#refs from that one magazine shoot you know

[luminarai]

sunset st louis// rb shop

finishing art stuff is pretty difficult these days but I did manage to zhuzh up a sketch of this handsome lad

[revasserium]

burn

umemiya hajime; 3,307 words; mostly fluff, tiny bit of angst, young/freshman!umemiya, pre-canon events, lapslock, no "y/n", librarian!reader, childhood friends to lovers, vague ref to ch. 152, ume is a dumbdumb

summary: "it's a pleasure to burn" - ray bradbury, fahrenheit 451

a/n: am i writing umemiya now? who knows. this takes place 2 years before wbk manga events (the first year ume&co are in boufuurin) so pls excuse the slightly ooc ume...

001. the art of war

the library is entirely your idea.

“mah… you’d have to be the one to keep track of all the books though,” umemiya says, grinning as he watches you stock the shelves, your hair twisted up into a messy bun, your arm straining to reach the top-most shelf with a bundle of paperbacks with fraying covers and broken-in spines.

“of course i would! it’s not like there’s anyone else here i’d trust with that.” you turn to fix him with a stare that is already too “librarian-like” and he laughs, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied sigh.

“okay then, consider me your first patron! gimme something to read,” umemiya says, smiling wide as you narrow your eyes. your lips twitch up at the ends — it’s a familiar movement, an unconscious gesture, but one that’s plagued his all sleepless nights and most of his endless days.

“well…” you say, drawing out the word as you slowly saunter towards him, propping your hands on your hips as you pull level with the table in front of him, “what do you want to read?”

“anything you’d wanna lend me,” he says easily.

“boo, that’s such a boring answer,” you shoot back, shifting to press your hip against the edge of the table, crossing your arms as you turn to look back at the half-erected shelves.

you don’t see the way umemiya’s eyes flicker down to the bend of your waist, or the way he licks his lips as he tracks the plush of your thigh as you move to hoist yourself onto the desk, balancing on the edge.

he swallows, clearing his throat, trying not to think about the strange, burgeoning signs of growing up pestering you both at this vital juncture (just last week, his voice had cracked so hard you’d laughed at him for a whole hour straight; and the week before that, he’d almost rammed into a telephone poll watching you jog down the flight of stairs that leads to your tiny apartment).

“then maybe reading a few books will make me not so boring, hm?”

you roll your eyes, hopping off the table to comb through the handful of books. umemiya lets out an internal sigh of relief, feeling the heat in his cheeks recede ever so slightly as you disappear behind one of the taller shelves.

“here. let’s start with this.”

you pop out from behind the shelf, lobbing a thin volume towards him; he catches it out of reflex and stares at the cover.

“the art of war…?”

you grin, all cheek and no shame, “yeah. i mean… fits, doesn’t it? aren’t you starting at boufuurin next week?” you blink before turning back to look around at the small, abandoned storage facility, tucked between a ramen shop and what used to be a dollar store. there’s half a dozen dusty shelves, a few cabinets along the walls, and even a small stepladder that touma had dug out of the back closet for you.

at fifteen, you’re probably the smartest person he knows (and the prettiest, but that’s neither here nor there); at fifteen, umemiya hajime is an iron-wrought confluence of teenage ambition with big ideas and even bigger dreams (who doesn’t have time for things like crushes or girls… really).

“yeah,” umemiya runs a finger along the cover of the little book and flips to a random page, his eyes catching on the line —

the greatest victory is that which requires no battle at all.

002. pedro reyes

three weeks later, he stumbles back with two black eyes and a matching pair of bleeding knuckles.

“that book you lent me?” he says, dropping into a chair with a groan, “kinda bullshit.”

you make a half-startled, half-annoyed noise as you hurry over, setting down an armful of magazines to lean over and look at his face.

“what the hell happened?”

umemiya winces as you reach out to wipe a trickle of blood from his cheek.

“couple of fights — tough ones, but… well, i’m still here, aren’t i?” he says, managing a lopsided grin even as you tut, hurrying away to grab a first aid kit, returning with a warm, wet cloth and a scowl on your face.

“i thought you had a plan,” you say, unable to keep the acid from your voice.

umemiya groans as you press the damp cloth to his bloodied fingers, watching as you wipe each one down, the shocking white of the towel slowly darkening until it’s stained and blotchy with red.

“yeah. i did — punch everyone out till i get to the top.”

you tsk, frown deepening even as he shifts forward to let you wipe at the wounds on his face.

“pretty sure that’s not what sun tzu suggests,” you say, dabbing some kind of cooling gel to a cut right below his eye.

“sun tzu’s never had to deal with the guys at boufuurin.”

you roll your eyes, sighing before pulling back, “there’s an article i read today —” you jerk your head back towards the stack of magazines, “about an artist in mexico.”

“yeah?”

umemiya closes his eyes and lets you do the slow, diligent work of bandaging up his knuckles, one by one.

“he took a bunch of illegal weapons the government had confiscated and melted them down — pistols, knives, shotguns — and made them into musical instruments instead.”

the quiet that follows is thick and steady as churned butter. you don’t look up, your eyes still trained on the careful task of bandaging umemiya’s fingers.

he shifts, pulling closer, his breath fanning out warm against your cheek.

“do you know how hot a fire has to be in order to melt metal?” you ask after another brief silence, finally lifting your eyes as you finish with his hands.

umemiya cocks an eyebrow, “how hot?”

“about 2,700 degrees, fahrenheit.”

umemiya whistles below his breath, “sounds hot.”

“it is. at that temperature, you can apparently force a weapon to forget that it’s a weapon, to remake it into something new — something that wasn’t made to take lives… but to give it instead.”

you wrap your fingers around his, your skin contrasted against the dark blossom of bruises.

umemiya feels his smile slash into something jagged, lopsided and sharp.

“then… i guess that’s how hot i’ll have to burn to turn this whole place around.”

003. grey’s anatomy

looking back, umemiya wonders if that’s the night he changed — the night that you’d held onto his hands as if they were something precious.

he looks up the melting point of metal and the story of the artist in mexico. he thinks about what it must feel like to turn a pistol into a flute, to be the one to teach it to hold a note instead of a bullet —

he stares down at his bandaged hands, feels the dull ache in his muscles and wonders.

once, he remembers when the pair of you were still kids, hollow and lonely and full of a childish rage at the indifferent world — how you’d laughed as he pushed you on a neighborhood swing, but cried when he knocked a guy’s front teeth our for asking where your parents were.

and a week later, he’d found you hidden under the jungle gym with a tomb of a book clutched in your hands. the air had been damp with thunder, the sky grey and electric.

you’d looked up at him with bright eyes, holding out a closed fist —

“ume! did you know that the human heart is the same size as a fist?”

he remembers crawling under the jungle gym to squeeze in beside you, elbow to elbow, hip to hip, peering at the opened book, at the page with a diagram of the human body an all it’s labeled parts.

“oh, cool.”

he’d held up his own fist then, and stared, feeling the beat of his heart reverberating through his chest. he wonders if you can hear it when you’re pressed this close; he wonders, if the sky weren’t breaking apart above you, if he’d be able to hear your heartbeats too.

“isn’t it strange?” you’d asked, leaning over to bump your fist against his.

“what’s strange?” he hadn’t pulled away; neither had you.

your hand relaxes then, fingers loosening till he can see the blood rush back into their tips, tinting them pink. you’d turned your hand and placed it over his still-closed one and squeezed.

“that… a heart and a fist are the same size but… they weren’t made to beat the same.”

004. romeo & juliet

“he loves you, y’know.”

you look up from the makeshift front desk.

tsubaki is sitting with their legs crossed on one of the tables, arms propped on either side of their hips.

“library’s not open for another few days,” you say by way of an answer.

“it’s nice,” tsubaki says, looking around, “you did a good job with it.”

“thanks.”

they hop off the table to peer down one of the aisles of books — all the shelves now labeled with your loopy handwriting, the books clustered by a loose combination of genre, authorship, and spine-coloration.

“it’ll be good for us,” tsubaki’s voice is slightly muted by the layers and layers of books, but the click of their heeled boots rings sharp against the smooth linoleum floors, “having a library — the pen being mightier than the sword, and all.”

they’re smiling when they finally come back around the last row, fingers linked behind their back.

“that’s the hope, anyway,” you say, lips pulling into a wane smile.

you glance up and your eyes catch on the bandage at the edge of tsubaki’s lips, the dark stain at the collar of their otherwise impeccable uniform.

sighing, you run a hand along a yet-unsorted stack of books, shaking your head.

“we’re too young to know anything about love,” you answer, finally.

tsubaki joins you, bending down to pick up the first book at the top of the pile, waving it in the air with a rueful grin.

“i think romeo & juliet would beg to differ.”

you bite your lips, “you know that’s a tragedy, right?”

tsubaki shrugs, “sure, but… wasn’t it beautiful while it lasted anyway?”

you don’t have an answer, and instead, tsubaki giggles, tapping the top of your head with the book.

“can i borrow this? i promise i’ll return it!”

you wave them away with a soft smile.

“that’s kind of how a library works.”

005. fight club

“how long have you been here?”

you jerk up, your entire body screaming with the movement after having been still for so long.

“ume —! you’re awake!” you nearly collapse by the hospital bedside, dropping your head into the pristine white sheets.

above you, umemiya makes a choked off sound somewhere between a cough and a laugh, his hand coming up to pat your head. you melt into the feel of him, the weight and warmth of his fingers as he treads them through your hair.

“where’s —”

“they left — all of them,” you say, lifting your head slowly, “takishii and endo and… all of them.”

umemiya frowns, his hand stilling for a second, “what do you mean?”

you shrug, pulling back till you’re curled up in the bedside seat once more, tugging your knees up into your chest.

“after the fight, they just… picked up and left.”

“so… i lost,” umemiya’s voice is soft.

you shake your head, “no.”

he frowns, “but that’s —”

“you knocked each other out at the same time — it was technically —” your voice snags in your throat as you remember the grizzly scene before you, the crimson sprays of blood, the dirt damp beneath them, their uniforms torn into dark ribbons, the rooftop howling with a savage, winter wind.

“a tie,” umemiya says in a flatlined voice, reaching up and covering his eyes with his arm.

“right.”

you clear your throat, reaching for the tall glass of water on the bedside table.

“here — drink,” you hold the water out to him. he takes it wordlessly and drains nearly the entire glass. you watch, silent, as a drop of liquid trails down his jaw and trickles into the bandages at this throat.

your eyes cut away as he grins, smacking his lips and setting the water glass down.

“ah — that feels much better!”

you’re quiet, sitting vulturine still, refusing to meet his gaze.

umemiya finally slumps back to stare at the ceiling.

“you’re mad at me.”

“i’m not.”

“we’e known each other our whole lives, i know when you’re mad —”

“i’m scared, okay?” there’s a thin, unsteady quiver to the tenor of your voice as your head snaps back up. it’s then that he notices your fingers curled into fists at your sides.

“s-scared? of what? takiishi and endo are gone — you said so your—”

“of you!”

umemiya blinks and feels the blood in his extremities going cold, and for a second, he’s not sure if he accidentally dislodged his iv drip.

the look on your face is inscrutable, anger and uncertainty, but most of all — fear. something about that look makes his stomach curdle inside him.

“i —” he tries to find something to say but nothing else comes out. there’s no excuse, no explanation. he searches you eyes for a tether, for a spark of that familiar warmth and finds none.

slowly, you soften back into the seat and turn to stare out the window.

“it’s not like i’ve never seen you fight… and i’ve never liked it but this…” you bite down on your bottom lip, “it was like… you turned into someone else. someone i didn’t recognize.”

“i’m… i’m sorry.”

you swallow, still not looking at him, your eyes flickering down to your own hands, now lying limply in your lap.

“and then i thought — what if i did this? i — i had to go and make that stupid metaphor about the metal and the melting and —”

at this, umemiya laughs, reaching out to tug you closer. the ease with which he does so startles a hiccup out of you.

“you don’t really think i went and fought like that because of an article about a dude in mexico, do you?”

you purse your lips, cheeks going blotchy with heat. umemiya reaches forward to squeeze your nose, making you jerk back.

“dummy,” he chides, grinning now from ear to ear, but his smile falters slightly as he takes your hands in his, “i’m sorry that i scared you. promise i won’t do it again.”

“hn.” you don’t make to pull away, and umemiya takes that as permission to tug you into his chest, wrapping both arms around you. he buries his face in your hair and breathes in, out, in —

“hm… you really think you have that much power over me?” umemiya asks, a wanton sort of amusement underlying his voice as he finally lets you go, if only to revel in the way your cheeks flood with color.

“shut up! i was — i was freaked out and you were unconscious and i —”

“cause you do.”

your words cut off as abruptly as a dropped call.

umemiya chuckles, scratching at the back of his head, ruffling up his already pillow-mussed hair.

“been meaning to tell you but… i figured you already knew — “ and for once, he sounds his age — young and halting and shy.

after a breath that feels like a century, you finally break into a helpless fit of laughter.

“i can’t believe it…” you say, burying your face in your hands.

“can’t… believe what?” umemiya blinks at you.

“that it took you nearly dying for you to admit that you liked me.”

“hey! in case you haven’t noticed, i’ve been kinda busy this year!”

you roll your eyes, “yeah, yeah — had to go save the world first. then you get to kiss the girl, right? end movie, roll credits.”

umemiya cocks his head, “well, i dunno about the world but definitely — wait, what did you say about kissing me?”

you crinkle your nose, “i didn’t.”

“yeah you did.”

“i did not — i was just making a general statement about cliches in superhero movies —”

“oh, so you think i’m a superhero?”

“ume! stop it — mph!”

later, umemiya would recall fondly to anyone who will listen that yeah, he does get to kiss the girl after all.

006. fahrenheit 451

“451,” you say, standing at the door of the newly minted makochi library.

it’s dark outside, and umemiya stands by your side, stretching his arms over his head with a wide yawn.

“huh?”

“451 degrees,” you say again, turning to press a small silver lighter into his hands. he stares owlishly at it before looking back at you, clearly at a loss.

“that’s how hot it has to be for paper to catch fire.”

umemiya stares.

“i was thinking,” you say, turning back to the dark, but pristine library.

“uh-oh — oof — ow!” umemiya makes a show of clutching his side as you jerk your elbow back for another blow. he dodges out of your way with a dopey grin.

you sigh, turning back to the library, “but i was thinking that… there’s gotta be a better way — an easier way, right?”

this time, he stays quiet to let you speak.

“because yeah, it’d be nice to melt all the weapons in the world and turn them all into nicer things but… there’s a better way to do things.”

“yeah? and what’s that?” umemiya turns the lighter around and around in his palm.

you turn and head for the door, locking it behind you. the moonlight washes your skin in a ghostly silver as you turn to face him.

“we rewrite the story,” you say.

umemiya flicks on the lighter and lets the fire dance between them. his breath catches on the liquid gold in your eyes.

“is… that even possible?” he asks.

you reach out a steady hand, letting the tips of your fingers barely skim over the shifting flame.

“sure it is. all of human history is just a story written by the victors. and… 451 degrees isn’t nearly as hot as 2,700.”

umemiya smiles then, letting the lid of the lighter click shut. the fire snuffs out, leaving only a thin trail of spiraling smoke behind.

“sounds a lot more reasonable, too. much less scary,” he says.

you laugh, turning towards the main street. he watches you go for a second before pocketing the lighter and making to catch up. when he levels himself with you, he reaches out to take your hand.

“fires don’t have to be scary,” you say, giving his hand a quick squeeze, “for most of human history… it’s brought people together — over a hot meal or a good story. a lot of the time… it’s the only reason we get to survive.”

umemiya pulls you in to loop his arm around your shoulder.

“hm. i like the sound of that way, way better.”

bonus:

“so… just makin’ sure — you don’t want me to burn down the new library you spent all this time setting up, right?”

“no you dumbass! it was just a metaphor.”

“oh. right — yeah, a metaphor, duh.”

[seeingteacupsindragons]

New Chapter Time! Mari Go Away!

Have I mentioned recently that I adore Herder? I adore Herder.

Herder has a thing here that makes me think of translation because what he says is like, "Ethic-less" but I think it would translate better as "anything goes"

WHY ARE THERE NORMIES HERE

Is that supposed to be Moran next to Jack? Dude your hair--But this is a nice shot of all their heights.

Herder's discussion of the weather is probably the most practical Japanese I have gathered from this series, but I'm probably going to forget this vocabulary shortly

Also Herder talking about the weather in terms of shooting people is just very. Him.

It is indeed Moran

None of the normies want to play this game. Shocking. Shocking.

Albert: I'm very sorry, Normies, for letting Herder explain this, because. Um.

Interlude: I thought this would be easier to do on two screens, but my zoom and orientation on the magazine keeps changing when I do anything on the other screen, so it is Not.

Bond is not Having it, and tbh, I'm not sure why, except that Albert just lied out his ass, I think.

Do senseis know that "Lord Kruger" being an English anything sounds absurd.

Albert: I am totally hijacking this hunting trip I was invited to for my own purposes so my "servants" could play. This is fine and normal.

!!! Is Liam finally going to shoot a damn gun?

Albert: Also this was my little brother's idea so think twice before insulting it. Thanks.

They're all now on board because William smiled at them. The bastard.

Liam's doing the hand thing again I called out last night. Although he's being kind of duplicitous right now but not straight up lying. He's in peak keigo form today.

Herder: You can have a pistol or a sniper

Moran, probably: THANK you, God.

Herder: Also I have rubber knives

Well there goes Liam shooting anything.

Louis, probably: Can I have a real knife

Herder: The paint looks like clotted blood

Me: Did...Did William ask you do that? How do you even know. You're blind. Who tested this.

Herder: And don't worry, the paint bullets are biodegradable because Fred complained about having to pick up Moran's bullets that one time so I avoided that necessity.

Are they just gonna knock out all the normies b/c tbh this would be more fun with just our murder fam.

Herder: I tagged all the guns MORAN so don't BREAK THE DAMN THING THIS TIME

I'm sorry it's really funny to image all the sniping and personal bickering that would be happening if they weren't being all keigo in front of the guests

I appreciate at least the visual cues that imply the bickering

Herder: For various reasons, I'll be the ref

The normies: Oh, it's because he's blind, poor thing, the Moriartys are so charitable

Louis and Bond: HE JUST WANTS TO WATCH THE GUNS

Normie kids are playing???

HELENA???

WAS THIS A THING IN THE LIGHT NOVELS

I feel like Patterson can't come to this event because it's public and he's a public figure and that would be Weird, but I wonder if this was like "Okay, everyone gets to play a game," because Patterson wanted a vacation.

Helena talking about her extremely sedentary little brother reminds me of Liam and sickly Louis okay

Finally some proper bickering now that teams are selected.

They got split into red and blue. Because.

Liam, however, got blue for once in his life

They have to tell us, because it's black and white. But they are shaded differently.

Moriarty brothers: What if we're all on the SAME TEAM?

Moran: HEY I'M ON THE OTHER TEAM YOU JERKS. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NOT FAIR.

Bond sounds like city streetlights. That's super cool, actually.

Louis is all "my brothers and I are three hearts beating as one and together in flesh and spirit" and Louis you need to like, tone it down just a lil

Louis: OUR BOND IS SO STRONG NOT EVEN GOD CAN TEAR IT APART

Louis: ...but I'm not on their team in paintball.

Herder: If you lose, you have to go feed pheasants as a punishment

Herder: BUT IF YOU BREAK YOUR GUN, THEN--

This was long, but I just love Mori fam, okay?

[posttexasstressdisorder]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/martha-stewart-just-quietly-endorsed-kamala-harris-for-president?ref=home?ref=home

Entertainment

Martha Stewart Just Quietly Made a Rare Presidential Endorsement

‘KEEP IT QUIET’

After declining to endorse a candidate in 2020, Stewart has finally broken her silence on the 2024 election.

Eboni Boykin-Patterson

Entertainment Reporter

Updated Sep. 13, 2024 10:51AM EDT / Published Sep. 13, 2024 10:50AM EDT 

Photo credit: Julie Stapen

Martha Stewart has finally weighed in on the 2024 election and endorsed a candidate.

During the 2024 Retail Influencer CEO Forum Tuesday, Stewart shared that she would definitely be tuning in to the evening’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump: “Oh, you bet.” But for the first time this go-round, she also said who she’s voting for: “Kamala,” she said, with an emphasis on its correct pronunciation.

Martha Stewart and Joanna Coles at the 2024 Retail Influencer CEO Forum on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.

Julie Stapen

The 83-year-old lifestyle maven has been critical of Trump going back to 2006, when they both had versions of The Apprentice airing at the same time. After Stewart’s version of the show faced low viewership, she blamed Trump for not honoring a deal she said they had for her to “fire” him, making way for her show to be the only one: “Having two Apprentices was as unfair to him as it was unfair to me,” she said at the time.

Trump, in turn, responded by chastising her with a public letter, accusing her of lying about an agreement and later told the press, “I wish she would be able to take responsibility for her failure,” as the two feuded.

She did publicly support Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016, telling CNN, “We just can’t have a country run by someone who is totally unprepared for what comes.”

74728179

Martha Stewart and Donald Trump "fire" up NBC's promo campaign for both "Apprentice" shows. The two icons gathered together to shoot multiple on-air spots for NBC on August 8, 2005.

NBC Universal

After Trump’s victory in 2016, Stewart walked back her previous comments, congratulating him and expressing her excitement about having a “true entrepreneur in the White House.” She then stayed notably silent on the subject when Trump ran against Joe Biden in 2020.

In an interview with The New York Times in 2020, Stewart was asked whether or not she planned to endorse Biden or Trump for president—a question she dodged. “My personal conundrum is, my friends know who I am and what I stand for,” she told the Times, “but in terms of being the owner of the magazine, how do you take sides when 50 percent of your readers might be on one side, and 50 percent on the other? It’s difficult. That’s my answer to that.”

Four years later, Stewart still acknowledges that while discussing politics means she could “lose 50 percent of your viewers and your fans,” she couldn’t help, when asked, to confirm on which side of the political divide she falls.

But don’t expect to hear more from her on that subject any time soon. “I’m not allowed to talk [about politics]. I can’t post anything about politics because first of all, the eyeballs of a parent company come and [I’ll] get a call right away—can’t do that,” Stewart said. “You can’t talk [about that], so—keep it quiet.”

[nervouslaughter05]

Of Monsters and Men-Chapter 1

A/N: As promised, here is my second (and much happier might I say) addition to the CoD fandom! When the CoD edits started pouring into my TikTok feed, you would not believe how happy I was. Instantly, the healthy love I had felt for Ghost when I was younger and playing the game with my friends blossomed into a thirst quenchable only with the finest literature (Tumblr and Ao3 have been my saving grace) could satisfy.

I will be posting a ref sheet and a fact file for my OC on my art insta and here within hopefully the next week or so. Just know she is 5'6", has auburn hair she wears in a single french braid, and greyish-blue eyes.

Anyways, please heed the tags! I will be putting a note at the top of each chapter with some tags for that chapter specifically just for added protection for you readers :). Thank you and enjoy!

Art Insta: @timtoart05

C/W: blood and injury mention, OC patches up a bullet wound of a soldier and a knife wound (neither are described in graphic detail but blood is mentioned), minor language, mentions of killing and shooting

Masterlist

“Soap, I’m running a little low over here!”

“Here, catch!”

Grizzly snatches the magazine from the air, deftly reloading her rifle and taking aim at the incoming hostiles. She pulls the trigger and sends a ball of lead right between the eyes of one of the men. As he crumbles to the ground, she takes aim again, staring into her scope and sending another man into the dirt. 

“We cannae keep this up!” Soap yells to be heard above the sound of gunfire, taking down targets of his own. “The fuckers jus’ keep comin’. ”

She sends another man to the grave, shouting back, “You think I don’t realize that?”

“Alpha, where the hell are you?” Grizzly questions, pressing the com resting in her ear that was tethered to a radio on her vest. “We’re gettin’ hammered out here!”

“About four minutes out,” her captain replies, the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air traceable in the background. “Hold on.”

“Copy that.”

The marine to her right falls onto his back, clutching at his shoulder with a cry of pain. Her attention snaps from the rifle in her hands to the injured man, dropping it and hurrying to his side with her kit already open and ready to go. She keeps one of her hands pressing down on the one he already had on his shoulder to stanch the bleeding while the other pulls out gauze and cotton to pack the wound. Grizzly gently moves his shoulder up from the ground to check for an exit wound, instantly plugging her finger into the hole while she grasps a bottle of antiseptic. 

“Count to three for me, corporal,” she orders, flicking open the cap while the injured soldier does as told. 

Except she pours it on when he’s at one. He curses in pain, stiff beneath her steady hands. She expertly packs and bandages the wound. Once the gauze is firmly secured, the latex gloves get tossed away in favor of being swapped out for the combat ones. 

“Can you still shoot?” she questions, hands already back on her rifle as she gets a nod from the corporal. “Good. Back to your post.”

Grizzly transitions from corpsman to sniper instantly, resuming her position and taking aim at the men below. Right as she gets ready to take down one of the men hunting them from the outside of the compound they’d holed themselves in, the remaining men begin dropping like flies. She catches sight of a sniper taking aim at them from their spot on top of a nearby building right before there’s a hulking form shooting them in the back of the head. 

Ghost. 

“Fuck yeah!” she yells, watching the last man drop dead as Alpha team sweeps through. 

“Take that ya sonuva bitches!” Soap cheers, rising to his feet and a hand going to the com in his ear. “Just in time fellas.”

“You’re welcome,” Gaz replies, his voice filtering smoothly through the coms. “You comin’ down or do we need to move in?”

“Meet us halfway,” Soap tells him as Grizzly rises to her feet with the rifle grasped firmly in her hands. 

He leads the way, their squad moving behind him in a line. She’s second to last, the marine with the injured shoulder in front of her while a massive brute is behind her. They move with ease, boots thumping on the stairs as all eight of them make their way from the third floor to the first. 

Fresh air brushes fondly over her face once the squad is outside, soothing her heated skin.

“Good to see ya in one piece,” Gaz says, bumping Soap’s fist with his own in their handshake.

Grizzly ushers the marines onto the helicopter, turning to Gaz once the last soldier gets on. “Of course y'all make an appearance right as the numbers die down.” 

He laughs, turning and leading them to the helicopter just as Ghost was coming back. 

“Lieutenant,” she greets him, nodding at the helicopter. “Nice move out there. Bet that poor bastard didn’t even see you comin’. ”

He nods to her, voice gruff as he speaks. “Sergeants.”

She grins, climbing into the helicopter after Soap and settling into the first open spot she sees. Ghost follows closely after, dropping heavily into the seat at her left since the others had all filled up. Price enters last, nodding to her and Soap before taking a seat and ordering the pilots to take them back to base. 

And just like that, the mission was a success. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Soap if you don’t stop moving I have the authority to knock you out.”

The man chuckles at the threat. “Doesn’t that go against your oath, Griz?”

She snorts, shoving him. “We’re surrounded by marines. You really think they’d care?”

Gaz laughs at the pout the Scot puts on at the reply. “Aw c’mon, man. Ya know she loves you too much to do somethin’ like tha’. ”

“Debatable,” she quips, winding the bandage around Soap’s thigh where he’d been knifed during the fight.

“A’m hurt, Griz,” Soap tells her, placing a hand over where his heart is and putting on a mock frown. 

She chuckles. “Oh come on ya big baby. Even if I did knock you out, I’d make sure you were properly taken care of. I can’t be the only raging Scot around here to celebrate the death of the queen.”

Soap laughs at that, unable to stay mad while Gaz deadpans. “Guess yer right, lass. Even if yer only half.”

“Only one who ken wat yer talking ‘bout, Soap,” Grizzly says, laughing at the other man in the room with them shaking his head. 

“Even after all these years I still can’t understand the two of ya.”

“Don’t need to,” she hums, standing and encouraging Soap to do the same to check his bandages. “How’s that feel?”

“Better,” he replies, heading for the door of the med ward. “Wanna get some eats? The mess should still be open.”

Grizzly follows closely behind the other sergeant with Gaz at her side, making their way through the base. It wasn’t the one they called home, but considering she had spent five years in the marine corps before being called by Price to join his budding 141, she was able to steer them in the right direction. Marines walked past, nodding in respect to her and the team. More than once she heard a teasing “Evenin’, Mama Bear” passing by. This just made her grin and keep walking, knowing it was the soldiers own way of showing their respect to her as a doctor. 

“What’s up with their whole thing of calling you ‘Mama Bear’, Griz?” Soap asks as they enter the mess hall and get into line. “I don’t think I’ve heard any of them refer to you by Grizzly once.”

She shrugs. “That’s just the marine way, Soap. Gotta show their respect somehow. Many of them knew me back when I was still a corpsman meaning that I saved a lot of their asses out in combat.”

The room was still full of marines of various rankings shuffling about and sitting at tables eating. When she steps out of line to wait for Gaz and Soap to finish being served up, a squad marches in. They’re all very loud, shoving one another with playful roughness in line. She rolls her eyes at the display, all too familiar with it even after being officially away from the scene for nearly three years at this point. 

Her other two team members finally step away with their food, at her sides as they find a place to sit down and eat. She spies an empty table against the back wall, turning to face Gaz and Soap. Grizzly nods in the direction of the table, weaving through the mass of tables and bodies crowding them. They get to the back of the room, settling down and digging in. 

“How was the mission, Mama Bear?” a marine sitting at the table about two feet from theirs inquires, catching her attention right as she was taking a bite of her food.

Another marine cuts in before she can answer. “Oh come on Daniels. Ya know it went well. Any team with Mama Bear as the corpsman is gonna make it out in one piece. Ain't that right, Mama Bear?”

“Damn straight,” she replies, a grin on her face. “There’s a reason why you’re cautioned against riling up a grizzly with cubs, fellas.”

The marines chuckle at her response, leaving her to eat the rest of the meal in peace. 

“That was so corny,” Gaz teases, sipping his juice. 

She shrugs. “True though ain’t it?”

He just huffs out a laugh and keeps eating. Soap swaps banter with the marines and Grizzly joins in every now and then, amused highly at the confused expressions on the faces of the marines when she used her thick Scottish accent. Eventually the marines finish up, leaving with a chorus of “bye Mama Bear!”s and nods to the men she was with. 

She pulls her phone out, shooting a quick text to her older brother as she remembered something random he’d asked her on a call they’d had a few days ago. Before she could put it away, her ringtone goes off and the caller ID of “Mom” pops up. Without skipping a beat, her ringtone is silenced and the phone is put back into one of the side pockets of her cargos. 

“Scammer?” Gaz asks, gaze curious. 

Grizzly shakes her head, going back to eating. “Nah. My mom.”

Soap’s head snaps up, eyes meeting hers. “Why’re you hanging up on yer mum, Griz? Wat’s the woman done now, aye?”

“The usual,” is all she replies with, finishing off the last of her food and drinking the rest of her juice. “Her latest fixation is kinda funny though.”

Gaz seems slightly nervous as he asks, “And what would that be?”

She looks up from her tray of food, meeting his gaze. “When she’s gonna be getting grandkids from me.”

Soap nearly chokes on his drink from the snort of laughter that spills from his lips while Gaz takes a moment to process her words. 

“Wat aboot findin’ a partner first?” the Scot manages to say between his wheezing laughs, trying to rein it in. “Ye cannae jus’ pop out a pup at her request.”

“That’s what I tried to tell her,” Grizzly says, pinching the bridge of her nose between her pointer finger and thumb with furrowed brows. “So then she just goes ‘When’s the wedding then?’ and I almost lost it.”

Soap’s laughter rings out as Gaz shakes his head, shoulders shaking with his own laughs. 

“Sounds awful,” Gaz concedes. “She want you out of the military or somethin’?”

She nods, rising from the table as the men do the same. “Exactly. She hates how long I’ve been in for. Thinks I need to get out and do normal ‘woman things’-whatever the hell that means.”

“She’s very old fashioned isn’t she?” Gaz remarks, walking beside her. 

“Old-fashioned is an understatement, Gaz.”

The three of them walk out of the mess hall together, passing by the packed tables of marines. Murmurs follow in their wake, speaking of the prestige of the team. She’s amused by the murmurs, having grown used to them after spending a few years in 141. Soap and Gaz converse while they walk, the former very animated in his speaking and hand movements. 

Her phone vibrates in her pocket against her leg, but she pointedly ignores it. 

“Ey Ghost!”

She had zoned out, not seeing the approach of their team’s lieutenant. He nods to them in greeting, trying to go on his way around Soap. The insistent sergeant however blocks him, striking up–or at least tries to–a conversation with the other man. 

“Where ya off to, L.t?” Soap asks, sunshine attitude leaking from him in waves. 

Ghost looks down, voice neutral. “None of your business, Johnny.”

Grizzly rolls her eyes with an affectionate huff, stepping forward and placing a hand on Soap’s shoulder. “Leave ‘em alone, Soap. Maybe he just wants some peace and quiet away from you.”

The Scot guffaws, pouting at her. He looks back at Ghost. “Tell me it’s not true, Ghost!”

Ghost huffs, and she can tell from his expression alone he was raising an eyebrow beneath the mask. “Why? No point in lying to ya.”

She laughs at the mock anguish Soap plasters on his face, getting to relieve the sergeant’s drama from earlier when she’d been treating his wound. Gaz chuckles, heading down the hallway in the direction of the barracks and showers with a soft “M gonna clean up” to Grizzly. She watches him go for a moment before turning her attention back to the lieutenant and the other sergeant. 

“Ya wound me, Ghost,” Soap sighs dramatically, sagging down into Grizzly’s hold. “At least I still have ya Griz.”

“Wouldn’t change a thing, Soap,” she tells him, patting his back. 

“Since ya want to know so badly,” Ghost says, getting the Scot to perk up. “I was heading to the gym.”

She looks up at the lieutenant, slightly surprised before realizing this was Ghost they were talking to. 

“Lookin’ for some sparrin’ partners?” Soap asks, slinging an arm around Grizzly so she couldn’t slink away. “Am sure Griz would love to spar wi’ ya. Right?”

“I’ll break your arm, Soap.”

He laughs. “Calm down, shorty.”

“Show some respect to your superior,” she orders playfully, squirming from his grip. “I didn’t get into the military two years before you did just to not be shown the respect I’m due.”

Soap grins. “Sounds like we ‘ave an issue to deal wi’. Care to fight it out?”

She glances up at Ghost–Christ why did she have to be so short compared to him–who had an expression of a man resigned to an interrupted workout and then back at the Scot. “You’re on.”

[mrsbhandari]

Don’t Fear the Reaper

A/N: Hello!! I hope you all are staying safe and hydrated and well fed. I know that I haven’t updated AaF in like....a hot minute because I’ve been writing a lot of Haikyuu stuff recently, so I hope this kind of makes it better. I might write a more nsfw part two for this later, but rn this is just a lil one-shot of my fave couple chilling at a sideshow. Also, if you couldn't tell, I listened to Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult while writing this because of the Death refs in this, so I hope that makes a lil bit of sense and that you like it!!

Word Count: 1,538

Warnings: language, nonconsensual groping (but nothing explicit), slight reference to nsfw thoughts, making out

Summary: Colt brings Roze with him on a race. 

Tag list: 

@omgjasminesimone, @edgiestwinter, @bucketofsoup, @donutsgirl36, @desireepow-1986, @lovehugsandcandy, @troublemakerinspace, @client-327

------------------------

The two men were sizing each other up, nose to nose, chest to chest, while Roze looked on helplessly. She knew that if she tried to get in between them, things wouldn’t end up well but at the same time, Colt was going to cause his own destruction if he continued being this reckless at every sideshow they went to. It started with a less-than-innocent foreign hand on her ass that escalated into Colt throwing a guy--Alex? Alan?--into the hood of a nearby car, fully prepared for a fight. Roze yelled to her boyfriend that it really wasn’t the biggest deal and they could just leave, but Colt tasted blood and wanted more.

“How about you race me, then?” Alex/Alan snarled, spit catching on his opponent’s lip. “Whoever wins gets the bitch.” Roze watched as Colt’s hands curled into fists at his side, ready to knock this guy out with one swing. He never did take well to any other man even looking at you; having one call you something anything other than your name brought his blood to a boil. 

“I--Fine.” Colt’s eyes glanced to yours, a nervous look on his face as he considered the stakes. You knew it was all for show. Walking over to Colt messing with his bike, Roze set a hand on his shoulder, feeling the warmth from his body radiating through the leather. 

“You sure about this?” She never really doubted him, but this track would be tricky with a motorcycle. She always worried about what happened when he was out on the road at one of these races because there was just too much that could go wrong.

“I gotta defend your honor, right? I need to be your knight riding in on my white steed.” He sent her a confident, playful smile that melted her heart, telling her everything would be alright in the end. She almost believed it.

“More like Death on his pale horse.”

“Oh, you’re right. That sounds way cooler.” 

“It’s not meant to--Fuck it, whatever.” She rolled her eyes, immense sadness filling them as he threw his leg over his bike, easily straddling it and sitting comfortably. She always loved how he looked on his bike; she thought he looked like he could be on the cover of a magazine, but she knew that this wasn’t a photoshoot. This was a possible deathwish. He saw how she was looking at her and gently grabbed her chin in his hand. He was wearing fingerless riding gloves and the leather was comforting against her skin. Roze always asked what purpose they served, to which Colt would always respond: “I look badass, Roze."

“How about you come with?” he offered, tenderly stroking her skin with his thumb. 

“You’re not worried about the race?”

“Nope, although even Death needs his good luck charms, and I think having a hot girl clinging to me while I beat this punk’s ass is as good as I can get.” Roze snorted at the shit-eating smile that slithered its way onto his face. She leaned down to press a heated kiss to his lips, effectively wiping the smirk off his face. “Mm, luck is already working.”

“Hey, sexy! Do I get the same treatment?” Alex/Alan bellowed from where he was seated in his car. In a moment of unplanned routine, both Colt and Roze made matching gestures of ill will toward him, causing the racer to laugh loudly and return the favor. “You’re right, I’ll have plenty of time for that tonight when I take your bitch to bed. Oh, I’m gonna make some sweet, sweet--”

He was quickly shut up by the sight of Roze grabbing Colt’s face and pressing it to hers with open-mouthed kisses, hands closing around anything she could to pull him closer. She threw her leg around the motorcycle in front of Colt, facing him so they could continue kissing in the closest possible position. After several seconds like that, she moved her lips down to his jaw and neck, sucking large hickeys wherever she could as she went. Colt glared at his opponent from across the asphalt, keeping uncomfortable eye contact with him as Roze took his hands and moved them down to her ass, revealed largely by her short shorts that he told her to wear so he could show her off. Colt watched Alex/Alan’s face grow redder and redder as he listened to Roze’s exaggerated moans that increased in volume with the tighter he squeezed; the tomato face of his opponent only made him happier that his girlfriend had taken his fashion advice. Finally, she climbed off the motorcycle and took her seat on it again behind her boyfriend, proudly glancing at her artwork stretching across his skin. 

Pulling on a helmet, she turned towards the other man. “You ready?” He said nothing, electing to roll up his window. She bit back a laugh and settled behind Colt, prepared for the immense amount of speed they were going to reach to win. A girl walked between the vehicles and pulled up a flag, signaling the start of engines. The bike rumbled beneath Roze and she didn’t think she would ever tire of the warmth radiating from the man in front of her and the light vibration of the machine she was straddling. To her, they both meant freedom.

The race began and she wrapped herself tighter around Colt, who let out a whooping laugh as he sped along the track, easily passing ahead of Alex/Alan. This was one of the only straightaways, though, so the difficulty would soon come from the frequent turns that could easily overturn the bike. Roze decided not to think too hard about what would happen if Colt were to lose control; he was a good driver, and she had no reason to be scared from the number of times he raced this exact track. 

The feeling of the bike tilting below her with Colt’s hip movements was both terrifying and exhilarating; the road was so close, yet her boyfriend was in complete control. Their challenger hadn’t caught up yet, but judging by the sound of screeching tires, he was trying his hardest to. It was all for naught though since Colt’s easy maneuvering of the road only sent him shooting ahead without giving Alex/Alan a chance to even get close to the bike. It wasn’t going to be a close race, that was for sure. 

A tunnel was coming up, lit up by large lights attached to the cement inside. Going through it and watching the bright lamps flash by in her vision was like entering another world. Colt had given his only helmet to her (he insisted he didn’t need one, but she was still getting him a personalized one that read PASSENGER across the back as an inside joke), so she watched the lights cast interesting shadows on his face, highlighting his cheekbones and determined pout that always seemed to show up when he was driving. She could tell that he was calculating in his head, trying to figure out what he would need to do next to stay in the lead. The hard expression on her face only made her fall more in love with him as heat pooled between her thighs, pressed up against his jeans and jacket. 

The finish was in sight, and their opponent was not. Colt crossed it and easily braked, stopping his bike a few hundred feet away and parking it before helping Roze off and taking her helmet off for her. He had barely put the helmet and his gloves on one of the handlebars when she grabbed his forearm and pulled him towards her, smashing her lips into his to try and pour every emotion she was feeling into the kiss. He eagerly returned it, not giving a damn about the spectators who wanted to congratulate him on winning. Right now, the only thing on his mind and his hands was Roze Wheeler, girlfriend extraordinaire and his driver forever. 

She finally broke apart from him and let go of him long enough to let other people talk to him, but he quickly made it clear that all he wanted to do was go home with Roze. His opponent showed up minutes after he won, heaving as he exited his car and slammed the door. 

“You’re a fucking hack!” he yelled, jabbing a finger in Colt’s face and landing more spit on his cheeks. Colt didn’t flinch, electing instead to raise a fist and connect it to his jaw with a sickening crack! that silenced everyone else at the sideshow. His challenger fell to the ground, out cold, and Colt shook his hand out, bruises quickly blooming along the knuckles. He turned to Roze.

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Sure.”

At that moment, Alex/Alan decided to open his eyes to see Colt and Roze climbing on the white motorcycle. “Where are you two assholes going?!”

Colt looked at him laying on the ground, face deadpan and devoid of anything besides indifference. “I’m going to spend the night with my ‘bitch.’ You know how it is.” His face split into a grin. “Oh, but you don’t.” Roze’s laugh carried behind her as they sped off.

[johnsonofbrian]

IndyWrestlingLife Interview: Jumping John Myers

How long have you been a referee? I’ve been a referee since 2003 (I wrestled in 2000).

Where did you learn how to become a referee? I attended the Prof. Tütree’s Umpire School for Gifted Children at a young age, where you spend 7 years studying all aspects of officiating. Lessons would include proper hand signals, general fitness and learning the proper technique for a sweet knee slide.

Why did you become a referee? Like most referee’s it wasn’t so much a passion for wrestling, but a calling. This calling can manifest itself in a searing vision, an out of body experience where you are visited by one of the great referees of old…or (like myself) a striking birthmark of thick black lines on the torso (similar to the referee shirt that you are present with at the end of your training).

What is the referee’s role in the match? It’s been said that wrestling is an “Art Form” – and if that is the case then it is the referee’s duty to ensure that the combatants stay inside the lines.

What are the various ways of communicating with the talent during the match? I find yelling to be the best way. Occasionally I have had to resort to being more physical – a stiff finger-poke to the chest or a vicious ear twist tends to drive the message home.

Tell us about the first time that you refereed a match. Well I didn’t get to step foot into a ring to referee a match until I had left Professor Tütree’s School, so I was very excited for my first match/show. I have no big memories from it however, I’m sure if I could find the match on VHS tape though I would have a good cringe.

What was the most memorable match ever refereed? Genuinely I would say it wasn’t a match with any “big stars” in it, or even in a big venue (probably lucky if there was 100 people there)…but it was a match (fairly early on in my career) I was refereeing with a guy I had trained with who was wrestling in the main event for the big title in that promotion. I’d known the guy for a lot of years, we’d been to (real) school together, and he managed to win that night – and I’ll probably never forget handing him the belt, his first belt, and raising his hand.

Have you ever been injured during a match? If so what happened? I’ve legit dislocated my shoulder during a match (my counting arm no less!), and it was a show with no back-up ref so I did the only thing I could do which was force the shoulder back into the socket and finish the match/show. The couple of days I was pretty sore.

How many matches have you refereed in your career? I know a lot of referees who have kept records of this, and it’ll probably be one of my big regrets in wrestling that I haven’t kept a track of the exact number – but I think it’s somewhere around the 1100/1200 mark.

How do wrestlers communicate to you when they’ve been seriously injured? Screaming does the trick…or they’ll grab hold of you to make sure you understand. Really it’s one of the main duties to make sure everyone involved with the match is okay at all times.

How do you handle that a wrestler is injured so badly that the wrestler can no longer continue? Professor Tütree always said that the well-being of the competitor’s is paramount. If these guys are hurt, they may well have families, this may be how they make a living and pay their bills…stopping a contest due to one of the wrestlers being unable to continue is a totally legitimate finish to a match (and does happen on occasion) and it would be that way in any other sport.

What do you wish the public would know about your role as a referee? On occasion…a referee may…miss something. One of the wrestlers may…get an unfair advantage, due to the referee��missing a call. The public need to understand that yes, when people talk about “the record books” in wrestling, they’re a real thing – the record books. The second the bell rings at the end of a contest, that match is logged and the winners name added. To reverse a decision after something has come to light at the end of a match…the amount of paperwork associated with reversing said decision is quite frankly ridiculous. You can spend hours filling in forms, giving evidence on video tape, showing a lawyer what exactly happened (through the use of very official cuddly toys). It’s a nightmare – and something I, myself, have had to do when necessity obligated it.

What advice would you give someone who would be interested in becoming a referee? Finding a good school really is the best way (I’m not saying that you could get into Prof. Tütree’s Umpire School for Gifted Children like I did…the exams are proper hard). Really you need to get online and have a look around what is in your area. When I started out it was adverts in the paper, or in the back of wrestling magazines. Finding a school with a good track record of turning out good wrestlers, and that have good trainers will be the most beneficial way for someone with a desire to learn the proper way.

What are your family and friends think of you being a pro wrestling referee? I don’t know if “proud” is the right word…but I can tell by the misty eyed, almost vacant (glassy?) look on my wife’s face whenever I arrive home from a show and proceed to explain (in detail) the blow-by-blow account of each match that she must be holding back the tears of adoration that she feels towards me.

What would you like the wrestlers to know about your role as a referee? Things would go a lot smoother if everyone involved in the match would abide by the rules and listen to my instructions. There are serious ramification to be had if I am ignored (please see above reference to the ear-twisting).

Have you ever been in a confrontation with an overzealous fan who doesn’t realize that the whole thing is scripted? I real I will say this I’ve had my fair share of grandma’s hit me with their handbags at shows. They were soon laughing the other side of their false teeth when I had security throw them out believe me.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about what you do? I think wrestlers are amazing, the amount of time they spend on the road and away from their families, and the punishment they endure on a regular basis is a remarkable thing…that being said, referees need love to – and I have merchandise for sale: Check out: https://www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/-refclub

Where are you located? The North East of England.

What promotions have you worked for? What Culture Pro Wrestling, NGW, Absolute Wrestling, NORTH Wrestling, Tidal Championship Wrestling , First Class Wrestling , RISE Wrestling, Three Count Wrestling , Hybrid Pro, Allstar Wrestling , LDN Wrestling, North East Wrestling Society, Wrestle-Zone Wrestling, All-Action Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Federation, Main Event Wrestling…so far.

Have there been any instances during the match with the wrestlers turned it into a shoot, and what did you do? Not too long ago I was refereeing a match between Primate (an amazing UK Wrestler) and Chris “Dirty Daddy” Dickinson (a wrestler over from the states). It didn’t get to the point where I needed to step in…but literally I was about 1 second away from having to get between these two giant men. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had got between them with the punches and kicks that were flying about…maybe break out the patented ear twist again.

[airsoftnut]

What Is A Good Beginner Airsoft Gun?

The world of airsoft sucks you in from the moment you venture into it. But for a beginner player, the euphoria can quickly transform into stress when trying to find an airsoft gun that’s both accurate and easy to use.

But here’s the thing…

We’ve all been there. So you need not worry. 

You’ll soon find out the most important things to look out for when choosing a starter airsoft gun from the many products available on the market. You want to know What Is A Good Beginner Airsoft Gun? Lets move

Airsoft Guns

An airsoft gun, whether a gas pistol, carbine aeg rifle, or spring rifle, looks just like real guns, but they are only replica rifles. 

They can’t kill a person or cause any serious injury on your skin, like a real gun, would. But, they will make you feel like you’re in a real battle. 

Look at this…

The 6-millimeter round pellets that fly out of airsoft guns can cause light bleeding and welts, especially on the body’s sensitive parts like the neck and face. 

That’s why you should exercise caution when playing airsoft. Make sure you have your protective gear and follow airsoft field rules.

Related: Best Airsoft Sniper Rifles

Q. What Do I Need to Know Before Getting Into Airsoft?

Before you begin playing Airsoft, keep in mind that getting hit would most likely cause some bleeding and give you welts, especially if the shot is from a very powerful airsoft rifle or pistol with high FPS, or the person is within a close range. 

But the excitement and fun you’ll get running around the field with your buddies are worth more than a minor pain. Right? 

What’s more…

Airsoft guns are replica guns. Be careful how you carry them, or you’d get in trouble. If you want to play with your friends, it’s best to enter an organized airsoft event in your locality. 

Perhaps you stay in a rural environment and want to play in your yard, that’s no problem. Let your neighbors know about your new hubby, or invite them to join. You don’t want them to report you for being a nuisance and part with your money or even get locked up. 

I’ll say that you find the nearest airsoft field around you. With $20, you’ll find a nice place for CQB and clothes. You can also rent gear and other items at an extra price.

Q. Who Can Buy and Use Them?

In the United States, anyone can buy and use an airsoft gun. But people under 18 need parental guidance or consent to enter an airsoft field.

But…

Some cities classify airsoft rifles and pistols as firearms. That’s why you should check the airsoft rules that apply to your location. 

A good example is California, where it is illegal to sell an airsoft gun to children under 18 without parental consent.

In Michigan, kids younger than 14 cannot own an airsoft gun except there’s an adult to supervise them.

Camo will make you less visible, which means that you’ll avoid getting shot at often. Black clothing is an invitation to your opponents to shoot you.

Still…

It depends on the style of the airsoft game you’re playing. For instance, if you’re playing CQB, you can wear camo as it would certainly help. 

But it’s not a do-or-die as other neutral-colored clothing with mild patterns would do fine.

Milsim, on the other hand, demands camo or nothing else.

Q. How Are They Used?

People use airsoft guns for several purposes. 

Airsoft has risen to the top as the most dominant combat sport. Airsoft players enjoy playing airsoft games with sniper rifles because of the grip, internals, trigger response, red dot sight, torque motor, play style and sounds effects, and performance that are just like the ones you’ll get using real submachine guns. 

But there’s more…

Some other folks use airsoft guns for hunting birds and other small animals. 

In places like the UK, law enforcement officials fire airsoft rifles or gas pistols to control teen gang members during a skirmish.

It is also common to find people using a combat machine to play tactical games.

And yet, there are those who use airsoft guns during military training to avoid hurts and death from real guns.

Getting Your First Gun

Before getting your first gun, do some research. Find out which ones are the best beginner airsoft guns amongst the options you’ll see. 

But before that, let’s find out the types of guns you’ll find on the market, based on their power source. 

There are three types of airsoft guns. You’ll find spring airsoft guns, gas guns, and electric guns popularly called AEGs. 

Wait…

Beginners don’t need to buy a sniper rifle at this time. Get a good beginner airsoft gun you can easily maneuver, which will help you with targeting. You can always pick up a sniping role later. 

Firing a Gun

Remember that airsoft guns look just like real guns, but for the orange tips. So, all the rules that apply to firing a real gun apply to firing an airsoft gun.

First, make sure your finger is not on the trigger when you’re not shooting. That way, you won’t accidentally fire at someone. The bullets might not be lethal, but they hurt!

Now, to shooting!

To hit targets consistently, choose a correct shooting stance when firing an airsoft gun.

Also, extend your hands fully. In tactical games, you can hold the gun to your chest to minimize fatigue.

Also, you’re not John Wick, so hold your beginner gun with both hands. It will help your precision and give you more range and accuracy. 

Playing the Game

Ready to play?

When you get to the playing area, check out their rules. Field rules differ from place to place. Here are a few of the general ones: 

In any close quarter back field (CQB field), you must put on eye protection.

You have to call your hits. You’ll only enjoy airsoft games with honest folks. If you get hit, even from a friendly fire from your teammate, make sure you call it.

There’s a required minimum engagement distance that ranges between 10 and 25 feet, sometimes less. So, no shooting at close range.

Accept the ref’s judgment. Arguing will get you thrown out.

Follow instructions given by the refs in charge, or you’d be kicked out. 

Safety First

When it comes to playing airsoft games, especially as entry level players, safety is a big deal. A lot of things can go wrong, especially when a player is careless with their gun.

Here’s what you can do…

First, if you have to play in a yard, choose one without pets or valuable properties. 

Also, put on protection. Wear your eye protection, gloves, boots, and all. You can pick these up at reasonable prices from popular stores like Amazon. 

Make sure players around you have their protective gear on, and do not shoot at someone who’s not wearing any. 

Always hold your gun carefully, and remove magazines when you’re done with a game. Also, keep the gun in its case. An accidental discharge can make a person go blind or break a tooth.

Conclusion: What Is A Good Beginner Airsoft Gun

So you now know what to look out for in the world of Airsoft. You’ve also learned the rules of the game and the importance of safety when handling an airsoft gun.

What’s next?

Check out a few brands. The popular ones are Tokyo Marui, G G, Lancer Tactical, BBTac, Classic Army, and Elite Force. You’ll also learn a lot from our review on the Best Airsoft Guns for Beginners in 2021. 

Go knock yourself out!

source https://www.airsoftnut.com/what-is-a-good-beginner-airsoft-gun/

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Friday, May 8, 2020 Stu Agler

"Brainstorming for New Periodicals" 17. Magazine for masseuses?: ROLF DIGEST.   GOLF DIGEST 21. Magazine for nurses?: IV GUIDE.   TV GUIDE 26. Magazine for golfers?: PAR AND DRIVER.   CAR AND DRIVER 44. Magazine for crossword constructors?: PUNNERS WORLD.   RUNNER'S WORLD 38. Magazine for beekeepers?: HONEY.   MONEY 51. Magazine for pharmacists?: MEDBOOK.   REDBOOK 60. Magazine for farmers?: HEN'S HEALTH.   MEN'S HEALTH We have another debut at the LA Times and Crossword Corner.  Welcome, Stu Agler ! Rolf Digest was the first themer to fill, but I had never heard of Rolfing.  Wikipedia tells me "Rolfing is a form of alternative medicine originally developed by Ida Rolf as Structural Integration. It is typically delivered as a series of ten hands-on physical manipulation sessions sometimes called "the recipe"   Who knew ? Consistency in changing only the first letter of the existing magazines may have made this puzzle a bit easier to solve, but it's still funny and punny.   Excepting IV / TV, they all also rhyme.  Stu probably had more choices and could probably have created a Sunday sized grid with this theme. How about "Magazine for helicopter designers?  Rotor Trend.    Or, "Magazine for practitioners of animal husbandry ?" Sired.   Maybe, "Magazine for Lumberyard professionals ? Wood Housekeeping. I'll stop now and leave it to the professionals.  Great job, Stu.  We're now going to explore that which remains.  And pardon me while I wander and reminisce. Across: 1. Cook Islands language: MAORI.     The Cook Islands are in the South Pacific ocean with 15 islands having a combined total land area of about 93 square miles.  For perspective, the city of Chicago covers about 234 sq. miles.   Los Angeles 469, and Houston 600 sq. miles.   The land area of the Cook Islands is about the size of Milwaukee (96), Sacramento (98), Lincoln, NE (89) or Tallahassee (100 sq. mi.). Spanish explorers visited the islands in the late 1500s and named one of the islands St. Bernard.  British Navigator James Cook came to the islands in the 1770s, and named one of the islands Hervey Island.  The name "Cook Islands" first appeared on a Russian naval chart in the 1820s. 78 % of the people on the island nation are Māori and another 7.8 % are part Māori.  The official languages are English and Cook Islands Māori.  The capital (and largest city) is Avarua, which might be a good answer in a crossword puzzle. 6. Place for mascara: LASH. 10. Rims: LIPs. 14. Ray __, NBAer with the most regular season 3-point field goals: ALLEN.   Retired HOF'er with  18 years in the NBA making 40 % of his attempts from beyond the line for 2973 buckets.   Active player Stephen Curry has hit 43.5 % of his 3-pointers during his 11 year NBA career, and is about 500 makes behind.  Note the consistency in the non-shooting hand. 15. Northern Oklahoma city: ENID.  Known as the "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma for its immense grain storage capacity.  It has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world.  Yes, that is a line of rail cars in the foreground.  The place is huge. There were some great shots on The Smithsonian Channel's Aerial America - Oklahoma the other day.  If you don't get that channel, watch for it to be shown on The Smithsonian's Aerial America YouTube channel. 16. Legal memo phrase: INRE. 19. Campus area: QUAD. 20. Place with shells: SEASIDE. 23. Informal negative: AIN'T.   Isn't wrong. 25. Chopper topper: ROTOR.   One of my part time military jobs (ODAA - other duties as assigned)) was working as part of the team at the "Can Point" when I was assigned to Coleman Army Airfield,  Coleman Barracks, 70th AVIM (aviation intermediate maintenance) Battalion, 1st Support Brigade (later, 21st Support Command), USAEUR (US Army Europe) at Sandhofen (Mannheim), Germany. My real job was in the computer vans, 3rd shift, feeding stack after stack of 80 column cards into a card reader, and then inserting magnetic ledger stock into the platen feed of an NCR 500 computer system. It was all part of the inventory control system used to keep track of orders and disbursements and stock on hand.  Occasionally keypunching new cards to replace mangled cards, and running the 088 card sorter from time to time after dropping a tray full of cards.  Tray after tray, night after night, week after week.  So monotonous.  I digress. Any rotor wing aircraft that went down in USAEUR were transported to the cannibalization point for selected salvage.  Rotor wings could not be salvaged for re-use, but were in demand by Air Cavalry battalions and companies around the country.  They would be used as art on the hangars or as gate toppers at entrances to Kasernes that housed rotor wing companies.  Most impressive and awe inspiring was when the heavy lift helicopters came in for inspection and maintenance.  The roar of the engines and sound of the rotors pounding the air was thunderous as the beasts approached and landed on the tarmac. CH-47 "Chinook" on the left and CH-54 "Tarhe" (Skycrane) on the right.   The Skycranes were being phased out of military service in Europe in the late '70s when I was there, and many passed through our airfield on their way back to the U.S. 32. Salchow relatives: AXELs.  Figure skating. 33. __-deucey: ACEY.   A card game or a backgammon game.  34. Hook partner: JAB.  Boxing. 37. Gobble (down): WOLF.  40. Coke __: ZERO.   Zero calorie, sugar free version of Coca-Cola.  Artificially sweetened.  I've never had one.  41. __-Caps: SNO.  Semi-sweet chocolates topped with nonpareils.  White ones, of course. 42. "Be there in __": A SEC.  What my wife says 10 minutes before she gets to the door as we are preparing to leave.  43. Wheel alignment: TOE-IN.   What You Need to Know About Tire Alignment 47. Weasel cousin: STOAT.  Not otter today.  A stoat (top) and a weasel (bottom) Stoat or weasel? How to tell the difference 50. "Get lost!": SHOO. 54. Pal of Barbarino in "Welcome Back, Kotter": EPSTEIN. 59. Afterthoughts: ANDs.  Oh, and the guy in the lower left is Barbarino and the guy in the top right is Epstein. 62. Leave in: STET.  Don't dele.  Obelisms.  A proofreader knows these symbols. 63. Half of Mork's sign-off: NANU.   Mork was the ET from the planet Ork on the sitcom Mork and Mindy. 64. Brew hue: AMBER. 65. __ d'oeuvres: HORS. 66. First column to add, usually: ONEs.   Units.  The first column of whole numbers to be added in a place-value numbering system.  Typically in base-10 (decimal) for most people, and the second column would be tens, the third hundreds and so on.  I know you knew that, but I'm building here. Programmers and others in technology use other place-value numbering systems, such as in base-8 (octal) where the columns would be units, eights, sixty-fours and so on, and in base-16 (hexadecimal) they would be units, sixteens, and the third column two hundred fifty-sixes. Quick, what's the first numbering system that comes to mind that is not place-value ? 67. Funny Anne: MEARA. So many roles, but perhaps best known as one half of the Stiller and Meara comedy team. Down: 1. Second-smallest of eight: MARS.  Our solar system's planets.  The "Red Planet", fourth from the sun.  Mercury is the smallest. 2. Ointment ingredient: ALOE.  Keep washing your hands and try to find a sanitizer with aloe in it. Does aloe work ?  Evaluation of aloe vera gel gloves in the treatment of dry skin associated with occupational exposure. 3. Cantina crock: OLLA. 4. Works the game: REFs.  Referees the game or bout. 5. Team with the longest World Series drought (71 years): INDIANS.   Should be championship drought.  They were in the 2016 World Series, and they were leading it 3 games to 1 in the best of 7 series over the Chicago Cubs.   The Cubs won the next two games, evening the series at 3 each. In the seventh and deciding game that many pundits have called one of the greatest game 7s (and series) in MLB history, the teams were tied at 6 runs each after 9 innings.   Then the skies opened up with a sudden downpour.  After the rain delay play resumed, and the Cubs scored two to take an 8-6 lead in the top of the tenth inning.  In the bottom of the tenth, the home field Indians plated one run with two out before the Tribe's loyal fans had their hopes squashed on a weak grounder to third baseman Kris Bryant. It was only the fifth time in World Series history that a Game 7 went to extra innings, and it was the first time the extra inning Game 7 was won by a road team.  The series and Game 7 were both dubbed "instant classics". The Cubs won and ended a 108 year championship drought of their own; the longest in professional sports history.  6. Folklore tale: LEGEND.   An example of early American literature was Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleep Hollow, but what inspired the work ?  7. Suffix with hex-: ANE. 8. "Absolutely!" in Madrid: SI SI. 9. Best Buy purchase: HDTV. 10. __ license: LIQUOR. 11. Greenland language: INUIT. 12. Madrid museum: PRADO. 13. Where the same questions are asked annually: SEDER. 18. "__ it my way": I DID.  22. Ethically uncertain, in Sussex: GREY.   I loved Dash-T's explanation a few weeks ago that, "Gray is a color, while grey is a colour".  24. Spells: TRANCEs. 26. Treat holders: PAWs. 27. Nerve impulse carrier: AXON. 28. HR dept. concern: RELO.   United Van Lines packed up my belongings and car when I was relocated from Houston to Chicago in late '87.   The company footed the bill for my relocation moving and living expenses.   Actually lived for almost two months in a new Holiday Inn that was still in the process of being constructed. Then January came, and I learned fast that my southeast Texas blood and wardrobe was ill-equipped to deal with Chicago's gusting winds and biting cold that would shiver your bones.  I ran to the mall and bought thermal underwear and the heaviest lined Burberry style trench coat I could find.  I didn't bother to ask HR to foot the bill on those items.  I know'd the answer was NO ! 29. Alien from Melmac: ALF.   Another extraterrestrial from TV land.   Anne Meara played the grandmother in occasional appearances on the sitcom. 30. __ dancing: ICE.   Like figure skating, but more freeform and interpretive. 31. "Oy __!": VEY.   Oy vey ! This crossword puzzle review has gone on too long.  But wait, there's more ! 34. Boo: JEER.  Please.  Bear with me, it'll be over soon. 35. Seed covering: ARIL. 36. M's favorite agent: BOND.   James Bond's boss and head of MI6, portrayed by Dame Judy Dench in eight of the movies.   38. 24 hrs.-per-day retail channel: HSN.   Home Shopping Network 39. Wine: Pref.: OEN.  From the ancient Greek word oinos.   "The translators of the KJV, by uniformly rendering the Greek word oinos as wine, replicated the Greek word’s reference to both fermented and unfermented juice with an English word that, in their day, was similarly general in reference." 40. Wild place: ZOO.    The nickname for Gerszewski Barracks in Knielingen (Karlsruhe) Germany, my second station while serving there.  The Zoo had an entirely different atmosphere than Coleman.   Still the military, but significantly fewer officers and Warrant Officers (mostly helicopter pilots at Coleman) and MPs than Coleman.  Definitely more relaxed.  Coleman was the home to the USAEUR Confinement Facility, where soldiers in serious trouble awaited trial, were serving sentences up to a year, or for the most serious offenses, were awaiting orders for transportation back to the U.S. to serve extended time at Ft Leavenworth, KA. 42. Jam component: AUTO.   Seriously, was I the only one that first thought of pectin ? 43. Type of fastball grip: TWO SEAM.   Baseball.   Even ardent fans may not be aware of the arsenal that Yu Darvish brings to the mound.  44. Blue Ribbons, e.g.: PABSTs.   PBRs, for short.  Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.  Not my cuppa, but it'll do in a pinch. 45. Monkey used in research: RHESUS. 46. Future junior: SOPH. 47. Big hit: SMASH.   As in an exceptionally popular TV, movie or stage show, or for tennis fans such as Sandyanon, the return shot answer to a poorly placed near-net lob shot.   48. :50, another way: TEN TO.   Me: "It's ten to five.  Are you ready yet ?  Are you coming ?"  Her: "I'll be there in a sec."   49. Stranger: ODDER. 52. "That's awful!": OH NO.   53. New Jersey university: KEAN.  Not familiar.  About   Yellowrocks, is that near you ? 55. Domesticate: TAME. 56. People Magazine's 2018 Sexiest Man Alive: ELBA.   Idris.  Hi, Lucina ! 57. Old Roman road: ITER. 58. Dragster's org.: NHRA.   The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) are the two largest sanctioning bodies for drag racing.  The Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin is still going strong.  The "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday" radio commercials for drag racing events can still be heard on radio stations across the country.  Well, maybe not right now, but they'll be back. 61. Austin-to-Dallas dir.: NNE.    For some, I-35 is known as Main Street, Texas.   Almost half of the Texas population (and most of my siblings and extended family) lives along this central artery that starts in Laredo, Texas near the Rio Grande, and exits the state just north of Gainseville at the Red River.   From there I-35 travels generally NNE all the way to Duluth, Minnesota,  comparatively just shy of the border with Canada. The reconstruction and widening of I-35 that started in 2012 is the second largest infrastructure project in the history of the state for TxDOT, the state's Department of Transportation.  The first ?  Building I-35 in the first place, which started in the '50s as part of Eisenhower's Interstate System.   It will be nice, and much safer when it is finally done. Use the Zoom In, Zoom Out buttons on the map to view greater detail or a wider view, and use your mouse to move around.  "Ain't Isn't wrong" technology grand ? Finally, here's the grid: #TTP #StuAgler #Friday

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/friday-may-8-2020-stu-agler

[sakamichidiary]

2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣7️⃣Watanabe Miho

Member: Watanabe Miho Source: Second generation Hiragana Keyakizaka46 blog Post date: 2017/12/28 11:15

Hello everyone! It's Watanabe Miho, a 2nd gen member of Hiragana Keyakizaka46, and a third year high schooler from Saitama prefecture! ✄ I grew out my hair ✄ Christmas is already over...🎄 There's only a little left to this year〜( ˊ꒳ˋ ) ᐝ So that's why! I'd like to take a look back at 2017, and talk about big news that involves me!!             ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ❁ ❁ ❁ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ Let's start with the big news first( ¨̮ ) I said this the other on the Messages app but... IT'S HIGH TIME THAT I FIND OUT WHAT MY BLOOD TYPE IS! I think there are people who are thinking "Is it even possible to not know your own blood type?" On the official website, when you sort members' by their blood type, I'm the only one who's in the "unknown" group (lol) So I went to get examined. Personally, I thought that I was of blood type AB~💭 But people around me say that I'm more of an O type🅾 And the result that we've been curious about is...!! Blood type A!〜✨✨ It was blood type A, that no one had expected!! But now, I'll proudly be able to say what my blood type is〜🤤 That's it for my big news! (It might not have been big news after all...😛)             ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ❁ ❁ ❁ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ I'll be looking back at 2017 for here on out!! 2017 was really a year that was rich in events. After having been admitted into Hiragana Keyakizaka46, there were various changes that occurred. It's only been a little more than four months since I started in the group, but every day has been fun, and super fresh! In August, I went on a field trip to [Kanji Keyakizaka46's] Summer Nationwide Tour. After seeing our senpai there, I thought to myself "I'd like to become like them someday" and was filled with feelings of worry and anticipation. I couldn't stop crying. Since then, four months have passed. I appeared in a drama, went on photo shoots for magazines, and was on stage for the Makuhari live. I was able to gain precious experiences. I think that all of this was possible, only because I was supported by so many people. At this time last year, I wasn't thinking about my future, and I didn't know what I'd like to do from now on either... I could never imagine myself as a member of Hiragana Keyakizaka46, like what I have become now. What convinced me to audition was watching the Hiragana Keyaki recruitment video for new members. The first time I saw that video, I was overflowing with feelings that couldn't be described in words. (Just in case, I've pasted the URL here) 👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻https://youtu.be/sqoyEE86zGI1 "The step that you take will make Hiragana Keyaki stronger." These are the last words of the video. They really resonated within my heart.2 The other 2nd gen members also said that they were deeply moved [by the video]. If I didn't pass the auditions, the "me" that is currently here wouldn't exist. I wouldn't have met with all of you fans either. I wouldn't have been able to have lived through all these wonderful experiences. "You don't know what can happen in life." This was a year that made me realized that once again. ↑Bubu (Nibu Akari) and Manamo (Miyata Manamo)🤤 ↑Nao (Kosaka Nao) and Konoka (Matsuda Konoka)🤤 ↑Hiyo-tan (Hamagishi Hiyori) and Hina (Kawata Hina) ↑Nobuko (Tomita Suzuka) ↑Kanemura (Kanemura Miku) Having been able to meet with all of the 2nd gen members was also a precious memory of 2017!! I love everyone〜(*´˘`*)             ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ❁ ❁ ❁ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ I'd like to write about my goals for 2018 here💪🏻 ① To not sleep too much ② To not lose things These two things are eternal issues with me (lol) If I'm not woken up, I'd be sleeping forever, and I lose things right away. I do actually think that I have to straighten myself out😵 I'll turn 18 in two months, so I'd like to get serious about this💪🏻 ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ And yesterday, December 26th, was Ushio Sarina-san's birthday🎉 Congratulations☺✨ Ushio-san is really pretty, and whenever I look at her, she's so beautiful😭 She always kindly reaches out to me, and that makes me happy! I hope that you'll have a wonderful year ahead. Please take care of me from now as well! ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ This will be my last blog post of the year. Thank you very much for reading until the end!! It would make me happy if you could take a look at my next blog as well(> Thank you very much to 2017🙇🏻‍♀️ Please treat me well 2018!! On that note, I'll excuse myself here(๑ ˙˘˙)/ Bye bye Miho

In this blog post, Miho says that if she hadn't gotten into Hiragana Keyakizaka46, she'd have no idea what she would be doing. That's kind of a stretch, as she mentioned during the SHOWROOM auditions that she had actually unsuccessfully auditioned for the 3rd gen of Nogizaka46, but had gotten through a couple of rounds. If she hadn't applied to Keyakizaka46, I'm guessing she might've tried her luck with some of the 48Groups too...

Here's the clip of the SHOWROOM audition where she talks about applying for the 3rd gen of Nogizaka46: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS50AKvUBfA

The YouTube video is region-locked to Japan. You can watch it via a VPN, or alternatively, here's the video on Nico Nico Douga: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm31338241. It's a really powerful and well done video, with Nagahama Neru doing the narration. ↩︎

And mine too😭😭 ↩︎

[avanneman]

The New York Times, more sinned against than sinning. Or not.

The New York Times has caught a lot of grief for its “1619 Project”, which claims to explain all of American history in terms of slavery. And much of it is justified. Damon Linker, writing in The Week, gives a reasonable overview: “The New York Times surrenders to the left on race”, Damon offers praise where praise is due:

Now, there is a lot to admire in the paper's presentation of the 1619 Project — searing photographs, illuminating quotations from archival material, samples of poetry and fiction giving powerful voice to the black experience, and gripping journalistic summaries of scholarly histories. Much of it is wrenching, moving, and infuriating. The country's treatment of the slaves and their descendants through the century following emancipation and, in some respects, on down to the present was and is appalling — and the story of how it happened, and keeps happening, is extremely important for understanding the United States. Bringing this story to a wide audience is a worthwhile public service.

But there is a whopping downside as well:

Throughout the issue of the NYTM, headlines make, with just slight variations, the same rhetorical move over and over again: "Here is something unpleasant, unjust, or even downright evil about life in the present-day United States. Bet you didn't realize that slavery is ultimately to blame." Lack of universal access to health care? High rates of sugar consumption? Callous treatment of incarcerated prisoners? White recording artists "stealing" black music? Harsh labor practices? That's right — all of it, and far more, follows from slavery.

In fact, I found the packaging so off-putting—so portentous, condescending, and cheesy—“Everything you learned about slavery in school is wrong!”—as if we were all a nation of Homer Simpsons stretched out in our lazee-boys before our beloved wide screens shoveling honey-glazed pork rinds into our gaping Caucasian maws with both hands for fourteen hours a day—all of us who don’t work for the New York Times, that is—that at first I skipped the whole goddamn thing, only to go back and discover the same mixed bag that Damon described.

Many of the articles were good, but, shockingly—so shocking, in fact, that Timesfolk may not even believe me—I knew a lot of it already. When I was a boy, which was waaayyy back in the fifties, I read Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, a book about slavery written by someone who’d actually been a slave, inspired to do so after first reading a “Classic Comic Book” version of Washington’s story. Later, in the tenth grade, I stumbled across Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, just sitting there on the library shelf, where any dumb ass could pick it up. (I thought it might be like H. G. Wells. As it turned out, it was even better!)

And what about James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time”? How about The Autobiography of Malcolm X? Or Soul on Ice? These were all works that received immense publicity decades ago—before, I suspect, many Timesfolk were even born. And what about “today”? I remember several decades ago a black woman telling me she thought interracial couples were crazy to expose themselves to the sort of hatred they received from both blacks and whites. Today, interracial marriage is (almost) passé. Recently, the Times own Thomas Edsall published a long piece examining the impressive gains in both education and income levels for some (but not all) blacks. But the 1619 Project isn’t interested in “good news.” Over a century ago, House Speaker Thomas Reed congratulated Theodore Roosevelt on this “original discovery of the Ten Commandments.” One could offer similar praise to the New York Times.

I was intrigued in particular by the “Everything you learned about slavery in school is wrong!” pitch. Well, if so, New York Times, tell me, what are our kids learning, not 60 years ago, when I went to school, but today? Nikita Stewart fills us in: ‘We are committing educational malpractice’: Why slavery is mistaught — and worse — in American schools.

Nikita begins her piece by quoting a text book written in 1863 (not a misprint) in the South. Guess what? It’s totally racist! Totally! Who could have imagined? Also guess what? Things haven’t changed that much! How do we know? Nikita tells us so.

Stewart follows the pattern used in many of the pieces, taking an egregious example from the past and then “explaining” that things haven’t changed much. For the meat of her article, she relies almost entirely on a study by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that has done good work in the past but now is largely a solution (and a very well funded one, at that) in search of a problem. Of course the SPLC is going to find that America’s school books don’t adequately teach the role of slavery in American history. How could they not?

Part of the problem, Stewart says, is this: “Unlike math and reading, states are not required to meet academic content standards for teaching social studies and United States history.” She’s presumably referring to the “Common Core” standards, but states are not “required” to meet them, and in fact the whole “standards” movement, pushed by the Obama administration back in the day, has since fallen into considerable confusion, in conjunction with the entire Trumpian revolt against “experts”.

Speaking of her own schooling, Stewart tells us, “I was lucky; my Advanced Placement United States history teacher regularly engaged my nearly all-white class in debate, and there was a clear focus on learning about slavery beyond [Harriet] Tubman, Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass, the people I saw hanging on the bulletin board during Black History Month.” How does she know she was “lucky”? Doesn’t she “mean” “My own experience was contrary to my thesis and therefore it must be exceptional”?

Instead of selectively quoting a handful of “experts” she chose to tell her what she wanted to hear, why didn’t Stewart do some actual leg work, or chair work, by reviewing the textbooks used in, say, California, Texas, New York, and Florida, the four largest states, containing about one third of the entire U.S. population, and including two states from the Confederacy? Isn’t that what the “1619 Project” is supposed to be about?

Because we most definitely need to examine the way the history of slavery and the Civil War is taught and understood in today��s USA. Nothing is more obvious than that leading figures, or “would be” figures, in the Trump Administration, starting most obviously with Donald Trump himself, and including former chief of staff/four-star Marine General John Kelly and dumped (dumped and disgraced) putative Federal Reserve Board appointee Stephen Moore, all cling to the absurd and disgusting notion that the North was the “bad guy” in the Civil War. As Moore “explained”, “The Civil War was about the South having its own rights”—you know, the right to enslave and oppress millions of human beings.

But it isn’t only the Trumpians who still maintain a soft spot—and a grossly meretricious soft spot it is—for the “Lost Cause”. Poor David French, who gets it from both the left (for being a conservative and, worse, an evangelical Christian) and the right (for being insufficiently bad ass), is going to get a little for me. There’s good Dave, as in this excellent article in which he both describes his laudable efforts to prevent the muzzling of “wicked” Christian groups on campus and denounces proposals on the right to restrict the First Amendment rights of those on the left (largely “the media” and “Big Tech”):

Never in my life have I seen such victimhood on the right. Never in my life have I seen conservatives more eager to rationalize passivity and seek the aid of politicians to make their lives easier. They look to politicians — even incompetent, depraved politicians — and cry out, “Protect us!”

Admirable words. But here are some not so admirable, in an unfortunate piece with the unfortunate title “Don’t Tear Down the Confederate Battle Flag”.1 After launching into a scarcely objective account of the South’s motivation for succession—scarcely better than Moore’s—French falls into total small-boy, flag-waving, saber-waving mode:

Those men [the southern armies] fought against a larger, better-supplied force, yet — under some of history’s more brilliant military commanders — were arguably a few better-timed attacks away from prevailing in America’s deadliest conflict.

So yay Team Dixie, right? If only “we” had won. Then slavery forever! Is that what French dreams of? That southerners could continue to exercise their “right” to whip millions of black men, rape millions of black women, and sell their children for profit? If only those few attacks had been better timed! Damn it!

Couldn’t the Germans say the same thing about World War II? If only we had won. Then the Master Race forever!

These “brave men” at whose shrine French worships, wantonly murdered all black Union troops they captured, in utter violation of the most basic “laws” of war. When Robert E. Lee (French’s “gallant” hero, of course) marched into Maryland and Pennsylvania, he captured black American citizens and impressed them into slavery, sent them south to labor in defense of their own oppression. Mr. French fancies himself a Christian. But sometimes, it seems, Christians forget.

Afterwords It’s “interesting” that both Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist and Supreme Court Justice Antonine Scalia felt somehow compelled to parade their opposition to Brown v. Board of Education, Scalia “explaining” that liking the sort of judicial thinking that produced Brown because it produced Brown was like liking Hitler because he developed the Volkswagen—which by the way is entirely untrue,2 but whatever, Brown equals Hitler, got it?

French says “battle flag” because as a true southerner he knows that the familiar “stars and bars” was not the flag of the Confederacy. ↩︎

The Volkswagen was largely designed by an Austro-Hungarian designer named Béla Barényi in the mid-twenties and then “modified”, sans credit to Barényi, by Ferdinand Porsche a few years later. Hitler planned to put the car into production as a "people's car" but, unsurprisingly, the cars that were built were all for military use. After the war, an enterprising British major thought the bombed out VW factory could be repaired and used to create jobs for workers in a shattered Germany. ↩︎

[foodieworldmelbourne]

'You can't make friends after one lunch': What brands get wrong about China

Cheung, 52, affectionately known in the industry as AC (Angelica Cheung is too long, she says) is the youngest editor-in-chief of Vogue at Conde Nast and launched Vogue China in 2005 to instant success and two reprints. The magazine has a print readership of 2 million, a social media following of 23 million, and the website has 24 million viewers per month. According to Vogues new business platform, Vogue Business, Vogue China's website readership is growing at almost 200 per cent per month. Cheung has become the oracle for brands who want to "have a plan for China". Its crucial, given that consulting firm Bain says Chinese shoppers account for around a third of the worlds luxury sales. Yet so many brands are getting it wrong. Not Dolce & Gabbana levels of wrong, perhaps last year the luxury Italian fashion house courted controversy for a campaign featuring an Italian model eating spaghetti with chopsticks which was deemed racist, as were designer Stefano Gabbanas subsequent comments defending the idea. But theyre getting it wrong in their decisions to create a one-off campaign or capsule collection for the Chinese market or by trading in stereotypes about the Chinese consumer. Loading The stereotypes - that Chinese consumers had money but no taste - that has changed a lot, says Cheung, noting that the Chinese no longer "love symbols and logos". "They are confident to buy something because they love the designs, the clothes, the quality, not because their friends would think theyre successful or rich. [The Dolce & Gabbana scandal] was a reminder to people China is a big country with a lot of people, they have attitude. The Chinese are increasingly becoming very proud people. According to Cheung, brands are not investing adequate time into listening, and understanding, the Chinese customer. Ive been going to Europe, to America, to Australia; learning about Western fashion, about the cultures behind the fashion in order to do this job well and help brands expand in China, she says. I talk to all the CEOs constantly, executives and designers all the time to understand their business, so I know how to support them in China. [Brands] need to come to China, to take it seriously and understand the people theyre trying to sell to. Cheung, who believes businesses must have "heart and soul", likens courting the Chinese customer to forging a new friendship: it doesnt happen overnight, and its OK if you embarrass yourself a little bit, so long as you learn from it and the right intentions are there. You can't just make friends because you have one lunch, one dinner - you need to devote time, she says. Loading The Chinese fashion industry, she says, has become vibrant, so much so that Cheung had to ditch a column in the magazine spotlighting Chinese designers because there were too many of them. Instead, Chinese brands are incorporated into editorial photoshoots with Western brands. "I dont do the column because theyre part of the establishment now, we shoot international labels and Chinese labels and dont differentiate anymore." Cheung sees this confidence in the designer and in the consumer in Australia too, observing that Australian designers are increasingly viewed as more than "local" brands, not an easy feat given the tyranny of distance and climate. "Australian fashion collectively needs to reflect the Australian way of life, which I find very attractive," she says. "It's a big task to do ... [but] the world doesn't need a few more 'brands from Australia', unless you are communicating something that is very Australian." When she first visited Australia Cheung didn't think there was much of a fashion scene. "Nobody was really interested in fashion, people were very sporty ... in recent years that's been changing. People are more polished, more fashion. That's why I'm going more [to Australia], in the early years there was nothing much related to what I did." A former Goldman Sachs investment banker with a degree in law, Cheung is often lauded for her astute business sense. She launched new Vogue "IPs" ahead of her time, courting millennials and social media. She sees one of the most important parts of her job as staying current, modern and relevant. A lot of media is struggling with 'how to modernise'. For me, I never really sat down to think: How do I modernise Vogue? It comes naturally of you being a member of the world today ... You have to read a lot, look a lot, talk to a lot of people. Staying relevant to the younger generation is something Cheung says comes easily, in part because of her 12-year-old daughter, Hayley. "You cant fool millennials they see through you if you are trying to appeal to them." Instead Cheung says connecting with millennials, who she calls the next pillars of society, is about genuinely wanting to impact on their lives and, yes, having heart and soul. People ask me about branding, but branding comes from the heart," she says. "If you dont know what youre trying to do its very hard to say what youre doing. You cant find the soul if you dont have a soul. And if you dont have a soul you have to ask Whats wrong with my business?. For Cheung, Vogue Chinas soul is about values: staying positive and helping others. High-gloss fashion isnt enough. And neither is limiting their audience. We used to say the Vogue reader was between 25 and 35, educated with a high income, all that, but its not about that anymore, its beyond that," she says. "We also have a lot of men reading us. Its very modern, the world has changed so much the Vogue China world has become wider and wider. On many platforms we touch upon many peoples hearts, spirit and outlook on life. Really good business is the kind you dont have to try too hard [at], because your heart is in it." Angelica Cheung will speak at the Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas Fashion Hub event. For details see: Scci.org.au Annie Brown is a lifestyle writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Most Viewed in Lifestyle Loading https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/you-can-t-make-friends-after-one-lunch-what-brands-get-wrong-about-china-20190328-p518ps.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_lifestyle

[markwatkinsconsumerguide]

Consumer Guide / No.59 /  writer / author, Tony Norman with Mark Watkins. 

MW : Describe your ideal weekend....

TN : Saturday mornings will often find me writing a new song for one of the groups I sing with, BeatNicz and the OTB band. In the football season I may go and see Brighton play in the afternoon. Summer it will be a cricket match. Saturday night is curry night and may it ever be so! Sunday I often rehearse with OTB. Live music, nothing like it…

MW : Which publication can’t you live without, and why?

TN : The Beano. I grew up with Dennis as a boy. Then I worked as a trainee journalist for the company who created him, D.C. Thomson of Dundee. These days the Beano is online and Dennis has lost some of his ‘Menace’ but it’s still a weekly treat in this wicked old world.

MW : What comics did you read as a kid and what led you to writing a pop column for 'Jackie'?

TN : Beano was my favourite, but Dan Dare in full colour in the Eagle was exciting too. I’d been with D.C. Thomson for about a year when I was offered the gig as London Pop Correspondent for Jackie magazine. I’d been playing in a semi-pro London Mod band for three years, so it was a dream job for me. Journalist Nina Myskow was the big name in the Dundee office and I always enjoyed meeting her when she came on working trips to London. A great character.

MW : What's involved as music consultant?

TN : My gig at Jackie was to interview bands and singers and to keep tabs on what was happening. I was with Jackie in ’67 and ’68 and at that time London was the centre of the rock world. A wonderful time to be young, free and single. I even got to meet The Beatles!

MW : What makes a good rock writer?

TN : You have to know your audience. Writing for Jackie was a very good training ground. I had to use a bright and breezy style for our teenage readers. It took nine weeks for something I had written to appear in print, so you had to develop the knack of avoiding any subjects that would date too quickly. Not easy at a time when the music world seemed to change every week, but I got the hang of it. Valuable lessons learnt.

MW : and ... a good interviewer?

TN : Leave your ego at home! The most important person at any interview is the one answering the questions. I always tried to get to know what musicians were like behind their image. A good interviewer must have a genuine interest in other people and the lives they are living.

MW : Tell me about your encounters with “The Legend” Marc Bolan. If Marc was alive today, how might his music career have progressed?

TN : Marc and I became friends when I was working on a weekly called Top Pops & Music Now. I liked him from the start, when he was still building his career. We had space for a double page spread feature the week I first met Marc. I suggested to my editor that we use the Bolan interview along with some excellent Tyrannosaurus Rex colour shots of him and Steve Peregrin Took.

The following week Marc called me to ask if we’d used the interview. When I told him he had a double page spread he was over the proverbial… an hour later he was at our office to say thanks and pick up 20 copies. I remember him waving and smiling as he and his wife June drove off through the London traffic on that sunny morning. Feels like yesterday: good times.

If Marc had lived, music would still be part of his life and I’m sure he’d be involved with many other creative projects too. Such a warm and charismatic person: a terrible loss.

MW : Back in 1982, I bought 'Drowning In Berlin' on 7" vinyl ; how did you come to manage The Mobiles, and why weren't they more successful in the charts?

TN : I helped the band to form in our home town of Eastbourne. They had a great live following, but we were still amazed when ‘Berlin’ hit the charts. It finally climbed to number 9 and sold over 250,000 copies.

A few months later, Russ Madge wrote an even better song, ‘Victim of the Services’. We all knew it was special. Great vocals from lead singer Anna Maria and strings from members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. We were working on the final mix prior to releasing the single in April ’82. Everything was looking good, then the Falklands War started.

The BBC, quite rightly, banned airplay of any songs about soldiers and war. Our song was nothing to do with the Falklands, but we got caught up in the backlash. The single wasn’t released and the Mobiles never had another hit. The music world can be a cruel place sometimes.

MW : Tell me about your autobiography... My Cool Sixties – Lennon, Jagger & The Rest and what did you learn most by writing it?

TN : I learnt how enjoyable it was to write about one of the happiest times of my life! When I was sixteen I had two ambitions. The first to become a rock writer; the second to play on TV show Ready Steady Go with my mates in The Rest.

Well, as they say, one out of two ain’t bad. In the book I describe interviewing John Lennon and Mick Jagger and seeing George Harrison at Apple, the Beatles’ HQ in Savile Row, London. All pretty mind-blowing. I also trace my journey through 60’s London with my mates in The Rest, including all-night gigs in Soho where we became part of a bizarre midnight world… and loved it.

I also wrote some new songs to accompany the book. They will be included in the My Cool Sixties Deluxe Edition we will be publishing in 2018.

MW : You're Head Writer for a new book called, London Rock – The Lost Archive, tell me about that...

TN : Alec Byrne and I were great mates in the Sixties and Seventies. He was a top photographer, covering everyone from The Beatles, Stones and Hendrix, to the Who, Beach Boys, Bowie and so many more. Over the years, Alec’s rock archive has been hit by fire, ocean storms and an earthquake, but the stunning images that survived fill this book. I talked with Alec about his photographs and he was happy to take me ‘behind the scenes’ and explain how those iconic photo shoots came about.

MW : Single out a few of the key moments / landmarks in the book...

TN : My personal favourites are the live shots of The Rolling Stones in the Park ’69, because Alec and I were there together and that concert sums up how lucky we were to be at the heart of it all when all eyes were on London. A few days after the gig in Hyde Park, Alec was at the funeral of Brian Jones. I find his photograph of Brian’s coffin in an open grave very moving. Alec always had an eye for special shots that captured a moment in time.

MW : Who is the book aimed at, and what are you aiming for in terms of its reception and place in the canon of rock writing / photography?

TN : Alec’s best photographs selected themselves for inclusion in the book. Alec and I worked on the text to tell readers what it was like to be right there in London when the shots were being taken. I guess Baby Boomers will be the primary audience, but I think younger people will want to find out more about that amazing era too.

What London Rock does so well is celebrate Alec’s outstanding archive of rock star images taken at a time when London really did rock! The photographs have been on display in art galleries in London and Los Angeles and the feedback has been so positive.

It has been the same in the media with Alec giving TV, radio and online interviews. (See below.) Alec’s ‘unseen archive’ was hidden away for far too long, but thanks to his agent Drew Evans and publishers Insight Editions and Virgin books, all those iconic images are out there now for sure. Great project: loved being part of it.

MW : Where can we find out more / buy the books?

TN : London Rock by Alec Byrne is published in the UK by Virgin Books.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/London-Rock-Archive-Alec-Byrne/dp/0753550008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1514477615&sr=1-1&keywords=london+rock+the+unseen+archive

London Rock by Alec Byrne is published in the USA by Insight Editions.

https://www.amazon.com/London-Rock-Archive-Alec-Byrne/dp/1608878848

Alec Byrne TV interview on CBS Los Angeles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1sXyKNkY8I&sns=tw …

Mail Online interview with Alec Byrne.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5145525/Alec-Byrne-showcases-unseen-photo-archive-including-Jagger.html

Alec Byrne’s London Rock: The Unseen Archive photographic exhibition runs at Proud Central gallery in London to 28th January. https://www.proudonline.co.uk/exhibitions

My Cool Sixties – Lennon, Jagger & The Rest, Deluxe Edition will be published as an e-book in 2018 and will feature original text, plus songs from the My Cool Sixties album and a new Foreword from writer Tony Norman. The original book attracted many glowing reviews. See reviews, play album tracks and learn more about Tony’s career at his website.

www.tonynorman.com

https://twitter.com/mycoolsixties

Footnote : 

Thanks to Sarah Garnham at Ebury Publishing, giving permissions for ‘Consumer Guide’ to use three images from London Rock i.e the actual book cover, T Rex & David Bowie.

© Mark Watkins / January 2018

[templeofgeek]

I first met Jay Vergara through my work with ​Nerd Out back in August of 2016. He is a Freelance Writer & Photographer known as Medium Blast. Working with Nerd Out placed me at a lot of different comic book conventions across Southern California. Jay’s love of pop culture had him placed at these conventions as well. He had just started getting into cosplay photography when we met and he was unstoppable. He was passionate about his craft. That passion was well reflected in his photography. His photos have a very raw and real feeling to them. They look more like pieces of art you would see in a fashion or photography magazine.  He has a way of making even the most boring of convention center backdrops seem beautiful. 

Your story, tell us about yourself. There’s not a lot to tell. My name’s Jay and I do photography as a hobby. More of an escape, to be honest. I only started photography back in June of 2016 and back then I went to as many conventions as I could. I don’t have that kind of financial flexibility anymore so I’m pretty much sticking to SoCal cons that are close to Los Angeles and also cosplay gatherings.

How long have you been interested in photography? I’ve only been really keen on photography for about a year. I picked up my first DSLR during the tail end of 2015 and it’s still the same camera I’m using right now. I attended my first convention in June of 2016 and everything is history from there.

How long have you been interested in cosplay photography? Same time as everything else which is about a year.

What got you started in cosplay photography? I got started out of the blue. Last year I decided that I’d like to go to conventions again. I didn’t really know anyone and none of my friends at the time really did that anymore but for some reason I had this urge to go. I bought tickets to LA Cosplay Convention on a whim and just went to meet people and take pictures. After that I went to AX and I was pretty much hooked from there. I’ll be honest, the photos I took were absolute trash but I was having fun and that’s what’s important. I got hooked from there though and wanted to improve and learn more about photography so I could take better pictures of cosplay.

Is there any kind of equipment that you prefer to use when shooting cosplay? I have no real preference. I could only afford my Canon Rebel T5 and the only lens I own is a f/1.4 50mm prime that a very good friend gave me as a replacement for my 1.8. That’s all I own so I do my best with what I have.

Is there a particular kind of cosplay/cosplayer you like to shoot? I like more casual cosplays. I gravitate to stuff like Life is Strange, The Last Of Us, Jessica Jones and stuff like that.

From beginning to now: How do you feel about how far you’ve come in your photography? I’m never where I think I should be. I think I’ve gotten the basics down but I have a long, long way to go.

What is a cosplay photo shoot like for you? What do you try to get out of your photo shoots? Cosplay shoots for me are pretty low stress affairs. For the most part it’s just me hanging out with a friend and taking some pictures along the way. I do want to try to make sure I nail the photos and convey a story in each shot. Other than that, I’m not an elaborate planner. It’s all for fun at this point.

What are your feelings about convention photography? What is your approach to it?  Convention photography for me is fine. I’m always outside at cons shooting. I’m absolute garbage at shooting on the floor and I have no shame admitting that so I just stay outside. Depending on the convention center you can get good photos. If the cosplayer is willing to take a little field trip, you can get even better ones.

Do you have any favorite photos from your collection?  Nothing in particular stands out. If you ask anyone that knows me, I have a pretty low opinion of my own work sometimes especially if enough time passes lol

Do you do other types of photography? Right now my main focus is fashion and lifestyle photography. I’ve actually moved away from cosplay photography as a whole and explored other things. I still shoot every now and again but I’m a lot more chill about it. I don’t book shoots ahead of time. I just come, sit down, play some music and have a good time.

What do you hope for the future of cosplay photography? A lot of photographers are really elevating their craft and portraying cosplay in such amazing ways. I hope that trend continues and people just keep bringing new and fresh ways of representing an awesome art form like cosplay.

What new things can we hope to see from you in the coming year? A healthy amount of weird stuff.

Advice for new photographers out there? Youtube is you friend. Watch enough tutorials to get to know your equipment and your software. After that, you should probably watch some more for kicks. Also, shoot a lot and edit often. The only reason someone like me managed to bludgeon his way through photography enough to look like I somewhat know what I’m doing is because I shoot a lot. For every one photo I post, I probably took 20. Get in a lot of practice, shoot often, learn from each shoot and try to do something different each time even if it’s something only you’d notice. To the best of your ability always try something new whether it’s a new shooting or editing technique. Try new stuff and keep doing the thing.

For more from Jay Vergara you can follow him on social media:

https://www.mediumblast.co

https://www.facebook.com/mediumblast/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

"Mischief & Mayhem." Feat. @darthlexii / @utahimecosplay . . . #lbcc2017 #lbcc #longbeachcomiccon #cosplay #cosplayphotography #cosplayer #cosplayersofinstagram #dc #harleyquinn #joker #comics #longbeach #brutalmasks #themaskedones #makeup #sfx #sfxmakeup #cosplayphotography

A post shared by Jay (@mediumblast) on Sep 12, 2017 at 7:00am PDT

    Q&A with Cosplay Photographer Medium Blast I first met Jay Vergara through my work with ​Nerd Out back in August of 2016.

[mysteryshelf]

BLOG TOUR - Another Man's Poison

Welcome to

THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF!

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Great Escapes Book Tours. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

Another Man’s Poison by Jo-Ann Lamon Reccoppa

Cup of Tea Books, a PageSpring Publishing Imprint Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series Release Date – August 29, 2017 236 pages Will be up on GoodReads and Amazon Soon

• No explicit language and the only scene with any lack of clothing contains no actual sex.

Crime reporter Colleen Caruso has an appetite for romance…and trouble. When someone tries to poison Ken Rhodes (her handsome boss and boyfriend), Colleen vows to hunt down the culprit and serve them up to the police. She’s whisked away into the scrumptious world of restaurants and gourmet food as she tangles with four culinary divas from Ken’s past.

Trouble is, Colleen doesn’t know when to turn down the heat.

Is this Jersey Girl’s investigation a recipe for disaster?

Or will the poisoner get their just desserts?

Interview with the Author

What initially got you interested in writing? I honestly don’t remember back that far. I started writing short stories in the fourth grade and wrote periodically after that. Writing has always felt normal to me.

  What genres do you write in? I write mostly mysteries, but have published in both sci-fi and horror. Presently I’m working on something far more literary – and it’s certainly a challenge after concentrating on cozy mysteries for the past five years.

  What drew you to writing these specific genres? I love a good murder! Who doesn’t? As for horror, I also love being scared out of my wits and I like trying to scare other people out of theirs.

  How did you break into the field? I broke in by sending out an endless stream of short stories to magazine editors. When a writer constantly sends out submissions, eventually she’ll get a lovely acceptance letter from some publication. I also joined several writing groups. Writers are generous with their contacts and happily share advice with other writers.

  What do you want readers to take away from reading your works? There’s certainly nothing brilliant or earth-shattering in my published fiction so far! I’d rather create characters that readers can relate to and identify with. It does my heart good when someone reads one of my books and says, “the main character reminds me of my mother” or better still, “she’s just like me!”

  What do you find most rewarding about writing? When someone reads my book and tells me she couldn’t put the book down until she finished the very last page. Then I know for sure I’ve done a good job.

  What do you find most challenging about writing? White screen terror is the most challenging aspect for me! Facing a blank page and trying to start a new story is a scary proposition. I don’t have a real feel for the characters yet when I begin, and the storyline is just a vague notion until I’m at least twenty pages into the book.

  What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field? Read as much as you can in your chosen genre. You’d be surprised how much you can learn from other authors’ fiction. Be consistent, persistent, and don’t self-edit while you’re writing a first draft. Chug along and bang it out. You can always go back and dress up the manuscript later on in the process.

  What type of books do you enjoy reading? I enjoy bios and memoires, true crime, self-help books, mysteries, horror, and anything to do with American history.

  Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you? Sure. I am an avid skydiver and I’m wanted in fifteen states for poisoning a string of husbands – no, not really! Actually, I’m pretty boring.  I’ve worked in a lot of different areas – appellate printing, the government, college admissions, a newspaper stringer (though that is writing, too), an arcade game manufacturer, and a PR office. I don’t know if anyone finds this interesting, but it’s certainly eclectic.

  What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work? Visit my website at joannlamonreccoppa.com or shoot me an email at joannreccoppaauthor at gmail.com

  About The Author

About The Author

Jo-Ann Lamon Reccoppa is the creator of the Jersey Girl Cozy Mystery series, which includes New Math is Murder; Hide nor Hair, and the latest installment, Another Man’s Poison. Her short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies. Reccoppa worked as a stringer for Greater Media Newspapers for many years and wrote hundreds of articles, covering everything from serious medical stories to restaurant reviews. She draws on her past newspaper experience to create quirky characters and outlandish scenarios for the Jersey Girl Cozy Mystery series.

Webpage: https://joannlamonreccoppa.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Jo-Ann+Lamon+Reccoppa&search_type=books

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Another-Mans-Poison-Jersey-Mystery-ebook/dp/B074XG62GP/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503800504&sr=1-2&keywords=another+man%27s+poison

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/another-mans-poison-jo-ann-lamon-reccoppa/1127008297?ean=2940158561641

Other books in this series:

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Tour Participants

October 2 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT  

October 3 – Valerie’s Musings – INTERVIEW

October 3 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – SPOTLIGHT

October 4 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW

October 5 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST

October 6 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

October 7 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

October 8 – A Holland Reads – GUEST POST

October 9 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 10 – Cozy Up With Kathy – GUEST POST

October 10 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 11 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW

October 12 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, INTERVIEW

October 13 – Laura’s Interests – SPOTLIGHT

October 14 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

October 15 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

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BLOG TOUR – Another Man’s Poison was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf with Shannon Muir

[cpfmp-blog]

EVALUATION

REF PAGES: 103

I have really enjoyed this project as it allowed me to think up an idea, going from concept to showcase. From quite early on I knew I wanted to incorporate the grunge trend that has made another appearance since it was in fashion in the 80s. I also knew that I wanted to translate my idea through film and photography, as those are the mediums that I have really enjoyed previously creating. Creating the various mood boards helped me to narrow down my ideas and have me the thought of combining the grunge/punk idea and the feminist idea. I loved the fact that we got to write our own project proposal, because it gave me a chance to write down all of my initial ideas about what I want to research and where I want to take my inspiration from.

Once I had decided on my FMP I, coincidentally, found ASOS’ spring issue of their magazine featuring Yara Shahidi and Adwoah Aboah. It linked really well as it was talking about dressing for yourself and self love – Shahadi reappeared on my makeup and hair mood board. In terms of researching brands; Saint Laurent, All Saints and Missguided show a nod to the grunge/punk trend that has been reappearing. I liked seeing brands lookbooks/campaigns as it gives me inspiration for photography as well as styling options. I also wanted to look into magazine editorials that could inspire my theme of grunge, punk and feminism. I researched Willow and Jaden Smith’s editorial for ‘Interview’ magazine (shot by Steven Klein) and several ‘Teeth’ magazine editorials. In terms of historic research I found that the pages on punk & grunge culture, International Women’s Day and the Women’s March very interesting because it sparked ideas around styling and the meaning behind my final photo shoot. I knew of the punk/grunge aesthetic, but I didn’t really know their morals or way of life before I had researched it. I took most of my styling inspiration from my punk research as I learnt about the personalisation of their clothes using household items like safety pins and decorating things with paint and destroying them with scissors. I took a lot of inspiration for poses from the feminism side of my theme, the idea that women are powerful and stand together, this is also present in the mini video interviews that I made alongside my photography. For primary research I created two polls on Twitter and two forum posts online, both of which I received interesting results. The ‘are you a feminist’ Twitter poll was almost 50/50, which I was surprised about and most of the comments on my forums were anti-feminist. This primary research helped me to see different opinions and inspired me when thinking about how to represent feminism in an un-obvious way (that would make people read the article – that would be paired with my editorial in a magazine – and learn about feminism. My main aim, after completing all of my research, was to create a series of photos that captured all three of my ideas (punk, grunge and feminism) in a way that would appeal to my customer (Meghan Weber, 19, from Hamburg Germany).

Since I had a lot of ideas about what I wanted to create I needed to do a lot of experimentation before I committed to one idea, as I wanted my final outcome to be as best as it could be. I made sure to experiment with lighting, camera angles and editing both photos and videos. I started off with trying scratch vectors on some photos that I had taken previously to see how I liked the effect, from this I learnt that I wanted my photos to be a lot more natural and effortless, which is why I decided against using Adobe Photoshop. For my lighting workshop I knew that it was more about sorting the lighting for my video interviews as I had always pictured my final photo shoot being outside and therefore the lighting being semi-uncontrollable. I really liked the look of the natural lighting with artificial lighting in the background as that reflected the set up of the interviews – natural answers, but more professional than a video diary style. After using the app ‘Afterlight’ to edit some pictures that were also taken before this project I found that it was much more subtle and there was a variety of scratch filters and they also had lense flare filters, which I experimented with to see how they would look. I think this experimental process really helped me to gage an idea of exactly what I wanted my series of photos to look like and how I wanted my video interviews to come across. In terms of styling experimentation I made a mood board of distressed denim and created mini samples of how to achieve those effects. I found that paint splatting the denim was the most effective and best for my outcome. I also experimented with possible outfit ideas and developed the six original looks I created and edited it down to two looks for each of my models.

I knew that I wanted to create video interviews, because I wanted to see how normal people (around the age of my target customer) felt about feminism and if they could spot links (in the questions I asked) between feminism and punk/grunge subculture. Originally I had planned to have the videos as part of my final outcome, however after editing them and seeing how they could be integrated with my photos at the showcase I decided to use them more as a primary research source. I wanted the videos that I created to be relatable to my target market as well as educational (in a fun way). I picture these videos being posted on a magazine’s accompanying YouTube channel, which allows readers frequent, maybe even daily, updates instead of waiting for the month’s issue to come out. I knew that I wanted three videos and that I wanted them all to have a slightly different topic, so everyone can relate to at least one of them, however they were all on the topic of feminism as I knew that would be the most difficult one to portray through photography. I really enjoyed the filming and editing process of making my videos, which is something that I have enjoyed doing previously, however I’ve never filmed videos in this format before. It was fun to have a more professional set up and to ask the interviewees questions, because I didn’t know what they were going to say even though I had asked them to briefly prepare. Once I had filmed all of the footage I needed (the interviewees answers as well as cutaways and close ups) I imported it into iMovie and started editing. From researching other YouTubers and how they have filmed & edited Q&A style videos I knew I didn’t just want it to be the interviewee sat there answering questions I wanted to break it up with other shots so it was more of a visual experience. Once I had got the video edit done I added music that I thought supported the theme of feminism, but would also appeal to my target audience. I am very happy with how the videos turned out, as I think they look very professional and well thought out (due to my storyboards), however there are a few improvements that I would make. The main thing I would change with these videos is the sudden contrast in audio from the montage introduction to the answer of the first question, this could be resolved by creating more of a gradient between the levels of sound rather than just dropping completely. Another issue is the sound in Kirsty’s video. Because she was the first to film I think she was quite nervous, which is understandable, so sometimes her voice became shaky and a bit quiet. I could have fixed this by re-filming some of her answers to get that confident look that the other videos have. I also don’t have an ending to Ellie’s video like the other two have, however it ended with a cutaway so it was less obvious, but if I were to re-film I would have got her to sign off the video just so there was a bit more consistency.

For my styling workshop I took a heavy influence from the punk and grunge way of dressing, but I also wanted to include some feminine pieces to portray my feminist theme. I really wanted to use some of the vintage pieces that I found in my parents’ wardrobe, as they aren’t necessarily garments that I would have chosen myself so I liked the challenge of styling them. I started by creating six looks, using some of the vintage pieces and some other pieces that I found on ‘Polyvore’ (the website that I used to make the collages). My favourite outfits from my initial six are numbers one, two, four and six. These are actually the four that I ended up using in my photos, however I developed them quite a lot before I got to the final looks that I used. Through the process of developing I changed the sweatshirt in look six and I re-arranged some of the pieces so that the layering of the garments would be better. In the end I made a page displaying the exact garments that I would be using so that when I was packing for the shoot I knew I wouldn’t miss anything. To finish off some of my looks I needed to make some things myself, as I couldn’t find something specific enough to what I wanted; I also wanted to keep costs down. For the fourth look, which Ellie wore for the second half of the shoot I bought a pair of size fourteen straight leg jeans from a charity shop (for £3.50) and splatted them with paint. This was part of my critical path, because I decided on colours of paints and took pictures during the process of making them. I used a paintbrush and splatted lots of paint onto the jeans, the front had white, mustard yellow, rust orange and black and I decided to just put mustard yellow and black on the back as a contrast to the front. I think this is a real focus piece in my editorial, because they’re so different from anything that you would be able to buy on the high street, which gives the feel of a high fashion editorial. The paint splats link to how punk people customised their clothing and how people who associated themselves with grunge bought things from thrift/charity shops and embraced it as their own individual look. In addition to the jeans I also made some safety pin accessories as a way to make some of the looks more high fashion and more obviously punk. For Hayley to wear with look six I made a safety pin crown using various sized safety pins arranged pointing at different angles. I used a thin hair band as the base for the crown and stuck each safety pin on using hot glue, this is something I would change as it is very delicate and after the shoot the safety pins started to fall off. I think using super glue what have held the pins on for longer and therefore created a more reliable accessory, which can be used again if I ever need to. For Ellie to wear with look four I made a set of stud earrings using basic studs and attaching smaller safety pins using hot glue. Similar to the headband, when putting the earrings in on the day I had to re-glue the pins on, because they kept coming off. Again I think that using super glue instead of hot glue they would have been more secure.

To compliment my styling choices I paid close attention to the hair and makeup that I wanted on my models for the shoot. From my grunge research I learnt that they are in to keeping their hair untouched, messy and sometimes dirty, so for Hayley’s second look and Ellie’s first I wanted their hair undone and just natural, which meant there was a bit of a wave to the hair. I especially wanted Hayley’s hair messy when she was wearing the crown, because I wanted to make sure the base hairband was covered. I also loved the idea of strong plaits, because I think it symbolises femininity, but also shows power. I love the image of Yara Shahidi with the safety pins in her braid, this is something that we trialled and then ended up using on Ellie when she was wearing look four. In terms of makeup I wanted the first half (when the models were wearing looks one and two) to be very matte and grunge-y. I didn’t want anything too heavy, because grunge style wasn’t about being over the top and taking too much time on their appearance. After the trial I decided that I wanted to take away the lip colour, because it was too prominent and I felt like it clashed with the clothes and the eye makeup. For the second look I wanted red/cranberry coloured glossy eyes to add a bit of interest especially in headshots. Due to the weather on the day you couldn’t really see the gloss effect and in the end I didn’t include any headshots in my final editorial.

I think the preparation from my sketchbook, makeup and hair trial with Kirsty and my schedule really helped my photo shoot to be efficient and get all of the shots that I wanted. I ended up taking three hundred and fifteen photos, which is more than I imagined I would, however in some of the photos the models are squinting due to the bright sun on the day; these are the images that I crossed out on the contact sheet. On the initial contact sheet I circled the images that I then went on to use in the editing stages. With the selected images I did a basic edit on the app ‘Afterlight’ where I changed the saturation, temperature, contrast, clarity and I added a filter. This made the colours of the images fit more with my grunge theme, which made me love them even more, from that I then starred images that I really liked and wanted to keep editing. This process took a while, but it was definitely worth it as I narrowed down from all of my images just to the final eight that I want in my editorial. I then went on to adding ‘Afterlight’ scratch effects to the starred images and then saw how that went. I found that most of the images didn’t look right with the scratches, because it overpowered the outfits, which is what I wanted to be the main focus. After that I took the favourite scratched images (which had been edited before that) and put them in black and white using the ‘Noir’ filter on iPhoto. This gave a real sense of what some of the images would look like in the final editorial. I then created a code for how I selected which images I wanted in black and white. As all of the photos on the black and white contact sheets were my favourite of all the ones I had taken I knew my final images were on these pages, so it was just choosing how many, which ones and how I wanted them edited. I decided on having eight pictures in my editorial and it just so happened that there were four black and white and four in colour. After I collected all of the final images that I liked I realised that because they had been edited and saved so many times, separately, the quality wasn’t very good. This meant that I got all of the original versions and only added the effects that I wanted, for example black and white images wouldn’t have been pre-edited like the other ones were (which I edited in ‘Afterlight’ and then added the black & white filter). This really made a difference to the professional feel of my photos, especially for the showcase, because they would’ve been printed even bigger and therefore the quality would have deteriorated even more. I think the first image really sets the tone for the whole editorial, it’s powerful, has a grunge feel and you feel the connection between the models that they have each other’s backs. I really like the combination of textures in this image the rusting fence behind is a real juxtaposition to the satin of Hayley’s trousers. I’m really glad that the skies were blue on the day of my photo shoot, because it really compliments the ‘Italia’ jumper that Ellie is wearing. The next image has a slightly different feel, because the dark filter really makes the safety pin crown stand out against the dark sky. The model’s position is really powerful and really embodies the theme that I wanted. I think this photo also shows off the sweatshirt that Callum made, which I am really pleased that he let me use, because it was exactly what I was looking for and I think it fits with the high-end feel of the shoot. The next shot also shows the community feel that I wanted within my images and it gives the viewer a chance to see the detail of the jeans and the safety pins in Ellie’s hair. This close up of Hayley’s shoe was really inspired by the close ups of the fishnets from the Teeth magazine research. I love how clearly you can see the detail of the fishnet sock and the studs on Hayley’s boots. I think it’s quite nice to have some shots like this just to break it up from the others and to give the viewer a closer look at the styling. I really like how the shadows feature in this image; it’s nice to have places of light and places of shade, because it adds a bit of interest to the image. This picture is also a chance to see the full outfit that I have styled, I really like how the paint splats compliment the colours I have used elsewhere in the outfit like the red bomber jacket, yellow vest and mustard yellow leather belt. I think the wind in all of the images, but this one in particular really adds a special effect, because it gives a bit of movement to the image. I think this scratched; black and white image is my favourite out of all of them. I like how you can only really see the scratch effect in the sky and the dark filter really adds to the moody, grunge atmosphere that I wanted to create. I think that this would possibly be the cover if my editorial were being featured in a magazine. As I have decided to call my editorial ‘Gateway to Grunge’ having an image with the wire gate in it is important and feel that this image has captured the vibe that all of my pictures have. All of my images have a European feel, however I feel like I could see these images in Vogue Germany. This worked out really well, because my target customer (Meghan Weber) is from Hamburg and therefore I feel like I’ve done a good job at aiming my editorial towards my ideal customer. This photo especially gives me German editorial vibes, because the pose is very professional and, again, I really like the way the shadows and the wind add movement and an atmosphere to the photo. The model shows a real power in her facial expression and the way she is sat shows that she’s relaxed and comfortable in what she’s wearing. This is very appealing to my target audience, which would therefore make them want the clothes that she is wearing, which is the main purpose of fashion photography. All through the planning of my photo shoot I knew I wanted a few close up shots to display the safety pin accessories that I have made. I love how moody this image is and how the delicate fencing and barbed wire is a contrast from the bulky black sweatshirt that Hayley is wearing. The way her hair is blowing into her face really encapsulates the grunge idea of unkempt hair, which is perfect for giving this image interest.

My thoughts for the showcase have been fairly consistent, as I know that I have always wanted a sensory experience. I always wanted my photos enlarged to A3 size on the walls in a booth style layout, however originally I wanted my videos to be projected onto the wall so people could listen to the videos and look at the pictures. I went off of this idea, because I didn’t ask the questions in the videos so you would have to read the question and listen to the answer, which I thought would distract from my photos. Now I want to have my photos displayed in the same way, but I want music playing in the background (the playlist that I have created) and something quite feminine – like flowers – hanging from fishing wire on the ceiling.