RoyalRoad
First
Previous
Next
Second chapter I released today. Make sure to check the previous chapter if you missed it!
I'm a new writer trying to improve. As always, feedback about the story or my writing are all very welcome, and I read every one of them.
As Zoron waited for refueling, she took notice of the growing economy that has popped up inside the Livermore spaceport itself. There were several very nice restaurants for human tourists who wanted to come eat and watch spaceships take off and land right next to them. There were also a number of duty free shops for expensive goods.
Few aliens could really afford to indulge in these luxuries, Zoron included, but for them, it was as fun to shop as it was for the tourists to gawk at aliens.
The ubiquitous advertising billboards occasionally caught her eye. Advertising preceded ink and paper in human society, and the galaxy was not unfamiliar with its use or effects. What fascinated Zoron was the amazing amount of consumer goods that were being sold, some of them she hadn't even seen before. She would have to remember to ask the human sellers about their prices and see if she could get a sample for her next shipment.
Today, she noticed a new billboard put up by some company named Terra Corp. What they were advertising, however, was not new to her, and she was very, very interested.
Terra Corp was a successful aerospace defense contractor before the aliens arrived. They made propulsion systems, and had clients in militaries and government agencies like NASA, who wanted them to make parts for anything from missiles to satellites.
The market was very lucrative. On their assembly lines, Terra Corp made the most efficient engines for light years around, and rocket launch costs on Earth were lowered into the tens of millions.
Then, the aliens came.
When the government started buying up alien ships, some of them fell into NASA's laps. As a publicly funded agency, NASA couldn't keep many secrets, both practically and legally. Their reverse engineering studies on the alien ships were quickly posted or leaked onto the Internet, depending on which day of the week it was.
Refusing to die, Terra Corp pivoted: they started adapting alien designs into their products. Terra still had several advantages over the many startups that had cropped up eyeing their business: their supply chains and talent. They invested their large cash hoard, and decided to cut their previous clients out of the loop entirely.
After a few months, they had designed the galaxy's first human galactic trade ship. They called it Terra One.
Zoron did not have a phone, but there appeared to be nothing on Earth that can't be negotiated for a small fee. A human vendor had agreed to rent her a phone for a bit. She fiddled a bit with her universal translator and started dialing.
"Terra Corp, how can I help you?" The pleasant voice of the woman on the other end.
"Hi, I was looking at a billboard for a spaceship called Terra One and was wondering if I could buy one."
"Of course, let me transfer you to our customer inquiry department."
There were a few short seconds of some strange but not unpleasant music, and a voice replied, a man this time.
"Hello, my name is Noah, sales representative for Terra. I heard you were asking about our Terra One spaceship line?"
"Yes, yes. How many credits would it cost to buy one?"
"Credits? I'm sorry, may I have the pleasure of knowing who I'm speaking with?"
"My name is Zoron. Nice to meet you, Noah," she said, and as she did, she heard some scrambling on the other end of the phone.
"Uh, Zoron, I'm going to direct you to our VP of Sales. Please hold on for just one moment."
Some more music, then a woman picked up a phone.
"Hello Zoron, I'm Erin. Welcome to Earth. How are you doing today?"
Erin was in Seattle, but she immediately agreed to fly down to Livermore to talk to Zoron.
Zoron had her spaceship moved off the landing pad into a hangar so she would not be blocking the pad for other traders.
For a small fee, of course.
Erin was in her 50s. She'd had a long career at Terra's headquarters in Seattle, right next to where Boeing assembled their rockets and planes, interrupted only by a short marriage and the birth of her only child.
She was in a meeting when an intern ran into the conference room. He took a terrified look at the dozen middle and upper management execs seated at the table, who each made his total net worth in salary every hour, now all staring at him.
The intern decided that this was probably important enough and blurted out, "there's an alien trying to buy our spaceship on the phone!"
That proved very favorable for the future career of the intern.
The flight from Sea-Tac Spaceport to Livermore only took 15 minutes. She met Zoron at the hangar. This was the first alien Erin had ever talked to.
After somewhat awkward introductions, she got down to business, "Terra One actually just entered the production phase, and the first models are scheduled to roll off the line in eight months. So far we have a lot of interest, but you're the first non-human that's called us about it. Is this your spaceship by the way? It's absolutely gorgeous!"
"Yes," Zoron said proudly, "it's been in my family for fourteen generations. I can give you a tour."
"Oh, yes. Please." And what a tour it was. Erin asked a lot of questions about various components in it as Zoron described their function. She was very knowledgeable. It was nice to talk shop with an enthusiast. Occasionally, Erin would ask a question about the internal performance of this part or that and Zoron would not know how to answer, but she did not seem bothered by that and quickly moved on.
"Wow, this is a very impressive spaceship. Wow."
Then Erin switched tracks, "as I was saying, our own Terra Ones will be ready to fly in eight months. We expect the performance specifications for sublight speed and range to be similar to what you already have, but we also boast a few features that I'm sure you've noticed on our ads."
There, she pulled out a tablet and started giving the well practiced sales pitch.
"Our FTL range is expected to be about 6-7 times longer than average alien made spacecraft due to the more efficient fuel injection, and we have a slightly bigger fuel tank. You will likely save more than 50% on reactor fuel costs alone."
There she flipped to a slide with a captivating video showing the differences between the human and alien reactor modules burning side by side.
"Because our reactor has been miniaturized, we have more space for cargo or passengers. Our passenger liner model can carry up to 92 people, or fitted with a more luxurious interior. Our cargo hauler model comes with the standard pallet rail and can carry… well, as much mass as you want. Unlike most other trader ships on the market, as long as you can fit it into the hold, it will fly no problem unless you're hauling something much heavier than tungsten composites. It has a total size restriction of about 120 cubic meters, not including the pilot cabin."
Here she flipped to a picture showing a beautiful white interior of the pilot cabin, with two comfortable looking reclining seats made of memory foam, a triple pane reinforced glass cockpit, digital touchscreen displays, HOTAS controls, and a pull out bunk.
Zoron had to close her mouth to stop from drooling all over the tablet.
"So… um… how much would the basic model cost?" Zoron had learned enough about human consumer goods to know about the add-on business model.
"The Terra One basic package is the cargo hauler. It's going to come out to seventeen million Dollars, or credits, not including taxes and fees. Your blink away cost should come to within two million of that," Erin replied automatically.
Zoron tried to keep the disappointment out of her face but was only partially successful. She was one of the wealthier traders in the galaxy, but her entire bank account had not even crossed the one million mark. Indeed, the only alien trader to become a millionaire was another Zeepil whose entry into what the humans called the "two comma club" was celebrated as a major event on Traders Only.
Seeing her expression, Erin reassured, "we also have several loan options, if you're open to those?"
Zoron shook her head. Debt = bad. She said, "thank you for the introduction. I'm sorry to have wasted your time today."
Erin was not a woman who took no for an answer, figuratively speaking. You don't get to be where she was in life that way. "Ok, what about a trade in for a pre-order? You hand us your ship, stay on Earth for a few months. We'll pay for your expenses. And when your Terra One is ready, we'll give you a significant discount. Consider it… a loan from you to us."
Up to this point, Terra had not managed to buy any alien trade ships yet. They weren't unaffordable for a corporation, but traders often did not want to end up grounded on Earth. This could be an exciting opportunity for them to inspect a live one.
"How much would the discount be," sniffed Zoron. She was skeptical about this reverse loan. This Erin human was evidently very competent and Zoron knew that whenever you felt like you were taking advantage of someone smart, you were the mark. But… Erin had a point. It's not like she could fly two spaceships at once, and she did want the new ship.
"Well, we'll have to figure that part out. I'll have my engineers come down here to take a look and we'll get you sorted."
Over the next few days, Erin and Zoron haggled over the financial details. Zoron was a good businessbeing, and Erin was a professional. In this case though, it was a classic case of a win-win. Terra Corp wanted the alien spacecraft to inspect and do research over; it was worth more to them than a single production craft. Zoron wanted the straight upgrade.
They ended up agreeing to do a like-for-like trade, Zoron's original spacecraft for a new Terra Corp production.
Also known as a barter. Irony is not dead.
They flew Zoron up to Seattle and settled her into a rented single family home in a middle class suburbia near Northgate.
She was a novelty to her neighbors for a while, and Terra took a while to finally navigate her visa through USCIS. But she settled in and got used to it.
She decided this was where she was going to retire to when she grew old and her bones started aching.
Everyone at Livermore had heard about the trade-in.
It's not that someone dug up her tax forms or someone did their due diligence on Terra Corp.
It's not that they saw Terra Corp engineers take apart her spacecraft piece by piece into carefully labelled crates and flew them around the country.
Nah, she bragged about it on Traders Only, which had a several hundred pages long thread about Zoron's proud pictures in front of her new under construction Terra One. Moderators had to restrict it after numerous unpleasant comments against Zoron and her species.
"This is a good sign, right?" Sarah said, remarking on the trade, "it's… barter but aliens are upgrading their ships to human ones." She said "barter" with a disgust on her face, as if it were a crime.
"Yes, and no," ah, it's another complicated answer from Dr Stearns, "it's great for Zoron. Looking at the deal she claimed she got on Traders Only, she sold it well above the market price. Terra just wanted to take a look at the insides. No other trader would get a trade-in value like that."
"The bad thing is, as I've started to realize and think about these past few months after the Gak disaster," he continued, "the aliens have been bleeding their economies into Earth."
"Hypothetically speaking, if you plop down a rich city into a poor area today, what would immediately happen to the poor area is very bad. The people in the city would have so much money and goods that they would start sucking up all the economy in the area like a vacuum cleaner. Say you're a farmer in the poor area, you can bring food to the city, which they don't make, but literally everyone else in the area is doing the same, so they don't have to pay you that much, and you can't buy that much stuff from the city because everything is expensive. That's the best case scenario."
"You could be… I dunno… a construction worker. You can't compete with the hundreds of people in the city who all already have contacts and experience working in the city. They're also going to come out into the poor area with their fancy machines and concrete trucks and put you out of business. Your only chance would be to move into the city to find work as well. Not ideal for everyone, but bearable."
"If you're unlucky, you're a businessman. You're immediately put out of business by people in the city because you can't compete with their scale and efficiency. In fact, the big corporate franchises in the city can easily drive most businesses in the surrounding areas into bankruptcy. Wealth and people flow one-way into the city. So while it's normally a good idea to be near a big market, the poor area doesn't always improve when there's a sudden change in their surrounding area. Sometimes, it might. It would all depend," Stearns wavered here trying to think about whether to elaborate on the cases and conditions.
"I see your analogy, but the aliens have been improving! Gak is now affording goods and food with a little bit of stimulus and aid, and some of their farms are now able to use late 19th century human farming utilities! Other worlds are industrializing too," Sarah said. She was proud of what they'd achieved so far and was not about to let Stearns' negative nancy attitude piss all over it.
"Yes," Stearns said, and sighed coming to his conclusion, "but we've been doing that at the expense of draining the technological reserves, so to speak, of the aliens. What Zoron sold Terra Corp was six, maybe seven centuries of wealth accumulation from a whole family, and if it weren't an R and D opportunity for them, it would be… oh maybe a quarter of the worth of a new Terra One."
"Imagine someone from the 1400s with the biggest shop in… say London. Imagine their children inherited it. Imagine they made all the right plays, invested in all the right things. They went all in on the tulip trade at the right time, and sold right before the bubble popped. In the 20th century, they had stocks in IBM, Microsoft, Apple at all the right times. They become the top ten richest families of their species. That's Zoron's family."
"She's the literal point oh oh oh oh one percent of the galaxy, if not her planet. And she just traded in her entire wealth for something Terra Corp is probably going to make obsolete with another version in a year because there are thousands of multi-millionaires in just America that won't mind a new space yacht. Don't get me wrong, it was the right financial move: if she hadn't traded hers in, it would be obsolete too. But you see where I'm going with this? Pretty soon, the aliens are going to run out of new technology that we want to copy."
"And our economy is going to crash too?" Sarah asked in horror.
"Oh heavens no, we'll be filthy rich, like the city in the story. I mean… probably. I'm an economist, not a fortune teller," Stearns replied, "but I'm bullish because our economy is booming from all this new alien tech. On the other hand, the aliens can't make all the stuff we're introducing because they literally don't have the infrastructure yet. Selling spaceships was the sound of a domino falling, one that we'd been hearing about for a while."
"What happened on Gak a year ago, it's going to start happening everywhere."
"Not this again, what do we do?" Wailed Jen.
"I think we caught it in time, this time. A friend of mine caught up with me last week. Apparently last year, someone wrote an article describing this exact scenario in one of the journals, and he found it while doing some research on capital flow. Anyway," Stearns went on, "we can mitigate a lot of these effects, here's what we do…"
Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration
Hearing on Alien Refugees and Migrant Workers
"Please! Please! May we have order?... Thank you." The open room was packed with people, and a few faces of unfamiliar species in the gallery too.
"I'll make this brief. We are holding this hearing today on the one year anniversary of the Great Gak Spacelift…"
"... a celebration of our values and our common interest with the galactic community..."
"... greatest gift of all, life and the pursuit of opportunity…"
"... brave men and women from all around the world stepped head first into this challenge…"
This was not brief. At all.
"... beacon of light, we strive to be a shining city on a hill for the galaxy…"
Eyes were rolling, c'mon let's get this going Senator.
"... which brings us to the purpose of this hearing: The laws of the land have remained in limbo for months, and we have debated and delayed, but the business of governance can wait no longer. We have no doubt that the rights we hold sacred, the ones enshrined in our Constitution: they apply to all sentient beings, but the question remains of how the remainder of our customs and regulations, our hundreds of years of precedence, how they will affect our relationship with our visitors from outer space."
"We will now hear testimony from several experts. Ladies and gentlemen," the Chairwoman beckoned to her colleagues on the bench, "call your witnesses."
There was a long line of experts and leaders from academia, from corporations, from unions, from colleges, from special interest groups, from every industry that would be affected by whatever came of this, including the payment company that started it all.
"Ms. Miller, your company benefits from alien labor, does it not?"
"Yes, Senator, as we are all aware," Sarah answered unsure where this line of questions were going, "we consider our payment of credits to space truckers to facilitate the Great Gak Spacelift to be a donation to the cause of sentinency."
"That's not what I'm referring to," the honorable Senator said, putting up a number of documents onto the projector, "we have records that your company has hired representatives of other species, on other worlds, in order to sell Offworld Trading Terminals. You benefit from cheap alien labor, do you not? Is that not why you are here, lobbying to allow galactic aliens to legally enter and remain in the United States for work and refuge?"
"Yes," Sarah sighed, this was going to be a long hearing, "as you know very well, Senator, our interests lie in both the galactic community and our country. Galactic Credits are the grease for the gears of galactic commerce that enable trade with the aliens and feed into our booming economy. A rising tide lifts all boats..."
Stearns beamed proudly at his boss, student, and now friend from one of the VIP seats in the galley.
You might expect that the biggest destination for galactic alien visas and green cards into America would be California, being the most populous state with the most temperate climate and all. Or maybe Texas, with the fastest growing population. Or maybe even Florida or Hawaii, for their year-round sunny beach weather. You could even be forgiven for guessing Alaska, because some aliens sure love the cold tundra.
You would be mistaken. Weather has a big effect on migration, but the number one factor is and will always be: opportunity.
A year after Gak, for a while, it was West Virginia.
West Virginia had a large mining economy. Specifically coal mining. The restrictions of which had just been lifted with the nullification of climate change. Even with the ever decreasing price of cleaner sources of energy, it was still cheaper to burn coal… if you didn't care what you were doing to the environment around you and the lungs of your children. In terms of making energy, things really didn't get much cheaper than setting rocks on fire.
For the workers who did the job, one of the most unfortunate effects of coal mining was pneumoconiosis. Also known among coal miners as black lung. Modern technology and medicine had reduced some of its risks and effects, but not all.
See… some aliens, unlike fragile humans, don't have picky lungs. Especially species from Bohor and other polluted planets that had adapted to the toxic fumes that their homeworld called an atmosphere. Companies paid for the meager cost of transporting them en masse onto Earth and put them to work. Save a little here on ventilators, a little there on masks.
A lot of the aliens don't get too picky about the amount of credits they're being paid either.

Hey dad,
I made a human friend and she let me use her phone to send this message to the trader mail office at home. My life here is great, and I am making many friends.
The air in the mines is clean and crisp compared to the ones at home. We aren't allowed to work more than 8 hours a day, but the human inspectors can't tell our faces apart, so sometimes we sneak in with a different name to work two shifts a day.
They have a sign on the wall that shows the number of days since the last accident. It is at 130 today. Can you imagine such a sign in a Gak mine? They would just never change it from zero. Do not worry about me. I am very careful. I even sometimes wear the silly looking hats they give us.
On some days, they do not let us work the mines, so I learned to drive a vehicle and deliver people to places, like a fancy security guard. This doesn't pay as much as the mines, but I meet many new people. I have even met other non-humans!
Even though my human language skills are not very good, I am learning. The mine boss has a translator, so he can help me with them.
Please stay healthy. I will send you another 300 GC this month. I miss you. Say hello to all my brothers and sisters for me.
Love, Gromor

Gromor,
Harvest is very good this year. The soil is rich with water, and the new seeds we bought at the market made so much we may not be able to collect them all before the winter sets in!
Do not worry about me or your siblings. We are all still alive. Did you find the people I was talking to you about? It is very important that you do.
Dad

"Money they send home is quickly becoming a major portion of these economies. This allows the people on those planets to buy investments into their own business. Agricultural output is up, despite the fact that less people are working in agriculture and most are moving into industrial work. Some planets are even producing materials that Earth corporations are importing in bulk, and many of them are building a multiplanetary supply chain."
"Furthermore, a large alien population has rapidly scaled the demand for a large amount of consumer goods," Stearns continued, "they can send home all they want but they still need to eat, sleep, and consume while they are on Earth. Many previously rusting towns, especially in rural areas with a lot of space and cheap cost of living are booming back up. Many of them are restarting their old factories to mass produce cheap late 19th and early 20th century machinery and consumer goods, and these are selling especially well in the better developed alien trade ports."
"So does that mean our strategy is working?" Jen asked impatiently.
"In a word, yes," Stearns summarized, "there have been massive improvements to many of the poorest economies that are now feeding their populations to richer planets, and from those to planets to Earth. We are single handedly dragging the galaxy into industrializing, though the long term effects are uncertain. If our own economy ever got into trouble, I imagine very bad things will happen to all of them."
"Ok, we'll take things one step at a time. How are our own people handling it?" Sarah asked.
"Fairly well, all things considered. There have been a few interspecies conflicts, but those are generally confined to areas where there are very few of them. I hear they make good neighbors and it's hard for people who know them to get angry at teddy bears and otters from outer space. Also, it helps that many of the jobs they have been taking are the ones that are so shitty that even the Indians and Nigerians don't want to do them."
"That's good to hear," Sarah replied, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Yup. Earth is getting richer. And this time, some of the aliens' are too."
Louisa plopped down at the couch as she got home, and started scrolling through her phone. She couldn't wait for her boyfriend to get home. He was supposed to cook today, and Gary is an excellent chef.
She noticed a new message:

Hey Louisa and Gary,
One of my sons has finally found you. We are all very good. We have a lot of food now.
I hope you are doing well. If you ever come to Gakrek again, you are welcome to stay at our house. Our roof does not leak any more.
I named two of my children after you. I hope you do not mind. I asked the trader office to attach a picture of them to send to you.
Gordorker

The migration of people and their remittances may be the most controversial topic to be discussed in the story, but unavoidable.
The examples I looked at were economic studies of remittances in Armenia, which has a significant portion of its economy being money sent back from migrant workers in Russia and Azerbaijan. Families with emigrant laborers were more likely to have bank accounts and savings, to own businesses, to make domestic investments...etc. Despite major security concerns and regional instability, Armenia's economic growth in the past 30 years have generally been decent, in good years even mirroring the growth rate of the four Asian Tigers in the 60s-90s.
There is no conclusive economic evidence that higher remittances and dependence on it lead to overall greater or lesser economic growth in the long run, only that it can pull underdeveloped countries out of the gutter, which is essentially what the alien economies in the story are.
I am trying out something new in the next chapter. The working title is: Last Resort
RoyalRoad
First
Previous
Next

I work in a hospital, and I got the Pfizer vaccine today as part of the "Phase 1a" rollout of the vaccine in Texas. I wanted to share my experience to answer some of the questions that might be out there about the vaccine.
First, a bit of background - I work at a fairly large but rural hospital in Texas. We received our first supply of the Pfizer vaccine (currently inconveniently named "BNT162b2") on Monday and began vaccinating our healthcare employees on Tuesday, December 15. The vaccine is considered voluntary, and employees are not forced to get the vaccine to continue working. Previously, employees filled out a survey where we could opt in for the vaccine. Even after opting in, employees had the option to change their mind up until they received their shot. Suffice to say, I decided to go all the way. I've been cautiously optimistic about the vaccine for a while, and aside from seasonal allergies, I have a fairly unremarkable medical history. Also, when the nursing department said that there would be free lollipops... well, that sealed the deal for me.
Our hospital set up pre-planned COVID vaccination times to keep things organized, and I showed up to my 3:15PM slot a few minutes early since I half-expected to see a cluster-F. I was a little disappointed to see that things were actually pretty mellow. There was a check-in process that involved filling out a one-page consent form with a 6-page easy-to-read primer on the vaccine, COVID-19, and potential side effects; TLDR = You're getting two 30 mcg shots 21-days apart.
They also introduced a CDC app, V-Safe, that would send us a weekly survey to ask for side-effects. They encouraged us to report any side effect of any intensity on the survey, whether it was severe or just minor arm pain. V-Safe is completely optional and voluntary, and they said we could get the vaccine without worrying about V-Safe.
The check-in process took about 5 minutes total; faster than I expected. They asked me which arm should receive the vaccine, and I picked left since I've never liked that arm. When they pulled out the vaccine syringe, I realized that I was suddenly a tad nervous. When I get nervous, I talk a lot. I talked about how small the needle looked; I compared it to a flu shot needle. I talked about how the vaccine syringe had a translucent semi-clear off-white look to it. The syringe itself looked really narrow and innocuous. After talking about the syringe, I talked about how I talk a lot when I get nervous. While talking, I spotted the bowl of lollipops and talked about those too. At some point in my monologue, the nurse saw her window, nodded at me for permission, and I frowned and nodded back.
The actual injection was extremely unremarkable. I expected a stinging sharpness, but instead it felt more like a dull, numbing sort of discomfort. I was worried that the actual liquid would be extra viscous or acidic, and as the nurse was injecting me I was fearful that it would be like that one year where the flu shot with the H1N1 strain really sucked and caused a sore arm right after. But, instead, I felt more surprised by how much the injection itself didn't hurt. I wasn't even sure that I had gotten the vaccine until later when I saw a small dot of dried blood on my bandaid.
After the shot, they hand you a small vaccination card that shows the date and location of your 1st shot, and it reminds you that you still have to get a 2nd shot after 21 days. I noticed that the day of the vaccination is being counted as Day 0 and so tomorrow is Day 1. After the shot, they had me sit in a waiting room for 15 minutes to watch for an allergic reaction. They even handed me a placard that read "You must wait until 3:35PM" before I could leave observation. I took this time to sign up for V-Safe (which took about 2 minutes), text some friends, and then stare out the window before I was free to go back to work.
As I'm typing this post, it's been about 6.5 hours since I've gotten the vaccine, and I haven't noticed any unusual pain or side-effects yet. From the NEJM article about the vaccine (https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577), I'm preparing myself for some combination of a headache and/or fatigue, and I wouldn't be surprised if my arm hurts more in the morning As of right now, though, I haven't noticed anything out of place in my body unless I stop to focus on my arm and ask, "Does my arm hurt at all?" and, I guess the answer to that is, "Yeah, I guess it qualifies as a 1 out of 10 on the discomfort scale." It hasn't limited any of my activities at this point, and I've been able to jog, do some pull-ups and light exercise without any problems. It's been extremely mundane so far, and my only real angst right now is that I forgot to pick up a lollipop on my way out of observation. But, I'm also trying to stay cautious and remind myself that stuff can still happen either in the next few days or with the 2nd dose in 3 weeks. Still, I'm a bit relieved with how things have gone so far.
I hope my experience has provided a data point for you guys about the literal vaccination process. If you guys have any questions about my experience, feel free to ask and I'll see if I can provide something useful.
Update 1 - Post-Vaccine Day 1, Dec 17
TLDR - Pretty boring so far. Arm is slightly more painful, and I had a fake headache.
The left arm pain is a bit more noticeable today. I'm bumping the pain scale on my left deltoid from 1 to 2, and when I raise arm over my head (sorta like I'm flapping my wings), the pain increases to a 3. It's still not enough to limit any functionality. For comparison, I asked for "spicy" chicken biriyani from a local Indian place, and I would rate that as a 5 on the pain scale. Feel free to ask me to rate other stuff on the pain scale, and I'll try my best calibrate for perspective.
I half-expected to have a headache this morning, and so when I woke up, I focused on the idea for a few minutes, and it felt like I had a dull sort-of-there-but-not-quite headache sitting somewhere in the back of my head. But, when I thought about it some more, I realized that I only got 5 hours of sleep (work-related reasons), and being short on sleep usually gives me a slight-minor-headache that fades over time. By the time I got to work, I had plowed a cup of coffee down my throat, and I didn't notice a headache for the rest of the day. Looking back on that, I think I had convinced myself that I was going to have a headache based on the NEJM study and what some coworkers had warned. I'm going to say that my headache was really more due to sleep deprivation and coffee dependency as opposed to being from the vaccine.
Also, in my original post, I said the V-Safe vaccine survey was a weekly surveillance program. Well, apparently I misunderstood and it's actually a daily survey for 5 weeks. I know this because I got a text message reminding me to fill out my daily survey at 2PM. Fortunately, all of the questions are multiple choice, and it takes about 1-2 minutes to get through the entire thing. I rated the arm pain as an injection-site pain, and I did the whole thing while walking from the restroom back to my desk.
In all, aside from the arm pain, I haven't noticed anything unusual so far. It's still early, though, so I'm reminding myself that something could still happen in the next few days. And, if not that, then maybe something will happen with Shot #2 in ~21 days. We'll see, and I'll try to update this post even if nothing happens in the interim.
Update 2 - Post-Vaccine Day 2, December 18
The left arm pain is just about gone. I would say it's back to a 1 out of 10, and I don't even notice it unless I have the arm raised. I'm still doing pull-ups, and I think I'm going to stop mentioning them because 1.) They haven't been a problem, and 2.) I'm starting to sound like a bro.
Still no headache. And, I haven't really noticed any fatigue from the vaccine, but that might be obfuscated by the fact that it's my 12-day stretch at work, and I'm on autopilot at this point. I'm leaning hard on the caffeine as part of my usual long-stretch routine, and you know what? It works.
No stomach upset, diarrhea, or problems peeing yet. I do have a craving for sushi right now, but that happens monthly for me.
I did want to add that I've been wearing a Fitbit and Garmin, and my heart rate has stayed at its normal range post-vaccine which is like 60'ish at rest. Also, my O2 saturation hasn't changed either; it's been in the 96+% range so far. And, yes, I actually wear both a Fitbit and a Garmin at the same time.
I'm going to keep posting updates up until Day 7 for the sake of record keeping, but if nothing happens by then, I'll stop updating this post. I'm sure I'm jinxing something by writing that.
Update 3 - Post-Vaccine Day 3 - December 19
My left arm pain at the site of injection is gone now. I'd say it's back to 100%. Still no issues with headaches, fatigue, or a fever. But, I did have two small developments today that I'm keeping an eye on.
1.) While picking up some acne cream from the pharmacy this afternoon, the screening lady at the door told me I had a temp of 99.6. I was caught a little off-guard since I didn't feel off ( subjective fever, headache, or body aches). On the way out, I used the automated scanner that reads facial/eye temperature, and it gave me a 97.6. I'm not sure what to think about that yet. It's bedtime now, and I don't feel feverish still, but I'm going to reserve judgment and keep an eye on my temp for the next few days.
2.) Remember how I mentioned I was getting the sushi shakes? Well, after running 11 miles this evening (a long distance for me), I decided to reward myself with all-you-can-eat sushi for dinner. Right after sitting down at the restaurant and salivating for a minute, I felt this lightheadedness creep into the back of my head and then into my forehead. I feel sweat beading up on my forehead, and then I got all tingly on my hands, and my vision tunneled in. I tried to rally my sushi appetite, but it was gone. I got up, wobbled to my car, and laid down. After a few minutes, I felt good again, and I drove to Chipotle with a swell of sushiless shame in the pit of my stomach.
I'm still deliberating if any of that was related to the vaccine. After everything happened, I thought about what could have caused those symptoms. Somehow, the first thought I had was whether or not I was pregnant (I'm a guy). Then, I thought about how the vaccine was the only recent new thing in my life. But, the delayed timeline and the sudden and temporary nature seem out of place.
Thinking strictly about the symptoms, this feels more like dehydration and malnourishment. I hadn't eaten anything all day in preparation for the sushi buffet (which I missed out on altogether). And, it occurred to me that I was drinking lots of water at Chipotle without needing to pee. I also felt 100% better after I obliterated my burrito bowl.
Still, a part of me wonders if the vaccine played a role. Maybe it was a constellation of things adding up, and I need to just take it a little more easy for the next week.
Update 4 - Post-Vaccine Day 4 - Dec. 20
Nothing exciting to report today. I didn't notice any dizziness or lightheaded today, so I'm going to say last night's event was probably due to dehydration and no food intake.
I haven't noticed any body pains or body pains, and I haven't felt limited in any way today. Hopefully it stays this way.
Update 5 - Post-Vaccine Day 5 - Dec. 21
Originally, I thought the 2nd vaccine shot had to come exactly 21 days after the first. Apparently, though, we can schedule our second shot to happen anywhere between 17-21 days after the first. I have my second vaccine shot scheduled for January 3, which will be Day 18 for me.
The general consensus is that side effects will be more likely with the second shot. And, using the NEJM article that I linked in my first post, the top three side effects will be fatigue, headache, and fever (though, fever is a distant 3rd in probability). My boss offered to give me a day off after my 2nd vaccine shot, but I told him that I was okay plowing my face into work the next day. I intend on drinking a ton of coffee that day...
As for how I'm feeling today, I can't say that I have any complaints. I haven't noticed anything new for today, and really I'm just feeling tired because I've been sleeping late (working on some stuff for work). I'm not suffering from insomnia, though. I sleep like a brick once my head hits the pillow. Speaking of which...
Update 6 - Post-Vaccine Day 6 - Dec. 22
I went to my physical therapy appointment today (related to a pelvic fracture from earlier in the year). It's usually a pretty hefty workout. I didn't have any problems with arm pain cropping up, and I didn't notice any fatigue that inhibited my PT. It's a bit reassuring that there isn't some sort of latent side effect or residual pain from the shot that's holding me back.
On all, nothing fancy today. I really haven't felt anything related to the vaccine since maybe Day 2.
Update 7 - Post-Vaccine Days 7-17 - Dec. 23, 2020 - Jan. 2, 2021
I haven't updated this post in a while because, well, I haven't had anything exciting or out-of-place to mention. But, I did want to make a quick update to codify that I haven't had any problems since my last update. My second vaccine shot is tomorrow afternoon at 2PM, and I am a little pensive about it since side-effects are supposed to be more common and prominent with the 2nd shot. I'll be sure to update this post tomorrow once I've had my shot.
Update 8 - Post-Vaccine Day 18, or Dose #2, Day 0 - Jan. 3, 2021
At our hospital, people have been receiving their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in a 17-21 day window after their first shot. Today was Day 18 for me, and so I received my second vaccine shot around 2PM today.
I would say that went down almost exactly like the first shot. The check-in process was the same. The post-injection 15-minute observation period was the same. And, the injection itself felt the same. If you swapped it out with the flu shot instead, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. As I'm typing this post, it's been about 10 hours since the vaccine injection, and I would say my arm pain is at about a 2 out of 10 which is about how I expected. Like the first shot, it hurts a little more when I flex my arm upwards, but at rest I don't notice the arm pain. I haven't noticed any arm weakness, and I've been able to do pull-ups and push-ups without restriction. Really, the only difference so far is that I had them shoot me in my right arm as opposed to my left arm this time.
That being said, I am reminding myself that side-effects (muscle aches, headache, chills, and fever) were more common in patients after their second dose. I haven't noticed ay of those side-effects yet, but I am trying to be mindful of the likelihood that things could feel quite different tomorrow morning and in the next few days. I'll update this post tomorrow regardless of whether or not I feel anything new.
One last thing - I haven't been getting the daily V-Safe text surveys lately. Originally, I received a handout that said that the V-Safe surveys would come daily over the 5 weeks following my vaccination. However, they stopped abruptly around Christmas time. I received one or two more text surveys after Christmas, but then the surveys stopped again. I'm guessing either the survey machine took a few days off for the holidays, or the survey hamster died. In either case, I'm sort of bummed that I haven't received any surveys recently. I liked the idea of contributing to survey research, but I guess I'll have to revise my life-goals for 2021...
Update 9 - Shot #1 Day 19, Shot #2 Day 1 - January 4, 2021
Oof, this morning started a bit rough. I woke up with a mild headache. My arm pain was a bit more noticeable. And, despite getting a pretty good 7 hours of sleep, I felt a bit tired when I woke up.
I'd characterize the arm pain as maybe a 4 out of 10, and the headache was about a 3 out of 10. The pain and headache persisted throughout the day, but it didn't stop me from going to work, and it didn't kill my mood at work either. I haven't taken any meds for the pain because I haven't felt limited, but I do tend to be pretty stubborn about avoiding medications.
I went jogging this morning, and it did feel like a small struggle to get going. My pace was slower, I had less spring to my step, and everything felt just felt slightly heavier than usual.
I was particularly concerned about getting a fever after the second shot, but I took my temperature several times today, and I was consistently around 97-98F.
Overall, I would say my symptoms have been pretty consistent throughout the day, but they've stayed mild in intensity. I'm hoping that it crests today and trends better tomorrow.
Lastly, I'm craving sushi again, and I'm starting to wonder if it really is due to the vaccine.
Update 10 - Post-Shot #1 Day 20, Post-Shot #2 Day 2 - January 5, 2021
Today was much better. The headache was gone by the time I woke up in the morning. My right arm is still a bit sore at the injection site, but it's not worse. I would put the arm pain at about a 2 or 3 out of 10. I haven't needed to take any medicine for the pain, but personally I wouldn't have any reservations about taking Tylenol or an NSAID if needed. My understanding is that they shouldn't interfere with the vaccine or cause any problems.
The fatigue from yesterday seems to be gone now too. I went for a run this evening, and I didn't have any problems running a normal distance. Yesterday, I felt like I had some joint and body-wide muscle soreness after a much shorter jog. But, today I didn't notice either of those problems after a much longer run.
In all, Day 2 was a big improvement from Day 1, and things seem to be trending up.
Update 11 - Post-Shot #1 Day 21, Post-Shot #2 Day 3 - January 6, 2021
Today was really unremarkable. My left arm feels maybe slightly annoyed, but I would say it's mostly recovered. No other symptoms whatsoever today. I was able to go to work, do my normal daily stuff, and I didn't feel tired or anything by the end of the day. Really, the worst part of my day was watching the news, ugh.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I hope this is worth the wait. Essentially, this is a biographical encyclopedia of every major character I’ve introduced to the Aprils in Abaddon lore, plus a few new ones to round it out.
I’ve split this into four sections for easier navigation (which it sorely needs—clocking in at 17 pages on google docs, this is the longest thing I’ve ever posted, no question). The first consists of five long-form biographies of characters I thought were particularly interesting. They aren’t necessarily the most significant characters from the lore, but I felt they were the ones with the most interesting stories to tell. The second is a list of shorter entries formatted in bulleted lists. Everyone here is reasonably important, but I didn’t feel there was enough there to warrant writing out a longer biography just yet. The third is filled with the characters which are, at least for now, the least significant on the list; those I mostly introduced as filler names and haven’t elaborated on since. They get about a line of context each. Finally, there’s a section dedicated to real-life individuals who have played a role in the story so far, using the same bulleted list format as section two to briefly explain how their lives have been different in Aprils in Abaddon compared to our own timeline. I had to split this fourth section from the rest for length reasons, so it’ll be pinned at the top of the comment section.
(Note: I tried to keep the first three categories in order of appearance, and the fourth in approximately chronological order. There may be some errors, if so, my apologies.)
Characters from the lower categories may one day graduate to the first one. As I further explore the events in France, for example, Hugo Bachelot, Adeline Brodeur and company may be given the long-form biography treatment, and as I flesh out the situation in India, Amoli Malhotra may move from a filler name in the third section to a fully realized character in the first. But that’s for another time and another post. For now, I’ve restricted myself to a few in-depth stories focused on the American left.
By the way, I recently edited A brief history of the Fifth International to expand the guest lists, which is where some of the characters below came from. If you're not sick of this setting after reading this behemoth of a post, you might want to check that out too.

OCs

Liam Sutton
Born: 12 June 1979, Waukegan, Illinois
Affiliation(s): The United States Army (renounced), the Blue Movement (renounced), the AFL-CIO, the Fifth International, the American Worker’s Army, the Eastern American Worker’s Army
First Appearance: Here
Liam Sutton, supreme commander of the Eastern American Worker’s Army and Chairman of the American Labor Congress, was born into a working-class family in northeastern Illinois on the twelfth of June, 1979. His father was a mechanic, his mother a waitress, neither had attended college, and both were the children of Irish immigrants. He graduated from high school in May of 1997 and, being unable to afford college, went to work in his father’s shop. When the September 11th attacks occurred, he enlisted in the Army and was shipped off to Saudi Arabia later that year.
Sutton’s time in the military irreversibly changed him. While on tour with local militia forces near Wadi ad-Dawasir, he grew acquainted with an Arab man named Ahmad Nazari, a schoolteacher-turned militant who introduced him to the writings of Marx. Over the course of his deployment, he was gradually radicalized, first by his interactions with Nazari, and then by critically examining his own experiences in the Middle East. He was honorably discharged from the military in 2004 after losing a finger and the use of his left ear to an IED, by which point he was a dedicated communist.
Sutton’s family had lost the auto shop to foreclosure while he was away, leaving them at the mercy of the minimum wage, his mother working her old job as a waitress and his father taking a position as a custodian at a local school. Sutton moved to Chicago to work the line at a factory outside the city, and spent nearly six months sleeping in his car, showering at a local public gym, and sending most of his paycheck back to his parents to pay off their growing debts. It was during this period of time he became active as a union organizer, participating in strikes in 2005 and again in 2006, both of which failed to secure higher wages. Once he managed to secure an apartment and had enough in his bank account to stay alive between paychecks, he began taking night classes at a nearby college with the help of the GI bill. Though removed from the standard campus environment, he eventually fell into circles of younger anti-war students, some of whom were equally radical in their beliefs, and began making a name for himself in the city’s youth political scene as someone in the unusual position of being a vocally anti-war, anti-capitalist veteran.
His involvement in anti-war student organizations and union activities led him to further political activity in and around the 2008 election. He briefly drifted into the orbit of Mike Gravel’s Green Party campaign, though he never officially joined the party. In the aftermath of Cheney’s victory, his union participated in the Blue Movement, trying to elect social democrats and labor activists to local offices and Congress with the Democratic Party as a vessel, and because of the reputation he had cultivated since returning from the Army, he ended up on the Illinois Organizing Committee. Several years later, as the organization disintegrated, he found himself one of the ranking members of the movement’s national leadership, which is what eventually got him into the Fifth International. In the intervening years, he used his various positions within the organization as a platform from which to voice more radical ideas, sending young progressive Democrats down the social democrat-to-communist pipeline.
Prior to his career in the AWA, Sutton was most famous for his coining of the term “preventative weaponization,” a practice which would eventually be used by groups affiliated with the Fifth International in the years leading up to the war. The idea held that leftists organizations should engage in mass buyouts of guns and ammunition in the weeks immediately preceding planned demonstrations, for the dual purpose of decreasing the chance of right-wing attacks and creating a large communal stockpile of firepower to better arm the left. While its success in achieving the first objective is questionable (if anything, the far right simply began hoarding ammunition in greater quantities and for longer), it certainly hit the mark on the second one. The guns and ammunition bought during mass buyouts from 2013-2016 were all put to good use in the February Revolt and beyond, and the gun clubs created to give leftists basic firearm training would eventually form the backbone of the AWA.
By 2016, Liam was one of the most well-known leftists in America. He was active in the Fifth International as an unaffiliated delegate and a close confidant of Richard Trumka, whom he radicalized over the course of a long correspondence after the two met in 2013. He often drew hostility from the mainstream media with brash public statements which occasionally brought him within inches of serving jail time. He once infamously suggested that “perhaps the good men and women of Congress would have a greater sense of urgency about all this”—referring to the government shutdown of 2014-2015—“if they found themselves up against a wall.” Amidst the unrest following the fatal shooting of Jeff Bezos, Trumka asked him to begin clandestinely organizing a militia of revolutionary leftists. Months later, operating under the title of the American Worker’s Army, this militia mobilized, and the rest is history.
Sutton assumed command of the AWA as leading Liberator-General, a rank intended for up to eight individuals across the country, but, owing to the February Revolt’s relative successes and failures by region, only conveyed to two—himself and Salvador Gutierrez. Though the two cooperated for some time, by early 2018 their ideological and personal disagreements grew too great, and the AWA split in two. Today, Sutton holds nearly complete martial and political command over the Eastern AWA, which he is gradually reshaping to fit his vision of an ideal Marxist-Leninist state.
Salvador Gutierrez
Born: 5 September 1974, San Jose, California
Affiliation(s): The Industrial Workers of the World, the Fifth International, the American Worker’s Army, the Western American Worker’s Army
First Appearance: Here
Before he was a Liberator-General in the American Worker’s Army, and before he was a revolutionary of any kind, Salvador Gutierrez was a boy from San Jose. His childhood was not a conventional one. His father was a deadbeat and his mother died in childbirth, so he spent his adolescence with his aunt and uncle. Although he was not yet explicitly an anarchist, he started down the anti-establishment path early, beginning with his family’s eviction from their home in 1988, forcing them into months of unstable housing arrangements. He went to college on a robust scholarship after a strong academic performance in high school despite working nearly full-time from the age of 14 on, and while there, he began experimenting with leftist ideas, first becoming a social democrat and then an outright socialist. Unfortunately, he lost his scholarship and was expelled as a sophomore over a minor drug charge, but rather than move back home, he moved in with Alan Wheeler, a recent graduate and minor acquaintance of his who had drifted through the same circles as Salvador during his experimentation with leftism. In the ten months they spent as roommates, Alan introduced Gutierrez to anarchist theory, converting him into a lifelong anarcho-communist.
The mid-to-late 90s were rough for Gutierrez. In early 1995, he was arrested on another drug charge, and this time it landed him in court facing a five-year prison sentence. He was found guilty and served all five years, denied parole due to a handful of physical altercations with white supremacist inmates. When he got out in 2000, Alan, who now lived in Seattle, invited him back to live with him again until he got back on his feet. He took him up on the offer and began working with the growing number of leftists in Seattle during the early days of the Gore administration. Naturally, he flung himself into the anti-war movement after the invasion of Saudi Arabia, and became involved in labor unionism around the same time, helping to organize his fellow retail workers to demand better hours and wages.
Salvador’s first big move in the labor world happened in 2003, around the time of the collapse of the Saudi government and the rise of Al-Wartha. He was one of the major Pacific Northwest-area organizers of the Strike for Peace movement, a socialist-lead strike against the wars in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan that demanded a withdrawal of troops from abroad, along with a number of systemic changes, like outlawing military recruitment on college and high school campuses, dissolving the ROTC, and cutting the military budget by 25%. The strike was ultimately a failure; while radical unionists and small numbers of wildcat strikers supported it, big unions like the AFL-CIO voted against it, and their workers ended up acting as strikebreakers, ending the movement before it really got off the ground. In an interview some time after the strike, the defeated Gutierrez, angry at the liberal unions for their role in defending the establishment, coined a phrase that would become something of a rallying cry for socialists in the 2000s and early 2010s: “Before there can be a revolution by the unions, there must be a revolution among the unions.”
Following this maxim, Gutierrez became increasingly radical in his assessment of revolutionary tactics, to match the radical positions on politics he had assumed years earlier. He joined the IWW, which helped to boost the union’s profile, and then set out on a path of convincing unionized workers to abandon their moderate, trade-specific unions and join up as well, starting with the local retail union he had helped form back in his early activist days. Over the 2000s, the IWW’s membership ballooned, a trend that would later continue and even accelerate under the Cheney administration, and as it grew, so too did his renown as an organizer and aspiring revolutionary. Aside from his activities in the IWW, he was also instrumental in the formation of the Farm & Field Labor Alliance, a leftist federation of farm workers’ unions and associations of small farm owners that aimed to fight the corporatization of the agriculture industry. With his support, the Alliance grew into a real threat to liberal agricultural unions like the UFW, eventually even supplanting it as the dominant organizer of labor in that sector. The mass resignation of UFW members, causing some locals to dissolve entirely, is widely considered the “spark” which incited the AFL-CIO’s sudden leftwards slide as it scrambled to accommodate the shifting winds of public opinion. The Federation eventually moved so far left that it ejected police unions from its ranks and began electing outspoken socialists to high posts—in a sense, the “revolution among the unions” was brought to fruition.
Gutierrez represented the IWW in the Fifth International when it first convened in 2013. By this point he was, like Sutton, one of the most famous leftists in America, and increasingly famous around the world. With his guidance, the IWW had led the way in the Great Transport Strike of 2011, and his role in the foundation of the F&FLA, and subsequently in pushing the AFL-CIO from its position of liberalism to something approximating socialism, was well-acknowledged in leftist circles. So it was no great surprise when he was elected Chairman of the International in its second congress, nor was it, to those who were privy to such information, when Sutton tapped him to be one of the Liberator-Generals under his command during the formation of the AWA. In fact, it was assumed he would be Sutton’s de facto second-in-command, an assumption which, for a time, proved to be correct, if only because he was the only person left to fill such a position come March 2017.
Following the schism of the AWA, Gutierrez took sole command of the army’s western forces and began to reorganize them in a way more in tune with his anarchist ideals. The rigid chain of command was somewhat relaxed, and the army as a whole was segmented into a more locally-organized, cell-like structure. Today, he continues to command the Western AWA when such direct leadership is necessary, and perhaps more importantly, he provides moral and ideological guidance for it and like-minded leftists everywhere.
Nariah Harris
Born: 19 January 1984, New York, New York
Affiliation(s): The New York Homeless & Unemployed Committees of Correspondence, the American Worker’s Army (renounced), the Bronx Commune
First Appearance: Here
As has often happened throughout history, when the critical hour arrived for the Bronx Commune, it was regular people who stepped up to do what had to be done. By all accounts, Nariah Harris was such a person. She lived a relatively normal life up until the outbreak of the war; she was born in a working-class household in the Bronx, went to school a few miles away, and attended a community college a few miles further when she graduated, majoring in business (which her future comrades would note was a bit ironic). When she lost her job in the crash of 2008, she helped organize councils of the unemployed in the Bronx to fight for better unemployment benefits. The councils grew into something of a phenomenon in 2008 and 2009, expanding to the other boroughs to become the New York Homeless & Unemployed Committees of Correspondence, but although there was some socialist agitation, the organization itself was not especially radical, and neither was Nariah at this point. Nor was she a high-profile figure: when more than 7,000 unemployed people marched from Times Square to Wall Street in November of 2009, arguably the NYHUCC’s crowning achievement, she wasn’t even mentioned by name as one of the event’s organizers by news outlets covering it. By mid-2010, the fervor surrounding the Committees had faded, and by the end of the year the constituent councils had gone their separate ways. It seemed that Nariah would remain in the footnotes of history, if that.
On the eve of the Second American Civil War, Harris was doing nothing of note. She had not been active in any organizations affiliated with the Fifth International, or, for that matter, in any political organizations since 2010, so she had no connections to the infant AWA, and no foreknowledge of what was just around the corner. As far as she was concerned, the sixth of February, 2017 was simply another day of unrest in a long series of days of unrest, notable only for the crisis in Texas happening at the same time. The seemingly spontaneous mobilization of the AWA caught her, as it did many others, by surprise.
Though she was by no means a trained radical, Nariah had lived through the failure of the American economy firsthand. Not only had she been unemployed for almost a year during the last financial crash, but she had also worked a dead-end job in the service industry for more than eight years since then, struggling to pay for basic amenities without falling behind on rent. So perhaps it had something to do with the spontaneity of it all, or perhaps it was the result of anger that had been brewing for almost a decade, but when AWA rebels laid attacked police stations and banks in the Bronx, she took to the streets with them, and when they put a gun in her hands and asked her to mount a barricade, she did so without hesitation.
Nariah stumbled into the role of a revolutionary fighter, but as it turned out, she was quite good at it, and purely by being in the right place at the right time, she stumbled further into the role of captain of a neighborhood company, and then, as the AWA’s grip on New York slipped, commander-elect of the newly independent Bronx Commune.
As often as the more experienced veterans of the AWA complained that they had been passed over in the process of selecting a leader in favor of a newcomer to the cause, Harris took on the burden of leadership about as well as anyone could be expected to, under the circumstances. She oversaw the transformation of the Bronx into an urban garden, and managed the defense of the borough against a far larger, better-armed, and more well-supplied enemy. Ultimately, of course, the Commune did not last. Already on its last legs by the 27th of April, it was dealt a death blow when Nariah was captured by government forces in the basement of a bombed-out high school.
Nariah spent the next several months being moved from one holding facility to another in anticipation of her trial, where she was brought up on charges of treason, conspiracy against the United States, sedition, and accessory to murder. The first jury, whose members were sympathetic to the Bronx Commune, refused to convict her with the knowledge she would be executed, and had to be dismissed. After much deliberation, the judge moved to have her sentence reduced to life without the possibility of parole to accelerate the process and prevent the trial from becoming the focal point of further unrest, and with reluctance from some of its members, the second jury went through with the sentencing. For the past three years, Nariah has been held at the Bedford Hills maximum security prison, where she will remain for the rest of her life, barring an unexpected change in circumstances. In her absence, she has become a sort of mythic figure for the American left. Murals in her honor have been painted, scrubbed off by the authorities, and painted again all across New York. Both AWAs, no longer at odds with her or the late Commune, hold annual vigils in her honor. Once not even considered worth mentioning, her name alone now conjures up revolutionary spirit in the hearts and minds of millions.
Joshua Washington
Born: 7 October 1991, Jackson, Mississippi
Affiliation(s): The New Black Panther Party, the Fifth International, the African People’s Guard
First Appearance: Here
Joshua Washington hails from a long tradition of radicalism. His parents met as members of the Communist Party USA, remaining active members throughout the 80s and 90s. His grandfather on his mother’s side, who was involved with the original Black Panthers in the 60s, lived the latter half of his life under an assumed identity to avoid prison after defying his draft notice in ‘67. In diametric opposition to Liam Sutton, who was raised a conservative and grew to be a revolutionary, Joshua was raised to be a revolutionary, and did not disappoint as he grew older.
His first foray into revolutionary activism was in 2009, the year he turned eighteen. On the heels of Louis Farrakhan’s death and the ensuing unrest, Joshua was one of thousands of left-wing youths who joined the New Black Panther Party in search of solidarity, an influx of new membership which would eventually push the reactionary elements out of the party’s ranks and transform it into a leftist organization. Eschewing traditional higher education, he instead flung himself into organizing full-time, guiding himself through the works of Marx along the way, as well as those of Lenin, Mao, Fanon, DuBois, and a host of others.
By the time it entered the Fifth International in 2014, the NBPP was a thoroughly communist organization, the established right-wing currents having splintered off to form their own groups while the Marxist newcomers came to dominate. Among these newcomers was Joshua. At a mere twenty-three years old, he was the face of the Party’s first delegation to the International, and the following year, he was made Chairperson.
Through his Fifth International connections, Washington began moving in the same circles as people like Sutton, Gutierrez, and Trumka. Under his leadership, the NBPP worked closely with the Socialist Rifle Association and smaller leftist gun clubs like the Friends of John Brown to coordinate buyouts and train leftists en masse. Like Gutierrez, he was intended to be one of the Liberator-Generals of the infant AWA, responsible for managing the revolution in the southeastern US, but he was arrested in Atlanta shortly after the Bezos riots for violating a number of firearms laws and allegedly inciting violence, and thus was unable to take command. He remained in jail without trial until rebels freed him during the February Revolt. Rather than flee to the countryside like many others did as federal forces retook control of Atlanta, he chose to remain in the city in hiding, and miraculously, managed to stay a step ahead of law enforcement until the next major wave of unrest struck the south in 2018.
During the southern insurrections of mid-2018, the southern chapters of the NBPP mobilized against both the government and the right-wing separatists who had initiated the conflict. Joshua chose to come out of hiding at this point, and publicly take command of the Party. Though it met with early successes in urban areas, it was outmatched by reactionary forces, the increasingly powerful Sons of the South being the most pressing concern, and was eventually forced to merge with the right-wing groups it had parted ways with years ago for the sake of survival. The synthesis of the socialist and racial separatist currents of the black militant movement produced the African People’s Guard, which still exists today, having managed to weather the Sons’ assaults and held control of Atlanta throughout. Joshua Washington remains its leading general, holding the line against the forces of white supremacy even with the enemy at the gates.
Edna Heel
Born: 22 March 1969, Glenville, North Carolina
Affiliation(s): The Farm & Field Labor Alliance, the Friends of John Brown, the American Worker’s Army (renounced), the National Revolutionary Guard
First Appearance: Here
For generations, the Heel family has been intimately aware of the realities of life below the poverty line. Edna Heel’s ancestors were tenant farmers, textile mill workers, railway men, miners, and about as often as they were any of those things, they were unemployed. She was raised in a trailer park in the western hinterlands of North Carolina, her parents having lost the meager land they had accumulated with years of scraped-together savings and shaky loans to the clutches of the banks and the growing class of corporate farmers. The anger at the system that would one day express itself in her formation and leadership of the National Revolutionary Guard was always there, even in her childhood, merely unrefined, unnamed.
By the turn of the 21st century, Edna already had a bitter decade and a half in an industrial poultry farm behind her, but thus far no political experience whatsoever. Her first glimpse into that world came in the form of Saul Burke, a tractor mechanic from Iowa and the founder of the fledgling Farm & Field Labor Alliance. The two met in 2005 while Saul was touring the south with a small band of socialists and trade unionists, hoping to drum up interest for the FFLA outside of the Midwest. He succeeded with Edna, and then some. She thrust herself into organizational roles in the Alliance, helping to cultivate a strong, radical labor movement in Appalachia. When labor unrest swept the nation in the 2010s, her voice was among the loudest, using every platform available to call for the redistribution of land and wealth, the destruction of the banking system, and, as plainly as she could say it without being imprisoned, the overthrow of capitalism.
As she became more politically active, her politics became more developed. On her journey through the canons of Marxist and anarchist literature, she drifted more towards the Marxist camp, specifically the Marxist-Leninist current, and then even more specifically towards the Maoist subset of that current. With neither a college degree nor a high school diploma, it was painstaking work, but in 2010 she released her first contribution to leftist theory, and, according to most, her defining work. Titled Peasants: Class in the Country, it delved into what Heel saw as the position of the rural poor not just in American capitalism, but in global capitalist imperialism (she had lost friends to the wars in the Middle East, and to the opioid crisis as well—something she connected to the US interests in the opium industry in Afghanistan). It also outlined what she called “Rational Maoism,” her take on the teachings of Mao and Gonzalo, which included a more critical approach to past Maoist movements like the Shining Path, tentative support for modern China, and a rejection of J. Sakai’s white labor aristocracy theory.
Edna was one of the dominant leftist figures in the south by late 2016, so when Joshua Washington was arrested, the mantle of being the region’s Liberator-General passed to her. The task of leading a successful revolution in an area as traditionally conservative as the southeast was a daunting one, and when the dust settled, it was one she failed to accomplish. But this failure was temporary. When order broke down in 2018, like Washington and the NBPP, Heel and her loose network of revolutionaries in the FFLA, the Friends of John Brown, and the remnants of the regional AWA seized the opportunity to take a second chance at revolution. The result was the National Revolutionary Guard, a rural-based Maoist army which managed to capture a strip of territory from northwest Georgia to northeast Tenneseee before being beaten back to two separate bases of power centered around Chattanooga and Newport. The NRG has withstood the assaults of the Sons of the South and other right-wing organizations since then, and inspired a similar uprising in Florida, forming the organization’s southern branch with the help of foreign socialist powers. At the moment, Heel is the supreme political and military leader of the NRG, chairing the People’s Congress, the National Standing Committee, and the Central Military Committee. Though smaller than either branch of the AWA, the Guard plays a major role in the martial situation in the south and in modern leftist politics as a whole.

Minor OCs

Hugo Bachelot
Born: 31 May 1968, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Affiliation(s): The Socialist Party (France), the Party of European Socialists, the Fifth International, the Socialist Republic of France
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• First Secretary of the Socialist Party in France from 2011-2020, oversaw leftwards shift in the party
  
• Represented the Party of European Socialists in all nine congresses of the Fifth International
  
• Elected Chairman of the Fifth International at the sixth and seventh congresses
  
• Led the Socialist Party during the Red Spring uprising
  
• Appointed Acting President of the Socialist Republic of France
  

Amy Jacobs
Born: 20 November 1989, Waterbury, Connecticut
Affiliation(s): Students for a Democratic Society in the 21st Century, the Communist Party USA, the United American Reds, the Fifth International, the American Worker’s Army, the Eastern American Worker’s Army
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• Joined the CPUSA in 2008, organized with the party throughout the early 2010s
  
• Founded the United American Reds, an alliance of socialist and communist parties in the US, in 2014
  
• Represented the UAR in the Fifth International at the second through fifth congresses
  
• Elected to the American Labor Congress after the February Revolt
  
• Appointed Secretary of Internal Security of the Socialist People’s Republic of Liberated North America (the EAWA) by Liam Sutton
  

Saul Burke
Born: 20 December 1955, Grinnell, Iowa
Affiliation(s): The United Auto Workers, The Farm & Field Labor Alliance
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• Founded the Farm & Field Labor Alliance in Iowa in 2004
  
• Helped radicalize and mobilize a sizable percentage of the rural working class in the midwest, Appalachia, and the upper rockies/pacific northwest area
  

Adeline Brodeur
Born: 14 July 1994, Paris, France
Affiliation(s): The New Communards, the Fifth International, the Socialist Republic of France
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• Co-founded the New Communards revolutionary organization in 2019
  
• Represented the New Communards in the Ninth Congress of the Fifth International
  
• Participated in the French Revolutionary Constitutional Convention
  

Ezekiel Bowman
Born: 29 February 1988, Detroit, Michigan
Affiliation(s): The Socialist Rifle Association, the American Worker’s Army, the Eastern American Worker’s Army
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• Involved in the founding of the Socialist Rifle Association in 2013
  
• Sat on the Central Committee of the SRA from 2013-2015
  
• Illegally left the United States in 2015 and spent eight months embedded with FARC rebels in Colombia
  
• Helped organize the American Worker’s Army
  
• Second-in-command of the Eastern American Worker’s Army
  

Jorge Carreón
Born: 11 May 1974, Phoenix, Arizona
Affiliation(s): The AFL-CIO, the American Worker’s Army, the Eastern American Worker’s Army
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• Joined the AFL-CIO in 1998 as an inexperienced communist
  
• One of the early radical members of the AFL-CIO to push it left from within
  
• Appointed Oversecretary of Industry of the Socialist People’s Republic of Liberated North America by Liam Sutton
  

Lilian Solomon
Born: 7 November 1990, New York City, New York
Affiliation(s): The Communist Party USA, the Fifth International, the American Worker’s Army, the Eastern American Worker’s Army, the Vanguard Caucus
First Appearance: Here
Points of Interest:

• Elected co-chair of the CPUSA in 2011
  
• Represented the CPUSA at the First Congress of the Fifth International
  
• Elected to the American Labor Congress after the February Revolt
  
• Assisted with Liam Sutton’s consolidation of power in the Eastern AWA as a powerbroker within the Vanguard Caucus
  

Daniel Lindsey
Born: 3 April 1982, Fort Myers, Florida
Affiliation(s): The National Revolutionary Guard
First Appearance: N/A
Points of Interest:

• Vocal adherent of Rational Maoism
  
• Organized a National Revolutionary Guard chapter in Florida
  
• Ranking member of the NRG’s Florida Regional Standing Committee
  

Nathaniel Hammond Greene
Born: 27 August 1957, Cadwell, Georgia
Affiliation(s): The Sons of the South
First Appearance: N/A
Points of Interest:

• Co-founded the Sons of the South in 2018
  
• Assumed command of the Georgia chapter of the Sons
  
• Commanded Sons forces involved in the encirclement of Atlanta
  

Wyatt Lee
Born: 2 November 1981, Luverne, Alabama
Affiliation(s): The Copperheads, the Sons of the South
First Appearance: N/A
Points of Interest:

• Co-founded the Copperheads, a anti-federalist militia, in 2017
  
• Assumed command of a Sons of the South division under the Alabama chapter
  
• Commanded the Sons forces involved in the Rape of Montgomery
  

Frank Nielson
Born: 13 March 1985, Decker, Montana
Affiliation(s): The Patriot Pride Gun Club, the Gadsden Militia
First Appearance: N/A
Points of Interest:

• Joined the Patriot Pride Gun Club in 2016
  
• Participated in low-level insurrection against the federal government in 2017
  
• Co-founded the Gadsden Militia in 2018
  

Matthew Robles
Born: 16 September 1990, San Antonio, Texas
Affiliation(s): The Knights of Columbus
First Appearance: N/A
Points of Interest:

• Lost his aunt and nephew in the FRA’s Latino pogroms of 2017
  
• Led the push to organize Hispanic communities under the banner of the Knights of Columbus, widely considered the father of the KoC’s progresive wing and its insurrection in Texas
  

Mary Running Hawk
Born: 26 June 1976, Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Affiliations: The Native Guardian League
First Appearance: N/A
Points of Interest:

• Co-founded the Native Guardian League
  
• Helped incorporate the Fort Peck reservation into the NGL after failing to do so in the Pine Ridge reservation
  
• Declared a terrorist by the DC government, the provisional governments, and the government of Canada for attempting to agitate indigenous peoples to violent rebellion
  

Very minor OCs

Mariana Cabrera Represented the SRA in the Fifth International
Eduardo Hernandez Represented the Mexican PRD in the Fifth International
Manuel Simon Represented the Blue Movement Organizing Committee in the Fifth International
Gavin Chung Represented the International Pride Alliance in the Fifth International
Nikolai Sidorov Represented the New Russian Communist Party in the Fifth International
Elijah Mutebi Founded the Human Horizon Foundation and represented it in the Fifth International
May Le Founded Students for a Democratic Society in the 21st Century and represented it in the Fifth International
Timothy Gauthier Represented the United Socialists of Canada in the Fifth International
Amoli Malhotra Co-founded the Combined Indian Communist Parliamentary Front and represented it in the Fifth International
Anthony Clements Was smuggled out of the US to represent the NRG in the Eighth Congress of the Fifth International
Maduenu Adeyemi Co-founded the Pan-African Vanguard League and represented it in the Fifth International
Robert Yates Runs a large snuggling operation out of Alaska
Adrienne Durand Organized for the IWW and led French revolutionary forces during the Red Spring
Ines Voclain Agitated with the French Communist Party and led French revolutionary forces during the Red Spring
———
Cont.

Hello everyone,
First off we would like to thank everyone who participated, by either nominating and/or voting, in our Best of the Decade Vote. Below you will find the top 3 voted on books in every category. I would, however, recommend you also check out the nomination threads as quite a few great books are mentioned in there.
Best Science Fiction of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin - nominated by Speaker4theRest

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

2nd place: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - nominated by sSlipperyPickle

This is the way the world ends. Again.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze -- the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization's bedrock for a thousand years -- collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman's vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She'll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

3rd place: The Martian by Andy Weir - nominated by Aglance

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Best Debut of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - nominated by okiegirl22

Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

2nd place: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - nominated by baddspellar

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.
Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.

3rd place: The Martian by Andy Weir - nominated by TheItalianDream

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Best Literary and General Fiction of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Circe by Madeline Miller - nominated by honeyiamsorry

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

2nd place: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - nominated by SinoJesuitConspiracy

My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante's inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.

3rd place: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - nominated by Scurvy_Dogwood

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity.
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.

Best Mystery or Thriller of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Gone Girl by Gillain Flynn - nominated by johnnywash1

Marriage can be a real killer.On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

2nd place: 11/22/63 by Stephen King - nominated by thatgirl21

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

3rd place: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton - nominated by mercutio_died

At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed--again. She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden's only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle's murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend--but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

Best Short Story Collection of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Tenth of December by George Saunders - nominated by rjbman

In the taut opening, "Victory Lap," a boy witnesses the attempted abduction of the girl next door and is faced with a harrowing choice: Does he ignore what he sees, or override years of smothering advice from his parents and act? In "Home," a combat-damaged soldier moves back in with his mother and struggles to reconcile the world he left with the one to which he has returned. And in the title story, a stunning meditation on imagination, memory, and loss, a middle-aged cancer patient walks into the woods to commit suicide, only to encounter a troubled young boy who, over the course of a fateful morning, gives the dying man a final chance to recall who he really is. A hapless, deluded owner of an antique store; two mothers struggling to do the right thing; a teenage girl whose idealism is challenged by a brutal brush with reality; a man tormented by a series of pharmaceutical experiments that force him to lust, to love, to kill—the unforgettable characters that populate the pages of Tenth of December are vividly and lovingly infused with Saunders' signature blend of exuberant prose, deep humanity, and stylistic innovation.

2nd place: Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang - nominated by amyousness

This much-anticipated second collection of stories is signature Ted Chiang, full of revelatory ideas and deeply sympathetic characters. In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and the temptation of second chances. In the epistolary "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications not just for his own people, but for all of reality. And in "The Lifecycle of Software Objects," a woman cares for an artificial intelligence over twenty years, elevating a faddish digital pet into what might be a true living being. Also included are two brand-new stories: "Omphalos" and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom."
In this fantastical and elegant collection, Ted Chiang wrestles with the oldest questions on earth—What is the nature of the universe? What does it mean to be human?—and ones that no one else has even imagined. And, each in its own way, the stories prove that complex and thoughtful science fiction can rise to new heights of beauty, meaning, and compassion.

3rd place: Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh - nominated by ApollosCrow

There's something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh's stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition. But part of the unique quality of her voice, the echt Moshfeghian experience, is the way the grotesque and the outrageous are infused with tenderness and compassion. Moshfegh is our Flannery O'Connor, and Homesick for Another World is her Everything That Rises Must Converge or A Good Man is Hard to Find. The flesh is weak; the timber is crooked; people are cruel to each other, and stupid, and hurtful. But beauty comes from strange sources, and the dark energy surging through these stories is powerfully invigorating. We're in the hands of an author with a big mind, a big heart, blazing chops, and a political acuity that is needle-sharp. The needle hits the vein before we even feel the prick.

Best Horror of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - nominated by Bennings463

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

2nd place: The Fisherman by John Langan - nominated by ifthisisausername

In upstate New York, in the woods around Woodstock, Dutchman's Creek flows out of the Ashokan Reservoir. Steep-banked, fast-moving, it offers the promise of fine fishing, and of something more, a possibility too fantastic to be true. When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other's company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumors of the Creek, and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss it as just another fish story. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It's a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.

3rd place: My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix - nominated by leowr

Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fifth grade, when they bonded over a shared love of E.T., roller-skating parties, and scratch-and-sniff stickers. But when they arrive at high school, things change. Gretchen begins to act….different. And as the strange coincidences and bizarre behavior start to pile up, Abby realizes there’s only one possible explanation: Gretchen, her favorite person in the world, has a demon living inside her. And Abby is not about to let anyone or anything come between her and her best friend. With help from some unlikely allies, Abby embarks on a quest to save Gretchen. But is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

Best Graphic Novel of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - nominated by improveyourfuture

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.

2nd place: Daytripper by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon - nominated by RanAWholeMile

What are the most important days of your life?
Meet Brás de Oliva Domingos. The miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, Brás spends his days penning other people's obituaries and his nights dreaming of becoming a successful author himself—writing the end of other people's stories, while his own has barely begun.
But on the day that life begins, would he even notice? Does it start at 21 when he meets the girl of his dreams? Or at 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it later in his life when his first son is born? Or earlier when he might have found his voice as a writer?
Each day in Brás's life is like a page from a book. Each one reveals the people and things who have made him who he is: his mother and father, his child and his best friend, his first love and the love of his life. And like all great stories, each day has a twist he'll never see coming...

3rd place: My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris - nominated by zedshouse

Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen’s investigation takes us back to Anka’s life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge.

Best Fantasy of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Brandon Sanderson - nominated by holden147, AHerosJourneyPod & spaldingmatters

Brandon Sanderson is a well-liked and prolific author. This past decade he has published over a dozen books, novellas, short stories and graphic novels. The books that were nominated for this vote in particular were The Way of Kings, Oathbringer, Words of Radiance & A Memory of Light with Robert Jordan.

2nd place: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - nominated by cheesechimp

This is the way the world ends. Again.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze -- the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization's bedrock for a thousand years -- collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman's vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She'll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.

3rd place: Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft - nominated by ullsi

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.
Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.
Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.
This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.

Best Poetry Collection of the Decade - Nomination Thread
Not enough nominations for an award in this category.
Best Young Adult Novel of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - nominated by okiegirl22

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

2nd place: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - nominated by Suzune-Chan

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .
A convict with a thirst for revenge
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager
A runaway with a privileged past
A spy known as the Wraith
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes
Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

3rd place: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus - nominated by AnokataX

Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

Best Non-Fiction of the Decade - Nomination Thread
1st place: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - nominated by TriangleTingles

In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.
Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.

2nd place: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann - nominated by GanymedeBlu35

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.
Then, one by one, they began to be killed off. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her family was murdered. Her older sister was shot. Her mother was then slowly poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more Osage began to die under mysterious circumstances.
In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen like J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes such as Al Spencer, “the Phantom Terror,” roamed – virtually anyone who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll surpassed more than twenty-four Osage, the newly created F.B.I. took up the case, in what became one of the organization’s first major homicide investigations. But the bureau was then notoriously corrupt and initially bungled the case. Eventually the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only Native American agents in the bureau. They infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest modern techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most sinister conspiracies in American history.
A true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history.

3rd place: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou - nominated by Flashy-Band

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.
In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.
For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.

Again, thank you to everyone who participated.
Happy reading!

FBI Crime in America 2013 Database

• Blacks commit 53% of all murder, despite being only 12% of the population.
• African Americans commit 1 in 3 aggravated assaults, despite being only 12% of the population.
• Despite making up less than 7% of the US population, and only 12% of the male population, black males commit 1 in every 3 rapes.
• Blacks commit 56% of all robbery, despite being only 12% of the population.
• African Americans commit 41% of all prostitution offenses, despite being only 12% of the population.
• African Americans commit 1 in 3 burglaries, arson crimes, fraud crimes and offenses against family/children, despite being only 12% of the population. # Additionally:
• Blacks make up 56.2% of all serial killers, despite being only 12% of the population. Source: Radford University Serial Killer Database
• Young black men kill 14x more than young white men. Source: Time Magazine
• Blacks make up more than 50% of all homicide victims. Source: US Department of Justice
• Blacks victims of homicide are 93% of the time killed by other blacks.

Poverty Sauce:

• Blacks have a higher violent crime rate than both whites and Asians across socioeconomic lines. Blacks with a household income of over $85,000 have a higher homicide rate than the lowest socioeconomic strata of whites and Asians, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice.
• Crime rates in the US have a startling correlation of 0.81 to the percentage of population that is black., much higher than socioeconomic factors. This is vastly higher than the correlation between crime and poverty (0.36), unemployment (0.35) and lack of education (0.37). Source: FBI Color of Crime, 2005
• Other groups with an even lower socioeconomic status (such as immigrant groups from Asia) don't have anywhere near the crime rates of blacks in America.
• The link between the two isn't even that particularly strong. For the years 2006-2011, the Census-ACS provides estimates of the Mean Income, Median Income, and Poverty Rates for each urban center, allowing us to look at the correlations between crime, income and race. The correlations between the Mean Income and Median Income leves and the various crime categories generally fall in the range of -0.30 to -0.60, being moderately rather than strongly negative, usually well below our racial figures: http://www.unz.com/article/race-and-crime-in-america/
• Blacks are only 2.7 times as likely to be in poverty. If you were to create a nation wide crime/poverty index, in which crime rates are adjusted for poverty across states, they would still be way more likely to commit crime. http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparebar.jsp?ind=14&cat=1
• There are almost twice the number of white people below the poverty line as black people in the US. Using the numbers found on Wikipedia, there are about 9.6 million black Americans below the poverty line and 19.2 million white Americans below the poverty line. So it was true that (irrespective of race) poverty caused violence, then whites would be committing violence at a pace twice that of blacks. But they don't. http://www2.fbi.gov/uccius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_03.html
• Poverty rates are insufficient to explain the differences in crime rate. There are more whites than blacks at every level of income (in absolute numbers), there are twice as many whites in poverty as blacks and yet blacks commit more murders than whites (in absolute numbers). ## So we can say with relative certainty that when it comes to crimes like rape and murder which are not committed for economic gain that poverty is not a sufficient explanation.
• This is why when we look at places like Kentucky, home to a population that has the second highest white poverty rate in the nation (yet a violent crime rate that is 40 percent lower than the national average) http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/13-states-with-the-highest-white-excluding-hispanics-and-latinos-poverty-495/
• Appalachia is almost entirely white and the poorest region in the country. We see horrible rates of poverty, yet the crime that plagues Detroit, Norfolk, Richmond, Baltimore, St. Louis, Atlanta, Memphis isn't found.

The 10 U.S. counties with the lowest annual median household incomes are: - Owsley County, Ky. - $21,177 - Zavala County, Texas - $21,843 - Clay County, Ky. - $22,255 - Knox County, Ky. - $22,493 - Wilcox County, Ala. - $22,611 - Quitman County, Miss. - $22,625 - Sumter County, Ala. - $22,857 - McCreary County, Ky. - $23,163
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/america-s-10-poorest-counties-are-gulf-coast-states-kentucky-and-indian-reservations
Yet, The violent crime rate for Appalachia in 2010 was lower than the national violent crime rate average by 56.76%
^{this bot is a work in progress please pm me directly with any suggestions}

I’ve been poking around Texas related subreddits and there actually doesn’t seem to be much discussion about either of these two candidates for Congress, at least over the past month or so. Both main candidates seem like...interesting characters, shall we say, with Rep Pete Olsen retiring from the seat.
I’ve been trying to do my due diligence on researching these two to figure out who I should support.
I wanted to share some of what I found in case it’s useful to you as well. I know a lot of people have voted already, but I also imagine there are many people who’ve been too busy dealing with COVID/kids/(un)employment, etc. etc. Anyway, here goes.
------SRI PRESTON KULKARNI
In terms of some bio background on him, Kulkarni was born in Louisiana and grew up in Houston. He attended the University of Texas then got a Masters Degree in Public Administration at Harvard. He was a foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department for 14 years, having been stationed, in Iraq, Israel, and Russia. He ran a close race against Pete Olsen in 2018.
( sources: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/18/2020-elections-congress-trump-america-global-standing-anguished-by-americas-decline-more-foreign-policy-wonks-run-for-office/, https://couriernewsroom.com/2020/10/20/sri-kulkarni-could-be-the-first-asian-american-representative-from-texas/ , https://demcastusa.com/2020/10/22/sri-preston-kulkarni-bringing-diverse-representation-to-texas-most-diverse-district/ )
Campaign website: https://sri2020.com/
Kulkarni’s website has multiple “Issues” pages, and here is a selection of some of his policy positions (all direct quotes from his site):

• Oppose deficit expansion from tax cuts that favor America’s Billionaires over communities like my own.
  
• Oppose any effort to dismantle, privatize, or undermine Medicaid or Medicare.
  
• Fight for a public healthcare option available to anyone who wants it, while allowing people the option to keep their private insurance.
  
• Advocate for a Veterans Transition Center in the Houston suburbs to provide for the needs of service members returning to civilian life.
  
• Fight to end the war on drugs and reduce sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders. We must treat drug addiction like the medical issue it is, not a criminal justice issue.
  
• Work to end the government’s practice of contracting with for-profit detention centers.
  
• Work to implement evidence based climate change reforms.
  
• Fight for universal background checks, which nine out of ten Texans support, including the majority of gun owners.
  
• Push for red flag laws, which would prevent firearms from landing in the hands of violent criminals and domestic abusers.
  
• Demand racial bias and de-escalation training [for police officers]
  
• Fight to end qualified immunity
  
• Strengthen the 20 levees in Fort Bend, and identify new areas that require drainage infrastructure.
  

Kulkarni also took Vote Smart’s Political Courage Test, if you want more info: https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/177334/sri-kulkarni
Concerns have been raised against Kulkarni in being linked to far right Hindu nationalist groups, though it’s a bit difficult to summarize here. For details, the Intercept has a useful breakdown: https://theintercept.com/2020/10/29/sri-kulkarni-congress-indian-politics/ .
-----TROY NEHLS
Per his bio on an official Fort Bend County website ( https://www.fortbendcountytx.gov/ ), Nehls was elected Sheriff in 2012. Before that he had moved to Fort Bend County (presumably from Wisconsin) in 1994 and was employed at the Richmond Police Department. He has a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Houston – Downtown, and was in the U. S Army Reserve for 21 years, retiring with the rank of Major.
He opposed the Harris County mask mandate, asserting that it was unconstitutional ( his very own FB post: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2538726669713415&id=1431647400421353 )
Campaign website: https://www.nehlsforcongress.com/
Nehls has sort of one issues page with a bio on top of it. Though often not as concrete as the content on Kulkarni’s site, some key policy related quotes from Nehls’ site are as follows:

• We do that by ensuring small businesses have loans and the capital they need to sustain and rebuild in the aftermath of COVID-19, by reducing burdensome regulations, and by strengthening trade deals.
  
• Hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs rely either directly or indirectly on the energy industry. Some in Congress are pushing for a complete ban on fossil fuels. This would be a travesty not only to Texas' economy but the entire country.
  
• As Sheriff, I've seen the human and monetary cost of high recidivism rates and our broken criminal justice system. That's why as Sheriff, I took action and instituted cutting edge recidivism reduction programs. At the Fort Bend County Jail, we offer HVAC and welding courses to non-violent inmates, at no cost to taxpayers, so the inmates have job ready skills when they're released.
  
• in Congress, I will work to increase healthcare offerings while protecting those with preexisting conditions, protecting Medicare and Social Security, protecting Medicaid, and protecting private insurance.
  
• I am a strong supporter of public education
  

Interestingly, in an earlier version of his website, since archived, issue positions also include (direct quotes https://web.archive.org/web/20200305150110/https:/www.nehlsforcongress.com/issues )

• I'll fight to secure the border, finish President Trump's wall, deport criminal aliens, and end sanctuary cities.”
  
• I'm 100% pro-2A, endorsed by NRA board members, and as Sheriff famously told looters to stay out of Ft. Bend County because we believe in the 2nd Amendment and many of us are well armed, and they may leave in a body bag. In Congress, I will fight the gun grabbing socialists and always defend our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
  
• All life is precious and a gift from our all mighty creator. It must be protected from conception to natural death. It is abhorrent that our country allows the murder of hundreds of thousands of babies each year.
  

Nehls has not taken the Political Courage Test.
I see that u/karim12100 3 months back put up a handy, informative link of misconduct issues related to Nehls ( https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/12/08/255526/fort-bend-county-sheriff-troy-nehls-wont-run-for-congress-in-2018/ ), and I agree with u/lika_the_pepper that there are about 20 counts listed, including:

• multiple incidents of mishandling evidence
  
• refusing to return property to an own even after a sergeant directed to do so, and
  
• repeatedly going to restaurant/store without properly notifying dispatch.
  

One particular claim to fame that you may remember was that Nehls pursued “disorderly conduct” charges against someone who had a “F*CK TRUMP” sticker on the back window of their truck. ( https://www.vice.com/en/article/gyjnz7/a-sheriff-went-after-these-texans-for-their-fuck-trump-sticker-vgtrn )
More seriously, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards officials also sent a letter to authorities in Fort Bend County, addressed to Sheriff Troy Nehls, to take “appropriate corrective measures” after the deaths of two inmates in custody since September 30. ( https://www.fbherald.com/news/officials-county-jail-in-violation-of-minimum-jail-standards/article_ec2bbf96-8b4b-550e-be91-79eadee43a05.html )
Civil rights groups have also accused the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office of racial profiling in traffic stops, saying the office led by Troy Nehls has disproportionately targeted Latinos. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/fort-bend-police-hispanic-stop-search-race-profile-15447278.php#photo-19748930
More could be said of both candidates, but I think this is enough grist for the mill. I look forward to any additional info anyone here may have. What do you think? Was this a helpful summary? Who do you think would do a better job of representing Sugar Land?

WEEK 1

1. It was christmas on friday, or as I, a poor immigrant minority like to call it, just another day of watching white people have fun.
   
2. Plenty of news this week, England has a new strain of Corona and countries are shutting down to stop the risk of invasion. Good decision considering getting rid of other invasions from England took 200 years. (- in the youtube video I add a picture of how the British ruled india for 200 years (I'm indian)- this jokes is pretty much all attitude, if you wanna see it work go to my youtube channel - Ambrish Singh).
   
3. The new corona strain has 23 mutations. It has more changes than you will in 2021 after making your new years resolutions.
   
4. The UK is bracing for possible food shortages as nations are cutting off ties because of the new corona strain. British Prime minister Boris Johnson is trying to get trade back open with France. Worried that if not dealt with quickly, they may have to use their food reserves filled with slimy bland food, or as one local calls it, normal british food.
   
5. Health Officials in Canada are monitoring for the UK variant of the virus. Thankfully this variant is easier to spot, all they have to do is look for a virus with bad teeth and a shitty attitude. Just kidding Mark, You know I love you brother, Prick.
   
6. Ontario is entering another lockdown. New guidelines say that to survive, nightclubs can do takeout and delivery. I’m excited by this news as I would love to order some overpriced wings and peanuts covered in piss. Nothing would make me more happy, than to eat peanuts covered in urine in the comfort of my own home.
   
7. Ariana Grande got engaged to Dalton Gomez last week. Exciting news but then the next day a report came out accusing Dalton of murder, kidnapping and robbery. Everyone was shocked, but then they calmed down when they realized that the accusations were made by a crying Pete Holmes. *sing* “If I was your man”
   
8. A perfectly preserved wolf Pup mummy was found buried under snow last week. Even though scientists were excited, this story wasn’t getting much airtime but then thankfully, 2 girls put a Santa outfit on the wolf pup and now it has 7 million followers on instagram.
   
9. There was a train derailment in Washington state. The train cars caught fire after derailment which led to the evacuation of nearby homes. Although the incident was harrowing, officials say it still wasn’t as big a train wreck as the Trump presidency.
   
10. Last week Sunday people were calling Trump a traitor because he didn’t say something about russia whatever I don’t care Here’s the joke. I don’t understand why people were surprised. Like calling Trump a traitor is like calling water wet, or calling the sky blue, or calling Trump a traitor.
    

WEEK 2

1. Happy new year, thank god, 2020 wasn’t great and here’s a news story that’ll tell you what it was like for me. There was an article on Vice that said “2020 has been bad for earth, but great for Mars”. The article lists how there were several discoveries made on Mars last year and how 3 launches were made for the red planet. so this is what 2020 was like, a planet had a better year than me.
   
2. There were some Amazing discoveries in 2020- Earlier in the year scientists recreated the voice of a 3,000 year old mummy. They used 3D printing, medical scanners and electronic larynx. They were having some trouble at first but when they finally got it to work the first words out of the mummy’s mouth were “go clean your room”.
   
3. Scientists discovered an ancient wormlike creature that’s the ancestor of all animals including us. The worm is 6.6 mm in size. it is in fact so small that scientists are comparing it to Trump's penis. I mean he must have a small thing because guys who are blessed down there never need their ego stroked or to show off. Like look at me, just wearing a coat and a T shirt without anything flashy, and you know what that means ladies, it means I just don’t have the money to show off.
   
4. After that we learned that neanderthals were actually skilled fishermen and that they ate fish regularly. This discovery shows that neanderthals were okay with eating fish but even they were like “dude, eating ass is gross”. Before this discovery in populer legend, neanderthals were thought to be club wielding brutes. And you know, of course we thought that the “other” *do the air bunnies* people were weird and garbage just because they aren’t us or don’t belong to our group. It’s like how my mother thinks that women in the western world are promiscuous and garbage, and how women in the western world think that the women in 3rd world countries are so pressured and oppressed that they’ve all turned into diamonds.
   
5. A fossil of a new species of tyrannosaur was discovered in canada. A month later archaeologists thought they had found a new species of gigantosaurus but then they realized it was just Donald Trump sitting sideways.
   
6. There was an explosion on christmas day in nashville. Apparently the person who set off the blast believed in reptilian aliens controlling the world but thankfully he was the only person to die. According to reports the blast happened because he was lighting candles on a cake but then a mouse came and replaced the candles with a stick of dynamite.
   
7. A recent report showed that in El Paso Texas, women outnumber men by 27%. According to American community service, women outnumber men by 17,220. Anyway, I gotta go. *in the next joke have el paso in the background.
   
8. Last week there were allegations of abuse inside a catholic convent. Apparently convent sisters were abused physically and emotionally. When I read this headline I was shocked, like “what? The name of god being used to gain power and abuse people, never”.
   
9. And now, welcome to the segment I call “not recent news but I like the joke so here it is”. Scarlet Johansson, who recently got married to Colin Jost, in the past she has said that “monogamy is not natural”. In 2017, Scarlet in a playboy interview said that quote, “It’s something I have a lot of respect for and have participated in, but I think it definitely goes against some instinct to look beyond” or in layman's terms, she a hoe.
   

​
WEEK 3

1. Last week a company announced masks for cows, a product that aims to filter cow burps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company claims it will reduce emissions by 17% and in response to this news, cows are holding an anti mask rally next week.
   
2. Last week it was announced that the UK is sending robot spiders via the company called space bit to explore the moon. The spider robot will move across the surface to take photos and videos but if the spiders start to make their own decisions and go rogue, the scientists are packing the astronauts bags with slippers.
   
3. In Texas last week, a woman clung to the hood of a car trying to stop a couple stealing a $10,000 dog. Although she was traumatized by the event, she is happy now as the incident landed her a job as the stunt double for Tom Cruise.
   
4. A knife wielding squirrel was spotted in Toronto last week. Apparently it was acting as a bodyguard for the crack selling dog. (or weed selling dog)
   
5. Zooey Deschanel, the star of “500 days of summer”, said in a recent interview that her boyfriend was the MVP of 2020. After hearing this, her boyfriend was happy at first, but then he was like “wait,there were other guys playing too?”
   
6. Miya Ponestto, the girl who falsely accused and attacked a young black kid, still walks free. When a reporter recently asked what her defence was, she said “I’m puerto rican”, a move experts are nicknaming “BASE!, I’m safe” (picture of baseball base in the background with a referee and a player touching a base with the word “safe” written under it).
   
7. Last week NASA scientists said that quote “there is a missing black hole”. Apparently the super massive black hole at the centre of a galaxy named Abell 2261 has vanished, quote “almost like it was stolen”. And after hearing the word stolen, Trump blames it on the democrats
   
8. In a recent rally in Washington DC, the president’s supporters were “hugging each other” after a pro trump speaker said quote “let’s create a mass spreader event”. Intrestingly Scientists are actually encouraging this beahvior in an effort to get rid of the stupid gene.
   
9. In other news, last week Dr. Faucci’s favourable media coverage resulted in a tweet from the president saying “Somehow Dr. Faucci is revered by the LameStream Media as such a great professional, having done, they say, such an incredible job, yet he works for me and the Trump administration, and I am in no way given any credit for my work. Gee, could this just be more Fake News?”,,,,, and then in another tweet after this, the president announced that after leaving office he will star in the educational show called “How to bitch about things”.
   

Unsung heroes: Reconceptualizing a video game as a work of art.

Jessica Hoffmann Davis, EdD (jessicahoffmanndavis.com)
​
The doorbell rang just as the doctor at St. Denis (a fictive town in the video game Red Dead Redemption 2) was telling Arthur, (my playable character in the 80+ hour game) that he had incurable tuberculosis. Devastated, I raced to the door, explained quickly to the technician that I couldn’t sign anything for the moment, and rushed back to finish watching that cinematic cut into the regular action of the game.
As I returned to the door, I could hear the technician stifling a laugh. Clearly, he found it amusing that a woman of my advanced age was immersed in a video game. “Which one?” he asked pleasantly.
“Red Dead Redemption 2,” I replied, and his mouth fell open. “You know it?” I asked. “Who doesn’t?” he exclaimed. And of course, he did.
Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) was one of the hottest games of 2018. The New York Times reported it making $725 million in the first three days it opened, making it the “highest grossing opening weekend of any entertainment product—ever” (Suderman, NYT, 11/25/18, p. 8). “I tried it,” he said, “but I don’t really have time to stay with the story with two young children climbing all over me.” Yes, that would be hard. For me, at this stage in my life, my only regular interruption was my little dog who thought the horses, dogs, and other animals so realistically portrayed in Red Dead Redemption 2 were in the room with us. Lucky was also frightened by the sound of shooting guns that admittedly happened frequently throughout the game.
“How’d you get into it?” the technician asked. “My son is Dutch van der Linde.” Dutch is the sophisticated enchanting evil manipulative philosophic idealistic intellectual outlaw whose charisma and treachery are at the center of the game.
“You mean the character in the game is like your son?” “No”, I replied, “the character in the game is my son.” He was baffled. “The actor who plays Dutch van der Linde is my son.” “Oh. you mean, he gave the voice to the animated figure?” Apparently, this guy had never heard of performance capture and how the game’s animation is framed by digital recordings of the actual actions and expressions of the actors. “Performance capture.” I explained, “you know they wear the leotards with electric ping pong balls all over them?” “Oh yeah,” the technician nodded, clearly impressed, unsure by what. “Well, good luck with it,” the young man said, “Hope you win.”
Win? Proof positive that he had never played Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that has no winners or losers and a course of action determined by individual players. For most of the time, as the only playable character Arthur Morgan, (a misguided big-hearted gunslinger), you’re an actor in the theater of the game, riding your horse, tackling missions as directed, trying to do your best. For the rest of the time, you’re the director, deciding what comes next in the narrative, making choices that range from virtuous vs. damnable courses of action to what outfit your character will wear.
Fully within the shape and direction of the narrative, you are co-constructor of a story…or is it a movie? Now and then, with filmed action cut-scenes, it definitely is. Either way, the New York Times calls the game a “work of art” (ibid, p.8); an online fan calls it an “experience”; I call it an “adventure.” No, a “story.” No, a movie in which I am the protagonist and the director. A reader of lines; a writer of outcomes. I agree. “A work of Art.”

Origins

My son, actor Benjamin Byron Davis, worked on the Red Dead Redemption 2 project for five years. Five years of flying back and forth between Los Angeles and New York, memorizing countless lines (the script was 2000 pages long), rehearsing in locations on either coast, performing in black spandex “mo-cap” (motion capture) suits, gun belts at his side, riding a saw horse that would appear as a Tennessee Walker or an Arabian, imagining in a warehouse studio space, the vast landscape of the wild west.
Reportedly, the hardest part of it all was the non-disclosure agreement that the ensemble signed, assuring Rockstar Games that the actors would not reveal a minute of what they were doing prior to release, let alone that they had any knowledge that there would ever be a prequel to the earlier game, Red Dead Redemption.
When the game finally emerged, it was met with thunderous enthusiasm and commentary suggesting it had broken the boundaries between technology and art, exploring territory traditionally reserved for the arenas of dramatic or cinematic arts. Beautifully written, gorgeously acted, and outrageously picturesque, the game welcomes players into an imaginary world in which they can ride their horses all night, explore new directions as the sun rises, pause to camp under a shading tree or alongside a slippery river, feel a gentle rain, marvel at a star studded sky, and inter-relate with characters as close as fellow outlaws in the Van der Linde gang and as mysterious as strangers alongside an unknown road.
The terrain would become familiar, the dead tree marking the road to camp, the tree lined path to the Braithwaite Manor. the train tracks, water ways, and jagged narrow mountain paths. But I knew nothing of this when the Red Dead Redemption 2 ensemble of performance capture artists came to FanExpo Boston at the Boston Convention Center in August, 2019.

The Fans

I had never attended a fan expo or comic-con before. These conventions famously provide a venue where literally thousands of comic book/video game fans can gather. Walking about as if it was another day at the mall, are life sized superheroes, video game characters, and other creative inventions of comic book types. The costumes are pristine and professional looking and even the youngest children look as if they’ve just emerged from their movie trailers down the street.
Walking through galleries of booths selling such collectible objects as original artwork and vintage comic books or giving away trinkets that promote an upcoming game, I was struck by the creativity with which the atmosphere was infused. And when I reached the designated area in which fans could actually meet their favorite video game actors and get an autograph or a selfie, I was astonished by the length of the lines. I knew this happened around the world; Benjamin had already taken part in conventions in Hawaii, Philadelphia, Texas, and Kuwait. But what impressed me greatly, moved some chord within that is devoted to the arts in education, was that practically all of the fans waiting on line to meet the real Dutch van der Linde, had a gift in hand. The gifts were drawings of Dutch from various scenes in the game, or “wanted” posters of the artist’s design-an artistic response to the work of art that was the game; and the artwork itself was first rate. Surely some were more crudely drawn than others, but all the work presented had clearly been crafted with care and affection.

Reflection

Later, Dutch van der Linde (Benjamin) and Arthur Morgan (Roger Clark) sat on a panel and talked about the experience of working on Red Dead Redemption 2, the challenge of learning masses of lines in short periods of time, developing a role over time, working in those spandex suits, and especially the non-disclosure agreement that kept them from telling anyone what they were up to until release. It made the ensemble closer, only being allowed to talk about it all with each other. And then the questions came from the audience. I was sitting between Captain Marvel and I think the Joker, in a room filled with costumed articulate adults framing the most sophisticated questions, reflecting their knowledge of the narrative of the game, the process of production, and its place in the greater context of video game play, culture, and history.
“What other artistic arena was it most like?” “Literature.” The actors replied. “When did Arthur discover Dutch wasn’t all he had thought he was?” and among this interesting back and forth, an occasional fan would ask Arthur to call his horse or Dutch to say out loud the resonant phrase, “I have a plan.” The fans waxed rhapsodic about the performances and I realized two things: 1) the attachment these players felt with the actors from the game was more intimate and profound than the connection audiences have with actors in plays and movies: and 2) the only way I would get to experience my son’s celebrated performance was to learn to play Red Dead Redemption 2.

The Challenge

It was then that I bought a copy of the game (RDR2) and a Play Station 4 (PS4), the video console that enables game play. Installing the PS4 was not complicated but it took me a few days to find the courage to think that I was capable. The console came with a controller with which the player enters and navigates the game and learning how to use that smooth hand-held device took me the better part of two weeks. That was not just because of lack of confidence, not just because I believed that such a device belonged to another generation, but also because the controller is a pretty complicated device. There are so many options for control that I quickly ordered the Red Dead Redemption 2 guidebook which fearsomely is 385 pages long. The print is small. Enter my hand-held large red magnifying glass.
I practiced and practiced but mastery came slowly. My ineptitude with the controller prevented me from keeping my horse on a steady keel and caused me to make awful mistakes. I would unintentionally punch my horse or jump off it when I meant to jump on. I speak in the first person, but “I” in the game is the character of Arthur Morgan, a lovable gun slinger who has made some poor life choices but basically seeks to do good (when he is not shooting and looting bad guys).
Arthur and I are connected by that controller; we decide where he will move, what he will wear, if he will shave his beard, give money to the collection pot for Dutch’s gang, go into a saloon and play poker or check into a train station and pay the bounty on our head for some or another murderous mistake. Consider the intimacy of the relationship when you and he are the lead character in the game. The controller allows that connection.
With each week of game play (1-3 hours a day; occasionally a decadent lot more), my facility with the controller increased and remarkably, as I got more facile, the game gave me more things to do-there seemed a reciprocity of skills and tasks. I felt scaffolded by the game (and that incredibly detailed guidebook) and that allowed me to invest fully in the experience of this alternate world where gangs were disappearing but still shooting it up and revenge was disparaged but still motivating bloodshed.
As we moved from the cold snowy opening scenes of the game throughout seasons of flowering and abundance, with animals (reportedly 200 species) gamboling through meadows and towns, the environment became more detailed and complex. There were entries in Arthur’s journal (drawings and words) to read and interpret, books on shelves that you could open and study, abandoned interiors to explore and loot, Native American lore to inspire, the chill of a wave of industrialization meticulously portrayed as a backdrop to the development and deterioration of characters to whom we grow unreasonably attached.
“Let’s ride.” Is a refrain you hear in the game that informed my play every time I returned to it. My designated chair; the open guidebook and the magnifying glass; my coffee on the table; a few post-its stuck to the mug—reminders about which is a punch which a repel; the smooth feel of the ps4 controller in my hand, and I was ready to play. “Let’s ride.” And ride we did, through a landscape of images and words and music that sustained and engaged. A story line filled with excitement and nuance, chapter to chapter; through decisions that had consequence and proved our autonomy and effectiveness; attending to detail, collecting herbs, horses, weapons—so much to encounter and learn. I came to be unsurprised this game took 8 years to create. It would seem to require more.

The Journey

Meanwhile, my son had announced to his fans that his 75 year old mother was attempting to play Red Dead Redemption 2 and they responded with wonderful comments of support. They were moved I’d taken such trouble to see what my son had done, moved that an “older” person would make the effort to experience “their art.” I was buoyed by their support; they called my efforts “wholesome.” They made me feel welcome and proud of my novice exploration of the world they knew so well. And what did others know of the magic I was discovering in an area the uninformed consider a “waste of time”?
Perusing the topics of some of the very many academic articles on the subject, I noted that while there is persistent concern for the effects of violence in games, scholars in the field recognize a variety of positive aspects. Of interest to me, they acknowledge what I felt first-hand: the experience of “presence” as in actually being there within the game as well as a sense of personal efficacy as I moved along (Vorderer, Bryant, 2006). So much to learn from historical content to usable skills such as manual dexterity, spatial awareness, and the attention to detail inherent to aesthetic education.
As I came to the end of the RDR2 story, final scenes brought me to tears. The characters found the ways they were meant to find but not always what I would have wished for them. Since my son is a veteran actor, I have seen him in many roles, but never as an animated version of himself—a version that visually walked his walk and audibly exploited the dark and playful regions of his wonderful voice. My journey had allowed this encounter with an extraordinary performance of an extraordinary role. And I had also had the extraordinary experience of playing a role; well, sharing a role with the character Roger Clark so marvelously brought to life. I became facile with a venue I had previously only seen from a distance—a grandson ignoring me, attending somehow to this mysterious arena for play. I entered that world, became absorbed, and didn’t hear when I was called for dinner.

In Closing

As I came into the finish line, I texted some reflections to my son:
…the “game” was somewhere between my recollections as a child of playing dolls that I dressed and placed in imaginary scenes and playing cowboys and Indians with those plastic figures whose legs were bowed so they could ride securely on their little plastic horses. But beyond the imaginary part of it all; it was so real. As if I was living in another time when folks travelled over roads that were narrow paths that led over wooden bridges and through rushing streams. And when the weather changed- my first worry was whether Arthur needed a coat or a bigger hat…and we kept going along beautiful trails, rowing wooden boats, jumping on wagons-noting all along stars in a changing sky, old houses that seemed familiar-as if they were from history and not an artist’s pen.…and my attention to detail throughout spilled over into the real world beyond. I would hear voices in the supermarket that sounded like the background voices in RDR2.
How glorious the moment (the last time) when we saw the whole gang (fractured at that point but going off together) following Dutch on his white horse “Let’s ride.” Words cannot recreate for someone who has not entered this world what it contains and inspires. Such a range of emotions and encounters and I have yet to do anything with the watches and rings in my satchel, the playing cards, the dominoes …the letters we received. The world that was created here is rich with possibilities that I have still to explore, but it has taken me months to come from front to back, from ignorant thoughts of “just a video game” to real admiration of a “work of art.”
Like other works of art, we never capture it all in one encounter, we can return and find new things over and over and the questions the work asks us are never fully answered, fraught with possibilities for interpretation. For me, this time, my question is: “where was redemption among these murderous heroes, these virtuous criminals, these friends to the end or not?” These outlaws, dealing death left and right, but so moved by the losses of each other. Evil and goodness all around, no clear lines between. Arthur’s dream, a triumph against the winds and tides of the rest. And my triumph by the way, learning something new for which I had no experience or ability, awakened by the challenges and delight of this extraordinary creation.
What a privilege to play.
References
Suderman, P. (2018), New York Times Nov. 25,p.8/
Vorder, P. & Bryant, J. (2006) Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences. NY: Routledge.