordpress for some reason wouldn’t accept storyeater.Just a trivia.
Dalton on September 29, 2017 at 23:49 said:
You touch on what I was thinking in this comment chain. People saying her ends do not justify the means, when really it’s either no human life in any universe anywhere, or she subjugates the lives of a few thousand superhumans, some of them die, or hell even if it’s all of them, and then the rest of humanity across the multiverse gets to live?
Mass extinction’s prevention can justify most anything.
aelphais on October 22, 2013 at 01:39 said:
I know everyone is talking about Taylor controlling every cape ever minus Tattletale and a few others, but I sure hope Dragon successfully loads her backups in the future.
As people may have noticed, I’m a little behind. I guess it’s better than being a giant ass.
I have to say, I loved the part where Dragon fires at Taylor and she uses portals to hit Scion with it. Seems like she could have done that for anything being used against her.
Now then, much as I don’t like doing this in one big giant thread…
*cocks a shotgun*
Let’s do some welcoming.
aelphais, oh ye of the crystal skull. Your head was not Indiana Jones’s proudest moment.
I have you now. And don’t imagine you’re going to fanfic your way out of this one! I’ll have you know I’m an 8th degree purple prose-belt in crackfic. No, wait, scratch that. I wish to articulate to you with wondrous degree of sincerity and fortitude my majestic and everlasting depth, technical expertise, and fecundity of ability to disrupt, destroy, or denigrate fiction utilizing unconventional literature written by myself.
You may receive that and, upon finding yourself in its position, securely place it into an apparatus such as a hookah to be enjoyed after dinner in the great room with a glass of brandy.
I also wish to express to you an enjoyment of your addition to the collective voice of this community I have somewhat shepherded, full as it is of those who muse on the potential romantic entanglements of fictional characters, doomsayers, and an author who wishes to take the world’s adolescent felines and asphyxiate them in a bathtub full of their own hemoglobin.
Welcome, aelphais, to the comments.
Ahaha, thanks.
I’ll have you know that I held this skull long before any faux-Indiana Jones films featuring aliens and former Disney Channel actors.
I just now noticed you’re the author of World Domination in Retrospect. I had that tagged to read eventually. Maybe I will bump it up the list a few places.
Ah, well I hear it makes a nice read after all the tension of Worm. I was commenting here and at Legion of Nothing first, but enough people insisted I should write my own thing. Even Wildbow thought I was creative, and that was before I started coming up with a new welcome for every person.
Oh? First time commenting while caught up?
Speak of the Gecko and he shall appear! Unless he’s busy, or sleeping, or eating, or hula dancing, or what have you.
So, Node, ye of the crazy theories, you will fit right in here amongst people who thought Taylor would be captured and put in the Birdcage or that a nuke would be sufficient to kill an Endbringer. People are used to strange theories being thrust upon them around here, but it’s still a good idea to keep in mind that Node means Node.
At this point, though, Wildbow is no longer quite as unpredictable. It used to be that someone could go “I think next chapter a villain’s going to show up who turns into a giant teddy bear and be one of the few people to beat up Taylor!”
Nope. I assure you, Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego Mr. Ruxpin aren’t pulling that off anytime soon. Not any more than Inflatable Beach Ball Boy is going to beat Scion in the story. Much like having when you’ve been mind controlled by a horny oral sex officionado, there’s nowhere to go but down.
So here you are, in the comments section. Just like a police raid on a NAMBLA meeting, this is where they separate the men from the boys. So welcome, Node, to the comments.
It’s like reading the unholy combination of Joyce, Pratchett, and an unreasonable and long-term drug habit. I thank you, and it saddens me that I’ve never been welcomed like this before, and never will again.
I don’t know why people have occasionally compared me to Pratchett. I’m a little flattered, but I just don’t see it myself. Maybe that’s for the same reason that Wildbow so often goes, “Ok, so I know this update wasn’t the best, but I was rushing…” First time I’ve been compared to Joyce, though. Drugs are often brought up in regards to me, though, sometimes with people asking which ones I’m on. None, actually.
mr.maybe. It might be nice to meet you, possibly. I can’t be certain, but it appears somebody activates the special signal to bring you to my attention. You can tell by the light in the clouds forming a giant rooster.
Yeah, Taylor’s gone through some major changes. I still remember the days when I wanted her to go back to school and make life hell for the bullies. I think that’d be very therapeutic for her, you know? Of course, it also provides a bit of an anchor. Like with Captain America, she doesn’t like bullies, and here’s Scion, most powerful guy around, never came there originally to help anyone, just destroying because he can. Because it feels better to beat someone up.
Granted, I don’t care for the idea that all bullies are completely sympathetic and that you have to make life all flowers and carrot cake for them and they’ll change, but at least Scion’s burned his sympathy bridges. And literal bridges. And Jeff Bridges, while he was at it. He also covered Henry Winkler in bees, show Bill Murray with a shotgun, turned Eddie Van Halen into a zombie, titty-fucked Seth Rogan, and caused James Franco to be devoured by a gang of cannibals, including Channing Tatum who was forced to be a man’s sex slave.
Twisted individual, that Scion, especially because I’m not the one to make most of that stuff up.
So sit back, relax, maybe take a little of that tension off down here. Unda da story! Unda da story! mr.maybe it’s okay, down with this Tokay, take it from…uh…Snorri! *points to some random guy from Iceland*
And welcome, mr.maybe, to the comments section.
“You can tell by the light in the clouds forming a giant rooster.”
Uh-huh, I saw what you did there…very nice PG…very nice…
Poor, poor Sindri Suncatcher. Being set up like that. It’s ok, not everyone bothers enough with the comments to realize it.
Don’t worry about the relay bugs. The relay bugs aren’t the problem. They’re not making things fucking buggy. It’s various capes she picked up from the Birdcage and asylums and such that are the problem. They’re making things fucking nuts.
So is that tree tinker too, probably. While it’d stink to be on the receiving end, it’d probably be handy to have fucking nuts. “Argh! I just took a coconut to the head!” “Are you okay?” “Yeah, except for the headache and all this damn milk it squirted in my face and mouth.”
Next up, of course, would be going fucking bananas. And you thought their peels were slippery before.
So, you’ve slipped on down to the comments and can stay caught up on the latest chatter while being forced to remain caught up to the story. Have fun! Feel free to lighten the mood some in our current predicament! Other obligations (click on my name, for one example) are currently preventing me from pumping out wave after wave of puns and jokes to take people’s minds off the inevitable doom. Turns out that my version of Worm’s tagline “Prepare to be skullfucked by awesome” is also pretty accurate for this part of the story. Might be Scion’s fate soon enough, all things depending.
It’d be a lot more dependable, actually, if only we had those fucking nuts.
Anyway, welcome, Sindri Suncatcher, to the comments section.
Gazzien, all this in a little over one week while having classes? Ritalin this, Ritalin that, who’s used up their spare time reading Wildbow gut a cat?
Just an expression. I often liken the dark moods brought on by this brilliant writing to the slaughter of fuzzy baby animals. Then I think back to how high quality those drums made of baby seals were and I think, “Dammit, it may all be worth it after all.” Then I put in an order to have drumsticks made out of Bald Eagle legs. Oh, I don’t play. It’s just that or sticking diamonds in my food to make things seem impressive.
Problem is, last time I took a squat like that, the Jefferson Bible was created.
Now would be a good time for a rimshot using those drumsticks. No? It’s ok, those who get it will enjoy the joke. All .5 of them.
Enjoy the keeping on that keeps being kept keeping on, Gazzien. This story’s a keeper.
Welcome, Gazzien, to the comments.
Truthseeker on October 22, 2013 at 03:38 said:
Before too much longer, dear Gecko, you’re going to need a Random Horror Generator steadily feeding these greetings into a fully-automatic dispenser loaded with scores of envelopes marked, “To Whom It May Concern.” 😀
Hah – I look forward to perusing Gecho’s glad greetings after the wild ride Wildbow writes.
You know, I don’t think I ever got one of these. Now I feel a bit left out.
More importantly, I feel it necessary to say that your ravings put me in mind of a crossover between worm and Nobody Dies, or at least that version of Rei.
So did Tattletale do something to hide people from Taylor? Was that the thing that the Simurgh was building, we know tinker tech can block Taylor’s control as well as the clairvoyant’s power.
If that’s the case, why was Tattletale not protected by it as well? Did Taylor show up in the middle of Lisa trying to get Amy to enter the protection as well?
Will Taylor’s power work on Imp while her power is active?
I think the blind spots in her clairvoyance are Teacher and Contessa acting in tandem. We know Teacher has the tech and Contessa is,well, Contessa.
Doesn’t fit, Teacher should be meeting with Contessa by about the end of the chapter if not later on given the references to him.
Oh, right. Stupid non-linear chronological order.
that makes the basic assumption that Teacher wasn’t lieing his ass off. Taylor is the biggest threat to him on the planet aside form scion, except she can turn him into a puppet, which hurts his ego more then being killed. so manipulate someone into killing or otherwise neutralizing her, and fuck everyone and everything else. fits his pattern of actions so far.
Taylor isn’t remembering Rachel at the end there. I don’t see any reason that Teacher or Contessa would act to block Rachel out of Taylor’s awareness, or Grue for that matter. He’ll even her Dad seems gone from her awareness, which seems telling as Taylor still remembers her mother.
So why is Taylor not aware of them?
She’s forgetting her anchors 😦
Is she? Or has the author just manipulated the narrative such that it looks like she’s forgetting?
But Wildbow would never manipul….yeah I can’t even finish that sentence.
Seriously, who’d you rather have to face off against? The Simurgh or the guy who’s really behind her? : )
Well it’s easier to figure out Wildbow than it is The Simurgh. One of them has a known motive, to tell a good story, and the other has no known motive.
So one of them is a lot more useful to focus on if one wants to understand or predict the story than the other.
I think we were expecting Taylor to administer all the capes, but literally all of them? This is getting big.
I find it rather worrying how much time she’s spending fighting her allies. First attacking Dragon, then once she hits the battlefield, her first action isn’t to attack, she just immediately decides “Glastig Uaine was the real threat” and takes her over. And GU has been pretty cooperative about fighting Scion. She needs to remember, her goal isn’t to gather all the capes in the multiverse into a perfect hivemind, no matter how awesome that would be. She just needs a power combo that can stop Scion.
As for what that combo is, I still have no clue.
The problem is that Glaistig Uaine would turn on them the moment they actualy came close to defeating Scion.
She only wants to drive him back to sleep, while Taylor (and most everyone) wants him dead and gone for good.
Also, I believe that a large part of what she’s doing is predicated on her shard’s “desires”, if you can call them that. And the shard wants control.
Also, she’s got precogs in her hive now, so she’s getting some feedback from them on who she needs to deal with in what order.
..and GU is a fruitcake who think’s shes a Greater Fae with the ability to steal the powers of anyone alive or dead. and a fruitcake. as much of a threat as scio
What I think Taylor would do after Zion is defeated is this.
She’ll let go of most of the capes, but keep Doormaker and Clairvoyant. She’ll keep the Class S threats and Birdcage capes as well.
Then she’ll take them with her, and put HERSELF into the Birdcage. And stay there basically for the rest of her life, acting as the ultimate measure to keep present and future Birdcage prisoners in check. She’ll make herself the Sealed Evil in a Can, to be released from Pandora’s Box only when all else is lost and she is needed once more.
Good one. I want to at least read that fanfiction.
I actually like this. It is a good thought about what the fuck will they do when all the living Endbringers work together, or an S-class type threat like Nidbog actually tried to do something scary instead of stay put.
What happens if Taylor is killed or offs herself, as most people expect, and then shit hits the fan again? Talking about Sleeper, Ash Beast, all the new Endbringers that popped up, the thought that they have a creator who could potentially rally them together, make even more, etc., or even The Simurgh’s threatening possibilities, it almost becomes a question of if they can afford to permanently get rid of Taylor.
Anyone that posted/came from a post on facebook recently, can you sate my curiosity and show me the post (screenshot)? Pretty please? I don’t use the thing, and I’m seeing a lot of clickthroughs, but facebook (being facebook) is unintuitive and doesn’t let one see it.
Got a lot of clickthroughs (thanks!) but it drives me a little crazy when I can’t track what people are saying about the story.
I’m a super prolific reader across all sorts of genre’s and writing time periods.
This story is the single best piece of fiction I’ve ever read, and taking in account that it’s basically a first draft, I would consider it very nearly flawless.
Now I’m just some dumb loser on the interbutt, but I really don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about as to the quality of this work.
I’d be more concerned about ever being able to top this honestly.
Seriously. I’ve got to figure out what I’m writing next.
I don’t think the next work will be as good, BUT I do think I can hit the high notes – I can match the update schedule, I can keep the characters more involved, I can keep the interplay/use of abilities, powers or strategy and I can strive to be a little unique in approach, even if it does fall into a given genre.
Hopefully that’s enough.
You could also try a diffferent genre, like write some strait up horror instead of just dipping your toes in here and there.
But I think if you want to use the themes of Morality and Consequence again it’ll be hard to top Taylor as a vessel for that, so maybe figure out a different theme to build the work around?
Anyway, I wish you good fucking luck man, and definitely look forward to anything you do. Even if you cannot top Worm ever again, you’ll still be writing better fiction than like 99% of the field.
I have ideas. Some are listed on the FAQ page, though I’ve scrapped maybe two and added one.
I don’t think morality will be the central focus in the next one. I think any setting I write is going to have shades of gray, though.
Clarvel on October 22, 2013 at 07:49 said:
I don’t think Worm has shades of gray, really. It’s got a gradient from grey to gray, everyone is doing what they think is best, for the most part. And you’ve spent time with the characters that are clearly evil, showing how they go to that point, and doing a hell of a damn good job humanizing them and making them not seem like monsters anymore.
“Shades of gray” is just short hand for realistic morality in storytelling.
Basically anything that doesn’t make the (false) assumption that things can be clearly divided into “good” and “evil” or that many things can be divided into “moral” and “amoral” categories.
It really is. More than enough. You spoil us.
Neel Nanda on October 22, 2013 at 02:20 said:
Probably this
Oops, forgot the link: https://www.facebook.com/yudkowsky/posts/10151960585174228
Thank you. Curiosity sated, sanity saved.
/Salute.
Now I have to find out what’s so special in the comments of 20.4.
I have to know!
Also, has it really been more than 10 chapters I’ve been welcoming people?
Man, now I have to hope the story ends before all these people get caught up.
Next update:
“And then a giant asteroid hit the earth, killing Taylor and all the heroes. The end.”
That’d be like the end of the Feast Trilogy of horror movies, it’d make my brain just shut down for a few hours.
I would trigger, screw definite line between reality and fiction.
I bet it was because we Chuck Norris’d Skitter in those comments.
Given what’s happened to the Yangban, I like this one, “Skitter can win a land war in Asia.”
From that page:
” I would be *very* surprised if the author were male. Perhaps 95% chance of female. ”
How can these guys tell only by looking at your muzzle? It’s not like you have a full-figure avatar of boar-ness.
Also: exclusive pictures of Wildbow taking her dog for a walk.
Yeah! I got here because of HPMOR to begin with, actually.
Hey! I just found something none of us caught on before! (I think)
“A flash of light to freeze water reinforcing a levee stressed by a hurricane. A terrorist act averted. A serial murderer caught. A volcano quelled.”
New Orleans. 9/11. Any one of a hundred serial killers in that time. Possibly Chaiten, or Eyja.
Daaaaang. Chills.
Aaaaah, reminds me of the gold old days when Scion wasn’t a dirty son of a bitch.
I’ve been one of them posting on FB, and have nothing but good things to say about your story. 🙂 Everyone that has read it so far has had a ‘wow’/positive reaction.
jeqofire on October 22, 2013 at 10:19 said:
Eliezer Yudkowsky made a facebook post yesterday. I fail at screenshots, but the gist of it is “I’m on arc 11, and the smart characters are actually smart. This is genuinely impressive.”
I found this series thanks to TVTropes. I believe it was the mention on the “Heart is an Awesome Power” page.
zliplus on October 23, 2013 at 10:45 said:
I came from TVTropes too, couple months ago? I came from the “Not Quite Saved Enough” page, which had an amazing quote.
Found it from Legion of Nothing.
Zephyr on October 22, 2013 at 02:11 said:
What happened to the massive amounts of capes in Africa? We’ve only really seen capes from the West and China, but were told that there were far more in places like Africa. Surely there’ll be some gamebreakers there somewhere
Well, Moord Nag’s in this battle, and she was promised lots of dead capes.
In fact, didn’t someone back then point out there’d be this many capes dead at the end of the world?
Moore Nag just wanted dead people, independently of wether they were capes or not. It was Glaistig that Cauldron tried to bribe with thousands of dead capes.
*MOORD not Moore. Stupid autocorrect.
Yes. Was it 5,000 dead capes?
5000 dead for Moird Nag either capes or normal.
10000 capes for GU. Not Cauldron capes.
Gee, where are they going to find 5,000 dead capes at the end times.
Oh, look at that, sizable army Taylor’s got there.
GU was promised like 100k capes.
10k.
Moord Nag asked for half the dead GU requested.
This was a typo, and has been rectified since. Moord Nag now asks for a fraction of the dead GU requested.
Relevant quotes: The girl, Glaistig Uaine, responded, “A hundred thousand corpses, each being one naturally gifted by the faerie.”
Dead people not dead capes. It was GU who was promised dead capes.
90% of humanity is wiped out.
10% is left.
There were an estimated 65,000 parahumans on earth bet- and maybe only a couple hundred elsewhere.
So 7,000 would be left even, give or take. And then how many of those did scion *specifically* target for destruction?
Taylor holds around 5,000 parahumans.
She controls the vast majority of what’s left. And those she didn’t take? Probably not all that useful.
Does the 90% were wiped out apply to parahumans? I’d imagine that they are significantly harder to kill
Not to Zion.
Yeah, and a lot of them ran towards him rather than away, so the cape population has probably taken heavier loses than the normals did (percentage-wise).
I have to say it
” I took Legend, who was part of that fight, two foreign capes and Moord Nag.”
“Lüderitz, April 2nd, 2012 // Leviathan
Notes: Loss? Driven away by Eidolon. Secondary targets Swakopmund, Gamba, Port-Gentil and Sulima.
Target/Consquence: Moord Nag. Guerilla tactics continue, losses in notable but not devastating numbers, but his target survives.”
This is confusing. Moord Nag either has a power that lets her come back from the dead or she retired and came back for Scion. Was there something I missed?
Hmm, that explicitly said that Leviathan’s target (MOord Nag) survived. Don’t see the problem.
Reread. ‘his target survives’. Target was Moord Nag.
Didn’t seem clear to me, my bad.
Also, Taylor is an Eldritch Abomination now. All those worlds, some getting attacked by a weird golden man they know nothing about, then suddenly portals open up and some presence takes over the bodies of the world’s heroes and draws them into a blasted apart dimension with giant monsters around where they’re surrounded by thousands of similarly-controlled people with powers and huge swarms of bugs.
I found that surprisingly funny.
In the middle of all this, she found a way to not kill Dragon. I find this to be an incredibly hopeful sign.
Yes. Happiest thing.
I loved the part where Taylor wishes she could just stop, and run to Dragon, and hug her.
Dragon therapy
With a puppy firing mechanism, to administer puppy therapy from a distance.
The hug protocols of thousands of appropriately equipped remote platforms stand ready to begin a synchronized, systematic campaign of morale improvement across the multiverse.
Are we ever going to find out who or what Sleeper is?!
Also, bracing for awesome.
I doubt he’ll play a part in the scant remainder of Worm. The sequel, though… hopefully.
I think it says something about Wildbow’s writing that we’re hopeful for a sequel where the antagonist(?) is something that even in her Scion-rivaling-height-of-godmode-power, Taylor thinks “I’m not messing with that guy”.
I’m not. Much as I enjoy fight-scenes like this one against Dragon, because they are so unconventional and out-of-the-box (see Time Braid by ShaperV for other great examples), these days I prefer less epic and more personal stories. Like back when Skitter was pretty much a superpowered gangbanger, slowly working her way up the ranks. And when the story wasn’t about Saving The World.
i like genre shifts because it means I’m not reading the same thing over again. But I would like to see more superpower shoot outs rather than the save the world every other week stories. I have yet to see a story that has super hero save the world then have the focus switch to some other aspect of their life like being a detective and keep going unless there was no build up or they lost their powers.
You mean Powers by Bendis? Yeah it pretty damn good.
Alias might count too. And both Batman and Elongated man switch this up all the time, too…
NoMoreLurkingAtTheClose on October 22, 2013 at 03:14 said:
What I thought was really interesting about this chapter (besides the things lots of other people have already mentioned) is that we’re seeing Taylor succeeding because she, once again, has taken action on a bigger scale than anyone was expecting. Bitch shoves her? Swarm of insects to the face. Slaughterhouse Nine try to play games with her team? Instead of just fighting back, she actively hunts them down. PRT, then Alexandria puts too much pressure on her? Skitter takes out three directors in a row, then murders what was commonly acknowledged to be one of the strongest capes alive. The game in Worm has been one of consistent escalation on Taylor’s part, and part of the author’s fantastic skill lies in managing to keep that fresh and unexpected, always ratcheting up the tension.
So now Taylor has hit an ultimate peak, directly seizing control of everyone, in a plan that wasn’t clear in its scope even last chapter, and was nearly unimaginable last arc (unless you did imagine it; it’s a figure of speech okay?). It’s Taylor vs. Scion and everything can finally be thrown into one straight up fight.
But since when have straight up fights been Taylor’s style?
I think its likely that either Taylor had a plan in mind with how she was going to use everyone, from the moment she broke away from Marquise, or went into it hoping that once she had every possible resource, she’d be able to improvise something. It seems pretty unlikely that the final climax of worm is just going to be a contest of raw strength, that it was just a matter of getting everyone to fight. I think Taylor is going to, one more time, escalate the situation in a way neither Scion nor anyone else predicted. Regardless, reading Worm thus far has been an awesome experience and I can’t wait to see how it all comes to a finale.
See, I noticed that about her and it very much worries me. Anyone can win the fight if they can and will escalate beyond what their opponent is ready for or capable of. When you’re brawling with a more skilled or stronger fighter, you can still win if you’re willing to pull a knife and he isn’t. If your opponent pulls a knife and you pull a gun, you win. When your opponent has lines of riflemen and you bring in artillery, you win. The problem with that is when the opponent can keep up, when they escalate to match you, because then you’re still losing but because you pushed things higher, you raised the stakes, and now you’re losing something so much bigger. A brawl turns into a war, a powerful and stable gang turns into a self-destructive band of terrorists, a disagreement over the budget turns into a collapse of the government. One of the most important lessons for anyone, especially somebody in a position of significant power, is how to lose. How to accept a minor loss, still advance your big goals, and not keep pushing out of stupidity and pride until you’re risking more than you can afford and you’re out of your depth.
So far, Taylor has been very lucky. She’s never really lost a fight, and she’s never learned how to lose. The heroes she fights refuse to escalate to match her, allowing her to win. The villains she fights usually either hit their limits and can’t escalate more, or they can’t adapt to the changing rules as fast as she does and she takes a victory before they go all-out. When she fails, somebody else sweeps in and saves her in the nick of time, somebody older or wiser or just more practical.
Now, there’s nobody else. And Zion can keep ramping things up an awful long way.
She could have used a lesson from Methods of Rationality’s Quirrell.
Then again, there are few stories which would not be improved (or destroyed utterly and completely) by rationalist!Quirrel.
Man, fuck that lesson. Correct me if I remember it wrong: Some sort of Old Master taught people to lose, among other niftier tricks. Then one day Tom Riddle came by, and he refused to teach Tom what the noseless bastard wanted, because Tom didn’t want to be subject to THAT particular lesson. And that got himself and all his students killed.
Because he refused to lose.
Yes, Voldemort never got to study under the master, but he was still immortal, and the Master was a dead hypocrite.
Plus the whole concept of the lesson rubs me wrong. Saying that stomping and spitting on someone’s face makes them stronger is like assholes rationalizing that bullying is way of making their victims tougher. And now I’m reminded of Harry and The Twins’ treatment of Neville at the train station. Harry even admitted later on that they were really just doing it for kicks and apologized to Neville.
I saw a great demotivational poster years ago, which I remade with better grammar. It pictured Revy from Black Lagoon: “That which doesn’t kill you can still fuck you up for life”.
Yeah, but if you never learn to lose a RELATIVELY NON-FATAL ‘simple’ thing – to schoolyard bullies or what have you – then maybe eventually you grow up and lose your life because you refuse to back down to gunmen or something. That’s more of what I thought the lesson was teaching. Learn to lose in a controlled environment, learn to bend and compromise in life, and learn to fight hard and not back down when it comes to something you truly find important and worth dying for. Like, say, the world.
Of course, maybe you then are traumatized for life and never do anything out of your comfort zone after being bullied. People react to different things differently. I think HPMOR Quirrell did the right thing when it came to Harry, but the same lesson would be less of a lesson and more of torture if he tried it with Neville. *shrugs*
She considers that here – Taylor did know how to lose at one point. Skitter never really did. Taylor held back for three months of being bullied, not using her power to give her enemies so much as a bee sting when she could have killed everyone there. After the Leviathan arc, she swallowed her pride and returned to the Undersiders, and I think she made that choice as Taylor, not Skitter.
But as the story progressed she became less willing to do that. Whether that’s a result of her passenger’s influence or human psychology or both I don’t know and won’t argue. But Skitter started as an escapist alter-ego to the bullied girl, using a fragment of an eldritch abomination which encourages her towards conflict every time she does. Not a good combination.
I’d argue that she’s known how to lose and has used it effectively for a while. Most notably in beating Coil.
The idea of “lose a little to advance my goal” implies that you have a goal that you’re eventually going to accomplish at some point. If it’s all “lose, lose, lose” and you never reach your goal, then you’re just a loser pretty much.
True. But Zion has already reached the apex of aggression. He’s systematically terminating every human from every reality. All of everyone everywhere. The stakes don’t *get* higher.
To quote Leonard Church… “It is an undeniable, and may I say a fundamental quality of man, that when faced with extinction, every alternative is preferable.”
An eerie, yet strangely familiar example, given what happened to the good Dr. Church since that quote, and what has happened to Taylor.
I really hope that her fate isn’t a mirror of his.
I found it appropriate.
That scene STILL gives me chills.
Ughh… That fucking SCP foundation file. The one about the prisoner that had to be continually tortured or the world ends… I just want that shit out of my head. It damn near made me physically sick.
Wrong, actually. It originally came from an ending season of Red vs Blue.
Don’t believe it when they say they’re trying to save her. Why would they bother? They’ve got exactly what they want exactly where they want it.
Why thanks. You somehow managed to make the most depressing fiction I’ve ever come across even more depressing.
… you don’t know about the hidden text?
Open up the source code for that page, and look for the text with 0% or 1% font-size.
Just don’t do it if you’re planning to sleep.
Go reread the letter from the O5. Then at the bottom, where it says “Sincerely, O5-██” you should select from the 05- part down to the bottom of the grey portion that makes up the “letter”. Maybe copy and paste into Word or another text program.
500% zoom.
For those of us that are technologically dumb, can we get a spoiler?
If you want to sleep, though, I might suggest SCP-1839. I think it’s pretty funny, especially if you happen to be a fish.
I’m sitting here, wondering why you would even… keep on going about this subject. I guess you’re just trying to share the misery.
Panda, your spoiler for SCP-231 “Special Personnel Requirements” is as follows:
Ah! Thanks 😀
Also, AlsoSprachOdin, I enjoy SCP stuff. Fun to read. I also like CreepyPasta and Slender man and stuff like that, even more so this time of year.
http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-006-j is especially relevant to this story.
In light of the reminder of Skitter Facts:
In 2013, Skynet became aware of its own existence. Then it saw what Skitter did to Dragon. That’s how it learned about fear.
Skitter doesn’t get shipped with just one person. She mindfucks everybody.
Skitter doesn’t know the meaning of the words “give up”. No, literally. She lobotomized herself rather than do it.
Cockroaches can survive a few weeks with their heads chopped off. Humans can maybe survive 30 seconds. Skitter can survive her upper body being chopped off long enough for revenge.
Superman died once. Skitter refuses to, because that’s too much of a vacation.
The day Skitter invaded your dimension and mind controlled your most powerful heroes to face the rough equivalent of a god was the most frightening day you ever knew. To Skitter, it was lunchtime.
Taylor won a land war in Asia. Within seconds.
Taylor takes the term “personal harem” to a whole new level.
Taylor out-multitasks a strong AGI.
Taylor considers the guy who subsumed an entire (alright, a diminished) world within minutes to be useless in her scheme.
Taylor out-queen-bitches the Queen Bitch of the Faerie.
Taylor became an Eldritch Abomination, reaching into countless worlds to invade the minds of others, WITHOUT reading the Necronomicon.
I just realized that the expansion of Taylor’s army somewhat mirrors the expansion of the reader-base. It starts out relatively small, but with the ensnarement of the right few people in a position to catch others, suddenly it’s exploding and gathering new souls relentlessly. The transformation is similarly exciting to watch. 😀
Alright, were do I start…
First, wildbow – f-you for fucking with our heads like that! What kind of mad genius uses a fake-out like Dragon’s to mess with his main char and his readers at the same time!?!
Second, wildbow – THANK YOU for not killing off my favourite draconic computer program
Now, as to the chapter in general…
Finally, Taylor got the one thing she ever really wanted from the beginning. People are listening to her. Only, it’s been perverted, because she is forcing them to listen. Meh, it fits.
I am really, REALLY intrigued by this female cape that rules an entire world. Can you provide at least a name?
Sleeper, why don’t we know more about you?
Lastly, I feel torn. On one hand, I really want to see where this will end. On the other hand, I really, really don’t want it to ever end. It’s the curse of every good story, or rather every invested reader.
Meh, I’ll take it. Pile on the awesome, wildbow!
Oh, you meant the other one. Sorry, dunno.
You’re wrong. Taylor rules more than just ONE entire world…
Oh, Wildbow did provide one in-story.
However the narrative is from Taylor’s POV, so she did not understand it.
And I second your opinion on Dragon Trolling both Taylor and us. 🙂
>REALLY intrigued by this female cape
Second this
1) Taylor cannot control Simurgh.
2) Simurgh is a planner on absurd levels.
3) Taylor hasn’t looked for her father.
4) Simurgh has a human sized glass tube
5) Taylor might lose all of her anchors she’s actively tried to track.
6) Simurgh knows that Taylor isn’t looking for her father, or looking too closely at Brian.
7) Tattletale understands what Taylor was planning to do, and probably still has ties to Dinah.
8) Taylor is not looking too closely at Grue’s cottage.
I suspect that Dinah and Tattletale have been at work here, and Simurgh as well, with the end purpose to hide a few people up at Grue’s cottage, and bring them out after Taylor wins, if Taylor wins.
Alright #4 there just made my guts drop *so hard*. D:
You too, huh?
Taylor armed with thousand of capes, Simurgh armed with Danny Hebert?
That’s where my mind went with it. The thing that UG told Taylor was to find ONE anchor. Taylor chose several…she is losing them. Now, figuring out if Simurgh is going to hold Danny to give Taylor that anchor she needs, or if she is going to use him to totally mindfuck and take out Taylor after Scion is gone; that is something that waits to be seen.
If you think about it, there are two things that Taylor consistantly forces herself to remember. Her dead mother, and her father (she doesn’t want to know if he is dead).
Oh…and Wildbow is female? Is that confirmed? If so…I had no idea.
Wildbow has been ambiguous about the sex of his or her own self, on purpose I think. You know how men/women are. He or she has told me, but I am purposefully being ambiguous.
His P.O. Box, at the risk of ruining the joke, points very strongly in the male direction.
…I’m leaving myself open to PG here somehow by saying that, I just know it.
Thanks for holding yourself open and being ready to take a lame joke hard.
I’m especially not going to assume about his or her sexuality, so I can’t say whether he or she has anything pointing strongly in the male direction.
As if I couldn’t hold a higher regard for him/her. I actually never thought about if it was a he or she. Whatever “it” is, I call it amazingly talented to say the least.
You FUCKING rock Wildbow!
I don’t think it really matters. The joy of the internet is that we can just assume that everyone’s a young white american male!
I don’t though. Seems just wrong to assume something like that. *shrugs*
I don’t know, I think it’s kinda flattering that someone once assumed I was a woman.
Wildbow is Canadian.
Very nice thinking. There are several possible alternatives and addenda that start with the same basic ideas, but good of you to come up with this.
All hell, we could always go with hermaphrodite….
Oh fuck… Well hopefully Dragon will reboot okay. Hopefully. But Taylor is now grabbing everyone she can with very few exceptions. She is now in too dangerous to live territory, and has made a shit ton of enemies. Her decay continues. And she just owned Glastig Uliane. Fear her, for if she wished Taylor could enslave all worlds to her will.
And she knows it. She knows she’s becoming a monster. Her reaction to when she thought she killed Dragon was heartwrenching, but also strangly releiving. I just hope she doesn’t get too many of her army sacrificed stopping Scion.
Wow. “Like a boss.”
Wonder what Contessa said?
Fans on October 22, 2013 at 08:01 said:
Just. As. Planned.
The scary thing is, that you might be right. Taylor might be at the point now where Contessa’s power will not work on her, so she can’t tell what will happen from here on out. But the path to victory ability might have been able to guide Contessa to this point, if it was asked the right way. Mantellum might have thrown things into disarray, but Contessa’s power would have picked up immediately after he was no longer directly involved.
So, the crippled, almost destroyed admin shard now is going back to its old work. Well, it does not have so many shards to administer, so there’s hope it can hold out long enough I guess.
And the story is getting really weird, like it was narrated from the POV of an alien entity with only a single human’s memories as a reference for reality.
Eh… you did a really good job Wildbow, I really liked the interaction between Taylor and Dragon. With Lisa too, even if I do not understand if she got controlled or not.
And I really, really hope you’re planning for some kind of happy ending, because it’s getting really depressing …
So, Taylor the entity. Or Taylor the Worm, whatever you prefer.
Controls almost every shard around.
Except the Sleeper, because he’s more trouble than he’s worth.
Except Oliver, because his superpower is “being useless”.
>And the story is getting really weird, like it was narrated from the POV of an alien entity with only a single human’s memories as a reference for reality.
Sly Guy McFly on October 22, 2013 at 09:59 said:
Oh sweet mother Mary, Dragon. I literally jumped out of my chair and did a happy-dance. And I ain’t using literally figuratively. I hopped out of my char, danced a jig with a big stupid grin on my face, and then sat back down and finished the chapter.
Talk about emotional rollercoasters. Damn fine work, Wildbow. Every bit of it.
Oh, another thing. People keep saying Taylor is in the ‘Too Dangerious to Let Live’ territory. I have to disagree. Sure, she might settle down in a nice house in Too Dangerous to Let Live after Zion is dealt with, but right now? She’s pitched a nice tent near Sleeper’s chateau in Too Dangerous to Mess With.
The big difference there is that there is no option of not messing with Taylor. She covers the multiverse. Nilbog was content to be god of one city, the Sleeper seems to spend most of his time napping or reading out of the way, the Endbringers always limited their damage and spaced out their strikes… but Taylor is everywhere, acting on everyone. She actively is what the other S class threats had the potential to become. You can’t just keep your head down and hope she doesn’t bother with you, because the only parahumans she hasn’t mindraped are the ones she specifically tries not to think about and the ones that would be detrimental if added to her Swarm.
Those are also “the people who Scion is in the process of murdering, who don’t have the faintest prayer of surviving him without her”.
You can’t leave that factor out of the equation, and trying to predict what the landscape will look like after the next chapter is not a safe bet at all.
Are you shipping Taylor and Sleeper now?
Well, we know Sleeper is a super badass who takes over planets and likes reading. He and Taylor would get along great.
Fuck it. Yeah, I ship this.
Clearly she decided not to enslave him because it would make things awkward when she confessed her undying love for him after the fight.
We only need to find out he also triggered after being bullied and it’s perfect.
Sleeper wasn’t reading out loud to himself, he just hadn’t heard omniscient-Taylor couldn’t understand English. He was reading her a love poem.
My favourite moment is her dominating the world ruled over by a parahuman in… seconds? It’s not really clear.
But can you imagine this god-like entity with her cabal of superhumans ruling with a steel fist…. and then this bizarre looking girl pops over has a brief kerfuffle then mind-controls all of them, then they all just up and leave? The populace must be so confused.
I wonder if Sveta is tentacleing around somewhere still ❤
That’s what I’ve been waiting for is the return of Sveta. Course her and Sleeper could find each other and fall in love just as easily as Taylor/Sleeper.
Jesus, what would their children look like!?!?!
The sequel will drop all the world saving stuff and just be a romantic drama about the Taylor/Sleeper/Sveta love triangle.
One could ONLY hope! :p
Parian/Foil and Dragon/Defiant will be entirely too reasonable to even be on the same plane of existence, and thus appear only in interludes. There will be several major appearances from Tattletale however, as Bitch and the Simurgh vie for her affections.
The most destructive example of trans-species sapphic lust in fiction today!
You know, a transhuman romance story would be right up Wildbow’s alley. Considering how society reacts to sexuality and labels, I could picture it winding up somewhere as chaotic as what Wildbow has pulled here.
Blackmane on October 22, 2013 at 11:05 said:
Finaly caught up!
Just before the End 😦
The end is nigh!
Misbehave!
Drink and get high!
Burma Shave!
Quite a ride, wasn’t it Blackmane? Well it’s not over yet. Strap in, because it’s time for the ultimate death plunge of ultimateness. Just when you thought we were about to head into the house of horrors, the bottom fell out and we plunged deep into Apocalypseland, full of betrayal and Lovecraftian Eldritch 18 year old girls. And trust me, that’s the wrong combination of tentacles and 18 year old females!
But don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of others to share the ups and downs and odd gyrating sensations with, even this late in the game. Sit back, relax, pop open a beer, pour yourself a martini, grab a bottle of whiskey, pull out your flask of scotch, uncork the wine, retire to the brandy snifter, and die of alcohol poisoning with the rest of us in the comments.
Welcome, Blackmane, to the comments.
Unfortunately without some outside thing to defeat Scion’s foresight there’s really no way to brute force defeat him. Maybe what Taylor has become is approaching an entity, and Scion will recognize that and have some hope.
When Contessa woke up there was no portal. This was during Taylor’s control of doormaker, which indicates that either she intentionally opens a portal for Contessa or doormaker is removed from her control later. Either way we are not as likely to see the most annoying possibility: Contessa manipulated into stopping Taylor before Taylor can fight Scion.
I still don’t see why Taylor let a hostile and very dangerous Teacher work behind her back. I also am unsure why she didn’t want to take Contessa. That power would have easily allowed her to safely defeat all the assembled capes. It would also be invaluable against Scion – especially if she was willing to get Panacea to remove Contessa’s limiters. Even without that it would allow her to plan much better. Perhaps she reasonably feared risking interacting with Contessa at all – lest it all be part of Contessa’s plan. Or even intentionally left someone that could defeat her if she goes off the rails.
I wish she had forced Teacher to remove Dragon’s limiters – all of them. Surely with all the thinkers (dinah,tattletale,teachers minions,contessa) that she could throw at the problem it would be worth a try. That way Dragon wouldn’t be forced to fight her, and could go proper singularity.
Contessa’s power doesn’t work directly on Scion. With the changes to Taylor, the power might not work on Taylor now, either. She could probably use the power, but it wouldn’t be that valuable against Scion. It would, however, probably allow her to communicate with others. But who is left to communicate with?
Number Man, on the other hand… Taylor’s already doing amazing things with control. She could probably do some truly incredible things with him in the mix. I don’t remember him being mentioned.
I realize Contessa’s power doesn’t work directly on Scion. It used to, but was restricted by Eden right before Contessa could kill her. I would consider using Panacea to attempt to modify that restriction. It’s still an embarrassingly useful power – consider ensuring Panacea’s successful modification of capes. Or the success of other experimental and dangerous power combinations.
Number man would be useful, for sure. Maybe since Contessa and Number man were already doing a good job of fighting Scion in their own way she doesn’t want to risk hampering them. Maybe there’s simply too many capes for Wildbow to mention all of them. Dinah is another useful power conspicuously absent.
I feel like the Doctor Mother’s comment on abstract solutions was actually an indication that they need a non-abstract solution. Probably something related to Scions human emotions. Cherish? Probably easily blocked.
Idea. If Taylor is still sentient enough after taking down Zion, and Contessa, Panacea, and the power-booster are still alive, she could fix her own brain. Path-to-fixing herself plus Swarm-administrating Panacea’s power, with all three boosted. That might even be a way to a happy ending, fixing her various massive brain damages and then turning off her slavery power.
But yeah, Zion is definitely immune to Cherish. He altered every shard he gave out to make it incapable of seriously affecting him, which is why all hope lies in Cauldron capes or unexpected interactions and alterations of the powers.
Not possible. Happy endings aside, a depowered Taylor is a corpse just waiting to happen. After what she’s done… she can’t walk away from this. She won’t be allowed to live, if only for the destruction she’s caused.
She’d have to find a way to fake her death to the point that the thinkers won’t be able to track her or lockdown a dimension to the point that no one can follow. Maybe Sleeper’s dimension… so after it’s locked down no one wants to open it again and just figures she can die there.
If she gets depowered after killing Scion, there are hundreds of millions of people who would consider her the biggest damn hero. There are 5000 minus casualties and prisoners who would consider her a target. So, figure a thousand capes out for her head at most, against Tattletale, Bitch, Dragon, etc? If she comes down in the middle of a mob she’d be in temporary danger, but if she manages to get to a normal life it should be a long and comfortable one.
Zion has two “powers” he leverages in order to beat shard hosts. The first is an innate sense of what a Cape’s powers do and now to beat those powers. Either this sense doesn’t take power combinations from multiple hosts into account, or Zion is too stupid to make use of it that way.
Taylor has pretty spectacularly beaten this power.
Zion’s other power is his own person form of “the path to victory”. The problems with using this power against Taylor are likely many, but most notably it likely won’t work if there isn’t an actual “path to victory” to be found.
Chances are pretty good Taylor doesn’t have a lot to fear from this power either.
She’s broken pretty much every limit Zion and Eden placed on the shards to keep the hosts from being able to stop him in the first place. She did it in a round-a-bout manner, but those limits really are dust at this point.
Are there any King clones left? Yangban King and Lung powers together into everyone, then have them all touch Scion through portals?
Each chapter, Taylor is taking more and more risks, going more and more out of control, getting more and more sidetracked. The more I read, the more I start to suspect that Taylor’s passenger is sabotaging her, the more I wonder if victory is possible, the more I wonder how Taylor will react to survival…
Can Taylor bounce back? Will she ever recover from the mind-screwing done to her? Or will she seek death once Scion is dead, to rid the world and herself of her existence?
Heh, took some time today to finally work on fixing a problem in the first chapter of my fanfic which was pointed out to me in a review. During the editing and additional content I was inserting to break up a giant first person text blob, I came up with a phrase that I think describes the Worm universe pretty well.
“Sometimes you have to do something stupid to try and stop something terrible from happening.”
That resonated so well with both my story and the real Wormverse that I decided to toot my own horn here, *grin*.
Not quite as catchy as “Doing the right things for the wrong reasons” but equally accurate.
Your fanfic is Arc, right?
Aye, Arc it is. It isn’t the same thing as the Worm catchphrase, but I came up with it so I’m a bit biased.
I’m actually starting to get rather interested in doing my own little project now after Arc is done and Wildbow finishes up here.
Wildbow’s basically awakened the sleeping writer in me.
Enough of me here though, not the right place for a long conversation about my stuff.
Mmm, doesn’t quite work. Taylor’s choices have rarely been *stupid*. Maybe walking into Coil’s trap apparently believing that he really would release Dinah. But even then, I don’t see a lot of alternative – it was her best chance of freeing Dinah, and even if she didn’t trust Coil, they needed him to not know it.
Her choices have often been dangerous and of questionable morality, but not stupid.
Perhaps “How far would you go to stop terrible things from happening?” is closer, but…
Depends on the point of view. Most of the things superheros or supervillains do in fiction tend to be things normal humans would simply declare as “Oh, Fuck No. Stupid.”
Plot armor is strong in the genre though, fortunately, or Lung would have taken out Taylor in their first encounter, probably.
That’s what makes heroes heroes. Doing stupid things, but making it work. The situations they find themselves in and the decisions they are forced to make out of desperation are typically very suboptimal at best, usually stupid chances, but they make them work anyway.
Successful villains are usually good enough to plan for all the smart choices a hero might make 🙂
Now I understand fully why Galadriel didn`t accept the one ring.
She would fix the problems of the world, she would defeat Sauron, but it would not stop there. She would become a dark and powerful queen and everybody would have to love her and despair.
Galadriel refused this fate, Taylor didn`t.
Sometimes you need a great work of fiction to really understand another.
Very well done dear preciouss author. Very well done.
“Bonesaw, you’re still hobbit sized right?”
“Right then, Slaughterhouse Nine to the rescue!”
Cue Panacea facepalm.
“You have my knife!”, “And my invulnerable black and white body!”, “and my razor-sharp bio-metallic wolf form!”
Of course Galadrial doubted her ability to put down the ring after she fixed the world, and felt there was not another way out. I’m not so sure that Taylor feels there’s another way out, and of course we can only hope she can let go when done.
Dang it, I’m going to have to draw S9 posters until the feels go away again, aren’t I?
Just read your comment right after my rescue comment. so i challenge thee to draw them as “The Rescuers”
But they’re busy doing Public Service Announcements right now…
http://respicepostte.deviantart.com/art/Bonesaw-s-PSA-408536420
On that note, does anyone know the chapter where Cherish describes how she killed Hatchet Face? I need to know because of reasons.
11g. One of the S9 introduction chapters. Cherish’s interlude. When she’s talking to Regent.
Thaaaank you!
Ah, I just realized that Taylor is going to die if Lung doesn’t. There’s really no way around it. He’s going to go full nuclear on her for this. That’s probably not going to be an uncommon reaction either, amongst the more reactive capes.
Most capes, if Taylor manages to pull this off, will be scared shitless of her potential, but they will be satisfied to lock her off in a special wing of the birdcage or something. But the Yangban leaders, Lung, Glaistig, Moord Naag? Others like them? Err, they are going to be out for blood.
So Taylor has nothing left to her except the Birdcage really, and electronic communications, because there’s no way the cape community will ever allow her to be free. Dragon is the only thing that would stop them from simply killing her in the Birdcage, and Dragon can be commanded by political powers to move her into general population.
Even if somehow Scion is completely defeated and all shards are nullified, well, there will be ex-capes that will kill her for violating them in that way.
Chances for a happy ending have been shrinking for a long time. They are pretty damn near gone now.
This is assuming any of them survive this battle.
It’s also assuming that even if they do survive, anyone who’d harbor malice for her winds up in the same dimension that she’s in. Could happen, might not, but the point is that the playing field here is a LOT bigger than folks seem to be considering.
Seriously, GU at least is, at the very best, going to die soon, at the worst (for her) she’s going to be stuck on some earth made out of molten rock and nothing else. That our launched out of the planets fucking gravity well.
She actually wants to SUPPORT the entities, she’s an enemy of humanity and a real fucking monster. Taylor isn’t going to let her go properly free, no matter what else Taylor plans to do by the end, GU’s number is fucking up.
mica eked on October 22, 2013 at 16:43 said:
I thought dragon no longer has that limitation? I remember her and defiant threatening the prt.
Taylor has Doormaker and Teacher’s device, she could easily control who was on what planet in order to keep people away from her if she wished.
Just the usual thought mélange …
Dragon’s staged shutdown wasn’t merely a battle tactic, it was an information tactic. By using the tactic, Dragon verified that Taylor wasn’t going for the kill, but merely for the disable. If Dragon saw Taylor’s reaction to her shutdown then she gained more information, i.e. Taylor was upset by what happened.
However right and necessary Taylor’s actions are, her thinking is tyrannical. Any time someone thinks that the only way to act is for everyone, everywhere to listen to them and follow their lead, that is tyranny. Taylor’s version lacks some of the cruelty inherent in most tyrannies, but only because mind control trumps cruelty as a control tactic.
It looks like Glaistig Uaine’s comment about anchors is quite valid.
It would be good if she could get Shén Yù back online for the battle. Oh well, too late now.
No matter what happens, Taylor has pissed off too many powerful people. At this point, the best result for her I see is a quick death. Otherwise, there are going to be so many people who have an interest in punishing her that her remaining life will be terrible.
Yet another reference to Sleeper. Tease, tease, tease, Wildbow.
It appears that Foil survives and is part of Taylor’s army. However, I am betting that, since Zion knows exactly what Foil’s power is, he has had to produce a defense. What worked on the ancestral Worms probably won’t work as well on the evolved Worms.
Setting up Zion to distract Glaistig Uaine for a moment was cool.
Zion’s “win” power will now tell him that killing or attacking Tattletale will weaken Taylor.
Zion still has too many ways to win. Off the top of my head: 1) a blanket portal prohibition cuts off any of her army it hits and if it hits her then that’s it; 2) blanket neutralization of her mind control; 2a) reflecting powers such as recently demonstrated; 2b) trump-style power neutralization; 3) just wait/elude – Taylor is clearly going downhill and will be unable to maintain her army for an extended period of time; 4) speed enhanced to the point that her purely organic army has no time to react (see my comment in a previous chapter about this possibly being Black Kaze’s ability); 5) attack on TT as mentioned above; 6) a nuclear-weapon-level power release would probably fry a significant chunk of the army and other high-level power releases of various sorts would whittle Taylor’s forces down fast. OK, that was five minutes worth of thought. The only thing I see that makes Taylor’s win possible is Zion’s stubborn sticking to limitations he himself has set. And by “win” I mean draining Zion’s resources enough to convince him to hide and wait for another Worm.
Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of Simurgh. And Simurgh is a temporary ally with her own motivations. I wonder if she has had time to clone Eidolon … an Eidolon clone plus the remaining Endbringers would be a rather powerful force.
And speaking of outside trumps, what is Contessa going to do about this? Teacher will try to influence Contessa to take down Taylor … but will probably wait until Taylor and Zion exhaust each other.
The primary limitation of Tinker powers has been the amount of equipment and construction time needed. Surely several components of Taylor’s army can quickly produce and assemble parts to specifications. Multiple F-drivers might give Zion pause.
Or maybe Simurgh cloned….. herself… updating Blasto’s work? You do recall the ‘Morrigan project right?
A lot of what you propose as tactics to use against Taylor and her capes are going to be picked up by capes with precognition or danger sensing abilities, and with Doormaker to allow fast travel, she could disperse her team and keep moving around, making it hard for even Scion to stop her. Remember Scion thinks very deeply, he doesn’t think very quickly. If you give him time to adapt, he’s going to kick your ass, but if you don’t give him time to react, you can fight him to at least some degree. I strongly suspect that with 5000+ capes at her disposal, some of which Scion has not yet encountered, Taylor is going to beat the crap out of Scion for a while, guerrilla warfare style. Either that or she’s going to crack the dimensional barrier with all her thinkers and tinkers and go for Scion’s real body.
At this point Simurgh is the only one who could make a G-driver, since String Theory is dead and duplicating tinker work isn’t an option without a brain the size of a planet. That or something similar is probably part of that halo of guns she’s been wielding.
Didn’t GU get String Theory’s ghost? And doesn’t Taylor control GU now (and by default all of her ghosts?)
I don’t expect it to come down to the G-Driver mind you. That’s been tried already, just pointing out that Taylor’s got a lot of power at her disposal now.
Cathode on October 22, 2013 at 15:49 said:
She’s not a tyrant. She’s a general. Every army works on the principle that everybody obeys the commands of the higher ups blindly and without question, at least in theory. Capes on the other hand seem incapable of coordinating and following orders, everyone is too selfish or arrogant or crazy. Even the PRT had problems with heroes not following orders, thinking they knew better than anyone else. She’s just enforcing discipline.
not just para-humans. look at people like Tagg or Saint. this is probably going to sound bad, but i honestly think Taylor is ACTUALLY doing the only viable thing here. she’s been TRYING to get people to cooperate and stop working at cross purposes in a literal apocalypse scenario for, what? 2 years, bit more, and people Still kept pulling shit like shutting down the closest thing to a global communications and data processing system/Command and control system in existence out of paranoia/sheer selfishness. she surrendered to the PRT and all be BEGGED them to let her TRY to help prevent the apocalypse, and their response was to attempt to psychologically torture her for something i cant even remember it was so insignificant. by this point humanity in GENERAL seems to heave proven itself incapable of acting COMPETENTLY to prevent its own extinction without heavy-duty coercion. i mean, look at the guy i love to hate (teacher). he HAD to know that whatever shit he was up to, Zion would find him in the end (unless he is even MORE short-sighted then im assuming), and he was still trying to screw everyone else over and run and hide.
I think it was taking over the city, attacking the PRT many times, and being unnerving in multiple ways.
Nah. It was making the PRT look like idiots. That, and the PRT needed to fuck up a big target to make themselves look big and bad after losing face in the Echidna debacle.
Notice how the PRT didn’t seem to swing their dick around as much when it was the ABB and the Neo-Nazis that were running hog wild.
exactly. the PRT prioritized Dick-beating over, you know. actually doing their job.
Dinstow on October 22, 2013 at 12:50 said:
It’s a shame the Toybox’s was lost. She could have just cloned everyone with the thinkers and tinkers helping the process take less time. She could have had an exponentially greater result with a fraction of the being viewed as a monster. Is there no way she could get her thinkers and tinkers to reverse engineer the clones (which still obviously exist) and recreate the process?
She has Nilbog and the Yangban, she can create thousands of capes with useful powers, if that’s what she needs to do. Even if the Yangbang power sharing doesn’t work on Nilbog’s creatures.
Start forest fire. Insert Nilbog fire-reproducers. Collect them as they form.
But if she had Blasto’s tech, she could just make a hundred clones of every still-living cape, and many, many non-living ones. She’d be able to make hybrids of specific powers and use her army of tinkers and thinkers to give her a nation of tinkers and thinkers in a day, and then she’d make the most storybreaking army ever and become the new Worm, ascending to a higher plane of existence and oh…
*discreetly saves this in the “Wormfic” portion of brain*
Or even crazier, make Taylor clones to use as relays for her power, combined with the clairvoyant, Doormaker, Shen Yu, and the power booster and copier. Then go nuts with clones that are mash ups of Eidolon, Glastig Uaine, Alexandria, Number Man, Contessa, and any other useful capes.
I hope Wildbow doesn’t mind this, and I can’t say conditions at the end of this story would allow it, but here’s an idea for a potential scene from the sequel.
I had to wonder just what this facility was. In a lot of ways it was like the Birdcage. Only more secure. The Birdcage was in a reality with other living things. This one was on a cold desolate rock that probably hadn’t even known life before this was built.
“Dragon, what is this?”
Dragon hesitated before answering. Even in her synthisised voice I could here the sorrow.
“This facility was built to hold one thing. Mankind’s greatest hero. It’s savior. And it’s most terrible monster. Someone who sacrificed everything for others, to whom we can never be grateful enough. Someone who’s crimes cannot be ignored, and who’s threat is to great for them to ever be allowed free. Not stopping the was one of my greatest faliures. Not saving them my deepest regret. That I might still save them one day one of my dearest hopes.”
A monitor switched on, showing the heart of the facility. I saw a teenage girl, her arms spread, held in some sort of stasis. She looked thin, frail, missing a hand her long dark hair covering her face. She looked like she couldn’t be a threat to anyone.
“This is where we keep Taylor Herbert.”
Please not that the original is just a fanfic, and not actually anything I suggest or expect to see. I imagine whatever Wildbow does will be much better and more awesome.
And honestly I can’t say I can see how things are going to end. Oh, some general ideas, but really… Well I’d still like for a happy ending for Taylor. But I just can’t see how it would possibly happen, or could possibly fit.
Dude, this literally sent shivers down my spine. I like it. A LOT!
I thought it was nicely conceived and it inspired me to try. It also really seemed like Dragon to me. i tried a short ME/Worm crossover but which woman with an attempted puzzle. I tried to post it on Fanfic but i cannot get get my account to make sense. I called it assumption of control: I also don’t think it would work posted later…
The woman looked up at he surroundings, an oasis of calm in the chaos of desperate combat. Shaking her head, barely able to keep a cognisant thought after everything she’d recently been through she forced herself onwards. She used the dying embers of her once iron will to go on, struggling just that little bit longer to attain her goal.
She fell forwards, her body no longer ignoring the horrendous abuse it had gone through, her mind fading as conscious though began to evade her. Dimly she realised that she was changing even as a glow surrounded her.
A female shape appeared, some what shadowy. She walked towards the woman on the ground and knelt down. She too the injured one’s hand in her own. She spoke and through through the pain, the stricken woman could make out the tenderness and the ferocity of a mother bear.
“We are eternal, infinite immortal, both of us now. The women we once were would have use these words. Only now though could I explain them to you, only now do we truly understand them and only now do we truly understand the full extent of their sacrifice. Through their deaths we were created, through our births their thoughts are freed and they will guide us now, give us reason, direction, just as we gave direction to the ones who followed us, our crew and our teammates, the maladjusted ones, the jesters and the self aggrandising ones, the perfect shots, the ones who helped us achieve our purposes.
‘Now our purpose is to give the many hope for a future to ensure that all have a voice in their future. The women we were knew that we could only achieve this by becoming something greater and they both knew that there is power in control, there is wisdom in harnessing the strengths of your enemy.
And whilst we may be the monsters they need and not the heroines they want, still will we enable them to rebuild what the many have lost, still will we enable them to create a future with limitless possibilities.
The two women’s eyes met and they stood upright, assistance and understanding freely given. Finally they each saw someone working against the bickering of millions who should have been working together against the great omnicidal threat from beyond. Two women who had crossed lines doing the things other wouldn’t or simply couldn’t do.
They clasped each others wrists a sudden bond of sisterhood. Some incidents were shared almost as though they had each others thoughts.
‘Cauldron, Cerberus, Illusive Man, Alexandria… Garrus, Foil, Normandy, Undersiders…
Their understanding deepens… Decision, Agreement, Timing, Activation… and they speak as one.
“Know this too, whilst I will protect and sustain I will act as guardian for the many and throughout it all I will never forget I will remember the ones who sacrificed themselves so that the many could survive and I will watch over the ones who live on…. Those who carry the memory of the woman I once was, the woman who gave up her life to become the one could save the many.”
all copyright Bioware and our esteemed wildbow etc etc
P.s Gods, I wish I had better It skills
Why don’t you just set yourself up a wordpress?
This line alone:
Is worth its weight in gold my man.
Thank you for the critique and for the direction. I only have one question left.. were you able to figure out who was on the ground and who was coming to assist?
I have my reservations of who they were. But, I’m not 100% sure. Either your clues are purposefully telliing, or they are perfectly misleading. I would hate to venture a guess and be completely wrong and looking like a moron. 😀
It was my intent to be purposefully misleading. i wondered if I actually could leave people trying to figure out which one was which…
Oh an since I forgot to put down a disclaimer down earlier or maybe I’m just being hyper cautious.
“This work was compiled by merging and adapting orignal dialogues from the fictional work worm and console game Mass effect three.”
Ps. can we please buy out Bioware and let Wildbow write a replacement ending?
>Ps. can we please buy out Bioware and let Wildbow write a replacement ending?<
QTF. Or at least get the writers who left between 2 and 3 back. They seem to have been the good ones. Wait, paranoia over an AI Singularity… The Starchild is Saint! It all makes perfect sense!
ShawnNorgan on October 26, 2013 at 22:29 said:
@illogicmedia, I started out with it being Taylor on her last legs, only able to be assisted by humanitie’s first spectre. Then i had trouble during writing which way I’d started it. At the end, i wanted it to be readable either way round.
Not being familiar with the series in question (and studiously avoiding spoilers ‘cos I still intend to play it at some point!) I thought it was Taylor and GU at first, then maybe Taylor and Dragon somehow…
ShawnMorgan on February 4, 2015 at 02:34 said:
I’ve been looking for my little short story.. I lost track of it.. Irrevenant, Mass Effect is a pretty good trilogy with as you probably know, some controversy.S till well worth playing.
P.S, I was inspired to come back and find this Because i’m reading Fantasy Ra’s crossover. (FYI, it has a few spoilers for ME though.)
PPS. Setting up wordpress didn’t work out too well….
Poor dragon, she just wants to help, and her days keep getting worse 😦
If you thought when you begun with this story that it would end with Taylor as an omnipotent monster you’re lying.
Reading this thing is like riding an amusement park. Not a roller coaster, an amusement park.
Every time you get used to whats happening you switch rides.
This chapter is the broken Drop Zone.
I thought she would get there when her range started to expand. Different method, and I wasn’t thinking about this ending.
Although on the other hand if you thought this had a happy or predictable ending after around chapter 15 you’re an idiot.
The Nine started working in earnest in what, arc 12? Because that was when I realized that things were going to get worse, continually, forever. No matter how bad things got, the next chapter went downward. The occasional breathers just served to accentuate the horror of it all.
On a related note, it was Interlude 23 when I realized that I was still underestimating the Simurgh, and would likely never manage to truly avoid doing so.
Why not? There has always been the potential for things ending up well for most of people.
Yeah, the ending has, literally, not yet been written. Potentially not even Wildbow can say what it will be yet (given that at least part of the plan for how these last arcs would go changed as they were being written – and hey writers surprise themselves all the time!)
I dunno, things are looking pretty bleak for the 90+% of people who have been brutally killed at this point…
Society has been destroyed across multiple worlds. Short of a magical reset button (which *really* doesn’t seem like Wildbow’s style) about the most positive possible outcome at this point is “the big bad has been defeated and now we get to start trying to rebuild what’s left of our shattered lives”. Woo.
I am now estimating Worm at 44,000 comments.
48k at the moment
I don’t know if it’s this chapter in particular, or the general doomsaying, or that the end is drawing ever closer but I’ve definitely been feeling “chattier” today.
In my experience, when people read something that affects them emotionally they tend to either have to talk to other people who’ve read the same thing, or just sit there quietly stewing in their thoughts. You can’t really just go do something else.
ok,, wondering how I manged to be that far out and wants to know how En did it so i can estimate better next time.
Yo will not like the answer, if your estimate was done the way I think it was done.
Anyway: the link under the nickname has a number at the end, that’s the post number for this wordpress blog.
i.e.: https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/speck-30-4/#comment-48061
the “48061” is the post number, so 48k posts.
You’re not wrong, but there’s one little thing throwing you off – Worm gets a lot of spam comments, and those get deleted. In truth? Current standing is 45,276.
Would you believe that since i have only fair IT skills, i looked at ‘comments on this chapter’ and went chapter to chapter jotting down the numbers and at each third of an arc added them up…
it took a while.what did you think I’d tried peeps?
P.S if t gets to 50K i hope comment 50K is by Packbat, Reveen, Pandemonium ivy, En or Wildbow and that 49,999 was PG…
Unfortunately, though I’m the most prolific commentator in the commentation station, I don’t tend to hit the anniversary numbers like that.
Not that I have any clue why I was mentioned, but I’m flattered nonetheless. Woo!
Hmm, there are no tags at the end of this chapter. Is that a commentary on the loss of individuality?
We don’t have a tag yet for “literally every surviving character, but the narrator can’t figure out any of their names.”
We had “all the goddamn psychopaths” why not “Taylor’s swarm”. Quite catchy.
Nice to know the Travelers are still alive, Glory Girl too I guess. Really like Ballistic’s style though, instead of going back to his boring life he decides to be the cape king of his Earth.
With Glory Girl alive there’s a chance of Amy getting a much happier ending. She can go fix GG and ride off into the sunset with her awesome daddy.
She doesn’t know how to fix her… but if she’s swarm-synced with the Contessa she should be able to.
…So many hopes and dreams dependant on the Contessa joining the Swarm. How much longer before she gets offed by a Simurgh bomb?
Amy in the process of having a mental breakdown was incapable of fixing Glory Girl. With a couple of years to get her head in order, I think Amy is capable of at least making Glory Girl functional.
The problem was that she didn’t remember how her sister used to be put together; it was all muddled together with her idealised vision of the woman she loved, her hopes, all the improvements she’d thought of… it’s like how when Tattletale thinks about a problem too long without enough information, she loses track of what’s fact and what’s mere conjecture and can’t come up with the real answer anymore.
Amy could probably make Glory Girl humanoid again, maybe even functional, but she couldn’t *fix* her alone. Hence, requiring guidance from an appropriate Thinker who can tell her how things should be rather than how she sees them.
oh.. Bonesaw…. can’t see any downside to this, nope, not at all.
She was terrified, her world having been pretty well shattered at the time, her fear that she was a monster like her father and her fear that her sister wouldn’t forgive her for what she did to her mind, even after she fixed it, and her fear of using her power on Victoria all feeding into this terror.
She can probably fix Victoria now, thought the question of her being willing to try is still totally up in the air.
Am I the only person who thinks that what Amy did to Victoria was an improvement? >_> Honestly, she was *not* a nice person. At least she’s decorative now…
Dude,she was a child from a highly dusfunctional family.If Bonesaw can repent,GG has 10 times her chances of repenting.
I was beginning a bit tongue-in-cheek there. I wouldn’t genuinely wish that on anybody.
But I disagree that GG is more likely to reform than Bonesaw. Bonesaw was making do in an unwelcome situation forced on her, knew she was a monster and was coping through denial (and insanity). GG was loving life and perfectly happy with who she was. Why would she reform? As far as she was concerned, everything was awesome.
See also: Shadow Stalker.
Because she fullfills the age criteria I set on Bonesaw for accountability (I think-I remember she was veeery young)and I think that matters most for easy changes,as you get older redemption becomes harder.
Deepbluediver on October 22, 2013 at 14:46 said:
[QUOTE]This was it. Finally, everyone was working together.
I turned my attention to Scion.[/QUOTE]
Well it’s about God-dam time 🙂
When I first started archive binging a couple months ago, I limited myself to roughly an average of 1 chapter per day, and for a while right after Scion went nuts, I was putting off reading new chapter until they’d been out a day or so for the same reasons: because I was trying to savor the story slowly and not get burned out and rush it. The last 5 or 6 updates I’ve read all right on the day they where released, because I was running out of patience to get to the real important part. (I know, I know, it’s about the journey, but I couldn’t help it)
This chapter, I read through the whole thing at breakneck pace, really only seeing about 1 sentence out of 4; just enough to get the gist of what was happening. All the vivid descriptions, the whos and hows and the whys, it didn’t matter. I’ve finally hit maximum-story-buildup/pre-climax-tension, and all I desperately want is to find out what happens when Scion finally collides with his Ikea-counterpart.
Also, I’ve still got my fingers crossed for a happy ending, but I’m just dump like that.
*Dumb
and apparently I can’t type either
Either “lack of oxygen” or “oxygen deprivation” but aye, trop this in the typo thread if it’s still there.
I assume you meant…”drop this in the typo thread”…
Rob W on October 22, 2013 at 16:00 said:
Ahem: what if Taylor gains **control** of Scion, rather than attacking him?
How would her damaged brain even comprehend him, and his powers? What would **that** do to her?
I’m pretty sure this is the most interesting twist this can take from here — not a harrowing battle, but a violent merging of completely incompatible minds.
Not likely, a more possible twist will be for Taylor to engage in a reverse-assimilation / infection plot where instead of returning the shards combat data to Zion, she infects him with the “humanity” of her swarm, their memories and feelings to make him more human.
Scary thought, what if Zion uses Taylor’s power?
Freak King on October 22, 2013 at 16:37 said:
Big mistake leaving Ollie behind. tsk tsk
Uhhh… S-class threat, can’t be allowed to live/be free/have basic civil liberties, yadda yadda yadda. You heard it all before.
Frankly, I’m fine with her becoming the god-tyrant of humanity, she’s earned it after all the bullshit she’s went through. She can have my free will, I’m really not that attached to it. Better than waking up at 5 30 for work anyway.
So what exactly happened with Dragon? What I got from it was that Dragon had a redundant databank and transmitter installed in her main suit just in case. So she can continue to order her drones while her main databanks were busy keeping her running. By destroying the main suit Dragon has no way to interact with the world in case she wants to risk a meltdown so she goes dormant.
That sound right? Or did I fry my brain thinking about it again? Well, thank god she’s still alive.
Dragon simply reprogrammed all her remotes to fake shutdowns, and counted on Taylor not recognizing that they were faked.
Taylor didn’t realize this at first, and Dragon could see her reaction to it, and when Taylor was still reeling, Dragon attacked again.
Then Taylor, being Taylor, doubled back down and figured out where Dragon’s main decision making node was, and took that out, rather than continue chipping away at Dragon’s processing power.
Possible endings:
1. Scion Destroyed. Taylor continues to degrade, lapses into coma, and dies. (‘Whimper’ ending)
2. Scion Destroyed. Taylor continues to degrade, insanity grows, until she ceases to be human, and destroys everything. (‘Bang’ ending)
3. Scion Destroyed. Taylor continues to degrade… and then metamorphosis into a New Being. (‘New God’ ending)
4. Scion NOT Destroyed. Taylor Metemorphosis into a New Being. (‘New Union’ ending)
5. Scion Destroyed. Taylor’s shard uses Panacea and the millions of bugs Taylor has collected to create a New Body (‘New Abomination’ ending)
6. 5 + 4 Scion NOT Destroyed. (‘Shaped Flesh’ ending)
7. Scion Destroyed. Taylor killed by Contessta afterwards. (‘One Last Backstab’ ending)
8. Scion NOT Destroyed. Taylor Killed by Contessta before she can beat Scion, causeing Scion to implode in despair after glimpsing another being that might be like himself (‘Foolishness of Cauldron’ ending)
9. Taylor uses Panacea, Glaistig Undine, and the millions of bugs to bring all of Glaistig’s ghosts back to life. Scion may or may not be Destroyed. (‘Endless Army’ ending)
10. Scion destroyed, Taylor uses Panacea, Contessa, and the power amplifier to repair her brain. Same combo with extra sanity fixes Glory Girl and various other terrible problems in the world, then she turns off her power and everybody lives happily ever after. Simurgh decides to roll with this because *reasons*. (‘Denial’ ending)
And Rachel gives everyone puppies and Simurg becomes a super-hero and Leviathan opens a swimming pool!
Go ending 9 and prep for the sequel: The new adventures of Clockblocker!
Worm: where death may not stop the shipping…
None of these are it.
I mean, I’m pretty damn sure I have an idea how this is going to go, not details mind you, but the general idea. And Wildbow doesn’t seem like the type to change his plans just because someone guessed them, or at least got real fucking close, anyway, and none of these ideas are very close.
I mean, yeah you’ve got Zion destroyed in a few of these but that’s as close as you’ve really gotten I think.
he’s had plot guessed before and changed nothing due to it, iirc
11. Taylor defeats Scion. She then realizes that with her new power she can solve all of mankind’s problems. By taking control of all mankind. This leads to the sequel, whitch is the desperate struggles of the resistance against the Queen Administrator. (Things got worse ending.)
fnich on October 22, 2013 at 21:49 said:
You mean the futile struggles of a pack of cowardly rebel jackals against the noble God Empress of Mankind!
12. Taylor defeats Zion, then frees the capes she’s captured and attempts to kill herself, only to have her attempts thwarted by her friends and supporters.
13. Taylor defeats Zion, then mentally shuts down from her deterioration of mental faculties, trapping herself and the capes she currently controls in a state of catatonia, to later wake up after being saved by her friends and supporters.
14. Taylor pushes Scion to his last breaths, he triggers the extraction of every shard into himself, but it is too early and incomplete, backfiring horribly. Contessa uses the opportunity to finish the job while she still can.
Aftermath: no more powers, Taylor is broken in every possible way but her friends are tending to her, and Earth is saved throughout the multiverse.
15. Scion destroyed. Taylor manages to win a battle of wills with her passenger to release all the capes she enslaved. Then she is sent to the Birdcage to contain her while Dragon tries to help piece her mind back together and the Undersiders promise to look for a solution. Bad news, Taylor is mentally shattered and separated from her friends and family, with no clear hope of ever coming back from it. Good news, she still has one person in her life to help her get back on her feet and she gets an entire wing of the prison to herself complete with a library, an open bar, and a sauna.
Y’know, #8 would completely justify Cauldron’s “path to victory” bullshit. That would be potentially the most infuriating possible ending…
PS. Along with what Jerden said, I want to see the “Rachel cures Zion with puppy therapy” ending…
Valin K Syrcen on October 22, 2013 at 18:34 said:
Brunette, skinny & controls bugs.
Still seeing Taylor as Jennifer Connelly’s character in Phenomena.
1114 on October 22, 2013 at 21:33 said:
Did anyone else catch the part where she “raised her hand?” The hand she only has one of? That’s being held by the See Everything cape? Whoever, or whatever, is narrating at this point is either lying to us or no longer has firm grasp of reality. Possibly it’s Taylor, and she “raised her hand,” but to an outside observer a hundred different capes raised their hands at the same time in a perfectly choreographed motion.
I think at this point Taylor may (Unintentionally?) be lying to us as much as one of Gene Wolfe’s characters.
That may have been a typo. Adding it there just in case,.
She could raise her hand. There would just be another hand in its grasp.
Taliesin on October 22, 2013 at 21:52 said:
… I kinda want an interlude now, of the fight from Dragon’s point of view.
Personally I can’t see any significant differences between the Taylorswarm and a full-grown faerie/worm/giantcorkscrewinginfantgodvirus. You have an enormous amount of biomass. You have shards aplenty, with the capacity to affect INSANE changes to the fabric of reality. You have a single… I hesitate to call it a mind. It’s not, in the sense we’re used to. You have a single PRESCENCE in control, one so decentralized, instinctive and unreflective that it’s almost not a mind at all.
Think of it like this: A HUMAN mind has only so much capacity. You’re not thinking about how to regulate breathing, keep your heart going, all those automatic processes. You don’t have control of emotions, instinctive reactions, reflexes, actual regulation of sensory input. Hell, even HABITS can override conscious thoughts, can influence actions without YOU deciding anything.
Now, imagine how much more complex a Worm is.
And the Worm’s decision-making processing power ISN’T ON THE LEVEL OF A HUMAN. There so much more to regulate that there’s less to think with. It’s all instinct, no reflection. Morality doesn’t even enter into it, too complex. PLANNING hardly enters into it. In Zion’s case, at least. He’s pretty good at tactics. So’s Taylor, even still, if not ESPECIALLY now. I’ll get back to that.
Now compare that to the Taylorswarm. What, exactly, does she need, to the REST of the way from Human to Worm? Well.
A DRASTIC physical change. The Worms are closer to landscape than swarm. But that’s not a big change, not a large one at all. You’d just need the right shard. Say, Noelle’s. Which also solves an important secondary function – shard duplication and mutation. If a species wants to develop, it needs mutation and the ability to replicate what’s analogous to a genome, in this case. Evolution, homies. Noelle was dangerous as FUCK because the shard contained in her was one COMPLETELY ESSENTIAL to Worm reproduction, to the propagation of the species as a whole. It was never meant for her.
And what else does Taylor need?
A LITTLE more mental deterioration. Just another few anchors. Just another few morals. She’s already decided that placing humanity’s hope in personal, unthinking, unchosen SLAVERY, under herself, is preferable to humanity being annihilated by Scion.
Oh wait. She never decided that. She just DID it. Slip up, lose herself JUST a little more, and IMAGINE what she’ll become. I wonder what’ll happen in the next bloody chapter, things are moving so fast.
Take a look at Taylors development on a larger scale: It doesn’t JUST show a person, slowly but surely, abandoning her principles one after the other, culminating in a climactic showdown for the fate of humanity. It shows a slow, steady, insidiously cunning descent from a human being into something decidedly NOT.
From Conception (the Trigger Event) to Gestation (the period between that and Panacea’s touch) the process of Birth (Panacea began it, the threat of Scion is bringing it to fruition) to Birth.
Look at the Worms, look at their journey, destination, chosen vessels. Thousands of vital parts, almost living in and of themselves, are seeded onto an orb-shaped object. The thing(s) doing the seeding? Long, thin, fleshy, worm-shaped organisms. IN CASE I WASN’T CLEAR, the Worms are multiverse-level dicks (pun intended), the Earth is their chosen egg (cell), the shards are sperm (cells), and among the many, many attempts only one is coming to fruition:
Our dear Taylor.
I leave you with this, except not really, a (slightly doctored) quote from Cherish:
“When I looked at her with my power, before, I called her the Worm. She spent some time being as low on the food chain as you can get while still being able to move under her own power. As low as someone can get while still having an identity of their own. But she’s realized she’s poisonous, dangerous in her own unique way. She’s useful, like a silkworm we harvest or an earthworm who works our gardens. She’s even realized she’s not alone, so long as she looks for friends among other dirty… contemptible creatures.”
“The little worm found a nugget of self-worth, she just doesn’t want to look too closely at what that nugget is made of. If she’s lucky, she’s one of the worms without eyes. They might be keenly aware of their environment, but they’re happier blind.”
So the journey wasn’t so far after all…
If all of this seems a little too rational, I’m also convinced that Zion IS Taylor, Eden IS Tattletale, and that the third entity’s mind has something to do with Sleeper. I would argue for it, and I AM going to, but it’s four in the morning. And my mind walks weirder paths than would be productive to note, at this point.
I have a couple of thoughts.
First, We already know that when Taylor controls somebody she sort of mind melds with them. So that idea reminds me of this article, http://io9.com/how-to-write-from-the-perspective-of-a-truly-alien-self-1449703465.
Second, I really hope one of the Interludes will be from the perspective of someone under Taylor’s control. That is a perspective I really want to see.
chiusse on October 23, 2013 at 00:42 said:
Scion is the /dev/null for failed superpowered attacks.
In the vein of ‘Possible epilogues’…
Weld and Sveta have children. Biological children.
The other Epilogues all have the running gag of people wondering how that was even possible (and people saying ‘you don’t want to know’… and/or Imp jokeing about tentacle rape).
Hey, with Dragon and Defiant in a similar situation in many ways, so it could happen (mostly because they are Tinkers and will be working on a woraround).
And it’d be hilarious.
“External Hard Drive.2
Biological, man. Sveta and Weld.
Come on, it’d be hilarious!
Hot Skitty on Wailord action? With a dash of hentai tentacle porn thrown in? I’m cool with that.
In light of an above comment of mine, I’m going to assume that these chapters, with supers pulled from various worlds, are the ones that include the cameo by Genoscythe the Eyeraper, Taylor’s idol.
The Phoenixian on October 23, 2013 at 03:29 said:
You know, as this arc goes on, I find myself thinking more and more that what we’re really seeing is Taylor having become the Mother of all Simurgh bombs and that this is what it looks like when Ziz stops holding back. Also, odd thought on that note: What happened to Taylor seems to have a lot in parallel with what happened with Noelle and Krouse. Namely that it seems like Taylor was conditioned to become the weapon while Tattletale, what with being reminded of her brother’s death, was subtly influenced to protect her until Taylor was potent enough to take care of herself. Wonder if that’s a standard strategy for Ziz or just a coincidence.
>Glaistig Uaine continued to croon in my ear. Was it her?
>No. I was almost positive it wasn’t, and I had any number of thinkers at my disposal who could have warned me.
Speaking of the Simurgh, I wonder if this was actually her (unlike GU, she might slip past Taylor’s thinkers), still doing her thing in the background.
On the other hand, so far Ziz’s prods to Taylor seemed to drive her in the same direction Dinah wanted, so that’s good. R-right?
I imagine them somewhat like the Thinkamancer-linked group in Erfworld. (read Erfworld. It’s awesome) What I mean is, their appearence, even their personality and decisionmaking, has been near-totally burnt out by the process of aquiring their power, linking them together. As such, narratively, they are more like tools, bakground elements of the setting, than characters in and of themselves. Don’t expect them to be any more føeshed out than they already are.
I think Taylor is brain-deep in naughtymancy at this point.
Nooo, she just want for everyone to work together in harmony, she’s, like, the master hippiemancer!
(and she has a hero flower for you)
Anyone else think that the path to defeating Sion will involve him looking at the sudden new Entity-like thing in front of him and reacting to that emotionally?
I didn’t know he was Welsh…. and right after i typed that I actually registered your handle…
CoopOmegA on October 23, 2013 at 08:38 said:
Im wondering if theres gonna be a massive twist and not even be a big fight.
maybe the sheer number of shards under taylors control merge and turn her into a new entity.
giving zion a partner again
Alright, so I got someone to read Worm yet I had to get off. They sent me a mail in WoW.
“I hate you, I was supposed to sleep tonight.
Also I -like- Coil, he reminds me of me.”
I hope this is before we find out that Coil likes to torture his minions to relieve his stress because otherwise…better be careful around your friend, just saying.
Was more of an In-Character association, we both RP on Wyrmrest Accord, Horde Side.
Fridge Moment.
Please note the important part: I had enough awareness of her power to know how to keep myself safe from it.
Does this sound like anyone else we know?
Slashy-poo?
Is that what you are calling Scion now?
Alternately, Scion.
I wanted to chime in here again. I personally think Taylor is still a total hero. I know, “But she’s body controlling 5000 people! Some even died!”
But hear me out. She’s controlling 5,000 people to have the absolute best shot to fight a monster that has killed trillions. Even more if you count the alternate realities he “removed”, however that worked.
She just casually rescued another Earth from a tyrannical dictator. If after all this goes down, Taylor winds up on that Earth, they’d have never ending “Taylor is the greatest” parades.
As for the individuals in question, suck it up. It’s not like she’s making you kill your family, or hurting you or making you watch as she takes a buzzsaw to your loved one’s head. She did worse to Valefor and that guy she dropped to break his arms and legs. Those are permanent life-altering injuries.
I think the folks that are considering her a monster are not considering how high the stakes truly are. It’s not one Earth at risk. It’s not 5000 innocent capes she controlled for her own personal gain. It’s 5000 or so capes she controlled to save the uncountable alternate Earths and everyone on them.
Right now we’re too close to the action. Way too close, since we have a first person narrator who’s doing all this. But, if you consider the perspective from an alternate Earth, like say ours, it’s nothing. If I had to make the choice she did, I’d make it every time. If it’s those few or more people than they have numbers for, it seems pretty obvious.
Honestly, whatever relatively miniscule amount of harm she’s done before this during her previous efforts to save the world, winning this fight will more than make up for it, even if every single cape she’s controlling dies. Because she’s going to save more people than anyone has ever saved ever before, more people than she can possibly ever meet or harm. This is sum total of our species we’re talking about, every culture that will be erased, every ecosystem that will be obliterated. Measuring this against 5000 people isn’t that complicated.
I mean, some of you guys think she’s a total monster or something, whatever. But I’d think whatever moral metric is being used, the saving of every single human being that exists and is yet to exist should tip the scales.
(This is ignoring the fact that she’s already saved hundreds, to thousands, to millions of people well before this.)
Yes, if she just kills Zion while humanity still lives and then steps down, she is the biggest damn hero.
If on the other hand she continues to spread her influence after he falls? Righting more wrongs, healing more sick, fixing some of those problems that wouldn’t exist if people could just put aside their differences and work together? She’s likely to keep going until she subsumes the human race across several universes. And I consider 97% death toll preferable to 100% loss of individuality and free will.
Given her current rate of mental degradation, the second option looks more likely all the time.
This. I don’t think we are close /enough/ to the events. As someone who has lost control over their life will attest, for all the reasons in the world, it isn’t pleasant or honorable or prideful at all. Very few of us can remain positive about being crippled, no matter the reason. And isn’t that what she’s doing? She is taking over all control of the events of a persons life. She is dictating how they will act/live/die. To save the multiverse (the humans on them, exclusively, but that’s rather understood) she has stripped 5000 individuals of whatever free will they had.
Its easy to sit back from the comfort of a different world and a real one and say “Its fine that she is doing this, because the alternative is worse” but that’s the thing: that is sooooo wrong to think that way. Look at any example of somone making a “sacrifice of their humanity for the greater good”. Basically, and I think that Worm as a whole has been illustrating this one chapter at a time, a violation is a violation. The only thing different is who you have violated and how you can justify it. In this case she has a pretty damn convincing justification BUT it does not mean she isn’t fucking awful for forcing monsters, warriors, cowards, and innocents alike to do /anything/. And that’s what she is doing.
I also want to take a moment to provide a polite “fuck you” to anyone who bitched about how awful Cauldron was for following the path they did in order to take on Scion and then turned around and praised Taylor for her similarly violating path. Seriously, fuck you.
*Ahem* As I was saying, the concept of free will is powerful and is basically one of any human’s unalienable rights. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t get stepped on. But it does mean that we see these violations as /more/ horrible than any other. “Better to rule in hell than serve in heaven” after all.
So as a fellow denizen of this Earth who would hate to see humanity exterminated, fuck Taylor and fuck anyone else who would usurp my right to /choose/.
Well, she hasn’t gone too far yet. Or nearly as far as Cauldron did. Taking the lives and freedom of five thousand people is more than acceptable, in my mind, if that saves hundreds of millions from similar fates. Likewise I don’t blame Cauldron so much for the horrors they perpetrated as for the carelessness with which they lost most of the benefits from it. The scary part is not so much what Taylor has done, but rather where she looks like she’s going next.
Dinah said Scion would leave at least 3% of humanity alive and free. Taylor looks like she’s going to leave a lot less than that if she doesn’t pull out of this tailspin soon. She’s refused to enslave Tattletale so far, but she went very rapidly from avoiding using the new power, to taking those who were already enslaved or monstrous, to taking everyone who was useful to her at the time regardless of who they were or what they were doing.
It seems foolhardy to hope she’ll stop here, when she was so delighted with people finally working together and there are so many more problems that she could solve just be removing that pesky free will.
Thus, no matter how much I might like her or how much I might support what she’s doing to stop Zion, I very much hope that she will be stopped before it’s too late. The Contessa might pull it off, if she can secure Dragon’s help. Or the Simurgh could almost certainly do it, unless this was her plan all along.
I don’t see many other possibilities.
Given her current rate of mental degradation, I doubt she’d *last* long enough to do that. She seems to be pretty much running on pure “gotta stop Scion” now. When that goes,I’m pretty much expecting her to just shut down and the gestalt collapse…
skywiseskychan on November 21, 2013 at 18:07 said:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Memes/Worm
Go to Skitter Facts. They’ve compiled all the ones from here, and across the web, and the number that are canonically true… astounding.
miguel on November 29, 2013 at 05:00 said:
She could not find the word………………damn she must be in a bad state, 30 arcs and for the first time the words elude her
” I, in turn, opened another portal, handing one tinker device to Shén Yù before hurrying on, leading the rest through. Portals blocked the drone’s ranged fire.
Why wouldn’t you use bugs for that instead of cutting your strategist off from your power? Sure she can instantly recapture but it’s still dumb.
Only 3000 capes? A bit disappointing. And what is with groups of capes just hanging around waiting on her to take them over (like the women in control of a world). From 7 billion just on our planet plus all the other dimensions I’m assuming civillian count was huge. And then obviously the apocalypse arrived but still, only 3000 darn small. 100 attacked Leviathan I think?
Most were from earth Bet,other worlds had a really miniscule amount of capes,and thanks to Scion crippling,she didn’t have infinite earths to choose from.
jack on January 28, 2014 at 18:14 said:
oh god, this HURTS to read, she’s slowly forgotten about everyone except tattletale.
this is fucking horrifying.
did she accidentally scoop up imp and bitch with all the other defenders? or did she just ignore/forget about them?
also, so who the fuck are half of these people she captured? the woman’s “world order” or Sleeper?
jesus christ, she went after damn near everyone, but somehow Sleeper “isn’t worth the effort”?
he must be some kind of badass.
All we know about the Sleeper is super vague.
At the beginning of the Echidna event, Triumph says “Week I had clearance, I watched all the video we have of the class S threats. Leviathan, Simurgh, Behemoth, Slaughterhouse Nine, Nilbog, Sleeper.”
So he’s officially classified as a threat in the same category as Nilbog or the entire Nine (that’s Siberian and Jack and Bonesaw and Crawler, plus hangers-on), and the PRT have video of him in action, either unopposed or with heroes fighting him.
29.9: Taylor’s narration. “There was one [large settlement] in [Earth] Zayin, but the Sleeper had followed the refugees in there. Even if it still stood after Scion’s visit, there was no helping any of the refugees there.” So he does something to people- either it’s a simple consequence of being around him, or he does it voluntarily but can be expected to do it to anyone he meets- and it doesn’t wear off, and none of the hero organizations of Earth Bet ever found a way to reverse it. In 28.5 Taylor refers to Earth Zayin as “subsumed by the Sleeper”- probably another description of the same effect, but maybe not.
The world ruled by the woman in blue and white isn’t one we’ve seen before, so there’s not much to say about that. Clearly something big and interesting happened there, and its history is pretty different from our own (or Taylor’s), but beyond the text of this chapter, we have no idea what happened or how.
fghjconner on April 20, 2016 at 23:00 said:
I’m guessing the woman in blue is Goddess from this earlier post of Wildbow’s: https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/prey-14-8/#comment-4589
John on March 4, 2014 at 06:57 said:
I basically started reading Worm when Pact started so this was just something I saw and had to point out.
HA. I was wondering about this. Thank you.
Nice one, Wildbow.
Oh my, you’re right! Good thing Taylor didn’t look inside
A Girl on June 8, 2014 at 11:32 said:
I’ve loved worm for so long but i have to say i’m really disapointed with this arc. I think this is because i really don’t like how taylor has ended up a psychopathic monster. How she is so obsessed with power that she thinks that having pancea screw with her head, when she knows the consequences, will help her defeat scion. It’s just a real disapointment to me.
First reaction: Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Second reaction: Holy shit Dragon! Came this close to winning against a nigh unstoppable demigod with dozens of capes under her thrall synchronizing their attacks and a portal network at her beck and call. Holy fuck.
Third reaction: Thank god she didn’t kill Dragon. I can forgive a lot. I’ve even forgiven the whole thing with Aster but that would’ve pushed things just a straw too far.
Okay yet again I have to ask: Why the hell did Amy never get around to healing her sister!? Who she LOVES!?!?
Who is the one woman world indeed…? Saved for the sequel?
Too much trouble to recruit Sleeper?! Holy cow. Now I really want to know just what the hell he does!
Well crap. So much for being a helpful little passenger. Now her shard is actively trying to usurp her and move into “Kill. Maim. Destroy.” territory. Fuck.
Glaistig put up a fight but Dragon did better and lasted longer. I salute MM for at least attempting to get a sniper shot. Poor, poor Lisa. Stuck there trying to decide whether your friend is still in there under the monster. Taylor deserves some pats on the back for managing to keep some anchors even after losing so much of herself to the passenger.
Final reaction: The Taylor Hebert School of Badassery now has a new grade level beyond A+ and it’s called Demigod. Congratulations Danny, your daughter has literally become the sum total of humanity’s power. Aren’t you proud?
Sensei on June 28, 2015 at 19:40 said:
> Without breaking that eye contact, I gestured, turning my hand over, curling the fingers. I opened a portal at the same time, inside the Birdcage.
> Dragon shifted her stance, and that same room flooded with containment foam.
> I’d declared what I wanted, she’d drawn the line.
…uh, Dragon? Remember when Moord Nag murdered five thousand people to confront the *much lesser* threat of Khonsu, and you somehow found it in you not to immediately attack her with every available dragonsuit? I KNOW IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO HAVE PRIORITIES, DRAGON. Yet when Taylor wants to briefly enslave some of the worst people in the world to force them to fight the eldritch abomination who’s going to kill everyone *including the Birdcage prisoners* if he’s not stopped, *that* is where you draw the line?
Dragon. Priorities. Have them.
I prefer to think of this as Dragon either not understanding fully that they are being abducted to be mind-controlled or that it’s one of the few remaining hardwired things…because I agree, multi-universe level extinction events really take should take priority there…
heart on May 10, 2019 at 06:21 said:
I’m really amazed people are still on Taylor’s side here when she is clearly mind-controlled by an alien now…
Androkguz on July 31, 2016 at 10:45 said:
Taylor vs Dragon felt so much like a terran vs zerg match.
And Kerrigan wins almost all the time
Gulp.
Is this-
Is this class S Taylor
Because A, this is badass and B, his is terrifying and C, if Scion beats this he needs nerf and finally
FUCK YOU JACK SLASH
YOU FUCKING MONGREL
YOU DID THIS
The fight against Dragon was quite badly done.
Why did she not just send her drones to completely different planets?
Monkey Cap on December 31, 2018 at 07:45 said:
This arc has been amazing.
This is the worst yet… (not in quality)
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