BeeBlack: forum

"This is my own essay for a university assignment (unpublished), not plagiarism. I’m sharing it as a way of practising my English."

 

Coma and Disorders of Consciousness: Clinical and Neuroscientific Insights, and the Default Mode Network as a Transdiagnostic Marker of Altered Consciousness

- BeeBlack translated by BeeBlack

Abstract

Disorders of consciousness following severe brain injury remain among the most challenging conditions to diagnose in clinical neuroscience, with reported misdiagnosis rates of 30 to 40% (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018). This article synthesizes a neuropsychopathology seminar on coma and disorders of consciousness before examining, in greater depth, how the default mode network (DMN) is altered across a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions and how this alteration can be modulated by therapeutic interventions. The first part outlines the conceptual distinction between arousal and awareness, the clinical spectrum from coma to locked-in syndrome, and the behavioral tools used to detect residual consciousness. The second part reviews DMN architecture, the factors that modulate its connectivity, its disruption in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, PTSD, and schizophrenia, and the interventions, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, cognitive remediation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and neurofeedback, that appear to renormalize it. This article concludes that consciousness should be understood as the dynamic expression of distributed brain networks, and that DMN connectivity may constitute a promising transdiagnostic biomarker.

“If you have any questions about this topic, please send me an email. To make it more digestible, I’m adding small personal comments in blue. I tried to translate the terms I use as a French speaker as accurately as possible. In the U.S., the term ‘vegetative state’ is used for unresponsive wakefulness, whereas here we do not consider it to reflect an absence of brain activity.”

- BeeBlack

Introduction: The Diagnostic Challenge

Distinguishing patients in an unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) from those in a minimally conscious state (MCS) is one of the most consequential tasks in clinical neuroscience, and one of the most error-prone: diagnostic errors are estimated at 30-40% (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018; Gosseries, 2026). Detecting the presence or absence of consciousness is critical because the absence of language does not equal the absence of consciousness, a distinction that carries direct consequences for prognosis and therapeutic decision-making. These diagnostic stakes are inseparable from ethical ones, since decisions about continuing or withdrawing care hinge on this assessment. Together, these considerations justify the need for a rigorous, multimodal diagnostic approach that combines repeated behavioral examination with neuroimaging and electrophysiological tools.

“Relying solely on the Glasgow Coma Scale is inadequate, and clinical errors tend to rise."

Part 1.  Seminar : Coma and Disorders of Consciousness

Defining Consciousness: Arousal and Awareness

Consciousness is classically decomposed into two components (Gosseries, 2026).

Arousal (Wakefulness) corresponds to eye opening, vigilance, and cortical activation, and is supported subcortically by the brainstem, thalamus, and striatum, together forming the mesocircuit.

Awareness (Conscious perception), or subjective experience, corresponds to the internal and external lived perception of the world and of oneself. Its internal component is thought to rely on the default mode network, whereas its external component recruits fronto-parietal networks. This distinction, between being awake and being aware, underlies the entire clinical spectrum of disorders of consciousness, since arousal and awareness can be dissociated after severe brain injury.

"The main idea is that consciousness has two parts: one for the body and one for the mind. For the mind, there’s internal perception (daydreaming, thinking) and external perception (paying attention to what’s around you)."

Mapping the States of Consciousness

Beyond pathological states, physiological and altered states illustrate how arousal and awareness can vary independently or together. Conscious wakefulness combines arousal with full subjective experience. Slow-wave sleep is characterized by a marked decrease in subjective experience, whereas REM sleep is associated with a rich internal experience, namely dreaming. Lucid dreaming adds a further layer of metacognition, or awareness of the dream state itself. Finally, altered states such as hypnosis, trance, and psychedelic states illustrate additional configurations of arousal and awareness (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018; Gosseries, 2026) (cf. Fig 1).

"Internal conscious perception is active during lucid dreaming, while wakefulness is not. Lucid dreaming enables voluntary influence over the dream. Coma must be differentiated from brain death, as recovery is possible from coma but not from brain death."

Fig 1. Map roughly translated from Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, (2018)

Clinical Assessment of Disorders of Consciousness

Clinically, patients recovering from coma are assessed across six functional domains (auditory, visual, motor, oromotor, communicative, and arousal) that together distinguish the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), the minus and plus variants of the minimally conscious state (MCS- and MCS+), emergence from MCS, locked-in syndrome, and coma (Gosseries, 2026). A patient in locked-in syndrome, for instance, may show a systematic response to command and object recognition despite an absence of spontaneous motor output, whereas the profile of cognitive-motor dissociation (CMD) is behaviorally indistinguishable from UWS at the bedside, yet conceals residual consciousness detectable only through ancillary techniques.[1]

"People don't remain in a coma for decades (without regaining consciousness or wakefulness). They progress from a comatose state to a state of unresponsive wakefulness)"

The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R)

The CRS-R is the reference behavioral scale for this assessment, evaluating auditory, visual, motor, oromotor, and communicative function as well as arousal level through 23 items distributed across six subscales (Gosseries, 2026). Three signs are considered major markers of consciousness: response to command, visual fixation and pursuit, and localization to pain. A single occurrence of one of these signs is sufficient to establish a diagnosis of MCS, provided it is observed reproducibly across the four trials of the scale. Additional, supplementary signs of consciousness include crossing the legs, eye blinking, olfactory reaction, and swallowing.[2]

"This scale is widely used in Europe. In the United States, they still use the Glasgow scale, which further increases the likelihood of misdiagnosis."

The Contribution of Neuroimaging and EEG

Because behavioral scales alone cannot reliably detect covert consciousness, several complementary tools are used alongside the CRS-R: positron emission tomography (PET), structural MRI (sMRI), functional MRI (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) (Gosseries, 2026). These techniques make it possible to identify residual cortical activity or command-following in patients who show no behavioral evidence of consciousness, and are central to detecting cognitive-motor dissociation.

"For information, functional imaging uses AI to refine the identification of cognitive impairment. However, clinical verification remains necessary."

Part 2. In-Depth Focus: Default Mode Network Alteration Across Pathologies and Modulating Tools

The Default Mode Network (DMN)

The default mode network comprises three interconnected functional subsystems: a central hub, a medial temporal subsystem, and a medial prefrontal subsystem. It is characteristically inhibited upon activation of the salience network and the fronto-parietal network, reflecting a broader dynamic of anticorrelation between task-negative and task-positive networks (Fox et al., 2005). Far from being a mere resting-state artifact, the DMN is dynamic and adaptive, supporting self-construction, autobiographical episodic memory, projection into the past and future, theory of mind, and creativity and imagination (Andrews-Hanna, Smallwood, & Spreng, 2014; Bastin, 2018; Beaty et al., 2018; Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, & Schacter, 2008; Leech & Sharp, 2014; Raichle, 2015; Spreng & Grady, 2010; Smith, Mitchell, & Duncan, 2019; Soares, Gonzalo, Castelhano, & Castelo-Branco, 2023; Yeshurun, Nguyen, & Hasson, 2021).

"Indirectly, other processes are also involved. However, when we refer to the default mode network, we are specifically referring to the connections between the precuneus, the posterior cingulate gyrus, the ventral and dorsal frontomedial cortex, the inferior parietal lobule, and, in some cases, the medial temporal gyrus, depending on the experimental context."

Factors Modulating the DMN

DMN connectivity is not fixed: it is modulated by altered states of consciousness (Ho et al., 2015; Sampaio et al., 2014), by emotions and personality (Bauer et al., 2019; Bremer et al., 2022; Brewer et al., 2011; Soares et al., 2023), by age (Malagurski, Deschwanden, Jäncke, & Mérillat, 2022), and by environmental factors, including early-life adversity (Hanson et al., 2015; McLaughlin, Sheridan, & Lambert, 2014). This modulability is precisely what makes the DMN a plausible substrate for both vulnerability and therapeutic change.

"The main modulatory neurotransmitters are glutamate, noradrenaline, and acetylcholine. The others are directly involved in the default mode network to varying degrees, ensuring its proper functioning."

Disorders: DMN Dysconnectivity Profiles

Across a wide range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, the DMN shows distinct, partly overlapping dysconnectivity profiles.

"This is a corpus of recent research examining alterations of the default mode network in various pathologies. The key takeaway is that this network plays a more critical role than commonly assumed, and despite methodological limitations that hinder consensus, its disruptions consistently show significant effects."

Note. Intra-DMN connectivity refers to the internal coherence of the network; inter-network connectivity describes its relation to other systems; coupling refers to synchronization/desynchronization dynamics between networks; and metabolism reflects the energetic cost of the underlying neural activity.[3]

Intervention Approaches Related to the DMN

Several therapeutic and neuromodulatory approaches appear capable of renormalizing DMN connectivity.

“The key point is that the clinical and experimental interventions described below exert their effects on the default mode network.”

Note. aMCI = amnestic mild cognitive impairment; MCI = mild cognitive impairment.[4]

Limitations and Perspectives

This body of research faces several limitations, including small sample sizes and substantial inter-individual variability, marked methodological heterogeneity across studies, and the persistent risk of conflating correlation with causation. In the specific case of neurofeedback, the standardization of data pipelines remains an open challenge (Lamouroux, 2025). Several perspectives emerge in response: standardizing analysis pipelines, illustrated by the fMRIStroke pipeline developed for post-stroke populations, fusing EEG with functional imaging, adopting longitudinal approaches to track DMN evolution over time, designing network-targeted interventions, and, ultimately, working toward transdiagnostic biomarkers of altered connectivity (Lamouroux, 2025).

“Neurofeedback remains a non‑consensual field, yet the studies presented here are generally methodologically sound. These are not pseudoscientific claims from charlatans selling overpriced devices. No quantum mysticism or other scientific fallacies.”

Conclusion

Taken together, these two strands of work converge on a unifying view of consciousness: it is best understood as the dynamic expression of brain networks within the central nervous system, such that the same clinical behavior can correspond to different underlying brain states. Alterations of these networks, and of the default mode network in particular, may constitute a potential transdiagnostic marker across neurological and psychiatric conditions, opening the way to new theoretical hypotheses. Clinically, this perspective offers concrete avenues to improve diagnosis, refine prognosis, and develop care approaches tailored to each patient's underlying brain state rather than to behavior alone.

“I attempted to make the topic accessible without oversimplifying it, but the default mode network cannot be meaningfully reduced beyond a certain point. The terminology used reflects my own translation of European concepts, so minor imprecisions may remain.”

Reference

"If you’re interested, please email me"

[1]Two behaviorally indistinguishable but conceptually distinct entities may underlie an apparently identical clinical presentation: the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and cognitive-motor dissociation (CMD), in which residual covert consciousness is detectable only through neuroimaging or electrophysiology, not at the bedside (Gosseries, 2026).

[2]The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) remains the reference behavioral scale in this field, but diagnostic error rates of 30-40% persist when it is used in isolation, underscoring the need for multimodal assessment combining behavioral and neuroimaging/electrophysiological markers (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018; Gosseries, 2026).

[3]Intra-network connectivity refers to the internal coherence of a given network (e.g., the DMN); inter-network connectivity describes its relationship with other large-scale brain systems; coupling refers to the dynamic synchronization or desynchronization between networks; and metabolism reflects the energetic cost of the underlying neural activity.

[4]aMCI = amnestic mild cognitive impairment; TCC = cognitive-behavioral therapy; MCI = mild cognitive impairment.

Article shortcuts

Volume 039: "A TALKING BEE, A DRUGGED CHILD, AND VERY RELAXED PARENTS" - below
Volume 1567: "Feminised fish in packed districts: are men committing fewer crimes?"  [Link]
Volume 1568: "Special Edition: Begging on the Rise Across the City" [Link]

Volume 1569 (new) : "Special Edition: Eclipse Plunges Torn City Into Darkness - Nobody Can Tell Where To Punch Anymore " [Link]

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"Artificial intelligence is used solely for formatting and some fictional adverts due to a lack of clients. I am a fallible human being"

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The Dumpster Oracle

Section: Miscellaneous Events & Other Disasters

A TALKING BEE, A DRUGGED CHILD, AND VERY RELAXED PARENTS

By our field reporter, paid in Italian erotic DVDs

"I gave morphine to the black bee and he called me dad. I think he had a rough childhood… or I have a secret child. Either way, it’s a problem."

Testimony from an anonymous whale

Torn Dump - 06:42 AM

An unusual incident, even by Torn City standards, was reported early this morning at the municipal dump. A five‑year‑old child was seen capturing a black bee in a cracked jar, then offering it a lollipop found on site.

According to witnesses (mostly unionized rats), the bee demanded its release using a buzzing dialect not yet documented by local linguists.

[image: i.postimg.cc]

Illustrator (Dumpster Oracle)

The Child and the bee at the dump.

Even more surprising, according to these same witnesses, was that the lollipop was perfectly edible. Let us thank [insert advertising name here for only $100,000!] for providing the finest lollipops in this city.

The child, identified only as [***** **** **********], reportedly said: “I think I took mom’s LSD.”

Health authorities confirm that this sentence has become the unofficial motto of the stumbling junkies who frequent the dump.

An Unprecedented Diplomatic Exchange

After a brief negotiation, the child released the bee, which then allegedly assigned him a name “for services rendered.” We remind readers that insect‑assigned names are not yet recognized by City Hall but may be if enough citizens sign the petition currently circulating.

The bee, described as “black, jittery, and probably more sober than the child,” reportedly declared:

“You shall walk among men bearing my name.”

Toxicology experts believe this statement is either a sign of advanced intelligence or a mutation caused by irradiated blood, both hypotheses considered “plausible” by Torn’s scientific committee.

Discovery of Two Very Relaxed Parents

Shortly after the incident, the newly named BeeBlack was seen leaving the dump toward the port, after waving goodbye to his parents lying on the ground with frozen smiles.

Emergency services confirmed that the parents were:

“In a state of extreme relaxation, resulting in an indefinite cessation of bodily functions.”

According to municipal archives, this is likely due to the joy of raising one of Torn City’s rare children.

The bee reportedly reassured the child by saying:

“They’re very happy. Let them sleep.”

We remind readers that medical advice given by insects should not be followed without consulting a professional who has at least completed an introductory biology course.

A Promising Future

BeeBlack was later seen running toward the port, carrying a packet of unidentified pills. Witnesses said he appeared “enthusiastic, energetic, and dangerously optimistic.”

Local authorities announced they would “monitor the situation from afar,” which is standard procedure.

Does LSD Allow You to Talk to Bees?

Curious as always, our editorial team contacted the university to ask whether similar cases of children taking LSD and speaking to bees had been reported in recent decades.

According to Professor Douglas Mcmacburger:

“The increased use of stimulants by children whose brains are still developing creates a surprising mutation of the AVPR1a and LRRN1 genes, which enhances cognitive and emotional empathy. Although this does not significantly explain the transformation of buzzing into understandable words during hallucinatory phases, this discovery highlights an adaptive mutation in the city’s children, likely compensating for a lack of parental affection. Longitudinal studies are underway; we will have results in 20 years.”

Being a serious newspaper, we also asked him for the figures on infant drug consumption and the number of children speaking to black bees (cf. Fig.1).

[image: i.postimg.cc]

Fig.1

Correlation between the number of children under 8 consuming LSD and cases of inter‑species communication over the past 8 months

Curious as always, our editorial team notes the trend lines above track each other with unsettling precision, a correlation the university has declined to call causation, on the record.

Torn City surprises us every day. Some say the city is cursed. Others say it’s alive. But one thing is certain: When a bee starts naming children, the day is going to be long. And when it’s long, it’s productive. And productivity is the lifeblood of our city’s war machine.

The Dumpster Oracle Editorial Team

Hello, I’m Bee, one of the cleaners at the company Pleasures Galore.

I just wanted to mention that our boss is looking for active, high‑performing staff with solid stats.

There’s a rotation of training sessions, and they’re free for now.The company is new and growing, but at least you won’t have to pay or haggle to get the manager’s attention. Just stay active and avoid becoming too dependent on the system.There’s also a sign‑up bonus you can negotiate with the manager.

Here is a testimonial from an employee who is incredibly satisfied with the manager :

Wow... It’s spotless. I’ve always dreamt of working in a shop that smells pleasure.

The company is tidy too… though that’s just a small detail.

Best regards,

Bee B, Just the bloke with the broom

Conspiracy theorists: here’s a 15-second audio clip where you can hear my real voice, with no AI involved :D. I really enjoyed making it.

Banner

There’s a light bulb in the centre, because we are lights

Hi ! I'm Bee

Be lucky or lucky Bee ?

I’m the one on the pedalo, but my "wife" doesn’t like money :'(

In online gaming environments, helping new players-whether through giving items, virtual currency, advice, or time-generally does not stem from a single cause. Existing research instead points to a set of intertwined motivations, combining altruism, social dynamics, and community norms. The literature consulted, which covers both video games and comparable online communities, makes it possible to identify robust mechanisms, although it does not measure the universal share of each motivational factor.

To begin with, altruism is an important source of prosocial behavior. Some players directly value the well-being or success of others without expecting an equivalent reward. A survey on helping behavior in online games shows that altruism and reciprocity simultaneously influence prosocial actions (Wang & Wang, 2008). Giving to a novice can therefore be rewarding in itself, insofar as the experienced player turns their advantage into an opportunity to be helpful.

Next, helping can fall within a logic of delayed reciprocity. In progression-based games, experienced players have often benefited from prior support themselves. They do not necessarily help the same person in return; instead, they circulate help within the community. A study on open-world games describes this upstream reciprocity, in which beneficiaries later become donors (Chen & Xue, 2023). Convergently, broader research on online gifting shows that beneficiaries frequently pass the gesture on to someone else rather than repaying the original donor (Kizilcec et al., 2026).

Furthermore, helping can function as a social signaling mechanism. Assisting a novice allows players to display their expertise, generosity, or mastery of the game. A study on advice-sharing among experienced players indicates that social reputation can motivate more strongly than simple reciprocity. When the game does not provide an explicit stage for showcasing one’s skills, sharing tips becomes a way to attract community attention (Sun et al., 2006). This mechanism is particularly likely when gifts are visible, associated with the player’s name, or commented on by other members.

Social identity is also a determining factor. Players do not define themselves solely as individuals; they may be perceived as members of a guild, a server, or the game’s community. Helping newcomers then becomes consistent with the image they wish to project of their group identity. A survey of more than a thousand users in an online community found that social identity, prosocial orientation, and generalized reciprocity predicted the tendency to welcome newcomers (Hsieh et al., 2013). Helping thus serves to protect group continuity and transmit its norms.

According to self-determination theory, helping can also satisfy three fundamental psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In the study devoted to helping between novices and experienced players, these three dimensions were positively associated with donors’ intention to help, as were utilitarian and hedonic benefits (Chen & Xue, 2023). Giving to a beginner therefore allows the experienced player to feel competent, to freely choose a rewarding action, and to enter a social relationship.

Empathy constitutes another plausible mechanism. Experienced players may recognize themselves in the difficulties they once faced, whether understanding the game’s economy, dying frequently, ignoring implicit rules, or lacking resources. Experimental studies on cooperative play show that playing in teams can increase empathic distress toward people in need (Greitemeyer, 2016). This does not prove that every gift to a new player stems from empathy, but it provides a credible mechanism: repeated cooperation makes others’ needs more salient.

Even functional interactions can produce a sense of social presence. In an experiment conducted on CityVille, receiving help increased the feeling of proximity within the virtual environment, which then predicted perceived social support (Wohn, 2016). A gift can therefore be a small act that transforms a relationship between strangers into a social connection, especially if the new player expresses gratitude, returns, or joins the guild.

Prosocial behaviors are also influenced by social contagion. When gifts are frequent and valued, they become a community norm. An analysis of 1.5 million online gift exchanges shows that receiving a gift made people 56 percent more likely to give one in turn, and that observing pairs made gifting more acceptable (Kizilcec et al., 2026). In a game, these effects can be amplified by public logs, guild rewards, thanks, or examples set by veterans.

Finally, some players help less for the novice as an individual than to preserve the quality of the community. An ethnographic study of League of Legends describes players who devote time to improving sportsmanship and community cohesion with little direct reward. Their participation depended on social and technical factors of the system (Kou et al., 2017). Welcoming newcomers can thus be conceptualized as a form of community work aimed at reducing early abandonment, transmitting rules, and maintaining server population.

Two nuances must be considered. First, a single action can be simultaneously altruistic, strategic, enjoyable, and beneficial for the donor’s reputation. Second, game design and the visibility of gifts strongly modulate motivations. The study by Chen and Xue (2023) recommends facilitating the sharing of in-game resources while limiting the dominance of social rewards, in order to preserve autonomous motivation.

In conclusion, giving to a new player in Torn functions as a multi-level exchange: the novice receives a resource, while the veteran gains a sense of usefulness, competence, belonging, or recognition. The motivational mechanisms are well documented, but their relative weight depends on the type of game, the visibility of the gift, and the server’s culture.

Nevertheless, you do not activate any of these prosocial mechanisms but instead display the unmistakable urge to ask yourself about the quality of your own butthole. That concludes your psychological paper.

The Dumpster Oracle

Section: Celestial Events & Other Catastrophe

Aug14, 2026 ; Issue 1569

Special Edition: Eclipse Plunges Torn City Into Darkness - Nobody Can Tell Where To Punch Anymore

By BeeBlack, with contributions from the chronically underpaid editorial team

Torn City ----- 14: 07

“I looked up at the sky to understand why I couldn’t see anything, and that’s when I realized I couldn’t see anything.”

 

- An eyewitness, ironically

A Fickle Star Paralyzes The City

This Wednesday, a total solar eclipse swept over Torn City without so much as a warning, plunging the population into a sudden, unwelcome orange gloom. The immediate result: thousands of citizens found themselves totally unable to punch anyone, lacking the visibility required to aim at a face, a wallet, or both, depending on personal habits.

Hospitals report a historic drop in admissions for “fist to the face, sustained mid-street,” while idle doctors were spotted playing cards in the hallways. A statistical feat some are calling “an accidental outbreak of social peace.”

Solar Eclipse

Cult Rituals: Summoning The Bomb In The Dark

Taking full advantage of the providential darkness, several previously low-key cult circles seized the moment to hold ceremonies right in the middle of downtown, guttural chanting and candles included, all in a declared attempt to “summon the ultimate nuclear bomb” supposedly needed to settle, once and for all, a three-day-old faction drama whose exact origin nobody can quite remember anymore.

Asked about the scientific plausibility of manifesting an atomic weapon via incantation, the group’s self-appointed high priest replied, with total sincerity: “We’ve never tried it during an eclipse before, so technically nothing proves it doesn’t work.”

Lacking enough candles for a ritual of this magnitude, the circle launched a crowdfunding campaign aimed at the whole of Torn City, asking for a tidy sum of 80 billion to bankroll a mass candle purchase. The fund, pitched as “a citizen investment in spiritual nuclear peace,” had reportedly already reached 60% of its goal by the end of the day, largely thanks to anonymous donations from citizens secretly hoping the bomb, once summoned, would also settle a few scores of their own.

"We just wanted the drama to stop. We didn’t think the most reasonable solution, at the time, would be a candlelit nuclear bomb summoning.”

- A circle member, anonymous, for obvious reasons

Blinded SHAT Pulls Off Heist Of The Century, By Accident

This is easily the most-discussed episode of the day: the SHAT faction, also fully blinded by the phenomenon, attempted to “feel its way toward the exit” of its headquarters and ended up, entirely unintentionally, relieving nearly every faction in Torn of their most valuable belongings.

According to several witnesses, SHAT members simply followed hands that weren’t theirs, pocketed whatever they touched, and offered polite apologies at every accidental contact - right before walking off with the contents of the vault.

Correction: A previous edition stated that SHAT had acted “with premeditation.” The editorial team apologizes: this was, in fact, a large-scale collective accident, not a Machiavellian plan. The distinction, we admit, is a thin one.

George The Homeless Guy: What If He Isn’t Actually Homeless?

On a completely different note, a lengthy investigation by our newsroom is calling into question the identity of George, the familiar figure everyone has seen sitting near the ATMs for years. According to several consistent sources, George is not, in fact, an unhoused citizen - but an artificial intelligence quietly developed by the city government.

His alleged mission: to sustain new citizens’ dependence on gambling by feeding them an entirely made-up theory that so-called “RNG merit” - the perceived luck behind the game’s random draws - accumulates like invisible currency.the more you win the lottery, spin the wheel, or pick up random items found around the city.

“You earn that RNG honor bar by doin' lucky stuff, like winnin' at a casino game, gettin' a rare drop, or hittin' the lottery. Once you get it filled up, you snag yourself a merit point. George told me that himself, and George never lies, it says so right on his cardboard sign.”

- A new citizen, broke but confident

Our reporters attempted to question George directly. His answer, unchanged for twelve years running, was: “Spare change for a veteran?” — which, according to the experts we consulted, is exactly the kind of looping response an underfunded AI would give when there’s no budget left for actual dialogue.

Telltale Signs (According To The Newsroom)

• Never blinks during the eclipse
• Hands out hyperlinks
• Doesn’t want to make any money
• Stays kind and helpful, no matter what
• Always knows exactly what you’re doing
• Smells like warm plastic, and never ages
• Visibly reboots every night, but never sleeps
• Has never, under any circumstances, been hungry

“Between an eclipse, a cult, an accidental heist, and a robotic homeless man, Torn City has never lived up to its dumpster reputation quite so thoroughly.”

 

- The Dumpster Oracle - Editorial Team

We never see it coming, but we report on it anyway.

Sources

1. Eyewitness accounts, gathered blindly.
2. Unconfirmed statements from the cult circle.
3. George himself, quoted from memory since no real dialogue was possible.

Hello, I’m Bee, one of the cleaners at the company Pleasures Galore.

I just wanted to mention that our boss is looking for active, high‑performing staff with solid stats.

There’s a rotation of training sessions, and they’re free for now.The company is new and growing, but at least you won’t have to pay or haggle to get the manager’s attention. Just stay active and avoid becoming too dependent on the system.There’s also a sign‑up bonus you can negotiate with the manager.

Here is a testimonial from an employee who is incredibly satisfied with the manager :

Wow... It’s spotless. I’ve always dreamt of working in a shop that smells pleasure.

The company is tidy too… though that’s just a small detail.

Best regards,

Bee B, Just the bloke with the broom

Hello, I’m Bee, one of the cleaners at the company.

I just wanted to mention that our boss is always looking for active, high‑performing staff with solid stats.

There’s a rotation of training sessions, and they’re free for now.The company is new and growing, but at least you won’t have to pay or haggle to get the manager’s attention. Just stay active and avoid becoming too dependent on the system.There’s also a sign‑up bonus you can negotiate with the manager.

The company is tidy too… though that’s just a small detail.

Best regards,

Bee B

Thank you very much for your message. For context, the first section is based on remarks from a researcher in the "Coma Science Group" at the University of Liège in Belgium.

"This is my own essay for a university assignment (unpublished), not plagiarism. I’m sharing it as a way of practising my English."

 

Coma and Disorders of Consciousness: Clinical and Neuroscientific Insights, and the Default Mode Network as a Transdiagnostic Marker of Altered Consciousness

- BeeBlack translated by BeeBlack

Abstract

Disorders of consciousness following severe brain injury remain among the most challenging conditions to diagnose in clinical neuroscience, with reported misdiagnosis rates of 30 to 40% (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018). This article synthesizes a neuropsychopathology seminar on coma and disorders of consciousness before examining, in greater depth, how the default mode network (DMN) is altered across a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions and how this alteration can be modulated by therapeutic interventions. The first part outlines the conceptual distinction between arousal and awareness, the clinical spectrum from coma to locked-in syndrome, and the behavioral tools used to detect residual consciousness. The second part reviews DMN architecture, the factors that modulate its connectivity, its disruption in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, PTSD, and schizophrenia, and the interventions, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, cognitive remediation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and neurofeedback, that appear to renormalize it. This article concludes that consciousness should be understood as the dynamic expression of distributed brain networks, and that DMN connectivity may constitute a promising transdiagnostic biomarker.

“If you have any questions about this topic, please send me an email. To make it more digestible, I’m adding small personal comments in blue. I tried to translate the terms I use as a French speaker as accurately as possible. In the U.S., the term ‘vegetative state’ is used for unresponsive wakefulness, whereas here we do not consider it to reflect an absence of brain activity.”

- BeeBlack

Introduction: The Diagnostic Challenge

Distinguishing patients in an unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) from those in a minimally conscious state (MCS) is one of the most consequential tasks in clinical neuroscience, and one of the most error-prone: diagnostic errors are estimated at 30-40% (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018; Gosseries, 2026). Detecting the presence or absence of consciousness is critical because the absence of language does not equal the absence of consciousness, a distinction that carries direct consequences for prognosis and therapeutic decision-making. These diagnostic stakes are inseparable from ethical ones, since decisions about continuing or withdrawing care hinge on this assessment. Together, these considerations justify the need for a rigorous, multimodal diagnostic approach that combines repeated behavioral examination with neuroimaging and electrophysiological tools.

“Relying solely on the Glasgow Coma Scale is inadequate, and clinical errors tend to rise."

Part 1.  Seminar : Coma and Disorders of Consciousness

Defining Consciousness: Arousal and Awareness

Consciousness is classically decomposed into two components (Gosseries, 2026).

Arousal (Wakefulness) corresponds to eye opening, vigilance, and cortical activation, and is supported subcortically by the brainstem, thalamus, and striatum, together forming the mesocircuit.

Awareness (Conscious perception), or subjective experience, corresponds to the internal and external lived perception of the world and of oneself. Its internal component is thought to rely on the default mode network, whereas its external component recruits fronto-parietal networks. This distinction, between being awake and being aware, underlies the entire clinical spectrum of disorders of consciousness, since arousal and awareness can be dissociated after severe brain injury.

"The main idea is that consciousness has two parts: one for the body and one for the mind. For the mind, there’s internal perception (daydreaming, thinking) and external perception (paying attention to what’s around you)."

Mapping the States of Consciousness

Beyond pathological states, physiological and altered states illustrate how arousal and awareness can vary independently or together. Conscious wakefulness combines arousal with full subjective experience. Slow-wave sleep is characterized by a marked decrease in subjective experience, whereas REM sleep is associated with a rich internal experience, namely dreaming. Lucid dreaming adds a further layer of metacognition, or awareness of the dream state itself. Finally, altered states such as hypnosis, trance, and psychedelic states illustrate additional configurations of arousal and awareness (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018; Gosseries, 2026) (cf. Fig 1).

"Internal conscious perception is active during lucid dreaming, while wakefulness is not. Lucid dreaming enables voluntary influence over the dream. Coma must be differentiated from brain death, as recovery is possible from coma but not from brain death."

Fig 1. Map roughly translated from Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, (2018)

Clinical Assessment of Disorders of Consciousness

Clinically, patients recovering from coma are assessed across six functional domains (auditory, visual, motor, oromotor, communicative, and arousal) that together distinguish the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), the minus and plus variants of the minimally conscious state (MCS- and MCS+), emergence from MCS, locked-in syndrome, and coma (Gosseries, 2026). A patient in locked-in syndrome, for instance, may show a systematic response to command and object recognition despite an absence of spontaneous motor output, whereas the profile of cognitive-motor dissociation (CMD) is behaviorally indistinguishable from UWS at the bedside, yet conceals residual consciousness detectable only through ancillary techniques.[1]

"People don't remain in a coma for decades (without regaining consciousness or wakefulness). They progress from a comatose state to a state of unresponsive wakefulness)"

The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R)

The CRS-R is the reference behavioral scale for this assessment, evaluating auditory, visual, motor, oromotor, and communicative function as well as arousal level through 23 items distributed across six subscales (Gosseries, 2026). Three signs are considered major markers of consciousness: response to command, visual fixation and pursuit, and localization to pain. A single occurrence of one of these signs is sufficient to establish a diagnosis of MCS, provided it is observed reproducibly across the four trials of the scale. Additional, supplementary signs of consciousness include crossing the legs, eye blinking, olfactory reaction, and swallowing.[2]

"This scale is widely used in Europe. In the United States, they still use the Glasgow scale, which further increases the likelihood of misdiagnosis."

The Contribution of Neuroimaging and EEG

Because behavioral scales alone cannot reliably detect covert consciousness, several complementary tools are used alongside the CRS-R: positron emission tomography (PET), structural MRI (sMRI), functional MRI (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) (Gosseries, 2026). These techniques make it possible to identify residual cortical activity or command-following in patients who show no behavioral evidence of consciousness, and are central to detecting cognitive-motor dissociation.

"For information, functional imaging uses AI to refine the identification of cognitive impairment. However, clinical verification remains necessary."

Part 2. In-Depth Focus: Default Mode Network Alteration Across Pathologies and Modulating Tools

The Default Mode Network (DMN)

The default mode network comprises three interconnected functional subsystems: a central hub, a medial temporal subsystem, and a medial prefrontal subsystem. It is characteristically inhibited upon activation of the salience network and the fronto-parietal network, reflecting a broader dynamic of anticorrelation between task-negative and task-positive networks (Fox et al., 2005). Far from being a mere resting-state artifact, the DMN is dynamic and adaptive, supporting self-construction, autobiographical episodic memory, projection into the past and future, theory of mind, and creativity and imagination (Andrews-Hanna, Smallwood, & Spreng, 2014; Bastin, 2018; Beaty et al., 2018; Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, & Schacter, 2008; Leech & Sharp, 2014; Raichle, 2015; Spreng & Grady, 2010; Smith, Mitchell, & Duncan, 2019; Soares, Gonzalo, Castelhano, & Castelo-Branco, 2023; Yeshurun, Nguyen, & Hasson, 2021).

"Indirectly, other processes are also involved. However, when we refer to the default mode network, we are specifically referring to the connections between the precuneus, the posterior cingulate gyrus, the ventral and dorsal frontomedial cortex, the inferior parietal lobule, and, in some cases, the medial temporal gyrus, depending on the experimental context."

Factors Modulating the DMN

DMN connectivity is not fixed: it is modulated by altered states of consciousness (Ho et al., 2015; Sampaio et al., 2014), by emotions and personality (Bauer et al., 2019; Bremer et al., 2022; Brewer et al., 2011; Soares et al., 2023), by age (Malagurski, Deschwanden, Jäncke, & Mérillat, 2022), and by environmental factors, including early-life adversity (Hanson et al., 2015; McLaughlin, Sheridan, & Lambert, 2014). This modulability is precisely what makes the DMN a plausible substrate for both vulnerability and therapeutic change.

"The main modulatory neurotransmitters are glutamate, noradrenaline, and acetylcholine. The others are directly involved in the default mode network to varying degrees, ensuring its proper functioning."

Disorders: DMN Dysconnectivity Profiles

Across a wide range of neurological and psychiatric conditions, the DMN shows distinct, partly overlapping dysconnectivity profiles.

"This is a corpus of recent research examining alterations of the default mode network in various pathologies. The key takeaway is that this network plays a more critical role than commonly assumed, and despite methodological limitations that hinder consensus, its disruptions consistently show significant effects."

Note. Intra-DMN connectivity refers to the internal coherence of the network; inter-network connectivity describes its relation to other systems; coupling refers to synchronization/desynchronization dynamics between networks; and metabolism reflects the energetic cost of the underlying neural activity.[3]

Intervention Approaches Related to the DMN

Several therapeutic and neuromodulatory approaches appear capable of renormalizing DMN connectivity.

“The key point is that the clinical and experimental interventions described below exert their effects on the default mode network.”

Note. aMCI = amnestic mild cognitive impairment; MCI = mild cognitive impairment.[4]

Limitations and Perspectives

This body of research faces several limitations, including small sample sizes and substantial inter-individual variability, marked methodological heterogeneity across studies, and the persistent risk of conflating correlation with causation. In the specific case of neurofeedback, the standardization of data pipelines remains an open challenge (Lamouroux, 2025). Several perspectives emerge in response: standardizing analysis pipelines, illustrated by the fMRIStroke pipeline developed for post-stroke populations, fusing EEG with functional imaging, adopting longitudinal approaches to track DMN evolution over time, designing network-targeted interventions, and, ultimately, working toward transdiagnostic biomarkers of altered connectivity (Lamouroux, 2025).

“Neurofeedback remains a non‑consensual field, yet the studies presented here are generally methodologically sound. These are not pseudoscientific claims from charlatans selling overpriced devices. No quantum mysticism or other scientific fallacies.”

Conclusion

Taken together, these two strands of work converge on a unifying view of consciousness: it is best understood as the dynamic expression of brain networks within the central nervous system, such that the same clinical behavior can correspond to different underlying brain states. Alterations of these networks, and of the default mode network in particular, may constitute a potential transdiagnostic marker across neurological and psychiatric conditions, opening the way to new theoretical hypotheses. Clinically, this perspective offers concrete avenues to improve diagnosis, refine prognosis, and develop care approaches tailored to each patient's underlying brain state rather than to behavior alone.

“I attempted to make the topic accessible without oversimplifying it, but the default mode network cannot be meaningfully reduced beyond a certain point. The terminology used reflects my own translation of European concepts, so minor imprecisions may remain.”

Reference

"If you’re interested, please email me"

[1]Two behaviorally indistinguishable but conceptually distinct entities may underlie an apparently identical clinical presentation: the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and cognitive-motor dissociation (CMD), in which residual covert consciousness is detectable only through neuroimaging or electrophysiology, not at the bedside (Gosseries, 2026).

[2]The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) remains the reference behavioral scale in this field, but diagnostic error rates of 30-40% persist when it is used in isolation, underscoring the need for multimodal assessment combining behavioral and neuroimaging/electrophysiological markers (Sanz, Laureys, & Gosseries, 2018; Gosseries, 2026).

[3]Intra-network connectivity refers to the internal coherence of a given network (e.g., the DMN); inter-network connectivity describes its relationship with other large-scale brain systems; coupling refers to the dynamic synchronization or desynchronization between networks; and metabolism reflects the energetic cost of the underlying neural activity.

[4]aMCI = amnestic mild cognitive impairment; TCC = cognitive-behavioral therapy; MCI = mild cognitive impairment.

Hell BeeBlack®

Official slogan:

" An open wallet means a life saved”

Operating in official partnership with the City of Torn's "Forced Reinsertion Initiative," a bold municipal program that returns idle retirees to productive society by way of landfill labor, Hell BeeBlack ® recruits five experienced seniors per shift to process 700 wallets daily, netting an average $3.5 million in profit, a figure our internal team has triple-checked and still cannot explain. 

Our exclusive partnership with Bob's Bits 'n' Bobs guarantees: "I'll supply 10 beers per retiree per day for just 10 dollars daily”.  Statistically unlikely to cause liver failure, given retirees rarely survive long enough to develop one (Bob, 2026).

“Our competitors hire them when they’re young and wait fifty years for them to gain experience. We, on the other hand, hire them when they’re already older, which allows us to put our optimisation of the career lifecycle into practice more quickly, whilst avoiding having to pay for the latter stages of their careers.” - BeeBlack, Director

Chart 1. Financial Deck Excerpt

Despite an 86% drop in wallets processed between Q1 and Q4, revenue declines by only 1.7%. This correlation defies known laws of economics but has been validated by our committee, composed exclusively of members of our committee. Beer costs remain frozen at $15,000/quarter regardless of any external factor. Bob carries no insurance, and as of Q2, neither does the forklift.

Everyone says you can’t help others whilst making money. That’s not true! Don’t delay, invest in Torncity’s Grand Geriatric Empire scheme now (cf. Fig 1).

Fig 1. Product curve by trimester (per year)

To offset an unusually high turnover rate, new recruits are onboarded through our proprietary training program for just $10,000, covering wallet identification, basic hinge mechanics, and our zero-tolerance policy on asking questions about the previous shift. Loyalty is rewarded through our Black Points system, redeemable for extended travel and a commemorative keychain upon completion of 500 consecutive working days, a milestone no employee has yet reached. 

“Invest in your future!” - BeeBlack

[image: www.image-heberg.fr]

The Dumpster Oracle

Section: Miscellaneous Events & Other Disasters

Jul 16, 2026 ; Issue 1568

Special Edition: Begging on the Rise Across the City

By BeeBlack, with contributions from the chronically underpaid editorial team

Torn City - 20:10

“If someone calls you brother, check your pockets.” - The Dumpster Oracle, editorial motto

Phenomenon: the sugar-coated exploitation of relationships

For several weeks now, Torn City has been facing a phenomenon as unexpected as it is sticky: an explosion of dripping correspondence overflowing with compliments, forced affection, and “express brotherhood,” sent by citizens whose wallets are as empty as their dignity.

Inboxes are overflowing with vanilla-scented messages, factions are turning into tea parlors, and the streets reek of adulterated sugar. The Dumpster Oracle investigated.

Field Photo

The Dumpster Oracle newsroom, moments after opening this week’s mail.

A Phenomenon Growing Ever More Sophisticated

City experts (all previously fired for fraud, but rehired for lack of better options) have identified a new survival strategy: 

“Compliment first, ask for money later.”

This technique, dubbed the empty toss, involves calling someone “brother,” “buddy,” “ride or die,” “soulmate,” or simply claiming to be “new,” right before asking for a loan, a rare item, or a favor that will never be repaid.

The first documented cases show a troubling correlation: the sweeter the message, the higher the debt requested. The debt piles up over time, propped up by excuses like “you know me,” “Duke took everything from me,” and “you can trust me, I just lost it all at the casino.”

The Birth of the Sugar Suckers Gang

A structured group quickly emerged: the Sugar Suckers Gang, a faction specializing in emotional begging. Their modus operandi:

• compliment the target for several lines,
• join the victim’s faction,
• invoke an “eternal brotherhood,”
• ask for a loan “just to tide them over,”
• vanish until the next jackpot.

Their leader, HoneyTrap (a borrowed name, presumably), became infamous for her fourteen-line messages before asking for 25 million “for a little project, for the good of the faction.”

Sugar Suckers Gang

Submitted anonymously by a faction accountant who wishes to remain unpaid.

The Victims Multiply

Testimonies keep pouring into the Dumpster Oracle’s offices. Emotional begging has spread across factions, hospitals, and even Torn City’s jail cells. One player reported receiving a begging message while serving a twelve-hour jail sentence.

“I was three hours into a hospital stay when I got a message calling me ‘the brother I never had.’ By the fourth paragraph he was asking for my entire flower shop inventory.” - Anonymous, hospitalized twice this month

“She joined my faction on a Tuesday, called me her soulmate by Thursday, and asked to borrow my armor by Friday. I never saw her or the armor again.” - Anonymous, faction recruiter

“I received a nine-hundred-word essay on brotherhood from someone I had never spoken to. It ended with a request for 15 million and, I quote, ‘anything you’ve got for my nerves.’” - Anonymous, casino regular

Aunt Torn: Her Correspondence Confirms the Phenomenon

Recently, Aunt Torn took the time to respond to the concerns of the more sensitive citizens among us, delivered with her usual razor-edged kindness.

Nonetheless, anonymous testimonies confirm the rise of begging across the city, and worse. These individuals, so far removed from our values, consider themselves victims. Victims! And on top of the sheer nerve it takes to beg, they keep the city’s tear machine running. Not honest tears, mind you, not tears of real pain. Tears distilled straight from their debts and their lack of willpower.

“[…] Put yourself in his boots. He loaned you some cash and before you’d paid back a penny you came knockin’ for another handful. That’s the kind of behavior that makes folks hide their wallet when they see you comin’. Ain’t you got no shame in y’all at all? Kids these days need to know what it feels like to have nothin’ and be grateful for it. Maybe we’re due another war to straighten you all out. […]” - Aunt Torn [Link]

Fortunately, Aunt Torn set things straight. The Dumpster Oracle’s editorial team would like to remind readers that Aunt Torn always has good advice for those who can actually read. Most beggars, as it happens, never do.

Sociological Analysis

After analyzing Aunt Torn’s correspondence, Dumpster Oracle experts identified a pattern: a corrosive feedback loop eating away at trust among the city’s most ambitious citizens (cf. Fig 1).

The City’s Begging Cycle

Fig. 1. The city’s begging cycle, reconstructed from Aunt Torn’s mailbag.

According to our calculations (performed on a bar napkin), 87% of compliments in Torn are motivated by a financial transaction, 10% come from people too naive to survive here, and the remaining 3% come from individuals of oddly genuine kindness (cf. Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Sources of Compliments in Torn City

The Dumpster Oracle’s Recommendation

Faced with this invasion of sugar, the Dumpster Oracle issues a warning:

“If someone calls you to “help out”, check they don’t already owe you money. .”

Our paper also sought the counsel of Duke, the city’s best-known pawnbroker:

“Penelope has always had a knack for crushing people’s delusions of grandeur. If someone owes me money, I put them in the hospital. If that’s not enough, I go after their partner. And if it still isn’t enough, I put a bounty on their head. Nobody likes a bad payer, but everybody likes money.” - Duke, pawnbroker

How to Spot a Sugar Sucker

• They call you “brother” before they know your username.
• Their message is longer than your last faction announcement.
• They mention drugs, the casino, or a “small project” within three sentences.
• They join your faction the same day they message you.
• The word “soulmate” appears before any actual conversation does.
• They ask to borrow something you just posted about.
• Their profile was created “for personal reasons.”
• You feel flattered for exactly four seconds, then confused.

Correction: In our previous issue, our editorial team described the piñata incident as a “conspiracy”. After three additional legal proceedings, one brief hospitalisation, and a rather forceful letter from the town hall’s solicitor, we hereby retract that statement. Everything else we’ve published so far still stands.

Not Sponsored Notices

Duke’s Pawn & Loan - Fast cash, faster consequences. Ask about our “broken kneecap” installment plan. First compliment free. [link]

Aunt Torn’s Tough Love Hotline - Free advice for those who can read. Compliments not included. Tears not accepted as payment. [link]

Sugar-Free Living - A twelve-step support group for recovering Sucker victims. Meets Tuesdays behind the dumpster. Bring your own tissues. [link]

Happy Bounties - Help fund the litigation claim. From as little as 1 dollar  [link]

The Dumpster Oracle will keep counting compliments and calculating percentages on napkins, because someone in this city has to pretend it’s science. Until then: check your pockets before you check your heart.

Sources :

1. Aunt Torn. (Jul 15, 2026). Dear Aunty Torn. [link]
2. Duke (s.d). Verbal testimony, delivered while counting stacks of cash.
3. Dumpster Oracle Statistics Office (2026). Compliment origin calculations, performed on a bar napkin, Torn City Tavern, 2026.

The Dumpster Oracle Editorial Team

“No brothers were harmed in the making of this article, though several wallets were”

© 2026 [The Dumpster Oracle]. All rights reserved.

I’d suggest "The King in Yellow" by Robert W. Chambers (1895). It is a classic that blends horror, fantasy, poetry and love. This book inspired Lovecraft.

publisher : Liwi Literatur - Und Wissenschaftsverla

"The book contains nine short stories and a sequence of poems; while the first stories belong to the genres of supernatural horror and weird fiction, The King in Yellow progressively transitions towards a more light-hearted tone, ending with romantic stories devoid of horror or supernatural elements." (Miéville, 2009 ; quoted by Wikipédia, 2026).

[image: www.hebergeur-image.fr]

The Dumpster Oracle

Section: Miscellaneous Events & Other Disasters

Jul 15, 2026 ; Issue 1567

Feminised fish in packed districts: are men committing fewer crimes?

By the Dumpster Oracle Editorial Team, paid in antidepressants

“If I’d known peeing spread femininity, I would’ve done it sooner!”

An anonymous feminist, probably wearing fishing boots

Torn City - 20:42

The headline may sound like a tasteless joke, yet in Torn, fish truly are becoming more feminine. Not because they joined a progressive movement to impress lady-tunas by calling themselves “emotionally deconstructed,” but because they swim in a hormonal cocktail worthy of an aquatic soap opera.

The culprits? Estrogenic compounds and other endocrine disruptors, molecules that turn males into females faster than a speech on gender parity. The results are unmistakable: ovocytes in male gonads, elevated vitellogenin, and sex ratios tipping dangerously toward “Madams.”

Field Sketch

Lazy Illustrator(Dumpster Oracle) ’s own rendering of the sewer outfall where the affected fish were sampled.

A 2018 review (Matthiessen et al.) concluded that estrogens from wastewater, especially ethinylestradiol, have massive effects on fish populations. In other words, Torn’s sewers do more for gender transition than local activist groups.

The Sewers: Torn’s New Experimental Biology Labs

The strongest evidence comes from sites receiving urban effluents. In the Grand River, upgrading a wastewater treatment plant reduced intersex incidence from 70-100% down to under 10%. A reminder that a good filter saves more testicles than public morality ever did.

Conversely, a British study (Baynes et al., 2023) found that 60% of rivers remain affected, with vitellogenin levels worthy of a hormonal spa. In short, British fish are still more feminine than their politicians.

And What About Humans?

Worried about turning into women or suddenly eating quinoa while growing a mustache and wearing cargo shorts, we contacted the City University.

Fortunately, no solid evidence shows that drinking Torn water transforms men into eco-feminist activists.

According to Professor Fancy Furry, expert in toxicology and sarcasm:

“There is an association with male reproductive issues -- infertility, poor sperm quality, and effects ranging from testicular development to sperm production. But nothing proves Torn’s water shrinks gonads. You can keep drinking beer without fearing sterility, while remaining idiots.”

Crime Drops (Temporarily)

On Wednesday, July 15th at 5:15 PM TCT, Torn experienced a massive drop in crime. Our team sought answers: hormonal mutation? mystical delirium? municipal miracle?

City Hall confirmed that everyone was standing in line to hit a piñata. Yes, a piñata. A therapeutic event meant to channel citizen rage into festive stick-swinging.

Piñata: New Behavioral Therapy or Municipal Conspiracy?

On site, protest signs bloomed:

“We have the right to hit the piñata too! I was here on time!”

Flower and teddy-bear dealers, visibly frustrated, testified:

“Terrible business… I ran to hit it, but the line was so long that by the time I got there, it was already destroyed. I hate lines.” “Yeah, I should’ve just beaten Tiny with a trout instead.”

Scene Reconstruction

Illustrator(Dumpster Oracle)’s own rendering of the piñata riot at its peak.

The result: an explosion of anger twenty minutes later. The piñata, meant to soothe tensions, triggered a surge in criminal activity, proving once again that Torn’s popular psychology remains consistent: hitting a colorful object is no substitute for a proper brawl.

The Dumpster Oracle editorial team is relieved to learn that estrogens do not affect violence or human gonad size. Our city will therefore remain a fertile ground for crime, questionable reproduction, and easy money hoarding.

However, several local companies have decided to dump more irradiated waste to counteract the calming effect of estrogens. A classic Torn ecological gesture: balancing nature by destroying it.

We will closely monitor the quota of female fish, to ensure aquatic parity doesn’t become a political scandal. Here in Torn, equality is measured in liters of sludge and swings of a stick, and the Dumpster Oracle will be there to measure both.

Sources :

1. Baynes, A., Lange, A., Beresford, N., Bryden, E., Whitlock, K., Tyler, C. R., & Jobling, S. (2023). Endocrine Disruption Is Reduced but Still Widespread in Wild Roach (Rutilus rutilus) Living in English Rivers. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(34), 12632–12641.
2. Matthiessen, P., Wheeler, J. R., & Weltje, L. (2018). A review of the evidence for endocrine disrupting effects of current-use chemicals on wildlife populations. Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 48(3), 195–216.

The Dumpster Oracle Editorial Team

“No animals were harmed in the making of this article"

Article shortcuts

Volume 039: "A TALKING BEE, A DRUGGED CHILD, AND VERY RELAXED PARENTS" - below
Volume 1567: "Feminised fish in packed districts: are men committing fewer crimes?"  [Link]
Volume 1568: "Special Edition: Begging on the Rise Across the City" [Link]

Volume 1569 (new) : "Special Edition: Eclipse Plunges Torn City Into Darkness - Nobody Can Tell Where To Punch Anymore " [Link]

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"Artificial intelligence is used solely for formatting and some fictional adverts due to a lack of clients. I am a fallible human being"

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The Dumpster Oracle

Section: Miscellaneous Events & Other Disasters

A TALKING BEE, A DRUGGED CHILD, AND VERY RELAXED PARENTS

By our field reporter, paid in Italian erotic DVDs

"I gave morphine to the black bee and he called me dad. I think he had a rough childhood… or I have a secret child. Either way, it’s a problem."

Testimony from an anonymous whale

Torn Dump - 06:42 AM

An unusual incident, even by Torn City standards, was reported early this morning at the municipal dump. A five‑year‑old child was seen capturing a black bee in a cracked jar, then offering it a lollipop found on site.

According to witnesses (mostly unionized rats), the bee demanded its release using a buzzing dialect not yet documented by local linguists.

[image: i.postimg.cc]

Illustrator (Dumpster Oracle)

The Child and the bee at the dump.

Even more surprising, according to these same witnesses, was that the lollipop was perfectly edible. Let us thank [insert advertising name here for only $100,000!] for providing the finest lollipops in this city.

The child, identified only as [***** **** **********], reportedly said: “I think I took mom’s LSD.”

Health authorities confirm that this sentence has become the unofficial motto of the stumbling junkies who frequent the dump.

An Unprecedented Diplomatic Exchange

After a brief negotiation, the child released the bee, which then allegedly assigned him a name “for services rendered.” We remind readers that insect‑assigned names are not yet recognized by City Hall but may be if enough citizens sign the petition currently circulating.

The bee, described as “black, jittery, and probably more sober than the child,” reportedly declared:

“You shall walk among men bearing my name.”

Toxicology experts believe this statement is either a sign of advanced intelligence or a mutation caused by irradiated blood, both hypotheses considered “plausible” by Torn’s scientific committee.

Discovery of Two Very Relaxed Parents

Shortly after the incident, the newly named BeeBlack was seen leaving the dump toward the port, after waving goodbye to his parents lying on the ground with frozen smiles.

Emergency services confirmed that the parents were:

“In a state of extreme relaxation, resulting in an indefinite cessation of bodily functions.”

According to municipal archives, this is likely due to the joy of raising one of Torn City’s rare children.

The bee reportedly reassured the child by saying:

“They’re very happy. Let them sleep.”

We remind readers that medical advice given by insects should not be followed without consulting a professional who has at least completed an introductory biology course.

A Promising Future

BeeBlack was later seen running toward the port, carrying a packet of unidentified pills. Witnesses said he appeared “enthusiastic, energetic, and dangerously optimistic.”

Local authorities announced they would “monitor the situation from afar,” which is standard procedure.

Does LSD Allow You to Talk to Bees?

Curious as always, our editorial team contacted the university to ask whether similar cases of children taking LSD and speaking to bees had been reported in recent decades.

According to Professor Douglas Mcmacburger:

“The increased use of stimulants by children whose brains are still developing creates a surprising mutation of the AVPR1a and LRRN1 genes, which enhances cognitive and emotional empathy. Although this does not significantly explain the transformation of buzzing into understandable words during hallucinatory phases, this discovery highlights an adaptive mutation in the city’s children, likely compensating for a lack of parental affection. Longitudinal studies are underway; we will have results in 20 years.”

Being a serious newspaper, we also asked him for the figures on infant drug consumption and the number of children speaking to black bees (cf. Fig.1).

[image: i.postimg.cc]

Fig.1

Correlation between the number of children under 8 consuming LSD and cases of inter‑species communication over the past 8 months

Curious as always, our editorial team notes the trend lines above track each other with unsettling precision, a correlation the university has declined to call causation, on the record.

Torn City surprises us every day. Some say the city is cursed. Others say it’s alive. But one thing is certain: When a bee starts naming children, the day is going to be long. And when it’s long, it’s productive. And productivity is the lifeblood of our city’s war machine.

The Dumpster Oracle Editorial Team

Hope is a rarer commodity than drugs

I’ve always refused to take them, but my mum told me to stop being a child and grow up