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jamesdazell · 7 years

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On FREDERICO LORCA

Frederico Garcia Lorca. Born, Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca, 5 June 1898, in Fuente Vaqueros, a small town a few miles west of Granada, southern Spain. He was a musician, dramatist, artist, and above all, one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. In the earliest part of his life he was devoted to music, then to poetry, in which he quickly became celebrated, whilst in later stage of his career he was drawn to theatre. Tragically his life was cut short during the Spanish Civil war, under the rise of fascism, where was arrested and executed for his liberal political views. Like most writers, his life was filled with lots of travel, and he lived not only in various parts of Spain but also in Cuba and New York city where he lived in Manhattan in the early 1930s before returning to Spain. Lorca naturally had a great fascination with Greek tragedy. His own tragic plays were written during his mature years although he says of himself that he had always been so far a novice and was yet to reach his mature period. It has been said that Lorca was a poet of desire, of impossibility, which went unsatisfied. I believe, on the contrary, that he was a poet of possibility in the face of impossibilities. And that his works were not melancholy expressions of unreachable yearnings, but that they are mirages that one can never reach, that disappear once we approach, and when we arrive to where we headed there is yet still much more beyond. His is a poetry of boundless possibilities, that therefore never grasp their yearnings, but always fall in to new mirages, as dreaming in to dreams. His lyricism plays on this, and I admire his lyricism more than any other writer. He uses words which point away from themselves. He uses words together to allow the reader to grasp something beyond them that he means to direct you to, visualised and felt through his combinations of words. They are triggers, and alarm bells, that have meanings outside of themselves, in the effects they inspire in the reader. As such his work is deeply lyrical and not rhetoric. He fills us with sensations and images, but not information. He shows and doesn’t tell. He embosses lyrical pictures into us that only a capacity for imagination can rework into description. His work was consistently influenced by poetry he retrieved that had been forgotten and lost of influence, he always looked backwards to move forward with his work, looking for absent styles in his search for inspiration. I believe no doubt that he turned to Greek tragedy - and his insistence that Europe rediscover its roots - because it was a poet’s theatre, other than the Naturalism of staging and writing that had developed out of the nineteenth century. He felt closer to these poets, whom poets shared his own artistic talents. The lyricism in his own plays, particularly Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba, both listed as tragedies, evokes the lyrical quality of his standalone poetry in the mouths of his characters. He seemed to search, not for the poetry in the mundane as the realists had done, but to find the poetry as a means to manifest more marvellous truths. His characters speak unnaturally - and musically - they speak out in poetry. And this allows them to say more than one would in real speech. As if speaking out of the air and music around them. It also allows the play to show more, and to communicate more line by line. It’s a lyricism that doesn’t evoke the tragedies of Lope de Vega of the 16th Century, but more akin to the lyrical plays of Japanese Noh drama. And it’s not unlikely that he would have encountered them, in the growing European fascination with Orientalism, as shorter forms of poetry such as the haiku were being explored in the poetry of his own day in the work of Imagist poets. In Britain, the English poet W H Auden was a huge admirer of Japanese Noh drama, who wrote lectures on the art as well as crafted his own plays through his fascination with them. I’m unsure how much philosophy Lorca read to shape his particular perspective of tragedy, such as Heraclitus, but I do know he studied philosophy and letters as a student. But in his lecture essay on the duene (meaning to have a soul, a heightened sense of expression, emotion, and authenticity - not far removed from the sense I mean of ecstasy in this zine), he says to have duene one must be fully aware that death is possible. Tragedy features closed horizons. Life’s circumference is clear and inevitable. He says of Spain, “Spain is unique; a country where death is a national spectacle” he is of course speaking of the bull fight, and that “music, dance, song or elegy, the arrival of duende is greeted with vigorous cries of ‘Allah! Allah!’ so close to the ‘Olé!’ of the bullfight, and who knows whether they are not the same?” His ideas parallel the German philosopher Heidegger that only through awareness of death can man envisage his authentic freedom. It is facing the present with full-sight of ability to be in the moment. He argues most art is created out of hindsight or foresight, but duence is made impulsively in the present moment, with full sight of the circumference of life as though it shoots up out of the blood. “All arts are capable of duende, but where it finds the greatest range, naturally, is in music, dance, and spoken poetry, for these arts require a living body to interpret them.” The duende as Lorca expresses it in his lecture seems to bare resemblance to that ecstasy that the maenad women of Greek myth would experience under the mystic influence of Dionysius. Lorca had read Nietzsche and no doubt had experienced his Birth of Tragedy, discussing the Dionysian aspect of Greek tragedy. That it represented the music, the unculturalising and anti-intellectualism of man, freeing him from the bonds of everyday in to the eternal and nature-returned. Lost in the frenzy of wine, song, dance. All which were combined dualistically with the Appolline of poetry, which constructed character, gave eloquent wisdom, visual action and physical form. Together Nietzsche believed they created an artform which was as much Dionysian as it was Apolline, as much irrational frenzy as it was intelligent beautiful form, as much the abyss and the figure of it, as much the horror of life as the individual which confronts it. Lorca’s duende is the artistic inspiration that rouses artistic creativity. An intoxication, but a spirit of the blood, that is shot in to a chosen art. His plays were no mere Greek revival but, like his poetry, seem to reach to yearning possibilities. His lyricism of dialogue lifts out of realism in to musical language, drawing the characters not in to the fantastical, but with the exotic truth. Mouthed from a lyrical plane of expression. Lorca described the theatre “as a poetry that rises from the book and becomes human enough to talk and shout, weep and despair.” And described poetic theatre quite simply as any play written by a poet. The acclaimed Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote of Lorca in his memoirs: “What a poet! [of] grace and genius; when did a winged heart and a crystalline waterfall, ever come together in anyone else as they did in him. Federico Garcia Lorca was the extravagant “duende,” his was a magnetic joyfulness that generated a zest for life in his heart and radiated it like a planet.” Lorca presents his plays like a dream. Stanley Kubrick said of cinema “with film, you don’t photograph the reality, you photograph the photograph of the reality.” I think that’s what Lorca does too. His dialogue is so gifted with poetry that it takes us to a perspective of the world that is the photograph of the photograph of reality, where art is articulating art to tell the truth. Rider’s Song is one of Lorca’s earliest poems. It narrates the journey of a rider to Cordoba, who believes he has a long way and will never reach his destination. It is the sentiment of ambition, Lorca’s own ambition, that he believes he may never quite reach. An ambition that may have been to restore European poetry to its former height of excellence. It’s a philosopher’s poem, a metaphor for his own journey, and it’s also a poem of a young man. The journey of himself, not to personal maturity, but an artistic maturity. Lorca continuously borrowed from the absent, and it’s no doubt that his ambition included the absent which Lorca consciously sought for by his art. Lorca writes elegiacally of human existence, and perhaps wrote of the experience of existence more lyrically and vividly in poetry than almost any other poet. By photographing the photograph, he allows us to feel what we already know in the experience of language. I want to end this segment with my favourite poem of his;

Floating Bridges

Every step we take on Earth brings us to a new world. Every foot supported on a floating bridge.

And I know there is no straight road in the world - only a giant labyrinth of intersecting crossroads.

And steadily our feet keep walking & creating --like enormous fans-- these roads in embryo.

Oh garden of white theories! garden of all I am not, all I could & should have been!

#frederico lorca #spanish #poetry #poet #playwright #theatre #literature #books #writer #writers

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jornalbelem · 5 years

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Cerca de 2 mil imigrantes sem documentos podem ser detidos em pelo menos uma dezena de cidades em operação anti imigração anunciada pelo presidente Donald Trump. Donald Trump, presidente dos EUA, durante apresentação na Casa Branca, em Washington Carlos Barria/Reuters Milhares de imigrantes sem documentos aguardavam com preocupação neste domingo (14) a anunciada operação que, segundo o presidente Donald Trump, levará a uma onda de deportações nos Estados Unidos, mas ainda não há sinais de que a operação já teve início. Veículos de comunicação locais, como CNN e Fox News, indicaram por volta do meio-dia que agentes do Serviço de Imigração e Controle Alfandegário (ICE, sigla em inglês) estavam atuando de acordo com o previsto, citando fontes não identificadas desta força. Mas não houve notícias de nenhuma operação significativa nas ruas. Foi anunciado que cerca de 2 mil imigrantes sem documentos seriam detidos em pelo menos uma dezena de cidades. Ativistas patrulharam várias cidades neste domingo para documentar qualquer prisão e oferecer assistência aos possíveis detidos. Donald Trump confirma operação para deportar imigrantes clandestinos nos EUA O prefeito de Nova York, Bill de Blasio, afirmou durante a tarde: "Ainda não há atividade. É muito difícil organizar a vida em torno dos anúncios de Donald Trump", disse o pré-candidato democrata às eleições presidenciais de 2020. Na Flórida, agentes do ICE foram vistos perto do aeroporto internacional e de uma comunidade de imigrantes, segundo o "Los Angeles Times". Não houve notícias de prisões. "The Washington Post" e "Baltimore Sun" deram conta de pouca evidência de operações. O subdiretor do ICE, Matthew Albence, não quis dar detalhes sobre a operação, em entrevista neste domingo ao "Fox News Sunday". O alcance da operação parece mais modesto do que os "milhões" que Trump prometeu que seriam detidos e expulsos quando mencionou pela primeira vez, no mês passado, a ofensiva, adiada posteriormente. Mas isso não aliviou a angústia daqueles que temem ser alvos. Segundo a imprensa, os agentes do ICE estão preparados para prender não apenas aqueles com ordens de expulsão, mas também outros migrantes sem documentação que possam encontrar. Isso poderia incluir migrantes que estão no país há anos, com empregos e filhos que são cidadãos americanos. "Essa incerteza, esse medo, está causando estragos", disse a prefeita de Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, à CNN. "Está traumatizando as pessoas". Migrantes centro-americanos sobem uma criança para o teto de vagões de um trem conhecido como 'A Besta', em Ixtepec, no México, na rota que tem os EUA como destino Jose de Jesus Cortes/Reuters Guardas de patrulha da fronteira dos EUA caminham perto de um protótipo do muro que o presidente dos EUA Donald Trump pretende colocar na fronteira com o México nesta foto tirada do lado mexicano da fronteira, em Tijuana Jorge Duenes/Reuters Trump insistiu na sexta-feira (12) que "a maioria dos prefeitos" quer esta operação. Mas vários prefeitos expressaram preocupação com a operação federal. O prefeito de Miami, Francis Suarez, disse que em 2018, seu primeiro ano no cargo, sua cidade experimentou sua "menor taxa de homicídios em 51 anos". "Então eu não entendo o motivo de escolher Miami", acrescentou. Algumas autoridades municipais, bem como grupos pró-migrantes e de direitos civis, tentaram instruir aqueles que poderiam ser alvos sobre seus direitos. "Estamos pedindo às pessoas, se tiverem medo de deportação, que fiquem em casa no domingo, que andem em grupos", disse Keisha Bottoms, prefeita de Atlanta, à CNN. "Se alguém bater em sua porta, por favor, não a abra a menos que tenha um mandado". O prefeito de Nova York, Bill de Blasio, disse à MSNBC que vê esta ofensiva como "um ato político para convencer muitas pessoas nos Estados Unidos de que os imigrantes são o problema". Há mais de um ano, os Estados Unidos enfrentam uma crise migratória na fronteira com o México, agravada, a cada mês, pelos milhares de centro-americanos que fogem da violência e da miséria em seus países. O número de migrantes em situação ilegal detidos em junho - mais de de 100 mil - teve uma queda de 28% em relação a maio, mas a situação permanece "crítica", anunciou o Departamento de Segurança Interna esta semana.Fonte: G1

http://www.conjuntosatelite.com.br/2019/07/imigrantes-aguardam-grande-onda-de.html

#Notícias #Jornal Belém #Conjunto Satélite #Belém #Pará #News

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ramrodd · 6 years

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Why was Khe Sanh in a strategic position during the Vietnam War?

COMMENTARY:

First of all, Ken Burns’s Vietnam has a pretty good run down of the battle. As I recall from the documentary, which is pretty much the way I remember it from back in the day. And it’s a useful template for illustrating the difference between the Ken Burns/Oliver Stone version of Vietnam my version of Vietnam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1400&v=yEWinDy9yvc

The description of Khe Sanh begins at 27:21, but Khe Sanh needs to be understood as an element of Tet 1969. The part that begins “Mililitary Intelligence had picked up signs…” at 2:38 is what the Pentagon knew at Christmas 1967, but civilians, including Walter Cronkite didn’t have a clue what Tet was, much less that the NVA still had any offensive capability left after 3 years of “Search and Destroy” and light at the end of the tunnel press briefings from the Five O’Clock Follies at MAC-V, Westmoreland’s headquarters. Everything from 2:38 to about4:22 is 20/20 historical hindsight.

At Christmas 1967, I was home from my junior year at Indiana University. I learned two things while I was home: John McCain was a POW and the Army knew that Giap was going to make a major demonstration in the near future.

I am an Army brat and my dad was assigned to CONARC/DSCPER at Ft. Monroe Virginia, a major headquarters. I picked up the expectation of the NVA offensive by osmosis, from growing up on an Army post in Germany when we kept suitcases by the front door for a 1 hour evacuation alert. It never came, but you learn to keep your ear to the ground and, what I took back to Indiana was the expectation of a big fight in Vietnam, I didn’t know about Khe Sahn, but Saigon was all ready beefing up the firebase as bait for the NVA main forces. The Army really wanted the little people to come out and fight and were showing a little leg in a number of ways to encourage that fight. One of the lessons learned from Khe Sanh is that Dien Bien Phu could have had a different outcome if Eisenhower had given the French the air support we used in Khe Sanh. Hell, the 6th Army could have held out if the had had the air support the Marines had at Khe Sanh.

And it was a little too close to comfort to a reprise of Duen Bien Phu than even the Ken Burns/ Oliver Stone version of Vietnam can capture. There was some seriously desparate fighting by both sides everywhere during Tet and it’s like that Gaham Wilson cartoon: “I guess I won”.

I first became aware of Khe Sanh when this picture was published in LIFE magazine:

I had read Hell In A Very Small Place and Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina by 1962 just because they were books on war. After 1962, I began reading a lot of Civil War stuff but, by then, the only title from David Petraeus’s FM 3–24 Counterinsurgency core bibliography I hadn’t read was David Petraeus’s FM 3–24 Counterinsurgency. I knew all about Dien Bien Phu but not connected to the Republic of Vietnam. Khe Sanh made that connection.

(I love that picture, , David Douglas Duncan

He just died at 102. Good on him.

Every bit of film in the Ken Burns’s episode about Tet at the time I saw on CBS Evening News. As I say, the Army expected Chuck to come out and play: they just didn’t think he would pick the cities to fight: the VC front in Saigon was a complete, and unpleasant, surprise for the people in Saigon, but for the Pentagon, it was just a nasty little twist to their expectations. The strategy for Khe Sanh worked pretty much as planned: Saigon and Hue, not so much.

While I was marinating in the CONARC zeitgeist, I went to a party at a colonel’s quarters inside the moat at Ft. Monroe, just down the line from the Chapel of the Centurion and facing the parade ground. Sergeant Pepper’s Loney Heart Club Band was just out and got a lot of air time at the party of the college age hostess. The hostess sent me into the kitchen to get something, more punch or something, while she waxed euphoric on the soul of Bobby Gentry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv33eaygVDQ

Her parents and another officer and his wife were running the kitchen detail and chatting and John McCain’s name came up. One of the officers knew his dad from liaison work he did with the Navy in Norfolk across Hampton Roads from us. The French had just released a film of Maverick in a Hanoi hospital and they were talking it over as I walked in. They didn’t call him Maverick: that wouldn’t happen until Top Gun came out and he still had 6 years and change to go before he got home. When he might get home was the subject of the speculation in the comfort of that kitchen the week before Christmas 1967.

The issue of POWs fell off the grid until Nixon took office and, once the drama of Hue and Khe Sanh faded to black on CBS Evening News, the anti-war movement took over the feed until the Police Riots at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago in August and Nixon’s election. The anti-war movement misunderstood LBJ’s departure from office as a victory and celebrated their righteousness and heroism at Woodstock and were congratulating themselves right up until the moment Abrams went into Cambodia and the National Guard killed 4 white kids at Kent State.

If Nixon hadn’t already begun to shut down the draft, it is not unlikely that America could have blown up in the violent revolution set in motion by the Port Huron Statement in 1962 that published the manifesto of the Students for a Demcratic Society and organized it around Trotsky’s insurgency processes. One of the framers of that process was Frank “Be All You Can Be” Burns in his senior year of ROTC and, like me and Newt Gingrich, literate upon the subject of Counter-Insurgency: it was the sexy career path of the early 60s, given JFK’s promotion of the Green Berets.

And the Trotsky insurgency process, which is designed to lead to violent revolution by polarizing the host population against its government and exploiting the resulting alienation to blow up the society. It worked exactly as advertised, America came close to blowing up at Chicago in 1968 as a result of Tet and, if the draft hadn’t begun to go away, Kent State could have finished the deal.

But Khe Sanh was an element of a larger strategic design, the battle of attrition by proxy against the Soviet economy. Khe Sanh was a gambit to entice the NVA to take a shot at reprising Dien Bien Phu, if only the material position, in order to draw the NVA into a venue where the complete continuum of air power could produce some impressive kill ratios. It was bait to demonstrate to the world the fanatical dedication of the godless commie cocksuckers in Hanoi to a Marxist future so that the equally dedicated executives in the Kremlim would be obliged to match the moral commitment of Hanoi with the material support Hanoi needed to keep creating the body counts to bleed the Soviet Union white.

The Oliver Stone version of Vietnam is that Reagan scared Gorbachev into pulling the plug on Soviet Marxism, My version is that Khe Sahn was a part of the death by 1,000 cuts for the Soviet Union the Pentagon inflicted by design begining by 1965.

I mean, the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam happened. The problem with it is that its world view is like Donald Trump’s world view: it ends pretty much at the tip of Oliver Stone’s pecker and that is why Donald Trump is now President: in the Oliver Stone version of Vietnam, Donald Trump is Master of the Universe and the GOP Deep State his personal Russian bots.

#transformingamericafirst

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years

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ANALYSIS: Midterm clashes set to define Trump era

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/analysis-midterm-clashes-set-to-define-trump-era/

ANALYSIS: Midterm clashes set to define Trump era

Interested in Midterm Elections?

Add Midterm Elections as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Midterm Elections news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

They will mark the first nationwide referendum on the Trump era. And the 2018 midterm elections promise to carry with them the drama, enthusiasm, frustrations, and wild storylines we’ve come to expect in politics.

The election of President Donald Trump and his first year of governing have altered the political climate. Turbulent events are driving powerful crosscurrents into all levels of races, bringing the potential for a historic wave that could shift Washington’s balance of power.

But all manner of individual political weather systems will define 2018. That will play out across a unique political geography, on an election map that provides limitations and opportunities to both parties. The battles inside the parties might be as fierce as those between rival ideologies.

There are new characters and old issues, famous names and loads of first-time candidates. The implications on policy are vast, as anxious voters across the ideological spectrum are set to render judgment on the president — and offer hints of what might come next.

ABC News’ “18 for 18” series will identify and cover aggressively the races that will embody the stories of the 2018 midterm elections.

Here are some of the themes that will dominate a midterm year that promises to be like no other:

Tom Brenner/The New York Times, FILE

A red hat with “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” printed on it rests on a table in the Oval Office, Jan. 31, 2018.

JOB ONE

Trump’s appeal in 2016 was built on vows to revitalize the economy, to bring back jobs and boost incomes while cutting back on international trade deals that fail to put – in his words – “America First.”

The economy under Trump is humming, with the stock market reaching fresh records and a brand new tax cut spurring business investments. But the rising tide is lifting boats unevenly, and it’s far from clear that Trump and his backers will get political credit for the flashy numbers used as broad-brush economic indicators.

Trump’s sweeping promises to revive American manufacturing and bring back shrinking industries like coal will be put to the test in Rust Belt states, where those promises made an electoral difference. He has infused his party with an anti-globalist ethos that has him remaking trade deals and favoring industries that thrived in a previous era — with mixed success.

The tax cut — Trump’s signature legislative achievement — will be a central argument for Republicans to maintain they deserve to hold on to power. Many of the same suburbs where voters are repulsed by the president’s personal behavior might like their swelling bank accounts.

Yet the tax cut’s main consequences won’t be felt for individuals until next tax filing season. Millions of Americans -– many of whom live in blue states where Democrats hope to rebound into the majority — are girding to be hit with net tax hikes.

Jorge Duenes/Reuters, FILE

Prototypes for the border wall with Mexico are seen behind the current border fence in Tijuana, Mexico, Jan. 27, 2018.

A WALL IN THE ELECTION

Trump’s border wall has become the line in the sand for candidates to come down on either side of. Some of them will repeat the president’s “build the wall” mantra. Others will rally their supporters against it.

Either way, border security and the fate of the Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, will be a strong subject of rhetoric in 2018.

This issue could be one to hurt Republicans more than any other, particularly if it’s not resolved quickly. The final Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals deadline is March 5, one day before the first primary of 2018 — March 6 in Texas, a state with a strong interest in immigration issues.

If Republicans are arguing among themselves on how to deal with border security and Dreamers, expect the reverberations to flow into primary elections.

And the results could show how much the country supports the president’s billion-dollar idea of a border wall.

Andrew Harnik/AP, FILE

President Donald Trump poses for a photograph in the Oval Office, April 19, 2017.

TRUMP’S WAKE

The stage was set for the next round in the long-running battle between GOP establishment and the conservative grassroots, with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon leading a charge to take out incumbents.

Now, Bannon is largely gone from the national landscape, at least for now. But the forces he sought to channel remain and are likely to play out in Republican primaries from Arizona and Nevada to Indiana and Mississippi.

While Trump’s approval rating nationally is mired near historic lows, he remains a popular presence in vast swaths of the country, particularly among core Republicans. The dominant theme in several races is who is most fit to wear a “Make America Great Again” hat, with multiple candidates vying to out-Trump the president himself.

Nothing motivates a president like the prospect of losing a majority in Congress, and Trump hates losing more than most. Burned by his party’s loss in Alabama, he’s promising to stay out of intra-party fights but he also wants to play an aggressive role on the trail – risking backlash, but also potentially motivating his loyal base.

Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

People attend the Women’s Rally on the one-year anniversary of the first Women’s March, in Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 20, 2018.

WOMEN ON THE MARCH

First they marched; then they got to work.

From coast-to-coast, in blue states and red states, at all levels, an eye-popping number of women have decided to run for elected office this year. Most are doing so for the first time in their careers and they are backed by powerful sisterhoods urging them on.

EMILY’s List, a national organization that supports female Democratic candidates, says that 26,000 women contacted them about running for office in the year after Trump was elected. Many of these women talk openly about being motivated by Hillary Clinton’s loss, Trump’s behavior toward women, and Republicans’ policies regarding health care and reproductive rights.

If the outcomes in local elections in 2017 are any indication, these Democratic women may be a force to be reckoned with in November. Of the 15 seats Democrats flipped in the Virginia statehouse, 11 were won by women.

“Women are committed to leveraging a power that we already have,” Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America told ABC News. “We have tried to negotiate our rights, freedoms, economic security and the things that affect our families through a majority male government and it hasn’t worked.”

“And so we are going to elect our own.”

Republicans have a new generation of women running too. Taking both parties into account, an estimated 80 women are either running for governor or said to be thinking about it. It’s a remarkable number considering that only 39 women have ever served as governor in the entire history of the union.

Alex Wong/Getty Images, FILE

Marchers pass the White House after completing the 118-mile long journey from Charlottesville to Washington, D.C., calling for the dismantling of white supremacy, Sept. 6, 2017.

RACE RELATIONS

When Trump said there were “very fine people” on both sides of the deadly protest in Charlottesville, Va., over the summer, he confirmed a fear held by large swaths of the country that he may be sympathetic to or unwilling to stand up to white nationalists.

He did not help his case just weeks ago when he implied he’d prefer immigrants from Norway over “s—-hole” African countries.

From his statements about confederate statues and NFL players who take a knee, to proposals that seem aimed at his campaign vow of a Muslim ban, to lagging efforts to rebuild Puerto Rico, the president’s opponents have often seen him to be dividing Americans based on racial or religious lines. And that will have a ripple effect in races of all shapes and sizes this year.

Minority communities that had lackluster interest in Clinton’s campaign appear fired up and organized in the era of Trump. In the Alabama Senate special election, African-American votes powered the Democratic candidate to a surprise victory.

The extent to which candidates on both sides of the aisle talk about these issues will vary widely. Plenty of Democrats will want to tie their opponents to the president’s record, but others may seek to skirt these topics entirely.

Jessica Kourkounis/Reuters, FILE

People participate in the Second Annual Women’s March in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 20, 2018.

THE BLUE WAVE

Buzz is growing about a blue wave coming. With the president’s approval ratings so low and energy on the left so high, Democratic strategists know this is a unique moment for their party to win back significant ground after an embarrassing presidential loss in 2016.

Those working for Democratic congressional campaigns often sound bullish and are aggressively pushing into traditionally red territory looking for more people turned off by Trump and motivated to action in the last year.

But the men and women who identify with the so-called “resistance” and are pushing back, opposing Trump’s policies and language both federally and in local government at the grassroots level, do not always see themselves as Democrats -– or at least not loyal, excited ones.

There continues to be deep frustration in progressive circles that elected Democratic officials have not learned key lessons and are not changing the party enough. The last few months have featured animated debates in the party on everything from the Democratic National Committee’s budget process to whether it’s worth government shutdowns in the fight to protect Dreamers.

Expect some rough-and-tumble Democratic primaries as activists try to harness resistance vigor into reliable votes. And Democrats run the age-old risk of pulling candidates too far left for their districts.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO…

Finally, there’s the question of how the two years after the election will play out.

Will it be a shellacking? Because if Democrats take back just one chamber of Congress, expect investigations, gridlock and talk of impeachment, to dominate 2019. Democrats are expected to use the power of the congressional subpoena to bring administration officials before them for grillings.

If Republicans keep their hold on both chambers, Trump will view electoral successes as endorsements of his vision, arguing it will prove he had the coattails to get Republicans elected — something President Barack Obama couldn’t really do for Democrats when he wasn’t on the ballot himself.

As for Democrats, the failure to win back a chamber will force them have to regroup and re-evaluate how they move forward before 2020.

In the end, 2018 may be most remembered for what it portends for the next race for the White House.

If Republicans keep their grip on Capitol Hill, Trump enters the election with the wind at his back.

If not, an energized Democratic base could be poised to hand him his walking papers.

18 For 18’ is ABC News’ powerhouse political coverage of the 2018 midterm elections. Coverage kicks off Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” featuring a report on the 2018 midterms and the special House of Representatives election taking place next month in Pennsylvania. Coverage continues on “Nightline” on Monday. To stay up to date, visit ABCNews.com and the ABC News app, and follow our midterm elections alerts.

#analysis #clashes #define #era #midterm #set #Trump #News #Politics

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tortuga-aak · 7 years

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The Trump administration just unveiled 8 prototypes for the border wall — see what they look like

Reuters/Mike Blake

The Trump administration just unveiled eight prototypes for the US-Mexico border wall.

Six companies were commissioned to create four concrete prototypes, and four prototypes made of "other materials."

After the concrete finishes setting in 30 days, CBP will begin the testing and evaluations phase.

Trump has said he plans to inspect the prototypes himself and choose the one he likes best.

Customs and Border Protection unveiled eight prototypes on Thursday for President Donald Trump's long-promised wall along the US-Mexico border.

Workers have spent the last month constructing prototypes designed to deter illegal entry of immigrants and drugs. CBP selected six companies to build the eight prototypes, which are meant to "inform future design standards" for the wall.

Ron Vitiello, CBP's acting deputy commissioner, told reporters at a press conference that it will take 30 more days for the prototypes' concrete to finish setting, and then the agency will begin testing and evaluating the wall, and eventually submit a request for a finalized design.

Among the characteristics the prototypes are being evaluated for are anti-breaching, anti-climbing, and anti-digging capabilities, as well as impedance and safety, Vitiello said.

Shortly after taking office, Trump issued an executive order demanding that the Homeland Security Secretary "take steps to immediately plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border."

Although Trump's plans for a border wall have been beset by a number of obstacles — including the Senate's refusal to green-light a $1.6 billion down payment, wavering estimates on the total cost, and a lawsuit from California — his administration has moved ahead with the prototypes.

Here's what they look like so far:

The eight prototypes have gone up near the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego, California, just across from Tijuana, Mexico.

Reuters/Mike Blake

Four of the prototypes are concrete walls.

Reuters/Jorge Duenes

The other half are made of "other materials," including steel.

Reuters/Jorge Duenes See the rest of the story at Business Insider from Feedburner http://ift.tt/2fRLuMH

#Feedburner

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huginmuninorg-blog · 7 years

Text

Indiana´s Loss

Av: Andrea Tangrild Rustad Nymoen

Indiana´s Loss er en duo bestående av to selvdrevne og aktive artister som plasserer seg selv utenfor den kjønnsstereotypiske listepopen. Inspirert av en egen blanding av 50-talls musikk prøver de å treffe folk “litt over hele fjøla”. Nå har de nettopp sluppet sin femte singel, og er snart klare med flere album.

Fotograf: Siv Anett Jakobsen. Duen består av Beathe Leren og Mahtab Afrikan.

Gratulerer så mye med singelslipp! Også har jeg hørt at dere jobber med et album nummer to, åssen blir det i forhold til det første?

Jo, takk!

Vi merker at det ikke er riktig så tungt som det første, som blir sluppet i sin helhet snart. Melodiene er litt lettere, og det er ikke så tung stemning over det. Nesten alle låtene på det første albumet gikk i den tunge rytmen, og det har vi prøvd å svinge unna for å få en annen vibe. Men grunnlinja er fortsatt den samme.

Også har vi blitt litt eldre siden sist. For eksempel den nye singelen, No Wife To You, skrev vi jo når vi var 16-17 år.

Har dere alltid vært inspirert av jazz og blues?

Da vi begynte sammen så var vi ikke i den “pop-båsen”. Vi begynte å spille sammen for fire år siden, og da gikk det mye i Billie Holiday og Elvis Presley. Ettersom vi gikk lei av å covre låter så begynte vi å skrive sammen, og fant ut at vi ville ha den samme feelingen på våre låter. Så da ble det en blanding av jazz og blues som vi begge er glade i.

Popmusikken i seg sjøl er ganske dominerende i bransjen, så det er godt med noe som ikke er helt som alt det andre.

Så dere blander rett og slett selve sjangeren og tekstene rundt disse idolene?

Ja, de går litt hånd i hånd. Også blander vi musikken litt med ting vi har opplevd selv også, så vi fletter det inn i hverandre slik det ikke skal bli så ensformig.

Kjenner dere mange som hører på samme sjangeren?

Nei, egentlig ikke. For det går jo mye i liste-pop, men vi setter veldig stor pris på folk som vil høre på oss. Tror det som har overraska er at vi har truffet så mange forskjellige typer folk. Tror ikke det er en spesiell type gruppe personer - litt over hele fjøla.

Det er litt av hovedmålet og, vi skal lage musikk som alle kan høre på. Det er ikke for liste-pop for de gamle, og ikke for gammeldags for de unge, men en blanding av alt!

Er det vanskelig å få til?

Det er jo litt vanskelig, for enten så liker du det eller så liker du det ikke. Også er det vanskelig å få låtene våre lista. Nå har vi “No Wife to You” og “Nothing to Hide” lista på P1, etter at vi sendte ganske mye inn dit. Så P1 har vært veldig greie med oss!

Det morsomt når du får igjen for det du gjør. Særlig å merke at folk synes det er ålreit å høre på, og at de setter pris på at vi driver på.

Intervjuet fortsetter under bildet

Bilde: fra intervjuet

Dere har blitt spurt om å være med i The Stream, men så svarte dere at dere heller ville spille ute for folk. Hva gjorde at dere ville det?

Greia er at vi ble oppringt av TV2 etter anbefaling fra Universal Records om å være med i The Stream. Vi fortalte at vi var litt usikre på ideen, men fikk beskjed om at vi skulle være helt trygge på at det ikke var noen “Idol-greier”. Så vi ble jo med, helt til vi så at det var flere og flere som meldte seg på som covra låter. Det ble til noe annet enn det vi hadde fått beskjed om at det var, så vi bestemte oss for å trekke oss.

Det funket ikke for oss å bli satt i en bås. Det er ingenting som er bedre enn å høre på band som har fått det til helt på egenhånd, fra starten av. Da har en jobbet ordentlig for seg.

Hva er målet?

Å få et plateselskap i ryggen så vi har mere å gå på. Vi merker at det er veldig mye jobb, og veldig mye hardere når man gjør alt sjøl.

Høres tungvint ut, og det er det. Mye mailing, mye ringing, mye promotering, mye ordning!

Samtidig føler vi det er ganske viktig at vi får gjort denne prosessen, å få knote litt og kjenne på hvor mye det blir satt pris på når vi faktisk får det til. For det er en helt utrolig god følelse når det går.

Jeg har et lite spørsmål til, for vi skal oppdatere profilen til magasinet vårt en del. Vi skal ha en tydeligere feministisk og anti-rasistisk profil, og lurer på om dere har noen tanker om det innenfor musikken?

Vi har ikke vært innom noen store samfunnsproblemer, men når vi skriver låter tenker vi mye på at vi som jenter ikke skal virke så svake. Så selv i kjærlighetssanger passer vi på at vi ikke skriver det derre “ånei, hvorfor gikk du fra meg”-opplegget. Sånn at det virker som at det er vi som har styringa over ting.

Det gjør det jo! Dere gjør jo alt selv.

Vi har ikke tenkt noe særlig over det, men vi er jo feminister og anti-rasistiske fra før av. Så vi tenker ikke noe spesielt over det i den forstand, men det kommer ganske naturlig for oss. Vi er veldig fort ute med å droppe låter som vi synes får oss til å virke svake.

Hva er konsekvensen av å virke svak?

Det er jo den typiske stereotypen på kjærlighetsforhold, da. At jenta er veldig undertrykt og at det er gutten som skal styre alt. Så vi er ganske på det at vi ikke skal fremstilles som noe svakere ledd enn “gutta”. De sangene vi dropper er sanger vi ser over og ser at det er veldig mye sutring fra vår side, og dominering fra den mannlige sida. Det er kjempelett i de stereotypiske pop-låtene at det blir veldig tydelige “jente-gutt”-tendenser. Takk for intervjuet! Hør på Indiana´s Loss her: https://open.spotify.com/artist/38CuCcKSZ0RAZWf9BjEe1w

#intervju

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morathicain · 4 years

Note

“You broke my heart” for BohnDuen, please!

Thank you for this prompt @fan-mari and sorry for taking so long! ^^°

I hope that’s kinda what you had in mind and you enjoy it as much as possible ;)

And now: Have fun!

Do you have a moment?

Bohn had never expected to talk to Duen again.

He’d never wanted to, to be honest. In retrospect, they hadn’t had an honest and serious and healthy conversation in their whole relationship and they’d been together for a whole year.

For a while after the break-up, Bohn had tried finding good moments in their relationship so he wouldn’t feel like a complete loser and idiot. Who knew he’d overlooked so many red flags in their time together? A relationship which consisted purely out of red flags, as it seemed by now.

Whenever he’d tried telling First about something not as bad as the rest, he had ended up frustrated and embarrassed and sometimes even crying. At times even First’s shock had been enough to make him stop at the beginning, but in the end he’d always spilled the whole, realising how fucked it must have all seemed for someone else. Someone not as desperately in love as Bohn had been back then.

~~~

“You thought he’d raped you?!”

Bohn stopped talking, too flabbergasted by First’s shocked response. No, he hadn’t thought that he had thought … Fuck.

It was as if his whole head got lighter and he was sure he’d lost any colour because First changed from shock to worry in seconds.

“Hey”, hands cupping his face pulled him back and his vision got a bit clearer again, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

Taking a deep breath the way they had learned together, Bohn tried to calm himself down.

“Sorry for interrupting you like that”, First apologised, “I didn’t want to give you a panic attack.”

Bohn sighed, leaning into his boyfriend a bit and enjoying the soft strokes through his hair.

“It’s okay. I should have known it wouldn’t be a good story. I just didn’t expect it to go so dark so soon.”

“Please tell me again. I won’t interrupt you this time, I promise.”

Bohn felt how the corner of his mouth turned upside just a little bit. Give it to First to make him a comfortable and happy while talking about his disastrous relationship with Duen.

“As I said, my whole body was hurting and since we’d been fighting over who’s the wife and who’s the husband, I drew a perfectly shitty connection. I mean, I didn’t know how exactly it would hurt, but I was sure it would. Somehow. Especially with us both being virgins.”

First didn’t even need to say anything, Bohn was embarrassed by all of it perfectly by himself. Their stupid fight over top and bottom seemed even more stupid when he thought how much he enjoyed feeling First inside of him now and how fluently they had learned to switch and how none of them had to take on any roles for that. But back then had been a different time and neither Duen nor Bohn had had any experience. With sex or serious relationships. Especially with other men.

Even though Bohn had taken a small break, First didn’t say anything, keeping his promise. Only his fingers were continuing to calm Bohn down by drawing circles on the back of his hand. A constant reminder that he was safe.

“I was freaking out, but I didn’t dare to tell anyone about it. Even though Mek had reminded me that stereotypes aren’t real and that I should simply talk with Duen, I feared they might laugh at me. Stupid, I know, but that’s how I was back then. I mean, I took Mek’s word about consent and communication and thought it meant I was supposed to love Duen whether he’d fucked me that night or not.”

The pressure on his hand got stronger and he knew First wanted to say something, wanted to comfort him, but he still kept quiet, waiting for Bohn to continue.

“At least I decided to ask Duen because I didn’t want to continue guessing.”

Realising the next part was almost as embarrassing, Bohn pulled First in for a moment, burying his face in his boyfriend’s neck before continuing.

“Well, I asked him what had happened and no, he didn’t rape me. I fell on my ass and he ripped off some hair on my leg. Because he envied me? I kind of stopped listening, to be honest. Instead, I told him what I’d thought and he asked what I would have said if he’d done it.”

That part was painful now. Back then he’d thought it had been perfect. Him telling his boyfriend it didn’t matter who was top and who was bottom. Him confessing his love for Duen and Duen being happy about his answer. Yes, he’d been happy, but he hadn’t said anything back. Bohn had truly been desperate, hadn’t he?

“I told him it would have been fine. He was my boyfriend and I loved him and he could do that to me.”

First was radiating pain, or maybe mirroring Bohn’s pain, like crazy. And anger. Oh, so much anger. Bohn loved him for it since he gave him the possibility of an outlet. Of giving way to feelings he hadn’t allowed himself to have for months.

Leaning his forehead against First’s shoulder, silent tears running down his cheeks, he signalled his boyfriend the end of the story. Although it would probably be long until it was actually the end since the effect was still living on inside of him.

Shaking fingers stroked the nape of his neck.

“No one will ever be allowed to rape you. No love, no matter how big, will ever be enough of an excuse for abuse. Doesn’t matter who it is, no one is allowed to do it.”

There was no question in First’s words, only a threat.

‘If anyone dares to lay hands on you again, they won’t get away.’

Bohn hadn’t been raped. He’d fallen down and gotten some hair ripped off, but the thoughts he’d had, the desperation of wanting to be loved, no matter what, had left deep wounds in his heart.

This way another memory of his revealed its ugly truth in the light of reality. At least now he had First’s love to deal with it.

~~~

Bohn had been sure he wouldn’t meet Duen again, but fate had a different plan for him, as it seemed.

“Bohn!”

There was no sweetness in those words, which made Bohn instantly cower as if he seemed smaller, all would be better.

Duen walked straight towards him and there wasn’t any doubt what his intention was. Bohn was sure of it. As sure as those twenty people around him, all standing in line in front of the restaurant. He was, after all, supposed to get dinner for First and himself.

First.

The thought of his boyfriend calmed Bohn down instantly. At least a little bit. But it was enough to straighten his back again and to take a deep breath.

He didn’t owe Duen anything. No senseless apology, no fear and not one second of control. It was difficult, but he needed to remember it.

Especially because his brain tried to tell him to feel guilty, to apologise, to submit to Duen’s anger and try to soothe him as soon as possible.

No. He didn’t owe it to Duen.

And so he waited to Duen to arrive with such a furious expression, it was stunning. It was also blaming Bohn, people around them now staring openly. Of course, they were sure Bohn was the bad one. Why would such a cute guy like Duen blame him otherwise? He would never have a chance, would he?

Bohn was nervous as hell, his heartbeat off the track and his hands sweaty, curled into tight fists. He wished he could simply run off, leave the line and Duen standing there, instead of meeting the man. He wished ... but he didn’t. If he did, he would never forgive himself.

Yes, he was afraid, but he didn’t want to give Duen any control over him. Not anymore.

“Hello, Duen.”

Relieved his voice didn’t sound as horrible as he’d feared, Bohn straightened his back a bit more.

Duen stopped right in front of him, his mouth a grim line instead of the usual smile.

“You!”

Bohn stepped out of the line.

“Let’s talk somewhere else.”

Those words stunned Duen. They also stunned Bohn himself, as he walked away, not even turning if Duen was following him or not. If he didn’t it was his own problem.

But soon enough he heard steps, catching up with him.

“Are you planning on murdering me?”

It hurt, knowing Duen didn’t even trust him enough to know this would never be a possibility. To know Bohn didn’t want to hurt him. It hurt even more because it was another blame, Duen put onto Bohn, for all the world to hear.

“Do you think you deserve it?”

At least some part of his brain wasn’t cowering in fear and Bohn was glad about it.

~~~

Bohn didn’t know where he wanted to go to, but when he arrived at a small and rather empty park with a playground, he knew this would be the right place. As far as “the right place” was even possible.

Without even looking at Duen, he pulled out his phone and unlocked it. He didn’t mind if he saw the picture of him and First, happily sharing some ice cream.

“Didn’t you want to talk?”

The spite was almost tangible, but Bohn didn’t look up.

“I have to tell First why I’ll be late.”

Duen scoffed and Bohn finally put the phone away, looking at Duen as guarded as possible.

“You tell him the truth? Won’t he be worried you’re going to cheat on him?”

More blame was coming his way and Bohn couldn’t dodge it. He couldn’t avoid it but at least it didn’t hurt as much as it had, in the past.

“I can always tell him, because he won’t make a scene”, watching Duen frown more heavily as he processed those words helped a tiny bit, “And he knows for sure I will never cheat on him. Especially not with you.”

Speaking those words, he felt the knot inside his chest loosen up a bit. He was no prisoner of Duen any longer. He didn’t have to beg for this man’s love anymore.

“I wouldn’t want to, anyway!”, Duen spat, his anger once again obvious. More obvious than he’d ever allowed to show on the outside.

“Glad we’re on the same page then”, Bohn bit back, already exhausted by this, “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“I ... what?”

“You walked towards me and were ready to throw insults at my head”, Bohn explained, his heartbeat getting steadier by the second. Still too fast, but at least steadier, “So I guess you wanted to talk?”

Duen took a deep breath: “How dare you sent my friends against me?!”

Oh, so that was what it was about. King had told him something vague about Ram accepting his version of what had happened and was now about to talk to Duen.

“I didn’t send anyone against you.”

Duen huffed: “Really? Then why are they all accusing me of lying?”

All?

Bohn didn’t believe Ram had told the others about it. Except Duen had reacted so badly, it had made them wonder what had happened between those two.

“I only told them the truth, nothing more. Since you told them your truth, I’m pretty sure I am allowed to do the same.”

Frustration and anger were slowly getting the upper hand.

“What truth?”, Duen spit, his whole face contorted by anger, “You broke my heart and cheated on me!”

And there it was, the root of so many of their problems. Of course, it was his fault alone. But yes, he had broken up with Duen.

“And you broke mine.”

It came out cooler than he’d intended. Definitely cooler than he was feeling right now. His mind was pure chaos. A mixture of pain and anger and fear. Because he had been in love with First before he’d broken up with Duen, hadn’t he? So did it count as cheating?

He remembered his numerous talks with First and King. About him not intentionally falling for someone else. How he’d tried to keep this relationship for so long and with such effort. And how he’d broken up with Duen as soon as he’d realised what was going on. That wasn’t cheating. It was what he was supposed to do.

Duen’s shock was clearly visible. Apparently he’d never expected Bohn to blame him as well?

Bohn let out a shaky sigh, trying to collect his wits.

“Do you actually miss me?”

“What?”

“Do you miss me? Our relationship? The time we spent together? Or didn’t spend together?”

His words clearly had an effect on Duen, because for a moment he didn’t say anything at all.

Bohn wanted to keep his mouth shut, to wait and see what Duen would respond to that. He really wanted to and the next words weren’t planned at all.

“Or do you miss controlling me and my emotions?”

This effect was instant. Duen lost all colour in his face for a second before he blushed furiously, his brows drawn together in fury.

Unconsciously, Bohn stepped backwards. As if he feared the wrath which was about to come over him now.

“You!”

Another step backwards. Bohn regretted his comment so much.

“Why did you do that to me?”

Suddenly all the fury was gone and what was left were tears and sorrow and … almost automatically, Bohn went forward again, his guilt skyrocketing. He didn’t want to make Duen cry. He had never wanted to make him cry.

“Sorry”, he said because he couldn’t keep it in anymore, “I never wanted to make you cry. I only wanted to make you happy.”

Duen stared at him through tears: “Why did you break up then?”

Despite all abuse, it was the truth: “Because we can’t make each other happy.”

It still seemed as if there was more confusion than understanding.

“I meant what I said. You broke my heart. I’ve tried so hard to make this work, but I always felt as if I was running against a wall, not able to reach you in any way. And when I started to spend time with First, I realised it was all better when we didn’t meet as often.”

The anger was back in seconds: “So you did cheat!”

“I didn’t!”, Duen looked startled at the outburst, “I met him to get you flowers and learn to cook for you. I did it all for you, but it didn’t help. Do you know how much I cried during the time we were a couple? How much I wished for a little sign of affection from you? Just a tiny bit? But you got angry when I wanted to hold hands or be with you and I didn’t even dare to ask for that at some point, because you would mock me or pull away!”

“We held hands!”

“What? Once a month? Once a year? Back at the camp? I need more and I tried to survive with less, but I couldn’t. I was afraid you’d make fun of me and get angry and leave me and that’s why I didn’t say anything. You’ve shown clearly how little you wanted to be close to me, how much more fun you had, talking to other people. I tried to bear it, I really did.”

“And you promised me!”

“I never promised to stay with you whether you loved me or not. I never promised to stay with you no matter how often you pushed me away. I promised to stay with you under the assumption that you loved me as well. Under the assumption that we would be good for each other. But not like this. Not with me hurting and hating myself.”

By now Bohn was breathing hard, his whole body trembling.

“Except for this one moment at the camp, I never had the feeling as if you truly liked me. As if you wanted to stay with me, but somehow you still did. That’s why I thought I had to woo you more, be even more considerate and careful. I thought I had to be worthy and fight for you to show me some affection. Hell, Duen, you even laughed when I broke up with you!”

“Would it have helped if I’d cried?”

For a second, Bohn thought about it. A second was all he needed.

“No. By then I had fallen out of love with you, too bruised and exhausted to continue. And I had fallen for First already. Before you ask, no, I wasn’t with him before I broke up with you. I didn’t even know if he’d have me when I ended our relationship. He wasn’t the only reason though. And crying wouldn’t have worked. It would have only made me feel guilty.”

“And?”

Bohn blinked several times in a row, having problems catching up.

“And? You want me to feel guilty?”

From what he could see, Duen wasn’t sure why it was a bad thing. Good lord …

“I don’t want to feel guilty, Duen. It happened so often, I started to hate myself! If you ever have another relationship, please don’t do it to them. Don’t blame them all the time.”

“You hurt me. Of course, I want you to feel guilty.”

Some sort of exhaustion washed over Bohn. Duen wouldn’t understand, would he? Or didn’t he want to understand?

“You hurt me too, Duen. You hurt me so much, I couldn’t be with you for another day, no matter how much I had fancied myself in love with you.”

“But you ...”

“I broke my promise, yes. I am sorry it didn’t work out the way we wanted to. Sorry for pulling you into this mess. What I’m not sorry for, is breaking up. It was the best decision I could have made and if you still think you want to be back with me, I have no idea what else to tell you.”

Duen obviously didn’t like what he’d said.

“Oh no, wait, I have one thing left to say. You can hate me and you can cry if you’re actually heartbroken, but don’t blame me alone for something that has gone wrong long ago. Don’t tell lies about me as well and don’t make people come and harass me and my boyfriend. And maybe think about why you were happy spending no time with me before the break-up but behaved as if I was your one true love who betrayed you, afterwards.”

“You’re an asshole!”

The spite was still in those words, but they didn’t hit as hard as they had before. Maybe because Bohn had said what he’d wanted to say. Maybe because he was exhausted or maybe because there was nothing, Duen could say, which he hadn’t said to himself already.

“Probably”, he shrugged, “But so are you. Take care, Duen.”

And just like this, he left. He turned and walked away, not once turning to look back at Duen. For once, he was in control. For once, he decided how the conversation ended. For once he wasn’t overcome by guilt and self-hatred.

All he wanted, was to get back to First.

~~~

Only when he arrived, did he realise, he’d completely forgotten the food. But before he could turn around, the door was opened and First stood in front of him, worry clearly visible in his face.

He wasn’t worried about Bohn cheating on him. He wasn’t worried about Bohn breaking up because of Duen.

First was only worried for Bohn, not himself. The knowledge was like a hit in the stomach, making Bohn suddenly wish he could cry. Right here and now. Just let it all out.

Tenderly, First took his hand and led him inside without speaking a word. They passed the kitchen, where he’d obviously been in the process of cooking. The sight of whatever he’d managed to prepare already, gave way to his first tear.

There was still this fear that First had been impatient and maybe angry with him, but it was so quiet, he almost didn’t hear it. Instead, there was this knowledge how First had known Bohn wouldn’t have the mind to get the food. How he would need something to eat because he was exhausted and tired.

Bohn knew First was cooking for him because he cared and it made his heartache in the best possible way.

“Come here”, soft words were spoken close to his ear, First standing on tiptoe by now, radiating such calmness, it made Bohn dive right into the embrace, his tears falling freely.

Later he would tell First everything he’d said. He would also tell him everything Duen had said. He would ignore his strange urge to protect Duen as a way to protect his self-esteem. He would be honest and he would.

Later ...

For now, he allowed himself to sink into a tight hug, being reassured once more. He was safe and he was loved. And he finally believed it.

The End.

#my engineer #bohnfirst #prompt #ao3 #hurtcomfort #low self-esteem #anti-Duen #First/Bohn #Bohn/First #I have no longer any idea which tags will work #sorry

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