#i email Immunization which is a thing i guess. and when none of them answer i CALL my counselor like right before i head to work. nothing. i | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ravennm84 · 4 years

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Lyre Festival Justice

Here is the sequel to Lyre Festival Fraud where you get to see exactly what happened to Lila during her long weekend after she went back to Italy. I thought, at first, that I may have gone to far with the salt... But it’s Lila and I really don’t like her character. So, Warm-Fuzzies and enjoy this salty goodness!!

It was a beautiful day in Rome and Lila was enjoying her shopping spree around the city. She and her mother had spent the first few days after moving back to Italy unpacking and getting settled. It was Sunday, and her mother had to go to the embassy to make sure that all of her paperwork had transferred from Paris, which gave Lila the opportunity to spend the money she’d gotten from the idiots from her old class. Really, she couldn’t believe how stupid they all were to have just handed her over €2,000 for a luxury vacation in Venice. She should have gotten at least €3,000 from the class, but that Mari-brat and stick-in-the-mud Adrien had convinced some of them that she was lying. Oh well, €2,000 was better than nothing.

Best part, none of it could be traced back to her. They travelled to Venice on their own, nothing had been written down, her old mobile phone was disconnected and in a landfill somewhere, and she would just tell her mother that she had gotten all her new clothes at a thrift shop she remembered from the last time they’d been living in Rome. And if the idiots got in trouble and tried to say that she was involved, she’d turn on the tears and her mother would side with her like she always did. Seeing a little cafe, she stopped in to get a good cappuccino, it had been too long since she’d had a deceit cup of coffee.

It was mid afternoon by the time she got home. She had made a stop at the thrift store to grab a couple of their shopping bags to hide the real ones inside. It felt wrong to put a Versace skirt in a bargain bag, but one does what one must to keep her life going smoothly. Opening the door to the apartment, she barely caught sight of her mother sitting on the couch before Lila started gushing about how great it was to be back in Italy and all the things she’d missed.

She prattled on for a couple minutes before noticing that her mother hadn’t said anything. Turning to look at her, Lila flinched when she saw her. Something was seriously wrong, the last time she had seen her mother so angry was when she’d told her that her dad was cheating on her. That hadn’t been true but they had ended up getting divorced anyway, which was to Lila’s benefit since the man had always called her out on her lies.

“Is everything okay, Mama?” She asked cautiously, doing her best to sound and appear small and innocent.

“Sit down.”

Her tone left no room for argument. Lila set down her bags and sat in the chair across from her mother.

“Mama, wha-”

“Be quiet!” She snapped, and Lila shut her mouth. This actually seemed worse than the fight her parents had before they divorced. “I received a very strange email on Friday night, from a former classmate of yours in Paris. It seemed that the majority of your class was under the impression that we were throwing a party for a lot of important politicians, celebrities, and musicians on a private island and you had invited them. I told myself, ‘not my daughter, she would never do something like that’. But the email went on, with a list of the students that were supposedly going on this trip and gave you money for the expenses. Again, I thought ‘Lila would never be so cruel as to steal money from her friends right before we left Paris’. So I told the person who sent me that detailed information, that I would handle it. I still thought it was a joke.”

The teenage girl didn’t even have to listen to the end of this story, she knew that goody-two-shoes Marinette had ratted her out. Lila was fighting every instinct she had to run and lock herself in her room, but if she moved even a little her mother would stop her. She could only sit there and hope that she could come up with some kind of lie to convince her mother that she was being set up.

“Then when I went into the embassy today, my boss pulled me into his office and started grilling me as to why I allowed seven unaccompanied minors entry into the country. I tried to explain that I had no idea what he was talking about, and then he started reading off the names. Do you want to guess why those names sounded so familiar?”

By this point, Lila was practically curling into herself to make herself appear smaller. She had to say something, any lie that would make her mother believe her and only her. Turning on the tears, she buried her face in her hands and spoke between sobs. Fake crying always gave her a few extra seconds to think before she had to speak. “I swear, Mama. I didn’t want to do it. Marinette forced me to take those papers from your office to give to our classmates so they could get into the country without their parents. I never took any money from them, I swear! Marinette was bullying me the entire time we were in Paris, I was scared of what she’d do to me if I didn’t do what she said. You’ve got to believe me!”

“So you’re saying that you didn’t tell your class about some non-existent party on a private island, had no knowledge of who was coming into Italy, where they were going, or anything like that?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed as she brought out her mobile phone.

Her hands were shaking as she kept her face buried in her hands, something about her mother’s tone and the way she spoke made this feel like a trap. But she couldn’t backtrack now, Marinette was her way out and she had to stick with it. So she nodded as she continued to sob into her hands.

“Then please explain this to me.” Her mother turned the phone towards her and Lila looked up, her face falling in horror when she heard her own voice. It was a video of her telling her class about who was going to be at the party that she and her mom were organizing, how she was going to need to know for sure who all was coming before the weekend, and Marinette had somehow gotten video of Alya and Nino each handing her €300!

It took longer than she would like to admit for the shock to wear off, but she was smart enough to stick to her original story. “It’s fake! Marinette must have made it to get me in trouble. Max probably helped her, he’s really good with computers. It’s all too convenient to be true. I mean, she sends you all this information about which people are going, how much money they gave me, and a story about a party on a private island in Venice, that anyone would be able to see is clearly fake. Can’t you see that I’m being set up?”

Her mother’s eyes grew harder as she stood from her chair, causing Lila to shrink even further into her own.

“You say that this is all a set up and you had no idea where your classmates were going in Italy, but you just told me the exact city where they were found. You left them waiting on a dock for you to come ferry them to that non-existent private island, and don’t even bother saying that you know which city because of the video I just showed you, because it never names the city they were in.”

Well, crap. She was about to try another tactic, but her mother cut her off before the first syllable left her mouth.

“Young lady, do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?” she yelled, her face beginning to turn a purplish-red and began pacing the room. “You forged my signature on multiple federal documents, endangered the lives of multiple minors, committed theft, and god knows how many other laws you’ve broken. I can’t protect you from this! You will be facing federal charges for what you’ve done!”

Lila felt her stomach drop to her ankles. “But-but that was all in Paris, and I had diplomatic immunity while I was there!”

“It became an international incident when you forged an ambassador’s signature on federal documents that endangered minors! My boss gave me a choice,” her voice grew even harder and colder than before. “Either you answer for what you’ve done and plead guilty, or I lose my job and we both go to trial for what you’ve done.”

“You’d let me go to jail for one little lie? It’s not like anyone got hurt!” Lila screamed, standing from her chair in a panic. This was much worse than she’d imagined.

“And what if they had been?” Her mother screamed back. “What if they had been kidnapped and sold into human trafficking? What if one of them had fallen off the dock and drowned in the channel or hit by a boat? I would be held responsible for that because you forged my signature! Do you not care about the people around you at all? What is wrong with you?”

“But nothing happened to them! It’s their own fault for being stupid enough to believe such an obvious lie. And you’re taking their side over mine? How dare you call yourself my mother and claim to love me!”

“Don’t you dare try to blame me for your bad behavior!” Her mother yelled back as she advanced on her, making her fall back onto the chair. Mme. Rossi looked back at the shopping bags she had knocked over when she had turned, revealing the Versace bag. Tilting her head back, she took multiple deep breaths before looking at her daughter.

“This is what’s going to happen. You are going to return everything you bought today, and you are going to explain to the managers of each store exactly why you are returning everything.” Lila was about to protest, but one look from her mother had her mouth snapping shut. “We will also be clearing out your savings to pay back your classmates for the money you took, their travel expenses, their parents travel expenses, and any money they lost while being away from their jobs to retrieve their children. After that, you will be standing trial for forgery and fraud. If you know what’s good for you, you will go before the judge and apologize profusely for what you’ve done and listen to everything the judge tells you. If you’re lucky you may receive a lenient sentence; but either way, you can expect your next school to be a reformatory school. And if you try to fight me on any of this, I will let a court appointed attorney with no experience handle your case instead of the family lawyer. Have I made myself clear?”

No longer having to fake her tears, Lila nodded to her mother, resigning herself to the fact that her life had been ruined because her mother didn’t love her and Marinette didn’t know how to keep her nose out of where it didn’t belong.

~oOo~

The rest of the day, Lila was forced to return everything that she bought back to the stores and tell the managers how she had stolen the money from her classmates and then abandoned them in a country and city that they weren’t familiar with. The people that overheard her were horrified by what she had done and the managers banned her from ever shopping in those stores again. After all, if she was willing to steal money from her friends, there was little doubt that she would steal from the stores.

After everything was returned, she was taken to the embassy where they recorded her confession on how she lied to everyone, forged her mother’s signature on the documents she stole, and how she scammed over €2,000 from her former classmates. After the confession was taped, she was taken outside of the embassy and handed over to the police to be kept in a juvenile detention center. She screamed at her mother, not believing that she would just hand her over like that, but the woman looked down her nose at her and said, “It’s time for you to face the consequences of your actions, young lady.”

When she arrived at the police station, she was relieved to see their family lawyer was waiting for her, although he was less than thrilled by what she had done. He explained that even as a minor, she could be serving 2-6 years just for the forgery of the documents, that wasn’t even factoring in the scam or reckless endangerment of seven minors. If she were to be tried as an adult, she could be serving 6 years for each document, facing serious fines and more time for each classmate she endangered.

After hearing that, Lila had to rush to the trash can to throw up. She couldn’t believe that one little lie could get her into so much trouble. But this wasn’t her fault, none of it was. If there was anyone to blame, it was that goody-two-shoes Marinette Dupain-Cheng. After all the effort she went through to destroy that girl, she just wouldn’t back down. She would make that girl pay for what she’d done. As soon as the charges were all dropped, she would do everything she could, use every dirty trick in the book to force the nosy girl to end her life and stay out of hers.

But that would have to wait for now. For the time being, she would do what her mother said and play her part. Act like the innocent girl that had gotten caught up in her own fibs while trying to make friends in a new country. She didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt or in trouble, she was just so overwhelmed and she is so sorry for everything that happened. She would need to cry a lot, that was a given, but she could do this. Just fake it until she could get her revenge on the girl that ruined her life.

~oOo~Three Months Later~oOo~

Lila hadn’t meant to lose control in front of the judge. She’d spent months locked away with a bunch of low-class delinquents, talking to different lawyers and quack-doctors before going to court. She had been the picture of innocence and childhood regret the second she walked into the courtroom, she was sure to get off all the charges against her. But she and her lawyer had been blindsided.

The quack-doctors had called her a narcissist and a sociopath, in need of desperate help. To prove that, all of her lies, everything she had said while in Paris had been brought into evidence against her. They’d exposed her truancy and forgery at her old school, found proof of her purposefully getting Marinette expelled, and faking interviews on the Ladyblog which brought her more lawsuits from a bunch of the celebrities she’d lied about.

Some of her classmates had come to give testimony on what she had done and said during her time in Paris. The goodie-two-shoes brat had even come to Italy to give testimony against her, though Lila hadn’t been allowed in the courtroom while she was there, as Marinette hadn’t felt safe to be in the same room. Lila’s lawyer had actually agreed, probably so she wouldn’t cause a scene. And she probably would have. She would have stabbed her in the face with a pencil, in front of the entire courtroom, if she had the chance.

But the worst had to do with the school security cameras. After M. Damocles and Mme. Bustier had been fired for neglectful and abusive behavior to their students, which had been brought about by the investigation into Marinette’s expulsion, the Board of Governors went farther back through the recordings to see how long the bullying had been going on. What they found was video evidence of Lila grabbing an akuma out of the air and putting it into her earring, and then willingly working with the known terrorist.

To make matters even worse, Ladybug and Chat Noir had sent a video as testimony of the times Lila had purposefully interfered with their rescues and had led Chat away from Ladybug to make her more vulnerable to the akuma Oni-chan. Her lawyer tried to get the video stricken from evidence as he couldn’t cross-examine the two heroes, but it was denied.

Her parents had been sitting behind her when they showed those videos. When her mother saw them, it was like she completely shut down. She heard her say that she wanted to leave, and Lila watched as her father helped her mother to her feet and lead her out of the courtroom without looking back.

The judge had been absolutely disgusted with her, going as far as to call her a monster for willingly aiding a terrorist. Since she had already confessed to multiple counts of forgery, fraud, and reckless endangerment of minors, and would now be adding slander and other charges from her time in Paris, the most notable being terrorism; he declared that she would be tried as an adult and was likely to spend the rest of her life in prison.

She’d completely lost it at that point, screaming at the top of her lungs as she jumped over the table to attack the judge. She didn’t remember smashing the water pitcher against one guard's head, scratching another guard across the face, or getting tasered in the back. When she woke up, she was strapped to a bed by her wrists and ankles, her head felt really foggy, and there were a bunch of nurses and orderlies that were keeping keen eyes on her.

Lila Rossi spent the rest of her life heavily medicated in a maximum security mental health hospital. Most every night, the nurses would hear her plotting some kind of scheme to show everyone what a loser Marinette was, but then she would trail off about how she wanted to hear the song Jagged Stone wrote for her or the album she’d help Clara Nightingale write. When she saw people, she would ramble and lie about being a princess or a secret agent, and that she was only here to keep her safe until they came to get her. Over the years, it was all written off as the insane ramblings of a very disturbed girl that would be remaining at the hospital for the rest of her life.

#lila salt #lila gets exposed #lila karma #ml fic #lila lies

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verycleverboy · 4 years

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Welcome to October 8th.

Where we are this afternoon:

A game of Telephone

After spending the weekend at Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment of his COVID-19 infection, President Donald Trump returned to the White House yesterday afternoon, where he is expected to continue treatment under quarantine. He returned to the Oval Office late Wednesday afternoon after conducting business from makeshift offices next to the White House medical facilities.

Trump opened his Thursday with a lengthy telephone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. More so than usual with his Fox phone-ins, it was an unhinged freeform rant that revealed much more than he intended to. In the latest sign that he's still running the 2016 race in his head, he answered a question about the Barrett confirmation by pivoting without warning into Hillary Clinton's emails. He also returned to his unceasing effort to place the full blame for the virus in America on China, called Kamala Harris a “monster” and a Communist, and (for one last note of disgrace on this oldies tour from hell) threatened to put Joe Biden in jail for being a part of the administration that launched an investigation into a campaign with a suspicious number of Russian ties.

On the political front, his message is what it's always been: everyone is a liar and a criminal but poor pitiful me. So much for the party of "personal responsibility".

But it was when the questions turned to his health and the virus that things went from deeply concerning to highly alarming. If we take him at his word, President Trump doesn't believe he's contagious anymore, and wants to be on the campaign trail right now. Barely a week after he first began showing symptoms, he wants to go back to the densely packed, badly protected campaign rallies which have not only been a signature of his campaigns but his presidency in general.

How he knows he’s gotten over it is anyone’s guess because of the other big revelation about his current health that he blurted out: In spite of returning to a residence in full-blown panic mode over the plague he’s brought back the house, Trump still isn’t getting coronavirus testing on a regular basis.

As a New York Times report mentioned on Tuesday, rapid testing has basically been used in the West Wing throughout this health crisis, often in place of the actual preventative measures which the President openly mocked again this morning. However, the report also revealed that Trump himself was tested infrequently, and so the question still lingers whether he was tested at all in the week before the Hope Hicks diagnosis set this most recent catastrophe into motion. The one thing we do know for sure from last week is that he skipped a pre-debate virus test because he arrived well behind schedule. Everything else is being hidden behind the claim of “private medical history”.

There’s another thing we know about the recent state of the West Wing with absolute certainty: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, while insisting the President is doing well, has not set foot inside the White House since the beginning of August, and he made his reasons crystal clear, almost to the point of bluntness.

"I actually haven't been to the White House since August the 6 because my impression was their approach to how to handle this is different from mine and what I insisted that we do in the Senate which is to wear a mask and practice social distancing,"

Anyway, that’s the Trump-on-Trump part of this morning’s interview. But if you’ve been paying attention, you already know it gets much worse.

And now, the part that pisses me off...

Now that Trump considers himself an "expert" on the coronavirus, because he's convinced himself that he's completely recovered, his advice has gone beyond depressingly and predictably wrong into a disgusting slap in the face to the people who've lost everything to his inept leadership. "Remember this: when you catch it, you get better, and then you're immune."

The picture above is the funeral service of Freddie Lee Brown Jr. and Freddie Lee Brown III., a father and son who died within three days of each other last spring during the first wave of the pandemic in America. In spite of the "young people are immune" narrative this administration perversely continues to push, Freddie III was only 20 years old when he left this world. They caught it. They most definitely did not "get better".

220,000 Americans are dead from the virus, but none of them are Trumps yet, so he can't be bothered to even mention them, let alone understand what their families have gone through.

A brief ray of “sunshine” in all of this

Trump's insistence that he and Biden do the next debate in person or not at all is promising to derail the remaining debate schedule entirely, the virtual debate format unanimously agreed to by the members of the Commission on Presidential Debates being completely unthinkable to a man who currently carries a deadly disease.

Frank Fahrenkopf, head of the Commission, answered the Trump protest with a shrug, indicating that he’s under no legal obligation to be the enabler for Trump’s worst possible impulses. “There is no law requiring any presidential candidate to debate. In fact, in 1980, Jimmy Carter, president of the United States, refused to participate in the first debate, but he did participate in the second debate. So it is up to every candidate to decide whether they want to debate or not.”

Later in the morning, the Trump team indicated their willingness to delay the second debate an extra week, provided that it’s an in-person format. Meanwhile, Biden’s team has scheduled a solo town hall appearance on the originally-announced night of the second debate.

Biden’s ability to appear both in sound and vision underlines an inconvenient truth in Trump’s medically-mandated nonexistent public schedule. While this morning’s incoherent phone ramble definitely qualifies as “proof-of-life”--and dear God, did it ever--Trump’s last on-camera appearance at that time was a pre-recorded statement on Monday night. The absence of visual evidence since then of a man who never met a camera he didn’t like filtered into the ongoing speculation about how well the President really is, and how deep the cover-up of his condition goes.

(edit: After I finalized this ridiculous post, it turned out Trump released a Twitter video in the early afternoon that, if anything, fed fresh fuel to the fire.)

The coronavirus is not your usual “October surprise”, but in revealing the measure of the commander-in-chief who has suddenly found himself as its target, it’s definitely playing the part of one.

First Lady Melania Trump, who did not join her husband at Walter Reed, continues to rest at the White House during her recovery.

No fresh cases of infection related to recent White House events have been reported since yesterday’s update. If new cases are announced, I’ll post the revised list later.

#Donald Trump #coronavirus #COVID-19

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 6 years

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Write Me A Lullaby Seb Stan Fic

Summary: Delilah has been writing to her Penpal for almost six years. She doesn't know his real name and she doesn't know what he does for a living. When she's set to meet him, she's surprised to find out she's been falling in love with Sebastian Stan

Warnings: None

Dear Ian,

Thanks for writing. I’ve never had a pen pal before but it’s sort of fun. I love getting snail mail. It’s such a rare joy in life. California must be nice; I’d like to live somewhere warmer. I’m getting sick of the snow. Twenty-four years of it is more than enough. I don’t know much about movie making and stuff. Do you do behind the scenes work? That seems so interesting. Being a photographer is sort of fun. I do a lot of weddings which means I have to deal with a lot of bridezillas. I love it though; it’s better than just an office job. My favorite is when I have enough money to travel and photograph people and exotic animals. I’m a photography nerd; I’ll talk about it a lot if you don’t mind.

Can’t wait to hear from you again,

Delilah

This was the first letter I sent to him. He was the person who responded to my personal ad online looking for a pen pal. I was lonely. My friends were all busy with their lives. One was married, one was getting ready for a baby on the way, one was working herself to death and trying to save her failing relationship with her high school sweetheart. I tried throwing myself into my work with photography but it only seemed to make me feel lonelier. Online dating was a bust for a million different reasons. After being stood up for the second time I decided to go another route. I went online to look for someone to swap handwritten letters with. It was something I always liked as a child. Receiving letters from my grandparents, writing to friends at camp, thank you cards, I kept them all in a box. So when Ian replied to my ad, I was elated. He was thoughtful, intelligent, and down to Earth. We wrote to each other so much that I needed to make an entirely separate box to keep his letters in. We wrote back and forth for six years before we met. But that’s a completely different story.

Dear Delilah,

Everyone’s talking about Captain America. I know someone who worked on it and they kept me updated about it. They said it would be good so I did see it. I’m glad you liked it. Those photos of your dog and those puffins are so funny. I’m surprised he was so afraid of them; he’s like four times their size. We should plan a trip to Antarctica together so you can take pictures of penguins and polar bears. And so I can say I’ve been to Antarctica. I mean you don’t like the cold but it can’t be that bad. Plus, when you move to California you’ll have more than enough sun.

He always talked about when we would meet. We never made plans though. We just came up with exotic trips to take together so I could photograph and he could travel. He loved to travel. He loved life and that was one reason why I fell for him. He talked about me moving to Los Angeles too. I always treated it as a joke but I wanted nothing more than to move there. But it was so expensive. I saved but I never specified that the money would be for California. I never wanted to get my hopes up too much.

Dear Ian,

Enclosed are the photos of the Russian woman and her Husky I met at the park the other day. She gave me her son’s email so I could send her the pictures. He sent me back an email saying she loved them. You would’ve loved her, she was so funny. I asked her what she was knitting and she said she was ‘knitting for knit’s sake’. I love people sometimes. But then, of course, I had a spring wedding and it didn’t go well. The bride kept going off on the bridesmaids about being in too many of her pictures. I’m just glad she didn’t yell at me. Marriage doesn’t seem as great as it’s chalked up to be. I may just stay single forever.

Although I knew I was in love with Ian, I had a feeling it was just an emotional thing. I could fall in love with someone’s words. But I’ve never met him before so what’s the point in falling in love? I didn’t think I would ever meet him. But then he sent me a letter to change that.

Dear Delilah,

I have a job for you if you’re up to it. There’s going to be a convention in San Diego and they were looking for photographers. I’m going to be there and I thought it would be a good place to meet. I’ll send you details over email. Let me know if you want to go.

Ian

Before I knew it, I was on a flight to San Diego. Ian paid for everything, which was more than I could’ve asked for. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn’t expecting what happened when I arrived.

I had Ian’s number now and it was strange to hear back from him so quickly. I was used to waiting days for responses. But now I felt closer, literally, I was in the same building he was in.

=============

The convention center was crowded beyond belief. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. People wandered among the halls, some dressed up as legendary characters, others toting around bags of comics and other merchandise. I felt a little out of place in my sweater and holding a camera. But in a way, I felt dignified with my press badge hanging around my neck.

After taking a few pictures of some cosplayers, I went over to the room where I was supposed to be taking pictures. Ian said he would meet me outside the panel was over. There was a long line waiting outside of the room but I was allowed through because of my badge. I glanced to my left before entering and noticed the sign for the panel. Sebastian Stan Panel.

My heart skipped a beat. Ian knew I had a bit of a celebrity crush on Sebastian. I wasn’t immune to his good looks and bad boy air to him. I found a place near the stage to set up my equipment. I paused to send a text to Ian.

You got me into a Sebastian Stan panel? You’re the best. I can’t wait to meet you.

Because honestly, I was still in love with Ian. Sure I could fawn after Sebastian but he was just a nice looking face. I was sure he was nothing like Ian. He was probably full of himself like most celebrities were.

I looked down when I got another text from Ian.

I can’t wait to meet you either.

================

The panel began and the room was packed. I was a little nervous as I realized I would be in front of Sebastian. But I tried to seem professional and kept my eye on the prize, getting my job done and meeting Ian.

Sebastian came out and I startled a little when the mass of fans around me began to scream. I chuckled to myself and started to take a few shots of him coming onto the stage and sitting down.

After the crowd had settled, Sebastian and the host began to chat a little. I listened but I focused on the pictures and checking my phone for updates from Ian. But he had stopped texting me. I tried not to worry.

Halfway through the panel, they started to field questions.

“Okay, hi, so Sebastian, you said recently that you had a pen pal. Why did you decide to get one and who is the person?”

I blinked. Sebastian Stan had a pen pal? Sure I guess it wasn’t that common in the age of social media but I didn’t think beyond it being a strange coincidence.

“Yeah, so about six years ago I decided to answer this woman’s ad for a pen pal. I’m not sure why I did it, but she seemed really kind and I wanted someone to talk to. I wanted someone who could look beyond my fame and see who I really am. I don’t regret answering. She’s one of the closest friends I have and she really understands everything. I really care for her.”

I wasn’t sure if I was really processing everything. I was listening but I wasn’t connecting the dots because it didn’t seem plausible. Sebastian Stan couldn’t be my pen pal. I was just imagining things.

Then he looked over at me. “Delilah…it’s really nice to finally see your face in person.”

I froze. Either someone was playing an elaborate prank on me or Sebastian Stan was my pen pal. I lowered my camera and locked eyes with him. “You’re…”

Sebastian nodded slightly and the rest of the room erupted with talking and whispering. The voices just blurred together and my mind started to filter it out entirely.

#Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #rpf #marvel rpf #real person fic #fanfic

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bettsfic · 7 years

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stuff i’ve learned about writing after 1 year in an MFA program

my post “stuff i’ve learned about writing after 10 weeks in an MFA program” was a big hit, so i thought i’d write an updated one after two full semesters in my program, which is halfway through. one more year to go!

find what you’re afraid of and let it hurt you. this is a tall order and it’s one of the most important things i’ve learned. if you’re hesitant, if you’re blocked, if something is keeping you from moving forward, recognize that thing is always fear, and the sooner you put a name to it, the sooner you face it, the sooner you embrace it and let it do its damage to you. you don’t have to be immune to fear, and you don’t have to be stronger than it or better than it. you can let it knock you down and kick you a few times, but you’ve got to stand back up. you don’t need to be impenetrable -- fuck having a thicker skin. you can let shit hurt you. you can drown in how afraid you are. but you have to be tenacious. if your writing is important to you, you’ve got to fight for it.

you can do whatever the hell you want, for whatever reason you want, and you don’t owe anybody anything. in workshop we talk a lot about who can get away with what in writing (and by that we mean, white men can get away with everything). sometimes i read faulkner and i think, i hate this. this is everything i can’t stand about writing. but i respect that he got away with all his weird quirks -- useless repetition of words, minimal revision, overwrought exposition, atrocious pacing. all the rules we give ourselves, all these constraints are useless. like. fine, tell don’t show. use hanging participles and run-on sentences. invert freytag’s pyramid. ramble. lean into your purple prose. it doesn’t matter, none of it matters. if you like it, keep it. you don’t have to justify your own taste. and if someone calls you out? shrug and say, “stylistic choice, buddy. i do what i want.” it’s important to know the rules exist but it’s more important to break them. it’s your writing, nobody else’s. your words answer to no one.

be vulnerable. i’m a little biased since this was also my new year’s resolution, but it’s been a wild ride. i told myself in january that my focus this year was going to be on allowing myself to be vulnerable all the time, take opportunities and communicate with people how i feel about them, and it’s had a huge impact not only on my life and relationships, but on my writing too. opening myself up to non-judgmental introspection and setting down the drive to be tough has made my work way more emotionally nuanced -- i no longer write to tell a good story, but to explore some facet of living i hadn’t previously understood. i’ve found a level of self-acceptance i didn’t think i could ever achieve. reading has become easier, because i no longer get petty or jealous of writing that is better than mine. receiving rejections has become easier, because it’s a reflection on my work, but i still appreciate the work for what it is. it’s kind of amazing living life like this, and some days it’s hard but some days it’s thrilling. but vulnerability, like everything else, takes practice. you know when you confront it because it’s about leaning into discomfort and testing the limits of your own boundaries. being able to write it all down and see how all sorts of interactions affect me now where previously i wouldn’t have let them in is kind of staggering -- the difference is so obvious. i’m a kinder and gentler and more open person because of it, and i think my writing shows that.

become a good literary citizen. being a good literary citizen means watching out for your fellow writers. i subscribe to so many daily newsletters and do so much research every day, and i’m always looking out for my friends, for opportunities for them or resources that might help them. when i read things i like, i try to share them with people who will get something out of them, and i’ve been working harder to get in touch with the author to let them know their work inspired me. i reply to all emails and offer my feedback to writers who want an additional eye on their work. i didn’t realize i guess how much of writing was networking and being a good bro, but i feel like my time is split solidly between reading, writing, and building partnerships with other writers. don’t be afraid to reach out to people you admire and offer whatever you have to give, be it your appreciation for their work or a story or article you think they might like. the writing life is often a lonely one, but being a good literary citizen makes it a much better place for all of us.

talent is meaningless. everyone can learn to write. “you’re so talented!” is a compliment i hear thrown around a lot, and it makes me cringe, because i don’t really believe in talent. i believe that some people might have genetic inclinations or predispositions to creativity, they might fundamentally see the world in a way that would lend itself to beautiful strings of words, but writing, brass-tacks, is a discipline. it is a learned skill, and that means when you start out, you are going to be bad at it. you wouldn’t expect yourself to grab a log and a saw and be able to make a coffee table out of sheer talent, but you might be able to build the table if you experimented a little with it, thought about it, researched it, and maybe took it to someone who had already built a few tables before to give you their input on the project. and then once you’ve built your table, maybe it’s not great, but it’s something, and the next one you build will be sturdier and fancier and maybe have a little drawer for your keys or something. i say this because there are some authors, really famous ones, who believe that you can’t teach writing, and you can’t learn writing. you’re either a writer or you’re not. it’s just not true. you are going to be bad and that’s okay. you’re going to get better and that’s okay too. you’re never going to get better at the pace you want to improve, but the point is as long as you keep writing, keep asking for feedback, keep implementing that feedback, keep thinking about writing, you are going to get better, and you can be just as great as all the famous authors who think otherwise.

battle familiarity. this is more or less the usual “avoid cliches” advice you hear all the time, but on a bigger-picture level. avoiding cliches doesn’t just mean rewording things like “she let go of the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding,” but constantly subverting expected language by pointing to whatever is weird about the scene you’re writing. if you have two characters in a diner, we can see the booths and the coffee and the sassy middle-aged waitress. readers don’t need any of that pointed out. what they need is details they wouldn’t expect. maybe the booths are covered in peeling electrical tape, and the one closest to the door has a spring jutting out, but normally that’s rasheed’s booth anyway, but he isn’t here today for some reason. maybe the coffee has chicory in it. maybe the waitress wears air jordans and has a gold front tooth and a sleeve tattoo, and she’s the mom of a guy you went to high school with and you’re pretty sure he’s a sheepherder in nova scotia now. whenever you’re establishing place or character, the task isn’t fitting them in a box we’re already comfortable with, but constantly asking yourself, “what makes this weird?” then point out all the weird things until you can close your eyes and see every strange inch of this otherworldly diner that doesn’t really exist anywhere but your imagination, filled with people who have full, rounded, fucked-up lives. write in a way that every word defies expectation, and reflects the strangeness of the experiences you want to convey.

TAKE RISKS. this is a repeat from the 10 week article, but good god, it’s so important. take a risk every single day. risks nearly always pay off, especially in writing. if you’ve faced your fears, if you’re vulnerable, then writing becomes more than a discipline. stories get bigger and deeper and more meaningful even if you’re focusing on the microscopic. you can write a 200-word story about a dying houseplant or a 200k novel about a gay Civil War romance, but if you’ve put everything you’ve got into it, it’ll show. you should put so much of yourself into your writing that you’re trembling holding the pages in your hand as you pass them off to someone else to read. you should feel exposed. you should be afraid. you should feel like you’ve just jumped out of an airplane without a parachute. and if you’re not feeling those things, you’ve got some exploring to do. what does the story look like that makes you afraid? that makes you want to take risks? if you stare these questions down and commit to finding their answers, your writing will always improve, and your risks will pay off.

i have a whole writing advice tag if you want to check out my other stuff, and a collection of my writing advice posts from 2016. and always feel free to shoot me an ask if you have any writing-related questions.

#writing advice #dow17

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cosmosogler · 7 years

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today i got almost everything done!

my mother woke me up at about 5:45, and then again at 6:20. i was super angry. then my brother and sister were in both the upstairs bathrooms so i had to go all the way downstairs and across the house just to go to the bathroom before i went back to sleep.

i dreamed that i was getting annoyed with a conspiracy theorist. “video games are downloading scientific theories into your brain!!!” it was the science that scared them apparently. and the computers. the person wasn’t even present, i was just hearing their voice as i played dream mario, which is only slightly like nintendo mario. i told the voice that video games are just another way to tell a story. i pulled a children’s book out of somewhere, i think it was “goodnight moon” actually. except the cover was wrong. but i was telling the voice that there wasn’t nothin wrong with telling a cute or simple story.

sometimes the story is “i got really good at jumping over hills and across floating spinners and on turtles.”

i only put on the snooze for five minutes because i really, REALLY didn’t want to get up with less than like seven and a half hours of sleep. i got up anyway and showered. i didn’t get to spend long in the shower though... i really need to shave but i haven’t had much time at all the last five, seven days. i shower every other day since it’s a little better for your hair and skin...

anyway as i was heading out to go to therapy dad decided to start asking me to do some chores. i sort of started one, i let eve outside, but i seriously didn’t have time to wait for her to take a sunbath and let her back in. then someone (not naming names, because i’m not 100% sure) decided to park their car in a way that made it impossible for me to pull out of the garage. so i had to go back inside, get that car’s key, move it to the other side of the driveway, go back inside to drop off that key, and then i could get in “my” car and get going. then people on the freeway kept cutting me off without using their turn signals and also were generally going below the speed limit so i would have to stand on the brakes. this happened more than once. then i almost hit someone trying to get over to the exit because as i passed them apparently they sped up while passing through my blind spot so they were farther up than i thought they would be when i started changing lanes. cool!!!!!!!!

in individual therapy i brought up a bunch of emotional problems i had started to explore a little bit in group therapy. i ended up talking for the whole 45 minutes straight basically. like, my therapist asked a few questions, and reassured me a few times, but it was like a huge information dump so hopefully in the coming weeks i can start addressing each problem individually. i also got my semester refund paperwork sorted out with her. i’ll be able to pick it up next week. i mostly focused on how none of my problems feel “big enough” unless they are unsolvable since i really didn’t get to talk about it in group yesterday. i said one thing that i kind of liked though. i said “i feel like if i didn’t have so many problems, i wouldn’t have so many problems.”

what i meant to say was “if i didn’t have so many mental and personality problems, i wouldn’t have so many life problems,” but the vagueness was silly enough that my therapist made a face and laughed. i said i didn’t know what to focus on first and she said “you’re already working on everything.” i had listed the multiple projects i am trying to keep up with therapy wise... i dunno. i feel like if i can get over that big “problems have to be impossible” hurdle things will start feeling a little more manageable and i’ll be able to make progress more quickly.

guess i gotta spend more time thinking about that. i’ll keep you posted as things come up.

after that i picked up my paperwork from my physician’s office since i was on that side of town and got the number for the radiology lab that wants to do the last test. when i got home i shoved some leftovers in the microwave and called the lab and scheduled my “hida scan,” which is a gall bladder test i guess where they put a bunch of glowing stuff through your digestive system and see if it goes through normally. the scheduler said it normally takes two hours unless they find something, in which case it will take longer. luckily my next therapy appointment is 4 hours after my procedure... i hope that will give enough time. i will have to let her know. i definitely wouldn’t be able to do it on a group therapy day and the lady seemed pretty keen on doing it as soon as possible. and i can’t do it in the afternoon in case it goes long and dad isn’t able to get to work.

so 8 am next tuesday it is.

so i had my ravioli and went upstairs and then after a short break i watched the iron giant with oz. the movie is even better than i remembered. then we talked about physics stuff while i worked on gathering study materials with my classmates. i had a great time, and i hope oz did too. it felt nice to do an activity with someone that took up all our attention, so i didn’t have to, like, feel self conscious about not baring my soul or something.

i think when asher gets back i will talk to him about maybe spending an afternoon at the pottery lounge thing by the amc. it’s not cheap, but last time i checked i didn’t think it was too expensive at least. and i still have the ceramic dog i painted like 15 years ago so the stuff lasts. basically you pick out a little ceramic statue and you get to paint it using a selection from like 200 different shades. and i think you can stay as long as it takes to paint it. the smaller stuff wasn’t too bad cost-wise.

got sidetracked. after i hung up with oz and got all my emails and google docs in order i went and got groceries for mom. she was making quesadillas for dinner. i unfortunately had to pay for them with my own money, and it felt weird buying meat after all these years. but i guess i buy dog treats often enough that it’s not really, like, a compromise of my morals or something. i noticed that the dogs really went wild over the chicken strips i bought last time, so i tried to expand to “turducken.” (spoiler: they loved those too.)

so i dropped off the vegetables and stuff with mom, checked on the cactus mouse, and watched a couple of the videos i had loaded up while talking to oz. i try not to spend too much time reading or watching videos while talking to people because i get super focused on what i’m looking at and don’t hear what they say any more haha.

then i went downstairs and had my veggie quesadilla. it was... ok. i was still a little hungry afterward, but i also felt kind of ill so i didn’t want to eat any more. eating with mom was the WORST. she breathes loud and chews with her mouth open so it’s just a constant avalanche of awful squishy mouth noises. it made me so angry and annoyed that i think that’s what made me sick more than the food. i kind of abruptly stood up and put my plate away and took the dogs outside after trying out the new treats. i tried to play fetch with wiley but he was having none of it today. which is very odd... maybe it was just too hot for him to want to run around.

i have been experiencing kind of horrible pain between my shoulder blades. i’m pretty sure it’s not my bra pinching anything because it’s way above the strap... probably a pinched nerve. i tried stretching my arms and shoulders and that seemed to help a lot, so i’m thinking i slept in a bad position.

then i went back upstairs and whined to myself about my therapy homework. i did more “self care” research and added a few more posts to my queue. and i talked with some discord guys a little bit. then i caught up on my self esteem journal and picked out one of my “short term goals” from my hospital-issued treatment plan. i used that as a base to expand on for my goal worksheet. i finished all that around 11 so then i got started on the owl picture for 40 minutes or so. now i am 35 minutes into my journal entry, which puts me at a comfortable time to finish up and try to sleep. i got another 10 minutes before i hit my target “get ready for bed” time.

my group mates and therapist expressed interest when i let slip that i like to draw on monday. the therapist asked what i draw. i wasn’t sure how to answer... “furries” isn’t really something i wanted to get into. and i haven’t drawn my own characters except for a reference for one of the art trades in a long time. i suppose i should post the uncolored version of that since i scanned it in and haven’t worked on it with the tablet yet.

so i just said “characters and people.” i like landscapes, but i have trouble spending enough time on them to really get into the details. i’m hoping the coloring pages will help loosen up my patience so i might start feeling like spending a million hours on one picture again. it’s been a couple years since i did anything complicated.

i’m thinking about maybe taking my sketch book... but i don’t want to spend a lot of time on explaining what the picture is of when i have more urgent things to work on.

tomorrow i have more things to do! i NEED to work on the welcome packet for ufl. i need to scan in a bunch of stuff, like my immunization records and my doctors’ notes for my refund file. i need to send an email to the preliminary test coordinator to figure out how to proceed with my studying... i need to know how much to panic about this. then after group therapy i need to drop off my sister’s old prescriptions at the police station. that won’t take too long. if i got energy i’d like to organize my desk and maybe also tidy up my room a little bit. write some things down to put in the jar. then i will work on my self esteem journal, continue reading through the self care resources i’ve got open in a million tabs, and work on the coloring page a little bit. that sounds good. and at some point i need to write my 1- to 2-paragraph essay for the refund. and also i gotta email my apartment complex about stuff like the bed size and some cupboard dimensions and whether there’s a microwave and stuff like that. some of those things i’m pretty sure i can just look up somewhere.

i think i can manage those things. the student orientation videos might have to wait until thursday but i can compile the paperwork and read the faqs and stuff. none of these tasks take long by themselves. so as long as i remember to take little breaks and stay motivated i think i can get it done and not have to worry about it so much any more.

ok, it is 12:30, which is only 5 minutes after my target time! i’m gonna do the daily pokemon stuff for 2-3 minutes and then get ready for bed. gotta practice giving myself credit for reaching/working on goals and stuff, even when i don’t want to.

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frenchibi · 7 years

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Tagged

I was tagged twice, answeres under the cut!

The first one’s by @cheetahleopard to list my top 10 songs about love! (thank you friend, I love talking about music!!)

(in no particular order)

1. The Queen and the Soldier by Suzanne Vega (if you want something tragic)

2. La La by The Cab (for a more fun take on love)

3. Angel with a Shotgun by The Cab (for sacrifice & action)

4. May I by Trading Yesterday (for when you’re feeling soft and sappy)

5. Hey Brother by Avicii (for family love)

6. Hold back the River by James Bay (for devotion)

7. Wait For It from Hamilton (…it takes and it takes and it takes…)

8. Drive by Oh Wonder (for useless love)

9. Lost on You by LP (for melancholy love)

10. On my own from Les Misérables (for wishful thinking)

…I realize that most of the songs I listen to are like… Hopeful Songs™ and not so much songs strictly love-related so this was kinda hard xD

…and I was also tagged by @josai for the 92 truths game; ty ty friend :D

LAST… [1] drink: black tea [2] phone call: my brother [3] text message: my friend Alina [4] song you listened to: Go get what you want by Raphael Lake [5] time you cried: uhh… out of frustration most likely, I think in the week before Christmas? Tough Times™

HAVE YOU EVER… [6] dated someone twice: nope [7] been cheated on: nope [8] kissed someone and regretted it: nope [9] lost someone special: yeah [10] been depressed: yeah [11] gotten drunk and thrown up: nope xD Don’t see the point in pushing things that far.

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS: [12] Phtalo blue [13] Magenta [14] Prussian blue

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU… [15] made new friends: yeah :D [16] fallen out of love: nope [17] laughed until you cried: Heck yeah [18] found out someone was talking about you: doubt it [19] met someone who changed you: yeah :D [20] found out who your true friends are: nah, I’ve been pretty sure of my friends for years now [21] kissed someone on your facebook list: yup (my mom lol)

GENERAL… [22] how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: I’d like to think everyone [23] do you have any pets: allergies mate [24] do you want to change your name: Nah, it’s good [25] what did you do for your last birthday: My friends prepared a surprise party for me, it was great :D I also had a singing lesson and went training, and encountered a gigantic spider in the shower. Fun times™ [26] what time did you wake up: 4am, 6am, 8:30am, 9:45am (etc., until I got tired of Not Sleeping™ and got up) [27] what were you doing at midnight last night: checking my emails probably? Trying and failing to write? Not Sleeping™. [28] name something you cannot wait for: I’m… actually not anticipating anything right now? ^^ My next choir concert maybe. [29] when was the last time you saw your mother: On Thursday, I visit my family a lot~ [30] what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: Less self-doubt. [31] what are you listening to right now: A playlist of relaxing songs and soundtracks, trying to maybe write something still [32] have you ever talked to a person named tom: Yeah there was one in my class once, I’m sure I said hi to him at some point xD [33] something that is getting on your nerves: My health ^^ [34] most visited website: youtube, ao3, tumblr, netflix? Hm. Also a couple of sites with resources for work I guess [35] elementary: a tiny local one :’) [36] high school: a slightly less tiny local one xD [37] college: An institute for languages and interpreting [38] hair colour: brown w/ tips dyed red [39] long or short hair: Getting longer, not quite to my elbows rn? [40] do you have a crush on someone: nope [41] what do you like about yourself? I’m bubbly and energetic at most times, and I’m relatively good at making my way in life (I hope) [42] piercings: I’ve got three in each ear, planning to get a couple more maybe? Eh. [43]blood type: I… don’t know, actually? I think I must be A+ though? Hm. [44] nickname: French, Frenchie, Chi [45] relationship status: single [46] zodiac sign: pisces [47] pronouns: she/her [48] fav tv show: Uhhhhhh right now I’m rly into Brooklyn Nine-Nine? And if we’re talking anime, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood!! [49] tattoos: None (yet?) [50] right or left handed: Right

FIRST… [51] surgery: I was like… 6, I think I had my tonsils removed? And later on I had a couple other surgeries lol [52] piercing: Ears, I was… 10? [53] best friend: @phea-chan; can you believe we’ve been friends for 17 years good lord how do you deal with this mess [54] sport: gymnastics, I think? Oh, no, skiing actually! :D [55] vacation: Ireland when I was one year old… I don’t remember it but the photos look cool lol [56] pair of trainers: I have no idea man

RIGHT NOW… [57] eating: nothing [58] drinking: nothing (I should get some water) [59] i’m about to: Write, hopefully [60] listening to: See above? [61] waiting for: my mood to improve (aka my self-manipulation to be effective? Idk) [62] want: a better immune system man [63] get married: maybe, eventually? Idk. [64] career: I’m a legal translator and interpreter

WHICH IS BETTER… [65] hugs or kisses: both man [66] lips or eyes: hnnngh both [67] shorter or taller: it’s pretty hard to be shorter than me fam (idc) [68] older or younger: Idc honestly; nothing too drastic in either direction? [70] nice arms or nice stomach: idk man?? [71] sensitive or loud: are those mutually exclusive? I’m pretty sure I’m both lol, I don’t know [72] hook up or relationship: relationship [73] troublemaker or hesitant: I dunno, it depends on the person xD I like both, dON’T MAKE ME DECIDE THINGS

HAVE YOU EVER… [74] kissed a stranger? nope [75] drank hard liquor? yes [76] lost glasses/contact lenses? I don’t wear glasses :D [77] turned someone down: sort of? elementary school was brutal lol [78] sex on first date? nope [79] broken someone’s heart? I don’t think so [80] had your own heart broken? Happens [81] been arrested? nope [82] cried when someone died? yes [83] fallen for a friend: that depends on your definition of “fall for” and your definition of “friend” ahaha

DO YOU BELIEVE IN… [84] yourself? I should. [85] miracles? Not really [86] love at first sight? Don’t think that’s how “love” works. You can find someone attractive at first sight, but to me love is more complicated than that. [87] santa claus? Nah [88] kiss on the first date? Depends on the date xD [89] angels? Not really

OTHER… [90] current best friend’s name: Chantal ( @notinvidia ) [91] eye colour: greyish-blue [92] favourite movie: currently Moana!!

I tag @lalikaa, @chxngsey, @marleeb, @paintbrushyy, @fairylights101, @snowflakers, @noodle-bird, @heirxx and @anyadisee - and obviously the people mentioned above :D You can pick one, or do both, or neither :’D

(also if anyone else wants me to tag them in these, cause they do seem to come up now and again, just shoot me a message? :D)

#French speaks #tagged #I love these dumb games #seriously though hmu if you want in #I never know who to tag anyway #and I don't wanna seem annoying D:

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mikegchambers · 7 years

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Nothing is Safer than Cloud

The security features of cloud providers give you the best processes, tools and practices to truly beef up your game

Padlocks floating in the matrix are especially secure.

There’s nothing like making broad claims with a headline featuring some dubious grammar, especially at the beginning of the week. But bear with me and we will slice and dice the ever-nagging issues of security in this post.

Get the Security Team On Board

In the on-premise enterprise world, IT security groups are becoming the Department of No. If you use any sort of agile release train, like frequent releases of mobile app versions for your organization, you’ll be familiar with scans, audits and the general slowdown that occurs when you enter the security orbit. Modern software is about change and yet change is the enemy of security in the on-premise environment.

This is a conundrum since you want to release software regularly but don’t want to be that executive who opened a security hole that caused the theft of all your client data. In fairness to the security folks, on-premise security is really difficult since it exists at many levels, it’s often applied as an after-thought and their job is like plugging a million microscopic holes in a dam.

In cloud there’s a better way, and it resolves the conflicting tension between needing to introduce changes in the software, and ensuring the environment is secure. There are four features that security teams will love (I’m picking from AWS here but similar magic exists elsewhere):

The security team can define the roles and rights of every user and process in the system, making it pretty much impossible to create new instances (servers) or deployments that open ports or violate security policies. Instead of policing per application, they can focus on the entire organization in an abstract, generalized way.

Automation at every level minimizes intentional damage or accidental screw-up. From machine images to auto-scaling and templating, you can guarantee that the 100,000th instance is using the same security policies as the first. This goes a long way to making sure that growing complexity in the environment doesn’t create vulnerabilities.

Security tools such as Amazon Inspector provide constant security assessments and look for weaknesses 24/7. These applications ensure that any windows left open are slammed shut asap.

Centralized automatic logging of every action, API call and event make it much easier to see what’s happening and isolate problems when they occur. This eliminates operating in stealth mode so audit trails abound for every user and process.

The TL;DR version is that cloud gives security teams a fully configurable sandbox where developers can play and get sand in their eyes but not burn down the playground in the process. This compares to on-premise, which is more like trying to keep watch over a hundred caffeinated 5-year olds in a knife store.

With proper configuration, a security team can own and monitor a bulletproof environment and not need to firefight on a per-project basis.

But really, how can my data ever be safe in the cloud?

This is a legitimate question especially for non-technical people but before I answer, let’s start with one mind-blowing fact that people often forget when discussing digital things.

For physical products, locking them up in a place where you can see them will deter thieves and usually stop them from being stolen. This works because (1) the thief may not know you have said riches (2) the riches are put in a place that’s hard to find and (3) the riches are secured with locks, safes and armed guards that make it easier for the thief to steal from other people.

Under no circumstances are the items ever totally immune from theft, it’s just that stealing the Hope Diamond is an order of magnitude more difficult than stealing cash from a gym locker. You also know when your riches are stolen because they are gone.

Hackers also freeze when a human enters the room.

For digital products and data, the same deterrents don’t work the same way. If your corporate data is stored on your CEO’s laptop on the top floor of a heavily guarded building, the thief doesn’t need to enter the lobby Matrix-style to physically reach the laptop.

Hackers will attempt to breach your network, overcome digital security safeguards and then copy the file(s) if they find them. You may never know the data has been stolen because the original file is still there. Or the boss might just use the password Password123 and accidentally leaves his PC in the back of a taxi — that’s more common than you’d think.

So why is cloud safer than on-premise attempts to protect data? Well, the cloud was born in a public space so consequently has security baked into every layer of its design from the get-go:

This is what encrypted data looks like without the key. It’s harder to see the woman in the red dress.

When set up properly, cloud encrypts data at rest (i.e. when it’s stored somewhere) and in flight (i.e. when it’s moving around). AWS for example offers digital envelope encryption and complex rotating key management. Translated to English, this is like a safe where the code changes every minute. I’m simplifying but essentially just stealing the data isn’t enough to get you very far — you have to do an unreasonable amount of work to read it because the math makes A Beautiful Mind look like he was just typing “Hello” upside-down on a calculator.

Amazon’s Snowball lets you ship corporate data from your armed guards direct to their data centers using UPS. So hijackers could presumably hit the UPS truck and steal all your corporate data, right? Unfortunately not — the encryption’s so tight that even if you have access to the hard disks with the data, you’ll still need a few hundred years to figure out the contents because of the method used.

Access controls and auditing are granular and very robust. Since most hackers are actually disgruntled employees on the way out of the building (or well-meaning workers accidentally doing damage), a well-designed set of policies will prevent 99% of all typical data loss events. And recovering from snapshots in the cloud is elegantly simple.

Major cloud providers have a slew of secrets, proprietary tools, potions and tricks up their sleeves to catch bad guys before you even know about it. Since you’re already in the secure area of their environment, you benefit from the multiple levels of threat detection they use non-stop. It’s like having an invisible Secret Service watching your back all the time.

Encryption and hacking aside, much corporate data loss happens because backups fail or, more likely, were never made in the first place. Automation in the cloud makes it much easier to create policies where every byte of data is held somewhere forever and you don’t have a server farm that somehow got forgotten when the network guy was on vacation in Hawaii.

What about Google and Amazon reading your data?

That’s what you really want to know about, right? There are rumors that Jeff Bezos and Larry Page get together at the weekends, laughing at their customer’s funniest emails and selling their corporate secrets to Russian mercenaries. They really only invented cloud services just to lure you into sharing your secrets with them.

Yeah, none of that is even remotely true and they have built billion dollars clouds precisely because they don’t do this. If this sounds nuts, let me add this — one Chief Operating Officer I met at a very large retail company told me that he would never, ever allow cloud in his business because Google and Amazon would steal all their point of sale transaction data and learn about their margins. Okaaay…

Security is the number one priority for all cloud platforms. They are all very, very secure.

But really, is my data safe?

Alright, here are some random thoughts to make you feel a bit safer:

Files stored in AWS are really held on multiple seal-healing hard disks which means they survive natural failure. This makes durability so impressive (99.999999999% — 11 9s, count ‘em!) that for 10,000 files stored, you would expect to lose a single file every 10 million years. If that’s not good enough, you can automate replication to other regions or other cloud providers and get so close to 100% that Extinction Level Events on a planetary level will be your biggest worry.

Encryption is a complex subject but in many of the key management systems, if you lose your own keys, nobody can read the data — not you, me, Amazon, Google or the NSA. There is no backdoor. Your key was the only way in.

The US government stores a ton of sensitive data in AWS (GovCloud) so Jeff Bezos risks the wrath of people trained in waterboarding if the security isn’t great. I’d hazard a guess that plenty of foreign governments have thrown their best minds into breaking in.

Often, we’re just trying to guard against stupidity

Finally, in my twenty glorious years in this industry, security failures are usually typified not by Homeland-style hacking squads bent on stealing your information, but the mundane stupid things that happen.

We once lost a team’s entire codebase because the lead developer kept it on his laptop and never checked it into source control — that was expensive.

A helpful intern once ‘cleaned up’ the shared drive at a company and wiped out all their marketing collateral for the last five years.

A client’s office kept their triply-backed up files all in the same building and it was washed away by floods.

And a receptionist installed viruses on an entire network by plugging in a USB stick to help out a sales rep off the street. He said just wanted to print a file.

Cloud providers give you the best processes, tools and practices to truly beef up your security game and, with the correct configuration, become world-class. Nothing in the on-premise world even comes close.

Nothing is Safer than Cloud was originally published in A Cloud Guru on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

from A Cloud Guru - Medium http://ift.tt/2o6XmZl

#A Cloud Guru - Medium

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slendermanlore · 7 years

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Just Another Fool + “Similar Situations”

While I’m on a roll of compiling vintage ARG player comments, here’s a post for the blog that integrated them the most.

August 7, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

Hey dude, that looks really familiar and seems to be corresponding with some research I’m doing on the myth of Slender Man. Have you ever heard of him? I have a few other case studies which I can point you to, if you like, which I’m using in my research, but if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to keep an eye on your blog and on Matt’s journal as a possible–nay, probable–source for my research. If you must contact me, the email supplied with this reply should suffice.

Thank you for your time,

~Dav Flamerock

Miskatonic University

August 7, 2009, Logan responds:

Dav,

I apologize in advance, as I don’t think you’ll find much mythy stuff here. Slender man sounds oddly familiar, although I can’t say I know what a slender man is. I’m currently out and about but I’ll check something when I get home later tonight.

August 7, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

The inclusion of dreams is suddenly quite interesting. How long have you been having this dream? Do you remember anything more about the voice which said “Now?” Have you been much of a dreamer before this recurring dream?

Most importantly, have you seen a tall slender man clad in a suit with a blank face, in real life?

This may be more important than you think. As before, I can be reached at my.name at gmail.

~Dav Flamerock

Miskatonic University

August 9, 2009, Logan responds:

I’m not sure how often I’ve been having the dream… A few days maybe? I haven’t had it since I wrote about it though, so I guess this pseudo-journaling thing has at least accomplished one thing. I’ve had plenty of dreams in the past, and even some that have been recurring, so I didn’t think this was particularly out of the ordinary. Also, I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything specific about the voice beyond that it doesn’t belong to someone I know. I guess it sounded like a middle aged man? It’s a bit hard to describe a random voice.

There’s been a pretty good lack of slender men clad in suits with blank faces… No worries on that front.

I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, but feel free to tell me anything you think might be relevant.

Cheers,

Logan

August 11, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

I commend Dr. W for putting together the story as he has done so with such limited information from Matt. However, it is *very* curious that you have begun having these dreams after seeing the sketchbook, for obvious reasons. Have you had the dream since we last spoke? I trust you shall blog about it when you do?

I must admit, I am finding Matt’s story difficult to believe. Such a blatant act of hostility and destruction of life is not consistent with the other material I have on the Slender Man, for he has been known to be subtle and very exacting in his victims–certainly not the kind to appear in broad daylight and set fire to half a squad of battle-hardened marines. While the dream coincidence is strange, I must agree with Dr. W’s analysis. Seeing one’s friends blown apart by a suicide bomber is always a traumatizing experience.

Regards,

~Dav Flamerock

Miskatonic University

August 12, 2009, zebo2g comments:

Just a word of advice, and it MIGHT help with remembering the dream. Some people who have dreams of let’s say, winning the lottery. They enjoy the idea of it that much that some keep a notepad on their bedside table. The moment you wake up, jot down every key point you remember from that dream and report it back here and we’ll see where we can go from there.

Stay safe and be careful

August 12, 2009, zebo2g comments:

Sorry just went over the rest of your entries again, but still keep the notes of every dream and we’ll see what we can get from them. The fixation with this creature shouldn’t be taken lightly. Be careful with how far you pursue this as it could really get to you and end in you going insane. If the dreams get worse, for the sake of yourself, back off from it.

August 13, 2009, Lifegospel comments:

Hello

I am a colleague of Dav Flamerock’s, I have an understanding of dream psycology, more so than most scientists. This recurring dream can be troubling, or it could just be you saw the picture and started dreaming about it.

Either way, I will keep reading this, if you have any questions, I’ll answer them as best as I can.

-Lifegospel

September 25, 2009, Sven Vikson comments:

Joshua, I must warn you, you need to avoid this “Business man” at all costs, I can’t stress this to you any more. You may also want to avoid Logan’s journal. You are in great danger and if you aren’t careful, you could end up like him.

September 25, 2009, TheNightmareComplex comments:

Once you’ve got those pictures up, my friend, you need to burn it. Please. The cycle can end with you.

September 26, 2009, Morrigan comments:

Don’t let anyone else touch the journal or see the journal, either. Don’t even mention the journal if you haven’t already.

October 4, 2009, Ash comments:

I have a theory… I think whatever this ‘Slender Man’ is, he is a virus of sorts. The notes and drawings that your friend wrote had a horrifying affect on him, and now it’s affecting you, second hand. The same thing to what’s happening to J who’s posting the Marble Hornets videos. His friend Alex seems to have slowly degraded, and now J is showing signs of illness.

This thing is a virus, corrupting whatever it comes near.

October 5, 2009, TheNightmareComplex responds:

Virus aren’t designed to corrupt, I’m afraid, they’re designed to destroy and breed. Their only function if to multiply. I’m afraid Slender Man is more like a Cancer than anything. And that’s far more terrifying.

October 5, 2009, Lifegospel responds:

Cancer causes the immune system to attack itself, while the cancerous cells multiply, I think that as long as we’re on medical metaphors, Slender Man is more autoimmune. The body starts attacking itself, as Matt, Alex and Logan did.

October 5, 2009, Ash responds:

As long as we’re one-upping each other on the medical metaphors… ;)

He’s like the spiritual black death.

October 5, 2009, TheNightmareComplex comments:

Wow, not only is Dr. P.T. Madd a gamejacker, he’s a bad one; His pictures are straight off of Something Awful.

Nice try, jerk.

October 5, 2009, Joshua responds:

What game?

-Joshua

October 5, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

You don’t want to know.

Madd, if you really wanted to pass yourself off as real, you would at least do some historical research and remind yourself that Innsmouth was effectively destroyed in police action over sixty years ago.

~Dav Flamerock

Miskatonic University

October 8, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

Logan, you mustn’t aggravate yourself. The reward is knowledge, yes–that is why it was sent to you. That did not cause the arrival of the Slender Man, nor did it make him see you. You are not alone. You are not the only one who can see him. If you learn one thing from me, it is this:

There is no why.

Do not let your shell break. Protect your vital heart and your mind.

He is in our world. We are NOT in his. Do not let yourself fall to delirium. Do not give up hope.

~Dav Flamerock

October 18, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

A few details have me worried–Logan living on Ash Tree Lane (Yggdrasil), the frightening resemblance of the scratches on the cover to something too dangerous to discuss on these unreliable networks, and the two missing pages being the most important points.

Joshua, you made the right choice to rid yourself of this book.

October 27, 2009, Dav Flamerock comments:

Without going into too much detail;

I must have posted this on my youtube video, not here, but the reason Miskatonic has no web presence is because we work exclusively on Internet-2, so none of our webwork can be accessed on Internet-1 (what we are using now). I think it’s silly to be completely invisible on this network, but the esoteric have their reasons and I’m not exactly in any position to argue. As for why Miskatonic only shows up as a fictional school, such is an unfortunate side effect of the school’s desire to stay obscure. Lovecraft, as you mentioned, went there and wrote about it, and that was the first really public view to the school. As I’m sure you know, the first story sticks, and so now everyone knows it as “that school that Lovecraft wrote about.” Oh well, I’m not going to make a big deal about that either–it actually works rather well for us.

Dr. Upham is not whom I was referencing, I was referencing Dr. Ukrytywicz (and you wondered why I shortened his name). You won’t find him on the internet much, because he’s a bit secretive himself, but perhaps someone knows of him.

I don’t understand why people keep invoking the Marble Hornets entries here, due to their dissociation, but I have no power to stop you from doing so.

Good day, and have a Happy Halloween!

~Dav Flamerock

December 31, 2009, ISH comments:

Some of us are still paying attention to the trees.

Logan, Joshua. Don’t give up.

January 8, 2010, Dylan comments:

Logan is no longer suffering.

January 9, 2010, Mato comments:

He mentioned he was going to ride his motorcycle to where Logan’s cadaver is being kept, I can only hope that something similar to before hasn’t happened. Joshua if you get the chance to read these comments I recommend continuing to keep in touch with us, it could help take your mind off of things.

I’m a little worried about myself actually, ever since early December I’ve been looking into this Slenderman thing heavily. Been sick since Christmas, everything but the terrible coughing has gone away. Not seen anything strange, yet, though me being far from alone nearly 100% of the time may have something to do with that.

But as we’ve seen from other incidents, SM doesn’t seem to have any trouble toying with people that stick in groups.

March 27, 2010, Zedek comments:

As the curtains close so many from the audience try to hold it open. The Act is done, it is time to sleep and await for a chance to tell our story.

November 18, 2010, Lewis comments:

This is the end of the story. In a few months, it will be a year since anybody has posted on this blog.

Matt is dead.

Logan is dead.

Joshua is dead.

But when one story is over, a new one begins.

March 25, 2011, der ritter comments:

It is but a noise, a shadow, a warning. To see it is to deserve it. Follow the angel of death to the ark. Only the chosen shall live. The Waters of God will engulf sin. The world is his playground but everything answers to something. That something is close, rounding the forgotten planet. Repentence is aimed at something false. Humanity has failed, follow him to the ark. His origin will be the last place for salvation.

May 16, 2011, Can'tKeepUp comments:

Sometimes there are things we can’t explain, things that don’t make sense to us. It’s best not to get involved with these things but for those of you who do…stop before it’s too late.

July 10, 2011, ThroughALookingGlass comments:

It’s been over two years now. I don’t think they’re coming back.

Something bad must have happened, I think they’re gone.

I never really met any of these guys, but I understand what it is they were dealing with. After waiting for two years and recieving no updates, I’m giving up on waiting.

For the past couple of years I’ve been compiling some research and I’ve had a few close encounters of my own. I’m not going to just destroy all of the evidence and spend the rest of my life in fear, I’ll find out what happened to these two by myself. If some Monster comes after me, so be it. I’m done with all these disappearances and unsolved mysteries.

I’ll finish this.

January 31, 2013, Noxifer comments:

What begins, ends.

And with end comes a new beginning.

Life is just a highway to death.

#Just Another Fool #Slender Man Arkive #slenderverse

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type2diabetestreatments-blog · 7 years

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Ask D'Mine: Lipoatrophic Diabetes and Much Ado About Tea

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/ask-dmine-lipoatrophic-diabetes-and-much-ado-about-tea/

Ask D'Mine: Lipoatrophic Diabetes and Much Ado About Tea

There's so much to know about diabetes, and so much to keep up on. We're very grateful for the research efforts of our snarky yet beloved advice columnist here at Ask D'Mine — veteran type 1, diabetes author and community educator Wil Dubois.

Need help navigating life with diabetes? Email us at [email protected]

Julie from Nevada, type 2, writes: I was told I have lipoatrophic diabetes, in addition to other health issues including high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and arthritis. Now I'm worried about my daughters. They say these things are not hereditary, but how can I be sure?

Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: Who said these things aren't hereditary conditions? Not to depress you, but... umm... they are. All of them. Diabetes is definitely a family gift (more on your unique type in a minute), as is susceptibility to elevated cholesterol and trigs. Of course, there're over a hundred flavors of arthritis, but, for instance, the very nasty rheumatoid arthritis — another one of those lovely diseases where the immune system goes bonkers and attacks the home team—has a genetic component to it. Actually if you read about it, you might suffer diabetes dÃ©jÃ vu: "blah, blah, blah, some researchers, blah, blah, believe an infection such as blah, blah might trigger the disease in those genetically susceptible."

Sound familiar, type 1s?

I've got a few thoughts to ease your mind, but first we gotta talk about your lipoatrophic diabetes 'cause I'll bet most of our readers have never heard of it. Thankfully, it's quite rare. Rare enough that I can't even get any good statistics on just how rare it is, but the best guess is that it affects 1 in 400,000 people. By comparison, our "rare" type 1 diabetes effects (depending on the part of the world you're in) around 17 in 100,000. That makes type 1, if my math is right, 68 times more common than lipoatrophic diabetes.

So just what the Sam Hell is lipoatrophic diabetes?? the rest of you are asking. In Julie's case her diabetes has taken an ugly turn that is causing her hypothalamus to freak out and over-produce growth hormones and the tongue-twisting adrenocorticotropic-releasing hormones (basically, steroids). This toxic cocktail in her blood is literally killing her body fat and might cause some of her muscles to atrophy, too. In most cases the damage is limited to certain areas of the body, but can be widespread.

Yes. Major suckage.

And just where does lipoatrophic diabetes fit in to the overall picture of diabetes? OK, here we go. Recall that the family tree of diabetes has two major branches: diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus. Insipidus is an uncommon form of diabetes caused by a defect in the kidneys. Mellitus is the branch that includes T1, T2, LADA, gestational diabetes, pre-diabetes, and Julie's rare form.

Other interesting tidbits: super-high trigs are common in lipoatrophic diabetes, high enough to be difficult to tame; and the disease is characterized by extraordinary insulin resistance. Like more than 1,000 units of insulin a day extraordinary.

By the way, if the word lipoatrophic tickles the back of your mind but doesn't jibe with what I'm telling you, you might be recalling that in the olden days of beef and pork insulins, localized mini-lipodystrophies were sometimes seen at injection sites. The immune system would attack the injection site and kill off a small zone of fat. They were caused by the body rejecting the animal-based medicine. In theory, always injecting in the same spot with modern insulins can also kill off the fat tissue in that area, one of the reasons all you injectors and pumpers out there should rotate your sites.

Now, Julie, as to your daughters, all of your woes might be passed on to them. Or some of your woes might be passed on to them. Or maybe none of your woes will be passed on to them. There are no guarantees, good or bad. I guess this will be small comfort, but I always feel that forewarned is forearmed. If your girls know that there's a risk, however small, then they can make sure their docs know what's lurking in the family tree. Everyone can be watching. It's not a perfect solution, but I'd argue that good surveillance beats the hell out of the head-in-the-sand approach every time.

Vaughn from Minnesota, type 2, writes: I read that white tea is a powerful antioxidant and green tea helps your body burn fat. Is there any truth to these claims that tea can affect the health of diabetics?

Wil@Ask D'Mine answers: Well, the British conquered more than half the known world drinking tea (not bad for a country just a hair bigger than Minnesota), so that suggests some power. As to the medical benefits that you read about tea, it's technically true, but don't get too excited just yet.

White tea is the least-processed of all the teas and it is an antioxidant. That said, I think calling it a "powerful" antioxidant is going a little far. Antioxidants include Vitamins C and E, flavonoids and carotenoids. Beyond tea, you can "get" assorted antioxidants from fruits, veggies, coffee, olive oil, oregano, eggs, and my favorites: dark chocolate and red wine. For what it's worth, it looks like beans and berries are the antioxidant leaders when it comes to "powerful."

But wait! Do we need a powerful antioxidant, even if green tea were a powerful antioxidant? Maybe not. This study suggests too much of a good thing will kill you.

Meanwhile, green tea, which seems to have hit the Big Time recently, has been under the metaphorical microscope. Maybe it, like red wine and dark chocolate, helps lower heart disease risk. If I have to choose between a cup or green tea or some red wine and chocolate, I gotta say, it's a no-brainer for me. Green tea might also lower cancer risk. And yes, it does seem to burn fat. Yep. Just not a whole hell of a lot of fat.

Now I need to mention my mother here (and hopefully, she doesn't read today's column). Her eye doc had suggested Mom drink green tea every day as there is also some research suggesting that it can be helpful in slowing down glaucoma and other eye diseases. Of course, this research is on rats. But rats are people, too. So Mom has been drinking green tea every day: doctor's orders, after all.

But...

But, she was drinking bottled iced green tea with honey. After all, honey is natural, too, right? The carb count was right up there with a soda pop. In fact, this "tea" was really just tea-flavored sugar water. Sure, it had some honey. But the ingredients were water, corn syrup, sugar, honey... Luckily Mom isn't a diabetic, but clearly, some teas can affect the health of diabetics.

Caveat emptor.

Ya gotta read the damn food labels.

FYI, final tea trivia: white, green, and black tea are all from the same plant: camellia sinesis, a.k.a. "the tea plant."

I think we need to approach tea like everything else: all things in moderation, don't expect miracles, and don't drink the damn stuff if you don't like it.

Now I'm feeling the need to anti-oxidize. Where did I put that corkscrew?

This is not a medical advice column. We are PWDs freely and openly sharing the wisdom of our collected experiences — our been-there-done-that knowledge from the trenches. But we are not MDs, RNs, NPs, PAs, CDEs, or partridges in pear trees. Bottom line: we are only a small part of your total prescription. You still need the professional advice, treatment, and care of a licensed medical professional.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article

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