All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

The evolution of social media

By: Calla Fragassi and Mackenzie Malek

Social media has become a huge part of everyone’s current life since the beginning of the 2000s. It is a way to connect and contact people all over the world through the power of the internet. The effects of social media is a debatable topic, but today we will talk about how it has evolved over the past 20+ years.

1997- Six Degrees

One of the very first social media platforms was released in the late 90s. Six Degrees was made to allow people to connect with friends and family by creating accounts attached to their personal emails. The name Six Degrees comes from the “six degrees of separation” theory that says that everybody is somehow connected by no more than six degrees. The number of users on this platform reached around 3.5 million people over its 4-year running period. The company was eventually bought for $125 million by YouthStream Media Networks, and was shut down in 2001.

2002- Friendster

After Six Degrees was no longer operating, a new site called Friendster rose to take its spot. Similar to Six Degrees, this site also had its users make accounts through their emails, allowing them to make friends and add them to a personal network. One of the main differences between Six Degrees and Friendster is that on Friendster you were able to share messages, photos and videos with others if you were on each other’s networks. This site grew by a lot very rapidly with 3 million users after a couple of months, and eventually reached more than one hundred million users. Friendster remained very popular for many years, but was eventually shut down in 2019.

2002- LinkedIn

LinkedIn was also one of the very first social media networks, but it had a different purpose than some of the others. LinkedIn was created to allow people to connect with business contacts, along with finding job opportunities. It is different today because unlike Facebook and Instagram, users on LinkedIn usually only connect with other people they already know. People still use it today, and it is the most used professional network available today.

2004- Facebook

In 2004 the world’s most used social site was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. These were students who were attending Harvard University at the time. Just like the other sites, Facebook was made for another way to connect with friends. Facebook was just about the social side, by letting users find friends, users could connect with old friends all thanks to the mutual friend feature. Facebook has become so large in the almost 20 years it has been around that it has bought other social media platforms like Instagram. However, there has been some controversy over this because now many sites lack originality and promote the same toxicity which completely defeats the whole purpose of social media, now mainly focusing on the money aspect rather than the actual connection.

2005- Youtube

In 2005 Youtube was created as a video- sharing platform. Most of the early videos posted were tutorials on a variety of things and subjects, or funny random videos simply posted for entertainment and to make people laugh. Youtube was actually founded as a dating service, but quickly grew and changed as a place for people to share videos with their friends. This platform helped people reach out to others and become friends.

Fast forward a few years and five more very popular social media apps were created. Between the years of 2006 and 2016 Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok were made. They all started with the same mission as the other platforms, which was to connect people to others through whatever the app was specialized to do. At first, they were all unique in their own way, for example on Snapchat people would connect by sending photos or videos to each other, while Instagram was about posting photos of yourself or things you are doing so your followers could keep up and in touch with you.

Although social media has changed a lot throughout the years, and sometimes for the worst, we can appreciate how it has brought us to connect with others around the country and world, and sometimes meeting new people or reconnecting with old friends. Social media will continue to evolve with time to keep up with trends and what is most popular, and we are interested to see what social media will bring in the future.

The entire story of ‘Metal Gear’

By: Hoaseng Thao

*Warning: This article has spoilers for the Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid games developed by Hideo Kojima. There are depictions of war and violence in this article*

In 1987, a video game called ‘Metal Gear’ was released on the MSX home computer and was created by a relatively unknown Japanese game developer, Hideo Kojima, who was working for the video game company, Konami. ‘Metal Gear’ was unlike any other 2D shooter game at the time, because instead of being a Rambo killing super soldier, you play as a special forces soldier named Solid Snake, whose mission is to infiltrate a base to destroy a super weapon known as Metal Gear. The game would become an instant hit across the globe and would start a complex series of stories that many have trouble trying to explain, and so I’m writing this article to help explain the story of Metal Gear and its sequel games.

THE BEGINNING

At the end of the First World War, the most powerful and wealthiest people from three nations across the globe, The United States, The Soviet Union, and The Republic of China, united together under one goal: to steer the very way of life from the needless brutal wars that could destroy society as we know it, and they called themselves, the Philosophers. Although the Philosophers united under one goal, to protect and steer humanity from new wars, there were already multiple factions of the Philosophers who were driven by their own political beliefs on behalf of their respective nations. The two most prominent factions were the Soviet Philosophers and the American Philosophers.

Tensions between Philosophers worsened when the last founding member of the Philosophers passed away in the 1930’s, leading to widespread corruption and distrust between the many Philosophers whose political leaning went against their own members.

Despite the growing tensions in between the Philosophers, the start of the Second World War began to somewhat unite the already feeble organization into pouring all their efforts into fighting the Axis Powers, and in their attempt to defeat them, they decide to create a secret special forces unit comprised of multiple nations within the Philosophers known as the Cobra Unit, with their leader being known as The Joy, but she would later adopt a more recognizable name; her name would be known as The Boss.

THE JOY

Born as the daughter of an American Philosopher, The Joy would become one of the Philosopher’s strongest assets as she led the Philosopher’s Cobra Unit in 1942 to fight the Axis powers. In her unit, there was The Sorrow who was a man whose unique abilities allowed him to talk to spirits, The End who was a sniper born in the 1860’s who was infected with an unknown parasite that allowed him to have a long lifespan, The Pain who had the abilities to control insects, The Fear whose freakish appearance and movements made him feared by his enemies, and finally The Fury whose rage and anger against the world made him brutal in battle.

One of Cobra unit’s members, The Sorrow, would gain the interest of The Boss and the two would later become lovers which would lead to her becoming pregnant with his child. Despite being pregnant, The Boss continued to fight in the Second World War and on the day of the D-Day landings, she was shot in the gut and was forced to give birth on the battlefield via Caesarean section. A baby boy named Adam, was born on that day but he would soon be taken from his mother by Philosophers.

Two years after the end of the Second World War, the Boss disbanded the Cobra Unit as the world would soon enter the Cold War. The Philosophers would become a shell of its former self, as the friendship between the East and West began to deteriorate the Philosophers from the inside, as their funding asset known as the Philosopher’s Legacy, which held around 100 billion dollars, was illegally inherited and stolen by a Soviet Red Army officer known as Boris Volgin.

Due to the rising tensions between the Americans and Soviets, The Boss was forced to choose which side she should pick as her lover, The Sorrow, was a Soviet Russian while she was an American. In the end, The Boss chose her country over her lover and she began to operate under the Central Intelligence Agency, but her actions within the Central Intelligence Agency made her a scapegoat to whatever mess the CIA had in any secret mission.

In June of 1950, The Boss met a young 15-year-old boy who went under the name John, and the two would bond together due to the both of them having similar experiences. Over the course of a decade, the Boss would train John in the creation of Close Quarters Combat but they would be forced to separate as The Boss was needed by the US government.

The US government, in an attempt to beat the Soviets in the space race, chose The Boss to become the first American in space as a part of the Mercury Project. During The Boss’s training to go to space, she met a woman named Strangelove who had fallen in love with her charm but as The Boss left Earth for space, her spacecraft would malfunction and crash land in the ocean, nearly killing her in the process and putting her in a coma only for her actions of being the first American in space to be wiped from the public.

After the crash of her spacecraft, The Boss was sent into the Soviet Union to eliminate her former lover, The Sorrow, as their son Adam would be killed by the Philosophers if none of them killed each other. Knowing that one of them had to die, The Sorrow sacrificed himself so that their child would survive. Distraught with the death of The Sorrow, a former friend of The Boss known as Major Zero, reached out his hand to her to form a new Unit under the CIA. The Unit’s name was FOX.

On August 24th, 1964, The FOX unit undergoes a secret mission in the Soviet Union with two operatives to take part on the ground, The Boss whose mission was recover the Philosopher’s Legacy from GRU colonel Volgin, and John, whose code name was Naked Snake, or Snake, was to rescue a defecting Soviet scientist named Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov.

During the mission, Snake was able to infiltrate into the Soviet Union via a HALO jump and was able to get a scared Sokolov into safety before having a small fight with a man named Ocelot in which Snake tells him that he should use a revolver before knocking him out. As Snake prepares to lead Sokolov out of the Soviet Union, he learns about a new type of weapon, known as the Shagohod, in which Sokolov begs him to destroy it.

Despite leading Sokolov to safety, the sudden arrival of The Boss sets Snake off before she announces her defection to the Soviet Union. The two would fight and in the end, The Boss defeats her former apprentice and pushes him off a rope bridge. After “killing” Snake, The Boss takes Sokolov with her alongside a stolen American Davy Crockett Weapon System to a reunited Cobra unit and Volgin. As they leave the area, Volgin takes the Davy Crockett and fires its nuclear payload at a test facility which leads the Soviet Union to believe that the US had just bombed them.

After the failure of the mission, The US government panicked and after recovering a now alive and radioactive Snake, they began to prepare Snake to go back into the Soviet Union to eliminate Volgin and The Boss, to prove that the US did not bomb the Soviet Union. This mission would be codenamed, Operation Snake Eater.

THE SNAKE EATER

Snake, under the command of Major Zero alongside his companions, Para-Medic, and Donald Anderson whose code name was Sigint, undertook the mission and his first task was to meet with a Mole in the KGB named ADAM.

In the meantime another unit known as XOF, sends in their commander named Skull Face to clean up any mess Snake leaves behind. When Snake tries to meet up with Adam, he is met with a woman named EVA who tells him that ADAM couldn’t make it and she is to help him, she then tells him the location of Sokolov before they rest at an abandoned building.

As they wake up, they are confronted by Ocelot who now carries a revolver and meows (Yes he meows) for reinforcements before they are defeated and he flees in a humorous manner. EVA, trying to take the advantage to kill him, aims at him but is stopped by Snake who takes a liking to his weird nature.

Getting to the location of Sokolov, Snake meets a drunk Soviet scientist named Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin, who is the rival of Sokolov. He tells Snake the actual location of Sokolov before telling him that he is giving his friend in America a new type of weapon named Metal Gear. Before Snake leaves, Granin tells him about the Philosophers’ Legacy and its importance.

On Snake’s journey to rescue Sokolov, he faces up against the Cobra Unit members: The Pain, The Fear, The End, and The Fury, all of whom Snake had to learn from his mistakes in order to defeat them. After fighting through the Cobra Unit, Snake sneaks into the Groznyj Grad fortress which Sokolov is believed to be in, and in order to rescue Sokolov, Snake has to knock out a GRU officer named Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov, to steal his identity.

As he meets up with Sokolov, Volgin enters the room they are in and as Snake, who is disguised as Raikov, is discovered to be a spy after Volgin uses a “unique” tactic to see whether or Snake is his secret lover Raikov.

After the discovery, Snake is taken to an interrogation room where Volgin, The Boss, a disguised EVA, and Ocelot interrogate him which ends with Volgin telling Snake where the Philosophers’ Legacy was before Ocelot accidentally shoots Snake in his right eye.

Snake, now in a cell at Groznyj Grad, makes an escape after knocking out the prison guard named Johnny. During his escape Snake has to jump out of a sewer waterfall where he suffered a near death experience in which he meets the Spirit of The Sorrow. After waking up from his near death experience, Snake meets up with EVA, who gives him his captured equipment and an eyepatch to cover up his destroyed right eye. The two infiltrate into Groznyj Grad and end up destroying the Shagohod and heavily injuring Volgin in the process.

In their attempt to escape from Groznyj Grad and into safety, EVA tells Snake that The Boss wants to meet him in a field of white flowers near their escape aircraft. Snake meets with The Boss who then challenges him to a final and emotional duel, and as Snake points his rifle at his former mentor, The Boss gives him the Philosopher’s Legacy and one last message.

“There is nothing more for me to give you. All that’s left is for you to take my life by your own hand. One must die and one must live. No victory, no defeat. The survivor will carry on the fight. It is our destiny. The one who survives will inherit the title of Boss, and the one who inherits the title of Boss will face an existence of endless battle.” — The Boss

A bang rang out as Snake leaves his former mentor before escaping with EVA on an aircraft but as they try to escape, Ocelot appears again and boards their plane before challenging Snake to a revolver duel with one revolver armed with one bullet. With a shot of revolver fired, it is revealed that the revolver armed with the bullet actually had a blank. Ocelot congratulates Snake on his mission before telling him his name, Adamska, before leaping out of the plane as both EVA and Snake escape into Alaska.

Both EVA and Snake take shelter in an abandoned cabin but as Snake sleeps, EVA leaves Snake with the Philosopher’s Legacy in her pocket before leaving a message for Snake, which revealed to him that she was actually a triple agent working under the orders of Beijing to retrieve the Philosopher’s Legacy.

After being rescued, Snake’s journey is celebrated by the members of FOX before being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The President would give Snake the title of “Big Boss”, for his efforts of killing The Boss and eliminating the Shagohod.

Dissatisfied with the death of his mentor and the lack of care by the US government, Big Boss leaves the celebration and makes his way to Arlington National Cemetery, where he meets with the grave of his former mentor before giving her one last salute and one tear.

When EVA returns back to Beijing, it is revealed that the Philosopher’s Legacy she had was actually a fake and with Beijing angry at her mistake, she was sent into exile. The real Philosopher’s Legacy was actually in the hands of Ocelot who is revealed to be a triple agent for the CIA and is actually the son of The Boss.

In 1970, Major Zero recruited Big Boss, Ocelot, Para-Medic, Sigint, and EVA to create a new organization based on The Boss’s goal of reuniting the world . The name of the organization would be known as Cipher. Ocelot uses the Philosopher’s Legacy he had to fund the organization while Major Zero turned Big Boss into a legendary figure for people around the world to follow.

This organization would soon falter as Big Boss and Zero clashed over what The Boss fought for, and because of this clash, Zero believed that he couldn’t push on the message of The Boss without Big Boss and by 1972, he began a project to clone Big Boss without him knowing. This cloning project was called “Les Enfants Terribles” or The Terrible Children.

Three clones of Big Boss were created with EVA serving as the surrogate mother for the cloning process. From oldest to youngest there were Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Solidus Snake. When Big Boss found out about his clones, he left the Patriots as he lost trust with his former friend and began to fight for soldiers around the world.

After Big Boss left, EVA took off as well while Ocelot remained as an ear for Big Boss, however, Zero decided to go into hiding while the rest of the original members became hungry for power.

THE BIG BOSS

In 1974, Big Boss alongside his friend Kazuhira Miller or Kaz and his Private Military Company (PMC), Militaires Sans Frontieres (MSF), is begged by a man named Ramón Gálvez Mena and a girl named Paz Ortega Andrade, to save their country of Costa Rica and their missing friend from a foreign PMC.

Big Boss refused to help them until they gave him an audio message that had what seemed to be The Boss’s voice in the background. Hearing The Boss’s voice, Big Boss readied his men to find The Boss and in the meantime, Big Boss takes control of an off-shore base as the headquarters of MSF.

In Big Boss’s journey, he encounters and helps a resistance group led by Amanda Valenciano Libre, and fights the foreign PMC group while finding leads about Paz’s friend and The Boss. While fighting the PMC group, he has to save the younger brother of Amanda, named Chico. As Big Boss rescues Chico, he learns about the locations of Nukes supplied by the CIA and decides to go there.

As Big Boss gets to the location, he fights a giant robot tank known as a Pupa and while fighting it, he is guided and aided by the Pupa’s creator, Huey Emmerich, on how to destroy it. After fighting the Pupa, Big Boss recruits Huey after learning about a project called the Peace Walker project, a walking nuclear armed AI weapon, alongside an AI facility in a Mayan temple.

After some time, Big Boss is able to rescue the missing friend of Paz before hearing The Boss’s voice again, but to his shock, he realizes the voice was not the Boss’s but rather an AI programmed to be like her. This is when Big Boss meets Strangelove, who hates him for killing the woman she loved, but then it is revealed that the weapon Peace Walker is about to launch its nuclear munitions to start a nuclear war. In the meantime, it is revealed that Ramón Gálvez Mena is actually a Soviet agent named Vladimir Zadornov, whose mission was to take control of Central America with the help of Big Boss.

Big Boss is then forced to stop Peace Walker from launching its nukes and is successful.

After everything is done, Big Boss allows Huey to create a new weapon called Metal Gear ZEKE, which is based on the data from Huey’s soviet friend, Granin. As Metal Gear ZEKE was nearing completion, it was hijacked by Paz Ortega who was actually a Cipher agent named Pacifica Ocean. Paz’s mission was to get Big Boss to rejoin Cipher and in order to do so, she threatened to launch nuclear warheads at the east coast of the US and blame it on MSF.

Big Boss and his MSF soldiers are forced to destroy Metal Gear ZEKE before it launches its nuclear munitions, and in the end, Metal Gear ZEKE sinks into the ocean as Paz is presumed dead.

In 1975, Huey Emmerich allows the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to conduct a search on Mother Base which annoys Big Boss and Kaz, but in the meantime, MSF learns about the survival of Paz who is currently being held and tortured in a US black site in Cuba named Camp Omega, a plan to eliminate her was in the process until Chico was captured while trying to save Paz.

Big Boss was forced to do a solo mission while the IAEA conducts their “search” on Mother Base. Big Boss infiltrates into Camp Omega with a skeleton crew of a helicopter pilot and a MSF medic, and they successfully rescue the two from captivity, but as they return back to Mother Base, they find it burned and destroyed as it is attacked by XOF.

Mother Base was destroyed, almost all remaining MSF soldiers are killed, as Kaz is rescued by Big Boss and his skeleton crew.  As Big Boss’s helicopter flies away, it is revealed that Paz has a bomb in her body and she jumps out in the. hope to rescue them, but the explosion causes the helicopter to go out of control and crash.

After the helicopter crash, Big Boss, Kaz, and the Medic are rescued and put into a hospital where both Big Boss and the Medic are put into a long coma. Unbeknownst to Big Boss, Zero and EVA move both Big Boss and the Medic to a hospital in Cyprus to hide them from XOF.

THE PUNISHED SNAKE

After nine years of being in a coma, Big Boss wakes up and meets Ocelot, who tells him the news about his coma before saying that XOF is hunting him down and the two plan on making The Medic, who is still in a coma, into believing that he is Big Boss to protect the real Big Boss from both Cipher and XOF.

In the meantime, Kaz creates a new PMC named Diamond Dogs, as a way to reclaim the former glory that he and Big Boss made. As The Medic wakes up, he undergoes plastic surgery to change his face into that of Big Boss, but after the surgery, the hospital they are in is under attack by XOF and The Medic, now referred to as Punished “Venom” Snake or Venom Snake, has to be escorted outside the hospital by Big Boss. The two encounter Volgin who is now referred to as the Burning man due to his burning body alongside a young Psycho Mantis during their escape via ambulance van to which they crash into a ditch.

After the crash, Ocelot is able to rescue Big Boss and gives him the ID card of The Medic for him to act as before rescuing Venom Snake from the ambulance. After being rescued, Venom Snake is tasked with eliminating XOF commander Skull Face and his army before they encounter many unique people such as a young Liquid Snake named Eli, Quiet who’s a female assassin who can go invisible and can breathe through her skin, and Code Talker who helped Skull Face into weaponizing a parasite that can target certain languages. Venom Snake also rescues Huey Emmerich who currently is making a new Metal Gear called Sahelanthropus.

Venom Snake, Kaz, and his Diamond Dogs are able to track down Skull Face and kill him before taking Metal Gear Sahelanthropus for themselves. But the parasite that Code Talker helped create for Skull Face is released into the new Mother Base, causing Venom Snake to kill his infected men to save the world. It is soon discovered that Huey was actually the cause of the released parasites, who are then exiled from Diamond Dogs.

Venom Snake then realizes that he isn’t Big Boss and was actually being forced into being like him, but he decides to remain as Big Boss due to his devout loyalty to him.

Eli and his gang of child soldiers soon capture Metal Gear Sahelanthropus and the last sample of the parasite before hiding on an island. Venom Snake is then tasked to destroy Sahelanthropus and rescue Eli and the child Soldiers but they are ambushed by XOF. After being ambushed, Eli appears to be have symptoms of the parasite and Venom Snake leaves him to choose his own fate, but then the Psycho Mantis appears and removes the parasite from Eli’s body and they escape as the island is napalmed.

After everything calms down, Kaz leaves Diamond Dogs after realizing that Venom Snake is not Big Boss, and due to this Kaz begins to train Big Boss’s clone son Solid Snake into becoming a better soldier that Big Boss could ever be. Big Boss and Venom Snake form a military nation named Outer Heaven deep within South Africa.

THE SOLID SNAKE

1995, Solid Snake begins his first mission for the FOXHOUND unit and is tasked with rescuing another member named Gray Fox from Outer Heaven. It is believed that Outer Heaven has a Metal Gear in their arsenal and it must be stopped. Solid Snake is able to infiltrate into Outer Heaven where he meets with “Big Boss”, who is actually Venom Snake, and kills him before fleeing as Outer Heaven self-destructs.

In 1999, Solid Snake was brought back to FOXHOUND by their new commander, Roy Campbell, to help destroy another Metal Gear in a Military Nation named Zanzibar Land. Solid Snake infiltrates Zanzibar Land and he meets/is attacked by, his former friend, Gray Fox, who he defeats. Solid Snake destroys the Metal Gear before encountering the real Big Boss who he then defeats via makeshift flamethrower. Big Boss is left scarred and burned as Solid Snake alongside another FOXHOUND agent named Holly escapes Zanzibar Land.

After Zanzibar, Solid Snake retires from the military and goes into hiding in the Alaskan wilderness before being brought back into the US military in 2005, when Campbell tells him that FOXHOUND members started a rebellion on a military base on the island of Shadow Moses. The rebellion is led by Liquid Snake who is trying to take control of a new Metal Gear named REX.

Solid Snake infiltrates the Shadow Moses where he is aided by Mei Ling, Naomi Hunter the sister of Gray Fox, Hal Emmerich or Otacon the developer of Metal Gear REX, FOXHOUND recruit Meryl Silverburgh who is actually the niece of Campbell, and his old friend Gray Fox who now dons a cyborg ninja suit. In Solid Snake’s mission, he encounters a Genome soldier named Johnny Sasaki, Ocelot, and Psycho Mantis who are aiding Liquid Snake in his mission on launching a nuke from the railgun on Metal Gear REX.

Solid Snake then learns about an artificial virus named FOXDIE that was implanted in him that will kill anyone that has a specific DNA. Solid Snake alongside Gray Fox destroys Metal Gear REX but the latter dies in the process, Solid Snake then fights Liquid Snake whom is killed by FOXDIE. Solid Snake escapes Shadow Moses with Meryl and with the help of Campbell, Solid Snake fakes his death.

After Shadow Moses, Ocelot tells the news about Liquid Snake’s failure to US President, George Sears, who is actually Solidus Snake, before he sells the plans of REX onto the black market. With the leak of REX’s plans, Otacon and Solid Snake form an Anti-Metal Gear organization named Philanthropy, to destroy all Metal Gears in the world.

In 2007, Solid Snake infiltrates onto a USMC vessel disguised as an oil tanker where he discovers a new Metal Gear named RAY, but in the process the vessel is boarded by Russian mercenaries and Ocelot. After getting data about RAY, Solid Snake fakes his death by using the corpse of Liquid Snake as his own.

THE LIGHTNING

In 2009, a FOXHOUND agent named Raiden is tasked to rescue President James Johnson who was taken to an oil decontamination facility named Big Shell from a rebelling military unit named Dead Cell, Russian mercenaries, and Solidus Snake who is disguised as Solid Snake. In Raiden’s mission he is aided by his fiancée Rosemary or Rose and “Campbell”.

After infiltrating the facility, Raiden fights Dead Cell including Dead Cell members Vamp who has nanomachines that prevent him from dying and Fortune who is a psychic. During Raiden’s mission he meets with the real Solid Snake alongside Otacon, and Otacon’s sister, Emma Emmerich, who all tell him about The Patriots, a shadowy organization that was born out of Cipher that now controls every aspect of American life.

It is revealed that Big Shell is actually a disguise for the construction of an enormous warship named Arsenal Gear which houses an AI system named GW. Emma Emmerich had created a virus that would essentially kill GW. In their attempt to destroy Arsenal Gear, Emma Emmerich is killed by Vamp which emboldens Otacon to continue fighting. Raiden is then taken hostage by Olga Gurlukovich, a member of the Russian Mercenaries, and is moved inside Arsenal Gear, but it is soon revealed that she is a part of Solid Snake’s team and needed him and Solid Snake to get into Arsenal Gear.

Raiden also learns that the Campbell he knows is actually an AI made by the Patriots to make him do his bidding.H e also learns that his fiancée, Rose, is not only a spy for the Patriots but is also pregnant with his child. Raiden, Olga, and Snake fight their way through Arsenal Gear to not only destroy Arsenal Gear but also save Olga’s child who is being held hostage by the Patriots.

Raiden fights his way through Arsenal Gear and reaches the top where he faces off and defeats multiple Metal Gear RAY units, but he then collapses from exhaustion. Solidus Snake appears and attempts to kill Raiden before being stopped by Olga who is then killed by him. Solidus Snake tries to kill Raiden by using the remaining RAYs but they are disabled due to Emma’s virus.

Ocelot then appears and tells Raiden, Solid Snake, and Solidus that he was actually an agent for The Patriots and everything they just did was all planned by the Patriots and before he could kill them with his piloted Metal Gear RAY, his right hand which was cut off by Gray Fox during Shadow Moses, twitches and Ocelot then switches personalities to that of Liquid Snake before leaping off with his Metal Gear with Solid Snake following after him.

Arsenal Gear then crashes into Manhattan, to which Solidus Snake tells Raiden that he killed his parents before saving him when Raiden was just a child in Liberia. He then trained him into becoming a child soldier named Jack the Ripper before separating. Solidus Snake tries to kill Raiden in order to get the location of the Patriots but is then heavily injured when Raiden sliced his back, causing him to go into a brain dead state. Raiden is able to reunite with Rose and chooses to live out his own life.

THE OLD SNAKE

After the Big Shell incident, Solid Snake saw his body age faster than expected, this is because of the FOXDIE in his body, and by 2011 his body was too weak to rescue Olga’s daughter so he had Raiden retrieve her and bring her to both him and Otacon.

By 2014, Solid Snake’s body is growing older and it is revealed that Solid Snake didn’t have a lot of time left, and the fact that Liquid Ocelot was still alive did not help with Solid Snake’s already worsening body. In the past few years, Liquid Ocelot had been starting up a company known as Outer Haven, which is a mother company of multiple PMCs.

Solid Snake, with the help of Otacon, and Olga’s daughter Sunny, fight their way across the world in order to stop Liquid Ocelot, and while fighting they meet some old friends such as Meryl, Johnny Sasaki, and Campbell. During Solid Snake’s journey, he meets an arms dealer named Drebin 893 and his pet monkey who both help him use guns that are usually ID locked. In order to do this he is forced to have nanomachines injected in his body, but the nanomachines were actually a new type of FOXDIE.

After some time, Solid Snake meets up with Naomi Hunter who tells him that the old FOXDIE he has in his body will eventually mutate and kill everyone on the planet, essentially making him a walking biological weapon. Solid Snake then escorts her to safety when they find a heavily modified Raiden who had been experimented on by The Patriots. Their encounter would be short lived as Raiden would be heavily injured by Vamp but he is able to survive and escape with Solid Snake, and Naomi.

Raiden would tell Solid Snake about a woman named Big Mama who helped him and she is currently a leader for a small resistance group in Eastern Europe.

Solid Snake, with the help of Meryl and Johnny, meet up with Big Mama who is then revealed to be EVA. EVA tells Solid Snake the tale of Big Boss and that she is his mother as well as telling him the story of the origins of the Patriots, she then tells him that she actually has the vegetative body of Big Boss in her possession, however they are soon attacked by Haven Troopers, specialized female soldiers who are under the command of Liquid Ocelot.

During their escape, EVA is killed in the process as Liquid Ocelot destroys the remains of Big Boss in a big fire as he makes his escape alongside with Naomi. But Otacon was able to get information about Liquid Ocelot’s true goal which was to use the Railgun of Metal Gear REX and use it to destroy JD, a Patriot AI, and use GW to take over the Patriots’s AI system.

Solid Snake, Raiden, and Otacon return back to Shadow Moses in which they are able to kill Vamp and take over Metal Gear REX, but it turns out the Railgun is already gone while Naomi dies after telling Otacon that Sunny has a virus named FOXALIVE that could dismantle JD. Solid Snake, Raiden, and Otacon make it out of Shadow Moses before using REX to fight Liquid Ocelot who is in a Metal Gear RAY unit, but in the end, both metal gears are out of commission and Liquid Ocelot is able to escape by going on another Arsenal Gear dubbed as Outer Haven.

Liquid Ocelot’s escape would be caught off guard when Mei Ling arrives with the battleship USS Missouri but they escape successfully.

Solid Snake and his friends make one final attempt to stop Liquid Ocelot, and they would then locate and board Outer Haven in which Johnny Sasaki and Meryl confirm their love for each other, and Raiden defends Solid Snake as he uploads FOXALIVE into JD. After successfully uploading FOXALIVE, Solid Snake falls unconscious and is dragged onto the top of Outer Haven by Liquid Ocelot, who tells him that everything that just happened was a part of his plan. They then get into one final fist fight with Solid Snake literally beating the Liquid out of Ocelot, before Ocelot succumbs and dies to Solid Snake’s FOXDIE.

After the death of Ocelot, everybody celebrates Johnny and Meryl’s wedding while Solid Snake visits Big Boss’s grave before planting a gun in his mouth so he can stop the FOXDIE in his body from turning into a biological weapon, but he is unable to do this, and then a familiar voice talks to Solid Snake, one that was as if it was Big Boss.

THE FATHER, THE SON, THE SNAKES

Big Boss appears and both he and Solid Snake point their guns at each other before Big Boss drops his gun and hugs him while telling him to “Let it go”, Solid Snake drops his gun as Big Boss explains everything about the Patriots and everything that led up to it.

Big Boss explains to Solid Snake that EVA died due to Solid Snake’s FOXDIE and that the body EVA had of “Big Boss” was actually Solidus Snake, who was an identical clone of Big Boss. He then explains that Ocelot, EVA, and Naomi were working together to help Big Boss and kill Zero.

Big Boss then introduces a vegetative Zero to Solid Snake and then explains that Zero had no real control over the Patriots before questioning if Zero was scared of him. Big Boss then peacefully kills Zero before telling Solid Snake that he would soon die because of Solid Snake’s FOXDIE.

Before FOXDIE could kill Big Boss, he would go to The Boss’s grave before saluting and telling Solid Snake to live out his remaining days “Not as a snake, but as a man” before peacefully dying next to his mentor’s grave.

Solid Snake then takes his father’s advice before leaving to live out his remaining days with Ocelot and Sunny.

Ending Notes

That is the end of the Metal Gear story from Hideo Kojima’s writing. I hope you at least understand some parts of the story as Hideo Kojima’s writing can be a bit confusing at some points. I love the Metal Gear games and their stories, so I hope this article can get people into playing some of the Metal Gear games because the stories are by far one of the best video game stories we’ve ever had in the video game industry.

For more information, please visit:

Conference meet

By: Ellie Moore

Photo taken by: Jen Rusch

Prelims for the St .Paul City Conference Meet took place on Tuesday, May 23, and finals were held on Thursday, May 25.

In order to make it to finals and score points for your team you need to place in the top 8 at prelims. There are 3 heats of 6-8 people in prelims and the top 2 from every heat, and the next 2 times, will make it to the finals.

Tuesday also had a few finals. With these events, the girl’s Highland team was in the lead with 59 points, Central close behind with 50 points. For the boys, Central was winning with 38 points and Highland was in second place with 32.

The events that scored on Tuesday were boys and girls 3200 meter, boys shot put, boys long jump, girls discus, and girls triple jump.

Highland Park had 2 conference champs on May 23: Benjamin Ward in the shot put and Nuria Rodriguez-Foster in triple jump. Grace Lewis-Mosher, Chloe Koch, and Ziva Westreich scored points for the team getting second, third, and fifth. Ben Martin, Max Reemtsma, and Gavin Roberts scored for the boys getting fourth, fifth, and sixth.

In the 100 Highland Park will have 3 boys and 2 girls in the final, with Brouke Brookins and Ellie Moore with first seed going into it. Demarcus Simmons and Tenzing Walker got seventh and eighth seed and Austin Bailey-Zimmerman got eighth seed.

In the 200 Highland Park will have 2 boys, Brouke Brookins and Terez McDaniel-Vaughn, and 3 girls, Ellie Moore, Ellery Merrimack, and Alexa Ramirez, in the final.

The 400 will have 2 boys and 2 girls. Ellie Moore and Delia Johnson having first and second seed. Brouke Brookins having third seed and Tobias Hennum with sixth seed.

The boys ran a prelim 800 on Tuesday, but the girls did not due to a low number of girls. Davis Isom and Charlie Service made it to finals, and Delia Johnson, Maddie Klevay, and Grace Lewis-Mosher will run their finals on Thursday.

The 1600 doesn’t have a prelim either so Sam Palm, Ingrid Haaland, and Alice Rapacz will run it for the first time on Thursday for the girls, and Mason Deegan, Gavin Roberts, and Ben Martin will run it for the boys.

Yao Buchl, Austin Bailey-Zimmerman, and Nuria Rodriguez-Foster made it to finals in the 100 hurdles for the girls and Wesley Norquist, Emmett Riemenschneider, and Johnny Xiong made it to finals for the boys 110 hurdles.

Emmett Riemenschneider, Wesley Norquist, Austin Bailey-Zimmerman, Yao Buchl, and Hazel Thrasher also made it to finals in the 300 hurdles.

Finals will take place Thursday, May 25 at Harding High School.

Best romance movies

By: Rose Ramadan and Thea Berg

* Note: This article contains spoilers

Many movies have been made throughout the years. They range from all different genres and all different story lines. Some are good, some are bad. All are different. Since there is such a wide range of movies, this article will focus on our all time favorite genre: romance.

What makes a good romance movie? In our thoughts, a good romance movie is made from three major components.

Number one, how the main characters meet. There are many different ways for characters to meet: through friends, online, in person. By far, in person is the best way. Blind dates and online don’t seem as romantic.

Number two, the story line. Of course there has to be some type of drama in the movies, either a love triangle or some type of accident.

Number three, a happy ending. After all other components, a happy ending is mandatory to enjoy a romance movie.

The number one favorite movie of the romance genre in our opinion is ‘The Notebook’. This movie follows a plot of two characters who meet and fall in love fast. Their love lasts for a summer; three short months, but it is full of long adventures. They are deeply in love. However, Allie, the main character, leaves for college, leaving behind her true love. In college, she meets a man and falls in love with him and gets engaged. Seven years have passed since she saw her summer love, but once they meet again, it’s like they were in love just yesterday.

This movie has an amazing ending, with the two lovers falling back in love and living their lives how they had always dreamed. The ending is super sad, however, for Allie suffers through dementia and forgets her true love. With their strong love and connection, however, they remember each other at the end and die happily together.

Another amazing romance movie is ‘Titanic’. This movie includes so many amazing components, however, it ends without the happy ending all viewers crave. Rose and Jack fall in love on the Titanic on their way to the United States. Jack is poor and alone, escaping the harshness of his hometown. Rose is rich and lives with her family, who she plans to escape to be with Jack. Once the Titanic splits, the lovebirds try to stay together and alive. However, there isn’t enough space for both of them to survive so Jack ends up dying, leaving Rose heartbroken in the middle of the ocean.

Another romance movie we love is ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’. This movie is about a girl named Andie who works at ‘Composure’ magazine. She wants to write articles about politics and important things, but her boss has other ideas. She wants her to write about love, shoes, boys, etc. She comes up with an article idea after her friend gets dumped for being too clingy. She decides to find a guy and do everything she can to get him to dump her in 10 days. She does anything any guy doesn’t like, such as being too clingy, or too emotional. When she is picking out a guy to test this on, Ben gets a bet to make a girl fall in love with him in 10 days by his coworkers. She chooses Ben for her article without him knowing, and he chooses to make her fall in love with him…without her knowing.

Throughout the 10 days they go through a roller coaster in their relationship. All sorts of crazy things happen between them. She is starting to get annoyed because he is not seeming to lose interest, and he notices she is taking awhile to fall in love with him.

Towards the end of the 10 days they go to Staten Island to visit Ben’s family, while they are there they both fall in love with each other’s true selves. After the 10 days are up they are both at a jewelry show and their secrets are revealed by each other’s bosses. Both of them are mad and Andie storms out. When she is running off to find somewhere else to write articles Ben chases her down and confesses his love. She goes back and finds new places to write about politics and further her relationship with Ben.

There are many more romance movies we could write about, but we will keep it to these three classics, our all time favorites.

How gun violence is getting out of control

By: Lauren Kottke & Ella Sutherland

Photo by Emma Guliani on Pexels.com

Gun control is a big issue in the United States. It is an issue that has begun to get worse by the years. We are seeing the number of school shootings and mass shootings rise.

There are many statistics that prove the rise of gun violence. We found statistics that show that over the past couple decades, gun production, ownership and mass shootings have increased. NBC put out an article stating, from 1988 to 1992, the production of guns was at 3-4 million annually. But in 2009, that increased to 5 million. And then in 2016 it peaked to 11 million guns sold. They also stated that, in 2021 there were 61 active shooter incidents – “which the FBI describes as events in which someone is engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area”. But the previous year, there were 40 active shooter incidents.

To us and students, this issue is very important and personal to us. We see the school shootings happening around us and wonder if it would ever be us. Realistically, it is very unlikely but the fear is still there. Kids go to school everyday scared. And it seems like every time there is a school shooting, kids are the ones to fight. They are the ones to have protests and call for change. But nothing does change.

And that is because students and kids don’t have the power to change the laws. The people who control the laws and regulations on guns are congress and the states. Congress can change the laws through commerce and taxing laws. But they only have power that is enumerated in the US Constitution. So it is limited.

But the states can make regulations on guns to make them less accessible. For example, Minnesota has strict regulations on guns. If you want to buy a gun, you have to get a permit to carry a firearm, a background check, mental health screening and much more. If you have served time in jail, you cannot purchase a gun. But other states like Alabama, have less regulations on guns. There you can buy a gun without a background check or a permit. So it is up to the states what regulations should be on guns.

It’s hard to change gun control when you have no power. And most people don’t have the power to change it. The only people that can change the laws and regulations are people in the government. But people can still push for change by voicing their ideas, which could push the government to make changes. So here are some of our solutions that you can do to help support gun control.

Our first solution is to contact St. Paul’s elected representative and ask them to support and advocate for change. Demand that they advocate for effective gun violence prevention legislation. Although it might not seem like this solution can change much, it’s important to make our voices heard. So we would get our families and friends to also contact our representative. And our hope is that more people would join in and contact their representatives, starting a movement. We also hope that once enough people have contacted the representatives, change will be made. They will announce their support for effective gun control legislation, and announce a way they are willing to make change. For example by introducing a bill they could present to the governor (Note, in the recent session, Minnesota did pass more gun control laws).

Our second solution to this issue would be to write to our local paper and ask them to publish an article we wrote about gun violence. We will write an article that talks about how the legislation on guns is not enough, the number of school shootings rising, and active shooter incidents in general rising. We would also talk about how the companies that sell guns are benefiting from the rise in gun sales and how we can fix this issue. Like we said earlier, we don’t have much power to change the laws on guns, but we still have enough power to voice our opinions. And by publishing our article it would allow for more people to see our point of view. It could change the way people think about gun control. We think that because it would be students speaking, people would listen. We have our own experiences going to school during gun violence’s peak.

We hope that you take away some useful information from this article and help enact change. Whether that be talking about gun control to your friends and family, donating to gun violence organizations or contacting your local representative.

For more information you can visit:

  • “6 Charts That Show the Rise of Guns in the U.S. — and People Dying from Them.” http://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/6-charts-show-rise-guns-us-people-dying-rcna30537.
  • “Federal Powers.” Giffords, giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/other-laws-policies/federal-powers/#:~:text=Congre ss%20can%20regulate%20firearms%20through
  • “Gun Ownership by State 2020.” worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-ownership-by-state

12 simple steps to RULE THE WORLD (Rated E for Everyone)

By: Trump Vang

Image generated with Word Press AI

Note: This is a student generated work of satirical fiction

Disclaimer: This article may not be accurate to real life experiences, rather just real life expectations.

Do you want to someday rule the world? Everyone has thought of it before, but ruling the world can be a bit difficult as a normal citizen. Contrary to popular belief, it’s a lot easier than many think. To show you, I’ve got 12 simple steps to help you on your journey to dominating the world.

Step 1 : Set Goals

This may seem arbitrary to do, but goals are an important part of this process. They’ll allow you to focus on a few main ideas, and how to execute them at the same time. Although when thinking of goals, one can become too ambitious at times.

Create smaller goals and actions such as “Gaining trust of loved ones by cooking them scented pies” rather than just “Rule the pie industry by yourself”. These smaller goals should allow for those to take smaller steps to reach their overarching goal in the end. Our overarching goal is to “RULE THE WORLD” but we must make smaller goals and take steps to get to this position we want.

Simply put, being too ambitious won’t get us anywhere and we need to take it slow, so one can achieve the world domination that they want.

Step 2 : Go under the radar

After you’ve set up your goals, you can start the process to world domination. Depending on what your goals are you can take different actions to ensure this step is taken into account.

You need to go under the radar, so you won’t be caught doing your processes to reach your goal. Staying in sight of corporations and organizations allows you to be seen doing acts leading to world domination.

Going under the radar will allow you to do these smaller steps whilst no one is watching at all, leading to your smaller goals. You may meet accomplices and others whilst in this process, and you can let them in on your plan, but remember that you must stay under the radar, and you need to know who you can trust.

In this world, betrayal is common, and whistleblowers are all about. You can’t let them tell everyone about your plan, and you must be careful about letting people onto your plan.

If you are spoken about to the authorities, it’s over and there’s no coming back to the scene. You can’t let yourself fall to their actions against you. Once you’ve started, there’s no going back.

Rule #1: Crimes

These rules should help ensure your position’s safety, as well as your path there. There will be more coming up to guide you on your path to world dominance.

Don’t commit any crimes in the early part of this plan. Doing so will alert others of your presence, and allow them to target you and your path to success. Try to find ways around problems that don’t involve crimes, even petty ones. Only do so if necessary to the plan, and try to stay out of sight of any untrusted others.

Crimes may seem like the easy way to take in life, but for this plan especially, try to limit the amount that you commit. Otherwise your plan may be foiled and you will be the one at front with the authorities.

Step 3 : Start a monopoly

In our everyday lives, money is necessary to do nearly anything. If you don’t have it, you may as well just go back to a regular life. But since we’ve started we have to find a way to get or gain this money. So, we have to start a monopoly.

Although, why a monopoly? Well, the previous step requires us to not commit any crimes, and stay under the radar. Doing any other action that interrupts the social community, would leave us within potential viewing.

By peacefully entering the marketing field with a monopoly on an item, we’ll be able to stay out of the way of larger corporations and the authorities’ eyes this way.

You want the item or object you’ll be making a monopoly on, to be small and easily gatherable. Bringing something rare or valuable will get other’s eyes looking at you. You can start small with natural products, such as fruits and vegetables, and slowly start to grow larger. Any significant or great growth may alert others to your position.

Step 4: Advertise for group/convention

Now that you’ve got a plan for money, you can set your focus on more pressing issues. As all leaders should know, there will be those who are opposed to your position, and you must try to minimize that. Ensuring that there won’t be a majority within your court will bring the best for you, as there won’t be a good chance for a rebellion.

Create a name for yourself that leaves you ambiguous, but to a point in which people still will know you by the name of it. Remember, you want to stay under the radar for this portion of the plan.

Once you’ve got your “alias” that you can go under, you can start advertising and marketing your name. Think about what you want to do during this portion of the plan and express it to the public. Although, make sure to limit the information that the public has access to.

Through your advertising, you want to form some sort of group, almost like a committee that you can trust. It’s important to gain those that you can trust, and it’s much better to do it in this part of the plan, rather than within earlier steps.

Step 5 :Gather a following

From that point on, you need to start gathering member within this “group” of yours. It is necessary foryourself to gather those who can be your eye to the public without being seen. They can make business interactions with others, whilst you prepare for the next step in your plan. To ensure that it works smoothly, put subjects through tests, to record their actions and if they can be trusted. It’s your decision on how to do this, but just don’t scare away members doing this process. A survey or a fake situation test can do this.

Try to create a headquarters of some sorts, for yourself and others to gather when necessary. Here, most operations of your plan will be executed with the committee you’ve garnered. This headquarters should have a general layout with a meeting room at least, but should also be furnished with nice furniture and other electronics. It is necessary to keep the atmosphere and mood high whilst committing certain operations.

Through these methods, you should be able to gain a following after your alias. This step is most important, as people are some of the most important parts of rebellion and leadership. Without them, it would just be yourself and those loyal to you. It is necessary to gather those who will follow under you.

Step 6 : Gain trust within members

You may gain followers, but keeping trust within members and yourself is necessary to ensure that no one tries to oppose your position. To do this, you may want to set the atmosphere to be nice and chill.

Possibly adding more to the “headquarters”, such as extra-curricular activities should be enough to gain the attention of your members, depending on how many that you’ve gathered.

Make sure your members know about the central ideas of your group that’s under your alias. Although keep some information away from them. You can’t tell them everything about your plan, rather try to direct them to a different conclusion.

Get these members to try and dislike the government. Bring up a reason for why the government should fall and exaggerate on those points. Any government should have issues that their people dislike, and bringing out these issues should give an incentive for these people to fight against the government.

Speaking about your marketing plan with your monopoly should aid yourself in this instance, allowing members to see what they are supporting. Although make sure that admittance to the group is, and will always be, free, in order to not discourage other members. Remember, we are trying to stay under the radar.

Rule #2: Betrayal

Betrayal is inevitable in this plan, with yourself performing it or others enacting on you. You must know how to deal with it at either end of the situation.

When someone enacts betrayal on you, you may perform revenge on that certain person, but it’s important to remember to keep yourself at a low with those emotions. Rather than attacking them, you must know how to use your other members to your advantage. Through their betrayal you can use your members as a front to avoid any of the consequences.

Although, if you are enacting the betrayal on someone else, make sure that no one else finds out. Try to do it sneakily, and let themselves be their own downfall. Planting evidence or turning others on them can do this to them. Only do this on those members who are conspiring on you or starting/questioning your authority over the group.

Step 7 : Get a more powerful position

Once you’ve amassed a group of trusted followers, you can start gaining power over others outside of the group. You can take it slow with political parties, or fast with rebellions, but take into account how many people you’ve managed to get into your group.

If you take it slow, make sure you start with getting a position within the vicinity of your group and headquarters. Within your party, you’ve already managed to get members within the area on your side, so it’s almost ensured that you will get elected in that matter.

Getting these positions should allow oneself to be able to have some form of power within any fashion. Use your power accordingly, but remember that your actions should be minimized to reduce those looking at you. At this point keep pushing yourself to reach your goals, as at this point you have to keep moving on.

Step 8 : Overrule those lower than your position

Now that you’ve gained a powerful position, you have to overrule those lower than your position. Remember that rebellions are inevitable, and getting these smaller groups under your control should allow oneself to minimize these issues.

Although, this action needs to be done peacefully. Doing otherwise may result in your group being investigated and your plans shutting down. This is the last step that you want to stay under the radar. Anything after this shall yield itself to your actions afterwards.

Try and get into better relationships with these groups. Holding community meetings and hearings may get these positions closer to you and on your side. You need to make sure that your trusted group can get in these positions and take control when necessary. Failure to do so will be fatal within your planning. You may need to enact other forms of plans, but taking away these smaller positions is necessary for world domination and the lack of rebellions.

You’re nearly there, but you should take into account any of your members acknowledging what they’re actually part of. Make sure to be secretive with your information and limit what gets told to them. Just a few more steps to go and you shall be able to wear that title of “World Dominator”.

Rule #3: Motivation

You have pushed yourself to the limits at this point. You may have gone through a lot and feel like there might not be much else for yourself at this moment, but you must keep moving on. You’ve done a lot for yourself at this point, and you may need motivation to keep pursuing your dreams.

Think of everything that you’ve done previously and what has pushed you to this point. The memories and the values that you hold that have pushed you here should keep pushing you to the end. Remember that you’re close and keep to yourself the plans that you hold for world domination. You’ve done this for a reason, and you’re executing that plan for that reason. It is necessary to finish these upcoming actions next. Just keep your motivations high before someone, or more likely yourself, tries to talk you out of it.

Step 9 : Overthrow the government

Gaining smaller positions should allow you to stage some sort of coup against more powerful hierarchies. Through these actions, you should be able to slowly start taking power over the people of your region and outer regions.

This may be the hardest step within your plan, but ensure that this part of the plan is solid and has minimal issues. In order to take over certain governments, allow your members to riot against an issue you’ve created against the government. It may be violent, but keep pushing towards your agendas. If you have enough push, you should be able to rule the government and overrule them entirely.

There will be issues during this process, and you will have problems. Your previous steps should have ensured that you have the least problems in this instance. If you do have any, get your members to try and fix them. If the issue keeps persisting, most likely they will be caught in the

crossfire of it all. Try and get yourself least involved with the actions of the government and your group.

You can take other paths to reach this point, such as committing crimes and whatnot, but this plan helps ensure that these steps are as easy as possible for a regular citizen. There’s not much that can come after this.

Step 10 : “Peacefully” annex the world

Now that your position has been gained and now that you’ve amassed your followers, you can start taking over the world, one country at a time. Either you can take the pacifist route and peacefully annex countries, or rather the violent route, where one can fight in wars with other countries.

The first option is recommended, although the latter may be more efficient and effective in its matters.

If you decide to take the peaceful route, you can do what you’ve done before, but on a bigger scale. Try spreading around your ideals to others, and make them hold doubt against their governments. Soon enough the word should spread and you can enact your plan with annexation. Starting rebellions and other forms of protest within countries, should allow yourself to try “aiding” those in need away from their citizens.

Trust can be built on these bonds, and most likely you can use that to your advantage. Start small with requests, but eventually make sure that you are the only one benefiting from this exchange. Any leak of information will dampen your plan, although won’t end it at this point.

Slowly enough start infiltrating your people in, and from there you can get people in your favor elected into office and even into power. From there, you’ve managed to rule over another country, Although in this situation, you will have multiple targets at once. Make sure you target those who don’t trust you. It is necessary to start slow with your actions, and eventually get them on your side.

This will be the hardest step of the process. There may be those against you, but if you have enough reinforcements and extensive planning, you should be able to get through this part of the plan.

Step 11 : Rule the World

Country after country and nation after nation, you’ve been able to take them all down. You’re left to your own wits with the whole world under your control. Now as the world leader, you can do anything you please.

Creating heinous laws with awful requirements and rules, won’t be the least of your power. You can enforce these principles on your people, but just keep in mind that they might just want to overthrow you due to these issues you make for them.

Have some fun whilst ruling the world, I mean you have worked hard to gain this position. Run a theme park! Enforce milk then cereal! Start a Mukbang Channel! Start an experimental Jazz trio with two geese! Enforce the teaching of children about the differences between bass and guitar! Get Character Development! Anything that your mind desires can become true.

Step 12 : Repeat the process :

Keep pursuing your dreams, and push yourself to keep going. There are other worlds to be conquered, and character development to be done. Repeat the process with other worlds and slowly take over their governments from within. Have some fun with these worlds and try different methods. After all, you do have a whole world that you can back yourself on.

If you do get rejected from a world, make your fast escape and try with other worlds. Although you want to avoid confrontation with those civilizations again. Try to get rid of them peacefully through annexation or manipulation. Otherwise you may get pushed into the cycle of starting again.

Ruling multiple worlds may be hard for just one person, so elect others into position for you. These will be trusted individuals who are capable of these tasks. Make sure that you stay above and beyond the radar, and make your presences known. Have fun ruling over the world and others that you may conquer on your journey.

Conclusion:

The galaxy is now your hands, traveler. Build up upon your empire and keep pursuing those expectations and dreams. Those are 12 simple steps to rule the world, and I would like to thank you for your endeavor through these steps towards your journey to world domination.

You’ve been through it all, and now it’s your turn to make your decisions on this path. Take these 12 steps with you, and use your motivations to make your way onto the world stage. Good luck and have fun on your endeavors and adventures towards ruling the world.

‘Amanda The Adventurer’ – Explaining the story

By: Julia Yang

Note: This article contains spoilers for the game

What even is ‘Amanda The Adventurer’? Well let me tell you.
‘Amanda The Adventurer’ is an indie-horror game and Amanda is the main antagonist. You will play as a character named Riley. Riley has come across some strange VHS tapes left by their missing aunt, Kate. It’s your job to see what these tapes contain, and piece together the dark secrets that they tell. The game developers have released many demos in the past, and finally came out with the full game on April 23rd. Now that we know that, let’s see what the story of this mysterious game is all about.

‘Amanda The Adventurer’ starts with Riley opening a letter that they received from their aunt Kate. Kate was thought to be a librarian, but as you progress through the letters, you soon learn that aunt Kate was investigating complaints and behavior issues with the 2000’s show called ‘Amanda The Adventurer’. Aunt Kate is missing, and in her letter it implies that the show had killed her. With aunt Kate’s disappearance, it is now your job as Riley to continue with her investigation work.

Riley is in their attic, this is where your investigation will take place. You will find VHS tapes and notes throughout the game. The more you find, the more insight on this matter you’ll gain. The show ‘Amanda The Adventurer’ started off as a public live-action TV show. The show creator Sam Colton never expected ‘Amanda The Adventurer’, starring his adopted daughter Rebecca, would be such a hit. Sam explains in a recording that a big entertainment company, Hameln, has purchased the rights to ‘Amanda The Adventurer’ and is making it a worldwide broadcast, and it’ll be digitally animated instead of live-action.

We soon see a secret tape recording of Rebecca in the middle of production with Hameln where the directors ask Rebecca to repeat some very odd phrases; “Bye-Yell, Pie man”, and “Baa Lamb”. Sam questions the phrases the director is telling Rebecca to repeat but is interrupted by Rebecca. Rebecca snaps and yells, “No! I don’t want to do that!” and claims she’s responding to the man in the headphones.

The phrases Rebecca was told to repeat are, according to many, the names of demons; Bael, Paimon, and Balam.

Sam Colton suddenly disappears in the middle of production, and Rebecca is handed into the custody of Hameln. We’ll see recorded footage of Rebecca signing a contract and then being led into a room with pipes, implying that she may be underground. This will be the last time we see Rebecca, as Hameln makes an announcement to the public asking to “Respect her privacy”.

Not long after this, ‘Amanda The Adventurer’ looks to be taking a turn for the bizarre. Parents have reported incidents of the show presenting strange images and ideas like “parents are not always right.” On one of the secret tapes, the orange one, we discover that after kids watch ‘Amanda The Adventurer’, they go into a trance and after they’re out of their parents line of sight, they disappear out of what seems like thin air.

In the final tape you will receive for the “True” ending, Amanda states ominously “I’m out there. Somewhere.”

Best energy drinks in my opinion

By: Biftu Osmon

Energy drinks are created to have higher amounts of caffeine to boost energy levels and alertness. They have become a popular beverage choice in teens as of recent years. I decided to review some of my usual, as well as some new, energy drinks.

The first energy drink I’m reviewing is the orange flavor of Celsius. Celsius is one of my personal favorite energy drinks. When I first opened the can, I got a whiff of a citrus smell. I would compare the flavor of this to a Sunny-D with higher caffeine levels. I’m a big fan of citrus flavors as this is my go-to drink for when I want caffeine. I rate this drink an 8.5 out of 10.

The next energy drink I reviewed is Red Bull in the yellow edition. This was one of the new energy drinks I taste tested. I was a little skeptical to try it because the packaging wasn’t appealing. I would describe the taste of this drink as fruity. I was scared at first but I enjoyed this drink. It perfectly encapsulates the tropical flavor. I rate this drink a 9 out of 10.

The next energy drink I’m going to review is the BAYA Starbucks energy drink in the raspberry lime flavor. This drink definitely won in terms of marketing and design but not in taste. I didn’t enjoy this drink because the raspberry and lime mixed together didn’t compliment each other. The aftertaste was also unsettling. I would rate this drink a 2 out of 10.

The final energy drink I’m reviewing is the Ghost energy drink in the flavor cherry limeade. The looks of this drink were also deceiving. The flavor reminds me of a more citrusy Shirley Temple. I would give it a 6 out of 10 overall since I found it to be excessively sweet.

A brief history of ants

By: Isabelle Baidoo

Although ants are seemingly small and insignificant creatures; their history is quite interesting and lengthy.

The ant (Formicidae) evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous Period roughly 145.5 million years ago. Today there are more than 13,800 species of ants that have been discovered, but scientists estimate that there are 22,000 species in total.

Ants are a Superorganism meaning they are a group of living organisms that work together as one to grow and develop. All ants play an important role in the colony. There are the ants that look after the baby ants, others that collect and prepare food, then there are the ants that dig and clean the nest. Some ants are born for their job, but others will change roles as they grow.

They live in colonies all over the world in almost every continent. Ants have snuck their way into Antarctica where they can only survive around humans. They live in trees, soil, rocks, logs, and small acorns or pinecones.

Defending their colony and their nest is a common struggle for ants. All ants can bite, and some have bodies specifically made for fighting. There’s also ants with stingers similar to bees, ants that squirt acid out of their abdomen, or ants that emit a potent smell. Although this seems rather violent, there are certain ants who don’t feel the need to fight and just hide or remain very still.

These colonies are mostly made up of female ants. Worker ants are all related and their mother is the queen ant of the colony. Once a year when a new colony is ready to be made, male ants and new queens are born. Both males and queens are born with wings. The males use these wings to fly and mate with the new queens, but their lives are very short because their only job is to mate. There is at least one queen per colony and many worker ants. Ants can be smarter than humans when they work together as a colony.

Ants’ lives begin with the mother laying a round squishy egg; which will eventually hatch into an ant larva. The ant larva eats and grows, then develops all the necessary adult body parts within its body; this is the pupa stage. They then shed their old skin and become an adult ant.

Ants come in a very wide variety of colors. Not all ants are just red, black, or brown. There are species of ants all over the world that range from green, gold, yellow, and even blue. In Australia there are shiny blue ants called Blue Ants. They can be bright metallic blue or green and are often found in flowers.

Some ants are farmer ants such as the leafcutter. There is a specific group of ants called “fungus-growing ants” that are fully self-sufficient; they create gardens of fungi to eat, and feed their fungi leaves and soil to keep it fresh. Then there are “rancher ants” who herd smaller bugs like aphids from plant to plant to help them cross safely from weather and predators. In return, the aphids provide sugar water to the ants.

Ants are commonly consumed in Asian, African, and Latin countries. Some popular edible ant species are: leafcutters, weavers, honey, and black ants. This is because they’re such a plentiful species and are relatively easy to locate.

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BWCA summer 2023

By: Greta Johnson

Summer 2023 the Boundary Waters will be open to canoe, kayakers and backpackers once again. With over 1 million acres of federally protected land in the northeastern part of Minnesota and similar wilderness across the border in Canada. This year over 250,000 people visited the BWCA.

Many people have signed up for permits this summer. Most are “putting in” at an outfitter or an entry point and have planned trips through the wilderness for at least a couple days.

Planning is a very important part of a BWCA trip. If you’re
staying overnight you need food, a bear-bag or some kind of bear repellent to keep the food in, a tent (duh), and a way to filter your water which would be either a filtration system, iodine, or boiling your water.

You also need a mode of transport which could be on foot or in a canoe or kayak. Traveling through the BWCA can be very taxing on your body so you need to make sure to drink enough water and eat good and nutritious food. This will help with your energy levels and keep you going through the whole day.

Something else that is important to a successful BWCA trip is planning when you’re leaving and when you’re coming back, and then letting someone know. Since the woods can be a dangerous place if something happens to you and you don’t come back when you planned this person can let the authorities know.

Safety on the water is a vital part of a safe trip. If you’re choosing a canoe or kayak as your mode of transport then a life jacket and a paddle are two required parts of water travel.

You will also need sunscreen and bug repellent to stay safe from the sun and the bugs. Both are equally strong. And will bother you very much if you don’t do anything about it.