#and my expectations were almost zero after his latest articles

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

Here are the issues I have with the book. Since it's a lot, I'll try to keep it as short as possible and only mention my biggest problems with it. So this list is not complete and I could write pages about it.

Let me start by saying that a good autobiography (or any book that highlights a real life person) should be balanced. It should not glorify that person or pretend that person is a god and without mistakes. I also have no problem with critizing Ze, because, let's face it, yes he made mistakes and fucked things up in the past and not every war decision or speech or whatever was good or perfect. The point is: the critique should be fair and balanced (this obviously doesn't apply to bad people in general and the books about them; but since Ze isn't a bad person...you get what I want to say). The portrayal of Ze in the book is anything but fair or balanced. Or true, for that matter (unless literally every person in Ze's life and who knows him better, including the Kvartal fam, Olena, Andriy or people like them, have been lying to everyone for decades).

Throughout the whole book Shuster does say that Ze is Ukrainian (and Jewish) but also always tries to paint him as an "Ukrainian Russian" - so Ze is actually Russian despite being a "Ukrainian" (basically using one of Russia's Propaganda lies). Ze is basically a stubborn "Ukrainian" who kind of deserves all the hate and arrogance he gets from "real Russians" during KVN times (and later) because Ze is an insufferable asshole during his KVN times. And that Russian treated Ukrainian (or from other former Soviet Union countries) teams badly (including racist remarks, looking down on them, treating them like slaves, insulting them, not giving them a fair chance,...) teams awfully is, in Ze's case, deserved. Because Ze was oh so focused on always winning - no matter what and the cost.

Speaking of KVN: According to Shuster, Ze was terrible as a person during his first years of stardom. A maniac who only lived for applause and needs it to survive and was willing to do absolutely everything to win and beat other teams. Because, you know, he's so obsessed with winning. To a point were even he gives a flying fuck about the Kvartal team and their members (Shuster basically hints that they all disliked Ze and he was some kind of group dictator who only wanted to work and win all the time and was reckless and took to many risks and almost destroyed everyones lifes). When Shuster finds something positive to write about, he quotes people from Kvartal but what he quotes are just general statements or people saying what KVN was like during the 1990s and early 2000s. The moment Shuster writes about Ze and was he (allegedly) like during this time it's almost only "team members" and "people who knem him" and "classmates" and all that stuff - so anon sources. Or it's just Shuster telling stuff without saying what his source is or him just have feelings and thoughts and drawing conclusions. If people get named they - surprise, surprise - have a lot of times bad things to say about Ze or are people who we never ever have heard of as being part of Ze's life. Btw, it's not very hard to guess who the "team member", who talked the KVN years and adds a lot of negative talk about Ze, is... . Denys (yes, THAT Denys) contributed to the book with pictures, so chances are high he also talked to Shuster. If you ever wondered if the asshole would ever get over the fact that he fucked up and Ze kicked his ass out of the group - well, the answer is no. He now just tries to cash in on Ze. And since we are talking about Denys' obvious contribution to the book - he, once again, gave out private photos. How much we all wanna bet that he, once again, didn't ask for consent?!

Shuster also tries to paint Ze's family in a bad light. The father a tyrann who sacrified his wife's (Mama Ze) health for his job and money. Also rarely being at home and giving a fuck about his son and family. Mama Ze spoiling her child and making him entitled. Both to unloving and hard and more or less making Ze's life a living hell. Also that Ze's family was suddenly rich. Not to mention indirectly questioning the trauma his family had to go through (and Ze talked about in the past) under Stalin and the Nazis and family members that are suddenly alive (despite Ze stating in the past that they were dead). Also, Shuster sees in the childhood and family of Ze a part of the explanation why Ze is such a horrible person today, to stubborn to just give up and end the fight (and all that nonsense) and won't win this war. Because the parents put Ze in all kind of activities without him finishing any of it but letting him believe he can do everything and always demanding excellent perfomance in every aspect of his life (to keep it short). So of cooourse Ze had to grow up into a maniac who can't loose and always continues despite what people may tell him and who needs the constant validation and love from others.

There are also a ton of negative remarks about Ze as father and husband in regard of his own family. Not to mentiont hat a ton of informations are factually not correct. Things like birth dates or dates in general, how and where Ze's family lived (missing important context several times), Ze basically being as awful as his father, Ze not giving a fuck about his families safety during the war (Olena was the voice of reason who protects the poor, poor children because their father just wants them back for egoistic reasons and doesn't care about their safety) or not seeing anything concerning about his sons military obsession and instead fueling it (again, it's the poor poor wife who has to protect the son from the awful father), Ze giving zero fucks about his relationship with Olena right from the start and that poor, poor, poor woman always staying behind and having to go through hell and hate because of Ze's maniac ambitions and facing an unsave future in the early 2000s because Ze was so full of himself and had the biggest ego,... . (reading several parts you would think that this "poor, poor woman" is trapped in some abuse situation or Ze somehow tied her to himself and the whole marriage is fake and there is no love) (also Olena simultaniously romantizing things and her life and Ukraine but also being the only who who sees the truth about Ze or several parts of their lives but, of course, can't tell her terrible husband because bad, bad Ze) Also Shuster indirectly claiming that Ze and Olena lied about their relationship and they didn't date for eight years but for a shorter period of time. Because suddenly Olena also was a part of KVN long before Ze (???) and was essentially just his work buddy and friend for a while and somehow and for whatever reason they ended up in a relationship one day. (Also prepare yourself to read about a new version of the "Basic Instinct" story we never have heard before...and Ze and Olena never said.)

Btw, the way Ze is portrayed during his KVN years is essentially with little variation how he's portrayed in later stages of his life. Including his presidency and the war (I'm not going to write several more paragraphes because I think you get the picture Shuster tries to paint of Ze).

Only one thing about Ze's war portrayal: Shuster swings back and forth between Ze as wanna be dictator who will turn Ukraine into something bad as soon as the war is over (and is already starting with that) and who already makes his own rules and gives zero fucks about people and is only interested in his own fame and people applauding him and all that stuff. And Ze being the worst President ever because the war and the current state of Ukraine (which is, of course, very bad and they are about to collapse and loose and big Russia and winning and blablabla) are somehow also his fault. Yes, Shuster really manages to make Ze (and with that Ukraine) partly guilty.

Throughout the whole book he also, sometimes more obvious sometimes hidden, Shuster portrays Ukraine in the worst way possible. He does mention how "bad" Russia is but somehow justifying it several times or leaving out important facts and, once again, context. Also the portrayal of Putin, especially in comparsion with how he writes about Ze, is a joke.

Oh, and, the "inside look in the bunker" life Shuster used for his marketing campaign and that the claim of the book - yeah, bullshit. It's nothing now and anon and all that stuff. Also, once again, portraying Ze in a bad light. Like, yeah, the first weeks of war affected him but to such a worrying point (according to Shuster) that Ze was actually unfit to rule any longer as President but continued (because, you know, he loves power sooo much...). And now he's the mini dictator of Bankova who is always grumpy and changed into a (an even more) awful person and... .

What can I say at the end?! As mentioned earlier, the book has a ton of fake news and wrong facts. It's incredibly poorly researched - if sources exist at all. A lot of times it's Shuster just sharing his feelings or thougths or conclusions or interpretations or whatever. Or just saying things without context. Or writing stuff without giving sources. And to be honest, in some parts it also feels like that Shuster just made stuff up.

If you have no idea about Ze and his life or know very little - that's not the book to get informed. If you know a bit more about Ze, you will surprisingly often feel that certain parts of "exclusive interviews" or "when I talked with XYZ" are strangely familiar...with interviews we all know from Ze's (and several other people) past...because it is these interviews. Just a lot of times missing context, shortening what was said, adding stuff or giving it a new meaning.

Speaking of using old stuff: Shuster also really used his old articles to include them in the book...to a point where it's basically almost word for word.

Overall, the book is in large parts poorly written (so poorly that you wonder how he became a TIME journalist in the first place).

In the end, you probably haven't learned anything new or interesting about Ze, his life, the war or Ukraine. When we talk about Ze, I may have read one, maybe two new things I haven't read before (but questioning both of them and will do research if they are true or just made up by Shuster). It's over 300 sites of wasted paper and ink. I know articles who did a better job than this "book". It's a waste of time and money. And in the end it's a Pro-Russia Propaganda book, trying to undermine the support for Ukraine and hurt Ze and his image (as well as Ukraine's). Shuster tries to be subtle at his try to do this but he isn't not. He tries to come off as critical thinker who wants to portray a balanced picture of Ze and also writes about the sides no one dares to talk about. But nothing about this is balanced. It's just 300+ sites of trashing Ze and backstabbing him and using every possible way. Same applies to Ukraine.

.

#thanks anon!!! #HOLY FUCKING SHIT #😱😨😰 #im actually so shocked right now #if this is really the book than this is basically shuster trying to destruct ze and ukraine #ze and olena as well as his kvartal fam probably have better things to do right now but if this book has that many false informations... #...i hope someone at some point starts a law suit #im so shocked about what i just read #i didnt expect much from the book since shuster changed so many things about it #and my expectations were almost zero after his latest articles #but thats...something... #denys being part of that?! i probably should be shocked but after the le monde (?) thing im not really... #also read online that people think people close to poroshenko or other political opponents of ze as well as ares-asshole and people like... #...that are shusters sources #i agree with anon that a “balanced” look at a person is always good in suck a book #but also agree with anon that there is nothing balancing if that is zes portrayal #also agree with anon if this is zes portrayal than something really doesnt match up with what his friends family olena and people close... #...to him of from his life said about him since forever #i think its also highly suspicious that before all that (or presidency if you want to go further back) no one could say a bad word about hi #quite the contrary actually #but suddenly everyone thinks badly about him and hates him and ze is such an awful person and all that stuff #and using already existing interviews and his articles and pretend its exlucive and said it to him and its something new???? thats very wil

[stormkrigeren]

Whumptober Day 4!

Link to the Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34210837/chapters/85303615

Title: Hostage - Clark

Prompt: No. 4 ‘Trust Fall’ - “Do you trust me?”, taken hostage, pushed

Trigger Warnings: threats

Word Count: 1763

Dinner-dates with Lois were always nice - good food, stimulating conversation, and excellent company were all a man could ask for, and she certainly made it interesting. Tonight they had picked out a local Italian restaurant in the university district and talked about… well, everything. How his mom was doing, what books the other was currently reading, the subway construction, Clark’s latest article, Lois’ most recent investigation - drug smugglers bringing in goods from Gotham, of all things - and whether lasagna was better with red sauce or alfredo. The discussion moved towards housing prices after Black Zero over a shared dessert of cannolis, and developed into a playful debate over whether the high taxi fare was worth it considering that it was twice as fast as the subway when they finally walked out of the restaurant.

Lois’ apartment wasn’t too far away and the weather was good, so they opted to walk hand-in-hand, simply enjoying each other’s company while they explained whatever articles they were currently working on. Clark was just beginning a short series assigned to him by Perry on recent changes made to libraries in the district and what sort of effects the changes might have on schools and poorer neighborhoods - a bit fluffy, not necessarily investigative but enough to get his wheels turning as he fit all the pieces together. Some of the Metropolis city council members were recommending closing the libraries a bit earlier in the afternoon, which Clark - bookish nerd that he was - was strongly against, and he proceeded to rattle off a list of statistics and arguments that pointed out the issue with shortening library hours while Lois bounced the ideas right back at him with a bit of journalistic review. She herself was currently in the thick of a story revolving around a smuggling ring that was gradually importing narcotics and other illegal items into Metropolis - from what she could tell, the drugs were coming from all over but a majority were ferried over from Gotham. Lois explained in a low voice as they walked that a tentative lead had pointed her towards Mal Sharpe, the owner of a few small businesses in the downtown of both cities, who seemed to have his hands in many pies… including drug trafficking. There was a low-priority warrant out for Mal’s arrest, but that warrant would soon be at the top of everyone’s list if Lois had anything to say about it.

Clark grinned at that, knowing full well that with his girlfriend on the case, it was sure to be resolved within the week. Gently steering the topic towards where they should go for dinner next week, he looped an arm around her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her cheek just as Lois turned to do the same. But instead of her arms slipping beneath his open coat to pull him close, Clark instead felt a sharp tug on his shirt collar, abruptly ending the kiss as it was followed by a kick to the back of his knees.

He hardly felt the blow, but it still caught him by surprise and Clark inwardly cursed when he realized that he had been so focused on Lois, he hadn’t noticed the two men sneaking up behind them - and when one of them pulled out a gun to press it against his head, Clark reconsidered fighting back and silently complied when he was once again shoved to his knees.

Lois’ eyes widened at the sight of the two criminals shoving her boyfriend to the ground, then narrowed dangerously when she spotted the gun in one’s hand and the knife in the other’s.

“What do you want?” she asked slowly, gaze flitting between the knife now pointed at her - a sure threat of what would happen if she screamed for help - and Clark calmly putting his hands on his head in surrender as they waited to be told to hand over their wallets. They both knew that a gun against Clark’s head wouldn’t do him a bit of harm, but their captors didn’t know that and if this was just your common-or-garden hold-up, they would simply comply and Superman or the police could get back whatever was stolen as soon as they were let go. But therein lay the issue: Lois was getting the feeling that this wasn’t just a robbery. It, unfortunately, looked an awful lot like a goddamned hostage situation, and her suspicions were only confirmed when the man holding the knife spoke up.

“Boss heard that you were sticking your nose where it isn’t wanted, writing a story about some stuff he brought over from Gotham,” he answered, “So Boss has decided to send you a very clear message: drop the story, or your boyfriend here is gonna go to bed tonight in a body bag.”

Clark winced as the gun was shoved against his skull, emphasizing his captors’ point, but Lois, instead of looking downright terrified, happened to look downright pissed.

“Alright, you’re Mal’s boys, aren’t you? I imagine that he’ll be pretty pissed when he hears that your hostage plan fell through.”

One look at her face, and Clark’s already-a-bit-dismayed spirits dropped - she was going to try something, and he wasn’t sure if it would end well. He knew for a fact that the gun currently pressed against his temple wouldn’t do him much harm, but it was still a little nerve-wracking to keep up the act of being scared while actually, genuinely scared and making sure said gun wasn’t pointed at Lois.

Clark was… well, Clark was a farmboy. He had grown up in the middle of Kansas where just about everyone’s pa owned a rifle of some sort, so it wasn’t as if he had never seen a gun before, it was just that he wasn’t used to having one pointed at him. Duck season had made him plenty familiar with what guns could do, and even though he knew it couldn’t hurt him, that did not mean that he was completely comfortable with it and to be perfectly honest, it made him just a little bit sick to his stomach.

“It ain’t gonna fall through,” one of Clark’s captors glowered suspiciously, breaking his train of thought, and Lois almost snorted in derision at the claim, hands on her hips as she snarled.

“Look, dumbass, anyone who's read the Daily Planet knows the sort of people I go after, and they also know that said people almost always end up behind bars. I’m not your cocky, everyday journalist who happened to dig up some dirt on your operation - nah, I’m ‘Mad Dog’ Lane, Pulitzer Prize investigator, queen of the front page - and if you think pointing a gun at my boyfriend’s head will get me to drop a story once I’ve got it in my teeth, than you’d better fucking think again!”

Clark felt both men stiffen behind him, clearly rethinking having messed with someone as well-known as Lois, but their fear of Boss Mal’s wrath was just the littlest bit stronger than that of a tall red-headed journalist cussing them out.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Lane,” the man with the knife said decidedly, working up the courage to take a threatening step towards her, “But if you don’t want to do this here, we could easily take both of you along and get this whole thing cleared up in front of the Bo-”

Clark should have expected her to know at least some basic self-defense moves, considering her history of going into dangerous warzones and offices only to walk right back out with the info she wanted and a few bruises on her otherwise flawless figure, but seeing her in action was admittedly a little surprising. Lois Joanne Lane was an army brat through and through, so it was honestly no trouble to knock the knife out his grip with a simple wrist chop and the same ferocious elegance she used to mix her coffee. A moment later, she had kicked the weapon out of the man’s reach, sending it skittering across the asphalt, and promptly disabled her would-be attacker with a sharp knee to the crotch.

While his friend was groaning on the ground, the man holding Clark hostage fumbled with his gun, suddenly caught off-guard and having to decide between threatening his captive and pointing the weapon at Lois before Clark made the decision for him. Remembering the few moves Darcie had managed to drill into his head during one of her failed attempts to teach him the proper way to hit someone, he shoved his elbow back to make contact with the man’s nose, careful to limit the amount of force he used so that the bone was only broken and not the entire face. It worked better than he had expected, and before he knew it, both of the attackers were lying on the ground, one squirming uncomfortably and the other trying to stem the flow of blood suddenly rushing from his nose.

Clark hardly noticed their screaming as he jumped to his feet, absently rubbing the spot where the gun had been pressed against his head as he caught Lois’ arm to ask, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” she all but laughed, her good mood not disturbed one bit by the whole situation, “Damn, this will make for an excellent follow-up piece to the article on Mal and his gang’s activities. What about you, babe - are you feeling okay?”

“Me? Yeah… I’m fine too,” he answered slowly, even though it was the farthest thing from the truth. Having a gun to his head had shaken him up more than a little, despite the fact that they both knew it couldn’t do him any harm.

It’d been frightening, knowing that both him and Lois were in danger and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it, yet her ecstatic mood - over a hostage situation, he had to remind himself - was more than a little infectious, and he was already feeling a little bit better by the time she had managed to get ahold of the police to report the incident. By the time they had given their statements to the two officers that arrived to the scene and finally reached Lois’ apartment, his anxiety was finally beginning to lose its clenching hold around his lungs and a hot cup of tea diminished it further - it was only when his hands finally stopped shaking that the hilarity of the whole situation finally dawned on him. Clark couldn’t wait to see Darcie’s face when she heard.

#whumptober2021 #no.4 #taken hostage #DCEU #Clark Kent #fic #threats tw #Red Capes #Lois Lane #Superman

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 8

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 6,473

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

It was dawning on me that I hadn’t fully thought this through.

This whole “having friends” thing.

There were so many factors I hadn’t even considered. Like, once you’ve made a new friend…

...what the frick are you supposed to do with them?

One would think I’d have this figured out by now. After all, I was friends with Rayne, wasn’t I? But Rayne was different. There hadn’t really been much to think about there, we’d just sorta clicked. Besides, we’d met when we were children - a time when the hot topics to talk about had been our favorite toys to play with or which of the boys had cooties or our latest masterpieces made during Arts and Crafts time involving gluing popsicle sticks and sequins to pine cones. You know, kid stuff.

But now I was an adult. An adult who had just made new adult friends who probably expected adult conversations.

And unfortunately I just didn’t think cooties and sequins were going to cut it anymore.

Which is why I could now be found on this fine Friday afternoon shift at the Ice Palace having borrowed Kristoff’s phone, making use of the current lull in customer traffic to carry out some important research. And how, one might wonder, was this important research being gathered?

By googling the phrase “how to friendship.”

Genius, I know.

Thousands of articles and tutorials had come back in the search results, not all of them useful, but I’d landed on a couple that could maybe help a little bit. I gnawed on my lower lip as my eyes quickly scanned over the words. Then with a nod, I used a pen to transcribe the cliff notes version over to my palm, adding on to the ever growing list of useful tidbits that could now be found there.

Call it my Chit-Chat Cheat Sheet. That’s right, folks, you’re witnessing a crucial life hack in the making. This handy-dandy little list was going to be my one-stop shop to social butterfly success. Look out, new pals of mine, you were about to be friended so hard. I was going to friend your butts off! This was-

“Hey, I also like to doodle on my hand whenever I’m bored outta m-”

With a half gasp, half yelp, I jolted up straight, wide eyes discovering Lea now standing on the other side of the counter from me. He brought up his hands, “Woah now, sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.”

My own hand flew up to cover my pounding heart as I breathed out and shook my head. “No. No, it’s fine, I should’ve been paying more-” My fingers flexed, closing around empty air. My brow furrowed. “Wait…” Where did my-? Did I drop it? “...I had a pen.”

It suddenly blurred down from up above to crash land into the countertop, making us both flinch and jerk back slightly.

Oh. Heh. There it was.

“Sorry about that,” I gave a weak laugh, retrieving the writing implement and giving it a little waggle as I held it up. “I… guess I still got a few kinks to work out before I can successfully launch the first unmanned pencraft into orbit.”

...wow, did that stupid joke really just come out of me?

Must. Resist. Urge. To. Wince.

The corners of his eyes crinkled. “Might I suggest waiting for a day when the weather forecast reports zero chance of ceiling?” he pointed up.

I nodded, “Good note. Excellent observation. Prime example of one of my kinks.” I blanched, then hastily stammered, “I mean the… one of the kinks that, uh, needs to be, er… worked... out.”

Ugh, what’s wrong with me? Why am I like this?

This is why I needed the list.

...crud! The list! My eyes darted to my palm where it was scrawled in plain view for all the world to bear witness. Then my gaze flicked to Lea, looking at me with an eyebrow cocked and one side of his lips turned up. Then I balled my fist and jammed it behind my back.

Had he seen?

He mustn’t know about my secret hacks!

That’s when I spotted it. Kristoff’s phone. Still on the counter between us. Still open to the WikiHow I’d been taking notes from. My other hand shot out and swatted the device away, sending it slamming into the wall on my right before clattering to the ground.

Oopsie. Sorry Kristoff!

Luckily he was currently out and about taking his ten. He’d never have to know. This could just be our little secret between the phone and me.

“Shit, what’d that poor thing ever do to you?”

...rather, between the phone, me, and Lea.

What had it done to me, he asks? It’d tried to rat me out, that’s what!

My eyes darted to one side. “...let’s just say the crime fits the punishment.”

Snitches get stitches.

He glanced to where the abused phone still lay abandoned on the tiled floor, then snorted and crossed his arms with a shake of his head, “If you say so.”

Alright, so this exchange so far? Could be going better. Not exactly textbook. Lot of room for improvement. But that was okay because (ba-dum ba-dum!) Chit-Chat Cheat Sheet to the rescue! It could salvage any social catastrophe! Let’s just watch it work its magic, shall we?

I shifted to bring my hand out in front of me once more, casually resting my palm face down against the countertop. Then I lifted it just barely enough to furtively peek at the first couple lines I’d written there.

Start with a warm, friendly greeting. Examples include…

I locked eyes with him. “Whassup.”

He blinked. “Um… hi?”

Nailed it.

Alright, now that a proper line of communication had officially been established in the most cordial manner, on to the next step: small talk. After sneaking another quick look at my notes, I pressed my hand back down again and recited the words I’d just glanced at, “So nice weather we’re having, huh? At least it’s not raining like last week.”

This list was a god send. Pure gold.

He squinted upward, scratching the back of his head. “Hasn’t it been sunny for months now?”

...fudge.

Abort, captain, abort! The first one was a dud! Quickly, lock and load the second one and fire!

I anxiously checked my palm again and latched onto the next line, reading out, “That’s an awesome shirt you’re wearing!”

He frowned down at it, eyebrows knitting together. “You mean my work polo? Not… really, but okay.”

Aaaaaaaand another swing and a miss!

Oh wise and powerful Chit-Chat Cheatsheet, why hast thou forsaken me here, now, in my greatest hour of need? Me, your most devout and faithful of followers? Me, who loved and worshipped you so?

Feeling my panic spiking, I looked to my hand again to find one more line I had yet to try. One final chance for salvation. This was it. My ace in the hole. List, don’t fail me now!

Desperate, I didn’t even register the words as my eyes snatched them from my palm, handed them off to my brain that then shoved them down the pipeline to my mouth which proceeded to blurt out verbatim, “So what do you do in your flamingo?”

...the list had failed me.

“I’m sorry, what does who do in the what and where now?”

And we’re talking like… epic failure.

I was just now realizing this was the one I’d been in the middle of jotting down when Lea had startled me. So chances were good that that sloppy mess of a scribble at the end of the sentence? Wasn’t actually the word flamingo.

At least, I hoped it wasn’t.

Whatever. I give up.

Puffing out a sigh as I pinched the bridge of my nose, I muttered, “You know what, forget it. I’m just… having a bit of a malfunction. One of those days, I guess.”

“Oh,” he chuckled, “no worries! Those come up all the time working customer service, so I totally get it.”

This guy was too nice. Here I was, spouting off nonsense like a gibbering baboon and he was just brushing it off like it was no big deal. Like it was an everyday occurrence for a person to ask him if he did lord only knows what to a neon pink bird. I should get on with assisting him with whatever he’d come over here for. It was the least I could do in exchange for him putting up with the trainwreck that was me. Taking a deep breath and putting on a smile, I asked, “So what can I help you with today?”

He returned the smile, “Take a wild guess.”

I glanced around my work space. “Ice cream?”

“Got it in one,” his thumb went up. “I’m a total addict by the way, so you’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

“I’m sure your dentist says the same thing,” I deadpanned, pressing my finger to a button on the cash register. “Sea Salt, right?”

“You’re on a roll today!”

My grin twitched wider. He was so much better at this small talk thing than me. “How would you like it?”

“I like my ice cream like I like my women: swirly and in a waffle cone,” he winked, tossing out some finger guns.

...I take that back, this dork was just as clueless as I was. Had to be if he thought that was funny.

I merely arched an eyebrow at him as the silence stretched. Then he pouted, “Aw c’mon, kid, these are the jokes! Don’t leave me hanging here.”

I snorted, tapping a couple more keys on the register. “Sorry. It’s just that after the other day, I would have thought your answer would’ve been more along the lines of ‘frozen solid and on a stick.’”

“Oo, dirty,” he chirped, his eyebrows bouncing.

Welp. That’d teach me for trying to play along.

“But no,” he waved off, “that was more out of necessity. Only the ice cream bars can survive the long trip up the clocktower without melting first. Otherwise, give me creamy, fluffy, and with a twist any day!”

“Duly noted. Just a sec.” I turned, plucking one of the cones off the top of the stack as I walked past, approaching the soft serve/milkshake machine.

Ah, my old nemesis. We meet again. One could almost hear the Old West face-off tune whistling in the background. But thankfully, there would be no drawing of pistols this day. 

I liked to think there was a grudging, mutual respect between us now.

Being super mindful of the Anger Button, I switched it to the appropriate flavor and pulled down on the lever. As I moved the cone in small circles while it slowly filled with blue, sugary goop, I heard Lea ask, “Snow Bear?”

I looked back at him, a crease forming between my eyebrows as I tipped my head to one side.

...what’d he just call me?

He was hunched forward now, elbow on the countertop and chin propped in hand, fingers drumming against his cheek as he squinted at me with a frown. Then shook his head, “Nah, too healthy, even for a goody-goody like you. Tofu has no business being anywhere near ice cream.”

Then it clicked. Snow Bear was one of the flavors we offered.

“Big Bad Pete?” he pursed his lips to one side, then crinkled his nose. “Nope. Too nutty. Thinking you like a crunch, just not that kind.”

I returned my attention to the machine, making sure the cone wasn’t too top heavy. “Are you… trying to guess the type of ice cream I like?”

“Yup! Since Sea Salt clearly wasn’t your thing.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that.” I released the lever, completing the stacking spiral with a nice little curl at the top and turning to face him once more. “But it is… shall we say, an acquired taste?”

Lea smirked and scoffed, “Blasphemy! Don’t worry though, I won’t judge you too harshly for your dirty, heathen tastes.”

“You’re too kind,” I rolled my eyes as I handed him his purchase.

Taking it in one hand, he used the other to give me the munny due. “Consider it my one good deed for the century. It’s a doozy though. I’m expecting my sainthood any day now.”  He then lapped off a big blue chunk as he eyed me thoughtfully. “Donald Fizz maybe?” Then he pulled a face with another shake of his head, “Nu uh, too close to Sea Salt.”

“If you really want to know that badly, it’s-”

“Buh buh buh,” he pressed a finger to my lips, cutting me off. “Yeesh, don’t spoil my fun like that, let me guess! This is like my mutant power, I can always tell a person’s fave ice cream.” He narrowed his eyes on me as he took another bite, licking some of it off from the corner of his mouth. “You’re a tough read though. Gonna need more time, gather more intel.” A grin broke out again, “But I do oh so love a challenge.” Then he snapped his fingers, “What about-”

“Elsa?!” 

My blood ran cold at the voice that cried out from across the food court.

A very, very familiar voice.

One I had not expected to hear again for a while yet and certainly not here, at the Dusk Town Center mall, at my sanctuary of all places.

Lea glanced over his shoulder, looking for who’d interrupted him before yelping and leaping out of the way so as not to become roadkill to an auburn and blue blur zooming straight for me. It crashed up against the other side of the counter, lashed its limbs out over the top and seized me in its vice-like grip, yanking me forward into a bone-crushing embrace and squeezing the absolute life out of me as it once more shouted, “Elsa! I found you! At last, I found you!”

Or rather… not it, but her.

Anna Fryse.

My sister.

...who, as I was just now discovering, might also be part boa constrictor. Good lord, this girl did not know her own strength!

“Anna,” I wheezed, feebly patting at her elbow. An extraordinary feat, given that her bear hug was practically super gluing my arms to my sides. “Can’t. Breathe.”

“You’re okay! I was so worried! I thought you might be hurt or trapped or drugged or kidnapped or amnesiad or dead or, or, or- but you’re not! You’re really, really not! You’re alive!” 

“Won’t be for much longer if you don’t let go,” I croaked out, starting to see spots. Finally she released me and I gasped for breath. Ah, oxygen. Beautiful, life giving oxygen. I coughed, “Did you seriously just use ‘amnesia’ as a verb?”

Completely ignoring my question, her hands still grasped tightly at my shoulders as sharp, blue eyes set in a freckled face looked me over. Her red hair was done in pigtail braids and she was in a dark cobalt sundress with a black bodice.

Then she opened her mouth.

“Woah, Elsa! You look different! It’s a good different! I love everything about it!” She grabbed me by the cheeks, “Your face, the outfit, that hat - oh gosh, that hat! I never thought I’d see you in a friggin’ baseball cap! It’s too friggin’ cute! And a ponytail! How many times have I said you’d look totes adorbs in a ponytail, and you know what? Told you so! And- oh. My. Gawd!” She bellyflopped onto the countertop, pointing down, “I just saw the mini skirt! Friggin’ you! In a friggin’ mini skirt! Damn girl, you hawt!” She fell back onto her feet once more, looking up at our sign, “And this place! What is this place? This place is amazing! Do you work here? Please, please, please tell me you work here! Oh my gawd, you do! You have a friggin’ job! What do you do? How much do you make? Do you pay taxes? Do you pay rent? Do you have a 401k? What is a 401k?” She pointed at an ice cream spade, “What’s this thingie do?” Next at the soft serve/milkshake machine, “How does that work?” Up at a dangling Sven plushie. “What’s up with all the friggin’ deers?” Then at Lea standing off to one side, slowly eating his ice cream and watching on with one curious eyebrow quirked. “Who’s the hottie with a body?” She started to wave, calling out, “Hello, Mr Hottie-With-A-Bo-”

“Anna!” I hissed, cheeks roasting as I snatched her hand back down. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Lea returning her wave with a tiny one of his own, to which I shot him a dull stare. He just grinned and shrugged. Shaking my head, I asked him, “Could you, uh… would you mind giving us a minute alone? Please?”

“Sure, no problem. I should be getting back to work anyhow. Laters, El!”

...El? Who’s El?

“Nice meeting ya, El’s friend!” he gave a two finger salute to Anna with a wink before sauntering off.

Huh. Guess that’d make me El. I’d earned a nickname. Had our friendship leveled up? Wow, I was so good at this friends thing! Without even understanding it, I had somehow already mastered it.

Bravo, me!

Anna watched him go, then turned back to me with a low whistle. “Okay, seriously, who was the sexpot and please, for the love that is all that is good and foxy, tell me you are tapping that.”

“Oh my god, Anna!” I facepalmed. I wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. “What are you even doing here?”

“I told you already, I was worried!”

My forehead wrinkled. “But you knew I wasn’t abducted or anything, you were the one who helped me run away. Besides, didn’t you receive my text telling you I was okay?”

“Yes, weeks after you disappeared!” She smacked me in the arm with a glare. “You could have contacted me sooner, brat! And what the frick was up with your stupid text?!”

“Stupid...? What was wrong with it?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry, don’t come looking for me,” she flatly recited the words from my message before looking away with a huff. “Please, have you never seen any kidnap movie in the history of like friggin’ ever? That’s like classic code for ‘help me, help me, I’ve been taken hostage and am being forced to tell you these things under duress.’”

“Ugh, the way your mind works,” I grumbled, massaging one temple. “How did you even find me anyway?”

Anna snorted. “What, you think just cuz you blocked my number that I wouldn’t be able to track you down? Sis, please, we live in the golden age of technology. Trust me, I have my ways. There’s a lot a girl can do with just a phone number and this little thing called the internet.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but then froze with a gasp as another thought struck me and nearly stopped my heart. My eyes darted about, searching the food court while I fidgeted with my fingers. “Wait… oh god, does… do Mother and Father… do they know? Are they also here? Did you tell-”

She gently shushed me, reaching over the countertop to rub my arm. “Sis, Sis, it’s okay, they’re not here, don’t stress! I did tell them I got the text from you so they’d know you’re okay, but I didn’t tell them I’d figured out where you were. They don’t know that I came here looking for you. You don’t have to talk to them until you’re ready.”

“Oh thank god,” I sighed, slumping against the counter. That… was a talk I was in no way prepared for. Not just yet. I gnawed on my lower lip for a second, glancing back up at Anna. “What about-”

“He’s fine too,” she said softly.

I frowned. “...really?”

Her face pinched into a tiny grimace. “I mean, he’s not great. He got dumped at the altar, what do you think? But he’s a big boy, he’ll survive.”

Well that was a load off my mind.

Not. 

“Ugh, I feel terrible,” I buried my face in my hands. Then I peeked out between my fingers at her. “Could you… I don’t know… maybe do damage control with him for me or something?”

“Was already on it,” she beamed with a thumbs up. “But enough about all that, gah, so friggin’ depressing! I wanna hear more about you and your new life and this whole job thing and that redheaded Hunky McHunkface and all that’s happened to you since you flew the coop! Tell me everything!”

A tiny smile crept up onto my lips. I knew I’d been missing my little sister, but it was only in that moment... seeing her here in front of me, hearing her voice again... that I was realizing just how much. “I’d actually really like that. But uh…” I looked past her, noticing more shoppers wondering about amongst those tables out there now than there had been just moments ago, with even more trickling in by the second. “Looks like we’re about to get our afternoon rush, so it’s not really the best time.”

Anna tapped her chin with a low hum before her face lit back up. “Are you free tonight?”

My head tilted to the left. “I’m working closing, but I should be out of here by nine I think.”

“Perfect! Let’s do dinner! Then we can properly celebrate your new found freedom as you tell me all about it! Whaddya say? Pleeeeease?” Puppy dog eyes initiated.

I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, okay. That sounds nice.”

“Yay!” she bounced on her heels, rapidly clapping her hands together with a tiny squeal. “Ahhhh! Can’t wait! Okay, you said nine, right? Right! I’ll be waiting in my car right outside those doors over there, got it? Good! I’ll leave you to it then!” Then she was snatching me into another hug over the countertop and planting a kiss on my cheek with a loud mwah! “Love ya, Sis! See you then!”

And just like that, Typhoon Anna whooshed off once again, disappearing into the ever growing crowd.

Not a second later, I heard the door open behind me. “Hey, I’m back, sorry it ran a little long, I- hey, why’s my phone on the floor?”

I winced.

Heh… woops.

One tiny detail may have slipped my mind in all the mayhem that had been the last ten minutes.

I turned to see Kristoff stooping down to pick it up before he graced me with a scowl.  I chuckled sheepishly, “So… funny story…”

I got the feeling Kristoff hadn’t found my story all that amusing.

Don’t think he’d found it particularly believable either.

Not sure why. I mean, wasn’t it totally plausible that a strong gust of wind had blasted through the entire mall, causing one of the bigger reindeer dolls to fly off its hook and rocket straight into my hands, knocking his phone free from my grasp and sending it slamming into a wall where I had then left it for fear that moving it could cause more damage and trauma to the poor little device that had already been through so much?

No? Not plausible? Not even remotely or in the slightest?

Drat.

I'd never really been good at the whole lying thing.

But it'd been the best I could come up with on the spot. I mean, I wasn’t about to tell him the truth about how I was a total, pathetic dunce when it came to making friends which in turn caused me to do idiotic things like fling other’s people’s fragile property at hard surfaces.

In any case, Kristoff and I were currently not on speaking terms.

At least, I’m pretty sure we weren’t. That was my best guess anyway, given he hadn’t spoken two words to me since I’d spun my little tale.

Eh, he’d get over it.

A couple hours of the silent treatment later and he’d clocked out without so much as a goodbye. Then a few more hours brought me to the here and now of closing time. I was almost done wrapping everything up, just needed to finish wiping down all the surfaces. Having already ensured the inside of the little shop was pristine, I’d stepped out to be on the food court side of the counter, using a cloth to remove any fingerprints and other smudges that’d been left by customers on the display glass.

As I finished cleaning the last of it, I exhaled heavily and straightened up, planting my hands on my hips as I inspected my work. Nodding in approval at a job well done, I then looked to the clock on the wall to see that it was a quarter to nine. Perfect. Plenty of time to grab my things and lock up before heading out to meet Anna. Stretching my back to loosen some of the stiffness that had settled in there, I then took a quick glance over my shoulder.

It really should come as a shock to no one at this point that Lea could once again be spotted across the way from me. I was beginning to think the people in charge of scheduling our shifts met up for weekly tea and crumpets or something while they made sure the hours the two of us worked almost always lined up exactly. What nefarious scheme was being cooked up by the upper management of our two separate companies? What could they possibly hope to gain by it? Only time would tell.

In any case, he too looked to be almost done with all of his closing tasks. He was currently out in the food court area as well, using a broom to sweep up the area in front of Pizza Planet. Or so I’m sure the intent had been.

Except... he wasn’t really so much in front of the pizzeria as he was on top of one of the tables.

And it wasn’t so much a broom as it was an impromptu mic.

And he wasn’t so much sweeping as he was in his own little world, enthusiastically lip-syncing and dancing away to the song blasting out of his phone in the back pocket of his pants. I Believe In A Thing Called Love by the Darkness, if the wild electric guitar, high falsetto vocals, and cheesy lyrics were anything to go off of.

Wow, he really was a complete dork.

A splutter of a laugh burst out of me before I was able to clamp both my hands over my mouth in a vain effort to stop it.

I’m not sure how he heard me over all that explosive glam rock, but it seemed he did somehow for his head suddenly jerked in my direction. Then he beamed and started hopping across all the tabletops towards me. That couldn’t be sanitary. His feet at last touched ground in front of the Ice Palace as he crouched low before springing back up into a half-turn, landing himself in a seat atop the counter right between the ice cream display case and a cash register.

Still directing that ear-to-ear smile my way, he pulled his phone out long enough to hit pause on his music. “So whadja think? Do I put on one hell of a show or what?” 

Oh dear. Not only a dork but no shame to boot. A deadly combo, that.

I snorted, eyes on the glass once more as I went back to scrubbing it for the now nonexistent spots. “For sure. You should hurry up and get on becoming a bigtime rock star already.”

Broom balanced on the floor between his knees, he folded his hands over the handle point and rested his chin on his knuckles. “Nah, all that fame and fortune I’m guaranteed to get cuz I’m so loveable, awesome, amazing and cool would go straight to my head.”

I bit back a grin. “Because you’re so modest now.”

“Oh yeah, I’m humble as fuck!” he declared brightly. Then he shrugged and sighed, “Guess I’m just kinda perfection that way.”

My eyelids drooped. “...clearly.”

“So,” he lifted his head off its perch, freeing up one hand to scratch behind his ear, “everything okay? Between you and your sister, I mean.”

I looked at him, blinking a couple times. “How’d you know she‘s my sister?”

“You two got the same nose,” he smirked, tapping a finger to the side of his. “But seriously, you all good? She seemed pretty frantic.”

“Oh, that’s just Anna for you. The Looney Toons Tasmanian Devil personified. Pretty sure she doesn’t even know the meaning of the word ‘calm.’ But no, she’s fine. We’re good.”

“Glad to hear it!” A pause. “So…” he said again, this time stretching the word out as he bounced the broom handle back and forth between his palms now. “...you eat, right?”

Hand still absently running the cloth along the glass, I raised an eyebrow at him. What kind of question was that? “...I have been known to on occasion, yes.”

“Good. Any dinner plans tonight?”

I froze, eyes round.

Oh.

...was he asking what I think he was asking? I think he was asking what I think he was asking. Why would he ask that?! Wait... oh no… did he think that I was thinking that he should ask what I think he was asking? Because if that’s what he thought I was thinking, I most certainly was not thinking that!  Not even close! Unless… did this here right now count as me thinking that?

...hold up, now I’m confused... what was I thinking again?

Oh that’s right.

I was thinking about him.

Asking.

Me.

Out.

Which I was so not ready for! I mean come on, I had just gotten out of a long term relationship! What was that rule? The one about how long after a breakup before you should start dating again? Something about waiting at least thirty minutes before getting back in the - 

Wait no, that had to do with eating and pools…

Whatever, gah! However much time it’s supposed to be, pretty sure it’s more than just a few weeks if you’d not only been together for years, but also frigging engaged to your ex! 

Current relationship status aside, let’s just be real here... I’m not sure if this was something I would ever be ready for. Hello, Mayor of Hermit Island here! They throw hermit parades in my honor. Those parades have zero spectators and consist of one (1) person marching, that person being me, all alone, by myself, because it’s Hermit Island and kind of the whole point! It was sort of a miracle I’d ever started dating in the first place, much less wound up with a fiancé of all things! When you think about it, and I mean really think about it… how the frick had that even happened?! I’d been there, heck, I’d lived it and even I was still scratching my head over that one. I mean, how had I ever-

“Hey now, what’s with the-?” Lea’s words broke me out of the word jumble that was my brain and my eyes darted over to him. His furrowed brow suddenly went slack and he blinked, heading rocking back. “Hold on, you don’t think that I- That I’m asking you out on a- No! God no! No, no, no, that’s not what this is!” 

Oh thank goodness!

Wait… how did he know that’s what I’d been thinking?

...could it be the fact that all the color had drained from my face and I had stopped breathing?

Speaking of which, I should really start that back up again.

Okay, all together now, one, two, three annnnnd sharp, deep inhale.

Whew, much better! Man, oxygen and I were having a real on-again, off-again relationship today.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with y- I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to- that is, uh… aw, crap,” he groaned, bonking his head against the top of the broom handle. “Forget it. Look, what I was trying to say was we - that is, the kiddos and I and a buncha other people who work at other stores 'round the mall, all of us get together every Friday night for food and drinks at the 7th Heaven. It’s this nice little pub not too far from here and I dunno if booze is your thing or what, but the grub’s pretty good there too, way better than your average bar food and so I was just wondering if you’d like to, I dunno… come join us and just hang out for a bit, have some fun. Interested?”

Ooooooooooh, got it! Well that was a relief!

...wait, was it?

Oh dear, just the thought of me having to interact with that many people all at the same time was enough to make my soul leave my body. Because once again, I have to play the President of Hermit Island card here. That’s right, I’d promoted myself from mayor to president within the last five minutes. I like to think I’d earned it after all my years of exemplary hermit service.

The point was, this little get-together sounded precisely like the kind of situation that I wanted to be on the polar opposite end of the planet from. Seriously, the Devil himself could not have designed a more fitting hell for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was sweet that Lea had thought to include me and I’m sure all the other people going would be nice and everything, but... I just couldn’t. I couldn’t do it. Not with the cold, stabbing pangs of anxiety already coursing throughout my chest at even the mere mention of going to such a thing.

Luckily, I didn’t have to. I had an out. A beautiful, glorious escape route courtesy of the one, the only, my savior (queue angelic choir singing)... Anna.

Clearing my throat, I managed a small smile. “Thank you, I appreciate the invite, I really do and I’m so sorry but I’ve already made plans with my sister. Speaking of,” I glanced at the clock again before hurrying past him and back into the Ice Palace to drop off the cleaning rag, “I really should be going now, she’s probably already waiting for me.”

He slid off the countertop, spinning around to face me with a frown. “Aw, ya sure? Why don’t you just bring her along too? We won’t mind, the more the merrier!”

Still with the smile, now accompanied by a slight scrunching of my nose, I shook my head. “Mm, no, I don’t think that’ll work. But maybe next time, okay?” Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I stepped out from behind the counter once more and stretched up on my tippy-toes, reaching for the pull-down gate. Crud, why was I always so stupidly short?

“Let me.” Him being the absolute Ent that he was, Lea had no trouble whatsoever reaching it and yanking it down for me.

“Thanks,” I murmured before locking it up for the night, then turning and making my way towards the double doors leading outside.

“Hang on, I’ll walk you out,” he said, bringing me up short.

Turning my head back towards him, I held up a hand, “Oh no, that’s fine, you don’t have to!”

“I’m heading that way anyway.” He started walking away backwards, jerking a thumb over his shoulder towards the Pizza Planet, “Just let me close up shop real quick.”

“Really, it’s not necessary. I’m just going to-”

“Be back in a sec!” he spun one-eighty, jogging off.

“...go,” I finished weakly.

Well now what? I guess maybe I should wait? My eyes shifted to the doors longingly.

...well, I did tell him he didn’t need to walk me. Not my fault he couldn’t hear me over the sound of his own chivalry.

Screw it. I’m leaving.

With a small grimace and one last peek back to where Lea had just disappeared, I turned away, squared my shoulders and strode off.

Pushing through the exit doors and out into the night air, I spotted Anna parked at the curb right in front of me in her bright red Porsche convertible, its top already folded back. She honked at me, calling, “Hey, hot stuff! Looking for a good time?”

I merely grinned and shook my head at her as I approached the vehicle. However, just as I was reaching for the car door, a voice called out behind me, “Wait up!”

I winced, screwing my eyes shut.

Fudge.

Lea came to a stop next to me, panting and hunching forward, planting his hands on his knees. He must have been running the whole way to make sure he caught me before I could esc- erm, I mean, before I left. He lifted his head, blasting us with the full force of those dimples of his as his gaze flicked back and forth between me and Anna. “You sure you ladies can’t join us tonight?”

“Thanks, but-”

“Join you for what?” Anna cut me off, scooting closer by shifting from the driver's seat to the passenger, arms folding across the top of the door.

This. Right here. This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted him to walk me out.

“Nothing big,” Lea straightened up, placing a hand on the car door as well and leaning against it. “Just drinks and food with some friends from work. If you can’t change your plans though, that’s totally cool, I just wanted to-”

Because once Anna found out...

“What are you talking about?!” she laughed. “Of course we can change our plans! That sounds so fun, count us in!”

…there was no way I was getting out of it. Ugh.

“Wha- really?” No doubt about it. He was quite pleasantly surprised. “Great! The place we’re meeting at is called 7th Heaven. Short drive from here.” He waved to another car parked a few spaces further down the curb, which responded by flashing its blinkers, “That’s Xion. She drew the short straw for designated driver tonight. Just follow her car and she’ll lead you right to it!”

“Sounds good! See you there!” she waggled her fingers at Lea as he dashed off to get into the other car. Then she scooched back over behind the wheel, making room for me. Face pinching just a smidge, I sighed and got in, slamming the door shut behind me. Bouncing in her seat as she started the engine, she chirped, “Wow, we lucked out! This is gonna be a blast! You excited?”

“...thrilled,” I said dryly, buckling myself in.

Welp. Let’s get this over with.

Personal hell, here I come.

Author’s note: Ahhhh, there she is! Elsa’s feisty-pants lil sister makes her debut! Also, notice how much Anna says friggin’? Now those sound more fitting coming out of her, but Elsa grew up hearing those friggin’s (and fricks) coming out of her sis for years now, so it may have rubbed off on her a lil. Also the last name Fryse? Norwegian for ‘freeze’... yeah, I got a lil punny in coming up with Elsa’s family name, ignore me and my silly lil pleasures xD And more BBS ice creams sneak into this chapter - and I was mindful of their in-game descriptions too, so yes, it is in fact canon in the video game that the Snow Bear flavor has *shudders* tofu in it. TOFU. In ICE CREAM. Thanks, but no thanks!

Anyway, moving on! Now Anna drags our dear antisocial hermit off on an unwanted adventure! What’s next for our intrepid heroine? Will she survive this dreaded night of socializing? Just who exactly will be at Friday night drinks anyway? And with the sheer volume of ice cream Lea probably consumes daily, just HOW massive must his dentist bill be at this point, I mean really?? We may never know the answer to that last question, but as for the rest, stay tuned to find out next chapter!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to any new followers out there (hello! :D) and to those of you who hit that like button last chapter, seeing that always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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#kingdom hearts #frozen #elsa #axel #fanfiction #lea #fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfiction #frozen fanfiction #kh fanfiction #kh fanfic #frozen fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfic #axelsa #fluff #romcom #slow burn #kh3 #my writing #ice cream and fire oven pizza #rare pair #crossover pairing #humor #snark

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

A blue spark to shine on the origin of the Universe An interdisciplinary team of scientists has demonstrated that it is possible to build an ultra-sensitive sensor based on a new fluorescent molecule able to detect the nuclear decay key to knowing whether or not a neutrino is its own antiparticle Why is our Universe made of matter? Why does everything exist as we know it? These questions are linked to one of the most important unsolved problems in particle physics. This problem is that of the nature of the neutrino, which could be its own antiparticle, as argued by the unfortunate Italian genius Ettore Majorana almost a century ago. If this were so, it could explain the mysterious cosmic asymmetry between matter and antimatter. Indeed, we know that the Universe is made almost exclusively of matter. However, the Big Bang theory predicts that the early Universe contained the same amount of matter and antimatter particles. This prediction is consistent with the "small Big Bangs" that form in proton collisions at CERN's giant LHC accelerator, where a symmetrical production of particles and antiparticles is always observed. So, where did the antimatter of the early Universe go? A possible mechanism points to the existence of heavy neutrinos that were its own antiparticle, and therefore, could decay into both matter and antimatter. If a second phenomenon occurs, called violation of charge and parity (that is, if the neutrino slightly favors in its decay the production of matter over that of antimatter), then it could have injected an excess of the first over the second. After all the matter and antimatter in the Universe were annihilated (with the exception of this small excess), the result would be a cosmos made only of matter, of the leftovers from the Big Bang. We could say that our Universe is the remnant of a shipwreck. It is possible to demonstrate that the neutrino is its own antiparticle by observing a rare type of nuclear process called neutrinoless double beta decay (bb0nu), in which concurrently two neutrons (n) of the nucleus are transformed into protons (p) while two electrons (e) are emitted out of the atom. This process can happen in some rare isotopes, such as Xenon-136, which has in its nucleus 54 p and 82 n, in addition to 54 e when is neutral. The NEXT experiment (directed by J.J. Gómez-Cadenas, DIPC and D. Nygren, UTA), located in the underground laboratory of Canfranc (LSC), looks for these decays using high pressure gas chambers. When a Xe-136 atom undergoes spontaneous bb0nu decay, the result of the process is the production of a doubly charged ion of Barium-136 (Ba2+); with 54 e and a nucleus made of 56 p and 80 n; and two electrons (Xe à Ba2+ + 2e). So far, the NEXT experiment has focused on observing these two electrons, whose signal is very characteristic of the process. However, the bb0nu process that is meant to be observed is extremely rare and the signal that is expected is of the order of one bb0nu decay per ton of gas and year of exposure. This very weak signal can be completely masked by background noise due to the ubiquitous natural radioactivity. However, if in addition to observing the two electrons, the barium ionized atom is also detected, the background noise can be reduced to zero, since natural radioactivity does not produce this ion. The problem is that observing a single ion of Ba2+ in the midst of a large bb0nu detector is technically so challenging that until recently it was considered essentially unfeasible. However, a number of recent works, the latest of which has just been published in the journal Nature, suggest that the feat may be feasible after all. The work, conceived and led by the researchers F.P. Cossío, Professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Scientific Director of Ikerbasque, and J.J. Gómez-Cadenas, Professor Ikerbasque at the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), includes an interdisciplinary team with scientists from DIPC, the UPV/EHU, Ikerbasque, the Optics Laboratory of the University of Murcia (LOUM), the Materials Physics Center (CFM, a joint center CSIC-UPV/EHU), POLYMAT, and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Gómez-Cadenas has pointed out that "the result of this interdisciplinary collaboration that combines, among other disciplines, particle physics, organic chemistry, surface physics and optics, is a clear example of the commitment that DIPC has recently shown to developing new research lines. The purpose is not only to generate knowledge in other fields, different from the centre's usual ones, but also to look for hybrid grounds and create interdisciplinary projects that, in many cases, like this one, can be the most genuine". The research is based on the idea, proposed by one of the authors of the article, the prestigious scientist D. Nygren (inventor, among other devices of the Time Projection Chamber technology applied by many particle physics experiment, including NEXT). In 2016, Nygren proposed the feasibility to capture Ba2+ with a molecule capable of forming a supramolecular complex with it and to provide a clear signal when this occurs, thus yielding a suitable molecular indicator. Nygren and his group at UTA then went into designing "on-off" indicators, in which the signal of the molecule is highly enhanced when a supra-molecular complex is formed. The group led by Cossío and Gómez-Cadenas has followed a different path, designing a fluorescent bicolor indicator (FBI) which combines a large intensity enhancement and a dramatic color shift when the molecule captures Ba2+. The synthesis of FBI was done under the direction of DIPC researcher I. Rivilla. If an FBI molecule with no barium is illuminated with ultraviolet light, it emits fluorescence in the range of green light, with a narrow emission spectrum of about 550 nm. However, when this molecule captures Ba2+, its emission spectrum shifts towards blue (420 nm). The combination of both features results in a spectacular enhancement of the signal, thus making it very suitable for a future Ba2+ detector. It is interesting to note that the experimental multiphoton microscopy systems used in the LOUM by P. Artal's group for the green/blue spectral detection are based on those developed previously for imaging the cornea of the human eye in vivo. This is an example of interlacing the use of a unique technology in the world for biomedical applications on a fundamental problem of particle physics. "The effort to combine basic science and new instrumental implementations is essential to open new research avenues to answer the many questions that we scientists ask ourselves every day," says J.M. Bueno, Professor of Optics at LOUM. As Cossío has explained, "the most difficult task in the chemical part of the work was to design a new molecule that would meet the strict (almost impossible) requirements imposed by the NEXT experiment. This molecule had to be very bright, capture barium with extreme efficiency (bb0nu is a very rare event and no cation could be wasted) and emit a specific signal that would allow the capture to be detected without background noise. In addition, the chemical synthesis of the new FBI sensor had to be efficient in order to have enough ultra-pure samples for installation within the detector. The most rewarding part was to check that, after many efforts by this multidisciplinary team, actually our specific and ultra-sensitive FBI sensor worked as planned". Besides the design and characterization of FBI, the paper offers the first demonstration of the formation of a supramolecular complex in dry medium. This landmark result has been achieved preparing a layer of FBI indicators compressed over a silica pellet and evaporating over such a layer a salt of barium perchlorate. Z. Freixa, Ikerbasque Professor at the UPV/EHU says, with a smile: "the preparation of FBI on silica has been a quick-but-not-so-dirty solution for this proof of concept. A bit of home alchemy". The vacuum sublimation experiment was done by the CSIC scientist at CFM C. Rogero and her student P. Herrero-Gómez. Rogero, an expert in physics of surfaces says: "it was one of those Eureka moment, when we realized that we had in my lab just the tools to carry on the experiment. We evaporated the perchlorate and got FBI shinning in blue almost at the first attempt" The next step of this research project is the construction of an FBI based sensor for the detection of the neutrinoless double beta decay or bb0nu, for which Gomez-Cadenas, F. Monrabal from DIPC and D. Nygren and collaborators at UTA are developing a conceptual proposal. This work is a significant advance towards building a future "barium-tagging" NEXT experiment to look for noise-free bb0nu events through the identification of the two electrons and the barium atom produced in the reaction. This experiment would have a great potential to find out if the neutrino is its own antiparticle, which could lead to answer fundamental questions about the origin of the Universe. IMAGE....Artistic representation of the new fluorescent molecule that can shed light on the elusive nature of neutrinos. CREDIT UPV/EHU

#space #science #Astronomy #physics #neutrino

[master-sass-blast]

Strong as Stone --Part Eighteen

*claps hands together* Four hours of sleep! Four hours of sleep! Fuck my life, it’s all goin’ to hell, because I’ve only had four hours of sleep!

And, as well all know by now, sleep deprivation spells ‘best writing mood’ for me, so... WELCOME BACK!

Last time we saw the continuation of Okoye’s struggle to track down Klaue’s associate in ‘Cat and Mouse, Part Two.’ This week is the third installment of our favorite General’s/general queen’s quest to apprehend the thief. Next week will bear a chapter about Dewani’s birthday.

Rating: T.

Warnings: Use of strong language, brief sexual themes, description of explosions.

Pairings: Okoye x M’Baku and Shuri x OC.

@the-last-hair-bender

Challenges are the most natural part of life, even more so than times of ease and peace. Life itself is the greatest challenge of all: the struggle against death.

Being a Dora Milaje is a constant state of challenge. You have to learn to overcome, how to work with tremendous odds stacked against you. You have to learn how to produce results again and again and again and again.

There are times where you will face challenges that will continually best you, no matter how well you plan or how fast you act. When that happens, step away. Refresh your mind. Come back renewed and ready to try again.

When you do, you’ll often find that the solution was right in front of you all along.

“Shuri, you said this was an emergency.”

“It is!”

Okoye smirked as T’Challa sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The teenage princess was standing amidst a sea of clothes, frowning as she held up article after article of clothing, only to toss each one aside in turn. “I can’t decide which dress I should wear to Dewani’s birthday celebration.”

“Shuri--”

“Brother, listen to me. This is vitally important. I’m going to be meeting Dewani’s friends from the Jabari lands while we’re up there for her birthday. I need to make a good impression, and that includes not looking like a complete and total idiot at the main celebration.” She held up two dresses, both long sleeve; one was red with gold and black patterning, while the other was blue with silver and green diamonds. “I think I’ve narrowed it down to these two. Which one looks better for a birthday party?”

“You think?” T’Challa echoed, exhausted and incredulous.

Okoye simply smiled. “You could always ask Dewani for which dress would be most appropriate.”

“And take the easy way out?”

“Yes,” T’Challa muttered under his breath. “Please. Take the easy way out.”

Dewani poked her head into Shuri’s room. “What’s the easy way out?”

Shuri let out a delighted squeal and ran over to her girlfriend. “You’re here! I thought you wouldn’t arrive until dinner!”

Dewani laughed and spun Shuri in an enthusiastic hug. “I convinced M’Baku to let us leave earlier.”

“More like annoyed me until I relented,” M’Baku said as he followed Dewani into Shuri’s room. He kissed Okoye on the temple before eyeing the clothing carnage. “Tell me, are tornadoes naturally occurring catastrophes down here?”

“Only the in the form of the Princess,” Okoye replied quietly as Shuri showed off her two top dress picks.

“The red one looks nice,” Dewani said as she sat on the edge of Shuri’s bed.

“Ah,” Shuri said in a pleased tone that wasn’t the least bit subtle. “So, you like the red one better than the blue one.”

Dewani smirked. “The blue one looks pretty, too. I’m sure whichever one you pick will look great on you.” She chuckled when Shuri deflated and pointed at the red dress. “Blue is one of our holy colors, reserved for servants and students of Hanuman; you’re better off going with red.”

“A simple solution,” T’Challa said, relief evident in his voice. “Dewani, you have my thanks.”

“Hang on. I still haven’t decided one which shoes I’m wearing, to say nothing of accessories.”

“T’Challa, the leader of the River tribe would like to speak with you,” Ramonda said as she paused by Shuri’s bedroom door. “He’s waiting right now.”

“Alas, I have been summoned. I’m sure you’ll manage without me, Shuri.”

“He doesn’t look too upset,” M’Baku mumbled as T’Challa beat a hasty retreat from his sister’s room.

“This isn’t the first time Shuri’s pulled him in for a fashion consultation,” Okoye whispered. “She had him in here for three hours at one point.”

M’Baku winced and shot her a conspiratorial look. “Do you think she’s distracted enough that we could leave without them noticing?”

Okoye mulled it over.

On one hand, Shuri definitely didn’t need a babysitter. Okoye knew from personal experience that Shuri kept her room stocked with enough hidden weaponry --in case of emergencies--to equip several armies. Furthermore, Okoye wasn’t a babysitter; she still had work to do in light of her upcoming trip to celebrate Dewani’s birthday. Besides, Shuri was seventeen and Dewani a week away from being seventeen as well. The girls were almost adults --they could handle being mature and responsible.

On the other hand, it definitely wouldn’t be appropriate to leave two teenagers alone, in a bedroom, without any real supervision.

Before Okoye could decide one way or the other, Ramonda walked back into Shuri’s room. “I can keep an eye on the girls for now. I know you have more duties to attend to, General Okoye; Chief M’Baku, you’re free to use the palace amenities as you like.”

M’Baku grinned at Okoye as they walked out of the Princess’s room together. “Well, that was easier than expected.”

M’Baku followed her to her office, citing ‘wanting to speak with her in private’ as his reason. However, as soon as the door closed, he picked her up and pinned her against it, mouth zeroing in on her neck.

Okoye let out a gasp and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought you wanted to talk to me.”

“I do. Specifically between your legs.”

Okoye rolled her hips against his as his hands squeezed her ass. “M’Baku, I have work to do.”

“Is this you asking me to stop?”

Okoye thought it over for a moment, then pulled his head up by his short locks and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. “No.”

M’Baku chuckled and started undoing the clasps on her belt.

“So, how do the Jabari celebrate their birthdays?”

“It’s not too different from how Shuri celebrated hers. There’s a main celebration with the village or tribe members, and then a private celebration for family and friends.”

Okoye sat back in her seat, content to listen --as usual--as Ramonda and Dewani talked. She’d been invited to dinner with the family --a regular occurrence whenever M’Baku and Dewani were staying at the palace.

She’d adjusted to the idea of eating a meal with the people she worked for over the past year. It still didn’t feel as natural as eating with M’Baku during their vacations together or sharing a meal with her friends, though she doubted it ever would.

Her entire life had been shaped into serving the Udakus --not a complaint, just a fact. She wasn’t going to overcome the formalities and training that she’d breathed in during her youth in a little under a year.

“Are you looking forward to your birthday?” Ramonda asked with a warm smile.

Dewani shrugged. “Yes and no. I mean, it’s going to be all about me, which will be great--”

Okoye hid her smirk behind her wine glass when she saw T’Challa roll his eyes; the expression on his face translated roughly to ‘she’s just like M’Baku.’

“--but my uncle has to attend the family celebration, which sucks.”

Shuri frowned. “Why does he keep showing up everywhere? Can’t you issue a restraining order against him?”

“Dewani will be allowed to contest his abuse towards her once she’s eighteen,” M’Baku said, expression solemn. “Until then, he’s allowed free movement through the territory.”

“But he keeps terrorizing her. Can’t you, like, ban him from seeing her?”

“I could. Unfortunately, I’ve made some unpopular decisions with the more traditional elders --elders that my uncle has a great deal of sway over. If he can turn the tribe against me, I’ll lose my position as Chief and custody of my sister. I’m sure you can understand why I don’t want that to happen.”

Shuri scrunched up her face. “Unpopular decisions? What unpopular decisions?”

M’Baku raised an eyebrow at her. “Rejoining the rest of Wakanda, mostly.”

“A decision that allowed me to meet my soulmate, thank you very much,” Dewani interjected as she elbowed her brother in the side. “The elders can go suck--”

“Dewani.”

“--on a lemon, which will still be sweeter than they are.”

“Nice save,” Okoye murmured. She shared a grin with Dewani. “Are you going to show her a bridge building?”

Dewani’s eyes lit up and she turned to Shuri. “Yeah! There’s one scheduled for the third day of your visit.”

“I’ll admit, I’m really looking forward to seeing how you handle infrastructure challenges up there.” Shuri looked at Okoye. “Have you seen one yet?”

Okoye nodded. “Chief M’Baku took me to one the last time I was in the Jabari lands.”

“What’s it like?”

Okoye shared a smile with M’Baku before responding. “It’s not like anything you’ve ever seen --or will ever see.”

“I’m not sure this was a good idea.”

“You say that every time we reveal another side of Wakanda to the outside world.”

“That’s because it’s relevant every time we do.”

Okoye smiled slightly as a group of scientists from around the world walked towards Shuri’s lab. “It’s just for today, and then they’re gone.”

M’Baku let out a huff. “Good.”

“And then,” Okoye added, “we’ll be back in the Jabari lands to celebrate your sister’s birthday.”

That finagled a ghost of a smile out of him. “Believe me, I’m looking forward to it.”

Okoye liked to think of herself as smart --and, as far as she was concerned, she was. Her job was multi-faceted --from running missions to arranging work schedules to coordinating multi-team events--and she handled it all with ease and what effort she needed.

However, in the face of Shuri’s rapid-fire, detailed explanation about Wakanda’s latest development in cancer treatments, she found it difficult to keep her eyes from glazing over.

Oh well. You never could be good at everything.

Most of the scientists were polite enough and intensely focused on Shuri’s lecture, but Okoye couldn’t help but notice that there were a few gazes among the group --most of them white, no surprise there--that kept slipping back to M’Baku and Dewani. Her grip on her spear tightened when she caught one scientist look the Jabari siblings up and down with a sneer of disdain. We invite you in to our country, share our knowledge with you, and your first instinct is to judge members of our nation for how they dress?

She forced herself to take a deep breath and recenter herself. It’ll be over soon.

“Does anyone have any questions for myself or my co-presenters?” Shuri asked as she turned off her lecture display.

“Yes,” one of the scientists replied, turning to face M’Baku. “Do the Jabari use the vibranium technology as well? I noticed there weren’t any contributions from your tribe.”

“We do not.”

“So, what do you use?”

“Our technology.”

Okoye had to smother a laugh as the scientist floundered to respond to M’Baku’s short, vague answer. It was an asshole move, yes, but there was something deeply satisfying in seeing the Westerner get run around.

“And... what is that technology based on?”

“Our traditions.”

“The Jabari tribe follow different philosophies to those of the rest of Wakanda,” T’Challa interjected diplomatically. “That includes not using vibranium in their technological developments. I appreciate your curiosity over those differences, but we have assured them that their privacy will be respected as we connect Wakanda to the rest of the world. Thank you for understanding.”

There were a few other questions, and then the lecture closed and the scientists started filing out of the room.

“You can be such an asshole sometimes,” Okoye murmured to M’Baku, an amused smile playing at her lips.

He smirked down at her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you liked it.”

She opened her mouth to respond, then stumbled into M’Baku when someone bumped into her.

“Sorry! So sorry!” An Indian scientist winced as she adjusted the thick framed glasses that were perched on her nose. “Are you alright? I am so sorry, I wasn’t watching.”

“It’s fine--” Okoye paused, then peered at the scientist. “Do I know you? Have we met somewhere?”

She hesitated, then shook her head. “I... I do not believe so.” She extended her hand. “Dr. Chetna Khatri.”

“General Okoye.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Dr. Khatri replied in her thick accent. “Again, I am so sorry for knocking into you.” She let out a soft laugh. “I need to watch where I am going better.”

Okoye smiled politely. “It’s fine. I’ve dealt with worse.” She watched the woman walk off, eyes narrowing.

Something about the doctor seemed eerily familiar, but she couldn’t place it. I know I’ve seen that face before. I just can’t remember... where...

M’Baku clasped her shoulder. “Come on, love. We need to head back to palace.”

Okoye studied Dr. Khatri for a moment longer, then sighed and let the thought go as she followed M’Baku out of the room.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what the Jabari lands are like.”

“You’ve been up there before.”

“Only for about forty-eight hours --and I spent most of that time inside.”

Dewani’s sunny countenance fell slightly at the mention of her grandmother’s death, but she perked back up in a few seconds. “Well, I can’t wait to see your reaction to the bridge building. I think your eyes are going to pop out of your head.”

“You know that’s scientifically and anatomically impossible, right?”

“Duh, but it’s such a poignant descriptor, no?”

Okoye smiled slightly as she trailed after Dewani and Shuri.

The sun was setting as they ambled through the palace. The scientists had long been sent on their way, and all that was left was to finish packing for their imminent trip to the Jabari lands.

Okoye reached out and nudged M’Baku’s arms. “There. Was that so bad?”

“Yes,” M’Baku said with a cheeky smile. “Absolutely horrendous. I don’t know how I’ll ever recover.” He interlocked his fingers with hers. “You’re coming with us, right?”

“Of course. And, I’m taking vacation days so that I don’t have to act as a guard while I’m staying with you.”

M’Baku beamed. “Wonderful.”

“Shuri,” Ramonda called out as she walked towards her daughter, accompanied by T’Challa and Nakia. “Are you ready for our departure?”

“Yes, mother.” Shuri looked down as her kimoyo beads pinged.

“And have you tidied your room for your packing efforts?”

Shuri frowned as she studied a read out projected by her kimoyo beads. “Uh... yeah...”

Ramonda put her hands on her hips. “Shuri, can I have your undivided attention, please?”

“...Yeah...”

“Shuri. Now, please.”

Shuri peered at the display, did a double-take, then uttered a loud and distressed, “What the fuck?!”

Ramonda inhaled sharply as T’Challa snorted. “Shuri!”

“They’re back in the system! Klaue’s associate!” Shuri scowled as she tried to manipulate the display. “How did they do that? I completely redid our security measures!”

Okoye called Ayo. “Commander, what are the latest whereabouts on Klaue’s associate?”

“We just got a location lock on one of the stolen vibranium tubes. I’m sending you the coordinates now.”

“With me, General,” T’Challa said as he ran towards the flight hangar. “This ends tonight.”

Yes, Okoye thought as she sprinted after T’Challa, spear in hand. It does.

Patagonian Desert, Argentina; 3 AM GMT.

“We’re approximately five miles out from the coordinates Ayo sent me,” Okoye said as she piloted the stealth craft through Argentinian airspace.

“There,” T’Challa said, pointing at a dark building on the horizon. “That’s it.”

Okoye sped the craft forward and landed it about thirty feet away from the building. She darted after T’Challa, spear in hand.

“I’m picking up three distinct life signs,” T’Challa whispered as he crept towards the warehouse. “But there’s something... off about them.”

“How so?” Okoye asked as she scanned the desert for enemies before approaching the door.

“I don’t know.”

“Well,” Okoye grunted as she used her spear to break the lock on the door. “We’ll figure it out once we’re inside.” She kicked the door in and peered in the warehouse.

A metal object that vaguely resembled a computer tower sat on the center of the warehouse floor. It made a screeching noise as she stepped over the threshold, then started vibrating. A panel on the front turned on, revealing a quickly counting down timer.

Okoye’s eyes widened. “Bomb! It’s a bomb!”

She and T’Challa booked it away from the warehouse, trying to gain as much distance between them and the explosive. They made it about thirty feet, and then T’Challa pulled her down, shielding her from the shockwave and shrapnel with his panther suit-clad body.

Okoye winced and stood once the worst of the explosion had finished. Her ears were ringing slightly, and her lungs were burning from the noxious plume of smoke and dust that was wafting off the ruins of the warehouse. She watched, equal parts horrified and pissed off, as a helicopter emerged from behind the smoke cloud, flying away and disappearing into the night sky.

“I think those were the life signs I picked up on,” T’Challa panted as he watched the helicopter. “Why couldn’t I tell that they were behind the building?”

“Because we’ve got a serious bug in our system.” Okoye let out a growl and smacked the end of her spear against the parched desert floor. “Bast dammit! How do we keep losing them?”

“I’m starting to think that Shuri and Dewani’s theory about Klaue’s associate having the ability to manipulate technology --or at least some seriously good hacking skills--is right. There’s no other reasonable explanation for why we can’t track them down ---or how they keep breaking into our system.”

Okoye scowled at the burning wreckage. “This has to end. We can’t afford to keep such a dangerous loose end untied.”

“I agree, General, but for now there’s nothing for it. All we can do is head back to Wakanda and track the associate to their next location.”

Okoye shot one last irritated glare at the smoldering warehouse, then followed T’Challa back to the stealth craft.

“You’re going to burn a hole through the floor if you keep glaring at it like that.”

“Very funny.”

“I’m serious, ‘koye. What did that floor even do to warrant your ire?”

“Ha ha.”

M’Baku frowned, then sat down and wrapped his hand around hers. “What is it, Okoye? You’ve been stormy since you came back to Wakanda --and don’t just brush it off as lack of sleep. I know you better than that.”

Okoye sighed. “We missed Klaue’s associate again. They had a trap waiting for us.”

“I know, but I don’t think that’s what’s got you so worked up right now. You’ve had difficult missions before.”

Okoye fought the urge to grind her teeth together. “I don’t like having loose ends. They make far more mess than they’re worth. And this is a loose end we can’t afford; vibranium in the wrong hands could spell the end of the world.”

“I understand your trepidation, but I don’t think the associate’s going to sell the vibranium.”

Okoye frowned up at him. “How can you be sure?”

“It’s been what, several months since we learned of the existence of the associate, right? If they were going to sell the vibranium, they would’ve done it by now.”

Okoye blinked as the revelation sank in. “You’re right... but I still wouldn’t rule out sale as an option.”

“Right. Don’t remove it from the table, but I don’t think it’s their primary motivation.”

“Then... what would they be trying to do with the stolen vibranium?”

M’Baku shrugged. “Only Hanuman knows.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and smiled. “But enough about work. You’re technically off the clock.”

She smirked up at him. “Yes, technically I am.”

“So, that means it’s time to rest. No more work talk.”

Okoye chuckled, and settled against M’Baku as she tried to relax.

It wasn’t easy. She was still deeply enraged over letting Klaue’s associate slip through her fingers, and even more worried by the prospect that they didn’t seem to have any way of keeping the associate out of their computer system.

No leads, no witnesses, just the trail that kept being left for them --a trail that Klaue’s associate was in control of. Okoye was certain that they were being lead around on purpose, that every new hint was purposeful and placed to keep them right where Klaue’s associated wanted them.

Breathe, Okoye told herself as she closed her eyes to meditate. You need some time away from this. Rest, and come back with a fresh mind.

She exhaled slowly and let all thoughts about Klaue’s associate and failed missions go.

#sass writes #black panther fanfiction #okoye x m'baku #shuri x oc #another plot focused piece #next week's will be fluffier #and angstier #because i must stay true to my origins as an angst queen #ramonda is the best mom #we're almost at the end of the 'cat and mouse' plotline #i'm so excited to write the last part #wakanda forever

[expatimes]

Robinhood weathers storm with $1bn lifeline as fallout continues

Robinhood weathers storm with $1bn lifeline as fallout continues

The Reddit hordes were at it again Friday, once again bidding up shares of GameStop Corp. and warring with hedge funds by seeking out targets such as Siebert Financial Corp. and Twinkie maker Hostess Brands Inc.

Hours after Robinhood Markets said it received a cash infusion of more than $1 billion, having just angered legions of retail investors by imposing a raft of trading restrictions, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it would look to identify potential misconduct and review decisions by brokerages to curtail transactions on certain stocks.

The fallout also humbled one of Wall Street’s best known contrarians, Andrew Left, whose Citron Research announced it will no longer publish short-selling analysis after a two-decade run.

Markets opened Friday with other heavily shorted and thinly traded stocks catching massive bids. Siebert Financial soared almost 399% at one point during regular trading, and Jefferies analyst Steven DeSanctis offered up other potential targets, including Hostess and mattress-maker Sleep Number Corp. And the stock that started it all, GameStop, surged 68% at 11:40 a.m. in New York.

By mid-afternoon, Robinhood announced that it had put limits on purchases of shares and options for 23 stocks, including vaccine maker Moderna Inc., Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and Tootsie Roll Industries Inc.

The past few days have been a whirlwind for the Menlo Park, California-based brokerage.

New York markets had just fired up Thursday, and the investing world was tuning in for the latest episode of the continuing drama: Legions of Robinhood investors versus hedge-fund Goliaths.

But within minutes, a shock wave invisible to the outside world rattled the mechanics of Wall Street — sending Robinhood rushing for additional cash. The stock market’s central clearing hub had demanded large sums of collateral from brokerages including Robinhood that for weeks had facilitated spectacular jumps in shares such as GameStop Corp.

The Silicon Valley venture with the wildly popular no-fee trading app came to a crossroads. It reined in the risk to itself by banning certain trades and unwinding client bets — igniting an outcry from customers and even U.S. political leaders. By that night, word was emerging that Robinhood had raised more than $1 billion from existing investors and drawn hundreds of millions more from bank credit lines to weather the storm.

“Look, it is not negotiable for us to comply with our financial requirements and our clearinghouse deposits,” Robinhood Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev said in defending his firm’s decisions on Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We have to do that.”

The capital injection is “a strong sign of confidence from investors that will help us continue to further serve our customers,” a Robinhood spokesperson later said in an emailed statement. The money will allow the firm to “continue to invest in record growth.”

Robinhood took additional precautions, limiting purchases of fractional shares and cryptocurrencies.

When the history of this month’s stock mania is written, it may be a story of how retail traders set out from Reddit message boards to challenge Wall Street’s status quo — and ended up battering their beloved brokerage too.

For weeks, Robinhood, with a mission “to democratize finance for all,” has been their trading platform of choice as they inflicted billions of dollars of losses on hedge funds by sending stocks that those firms had shorted into the stratosphere — a sort-of populist crusade into the staid world of finance.

Robinhood’s trading restrictions made virtually nobody happy, except perhaps the hedge funds. In a surreal scene, political archenemies Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ted Cruz found common ground in lashing the firm’s decisions. Conspiracy theories erupted online.

The question is whether such critics will dig into the industry’s inner workings, where pressure mounted on Robinhood and other firms to limit certain trades. That would put a rare spotlight on arcane parts of the market designed to prevent catastrophe, such as the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

One key consideration for brokers, particularly around high-flying and volatile stocks like GameStop, is the money they must put up with the DTCC while waiting a few days for stock transactions to settle. Those outlays, which behave like margin in a brokerage account, can create a cash crunch on volatile days, say when GameStop falls from $483 to $112 like it did at one point during Thursday’s session.

“It’s not really Robinhood doing nefarious stuff,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Larry Tabb. “It’s the DTCC saying ‘This stuff is just too risky. We don’t trust that these guys have the cash to be able to withstand settling these things two days from now, because in two days, who knows what the price could be, it could be zero.’”

The trouble on Thursday began around 10 a.m., when after days of turbulence, the DTCC demanded significantly more collateral from member brokers, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A spokesman for the DTCC wouldn’t specify how much it required from specific firms but said that by the end of the day industrywide collateral requirements jumped to $33.5 billion, up from $26 billion.

‘Rare Circumstances’

Brokerage executives rushed to figure out how to come up with the funds. Robinhood’s reaction drew the most public attention, but the firm wasn’t alone in limiting trading of stocks such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

Charles Schwab Corp.’s TD Ameritrade curbed transactions in both of those companies on Wednesday. Interactive Brokers Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade took similar action Thursday.

Thomas Peterffy, the billionaire chairman of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Interactive Brokers, told Bloomberg TV the restrictions were prompted by concerns “about the integrity of the marketplace and the system.”

E*Trade stressed that its measures were highly unusual. “We take actions like this seriously, and only initiate them in rare circumstances,” said spokesman Thayer Fox, adding that he expected normal trading to resume Friday.

Robinhood said after markets closed that it plans to allow “limited buys” to resume in affected securities. It also tried to assuage customer concerns with an email that evening: “This was a temporary decision made to best continue serving you, and was not an easy one to make.”

Credit Lines

The firm has tapped at least several hundred million dollars from its bank credit lines, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The company’s lenders include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Representatives for Robinhood and those banks declined to comment.

Robinhood’s capital remains “strong,” CEO Tenev told Bloomberg TV, underscoring that the restrictions helped protect both the brokerage and its clients.

One question is whether frustrated customers will forgive what some see as a betrayal in their campaign against Wall Street’s financial elite.

Douglas Bray, a software developer from Connecticut who’s been using Robinhood for about five years, said he plans to withdraw about $100,000 after the trading restrictions.

“I’m disappointed I could not keep my money in GME like any institutional investor could,” said Bray, 32, referring to GameStop’s ticker. “Hedge funds are on the brink of a massive short squeeze and appear to be calling in all the cavalry. So brokers are now ‘protecting’ customers as a facade so that they can appease their institutional backers. The entire community is outraged.”

Webull, which has expanded during the pandemic, saw new accounts soar 16-fold over the seven-day average, according to CEO Anthony Denier. Its app ranked as the second-most-popular free iPhone app in the U.S. on Thursday, up from No. 60 a day earlier, according to SensorTower, which gathers data on mobile apps. (Robinhood was still No. 1.)

Denier didn’t want to comment on the reason for the jump. Earlier Thursday, Webull also restricted trading on shares including GameStop and AMC, but then reversed its decision.

Robinhood has been expected for months to hold an initial public offering this year. Late Thursday, people with knowledge of those preparations said the plan is to press ahead sometime in the first half of 2021, despite the controversy and draw-down on credit lines.

But it remains to be seen what the lasting impact is from Robinhood’s association with the retail trading revolt — and now any strains in the firm’s relationship with the rebels behind it.

“The restrictions in trading today only worsened the situation,” Douglas Boneparth, who competes with Robinhood for customers as president of the wealth-management firm Bone Fide Wealth, said Thursday. “Many will ignore the fact that Robinhood faced increased costs that created an unsustainable business environment.”

Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=17462&feed_id=31202

#1bn #continues #Economy #fallout #FinancialMarkets #lifeline #News #Robinhood #storm #UnitedStates #USCanada #weathers

[szopenhauer]

What is the reason you last got a new cell phone? because I needed phone with internet connection 

Are you more masculine or feminine? dunno, smth in between?

Which name have you kissed the most people with? I only kissed one person in my entire life

Do you enjoy All You Can Eat buffets? yes

Have you ever seen the band/artist you’re listening to live? I didn’t attend any Momomoyouth concerts

Last thing you printed off a computer? short story that I’ve written

Last thing you threw in the garbage? not sure what was last

Last black person you hugged? I saw few black people but never even had a chance to talk to them

Is life hard? for me it is, I know some people have it worse but still

Who does the song you’re listening to remind you of? nothing, I just enjoy it

Have you ever had anything pierced that isn’t anymore? never had anything pierced ever

Would you consider yourself “tough”? it’s complicated 

Headphones or earbuds? headphones

Do you support freedom of speech? I think some stuff should be censored like bullying

Are you ever told you are too opinionated? maybe 

Do you hold grudges for long? sometimes

What’s in your garden/backyard? you mean plants or other stuff like furniture or decor?

Do you own a purple pillow? nope

Do you have a brown blanket? nah

Do you think diamonds, stars or hearts are prettier? stars

Have you ever overflown a bath? noooo

Do you appreciate brutal honesty? not brutal but I appreciate honesty in general most of the time

When was the last time you ate meat? yesterday

Have your parents met your gf/exes? they met my current gf and my ex S.

How about your gf’s parents? Met them? I met my current gf’s parents 

Do you feel uncomfortable easily? kinda

Do you know how to say I love you in at least 4 languages? yup

What age will you be when you times your current age by two? 56

Do you find the sound of a cats purr relaxing? hmm...

Are you in a simple or complex mood? complex

Do you know your Mum’s first pets name? I need to ask my mom’s guinea pigs’ name :o

*she doesn’t remember

Do you like car racing? playing car racing games, don’t like to brag but I’m very good at it actually 

What is your closest uncle/aunt called? to me it’s my aunt Alicja (Alice)

Do you wear underwear to bed? when I have my period to have extra protection

Do you get angry, depressed or nervous more? all at once

What is something obvious about you that everyone notices? that I’m short 

Would you ever get a heart tattoo or your back? what for?

Do you like Sapphires? I don’t

What about you do you think your friends dislike? ask them

Would you allow your children to date prior to 16? (assuming you want any) I don’t want any and would allow but no sex! at least use protection or birth control

What’s something about adult life you were never warned of or prepared for? amount of illnesses for example

How often do you wash your car? I don’t have a car

Which app on your phone do you tend to get the most notifications from? fb messanger

Do you find it easy to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes? I believe

Have you ever kissed a smoker? I have not

If you won the lottery, do you think any of your family members would ask you to give them some of your money? my parents wouldn’t have to ask :)

What is the craziest thing you’ve seen happen at your workplace? crazy is that one of the coworkers actually disappeared - he left his stuff and didn’t took the money for the job - he was never found 

Have you ever disliked a book so much that you didn’t finish it? many times

Do you think tomorrow will be a better day than today? hope so

A word that describes you, starting with the last letter of your last name?: asexual

What is the age difference between the last two people you kissed romantically?: -

How many hours have you worked this month?: zero

How did you or whoever come up with the name(s) for your pet(s): he was fattest among his siblings as a puppy and used to eat a lot later too, he even ate roof of his house lmfao

Last time you washed your hair?: Monday’s night

What is your weight?: about 40 kg, I didn’t check recently

Last article of clothing you purchased?: dad bought a hoode NOT INTERESTED for me in second hand because I cold so cold yesterday but I worry I still got a flu :(

Last electronic you purchased?: powerbank from what I remember

What is your blood type?: no idea

Who did you last walk a dog with?: my dad, we always go together for walks because it’s quite dangerous to wander alone around the forest

Ride bikes with?: same

For what reason did you last high five someone?: I virtually high fives my gf because we agreed on smth

Are you emotional? I’m more analytical/logical/overthinker but I still am very emotional Have you ever cut/burned yourself intentionally? ... Have you ever noticed the hidden adult jokes inside of kid shows/movies? in Shrek, the one about penis

Do you sin often? only God knows What do you think happens after you die? we have a funeral :P Are you afraid to die? I’m afraid of looking stupid and people laughing, being a burden, others trying to save me (or me trying to save myself of course) and failing, someone stealing my stuff while I’m unconscious, suffering for a long time, waking up in a casket, going to hell etc. If you had the chance, would you want to know the date of your death? YES Have you ever felt that you weren’t good enough? I’m not enough and yet too much if you know what I mean Are you jealous of your siblings? I am, she’s lucky, normal

Are you always wanting more? I want more than I have but not as much as people usually want - I want health and enough money to not just barely survive but I don’t dream about career, kids, big house, fame, talents, travelling, beauty, long life etc. Do you make good first impressions? pfft Do you consider yourself guarded?  it seems Do you like animals? majority but still wouldn’t want to own them 

Do you think doctors prescribe medicine too often? absolutely, too many meds are causing more problems than help and the fact lots of them are sold without prescription makes me angry and sad Do you enjoy getting drunk, or do you feel like you’re losing all control? I don’t drink because I don’t like the taste/smell and the consequences - losing control is one of them but also hangover and puking for examples Do you think the internet is dangerous? almost everything can be

Who do you think has the most pressure to be good-looking; guys or girls? women are pressured more to be attractive Do you care what impression you make on people? not much Honestly, do you say racist things? nah Do your parents put way too much pressure on you? not really Do you think people overreact when their pets die? not usually

Has anyone ever told you they needed space? that’s what I say!

Do you actually think there will be a zombie apocalypse? smth similar 

Do you get offended really easily? I’m pretty sensitive

Have you ever punched a wall out of complete anger? not wall, furniture

Ever been turned down in a really mean way? in my opinion that was hurtful

Are you ticklish? I am and hate that about me

Do you currently have a pair of UGG boots? I use them as slippers during winter :3

When was the last time you had a stomach ache? morning

Have you ever been to a circus? at least once <3

Does drama seem to follow you everywhere you go? I live in a drama movie Do you ever regret giving your number to people? regretted Have you ever been told that you’re afraid of your own shadow? fuck you! Have you ever tried Gouda cheese? obvi Do you still watch South Park? I never did You’re babysitting, what do you expect per hour for pay? been doing it for free :( What’s the last thing you returned at a store? tried to return computer and even tho it was on guarantee they didn’t fix it, it didn’t work from the start and it’s only getting worse >.< Do you still look at clouds and make shapes of them? it’s so much fun! :D If you had to dye your hair for one year, what color would you pick? green What’s your television addiction? non existent Have you ever had any painful dental work done? If so, what? 4 hours of root canal without anesthesia Do you make your own jewelry or clothing? tried but I’m bad at it Do you use drawing to describe what you’re feeling? preffered collages  Do you give everything you do 100%? I half ass majority of the things I do

If you could transform into any kind of animal, what animal would you be? raccoon? XD  actually a bird I guess One place you would never want to get lost in in the dark? somewhere I could fall down like from the roof or into a deep hole and where are sharp objects etc. Are you claustrophobic? just my head is, I’m scared to be stuck in smth with my head, I know it’s strange If you could be reincarnated, would you come back as another human or an animal? If an animal, what kind? I just want a good life... but never come back would be a better option - no more death  Easiest way to scare you? jump scares What was your last nightmare about? personal

Do you own any knee-high boots? no longer Have you ever kissed a dog on the mouth? disgusting!

How many squares of toilet paper do you use at a time? 2-3 Have you ever had acupuncture done to you? heard you can get ill outta that Do you play hopscotch? played a bit as a child Are you jealous of beautiful people? rarely  Are you foolish and naive? I try my best not to be yet end up being fooled at times anyway Do you play with the food on your plate? my mom does and that annoys me When you were born was the umbilical cord wrapped around your neck? luckily not Have you ever taken a mud bath? no thx Do you have nude photos of yourself posted on the internet? I didn’t even really took any to begin with Are you considered “normal”?

Do you want to skydive? nah Have you ever been told that you talk too much? and not enough, you can’t please anyone

What’s the latest youtube channel you’ve discovered and binge-watched?   https://www.youtube.com/c/naomijon/videos

Do you think your hair looks better long or short? it’s ugly 

Do you look best with or without bangs?   I prefer no bangs

Do you enjoy editing photos on your phone? I like filters sometimes but not editing

Which season do you wish would last longer?   summer

Haw many outdoor birthday parties have you had?   none, sadly, my birthday is during winter so I can’t 

How much taller or shorter are you than your mom?   like 10 cm taller even tho I’m so tiny

Do you have neat handwriting? r u kidding?...

Would you rather hike a mountain or dive into the sea?   hike

Which Barbie doll was your favorite? that one I slept with and broke her neck but I loved my Ken as much (and broke his legs but my dad fixed him) - that’s unusual as those are the only toys I actually ever broke (not counting my fav stuffed animal that lost it’s head but my mom sewed it back) and not because I didn’t care for them like some kids but because I loved them 

Do you prefer cheetah or zebra print, polka dots, paisleys, plaid, stripes or stars? animal prints are ok at times, paisley and some kinds of plaid too but I love stripes and stars and hate polka dots 

Do you like your natural hair color? whatever

Did you dream of becoming famous as a kid?   later in life I wanted to become an actress 

Have you ever been to a gynecologist? several times and I regret that

Do you use the Bitmoji app on your phone? used to

Do you get on facebook every day? yep

Would you ever consider naming a child after a family member?   not that I want to have kids but yes

List three names that sound similar to your name.   apparently Zosia is similar to Zuzia but also Anna as it’s part of Zuzanna

What were you almost named?   Lilia (Lily)

What does your name mean? same hahaha

Do you have any symptoms of COVID-19 right now? luckily not

Have you made your own mask to help prevent the spread of the virus?   my mom is making those

Do you ever wish you had someone to hug?   I have someone to hug

[aurimeanswind]

I’m More of a Winter—Sunday Chats—1/28/18

Oddly enough, I find myself more “happy” or more at home and comfortable through the winter. It’s my favorite season, yet this one seems to not provide the same boons to excitement as the previous have. There is far less joy to be found, and that kind of sucks.

But we move on with the show.

Talking About The Week I Had

I’ve come to both hate and somewhat enjoy talking about having terrible weeks and rough times. I always, in my heart, feel I am begging for attention. And there must be some honesty in that, right? But I also feel this sense of responsibility and obligation to my internet presence that I need to keep sending those thoughts and feelings out there, and that maybe I’ll feel better when I do. And I usually do. There is always a warm and loving outcry of support when I do, and it always warms my heart, without fail.

But I dunno. It’s hard. I have really bad days and I put myself in a dark place, and while I love the honesty, I don’t want to share that because it’s both personal and it looks like I am begging for good vibes to be sent. Obviously this is all counteracted by me openly expressing my frustrations here (or so my brain hopes) but it’s a difficult side to every coin. The one that’s aware of the more selfish-seeming repercussions of crying out for help, and that just so wishes to be like, not bad on your own. 

I think with my depression and fits of morbid thoughts and feelings of wanting to hurt myself, that’s always the fall back. I just want to be good without having to ask for help. The idea of, “well why can’t I just be alright on my own? Why does this have to be a thing where I have to have me picked up off the ground by my wonderful companions who’d graciously do so, but I can’t just “be” on my own?” When i say I express frustration in sharing my feelings of being depressed, I think it helps to empathize from that angle:

I’m not frustrated because I don’t want to ask for help, I’m frustrated because I was never given the opportunity to not need it.

Does that make sense?

God I hope so. In short I had a bad spell of self-hatred style depression this week, and this is me just airing it out those feelings. If it doesn’t make sense, ah don’t worry about it, but if you saw me struggling this week, that’s your bit of context.

What’s On Tap

Predominantly I’ve been playing one thing this week, and that’s been going back through The Witcher 3. That’s a great goddamn video game.

The Witcher 3

There is just something about Yennefer that... goddamn. She is just like a magnet for me. I definitely feel to her what Geralt does. It’s an attraction that goes beyond appearance. She isn’t like, the best person? either? But I just adore her. She fits the mold of a partner in so many respects, and peeling back the layers of her character are excellent.

I got to Skellige and boy that is just the best part of that game hands down.

The snow, the wintery peaks, the people of Skellige, it’s just so much better than anything you see in Velen or Novigrad I think. Not to say either of those chapters are bad, they’re excellent, but I think it just shows that Skellige is that much more interesting of an area. I think that, to some extent, derives from the fact that Velen and Novigrad are neighboring areas, and so their culture is very similar. It gets me even more excited to see Touissant, the place added in Blood and Wine, because that is also a totally separate part of that world.

Celeste

I’ve managed to put a few hours into Celeste now, where when we recorded the podcast I had only put about a half hour into it.

I worry that maybe my expectations for this game were set too high, especially with folks continually telling me how impactful it’s emotional aspects are. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, but I will say so far the game has done some pretty interesting things.

On the gameplay level, it has the tightness of something like Towerfall, applied to very Super Meat Boy reminiscent platforming levels that are short, consumable, and challenging. It kind of reminds me that I’m not really in the mood for something that is just outwardly so challenging right now though. Like, it makes you frustrated and you’re supposed to derive enjoyment from the victory, but the levels are very long and frustrating at times, and I’m not getting the same satisfaction I got from something like Cuphead. 

That, mixed with the really interesting story bits makes me kind of just want to get to the next story beat above everything else. The constant dying and repeating of the same challenges impedes that.

Maybe most of my frustration is that each “chapter” bases itself around a different mechanic, and a lot of those have been more just annoying than anything else. One was these platforms that you can move by pressing against them while holding them, which worked, but another was ground or wall that you can’t retread once you’ve touched it once or you die, and that was just zero fun.

There is a very interesting scene where you have to calm yourself from a panic attack, and it’s very evocative, so maybe there is something too Celeste, but right now I’m more mixed than I’d like to be. Overall it definitely plays well, I’m just unsure of if I am buying everything there.

Questions

Like always, look for my tweets on Sundays with the hashtag #SundayChats in it, respond with your question, and be in the chats! Let’s do this!

I like that Ubisoft essentially did this by putting Mario in XCOM last year.

But like, what if Princess Peach was a leader in Civilization 6?

How good would that be?!

Have Mushroom Kingdom units?! Build Peach’s Castle as a World Wonder?! Having to import mushrooms from other city states to appease our great lord and savior Princess Peach?! PEACH getting NUKED by GHANDI?!

Anyway.

I feel like I can’t think of any mind bending ones, or ones that haven’t been done before, save for the Princess Peach one. Like, I’d love to see an strategy game with the Tales characters, and that already exists. I’d love to see a third person action game with Final Fantasy characters, and that kind of exists, and that’s also kind of happening with the FF7 Remake. I’d love to see Vincent from Catherine as a character in a Persona game with all adults, but that feels like a cop out. 

Link playing Baseball? in MLB the show? 

I’ll think on it and if I come up with anything good I’ll tweet it at you.

I don’t know that series sounds like its for weebs.

Nah I’m kidding, I’m glad everyone seems to be having fun with Monster Hunter World. I definitely have a bit of FOMO, but after that beta I really doubt I’d have fun with it.

Nabeshin would go Insect Glaive. Scott would get the biggest and weightiest sword. Tony you’d get whatever you’d get. You said you were trying the Bow on the latest show, so maybe that? And I’d be the cat and I’d be chilling on an inflatable tube.

Hands for feet. Duh.

I’d get like, those toe-shoes, which would basically be gloves, and then go on my merry, tree-swinging way. Like, I’d finally have my dream of being able to have four hands. Ugh. Feet for hand sounds awful because you’d still have “arms” so its not like you’d be able to four-footed run. 

Garbage.

I have no clue what this is.

*Does a quick google*

So Like, I am only loosely familiar with Big Brother, and I hate reality TV (I know Jazz, I’m sorry) but this seems like, totally boring! No big names at all. The entertainment weekly article I read showing the contestants for this upcoming one were recognized by their recent “Dancing with the Stars” placements, and that’s just fucking depressing.

But yeah, I like the idea of celebrities that don’t know they hate each other slowly learning that they do, in fact, hate each other all for your viewing pleasure, sure, if you’re into that sort of thing. But at least throw like, Liam Neeson in there to choke somebody or something.

Oh man there is so much I’d love to see Rocksteady do. They’ve definitely become a favorite developer of mine, even if i have a tenuous love-hate relationship with Batman Arkham Knight. 

I mean they are almost definitely working on something Batman. I feel like we don’t end this year without knowing exactly what they are making, or without it releasing. I think Justice League/Batman Beyond would be cool, but I just worry that they aren’t going that route.

I want them to break away from Batman. I think they’ve earned enough clout to do their own thing, and that’d be the thing I’m most excited about, but it may ultimately just be another Arkham game.

I’d probably kill myself right away tbh.

I know that’s a little morbid haha, but I’m definitely not making it. I have really bad asthma, so assuming we are getting “infected” “running” zombies I am boned. I’ve also never fired a gun before, nor do I really have any interest in doing so. I’m also a pacifist and hate the idea of hurting other living things, dead or not. I’d also not want to be a hindrance to me loved ones who are stronger than me and can live on. And boy it’d be a fucking bummer to just watch humans kill humans over food and water and guns and stuff. I just don’t want to been that world (which is kind of our world, I know, yes).

And knowing my luck I’d be patient zero, so there’s also that.

First, I want to say:

fuck Captain Jack Sparrow.

That being said.

I want Sly Cooper’s ancestor who was also a Pirate, Henriette Cooper.

Hell, I’d probably just want Sly Cooper too.

And maybe Captain Kidd, but like, cool Lady Captain Kidd from AC Black Flag.

And Nato Johnston, who is real.

Jurge Cruz is into some deep web shit with his crypto-mining operation.

It’s messed up.

And very impressive.

That’s a really good question. I want to say yes, because I think that’d be cool, but I don’t know of any Arc System Works game that’s made it big there. There probably (definitely) is one? But I just don’t know it. Maybe Guilty Gear. 

I’d say no because I think the way the controls work in FighterZ is just too simplified. I don’t know what the skill threshold for that game is, but who knows, maybe it’s possible. God wouldn’t that be rad?

This is a tough question. I saw this and I think, at least partially, thats what my opening thoughts bit was about. I don’t really think there is, and I don’t think that is such a bad thing, right?

Like that doesn’t make you any less of a friend, and this goes for everyone to anyone they know with mental illness. If you’re there, supportive, and send the good vibes and are understanding of their issues, you're doing it right. I think it’s people that just lack empathy or say “why aren’t you just happy?” that are the ones super fucking up.

I’d say just empathize with the fact that sometimes all you can do is send support, and that’s totally enough. So don’t sweat it.

Christ.

Joel’s Ears from The Last of Us because apparently that mother fucker can just hear through walls. 

And maybe.... uhhh... The lady from The Sexy Brutale who can hear codes being typed in on keypads from the room over? That’s lit.

Goddamn my arms would just be horrifying tendrils though. Imagine if this combined with my feet that are hands and I’m just a four-eared two-handed monster crawling around listening with my big stalk-ears?!

God help us for this image will never leave my brain.

Ah so you play the Wraith eh?? Well that’s good to know. Time to get my STRATS ready. Of course you’d play the most broken monster though.

And probably never but I’m keeping the dream going.

Evolve was good you guys.

9.0/10, Irrational Passions.

I REVIEWED IT.

http://irrationalpassions.com/evolve-review/

That’s it! That’s the show and the whole kitten-caboodle. 

It’s been a long week but keep things on the up and up. We’re about to move into February and I’m about to launch a cool new show and IP is working on some cool stuff to look forward to. So get hype!

oh and please keep it on the real.

(this gif of Danny laughing on Table Flip just miraculously popped up on my gif search and it’s a gift to you, me, and the GG gods, so enjoy)

#video games #gaming #the witcher 3 #celeste #questions #sunday #sunday chats

[ignis-scientia-estrogen-brigade]

Because I am nothing if not an entirely raging narcissist, the last headcanon I wrote inspired me to revisit my redheaded OC and expand Ignis’ portion of it into a longer fic. At roughly 6700 words, it might be a little on the lengthy side for readers who like their smut in shorter, more consumable quantities, but at the very least I can guarantee approximately 70% of it is high quality genital-mashing.

Also, because we’ve established that I am indeed a raging narcissist, I drew a picture that you might’ve seen floating around these parts as supplemental material to help my followers visualize the naughty scene I’ve set. I’ve copypasted the fic in its entirety below the cut, but you can follow the link I’ve included to my AO3 account if you prefer getting your rocks off over there. While comments and constructive criticism are not necessary, they are more than welcome and always appreciated. Happy reading!

Idiotically NSFW

They have a routine, the strategist and the redhead; she waits in the shadows of his apartment landing near midnight, listening for the audible click of his front door unlocking to signal that the coast is clear; he greets her with a chaste peck on the cheek and a steaming cup of Ebony when she finally tiptoes inside; they seat themselves around the living room and chat politely for thirty minutes or so, about this and that and all sorts of mundane things, until they both silently acknowledge the real reason why she is here and discard their clothes in the hall on their way to the bedroom.

It’s a comfortable routine, something she has to look forward to after a long day at the Citadel, something that hasn’t changed in the weeks and months since she’d involved herself with the strategist. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee always succeeds at putting her mind at ease, as does the deep vibrato of his voice when he mutters the latest complaint against his royal charge. Even the slight narrowing of his eyes indicating his desire for intimacy is customary, for Ignis Scientia is nothing if not entirely consistent in his mannerisms, and the redhead knows the only expectation either one of them will have for the evening is just how long it takes for her to cry out his name.

Which is why it’s decidedly unexpected when she sees him pushing a large rectangular box across the coffee table in her direction. “What’s this?”

“A gift,” he says, in the clipped accent they both share. “Of sorts.”

She peers down warily at the violet ribbon wrapped around the package before turning a dubious eye on him. “For me? I scarcely would’ve taken you for the charitable type.”

“More for me, actually. Although it would be an added bonus if it was to your liking.” He takes a sip from his Ebony, and then nods toward the box. “Go on—see if it suits your tastes.”

She hesitates, somewhat puzzled by this curious break in their habitualness, but concedes to his request and tugs on the end of the ribbon. Once she’s removed the lid, she is met with a plethora of tissue paper; it takes her a few moments to unearth what lies beneath, and she laughs aloud when she finally recognizes the shimmer of satin and lace textiles. “Really, Ignis? Unmentionables?”

“They can’t really be considered unmentionables once you’ve mentioned them, now can they?”

The way the corners of his lips turn upward into a faint smirk is both utterly endearing and entirely exacerbating, and she resists the urge to sigh. “And what, precisely, do you expect me to do with these?”

“Wear them, I would hope. Preferably for me, but I obviously can’t stop you from entertaining lesser fools.”

She pegs him with a tart glance before returning her attention to the contents of the package; a pair of sheer black stockings is nestled between a matching garter-and-panty set, and she catches a glimpse of indigo silk beneath the lacy undergarments.

She then withdraws the purple article from the box and holds it up teasingly. “Your fashion sensibilities are certainly predictable. Did you purchase this from the same tailor who designs your dress shirts?”

The boned corset in her hands is indeed crafted from a similar Coeurl-print pattern the strategist favors in his own wardrobe, although this evening he is sporting a dark button-up shirt and necktie, likely due to a late night council meeting. “Not quite,” he replies. “I picked it up from the department store yesterday when I was with Noctis.”

She is almost positive he delights in the look of horror that crosses her features. “With the prince? What in Astrals were you thinking?”

“Come now, I’m more discreet than that.” He crosses one knee over the other and swirls his mug around demurely. “Umbra showed up just as Noct was buying new tube socks, and he asked me to bugger off for a bit. I took the liberty to make my purchases and was back before he could finish dotting his I’s with little hearts.”

“And you weren’t the least bit worried about being caught browsing the ladies intimate apparel section? Not concerned with any… assumptions the cashier might’ve made about you?”

The strategist shrugs. “Not at all. Even if someone were to suspect I was buying lingerie for myself, the whole Citadel knows I have nicer legs than anyone.” He then tosses her a wink. “Your included.”

She has half a mind to swipe her foot across the sensitive part of his shins, but the sight of multiple zeroes printed on the label affixed to the corset derails her malevolent intentions. “Goodness,” she breathes, and draws the label closer to confirm her eyes aren’t playing tricks on her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to impress me.”

“Hardly,” he scoffs, draining the last of his beverage before setting his empty cup aside. “I merely wanted to ensure durable enough construction that wouldn’t fall apart immediately after putting it on. And besides—if you’d rejected my offerings outright without the tags, I’d be a few hundred credits lighter and nothing but aching testicles to show for it.”

She drops the corset back into the box with the other items and replaces the lid. “You could’ve always worn them yourself. Or perhaps your legs aren’t as shapely as you think?”

It’s admittedly one of her favorite aspects of entertaining the strategist, this delightful battle of wits; she cocks a mischievous eyebrow in his direction, poised and ready to counter his incoming barb with a pointed one of her own. But his green orbs soften behind his spectacles, and he surprises her—just as he did when he set the package in front of her moments ago—by reaching across the table and taking her hand in his own.

“I’d rather like to see you wear them,” he says quietly. “Won’t you consider humoring this stuffy chamberlain just for one evening?”

For a split second, the walls guarding her mind draw up; it was rather unlike him, the stoic personality he most often was, to reveal any signs of weakness around her, and the details of their arrangement never explicitly addressed the specifics pertaining to unusual fetishes or lewd requests. But his proposal wasn’t completely out of the ordinary for a lover—nor even particularly lewd, when the she really thought about it—and the earnestness in his eyes curbs her skepticism.

So she draws herself up from her seat without another word, the box of unmentionables tucked under one arm and her gaze trained on him as she strolls off in the direction of the master bedroom. When he’s out of her line of sight, she enters the on-suite bathroom and closes the door behind her; she then sets the package down on the marbled vanity beside the sink and removes the lid once more.

She hefts the bodice from the box and holds it against her torso, and her nose wrinkles as she stares at her reflection in the mirror. The redhead may have been the object of considerable desire within the walls of the royal palace, but she can’t even remember the last time she’d agreed to compress her organs for the sake of beauty. She wonders if perhaps the strategist is growing bored with her, dressing her up like a plaything in a final effort to coax the last remaining vestiges of attraction he still harbors for her, until she remembers that there are far more economical ways of getting one’s rocks off than dropping a few hundred Crown City credits on couture underwear.

She eventually discards the wardrobe she wore to his apartment and sets to work. The panties, stockings, and garter are straightforward enough, but the corset bindings are packaged separately from the bodice, and when she unravels them she finds herself tangled up in several meters of cording. She may be an expert at lacing a pair of combat boots, but ladies shape wear proves to be another beast entirely; it takes her ten minutes to thread the binding through the narrow grommets enough for her to squeeze herself into the overly complex garment.

When she moves to adjust it, however, she is left with an excessive amount of binding in both her hands; what the purpose was of having six feet of rope when she only needed two to hang herself with eludes her entirely, and she spends yet another ten minutes trying to figure out why only the bottom half of the bodice will tighten when she pulls on the end of the cords.

“Need a hand?”

She snaps her head around, and her eyes lock on to the lanky figure leaning against the threshold. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to recognize you haven’t the slightest clue how to lace a corset properly.” The strategist moves into the bathroom and stops behind her, gliding his fingers gently across her neck as he shifts her long tresses to one side. “Allow me to enlighten you.”

The tightening around her ribs eases abruptly, and her spine begins to tingle when she feels his warm breath on her shoulder. “It’s not polite to sneak up on people like that,” she says in a low voice. “I didn’t even hear you open the door.”

“I’ve made a career out of sneaking up on people. Are you really surprised?”

“Hm. I suppose not.”

His hands move quickly, tugging on the binding and rethreading them from the bottom up. When he reaches the grommets centered near her waist, he picks up the other end of the cording and begins lacing them through alternating holes from the top down. She studies his face in the reflection of the mirror while he works, his bespectacled features furrowed with the same razor-keen focus he would dedicate to any other task, imperative or otherwise; she has witnessed his awesome powers of concentration before, whether he is channeling the celestial magic of the crystal the sovereigns of Lucis have bestowed upon him, or taking notes in a boring council meeting, or even—nay, especially—when he is making love to her in the earliest hours of twilight.

“There’s a method behind lacing a corset,” he explains, tying off the ends of the cord at the two lowest grommets and tugging on the excess binding looped at her waist. “Pull on these ones”—he clutches at the bottom strands—“and it tightens the lower half. Pull on these ones”—his grip switches to the top strands—“and it tightens the upper half. Makes it easier to distribute the tension more evenly.”

As the compression surrounding her ribcage equalizes, the redhead surmises she learns something new about him every day; how he takes his coffee, what section of the newspaper he prefers to read first, how deep the rabbit hole of his perverted psyche actually goes. “You seem to be quite the authority on corsetry.”

He secures the loops of the binding into a snug knot; then he slips a hand around her waist, drawing her close and touching his lips to her ear. “I like my presents wrapped as much as anyone.”

Her eyelids flutter shut when she feels his arousal pressing against the small of her back. “Seems a shame to go through the trouble of putting everything on, only to take it all off again.”

“Who said anything about taking it off?”

Finally, she turns to face him. “You’re going to have to,” she says, gesturing to the panties that are trapped firmly between her stockings and garter belt. “Unless you plan on fucking me through my underwear somehow.”

Neither one of them was in the habit of employing vulgar language with any regularity; they both had reputations at the Citadel to uphold, and at times it seemed like they were the last two remaining consummate professionals amidst the likes of bawdier individuals like Gladiolus Amicitia and Libertus Ostium. Still, the occasional use of more… colorful vocabulary held a certain measure of gravity, and indeed her expletive has its desired effect; his cheek twitches as he takes a step toward her, and she can see the fire of lust flaring behind his emerald eyes.

“Is that a challenge?” he asks.

It’s rather unbecoming of her to bait him like that, and she knows it; he may be The Strategist, but he’s still just a man, and it was hardly fair of her to tease his ardor without giving any serious thought of following through with her insinuation.

But then she’s reminded of all the times he’s held the upper hand and delayed her gratification to agonizing lengths, and there was something about wearing a corset and thigh-highs that is making her feel empowered besides; she meets his gaze with a wicked one of her own, and reaches up to loosen the tie around his neck. “Since you managed to persuade me into donning this little outfit of yours,” she purrs, “I was wondering if I might make an inquiry of my own.”

His jaw clenches in visible restraint as she slips the tie out from under his collar. “But of course.”

“How much do you trust me?”

His gaze then drifts to the knot she is suddenly tightening around his right hand. “About as much as I trust anyone fettering my wrist with my own necktie, I suppose.”

When she is content with the strength of her makeshift shackle, she guides him to lean his lower back against the vanity countertop. “It’s just that you have a tendency to make sure my needs are met without ever giving any thought to your own. I find that rather troublesome.”

His face betrays the faintest hint of apprehension as she snakes the long end of the tie around the back of the sink faucet. “I’m certainly not feeling neglected, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Be that as it may, there’s a notable disparity between my efforts and yours. I was hoping to rectify that particular oversight.”

Only when she attempts to seize his unfettered wrist does he finally interrupt her machinations. “While I wholly appreciate your concern,” he says, raising his left hand away from her and out of reach, “I’m not sure if this is the best solution to an imaginary problem.”

She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of watching her leap futilely after her target, so she levels him with a steely gaze instead. “Afraid of turning the wheel over to someone else, for once?”

“No, but in my experience, bondage without the advantage of forethought rarely ever goes as planned.”

The hairs on the back of her neck tingle in mild irritation; she drops the end of the necktie on the vanity and lowers her voice to nearly a whisper. “I never ask you for anything, Ignis. You’re the one who leaves your front door unlocked every night, not me.”

The words left unspoken linger like a specter in the tiled room; she had no way of predicting from the start where exactly this dalliance of theirs would take her, but she’d done all she could to play by the rules, her rules, the ones that explicitly stated this was merely an agreement between two consenting individuals, where they could express themselves privately in ways they otherwise could not. She certainly would never have been able to envision herself clad in nylon and expensive silk with her buttocks on full display, at the behest of a man who had cooked for her and shared his bed and had even engaged with her in the occasional lover’s spat, and who for all of Eos felt like a loyal and doting husband in everything but name.

He adjusts his spectacles across the bridge of his nose, and she can see the wheels turning in his mind, weighing her desire to please him against his need to always be in control. After a moment, he heaves a long-suffering sigh and extends his left wrist in her direction. “I suppose we ought to agree upon a safe word.”

She can’t quite conceal the smile tugging at the corners of her lips, and moves to secure his outstretched hand with the remaining slack of the necktie. “I’m not sure that’s necessary. The worst that could happen is you uproot your faucet.”

“And send a geyser flooding through the apartment?” He shakes his head woefully. “My renter’s insurance would positively skyrocket.”

When she is finished tethering his wrists to the polished brass fixture behind his back, and is confident he won’t be able to immediately break loose the instant her mouth meets any sensitive flesh, she traces her fingers lightly across his smooth cheeks and draws him close. “I’ll try not to be the reason for any permanent water damage,” she says, as the distance between their lips vanishes, “but I can’t make any promises.”

It’s a wholly unique experience, kissing the strategist whilst his arms are bound; his hands are usually everywhere at once, tangled in her hair, caressing her breasts, slipping beneath the waistband of her panties to massage her aching nub. But the tables have suddenly turned, the onus of his pleasure firmly in the palm of her own hands, and she almost doesn’t know what to do with herself now that she isn’t having to clutch at the walls just to hold herself upright under his devilish ministrations.

Almost.

His shirt is still buttoned and, without the present use of his limbs, it might’ve remained that way for a while longer if her desire to undress him hadn’t been entirely innate. But since the instinct to strip the clothes right off his back was as involuntary as breathing, she doesn’t even need to break their kiss for her fingers to find and unfasten the top three closures; two more, and she’s drinking in the flavor of Ebony and spiced cologne as she explores his tongue; the final two, and she’s parting his tunic like the curtains of a window and pressing her body tightly against his warm chest.

His mouth drifts across her cheek and follows the outline of her jaw, but his lips stop just shy of her left earlobe when his restraints prevent him from leaning in any farther. “I hope you don’t intend to imprison me like this for too terribly long,” he says.

His shoulders flex under the hand she is gliding over his collarbone, presumably testing the durability of the tie against the strength of his own wrists. She then trails her fingers down his abdomen, encircling his navel once before untucking the hem of his shirt from his waistband. “I loathe to disappoint you, but I’m only just getting started.”

A curious noise bubbles out of his throat just then, scarcely audible enough for her to hear, but sounding halfway between a frustrated whine and a carnal growl. The expression settling in across his features conveys a more telling tale; his lips are parted and his jaw is set, and he lowers his chin to his chest when she presses the palm of her hand against the bulging in his trousers. Her other hand is snaked around his neck and gripping at the base of his scalp—just the way she knows he likes it, because of course she knows, because tugging on his tawny hair only served to urge his arousal onward in the past.

But he can’t do anything about it like he could before, since the tie fettering his wrists has held up remarkably well thus far; he conveys his annoyance at being shackled against his will by biting gently on her lower lip. The hand she has resting on his groin moves to tackle his belt buckle, and she releases the zipper of his trousers with deft fingers before pulling away from him and dropping to her knees. The strategist didn’t spend several hundred credits on intimate apparel just to view the evening’s entertainment from the nosebleed section, however, so the redhead makes sure her posture is such that the lacy undergarment dividing her backside is suitably conspicuous from his birds-eye perspective.

“I just had a thought,” he says suddenly. “The bathroom’s not exactly the most hygienic place for this kind of activity. Perhaps we should move into the bedroom?”

“And spoil my fun? I think not.” She glances up and cocks a teasing eyebrow at him. “Besides—knowing you, you probably sterilized every square inch of this apartment with industrial strength bleach before I arrived.”

“Regardless if that were true, the floor tiles can’t possibly be comfortable on your kneecaps.”

She then threads her fingers beneath the waistband of his fitted boxer briefs and tosses him a wink. “Itching for release, are we? I’m getting there.”

He doesn’t get the chance to counter her argument before she is tugging down on the garment and liberating him from the constricting fabric. For a brief moment, her pride swells at the sight of his warm and rigid flesh; any and all doubts she had about boring him are quickly forgotten upon seeing his erection standing at full attention. She wraps her fingers tentatively around the base of his shaft and slips the other hand beneath the hem of his shirt, tickling his hip; her eyes lock onto his for half a heartbeat, long enough to enjoy his expression of pleasure mingled with sheer torture when she finally takes him into her mouth.

“Be reasonable,” he says hoarsely. “You can’t expect me to remain upright in this position if you continue like this.”

She subdues his protests by drawing him in closer; a silent gasp escapes his lips when the head of his shaft meets the back of her throat, and she can feel his right leg quiver slightly through his trousers. She drops the hand she has at his waist and squeezes his thigh to ease his trembling, withdrawing from him briefly to focus her attention on the sensitive tip. As she traces circles around it with her tongue, she catches a glimpse of his face out of the corner of her peripheral vision; his eyes are closed, his forehead furrowed in concentration—or is it dread?—and his lips are pressed together in a thin line.

She hears a soft clank when she returns him fully back into her mouth, and glances up to see his shoulders working against his restraints. “Please consider reneging on your proposal,” he whispers, his eyes still firmly shut. “I’m not sure how much more of this I can take before I break something.”

But she doesn’t consider reneging on anything, not even for a nanosecond, because it’s not often she has the chance to witness the strategist at his most exposed, and the look of pure, naked vulnerability on his face has lit a fire in her belly that is quickly turning into a roaring blaze. Instead, she redoubles her efforts and encompasses him nearly to the point of choking herself on his flesh-and-blood sword; the trembling in his thigh has grown more pronounced, and the muscles of his bare abdomen twitch furiously with every flick of her tongue. His spectacles have shifted and are creeping down the bridge of his nose, so he throws his head back and grits his teeth to stifle the cry of ecstasy clawing its way up his throat.

She is employing every tool at her disposal to please him now—she’s appropriated the fingers of her right hand into a makeshift cock ring, trapping his member between her thumb and forefinger to prevent the flow of blood from exiting the tissue of his shaft, while the ones on her left gently massage the delicate part of his scrotum. Her slow oral ministrations have given way to a more rigorous pace, and the copious amount of saliva that is currently coating his loins provides a suitably slick lubricant with which to prime her throat. She takes him in deeper, but he doesn’t thrust against her; if anything, he appears to be yielding away from her, and for a moment she wonders whether his reticence is a result of her accidentally nicking him with her teeth.

But then she hears the sound of ragged gasps rattling around in his lungs, and is alerted to other signs of his imminent climax approaching; his flavor on her tongue has changed slightly and the temperature of his skin has risen, and the base of his shaft is pulsating as his body prepares to conclude its natural cycle. Maintaining a steady rhythm is key, she knows, so she reaches for the pockets of his trousers and clutches at his hips—partly to balance herself from her increasingly vigorous movements, and partly to ensure the strategist has no way of escaping the inevitable.

She would’ve patted herself on the back for her near-record time it took to bring him to orgasm, had her hands otherwise not been occupied; the sound of his breath catching in his throat is drowned out by the clank clank clank of his wrists wrenching violently against the gilded faucet. “Darling, I—I can’t—”

She has but a moment to decide which way the next few seconds will go. Hold fast, and her throat might reject his milky offerings; withdraw, and he’ll spill his seed all over her expensive corset. It’s his own damned fault for spending such a ludicrous amount of money on lingerie, she thinks, but she’s far too pragmatic to allow fine silk to be ruined over a few teaspoons of semen; in the end, she takes her chances and silently prays her body won’t betray her.

It’s not so much the flavor that catches her off guard, but the heat; for a man christened after fire incarnate, it ought not to have surprised her to discover his seed ran as hot as his libido. She presses her eyes shut out of fear for how her mouth will react to the intrusion, but—mercifully—her gag reflex remains dormant, so she relaxes into him and allows the warm fluid to pool on her tongue. He tastes slightly bitter, but not overly so, certainly no more than a slightly unripened apple, and when last of his pelvic convulsions finally slow to a standstill, she finds she has very little trouble containing the bounty of her efforts.

He is slumped against the vanity when she rises to her feet, his head angled forward and his spectacles displaced halfway down his nose. She isn’t sure if the way his nostrils are flaring is simply due to exhaustion, or whether it is a more foreboding sign; she takes a tentative step toward him and places a gentle hand on his chest. “Is everything… all right?”

“Please untie me.”

He doesn’t look up when he says it, and the redhead surmises it’s about the most animated reaction she can anticipate from a man who practically sharpens his teeth on his rookie lance pupils without even breaking a sweat. She reaches behind his back and fumbles with the end of the tie, half-expecting him to recover his dignity and march out of the bathroom the instant his left wrist is freed; he remains stagnant against the marbled countertop instead, moving only to return his spectacles to their proper place across his nose.

The heat of the moment is quickly dissipating with his ominously silent mood, and she frowns. “Are you angry with me?”

He finally glances up at her, his head tilted to one side, his eyes betraying nothing. “No.”

Her frown deepens. She’s seen the strategist grow aloof in the aftermath of their relations before, but there is something wholly distant in his expression she can’t quite put her finger on. “Then what is it?”

The necktie is still knotted around his right wrist, and it trails after him as he reaches out to caress her cheek. “Come here. I want to hold you.”

A queer sensation trickles down her spine; a few harmless pet names and bending the hours of their arrangement was one thing, but he was far too steeped in his devotion to the crown to show affection outside the confines of intimacy beyond the occasional peck on the cheek. “Are you feeling all right?”

The corners of his mouth curve upward faintly, and his hand falls to her waist and draws her close. Her eyebrows are knitted at this unusual display of tenderness, but she nestles herself between his legs—his erection is still hard as a rock, she notes—and leans to rest her chin on his shoulder.

He then snakes his arms around the small of her back and buries his face in her red locks. “You look magnificent,” he says quietly.

Her throat tightens, and she bites the inside of her cheek to stifle the feelings that are threatening to manifest themselves into tears; she’ll never have him the way she wants him, not entirely, and not because of their duties to the kingdom of Lucis, but because she knows deep down that the Six did not breath life into a man of his talents without a having a greater calling for him in mind.

His hand glides up her spine and stops at her neck, brushing her hair away from her shoulders as he touches his lips to the soft skin beneath her ear. Her own hands tighten around his chest, and she leans into his embrace; there will be plenty of time to fret about divine destinies later, and the gentle nibbles he is trailing along her jawline are admittedly working wonders to take her mind off of the hypothetical.

So she nuzzles her nose against his feathery temple and breathes in his scent; her ministrations from earlier must have been more laborious on his resolve than she first realized, because she is only just now noticing the light sheen of perspiration that dots his forehead. He finally pushes away from the vanity and draws himself up to his full height, guiding her hips with strong hands to the bit of marble countertop he just vacated, and braces his arms on either side of her to corral her in place.

“Darling,” she whispers, as he rakes his teeth across her collarbone, “you don’t have to continue for my sake. You must be utterly exhausted.”

“What was it you said earlier?” His hand finds the waistband of her panties and slithers beneath them. “Ah, yes—‘I’m only just getting started.’”

She snorts softly against his neck, but her amusement at his cheeky turn of phrase is short lived when he presses his long fingers inside of her. Then her beguilement is all but forgotten, and replaced by the singular desire to feel his warmth fill her entirely; she locks one ankle around the back of his knee and grinds her pelvis against his hand, and her insistence is rewarded when he massages his thumb across her sensitive hood.

His mouth returns to her face and he brushes his lips lightly against her own; she has little time for his chaste and gentle probing, however, and chases hungrily after his tongue instead. She is unable to stop the whine of disapproval from bubbling out of her throat when his hand disappears from between her thighs, but the strategist has a plan—just like he always does—and it requires the use of both hands to grip at her hips in order to lift her onto the edge of the vanity.

At the back of her mind, she can’t quite help chuckling quietly to herself at how ludicrous they must look in that moment; his necktie is dangling off of his right wrist like a wet noodle, his shirt rumpled and unbuttoned, his trousers and briefs halfway down his buttocks as he claws at the infinitesimally small strip of fabric separating his cock infuriatingly from her cunt. In truth, though, the redhead lives for moments like this, when their guards are down and their humanity is on full display, because even though he addresses her with cool and cordial formality at the Citadel, she knows the strategist has the same needs and desires of any other hot-blooded man that has fire coursing through his veins.

He shifts her weight in an attempt to displace the lacy accouterment, but it remains firmly wedged in her backside. “This would’ve been a lot easier if you had just let me take off my stockings,” she laughs.

“Remove my favorite accessory?” His spectacles lurch as his face crumples into a scowl. “Not on your life.”

Finally, he manages to push the stretchy fabric aside adequately enough to gain access to her warm folds. Her hand is already between his legs and gripping his shaft, her urgency to end this lustful torment as great as his; he clutches at her thigh to steady himself before he is plunging his searing heat inside of her like a pike impaling a fleshy target.

The air in her lungs all but evaporates, and her fingernails dig into the thickest part of his shoulders. His reaction is more subtle—not even the faintest cry of rapture escapes his lips—but she can feel his body shudder slightly when the full circumference of his girth meets the edge of her resistance. For a long moment, neither one of them moves, and the only discernible noise coming from the bathroom is the sound of their hearts beating furiously inside both their ribcages; then he is withdrawing from her, slowly, gently, agonizingly, returning his lips to the crook of her neck and nibbling at the baby soft skin there, before driving his hips forward again and resuming his occupancy fully inside of her.

How he is still so hard is beyond her, but she doesn’t protest or complain; if anything, the way the elastic of her wayward panties is capturing her nub between the base of his shaft is a miraculous serendipity that sends chills firing down her spine. The strategist notices this little development as well, she realizes, which really shouldn’t have surprised her in the least—it was his job to extract knowledge from the most trivial pieces of evidence, after all—but her eyes widen just the same when she feels him angle himself against the garment for a snugger fit.

Is he competing with me? she wonders. Was this all just a wanton race to see who could bring the other one to climax the fastest? She would’ve admonish him if she’d had authority over her own voice, but the only thing she is able to utter in that moment is an unintelligible moan of pleasure. And it doesn’t really matter anyway, because the familiar pressure spreading throughout her lower belly is growing stronger with each passing thrust of his hips; her hands glide down the back of his dress shirt, unconsciously and autonomously, and clutch at his buttocks as her resolve frays like a quickly unraveling thread.

She can no longer see his face, because he is resting his chin on her shoulder now—bracing it, really—as he moves between her legs with methodical precision. But she can hear his breath shortening, his exhales breaking in time with the heart she feels thumping inside his chest. Her own pulse is screaming in her ears, but she ignores it in favor of focusing her attention solely on the sensation of his warmth grinding against the most tender part of her sex. When she closes her eyes, she can almost visualize her climax hovering on the edge of her consciousness; her nub throbs every time he eases away from her, only to glow like a star on the cusp of going supernova when the pressure resumes.

Two more thrusts and her vision begins to swim; another three, and the scales are tipping rapidly out of her favor; one final push, and she’s reached the point of no return. “Ignis,” she whispers, the thread disintegrating, the star finally exploding. “Ignis—”

He tightens his grip on her thigh, although whether it’s to balance himself or merely to calm the violent tremors ripping through her body, she isn’t sure. Each wave of her orgasm takes with it a piece of her voice, until her loud cries of ecstasy finally fall silent and she is gasping desperately for air like a dying Lucian carp. Her fingers are suctioned to his lower back like barnacles, as are her legs that have captured his slender waist in a vice grip, and she holds him close for what seems like an eternity as the spots of light dancing across her vision slowly fade.

“Drat.”

The strategist’s benign obscenity returns her to the here and now, and she finally loosens her grip over him. She then glances up at his face, only to see him staring down between her legs; when she follows his gaze, she sees the fabric of her undergarment clutched in his hand, tattered and ripped at the side seam.

“So much for quality,” he mutters. “I’d have thought for the money I paid, it would’ve held up at least a little better than that.”

A small smile touches her lips, and she traces her fingers lightly over his cheek. “I’m not quite sure lace is rated for this kind of strenuous activity.”

“Indeed.” He releases the scrap of fabric and readjusts his spectacles once more. “I suppose I’ll just have to take my business elsewhere next time.”

He then withdraws from her and helps her down off the vanity. She has to hold the two torn sides of her panties at her hip just to preserve her dignity, although considering he had himself buried to the testicles in her sex moments before, she supposes there isn’t much modesty left to be lost between them. He returns his own equipment to his briefs and zips up his trousers, but he leaves his shirt unbuttoned, and his necktie is still wrapped around his wrist; she is tempted to make a wry quip about his unusual lack of fastidiousness, but she knows his persnickety side will eventually spur him to cover himself, so she simply enjoys the sight of his taut abdominals on display for her viewing pleasure for as long as she can.

She then reaches for the binding of her corset to ease the tension in her compressed organs, until another thought suddenly occurs to her and stays her hand. “Do you mind if I stay for a little while?” she asks.

He is already at the threshold of the doorway, no doubt longing to excuse himself and his mild germaphopbia from lingering in the bathroom any longer. “Not at all. Don’t feel compelled to stay in that outfit, though—I’m sure your spleen is begging for mercy.”

“It’s not so bad, once you get use to it.” She releases the torn ends of her ruined underwear and lets them fall to the floor. “Besides—for what you paid, you ought to get a bit more of your money’s worth out of it.”

One quizzical eyebrow rises above his spectacles. “What precisely did you have in mind?”

They won’t always have this routine, the strategist and the redhead; the Empire was building garrisons across Lucis at that very instant, and the Astrals would undoubtedly intervene in her happiness once they finally revealed the celestial plans they had in store for the prince’s most loyal advisor. There were times when the reality of their fragile agreement cut through her heart like a cold dagger, its icy tendrils suffocating her with the same lethal proficiency Ignis Scientia reserved only for enemies of the crown.

But this was not one of those times, and their illusion of normalcy remains intact if only for a brief moment longer. “I don’t believe our arrangement forbids any party from brewing a pot of Ebony without wearing appropriate undergarments,” she says, as she struts past him and out of the bathroom. “How about another cuppa?”

#final fantasy xv #ignis scientia #ffxv fanfiction #ffxv headcanons #ffxv imagines #ffxv #ff15 #ignis #ignis stupeo scientia

[patriotsnet]

Will Any Republicans Vote For Impeachment

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/will-any-republicans-vote-for-impeachment/

Will Any Republicans Vote For Impeachment

Republican Groups Censure Party Lawmakers Who Voted To Impeach Convict Trump

Kinzinger said 11 family members sent him a handwritten two-page note that started, Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!The letter accused him of working with the devils army, which it said included Democrats and the fake news media.We thought you were smart enough to see how the left is brainwashing many so called good people including yourself and other Republicans. You have even fallen for their socialism ideals! So, so sad!It is now most embarrassing to us that we are related to you, the family members wrote. You have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name.Kinzinger said the family members suffered from brainwashing at conservative churches.I hold nothing against them, he said, but I have zero desire or feel the need to reach out and repair that. That is 100% on them to reach out and repair, and quite honestly, I dont care if they do or not.Kinzinger said he knows his vote against Trump could imperil his political career but that he couldnt live with myself if the one time I was called to do a really tough duty, I didnt do it.

Rep Liz Cheney Wyoming

READ MORE: How was a violent mob able to breach the U.S. Capitol? Activists see double standard in police response

The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack, Cheney wrote. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not.

Cheney is the highest-ranking House member to vote for Trumps impeachment.

Liz Cheney John Katko And Dan Newhouse Among 10 House Republicans Who Voted In Favour Of Motion

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump a second time on Wednesday. The House voted 232-197 in favour of an unprecedented second impeachment just one week after the violence at the U.S. Capitol.

Those 232 votes were cast in favour of the bill by 222 Democrats along with 10 Republicans, members of Trumps own party.

The Republicansinclude:

Will Trump Be Impeached

As Democrats hold a majority in the House, the vote is likely to pass.

“We have been asked to turn a blind eye to the criminality, corruption and blatant disregard to the rule of law by the tyrant president we have in the White House,” Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar said in the House debate.

“We as a nation can no longer look away.”

Did Trump’s words at rally incite the riot?

At least nine Republicans have voted in favour impeachment, but the majority remain loyal to the president.

“Instead of moving forward as a unifying force, the majority in the House is choosing to divide us further… Let us look forward, not backward. Let us come together, not apart,” Republican Tom Cole told the House.

He was one of 139 Republicans who last week voted against accepting the result of the 2020 election and Mr Trump’s defeat.

Once it has passed in the House of Representatives, the impeachment article will then head for the Senate, where a trial will be held to determine the president’s guilt.

A two-thirds majority would be needed there to convict Mr Trump, meaning at least 17 Republicans would have to vote for conviction. As many as 20 Senate Republicans are open to convicting the president, the New York Times reports.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he had not yet decided whether or not he would vote in favour of impeachment.

The Senate will not reconvene this week and probably not until 19 January, according to Mr McConnell’s spokesman.

The Gop Impeachment 10 Try To Navigate Cheneys Demise And Their Own Futures

When 10 Republicans voted to impeach President Donald Trump on Jan.13, it marked a historic milestone: It was the most House members from a presidents party to vote to remove him from office.

But since that vote, the 10 lawmakers have cut different paths in grappling with the fallout as they consider their political futures in a party still beholden to Trump.

Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have made their votes career-defining, arguing that pushing back against Trumps false assertions that the 2020 election was stolen is about protecting democracy and the soul of the Republican Party.

Others, such as Reps. Anthony Gonzalez , Jaime Herrera Beutler and Peter Meijer , have vocally defended their votes and Cheney amid a caucuswide push to oust her from leadership, though they have not sought to make it a marquee issue.

The rest have moved on, even if they stand by their decision, seemingly in line with House GOP leaderships argument that what is important now is opposing President Bidens agenda and regaining the majority in the 2022 midterms, not what happened after the 2020 election.

McCarthy backs ousting Cheney from GOP leadership, paving way for removal vote this week

Trump Impeachment: Several Republicans To Join Democrats In House Vote

US Capitol riots

The US House of Representatives is deciding whether to impeach President Donald Trump over his role in last week’s storming of Congress.

Democrats accuse the president of encouraging his supporters to attack the Capitol building. Five people died.

Some in Mr Trump’s Republican party say they will join Democrats to impeach him on Wednesday, formally charging the president with inciting insurrection.

President Trump has rejected any responsibility for the violence.

The riot last Wednesday happened after Mr Trump told supporters at a rally in Washington DC to “fight like hell” against the result of November’s election.

As the House continued its debate, Mr Trump responded to the latest reports of planned protests, urging calm.

“I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind,” he said in statement released by the White House.

“That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for.

“I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.”

Did Any Republicans Vote For Impeachment

Dec 18, 2019 at 8:36pm

Getty

Today, on December 18, 2019, President Donald Trump was impeached. After a long debate, the House ultimately voted to impeach Donald Trump. This was expected, since the Democrats had a majority in the House and this was all that was needed to impeach Trump. And as expected, almost all of the Democrats voted for impeachment and all of the Republicans voted against it. But there were some differences. One former Republican voted for impeachment, but everyone who is still officially a Republican voted against impeachment.

Patrick J Toomey Of Pennsylvania

Mr. Toomey, 59, a senator since 2011, is not seeking re-election in 2022. He had denounced Mr. Trumps conduct; in a statement on Saturday, he said had decided during the trial that the former president deserved to be found guilty.

I listened to the arguments on both sides, Mr. Toomey said, and I thought the arguments in favor of conviction were much stronger.

The Gop Senators Likely To Vote For Trump’s Conviction

Alexander Bolton

Senators say as many as a half-dozen GOP lawmakers could vote with Democrats to convict former President TrumpDonald TrumpTom Cotton calls on Biden to ‘destroy every Taliban fighter’ near KabulThe Memo: Fall in white population could add fuel to nativist fire for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6 after the powerful presentations by impeachment managers, including chilling footage of the attack on the Capitol.

That would not be enough to secure a conviction of Trump, something that would require at least 17 Republican votes assuming every Democrat in the chamber votes to impeach. But it would be the largest bipartisan Senate majority in history for a presidential impeachment vote.

Heres a look at the six GOP votes seen as being in play.

Willard Mitt RomneyA tale of two chambers: Trump’s power holds in House, wanes in SenateChina eclipses Russia as the world’s ‘biggest bad’ actorBipartisan blip: Infrastructure deal is last of its kind without systemic change

Romney is viewed as a lock to vote for Trumps conviction after he was the only Republican senator to vote to remove Trump from office after his first impeachment trial last year.

Previously unreleased security footage played on the second day of the trial showed Romney narrowly missed walking into a crowd of angry rioters thanks to the quick thinking of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who redirected Romney away from the violent crowd as it marched toward the chamber.

United States V Nixon Ruling

In a much-anticipated landmark ruling on July 24, 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered President Nixon to release all White House tapes, not just selected transcripts, pertinent to the Watergate investigation. The unanimous ruling in United States v. Nixon found that the president of the United States does not possess an absolute, unqualified executive privilege to withhold information. Writing for the court, Chief JusticeWarren Burger stated:

We conclude that when the ground for asserting privilege as to subpoenaed materials sought for use in a criminal trial is based only on the generalized interest in confidentiality, it cannot prevail over the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of criminal justice. The generalized assertion of privilege must yield to the demonstrated, specific need for evidence in a pending criminal trial.

A short while after the decision was made public, Nixon issued a statement saying that, while “disappointed in the result, I respect and accept the court’s decision, and I have instructed Mr. St. Clair to take whatever measures are necessary to comply with that decision in all respects.” The president was at the Western White House in California at the time, where he remained through July 28.

Here Are All Of The House Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Donald Trump

Ten members of the GOP joined with Democrats in the vote.

President Donald Trump impeached for ‘incitement of insurrection’

The House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump — making him the only president in American history to be impeached twice.

Unlike his first impeachment in 2019, 10 Republicans joined Democrats to charge Trump for the “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol with a final vote of 232-197.

Some Republicans may have feared for their own safety if they voted for impeachment, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of those who voted against Trump, said. Kinzinger told ABC’s “Powerhouse Politics” podcast that some members of his party are likely holding back from voting for impeachment due to fear of highlighting their own participation in supporting the president’s false claims of election fraud.

Democrat Jason Crow, of Colorado, relayed similar thoughts in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday morning.

“I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues last night, and a couple of them broke down in tears talking to me and saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment,” he said.

Here is a list of the 10 Republicans who took a stance against Trump:

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.“It’s not going to be some ‘Kumbaya moment’ on the floor — it’s going to be an awakening by the American people to hold their leaders accountable to their rhetoric,”

Trump Calls For ‘no Violence’ As Congress Moves To Impeach Him For Role In Riot

This time, there will be more. Some Republican senators have called on Trump to resign, and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is undecided at this point.

Trump’s impeachment won’t lead to his removal even if he is convicted because of the timeline. The Senate is adjourned until Tuesday. The next day, Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president. But there’s another penalty the Constitution allows for as a result of a Senate conviction that could be appealing to some Republican senators banning Trump from holding “office” again.

While there is some debate as to the definition of “office” in the Constitution and whether that would apply to running for president or even Congress, that kind of public rebuke would send a strong message that Republicans are ready to move on from Trumpism.

Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler

Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington State said that she would vote to impeach because she believed that the president had acted in violation of his oath of office.

I understand the argument that the best course is not to further inflame the country or alienate Republican voters, she said. But I am a Republican voter. I believe in our Constitution, individual liberty, free markets, charity, life, justice, peace and this exceptional country. I see that my own party will be best served when those among us choose truth.

First Impeachment Of Donald Trump

First impeachment trial of Donald Trump

First impeachment of Donald Trump Members of House of Representatives vote on two articles of impeachment Accused Donald Trump, President of the United States Proponents December 18, 2019 ?? February 5, 2020 Outcome Acquitted by the U.S. Senate, remained in the office of President of the United States Charges Voting in the U.S. Senate Accusation Article I Abuse of power Votes in favor Acquitted Accusation Article II Obstruction of Congress Votes in favor

A request by U.S. President Donald Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son sparked the scandal. Events

The first impeachment of Donald Trump occurred when Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was by the House of Representatives of the 116th United States Congress on December 18, 2019. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The acquitted of these charges on February 5, 2020.

Two days after the acquittal, Trump fired two witnesses who had testified about his conduct in the impeachment inquiry: Ambassador Gordon Sondland and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Vindman’s twin brother Yevgeny Vindman was also fired.

Why Is Trump On Trial

Trumps second impeachment stems from his involvement in whipping up a mob on 6 January that went on to assault the Capitol building while a joint session of Congress was convened to certify Joe Bidens Electoral College win. The invasion of the Capitol led to five deaths and the temporary suspension of the vote certification until the assailants could be removed. The House voted to impeach him for a second time a week after the events and just a little over a week from him leaving office.

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney says his impeachment vote will be based upon the facts and the evidence as is presented.Romney also says he believes that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not? what is?

Nearly All Gop Senators Vote Against Impeachment Trial For Trump Signaling Likely Acquittal

All but five Republican senators backed former president Donald Trump on Tuesday in a key test vote ahead of his impeachment trial, signaling that the proceedings are likely to end with Trumps acquittal on the charge that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The vote also demonstrated the continued sway Trump holds over GOP officeholders, even after his exit from the White House under a historic cloud caused by his refusal to concede the November election and his unprecedented efforts to challenge the result.

Trumps trial is not scheduled to begin until Feb. 9, but senators were sworn in for the proceedings Tuesday, and they immediately voted on an objection raised by Sen. Rand Paul questioning the constitutional basis for the impeachment and removal of a former president.

Impeachment is for removal from office, and the accused here has already left office, he argued, adding that the trial would drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol, the likes of which has never been seen in our nations history.

But Democrats argue that Trump must be held accountable for the riot, which saw the Capitol overrun and resulted in the deaths of one police officer and four rioters. Pauls argument, they said, suggests that presidents can act with impunity late in their terms.

The final vote was 55 to 45 to kill Pauls objection, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins , Lisa Murkowski , Mitt Romney , Ben Sasse and Patrick J. Toomey joining all 50 Democrats.

Us Senate Acquits Trump As Republicans Save Him In Impeachment Again

8 Min Read

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate acquitted Donald Trump on Saturday in his second impeachment trial in a year, with fellow Republicans blocking conviction over the former presidents role in the deadly assault by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.

The Senate vote of 57-43 fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection after a five-day trial in the same building ransacked by his followers on Jan. 6 shortly after they heard him deliver an incendiary speech.

In the vote, seven of the 50 Senate Republicans joined the chambers unified Democrats in favoring conviction.

Acquittal by the numbers

How the Senate voted

Trump left office on Jan. 20, so impeachment could not be used to remove him from power. But Democrats had hoped to secure a conviction to hold him responsible for a siege that left five people including a police officer dead and to set the stage for a vote to bar him from ever serving in public office again. Given the chance to hold office in the future, they argued, Trump would not hesitate to encourage political violence again.

Trumps attorneys argued that his words at the rally were protected by his constitutional right to free speech and said he was not given due process in the proceedings.

Republicans saved Trump in the Feb. 5, 2020, vote in his first impeachment trial, when only one senator from their ranks – Mitt Romney – voted to convict and remove him from office.

Related Coverage

Impeachment Process Against Richard Nixon

Impeachment process against Richard Nixon First day of the House Judiciary Committee’s formal impeachment hearings against President Nixon, May 9, 1974 Accused Richard Nixon, President of the United States Proponents October30,1973 to August20,1974 Outcome Resolution containing three articles of impeachment adopted July 30, 1974; the impeachment proceedings ended in August 20, 1974 without an impeachment vote, after . Charges

This article is part of a series about

The impeachment process against Richard Nixon began in the United States House of Representatives on October 30, 1973, following the series of high-level resignations and firings widely called the “Saturday Night Massacre” during the course of the Watergate scandal.

Following an April 1974 from the Judiciary Committee, edited transcripts of 42 taped White House conversations relevant to the Watergate cover-up were finally made public by Nixon. However, the committee pressed for the audio tapes themselves, and subsequently issued subpoenas for additional tapes, all of which Nixon had refused. That same month, Nixon also refused to comply with a subpoena from special prosecutorLeon Jaworski for 64 Watergate-related tapes. Ultimately, on July 24, 1974, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision against Nixon, which ordered him to comply.

South Carolina Rep Tom Rice

Rices vote for impeachment stunned those familiar with the South Carolina lawmakers record as a staunch Trump defender, especially during his first impeachment.

I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice, Ricesaid in a statementWednesday evening. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.

Rice voted for motions to object to certifying Bidens Electoral College victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania last week, votes that came after security teams cleared the building of rioters and members returned from a secure location. Rice told local media he waited until the last minute to cast those votes because he was extremely disappointed in the president after the riots and that Trump needed to concede the election. He also said last week that he did not support impeaching the president or invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

Rice, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, has supported the Trump administrations position 94 percent of the time over the past four years. He represents a solidly Republican district in the Myrtle Beach area that Trump carried by 19 points in November. Rice, who has had little difficulty holding his seat since his first 2012 victory, won his race by 24 points in November.

Who Are The 10

Here they are in order of the most pro-Trump districts:

1. Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming’s at-large district: Trump won Wyoming 70% to 27%, and she’s the third-ranking leader in the House. So for her not just to vote in favor of impeachment but also issue a stinging rebuke is quite the step. Cheney was unequivocal in her statement, saying Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.” She called what Trump did the “greatest betrayal” of a U.S. president ever.

2. Rep. Tom Rice, South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District: This is one no one saw coming. The congressman, who has served since 2013, comes from a pretty pro-Trump district , and there was no indication he would do so beforehand. Even during his vote, Twitter was alight with speculation that Rice had cast the wrong vote. Turns out, he cast it exactly as he wanted to. Later Wednesday, Rice : “I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.”

I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.

Congressman Tom Rice January 13, 2021

Adam Kinzinger January 14, 2021

Richard Burr North Carolina

Burr, who has said he will not seek re-election, had previously voted to dismiss the impeachment trial on constitutional grounds. Burr’s term expires in 2022.

“I have listened to the arguments presented by both sides and considered the facts. The facts are clear,” explained Burr in a statement.

“By what he did and by what he did not do, President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he explained, adding that he didn’t come to “this decision lightly.”

In Trump’s 2019 Impeachment Trial Romney Was The Only Republican Who Voted To Convict Already Six Times That Many Have Broken With The Ex

A second defendant has stepped into the dock in this firstweek of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. The brilliant work by the House managers contrasted with the inept showing by the former president’s counsel so far leaves no good excuse for anything other than a conviction. That one-sidedness puts the U.S. Senate itself on trial, threatening serious reputational, career and historical consequences for senators who fail do the right thing vote to convict Trump.

As a trial lawyer who served as co-counsel for the first impeachment of then-President Trump, I had been expecting surprises and there were many. The Housemanagers enlivened what was supposed to be a constitutional debate Tuesday by previewing their main argument: that Trump knowingly incited the insurrectionists. It’s amazing that Trump’s lawyers were caught off guard by this. We did the same thing in the 2019 impeachment trial, using the opening debate over whether to call witnesses to preview the entire case. Nevertheless, Trump’s counsel were thrown into confusion they both showed it and one admitted that they’ll “have to do better.”

[castaway-stan]

I’m trying to get back into this writing thing if any of you have ever read the book audrey wait (aka one of my fave books ever) its kinda based off that :)

Dodging an ex after the breakup was always hard. It was even harder when your ex-boyfriend was in a world famous band. At first you’d avoided listening to the radio so there would be zero chance of you hearing any of his songs and you’d dodged grocery store checkout lines so you wouldn’t see his picture on the magazine covers. But as they say time heals all wounds and about six months after the relationship ended, you didn’t even flinch when you were in the grocery store and the radio announcer’s voice came over the speakers, “And here’s the brand new song from 5 Seconds of Summer!” A few months ago you would have left your cart in the middle of the aisle and walked out just to avoid hearing the song, but things were better now so you remained right where you were, in the freezer section surveying the ice cream choices. You were trying to decide whether or not to splurge on the name brand or buy the store’s knock off when you heard the chorus of the song come over the speakers and you finally started paying attention.

 The song reminded you a little bit of “Amnesia”, slow and broken-hearted. But the lyrics were what really piqued your interest. The chorus contained clear references to things the two of you had done together.

 Our anniversary, rose petals on the bed/I still see your face in my head

You hadn’t really expected anything big for your one-year anniversary, but Luke, who always treated you like a princess, defied them. He cooked your favorite meal, spending all day on it to make sure he didn’t screw up and bought you a beautiful necklace.

You were so blown away by all of this, you were surprised when Luke told you there was more. He told you to close your eyes, and when he obeyed, he took your hands. You could tell you didn’t move far and you were still in his apartment, but you weren’t exactly sure where. When Luke told you to open your eyes, you found his bedroom looking like something out of a movie. The bed covered in rose petals, the only light coming from candles (you still didn’t know when he’d snuck off to light them), his room perfectly neat and tidy, the first time you’d ever seen it like that. “I don’t wanna pressure you and if you changed your mind it’s okay. But if you still wanna do what we talked about I wanted to make it special.” Luke whispered, even though the two of you were the only people in the apartment.

 The previously discussed thing that Luke was referring to was sex. Early in the relationship you’d learned that neither of you were virgins, but you wanted to take things slow so the two of you hadn’t slept together right away. About a month ago you’d brought up maybe doing it on your one year anniversary, but you hadn’t expected him to go all out like this. “I’m ready.” You told him. You’d also been preparing for tonight, dropping a significant amount of money on new lingerie, but you decided to let him figure that out for himself when he started undressing you.

 The second the words passed your lips Luke scooped you up and carried you to the bed, setting you down gently on top of the rose petals

 I remember road trips to Vegas/ your eyes brighter than all the lights

The Vegas road trip was probably the most spontaneous thing you’d ever done in your entire life. On a typical Friday night hanging out in your apartment, Luke had randomly suggested it. You’d laughed until you realized he was serious.

“Yeah, alright.” You said finally. The two of you drove through the night to get to Vegas, you driving with headlights illuminating the desert roads, and Luke sitting next you you controlling the music and resting one hand on your leg for the entire five hour drive.

The next few days consisted of losing money in the casino, all-you-can-eat buffets and late-night romps between the sheets of your lavish hotel room. On your last night before you had to go back to real life, you and Luke were lying side by side in bed, breathing heavily, trying to recover from a long night in bed together. Luke pulled you close to him, burying his face in your shoulder. “Baby, you shine brighter than all the lights.” He told you.

Three months later little things turn into big fights

About three months after the Vegas trip, things started going South. It was what everyone said, as time went on your relationship things got harder. The little quirks that first drew you to a person started to annoy you and you fought about things that you wouldn’t have even said anything about earlier in the relationship.

You and Luke had already been on shaky ground. The fighting had started over him never picking up after himself and leaving the apartment a mess and escalated to the topic of him going out and partying frequently and you not trusting him.

The news that the band was going on tour again was what finally ended things. You hesitated to say that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back, because it really was quite a big thing, it was more like how you could drop your phone dozens of times and never have the screen crack, and then one day you drop it at a slightly different angle from a different height and it shatters to the point of not even functioning. Before you’d been able to handle Luke being gone fairly well, you understood that the band made most of their money from touring and it was their major connection with their fans, so it was a necessity. Now him telling you that he was leaving triggered a major fight about you not feeling like a priority from your side and you cheating while he was away from his side.

You knew you couldn’t handle it. You broke up with him and spawned 5 Seconds of Summer’s latest hit.

The last line in the chorus was what really caught your attention. The words “You broke my heart” followed by your name. Up until that point the song had been vague enough. You knew what the lyrics were referencing, but since you’d kept your relationship private no one else would. Before the name dropping, the song could have been about almost anyone, but now everyone who heard the song would know it was about you.

When your left the store (leaving your cart in the middle of the aisle like you swore you wouldn’t do) and sat in your car on Twitter, you realized just how bad things were. Entertainment journalists really didn’t waste any time. There were already articles speculating about your identity, most of them had it right including links to your Twitter and Instagram, and spitballing what had gone wrong between you and Luke. The few pictures of you and Luke together were circulating around Twitter and your name was currently a trending topic. Your follower count had nearly doubled from what it had been last night. You switched both your Twitter and Instagram to private. You knew that would just be even more confirmation that you were the one the song was directed at, but you really weren’t up for being bombarded with hate.

Then you called Luke. You’d deleted his number just after the break up, but you still knew it by heart. He didn’t answer and you hung up without leaving a voicemail, annoyed. You’d completely stopped keeping track of the band’s whereabouts so he could be in a completely different country, in a different time zone and asleep, or he knew you would be mad and was avoiding your call.

Actually, mad was an understatement. Livid was more like it. You and Luke had always tried to keep your relationship private. Never showing any PDA so you could play the just friends card when the pictures were inevitably posted all over the Internet, only doing coupley things when you were 100% certain you were alone together, keeping your relationship off social media. Sure people speculated and there were rumors, but nothing ever concrete, so you’d been able to avoid the drama that comes with dating someone famous. You’d spent two years being so careful to hide things and protect your privacy, and with a three minute song-released without him even telling you or asking permission to use your name-Luke had undone all of it.

Feeling shaken up but still okay to drive, you headed home, where you spent the next few days hiding out and trying to get in contact with Luke. You also kept a close eye on social media. People were taking your silence as confirmation and people were now saying with certainty that the song was about you. People were still speculating what went wrong between the two of you to cause the break up, as well as the exact duration of your relationship (you were glad to have at least a few secrets). Some fans were even mad that Luke had kept such a big part of his life secret for so long. And though you’d privated your social media, you couldn’t resist searching indirects and found a lot of hate directed at you for breaking his heart.

You continued trying to contact Luke, but he kept dodging your calls. You saw on social media that 5sos were back in Los Angeles, so you were certain that he was seeing and choosing not to answer. You also kept a close eye on the charts. The song was getting rave reviews from music critics and several had predicted that it might be the first 5 Seconds of Summer song to hit #1 on the Billboard charts.

And a few weeks later, that prediction came true. Luke was still dodging your calls, but the hype for the song hadn't died down and therefore you were still getting more attention that you would have liked.

A week later, the song was continuing its reign on the top of the charts and was still receiving constant radio play. You’d had to switch the preset stations in your car to country and hard rock stations to dodge it. You'd given up on trying to contact Luke. You were still angry, but you knew the once a new song reached the top of the charts the hype would die down and you'd be back to your normal life. So, you were surprised when one night your phone lit up with a phone call from a familiar number. You’d deleted it a while ago, but it was a number you still knew by heart. As you answered, the anger you’d felt when you first heard the song came rushing back. You were fully prepared to give Luke a piece of your mind, but he spoke first.

“Hey, Y/N.” Hearing those words brought back memories to the hundreds of long distance phone calls you’d had when Luke was on the other side of the world-calling you to say goodnight even when you were so far apart he was just waking up. You could feel your resolve crumbling. You thought you’d gotten over missing him, but hearing his voice took you right back to where you’d been right after the break up-missing Luke the way you would miss your right hand if you somehow lost it and wallowing in your own self-pity.

“Hi.” You said, the entire speech you’d planned about how he had no right to name drop you in the song completely forgotten.

“So, um I don’t know if you’ve heard the new song.”

You almost laughed. Luke sounded like his old, sweet and humble self, as if he was completely unaware that he had written a chart topping song. “I was.”

“I...it sounds lame but I wanted to get your opinion.” You had another flashback, to the band working on the third album and Luke waking you up in the middle of the night to ask for your opinion on lyrics (he claimed he worked better at night because there were less distractions) or coming home with snippets of new songs for you to listen to. You’d heard at least a dozen unreleased 5 Seconds of Summer songs over the span of your relationship, a fact that you knew would make most fans insanely jealous if it ever got out.

You sighed, deciding to be honest. “At first I was mad. I still kind of am.” You admitted. “We tried so hard to keep things a secret. Why did you completely undo it?”

“I was afraid of that.” He said simply. You waited for him to answer your question, but he didn’t.

You felt your irritation growing. “We tried to keep things private. Why’d you ruin it?” You repeated

“When I wrote the song I was mad. I wrote it in the span of a few hours the day after we broke up. Then when I showed it to the other guys they thought it was so good we decided to release it as soon as possible, and I was still upset so I said yes. But in my defense I didn’t think you would get all the negative press. I thought we had kept things so quiet people wouldn’t be able to find you.” You rolled your eyes. How didn’t he know that in the year 2017 Internet sleuths could track anyone down in a matter of minutes? “And I thought that if anyone did happen to find you, they wouldn’t really care. It’s all in the past now anyway.”

“Well, you thought wrong.” You said. How had you dated someone so naive? Another frequent topic of the fights between you and Luke had been the people that he referred to as friends, but you referred to as leeches. Even you could see they were social climbers, and just hanging out with Luke for the perks that came with his fame, but he seemed oblivious.

“I know. And I’m sorry.” He said and you could picture him wearing what you secretly referred to as the kicked puppy expression when you were together-frown, head down, shoulders slumped, eyes big and sad. It always made you melt, and forgive him right away.

You weren’t quite ready to do that yet. “The line about me breaking your heart. Is that really how you feel?”

You heard Luke sigh. “Losing you hurt Y/N even though I know it was for the best. With you I felt things I had never felt before and things I don’t know if I’ll ever feel again. My heart was broken.”

You weren’t sure to say to that. Apologize? You both knew the breakup was for the best. You both sat in silence for a little bit. You knew neither of you wanted to hang up, but you didn’t know what else to say. Finally you extended an olive branch. “It’s a good song.” You told him truthfully. Though you thought it would be ten times better without the line with your name in it, it was beautifully written and composed. It deserved the top chart position.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Luke sounded a lot happier now, as he always did when talking about music. “We have another one coming out soon. An apology sort of. I think you’ll like it.”

You noticed he didn’t offer to let you hear it early. The days for that were long gone. “I’ll listen for it.” You said, making a mental note to switch the presets in your car back so you’d have a higher chance of hearing it.

“Maybe text me and let me know what you think?”

“I’ll do that.” You said. “Bye Luke.”

“Bye Y/N.”

You knew between the song and the fighting things could never go back to how they were. But maybe that was for the best. You both needed to move on, and the second the general public fell out of love with your song and it dropped off the charts, you would be able to.

#luke hemmings one shot #luke hemmings imagine #luke hemmings imagines #5sos imagines #5sos imagine #5sos writing

[adambstingus]

What is grey culture, precisely? Here’s what the stats say

Whiteness is hard to define, but apparently it involves lots of veggies, alcohol and the arts and reputations like Yoder

A few months after I moved to New York, a magical communication happened that would radically shift my psyche forever. I was telling my friend that I had gone to his favorite shop and he expected:” Who sufficed you? Was it the tall lily-white guy ?”

I frowned and replied,” Are the rest of the staff not grey ?” to which my friend responded” Huh? What do you necessitate? No. I was just describing him .”

While he strayed off to get a beer, I stood dumbfounded. This was the first time I had discovered a white person’s hasten used as a casual descriptor, a simple phase of differentiation in what I perceive to be a grey nature.

As a Brit, I grew up in a country that was 86% white-hot, so “white” was the norm. That kid you were seeing in volumes like Roald Dahl’s was lily-white, unless you were told otherwise( which you never were ). The males paraded on the TV appearance Crimewatch were described as black when they were black, and short or towering or thin or fat once they are white.

Now I live in the United States, countries around the world that is 61% grey. Non-whiteness is much more visible here, and abruptly the distinguish of whiteness is very. But I’m still struggling to constitute the shift from my previous mindset, where grey is the default, the presume, the baseline. You don’t notice normalcy; you consider the divergences from it. So the word “white” could ever be hop-skip over as an adjective.

Now, “white” still feels like an absence: an absence of colour, an is a lack of food that is “different” and an is a lack of a mum who enunciates your mention differently from the room your friends do. But if my friend can use “white” as an adjective, then what exactly are they describing? What is grey culture, exactly?

I decided to find out by expecting the questions that I and many other non-white people have been asked over and over again. I looked for answers in data.

Q: What do white people dine? A: Vegetables.

The US Department of Agriculture’s latest data been demonstrated that the average lily-white American eats 16 lb more vegetables at home each year than do non-white Americans( that could add up to 112 medium-sized carrots, 432 cherry-red tomatoes, or God knows how much kale ).

The only thing that white people are likely to adore more than vegetables is dairy. White Americans chew 185 lb of dairy produces at home each year, are comparable to exactly 106 lb for pitch-black Americans.

But this isn’t just the result of our desires: all of these numbers are influenced by structural parts. For instance, fruit and vegetable uptake increases each time that a new supermarket is lent near to someone’s home, according to a 2002 study . That same study too found that grey Americans are four times more likely than pitch-black Americans to live in a census tract that has a supermarket.

Q: What do white people drink? A: Alcohol.

Almost a third of non-Hispanic greys had at least one heavy drinking day in the past year, according to the CDC. Only 16% of black Americans and 24% of Hispanic Americans said the same.

If you’re wondering which drinks white people are boozing, then you have the same question as a unit of researchers who followed 2,171 girls from the time they were 11 years old to the time the issue is 18. As per year extended, the researchers “ve noticed that” compared to the black girls, white-hot girlfriends imbibe a lot more wine-coloured( and beer, actually, and, er, hearts, more ).

Q: What’s a typical white-hot name? A: Joseph Yoder.

The Census Bureau did an analysis of 270 million people‘s last names to find those that are most likely to be held by particular hastens or ethnicities. Yoder had not been able to the more common family name in the US- only about 45,000 parties have it- but, since 98.1% of those people are white-hot, it’s just ahead of Krueger and Mueller and Koch as the whitest last name in their respective countries. Which means that statistically speaking, the Yoders of America are maybe the least likely white people to marry someone of a different hasten to themselves.

The most common grey last names. Sketch: Mona Chalabi

The most common Hispanic last names. Instance: Mona Chalabi

The most common pitch-black last names. Illustration: Mona Chalabi

The most common Asian last names. Illustration: Mona Chalabi

Many of these last names have German and Jewish descents. Which seems to run counter to my ideology of lily-white culture being intangible- Jewish culture “re a long way from” it. Having experienced discrimination, and having a distinct, tangible culture is sufficient to potentially disqualify you as white, as some American Jewish beings themselves ask the question: ” Are Jews White ?”.

As for Joseph, well, the best data I could find was the most popular child refers rolled by the hasten or the ethnicity of the mother( no mention of the father so some of these Josephs are possibly mixed hasten ). Even then, the numbers are exclusively from New York and were collected from 2011 to 2014. Still, I found that the most common white appoints are Joseph, David, Michael, Jacob and Moshe( seven of the most common refers were male because people tend to be more creative when they’ve delivery a girl ).

Q: What do white people do for merriment? A: Enjoy the arts.

I turned to my esteemed colleague and friend Amanda and asked what she would like to know about white people. Amanda, herself a white person, replied:” Why do they affection guitars so much better ?” Alas, despite two hours of online research, I couldn’t experiment her speculation about musical instruments and hasten.( Although I did find out that bassoons are more popular with women than servicemen, which led me to a YouTube clip of the status of women playing the bassoon with specific comments that spoke” THIS is how you bassoon “. It built me laugh so difficult I had to take a break from preparing the present .)

Instead, I looked at the latest American Time Use Survey. It was published after the Bureau of Labor Statistics expected 10,500 beings in the US how they expend their experience. White beings are the only ethnic or ethnic group in the dataset to have a number higher than zero for time spent attending museums or the performing arts. It’s only 36 seconds, but recollect, this is a daily median, so that adds up to 219 times each year.

I double checked my findings against a 2015 report from the National Endowment for the Arts, which found that white-hot Americans were almost twice as likely as pitch-black or Hispanic Americans to have done at least one arts activity in the past year. Their definition of an artworks task was pretty broad- it included” jazz, classical music, opu, musical and non-musical plays, ballet, and visits to an art museum or gallery “.

Pondering leisure activities. Instance: Mona Chalabi

These counts feel closely connected to home. When I was growing up, my family never set foot inside a museum, gallery or theatre. Not once. I didn’t think it was strange, I exactly thought it was like tripping in duos or taking coaches- specific activities reserved only for school trips.

And yet, despite having better access to these institutions, it seems like it’s some white people who seem to feel culturally deprived.

Remember Amanda? I mentioned her earlier- she’s my colleague with the disdain for guitars. In 2015, she interviewed black psychologists to ask their mind about Rachel Dolezal, a white-hot professor who intentionally misrepresented herself as an African American.

Anita Thomas, an assistant professor of counseling psychology at Loyola University, said:” In some paths it’s normal, but not at her age .” Thomas explained that numerous lily-white teens reacted similarly to Dolezal, attempting to take on what the fuck is perceived to be the types of another race while exploring their identities. Being “the other” sure as hell has its downsides, but it is about to change that not being “the other” does too- especially if you’re a teen.

” For white[ American] youth, “whos” disconnected from European patrimony or gift, it often feels like whiteness as a idea is empty ,” Thomas added in a quotation that has really protruded with me. It seems to tie together some disparate conceptions I have had on “white” as an adjective.

Dolezal was treated as if she were a “bizarre” outlier, but she’s part of a much bigger structure of white action. It includes Mezz Mezzrow, the 1930 s jazz musician who affirmed himself a” voluntary Negro” after marrying a black both women and selling marijuana. It includes the millions of white-hot Americans who take DNA tests and proudly reveal that they are in fact x percentage non -white. And it’s a structure that includes the grey Americans who listen to a” rights for whites” album that includes sungs designation Sons of Israel and Fetch the Noose. One reaction might seem ludicrous, the other frightening, but they are all eventually about meeting a concept of whiteness that isn’t empty.

But what does all that searching yield? I’m not sure I can answer the issues to” what is white culture ?” but I’m certain we should try. If whiteness takes no chassis, then the concrete organizations that shaped it( and often benefit from it) remain invisible very- the supermarkets, the unions, and the museums that stir these numbers what they are. If the “somethingness” of grey culture is never quite pinned down, it remains both” good-for-nothing, certainly” and” well, everything “.

If white culture remains vague, then it can lay claim to every recipe, every garment, every suggestion “thats really not” explicitly “non-white”. That would mean that my identity is just a summing-up, that my “non-whiteness” can only be understood as a subtraction from the totality of “whiteness”. I refuse to be a remainder.

This article will be published in the March edition of The Smudge .

Do you have conceives on white-hot culture? We want to hear them! Please leave a comment below or email me at mona.chalabi @theguardian. com .

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/what-is-white-culture-exactly-heres-what-the-stats-say/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/182730797017

[thekillerqueen1945-blog]

I AM YOUR FUTURE

CHAPTER 3 

  Olmec, Mayans, Inks and Aztecs

Upon finishing my story about Akkadian princess, Life spoke:

 “I honestly liked the story. You really are the great storyteller."

“Oh, rejoice, everybody, celebrate. Life finally liked something and did not guide it to its end. Rejoice, rejoice. Ha ha ha ha" shout Infinity on this strange event that happened

"Maybe I could narrate extra story since you liked my latest one so much" I proposed

"Do not shift your fortune, since Life can shift easily from contented and happy to its natural offensive and demanding self" warned me Death with its slow, calculated voice

 "Hey! I am not the bad one, remember. You are the greatest loss someone can survive; you are the merciless murderer that leaves the scars on hearth and soul that shall never be mend. You are a big player in this endless game, but I am greater than you. " Life quarrelled on Death

Death looked at Life emotionlessly for few moments and spoke with the voice that shakes the soul and freezes you straight to the core of your being.

 "Life. Do you really believe that all this is a game? Maybe at one point, you are right. But if you think that you can play it better than me, think again. You are small as a drop in the ocean, fast as rage and you never think twice. You rush to me, like a river to the sea. Every creature large or small believes it will gain a success since they have you on their team. They are wrong, so wrong. I delivered you to them, as an advantage in the game, for I am so sure of my victory. Don't bother yourself. just relax, and I'll take all that life can offer with no exception."

 Death was so close to Life that they were almost touching. Life was shaking in the nervousness of seeing a mere fraction of Deaths might. I flinched in fear. Even Time and Infinity had flashes of panic in their eyes. Although quiet and hidden in the shadows, Death remains compelling and we became the witness of that timeless truth.

 Death talk to me without exerting its eyes of the Life

" If you don't mind, can you start the story about Mayans, Inks, Aztecs and Olmec’s Culture."

“ O-OK. Ahem, ahem. The O-Olmec, Mayan, Incan, and Aztec c-civilisations are some of the most significant ancient cultures in h-history, and yet…I-I can- “

"CONTINUE!" shout Death at me, this time with more energy.

 I grimaced and continued

“The Olmec are generally overlooked e-entirely." I paused needed a deep breath and started over

“To make long story brief, Maya’s arrived first and established the culture in modern-day Mexico. Later the Olmec reached the region, who likewise settled in Mexico. They didn't create any larger cities, but they were widespread and flourishing culture. People both culture were followed by the Inca in modern-day Peru, and eventually the Aztecs, also in modern-day Mexico on the planet Erath."

       "Now allow me, to proceed. About 2,800 years ago, people identified as Maya civilisation lived in agriculture settlements on the Yucatan Peninsula and the mountains of something presently recognised as the Americas. From around A.D. 250 to A.D. 900, people organised city-states in Central America that involved majestic pyramid temples and public areas emphasising heavy marble pillars that described their vibrant past. I am right about this, or not" spoke Death still staring at Life

 “You are," I answered, with no intention to discuss.  

" Continue" Death blasted me a gaze appreciation

“No one remembers the specific origins of Olmec people. This is because the Olmec culture is one of Mexico's earliest cultures. It existed from 1400 BC to 400 BC. The Olmec controlled an empire that runs parallel with the Gulf of Mexico. The area as mentioned above is presently described as Veracruz. The Olmec survived by providing harvests and hunting wild animals for a portion of food. However, because of their closeness to the ocean, people also ate an abundance of the seafood. They planted the corn and cacao, as basic and sacred plants. Cacao was a highly utilised trade article. Olmec soils were incredibly fertile and rich, and people produced an abundance of native fruits and vegetables.”

 “They never described or named themselves, but the Aztecs called this region where the Olmec lived "Olman," said Life arrogantly, gradually gaining the courage.

" So who decided to name them Olman people?" questioned Death

“In the Aztec language of Nahunta, the word Olmec means "land of glue." That was because gum tree was overflowing the area. The intruders that arrived in the 15th century ingested everything they could to wipe-out all data of the existence of the Olmec culture. Some scientists consider that the Olmec didn't even exist as the separate civilisation, but I can guarantee that they are all wrong. Olmec civilisation was a remarkable early culture that did not see the purpose in creating the large empire that will ultimately fall into the scraps, because of death, because of you.” Life talked confidently scowling back at Death

 “They were one and single civilisation in human history that understood the mortality of man-maid systems and instruments as well as the mortality of the human reality itself. Those people understand that everything delivered to existence is condemned to depart, to perish. “said Death quietly without diverting dazzle from Life.

 The Inca established settling in the Valley of Cuzco in the Andes Mountains of central Peru nearby year 1200. Between 1440 and 1500, they extended their empire until it reached nearly 2,500 – “I was obstructed repeatedly

"Just imagine us one of the tales from the chronicle of the time. Use Olmec civilisation; they are attractive." Said Death and walked away from the Life

"But I did not finish explaining you about Inks and Aztecs." I proclaim

"We are the cause all even existed, we remember facts concerning them, but unlike you, we do not understand who they were actually “Death spoke deliberately and seriously slow

"All right" I choose not to fight with this powerful being

 To understand the greatness of an ancient civilisation, I will narrate a story of how did Olmec culture developed their math or better to say where they discovered math.

 Olmec people never desired to record the day for another generation to perceive it. It was the day when the kingdom was built. That was a day when they discovered mathematics.

   That day people noticed seeds of their fall. The day when one of the thrusts of the universe revealed itself.

It started as a sunny, clear day.  Despite beautiful day and peace, everybody felt something in the ambience. Something harmful. It was as their own bones talked and sang, sang a sad

melody, that could not be decoded. Yet! It was a hunch, premonition, feeling of the storm in the air before it actually comes.

Hours past, people worked within their daily routines, everyone shrugged the feeling and proceeded with the liveliness. Then it happened! Something came, at the midday, from the sky. It seemed as it slumped from nowhere.

   People gathered around, trying to conclude out what was that strange object. They could not found out much since they were scared to move it or go closer to it. At least not closer than about 3 miles.

 An hour or two after tensions came down a bit, a novelty of the town and assembly of the elder passed to the sight. They all were covered in traditional Olmec clothing, entirely in colours and ornaments.

 The prefect of the city was, as all people there, confused and mesmerised at the same time by the strobe reason that came to the town from nowhere.

The device was designed as a book and had the appearance of a broken tablet. It was filled by mysterious figures engrave on it. The material of the object was a solid rock, but not like unity found on the Earth. The space object radiated by purplish colour.

 The town chief had a glimpse of shock in eyes, and worry exposed on his face. He spoke observing the image in front of him:

“I know what it can be! I have heard the story once! It was not identical but close to this one! The foreign object came from the sky, from the stars! Not from father founders, but from the Star people. They have been touring the Earth for hundreds of years, as my ancestors told me the story about it. I do not know the specific focus in this, but I know one thing.  That object contains something important; it will teach us a valuable lesson or give us our first destruction."

After the discussion, everybody soothed in own thoughts, and the designed silence was pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. Suddenly the leader spoke in politically correct fashion since it was expected from him:

"We should first decode the meaning of symbols, and then we shall grieve about the future. Let us all work together on it, if all of you agree, of course!"

Everybody ended up managing together on the “sky-gift”. Within the 2-3 weeks, the symbols were decoded or at least the Olmec people thought that. They have transcribed it into a math symbol. Maybe it is convenient to state, incompetent to understand cryptography the Olmec chose to adopt them as the math symbols or letters, hieroglyphs.

                          They remained living they live, blooming and recording the story. The population formed the calendar and drainage system. The community was the first know culture to phantom existence of zero and first to establish hieroglyphics and numbering mathematical system. Although area prospered people know, all felt it in their bones that the end will come, they will be gone, it was as the "sky-stone" spoke to them and said, “Everything brought to existence must perish and so will you.”

Before they dispersed, they made large images of their gods which community considered had given that space-stone to people. But deep inside they all agreed that they were wrong since they realised that real authenticity had not been revealed.  

   When conquistadors arrived, men found no people, just great kingdom, the capital city and mysterious figures used as a language in the system of words and numbers. They found no space-stone. They found no people. But a bizarre feeling was riding about, and doubt of the unknown arose. Consequently, they buried and destroyed almost everything connected to the Olmec culture. Only statues endure on the several cities, remains of the drainage system and symbols, symbols in the sub-conciseness.

The "sky-stone" was undoubtedly from the extra-terrestrial species, as many of you apparently thought of. Yet, the stone did not purposely drop on the planet Earth. The spaceship was gently floating overhead the planet when one meagre piece of it slumped off. What a bizarre coincidence, just a probability, right? The universe does not give you what you ask but what you need to understand your mission, your purpose in the magnificent game.  

Regarding the Olmecs, it is shallower than you thought it would be. I will keep that as a secret and make all others considering other possible options, and imagination will run wild. After all, what joy would it be at all, to show you all the mysteries of recorded history?

 You are the starts deadened in the skin;

The universe is in your bones

And in the fracture of the soul

And it will never come to an end!

“Trust me,” said joyfully the Universe “I know what I am performing here."

[expatimes]

Rollercoaster: Bitcoiners who missed rally feel relief and regret

Arianna O'Dell, a 30-year-old entrepreneur and songwriter based in New York City, had a tumultuous four-year journey in cryptocurrency before selling her investments in February.

During her rollercoaster ride, bitcoin prices swung from less than $ 1,000 to nearly $ 20,000. O'Dell may not have made optimal decisions about when to buy or sell, and missed out on the recent rally - but said she does not regret that.

Investing $ 2,705 worth of proceeds into her business was better than enduring the stress of daily fluctuations, even though the price has since doubled, she said.

“Honestly, I've had more luck in Vegas than I've had with cryptocurrencies,” O'Dell said in an interview.

She is part of a relatively new class of retail investors who joined the cryptocurrency market years ago, helping propel bitcoin's price to a high of nearly $ 20,000. Not willing to stomach the subsequent volatility and having lost hope in a recovery, many cashed out, and are now missing the latest bonanza.

Bitcoin has gained approximately 160 percent this year and was last trading at $ 19,239 on Wednesday, edging closer to its all-time high of about $ 19,666 hit in December 2017.

Yet those amateur investors who have been a big part of the market, sharing advice on social media and investment forums, are not fuelling the surge, cryptocurrency experts told Reuters News Agency.

“This rally is largely driven by institutional buy-in,” said Tim Ogilvie, CEO of Staked, which provides institutions with infrastructure services for crypto-assets. He pointed to hedge fund managers like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller including bitcoin in their broad investment strategies.

Like O'Dell, however, several retail investors who had money on the line during prior bitcoin whipsaws expressed the same emotion about having divested: relief.

Akram Tariq Khan, an entrepreneur in New Delhi, got into bitcoin in 2017 with assets totalling $ 160,000 at their peak. But the 25-year-old got spooked as the price dove by almost 50 percent, and sold. In all, he has lost about $ 10,000 in capital.

“In retrospect, holding seems like the right decision, but when you've bought something at a much higher price and you see the price going down the drain there is a psychological impact,” said Khan, co-founder of e-commerce company YourLibaas.

"Bitcoin could have gone to $ 1,000 and never come back."

'Zero expected return'

Investing in cryptocurrencies is like playing roulette, some experts say, because no one really understands what is happening. Unlike stocks or bonds, where business trends or central bank decisions can affect prices, cryptocurrency values ​​remain an enigma.

Analysts have rarely pinpointed causes when prices suddenly crash, or stall for years.

Even big fish are baffled.

Billionaire Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japan's Softbank, spoke for many in professional investing last week when he described how he had no regrets at missing out on the latest rally, having sold out in 2018 for a loss of about $ 50m.

“Today, it's maybe more than the price that I sold, but I feel so much better because at least I don't have to put my mind in something I don't understand,” he told a New York Times event.

Michael Edesess, an adjunct associate professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, described bitcoin as “a not very rational investment”.

“To a mathematician and economist like myself, bitcoin offers a zero expected return - that is, the odds it will go up or down by the same amount, are equal,” he said.

Some small investors did hold onto their bitcoin, adopting the “HODL” mantra, which stemmed from a 2013 post where a user misspelled his intent to keep “hodling” bitcoin instead of “holding” it.

Bitcoin can baffle even bigger-fish investors [File: Dado Ruvic/Reuters]

But others were just looking for a quick buck and bought near the top of the market.

“They'll come in after their idiot nephew who still lives in their sister's basement makes $ 100,000,” cryptocurrency consultant Colin Platt said.

'Talk of crash coming'

It is impossible to know the exact breakdown between retail and professional investors because transactions are anonymous, and exchanges do not share detailed information about users.

Many cryptocurrency experts said, though, that institutional investors have played a bigger role than this year than in the past. They cited demand for riskier assets amid unprecedented stimulus programs to counter COVID-19, and expectations bitcoin will win wider acceptance as a method of payment.

They are also pointed to improvements in the market structure having attracted bigger investors, as well as significantly fewer Google searches for the term “bitcoin,” which typically increase alongside amateur involvement.

However, some experts also said a new wave of retail participation may be ahead since Main Street investors typically amp up participation at the height of a bubble.

For instance, Livi Morris, a London-based musician, saw her cryptocurrency portfolio lose 70-80 percent soon after buying into the sector in January 2018. She held onto the assets until June this year, when values ​​were a fraction of the prices she paid.

Morris expressed regret about selling too early but has started buying cryptocurrency again in recent weeks after reading that bigger companies have entered the market. She's focused on smaller virtual coins, hoping this time will be different.

“When I invested in 2017, there was a lot of talk of a crash coming,” she said. "It feels like times have changed."

. #world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=14760&feed_id=19939

#BusinessandEconomy #Coronaviruspandemic #Crypto #Economy #FinancialMarkets #News #UnitedStates #USampCanada

[thesupernaturaluniversity]

Tom DeLonge on ‘Scary’ UFO Footage, Angels and Airwaves and Blink-182’s Future

Since leaving Blink-182 to study UFOs, the guitarist has been on one of the strangest odysseys in rock. But as he puts it: “Maybe Tom isn’t so nuts after all”

Twenty years ago this month, Blink-182 released Enema of the State, an album that sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and “reimagined Green Day’s Dookie as one big, undeniably catchy fart joke” according to Rolling Stone’s list of the 40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time. Guitarist Tom DeLonge has spent the two decades since on one of the wildest paths in rock history. In the mid-2000s, DeLonge left Blink to start an an ambitious space-rock band called Angels and Airwaves. He then started seriously investigating space himself, launching To the Stars Academy in 2015, an organization devoted to researching UFOs. DeLonge’s company, which Rolling Stone visited for a profile of the guitarist in 2016, has earned some credibility since; a 2017 New York Times story uncovering the existence of the Pentagon’s secret $22 million Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program credited To The Stars as a place where ex-military and government officials such as Luis Elizondo, who formerly ran the government’s aerospace identification program, were continuing their work.

Last week, another major UFO story hit the Times, detailing strange, highly advanced objects that were spotted daily over the East Coast between 2014 and 2015. “These things would be out there all day,” said Lieutenant Ryan Graves, a Super Hornet pilot who has been with the Navy for 10 years. “Keeping an aircraft in the air requires a significant amount of energy. With the speeds we observed, 12 hours in the air is 11 hours longer than we’d expect.” “This was us,” DeLonge said, holding a copy of the New York Times article late last week. He pointed to the work he has done at To the Stars as directly responsible for uncovering the possible sightings. “Everyone is like, ‘Wow! This is real. Maybe Tom is not so nuts after all!'”

DeLonge executive produced the History Channel’s new show Unidentified: Inside America’s U.F.O. Investigation, which airs Fridays at 10 p.m. He appears in the show with former military and government officials such as Elizondo, Lt. Graves as well as John Podesta, President Clinton’s former Chief of Staff. In this interview, DeLonge also discusses new music by Angels and Airwaves and the state of Blink-182, and why he hopes to return to his former band someday.

You just put out “Rebel Girl,” the first Angels and Airwaves song in years. What was the initial reaction to Angels and Airwaves when the band debuted in 2006? It was so different from Blink-182.

I think Angels and Airwaves has always been a little bit ahead of its time. For a kid that grew up on a band like the Ramones like me, these are complex sounds and compositions. I remember that a lot of my fan base wasn’t totally ready for it, because they were still mourning over the fact that I wasn’t playing with Blink at the time. But I tend to realize that everything I’ve done in my life is about five years ahead of its time. It would make a lot of sense that people would revisit what I was doing now and say, “Oh, I kind of get it.” That tends to be the curve that I’m on with everything I do. People thought I was nuts for not being in the band to go chase little green men. I go, “Just trust me for a minute here.” And then now, the article in Rolling Stone, I just posted it right when I walked in the building. It’s like “Wow.”

What did it feel like to see the latest article in the Times?

This is the third New York Times article that we organized and put together at To the Stars. But this one’s dealing directly with the pilots that are current military pilots that we took to the Senate and Congress. A few weeks ago, there was another article that leaked on the Times that Congress is putting together a formal reporting mechanism to the Navy on UFOs. That’s us again. Our show Unidentified is us doing that. Taking these specific pilots to Congress, influencing legislative language for oversight committees and for the appropriations committees. In that process, it leaked and came out in the papers. But our show is what this article specifically is about. And [it’s] very real. Lieutenant Graves [said] they had a fleet of UFO’s follow their carrier battle group for eight months out to the Middle East where they’re intercepting them almost on a daily basis. It’s pretty unnerving.

So that UFO footage that the Times posted — explain what that is.

It’s gun-camera footage. And what people don’t understand is they could be many, many miles away. But they’re zoomed in on an object. And even when the object just bounces an inch on the screen, that means it could’ve gone from zero to 20,000 miles an hour in a snap of your fingers. It’s a big deal even though it just looks like a little blob. But if you’re a pilot, or if you’re a radar operator, or a trained military observer, you know exactly what that is and it’s scary to them. Because things don’t do that. There’s no wings; there’s no plume on the infrared cameras. You will see an outline of a plane. You will see the fire coming out of the back — these crafts don’t have that. They’re circular or disc-like in shape. They have blurred edges. They have observability. They have positive lift and all these different factors that the government has identified. Any one of these things — they call them these five observables, and any one of them, if a country were to get one of these five, it would be a paradigm shift. A game-changing national-security issue. And these craft have five of them.

What we’re showing Congress, and what we’ve been doing in the Senate, that we’re now bringing out to the American people and the world, it’s like, “This is fucking real. And it’s real scary, so let’s get our stuff together and deal with it.”

I know for a fact that this vehicle that I’ve created at To the Stars has already changed the world. People are now taking this seriously and understanding that it’s real. We’ve changed policy, and I’m really proud of that, especially when, for years, people though I was the crazy UFO guy. I didn’t do it alone, by any means. but I created the mechanism for them to do what they’re doing now and I’m really proud of that.

Blink-182’s Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus in 1999. Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Why is the footage “scary” and dangerous to you?

Because you’re dealing with something [that] you don’t know what it is, you don’t know who’s in there or who’s operating these things. [Luis Elizondo] says it best: It’s kind of like you go to bed at night, you lock your doors, you set your alarm. And then you wake up in the morning, unlock the door and there’s bloody footprints through your whole living room. And you’re like, “The alarm didn’t trip, the doors were still locked, but someone walked right through my house and I had no clue. Whose footprints are those?” That’s kind of scary, because you have no clue how they could bypass all the security systems of your house effortlessly. Something with this technology is in charge. This is like rolling into some type of indigenous tribe that’s never met man. They’re deep in the forests of some remote Pacific Island and we come in with an aircraft carrier and a stealth fighter and all they have are sticks. Who’s in charge should they choose to impose their will? We don’t even know what this is, but we have to think in terms of that. And that’s a big deal.

“This is fucking real. And it’s real scary, so let’s get our stuff together and deal with it,” DeLonge says of recent UFO discoveries.

And think about the technology of these, too. Think about World War II when we were the only ones that had the nuclear bomb. You could take over the world. This is so far beyond nuclear power. They talk about civilizations, the Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 civilizations. A Type 1 civilization can control the power of the planet, and Type 2 can control the power of the sun and a Type 3 civilization can control the power of their own galaxy. We’re not even a Type 1 civilization yet. This could be a Type 2 or Type 3 that’s operating these things. I have no clue, but the technology that it is, is so far beyond what we can do that it’s unnerving. You have to hope that they’re loving. That’s a stretch probably, right?

There was one person in that Times article, Leon Golub, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard. He said the possibility of an extraterrestrial cause “is so unlikely that it competes with many other low-probability but more mundane explanations … bugs in the code for the imaging and display systems, atmospheric effects and reflections, neurological overload from multiple inputs during high-speed flight.” What do you have to say about those explanations?

It’s so offensive and naïve and ignorant that I go, “How are you even let into such a prestige environment?” They’re planting “Harvard” next to comments [made by] an officer that spent 3 million dollars on his training before he ever touched the throttle of a hundred-million-dollar weapons platform, with security clearances and the ability to fly live weapons over an American city. The two guys that went on the record are Top Gun graduates — these are the best in the world. The system that recorded this stuff is called the Spy-1 Radar, which is the single most classified radar system in the world. It’s the best stuff we got in the United States Government. And the Princeton [a Navy ship which spotted objects in 2004, which the Times reported on in 2017] was a radar ship. The entire ship was an array of hardware that can get 360-degree views of an entire combat awareness. It’s so advanced that they have the Top Gun guys running it. So for someone to say it’s bugs on the system is so offensive.

Is he saying that all these generals and admirals that have the keys to all of our nuclear weapons can’t tell a bug on the best radar system on earth? That they’re literally hallucinating, or something? It’s offensive to them. I’ve met these guys. A general I was working with had multiple PhD’s from MIT and Cal Tech in aerospace engineering. Another general was in charge of 5,000 of our nuclear warheads. He was the commander of this stuff. These guys are not idiots. I think people need to think a little bit more before they say disrespectful comments like that.

When you said that To the Stars was responsible for the footage in the Times, what did you mean?The video had gone declassified and To the Stars Academy were the ones that received it.

OK.

I don’t want to talk about anything else with that. So we’re the ones that brought it to the Times. The Times then was able to go out and find another copy of the video. That’s why there’s their version without our logo and then there’s the version with the To the Stars logo on it. So somebody at the Pentagon gave the Times the video.

Do you see Trump talking about this?

That’s a good question. I don’t know. I do know that because of our efforts, the White House has been definitely informed of some things. I wouldn’t know what. I do think that there’s the potential that some of his Space Force comments are taking into account some of the data and information regarding the subject.

Do you think the Space Force is a good idea?

I don’t know. It make sense to me because when we wanted to deal with oceans, we created the Navy. We created the Army to deal with land. We created the Air Force to deal with the sky. Space is a real thing now; we can get there. And there’s things out there. One of the radar operators, the guy I was referring to that was a Top Gun graduate, he’s the one that sent out the intercept. Commander Fravor [a retired Navy commander who reported the 2004 U.S.S. Princeton incident] was sent by this guy and he watched 100 craft come in from space over a four-day period. One hundred!

Where?

Over the coast of San Diego. So they came in, they hovered and they would drop in .78 seconds from 80,000 feet to sea level. Do you realize how fast .78 seconds is? 80,000 feet to zero. It’s just there. That’s just unreal! The question would be, “Is it imperative that we create an entire division that deals with space?” It makes sense to me because it’s not like we can tell the Navy to worry about space. Maybe they want to. Maybe they consider space like the ocean or something. I don’t even know. It’s just way above anything that I’ve experienced.

Let’s move on to Angels and Airwaves. You’ve said that you you were on drugs at the time you started the band. The sound of the first two albums is very “druggy.” Did the drugs you were on influence that huge, ambitious sound?

Yeah, it was weird because at the time I broke my back and I had surgery and I had a disc that was broken and tangled up in the largest nerve in my body. I got all addicted to painkillers at that time. I was also dealing with coming out of a really big band. It was a rebirth of who I was, and [my] identity, and insecurities and all that kind of stuff. I learned a hell of a lot about myself at the time. But creating Angels and Airwaves and having that issue in my life, at the time, allowed me to hyper-focus and really go deeply into what I was creating. There’s no mystery that drugs ruined a lot of people and I thank God it didn’t ruin me. What happens, and any artist will tell you, is if you’re not sober and you’re creating something, [drugs are] a very simple way to get deeper into what you’re creating, for better or for worse. But I’m probably the only musician who came out with this space-rock band and then did a pause to create an aerospace company. I’m not just singing about space; I’m actively engaged in that technology and what I can do for the human race and what part I can play in bringing this data, this information, this technology, out to the world.

The new single “Rebel Girl” is a little more punk than other Angels stuff, and the sound isn’t as big as the first two records. I was curious if you’re going to return to that sound.

Maybe. It’s so funny because whenever you have a plan, it always changes the first day you start recording. If you’re a good artist, you don’t force it to be something. You’ve got to evolve with whatever the song’s trying to be. What I want is to bring back a lot of those atmospherics and soaring landscapes. And we are doing that. So far, on the first third of the record, there’s a bit of that in there. The big crescendo when it builds and all that kind of stuff. The second song that we’re planning on releasing, if we still go with it, [could have] lived on the I-Empire and We Don’t Need to Whisper records.

When those early records came out, a lot of the fans thought, “What the hell is this?”

We put out a record called The Dream Walker with an animated short film for Poet Anderson and some books and all this stuff. I think that record was a defining moment because people were like, “Well, happened to the old [sound]?” And then half were like “This is the best stuff you ever …” It was the most critically acclaimed record I’ve ever done in my life. The fans needed a minute. But now I think it’s pretty unanimous that people look at that record as one of the best things we’ve done. This next one is going to be very similar in the sound and the landscape. But melodically, it’s going to be way more in the direction of I-Empire. I think everyone will like where this ends up.

When do you think the Angels album will come out?

It’s coming out with a movie. I co-wrote a movie and it goes into production in just a few weeks. Then when I come out of that and go into post, we’ll score it. That will kind of dictate the second half of the album. Both of those will come out together somewhere around the tour or shortly thereafter. It’s going to be hard to say because this is a big project.

What do you expect from this tour? You’re playing clubs and theaters.

Yeah. This is really for the fans that have been so supportive of us. I expect nothing more than having an overwhelming, emotional response within myself that people care about what I’m doing. It’s a fear of mine because I get real emotional when I play Angels live because it’s a big part of my soul. There’s a lot of meaning in it for me. When I see people respond to it, I’m almost scared of it because it’s personal to me. In a different way than Blink. Blink’s personal to me, but it’s super fun and super loud and fast. But Angels and Airwaves, there’s so much heart in it for me. There’s things in those records and songs that mean a hell of a lot to me. So when people send back that vibration, I’m kind of scared of the overwhelming emotion. It’s hard to describe.

“I get real emotional when I play Angels and Airwave songs live because it’s a big part of my soul. When I see people respond to it, I’m almost scared of it because it’s personal.”

Do you remember the first time you knew there was more to your life than Blink? Probably when I created Box Car Racer. Box Car Racer was a side project that I did with Travis Barker. But really it was about me and my friend David Kennedy, who plays in Angels and Airwaves. He grew up in hardcore bands, I grew up in punk bands, and we wanted to do something that blended both of those styles. But it was kind of scary because Blink became such a big monster at the time, that you kind of get stuck in this feeling that you need everyone in the band to be good at what you do. Because we really did need each other to do what Blink did. So to step out of that and say, “But what can I do on my own?” That was a very difficult decision. I was super excited to challenge myself. And it was actually pretty cool. And I thought it was really good especially for who I was at the time and where I was at musically. So to come out of that and say, “Wow, I made a dope record just by applying myself and taking a shot at putting myself out there without the safety of the team all around you” — that was a stepping stone to lead me to try a lot of things since then — going into technology, clothing companies, aerospace, making feature films, television series. It’s a bunch of stuff I would never have tried if I didn’t succeed the first time I tried something new and ambitious.

Here at the office, we’re fascinated with YouTube clips of your last Blink shows. You’re playing one of those huge festivals, and you’ve changed your singing a lot. You’re singing way differently on those last shows. I was curious what led you to sing in that different voice.

I kind of learned how to use my voice. I never learned how to sing, so I was always trying to sing like the Descendents. When I got in Angel and Airwaves, the tempo was slower, the melodies were written differently. And then, rather than nasally staccato, it became more like violin, more like a stringed instrument. The notes flow together. And then it came naturally to me. I’m not even a good singer. I’m just a little punk kid. I learned how to do this in a garage. So it’s really hard to make that sound good when you’re not even doing it right to begin with, you know? When you’re singing that way, you can’t even hit the notes. You’ll be flat or sharp 80 percent of the time, because the way you slam your vocal chords together on every single word really messes up [the] pitch. So I think for me, it wasn’t even really conscious. It was just what I’ve been doing for years with Angels and Airwaves. It’s the only way I know how to sing now.

Did you get blowback from the guys — “You’re not singing like you do on the records”?

No. I think kids just want it to sound like it did and I don’t blame them. And I probably could. But it seems funny to try and sound like I was 16 again. I’m not. Authenticity is a big deal for me. Be yourself. If you’re not being yourself, then the whole thing is just a play. You’re just putting on a play every night. And I can’t do that; I feel like a robot. I’ve just got to be myself.

What does the 20th anniversary of Enema of the State mean to you?

It means that time is flying by really quickly and I’ve achieved so much more than I ever thought possible. And I’m really, really thankful that people would even care at all about what I do. I’m just trying to do good things for people.

Were you surprised how well that record did?

Oh, my God, yeah! I’m still surprised about it, yeah. I’m always surprised. I’ve only been really into music and UFOs, and I might have a chance to conquer both.

There’s a lot of online excitement about you talking to the guys in Blink. I’m curious when you last talked to Mark and what that was like.

I just talked to Mark two weeks ago and I talk to Travis all the time. There’s a lot of love and respect and it’s like any set of brothers that have an argument and then, all of a sudden — “Who cares? My bad, my bad.” It’s not a big deal. The only issue right now is we’re so busy. My commitment to my company is the priority in my life. And Angels and Airwaves is a part of my company. The company came from Angels and Airwaves. When we created Angels and Airwaves, it was to be an art project that was trans-media. How do we put out music with film and books and all these things? They often live independently, but they all work together. We created an entertainment division to do that for Angels and Airwaves. One of the stories was about UFOs and that’s the one that got me [in with] the people that mattered, because I knew that subject and I knew things about it and I was getting ready to communicate it on really big platform, make motion pictures about all this stuff. I just felt I would get a lot further if I didn’t socialize what I was planning on doing, because I was also a little bit nervous about that, because I knew that I was playing with national security. But everyone else thinks UFO’s are a joke, and it’s weird tin-foil hats. It’s not. It’s real, serious business. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t ruffle any feathers in the wrong way because I do know a lot about that subject and I do know it’s no joke.

When I did that, it just spiraled into aerospace and science and it just grew into To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science. But this all came from Angels and Airwaves wanting to communicate themes over trans-media projects. And I told this to people 12 years ago when I started the band. I think everyone thought I was nuts then, too. There’s a very consistent thing here where Tom’s crazy and doing these things people don’t understand. But if you look at the path I’ve been on, I’ve done everything I said I’ll do. It’s just taken a little bit longer. It’s all hard stuff.

Do you think you will play with Blink again?

I know you’re probably looking for your headline here, but I think there will be a time, absolutely, that we play together. We all love each other and care about each other. We don’t always see eye to eye. I think people see the differences in our art. I love seeing how they’ve evolved and what they’re doing. I think when people look at Angels and Airwaves and what I’m doing, they can tell the differences. And sometimes it’s hard when you’re all trying to paint the same painting. And every once in a while, I like to see what the painting will be if I do it a different way. Off to the side. I think there’s a healthy respect for everyone to be able to paint their own paintings.

“I think there will be a time, absolutely, that we play together. We all love each other and care about each other.”

So you would be excited to play with Blink again?

Oh, my God, yeah! I started that band. That was a big a deal to me and it’s a big deal to them. And it’s a big deal what we accomplished. There is no animosity; there is no weirdness. It’s just right now, for me, I have a lot going on and the stakes are so big with my company, and with the government and with other governments. I found myself in the driver’s seat of something that’s world-changing. I can’t take my hand off the wheel for, honestly, for a rush of people really loving what we accomplished. Those things are amazing to feel, but I’m doing something I feel affects humanity. But once that is smooth sailing, then I can kind of relax and allow the car to drive itself a little bit. Then I think that conversation becomes more relevant for me.

I wanted to ask about the WikiLeaks dump that revealed your e-mails to John Podesta. What was going through your mind when those e-mails came out?

It was the worst thing ever. Because there was the biggest secret on earth, the most classified, most taboo secret on earth. And I was the only person, ever, that was able to turn the valve and get it open. And I had a full flow of information. And when WikiLeaks dumped all of Podesta’s emails, and my communication with Podesta, that valve got shut off and it scared the death out of me — for the people I was working with, but also for humanity. I was like “Oh, my God, I got so close.” But that brought me the credibility to where everybody else — from CIA, the DOD — all circled around me and said, “You’re for real, and your ideas are good. But they’re not good enough yet. Let’s help design a better better version of the idea.” And that’s how the Academy of Arts and Science became a reality.

You told me that Unidentified gets “gnarly” at the end. What did you mean?

You’re going to see stuff towards the last couple episodes that … you’ve never seen this kind of stuff, dealing with this subject, on television. On television, it’s usually guys chasing lights in the sky and they’re out in the middle of the desert. You will see the Majority Leader of the Senate, Harry Reid. You will see the intelligence agents of other NATO allies. You will see members of the current real program. You won’t see their faces, but you’ll see elements of that. You’ll see the data, you’ll see us dealing with Congress. And what you’re going to see is the world being awakened.

We didn’t do this to make a TV show. We did this as a way to get the people ready to pressure Congress further. That is what the show’s about for me. We did not do this for entertainment. I didn’t just want to sell a show. This is To the Stars Academy doing its job and a camera following us. Because everything we’re doing is gathering the info and getting the Congressional leadership to understand what’s going on. And that’s why it leaked in the press. That’s us, and this is all part of a long, multi-year strategy to awaken everybody.

Regarding Blink, it’s really interesting that you said, “I love what they’re doing.” That’s a pretty big to say because I would think that if there’s another guy singing your music, Matt Skiba …

You journalist, you’re trying to push buttons. So transparent.

It’s true, though!

No, I don’t care. I’m a confident guy. I like what I do regardless if people like it or not. I don’t need admiration or people clapping or cheering at me. I don’t need that validation from an audience. I love the fact that they have a way to do what they love. That’s what I care about. I love that they don’t have to wait for me or rely on me depending on when I can or can’t do something. That’s frustrating for them. Do we have differences in what we like musically? Absolutely. But it’s not like my ideas are any better, or something. They’re just different.

[felixeberstark-blog]

March 22, 2016

I have a new target on my list. I can’t help but feel like Mr. Paul has some sort of vendetta against me. It all goes back to the very first day we met. Since then, he hasn’t been cutting me any slack. I tried to stay out of sight by sitting in the back of the class and abstaining from every discussion, but it seems as if he’s a telepathic freak who knew to call on me every single time I wasn’t listening or haven’t finished an assignment on time. At first, I tried convincing myself that he had nothing against me since he’s harsh on everyone. He’s one of those relentlessly aggressive teachers, constantly bringing everyone down as a way to push and craft them into becoming better students only to rip their self-esteem to shreds instead. However, I’m the only one he keeps on failing and it’s so frustrating because homework has become a burden, a task I keep delaying until the early morning. I had developed a strong uncontrollable aversion to doing it at the last second and when I finally put myself in front of my pen and paper, I write almost mechanically, detached like my heart’s not in it. Inevitably, that always played to my disadvantage because I end up unable to support any of my thoughts or arguments which results in more failing grades. So far, all of my graded papers have been filled with red remarks; most of them mean and unnecessary.  My latest assignment was to write a report about either a special topic or a newsy event and compliment our work with ten to fifteen pictures photographed correctly. While everyone went for something political, like filming a protest happening in the area or some press conference, I decided to add some fun dynamic to the task and chose to cover the Hawkeyes basketball game at the university. A finished, ready-to-be-published report followed by at least three photos with photojournalism-style cutlines for critique were to be presented the day of our presentation. I had no problem with the assignment, but it was almost guaranteed it wouldn’t be appreciated. Paul has a thing for sensational and shocking subjects and I don’t which is primarily why I didn’t have high hopes and dreaded the idea of standing in front of an entire class and talking about the event.  The game against Michigan was tense and nerve-wracking. However, with two freshmen on the floor, Hawkeyes, refusing to give up, reeled off intense clutch plays during the waning moments of regulation and managed to win with a score of 83-79 during the overtime period. Their next game is against Maryland.  Standing in front of the chalkboard, I broke down the event into great detail, showed my collection of photographs and pointed out the three chosen ones. As expected, everyone was falling asleep as I presented and read the article I wrote, and Paul thought it would be funny to mess with me in front of the entire class. He expressed how poorly my subject was received, stating that it offered nothing new nor interesting. I knew that, but I personally have no interest in politics or social issues, and no tragedy had happened in the last few weeks worth covering, so the number of topics was clearly depleted. Paul’s continuous attempts in bringing me down and making me feel worthless caused me to go hysterical as I swallowed his insults. Images sprang to my mind of both of my hands firmly wrapped around his neck, my probing eyes looking right through his as I unremittingly watch life slipping away from him. My eyes flashed with rage as I shivered almost hysterically, and I was so close to losing my temper; I imagined myself screaming at him from the very top of my lungs, walking out the door and slamming the door shut violently behind me. But I didn’t. I’ve always perceived being calm as a sign of weakness, but I’ve grown to think otherwise. Talking back at him, even if it was in my defense, was absolutely unnecessary. He was going to win the battle no matter what, and I wasn’t going to allow myself to further my humiliation. At the end of the session, he asked to see me privately. He dismissed the whole class and insisted I stayed to talk to him. He described with great disdain the way I was looking at him. I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about, that I didn’t do anything wrong, and he disregarded my response. After our brief conversation, I grabbed my backpack and headed towards the door; I was struggling to walk out quietly, but my mind urged me to stop and say something about the typo on the chalkboard. The thing that set Paul off the most was being corrected. Being a distinguished journalist, he’s earned a reputation as being both impactful and purposeful, his writing style known for its expository and persuasive style that often involved a lot of cynicism and wittiness. Although he didn’t respond to that, I knew my passive aggressive comment immediately pissed him off.  The next day, I logged into my college profile to check my grades and realized he had deliberately failed me again, giving me the worst grade yet (39/100) with zero participating points. My face turned red as I gathered the strength to keep my anger trapped inside me, my oncoming nervous breakdown only a few seconds away. I was interrupted by Heather, though. I regained composure and tried not to be bitchy to her although all I wanted was to violently smack her against the head with a heavy object. She wanted me to come over to her place and start working on the narrative or her book which I decided I didn’t want to do. I impulsively grabbed the jar containing my brown recluse, put it inside my backpack and left the apartment.  Pretending I was so invested in working on her book wasn’t an easy task; it was extremely difficult and unnerving for me to lie and help change the facts of what really happened and come up with a believable alternative series of chronological events that led to her overcoming her captor and escaping successfully. With every detail we changed, every piece of information we altered, her version of the truth was coming together almost impeccably while I slowly faded away behind her words. Through me she managed to capture and communicate the intricacies of how she felt in those moments and how hard it was to intuit her way out of James’ macabre and warped world. After five dreadful hours of being in her company, I excused myself and told her I had to leave; she thought we’d continue some other time, but that wasn’t going to happen.  I walked outside her apartment building and monitored her activity through her windows and noticed she was still in her living room. I used the fire escape to sneak into her bedroom and released the arachnid on her bed before getting back out and down to the street. I crossed over to the other side where I had a better view of the interior and watched her move around her apartment for a bit before shutting down the lights and going back to her bedroom. A few minutes later, I heard a horrifying scream. Survive that, bitch!