#others take up temporary shack on the shore

[baconcolacan]

I just got off work, but I’m feelin really relaxed today, since I got to spend time with family.

Popping back into my tumblr though, I just gotta say, I’m really happy with the little bubble of people I managed to find here. My mutuals are so cool and silly, the people who followed me are really kind even if sometimes you guys can get a lil goofy, this lil internet space I burrowed into is just really really cool =7=

Maybe I’m just being a bit sappy as a carry over from spending time with loved ones, but yknow, I just wanna express some appreciation for the people who floated into my bubble. Thanks for all the fun ^^ I’m glad to have met you here! :D Hope we have more good times to come!

[hetalianskywalker]

Day 2: The Bakery

Pairing: Merman Jesse x gn! Reader

Summary: Something odd is happening on the island 501st are staying on.

Author’s Note: Mermaid AU! Jesse is a little cheesy at the end. He be good at flirting for the rest of the fic though. I just love me some cheese.

Warnings: Nothing I can think of

Word Count: 898

Prompt: The bakery is built of seashell studded stone, sitting several meters out from shore and buffeted by ocean waves. The owner can’t set foot on land.

Prompt 3205 by deepwaterwritingprompts

Jesse watches as the townspeople take rowboats and canoes to the seashell studded house several meters out from the town. They bring all sorts of items to trade from different kinds of food to clothes; everything a person could need. They leave and head back to shore with fresh pastry and bread.

The Mer should go back to the others. The 501st has stopped on this island for a few days before heading to the next battle site. However, he had spotted an ancient Mer shack from the main deck of their battleship. They had been told about these places a few times by their Mer trainers back on Kamino; they were made to be temporary places of shelter during a storm for any Mer who was too close to the surface.

Most were long abandoned, but this small town seemed to be using this one as a bakery. He finds he can’t fight his curiosity any longer and swims up to the small dock in front of the door. Jesse shifts into his human form as he jumps up on it. He places his helmet under his arm and knocks.

“Come in!?” You call out, sounding both surprised and preoccupied. Jesse slowly eneters and his stomach growls at the divine smells.

“Sorry I wasn’t expecting….” You pause, now looking at him. “A Mer.”

“Well, you’ll find many of the citizens of Mandalore would disagree with you there.” He jokes and you relax somewhat, but your anxiety was palpable.

“Well that’s stupid.” It’s Jesse’s turn to be surprised as he looks over your pastries. “It doesn’t matter if you were made with kaminoan alchemy. You quite literally have to be the same species as your prime.”

“I mean some of us came out as sirens and selkies.” He teases as he walks closer to the counter. Your shoulders relax at this point; he watches a soft shy smile grace your face.

“I believe those have all been considered Merfolk for the past few centuries.” You laugh before slowly handing him a cinnamon roll he was eyeing like he hadn’t eaten in forever.

“But I- ” You shake your head.

“On the house, soldier.” You flirt as you finish closing up shop; you can feel his eyes on you as he gobbles his treat down.

“So you live here too right?” Jesse asks as you gently lead him to the door.

“Yep. Thankfully this has two stories.” You lean against the doorframe as he stands on the dock.

You both stand quietly in the shadow of your house, protected from the last rays of the setting sun. You look at your old village and then back at the curious Merman. You know what he wants to ask; every outsider asks for the same story.

“I stood up to a monster that was passing through our town. In response, after finding out my family had died a few years ago, cursed me to never walk on land again or I would die. I apparently had nothing else to loose. He then threw me into the ocean. The people rallied behind me and found a solution…” You lovingly patted the house behind you. “I was the town’s baker by trade and so it made sense to…”

“Make it a bakery.” Jesse finishes in awe before it changes to something far more sad. “So you have been stuck in this one house for…”

“A few years.” You nod, shifting uncomfortably from the pitying look you always received and looking away at your feet.

“It’s better than being dead though.” You jokingly add to try to lighten the mood.

“And I thought Kamino was claustrophobic.” He says with the same joking air, but the empathy touches you. You gently look up at him with a soft smile.

“Thank you…”

“Jesse.” The Mer grins one of the brightest smiles you have ever seen. “I’m Jesse. I probably should have said that at the beginning.”

From then on, whenever his battalion was stationed nearby, he came to visit you. Occasionally, you even got letters all the way from the capital island of Coruscant when he was on leave.

However when it was announced that the Jedi Order were traitors and the war was over, no news of Jesse came. Many days were spent pacing and worrying before a soft knock echos through your small home.

“Hey, babe.” You are running for the door at the familiar exhausted sound. You throw the door open and you both almost plummet into the water with the force you hug him with. Jesse laughs, spinning you around.

“I’ll explain later, but we need to leave.” Jesse says quickly, setting you down. You look up at him confused.

“But I can’t…”

“You can never set foot on land again and we can find a way to break that curse eventually.” He softly rests his hands on either side of your face; his desperate eyes holding your gaze. “But if you’ll have me, I can make you a Mer.”

“Yes.” There is no hesitation. The man you loved and your freedom, even if it is different from what you had imagined, are too valuable to pass up on. “I love you.”

That bright smile captivates you for a long moment. “I love you more.”

“I love you most.” You both laugh when you say it together as you start your new journey.

[nikibogwater]

The Norse Chaos Chronicles: Chapter Four--In which by some Easter miracle, the Incompetent Vikings defeat the Elder

Been a few days since my last update in regards to Team Bogwater’s exploits in the world of Valheim. This is mostly because we actually had a couple of play sessions that were relatively calm.

We actually did manage to expand to the Black Forest across the sea and set up a functioning base there, where we lived in somewhat cramped quarters for a while until we had gathered enough minerals to enter the Bronze Age (and by cramped, I mean all three of us were crammed into what was basically a single king-sized bed because we failed to make the house big enough to accommodate a reasonable amount of space between each of our beds--clearly some home renovations are in order).

I, being a very kind and responsible sister, spent some time on the server by myself making our base more secure with Stake Walls, setting up a sufficient space for storage, and gathering food, all tasks that the others didn’t seem too excited to take care of. I was expecting the boys to notice and at least tell me that my additions were helpful.

I know for a fact that they at least noticed, because when I joined them for this most recent play session, Gustav had decided that what our base needed now was a spike pit around the front gate, which I know wouldn’t have occurred to him if I hadn’t put up the spiky walls. I was never told that my additions were helpful or appreciated, but considering that there were far fewer deaths happening close to our base, I suspect they were nonetheless. 

Niki: ...Is....Do we really need the spike trap? Like, is it necessary? Gustav: How could you even ask something like that?! I have never been more upset in my life.  Niki: It’s just...like, there’s a bridge that goes right over it. Gustav: Yeah. So we can get across it. Niki: Right but so could the Greydwarves. Gustav: Greydwarves aren’t that smart. (20 minutes later) Gustav, trying and failing to shove a Greydwarf into the pit: You guys, I may have overestimated how unintelligent Greydwarves are.

Gustav got exactly one (1) Greydwarf to fall into the pit and die. The only other thing he caught was Tripe. 

Okay, well, he did manage to get a Troll to walk into the spikes, but then it just smashed them all to pieces. It was at this point that Gustav finally accepted the reality of the fact that a spike pit was completely useless to us in this particular area.

Gustav, filling in the pit with rocks: Man, why didn’t one of you guys warn me that the spike trap was a dumb idea? Niki and Tripe: Yeah, that was our bad. 🙄 (10 minutes later) Niki, just peacefully mining copper in the forest: Wait, so where did the Troll go- *gets slammed by the Troll before I can even finish voicing the question* GUSTAV, WHY DIDN’T YOU KILL IT?!

Tripe and Gustav upgraded to Bronze Gear and Troll Hide (I brought mine over from my single player world to save time and resources). I was still trying to gather up enough Bronze to make a Cultivator so we could eat something other than Cooked Meat and Queen’s Jam, when suddenly I was informed that we were getting into a boat (we upgraded from the raft, finally) and going to kill the Elder.

Tripe: Get in losers, we’re going to kill the next boss. Gustav: *jumps in without any hesitation* Niki: Wait what?! That’s a terrible idea! (5 minutes later) Niki, sulking in the front of the boat: Did I mention this is a really bad idea? Gustav and Tripe: It’s fine. How bad can it possibly be?

Horrible. Absolutely horrible. That’s how bad it was. 

We had rather unlucky RNG with our world generation, and the Elder’s altar was a good 1,000 miles away from us. Which meant a significant portion of this play session was actually just sitting in the boat and watching the scenery pass. 

It sounds like a pleasant time, but I was absolutely terrified the whole way there. 

Gustav: ...Oh hey, we discovered the ocean. Niki, who has seen videos of Sea Serpents absolutely wrecking well-equipped players: BACK TO THE SHORE. GO BACK. DO NOT MOVE INTO OPEN WATERS. GUSTAV, FOR THE LOVE, GO BACK TO THE SHORELINE! (Passing a Plains biome) Niki: ...Did you guys know there are one-hit death bugs in the Plains Gustav and Tripe: Will you please calm down

We happened to run across Haldur the merchant shortly before reaching our destination. Since Valheim doesn’t tie your inventory to individual worlds, I went ahead and bought a few things to bring back to my single-player world (namely the fishing gear). I hopped off the server for a minute to transfer the items, and while I was in my world, I grabbed some extra food (the boys are terrible about keeping food in their inventories) and, since I figured we’d need all the help we could get, grabbed a few jugs of mead without really paying attention to what effects they gave.

When I came back into the server, Tripe and Gustav were setting up our temporary base so we could reset our spawn points. Right. Smack. Dab. Next to the altar. As in, when the Elder spawned, he was going to basically be standing directly on top of it. 

Niki: ...You guys that seems like a poorly-conceived plan. Gustav and Tripe: No, it’s fine. Stop worrying. 

At this point, I was pretty resigned to the disaster that was inevitably going to unfold, so I just grabbed some wood and set up my own shack a decent ways away without making any further attempts to convince the other two. 

Gustav: Niki, where are you? We’re all ready. Niki: I just...I’ll be there in a minute, hold on. Tripe: What are you doing? Niki: ...I’m building a house. Gustav: YOU ARE BUILDING YOUR OWN HOUSE WHEN WE HAVE A PERFECTLY GOOD ONE RIGHT HERE?! RUDE! Niki: I DON’T WANNA RESPAWN AND THEN JUST IMMEDIATELY BE SQUISHED AGAIN, ALRIGHT?!

Houses built and weapons readied, we all gathered at the altar. I chucked the Ancient Seeds into the flame and immediately booked it out of the vicinity as fast as my meaty Vikings legs could carry me, frantically downing a jug of mead as I went. The Elder spawned in and within seconds, absolute carnage reigned supreme.

Gustav died within the first two minutes and spent the next ten trying to make it back to his grave. Which he couldn’t really do because his respawn point was right next to the Elder, and emerging from the house naked of all armor and gear was basically an instant death sentence.

Gustav: I’ve died six times trying to get my gear back. We really shouldn’t have built the house this close to the altar. Niki, why didn’t you warn us? Niki, fleeing from the massive thorny vines that the Elder is trying to impale her on: I hate you guys so much right now.

I was hanging back as much as I could, dealing damage with my Finewood Bow, but the Elder has a huge range of attack, and it had me down to single digits in health within less than a minute. And it was at this point that I realized I had majorly screwed up.

The mead that I had been frantically chugging in hopes of gaining better health regen? It was actually slowing my health regen and only increasing my stamina.

Niki: YOU GUYS THE MEAD WAS A MISTAKE. OH MY GOSH, IT’S MINUS FIFTY HEALTH REGEN, NOT PLUS! OH CRAP CRAP CRAP--I’M LITERALLY SLOSHED OVER HERE! Gustav: WAIT, NIKI CAME INTO THIS FIGHT DRUNK?! Niki: I DIDN’T NOTICE THE MINUS SIGN!!!! *yeets the rest of the mead into the ocean before meeting my first demise at the hands of the Elder*

Miraculously, I only died twice during the fight (again, mostly because my respawn point was away from the altar, meaning I had a clearer path back to my graves when I respawned). I have no idea how many times the other two died. Towards the end we were also being bombarded by hoards of Greydwarves, which only made things ten times worse.

Gustav: Have either of you seen my corpse? I mean, I have several lying around here at this point. 

I don’t even know how we managed it, but we did finally take out the Elder and received our Swamp Keys. We all stood around the scene of destruction for a minute, just kind of collecting ourselves. 

Tripe: ...I feel like that could’ve gone better. Gustav: Yeah.  It’s just, Niki goes and does all this research and watches videos and then she doesn’t bother to tell us not to put our house so close to the- Niki: *punches him*

The trip home was blessedly uneventful. Tripe did decide to cut across the ocean instead of following the shoreline in order to save time. I was 90% certain we were all going to be eaten by a Serpent, but we were fine. 

We made it back to our camp only to find a Greydwarf Shaman mucking around in our front yard.

Gustav: What is he--is he barfing on our house...? NO, HE’S SMASHING THE CART! OH YOU SON OF A-- *takes a flying leap out of the boat and tears through the shallows, furiously waving his spear*

The Shaman poisoned Tripe, who had a mild panic attack because his respawn point was still back at the Elder’s Altar, and if he died now he would have to walk all the way back here. 

Tripe, with 1 HP left: NO I’M NOT DYING LIKE THIS! *dives headfirst into the nearest bed*

So yes. That is what I was doing this weekend, in case any of you were wondering where I disappeared to. I am hoping to spend some time working on ToA stuff today, but I again, I think it is important to record these events for posterity...and perhaps as a cautionary tale for others.

[phoenix-downer]

Circling Penelope

Sora/Kairi. Post-canon. Angst, romance, hope. Based off of the Odyssey. 3000 words. 

Time didn’t have any meaning anymore, and the usual boundaries between waking and sleep and death had all been blurred together. That meant Sora had no break, no relief from his thoughts. And they traveled to Kairi almost constantly.

He pulled her lucky charm out of his pocket and stared at it. How many weeks and months had passed in the Realm of Light? How many days and nights had she spent waiting for him to return to her like he said he would, only to be disappointed because he still wasn’t home yet?

“Kairi, I’ll come back to you, I promise,” he said as he stroked the shell that had his face on it. 

The Final World was endless though. He was on a journey that had no clear path. Sure, the destination was obvious, but how to get there was the real question. His wanderings just took him through endless memories and shifting tides of scenery. A meandering odyssey with no way of knowing how to get back to his Penelope. 

“Just once, I’d like to see her again. Just once. Is that really so hard?” he asked no one in particular. All he got was silence in response, same as ever. Sighing, he kept walking forward, and ripples spread out from underneath him. One foot in front of the other in the hopes that it really would bring him a step closer to home. A step closer to her. 

“Sora…” came a voice from far away. Her voice.  

He perked up. “Kairi? Is that you?”

He sped up, and the scenery around him began to shift. The water beneath him swelled and pulsed till it formed waves pulled by some invisible moon. The sands of the Play Island rolled in, and the familiar trees and shack and waterfall all sprang into existence. It was like watching a popup book come to life, a realm from some happy fairytale. 

And best of all, someone very important was here, standing on the shore facing away from him. She turned, and her entire face lit up when she saw him. 

“Sora!” 

“Kairi!”

He broke into a run, not caring that the waves were doing their best to keep them apart. The water sloshed all around him as he tried his best to reach her, and she likewise ran towards him. Right when he was about to reach shore though, he halted. Darkness was swirling around her feet. Was this really his Kairi, or was it just another illusion? 

“Sora?” she asked, tilting her head, her eyes questioning, curious. 

“You’re not real,” he said, hanging his head as he fought the awful sinking feeling in his stomach. “The real Kairi doesn’t have any darkness in her.” 

She stared at him, unblinking. “Why wouldn’t I?” 

“You’re still a Princess of Heart. That means you’re not like me. You don’t have darkness in you like I do.”

“But I’ve had plenty of reason to grow darkness in my heart. Losing my heart, getting kidnapped, getting broken into pieces… and being abandoned by you.” 

He clenched his fists. “Kairi, you know I never wanted to leave you—”

“But you did.” 

He just stared at her. His own heart felt like someone was stabbing it with a knife as tears filled her eyes. He never wanted to be the reason she cried. 

“Why do you keep abandoning me?” she asked, her lower lip trembling and her voice quaking.

“I haven’t abandoned you!” he cried. “This is just a temporary separation, I promise!” 

“You’re dead, and nothing you can do can change that. Which means… you can’t keep your promise.” 

“Kairi, I swear I won’t let anything stand in the way of us being together anymore.” 

He really, truly meant it. He was sick of not following through for her. He was tired of everything else getting in the way, like he and Kairi were forever doomed to be apart. 

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Then prove it to me. Come ashore.” 

She held her hand out, and he tensed. The darkness was still swirling around her feet. How did he know this wasn’t just some trick? What if going ashore and taking this Kairi’s hand doomed him to be separated from the real Kairi? 

Was this even a fake Kairi? Maybe it was the real deal. Maybe this was some side of Kairi that she didn’t let anyone else see. 

“Kairi, I—”

She lowered her hand. “It’s okay. This is what you do best. Leave me behind to fulfill your duty to everyone else.” 

Her words were full of bitterness. Another stab to his heart.  

“I told you, I’m not gonna live like that anymore! You’re my priority now.” He took a deep breath. “And by ‘you,’ I mean the real you. This is just an illusion, it has to be. I have to get back to the real Kairi.”  

“What if this is how you’ll get back to me? What if this is your only chance?” 

“It can’t be.”

“But what if it is? Which would you prefer, an eternity of solitude spent looking for me, or getting to be with me here and now?” 

He stared at her, took in the way the breeze blew through her red hair, how the sun made her eyes shine. She looked so small, standing on the beach all alone. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her. Wanted to make up for abandoning her and leaving her behind. 

“You’re lonely,” she said softly. “So lonely you can hardly bear it. No one is meant to be alone, least of all you. Your journey has been long and hard, and you deserve to rest.”

Rest. What he wouldn’t give to finally sleep. He hadn’t been able to, not since he got here. 

“Sora, please, stay with me. Even if it’s only for a little while.”

“I guess… a little while wouldn’t hurt.”

She finally smiled again. “No, it wouldn’t. Just a short break before you continue on your journey.” 

A short break sounded nice. He hadn’t had much of one in a long time. 

He took a step closer. 

She held her arms out, and he wanted to hug her really badly now. “I told you, remember?” she said with her classic Kairi charm. “You’re safe with me.” 

“Safe with you, yeah.” 

He took a few more steps. A hug would be really, really nice. It had been way too long since he’d felt the warmth of another person. And to go so long without her warmth—

He broke into a run and flung himself into her arms. Hugging her was as good as he remembered. He ran his hand over her hair and pulled her as close as possible. Whatever the danger might be, this was more than worth the risk. 

“I’m back,” he said, glad at last to be reunited with her. But she was oddly silent.

“Kairi?” he asked, leaning back a little to search her face. Why hadn’t she given him her usual return greeting? 

“I’m glad we’re together again,” she said with a smile. A nagging thought at the back of his mind told him this was wrong, this was all wrong, and yet… he couldn’t bring himself to leave. 

She reached for his hand. “Come with me.” 

He let her lead him towards the Secret Place before taking one final look behind him. The sea stretched into the horizon, and he thought he heard his name rolling in with the tide.

Then Kairi squeezed his hand, and he turned to look at her. “Coming!” he promised, and the rest of his hesitation melted away. 

So long as he and Kairi were together, everything would be fine. 

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Being with Kairi was as good as he’d imagined. He’d missed talking to her, hanging out with her, seeing her smile, hearing her laughter. They had all the time in the worlds now to themselves, just like he’d always wanted. They spent hours together on the Play Island, doing things they’d done as kids and revisiting nostalgic memories. 

And yet… this nagging voice at the back of his mind still wouldn’t leave him alone. Everything was right and good except for that. 

“Sora?” Kairi asked with a frown as he stared out at the sea. The two of them were making a sandcastle like they always used to with… with… 

“Where’s everyone else? The other people we used to hang out with, I mean.” 

“We’re together, that’s all that matters.” 

She added another bucket’s worth of sand to the castle like that settled the issue. 

“Yeah, I know, but… don’t you think it’s weird that we’re the only people here? And I can’t… I can’t remember our friends’ names.” 

He frowned. Something like this had happened before. His memories had gotten all mixed up. But that time it was his memories of Kairi that he’d lost. This was… the opposite?

“How come I’m having trouble remembering them, but I can remember you just fine?” he asked.

She shrugged. “It’s been a long time since you’ve seen them. Maybe that’s why?”

“It hasn’t been that long, has it?”

 “Almost a year, I think. It’s okay, people fall out of touch when they don’t see each other.”

“A year?!” he demanded. “I’ve been here for an entire year?” 

She put her hand on his arm. “You’ve been with me for almost an entire year,” she said sweetly. “That’s the longest we’ve been together in a long time.”

“Shouldn’t our friends be here? Where are they?”

Her perfect mouth twisted into a pout. “Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?” 

“No, that’s not it at all! I just—”

She scooted away from him, a wounded look on her face. “You want to leave me behind again, don’t you?” 

“Kairi, never, I never want to leave you—”

“But you do. I’m not good enough anymore. You can’t keep your promise after all.” 

She buried her face in her hands, and his heart sank. He hadn’t meant to make her unhappy. He was just wondering where everyone else was.

“I will keep my promise,” he said softly as he put his arm around her. “I’ll stay with you, always and forever.” 

Her face brightened, and she leaned against him. “Thank you, Sora. I know I can always count on you.”

He smiled, but it felt kinda fake, even for him. He would keep his promise, but… the nagging at the back of his mind hadn’t gotten any better. In fact, it had gotten worse. This place was wrong. He felt it on such a gut level that he knew this whole situation couldn’t be okay. 

But being with Kairi? That felt right. He could ignore the wrongness a little longer if it meant being with her. 

The voice whispering over the waves was so faint he barely heard it anymore.

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Sora was frolicking in the sea with Kairi today. He never swam out far because it made her upset, but they enjoyed swimming in the shallows together. They were enjoying a vigorous game of “splash me” when something bumped up against his leg. 

A bottle? He lifted it out of the water to get a closer look. When he glanced around, Kairi was still safely underwater. There was a letter inside the bottle, and he pulled it out. 

Sora, 

You’re trapped in an endless dream. None of what you’re seeing is real, and you have to get away from the phantom. She’s the one keeping you there, and you’ll never be free so long as you’re under her spell. 

The letter wasn’t signed. Sora’s hand shook a little as he tried to come to grips with what it said. 

“I’m… trapped?”

“What’s that? A letter?” 

He yelped and jumped in the air. Kairi was right behind him now, peering over his shoulder. He dropped the letter into the water, and she frowned and fished it out. 

“Huh? It’s blank.”

Sure enough, the message was gone like it had never even been there. Sora took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then looked at Kairi. 

“Weird, huh? Guess it was just a prank.”

“Guess so.” 

He tossed the bottle back into the water and followed her to shore. But this time, the voice coming over the waves was a little louder, and he couldn’t get what the letter had said out of his head.

Was he really trapped? 

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The bottles kept coming. The letters inside all had variations of the same message, and the writing always disappeared by the time Kairi noticed and tried to read them. 

“This really is strange,” she said with an airy laugh. “Letters without any message? Who would send those? And so many, too.”

“I don’t know,” Sora said, “but it’s really freaking me out.”

He didn’t tell her why, of course. If the letter-writer was telling the truth, if he really was trapped here because the person he thought was Kairi really wasn’t Kairi at all, then spilling the beans was a terrible idea. He couldn’t tip her off that something was wrong because then she might try to stop him from leaving.

And something was wrong. He could feel it in the depths of his soul, in the deepest parts of his heart. The nagging thought at the back of his head had gotten more and more insistent. He had to figure out a way out of here, and soon.

When she was getting supplies from the Seaside Shack one afternoon, the answer presented itself in the form of yet another bottle. The letter inside was different this time.

Come home to me, please.

Kairi 

The answer he’d been waiting for, ever since he’d arrived here and told this Kairi “I’m back.” The right answer, the true answer, the answer the real Kairi would’ve given him. These messages were from her. They had been all along. 

The world around him spun and he felt sick to his stomach. How long had he made her wait, and all for an illusion? An illusion that had promised him comfort in his loneliness and desperation, but an illusion nonetheless. He’d sold the real Kairi out with hardly a fight because he was that easily swayed. That easily deceived.

No, that wasn’t true. He’d known he was being deceived. He’d just enjoyed the deception so much he’d played along with it for a while. But he couldn’t anymore. He just couldn’t. This fake, this illusion, couldn’t compare to the real Kairi, and he wanted to be reunited with her as soon as possible. No more making her wait. Not for one more second.

He tucked Kairi’s letter into his pocket. Even if the writing faded, this was proof he was doing the right thing. Every step closer was a step closer to home. A step closer to Kairi. 

“Sora?” the illusion asked from behind him, and he froze.

When he turned his head, she was there, her eyes staring at him, unblinking. A smile was plastered on her face, but he shuddered as he stared at her. How had he ever thought this was the real Kairi? Whatever this was, it was so cold, so empty, so fake. 

“I’m leaving,” he said. “I’m leaving, and you can’t stop me.” 

She tilted her head. “But you promised. You promised you’d stay.”

“I promised Kairi I would be with her. Not you.” 

“But I am Kairi.” 

“No, you’re not. You’re just a fake. An illusion. You’ve kept me away from her long enough.” 

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. “You’re really leaving me? But you’ll be all alone. I never wanted you to be alone.” 

“I won’t be alone. I’ll be back with Kairi.” 

She shook her head. “We’ll both be alone. Don’t leave me, please.” 

As he watched her cry, his stomach twisted itself into knots. A part of him wanted to comfort her, even though he knew it was a fake. 

It was a fake, right?

But her tears… those were real enough. 

He sighed and retraced his steps, then wrapped his arms around her as she cried. Fake or not, he couldn’t stand to see any version of Kairi cry.

She sniffed and leaned back a little, then cupped his cheek.

“You’re right. I’m not the real Kairi. But you’ve been so kind to me… so good to me… that I couldn’t help but want to be with you.” 

Before he could react, she was standing on her tiptoes and pressing her lips against his. A soft, gentle kiss of farewell. This much he would allow her. He didn’t stop her because his compassion got the better of him. He would go home to the real Kairi, that much was certain. But he couldn’t begrudge even a fake Kairi a moment of comfort. It just went against every feeling of tender compassion he held for her in his heart. 

“Now go, find your Kairi,” she said sadly. “She’s waiting for you.” 

He nodded, then turned away from her and faced the sea. He knew he couldn’t look back. No matter how difficult it was, he had to keep moving forward. Only then would he and Kairi be reunited. 

As he waded into the sea again, the voice on the waves was louder now. It was all around him, and he knew he recognized it. 

It was Kairi’s. It had been all along. She’d been guiding his way home, even when he’d gotten lost.

“I’m coming, Kairi,” he said as the water got deeper. “I know I’ve asked a lot of you, but I’ll be home soon, I promise.” 

With that he dove underwater, ready to meet her no matter how long the journey, no matter how much time it took to find her. Seeing her again would be worth every step, and for her, he would travel the entire universe if that was what it took.  

She was his home, and no matter what happened, that would never change.

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A/N: Charlie requested a kiss prompt between Phantom!Kairi and Sora, so this fic is dedicated to her! Originally the prompt was set in her Blight Sora AU as per her request, but then it kind of took on a life of its own and made its way into some unspecified period during Limit Cut. A big thank you for the prompt! It was really interesting exploring Kairi’s abandonment issues and Sora’s guilt over (very much unwillingly) leaving her behind again in more depth. 

I’d also like to thank @rapis-razuri​ for her help; she gave me the suggestion that I go for a Circe-and-Odysseus kind of a vibe when I hit a rut, and she also came up with the title. It’s a pun on Circe’s name and also ties into the whole “Sora = Odysseus” and “Kairi = Penelope” idea that’s been kicking around our brains for a while. If you think about it, the story after KH3 is an odyssey of sorts for Sora... and Kairi as well, based on how Re:Mind and Limit Cut went. 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! This marks the final kiss prompt I was requested to write! If you’d like to read the other ones, they are “A kiss to pretend,” “A good morning kiss,” “A kiss on a falling tear,” “A kiss in secrecy,” “A kiss in public,” “A kiss out of necessity/A kiss to wake up,” “A kiss for luck,” and “A kiss because the world is ending” plus its follow-up chapters. 

[crmsfanfiction]

Second Chances: Chapter 1

Author’s note: Hello everyone. Just a quick note of the timeline of this story. It starts in 2015. I own nothing, but plot (loosely as I am sure it has been done before) and my OCs. Everyone else is owned by themselves and Marvel at this point. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

This is unbeta’d and all mistakes are mine and mine alone. Constructive criticism is welcome.   This will be a Sebastian Stan/OC story.

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Chapter 1: Broken Dream, Broken Heart

Willa stood still as she took in the scene before her. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It wasn’t possible for this to be happening. Her brain couldn’t compute the scene in front of her. This had to be a dream. The moans coming from the bed in front of her are what finally snapped her out of her disbelief. She turned and walked out of the bedroom, the occupants never even knowing she was there. She grabbed her purse and left the home she had built for the past 3 years with the man she was supposed to marry in two months time.

She felt numb. She drove to the airport and paid for long term parking. Not even caring about the cost. She got a one way ticket to Georgia and headed for the departures lounge. Her flight wasn’t leaving for a few hours, but she didn’t have the energy to try and come back. Pulling her phone out Willa scrolled through her social media accounts while continuing to replay the scene from her bedroom through her head. She didn’t cry. It still didn’t feel real. She knew once she saw her uncle it would hit her, but until then she wouldn’t allow herself to break down. Her mama raised her to be stronger than that. Never allow them to see you cry. Don’t give them the satisfaction of seeing you broken. Break down the private, when no one can see you. Where no one will judge you.

Several hours later Willa landed in Georgia and hailed a cab out of the airport. Giving the address to the cabbie, Willa finally sent a quick texted and arranged for a pass for her. It was a twenty minute ride to the studio lot and she knew once she got there it was going to be bad, but she would make it. Tears started to prick at her eyelids, but she held them back. Not wanting to break down in the back of a cab. Willa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was going to make sure she wasn’t a mess when she got to the studio lot. Taking another breath and blowing it out slowly, helped steady her nerves and her emotions.

“Thank you.” Willa said twenty minutes later as she pulled out enough cash to cover her cab fare and a tip. She opened the cab door and stepped out into the sweltering heat of a Georgia summer. Closing the door she headed for the guard shack next to a gate. Smiling at the older guard in the shack Willa pulled out her id and showed it to him. “Willa Anderson. I should have a pass waiting for me from Mr. Downey Jr.”

“Miss Anderson?” a soft voice said from the other side of the gate. Willa turned to see a tall blonde holding out a lanyard with a visitors pass attached. “Sorry Ernie. I didn’t have a chance to get this up here before now.” the blonde said as Ernie grinned and opened the gate letting Willa walk through.

“Not a problem Miss Jade.” Jade smiled as she handed Willa the pass and turned to head deeper onto the lot. “If you’ll follow me Miss Anderson. I will take you to RDJ’s camp. The pass you have is a temporary pass, and we should have a permanent pass for you by the end of the day.” Jade chattered as she looked over at Willa. Willa smiled and slipped the pass over her head and settled it around her neck.

“It’s Willa. Miss Anderson is way to formal.” Willa said as she took in her surroundings. Jade smiled and nodded. Willa thought she might like this soft spoken blonde. She reminded her of someone she knew years ago.

“How do you know Mr. Downey Jr?” Jade asked as they walked.

“He is an old family friend, but I have always considered him an uncle. Sometimes even a father figure.” Willa said as her voice took on a wistful tone. “What do you do? Are you his new assistant?” Willa asked Jade. She shook her head no. “I am just a gopher. I get the coffee and stuff like that usually.”

“Ah. I did that for a movie once. It was an eye opening experience. I enjoyed it though.”

“Yeah I am enjoying it. Well here we are. They should be done shooting soon and breaking for lunch. Have a good day.” Jade said as they walked into Downey’s camp. Willa laughed as she saw the five trailers in a circle. He hadn’t changed a bit. Still as extra as they come. Willa hopped up onto a table and pulled her phone out. She sent her best friend a text letting her know where she was. She would call her later to talk and cry, but right now she needed to be clear minded. While she was waiting she pulled up her bank app and transferred about ¾ths of the money from their joint account into her separate private account. She made more money as a nurse and had put more into the account than he did as a waiter. She had left enough in the account to tide him over for a couple months. She would be putting their home up for sale as soon as she could. He can’t afford to pay the mortgage and she didn’t want to live there anymore. Too many memories.

Thirty minutes later found Willa stretched out on the table with her eyes closed and her arm over her face. This is the position Robert found her in when he walked back into his camp. He had a few of his co-stars coming for lunch but he wanted a few minutes alone with Willa first. Her coming to see him was a complete surprise and he wanted to know what was wrong.

“Willa Annabelle Anderson! What are you doing laying on the table?” Robert said as he walked over to her. Willa opened her eyes and attempted a bright smile, but failed as she locked eyes with her Uncle. “Hi Uncle Bob.” Willa said her voice cracking on his name. He swept her up into a hug as she finally broke down into a huge racking sobs.

Robert picked her up like she weighted nothing and took her into his main trailer. She clung to him like her life depended on it and in a way to her it did. She felt like she was drowning in a sea of memories, heartbreak and pain. Holding onto him was like clinging to a lifeline that would help guide her back to shore and firm footing once again. Robert just murmured soothing sounds and rocked her gently. He pulled his phone out and sent a quick text to Susan to come to set and pick up Willa. She wasn’t staying in a hotel and from the looks of it she didn’t even bring a suitcase.

“Willa? What’s wrong sweetie?” Robert asked once he noticed her sobs quietening down and she was just sniffling. Pulling away from her slightly he tipped her head up so she could look him in the eye.

“I found him in bed with someone else.” she said quietly as fresh tears started to slide down her face. “I walked in on him in our bed with another woman.”

Robert’s face dropped when she told him that. It was worse than he had thought. He figured a fight or even maybe a lost job, but never did he think that she would be here because her fiance had cheated on her and she caught him. It boggled the mind. They were perfect for each other. Both had faults and flaws, but they had always brought out the best in each other. He always assumed they would go the distance.

“Oh Willabee. What can I do? Need me to threaten him? Call a hit man? Pig farmer? I know some people. Want to call Keanu to go John Wick on his ass.”

Willa laughed at that last one and shook her head. “Nah. He isn’t worth the price of a hit man. Though the thought of Keanu is a nice one. Thanks Uncle Bob.” She fully pulled away from RDJ and headed for the small bathroom. “Going to wash my face real quick. How long til Aunt Susan get here?”

“She should be here in a few minutes. I have some co-stars coming to eat lunch here. Do you want to stay and eat or just head out with Susan?”

“Oh. I think I will just head out with Aunt Susan. I need to do some shopping and I am not in the best head space to meet people.” Willa said as she emerged from the bathroom. Her face was still a little red and blotchy from crying and her eyes were still puffy, but clear. Willa hugged Robert again as she left his trailer and headed back towards the main gate to intercept Susan before she made it onto the lot.

Willa smiled as she spotted her Aunt and jogged over to the car. “Hello Aunt Susan” she said as she slid into the passenger seat. “Willabee. What’s going on sweetie? Robert texted me saying you were in town and having a tough time.” Susan Downey asked as she pulled out of the lot and headed for the mall.

“He cheated. I caught him.” Susan’s heart went out to her as her heart broke for the younger woman.

“Well we are on the way to the mall. Some retail therapy will do you some good.” Susan said as she pulled into a parking spot at the mall. Willa shrugged in response. She didn’t have the energy to think about it now. The pain was still to close to the surface, but the breakdown in Robert’s arms helped her feel less numb and more in control of her emotions.

They both got out and headed inside. Several hours later, they left with many bags of clothes, make-up, shoes, and accessories. “Thank god we are done. I wanna go to the house and crash. Thank you for paying for all of this. I will pay you back as soon as I can.” Willa said as they loaded all the bags into the car and headed out of the parking lot and to the house Robert was renting while filming.

“No need to pay us back. I was happy to do it. You needed this. Come on the kids are probably driving the babysitter nuts.” Susan said as they made it to the house and grabbed the bags from the backseat. Walking into the house Willa was attacked by a tiny terror holding a plush dinosaur.

“Hey buddy. You’re getting so big now.” she said as she picked little man up and headed further into the house looking for his baby sister. “Where is Princess?” Little man just pointed towards a door and smiled. He was still a little shy around her. He hadn’t seen her in about 6 months. Tickling his belly Willa set him down as she walked into the bedroom and grinned at the sleepy little girl sitting in her crib.

She was just finishing up a diaper change when Robert walked in looking for them both. He stopped short as he took in Willa holding his daughter and cuddling her close. She turned and smiled at him. “Dinner ready?”

“Yup Willabee. How’s princess doing?” He asked as he took the little girl from Willa and headed back down the hallway to the kitchen. It was a simple dinner of pizza and wine for the adults and water and pizza for the kids.

Willa cleaned up the kitchen and put the left over pizza away in the fridge while Susan and Robert bathed the kids and settled them into bed for the night. Heading into the living room sipping another glass of wine, Willa sat down and let her mind wonder back over the past few weeks and months to see if there was anything she could pinpoint as to why he would do what he did. Nothing came to mind. She just couldn’t see anything that would have caused all of this.

Finishing her glass of wine as Robert and Susan walked into the living room, Willa stood up and hugged both of them. “Thanks for letting me stay here. I am heading to bed. I am exhausted.”

“Of course Willabee. You are always welcome in our house. No matter where we are. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we can talk about what you are going to do about everything.” Robert said as he hugged her tightly before letting Susan wrap her arms around her just as tightly before letting her walk away and up the stairs to her room.

They looked at each other knowing she wasn’t okay. No matter how well she was acting like it right now. Robert knew her break down that afternoon was just the tip of the iceberg of heartache and pain she was bottling up and ignoring. He just wondered when the dam would finally burst and how she would handle it once it did. She never did do well with letting people in. Would she let them help or would she push everyone away and pretend she was fine?

So many questions. So many ways this could go. Could she heal from a broken dream and a broken heart?

[kyouxa]

Diabolik lovers Chaos Lineage: Reiji Sakamaki (Story 11)

In terms of the gameplay: The black choices lead up to a bad ending, the white choices lead up to a good ending. Please no reposting onto other sites, ask me before translating this into another language too! I’m an amateur translator, but I hope you do enjoy it anyway!♡

Monologue

A few days have passed, since we started collecting information to change the current situation.

Until now, I don't see any unusual behavior from anyone else.

Instead, there was another piece of information which I gathered—

The map that Reiji-san was making, showed us another terrible reality.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Reiji‘s bedroom

Reiji: This is...

Yui: Ah! Did you complete the map?

Reiji: Yes... would you like to see it?

Yui: Y-Yes.

(What does that mean? Somehow my complexion is getting a little pale...)

Eh!? Is that really the completed map... ?

Reiji: Yes. The drawing is based on what exactly our familiars described.

Until now, we were investigating mainly in the vicinity of mansions and churches in anticipation of conflicts with other families.

But, the outside world was not even reachable for us... I drew an undeveloped land.

Yui: B-But this map, the end of the map is broken into a square ...?

Reiji: That is indeed correct. The edge of this land has been cut into a square.

Yui: What does that mean...?

Reiji: According to the report from my familiar, this is a true isolated island on real land.

Reiji: The precipice of a cliff has completely pinched the ground. That means, it continues to straight up to us.

The abyss are where the bottom is not visible under the cliff. There is no opposite shore and the horizon is blurry yet unclearly as if a spirit was hanging.

I do not think that this kind of land is a natural occur.

In other words, as initially expected, we are confined in a space created by magic.

Right now, it has been officially proved.

Yui: That means that we really are in a created space...

(On this square land, there are forests, a church, and mansions. We are actually able to live here)

(If you think about it, it’s horrible. It’s like an abandoned board game that we are caught up in….)

Reiji: Although I knew about it, it would not be good if it is illustrated like this.

I wonder if the lord of this space is watching us from above, as if it was a game he stares at?

Our battle, it was already planned that blood will be washed with blood.

Yui: (This battle is overhead ...)

If so, it is really scary... If you think that you might still be watched all the time...

Reiji: Yes, but if you see no interference, our actions seem to be completely acquiesced.

However, I do not know what would happen if I did something which does not follow the will of the creator.

Yui: (Someone who can mess up everybody's memories in this space ...)

(We are really trying to confront such a powerful person ...)

Reiji: However, I thought that I could find at least a little clue ... There is nothing which is not remarkable.

Yui: This space has a mansion, a church, a forest ... and only a few resting places.

Reiji: Yes, there is only the minimum of necessaries for a fight.

Shu was heading to an abandoned house and a cave I found during the survey recently.

I hope that they discovered something that the familiars have missed ...

Yui: I agree...

Yuma: Hey! Reiji, are you in your room!?

Yui: Ah, Yuma-kun!

Reiji: Just as we talked about them, it seems as if the three scouts have returned.

Yui: If something was found in everyone's report, the survey is going a step forward!

Reiji: Yes... on the other hand, if they do not have anything new to report...

Yui: Nn...

Reiji: Anyway, let's head to the living room.

Place: Scarlet mansion — Living room

Yui: Eh! Didn’t you want to talk about something specific?

Yuma: Yea. There was a house that looked like a shack. Nothin’ came out even when we knocked tho.

Shu: The same applies to the cave... Well, I’d like to go to my bed and take a nap without anyone getting in my way.

Yui: Such...

(I thought there might at least be a hint to get out of this space or restore everyone's memories ...)

Reiji: I see... were you remembering or feeling anything while getting closer to one of these buildings?

Yuma: Oh? What ya mean? There was nothin’ else there.

Reiji: Is that so...

Kino: Even so, you were able to find a cave and an abandoned house. As expected from my big brother Reiji.

Reiji: ...If we would contend us with another family, the winner would be the one that controls this land.

Anyway, you did excellent work. For today it is good enough.

Shu: It's unusual for you to praise us like that...

Yuma: Is it really fine to have found nothin’? Are ya looking for somethin’ specific?

Reiji: Yes... But it seems like I was disappointed.

Yuma: What the hell, just what are ya exactly lookin’ for? We might have missed it.

Reiji: No, it is fine. Everyone should rest for today.

Yuma: What the hell, you can just tell us about it.

Shu: I didn’t plan on increasing my work anyway. I’ll go to sleep.

*Shu leaves*

Yuma: Ah! That damn guy Shu. The most of our exploration work was done by me and Kino anyway.

Kino: Well, whatever. Our brother Shu has been like this from the very beginning.

Yui: Shu-san...

(The air is still thin between him and Reiji-san ...)

(And there were no satisfying results of the search. Once again we got stuck—)

Place: Scarlet Mansion — Reiji’s bedroom

Yui: I thought it was a good idea, but we got nothing as a result...

Reiji: Yes. It may be a different story if they had their memories back...

As long as they keep hearing this story, the hope seems to become thin.

Yui: What can we do if this happens... ?

Reiji: Do you desperately want to wander around and research the exit of this space... ?

Will you appeal to everyone here to regain their memories? Think about that first.

Yui: It kinda sounds ridiculous…

(I wonder if there even is an exit in this space in the first place... Can we really get out of this timeline—)

Reiji: I see that you feel depressed in this room. Would you like to drink a cup of tea in the living room?

Yui: Oh, that would be great!

Place: Scarlet Mansion — Living room

Yui: Yes, I’ll serve another cup then.

Reiji: Thank you very much. Was it okay for you that I brew the tea like this?

Yui: Yes, thanks for the previous herbal tea.

Reiji: I see. Do not hesitate to ask for another cup.

Yui: I’m glad that we are able to spend some time in peace in this way...

Reiji: I agree. Fortunately somehow, Carla and Ruki have no sign of showing any movements.

However, this is a temporary world. No matter how calm it is, you can not just soak.

Yui: That’s right...

(I thought that maybe I am able to do something, but I couldn't do anything. My feelings are just getting impatient)

(And if we can't get out, we will forever stay in this small miniature garden... That would be absolutely disgusting... !)

Reiji: There are wrinkles in your eyebrows.

Yui: Eh!? I am sorry, I was just overthinking...

Reiji: Good grief, did you think I have not realized how you look? Right now I just want you to remain calm with your heart.

I do not have a certain specification. Put your cup down and lean on me for a little.

Yui: Huh? Y-Yes...

Um, should I really lean on... ?

Reiji: That is right. Come a little closer.

Choices

1) — Refrain (black)

2) — Be shy (white) ♡ ♡ ♡

— Refrain

Yui: W-What if I’m heavy? I don’t want Reiji-san to get tired.

Reiji: If you are worried about me, you should not show me such a disgusted face from the beginning next time.

Yui: Uhh...

Reiji: If you understand, come here.

*Reiji pulls Yui closer*

Yui: Kya!?

— Be shy ♡

Yui: Right now, aren’t we in the living room and literally everyone would be able to see us... ?

Reiji: There will be no problem about this matter. For now, we will do this for your sake.

Of course, if you do not like it we can immediately stop if it pleases you?

Yui: Just listening to it is awkward ...

Reiji: The sly yet adorable and ashamed side from you comes through. Now, come here.

*Reiji pulls Yui closer*

Yui: Ah...

end Choices

Yui: (He hugged me rather than letting me lean onto him...)

Reiji: Relax your body and close your eyes for the time being.

Recently, I forced you to do a lot of things.

Yui: That’s not true, Reiji-san was busier than I was. You worked hard every day since then.

Reiji: There is nothing much about this. Anyway, it personally affects me if your face is shaded because of something I forced you to do.

I can not protect every person who thinks they are tormented by helplessness.

If you do not want me to be armored, please spend our remaining time calmy.

Yui: (The hand that strokes my head is gentle. Actually, maybe even Reiji-san’s heart is calm and able to forget everything for this moment)

(But, I am completely fine with him being gentle in this type of situation ...)

Thank you very much. Pardon my rudeness, but could you do this a little longer... ?

Reiji: Yes, of course. I will hold you until you settle down.

Yui: (I feel finally feel more relieved. Before Reiji-san’s memories came back, I didn't even remember this feeling)

(Still, I am happy just being together with him, he really is the most special person to me...)

(I love it when we clean together or when he teaches me about chess—)

Oh, the chess board...

*Yui backs off*

Reiji: What is the matter?

Yui: No, I just thought that I got a chess guide from Reiji-san there.

Reiji: Oh, it is the chess board which does not have all its pieces. Speaking of that, how did that happen?

We might be like those chess pieces. Because, they are standing on the square earth and they fight for something as well.

Yui: If you say it like that, we may be similar.

(Chess or...)

(Speaking of which, I've been stuck here, but I think I saw some chess piece around somewhere?)

Reiji: What is it, your expression turned surprisingly tense.

Yui: No, I've always been interested in that since I came to this mansion. I feel like I saw some chess pieces around somewhere.

Reiji: Before the both of us played with the chess board there?

Yui: Yes, before that. But, I don’t remember where I exactly saw them...

Reiji: Chess pieces ... Could it be, that you saw them in the church?

Yui: Eh?

Reiji: Knowing that Eve has awakened, I also stepped into the church myself.

At that time, there was a stone statue which imitated something like one.

Yui: Oh ... yes!

Yui: Nn...

(That... things... ?)

(Large stone statues are lined up ... The shape of a horse and castle which looked like chess pieces)

The stone statues in the church! Those looked like the missing chess pieces.

(I remembered it and finally refreshed it, but why were there chess pieces even though it was a church?)

Reiji: Are they... in the church?

Yui: Reiji-san?

Reiji: No, I may had forgotten because I finished the role of capturing Eve after her awakening.

The church may still have room for us to examine.

Yui: Eh!?

Reiji: Until you woke up, the church was covered with magical power to surround you and nobody could enter.

The place where Eve woke up. A sanctuary that was forbidden to be entered before the fight began.

And as you see on this map, it is the center of this land. Do not you think there might be something hidden?

Yui: S-Surely... !

(Only in that church, the air was somehow different. It wouldn’t be a strange thing if there would be a secret hidden)

Reiji: After all, it seems to be worth visiting.

This time, I will not leave it to Shu alone anymore.

I will go for myself. Of course, I would have to take you with me...

Yui: Of course, I will follow you! If you have a clue to change this situation, I want to go with you!

Besides, I don’t want to leave Reiji-san’s side ever again.

Reiji: Hmph... I see. This is not a bad response.

Then, let's head out tomorrow as soon as possible. Is that alright?

Yui: Yes!

(This may seems weird. But, if there is just a slightly possibility, there is no choice but to investigate it... !)

(And I'm sure we will eventually find something. If we go to that church, something must happen—)

Shu: Where are you going?

Yui: Kya!?

S...Shu-san!

Reiji: ... So you were here.

Shu: I'm here now. And? I can go somewhere else if you want.

Yui: W-What should we do ... It seems as if we’ve been watched.

Reiji: There is no need to hide. We can tell him for now.

Tomorrow, I and her will aim for the church

Shu: The church? Hm... why are you going to that place again?

So that means that we are supposed to follow you again, right?

Reiji: … No, I’d not like you to accompany with us this time.

Yui: Eh!

Shu: What?

Reiji: Of course, it would be helpful to have more members following us. However, the situation is different this time.

Since this is an action which is not able to be understood by anyone other than me and her.

Yui: (Yes, there is no point in going there for them if they are not aiming for the sleeping Eve in the church anymore)

(We are going there to retrieve their memories or to just find some information about this space ...)

(He wouldn’t believe us if we told him that...)

Reiji: I would like to accompany with her so she can not be attacked by another family. But I will not force you to come along.

Shu: Heh. Then my support isn’t necessary for you this time?

Reiji: That is right.

Shu: Hm...

... You somehow changed.

Reiji: What?

Shu: It’s nothing. I’ll go back to my room.

*Shu leaves*

Yui: Ah ... Shu-san!

Reiji: You do not have to stop that man. That is because Shu has no reason to help us.

Yui: But...

(Even Reiji-san would have really wanted to let Shu-san help us)

(But, for now I can't tell Shu-san about that neither he would believe it...)

Reiji: Let's just talk to Yuma and Kino about it. It is up to them if they want to come along or not.

Yui: Yes...

Monologue

It’s the day after explaining the situation to Yuma and Kino-kun.

Me and Reiji-san were preparing to leave for the location of the church.

Surprisingly, Yuma-kun offered to accompany him, because he was worried about us.

And for some reasons Kino-kun made fun of our idea, but at the end he decided to follow us as well.

It’s really encouraging for me to have everyone with us. However, only Shu-san did not come out of his room since yesterday anymore...

Place: Scarlet mansion — entrance hall

Reiji: Everyone has gathered by now. Let’s head to the church right away.

Yuma: Say, is it okay to leave that guy Shu here?

Reiji: This time you would say voluntary accompaniment. I was not going to force him to join.

Kino: Heh, aren’t you usually saying that it’s the eldest son's order? What kind of thing changed your personality?

Reiji: ... This kind of chat is unnecessary. We will go out if everyone is ready.

Kino: Yes yes. This certain attitude probably never changes on you.

Yui: (Shu-san, there wasn’t even a reply from his room anymore after we talked about that topic)

(But it can't be helped ... as Reiji-san says, we can't force him to join us)

Shu: *yawns*... tired...

Yui: Eh... Shu-san!?

Kino: Eh? What’s wrong? Sleepwalking?

Shu: Do you want to bother me? ...I’m getting tired of answering you.

Yui: Eh?

Shu: That’s why I’m getting tired of answering. Being alone in the mansion just would be dull.

It’s easier for me if I’d just follow you around.

Yui: That means... you actually decided to come with us?

Shu: Isn't that already obvious?

Yui: Shu-san... !

(He is acting the same as always, but he is willing to go with us...!)

Reiji: Shu... why?

Shu: If you’re saying it like that, should I return to my room?

Yui: No! Please don’t! I want you to come along!

Shu: Fine. Then let’s go.

*Shu walks away*

Yui: Oh please wait!

Yuma: Why is it that you made up with him, say it already!

*Yuma follows Shu*

Shu: You’re noisy. That's not even right.

Reiji: Good grief... what a selfish behavior... 

Yui: Fufu, Reiji-san you look a little bit happy as well, don’t you?

Reiji: It's because of my mind. I did not expect much when that man came here.

Nonetheless, all of you are now ready to leave this mansion.

Let’s leave. The church will be waiting for us—

Yui: Yes!

Place: Outside — Church

Shu: So this is the inside of the church... I entered it for the first time.

Yuma: When we came to pick up Eve, only you were sleepin’ in the mansion.

Yui: (This is the place where I woke up. The center of this space ...)

(After all, it’s true that the air is different in this place)

Kino: There seems to be no one here, but what are you going to do now?

Reiji: I have something to look into. Yet I do not know where it is.

Shu: This is a vague story…

Yui: Reiji-san, those stone statues are looking like the chess pieces we talked about.

Reiji: That's right. Luke, Pawn and the King...

There is a sense of incongruity for statues placed in such a church.

And this floor is patterned. The check pattern is just like a chess boards.

Yui: Speaking of which, that proves... that the church itself seems like a chess board

???: I see, this is exactly built up like a real chess board.

Yui: Eh... ?!

Ruki: I've been waiting, Eve. And Scarlet’s leader Reiji.

Reiji: Ruki...

Yui: (Wait a second, Ruki-kun is here as well... !?)

[orbemnews]

The Mayor’s House Was Bombed. The Message: Keep Our Town Nuclear-Free. SUTTSU, Japan — It seemed like easy money. The Japanese government was conducting a study of potential locations for storing spent nuclear fuel — a review of old geological maps and research papers about local plate tectonics. It put out a call for localities to volunteer. Participating would commit them to nothing. Haruo Kataoka, the mayor of an ailing fishing town on the northern island of Hokkaido, put up his hand. His town, Suttsu, could use the money. What could go wrong? The answer, he quickly learned, was a lot. A resident threw a firebomb at his home. Others threatened to recall the town council. A former prime minister traveled six hours from Tokyo to denounce the plan. The town, which spends much of the year in a snowbound hush, was enveloped in a media storm. There are few places on earth eager to host a nuclear waste dump. Only Finland and Sweden have settled on permanent repositories for the dregs of their atomic energy programs. But the furor in Suttsu speaks to the deep anxiety that remains in Japan 10 years after an immense earthquake and tsunami caused the meltdown of three nuclear reactors in Fukushima Prefecture, the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The black mark left on Japan’s nuclear industry has profound implications for the country’s ability to power the world’s third-largest economy while also meeting its obligations to combat climate change. Of Japan’s more than 50 nuclear reactors, all of which were shut down after the disaster on March 11, 2011, only nine have restarted, and the issue continues to be politically toxic. As the share of nuclear energy in Japan has plummeted from about a third of total power to the single digits, the void has been filled in part by coal and natural gas, complicating a promise that the country made late last year to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Even before the Fukushima calamity, which led to three explosions and a release of radiation that forced the evacuation of 150,000 people, ambivalence toward nuclear energy was deeply ingrained in Japan. The country is haunted by the hundreds of thousands killed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Still, most Japanese had come to terms with nuclear power, viewing it as an inevitable part of the energy mix for a resource-poor country that must import about 90 percent of the materials it needs to generate electricity. After the nuclear disaster, public opinion swung decisively in the other direction. On top of a newly galvanized anxiety came a fresh mistrust of both the nuclear industry, which had built reactors susceptible to being overwhelmed in a natural disaster, and the government, which had allowed it to happen. A parliamentary commission found that the meltdowns had been the result of a lack of oversight and of collusion between the government, the plant’s owner and regulators. “Utilities and the government and us nuclear experts kept saying, ‘don’t worry, there won’t be a serious accident,’” said Tatsujiro Suzuki, director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University. Now “people think that the industry is not trustworthy and the government that is pushing the industry is not trustworthy.” The Japanese government, which has increased safety standards for nuclear power plants, says it plans to bring more reactors back online. But Fukushima’s legacy now taints all discussions about nuclear power, even the question of how to handle waste produced long before the disaster. “Every normal person in town is thinking about it,” said Toshihiko Yoshino, 61, the owner of a seafood business and oyster shack in Suttsu, who has become the face of the opposition to the mayor. “It’s because that kind of tragedy happened that we shouldn’t have nuclear waste here,” Mr. Yoshino said in an interview at his restaurant, where large picture windows look out onto the snow-swept mountains rising above Suttsu Bay. For now, the politics surrounding the waste indicate that, if it is not entombed beneath Suttsu, it will find its way to a place much like it: a town worn down by the collapse of local industry and the steady attrition of its population from migration and old age. The central government has tried to incentivize local governments to volunteer for consideration by offering a payment of around $18 million for taking the first step, a literature review. Those that go on to the second stage — a geological study — will receive an additional $64.4 million. Only one other town in the entire nation, neighboring Kamoenai — already next to a nuclear power plant — joined Suttsu in volunteering. One thing Fukushima has made clear, said Hirokazu Miyazaki, a professor of anthropology at Northwestern University who has studied how communities were compensated after the disaster, is the need to find an equitable way of distributing the social and economic costs of nuclear power. The problem is symbolized both by Fukushima’s partly uninhabitable towns and a battle over the government’s plan to release a million tons of treated radioactive water from the site into the ocean. The government says it would make small releases over 30 years with no impact on human health. Fishermen in Fukushima say that the plan would wreck their long journey toward recovery. “We have this potentially dangerous technology and we still rely on it and we need to have a long-range view on nuclear waste and decommissioning, so we better think about a much more democratic way to handle the cost associated with it,” Mr. Miyazaki said in an interview. Critics of nuclear power in Japan frequently point to the decades of failure to find a solution to the waste problem as an argument against restarting the country’s existing reactors, much less building new ones. In November, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took his campaign against nuclear energy to Suttsu at the invitation of local activists. Speaking in the town’s gymnasium, he said that after visiting Finland’s underground waste storage site — a facility much like the one proposed by the Japanese government — he had decided that Japan’s active geology would make it impossible to find a workable location. Japanese reactors have generated more than 18,000 tons of spent fuel over the last half century. A small proportion of that has been turned into glass — through a process known as vitrification — and sheathed in giant metal canisters. Almost 2,500 of the huge radioactive tubes are sitting in temporary facilities in Aomori and Ibaraki Prefectures, waiting to be lowered 1,000 feet beneath the earth’s surface into vast underground vaults. There, they would spend millenniums shedding their toxic burden. It will be decades — if ever — before a site is selected and the project begins in earnest. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, known as NUMO and represented by a cartoon mole cautiously sticking its snout out of a hole, is in charge of finding a final resting place. Long before he took NUMO up on its offer to conduct a study in his town, Mr. Kataoka, the Suttsu mayor, had taken an entrepreneurial view toward government subsidies. Suttsu has a population of just under 2,900, spread thinly around the rocky rim of a deep cerulean bay, where fishing boats prowl for mackerel and squid. Beginning in 1999, with government-supported loans, Mr. Kataoka championed an initiative to install a stand of towering wind turbines along the shore. Many in the town were initially opposed, he said during an interview in his office, but the project has delivered handsome returns. The town has spent the profits from selling electricity to pay off debts. Townspeople have free access to a heated pool, a golf course and a modest ski slope with a rope tow. Next to a sleek community center is a free day care for the few residents with children. The facilities are not unusual for small-town Japan. Many localities have tried to stave off decline by spending large sums on white elephant projects. In Suttsu, the effect has been limited. The town is shrinking, and in early March, snow was piled to the eaves of newly built but shuttered stores along the main street. Mr. Kataoka nominated Suttsu for the NUMO program, he said, out of a sense of responsibility to the nation. The subsidies, he admitted, are a nice bonus. But many in Suttsu doubt the intentions of both Mr. Kataoka and the government. The town, they argue, does not need the money. And they question why he made the decision without public consultation. At a meeting of the town council on Monday, residents expressed concern that once the process had begun, it would quickly gather momentum and become impossible to stop. The plan has fiercely divided the town. Reporters have flooded in, putting the discord on national display. A sign in the hotel by the harbor makes it clear that the staff will not accept interviews. In October, an angry resident threw a Molotov cocktail at Mr. Kataoka’s home. It broke a window, but he smothered it without any further damage. The perpetrator was arrested and is now out on bail. He has apologized, Mr. Kataoka said. The mayor remains bewildered by the aggressive response. Mr. Katatoka insists that the literature review is not a fait accompli and that the townspeople will have the final say. In October, he will run for a sixth term. He wants voters to support his proposal, but whatever the outcome, he hopes the town can move forward together. Losing the election would be bad, he said, but “the saddest part of all this has been losing the town’s trust.” Motoko Richcontributed reporting from Tokyo. Source link Orbem News #Bombed #House #mayors #message #NuclearFree #Town

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, February 1

You can now buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Conspiracy Exposed! White Supremacists Caused Capitol Riot 

Page 2: Friends of scandal-scarred Shia LaBeouf fear he is sliding off the rails now that galpal Margaret Qualley has suddenly dumped him and Shia feels deserted and completely alone since Margaret walked out on him and he was blindsided when the actress took off in the wake of abuse accusations by his past girlfriends and colleagues labeled him difficult -- Shia thought he could count on Margaret to be at his side while he defended himself but she’s been warned by friends and family he’s toxic in Hollywood and that staying with him could ruin her career 

Page 3: Siegfried Fischbacher’s sad last days have been full of tears and regret as the ailing entertainer prepares to be reunited in the afterlife with cherished partner Roy Horn -- the German-born illusionist has been fighting pancreatic cancer but after having a malignant tumor removed during a 12-hour surgery last month, Siegfried left the facility to die at Little Bavaria which is the Las Vegas home he long shared with Roy

Page 4: Angelina Jolie has been digging up dirt on ex-husband Brad Pitt’s pals in a desperate bid to get the upper hand in their toxic divorce war -- Angie and her team are still looking for whatever they can get on Brad but he’s so squeaky clean these days they’re turning their attention to the rockers and grungy types that he hangs with in L.A. and it’s all very twisted but Angie is willing to try anything at this point -- Angie and Brad’s custody battle is at a standstill with Angie refusing to budge with her demand for full custody of the kids while Brad wants more visitation rights -- Angie is likely to be barking up the wrong tree because Brad’s friends are sober clean-living types who have been a huge influence in helping him turn his life around but she’s leaving no stone unturned in this divorce fight 

* Consciously unconventional Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Brad Falchuk are taking mini-breaks to prove that absence makes the heart grow fonder -- the love is there but Gwyneth is suggesting they try mini-me breaks to keep the embers burning in their relationship and she believes separating from time to time will stir up the passion ad anticipation between them -- Gwyneth often slips off for short trips without Brad and feels no guilt or remorse for it and she encourages Brad to do the same and says it makes her miss him when he’s away

Page 5: Sandra Bullock has become buddies with Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith and is reaping the benefits of the longtime couple’s hard-earned advice and Sandra’s five-year romance with photographer Bryan Randall has never been better -- the new friendship blossomed after Sandra appeared on Jada’s Red Table Talk show to celebrate frontline workers during the pandemic and Sandra and Jada have gotten really close since then and Jada’s been giving Sandra tips about how to handle the highs and lows of a relationship and learning to appreciate her man 

Page 6: Newbie twosome Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles are already shopping for a love shack and they want to be with each other all the time and they both need permanent places to live because Olivia’s been staying at a temporary place and Harry’s been staying with friends and they both want someplace where they can be together in private -- Olivia wants two places which is one where she can be a mother to her kids with ex Jason Sudeikis but she also wants a love nest to share with Harry and they’ve been looking in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas because they’re in love but they don’t want to flaunt their relationship in front of her kids; Olivia has too much fondness and respect for Jason to do that

Page 7: Carrie Underwood and husband Mike Fisher have been gushing all over each other but they’ve worked 24/7 for months to avoid a divorce -- they had very real problems that stretched back years because Carrie was either working too hard in the recording studio or on the road or in their home gym and their issues never really got addressed head-on and they were even talking divorce but lockdown has done them both a world of good by forcing them to get to know each other all over again 

* Covidiot of the Week -- Bruce Willis got booted from a Los Angeles Rite Aid rather than put on a mask to protect his freaked-out fellow shoppers -- Bruce was wearing a bandana around his neck as he strolled the aisles of the pharmacy but he apparently lacked the strength to pull it up and over his nose and mouth because he refused to wear a mask and he walked out of the store leaving his intended purchases behind rather than respond to a manager’s plea to have some respect for other people 

Page 8: Love-starved Kelly Clarkson is having a little “Office” romance with one of the beloved sitcom’s former stars Craig Robinson -- a recent flirt-fest on Kelly’s chat show has left the newly single mother of two singing the comic actor’s praises to pals and he totally swept her off her feet and she thinks he’s cute and one of the funniest guys she’s ever met -- the mutual attraction between the two was immediate and obvious and she’s been reaching out to him on the phone and they’ve been continuing their funny and flirty repartee -- Kelly thinks he’s the perfect catch and wants to start 2021 off on the right foot after all the hell she’s going through in her divorce from Brandon Blackstock 

* Embattled Ellen DeGeneres has cooked up a new plan to save her troubled career and marriage: a baby -- last year was the toughest year of her life let alone her career and she’s hoping a baby may be the answer to all her problems -- it was hell at home for wife Portia de Rossi because Ellen was blasting her about anything and everything and Portia declared she had no intention of being Ellen’s personal punching bag and Ellen has now realized how harsh she had been on her spouse of 12 years and that’s when Ellen cooked up the concept of having a baby to bond over and Ellen is convinced that sharing a child will bring them closer together again and is willing to go the surrogate route to make it happen -- she also believes bringing a baby into her life will improve her image and it’s a can’t-lose scenario in her mind 

Page 9: Kelly Ripa is pushing pal Ryan Seacrest to find new romance online -- Ryan spent the holidays alone after being dumped by his on-off galpal Shayna Taylor but Kelly believes he can find lasting love with an age-appropriate partner -- Ryan is 46 and he’s dated some of the most beautiful women in the world but Kelly thinks he’d do a lot better if he looked for women closer to his age and Kelly has been pushing him to try a dating app like Raya which caters to a star-studded clientele -- Kelly has been happily married for 21 years and wants the same happiness for Ryan and she thinks he can find that by using an app where he can find a woman in his age bracket with similar interests and attitudes 

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Malin Akerman hit the road on her bike in L.A., shirtless Justin Bieber hitting the shore in Hawaii, Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts smoothed back her hairdo on the morning show set, Larsa Pippen posed on her Porsche outside her Miami mansion, dapper dresser Chris Pine shot scenes from the upcoming thriller All the Old Knives in London 

Page 11: Dustin Diamond has been hospitalized with searing pain and is undergoing tests to pin down the cause of the mystery ailment but he feared prognosis is cancer which is said to have a history of the disease in his family

* Carol Burnett is overjoyed her temporary guardianship of grandson Dylan Hamilton-West has been extended but remains heartbroken her troubled daughter Erin is not yet prepared to resume her role as a parent -- Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deborah L. Christian extended the guardianship until November 30 and praised Carol and her husband Brian Miller saying that everything seems to be going along swimmingly -- the judge also ruled Erin will be allowed supervised weekly visits with Dylan 

* The house that tragic Glee star Naya Rivera shared with her son Josey in Los Feliz, California is up for sale for $2,695,000 -- Naya purchased the four-bedroom, three-bath home in May 2018 for $1,660,000 just a month before her divorce from Ryan Dorsey with whom she she shared custody of Josey 

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Katie Couric desperately hopes her guest host stint on Jeopardy! will turn into a full-time job replacing the late Alex Trebek -- it will be positioned that Katie is guest-hosting for a week but it’s actually an audition; all the upcoming Jeopardy! guest hosts are being tested out and depending on how they do and how the audience responds one of them will get the gig full-time -- the show is moving very carefully to replace Alex because they get one shot at this and if they hire the wrong person the show is over 

* Kathy Griffin won’t ever be able to mend fences with former BFF Anderson Cooper after she posted a gruesome image of Donald Trump’s decapitated head -- Anderson holds a grudge like no other and once you upset him it’s for life -- he isn’t rude and he’s not vindictive but he has zero interest in ever being friends with Kathy ever again 

* Image-obsessed Tom Cruise has boosted security since audiotapes were leaked of his meltdown on the Mission: Impossible set -- all phones and non-official recording devices have been banned from the set and Tom has become increasingly annoyed at anything being leaked from his closed set and he’s very controlling when it comes to his image and he’s upped his security to make sure a breach in protocol like that never happens again 

* Selling Sunset’s Christine Quinn glams it up for a photo shoot in Bel-Air (picture)

Page 13: Sylvester Stallone is ready to relinquish his title as Tinseltown’s reigning action champ to enjoy the final rounds of his heavyweight career at his new Florida mansion surrounded by his family -- he isn’t hanging up his gloves in the movie business just yet but is content to coast to the final bell at the $35 million West Palm Beach estate with Jennifer Flavin his wife of 23 years -- Sly’s been working his butt off for decades and he’s finally got the perfect place where they can settle down and host their children whenever they want a proper family gathering 

* Jennifer Garner hasn’t even moved into her $7.5 million home yet but she’s already installed a state-of-the-art security system to keep it safe -- the safety-conscious mom of three is building her Los Angeles dream home from scratch right around the corner from where she lived with ex-husband Ben Affleck and while the finishing touches aren’t complete she has made serious security arrangements like motion detectors and lights and safes and up to 20 surveillance cameras around the posh pad to keep intruders away from her and the children she shares with Ben: Violet, Seraphina and Samuel -- it’s costing her a fortune but she’ll spend whatever she needs to keep her family safe 

Page 14: Crime 

Page 15: Accused rapist Danny Masterson could be dumped by the Church of Scientology to protect its leader David Miscavige -- the Church of Scientology is not loyal to anyone but itself and it has no interest in its parishioners even Danny Masterson and if their leader is going to be exposed they will take out Danny in a heartbeat; he’d be excommunicated -- Masterson faces criminal charges he raped three women and he’s also battling a civil suit filed by four women who accuse him of rape and Scientology of intimidating them into silence and not reporting the crimes to police -- attorneys for the fourth woman Marie Bobette Riales are trying to serve a subpoena on Miscavige in a bid to expose the ruthless tactics used by Scientology to hide the twisted secrets of its celebrity members -- the controversial church will do anything including dumping Danny to prevent Miscavige from being dragged into court but if Scientology turns on Danny he could spill all their secrets on the stand 

Page 16: Hollywood kid Rumer Willis has rewarded herself for four years of sobriety with a plastic surgery tune-up -- in a photo she recently posted to Instagram her face appeared more streamlined and her new look is likely due to cosmetic enhancements 

* Nagging allegations that Kanye West is gay and had affairs with two male beauty gurus could not have come at a worse time for the troubled rapper -- Kanye is furious at the salacious accusations just as his marriage to Kim Kardashian is hanging by a thread and although Kanye is far from homophobic but the last thing he needs right now is to try and fight off rumors about his sexuality just when he’s desperate to save his marriage and he thinks the accusers are just trying to capitalize on his current problems and trying to crush any hope he has of staying together with Kim -- TikTok influencer Ava Louise dropped the first bomb in early January when she claimed Kanye slept with male YouTuber Jeffree Star and that it played a role in the current fractured state of his marriage and less than 24 hours after Ava shared her shocking claims she received a cease-and-desist letter from Kim’s mom Kris Jenner’s communications company -- Jeffree Star took to YouTube to deny the affair -- another male beauty influencer Cole Carrigan then jumped on the bandwagon and claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Kanye at Hollywood’s W hotel and said he had receipts and texts between him and one of the rapper’s bodyguards adding he didn’t want to say too much because he didn’t want a lawsuit from Kim Kardashian West but two days later Cole posted a video of himself with a cease-and-desist letter from the bodyguard’s attorney 

Page 17: Only a week after Larry King was hospitalized with a life-threatening COVID-19 diagnosis his estranged wife Shawn splurged on a three-hour shopping spree -- Shawn didn’t seem to have a care in the world when she was snapped browsing for beauty supplies and home furnishings in L.A. while at the same time her soon-to-be ex-husband remained hospitalized in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after being transferred from the intensive care unit 

Page 18: American Life 

Page 19: Kim Cattrall’s feud with Sex and the City co-star Sarah Jessica Parker just won’t die -- Kim who played Samantha Jones recently liked a tweet from a fan praising her for not joining her former castmates in an upcoming SATC reboot -- Kim and Sarah reportedly clashed behind the scenes for years 

* Amber Heard splashed out more than $1 million in donations toward fulfilling her pledge to give away her $7 million divorce settlement from Johnny Depp -- one of Amber’s attorneys challenged charges from Depp’s legal team who claimed Amber had pocketed the princely sum -- Amber has been delayed in that goal because Johnny filed a lawsuit against her and consequently she has been forced to spend millions of dollars defending his claims against her 

Page 20: Daring Duchess Sarah Ferguson has written a racy romance novel and she’s taken inspiration from her very own love life -- the ex-wife of Britain’s Prince Andrew who was scandalously snapped having her tootsies sucked by a suitor in 1992 penned Her Heart for a Compass which is set to be released this summer -- Sarah said the page-turner was inspired by the life of her great-aunt Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott and the work incorporates research into the duchess’ heritage and draws upon her own unique life journey and experiences -- the historical saga is set in the late 1800s 

* Hollywood Hookups -- Luke Evans and boyfriend Rafa Olarra split, Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly move into together, LeToya Luckett and husband Tommicus Walker split 

Page 21: Prince Harry’s sporting a new crowning glory which is a ponytail -- that’s the dish from Rob Lowe who spotted Harry’s new ‘do while driving in their California neighborhood -- Rob said it looked that his hair had grown very long and was pulled back very tightly in a ponytail and he even followed the car to Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s mansion to make sure it was him -- Rob said Harry lives about a mile from him and he’s been very reclusive and seeing him is like seeing the Loch Ness Monster 

* George Clooney’s face has blown up like a balloon -- he looked painfully gaunt for months after rapidly dropping 28 pounds to play an ailing scientist in his latest movie The Midnight Sky but once the sickly star has bounced back and judging from his mug he’s apparently been pigging out in a bid to regain the weight he lost 

* Brendan Fraser is gearing up for a big career comeback as a 600-pound recluse in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale -- the choice of the role is ironic as the once-chiseled star seemed to fall out favor with Tinseltown bigwigs when his own weight ballooned -- Brendan is poised to make a whopper of a return to leading man status with meaty character Charlie who is a grief-stricken compulsive eater who seeks to reconnect with his estranged daughter 

Page 22: Explosive evidence reveals Earth is in great danger from attacking space aliens but despite a 3000-document cache released by the CIA, the government is still finding ways to classify extraterrestrial information -- the CIA dossier was obtained by John Greenewald Jr. and published on his Black Vault website -- the documents were likely released because of a new law that is part of the recent $2.3 billion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress requiring government agencies to spill the beans on the UFO data they’ve amassed over 70 years 

* Agonizing health woes threaten to push long-suffering Lisa Marie Presley over the edge -- Lisa Marie has been in a lot of pain and years of drug and alcohol abuse have devastated her body -- she’s recently battled liver ailments and an abdominal muscle tear and suffered a hernia and had to have two teeth removed -- in addition to being in physical torment Lisa Marie had to move out of her Los Angeles home while workers addressed a problem with toxic mold -- Lisa Marie was already close to rock bottom after her son Ben Keough killed himself in July and amid her grief she’s still embroiled in a lawsuit with her former manager  and locked in an ugly divorce and custody battle with fourth husband Michael Lockwood the father of her twins Harper and Finley 

Page 23: As more shocking details emerged from Armie Hammer’s former girlfriends about what they claim are his sick and twisted fetishes for rape, bondage and cannibalism his career is crumbling before his eyes -- although many had trouble believing the depths of depravity allegedly revealed in private messages an anonymous woman claimed the actor sent her, even his estranged wife is shocked and sickened by Armie’s tawdry reported sexual tastes -- this is not the kind of scandal any actor would want to be linked to -- his pals are urging him to get counseling as the scandal could kill the trust-fund actor’s career 

Page 25: Cover Story -- It’s just the beginning! Capitol riot conspiracy exposed -- Proud Boys led blood-soaked siege -- 5-page investigative special 

Page 29: Outspoken Arnold Schwarzenegger likened the recent attack on the U.S. Capitol which left 5 dead to Nazi violence -- the former California governor and staunch Republican compared the January 6 riots by protestors, who refused to accept the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, to German’s Kristallnacht in 1938 -- in a video address Austrian-born Schwarzenegger who’s held U.S. citizenship since 1983 said Wednesday was the Day of Broken Glass right here in the United States 

Page 32: Health 

Page 38: Tormented actor Gabriel Byrne confessed he finally confronted the priest who abused him when he was 11 years old and it didn’t go well -- Byrne phoned the pedophilic priest in 2002 but the sicko said he has no recollection and even thanked Gabriel for reaching out -- Gabriel wanted in those last seconds to say that even though he doesn’t believe in Hell he hopes the priest did because he wanted him to be terrified and burn forever but he said nothing because some part of him did not want to hurt an old man with a kindly voice stuck in a retirement home 

* Miley Cyrus decorates her home with X-rated doodads -- she said in an interview that she likes sex toys and she buys them for herself but ends up using them for interior design

Page 40: Sleazy sex creep Jeffrey Epstein was nearly snared in a To Catch a Predator-style sting almost five years before the pedophile’s suspicious death in a Manhattan prison dished journalist Chris Hansen -- the former NBC host recently claimed in 2014 or 2015 after Epstein’s first jail stint for soliciting a minor he met with lawyers for some of the sex offenders alleged victims who claimed the financier was abusing underage girls -- they had a big file on it according to Hansen and he was trying to fashion a Predator-like sting operation in which they could catch him but he gave up on his quest because security at Epstein’s NYC and Florida homes made it very difficult to come up with something -- Hansen admitted not nailing Epstein was his biggest career regret 

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Taylor Swift at the Grammys 

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Mayim Bialik on the premiere episode of her sitcom Call Me Kat 

Page 47: The Odd List 

[sumikaooba]

On Eid-ul-Azha, even was always a form on the festive atmosphere around the sacrificial animal market. But that day the state of affairs is different. Animal markets are at chance concerning coronavirus infection. Where a distinctive state of affairs is prevailing, the practice regarding the need is operable about between the extra vogue concerning infection. Health yet fulfillment concerning the prerequisites concerning the market- All into all, the significant undertaking because the twin's city companies regarding Dhaka are in imitation of managing the want properly.It is realized up to expectation this age the North and South City Corporation (DNCC or DSCC) areas on Dhaka choice hold sacrificial brute markets at 16 places. Of these, 6 cattle market pleasure be employed within the DNCC area. Of these, one is an everlasting market yet 5 are temporary. The permanent shack pleasure stays positioned at Gabtali. The brief huts are bare house between Sector sixteen of Uttara from Vrindavan in accordance with BGMEA building concerning the boreal side; In the beginning, space adjoining to the Kawla fox shore; In the bladdery fascicle regarding each side of the road government to Mastul Dumni Bazar adjoining in conformity with Purbachal Bridge among Ward No. 43; Vacancies into Bhatara (Said Nagar) Animal Hut yet Uttarkhan Mainartech Housing Project.On the vile hand, their intention stands 11 hats into the DSCC area. North Shahjahanpur Khilgaon Railgate Bazar Maitri Sangha floor adjoining according to the devoid space; Open place adjoining in accordance with the grounds on the Institute over Leather Technology at Hazaribagh; Open house adjoining in conformity with Dholaikhal Truck Terminal subsequent according to Sadek Hossain Khoka Field; Vacancies within Amalia Model Town; Vacant space adjacent in conformity with Rahmatganj playground, bare space adjoining to Postagola crematorium; Gopibagh sand discipline adjoining according to Little Friends Club; Vacant house around Biswaroad adjoining in accordance with Kamalapur Stadium; Aftab Nagar (Eastern Housing) Block-E; Vacancies in FGH then Sections 1 or 2; Vacant area adjacent after Meradia Bazaar; The huts pleasure sit down between the begin space adjacent according to Donia College floor and into the originate space adjoining in accordance with the open field.According to the imitation of the rules, animals are introduced in conformity with the want because buying and promoting 5 days earlier than Eid-ul-Azha. But that day the sacrificial animals bear began presence to whole the brief hats between the headquarters Dhaka ahead of schedule. Besides, the huge undertaking for the twin's city corporations over Dhaka is in imitation of rule the haat correct which includes the hygiene guidelines and prerequisites about the heat.However, dense human beings are worried up to expectation the danger about corona can also enlarge appropriate to the cattle market. Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, mayor over Dhaka South City Corporation, said, "Our sketch it period is not in conformity with sell animals everywhere." Unplanned beast stalls must no longer be set up, the place rubbish should now not remain dumped. Hat leaseholders are wight given extraordinary directions between it regard. As the age attracts to a close, so choice keep a exceptional drive to enforce the ignoble plans we have taken. 'On the sordid hand, definitive conditions have been laid below for these whoever has leased a headpiece between Dhaka North City Corporation. However, doubts have been raised about the role of the control group over the authorities among complying including the conditions.The demand desire stays launch for five days such as Eid. Hats cannot keep sliced because extra than the stipulated date. The boundaries of the need desire continue to be into force. No cap does stand employ upon outside the boundaries concerning the hat. The leaseholder pleasure manages the boundaries concerning the need beneath his own management yet secure as the cattle want does not extend beyond the boundaries. The traffic charge of the brute has to be accumulated at the dimension regarding Tk 5 by cent approved with the aid of the government; Additional positive factors at the government quantity can't keep realized. The leaseholder will, at his personal expense, arrange because of the show of ringing charts because of commons records between more than one place seen in the market. No ding do stay accumulated earlier than handing over the hat. If at some time the appropriate mastership broadcasts the hiring void, the lessee choice keeps bound in accordance with taking delivery of such or intention no longer stand able to make any excuse.Electric pillars now not remain old because of tying animals into the need and because of anybody's other purpose. The lessee desire to be accountable for any calamity at the market. The farmer's intention to join the electric-powered block at his personal hazard yet grant the full electrical energy bill. The farmer pleasure consultation the Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority among its regard. Generators hold according to be arranged at the market. Electricity attachment ought to be done by using a valid or licensed person. The farmer intention consultation the office over the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner then prepare because of the expanse about Police-Ansar at the Hat place at his very own charge for the duration of the Hat. Also, keep your own rod because of the safety over the market. knavish cannot remain left in all places of the market. scurrilous be saved into an absolute place.Damage in imitation of roads and sordid infrastructure wish end result into felony compensation, such as forfeiture about collateral, or the lessee will remain obliged in imitation of pay. The farmer's pleasure arranges because of a hearth extinguisher. The farmer may additionally not attempt in conformity with force some animal among the market then may additionally no longer extort anybody attain beside some animal shore through the avenue yet waterway around the market. An aggregation regarding two transient sheds, such as certain because the DNCC's vigilance team yet one because of the members regarding the law introduction agencies, desire hold in conformity with stay made at a convenient location concerning the described hut. Cattle cannot stay loaded and unloaded beside the truck at some location regarding the road whose choice obstructs the rate over humans concerning the road. Arrangements should remain instituted in conformity with dump the animals by allocating parking space of the hut. The lessee has according to install an ample number over CCTV cameras at different locations concerning the need under his very own management. To assure the safety on the beast market, critical steps hold in imitation of stay instituted in conformity with putting in over a timekeeper minaret at a handy place on the market.The lessee has in imitation of engaging upon an ample number regarding brief bogs in the market. Adequate quantity over cleaning soap need to stay kept within the place on temporary toilets because of mitt washing. As soon namely the cap is finished, the farmer has removed the bamboo poles on the headpiece at his personal responsibility. In litigation regarding deviation, the removal value intention stands deducted beside his deposit.To forestall corona infection, the farmer ought to bust the according to measures at the leased transient animal market:At the penetration over the hut, the physique anger regarding the entrant has to be decided with a torrid scanner together with a Television screen. No need to keep allowed after join the market condition she has a fever. Every entrant has to unite the demand with hand gloves, masks, tip topi, and arm sanitizer. The makes use of forearm sanitizers, hand gloves, masks, and tip covers should keep ensured and a control group stays engages upon according to a layout that works. In the system according to government corona, Mike has according to consistently develop these issues consisting of putting banners yet posters including hygiene guidelines instituted with the aid of the Department about Health. Relevant places around then round the market ought to stand kept pure including disinfectant. Buyers, dealers then tenants intention hold in conformity with continuing afterward carrying masks, gloves yet brain covers. The want must hold the required variety on soaps, water drums, and basins.Separate gates stand performed for penetration and external regarding the need or entry yet exterior over the demand ought to stay maintained whilst preserving the prescribed convivial distance. If in that place is more than one entrance, a hot scanner including TV dignity needs to stand set up at each entrance. Elderly, teenagers then unwell people desire not to be allowed to join the market. Things after do yet where according to keep away from in imitation of stop corona contamination need to stand proven over the chastity every the time. The farmer ought to form a skilled yet volunteer crew for the market. The client will not be capable according to enter after the want with many human beings or the buyer wish hold to advise the brute from a secure distance. Buyers or agents have to keep stimulated in imitation of buy and promote animals online. Adequate variety regarding dustbins should be positioned in the market. Medical violate back after forestalling corona infections such so gloves, masks, head covers, sanitizer bottles ought to stay kept among solving dustbins, where the dustbins need to lie indicated together with a bank sticker. Above all, that is important in conformity with confirming strong observance on hygiene pointers prescribed via the Department over Health. The lessee needs to get along with someone similar restrictions imposed with the aid of the government, the Department on Health, and the City Corporation in conformity with forestall coronary infections. Action wishes to stand taken against those who violate the Coronation Prevention Hygiene Act of consequence including the Infectious Diseases (Prevention, Control,, and Eradication) Act, 2018 than the City Corporation Act-2009 or mean associated laws.Atiqul Islam, mayor about Dhaka North City Corporation, said: Otherwise the rent choice keeps canceled. A society consisting of ward councilors has been made in imitation of monitor the huts. The pleasure goes to the huts each and every day. Besides, like desire stand a mobile courtroom in every market. One cell court docket choice keeps embarking on after assuring consent including hygiene and mean conditions.On the other hand, a 10-member club has been built between the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) in conformity with monitor the honest implementation over health regulations and vile prerequisites at the sacrificial brute market.It is regarded up to expectation the convener regarding the union has been the 19th ward councilor. To Mofizur Rahman. The mean members are - No. 1 Ward Councilor. Afsar Uddin Khan; thirteenth Ward Councilor. Ismail Mollah; Ward No. 14 Councilor. Humayun Rashid; Ward Councilor No. sixteen said. Isaac Mia; Ward Councilor No. 16 said. Zakir Hossain; Ward 32 Councilor Syed Hasan Nur Islam; Ward 54 Councilor Jahangir Hossain; Hamida Akhter Mita, councilor of reserved bed No. ten yet Zakia Sultana, councilor of reserved bottom No. 17....

http://www.dailydhakanews24.xyz/2020/07/there-are-17-animal-markets-in-capital.html

[newstfionline]

The Biggest Refugee Camp Braces for Rain

By Somini Sengupta And Henry Fountain, NY Times, March 14, 2018

The world’s largest refugee camp, a temporary home to more than half a million people that sprawls precariously across barren hills in southeastern Bangladesh, faces a looming disaster as early as April when the first storms of the monsoon season hit, aid workers warn.

“It’s going to be landslides, flash floods, inundation,” said Tommy Thompson, chief of emergency support and response for the World Food Program. “It’s going to be a very, very challenging wet season. That’s if we don’t have a cyclone.”

Nearly 600,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees live in the camp, at Cox’s Bazar, near the southern tip of Bangladesh. Cyclones, which can occur from March to July, would considerably worsen the situation beyond the dangers of flooding and landslides.

The Rohingya camp--known officially as the Kutupalong-Balukhali settlements, and informally as the megacamp--is the most urgent example of the new calamities that come with the global refugee crisis: a huge influx of desperate people fleeing war or persecution, only to face natural disaster in an ecologically fragile area potentially made more precarious by climate change.

“We can definitely see how this is going to be a catastrophe, no matter what,” said Mélody Braun, who studies risk reduction strategies at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University and is visiting the camp this week. “There’s really no space. People are everywhere. Slopes are really high.”

Before the Rohingya started crossing into Bangladesh from Myanmar in large numbers in the summer, fleeing attacks on their villages by the army and allied mobs, the hills were dotted with forest.

But then, in a matter of weeks, as refugees poured in by the tens of thousands, trees were hacked away. Canals were dug. Bamboo-and-tarp shacks went up. More trees were cut as refugees scrambled to find firewood.

The hills, where elephants recently roamed, are now bare. Even the roots have been pulled out, leaving nothing to hold the parched soil together as rainwater washes downhill, potentially taking tents and people with it and quickly inundating low-lying settlements. The United Nations says 100,000 refugees are at acute risk from landslides and floods.

The early rains--known in Bengali as kalboishakhi, which translates loosely as the storms of an “evil summer”--are a precursor to the full-on monsoons. They strike when the soil is still dry and especially susceptible to mudslides. The only warning of their approach is usually hot winds that send the dry earth of summer swirling through the air.

“You have whirlwinds of dust,” said Iffat Nawaz, a spokeswoman for BRAC, an international relief agency that is based in Bangladesh. “Suddenly it gets dark in middle of the day and it pours. We usually welcome that. It’s cooling. This year in the middle of the refugee crisis, it’s not something to look forward to.”

Southeastern Bangladesh is already one of the wettest parts of a wet country, with 12 feet of rain on average every year. A warming atmosphere can hold more moisture and unleash more intense downpours, and make wet places even wetter. That may already be happening in and around Cox’s Bazar. Total pre-monsoon rainfall in the region has increased by about one inch every five years over the past five decades, a 2014 study by researchers from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology found.

When the rains come, latrines are likely to overflow, bringing the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

In February, United Nations agencies began dispatching engineering crews to clear blocked sewage canals at risk of overflowing in the rainy season. They distributed compressed rice husk, an alternative to firewood, but that met only a small fraction of the refugees’ needs. The government has yet to allow the United Nations refugee agency to distribute gas stoves that would decrease the demand for firewood.

A spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, which manages the camp, said aid agencies were well aware of the natural disaster risks, but that they struggled in the early months to provide basic services and focused on immediate needs: water, food and shelter.

Bangladeshi and United Nations officials say they are preparing land elsewhere to relocate roughly 100,000 refugees from the megacamp. In one instance, the United Nations is leveling a hilly area allocated by the government to relocate refugees. And officials are distributing more tarp, bamboo and sandbags to refugees to shore up their tents before the rains begin.

[alzar8aa]

“You’re aliens here,” they say to them there. “You’re aliens here,” they say to them here. And between here and there they stretched their bodies like a vibrating bow until death celebrated itself through them. Their parents were driven out of there to become guests here, temporary guests, to clear civilians from the battlegrounds of the homeland and to allow the regular armies to purge Arab land and honor of shame and disgrace. As the old lyric had it: “Brother, the oppressors have all limits dared to break / To battle then, of ourselves an offering to make…/ Of a sudden upon them with death we came / In vain their fight, and nothing they became.” And as those lyrics were chasing out the remnants of the invaders, liberating the country line by line, these youths were being born here, any old way—without a cradle, perhaps on a straw mat or banana leaves, or in bamboo baskets—with no joy or feasting, no birth certificate or name registration. They were a burden to their families and tent neighbors. In short, their births were surplus. They had no identity. And in the end what happened, happened. The regular armies retreated, and these youths were still being born without a reason, growing up for no reason, remembering for no reason, and being put under siege for no reason. All of them know the story—a story very much like that of a cosmic traffic accident or a natural catastrophe. But they also read a great deal in the books of their bodies and their shacks. They read their segregation, and the Arab-nationalist speeches. They read the publications of UNRWA, and the whips of the police. Yet they went on growing up and going beyond the limits of the refugee camp and the detention center. And they read the history of forts and citadels conquerors used as signatures to keep their names alive in lands not theirs and to forge the identity of rocks and oranges, for example. Is history not bribable? And why, then, would many places—lakes, mountains, cities—bear the names of military leaders but that they had mouthed an impression when they first beheld them, and their words became the names still used today? “Oh, rid!” (How beautiful!) That’s what a Roman general cried out when he first saw that lake in Macedonia, and his surprise became its name. Add to this the hundreds of names we use to refer to places previously singled out by some conqueror, where it has since become difficult to disentangle the identity from the defeat. Forts and citadels that are no more than attempts to protect a name that does not trust time to preserve it from oblivion. Anti-forgetfulness wars; anti-oblivion stones. No one wants to forget. More accurately, no one wants to be forgotten. Or, more peacefully, people bring children into the world to carry their name, or to bear for them the weight of the name and its glory. It has had a long history, this double operation of searching for a place or a time on which to put a signature and untie the knot of the name facing the long caravans of oblivion. Why then should those whom the waves of forgetfulness have cast upon the shores of Beirut be expected to go against nature? Why should so much amnesia be expected of them? And who can construct for them a new memory with no content other than the broken shadow of a distant life in a shack made of sheet metal? Is there enough forgetfulness for them to forget? And who is going to help them forget in the midst of this anguish, which never stops reminding them of their alienation from place and society? Who will accept them as citizens? Who will protect them against the whips of discrimination and pursuit: “You don’t belong here!” They present for inspection an identity, which, shown at borders, sounds an alarm so that contagious diseases may be kept in check, and at the same time they note how expertly this very identity is used to uplift Arab-nationalist spirit. These forgotten ones, disconnected from the social fabric, these outcasts, deprived of work and equal rights, are at the same time expected to applaud their oppression because it provides them with the blessings of memory. Thus he who’s expected to forget he’s human is forced to accept the exclusion from human rights that will train him for freedom from the disease of forgetting the homeland. He has to catch tuberculosis not to forget he has lungs, and he must sleep in open country not to forget he has another sky. He has to work as a servant not to forget he has a national duty, and he must be denied the privilege of settling down so that he won’t forget Palestine. In short, he must remain the Other to his Arab brothers because he is pledged to liberation. Fine, fine. He knows his duty: my identity—my gun. Why then do they level against him countless accusations: making trouble, violating the rules of hospitality, creating problems, and spreading the contagion of arms? When he holds his peace, his soul is taken out to the stray dogs; and when he moves toward the homeland, his body is dragged out to the dogs. The intellectuals, capable of trying on the latest models in theory, have convinced him he’s the only alternative to the status quo; yet when the status quo pounces on him, they demand self-criticism because he has gone too far in his patriotism: he has gone so far as to put himself beyond the fold of the status quo. Conditions are not ripe. Conditions are not yet ripe. He has to wait. What must he do? Chatter his life away in the coffee shops of Beirut? He had already prattled so long he was told Beirut had corrupted him. Society ladies, armed with automatic weapons, amid the tinkle of their jewelry give speeches at parties organized for the defense of the national origins of mujaddara. Yet when he feels embarrassed by this and says something to the effect that the homeland is not a dish of rice and lentils, and when he takes up arms for use outside, on the border, they say, “This is overstepping the bounds.” And when he uses these arms to defend himself inside, against the local agents of Zionism, they say, “This is interference in our communal affairs.” What’s to be done then? What can he do to end the process of self-criticism, other than apologize for an existence which has not yet come into being? You are not going there, and you don’t belong here. Between these two negations this generation was born defending the spirit’s bodily vessel, onto which they fasten the fragrance of the country they’ve never known. They’ve read what they’ve read, and they’ve seen what they’ve seen, and they don’t believe defeat is inevitable. So they set out on the trail of that fragrance.

Mahmoud Darwish, Memory for Forgetfulness, August, Beirut, 1982.