#and staff but it was also mainly empty there were only like may 1 or two other people

[gudakko]

wait right i did have another dream

[writing-by-candlelight]

Hargreeves Mansion Layout: Second Floor

Thank you for coming back for part 2! If you haven’t seen part 1 (the ground floor) you can find it here. And Part 3, the third floor, here!!!

The second floor is slightly more complex than the first floor and it has a lot more rooms. 

If you haven’t seen my first post; yellow symbolizes doors or double doors, green are archways, the neon pink is the staircase coming up from the floor beneath (same goes for the light pink - its the main staircase coming up from the ground floor.), the blue is the long staircase from the stair race scene that goes through the entire house from the basement to the third floor. The orange and black will be explained later.

So overall the second floor has the most rooms out of all the floors and the most colors so here we go!

So for the ‘home’ section of the house lets start on the far right. 

The empty square there is the balcony area above the living room. Its thicker on the bottom since that’s where the bar is and the bar is completely covered. There also seems to be a small sitting area above it.

I’ve realized now in hindsight that the other end of the walkway ends at the wall and does not have the same sort of walkway across the top. I may correct my drawing in the future.

Speaking of the top section, this is where I’ve put Hargreeves personal rooms. I’ve placed the surveillance room here - the room where Hargreeves watches the children’s brainwaves and where Allison watches the tape of Hargreeves death. I’ve also placed it at the beginning of the hall. We only know there’s a hall since Diego walks down one on the way to Hargreeves’ Bedroom.

I placed Hargreeves’ Study right next to it. I know its not L-shaped as I’ve drawn it but I didn’t want to make the surveillance room super big so I’m just going to run with it. We see a living room and another room through a second door in the study so I assumed that this was another way into his bedroom.

The dotted line through the main walkway is just how I separated the house into sections so it may be ignored.

Now the central section is simpler.

On the bottom we have the Academy oil paintings. The small tragic things taking place from their debut until there was only Luther, Everyone leaving or dying or disappearing.

A bit further, slightly around the corner, is Grace’s charging station with its portraits. I put a dotted line around it because there are no walls but I wanted to show where it was.

Ignoring the courtyard we now get to the most complicated part.

The Bedrooms.

So Luther and Allison are side by side with their doors angled like we see in the dance scene and a lot of other scenes as well.

Then to the side is the bathroom which we see in the show has its own small hallway lined with attack posters like the rest of the hall (horrifying, I know).

Now to the interesting part. Klaus and Vanya’s rooms. 

In the flashback scene we see both of their rooms. They are next to each other and both about the size of a closet with Klaus’ being slightly bigger.

But in the scene where they are older and Vanya is destroying the mansion room by room, you can see that Klaus now has a bigger room and that the sort-of-brick wall that we only ever see in Vanya’s room is a part of it. 

So at some point the wall was knocked down and both rooms were given to Klaus. It even seems to have both doors, as in one scene Five enters through one and leaves through the other. This results in this chaotic mess of the room:

See? Both doors!

Moving on.

Any black sections on my ‘map’ are just thick walls or areas filled up with dirt or cement (though that last bit is more likely for the basement.)

The rest of the layout is sort of only based in canon since I had to change things around for them to fit (this is what happens when you film in multiple locations and not one house)

Now Diego’s room is the one at the end of the hall as we see in the flashback of Grace walking along it. Now I know in this scene we also see a hallway veering off to the left but it doesn’t make sense with the layout of the house, since that’s where the house ends, so I’ve erased it.

Diego’s room is the smallest of the rooms (once Vanya’s wall is removed) and it doesn’t change much at all so I have little to say about it. But its canonical location is interesting.  Originally Diego’s room is diagonal to the third floor staircase (which I’ve striped orange) and has a slight angle to the door. Thing is, for the bathroom to have its hallway and for said hallway to be within the constraints of physics, I had to switch the rooms around a bit.

From the hallway scene we know the bathroom is next to Allison’s room and Klaus’ room is next to Luther’s. But in order to fit the bathroom hallway I had to flip them so I could cut the bathroom into the walkway. That’s why there’s a dotted line through the bathroom since the walkway wall would be there. 

The creators also just...forgot??? About the staircase coming up through the floor from the ground floor? so I put the pink stairs right next to the bathroom.

This meant though that I had to put Diego’s room next to Klaus though.

I’ve added a new room for Vanya since she needed one and we are never shown were it is. I’ve put it at the end of the hall, slightly closed off from her siblings since that seems to be where Reginald would have put it.

This is from the hallway flashback just before Reginald comes in frame from that side hallway that doesn’t make sense. The open door we see is Diego’s original (nonsensical) room, which is the room I’ve given Vanya. And the stairs there are from the orange staircase that goes up to the third story. That dark doorway you see is (now) Diego’s room.

Now imagine that the hall just ends with Vanya’s door and that the stairs are folded halfway down to face Vanya’s door.

That’s how I finally got everything to make sense. It took me hours!!! Now we can finally move on to the training section of the second floor.

The second floor is the main training floor. This floor houses the training and exercise room on the far right. This room is mainly for overall training. I’ve headcanoned that it has tan oval running track, weights, workout equipment, punching bags, a climbing wall, gymnastics equipment, and an obstacle course in the center.

The sparring and weapons room is exactly what it sounds like. I’ve put it here for a separate space without all the equipment, because there is no way Hargreeves didn’t pit his children against each other. I headcanon it as having a boxing ring style space at the top and empty weapons space at the bottom with targets secured to the wall (the targets can move with a remote). This space is separated from left to right 3/4 of the way by a large metal weapons case with almost every weapon imaginable. There are dozens of types of guns, swords, war hammers, battle axes, bow and arrows, spears, knives, flamethrowers, scythes, clubs, maces, batons, both dual and singular sticks & staffs, num-chuks, shuriken, and even ‘non traditional weapons’ like ropes and chains.

We know from the scene where Five reappears in Ep 1 that they were taught how to use anything as a weapon. I assume this was either tested in the kitchen itself, or he set up a replica of a household room here.

(This is really really sad, look at it!)

We can see the following:

Egg Beaters - Hair Pull

Stock Pot - Explosive Device

Toaster - Use Cord For Strangulation

Coffee Pot - Throw Coffee In Face

Blender - Hand Mangler

Then I added a row of personal training rooms for their individual powers. Each room has an observation room - with a two way mirror and its own entrance - beneath it. I made it like a prison interrogation room on purpose because Hargreeves goes for functionality and trauma over anything else, and he would not like to be in the same room as some of their powers.

As you can see, the seventh room, which had been Vanya’s, has had its wall knocked down (hence the dotted line) and observation door boarded up. Hargreeves changed it all and made himself a small office instead. This was because it was no longer in use and because he wouldn’t want anyone to suspect anything.

And that’s it for this second installment in the mansion layout!!! Thank you so much for reading, id love to hear any thoughts!!!! Stay tuned for parts 3 & 4.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

a poem for small things

by Admin 1 & 2

The time has come, the first proper post for this segment we’ve settled on calling a poem for small things, a nod toward BWL and its Korean title. Like we said in our call for submission post, this is supposed to be something like a place full of positivity for vminnies (and perhaps the occasional namjinist) where you (and us) can share whatever we’d like in connection to vmin, both as vmin and as Jimin and Tae the individuals, and have something to raise our mood and also strengthen our vminnie confidence. We’ve gotten several wonderful submissions and quickly realized that for this first post the theme is mostly how I became a vminnie, even if three submissions talk more about vmin moments they enjoy instead.

I think it’s a really interesting theme, especially since everyone’s story is different, and everyone seems to find something else about vmin that captured their attention and hearts so sharing these memories and experiences is a great way to start off this segment. We’ve said it many times before, though I don’t think you can say it enough times, but this bond that Jimin and Tae share is truly special and so one of a kind, it’s wonderful to see how we all relate to and resonate with it in our own way and find something in it that makes us fall in love with their loves, regardless if we see it as platonic or romantic love. Love is love after all. 95z is love.

For the order of these submissions, we’ll simply go in the order in which we’ve received them. Most of them came from anons, which is more than okay. We’ve also opened the possibility of submitting posts for those who would like to submit wordier posts/asks, should we do another edition of this. It all depends on how much you’ll enjoy it and if you’ll come through with more submissions that could be gathered for future posts.

Anyway, enough talking from our side, let’s dive into these submissions below the cut, shall we? Like we said in the original post (and demonstrated in the preview post), we’ll add some of our commentary and observations along the way, too.

From anon: This is going to be long winded story but Vmin is like a Serendipity to me. I've heard of BTS mainly from my hubby when he complains that times sq is packed because of BTS (when they’re in town and doing their rounds of morning shows). I knew they were very popular but it was a great surprise that i discovered them after watching ILand during lockdown. Their songs were great and i started playing their classics like Fire, DNA Fake Love etc. Then they did an appearance in the show...

I love how you heard about BTS because of your husband and Time Square being packed, this is honestly the most original and unique version of how I’ve come across BTS I’ve read over the years. Amazing!

I was drawn to Taehyung's beauty during their appearance in Iland. And my first Vmin ? moment was when Tae commented about being handsome and attractive are 2 things and being attractive weighs more - along those lines... then JM made a comment that its unfair that he's both and Tae was like Im talking about you... I went like ok he thinks JM is attractive- theyre good friends.... then Jimin did the FakeLove choreo and the camera focused on Tae and he had this wide smile...The Iland Tae/Jimin clips made me do a double take but I dismissed it since it was just only a few seconds worth of screen time but still...

I-Land vmin was really something else in both episodes. 

Fun fact: I-Land was the first Korean survival show I’ve ever watched, mostly because it had something to do with BH and since it was streamed online with subs in real time. Unfortunately, my faves—Daniel and Taki—didn’t make it into ENHYPEN, though I’m happy that Taki will be in a future Japanese BH group.

But, going back to vmin, that moment with Jimin dancing FAKE LOVE and Tae looking at him with that boxy smile as though Jimin hung the stars in the sky? I melted, even if it was just one of those brief moments, yet still it’s so cute! And it was all over sns being shared by vminnies and non-vminnies alike. What a great time that was.

Then VMAs Dynamite perf happened- both Vmin looking good. I saw a lot of their promos especially the Jimmy Fallon interviews... and I noticed in hindsight how JF was so careful when referring to Jimin ... Since Tae was my first bias, I searched YT for Tae related content eventually saw in my YT feed Vmin moments. Theres a lot of Vmin content in YT or maybe the T*ek*ok ones didnt really register as extraordinary to me. But defo the Vmin moments were extraordinary to me,,,the BV4 sleeping together, kitchen role play & BV3 JM excited to see Tae and them holding hands and then Tae crying and then Tae's busking with Jimin cheering him on were all amazing to see. Up to this day this specific YT vid stood out to me first 

I actually went to check what video this is, and also looked at the comments where my favorite was this one: The staff member went straight to Jimin to tell him V was crying. That's all you need to know. They’re not wrong with that one, are they? That is pretty telling. BV3 vmin were a work of wonder, truly. Jimin watching Tae sing that Sam Smith song during the dinner in the sky looking all soft and endlessly fond?

Jimin encouraging Tae to busk and gently petting his hair was just such a pure moment and showed how much Jimin appreciates Tae and the talent he has, how in moments when Tae might brush aside wanting to do something, is a little hesitant and unsure, Jimin will stand up for him and give him strength/encouragement, which reminds me of Tae’s vlive in April 2020 and the fact that Jimin had told him that he wants to be his source of strength. Beautiful. And it shows that it wasn’t just pretty yet empty words, but something he truly meant. They both do.

Then i came across vid trans of Friends & cried first time hearing it especially when it got to the part "One day when the cheer dies down, stay hey.." It felt raw and honest to me. Then there's MOT:E concert and that part in Dynamite where they bumped their heads seemed bizaare to me - i was like were they fighting? because JM looked really fierce(or maybe emotional) then i saw the close up. i couldnt remember the exact moment I became a Vminie but it made quarantine easier...

This, I’ve noticed, seems to be a recurring theme among quarantine ARMY and vminnies, the fact that becoming ARMY and vminnies made it easier, and it fits with what we’ve been saying about BTS for years: they will find you when you’ll need them most. And in these trying and uncertain times, it’s certainly proven true once again.

Thank you of much for your submission and sharing your story with us, and I’m glad they could make quarantine a little easier for you.

From anon: I've been following BTS on and off since BST, but only really consider myself a true fan late 2019. I can't recall having a bias at first, but I was captivated by Jimin's everything when I binge-watched all their content. I must admit, my first OTP is T*e/k*ok, where I fell down the route of considering Jimin 'an interfering 3rd party' in their relationship, and it shamed me. Since then I've been cycling through Jimin ships, namely yo*n/m*n, j*n/m*n, m*ni/m*ni, and I even thought that j*/k*ok was real at some point. Strangely, Vmin never struck me as something extraordinary. I don't want to blame anyone, but Vmin caught my eye after I watched official BTS content without filter (presumed bias/judgement) all in their glory. I realized that while other ships may go up-and-down as in one day there's a frenzy and another day quiet af, Vmin has been and is still going constant. That's what makes me love Vmin, and for the first time in my fandom life, I have no qualms about whether they are real or not. Their bond, whatever it is, is already precious and something to be cherished forever. Thank you for providing us vminies a special corner to speak up about our experience 💜

You’re very welcome! I hope you’ll like how this turned out as well. Thank you for sharing your story with us and personally I find it fascinating how, despite Jimin being the one who captivated you most at first, you still fell into the “he’s an interference for my ship” trap that’s quite popular with that particular ship. I’m glad though that that never ruined your love for Jimin. It’s also really interesting for me how you went through different Jimin ships yet it took you the longest time to notice vmin. I feel like, because vmin and vminnies are more “low key” than the other bigger and louder ships, as well as Tae and Jimin simply being quieter in their interactions (not always but you get the point) as compared to, for example, Jimin’s interactions with Hobi, Jungkook, or even Namjoon, it takes people a while to really notice them.

This is my favorite part of what you wrote, and I think it’s a great way to describe vmin in general and what makes them different from other ships in the grand scheme of things: I realized that while other ships may go up-and-down as in one day there's a frenzy and another day quiet af, Vmin has been and is still going constant.

From vminot7: So i fell into BTS hole after watching blood sweat and tears mv casually on youtube. Jimin immediately stole my attention with his unique voice, graceful moves and handsome features even though i didn’t know their names at that time. I watched more MVs and jimin continued to hold my attention but i was also extremely drawn to taehyung's voice and facial expressions. So i started looking for more content such as RUN BTS and other compilations and realized my love for all 7 of them. I also noticed how jimin always had a soft spot for taehyung and was curious about their dynamics. I started looking at more of vmin content and i was really surprised to see how in the early days they were nowhere near as soft with each other as they are now. I think they have a unique bond and i have never come across anything quite similar. Now vmin are both my biases and my bias wrecker is hoseok.

I admire jimin for being a hardworking, passionate perfectionist but also a caring soul who is always ready to offer love and comfort to people in need. I love taehyung for how he looks at the world in his unique ways and how he has a childlike awe for things and how he is so passionate over the things he loves. The thing i love about vmin together is how they are so different yet work so hard on their relationship when it would be easier to just not try that hard.

Ah, another mention of the queen that is Blood, Sweat and Tears. The MV truly is such a masterpiece so I’m not surprised that it caught your attention, and especially Jimin since he was…something else in that MV, or like Tae said, his eyes were temptation (this boy, I swear). Since you mentioned how in the first years they were nowhere near as soft with each other as they are now, I think watching their dynamic and relationship change and evolve over time showcases the one thing I think a lot of people (as well as movies and TV shows) forget or gloss over, despite it being so incredibly important: in order to make a relationship of any kind work, especially in order for it to grow as deep and strong as the one between all members and especially vmin, you need to put in the emotional work to make that happen. You have to make an effort, have to learn to understand the other person and teach them to understand you as well, learn to appreciate and love their little quirks and how to accept others. And it’s so clear that that’s what vmin did, continue to do, and it more than paid off in the long run. I’m glad you highlighted that in general but also as something you love about them.

While the overall bond between the members is a class of its own, I think especially what vmin have achieved is a whole masterclass in relationships and fostering strong ones, in and of itself. There is a lot I think we can learn from them and I’m so happy that people recognize how special they are.

Thank you so much for your submission!

From anon: There’s this small moments in Dear Class of 2020 that i just adore! I’ve watched it at least 20 times this past month

It starts with “Spring Day”- tae and jimin laugh and look at each other and it’s just so sweet!

Also, maybe it’s my delusional mind but after tae’s and jin’s small and adorable moment- it seemed that jimin did the same with junkook right after maybe out of i duuno if jealousy but like “pay attention to me too” kinda way- dont know really and maybe it’s me being extra🤷🏻‍♀️

I agree partially, in that Jimin watched Tae’s and Seokjin’s adorable moment, obviously must’ve thought of it as cute just like we did, and thought he could do the same with JK. I don’t think it had anything to do with jealousy, especially if we work off of the idea that vmin are a thing, but also because it’s a performance and these things primarily serve the purpose of being cute and entertaining use, in other words, it’s fanservice (which isn’t the evil word some portray it as). Also, within that same performance, Tae and Jimin actually sang some of the lyrics toward each other, therefore they, too, had a cute moment they shared with big smiles and everything, just like you mentioned.

But we’ve gotten to see much more of Tae’s friendship with Seokjin in 2020, and especially the second half, so it was really sweet to see them interact during that song. Their friendship and dynamic is really a beautiful one, just like JKs bond with Seokjin, which I feel we’ve also gotten to see more of in recent months. Part of me (and that part can very well be wrong) feels that perhaps once the members caught on to Seokjin feeling the way he said he did/does, they decided to give him an extra dose of love and affection, off camera but also on where we can see it. That isn’t to say that they didn’t show him any of that before, but maybe they increased the intensity a little, a reminder that Seokjin truly is loved, that he deserves all of this, that it’s just his imposter syndrome (or at least what sounds like it) lying to him.

I’m still so touched and moved by the fact that he trusted us enough to share his feelings with us, to gift us Abyss and how it came to be, and that Bang PD was on his side and coaxed him into pouring his feelings into music, even if it would be “bad”, that the fear of it potentially being “bad” shouldn’t hold him back (and Namjoon helping in even if just a tiny bit with the lyrics). It was one of those times where I feel like we were all reminded that regardless of our opinions of BH and their doings, the members are surrounded by kind people who have their best interest in mind. After all what’s good for Bangtan is also good for the company, a win-win for everyone.

…wow, okay, I kind of went off on a tangent, I’m sorry…

Either way , then we have “Mikrokosmos” where we have a sweet moment at their part and towards the end where they switch mic and hear each other

I love this performance overall and especially “spring day”- jin’s and j-hope’s lovely voices and of course tae’s!! This song fits them so well and all the members of course

Well this is my rent , i love your blog and always wait for another post! Also i love the new idea and look forward to it!

Thank you so much for your submission and for bringing up their Dear Class 2020 performance. It was a truly magical one, and after reading this the first time, I did go and watch it again. To this day I’d still very much like to know how and when and why the mic switch between vmin happened, and I kind of hope that we might get a Bangtan B*mb or EPISODE about this eventually and it might shine some light on that question. Overall it was one of my favorite performances on 2020.

From Sky: While I enjoy cute, physical moments with VMIN, I really do value how emotionally attached they are to each other. For example (I don’t know if it fits as vmin moment but), I love how Jimin asked V to take the Promise cover photo, and how he ended up putting V’s name for credits on the cover. (Special Thanks to V, Best Photographer) This really shows a lot. Coz he can easily choose any Bighit photographer to take it. He could have chosen JK because we know how he takes good pics and vids too (and also apparently alot of people say that vmin had a falling out and that Jimin and JK were much more closer, lol). Or he could’ve asked Suga too bec he’s into cameras too. But he didn’t. He chose V, and chose to shout it out to the world how thankful he is for V’s help. RM co-wrote Promise, and maybe had offered more help in this project, but he didn’t put it in the cover. I’m not saying Jimin is ungrateful for not crediting RM in the cover. The difference is that he and RM had a vlive regarding the making of this song, a lot of people already know RM’s participation, he was officially credited as co-writer and Jimin really showed how thankful he is to RM. But no one knows of V’s participation (except for a snippet in that Run ep), so Jimin felt the need to tell it to everyone. I’m sure it’s not only the photos, I think he wanted to acknowledge how V helped him through the process, whether directly or indirectly. Also, remember this is Jimin’s first non-album solo single. By putting V’s name in it, he is sharing this very special song with his soulmate. How endearing it is! V also included Jimin in his first full English song. He used the two bears given by Jimin as Winter Bear’s cover photo and he included the photo Jimin took (sleeping V in the plane) in the MV. Like, seriously, they are trying to consciously imprint each other in their life’s milestones, openly or subtly. I’m crying. 😭

This was lovely, and yes, Jimin could’ve asked whoever to take those pictures, could’ve chosen any other ones, and yet he wanted Tae to be the one to take them, wanted those specific ones as covers. It’s very sweet and creates this subtle connection between Jimin, the song, and Tae. Sure, it isn’t the first time a picture Tae took is the cover for a SoundCloud song (the picture of JK on the 2U cover was also taken by Tae if I remember correctly), but it’s the fact that Promise is Jimin’s first non-BTS song, his first solo release, that makes it that much more special. Even more so when you think about how meaningful that song is to Jimin, and by having Tae as cover picture photographer, he’s in a way forever attached memory wise to that song as well, right?

The same also goes with Winter Bear and the two ceramic bears. Remember how excited Tae looked when I kinda spoiled that gift being a thing happening in an upcoming RUN episode during Jimin’s vlive during the summer 2019? Adorable. It’s also curious how though the title is singular—winter bear not winter bears—there’s two ceramic bears. One for Tae, one for Jimin? Maybe, or maybe I’m reading too much into it. Either way, it’s really cute, and it was a very thoughtful gift, even more when we think about just how much Jimin loves that song.

From anon: Love this idea it's super cute!! 1st thing that came to my mind is a rather simple moment, jimin bopping taehyung's nose and making a lil game out of it

Taehyung asking for more and that dazed smile 🥺 he had the same expression in that concert when jimin placed his face just above him, tae's smile afterward... it was so pure u could almost read "love" in his eyes lol

What a lovely note to end this post at, thank you for that. I don’t know what got into them during that photoshoot for Season’s Greetings 2020 but this was so disarmingly adorable. I remember when that moment appeared all over every sns and everyone just melted, myself included. Their smiles, the cute clothes, Tae’s head on Jimin’s chest, the softness and innocence of it, just all of it. It truly was so pure and like this sweet visualization of ‘love’.

And with that, we’ve reached the end. Did you like this? I had a great time reading your submissions and adding my little comments to them. If you’d like for us to continue this, same rules as last time, send in a submission marked with “VMC” and once we’ll have enough of them gathered, we’ll do this again, if you’re interested in more, that is. Send in whatever positive vmin you have, a thought, a moment, a memory, whatever you’d like.

Thank you once again to everyone who participated! :)

[farouchelyoptimistic]

Hyunji: Rekindle

Part 1

"So, you're telling me, I should move to another agency? I still don't get it." Yea Ji leans back on her seat as she tries to wrap her head around what the CEO of the company she's under is trying to tell her.

She fully understood what they were saying, but what she wanted to understand was why. She had been under this company for nearly ten years, ever since she had started her career in the business. She knew everyone from the first floor up to the last floor up top. And everyone knew her inside and out. The familiar staff around her was considered family.

And now, at the near end of her contract, instead of talking about renewal, they were talking to her about transferring to another company, a company that hasn't even been established yet.

"It's not like we want you to move, Yea Ji-ah. But their offer is great for you and you'd surely benefit from it a lot. They were formal enough to invite you by contacting us first, and I personally appreciate it." Her boss starts, leaning over the table with his hands clasped together.

"We've been taking care of you for so long, and we would love to do so for some more. But they're offering you something we couldn't get you ourselves. You're like my daughter, and I want the best for you. Even if it means letting you go. Gold Medalist will be established January next year, it's new but it has massive foundations and connections. They're also co-producing a drama under TVN, and they would want you to be the lead if ever you join them. I've heard about the script, Yea Ji-ah. It's going to send you into a breakthrough, one you've been waiting for. This is good. It's hard to let you go, but this is what's best for you. And, after the drama, if they don't treat you half as much as we do, come back to me. We'll have you back in a heartbeat. "

She almost wanted to cry at her boss' words. How could someone, totally unrelated to you, treat you with so much care. She thought about it for a few minutes, silent as she sat in her chair buried in her thoughts.

She had trusted them for so long, and they had never lead her to anything that was bad for her. If they were so sure about this, then there was no reason she shouldn't.

The pen felt heavy in her hand when she signed the exit contract. This was it. She was cutting ties with the company that had handled her for so long. Adding to that, leaving the people that surrounded and took care of her felt nothing more than melancholic. It felt like saying goodbye to her family.

But she believed that it wasn't the end. They were still going to see each other at some point, treat each other as long time friends. They have already carved out a space for them in her heart, and it was theirs forever.

She spent the remaining months of the year traveling and staying at home with her dogs. Somehow, she enjoyed her unemployment. She was basically jobless, not forever, but she tried to enjoy it as much as she can.

Her schedule was usually demanding and draining, sometimes sucking the life out of her. But she also enjoyed the rush, and the thrill and even the sleepless nights and days. More to it, she enjoyed mastering her craft, improving her skills, and developing her prowess. And most especially, she enjoyed putting a smile on her fans' faces. That was the most important thing.

Funny how she never even considered acting as a choice before. She went to a different country to study and finished a totally different degree. When she came home, it came as a surprise also to her when she started working as an actress. Destiny, probably.

Acting was not her choice, acting chose her. Good thing she had a natural knack for it, born with the gift of excellence in anything she dived into. She was a natural-born actor, exemplary in the craft that had grown on her. She had learned to love it.

She was fairly underrated. Mainly because she had started later than everyone else. Compared to others whom everyone saw grow up in their screens, she was still seen as a fresh face, shadowing her magnificent talent.

The awards and all the recognition meant nothing to her though. It was merely unimportant. She wasn't in the game for fame, she was in it because she enjoyed playing. Strengthening her skills, bettering her capabilities. That's what was important for her. Improving, getting better. She wasn't someone who settled for less and provided for less. She wanted to be better, not only for herself but also for her co-actors and the people who are looking up at her.

She was happy with her career already, but the breakthrough her old boss talked about made her feel a little excited. Who doesn't want a breakthrough? She's read the script for the drama they were offering her and it gave her goosebumps. It was going to be a challenging character, but it was complexly marvelous. She always loved a challenge, and this one was a challenge she was willing to take.

That's what she thought about as she walked through the unfamiliar halls of her new company. It was a new environment she needed to get used to.

It was a new journey, she thought. And she'll make sure it was a journey worth traveling.

Signing the contract was quick. The new people that were meant to take care of her seemed kind, and they all welcomed her with warmth. She almost felt like they were family now, a new family.

Just as she makes her way to leave the conference hall, the door opens, sending everyone turning their head to one direction.

What came in after was something she never expected. Someone, rather. Her feet were stuck on the ground, heart rate gradually raising, hammering against the walls of her chest.

"Annyeonghaseyo!" The familiar voice filled the silence.

She hadn't noticed that she was holding her breath until she felt her chest ache from the lack of oxygen. This was what he did, not only to her, but to everyone. He took people's breath away. His presence replacing the air in the lungs.

When he locks his eyes with hers, her breath falters out in a shaky blow.

Those eyes.

"Kim Soo Hyun!" Her new boss exasperates, a loud laugh following as he welcomed him with a hug. She could only stare, watching them exchange hugs and greetings. She swallowed an invisible lump in her throat because just like her, his eyes never left hers.

"Yea Ji-ah, I'm sure you know our Soo Hyun-ah here." The CEO's voice thunders inside the room as he gently pulls Soo Hyun with him, walking towards Yea Ji who was statued in her spot.

She summons all the strength and might from within her and clears her throat lightly. She forces out a smile, nodding her head politely.

"Sunbae-nim." She eyes him for a spilt second, nodding once more.

It almost takes him aback. Sunbae-nim. Oddly, the way she addressed him bothered him. It had been five years since she first called him that, the memory crystal clear in his mind. He could never forget the first time he heard her voice.

What he didn't expect was how she's back to calling him that. It had been embedded in his mind the way she used to call him Soo Hyun Oppa. How it felt warm and comforting whenever she did, how it brought a certain degree of serenity. But now, it felt like they were meeting once again for the first time. Back to square one. Total strangers. The barren coldness in her voice made him feel empty.

He forces out his own smile, though reluctant. He nods his head, unable to look away from her.

"I heard you two worked together a few years ago." Both of them nod in unison. The memory of the ad they shot a few years ago flood their memories. The first time they met.

"De. Just for a quick ad." It was Soo Hyun who decided to confirm. Glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

"Well, if you accept the role, Yea Ji-ah, you guys would be working again."

"What do you mean?" Finally, Yea Ji found her voice.

"Well, he's the male lead of the drama we're offering you. If you choose to accept it, then you guys would be the main leads. So, I really hope you accept it, Yea Ji-ah. Both of you look so good together." Their boss nods his head as he looks at them back and forth.

She could only nod. She was totally taken aback by the information poured over her. Work together, both of them. Again. If only someone else knew about what happened the last time they worked together.

After a few more small talks, she finally managed to excuse herself. Her new boss bids his farewell with a warm fatherly hug, wishing her good luck and anoother triumphant welcome. She only looks at the man behind him, slightly nodding her head before she slides past the long table and walks out the door.

She releases a breath once she was out. She knew it wasn't impossible to run into him at some point. They were revolving in the same world, same business. It was inevitable. But she successfully managed to work without having to cross paths with him for so long, that when she met him today, totally unprepared and overwhelmed, she felt a slight rattle in her stomach.

And now, she was signed in the same agency with him, and may or may not work with him too. It felt like a train was rushing towards her in full gear, ready to slam against her out of her wits.

She was barely ten steps away from the door when someone suddenly grabs her hand. She immediately turns around, the shock making her jolt on her feet.

"Yea Ji. . . . ssi."

She stammered at the sight before her. Kim Soo Hyun, holding her wrist, so gentle and warm. His eyes were fixed on her, watching her as she looks down on his hand against her skin.

He immediately lets go, wary of the rationality of his impulsive action. He swallows an invisible lump, placing the hand he once had on her to the back of his nape. He suddenly felt warmth creep up to his cheeks, shy. He felt flustered with her presence and the way her eyes pierced through his.

There was something new in the way her orbs glowed. It was different from the ones that were blanketed with sullen shyness and sweetness. It was still there alright, but now there was something new. Confidence, a lot of them.

It made him weak in the knees. Flustered. Swivet. Now, he felt like he couldn't look her straight in the eyes. He can't even bring himself talk clearly.

"Uhm, " He lets out a breath. "Yea Ji-ssi. Do you want to go grab something to drink? They serve good coffee at the cafeteria." He tries to hold her gaze, but it was so intense he felt like he needed to look away.

He needed to look away to stop himself from advancing into something that might just freak her out. And that's the last thing he wants, freak her out.

Coffee. She almost wanted to chuckle. It also started with a cup of coffee. She unconsciously bit her bottom lip, thinking it through.

"You know, for old time's sake?" His anxiety was growing as he anticipated her answer. He was slowly trying to ready himself for whatever her answer is, slightly terrified if she said no.

She let's out a breath. For old time's sake. There was no reason to deny an old friend, acquaintance rather, a cup of coffee to share. It was just coffee. Well it was what she thought a few years ago too. Just coffee.

This time though, it's just going to be coffee. It had to be.

When she nods her head and releases a small smile, he almost wanted to jump up and down, fist the air like he did the first time she agreed to have coffee with him.

Shoving the fireworks of feelings erupting in him to the back of his head, he smiles. Stepping aside to lead her the way. She took cautious steps beside him, the fat obvious distance between them is failed to be unnoticed. But he doesn't push. He doesn't speak. He tries to bask in the silence between them, it wasn't as comforting as it was before, but it was with her, so he'll take it.

"Here." He enthusiastically pushes the glass door open, letting her enter first. Immediately, the smell of the freshly brewed coffee fills her nose, making her smile. She loved coffee. It never failed to comfort her in any way.

He found himself significantly jumpy, yet careful. He runs pass her, pulling a chair for her. He smiles, eyeing her shyly as she courteously nods, sitting down as he gently pushes it back.

He basically runs to the counter, ordering two cups of iced coffee. Watching her from behind, made him stop in his tracks. Her black silky hair cascaded down her back, sparkling under the sunlight that seeped through the glass walls.

Just as he remembered her, she sat with her back straight, her broad shoulders flat and hands clasped together on her thighs. She was anxious. She was like that the first time he had coffee with her.

And for some reason, it pulled out the melancholy in him.

He smiled through it as he carefully slides the cup of coffee towards her. He eyes her for a second as he took a seat, looking down immediately. She mumbled a soft 'thank you', her low voice sending a calm chill down the pit of his stomach.

His foot continued to tap against the tiled floor, his eyes fixed on his cup, his fingers holding it tight. He was nervous. Yet, he was excited.

Letting out a breath, he finally looks at her fully. Her light make up accentuated her features, her smooth glass skin glowing. She was beautiful, she has always been. And like she did the first time he saw her, she took his breath away.

He couldn't help but smile.

"How have you been?" He bites his bottom lip, anticipating her response.

She smiles. She's been trying to hold it in for a while, but she couldn't help it anymore. She smiles.

"I've been doing well. I guess you have too. I've heard you just got discharged from the military. Congratulations." She tells him with genuine sincerity, looking straight into his beautiful brown orbs.

He smiles, nodding his head. He had a scarcity of words. When he heard about her joining the company, he had thought of a million things he could say to her. Now that she was merely less than a meter away from him, he had nothing. He was enticed by her presence.

He didn't have this problem before, because whenever he had nothing to say, he would listen. He would sit in front of her, listening to her talk. She has the most beautiful, most attractive voice. And she loved to talked.

She talked endlessly whenever she was with people she was comfortable with, and he used to bask in the serenity and the calm that her voice brought. Her silence made him weary, has she lost the comfort she once felt for him long ago?

"It's nice to see you. It's been a few years since. . . . we" Broke up?

"Went our separate ways." She finished his sentence for him. She knew he had thought about saying they 'broke up' but they didn't.

It wasn't considered a breakup when they weren't anything, to begin with. They had just decided not to proceed with anything and went separate ways. It was complicated, but it was a mutual decision. Both agreed upon.

What happened to them was like fireworks. Sudden, beautiful and electrifying, yet short lived. It was a beauty not meant to last.

"Anyways, welcome to the company. I hope you consider taking the role, it would be nice to work with each other again. I would love to work with you." He says, hoping she feels the same way. It was true, he wanted to work with her. He had secretly watched all her movies, all her dramas, even the variety shows she was in.

She was a gem in the industry, and he hated how underrated she was. He saw how marvelous of an actress she is, and as an actor, he would love to work with someone with such dynamics.

It was just a bonus that it was her as well.

"I'll think about it. It would be an honor to work with you too, Sunbae-nim." She says, reluctantly nodding her head. There's so much to think about. So much to consider. But she was enticed by the complexity of the role that it would be so hard to let go of the thought of playing it.

As much as she would want to deny it, acting alongside him is inviting. He was a seasoned actor, talented and marvelous in his own right. The opportunity is one of a kind.

"Yea Ji-ah." The informality surprised her, making her stare. Making her heart make a small flip inside her chest.

"We were friends. We shouldn't be too formal. We are friends. Let's be friends? I-I want to be your friend. Yea Ji-ah." His voice almost started to tremble.

He was aware of how much she's changed. Evolved. She was already intimidating back then, now she was more than that. He almost felt like she was out of his league. And it slightly terrified him.

His breath falters when she pushes her chair back, fishing her phone to read a message. She stands up and politely nods her head.

He stares at her in bewilderment, slowly pushing himself up. His heart suddenly raced and slammed. Was she rejecting his offer of being friends?

He was about to say something, anything. But he doesn't get the chance because she smiles at him. Small but genuine.

"See you around, Soo Hyun Oppa."

He lets out a breath. A breath of relief as he watches her turn around and walk away. Dumbfounded, slightly, but he releases a triumphant smile.

The universe had been fairly cruel to them, but maybe it wasn't entirely. Sometimes the world breaks things apart so they could grow individually, so that when it's time to bring them back together, they would form an unbreakable beautiful whole.

[book-o-scams]

I know this is way out of season, how many times were you an EEnE character for Halloween? Did anybody recognize who you were dressed as? My brother was Double D in 2000 and when we went trick or treating at the mall, a lady (employee of the mall) was like “hey you’re one of those Ed boys. I love that show!”

I’m really sorry, I literally saved this like a year, was going to answer it on Halloween, then fell asleep forgetting to finish the answer, then eventually losing what I wrote. Sooo... New Year’s can be Halloween too, because I said so!

1.  I dressed as Edd for the last Halloween where I trick-or-treated as a kid, 12-years-old/2003. I think the friend I was with knew who I was but definitely not the adults whose doors we knocked on, lol.

2.  The next year I think I may have been animating more so I did a really lazy Ed costume just to hand out candy, age 13/2004.  Nobody got that one and in retrospect I wondered why I did it.  Don’t remember how I did the unibrow, but I remember the only red-and-white-striped shirt I could scrounge up was one of my mom’s old maternity shirts, so I was greeting the door in something I technically wore as a fetus.

3.  I was really into animating in my high school years, so I didn’t trick-or-treat again until a party with my friends in senior year, age 17/2008.  I completed my trio and wore an Eddy costume where I made his shirt by terribly using tie-dyeing logic on one of my old Catholic school uniform shirts, lmao.  I think I brought an empty pickle jar instead of a candy basket... then realizing at the party that a pickle jar is much smaller than anything anyone else had for a basket, so I was loaned a pillow, haha.  And to make sure I didn’t have to explain this costume to everyone I met, I also brought a tiny Eddy figurine keychain from one of those small vending machines (which was a gift, I’ve never been lucky enough to see a vending machine with Eds in it myself).

4. The next year, age 18/2009, the movie was the only thing on my mind-- I had watched the leak a million times and then it was finally going to premiere 8 days after Halloween, so I decided to be Bro and just tell every stranger who didn’t know Eds that I was being “a scary carnie.”  That costume was to trick-or-treat with another party with a brand new group of friends, who I’ve stayed in touch with.  I’ve posted a blurry pic of that before where my head’s sideways, trying to be creepy like Bro.

age 19 I made up a costume out of junk, age 20 I skipped cuz it was on a Monday so my friends were busy, age 21 I was Milhouse...

5. This is where it gets dicey... I think next I was Eddy when I was 22 in 2013 (with my [spouse, but not yet at that time] Erica as Edd), where I wore the exclusive Eddy-costume polo shirt that AKA gave its staff as a gift one year, which Raven had sent me the previous year for my birthday!  This was for a party with new-neighbors/former-coworkers, very adulty, no trick-or-treating.

6. I can’t remember what was going on next... age 23/2014 I may have been Eddy again for pretty much the same party again, which is why I don’t remember that year very distinctly.  Or Erica and I may have switched, maybe I was Edd that time...

age 24/2015 was a cursed Halloween where I shattered my foot randomly in the morning and had to not be part of a Halloween buffet event that Erica and I had free tickets to at some fancy place around the Disneyworld resorts.

I can’t remember what I did Halloweens 2016 or 2017... I think one of them was at Disneyworld, I think both involved trick-or-treating with my niece Mimi, but I might have been Edd that time, and if so, then I think I was Eddy for #6...

7. And I want to say the last time I was an Ed for Halloween was age 27/2018, where Erica was having her first Halloween working the same dayjob as me in several years.  I know for sure this time I was Edd and Erica was Eddy. I think I remember feeling like it was lazy that I was being him again, so that’s why I suspect I may have been Edd for #6... At one point, I had to explain who I was to my managers and the only example I had on my desk was the big-headed off-model posable Edd toy, and I remember they joked that I was just in my weekend clothes since Edd’s outfit does just look like casual clothing.  After work, we trick-or-treated with our niece Mimi again.

SO in total, I’ve definitely been an EEnE character 7 times, possibly 8.  I’ve been Edd and Eddy like 2-3 times each, Ed once and Bro once.

I’ve deeply considered a Kevin costume, mainly for the fun confusion it would cause with my name. The outfit would be so easy but it’s too hard to sell me on wearing shorts on a cold Halloween night.

[aventurasdeunatortuga]

Laredo Part 2

Week 1

Hey friends,

After a long travel hiatus, as some of you may already know, I am back in Laredo, Texas. I’ll be here for about 3.5 weeks working with shelters to support recently arrived asylum seekers at the US Mexico border. I was here 2 years ago doing the same thing, you can go through the laredo tag on here to get some more background about what is going on here and to read about my experiences in 2019.

I have been here already for about a week and have been so exhausted I haven’t had the energy to write anything, but here is more or less what is going on.

So since Fall of 2019, the border was closed to all asylum seekers thanks to 45’s cruel Remain In Mexico policy, which forced asylum seekers from Central America to wait along the Mexican border for an undetermined amount of time until they could get an immigration hearing. In the past asylum seekers could wait with their families in the US for their court dates (it can be a long wait). Waiting at the border in Mexico, a country they are not from, left folks vulnerable to human trafficking, kidnapping, gang violence, and extortion from the cartels operating along the border. During COVID folks were living in makeshift tents along the border with no running water and were left vulnerable to exposure, flooding, disease, dangerous wildlife, and the millions of other dangers that come from being outside in 113 degree heat with no water. There was no international aid brought in and support was limited to the few aid workers allowed to cross the border, which was very dangerous given the amount of gang violence on the Mexican side. One shelter director in Nuevo Laredo was kidnapped and murdered last year.

When Biden was elected, he reversed the Remain In Mexico policy just a few weeks into his presidency. Meaning that asylum seekers could now enter the US after surrendering at the border and being held for indeterminate amounts of time in ICE detention centers. Once they are released from there they are given a court date in wherever their final destination in the US is, but are left on the street with nothing.

Most folks are illiterate, none speak English and some only speak indigenous dialects. All of their possessions and money have been taken by either cartels or by ICE. Most havent eaten in days and many are seriously ill. None of them know where they are or how to get where they’re going. ICE will drop them off at random towns along the border after releasing them from detention, sometimes hundreds of miles from where they crossed. They just have a name and phone number memorized of a friend or family member in the US that is sponsoring them and who they are planning to stay with.

The vast majority of folks are from Central America, they are fleeing cartel violence , government persecution, extreme poverty, and natural disasters caused by climate change. The instability in these countries (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador) was caused directly by US intervention, but that’s a whole other topic I won’t get into now. Folks must show a credible proof of being threatened or persecuted in their home country to even be granted the status of asylum seeker and to be given a court date.

Shelters in border towns do what they can to support folks being released from detention. They help them make phone calls, provide translation, help them buy bus and plane tickets, give them food, water, medical care, showers, clean clothes, toiletries, and a safe place to sleep until they are able to make travel arrangements to their final destinations.

During the last 2 years under the Remain In Mexico policy, no one was being admitted and so shelters lost a great deal of funding, staff, and volunteers. They turned more towards community work, which was especially needed during COVID.

Shelters are in a difficult position now though, folks are allowed to enter now which is good news but shelters are having to meet even more extreme needs with far fewer resources than they had pre-COVID.

For a long time the shelter I worked with before, La Frontera, was closed due to lack of funding; but only very recently reopened again. I have been spreading my time between La Frontera (run by Catholic charities) and the other shelter in Laredo, Holding Institute Community Center, which is a community center run by the Methodist Church. Both of these shelters have 2-3 paid staff members, a revolving door of volunteers from around the country (the majority of them nuns), are entirely donation based, and receive 200-300 new people every single day.

About 20-30% of each busload of people that ICE drops off are infected with COVID. ICE refuses to test folks that they detain for COVID because if they knew they had positive cases they would have to provide healthcare and a place for them to quarantine. Instead they lump everyone together in cramped conditions and COVID is allowed to run rampant in these detention centers.

In detention folks are kept in overcrowded rooms, communicated with almost exclusively in English, are provided limited food and toiletries, and are kept in refrigerated rooms (65 degrees) with no blankets. These places are called the ‘ice boxes’. Sometimes folks are separated from their families here as well.

Lately there has also been a dysentery outbreak due to the fact that the city of Laredo does not currently have drinkable water, residents are advised to drink only bottled or boiled water, which asylum seekers do not have access to until they reach the shelters.

When folks reach the shelters, they are given on the spot covid tests by a team of nurses and public health officials. There is no room for them at the hospitals, even if there were room hospitals wouldnt accept them because they have no insurance. The city government has offered bottled water to the shelters but thats it.

After being tested for covid, the health team divides folks into 2 groups, positive and negative. Folks who test positive have to quarantine for 10 days in an empty warehouse next door to the shelter or if they’re lucky and the shelter can afford it, a motel. Yesterday the shelter bought out a motel because there were 200+ covid patients who arrived. We have two small classrooms at the shelter that have been converted into sleeping areas for about 40 covid patients. The medical team leaves boxes of food and clothing outside their door, and once a day they are taken to shower and then the entire bathroom is sanitized.

Those who test negative are immediately vaccinated on site, and then taken to get clean clothes, food, and a shower. They sleep on cots outside under the trees in the fenced courtyard of the shelter.

For the first few days I’ve been here, I’ve been working at Holding only because I didn’t know La Frontera had reopened. I was mainly working on sorting and organizing clothing and helping folks find clothes that they need. Last night though 200+ covid positive patients arrived and we had to stop allowing people in the building to pick out clothes, and today we moved to just putting together kits of different sized clothes to give directly to them.

I was feeling a bit frustrated the last few days because the staff member in charge of organizing donations was being extremely critical of me and it was very frustrating and degrading to be around. I was yelled at a number of times by her. For example, I saw a pile of 200 towels on the ground and folded them. I was told that I did it wrong, to unfold them and fold all of them a different way. Or I started organizing toiletries and was just told ‘no, you’re messing it up, don’t touch that’. I understand that I’m new but no one took the time to introduce themselves to me, orient me, or show me what to do and I was trying to be helpful. I also understand that folks are stressed and under pressure but please don’t take it out on people trying to help you. Most everyone there is extremely nice it was just one of the staff members in particular that was acting this way. I was told I wasn’t allowed to give water or shoes to people who needed them because “I didn’t know how to do it” and because “if you give water to one person, everyones going to want it, and i don’t have time for that”. I didn’t come down here to sit inside doing nothing next to a giant case of bottled water and be told I’m not allowed to give it to the thirsty person in front of me.

So I walked out and I left the shelter in the middle of the day to go drive around town and take a breather, because everything I did seemed like made someone upset. When I came back I inserted myself into the kitchen crew and ended up making 200+ sandwiches for dinner. I also had a long talk with one of the nuns who assured me that that staff member is like that with everyone and has a lot of control issues due to the amount of pressure she is under, and not to take it personally. She told me that La Frontera had reopened and so ever since then I started dividing up my days between the two shelters. This has made a big difference and I feel a lot better and more useful.

I also connected more with some of the nuns here and they invited me to dinner tonight which was nice. One of the sisters is writing a book based on narratives of folks passing through these shelters and is interviewing people she meets. It was fascinating to talk to her. She has worked with undocumented immigrants and DREAMers from around the country for 28 years, and wrote another book based on those experiences called Silent Voices In The Shadows (Paula Schwendinger), which I just finished reading and highly recommend.

Oh, also it has been raining really hard for the past day or so with 95% humidity and constant thunder and lightening, which has made things even more interesting.

I will try to keep posting semi regularly while I’m here.

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

After her marriage with Frank Randall has failed and Claire Beauchamp flees from her violent husband, she finds refuge in the house of the Fraser/Murray family in Berlin-Wilhelmshorst. But then tensions arise between Britain (which has since left the EU) and some EU member states. All holders of an English passport are required to leave EU territory within six weeks … and suddenly Claire’s fate looks more uncertain than ever.

This story was written for the #14DaysofOutlander event, hosted by @scotsmanandsassenach​

Note: This chapter contains references to domestic violence and suicidal thoughts. If these things trigger something in you, please skip this chapter.

Chapter 3: 14 Seconds (1)

         Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre was satisfied. No, Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre was not satisfied. He could not be satisfied at all, because in reality he did not exist. It was James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser who was satisfied that Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre, his alias, had also successfully completed this assignment. Neither the negotiations nor the conclusion of that special trade agreement with the Argentinians had caused any problems, so he was able to finish his job in the time allotted.

“Buenos Aires - Skyline” by maymuc

         The success with which he had been able to complete his mission helped him to get over the inconvenience of his onward flight to Boston. It took more time for these 8,500 kilometres than for the return flight from Boston to Berlin. So he flew from Buenos Aires-Ezeiza shortly after eight in the evening first to Lima, where he had an 80-minute stopover at the Jorge Chavez International Airport. Then he was able to board a plane that took him from the Peruvian capital to Florida. He used the time on the plane to get some sleep.          When he arrived at Miami International Airport, he first had an extensive breakfast. Then he wandered around a bit, just to move his legs and afterwards he immersed himself in various wine magazines. While he was still reading and waiting for his connecting flight to Boston, an elderly gentleman approached him.          According to his legend, Jamie introduced himself as a French wine merchant who, on behalf of the Berlin-based company "In Vino Veritas - International Wines and Spirits", searched for new wines worldwide or brokered wine sales to partners.          This company - "In Vino Veritas" - really existed. And if anyone should have the idea to make further investigations about the firm, he would find nothing else but a flourishing wine and spirits trade, based in the German capital. Every time James Fraser mentioned this name or passed on his business card bearing this company’s name, he had to force himself not to smile. The irony of this name had made him laugh out loud when Ernst Neuenburger first told him about it. Because there was no truth in the wine that this company sold at all. On the contrary, this wine was nothing but deception. "In Vino Deceptio" would have been the correct name, but for very understandable reasons, that name had not been chosen. Ernst Neuenburger had acknowledged Jamie's loud laughter by saying:

         "Irony is one of the best gifts to survive the challenges of this life."

         The elderly gentleman who approached him at the airport in Miami made a harmless impression. He showed no great interest in the personal background of the person he was talking to, nor in his business relationships. It seemed as if he was simply trying to bridge his own waiting time by philosophizing with someone he liked about a topic in which both were interested. For Jamie, that was o.k.          It was due to his thorough preparation by Ernst Neuenburger's staff that Jamie was not only very well versed in European wines, but also in Australian, New Zealand, North and South American wines and their respective markets. On their behalf, he attended the Austrian Wine Academy and completed his training as a Wine Academician with the Wine Diploma, also known as the "International Wine Specialist". He was thus not only accepted into the "Club of Wine Academics", whose members were active in 41 countries around the world, but also acquired the prerequisites for the "Master of Wine" degree. Jamie was happy to take the trouble of this training, which not only helped him to fulfil his covert mission, but also raised his status in his real business life. The fact that his certificates and diplomas were issued in his alias name and in the name of James Fraser was also taken care of by Neuenburger’s staff.          Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre talked for almost an hour with the older American, who introduced himself as Bob Snider ("the one from Boca Raton, not the folk singer from Canada"), mainly about American, French and German wines. Then his flight was called and Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre said a hearty farewell to his interlocutor.

“Terminal - Miami International Airport” by Martin St-Amant (S23678) - Eigenes Werk, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6281155

         When James Fraser took his seat on the plane that was supposed to take him (finally!) to his next destination, he first wrote down the content of his conversation with "Bob Snider" and all the details he could remember about the man he had spoken to. The senior may have been harmless, but the mere fact that a stranger had come to speak to him obliged him to report this contact to his employer.          It was shortly after three in the afternoon when his plane landed at Logan International Airport. He took a taxi to the hotel where "In Vino Veritas" had booked the so-called "Boston Studio" for him. When he entered the room, he had to smile. The arrangement of the furniture in the various hotels around the world amazed him again and again. Here, it was the mixture of modern furniture and furniture trimmed on old that made him shake his head slightly. He would never really feel comfortable in such a mixture. But maybe it was better that way. The discomfort he felt in such rooms made him want to return home all the more. All that mattered to James Fraser was that the hotels booked for him had a fitness area that was open 24 hours a day. And that's exactly where he went after having a light dinner in the hotel restaurant that evening. One hour of workout and a long shower later he returned to his rooms where he went over the planning for the next day. Twenty minutes later James Fraser, alias Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre, sank into his bed and fell asleep contentedly.

“Luftbild des Hafens von Boston” by ArnoldReinhold - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83686125

         Just a few blocks away from Fraser's hotel, Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall was lying in the bed of her conjugal bedroom. Tears were streaming down her face and wetting her pillow. Although she had been lying under her warm blanket for more than half an hour, she trembled all over her body as if she were standing outside the house on a frosty winter's night without a coat.          Behind her lay another evening of arguments, insults and humiliation. Frank, her husband for almost 10 years, had left the house at some point in a rage. She knew that he would now be sitting and drinking in one of the nearby bars. If he picked up any woman who wanted to spend the night with him, he was never expected to come home soon. But if he left  the bar empty-handed, he would return ‘home’ and the night could turn out even darker.          Frank Randall could not find a woman that night who would voluntarily share a cheap hotel bed with him. He returned to the house he and his wife had once called ‘home’. That night, Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall's worst fears came true.

         The next morning, James Fraser woke up well rested and full of energy. His first course, after a brief visit to the bathroom, took him back to the hotel gym and then to the shower. Just as he was getting dressed for the new day, the room service brought the "Continental Breakfast" that he had ordered the night before. He had breakfast, reading on his tablet the various international newspapers whose online editions he had subscribed to. Exactly the peaceful and quiet morning time, as he appreciated it.          There were still four hours to go before his next appointment, a business lunch with “Paul Smith”. That man was also on Ernst Neuenburger’s payroll but had a completely different legend. Jamie had decided to use this time to have a look around the area of his hotel. The hotel's limousine service first took him to Paul Revere's house, and an hour later he was driven from there to the Old North Church. He would also have liked to visit the Museum of Fine Arts, but there was not enough time left and so he let his driver take him to the steakhouse where he should meet "Paul Smith".          When he arrived there, his "business partner" was already sitting at the table reserved for them. The men, who had never seen each other in person before, greeted each other like long-time friends. No one would have suspected that they knew each other only from photos that Ernst Neuenburger had placed quite innocently in the advertisements of a wine magazine some time before. They ate and drank and had lively conversations (and for those sitting nearby with ears too big) about current trends in the wine scene, prices, order quantities and shipping options. At the end of the extensive business dinner, they signed each other's contracts, both of whom knew that they would never experience any real economic development, and then toasted each other loudly with champagne to this glorious "business deal". Shortly before three o'clock in the afternoon, "Etienne" and "Paul", who called each other by their first names only and addressed each other as "brother", left the restaurant. Their sunny mood was in stark contrast to the dull, autumnal weather that swept over the city of Boston that afternoon.          Paul waved at a passing taxi and got in. Jamie waited for the limousine service, which was parked a bit far away, and due to the rather cold weather was quite happy that the car started moving in his direction immediately.          While he was still waiting, his eyes fell on an advertising flyer, which was driven across the sidewalk by a light wind. A name that was emblazoned on this flyer caught his attention. It was the name of a painter - Gerhard Richter. Jamie not only admired the paintings of the professor, who had taught painting at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf from 1971 to 1993 and whose works were among the most important and expensive of any living German artist. He was also fascinated by his life story, to which Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck had set a monument in his film "Never look away" (”Werk ohne Autor”). Without thinking for long, Jamie bent down and picked up the flyer. Still in the car he began to read. A small gallery not far from his hotel advertised an exhibition documenting Richter's life and work. Jamie put the flyer in his left breast pocket. He would love to spend part of his free evening visiting this exhibition. But now he had to hurry, because a small, private teleconference with the "managing director" of "In Vino Veritas" was scheduled for three o'clock in the afternoon local time, and he didn't want to be late. 

         While Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre reported to his boss in faraway Berlin about the successfully concluded contracts with "Paul Smith", Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall made her way through her neighbourhood. Although the weather was unusually cold for the time of year, with 13.8 degrees Celsius, she could no longer bear to stay in her "home" after everything that had happened the previous night. At first she had thought of going to a nearby café that she visited regularly in the past. But the thought of having to sit on a hard wooden chair had made her refrain from doing so. Not far away there was also a church that she had visited repeatedly and the fact that the pews were furnished with soft seat cushions lead her steps hopefully towards this building. But her hope was to be disappointed. On the - closed - main portal there was a handwritten notice that on that day the doors of the church would stay closed due to a sudden illness of the sexton. Resigned, she turned around. Where could she go now? Her gaze fell on a small gallery that was open until six o'clock in the evening. That was still three hours away. Three hours in which she could look at the pictures there, or sit down in front of one of the works of art. Three hours in which nobody would approach her or ask her about anything. Three hours in which she could think about her next steps in peace. Somehow she had to find a way out of this misery. But she did not know how. Only one thing she knew with one hundred percent certainty: She would never return to Frank Randall. Not a single moment would she voluntarily stay in the presence of this monster again. She would rather put an end to her miserable existence. Claire had already thought about this once before. Back then, on 31 May 2018, when Longfellow Bridge was reopened after five years of repairs. But when she stood on top of the bridge, she was not sure whether a jump from there would bring the longed-for end to her agony. She had turned away and had returned. Returned to her life with Frank, whom she knew was cheating on her regularly. Returned to a life of lies. Returned to a life where she tried to numb all her pain with alcohol and pills. But if her experience had shown one thing, it was that no drug in the world could cover those wounds, especially not those that Frank had inflicted on her the previous night. Something had to happen. 

 “Ausstellung” by beludise          Twenty minutes before 4:00 pm Jamie had finished the conference call. Through one of the windows of his room he looked outside and noticed that the sky was darkening. A strong wind had come up and rain began to patter against the windows. But even if the thunderstorm was about to start, he would not be deterred from visiting the small gallery whose flyer he still carried with him. He dialed the number of the reception and ordered the limousine service again.          On the way to the lobby of the hotel he thought about how much he would have loved to get in touch with Jenny, Ian and the kids via video conference. But that was not possible. The chance of endangering himself, his job and possibly his family was too great. But it would not be long before he would finally see them again. The following evening his flight left and the following day, with a small detour via the headquarters of "In Vino Veritas", he would arrive back home and see them all again. He was already looking forward to it very much. For him, his family was the most valuable earthly possession and he wished for nothing more than to be able to start a family himself one day. Up to now he had always pushed that thought away. While he was still living in Scotland, the administration of his parents' estate and the political activities took up all his time and energy. Moreover, he would not have wanted any women to be the wife of a man who was a convicted traitor, being held in a London high-security prison and therefore not able to provide for his family. But more important than this was the fact that he had not yet met "the" woman with whom he really wanted to spend his whole life and with whom he wanted to start a family. When he entered the foyer and the receptionist told him that his limousine had just arrived, James Fraser had no idea that he was less than an hour away from that very encounter.          Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall had entered the gallery, paid the entrance fee and accepted an exhibition guide, which she had immediately stowed in her handbag. She had wandered aimlessly through the rooms until she found a small bench in one of the back exhibition rooms. It stood in front of a picture showing an older man with glasses, standing in front of a reddish wall. But she only took note of it peripherally. Much more important in her present situation was that there was soft upholstery on the bench. Carefully she sat down on it and yet the pain went through all her limbs.

         When Jamie's limousine stopped at the curb in front of the gallery entrance, it had already begun to rain in torrents. The sky had darkened to black and now and then a loud roll of thunder could be heard. Carl, the limousine driver, parked near the entrance and then quickly jumped out of the car with a large black umbrella bearing the logo and name of the hotel in golden letters. He opened the door on the rear passenger side and held the umbrella so that Jamie could get out without getting wet. The chauffeur accompanied him the few steps to the gallery, then quickly hurried back to the limousine where he would wait for the guest to return.          As soon as he had entered, Jamie was greeted by a friendly member of the gallery staff. He paid the entrance fee and received the exhibition catalogue. Then he slowly started his way through the exhibition. It took him about forty minutes to reach the back room of the gallery. Already from a distance he saw the well-known photo that showed the painter in front of his famous work "Wall". Only once had Richter had himself photographed in front of this work. This photo had then adorned the title page of the art magazine "art".

“Locken” by KRiemer         In front of exactly this two-meter by two-meter picture sat a petite woman, whose head was surrounded by an only slightly tamed, dark brown mass of curls. Carefully and anxious to make as little noise as possible, Jamie approached her with some distance. A few minutes passed, then he heard the woman sniffing softly. She opened her handbag and was obviously looking for a handkerchief in a hurry. Jamie reached into the right pocket of his jacket and pulled out a pack of Tempo tissues, which he opened and held out to the unknown woman.

         "Please, take one of these.”          The woman turned her head up to him and looked at him with big amber eyes, red from weeping. Later, James Fraser would tell again and again how  those first 14 seconds, when he looked into the most beautiful eyes in the world, decided his future path of life.

[davalynbaker]

Shady as F*ck [Season 1, Ep. 5]

To recap: In the previous episode, Issa found herself back in Daniel’s face despite successfully avoiding him after an awkward encounter. Lawrence is finding emotional solace in Tasha the bank teller. And I feel like it’s my duty as a citizen of the United States to remind y’all that Molly is dating Jidenna.

This episode was written by Ben Dougan and directed by Melina Matsoukas.

Issa panics about the students knowing about her “Broken Pussy” rap at open mic night. This is the catalyst for her reuniting with Daniel. I think the build-up to get Issa back alone with Daniel was a clunky transition but kids making a meme out of you rapping “Broken Pussy” is embarrassing. So we’ll go with it.

Issa spends the entire day worried about her boss finding out about it. She talks with Lawrence previously, who assures her that the kids won’t remember it. Memes are a dime a dozen. And if you spend any time on any social media platform, you’ll find yourself going along with the extremely fast pace of memeing people. Either way, these bad-ass kids don’t forget it.

Issa takes refuge in Molly to use her fancy attorney skills but this becomes a moment where Molly inserts herself back into Jered’s life to inquire about who could possibly have uploaded the video. Molly’s just using Issa’s plight as an excuse to speak to an ex that clearly she still has feelings for.

I have to say, this was the moment I found myself asking if Molly and Issa were actually as close as the show was trying to convince us but I digress…

Although Molly is calling up Jered, she’s in the middle of a situationship with Chris (aka Jidenna) and trying very hard to make an unofficial thing official. Through a very awkward exchange of talking but not out loud, Molly invites Chris to an engagement party. From what I can assume, they spent the weekend together after having their first date?

We’re only five episodes in but Molly is very desperate for this particular type of relationship that’s honestly headed nowhere. Her obsession with the man being perfect on paper is actually backfiring on her. Also, men are just dumb. And Molly’s giving them way too much.

While Molly is rekindling her friendship with Jered, Issa is now venting about her “Broken Pussy” problem with Daniel. He promises that he’ll take care of it for her...which is an empty promise to be fair because nobody is doing a modicum of the research required to find who could have shared the picture. He asks her to drop her off at the studio and they end up spending the entire day together. Issa refuses to speak up and say no to Daniel because she simply does not want to. That’s the truth of it. She kept walking around and following behind because that is exactly what she wanted to do. No amounts of freestyle rap in the car or the staff bathroom are going to ever fix that.

Lawrence has lunch with Chad who tells him that he’s getting married. It seems out of the blue because it is and because Chad is the type of man that does not hesitate to do things he feels may be the right choice, even if they might be wrong. Anyway, he asks Lawrence about Issa and marriage and Lawrence says that he’s trying to get his shit together. Chad actually offers some decent advice because he feels like Lawrence is shuffling his feet. If he really wants to be with Issa on paper they could just “get their shit together - together.”

Later on, Tasha the bank teller comes to flirt with Lawrence who politely rejects her advances but feels pretty good about himself knowing that a baddie was throwing it at him. Tasha the Bank Teller IS a baddie.

Molly spends her day getting ready for her coworker’s engagement party while Chris aka Jidenna doesn’t seem invested in actually going. Later at the party though, he swoops in to save the day. Molly is swooning by now because he claims the title of “boyfriend” but later admits that he definitely did not mean that when Molly asked him if he was serious.

The conversation basically went:

Molly: Why did you say that if you didn’t mean it? Chris: Because you needed a win.

I would never let a man, let alone a light-skin one disrespect me like this! But whatever, Molly was pushing up on him to make something out of nothing but he didn’t actually speak up and tell her not to rush into things so this isn’t entirely Molly’s fault. Sometimes, people can smell the desperation and continue to stick around despite that. It’s unhealthy and I never understood doing it as an excuse of not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings because eventually, that will happen. That’s just life. The band aid still pulls the skin no matter how fast or slow you do it.

Hurt, Molly tells him to leave and spends the rest of the night getting drunk. Instead of calling Issa, she goes to Jered’s house for some pity sex. Jered ain’t buying it and puts her ass on the couch to sleep. Jered is really too good for the Insecure universe. Shout out to Jered watching an episode of 'Conjugal Visits' with a nice cameo from Leah A. Williams who played Dolores 'Sister Mary' Clarence on The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.

At Daniel’s studio, Issa attempts to head out but Daniel asks her to stay and have a drink. She stays. Hmm. They reminisce a little bit. Daniel then encourages Issa to rap in the booth. It’s met with hesitation but eventually, she does and finds complete solace in it. The best thing about Daniel is that he really does bring out the best in Issa but also the absolute worst. As we eventually see.

They talk about the hows and whys of why a relationship never came to be and this leads to them being booty-butt naked in his studio having sex. Issa had to have seen this coming, no matter WHAT she says in the future episodes. Whatever the case may be… she’s done it now.

Issa goes into the bathroom to clean up and gets post-nut clarity. Yes girl, you are a dirty ass cheater! One of my favorite songs (St. Beauty’s “Borders”) plays as she has the walk of supreme shame. I mean, she cheated. That shit’s shameful.

My final thought is a controversial one, I liked that the episode ended with Issa cheating. Mainly because I love mess but also because so often, we don’t see female characters make terrible ass decisions like this. As someone who is working on a novel where the female protagonist cheats on her spouse, I really spent years fighting with the decision because I was afraid of how readers would receive her.

It can’t be stated enough that genuinely written characters are like real people. They fuck up. They make really bad choices that come to bite them in the ass later. It was a risky choice, I’m sure but I think Issa Rae and the writers room did something really good here. It speaks about Issa as a person and her relationship with Lawrence, which is honestly still going nowhere at this point. And her inability to listen (based on Molly’s advice falling on deaf ears) when she wants to do something even if it’s a bad decision. It builds characters. And yes, even when the character chooses not to listen to good advice.

Plus, she got hers. And I’ll cheer for that.

Not the cheating though.

[newstfionline]

Monday, May 10, 2021

Higher Prices Leave Consumers Feeling the Pinch (WSJ) Americans accustomed to years of low inflation are beginning to pay sharply higher prices for goods and services as the economy strains to rev back up and the pandemic wanes. Price tags on consumer goods from processed meat to dishwashing products have risen by double-digit percentages from a year ago, according to NielsenIQ. Some consumers are feeling stretched. Costs are rising at every step in the production of many goods. Prices for oil, crops and other commodities have shot up this year. Trucking companies are paying scarce drivers more to take those materials to factories and construction sites. As a result, companies are charging more for foods and consumer products including foil wraps and disposable cups. And consumers are therefore paying more.

As US reopens, campuses tighten restrictions for virus (AP) About a year into mask mandates, nasal swabs and remote classes, the atmosphere turned tense at the University of Vermont as the school cracked down on rules for social distancing and face coverings amid a spike in student COVID-19 cases. Students were handed hundreds of citations for violations like standing in another student’s doorway or walking maskless to a hallway restroom, igniting a student-led petition that blasted “strict and inhumane living conditions.” “You start to feel suffocated like I’m afraid to leave my room,” freshman Patrick Welsh said in an interview on campus. Even as restrictions relax across much of the United States, colleges and universities have taken new steps to police campus life as the virus spreads through students who are among the last adults to get access to vaccines. Administrators say they’ve needed to act urgently to avoid risking an early end to the semester or sending infected students home and spreading COVID-19. In recent weeks, the University of Michigan punished hundreds of students for missing mandatory virus testing by deactivating their access cards to nonresidential buildings, and Cornell University announced that students would lose access to campus Wi-Fi, course materials and facilities for missing virus tests. The University of Chicago locked down residence halls for seven days and shifted classes online after finding more than 50 cases in a matter of days.

Pandemic gives boost as more states move to digital IDs (AP) The card that millions of people use to prove their identity to everyone from police officers to liquor store owners may soon be a thing of the past as a growing number of states develop digital driver’s licenses. With the advent of digital wallets and boarding passes, people are relying more on their phones to prove their identity. At least five states have implemented a mobile driver’s license program. Three others—Utah, Iowa and Florida—intend to launch programs by next year, with more expected to follow suit. Mobile licenses will give people more privacy by allowing them to decide what personal information they share, state officials say. The licenses offer privacy control options that allow people to verify their age when purchasing alcohol or renting a car, while hiding other personal information like their address. Having a mobile driver’s license will allow people to update their license information remotely without having to go to a state’s Department of Motor Vehicles or waiting for a new card in the mail, said Lee Howell, state relations manager at the American Automobile Association. Industry leaders say safeguards will prevent anyone’s information from being stolen, but some critics argue that having so much personal data on a phone is too risky.

Why an Estimated 100,000 Americans Abroad Face Passport Problems (NYT) About 9 million U.S. citizens currently live abroad, and as the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel finally appears, immigration lawyers estimate more than 100,000 can’t get travel documents to return to the United States. Despite the State Department making headway on a massive backlog of passport applications in the early months of the pandemic, many consulates and embassies abroad, plagued by COVID-19 restrictions and staffing reductions, remain closed for all but emergency services. Travel is restarting, but for American expats who had a baby abroad in the past year or saw their passport expire during the pandemic, elusive appointments for documents are keeping them grounded. “It’s a real mess,” said Jennifer Minear, an immigration attorney and the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “It’s a giant, multilayered onion of a problem and the reduction of staff as a result of COVID at the consular posts has really thrown the State Department for a loop.” Michael Wildes, the managing partner of the law firm Wildes & Weinberg, PC, which specializes in immigration law, estimates that the number of stranded Americans abroad is in the hundreds of thousands.

Scotland’s pro-independence leader promises another bid to break from U.K. after election boost (Washington Post) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised Saturday to push ahead with another Scotland independence referendum after her party gained a strong showing in Scottish Parliament elections, setting up a potential clash with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Sturgeon said that an independence referendum was the “will of the country,,” with her Scottish National Party and pro-independence allies taking a majority of the 129 seats after all the votes were counted. That will probably boost calls to redo a 2014 independence referendum, which could lead to the crackup of the United Kingdom under the strains of Brexit and its deep divisions.

‘Freedom’ fiestas: Spaniards celebrate end of COVID curfew (Reuters) Exhilarated Spaniards danced in streets, chanted “freedom” and partied on beaches overnight as a COVID-19 curfew ended across most of the nation. In scenes akin to New Year’s Eve celebrations, hundreds of mainly young people gathered in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square to applaud the clock striking midnight while in Barcelona revellers headed to the beach with drinks in hand. Police in Barcelona had the strange task of moving people on after the last curfew began at 10 p.m., only to let them back at midnight when it ended for good.

Putin reviews Russian military might as tensions with West soar (Reuters) President Vladimir Putin reviewed Russia’s traditional World War Two victory parade on Sunday, a patriotic display of raw military power that this year coincides with soaring tensions with the West. The parade on Moscow’s Red Square commemorating the 76th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two featured over 12,000 troops and more than 190 pieces of military hardware, including intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, and a fly-past by nearly 80 military aircraft under cloudy skies. This year’s parade precedes parliamentary elections in September and comes at a time when Moscow’s relations with the West are acutely strained over issues ranging from the conflict in Ukraine to the fate of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Death toll soars to 50 in school bombing in Afghan capital (AP) The death toll in a horrific bombing at a girls’ school in the Afghan capital has soared to 50, many of them pupils between 11 and 15 years old, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. The number of wounded in Saturday’s attack has also climbed to more than 100, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian. Three explosions outside the school entrance struck as students were leaving for the day, he said. The blasts occurred in a mostly Shiite neighborhood in the west of the capital.

China says most rocket debris burned up during reentry (AP) China’s space agency said a core segment of its biggest rocket reentered Earth’s atmosphere above the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and that most of it burned up early Sunday. Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracked the tumbling rocket part, said on Twitter, “An ocean reentry was always statistically the most likely. It appears China won its gamble.” People in Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia reported sightings of the Chinese rocket debris on social media, with scores of users posting footage of the debris piercing the early dawn skies over the Middle East.

Palestinians fear loss of family homes as evictions loom (AP) When Samira Dajani’s family moved into their first real home in 1956 after years as refugees, her father planted trees in the garden, naming them for each of his six children. Today, two towering pines named for Mousa and Daoud stand watch over the entrance to the garden where they all played as children. She and her husband, empty nesters with grown children of their own, may have to leave it all behind on Aug. 1. That’s when Israel is set to forcibly evict them following a decades-long legal battle waged by ideological Jewish settlers against them and their neighbors. The Dajanis are one of several Palestinian families facing imminent eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem. It also highlights an array of discriminatory polices that rights groups say are aimed at pushing Palestinians out of Jerusalem to preserve its Jewish majority. The Israeli rights group B’Tselem and the New York-based Human Rights Watch both pointed to such policies as an example of what they say has become an apartheid regime. Settler groups say the land was owned by Jews prior to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Israeli law allows Jews to reclaim such lands but bars Palestinians from recovering property they lost in the same war, even if they still reside in areas controlled by Israel. Israeli rights groups say other families are also vulnerable, estimating that more than 1,000 Palestinians are at risk of being evicted.

[mirovoi1]

Five Days with No Shoes – An Experiment in Restructuring the Subconscious View the World

I Am Getting My Socks Dirty!

For the past few days here in Bangkok, Thailand, I have been continuing my experiment of going about daily life with no shoes on – in fact, just in white socks. During the first couple of days, I kept it slightly more low-key, a bit of testing the waters, like a timid cat checking out its environment, just wandering around the area where I am staying, to get food, something to drink, or buy something at 7Eleven. The area is known as Khaosan Road, a backpacker’s haven, where there are a couple of streets loaded with everything the weary or tempted tourist might want. There are bars, cafés, parks, temples, and plenty of people and street-side action to get involved with at almost any time of the day and night. To anyone who knows, this travelers’ hub tends to attract and keep a number of the more ‘unique’ travelers that easily intermingle amongst the more common-looking tourists, and it is rather common to see the more endearing styles of fashion – tattoos, piercings, hairstyles, and the occasional bare-footer. Although the ones sporting bare feet often tend to be hippies, drunk people, or locals that, by the looks of them, tend to be poorer or less of the sane type. I am in none of those categories, I hope. I’m just one of the normal people on the street, but just happens to be in his white socks.

Why Do Such A Thing?

I’m doing this experiment for a number of reasons. A colleague and I are putting together a roughly twenty-minute video of the experiment with a short and simple discussion related to our work in the fields of education, psychology and therapy. This talk is mainly focused towards Chinese people (it is in Chinese) on the topic of pushing your psychological boundaries and acceptance of being different from the crowd. Understanding the psychology of a person cannot be done solely by observation or on paper, so getting to the core of many of the psychological and habitual issues needs to experienced first-hand. Many of our students (both teenage and particularly adults, including student’s parents) tend to often struggle with the acceptance of being different from the crowd and suffer from excuses that avoid the root of their difficulties. To us, as teachers, this psychological state needs to be pushed at and prodded at for the sake of expanding our understanding of their experience. So, I jumped right into this experiment, and as a result, I have gotten more out of it than I ever expected. My internal world has expanded. A few of the ideas, observations and thoughts from the process will be shared in this essay. Who would know that my pairs of white socks would open up a new world to me?

1. Why Does Our Sense of Self Have to Be So Strong?

Fear, nervousness and excitement tend to be confused by the brain as they all stimulate the same biological reactions, such as speeding up the heart rate. It is possible for the brain to confuse what it is actually experiencing. When an emotion of, perhaps, nervousness (activated by the brain telling you that you are different from the others) fear kicks in and the brain looks for things it perceives as ‘threats’. In my case, while being in socks in public, these ‘threats’ tended more likely to be people who might easily notice me; like people walking towards me or people sitting idly by that could possibly make some noticeable sort of remark. It would be these types of perceived ‘threats’ that I would find myself naturally trying to avoid eye contact with or maybe even subconsciously try to change my walking path to avoid ‘confrontation’. People that tended to be busy with their own affairs gave me no concerns at all. There also tended to be differences in perception between people you tend to associate more closely with; whether you know them or not, or would you ever see them again (i.e., the guesthouse staff that see you coming in and out each day without shoes on) - this tended to give me a stronger reaction. Similarly, stronger reactions were evoked from people I either genetically or culturally identified more with – i.e., different genders, ethnicities and age groups. These psychological reactions tended to be based on solely what people could possibly think of me and the strength of the reaction depended on these factors. It is not that I really minded, because walking in socks is far from the end of the world, but I was observing my brain tending to be more active when it was trying to figure out my best life strategies in unfamiliar situations. Questions such as who would I most likely get approval from, who would mostly would stare or give me a negative reaction, who would I bring embarrassment to… these questions fill the brain as it is terrified of being ostracized by the group. Walking the streets in white socks could possibly be enough to make you a laughing stock. That’s a terrifying feeling for a person, no matter what form it comes in. So that is something that needed to be understood, looked at and conquered. I mean, it is my brain’s job to keep me safe and alive (and being part of the group is vital for survival), but it’s my job to keep my brain in check!

During the next couple of days, I started venturing a bit further away from Khaosan Road as I began to feel less and less self-conscious. I then found myself at a Thammasat University having lunch by the river side. My socks tended to still be bright white on the tops, but had black footprints on the bottoms. Sometimes I started thinking that the dirtier they were the more natural it looked. I don’t know what to make of that – maybe it was more acceptance of the state of them. I enjoyed my time there. I walked back with an ice-coffee I bought from a street stall and sat in the park for a couple of hours pondering over the situation. My colleague and I had filmed a part of it to put into the video. The real importance comes down to not just the action of walking shoeless, but the following mental reflection over the what happened during the experience to make sure the brain understands what it is actually seeing and doing as it experiences and reacts to all this new stuff. This is all the brain’s doings, none of it is orchestrated by me. This goes for any situation in life really, but this process is often overlooked, as we move on to the next task ahead. Instead, I walked along the hot sticky street to a park further along the riverside where I laid down in a shady patch of grass under a massive twisted tropical tree and let everything sink in. The brain is automatically doing a lot of stuff I am not even aware of nor wanting to permit it to do, but it is more up to me to to understand that and learn to control what is going on instead. Skills like that should get me higher places than a good pair of sturdy hiking boots could ever. It seems my socks just may hold some magic.

2. Happily Hiding Behind Excuses

Oh, we humans know how to hide. While walking around the streets, into stores, happily soaking up the Bangkok atmosphere, I found myself hiding behind excuses for being shoeless. Despite my body (and bright white socks) being physically exposed for the world to see, but in my mind, I was aiming at quelling the inner dragon of self-consciousness. I thought I had more of a reason, for anyone who may look at me, to be shoeless in the late afternoon than the morning – maybe I had walked a long way and I had blisters, maybe my shoes broke, maybe I was hot? In the morning, by contrast, it just more looked like the guy couldn’t be bothered putting on his shoes. So, I went out in the morning too, not just using the heat as an excuse, or hiding behind the darkness of night. Having a small backpack with me was a good way to hide too. Could this guy be suffering from any of the above situations, and obviously his shoes are in his bag, the random passer-by would think. So, when I could, I would try go out empty-handed where possible. The only pity is I quite like to carry a small backpack with my camera for a bit of photography, and a bottle of water in it. I found taking off my glasses was another good way to not be able to see if people were staring or not, making me feel like I was more in my own world – listening to music could have the same effect. So, I kept the glasses on, and music off. I’d go with my coworker who was in bare feet, that felt more easier as there was the distraction of chatter and dialog about the experiment to hide behind. Going out alone would up the ante, put on a bit more stress, so I made sure to do this too. These are the tactics the brain employs to reason with myself as why to be shoeless. I mean what if someone asks where my shoes are, I could stumble and think of lies, but that won’t get anyone to paradise. All this led me to have to accept the most root of the issue. I am just the guy who is out in his socks. No hiding and denying the fundamental truth behind the situation. Dress the way you like, stand up straight, put yourself into a confident physical position, tell yourself ‘you are just the guy who wears his socks’. Be ready to give sincere eye-contact with whoever you encounter, engage in conversation if anyone asks and just walk on forward. That solved half of the issues.

By the third day, after having had more and more physical practice of being out and about in my white socks, plus plenty of mental exploration and conversation regarding many aspects of the experience, things started feeling more natural. My mind was changing towards self-acceptance and encouragement towards such a lifestyle of endeavor, discovery and self-growth. By this time, I found myself hopping into a taxi one evening to go to MBK center shopping mall. I was planning to leave for India the next day, so wanted to buy a couple of bits and pieces. I spent about two hours in the mall; the bottoms of my socks were rather dirty, but the whole time I was possibly even more relaxed than I would have been if I were in shoes. I am not really a fan of malls, but I found that I was more in a peaceful world of my own more so than a noisy mall of shoppers. I came back via tuk-tuk and wandered back to my guesthouse through the busy bar district of Khaosan. It was if it were any normal day.

3. Tackling the Bull in the Cage

It is the only way to address the issue and gain something true from your endeavors. If you carry yourself confidently, who can belittle you? If you accept the truth, who can deny it? The thing is, the world is like a mirror, if you don’t care, the world doesn’t care either. The world reflects back what is in your mind and in your heart. When I was subconsciously unaware of the fact I was in a busy shopping mall in my socks, to me, it seemed that the whole world was unaware of it. When I was stressed or uncomfortable, then it felt like the world was glaring at me. The subconscious mind brought out all sorts of perceived threats. The mind needs to be trained in order to live out the life you want to live. I have to admit, sometimes it felt weird having my coworker take photos of me while in socks in some public space somewhere with people all around, but you just have to tell yourself: “I accept everything that comes with this.” Maybe no one even saw, or maybe someone did see and probably forgot about it within three seconds. If they do remember it would be because they thought it was cool. Others are welcome to do whatever they want with their observations. But, remember, the noise is inside you.

By the fourth day, I had decided that I was too much invested into this project and to run off to India prematurely wouldn’t be the best choice. I wanted to continue a bit, and I wanted to put the video together (although it was my coworker who mainly took control of that part), and I wanted to write this down. Environment is utmost, and while I am still in this environment, I am more likely to order my ideas in a clearer way. I imagine the smell of curries and sounds of horns in the streets of Bangalore will take my mind away to other places. When you’re focused and enjoying something productive you should stride to stay in that state. Change (or disruption) to an environment is unsettling for a person, and I know this well as that is where my general main work’s focus lies – travel-related education, psychology and therapy. I happened to go to MBK once again, of course in my socks, and wandered the streets nearby and came back by public bus. Over the last day or two before leaving for India, I didn’t plan on any such sock-walks, didn’t aim for any such mental or physical stimulation, but instead, just a quiet calm mood to weather away the hot afternoons and get this writing done. But I realized by habit, I still went out in my socks for a morning coffee and 7eleven for bottles of water, and even out for dinner. It had become a new sort of comfort zone. No one likes the feeling of retraction, so maybe just now putting on shoes, feels a little like that. I actually really like who I am when I am out in my socks. I love the mental stimulation and feeling of freedom. Having seen the videos of myself out and about, I tend to think, under the circumstances, I looked rather confident and natural. I liked the way I looked and even more so, how I felt. The self-affirmation of something is almost more crucial than the actual activity itself.

4. Setting Things Straight

The truth is, walking around a city in a pair of white socks isn’t the epitome of difficulty in this world. To some it would be easy, and to others, mortifying. Depends on you, your previous experiences and interests. The thing is, when confronting your fears, or looking to expand you comfort zone, you need to not only delve directly into them, but you may also need to confirm to yourself the existence of even more difficult things to compare them with. You may even need to actively seek out such things. Things are only small when compared with something bigger, as the Earth is big travelling by bus, but tiny when compared with the universe. So, sometimes to aim at something you perceive as ‘big’ or ‘difficult’, then you may need to not only hack slowly towards its direction, but also hack backwards to reduce the perceived size of it. There, that is something a bit more complicated to contemplate. ha!

You may notice a theme here in that nowhere mentioned was any negative situations being mentioned. That is because during the five-day experiment, there were never any such occurrences. There are many nationalities around Khaosan, and never received a difficulty from anyone. I noticed people occasionally looked. I would also emphasize the word ‘looked’, and not ‘stared’. But on the contrary, I need to mention that no matter what you’re wearing or doing people do look. Yes, I noticed people occasionally still looked while I was wearing flip-flops. People have eyes after all, and they need to set their vision on something, so that’s forgivable. Maybe I just have nice (although hairy) legs? Ha-ha. But, maybe it is something more than that. Maybe it is something about the Thai people and the atmosphere they have created to be inclusive, tolerant and open-minded. To expand on this topic, I will need to keep up my white sock-walking activities across other parts of the world in order to work towards the core of such assumptions.

What Can Thai Attitude Offer The World?

However, the Thai people’s attitude towards life is rather healthy. It seems to be that if something does not harm anyone, then it is not really worth worrying about. That is a fair take on life. I noticed on the rare occasion when someone did not know what to make of me being in my socks, then substitute was a smile or laughter. That takes you back to the ‘world being a mirror’ philosophy; if you are self-conscious or flustered under a circumstance a laugh can be perceived as a snigger or an intrusion. When your soul and mind are calm, a laugh could be perceived as a friendly sign of acceptance or interest. It seems the Thais are slower in their reactions and judgements, allowing themselves sufficient time for a reasonable and proper response to ensue. I like the fact they are natural and thoughtful in their responses, something obviously passed down through their Buddhist faith. I would say, as a whole, I got a more neutral to positive reception anywhere I went in my socks. The interesting thing is, that is the same Thai reception I have received anywhere under almost any circumstance - with shoes on or off. But of course, there would be places you wouldn’t want to go in your socks, just as you wouldn’t swim in the sea or go to bed while wearing your shoes. Well, you can do that and why not if that is what you want - who are we to judge? But, it seems here in Thailand, if you are reasonable in your attitude and polite in your behavior, the Thais will treat you with the same respect. Hats off (or shoes off) to the Thais for that. We can all learn a lot from them.

Your Growth Is Your Offering To The World

It is also your own responsibility to work at expanding your comfort zone. There is not a single soul that does not want to become a bigger and better version of themselves. Explore and grow; that what souls do. It is your job to dig out what it needs and how to go about it. Sock-walking is just my own personal way, among others. But I also find it necessary that people take on such things. It is quite funny to know that all along during the beginning of the experiment, my brain was constantly doing all it could to help me avoid being ostracized by other humans. It was working to keep me surviving in optimal fashion. However, on the flipside, being the same as everyone does not necessarily get you anywhere at all. The ‘herd mentality’ is not lauded; it is not held in high regard. In fact, it is the opposite. I would believe that my getting out in my white socks is a rather positive thing in many people’s perceptions. I could see it and feel that at times. Maybe someone else just happened to think a little thought such as, ‘yeah, why not.’ Being a bit different reaffirms in others’ minds that possibilities exist. It is like the idea of recycling or reducing plastic use; you only really get the idea of when you are reminded of it, or see others taking part in it. My experiment probably does far better for the world that one would imagine.

My Unexpected Gains

I actually feel I have been through a type of therapy myself. I feel energetic. I had to make a quick phone call to an elderly neighbor in China, and she mentioned the change in my tone of voice. I was quite astonished when she said I sounded younger. My eyes feel bright. The flame in my soul feels steady. Making the video and seeing myself in it looking confident and actually liking the look of it, made me feel rather positive about myself. I feel mentally light. Maybe it’s because of Thailand itself and the abundance of sunshine. Maybe it is just because of finishing a two-week work project to Nepal with a group of my students. Maybe I am feeling a natural change towards a new segment of growth in my field. Or maybe I am feeling physically light because of having walked without shoes as you begin to tread more lightly and carefully; you are more concentrated and focused on your steps more than usual (the Buddhist monks tend to go barefoot). Maybe it all had a meditative effect, or maybe it was a boost of energy from the beneath the Earth, something like the opposite of how you soak up vitamin D from the sun above. Maybe it was the psychological pushing and prodding of my internal world. Maybe it was the instinctual need for physical stimulation of the body. Maybe it was sensual stimulation of the mind and feet. Maybe it was all of it together that reenergized my body, mind and soul. Maybe it was a bit of everything. I don’t know yet. But I feel I have given myself some psychological and perceptual reorganizing. Maybe it has been a Thai Massage-like internal workout for the body and mind.

An Experiment in Restructuring the Mind

However way, when you throw yourself into the deep end for an experiment in self-growth, it is not always easy and does take some courage and effort. And, so it should. Everything worthwhile always involves an element of difficulty. Why should one be rewarded without having put in any work anyway? Personally, I am very satisfied with this experiment and it has been an interesting, fun and valuable experience and I am sure I will enjoy the benefits of it for a long time to come. I will probably try to keep up with the occasional sock-walk when and where possible, and will aim at attempting the experiment again in other parts of the world. So, if next time you see a guy out in his white socks, it just might be me. Cheers! J

Note:

Yes, I got several pairs of socks dirty. They washed up well when hand washed in the shower. I got zero holes in them. I received zero cuts or injuries from being out shoeless during these five days.

[missing-marvel]

The Shape of You (Pt. 1)

Pairing: Vision/Reader

Tags: Slow burn, multi-chapter, self-indulgent Shape of Water AU ???

Part 2

A/N: Guess who’s back? I bet you thought I was dead. Well surprise, I’ve got ANOTHER Vision fit for ya cause Endgame did my boy dirty. As you may have noticed, this is an AU. It’s set after AoU but kinda diverges from Civil War... You’ll get it as you read. And yeah, I pretty well am taking the whole premise of The Shape of Water (cause it’s a gorgeous movie if you haven’t seen it!) but you don’t have to know literally anything about that movie.

Also! This is gonna be a long chapter cause there’s a lot of stage to set so buckle in kids.

-------

A harsh beep sounded from the terminal as you clocked in for the day. It was like your second alarm clock. One in the morning to get you out of bed, a second one when you got to work to get you out of your head. No amount of coffee would make you properly awake this early, but you were getting used to it. A government job expected you to work on a strict schedule, even if you were just a custodian.

You’d been working here for a couple months now. Supposedly this place had some pretty secret government projects going on, but you hadn’t seen anything interesting just yet. It must be true though, considering how much screening you went through when you applied for the job. Not to mention the amount of forms you had to sign. No employer went to that much trouble unless they had something to hide.

You didn’t expect today, however, would be the day things finally got interesting.

You made your way to one of the many maintenance rooms to grab your gear. Before you got there, however, you ran into your boss, Ronnie.

He was a skittish man, always nervous about something or other. He was also incredibly annoying. He’d do anything to get attention from the higher-ups. He was always gunning for a promotion, though he had been in this position far longer than you’d worked here. Most of what you knew about him came from break room gossip.  

“Different assignment for you today. It’s a big one. You cannot mess this up.” Ronnie shuffled the folders and loose papers in his hands. He was always carrying papers it seemed. You had no idea what any of them were for. You were half convinced it was just his way of looking ‘professional.’

“Yes sir,” you droned, already tired of Ronnie’s crap. He was your superior though, and you couldn’t risk being snappy with him. “What will I be doing?”

“Report to Lab 205. You and a handful of others will be the only custodial staff allowed in there for the foreseeable future. There’s a very special asset about to be moved here and it’s extremely important that we don’t screw this up.”

Lab 205 was on the second basement level. You’d only been down there a handful of times and you certainly weren’t familiar with it.

“All due respect sir, but am I the best choice for something like that? I’ve only been here a couple months and—“ Before you could finish your thought, Ronnie cut you off.

“Ah ah ah!” There he went again, making that God-awful sound. There wasn’t anything more condescending than the sound Ronnie made when interrupting people. “I don’t choose the people for the job, I just give them the news. Just report there in 5 minutes and someone there will tell you what to do. I’m sure if you can’t handle this, they’ll find someone more suitable for the job.”

And with that, he simply walked away. What an ass. One day he was gonna get smacked in the face. You didn’t let it get to you, however, as he did this with just about everyone on the custodial staff.

You made your way quickly to the elevator, silently hoping you remembered the way to the lab.

___

You made it with no time to spare. Turns out, you didn’t remember the way to the lab. You had just spent the last 4 and a half minutes frantically combing the floor for the right room. Why did this place have to be so damn big?

Several faces turned toward you when you burst into the room, sweaty and out-of-breath as you had been running. There were four other people in the room wearing custodial uniforms, all giving you looks of disapproval. Their attention was brought back to the front of the room fortunately, when a sharply dressed woman cleared her throat loudly.

‘Oh great, another Ronnie,’ you thought. You suppressed the urge to roll your eyes and stood at attention as she spoke.

“As I’m sure you’ve been told, the five of you are going to be the sole custodians responsible for the care of this lab for the foreseeable future.”

It was only now that you fully noticed the size of the lab. The ceiling was higher than every other room in the building (that you’d been in) and the whole space was filled with so many computers and monitoring stations that there was hardly any walking room left. At the back of the room was a glass wall of some kind, separating you from the back wall. Behind the glass was mostly empty space aside from some complex-looking machinery.

“The new asset is being brought in tomorrow. That means you have today to get this place spotless. This is easily the most important thing ever to be housed in this facility so I expect all of you to maintain complete secrecy. Anything you see in this room from now on is completely confidential. As I’m sure you all understand, any divulgence of confidential information will result in immediate termination and legal action will be taken.”

You exchanged a few nervous glances with your coworkers but said nothing. You had no idea what you were getting into.

The woman’s expression suddenly turned chipper and she clapped her hands together cheerfully. “Well! I expect nothing short of perfection from you all. Now get to work!” With that, she turned and exited the lab.

___

It had been a long, grueling day. Cleaning that lab had proven far more work than you expected. Every time you thought you were done with an area, a supervisor would tell you to do it again, better this time.

But now you were home, stretched out on the sofa to relax your aching muscles. You lived in a small apartment uptown. You tried to avoid the word ‘dingy,’ opting instead for ‘modest.’ Sure the place was small, there was a spider problem, the temperature was always slightly off, and plenty more problems you’d gotten used to but it was yours. There was nothing better than going home to a space to call your own at the end of the day, even if it was dingy.

You worked long shifts, leaving little time for activities in the evenings. On the plus side, you got long weekends. This meant your nightly routine consisted mainly of eating, showering, watching TV for a little while, and going to sleep. Today was no different.

However, as you lay in bed, you found your mind wandering. You thought about this ‘asset’ being brought into the lab. You had endless theories about what it could be. You were secretly hoping it was a live alien. How cool would that be? A stream of ideas fit for a sci-fi novel ran through your head until you inevitably fell asleep.

_____

So it wasn’t an alien. At least, you didn’t think it was.

You and the other four custodians had been permitted to be in the lab when the asset was brought in, much to your surprise. Presumably, they thought that if you got to see the ‘asset’ right away, you’d be less likely to snoop later. The five of you stood in the corner, enthralled by the scene in front of you.

A couple men in military uniforms had wheeled in some kind of container, large enough to hold a person. Through the glass on the front, you almost thought the thing inside was a person. But when you got a better look, you could tell it was something inhuman.

The figure inside had their eyes shut. At first glance, their face appeared human, until you noticed that their ‘skin’ was a deep red and green with clearly artificial design. With all the commotion, you unfortunately couldn’t see much more than that.

A man in a lab coat was fussing over every little thing. He would snap at the men pushing the container, saying things like ‘this is worth more than you’ll make in your lifetime’ and ‘if I find one scratch on that machine you’re both fired.’

While the man was utterly exasperating to listen to, his complaining informed you that the figure was in fact, a machine.

“It’s... an android?” You mumbled under your breath and your coworker next to you looked over.

“What’s so special about an android?” she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to get in trouble. “Hasn’t the government been building robots for years?”

Thinking about it, you realized she was right. The government had already created some fairly advanced robotics that were far from secret.

“There must be something special about this one,” you said. “Something worth studying. Maybe it’s foreign?”

Suddenly another coworker that had been listening in gasped. “Oh my God you guys,” he said, his voice trailing off.

“What? What is it?” You were surprised by his outburst and too impatient to deal with it.

“What if... what if that’s the Avengers’ android? The one that got destroyed right before they disappeared.”

If that was the case, it certainly hadn’t been destroyed. When Ultron was threatening humanity, news that the Avengers had built another android to fight him was a bit upsetting to most people, the government in particular. Luckily, it worked out. The news hadn’t given a lot of details but the planet was still intact so they obviously did something right.

The government disagreed, however. They thought the Avengers needed more accountability. They tried writing up laws of sorts to control them, but it didn’t go so well. When the Avengers had tried to fight the laws, they were forced to go into hiding. At one point, a government assault team had been sent to stop them. They failed of course, though there were no casualties. Unless you counted a destroyed android. Like, completely destroyed. The news footage had shown a massive explosion. The government even released an official statement saying the android could not be recovered and the rest of the Avengers escaped. Looks like the conspiracy theorists were right about this one.

While no one in the general public knew much about the android, there was still footage of it from Sokovia. At the time, you’d been impressed. Leave it to Tony Stark and Dr. Banner to build something that advanced.

If it was here now, that meant the government wanted to study it. Stark wasn’t known to like sharing his most advanced tech, and this clearly had been no exception.

You let this new information settle in as you continued watching the scene unfold.

_____

The excitement settled down pretty quickly.  The guy in the lab coat, who you’d learned was called Dr. Newmann, rushed from computer to computer, looking over the shoulders of the lab assistants and criticizing anything and everything. You quickly learned to tune him out. You didn’t bother his work, and he didn’t bother you.

Right now you were supposed to be checking the printers for paper and ink. They were brand new, brought in this morning specifically for this lab.

However you couldn’t help but let your eyes wander to the back of the room. The android was no longer in the container it had been transported in. It was now behind the glass wall, lying on some kind of  table and connected to countless computers and machines.

When Dr. Newmann wasn’t yelling at lab assistants, he was in there, fussing over the android like it was his damn child. You could hear him drone on about the discoveries they were going to make into Stark technology. You had a sudden image of what the government could do with that sort of power, but shoved it to the back of your mind before you could dwell on it.

What you really wanted was to get a better look at the android. The other custodians’ interest had diminished rather quickly but you couldn’t help but continue to be curious. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near that glass with Dr. Fussy over there, not even for a quick look.

Your watch beeped suddenly, signaling the time for your lunch break. That was all the distraction you needed to forget everything you were doing and leave.

______

You’d finished your lunch a little early today and decided to get back to work right away. Perhaps if you got everything done early you could go home sooner.

You were surprised to find the lab empty when you got back. All the lab assistants as well as Dr. Newmann were absent. They must all be on their lunch breaks.

The android was still in the same place, unsurprisingly. You briefly thought about going over to sneak a look, but anyone could come in at any second. You didn’t know what kind of trouble you’d be in if you got caught. They seemed to take this thing pretty seriously.

You decided to do the reasonable thing and just get back to work. You started collecting the little trash bins by many of the desks that had already filled with paper. It was amazing how many notes these guys wrote down in just a day.

As you knelt to pick up a crumpled paper that was on the floor, you noticed what looked like a drawing on one of the corners. You carefully unfolded the paper, smoothing it out on your knee. It was a sketch of the android’s face, messy, but recognizable. A bunch of notes and equations surrounded it, practically illegible. One thing stood out to you, which was a question mark with circles around it.  A line connected the mark to a point on the android’s forehead. There was an indent of some kind, though you couldn’t tell if it was deliberate or if something was missing. Your main focus was on the drawing itself though. It was surprisingly detailed. You thought that whoever drew it could’ve had a future in art, maybe in another life.

Well you had managed to do the smart thing for all of thirty seconds. Now your curiosity was getting the better of you. You knew the old slang about curiosity and the cat. You also knew the ending of it.

‘Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.’

Stuffing the paper in your pocket, you carefully approached the glass, cautious of the many wires that snaked across the floor. You couldn’t go inside. The only door in the glass was opened with a full handprint scan. Specifically, Dr. Newmann’s. Not that you wanted to go inside, anyway.

Up close, you were surprised and just how much detail the android had. Aside from the color, its face looked almost scarily human. In fact, it’s whole body seemed organic in shape, for lack of a better term. Though you did recognize the odd indent in its forehead from the sketch. It definitely looked like a part was missing. Overall, it didn’t look like what you expected a robot to look like; all blocky and mechanical like in the movies. It looked like a person.

“What the hell are you doing?!” You hadn’t even realized you were practically leaning on the glass until the furious voice of a lab assistant snapped you back to reality.

“I’m s-sorry! I-I was just looking, I swear! I didn’t touch anything!” You frantically backed away from the glass.

The lab assistant marched over to you, eyeing you over before looking back towards the android. She was silent for several moments as you stood frozen in fear, expecting the worst.

When she seemed satisfied in her examination of the situation, she spoke up, “You’re lucky I wasn’t Dr. Newmann. He would’ve had you out of here faster than you could even blink.”

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding. You couldn’t afford to lose this job. You especially couldn’t afford whatever lawsuit against you would ensue if they thought you had damaged anything.

“I’m sorry Ma’am. It won’t happen again.” Your voice still shook as you tried to come down from your panic.

“It better not. I may not be here next time.” Suddenly, her frown picked up into a slight grin and she glanced back and the android before turning to you again. “Although... it is pretty cool huh?”

Was she... messing with you? Was this a test?

“Y-yeah. Hey, if I can ask, that is the Avengers’ android, isn’t it?” You had to ask. If anyone was going to tell you, it was the lab assistant that just saved your job.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her smile disappeared as quickly as it had come and she turned back towards one of the computers, but if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear she’d winked at you.

There wasn’t time to question it, however, as Dr. Newmann and the others walked into the room. You returned to the trash cans as quickly and nonchalantly as possible, still wrapping your mind about what had just happened.

____

The next several days were uneventful. You kept to your duties, careful to avoid another close call. Today, however, you’d been told you’d have to stay late with two of the other custodians. Apparently, the security guard had been in an accident and you were the only last minute options. Technically, you were all trained in very basic security skills. It was mandatory for the job, partly because a lot of custodians had to stay late when almost everyone else has gone home. You guessed it was cheaper to train people the extra skills rather than hire a whole ton of security guards.

In preparation, you were drinking coffee during your afternoon break. Only the sweet embrace of caffeine was going to get you through this night. On the plus side, you were getting a ton of overtime.

It was that time of day where a large portion of the people here were starting to go home. You watched as one-by-one, the lab slowly emptied, leaving you alone with the two other custodians you’d spoken to on the day the android had been brought in.

As the night drew on, you took turns doing various tasks around the lab to keep busy. At any given time, however, somebody had to be in the actual lab itself. Right now, that was you. One of your coworkers was out walking the halls and the other had snuck outside for a cigarette. You were alone.

There were only a few lights on in the lab; just a couple of the ceiling lights as well as the main light that lit up the space behind the glass wall. It was like a spotlight shining down on the android.

It had been days now and you had no idea what they’d learned from this thing. It was still shut down. You weren’t sure if it was powered off or just straight up broken.

You turned your back on the android, slowly pacing back to the other side of the room. You barely made it a halfway, however, before a loud crash behind you nearly made you jump out of your skin.

You spun around reflexively, looking for any sort of intruder. What you saw instead was far more surprising.

The android was awake. It was also on the floor. It seemed to have fallen off the table. It sat upright, one arm braced against the side of the table. It was looking around as if dazed and you briefly made eye contact. The first thing you noticed was the striking artificial blue of its eyes, unlike anything you’d ever seen before. The thought was fleeting, however.

In a moment of pure panic, you dove behind a desk, pretending like the android hadn’t seen you when it most definitely had. You heard more clattering come from behind the glass. You peeked over the edge of the desk and watched as the Android seemed to struggle to stand. Now that it was on its feet, you noticed something you’d hadn’t seen before.

The android was damaged. There were gashes in its artificial skin of varying severity. It placed a hand gently on a particularly nasty looking cut on its arm and for a moment, you felt a pang of sorrow for the thing. Could it feel pain?

That was when you decided this thing probably wasn’t a threat to you. You weren’t sure what told you that exactly, but you weren’t afraid. You were intrigued, in fact. You were the first person to see the android awake.

You slowly stood up from behind the desk, once more approaching the glass.

The android tried to say something, but you couldn’t hear it. At first you thought it was because of the glass, but the android’s reaction said otherwise. It’d only appeared to say a couple words before it stopped. A confused expression crossed its face and it turned away, raising a hand to its throat tentatively. It began to speak again, but once more was silent. You couldn’t identify the look in its eyes when it turned back to you.

“Can you hear me?” You spoke up only a little, not knowing how soundproof the glass was, but also not wanting your coworker in the hallway to hear.

The android merely looked at you a moment and you assumed it hadn’t heard you. Before you could speak again, however, it nodded.

A small part of you felt overjoyed. You weren’t sure why, but the fact that you could communicate was strangely exciting. Maybe it was the fact that you, not a lab assistant or that ridiculous doctor, but you got to be there when the android woke up.

“Can you speak?” Your mind was suddenly racing and you had to restrain yourself from just spouting out endless questions.

The android frowned before shaking its head. It gestured towards its throat and you understood.

“You’re damaged...” You weren’t asking so much as simply repeating what it had been trying to say. The android nodded solemnly. You wondered how much more damage it had sustained that wasn’t visible.

“Does that-“ you gestured to your arm, mirroring the spot on the android that appeared damaged. “Does it hurt? Can you feel it?”

The android’s expression suggested that the answer wasn’t as simple as a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ It started gesturing something with its hands and it took you a moment to realize it was miming writing.

“Oh! Are you asking for something to write with?” The android nodded excitedly. You almost turned to look for paper before stopping, your shoulders slumping in disappointment.

“I’m sorry. I can’t get you paper ‘cause I can’t open that door.” You pointed toward the glass door and the android followed your gaze. “Only Dr. Newmann can, and he’d never let anyone else in.”

The android approached the glass calmly and you found yourself backing up subconsciously. It raised a hand to the glass and much to your shock, it phased right through. It stopped abruptly after its hand was through the glass just past the wrist. It appeared that the damage on its arm was stopping it. The android pulled its arm back in frustration before looking back to you. It waved its hand in a way that told you to step back. You did so without question.

You only realized what was happening when the android pulled back a fist and struck the glass with a wicked punch. You reflexively flinched away at the contact but the glass didn’t move. It barely even made a sound. There was no sign of damage.

The android’s eyes were wide in shock and it struck again, the glass still not budging. A small part of you was glad, not wanting to be held responsible for a possible robot rampage. But the look on the android’s face when it realized it was trapped filled you with guilt. Despite its inhuman appearance, this time you recognized the expression as fear.

As the android took a step back, you came up with an idea. You grabbed a pen and paper off the nearest desk and approached the glass again, earning a quizzical look from the android. You took a seat on the floor, gesturing for the android to do the same.

It was still for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to trust you. It must’ve decided you weren’t a threat because it mimicked your actions, taking a seat in front of you.

You froze for a moment, realizing this was the closest you’d gotten to the android. The only other person that had been this close was Dr. Newmann. You wondered what the man would think if he saw you right now. You silently gave thanks there were no cameras in here. They had worried about them being hacked and causing a security breach.

Your attention back to the matter at hand, you clicked the pen and set both it and the paper on the floor as close to the glass as possible.

“If you can at least reach your hand through the glass, you can write on here to talk. It’s not the fanciest method of communication but it should work.”

The android reached for the pen, slowly this time, so as not to worsen its damaged arm. To your surprise, it simply wrote, “Thank you,” on the paper in immaculate handwriting. Oddly, it wrote the words upside down, not needing to turn to the paper for you to read.

You didn’t have time to respond, however, as it continued writing.

“Where am I?” It asked.

“A government facility,” you said, noting the immediate look of alarm on the android. “I don’t know how they found you, but you’ve been here several days. I’m just a custodian, not a scientist. I don’t know much of what goes on around here.”

Rather than responding, the android looked back at the computers and machinery with newfound worry.

“Where did you come from?” You tried to distract it with another question.

It didn’t even need to finish writing before you knew what it was saying. “The Avengers.”

You muttered a soft ‘woah’ under your breath. “We wondered if that was the case. So, did the Avengers give you a name?”

You wanted to ask more about the Avengers, but you doubted you’d get many answers. This android just woke up and found out it’s trapped in a government facility. It wasn’t likely to start spilling secrets any time soon.

The android finished writing, moving its hand to reveal “I am Vision,” written on the paper. You weren’t sure what you’d been expecting, but it wasn’t that. Still, the name seemed fitting. The name reminded you of the android’s eyes. Now that you were close, you noticed not only their vibrant color, but the intricate detail in its eyes.

“That’s an interesting name. Fitting.” The android broke eye contact to write a response. Now that you knew it had a name, it didn’t feel right to keep referring to it as, well, ‘it.’ You realized this wasn’t a simple machine. It may well be as alive as you were. In that case, it seemed appropriate to say ‘he.’

“It was Thor’s idea,” he wrote. You couldn’t help but chuckle. Somehow you found the image of the Norse god of thunder naming this robot to be quite funny. It made you realize just how little you, or anyone else for that matter, really knew about the Avengers.

Suddenly, you heard the door to the lab jiggle and panicked, grabbing the paper and sprinting over to the door.

You grabbed the door as it began to swing open to see your coworkers. Luckily, as long as you held the door open only about halfway, they couldn’t see the android—Vision— behind you.

“Your shift’s up. You can go home for the night. Hey, uh, are you okay? What’s that—?” Your coworker tried to reach for the paper in your free hand but you quickly stuffed it in your pocket, trying to appear inconspicuous and failing.

“Oh just some doodles,” you said, letting out a strained chuckle. “I got bored. Hey you guys wanna give me just a minute? I need to round my stuff up and then I’ll go.” Your coworkers glanced at each other before giving you a look.

“Uh, sure, whatever you say.” You muttered a quick ‘thanks’ in response and closed the door on them without further explanation. You turned back to find Vision standing up now, watching you intently.

“I have to go.” Vision tried to gesture something but you cut him off. “There’s no time. If I’m in here much longer they’ll figure out something’s up. Dr. Newmann and the other researchers will be here in a few hours. I don’t know what they want from you but one thing I do know is that that man is crazy. He’s obsessed with this whole project.” Vision pointed at you in a questioning manner as you picked up your coat.

“I’m really sorry I’m not more helpful. I won’t be back until after the weekend. I don’t know what you’re going to do but just...” You suddenly wondered what you were thinking. Was Vision in danger? It’s not like they could hurt him, right? He’s a machine. But still, you didn’t trust the people here. And a bad feeling in the back of your mind made itself known. You stopped before you reached the door.

“Just be careful.”

---

Part 2

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Jacques Jaujard: the man who saved France’s art

Hitler and the inner circle of his Nazi regime had a wish list of works they planned to plunder from the countries they invaded once World War Two got underway, and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world then and now, was at the top of the list.

It was Jacques Jaujard, director of France's National Museums, who thwarted Hitler's scheme, pulled the wool over the eyes of the collaborationist tools of the Vichy government, and kept the Louvre's contents, including the Mona Lisa, safe for the duration of the war.

After Germany annexed Austria in March of 1938, Jaujard, then deputy director of the National Museums, lost whatever small hope he had that war might be avoided. He knew Britain's policy of appeasement wasn't going to keep the Nazi wolf from the door, and an invasion of France was sure to bring destruction of cultural treasures via bombings, looting, and wholesale theft. So, together with the Louvre's curator of paintings René Huyghe, Jaujard crafted a secret plan to evacuate almost all of the Louvre's art, which included 3600 paintings alone.

Aside from modestly sized works like the Mona Lisa, the pieces they were rescuing included delicate artifacts such as the 4000-year-old Seated Scribe, monumental paintings such as Théodore Géricault's 16-by-24-foot The Raft of the Medusa, and massive statues such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace - which weighs 3 metric tons.

On August 25, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union announced their Non-Aggression Pact and Jaujard made his move. That day, he closed the Louvre for three days (ostensibly "for repairs") and his meticulous plan went into action. The Louvre staff, students from the École du Louvre, and workers from the Grands Magasins du Louvre department store took paintings out of their frames (when possible) and moved statues and other objects from their displays into wooden crates. All works were labeled with marks indicating their evacuation priority—yellow dots for most of the collection, green dots for the works of major significance, and red dots for the greatest treasures of global patrimony. The Mona Lisa was placed in a custom poplar case cushioned with red velvet. The box was crated up and the crate marked with three red dots, the only work in the entire collection with that rating.

On August 28, 1939, hundreds of trucks organized into convoys carried 1000 crates of ancient artifacts and 268 crates of paintings and more to the Loire Valley, where the splendid châteaux had room to host the art far from likely bombing targets. In just three days, 200 people packed 3600 paintings—plus many more drawings, sculptures, objets d'art, and antiquities—into crates. Giant paintings like The Raft of the Medusa that were too fragile to be removed from their frames and rolled up had to be transported vertically, for which Jaujard secured scenery trailers from the Comédie-Française. The Mona Lisa was transported in an ambulance, on a stretcher with elastic suspension to keep it as safe as possible from jostling.

To keep the Mona Lisa safe from interception, Jaujard made sure there was no indication on the crate of its contents. He gave the painting a code instead, writing the letters "MN" in black, without the department letters or the red number that was the standard packing notation on other crates. Later, he wrote to the curator newly in charge of the piece to let him know which crate the masterpiece was in, and to add "L.P.0" in red to the code on the crate ("LP" stood for "Louvre Paintings"). The Mona Lisa arrived safely at the Château de Chambord, the largest château in the Loire Valley, along with the rest of the Louvre's collection. There, the works would be triaged and split up for transport to other rural châteaux, museums, and abbeys.

Four days later, on September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On September 3, France declared war on Germany, triggering the evacuation of the final work: the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which by the grace of some higher power and the dedication of the Louvre curators and staff, made it down the steps and into a truck to safety.

In November of 1939, the Mona Lisa was transported from Chambord to the château of Louvigny, the northernmost art depot where the large-format paintings were stored, to keep it out of reach of the advancing German army. The crate was on an ambulance stretcher again, this time in an armored van that was sealed shut to keep the humidity constant. A curator sat next to it in a state of cat-like readiness for the entire trip, and later reported the lack of air circulation almost suffocated him.

Safety was a tenuous concept in wartime France. Jaujard and other officials would juggle logistics and arrange additional moves at great personal risk for the duration of the war to keep France's cultural treasures out of Nazi hands, out of Vichy hands and, working directly with the French Resistance, out of range of Allied bombs. The Mona Lisa would be moved five more times to stay ahead of the maelstrom.

In June of 1940, with the surrender of France imminent and floods of refugees from Belgium, Holland, and northern France clogging the roads south, many of the Louvre's works were moved out of the German-occupied north into what would soon become the southern "free zone" of the puppet Vichy government. The Mona Lisa was sent to the former Cistercian Abbey of Loc-Dieu. It had burned down in 1409 during the Hundred Years' War, and when it was rebuilt in 1470, it was fortified against any such future eventualities.

A fortified abbey in the south of France seemed like a solid choice to protect the Mona Lisa and other masterpieces, but within months, conservators became concerned that the humid environment would damage the paintings. Mona Lisa and friends were moved again, this time even further south to the Musée Ingres in Montauban, 35 miles north of Toulouse. There the Mona Lisa arrived on October 3, 1940, and stayed for just over two years in the former residence of the bishops of Montauban. Calamity almost struck twice: once in December of 1941, when a ceiling beam came loose in the room where the Louvre's works were being stored, and once in August of 1942, when a violent thunderstorm caused massive flooding that penetrated the museum and dampened 69 paintings. The Mona Lisa was not one of them.

But by early 1943, Jaujard feared that the Musée Ingres was no longer safe. Germany had invaded the free zone in November of 1942, and the museum was close to a bridge over the Tarn River that Jaujard knew might make an attractive bombing target. In February 1943, the Mona Lisa was moved again to its final wartime hiding space, the Château de Montal in southwestern France.

Paris was liberated by the Allies on August 25, 1944. On May 8, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered and the war in Europe was over. Finally, the Louvre's works began to come back home. The museum had seen some rough treatment during the war: The Germans had kept it open, its galleries mainly empty except for some lesser pieces fished out of storage and boxes of looted artworks from Jewish private collections that were stashed in the museum before transport to Germany. The Louvre was extensively renovated between 1945 and 1946, its galleries opened piecemeal as they were completed. The Mona Lisa returned on June 16, 1945.

Or did it? Between the chaos of war and Jaujard's probable use of period copies of the Mona Lisa as decoys, there remain to this day conflicting reports about where exactly she went and how she made it back. One Austrian museum near the Altaussee salt mine claimed that "the Mona Lisa from Paris" was among "80 wagons of art and cultural objects from across Europe" the Nazis stored in the mine. But the one that returned to the Louvre is far more likely to be real thing, and the one in Altaussee a high-quality copy.

Many people worked very hard for six years to keep the painting in France, and today there's little doubt that the Mona Lisa hanging in the Louvre, encased by bullet-proof glass, is the one painted by Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago.

As for Jacques Jaujard he was awarded France’s highest civilian honour, the Légion d'honneur and Médaille de la Résistance for his actions during World War II. He carried on his role as a senior government civil servant and died in June 1967. To this day the main entrance of the École du Louvre is also named after him.

[drmedicsgamesurgery]

Danganronpa Togami Volume 3 Part 2 (Summary)

Happy new year everyone! What better way to start it off then with a new summary?

Thanks to @enoshima-pyon @shockersalvage​ @jinjojess​ @hopeymchope​ for helping out!

WARNING: MAJOR DANGANRONPA KIRIGIRI VOLUME 2 SPOILERS AHEAD.

5.

After a while, they switched the helicopter for a train, and they continued their journey to the Netherlands, where the international tribunal is. Shinobu is separated from Byakuya, the Impostor and Kazuya and put in a prison-like-wagon. There are many UN and WHO soldiers guarding it. There, she eavesdrops a conversation between the Impostor, Ibuki Mioda and Gundham Tanaka by using Borges. 

"Hey--the number here is almost the same as the hall of Yokohama Stadium. Ooh, is this where they’re going to hold the New Year’s concert!?” [1] wonders Ibuki. 

"No matter how well these human beings work together, they can't stop the Supreme Overlord of Ice… mwahahahahahaha!"  which came from Gundham.

“Shut up. Because you two are so useless, we ended up being caught by such a boring group like the United Nations.” reprimanded the Imposter.

Shinobu asks herself how many people are working for the Super High School Level Despair, and since Ibuki, Gundham, Sonia and Souda are already working for them, she thinks that maybe her whole class/year has fallen into despair. She then asks herself why the Despair High didn’t ask her to join.

Although this idea is crazy, this reality is so crazy, I think that it is possible the reason is: because I belong to Byakuya-sama. I felt sad for a few seconds, before I thought about it. It didn’t matter. I have my God. Although, I don’t know who their God is, but they can’t be compared to Byakuya Togami.

A soldier brings Shinobu to a luxurious cell room, then leaves.

Fixed bed, fixed sofa, folding table, painting on the wall, good air conditioning... I have no interest in rail travel, it seems to me that this is just a luxurious single cell. After I sat down at one end of the bed, the door was locked. The soldier just gave me a drink, orange juice. I don't know who he regarded me as. I took a sip of orange juice with dissatisfaction. The long-lost water made my stomach irritated, and I found myself hungry. Speaking of which, I haven’t had a decent bite to eat since I was attacked in the Church of Bones. Although I may be irritated by Mishima Yukio, I began to want to drink hot miso soup and eat plum dry rice balls. [2]

Kazuya enters the room, holding a prosthetic arm.

"I’m finally able to be alone with you, my sister, after four years of being alone," he put the right hand on the table and sat down on the sofa. "The train is about to leave, just like our future."

"..."

"From the Czech Republic to the Netherlands will be a long journey. I originally wanted to fly, but we have to go through Germany on the way and they are not willing to give us a flight permit."

"..."

"Please, sister, don't tease me. Just because I wanted to see my sister, I wanted to hear my sister's voice, I worked hard to live up to today."

"...So, you think you have won."

"I’m not that conceited. I’m not the winner yet, but I will win soon."

"Let me see Byakuya-sama."

"That’s a scary thought, how could I allow that? I have to let my sister sit in the special seat to watch my victory... Hehe."

"What's so funny."

"Oh, of course it's funny, having to speak such villainous lines when I am clearly the hero."

"We don't have time to waste like this right now."

Kazuya responds by saying that she shouldn’t worry, now that everyone involved with the World Domination Proclamation have been captured, that she should just sit back and relax.

"You think you have won?" I repeated. "So far, all you’ve done is somehow come back from the dead, and reversed everything.."

"Oh no, I’m not dead. I have hands and feet and heart, but I have no hope."

“Where is Byakuya-sama?” I asked.

“Byakuya Togami, the Despair High School, Class 78, they are all locked up.”

Shinobu thinks that it regrettable that Sakura Oogami was captured, but at the same time if she can move freely there should be a way to get out of this situation.

The train started. The steel dragon started to move slowly, and then the speed gradually increased, as if to show that he was carrying our will, driving forward with violent momentum. The shock from under my butt was unexpectedly comfortable, perhaps because I was too tired and sleep came to me. 

However sleep could not come to her because Kazuya brings her a new prosthetic arm to replace the broken one. Shinobu knows that it’s for the best, so she takes off her shirt and extends her left arm from the elbow to him. 

"Sister... I’m sorry, I have not protected you."

Although the wound has healed, the skin there is very thin. I almost cried out to prevent it Kazuya from seeing it, and quickly said, “It’s not me that you need to apologize to.”

“Who else should I apologize to then, sister?” asks Kazuya. 

“Go and apologize to those you have murdered.”

“Those that I have murdered?”

His tone sounded completely confused. If this were an old-time novel, this sentence may be written with a very unsavory katakana.

Shinobu reminds him of the siblings that he murdered and the villagers that he killed. Kazuya believes that in the world of the Togami Family it’s “kill or be killed” to justify himself. Plus, it was his “big sister” that brought him into that world anyway.

This causes Shinobu to think back about the events of Kuchinashi Village. However, she can’t seem to recall the events clearly, most likely due to her young age. I suddenly had a question: At that time, which hand did I reach out to Kazuya, the left hand or the right hand? As such, she has to ask Kazuya details about it.

Shinobu asks "Do you remember when I saved you in the village?"

"Yes, for me it is a precious memory." he says

"Which hand did I extend to you at that time?"

"Of course, it was the left hand." he said confidently. With that said, Shinobu couldn’t say anything else and let her be at his mercy. After the installation of the prosthetic hand, I moved it a little. Compared with the latest prosthetic hand made by the Togami Conglomerate, it felt more like my own arm.

Kazuya explains to Shinobu his plan to conquer the world. He will spread the Despair Novel even more and make the world fall into chaos. Then he will accuse Byakuya of everything and arrest him. This way he will be acclaimed as the hero who saved the world from the Despair Disease.

Shinobu refused to accept this and declares that as long as her work remains unfinished, she isn’t finished and, by extension, Byakuya Togami will not be finished.

Even if Byakuya loses and disappears from the world, as long as I am writing “Journey Under The Midnight Sun”, Byakuya Togami won’t be finished. I won’t let him be finished.

Kazuya claims she’s just being arrogant and no one would want to read the biography of a “loser”. He asserts that as the main protagonist of this story, he’ll take back everything that was stolen from him and steal everything from everyone else. That way he gets to enjoy the world, while also being the center of it.

“You’re just an ordinary person,” Shinobu says quickly. “You are just a general staff member of the United Nations. They cannot allow you to have the ambition to conquer the world."

“It’s because I am a general staff member of the United Nations that I will arrest Byakua Togami and kill that Imposter who pretended to be Byakuya Togami. Once I eradicate Despair Disease, I will be hailed a hero by the world! Then, once I get the Kudan, I will become Byakuya Togami!”

Shinobu notes that if Kazuya was able to pull this off then it wouldn’t just be empty words. He would have really conquered the world and without the use of the traditional style like territories or nuclear weapons.

But would Kazuya really be able to do this?

Then suddenly, Shinobu feels like she’s being lifted up, as her glass of orange juice flies up in the sky and shatters on the ceiling. 

The next moment, everything around me seemed to be tumbling like a washing machine.

 6.

When I woke up, the whole world was reversed. The bed and sofa in the room were above, and I fell on the ceiling, now the floor.

Shinobu asks Borges what the situation is like and it answers that she was in a coma for three minutes and eleven seconds and she reported a few light injuries. The window of her room is broken and the iron bars covering have been bent from the impact so she is able to get out of the train.

There she sees countless dead soldiers and a group of “Tentacles Soldiers”. They are checking if all the soldiers are dead, and if they find someone who is alive they proceed to kill them. Shinobu looks around and sees the Uragan (#41908870) (which is most likely the cause of the train crash) and Taeko Kanai from the Hasegawa Research Institute.

“It’s no use trying! Resistance is futile! Hand over Byakuya Togami or we’ll keep up our bloodbath!” declares Taeko while playing her guitar atop the Uragan. The Hasegawa Institute seemed to be back...no the Kasamori [3] Drug Manufacturers were back again.

Borges = Search Results #21291600 

Item: Company

Title: "Kasamori Drug Manufacturers"

Was created by Kasamori, founded in the 32nd year of Meiji (1899). Mainly selling professional medical supplies, it merged with Germany's NEO GEHIRN in 1902, becoming the de facto number one in the pharmaceutical industry. After the defeat of the German-Japanese alliance in World War II, the company lost all of its foreign assets and equipment, and later achieved a V-shaped recovery through the manufacture and sale of the red-haired fern tablets 220, which were hailed as “epoch-making anticancer agents”. However, the drug caused many patients to die due to its side effects. The company lost the group lawsuit filed by the patient's family (Red-haired Fern lawsuit, 1998), not only to pay huge compensation, but also to damage the reputation. There are rumors. It is said that the current operating conditions of the company have deteriorated drastically.

Naturally, the WHO/UN soldiers refuse, causing both groups to fight. Kazuya suddenly comes out of the train and reaches to Shinobu. Both come to realize that their attackers are also after the Kudan. She asks him where Byakuya is and he reluctantly tells her that he is in the first wagon, but that the security measures of the train will protect him no matter what.

“A pharmacy actually dares to make life difficult for the WHO, the world is really hopeless. They were probably brought up by dogs, with the way they are acting.” Kazuya says.

“When did you discover Kasamori was posing as the Hasegawa Research Institute?

"What? Sister, what are you talking about?"

"Kasamori is posing at the Hasegawa Research Institute."

Was I the only one to hear about this organization? What is this unspeakable emotion? I remembered that when the classmates in the previous class discussed "Sinking of Japan," [4] I thought they were talking about a very old movie, but soon I found out that they were talking about the remastered version of the movie. Although the plot is the same, it is different from the original version that I am familiar with. Having these almost similar plotlines described to me made me feel like I was transported to some Unreal parallel world. It wasn’t an easy topic for me to handle. For example, it is like an elementary school talent show. When I was performing a children's play at the show, I was about to come on stage. I suddenly found that only the script I had in my hand was different. At that time, I shuddered. 

"Well one thing is clear. It is Kasamori that blocked the road in Germany. Although their name is Kasamori Drug Manufacturers, most of the stockholders are German.”

Shinobu turned around, as to not show her anxiety.

"But aren’t their overseas assets all gone?"

"Just turned underground, and many of the high-ranking officials of Kasamori are now German political figures."

Kazuya explains that Germany likely didn’t give them passage by air, just so that they could stage this train attack on the UN and the WHO to get Byakuya and the Kudan. They will do everything they can in order to obtain the immense power of the Kudan.

"Where is Byakuya-sama?" Shinobu pipes up with.

“You might as well worry about yourself first. Byakuya was handed over to my army, with no problems."

"Where is Byakuya-sama ?"

"Just give it to me..."

"Where is Byakuya-sama?"

"Quit being annoying," Kazuya muttered under his breath. "Byakuya Togami is in the first car."

"I want to save him."

"No need for that, although things have developed to this point, but the physical security measures of the train are impeccable, the windows of the first car are all secured with iron bars, the door is locked from the outside with a padlock, and the outside world can't interfere with the inside."

"I want to save him."

"Are your ears blocked? I said that the safety measures are impeccable, but it’d still be dangerous for you to enter, sister.”

“But I still have to save him. This is the reason why I am alive. I want to look at him, write down his deeds, guarantee his safety. If not, then I will lose the meaning of my existence”

"What a silly fantasy. "

“If you are jealous then you can be quiet.”

“...If my sister must save him, then you mustn't care much for me then.”

“Stop worrying about me.”

Shinobu runs towards the first wagon, but Taeko sees her and several “Tentacles Soldiers” start approaching her.

“Found you, Blue Ink!”

The Uragan comes closer, creating a hole in the ground from the force, and Taeko asks Shinobu to choose between her life and revealing Byakuya’s position. Shinobu asks her about the Hasegawa Research Institute but Taeko has no clue what she’s talking about.

From the attitude of Taeko, she does not seem to be lying about herself. That is to say: she doesn't understand what I am talking about. What I said is very abnormal. I couldn’t believe it…

"Since you aren’t telling us what we need, then you are useless. We don’t have time for playing around anymore, so I will personally send you to hell!!" 

The jet engines began spinning. I was pulling Kazuya’s hand and was going to run behind the carriage to avoid it, but the carriage was blown away like paper.

"You have nowhere to run!"

Taeko’s words are quite right. I can’t find a place to hide. Because of the fierce battles around me, the bullets have now covered the whole area. 

Kazuya then calls all the surviving soldiers and now the two factions are facing each other while the Uragan is coming closer.

Can this be called fighting, isn't it just a matter of ending life without meaning? This is a mutual killing, until one side is the last man standing. A good image of Hell itself.

Then moving so lightly and skillfully, in the sky above such a hellish scene-

“Sorry to keeptcha waiting!!!!~”

Was my brother.

 7.

Suddenly a sightseeing bus jumps from the forest and over the hellish scene. It’s Suzuhiko Ootsuki, first off by singing a small nursery rhyme [5] and then ‘Ai wo Torimodose!!’.[6]

The former SHSL Hitman crashes the bus into the Tentacles Soldiers and the UN Soldiers, killing them and entwining the corpses within it’s wheels. 

"I have to get off at the next stop~! But this all night tour ain’t stopping since the breaks are broken!"

The bus then flew into one of the trains causing a large explosion. It seemed to be filled with gunpowder. Shinobu and Kazuya were blasted into the air by the giant explosion, like puppets whose strings had been cut. But after the crash, Suzuhiko wasn’t in the driver's seat anymore and there was a big hole cut in the bus door.

Then the sound of intermittent screamings stopped the soldiers from fighting and after a few seconds all the soldiers from both parties were on their knees, spilling blood from their necks of their chests. None of them were a match for the former SHSL Hitman.

Suzuhiko seemed to be tired of hide-and-seek, jumped out of the pasture, and rushed over to the Uragan in one breath. He stood in front of Taeko in the blink of an eye. Then everything is over.

"H-hey… "

Taeko spat out her last pitiful sentence, perhaps only because her neck was already cut to her vocal cords. Suzuhiko violently ripped away his knives and the body of Taeko was torn apart. Her hands, feet, internal organs and underwear fell like a ripe fruit from the Uragan. [7]

"Oh... Dahahahaha! I have to say that the gap between talent here is too big."

No one interrupted him because the "Tentacles Soldiers" and the United Nations Soldiers had been completely wiped out.

"Heeey, you can come out now. You are both still alive, right? Let's talk business." Suzuhiko said, with his knife gleaming.

Suzuhiko looks down on Shinobu and Kazuya from the top of the Uragan, then he gets off it and starts walking towards Kazuya and Shinobu. As Suzuhiko puts it they have a “family reunion”, which mostly consists of angry shouting and a recap exposition dump. Kazuya blames Suzuhiko for hindering his job, to which he responds he saved Kazuya's life so it's no good to talk to his big brother that way. He has saved it before and now he has saved it again. 

“I just said that what you did hindered me. I am the captain of the World Health Organization’s Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Committee. I am not who I was four years ago.”

"Are you going to rub your own ass? Oh, Dahahahaha! I’ll wait for you to wear a diaper so you can say that again!"

“I am no longer a child.”

They continue to argue, Suzuhiko bringing up the point that they are not blood related so he didn’t have to save him. 

"Why did you even come to the Czech Republic? Don’t tell me you are after the Kudan, too."

"Nah, I'm not interested in the prophecy your little cow girl, I just accepted the commission to the assassination of Byakuya Togami." 

“Who commissioned you?”

"Do you think I’m really gonna tell you."

"Are you lying, them?" Kazuya said. "You spontaneously came to the Czech Republic and spontaneously blended into this incident."

"Well~ why do you think so?"

"Intuition."

"Intuition alone can't refute someone, Kazuya. It's because of this reason that you were destroyed by that detective in that incident."

"Do you know what happened to that detective? I heard that he is dead, like a dog."

"I'm not interested."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not either. Once I heard Nanamura was dead, my heart didn’t even waver once. It’s really strange to say but, I hate him so much that I can’t ever forgive him." [8]

"It means you haven't let go from the beginning."

“I didn't expect that I actually understood my feelings after so long... Can you understand your own mood?”

"Then now, there is only one purpose for me here. That is to reconcile with you." Suzuhiko said as he jumped off of the Uragan, onto Taeko’s mangled corpse and came over to stand in front of us.

Suzuhiko recites an old japanese saying and continues with, “This is how it is. Our brothers and sisters are all dead, only us are alive. The Togami name can no longer bind us, and the Togami name cannot be the motive for us to fight. So, we should naturally reconcile.”

"Are you serious?"

"Of course."

"Then you are crazy, you just ruin everything."

"Do you really think so, Kazuya? Then you are the crazy one, you destroyed everything."

Shinobu believes that this fight will be the end of the relationship between them all. It will be ruined as both Suzuhiko and Kazuya have ruined her, and she them.

Obviously, if the three of us are together, the destruction will come again, but my brother’s can't understand this. It has always been this way.

Shinobu lashes out at the both of them, saying she will not go back to either of them, as they are no longer Togami’s. Suzuhiko Ootsuki, Orvin Elevator: Both of them are now outsiders to the family.

"What you said is really sad, my dear little sister," Suzuhiko was unmoved. "Our name is not important at all. The relationship between me and you is enough to surpass the name Togami."

"The Togami name is very important. I am a Togami, I am the 'Super High School Level Secretary', belonging to Byakuya-sama only. So I can't really say it’s good to see you again."

"Oh, haha, don't mention the small stuff, let’s forgive and forget, and become as close as we were before all this, sound good?"

"Don't you dare."

It’s Kazuya. Taking a step forward, he let the lightsaber appear on his right hand and stopped in front of our big brother.

"Come on, Kazuya, how could a younger brother be able to beat his older brother? Put away that dangerous thing, and play some easier games. What do you reckon. chess or poker? Or I guess we could play UNO but, with me, well..."

"I want to save my sister, let her get rid of your curse, and use my own strength to do it."

And with that, Kazuya’s lightsaber, shining like a fluorescent lamp, grazed his older brothers throat. However, Suzuhiko continued to smile happily, like some hippie. He screamed, "Oho, guess it’s a change of heart~" He raised his bloodstained knife.

At that moment I heard a sound. A large flame was burning around us, and the fire ignited by the incendiary bomb surrounded us. The heat was almost enough to burn my throat, the crimson-colored [9] fire wall appears around, and the surrounding is covered by a brand new hellish scene. Moreover, this does not seem to be having a positive effect on Kazuya. He looked at the sky with an incredulous look, and screamed "This can’t be-," and Kazuya-

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah ah"

He was shaking.

Borges = Search Results

#90908892

Classification: Symptom

Title: "Flashback"

Post traumatic stress disorder, a mental disorder caused by intense psychological stress due to disasters, accidents, emergencies, etc., causing psychological fake events or the situation which caused the trauma reappearing in the brain and, when the symptoms are severe, it may even cause confusion.

After two fires in Kuchinashi Village and at Touajou Castle, Kazuya was indeed insane. I didn’t know when his sword disappeared, and a shameful liquid flowed out of his eyes and mouth, making him lose the strength to support his body, and he fell on his knees. Kazuya is suffering, but I intend to use this gap to escape. I fully understood my indifference and ran away at the same time. Although it is not clear what happened in the end, there is only one thing I have to do, and that is to go to the first train car where Byakuya-sama is, and that's it.

Shinobu runs to the first wagon of the train, ignoring Suzuhiko who is calling for her. More incediary bombs fell, as she walked to the first car, but it was already burnt to a crsip. She tries to open the door of the wagon, but it’s locked by a padlock. Suzuhiko then steps forward and cuts a hole through the wagon door and Shinobu gets inside.

“Byakuya-sama!”

The train car had been burnt and the heat has reached dangerous levels. I walked quickly, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I thought he might have escaped from another door, but I tried to pull the door, it was locked by another padlock, but Byakuya-sama was gone. Byakuya-sama, Byakuya-sama, Byakuya-sama, Byakuya-sama... I called his name, but never found him. How could this be, he couldn't get out...

At that moment, I heard the roar of an engine. I suddenly had a strong sense of foresight and quickly jumped out of the first train car. I know, I know this, I know what will happen next, and after that too. Then, the Mercedes stopped at the side that I expected, and the window of the driver's seat did not open as I expected.

"Heyyy, rich kid! Need a lift?" [10]

The man in the driver's seat did not know why I looked so happy. "Hey, so where we goin’?"

There was no other choice.

I pulled the rear door and jumped into the Mercedes.

"Coming in!"

"Thank you, my pleasure, Miss."

The Mercedes darted forward as the throttle was pressed. I saw Suzuhiko run over at a frightening speed, but the man in the driver's seat said "BOOM-OFFFFF!"[10], pressed the skull button, and there was a jet engine behind the car increasing our speed. The landscape, the sky, the flames, and my brothers all disappeared in the violent acceleration, and I could not see anything with my dynamic vision or Borges.

While bumping about in the car, my memories felt like they were starting to see the Unreality of this situation.

<CHAPTER 11·End>

Translation Notes:

[1] Yokohama Station s a major interchange railway station in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It is the busiest station in Kanagawa Prefecture and the fifth-busiest in the world as of 2013, serving 760 million passengers a year. 

[2] Kimitake Hiraoka known also under the pen name Yukio Mishima, was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, film director, nationalist, and founder of the Tatenokai. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, but the award went to his countryman Yasunari Kawabata. His works in question here is Apollo’s Cup: a collection of many travel stories by Mishima in Europe, and lots about the food eaten there. Mishima's work is characterized by its luxurious vocabulary and decadent metaphors, its fusion of traditional Japanese and modern Western literary styles, and its obsessive assertions of the unity of beauty, eroticism and death Mishima's personal life was controversial, which makes him still a contested figure today. Ideologically a right wing nationalist, Mishima formed the Tatenokai, an unarmed civilian militia, for the avowed purpose of restoring power to the Japanese Emperor. On November 25, 1970, Mishima and four members of his militia entered a military base in central Tokyo, took the commandant hostage, and attempted to inspire the Japan Self-Defense Forces to overturn Japan's 1947 Constitution. When this was unsuccessful, Mishima committed seppuku.

[3] Wasn't sure if its Kasamori or Kasanori so we just went with Kasamori

[4] Sinking of Japan is a 2006 tokusatsu film directed by Shinji Higuchi. It is an adaptation of the novel Japan Sinks and a remake of the film Tidal Wave, both made in the year 1973.

[5] The title is something like “sitting on the bus” but I can't translate the names of the composer or lyricist, and can't find anything about it online either but it’s probably real.

[6] ‘Ai wo Torimodose!!’ is one of the openings to Fist of the North Star.

[7] RIP Taeko, you will be missed you glorious bastard.

[8] So Kazuya hates Suisei. All the more reason to hate Kazuya lol. Also RIP Suisei, you will be missed you glorious bastard.

[9] It translated as peridot not crimson but I doubt there was enough copper for that to happen.

[10] AAAAAAAA HIROYUKI IS BACK. The exact lines I changed a tiny bit to resemble two of his notable lines from the first book just for clarity. “Do you need a lift young master” and “I pressed it” honestly don’t do his character justice, so they were replaced.

To Be Continued.

https://drmedicsgamesurgery.tumblr.com/GameSurgeryDRTranslations

[sarcastically-defensive17]

Times Like These - LRH Chapter 5: Rosie loves a virgin, but we don’t need one passing out on her

"Do you think my bangs look uneven? I cut them myself at 3 last night because I couldn't sleep," Marianne had randomly burst into the shop, blurting out her words before she caught the look on her best friends face, and more specifically, the child sat by her side. "Lexi?"

Audrey nodded, pulling a bag from the back room that was stacked with various toys for her toddler. Jeremy had a family emergency, so the day care was shut and the only person she didn't particularly want to see her brother - who was the only one she trusted to watch her daughter - and his friends at the time being.

"Jer is closed, his mum again," Audrey informed her tall friend, watching as her face dropped.

"We going to see him after work?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Audrey made a noise of agreement, "I'll get Mikey to watch Lex. He could use a catch up tonight I think."

Marianne put a hand on her friends shoulder, sending her a sympathetic look.

Her and Jeremy had been close for years, and his mother is like family to both of the girls. That's why the news of her accelerated Alzheimer's hit them all so hard.

Audrey's phone started ringing on the desk, causing the two elder females to jump. She didn't know the number, and it was the fourth time it had called this morning.

She was starting to get fed up of declining the calls. They didn't leave a voicemail, so she refused to call them back until they left one.

"Somebody's popular," Marianne laughed. "A gentleman caller, perhaps?"

"As if," the blue haired girl scoffed, patting her daughters hair. "The last thing I need is another male worming their way into my life and making it difficult. Possibly the only good thing to come from the last mess was this munchkin."

She pinched her daughters cheek, but the little girl payed no mind as she focused on smacking the doll she held into a toy car.

It was silent for a moment until Marianne raised a question thy was burning on her tongue, "think it could be him?"

Audrey's response was quick, and she snapped without intending to, "Don't bring it up, Annie. He made his choice, and I'm not letting him hurt us again."

The dark skinned girl nodded softly, her hair bouncing with the movement.

Audrey sighed, at herself more than anything as she pinched her brows with her fingers, "I'm sorry, Annie. It's been a long day already."

Her friend smiled at her. Marianne knew the difficult time Audrey was experiencing at the moment, so she made sure to not take the emotional outburst to heart. She knew her mind-hearted best friend would never take a harsh tone unless it was warranted, or she was stressed.

Or tired. Audrey was a monster when she was tired.

A bell dinged from the front of the stood, signaling a customer and Marianne groaned.

"I'll go deal with the human invader. Check back soon, ladies." She kissed both Audrey and Lexi on the cheeks before leaving the room.

This left the short girl to set her daughter up on the side of the room and prep her gun and needles. She kept them at a high enough level that Lexi wouldn't grab them, nor did she leave her daughter unattended in the tattooing room.

She busied herself with sketching a design that had been emailed through the day before. A detailed hummingbird.

She could only imagine the type of person who would want the delicate but intricate tattoo. She had some surprising clients before.

Older women getting detailed chest pieces, burly men receiving dainty ankle tattoos. She loved how tattoos could break  the stereotypical molds that people were forced into.

She herself was an example. A young, single mother who valued kindness and her education above everything but her daughter and her brother, yet was also building a museum of tattoos along her arms and collarbones, and piercings in various spots of her face and ears.

She was a walking contradiction of appearance vs personality and she loved it.

~~~~~

Luke didn't know what to expect as he left the cafe. He was frustrated at the situation, but mainly at the guilt that was swelling in his stomach.

He was not the kind to feel guilty for others. He simply had mode important things to do than worry about other people. Especially the short girl and her young daughter who found Luke more fascinating than he found her.

He didn't like kids. He only enjoyed being around his eldest brothers children. He could never see himself being the type to raise snotty, loud humans who needed food every few minutes and threw tantrums when they didn't get their way.

He was content with dealing with Calum.

Nevertheless, he felt horrible that he is the reason the pair are stuck in their less than enjoyable living situation, and he felt as if he needed to get rid of the guilt somehow.

The bell above the door chimed as he entered the tattoo parlor. The decor was unexpected, and seemed to resemble that of a 60's diner.

The waiting room was empty, and there were no staff members in the front area of the stood which did nothing to settle his growing nerves.

The walls were painted the colour red; not too vibrant, but not dull or dark. A nice matte finish that seemed to brighten the room and make it appear slightly bigger than it is. There were various neon signs on the wall, and drawings of classic cars and landscapes, all signed with a simple rose signature.

He couldn't help but admire the skill of the artist.

He waited for a few minutes, alternating between gnawing on the hoop through his lip, to running his long fingers through his hair that lay flat against his forehead.

He stopped styling it almost a year before, wanting a more mature look than the quiffed style he used to adorn.

His nerves were bubbling at this point. He was growing nervous at the idea of a permanent mark on his body, and at the level of pain it would cause.

Eventually, his frustration got the better of him and he slammed his palm on the small bell that rested on the counter top.

With haste, a tall dark skin girl made her way towards him from a hallway that led to the back of the store.

Marianne took a moment to survey the man in front of her, and she found herself wondering if the pissed off expression on his beautiful face was permanent, or one he chose to adopt in her fathers store.

"How may I help you?" She fixed him with a warm smile, waiting as his gaze trailed the length of her body with a teasing glance.

If he wasn't so full of nerves and annoyance, Luke would have tried to shoot his shot with the tall girl. For now, he simply wanted to get his tattoo and figure out a way to get rid of the guilt that was eating away at him.

"I have an appointment for 1, Luke Hemmings," his words were harsh and straight to the point. He didn't want to wait any longer than he already had, considering it was 5 minutes to 1.

"Ahh, the bird boy," she smirked and his brows furrowed deeper than that already were. "You ever had a tattoo before?"

He shook his head no, watching as she pulled a juice box from a fridge behind the counter and handed him a cookie.

"Eat and drink, reduces the risk of fainting from any pain. Rosie loves a virgin, but we don't need one passing out on her. I'll be with you soon," she took her leave, strutting down the back hallway, and Luke didn't try to hide the way he gazed at her backside in her blue skinny jeans.

Marianne pushes open the green door to Audrey's room, a soft knock on the door to signal her entrance.

"What's up, Annie?" She asked, adjusting her mask on her chin so that it can be easily pulled up when she starts tattooing.

"Your 1 o'clock is here. A virgin," she winks at her friend, holding her arms out to her goddaughter who coos.

"Tell your dad I said thank you for watching her," she tests her gun again, ensuring it is plugged in correctly. "If Jer was doing alright then I wouldn't need to bring her with me-"

Marianne tuts, cutting Audrey off, "nonsense! You know how much daddy and I love having this little squirt around!" She tickles the little girls stomach softly, laughing as she squeals in excitement. "I'll send him in for you."

"Thank you, love you!" Audrey calls after her friend, who leaves after gathering the toys for her toddler.

The blue haired girl busies herself with inspecting the sketch she finished printing for her client.

She was a perfectionist if ever she'd seen one, and considering her work is a permanent scar on a person, she was determined to make it as perfect as she could get it.

The door opens softly, and she hears Marianne instruct the man to take a seat on the chair.

"I'll get you to have a look at the design before I put ink to skin. Where did you want it?" She asks with her back towards the client.

She knew it was rude, but she wanted to quadruple check that everything was fine, as she pulled her mask up properly.

She shed her jacket, and Luke noticed the familiar tattoos on her upper arm.

"Uh, inner bicep," he answered, and Audrey couldn't pick at the moment where she had heard the voice from before.

"No worries! Lay back on the chair, take your shirt off if you need and put your arm out horizontally," she turned towards the client, her eyes still running over the hummingbird design.

Luke's eyes zeroed in on the familiar tattoos decorating the collarbones if the blue haired girl, and the guilt flared in his stomach again.

"Audrey?" He gaped. He didn't know what she did for a living, but he would have never guessed the young mother to work as a tattoo artist at Michael's favourite parlor.

"You," she whispered, anger and stress boiling in her throat again.

"Me," he answered, mimicking their conversation from that morning.

She immediately went into artist/client mode, leaving no room for personal conversation.

She handed him the design, not meeting his icy blue eyes.

"Given our personal history you can request somebody else to be your artist, although they will most likely draw up a new design. We tend to prefer our own work as it is easier to ink," her voice is quiet, and anybody could tell that she is nervous around the man.

He knew what he had to do to make the guilt go away. He wasn't doing it for her, he was doing it for himself. And maybe for her daughter. But mainly to halt the guilt making him sick to his stomach.

He had to draw his eyes away from the immaculate work he held in his hands. She had exceptional skill, and he found himself directing a bit of inward respect to the girl.

He cleared his throat as his eyes met her downcast ones, "Look, Aubrey-"

"Audrey," she corrected softly.

"Right, Audrey. What I said earlier, it was rude and I am so sorry about it," lies, he knew it. "And I would really like it if you and the kid took Ashton's old room."

He sounded skeptical, anybody could tell so he was intrigued to see how she would react to his unconvinced tone.

She quirked a brow at him, her mouth hidden by the light blue mask. "What? You're not going to be a dick about it now?"

He sent her a dirty look, setting his jaw, "no. I'm not going to be a dick about it. I shouldn't have been so rude. If anybody deserves somewhere new to love, it's you."

She was confused. She didn't know whether or not to trust the man who had previously proven, on multiple occasions, to be an asshole.

"I'll, um, I'll think about it," he nodded at her words. "Want to start the tattoo?"

He nodded softly, making sure to brush any remaining cookie from his face, "I love the design".

"Okay." She said softly, applying the transfer to his arm and loading her needles with ink. "if it hurts, please don't scream. I hate when clients do that."

He nodded curtly, clenching his teeth together when the burning sensation trailed through the skin of his bicep.

She was unsure about how to take Luke's words. He hadn't shown in any of the interactions they had had to be any kind of a nice guy, so she wondered what the ulterior motives were behind his actions.

He was a confusing man, and while she was interested to get to know more about him, she also needed to decide if she could stomach living with him and subjecting her daughter to a living environment with the difficult man.

As the needles got closer to his armpit, he let out a hiss of air like a balloon being let down and a string of curses left his lips as the burning intensified.

Audrey couldn't deny that she was grinning behind her mask.

"Wait, whose Rosie?" He asked through a clenched jaw.

[heartfeltheart]

Alchemy: Magic Vs. Science

Chapters: 24/25 Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist/Harry Potter Rating: T Relationships: Edward/Winry, Lan Fan/Ling, and May/Alphonse. Primary Characters: Edward Elric, Severus Snape Additional Tags: Crossover, Teacher!Edward, BrOtp Edward/Severus. Sassy beyond measure. Series: Part 1 of 9. Summary: Magic and Science, are they the same or are they completely different? It just takes one person to point out all up and downs. Along with breaking the stereotypes that come up with being a wizard, alchemist and most of all being human. Thank you, @amynchan! D/C: I do not own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. Discord: La Red(Mesh Mash of… stuff.): https://discord.gg/KYjmVAb Alchemy Series: https://discord.gg/DejEYNJ

“English and Edward’s accented voice.” “Amestrian or another foreign language.” “Written notes.” ‘Thoughts.’ First Name: Informal Last Name: Formal (Or used to annoy others)

Edward couldn't help it, he started to grin at the turn out for the Battle Royal. Each of his thirteen students had brought along the maximum of students they were required to bring along. On top of that, each of the Heads of Houses brought along a couple of their own students to watch the show. There are several individuals in the empty field looking on with disbelief. 'Ah... the non-believers... we'll see by the end of the day if they are still non-believers.'

"It appears we'll have more spectators..." Roy stated to Edward with a slight smirk on his lips. He glanced over at the castle to see students piling over each other to peek at the windows and others actually are at the courtyard away from the scene but not close enough to fully see. "Wanting a sneak peek of what true alchemy is like..."

"They're curious and the fact rumor travels extremely fast here." Edward waved him off. "Is everyone ready?"

"The Ministry Officials are here and ready to critique us every step of the way." Roy responded with a shrug, he pulled out his ignition gloves with a heavy feeling falling over him. "I take it they don't know about you, Alphonse and myself?"

"None of them know and they don't have the knowledge to take note of it. If they do take note of it... distract them and pull their attention elsewhere." Edward stated as he rolled his shoulders to release some tension. "It makes things far more fun to mess with them."

"True... true..." Roy snorted, he put on his gloves, he then smirked at the former Alchemist when he saw his future opponents wave at him from the other side of the field. "How about we get this show on the road?"

"Alright... Get ready with Al to create the stands, if they want a show, might as well make it one." Edward grinned, he clapped his hands together and somewhere out there... something grinned manically at the consequences of that day.

-.-

The moment Alphonse Elric and Roy Mustang created a mini arena, mainly creating a couple of stands for the spectators and a couple of obstacles, mainly boulders with varying sizes. In all, it looked like a very tempting fight to see for the Magical Community that are given front row seats. The eight students that have previously watched a fight between Alchemists are giddy with excitement. This is going to be amazing!

The entire arena went quiet when General Mustang stood in the middle of the arena. "Welcome, welcome! Welcome to the Battle Royal! A battle to the death!"

"General!"

Roy flinched at the glare that Riza sent his way from her spot in the stands. He laughed nervously and coughed into his gloved hand to regain his composure. "Anyway... We were invited to your lovely...haunted... school! Mr. Edward Elric, Headmaster Dumbledore along with Emperor Ling and myself, have decided to create this little show... To showcase not only Alchemy but showcase what Amestris and Xing have to offer. Alphonse Elric, Mei Chang, Scar, myself, Emperor Ling and the Emperor's top bodyguard Lan Fan will be battling each other in last one standing match. Do not blink or you might miss the entire show..."

Edward snorted when he saw Roy snapped his fingers and flames flew up toward the sky causing everyone in the crowd to look on in awe. Just a snap of his fingers and he already has the crowd eating out of his hand. Clever. Very clever.

-.-

No one knew how to describe what is occurring down in the arena floor. Many of them had seemed fights, magical and non-magical alike. But this... This just takes the cake in so many levels to the point it makes many wonders... are they holding back? Yes. Judging by the fact how Mr. Elric only liked mildly impressed or scoffed at the many close class that is occurring down below.

The audible sounds of snaps ringing out throughout the arena which quickly followed by a massive burst of flame. Bright light engulfing the area which was quickly followed by destruction none had ever seen before. What seemed to take the cake for everyone is the fact two of the opponents that showed no Alchemical skill are at the same level as the others. The only things that they had on them are short blades, bombs and... is that a metal arm?

Yeah... that's a metal arm that is shooting out bombs...

-.-

Pale, terrifying and expressions filled with alarm at what is occurring in front of the Ministry Officials. They had anticipated something simple and complete laughing stock in all their opinions. That thought process grew when Emperor Ling and Princess Mei decided to join this Battle Royal. The moment the battle started... they began to wonder... Who the bloody hell are these... PEOPLE! If that is what you want to call them. They aren't even human, how could a simple human do all of that! That is completely impossible. How are they able to jump that high? Dodging at such speeds?

And by Merlin's beard! The only one that appeared to not be in shock by what is occurring down there is Mr. Colonel Edward Elric. The young man is actual calmly answering questions that were shot his way about the battle. If anything, he isn't treating this as a form of entertainment, but an actual life lesson.

"General Mustang control is meticulous..."

"Miss. Chang abilities primarily focus on healing or long range form."

"Alphonse, well-rounded. Prefers hand to hand combat of using staffs as a primary weapon."

"Mr. Scar... run. Just run."

"Emperor Ling... get food to distract him. You might get a chance."

"Lan Fan? Hand to a hand specialist, you mess with the Emperor, then you better watch out."

The whole situation is absurd to the point they are at complete disbelief. As much as they want to deny, deny, and deny, they cannot deny this. How could they? The Student-Faculty of Hogwarts is here as witnesses to this, along with a good handful of professors. Here's the kicker, if they deny this then both Amestris and Xing will call them out and the repercussions of that... only makes them shudder.

Then... there's the few within the group that are watching, the wheels in their mind spinning a thousand miles a minute. There are so many possibilities, so many future possibilities and opportunities that could occur if the dealings between all three counties are done. Of course, all dealings in their favor. Imagine it? Witches and Wizards able to do such feats, to have an army of them with such power? It is so close, they could just reach over and take it for themselves.

What really caught everyone's attention and fact, is that the Emperor of Xing had brought along the Amestrians as bodyguards. It is obvious by the fight down below... he appears far more capable of taking care of himself.

-.-

The moment the Battle Royal came to an end, the crowd roared out their approval of the fight. It is by far the most remarkable event many of them had ever seen. If this is what Alchemy had to offer, then they want to know more, learn what exactly what the true meaning of Alchemy is like. Too bad for many that dream will sink or sail for many the moment the Alchemy Teacher stood up and down to the arena floor.

"Well... Did that exceed all of your expectations?"

-.-

All throughout Hogwarts, the students rambled on and on about the Battle Royal. No one could stop gossiping on said subject. It was so unbelievable to many and if it weren't for the fact that so many students and professors had laid witness to it, disbelief would be the emotion many would have. But no, everything is true... except for adding a few more details here and there. Just to make it all more exciting for the listener.

"Was that what you saw over at Amestris, Terrance?" Fred and George asked their older classmate.

"Similarly, what we saw is General Mustang and a Major Armstrong. Even if it was of a smaller scale to the Battle Royal, it was still rather epic to watch." Terrance grinned at the twins as the three of them headed over towards the Great Hall for dinner. "Even what we saw, it is still on a small scale. All of them were holding back or were not in their element to showcase their abilities to the fullest. It's amazing..."

"Do you believe..."

"We could do that one day?"

"Maybe...if we continue with our learning and possible training." Terrance replied honestly, not fully knowing the answer to their question himself. "Dr. Marcoh told us back in Amestris that there are different branches of science and that is the same with Alchemy. General Mustang specializes in fire, Major Armstrong mixes alchemical skill with physical power, and along with that, he told us he knew a couple of individuals that dealt created metals, weapons, explosions and let's not forget Miss. Mei is s Alkahestric. Alkahestry performs a higher medical transmutation than Amestrian Alchemy and is able to perform it in long distances, unlike Amestrian Alchemy. There are many forms of alchemy which one would choose to study and perform."

"I want to make things go boom..."

"Very big boom..."

"Wait...?"

"What about Mr. Scar?"

"Er... I... don't know? I heard someone else asked Mr. Elric about and he got all quiet about it..."

-.-

"Wait... You guys are also going to have Alphonse teach here?" Edward asked, taken aback by what was being told to him. He is sitting behind his desk with a cup of hot tea and a plate of food on his desk. The Mustang Unit, Scar, Dr. Marcoh, Ling, Lan Fan, Mei, Alphonse along with Severus and Filius are sitting around the classroom with their dinner. Everyone who could speak English spoke the language for Edward's new friends. Well, here and there. Some information is better left incomprehensible. "Who made this up?"

"The moment the Ministry Officials saw Alphonse perform alchemy, they wanted him to become the 'Alchemy Professor'." Roy snorted into his own cup of steaming hot tea. "They wanted to replace you with your brother. Fortunately, with Dumbledore's help, we convinced them that won't be necessary. I won't bore you with the details right now, the end result is having you and Alphonse alternate years."

"And what the hell should I do during that free year?" Edward asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Congratulations, we promoted you to be an Ambassador of Amestris. You'll be the go-between Magical Great Britain and Amestris. While your brother will also be a go-between for them and Xing, depending on the situation." Roy laughed at Edward's expression of complete horror. He scooped up a spoonful of mash potatoes and pointed it at Edward. "Don't worry too much on it. You won't be permanently stationed here, just mostly traveling back and forth once every other couple of months or whenever your presence is needed."

"Good, he might get a little stir-crazy..."

"Shut up, Severus."

"Making a very plausible point."

"Shut up..." Edward retorted glumly in defeat while placing down his cup of tea on his table. He ran a hand through his hair. He looked pensive over what was just said to him, the Alchemy Teacher needed to think this through with Winry. It is no longer himself anymore, the moment he asked Winry to marry him, everything changed. Even if he is here being what he became, was something that was sort of planned. A year to travel west to study Alchemy. Well... he isn't exactly studying alchemy... he's teaching it. Traveling? Nope... Ugh... "I need to talk to Winry about this... We still need to set a date on the wedding and this is..."

"Don't worry about it, we are still ironing out the kinks to this." Riza assured him.

"I am scared how Winry will react to this..."

"Don't worry about it, we told her before we told you of this." Roy grinned at the Colonel.

Fortunately for Edward, he had finished his drink otherwise it would have spilled all over his ungraded classwork. "WHAT! What the fuck did you tell her!"

Severus and Filius shifted their gazes back and forth between Edward and Roy growing argument. Knowing Edward for this long, they knew it would be pointless intervening in the argument. They would get pulled into it and it will not end well. Especially with how Ms. Hawkeye is slowly edging towards them. They began to wonder how normal this is for everyone in this room.

-.-

Edward laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling deep in thought. So many things had occurred to him during the week that his friends arrived at Hogwarts and left since then. Heck, many more the moment he became a teacher and that made his mind go a thousand miles a minute. So much has changed for him the last year or so.

Where to go from there? What else could he do? Traveling seems... not something that seemed to appeal now. He traveled all throughout Amestris with a purpose of finding a way to get his and Alphonse bodies back. He got Alphonse's body back while he got his own arm back. The main reason for going west to look for Alchemy was...

Pause.

Edward blinked slowly at a realization that suddenly struck him. He doesn't remember the exact reason he decided to travel west. Sure, to possibly learn more aspects on Alchemy and now thinking back on it. The main reason he went on this trip was that Alphonse mentioned he wanted to go East... by himself... on his own trip... This is an adventure that he went on his own and this is different. Very different. The excitement is nearly gone. Sure, there is an excitement in seeing others getting so psyched up in learning alchemy, it was like seeing himself and Alphonse in all his students. It's an honor to teach but this wasn't something he never saw himself doing. Now here he is and seeing how the situation is like, this is something that he wants to do to need to do. He needs to ensure that Alchemy is standing true and ensure that Truth will not play its games. Then again... Edward wouldn't be surprised if that thing is already pulling all the strings.

Not only that... Edward has plans on turning another government on its head and it will be one hell of a ride. With a grin reminiscent of a white figure, Edward turned off the light and allowed his mind to wander off to sleep.

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[nagatsukinura119]

Day 2 at Japan Expo Malaysia (27 July 2019) Part 2

Time for the climax of this trip, and the reason why I was here. Fun fact: N and I were prepared for this concert, in which I wore my customized red and white YuuNaa shirt and made some for N as well. Since we didn’t have any towels to twirl around, we decided to use the shirts to get Naachan’s attention. N and I stayed at our spot for around 4 hours, since KiREI’s performance was 11.30 while AKB48’s was at 3.30 pm. Trust me, we had like one of the best spots! Until as time came closer, more people rounded at our area too, including this one girl who just casually sat on the floor in front of the railing barrier, to which I stared at her and was like “WTF man!” At 2.30 the venue was overcrowded and there was no way to turn around for both me and N. It got even worse when the audience in the middle were told to make an empty way towards the stage. That’s when I KNEW that they were going to enter the stage all the way from the main entrance of the building, unlike all the other performers so far. This just shows how much of a different level AKB48 is.

3.30 hit and we could see all the way from the bottom to the top of the stairs where the members were coming from. They walked down to the middle area of the stairs where they posed and cue the symbolic, “1, 2, 3 4!” and Heavy Rotation started, and echoes for the song blared throughout the venue. It was SO OVERWHELMING! One cannot just stand there, without singing along with the members. As they were singing they walked down the stairs, passing through the audience, and finally reaching the stage. And, seriously, this was just amazing and unbelievable because Naachan’s standing point was MINE AND N’S CORNER (we screamed our heads out for Naachan). Here’s the thing; I AM SMOL AND SHORT. And having this stature is a curse for an AKB concert, especially because the security in front of you were tall, and ALSO WHEN THE FANS AROUND US STARTED TO BREAK THROUGH THE BARRIER AND BLOCKED OUR VIEW! Like legit, even I had to go over the barrier in order not to trip because the people behind us were pushing. Being small was really hard since I had to stretch my arm all the way up to get pictures and videos. I also honestly felt bad for the staff in front of me who was acting as part of the security. She clearly had to cover her ears from the screaming, especially from me since I was right behind her.

I’ll be honest that; throughout the whole concert and activity, everything felt like a rollercoaster, the adrenaline rush, the overwhelming excitement, the screaming and all that, I couldn’t really put in details what was going on, except that I sang along with most of the songs. After Heavy Rotation, they sang Kibouteki Refrain, then Sukinanda, then Iiwake Maybe and lastly Koisuru Fortune Cookie. And let me just say; after each song, the hype increased much more! I really wanted to dance along to their performance too but with a space of a bug between the audience, that was impossible except for hand movements (to which I did). When we came to the introduction and of course every member got huge cheers, BUT when it was Naachan’s turn it was as if a goddess appeared and all the worshippers started shouting (myself included lololol). Now here’s the thing, I came here not just for Naachan, but all the other members too, albeit I’m not that familiar with Okabe Rin (Rinrin), heck I wanted and needed to scream all their names, I wanted all of them feel appreciated for coming here.

After Iiwake Maybe, it was time for the special event for the lucky people who followed the expo’s Facebook account. Their names were randomly selected, and they got towels that were signed by all six members, and was given directly from the members. Nagi gave the first towel, then Megu, then Rinrin, then Yuiyui, then Mion and lastly Naachan. The lucky winners were also given chances to take pictures with the member who gave the towels to them. While five members kept their safe distance by merely passing the towels, Naachan took a step further to wrap the towel around the guy’s neck. I liked the fact that Aki (one of the hosts) mentioned that he was not gonna go home safely, because that was partially true, because I WOULD MURDER FOR THAT TOWEL.

Lastly during Koisuru, they taught us the onigiri move. All of them taught the manoeuvre, but Naachan was most enthusiastic demonstrating to us. In fact, Naachan seemed like she was having the most fun and excited, no wonder she grabbed so much attention from visitors who did not know anything about AKB48. I’m not saying the other members were not good, because Megu definitely had grabbed a lot of attention to her with her goddess-level of fanservices. But Naachan was just THAT good at grabbing attention. SASUGA MY OSHIMEN. After Koisuru’s performance, the huge selfie came for which N and I were not part of cuz we were far away *cries*. So they said their thanks and left at the back door. N and I rushed our way to the back as well and the moment we got out of the door their van sped of lolol.

Since I thought there might be a lot of people going to the airport to send them off I said we should leave the venue immediately, but N thought otherwise, but we didn’t want to really risk it, so we left as fast as we could to the airport, knowing they should be arriving the latest at 6.55 to catch their flight to Thailand, and when they were done it was already 4.15, and the duration to the airport could take an hour. When we reached the airport around 5.30, surprise, surprise there wasn’t much fans there (only the two of us and 2 Japanese fans). So we waited for an hour (thanks for the mango smoothie N) then the members entered the airport with so little security (I was gonna try to reach to Naachan who was on another side of their line to give my hat, but their bodyguard was like “NO PHOTO” so we were like “oh ok” and just stood there smiling and waving at them. Naachan was kind of blocked by Mion (they were walking together) and a bit preoccupied so I started waving vigorously at Yuiyui and called for her with the most respectable volume I could muster in an airport lol, she turned to me! Then Megu, Rinrin and Nagi started to wave at us too. Me and N said “mata kite nee~” (come back again) and both Mion and Naachan responded to us, waving at us and MADE EYE CONTACT and said “mata nee~” I. DIED. FINALLY WE WERE ABLE TO DIRECTLY COMMUNICATE WITH THEM.

We literally walked behind them as they were walking towards the security gate and while they were lining up, once again Megu and Rinrin waved at us. BY GOD, MEGU GAVE THE BEST FANSERVICE BY GIVING ALL SORTS OF HAND SIGNALS AT US EVERYTIME SHE INTERACTED WITH US. Then they went down the escalator while me and N (and other fans who have showed up) looked at them from the upper floor but we restrained ourselves from taking pictures unless the managers weren’t looking. (Since it was illegal to take pictures at the immigration area, I cannot share the pictures that I secretly took). I was being a super creepy stalker by literally running towards where Naachan was standing, directly below me (sumimasen). So while we tried to sneakily take pictures of them from above, N and I realized that Nagisa seemed like she was a bit down, and we assumed that she may be tired, or she may be a bit sad that she wasn’t as highly anticipated in the event (which was not true!). When we paused from taking pictures we just stared at them and waved at them when they looked up at us fans (me and N were standing separately from the other fans). Megu, Rinrin, Nagisa, Mion and Yuiyui responded to my waving (Naachan didn’t look up much, but when she did, she looked at different directions *cries again*)

We kept following them until they passed through the scanning process and entered the terminal and before they reached there, we waited for them after they passed through the security and took some videos. Again! The members waved and gave hand signals to us (N got the best signal from Naachan which was a wave and a heart finger, to which caused her to jump around after finishing filming it hahahahaha). So that was it, that was my whole first experience with AKB48.

Honestly, the experience in the airport was much more overwhelming than the concert, mainly because it wasn’t crowded so we could enjoy looking at the members without having the need to fight or shout and it was peaceful. Not to mention the members’ interactions with you were more direct and personal, which was difficult to get during the hectic concert. While looking at them as they were lining up at the immigration, I was so overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions; happiness, satisfaction and a bit of sadness as well. You see, I’m an emotionally sensitive person and I cry when I get overwhelmed emotionally. I cried so hard when I was just looking at each one of the members, because I thought like “Well I’ve finally got to see them in real life, which is something I’ve never really dreamed of being able to do. Now what? What am I supposed to do?” I don’t know why, but for some reason I was feeling like that was probably the only and last time I’d ever see them in real life, and that this was goodbye. I bit my tongue and pushed those thoughts so many times in order not to show tears, but man those feelings and emotions were so strong. In fact, there was one point when Megu was waving at me while I was crying and I had to hide my face with my arm on the railing. I had to keep telling myself that I was lucky that I got to experience this while many others couldn’t experience it, especially when it was a free concert! So I was really grateful with the experience to so many people; my parents for allowing and accompanying me to Malaysia, N for being a good friend and company who drove me to and from the airport, the people who organized Japan Expo Malaysia event, and most importantly the AKB48 members who came and entertained, and filled our hearts with happiness through their smiles, their interactions and their energy.

SIDE NOTE: When I said I cried, I meant I REALLY cried. N can vouch for it lololol.

Part 1 is here! To be continued in Day 3!

Bonus picture:

(The closest picture I took that Naachan may have looked at me. Curse me for my short stature, cursed phone camera and dead camera lmaoooo)