#Sell electronics for cash | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

82mitsu · 4 months

Text

{18Trip} <PROLOGUE SIDE-A: Still blank> 000-A05 The man who sells flowers

A translation of 18TRIP's PROLOGUE SIDE-A by 82mitsu. ENG proofreading by sasaranurude.

(Kafka’s voice)

07/01, 1st of July— I snuck out of the hospital.

The first trip in my life…

As promised, Kaede-chan took me with him.

My heart was beating as fast as it could… Whether Kaede-chan felt this excitement through our intertwined hands—it was all I could think about at first.

I’m sure that I'll never, ever forget about the trip I took today.

The sights I saw, the food I ate, the people I met… the smells, sounds and colors— the warmth of holding Kaede-chan’s hand.

This is what a trip is—an unforgettable experience that etches itself within your heart.

That’s why I thought of something. One day, I… as the 0th Ward Mayor of HAMA… I want to be the one giving hospitality to all the tourists that come here—

Kaede: I knew it…it’s a voice memo from when I secretly took him with me out of the hospital, and we went sightseeing around HAMA together.

Kaede: (Kafka, you really… held that trip close to your heart.)

Sakujiro: One day as a Tourism Ward Mayor, he says. As you would expect from the son meant to inherit the 0th ward governing over HAMA-18…. harboring such noble ambitions since his boyhood.

Sakujiro: Anyhow, currently we must locate the Young Master posthaste. For the sake of conducting the search as efficiently as possible, I suggest we operate individually.

Kaede: Yeah, I agree. Then I’ll be—

Kaede: (I don’t believe Kafka left that cassette lying around without any thought.)

Kaede: (I thought to trace back my steps following the route planner I made for Kafka that day, but…)

Kaede: I made that plan while super excited, so the scope of it was huge. I want to find him as soon as possible, though…

(Kaede bumps into something)

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Huhn~? Didya just like, bump into my shoulder?

Kaede: Ah, sorry.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Haaah!? Ya bumped into him and that’s it!? You hit his shoulder, yanno!? Are all fellas from HAMA just a buncha rude asses or what!

Kaede: No, uh…

Kaede: (I messed up… Because of this area becoming desolate, a bunch of weirdo delinquents started gathering around here, or something along those lines.)

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Y’know, we really went outta our way and took two whole ass hours to come here! All the way down to HAMA!

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: To beat the ever living shit out of other dudes!

Both delinquents A & B: Gyahahaha!

Kaede: Picking fights… why would you…?

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Get with the times, old man. Nowadays every goddamn place is on full lockdown by security robots, ain’t no room for the baddies to stand out.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Going off that, HAMA’s management is in freaking shambles, which is why big cat right here can claim the whole sidewalk for himself with his big ass shoulders.

Kaede: (They’re saying some awful things…)

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Which leads us back to this, so c’mon, hand it over. The thing you pull out when you've pulverized someone else’s shoulder.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Reparations, to be clear.

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Hand it over, scoundrel.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Reminder that cops don’t bother with civil affairs, scalawag.

Kaede: Um… I’m a little bit tight on cash…

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Don’tcha get all stingy on me! Look, look, electronic payments are where it’s at. Which one’s your main?

Kaede: No, I’m not…!

Man selling flowers: Excuse me~ ….Don’t you want to buy a flower?

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Haaah?

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Where’s this fella suddenly popping up from.

Man selling flowers: Money is accepted through most electronic payment services.

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Wha… what’cha yapping about there!

Man selling flowers: Do you have a favorite flower? Even if only by color… Ah, actually I can provide assistance by reverse searching flower language based on your favorite word and pick one out like that too.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Flower language? I ain’t bilingual!

Man selling flowers: Let’s see… my recommendation for you two would be…

Man selling flowers: This, here—would you like an amaryllis.

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Hell no, don’t want it!

Man selling flowers: Is that so… then…

Man selling flowers: Muscari?

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Just straight up no! It ain’t like we want any other kinda flower! We don’t want flowers in general!

Man selling flowers: My last resort then. Coming down to my precious savings…

Kaede: (H-he pulled out a horsetail out of his pocket…!?)

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: Haaah? What’s with that grass thingie…

Man selling flowers: I was keeping this to use it for dinner later. The price tag is at 0, so no need to thank me either.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: I lost the plot…

Delinquent of amazingly short height A: L-let’s bounce.

Delinquent with dangerously low pants B: Right, let’s get outta here.

Man selling flowers: HAMA nice trip.

Kaede: (A-amazing. He chased off delinquents with a horsetail. More importantly…)

Kaede: Um, that right now…

Man selling flowers: Hm? What?

Kaede: HAMA nice trip… is what you said, right?

Man selling flowers: Yea. I did. It’s a greeting for when tourists come to HAMA. I came up with it.

Man selling flowers: But, it never ended up sticking. Use it too if you’d like.

Kaede: Y-yes. It’s a nice saying…

Kaede: Ah, that’s right! Thank you so much for saving me!

Man selling flowers: It’s not like I did that much. If anything, it seems like it’s going to rain later.

Kaede: Rain? What do you–

Kaede: …Huh? Is that…

Kaede: I knew it… A page from the sightseeing guide I made for Kafka in the past. It’s a copy but… what’s it doing here?

(Guide page)

Let’s improve the economy with inbound tourism (※foreigners traveling to Japan)!

With this, it has been decided that Yokohama’s “Chinatown” will be the most important tourist attraction, based on the concept the country came up with.

They hit the jackpot with this idea, so Chinatown’s attracting huge crowds! Our recommendation is to enjoy some high quality siu mai!

Kaede: (---Aah, that’s right. Back then, HAMA was in its heyday, full of life and people wherever you went…)

Person from Chinatown A: Oh my oh my, such little customers! Did you come here together?

Person from Chinatown B: Oi, you lil’ rascals over there! Have a bite of this! Don’t need no money, it’s just a sample!

Person from Chinatown C: Are you perhaps lost? Where would you like to go… Aah, in that case, it’s opposite direction of the station. Right over there, follow me!

Kaede: (All kinds of people treated us with such kindness… And that wasn’t just because we were two little kids out and about.)

Kaede: (At least, back then, it wasn’t as deteriorated as it is now…)

Kaede: ….All of it has changed.

Man selling flowers: Uuum, you okay?

Kaede: Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought there…

Man selling flowers: Anywhere you wanna go? I got a bike, so I can bring you if it isn’t far.

<<previous chapter / next chapter>>

prologue directory: A01 / A02 / A03 / A04 / A05 (x) / A06 / A07 / A08

#18trip #823_tl #prologue_sideA #hachinoya nagi

58 notes · View notes

leverage-ot3 · 9 months

Text

notable moments from The Cross My Heart Job

leverage 4.09

(team comes down an escalator toward the main floor)

Sophie: Well, that trip was a complete disaster.

Hardison: It was a train wreck.

Eliot: No, it was a shipwreck. And you know how I know that? 'Cause I was in the wreck.

Hardison: Hey, man, I don't want to hear you complain. At least you don't have to fix th-the ear buds. You know what?

Eliot: Man, don't talk to me about the ear buds! I just fought three ex-Brazilian combat divers with spear-guns, underwater!

Hardison: I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it.

Eliot: You believe this? (taps Sophie’s arm)

Sophie: Ow, don't touch me. I am sunburnt everywhere. I hate playing the French heiress on the topless beach.

Parker: Oh, I don't know what you're complaining about. I didn't even get to see the emerald.

Hardison: Are you for real?

Eliot: Oh, my god, for the last time, it's not an emerald. All right? It's an island. It's the "Emerald of the Caribbean."

chaotic family on an escalator

- - - - -

Parker: The heart could be anywhere by now. They could have jumped in a taxi and driven off.

Sophie: No, no, we have to assume it's still in the airport, that they're planning to fly it out.

Parker: Why?

Eliot: 'Cause otherwise, we've already lost

- - - - -

Eliot: All right. They're in there. We're gonna need a distraction.

(Sophie takes off her pants and uses her long shirt like a dress, then shakes out her hair and pulls a pair of heels from her purse. Parker counts some cash)

Parker: All right, they told Linda to call from a pay phone for instructions once she made the drop.

Eliot (hands Parker money): Better hurry up, or they're gonna start getting suspicious.

Parker: It's a good thing we didn't stay on that island to see those emeralds.

Eliot: Parker, I just t...

(Sophie leans on Eliot to put on her shoes)

Eliot: You carry high heels in your purse?

Sophie: I always travel with heels. (takes Parker’s scarf and ties it around her waist) How's this? Distracting enough?

Parker: Hmm.

parker and eliot both look away, partially to give her privacy but partially to act as a wall so that other people won’t see her changing

notice the stark contrast between this scene and the other changing scene in this episode

- - - - -

(the clerk closes the doors. Inside, Eliot pulls the kidnapper between two tables while Parker talks to Tanya)

Paker: Yeah, that will work. We'll get you a little taser, carry it with you wherever you go-

parker and her tasers + being surprisingly good with kids

- - - - -

Nate (to Eliot): What do you got on this guy?

Eliot: He's not a professional. He has no combat training. Lousy Zanshin.

Parker: The what?

Eliot: He's a loc... It means "personal awareness." Thug for hire, but very well funded. (hands Nate tickets) Two first-class tickets, one for him and one for the girl, and that's how they got past security, and (hands gun to Nate) plastic gun. One or two shots in the barrel warps, but that's pretty much all you need, very pricey hardware.

Parker: Why would someone pay for that but not hire a professional?

Eliot: He doesn't want a professional. He wants a local so we can't trace him back to him.

- - - - -

(Eliot uses a cord to tie the kidnapper’s hands)

Eliot (to Sophie): Don't suppose you travel with handcuffs.

Sophie: No, not on this trip.

👀👀👀

- - - - -

Parker: Plus the ear buds are busted.

Hardison: And I burned our phones and our credit cards so we can't be traced.

Sophie: Most of our money went on bribing the waiter.

Eliot: We're operating in a secured area.

Parker: And my lock picks are checked.

Hardison: And airport wi-fi is a joke. Face it, we're practically naked.

- - - - -

(Eliot and Parker walk out of the Restaurant and part ways. Parker approaches a kiosk that sells computers and looks around, then crouches to look at the locks before walking away. Eliot approaches an electronic store before yelling catches his attention from a check in desk not far away)

Platinum Flyer: You guys! Hey! Platinum flyer over here. Come here. Somebody look at me.

Airline Clerk: Sir, please calm down.

Platinum Flyer: Ju... let me stop you right there, okay? I don't care what seats you have left, all right? Do you see this? (holds up a card) I am a vista Atlantic platinum flyer, all right? Is this card gold? No. Look at it. Is it silver? No.

(Eliot looks around, sees a magazine and picks it up)

Platinum Flyer: It's platinum, all right? So if you think that I am sitting back in coach with the rabble, you got another think coming, all right?

(Eliot puts the magazine over the Platinum Flyer’s briefcase as the man tries to drop his wallet into it)

Platinum Flyer: You can just forget it. I don't even want to talk to you anymore. Who's that? Thing one and thing two, come here. You guys. Hey!

(Eliot walks back to the electronics store and pulls the Platinum Flyer’s credit card from the wallet. He enters the store and grabs several packages of walkie talkies, then flags down a clerk)

Eliot: Yo, yo, yo. Come over here.

(Parker tries on various sunglasses, stealing a pair before walking away. She walks past again and steals a snow globe. On another pass she steals a bag. She returns to the computer kiosk and breaks the sunglasses to picks the locks, revealing an old style CRT monitor)

all this competence porn, it’s SO GOOD

- - - - -

(later Parker and Eliot take apart the walkie talkies at a table while Hardison uses an old computer at the bar with Sophie and Linda watching while Nate paces)

Nate: Hardison, come on.

Hardison: Look, man, this is like stone knives and bearskins, okay? Nobody's asking Eliot to fight a guy with a nerf sword.

Eliot: Damascus, 2002.

Hardison: Like you've been to Damascus.

domestic parker and eliot taking apart walkie talkies? eliot legit sword fighting with a nerf sword? amazing

- - - - -

(the clerk watches from behind them, amazed)

Hardison: Wh-what? Come on, man. Like you've never seen a man travel with a desktop before. Go.

LMAO

- - - - -

Nate: Right there! Right there. Him.

Sophie: Dean Chesney?

Nate: Dean Chesney, CEO of Vertronics defense contractor. I had my eye on him for quite a while, but he was never a high-priority target.

Hardison: Why not?

Nate: He was dying.

- - - - -

(Eliot sits down and his feet hit against the struggling kidnapper. Eliot kicks him in the head but he continues making muffled sounds)

Nate: Are you done?

(Eliot kicks the man again)

Eliot: Yeah

- - - - -

Hardison: After we get out of the public areas of the terminal, we work on level two. It's ground crew, tarmac access. It gets us from here to the private terminal.

Parker: How do we get that? Break Eliot's wrist?

Hardison: What? N-no, no. We just pick one up from where the ground crew left it.

[Locker Room]

Parker (opening combination lock): Yeah, this will keep my stuff safe, from a 6-year-old with the DTs.

(Parker opens the locker and removes a jacket. Eliot closes the locker and hits the lock on the one next to it, opening the lock. He pulls out a level 2 badge and hands it to Parker)

Eliot: That's two.

(Parker and Eliot begin to change clothes)

🔥🔥🔥 scene tho 🔥🔥🔥

also, notice how they start getting changed without turning around or anything, like hardison would have immediately turned around because that’s who he is. she literally immediately takes her shirt off without a care. he doesn’t even blink at it. eliot and parker have a very strong, nonverbal, physical bond because they’re similar entities. they understand each other on a deep level because of their pasts and there isn’t that type of need for modesty between them.

also they’re literally so close to each other when they’re doing this??? literally, personal space? they don’t know her

ALSO, eliot throws his shirt at the camera and idk it feels like he’s giving parker privacy from the “onlookers” (aka the camera) if you get what I’m saying,,,

- - - - -

Sophie: Well, we have to lure them out.

Parker: Oh, okay. Set Nate on fire?

Eliot: Settle down

she mouths “no” back at him and they have a silent exchange where she ends up smiling I love them

- - - - -

Hardison (pacing): Come on, Eliot. Come on, come on. Come on, man.

Announcer: Mr. Picard. Mr. Kirk Picard, please meet your party at door "E.

ELIOT KNOWS HOW TO GET HARDISONS ATTENTION. HE KNOWS TO MAKE A STAR TREK REFERENCE AND BAM HARDISON KNOWS WHATS UP. WHAT D O R K S

- - - - -

(Eliot gets into a cart that Parker is sitting in. She holds up the keys and hands them to him)

Parker: Let's ride

her SMILE and EXCITEMENT

- - - - -

Hardison: Excuse me. Uh, something's wrong with my pin. Can you reset it for me?

(Hardison hands the card to the guard, who scans it)

Guard: Can you confirm your old pin?

(the screen shows that the card belongs to a woman and the guard looks at Hardison in surprise)

Guard: Uh...

Hardison: What?

Guard: Wh—

Hardison: what? You got a, you got a problem? My little transformation? Go on, speak your mind. Yeah, I had some surgery, huh? A little nip, a little tuck, a little pop, okay? And now I am who I'm supposed to be. I used to be Francesca. Now my name is Frank!

Guard: Um...

(a second guard turns to look at Hardison)

Hardison: You got a problem? You... excu—excu—I didn't know this was the club. You all up in the mix, don't even know the flavor. What's your problem? (walks around the desk aggressively) You got a, you—everybody got a problem with this? Look, racism, sexism, anti-semitism? That's how you y'all want to play this? Cool. I thought it was a no-no in airport security, but I see y'all profilin' me right, left, and center, everywhere. You know what? Shame on you. Shame on your mama. Shame on your kids.

(Hardison glances at the monitor to see the pin number, then walks back around the desk)

Guard: I-it's fine. I-it's fine. I got no problem with anything. Uh, it-it looks like you used to, used to be a-a really pretty girl.

Hardison: Used to be?

Guard: A-and n-now you're a-a very handsome gentleman.

Hardison: You hitting on me?

Guard: C-can you confirm your old pin?

Hardison: It's 5135.

Guard: Uh. (scans the card) Okay, there. Try that.

Hardison: Thank you. (looks at second guard) You better re-adjust your peripherals.

Guard 2: Real smooth.

(Hardison returns to the card reader and scans the card, entering the pin)

Reader: Pin accepted.

Hardison: Don't care what anybody else says. Next time, I'm taking the train.

I can’t tell if this scene was transphobic or not ??? like, it could have been worse and he called out people who would be judgmental of his “transformation” ???

like there was like one other kinda transphobic thing they did in the show but I forget the episode

- - - - -

Nate: I know what you're gonna say.

Sophie: I think you should have a drink.

Nate: Okay, I didn't know what you were gonna say.

Sophie: Look, we don't like it when you drink, (pours him a drink) but we trust you when you do. We both knew this was gonna get personal. We need you to stay clear-headed. You let it get to you now, it's gonna go bad for all of us. Be very careful, Nate.

- - - - -

Nate: Sam would have been 13 this year. A teenager. Almost a man. I mean, you know, probably a big pain in the ass, but… Joshua Spin is getting out of that hospital bed.

(Sophie nods. Nate sighs and takes the drink, looking down at Sophie’s hand over his)

- - - - -

hardison’s GRIN when he sees all the computers in the tower 🥺

- - - - -

Parker: It took us 8 minutes to get there. It's gonna take us 8 minutes to get back. Wait. (goes around to the front of the cart)

Eliot: What are you doing? Wait. No way!

(Parker lies on the ground and reaches under the cart)

Eliot: Come on, Parker, we got to go! We got to get-- Let's go! What are you do-- Quit monkeying around under there!

(Parker stands up holding a piece of electronics)

Eliot: Did you just pull something out of the engine?

Parker: Yeah. Spark regulator, keeps the cart from going more than 25 miles an hour. Now we'll get there in 4 minutes.

(Eliot starts the cart and takes off quickly)

Parker: Hey! Whoa! Whoa! Yeah!

- - - - -

Nate: Last week on that island, you faked a volcanic eruption. How is this harder?

HE DID WHAT NOW

- - - - -

Nate: You just sell it to the tower.

Sophie: Massdot special?

Nate: Massdot special.

Linda: Massdot special?

Sophie: Yes! (takes Linda’s phone and makes a call)

[National Weather Service]

Rachael: National Weather Service. This is Rachel.

Sophie: Oh, thank God!

[Crab-a-Rama]

Sophie: I was just out walking my dogs, and I saw a tornado touch down!

(Nate pulls up pictures of tornadoes on the computer)

Rachael: Are you sure?

[National Weather Service]

Rachael: The current forecast don't indicate any severe-weather patterns.

Sophie: I'm sure.

[Crab-a-Rama]

Sophie: I took a photo of it with my phone. I'm sending it to you now.

(Nate sends a picture of a tornado to Rachael as he dials the phone)

[National Weather Service]

(Rachael looks at the picture in shock)

Rachael: Uh, please hold, ma'am. (places Sophie on hold and takes another call) National weather service. This is Rachel.

[Crab-a-Rama]

Nate: Are you asleep at the wheel? There's a tornado out here by the airport right now! A freaking tornado! Come on!

[National Weather Service]

Rachael: Bill. Bill!

Bill: What is it?

Rachael: We got calls here. I think we need to issue a tornado warning for the Cincinnati metropolitan area.

- - - - -

Chesney: --to make the top of the list. This is my only chance. I've planned for months. I have eight backup contingencies. I'm fighting for my life, Mr. Ford! What are you fighting for?

[Crab-a-Rama]

Nate: I am fighting for that 15-year-old boy that you're going to kill.

[Chesney’s Room]

Chesney: God helps those who help themselves.

Nate: And I help people who can't.

[Crab-a-Rama]

Nate: And God help you if anything should happen to that boy, because if he spends more than one second longer in that hospital than he needs to, I will make it my mission in life to end you.

[Chesney’s Room]

Nate: I will ruin you.

[Crab-a-Rama]

Nate: I will ruin your name. I will ruin your company. I will bring down everything you have ever touched. And when I am done, I will hunt you down--

[Chesney’s Room]

Nate: --and I will kill you myself.

[Crab-a-Rama]

(Nate hangs up the phone)

- - - - -

parker yells “yee haw” a lot and I love her for that

- - - - -

Pilot: Tower, field is in sight.

Program: We have you in sight. Clear to land on runway 1-8.

Hardison: Okay, flight 4-0-9. W-we have a visual. You are clear to land on runway 1-8.

Pilot: Roger. Clear to land.

(the airplane lands safely)

Pilot: Tower, we are down.

Hardison: Yes! Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about.

Pilot: Say again, tower?

Hardison: I'm sorry. No, no, I'm sorry. It's cool. It's cool. It's cool. Celebrate with me. All right.

hardison managed to land an airplane with 300 people on it with nothing more than a computer and a flight simulator and we STAN our intelligent man

- - - - -

eliot was always standing next to hardison in all the extra scenes in this episode and we love to see it

- - - - -

(Eliot looks at Nate and Sophie, then nudges Hardison)

Eliot: Let's go.

(Eliot grabs Parker on the way down the hall, Hardison follows them)

his lil pat on hardison’s shoulder? how he places a guiding hand on parker’s arm, leading her away? we LOVE to see casual touches and casual intimacy between them

- - - - -

so hardison likes to assemble model helicopters in his spare time sometimes and nate assembles model ships in his ???

- - - - -

Chesney: So now what? You can't report me without exposing yourself. And what's to stop me from trying again?

[Leverage HQ]

Nate: I am. (hits remote to bring up information and a video feed on the monitors) I'm watching you. I'm watching your money, your people, your company. What have you got there, a pulse rate of 86?

[Chesney’s Room]

(Chesney looks around in alarm)

[Leverage HQ]

Nate: Oh, look at that.

[Chesney’s Room]

Nate: Just jumped up to 104. That can't be good for you.

[Leverage HQ]

Nate: Make your peace now, Chesney. (continues putting model together) Because if I see anything, anything I don't like...

[Chesney’s Room]

Chesney: Well, Mr. Ford it seems you've killed me after all.

[Leverage HQ]

Nate: Oh, I didn't kill you. God killed you. I just made sure it took. (hangs up)

#eliot spencer #parker #alec hardison #leverage ot3 #parker x hardison x eliot #leverage #nate ford #nate ford meta #sophie devereaux #sophie devereaux meta #parker meta #alec hardison meta #eliot spencer meta #meta #notable moments #the cross my heart job #leverage season 4 #mine #leverage: let's go steal a queue

122 notes · View notes

incorrectbatfam · 9 months

Note

Okay, so I want a little angst fic where Robs twins and Milo get kidnapped, and the kidnapper is doing the whole cliche thing with ‘cHoOsE oNe, will your twins or Milo live??’ and, Rob thinks, it should be obvious, right? Pick ur twins! But, it’s a difficult decision, he can’t let any of them die, and he’s stressing Tf out. Like, Milo is fourteen! And the twins love him! (Kinds? He bullies them sometimes but it’s fineee)

At the end, the bats come and save them, but it’s still an eye opening experience.

The Gooners Christmas kidnapping fic that exactly one (1) person asked for

Word count: 3,375

———————

“What’s the password?”

Milo chuckled. “Jackie, you’re only supposed to do that when you get picked up from school.”

“Dad said to always ask before getting in the car with anyone,” the six-year-old replied.

“But you know me.”

“What if you’re a shapeshifting alien trying to abduct us? Or an evil robot clone?”

He sighed. “Unicorn ice cream. Now are we going Christmas shopping or not?”

“Sure,” she said, “when Gunner quits being a slowpoke.”

As if on cue, the other boy stumbled out of the three’s shared bedroom, tugging his blue snow boots on. Since he didn’t know how to tie the laces yet, Milo kneeled down and helped him.

“Now remember, the mall’s gonna be really busy, so what do we do if we get separated?”

“Meet at the food court,” they say in unison.

“And what do we not do?”

“Go to a security guard.”

“And why don’t we do that?”

“Because they don’t work for people like us.”

“Good job.” He patted the pom-poms topping their matching hats.

Once Milo buckled the twins in and put his favorite rock album on, they set off. There was a light dusting of snow on top of the salt laid down earlier that morning, but the fifteen-year-old managed to weave through the holiday traffic and beat the lights in time to snag the last parking spot at Gotham City’s shopping hotspot.

“Any idea what you’re gonna get your dad?” he asked as they walked into the bustling shopping mall.

“How about a watch?” said Jackie. “I saw a really cool gold one last week.”

“Hm… maybe,” he said. “Gunner, what about you? Any thoughts?”

Gunner stifled a laugh. “Pants.”

Milo rolled his eyes playfully. The kid was in that phase where pants were the funniest thing in the world. But in the nine months since he started living with the Steelers, Milo hadn’t seen Rob get anything—buying or stealing—for himself. It was always for the kids or to sell on the internet. And, frankly, the man looked like he spent a year on a deserted island.

“We’ll start with pants,” he said.

“What about you?” Jackie asked. “What are you gonna get him?”

“I’m not sure.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Probably something as a thanks for, you know, not leaving me to the wolves.”

“Like what?”

Gunner said, “How about a World’s Best Dad mug?”

“That might work for you, but he’s not my dad,” said Milo. He shrugged. “Eh, I’ll figure it out.”

They perused a few clothing stores, the twins pointing out pieces of clothing their dad might like. Milo kept a mental inventory as he fiddled with the magnet in his coat pocket. He also made notes about where the cameras and security guards were placed.

After about an hour, the kids were whining about being hungry (breakfast wasn’t exactly filling—they shared an egg and a slice of toast between them). Milo took them to the food court and used some cash he pickpocketed the other day to buy them both kids’ meals from the Batburger pop-up stall.

Once they sat down, he said, “I’m gonna go get the gifts for your dad. Do you guys have your phone?”

Jackie and Gunner nodded and pulled out matching rose gold and black smartphones, respectively, that totally weren’t stolen and jailbroken.

“Good. Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. Call me if you need anything.”

Milo still had a thing or two to learn before he could begin swiping electronics and jewelry, but shoplifting clothing was easy. He grabbed a shopping bag from behind an unoccupied register and wove through the aisles for the list of things from earlier. He took them to the dressing room and removed the security tags with his trusty magnet before putting the clothes in the bag. Then, for good measure, he stuck them back onto random clothes throughout the store before walking out while using his phone like any other teenager.

When he didn’t see the twins at the food court, there was a small spark of panic. He called Jackie and it rang three times before she answered.

“We’re in the bathroom,” she said.

He should’ve noticed the quiver in her voice. When he stepped into the all-gender restroom, he was met by the kids pressed against the wall with a haggard middle-aged man towering over them.

Gunner cried out, “Milo!”

As the door fell shut, the stranger whirled around, pointing a sawed-off shotgun at Milo. “You with them?”

Stunned, Milo nodded numbly. He wasn’t sure if that was the right move or not.

The man’s hands trembled. “Do as I say or I shoot.”

Milo reached for his batarang—the one he found on the street—inside his jacket, but before he could grab it, the man walked around him and prodded Milo in the back with the barrel.

“I know you heard me. Now all three of you move it.”

The bathroom was five steps from the exit, so there wasn’t any chance to make a getaway without putting Jackie and Gunner at risk. They were ushered roughly into a white van with the peeling logo of an electric company. A second person was in the driver’s seat so the guy with the gun got into the seatless back with them. He slammed the door shut. Milo motioned for the twins to get behind him.

The driver turned the radio up as they made their way onto the road.

Smart. Milo thought. Mask any calls for help. This obviously wasn’t the kidnappers’ first rodeo.

But neither was it Milo’s. Being a runaway street kid, he had his fair share of close calls with bastard adults who tried to manipulate him because of his age. While he couldn’t call himself an expert, he had a general gist of how these situations went.

Traveling at sixty miles per hour in a windowless van with no clue where they were headed, Milo didn’t have an upper hand. He needed information. Something was better than nothing.

He studied the man with them, who had tucked the gun away. Even in the dark, he could see the man wasn’t doing well for himself. The worn-out clothes plus the crudeness of his weapon ruled out the mafia. What would Falcone or Maroni want with some random kids from Burnside, anyway? Milo could also rule out some of the major Rogues—Riddler, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze all had standards.

The man’s graying blonde hair and beard were both overgrown. His face was hollow and his breath smelled like spoiled leftovers. Clearly, he hadn’t taken care of himself in a long time. Mental break? But unless it was a case of folie a deux, there’s no way he could’ve gotten a second person to be his getaway driver. More likely than not, he was on his last legs and holding people for ransom was his Hail Mary.

Milo also tried to analyze the man’s body language, but the low light and the moving van made it difficult. Kellin would’ve probably deduced everything with their assassin training by now.

He glanced over his shoulder at Jackie and Gunner. Gunner always had more braggadocio, but underneath he got more scared easily, and Milo saw it in the way the kid clung to his sister’s arm with tears running down his cherubic face. Jackie appeared calmer, but her big brown eyes looked up at Milo, silently begging him to do something.

Milo took a deep breath and turned to their kidnapper. “You mind telling me what you want with us?”

“We don’t want anything from you,” the man replied.

“Then what? You gonna sell us? Because we’re pretty unmarketable.”

“No,” he said. “This isn’t about you. It’s about your father.”

“Axel Carr? Good luck with that. I’m as dead to him as he is to me.”

The man pointed to the twins. “I meant theirs.”

“How do you know their dad?” Milo asked slowly, careful not to let a name slip in case the man was bluffing.

“I worked with Rob Steeler under Scarecrow. When he left, instead of getting promoted, they let our entire crew go since we lost our key player.”

The man was clearly getting started and Milo hoped he’d keep going until the boy could formulate a plan.

“My whole life torpedoed after that. No gigs meant no income. No income plus a disabled kid meant I had to give up custody.”

While unfortunate, Milo was more focused on the clock and speedometer up front. Eight minutes had passed since they started driving and the speed had stayed consistent. The hum underneath the wheels told him they were still on the highway.

“Without that money, I can’t get my kid back. So here’s what’s gonna happen.”

They came to a stop and there was the sound of a garage door opening and closing. Gun back in hand, the man prodded them out.

“I’m gonna make Steeler pay,” he said. “He gives me cash for his little tikes. Otherwise, if I can’t have my family, then neither can he.” He turned to Milo and cocked the gun. “As for you, I’m afraid I can’t have any witnesses.”

“Wait!” Milo exclaimed before the man put his finger on the trigger. “Don’t you think killing me right away will cause a huge scene? You’ll end up with cops at the doorstep before you can even ask for the money.”

The driver muttered something to the gunman.

“True,” the gunman said.

The driver whispered something else. The gunman’s face lit up and he nodded.

“Better idea,” he said. “I was going for around thirty grand. That’s ten grand for each of you. For each one he can bring me, I’ll let you go home.”

Jackie piped up. “What if he can’t?”

The man smiled. “For your sake, little girl, you better hope he does.”

The gunman forced the three to surrender their phones while the driver bound them with rope to a water pipe against the wall. The windowless garage offered no clues to the outside, but the fishy smell in the air meant they were close to the harbor. It hadn’t been used in a long time because every step someone took left a footprint in the dust. Off to one side, underneath a mountain of scrap wood and netting, was a speedboat with a gaping hole in the hull. On the other side was a small, messy work table where the driver and gunman were making the ransom call.

“Milo, what do we do?” Gunner whispered.

“Just stay here and don’t move unless I tell you to,” he replied. “I’m gonna get us out of this.”

“What if you get hurt?” Jackie asked.

He smiled. “Remember when I did a cartwheel with a twisted ankle? A little hurt doesn’t bother me.”

His arms were pinned to his side, but he managed to maneuver them enough to grab his magnet and batarang. Normally he would have had a trunk full of inventory to work with but this was going to have to do.

While the kidnappers were on the call, he sliced himself out of the ropes with the batarang. He also loosened Jackie and Gunner’s restraints to prepare for a quick escape.

The only exit was the garage door, controlled by a red button on the wall. If he was one of the bat-people, he could easily throw the batarang and hit the tiny target far away, but as just Milo, the risks far outweighed his chance of success. Normally he would have tried anyway, but he had the kids with him.

He gestured to Gunner’s boots. “I need to borrow something real quick.”

The boy nodded. Milo undid the laces, resulting in two long strings in his hands. He tied them together to create a single, even longer cord, which he then put the batarang on one end of.

The kidnappers turned toward them and the gunman shouted, “Hey!”

Milo muttered a prayer to Wonder Woman on the off chance that’s her thing.

He twirled the string and released it. It wrapped around the driver’s knee, causing the man to stumble and fall. His joint cracking echoed through the garage and a red stain grew on his cargo pants.

He reeled it in before throwing it at the gunman’s face. The tip grazed the man’s cheek, drawing a thin trickle of blood, before spinning back around into Milo’s hand. Milo threw a punch, but the man caught it. The gunman twisted before shoving Milo to the ground and pointing the shotgun at him.

“Had fun playing Robin?” the man asked, finger nearing the trigger.

Stall. That was all there was left to do.

“Heroes are overrated. They always have to follow some stupid code,” Milo said, doing all he could to keep his voice steady. “You and I have more in common than you think.”

“Whatever deal you’re trying to cut won’t work,” the gunman replied. “Steeler’s already on his way and he accepted all my terms.”

“What if I tell everyone what you did? Then what?”

The gunman laughed. “Tell who? The same cops you’re always running from? Don’t think I didn’t do my homework on your little posse.”

The driver was pretty much down for the count because he was still on the floor with the pool of blood slowly growing. Plus, he didn’t seem like the fighting type to begin with. Unless there were more kidnappers lurking, Milo just had to make sure the gunman stayed focused on him.

“Your kid. How old are they?” Milo asked.

“He’s ten, and unlike you, he’s actually suffering. He didn’t bring it on himself after a fight with daddy.”

That plucked a nerve. For a disheveled ex-henchman, the man knew a lot.

Milo clenched his jaw. “And what would he say if he knew about this? Even if you get the money, what makes you think he’d want anything to do with you?”

Smack.

Milo fell back as the gun met his temple. His head throbbed and black speckles swam in front of his eyes. His fingers traced over the spot and came back red. Through the dull ringing in his right ear, he heard the twins cry out his name.

He turned back to the gunman, still kneeling. “If you’d do this to us, what’s stopping you from doing it to him?”

This time, a kick to the stomach forced the wind out of him. He doubled over, gasping. He reached for the batarang but the gunman kicked it away.

The man raised his gun for another strike but the garage door interrupted him.

“Step away from the kids.”

The twins exclaimed, “Dad!”

Rob made brief but reassuring eye contact with them before turning to the kidnapper.

“I got as much as I could, Frederickson. Now let go of my kids.”

The kidnapper walked over and snatched the water-stained blue duffel bag out of Rob’s hand. He opened it and counted through the banded bills before turning back to Rob.

“I said thirty grand. This is only twenty-five.”

“That's all I got, I’m telling you! Just take it and let my kids and I go home.”

“We had a deal.”

While the two men went back and forth, Milo crawled over to the batarang. The open garage door meant the bright lights inside flooded the harbor with nothing blocking the way. The bright lightbulbs dangled from the ceiling.

It was sheer luck the batarang flew over the adults’ heads and wrapped around the base of the brightest light bulb before dangling in front of it. It wasn’t very distinct, but his makeshift Bat-Signal would have to do.

The man cocked the gun. “Now you gotta pick. It’s them…” He pointed it at the twins. “Or him.” He pointed at Milo.

What kind of choice is that? Milo thought. Of course pick them.

Rob stood there as if nailed to the spot, fists clenched.

“Fredrickson, think about this,” he said, his normally firm voice edging on pleading. “Is five thousand dollars worth having this on your conscience?”

“You were always the soft one,” the man sneered. “You never let it on around the boss until our last sting.”

“There’s ransom and then there’s this,” Rob said. “Fredrickson. Darren. You’re not okay.”

“Rob,” Milo said.

The men’s heads both swiveled around.

Milo swallowed. “Give him what he wants and he’ll be out of your hair. It’s obvious. Pick the twins.”

Rob sputtered, eyes wide. “I-I…”

“You trust me on the field all the time,” he said. “So do it again.”

“I can’t.”

The gunman said, “So the little ones go.”

“No!” Rob yelled. “I just—I just need…”

“Take. Your. Pick.”

His eyes darted between Milo and the twins. Milo knew his boss was an idiot at times and the proof was right here. The twins were younger. There were two of them as opposed to one of him. They were actually Rob’s.

Before the gunman could repeat himself again, a brand new voice chimed in.

“I’ve seen this trope before. Spoiler alert: the good guys win.”

With a swish of her purple cape, Spoiler released her grapple and knocked the shotgun away. She coiled the rope around the gunman before kneeing him in the ribs. Milo didn’t think much of heroes given how they beat up people like him and Rob, but he couldn’t help but marvel at each fluid strike. As easy as one, two, three, four, and five.

The gunman hit the ground and she clasped a pair of handcuffs on him. Nearby, Orphan collected the driver.

Spoiler crouched beside the twins and freed them. “Are you guys alright?”

They nodded. Gunner said, “Is the supervillain defeated?”

“I’d hardly call him super, but yes,” she said. “He’s not gonna bother you anymore.”

As red and blue lights flooded the room, Milo’s head pulsed even harder like a kick drum at a rock show. Some of the blood from his temple dripped onto the floor. His stomach rolled.

Rob answered some of Spoiler’s questions before she set them loose. Of course cops would be at the scene. Why didn’t Milo think of that?

The twins ran into their dad’s arms and he scooped them up. Milo had never seen his boss so relieved or so scared. He staggered to his feet, one hand in the brick wall for balance. His head spun and a sharp pain was finally sinking in.

Rob put the kids down and turned toward Milo.

“I’m sorry,” Milo said. “It’s my fault we got into this mess and—”

He was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around him.

“Rob, what—”

“Just shut up and take it.”

The hug ended before Milo could fully register it. After one of the medics patched his wound, all they had left to do was go home and pretend this never happened. Business as usual.

“The car’s still at the mall,” he said.

“I borrowed one from Otto,” Rob replied. “I’ll get ours in the morning.”

Once they were back at the apartment, Rob tucked the twins into bed with an extra-long story. Meanwhile, Milo cleaned himself up in the cubicle-sized bathroom and changed into something more comfortable.

He tried to sleep after that but wound up tossing and turning for hours, replaying the night’s events in his head. What if he hadn’t left the twins alone? What if he’d brought a better weapon? The Steelers were already hanging by a thread and he just cost them twenty-five grand. If one of the others was in his position, they could’ve figured a way out by themselves. Blaise would’ve siphoned the gas from the van and turned it into a flamethrower. Booker and Molly would’ve been better negotiators. Kellin would’ve fought their way through.

The door opened. The thin bar of light cut between his side of the room and the sleeping twins’ bunk bed.

“It’s two o’clock,” Rob said.

Milo propped himself up on his elbow. “And?”

“I could hear you down the hall. You’re gonna wake the twins up at this rate.”

“Not on the clock, not my boss.”

Rob quietly chuckled. “Get some sleep. I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

106 notes · View notes

yamada-ryo · 9 months

Text

Slightly late comiket c103 masterpost

(Long post)

Someone cosplayed Bocchi from the house visiting episode (with the sash and party glasses)

Staff cosplaying as Mori Calliope and Oozara Subaru

RX-78-2 cosplayer waved to the crowd entering the venue (almost everyone in that section waved back)

Bocchi and Ryo cosplayers in the Blue Archive section

This one cosplayer manning a stall who very nearly handed me back 11000 yen when I handed her 10000 yen for a 1000 yen item

A Kurisu Makise cosplayer who didn't have Dr Pepper on hand but did have some tea

Arknights Platinum cosplayer who was like 180cm tall (with like 3 inch heel boots)

Went to I211's booth. Saw him talking in English to the customer in front of me. Tried to ask for the new book by asking in English. He replied in Japanese. Thanked him in English again. He thanked me in Japanese.

Guilty Gear May cosplayer with like a really really big hat

Different staff cosplaying as Calliope Mori (again)

Seems obvious when said but its interesting to see that people quite often dress in something related to what they're selling (train stuff/conductor's uniform, military stuff/camo uniform, 男の娘 etc)

Singular Ruri Dragon doujin booth

Someone was cosplaying as the guy from The Mask of all things. Like the one with the green face and yellow suit

The guy who married Miku had a booth and a Miku doll was handing out stuff to people visiting

A pair of Ryo and Kita maid cosplayers selling Bocchi stuff together

Saw a whole ass VSK, Kalashnikov and two RPGs in the military section

Overheard in an american accent "I'm telling you man it's all just horses"

3 completely different Touhou cosplayers just browsing the military section (Junko Aya and Sakuya)

A pair of Uma Musume cosplayers manning a booth in the train section

A pair of Chisato and Takina cosplayers manning a booth in the train section

For some reason quite a lot of booths in the train section accepted electronic payment (everywhere else was cash only)

Train ASMR

Somehow got called 'onee san'

A Witch from Mercury book being sold with the cover designed like one of those HG kit boxes

Bocchi the Cock. Like, a lot of it

Quite a sizable number of Kikuri Hiroi booths

There were like 4-5 booths in a row all selling AI generated stuff and you could tell which ones used the same program

One singular Brisket (strive) cosplayer

A booth that was just a guy handing out political flyers

A booth that just had "stop censorship law" written all over

Some guy cosplaying in a full ghillie suit

Okuyasu cosplayer (without The Hand) (or Josuke)

A staff who had a hat with a batter operated spinning ferris wheel like thing on it

A staff who had a Blue Archive halo taped on his hat but wasn't otherwise cosplaying (it was pink idk whose halo it was)

A staff who didn't know what colour his hat was and called it "yellowish orange" (オレンジ黄色いぽい)

As always there were many 男の娘/女装/etc

#test

47 notes · View notes

solarpunkbusiness · 2 months

Text

The factory in south Wales, which has been under construction since March 2022, is designed to extract gold from up to 4,000 tonnes a year of circuit boards sourced in the UK from electronics including phones, laptops and TVs.

The Royal Mint, which has produced coins for more than 1,100 years, has said the process could provide hundreds of kilograms of gold annually for its 886 jewellery range. This business, which launched in 2022, sells high-end rings, necklaces and earrings online and from its boutique in Burlington Arcade, in Mayfair, central London.

It is estimated that about 600 mobile phones will have to be processed to create one of the 7.5g gold rings sold in the 886 collection, which are similar to the weight of a £1 coin.

The factory in Llantrisant will use patented new chemistry – created by the Canadian clean technology firm Excir – to recover the gold. A washing machine-style spinning drum washes the pieces of circuitry containing gold in a special acid mix that dissolves the precious metal in four minutes. That compares with other gold extraction processes that are more energy intensive and tend to require extremely high temperatures over a longer period of time.

The new factory is part of the Mint’s ongoing efforts to diversify its business as cash use continues to decline. The business is 100% owned by the UK Treasury and pays a dividend to the government each year, with remaining profits reinvested in the business.

#solarpunk #solarpunk business #solarpunk business models #solar punk #startup #reculture

13 notes · View notes

butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway · 1 month

Text

Story time:

There was a kid in my town who sold radios. Home stereos, portable boomboxes, car radios, it didn't matter. You wanted it, it played music, kid sold it.

This is not the part of the story where I sell you an honorable story about a kid earning for a family who can't keep up. Kid had a reasonably secure homelife, just liked having cash on hand for things they wanted. Everyone knew these were not exactly electronics with legitimate provenance, you feel me? But that didn't matter. Kid sold decent equipment at good prices, so if the kid said a case of cassette players fell off the back of a truck, then it fell off the back of a truck.

I get that some people have never lived in communities where the illegitimate market was a staple in community survival, but where I grew up "criminal" was a job title.

Story time:

My mom sold drugs for the cartels. She was a teenager alone in a city where she didn't know anyone, gay as a maypole, school drop out, couldn't hold down a job between the homophobia, the earthquakes, and the severe trauma. So she sold drugs for the local distributer because he didn't care who she fucked or when she needed a day off. Sometimes she spent her drug money on drugs of her own. Sometimes she spent it on expensive sex toys for her and her friends. Sometimes she spent it on food and rent. Sometimes she gave it away to the other queer kids.

The world is a complicated place, and people make complicated choices. Good and bad are rarely what we think they are. We can make that a problem for ourselves by fighting it, or we can accept it and play in the space.

My mom told me about her drug dealer days when she had a talk with me about recreational drug use as a kid. She told me that she tried cocaine once and liked it so much she knew she couldn't try it again. She told me to only ever smoke marijuana if I watched the buds ground up or ground them up myself. She told me not to get high or drunk with anyone unless I trusted them with my life. She told me that if I ever took something and it went wrong that I could call her. And she told me something that she ended up saying a lot: "the only absolute is that there are no absolutes"

Ironically, given my OCD, this was a really protective message. Her point was that doubt, uncertainty, change, difference, were inevitable, and would always take us by surprise until we learned how to internalize that truth. Better to build yourself a comfortable palace of self-reflection in that doubt and uncertainty, and allow the variability of life to be your anchor.

I've been supporting myself since I was a teenager, and maybe one day I'll find something as good as the sound of that giant ass boombox with the batteries the size of a hamster pumping out prince and tracy chapman and the indigo girls under the mulberry tree out front while the smell of my aunties and mom smoking up out back drifts off into the woods. Maybe I'll even find people who see the beauty and humanity in the mess the way I do.

14 notes · View notes

ourladyofomega · 10 months

Text

I was getting deeper and deeper into everything electronic and industrial, all during my one-year break in-between the Brentwood era and community college. The UK electronics invasion, MTV's Amp, and Wipeout XL were the major influences that led me to that point. I was starting to have an endless appetite for music, and one thing I learned about myself that I could be interested in anything and everything. I already had an affinity to golden-era hip-hop / rap and alternative. The seeds of hardcore started to grow, so there would be no stopping me at this point. There were so many genres, artists, and sounds I was getting into, and I wanted to keep up. I had a position at a department store in the shopping mall, then later at a movie rental store, so I could afford to buy titles for whatever cash I had in hand.

I didn't have a desktop with internet to find independent stores. I had yellow pages instead: thick phone-books listing hundreds upon hundreds of pages of local businesses, their addresses, and their phone numbers all in minuscule print. That's how I discovered them back then. It was a year after visiting my first-ever independent record store, Commack's Mr. Cheapo's. Then came West Babylon's Looney Tunes before the holidays. Still enthusiastic in discovering the vast unknown, I wanted to find more. Port Jefferson's Music Den would be the next destination.

I already felt like an outsider when I arrived on campus. It was a different type of demographic I was used to. I looked around and I'd still see cliques, circles, and other "exclusive" groups of students that I felt I wouldn't be included in. I'd meet newfound friends who'd introduce me to their friends, but it felt forced, and they didn't seem to care. I was crazy for Atari Teenage Riot because they showed me exactly what techno always should've been: deafening loud, criminally high-speed, and maniacally all over the place. I tried looking for people who were in them, and observed what types of music the majority were into. Simplistic, manufactured, predictable dance hits. Boring weekend club-mashers. Formulaic radio chart-toppers. I wasn't impressed. The people who were into that were shallow, superficial, judgmental, needlessly competitive, and at times just unnecessarily mean. Drama artists and attitude jockeys all over the place. That's why they called community college "13th Grade". Now you'd see the disgusting distaste of the late-Nineties music scene I had. But, I did have a couple of good cards given to me. I joined the campus newspaper which I'd write music reviews for. An attractive brunette, Sandra, randomly stopped me to strike up a conversation, and wanted to get to know me better. She was also a Jesus freak. I also made another friend I met on campus who decided to set me up with an Irish blonde acquaintance of his, and we hit it off right away. Even then, I'd deal with constant games, rudeness, and random acts of ego during my time there.

The newspaper meeting ended one late October Thursday night. I finally had the opportunity to drive out eight miles from campus to the Port Jefferson Music Den for some shopping. I walked right in, and started digging. I'm not even there for two minutes and I already find gold: the import version of Alec Empire’s The Destroyer for only $9.00 used ($22.00 brand new otherwise). That was a huge deal for me because (once again) I was an Atari Teenage Riot / DHR fanatic. Right after that? Another label release, this time from EC8OR. I'd finally discover all those artists I heard about on the internet; thirty-minute download times of grainy 480P-resolution video and all. I was really starting to like this place. I start scouring the used CD bins, and I’d stumble upon KMFDM’s banned version of Naive for $8.00 - back when used copies on eBay were selling for…$80.00 each! Then came Pigface’s Washingmachinemouth and Ministry’s The Land Of Rape And Honey for a few dollars used. I copped Fluke’s Risotto because of Wipeout XL, and I’d snatch Skinny Puppy’s Back & Forth Volume 2 and Cleopatra’s Industrial Revolution: Third Edition, all for regular price. Finally, Coldcut’s "Atomic Moog 2000" / "Reboot The System": the first-ever multimedia CD I'd ever own.

Minute-by-minute, I'd slowly discover all sorts of wild and unusual sounds and artists they had on the racks. The Port Jeff- Music Den carried all the rare, unusual, and obscure stuff no other store on the island did. Sure, there were plenty of used CDs and vinyl bins in pop, metal, alternative, shoegaze, indie, hip-hop, and jazz. It was their industrial, noise, electronic, and experimental selections, however, that would be the all-important tie-breaker. They had all what I was looking for. I remembered seeing titles like Gescom’s Minidisc on the racks, Coil’s “Autumn Equinox: Amethyst Deceivers” 7", tons of Clock DVA, Controlled Bleeding, plus some Oval and Microstoria albums. It was wild. I felt stimulated because I found plenty of abnormalities that I never knew existed, instead of the expected, typical, calculated fare that did absolutely nothing for me.

90 minutes later, I took my short stack of CDs, placed them on the counter to be rung up, cashed out, and wrapped up what would be my first visit to The -Den. $82.00 later, I leave fucking satisfied.

With each visit after, I’d continue to score big victories where I’d find them. They were Phil Western’s debut album The Escapist, Muslimgauze’s Hamas Arc, Mike & Rich’s Expert Knob Twiddlers, Aphex Twin’s Analogue Bubblebath 3, Merzbow’s Pulse Demon, and Sam & Valley. I’d nab more DHR albums from 16-17, Shizuo on vinyl, Fuck Step '98, Give Up on 12", and Alec Empire’s Squeeze The Trigger. The best? Autechre / Gescom’s “Keynell” 12" that I found under the vinyl bins and hidden inside the cabinet underneath. It was stickered for $17.00 - another record where second-hand copies sold on eBay for $125.00. I also managed to pick up a few of their 12" EPs, mainly Chiclisuite and Envane.

All these finds made The -Music Den the most unforgettable store I had the privilege to visit. They were like nothing else on the island. Sadly, they closed down after the turn of the millennium, and no store that came after was half-as-good enough to fill the hole they left behind. Believe me, if any of you reading this would’ve shopped there, you’d feel amazed and blown away like I was. I’d still have a tough time dealing with all the constant, petty drama on campus over the next couple of years. At the Port Jefferson Music Den, however, I knew that was a place where I felt like I’d belong.

#omega #our lady omega #personal #Long Island #Alec Empire #EC8OR #Pigface #KMFDM #Ministry #industrial #electronic #techno #Cleopatra #Skinny Puppy #Fluke

50 notes · View notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 2 months

Text

This day in history

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

#20yrsago How cellphones change teenagers https://web.archive.org/web/20040812081823/http://www.receiver.vodafone.com/08/articles/index07.html

#20yrsago Webcomic creator turns down Universal Syndicate, offers works for free to any newspaper https://web.archive.org/web/20040810034621/http://www.pvponline.com/rants_panel.php3

#15yrsago CLIQ and other “unpickable” locks pwned at DefCon https://www.wired.com/2009/08/electronic-locks-defeated/

#15yrsago Associated Press will sell you a license to quote the public domain http://laboratorium.net/archive/2009/08/03/the_ap_will_sell_you_a_license_to_words_it_doesnt

#15yrsago Berlin’s luxury car arsonists https://www.theage.com.au/world/german-radicals-turn-to-arson-20090731-e4hf.html

#5yrsago Elsevier sends copyright threat to site for linking to Sci-Hub https://twitter.com/Citationsy/status/1156626811398307840

#5yrsago Corruption is contagious: dirty cops make their partners dirty https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/the-network-structure-of-police-misconduct

#5yrsago We could fund the transition to green energy with 10-30% of the world’s fossil fuel subsidy https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/01/fossil-fuel-subsidy-cash-pay-green-energy-transition

#5yrsago Leaks reveal that disgraced, hacked surveillance company wrote Republican Congressman’s border security talking-points https://theintercept.com/2019/08/01/perceptics-hack-license-plate-readers/

#5yrsago Cathay Pacific’s new privacy policy: we are recording you with seatback cameras, spying on you in airports, and buying data on your use of competing loyalty programs https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/cathay-pacific-passengers-not-to-expect-any-privacy.html

#5yrsago Amazon’s secret deals with local cops give them access to realtime 911 data for use in scary alerts sent to Ring owners https://gizmodo.com/cops-are-giving-amazons-ring-your-real-time-911-data-1836883867

#5yrsago A visit to Bosnia’s last pigeon post office https://balkaninsight.com/2019/08/01/youve-got-mail-bosnias-last-pigeon-post-office/

#5yrsago Paying for climate change: the question isn’t “How?” but “Who?” https://www.wired.com/story/dont-ask-how-to-pay-for-climate-change-ask-who/

#1yrago Forcing your computer to rat you out https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

#pluralistic

9 notes · View notes

boatem-probler · 4 months

Text

And Now for Something Completely Different, in... Tokyo Soul!

1 / 2 / You Are Here! / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

Smaller batch of episodes today, just a strange little mini-arc while Taurtis is presumably unavailable.

This report contains mentions of: gross humor, sexual humor, and harassment.

Previously on Tokyo Soul:

Grian: “I’m into dudes.”

“Fully Cooked Ramen?”

Grian: “Hey, Mr. Principal! :) Your teacher gave us snipers! :) I don’t know what kind of circus you’re running here! :)”

This Time...

Episode 11 – THE SUPER STORE

We open on Grian walking in on Sam in the bathroom. Sam makes Grian wipe for him. I wouldn’t relate this but I’ve seen people mentioning it out of context and was confused, and thought others may have also been confused. So allow me to clear up the confusion. There was never any context to begin with.

Also, Taurtis was taken away in the night by “officers” for not having the proper visa, Señor Loro reports. He promptly leaves.

Oh also it’s the weekend apparently, so they don’t have school. Instead, Sam has scheduled a job interview for them. Which is good, since Sam just spent the last of their money on KitKats.

Sam also steals a teddy bear from the hotel gift shop.

They ask Igbar for directions to the superstore, because Igbar knows where everything is. He also gives them his umbrella.

They arrive at the superstore, where they and the only other non-manager employee, Jason, immediately antagonize each other.

They’re interviewed by the manager, Mr. Nautilus, and Sam overshares quite a bit. Luckily, Mr. Nautilus also has a dead girlfriend, so he and Sam have a point of commonality.

Also, Tokyo Soul takes place in That One Time 2027, according to the calendar on the wall.

Mr. Nautilus doesn’t like either of the boys, but the superstore is short staffed, so they’re hired anyway! They’re each given a key to the bathroom and a company credit card.

Episode 12 – I HATE JASON

Sam and Grian have changed into their work uniforms. Also, it seems that Jason and Mr. Nautilus were watching them change through the bathroom mirror, which is in fact just a window. Okay.

The principal is shopping at the superstore and Grian immediately tears back into him about his staff.

They try to sell the principal a watch. Jason steals their sale.

Books that are for sale at the superstore: Squid Erotica. The Normie’s Guide to Memes. Why Squids Can’t Be Trusted. History of Anime. If Microwaves Could Dream. How to Lick Feet: For Dummies. Theoretical Panty Physics. Encyclopedia of Aliens.

Apparently the squid erotica is a priceless heirloom belonging to Mr. Nautilus, and the boys weren’t supposed to sell it. They also have no idea how the cash register works. Jason continues to antagonize them by being more competent than they are.

Professor Geode is here. He now has a disconcertingly wide smile, and his face appears to be glitching, or possibly melting. He requires trash and human waste. Mr. Nautilus is not pleased that the boys let him into the staff bathroom.

Professor Geode requires human food. Jason swoops in to sell him a bike, assuring him that it’s perfectly edible, and he can in fact feed it to people.

Also, Jason can teleport maybe??

Episode 13 – KILL JASON!

Sam and Grian hide in the electronics section to come up with a plan to get Jason fired, but Jason teleports behind them, so they relocate to the bathroom. They still appear to be unaware of Jason and Mr. Nautilus watching them through the mirror-window.

Grian’s plan is to push over some shelves and make it look like Jason did it. Sam’s plan is to push the shelves onto Jason, and break his legs. Grian insists that they are NOT going to kill anyone in this town, but eventually says that breaking Jason’s legs might be “for the best”. They are then called to the manager’s office.

He just wants to chew them out for not being more like Jason, rather than for threatening to break Jason’s legs.

Jason is now wearing Grian’s head???? He’s pretending to be Grian’s reflection for some reason??

A customer wants something for “chop chop”. Sam tries to sell them a garden trowel. Jason shows up and sells them a giant anime sword. They want him to test it on Grian and Sam.

Grian and Sam are sent to clean the bathroom. They continue to discuss strategy.

Sam: "Do you want me to set him on fire?" Grian: "Um… I would, but I think that’s illegal."

Mr. Nautilus is now wearing Sam’s head?? I honestly can’t tell if they’re supposed to actually be acting as Sam and Grian’s reflections or what. What the hell is going on in the superstore.

Sam and Grian successfully sell some guy panties for 500 or 5000 dollars, I’m not sure what exactly the exchange rate is between dollars and gold bars retextured to look like 1000 yen bills.

……But then it turns out the guy is a known counterfeiter, whose money will explode if you try to use it.

They try to slip the fake money into Jason’s cash register, but Jason catches them, so they decide to just go with plan B, which is “bring him into the bathroom and waterboard him in the toilet”. This also fails, because he still has that giant anime sword. AND a katana.

Sam and Grian decide to quit.

Mr. Nautilus claims they signed a contract and he can get them deported. Sam and Grian tell him this is bullshit, and just make a run for it.

Sam shows Grian around their house, as this is the first time he’s been there. Sam assigns Grian the dingy basement.

The sushi from episode 1 is STILL on their table.

Grian Trauma Count!

Traumatic Events:

Taurtis being deported is kind of glossed over because it’s probably just an excuse for why CC!Taurtis couldn’t film that day, but I would think that would count.

Bathroom Mirror-Window.

Threatened with two giant swords by Jason.

Next Time... Taurtis Is Back!

#al's unhinged tokyo soul summaries #tokyo soul

12 notes · View notes