Lana V Lynx
Bio
Avid reader and occasional writer of satire and dystopia under a pen name of my favorite wild cat.
Stories (69/0)
To Tell or Not To Tell - 4
It took Paul about three days to find the information about Mark’s biological parents. He found out that Lucy died of an overdose about a year after they moved. Her boyfriend was so shaken by her death that he returned to his parents, cleaned up and went to college. He was happily married now, running his father’s family business, with five-year-old twins. When Paul tracked him down on the phone and told him there was a chance Mark would find out about them and want to connect with his biological father, Lucy’s ex said he’d rather keep that part of his history secret from his wife and urged Paul to discourage Mark from seeking contact. Paul was relieved to share the news with Julie. Even though she was distressed and sad to learn of Lucy’s passing, Julie was also relieved to know that there was no threat to their relationship with Mark from his biological parents. They both agreed that it would be easier to tell the truth knowing this information, but they still did not know how to tell him.
By Lana V Lynxabout 21 hours ago in Confessions
Elevator Encounter
It’s day 439 of World War III that started on February 24, 2022 with Russia invading Ukraine. The entire world is burning since November 2022, after the exhausted and desperate Putin’s army launched a missile aimed at Lviv, miscalculated, and overshot it into Poland. NATO countries immediately activated Article 5 for joint defense and sent a missile directly into the Kremlin. It was an imploding bomb, taking everything with it underground in a clean sweep. After the dust settled, the entire Kremlin was gone as if someone carefully cut out a cancerous mole off the face of Moscow. Even though Putin had not stayed in the Kremlin since the beginning of the war and the hit was largely symbolic, triggered Russia went all in and launched a tactical nuclear bomb into the formerly British and currently Canadian Arctic. NATO retaliated by sending a similar bomb into Siberian taiga. All hell broke loose. Russia twisted the arms of the other BRICS countries, and Brazil, India, China, and South Africa reluctantly got involved by either kicking out or directly attacking NATO bases located in their jurisdiction or proximity. India’s Modi sent his troops into Kashmir, setting off a war with Pakistan. China invaded Taiwan, killing off most population as dissidents and resettling the island with mainland Chinese.
By Lana V Lynx3 days ago in Fiction
Twitter Takeover
I have already mentioned that I teach Ethics of Communication (see my previous essay on the Oscar Slap here). Last week, just as we were wrapping up the semester by discussing Ethics of Communication Technology, life brought me another gift of an urgent topic for the debate: Should Elon Musk be allowed to buy Twitter? The topic was deliberately formulated in the passive voice because I wanted the students to consider who or what agency has the authority to facilitate or prevent the deal from happening.
By Lana V Lynx13 days ago in 01
To Tell Or Not To Tell - 3
The adoption agent called them about three days later and told them that Lucy didn’t have anything alarming in her pregnancy history. In fact, when her mother was still alive, she made sure that Lucy ate enough healthy food, took her pre-natal vitamins, and had no contact with her “bad” boyfriend. The baby seemed to be healthy, developing normally. The agent also said that Lucy was determined to give up the baby now that she saw them. Before the call, Julie and Paul have talked through all possibilities and decided that even if the baby could develop some health problems in the future they’d still adopt him. “We’ll just watch everything carefully, and sign him up for all possible sports,” Paul said. They ultimately decided to go through with the adoption. Within a couple of days, they furnished the paperwork, and had Lucy sign all the documents. For the rest of Lucy’s pregnancy, they took her into their home and made sure she had everything she needed. Paul and Julie were present during the birth and when the baby was born, he was so defenseless and perfect at the same time, they both fell in love with him right away. They decided to name him Mark after Paul’s father. After a day in the hospital and no complications, Paul and Julie came home a happy young family.
By Lana V Lynx23 days ago in Confessions
"Fake It Till You Make It"
"Inventing Anna" on Netflix (see my detailed review here), all the documentaries and movies on "Theranos" on various platforms (see a guide here) and now "WeCrashed" on Apple TV. What do they all have in common? - They are about people with breathtaking chutzpah.
By Lana V Lynx25 days ago in Geeks
To Tell Or Not To Tell - 2
Paul and Julie met in college at a party and fell in love almost right away. He was a software engineering senior, and she was a second-year accounting student. After he graduated, Paul enrolled himself into a two-year MBA program at the same college so that Julie could catch up with him. They got married right after they both graduated. They did not want to have kids right away, being young professionals and enjoying life together. They traveled a lot, both at home and internationally, mostly for his work as an up-and-coming international IT consultant. They attended a lot of parties and concerts, and generally led what some would call a bohemian urban life.
By Lana V Lynxabout a month ago in Confessions
Oscars 2022 Slap Legacy
I teach undergraduate Ethics of Communication and graduate Crisis Communication courses and never experience shortage of real-life cases to discuss with my students on any ethics topic we cover in class. This week, as we started to discuss ethics of mass communication and ethical crisis media strategies, life brought me a special "gift": Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards ceremony.
By Lana V Lynx2 months ago in Geeks
Missing The School Bus
“Mom, mom, mom! Wake up!” Alyssa heard her little daughter’s rushed voice through the sweet sleep of early morning hours. Not sure if it's a dream or reality, Alyssa did not respond. Then came a gentle push on her shoulder, followed by a harder one, "Mom, wake up, pleeeease!"
By Lana V Lynx2 months ago in Humans
Murderville Review
A combination of an absurdly good murder story, comedy and improvisation? Yes, please! I absolutely loved the new series on Netflix with Will Arnett as a senior homicide detective named Terry Seattle who is supposed to solve a murder in every episode with a new partner, a celebrity playing him- or herself. While the show actors have a blueprint for the story, character parameters, and pre-written lines, the celebrities have absolutely no idea of what is about to happen. As true partners to the detective, they interrogate and observe three murder suspects. The episode always starts out with some sort of a test for a new trainee in the form of questions, where Terry and his new partner are supposed to bond. They they go and investigate the murder. At the end of the episode, they are supposed to solve the case by naming the murderer, usually in a game-show revealing and suspenseful manner, and explain how they arrived at that conclusion. Then Chief Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle (who is also Detective Seattle's estranged wife) comes out and tells whether the celebrity guessed right or wrong, also in a comically suspenseful way with close-ups and dramatic pauses, and explains how the murder was really committed. Throughout the show, the detective and celebrity are fed certain clues that just like in a good murder mystery are supposed to lead the detectives to the right conclusion.
By Lana V Lynx2 months ago in Criminal
Crying and Praying for Ukraine
I'm Russian. Russian American, to be exact, and I am conflicted and broken. I have not slept much this week because the megalomaniac paranoid president of Russia, my second home country, invaded the country my grandparents' ancestors came from - Ukraine.
By Lana V Lynx3 months ago in The Swamp
