Dha_Zai

Sorry, very sleepy.
It's about Ming delivering a formal declaration of his intentions (of war) to the head of the clan. Joe is the reason why Ming decided to swathe through “traditional family values” put at the cornerstone of this grandiose mausoleum of pretence.

Since Ming rebelled against the force which can smash him like an empty shell, he is incapable of protecting either himself or Joe.

Could you let me know if this piece of info was of any use to you? Shall I continue? I mean, the next part is going to shed some light on what happened to Joe from the moment of him losing consciousness up to coming round in Ming's house.

The reasons why Ming shouldn't have hit Joe to the back of the head with a baseball bat.
Warning: medical humdrum. Mostly. I am not your doctor and all that jazz.

Strikes to the back of the head can cause brainstem injuries.
The brainstem sits at the base of the skull, at the bottom of the brain; it connects the brain to the spinal cord.

You can consider the brainstem as a complex relay station that passes messages throughout the body to and from the cerebral cortex.

The brainstem looks like a flower stalk 2 to 3 inches (5 to almost 8 centimeters) long & contains 10 of the 12 cranial nerves (nerves that start in your brain).
Without the brainstem we would be dolls – head and body apart equally lifeless.

The brainstem does not perform higher brain functions like those associated with cognition or memory.
Instead, it regulates many involuntary actions — functions your body performs automatically; i.e., balance, blood pressure, breathing, eye movement, facial movements & sensations, hearing, heart rate, sleep & wakefulness, swallowing & taste.
Thanks to brainstem reflexes (your body’s immediate and involuntary motor responses) you can survive and adapt to changes in your environment.
If you sustain an injury that damages your brainstem and still alive & kicking, you might have the following symptoms: difficulty breathing, swallowing, coughing or gagging; dizziness or vertigo, feeling off balance; heartbeat irregularities; trouble sleeping; changes in consciousness; double vision; weakness and sensory changes; impairment in hearing; problems with coordination and walking.
Brainstem death means the permanent blackout – death, as blood & oxygen supply is cut off irreparably for ever.
Minor damage to the brainstem can cause loss of consciousness for a few seconds to a few minutes; severe headaches, nausea or vomiting, fatigue or drowsiness, problems with speech, difficulty sleeping, or sleeping more than usual; a person can be dazed, confused, and disoriented.

Severe brainstem injury can lead to death, paralysis or locked-in syndrome.
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a person is fully conscious but trapped in the body unable to move or communicate, except through eye movements or blinking.
If you'd like to fully grasp what locked-in syndrome means - I won't paste any links here - but you could do some search for Prichard Colón vs Terrel Williams.
The inappropriate referee & ringside physitian's actions led to a catastrophic effect. There's a shedload of visual material on YouTube - snippets of the boxing match when multiple rabbit punches were delivered & what followed, i.e., symptom severity, emergency surgery; coma; locked-in syndrome; various stages of rehabilitation & progress until now.
As I've previously mentioned, strikes to the spine or the back of the head are stricktly prohibited by the Unified Rules of MMA (Mixed Matrtial Arts) – foul & disqualification.

A strike to the back of the head or neck is often called a „rabbit punch” in boxing or MMA. The term comes from a specific hunting technique when a quick, sharp strike to the back of a rabbit's head is delivered to ensure a swift kill so as to avoid damaging its fur.
The bottom line is this: not only a rabbit punch but any strike to the back of the head can cause severe & irreversible injuries of the brain, spinal cord or death.
TBC

Joe's known perfectly well what kind of force he faces since EP 3 when Tong revealed Ming's family name to him. Actually, since that point Joe started emotionally distancing himself from Ming.
And in EP 8 Joe said to Mike, "Your kind of people..." with so much pain that it was enough to make the angels weep.

That's not only about the money, it's about severing ties with the family, about not deserving to bear the name of Akarayota, about him being worthy only wearing - actually, being strapped inside - the straightjacket of social and cultural correctness - a restraint imposed on him at birth, about his right to be himself instead of hiding behind a persona.

Now it's not only about Joe & Ming any more.
No matter if Joe supports Ming or not, it's high time Ming fought his battle and resolved whether he will tailor himself to his family's expectations or stand his ground.
Ming is likely to be showered with „How dare you?!”, “I'll disinherit you!”, “You won't get a dime unless...”, “You'll come crawling back!”

I wonder, if Ming hasn't faltered under the stream of vituperation and menaces, will daddy use a crop or whip, or a golf club to teach him what filial obedience means?

I'm completely aware of the fact that evolutionarily parental homophobia is a no-brainer: gays do not reproduce... which is an obsolete conception nowadays - a little bit of contrivance and your gay off-spring will contribute to the family's overall genetic success.

A crucial issue slipped by me. The family can't publicly manifest that there is a homosexual off-spring dangling on their magnificent family tree! That exposes the family to disgrace & ridicule... tarnishes the reputation.

Does Ming's family know other methods of communication apart from mum's fulmination, brother-in-law's manipulation, threats, bribery & abuse?

The bottom line is this: the family would rather Ming maintained the public persona of being heterosexual while having hush-hush homosexual liaisons on the side, since conjugal infidelity is venial whereas having a gay off-spring leapt out of your loins is a cardinal sin.

My bad. Edited. Ming's elder brother's name is Mike.

In EP 11 we are going to get more of Mike.
A totally one-sided dialogue.

What are you, enigmatic Mr Fixer? A noble fighter with cold demeanour or another elite enforcer? Are you the one who handles family problems with consummate ease?

When you decoyed Joe into Ming's condo, you threw a following remark, „You don't seem a golddigger I used to meet”.
Oh, Mark, really? Do you imply that Ming was prone to get involved with pintle-bits who tried to use him as a social trampoline or without long preludes literally sucked money out of him, or perhaps dared to blackmail him? And then you unceremoniously intervened, didn't you?

Judging from Ming's snapping at you he didn't feel chuffed to bits when he saw you talking to Joe.

So, you used to hover somewhere in the shadow, always on standby, so as to interfere if trouble loomed on the horizon.

I need more of you, Mr In-between. I need you shielding Ming from the family as efficiently as you would shield him from those leeches. It hurts to see him thrashing & suffocating in the confines of the family mausoleum, doesn't it?
I beg your pardon, but your family is nothing more but airs and graces - „ruffles on the ruins”.
Farewell till Friday, Mr In-between.

I bet, Tong is going to show us a Houdini-style escape from justice.

EP 10
Tong has eventually ended up as „a superior weed amongst a field of chaff”.

Rapaciously ambitious, striving for wealth & power he has to cajole capricious Ming into giving him money. How humilating! Ming's involvement with Joe put a clamp on Tong's umbilical cord with the Akarayotas' finances.

As a last resort he started an insidious game of getting rid of Joe. He so elegantly set Ming's mum on Joe by having expressed his utmost concern about a pintle-bit who's scrounging off her naive gullible Mingie.
But Tong seems to be losing his grip, because that intricate intrigue blew up right in his face.

The next part is going to be about a concussion. But I'm afraid not today.

My fault. I should've started with Glossary part (3). If you follow "in front of the mirror directions", you'll get the hang of it quite easily.

I haven't read the novel.
I'd rather they didn't end up together. I don't have faith in Joe. I guess I'm the only person on the page who is tiptoeing around Joe.
Ming went against the flow & he will eventually fight his way out of the family - it's going to cost him shedloads, yet, he won't knuckle under.

But Joe... When an issue arises and it's necessary to face it, he starts wallowing in his resentment deaf to any reason & puts to flight.

I don't doubt that Ming's dick spoke life into him: when you reach orgasm, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin surge and course through your body furthering the “high” and building that sparkly bubble of joie de vivre, but when it bursts there is no deep feeling binding you together. No real "gold joinery" but synthetic glue.

I assume I should've started with (3).
Would you like me to continue?

(3) Glossary

-a blunt impact injury - non-penetrating trauma

-CN XI – cranial nerve XI = SAN - the spinal accessory nerve. It's a little bit intricate because when CN XI leaves the skull, it's mostly named SAN - the spinal accessory nerve, but it makes no difference for us.

-fascia - a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. If you've ever roasted a lamb leg or cut a turkey or chicken you must've seen them. Connected the dots?

A dollop of anatomy. Stand in front of the mirror, will you?

-the sternocleidomastoid muscle (the SCM) - Chin up, turn the head a bit on the left. Can you see that thing on the right which looks like a harness strap? Touch it & slide your fingers up behind the ear upto the skull – that's the beginning; now slide your fingers downwards slantingly along that nice smooth strap upto the clavical – you safely landed! That's your SCM.

-the trapezius muscle (traps) – arms up, above the head, bend your elbows and put your palms on your nape slide them a little to the base – here we are, that's the beginning. Now, slide your palms a bit downwards along your spine – great stretching! - and sweep your left palm to the left & right – to the right. Meet your upper traps.

-the posterior triangle of the neck.
Are you still wriggling in front of that mirror? Then, chin up, turn the head a bit on the left, a bit more, will you? Good. That's your SCM on the right. Slide your fingers downwards upto the clavical, let your fingers turn right & drag them along the clavical towards the shoulder, not so far, only to the spot where you feel your traps and up we go right to the skull. This funny as if slightly hollowed-out thingie is the triangel where your SAN passes as well as your external carotid artery does.
Muay Thai fighters performing high kicks target the opponent's side of the neck so that the foot can compress that cutie, I mean the external carotid artery, and shock the opponent, weakening or knocking him out.

(2) Now that you understand how this sly sadist operates, let's take a look at how it might tame you when it's „stressed”. Even if you were a masochist, you wouldn't be into playing along.

Primary complaints:
Pain, lots of pain and far more pain.

-pain and weakness, mostly involving the shoulder; pain radiates to the upper back, neck, and ipsilateral (same side) arm;
-pain is exacerbated with weight on the injured shoulder;
-the traction and straining of the muscles, which have to compensate for the nerve injury means more pain and decreased strength on the injured side;
-the cocktail of the pain and decreased strength limits the range of motion of the involved shoulder.

Have you counted how many „pain” appeared here?
So, your rut - you know, brushing your hair, shrugging shoulders, reaching for things on overhead shelves, stretching when tired – would become a struggle... as raising your arm above the head would be hard or beyond the bounds of possibility.
Oh, something's almost fallen through the cracks. Do you wear a bra? It's going to be a nuisance – only a front clasp will do. Unless you are serviced by someone.

Let alone physically strenuous activities Joe is involved into. No stunts or riding a bike.

Not going to elaborate on more advanced issues.
TCB

Not related to EP 11.
Aswering your questions about EP 4. Read at your own risk.
(1) I am not your doctor. All content from me on this MDL page is for informational and entertaining purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice. Full stop.

You said, „Ming also bonked him on neck to the lower head from what I could see.”

Joe is not standing ramrod straight, he has a "text neck" posture, it means that he is leaning over a mobile with his head tilted down at more than 45 degrees, he's staring blankly at the display.

Ming's standing not exactly behind Joe's right shoulder, more to the right on the periphery but still in the range of vision; admittedly, Joe's lost the awareness of his surroundings.
Ming's taking a swing and delivering a blow which looks very much like Muay Thai high kick. So, the bat didn't land like a tomahawk or chopper, it's really like a shin in a high side kick. It impacts the area of Joe's upper traps and tangentially the right side of the head – you can see how Joe's head bounces.
Actually, it wasn't a full force blow.

Below you'll find the description of the primary impact area where SAN & the carotid artery pass and immediate & long-term effects of a blunt impact injury to it.

Shall we dance? Slowly, follow me.

CN XI originates from the brain, courses through the posterior triangle, en route to the trapezius it is covered solely by fascia and skin - it's a long superficial course in the neck, which makes it vulnerable & prone to injury - then breaks into the numerous short branches which directly innervate the traps. It also supplies the sternocleidomastoid muscles (the SCM) .

Yes, it likes control!
Are you still with me?
So, here we are. SAN enables (read only the first four words in each point):

-rotation of head away from the side of the contracting (the SCM)
-tilting of the head toward the contracting (the SCM)
-flexion of the neck by both (SCMs)
-elevation of the shoulder by the traps.
-drawing the head back so the face is upward by the traps.

You know, I felt all-overish when watching the assault scene for the hundredth time in slow motion (5%) and then going forward frame by frame, I still couldn't clearly see how the blow was delivered & what the weapon looked like. So, I attended a certain place where I was able to grab and try different types of bats and use them on a ballistic dummy to verify how it could work, because I can't rely only on pure guesswork even if it is about fiction.

I tried Kintsugi myself. The process is not only time-consuming, it requires a certain state of mind, steady hands, precision and control. And experience & knowledge.