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gingerbreadmonsters · 2 years

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五二零

or: whoever said french was the language of love clearly never met vincent solaire.

gn!reader, no content warnings, hand-over-hand fluff and i won’t apologise. the 520 fic arrives at last!! let’s all make one thing very clear - i would both kill and die for rennie, rae’s lovely oc, she is my world the love of my life the girl of my dreams, okay? then you can consider this my love letter to her and my darling @sri-rachaa who singlehandedly revived this wip from the dead, our woman in STEM and absolute POWERHOUSE of chemistry - rae 加油！ oh, and of course some love for @ejunkiet for rallying hard for the east-asian vincent brigade - it’s canon to me and you lot are just going to have to deal with it, alright? a little bit of housekeeping before we get started: this fic does assume that lovely doesn't speak mandarin, but vincent does. vincent having a mindblank for just over 5200 words.

batsman: so you’re DEFINITELY free on friday?? like the whole day??

me: yeah he said we could move it to sunday

batsman: YESSS

me: ???? what’s happening on friday

batsman: nothing nothing

batsman: i just get to spend a whole day w you :DDD

me: :DDD

me: ok it’s starting now

me: see you when i get back

me: also i love you hehe

batsman: have fun little one!! 520

Vincent Solaire is up to something.

You're not sure what, and you don't really know why, but he's got that look - you know the one. The one he gets whenever he spies the final jam tart sitting unguarded on the table, whenever he notices William's left his instant camera unattended, whenever Sam says he's leaving you two alone with Fred and his partner, don't touch anything. It's the look that means he's plotting something nefarious again - one of his diabolical schemes that should send anyone with common sense running for the hills, and that probably means you either need to find your passport, renew your life insurance, or check the stability of every flat surface in the house.

(Actually, now that you think about it, how does life insurance work now that you're a vampire? Are there special empowered insurance providers? Do you get a payout if you get turned into a vampire? Are you or a loved one eligible for financial compensation? Mental note: ask William at tea on Sunday.)

He says it’s nothing. Yeah, right. You’d almost believe him if it weren’t for that cheeky grin he’s been sporting for the last week whenever he thinks you’re not looking, tapping away on his laptop of an evening like a man possessed, stifling a laugh every ten minutes or so. Meddling little so-and-so. He thinks he’s so slick, but you know better. Vincent Solaire has got something up his perfectly tailored, meticulously ironed, ridiculously expensive sleeve, and you are going to find out what it is.

You’ve got a pretty decent idea of where this particular scheme has come from, so that’s a good start. He was out with Gavin a few weeks ago, one of their little mothers’ meetings, and you’re sure whatever he’s planning is the product of that. The pair of them are terrible when they’re together - they gossip like you wouldn’t believe, wander round Dahlia charming the (thankfully metaphorical) pants off of everyone they meet, and they both drink like fishes if there’s nobody around to supervise. They’ll have cooked up one of their signature (read: stupid) ideas that sounded really good at the time, and now you and Gavin’s partner - who, let it be said, has the patience of an absolute saint when it comes to Vincent and Gavin’s collective bullshit - have to deal with the fallout. You know the drill.

(To be perfectly honest, you’re still not over last time - they’d come stumbling down the street at some ungodly hour, absolutely sloshed as usual, tottering arm in arm towards your front door and giggling uncontrollably at some half-baked joke Vincent was trying to remember. You and Gavin’s other half had been forced to pause your show for some emergency damage control when the dynamic duo finally managed to get the key in the door, and to this day you’re not sure how they managed to get Gavin safely out of those shoes and into pyjamas without some sort of divine intervention.)

Anyway, you have no doubt that they’ve come up with some Machiavellian (or, more likely, Rube Goldberg-ian) plan or other, the bastards, which probably means the only option is to brace for impact. Not to mention, if Gavin’s had anything to do with it, there could be literally anything at all coming your way. Vincent's already a menace all by himself, practically a force of nature, and he tends to get what he wants - the stranger the better, and he’s had some pretty strange ideas.

(Strange might be putting it a bit lightly. The day Sam stops reminding him about the roller skates incident is the day hell freezes over - you don’t even want to know how they managed to get the vampire-shaped dents out of the rear bumper.)

It shouldn’t be too bad though, whatever it turns out to be. Vincent is a lot of things, but mean-spirited isn’t one of them - you’re not worried about it being really embarrassing or stressful or something. He knows you, bless his little heart, and he knows what makes you uncomfortable. And to his credit, he’s never once done anything on purpose that he knew would push you too far, or that he wasn’t sure you’d be okay with. He asks, always asks. Is this alright? Would that be too much? How about this instead? Never pushy, never unwilling to back down. Do you like that? Can I hold you? May I kiss you? He plays it off as part of the charm, but you know better. He’s genuinely thoughtful, even when he doesn’t quite realise it, and he’s kinder than he gives himself credit for. He always has been, and he can’t hide it, least of all from you.

You’re not afraid. Never afraid, not of him. You’re just… suspicious.

Vincent, for his part, is not helping.

It’s been, what, a week now? And he’s been acting differently - it’s not a bad different, just suspicious different. He’s been very affectionate, even more so than usual (you hadn’t thought that was even possible), and he keeps being really… nice? Obviously, he’s always nice, but he keeps getting you glasses of water and offering you shoulder rubs and letting you decide which show to watch even when it’s his turn - all in the space of about five minutes. He’s even been playing that piece you’d said was your favourite of his on the piano whenever he’s in the front room, the one from that film you watched together ages ago. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he’s broken something by accident again and is trying to butter you up, but you’ve done a thorough check of all the major appliances, every light fixture, every picture frame, and every window in the house. Nothing is amiss, except for the fact that he definitely said he’d done the load of washing that’s still sitting in the laundry basket in the bathroom. (So that’s where that shirt had gone!)

The suitcases in the attic are still exactly where you left them, so he’s probably not planning on going anywhere. He likes to have things packed in advance, which is honestly a bit weird considering the general state of chaos that he tends to exist in when nobody’s looking. In any case, nothing’s been disturbed up here so he’s definitely not taking you anywhere very far away, if at all. Speaking of, is your passport still in date? Probably ought to check, actually. Vincent loves taking you to all sorts of places on holiday, seemingly at random, even though he’s not a huge fan of planes - which is a bit of a problem when everywhere he wants to take you is at least ten hours away.

(Aeroplanes are actually quite difficult for vampires, as has been gravely imparted to you - on several occasions, actually, pre and post-turning. You have to make sure it's night time when you leave and when you arrive, which can make managing timezones and travel itineraries very complicated - lest you accidentally end up like Vincent and Alexis, who once got stuck in an airport in France and were forced to wait five or six hours until sunset before they could leave, edging gingerly through the terminal as the sunlight moved across the floor.)

(William had to come and pick them up, and was met with a distinctly miserable pair of hungry, sleep-deprived progenies, grumbling about stupid massive windows, who even needs that much glass anyway? You’ve seen the photos - Vincent’s bedhead is bad at the best of times, but apparently it’s truly magnificent after eleven hours on the plane and six very tense hours creeping around the airport trying to avoid the sun - and although you’re sworn to secrecy, it hasn’t stopped you from taking the piss out of Vincent every time he tries to suggest going on holiday. Look, if he didn’t want you to make jokes, he shouldn’t have shown you the picture of him and Alexis, passed out and covered in sunscreen, piled up on top of the suitcases, being carted through the airport by William on a luggage trolley. Come on - the jokes write themselves!)

Honestly, the most frustrating question isn’t what he’s going to do - his little gremlin brain is far too bizarre for you to even begin to narrow down the list of things that might be on his radar, from the hilarious to the romantic to the just plain weird. The real question is why? He’s made a point of checking that you’re free for the whole of Friday, so you assume that that’s whenever he’s planning is going to happen. It’s only May, so your anniversary isn’t for a while, and you know it’s not a birthday thing… Is there something you’re missing? A clan thing or a vampire thing or some kind of empowered bank holiday that you don’t know about? That has to be it. But who could you ask to explain it to you?

me: ok can i ask a maybe stupid question

grandmaker: Of course. What would you like to ask about? I’m always happy to answer your questions.

grandmaker: (As long as it’s not about roller skates again. He’s still not allowed, and don’t let him bribe you into finding him another pair.)

me: it’s not about the roller skates dw

me: it’s just about vincent

grandmaker: What about him?

me: idk how to put it he’s like

me: he’s being really nice to me?? like nicer than normal?? and he’s definitely planning something for friday but he won’t say why?? idk what’s happening and i feel like i’m forgetting something

grandmaker: I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting you to say that the issue is “Vincent’s being too nice to me, his partner and progeny, who he loves very much and would do anything for, and it’s making me nervous”.

me: LOOK IT’S NOT A BAD THING

me: i just can’t figure out why he’s doing this NOW and i’m a bit worried i’m forgetting an anniversary or a holiday or something

me: is there a special clan thing coming up he hasn’t told me about? or an empowered thing that idk about? damn wasn’t very good at catching humanborns up to speed on stuff like that

grandmaker: I don’t think so. The next clan meeting isn’t until mid-June, and there aren’t any special events planned until the masquerade.

grandmaker: To my knowledge, there aren’t very many empowered-specific holidays or celebrations aside from the Solstices, and certainly none coming up immediately - the risk of breaking covert has, in my lifetime at least, rather stifled that sort of thing. Some, such as our friends in the Shaw Pack, will have their own more localised traditions, but historically it has been always difficult for empowered people to communicate and coordinate on a large enough scale to organise that sort of thing.

grandmaker: I would say that it has only really been possible for about fifty years or so, maybe less. Perhaps in the future this will change, but to answer your question - no, I can’t recall any special events coming up that Vincent might be planning to celebrate.

me: damn ok ty

me: guess he’s just having a moment then lmao

grandmaker: I suppose so. If you figure it out, do let me know - I’m curious as well, now.

me: cool i will

me: we’re still on for sunday right??

grandmaker: Yes, of course. I look forward to seeing you then. :)

me: :D

No luck with William, unfortunately, which is a bit of a blow. You’d hoped that he’d have some idea of what Vincent might be doing, seeing as he’s known him the longest, but alas. Looks like it’s time to bring out the big guns - it seems that drastic times call for drastic measures. Good thing you have a certain shifter’s number.

me: what’s he planning :) tell me :)

sandwich cullen: Hello to you too

me: ik he’s told you something i saw you two plotting together at the last clan meeting while fred was talking

me: i see all :))) you cannot hide :))) tell me what he’s planning

sandwich cullen: Who says we were planning something

sandwich cullen: We could have been talking about anything

me: ????? i have vampire ears now i could HEAR you talking about it

me: also your mate told me that he was at your house yesterday and you were booking something online together BUSTED

sandwich cullen: First of all rude

sandwich cullen: Maybe we were planning something for my mate

me: liar you weren’t your mate HATES surprises

me: if you were planning a surprise you would have at least told them that you were going to do SOMETHING

me: and i already asked them and they said you haven’t mentioned anything BUSTED

me: TELL ME

sandwich cullen: No

me: WHY :(((

sandwich cullen: Vincent would kill me I don’t need that

me: spoilsport :(

me: at least a hint??

sandwich cullen: No

sandwich cullen: It’s nothing bad and he says you’ll like it

me: …fine i see how it is

me: have fun when i invite your mate to the masquerade first and you have to turn up with vincent instead

sandwich cullen: WHAT

me: bc they WILL say yes

me: and you know how william gets about everybody entering in pairs

sandwich cullen: DONT YOU DARE

sandwich cullen: GET BACK HERE

sandwich cullen is typing…

Hmmm. A fruitful conversation to be sure, but just not in the way you were hoping, and no real new information gained.

The most annoying part about it is that none of it is helping you figure out what he’s planning. He’s just being stupidly adorable, your golden retriever vampire boyfriend, and it’s too difficult to theorise when your heart is too busy melting right into his hands. It can’t be that bad, right? All you can do is cross your fingers and hope that whatever it is, it doesn’t involve roller skates. Please, never again.

“Morning, lovely.”

“...”

“...Lovely?” A voice. Vincent’s voice. Mmm, Vincent. He’s so cute. Where is he?

“Mm-hnnrg,” you reply eloquently, through a mouthful of pillow. Something’s wrong. Why is it so cold? “Hmm?” You blindly reach out towards his side of the bed when-

“Over here, baby. No, no- other side, this side!” From behind you, a warm hand settles on your exposed shoulder and gently tips you onto your back, slipping up to turn your chin so you can see the very familiar vampire perching on the bit of mattress by your hip. He’s smiling softly, backlit by the early moonlight streaming in through the window where he's pushed the blackout curtains open. “There you are.”

It doesn’t look like he’s been up for long, still in his pyjamas (the really soft ones that are good for stealing), dark hair still ruffled and sticking up on one side. Silver eyes a little heavy with sleep, pillow creases faintly visible on his cheek. tongue barely peeking out to lick his lips as he finishes yawning - oh, he is precious.

“Breakfast?”

He’s also looking remarkably pleased with himself, which is always a sign of danger. You sit up and take the offered blood bag warily, narrowing your eyes at him as you bite into the plastic, although your death glare is probably undercut by the fact that you keep having to wipe the sleep out of your eyes. He seems unaffected, giving you a big, innocent grin that you absolutely don’t believe for a second.

“Mmm, thank you,” You tip your head back to squeeze the last few drops out of the bag, before leaning over and dropping it in the bin by the bedside table. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Of course I did,” he chuckles, thumbing a stray drop of blood from the corner of your lip and popping it neatly in his mouth. “I had my lovely in my arms, didn’t I?”

Still a bit groggy from sleep and a little dazed by his soft smile, you’re caught without a comeback - in lieu of words, you make do by pulling at the hem of his shirt until he’s close enough to cuddle properly. You settle your face into his shoulder, turning your head just a little to kiss his neck as he sighs happily into your hair, and it would be so, so easy to fall back asleep.

Well, it would be, if he wasn’t doing that (adorably dorky, ridiculously cute) stupid thing where he pretends to play the piano across your back, pads of his fingers tapping lightly across your shoulderblades as you hazily try to figure out what he’s playing. The light pressure isn’t distracting enough to outweigh his general utility as a pillow though, so you make yourself comfy melting against his warmth, closing your eyes against the moonlight from the window.

A little while passes, until suddenly it hits you.

“Are you-” He really is a dork. “Are you playing Heart and Soul?”

“What? No!” The fingers on your back freeze for a moment, before resuming in a decidedly more complicated pattern than before. “I would never.”

Liar. “You were humming it yesterday while you were brushing your teeth.”

“Pure coincidence, I assure you,” he scoffs, giving up on his silent concert in favour of wrapping his arms snugly around your waist, crushing you against him. "You must be mistaken, little lovely. How could I possibly do such a thing when my heart and soul are already yours -aghh!"

The reward for his vast devotion is swift, silver-tongued bastard that he is - he yelps as you give him a teasing little nip just below his jaw, hard enough to leave a decent mark but not quite breaking the skin, scrambling away from you almost fast enough to hide the subtle flush spreading across his face. “Stop trying to eat me, you menace,” he whines, "Those fangs of yours get enough practice as it is!" Snickering, you watch as he busies himself tidying up the vanity, pointedly facing away from you all the while.

(Alas, he appears to have forgotten that vampires are not, in fact, invisible in mirrors. The blooming mark under his jaw and the giddy little smile his reflection wears are very, very pretty.)

"In any case, little leech, you'd better get dressed. We've got the whole day to ourselves, remember?"

"How could I forget? You wouldn't stop asking if I was free," you say, swinging your legs over the side of the bed. "I take it you've got something in mind…?"

“Maybe, maybe not,” he says, which is Vincent-speak for I definitely have something in mind, and you’re going to be spoilt absolutely rotten if I have anything to say about it. “Doesn’t change the fact that today’s a special day, and I want to spend it with my lovely.”

“Flirt.”

“Oh, with pleasure. Anywhere in particular?”

“You know exactly what I meant, genius,” You shake your head good-naturedly, nudging him out of the way with your hip as you make for the wardrobe. “Although I am a little surprised. Normally, when we've got the whole day to ourselves, clothes don’t really factor into it."

“You-” What little of his blush that had receded comes back in full force, and he’s almost fast enough to hide it by making a hasty retreat to the safety of the kitchen, your laughter chasing him down the hallway. “Just- just get dressed!”

Still smiling, you turn back to the wardrobe. Looks like you have an ill-defined date night (do you really need to say night when you do everything at night nowadays?) to get ready for.

He’s lost it. Completely. Right here, right now, Vincent Solaire has gone absolutely, totally off his rocker.

Barring a few more intense moments, it had been a pretty normal date night - cuddles on the sofa, some lazy dancing in the kitchen, a liberal dose of kisses every time he thinks you’ve got too far (read: further than about two metres) away. You’d steamrollered him at Mario Kart, and he’d got you back with a surprise bout of tickles that had you squirming out of his lap and onto the floor in an unceremonious heap of laughter. Making fun of the TV, terrible innuendos, flicking water at him when you wash your hands. An ordinary date night, and you couldn’t possibly ask for more.

“It’s in the bedroom. Try it on for me?”

Vincent, however, has always been very good at more.

He watches you disappear around the corner, and as you open the bedroom door you can hear him fiddling around with something back in the living room. Oh, God, what on earth is he going to pull now? He’d better not be t-

Oh.

So that’s what he’s been hiding.

The garment bag isn’t entirely transparent, so you can’t make out the details, but you know exactly what’s inside. You remember seeing it online while shopping for potential masquerade outfits with Vincent, maybe six months ago? Seven? He’d offered to get it for you then, but you’d refused - it’s too expensive, I don’t really need it, I can find something else. However long it’s been, Vincent clearly hasn’t forgotten - sliding the hanger out of the bag reveals a very familiar silhouette, the fabric just as you remember it, and you’d bet that when you put it on, the size will be exactly as you wanted. As if that wasn’t enough, the box sitting next to it on the bed - yep, those are the shoes. How did he even find out about those? You swear you’d only told-

Damn. Of course. You’d told David’s mate, who must have told Sam, who must have snitched on you to Vincent. Ooh, you’re getting him back for this.

knuckle sandwich: yeah i can go to the masquerade with you

knuckle sandwich: what did he do this time

At least one of them has any sense. It doesn’t take you too long to get dressed, all things considered, and the knock at the door is very much welcome.

“Lovely? May I come in?”

You open the door, and are met with what you’re sure is the loveliest sight known to man (vampire?) - Vincent Solaire, in his goddamn Sunday best, a bunch of roses in one hand and a gentle smile on his face.

“You- oh, wow-”

Both of you stutter over each other, flustered hands struggling to settle and weight shifting from one foot to the other. Vincent manages to regain his composure slightly before you, folding your fingers around the bouquet and thankfully letting you hide your face in it. He’s all you want to look at, almond eyes crinkled into happy crescents and colour rising in his cheeks, but you worry that if you look too long, you’re seriously at risk of finding out if vampires can have heart attacks.

“Ready to go?” Wait, you’re going somewhere? That would explain why he’s all dolled up, but it’s, like, 1am - where on earth could he possibly be taking you that’s even open at this hour?

He must take your confused silence as a yes, linking his elbow with yours and taking you down to the garage. Before long, you’re racing into Dahlia proper, lights blurring past and music turned up, singing as loudly as you can to the CD - one of his early-2000s albums that seems to live permanently in the glovebox. It’s not a long drive, only a little more than half an hour, yet somehow he manages to get you out of the car and sitting at a very nice, very expensive table almost before you know what’s going on.

“How is this place even open?”, you hiss, hiding your face from the waiter with the excessively-tall menu. “It’s the middle of the night!”

Across from you, one dark eyebrow arches gracefully, but not unkindly. “Not for us, lovely. Cornerstone city, remember? All sorts of places are open for us, if you know where to look. Remember that gallery by the station? The one where the guy spilled his drink all over the floor?”

“That was your fault!” If there wasn’t anybody else here, you’d smack him with the menu - as it is, you settle for lightly knocking his shin with the side of your shoe under the table. “If you’d been able to keep your hands to yourself for five minutes-”

“Not my fault you couldn’t stay quiet!” He even has the nerve to stick his tongue out at you, the little menace.

“I’m not the one who wanted to start a tickle fight in the middle of an art gallery!”

“Okay, maybe I had something to do with it,” he admits, inclining his head towards the waiter who’s been patiently waiting just out of earshot for you two to decide what you want. “But you can’t say it wasn’t funny! And he was talking so loudly - honestly, I think we did everyone else in there a favour.”

“Th-” You’re about to retort when the waiter clears his throat unobtrusively, obviously trying to be polite, but really hoping you’re going to get on with it so he can go and do something else. “Uh, do you know what you’re going to have?”

“Mm, I don’t know…”

Dinner goes… well.

It’s a very nice dinner, to be sure - neither of you really need food any more, but that doesn’t stop it from being delicious. Once Vincent’s finished explaining the nighttime workings of Dahlia, the conversation lapses back into much more relaxed territory, and the hand-holding under the table doesn’t hurt either. The pleasant haze of his attention, the comfortable sway of his affection - behind the blackout windows of the restaurant, the silver evening becomes a golden early morning.

There’s only one question left to ask.

“...Vincent?”

“Hmm?” He looks up from where he’s toying with his credit card, spinning it between his fingers as you wait for the waiter to come back with the machine. “What is it, lovely?”

“Why are we, you know…” you start, unsure of how exactly to phrase it. “I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to go on dates with you, I like spending time with you and being with you and I love you so so much but-”

“What?” His hand on your cheek stops you in your tracks, and you can’t help but lean into the warmth of his palm. “But what, lovely?”

There’s no good way to say it - better just get it over with. “Is there something happening today that I’m meant to know about? Why did we, y’know, come here today?”

His hand freezes momentarily, fingers tensing almost imperceptibly against your face as his mouth drops open slightly, eyes widening. He looks… surprised, you think? It’s hard to tell, seeing as he almost immediately buries his face in his arms, groaning into the table in what looks like frustration.

“I knew I’d forgotten something!”

…Forgotten something?

“What did you forget?” In the corner of your eye, the poor waiter can very clearly tell that now isn’t a great time, and retreats to the safety of the kitchen. “Is everything alright?”

“No!” he mumbles, half-muffled by his sleeve. Reaching over to ruffle his hair in silent comfort, you wait for him to actually tell you what the problem is. “I thought I’d told you already - I think I just kind of assumed that you’d know, and Gavin said that he’d heard about it so then I didn’t really think about it, but he’s, like, a million years old and knows everything about this stuff, so-”

He takes a deep breath, sitting up and gently detangling your hand from his hair. “Do you know what date it is today?”

“The twentieth, right? No, the twenty-first.”

“No, you’re right, it’s the twentieth. May twentieth. Does that date mean anything to you?”

You shake your head, utterly lost. “...Should it?”

“Fuck, I really did forget,” he mutters to himself. “Lovely, you know when I text you, I always say something at the end, right?”

“Yeah, the numbers. Five-two-zero. I thought it was, like, one of your 90s emoticon things, isn’t it?”

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say - he looks even more embarrassed now. “No, it’s- it’s not. It’s a Chinese thing.”

Nope, that… doesn’t explain it. Your expression clearly tells him as much, as he starts to ramble. “So, like, the way to say I love you in Mandarin is wo ai ni, you know? Like, wo means I, ai means love - you know what I mean, I say that to you a lot, right?”

Now that he says it, it sounds familiar. “Right.”

“Well, it’s kind of like acronyms in English, I guess, like when you text? Short, fast ways of saying a phrase? Chinese has the same thing, but obviously they’re a bit different - I love you isn’t the letters I-L-Y, it’s the numbers 5-2-0. Five-two-zero is wu er ling, which sounds like wo ai ni when you say it fast.”

“Okay…?” It takes a second for it to make sense, but you think you get it. Also, now that you think about it, this recontextualises a lot of his texts to you. “And that has something to do with today?”

He doesn’t answer, instead reaching into his inside pocket and switching on his phone, sliding it across the table to face you. Right there on the display, above the picture of you asleep on his shoulder (wait, when did he take that?), it reads 02:50AM, 05.20.23.

“Today, the twentieth, is kind of like a Valentine’s Day for Chinese people.”

Oh. May twentieth. 5.20. I love you.

(He also does a bit of a double take at the time, but doesn’t explain this one. “Er bai wu… yeah, that sounds about right.” It’s probably not anything very polite, if you had to guess.)

You’re not exactly sure where to go with this, but there’s one option that always seems to work. You slip your hand under his jaw, pressing just slightly on the mark you left there earlier, and tilt his face to yours for a kiss. It takes a few seconds for his brain to catch up, but when it does he reciprocates in full, eyes falling blissfully shut as his tongue traces across your lip.

When you finally remember where you are, you pull away just enough to breathe, dodging his petulant attempt to chase your lips by ducking your head to the side for a second. He catches your cheek instead, whining softly when you press your palm to his chest to get his attention.

“Happy Valentine’s-in-May, pretty boy.” Your voice is low and quiet, but he hears you all the same, giving you that big fangy grin that makes your mind go all fizzy, entirely charmed. “I love you, Vincent Solaire.”

(He doesn’t reply in English, but you know exactly what he means.)

masterlist

this is an original work by @gingerbreadmonsters - please do not repost or misattribute

#redacted asmr #redacted audio #redacted fluff #redacted vincent #redacted lovely #ginger posting twice in two days??? what madness is this #ginger writes #gingerbreadmonsters

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namjoonia · 4 years

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Namjoon Bookclub: Conversation with David Hockney

My huge work project ended which meant I can finally sit down and write the thoughts about book “A Bigger Message: Conversation with David Hockney”.

Check out Namjoon Book Club on tumblr Join Goodreads page Jump into our Discord channel.

For March & April we are reading KAFKA on the Shore by Haruki Murakami The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

A BIGGER MESSAGE CONVERSATION WITH DAVID HOCKNEY

The one thing I think is notable about this book is that its an interview setting, jumping from present (when the interviews were held) to past as mr. Hockney recollects his growth as an artists but also as an person. You get short and yet very in-depth view into what and who inspired him as the time but also what kind of person he was when he was discovering art for himself. In this sense, the book is very philosophical.

The way David Hockney and Martin Gayford talk about art makes you want to explore that side of yourself and on that note I offer you one quote from the book:

Even children have that instinct to grab a pencil and draw. That suggests it's deep, deep desire to depict.

INFLUENCES OF MR. HOCKNEY

Reading about influences in any form of art is always fascinating to me, who was it that sparked the thought of another genius, anything and anyone can influence us on our own journey and this book spends great part of deal explaining what influenced David Hockney as an artists throughout his career whether it was Francis Bacon or his discover of classic Chinese paintings, which he first seen in United States in the 80s.

Personally the art from southern and southern-eastern Asia is fascinating me greatly and I love discovering it further, therefore this chapter was by far the most enjoyable to me, but the thing about David Hockney is that he tried many forms and styles of art, and I believe you will find your own piece of it, from classical painting, to portrait, to Asian or American influences all the way to photography and his love for nature.

Example is this painting influenced by the art of Vincent van Gogh

You can read more about that here.

THE BOOK IS A JOURNEY THAT JUMPS THROUGH TIME AND SPACE

For me personally, I could read another 300 pages and they would be gone in moments passed but I can also say that the way book jumps between different time and space, even in the present times when Mr. Hockney got his new studio in London and was concentrating on bringing size of painting to new dimension, combining them with what we can learn from photography, it can feel tad all over the place if you are not focused.

Nonetheless on its 300 pages which gather volume by many paintings and examples you will learn a lot about art, art of David Hockney and perhaps your own interests. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book, especially to the lovers of abstract art, in such case David Hockney stands right between the same giants Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti and on that note I offer quote from the book:

Francis Bacon used to quote Giacometti who used to say a lot of abstraction was "the art of a handkerchief" (C'est last du mouchoir) - covered in stains and dribbles.

You will of course read about great many influences and artists who had impacted work of David Hockney one way or another and on his journey, you can learn more of them as well, such as J. M. W. Turner, Vincent van Gogh, James Ward, Claude Lorrain or Xu Yang and many more.

#namjoon #namjoon bookclub #book #reading #bts

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csrgood · 4 years

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Grant Update: Round Two: Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta Announce Second Round of Grants for COVID-19 Response

Last week, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta announced the Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to direct funding to nonprofits on the front lines helping our region weather this unprecedented health and economic crisis.

Today, our organizations announce the Fund’s second round of grants, totaling $2.665 million, to 14 organizations for emergency response. A total of $4.165 million from the Fund has been granted out to date. Initial grants were made to Atlanta Community Food Bank ($750,000), YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta ($500,000) and Open Hand Atlanta ($250,000). Today’s grant recipients, and grant amounts, are:

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation ($150,000) Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF) provides free, high-quality legal services for more than 5,000 people annually. This grant will provide emergency support for tenants facing eviction through the Housing Court Assistance Center and services for survivors of intimate partner abuse. It will also increase AVLF’s ability to bring on contract, temporary labor across all of its programs to help with the influx of cases expected when normal court operations resume.

Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative ($250,000) Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative addresses the on-going crisis of inequity confronting Atlanta, with a focus on promoting understanding of community wealth building models for Black-owned businesses and elevating the engagement, capacity and leadership necessary to shape a more inclusive economic narrative in Atlanta. The grant will contribute to rapid-response grants and loans supporting Black small business owners for lease assistance, payroll shortages, e-commerce conversion support, conversion of service businesses to on-line interactions and other needs.

Center for Pan Asian Community Services ($175,000) Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS) began in 1980 and is the first, largest and longest standing service agency focused on Asian Americans in the southeast, serving over 70,000 people per year in their native language. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CPACS has shifted its approach to a remote model. The grant will support the organization’s work with government agencies and partners to ensure people have access to information, and will support its community health center, food delivery for seniors, housing programs and domestic violence shelter, all of which have experienced an increase in referrals due to the added stress of this crisis.

CHRIS 180 ($200,000) Since 1981, CHRIS 180 has been providing services to children and addressing mental health needs for youth who are experiencing homelessness, in the foster care system or who may also be victims of sex trafficking or other forms of violence including LGBTQ+ discrimination as well as families living in poverty. Grant funds will provide food for youth and young families, behavioral health needs in this time of anxiety, and telehealth services which include providing electronic devices for individuals so they can continue participating in therapy in this time of social distancing.

Giving Kitchen ($250,000) Giving Kitchen provides emergency assistance to food service workers through financial assistance and a connection to community resources. Requests for assistance are currently 20 times higher due to the COVID-19 crisis and its direct impact on this industry. The grant will support increased requests for assistance for food service workers in crisis who are unemployed currently, many of whom are experiencing other personal, family or health crises while mitigating the ramifications of COVID-19.

Good Samaritan Health Center ($250,000) Since 1995, Good Samaritan Health Center has provided high-quality health care for residents of the region, regardless of their ability to pay. Serving as a frontline health facility, Good Samaritan is experiencing the combined burden of having to boost its capacity to care for more patients, while dealing with the added costs of mitigating increased health and safety risks to its staff. Grant funding will alleviate these added costs and provide additional support funding during reduced income streams.

Henry W. Grady Health System Foundation, Inc. ($315,000) Since 1994, the Grady Health Foundation has worked with philanthropists, corporate leaders and civic activists to raise critical dollars and secure in-kind (product) donations to benefit the Grady Health System. In response to the COVID-19 crisis Grady Health System will launch a text and phone campaign to enroll up to 10,700 patients in Grady’s mail order pharmacy program, at no cost to the individual, to reduce potential exposure for those most at risk and limit the spread of the coronavirus in the region. This grant will fill financial gaps to enable Grady to fully support this effort.

HOPE Atlanta ($150,000) HOPE Atlanta provides mental health services, family reunification, emergency hotel placement and permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness in the region. Due to the crisis, organizations providing homeless services are in dire need for additional shelter capacity through hotel and motel rooms. This grant will support efforts to provide safe and isolated locations for those that are high risk or have been exposed to COVID-19 with access to hygiene products, private bathrooms and food.

Inspiritus (formerly Lutheran Services of Georgia) ($150,000) Inspiritus serves families and individuals whose lives have been disrupted, a population that includes children and families, refugees and immigrants, people with developmental disabilities and individuals affected by natural disasters who are particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis. The grant will support rent and utilities assistance and food, household, medical and sanitizing supplies to meet the urgent needs of the individuals and families they serve across Metro Atlanta.

Latino Community Fund ($125,000) Latino Community Fund supports Latino-serving nonprofits and individuals in Georgia with advocacy, program development, technical assistance and collective investments. This grant will support an Emergency Assistance Fund to support families in crisis in five counties through an expanded network of more than 10 partner organizations, and will enable the organization to be a clearinghouse for resources, materials and documents relevant to the Latinx community.

Meals On Wheels Atlanta ($150,000) Meals on Wheels Atlanta provides healthy meal delivery to elderly and health-challenged residents in Fulton County. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is tripling its production to over 35,000 meals per week, and preparing to deliver bulk supplies of emergency meals each week to seniors’ homes. This grant will be used to hire temporary staff, rent additional freezers, and purchase more cooking equipment, food and supplies.

MUST Ministries, Inc. ($150,000) MUST Ministries provides healthy food via 39 food pantries embedded in schools throughout the City of Marietta, Cobb County and Cherokee County. MUST Ministries also owns and operates a 72-bed shelter for individuals and families struggling with homelessness. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, MUST has significantly increased its food pantry operations from serving 400 families in a normal week to 3,500 families last week. This grant will support the increase in needed services.

PowerMyLearning ($200,000) PowerMyLearning helps students in low-income communities harness the power of digital learning to improve educational outcomes. The organization has already received local requests to support 4,745 students directly from schools representing $2.4 million. This grant will help the organization to meet requests from districts for devices, WiFi, content and support for students experiencing homelessness.

St. Vincent de Paul Georgia ($150,000) St. Vincent de Paul Georgia serves more than 100,000 families per year throughout the metro Atlanta region providing emergency financial assistance and food through its 36 pantries. The organization is seeing an enormous increase in requests for both financial assistance and food. Its ability to respond is being severely impaired by social distancing measures implemented throughout the region. This grant will help to provide direct financial assistance to people furloughed or unable to work in hourly positions and to purchase bulk food from retailers to stock food pantries.

Grants from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund focus on immediate and critical needs to support those most vulnerable. United Way and Community Foundation staff, with the guidance of a volunteer steering committee comprised of leading individuals from civic, corporate and nonprofit sectors across the region, are identifying additional organizations currently providing or receiving requests for support. This includes working closely with the State of Georgia’s Coronavirus Task Force Committee for Homeless and Displaced Persons, and other state and federal supports that are to be issued in the coming days and weeks.

The Fund was announced March 17 with Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta committing $1 million and United Way of Greater Atlanta contributing $500,000 to seed the Fund. As of today, commitments have been secured from the Coca-Cola Company, Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, each donated $5 million to the Fund in support. Other current funders include the City of Atlanta, , Truist Foundation and The Goizueta Foundation contributing $1 million each, Wells Fargo and Global Payments contributing $250,000 each, The Primerica Foundation contributing $50,000, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and The Vasser Wooley Foundation, Inc. contributing $25,000, and $25,000 jointly from 11Alive and the TEGNA Foundation.

Individuals and families impacted and in need of support can contact United Way of Greater Atlanta’s 2-1-1 Contact Center. Due to high call volumes, texting is the quickest way to get in touch with United Way 2-1-1. Text 211od to 898-211 to get a list of resources by zip code. The 2-1-1 database is another quick way to find resources during this time of increased call volume. 2-1-1 is a valuable resource that is available 24-hours and 7 days-a-week.

The need continues to rise as stories accumulate from across our neighborhoods. To donate to the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, click here. The next round of grants will be announced early April.

The Community Foundation will continue to update details for donors and nonprofits through its blog and via social media via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. To view updates from United Way of Greater Atlanta, click here or follow on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

###

Editor Note: The journey ahead

Support funds will be released on a rolling basis throughout the outbreak and recovery phases of the COVID crisis, making it possible to deploy resources quickly and adapt to evolving needs in subsequent funding phases. United Way will administer grants from the Fund. No later than April 6, 2020, the Community Foundation and United Way will announce the process for nonprofits to share additional insights and information, as well as a grant process specifically for arts organizations. The next round of grants will be announced early April.

About the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Since 1951, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has been leading and inspiring philanthropy to increase the vitality of our region and the well-being of all residents. With nearly 70 years serving the 23-county Atlanta region and a robust team of experts, the Community Foundation expands its philanthropic reach and impact by providing quality services to donors and bold, innovative community leadership. The Community Foundation is a top-20 community foundation among 750 nationally, with approximately $1.2 billion in current assets, and is Georgia’s second largest foundation. For more information, visit: cfgreateratlanta.org or connect with the Foundation via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About United Way of Greater Atlanta

United Way of Greater Atlanta, the largest United Way chapter in the nation, focuses on ensuring that every child in Atlanta has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. The organization invests in more than 200 programs in 13 counties through the Child Well-Being Impact Fund and works to help children succeed in school, improve financial stability of families, provide affordable and accessible healthcare and end homelessness. For more information, visit: unitedwayatlanta.org or Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

Media Contacts:

For United Way United Way of Greater Atlanta

Chad Parker, 404.358.5055

For Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Louise Mulherin, 404.405.1070

source: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/44304-Grant-Update-Round-Two-Community-Foundation-for-Greater-Atlanta-and-United-Way-of-Greater-Atlanta-Announce-Second-Round-of-Grants-for-COVID-19-Response?tracking_source=rss

#CSR #corporate social responsibility #social good #philanthropy #employee engagement #workplace givi

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mystlnewsonline · 6 years

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China leads stock markets retreat on trade talks doubts

SINGAPORE (AP) — Shanghai led a retreat in world markets on Friday amid worries that the U.S. and China may not be as close to a trade deal as President Donald Trump has suggested.

Selling picked up after China reported that its exports plunged more than 20 percent in February from a year earlier. The Shanghai Composite tumbled 4.4 percent to 2,969.86, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 1.9 percent…

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#annabelle liang #asia #business #China #china leads stock markets retreat #Currency markets #East Asia #economy #financial markets #greater china #LeadingNews #North America #Shanghai #Trade Agreements #United States

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investmart007 · 6 years

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SINGAPORE | Trump declares via Twitter the NKorea nuclear threat is over

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/KC95Nm

SINGAPORE | Trump declares via Twitter the NKorea nuclear threat is over

SINGAPORE — President Donald Trump declared on Twitter Wednesday that there was “no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea,” a bold and questionable claim following his summit with leader Kim Jong Un that produced few guarantees on how and when Pyongyang would disarm.

“Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office,” he tweeted. “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!”

Trump and Kim were returning to their respective strongholds following the talks — but to far different receptions.

In Pyongyang, the North Korean autocrat woke up to state media’s enthusiastic claims of a victorious meeting with the U.S. president; photos of him standing side-by-side with Trump on the world stage were splashed across newspapers. Trump, meanwhile, faced questions about whether he gave away too much in return for far too little when he bestowed a new legitimacy on Kim’s rule and agreed, at Pyongyang’s request, to end war games with Seoul that the allies had long portrayed as crucial to Asian safety.

As the top U.S. diplomat jetted to South Korea for follow-up talks Wednesday, much of Asia was still trying to process the whirlwind events of the day before.

There was, at times, a surreal quality to the carefully staged, five-hour meeting of two men who’d been threatening each other with nuclear war and insulting each other’s mental and physical attributes just months before. Trump repeatedly praised Kim’s negotiating skills and their new relationship and expressed hope for “a bright new future” for Kim’s impoverished nation.

But there were worries, especially in Tokyo and Seoul, which both have huge U.S. military presences, about Trump agreeing to halt U.S. military exercises with South Korea, which the North has long claimed were invasion preparations. That concession to Kim appeared to catch the Pentagon and officials in Seoul off guard, and some South Koreans were alarmed.

“The United States is our ally, so the joint military drills are still necessary to maintain our relationship with the U.S.,” said Lee Jae Sung, from Incheon. “I think they will be continued for a while.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived at Osan Air Base south of Seoul from Singapore early Wednesday evening. Pompeo met for close to an hour with Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, at the air base before heading by motorcade to Seoul.

Pompeo will meet President Moon Jae-in on Thursday morning to discuss the summit. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono is also heading to Seoul and is due to meet with Pompeo and his South Korean counterpart. Pompeo, the former CIA director, then plans to fly to Beijing to update the Chinese government on the talks.

On the issue the world has been most fixated on — North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear arsenal meant to target the entire U.S. mainland — Trump and Kim signed a joint statement that contained a repeat of past vows to work toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. The details of how and when the North would denuclearize appear yet to be determined, as are the nature of the unspecified “protections” Trump is pledging to Kim and his government.

Despite the confusion and disappointment among some, the summit managed to, for a time at least, reset a relationship that has long been characterized by bloodshed and threats. In agreeing to the summit, Trump risked granting Kim his long-sought recognition on the world stage in hopes of ending the North’s nuclear program.

“Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “President (Barack) Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight!”

Trump’s claim that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat is questionable.

North Korea is believed to possess more than 50 nuclear warheads, with its atomic program spread across more than 100 sites constructed over decades to evade international inspections. Trump insisted that strong verification of denuclearization would be included in a final agreement, saying it was a detail his team would begin sorting out with the North Koreans next week.

Moon has championed engagement with the North, and the agreement’s language on North Korea’s nuclear program was similar to what the leaders of North and South Korea came up with at their own summit in April. Trump and Kim referred back to the so-called Panmunjom Declaration, which contained a weak commitment to denuclearization but no specifics on how to achieve it.

As Trump acknowledged that denuclearization would not be accomplished overnight, the North suggested Wednesday that Trump had moved away from his demand for complete denuclearization before U.S. sanctions on the long-isolated country are removed.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the two leaders “shared recognition to the effect that it is important to abide by the principle of step-by-step and simultaneous action in achieving peace, stability and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” KCNA also reported that Trump had expressed his intention to lift sanctions “over a period of goodwill dialogue” between the two countries.

The White House declined to comment on the North Korean characterization of the deal. Instead, officials merely pointed to the text of the joint Trump-Kim statement, and left it at that.

The Singapore agreement does not detail plans for North Korea to demolish a missile engine testing site, a concession Trump said he’d won, or Trump’s promise to end military exercises in the South while negotiations between the U.S. and the North continue. Trump cast that decision as a cost-saving measure, but also called the exercises “inappropriate” while talks continue.

While progress on the nuclear question was murky, the leaders spent the public portions of their five hours together expressing optimism and making a show of their new relationship. Trump declared he and Kim had developed “a very special bond,” and seemed to delight in giving Kim a glimpse of the presidential limousine. Kim, for his part, said the leaders had “decided to leave the past behind” and promised, “The world will see a major change.”

The U.S. has stationed combat troops in South Korea since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s and has used them in a variety of drills. The next scheduled major exercise, involving tens of thousands of troops, normally is held in August.

The Pentagon said Tuesday it was consulting with the White House and others, but was silent on whether the August exercise would proceed. Mattis’ chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White, told reporters he was “in full alignment” with Trump.

In Japan, the prospect of canceled U.S.-South Korean drills was met with concern.

“The U.S.-South Korea joint exercises and U.S. forces in South Korea play significant roles for the security in East Asia,” Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Wednesday. He said he planned to continue sharing the view with Washington and Seoul.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Japan wants to get further explanations from the U.S. and South Korea on the issue. He declined to comment further.

In South Korea, the liberal Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper said Trump and Kim have started a “march of peace” to end nearly seven decades of hostility and pave the way for permanent peace and prosperity on the peninsula.

The conservative Chosun Ilbo, the country’s biggest paper, was decidedly more critical, denouncing Trump for offering the end of military drills while failing to convince the North to commit to verifiably giving up its nukes for good. It called the summit “dumbfounding and nonsensical,” and said it will allow North Korea to permanently maintain its nuclear weapons program.

___

Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea; Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea; Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo; and Josh Lederman in Singapore contributed to this report.

By ADAM SCHRECK and FOSTER KLUG, By Associated Press

___

#NKorea nuclear threat is over #Singapore #TodayNews #Trump declares via Twitter

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clusterassets · 6 years

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New world news from Time: ‘We’re Reaching the Climax of This Issue.’ Korea Expert Victor Cha on the Prospects of Peace on the Peninsula

On Memorial Day morning, Dr. Victor Cha was not, as many had expected last year, ensconced in the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. Instead he was finishing a workout and driving to his home in Maryland, not far from Georgetown University, where he is a professor of government and international affairs. He spoke to TIME by phone as he pulled into his driveway on a rare day off.

The former director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, Cha was President George Bush’s top advisor on North Korea. He is also Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the author of five books. But, more recently, he has been known, as he wryly puts it, “as the guy who almost became ambassador [to South Korea] despite the fact that I have a 30-year record of scholarship and I have done a previous tour of service in government. That’s the thing people like to write because it sounds sexier.”

Washington had formally requested Seoul’s approval for the Korean-American’s nomination, but he was abruptly withdrawn from consideration in January. (Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, was instead nominated by President Donald Trump on May 18 and awaits Senate confirmation.) Cha’s reported private disagreements over aspects of Trump’s strategy on North Korea were writ large in a January op-ed in the Washington Post, in which Cha wrote that giving Pyongyang “a bloody nose,” in the form of a preemptive strike, should be a non-starter. It would put American lives at risk, he said, and risk a catastrophic war on the peninsula.

“This bona fide hawk wasn’t hawkish enough for this administration” was how the Pyongyang-watcher website, NK News, described Cha in February.

The soft-spoken 56-year-old is philosophical about it. The Seoul embassy has lacked an ambassador since Trump has been in office. But Cha praises the Deputy Chief of Mission Marc Knapper and Commander U.S. Forces General Vincent Brooks for holding the fort while Trump lurched from “fire and fury” to seemingly wanting to befriend North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He tells TIME that the ultra-hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton — who has advocated preemptive strikes against North Korea and Iran, and maintains that the decision to invade Iraq was correct — has solid non-proliferation experience to backstop the president, adding that “it’s good to have a hardliner in every government.” He also says there’s no better person to negotiate for the U.S. than South Korean-born American envoy Sung Kim — the diplomat currently in talks with North Korean officials over Trump’s hastily arranged, cancelled, and now seemingly on-again summit with Kim, tipped for June 12. Cha describes him as the “institutional memory” of U.S. negotiations with Pyongyang “going back to the very beginning” of the six-party talks in 2003.

And yet Cha’s experience will surely be missed. While the views of Bolton, Harris, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo matter, Cha says he is “completely convinced that Trump is the only person that decides” the administration’s high-pressure policy on North Korea.

Read more: Donald Trump Needs the North Korea Meeting More than Kim Jong Un Does

Trump deserves credit for that policy, Cha says, because “North Korea doesn’t tend to lash out militarily when they feel economic pressure.” But at the same time he warns that Kim won’t give up his nukes. In fact, Cha says Kim wants to meet because “he feels like they’re now secure with this nuclear weapons capability.”

Cha believes that a peace agreement would validate the North as a nuclear state, ensure the Trump administration won’t carry out a military attack, and most importantly remove the U.S. as an obstacle to funding from international financial institutions like the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the IMF.

There are precedents for the U.S. striking deals with Pyongyang. The Clinton Administration got North Korea to freeze plutonium production for eight years between 1994 and 2002 under a system known as the Agreed Framework, but Cha says it sunk because the North was secretly developing a parallel uranium program. Then, President George W. Bush included North Korea, along with Iraq, in his “Axis of Evil” and Pyongyang resumed plutonium enrichment.

Greg Baker—Pool/Getty ImagesI n this March 17 2007 file photo, Victor Cha (L), then the U.S. National Security Council’s director for Asian Affairs, arrives with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (C), and Ambassador to China Clark Randt (R), at the opening of denuclearization negotiations with North Korea in Beijing

The six-party talks, which included China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia, produced a 2005 agreement in which Pyongyang agreed to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for food and energy assistance. But that deal also collapsed and the following year Pyongyang carried out its first nuclear explosion.

“It’s not hard to get a deal with North Korea” Cha maintains, but “the real question for the president is: are we going to pretend that they got rid of [their nuclear capability], or are we going to make certain that whatever agreement is reached, this will not be a threat to the American people or to U.S. allies?”

The alternative to a deal is a return to the standoff of 2017. Then the stakes could not be higher. A preemptive strike of any kind, as Cha has argued, would only delay North Korea’s missile building and nuclear programs, while endangering the lives of millions. Would Cha have increased the odds of a desirable outcome if he had been the ambassador in Seoul? He refuses to be drawn.

“I believe that every White House has the right to choose their own people, and they also have the right to change their minds if they want to,” he tells TIME, before painting a picture of what’s at stake. “This is a nuclear security threat to the United States that we’ve had to deal with for 30 years, and I feel like one way or another we’re reaching the climax of this issue. It’s deadly serious and, you know, pictures of leaders embracing are great, and they make people feel good, but people have to scratch below the surface and see if these meetings are really making you safer as a country or if they are not.”

Spoken like the pragmatic envoy that never was.

May 30, 2018 at 09:51AM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com

#Time #world #news #ClusterAssets #ClusterAsset #Cluster Asset Inc.#ClusterAssets Inc.

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sephirthoughts · 5 months

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Father: Verb

Summary: 11 year-old WMD Sephiroth is assigned a new handler/bodyguard, named Vincent Valentine.

(prev chapter linked at bottom)

Chapter 4: Birthday Cake

“Vincent, what’s a birthday?”

Vincent’s oil cloth stopped on the barrel of his gun, and he stared across the workbench at the child who had just cheerfully gutted him. “A birthday is the anniversary of the day of a person’s birth.”

“Well, yes, I had deduced that much,” Sephiroth replied, continuing to polish his katana’s long blade. “But on several occasions, I’ve overheard people saying ‘happy birthday’ to one another. Why should they wish another person happiness on the day of their birth? Why would they even know what day that person was born?”

Vincent felt a headache coming on. “Sephiroth, have you never celebrated your birthday?”

“No. Why should I?” the boy asked, curiously.

“It’s just…it’s a thing people do. Paying special attention to someone on their birthday is a way of showing them that we appreciate and care about them.”

The boy thought about this for a moment. “Do most people know what day they were born?”

“Do you not?”

“No.”

“Then, how do you know how old you are?”

“By the calendar. When the year changes over, I’m a year older. Isn’t that how everyone does it?”

“In some places, it is, but usually, people count themselves a year older on their birthday, not on the new year.”

“Oh. When is your birthday?”

“October thirteenth.”

“Then I want that to be my birthday, too, so we can celebrate them together,” Sephiroth announced. “Only, I don’t know how, so you have to tell me what to do.”

“October thirteenth is in five days. You sure you’re ready to turn thirteen, in less than a week?”

“It’s not as if I’ll really be older. Besides, you’ll be forty-one. Thirteen doesn’t seem very significant, comparatively.”

“Thanks for pointing out my age, brat,” Vincent said, tossing a wadded up polishing rag at him, which Sephiroth caught.

“It’s not my fault you’re old, old man,” he retorted, throwing the rag back. “So, how do we celebrate our birthdays? I’ve never had one before, so we have to make sure we do everything right.”

“Let’s see. My family always made longevity noodles, for birthdays, so we should do that. We should also have a birthday party. That’s where we exchange gifts, all wrapped up with paper and ribbons, and there are balloons, and most importantly, a birthday cake.”

“What are longevity noodles? Also, what’s a birthday cake?”

Vincent scratched his head. “Um…you know the udon you liked? Longevity noodles are a bit like that, except the whole bowl is filled with one long noodle, that you make by hand. I think the tradition came from my mother’s side of the family. Birthday cake…I don’t think you’ve had anything to compare it to. We’ll go to a bakery in town, tomorrow, and I’ll show you.”

When he stepped off the lift, the next morning, Vincent was greeted by the sound of screaming, and a troop of helmeted Shinra guards dashing by. He looked down the hall, in the direction they were going, just in time to see a man in a white lab coat come flying out of a pair of double doors and slam into the wall with a heavy thud.

He crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll, and didn’t move again. Vincent vanished in a whirl of crimson and reappeared at the scene, well ahead of that troop of guards. The scientist’s neck was broken, but it was difficult to tell if it was the impact that killed him, or the pair of scissors jammed into his trachea.

Just then, there was another scream and a loud crash in the room, and a young boy’s voice shouted, “Get away! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”

Vincent stopped the guards, with a raised hand, as they came jogging up. “Secure the area and stand by. Let no one through. I’ll handle the asset.”

“Yes, sir!” the guards saluted, and hurried to carry out his orders, extremely relieved not to have to confront the little monster themselves.

Vincent pushed open the door, and stepped cautiously into the room. Steel trays and various medical instruments had been flung all over the place, the bed was overturned, and a couple of unconscious guards were lying about on the floor.

Sitting against the wall on the left, was a woman in a lab coat, with a very obviously broken leg, and a man, also in a lab coat, clutching one arm to his chest, with one lens of his spectacles shattered, and blood all over his face.

Several guards were aiming air-powered rifles at Sephiroth, who was standing at bay, in a pastel green hospital gown, with tranquilizer darts sticking out of his body in various places.

“Sephiroth,” Vincent said, ignoring everyone else. “Why are you so upset? What happened?”

The boy turned sluggishly and looked at him, with hazy, dilated pupils, which was apparently the extent of the effect on him, of tranquilizers sufficient to take down several elephants.

“Vincent! Th—they tried to cut my hair!” he cried out, piteously. “I begged them not to, but they wouldn’t listen! That woman put something in my IV that made me dizzy. The other one, he had scissors. I told him I don’t like having my head touched! He grabbed my head anyway, and I—I panicked.”

“He was supposed to be sedated!” the man in the lab coat said indignantly, from where he and the woman were huddled. “He just lost it all the sudden and started attacking us! He killed Dr. Irvington!”

“Why the hell were you idiots trying to cut his hair?” Vincent returned. “This was supposed to be a routine physical.”

“It—it’s policy, sir,” the woman explained, apologetically. “All subjects are required to receive hygienic grooming, at the time of their annual health evaluation.”

Vincent’s crimson cloak billowed up behind him, like nightmare wings, as he stepped menacingly toward the two scientists. His eyes flashed gold, and his voice took on a rasping, demonic timbre. “Does he look like he is in need of hygienic grooming? Does he look like an animal in a cage, to you!”

The two had already been trembling and cowering, and now they were also shielding their heads with their arms. “No, sir! We’re so sorry! We made a mistake! We made a mistake! We’ll never do it again!”

“Sephiroth is not your subject,” Vincent growled. “If he tells you not to cut his hair, you do not cut his fucking hair. Guards! Get them out of here!”

The guards stowed their tranq rifles and rushed to assist the injured scientists out the door (and a few even had the wherewithal to drag away the unconscious among their own ranks). When the room was clear, Vincent knelt in front of Sephiroth and plucked out the tranquilizer darts, which he flung away.

Then he took the boy in his arms and hugged him tightly. “That must’ve been frightening, for you. I’m so sorry. I’ll never let them do that to you, again.”

“You’re…not mad at me?” Sephiroth asked, in a weak, slurring voice. “I made a mess and I…I killed that man.”

“Of course I’m not mad at you. This was not your fault, it was theirs. They made a conscious choice to mistreat you, and these are the consequences.”

“Conscious choice…to mistreat me,” Sephiroth murmured, as if he was practicing saying unfamiliar words.

“How’re the sedatives? Wearing off yet?”

“Mm-mm. Still woozy,” he pouted, dropping his head onto Vincent’s shoulder.

Vincent scooped the boy up like a princess, to carry him over to the sink. From the cabinet, he dug out a sleeve of paper cups, one of which he filled with water, and helped Sephiroth drink it, slowly. When his eyes looked clearer and more alert, he set the boy down again.

“Uh. So. I pet your hair a lot, when we’re playing around, but…I didn’t know you didn’t like having your head touched,” Vincent said awkwardly. “I won’t do it anymore, if it bothers you.”

“It’s ok when you do it. I like it,” Sephiroth assured him. Then his expression hardened. “But not other people. No one is allowed to touch me, but you.”

Now that he was sure the boy was alright, Vincent collected Sephiroth’s clothing and boots, from the locker that had been knocked over in the fray, and helped him get dressed.

“I don’t know how good a job I’d do, but if you want, I could try to help cut your hair,” he offered.

Sephiroth shook his head. “I don’t want it cut. I want to grow it long, like yours.”

Vincent definitely almost smiled, at that. “If you’re all better, let’s get out of here. We’re going to the bakery, to order our birthday cake, remember?”

“How could I forget?”

When they exited the examination room, the coroner was present, and the dead scientist was being zipped into a navy-blue bodybag. The unconscious guards and the two injured scientists were nearby, being loaded onto gurneys, by paramedics.

Behind Vincent’s back, Sephiroth shot the man and woman a look of icy contempt, causing them to nearly faint with terror, before he tossed his head and followed Vincent away down the hall.

Later that day, the office of Professor Hojo, head of Shinra’s Science and Research Division, sent out a memo regarding the unfortunate accident in the exam room, this morning, regretting the loss of their colleague, Dr. Irvington, and admonishing the staff to exercise proper caution when operating dangerous laboratory equipment.

No mention was made of Sephiroth’s involvement, but the message was loud and clear: the little silver-haired prince could literally get away with murder. There wasn’t a damn thing anyone was going to do about it.

“Birthday cakes happen to be our specialty!” the pretty blonde woman behind the counter enthused. “Made to order, in whatever flavors you like. Oh, and we have a catalogue to choose from, in case you’re not sure what you want. Let me grab that for you.”

While she went in the back, to retrieve it, Vincent continued to stand there looking dour and out of place, and Sephiroth went to examine the glass case, which was packed with muffins, cookies, breads, and rolls, and a number of other fascinating confections that he’d never seen before.

“Berry tart,” he read aloud. “That looks good. Chocolate croissants…cinnamon buns…profiteroles. Vincent, what are profiteroles?”

“I have no idea,” Vincent said, coming over to squint at the items in the case. “They look like…little bread balls. But they’re covered in chocolate.”

“What’s inside them? Butter?”

“Don’t tell me you two have never tried profiteroles!” the blonde woman chimed, as she reappeared with the catalogue. “Well, we can’t have that. Take a sample, on the house.”

Before they had a chance to agree or object, she’d already skewered two of the golden-brown, cream-filled treats, on toothpicks, and handed them over. Vincent held one stiffly, while Sephiroth bit into the other. His blue-green eyes went wide and he quickly stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.

“That was delicious!” he beamed, when he was finished. “Thank you very much, ma’am!”

“Anything for the handsome little gentleman,” she tittered, glancing sidelong at Vincent. “Such good manners, too. Your mother must’ve taught you well.”

“I don’t have a mother,” Sephiroth replied blithely, as he devoured Vincent’s profiterole. “She died shortly after I was born, and I never met her.”

The young woman laid a hand on her ample bosom and made her very best sympathetic face. “Oh, how dreadful! So, it’s just…you and your father, now?”

“Yes. We’re having a birthday party, for the two of us, since we don’t know anyone else.”

“That is so sweet,” she intoned. “But it’s such a pity to let this fine boy grow up without a mother. Why haven’t you remarried?”

“I haven’t remarried because I was never married, in the first place,” Vincent answered, to the young woman’s discomfiture. “I’d rather not talk about it. Seph, come look at the catalogue and help me choose a cake.”

In the end, Sephiroth chose something called white velvet cake, with strawberry filling, fluffy, white, buttercream frosting, and a ring of glossy, red strawberries on top. Their full names would be quite a challenge to fit on even a much larger cake, so he chose the inscription, ‘Happy Birthday V and S’ to be written in scarlet icing.

The cake was ordered to be picked up on the twelfth, and the two departed directly, much to the disappointment of the flirtatious clerk.

Neither she nor Vincent observed the venomous glance, from a pair of serpentine eyes, that was cast on her, before the beautiful boy followed the handsome man out the door.

“Vincent, why did you call me that?” Sephiroth asked, as they walked down the street.

Vincent had no idea what he was talking about. “Call you what?”

“When we were in the bakery, just now, you called me Seph.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Parents sometimes refer to their children by shortened versions of their names. It seemed appropriate.”

“Will you…call me that, more?”

Vincent paused and turned around. Sephiroth had stopped dead in his tracks, and was looking up at him, imploringly. His eyes were pink rimmed and his lower lip was trembling.

“It’s just. I don’t have anyone to shorten my name. I don’t have anyone but you. So, if you called me Seph, sometimes, maybe it would feel like I had a f—a father.”

“Of course I will. Anything you want,” Vincent said, pulling the boy into a hug (as he’d been doing far too often, lately).

Sephiroth had grown like a weed, even in the short year they’d been together, and his head was already up to Vincent’s collarbone. That was her height, and as her son’s head rested on Vincent’s chest, memory washed over him like a tidal wave.

He found himself submerged in that one moment, all those years ago, when he embraced her, just like this, and she laid her head on his chest. The first and last time he’d ever touched her.

Sephiroth stiffened suddenly and jerked away, drawing Vincent abruptly from his ruminations. The boy’s blue-green eyes were glaring up at him, with a half-accusing, half-wounded expression.

“Who is Lucrecia?”

“Who…what?” Vincent asked, confused. “Where did you hear that name?”

“You said it, just now,” Sephiroth fired back, with swiftly rising agitation. “You were hugging me and petting my hair, and you said ‘Lucrecia.’ Is she…is she your woman?”

“It’s not what it—”

“You said you didn’t want a woman! You said you would never care about anyone, more than me! You promised!”

“Sephiroth, calm down and listen to me. She is not my woman, ok?”

“Then who is she?” Sephiroth demanded, sounding anything but calm. “Why would you say her name, all soft and sad, like that?”

Vincent sighed. “She was…a friend, a long time ago. That’s all.”

Sephiroth was breathing hard and blinking rapidly, like he had dust in his eyes. Vincent watched his hands warily, for any signs of fire flaring up, but to his surprise, the boy managed to pull out of the tailspin, on his own.

He shook himself and took a deep breath, then looked at Vincent again. “Ok. I’m ok, now. I’m sorry I overreacted. Everyone lies to me, all the time, and I hate it. Everyone except you. You’re the only person I trust, and if I found out you were lying to me, too…there would be nothing true in the world. Nothing I could believe in. So, when I thought you had lied to me, I got a little upset. I apologize.”

Vincent’s soul-crushing guilt very nearly broke him, right there in the street. Only by his literally superhuman will, did he keep a straight face, and force himself to carry on with this hellish charade. “It’s alright. It was just a misunderstanding. We still have to buy the rest of the things for our birthday party. Are you ready?”

“Mm. Ready,” Sephiroth nodded.

Vincent took his hand, and they continued down the street, as if nothing was wrong. But Sephiroth quietly engraved that name on his consciousness.

Lucrecia.

There was more to this mysterious woman, than Vincent was letting on, and he was going to find out what.

NOTES:

i know masamune is an odachi, but little sephiroth has a katana

longevity noodles are a chinese tradition and yes i hc vincent half chinese or whatever the final fantasy equivalent is no one can prove he’s not

THE AUTHOR HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

vincent: sephiroth my poor innocent baby what did these mean people do to you are you alright you must have been so scared

dead scientist, two severely injured scientists, and any number of unconscious guards: ...

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#ff7 #ff7 rebirth #vincent valentine #sephiroth #final fantasy 7 #vincent accidentally being a dad #miniroth #child sephiroth #ff7 vincent #autistic sephiroth #graphic depictions of pastries #teen and up audiences #canon typical violence #asian vincent deal w it

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