Trends of electronic communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Trends of electronic communication - Essay Example With the help of webcams, this technology allows communicators to see one another in real time making messages more precise and understandable. It however has the disadvantage of not facilitating communication between individuals when one is offline. E-mail is a communication method that involves the exchange of messages of digital nature from one author to a single or numerous recipients. E-mails have the advantage of storing and forwarding messages, this therefore implies that both the sender and the recipient are not required to be online simultaneously to communicate. This was not however the case at the inception of e-mails when communication could only occur if both parties were online at the same time, more of what is presently the case with instant messaging. It has the advantage of storing information for future reference purposes with e-mails being used as evidence of communication if that need arises. The main advantage of e-mails however, is the inability to receive instant responses especially if the recipient is offline. Unlike e-mails and Instant Messaging, this technology enables individuals to share information with multiple users at the same time. This is unlike instant messaging where communication is on a one on one basis. Users in chat rooms usually have common interests and that makes sharing of similar information among many realistic. In as much as chat rooms allow people to communicate with multiple individuals of identical interest, it has posed a moral dilemma with users using these rooms for sexual purposes giving birth to sexual predators who hide their real identities to advance their evil sexual agenda (Thurlow, Tomic, & Lengel, 2004). Some of these rooms are moderated but the most used have no moderation whatsoever, which is a disadvantage since users could be underage individuals who should not under moderation be allowed to access the rooms, especially those of

Costing and Budgeting Case Study

Costing and Budgeting Case Study Accounting is a key success of a business, but the word accounting is more sophisticated. Almost every business, before dealing any project or any other important function, should design an appropriate budget. To make the budget first we should think about the cost because the cost of the production is always variable. A well-planned budget will bring success for a project. In my academic case study, I have to make a budget for Rayners plc. Company, which is a renowned company in the UK. Cost classification: P1 In the managerial accounting the word cost is using various ways. The main reason is that there are many types of costs, and these costs are classified differently according to the certain management process. For example, managers may want cost data to prepare external financial reports, to prepare planning budgets, or to make decisions. There are some relevant costing methods according to the task: Direct/Indirect cost: Direct cost is a cost where everything counting easily and conveniently traced to the particular cost object. But it is not incurred due to the product or activity countless. On the other hand indirect cost is fully reverse of the direct cost where counting process is more sophisticated and inconvenience and it incurred even productivity or activity change. Prime cost: The cost normally counting for labour and material to make product. This cost depend on ability and capacity of the labour that how much performed they are to make production and which way is the best way to use material. Fixed cost: A cost which is not only related to production is called fixed costs. In other words, it is a cost that remains constant even with variations circumstances and situations. VARIABLE COST: Variable costistotally opposite word of fixed cost. When a cost which is varies exactly in proportion to the change in activity (production or sale) would be term as variable cost. This is sometime called engineering cost or a formula cost and can be calculated in advance. Full Absorption cost: A managerialaccounting cost method of expensing all costs associated with manufacturing a particular product. Absorption costinguses the total direct costs and overhead costs associated with manufacturing a product as the cost base. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) require absorption costing for external reporting. Costing methods: (P2) According to the marginal cost, another name of fixed cost is period cost that means one need to deduct the total cost from contributions where under absorption costing, fixed cost is part of unit cost/production cost. Therefore deduct the total FC from contributions. Fixed cost does not change at any level of activity. F.O.A.R = Budget O/H Budget Activity (Note that if budget is equal to Actual production, then the absorption will be same). Now, if we will analyse the information and data as a case study of Rayners plc. Year 1 Marginal Costing method: 108,000 Sales: 90,000 X 12 Less cost of production Opening Inventory 0 Add productions (100,000 X 5) 500,000 500,000 Less closing Inventory (10,000X5) 50000 450,000 Contribution 630,000 Less Total FC: Production (270,000) Admin Costing (20,000) Net Profit 340,000 Year1Absorption costing method:  £  £ 108,000 Sales (90,000X12) Less cost of production Opening Inventory 0 Add production (100,000X5) 800,000 800,000 Less closing Inventory (10000X8) (80,000) Cost of production (720,000) Gross profit 360,000 Over absorbed (10,000X3) 30,000 Less admin cost (20,000) Net profit 370,000 Reconciliation statements:  £  £ Absorption profit 370,000 Les increase in Inventory (Closing inventory opening inventory) Multiply by F.O.A.R (10,000 0) X 3 (30,000) Marginal profit 340,000 Year2 Marginal costing statement:  £  £ Sales (110,000X 12) 132,000 Less cost of production Opening Inventory (10,000X5) 50,000 Add production (110,000X5) 550,000 600,000 Less Closing Inventory (10000X5) (50,000) 550,000 Contribution 770,000 Less total FC: Production (270,000) Admin (20,000) Net Profit 480,000 Year 2 Absorption costing statement:  £  £ Sales 132,000 Less cost of production Opening inventory (10000X8) 80,000 Add production (110,000X5) 800,000 900,000 Less closing Inventory (10,000X8) 80,000 (880,000) 440,000 Over absorption (20,000X3) 60,000 Less admin cost (20,000) Net profit 480,000 Year 3 Marginal costing statement:  £  £ Sales (750,000X12) 1140,000 Less cost of production Opening inventory (10,000X5) 50,000 Production (90,000X5) 450,000 500,000 Less closing inventory (5000X5) 25,000 (475,000) Contribution 665,000 Less total fixed cost: Production (270,000) Less total fixed cost: Admin 120,000 Net Profit 375,000 Year 3 Absorption costing statement:  £ Sales 140,000 Less cost of production Opening Inventory (10,000X8) 80000 Add production (90,000X8) 720,000 800,000 Less closing inventory (5000X5) 40,000 (760,000) Gross Profit 380,000 Less Admin (20,000) Net profit 360,000 Reconciliation Statement: Absorption profit 360,000 Add decrease in inventory (5000-10000) X 3 15,000 Marginal profit 375,000 Unit cost: (P3) According to the data of the Rayners plc and using the marginal costing method the unit cost is: Direct material 2 Direct labour1 Prime Cost 3 VC/Unit 2 Marginal cost 5 So according to the marginal cost the value of each unit will be  £5. F.O.A.A (unit) 3 Absorption cost 8 Full cost/Total cost 8 F O A R Budgeted F/C Budgeted Of Level Activity= X/90000 = £3 X= £270000 (Budgeted Of Overhead Collect analyse and present data using appropriate techniques. (P4) In the management accounting there are different ways to collect data for the business. The basic role is the participants a taste of the various tools and techniques available for collecting monitoring and evaluation data. Participants focus on what makes a good questionnaire and discuss tips on how to conduct interviews and focus groups. Participants also have the opportunity to explore more visual, participatory tools so that they can choose which methods are most appropriate for collecting information from their particular stakeholders. Moreover, the source of information that means the entire item for particular enquiry. E.g. invoices, customers and to show these customers feedback those are will be taken into consideration for further used of data collected. Another important technique to analyse and collect data is various sampling such as: Random sampling: This is the purest form of probability sampling. Because due to the large group of population it is really difficult and not possible to identify every member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes biased. Systematic sampling: It is often used as a random sampling. Another name of the sampling is selection technique. Its only advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity. Systematic sampling is frequently used to select a specified number of records from a computer file. Convenience sampling: It is used in exploratory research where the researcher is interested in getting an inexpensive approximation of the truth. As the name implies, the sample is selected because they are convenient. Judgment sampling: One common non probability method isJudgment sampling. The researcher selects the sample based on judgment. This is usually and extension of convenience sampling. Quota sample: This is a sample method where items, usually people, are selected in a given quantities and according to pre-defined characteristics. These different methods are used for different purpose where user must identify a sampling method in order to review the presentation at the intention. These methods can also be used in a wide range of area and activity where there is lots of member with different types of users. Routine cost report: (P5) The report generally include the financial performance for the end of the year .E.g. Profit, Debit, share, price and dividends. It will also advice about transfers to reserves, assets that have been acquired or disposed of the names and shareholding of directors active in the last year, and other business activates that will be interested to stakeholders. Even, sometimes the report also cover the business polices on employment, training, welfare, creditor, creditor payment and corporate responsibility as well. There are some different ways to finding cost report: Monitoring Cost: Cost monitoring means supervising the economic progress in the management system in the business. This is the main reason of cost or expense monitoring is collecting information to check performance against an expectation. Controlling: Cost controlling is process where the common goal of the management is improving business cost-efficiency by reducing costs, or at least restricting their rate of growth. Businesses use cost control methods to monitor, evaluate, and ultimately enhance the efficiency of specific areas, such as departments, divisions, or product lines, within their operations. Planning: It is called a plan make supreme success. In term of business it is invincible part to make appropriate costing plan.It comprises iterative quantification and costing, derived from benchmarking and market exploration exercises, and is aimed at establishing a realistic and acceptable cost limit. This information is critical for obtaining project financing and for determining whether a project can be profitable or not. Without cost planning, property owners would enter blindly into construction projects and possibly into insolvency. Evaluation: Evaluating the cost of the overall business management is really sophisticated task. According to the business activity there are three types of evaluation specification: Background: Background means description, context, scope and objective of the business. The Selection Process: Analyse briefly the selection process, starting with the advertising the establishment of the shortlist, expressions of interest, and withdrawals of firms before proposal submissions. Technical evaluation: Describe briefly the meetings and actions taken by the evaluation committee formation of a technical evaluation team, outside assistance, evaluation guidelines, justification of sub criteria and associated weightings as indicated in the Standard Request for Proposals; relevant correspondence and compliance. Profitability Ratio: (p6) 1)Gross profit margin =gross profit/sale*100 = xf 2)Net profit margin = PBIT/sales*100 = xf 3) Retained on capital employed = PBIT/capital employed*100 = xf 4) Assets= sales/capital employed = x times Efficiency ratio: Lido ltd New ltd. Assets = 640/350+75 Assets=1600/1600+20 =1.5 times =.987 Productivity Unit produce for employees 20000/34 =588 unit 5000/78=64.1 Operating profit margin 128/640*100=20 256/1600*100 =16 Cost productivity Operating profit per employee 128/34 =3.77 256/78=3.28 Principles of quality: (P7) The basic principle of Total quality management is that costs of prevention are less than the costs of correction. There are various types of roles are involved in term of quality: Assurance: Quality assurance focuses on preventing faulty occurring, instead of fixing them afterwards (which is the quality control approach). Describe everything to find out the causes of defects are identified and ways to fix the system to make sure the problem doesnt happen again are agreed. Reliability: The most important and valuable principles of quality are consistency and reliability. Each link in the quality chain must deliver to the next link on time, in the quantity ordered, to the right specification and at the agreed price, time after time after time. Customer-driven: customer driven quality means many things to many people, in the end it is the customers opinion that counts. In these cases the customers quality ideals must be met every step of the way from the farm to the marketplace. Continuous Improvement: This is an essential part of any good quality system. The market environment for popular product is always changing and highly competitive, so the popular programme must constantly evolve to ensure the industry stays ahead of the completion. Principles of value: Implementing the Principle of Value requires leadership and management with particular, conscious focus and intent.It is always to develop and sustain durable, value-driven, win-win relationships. Everything can be evaluating by relative activity such as Products for payment Salary for performance Investment for profits. Everywhere we look, we see win-win relationships as the core of durable success. If we lose those relationships, we eventually lose everything. Another important principle is core value which is completely design by roles of fairy, ethos, human morality, dignity, and customer service. If an organization does not cause its members to understand and focus on these important elements, it will soon find participants becoming solely profit-centric. This behaviour inevitably leads to a short-term focus and potentially illegal practices that provide the seeds of self-destruction. Remember that management is to build business value by making the right decisions; and, decisio ns about core values are essential. Purpose and nature of Budget: (P8) Budgeting is a basic and essential process in a business which allows businesses to gain many goals in one course of action.The budgeting process may be carried out by individuals or by companies to estimate whether the person/company can continue to operate with its projected income and expenses. There are several purposes to create and implement a budget include control and evaluation, planning, communication, and motivation. Control and Evaluation This is most important matter after finalized a budget is providing sufficient control and evaluating its performance.If performance does not meet the budget, action can be taken immediately to adjust activities. Budgeting allows a company to have a certain range of control over costs, such as reducing many types of unnecessary expenses or assigning responsibility for these expenses. A budget also gives a company a benchmark by which to evaluate business units, departments, and even individual managers. Unfortunately this purpose of budgeting may be effect on employees to have negative thinking about the budgeting process because their compensation and, in certain situation, even their jobs may be operating on meeting certain budgeting target. Planning Planning is initial purpose of budgeting. It is also design by decisions, and many questions must be answered. Besides that, budgeting allows a business to take stock of revenue and expenses from the previous period, and judge where the business will be in future periods. It also allows the organization to add and remove products and services from its plan for the future period. Communication and Motivation: Other goals that an organization may use its budget to achieve that are less obvious include communication and motivation. It is important that make correlation according to the chain of command like from management level to supervisor level, this is only to gain mentally satisfaction of the staff. When an employee is involved in creating his or her departments budget, that person will be more likely to strive to achieve that budget. Budgets also allow a company to motivate its employees by involving them in the budget. Budgeting method: (p9) A budget is an individual and written estimate of how an organization or a particular project, or business unit willperform financially. If we can accurately predict our companys performance than we will be certain that resources such as money, people, equipment, manufacturing plants, and the like are deployed appropriately. There is various kind of budgeting are available for a business such as: Cash budget: An important estimate of a companys cash position for a particular period of time. . Labor budget: The total cost for labor to be expended for a set period of time calculated by taking every persons position in an organization, department, or project and multiplying the number of hours they are expected to work by their wage rates. Sales budget: An estimate of the quantity of goods and services that will be sold during a specific period of time. Production budget: A forecast thatstarts with the sales budgets estimates of the total number of units projected to be sold, then translates this information into estimates of the cost of labor, material, and other expenses required to produce them. Expense budget: An estimate prepared for travel, utilities, office supplies, telephone, and many other common business expenses for a given period. Incremental Budget: These types of budget are normally starts with previous periods budget or actual results and add an incremental amount to cover for inflation and other known changes. Advantages of incremental budgeting The budget is stable and change is gradual. Managers can operate their departments on a consistent basis. The system is relatively simple to operate and easy to understand. The impact of change can be seen quickly. Disadvantages of incremental budgeting Assumes activities and methods of working will continue in the same way. No incentive for developing new ideas. No incentives to reduce costs. Encourages spending up to the budget so that the budget is maintained next year. The budget may become out of date and no longer relate to the level of activity or type of work being carried out. Zero-based budget: This is a traditional technique of planning and decision-making which reverses the working process. By contrast with incremental budgeting, in zero-based budgeting, every department function is reviewed comprehensively and all expenditures must be approved, rather than only increases. Advantages Drives managers to find cost effective ways to improve operations. Detects inflated budgets. Useful for service departments where the output is difficult to identify. Increases communication and coordination within the organization. Identifies and eliminates wasteful and obsolete operations. Identifies opportunities for outsourcing. It responds to changes in the business environment. Disadvantages It emphasize short-term benefits to the detriment of long term goals The budgeting process may become too rigid and the organisation may not be able to react to unforeseen opportunities or threats Difficult to define decision units and decision packages, as it is time-consuming and exhaustive. Forced to justify every detail related to expenditure. The RD department is threatened whereas the production department benefits. According to the previous discussion it is clear that Zero-based budgeting is must be clearly understood by managers at various levels to be successfully implemented. But every organisation should provide Necessary training to manager. According to the case study there are four types of budgets will be explaining.

Nostradamus and Leonardo Da Vinci :: essays research papers

Nostradamus and Leonardo Da Vinci   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nostradamus and Leonardo Da Vinci are two of the world’s most intelligent, amazing, highly achieved men that have been followed and questioned throughout history. They have changed time and left many people wondering what was true or false throughout their work and lives that existed hundreds of years ago. Although they lived in different countries and different times, they are both very similar through their work, genius ness, and minds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both men were born in Europe in the fourteen and fifteen hundreds and studied with their grandfathers. Nostradamus was born in 1503 in France and was born Jewish but forced to Catholicism due to a religious reform. â€Å"Growing up he spent much of his time learning several languages, math, astronomy, and astrology from his grandfather, Jean† (Keyes). He had then gone to school for liberal arts and medicine and had even treated many victims of a plague.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leonardo was born in 1452 in Anchiono, Italy where he lived with his father and stepmother. He later moved to Vinci to stay with his grandfather and then traveled to Florence to have a greater education. â€Å"There he learned to write, to read and to calculate. Also he was taught in geometry and Latin† (Kausal).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although they used their studies in different ways, they had studied many of the same topics. Nostradamus had written in French, Italian, Greek and Latin in his many quatrains, as Leonardo spoke and wrote in French, Italian and Latin in his many journals. On the scientific subject, Nostradamus had his own practice in medicine and treated plagues, and Leonardo had held his own autopsies and studied the human body through medicine practice, drawings, and intense detail of the human form. Nostradamus had become a prophet through religion, astrology, and astronomy predicting the future while writing a series of quatrains. Many people relate his writings to events that have happened in this day in age, while most of it does scarcely match his predictions. His work is questionable because it can relate to much of what has happened with the world long after his death. Many wonder how he could predict things and mention certain words and names that were never even heard of until hundreds of years after him. Leonardo studied astronomy and astrology for knowledge of space and time for his inventions that we now have in the twentieth century. Leonardo is believed to have predicted the future through his many designs of guns, war tanks, bombs, planes, helicopters and much more.

Crisis in Australian Film Industry

Films from down under are going, well, down and under†(Humphreys S cited in Kaufman T, 2009). This essay will confirm there is a crisis is the Australian Film Industry through exploring the economic, political and cultural factors that led to the crisis. The current economic climate and political decisions have had a significant impact on the Australian film industry, leading to lower production rates of overseas films in Australia.The internal and external cultural factors will be explored to highlight the responsibility the Australian public and the industry had and how ailing to meet these responsibilities has further deepened the already unfortunate circumstances in the industry. However there are economical, political and cultural factors that have led to the crisis in the industry; this essay will also explore why it is called a ‘crisis'. Thus exploring the loss of Jobs, the lack of Australian films being produced, and most importantly the erosion of a sense of nati onal identity that Australians gain through Australian cinema.Recent successful Australian films ‘Australia' (Alarm B, 2008) and ‘Black Balloon' (Down E, 2008) represents the laity that films should be produced to create a successful industry; this reinforces the sense of nationhood at risk of being lost. There is a common misconception that the strong Australian dollar benefits the economy (Boded M, 2010). However for the Australian film industry this is not the case, the Australian dollar has risen to a 28 year high (Dingle S, 2011) so it is justifiable to say this has significantly contributed to the crisis in the industry.Film executives believe that â€Å"the industry is in a crisis and in real pain but we scant tell the al story without sending your international customers running† (unknown cited in Boded M, 2010). Therefore, due to the strong dollar the film industry is in a lose-lose situation further deepening the crisis it is faced with. This is because international films being produced in Australia are significantly more expensive; hence Australia cannot remain competitive in the global market.Alarms McFarland from Deluxe Promotions states that the last international production that was produced in Australia was the 2009, Gavin Hood film Wolverine' and before that, Bag Loran's Film ‘Australia' (2008) (Cited in Dingle S, 2011). This three-year drought in international film production in Australia exemplifies the importance of a particular economic climate in order to attract overseas production in Australia and to lead to a successful Film Industry. The strong Australian dollar has significantly reduced the amount of international films being produced in Australia in recent years.Rising Sun Pictures co-founder Tony Clark stated that the current economic climate is â€Å"killing us all† and finding new business is crucial but close too impossible at this stage (cited in Boded M, 2010). This has led to a chain of inoppo rtune circumstances, further elevating the extent of the crisis. Due to the lack of international film production in Australia there is significant lull in Jobs in the film industry. The current situation in the industry can be labeled as a crisis as production companies are cutting staff to reduce costs and then the advertising and television (Dingle S, 2011).Production in Australia also creates employment through the use of stunt doubles, extras and film crew. The lack of overseas production will therefore result in limited Job opportunities in the industry. Therefore the strong dollar has a negative impact on the economy through the perspective of the film industry, as there are higher unemployment rates. Ultimately the Australian film industry needs to position themselves differently within the current economic climate and market place to gain some sort of benefit from the current economic climate (Hear G, Ryan M D, 2010).Economic factors contributing to the crisis in the indust ry can arguably be eliminated by political decisions. The Australian Government has failed to introduce adequate tax incentives to attract foreign film production in Australia, which is further stabilizing the current economic climate (Hear G, Ryan M D, 2010). Australian film commissioner Tracey Iberia believed the 15% tax offset â€Å"Just wasn't strong enough† for overseas production to stay in Australia and the tax offset should be doubled to 30% (cited in Dingle S, 2011). The Government will review Subfamily's proposal but some people in the industry fear it may be too late.Central City Rod Allen believes tax incentives cannot lessen the effect of the high dollar and â€Å"the incentives can't compensate enough now' (cited in Boded M, 2010). However, others state that the tax s â€Å"not a grant; it's designed to deliver significant inflows of external investment into Australia† (McFarland cited in Dingle S, 2011). Thus questioning the feasibility of introducing a tax incentive and its ability to seize the crisis in the Australian Film industry. Through exploring past tax incentives, it is evident that tax incentives do not cause enduring improvement to an industry.The ABA scheme was first introduced in the sass's, which led to growth in various companies in and associated with the film industry. However tax incentive such as these can lead to an â€Å"unstable bubble† in the Australian Film industry, attracting film to be produced in Australia and as the tax deflates so does the production rate of films, causing a negative slum in the industry (Burns A, Lethal B, 2010). Through investigating past tax incentives, it is seen that incentives fail to create stability, through this the extent of the crisis is recognized by showing that tax incentives will not cease the crisis.The success or failure of the Australian Film Industry is often based on the box office success. However statistics from Screen Australia show that the 100 Australia n eater films released between 2007-2009 had a total audience viewing off million by February 2011 and only 6% was viewed at the cinema (Screen Australia). This indicates that basing the success of the Australian Film Industry on box office figures is not necessarily a viable source as the Box Office only indicates a films profit made in cinema.Film writer Linden Barber believes the film industry â€Å"needs to get away from the fixation on the box office†¦ It doesn't matter where people see films as long as they view them† (2008 cited in Kaufman T, 2009). Therefore can it be Justified hat the Australian Film industry is not in crisis, but purely the unfavorable economic notion, however the industry can be recognized as being in a crisis by the lack of drive for Australians to view Australian films in cinema, therefore Australians are becoming deprived of a sense of national identity achieved through Australian film (Hear G, Ryan M D, 2010).One may be led to believe that Australians strong sense of nationhood and pride would entice them to watch Australian films to attain a sense of imagined community (Anderson B, 2006). However this is not the case, Australians have become a â€Å"viewing population- not a viewing nation† (Vernon D, 2005) weakening the sense of imagined community shared amongst Australians. The Age's film writer, Jim Schemers argues that a lack of marketing has put the industry in this predicament (cited in Kaufman T, 2009).Where as American films understand the importance of promotion, this recognizes the simple ways American films dominate Australian films in the Box Office (Kaufman T, 2009). This ‘American' style of promotion may of lead to the booming success of the film ‘Australia' (Hear G, Ryan M D, 2010), which raked in an enormous $26,91 5,773 (Screen Australia) in the box office alone. This stresses that maybe internal factors of the industry are the cause of the crisis. The negative attitudes within th e industry about the industry have transcended to Australian viewers.The 2008 film ‘Black Balloon' (Down E, 2008) displays images of ‘Australians' to its viewers and creates a sense of nationhood amongst viewers, however it's co-writer had a different effect on the Australian public. Jimmy Jack singled out other nominees at the Australian Film industry awards when saying â€Å"F*KC you! With pride accepting his award followed by a roaring applause. This highlights an industry comfortable insulting others in the industry (Kaufman T, 2009). Thus encouraging and tolerating a negative attitude towards the Australian film industry that the Australian public has accepted.This ultimately drives the issues in the film industry deeper into crisis. Australian cinema (not Just films produced in Australia) fosters an Australian story, representing and preserving Australian culture, character and identity (Marcher, 1999 cited in Hear G, Ryan M D, 2010). When exploring why the Austra lian film industry is babbled a ‘crisis' it is evident it is because of the erosion of national identity and a sense of imagined community, which can be achieved through Australian film.Bag Allurement's film ‘Australia' (2008) uses imagery of the Australian landscape to display national identity thus uniting all Australians with a sense of imagined community (Simpson C, 2010). The film also recognizes the gender and racial discourses imprinted into Australians national identity (Hogan J, 2010) in an attempt to create dialogue amongst Australians to help recognize and eliminate the issues. Ultimately Australia' recognizes Australia's past and encourages a brighter future for all Australians- indigenous or not.The film achieves this through creating a distinct shift in the attitudes of those within the industry by creating an indigenous film that is not â€Å"Box Office poison† (Simpson C, 2010). The film ‘Australia' (Lurching B, 2008) represents the power Aus tralian films hold over a sense of imagined community and national identity. Thus representing the lack of nationhood Australians will Unlike ‘Australia' (Lurching B, 2008) Elise Downs 2008 film ‘Black Balloon' displayed a ensue of ‘Australians' in a more subtle way.The film was the second highest grossing film in the Box office in 2008 to ‘Australia', gaining $2,265,689 in the box office alone (Screen Australia). Although this was less than a tenth of what ‘Australia' (Lurching B, 2008) grossed, ‘Black Balloon' (Down E, 2008) may have created a more sustainable sense of nationhood. Contrasting to ‘Australia' (Alarming B, 2008), the film was not tainted by Hollywood (Parents O, Parker R, 2009), displaying an Australian genre of film and following a less dramatic more realistic story line.Dominic Knight (from the Chaser's) believes that few Australian filmmakers seem interested in depicting ordinary life (cited in Kaufman T, 2009). Hence Aust ralian films need to maintain their cinematic identity and produce films in which audience's want to see (Humphreys S, 2008 cited in Kaufman T, 2009). Thus supporting the success of ‘Black Balloon' (Down E, 2008) in telling a relatable Australian story (Evergreen D, 2005). This further highlights the extent of the crisis, as a sense of imagined community is lost. Through exploring the various driving factors that contributed to the crisis in theAustralian Film Industry it is evident that soon, if nothing has been done, the industry will be labeled a tragedy. The industry is sensitive to certain factors and relies heavily on a specific economic climate to attract overseas production. These external factors are beyond the industries control but still need to be addressed. Although some people within the industry believe it is too late, or that a tax incentive would not be effective in the long-run the government along side the Australian Film Industry should investigate option's before it is too late.Through acknowledging that the industry is in crisis one can only anticipate that Australians will recognize the importance that the film industry has in creating a sense of national identity and imagine community and re-evaluate their attitudes towards Australian cinema. The Australian film industry cannot control the external factors that are contributing to the crisis in the industry, however the; industry, government and Australian public need to recognize the issues in order to salvage the industry and eliminate the factors that labels it as in a crisis.

Bloodlines Chapter Eighteen

â€Å"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘MISSING'?† I asked. â€Å"She was supposed to meet us a couple hours ago,† Eddie said, exchanging glances with Micah. â€Å"I thought maybe she was with you.† â€Å"I haven't seen her since PE.† I was trying hard not to kick into panic mode yet. There were too many variables at play and not enough evidence to start thinking crazy Moroi dissidents had kidnapped her. â€Å"This is a really big place – I mean, three campuses. Are you sure she isn't just holed up studying somewhere?† â€Å"We've done a pretty exhaustive search,† said the security officer. â€Å"And teachers and workers are on alert looking for her. No sightings yet.† â€Å"And she isn't answering her cell phone,† added Eddie. I finally let true fear overtake me, and my face must have shown it. The officer's expression softened. â€Å"Don't worry. I'm sure she'll turn up.† It was the kind of conciliatory thing people in his profession had to say to family members. â€Å"But do you have any other ideas of where she might be?† â€Å"What about your other brothers?† asked Micah. I'd been afraid it would come to that. I was almost one hundred percent sure she wasn't with Keith, but he should still probably be notified about her disappearance. It wasn't something I looked forward to because I knew there'd be a lecture in it for me. It would also be a sign of my failure in the eyes of other Alchemists. I should have stayed by Jill's side. That was my job, right? Instead, I'd – foolishly – been helping someone run errands. Not just anyone – a vampire. That's how the Alchemists would see it. Vamp lover. â€Å"I was just with Adrian,† I said slowly. â€Å"I suppose she could've somehow gotten to Clarence's and waited for him. I didn't actually go inside.† â€Å"I tried Adrian too,† said Eddie. â€Å"No answer.† â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"We were doing his interviews, so he must have turned his phone off. Do you want to try him again?† I certainly didn't want to. Eddie stepped aside to call Adrian while I talked with Mrs. Weathers and the officer. Micah paced around, looking worried, and I felt guilty for always wanting to keep him from Jill. The race thing was a problem, but he really did care about her. I told the officer all the places Jill liked to frequent on campus. They confirmed that they'd already checked them all. â€Å"You got ahold of him?† I asked when Eddie returned. He nodded. â€Å"She's not there. I feel kind of bad, though. He's pretty worried now. Maybe we should've waited to tell him.† â€Å"No†¦ actually, it might be a good thing.† I met Eddie's eyes and saw a spark of understanding. Adrian's emotions seemed to intrude on Jill when they were running strong. If he was panicked enough, she'd hopefully realize people were concerned and show back up. That was assuming she was just hiding out or had gone somewhere we couldn't find. I tried not to consider the alternative: that something had happened where she couldn't contact us. â€Å"Sometimes students just sneak off,† said the officer. â€Å"It's inevitable. Usually they try to sneak back in before curfew. Hopefully that's just the case now. If she doesn't show up then – well, then we'll call the police.† He walked off to radio the rest of security for a status check, and we thanked him for his help. Mrs. Weathers returned to the front desk, but it was clear she was worried and agitated. She came across as gruff sometimes, but I had the feeling she actually cared about her students. Micah left us to find a few friends of his who worked on campus, in case they'd seen anything. That left Eddie and me. Without conferring, we turned toward some chairs in the lobby. Like me, I think he wanted to stake out the door in order to see Jill the instant she showed up. â€Å"I shouldn't have left her,† he said. â€Å"You had to,† I said reasonably. â€Å"You can't be with her in classes or her room.† â€Å"This place was a bad idea. It's too big. Too hard to secure.† He sighed. â€Å"I can't believe this.† â€Å"No†¦ it was a good idea. Jill needs some semblance of a normal life. You could've locked her in a room somewhere and cut her off from all interaction, but what good would that do? She needs to go to school and be with people.† â€Å"She hasn't done much of that, though.† â€Å"No,† I admitted. â€Å"She's had a rough time with it. I kept hoping it'd get better.† â€Å"I just wanted her to be happy.† â€Å"Me too.† I straightened up as something alarming hit me. â€Å"You don't think†¦ you don't think she would've run away and gone back to her mom, do you? Or Court or somewhere?† His face grew even more bleak. â€Å"I hope not. Do you think things have been that bad?† I thought about our fight after the shower incident. â€Å"I don't know. Maybe.† Eddie buried his face in his hands. â€Å"I can't believe this,† he repeated. â€Å"I failed.† When it came to Jill, Eddie was usually all fierceness and anger. I'd never seen him so close to depression. I'd been living with the fear of my own failure since coming to Palm Springs but only now realized that Eddie had just as much on the line. I recalled Adrian's words about Eddie and his friend Mason, how Eddie felt responsible. If Jill didn't come back, would this be history repeating itself? Would she be someone else he'd lost? I'd thought this mission might be redemption for him. Instead, it could turn into Mason all over again. â€Å"You didn't fail,† I said. â€Å"You've been in charge of protecting her, and you've done that. You can't control her happiness. If anything, I'm to blame. I gave her a lecture for the shower incident.† â€Å"Yeah, but I destroyed her hopes when I told her the modeling idea Lee had wouldn't work.† â€Å"But you were right about – Lee!† I gasped. â€Å"That's it. That's where she is. She's with Lee, I'm certain of it. Do you have his number?† Eddie groaned. â€Å"I'm such an idiot,† he said, taking out his cell phone and scanning for the number. â€Å"I should've thought of that.† I touched the cross around my neck, saying a silent prayer that this would all be solved easily. As long as it meant Jill was alive and well, I could've handled her and Lee eloping. â€Å"Hey, Lee? It's Eddie. Is Jill with you?† There was a pause as Lee responded. Eddie's body language answered the question before I heard another word. His posture relaxed, and relief flooded his features. â€Å"Okay,† said Eddie a few moments later. â€Å"Well, get her back here. Now. Everyone's looking for her.† Another pause. Eddie's face hardened. â€Å"We can talk about that later.† He disconnected and turned to me. â€Å"She's okay.† â€Å"Thank God,† I breathed. I stood up, only then realizing how tense I'd been. â€Å"I'll be right back.† I found Mrs. Weathers and the security officer and relayed the news. The officer immediately spread the word to his colleagues and soon left. To my surprise, Mrs. Weathers almost looked like she was on the verge of tears. â€Å"Are you okay?† I asked. â€Å"Yes, yes.† She turned flustered, embarrassed at being so emotional. â€Å"I was just so worried. I – I didn't want to say anything and scare you all, but every time a student's missing†¦ well, a few years ago, another girl disappeared. We thought she'd just sneaked off – like Matt said, it happens. But it turned out†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mrs. Weathers grimaced and looked away. â€Å"I shouldn't be telling you this.† As if she could stop with that kind of intro. â€Å"No, please. Tell me.† She sighed. â€Å"The police found her a couple days later – dead. She'd been abducted and killed. It was terrible, and they never caught her killer. Now I just think of that whenever someone disappears. It's never happened again, of course. But something like that scars you.† I could imagine so. And as I returned to Eddie, I thought about him and Mason again. It seemed like everyone was carrying baggage from past events. I certainly was. Now that Jill's safety wasn't a concern, all I kept thinking was: What will the Alchemists say? What will my father say? Eddie was just hanging up his phone again when I approached. â€Å"I called Micah to tell him everything's okay,† he explained. â€Å"He was really worried.† All signs of Mrs. Weathers's past trauma vanished the instant that Jill and Lee walked through the door. Jill actually looked upbeat until she saw all of our faces. She came to a halt. Beside her, Lee already looked grim. I think he knew what was coming. Eddie and I hurried forward but didn't have a chance to speak right away. Mrs. Weathers immediately demanded to know where they'd been. Rather than cover it up, Jill confessed and told the truth: she and Lee had gone off campus, into Palm Springs. She was careful to make sure Lee didn't get accused of any kidnapping charges, swearing he didn't know she could only leave with approved family members. I confirmed this – though Lee was hardly off the hook in my opinion. â€Å"Will you wait outside?† I asked him politely. â€Å"I'd like to speak to you privately later.† Lee started to obey, flashing Jill a look of apology. He lightly brushed her hand in farewell and turned away. It was Mrs. Weathers who stopped him. â€Å"Wait,† she said, peering at him curiously. â€Å"Do I know you?† Lee looked startled. â€Å"I don't think so. I've never been here before.† â€Å"There's something familiar about you,† she insisted. Her frown deepened a few moments more. At last, she shrugged. â€Å"It can't be. I must be mistaken.† Lee nodded, met Jill's eyes in sympathy again, and left. Mrs. Weathers wasn't done with Jill. She launched into a lecture about how dangerous and irresponsible they'd been. â€Å"If you were going to sneak off and break rules, you could've at least confided in your siblings. They've been scared to death for you.† It was almost funny, her advising on â€Å"responsible† rule-breaking. Considering how panicked I'd been, I couldn't find anything amusing just then. She also told Jill that she'd be written up and punished. â€Å"For now,† said Mrs. Weathers, â€Å"you are confined to your room for the rest of the night. Come see me after breakfast, and we'll find out if the principal thinks this warrants suspension.† â€Å"Excuse me,† said Eddie. â€Å"Can we have a few minutes alone here with her before she goes upstairs? I'd like to talk to her.† Mrs. Weathers hesitated, apparently wanting Jill's punishment immediately enforced. Then she gave Eddie a double take. The look on his face was hard and angry, and I think Mrs. Weathers knew there was punishment of a different sort coming from Jill's big brother. â€Å"Five minutes,† said Mrs. Weathers, tapping her watch. â€Å"Then up you go.† â€Å"Don't,† said Jill, the instant we were alone. Her face was a mixture of fear and defiance. â€Å"I know what I did was wrong. I don't need a lecture from you guys.† â€Å"Don't you?† I asked. â€Å"Because if you knew it was wrong, you wouldn't have done it!† Jill crossed her arms over her chest. â€Å"I had to get out of here. On my own terms. And not with you guys.† The comment rolled right off of me. It sounded young and petty. But to my surprise, Eddie actually looked hurt. â€Å"What's that supposed to mean?† he asked. â€Å"It means that I just wanted to be away from this place without you always telling me what I'm doing wrong.† That was directed to me. â€Å"And you jumping at every shadow.† That, of course, was to Eddie. â€Å"I just want to protect you,† he said, looking hurt. â€Å"I'm not trying to smother you, but I can't have anything happen to you. Not again.† â€Å"I'm in more danger from Laurel than any assassins!† Jill exclaimed. â€Å"Do you know what she did today? We were working in the computer lab, and she ‘accidentally' tripped over my power cord. I lost half my work and didn't finish in time, so now I'm going to get a lower grade.† A lesson on backing up work probably wouldn't be useful just then. â€Å"Look, that's really terrible,† I said. â€Å"But it's not in the same category as getting yourself killed. Not by a long shot. Where exactly did you go?† For a moment, she looked as though she wasn't going to give up the info. Finally, she said, â€Å"Lee took me to Salton Sea.† Seeing our blank looks, she added, â€Å"It's a lake outside of town. It was wonderful.† An almost-dreamy expression crossed her features. â€Å"I haven't been around that much water in so long. Then we went downtown and just walked around, shopping and eating ice cream. He took me to that boutique, with the designer who's looking for models and – â€Å" â€Å"Jill,† I interrupted. â€Å"I don't care how awesome your day was. You scared us. Don't you get that?† â€Å"Lee shouldn't have done this,† growled Eddie. â€Å"Don't blame him,† said Jill. â€Å"I talked him into it – I made him think you guys wouldn't mind. And he doesn't know the real reason I'm here or the danger.† â€Å"Maybe dating was a bad idea,† I muttered. â€Å"Lee's the best thing that's happened to me here!† she said angrily. â€Å"I deserve to be able to go out and have fun like you guys.† ‘†Fun'? That's kind of an exaggeration,† I said, recalling my afternoon with Adrian. Jill needed a target for her frustration, and I won the honor. â€Å"Doesn't seem like it to me. You're always gone. And when you aren't, you just tell me what I'm doing wrong. It's like you're my mom.† I'd been wading through all of this calmly, but suddenly, something about that comment made me snap. My finely tuned control shattered. â€Å"You know what? I kind of feel that way too. Because as far as I can tell, I am the only one in this group behaving like an adult. You think I'm out there having fun? All I'm doing is babysitting you guys and cleaning up your messes. I spent my afternoon – wasted my afternoon – driving Adrian around so that he could blow off the interviews that I set up. Then I get here and have to deal with the aftermath of your ‘field trip.' I get that Laurel's a pain – although maybe if Micah had been warned off from the beginning, these problems with her never would've happened.† I directed that last comment at Eddie. â€Å"I don't get why I'm the only one who sees how serious everything is. Vampire-human dating. Your lives on the line. These aren't the kinds of things you can screw around with! And yet†¦ somehow, you all still do. You leave me to do the hard stuff, to pick up after you†¦ and all the while, I've got Keith and the other Alchemists breathing down my neck, waiting for me to screw up because no one trusts me since helping your pal Rose. You think this is fun? You want to live my life? Then do it. Step right up, and you start taking responsibility for a change.† I hadn't yelled, but my volume had certainly gone up. I'd pretty much delivered my speech without taking a breath and now paused for some oxygen. Eddie and Jill stared at me, wide-eyed, as though they didn't recognize me. Mrs. Weathers returned to us just then. â€Å"That's enough for tonight. You need to go upstairs now,† she told Jill. Jill nodded, still a little stunned, and hurried away without saying goodbye to any of us. Mrs. Weathers walked her to the stairs, and Eddie turned to me. His face was pale and solemn. â€Å"You're right,† he said. â€Å"I haven't been pulling my share.† I sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. â€Å"You're not as bad as they are.† He shook his head. â€Å"Still. You might be right about Micah. Maybe he'll keep some distance if I talk to him, and then Laurel will lay off Jill. I'll ask him tonight. But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He frowned, choosing his words carefully. â€Å"Try not to be too hard on Adrian and Jill. This is stressful for her, and sometimes I think a little of Adrian's personality is leaking into her through the bond. I'm sure that's why she ran off today. It's something he'd do in her situation.† â€Å"No one forced her to do it,† I said. â€Å"Least of all Adrian. The fact that she coaxed Lee and didn't tell us shows that she knew it was wrong. That's free will. And Adrian has no such excuses.† â€Å"Yeah†¦ but he's Adrian,† said Eddie lamely. â€Å"Sometimes I don't know how much of what he does is him and how much is spirit.† â€Å"Spirit users can take antidepressants, can't they? If he's worried about it becoming a problem, then he needs to step up and take charge. He has a choice. He's not helpless. There are no victims here.† Eddie studied me for several seconds. â€Å"And I thought I had a harsh view on life.† â€Å"You have a harsh life,† I corrected. â€Å"But yours is built around the idea that you always have to take care of other people. I was raised to believe that's necessary sometimes but that everyone still needs to try to take care of themselves.† â€Å"And yet here you are.† â€Å"Tell me about it. You want to come talk to Lee with me?† All apology vanished from Eddie's face. â€Å"Yes,† he said fiercely. We found Lee sitting on a bench outside, looking miserable. He jumped up when we approached. â€Å"You guys, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done it. She just sounded so sad and so lost that I wanted to – â€Å" â€Å"You know how protective we are of her,† I said. â€Å"How could you have not thought that this would worry us?† â€Å"And she's a minor,† said Eddie. â€Å"You can't just take her away and do whatever you want with her!† I admit, I was a little surprised that the threat to Jill's virtue was what he chose to bring up. Don't get me wrong – I was also conscious of her age. But after he saw her literally die, it seemed like Eddie would be worried about more than making out. Lee's gray eyes went wide. â€Å"Nothing happened! I would never do anything like that to her. I promise! I'd never take advantage of someone so trusting. I can't ruin this. She means more to me than any other girl I've dated. I want us to be together forever.† I thought being â€Å"together forever† was extreme at their ages, but there was a sincerity in his eyes that was touching. It still didn't excuse what he'd done. He took our lecturing seriously and promised there would never be a repeat. â€Å"But please†¦ can I still see her when you're around? Can we still do group things?† Eddie and I exchanged glances. â€Å"If she's even allowed to leave campus after this,† I said. â€Å"I really don't know what's going to happen.† Lee left after a few more apologies, and Eddie also returned to his dorm. I was walking upstairs when my phone rang. Glancing down, I was startled to see my parents' number in Salt Lake City on the caller ID. â€Å"Hello?† I asked. For a frantic moment, I hoped it was Zoe. â€Å"Sydney.† My father. My stomach filled with dread. â€Å"We need to talk about what's happened.† Panic shot through me. How had he found out about Jill's disappearance already? Keith jumped out as the obvious culprit. But how had Keith found out? Had he been at Clarence's when Eddie called Adrian? Despite his flaws, I couldn't imagine Adrian telling Keith what had happened. â€Å"Talk about what?† I asked, playing for time. â€Å"Your behavior. Keith called me last night, and I must say, I'm very disappointed.† â€Å"Last night?† This wasn't about Jill's disappearance. So what was it about? â€Å"You're supposed to be coordinating efforts for that Moroi girl to blend in. You aren't supposed to be out socializing with them and having a good time! I could hardly believe it when Keith said you took them out bowling.† â€Å"It was mini-golf, and Keith okayed it! I asked him first.† â€Å"And then I hear you're helping all these other vampires run errands and whatnot. Your duty is only to the girl, and that is to do only what's necessary for her survival – which I also hear you aren't doing. Keith tells me there was an incident where you didn't properly handle her difficulties in the sun?† â€Å"I reported that immediately!† I cried. I'd known Keith was planning to use that against me. â€Å"Keith – † I paused, thinking about the best way to handle this. â€Å"Misunderstood my initial report.† Keith had blown off my initial report, but telling my father his protege had lied would just put my father's defenses up. He wouldn't believe me. â€Å"And Keith's one to talk! He's always hanging out with Clarence and won't say why.† â€Å"Probably to make sure he remains stable. I understand the old man isn't all there.† â€Å"He's obsessed with vampire hunters,† I explained. â€Å"He thinks there are humans out there that killed his niece.† â€Å"Well,† said my father, â€Å"there are some humans out there who catch on to the vampire world, those whom we can't dissuade. Hardly hunters. Keith's doing his duty by enlightening Clarence. You, however, are misguided.† â€Å"That's not a fair comparison!† â€Å"Honestly, I blame myself,† he said. Somehow I doubted that. â€Å"I shouldn't have let you go. You weren't ready – not after what you went through. Being with these vampires is confusing you. That's why I'm recalling you.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"If I had my way, it'd be right now. Unfortunately, Zoe won't be ready for another two weeks. The Alchemists want her to undergo some testing before she gets her tattoo. Once she does, we'll send her in your place and get you†¦ some help.† â€Å"Dad! This is crazy. I'm doing fine here. Please, don't send Zoe – â€Å" â€Å"I'm sorry, Sydney,† he said. â€Å"You've left me no choice. Please don't get into trouble in your remaining time.† He disconnected, and I stood in the hall, my heart sinking. Two weeks! Two weeks and they were sending Zoe. And me†¦ where were they sending me? I didn't want to think about it, but I knew. I needed to stop this from happening. Wheels were already in motion. The tattoos, I suddenly thought. If I could finish my tests on the stolen substances and find out info about the blood supplier, I would earn the Alchemists' regard – hopefully enough to take away the taint that Keith had put on me. And why had he done it? Why now? I knew he'd never wanted me along. Maybe he had just been biding his time, building up evidence against me until he could get me ousted in one fell swoop. I wouldn't let him, though. I'd bust open this tattoo case and prove who the stellar Alchemist was. I had enough evidence now to get their attention and would simply turn in what I had if nothing new came to light within a week. The decision filled me with resolve, but I still had trouble sleeping when I went to bed later. My father's threat hung over me, as did my fear of the reeducation centers. After about an hour of tossing and turning I finally dozed off. But even that was fitful and troubled. I woke up after only a few hours and then had to fall asleep all over again. This time, I dreamed. In the dream, I stood in Clarence's living room. Everything was neat and in place, the dark wood and antique furniture giving the space its usual ominous feel. The details were surprisingly vivid, and it was like I could even smell the dusty books and leather on the furniture. â€Å"Huh. It worked. Wasn't sure if it would with a human.† I spun around and found Adrian leaning against the wall. He hadn't been there a moment ago, and I had a flash of that childhood fear of vampires appearing out of nowhere. Then I remembered this was a dream, and these kinds of things happened. â€Å"What weren't you sure about?† I asked. He gestured around him. â€Å"If I could reach you. Bring you here into this dream.† I didn't quite follow what he meant and said nothing. He arched an eyebrow. â€Å"You don't know, do you? Where you are?† â€Å"At Clarence's,† I said reasonably. â€Å"Well, in reality I'm asleep in my bed. This is just a dream.† â€Å"You're half right,† he said. â€Å"This is a spirit dream. This is real.† I frowned. A spirit dream. Since most of our information about spirit was sketchy, we had hardly anything on spirit dreams. I'd learned most of what I knew about them from Rose, who had been frequently visited by Adrian in them. According to her, the dreamer and the spirit user were actually together, in a meeting of the minds, communicating across long distances. It was hard for me to fully grasp that, but I'd seen Rose wake up with information she wouldn't have otherwise had. Still, I had no evidence to suggest I was really in a spirit dream now. â€Å"This is just a regular dream,† I countered. â€Å"Are you sure?† he asked. â€Å"Look around. Concentrate. Doesn't it feel different? Like a dream†¦ but not like a dream. Not quite like real life either. Call it what you want, but the next time we see each other in the waking world, I'll be able to tell you exactly what happened here.† I looked around the room, studying it as he'd suggested. Again, I was struck by the vividness of even the smallest details. It certainly felt real, but dreams often did†¦ right? You usually never knew you were dreaming until you woke up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to still my mind. And like that, I felt it. I understood what he meant. Not quite like a dream. Not quite like real life. My eyes flew open. â€Å"Stop it,† I cried, backing away from him. â€Å"Make it end. Get me out of here.† Because in accepting that this really was a spirit dream, I'd had to acknowledge something else: I was surrounded in vampire magic. My mind was ensnared in it. I felt claustrophobic. The magic was pressing on me, crushing the air. â€Å"Please.† My voice grew more and more frantic. â€Å"Please let me go.† Adrian straightened up, looking surprised. â€Å"Whoa, Sage. Calm down. You're okay.† â€Å"No. I'm not. I don't want this. I don't want the magic touching me.† â€Å"It won't hurt you,† he said. â€Å"It's nothing.† â€Å"It's wrong,† I whispered. â€Å"Adrian, stop it.† He reached out a hand, like he might try to comfort me, and then thought better of it. â€Å"It won't hurt you,† he repeated. â€Å"Just hear me out, and then I'll dissolve it. I promise.† Even in the dream, my pulse was racing. I wrapped my arms around myself and backed up against the wall, trying to make myself small. â€Å"Okay,† I whispered. â€Å"Hurry.† â€Å"I just wanted to say†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced away uncomfortably before looking at me again. Were his eyes greener here than in real life? Or was it just my imagination? â€Å"I wanted to†¦ I wanted to apologize.† â€Å"For what?† I asked. I couldn't process anything beyond my own terror. â€Å"For what I did. You were right. I wasted your time and your work today.† I forced my mind to dredge up memories from this afternoon. â€Å"Thank you,† I said simply. â€Å"I don't know why I do these things,† he added. â€Å"I just can't help it.† I was still terrified, still suffocating in the magic surrounding me. Somehow, I managed to echo my earlier conversation with Eddie. â€Å"You can take control of yourself,† I said. â€Å"You aren't a victim.† Adrian had been gazing off, troubled by his thoughts. He suddenly jerked his gaze back to me. â€Å"Just like Rose.† â€Å"What?† Adrian held out his hand, and a thorny red rose suddenly materialized there. I gasped and tried to back up farther. He twirled the stem around, careful not to prick his fingers. â€Å"She said that. That I was playing the victim. Am I really that pathetic?† The rose wilted and crumpled before my eyes, turning to dust and then vanishing altogether. I made the sign against evil on my shoulder and tried to remember what we were talking about. â€Å"Pathetic's not the word I'd use,† I said. â€Å"What word would you use?† My mind was blanking. â€Å"I don't know. Confused?† He smiled. â€Å"That's an understatement.† â€Å"I'll check a dictionary when I wake up and get back to you. Can you please end this?† The smile faded to an expression of amazement. â€Å"You really are that scared, aren't you?† I let my silence answer for me. â€Å"Okay, one more thing, then. I thought of another way I can get out of Clarence's and get some money. I was reading about college and financial aid. If I took classes somewhere, do you think I could get enough to live on?† This was a concrete question I could deal with. â€Å"It's possible. But I think it's too late. Classes have started everywhere.† â€Å"I found a place on the internet. Carlton. A college on the other side of town that hasn't started yet. But I'd still have to act fast, and†¦ that's what I don't know how to do. The paperwork. The procedures. But that's your specialty, right?† â€Å"Sad but true,† I said. Some part of me thought Carlton sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. He took a deep breath. â€Å"Will you help me? I know it's making you babysit again, but I don't know where to start. I promise I'll meet you halfway, though. Tell me what I need to do, and I will.† Babysit. He'd been talking to Jill or Eddie or both. That was reasonable, though. He'd want to know that she was okay. I could only imagine how my tirade had been paraphrased. â€Å"You were in college before,† I said, recalling his record. I'd scoured it when putting together the ill-fated resume. â€Å"You dropped out.† Adrian nodded. â€Å"I did.† â€Å"How do I know you won't this time? How do I know you aren't just wasting my time again?† â€Å"You don't know, Sage,† he admitted. â€Å"And I don't blame you. All I can ask is that you give me another chance. That you try to believe me when I say I'll follow through. That you believe I'm serious. That you trust me.† Long moments stretched out between us. I'd relaxed slightly, without even realizing it, though I remained up against the wall. I studied him, wishing I was better at reading people. His eyes were that green in real life, I decided. I just usually didn't look at them so closely. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"I trust you.† Total shock filled his features. â€Å"You do?† I was no better at reading people than I had been ten seconds ago, but in that moment, I suddenly gained a flash of understanding into the mystery that was Adrian Ivashkov. People didn't believe in him very often. They had low expectations of him, so he did as well. Even Eddie had sort of written him off: He's Adrian. As though there was nothing to be done for it. I also suddenly realized that, as unlikely as it seemed, Adrian and I had a lot in common. Both of us were constantly boxed in by others' expectations. It didn't matter that people expected everything of me and nothing of him. We were still the same, both of us constantly trying to break out of the lines that others had defined for us and be our own person. Adrian Ivashkov – flippant, vampire party boy – was more like me than anyone else I knew. The thought was so startling that I couldn't even answer him right away. â€Å"I do,† I said at last. â€Å"I'll help you.† I shivered. The fear of the dream returned, and I just wanted this to be over. I would've agreed to anything to be back in my non-magical bed. â€Å"But not here. Please – will you send me back? Or end this? Or whatever it is?† He nodded slowly, still looking stunned. The room began to fade, its colors and lines melting like a painting left in the rain. Soon, all dimmed to black, and I found myself waking up in my dorm room bed. As I did, I just barely caught the sound of his voice in my mind: Thank you, Sage.