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allegra-writes · 1 year ago

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"And They Were Roommates" Part II

Lestat De Lioncourt x Louis De Pointe Du Lac

General Audiences

Warnings: None. Crack. Lestat being a little shit. Coffee as a weapon of massive destruction and psychological warfare. Sophisticated methods of mind control and manipulation. Sus!Louis. Emotional slut!Lestat. The Nile as more than just a river in Egypt. Wet dreams. Armand as Lestat’s favorite sleep paralysis demon.

This chaper was written by the incredibly talented @faerywhimsy so you can expect to enjoy this one even more than the last one 😘

MY MASTERLIST | SERIES MASTERLIST

Chapter 2: The Saboteur

Lestat had spoken to Alice on campus. Without Daniel around or even being the wiser. Lestat didn’t even go here, but if his mother worked as a senior professor in women’s studies, he would be damned if he was supposed to stay away on one of his afternoons off.

He hadn’t intended to speak to Alice, but when he saw her he recognised her as being from some random party Armand invited Louis to. The expression on Alice’s face that afternoon, however, had been foreboding as fuck.

Lestat hadn’t been able to resist stepping up to her, ostensibly to cheer her up.

A friend in need was, after all, a friend indeed.

Hands in pockets, a tight white shirt showing off trim pectorals, Lestat sauntered up behind his new friend Alice and tapped her lightly on the shoulders.

She spun around quickly, a frown still on her face and it took longer than Lestat expected—even after she looked at him—for it to fade away.

“Oh,” she uttered. “It’s you.”

Lestat did not like that.

You, she said. As though Lestat was merely some mud Alice had found on her shoe. It wasn’t even a nice shoe she was wearing. Faded sneakers with a hole beginning to emerge from one of the toes. And at least Lestat was kind enough to remember her name!

“You seem to be having a bad day,” Lestat said, pouring out both sympathy and charisma as was reserved only for those who had obnoxiously pissed Lestat off. “May I be allowed to buy you a drink?”

He watched as Alice hesitated, as though, and then nodded. Poor college students were always the same. Lestat vividly remembered the time Armand had expressed concern for the poor eating habits he could not help but notice from Daniel. He’d been even more dejected when Daniel claimed he couldn’t afford to eat until the following week.

At least until he’d decided on his own way to ensure Daniel was fed.

Lestat stepped alongside Alice towards a coffee cart and told her she may order anything her little heart desired. While she considered the menu before stepping up to the barista to place said order, Lestat gazed off idly towards the middle distance.

“You know,” Lestat murmured, as they both wandered away together with whipped cream concoctions in both their hands. “I have been surprised to hear how well you put up with Armand.”

He didn’t meet her eyes as the words left his mouth, but he could feel it when Alice turned her head sharply to face him.

“What do you mean?”

Lestat could tell she was doing her best to continue to be polite to him as she asked. He had, after all, just bought her the drink that was still chilling her hands.

“Oh, you know.” Here Lestat made sure to meet Alice’s eyes. Her brow furrowed and she dipped her head to suck on her straw, which Lestat took as express permission to begin to solve the problem that had been plaguing him ever since Armand had realised he desired is housemate. After all, Alice had been so rude to him. “Armand has never been very good at staying on one side of a line. You need to remind Daniel to be firm with his boundaries, if you know what I mean.”

Two birds, one stone.

That was how it started.

Lestat was smiling by the time Louis walked into their apartment and saw him sitting on the couch.

“Uh oh,” Louis said. “I know that look. What trouble have you caused?”

“Trouble? Moi?” Lestat’s blond eyebrows all but vanished into his hairline as he portrayed his unwavering innocence.

Louis crossed his arms, not falling for this at all. They had been together far too long for that. “If I wasn’t sure you were up to something before now, I certainly am now.”

He stood there by the doorway, instead of joining Lestat on the couch, wordlessly determined that Lestat would speak before he would get to enjoy his lover’s embrace.

Lestat pouted. “I have only sought to help out our friend, and your ex-lover, Armand.”

“Help him how,” Louis demanded.

“I may have walked into Alice today.”

Louis sagged, though he did take a step closer towards the couch, which was a win for Lestat. “Lestat.”

Lestat’s eyebrows lifted once more. “Mon amour?”

“Don’t you ‘mon amour’ me. I see right through you.”

“You do?” Lestat stood. “And what do you see?” he asked, stepping closer towards Louis, even taking one of Louis’ hands into his own when Louis tried to use it to push Lestat back. Lestat only drew that hand towards his mouth for the lightest of kisses.

It was only later that very same night that a picture of Blade Runner playing on a flat screen made its way to being posted on Armand’s feed. And, if one looked very carefully, one could make out in the reflection of that screen the clear image of Armand and Daniel curled together on a couch.

Lestat smiled. “That was quick,” he murmured under his breath.

Beside him in their bed, Louis looked over his shoulder. There were no secrets between they two after all.

And that was all he was thinking of, at least until Louis said, “Lestat, have you ever asked yourself why you are so invested in Armand’s relationships?”

“Why, because he is your ex-lover, and still a dear friend,” Lestat said.

“Uh huh.”

Lestat inclined his head. Admitting what he had to say next would cast him in a less flattering light, but it seemed clear to him now that Louis would settle for no less than exactly that. “Very well. It is also that Armand has been speaking about Daniel and how they were only roommates for months now. I tire of it, Louis, I tire of it! Armand has harped on about Daniel all the way to my last nerve!”

Louis was still looking at him with those unblinking brown eyes.

Lestat’s mouth twisted. “Also, I may have come across Alice today on campus.”

“Aha,” Louis murmured, without any usual emphasis. Merely a quiet understanding.

Lestat rushed to explain himself. “It was not just Armand on my mind! She was rude to me. Alice.”

“I’m sure she was.” Was that the slightest hint of pity in Louis’ tone now? Lestat hoped it was. It would be far more pleasant to deal with than Louis’ disbelief and pushes to admit to something more.

Simply put, there was no more for Lestat to admit to.

Louis continued to gaze at Lestat for a few moments longer. It was not an amorous look, though Lestat wished it was. Eventually, Louis nodded and began to turn away. “Daniel is a very attractive man,” he said, for all the world as though what Daniel looked like hardly mattered to him.

Yet, if that was so, why on earth would his Louis mention it?

“I suppose…” Lestat said, eying his beloved.

But then there was just the back of Louis’ head on the pillow illuminated by the lamp on Lestat’s side of the bed.

“Louis?” Lestat asked, feeling somewhat at a loss. Louis didn’t reply. “Louis, why would you say that?”

“Say what, Lestat?” Louis asked.

“Why would your last words to me this evening be about Daniel’s attractiveness?” Lestat asked him, huffing just a little bit at the end.

Louis just yawned, not even turning on his side of the bed to come to face him. “Lestat, it is growing late. If you cannot figure out, then I cannot tell you. Perhaps speaking to Armand would be your best route to understanding.” And with that confounding statement, Louis would truly say no more.

Lestat was determined he would do exactly that!

The next day, Lestat checked his socials and found Alice’s relationship status had changed from ‘in a relationship’ to ‘single’. It made him smile, until he remembered his Louis’ words from the night before, and then that smile turned to a frown.

He pushed his phone back into his pocket until it began to ring. Armand’s name flashed across his lock screen and Lestat’s heart jumped.

Then his eyes widened.

He immediately felt the need to speak to Louis.

The front door crashed shut behind him later on that day and Lestat was beyond gladdened that his amour had returned home before him on this night.

“Louis,” Lestat called. “Louis!”

“I am just in here,” Louis said back, stepping out of the bathroom where he’d clearly just come out of the shower, a towel still around his shoulders. “Jeez.”

Lestat felt flushed and flustered, a state that only seemed more obvious to him from the settled, comfortable expression on Louis’ features.

“Armand has invited the two of us around to his and Daniel’s place tonight,” Louis continued while Lestat simply stood there with his mouth half open like a fish. “He said he already called you to say the same.”

Again, that traitorous feeling in his heart. Armand had called Lestat to speak with him before he had called to Louis. What did it mean?

It could mean nothing! He loved Louis and Louis only. Lestat had promised as much after all that nasty business with Antoinette.

“I see,” Lestat said, lowering his head and doing his best to appear unmoved. “And do you wish to go?”

“There’s no reason not to,” Louis answered. “They are our friends, after all.”

“Of course, of course.”

“Unless…” And here Louis paused. “There is something, some reason, you would prefer to stay in instead?”

“Alice changed her relationship status to single!” Lestat blurted out.

This surprised Louis. His eyebrows rose. “Oh, I suppose that’s why Armand’s invited us over. Daniel must be…”

“I am willing to bet with you that Daniel has already been otherwise detained from whatever emotion you believe he must be feeling,” Lestat said, these words too coming out in a rush.

In response to this, Louis’ eyebrows lowered back down. “Lestat? Your continued investment in my ex’s love life is beginning to grow disturbing. ... Why?”

If Louis thought it disturbing already, Lestat could never hope to tell him the truth. Or a version of the truth. Whatever version it was that had his heart trotting along in time with Armand’s attention. It was something that must be tamped down. Something Lestat would never acknowledge.

Lestat forced himself to calm down, gentling his expression into a casual smile. “Oh, it is the same reason I do anything, mon cher. It is the aesthetic. They look so good together. They will make each other happy.”

"I see," said Louis, in much the same tone Lestat had said it just earlier. "So there's no reason we shouldn't go over to see them tonight?"

"Non, not at all, mon coeur." Lestat shook his head and pasted a smile to his face.

It was only that evening, after Louis and Lestat returned from the home Armand and Daniel shared that Lestat was plagued with images of an unspeakable nature.

There was an intensity in Armand's eyes as he gazed at Lestat across the room. Daniel and Louis were talking to one another, completely unaware of the expression on Armand's face. But Lestat was aware. Lestat was keenly aware.

"Does this make you uncomfortable, Lestat?" Armand asked, and his voice was lower, more silky, than Lestat thought he had ever heard it in life.

"N-non," Lestat replied.

This seemed to somehow be the wrong answer to make, because Armand's smile grew wide. Armand had not even touched him yet, but Lestat could feel the flickering effect of Armand's determined attention in areas of his body he could not think about right then.

Louis and Daniel were still both unaware of Armand. How was it possible they remained so unaware?

"Don't worry yourself with Daniel," Armand told him, when he saw Lestat's gaze flickering that way.

"C'est L-Louis," Lestat stuttered.

Armand gave a soft chuckle deep in his throat. "I wouldn't worry about that either. Louis knows me well. Has he ever told you...?"

And then white noise gathered in Lestat's ears, stopping him from hearing whatever information Armand would impart to him, even at the same time as he craved to know it. Lestat even leaned forward, closer to Armand, striving to hear the words that so elluded him.

"... things I would do to you," Armand concluded, and the promise—fractured as it was—in his words made Lestat's toes curl. "Things you would let me do."

And then he reached out to touch his fingertips to Lestat's cheekbone. Lestat knew he had amazing facial structure, and the look on Armand's eyes as he touched him said he appreciated it. Lestat had not even realised he had sat so close. There was just the hint of a carefully manicured nail scratching against his jaw before Armand pulled away. Lestat's lips parted, throat dry. How could he do these things in front of Louis. How could Louis not notice?

Lestat woke up suddenly, his sheets tangled around his legs and feeling so painfully hard that he cringed. Blissfully unaware of it all, in life as in dream, Louis slept on.

"Amour," Lestat whispered to Louis, to himself, alone in the dark.

He had to continue to keep this away from Louis.

How could he continue to keep this away from Louis?

#interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #fanfiction #loumand #humor

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hiheyimhuy · 4 years ago

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Movies/TV Shows

1 Roman Empire -Season 1 -Theme Funny -Golden Age

-Birthdays -Jayden Kouli Spring -Ian Spear Summer -Rex Woodbury Fall -Taylor Phillips Winter

-Jennie Mayer “Type 1” Insults -Arlene Williams “Type 2” Conversation -Tina Fey “Type 3” It’s Not Funny, But It Is Funny -Alison Kang “Type 4” Fighting

-Annie Bucher -Bayley Lichtenberg -Brenna Harrington -Briana Jackson -Carley Wood -Christine Baker -Ellie Hoekman -Emily Dugan -Emily Ross -Heather Bateman -Heather Stams -Jessie Torlai -Kailyn Pennock -Katie Fischbeck -Katie Theisen -Kirsten Brewer -Kristen Kemper -Kylie Barrett -Kyra Pennington -Lexi n Abby Klinkenberg -Meg Mullen -Meressa Mamon -Mia Torlai -Nicole Silver -Rebecca Nixon -Samantha Holler -Tahlia Carchedi 1/2 -Taylor Green 1/2 -Tessa Acay -Zoey Golden 1/2

-Austin From Gardenscapes -Kevin Hill

-Season 2 -Theme Suffering -50 Years After The Golden Age With New Complicated Rulers/King And Government Officials -Nice People -People Who Likes To Play Games -Hard Living -Ancient Technological Society -Consequences -Crimes -Passion of the Christ Roman Guards -Green River Teachers -Guys from Han Tinh Phan Kim Lien -Rating 100% -Jessica Clarke -Kelley Flanagan -Hannah Ann -Lindsey Allemeier -Julia Newell -Annika Brauer -Catherine Berner -Olivia Carlson -Louisa Dunwiddie -Emma Linde -Savannah Billedo -Danielle Brady -Jackie Robinson -Rachel Keyser -Angela Zhang -Megan Williams -Maia Lee -McKay Njos -Tylar Philpott -Vanessa Chukri -Dan Mitchell -Brett Goldstein -Brendan Welzien -Jackson Zariski -Adam Newton -Toro -Richard Ferguson -Jared -Royals Friends -Josh Brueckner -Katie Betzing -Matt Howard -Abby Howard -Charli D’amelio -Addison Rae -“Too Hot To Handle” IGTV video guys -Jacqueline Miller -Eileen Bruns -Johannes Huebl 2/3 -Matty Carrington -Franky Cammarata -Ben K Bowers -Colton Underwood -RJ King 2/3 -Graham Davis -Willem De Koch -Brian Pruett -Gigi Meyer -Henry

-Hailey Napier -Blake Napier -Alex Knutson 2/3 -Elle Petschl -Sam Petschl -Anna Lynch -Ana Rae Miller -Brenna Hudson -Madeline Huletz -Claire Kennedy -Connell O’Brien -Max Tychsen -Dylan Inman -Austin Budke -Cameron Sackett -Elliot Knapp -John Mark Lambert -Colby Franklin -Season 3 -Theme Conquering -Depicts The Fall Of The Roman Empire -Combat Tactics -Strategies -In Places That Trigger Fear -“X Ambassadors - Renegades” Feel -Austin Olson -Chris Torlai -Kevin Hall -Matt Mead -Max Liebl -Nathan Lantz -Nathan Rodland -Oak Griffith -Sean Redmond -Stefan Andonian -Tanner Patnode -Travis McGuire -Wes Concepcion -Ben Affleck -Christian Bale -Tom Cruise -Cavill -Simon Pegg -Sam Quinby -Garrett Yrigoyen -Ben Higgins -Peter Weber -Jack Weber -Chris Harrison -Arie Luyendyk -Jason -Blake -Jared Haibon -Chris Soules -Jordan -David -Joe Sessa -Josh Canova -Graham Bennett -Kevin Park -Aaron Park -Julien Isnardon -Armie Hammer -Maurice Laab -Keegan Selby -Tyler Pichette -Season 4 -In Heaven With Henry And Malcolm

-Season 5 -Reunion Live “Maplestory - Ergoth’s Throne” “Maplestory - Orbis Tower” “Maplestory - Ludi PQ” -“Imagine Dragons - To Exist” 2 -“Imagine Dragons - Darkness Lies Above” 3 -“Imagine Dragons - Fear Is In Your Eyes” 3 -“Imagine Dragons - Only Way Across Is Cold Water” 3 -“Alesso - To Live Without Music” 1 -“Alesso - Watery Feels” 1/2 -“Bastille - What Keeps You Awake At Night” 2 -“Bastille - Every Time You Close Your Eyes” 2 -“Benny Blanco - The 4 Amigos” 1 -“The Chainsmokers - Wishing You Can Untouch” 2 -Might Change Title When I Have Time -“Charlie Puth - Day And Night Changes” 2 -“Coldplay - To Make You Wish You Don’t Have A Soul” 2 -“DNCE - The First To Arrive And Last To Leave” 1 -“Linkin Park - Rather Fall Than Surrender” 3 -“Kaskade - Your Voice Is All I Need” 1 -“Lana Del Rey - The “H” Word” 2 -“The Lumineers - A Cold Winter Morning” 2 -“Major Lazer - Gets You Off The Ground” 1 -“Major Lazer - Hard Bed, Soft Together” 1 -“OneRepublic - Rather Whisper Than Say” 1/2 -“Selena Gomez - Hope You Can Make It Back To Me” 3 -“Selena Gomez - I Need To Give You” 3 -“Shawn Mendes - If I Was Your First Lover” 1/2 -“Shawn Mendes - Fulfill Your Wishes” 1/2 -“Taylor Swift - February Missing You” 3 -“Taylor Swift - Waking Up And You’re Not Here” 3 -“Tove Lo - Roses In Water” 1 -“X Ambassadors - Repentance” 2/3 -“X Ambassadors - Remorses” 2/3 -“X Ambassadors - Regrets” 2/3 -“X Ambassadors - In The Woods” 3 -“X Ambassadors - No One To Be Found” 3 -“X Ambassadors - Only Nature Exists Now” 3 -“X Ambassadors - When You’re Lost” 3 -“2AM Club - I Still Remember You” 1

2 Killer -Henry Farm Childhood -Tom Cruise -Henry Cavill -Simon Pegg -Kelly Hu -Mila Kunis -Chiaki Kuriyama -Amy Johnston -Connell O’Brien -Yugioh Main Characters -Yugi -Joey -Bakura -Pegasus -Marik -Mai Valentine -Weevil -Rafael -Dartz -Charli D’amelio -Matt Howard -Alessandro Dellisola -Johannes Huebl -Sean O’Pry -Taylor Swift -Shawn Mendes -Girls Non-Killers -“Soft, Tender, Delicate” IGTV video -“Finger 11 - Paralyzer” IGTV video -Excluding Claire Miller -Abby Howard -Armie Hammer -Chace Crawford

3 Witches History on Earth -Malcolm in Heaven -Hocus Pocus -Vietnamese Girls -Trang Nguyen -Nguyen Ha My -Yen Nguyen -Written By Henry And Malcolm

4 Paris by Night in Modern Time -Presidents -Ben Affleck -Leonardo DiCaprio -1/4 Europeans -Brody Jenner -1/4 Asians -Japanese -Chiaki Kuriyama -Substitute -Cheyenne Stacey Powell -Administration -Nia Nguyen -Stephanie Che -The Bachelor Girls -The Bachelorette Girls -Clothes -Elementary And Middle School -Less Normal -High School -Fashion -College -Travel After College -Love

5 Ancient Forests -Josh Brueckner -Katie Betzing -“131 Tall Tree Guys” IGTV video -“Soft, Tender, Delicate” IGTV video -The Bachelor -The Bachelorette

6 Toys

7 Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) -Inventions -Movable Type Printing (1041-1048 AD) -Gunpowder (1000 AD) -Compass (1100 AD) -Paper Money (11th century) -Arts -Music -Literature -Philosophy -Theme Romance -Marco Polo -Born in Venice -Silk Road -Visited China (1275-1292 AD) -Father and Uncle -Lingchi Torture -TVB Actors/Actresses -Kenneth Lam -Kacie Lo -Chloe Tsang -Clarissa Chan -Jessica Yi -Danny Shin -Joyce Lin -Shin -Alex Landi

8 Ancient Egypt -Theme Revenge, Ruling, Warfare -Pharaoh -Pyramids -Sphinx -Nile River -Farming -Hieroglyphics -New Kingdom (1570-1069 BCE) -Kings Are Called Pharaohs -Golden Age -Wealth -Prosperity -Power -Wars -Burned alive -Thrown into river with crocodiles -Charli/Dixie D’amelio -Addison Rae -“Roosevelt High School” IGTV video -Andrew Mead -Austin Perlatti -Bret Johnson -Carter Rey Johnson -Casey Manso -Christopher Wilson -Clay Barton -Colby Foss -Connor Bennett -Dalton Bond -Derek Pedersen -Hayden Njos -Jake Zylstra -Jared McAboy -Jeff Seid -Jett DiPalma -Jordan Kirkland -Ken Williams -Kevin Brown -Kevin Hall -Kevin Kennedy -Kramer Fairclough -Leo Trotz -Marco Amalfitano -Max Liebl -Michael Leverenz -Mike Suguro -Mitchell Booth -Nathan Lantz -Nathan Rodland -Matt Fisher -Nick Fisher -Nick Watson -Oak Griffith -Ozamataz Buckshank -Pabi Dhaliwal -Pat McGuire -Pierre Groenewald -Roddy Hanson -Ryan Johnson -Scott Andrew -Seth Gunning -Seth Shields -Sheldon Stober -Stephen Bishopp -Tanner Patnode -Taylor Tinney -Wes Concepcion -Zane McCanless -“Soft, Tender, Delicate” IGTV video -“INNA - Amazing” IGTV video -Elizabeth Rodland -Armie Hammer -Chace Crawford -Franky Cammarata -Johannes Huebl -Sean O’Pry -Blake Horstmann -Jan -Joe Sessa and his friends -Matt/Abby Howard -Taylor Dean -Kelley Flanagan -Jessica Clarke -Madison Prewett -Lindsey Allemeier -Katie Betzing -Ben Higgins -Hannah Ann -Ian Spear -Laguna Beach -Lauren -Kristin -Stephen -Talan -Jessica -Taylor -Adam Newton -Sean Lowe -Catherine Giudici -Brianne Schmidt -Connell O’Brien -Tyler Pichette -Hannah Brown -Max Tychsen -Dylan Inman -Tyler Cameron -Taylor Phillips

9 Mesopotamia -Daily Life -Learning To Be A Scribe -Ziggurat -One Of The Seven Wonders -Hanging Gardens -The Fertile Crescent -Invented The Plow -People Of The City-States -Nobles -Priests -Merchants -Scribes -Craftworkers -Free Farmers -Enslaved People -Farmers Who Did Not Own Their Land -Cut One Hand Off -Women’s Legal Status

10 Ancient Greece -Philosophers -Socrates -Plato -Aristotle -Mathematics/Science -Euclid -Archimedes -Eratosthenes -Hippocrates

11 Greek Gods/Goddesses -Athena, Goddess of Wisdom -Parthenon Temple

12 Alexander the Great

13 Medieval Europe (500-1500 AD) -Theme Suffering -Boiling -Baking -Burning -Brazen Bull -Cooking -Stretching Bones -Sleep Deprivation -Quartering -Children’s Crusades -Castles

14 Islam -Muhammad -Arabia -Persia -Pillars -Architecture -Learning -Astronomy -Algebra -Medicine -Mapmakers -1001 Nights Book

15 India In The Middle Centuries -Taj Mahal

16 Central/South America -Theme Coming of Age -Maya -Toltec -Aztec -Tenochtitlan -Teotihuacan -Olmec -Inca -Cotton -Maya Calendar -Maize Corn -Metal -Writing -Soccer -Rituals -Religious Ceremonies

17 Europe (1400-1750 AD) -Peasant Revolts -Wars -Renaissance -Coldplay -Exploration -North/South America -Slavery -Imperialism

18 Industrial Revolution (Late 1700s AD) -England

19 Nations in Conflict (1775-1921 AD) -Revolutions -Independence -Nationalism -Ending Ancient China

20 1900s Conflict -Hitler -Russia -Japan -Westernization -Communism -World War I -World War II -Cold War -Berlin Wall -Technology -Advancements -Independence -Space Race

21 1900s Fun -China -Shanghai -David Kangmeng -South Korea -Fashion -Music -Recreation -France -Coffee -Restaurants -Sex -Hugh Jackman -Germany -Hugh Jackman -Spain -Hugh Jackman -Great Britain -Hugh Jackman

22 United States 1970-1990 -Fraternity -Fun -Matt Damon

23 Adulthood in the United States -The Bachelor -The Bachelorette -City -Country -Jobs -Relationships -Financial Problems -Making It In Hollywood

24 Masculinity -Male To Male Friendships And Siblings -Domination -Dealing With Girls

25 Comedy PBN Part 2 “Spin Off” -Continues After “Paris By Night In Modern Time” -Age Around 30+ -Van Son Cast -Similar To “Adulthood in the United States” And “Virtues of Harmony II” But Different

26 Countryside “Que” In VN -Theme Suffering -Financial Problems -Hard Living -Making It As Singers -Dating Singers -Accidents -Human To Human Crimes -How To Get To The United States

27 Physical Buildings And Transportation -Thailand, Malaysia, And Singapore -Hotels -Motels -Apartments -Bars -Clubs -Supermalls -Supermarkets -Companies -Motorcycles -Taxis -Trains -Airports -Gambling

28 Companies And Corporations -India And The Middle East -Work Time -Play Time

29 Modeling -Brazil, Portugal, And Spain -Amazon Rainforest -Rio De Janeiro -Marcello Alvarez -Jobs -Pay Less -Require Effort -Tired -Time Consuming -High School Drop Out -Saving Money -Criminal Offenses -Competition

30 Hierarchy In Society -Mexico -Poor -Rich -Cartels -Illegal Immigration To The United States -MTV Reality And Game Shows -Cabo San Lucas -Travel To The Caribbean

31 Route To Antarctica -Theme Living With Air Pollution 1990s -Chile -Santiago -San Antonio -Argentina -Buenos Aires -Andes Mountains -Lake Titicaca -Atacama Desert -Tierra Del Fuego -Tip Of South America -Cape Horn -Herding Farm Animals -Biking

32 High School In Vietnam -Movie Length Duration -Fun During School -Hard Times Outside Of School

33 United States Road Trip -Washington -Oregon -California to East Coast -Variety Of Climates -Route 66

34 Girl Pornstars -Hot Girls -Hard Past -Family -Friendships -Relationships -School -Money -On The Street -Need Food -Need House -Need Home -Models -Real -Instagram -Victoria’s Secrets -Pornstars -Feelings -Resentful -Fearful -Anxious -Apprehensive -Insecure -Suspicious -Trust -Travel -Making It In The Porn Industry

35 Guy Pornstars -Straight Guys -Gay/Bi Guys -Henry Pheet -Malcolm -Random Grindr Hookups -Travel -Making It In The Porn Industry Leonardo DiCaprio Robert De Nero John Travolta Tom Cruise Henry Cavill Simon Pegg Christian Bale Hugh Jackman Keanu Reeves Edward Norton Sean Connery Matt Damon Mel Gibson George Clooney Tom Hardy Orlando Bloom Guy Pearce Heath Ledger Robert Redford Paul Newman Scarlett Johansson Rachel McAdams Amanda Bynes Japan -1900s WWI/II -Westernization South Korea -1990s K-POP China -Song Dynasty -Ending Ancient China -1900s Beijing Vietnam -School In United States -Travel -Love -Comedy -Countryside “Que” Thailand, Malaysia, And Singapore -Physical Buildings And Transportation Drama India -The Middle Centuries Taj Mahal -Companies And Corporations The Middle East -Companies And Corporations Europe -Medieval -Renaissance -Exploration -Imperialism Italy -Roman Empire France -1900s Great Britain -Industrial Revolution Mexico -“Hierarchy In Society” Brazil -Modeling Portugal -Modeling Spain -Modeling

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jjba-hell · 4 years ago

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Fate and Fortune

I don’t know if this can be classified as Part 2.5 or Part 3... y’know let’s go with Part 3

Content warnings: pretty mild if not for the ominous feel, abandonment themes and some possible PTSD, nightmares and sleep paralysis (implied but not mentioned) and maybe some blood but not gore or violence.

So the big explanation I’m putting down for this one is that Vera holds the Wheel of Fortune as her stand- as I’ve said, my canon now, the one in canon do not exist ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ. I’ll probably elaborate on how it works later, for now- you’re getting breadcrumbs -w-

For the lovely @risottoneroo (please lemme know if I should cool it with the tagging lol (*´ω｀*)

Part 1

Part 2

1.4 K words

It had been a few months since the incident in the place Vera once called home. Sitting at a café, overlooking the river Nile, Avdol and Vera had just polished off a pot of tea together. It was somewhat a celebratory brunch, Muhammed Avdol had won custody over Vera Astbury- the big benefactor that was sponsoring her schooling abroad being what won the courts over in his favor.

“So, who is this oh so generous benefactor?” She asked as she brought the cup to her lips once more- hoping she was veiling her distaste at being shipped to a boarding school in the following months well enough behind polite banter. If this idea was Avdol’s or the benefactor’s idea, she was still unsure- but her reluctance remained.

“You’ll meet Mr Joestar as soon as he returns for business in England. You really don’t have to break your head about who he is until then. I’ll keep you updated.”

Avdol had a tendency to avoid speaking on the court processions for her custody. She’d been upset by both her families’ reluctance to take her in at her time of need, the bags she’d packed to be shipped to one them, standing in Avdol’s living room for one too many weeks. Until he cleared a room for her and asked her to unpack.

The smile tugged at the corner of her lips without her knowing. Avdol caught the gesture and calmly placed his cup of tea back in its saucer. “And now I wonder- what could have made my answer so amusing?”

Vera shrugged as she swirled the stray tea leaves around the bottom of her cup. “For a moment you sounded like my dad-“ her smile slid off her face as the tea leaves settled.

Divination by tea leaves was something she’d laughed at when Avdol first taught her about it but now- with all her readings, even the ones she did unintentionally as practice to get a feel for how much tea she needed to move the tea leaves around- all ended in the same black dog figure stalking the bottom edges of her cup.

To her, it felt as though she was plunged ankle deep into the tea in the bottom of the cup, as though the image mirroring her own grief and fear in the tea leaves would consume her as well.

A graceful brown hand stretched over the mouth of the cup, obstructing her view of the leaves.

“You know better than to read into your predictions now. You need to grieve first.”

Vera’s gaze met Avdol’s across the table, the concerned frown on his face enough to remind her that she wasn’t completely alone.

“Would you have me organise a psychologist at the boarding school for you?” He sighed as he withdrew his hand from her cup.

She chuckled and cringed at the same time. “I appreciate you looking out for me but I am not looking forward to leaving.”

“I know, Vera. But whatever or whoever was after you hopefully won’t leave Egypt for you. And… now don’t look at me like that. No matter how desperately you want revenge, you’re much too young to go out and look for that kind of trouble.”

Vera reverted her scowl to a smirk, she wasn’t going to fight him, the last thing she wanted was to seem ungrateful for what he was doing for her. “Watch out Avdol- if you let me get too far under your skin, I’ll give you grey hairs.”

His eyebrow shot up as he folded his hands into his robe sleeves- “You underestimate my tolerance, Vera. I know you jest most of the time, even if its just a way for you to cope.”

Vera’s words caught in her throat- the clever retort gone before she could give it some voice. With a clear of her throat she folded her hands on the table. “Perceptive. I’ll keep quite then, I know when I’m outwitted.”

“I thought so.” Avdol chuckled, signalling the waiter for the bill.

Living with Avdol had turned into an agreeable co-habitation, a bit of an adjustment for both of them but she felt safe under Avdol’s protection.

In terms of basic necessity she was well taken care of- physchologically she was still struggling.

To Vera, the development of her stand did the exact opposite to what she felt like it was supposed to do- or at least what Avdol had told her it would do. Instead of manifesting her own strength, she felt more vulnerable.

Avdol had shown his own stand to her once he realized she had some control over her own. Magician’s Red radiated an intense heat that felt like it would suffocate her if he left them out in the room too long. They were considerably larger and more opaque than her stand- intense glare matching their user’s.

“I call them Magician’s Red,” Avdol had explained. “You will find the name for your stand soon, I’m sure.” At the time she shrugged off her own ability as useless. She was just a bit more lucky whenever she hovered her stand’s extended hand over a dice. She couldn’t image her stand setting having any more power than that- the envy of seeing Magician’s Red starting the bonfire outside one evening making itself evident.

To Vera, her stand only hovered a few inches above the her bed’s edge, cross-legged like a cat watching her struggle to make her limbs move or violently jerk herself out of a nightmare. It only let her feel guilty as she playfully stole a win from Avdol in a game of cards. Only a few weeks later she realized her stand could do more than steal luck.

“Ahhh shit.”

Avdol’s head popped in around the corner at her cradling her bleeding palm over the kitchen sink.

“What happened.”

“I dropped the knife and caught it at the blade.”

Avdol cringed as he ducked back into the hallway. “I’m getting the first aid kit.”

She pulled the unplugged the water in the other sink and turned the water on to run over her wound.

Without warning her stand emerged and took hold of her hand out of the water.

The dial that replaced their wrists twisted as they hovered their palm over hers.

Obstructed for a moment, Vera couldn’t figure out what was going on until the blood drops in the sink disappeared. For a moment she thought the water had rinsed it away but as her stand’s hand moved away from hers the wound in her hand was gone. Not even a scab left in its place.

“Now THAT is a useful trick.” Avdol laughed as her stand de-materialized, Vera turning her hand in front of her in disbelief.

Time and Fortune moved in tandem to one another- at least that was what her stand had her believe. Like time marched beside the changing seasons of the world, time was tied to the Wheel of Fortune.

On her last day in Egypt, Vera sat across Muhammed on the rooftop of his home.

“I see you’ve gotten a good grip on summoning your stand.” He hummed at her stand hovering just over her right shoulder. “Their presence is strong, much less translucent than it used to be.”

Between them sat a tarot deck she had bought on a whim- it’s maker had gingerly opened the box and let her run her hands through the cards, it’s irredescent gold beauty captivating her.

“How much?” She said as she pulled her wallet from her bag.

It was her very own deck and now- with the cards already shuffled and placed face down between them for a reading, she was ready to start her first reading with them.

“Let’s hope there’s not a Death Card for this reading.” Avdol sighed.

She smiled, spreading the cards out onto the dealing mat. With her intent set, she picked two cards- a card that would represent what she had to leave behind and a card that would name her stand.

The first card was flipped and the smug smile on Avdol’s face was all she needed to see.

Six of Swords reversed- “the Resistence to transition.”

Her gaze shot up at the cocky bastard, Vera groaning in frustration. “Yeah yeah yeah, I need to stop fighting my relocation.”

In defiance she flipped the second card and to no surprise the Wheel of Fortune card looked back at her.

“I wish I could say I was surprised.” She sighed.

Avdol chuckler quietly, “So how do you refer to them in your mind?”

Vera shrugged as she put her cards back together. “I just keep calling them Fortune in my head.” Her gaze looked her own stand over- it wasn’t particularly impressive, looking like painted terracotta stacked in disks to make up a body not too different in shape from her own.

“Suits them.”

With a heavy sigh Avdol rose up and guided her down the stairs where her bags and the Speedwagon foundation security stood waiting for her.

She assumed her benefactor must have been a higher up within said foundation if he was going this far to make sure she got the boarding school safely.

Vera rolled her window down and peered up at Avdol, a bitter smile on her face as she sat in the car and he remained standing outside.

“Don’t call me and tell me you’re lonely, this was your idea.” She taunted.

He rolled his eyes and then folded his hands over his forearms.

“I was hesitant to tell you this before but I think its fair you know.” He started and the words that followed had Vera floored.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever met to survive a stand fever. Keep that in mind before you think you’re too weak to go on your own.”

Vera’s widened gaze couldn’t look away from his face, as if her next blink was going to make him disappear before her very eyes.

“You’re serious? The first?”

That same sadness returned to Avdol’s eyes, but a mismatched smile returned briefly as he straightened up once again and with a fold of his hands into his sleeves said: “Don’t let that information go to your head.”

Vera smiled back, watching the window roll up between them and Avdol become smaller in the rear windscreen.

“Oh, this talk is far from over Muhammed Avdol.”

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #JoJo part 3 #Muhammed Avdol #OC content #my writing #Fate and Fortune

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orangeflavoryawp · 4 years ago

Text

Jonsa - “Red Curtain”

My first modern Jonsa piece. Definitely a different voice than I usually use, but loads of fun to write.

If you’re interested in the accompanying playlist at all, here you go.

Red Curtain

Chapter One: No Take-Backs

“He’s pretty sure he left that closet at least half in love with her.” - Jon and Sansa. Summer’s for lovin’, after all.

Oh, and crisis. That, too.

Read it on Ao3 here.

Part 1 | 2

* * *

"No, no, but you see, gravity doesn't matter here," Theon argues. "You're up in space. It's like a fucking swimming pool up there, just, you know, minus having your trunks hauled halfway down your ass every time you surface."

"Theon, it's not gravity keeping your jizz in your dick," Jon laughs, reaching for the ice bags Robb hands him over the edge of the pickup truck.

Robb heaves another bag over. "This is literally the dumbest conversation you two have ever had."

Jon points at Robb accusingly. "Hey, okay look, I can guarantee you this isn't the dumbest conversation Theon's ever had." He swings the offending finger over to Theon in point.

"Dude, how do you know how that shit works in space? You ever been?" he defends, fumbling with one of the coolers.

Jon rolls his eyes. He hadn't really expected he'd be arguing the finer points of masturbating in space when he got up this morning, but in hindsight, he probably should have, considering the day's company.

"I'll be back with the beers," Tormund calls out, coming around the truck as Robb jumps down.

Jon tosses him the keys in answer. "Grab some spritzers, too."

"You got it, Buttercup," Tormund says, winking, climbing into the driver's seat.

After a glare his buddy's way, Jon looks back to find Robb and Theon staring at him with matching smirks.

He shrugs. "What?"

"Spritzers?" Robb asks, closing the truck bed with a cocked eyebrow.

Jon grabs the cooler handle opposite Theon's hold. If he's lucky, maybe he can upend him. "Your mom likes 'em," he mumbles. And then he throws an arched brow Robb's way. "Actually, your dad, too."

"You're such a fucking suck-up," Robb laughs, shaking his head, piling in what bags of ice he could fit into the cooler.

"Your boyfriend's kinda cute, you know. He's not staying?" Theon asks with a nod sent back at Tormund as he peels off in the truck.

Jon throws a swing Theon's way and he guffaws in answer while ducking, before nearly dropping his end of the cooler, scrambling for balance.

Serves the fucker right.

Between the two of them, they get the cooler up the driveway. Robb trails behind them with a bag of ice on each hip, looking every bit the expectant father he is. "Tell Tormund to come by. He always makes a party more eventful," Robb goads.

"You mean more expensive," Jon throws back.

He's still paying off that bill for the pool table Tormund wrecked back at The Crow, after all. And yet, it's him who gets all the dirty glares from the bartenders now.

And really, what's up with that? It's not like he's the man's mother.

Jon shakes his head, glancing back at Robb. "Anyway, he's got a shift tonight."

Theon wrinkles his nose. "The brewery?"

"Yeah."

Robb mock pukes.

"What? It's a good gig," Jon defends.

"It's where you met Ygritte," Robb points out, shifting the ice over his hips.

Jon refrains from rolling his eyes. Only barely. "She's not a bad person. We were just... bad for each other."

"Ever heard of that river in Egypt?" Theon quips. "De-nile?"

Jon throws him an exasperated look. "Why do you hate her so much anyway?"

Theon's smirk instantly dips into a frown entirely too somber for such a face. "She borrowed my copy of 'The Thing' and never gave it back."

Jon actually laughs at that one.

"See!" Robb butts in, "Those are the worst kinds of people. She's a taker, man. What you need is a giver."

"Someone like Tormund," Theon supplies cheekily. "Seriously though, what is it with you and redheads?"

Jon drops his half of the cooler weight for a brief moment in response, just before catching it again, and Theon's yanked hard left with the motion.

"What the fuck, man?" He rubs his shoulder, glaring at Jon, but Jon's too busy laughing, before he stumbles over a sprinkler head when they dip off the driveway. "Agh, fuck, that hurt."

"Karma's a bitch, Snow," Theon taunts. "And she's my bitch."

Jon opens his mouth but Robb cuts him off, ushering them off the driveway. "Guys, left – go left. We gotta take the cooler round back anyway. Dad's already in the yard."

So they shuffle left, crossing over the Starks' large front lawn toward the side gate to the backyard.

"Watch the zinnias," Robb directs.

Jon and Theon stop simultaneously to look back at him.

"Dude," Theon deadpans.

Robb comes up short, glancing between the two, shifting awkwardly with the ice in his arms. "Mom will kill you," he says in answer.

"Do you want to carry this thing?" Jon asks with a pinched brow.

Robb brushes past them toward the side gate. "Just don't step on them. Come on, come on."

They trudge onward, and Jon really does roll his eyes then because of fucking course he still takes pains not to step on the goddamn zinnias.

Maybe Robb was right. He really is a suck-up.

They make it to the gate and drop the cooler, thank god.

"Dad! Dad, open up," Robb yells over the gate, rocking back and forth from foot to foot with that cold ass ice at his sides.

"We brought your shit!" Theon hollers, and Jon throws a smack to his chest in reprimand.

"Ow," he draws out dramatically, a hand to his chest.

Robb frowns at the gate, the gate that isn't opening. He wiggles the ice higher up his hips. Stares hard at the fence.

Theon cocks a brow at him.

"Call him," Robb says, chin jutting toward Jon.

He reaches for his phone, hands flattening over empty back pockets. "Shit, it's in my bag." The bag he left in Tormund's truck.

Theon makes a similar show opposite him.

Robb throws his head back with an exaggerated groan, dropping the bags down on the top of the cooler. "I'm not picking that shit back up again," he swears, an unexpected shudder rippling through him when he's suddenly ice-free. He clamps his hands over his chest, his t-shirt already damp and sticking to him. "Shit, my nipples," he curses.

Theon barks a laugh.

"Look, I'll call him," Jon says through a laugh. "Where's your phone?"

Robb shoos his hands away. "I got it, I got it." He pulls his phone from his back pocket, dials, waits a moment. "Yeah, Dad, we're here." He glances to the gate. "No, it's not open." He ushers toward Theon to try the latch.

It swings free as soon as he tries the handle.

Robb glares at the offending gate. "It's open," he mutters, hanging up.

Jon cocks a brow at him. "We cool to go in or...?"

"Yeah, they're coming," he assures, pocketing his phone.

And then Jon catches sight of Ned Stark coming down the long stretch of grass lining the side of the house. He's in checkered shorts, a short-sleeved button down, flip flops that squelch at his heels with each step, and Jon hides a chuckle behind his fist, because he fucking loves this man, summer fit and all. And then Benjen comes around the corner behind him, dressed similarly, jogging to catch up, a hand raised in the air in greeting and before Jon knows it, it's a rush of hugs, and claps on shoulders, and a kind of rough jostling that makes him beam, a rowdy tousle of welcomes, smiles stretched wide.

He misses this. God, he fucking misses this. The only family he ever truly felt a part of.

And then that useless, familiar guilt ripples through him.

The thing is though, he thinks his mother would have appreciated the closeness he feels with the Starks. After all, she and Ned Stark grew up living next door to each other for fifteen years, near as siblings as anyone could be. And then years had passed, and suddenly they were all adults, and maybe Ned made some better choices, and Lyanna hadn't. Maybe all of this was supposed to be ancient history. And he doesn't really know if history is supposed to be a lesson, he really doesn't. And he doesn't fucking care. Because his mom did a hell of a job with what she had, and he loved her, more than he knew he could love anyone, and she was good for him, she really was, right up to the moment that she died.

She never stopped being good for him, really. Even after she died – when Ned Stark wrapped his arm around his trembling, nineteen-year-old shoulders at the funeral, let him cry into his perfectly starched collar, took him home to a warm house, gave him some hot soup and his first glass of whiskey, told him stories about his mother that had him laughing as hard as he'd been crying just earlier – that was his mother right there. That was his mother bringing Ned Stark, and all the rest of them, into his life full force. No take-backs.

It's not something he thinks too hard about most days – how his first real birthday party, when he was seven years old, was a cowboys versus dinosaurs theme, because he and Robb Stark, the stupid, loudmouth boy next door, had gotten into such an argument weeks before (and they've never really settled that one since, to be honest.) Or how the boy across the street, Theon fucking Greyjoy, had knocked on his door in the middle of the rain, holding up the tail-end of his pet iguana with a look of exasperation far older than their eleven years with a sigh of 'He keeps getting into my sister's bathroom'.

And he tries not to think about the day he attempted to teach Arya to drive in his busted up Jeep and became witness to such road rage that had him shrinking in his seat, fingers curling around the hand-hold along the roof, or the way Bran quietly demolishes him every time they play a round of Modern Warfare, sipping his perfectly iced root beer with a hint of superiority, or the way Rickon had wailed when animal control took away that stray dog they'd found in the park, huddled under a bush, whining and licking at its broken leg. Or how Sansa had –

Jon swallows thickly, mind fizzing out.

Because he remembers how Sansa helped him pick out a new suit for his first day at the firm, when his nerves had been frayed all to hell. And he remembers how she helped him sneak Robb back into the house through her bedroom window, nagging the whole way through, when he and Theon had gotten her brother drunk for the first time in highschool. And he remembers back in middle school how she helped mend the jacket his mother had given him because he didn't want her to find out that he'd ripped it riding bikes through the construction site she'd warned him to stop playing in.

And sometimes, when he least expects it, he even remembers the morning after his mother's funeral.

After spending the night, he'd been sitting out on the Starks' front step just before dawn, his hands linked between his knees, mouth fuzzy from the whiskey Ned had given him the night before, and he remembered looking up at the sky. Barely a cloud in sight. This pretty sort of blue, just on the verge of daybreak, and he remembered absolutely hating it. Wanted to throw something up into that stupid, pretty blue, make it crack and break, blow a hole straight through it, watch the pieces trickle down.

And then Sansa pushed the front porch door open.

He'd turned back to look at her, squinting in the half-light. She was standing there in the same sweatpants and tank top she'd gone to sleep in the night before, holding an opened yogurt in one hand, a spoon in the other, keeping the door open with her hip.

He's sure he'd meant to say something, but nothing really seemed to be worth saying right then, so he just looked at her. She watched him a moment, like she was still deciding whether to step out onto the porch entirely or not, and then she offered a light quirk of her lip and let the door slip off her hip and shut behind her. She sat down beside him and started to silently eat her yogurt.

It was that probiotic shit he'd seen her eating dozens of times before, lemon flavored, and it was so normal suddenly – here – the morning after his mother's funeral, sitting next to Sansa Stark at the crack of dawn.

She looked at him, lip caught between her teeth. "Want some?"

And he'd let out a breath finally, all the anger bleeding from him instantly. He shrugged, a chuckle leaving him. "Sure, why not?" He opened his mouth and she spooned a dollop in obediently.

It tasted terrible. And he must have made a face, because her lips tipped down in an imperceptible frown and then she was glancing back at her yogurt. "It helps with indigestion," she said despondently, turning the tiny carton around in her hand, peering at the label.

And then Jon laughed, only it hurt. So maybe it wasn't a laugh at all. All he knew was that his eyes burned, and he couldn't look at her, and the air built up in his chest and it wasn't leaving, it just felt like choking, and he was sure he was laughing now, awkwardly loud and clipped off at the end, like his own tongue hadn't expected it, and then he was pressing his knuckles into his eye socket, like he could dig the very tears out if only he could clench his fist hard enough.

The sky was so stupidly, frustratingly blue.

And his mother was dead.

"I think it's supposed to get better with time. Easier, I guess," she said quietly beside him.

Jon looked at her, brow crinkled. "What?"

"Missing her."

He frowned at that, stared hard at the half-eaten yogurt held in her limp hand as she glanced out over the lawn.

She looked at him, and her eyes were blue, too. And maybe that was supposed to mean something, but it didn't. It didn't mean anything.

"You believe that?" he asked her.

She shrugged, an earnest look on her face. "It's what everyone says."

"Sure." He looked back to his hands linked between his knees, pressed the toes of his boots into the wood beneath him, just to feel it. "I guess."

"I'm sorry she's gone." She dipped her spoon back into her yogurt but just twirled the tip of it around languidly. She shook her head, and she looked so unbearably sad. Too sad for any seventeen-year-old to ever look. "I'm so, so sorry, Jon."

His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. "Yeah, me too."

Maybe she caught the quiver in his voice. Or maybe she'd just grown tired of playing with her yogurt, hands fiddling with the spoon. Fuck if he knew. But she looked at him then.

Jon turned to look out over the lawn where the lip of the sun had just begun to peak over the houses across the way. "I don't - " He caught the break before it could fully form, swallowed it down, tried again. "I don't really know how to talk about it," he admitted. Because it was true. "Not yet."

She gave it a moment, and then, "Okay." And he figured she'd leave then. But she didn't. Or maybe she just didn't know how. But he – he –

"Can you..." And then he looked at her again, caught sight of the new sun slanting over her face, and it was bright, too fucking bright, and she raised a hand up to shield her eyes, squinting at him, and he wanted to laugh again, but he didn't know how to make it not sound like crying. So he simply cleared his throat. "Can you just sit with me?"

Sansa's hand lowered, one eye still squeezed shut from the light, her mouth dipping into a frown. But it wasn't the sort of frown she'd always given him before, like the one she wore when he spilled soda over her homecoming dress, or the one she wore when Arya chose go-karting with him over swimming lessons with her, or even the one she wore when he punched Joffrey in the middle of the hall her sophomore year. No. This one was softer at the edges. And maybe it was just the morning light coming over the neighbors' roofs. Maybe it was just him being uselessly sentimental. But for some reason, her frown didn't bother him this time. Didn't bother him at all.

And damn. Was that supposed to happen?

Jon swallowed thickly, throat parched. "Will you just sit with me?" he managed again.

She set her yogurt on the step, forgotten. And then she braced her hands back on the porch ledge behind her, palms going flat over the wood. She nodded, the frown settling out into a thin, unassuming line. "I can do that," she said softly.

Jon took a breath, let it go. And then he was sure. Sitting there, staring at Sansa Stark at the ass crack of dawn, the day after his mother's funeral –

He was sure.

This was not supposed to happen.

But then, the morning passed, and so did the months, and one day Jon woke up and realized he was doing alright.

So no, he doesn't think his mother would begrudge him this happiness. Even though he misses her every damn day.

Benjen's hand on his shoulder now steadies him, and the merry-go-round of memories settles into a low hum in the back of Jon's mind. There'll be plenty enough time to get sentimental later. It's the Starks' annual cookout, after all. The first day of summer – when they stay up to the crack of dawn to greet the new season. It's got something to do with their family way back when or whatever. Making it through the night, a celebration of life, and all that cheese. Catelyn tried to explain it to him once but he was nine, and really, could she blame him for zoning out? Anyway, afterward, he'd just turned to Robb while they sat at the kitchen island, Catelyn pulling chicken nuggets out the oven for them, eyes wide as he whispered in awe, "She lets you stay up all night?"

Robb had nodded smugly, grabbing for the ketchup bottle with bravado, and after dinner at the Starks, Jon went home to beg his mother to let him join the party that year. She had an unofficial invitation herself for years, anyway. Why couldn't he?

Jon can now safely say that this annual cookout of theirs is the longest commitment he's ever made in his life.

"Your mother's in the kitchen," Ned tells Robb.

"Ooh, is she making deviled eggs?"

"When has she ever not made deviled eggs for this thing?" Theon interrupts.

Ned only offers up a hand and a raised brow in a gesture that easily says True. And then he's nodding back toward the front of the house. "Use the front door. You know how she is." He reaches for one handle of the cooler, Benjen already going round the other side.

"Yeah, yeah," Robb waves off. "Shoes off in the foyer and all."

Ned gives a smile, lifting then. "Why don't you boys try to give her a hand?"

Jon feels suddenly nauseated at the idea of traversing a kitchen where Catelyn Stark is wielding any kind of sharp cutlery. "Where are the girls?" he manages to gulp out.

Stupid gulp.

Ned shifts his knowing smirk his way. "Arya and Lyanna are somewhere about, I'm sure. Jeyne's at the store getting the grill meet with Sansa and Margaery."

Okay, so maybe his palms get suddenly sweaty, and maybe his jaw ticks, and maybe he gives a disinterested shrug (a very disinterested shrug, yes, very disinterested), but dammit, she wasn't supposed to be here this summer.

"Oh," he gets out.

Oh.

Like a fucking idiot.

"Jeyne's at the store?" Robb asks, brows furrowed.

Oh thank god for overprotective Robb. Jon feels infinitely less under the microscope when the collective attention shifts to him instead.

"What, does she plan on carrying that all back herself?" he asks, huffing.

Ned blinks at him. "Like I said, she's with Sansa and Margaery."

"She's nearly eight months, Dad."

Theon claps a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, she's pregnant, not incapacitated."

"You're gonna be incapacitated pretty soon, I swear to god."

Ned rolls his eyes at his son, hefting the cooler up with his brother on the other side. "Calm down, Robb. If you only knew some of the things your mother did when she was pregnant with you," he starts off, smile twisting.

Benjen barks a laugh at that. "Ned, do you remember when she – "

"Oh god, let's not do this, please," Robb groans, face pulled back into a grimace.

Ned just shakes his head, smile wide. "Go help your mother." And then the two older men shuffle off back into the yard, cooler and ice bags held between them.

Jon shoves his hands in his pockets, thumbs hooking at his belt loops. "So?"

Robb pulls his phone back out. "Give me a sec."

Theon throws his head back in a dramatic sigh.

But Jeyne picks up pretty quickly it seems, because Robb perks up instantly at the sound of her voice on the other end. "Jeyne, hey, babe. Dad said you were at the store?"

Jon pretends not to listen in.

Robb pouts. "We could have gotten it, babe. You know I brought Jon and Theon back today. You didn't have to – " He silences, pout turning into a slight purse of his lips. "Yeah, I know, but – " Another silence. He huffs. "Your feet aren't hurting?"

Jon grins wide at that, try as he might to smother it.

In a way, Robb and Jeyne have become a strange sort of model for Jon these last years. Not a bar, per se, but an example, at least. That much, at least, for sure. It's one of the things that threw his relationship with Ygritte into such stark perspective. Where their relationship was enduring, his was combustible. Where theirs was comfort, his was a trial. Where theirs was honest and open, his felt like a never-ending minefield.

And now: "Your feet aren't hurting?"

Jon wants to laugh. It's such a simple, unloaded question. But Robb may as well have said 'I'm in love with you' and it'd have meant the same thing.

So yeah. Not a bar. But a hell of a lot closer than he's ever gotten to it himself.

Theon lets out an impatient groan at Robb's phone call. Robb only glares at him. "Okay, babe. Yeah. That's fine. But wait, uh, can you pick up some of those chips I like? You know the ones. The onion thingies. The – yeah! Those! Get me some funyuns." He smiles blindingly. "Thanks, babe. Oh, and tell Sansa not to make you carry everything!" He stops, frowns. "I mean, it's not like she's – " Robb stops again, looking down. "Alright, I'm sorry, babe. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Love you, too. See you at home." He hangs up.

Theon immediately makes a whipping sound, gesture and all, a crooked smile breaking over his features, and if Jon hadn't valued his life so much, he might have done similarly. As it is, Robb is only trying to strangle Theon at the moment, which is fine by him.

"Sansa's coming?"

There. He said it. He asked.

Not so fucking difficult, after all.

Robb stops his attempt at throttling Theon to look over at Jon. "Of course, she's coming. It's the annual Starkfest." He gives him a disbelieving face.

Jon's brows hit his hairline. "I'm sorry, the what?"

"Starkfest."

Jon shakes his head as though clearing his ears. "Yeah, still didn't get that."

"Come on, doesn't it sound epic?"

"Sounds lame as fuck to me," Theon pipes up.

"That's your problem, Theon. You think your opinion matters."

Theon gives Robb a dramatically wounded look, hand to his heart. "Oh spare me, cruel viper."

Robb throws his hands in the air. "What? Bran likes it."

Theon drops his hand from his chest. The look, too. "I'm sorry, but Bran is most definitely not the measurement of coolness here. What are you on?"

"I think Bran's cool," Jon says on a shrug, hands still in his pockets.

"Okay, you've forfeited your right to speak in this convo," Theon says.

"Oh come on," Robb says. "'Starkfest' is perfect."

"I thought she was staying at Margaery's this summer," Jon says before his courage can fail him.

And fuck, are his palms still sweating? Jon bites off a growl of frustration at himself. Fuck that shit.

Robb blinks at him. "What, Sansa?"

Jon nods. Maybe because he's afraid of saying more.

"Yeah, she is, but she's not missing the cookout. Brought Margaery, too. They've been staying at the house for like, four days now. Heading back south tomorrow though. I hear they're going to a concert down in White Harbor before they get back to Marg's."

Jon furrows his brows at that. "She's leaving tomorrow?"

Robb nods.

"She's not staying up with you guys?"

Robb waves him off. "Ah, don't worry about it. She never made it to sunrise before, anyway. Always passed out at least an hour or two away. She'd probably appreciate the sleep more, actually," he shrugs out.

Jon purses his lips. "Right."

And all at once, he's wondering if she still keeps her hair long. If she still carries that dragonfly keychain on her phone. If she still pulls at the edge of her skirt when she's nervous.

If she still hates him for last winter.

Jon clears his throat, nodding back toward the front of the house. "Your dad said Arya was in?"

Robb smiles at him, thankfully oblivious to his desperate change of subject. "Yeah, she's not taking summer classes this year. Come on."

And then they're making their way back across the front lawn. Jon still takes care to avoid Mrs. Stark's zinnias.

He wonders, briefly, if Robb isn't the only whipped one here, but he doesn't think too long on it.

They're just fucking zinnias anyway. So maybe he just cares too much about the things he shouldn't. Attaches to things that give no promise of attachment back. And damn, there's some psycho-analytic bullshit somewhere in that mess, if he looks hard enough, but he doesn't.

He's gotten pretty good at loving the transient, after all.

Sansa Stark shouldn't be any different.

It's not really something that needs another look, he finds. Not then. And not now.

They make it to the front door before he can linger long on it, and then Robb is jiggling his key into the lock, and then he's pushing the door open, and then he's hollering Arya's name into the open foyer. Something about it sends Jon to beaming.

Home.

He's home.

Thunder seems to come down the stairwell. Jon looks up to find it's Arya. He barely opens his arms in time. She launches herself at him, jumping into his arms, winding her legs around him.

"Jon!" she cries, ecstatic.

And oh fuck!

"Arya, fuck, my back! My back!" Jon nearly crumples from her attack, stumbling against the end of the stairwell. "Holy shit, get off me," he chokes out beneath her bone-crushing hug.

She slips from him effortlessly, huffing a strand of hair out of her face. "Old man," she grouses, punching at his shoulder with affection. She grins up at him, crooked and earnest.

He softens at the sight. "You're getting too old for that."

Arya rolls her eyes. "Or you're just getting all rickety."

"That's my vote," Theon says at his side. He opens his arms wide for Arya with an expectant smile.

"Ew," she deadpans, one hand settling at her hip.

"Missed you too, runt," he says, ruffling her hair.

"Oh fuck off, Theon." She shoves his hand away, but he just brushes further into the house.

"The boys back from school yet?" he asks into the open foyer.

Bran suddenly crosses the threshold travelling from the dining room into the den with his face almost adhered to his phone. "It's summer break, dumbass." He promptly disappears around the corner.

Theon plants his hands on his hips. "Ah, that's a yes, then."

"Hey, babe, your Dad wants you and Rickon to help get all the pool stuff out of the shed," Lyanna Mormont says then, coming down the hall toward them before sidling up beside Arya with a hand at her waist.

Arya swings an arm around her shoulder. "Lyanna, you remember my brothers," she says, motioning to the three in the doorway.

"Unfortunately." Lyanna grimaces, and it makes her already dour face even more so. And yet, her hand at Arya's waist is tender, her glance toward her girlfriend softened somewhat, and Jon has learned by now to keep his smile in check.

He watches Arya's hand curl around Lyanna's shoulder and wishes for nothing else in that moment but many more such years ahead of them.

"Good to see you're still in high spirits, Lyanna," Robb smiles brilliantly at her.

"Yeah, well, you're not my brothers, thank god, soooo," she smacks her lips, turning to Arya. "Babe, you gotta get Rickon."

And just like that, the moment is shattered. Jon heaves a sigh.

"Rickon!" Arya yells up the stairwell behind Lyanna's head.

"Arya, what the fuck?" she snaps, hand to her ear.

She shrugs down at her girlfriend. Footsteps thump at the upstairs landing. "What?" an annoyed voice calls down, only a pair of socked feet in view as Jon cranes his neck up the stairs without success.

"Dad wants you."

"I'm not falling for that again."

"Fine," she says, shrugging, steering Lyanna into the kitchen. "But the boys are here."

Silence for a beat, and then the socked feet take a few cautious steps down, and Rickon's head pops out beneath the second floor obscuring the rest of the stairs. His eyes go wide. Smile, too. "Jon!" he beams, bounding down.

And fuck, it's a man coming down the stairs now, not some socked feet or a boy he remembers, but a fucking beast of a man. Jon teeters back, shooting straight from his lean. "Rickon?" he asks, eyes wide.

The boy – man – jumps the last three steps and comes hurtling toward him, arms wide. Jon opens reflexively, afraid he'll be mauled otherwise, and Rickon slams into him, rocking him with his hug. It warms something instantly in Jon, even if the teenager's head now sits higher than his own. He frowns at that a moment, pulling back to look at him.

Theon claps a hand on his shoulder. "Shit, Rickon, what have you been eating?"

Rickon smiles down at Theon.

Holy shit, he's smiling down at Theon, Jon realizes in horror. And then he squints at Rickon's chin. "What is this peach fuzz?" he laughs, letting the boy go, fingers flicking at his baby beard.

Rickon slaps his hand away good-naturedly. "You've been gone too long, man."

"Clearly."

"No hug for me?" Robb asks with a mock pout.

Rickon levels him with a dead stare. "You were literally here this morning."

"Doesn't mean I don't miss you," he croons, looping an appendage around Rickon's neck and tugging him into his chest.

"Oh god, no, stop it!"

"Come here," Robb smooches, wrestling with him through the hallway toward the back of the house. Rickon's protests drown out somewhere past the hallway bathroom.

The smile comes easy and wide along Jon's face.

Home, he reminds himself.

No take-backs.

#jonsa #jonsa fic #jon snow #sansa stark #red curtain #modern jonsa #my writing #got fanfic

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give-me-back-my-rhodey · 5 years ago

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[I know I just said 2 seconds ago in the groupchat that I couldn't think've anything, but then I saw ya list lmaoo, one'a my favourite quotes] 8.) De Nile is just a river in Egypt with (pre) Winteriron? | Maybe rhodey&tony brotp or steve&bucky brotp(both?) and some good ol' Winteriron Mutual Pining idiots 😂 🖤🖤🖤

Hi! Thanks for the prompt! I hope you don’t mind that I made it a bingo fill! :)

Title: De Nile

Collaborator Name: Ducky

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048013

Square Filled: O4 - Pining

Ship/Main Pairing: Bucky/Tony

Rating: Teen

Major Tags & Triggers: Pining, Betting on Friends

Summary: Rhodey needs Bucky and Tony to understand that their attraction is mutual.

Word Count: 1234

De Nile

“Bucky Barnes? Pfft, I don’t like him,” Tony shoves Rhodey. “I wasn’t even staring at him. I spaced out and happened to be faced in his direction.”

“De Nile is just a river in Egypt, Tones. You forget that I’ve known you since you were fourteen. I know what you look like when you’re pining.” Rhodey counters.

“Fine. I think he’s smoking hot, and I would love to sit on those thighs, even if only to platonically perch there, but he doesn’t like me,” Tony mourns. “He is like wayyy out of my league.”

Rhodey opens his mouth but Tony cuts him off, “Uh-uh-uh! I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I’d rather not dwell on it. Please, let’s go find the spiderkid and the barrel of trouble.”

Shaking his head, Rhodey glances back over his shoulder at Barnes, who is still staring, but he follows Tony out of the room. Pining idiots.

++++++

Rhodes is going to kill me. Bucky thinks as the colonel sends one last glare over his shoulder. He groans and drops his head into his hands.

“Hey, what’s wrong,” Steve plops down in the chair beside him.

“Why am I here? I clearly scare Tony or at the very least make him uncomfortable,” Bucky stops when Steve coughs. It sounds something like “yeah-in-his-pants” and Bucky tilts his head, “Excuse me?”

“I had something stuck in my throat,” Steve lies. “But honestly, Tony doesn’t mind you here. If he did, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Why does Rhodes keep glaring at me then?”

Steve sighs, “I don’t know, Bucky, but you’ll be ok. I think you’re just insecure because you have a hopeless crush on Tony.”

“I don’t know how everyone doesn’t. He’s awesome. He’s so smart and kind and easy to talk to, and that ass is delicious.” Bucky sighs dreamily.

“Why don’t you tell him that?”

“He’s the epitome of perfection, and I’m an amnesiac assassin. You do see how that will never work out, right?” Sometimes Bucky thinks Steve lives with rose-tinted glasses.

“And if he -hypothetically- confesses his undying love to you?” Steve queries. “Would you tell him that he’s wrong for loving you?”

Bucky snorts, “I’m not an idiot, Steve. I would spend the rest of my life trying my best to make sure he doesn’t regret loving me. But as that will never happen, I don’t need any false hope.” He gets up and leaves, heading to the gym to take his stress out on a few punching bags.

++++++

“We need to do something about those two,” Rhodey groans.

Sam agrees, “I know, but how? We’ve tried almost everything we could.”

“I have a brilliant idea,” Wade speaks up. “We should have a betting pool on when they will get together. It always works in these situations.”

“How did you even get in here?” Bruce asks. “You know what? I don’t want to know. I have so many questions about you, Wade, but I’m afraid of the answers I’d get. But I am in for the betting pool. I’ve got fifty bucks on Tony making the first move before the year is over, but not until after October 14th.”

“Oddly specific, but I’ll take it. Fifty bucks says Tony before October 14th, but after July 31st.” Clint puts in his prediction.

One by one, the Avengers each place their bets. “So, what are the rules?” Rhodey asks.

“Normal betting-on-friends’ rules,” Wade tells him, as if he should know them. When Rhodey looks at him confusedly, he groans. “Ugh, how do you guys not know these things? Ok – no tampering, no dropping hints – we have to let them figure it out themselves.”

Harley cackles, “I am going to be rich. They will never figure it out themselves.” The bet is on.

++++++

Rhodey is getting tired of hearing Tony wax poetic about Bucky’s thighs or his eyes or anything else. He wants to tell Tony to just tell Bucky. He doesn’t even care if he doesn’t win the bet. Anything would be better than listening to Tony right now.

“Why is he so beautiful and out of reach, Rhodey?” The genius whines. “And he’s like just my type.”

“If he’s your type, how do you know you’re not his?” Rhodey groans.

“Come on, Sour Patch, he’s had more than enough trauma in his life. He doesn’t need to be in a relationship with me.” Tony argues.

Steve walks in, and Tony spins to greet him, “Hey Cap!” Rhodey makes a ‘kill-me’ motion behind Tony’s back, and Steve laughs.

“Hey Tony, have you seen Bucky around?”

“Why do you think I would have seen him?” Tony questions, voice a tad loud.

Steve raises his hands, “I… was just asking.”

“You could ask FRIDAY,” Tony says petulantly.

“Right. I’ll… do that. Thanks, Tone.”

Tony turns back around when Steve leaves. Rhodey knows he has a shit-eating grin on his face. “Wow. You got defensive, didn’t you?” He asks.

“Shut up, Platypus. Steve is already disappointed in me. I don’t need him to hate me because I’m hopelessly in love with his best friend.”

A glass shatters in the doorway. Rhodey looks up to see Bucky standing there, a shattered plate on the floor. Tony gulps. “Oh. Bucky.” He jumps up and runs from the room.

Bucky looks down at the floor, then to Rhodey. “He… was lying, right? He can’t like me. He’s too good.”

A voice that sounds like Wade’s says No tampering, but shut up Wade. I have the fate of my best friend in my hands. I’m not screwing this up. Rhodey sighs, “Listen man, you need to talk to Tony about this. If he doesn’t let you in now, give him a day or so. You know how to sneak in anywhere.” He steps over the shards, pats Bucky on the shoulder, and walks out of the room.

++++++

“Tony?” Bucky finds Tony sitting with his head in his hands on the couch in his workshop.

“I’m sorry, Bucky. You never were supposed to know. I can move back to Malibu. Whatever it takes to help you feel better around here. You don’t need me fucking up your life.”

“So you mean it? You love me?” Bucky questions, daring to hope.

Tony refuses to look at him, but after a few minutes’ consideration, replies, “Yes, and I am so, so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I am completely and irrevocably in love with you as well. I just didn’t want you to know because you are perfection, and I am… decidedly not.” Bucky sits down beside him.

Tony glances over at him now, “You – you are? And I am not perfection. I’m the most fucked-up one here. I’m a monster.”

“Hey, no you’re not. Don’t talk about the love of my life that way. I might get sad.” Bucky pulls him into a hug. “How about this? We go get dinner, and we don’t think either of us is worse than the other. We can be broken together.”

Tony hugs him tighter, “Sounds good to me.”

++++++

“Hah! I win! I told you it would be on the June 15th!” Wade whoops. “Pay up.”

Everyone else pays him. “I don’t know how you knew this would work,” Sam tells him, “but it did.”

“And accurately so…” Strange eyes Wade. “You don’t, by any chance, see the future, do you?”

Wade just smirks and walks out of the room.

#winteriron #starkbucksbingo2020 #trashcanakin #i write!#mutual pining #betting on friends

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the-wonderful-jinx · 4 years ago

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2, 7, and 20 for the writer ask thing!

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.

Of the Hart Valley project, I look forward to the ‘remixes’ -- where I take previous stories and rewrite them with a twist in them. For Parable, the plot and character’s stay the same, but they’re stuck in a Groundhog’s Day time-loop.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

I only noticed this because someone else pointed it out, but a lot of these stories feature women fucking up a dude because he refused to take no for answer. It’s not a bad one, at the very least.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I’ll be here all night if I said everything, so I’ll list the choicest bits:

Reflections/Shadows: Penny and Petey are reflections of each other in some way or another, right down to their names and appearances. Penelope ‘Penny’ Lourdes Rivers and Peter ‘Petey’ Leo Niles. Penelope the with her shoulder length black hair and blunted bangs, her warm brown eyes, and dark-brown skin; Peter with his wavy brown curls, baby-blue eyes, and pale skin. When they were dating, they were always mentioned together ‘Petey and Penny’, near impossible to separate the two. Penelope has an uncanny knack for visions and predictions, Peter is blind, literally in that he needs some serious prescription glasses and figuratively that he refuses to see/understand that Penny has moved on. Penny runs from her problems and her past; Peter chases Penny down and wreaks havoc in her neighborhood. Penelope at first flourished when she left Hart Valley, when the story starts, she is fading with her dead-end job, but content with her lot in life -- she’s independent, first and foremost. Peter languished in Hart Valley after Penny left, but he too grew when he managed to leave, a new job and roommate, only regressing when he finds Penny again. Both are passionate people with a mean streak if pushed ; both are loyal and steadfast to their causes and beliefs to the point of death (for better or for worse....)

Weapon of Choice: Penelope uses a traditional bolo knife her uncle’s husband made specifically for her -- it’s not the prettiest thing, made for practical gardening work, but it’s tough, rugged, and withstands a beat-down -- just as Penelope does when Peter comes knocking. Peter resorts to his mother’s Damascus steel kitchen knife which he stole before he left town -- beautiful, expensive as fuck, and a symbol of the domestic life he always dreamed of when he and Penny were dating.

The Shrike: One of the three gods of Hart Valley. The Killing God, The Giving God. What will you do to ensure your own survival, the livelihood of your family and friends? How far will you go to protect everything you love and hold dear...? Penelope has the more noble aspect of The Shrike, giving life and reviving one of Peter’s victims, fighting only in self-defense; Peter is the more violent side -- going on a ruthless killing spree for his own selfish gains. Though it’s only seen until the very end, The Shrike’s presence is everywhere -- from the taxidermized shrikes in her uncle’s apartment, the shrike mask she wears at the Midsummer celebration, right down to her and Peter’s matching attire: white blouse and black skirt for her; white button down and black pants for him. Hart Valley and its gods are always watching, no matter how far it’s people may stray...

Name Meanings: I’m a self-indulgent writer, i love me some names laden with symbolism and meanings.

Penelope Lourdes River: ‘Penelope’ being a nod to Penelope of Odyssey, often lauded as a symbol of fidelity and patience; ‘Lourdes’ refers to the Marian apparition, Our Lady of Lourdes, and the town’s grotto which is supposed to cure any ailments if one drinks from it; ‘River’ is exactly what is says on the tin, but it is also anglicized. The family’s original surname was ‘de Rivera’. Her last name is a fun nod if you’re filipino, but for those no in the know, tagalog is the name of a regional language/ethnic group in the Philippines, it’s derived from ‘taga-ilog’ which means ‘river dweller’. Funnily enough, Penelope and her family are not ethnically Tagalog, they are Visayan.

Peter Leo Niles: ‘Peter’ is a reference to Saint Peter (of ‘being the first pope’ fame, but also patron saint of fishermen, sailors, and butchers to keep the list short); ‘Leo’ refers to the star sign and those born under it are often seen as “dramatic, courageous, arrogant, charismatic” (TV Tropes) which fits Petey to a T; ‘Niles’ obviously referring to the Nile River and the classic joke “denial isnt just a river in Egypt...”

#shut it jinx #oh jesus this got away from me #long post #imitationgirl

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ubernoxa · 5 years ago

Text

The Sip: A GNR Modern Name AU

Chapter 7: An Award Show Interview

Previous Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Taglist: @str4nge-haze

Chapter Summary: Alanah still has doubts that Duff likes her. Sandy is getting annoyed with how stupid Alanah is.

“What do you mean it only takes you a couple of minutes to get ready?” I stared at Duff in bewilderment as I continued to get ready. I had already finished my hair, and was currently attempting to do my eyeshadow,

My stomach performed backflips as his laughter filled my bathroom. I smiled as I looked at my phone. I wished we weren’t FaceTiming. I wished I was sitting on his couch next to him giggling at his stupid jokes.

It had been two weeks since he came over to the apartment and helped me cook for my livestream. The first week was filled with hopeful texts of hanging out that were quickly canceled because Axl had scheduled time for them to work on some band related stuff. The second week was mainly filled with text and late night calls with no attempt at meeting up.

I didn’t ever ask him to elaborate because he seemed rather...frustrated by it. After the second time he canceled our hangout time (or as Sandy teased, our date), he left me a couple of voicemails that consisted of him drunkly telling me about how his day was or some crazy shit him and Izzy got into. There was always an apology though, he always apologized for canceling our plans.

“I just take a quick shower and then throw on some clothing,” He casually replied. How could this not be a big deal to him.

“Hey Alanah, do you have a sec to zip up my dress?” I froze when I heard Sandy call from the other room.

“One sec, I’ll be back in a moment or two,” I said to Duff as I went to Sandy’s bedroom.

Sandy had been freaking out for the past month about this event, and the fact that it was actually happening didn’t feel real. A few months back YouTube had asked us to perform some red carpet interviews at the AMAs, and we quickly agreed. A little while later Mark, my ex boyfriend (which still feels weird to say), informed me that he was the reason we received the opportunity.

Was it because Sandy and I were borderline influencers? Nope.

Was it all our hard work, late nights, and taking multiple jobs to get the YouTube channel to where it is now? Nope.

According to him, it was because his manager was having sex with some high up at YouTube manager, and was able to pull some strings to get us the opportunity.

I never found out the real answer to if we got it because of him or not, and part of me doesn’t want to know it.

“You okay?” I turned to Sandy as she spoke.

“Yeah why? This is a huge huge opportunity for us!” I faked a smile as if I had Vaseline on my teeth.

“God, you’re a terrible actress,” I could feel Sandy’s eyes on me as I tried to avoid her gaze.

“You’re thinking about Mark?” I continued to avoid looking at her not wanting to tell her she was right.

She leaned in close and whispered, “you are so much better off without him. You two were barely even dating for crying out loud. Thanks for zipping up my dress and say goodbye to your tipsy future boyfriend. We have an awards show to get to.”

I felt a smile cross my face as I walked back to the bathroom to say goodbye before heading out.

“Hey stranger,” I giggled as I spoke into my phone hoping to pull his attention from talking to Slash who also sounded tipsy.

“Hey, what does your dress look like so I can easily find you at the after party?” My cheeks felt like fire as he spoke.

“Umm I’m not invited to the after party,” my heart was racing from embarrassment as I admitted to him I wasn’t invited. He was a rockstar and I was practically no one.

“Wanna come as my plus one?” My heart skipped a beat. We were finally going to hang out in person again.

To say he caught me off guard was an understatement. I was screaming at myself to say yes, but words couldn’t come out.

“Or...” before he could continue talking I interrupted him saying, “yeah, yes, of course! I’d love to.”

My heart melted as a smile crossed his face.

FRIENDS.

He just wants to hang out. If it was he would have called it that. Friends, remember? There is a difference between being called a plus one and a girlfriend or date for the night. Plus I don’t have any feelings for him, not a single ounce. We were just friends, plus I just had a messy breakup. I should for I on my work right now.

I heard him shush someone who was in the room with him which only made me giggle. It was cute. It was cute, not him, it.

“So that dress? What does it look like, so I can find you?” He asked again, his smile never leaving her face. He was excited which only made my stomach, once again, perform backflips.

“I’ll give you three hints, okay? It’s sparkly, long and tight,” I grinned as he I watched him jokingly put on a thinking face.

“I like the choice. Can’t wait to see you in it,” he wasn’t helping the whole friends thing with comments like that, but he was a rockstar. Aren’t all rockstars just flirty? He probably had some groupie or supermodel he was spending time with as well.

————

“Who are you looking forward to performing tonight?”

Sandy and I stood at the red carpet for the non A list celebrities interviewing an up and coming indie artist. She was sweet, and it was a lot of fun interviewing her. I was defiantly going to buy her album when I got home.

“I would have to say I’m excited to see Motley Crue perform tonight...I can’t explain it, but something about bag boys,” my interviewee giggled as Sandy sent me a teasing look.

“Yeah, we get what you mean,” Sandy then smirked while looking at the camera.

Jesus Christ, I swore that she shipped Duff and I harder than our fans after the Duff’s and my cooking video.

“Good luck tonight,” I smiled as she left heading off to get her picture taken.

“So I take it you have been reading the comments on some of our videos?” I watched as a smirk formed on her face.

“We are just friends,” I whispered back as we waited for our next interviewee.

“Honey, are you in Egypt right now?”

I turned towards Sandy in confusion as she spoke. What was she getting on about?

“Because you’re in De-Nile! Get it because denial sounds like the Nile River,” Sandy laughed as if she thought it was the funniest joke in the world. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“If Duff has said that you would have laughed,” she teased as she playfully pushed me.

“Speak of the Devil...” I looked over to see Duff and Slash at the fork in the carpet traffic. From what I gathered there were two paths. The first path was the one that the A list celebrities would take like Motley Crue, Beyoncé, Ed Shereen or even the Kardashians would walk down. Anybody who was anybody went down that path. We were standing on the second path where the minor internet stars, influencers, and smaller artists were sent.

I smiled as Duff sent me a small wave and weaved through the pack of people despite people clearly telling them to go down the other path. He looked excited to see me which didn’t help the nerves that filled me.

He looked hot. Did rockstars not need to wear a shirt under their jackets? Was that a thing?

FRIENDS, Alanah, FRIENDS.

Oh God I was staring, was it okay to stare? Were people noticing I was staring?

“Hey, ‘Lanah,” Duff smirked as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

FRIENDS

F R I E N D S.

He is just being flirty because he is tipsy.

“Hey Duff, hey Slash how’s it going,” Sandy cut in as I slowly began to panic on the inside. She could read me like a book.

“Can’t fucking complain, how about you?” Slash responded. I could barely focus as I felt Duff’s eyes undressing me as Sandy continued to interview Slash.

I wasn’t thinking when I touched his ass. I don’t know why I did it, I just did it. I looked up at Duff, worried to see a confused look on his face. I felt a smirk grow on my face as I saw Duff’s reaction. He liked it.

I was pulled from my thoughts as I felt Sandy lightly bump into me, prompting me to actually participate in the interview.

“Congrats on being nominated for two awards, favorite heavy metal artists and best heavy metal video. What do you think of your competition?” I asked earning a smile from Sandy who was growing tired of interviewing a drunk Slash who was borderline rambling. He was still a sweetheart thought.

“Well, if Axl was here he would say something cockily and condescending like...we don’t have competition. We’re in a league of our own, or we don’t pay attention to our competition,” Duff said with Slash joining him in laughter.

I sent Sandy a quick glance before Duff continued talking, “All joking aside, we are here for music, not the awards. We do what we do because we love what we do.”

“The nominations and awards are nice though,” Slash added before a security guy came by.

“Look like we’re getting kicked out, it was nice seeing you girls,” Slash commented as he watched the security guard walking directly towards them.

“I love the dress, can’t wait to rip it off you tonight,” Duff whispered in my ear sending goosebumps down my spine before his hand grazed across my ass. He sent me a smirk and followed Slash towards the security guard, so we wouldn’t get in trouble.

“Yup...just friends,” I turned to Sandy as she wore a smirk that would put Nikki Sixx’s smirk to shame.

#guns n’ roses fanfic #guns n’ roses imagine #modern day au #fanfiction #guns n’ roses fanfiction #duff mckagan fanfic #duff mckagan imagine #duff mckagan fanfiction #gnr imagine #gnr fanfiction #gnr fanfic #the sip #the sip fanfic

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dahabiyacruise · 5 years ago

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Up a Lazy River - Oct 5/19

Flew to Luxor very, very early this morning and was immediately driven to Karnak Temple in a semi-conscious state. Thankfully, the hotel had provided me a very generous breakfast box for the 4 am drive to the airport.

Luxor is in Upper Egypt (upstream and to the south from Cairo) and was the Capital during the Middle Kingdom when most of the Temple was constructed. Only one of the four precincts of the temple is open to the public, that of Amun, who later became Amun-Ra when he amalgamated with the sun god. Must sees include the Avenue of the Sphinxes, the Hypostyle Hall and the Obelisks of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III.

The Avenue of the Sphinxes (1350 of them) ran about 2.7 km from The Karnak Temples to the Luxor Temples. They were ram headed in some sections and human headed in others. It was used, once a year, at the festival of Opet to transport ceremonial barques (pointy boats) from Karnak to Luxor carrying the gods Amun, Mut and their child. It is currently under excavation and reconstruction/recreation but was delayed during and following the 2011 uprising.

The Hypostyle Hall consists of 122 papyrus bud pillars 10 metres tall and a dozen open flower pillars 21 meters tall and about 3 meters in diameter. This is the forest of pillars that was featured in The Spy Who Loved Me (James Bond), The Mummy Returns and even a Transformers movie. You may notice the uninscribed flat areas. These are repairs carried out owing to groundwater and flood damage from the nearby Nile which was over 10 miles away when the hall was built 3,0000 years ago. In 1899, a couple were undermined by water and a domino cascade knocked down 11 of them. This led to the others being repaired and foundations strengthened.

Hapshepsut’s Obielisk is the tallest surviving from the ancient world and was one of a pair (earthquake got the other one). She was the originally co-regent of Egypt with her 2 year old stepson/nephew Tuthmosis III, but later named herself Pharaoh (more about her when we visit her temple tomorrow). When Tuthmosis (the Napoleon of Egypt) ascended the throne 20 years later and immediately began the first of 17 major military campaigns, conquering 350 cities and extending the Empire as far as modern day Iraq. To celebrate his genius, he built and inscribed pylons at Karnak as well as another pair of Obelisks. Only one is left as the second was looted and ended up in Constantinople. If you ever go to Rome, I believe that there are at least 8 of them sprinkled across the city.

At this point I hopped (in honour of my 2 year old granddaughter Aurelia who loves hopping) back into my personal limo (16 person bus) and headed off to Luxor. Less of this temple complex survives than Karnak, but it is still impressive. As you enter, there are six colossal statues of Rameses II statues fronting a pylon (gate) that commemorates his great victory over the Hittites at Khadesh in 1274. It relates how, when Hittite spies lied and told him the enemy was far away, the Egyptians let down their guard and were immediately ambushed. As Ramses tells it, he single handedly turned the tide of the battle and smited them mightily. As you might expect, the Hittite version is slightly different and has them winning the battle. Based on subsequent events, most modern Egyptologists think it was basically a draw.

In front is a single Obelisk to Ramses that survives from a pair. The other sits today in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Mohammed Aaliyah Pasha gave it to King Louis Phillips in 1833 in exchange for an ornate clock tower that was broken in transit and stands in the Citadel today (and still does not work).

Beyond the pylon is a courtyard surrounded by another forest of columns, with a triple chapel of Hapshetsut to one side. This leads to a colonnade, another courtyard and beyond that, a shrine that was built in the temple sanctuary by Alexander the Great (4th Century BC) as a gift to his brother. His trusted general, Ptolemy, was left behind as Governor while he went off to attack the Persians (again). This led to the founding of a Greek Dynasty ruling Egypt, the last of which was Cleopatra (played by Elizabeth Taylor who, looked neither Greek nor Egyptian).

Done sightseeing for the day we crossed the Nile in a wooden boat (no bridges in Luxor) and I was dropped off at my Dahabiya. There appears to be only eight passengers , seven from France, with very limited English, and me. Oh well, it just gives me a chance to practice my very poor French for next years planned walk. The boat is lovely, if a bit rough around the edges and, if you are wondering, the hot tub on the aft deck is not hot at all, a good thing in today’s 40c heat.

Tomorrow, the Temple of Hapshetsup and the Valley of the Kings.

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egyptonlinetours1 · 2 years ago

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Cairo and Luxor Budget Tours

Discover the various sites on the East and West Banks of Luxor that have contributed to the city's status as one of the most well-known in the world. Discover the largest open-air museum in the world with spectacular archaeological sites as you take a Luxor Tour.

Cairo and Luxor Budget Tours,Visit the Karnak Temple in Luxor, which was also known as Pr-Imn or the House of Amon. The name Al-Karnak, which means fortified village in Arabic, is derived from Karnak, which is an enormous complex with six temples and was the greatest religious structure ever built. It was the focus of worship for Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. Beginning more than 4,000 years ago, work on the temple persisted until the Roman era, almost 2000 years ago. The Amun deity was honoured in the temple. Over the course of 1500 years, successive pharaohs added to the temple, creating an unmatched collection of temples, sanctuaries, pylons, and other decorations.

Cairo and Luxor Cheap Holidays,The Luxor Temple, a very large temple on the east bank of the Nile River, was built by Amenhotep III and completed by Ramses II and constructed in 1400 B.C. Construction at Karnak began by 4,000 years ago and continued until the time of the Romans, about 2,000 years ago. Luxor Temple is a huge temple made from enormous sandstone blocks. In front of the first pylon in the back of the courtyard, two red granite obelisks once stood, but only one is now visible. It is almost 25 metres (75 feet) tall. Two enormous sculptures of Ramesses II flanked the other, which had been transported to Paris and currently stands in the middle of the Place de la Concorde.

Cheap Egyptian Holidays, The Colossi of Memnon will be your final stop; with the Two Days Tour to Luxor from Cairo by Plane, explore the magnificent two ruined statues. In Thebes, Egypt, there is a mortuary temple called the Colossi of Memnon. Two 20-meter-tall sculptures that were severely damaged during the earthquake that occurred in 27 BC protect the pharaoh's funerary temple. All that is left of the temple now that it has been entirely destroyed is the 23-meter-tall statue of Amenhotep III, which weighs about a thousand tonnes. They gained notoriety in antiquity because to a strange sound that was released from one of them every sunrise. The sound, according to scientists, was produced by air passing by air passing through pores in the stone as it was warmed in the sunlight, but there is no way to confirm this since the sound stopped centuries ago.

ay 1: Arrival Cairo Egypt You will start your Egypt tour by a meeting and assistance service upon arrival at Cairo airport by Maestro Online Travel REP. Transfer to your hotel in Cairo Welcome drink upon arrival at hotel in Cairo, Check in with free time to relax, Optional tours are available, Overnight in Cairo Day 2: Pyramids – Egyptian Museum – Khan EL Khalili Breakfast at hotel in Cairo, Meet up with personal Egyptology guide, explore the wonders of Great Giza Pyramids area where are the most famous monument of the world & of Egypt. Also you have the chance to take a camel ride (Extra charge). Proceed to the mighty sphinx and ask your guide about the reason for head of man and body of lion. Take your private car to Egyptian Museum, the richest museum of Egyptian antiquities in the world. After you finish your Cairo Museum drive to have lunch in good quality restaurant in Cairo including services and charges. Drive to the biggest market in Middle East Khan El Khalili Market, finally Maestro Online Travel tour guide will accompany you to your Giza Train Station, Check into your VIP train heading Luxor and overnight in Train. Day 3: Karnak and West Bank Tours in Luxor Arrive Luxor station, meet Maestro Online Travel tour guide and begin your day tour in Luxor, Today is magical day in Luxor, immerse you inside the historical temples and ruins of Luxor, and see around Luxor Temple, is large temple located in Luxor East bank built for the god Amun, after that have a short ride to the amazing Karnak temple The complex is a vast open-air museum, and the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia. Walk around Karnak temple and have a look on Magic Lake and amazing oblisques, free time in Karnak temple and after that drive to have Lunch in Luxor restaurant. When you finish drive back to your hotel and overnight Day 4: Free Day in Luxor Breakfast in your Luxor hotel, free time in Luxor hotel, additional tour in Luxor to Luxor West bank to visit Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut temple and Colossi of Memnon, At the end of your excursions in Luxor, transfer to Luxor train station back to Cairo, Check into VIP Train and overnight Day 5: Final departure Arrive Cairo, meet and assist in Giza Train station after that transfer to Cairo international airport for your final departure.

Price includes

Cairo and Luxor Budget Tours include: Meet and assist in Cairo International Airport and Luxor Station Transfers from Cairo to Hotel and return 1 night accommodation in Cairo hotel with daily breakfast 1 night accommodation in Luxor hotel with daily breakfast 2 nights' accommodation in Luxor VIP train (Seat with soft sleep) Two Day tour in Cairo and Luxor as mention Itinerary with English Guide Transportation during the day tour in Cairo Entrance fees for mention sightseeing in Cairo Services and charges

Price excludes

Cairo and Luxor Budget Tours exclude: International flight Egypt visa Personal expenses and tipping

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implexis · 3 years ago

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1964

Jan 8 President Johnson declares "War on Poverty."

Jan 9 US high school students in the Panama Canal Zone violate an order banning the flying of any flag. A scuffle between US and Panamanian students ensues and escalates. Anti-US rioting erupts in the zone. Twenty-one Panamanians and four US soldiers are killed.

Jan 10 Panama severs relations with the US and demands revision of the Canal Treaty.

Jan 17 A loose confederation of fourteen Arab countries – the Arab League – meets in Egypt and creates the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its charter claims that Israel is an illegal state and pledges "the elimination of Zionism in Palestine."

Jan 30 In a bloodless coup, General Nguyen Khanh takes over as Saigon's ruler. He had been a military officer with the French, fighting for French colonialism against his countrymen's desire for independence.

Feb 1 President Johnson says that he sees no chance of negotiating peace for Southeast Asia as proposed by President de Gaulle.

Feb 7 The Beatles land in New York, making their debut in the United States. Their record, I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a best seller.

Feb 10 The US House of Representatives votes on and passes the Civil Rights Act that had been sent to Congress by President Kennedy in June 1963.

Feb 26 Saigon's forces (ARVN) surround the Viet Cong and keep their distance, hitting the Viet Cong instead with air strikes and artillery. The Viet Cong slips away. General Khanh is displeased and sacks five of his division commanders.

Mar 8 Malcolm X has broken with Elijah Mohammad's Nation of Islam. He believes in the separation of races and announces that he is forming a Black Nationalist Party.

Mar 13 In Queens, New York, residents fail to respond to the cries of Kitty Genovese, 28, as she is being stabbed to death.

Mar -- This month's issue of Playboy publishes an interview with Ayn Rand, who says, "I consider the Birch Society futile, because they are not for capitalism but merely against communism ... I gather they believe that the disastrous state of today's world is caused by a communist conspiracy. This is childishly naive and superficial. No country can be destroyed by a mere conspiracy, it can be destroyed only by ideas."

Apr 3 The US and Panama agree to resume diplomatic relations

Apr 4 In Brazil, landowners and industrialists have been unhappy with reformist President Joao Goulart. He is driven from power in a bloodless military coup, ending reforms called for by the Alliance for Progress and starting 21 years of dictatorship. US. Ambassador Lincoln Gordon will admit US encouragement to the plotters and that during the coup the US Navy stood off the coast. Aid will flow to the new government of Brazil that was denied to Goulart's government.

Apr 19 Malcolm X is in Mecca meeting devout Muslims of different races. He has softened, believing that racial barriers can be overcome and that Islam is the religion that can do it.

May 2 Four hundred to 1,000 students march through Times Square, New York, and another 700 in San Francisco, in the first major student demonstration against the Vietnam War. Smaller marches also occur in Boston, Seattle, and in Madison, Wisconsin.

May 14 In Egypt, Nikita Khrushchev joins President Nasser in setting off charges, diverting the Nile River from the site of the Aswan High Dam project.

May 22 President Johnson speaks to a graduating class and presents his idea for a "Great Society."

May 25 The Supreme Court rules that closing schools to avoid desegregation is unconstitutional.

May 27 The US has 16,000 military people in Vietnam, and so far 266 of its forces there have been killed. In a taped conversation, President Lyndon Johnson says to his national security advisor, McGeorge Bundy: "I don't think it's worth fighting for, and I don't think we can get out ... What in the hell is Vietnam worth to me? What is Laos worth to me? What is it worth to this country?"

Jun 2 Governor Nelson Rockefeller has been considered the front runner among Republicans for the presidency. In the California primary he has been attacking Goldwater as too dangerous, and Goldwater has attacked Rockefeller's morality. Social conservatives have been offended by Rockefeller's divorce and remarriage in 1963. Republican voters choose Goldwater by a margin of less than 3 percent, ensuring Goldwater's nomination at the upcoming Republican convention.

Jun 3 In Seoul, Korea, an estimated 10,000 student demonstrators over-power the police. President Park Chung Hee declares martial law.

Jun 5 In Seoul, student demonstrations continue, and demonstrations erupt in eleven other cities. The students, it is said, are impatient and frustrated concerning the country's economic misery. President Chung Hee Park accepts the resignation of his right-hand man, Kim Chong Pil, to placate student opinion.

Jun 12 President Chung Hee Park's ruling Democratic Republican party and opposition politicians agree to form a 24-man committee to solve problems resulting from student demonstrations.

Jun 12 In South Africa, Nelson Mandela and seven others are sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Robben Island prison.

Jun 15 The last of France's military leaves Algeria.

Jun 19 The Senate votes on and passes the Civil Rights Act. Senator Goldwater is one of only six Republican senators who votes against the bill.

Jun 20 General Westmoreland succeeds General Paul Harkins as head of the US forces in Vietnam.

Jun 21 A summer of civil rights activities are underway in the South. Three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, by law enforcement officials. The governor of Mississippi, Paul Johnson, offers little help and dismisses fears that the three have been murdered. He says, "Maybe they went to Cuba," suggesting the Communist tie that was commonly used to discredit the civil rights movement in the South. Johnson is moderate for a white Mississippian regarding race, but conformism involved in appealing to voters led him in a 1963 to criticize advocacy of civil rights for blacks and to indentify the NAACP as standing for: "Niggers, alligators, apes, coons, and possums." (Time, August 16, 1963)

Jun 25 The Vatican condemns use of the contraceptive pill for females.

Jul 2 President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into Law.

Jul 6 Malawi declares its independence from Britain.

Jul 13 In San Francisco, the Republican Convention's party platform reads: "Humanity is tormented once again by an age-old issue – is man to live in dignity and freedom under God or be enslaved -- are men in government to serve, or are they to master their fellow men?" The platform accuses the Johnson Administration of seeking "accommodation with Communism without adequate safeguards and compensating gains for freedom." It describes the Democrats of having "collaborated with Indonesian imperialism by helping it to acquire territory belonging to the Netherlands and control over the Papuan people." And it states that "This Administration has refused to take practical free enterprise measures to help the poor."

Jul 14 At the podium at the Republican convention, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York is booed extensively when he denounces extremism.

Jul 16 Senator Barry Goldwater wins the nomination for president on the first ballot.

Jul 18 In Harlem, New York, six days of rioting begins. According to the New York Times, thousands of blacks "race through the center of Harlem shouting at policemen and white people, pulling fire alarms, breaking windows and looting stores." Whites had moved out of Harlem by 1950 and by 1960 middle class blacks had followed.

Jul 19 In Harlem, Jesse Gray, leader of a rent strike, calls for "100 skilled black revolutionaries who are ready to die" to correct "the police brutality situation in Harlem."

Jul 21 Five days of race riots erupt in Singapore. It begins with Malays commemorating the Prophet Mohammad's birthday with a march. A few marchers respond in anger to a policeman ordering some to return to the ranks of the marchers. Marchers attack Chinese passersby and spectators. Retaliations against Muslims follow.

Jul 27 From the US, 5,000 more military "advisers" are sent to South Vietnam, bringing their total in Vietnam to 21,000.

Aug 1 The Republic of the Congo, formerly the Belgian Congo, changes its name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Aug 2 North Vietnamese torpedo boats retaliate against ships involved in attacks on a radio transmitter on the island of Hon Ngu off the coast of North Vietnam, in the Tonkin Gulf. The torpedo boats approach the US destroyer Maddox, which sinks two of the torpedo boats and damages a third.

Aug 4 On the USS Maddox, in the dark of night, an "overeager sonar man," to be described as such by the ship's captain, mistakenly believes that his ship is under attack again. For two hours the Maddox and another destroyer, the USS Turner Joy, fire at imaginary targets. Air support from two US aircraft carriers are sent on a retaliatory mission against targets on Vietnam's coast. President Johnson speaks to the American public about "deliberate attacks on US naval vessels" and his retaliation and adds that "we must and shall honor our commitments."

Aug 6 In a meeting with US legislators, Defense Secretary McNamara gives a distorted description of US naval activities in the Tonkin Gulf.

Aug 7 US congressmen and senators vote in favor of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving President Johnson powers in lieu of a declaration of war. The vote in the House of Representatives is 416 to 0, in the Senate 88 to 2.

Aug 11 Since the rioting in Harlem, trouble has been expected in Paterson, New Jersey. According to one report "carousing teenagers in the slum Fourth Ward began pelting passing police cars with bottles and rocks. Soon hundreds of Negroes were racing through the streets, smashing windows and hurling debris at police."

Aug 12 Twenty miles south of Paterson, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, rioting erupts. People pitch Molotov cocktails into three taverns, and soon, a report says, "hundreds of Negroes were flinging bottles and bricks from rooftops and street corners."

Aug 21 In Saigon, students and Buddhist militants begin a series of escalating protests against the General Khanh's regime. General Khan brings in others to share power. People unhappy with the US backed regime are encouraged, and mob violence erupts.

Aug 22 At the Democratic Party's convention, Fannie Lou Hammer, representing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, challenges the all-white Mississippi delegation. Johnson hurridly calls a press conference to tell reporters things they already know, to get the television cameras off Ms Hamer, and this succeeds, but the networks will rebroadcast her speech repeatedly, with Hamer in an electrifying speech, asking that her delegation be seated to represent MIssissippi. Johnson calls Hamer an "ignorant woman." He needs to compromise with southern whites in order to get civil rights and other legislation passed. Humphrey and labor leader Walther Reuther help sway the Democrats to side with Johnson. There will be no seating of the Mississippi Freedom delegation.

Aug 28-30 In predominately black neighborhoods on the north side of Philadelphia, well-publicized allegations of police brutality have created unrest. Two policemen, one white, one black, try to remove a black woman from her car after she refuses to cooperate with them. Rumors spread that a pregnant black woman has been beaten to death by white cops. Three days of rioting follow, with mobs looting and burning mostly white-owned stores. 341 are injured and 774 arrested.

Sep 1 "Freedom Summer" in Mississippi is drawing to a close. White Mississippians fear what will happen if civil rights including the right to vote are extended to blacks. They remain opposed to the freedom schools that have advanced literacy and delighted blacks. There have been 35 shootings incidents, 6 murders of activists, 80 beatings and 65 houses and chuches burned.

Sep 4 At the University of California at Berkeley, students have returned from summer vacation, some of them from civil rights activities in the South. US Senator William Knowland's newspaper, the Oakland Tribune, is picketed by a civil rights group that organizes on campus.

Sep 14 On the Berkeley campus, Dean Katherine Towle bans posters, easels and tables on campus and reminds student groups of prohibitions against collecting funds or using university facilities in planning or implementing off-campus political and social action.

Sep 17 Some twenty student activist organizations form a coalition to oppose the regulations announced by Dean Towle. The "Free Speech Movement" is born.

Sep 21 Malta becomes independent from Britain.

Sep 27 The Warren Commission Report is released. It concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy.

Oct 1 Campaigning for the presidency in Hammond, Indiana, Senator Goldwater promises his audience that he will liberate Eastern Europe, and he tells them that only victory can end Communism.

Oct 1 A Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) volunteer, Jack Weinberg, sitting at a table on the Berkeley campus, is put into a police car by campus police. A crowd growing to about 3,000 surround the police car. Mario Savio, fresh from civil rights activities in the South, climbs on top the police car after respectfully removing his shoes, and he makes a speech.

Oct 2 Approximately 450 policemen rescue the police car, book and then release Jack Weinberg. Student activists take up a collection to repair the police car's dented roof.

Oct 13 Nikita Khrushchev returns from a vacation and finds that members of the Presidium (formerly the Politburo) have called a special meeting. Its members vote to send him into retirement. Khrushchev will be given a pension and watched closely by the KGB. His successor as Premier will be Alexei Kosygin and as Communist Party First Secretary will be Leonid Brezhnev.

Oct 13 The Soviet Union has spectacular success launching a three-man spacecraft that returns after 24 hours. N

Oct 15 President Johnson says if he is elected he will take important new steps to reduce world tensions.

Oct 16 China explodes an atomic bomb in Sinkiang province.

Oct 16 In his first major campaign speech on civil rights, Goldwater declares that "forced integration is just as wrong as forced segregation."

Oct 16 Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon says that a Johnson administration would be "a sitting duck" for the ruthless and tough-minded leaders who have replaced Nikita Khrushchev.

Oct. 20 Goldwater describes Johnson's foreign policy as a "policy of drift, deception and defeat."

Oct 21 Campaigning for re-election in Akron, Ohio, President Johnson says "[We] are not about to send American boys nine to ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves."

Oct 22 Jean Paul Sartre, French philosopher and novelist, declines the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Oct 23 The Republic National Chairman, Dean Burch, says that a private Republican poll shows that Senator Goldwater leads President Johnson in electoral votes, 261 to 258.

Oct 24 Goldwater repudiates his campaign film, "Choice," which contends that social "rot" is undermining American society.

Oct 27 A speech by Ronald Reagan is broadcast on television for the Goldwater campaign. Reagan tells of switching from Democrat to "another course." He complains about tax burdens and he asks whether a "little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves." The speech enhances his standing in the Republican Party.

Nov 1 A pre-dawn mortar assault by the Viet Cong at the Vien Hoa air base, 12 miles north of Saigon, kills five Americans, two South Vietnamese and wounds nearly one hundred others. President Johnson dismisses recommendations for a retaliatory air strike against North Vietnam.

Nov. 1 Senator Barry Goldwater says that the attack on Bienhoa airbase shows that the United States is involved in an undeclared war. He adds that it is "high time" for the president to speak frankly about it to the people.

Nov 2 A radio program titled "Goldwater's New World," creates a minor panic among listeners in the Netherlands.

Nov 3 It is election day. Goldwater carries only Arizona and five segregated states of the deep South, from Louisiana east to South Carolina, excluding Florida. Johnson is re-elected with 61 percent of the vote. The Democrats win both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Robert Kennedy wins the race for US Senator from New York.

Nov 4 Lenny Bruce, stand up comic, is arrested in New York City for using "bad language" in one of his routines.

Nov 9 In Britain, the House Commons abolishes the death penalty for murder.

Nov 18 Martin Luther King has accused FBI agents in Georgia of failing to act on complaints filed by blacks. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover retaliates, describing King as "the most notorious liar in the country."

Nov 24 In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgian paratroopers liberate around 1,600 Europeans who had been taken hostage by a rebel army in early August.

Nov 29 In the US, the Catholic Church changes its liturgy, including the use of English rather than Latin.

Dec 2-3 The chancellor at U.C. Berkeley has refused to drop plans to discipline "Free Speech Movement" leaders. More than 500 students stage an overnight sit-in takeover of the campus administration building. California's governor, Pat Brown, a liberal Democrat, gives a deputy Alameda district attorney permission to bring in off-campus police: sheriff's deputies and officers from the Highway Patrol. Removing the students is a job made harder by the students refusing to cooperate and made easier by dragging them down flights of stairs, bumpety bumpety bump, to waiting police vans. Students on their way to class that next morning are appalled by the site of fellow students being manhandled, and liberal faculty members are also appalled.

Dec 18 The University of California Regents affirm that university rules should follow the US Supreme Court decisions on free speech.

Dec 20-21 Another military coup occurs in Saigon, led by Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van Thieu, which keeps General Khanh as part of the new government. US Ambassador Taylor reacts with anger, summons the young officers to the US embassy and tells them he is "tired of coups." General Khanh retaliates, saying that the US is reverting to "colonialism" in its treatment of South Vietnam.

to 1963 | to 1965

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submonitor · 5 years ago

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Electric Vehicles in Egypt: Overlooking the obvious.

Photo Credits: Revolta Egypt / Cairo Scene

Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about Electric Vehicles (EV’s) in Egypt. Certainly, it is part of an interesting technological trend of EV’s and (re)exploring it’s role in reducing carbon emissions and local air pollution. For instance, Alexandria Governorate recently inaugurated around 15 new electric buses as part of the Alexandria Transport Authority’s fleet.

According to Revolta, one of the first (and perhaps the sole) EV charging network in Egypt, there are at least, by the start of 2019, 14 charging stations in 4 different governorates. They promise to have a network that would allow “an electric car to charge everywhere in Egypt by 2020”, in addition to building Egypt’s first EV accessories manufacturing and maintenance factory in the City of 6th of October, in Giza. Not to mention that Revolta is also involved in importing and reselling both used and new EVs in Egypt, as more and more people (mainly affluent Cairenes) are directly importing EVs through brokers, benefiting from the recent removal of all tariffs off EVs (except the VAT tax) and a discount on Hybrid vehicles.

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Video: AP video on first electric vehicle charging points in Egypt by Revolta.

It seems though that what has been powering the trend towards EVs in Egypt, is the significant increase in Egypt’s energy production in the years in the aftermath of the crunching energy crisis in 2013/2014, reaching a surplus of as much as 25% in March 2019.

A member of the Transport committee in the Egyptian Parliament, MP Yousif ElShazly, already brought up – and effectively made the connection between – the increase in Egypt’s energy reserve and the need to build more infrastructure to absorb the future proliferation of private EVs. Also, the Energy and Environment committee similarly held sessions to review the challenges facing the operation of Electric cars and the need to spread EV charging points throughout Egypt.

Putting these positive policy and field developments aside, other forms of electric mobility were not as lucky: At a time cities are rebuilding their former tram and light rail networks, Cairo Governorate removed the remaining stretch of rails off the streets of Heliopolis. The removal of the remaining tram lines and green street medias, opened up the way for mega highway and flyover projects dissecting the heart of formerly leafy and green street medians.

Construction of a new flyover on former tram tracks in Nozha street, Heliopolis Photo Credit: Michael Hanna - November 2018

While this might provide some relief for traffic on the short run, induced demand will result in future catastrophic results as traffic volumes on these new corridors surge and consume all the available capacity, and block all nearby subsidiary roads.

With the current administration, all roads seem to lead to the so called “New Administrative Capital” (NAC), which is built entirely around the private vehicle, epitomizing the upper middle class fantasies (and in of itself being the produce of ‘elite’ Egyptian engineers).

Poster produced by the Urban Development Consortium (UDC+5) that placed the designs for NAC and currently oversee its construction. Photo Credit: UDC+5 Facebook page

It’s not to say that the government doesn’t build any mass transit infrastructure, quite the contrary: there are several ongoing projects and plans to extend the monorail lines from the NAC and 6th of October city, to Cairo and Giza respectively.

The new Adly Mansour intermodal / Interchange station currently under-construction is earmarked as a future Cairo “Ostbahnhof” or a ‘Cairo East’ railway station, creating an interchange point with Cairo metro (Line 3), El-Salam microbuses/Shared Taxis and other public buses, and planned monorail and electric train connections towards new communities such as ElSalam city, New Cairo, the NAC, Sherouk and 10th of Ramadan city, connecting them with existing towns nearby such as Bilbais, and Ain ElSukhna.

Yet, the common denominator in all of these projects is how they divert all traffic from Cairo center, and seem to bypass the city altogether. These actions, while they seem arbitrary and random to some, is actually the continuation of a half a century old national plan by the Egyptian government to build a new capital, “de-concentrate” the population out of the Nile river valley, and to invade the expansive ‘empty’ deserts. This plan has over the past decades translated to state wide policies that lead to meager funding to existing localities in favor of new communities.

These policies, in their current form and focus on car friendly cities, will affect Egypt’s ability to adopt carbon neutral transport and to be able to deploy sustainable forms of public transit in the future. Also, they tend to overlook the underlying socioeconomic factors that hinder lower middle class and low income families from moving into such new communities or to benefit from the extensive road network that connects new cities. According to Ahmed El-Dorghamy and David Sims (based on data from 2014)*, only 11% of families in Egypt have private vehicles.

Screenshot: A public post by Eng. Sherif Yassin from the ENR, discussing whether it is wise to invest in heavy diesel locomotives with short-life spans, versus electric traction which according to Eng. Yassin is the same price per unit and much better and durable. Photo credit: Facebook group عالم النقل والسكك الحديدية

The mass majority of Egyptian families rely on walking, Shared Taxis/microbuses, Public Transit buses and Metro/regional and inter-city trains when available. Hence, these families will continue to prefer living in denser areas, even if the housing conditions are precarious. Any new city that is not dense enough or at least walking and transit friendly will not achieve it’s original population targets.

Keeping these factors in mind, it is imperative to note that the current approach in Egypt towards EVs, and specifically electric buses and cars, are more or less bound to follow the same patterns the current mobility split; which is heavily reliant on private cars, minivans and Mircobuses/taxis. Existing or previously existing solutions, such as tram and LRT upgrades in Cairo and Alexandria, and electrification of the Egyptian National Railway (ENR) services continue to take a lower priority (and is in desperate need for more investments). In fact, the remaining tram lines in Heliopolis, Cairo – once a landmark of this neighborhood – were recently removed and replaced by wider lanes and more flyovers.

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Video: Recently produced GE Diesel locomotives for the ENR. There has been recent debate within the ranks of the ENR on whether it should invest more in diesel or make the move to Electric traction already.

It is important to note, that electric cars are still much better than the current situation in Cairo, for example, a city that has one of the highest particulate matter air pollution in the world. Not to mention that contrary to popular belief, electric cars are much more efficient in power consumption per mile than combustion powered cars. So even if the energy that supplies these cars comes from a fossil fuel powered plant, electric cars consume less energy per mile than a petrol car would.

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Video by AP: End of the line for Cairo's iconic trams

Having that said, I believe there are two main issues when it comes to the proliferation of privately owned EVs in Egypt:

1) Private cars are less efficient at moving people and occupy way to much space on the road at all stages of it’s lifetime. No matter how wide the motorways and arterial roads are, there won’t be enough capacity to handle the volume of commuters if we are to depend mainly on private vehicles.

2) Actively promoting the use of private EVs by building car friendly new urban communities shifts the costs and urban mobility operations to the individual car owners, putting an extra burden on those who are barely able to afford keeping and maintaining a private car, and completely excluding those who cannot drive or are unable to afford buying a car in the first place.

3) Heavily relying on private cars for urban mobility puts a tremendous burden on traffic regulation authorities and traffic police units, who are not originally responsible for the planning of the cities but usually find themselves stuck between a rock and a very hard place as they try to keep the roads flowing, while they also having to control other aspects of traffic safety and law enforcement.

Cairo Tram Network since 1896 - with overlay of the Metro lines. Inter-connectivity between buses, trams and Metro could have been the bread and butter of Cairo's Urban mobility plan (Map by: Dörrbecker n.d.)

Verdict on Electric Cars in Egypt: Yeah nah?

While the role of Cairo’s old trams, it’s buses and even metro is overlooked by the current ongoing new projects and plans in Egypt; it is also extremely difficult to close the door entirely on EVs.

Ideally, an integrated, inclusive and expansive network of public transit is much more desirable than simply switching the gas guzzling private cars to EVs. Privately owned cars just simply take up too much space, and in Egypt are mostly out of reach of the vast majority of the population.

However, all things considered, electric vehicles do represent an opportunity as were the Electric trams and LRT in the late 19th Century in Egypt. While it may not immediately resolve the issues related to accessibility to public transit, it might be a start to talk about and tackle the worsening air pollution conditions in Cairo.

If EVs are integrated as part of a National Sustainable Mobility plan, the outcomes of switching from fossil fueled cars to EVs will bring great benefit to Egyptian streets. Those benefits, which come first and foremost in terms of reducing particulate matter pollution and decreasing energy consumption per miles traveled; can also have further benefits in the future as new renewable energy projects commence and the share of renewables in the energy mix increase. Not only would that wean Egypt off it’s heavy reliance on oil markets, but it would also set a good example of a developing country in terms of fulfilling some of it’s Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Agreement and contribute to the 2030 UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs)

#cairo #trams #metro #urban #mobility #electric cars

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isakthedragon · 8 years ago

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A Dragon Sized Adventure Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Walk Like an Egyptian

*Our heroes enter the Egypt Terrarium. Sand dunes are everywhere of varying heights. Spread out among the dunes are sphinxes and pyramids. The pyramids around are white, with a tip made of gold, so that they are easily seen. Unfortunately, there are things not to be seen because, yuck, Cortex and Eggman's heads are on the sphinxes and pyramids.. The buttons are placed in front of some of the sphinxes.*

Sonic notices one of them. "Ugh, Eggman's head on a sphinx. Now that's ugly."

Crash makes a throw up motion. "Same for the Cortex sphinxes."

Tails: "I think this counts as tampering with the past."

Sonic: "It looks like we got some things to do, huh?"

-----

Level 26: Dusty Oasis

*N Tropy appears.*

Tropy: "Well, haven't we gone far for a fuzzy marsupial. And I see you have a friend."

Sonic: "Ugh, look at the blue ugly over here."

Tropy: "Nice try, but you're gonna have to do better than that. Perhaps I should give you a second to think on that." *He laughs and disappears.*

Sonic: "Oh, he makes time puns. SO funny."

Crates: 124

Time Trial

Sapphire: 1:35.00

Gold: 1:30.00

Platinum: 1:25.00

Crocoviles to Save: 6

Helping Partner: Sonic

Badniks: Flamethrower Lab Assistant Pawns: Sweeps the area in front of him with a flamethrower Mummy Lab Assistant Pawns: Some bounce around in their sarcophagus (which must be destroyed before beating the mummy pawn) while others bounce in spiky half sarcophaguses obviously avoid the spikes).

Beasts: Snakes: Or maybe, Sneks?

Mutants: Crocovile: A crocodile + Cat hybrid. It's all the scaly and sharp teeth of a crocodile with the calm docility of a cat. Or at least would be if Cortex didn't make them so mad. Just watch that gaping maw and help free it from Cortex's control.

♪ DUST! ... Storm! Dusty, dusty wind... Sand in my shoes... ♫ Oh! Sorry about that. Heh, welcome to Egypt, friends. Looks like we're in an oasis, but we can't stay here, we need to find crystals. Off we go, into the desert. Of course, there are plenty of dunes to make you watch what's ahead of you, but then again there are plenty of rings about. Just watch your step and blast away!

Achievement Unlocked: Letting the Dust Settle

-----

Level 27: Sand Village

*Tropy appears.*

Tropy: "Hmm, so you got a crystal, how wonderful. Less work for me. You could say that you saved me some time!" *He laughs and disappears.*

Spyro: "That was terrible."

Crates: 168

Time Trial

Sapphire: 2:00.00

Gold: 1:55.00

Platinum: 1:50.00

Crocoviles to Save: 6

Helping Partner: Spyro

Badniks: Wheel-Working Lab Assistant Pawns: They mostly spin potters wheels in an attempt to make you dizzy. More annoying than painful.

Well, that desert trek lead us into a village. But, ugh, look at the pottery! It's atrocious. I don't think history would mind if you erased it. Destroy it all! Cause enough property damage to open the rear gates out of here. But, if you stay and break even more stuff, you can get a free gem! Wondrous!

Achievement Unlocked: Forces of Nature

-----

Level 28: Wet and Nile-y

Crates: 135

Time Trial

Sapphire: 1:55.00

Gold: 1:50.00

Platinum: 1:45.00

Crocoviles to Save: 7

Helping Partner: Big

Beasts: Crocodiles: *SNAP!*

Did anyone pack swimming trunks? No? Aw well, you still need to take a swim up the Nile River. Perhaps you should 'ask' (read: save and jack) the Crocoviles for help? In any case, you need to make your way up the river. There are some rock walkways here and there to keep your feet dry, but you still need the Crocovile's help to swim up the river (No one will drown in the river, but you will be pushed back from the strong currents unless you ride a Crocovile).

Achievement Unlocked: Living in De-Nile

-----

Level 29: Pyramid Power

*Tropy appears.*

Tropy: "Since this is my time in the spotlight, I shouldn't make this so easy. Let's see if you can handle this!" *He snaps his fingers, making Crash's and Shadow's warp destination in Egypt a little different...*

Crates: 50

Time Trial

Sapphire: 1:20.00

Gold: 1:15.00

Platinum: 1:10.00

Helping Partner: Shadow

*Crash screams when he sees where they are... on top of a huge pyramid with more, progressively shorter pyramids next to each other.*

Shadow: "Hmmm, looks like he messed with the landscape, and possibly time itself. Well, the only way to go is down, Crash. Ready?"

Crash: "Hmmm..." *He goes super with the emeralds, and then also makes Shadow super.* "Now we are!"

Super Shadow: "Why thank you, Crash. Hmm?" *He notices a gleam in Crash's eye.* "Oh, you want a race, huh?"

Super Crash: "Uh-huh!"

Super Shadow: "Well, it does sound fun. Heh. Let's see who's faster."

*Both he and Crash get ready...*

It's Crash vs. Shadow on a race to the end of the pyramids. And for your information, it is a friendly race, so you don't have to win. But winning does earn you a second gem, so there is incentive to try. Since Shadow is your first opponent, he is going to go easy on you. He says he just 'wants to have fun' and he means it. He's not a pushover, mind you; he's just not going to cheat. If you want to win, you will want to collect rings and Wumpa fruit because it will make Crash run even faster. As for the race, you're running down the pyramids and sometimes through them. Nothing too difficult, don't want to anger the player of course.

(If Crash wins.) Crash: "Hooray! I did it! I won!"

Shadow: "You did, Crash, fair and square."

(If Shadow wins.) Shadow: "Sorry, Crash, racing Sonic has made me put on the speed."

Crash: "It's okay. Just means I need to do better."

(Whatever happens, this is said next.) Shadow: "Let's not tell Sonic about our race. He's very competitive."

Crash smiles. "Won't stop me from challenging him! I feel confident." *He smiles even wider.*

Shadow: "That's the spirit." *He ruffles Crash's hair and they both leave.*

Achievement Unlocked: Super Shadow Racing :P

-----

Level 30: Desert Sanding

Tropy: "Perhaps I went too easy on you. Let's see if you can escape this trap in time!" *He laughs and creates a new warp destination.*

Crates: 408

Time Trial

Sapphire: 8:00.00

Gold: 7:00.00

Platinum: 6:00.00

Crocoviles to Save: 6

Helping Partner: Espio

Beasts: Scarab: Just walks back and forth, usually noting the water level in Tomb Wader. Concrete Block Lab Assistant Pawns: These work levers that drop concrete blocks to crush you.

Tropy has decided to lay down a trap for you... by dragging making a linear walk of the old levels in Crash 3. But worse, he made it night time, so you have to rely on fireflies to make it though the level. Your start point is where Tomb Time started, though that sphinx and into the sphinxes of Sphynxinator and Tomb Wader, and one final sphinx walk though Bug Lite. It's a lot, but it should be manageable. Tropy thinks he can tire you out, so prove him wrong. And yes, those gems from the originally levels are there too, needing their respective colored gems to get them as well.

Achievement Unlocked: Having the TIME of Your Life

-----

*Tropy forcefully drags Crash and whichever partner was with him (Remember you can complete the levels in any order) into the center of the terrarium.*

Tropy: "Now you're on my time, you little skunks! Give me the crystals!"

Boss: Tropy

Hmmm... something doesn't feel right here. We are fighting Tropy... but his fight is exactly the same as it was when we originally fought him in Crash 3... Well, just dodge the clocks he sends, along with jumping over his lasers he sends from his trident, and attack him when he brings the platforms about. 3 hits will finish him off...

Achievement Unlocked: Déjà Vu?

Tropy?: "My time may be up... but yours will soon be too..."

Shadow (From wherever he is): "Crash, get back!" *He Chaos Controls and grabs Crash and warps him away to the other heroes before 'Tropy' blows to bits.*

*Tropy appears in the group.* "Damn you, Shadow! But I should have known it would be too easy."

Crash: "Tropy!"

Tropy notices Shadow making a move and bangs the trident on the ground. "Hold on there, not so fast."

Sonic makes a groan face while he, along with everyone else, gets frozen in time.

Tropy notices this. "Sonic, did anyone ever tell you your face will freeze that way if you keep making it?" *Tropy laughs.* "Don't worry, I'll let you guys unfreeze once I leave. But know this, I won't be taken down that easy. I swear it." *He time warps away, unfreezing them in the process.*

Sonic: "Ugh, he's worse than Eggman with those puns!" *The others agree and hoof it to the next terrarium.*

Next Time: Will Tropy make the dead out of you in the East Empire Terrarium?

#Isakthedragon's fanfiction #A Dragon Sized Adventure #ADSA: Chapter 31 #ADSA

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nanshe-of-nina · 8 years ago

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Incorrect Crusades Quotes

Raimond IV de Tolosa: the fool tries to make one million dollars.... but the wise man knows that its much easier to make $0.000001 dollars one trillion times

Guglielmo Embriaco: Arrives 15 minutes late with siege towers.

Pope Urbanus II: UNITED NATIONS: ah!! please help us! we need just a normal man's opinion!! we got you a seat ME: How'm I to trust you, while God is bleeding

Étienne Henri, comte de Blois: Hell Yes;. the army is putting me and my guns on a plane back to iraq. Thius is like real life DLC

Matilde di Canossa: disappointed by lack of respect for the pope by the goofus brigade. i on the other hand respect the mans ass cheeks. i respect the mans legs

Alexios I Komnenos: I am Mediterranean Man! Hear my cry: TZATZIKIIIIIIiiiiiii and tremble with fear.TZATZIKIIIIIIiiiiiii and away!

Pierre l’Ermite: me and a bunch of stupid assholes are going to start a community in the middle of the desert to either die or prove a very important point.

Baudouin Ier de Jérusalem: im gay too and i love shit and im a nerd.

Bohémond de Hauteville: THERAPIST: your problem is, that youre perfect, and everyone is jealous of your good posts, and that makes you rightfully upset. ME: I agree

Hugues Ier, comte de Vermandois: i may be a dim-witted narcissist but at least i hafve really good opinions about life and other things

Morphia of Melitene: I AM VERY BAD ARMENIAN LADY ! I AM SO BAD THAT EVEN DEVOL IS AFRAID OF ME ! I WILL TEAR ENYBODYS SPIRIT & GIVE IT TO HIM ; WHO PUT DISLIKE !

Hugues de Payens: girlsl... i shall virtuously employ the expansive breadth of my tech wisdom to protect you all from Daesh... even if you dont follow me...

Danishmend Gazi: prince hussein…wheres my goodboy bailout

Tancrède de Hauteville: my romantic girl friend sees the super blood moon reflected in my greased back hair and pledges then and there to bow to christ our master

Thomas de Marle, seigneur de Coucy: I wanna live inside a castle built of your agony. AND I WANT TO CRUMBLE IT WITH AN AXE TO YOUR CAROTID ARTERY!

Kilij Arslan I: @danishmend pass the savings onto me mother fucker

Al-Mustazhir: "buckwild" or "hogwild"?? im writing a poem for my gf

Anna Komnēnḗ: He was so sexy that my body went all hot when I saw him kind of like an erection only I’m a girl so I didn’t get one you sicko.

Imad ad-Din Zengi: each 'Ridge' in your crinkle-cut potato chip costs 4 gallons of precious slave blood to create and adds a satisfying "Cruntch" to every bite

Thierry d'Alsace, comte de Flandre: this post is 2 years old. ive since lost custody of my children and my wife left me. still wild about candles

Anfós Jordan de Tolosa: my followeres, who all hate me, and wish to kick my ass, are nobodys, and they lack the combat training to injure me, because theyre infants

Enrico Dandolo: Everything happens for a reason, little one. And that reason is me.

Hodierne de Jérusalem: 12 year slave huh? sounds like my marriage. which I dont enjoy. to the degree that it is succinctly described by that particular movie title

Alix de Jérusalem: announcin,g in 2016 my new brand alliance with cool arab man

Sybille d’Anjou: im moving to israel, where the boys are nice, as soon as i get confirmation that they use the same kind of toilet paper that we use here

Raimon de Peitieus: im sorry to Wawa for attempting to behead myself in one of their restrooms. i promise to take the Wawa experience more seriously from now on

Andrónikos I: If a billion people have to be impaled to prove it, my worthiness as a Komnēnós will be DEMONSTRATED.

Louis VII de France: in another life... i would make U stay...

Renaud de Châtillon: i put years of hard work into getting my torture degree at torture college & now everyones like "oh tortures bad","its ineffective" fuck off

Friedrich I, Holy Roman Emperor: the conflicted supersoldier stares over the horizon as he smokes a cigarette. "war is the most fucked up thing ever." he takes a sip of beer

Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: what happens when kirby swallows the qur'an and is granted its considerable power. my 81 chapter fanfic explores this issue -- and more

Heinrich der Löwe, Herzog von Sachsen: Wow, I do not care about that problem.

Henry II of England: i said im sorry. ive taken my lashes upon the cross. my brand is still good and anyone who cant see that is worthless

Agnès de Courtenay: looks like im forced to address false rumors that i own 3 dildos on a shelf labelled "breakfast" "lunch" & "dinner". this is an absurdity .

Amaury Ier de Jérusalem: MarioGodKenneth is stuck in prison again and ive received $0 in donations towards his bail.

Salah ad-Din: We ran in with our wands out just as we heard a croon voice say. “Allah Kedavra!”

Bertran de Bòrn: Im a monk in real life, the matrix is real and hummingbirds and other really fast animals are proof positive that bullet time eixists

Corrado del Monferrato: if a sniper shot me i would run over to where he is and kick the gun out of his hand and kill him because hes not specialized in melee fight

Guy de Lusignan: Our only hope now is that the enemy kills so many of us, they become slightly depressed.

Bonifacio del Monferrato: This is a Bulgar hunt, man! A Bulgar hunt! Game over, man! Game over!

Richard I of England: cant wait to get back to iraq and blast some ragheads-- itll be just like halo but with less lag #tcot #nowTHATSghetto #nowplaying #bun

Leopold V., Herzog von Österreich: (in really quiet, barely audible voice) hope your dick falls of bitch

Philippe II de France: wish Obama would authorize some drone strikes against my ex-wife!

Baudouin IX, comte de Flandre: "i wish they got, WiFi down here" - guy who died in the paris catacombs

Simon IV de Montfort: I love the smell of heretics in the morning. You know, one time we set an entire town on fire, for 12 hours. The smell, you know that burning flesh smell, the whole town. Smelled like victory.

Alexios IV Angelos: Local man ruins everything

Raimon-Rogièr, comte de Fois: bigmouth fake priest telling me to "drink a shitload of holy water and kill yourself" as penance? this has happened at three churches now

Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor: I will tell you this right now: I’m from hell. Im highly fucked up. Ive been known to say rude things and watch the carnage unfold brutally

Thibaut Ier de Navarre: i do enjoy spending my weekends "Joining the Army". oh how i hate when monday rolls around & i must say goodbye to all of my soldier friends

Shajar Al-Durr: i ruminate over a scrapbook full of middle finger pics to keep myself demure, respectful and humble. "i deserve these", i utter shitheadedly

Louis IX de France: the nile river is red with blood and your fucking birthday present won't cleanse it. perspective, you fucking rat

Robert Ier, comte de Artois: Leeeeeeeeeeeeeroy!

Charles Ier de Naples: welp, time to rescue egypt from muslims. asomebody please carry all 900 pounds of me to the site of the protests. wait nevermind im good

Beatritz de Provença: What is the point of being married to a prince if he can't wield unfettered power to crush my enemies!?

Baibars: my name is Destyn. i build crossbows and sell weed to all your dads and im 15

Edward I of England: i am going to plunge a sword into our bed and officially end outr 40 yr marriage if you do not stop yelling while i am recording my stream's

#crusades #medieval #medieval history #european history #asian history #dril #history

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blockheadbrands · 5 years ago

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A Brief Global History of the War on Cannabis

Ryan Stoa of High Times Reports:

I want a Goddamn strong statement on marijuana … I mean one on marijuana that just tears the ass out of them. … By God we are going to hit the marijuana thing, and I want to hit it right square in the puss. … I want to hit it, against legalizing and all that sort of thing.

—Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States

Before the war on drugs put marijuana farmers firmly in its crosshairs, cannabis was being grown openly and with commercial success on every continent on earth, much as it had been for centuries.

This ancient and extensive history of cannabis farming has given rise to the idea that prohibitions put in place in the mid-20th century were the first of their kind — a whirlwind of racial, political, and economic forces that successfully used marijuana prohibition as a pretext for suppression. By contrasting prohibition with our ancient history of cannabis farming, some historians make our modern-day drug laws appear irregular and shortsighted. In his seminal (and controversial) book on cannabis, “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” (referred to by many legalization advocates as “the Hemp Bible”), Jack Herer opens with the following line:

For thousands upon thousands of years, all over the world, whole families came together to harvest the hemp fields at the height of the flowering season, never dreaming that one day the U.S. government would be spearheading an international movement to wipe the cannabis plant off the face of the earth.

Yet, while unprecedented in scope, the United States’ war on drugs was not the first of its kind. The reality is that marijuana has been controversial for almost as long as humans have been farming it. Many societies throughout history have banned cannabis cultivation and use. What many of these crackdowns and prohibitions have in common is social and economic inequality, or a distrust of the unknown. When members of a minority or lower class embrace marijuana use, the ruling class moves to outlaw marijuana as a form of suppression and control. Marijuana is perceived to be a threat to the order of society, and stamping it out naturally begins with a prohibition on cultivation.

A Look At The Ancients

As a case in point, the ancient Chinese might have been the first cannabis farmers — and, as far as we know, were the first to write about psychoactive marijuana — and yet they may also have been the first to reject it as a socially acceptable drug. The rise of Taoism around 600 BCE brought with it a cultural rejection of intoxicants. Marijuana was then viewed as antisocial, and derisively dismissed by one Taoist priest as a loony drug reserved for shamans. The sentiment persisted into the modern era — to this day, marijuana struggles to disassociate itself with the stained history of opium in China.

Muslim societies have a complex relationship history with marijuana. Hashish use spread widely with the expansion of Islam in the seventh century CE, and remains popular today. Early Arabic texts referred to marijuana as the “bush of understanding” and the “morsel of thought.” Yet traditional theologians believed Mohammed prohibited marijuana use (the Koran [2: 219] prohibits “intoxicants,” but how that word should be interpreted is still up for debate). One prominent theologian associated marijuana with the dreaded Mongol empire, and many upper-class Muslims pushed for prohibition, for fear that marijuana use would disrupt the labor force. In the end, some societies tolerated marijuana use or turned a blind eye; others (such as Damascus in 1265) embraced prohibition.

Sufi Muslims took these tensions to the next level. The mystical Sufis believed that spiritual enlightenment could be reached by an altered state of consciousness, and a mind-bending drug like marijuana would seem a logical vehicle to reach that state. Sufis believed hashish was a vehicle not only to personal enlightenment but to direct communication with Allah. These beliefs did not go over well with the rest of mainstream Islam, however. To make matters worse for the Sufis, they were often lower-class laborers. That marijuana use was therefore central to a religion perceived to be a heretical challenge to religious, economic, and political order made the plant an easy target for authorities.

In 1253, Sufis were openly growing marijuana in Cairo, Egypt. The government, claiming that Sufism was a threat to society, raided their farms and destroyed all their crops. Undeterred, the Sufis made deals with farmers in the Nile River Valley to grow marijuana on their farmlands. This successful agricultural partnership lasted until 1324, when Egyptian troops raided the countryside and destroyed all the marijuana they could find. For Sufis and marijuana farmers, the situation only got worse. Martial law was imposed in 1378, and this time the authorities destroyed more than marijuana crops: entire farms and farming villages were burned to the ground. Farmers were imprisoned or executed, and hashish users had their teeth pulled. Despite this swift and vicious crackdown, the demand for hashish remained strong. The cycle of cultivation, consumption, and crackdown continued in Egypt for centuries.

Christianity and Cannabis

Islam was not the only major world religion to feel threatened by marijuana. Pope Innocent VIII issued a papal ban on cannabis in the first year of his papacy, in 1484. At the time, marijuana, along with other mind-altering plants, was being cultivated for medicinal and spiritual applications throughout Europe by pagans who were considered to be witches and sorcerers. The Christianity of Pope Innocent VIII, however, was predicated on a future fulfillment in the afterlife, and a rejection of momentary pleasures or enlightenment. The pagans growing marijuana profoundly challenged this premise by promising spiritual enrichment in the present, with a plant grown right here on earth. Pope Innocent VIII thus wasted no time in addressing this existential threat, declaring cannabis to be an unholy sacrament of the satanic Mass. The pagans who cultivated it were persecuted into imprisonment, exile, or death.

Colonial empires, with their unfailing concern for a robust military and hard-working labor force, have often viewed marijuana with suspicion. Though the Spanish were one of the first colonial empires to encourage the cultivation of hemp in the Americas, they were not as enthusiastic about marijuana. The Spanish governor of Mexico issued an order in 1550 limiting cannabis farming because “the natives were beginning to use the plant for something other than rope,” write Robert Clarke and Mark Merlin in their book “Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany.” White South Africans, descended from Dutch or British colonialists, passed a series of laws in the 19th century designed to crack down on the cultivation and use of marijuana by indentured Indian farm workers, who were viewed by whites as societal contaminants and a threat to civil order.

The Portuguese empire also struggled to control cannabis. The Portuguese wanted to foster a strong hemp-producing workforce just like those of their colonial rivals, but they considered marijuana a pernicious vice, especially when used by slaves. The Portuguese introduced marijuana prohibitions to many of their African colonies, including Zambia and Angola. Nonetheless, explorers to the region noticed marijuana being grown “nearly everywhere” and used by “all the tribes of the interior,” according to a report published by the Transnational Institute.

When the Portuguese brought slaves to Brazil in the 16th century, the slaves brought marijuana along with them, as seeds were sewn into the clothing they wore onto the slave ships and then germinated upon arrival. Whatever strains they were using must have been well adapted to the Brazilian landscape; marijuana was soon growing from the coasts to the Amazon and everywhere in between. For the most part, marijuana cultivation was permitted during Portuguese rule. But when Brazil gained its independence in the early 19th century, Rio de Janeiro’s municipal cannabis prohibition started a chain reaction of prohibitions around the country aimed at curbing marijuana use among slave populations.

One reason Portugal may have been lenient on marijuana farming in Brazil is the fact that the Queen of Portugal herself was using it while stationed there during the Napoleonic wars. This wasn’t the first time Napoleon Bonaparte was involved in the history of marijuana. Several years earlier, in 1798, Napoleon had launched the French campaign into Egypt and Syria, a large-scale offensive designed to cut off British trade and liberate Egypt from Ottoman rule. After the initial conquest, Napoleon attempted to maintain local support by embracing Islamic culture and scientific exchange. An unusually large percentage of French forces in Egypt (totaling around 40,000) were scientists and scholars, and were responsible for establishing libraries, laboratories, and research centers that went on to make significant contributions in a number of disciplines.

The discovery of hashish may not have been seen as a breakthrough at the time, but it had a great effect on European culture and literary thought. Prior to the French campaign in Egypt, hashish wasn’t well known in Europe and certainly wasn’t commonly used. The 40,000 French troops stationed in Egypt, however, quickly learned about it. Hashish was ubiquitous in Egypt at the time, bought and sold in cafés, markets, and smoking lounges. Lacking access to their customary French wines and liquors and encouraged by Napoleon to embrace Egyptian culture, many French troops took up hashish.

Hashish

Unfortunately, hashish was still associated with Sufi mystics and looked down upon by the Sunni elite. After Napoleon went back to France, the general he had left in charge of Egypt, General Jacques-François Menou, was a noble-born French revolutionary who married into an upper-class Sunni family after taking command of Egypt. For Menou, the prospect of a hashish ban killed two birds with one stone: It would appease the Sunni elite by cracking down on Sufis, and alleviate a perceived public health problem among the French troops. The ordre du jour banning the cultivation, sale, and consumption of cannabis, considered by some scholars to be the first drug prohibition law in the modern era, came down in 1800. It opens with the following:

Article One: The use of strong liquor, made by certain Muslims with a certain grass [herbe] called hashish, and smoking of the seed of cannabis, are prohibited throughout Egypt. Those who are accustomed to drinking this liquor and smoking this seed lose reason and fall into a violent delirium, which often leads them to commit excesses of all kinds.

Whether or not Menou’s order was the first modern penal law on drugs, it largely failed to work (a fact that should come as no surprise to us in the 21st century). Hashish continued to be produced, sold, and consumed widely throughout Egypt, and it came home with French troops when they left Egypt in 1801. It wasn’t long before hashish was being widely used in France and the rest of western Europe.

Despite efforts by authorities in Europe to paint hashish as an unstable and dangerous substance, many of the Romantic period’s most accomplished artists and writers were brought together because of cannabis. Dubbing themselves Le Club des Hachichins (Hashish-Eaters’ Club), luminaries such as Théophile Gautier, Charles Baudelaire, Gérard de Nerval, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, and Alexandre Dumas would meet in Paris to take hashish and exchange notes on their experiences. They rejected mainstream attempts to associate hashish with what was regarded as Oriental barbarism and, through their writings, normalized marijuana use and popularized the Romantic era’s bohemian creed: l’art pour l’art (art for art’s sake).

Across the Channel, the British Empire wrestled with the conspicuous presence of cannabis in India. As a native plant to the Indian subcontinent, cannabis could be found growing in the wild by hunter-gatherers, and was likely cultivated by the earliest agrarian settlers. Psychoactive marijuana strains featured prominently in early texts of the Hindu, Buddhist, and Tantrist religions. As the Indian marijuana farming industry matured over time, the harvested product was divided into three gradients, all of which remain available today.

Bhang is the cheapest, most prevalent, and lowest-quality marijuana; it consists of crushed leaves, seeds, and/or flowers, and produces the least potent high. On the other end of the spectrum, Charas is the highest-quality and most expensive marijuana in India. It is sold as a highly potent hashish produced from plants grown in the most desirable cannabis-producing farmlands of the Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountain ranges between 4,000 to 7,000 feet. It remains one of the most revered marijuana products in the world today. Somewhere in between Bhang and Charas is Ganga. A mid-grade crop in both price and potency, Ganga is cultivated from well-cared-for female plants, and consists of a mixture of resin and cannabis flower.

One of the first Europeans to write about the Indian marijuana industry was a Portuguese doctor named Garcia da Orta. He wrote of Bhang in 1563:

The Indians get no usefulness from this, unless it is in the fact that they become ravished by ecstasy, and delivered from all worries and cares, and laugh at the least little thing. After all, it is said that it was they who first found the use of it.

Some 200 years later, the British mulled over the possibility of a marijuana prohibition in India. The Indian ruling class and the British governor-general of India pushed for a total ban, fearful that marijuana would create social unrest. The British Parliament, however, had other ideas. Short on cash, the government saw the marijuana industry as an opportunity to raise some revenue. They taxed cannabis in 1790, and three years later, established a regulatory framework to issue licenses to farmers and sellers.

The tax-and-regulate scheme worked to some extent. But in a vast landscape where cannabis grows in the wild, many farmers and their crops escaped the tax. The British encouraged the regulatory system to decentralize, allowing cities and states to experiment with different taxation schemes. The results were mixed. The strength of the black market was frustrating enough that the British Parliament considered prohibition measures in 1838, 1871, 1877, and 1892. But ultimately the measures failed to pass, because the tax revenues that did come in couldn’t be ignored.

Temperance movement advocates persisted, however, driven by the evils of opium use which they associated with cannabis. Parliament responded by commissioning the most comprehensive government study of marijuana in human history. The seven-volume 3,500-page “Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission” of 1894 to 1895 called over a thousand witnesses from around the world. The findings emphatically rejected the alleged grounds for prohibition. The commission found (as its predecessors did) that marijuana cultivation is nearly impossible to eradicate, and argued that it produces no “evil results” in the first place:

Prohibition

Total prohibition of the cultivation of the hemp plant for narcotics, and of the manufacture, sale, or use of the drugs derived from it, is neither necessary nor expedient in consideration of their ascertained effects, of the prevalence of the habit of using them, of the social and religious feeling on the subject, and of the possibility of its driving the consumers to have recourse to other stimulants or narcotics which may be more deleterious.

The commission went on to recommend a tax-and-license scheme for the marijuana farming industry:

The means to be adopted for the attainment of [control and restriction] are:

adequate taxation, which can be best effected by the combination of a direct duty with the auction of the privilege of vend;

prohibiting cultivation, except under license, and centralizing cultivation.

This may represent the first time in history a government study has recommended a centralized marijuana farming scheme. Comprehensive as it is in other respects, however, the commission’s report does not elaborate on this centralization proposal; it merely suggests that the most effective way of limiting supply is “to grant licenses for cultivation in such a way as to secure supervision and registration of the produce.”

Despite the commission’s efforts, Parliament’s endorsement of its report was lukewarm. As a result, the marijuana farming trade continued unchanged, with taxation and licensing of cultivators continuing to be hit and miss. Bhang was informally grown nearly everywhere; Ganga crops were, for the most part, produced on government-licensed farms; and Charas was imported from the Hindu Kush and Himalayas. This basic structure persisted into the global prohibition era of the 20th century. The proposal to “centralize cultivation” was largely forgotten after the commission’s report was published. But a century later, government regulators trying to find their way through the post-prohibition era of the 21st century would come to recognize its advantages.

The history of marijuana farming tells us that when prohibitions are imposed, they almost always come from the ruling class. Marijuana’s role as a spiritual, medicinal, or recreational drug of the poor working classes stokes fears among the elite that the political, religious, or economic order that has served them so well may be disrupted. There aren’t, therefore, many cases where marijuana was embraced by the ruling class and persecuted from below. But the story of the Bashilange tribe suggests that marijuana users can be targeted from any angle.

In the mid-19th century, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa was a vast wilderness, and it was controlled by the Bashilange tribe. The Bashilange were ruthless fighters, eating the bodies of their victims and enslaving their prisoners. They enacted few laws, save a requirement that other tribes in the region pay tribute to their supremacy or face a certain death. While exploring these lands, however, the Governor of German East Africa observed a remarkable shift in the Bashilange’s culture. The tribe had discovered marijuana, and rapidly embraced the plant as a pillar of their tribe’s identity.

Tribesmen of the Bashilange dubbed themselves the Sons of Cannabis, and soon passed laws to promote peace and friendship. They rejected cannibalism and were no longer permitted to carry weapons in the village. They stopped killing their rivals, and started having more sex. Marijuana was smoked regularly and at most important events, including religious ceremonies, holidays, and political alliances. Formerly known for being cold-blooded killers, the Sons of Cannabis became tranquil marijuana-growing peacemakers.

Unfortunately, their rivals did not share the Sons of Cannabis’s newfound love of peace and friendship. Many tribes lost respect for their former rulers and stopped making tribute payments. With weakening support in the region, the Bashilange tribe splintered. The Sons of Cannabis, no longer the fearsome fighters of yore, were overthrown by their fellow tribesmen who yearned for a return to the tribe’s dominant past. The new regime reinstituted the tribe’s violent practices, and largely returned the Bashilange to its former warring nature.

Jack Herer may have been using hyperbole when he claimed that cannabis farmers throughout history could not have conceived of the 20th century’s crackdown on marijuana. The historical record illustrates that while many regions of the world have tolerated or embraced marijuana farming in the past, plenty of others have seen authorities attempt to exterminate farmers and their crops. Targeting the first step in the supply chain is a logical starting point for prohibitionists, and marijuana’s role as an agent of religious, political, or economic change has long made it a threat to the established social order.

Our marijuana-farming ancestors of the past could have told us, based on experience, that when prohibitionists come after cannabis, they will do so in predictable ways. They will use rhetoric to associate the plant with violence, depravity, and other more dangerous drugs, as the European temperance movement did in France and Great Britain. They will use a militarized show of force to eradicate crops, persecute farmers, and dissuade the next generation from growing marijuana, as the Ottomans did in Egypt. They will portray marijuana users as religious extremists or dangerous minorities, as Pope Innocent VIII did in Europe, Sunni Muslims did in the Middle East, or white South Africans did in South Africa. The best-case scenario, they might say, is that the authorities will turn a blind eye to the unstoppable forces of supply and demand, much as the Portuguese did in Brazil or the British did in India.

In telling us this, our marijuana-farming ancestors might as well have been writing the playbook for the 20th-century war on drugs. The cannabis prohibition era in the United States did not invent this “greatest hits” collection of tactics that prohibitionists have been using for centuries; it simply brought them all together in one place, and injected them with more financial and military resources than any prohibition movement in history has ever seen.

*** Ryan Stoa is an associate professor of law at the Concordia University School of Law and the author of “Craft Weed,” from which this article is adapted.

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