#secret Hong Kong travel

[travelernight]

Hong Kong Secrets: Uncover The Top 10 Must-Visit Hidden Gems

[hotasfahrenheit]

before starting episode 3 of Sunset x Vibes i scrolled past some screenshots? gifs? from this episode and straight up thought it was pictures from one of Mos and Bank's travel videos, and now that i'm 15 minutes in to the episode i'm still not sure that that's not what i'm watching right now

a good portion of this show so far is them not even playing characters but just being themselves and in love but like i'm not even mad about that because they're so stinkin' cute together no matter what they're doing

[ereardon]

Friends Don't || Chapter 3

Summary: Bob Floyd has been your best friend for almost a decade, ever since he quietly agreed to tutor you in college. The two of you have spent years chasing each other around the globe – Bob as a WSO, you as a travel blogger. You’ve always been the anywhere-but-here girl, and he’s been your rock. But when a surprise diagnosis threatens to crumble your picture-perfect life, you’re on the first flight back to San Diego, desperate to put down roots for the first time. Will Bob finally have it in him to admit that you could be the love of his life? What will he say when he finds out the secret you’ve been skillfully hiding from him? Or worse, what if he doesn’t find out until it’s too late? 

Pairing: Robert “Bob” Floyd x OC [Reid] 

Tropes: Friends to lovers

Warnings: Cursing, angst, alcohol

WC: 2.8K

Series masterlist here; previous chapter here; next chapter here

You met Denver when Bob got stationed at Lemoore. You had still been living in New Orleans, planning your move up to San Francisco, but it was taking a while because the magazine had you doing an Asia tour: Vietnam, Laos, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nepal. 

On your way back from Tokyo, you stopped in San Francisco to do some apartment hunting, before renting a car and driving down to Lemoore to visit Bob. 

He was still a newer member on the team; everyone but Denver had been there for years. They were a knit family, and he was the odd one out. But at least he had her. 

“You’re going to love her,” Bob said. He was teeming with excitement. Seeing him happy made you happy. You knew that he hadn’t quite fit in at Newport, his station before Lemoore. You knew that he desperately wanted to be part of a team. 

And he had found that with Denver. 

The bar was crowded. And hot. You were wearing a tiny tank top and a pair of denim shorts, not much of a going out outfit but Bob had insisted the two of you go straight to the bar so you could meet his friends. 

Bob weaved through the packed bar, his hand warm in yours, over toward one side of the curved wooden bar. You spotted the familiar khaki outfits that screamed military. Bob raised his free hand excitedly in a wave and you smiled up at him. 

“Hey guys,” he said, and a few of the khaki uniforms turned. Their eyes shamelessly rolled over you, and your hand in Bob’s, jaws going slack. 

“Floyd,” one of them, a classically attractive guy with a broad jawline, said. “Who’s the girl?” 

“Reid,” you said, sticking out one hand, keeping your left firmly in Bob’s. You shook his hand. 

“Harvard,” he said. 

You squinted. Another guy, even more ridiculously handsome, sidled up behind him. “I’m Fritz.”

You nodded. The other two were Omaha and Yale. The callsigns went in one ear and out the other. You were notoriously bad with names. 

And then you heard a small voice, like a delicate bird. “Stop drooling all over her, fuckheads. She’s way too hot for any of you.” 

All eyes turned to the right. A tiny redhead was making her way over to the group, her hands full of beer bottles. She handed one to Omaha and then another to Bob. Finally, her piercing green eyes landed on you and she smiled, holding out the remaining beer bottle. “You must be Sunny.” 

You grinned. “I am. You must be Denver.” 

“Sure hope so, otherwise I’m wearing someone else’s uniform.”

You laughed and took the beer, sipping it carefully. You watched Bob’s face light up as he spoke to the pilot. The casual way she put her hand on his forearm. How easy and light they were together. The way his eyes tracked her across the room. How she always brought him back into the conversation where he might have fallen out of it. 

For the rest of the night you snuck glances at the two of them. And for the first time you saw what Bob looked like when he was in love. 

“Hey.” Fritz approached you from your right, leaning against the wall where you had your butt pressed, staring out across the bar at Bob and Denver. 

“Hi,” you replied, taking a swig from the gin and tonic in your hand. You were tipsy, edging on drunk. 

Fritz followed your gaze. “They’re good together, don’t you think?” 

You nodded. “Yeah, they are. Never seen him like that before.” 

“Like what?” 

“So happy,” you replied. “Carefree.” The two of you watched as Bob laughed at something Denver said, her eyes sparkling as she faced him. 

“He looked pretty damn happy when he told us you were coming,” Fritz said. 

You shook your head. “Nothing like that.” 

Fritz moved slightly closer and you looked up at him with a smile. 

“Live nearby?” you asked. 

He grinned. “In fact, I do.” 

You took his hand, weaving through the crowd toward where Bob was standing near the bar next to Denver and Yale. “Bobby?” you said softly, raising a hand and pressing it to his upper arm. 

He turned around with a smile. “Hey Sunny, where’d you go?” 

You looked up at Fritz. “Just got another drink. I, uh, think we’re gonna head out. Can I call you tomorrow, get a ride back to your place?” 

He frowned. “Are you sure?” 

You felt Fritz’s hand slide into the back pocket of your jeans, fingers gripping the swell of your ass. “Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Bob looked between you and Fritz with narrowed eyes. “Sunny? Gonna ask you one more time, darlin’, are you sure?” 

You nodded then leaned up and kissed his cheek, letting your hand fall from his arm. “See you tomorrow, Bobby.” 

You let Fritz’s hand migrate to your low back, guiding you out of the bar and into the humid California night. You weren’t sure why, but it took everything you had not to turn around and take one last look at Bob before you walked out the door. 

Bob looked up at Denver with angry eyes. 

“I shouldn’t have let her go. She’s been here twelve hours, she has no idea where she is. Fritz is a goddamn stranger to her.”

“Reid can do what she wants, Floyd,” Denver said, leaning her small arm against the bar. “She’s a grown woman. Besides, Fritz is a puppy dog. You don’t have anything to worry about.” 

He shook his head. “I’m going after her.” He put his glass of seltzer down and started to walk toward the door when Denver grabbed him, yanking him back shockingly hard for such a small person. 

“Floyd! Snap out of it man. She isn’t yours.” 

“Yes, she is. She’s my responsibility, don’t you get that? I brought her here.”

Harvard shook his head. “Fuck, man, you’re down bad for her aren’t you?” 

Bob squinted his eyes. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Harvard laughed. “See, I always thought you had a thing for Denver over here. But apparently you’re just the nerd in love with the hot girl next door. And she ditched you the first chance she got.”

Bob felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. He lunged forward, but Denver grabbed his arm. “Come on, let’s get some air, Floyd.” 

He let her yank him out onto the back patio of the bar, anger already starting to pool in his stomach. 

“Is it because of Fritz, or is it because she left with anyone but you?”

Bob shook his head, taking a deep breath. “Please, Denver, just drop it.” 

“No. I won’t drop it. Tell me the truth. What is it about her that has you so wound up, ready to fucking combust?”

Bob sighed. “It’s just been me and Reid for a long time, OK? It’s a hard dynamic to change. That’s all, I promise.”

Her green eyes scanned his face. “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you Robert?” she asked softly, stepping closer. 

Bob raised his eyes to hers. “No, Sarah. I wouldn’t lie to you.” 

She nodded, lips pursed in a tight line. The two of them stood side by side, leaning against the railing of the patio, staring off into the distance in silence.

***

You hadn’t meant for it to happen, but somehow you ended up hosting a pizza night at the house as a way to repay the team for helping to unbox all your stuff that had finally arrived from Brooklyn, along with all of the new items you had purchased that had shown up on the doorstep, much to Bob’s dismay. 

The two of you arrived home one night to no less than twenty boxes from Crate & Barrel on the front porch. Bob turned to you with wide eyes and you gave him a small shrug across the middle console of the car, hopping out to examine the boxes. 

“Sunny,” he said, exasperated. “I said yes to redecorating. But what on Earth? Did you buy the whole store or what?” 

“Hate to break it to you, honey,” you said, opening the door and scooting the nearest box inside. “But your house? Your stuff? It’s depressing.” 

“I’m offended,” he said, following after you with a box in his arms. 

“No you’re not,” you replied. “And if you are, you’ll get over it when you see how much cute shit I got for us.” 

Bob groaned, digging in his pocket. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Calling in backup,” he said, hitting a button and lifting the phone to his ear. “Rooster? Yeah, can you and Hangman and Phoenix come over? Bring Coyote. Reid bought all this stuff and we’re never going to be able to unload it all ourselves.” He paused, nodding. “Yeah, we’ll buy you guys dinner.” 

He clicked off the phone and you laughed, already headed to your room to change into athletic clothing. “Remember that you love me!” you called from down the hall. 

“How could I ever forget?” Bob replied, shaking his head and grabbing a box cutter from the top drawer in the kitchen. 

That was how you found yourself sitting on the floor in the middle of Bob’s kitchen unwrapping a set of Estelle colored wine glasses and handing them to Phoenix, who was carefully placing them in a cabinet. 

In the living room, Rooster and Hangman were fighting over the instructions for the media center that you had ordered, while Bob was chatting with Coyote as he built a coffee table. 

You handed a blue stemless wine glass to Phoenix who took it with a smile. “So, how are you liking San Diego?” 

You shrugged. “It’s alright. I like the beach nearby.” 

“Bob said you’ve lived all over the place.” 

You nodded. “Yeah, I’ve bounced around a lot. I did New Orleans, Seattle, Austin, SF, London, Barcelona. Most recently I was in Greenpoint.” 

Phoenix put one hand on her slim hip. “Can I ask you a question?” 

“Of course.” 

“Why here, then? Sounds like you’ve lived in the best cities in the US, maybe even the world. So why the hell would you want to move to San Diego?” 

You looked out over into the living room. “It’s the only place where I can see him every day.” 

Phoenix raised an eyebrow as you stood up from the floor, dusting off your knees with your hands. “Bradshaw is gonna ask you out. Even got a blessing from Floyd.” 

You turned to her. “Bob said yes?” 

She nodded. “Wasn’t too convincing, but he said Bradshaw was free to do whatever he liked. So just keep an eye out. He’s a good guy, Rooster. You could do worse.” 

You ducked down, opening a new box to reveal a set of ivory plates. “I’m not really looking to date right now.” 

“Anyone, or does that just apply to Rooster?”

“You two gossiping about me?” Bradley appeared in your field of vision, guzzling from a water bottle on the counter. He set it down and wiped his mouth, revealing a wide grin. 

You looked at Phoenix with panic and she cleared her throat. “Was just telling Reid here that you’re a sore loser because Hangman beat you at darts last week.” 

“Fuck, it was one time!” Rooster tossed his hands up and his genuine nature made you laugh. He dropped his hands and smiled. “Listen, Reid, if you’re not busy tomorrow, I’d love to take you to dinner.” 

You hesitated. What you had told Phoenix wasn’t a lie. You moved to San Diego to spend time with Bob. It wasn’t about a new crop of potential suitors. But the way that Bradley was smiling down at you, and the broadness of his shoulders, and the air in the kitchen, all had you nodding. “Sure,” you said softly. “I’d love to.” 

Bradley smiled so wide it threatened to split his face in half. “Great. I’ll pick you up here, say seven thirty?” 

You nodded. The rest of the night was spent unpacking boxes, you and Phoenix largely sequestered to the kitchen. Hangman and Rooster finally stopped yelling at each other long enough to get the black wood and cane media console set up and you watched with a grin as all four men argued about how exactly the tv should be set up. 

At the end of the night, you swept the empty pizza boxes into a trash bag and followed everyone out into the driveway to say goodbye, dumping the trash inside the can near the garage door. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you said lightly to Bradley and he stepped closer, kissing your cheek softly.

“See you tomorrow Reid.” 

He walked away and you heard Jake huff to himself, muttering under his breath, “What does fucking Bradshaw have that I don’t?” 

You smirked to yourself, waving to Phoenix as she got in her truck, before heading back inside. In the kitchen, Bob was wiping down the counter, placing the last beer can in the recycling. 

“Good work tonight,” you said, looking around with your hands crossed over your chest. You still had some boxes to unpack and you were lacking a dining room table, but the living room was practically brand new. 

Bob shook his head. “You didn’t have to do this, Sunny.” 

“Um, I kind of did if I didn’t want to live in a frat basement for a house.” 

“It wasn’t that bad.” “Whatever you need to tell yourself.” You slipped past him, opening the fridge and pulling out a water bottle. “Alright, I’m gonna take a shower and head to bed. Goodnight.” 

You started down the hall when Bob’s voice stopped you. “Are you really going out with Bradley tomorrow?”

You turned. Bob stood in the middle of the hallway, his hands in his pockets. There was an air around him that you couldn’t place. You nodded. “Yeah, I am. Phoenix said you told Bradley it was OK to ask me out.” 

Bob grunted, turning around and heading for the kitchen, breaking down a cardboard box in frustrated silence. 

You followed him back into the kitchen, one hand on your hip. “Bobby? Are you mad? Do you not want me to date your colleague, is that what this is about?” 

“You always do this, Reid,” he said, shaking his head. There was something unnerving about Bob calling you by your first name. It was always Sunny, honey, darlin’, sweetheart. Never Reid. 

“Do what?” 

Bob looked up. “You leave a trail of men everywhere we go, Reid. I get it. You’re the anywhere-but-here girl. But you have to realize that you can’t do that this time. This is my life you’re walking into. You’re meeting my friends, living in my house. You told me you were settling down this time. But you’re still acting like the same Reid as before.” 

“And who exactly is that?” you demanded, crossing your arms over your chest. 

Bob let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t want to do this right now.” 

“You started this,” you practically shouted. “So fucking end it, Bobby. How am I acting?”

“You’re doing what you always do!” he yelled. “You’re acting like the Reid that fucks any guy that’s halfway decent to you. And then you run away before it can become anything more than a one night stand because you’re fucking terrified of having to stay and owning up to responsibility for the first time in your life. You just steamroll over everyone and everything, have your fun and then you’re gone. And you’ve always been like that. But this time you don’t get to just flit off to Mexico or Sweden or Croatia and send me a little gift basket and act like it never happened. This time you’re fucking with the people in my life, Reid, and it will have consequences. For once can you care about someone other than yourself and look at the situation and realize that what you do impacts me, too?”

The two of you stood, frozen, in the kitchen. The tension in the air was palpable. You could count on one hand the number of fights you and Bob had gotten into over the last nine years. 

This was one of them. 

Your eyes were locked on Bob’s blue ones. You watched as his face fell. As the realization of what he had just said washed over his familiar face. 

“Sunny,” he murmured, stepping closer and you shook your head, backing away. 

“No.” You whispered it, but there was venom laced in the word. “Don’t you dare try and take that back,” you added. “Because you can’t.” 

“Honey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it.” 

You whipped around, practically jogging down the hall toward the stairs at the front of the house. 

“Reid!” 

You climbed the stairs, two at a time, and slammed the door to your room, locking it behind you, sliding down against the back of the door onto the ground in a heap. 

You hated fighting with Bob. But this time, what you hated the most was that he was right. 

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[yvesette]

LOONA as GIRLFRIENDS (sfw)

★ - genre: gf headcanons, wlw, fluff

★ - warnings: none

🐇HEEJIN

- plays guitar for you and sings to you

- you help her with sudoku puzzles

- you’re always cleaning up after her lol

- you’re planning a trip to travel abroad

- you’re always eating out since she can’t cook or she makes you cook for her

- you plant little kisses to her mole near her left eye

- her satoori comes out when she talks to you sometimes

- tried to convince you to become vegan with her

- you kiss her nose a lot

- you are obsessed with her arms- and she flexes for you and laughs when your mouth goes wide open

- gives you the other airpod while listening to music

- you feed her online shopping addiction bc she buys so much stuff for you

- she introduces you to her puppies

- if you have dogs, she loves them sm and constantly asks you to send pics

- she asks you to pose so she can draw you and you have her drawings hung up in your room

- she gets embarrassed when you watch her stages in front of her and compliment her

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🐈HYUNJIN

- you met in school and thought she was so pretty and vice versa

- play-wrestles you

- makes you laugh so hard your cheeks hurt from smiling

- loves to play sports with you, even if you aren’t good at them

- plays piano for you

- always holding your hand everywhere you go

- coffee shop dates <3

- you can outdrink her very easily and she gets super affectionate while drunk

- wants to get a cat or dog with you

- wants you to baby her

- when you saw her bare face you kissed her cheek and told her she was gorgeous

- she doesn’t rely on you when she’s stressed and prefers to not put her issues on you but still comes to you for advice

- you watch youtube and listen to music on her bed while cuddling

- she buys you both coffee almost every morning

- she loves joking with you and you share inside jokes and a secret language

- one time while walking together you hurt your leg and she carried you on her back the rest of the way

- she’s always hyping you up

- you have mukbangs on vlive

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🕊️HASEUL

- babies you

- plays piano and guitar for you

- movie nights where you cuddle on the couch and fall asleep in eachother’s arms

- cooks for you

- such a mom

- sends you good morning and goodnight texts and always checks up on you

- always buys you lavish gifts aka spoils tf out of you

- asked you to call her your girlfriend first

- she’s quite affectionate

- remembers the smallest things - you could mention something months ago and she’d remember and buy it for you

- drives you around

- pottery and figure skating dates

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🦌VIVI

- she was so quiet when you met but once you got the know her she’s such a bright person

- an absolute sweetheart, the most gentle gf

- she makes you watch scary movies with her and you hide your face in her neck at the scary parts

- she can’t sleep unless she’s cuddling you

- takes you to hong kong to meet her family

- you’re always taking pictures of her and she gets embarrassed

- amazing listener, gives the best advice

- rock climbing and hiking dates !!

- she prefers to stay inside though and spend time with you

- cheers you up when you come to vent

- she’s extremely considerate of you and your feelings and often makes you meals or take cares of you when you’re sick

- cooks you noodles and vegetables

- gives great hugs

- she wants to go see the cherry blossoms with you

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🧸YEOJIN

- she probably approached you first initially to become friends

- she’s always trying to come up with cute nicknames for you

- loud asf especially when she feels like someone is hitting on you or threatening you; gets super defensive

- always hitting you playfully when she laughs

- teases you constantly but it’s always lighthearted

- loves to do your nails

- if you’re taller than her (she’s incredibly short), she often complains about her height and you tease her playfully about her shortness

- she also is always the small spoon

- makes you take her instagram photos

- wants to get matching tattoos

- you’re a pair of troublemakers

- if you’re younger than her she always brags about being older, and if you’re older, she always wants to be treated like a baby

- makes you watch animated shows with her

- naps together <3

- her hand is very small and fits cutely in yours when you hold hands

- kisses you goodbye

- you have to drive her everywhere bc she refuses to get a license

- speaks in her daegu accent to you, you tell her it’s hot

- you’re always reminding her of dates you planned bc she forgets easily

- she loves perfume and you always gift it to her. you carry a rolling perfume in your bag and roll it on her wrist so she can smell it and to calm her when she’s stressed.

- convinces you to get new piercings and you come with her to get hers

- you play pokémon together

- she’s more affectionate than you are

- writes about you in her diary

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🦉KIM LIP

- a romantic at heart

- cleans up your room without you asking

- laughs at everything you say, even the most stupid jokes

- had a habit of sweeping your hair back

- sushi dates + movie nights

- she loves watching romance movies with you

- “that’s like us”

- you watch dramas together and gossip about the main characters

- she loves longboarding with you

- if you ever fight, she’s the first to resolve it

- passenger princess

- tried to teach you how to play the violin while you tried to explain a sport to her - she didn’t get it

- she gets cold easily and you warm her hands and beat hug her to warm her up - or give her your jacket

- always makes sure you’ve eaten

- she’s bad with technology and needs your help constantly when her phone isn’t working

- shopping together <3

- she gets sleep paralysis and you comfort her when she gets scared

- she loves massaging your shoulders and your back after a long day

- you bought her a guitar and she freaked out

- the two of you love baking things together even if they don’t turn out well, she even made you a birthday cake as a surprise

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🐟JINSOUL

- she has a strong vibe and it took you a while to approach her but you instantly became close

- you sit on her lap while she plays video games or hug her from behind

- very clingy

- restaurant dates late at night where you get fast food or snacks

- she’s very honest with you and if she has any concerns she always voices them to you

- you built gundam models and lego sets together

- she talks a lot and you could listen to her ramble for hours

- always coming up with creative dates that involve her new hobbies

- she writes songs about you

- overdramatic af when you don’t give her attention

- you’re in her vlogs and she edits hearts around you

- she knits you stuffed animals and blankets

- recommends you webtoons to read

- makes you take the mbti quiz so she can analyze your personality

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🦇CHOERRY

- couple items !! (ex. matching hoodies, toothbrushes, pajamas, shoes, etc.)

- tteokbokki dates

- helps you manage your stress

- her sisters love you

- if you argue she’s always the one to settle things down and solve conflicts, she apologizes even if she hasn’t done something wrong

- plays video games with you and you always beat her and she pouts

- her mother brings you sweet potatoes from her farm

- compliments you constantly and says she’s jealous of your pretty appearance

- you call her sexy and she gets shy but she appreciates it sm lol

- makes you take the harry potter sorting house quiz and you have a movie marathon

- loves it when you wear sweet perfume

- she’s always playing with your hair and asks to braid it a lot

- you watch animes together

- definitely friends to lovers, your friendship is so strong

- loves it when you call her yerim/yerimmie

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🦢YVES

- she’s super charismatic and the two of you became fast friends

- i’m imagining a very sweet and shy confession from her

- aesthetic dates and photoshoots constantly

- you go thrifting together at vintage stores

- if you have pets, especially cats - she adores them and is always asking about them

- tries to teach you how to dance lol

- makes you playlists

- introduces you to her family and they love you

- she’s very poetic and expresses her love very fondly, often sending you long text messages explaining her feelings

- many inside jokes between you two

- loves it when you call her sooyoungie

- wants to go to the gym with you

- she gets embarrassed when you compliment her

- “stopp it y/n! shhh”

- she’s extremely passionate about your relationship and head over heels for you

- a total softy- you make her blush just by looking at her

- she cries easily talking about her feelings or when she’s stressed but feels very comfortable around you and the two of you comfort eachother when you’re down

- imitates you perfectly - it’s so annoying

- an excellent listener when you need to rant

- prefers to care for you rather than you care for her

- if you fight, she usually gets emotional but is very logical and listens to you well

- posts pictures of you both and captions it with something funny and cute

- gifts you clothes and lets you borrow hers

- cooks tteokbokki for you

- wears your hoodie so much she might as well own it

- takes pictures of you on dates with her film camera

- when she kisses your face she leaves a lipstick mark on your cheek

- you buy her vinyls and roses bc she loves roses

- she reads poetry to you in bed

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🐧CHUU

- she’s so supportive of everything you do, your biggest cheerleader

- cheek and nose kisses !!

- eternally grateful for you and always reminding you

- you have a lot of cheesy and heartfelt moments where she tells you how much she loves you and appreciates you

- you have a very innocent and adorable relationship that is mutually healthy and caring

- you have small arguments/debates that always end well and you laugh about them at the end of the day even though chuu always wins

- she lets you guest star on chuu can do it for an episode and introduces you to orbits

- she’s extremely affectionate and is always holding your hand and clings to your side

- buys you so many gifts she often forgets to buy stuff for herself

- sleepovers where you attempt to stay up until 2 am but chuu always passes out first

- she’s very hard on herself but you’re consistently reassuring her

- she has a large appetite and you let her eat your leftovers or often order big portions to share and she ends up eating most of it lol

- she teaches you taekwondo moves and threatens to bring them out if anyone dares try to hurt you

- karaoke dates !!

- does aeygo for you when she wants something

- you went on a rollercoaster one time and she was clinging onto you, holding your hands with her eyes shut screaming the whole time poor bby

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🦋GOWON

- she’s very introverted so it was tough to get to know her bc she’s so shy

- constantly tags you in funny shit and sends you posts saying “this reminded me of you”

- she’s very positive and helps you see the bright side of situations

- you have an animal crossing island together

- you go shopping together all the time and she always wants to do your makeup

- she annoys you and teases you constantly but makes up for it with cute affection

- amusement park dates <3

- she’s such a bad cook she tried to make something for you to eat one time and it burnt so you just got take-out

- you bought her oh my girl concert tickets and she was so grateful

- she makes you winter playlists

- you spoil her with clothes

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

🐺OLIVIA HYE

- holds your hand when she’s upset

- acts like she dislikes everyone but you type of thing

- you and her give marceline and bubblegum vibes

- hugs you from behind - leans on your shoulder and pouts

- very handy and fixes anything you need fixed

- very competitive and will end you in a game

- hates receiving hugs and kisses but will hug and kiss you all the time

- sends you very eloquent messages about her love for you

- she leaves notes of encouragement on to ur bag and plans you surprise birthday parties

- teases you but it’s never hurtful

- you taught her how to wink

- she kills bugs in your house for you

- the two of you have sleepovers and wear facemasks

┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙@yvesgo 2023

[5-7-9]

This panel is pretty funny 😂 just because of how wish fulfillment it is

Like, you wish this happened, huh?

I don’t like it when stories use their citizens as some kind of monolith hive mind, they just suddenly get inspired to do good or bad for no reason or the reason is too superficial. It bugs me, what can i say? 🤷

Interesting part to note is how they treated people taking up Joker's masks though.

Joker’s mask seems to be what gives these hooligans the freedom to cause mayhem. I’ve already said it before, but this comic treats Joker’s smile as insincere, something to hide, fake. As if being allowed to a secretive identity removes guilt over responsibility. Like when internet trolls can’t be tied to their face. This is expanded on through Alex Kayes the best. Although I don’t like her character’s existence, she highlights the part of Joker’s legacy that was perhaps misguidedly applied to Joker. Social media and public outcry.

Remember Logan Paul’s infamous apology video? James Charles? Etc. social media people? The comic even got the YouTube logo on it.

Red Flag is having a political podcast 🚩😙 sorry~ but if you’re anything like Andrew Tate, the alt-right pipeline is one you don’t want to stay in. Don’t believe everything you hear.

“It’s about sending a message” …was it hate speech? Jkjk. But this is exactly what Heath Ledger’s Joker’s mission in The Dark Knight Rises movie by Chris Nolan was like.

He was also described by Alfred as “Someone people just want to watch the world burn” with absolutely no reason to be evil, he just is evil 🙃 So there is some similarity to Punchline to this movie’s Joker.

Social media and the constant criticisms done by people reacting and adding their own stuff like idk tiktok i guess? Oh right, the comic said it, yeah. Idk any tiktok challenges like this one, so no video example 🤷

Joker War was also mentioned in other comics. I think it’s interesting how Bao Pham’s origins with Joker and Harley was, and his eventual rise to being Joker Hunter and protecting his city. Then i think he left eventually (idk). Huh.

More Punchline, this time from oftentimes copaganda and all times police commissioner Jim Gordon! More teenagers that support Punchline being bullies, what else is new. I totally forgot what I wanted to say, so I’ll just skip to the end of what I really wanted to comment on. Y’know I only recently learned about this so that’s why I’m talking about it but I think it was really awesome that Joker 2019 traveled all the way around the world because people were using his face masks in activism. That’s the positive side of having a brand, DC comics can go across countries and be recognizable. The more recognizable you are, the more people hear you. That’s what happened in the case with the Joker from the protests in Lebonon, Chile, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Colombia, Spain, Catalonia, and Ecuador (there may have been more but idk). (Warning! Talks of death and possible SA in this video!)

(I’d like to take a special time to acknowledge the Iraq Joker (mustafa makki kareem) since I found a rather in-depth interview video of his efforts). (This was 4 years ago, so I’m afraid the political landscape of Iraq has taken a turn… I hope he’s okay).

An interview with some Hong Kong protestors that wear masks to protect their identity. Interestingly enough, this video calls the mask similar to Batman :)

Also they mention reasons for hiding their identity, and methods!

There’s a few clips of Bolivia’s Joker too

Some faces of Lebonon Jokers (this video is edited with TDK Bane’s message but the original video isn’t allowed in my country?)

More edits of Chile Lebonon and Hong Kong (again, original video linked in description but unavailable to me)

In fact, that’s what happened to the Joker 2019 movie. Nowhere in the comics had Joker been depicted as he was in that movie, a victim of an oppressive system. That movie essentially took back a villain and made him this icon. That was the first time ever after Joker’s further evilization after “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Death In The Family” and “The Killing Joke” made Joker one of the evilest Batman characters (considering the ever so slightly sympathetic side to the rest of the rouges). Not to go off on it, but I think it really was a good thing for Joker. I think his criminalization crossed a line at some point, so in a way, this makes up for it.

Of course, even with all of this, it’d be unfair of me to not mention all the bad that did come from Joker. I will not discount that. And no- the 2012 Aurora shooter James Holms had orange dyed hair and is NOT inspired by Joker, he didn’t even know the movie was going on, fyi. • The Florida man Lawrence Sullivan who was arrested in 2017 for allegedly pointing a firearm at an officer. (I reached my 10 video limit 😭). • The recreation of Joker 2019 bus killing scene with suicidal 24-year-old Kyota Hattori in Tokyo train. • The “Gypsy Crusader” or Paul Nicholas Miller was a popular troll that liked to cosplay as Joker in the 2019 movie and comics Riddler while making jokes (i think he did offensive humor?) of the “radical” alt-right stance. (Ironically, the racists didn’t want a Roma descent racist on their side 💀). He was arrested for possession of an unregistered rifle and a lot of ammunition. He also lived in New Jersey…

• 2014 Jerad Miller from Las Vadas Nevada shot two police officers and one bystander dressed as the Joker with an accomplice. Essentially doing a murder-suicide when they then shot themselves. He posted videos to Youtube of his messages. (I think there was some mental illness going on? But idk) (there is also mentions of political stuff like angry at drug laws and the corrupted government and a swatsika?) (yeah idk, it was confusing).

Yes, the criminal turned devil turned sympathetic villain leads to multiple interpretations of Joker, who would’ve guessed? (sarcasm). Even London and Clermont mocked their presidents with the clown face. It’s not entirely black and white 🤷

Still, despite all the flaws in Joker 2019’s movie, all the good that came out of it… I feel as though it outweighed the bad. So, it’s not easy to hate it. Shout out to this video analysis essay that made me critically think about the Batman movies!

[rhetoricandlogic]

THE BEDLAM STACKS by Natasha Pulley

RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2017

ulley’s (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, 2015) second novel demonstrates that the imagination she showed in her impressive debut was no fluke.

The story opens in 1859, with the narrator, Merrick Tremayne, morosely nursing an injured leg at his decrepit family estate in Cornwall. Merrick used to smuggle opium into Hong Kong for the East India Company until an explosion a few years ago cost him his health and job. Botany and exotic travel run in the family: his grandfather and father both spent years in Peru, combing the Andes for botanical valuables such as orchids and frost-resistant coffee. Now the company wants to send Merrick to his ancestors’ old stomping grounds, hiring him to break the Peruvian quinine monopoly by smuggling out cuttings from cinchona trees, the source of the antimalarial medicine. Is Merrick well enough to hike the Andes? Pulley understands her genre—swashbuckling costume fantasy—but she deals in surprises, not clichés. An exploding tree, a mysterious moving statue, and a visit from an old friend help make up Merrick’s mind, propelling him across the ocean to a strange world of thin air, volcanic glass, and floating cities, where descendants of the Incas keep magical secrets. Strictly speaking, this is a prequel—a few paragraphs and a character or two tie this novel to Pulley’s masterful debut—but the two books have very different atmospheres.

Where Pulley’s first novel sparkled with the ingenuity of spinning gears, her second offers a slower, sadder meditation on love, trust, and the passage of time.

[chapitre7]

I want to look at the stars with you for another 10.000 days

Midnight Series: Moonlight Chicken พระจันทร์มันไก่ | Moonlight Chicken (TV) fanfiction

HeartLiMing

2k words

For @remapped-soul

Read on AO3

How are you? Are you sleeping? Are you eating? Is it very hard?

Heart’s mom always asks the same questions whenever she calls, hands clasped together after she’s done. Sitting back in his couch, Heart can predict the signs before she even finishes them. His father lets her speak, an arm around her shoulders, his eyes following Heart’s replies. Heart doesn’t mind the flow of their conversation, and he doesn’t think his father is uninterested. Sometimes, his father will wire him money and tell him to buy a book he had mentioned he wanted, or tell him to buy something for dinner when Heart mentions studying late into the night.

His father is always polite to Li Ming when he sees him, while Heart’s mom says Li Ming is too skinny and has dark circles under his eyes and is he taking care of himself, are they taking advantage of him at work, are they treating him well?

Heart understands his father a little more as he learns to live with Li Ming.

He has categorized his smiles — genuine to Heart’s mother, strained when he gets home, tired but warm in the morning. He can tell by the curve of his spine when something is bothering him, and Heart pokes at him until Li Ming speaks. When he wakes up before Li Ming, when he has the privilege to watch Li Ming rise, the pale sunrise on his face, the light reflecting in his eyes, Heart follows every movement he makes. The tilt of his chin, his fingers closing around the blanket, the shadows cast by his eyelashes on his cheek. His lips say good morning and Heart’s lips form the same words, and it still makes Li Ming smile wide, showing all the cherished creases on his face.

Every day settles on him like the warm sun, routine falling into place with ease. Every day, Heart knows a little more. Knows when Li Ming needs to vent his frustrations or excitedly share something new he learned at work. Knows when Li Ming needs to be left alone, eyes still looking for the bartending job he wants but does not yet have. Another day ends, another day begins.

How is Heart doing?

Heart can attend classes again, have his own groups again. Now he has people on his phone who post a really absurd amount of stickers and talk shit about their professors just like everyone else. He can eat ice cream when it’s chilly and do his homework outside while brown leaves fall from their branches. He takes pictures of stray cats and sends them to Li Ming – even though he knows they can’t keep a pet at their current housing – like a shared secret. Sometimes Li Ming says they could sneak it in through the back door. Maybe just to see Heart laugh, but Heart would not put it past him. Not when Li Ming gets a certain glint in his eyes.

America is colder, but not always. When he can walk with Li Ming, his hand in Li Ming’s hand, it’s different. To walk with Li Ming in daylight, to discover everything with him, is different. He watches Li Ming speak with others with increasing confidence, lips shaping words Heart learned once, but that are harder to recognize now. He doesn’t get lost with Li Ming. They walk and walk and walk, until the streetlights are on and their legs are sore, and Heart doesn’t get tired of it. Maybe he will, someday. Heart doesn’t think about that. There is so much he wants to see, and so much Li Ming wants to share. With his hand in Heart’s hand, careful so Heart can follow.

When Heart finishes all of his homework and the night is long and Li Ming is not yet back, Heart grabs his phone and dreams of endless places to see with Li Ming. He wants to travel to see the cherry blossoms in Japan, to roam through the streets of Hong Kong at night, see the color of Indonesian waters. What is Canada like during autumn? What are the lavender fields like in France? Heart dreams of the days he first left his room with Li Ming, seemingly so long ago now, and the exhilaration he can’t help but seek again and again and again.

But when he talks to Li Ming about it, there’s a straight line in his lips. He looks at the pictures Heart shows him and he agrees that it all looks beautiful, but there is no enthusiasm in him. Heart doesn’t look for a promise, for a solid plan. When he shows his phone to Li Ming and looks at him, Heart is only thinking of the following year. And the one after that. To be with him, to stay with him.

Perhaps his flaw is that he has become too comfortable. That he believes they understand each other perfectly, but forgets Li Ming can’t read his thoughts. When Heart keeps talking about traveling, when he pulls Li Ming to look when he tries to turn away, he doesn’t expect Li Ming to explode.

“I don’t know when we can leave! I don’t know, Heart!”

His mouth moves as he signs, and then he aborts another phrase, something that Heart thinks he knows, thinks he understands, from all that Li Ming has shared with him.

“I can do it for you,” Heart tells him, because he can. Eventually, Heart believes anything will be possible. “For us. You don’t have to provide for me.”

You’re not my caretaker, he thinks, but doesn’t externalize. He’s thankful he doesn’t. The fight leaving Li Ming in heavy breaths is enough, as are the hard steps that Heart feels but can’t hear as Li Ming walks away and leaves, the dinner forgotten on the stove.

Heart can’t sleep without Li Ming.

Or he can, but he doesn’t want to. His body aches, his eyes sting, but he doesn’t allow himself to sleep. He doesn’t want to fall asleep and miss Li Ming coming back. He wants to stand by the front door, but he doesn’t. He paces around their bedroom, sits on the bed and hugs his knees to his chest. He looks at the lamp on his bedside table until the glare draws shadows on his retinas.

Before Li Ming, he didn’t want much. He wanted to breathe, and to walk, and to extend his arms beyond the walls of a home that didn’t feel like a home. With Li Ming, he wants so much. Every second is precious, a moment he can’t miss. He wants to graduate fast, and start working, and feel like he can stand on his own for the first time. In a paradoxical way, he never wants the current days to end; he, sitting by Li Ming’s side in the living room, both of them immersed in their own studies, until Heart drops his head on Li Ming’s shoulder, feeling the vibration of his English practice, until the words morph into humor, until Li Ming is nudging him and poking him and he’s giggling and they’re wrestling on the floor, and every worry seems as small as a speckle of dust when compared to Li Ming’s smile.

Heart wants everything. The future, every city across the globe, every minute and every second of the present with Li Ming. He wants Li Ming. How long has he been gone, will he come back now?

Heart only realizes he’s crying when he looks up at the figure of Li Ming by the door and he can’t properly see his face or his expression, his vision blurred by dark spots and tears. He stays where he is, raises his hands before he lets them drop to his lap and then he raises them again. He wants to reach for Li Ming and wipe his own tears because this is his fault, and he’s saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” until Li Ming stops his hands and embraces him.

Li Ming isn’t crying. After a few minutes of crying all over his shirt, Heart feels embarrassed, but he still keeps his arms around Li Ming, and his head on Li Ming’s shoulder. He’s playing with the hem of Li Ming’s shirt and wondering if he’s too selfish when Li Ming pushes him back and they finally look at each other. Li Ming looks exhausted.

“Did you eat?” Heart asks, and Li Ming can only give him an unconvincing half-smile. Heart makes to stand but Li Ming grabs his wrist and pulls him back to bed.

“Tomorrow,” is his response, and Heart frowns but doesn’t fight him.

Li Ming stands and starts changing, and in the warm pool of the lamp light, Heart thinks about how different he already looks from when they first met. Li Ming had always carried himself with a firmness in his step that Heart admired. Like he knew his place in the world. Heart knows it’s not exactly like that, now that he doesn’t worship Li Ming so much. Now that they have shared so many secrets, now that they share a life. But his shoulders seem broader now. Maybe not too much, but it’s noticeable to Heart. A small touch of time in their story.

Li Ming turns back to him. He’s tired but sincere, and Heart is filled with longing. He does open his arms to Li Ming then, calls for him without words, so he can finally lie down with an armful of Li Ming and surrender. What was it like to fall asleep without Li Ming’s scent, his weight against him? Heart doesn’t want to remember.

Are they sleeping? Are they eating? Are they well?

It’s colder in America. There are still places where Heart feels a tinge of helplessness if he goes alone, because people look at him and his language like he’s not someone who belongs there. There are days he sleeps slouched over the coffee table in the living room and wakes up with a headache when Li Ming has to get him to go to bed. And having to leave for classes and leave Li Ming asleep, peaceful and warm and beautiful, is a battle Heart has to fight too often.

But Heart loves his days. He loves his friends with whom he shares notes, stories from home, and movies every Thursday after class. He loves the overly sweet hot beverages the coffee shops serve once October comes. He loves it when children walk by his group of friends and wave and stare at the way they sign. And at the end of the day, at the start and end of it all, in every plan of his future—

The first snowflake Heart ever notices melts against Li Ming’s cheek.

“Ah,” he sees Li Ming say, his mouth opening in delight. Then he turns to Heart and signs, “the first snow.”

Heart doesn’t think Li Ming should lie with his head on Heart’s lap on a public bench, but Li Ming doesn’t seem to care.

“Wet,” Heart signs, and smiles when Li Ming chuckles.

“I know, I know. We’ll go in a second.”

Li Ming looks at the slowly falling snow and then at Heart. His red beanie almost matches his flushed cheeks perfectly. Heart places a hand on Li Ming’s chest. He wants to take Li Ming ice skating at the place his friends told him to go. He wants to go on a Christmas date with him with the city’s multicolored lights twinkling overhead, illuminating the night. And when the new year comes, he wants to tell Li Ming about all the new years he wants to see with him. Anywhere he wants to be.

Li Ming waves a hand in front of his eyes and he focuses back on the boy lying on his lap. The boy at the end of his scented road.

“I’m hungry,” Li Ming signs, and Heart laughs. It’s the way he says he doesn’t want to cook tonight.

“Let’s go home,” Heart replies. Still they don’t move. Not for a few beats, while the snow falls in thin swirls around them.

Tomorrow, Heart will tell him that he loves him.

Tonight, he loves him so much he cannot say anything.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Persuaders (how minds really change)

I have always been interested in how people change their minds. I think it started with my Dad’s story — he was a conservative, religious Jew until he was 18, then he had an argument with a union activist on a picket line, and within a year had renounced his faith and become a lifelong revolutionary communist.

My dad was and is an arguer, as am I. He was raised on vigorous debate, and when he lost to someone who had arguments he couldn’t refute, he returned to the picket line, day after day, to continue the debate to learn, and ultimately to change — forever.

I, too, had an experience like this: as a baby writer, I was raised on the idea that the more copyright there was, the better I — and other creative workers — would do. Then I found myself traveling to conferences in the early 2000s with Fred von Lohmann and Cindy Cohn.

We argued about copyright the entire way across first the Pacific and then the Atlantic, and then through the streets of London and Hong Kong, for literally days on end. Within a couple of months, I had resigned from the company I cofounded and joined EFF.

I had the pleasure of discussing this with Ed Snowden when we appeared together at the NYPL in 2017.

http://media.nypl.org/audio/2017_5_3_Edward_Snowden_AUDIO.mp3

Snowden had the mother of all conversions. He started out as a gung-ho CIA and NSA operative who came from a multigenerational military family and was only prevented from joining the Special Forces when he broke both his legs during basic training.

Years later, Snowden committed the most significant act of whistleblowing in US intelligence history, risking a firing squad and ending up in seemingly permanent exile. His mind changed…a lot. He describes that process in detail in his superb 2019 memoir “Permanent Record”:

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/09/24/permanent-record-edward-snowden-and-the-making-of-a-whistleblower/

Snowden — like me, like my dad — realized that a foundational tenet of his life that he’d taken as axiomatic was actually resting on a shaky foundation. He realized that the NSA had no loyalty to the Constitution and that its leaders would brazenly lie to Congress to cover up their lawbreaking:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/leaks-from-edward-snowden-focus-attention-on-nsa-director-keith-alexander/2013/07/15/04c0eaa8-ed6c-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_story.html

In Snowden’s memoir, we get a look at the slow erosion of his certainty, the hollow it left behind, and the new ideas that rushed into that void. It’s an account of a slow, profound, deep change. It’s a change I could recognize from my own history.

After the 2016 election, a lot of people got interested in how peoples’ minds changed. It seemed that a lot of people had had their minds changed for the worse, as they fell into cultlike panics over imaginary sex rings operating out of nonexistent pizza parlor basements and equally imaginary “migration crises.”

A lot of people in my circles — progressive, technologically informed — embraced a theory of persuasion that struck me as nearly as outlandish as the beliefs it sought to explain. They said that the tech giants’ algorithms had been weaponized by evil billionaires and Steve Bannon to convert otherwise reasonable people into foaming, terrified conspiratorialists.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the evidence for the claims of Big Tech brainwashing was pretty thin. Exhibit A was always the boasts of the ad-tech sector, who routinely promised shareholders and prospective customers for advertising services that they were really good at advertising.

They claimed that their “Big Data” troves, combined with their secret algorithms, could convince anyone of anything. The thing is, critics of these companies started from the correct observation that Big Tech lied all the time. These companies lied about which data they gathered, how they processed it, whether they paid taxes, how their treated their workers…all of it.

And yet, advocates for Big Tech’s mind control rays claimed that the only time Big Tech wasn’t lying was when it was boasting to customers and investors about how totally awesome its products were. They treated these marketing materials as presumptively truthful, even though they built atop a crumbling foundation of psych research that was a mix of unreplicable junk and long-deprecated ideas like behaviorism.

This despite the fact that there were so many other, simpler explanations — for example, perhaps you believe a false claim at the top of Google’s search results because Google a) is generally trustworthy; and b) has a monopoly over search so you don’t have a customary second source that would reveal its lapses.

I found the story that Google and Facebook built a mind-control ray to sell your nephew fidget-spinners and then Robert Mercer stole it and made your uncle into a QAnon so obviously wrong that I ended up writing a short book about it, “How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism”:

https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59

In the years since that book’s publication, I’ve only grown more dismayed at the number of smart people who want to locate the problem with conspiratorialism and rage in “dopamine loops” and other supposed Big Tech brainwashing methods.

This is doubly harmful, first, because it ignores the actual source of Big Tech’s power to harm us — monopoly — and actually makes things worse by demanding that Big Tech get bigger in order to police its users:

https://doctorow.medium.com/unspeakable-8c7bbd4974bc

But second, because when we focus on the means by which scared and vulnerable people encounter conspiratorial beliefs, we don’t focus on why so many people — including people we love and have lost — are so scared and vulnerable.

As Anna Merlan writes in her indispensable 2019 book on conspiratorialism, “Republic of Lies,” conspiratorialism sits at the juncture of real trauma and real systemic failures — people who’ve been hurt by systems stop believing in them and grasp for alternative theories to explain the world around them:

https://memex.craphound.com/2019/09/21/republic-of-lies-the-rise-of-conspiratorial-thinking-and-the-actual-conspiracies-that-fuel-it/

If we focus on preventing Big Tech from seeding vulnerable people with bad ideas, rather than asking why the bad ideas take root — or how better ideas can compete — then we deprioritize making a better, fairer world.

When I heard that Anand Giridharadas was releasing a book about how persuasion works, I was excited — and a little worried. Giridharadas’s 2019 book “Winners Take All” was an incredible, important, scathing takedown of elite philanthropy as a means to launder the reputations of plutocrats who gain their fortunes by creating the harms they claim their giving will save us from:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/11/10/winners-take-all-modern-philanthropy-means-that-giving-some-away-is-more-important-than-how-you-got-it/

This idea is well-crystallized in Douglas Rushkoff’s new book “Survival of the Richest,” where he calls it The Mindset: “I must make enough money to outrun the damage I’m doing by making so much money”:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/13/collapse-porn/#collapse-porn

(Incidentally, you can catch Rushkoff, Rebecca Giblin and me tomorrow at the Ottawa Writers Festival!)

https://writersfestival.org/events/fall-2022-in-person-events/surviving-apocalyptic-economics

Having enjoyed Giridharadas’s previous book immensely, I was worried that he might have fallen into the trap of blaming the rise in conspiratorialism, “polarization” and other swift-moving currents of belief on Big Tech mind-control.

I needn’t have worried. “The Persuaders” is a fantastic, energizing and exciting book about what it means to really change peoples’ minds — how, on an individual, institutional and societal scale, new ideas take hold; and what can and should be done about the proliferation of conspiracies and hate:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669716/the-persuaders-by-anand-giridharadas/

The book is structured as a series of case studies of remarkable “persuaders” — people who are doing hard work to change minds at every level. It opens with social justice organizers who are wrestling with the impatience of their peers with potential supporters who haven’t mastered nuanced language and with movement struggles over the ways to understand identity and class.

What does it mean for Black organizers to get involved in the Women’s March on Washington, when its early days were marred by tone-deaf and race-blind gaffes? Will involvement legitimize the idea that gender solidarity can exist without racial justice? Or will it bring new allies to a movement that sees gender and race as separate, vital issues that can’t be addressed on their own?

Though the context of the Trump election is recent, these questions aren’t new — organizers like Loretta Ross have been wrestling with questions of principle, solidarity, and effectiveness since the 1970s. In his profile of Ross, Giridharadas describes Ross’s “circles of influence” theory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T11YuEE9omQ

In this theory, a political actor divides others into “90 percenters, 75 percenters, 50 percenters, 24 percenters and 0 percenters,” based on the amount of ideological overlap they share.

For Ross a 90 percenter agrees “capitalism is problematic; racism, homophobia, transphobia and anti-immigration bias are bad.” Within these groups, the emphasis should be on the 90% agreement, not the 10% divergence. There’s no pressing need to turn 90 percenters into 100 percenters.

Next are 75 percenters, “people who share a good portion of your worldview, but not totally.” For Ross, the Girl Scouts aren’t with her on abortion rights, but they’re committed to the rights of girls and women. There’s no need to turn 75 percenters into 90 percenters — “there’s enough common ground to work on.” With 75 percenter coalitions, “you have to accept large islands of disagreement in a sea of assent.”

Next, 50 percenters, “people who share values,” but the politics derived from those values are opposite to your own. Ross’s parents are religious conservatives, but they share her values of “hard work, taking care of one another and how you ought to treat people.” With these people, the mission is to look for openings — such as when Ross connected with her father over the need for health-care reform after he fell ill and was neglected by the VA.

Then are 25 percenters, “people diametrically opposite from you,” who “don’t share a vision, a basic worldview, or fundamental values…[who] use the exact same words to mean completely different things.” As Ross says, “When I talk about patriotism and wearing a mask to keep my neighbors safe, they talk about liberty or their freedom to go get a haircut.”

There isn’t enough common ground there for easy coalition, but if there’s a project that requires support from your 25 percenters, you have to appeal to their sense of themselves as “good people.” When you’re “calling in” a racist, say, you try to get them to understand that “if you want to be a good person, you’ve got to do good things.” Remember that 25 percenters are motivated by “fear of immigrants, fear of queers, fear of this, fear of that.” You have to take their fears seriously for them to be able to listen to you. “If you dismiss their fears, they don’t listen.”

Finally come the 0 percenters, those with no common ground who must be “overpowered and overwhelmed,” not persuaded. The simple term for those people is “fascists.”

Ross’s framework really struck me and explained so much about the kinds of activist coalitions I’ve worked in for decades on digital human rights — coalitions that have mostly consisted of 75 percenters, some 50 percenters and even the odd 25 percenter. It’s a framework I knew immediately that I’d be returning to in my own work.

Giridharadas also profiles two important political figures: Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, finding in them a study in contrasts that is revealing and important. Sanders has spent decades refusal to make politics personal; AOC has mixed personal biography with her critiques to make them relatable. Both approaches have persuaded millions of people, and each has changed through their political careers.

This leap from organizers to national politicians sets up the second half of the book, which discusses “messaging,” and steers clear of the pitfalls of this subject — the fast-talking ad exec’s idea that “messaging” is about bypassing people’s critical faculties, rather than engaging them.

Instead, Giridharadas presents the theories of Anat Shenker-Osorio, who works both within parties and within movements seeking to influence parties to craft messages that actually change people’s minds by convincing, not by trickery.

But just because Shenker-Osorio is interested in “convincing,” it doesn’t mean that she wants to argue with you. Her work focuses on formulas (in the best sense possible) for winning over the minds (and hearts) of persuadable people.

Her theory of change starts with that idea of “persuadability.” She rejects the idea that people in the “center” want a bit of each — rather, she says they should be viewed as undecided. If you can’t choose between a pizza and a burger, you’re unlikely to be happy with a pizzaburger. The persuader’s job is to move you to their pole, not to muddle their position into undifferentiated slurry.

To reach the “persuadables,” Shenker-Osorio says we must “animate the base to persuade the middle.” Promising (and delivering) the policies your most ardent supporters want is going to get them to mobilize, and that mobilization will send them out to convince others.

Moderates are best understood as floating around in thinly held, easily shifted beliefs. She calls these “good point” people — you tell them talking about race is necessary for political progress and they say good point! You tell them talking about race only highlights differences and makes things worse and they say good point! Good point, and also, good point!

To reach these people, you must “toggle them into the most progressive understanding they can have of the world, which is latent within them, and keeping that up, up, top of mind, so that is their default.” To get there, you need “the base to keep on repeating the set of messages that will activate those progressive narratives that already exist in people.”

Another pillar of Shenker-Osorio’s tactics is to deliberately alienate the opposition. This is something the right understands in its bones: they talk about Jewish Space Lasers and Great Replacement and we repeat it — “Can you believe the awful thing they just said?” Every time you repeat it, you bring attention to it, and some of that attention comes from people for whom it sounds just fine.

That’s a tactic the left can and should use. Rather than hiding behind milquetoast pronouncements, we can use “good riddance” statements that are meant to turn off our 0 percenters, like “a greedy few rigged the game in their favor, now too many jobs don’t pay enough for our needs, let alone enable their wants.”

One of my favorite parts of Shenker-Osorio’s doctrine (one I suppose I should learn to embrace myself) is to stop leading with problems. My inbox is full of fundraising emails from Democrats with screaming phrases like “HAS EVERYONE GIVEN UP?!?!” and “PLEADING with you to reverse this…” As Shenker-Osorio says, the core message is “This is a new crisis. This is terrible. It’s very horrible.”

This does work on people who are already convinced, to a point. But it doesn’t grow the bases. And by making people more and more fearful, you also make them more conservative. The opposition to the left isn’t the right, Shenker-Osorio says, “it’s cynicism.”

To get out the vote and mobilize a movement, you can’t promise to “reduce harm,” you have to promise to “create good.” MLK said “I have a dream” and not “I have a multi-bulleted list of policy proposals.”

Shenker-Osorio wants us to say what we’re for, not just what we’re against. Not “abolish ICE” but “create a fair immigration policy that respects all families.” She says “it’s a Republican wet dream that they have us constantly talking about everything that we oppose” because “it gives them more airtime” and “it scares the shit out of people.”

So don’t lead with the terror of the climate emergency — lead with “ensuring clean, safe air to breathe and water to drink.” Lead with “paying people enough to provide for their families,” not “fighting low wages and poor working conditions.” Instead of “the lack of paid leave,” go with “helping people be there for those they love.”

Shenker-Osorio proposes a taxonomy of “right issues,” “left issues” and contestable issues, and says that we shouldn’t frame our cause in right wing terms. When they say “We’ll cut taxes and it’s good for the economy” and we counter with “We’ll raise wages and increase consumption, which is better for the economy,” we’re still talking about the economy, and the right owns that issue (she says) (I’m not sure I agree!). When the left leads with the economy, they invite voters to prioritize the economy and yet somehow choose the party that is least associated with it. Instead, the left should talk about “people’s economic well-being,” an issue the right is weak on.

Thus: promote Medicare for All as good for all our health, not better for the national economy. Even if M4A is cheaper (and it is, much!), if you frame the goal of health policy as “efficiency” then you let your opposition sell policies that are bad for health but good for costs. Forget Obama’s “bend the cost-curve down” and go for “No matter what you look like or where you come from, when someone you love is ill or injured, you want them to get the very best care without going bankrupt.”

When Trump tries to steal an election and we call him a “strong man,” we admit that he’s “strong.” There are people who want a leader who’s “brash” and “gets stuff done.” Instead, call him “a weak loser, a bumbling idiot who is trying to steal the election” that he lost. The repeated message should weaken Trump in the eyes of his base, not strengthen him.

One contestable issue that Shenker-Osorio wants to see the left claim is “freedom” — an idea that every kind of American consistently rates as one of the highest (if not the highest) virtue. Letting the right claim freedom was a huge tactical blunder and it’s not too late to wrestle it back. The freedom to vote, reproductive freedom, freedom from police violence.

She proposes a three-stage process for constructing a message:

i. A shared value: “No matter what we look like, where we come from, or what’s in our wallets, most of us believe that people who work for living ought to earn a living.”

ii. A problem: “But today, a wealthy and powerful few try to divide us from each other so that we’ll look the other way while they pick our pockets and hand the spoils to their corporate cronies.”

iii. A solution: “By coming together, we can rewrite the rules so that the wealthiest few pay what they owe and all of us have what we need for generations to come.”

Giridharadas calls this “a callout sandwich” — “a generous heap of callout between two thick slices of call in.”

There’s persuadables, and then there’s persuadables. Giridharadas profiles Diane Benscoter, an ex-cult member who has some experience helping to “deprogram” people who’ve been lost to cults, and who has taken on an interest in the origins of cultlike beliefs. For Benscoter, it’s not enough to talk about a generalized psychological vulnerability that we all share, nor is it enough to focus on the Svengali powers of charismatic leaders.

Instead, like Merlan, Bescoter delves into the particular life circumstances of people who fall into cults that make them susceptible to cultlike beliefs — and what kinds of discussions and interventions can create the seeds of doubt that will eventually lead them — like her — to leave the cult behind. She advocates for training therapists and counselors to recognize the warning signs of cultlike beliefs.

More ambitious still are the plans of John Cook, who created a taxonomy of the ways in which conspiratorialists make suckers out of us:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/10/flicc/#denialism

Cook believes that if you teach people these tactics early (as he is trying to do, through fun classroom games) that they will be “vaccinated” against these tactics later in life. We may get our backs up when someone tries to convince us that our cherished ideas are wrong, but we also hate being played for fools.

The book ends with a chapter on “deep canvassing,” a technique that has door-knockers spend half an hour with each subject, even ones who say they agree with them, as a means of not just changing people’s minds but motivating them to action.

Deep canvassing is a fascinating subject. The first blockbuster study on it had to be retracted when it was revealed as an academic fraud, but the debunkers who discovered the fraud ran the experiment again and found the evidence supported the technique — in other words, there was no reason for the fraud.

Following Arizona canvassers — many of them undocumented immigrants — as they seek to mobilize voters to call Kyrsten Sinema and get her to vote for a replacement to DACA is a fascinating, fly-on-the-wall glimpse of how minds can change in realtime, and how they can’t.

By bookending his book with activists trying to find common ground with the wider public, Giridharadas offers evidence-based hope that it’s possible to make a difference, to win the day without losing your soul. As we barrel towards an uncertain midterms, books like “The Persuaders” present a roadmap for building coalitions, taking power, and changing the world.

[Image ID: The cover of the Knopf edition of 'The Persuaders.']

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Pulp Fiction

This is the pulpiest of pulp, with cheesy action, retro effects, and comically evil goons.

A note: many pulp action films carry harmful themes, such as racial caricatures and misogyny. These games do not have to be played within those tropes; in fact, many of them explicitly disavow these themes. However, you might still find elements of 80’s action movies fun to play with, such as cheesy violence, overly-dramatic backstories, and characters with way too many powers to be believable. 

Feng Shui 2, by Atlas Games.

Ancient sorcerers. Slick conspirators. Control freak monks. Cyborg apes.

Armed with the secrets of Feng Shui, all aim to conquer the past, present, and future.

Only you have the guts, guns, and flying feet to stop them!

It’s back in all its explodey, chi-blasting glory — Feng Shui, the classic game of Hong Kong–inspired cinematic action — refurbished with a fresh bag full of ammo for a new roleplaying generation! Original designer Robin D. Laws rushes your way on a bullet-riddled gurney to serve up the thrills fans remember, furiouser and faster than ever.

Feng Shui 2 gives you oodles and oodles of character options - 36 to be precise. As a game about time travel, magic, technology and action, your character could span from an ancient martial artist, to a scrounge-tech cyborg from the future. Each character comes with advancement options, five stat blocks, skills, special attacks and abilities called schticks. The schticks are where strategy will come in, as you’ll have enough to give you options, although you may have few enough resources to make each opportunity to act a strategic decision. You’ll establish a character concept and a melodramatic hook to figure out your personality and backstory, and after that, you’re ready to play! 

Spirit of 77, by MonkeyFun Studios.

Hey there, all you boppers! Get ready for slam-bang action and high octane excitement with Spirit of 77 - the 1970’s pop culture RPG that turns up the volume and never slows down! Kung-fu tough guys, good old boy truckers, starry-eyed rockers and hardboiled sleuths, all jam-packed into one funky, easy to learn game system that's Powered by the Apocalypse.

This is a self-described retro-alternative game, pulling from film noir, samurai stories, and blaxploitation films. As a PbtA game, it’s designed to really evoke genre, and boy does it evoke genre. There’s even game master advice that recommends that the GM (or, as the book calls them, DJ) arrange a playlist for specific moments within the game. This is a game of goofy, cheesy fun with over-the-top stunts and slick characters.

Atomic Robot: The Roleplaying Game, by Evil Hat.

Action! Science! Robots! Punching! More Science!

Are you ready for some two-fisted science adventure? Then it's time for the Atomic Robo RPG! Have you ever wanted to face down global conspiracy as an immortal atomic robot or Carl Sagan? The Atomic Robo RPG makes it possible.

The Atomic Robo RPG brings you the most explosive Fate Core System experience yet. This is action science like you've never seen it before, coming straight at you from the pages of the popular Atomic Robo comics by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener. Play as an Action Scientist or immortal robot, super-spy or pulp adventurer—or something stranger still from the hidden corners of super-science!

This game includes the core concepts of Fate, so everything you need is in one book. While Fate games are always pretty open-ended, Atomic Robo provides a lot of signatures that can help make a cohesive character group that makes sense within the fiction. There’s also an additional part of your character in this game that isn’t found in other Fate games - Modes, or broad areas of skills to help you figure out where your character is competent. You could be strong or weak in Action, Banter, Intrigue, or Science! You don’t need to be familiar with the comics to be able to play this game - there’s enough information in Chapter 1 to help you hit the ground running! 

Straight to VHS, by Lost Cat Games.

A werewolf stalks the mean streets of Miami, but not for much longer. Not if a nun (and former prostitute) named Gloria Vendetta has anything to say about it. Gloria’s cybernetically enhanced buddy in the precinct notices ties between the werewolf and the Yakuza, but why? If only the scientist (and retired heavyweight champion) Tucker Smash could regain his memories. Only he knew the antidote to lycanism, and now the plague spreads. 

This game is absolutely bonkers, in the best way possible.It doesn’t just pull from pulp 80’s movies - it pulls from cheesy 80’s movies, with wacky premises and characters that feel almost like Mary Sues. The core idea of Straight to VHS is that the characters are a combination of two tropes: a werewolf cop, a vampire hobo, a magical animal that’s also a spy, etc, etc. Much of the game is flavoured to cast your character as an actor; with range described as how close you are to the camera, while the GM is called the Director. One of my favourite pieces of this game is the character trope Paid Sponsor - you can shamelessly plug your product once per scene to give your allies advantages throughout the game.

Shadow of the Century, by Evil Hat. 

Totally rad 1980s action... TO THE MAX!

Enter a world of 1980s action adventure with Shadow of the Century, a robust setting and supplement for Fate Core.

The year is 1984, and the Shadows run the world. The Century Club has been disbanded, the Spirits of yesteryear driven underground—only to rise up alongside new wave heroes to stick it to the man!

Fight the good fight in a gonzo game of underdog heroes set against the forces of oppression everywhere. Join kung fu masters, computer hackers, maverick cops, and more to right wrongs and prevent the darkest Shadows from ending reality as we know it.

Shadow of the Century is the spiritual successor to Spirit of the Century, a game about action fiction in the 1940’s. In Spirit, characters are powerful protagonists punching cartoonish villains and saving the day in fantastical locales. In Shadow, the tables have turned, and your protagonists are working against corrupted powers-that-be, doing their best to save the world undercover while also keeping their loved ones safe. Both of these games use the Fate system, and are critically acclaimed. 

198X, by Sean. M. Dunstan.

IN A WORLD where gangs rule the streets and the police are helpless...

IN A WORLD where the rich buy and sell people's lives in the name of profit...

IN A WORLD where scientists push the boundaries of physics for their own benefit...

IN A WORLD where unknown threats can come from any world, any time, any dimension...

All that stands between the innocents of the city of Los Accíon and the forces of evil...is you. 

The mysterious Mr. X has gathered a force of brave men and women who live on the cutting edge of action to stop the forces of evil! Prepare yourself. Lock and load. Ready your kung fu. Protect your dreams. And get ready...to fight back.

A game of 80s action movie mayhem built using the 24XX system created by Jason Tocci, this game is streamlined for a quick pick-up-and-play experience.  24XX games use different kinds of dice to reflect your skills - are you good at a skill? Bump your d6 up to a d8 or a d10. Are you particularly bad at a skill? Downgrade to a d4. You’ll get a specialty, a backstory, and some cash to spend on special gear. After that the GM rolls on a bunch of random tables, and you’re ready to go.

[umitvar]

{ lucy liu, 52, non-binary, she / them } we are so glad to see you safe, VICEROY DAIYU FENG of HONG KONG! it’s dangerous out in the world these days, but i hear that you are CALCULATING and STERN enough to handle it. just don’t let your RIGIDNESS bring you down! stay on your guard, because with your secret being at risk for exposure, you wouldn’t want everyone to find out YOU ARE ITCHING FOR POWER, WANTING TO REESTABLISH CHINA'S AND HONG KONG'S POSITION, AND ARE WILLING TO FIGHT DIRTY. 

your mother tells you barely cried when you were born.

instead, you are told all you did was look up at her with dark eyes, as if you knew what fate has prepared for you. black eyes of jade, she explains, and names you daiyu.

you grow up around trade, the give, and the take, the spoken and the unspoken. around businessmen and tradespeople of all kinds. your father invites them to your home for dinners and meetings, and from them, you learn how to become the leader you will be. who to be careful about, who to trust, and who not to trust.

your mother used to joke about how you'll become better than them all, and when you were a child, you thought she was only joking.

then you grow up, and begin to point out your father's mistakes, coming up with your own ideas to expand the business. you don't take no for an answer when you put your mind into it. you push and you push, until they try, and begin to realize your potential.

now, decades later, you rule a territory that's shifting and changing every day. you'll do anything in your power to protect it, and the ones you love within it.

you know the only way to survive in this cutthroat world is to continue fighting, to get more power, to strengthen your bonds. you know how to be ruthless from your father, and how to be compassionate from your mother. and when the latter is sometimes forgotten with the rush of responsibilities on your shoulders, you have your family to remind you of their importance.

—

daiyu feng is born as the single child of a businessman who is influential in the jade and silk trade in hong kong. growing up in an upper-middle-class family, she often has private tutors who teach her a variety of lessons, ranging from arithmetic, writing, grammar, to other languages that frequent their ports. at first, she is only invited to business dinners to play with other children. the mothers and their kids sit in one room, while the tradesmen sit in another. daiyu, even when she is barely a teen, knows which room she wants to be in when she is older.

as she becomes older and bolder, daiyu deliberately pushes herself into spaces next to her father, listening, and learning from his successes and mistakes. she travels with him abroad to make trade deals, to rub elbows with the influential people of their time. then, it's only a matter of time before she also starts coming up with ideas of her own, pushing and pushing until her father listens. as years pass, it becomes all the more clear that she will inherit her father's work, and not only she does that, she expands it further than what they thought once possible.

now, years down the line, after showcasing her power over the territories and being given the title of the viceroy, daiyu is still as ambitious and determined for power and success. she has a family to consider now, and in most aspects, she thinks both of these goals go hand in hand. more power means more protection for them, and with decades of history knowing hong kong, and ruling over it for the past fifteen years, she knows she has what it takes. with the reckoning and the china's loss over the war in japan, daiyu is adamant that this is the time to make the most vital alliances and strike as needed. there is no time to lose in this game of chess, and she makes every move with utmost discipline and thought.

[bracketsoffear]

Journal 3 (Alex Hirsch) "Ford Pines travels to Gravity Falls, becomes obsessed with unraveling its paranormal mysteries, makes a deal with an all-seeing demon to achieve his dreams only to discover he's been duped, and descends into violent paranoia about being watched and keeping secrets."

Kentukis (Little Eyes) (Samanta Schweblin) "They've infiltrated homes in Hong Kong, shops in Vancouver, the streets of in Sierra Leone, town squares in Oaxaca, schools in Tel Aviv, bedrooms in Indiana. They're everywhere. They're here. They're us. They're not pets, or ghosts, or robots. They're real people, but how can a person living in Berlin walk freely through the living room of someone in Sydney? How can someone in Bangkok have breakfast with your children in Buenos Aires, without your knowing? Especially when these people are completely anonymous, unknown, unfindable.

The characters in Samanta Schweblin's brilliant new novel, Little Eyes, reveal the beauty of connection between far-flung souls—but yet they also expose the ugly side of our increasingly linked world. Trusting strangers can lead to unexpected love, playful encounters, and marvelous adventure, but what happens when it can also pave the way for unimaginable terror? This is a story that is already happening; it's familiar and unsettling because it's our present and we're living it, we just don't know it yet. In this prophecy of a story, Schweblin creates a dark and complex world that's somehow so sensible, so recognizable, that once it's entered, no one can ever leave."

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

October 18th - Jubilee

The daughter of two prosperous Hong Kong immigrants, Jubilation ‘Jubilee’ Lee, was born and raised in Beverly Hills, California.  For much of her earlky youth, Jubilee lived a charmed life, attending an exclusive Beverly Hills school, hanging with her friends at the mall and taking gymnastics lessons (which she showed a terrific talent for).  All this changed on the night that her parents were killed in a mysterious accident.  Jubilee was sent to an orphanage but quickly ran away and was briefly homeless.  One night she was caught stealing from a shopping mall.  Running away from the security guard’s, Jubilee discovered her latent Mutant powers that enables her to generate blinding and explosive energy ‘fireworks’ from her hands.  

The posh, Los Angeles shopping area was bigoted toward Mutants and hired a specialized anti-Mutant security squad to come in and deal with Jubilee.  Fortunately, a number of the X-Men had come to shop and were able to rescue Jubilee from this force.  Fascinated by The X-Men, Jubilee secretly followed them through Gateway’s portal that led to the team’s secret base in the Australian Outback.  She stowed herself away on the base, secretly living among the X-Men with none of them the wiser.  The base was ultimately abandoned and Jubilee happened upon a severely injured Wolverine, strung up following a sneak attack by The Reavers.  

Jubilee nursed Wolverine back to health and the two became partners, traveling to Hong Kong to thwart the schemes of the villainous Mandarin.  Jubilee and Wolverine grew a close father-daughter relationship with one another. Jubilee needed the guidance of a parent, while Wolverine needed the peace and joyful sense of purpose offered by looking after the youngster. Furthermore, Jubilee proved quite capable in a fight and was able to utilize her powers to hold her own against such threats as The Hand, The Brood and Sabertooth.  

Jubilee would go on to become a member of the X-Men  She remained with the team for many missions and later helped Banshee and Emma Frost in forming the new team of young Mutant heroes called Generation X.   

Jubilee was among the many Mutants who lost their special powers in the wake of the M-Day Decimation event.  Although no longer a Mutant, Jubilee still fought for Mutant rights as a political activist opposing Congressman Sykes’ efforts to push through legislation for Mutant registration.  Some time later, Jubilee utilized a specialized power-suit that recreated her former powers and operated as ‘Wondra’ acting as a member of a new iteration of The New Warriors. 

Some time thereafter, Jubilee became caught up in the X-Men’s war with the forces of Dracula.  Jubilee was bitten by the vampire, Xarus, and became a vampire herself.  Rescued by The X-Men, Jubilee was helped to control her blood-thirst and she was able to use her new vampiric powers to aide the X-men in defeating Dracula.  She retained these powers and was taken in as a student of a group of vampires called The Forgiven, who had learned to transcend their need for blood and could move about in the day.  With her new vampire powers, Jubilee returned to active duty as a member of The X-Men.  

During this time, Jubilee encountered an abandoned infant boy in Budapest. She named him Shogo and brought him back to the Jean Grey School in the States.  The child had been orphaned and Jubilee was able to legal adopt him.  Whilst caring for Shojo, Jubilee became an instructor at the Grey School presiding over a new Generation X class.  Jubilee was later cured of her vampirism and had her original Mutant powers restored by Quentin Quire who used a remnant fragment of the Phoenix Force to achieve the feat.  

More recently, Jubilee and Shogo have relocated to the Mutant nation of Krakoa.  Here she has served on a newer iteration of the Excalibur team.

Versions of Jubilee have featured in the Fox Films X-men movies, portrayed by actresses Katrina Florece and Lana Condor. The heroine first appeared in the pages of Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #244 (1989).  

[beasiannow]

Want to visit other lands and experience different cultures, but you hate being the foreigner, the interloper?

Sure, you are sticking out, secretly unwelcomed, or not so secretly unwelcomed. The subject of sideways glances, perhaps laughter or hate in your wake?

Thanks to Hiroko Rokkaku and her beyond the cutting edge process (deep secret, don’t ask) that she calls Gaikoku Hito Rinjin (Foreigner Neighbor), that will no longer be a problem.

Just pay the price (lone officers are available) for a four-week stay in the country of your choice (at present, only Japan is available; however, soon Hong Kong, San Fransisco Chinatown, Korea, Manila, France, Mexico, Cuba, New Jersey, and Tanzania will be available) No one will be able to tell you from a native-born member of that nation.

Yes, there will be no danger of any foreigner faux pas taking place as you, on being transformed, will not only look and dress the part but be familiar with all local customs and etiquette and find you are 100% fluent in the language.  So perfect that if you try to speak your native language (sorry, mostly suppressed for the short month), you will even have a heavy local accent.  

Yes! For 28 days, mingle and be accepted as just another citizen.

For legal reasons, we have to point out that there is a rare chance (11.77%) that we will be unable to return you to your previous self. In this case, it will be our duty to see that complete paperwork is supplied to make you a full citizen of the country in question.

There is also a 23.555% chance that if this happens, you will find you are also radically changed regarding height, weight, age, and other factors; sorry, nothing we can do about that other than offer fashion tips.

Here we see Hirroko Rookaku and one of her very skeptical early customers.

What do you say now Rose West? Enjoy the next four weeks as Puritīrōzu Nishi.

The same for the Endacote sisters of Saskatoon.

We are told that after their 28 days as the Endomoto sisters they found they can’t bring themselves to give up the kimonos.

Here we have three swinging friends from London on their way to some fun in Tokyo.

Only to find that things work different there. Nothing like travel to expand the mind and change your views.

Here we see Shannon McBride of West Virginia, who was so tired of people focusing in on her fiery red hair that for a short while just being regular folk in a place she had never been was quite the experience. So different that before her 28 days were over she bought a red wig on Harajuku Street. 

And yes, we know you are thinking about the customers who can’t be changed back.

This happened to Birmingham, Alabama bank teller Willow Smith, but not to worry, as you can see we quickly got the new Yanagi Kenji a steady new job. And one where she meets so many of her fellow Japanese every day.

[queensharotto]

Honeymoon Vol. 4 Translation

Listen to the audio here!

Ryou Kashiwagi (柏木 稜, Kashiwagi Ryou)

Voiced by: Koji Yusa

Age: Early 30s

Job: Company President

Country: Hong Kong

For the translation, view below. Note that it isn’t 100% accurate.

🌃 Track 1: The Prologue

It’s been almost three years since we started dating, and I still remember when we first met.

When you were still a new employee, you started talking to me in the company halls, not knowing that I was the president.

The button on my suit was coming off so I asked you to fix it, and you reattached the button.

I was so attracted by your kindness that I decided to ask you out on a date, all while hiding my identity as the company president.

*chuckles* I didn’t want you to look at me with a title, so I kept quiet.

After several days, I confessed to you.

You accepted my confession, and that was when I finally confessed to you about being the president.

A lot has happened in the three years since then.

Due to my position, I’ve kept our relationship a secret, but now I thought it would be time to make it public.

No, I’m not going to be announcing that we’re dating.

Marry me, I stopped by today to propose to you.

An engagement ring I made for you. Will you continue to support me from now on?

I thank you for accepting.

Let’s be happy together. That’s right! I have something to show you, follow me!

This is the hotel reception hall, the facilities and staff here are top notch, and there’s no perfect wedding, so how about it?

Then let’s have our wedding here. I look forward to seeing you in your wedding dress.

🌃 Track 2: Honeymoon Consultation

I’m back. The meeting was long and so I was late.

Were you lonely? *kiss*

Hmm? Television? Is this a weekly travel show or a show you like?

A trip to Hong Kong and Macau? It’s a place I would love to visit once.

I often go to America and Europe for business, but I don’t have many opportunities to go to Asia.

Have you ever been there? So you haven’t… Let’s go on honeymoon.

The place will be a little closer, but let’s make it a later trip instead.

Leave the plans to me, I’ll think of a lot of events that will please you.

The problem is that it’s a serious area, I’ll be busy with work after the wedding, but maybe next month I’ll be able to take some time off, before the wedding, okay?

Alright! I’ll make it a honeymoon you’ll never forget, so look forward to it!

🌃 Track 3: Hong Kong

Well, we’re at the hotel, let’s get out of the car.

I’m glad you liked the limousine, but you don’t have to be disappointed, because I’m planning on using the limousine for the rest of our trip.

Let’s get off and check in at hotel already.

I booked this hotel in Hong Kong, I promised that we would have a gorgeous trip, so I booked one of the finest hotels in Hong Kong, and of course our room is a suite.

*laughs* I’m glad you like it so much! Come, let’s hurry to our room.

This is the room we’ll be staying in, it’s spacious, has a beautiful view of the night sky and the mood is prefect.

Hey, hey! You’re like a child when you talk like that.

Hmm? Would you like me to express it with your demeanor and not your words? So, that’s what it means?

*kiss* Today, I want you to listen to everything I say. *more kissing*

Your face after kissing is so adorable. If you show me that, I’ll want to tease you.

*laughs* Even though I blew my breath into your ear, you let that voice out. If your ears are good, why don’t you blame them more?

Good response.

Now it’s time for the real thing, I’ll take my time and love you so much, so be prepared. *kissing*

🌃 Track 4: Ocean Park and Chinese Food

This is Ocean Park. Home to an amusement park, a zoo and an aquarium, it’s Hong Kong’s famous leisure spot, I don’t usually come to facilities for children like this, but today I have a big child with me.

*laughs* It’s childish to give in right away like that. Rather than that, look, there’s your favorite panda.

Hey! Don’t fall over kid!

He’s happily eating grass, he’s a cute guy. Oh, the panda seems to be looking at you.

I think he thought we were friends, and you’re just as cute as a panda.

There, there. I enjoyed the panda, next is the aquarium.

Let’s return home for the day and enjoy the ocean park to it’s fullest.

I didn’t expect you to be so excited. Well, I had fun too, since I had never been to an amusement park since I was a kid.

It’s almost time for dinner, so I’ve made a reservation at a famous restaurant where I want to have Chinese food, and I’ve booked it and I’m expecting it because it looks very delicious.

We’ve arrived at the Chinese restaurant. That’s it. Hey, be careful! Oh go ahead, ladies first.

A reservation for Kashiwagi. Right, a private room. Yes, I don’t want to be disturbed when I’m alone with you, so I’ll keep it in the private room.

What do you want to eat? So, is it okay if I like it? That’s right, Peking duck, braised shark fin, bird’s nest soup and boiled abalone cream. I wonder if it’s like that.

Is this your first time eating this? Come to think of it, we never went out to eat Chinese food together.

There’s a restaurant that I recommend in Japan, so let’s go there together when we return.

Look, it’s the dish you’ve been waiting for, so which one are you going to eat?

*laughs* Shark fin, understood. It looks delicious, look, open wide.

Oh, but I’m not going to feed you.

The shark fin here is as good as the rumors say.

*laughs* Do you want to eat it that much? Then, please try to beg me to give it to you.

Hm? *laughs* Then open your mouth again.

Ah. I can’t get it in with such a small mouth, open wider.

You are honest. All right, it’s a reward. See is it good?

Good, I’m more satisfied with just your smile.

🌃 Track 5: Night Scenery Award in Hong Kong

Today we’re taking a ferry and enjoying a night cruise at Victoria Harbor.

This is the Star Ferry that peaks at the top, and it’s familiar to residents and tourists in Hong Kong.

Oh, it looks like we’re leaving.

If you look at the Hong Kong site, it’s amazing.

I’ve seen many night scenes all over the world, but this is the first time I’ve seen them so beautiful.

As expected, it is said to be a million dollar night view, and it’s Hong Kong.

It’s still to early to be impressed, the main event is about to begin.

It’s already 8 PM. It starts next, so watch it.

This is the Symphony of Light. It’s a light and sound show made possible by the searchlights on top of the skyscrapers. On an important day in Victoria Harbor, I wanted to show you this show, so I took a night cruise.

You really are playful like a child, and I love that innocent side of you. *kiss*

🌃 Track 6: To Macau by Ferry

For now on, we’re taking the ferry to Macau. It’ll arrive in about 50 minutes.

While it saddens me to leave Hong Kong, but more than that, I’m looking forward to going to Macau.

Macau is renowned for its casinos and is said to be the Las Vegas of the East.

If you’re new to casinos, I’ll teach you my rules. Roulette and blackjack are easy to remember, and Macau has a lot of historical architecture, and it’s has much fun as Hong Kong, which is a renowned world tourist destination, or even more.

That’s good, now let’s get on the ferry.

Let’s sit here.

The ferry has canceled? I’m feeling a little sick.

You may not be able to do it, please release me. Thank you, let me lean on your shoulder. It’s gotten better, but it’s still not enough. Could you rub my back?

Your hands are warm and I’m feeling a little better. What else would I like for you to do?

Right, I think it would be easier if your knees could be a pillow, thank you. Your lap feels so good, I feel like I can sleep better than any other pillow.

If I get thirsty, did you mind getting me some water?

I’m sick and can’t get up, so put it in your mouth and let me drink it from there.

Please, my throat is already parched.

*mouth to mouth water drinking*

The water you gave me to drink tasted exceptionally good. Besides, you’re the cutest when you work hard for me.

*laughs* You finally noticed, I was pretending the whole time! Sorry, sorry. Sometimes I just want to spoil you, please forgive me. *kiss*

I won’t deceive you this time, so let me spoil you again.

🌃 Track 7: Macau Tower

This is the best view from Macau Tower.

The apartment building I live in is also a high floor so I’m used to high places, are you okay with high places?

I’m relieved to hear that because I didn’t come to Macau Tower for the purpose of taking in the view.

There are some interesting attractions, just look out the window as they’re on right now.

Look, you can see people jumping off, that’s the best bungee jump in the world! You have to experience it when you come to Macau Tower.

What? Weren’t you okay with high places? Are you that strong?

Then how about a full sky jump instead? You can adjust the fall speed with wires, so you can fall more slowly than bungee jumping.

And if it’s a sky jump, we’ll do it together. If you’re with me, it’ll be a bit more reassuring.

It’s decided! Let’s go to the Sky Jump reception immediately!

When you stand on the jumping platform, the tension is different, it is indeed a tremendous height.

It’s okay, I’m with you. Well then, let’s go! Three, Two, One, Now!

Whoa! It’s amazing! *laughing*

*applause* It’s over! Hey, are you alright? You did your best.

So, how was the Sky Jump?

I mean, I had a lot of fun too. I feel like I can get through anything with you because we stopped together, and here’s a reward for your hard work. *kiss*

🌃 Track 8: Macau Sightseeing & The Casino

This is the central location of Macau, which has been recognized as a World Heritage State in Sendo Square.

Beautiful cobblestone with a beautiful cityscape and pastel colors.

Macau used to be a colony of the Portugal, so there are many buildings like this in Southern Europe.

Since we’ve come all the way here, let’s take a walk around the World Heritage townscape.

At the top of those stairs is the Ruins of St. Paul’s in the west, Macau’s most famous historic building.

Majority of it was destroyed in a fire with the exception of the front. At the time of it’s construction, it’s was the largest Catholic Church in Asia. There’s even a theory that Japanese Christians who were exiled from Japan were involved in its construction.

Wait! If you climb the stairs in such a hurry, you’ll fall and get hurt! Look out!

I did it again. If I hadn’t saved you, you would’ve fallen down the stairs and hurt yourself.

This is what happens when you leave me, so don’t make me worry.

I’ll have to hold you like this and move so that you don’t go anywhere on your own.

No good, tourist spots always hold you like a princess.

*Timeskip to the arrival at the Casino*

Speaking of adult entertainment, let’s play at the hotel casino.

I’ve had some experience with casinos in Las Vegas, so I know the rules.

Well, baccarat seems to be the most popular in Macau casinos, so let’s play baccarat.

Baccarat is about predicting who will win, the best player or the artery banker. The winner is determined by the total number of cards dealt to the player and the banker. Cards with 2 to 9 are their numbers while Ace is the bookmark of the number closest to 10 and F, and if the total score of the cards exceeds two digits, it’s the last digit.

Well, I knew it was like this. It would be difficult to explain it alone. I’ll show you an example, you can watch for the side.

This is the Baccarat Table.

First, bet 500 on the player side. Yes, the player wins. You get 500, the same amount as your initial bet.

Next, yes. Shall we put it all into a draw? The odds are low, but if you win, you’ll get 8 times the bet.

Alright! *applause* This is also my win!

Of course, it’s a secret to winning the game. *laughs*

Agreed, because the goddess of victory was by my side. Where did you go?

It’s been a long time, enough is enough. Let’s go to the next match.

🌃 Track 9: Night of the Sixth Day

If the week flew by, how would our honeymoon have been?

I had fun to, but it’s not over yet.

I’ll make a lasting memory for our final night.

*passionate kisses*

Do you like being kissed on different parts of your body?

Then I’ll give you more kisses. Right, anywhere but the lips.

*more passionate kissing*

Hmm? On your lips?

If you really want me to do that, just ask me to kiss you on the lips.

If you don’t tell me, then I won’t give you a kiss on the lips.

Hmm? I can’t hear you, talk more clearly.

Good girl, because you said it properly, I’ll give you plenty.

*even more passionate kissing*

Now, what do you want me to do?

If you want me to embrace you, then embrace me.

Hmm? You can’t say?

Your face turned red. What is it, do you really want me to embrace you?

So you finally admitted it, then, as you wish.

I’ll hold you.

🌃 Track 10: The Epilogue Wedding

Thank You for joining us for our wedding reception today.

I’m sure everyone is very surprised that we were getting married, since we didn’t make our relationship public.

But from now on, without hiding anything, the two of us will continue to love and support each other in life.

Actually, I secretly wrote a letter for her today, so please, allow me to read it in front of all of you.

“My love, until I met you, I thought there was nothing more important than work. I believed that if I was successful in my career, I could get eyes, money, anything. But you thought me that the most important thing in this world is to love people. Now, the most important thing to me, is you. Thank You for being my wife, I vow to love you for the rest of my life. From your husband, Ryou Kashiwagi”

*The audience’s applause*

[lovethephotoo]

Smart Travel Hack and Underrated NYC Food/Drink Guide

Traveling to the USA? Don’t want to pay international fees? Have an unlocked Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy? 

Invest in a T-Mobile Prepaid SIM Card which has Unlimited Talk, Text, and Data in the USA for 30 days. The price is about 50 dollars. The link is in the sources section. Therefore, post that selfie or video chat your family/friends while enjoying a bite to eat/drink in the USA. 

New York City is one of the most popular cities to travel within the United States. But there is a saturation of entertainment options and it can be overwhelming. As someone who likes to plan ahead and willing to try anything, please see below for the food/drink items that anyone should experience once in their lifetime. It would satisfy anyone’s palette. Also, it is important to support local and small businesses. 

Many of these items are underrated!

Ceviche 

This dish is a staple in many cultures and extremely popular. The seafood which can be shrimp or fish is cured in citrus juices like lemon or lime. Therefore, it is safe to eat! Afterwards, it is tossed and spiced with red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, salt/pepper, and red pepper flakes. There are flavors of acidity, salty, and spicy mixed into one.

Macarons

It is the ultimate French pastry. These cute sized treats are great to eat with afternoon tea. They have a slightly sweet and nutty flavor. Macarons are made from meringue. There are many flavors from lemon, coffee, pistachio, and etc. Laduree makes the best ones and they make great gifts for the holidays. It is worth every penny.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

The best comfort food on a fall/winter day. The soup is spiced with Chinese five spice and it has the perfect flavor that is not too spicy. The scallions add an allium bite. There are huge pieces of beef that is tender and fall right off the bone. 

Flat White

The best alternative to an Americano that is not too bitter/acidic. There is not too much steamed milk and the flavor is still silky. It is easy to drink and the caffeine count is not too high. But, the coffee art is beautiful.

Soup Dumplings

They are usually referred to as the little pocket of joy. As the name states, there is soup in the dumpling shell. The flavor is umami and it is important to air out the dumpling before consuming or you will burn your entire mouth! The best added condiments to the dumplings are pickled ginger and black vinegar. 

Pan Fried Seafood Noodles

The crunch of these egg noodles are the best. They are fried and slathered with a seafood stir fry surrounding Chinese Broccoli. The dish is originally from Hong Kong and served in many Cantonese/Chinese gatherings with family and friends.

Shaved Ice

A hidden secret that is very well liked on the West coast especially Hawaii. The texture is like snow and doused with fruit syrups that have a sweet flavor. The sweetness is not sickly and the fresh fruit is a good addition. My favorite is always mango and strawberry!

Poke 

Another item that is favored on the West Coast and is competitive to sushi. Poke is a type of sashimi dish that is usually made from tuna or salmon. It is usually cured with some soy sauce or shoyu. It can be made for lunch or dinner and be eaten anytime of the year. The best toppings to a Poke bowl consists of seaweed salad, cucumbers, radish, pineapple, roe, and sriracha mayo sauce.

Sources:

https://www.amazon.com/T-Mobile-Prepaid-Unlimited-United-States/dp/B0776RRR9Y

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/new-york-city-is-the-city-most-people-want-to-visit-and-live-in-072622#:~:text=According%20to%20NYC%20%26%20Co.%2C,reach%2063.7%20million%20in%202023.

[toulousewayne]

Catwoman:The Series

Season 2

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This is a concept for a live-action limited Catwoman Tv Series that could be adapted on something like HBO MAX or a another network or streaming.

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Synopsis:Selina Kyle has never been defined by the things she does.As Catwoman she has decided to do whatever she pleases, and dares anyone to back this cat into a corner.

Release: May 6, 2028

Rating: TV-MA

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Cast:

Selina Kyle/Catwoman……Shay Mitchell

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Mavin “Holly” Robinson…….Lachlan Watson

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Kate Kane/ Batwoman………Kristen Stewart

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Amanda Waller…………Angelia Bassett

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Cameos:

Stephanie Brown/Spoiler…….Teagan Croft

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Concept:

Catwoman suit:

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Batwoman’s Suit:

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Seeing if this was on streaming TV series the episode count would be anywhere from 6-13. For the series however will go with 7. Each episode is about 42 - 59 minutes, and all give a little summary for each episode.

Episodes:

Catflies:

Selina attempts to steal from a museum in Gotham’s Financial District,but Is unexpectedly captured. She wakes up in a cell comes face to face with the infamous Amanda Waller who wants Selina something of top secret. In exchange Walker will give her information for her long lost sister.

Holly doesn’t just want to be the sit on the sidelines anymore and wants to be out on the prowl like Catwoman.

2. Beware the Cat:

Catwoman goes undercover as a sexy club goer in order to get into the Iceberg Lounge. She meets a woman named Late at the bar who is taken with her,Selina plays along long enough to find the Penguin’s office.

She finds plans and blueprints for a Electric Skeleton Key, and find that is being manufactured at Kane Industries. While breaking to the building she meets the new vigilante known as Batwoman.

3. Catastrophic:

Catwoman and Batwoman team up to find the missing Skeleton Key. They travel to nearby Bludheaven which is filled with crime with no current hero.

Holly attempts to pose as Catwoman and try to bust a robbery and is nearly killed herself with out assistance from Spoiler who just returned from Hong Kong.

4.The Bat and the Cat:

Batwoman and Catwoman return from Bludheaven with intel about Black Masks strongholds that is supposedly housing the key for a black market auction later that night. The two break and take on some of Gotham’s most notorious mobsters.

Stephanie has Holly meet her Pauli’s Diner and she tells her why if she wants to go out a be hero she needs to find the right reasons for her,but most of all she needs to be the hero she wants to be.

5. Independent:

After finally getting the Skeleton Key Selina realized it’s full capabilities and wants to know why Waller wants it.

She meets with Waller and demands an explanation. She is met with a hit on her life if she’s crossed.

Holly took what Stephanie told her yesterday and decided to find one of Selina’s old friends in Gotham.

6. The Stray:

Selina is thrown into Waller’s cell again deep underground the Agency. Waller tells her through inner com that she isn’t to be taken lightly.

Batwoman had been secretly tailing Catwoman and breaks into the temporary Agency base to free her.

7. Fresh Start:

After escaping with the flash drive about her sister and destroying the Skeleton key. Catwoman nearly kills Waller and demands she leaves Gotham. Reluctantly Waller agrees but tell her that she could use someone on a team of her’s she’s about to create and Selina declines the offer.

Selina finally learns Batwoman’s identity. And thanks her for her help. Selina clears out her small apartment in the East End and Holly tells Selina that she needs to find her own path and is staying in Gotham. Selina takes Isis her cat and leaves Gotham City.