Autocratic countries in the world

My people group are going through what can only be described as the start of a genocide. We are the victims of systemic oppression in most countries in the world. Yet every time I speak up on this to people in my life, they find some way to tell me I'm either paranoid or exaggerating. In the same breath, they'll then start repeating the exact same beliefs they just told me I was making up.
My people are systemically losing their rights to healthcare. In many nations in the world, we are losing our rights to access life-saving medical procedures and medications. These procedures have been being done for at least 60 years, some for around 100 years. They are known to be safe and effective at saving our lives. Yet they still take them away, which only seeks to endanger our lives and push us closer to suicide.
Many of us are unable to get legal work. In the US we are twice as likely as the average person to be unemployed. 44% of us who are working are underemployed. We are four times as likely as the average worker to have a household income of below $10,000. 13% of us have reported having to work in the sex industry. Likely far more. Across the world, somewhere between 24%-75% of our women have had to participate in the sex trade. (Wide range, but this is a hard thing to count)
According to some studies, one third of us have experienced homelessness sometime in our life in the US. This contributes to unemployment rates and sex work rates.
When we are thrown in prison, we are often treated as sex slaves for male inmates. We are often given as "gifts" to violent male inmates, either as a form of placating them, or as a reward for their good behavior. This practice is so common, that is is effectively a central part of our sentencing. THIS OCCURS IN UNITED STATES PRISONS. This is not some third-world practice, this is happening in the US, UK, and France. It is also common for prison guards to strip search us, and then put our bodies on display for other guards and inmates. Sometimes we are made to "preform" during this presentation. 69% of us who are prisoners are made to engage in sexual acts we'd rather have not done (rape). 58.5% of us who are prisoners are violently sexually assaulted. And 88% of us who are prisoners are made to participate in a "marriage-like" relationship with another inmate.
After one of us was killed in the United States, by a brutal beating in a public school. A state senator said "we don't want that filth in our state". A 16-year old was stabbed to death in the UK, when her mother was in the parliamentary chamber, the UK prime minister made jibes about our people group during the session.
47% of us have experienced some form of sexual assault in our lives. 58% of us have been mistreated by the police, in K-12 education, 78% of us have experienced harassment. I personally have been followed home by people who shouted slurs at me and made it known they had guns in their car. They have waited for me at the entrance of the school just to shout at me. The administration did almost nothing. 35% of us in K-12 education have experienced physical assault, and 12% have experienced sexual assault.
These are all true statistics. Nothing here is exaggerated to my knowledge. If anything is possibly misrepresented, I stated as such with words like "according to some studies" or made comments on the unreliability of the data. This is the reality of my people. Every day I have to live my life knowing that I am likely to be assaulted, harassed, kicked out, fired, lose my home, or just straight up be killed.
Yet somehow, whenever I tell people of this, I'm somehow making shit up, or entitled, or "woke" or whatever buzz word they're using these days. I'm told I need to focus on Palestine (which I whole heartily support) or I need to think about some other people group. Or I shouldn't be get angry at people who support policies that directly hurt my people, because it's "free speech". I'm tired of people constantly trying to gaslight me into believing everything is ok, because at least I'm not in a boxcar. Things are not ok.

Okay that's not really the question, I'm planning on making a GuildWars2 comic, and I wanted to discuss with you, why the district was removed and why it should/shouldn't be added. I'm from an European country so I really can't understand why it's so important for Asians to not mix up their cultures, even if it's for fiction in a fantasy world. Would it be problematic if I added it anyway? or it will create a war. Would it be a smart choice to add a Canthan district but in a future timeline, where it's inspired by the Korean culture? What about my character that is inspired by Luxon and has a Chinese name? is it still racist or I can keep it that way?
(English is not my first language so I'm sorry if something isn't clear)

Good people of bostonbruins I have come to make an unthinkable ask of you regarding the Evil Empire of New York. It is no secret between our kinds, that in the world of professional sports, we do not like each other. And in the world of the world, we also do not like each other.
But my Masshole bretheren, we were robbed. Our city's rivalry has been for decades centered in baseball and football, and the flames of this rivalry have long gone unfanned. We were given an opportunity, an opportunity to renew this hatred on the court and on the ice, the dominions of our cities' rivalry which have sat by the wayside for eons. Yes, the Celtics and Knicks of old did battle and yes, the Rangers and Bruins of a bygone time met in the frozen waste. But the tales we will tell our children of our history will be one of diamonds and gridiron.
We could have had it different. We could have had the Celtics and Knicks in the ECF, and at the same time had the Bruins and Rangers in the ECF. We could have… we should have gotten the two most unbelievably toxic weeks that nba and hockey have ever seen.
It's true. It's not the same anymore with them. The Yankees and Red Sox don't fight each other on the field anymore. The Giants and the Patriots are a long way from the Super Bowl, and now we sit at the bottom of the AFC East with the Jets while the Dolphins and Bills have surpassed us. The vigorous hate our great city once had for New York sports has given way to a mere dislike.
And Boston, we need to be honest with ourselves. We miss it.
We miss the fighting. We miss waking up in the morning renewed with the knowledge that after we got home from work and school we would stay up late in the hopes that we would see our city crush the hopes and dreams of children all around New York. We miss the 0-3 jokes, we miss the Eli is our dad jokes, we miss Mark Sanchez.
And you know what? They do too. Because lets just be honest here, collectively, we are better than the rest of this place. We are the frigid and somehow also blistering hot corner of this nation that has our act together. Yes we have our issues, our homes cost a million dollars and our subway systems are pathetic but have you even seen the rest of this place? Florida is underwater two months of the year. Philadelphia watches people eat rotisserie chickens for fun. Los Angeles is plastic, and Indiana is just not an important place.
Yes, the Panthers beat the Bruins, and we all went to sleep Friday knowing that alligators were not somehow only our fourth biggest problem. And yes, the Pacers beat the Knicks, and they all went to sleep knowing that their city was a better place than Indianapolis. I don't actually know anything about Indianapolis to make this a better joke because as I mentioned earlier, not an important place.
We could have brought new life to only truly great rivalry this country has ever seen. Because what else is there? The Saints and the Falcons? Those people don't even have teeth.
That new life to our eternal struggle was taken from us, and it was taken by Indiana and Florida.
So my proposal to you, good people of bostonbruins is that for one round, and one round only. We do the unthinkable. We unite. They will cheer for the Celtics, and in return, we do the unthinkable. We cheer for the Rangers.
This truce extends to the conference finals and no further. They shall not wish a new banner upon us, and we will not wish one upon them. The United States of America has never known greater sports cities than New York and Boston and they have could never imagine how unbelievably toxic we could manage to be if for two weeks we did the unthinkable, we stood together.
I have been to the dark lands. I have spoken with the Court of Rats and they have accepted these terms.
I know this isn't how we wanted this. We wanted to fight. We wanted to pour gasoline on the fire. Not in an oil drum under an overpass like they do in the lesser parts of this country, but pour gasoline into the heart and soul of the greatest rivalry sports will ever know and lets make those stupid fucks regret taking it from us.

Good people of bostonceltics I have come to make an unthinkable ask of you regarding the Evil Empire of New York. It is no secret between our kinds, that in the world of professional sports, we do not like each other. And in the world of the world, we also do not like each other.
But my Masshole bretheren, we were robbed. Our city's rivalry has been for decades centered in baseball and football, and the flames of this rivalry have long gone unfanned. We were given an opportunity, an opportunity to renew this hatred on the court and on the ice, the dominions of our cities' rivalry which have sat by the wayside for eons. Yes, the Celtics and Knicks of old did battle and yes, the Rangers and Bruins of a bygone time met in the frozen waste. But the tales we will tell our children of our history will be one of diamonds and gridiron.
We could have had it different. We could have had the Celtics and Knicks in the ECF, and at the same time had the Bruins and Rangers in the ECF. We could have… we should have gotten the two most unbelievably toxic weeks that nba and hockey have ever seen.
It's true. It's not the same anymore with them. The Yankees and Red Sox don't fight each other on the field anymore. The Giants and the Patriots are a long way from the Super Bowl, and now we sit at the bottom of the AFC East with the Jets while the Dolphins and Bills have surpassed us. The vigorous hate our great city once had for New York sports has given way to a mere dislike.
And Boston, we need to be honest with ourselves. We miss it.
We miss the fighting. We miss waking up in the morning renewed with the knowledge that after we got home from work and school we would stay up late in the hopes that we would see our city crush the hopes and dreams of children all around New York. We miss the 0-3 jokes, we miss the Eli is our dad jokes, we miss Mark Sanchez.
And you know what? They do too. Because lets just be honest here, collectively, we are better than the rest of this place. We are the frigid and somehow also blistering hot corner of this nation that has our act together. Yes we have our issues, our homes cost a million dollars and our subway systems are pathetic but have you even seen the rest of this place? Florida is underwater two months of the year. Philadelphia watches people eat rotisserie chickens for fun. Los Angeles is plastic, and Indiana is just not an important place.
Yes, the Panthers beat the Bruins, and we all went to sleep Friday knowing that alligators were not somehow only our fourth biggest problem. And yes, the Pacers beat the Knicks, and they all went to sleep knowing that their city was a better place than Indianapolis. I don't actually know anything about Indianapolis to make this a better joke because as I mentioned earlier, not an important place.
We could have brought new life to only truly great rivalry this country has ever seen. Because what else is there? The Saints and the Falcons? Those people don't even have teeth.
That new life to our eternal struggle was taken from us, and it was taken by Indiana and Florida.
So my proposal to you, good people of bostonceltics is that for one round, and one round only. We do the unthinkable. We unite. They will cheer for the Celtics, and in return, we do the unthinkable. We cheer for the Rangers.
This truce extends to the conference finals and no further. They shall not wish a new banner upon us, and we will not wish one upon them. The United States of America has never known greater sports cities than New York and Boston and they have could never imagine how unbelievably toxic we could manage to be if for two weeks we did the unthinkable, we stood together.
I have been to the dark lands. I have spoken with the Court of Rats and they have accepted these terms.
I know this isn't how we wanted this. We wanted to fight. We wanted to pour gasoline on the fire. Not in an oil drum under an overpass like they do in the lesser parts of this country, but pour gasoline into the heart and soul of the greatest rivalry sports will ever know and lets make those stupid fucks regret taking it from us.

I’ve been to Vegas several times now. I’d like to experience poker in other parts of the country/world.

~First~
Cats, Cops and C4
The Erumenta woman tries to fight even as he forces her into the cell, her natural fire flaring hot enough for his clothing to smoulder and him to mentally congratulate himself for his Undaunted Brand. It’s literally saved his fingers multiple times today.
Marlintine Spire is like many of the spires of Centris still reeling from the massive scan. Sure it had been legal, and both Living Goddesses upon the world had told everyone to calm down in their own way. But just because something is legal and endorsed by powerful figures does not make it a popular move.
“You burn any of your fellow prisoners while you’re in there and you’re getting a suppression collar.” He tells the obstinate criminal as he shoves her into the holding cell and slams the bars shut. The forcefields supplementing the metal bars flickers into place and the blast of flame she aimed at his face splashes against it without further effect. “Cute, keep it up and we won’t need a court hearing to upgrade you to a real prison.”
“He’s being serious. Stripper boy is playing at being a serious police officer.” Another criminal mocks and is subsequently ignored as Chenk leaves the area. He has other things to do.
“Ma’am.” He greets Chief Bowman as he slips by to head back out.
“Hold it human. I know your kind are endurance monsters, but you need to sit the hell down. You’ve been dragging in cult soldiers for six and a half hours straight. Your legal overtime ended a half hour ago.”
“Then keep a cell open for me as I keep bringing in more people. This needs to be quelled.” Chenk says and as he turns to keep going she grabs his belt and pulls him back.
“You need to rest.”
“The Spire is in the middle of a borderline insurrection. I can rest when it’s...” He begins to say before a sudden movement to his right makes his head snap around. Just before Vera the Takra-Takra crashes into him.
“Thanks for stalling him out Chief! Come on you goofy human!” Vera announces as she drags him down the hallway and into Linda’s Office. She tosses him onto the couch and then pounces onto him and pins him.
“Really?” Chenk asks.
“Yes really. You need to calm down. And I found a way to force it.” Linda states.
“But the Spire is...”
“You are one officer. Supersoldier on loan to the station or not, you’re still only one officer. The structural integrity of this spire only depends upon you when there’s a bomb threat and even then, only when it’s a chemical bomb.” Linda tells him. “Or do we have to restrict you to only being called out during a bomb threat?”
“No.” He says. “But people are still getting hurt and...”
“And they're the ones hurting themselves. Just please calm down. I know you’re skilled, but your sense of justice is just going to hurt you at this rate. Don’t want to leave a bad example for Amy now do you?” Linda teases him and Chenk groans in frustration.
“... I really should have thought things through before growing attached to that girl.”
“Oh probably, but it was adorable to see. The world crashing down on a poor little girl in over her head and then Officer Hero, Supersoldier from the blackest void of the galaxy flies in to save her.” Vera teases.
“Still, him being a supersoildier is a bit of a problem right now. Big man needs a mission, or he’s going to go nuts!” Linda notes. “Luckily! I called one of your friends on the ship. Soldier, you’re in position to requre a talking to from The Observer. However, the call is on hold, but you need to be here when it goes off.”
“That’s a dirty trick.” Chenk notes even as an Undaunted communicator is tossed at him and he catches it. It’s activated, it’s in a waiting queue and there’s no way he can go into the field now if he’s waiting for an official answer. “Very dirty.”
“Good thinking!” Vera compliments as she cuddles closer to her pinned target. Her hair spikes out in sudden shock as The Communicator then goes off to signify the call has gone through. “I jinxed it!”
“Specialist Chenk Barnabas sir!” Chenk answers the call instantly as he sits up and Vera scurries off him.
“Really? I put him on that waiting list to get him to calm down and stop working.”
“Specialist Barnabas, I’m one of numerous individuals filtering the sheer number of incoming calls to The Inevitable. You’re in the proper queue now, please state what you have been doing as a member of The Undaunted so that Observer Wu can better decide who to speak with.”
“I’m on loan to one of Marlintine Spire’s major police stations. Due to the overpopulation of Centris this means I have been acting as elite law enforcement over a population that exceeds that of many of earth’s countries.”
“I see, anything in particular that you’re doing?”
“I’m a chemical expert and accredited detective at this rate. I am the go to specialist for law enforcement when it comes to chemical explosives for a full ten percent of Centris Police Departments.”
“Any particularly interesting cases you’ve been assigned to?”
“Yes, one that is still being debated in court by none other than The Trytite Lady. It involves cloning, murder, mercenaries, numerous criminal gangs and a great deal of more nonsense such as massive prison breaks, fighting robots and Axiom effects so dangerous that even speaking about them in anything more than the most broad and general of terms on an open frequency is a punishable offence.”
“So you have seen a fair amount of what has occurred in the galaxy.”
“I’ve seen enough that I’m going to be very hard to surprise or overwhelm any longer.” Chenk says.
“Very good. I’ll just note this down. The Galaxy is absolutely insane, I’ve been fielding calls from people with like nine heads all speaking in concert and god damn lobster people and more...”
“That’s reality for you.” Chenk replies. “Always more absurd than it should be.”
“Indeed, stand by. I’m putting you into the next proper queue. It shouldn’t be more than a minute or two long.” The Assistant states and then the call shifts to simply display that he’s fourth in the queue now.
“Hunh. Faster and somehow slower than expected at the same time.” Chenk says even as Vera leans against him.
“Even when you take a break you’re still working.”
“You didn’t complain about me being an endurance monster when I planted this in you.” He says gently patting her growing stomach and she pushes him a bit in protest.
“Problem with getting the super-babies of doom is the wait for the baby.” Vera complains and he chuckles before the communicator activates again. He puts it in broadcast mode as Linda leaves her desk to sit next to him for support.
“Observer Wu I take it?” Chenk asks the Asian man who nods.
“And you are Officer and Operative Barnabas. The little summary in front of your call has my attention. Tell me, how are laws generally handled in the Centris space.”
“Centris is a massively overpopulated planet consisting of Spires and Plates. The Spires are the massive multi tiered towers that have two hundred levels each and each level holds enough people to populate any major city on Earth with ease. The lower the level on the spire the less funding, infrastructure and support it has with the bottom ten generally considered a universal slum or no man’s land. Law enforcement in those areas is nigh on impossible and the air itself has been described as thick and fetid. No natural light reaches those areas either.”
“And higher up?”
“Increasing amounts of wealth and support. To such a degree that the plates, which form an artificial ring around Centris are of such high quality that their most squalid and desperate places are at roughly the same standard of living as the middle fifty floors of a well off Spire. As you can imagine, policing all this is an outright herculean effort and every station, no matter how well funded, armed or endorsed is simply inadequate for the task.”
“What sort of crimes have you witnessed?”
“I’ve stopped terrorist conspiracies, torn down drug labs, found myself between assassins and their targets, I’ve stood in the middle of gang wars commanding people to stand down, I have tackled muggers, murderers and maniacs alike into walls and cuffed them. Not even twenty minutes ago I dragged a criminal who could light fires with her will alone into a cell, my jacket is still singed from it.”
“So the world is rife with criminality.”
“No more than any other place, there’s just so many people crammed in here that it’s constant, and that’s without the recent provocation that every single criminal organization received more or less simultaneously. Generally for every single idiot that needs a police officer to remind them why good behaviour is a good idea, there’s an entire bus full of people that didn’t even consider breaking the law.” Chenk explains.
“But when they truly commit crimes they don’t stop do they?”
“No, more resources, technology and Axiom means that if someone wants to break the rules they can break the very concept of rules. The last major case I was in before this flashfire of criminality was kicked off involved the sanctity of body and mind being shattered for the sake of mere greed by a figure so underworld infamous that for a chance to get either evidence on the person in question or ingratiate themselves to them we had an all out war break out in the station. One that if not for a quick trick, we would have lost.”
“And the trick was?”
“Switching out the prize for a disguised tracking beacon.” Chenk says and Observer Wu nods appreciatively. “I can’t credit on that though, it was The Private Stream that did that.”
“I haven’t had that fully explained to me. What is THE Private Stream?”
“I’m not the best person to explain it, but a quick summary is that it’s a shared persona for low profile work. Operative Jameson is the founder and original Private Stream, a persona that lets him go around while heavily armed and armoured while arousing no suspicion.”
Vera snorts in amusement. “Arousing... lot of girls find the aw shucks innocent routine to be arousing.”
Chenk slowly urns to her. “What?”
“You know what.”
“Maybe I don’t!”
“Maybe you do.”
“Could we focus please?” Observer Wu asks. “Now, as an Officer, are there any laws that you would find concerning about humans?”
“Yes, they’re usually location dependant thankfully. So the issue can be avoided. Furthermore there’s a lot of leeway given in laws where the traits of a species would make following the law difficult if not impossible. For example a human can generally get away carrying substances that are considered highly toxic or dangerous due to the fact that our diets contain what many people in the galaxy are nothing more than hard core poisons.”
“Hmm... Could you be more specific?”
“Well, this one won’t apply to you due to an amendment that Admiral Cistern was able to get allies to help him push through, but one of the most popular religions the galaxy over is the Gravid Faith, it has numerous denominations and variants and several of them create what’s called Arrangement Systems where men are required by law to have a hundred wives.”
“And the amendment is?”
“That if you are gainfully employed by governmental or military forces that you are exempt from the law so long as you remained employed in such a manner. You Observer Wu are the eyes of hundreds of Earth Nations meaning a government employee.” Chenk explains and he nods.
“I see. Any other exemptions?”
“Generally the Galaxy looks down on kinetic weaponry, so when it was pushed that humans wear weapons and cultural garb it was allowed through without issue. So humans are legally allowed to carry weapons like knives and pistols at almost all time without question. It’s... rather stupid in my opinion, but well it would be even more foolish for me to complain about something I’m outright benefiting from.”
“Hmm... any other laws?”
“They very much vary by location. Which are further influenced by the species of the residents, local culture, religion, political association, economic status. The name of the game is jurisdiction issues here on Centris. The local police departments all help one another, but always at the invite of the local officers who can actually confirm if what’s taking place is a crime or not in the local area.”
“Can you give an example of this working against things?”
“Alright, the easiest example is with drugs. There is no agreed on way to combat the spread of illegal narcotics. Some make the growing of the plants that produce what you want illegal. Others make the refinement of it’s fruit illegal and some make the selling of the drug illegal. So you can produce it all on the third Spire and sell it on the first two legally. You can grow the plant on the second and third spire legally, refine it on the first and third legally and that way you have a massive multi-jurisdiction drug running operation without technically breaking any law.”
“Hmm... that is a great deal to consider. I presume other such crimes can operate the same way?”
“Unfortunately yes. But that’s the problem with laws, you need to set where the boundaries are, but not make people prisoners in their own homes. There’s always a loophole.”
“Tragically yes.” Observer Wu remarks. “Now, I do need to speak to the others, but I have a few moments more. Who and what are you sitting near. The vaguely catlike woman on your right and the... generally human looking woman on your left are?”
“Linda is to my left. Partner and wife, the first actual police officer of us three. Vera is to my right. Wandering Warrior and wife. Linda is a Tret woman, they’re best considered to be humans if we evolved with Axiom helping us, a sister species to our own people. Vera is a Takra-Takra, she and her kind can shapeshift into the ferocious Warform and use it in battle. They pride their skill as Warriors and seek out stronger mates to empower the next generation.” Chenk explains before tiltiing the view down a little to show the pregnant stomach on Vera. “A work in progress.”
“I see. Congratulations. Although compared to many other Undaunted you seem a little behind.”
“I wasn’t aware it was a race.”
“Which is exactly how you lose the race!” Vera says in an amused tone.
“Indeed. Every conversation leads me to believe that I need to take an entire university degree in order to understand things. Thankfully your own is rather straight forward.”
“Really? Who are you speaking with next?”
“I haven't decided yet, but I need to speak with everyone in some way.” Observer Wu states.
“Good luck sir, I think you’ll need it.” Chenk says.
“Excuse me, is there a way to get a human to calm down and take a break? Ever since Centris was Scanned and hidden societies were exposed all over Chenk has refused to stop working. Is there any way to just get him to take a break?” Linda asks.
“It generally varies from person to person. But I would suggest guilting him. Emotional blackmail is a powerful tool.” Observer Wu says with a slight smirk.
“Traitor!” Chenk declares and there’s a chuckle from The Observer.
“Indeed. I’m afraid this call needs to finish now. Best of luck.” Observer Wu says before the call ends.
“So... we need to guilt you then? Okay!” Vera exclaims before her eyes start to water. “Don’t you wanna be there for the baby? Doesn’t she deserve a daddy?”
“Oh my god woman!”
~First~ Last

I am a female in my mid-twenties, born and raised in the US. I was not raised in a rich family and my parents didn’t pay a cent of my college. I had to make my own success financially, and on the journey, I have never in my life felt I had fewer opportunities than men. I have never felt discriminated against for my gender. I have always been treated with dignity and respect.
One point to address: in some cases, women will have to fight harder than a man to climb the corporate ladder and/or become a c-suite executive. While this is unfair, progress has been and will continue being made.
All things considered, I’m extremely thankful to be in this country - especially compared to others around the world where women have no opportunities and are treated like scum. We are beyond blessed. I don’t want to hear any complaints from women in the US.

I have been working for EU and US based companies for the past 3 years as a full-stack developer and I have done work using AWS on backend, mostly reactjs and Angular for frontend and A LOT of mobile dev using react native.
I live in a third world country and by far one of the worst countries in the world, I am a bit of a workaholic and want to make as much money as possible to build my next tech startup, the USA is a nightmare to move to so I was thinking of Canada, I have a degree in software engineering with a high CGPA too.
Question is, what kind of skills do I need to know for Canadian companies to sponsor and relocate me?
I do not wish to move to Europe as most EU countries are homogenous and I wish to be somewhere that is a bit of a melting pot, but feel free to suggest any other pathway or plan that would eventually get me to North America!

So many companies in third world countries are stopping the use of palm oil mainly due to the direct link palm oil plantations are having on deforestation Which is a good thing right?
But…
What if, because these plantations are already very well established, all that actually happens is lesser developed nations and their businesses that can’t really afford to factor in ethics when producing their goods are the only ones buying it. But naturally without the rich buying it, the price per litre will surely plummet as it’s only natural to sell even at rock bottom that let it go down the drain. So here’s the problem: To still turn the same amount of profit, surely the palm oil companies will need to produce more product therefore require a lot more space and result in further deforestation?

DISCLAIMER: I am not very good to scale, every help is appreciated, thanks in case
So now let's start:
-AP/DURABILITY:
• Now MCU Hulk is actually pretty strong and he is a beast in terms of power, and really underrated in my opinion. He was able to launch a Chitaruri Warrior so hard that he never returned down, (basically he launched him in the space). Professor Hulk, which basically Hulk's strength and Bruce Banner's intelligence combined (so every feat that Normal Hulk and Professor Hulk scale to each other), was able, (quite easily) to launch a boulder in the atmosphere if not the space as well. This was found out to be a Multi-City Block+ level feat, this very impressive considering that Hulk did casually.
•Hulk is also able to destroy Leviathans' shell, which was unaffected by Rocket Raccoon weapons and Ironman Laser, that have a power of 200 petawatt, equivalent to 47,8 Megatons.
•Hulk fought also Thor during the events of "The Avengers", now during this movie Thor was weakened by dark magic, but he was still pretty powerful, like according to the director he could have easily beat him if he would and caused a mountain to quake by just dropping the Mjolnir on it. Thor also easily tanked a Unibeam at 475% by Ironman, which is Tony's most powerful weapon, that will put the Unibeam above his laser, to 52.5 Megatons, or City level+ (due to the close gap in power, which is roughly 1.09, I think it's a fair assumption). Since Thor took the beam at 475% we need to multiply the result for 4.75, so we will obtain roughly 254 Megatons, or Mountain level. But Thor also performed another incredible feat, in fact, according to the novelization of The Avengers, when he hit Cap's shield he shaked the world, which is a Small Country level feat, so when can conclude that Hulk is Small Country level as well.
•But there’s another aspect of Hulk's strength I still want to talk about , in fact Hulk strength increase with his rage. This is more clear in his battle against Thor during Thor: Ragnarok, where Hulk initially was being bodying by a Not-Weakened Pre-Awakening Thor, then became angrier and started to takes the upper hand until Thor Awakened his powers. Now we don't know if there's a limit or not to this boosts, but with his rage he should scale at least to Pre-Awakening Thor who performed a Country level feat.
NOW FOR SPEED:
•In terms of speed Hulk was able to keep up Abomination who catched a missile in midair, which are usual this fast and fought Thor who fought Loki who was able to keep pace with Captain America, which I already scale here
CONCLUSION: so at the end I think that MCU Hulk scale to Small Country level with Massively Hypersonic speed, and he can increase his power up to at least Country level, possibly even higher
P.s.: Sorry if you have found some grammatical errors, english isn't my language

Hopefully this isn’t downvoted instantly, because I know people seem to get strangely very defensive about Beast’s characterization in this run. I think there is a lot of miscommunication whenever a Beast fan complains about how he was depicted here. Often times people will discount those complaints because they think Beast fans just don’t want him to go bad, when that doesn’t really seem to be the whole truth from what I’ve seen. Ultimately, the complaints I raise and I have seen others raise are more about thinking the writing of his spiral in X-Force 2019 was not done well rather than that said spiral shouldn’t have happened at all. With the Krakoa era coming to an end, and “From the Ashes” having the now-rebooted Beast who is pulled all the way from his time on The Defenders, I don’t see any of the flaws here being addressed beyond characters casually referring to how bad he became. So I wanted to take this time in the in-between, where our new Beast is apparently just chilling on Wonder Man’s couch while the rest of the X-Men fight against Orchis and Nimrod, to once and for all lay out the flaws of Beast’s villainous era, and establish not that it shouldn’t have happened, but that it could have been way better.
Problem 1: A Lack of Pathos:
Most X-Men fans who have been reading for awhile will agree that it’s honestly surprising more mutants haven’t gone down a dark path. Their history is one of striving for acceptance, putting their lives on the line for people who would rather see them dead, and being rewarded with not one but multiple genocides on their population. Some of the most interesting stories can actually come from a formally “upstanding” mutant finally deciding enough is enough. When Cyclops went down his “villainous” path, it made a lot of sense. We’d seen him becoming more disenfranchised with the dream for years. We’d seen his trust in Xavier erode time and time again, and so when he decided to stop asking for acceptance and start demanding it, it was hard to blame him. Even as we saw most of his friends turn against him, that didn’t stop people from declaring “Cyclops Was Right,” because his perspective could easily be understood, and he did achieve results. More recently in X-Men ‘97, we saw Rogue go down a dark path in the wake of Genosha being wiped out, including Magneto and Gambit. Again, this was understood, and it was an interesting direction for her character.
This sort of turn would also make a ton of sense for Hank McCoy. Did you know that back towards the start of the original Uncanny X-Men run, Hank was actually the first X-Men we ever saw to leave the team and say that Magneto was right, after he and Bobby were attacked by an angry mob because Hank used his powers to save a young child? Over the years, one of Hank’s most recurring struggles and arcs is self-loathing and eventual acceptance of his condition. Hank has always been at his darkest when he’s trapped in his spiral of self-loathing, but when he comes out the other side, he tends to be one of the most optimistic mutants when it comes to coexistence with humans. He was out making connections and fighting alongside non-mutants before anyone else. Joining the Avengers and Defenders, speaking on behalf of mutant rights before congress, dating human women who were able to accept his appearance, blue fur and all. Until they weren’t… looking at you, Trish Tilby.
So with all of this in mind, it would honestly be an extremely interesting arc to see Hank, this optimistic mutant who has spent his life building bridges and making connections with humanity, to be slowly beaten down and start to believe peace is not an option. As one of the original X-Men, he has been there through every tragedy that struck the mutant population. And as one of the smartest X-Men, he has usually been at the center of these crises. He has seen advancements in science meant to eradicate the mutants. He has fought against viruses that threaten to drive them extinct. He was there in the wreckage of Genosha. He has seen countless friends killed again and again. He has suffered his own mutation evolving and making him less and less human-looking. He saw the development of a mutant “cure” and was tempted to take it. He has seen it all.
And so that brings us to Krakoa. This is the moment where the mutants as a whole decided enough was enough. If they could not be accepted by humanity, they would pack up and form their own nation, and they would force humanity to accept that they exist by developing life-saving drugs that other nations would have to rely on. And what is one of the first things that happens after the establishment of Krakoa? Hank witnesses assassins infiltrate the island and assassinate Charles Xavier. This right here is honestly the perfect setup for Hank to go darker than he has before. Even after literally segregating the mutant population from humanity, like humanity seemed to want, they still decided to come and kill the man at the forefront of the movement. And Hank, recently placed in charge of mutant black-ops, would likely see that all options are on the table.
Unfortunately, Hank’s actual pathos surrounding the decisions he would go on to make is not explored by the book itself. The book has no interest in detailing Hank’s fall from grace as we saw with Cyclops before him. The book just wants us to accept that Hank has already fallen. And in fact, according to the writing, maybe he never had anywhere to fall from. Any time a character in X-Force tries to ask important questions to understand Hank’s thought process, they are cut off. Usually by Wolverine saying “He’s always been like this.” And then on one occasion, when Wolverine asked Hank why he was doing all this dark shit, Hank said, “Didn’t you read the script? I’ve always been like this.” There is no attempt to examine Hank as a character. We don’t need to know why Hank makes the decisions he does, because this book wants Hank to be a black and white villain and so that’s what he will be. Why? Because he’s always been like this.
Problem 2: Rapid Escalation:
One of the major defenses people have when it comes to Krakoan Hank is that he has apparently been on the road to his villainous self for over a decade. The X-Force run itself loved to have characters spout a list of Hank’s previous “crimes” without any context involved, as justification for why he was acting the way he did in the current run. The problem is, that context is very important. Because it shows the disparity in the Hank of previous stories who made mistakes with good intentions vs the Hank of X-Force who did heinous shit because he wanted to. This was less a plane making a slow descent and more a plane that was slowly descending, but then its engines shut off and it plummeted into a fiery explosion.
To make this case, we need to briefly analyze the previous perceived transgressions of Hank McCoy to show what they actually meant for his character and how they differ from the Bond villain X-Force would present us with. Let’s start with Threnody. Somehow, Threnody became a bit of a buzzword for the beginning of the end for Hank. When people talk about the history of Hank and Threnody, they will usually present it as one of Hank’s worst sins, saying something like “Hank callously handed Threnody over to Mr. Sinister so he could experiment on and abuse her!!!” It kind of makes for some whiplash when you actually read the Threnody story people are talking about. Here is a brief rundown of what actually happens:
Threnody is a young woman who cannot control her powers. It causes her no end of grief, and when we are introduced to her, she is homeless and constantly in danger of hurting herself or others. Beast, Rogue, and Iceman come across Threnody who has been found first by Mr. Sinister. Sinister actually has a vested interest in curing the Legacy Virus, and believes he can help Threnody master her powers, at which point she will prove vital in his efforts to study said Virus. Notably, Threnody wants to go with Sinister here. While Rogue disapproves, Hank does believe that Sinister is actually Threnody’s best option, openly stating Sinister can actually help her gain control and the X-Men cannot, because, as Hank directly says, Sinister is willing to damn parts of his soul in pursuit of scientific enlightenment, and the X-Men are not. A few issues later, when breaking into Sinister’s base, Hank encounters Threnody again. She’s happy. Sinister did indeed help her control her powers, and she has been able to use her abilities to help mutants the world over, while also undermining Sinister’s more evil operations from the inside. Hank expresses relief, saying he was kept up at night by his decision to let her go with Sinister, but Threnody actually thanks him for letting her. And that’s it. That’s Hank’s big “crime” here.
Hank’s other “sins” are also of varying levels of severity. There’s the time “Hank worked with his evil self to cure the Legacy Virus!” when the actual story in question is Hank asserting that he won’t stoop to the levels of Dark Beast and compromise his values in the name of science. There’s the time “Hank sided with the Inhumans against the X-Men!” when the actual story is Storm sending Hank to Attilan to find a way to end the conflict between mutants and inhumans before war broke out. Hank runs out of time to find a cure for the terrigen mist cloud, suggests mutants get off-world in the meantime rather than go to war with the inhumans, is thrown into a cell by the other X-Men for his “betrayal”, and then freed at the conclusion of the war by a repentant Storm when it comes to light that the whole conflict was manipulated by Emma Frost. There’s the time “Hank risked the timestream by bringing the original X-Men to the present day!” A decision that was made on his perceived deathbed with the hopes of bringing his old friend Cyclops back to his side. Hank wants to take the young mutants back right away, but they refuse. And instead of others enforcing that they need to return, we actually see Kitty Pride decide to lead them in the present in memory of Charles Xavier. Notably, Kitty would be one of the many mutants in future issues who would yell at Hank about this.
The point of this post isn’t to absolve Hank of all fault. He has made countless mistakes and bad decisions. Regardless of the culpability of others, the pulling of the O5 to the present was his decision. During Secret Empire, Hank would turn a blind eye to Hydra’s activity simply to keep the mutants under his care safe. During all of this, however, Hank’s character was not compromised. He expressed despair and regret over his worse choices, and struggled with thinking he was a good person any longer. Again, going back to his recurring struggle with self-loathing. He had pathos behind his decisions and how they affected him, and would often reunite with Wonder Man as an opportunity to recenter and declare he would “be better tomorrow than he was yesterday.”
You would think, if the aim of X-Force was to turn Hank into a full-on villain, it would take advantage of the long-form storytelling of comics to chronicle that escalation. Like I said, the assassination of Charles Xavier is a great starting point for Hank to start going darker than he ever has before. The problem is, we don’t get an escalation. Hank starts the run by doing some of the most heinous shit imaginable. Regardless of your thoughts on the severity of Hank’s previous mistakes, none of them compare to his opening volley in this run. Hank uses telefloronics to override and genocide an entire country, leaving various people either completely dead or braindead. We later find out that during this time he also established a space station where he ran unethical experiments on prisoners like Krakoa’s very own Dr. Mengele. He then accuses his old ally Colossus of conspiring with Russia against Krakoa, and calls forth the mutant population to witness as he parades a shamed Colossus through its streets. Then he kills Wolverine and resurrects him as a mindless animal who he uses as an attack dog against his perceived enemies. This isn’t an escalation, this is a different character. And the aforementioned lack of pathos means that we don’t get to see him struggle with these choices. We don’t see his thought process as he becomes darker and darker. Why would we? “He’s always been like this.”
Problem 3: No Personality:
One of the most fun aspects of turning a protagonist into an antagonist is seeing how their personality works with a more villainous mindset. When Cyclops became an “antagonist” to the X-Men, he was still Cyclops. He stuck to his convictions, he was a great leader and tactician, and he was able to turn many mutants to his side because of this. We’ve seen an evil Beast before. The creatively-named Dark Beast is from an alternate future where Beast went down a dark path lacking ethics. The fun of this character, besides comparing his ideologies with our Hank McCoy, is seeing how Hank’s penchant for jokes or quotes now become far more sinister and cutting.
There’s a strange narrative that the jokey Hank is reserved for the Avengers while the Hank with the X-Men is all business and science. This isn’t entirely true. Early on when he was a member of the Defenders, Hank talks about this sort of thing. He essentially says that he wears different hats. While working with the X-Men, he used big words essentially to gain respect from both his teammates and humanity. But with other teams, and in his then-new furry form, he dropped all of that. His speech became more naturalistic and he was much more of a goofball. The thing is, it’s the speech patterns that truly change depending on who Hank is hanging with, not his personality. Hank with the X-Men and Hank with the Avengers are both jovial characters who like to tell jokes and quote philosophy. You can see Hank being a bit of a clown among the X-Men in various runs. So it’s not like it’s a given that Hank is some entirely different dry doctor devoid of any sense of humor when among the X-Men.
But this is how Hank is portrayed in X-Force. Part of why this version of Hank is so hard to reconcile with the rest of his history for fans of the character is that he just doesn’t act like himself, even when he isn’t actively committing war crimes. In one early issue of the run, we get a glimpse at Beast’s journal where he accounts a meeting he had with Forge. Now, Beast has been known to be a very physical character. He is often known to sweep others into a hug, or even plant a big kiss on their face in the case of characters like Wonder Man or Iceman. Meanwhile this one page where we read his thoughts on Forge is clearly pretending this is not the case:

I paid Forge a visit in the Armory – and I must say that he can be, like Logan, rather impossible. There is a certain locker room bravado about him I find perplexing, like a language I only half understand. For instance, he refused to shake my hand but instead dragged me into what he called a “bro hug.” Then he challenged me to a “feat of strength,” asking if I would test out this sappy “muck bomb” he had developed that – or so I gather – glues one in place. He wondered if a “big boy” like me might be able to thrash free of the binding. I refused him and said I very much would prefer to get down to business. He then referred to me as a “bookish peckerwood @#$%” but did so with a friendly laugh and clapped me on the shoulder hard enough to make me stagger. I’m not sure how to process this, honestly. Is he being friendly or cruel? Is it possible to be both?

Needless to say, this doesn’t read like Beast. It reads like an android that has never before felt human emotion. I remember before reading this I was theorizing that Hank had been switched with Dark Beast once more to explain his sudden escalation, but after this I realized that couldn’t be the case. Because this sounds like neither Beast nor Dark Beast. Dark Beast understood how to properly write Hank as a villain. He doesn’t suddenly become your typical made scientist devoid of emotion, humor, or basic human understanding. He still makes jokes that are now cruel. He still quotes literature in a way that paints him as a god among men. Hank going bad can be a fun read, but this run was not.
Problem 4: No One Cares:
Another important angle to consider when writing a story of a good person breaking bad is how it affects those around them. Those who are close friends to the person and find themselves disturbed by their current actions. Again, I return to Cyclops. Regardless of where you stand on if he was right or not, he was very much positioned as an antagonist to the mutants at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Yet we see various friends of Cyclops still caring for him and wanting to pull him back from what they perceive as the dark side. Like I previously said, Beast’s whole reason for messing with the timeline was because he felt he was going to die and wanted to try to appeal to his old friend and bring him back around before he passed on. When someone good goes bad, part of the emotional core is seeing former friends try to appeal to their better nature, and even eventually deciding they’ve gone too far to turn back.
Not so with Hank in X-Force. Like I said, this run posits that this is not any kind of heel turn for Hank. This is how he’s always been. “Hank this isn’t you!” “No, he’s always been like this.” “Hank, turn back before it’s too late!” “Turn back where? He’s always been like this.” None of Hank’s friends give a shit. Hank’s best friend amongst the X-Men is Bobby Drake, Iceman, and we never once see any kind of confrontation there. Cyclops and Angel similarly doesn’t care. Now you could argue this is because X-Force is a secretive organization. Bobby and Scott don’t even know what Hank is doing. There are two issues with this. First, things reach a point where they would know. Hank’s actions become public knowledge, and Wolverine goes off to hunt him down while the rest of the X-Men just kinda look the other way. And second, there is someone with a lot of history with Hank that was a part of X-Force and did see everything that was going on. Jean Grey.
But we never get to see Jean wonder what’s happened to her close friend. Jean who was always incredibly close to Hank. Jean who, it was confirmed during the All-New X-Men era, had mutual feelings for Hank and might have started dating him had things been different. But no, Jean, like every character in this run, accepts that Hank has always been like this. That’s the answer to everything. So instead of some kind of emotional confrontation where she tries to appeal to his better nature, we instead have Jean yell at Hank, use her powers to throw him against a wall, and quit X-Force. And then most recently, we see her tell Firestar without hesitation to throw Hank under the bus for any heat that comes her way from her undercover mission. Because everyone will believe Hank is responsible for all the bad shit. Who the hell cares about Hank? According to this run, no one.
Conclusion:
I hope you can see the larger issue here. When Beast fans complain about his Krakoan era, people assume they just don’t want to see their favorite do bad things. But it’s practically accepted at this point in comics that most heroes will have a villain arc. Hell, Iceman is the only one of the original five X-Men who hasn’t gone down a dark path at this point. The problem is that everything about the writing of Hank during this time was just not done well. There is no exploration of Hank’s descent into villainy, and any questioning down that line is immediately shut down by the assertion that this is just who he’s always been. There isn’t any slow escalation because his first move is genocide. Hank is not even written as himself during this era, but rather as a generic bond villain. And none of Hank’s former close friends even show any emotion about his turn to villainy. An evil Hank story could easily work. We saw it with Dark Beast. A story where the former optimistic member of the X-Men has been beaten down so many times that he takes on a “whatever it takes” mentality could be interesting and emotionally resonant as we both understand what drove him here yet hate the man he’s become. But that isn’t what we got. We got a run that wrote him as a complete stranger and then had all the characters tell the reader that they were wrong for ever thinking he was anyone else.

If you don't like walls of texts there's a TLDR below
I hope some of you get to read some of this, before it might get deleted. It can help you understand things.
I want to freshen the air a bit and hopefully untie some knots ppl are hung up on. I will not mince my words and feel like I need to vent a bit. I might answer questions as good as my autodidact ass can answer. Since I haven't read much leftist theory. I've only read The State and Revolution by Lenin, once. It's better to ask infinitely more knowledgeable ppl within the leftist movement.
So let's get to the "drama":
I'm superior to Destiny when it comes to being an autodidact. I'm morally, historically, rhetorically and logically superior due to the fact of, luck. The luck is that I was born in a Nordic country, so when I had my moral failings, society helped me through it, it gave me time to really analyze myself and society. One thing he has over me definitely is *debate* - EDITED DUE TO FRAGILE SENSIBILITIES - I meant "LIVE debate".
Anways, at every step of the way when met with an obstacle of moral nature, I stopped and self corrected. Meanwhile Destiny never truly internalized his failures to learn from it, he's such a stubborn and morally bankrupt asshole and deserve to be in the same trash heap of history (forgotten) as capitalism, the peak of immorality.
Capitalism's current torchbearer, the US, is history's most evil country. Just because it doesn't have as many internal governmental problems as other dogshit countries, doesn't give it a pass on things like exporting death and destruction. In total suffering and deaths, nothing compares to global neoliberal capitalism, how many ppl die again every year, due to starvation? That alone, kills so many.
So I don't hate the asshole as an individual, but I do despise the person he's become and his rotten ideas which he spreads to some of you little gremlins in here.
Maybe you'll understand my thought process more from this other angle. Let's think of the 2 big quotients of human intelligence. He might have a high IQ but it's balanced out by his EQ or EI being 100s of points in the negatives. This is what happens when you don't self correct bad behavior. This is not a balanced person and other sane ppl in the real world can see it clearly, can you?
His lack of understanding of concepts on a macro scale, again due to American education, is embarrassing. He keeps saying one has to debate him in which socioeconomic system is better and that's what everyone wants according to him. But Hasan doesn't have to and that fact makes him so mad. Doesn't Destiny understand there's 3 different types of rhetoric? Has he read any fucking thing, like Aristotle? There's logos, pathos and ethos, not everyone "debates" all the time, he just hates that hasan doesn't use "logos" a lot. Logic doesn't mean truth. Also the general population vibes with "aesthetics", and that's more of Hasan's angle because it's the fucking zeitgeist. That's why he's able to convince ppl.
Let's go through some of the other recent "drama" he's had with hasan

1. Crackergate: I will dismantle it with one sentence. The etymology of both words have no equal and someone that has basic understanding of history would know this.
2. Genocide: He doesn't understand the basic concept that morality trumps over law but with the caveat that it depends on what society or part of it thinks, after filtering through someone's moral arguments. If your morality is sound, people will listen. And if such a person's morality extends beyond current law on a subject, it will be deliberated faster among a part of civil population, it will take more time on a judicial level, understandably. Franscesca Albanese is one such a person and we feel it is sound, you have to prove it isn't. Saying there's no genocidal intent doesn't disprove anything, especially when there's several instances of it. Calling them animals, cutting off their supplies, threatening a second Nakba etc is proof on our side, which ppl like Destiny deny is intent ofc. Imagine being negatively polarized by a dumb influencer like Hasan, into defending genocide? That's just sad. So that he can't see why it's a genocide is a moral failing. I wouldn't call him sociopath but maybe "sociopath-lite"

Personally what lit a fire in me recently, and negatively polarized me further away from the right and towards the left, to a degree never before, was when all the ziofascists and other right wingers really loved to run the propaganda that Hamas is wrong with the numbers. Just because the UN decided to separate numbers between identified and unidentified bodies. How the fuck do you identity someone when there's only a foot left? Is it so hard to imagine why they couldn't be identified. It was instantly "Hamas lied" and it showed their bias. If one knows the history of the Hamas run health ministry. Things like UN finding out it's often an undercount due to how fragile their institutions are. Now that everything is bombed it's even harder to count, you know? Now I don't believe Ralph Nader's numbers, but he has been open about saying that up to 200k ppl could've been killed so far.
So stop being edgy, grow up and join the broader leftist movement in fighting against war hawks and the like. Everyone deserves a good life (even destiny) and nobody should die in unneccesary wars or conflicts. Btw Americans, not to fearmonger but doesn't it honestly feel like your country is on the brink of something, maybe either collapse or a fucking civil war, I'd hate to see workers fight amongst eachother.
Make it easy for yourselves. You belong in the majority, your fucked up leaders are the minority. Take down ppl like Matthew Miller, that Dracula looking ass state department spokesperson, from his position. He defends murdering families and gets paid for it. Meanwhile he smirks with that shit eating grin, while you work your ass off day in and day out, not knowing what to do, to change things.
Find the nearest group that dabbles in leftism, Parliamentarism is over, whether you like either trump or biden.. neither of them really cares about you. They only care about profit. You will at some point want to defend something and their police state will be ready to crack down on you.
Sidenotes: I want to cover the topic of white supremacy from another angle, hopefully it makes you think on it a bit.
So I've heard this be brought up enough, so I thought it's good to cover it.
The argument of [insert other ethnic group other than "whites"] using slavery over other groups is such stupid systemic analysis. There's enough time gap that there's no logic to it, especially if one tries to monolithically make a connection between a certain race, across history. The bigger the time gap the less logical sense it makes. There's a reason why we speak so much about white supremacy, the time gap is short and it's still in effect.
This can also be translated to Israel's modern founding. There's enough time gap that they have no justifiable claim on that land. 1000s of years ago? So? They should suck it up, it's also what their holy book say. Or they could retry without the colonialism part. Do you think sane ppl will wait x amount of time for the genocidal ziofascists to be able to make the same claim over the land? Like bro, come on..
TLDR: Don't abandon leftism. If you don't really care, the least you can do is read some stuff. I for example have only read Lenin's "State and revolution", it can help some. Read it so you can ask leftist theory nerds about context and why you don't like some parts.
I also have to say it's not the leftists that are radical, sure some of them are directionless and lash out in a bad way, but I probably can't change your mind on that. But have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, capitalism is radical? It's radically committing a genocide rn. Radically starving ppl worldwide. Radically only focused on profit, fuck the people that create that profit, right? How does this make sense? It's not radical to want to undo that.

In recent years, the European Union has witnessed a significant influx of immigrants from third- and fourth-world countries, driven by factors ranging from conflicts and economic instability in their home countries to the possibility of better opportunities in Europe. Data from the European Commission indicates that in 2022, approximately 5.1 million immigrants arrived, marking an increase of about 117% from the 2.7 million who arrived in 2021. The increasing number of immigrants has stirred various reactions across the spectrum. On the one hand, there is a humanitarian response advocating for open doors and support for those seeking refuge and better life opportunities. On the other hand, there is a rising tide of right-wing policies, fueled by concerns over national security, cultural identity, and economic strain. For example, countries like Hungary and Poland have seen significant political shifts where right-wing parties have gained ground, advocating for more nationalistic and immigration-sceptical policies. Such policies often emphasise stricter border controls, reduced immigrant intake, and more naturalisation requirements. These polarising views are indicative of a broader European dilemma on how to handle the complexities of migration, balancing between openness and preservation of social and economic stability.

Grew up with domestic abuse in a third-world country hellhole, ended up in one of the best business schools in the world and on track to graduate with a 150k+ job. But things are falling apart rather quickly. I've successfully ghosted all of my friends and made them give up trying to reach me, and I'm about to drop out with 2 months of savings and no plans. lol.

Gender: male
Age: 29
Height & Weight: 5,10 or 5,11 dont remember. Weight 90kg, will loose some pounds definitely 😅
Marital status: Single, never married
Education: bachelors (sociology & political sciences)
Profession: Farmezamindara
Hobbies: Well i have alot but ill highlight a few. HUGE football fan, favourite team is Arsenal♥️, i enjoy watching shows and movies. I watch formula1, i closely monitor world politics and conflicts. im into RAP music but enjoy indie, hiphop, electronic and country. Im into history and love exploring cultures. Basically im into everything from fighter jets to cars to bikes, fashion, sports and the list goes on.
Do you want kids: yes definitely
Religion: sunni muslim but not very religious.
Deal breakers: judgemental people.
Interesting facts about you: I was born and raised in karachi but moved back to my ancestral hometown after school (10th) . Im an introvert but love to hangout with close friends. I STUTTER. Yes i have a little problem with my speech but not that much. Im a PISCES . Yes i love with all my heart and im extremely loyal. I used to smoke but ive quit, i tend to enjoy a beer or two on occasions, yes please don’t judge.
City: based in south punjab I’ll disclose it in DM. Wouldn’t mind moving.
Residence: yes i own my own house.
Family details: im the ONLY child, i live with my parents and my grandmother. Im very close with my two chachu’s and 2 phupo’s who all live abroad.
Joint/nuclear: living with parents but willing to move out.
Requirements: absolutely no requirements. Im basically a very liberal guy im not that typical Pakistani guy that has absurd requirements like height,skin and not working after marriage. Basically i just want a partner to have fun, laugh and enjoy my life with. don’t want a “bahu” for my mother, I want a wife and a bestie.
Expectations from the partner: loyalty, honesty and understanding.
Timeframe in which you want to marry: this years end or next year.

Credit to u/SpacePaladin15 for the NOP Universe.
Hey, I hope everyone's doing well!
Today we return to the namesake of this fic, an actual lesson about animals. This one focuses on Koalas! One of Australia's most recognisable critters. I hope you enjoy.
It's hardly worth mentioning, seeing as I'm an infrequent poster at the best of times, but I'll not have another chapter out for a few weeks due to limited free time and devoting most of my writing time to an upcoming ficnapping. Be sure to look out for that!
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Memory transcription subject: Rysel, Venlil Environmental Researcher
Date [Standardised human time]: 8th September 2136
“Koalas!”
Bernard’s energised voice boomed through the air as the classroom's monitor flickered into life, images of this paws lecture topic popping up one after the other until the entire screen was filled with a collage of furry quadrupeds.
Squee! I’ll never get tired of this, it’s all so cool!
As usual the sight of something new stirred immediate discussion, hushed murmurs swelling into vibrant discourse in little more than a heartbeat. Most of the class swiftly huddled together into small herds to bounce ideas around while the rest opted to stick to the solace of their own thoughts as they took in the display.
I’d be quite happy in either situation, though seeing as Sandi had already sunk into deep concentration and Kailo had peeled off to talk with Ennerif and Solenk, it seemed the decision had been made for me on this occasion. Wasting no more time on idle inspection of the people around me, I focused my full attention forward, eager to form first impressions before the lesson began in earnest.
Now then, time to make some educated guesses. What traits does this animal have? I wonder if I’ll get any right this paw?
Professional assumptions went paw-in-paw with the lectures, examining and coming up with hypotheses about the specimens was only natural. Recently however, I’d started to make a little game of it to make things even more interesting than usual. A veritable bonfire of ideas had been set ablaze within me, fueled by my newfound knowledge of Earthen wildlife. Every flash and spark of the flame was a fresh theory I could try to apply to the lectures. It was an invigorating exercise that further stoked my unceasing wonderment.
So far I’d only done this once during the previous class and, to my disappointment, I’d not done too well.
I was right when I guessed that chickens were omnivores, but wrong in my assumption that they could fly. And that red thing on their head, the um… what was it called? The comb! Yes, the comb. I thought that was to attract mates, but it regulates body heat instead. It’s fascinating. Oh! Stars damn it I’m rambling!
I bapped my tail against my leg, the soft thud being just enough to snap me back from my runaway thoughts before I went completely wall-eyed. I was becoming more and more accustomed to getting lost in my own head while remaining conscious of the fact; it was happening so frequently now that it was pretty much impossible not to. Now I was able to pull myself back to the world around me without having to rely on someone else shaking me out of it. Most of the time anyway.
Sandi still keeps an eye on me, and Kailo even decided to help out once without being too snide about it. Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, Koalas.
Glancing at the furred animals, two things immediately stood out. Firstly, their eyes were in a more central position on their face. And second, all the images showed them being on or close to trees. There were other noteworthy observations of course, such as the Koala’s prominent nose and rounded features, but they fell to the wayside as I honed in on these points first.
Hmmm… ok. I already know to discount the idea that they’re predators just from eye position, so let’s get that thought out of here. Maybe omnivorous? Herbivore? Agh no, I can’t just guess that for the sake of guessing, that’s the same problem! Hrm, it’s tough making these assumptions now that everything I thought I knew has been turned on its head.
Nevermind, I’ll focus on the other thing. All the trees make me think they’re arboreal, that seems to be a reasonable assumption. I wonder what else they-
Clearing his throat, Bernard broke my concentration, his call for attention silencing the murmuring conversation and redirecting everyone's focus to the lecturer's podium.
His gaze panned across the room as he waited for everyone to settle, a beaming smile lighting up his face, “As ever I’m delighted to see you all get so into the subject matter from the get go. I’m looking forward to hearing what you were discussing should you wish to share. For now though, how about we get started, hm?”
A chorus of merry bleats rang out from across the audience, ears and tails flicking happily in agreement. Bernard's grin grew in tandem with the class's fervour, clasping his hands together enthusiastically as he launched into the lesson, “Excellent! Then let’s get started.”
The pictures on screen dissolved away until only one remained, enlarging to cover the entire monitor with the fluffy grey face of a Koala peacefully reclining in the crook of a tree.
“Ah, there we are,” Bernard’s baritone timbre drifted through the room as he looked up at the image, his own tone reflecting the relaxed attitude of the animal on screen, “He looks so comfortable doesn’t he? Perfectly at peace with the world, not too surprising considering they sleep almost 20 hours a day. A full paw!”
A wave of beeps and gasps rippled through the herd, punctuated by a single yawn-dressed comment from Rova, “A full paw? Hwuuu… jealous.”
Her drowsy remark elicited several whistling giggles from the herd, Bernard's own jovial chortle joining them as he turned to face her, “Late evening Rova?”
I twisted a little in my seat, panning an eye in Rova’s direction just in time to see her bleary eyes bulge open and her ears shoot up, now intensely aware of the fact she hadn’t been as quiet as she thought she had.
Sitting up abruptly, she hastily tapped down errant tufts of wool that’d flared in surprise as she composed herself, though her nervousness at becoming the centre of the class's attention was still plain for all to hear, “Uh- I um… achem, a little bit yes, um- …sorry. Lokki dragged me out to a movie viewing in the rec centre. It went on pretty late.”
A melodramatic bray from the other side of the room drew everyone's ears away from Rova to the now aghast Lokki, paw splayed across his chest in faux indignation, “Dragged you? Well excuse me for trying to broaden your horizons with human movies. That’ll be the list time I- …Ahaaaa…”
Lokki’s theatrics were cut short by a heavy yawn of his own, a swell of whistling laughter rolling through the herd as vibrant bloom lit up his snout, a sight that elicited a particularly amused bleat from Rova.
Turning away from the duo I looked back at Bernard, pleased to see that he was chuckling along with us. Behaviour like Lokki’s would never have been tolerated in my school and university days but, in stark contrast, Bernard revelled in it, the liveliness of his students fueling his own bombastic style of teaching. It was a pleasant change of pace having a teacher who let us all be ourselves in class; provided we weren’t too disruptive to the lesson plan.
Speaking of which.
His laughter still rumbling through the air, Bernard clapped his hands to pull everyone's focus back to him, “Ok, ok, let’s get back to it then shall we? Rova. Lokki. Hopefully the two of you can stay awake long enough until you can grab yourselves a coffee.”
As the class settled down and the last few giggling beeps petered out, Benard pointed a hand to the screen, “So, the Koala. Let’s start simple shall we? They are herbivorous marsupials native to the eastern and southern coasts of Australia. Easily recognised the world over, they are a well known and beloved symbol of their homeland, along with other animals such as the Kangaroo and the Emu. The former of which you might remember from one of our earlier lectures.”
Indeed I did remember, along with how angry Bernard had gotten after some speh-head had derided the Yotul after he explained how he held specific disdain for such attitudes.
Uuuggghh… I never want to see him angry again. So chilling.
I shook my ears in an effort to dismiss the unpleasant memory, panning my eyes back to the monitor to try and distract myself by inspecting the Koala’s physical appearance once more. Thankfully, by some Star's blessed intervention, Bernard had the exact same idea.
“Koala’s are rather squat in stature, ranging around sixty to eighty-five centimetres in length and weighing little more than fifteen to sixteen kilograms at their full size. As you can see, the fur of this fellow before you is a lovely silvery grey, but their fur can also sport a chocolaty brown hue as well. Arguably the most distinctive part of their appearance is their head, being rather large for their body size and having rounded ears, a large nose, and a pair of small eyes. These are often brown but variations do occur.”
It didn’t slip past my notice that Bernard didn’t bother to point out that the Koala’s eyes were forward facing. I didn’t think he’d simply forgotten, so perhaps he just felt it wasn’t necessary given that he’d already stated it was herbivorous. Either way, no one stuck up a paw or tail to question him.
“Now this will hardly be surprising considering how long they sleep, but Koala’s are largely sedentary and it’s rather easy to see why when you have a look into the contents of their diet.”
With the press of a button the Koala on screen was replaced by images of vibrant green vegetation. Soaring trees and flowering shrubbery weaved together across landscape framed pictures pulled admiring trills from the herd, the diversity of the plant life being shown standing as a reminder that it wasn’t only animal life that flourished on Earth.
After giving everyone the chance to take in the picturesque scenes, Bernard casually hammered that point home, “This is eucalyptus or, more accurately, a choice selection of more than 700 plants belonging to the eucalyptus genus, though the Koala itself favours 30 of them in particular.”
700!? Stars…
Realising that my ears had drooped in my momentary awe, I twisted them back to tune into the lesson, only for them to splay out in shock at the next words to come out of Bernard's mouth.
“The leaves of these plants are the primary food source of the Koala and there are a couple things worth mentioning when talking about these plants. For starters they do not have much nutritional or caloric value, leading to the Koala’s low-energy lifestyle. Additionally, they contain toxic compounds.”
A shiver instantly ran through the herd, ears flicking rapidly in confusion and alarm followed by a few quizzical whispers. It didn’t take long for someone to decide to give a proper voice to the murmuring.
“Excuse me Doctor. Did we hear that right? Their diet is made up of toxic flora?” Vlek’s grumbling incredulity cut through the herd's mutterings with ease. Until Kailo’s recent change of heart, the fifty something rotation old blonde Venlil had been a close second in terms of scepticism. Mercifully his rebuttals had always been relevant questions as opposed to ranting diatribes, so he at least remained on topic if nothing else.
Bernard nodded in confirmation, smiling back at Vlek while absentmindedly twirling the end of his moustache, “You heard me right, they do indeed consume plants that are toxic. Just not to them.”
Any worry or uncertainty still clinging to the herd was swept away by the provision of the glaringly obvious answer, leaving me chuckling inwardly at the oversight.
Ah of course! The plant might be poisonous but they’ll have evolved to deal with that. Stars… I’m so used to expecting the unexpected with Earth that I didn’t even consider the simplest solution.
“I see, thank you Doctor,” Vlek replied, a tinge of interest still audible in his tone, “I assume they’ve developed some adaptation to become immune to the harmful effects?”
The question immediately evoked a smirk from our teacher, but he hurriedly suppressed it while bobbing his head, “They have indeed. There are several factors that aid in their digestion of eucalyptus leaves without succumbing to the plant's baleful properties. The first is a part of the intestinal tract called the cecum. It contains a microbiome that allows the Koala to digest the eucalyptus. Coupled with this is an enzyme in the Koala’s liver that helps them break down the toxins. They are also capable of sniffing out the plants with the least amount of toxins, ensuring that they ingest as little as possible.”
Pausing for a breath Bernard looked back at the screen before turning to face us, another grin curling at the edges of his mouth as he continued with his explanation, “This is mostly for adult Koala’s, because while their young also possess these same adaptations, they don’t just go straight to munching through foliage right after being born. No, they need a little help making that jump and getting a stomach full of all that good gut bacteria. It’s nothing bad, but those of a sensitive stomach may wish to prepare themselves for this next part.”
Bernard’s assurances did little to assuage the concern that his warning had foisted upon us. Having been exposed to so much of the weirdness Earth had to offer everyone always ended up on edge whenever Bernard gave advice like this, even if he did say it in jest.
What strange nonsense thing do Koala pups do then? Judging by the way he’s acting it probably isn’t something as simple as drinking milk from the mother. Hmmm…
“So,” Bernard began, snapping us from our pensive stupor, “Young Koala’s, known as joeys, have a gestation period of thirty-five days on average, which is approximately forty-two paws. Once born they travel from the birth canal to a pouch in their mother so that they can continue to develop and grow. In the pouch the joey finds and latches onto one of two teats and these provide the newborn with a steady stream of nourishing milk. It spends the next six to seven months growing in the pouch, its eyes, ears, and fur all developing as time goes on.”
Okay, interesting. But this is exactly how I thought it’d go. What’s different?
The unexpected normalcy of the Koala’s birth and growth cycle had calmed everyone's nerves, only to be replaced with an air of suspicion as we waited with rapt attention for Bernard to drop the other claw and upend our expectations like he always did.
Not wanting to keep us in further suspense he forged ahead, the tempo of his voice picking up as the smile started to crease his face once more, “Now to make the switch from milk to eucalyptus, the mother also feeds the joey a substance called pap. It comes from the cecum I mentioned earlier, and contains all the gut bacteria required to help the young Koala in making the switch to eucalyptus.”
He stopped and looked around, searching us for a reaction to what I felt was a rather bland statement of fact. What was it he was saying without actually saying? Koala pups drink milk to mature and then include this pap substance so that they can start eating plants. I don’t see what-
The cecum is part of the intestine.
I blinked.
I blinked again, the intrusive interruption scouring my brain clean of any other thought bar the one it’d just implanted itself in the forefront of my mind.
Oh stars. They-
“They eat their own poop!?”
The shocked bleat shattered the peace of the room to reveal that most if not all of us had come to the same tail curling conclusion. As the hall filled with unrestrained vocalisations of disgust, an ‘Ugh’ over here and a ‘Blegh’ over there, Bernard’s own bellowing laughter joined the throng of voices.
“Ha! Everytime! Each and every time. Clearly it doesn’t matter if my students are Human or Venlil. Whenever someone learns about the Koala’s dietary development the reaction is the same!”
Pleased with himself beyond reason, Bernard chuckled away while the rest of us grappled with this ghastly reality. While there were plenty of animals that feasted on things that ranged from simply unappealing all the way to the stomach churningly grotesque, I’d never heard of an animal that actively consumed the excrement of its own species. Benefits aside, the prospect of having to do that to survive to adulthood sent a shiver of revulsion down my spine.
Ewww… Stars, I hope I forget this feeling by 2nd meal. They’re serving sturen and magamroot stew later. I was really looking forward to it.
With the herds mood beginning to temper Bernard tapped the podiums controls, removing the verdant collage of eucalyptus to display several similar yet distinct environments, still chortling merrily to himself in the process, “Ok then, with that little foray into their diet complete, why don’t we look at their habitat in more detail? As you might imagine given their diet and arboreal nature, Koala’s live in forested regions, and can be found in tropical and temperate zones. About a century ago they were classed as a vulnerable species, however efforts were made to turn this around and increase their numbers. Sadly the largest factor in their decline was human activity, as the fertile lands that gave rise to their bountiful forests were coveted farm land for our settlements.”
It was strange to hear Bernard so matter of factly admit to humanity's negative impacts on other species. He’d alluded to such things in the past but always with an air of caution, carefully pawing the line between honestly answering a question while not painting humanity as uncaring and destructive. AKA, the ‘predators’ we’d all initially expected them to be.
Perhaps his comfort in making such admissions was a reflection of the class's comfort with him, for no one so much as batted an ear. Even Kailo, who I would’ve expected to jump at the chance to use this as a prime example of predatory danger, only flicked an ear in stern yet silent concern.
A cough from Bernard drew my attention back, a new picture on screen that showed a forest from a bird's-eye view. Drawn across the image were around a dozen ringed areas, some bordering one another while others overlapped to some degree. It took me a moment, but I soon recognised that what I was looking at was a map, the rings representing what I assumed to be territories. And it didn’t take much effort to guess who each one belonged to.
“From habitats we move onto behaviours, so let’s start with territories. Koala’s are solitary animals. Yes, despite being herbivores. Considering they’re only awake for roughly four hours of the day I can hardly blame them. Lots to do and not a lot of time to do it. Jokes aside, once they mature they are quite independent, carving out a little slice of land for themselves, as displayed in this example, called a Home Range. That is not to say they go it alone and leave everything else behind however. Rather, as shown in the map behind me, they live in their own space while still being part of a larger social group.”
With another press of his pad the picture was updated to show one of two symbols in each segment, along with a key to the side of the map displayed in helpful Venlang. A quick glance told me that the symbols were representing whether the territory belonged to a male or female of the species.
“As you can see there is quite a bit of overlap between different Koala’s territories. It is in these areas that most of the socialising takes place between neighbours. The trees in these locations represent the few areas where intrusion across territories is acceptable for the sake of social interaction. Outside of that the Koala’s stick to their own territories for the most part, with the exceptions of Koala’s who are passing through, attempting to become part of the social group themselves, or dominant males who sometimes go off into another Koala’s range. But how do they know where one range begins and another range ends you might ask? Well, this brings us onto the next part of the lecture. How do Koala’s communicate?”
Wiping away the map from the monitor, Bernard loaded up a video of a Koala sitting in a tree and pressed play. Head held high, the Koala’s body shook as it belted out a reverberating call into the wilderness that could only be described as a garbled combination of a car engine failing to turn over mixed with the hiccups of someone with a particularly sore throat.
That’s how they sound? Oof that must be rough on the lungs.
I clearly wasn’t the only one to share such a thought, because I clocked Sandi tracing a paw along her neck as the noise went on, ears fluttering in discomfort at the noise.
Bernard himself cleared his own throat as the video came to an end, minimising it and replacing it with another image of a tree with a Koala rubbing up against the bark, “I think they’ve got me beat on who’s got the deeper voice!”
His joke garnered several amused beeps, a rare reaction that caused a beaming smile to shine across his face at lighting speed, “Oh you’re too kind. I’ll be here all week. Now where were we? Oh yes! Communication. As you’ve just heard, Koala’s are capable of loud low pitched bellows that can carry over vast distances. These express everything from ‘Hello I’m over here’ to ‘This is my turf, stay away’. Bellowing is more common in the males than the females, opting for shouting matches as opposed to outright fights when it comes to asserting dominance. Other vocal expressions include grunts, wails, and snarls if they’re acting particularly angsty. Mother and joey pairs also communicate through gentle clicking, squeaking, and murmuring sounds. And there’s one more thing worth mentioning. Something they have in common with Humans and Venlil when it comes to emoting.”
Really? They do something we do?
Curious, I pressed myself against the desk, straining as close as I could to once more scrutinise the Koala’s features. Not a lot stood out to me at first, the grey marsupial not sharing many similarities with a Venlil that I could identify.
Ok think. We show emotion with our ears, tails, and our wool on occasion. They don’t have tails so it’s obviously not that. Wool standing on end is more a reaction than a conscious expression. So it must be the ears then.
To my quiet satisfaction, my hunch was soon validated by Bernard, “As well as their vocalisations, Koala’s are very emotive through their facial features. Just like humans, they use their mouths and lips to show how they feel, but these tend more towards the aggressive side of the scale than what you might see on a human. Regarding yourselves however, Koala’s utilise their ears in tandem with their mouth movements when showing strong emotion.”
I was delighted to hear that my assumption was correct, a little happy flick twisting out through my tail and bapping against my chair with a muted thump against the plastic.
Hehe yes! Got one right!
“Now then, we are getting close to lunchtime so I’ll finish this segment off with something I think you’ll find particularly interesting. Diplomacy.”
Perplexed mutterings followed in the wake of the bizarre inclusion to the lecture, my own thoughts being dominated by bewilderment as I tried and failed to make sense of how the two could possibly be related.
Why would Koala’s, or any animal for that matter, be linked to diplomacy? Hmmm...
I could understand dispatching exterminators to deal with a predator issue as a show of goodwill, that at least includes animals, but Humans aren’t like that so I think I can safely scratch that off the list.
Maybe the humans who live in that region benefited from Koala’s in some way. Could they have gotten something from them? But what?
Hopefully not what the pups get from their mothers.
Agh no! Begone awful intrusive thoughts. Blegh! I don’t need that in my head.
As I wrestled with the short-lived revulsion inflicted upon me by my Star's damned subconscious, Bernard placed a new image on screen, one that was decidedly different from all that had preceded it.
On screen were more than a couple dozen pictures of humans. Some were pictured alone while others congregated in large groups while cameras surrounded them from all angles. Across all the images, I noted two common themes. First of all, a solid majority of the humans were wearing formal wear similar to what I’d seen worn by UN representatives on TV. If the gaggle of journalists in the background of the photos didn’t already confirm my suspicions, then it was this similarity which made me conclude they were all people of some importance. Likely politicians judging from context clues.
Secondly, each of the individuals was interacting with a Koala in some form. Some cradled one against their chests while others were feeding it eucalyptus leaves or pellets of some kind. One of the assumed politicians had become an impromptu bed for a snoozing bundle of fur, a gleeful smile spread across their face as they lovingly gazed down at the sleeping Koala in their lap.
As I continued to stare at the assorted photos something clicked into place, a sudden spark flickering into life. A burgeoning light of comprehension that flared and swelled with every wide-eyed breath I took. Some things still escaped me, things I hoped would soon be explained, but in staring at all of the humans happy smiling faces, I was struck with an instant of pure understanding.
If someone, say a Nevok for instance, offered to gift me a creature that was common to them but which might exotic and breathtaking to a Venlil, how could my feelings not be swayed? How could I walk away from that encounter and not have grown closer to them as a result?
“Koala diplomacy,” Bernard waved his hand up at the monitor, a slight reverence in his tone, “My favourite kind of soft power diplomacy. Where political leaders take photo ops with Koala’s and, on occasion, the Australian government loans Koala’s to other nations for a time to bolster positive relations. It certainly helps that Koala’s are a beloved animal worldwide, drawing large crowds and revenue for countries fortunate enough to host the adorable critters.”
The truly alien concept predictably sparked instant discussion in the herd, two polar opposite schools of thought swiftly cementing themselves as the most popular opinions. Simultaneously, I heard one voice trill excitedly while another scoffed at what they clearly saw as a ridiculous and offensive notion.
“Squee! That’d be so cool! I’d love to get the chance to see a Liri from Coila. Remember the Rainbow Boa? Think of that shimmering effect and colour but put it on a bird! Ah! I’ve only heard their song on video. It’d be a treat to hear it in person!”
Ooo! I’ve read about them! I’d love to get up close to one.
“Loaning. As if animals are property to be hoarded and traded? Pugh! Another predatory trait the humans don’t want to acknowledge for what it is.”
Ugh, typical. Jump right to the worst possible option.
However, despite my dismissal of their disparaging fumings, an uncomfortable thought pressed upon my mind. While it was plain to see how much humans cared for the Koala, it didn’t change the fact that humans did keep animals as property just as the scornful herd member had said.
This begged a rather important, disquieting question. Aside from keeping some animals as cattle, a stomach tightening minefield I had no desire to step a claw onto right now, how else did humans keep other creatures. And how did they treat them?
Before I was fully conscious of doing it my paw was in the air, the question primed on my tongue.
Noticing my elevated paw Bernard pointed at me, smiling warmly, “Yes Rysel? What’s on your mind?”
Sorry Bernard. I hope this one’s not too awkward for you to answer.
Flicking my ear in appreciation, and waiting for everyone to settle enough so that I could be heard, I voiced my concerns as neutrally as possible, “Thank you Doctor. I uh, just had a thought. We know that humans keep certain animals for… particular reasons, and we know why. From how you’ve spoken about Koala’s I think it's fair to say that the same cannot be said for them. However, this makes me wonder, what other reasons do humans have for keeping animals and how do you treat them?”
A flash of surprise blinked across Bernard's eyes but vanished so quickly that it felt like I’d imagined it. Had he not expected such a question? Maybe he was just shocked that it’d been me who’d ended up asking it?
Stars, am I so predictable that no one expects me to ask difficult questions?
Unfortunately, a quick glance at my deskmates seemed to prove that to be the case, as both Sandi and Kailo were looking at me with differing degrees of astonishment flapping in their ears.
Well speh.
“A very good point Rysel, certainly one that’s worth raising. Yet another example of you all anticipating what I have to say before I can bring it up myself.” Bernard tapped the podium, switching off the monitor before returning his focus to me, “We won’t be needing that. I’ve nothing prepared that I can show you and we’re heading to lunch in a few minutes anyway. Still, that’s plenty of time to give you a bit of an answer.”
A bit? What does he mean just a bit?
Made even more curious by Bernard's preempted admission that he wasn’t going to fully answer my query, I dialled both my ears on him, fixing him with an inquisitive stare as he started to explain with a tone that was noticeably more nonchalant than any of his previous explanations.
“So, animals in captivity for reasons other than what you already know. Honestly I would love to delve into other reasons regarding why we keep animals. However, I have a lesson plan in the works that I hope to share with you all in the not too distant future. Some of it touches upon this very topic and I’d quite like to bundle it all together. That said, I can tell you how animals in captivity are treated. In short, the answer is very well. There are a mountain of laws both on private and public interests that govern the standards and ethical treatment of animals, and breaches of these laws are quite severe even for relatively minor infractions.”
While I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed by the vague answer to what was really the bulk of my question, I was at least satisfied by Bernard’s assurances that animals in captivity, such as the Koala, were well looked after. Considering the barely subdued grumbling coming from some corners of the audience it was clear that several of the herd didn’t believe Bernard outright, but I trusted him to be honest. Additionally, the mention of an upcoming lecture focused on humans keeping animals caused quite the buzz.
I felt a mix of excitement and trepidation at exploring the topic further. He’d pretty much confirmed we wouldn’t be talking about cattle farms, for which I was relieved, but that still left a huge amount of uncertainty in what was to come.
Humans keeping animals as cattle was a forgone conclusion. As horrifying as that reality was, it was one I could understand from a detached and strictly clinical point of view. Being predators they ate meat and therefore they kept cattle. But the concept of keeping animals for any other reason baffled me.
What could be the purpose? The diplomacy thing makes sense now that I have context, but what other reasons could they have.
The class's discussions were interrupted by the recognisable ring of the break bell, the shift in attention eliciting a change in conversation from confused hypotheses to peppy conversation on how everyone was planning to spend their break and what they had in mind for 2nd meal.
“Well I can see everyone’s excited for lunch, and who am I to disappoint,” chuckling Bernard waved us all up from our seats, pocketing his pad from the podium and heading to open the classroom door for us, “Enjoy your break, get a good rest along with a hearty meal, and I’ll see you all back here at the usual time.”
As everyone else filed out I stayed behind, waving at Sandi and Kailo as they left, and pawing over to Bernard once he and I were the only ones left in the room.
Ears folded down and with an apologetic tinge in my voice I greeted him as I sidled up to him, “Hey Bernard, I uh… sorry if that last question was unexpected.”
Chortling in reply, Bernard waved a hand through the air in a sign I’d come to understand meant ‘not a problem’.
“No need to apologise Rysel. It was a good question and most certainly not a problem.”
Heh, called it.
I sighed, allowing tension I didn’t realise I’d been holding to relax itself from my shoulders, “Phew, that’s a relief. I’m glad. I’m curious to hear what this new lesson is you’ve got in store for us by the way.”
Bernard wagged a finger at me, throwing up his eyebrows in mock amazement, “Oh are you now? Well I’m afraid you’ll have to remain curious for the time being. It’s going to be quite the surprise if all goes to plan. But…”
He trailed off, glancing at me before looking to the door like he was making sure no one else was around.
Wait, is he going to tell me? Oh please yes let me know now!
Stopping myself from jumping on the spot in excited anticipation, and trying my damndest to stop my tail from wagging in equal measure, I stared up at Bernard as he stewed in his thoughts before turning back to face me.
“I can’t tell you the specifics, but I’m working with Alejandro and Tolim to get something together. A trip that’s not a trip as it were. And when it happens, I’m going to need a few of the more accepting members of the class to lend me a hand. I’m hoping you and a couple others will be able to help with that?”
A trip that’s not a trip? What does that mean? Agh who cares about that right now! Bernard’s relying on me to help out!
Still trying not to keep myself from bouncing around with pup like glee I swished my tail and nodded my head in joint agreement, happy to help with whatever Bernard had in store for us, “Of course! Anything you need I’ll be there to lend a paw. You can count on me!”
A broad warm smile lit up Bernard's face, a hand patting me on the shoulder in appreciation, “Thank you Rysel. I knew I could rely on you but it still warms my heart to hear it. And, as thanks for this and for the many times you’ve shown your support, the surprise includes a little something special I think you’d appreciate the most.”
If my earlier enthusiasm had been at a nine, then the implication of a supposed gift sent it rocketing all the way to a hundred in a heartbeat.
“Wait… WHAT!? What do you mean? What are you doing?”
As impossible as it seemed, Bernard's grin grew even wider as I almost lost myself in wool shaking exhilaration, “Call it my own form of Koala diplomacy. But I’m afraid that’s all I can say for now. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise even for you!”
“Oh you ass!” Whistling jovially I bapped my tail against Bernard’s leg in fake indignation, evoking a barking bellowing laugh from the man himself.
Still laughing, the two of us departed the class and made for the canteen, my rumbling stomach leading me on while my mind spun with fantastical thoughts as to what Bernard had prepared for us.
And what specifically he had in store for me.

I was going to make a throwaway but no one IRL knows my reddit so I guess it'll go here, I never saw myself making a post like this but I feel like there's no one I can talk to about this because a lot of people around me have a "grow up and get over it" type attitude about it.
For some context my mental health has never been amazing but I've generally always been a very ambitious and enthusiastic person. When I was a kid I was desperate to be an actress and I went through all the necessary training to do this through high school and college but due to a disability affecting my legs, along with burnout, unrelated trauma and being short and a little chubby (which is basically a death sentence for most actors unless you're exceptional or very lucky) now that I am 24 and have been out of training for so long it's obvious that it's just not the path for me, I'm not willing to ruin my mental or physical health for it and moving away from my mother who's acting as my carer would be a bit risk since last time I attempted drama school I ended up dropping out three months in after a breakdown that sent me to a psych ward temporarily where I was diagnosed with Autism .
I've been anxious and worried about my future since. I like my job but it's not exactly my dream to work in retail my whole life and I want to do something better with myself, and I was mostly working through these issues until a couple of months ago when my on and off boyfriend of six years decided to cheat on me during my birthday party and then dumped me over text a couple of days later. It now seems he's dating the girl he cheated on me with and he's now decided his favourite place to go two or three times a week is my favourite bar that I used to work at, know everyone and feel safe, even though he told me he hated it when we were together. He was abusive and I'm happy to be out of the situation but he's isolated me from somewhere that felt safe for me and although it's by far the worst relationship I've had, I've never actually had a relationship that was good, which leads me to think I'm just not worth being treated with any kind of respect.
Because of the looming dread of how my future is going to play out since currently I'm always broke, I'm unfulfilled, I'm single, I have friends but not many really close friends (the closest of which lives in another country and I only see them twice a year if I'm lucky) I just have such an overwhelming desire to change every single little aspect of myself to the point where even looking in the mirror is physically painful because I can't believe that my face and my body and everything else looks so weird and lumpy and not as good as other peoples. My room is a mess because I was homeless a couple of years back so I have no furniture and being disabled prevents me from dong anything too that's going to tire me out too much unless I want to be in bed for days which I really can't since I have a job and a life that I need to tend to.
I started briefly dating someone, and he was really nice and we had a good time together but we agreed after our third date there was so romantic chemistry so we called it off, and even though I know we wouldn't have worked out and it's better to have him as a friend it also feels like an added name to the list of people who don't want me, which left me feeling like if I was thinner, or more funny or less TMI or taller or more interesting etc etc etc he would have stayed even though I didn't even want him to.
I'm also really overthinking things I've said, like to the point where it's physically all I can think about for days if I say something slightly rude or embarrassing to someone, I don't even know if Identity Crisis or existential crisis is the right term for what I'm going through so if anyone else knows different please tell me what's happening to me. I think I might have an undiagnosed condition or disorder that's flaring up because I keep being told how I feel is normal but I don't think it's normal to feel like my brain is constantly fighting itself and it's manifesting in physical symptoms like tiredness or hot flashes. I want to make these feelings stop and I don't care what it takes but I feel like I doctor won't listen to me at all because they didn't last time, they just gave me a week off work and said there was nothing else "worth doing."
I just really want to be happy and I just feel like the world around me won't let me. I've been getting into writing recently and I'm ok at it so it's a possible career option but I know it's not a likely one so I'll just settle for feeling ok for a while.