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apocalypsehowcomm2022-04-22 12:05 pm
apocalypsehowmods) wrote in apocalypsehowcomm2022-04-22 12:05 pm
Entry tags:
Headline News #3
Headlines
Like most cities of a certain size, Gloucester gets its daily news from its local paper. Stories concerning local matters are printed side by side with national and international stories aggregated from other sources. For the most part the news is what one would expect in a mundane modern world: business openings, politics, crime, and human interest stories. Every so often, though, something pops up that could be more significant...or might be nothing more than what it appears on the surface.
The following headlines are items of potential interest that appear in the paper throughout April. Summaries represent one or more articles, editorials, press releases, or letters to the editor on a particular subject. Players are encouraged to incorporate these items into their characters' understanding of current events as well as use them for plotting. If you would like your character to perform deeper research or investigations, please pose any questions to the designated mod comment. Players are welcome to use this post for IC discussion and threads related to these news items, or to create their own posts or messages for that purpose.
➥ Big City Crime (Supposedly) on the Rise in Little Gloucester
(cw: gang violence, gaslighting)
More skeptical news coverage can be found regarding the purported rise of organized crime in Gloucester throughout March. While a few news stories cropped up in March warning citizens earnestly about the danger posed by two rival mafia-style gangs, an April article questions the lack of previous coverage and the purported motives of the criminals in question. Frustratingly (to the reporter, at least), the chief of police declined to make any definitive statement, stating only that investigations into March's blackouts and crime wave are ongoing.
➥ Shadowcats: Internet Boogeymen or Domestic Terrorist Cell?
(cw: gang violence, gaslighting)
Several newspapers have picked up the false flags planted by Aelwyn and her recruits. While some reporters express skepticism, others cite both recently trending blogs and discussions alongside (what appear to be) articles and messageboard threads that date across the last decade. All of them relay stories of the so-called Shadowcats plunging city streets into darkness and leaving destruction and terror in their wake. Other newspapers have reprinted, wholesale, the false articles written by the team. Altogether, the stories in the news and online paint a picture of an idiosyncratic little cult whose actions range from the inconvenient (lights out and a smashed window or two) to the extremely alarming (entire roving gangs wiping out anyone who crosses them). One editorialist in Gloucester goes so far as to blame the city's recent blackouts on the Shadowcats unprompted, despite several contradictory theories currently making the rounds.
➥ TikTok Trends Toward Terror: How Destructive Youth Culture Left Gloucester Shook
(cw: gang violence, home invasions, bullying, scapegoating)
Parents, lock up your kids'...cellphones. Recent blackouts, vandalism, and home invasions across Gloucester were the result of peer pressure, bullying, and social media trends. A combination of viral videos inspiring copycats, teenagers' inability to escape judgment and bullying from their peers thanks to being glued to their phones, and a rising addiction to adrenaline, today's teens have become out-and-out dangerous. Notably, no teenagers were interviewed for this and other similar articles.
➥ One Small Step for Steel, One Giant Leap Backward for Late Night Comedy
An editorialist laments tech giant Zyrian Steel's recent appearance on Saturday Night Live. The Copernicus founder is described in various unflattering terms, including but not limited to a claim that he has "all the charisma and comedic timing of a scarecrow, and the stuffed shirt to match." The writer goes on to speculate as to how much Steel paid for his spot on the show and finishes off with a wish that the man would go ahead and blast himself off into space like he's been promising for years so that the Earth can be rid of him.
➥ Something You May Have in Common with Spiders: A Fear of Spiders
(cw: spiders)
Recent studies on the behavior of jumping spiders have shown that multiple species exhibit signs of fear (freezing or fleeing) when presented with a model of another spider. The behavior is significantly magnified when the spider model has eyes. The article about this is accompanied by a picture of a 3D printed plastic spider with eerie eyes that seem to stare into the viewer.
➥ Does Climate Change Spell the End for Gloucester's Fishing Industry?
(cw: climate change, impending ecological and economic doom)
A team of scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is investigating the waters of Cape Ann in response to reports of multiple fishing hot spots off the coast having become devoid of fish in recent years. The running theory is that large fish populations have either relocated or died off in response to rising ocean temperatures and pollution, with wide-ranging ecological consequences expected in the coming years.
The following headlines are items of potential interest that appear in the paper throughout April. Summaries represent one or more articles, editorials, press releases, or letters to the editor on a particular subject. Players are encouraged to incorporate these items into their characters' understanding of current events as well as use them for plotting. If you would like your character to perform deeper research or investigations, please pose any questions to the designated mod comment. Players are welcome to use this post for IC discussion and threads related to these news items, or to create their own posts or messages for that purpose.
➥ Big City Crime (Supposedly) on the Rise in Little Gloucester
(cw: gang violence, gaslighting)
More skeptical news coverage can be found regarding the purported rise of organized crime in Gloucester throughout March. While a few news stories cropped up in March warning citizens earnestly about the danger posed by two rival mafia-style gangs, an April article questions the lack of previous coverage and the purported motives of the criminals in question. Frustratingly (to the reporter, at least), the chief of police declined to make any definitive statement, stating only that investigations into March's blackouts and crime wave are ongoing.
➥ Shadowcats: Internet Boogeymen or Domestic Terrorist Cell?
(cw: gang violence, gaslighting)
Several newspapers have picked up the false flags planted by Aelwyn and her recruits. While some reporters express skepticism, others cite both recently trending blogs and discussions alongside (what appear to be) articles and messageboard threads that date across the last decade. All of them relay stories of the so-called Shadowcats plunging city streets into darkness and leaving destruction and terror in their wake. Other newspapers have reprinted, wholesale, the false articles written by the team. Altogether, the stories in the news and online paint a picture of an idiosyncratic little cult whose actions range from the inconvenient (lights out and a smashed window or two) to the extremely alarming (entire roving gangs wiping out anyone who crosses them). One editorialist in Gloucester goes so far as to blame the city's recent blackouts on the Shadowcats unprompted, despite several contradictory theories currently making the rounds.
➥ TikTok Trends Toward Terror: How Destructive Youth Culture Left Gloucester Shook
(cw: gang violence, home invasions, bullying, scapegoating)
Parents, lock up your kids'...cellphones. Recent blackouts, vandalism, and home invasions across Gloucester were the result of peer pressure, bullying, and social media trends. A combination of viral videos inspiring copycats, teenagers' inability to escape judgment and bullying from their peers thanks to being glued to their phones, and a rising addiction to adrenaline, today's teens have become out-and-out dangerous. Notably, no teenagers were interviewed for this and other similar articles.
➥ One Small Step for Steel, One Giant Leap Backward for Late Night Comedy
An editorialist laments tech giant Zyrian Steel's recent appearance on Saturday Night Live. The Copernicus founder is described in various unflattering terms, including but not limited to a claim that he has "all the charisma and comedic timing of a scarecrow, and the stuffed shirt to match." The writer goes on to speculate as to how much Steel paid for his spot on the show and finishes off with a wish that the man would go ahead and blast himself off into space like he's been promising for years so that the Earth can be rid of him.
➥ Something You May Have in Common with Spiders: A Fear of Spiders
(cw: spiders)
Recent studies on the behavior of jumping spiders have shown that multiple species exhibit signs of fear (freezing or fleeing) when presented with a model of another spider. The behavior is significantly magnified when the spider model has eyes. The article about this is accompanied by a picture of a 3D printed plastic spider with eerie eyes that seem to stare into the viewer.
➥ Does Climate Change Spell the End for Gloucester's Fishing Industry?
(cw: climate change, impending ecological and economic doom)
A team of scientists from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is investigating the waters of Cape Ann in response to reports of multiple fishing hot spots off the coast having become devoid of fish in recent years. The running theory is that large fish populations have either relocated or died off in response to rising ocean temperatures and pollution, with wide-ranging ecological consequences expected in the coming years.
QUESTIONS
Climate Change investigation
no subject
Zyrian Steel investigation
Would he find anything that might catch his eye if he tried reading up on him or accessed information about him?
no subject
Carter will be able to find some earlier headlines about some of Steel's up-and-coming work.