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queerpunktomatoes · 2 months

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Here is the pdf version of Project 2025. It's long and dry, so here are some talking points for you.

Note the page numbers so you can back yourself up. Most people are not going to read the whole document (because it's awful to read tbh) so you need to be able to defend your critiques.

We don't need false arguments to weaken our entirely correct conviction that Trump is a fascist.

Page 5 "Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children... should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered." Translation: Transgender people should be seen as pornographic, and those who make/distribute porn should be imprisoned. Being transgender should be illegal.

Page 94 "Sustain support for Israel." Translation: Continue funding the Palestinian genocide with taxpayer money.

Page 97 "Senior acquisition leaders should design a system that allows decision-makers to stay within the law but bypass unnecessary departmental regulations that are not in the best interest of the government and hamper the acquisition of capabilities that warfighters require." Translation: Reduce workplace safety regulations in the interest of making more money.

Page 103 "Require completion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery the military entrance examination—by all students in schools that receive federal funding." Translation: Children in public schools have to take the military entrance exam. Children in private schools do not.

Page 104 "Reverse policies that allow transgender individuals to serve in the military. Gender dysphoria is incompatible with the demands of military service." Translation: Keep trans people out of the military.

Page 155 "Of the utmost urgency is immediately ending CISA’s counter-mis/disinformation efforts... The entirety of the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee should be dismissed on Day One." Translation: End FBI's effort to combat disinformation.

Page 246 "Conservatives will thus reward a President who eliminates this tyrannical situation. PBS and NPR do not even bother to run programming that would attract conservatives." Translation: Don't publically fund anything that isn't explicitly right-wing, including children's entertainment.

Page 259 "The next conservative Administration should rescind President Biden’s 2022 Gender Policy. It should remove all references, examples, definitions, photos, and language on USAID websites, in agency publications and policies, and in all agency contracts and grants that include the following terms: 'gender,' 'gender equality,' 'gender equity,' 'gender diverse individuals,' 'gender aware,' 'gender sensitive,' etc. It should also remove references to 'abortion,' 'reproductive health, and 'sexual and reproductive rights'... produces unnecessary consternation and confusion among and even outright bias against men.” Translation: All language related to gender, equality, and sexual rights should be removed from all official USA websites and documents.

Page 260 "PLGHA requires foreign NGOs, as a condition of receiving assistance, to agree not to perform or actively promote abortions as a method of family planning in foreign countries... The new pro-life executive order should apply to foreign NGOs." Translation: American doctors are not allowed to perform abortions domestically or internationally.

Page 285 "The department [of education] is a convenient one-stop shop for the woke education cartel, which—as the COVID era showed—is not particularly concerned with children’s education. Schools should be responsive to parents, rather than to leftist advocates intent on indoctrination—and the more the federal government is involved in education, the less responsive to parents the public schools will be. This department is an example of federal intrusion into a traditionally state and local realm. For the sake of American children, Congress should shutter it and return control of education to the states." Translation: The Department of Education should be eliminated.

Page 302 "Return to the Original Purpose of School Meals. Federal school meals increasingly resemble entitlement programs... To serve students in need and prevent the misuse of taxpayer money, the next Administration should focus on students in need and reject efforts to transform federal school meals into an entitlement program." Translation: Roll back free school lunches to apply to ~185% fewer people than it does currently.

Page 320-322 "In July of that year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964, after Congress reached a consensus that the mistreatment of [B]lack Americans was no longer tolerable and merited a federal response... In 1973, [Congress] passed the Rehabilitation Act, and, in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act... The next Administration will need a plan to redistribute the various congressionally approved federal education programs across the government, eliminate those that are ineffective or duplicative, and then eliminate the unproductive red tape and rules by entrusting states and districts with flexible, formula-driven block grants." Translation: Repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Page 372 "The U.S. nuclear arsenal needs to be updated and reinvigorated... Fund the design, development, and deployment of new nuclear warheads, including the production of plutonium pits in quantity. Expand the U.S. Navy and develop new nuclear naval reactors to ensure that the Navy has the nuclear propulsion it needs to secure America’s strategic interests. End ineffective and counterproductive nonproliferation activities like those involving Iran and the United Nations." Translation: Withdraw from "let's not use nuclear weapons" agreements, build more nuclear weapons, and resume nuclear weapons testing.

Page 451 "Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society. Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden’s HHS are fraught with agenda items focusing on 'LGBTQ+ equity,' subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families. Working fathers are essential to the well-being and development of their children, but the United States is experiencing a crisis of fatherlessness that is ruining our children’s futures... homes with non-related 'boyfriends' present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be. HHS should prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health, and welfare policies. In the context of current and emerging reproductive technologies, HHS policies should never place the desires of adults over the right of children to be raised by the biological fathers and mothers who conceive them." Translation: The cishet nuclear family is the only valid, legally recognizable family.

Page 474 "Reissue a stronger transgender national coverage determination. CMS should repromulgate its 2016 decision that CMS could not issue a National Coverage Determination (NCD) regarding 'gender reassignment surgery' for Medicare beneficiaries. In doing so, CMS should acknowledge the growing body of evidence that such interventions are dangerous and acknowledge that there is insufficient scientific evidence to support such coverage in state plans." Translation: Remove all gender-affirming care coverage from government insurance plans.

Page 482 "Eliminate the Head Start program." Translation: Remove free education/health programs for low-income families.

Page 508 "Repeal climate change initiatives and spending in the department’s budget request." Translation: End all programs that address climate change.

Page 524 "Rescind the Biden rules and reinstate the Trump rules regarding... The Endangered Species Act rules defining Critical Habitat and Critical Habitat Exclusions." Translation: Remove protections for endangered animals.

Page 524 "Reinstate President Trump’s plan for opening most of the National Petroleum Reserve of Alaska to leasing and development." Translation: Expand Arctic drilling.

Page 587 "The Working Families Flexibility Act would allow employees in the private sector the ability to choose between receiving time-and-a-half pay or accumulating time-and-a-half paid time off." Translation: Employers are not required to pay extra for overtime.

Page 592 "Employers and employees should be able to set a two- or four-week period over which to calculate overtime. This would give workers greater flexibility to work more hours in one week and fewer hours in the next and would not require the employer to pay them more for that same total number of hours of work during the entire period." Translation: The 40-hour work week should become a 160-hour work month, so employers can make you work extra hours with no overtime pay by cutting your hours later in the month.

Page 664 "The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories." Translation: Americans should not get free extreme weather warnings. We should have to pay for it, and watch commercials between segments.

Page 708 "The next conservative Administration should take affirmative steps to expose and eradicate the practice of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ... Treat the participation in any critical race theory or DEI initiative, without objecting on constitutional or moral grounds, as per se grounds for termination of employment." Translation: Fire any/all government employees who participated in DEI training.

And remember:

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niko-sasaki-dbd · 4 months

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So, I've seen several questions about this, so I'm gonna try to do my best to share my explanation of the:

THREE FLIGHTS AND ONE FERRY RIDE LATER

FIRST IF ALL: THE DESTINATION

Port Townsend is a city, located at the Quimper Peninsula, in the Jefferson County, Washington, USA.

There's several ways to get there, and one of them is by ferry, in the following map, you can see the geographical location, and the ferry route (Coupeville – Port Townsend).

Now, let's go back to the start!

FROM LONDON TO WASHINGTON (THREE FLIGHTS, I GUESS)

Here, the questions are not about the route, but the money. For a lot of people, the logical and immediate answer is that Crystal used her powers to get into an airplane, but I think is plausible that she didn't use them exactly to avoid paying, and if she did, she felt very guilty about it (I'm gonna explain this later).

What is certain is that she used her powers to avoid security and registration at the airport (all the airports), because there was no way a minor was leaving the country, or jumping from one jurisdiction to another without documentation, a passport or an ID.

About the route, there's a lot of options here, but if I believe Crystal didn't use her powers to avoid paying for the tickets, is simply because there were better options than taking three flights, and if she was going to stole the tickets anyway, why no choosing a direct flight? Or at least, a faster one?

I mean that could have saved her a lot of trouble, because going from one airport to another with Charles and Edwin quarreling around her is not exactly the definition of a holiday vacation.

I'm sure she would have chosen any flight that could take her to Washington the fastest, the thing is that she didn't.

She got into a flight with two connections, and secured herself a headache too, so I guess she used the money she had on her, or most logically, her money + the money from the agency (let's give the boys some credit, at the end of the day, they're good at their job, and they care about getting paid).

Now, the route could have been something like this (based on a real flight itinerary):

London, GB -> Frankfurt International, DE

Frankfurt International, DE -> Calgary Intl Airport, CA

Calgary Intl Airport, CA -> Seattle Tacoma Airport, US

[I'm using ISO 3166 country codes, instead of the airports abbreviations]

Which translates into:

First flight: 1 hour and 30 minutes (+1h 30min)

First layover: 2 hours (+2h)

Second flight: 10 hours (+10h)

Second layover: 5 hours (+5h)

Third flight: 2 hours (+2h)

All of these sums up 20 hours and 30 minutes of dealing with Bert and Ernie, without a possible escape.

But the point is, that there are faster routes; a direct flight, or even a flight with only one connection, has a duration of 14 hours or less and is only €100 more than the journey of nightmares I just described, so why did she pick the longer flight if she wasn't going to pay anyway? quality time with the boys? weren't they supposed to be in a hurry?

Obviously, is possible that the flight they took was the first available, or even that they took a flight to a different state, and then travelled within the US, but in either case, I'm sure they didn't pick the fastest route available and the only reason for that is the price of the plane tickets.

Additionally to that, Crystal didn't have much money left to pay for rent when they arrived, and she was the most worried about getting money out of the cases all the season.

FROM SEATTLE TO PORT TOWNSEND: WE'RE ALMOST THERE.

There's no direct way to get from the airport to Port Townsend, they need to get to the ferry terminal in Coupeville first.

Don't worry, is not that hard to get from Seattle to Coupeville, is a two-hour bus ride and the buses leave relatively often, and you can take one from the airport.

So, here we are, back at the beginning. Welcome to Port Townsend, you will surely be enchanted by its beautiful Victorian architecture and the witch kidnapping little girls.

Isn't it the coolest small town ever?

FINAL NOTE:

Clearly, I just did this for fun, but if it is helpful for some of you, that's great!

Doing this also made me think about some headcanons, and I'm gonna be analysing them for the next three business days.

#dead boy detectives #dead boy detective netflix #dead boy detective agency #dead boy detectives agency #crystal palace surname von hoverkraft #crystal palace #edwin payne #edwin paine #charles rowland #paineland #payneland #painland #paynland #chedwin #dbda fanfic #dbda meta #notebook entry #[s1e1] the case of crystal palace #dbda

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useless-catalanfacts · 4 months

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Fine that the Francoist dictatorship authorities made the director of Sant Jordi choir pay for having sung an unauthorized Catalan song on April 23rd 1964. This fine is kept as a historical document in the archive of the University of Barcelona.

General Francisco Franco's fascist dictatorship of Spain (1939-1975) banned and persecuted the use of the Catalan language for many years, allowing it towards the end of the dictatorship only in certain settings and under strict supervision of the police and censorship authorities. The dictatorship had the objective of eliminating the Catalan language, culture, and identity, and making all Catalan people become Spanish people. Cultural elements of Catalan culture were forbidden, such as certain songs, dances, and celebrations of traditional holidays, and people were imprisoned, tortured, and even sentenced to death for defending the right to exist of the Catalan people. The same persecution was suffered by the other nationalities under Spanish rule (mostly Basques and Galicians).

The choir Coral Sant Jordi, named after Catalonia's patron saint (Saint George), was founded in 1947 by Oriol Martorell. Its objective was to sing choir music with a focus on traditional Catalan music. The choir toured around Catalonia singing these songs with a great vocal quality, and became a symbol of cultural resistance against the dictatorship's attempt of ethnocide.

In the 1960s, the dictatorship wanted to become a normalized part of Europe and the international community. The regime opened Spain's borders to survive as a fascist stronghold, and thanks to the help from the USA (who was promoting fascist governments around the world), fascist Spain was accepted in the UN, normalized its relations with many countries, and opened its borders to tourism. To look more acceptable, it did some reforms among which they allowed speaking the local languages (Catalan, Aranese Occitan, Basque, Galician, etc) in public in some acts, as long as the person who was going to do it applied for official permission and turned in everything they were going to say or, in the case of a concert, the track list of all the songs that they were going to sing and all their lyrics as well as if they were going to speak between songs. The censorship authorities could accept or deny this application, and very often they censored parts of what was going to be said or sung, or whole songs.

On April 23rd 1964, the choir Sant Jordi sang in a fundraising event to raise money for a church. Like all Catholic churches, this church is under the title of a saint, virgin, or similar. In this case, the church is dedicated to Saint George, who their choir is also named after. In the concert, the choir sang an extra song that wasn't on the tracklist that they had submitted to be approved by the censorship authorities. This extra song was the "Goigs de Sant Jordi" (goigs are a traditional Catalan music genre of songs dedicated to exalting a particular saint or Virgin). This is a goigs song composed in the year 1885 in the Catalan language, which explains the saint's story and asks: "patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth".

For having sung this, the Spanish government made Oriol Martorell (conductor of the choir) pay a fine of 10,000 pesetas, a huge amount at the time. Oriol appealed the resolution many times, even reaching the Supreme Court, but as was expected they did not repeal it, and he (with support from the rest of the choir) had to pay the fine.

Under the cut I've included the whole lyrics of the unauthorized song translated to English.

This is a print of goigs song they sang. This one is from an act in 1990, kept in the archive of Jaume I University. These are the translated lyrics:

GOIGS OF SAINT GEORGE. Patron saint of Catalonia.

Since the heaven entrusted you the most excellent mission: Patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth.

Art, history, and legend have embroidered your mantle and have given you the best offering with the quill and the chisel. From the north to the south, from the east to the west: Patron...

You were born in Cappadocia of a palatial lineage, honoured patrician, you were Diocletian’s knight; your illustrious hierarchy gave you great demeanour: Patron...

You follow the blessed law of crucified Jesus, which was persecuted in Rome as the most depraved crime. You, with all the courage, resolutely embrace it: Patron...

Like a willow, if it’s stripped off its branches, it grows more branches and lushness, new Christians aren’t missing either when there’s more rigour for them. One day you spoke in the council and they destined you to torment: Patron…

You were tied to a wheel, your flesh teared out; when they left you for dead, they found you well healed. Such a miracle soon converted many people: Patron…

The emperor, then, wants to convince you, sweetly, and gives you seductive offers, but he doesn’t get anything from you. Refusing idolatry you defect the Caesar: Patron…

He doesn’t receive the affront freely and immediately orders you be beheaded; seven gold-winged angels take you up to heaven. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary welcome you smiling: Patron…

Up in heaven they proclaim you patron of the good knights; the sword they gave you there is Lucifer’s fright. On your Shield was printed the red cross on a silver field: Patron…

There was a gentle princess, stealer of love, and a ferocious monster wants to capture her, traitor; but you, with bravery, turn up to attack: Patron…

On the first lance stroke the monster falls down pierced; the virgin, already released, takes him away well tied up; all the town, with happiness, branches and palms beat: Patron…

Clovis’s wife builds sumptuous temples for you, and you have pious altars from Calp to the Pyrenees; Sir Ramir also erected for you a monument near Viana: Patron…

You help, near Girona, the undefeated emperor, and you give back the golden sceptre to Borrell of Barcelona; your shining image used to appear to king Peter: Patron…

When April comes and is crowned with the roses from the gardens, Barcelona celebrates you more than all the paladins. People of all hierarchies sings to you devoutly: Patron…

Look over the loved homeland, for its freedom, for the well-rooted faith, for the holy brotherhood. And if the great day came to save it in combat: Patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth.

Since the heaven entrusted you to free the good believer: Patron of knighthood, watch over my homeland and for its rebirth.

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hindulivesmatter · 9 months

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I'm from the USA and took a lot of Indian history courses at my university. You might already know this or have guessed it, but a lot of what we learned was taught from a leftist--and at times explicitly Marxist--perspective. This was even stronger in other (but thankfully not all!) social studies departments where there were classes focusing solely on various social ills of Hinduism with regard to caste and issues of feminism, yet almost nothing negative could be said if it might be critical of Islam or Muslim figures, (Mahmud of Ghazni being a notable exception for one of my professors.) There was a whole class on British colonialism; no details were spared. Horrible famines in the Deccan, Odisha, Bengal. The decimation of the textile industry. Banning bharatanatyam. The salt tax. Accounts of how a British man kicked one of his servants to death, and another of how the poor and sick congregated outside the gates of a hospital in the south that at the time would only help Europeans. Jallianwala Bagh. But Aurangzeb? Completely whitewashed. You would think Sikhs carry a kirpan for no reason. It was only through reading additional books and documents for my essays and projects that I learned about how he tore down temples, smashed murtis (and stole valuable ones,) levied a double tax on non-Muslims, etc. I remember reading an account of a traveler going through the south at the time of the Deccan wars, remarking on how you could find entire villages empty and deserted fields full of unharvested crops because the people had fled advancing armies. In one region his forces simply killed some Telugu-speaking Brahmins serving the local king rather than force them to convert, and in another his forces captured a royal scribe, forced him to convert to Islam, and forcibly circumcized him before the man killed himself. Obviously the history of all things under the umbrella of Hinduism or any other system is not perfect, but there was a huge difference in how critical you could be of Hinduism (and even western traditions/ideas) compared to Islam.

Sometimes I daydream about what it would have been like to study Sangam literature in India or to experience Andal without needing an English translation, or going to translate old Sanskrit copies of the Mahabharata whose telling is unique to a certain village or something. But ultimately I'm glad I chose to be a research scientist instead and have a career in that, because I don't think I would have been able to succeed in academia unless I were a leftist. :\ Honestly I feel like even going to hang out with ISKCON for a few days would be a better introduction to Hinduism for the average person abroad with zero knowledge than a class called "Intersections of Gender and Caste in Hinduism" or something.

Very telling how Hinduism, and even Christianity is ripped apart in academia, yet when it comes to Islam, it is a religion of "tolerance, and beauty that respects women."

Honestly, though, it's because of how severely they react when their religion is criticized or even inspected. Apostates are given death, women who do not obey are given death, anyone who utters a word against their precious prophets is given, you guessed it! Death.

No religion is perfect, humans can be horrific creatures, and even Hinduism cannot escape that. But Islam has committed far more war crimes than any other religion.

It absolutely boils my blood to see traces of colonizers in our cities. One side of my family hails from Aurangabad, named aftre Aurangzeb, and you already know the atrocities he committed.

It's so fucking insidious to see how the youth have been told what to think. My own friend claimed to me, verbatim: "You cannot be neutral in the Israel-Palestine war. Either you support Palestine, or you support genocide."

Support Hamas? Support terrorism? The same terrorism that affects us? Has everyone forgotten 26/11?

It makes me so sad to think of the future we could have had. Sanskrit would be the most spoken language, instead of English. Gurukuls would exist, and India would still have all of its wealth.

You're right, even ISKCON is better than the propaganda they feed people about our religion.

#anon asks #answered #hinduphobia #anon i'm glad you didnt get brainwashed thats the silver lining at least #hindublr

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covid-safer-hotties · 5 days

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Also preserved on our archive

As flu season nears, so do new COVID-19 variants.

A newly discovered COVID strain known as XEC continues to spread rapidly across multiple countries, including the United States and California.

First appearing in late June in Berlin, the XEC COVID-19 strain has spread across Europe, North America, and Asia, totaling around 550 samples, according to Australia-based data integration specialist Mike Honey.

The variant has been recorded in 27 countries, including China, Ukraine, Norway, and Poland.

COVID in California XEC is spreading rapidly worldwide, but there have been only 23 cases in the United States, including three in California.

“We are still in early days, so it could be a dominant strain, or it could fizzle out and die. It’s very difficult to predict. It does have some advantages in the lab over currently circulating strains, predominantly the KP strains," Chief Dr. Dean Blumberg of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Health told ABC Sacramento.

Omicron variant KP.3.1.1, also known as deFLuQE, made up over half (52.7%) of COVID-19 cases between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14. However, XEC and a variant known as MV.1 seem poised to become the next dominant strains, scientists say.

"At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next," Scripps Research Translational Institute Director Eric Topol wrote on X.

California has seen a slowdown in COVID-19 infections and deaths since late August, the California Department of Public Health reported.

"While COVID-19 levels had increased over the summer to levels comparable to last summer, they are now decreasing as seen in both decreasing SARS-CoV-2 test positivity and detections in wastewater," officials told KCRA 3 Sacramento in a statement.

COVID XEC symptoms The CDC has not confirmed whether the XEC variant has any unique symptoms. USA TODAY has contacted CDC officials for comment.

The agency continues to outline the primary COVID-19 symptoms, which can appear between two to 14 days after exposure to the virus and can range from mild to severe.

These are some of the symptoms of COVID-19:

Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache Loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea

The CDC said you should seek medical attention if you have the following symptoms:

Trouble breathing Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion Inability to wake or stay awake Pale, gray or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds

What is variant MV. 1? First documented in Maharashtra, India, in late June, COVID-19 variant MV.1 has been recorded in nine countries, including the United States, Honey reported.

It's spread across four continents in countries including Portugal, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. In the United States, it's mainly been seen in the northeast, according to Honey.

How can we protect ourselves from XEC and other variants? The CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older, with some exceptions, receive an updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the virus, regardless of whether you have previously been vaccinated or infected.

#mask up #covid #covid 19 #pandemic #public health #wear a mask #coronavirus #sars cov 2 #still coviding #wear a respirator

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trans4business-blog · 9 months

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#german certified document translation in the uk and usa #english to german document translation #german to english document translation #translation of documents from english to german #translation of documents from german to english

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mehsithomas · 7 months

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ficjoelispunk · 9 months

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Ch 12 - CIA

You can find all the chapters available here.

<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>

A/N: Hey guys, here’s one more chapter. Unfortunately this one is not revised - but I wanted to post it anyway, because it’s been some time since the last chapter - so possibly at the time of the translation some grammatical error may have happened. I apologize in advance. I hope you like it. ❤️

Music indication for this chapter: Bite the Hand - Boygenius

Murphy accompanied the Escobar family. Before boarding he called you telling you that they were on their way to Germany. The negotiations with Germany were difficult. You had to ask Crosby for help, but even he didn't get much. German immigration was liberal, due to its turbulent history.

And while Murphy was on a trip. Centra Spike managed to track Fernando Duque.

"He used the credit card, here, and here in these restaurants" Edward showed on the map to Javier "and look at this" he reached a paper, delivering it to Javier "I checked the database, there was a complaint this morning. He's a fugitive"

"Why?" Javier evaluated the file.

"The wife made a complaint of theft and kidnapping," Edward added.

"He is running away, and took his son. He's only 14 years old. Fuck!"

Javier was cornered. What should he do? He didn't know.

His phone rang. It was late. He expected it to be you.

"Peña"

"Javier" the voice of Don Berna "any news from our friend?"

Javier was silent.

“Peña?”

"Not yet"

He hung up the phone.

Javier reached the report with the information that Edward had recorded. He pressed the cigarette on the ashtray.

You didn't talk to each other, and Javier hasn't seen you since the day you found out about Don Berna. But now, there was no way to avoid it. And honestly, Javier would use the first excuse to talk to you.

Javier dialed the number of his extension in Bogotá on the phone. He heard his voice announcing your name.

"It's me, Peña"

He heard you sigh.

"How can I help you, Agent Peña"

He knew your way of defending yourself by exercising formality with him.

"Is everything okay over there?" Javier asked.

You were silent for a few minutes.

"Do you need something?"

Javier lowered his head. He closed his eyes.

"I think Fernando Duque is on the run, and took his son"

What did that mean? Now he decided to work respecting all the bureaucracy he has always criticized? Ok. You were a professional. You couldn't let the feelings affect your work.

"Okay. What do you need me to do? If he is so desperate, maybe he will agree to collaborate in exchange for protection"

Javier loved the way you had vision, and he didn't need to explain himself to you. And how professional you were, even hating him, doing your job.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought, I..." he hesitates "maybe I know where he is"

You wanted to ask why he is calling you and not Don Berna, providing the information to the Los Pepes. Or, which informant he was fucking to get this information. But you needed to do your job.

"Ok. I'll fill out the forms. Do you want me to apply to get him out of the country?"

"If he agrees to collaborate, do you think we can do it?"

"I can try"

"Yeah, shure”

"Ok."

"Hey"

"Yes?"

"Thank you"

"I'm just doing my job"

"Yeah”

"Agent Peña?"

“Yes?"

"How did you get this information?"

Javier knew you knew how he had gotten this information. But he also knew that you needed to explain on the form, to document. So your question wasn't stupid. But intelligent. Since the call could eventually be used later against you.

"An informant knows his wife. I was lucky."

"Okay. Good luck"

***

You didn't sleep, you were working in 3 different time zones. The USA, Colombia and Germany.

Murphy called you as soon as he landed.

"I need more time," you said, "they don't want to cooperate with us"

"Okay, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know" you sighed, biting your lips "Don't let them leave the airport, if they leave we're fucked. In a way to search their suitcase, Pablo wouldn't let them travel without money... improvise"

"Okay, I'll find a way to hold them here, do what you can"

You hung up and snorted, slipping your body on the chair. Your head would explode.

Murphy followed your idea and really, Pablo sent a lot of money with his family. And immigration barred the family's entry.

***

Javier found Fernando Duque. The man was in a state of shock. He begged for help.

"We don't work for free, I need your full cooperation"

"I collaborate with you, I do whatever you want, but get us out of Colombia. Immediately, I can't have contact with the police, Los Pepes has people working for them from the police, I need to leave the country"

"Do we have a deal?" Javier asks.

Ferrando Duque nodded.

"Do what I say. And start by hiding the car you stole from your wife"

It turns out that Fernando Duque was right. Los Pepes had informants inside the police. And they found out that Javier Peña was protecting Pablo Escobar's lawyer.

Los Pepes, had a very active and helpful contact inside the embassy, was the guy from the CIA superintendence, who arrived along with Messina and Crosby in Bogotá.

When Javier went to the cafeteria at Don Berna's request, to meet. He finds Bill Stechner in his place.

"Agent Peña, I don't think Don Berna will come today"

Javier's stomach feels the cold adrenaline being radiated through the rest of his body.

He hesitates. Observe the place, sit in the chair in front of the CIA agent.

"What is that?"

"Just a friendly conversation" he takes a dramatic break "you are leaving very dangerous people, angry Javier"

Javier is silent, looking at nothing, with his chin slightly tilted forward. Javier's usual petulant basic posture.

And he continues.

"I'm in a difficult situation because I was the one who suggested your name to them, since you have a good relationship with the Ambassador's assistant, having access to valuable information" this last part Bill spoke with malice.

Javier drastically turns his head to face Bill, frowning, the marked wrinkle of a closed face for years, now becoming more exposed.

"I don't know if you know what I do, but I want you to know that I defend the interests of our country in the long term, and I'm here to ensure that the right people are still alive when Escobar is shot in the head. So do yourself and your girl a favor, and don't complicate things. You know what they can do with her."

Javier faces Bill in silence. He gets up ready to finish that siege and leave when Bill speaks again.

"These people usually make decisions with a hot head. This can lead to terrible ideas like killing a federal agent and taking your girl as a prize. In fact, they found the lawyer, even without your help, so..."

Javier leaves the cafeteria. The head thinking a thousand possibilities. But the main one was to call you and know if you were okay, first.

You answered, as soon as you called. Javier was silent, with his hand resting on his forehead, breathing only now, listening to his voice, knowing that you were fine.

"I can hear you breathing, I know it's you, Agent Peña"

"Hi. Yeah... It's me" his voice cracked.

You noticed. There was a silence. You hesitated to worry, but you were stronger than you.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Are you okay?"

You frowned.

"Javi, it's late, what's going on?"

You knew Javier, the nuances of your tone of voice. You didn't have to be looking at him to know when something was happening.

"Nothing. Please, just..." he hesitated "be careful, do not go out alone, be accompanied or escorted, and do not trust anyone"

Your breathing started to get irregular.

"You're scaring me. Where are you? Do you need help? What's going on?"

Javier didn't want to scare you but there weren't many means.

"Be safe. I'll call you later."

"Javi..."

He hung up.

Shit.

He drive to the address where he had found Fernando Duque. And it was too late. He found the body of the man and his son, inside the trunk of the woman's stolen car, with a message:

"Cortecia de Los Pepes"

Javier was blinded with anger and distrust. Who was the informant of Los Pepes? Who was working for them from inside the base? Who knew that you and he were close? Who could put you at risk? Delivering a man who had a direct connection with Pablo and could be the biggest asset you would have in months. A name shone in his head. Trujillo.

He drive to the base, and framed Trujillo putting him against the car outside, in front of other agents who accompanied Trujillo to the exit of the base.

"Did you follow me to the fucking hotel? Huh?" Javier had his forearm on his colleague's neck. "Did you tell to Berna?"

"Deja me"

Javier stuck to the collar of Trujillo's uniform and pushed him again against the car.

"You tell me, you asshole!"

Trujillo pushed Javier.

"¿Qué pasa?" One of the other agents tried to separate the two.

"Nada, todo está bien, vayan al frente" Trujillo said.

There was a silence. Peña's irregular breathing.

"¿Qué pasa, Peña?" Trujillo asked. "Are you going to act like an American?"

Peña stared at him.

"Did you see what they did to his son?" The image of the teenager folded in the trunk with a bullet in the head.

He couldn't help but think about what they could do to you. He immediately remembered when he met Helena. Javier was panting.

"How many families did Pablo Escobar destroy Peña? Do you know? You don't decide who lives or who dies."

"You don't know what's at stake here, it's not just a matter of catching Pablo Escobar anymore..."

"Peña, we crossed a line a long time ago, there is no turning back"

Javier closed his eyes. Hands on the waist. He struggled to pull himself together.

***

You don't remember how many calls you made overnight. There were hours of negotiations, together with the Ambassador, with Germany. They used all the legal breaches, and diplomacy so that the Escobar family's landing authorization was not granted.

And finally you managed to convince the immigration that you could not receive them. For legal political reasons, the family would have to make the trip back to Colombia.

Murphy was present with the family all the time. Not together. But close. And that's good.

At the exit of the airport already in Colombian lands, if Murphy were not together, they would have attacked the family at the entrance to the airport.

Murphy saw a suspicious car approaching. But he protected Escobar's wife, mother and children.

The federal police took the family under protection. That was an asset. With Pablo's family in the care of the government, he could not be more unarmed.

But like every action, he would have a reaction. Pablo would not make it cheap that the family was not accepted in another country.

One hundred lbs of explosives. The equivalent of a bomb in an F-16. Dozens of dead. Hundreds of injured. Among them, many children. He implanted the dynamites in a mall near the beginning of classes.

Pablo continues to build his fame with terrorism. But now he had gone too far. Everyone was angry. A guy with no limits, he had crossed the limits. Pablo's time was running out.

You had barely landed in Medellin, and you were already being summoned to a new meeting with the colonel, the agents, Centra Spike.

There was only time for you to leave some files on your desk, and go to the meeting room.

Javier stopped you in the hallway.

"I'm late," you said, trying to deviate from him.

"We are going to the same place" Javier mirrored your steps in front of him.

You stopped. You closed your eyes, trying not to explode, throwing your head back.

"What do you want, Agent Peña? No drug trafficker friend available?"

Peña stares at you and tilts his head.

"I need to talk to you. It's fast, and it's important, meet me in the file room tonight."

You snorted, smiling ironically.

"Absolutely not"

"Afraid of not being able to resist? I miss you too."

You half closed your eyes to him. How could he keep making jokes?

"Stop treating me as if I were obsessed with you"

He held your arm before you entered the room.

"It's important. I need you to go"

You didn't answer and entered the room. Javier rolled his eyes. Stubborn.

As soon as everyone was organized, Colonel Martinez began to explain the reason for the meeting.

"The situation with Escobar is about to burst," Colonel, began.

"Actually, it's already burst" you didn't contain yourself. "Sorry, I thought... loudly" you closed your eyes. Trying to organize your head and tongue, you had been out of your mind for days. No sleep.

Javier tried to hold back the laughter.

"Continuing. Our information suggests that their support has been reduced to only a few loyal sicarians"

"Fewer sicaries, fewer conversations to track" Edward scored "we stapled the Lawyer's phone, but I don't think he's answering"

You looked at Javier. He didn't move, he just looked at you back.

"It was Los Pepes, they killed the family and him" Colonel Martinez informed, throwing photos of the crime scene on the table in front of you.

You blinked. Skeptic. Reaching out some photos.

"Is this his son?" Your eyes were horrified.

The colonel just nodded to you.

"Jesus fucking Christ, he was just a child..." you leaned against the chair. Eyes closed. Crossing your arms.

Javier knew you couldn't take it anymore.

"I would like to say that, I know that someone is in contact with Los Pepes. Although that makes me disgusted. I can't do much. But it will be a Colombian policeman next to Escobar's body when this comes to an end. And not just any vigilante. That's all. Thank you very much"

You were immobilised for a while processing the information. What had happened? Javier asked for protection for Fernando Duque, what did he do that even the guy's mother was stabbed?! Jesus.

You went after him.

"Hey?" you called.

Running in a jump, in the hallway, your held his arm.

"Not here" he murmured.

"What happened?"

"Tonight" he said without stopping walking. Wide steps making you run to reach it.

You held his arm. Javier stopped just out of respect, since you were a feather next to him.

"What?" He turned around, abruptly making you get into the middle of him.

"Jesus!" you exclaimed. He held your waist giving you balance.

He snapped his eyes.

"File room" he reinforced. And he walked away.

Shit! You lost all the cards in this game. Years having the answer on the tip of the tongue, so that now I can't even breathe properly.

Peña talked to Murphy about what was to come, but Steve would be next to his partner. Protecting yourself, of course. But he got it. For him, if at the end of all this, Pablo was over, everything was fine.

"I need to protect her," Peña said as he stared at nothing, and brought the cigarette.

"As long as she doesn't leave here without being escorted, she is not in danger"

"It's not safe here, that Stechner son of a bitch, he could take her to them himself, and she wouldn't even know"

"You need to tell her, Javi. Everything. Tell her they're blackmailing you. Maybe we can get a transfer to her in time..."

"No" Javier interrupted him "she needs to be here, here I can protect her, here I know where she is, who she is with, here she is safe"

Murphy felt the tension in Javier's voice. He rubbed his fingers in his eyes.

"Right. But she needs to know, she needs to know who to trust"

You spent the day trying to unaccumulate the work. But it was a lot of paperwork. With the attacks you simply had to, at least, two more people to do your job, and it was just you.

Your trip to Bogotá messed up your flow of services and activities. And honestly you weren't at your best performance.

You were sad. You had to hear Javier speak while he was lying in your bed how much he wanted you. To then find out and make millions of assumptions about his involvement with Don Berna.

All the information came to you first. All of them. What if eventually he was getting involved with you to have knowledge, access? What if he was actually just using you?

In Bogotá you searched for the files of the rescue operations. Javier mentioned that an informant gave access to one of the laboratories that you were supposed to be in. What if Javier had made an exchange between you and an information? Oh! You couldn't tell, it was torturous, you couldn't trust Javier Peña. In no one. You couldn't know when he was telling the truth or when he was joking and manipulating people's feelings.

You were angry. Trying to derail your thoughts from the tracks that always led to him. Trying to get a hint of self-respect. But you couldn't stop thinking about your bodies together. You felt ridiculous. It was painful. It hurt to have to build a hatred on top of something you wanted.

Now you were walking towards the file room. You hesitated four times on the way. Stopping, taking a deep breath. Trying to think. Trying to understand if it was correct. What kind of lie were you aware of yourself? That I was only going because I needed to know what happened to Fernando Duque's family? What did he do by opening his mouth and handing over someone he asked for protection to Los Pepes?!

You walked so fast that you thought you were running. Your belly twisted with anxiety, anticipation. It was as if you had swallowed gravity and your organs danced inside you.

I hate this man.

You opened the door.

"I'm here"

You heard Javier's voice, coming from the back of the room.

He was sitting at the table, a few months ago he fucked you there. You blinked trying to move the sexual memory away by making your body squirm.

You kept a safe distance from him.

"You send Murphy to travel, what did he do that deserved the trip more than I did?"

You gave a forced smile.

"He is not an informant of a paramilitary group"

Javier steaked his eyes, lowered his head, and nodded. He deserved that.

"I thought you wouldn't come..." he moved his hands, without looking at you.

"I wasn't going" you took a break, Javier stared at you "but, I don't know… I'm here now, what do you want?"

Javier was silent, he seemed to feel some pain. A painful discomfort.

You were getting bothered by Javier with this victimistic behavior. Sad. He's not like that.

Why did you come here? To watch him stare at his feet? What was the plan? Absorb the blame and say goodbye?

"What do you want, Javier?" You repeated, the rudest tone of voice.

He looked at you.

"Something happened"

"Yeah, a lot of things happened. You asked for protection for a family and they were found dead by the group you work for"

He hesitated.

"It's complicated"

"Really?" You asked ironically.

You sigh. Blinking impatiently.

He gets up. And you automatically take a step back.

"What? Are you afraid of me now?"

"Yes, I'm afraid of you" you watched Javier lose the ground with your words.

"I would never do you anything to hurt you, you know that. Never"

"How will I know?" You crossed your arms, a frustrated attempt to protect yourself in some way "how will I know that you won't give me to a bunch of terrorists?"

Javier runs his fingers over his face and sighs.

It would be so much easier if you hadn't succumbed to him. If you hadn't tasted it. If he removed everything he said. If he kept neglecting you. If he continued with the behavior he had for months ignoring you and hurting you little by little.

"Ok. I didn't come here for that. Tell me at once what's going on. Are you hurt? Something like that?"

He frowns disappointed by your ridiculous assumption.

"No..."

"So what is it?"

Javier wanted time with you. Take advantage of the fact that it was just you. He wanted to curl up as much as possible. He wanted to smell you. Take his eyes on you. He didn't want to lose you. But you don't lose what you've never had.

"I went to meet Don Berna" he hesitated looking at you, you closed your eyes, turning your back on him, he continued "I went to warn you that I would no longer be part of it..."

"Oh, shure, and he let you go out as if you were best friends, good and understanding drug traffickers... Peña, I'm not an idiot! What do you think? Does that fix things? What's your problem?"

Javier kept calm. He spoke quietly and peacefully with you. The timbre of voice you loved, and hated at the same intensity.

"You're right. He didn't accept, instead he asked me to track Fernando Duque as a last help"

You laughed ironically throwing your head back.

"And you did it, like a good sicario" you said, Javier took a step towards you, you retreated. He clenched his teeth "and then handed over the whole family..."

"No" he shook his head nervously, turned his back and hit his hand on a box of files that were on the table.

You've been taking steps backwards.

"I'm sorry, I..." Javier turned to you "shit!"

"Why did you call me?"

"I wasn't going to deliver it, I was going to protect it, but they found it first"

"How did you get into this shit?"

Javier was silent. He closed his eyes. He would like it to be a rhetorical question.

"When you disappeared. Don Bern came to me. He told me that if I helped him with the information he would release you"

You stopped breathing.

"What?" It was another whisper that came out of your mouth. It was more for you than for Javier.

You let go of your arms. You leaned on the shelf behind you, your cold hands passing through your forehead.

Javier saw you turning pale. Your lips are always red ivory, losing their color. It looked like you were going to pass out.

"Are you okay?" Javier asked for fear of getting closer and you having a breakdown with him.

"Mhmmm" you closed your eyes "just... give me a second. It's hot here"

Javier moved, picking up a chair.

"Here" he put next to you, "sit here, I'll get some water"

You sat down.

"No," you murmured, "I don't need water"

In fact, you just couldn't breathe.

Is that why? Did Javier get involved with drug traffickers to be able to save you? Bullshit. It couldn't be real. Javier only thinks of one person, and that person is himself. It couldn't be true.

"Keep going" you said. Trying to straighten your posture on the chair, but everything turned very fast.

Javier bent down in front of you.

"Are you okay?"

”Yeah, Kees going..."

"Well, so... he lied. He intended to continue with you until I accepted to continue helping the Cartel of Cali and Montecassino, to kill Pablo with the services of the Castaño brothers. But we managed to rescue you. But they continued to threaten their safety. They said you could be caught. But in the end, I also liked to see the hitmen and Pablo hide in fear like rats"

It was a lot of information for you.

"After that morning, I met Don Berna, he said that if I met Fernando Duque, he would leave us alone. So I went after Fernando, I found him. He agreed to collaborate. I kept him hidden. I didn't inform Don Berna. But then things got worse"

You were breathing irregularly. A fear settling in your spine.

"What happened?"

Javier looked away. He got up. The hands on the waist, the weight of the body changing from one leg to the other.

"Javi?"

You called him that, made him look directly at you. Javier passed his hands over his forehead.

"When I met Fernando, he told me that he could not be taken to the police because there were informants inside the police who passed information to Los Pepes"

"Yes, you."

"No"

"No?" You were confused.

"I thought I was the only one. But I'm not."

You frowned.

"What is that? A kind of virus? Have you infected other agents? Are we being observed here inside the battalion? So can someone come into my room and kill me while I'm sleeping?"

In a way you were right. As always. If it weren't for him, Trujillo wouldn't have met Don Berna. And he would have no contact with the Castaño brothers. He would preserve the boy, he had no need to know about Trujillo, he would not be able to kill you.

"No, you don't take that risk. What matters is that they reported that I found Fernando, and Los Pepes killed him, and the family"

You support your elbows on your knees.

"There's more..."

You looked at Javier, amazed.

"Jesus, Javi... what did you do?"

Javier broke with your sadness. The way words come out of your mouth.

"Bill Stechner"

"The CIA superintendent" you knew who he was.

"Yes. He works for the Castaño brothers"

Your mouth opened in shock.

"What?" You got up, perplexed.

"He heard about the request you made to protect Fernando Duque, of course. He heard that I didn't give the information to Don Berna. They would kill me." Javier took a break. Your hands were in your mouth. "And kill you"

Your eyes snapmed. You blinked with no reaction. The eyes are blurry. Some tears running meaningless.

Javier continued

"They think you passed the information to me"

"Why would they think something like that?"

Javier frowned, disappointed that you didn't understand.

"People know..."

You couldn't reason.

"They know what?" Your voice failed

He pointed at you and him several times.

"We"

"It doesn't exist" you made the movement of quotation marks with your finger "we"

Javier leaned back. Turning his back on you, leaning on the table, without looking at you.

"It doesn't matter. They know I'm involved with you. For you. They would use you to get to me. They've done that before. It doesn't matter. The fact is that Bill Stechner knows. He know I provided the information to Don Berna. And that I actively participated in all the Los Pepes attacks"

You closed your eyes. You was feeling sick. You was getting sick. You bent down hugging your knees, hiding Javier's face.

"Shit!" You murmured.

You couldn't think. You couldn't exist. Were you a masochist? Resisting the impulses of flying on top of Javier and punching his teeth. To curse him and leave. For dragging you into that hole.

Javier walks up to you, bends down and puts his hands on your shoulders.

"Listen..." Javier murmured hoarse and low.

He puts his hands on your arms that squeeze around you, pulling for you to look at him. He sees your red eyes. You don't know if you cry with anger or sadness. That's what he's going to pieces. You didn't deserve to go through this.

When you look at Javier, the face of a dog that fell from the moving truck. You pull your arm to yourself.

Javier continues.

"You need to prepare for problems. This is going to overflow. And these people won't accept that I stop. If they attack you because of what I did, in here, protect yourself. You didn't know anything. Do you understand?"

You agreed, nodding your head. Wiping the tears.

"I'm so stupid, how could I get here?"

"It's my fault. This is all my fault. I should never have approached you. If something happens outside of here, I'll go to hell after you, do you understand? I won't let anything happen to you."

You shake your head in disbelief. You get up. Javier also gets up. Watching you walk meaningless.

You turn to him, and push him, clapping your hands on his chest.

"I hate you"

You push him again.

"I hate you, your son..."

You were going to push him again, but Javi holds your arm.

"Do you know what that means?" You were trying to snap him. "I'm going to lose my job, I was kidnapped, I can die..."

"No..." Javier held your fists.

"You ruined everything good that exists in my life"

"I know, cariño"

"Shut up"

Javier pulls you to him. And it holds you in a hug. You kick at the beginning. Cursing him as much as your can. Struggling to get rid of him. But he surrenders.

"Let me go" you're crying, wetting his shirt.

Javier holds you with one arm involving your waist, and the other holding your head against his chest.

"I asked you Javi, I tried to let you know..."

Javier had his lips on the top of your head.

"I know, sweetheart, I'm sorry."

You are hugging for a while. Your brain throbbing in your head. The smell of Javier stunning you. It even seemed safe there. Everything that was happening was his fault, but he did it, at first, in an attempt to save you.

That wasn't fair. With neither of you. You were his hell. And he was your hell. Everything about you just hurt each other. You also couldn't imagine how it was for him, thinking of being responsible for a kidnapping. See innocent people dying in attacks, in the middle of the crossfire.

You couldn't imagine what the consciousness of Javier's head was like.

"I’m sorry, babe. I never wanted to harm you. Forgive me for the times I acted like an asshole with you, I just wanted to protect you" Javier murmurs over your head, while he rubs his nose on your forehead.

You walk away to look at Javier.

"We can get out of this clean"

Javier smiles, he can't believe it. Releasing the air through the mouth. You could always make him feel better, after all

"You heard Martinez today, if we catch Pablo, it's over. All this is over. And we can leave. Clean"

Javier is silent. Thoughtful.

You let go of his hug.

"Think about it before making any other stupid decision"

You take a few steps back. You was going to turn around when Javier holds your hand.

"Wait"

The warmth of his hand on your skin radiates a shiver all over your body. You observe where your skins meet. Looking so right. But being so wrong.

He pulls you back close to him. You take reluctant steps. Javier's eyes have never been as attentive and careful as they are today. Studying your face. The other hand rises on your cheek, your thumb wiping the tear in the corner of your eye.

"Everything I said that day. It's true. I would never use you. Never. Hate me, blame me, curse me, but please never doubt how I feel for you, and how I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose, do you believe me? Please, I need to know that you believe in me."

You felt your heart soften. The feeling was dubious. You hated Javier. But you wish you could hug him and say that everything would be fine.

You lower your head. Hold his hand more firmly. Your hand goes up to his face, holding his cheek. Javier closes his eyes to your touch.

"Javi, in the end, everyone got a little out of line here. Thank you for going after me. I'm grateful for that. But that's all" your voice fails.

That's not all.

Javier is still holding you.

"Wait" he swallows dry, "you didn't answer me"

"I believe in you. Even if it wasn't true, I always believe in you"

He doesn't want to let you go. You face each other, the two sunk into each other's eyes.

You suffer. He sees it. He suffers. You see.

"Just..." he hesitates. The eyes going down to your lips.

You shake your head when he's getting close to you. Your chest burns.

"You're going to make me suffer" you murmured a little too panting, your eyes filling with tears.

Javier approaches, and kisses your forehead. Time-consuming. Breathing you. Recording your smell.

And then let you go.

TAG: @harriedandharassed

#pedro pascal #narcos #narcos fanfiction #javier pena x y/n #javier pena fluff #javier pena x you #javier pena x reader #javier pena smut #javier pena fanfiction #javier pena imagine #javier pena fic #javier pena narcos #javier peña

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tomorrowxtogether · 1 year

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Tomorrow X Together on the group's new music, proudest moment and go-to Five Guys order

A lot can happen in a year. Just ask Tomorrow X Together. The K-pop group, known as TXT, performed at Lollapalooza in 2022. A year later, the five artists are headlining the festival alongside Grammy winners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Hueningkai, 20, said about the group’s big slot at the iconic Chicago music festival. “It was an honor.”

TXT chatted with USA TODAY shortly after two sold-out shows at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. The group spoke mostly in English, using a translator a few times. TXT’s U.S. tour continues through Memorial Day weekend, with dates at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. And while TXT is traveling across the country performing for thousands of fans, the artists managed to take some time for themselves.“A few days ago we went to SoHo to shop,” Yeonjun, 23, said of the group’s time in New York City. “We went to Central Park and it was such a good place.”Hueningkai added the group stopped by Five Guys where he grabbed a favorite: Bacon cheeseburger and a peanut butter milkshake. Fans of TXT may remember seeing the five performers at the burger chain during a 2019 reality show that documented behind-the-scenes moments with the group.

TXT fans, collectively called “MOA," which stands for “moments of alwaysness,” have driven the group since their inception.“I think they’re our biggest inspiration,” Taehyun, 21, said. “We are fire and they are gasoline.”

When the group debuted in 2019, TXT won Rookie of the Year at the Asia Artist Awards.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity at a meaningful juncture of our journey,” Soobin, 22, said. “I’m proud of that.”

Their latest release, “The Name Chapter: Temptation” dropped in January and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The EP’s lead single was “Sugar Rush Ride,” a dance pop song with a catchy melody. Using such an earworm for the first single was not a coincidence.

youtube

“I think these days there’s short-form, Reels and YouTube Shorts, that’s so important to singers,” Taehyun said. “Making the melody ‘hook-y’ is very important.”

TXT, like BTS, is under Big Hit Music, a subsidiary of HYBE Corporation. And the group believes that the management company has valued working with them.

“I enjoy (Big Hit’s) music style,” Hueningkai said. “They're great at getting us a lot of good opportunities. They're incredible on that front.”

And as far as new music, fans will have to wait. At least, for now.“Our world tour is still ongoing, so for the rest of our tour we’ll make lots of good memories with our ‘MOA,’ " said Beomgyu, 22. “And we’re focusing on coming back with good music and a good new album.”

#txt #tomorrow x together #230524 #article #USA Today #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai

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whumpster-fire · 2 years

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How to Swear Like a Steam Engine (And Other Sentient Locomotive Slang)

If there’s one thing engines enjoy doing, it’s complaining and insulting each other, and they’ve developed their own slang to do it. Phrases like “fusspot,” “cinders and ashes!” and “bossy boiler” are common in the Railway Series, but there are many other terms.

The following list of phrases and expressions are commonly used by engines on American railroads, in particular on the Jefferson Great Divide Railway in the mountain west of the US. Some may be common in Sodor and the rest of Britain as well, others are specific to America. There are other lists on the internet documenting the various IRL slang used by human employees, and a lot of that is used by engines as well, but this is specifically the slang terms that were more or less developed within the locomotive subculture.

All Smoke and No Steam: All show and no substance. A person or engine who talks a good game or puts a lot of effort into appearing to be helpful but can’t back it up. An engine that’s making a huge cloud of smoke and a lot of noise looks impressive but if what’s coming out the smokestack is all smoke and no steam it’s not actually doing any work. Can also mean empty words or promises that won’t be fulfilled in the abstract.

“He’s all smoke and no steam!” = talks a good game, is all hat and no cattle, etc.

“That rule’s all smoke and no steam” can mean a rule isn’t / won’t be enforced, or that it will be enforced but it doesn’t actually make things better and is just a way of looking like something’s being done. E.g. “The new safety regulations are all smoke and no steam, management’s still going to come down harder for being late than for safety violations.”

“Their threats are all smoke and no steam” (when referring to customers/clients/workers) = they complain loudly but they’re not actually going to do anything like stop buying tickets, or ship freight by other means, or quit, or strike.

Amtrash: Derogatory term for Amtrak and its engines, used by freight railroad engines. Amtrak is the USA’s quasi-nationalized long-distance passenger rail network. Most of the track it runs on is owned by other railroads which are freight-only, and there’s quite a bit of resentment between them. See also: Useless Pacific, Nofucks Southern, Satan Fe, All Trains Smell Funny, Borington Northern, Misery Pacific, Criminally Slow and X-pensive, Southern Pathetic, Big Nasty Stupid Fuckers. The US only had its railroads forced into a Get Along T-shirt for like three years and that was during WWI-era, so there are a lot of rivalries between different railroads there.

Ballast Plow: A large truck, especially a flatbed, that stalls at a crossing – because if it gets hit it’s likely to bend around the engine’s front and be dragged down the track instead of getting thrown aside, digging into the embankment and scattering ballast everywhere.

Buckled Rail: A buckled rail (usually happens due to thermal expansion of the track in a heatwave) is at a minimum extremely painful to run over and can often damage engines or rolling stock and derail trains. “I need that like a buckled rail!”

Cattle Cars / Cattle: Derogatory term for a passenger train / passengers, particularly unruly and annoying passengers. Engines aren’t supposed to say this within earshot of passengers (and coaches get offended too).

Cowboy / Car Wrangler / Rodeo Clown: Shunter/switcher engines. Definitely popularized in the American West.

Did you fill your Tender/Bunker from the Ash Pit?: Ash doesn’t burn and would make a mess all over the cab. Basically translates to “Who pissed in your cornflakes?”Can also refer to an engine who has no steam or energy.

“Did you fill your bunker from the ash pit this morning? You’ve done nothing but complain and insult everyone all day!”

“Did you fill your tender from the ash pit today? I might as well be pulling this train by myself!”

Did They Fill Your Tender With Rocks?: Less profane version of the above.

Drink Hard Water: Hard water, i.e. water with lots of mineral content, is not good for a steam engine because mineral deposits (boiler sludge and scale) can accumulate in the boiler and other plumbing and be very uncomfortable / difficult to clean out.

“Go drink hard water!” = Go jump in a lake / go to hell / go fuck yourself. Basically “go somewhere else and have a miserable time while you’re there.”

“I’d rather drink hard water!” or “That’s like drinking hard water!” = Hell No.

Dry Crownsheet: VERY strong expression meaning an engine is tired or frustrated to the breaking point and about to lose their temper. “My crownsheet’s dry” could be compared to “I’m going to blow a fuse” or “Blow my stack” but that doesn’t cover the intensity. The crownsheet is the top of a locomotive’s firebox, and allowing the water level in the boiler to drop low enough that the crownsheet is exposed can cause it to overheat, weaken, and fail, which is a common cause of boiler explosions. If that weren’t bad enough water suddenly being reintroduced to an overheated crown sheet can flash to steam and cause a catastrophic pressure spike. Blowing a fuse means a safety mechanism has activated to prevent catastrophe. A steam locomotive with a dry crownsheet means the safety mechanisms have already failed and is on the verge of a devastating explosion. Used figuratively, means an engine has run out of ability to cope with stress and is one more tiny irritation away from taking it out on whoever’s unlucky enough to have added the proverbial final straw, or just anyone nearby, without regard to consequences for themselves.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault. He rolled into the yard with his crownsheet dry” = He wasn’t angry because of you, he was already angry and something was going to set him off sooner or later.

“Listen, I got a dry crownsheet from my last train. If any of you cars start anything I’m about ready to jump the track into the river and pull you all along with me.”

“Please just get me out of this station! My crownsheet’s about dry and if I have to hear the passengers complaining I don’t think I can take it!”

Find a Scrapyard: This basically means “Kill yourself,” so… not a very nice thing to say.

Fire Me Dry: Basically equivalent to “Fuck me” as an expression of exasperation. If an engine’s fire was lit with no water in the boiler at all, it might not cause an explosion but would still destroy the firebox. Apparently Furness Railway No. 1 was severely damaged and later scrapped due to this.

Flatlanders: Insult used on many mountain railways to make fun of engines and crews from plains regions who aren’t used to running the difficult routes.

“Boy, if those flatlanders think one in one-twenty’s a hill, I can’t wait to see ‘em coming up the pass!”

“They way some of these flatlanders talk you’d think you can’t climb anything over 1% without cog wheels.”

General Sherman, Sherman’s Army, Sherman’s Necktie: Refers to “Sherman’s Neckties,” a tactic of destroying sections of rail by heating them and twisting or bending them until they were unusable. This phrase is pretty much US-specific, and likely originated with engines used in the US Civil War picking up the term from humans, but has spread to subsequent generations of engines who often weren’t taught the historical context and only knew that Sherman was a man who commanded an army and destroyed a lot of railroad track. General Sherman and his army have become almost folkloric figures that various causes of track wear and failure are attributed to, sort of like Jack Frost. Can also refer to incompetent track maintenance / rough and poorly maintained track, or to the crews and vehicles responsible for it. Though they sometimes use the term for an engine who’s particularly hard on the rails or otherwise damages the track.

“That crew really did a General Sherman of a job with these rails.” = Sarcastically saying the maintenance crew made the rails even worse.

“Be careful at that junction, it’s a real Sherman’s Necktie.”

“Ouch! Who laid these ties, General Sherman?”

“That new road-rail’s a real General Sherman. Take any track he’s been over slow or you might break an axle.”

“Hey, General Sherman, try checking a switch is set right before you barge into it.”

“In case you’re wondering why the spur’s been closed all day, General Sherman over here spun his wheels ‘til he damn near hit ballast.” (Diesels in multiple unit operation can occasionally spin their wheels on a stopped train for so long they grind/melt halfway through the rails)

“They ought to put you in a siding and necktie the rails” (similar to “They should lock you up and throw away the key)

“Keep an eye on the track ahead of you: General Sherman’s hard at work on days like this” = a warning given in very hot weather that could cause buckling of the rails.

Getting the Rails Painted: A euphemism for a person or animal being run over by a train. Alternately: “Paint my wheels” or “Paint my pilot.” Obviously no sane engine wants this to happen but some engines use this phrase as gallows humor between each other. Occasionally said to humans who break safety rules by a furious engine.

“What the hell are you doing walking between moving freight cars? You almost painted the rails back there!”

“I heard they got the rails painted at the 58th Street Crossing?” “Yeah. From what I heard, poor guy must’ve been drunk and fell asleep on the tracks. They didn’t say whose train it was but Robbie’s been in the shed all week.”

“Some idiot ducked under the crossing gates on a bike and just about painted my pilot.”

“I got my pilot painted by a herd of deer yesterday. I swear, once they get on the track they must think they’re a train, they just run along it!”

Go Get Your Ash Pan Raked: Removing the ash that collects under an engine’s firebox could be considered the closest steam engine equivalent to using the bathroom, but the connotations aren’t quite the same. Cleaning out the ash pan is a task firemen hate, so telling an engine to get their ash pan raked basically means “Go be someone else’s problem for a while (instead of mine)” Basically translates to "Fuck off."

Hotbox / Hot Axle: A hotbox or hot axle is an overheating axle and/or bearing box, usually on rolling stock but sometimes on engines. “One hot axle stops a train” is a common proverb that means a small missed detail can cause a massive inconvenience or impediment – compare to “For want of a nail” or “One bad apple spoils the barrel.” It doesn’t matter how many cars are on a train, a single hotbox can force the entire thing to stop until the problem is fixed. In slang use, of course, a hotbox can refer to anything small and seemingly irrelevant that manages to cause a disproportionate amount of annoyance, delay, or wasted time. It could be a physical object, a rule or procedure or an event. It is also a common insult: sometimes directed at engines, but more often at people or other vehicles. It basically means “killjoy” or “wet blanket,” with a specific connotation of “You and your opinion aren’t important but you are holding everyone else back / ruining things for everyone by making a ton of noise.” Common examples of hotboxes include an overly officious inspector or manager, a broken down road vehicle blocking a grade crossing, a track maintenance crew that’s working slowly and blocking multiple trains, a small weather event that still sometimes manages to delay everything, or an unruly passenger who causes an entire train to be stopped on their account (or unsuccessfully demands it be).

“Sorry I’m so late. Some drunk hotbox picked a fight with the conductor and the cops had to drag him off the train.”

“Will you quit being such a hot axle? Everyone else is enjoying the roundhouse party, if you don’t like it just sleep outside!”

“They’d better fix those jammed points soon, they’re hotboxing the whole damn yard!” (note: the use of "hotbox" as a verb among engines probably predates the drug usage)

Icicles In My Smokebox: Hyperbolic complaining about cold weather. There are many parts of a steam engine that are susceptible to things freezing where they shouldn’t, such as the feed hoses from the tender, water tanks, and possibly journal boxes and other running gear could feel stiff and numb if the oil gets cold enough. Naturally, when engines are complaining about the cold they’ll claim the hottest parts of them, which have absolutely no chance of freezing while their fire is lit, are freezing. Other variants include “Frost in my flues,” “If they put ice cream in my firebox it wouldn’t melt,” and “Cold enough to freeze your smoke halfway up the stack,” and “So cold a snowman could fire me all day long” (standing next to a firebox door shoveling coal is hot work, if it’s that cold in the cab it’s pretty darn cold)

Idiot Siding: Off the rails, specifically a safety siding where the rails end in a sand or gravel bed, or wherever a train that runs over trap points / catch points / derailers gets sent. These devices intentionally derail an uncontrolled or runaway train to prevent it from obstructing a main line or endangering people further down the track. If a train ends up here either somebody didn’t check the switch alignment, moved when they weren’t supposed to, or lost control of their train, hence the name.

If it gets any hotter my fireman’s gonna be out of a job: Hyperbolic complaining about the weather – implying that the heat of the sun on an engine’s boiler is enough to raise steam without them needing a fire.

In My Cab: Sarcastic way of saying another engine (usually) or a non-crew human is being bossy, or controlling and/or micromanaging, or giving advice on things that are none of their business. Basically meaning “You’re acting like you think you’re my driver.”

“Get out of my cab, I can sort these cars how I want!”

“Manager’s been in my cab all week.”

“Who let you in my cab?”

“Yeah, sure thing. Hey, while you’re up there in my cab, why don’tcha polish my gauges?”

Lionel Lines / Lionels: Derogatory term for narrow-gauge railways and trains, named after the popular brand of toy and model trains. Visitors to the JGD are strongly advised to NOT use this term around the resident standard-gauge engines. They are very protective of their narrow-gauge friends due to certain incidents in the past.

No Ashpan: e.g. “You’ve been running with no ashpan all day” or “He ain’t got no ashpan.” The ash pan is a tray underneath a steam engine’s firebox that collects ash and cinders that fall through the grates. An engine with no ashpan would leave a trail of red-hot cinders everywhere it went, which could be scattered by the wind from a train at speed, starting fires around the track – especially in the dry climate where the JGD is! Basically it means someone leaves a trail of destruction wherever they go. This is a very strong way of calling someone clumsy or incompetent (as in “You fuck up everything you touch”). It can also be used to refer to someone who’s rude, tactless, cruel, or toxic.

Pulling With Your Regulator: Wasting effort, doing more work than you need to. A steam engine’s power can be controlled using the regulator/throttle (reducing available steam pressure / flow rate to the valves) or by using the valve gear control (the “Johnson Bar”) to reduce the amount of time the valves are open. Controlling power and speed using the Johnson Bar (admitting small amounts of high-pressure steam into the cylinders) is more efficient than using the throttle (letting lots of low-pressure steam into the cylinders).

“Sure, you could shunt those cars like that, but you’ll be pulling with your regulator. Those grain hoppers are going out tomorrow morning and you’ll have to get ‘em out from behind everything else.”

Put on a Liquid Diet: A coal-fired or wood-fired steam engine being converted to an oil burner.

Rolling Dumpster: Insulting term for a tender. Not like a slur against tender engines, in fact it’s probably mostly tender engines who use it. E.g. “Why don’t you get that rolling dumpster off that siding and do some work for once?”

Sand in my fire and coal on my wheels: An engine feeling sick, confused, or discombobulated. Ironically oil-fired engines do actually periodically get sand thrown in their fire to clean their tubes out.

Scalding: Yelling at someone, dressing them down, treating them with cruelty. Engines can’t be physically scalded, but they know the meaning from the injuries that escaping steam can cause to humans.

“I’m sick of that stationmaster. He scalded me and my crew for running two minutes behind schedule without even asking why!”

“Geez, ask a simple question, get a scalding.”

“If that switchman isn’t fired tonight, he’ll wish he had been after the scalding I give him next time he see him. Throwing a train onto a siding at that speed could’ve derailed me, not to mention if there’d been a train there!"

Slug: Someone who blindly follows orders with no initiative or independent thought, or a yes-man or toadie. Used by diesels. A slug is an extra motor unit that can be coupled to a diesel-electric engine that draws excess power from it to provide extra traction while shunting, but a slug is not alive in the same way that tenders aren’t alive.

“Oh, company policy says, the rulebook says – quit being such a slug and live a little!”

“Yeah, the guy’s just Bernie’s slug. Always following him around hoping to be noticed. Pathetic.”

Smoke out the Stack: Similar to Water Under the Bridge. Expression meaning something’s in the past and no longer relevant.

“Hey, sorry about this morning.” “Ahh, don’t worry, that’s smoke out the stack."

Squishies: A very rude way of referring to careless yard workers and light road or rail vehicles, as well as people who trespass on tracks.

Sugar in My Fuel Tank: An unpleasant surprise. Originated in petrol-powered vehicles, but spread to diesel locomotives even though sugar in a diesel tank doesn’t really cause that much damage.

Teakettle: Insulting term for steam engines, especially small ones.

Tender-first: Doing something totally wrong, i.e. Ass-backwards. This one translates very literally. A tender engine running backwards can’t see very well and neither can its crew.

This Train’s Leaving. You can be on it, beside it, or under it: Means “My mind is made up. You can either help or leave me alone, but if you get in the way there’s going to be serious trouble.”

Thrown: Throwing a switch is what changing it from one direction to another is called, but when an engine talks about getting thrown it means being switched in an unexpected or unwanted direction, particularly at high speed. Like other types of sentient vehicle engines need a human operator to move with full control, but they also run on rails and cannot “steer.” In essence a train moves in one dimension while a car or boat moves in two and an aircraft moves in three. Even the most free-spirited engines don’t usually truly want the ability to go any which way: they like the certainty and predictability of knowing where moving forward will take them. However, engines do value the limited autonomy they do have. An engine can’t control itself without a driver, but as anyone who’s read the Railway Series will know, it is extremely difficult to move an unwilling engine. Thomas and James had runaway incidents because they were either trying to move without a driver on purpose or didn’t realize there was no one at the controls, and once they had made the choice to let themselves start moving, they couldn’t change the state of their controls by themselves. But an engine won’t move without their consent. Switches are a different matter. An engine is reliant on someone outside the cab to set the points, and being sent down the “wrong track” against their will feels very violating to many engines in a way that being physically pushed or pulled by another vehicle doesn’t. It’s like being manhandled. There is an expectation that switch operators follow the instructions of either an engine, their crew, or the dispatcher or yardmaster who is expected to tell the engine in advance where they are supposed to go. It’s also physically a jarring and unpleasant out-of-control feeling for an engine even when traveling at a safe speed – basically the train equivalent of going up or down a staircase and expecting another step that isn’t there, or suddenly hydroplaning or hitting a patch of ice in a car, or having your feet start to slide out from under you. And it’s often downright dangerous, either because a train is moving too fast for the curve of the switch and is derailed or because it’s sent into a collision on the other track or off the end of a siding (e.g. the Flying Kipper crash). Engines being engines, the term is also used hyperbolically to complain about an abrupt change of routing or scheduling with little warning, e.g. “Well, nobody told us about the special using my regular platform, until the last signal, they just threw me to Platform Five!” or “Today’s ore train was late. Dispatch gave them the tunnel instead of me so they didn’t have to stop going uphill, but I didn’t hear about it until they threw me on the passing siding!” It can also be used figuratively, similar to “thrown off track” or “thrown off,” to describe an unpleasant surprise or failure of communication.

Traveling In Style: Slang for a vehicle, especially a locomotive, being transported on a flatbed.

Tubes in a Twist / Knot: Expression of an engine (or human) being irritated, or feeling sick.

“What’s gt your tubes in a twist this morning?”

“That’ll put a knot in the foreman’s tubes for sure!”

“Are you feeling okay? You look like you’ve got a knot in your tubes!”

Turf Train: Affectionate term for farm tractors pulling multiple trailers or appliances.

Turn Your Grates: Implying that an engine has a buildup of ash on their firebox grates that is preventing their fire from getting enough air – almost always used figuratively to imply the engine’s mind is clogged with useless thoughts or strong emotions that are keeping them from thinking clearly. Or that they’re just being an idiot.

“Turn your grates before you run your mouth” = Think before you speak, in particular about whether you’re coming from a place of emotion or bias.

“Turn your grates and look at the track” = You have your mind on something other than what you’re doing, stop thinking about that and concentrate.

“Your cars are right on Spur 7 like I told you, turn your grates and look again!”

“I know the last diesel who visited was rude, but let’s turn our grates and keep an open mind about the new ones.”

Yoopers and Burlies: These are JGD-specific slang. The railroad connects to two major interstate railroads, Union Pacific and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). At some point some engine heard about the word “Yooper” to describe people from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, decided to start calling engines and employees from Union Pacific this, and the name stuck. “Burlies” are BNSF engines. Prior to the 1995 merge of Burlington Northern and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the term was used for Burlington Northern, but there wasn’t really a term for Santa Fe engines other than “Santas” or “S-Fs.” A few engines tried to get “Reindeer” adopted as a term but it never caught on. Yoopers and Burlies are common on the JGD because both railways have trackage rights on one or more of its major routes.

You Got Your Valve Gear Backwards On the Left Side: Steam locomotives reverse by using their valve gear to change the timing of their valves. If one somehow had its valve gear operating backwards on one side, one cylinder would be trying to go in reverse and the other forward and it wouldn’t get anywhere. Used figuratively to mean “You’re sabotaging yourself” or “You’re the cause of your own problems.” Mostly used by older engines.

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