#And while pharmacists aren’t going to have the same knowledge as these people— they are a start in whatever process the patient needs.

[minminambus]

Runs around!!! The pharmacy!!!!

[tastydregs]

AI and robots fuel new job displacement fears

For all the hand-wringing over whether robots will replace human workers, ChatGPT and its ilk — tools known as generative AI — are shaping up to be a big employment threat too.

Why it matters: Robots tend to replace manual laborers, while artificial intelligence threatens knowledge workers — ensuring that people of all education levels can look nervously over their shoulder at the tech gunning for their paycheck.

State of play: Robots' growing sophistication has them starting to work as everything from security guards, window washers and assembly line workers to food deliverers and fry cooks.

They're predicted to soon prove their mettle as warehouse workers, aides to the elderly, pharmacists and more.

At the same time, AI software and large language models (LLMs) — including ChatGPT — may soon be able to do all manner of jobs, blending into society in ways that aren't clear yet.

So far, we know AI can give radiologists a run for their money, and could replace coders, accountants, paralegals, graphics designers and even journalists (eeek!).

Yes, but: For all their potential workplace benefits (like indefatigability), these technologies all have manifold flaws — from serving up misinformation to falling over on the job (hello, sidewalk robots!).

Threat level: It seems clear that automation will continue to erode certain jobs, as it has already done in the manufacturing realm.

The question is whether other jobs will crop up as a substitute — say, in supervising, programming or fixing the robots — and whether workers are equipped to perform them.

Some economists say the threat to people's jobs is real — and the big shame is that vocational training programs aren't steering workers into roles with guaranteed longevity.

What they're saying: Automation "could increase productivity while reducing wages and employment," says Daron Acemoglu, a professor and labor economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"I'm not optimistic that just the simple process of workers getting displaced from some jobs and doing other ones is going to be enough," says Acemoglu, co-author of influential research papers showing that automation has exacerbated wage inequality and that robots have usurped jobs.

He argues that the "scope is greater" for AI and LLMs to replace human workers — particularly given many companies' desire to trim costs through automation.

The other side: A World Economic Forum report predicts that the "number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of 'jobs of tomorrow' created."

By 2025, machines could displace about 85 million jobs — but create 97 million new roles "more adapted to the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms."

And research shows people tend to exaggerate the job threat from robots.

Optimists point out that ATMs didn't eliminate bank tellers, nor did washing machines make housework extinct.

Robot manufacturers say their products won't kill jobs — they'll just replace boring, dangerous and repetitive roles with better ones that require human judgment.

"We really view robots as a partner to people, not as a replacement," the co-founder and CEO of Agility Robotics, Damion Shelton, tells Axios.

"There are so many tasks that need to be done in a logistics environment," says Shelton, whose company is building a robotic warehouse worker. "Robots can just pick up the stuff that people don't want to do."

The big picture: An epic labor shortage is bedeviling employers, causing some to eye robots and AI as potentially cheaper than increasing wages.

Meanwhile, long-term trends — like demographic shifts and a mismatch between skills and workplace needs — are worrisome to economists, who fear our education and training apparatus isn't oriented toward future needs.

The U.S. has a shortage of skilled tradespeople, for example — carpenters, electricians, plumbers — but community colleges and other institutions aren't offering appropriate programs, Acemoglu says.

One promising solution: Amp up subsidized training programs for jobs that can't easily be done by robots or AI, and funnel potentially displaced workers into them.

In the U.S., "when we adopt robotics, we then lay off workers," Acemoglu said. "But if you look at what happens in Germany, they retrain workers and they create jobs for other workers."

[femalechibiblogger]

My 15 Favorite Isekai Manga

1. That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

Satoru Mikami is an ordinary 37 year old corporate worker living in Tokyo. He is almost content with his monotonous life, despite the fact that he doesn't have a girlfriend. During a casual encounter with his colleague, an assailant pops out of nowhere and stabs him. While succumbing to his injuries, a mysterious voice echoes in his mind and recites a series of commands which he could not make sense of.

After regaining consciousness, Satoru discovers that he has been reincarnated as a Slime in an unfamiliar world. At the same time, he also acquires new-found skills, particularly the ability called "Predator," which allows him to devour anything and mimic its appearance and skills. He stumbles upon Veldora, a Catastrophe-level 'Storm Dragon', who was sealed for 300 years for reducing a town to ashes. Feeling sorry for him, Satoru befriends the dragon, promising to help him in destroying the seal. In return, Veldora bestows upon him the name Rimuru Tempest, to grant him divine protection.

Now free from his stale past life, Rimuru embarks on a quest to prove his worth. As he starts to get used to his current physique, word of his weird accomplishments start to spread like wildfire across the world, changing his fate completely.

2. The Scholar’s Reincarnation 

A martial artist, claiming himself to be a “murderer” is defeated by a suicide attack in battle and is reborn as a first born child to a local lord. Having a fresh start, a warm family and a little sister to protect – he decides to become a better person in his new life.

3. Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku ~Jichou wo Shiranai Kamigami no Shito~

Shiina Kazuya, our protagonist who got killed by a stranger when he tried to protect his childhood friend and little sister, reincarnated into Cain Von Silford as the third son in the world of sword and magic. Cain grew up being surrounded by Gods who doesn’t know self-esteem, the upper noble and the girls who are swayed around him. Being given so many protection from the gods, He overcame any obstacle (aka Flags) while hiding his unbelievable status. The noble path fantasy story of a young boy who sometimes wicked and clumsy.

4. They Say I Was Born A King’s Daughter

After spending most of her youth fielding the attention of countless wealthy suitors, Suhee Kim finally finds true love with a steady boyfriend named Jinsu Han. But then tragedy strikes, and Suhee is murdered in cold blood. To Suhee’s surprise, she is immediately reincarnated as a baby girl named Sanghee Kim, who just so happens to be a princess! Plus, she is fully conscious of her past life. 

There’s just one problem: In this society, women are seen as totally inferior, even princesses. Appalled by the treatment of women, Sanghee is determined to change the kingdom’s patriarchal ways. Will Sanghee be able to succeed, or will she be stuck living her second life being treated as a lowly woman?

5. Parallel World Pharmacy

A young pharmacologist and researcher in Japan died from overworking, and was reincarnated in a Medieval Parallel Europe. He was reincarnated as a 10-year-old apprentice to a famous Royal Court pharmacist, had attained an inhuman skills of ability to see through disease, material creation, and material destruction. In a society in which dubious medical practice are rampant, price gouging thru the monopoly of the pharmacist guild, and good medicine aren't available to the commoners. He was recognized by the Emperor at that time and opened a Pharmacy at the corner of the town. He will wipe out the fraud that has swept the world, and deliver to the commoners a truly effective medicine that was developed using present day pharmacology. Thus the boy pharmacist will cheat by using his previous knowledge to create innovative medicines while helping the people of the parallel world, a story about living his new life to the fullest this time.

6. I Am A Child Of This House

“Pink Eyes” has always lived a relatively normal (?) life, with two exceptions: first, she has gained memories of her previous life as Seo Young, and second, she is someone’s illegitimate daughter in I Am a Child of This House Manga.

One day however, when she turns 11 years old, her prostitute mother takes her to the empire’s sole duke and claims her as his child. Although he seems to not believe her, he nevertheless buys “Pink Eyes” for 20,000 gold. With that, her new life as “Estelle” starts.

But what truly awaits her? And is she really a child of this house?

7. Daughter of the Emperor

Ariadna Lereg Ilestri Pre Agrigent. And so my life begins with this ridiculously long name, born to royalty and the center of attention — all because of one dangerous man; the veritably insane tyrant king, ruthless conqueror of ten empires, nightmare of all continents… and my father?! Will I be able to survive this maniac?

8. The Cute Little Granny Hinata-chan

Worldly knowledge and artistic refinement! Hinata-chan is on a completely different level to your average toddler. But she has a secret... that she's the reincarnation of an 88 year old grandma, with her memories intact! Enjoying green tea on the veranda, a taste for pickles, and an old-fashioned dialect! Why has she been reincarnated? A comedy full of old-wives wisdom.

9. Isekai de Mofumofu Nadenade Suru Tame ni Ganbattemasu

After various things happened, I got an ability from God and reincarnated to another world! While being watched over by my high-spec family, the super ordinary me fully enjoyed other world life. Using the ability I received from God, I had a daily life of just fluffing and petting fantasy animals. There are some shady movements too, but while being led by the nose by God, I’ll do my best at various things with my cheat-like comrades!

10. In Another World, I’m Called: The Black Healer

One day, 22-year-old Kanzaki Misuzu is suddenly transported to a strange world. Based on the pop-up screens she can access, it seems she's entered some kind of RPG as a magic user! Luckily, she can use the gaming skills she acquired as an otaku to make her way in this new world. But before she knows it, people start calling her "the Black Healer"!!

11. The Youngest Princess

The archmage who ruled over a magic kingdom. One day, she was reborn as the youngest daughter of the empire! “I’ll just play along and pretend to be a baby. ...But don’t you think you guys like me a little too much?” They won’t leave her alone. The youngest princess is tired today as well.

12. Freeter ga Jimini Isekai Teni suru 

Meet Tanaka. He’s a 26-year-old freeter - a guy who makes his living on various part-time jobs. He works in warehouses, directs traffic, and generally does whatever work he can find in order to get paid. However, recently Tanaka has had a problem. He occasionally is transported into another world, usually in front of people who need help. Knowing nothing, can Tanaka add another part-time job to his repertoire?

13. The Small Sage Will Try Her Best In The Different World From Lv.1!

Kujo Yuuri, who had been playing Elysia Online, finally changed her occupation to the sage of her desire. Then, she was asked whether to go to the true Elyasia or not and selected [Yes], and somehow went to another world. Furthermore, she became a small child.

The small sage Yuuri and her companions’ love and adventure fantasy.

14. Beauty and the Beasts

As soon as she fell into the world of beast men, a leopard forcibly took her back to his home. Indeed, Bai Jingjing is at a complete and utter loss. The males in this world are all handsome beyond compare, while the women are all so horrid that even the gods shudder at their sight. As a first-rate girl from the modern world (she's even a quarter Russian), Bai Jingjing finds herself sitting at the center of a harem filled with beautiful men -- at the very peak of existence.

15. The Beast and His Pet High School Girl

On the way home from school, Kashiwagi Aki is kidnapped and finds herself in a world populated entirely by beastmen. She ends up in a pet store where the overzealous and impulsive wolfman Zinovy becomes infatuated with her and buys her on sight. Thus begins their strange and chaotic, albeit incredibly cute life.

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

Alastor’s monocle (and other tidbits) has led me down a path of musing about his heritage

[EDIT: THIS HAS IMMEDIATELY BEEN MOSTLY DEBUNKED, BUT I’LL LEAVE IT UP ANYWAY. Parts that aren’t debunked --and thus floatable headcanons--will be bolded.]

(I should preface this with the fact I’m an irreligious whitey-white-white that only has a passing, beginner-level understanding of Haitian vodoun and voodoo, and admittedly very little knowledge of Creole history--Metis are more my speed because I live in Wisconsin. What I’m about to talk about is conjecture based on non-exhaustive skimming of a few articles on the topic and IRL conversations from a professor who is 100% Louisiana Creole. Also note I’ll try really hard not to impose out-of-state racial binaries on Louisiana since Louisiana had its own system. I’m not trying to dictate culture or anything, just putting down my thoughts).

-----

Considering the fact that Alastor has a monocle, I wonder if he was not part of the upper echelons of New Orleanian society (spoiler: this post is going to argue he was), since only the wealthy could afford a well-fit, functional monocle. Normal people got bifocals or glasses because why the fuck would you waste time with a one-eyed lens.. 

That is, assuming that the monocle was something he wore regularly in his day-to-day life. Considering he died in 1933, it would stick out a bit because the “fashionability” of it had died down by the early 20s. So not only was he oddly dapper, he was dapper in a way that was considered comical and antiquated by contemporary standards by the time he died.

The ability for him to afford a monocle, and his special abilities, likely tie in together, oddly enough!

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

Switching gears real quick: His powers incorporate the symbols of Louisiana Voodoo which black slaves managed to preserve quite well in some parts of the French-controlled region. Freed blacks continued the practices and built up their communities. A portion of the black and white communities intermarried, further galvanizing Sub-Saharan African traditions and languages with the white French Catholicism and French language. Add some Native or Spanish in there, and you got Louisiana Creole (obviously simplifying things a bit here).  Unlike in other parts of the South where race-mixing was the be-all, end-all travesty, the social hierarchy that developed in Louisiana was similar to that of Spanish-controlled territories: the fully White Creoles, the “Colored” Creoles, and then the fully Black Creoles and slaves. The colored Creoles were very economically prosperous. White Creoles (typically French heritage, no interracial mixing) didn’t like the interracial relationships, but the colored Creoles kept on trucking and building up their communities and making bank and being prominent socialites themselves, at least within their economically prosperous and culturally-unique class. 

In Louisiana and other places where it’s prominent, Voodoo as a spiritual/cultural practice is an insular affair--outsiders don’t know a tenth of what really goes on. What we supposedly “know” as outsiders is tourist shit--you learn the real stuff by being born into a family that practices it, or marrying into the family and come to learn the “family secrets” that way, and once you know it, you are not allowed to share that knowledge with anyone else. Real serious-like. I should mention that I am getting this from my Creole-of-Color professor. She told a small anecdote of how one cluster on her family tree once made their living as apothecaries and now her cousins from that same line are pharmacists. ##

Fully white Louisianan Creoles don’t know anything about Voodoo cuz it’s not their heritage or their culture--they’re just Catholic, maybe Protestant if they come from Anglo roots. All of this leads me to believe that Alastor is colored Creole. 

A potentially sweet (likely correct) headcanon: He mentions his mother in passing in the pilot and appears to love her very much, especially her cooking, and given how even the most basic layman is aware of the prominence of women in voodoo, I’m 100% certain that Alastor learned his voodoo from his mother. She could have even been a prominent pillar of the community, a “Voodoo Queen”. Maybe she was a singer or something similarly performative and theatrical, which could have lent to Alastor’s radio/music schtick.  Ultimately, I’ve come to headcanon that his family was one of the lesser Big Names within the mixed creole community (Big, but not like a state-level Roosevelt- or Kennedy-big).   

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

With all this in mind, I’ve been thinking about Alastor’s human skin tone. A trend I’ve noticed in art and animation is that when depicting different ethnicities as demons or deceased, certain colors are used as shorthand to “translate” their skin color of when they were alive (though there are probably exceptions)

White people are made much paler, sheet-white or clown white

Asian people are made white, but more of an egg shell or eggnog white.

Those with an ‘ambiguously brown’ skin color (Native, Latino, Middle Eastern, South Asian, mixed-race) are given a hue of gray which is adjusted depending on how dark brown they are.

Black people have a light purple or deep mauve skin color.

Alastor’s skin is a light gray

and Vaggie, the Latina moth, is a few shades darker than his base tone,

 It leads me to believe that Alastor’s skin color is of a light brown to reflect his mixed racial heritage. I should note, however, that when it comes to interracial marriage and children, kids will pop out in a wide variety of skin tones. Kids can get the genes for a skin tone that hasn’t been seen since their great-great grandmother for no reason other than that’s how the dice were rolled. Some kids will come from a black-white couple and pass easily for white while a sibling can’t, or they look as if the genes took both parents and put their melanin in a paint mixer and chose the median. 

In my mind’s eye, Alastor would be seen by fellow Louisanians as clearly Colored in the same way that there seems to be a race category for all the race mix ratios in Brazil, but for people like me that did not grow up in a culture that saw a lot of that happening (more just “what flavor of European are you?”), Alastor would be seen by me as a tanned white man.

[fanficshiddles]

Alluring whispers, Chapter 2

‘How could you forget to tell us that Loki is an Alpha?’ Steve shouted at Thor.

‘I did not think it relevant. And I… forgot.’ Thor chuckled but it died away when he saw the rest of the team looking pissed off at him.

‘This is bad, really bad.’ Bruce said.

‘Surely it’s not that bad? Just because he’s an Alpha and she’s an omega doesn’t mean anything. Loki is locked up in the cell, and Hope has no reason to go down there.’ Clint said, a bit confused as to why everyone was freaking out so much.

‘If Loki could tell she was here, then I would be surprised if Hope doesn’t know an Alpha is here too. It’s in their biology to gravitate to one another. Even more so with them being so rare.’ Bruce explained.

‘Well… if it seems like there’s going to be a problem, isn’t there suppressants she can take?’ Wanda suggested.

‘You’re right. There is!’ Natasha said and quickly pulled out her phone. ‘There aren’t many pharmacists that sell them anymore, due to omegas dying out. But they used to be in huge demand to keep their heats at bay. Hope wouldn’t have had to be on them because there was no Alpha on the same planet as her. But now that’s changed… well, we might need to get some for her.’

Tony ran his hand down his face. ‘This is totally out of my zone of knowledge too. How do some of you know so much about omegas?’

‘You mean there’s actually something that the great Tony Stark doesn’t have a clue on?’ Steve asked mockingly.

Tony glared at Steve. ‘Watch it, Cap’.’

‘I learned about them in Russia while I was being trained… Bingo!’ Natasha said, finding a result for a pharmacist in New York that stocked what they may need.

‘I just thought it was general knowledge about the Alphas and omegas.’ Bruce shrugged.

‘I’d heard of them but didn’t know anything about them, to be honest.’ Clint said sheepishly.

‘Uh, guys… We already have a problem.’ Said Vision, looking at the security cameras.

The team rushed over to see what he meant. All of them panicked when they saw Hope making her way down to the basement area, where the prison cells were.

-

Hope felt really weird, like there was an itch inside of her that she couldn’t get to. She’d never felt anything like it before. And she was sure she was going crazy, but she thought she could smell an Alpha… The most delightful smell she had ever smelt.

Following her instincts, and her nose, she made her way through the base. She was a bit surprised to find her feet carrying her downstairs towards the cells where they held any prisoners. But she couldn’t stop herself from going there. Like her body knew where to go, even if her mind didn’t.

When she opened the door and walked in slowly, there was just one large cell in the middle of the room, all glass-like. And in the middle of said cell, she saw a tall figure with his back to her. His scent hit her like a brick wall and made her mind go hazy.

Her legs turned to jelly as she took small tentative steps towards the cell. She stopped halfway there.

‘Come closer, little omega.’

His deep voice went right through her like a drug. Obeying the Alpha, she took a few more steps towards him. When he turned around, she gasped.

He was beautiful.

Loki was transfixed on the girl on front of him. She was a like a Goddess. He stalked towards the front of the cell, not taking his eyes off her for even a second.

They were both silent for a moment, taking one another in for the first time. Then a smirk spread across Loki’s lips and he motioned her closer to him with a finger.

Being an omega, she would want to do whatever an Alpha said. Which wasn’t always a good thing…

Hope took the last few steps towards him, but then she was snapped out of her trance-like state when the team came rushing in. Wanda used her powers to put up an energy wall between Hope and the front of Loki’s cell, so she couldn’t see him anymore.

Natasha rushed over and guided the omega away, out of the prison room. She saw Hope’s eyes changing, they had been glazed over, in a trance. Now they were back to normal.

Tony, Thor and Steve glared at Loki, who just smirked at them.

‘She is delightful.’ He purred.

‘You are not to touch her, Loki.’ Thor demanded, pointing at him.

‘How do you expect me to touch her while I’m locked in here?’ Loki put his arms out and chuckled as he stepped back into the middle of his cell. ‘But do you really think that you can keep her away from me? That you can stop simple biology?’

Thor’s face was like thunder, so angry at the way Loki was acting.

‘Come on, Thor. He’s just trying to wind you up.’ Steve put his hand on Thor’s shoulder, the three of them left the room. Hearing Loki’s laughter right before they closed the door.

Upstairs, Natasha had taken Hope to the living room and got her some coffee.

‘Are you ok?’ She asked.

‘Yeah… I… I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I just felt this really strong pull towards him.’ She swallowed hard and took a sip of her coffee.

‘He’s an Alpha and you’re an omega. It’s natural to feel like that.’ Bruce said, joining them.

‘But he’s… well, he’s a villain.’ Hope said, shaking her head. She couldn’t believe how mesmerised she had been by him.

‘Clint and Wanda have gone to the pharmacist to get suppressants, that should hopefully help to control your urges for him. Don’t worry, it will be alright.’ Tony assured her, but the look he gave the others wasn’t one of reassurance.

When Clint and Wanda returned with the tablets, Hope took some straight away and went to bed. She asked for the team to lock her in, until the tablets got into her system. But they wouldn’t do that. Instead, Bruce set up a sensor outside her door so if she left her room, they would be alerted instantly.

‘What are we going to do?’ Vision asked, the team were all sat around together having a drink.

‘We need to move him, it’s not safe for Hope him being here.’ Said Wanda.

‘Not possible. We are the only place that can contain him and his magic. We will have to hope the suppressants work and that we can keep them apart.’ Steve said.

‘They will have to be in the same room at times though, since Loki probably won’t tell us where the tesseract is willingly, we will need her to heal him when we interrogate him.’ Natasha sighed.

‘Well, maybe that’s not a good idea anymore. You know she doesn’t like it when we do that anyway.’ Bruce grumbled.

He didn’t really like doing that tactic either. He thought it was cruel, even if it was Loki.

‘Let’s just calm down and see what tomorrow brings. You never know, Loki might give us the information we need sooner than later.’ Steve said, trying to calm things down.

‘I doubt it.’ Natasha snorted.

-

The following day, the team didn’t waste any time with interrogating Loki. But it wasn’t easy, he wasn’t giving up any information at all. Instead, he kept asking about Hope…

‘So what’s her name?’ He asked cheerily, sitting on the edge of his bed in his cell.

‘Who’s name?’ Steve frowned, he and Natasha were outside his cell, trying to ask questions.

‘The omega. She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she? I bet she has a name to match.’ Loki smiled then bit into the apple he was given for breakfast. Not the most substantial meal, but it was better than nothing.

‘We are not here to answer questions, Loki.’ Natasha said through gritted teeth.

‘Where is she from? I know she’s not Midgardian, that’s quite obvious from her hair colour. It’s natural.’ He said so casually as if commenting on the weather.

Steve rolled his eyes and sighed. He was getting irritated, and so was Nat.

‘Shut up, Loki. We are not here to talk about Hope. We are here to talk about you.’ She blurted out, not thinking. But the way Loki’s face lit up, she realised she’d slipped up.

‘Ah, so her name is Hope. That’s a lovely name.’

Loki chuckled at the pissed off look on Natasha’s face. He was always able to wrangle out what he wanted from people, one way or another.

‘When am I going to get to meet her?’ He then asked.

‘You’ve already met her. And that’s all you’re getting.’ Steve folded his arms over his chest.

Loki laughed. ‘That was not a meeting. That was merely a glance, a quick look at what is mine.’ Loki stood up and started walking slowly around his cell.

‘She is not yours.’ Steve snapped, getting defensive he clenched his fists at his sides.

‘Oh, but she is. Do you see any other Alphas on this realm?’ Loki put his arms out at his side while he looked around the room, for effect.

Steve just narrowed his eyes at him, not liking where the conversation was going.

‘That does not give you a right of way to her. She’s under our protection, and you are not getting her.’ Steve said firmly, then he motioned to Natasha and they both left.

Thor, Clint and Vision decided to try later that day. But they didn’t get anywhere either. Loki kept asking questions again about Hope. Vision kept quiet. Thor almost slipped up a few times, but Clint kept stomping on his foot to shut him up.

‘You are all so desperate to get the tesseract. But just how desperate are you?’ Loki asked, pacing back and fore slowly at the side of his cell.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Clint asked.

‘I am willing to make a deal, a bargain, for your precious tesseract.’

‘What kind of deal?’ Clint asked cautiously.

‘I will tell you all you need to know, including where the tesseract is, on one condition and one condition only…’ He trailed off and stopped, turning to face them all.

‘You give me the omega.’ Loki grinned wickedly.

[imagine-loki]

Alluring whispers, Chapter 2

TITLE: Alluring whispers CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 2 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki has the tesseract again and is captured by The Avengers. Where he discovers they have an omega who has healing powers living with them. He’s an Alpha and he wants her,badly. She is the epitome of all things good, and trying her best to avoid his seductive advances. But it’s not easy due to their instincts and biology. The Avengers do their best to keep the omega safe, but Loki is on the hunt and is hungry for her. RATING: M

‘How could you forget to tell us that Loki is an Alpha?’ Steve shouted at Thor.

‘I did not think it relevant. And I… forgot.’ Thor chuckled but it died away when he saw the rest of the team looking pissed off at him.

‘This is bad, really bad.’ Bruce said.

‘Surely it’s not that bad? Just because he’s an Alpha and she’s an omega doesn’t mean anything. Loki is locked up in the cell, and Hope has no reason to go down there.’ Clint said, a bit confused as to why everyone was freaking out so much.

‘If Loki could tell she was here, then I would be surprised if Hope doesn’t know an Alpha is here too. It’s in their biology to gravitate to one another. Even more so with them being so rare.’ Bruce explained.

‘Well… if it seems like there’s going to be a problem, isn’t there suppressants she can take?’ Wanda suggested.

‘You’re right. There is!’ Natasha said and quickly pulled out her phone. ‘There aren’t many pharmacists that sell them anymore, due to omegas dying out. But they used to be in huge demand to keep their heats at bay. Hope wouldn’t have had to be on them because there was no Alpha on the same planet as her. But now that’s changed… well, we might need to get some for her.’

Tony ran his hand down his face. ‘This is totally out of my zone of knowledge too. How do some of you know so much about omegas?’

‘You mean there’s actually something that the great Tony Stark doesn’t have a clue on?’ Steve asked mockingly.

Tony glared at Steve. ‘Watch it, Cap’.’

‘I learned about them in Russia while I was being trained… Bingo!’ Natasha said, finding a result for a pharmacist in New York that stocked what they may need.

‘I just thought it was general knowledge about the Alphas and omegas.’ Bruce shrugged.

‘I’d heard of them but didn’t know anything about them, to be honest.’ Clint said sheepishly.

‘Uh, guys… We already have a problem.’ Said Vision, looking at the security cameras.

The team rushed over to see what he meant. All of them panicked when they saw Hope making her way down to the basement area, where the prison cells were.

-

Hope felt really weird, like there was an itch inside of her that she couldn’t get to. She’d never felt anything like it before. And she was sure she was going crazy, but she thought she could smell an Alpha… The most delightful smell she had ever smelt.

Following her instincts, and her nose, she made her way through the base. She was a bit surprised to find her feet carrying her downstairs towards the cells where they held any prisoners. But she couldn’t stop herself from going there. Like her body knew where to go, even if her mind didn’t.

When she opened the door and walked in slowly, there was just one large cell in the middle of the room, all glass-like. And in the middle of said cell, she saw a tall figure with his back to her. His scent hit her like a brick wall and made her mind go hazy.

Her legs turned to jelly as she took small tentative steps towards the cell. She stopped halfway there.

‘Come closer, little omega.’

His deep voice went right through her like a drug. Obeying the Alpha, she took a few more steps towards him. When he turned around, she gasped.

He was beautiful.

Loki was transfixed on the girl on front of him. She was a like a Goddess. He stalked towards the front of the cell, not taking his eyes off her for even a second.

They were both silent for a moment, taking one another in for the first time. Then a smirk spread across Loki’s lips and he motioned her closer to him with a finger. 

Being an omega, she would want to do whatever an Alpha said. Which wasn’t always a good thing…

Hope took the last few steps towards him, but then she was snapped out of her trance-like state when the team came rushing in. Wanda used her powers to put up an energy wall between Hope and the front of Loki’s cell, so she couldn’t see him anymore.

Natasha rushed over and guided the omega away, out of the prison room. She saw Hope’s eyes changing, they had been glazed over, in a trance. Now they were back to normal.

Tony, Thor and Steve glared at Loki, who just smirked at them.

‘She is delightful.’ He purred.

‘You are not to touch her, Loki.’ Thor demanded, pointing at him.

‘How do you expect me to touch her while I’m locked in here?’ Loki put his arms out and chuckled as he stepped back into the middle of his cell. ‘But do you really think that you can keep her away from me? That you can stop simple biology?’

Thor’s face was like thunder, so angry at the way Loki was acting.

‘Come on, Thor. He’s just trying to wind you up.’ Steve put his hand on Thor’s shoulder, the three of them left the room. Hearing Loki’s laughter right before they closed the door.

Upstairs, Natasha had taken Hope to the living room and got her some coffee.

‘Are you ok?’ She asked.

‘Yeah… I… I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I just felt this really strong pull towards him.’ She swallowed hard and took a sip of her coffee.

‘He’s an Alpha and you’re an omega. It’s natural to feel like that.’ Bruce said, joining them.

‘But he’s… well, he’s a villain.’ Hope said, shaking her head. She couldn’t believe how mesmerised she had been by him.

‘Clint and Wanda have gone to the pharmacist to get suppressants, that should hopefully help to control your urges for him. Don’t worry, it will be alright.’ Tony assured her, but the look he gave the others wasn’t one of reassurance.

When Clint and Wanda returned with the tablets, Hope took some straight away and went to bed. She asked for the team to lock her in, until the tablets got into her system. But they wouldn’t do that. Instead, Bruce set up a sensor outside her door so if she left her room, they would be alerted instantly.

‘What are we going to do?’ Vision asked, the team were all sat around together having a drink.

‘We need to move him, it’s not safe for Hope him being here.’ Said Wanda.

‘Not possible. We are the only place that can contain him and his magic. We will have to hope the suppressants work and that we can keep them apart.’ Steve said.

‘They will have to be in the same room at times though, since Loki probably won’t tell us where the tesseract is willingly, we will need her to heal him when we interrogate him.’ Natasha sighed.

‘Well, maybe that’s not a good idea anymore. You know she doesn’t like it when we do that anyway.’ Bruce grumbled.

He didn’t really like doing that tactic either. He thought it was cruel, even if it was Loki.

‘Let’s just calm down and see what tomorrow brings. You never know, Loki might give us the information we need sooner than later.’ Steve said, trying to calm things down.

‘I doubt it.’ Natasha snorted.

-

The following day, the team didn’t waste any time with interrogating Loki. But it wasn’t easy, he wasn’t giving up any information at all. Instead, he kept asking about Hope…

‘So what’s her name?’ He asked cheerily, sitting on the edge of his bed in his cell.

‘Who’s name?’ Steve frowned, he and Natasha were outside his cell, trying to ask questions.

‘The omega. She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she? I bet she has a name to match.’ Loki smiled then bit into the apple he was given for breakfast. Not the most substantial meal, but it was better than nothing.

‘We are not here to answer questions, Loki.’ Natasha said through gritted teeth.

‘Where is she from? I know she’s not Midgardian, that’s quite obvious from her hair colour. It’s natural.’ He said so casually as if commenting on the weather.

Steve rolled his eyes and sighed. He was getting irritated, and so was Nat.

‘Shut up, Loki. We are not here to talk about Hope. We are here to talk about you.’ She blurted out, not thinking. But the way Loki’s face lit up, she realised she’d slipped up.

‘Ah, so her name is Hope. That’s a lovely name.’

Loki chuckled at the pissed off look on Natasha’s face. He was always able to wrangle out what he wanted from people, one way or another.

‘When am I going to get to meet her?’ He then asked.

‘You’ve already met her. And that’s all you’re getting.’ Steve folded his arms over his chest.

Loki laughed. ‘That was not a meeting. That was merely a glance, a quick look at what is mine.’ Loki stood up and started walking slowly around his cell.

‘She is not yours.’ Steve snapped, getting defensive he clenched his fists at his sides.

‘Oh, but she is. Do you see any other Alphas on this realm?’ Loki put his arms out at his side while he looked around the room, for effect.

Steve just narrowed his eyes at him, not liking where the conversation was going.

‘That does not give you a right of way to her. She’s under our protection, and you are not getting her.’ Steve said firmly, then he motioned to Natasha and they both left.

Thor, Clint and Vision decided to try later that day. But they didn’t get anywhere either. Loki kept asking questions again about Hope. Vision kept quiet. Thor almost slipped up a few times, but Clint kept stomping on his foot to shut him up.

‘You are all so desperate to get the tesseract. But just how desperate are you?’ Loki asked, pacing back and fore slowly at the side of his cell.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Clint asked.

‘I am willing to make a deal, a bargain, for your precious tesseract.’

‘What kind of deal?’ Clint asked cautiously.

‘I will tell you all you need to know, including where the tesseract is, on one condition and one condition only…’ He trailed off and stopped, turning to face them all.

‘You give me the omega.’ Loki grinned wickedly.

[miumiu-chan]

Miyase Go STORY 1 Chapter 1-4

Subbed video: STORY-1 1-4

-Mountain trail-

[MIYASE]: “The other day, I found a lost handkerchief in the garden.”

[MIYASE]: “There was a beautiful embroidery in romaji on it.”

……I had a feeling. It was definitely my handkerchief.

[REI]: (Having my name suddenly found out, I disqualify as an investigator……)

[MIYASE]: “Was that handkerchief not yours?”

[REI]: “Ah, no no! It’s mine. Sorry……”

[MIYASE]: “Thank goodness.”

[MIYASE]: “I took it for cleaning, so when it’s done……”

[MIYASE]: “Well, I will mail it to you if it’s not a bother.”

He mustn't really know about my address……

[REI]: (——No, but maybe this is my chance now.)

[REI]: (Not by mail, if I can meet him directly once again to talk……)

It might be possible to investigate more about the Kujo Family more calmly.

While simulating the conversation in my head, I replied.

[REI]: “……Um, it’s alright. Please throw away that handkerchief.”

[MIYASE]: “Eh?”

[REI]: “Of course, I will pay for the cleaning. Really, thank you very much.”

[REI]: “But, it was just a prize that I applied for on a whim when I was a student, so you don’t have to go out of your way to mail it.”

[REI]: “Although, if we can meet again I don’t know……”

[MIYASE]: “……I see.”

Now, what will you do……?

[MIYASE]: “——I understand.”

[MIYASE]: “As the man, I should be the one inviting you on a date.”

[REI]: “Eh……”

I was expecting just a “Let’s meet again somewhere at a later date”, but this surprised me.

[MIYASE]: “I said so before, didn’t I? That I was thinking how nice it would be to meet you again.”

[REI]: (He was serious……?)

[REI]: (——Wait, my heart shouldn’t go thump here!)

I thought so when I met him in the garden before, but the things Miyase-san would say sometimes sounded like a pick-up line.

Don’t fall for his unique pace.

I have to concentrate as a DCD agent to make the conversation go as I want.

[MIYASE]: “So, Izumi-san.”

[MIYASE]: “If it is alright, would you like to go eat something delicious with me tomorrow?”

[MIYASE]: “I will return the handkerchief to you then.”

[REI]: “If it’s not a bother to you, Miyase-san…… I’d love to.”

[MIYASE]: “That’s great. I’m really glad.”

-Investigation Planning Division-

[YUI]: “I’m definitely against it!”

[YUI]: “What’s with that, a sudden date!”

[AOYAMA]: “There’s no better chance to investigate the inside of the Kujo Family.”

[AOYAMA]: “We already got the OK from Seki-san.”

[YUI]: “You think I’ll easily let Izumi get closer to a pervert that suddenly asks her on a date?”

[YUI]: “Itsuki, are you a demon!?”

[IMAOJI]: “You’ve never gotten heated up like this before.”

[YUI]: “You too, you smiling demon!”

[IMAOJI]: “Haha. That fits terribly well.”

[REI]: “Yui-san, it’s okay.”

[REI]: “We’re just going out to eat, and I chose a restaurant that’s a convenient place from here.”

[REI]: “And also, Itsuki-san and Imaoji-san will be watching from a nearby table.”

[AOYAMA]: “At a sake shop, it’s more subtle for two guys eating together.”

[IMAOJI]: “Anyway, later we should create a thorough cover.”

[YUI]: “Why are you going so far to talk about it……”

[YUI]: “Or rather, why am I not the one on lookout?”

[AOYAMA]: “You’ll be on lookout at Kujo’s house until tomorrow night.”

[AOYAMA]: “The meeting with Miyase is in the evening.”

[YUI]: “The demon is outside! Izumi should stay inside!”

[AOYAMA]: “Calm down……”

[IMAOJI]: “If Miyase shows any suspicious movement, we will deal with it properly.”

[REI]: “Thank you for being so worried about me.”

[YUI]: “Of course I would. Because we’re friends, of course I would worry.”

[REI]: “Yui-san…… Somehow, I was really moved just now.”

[YUI]: “Really? Then let me collect some blood from you.”

[REI]: “Eh……?”

[IMAOJI]: “You end up going in that direction after all.”

[AOYAMA]: “It’s troublesome to retort without Natsume……”

[AOYAMA]: “But Izumi, even though we’re waiting there, you should also concentrate on protecting yourself.”

[REI]: “Yes, I know.”

[REI]: (……Tomorrow, I have to do it well.)

I’ll do my best to get some information on the Kujo Family.

--Next day--

-Casual / French restaurant-

[MIYASE]: “Wow, it looks delicious.”

Looking at the hors d’oeuvres, Miyase-san seemed to enjoy the appetizers with sparkles in his eyes.

[MIYASE]: “The flower shape is made of vegetables, it’s very cute.”

[MIYASE]: “It seems too good to eat.”

[REI]: “Eh.”

[REI]: (But I already started eating it!?)

[MIYASE]: “Ah……”

The flowers on my plate had already been broken up.

[REI]: “……Sorry. I did that without emotion.”

[MIYASE]: “Ahaha. No, not at all.”

[MIYASE]: “I will eat as well.”

Being considerate of me, he started on the vegetables that looked like flowers.

[MIYASE]: “Yup. It’s very delicious.”

[REI]: “Even though this is a vegetable, some flowers really are edible, right?”

[MIYASE]: “You are quite knowledgeable.”

[MIYASE]: “Izumi-san, do you grow your own plants as well?”

[REI]: “Me? Not at all.”

[REI]: “I wish I could grow some on my balcony……”

[REI]: “But in my current life rhythm, I’ll forget to take care of it and it’ll die.”

[MIYASE]: “Then, if you decide to start gardening in the future, please let me know about it first.”

[MIYASE]: “It is really cute when I imagine you trying to do gardening, so I will do my best to help you.”

[REI]: “Ahaha, thank you……”

[REI]: (Did he say that just now without thinking deeply? Every time, this is bad for my heart……)

[REI]: (No no, this is work! I need to concentrate on collecting information.)

I calmed down with an elegant wine, and I gave a smile that wouldn’t lose to Miyase-san’s.

[REI]: “Did anything happen after that yesterday?”

[MIYASE]: “Oh? It seems that I’ve been evaded.”

[REI]: “I wasn’t evading…… I was worried.”

Actually, the DCD had been glued to Kujo’s house today too so I already knew.

[MIYASE]: “To be worried about by you, I’m honored.”

[MIYASE]: “But, you can rest assured. It was fine.”

[REI]: “Then, that’s good.”

[REI]: (With this flow, I want to extract some information.)

[REI]: “Um, was what happened yesterday reported to the head of the Kujo Family?”

[MIYASE]: “Yes, sort of.”

[MIYASE]: “But he gave the feeling of ‘It’s the same case as usual’.”

[MIYASE]: “The Kujo Family also has very good bodyguards, so he was not particularly worried.”

[REI]: “As expected, he’s a person with nerves of steel……”

[MIYASE]: “He’s a great person who always behaves with awareness of his position.”

[REI]: “Does he always work in the mansion with that beautiful garden?”

[MIYASE]: “Yes. Unless it’s for important business, he basically does not go outside.”

[MIYASE]: “Since there are things like yesterday.”

[REI]: “But when there’s business negotiations, he goes out, right?”

[REI]: “You know, since people with high positions have to do a lot of business entertainment and have images to keep up.”

[MIYASE]: “Are you interested in it?”

[REI]: “I heard about it from an acquaintance working for a trading company.”

[REI]: “I have no connection to it, but there sure are a lot of unique and interesting business entertainments.”

[MIYASE]: “Haha. Certainly, I hear that there are many elaborate things.”

[MIYASE]: “But Kujo-san is a person who makes decisions based on the content of the work and the attitude of the company, so it is very rarely that he enters the business entertainment scene.”

[MIYASE]: “Because he dislikes wasting time.”

[REI]: (So as far as dealing with the mafia is concerned, Matsuda’s story about Kujo Soma himself coming out is a bit less credible……)

——No, the benefits that illegal drugs brought were huge.

He may be actively involved in large-scale transactions…….

[MIYASE]: “Izumi-san, what do you do for work?”

[REI]: “Oh……I’m a pharmacist.”

[MIYASE]: “Heeh, that’s amazing.”

[MIYASE]: “Then, could you give me a medicine that will never end this fun time?”

[REI]: “Ahaha. Miyase-san, are you a bit drunk?”

[MIYASE]: “Just a little.”

[MIYASE]: “But, have you ever thought about it?”

[MIYASE]: “Wishing that every day was just fun.”

Choices:

Is that the case?

That may be so…

That’s true. (♡)

[REI]: “That’s true.”

[REI]: “It would be great if it was always fun every day.”

[MIYASE]: “But, it’s not quite easy to do that.”

[REI]: “——Oh, but it might be better if not every day was just fun.”

[MIYASE]: “Eh?”

[REI]: “Because, when there aren’t some painful times, when there isn't time to get bored,”

[REI]: “People would surely think that the times that are fun and happy are only natural.”

[MIYASE]: “That it’s natural……What is wrong with that?”

[REI]: “I don’t mean that there is anything wrong with that……”

[REI]: “If it becomes natural, it could be that the sense of “fun” may be lost.”

[MIYASE]: “……I see. That’s true.”

[REI]: “Sorry, I feel like I said too much.”

[MIYASE]: “Not at all, I was very convinced.”

[MIYASE]: “It seems necessary after all to experience painful things as well.”

[eltanin-malfoy]

Hard To Swallow (Kill Or Be Killed III)

pairing : draco/fem-collegestudent!y/n 

word count : 2.7k

warnings : swearing, mentions of murder/poison/drugging, angst

Chapter 1 2

a/n : super sorry this took sooooo goddamn long. This is my first work that wasn’t betaed, so any errors or as such are all thanks to me :P any and all feedback is highly appreciated. requests are still open! also if you’re a med student or a doctor or work as an emt or just have a lot of knowledge on drugging, pls pop into my dms! am going to need a lil help for the next chapter. 

Chapter 3 : Hard To Swallow

It had been a.. surprise, to say the least. Really. To say the absolute least. What the fuck is happening? I haven’t told.. a single.. person around here my last name. I could never have. He threw the letter down to the floor, still holding his bleeding finger tightly. The only ones who know are my boss and the landlord. But I think he remembers it wrong.. after all, it isn’t.. He almost retched. Mafcoy. 

But there was absolutely no reason for the elderly missus to try to freak him out, was there? No reason at all. Right? She definitely wasn’t one of the people who his father had stolen from, right? She wasn’t some criminal mastermind who was secretly looking for revenge? No! Of course not! That’s.. ridiculous. Totally! That’s comical! It’s.. 

Insanely perfect! 

What better way to poke at someone than to appear absolutely vulnerable? He would try and do that with.. Y/N but he didn’t have the figure for it. Tall. Lanky. Sharp-featured. Not to mention, ridiculously handsome.. Okay, he was getting ahead of himself here. Someone was watching him. Who? Who?

Had one of his dad’s old colleagues figured out where he’d moved? Were they just trying to shock him into being nicer? Or to leave the country altogether? Or was someone planning to kill him?

Why would anyone want to kill him? He was clearly just in over his head! Goddammit, Draco. Shut up! It’s.. just some stupid prank! Of course! Some stupid git has found out your name and just wants to freak you out! He sighed and walked to his bathroom, pulling off the cap and sunglasses. He opened up his cabinet and took out a bandaid. He opened the packaging and began wrapping his finger in it, then began to stare at himself in the mirror. 

He’d been focusing on the wrong detail this entire time.. Someone had said that they were watching you! Jesus Christ, Draco! He could feel goosebumps forming at the back of his neck and he shuddered. Had they planted hidden cameras in his home? Was there someone stalking him? Had someone actually managed to hack into his devices and watch him from the cameras? He felt jittery and decided to calm his nerves with another fag, reaching into his pocket for the pack.

***

 Unfortunately, even after Draco decided to take every precaution possible (put duct tape over the webcam of his computer, do in all the blinds of all his windows, check cabinets he normally didn’t open for bugs), he wasn’t any closer to figuring out who it was that was watching him.. He could only hope it was the same for Y/N, but of course, she wouldn’t even know he was following her in the first place, he didn’t send her an ominous note saying that he was.

Some people are just too.. over the top. He decided. Better to work hard in private than try to scare your target.

And so, he decided to put in the hours. He had several until his shift, anyways. Further research (or.. checking Y/N’s Instagram account for updates, rather) managed to work out for him a bit. He managed to lay out the locations where she’d most recently posted from in hopes of figuring out her usual hangout spots. It had been fairly easy and ridiculously predictable. Every location she visited was in close proximity to her university campus. Of course. It definitely wasn’t creepy for a random guy to walk around a campus, even if it was in the middle of a bustling city, not attending classes and just searching for a certain someone. Goddammit. Why did there have to be so many people everywhere all the time? Makes everything that much harder.

He groaned, instead getting up to grab some lunch.

*** 

He managed to make no real progress until suddenly, as he was sitting in the Employees Only room, it was as if an angel heard his prayers.. Okay, no angel, it was just Y/N. 

It was too cold to head out for just a smoke that evening. The regular breeze had worked itself up to a strong, blasting wind which threw icy air at anyone in its path, and no matter how badly he wanted a puff, he wasn’t ready to risk getting winded for it. So, for his good old break, he just had to gussy up and hang around in the room where his, now suspicious, boss hung around. He kept himself as far as he could from her, sitting down in a corner and pretending to look busy on his phone.

Soon enough, he decided to check his soon-to-be victim’s account and saw an update on her story. There was some kind of a poster for a club he recognised seeing on maps. 

Carts & Horses.

Singles Night! 

Free pints up for grabs for the winners of our Karaoke Competition!

Happy Hours are from 7 to 9!

She’d added a short caption underneath it, “Does anyone wanna join me?” Jesus Christ. She moves on quick, doesn’t she? He stared at it for a few seconds before shutting his phone and thinking about it. It was for this coming Friday.. A good four days for him to ready everything. He just had to find a way to prick her with the needle without anyone noticing him do it. That was all it had to be. And what was good was, her little question made it clear she wasn’t going to go with anyone she was close to. 

Now, he could actually get to setting out a concrete plan for that fateful Friday night.

***

Everything was ready. Mostly. 

He’d sorted out everything to do with the injections, i.e. managed to sneak into the pharmacist’s section of the store and take out what he needed while modifying the online inventory. He’d then combined them in his own kitchen! Of course, it was a bit difficult getting everything into those syringes and then capping them without creating too much of a mess.. but it seemed to have worked. Obviously, he didn’t have a test subject. Although.. he supposed Y/N was technically one. 

He’d need enough time and a secretive place in which to conduct his plan out without being noticed.. and this was hard. The whole procedure, if it was to be conducted, would take at least take ten minutes. What to do.. What to do.. 

He couldn’t attempt to seduce her and bring her to his house (which, admittedly, might not have worked because of their spat from earlier) because.. people might notice and remember. He’d have to try his best to stay undercover and go unnoticed.. but how could he do it while still trapping her while she was fishing for someone to hook up with? This was going to be hard..  

***

The day finally approached. Draco managed to get out of going into work for the day by feigning a strong head-cold. Easily done, what with Draco’s brilliant acting skills and.. his boss being the slightest bit hard of hearing. He spent the day planning what to do. 

He realised that lurking around or in the corners of the pub likely would not sit well with any of the actual patrons, so he’d have to enter it and hang around a bit. Obviously, he’d keep his distance and try not to attract attention to himself. (Although, he couldn’t help it if people did swoon over him..)

Draco tried his best to pick out something that would make him.. fit in with his surroundings. What did blokes wear to pubs again? It had been a while since he’d socialised, especially in a setting like this. He decided on a black button-up shirt and a pair of tight fitting dark trousers. I mean, I can’t exactly go in looking badly dressed, can I? He remarked as he looked himself over in the mirror, a slight grin on his face. Okay! You aren’t trying to get laid, you idiot. He took a deep breath.

He shook his head as he packed everything carefully into his thick coat. Okay. Run it over again. He shut his eyes tightly. When she’s by herself, make sure she doesn’t see you and grab her from the back. Give her the midazolam and then gag her and blindfold her. Tie her hands up as soon as she loses control. Then, after five minutes, give her the vecuronium bromide. Then, as she stops breathing, give her the good old potassium chloride, then get out of there as soon as you can. Jesus Christ, it did sound ambitious. But, with a bit of luck, it would work out just fine.

***

Draco managed to make it to the pub a few minutes past 7, which was when he thought the bitch would decide to show up. Even spoilt kids search for discounts sometimes, don’t they? He didn’t enter the pub at first and just gazed in, looking around for her. 

And there she was. Sitting by herself at the bar. He felt that same slight annoyance at her presence, but she looked.. good tonight. She wasn’t that bad to look at if she didn’t open her mouth, really. She was wearing a red shirt and some jeans, which all looked.. fairly tight, even in the distance. She was looking towards the entrance now and then, seemingly waiting for someone while she sipped slowly at a drink. So.. maybe she is here with someone? Or maybe waiting for someone? It was unclear. Either way, I should be able to grab her when she’s getting in or out of the ladies’ room.

He stepped into the pub, staring down at the floor as he found a seat by the bar. It wasn’t too far from where she was sat, but enough that she wouldn’t see him unless she tried, and if he tried hard enough, he could ignore whoever it was singing like an absolute tosser. “Grey Goose on the rocks, please.” He muttered, looking to the bartender so he didn’t look like a total creep. And of course, a little liquid courage certainly wouldn’t hurt.

“Ten pounds. Lemon?”

“No need, thanks.”

Draco slid over a note as the bartender passed him his drink, then looked over at Y/N.. who was now.. looking at him. Shit! His eyes widened but he quickly glanced to the side, hoping to play it off as just a.. casual.. scan of the room. But no! She’d seen him staring right at her.. Fucking hell.

He grit his teeth and turned to the side, covering the side of his face with his hand. Hopefully she didn’t realise it was him...

Who was he kidding! Of course she did! He should have gone ahead and dyed his hair darker to blend in, as much as he would have hated it. He should’ve actually bought some makeup and done something to his face to look different. God-fucking-dammit! He almost slammed his fist onto the table as he felt himself grow all the more frustrated. 

He felt his ears turn red and shook his head. It’s not that big of a deal. Of course not. He just had to avoid getting into any conflict with her. If he just sat here and avoided her, she definitely wouldn’t approach him, right? She was looking for someone nice, right? Although.. her last affair did seem questionable. He quickly glanced over at her again and thankfully, she’d looked away. He wondered what had prompted her to take such quick action.. or not really, seeing that she was just sitting by herself, drinking whatever it was she was drinking. She seemed to shrug off people coming over to talk to her as well, instead just staring down at the counter in front of her. Suddenly, she turned to look at him again with an eyebrow raised.

He felt color flush his own face and he looked to his glass, internally whacking himself in the face with it. Why would he make the same mistake twice? What was he doing? He soon heard the light tapping of heels near him and shut his eyes tightly. Draco, it’s over now. You’re going to have to plan for some other day. Or.. pick another victim. If enough people see this, they’ll know she hated you.

“What were you just.. doing?” She was almost uncharacteristically soft, like she was trying to hide something. 

“Nothing.” Draco murmured instinctively.

“Come on.” Y/N sighed. “I caught you staring at me. Twice.” Could it be.. ickle Y/N was ashamed to be spotted here? On ‘Singles’ Night’? He clenched his jaw to force the corners of his mouth not to curl up into a smirk.

“Just.. curious.” He uttered, still staring at his glass. Y/N put a hand on the counter next to his glass and he almost shuddered. 

“Are you here.. for.. Singles’ Night?” He turned to look up at her and froze, staring into her eyes. “What? What is it?” She drawled out, squinting slightly at him.

He stared at her for a few seconds and it suddenly hit him. This.. this girl. How was he supposed to kill her? She was a person, just like him. A person with memories, with loved ones, with goals. No, stop it. He shuddered and looked to the side, face growing hotter. She’s abused her lifestyle enough, she has to pay, doesn’t she? He almost jolted upwards as he heard a slight clunk on the counter beside him. 

“Um.. are you alright?” She was still looking at him, her hand falling back on the counter.

“I’m fine.. and.. yes. I am.” He managed out, gulping nervously. 

“Oh. Um.” Whatever retort she had planned seemed to suddenly fizzle out of her mind. “Okay.”

“Are you.. as well?”

“Yes.” She seemed to turn pink herself. She suddenly turned towards the counter herself. “Excuse me.. Could I have an iced water please?” The bartender nodded and walked to the side, grabbing a glass.

She swallowed softly herself, pressing her red-painted lips together in a way which made Draco want to touch them for himself. He felt that same pang of guilt all throughout him. He could feel those syringes in his coat weighing him down, pulling him towards the floor, almost. 

The bartender slid a glass over on the counter, right next to Draco’s. He turned to look.. and surprisingly, they were hard to tell apart. Both were clear.. and iced. He guessed which one was hers and handed it to her, after which she took a few sips from it, absolutely silent. It certainly was growing a bit awkward between them.. Draco didn’t really have anything unpleasant to say to her and frankly, he wasn’t exactly sure what to do in front of her like this. 

Her.. almost murderer, am I? He looked over at the counter again. His drink.. was a little fuller. Had the bartender refilled it for him? Gee, he hoped he wouldn’t be charged for that. 

Suddenly, Y/N pressed both her hands against the counter and let out a deep, deep breath. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked up at her face, which was steadily turning a deep shade of red. She brought a palm to her face and felt her cheek. “What..? Oh-” She mumbled out, then started walking away from Draco. She continued to speak but began to slur her words, and her steps grew more and more sluggish. Funny. Very funny. Is this her idea of a joke? This seemed.. unlikely, considering her usual.. turbulent nature. Or, is she just bad at handling her liquor?

SLAM!

He heard the loud thud across the floor from him almost before he realised Y/N had fallen to the floor. Her arms were on either side of her torso as her face lay on its side, her lips slightly parted. Her legs shook slightly but then lay flat on the floor, spread out on the floor. What? What was going on? He quickly got off his bar stool and rushed over to her, while the crowd nearby her hushed up. Whoever it was singing karaoke shut up as well. Someone yelled something over at him but it just.. faded away. 

Was this because of something he’d done? Or.. was someone else trying to attack her.. as well?

Chapter 4

[theepitomeofamess]

current status: a hot fucking mess and happy about it

logicality arranged marriage au pt. 3

word count: 2465(ish)

people who wanted more:  @shattered-raine @insert-epic-blogger-name-here @ilylogan @reallyanextrovertipromise @ladynightmare12 @allsortsofgeekery @awkwardangie410

let’s get this shit show on the road:

The honeymoon didn’t last long - only three days. Knowing that Logan had been the one to arrange it, Patton assumed that it had been kept short on purpose. Whether getting home quickly was done for the sake of Logan’s work with the pharmacist or for Patton to get back to his family, Patton wasn’t sure. He would probably never be sure.

In spite of everything, it was a pleasurable three days. Logan kept him at arm’s length, of course, but he’d led Patton through the area flawlessly. They spent a lot of their time on the beach, surrounded by other tourists and married couples on their honeymoons. Patton found himself making much more conversation with the strangers than with his husband, who preferred to find a shady spot where he could either work or read. There were dinners where they got to know each other a little better, though Logan never spoke of anything too personal - most of the conversation was restricted to questions about Patton and his brothers, stories about their childhood and how they’d met their husbands. There was a smile that Patton came to know when he told these stories, a drawn bow stretched between Logan’s ears that showed itself when Patton laughed in the middle of telling a story or joke. It seemed genuine enough, but there was always something off about it, about the way it was gone just as quickly as it had arrived, something that Patton couldn’t make out. He didn’t want to say that it looked like a learned behavior, but...

The more Patton talked about his family the more he longed for them - for the energy and laughter of Roman and Remy, for the quiet conversation and consolation of Virgil and Emile, for the warm comfort of a dinner with the four of them filled with stories and familiarity and everything he wanted.

There were a few moments when Patton thought that he could bring himself to almost enjoy Logan’s company, though. He did a lot more of the ordering breakfast in bed for him, he’d given him an ice cream while they were at the beach for no real reason, and he always asked if Patton if he wanted the door between their rooms open or closed. The morning of their departure, Logan had made a detour to a flower shop he’d spotted and bought a single white daisy, sticking it in Patton’s lapel before they continued on toward the station. It might have been sweet if he had said something, or even smiled.

The only thing that Patton figured out about Logan over their time together was that he had a dangerously intoxicating voice. Patton had asked him on more than one occasion of boredom or loneliness to read aloud from whatever book he was enthralled in. It was in these moments that Patton allowed himself to be weak, to let himself get lost in the story and in the voice as deep and haunting as the silent ocean in front of them. There was something completely different about the voice when it was reading from when it was speaking - there was inflection, some semblance of emotion. It churned and pulsed with the words instead of stagnating. Patton had to remind himself multiple times of his promise to not be manipulated by the owner of that voice.

Still, Patton found himself daydreaming about that voice, listening to it tell his favorite stories, hearing it sing, what it would sound like if it broke or whined…

Patton shook himself free of the thought before his mind wandered to anything too unsavory. He couldn’t allow himself to go there. If he did, he might never return. And what then?

“Patton,” Logan asked. Patton looked up from where he’d been sitting with his head in his hands. They’d just switched from the boat to another train that would take them home, the countryside flying in the direction opposite that of three days ago. Logan had been reading aloud, as per Patton’s request, since it was more neutral than them trying to make conversation and far less awkward than any silence between them.

“Hm?”

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Patton assured, running his fingers through his hair to fix where he’d been pulling at it. “Yeah, just a bit of a headache, that’s all. Not too used to travelling, y’know.”

“I can stop if it would help. Silence would probably be more effective in-”

“No, no, keep going,” Patton assured, sitting up straight and leaning his head back. “If nothing else, you’re distracting from the train.” That much wasn’t a lie. Patton couldn’t currently bring himself to like trains - the way they jerk around, threatening to slam you into a window if you were sitting too close to one, the screech of iron against iron when they need to slow down or stop, that impossible howl of a whistle, the way the aisles aren’t small enough to be called cramped, but definitely small enough to make Patton uncomfortable. He could usually bring himself to enjoy some of the elements of a train, find a sort of beauty in the whistle or a respectable power in its very scope, but right now…

Right now Patton just wished that he could fly or teleport or just be home.

Luckily, Logan’s reading made the time go by just a bit faster than it would have without the aid. He’d been reading Doyle, the book a collection of his short stories. Patton couldn’t remember for sure, but he thought that Logan was at “The Five Orange Pips” now. The story in conjunction with the knowledge that he would soon be home, or somewhere close to it, that we would be with his brothers - Virgil who would dote and worry and glare at Logan, and Roman who would encourage and tease and also glare at Logan - made the time fly.

Well, maybe not fly, but at least it didn’t drag on for what seemed like forever.

Pulling up on the gravel driveway to Logan’s family house, Patton broke into an uncontainable grin when he saw Roman and Virgil rush from the front door, Roman waving madly and threatening to run out to the car before Virgil grabbed the collar of his jacket. Even though he was equally happy to see Patton back safe and sound, he retained his composure. Somebody had to, and that somebody was almost never Roman.

As soon as the car parked, Patton flew from his seat into Roman’s waiting arms. The warmth of the Mediterranean sun had been pleasant, there was no denying that, but his brother’s strong arms and relieved laughter held more warmth than the sun itself. Patton giggled into his brother’s shoulder as he spun him around, the world swirling around him until he thought his problems might disappear into the blur of colors.

“There, like I said,” Logan approached Virgil with his hands folded behind his back. “Safe and sound, just as I promised.”

“So far as we can see,” Virgil growled.

“Virgil,” Patton called over when Roman put him down. Holding out his arms and grinning, Virgil gratefully accepted his invitation into a hug, pressing his face into the crook of Patton’s neck.

“Are you okay,” Virgil asked into his shoulder. “Really, are you okay?”

“Of course, Virge. I’m fine. All in one piece.”

“But he wasn’t… he didn’t…”

“He was perfectly well-behaved,” Patton sighed. “And by the way, it might not have been necessary for you to threaten him.”

“It’s always necessary.” Patton giggled, pressing his face into Virgil’s hair before he pulled away.

At the same time Virgil pulled away from Patton, the car pulled out of the drive. Patton looked from the car to where Roman stood alone.

“He said he has some business in town,” Roman explained. “In the meantime, you can tell us everything. Come on.” Roman motioned the two of them inside, leading them inside to the library.

And they did just that. Patton told them everything. Everything that they’d done, everything they hadn’t, everything that Logan had said, everything.

“That’s,” Virgil started slowly after Patton finished, “different from what I expected. I mean-”

“But it’s still weird, right? It’s weird and worrying and-”

“Patton,” Roman interjected gently, “honestly everything that you’ve said so far is making him sound like a really great guy. Maybe you’re still just tense because of the circumstances.” Patton gave a look that only the two of them and Remy knew. A look of shadowed eyes and a lip curled into a sneer.

“What’s going to happen when he gets sick of being nice,” Patton asked, voice low. “What’s going to happen when he stops being the best version of himself? None of us know him yet, he could be a brute or a psycho or something. He admitted to his brother being a card sharp. Maybe deception runs in the blood. Am I tense? Absolutely. But go ahead and try to convince me that it’s unreasonable for me to stay on my guard.” Looking to each other, the two of them looked more worried than they had when they’d first heard about the arrangement.

“Well,” Roman finally conceded, “no, that’s not unreasonable.”

“Oh, my gosh,” Patton stood, spinning around and pulling at his hair, “I can’t believe you think I’m right. You never think I’m right, and if you think it then that must mean that I’m right and that he’s gonna turn up one day and be awful and I’m not gonna be able to get out of it-”

“Patton,” Virgil jumped to his feet, gripping Patton’s shoulders, “breathe. One way or another, it’ll be okay. You can always divorce, and if he won’t let you out of it, then you can come and stay with us. Okay? Nothing’s going to happen to you. We promise.” The two of them fell into another hug, Roman following close behind has he wrapped himself around the two smaller figures. The positioning was familiar - they usually ended up in some iteration of a group hug when one of them was down or after Virgil came down from a panic attack or when someone had really good news or really bad news… they ended up in group hugs a lot, now that he thought about it.

The rest of the afternoon was relatively quiet. Roman and Virgil showed Patton around the house, since he’d only ever been there for the wedding reception. It looked so different when it wasn’t covered in white and crowded to bursting with people and smelling of expensive food clashing with a hundred different perfumes. So much quieter, lonelier. A lot of the open bedrooms, they’d only peaked in to glance around. When they’d reached Patton’s, though, they’d stepped in to examine the walnut furniture and simple off-white bedding. Patton froze in place a bit longer than he should have when he saw the vase on one of the night stands, graced with a bouquet of daffodils and a sky blue bow tied around the neck of the vase. Patton couldn’t help but smile, tilting his head as he remembered his mother teaching him about flower meanings, how daffodils were meant to signify good fortune and new beginnings.

Sighing, he reminded himself to not be fooled by the gesture.

Logan arrived back at some point while they were exploring upstairs, silently taking a seat at his desk and continuing his work without so much as hinting at his presence. Patton was the first down, since Roman and Virgil were lagging behind, talking to one of the maids that they’d apparently made friends with. When Patton reached the library, Logan handed him a letter from his parents. Patton did his best to give a courteous smile as he took the letter, opening it to read.

“That reminds me,” Logan turned around in his chair to face Patton. “Where are your glasses?” Patton switched from squinting at the letter to squinting at Logan.

“What?”

“Your glasses. I thought you might have left them with your things, or maybe misplaced them. Do you have any-”

“I don’t have glasses,” Patton corrected, gaining a furrowed brow of confusion from Logan. “Why would you think I have glasses?”

“Because if my assessment is correct, you need them. Just now, when you were reading that letter, you were holding it an inch from your face. You’ve complained about headaches, too, you’re almost always squinting, and when I saw you writing a letter while we were away, you were hunched so far over your desk that I thought you might have fallen asleep.”

Patton’s heart rate jumped a bit. He’d never had to explain those things to anyone - nobody had really noticed them. His family all knew him as the person who would ask for help if he needed it, and who consequently never asked. He’d never wanted to bother his family by asking about going to an eye doctor to see if he needed them.

“I’ll call my ophthalmologist,” Logan informed, making a note on his desk, “and I’ll make you an appointment to get a prescription as soon as possible. I don’t want you to strain them anymore. If it hurts to read or write, please ask me or one of your brothers to do it for you. I’ll let you know when the appointment is as soon as I know.” Logan flashed that damned smile at Patton again before turning back to flip through his contacts to find the ophthalmologist. Patton swallowed hard, turning to go sit down just in time for Roman and Virgil to return to his side.

As they talked, Patton’s mind wandered to a story he’d heard about someone they’d known, a girl a few years older than Roman. She’d gotten married early to someone she didn’t really know, and she’d praised him for the first few months. Before she knew what had happened, she was completely dependent on him. He controlled her money, her health care, her appointments, he was so controlling that she had no way out of the hole by the time she realized what had happened.

Patton prayed that that wouldn’t happen to him. He swore that he wouldn’t let it.

In spite of that promise, Patton couldn’t help but grin madly two days later when Logan took him to Dr. Stokes and was given a pair of glasses that they were lucky enough to have in that matched his prescription. As they’d stepped out of the office, Patton released a heavy sigh, marveling through the round frames at what had previously been blurred smudges, exclaiming that “the trees have leaves” before turning and throwing his arms around Logan’s neck in a hug. His excitement had always been too powerful to be restrained by caution.

[bubblesthemonsterartist]

Rare Pair: How about Raji and Shirayuki? ^^

Oh my goodness. I’m gonna be honest with you - This is typically my NOTP, but seeing how I this is a mental exercise, I’M GUNNA GIVE IT THE OLD COLLEGE TRY. XD

I’m pretty sure that my main issue lies with Raji in the beginning: the way he is introduced is just so off putting (yes, yes. I know. Historical context and all, but STILL), but after those first few episodes he is an adorable and sputtery awkward taco. SO LET’S CHANGE THE PLOT A LITTLE - THAT’S WHAT AU’S ARE FOR.

I actually was taking to @akagami-no-rae about this one about a week or so ago? And we came to the conclusion that Raji/Shirayuki works BEST with a 

[more below the cut]

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AU! :D

There are actually a lot of similarities between the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast and Shirayuki’s relationship with Raji. How so, you may ask? Well, let’s find out!

Belle and Shirayuki are both intelligent young women from small towns with their noses in books. Very industrious and beloved by the town.

Both of our protagonists are motherless; Maurice is more present in Belle’s life than Mukaze is in Shirayuki’s, but it’s not by much.

Raji and Prince Adam are both Crown Princes, graced with a phenomenal amount of arrogance (and it gets under control because of their relationship with the heroine). 

Beast saves Belle from a pack of wolves. Raji helps save Shirayuki from the Sea Talon.

But most importantly, I think, The Beast and Raji are both impetus for their respective heroines leaving their homes behind.

In the manga/anime, these similarities continue! Both Raji and The Beast go through a redemption arc while Shirayuki and Belle are in their castle:

Raj and Beast both realize that they need to become better people before they are worthy of being associated with these women, even though they are royalty and the women are commoners. It’s a humbling experience for the both of them.

(Also, don’t tell me Sakaki and Cogsworth aren’t one and the same.)

The way Raji/The Beast attempt to close the divide between them and Shirayuki/Belle are really the SAME.

BOOKS! :D :D :D

The library scenes match up SO WELL. I remember Shirayuki and Obi being brought into the library and being like “Well, this looks familiar.”

They’re both meeting her at her level with what she is passionate about: learning! And knowledge!

And then there’s a lot of plot, but then the ball ALSO made me pause. I remember thinking “…wait a second!”

I’VE SEEN THIS BEFORE

(I mean, those windows and the floors in the ballroom are almost identical. The design of the libraries and the external castle architecture are pretty similar, too.)

HOWEVER, in true Akagami no Shirayukihime style, the fairy tale trope is turned on its head. Shirayuki does NOT end up with Raji but instead returns to her new home in Clarines (after much drama, forgiveness, and friendship).

SO TO MAKE THIS WORK, THIS IS HOW I’M THINKING THAT THIS AU GOES DOWN

Prequel: Raji is, of course, cursed for being a vain cat. He is The Beast.

Sakaki is Cogsworth (as established)

Obi is Lumiere (don’t ask me how he got there; Shirayuki needs encouragement for this to work out, okay?)

Mrs. Potts and Chip are adjusted slightly to be Rona and Eugena

Mihaya is Gastone (I know, he’s a scrawny thing, but they wear the same color clothes, have the same color hair, and are antagonists. Just roll with it. XD )

And naturally, Shirayuki is Belle.

The Story: Shirayuki is out and about picking herbs for her apothecary when she gets caught up in an ice storm and stumbles across Castle Shenazard. On her way to seek sanctuary, she stops in the garden and finds some rare herbs which she picks because it’ll cure some kid back in town quickly!

Raji (the Beast) finds her and tells her that there is a price to pay for stealing from him.

Shirayuki gets mad and tells him off, but acknowledges that she has stolen (FOR A GOOD CAUSE, THOUGH). She still has to save this kid, but she’ll keep her word and return.

Raji is so shook that he lets her go and expects that she will never return.

(Obi taunts him from the rafters for being dumb. “That was a girl. You just let a girl leave here. A girl who could have broken a spell. You know, that spell that takes away our humanity?”

Raji: I KNOW SHE’S A GIRL! I’M NOT BLIND! *tsk* SAKAKI, TELL HIM I KNOW THAT’S A GIRL.

Sakaki: Obi. His Highness is aware that he let a girl who could have saved us all from this terrible fate, go

Raji: !!!!)

Shirayuki returns to pay her debt, as promised, much to everyone’s amazement.

Back in town, Mihaya is wondering where his bride-to-be/next payday has gone

Shirayuki finds the rose and being the plant-lover that she is, removes the case protecting it because it looks a little sick and she wants to freshen it up. Raji finds her, loses his temper and makes Shirayuki mad enough that she leaves, running off into the night where she runs into the Sea Talon

The Sea Talon kidnap her

*hand wave* Raji (and maybe the Mountain Lions) rescue her - haven’t though this part out

They have bonding over books and ballroom dancing (see above). Some evenings, Raji even plays a little violin for her while she reads by the fireplace.

Raji realizes that he can’t hold her hostage like this. She has long ago finished paying her debt to him. He needs to let her go. 

Shirayuki leaves because there is a epidemic in her town but she promises to return to him again.

(Time is running out, but Shirayuki doesn’t know that and Raji, in his first selfless move, does not tell her that he does not think she’ll make it back in time.)

After the town is cured from the worst of the illness, Mihaya accuses Shirayuki of witchcraft. She’s obviously been consorting with demons and whatnot out in the woods all these months. They find out where she’s been staying and they go to kill the Beast.

And then you know the rest of Beauty and the Beast:

The animated furniture fights back

Obi does some cool ninja-stick moves

Sakaki is all around :| :| :| about everyone making a mess but trips a few dumbasses

Eugena and Rona tag team their attackers

Back in town, Shirayuki escapes to rescue Raji

Mihaya stabs Raji who is such a sad sack that he doesn’t fight back until he sees Shirayuki came back for him (again)

Mihaya dies after an epic battle on the roof

Shirayuki uses her medical knowledge to cure Raji from his wounds and yells at him for being stupid enough to let someone stab him

You want a plot twist? 

Time runs out and everyone is stuck in their cursed form. But Shirayuki still hangs around and becomes internationally renowned as healer. She goes about curing ailments all over Tanbarun with the herbs from the magical gardens of Castle Shenazard. Clarines sends convoys of pharmacists to study with her and analyze the magical properties of the plants and they all live Happily Ever After bettering humanity with their discoveries.

[esmerodo]

SAILOR MOON GEMSTONES & MINERALS: GARNET (FOR SAILOR PLUTO DAY) 

 By: ~ Mamoru Chiba 

A belated Happy Birthday to Setsuna! Born on Sunday, October 29th. What year? WHO REALLY KNOWS? ;-) This is a post I did Sunday for the FB Page Sailor Moon: The Mooniverse, where I am their Admin Mamoru Chiba 🎩🌹🌙🌏

I have a Birthstones & Horoscope Post for all of the Senshi plus Tuxedo Mask. Would you like to see them here on Tumblr? Let me know in the replies! --Esmerodo. 

=========================@ 

SCORPIO: Setsuna was born on October 29th, under the Zodiac sign of Scorpio. The Ruling Body for people born on this date is the Planet Pluto, representing desire, transformation and expansion. (Moonies, please note: anyone who remarks here that Pluto isn’t a planet anymore, gets bopped on the head with the Time Rod and sent to a time in history that you will NOT like! You have been warned!) 

NAOKO-SENSEI’S TRAINING IN MINERALS & GEMSTONES: The reason we do this feature is because Naoko Takeuchi named most of her villain characters after a gemstone or mineral and has each of the Senshi themed around certain symbolic gemstones. Where they are known I’ve also listed each Senshi’s Zodiac gemstone and Talismanic gemstone too. I have added the horoscope for the day each Senshi was born. Takeuchi-sensei was born in Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, the historically famous city of artisan gems carving and distributing in Japan. To this day, the Yamanashi Gem Museum displays gems, precious stones, and large quartz crystals collected from Japan and around the world. Naoko also pursued her interests by joining an earth sciences club in high school. 

 In university, Naoko Takeuchi studied chemistry in preparation to become a pharmacist and clinical research technician, which led to a by-the-book “mineral knowledge” being persistent throughout her work, and she got to know all the lore behind a large variety of minerals and gemstones. For instance, Mimete isn’t a gemstone; she is a mineral, mimetite, and her dress and tights are EXACTLY the same golden yellow colour of mimetite. Naoko coloured her illustrations VERY carefully! Naoko-sensei had promised her Dad, if this manga drawing idea didn’t work out, she could always fall back on working in a drug store! :-)And as you will see, the mineral/gemstone knowledge did NOT go to waste, when that Sailor Moon manga thing worked out in a big way! 

SECRETIVE, PASSIONATE & IMPULSIVE: People born on this date are passionate, secretive and impulsive, masking their strong willed, ambitious nature under a deceptive cool calm reserve. Because people born on this day like to keep others in the dark about their true thoughts and intentions, they call a person born on this date the "Chess Master." They are very attractive to everyone they meet. 

A WOMAN OF MYSTERY: We can easily imagine the Senshi of Time, with her knowledge of all the ages, keeping secret all the knowledge she has acquired about the past, present and future, quietly observing, making her plans and directing the other Senshi masterfully. You better let this Scorpio be in charge, or she will be annoyed! Independent and innovative, bursting with ideas and energy, the Scorpio woman is formidable and awe inspiring, but we never know what she’s thinking. Setsuna is an ageless woman of mystery. Well, maybe one thing we DO know: People born on this date are drawn to people born between July 23 and August 22, the sign of Leo. Hmmm. That’s Mamoru’s Zodiac sign and...AHEM, let’s not go there. :P 

SOLITARY SCORPIO: Sailor Pluto is ideally suited to her role as the eternally solitary Senshi, because people born on this date tend to give all their energy to achieving their professional goals while sometimes forgetting about their personal lives, favouring unusual careers and often ending up working for themselves. They spend money casually but aren’t interested in money for its own sake. We all have noticed that Setsuna is wise, gentle, affectionate and considerate, especially with the youngest Senshi, Chibi Moon/Small Lady, and Sailor Saturn/Hotaru. These admirable qualities will only get stronger as she gets older. 

PLUTO’S SCORPIO BIRTHSTONE, THE GARNET: The Garnet, the talisman in Sailor Pluto’s Time Rod, is most closely associated with our most mysterious of the Senshi. Garnet is the Planetary Gemstone associated with Pluto, the ruling planet of Scorpio, and is hence the planetary stone for Scorpio. 

SCORPIO'S LUCKY COLOURS: Deep red, the colour of garnet is Scorpio’s lucky colour, along with violet, scarlet and carmine. Perhaps this is why Setsuna usually wears a violet suit with a red bow in the 90’s anime! Garnet, the Scorpio birthstone occurs mostly in deep red, a passionate sensual Scorpio colour. The Scorpio gemstone is believed to enhance healing and relieve depression. [REFERENCES: http://birthdaypersonality.org/october-29-zodiac-birthday-horoscope/ http://www.zodiac-signs.co/months/october-29-zodiac-sign-scorpio.html http://kamayojewelry.com/zodiac-signs-birthstones/scorpio-birth-stone/ http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/horoscopes-astrology/october-29-birthday-astrology.htm http://www.thehoroscope.co/zodiac-signs/october-29-zodiac-scorpio.html ] 

GARNET ROD: According to wikimoon.org, the Garnet Rod was an item carried by Sailor Pluto. She primarily used the Garnet Rod to perform the attack Dead Scream, but it also functioned as a key of sorts to the Space-Time Door. Her talisman, the Garnet Orb, sat atop this Rod. Sailor Pluto still had access to the Garnet Rod even in her civilian form. In the manga, it protected her from the Tellun she was analyzing, and in the anime, she used it to show the Inner Senshi a vision of the Silence. 

GARNET, THE OLDEST GEMSTONE OF ALL: So why did Naoko Takeuchi choose a Garnet for the Time Rod? Sailor Moon Fans, she chose it because garnets have a history the world over, as old as Time itself. Sailor Moon’s creator really, really knows her gemstones and minerals and has done her homework on what they mean to the Sailor Moon story. Garnets have as long a history as both a gemstone and a talisman as there were humans on Earth, from what we can determine. According to crystalvaults.com, not only was Garnet prized as an ornamental jewel, but its strong curative powers and protective energies made it invaluable. 

GARNET=POMEGRANATE: Garnet comes from the Latin name “Granatum”, meaning pomegranate, because granular varieties of Garnet look a lot like pomegranate seeds. Wonder if Setsuna likes drinking POM Wonderful pomegranate juice for its antioxidant qualities, to keep her ageless? If so, she could, in theory, drink a pint of pomegranate juice from an ancient Roman hollowed out cup made from garnet! The Roman historian Pliny wrote that the large dull-colored "Carbunculus of India" (a type of Garnet) used to be hollowed out into vessels, which would hold as much as a pint. 

THE HISTORY OF GARNETS: Not only were Garnets popular in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, but Garnets were used in Egypt more than 5000 years ago, in Sumeria around 2100 B.C., in Sweden between 1000 and 2000 B.C. and in the former Czechoslovakia as far back as the Bronze Age. 

GARNETS AS A TALISMAN: As a talisman, Garnet was used as a sacred stone by the Native American Indians, the South American Indians, the Aztecs, the African tribal elders, and the Mayans. Garnet acts with speed to expand one's awareness, due to the flash of lightning contained within, and enhances one's internal fire to bring creative powers to implementation. As a Warrior's Stone, Garnet served as a talisman in the Crusades for both the Christians and their Muslim enemies. Garnets also had religious significance in Biblical times: According to the Talmud, the only light on Noah's ark was provided by a large Garnet. 

GARNETS AS A BLOOD RED WEAPON: The red Garnet, which used to be called a carbuncle, is the colour of blood. So some Asiatic tribes believed that this blood red stone would not only protect you from being wounded, but it would be more deadly as a weapon in a slingshot or as a bullet. In 1892 on the Kashmir frontier, the rebellious Hanzas used Garnet bullets to fire on British troops. No, I don’t know whether Garnet bullets are more effective than lead bullets! But they certainly would be more expensive ammunition! 

GARNETS AS GEMSTONES & ITS PROPERTIES: Garnet is a powerful energizing and regenerative stone. It balances, strengthens and protects. According to crystalcure.com, Garnet is known as the stone for a successful business. Maybe this is why Setsuna never seems to lack for funds and when she moved in with Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru, they seemed to live in great prosperity! Not to mention, her timeless Garnet talisman Rod was the key to the Time Gates, which allowed Sailor Pluto to go back in time and collect priceless items that she could bring back to the modern world to sell. Some day I hope to see Setsuna’s outstanding awesome collection on the Antiques Roadshow! 

SUCCESS IN BUSINESS & PROTECTION ON JOURNEYS: If your business is not as good as it should be, just put 3 or more garnets on your desk. It is believed that if a garnet is put under a pillow it will cure depression. Garnets can be used to make a person popular and have self-esteem when worn as jewellery. It helps protect one on trips (any trips, not just through Sailor Pluto’s Time Gates!). Garnets bring constancy to friendships.

BLOOD RED, BURNING COAL: Garnets help aid circulation and all blood related issues. Garnet does come in colours other than blood red, but in its most common form, it is called Almandine, formerly known as a “carbuncle” (though originally, almost any red gemstone was known by this name). The term "carbuncle" is derived from the Latin meaning "live coal" or burning charcoal. Almandine is a corruption of Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stones were cut in ancient times. 

ANCIENT JEWELLERY (WIKIPEDIA): Red garnets were the most commonly used gemstones in the Late Antique Roman world, and the Migration Period art of the "barbarian" peoples who took over the territory of the Western Roman Empire. They were especially used inlaid in gold cells in the cloisonné technique, a style often just called garnet cloisonné, found from Anglo-Saxon England, as at Sutton Hoo, to the Black Sea. Pure crystals of garnet are still used as gemstones. 

THE COLOURS OF GARNET: Garnet gemstone varieties occur in shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. The next most common colour after red is emerald green, the colour of Sailor Pluto’s hair. There are two well known varieties of emerald green Garnets: Tsavorite and Demantoid, which is the most valuable Garnet of them all. So is Setsuna’s hair supposed to resemble Tsavorite or Demantoid? We’ll have to ask Naoko-sensei that question! Garnet is also the birthstone for the month of January and the State Gemstone for New York State. The Star Garnet (Garnet with rutile asterisms) is the State Gemstone of Idaho. 

OTHER BIRTHSTONES: PLANETARY GEMSTONE FOR SCORPIO: Ruby Ruby is the other Planetary Gemstone associated with Pluto and Scorpio. For more information on Rubies, please see Sailor Mars’ Gemstone Page. Other Scorpio Zodiac Gemstones are Apache Tear, Aquamarine, Beryl, Coral, and Obsidian. Before Pluto was discovered, Mars was considered to be the ruling planet for the Zodiac sign of Scorpio. The red gemstones of Mars such as Ruby, Red Coral and Poppy Jasper are still considered to be the most auspicious colours for Scorpios to wear. 

TALISMANIC GEMSTONE: Amethyst FOR GRIEF, LOSS & DISPELLING NEGATIVE EMOTIONS: The Talismanic Birthstone associated with Scorpio is the Amethyst. Amethyst imparts soberness, spiritual insight, calm, balance, peace and inner strength to the wearer, helping him or her to deal with personal losses and grief. Apache Tear and Obsidian, like other black gemstones are best for dispelling negative emotions and grief. Given Sailor Pluto’s extremely long life through the ages as the daughter of Chronos and Guardian of the Time Gates, she has experienced and will experience the grief of losing those she loves many times. Setsuna will need whatever strength Amethyst, Apache Tear and Obsidian can give her to move on and be the wise, spiritual and calm Senshi who so many rely on. [http://kamayojewelry.com/zodiac-signs-birthstones/scorpio-birth-stone/] 

FAN ART: Eternal Sailor Pluto by nuxi-chan with her green garnet hair, holding aloft her blood red Garnet rod with its talisman gemstone, eternal as time itself! 

GEMSTONE PHOTOS: Top Left: Teardrop shaped African Demantoid, from swalagemtraders. Top Centre: Rough mineral Garnet fromprettyrock.com Top Right: Russian Demantoid Diamond Ring Bottom Left: TMC Pakistan Tsavorite Bottom Centre: From jewelocean uk: garnet gemstone engagement ring on silver Bottom Right: Heart shaped Tsavorite from uppergems.com 

 Many happy returns, Setsuna, from admin ~ Mamoru Chiba

[secret-agent-mermaid]

You should know the women in your life. If you bring up the subject, to a woman you know, just to have a conversation with her, about something you’re interested in or read an article about, it’s not mansplaining. If you bring up an idea to your boss, it’s not mansplaining.

Mansplaining is when a woman is talking about something, and you enter the conversation to tell her that she’s wrong/explain the topic further. That’s when you use this chart. The two examples you gave aren’t even giving explanations, they’re having a conversation with someone.

The purpose of the chart is to stop people from interjecting into conversations to show off their knowledge and ending up speaking over someone else.

For example: At work, I’m talking to a customer about a product she was wanting to buy. If it’s a medication and the pharmacist (male) comes up and interrupts the conversation to give his input, that’s not mansplaining. He has more expertise.

However, if I’m explaining to a customer the way a store policy works and my male coworker who is at the same level as me comes up and adds his input without me requesting his assistance, it’s mansplaining. Because we’re both in managerial positions, but customers generally look to him for answers in situations like this, not because he knows more (I’ve been there longer and have been in every position I could be in while he was just hired for a management position), not because he speaks better, but because he’s a man. They don’t mean to. We all have biases, they’re necessary for survival. But most people’s biases subconsciously lead them to listen to the man in the situation.

So if he comes up and starts talking to the customer, a few things happen: I look like I can’t handle customers on my own, I look like I don’t understand our policy well enough to explain it, and I have just lost rapport with this customer. It’s a small town and people talk, so next time I try to tell a customer that we can’t do something due to policy, they may have talked to this one (or it could be the same person) and assume I don’t know what I’m talking about and call corporate instead. I lose my ability to deescalate a situation because I’m not respected in my position.

And don’t say that this isn’t going to happen because it has. This exact situation happened. I can no longer say anything to this customer or her friends when they try to break our coupon policy, because any time I do they bring up that I don’t know policy otherwise he wouldn’t have had to step in (even though he didn’t say anything I wasn’t about to say, in the same tone of voice and attitude, he just said it before I could since he interrupted).

And no, it’s not always men. But it usually is. And the two times it’s been a woman, I was able to talk to them about it later and they apologized and it hasn’t happened again with either of them. But when I talked to him about it later, just as politely and casually as I did with the women, he said he didn’t do anything wrong, just jumped in to help me - even though I wasn’t struggling, the customer wasn’t angry, and I didn’t ask for help. I explained this to him and he blew it off. It’s happened a few more times since then.

So yeah, mansplaining. Don’t try to detract from what women tell you is a problem by playing the victim and acting like now you’re never allowed to talk again. Use common sense. Don’t offer help unless someone asks for it, or if you do; actually offer it. Don’t just start talking. Ask if they need an explanation or help. If they say no, leave it alone. Obviously we’re not talking about you having ideas and starting a conversation. We’re talking about conversations that are already happening and you interjecting into them.

Kim Goodwin‏: “I have had more than one male colleague sincerely ask whether a certain behavior is mansplaining. Since apparently this is hard to figure out, I made one of them a chart.”

[j-hankim]

A Father’s Love

I woke up this morning crying. Rubbing the crust and tears off my eyes, I was grateful to be alive. I was relieved to be back in reality. The clock shows 9:30 and just another Sunday. The date marks June 9th, 2019. It was all a dream and no I never did read Word Up! Magazine.

I suppose I’ve always been a vivid dreamer. Sometimes I wish I had an artist’s soft and controlled touch so I could paint these pictures I see in my dreams but I suppose only words will do for now.

Closing my eyes again takes me back to the apocalyptic world that I dreamt about. Raindrops give kisses to the windows like a jazz percussionist’s soft touch on a snare. The sound is almost hypnotic if you were to listen carefully. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Your feet could bounce to its cadence if you paid close enough attention. Outside the confines of this vehicle however, the outside world is less serene. The sky bleeds with grim, dark clouds. You could almost smell it in the air. You might even be able to taste it if you tried hard enough. “It” being an impending storm and It’s stewing in the background. A tornado spins off in the distance, picking up wind and the water around it, but being who I am, I glanced at the danger, glanced away, and minded it no attention.

The van we’re sitting in isn’t the most comfortable either but it’s serviceable. We as in, my dad and I. It’s probably a good time to mention that my dad and I are one of many passengers on this van. My trance from nature’s percussion breaks as my dad tells me to be careful as if he can feel some impending doom. Per usual, I don't mind it much attention. At that moment, I shake my head and thinking, "So random. He's always such a worry wart..." A lot of my redeeming qualities are from my dad but in this case and comparison, I suppose I'm more of the type to just roll with the punches and take things as they come. Why worry? Everything in this life is up to the Man upstairs anyways. The only certainty is rooted in Christ. 

Uncertainty is bounded by anything and everything else.

Where are we going in the first place? Why am I in a van? Our destination is unknown but it feels like a trip we had been planning for a while. The worn, grey cloth seats in the large passenger van welcome crashing waves of nostalgia. It's the same kind of car I've taken countless road trips with my second family, the church. A fond memory of my childhood it is, falling asleep on the shoulders of friends (and childhood crushes. Oops.), belting Chris Tomlin lyrics, and the excitement of traveling with the people near and dear to you.

After a few moments of daydreaming and pensively looking out the window, I snap out of my daze and see that our vehicle approaching a narrow bridge. As we reach its midpoint, I instantly feel a shadow creeping behind me. The temperature drops and there's a chill like a winter's breeze but I know it can't be just wind. This wind is more than just bite. There's no way it’s the twister I saw before but minded no attention to. I’m right but I wish I was wrong.

I look outside and a tidal wave extends past my uppermost view of the back window.  

The towering wave beings to casts a shadow over our van and I think, "Is this it?"

My dad shouts “우리 하나. 안돼!” and everything goes black as the tidal wave engulfs our van.

*** For those of you readers that aren’t Korean, he said, “No! My son”, using my Korean name.

Everything turns black and we're submerged. Fight or flight kicks in as I quickly gather my senses, shelve my emotions, and remind myself there’s no time for panic. I immediately look for my backpack and grab the black Avtomat Kalashnikova pocket knife I always carry on my person. With its metal handle, I meet the back of the van’s window with desperation. After a few valiant attempts, the window runs deep with hairline cracks like a spider's web and cold-water rushes as if it’s in a hurry. Such a thin line between Life and Death, both wait for no one.

As the vehicle starts to sink and the water rushes in from above, I abruptly get pushed up from below. Without a question, I climb out and start swimming to the surface. The push for survival feels like an eternity but I begin to see a hazy light off in the distance and above me. Bearing resemblance to an abandoned streetlight on a foggy night’s day, I know it’s the light at the end of the tunnel. These feeble arms grow heavy but I continue swimming upwards, refusing Death’s tempting arms. As I gasp for air above the water and finally pull myself ashore, a vision comes and brings me to my knees. In some way, the truth makes me wish I succumbed to temptation and welcomed Death’s arms. Like a movie flashback, a scene shows our van slowly sinking to the bottom of the water with several other windows broken in.

It’s hard to say what exactly happened in the van (it’s a dream after all…) but in that moment, I knew that my dad broke the other windows for the rescue of others. I knew he was the one behind the aforementioned push from below. I knew he gave his life to save his only son. Only until I met fellow survivors ashore did the reality of his sacrifice hit me. Like a horror move on VCR, the scenes rewinded on loop in my headspace and I broke down. End scene.

It's not like I had some sort of life epiphany on a Sunday, 9:30 in the morning. Rather, the whole experience and the rollercoaster wave of emotions was sobering. Moving. Refreshing.

I cried not only because of the mourning of my father in this dream but because I was moved by a father's love for his child. I know without a doubt that if this situation played out in real life, he would have done the exact same.

I come from a background of immigrant parents that left everything they had in their home country, familiarity and especially comfort. All this for the pursuit of happiness and a better opportunity. In the 1980s, my father fled the streets of Seoul knowing the fast-life led to only two options: death or behind bars. Around the same time, my mother had left her cushy corporate career to pursue her life-long dream to become a fashion designer. Her uncle lived in New York as a pharmacist at the time and said, “Come here and follow your dream. I’ll provide room/board for you.” She ended up studying in New York for a year until she ran out of money and her visa neared its expiration date at the same time. They were introduced by a mutual friend at a Korean immigrant church in the city of Rockville. Church wedding bells would ring only three months later. Their decision to get married was driven by necessity and a lack of choice rather than “love”, a common theme in many immigrant households. 

A Greybound bus rumbles down the New Jersey Turnpike as I wrap up this blog post. The timing of it all is a bit poetic, having this dream a week before Father’s Day and finishing it at the conclusion of our weekend trip. This getaway to New York City is significant and sentimental because it’s the first vacation my dad has had in over 30 years. His brother’s shop, a quiet dry cleaner’s in Southeast DC, is currently going through some re-leasing so he’s been decommissioned from his humble duty of cleaning and pressing garments for a few weeks now. His callous hands date back to the 1983. You could tell if you met him. His body and demeanor is inked with hard-work and diligence. The wear and tear of his job approaches 40 years now. We shared an embrace earlier today. We hugged for a moment after packing our things in our cozy hotel room in Korea Town, NYC. I told him Happy Father’s Day. He smiled and told me this weekend is the happiest he’s been in a long time. 

If you knew me when I was in my early 20s, you’d know this weekend would’ve been something conceived out of pure fantasy. I think we often get naïve with blinding pride and a lack of knowledge. Our young age usually shows when with a lack of understanding, ignorance in other words. Until a couple year ago, the relationship with my father was very distant and broken due to misunderstanding, largely by me in retrospect. If you’re close to me or life has compelled me to open to you, you might know how God has turned a new leaf within me. 

My change of heart wasn’t just a transformation of faith but a newly formed relationship with my dad. A relationship that is now grounded in faith, understanding, and listening. 

Back in 2011, University of Maryland quoted 19th-century writer/philosopher Henry David Thoreau and asked its college applicants, “What’s your something?” What’s your purpose in life? 

In ignorance fueled by blinded bitterness and angst, I stated that everyone can be a father but not everyone can be a Dad. A long 8 years ago, I wrote how my purpose in life is to become the man my father never was. The father he never was. The husband he never was. I wanted to give my children everything that I didn’t have growing up. I scorned my father and slandered his name. The passion I had but the knowledge I did not.

Since then, I’ve learned that forgiveness is a two-way street. After a rocky first year of college, God stirred something within me and compelled me to live with him in 2012. In that time, my father asked for forgiveness which I begrudgingly accepted. Living with him was hard and that relationship was never fully healed until 2014 or so.

At that time, Corey Matthews was a humble, soft-spoken manager at CarMax. We crossed paths because I worked here part-time while attending school. On a slow weekday night, we ended up candidly shared our life experiences and history. To my surprise, I found out he was also a professing Christian and we shared our testimonies. He would reveal to me that he also had a broken relationship with his father. That relationship never progressed until he asked for forgiveness. Not his father but COREY himself asked for forgiveness. He encouraged me to do the same, ask my father for forgiveness.

What?!?!

Me ask for forgiveness? Why? He’s the one that wronged me. He’s the one that wasn’t around. As I grew into my adolescence and teen years, I was envious of all the other dads I saw around in school and even at church. All those sports I played in high school, where was he?

Who taught me how to ride a bike?

Dribble a basketball?

Throw a baseball? I got onto Varsity HS baseball all by myself as a pitcher.

How about how to go on my first date?

How to drive stick? All ME…

If you’re a 90s baby, you’ll probably think fondly of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

In season four, there’s an iconic scene from the episode “Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse”.  

Will's father, Lou Smith, returns to his son's life after 14 years. Will is very happy about the chance to reconnect with his father, and the two start to plan a cross country trip together. Uncle Phil however, is not happy about the situation, believing that Lou has returned for his own selfish purposes and will most likely disappoint Will again. This proves to be true as Lou tries to leave again without telling anyone, and after building up his relationship with his son, but is caught by Phil. Lou is forced to explain the truth to Will and leaves, leaving Will heartbroken and wondering why his own father doesn't want him.

If you’re reading this, I highly recommend checking out the episode or at least the scene on YouTube. 

I even remember I got into a big argument with him in elementary school and I told him, “Why are you talking to me? Do you even know my favorite color? My favorite animal?” He quietly went away after my outburst. I knew what I was asking of him and knew he would be speechless. I was so young and so naïve… At times, little children can be more hurtful than adults. 

Corey challenged me to look within myself and ask where I fell short of perfection. All the time, no? Where I fell short as a son. Where I fell short as a sinner. In His 5th commandment, God called His people to honor your father and your mother. Corey challenged me to show grace because He showed us grace first. In 1 John 4:19 it says, we love because He loved us first.

My righteous justification slowly dissolved to humility at that moment because I realized Corey was right. Corey said with confidence that the relationship with my father would NEVER progress and reach full circle unless I ask him for forgiveness. I had sinned against my father in my bitterness, slander, and hatred and I needed to ask for forgiveness to both fathers, earthly and Heavenly. I did indeed ask him for forgiveness and there has been a 180 in our relationship.

Remember that statement I made in 2011? How my “something” in life is to be the man my father never was? 

After asking for forgiveness and softening my calloused heart, I quickly realized what my father had done in all those years. Those lost hours in my childhood was due to his selflessness rather than selfishness. He worked 10 to 12 hour days to put food on the table as the owner of a small dry cleaner while my mom came home at 2:00pm like clockwork to pick me up from school. Those experiences I missed out on? He dearly wished to share those with me but being a small business owner didn’t allow him too. The laundry list goes on with what he wished he had done but couldn’t due to circumstance. 

The beauty behind the turned leaf is how my something is now to be the man my father is. My purpose in life is to be like the man already was. He was never just a father. He was always my dad…

For those that are reading and have broken relationships with your fathers, I challenge you to look within yourself and see where you have fallen short. Grace and love go a long way and our Creator calls us to forgive. I’m not saying you should try to change 180 degrees overnight. My change was a gradual process that started with a changed mindset. A mindset that stemmed from open-mindedness and humility. I believe that if my calloused heart changed, with some dedication and perspective, yours can change too.

For those that are reading and do not have a father, whether they have been absent or no longer alive, know that you have a Heavenly father that desires to be present in your life. People in this life will always let you down but God never does. He is always present and always there. This God created you in His image and with a purpose for that reason. The Gospel presents a Father that gave his only Son, Jesus, to die for us sinners. Sinners that are undeserving of anything good and deserving of eternal condemnation because of the fall of Man. However, because of His love for his creation and his people and the sacrifice of His son, you are greeted with open arms and an eternal purpose if you believe this to be true.  Jesus paid the price through His blood and it as because of His unconditional love for us.

For those that are reading, have a present father, but you’ve been neglecting your Heavenly Father, I challenge you to reconnect with Him. Christianity is the only religion that emphasizes a true relationship with your God. I know I fall short every day and I tell myself I’ll do better. Some days I do and some days I don’t. If you can get into the cycle of self-loathing like I do at times, be reminded that God shows us love and grace so we should do the same for ourselves.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I really hope these words speak truth into you. My inbox is always open for a wholesome DM if you’re curious about the Christian faith. This is the Good News and this is the truth if you’ve been searching for answers your whole life with no luck.

Happy Father’s Day.

- Josh

06/16/2019

[subihasan-blog]

Wifehood and Motherhood are Not the Only Ways to Paradise

“Why are you majoring in that field?” I asked a sister in college. She sighed, “To be honest, I just want to get married. I don’t really care about what I’m studying right now. I’m just waiting to get hitched so I can be a wife and a mother.” “It’s awesome that she wants to be a wife and a mother, but why would she put her life on hold?” I wondered. Why would a skilled, passionate young woman create barriers to striving for self-improvement and her ability to be socially transformative when she doesn’t yet have the responsibilities of wifehood or motherhood? Being a wife and a mom are great blessings, but before it actually happens, why exchange tangible opportunities, just waiting for marriage to simply come along—if it came along? I didn’t have to look far to find out. “I’m already twenty-six,” another sister lamented. “I’m expired. My parents are going crazy. They think I’m never going to get married and they pressure me about it daily. My mom’s friends keep calling her and telling her I’m not getting any younger. She keeps crying over it and says she’ll never be a grandma. It’s not like I don’t want to get married; I’ve been ready since college! I just can’t find the right guy,” she cried. Why, as a general community, are we not putting the same pressure on women to encourage them to continue to seek Islamic knowledge? Higher education? To make objectives in their lives which will carry over and aid them in their future familial lives, if such is what is meant for them? Perhaps it’s because we’re obsessed with the idea that women need to get married and become mothers and that if they don’t, they have not reached true success. We all know the honorable and weighty status of wifehood and motherhood in Islam. We all know that marriage completes half your deen1 and that the Prophet (peace be upon him) has told us about the mother, “[…] Paradise is at her feet.”2 But getting married and becoming a mother is not the only way to get into Paradise. And not every grown woman is a wife and/or mother, nor will ever be. Some women will eventually become wives and/or mothers, if Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) blesses them with such, but for others, Allah (swt) has blessed them with other opportunities. Allah (swt) did not create women for the sake of wifehood or motherhood. This is not our first goal, nor our end goal. Our creation was to fulfill our first and most important role—to be His SLAVE. As He tells us in Surah Dhaariyat (Chapter of the Winnowing Winds), “And I did not create the jinn and humankind except to worship Me.”3 Worship comes in such a variety of forms. Being a housewife (a.k.a. domestic engineer!) can be a form of worship. Being a stay-at-home-mom can be a form of worship. Being a working wife and mother can be a form of worship. Being an unmarried female student can be a form of worship. Being a divorced female doctor, a female journalist, Islamic scholar, film director, pastry chef, teacher, veterinarian, engineer, personal trainer, lawyer, artist, nurse, Qur’an teacher, psychologist, pharmacist or salon artist can each be a form of worship. Just being an awesome daughter or house-fixer upper can be forms of worship. We can worship Allah (swt) in a variety of ways, as long as we have a sincere intention, and what we do is done within the guidelines He has set for us. Unfortunately, however, that is not the message our community is sending to single sisters – both those who have never been married, and those who are now divorced. When I speak to many women and ask them about the ways they want to contribute to society and the ways they want to use their time and abilities, a number of them will tell me that they have no idea and that they’re only going through the motions of school or work while they’re waiting for Prince Muslim to come along and with whom they can establish parenthood. However, Prince Muslim is not coming along quickly or easily for many awesome, eligible Muslim women. And for some, he has come along, and he or the institution of their relationship turned out to be more villainous than harmonious. Single and never married or divorced — very capable and intelligent Muslim women constantly have to deal with the pressure of being asked, “So…when are you getting married? You aren’t getting any younger. It’s harder to have kids when you’re older.” The amount of tears, pain, stress, anger and frustration which these awesome women are constantly dealing with because of a social pressure to get married (especially when many already want to, but are just not finding the right person!) and have children is not from our religion. Islam gave women scholarship. Our history is filled with women who have dedicated their lives to teaching Islamic sciences. Have you ever heard of Fatimah Sa`d al Khayr? She was a scholar who was born around the year 522. Her father, Sa`d al Khayr, was also a scholar. He held several classes and was “most particular about [his daughters] attending hadith classes, traveling with them extensively and repeatedly to different teachers. He also taught them himself.”4 Fatimah studied the works of the great al-Tabarani with the lead narrator of his works in her time. You know who that lead narrator was? The lead narrator of Fatimah’s time was not named Abu someone (the father of someone, indicating that he was a male). The leading scholar of her time was a woman. Her name was Fatimah al-Juzadniyyah and she is the scholar who men and women alike would study under because in that era, she was the greatest and most knowledgeable in some of the classical texts.5 Fatimah Sa`d al Khayr eventually married and moved to Damascus and eventually to Cairo and she continued to teach. Many scholars travelled specifically to her city so they could study under her.6 Fatimah was brought up in a family that valued the education and knowledge of a woman to the point that her father was the one who would ensure she studied with scholars from a young age. Before marriage, she was not told to sit around and be inactive in the community out of fear that some men would find an educated woman unattractive or intimidating and would not want to marry her. She was not going through the motions of studying random things in college because she was stalling until she got married. She sought scholarship and Allah (swt) blessed her with a husband who was of her ranking, who understood her qualifications and drive, and who supported her efforts to continue teaching this religion even after marriage. She left a legacy we unfortunately have most likely never heard about because we rarely hear about the over eight thousand female scholars of hadith who are part of our history.7 Why do we never hear about Fatimah Sa`d al Khayr and the thousands of female scholars who were like her? I think that one of the reasons—and it’s just a personal theory—that as a community, we are so focused on grooming our women to be wives and mothers that we lose sight of the fact that this is not even our number one role. Servitude to Allah (swt) is our number one role. We need to use what He has given us, the means that we have at the moment we have, to worship Him in the best of ways. Islamic history is filled with examples of women who were wives and mothers, who focused completely on their tasks of being wives and/or mothers, and produced the likes of Imam Ahmed rahimahu allah (may God have mercy on him).8We take those examples as a community and we reiterate the noble status of such incredible women. But we also have examples of people who were not only wives and not only mothers, but those who were both of those, one of those, or none of those, and still were able to use the passions, talents and skills Allah (swt) blessed them with to worship Him through serving His creation, through calling His creation back to His Deen and leaving legacies for the generations to come. Some of these women were wives and mothers and dedicated their lives to focusing on their families completely and some of them continued to serve the greater society at large. Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi mentions in his introduction to his Dictionary of women hadith scholars, Al Muhadithaat, “Not one [of the 8000 female hadith scholars he researched] is reported to have considered the domain of family life inferior, or neglected duties therein, or considered being a woman undesirable or inferior to being a man, or considered that, given aptitude and opportunity, she had no duties to the wider society, outside of the domain of family life.”9 Female scholars in our history were focused on being family women when they had families to whom they held responsibilities, and when able, they also had goals and objectives in life which extended beyond the roles of wifehood and motherhood. So what about someone who is not yet married? Many single women are using their time to the utmost, focusing on improving their skills and abilities to contribute back to the ummah (community) and society at large. They are loving worshipping Allah (swt) through investing in their abilities and using those for the greater good. Perhaps we can all take from their example. God, in His Wisdom, has created each one of us differently and in different circumstances. Some recognize this, love any stage they are in, and develop their abilities to the fullest. Let us, too, use the time and abilities God has given us to maximize our worship to Him and work for the betterment of society and humanity as a whole. If wifehood or motherhood comes in the process, then at least we were using all of our ability to worship Him before it came and can continue to use the training and stamina we gained before marriage to worship Him with excellence once it comes along. If there are parents, families and communities that are pressuring women to get married and have kids: Be grateful Allah (swt) has blessed you with daughters, married or unmarried, mothers or not, as the Prophet SAW has said, “Do not be averse to daughters, for they are precious treasures that comfort your heart.”10 We are putting more pressure on our sisters than they can emotionally and psychologically handle. Let us give them space, let them find themselves and establish their relationships with Allah (swt). Allah (swt) created us to worship Him. That is our number one role. Now, let us do our part and figure out how best we can fulfill the purpose for which we’ve been created.

[notesandcoffee]

Opinions 4.15

The Apothecary should’ve stuck with the one story, fandom relations are tight, and what the hell, Dembe?

The Apothecary was intended to be a clear callback to "The Cypress Agency", among other things that felt a little lost. In our villain's efforts to have his child by forcibly sedating his "wife", he makes money by concocting poison, individualized by the victim's medical history and allergies. Both aspects of this "career" are highlighted in the episode, and nothing is expanded on enough for viewers to feel sympathy for anyone on the villain's side. The idea that he wants a child so badly is supposed to "redeem" him or humanize him, but instead it just makes him more of a caricature than it really needs.

If this were sitting on my desk, I would've probably have the wife be a willing participant in the pregnancy, but also having her disapprove of the poison concoctions. Her husband has lost his pharmacist license for [creepy reason], and the only way he can make money for their bundle of joy is through the assassination business. If the wife is willing, it makes her a little bit more unpredictable, and viewers would have incentive to feel sympathy for her. It also refocuses her as a human, rather than a blinking incubator for a child.

The creepiness would've been turned down a bit, but that's kind of the idea. The creepiest people aren't the ones isolate themselves in craziness; it's the ones that resemble amicable, familiar people that make me sick to my stomach. "The Cypress Agency" had the same premise but with two different characters as the focal points, a cretin who was grateful for ruining women's lives with his desire for children, who lived a normal life from the outside, and a woman stuck in a slightly-more-realistic version of "Rosemary's Baby", a victim struggling against the insanity of her surroundings.

The main storyline is Red puzzling together his own murder while dying, which makes for a untrustworthy non-linear. The entire time he's coughing and stumbling, he's calling out for his companions -- Dembe while awake, and as his companion notes, Elizabeth while sleeping. He's asking for them separately, instead of asking them to work together to help him. This is a marked difference from the time Red was previously dying in "Leonard Caul" and called specifically for "Lizzie", still asking for them to work together.

Acting as part-caretaker, part Doctor-Who-companion, LouLou helps Red through the investigation after being locked in a trunk by him. Even Red notices how polite she is about things. She doesn't seem at all phased by any of his actions -- the chanting while asleep, robbing a pharmacy, even locking her in the trunk. The character could have used more screentime to simply develop with Red. If she comes back (please), what does she do for a living? Can any of her talents be used in Red's Army, and/or does she work for minimum wage somewhere?

LouLou McClellan was named after a fan in memoriam, as acknowledged through the official writers' room twitter. The character's namesake regularly interacted with other Blacklist fans, myself included, on social media prior to her passing. For a show that has had conflict with fans on social media, naming a character after a fan comes as a surprise. Usually tributes to real people on-screen are saved for people who worked on the show in some capacity, but a nod to a passionate fan -- and the fandom who proposed the tribute -- hasn't received any negative response as far as I can tell.

With LouLou's help, Red comes to the revelation that the poison could've only come from the bourbon. Red has no knowledge of Kaplan's continued exisence, which leaves Dembe. Which leaves us with a bunch of questions and makes me a little nervous. Dembe did give him the bourbon, which isn't a crime in itself, but it leaves us with our first yes / no question -- did Dembe knowingly give the poisoned bottle to Red?

If yes, it leaves us with the question as to why Dembe would poison Red. In order to answer this properly, Dembe's and Red's relationship has to be completely deconstructed, risking Red's brotherhood with the person he trusts most. Dembe owes Red his life and his education, and Red owes Dembe his life on multiple occasions. In order for the audience to understand why Dembe poisoned Red, and likewise, feel sympathy for either character, there has to be a reason strong enough to override these experiences. I can't think of any, but I also haven't been batting the idea around for months, as our friends in the writers' room have.

While Dembe hasn't approved of all of Red's actions, such as hiding the truth from Liz and "killing" Kaplan, he's always spoken up when he has disapproved, and taken action accordingly. If Dembe really wanted something Red disapproved of, he's going to confront Red on it rather than poison him in secret, as we've seen on multiple instances now. For Dembe to go against previous actions would require a motivation that would have to come before his life's work. Dembe has even left his family in the past to defend Reddington, so that's an impossibly short list of possible motives.

If no, having an 8-week radio silence after essentially framing a fan-favorite character is cruel. Not to say that our PTB haven't been cruel in the past -- they definitely have -- they just gave a touching tribute to the same fandom who has a fondness for Dembe. While similar PR stunts have been used as obvious defensive maneuvers, such as the social media blitz during Liz's "death" in 3.18, there is nothing to be obviously gained by letting the fandom hate Dembe for the next 8 weeks.

The cocky motherfuckers Our friends in the writers' room are also already talking up the next episode on social media, as well as promoting the timeslot filler. I'll be back in April for actual Blacklist, but I would like the wait to be worth it by what the reasoning would be. It'd be nice to actually be blown away by the next episode, instead of let down.

[gabriellakirtonblog]

How Eight Online Personal Trainers Earn Six-Figure Salaries

Personal training is not a get-rich-quick business. But with the right moves and a little luck, training clients online can be a rewarding and lucrative career.

According to our salary survey of more than 1,000 personal trainers, one in five trainers earn $75,000 or more per year. One out of every 10 trainers earn six figures or above. Those odds are slightly better than you’ll find in other careers. But there’s a lot you can do to improve your position.

For one thing, top-tier trainers were more likely than modest earners to train clients online in some form or another. Some trained clients online exclusively, while others did online training in combination with in-person training.

We wanted to see what the most successful ones had in common. So we asked eight online trainers, all of whom earn six or seven figures, about the attitudes, behaviors, and strategies behind their success.

They all work hard, as you’d expect. But the key to their success, as you’ll see, is working hard at the right things.

READ ALSO: How to Make $100,000 a Year as a Personal Trainer

1. Work on your communication skills

Jordan Lark wasn’t trying to reach six figures when he left his secure management-level job to become a full-time trainer. His focus was on his clients’ success. That’s especially important in the early days, because growth relies on word-of-mouth referrals.

“I have clients in 60 countries now,” says Lark, “and I could, like a family tree, plot them all back to the first 10.”

The key to good results: establishing clear, continuous communication between you and your clients.

That’s vital not only for convincing clients to trust your methods, but also for building a relationship in which they feel comfortable sharing pain points.

Try the girlfriend test: Pick a close relative or friend who represents your client—for Lark, whose clients are mostly women in their 30s, that’s his girlfriend—and whenever you contact clients, ask yourself how that person would respond to the message. Adjust the phrasing until you’re sure it will be well received.

And put a moratorium on emojis. You’ll be forced to make sure your words convey the right intention, thus honing your communication skills, Lark says.

  The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training retails for $19.99, but we bought it for you. We just ask that you pay shipping & handling. Claim your copy at go.theptdc.com.

2. Get organized from day one

You can’t build a house without a solid foundation. (Not one you’d want to live in, anyway.) The foundation of your business includes administrative details like your business license, tax forms, and insurance policies. Get those out of the way immediately, says trainer Roxie Beckles, owner of RoxStar Fitness.

Next come your basic business systems and practices. Write everything down, says Mike Doehla, founder of Stronger U, the nutrition-coaching juggernaut. Keep spreadsheets of your personal training clients, noting when you last touched base with them and when you’ll follow up.

Once all that is in place, you can scale up without short-changing your current clients.

But don’t try to systemize everything, cautions Lark. You need systems for repeatable processes like referrals and lead generation, but actual coaching demands a custom response.

READ ALSO: How Do I Get More Personal Training Clients?

3. Practice progressive overload

It takes time and patience to build a business. That slow progress can be frustrating on any given day, but the gains add up over time. And when an online personal training business finally clicks, there’s no limit to how fast it can grow.

“Think about it this way,” says Jason Helmes, owner of Anyman Fitness. “If you had a ‘normal’ job, a 10 percent raise would be phenomenal, practically unheard of. But 20 percent [annual] profit growth in this business is extremely achievable if you focus on the right things.”

Helmes speaks from experience. He made $2,500 his first year, training his initial clients for free and surviving month to month with little to no income from coaching. (He was also teaching middle school at the time and picking up extra jobs to get by.) Two years later, he hit six figures, and revenue has been climbing ever since.

Once you hit six figures, you still have to put in the work. Running a fitness business includes sometimes tedious, repetitive tasks like responding to emails and reaching out to prospective clients. Helmes likes to think of these tasks as “reps.” Get in your reps, and your business will grow.

Be patient. Those six-figure trainers from our salary survey? Eighty percent have been at it at least five years.

READ ALSO: How to Have a Long Career as a Personal Trainer

4. Pursue knowledge

Hang with highly successful trainers long enough, and you can’t help but notice their unabashed love of learning. For some, that means seeking higher education. (Trainer Sohee Lee, who’s pursuing a PhD in sports science, saw her business triple the same month she earned her master’s.)

Not all successful trainers hold advanced degrees—or any degree at all. In fact, education as a stand-alone variable didn’t correlate with income in our survey. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t relentlessly curious and inquisitive.

“I’m always learning,” says Michael Beiter, owner of Pillar Coaching Services, who has taken college-level courses in exercise science but never actually earned a degree. He reads and writes for two hours every morning, and credits that habit for his business success as well as his personal growth.

READ ALSO: The Best Books for Personal Trainers

5. Treat social media like your virtual gym floor

When you run a business online, you must work that much harder to connect with people.

“Consider how long it takes to build a face-to-face relationship, and multiply that by a hundred,” says online trainer and nutrition coach Arpita Boyd, who posts three times on social every day. (To pull it off, she schedules all posts in advance for the coming week.)

To Lark, producing content is as close as an online trainer gets to walking the gym floor and chatting up potential clients. “You want to create content that makes you approachable,” he says. That way, when you put out a call to action, people already trust you and perceive you as someone who can help.

For content ideas, seek inspiration outside the fitness industry, he adds. Look to pop culture, psychology, comedy—whatever you like. Expanding your consumption helps you find fresh ideas.

And don’t overthink it. Lark spends about 15 minutes on each post, keeping them short (10 lines max), easy to digest, and representative of who he is and what he offers.

READ ALSO: Five Ways to Dominate the Gym Floor

6. Talk to actual people too

Strong people skills are essential for attracting clients, engaging with them, and knowing how to motivate them, Doehla says. “You have to know how people think, what they want, and how they feel.”

In addition to connecting with clients on social media and coaching calls, Doehla makes a habit of getting out and talking with real-live humans in their natural habitat. Whenever Doehla is out in public, he’ll start a conversation—not to make a sale, but to build his emotional intelligence and try to understand people a little better.

“A lot of people in the industry don’t want to do that,” he says. “Those are the ones who are struggling.”

It’s easy to become dependent on electronic communications. But what seems efficient can also be impersonal, and ultimately limit your growth. The game-changing moment for Ashley Crooks, an online trainer and business coach, was when he stopped trying to sell online and started talking to people on the phone instead.

READ ALSO: How to Sell Personal Training in Five Steps

7. Make friends with other trainers

While you’re working on those people skills, try using them with other online trainers. They’re not competition. They’re teammates. “Other coaches are an amazing resource,” says Lark. “Most love to help. Plenty are happy to refer. And they’re often huge supporters of your success.”

Befriending other trainers is also a great way to find a mentor, a valuable asset in any career. “If you’re going to ask someone to mentor you, they should be someone you know,” Beckles adds. The best guidance will come from someone who has seen your potential and trusts you to put their advice to good use.

Start by joining Facebook groups for trainers, Lark advises. We recommend our own Online Trainers Unite. Find trainers who resonate with you, and ask questions about what they do and why they do it. “The worst case is they don’t have time to respond.” In that case, you’re no worse off than if you hadn’t asked.

Just be sure to reciprocate, he adds. “Don’t just be a taker. Give at every opportunity.”

8. Invest in yourself

Not every continuing-education investment is a good one, as pharmacist and gym owner TJ Allan notes in this article. If you’re operating on slim margins, it makes little sense to add thousands of dollars to your credit card balance by attending pricey conferences and seminars.

But there are lots of ways to invest in yourself while staying within a budget. A perfect example: In his early days, Alwyn Cosgrove would use the fees from one training session a week for personal development.

If you’re an online trainer who charges $200 a month, you could designate one client’s payment to your education fund. That’s $2,400 a year, which goes a long way when you invest in these categories:

Professional education

Gaining advanced and specialized personal training certifications is one way to learn, and in our survey, it was correlated with income. Trainers who make $100,000-plus hold an average of seven certifications, vs. five for all respondents.

Business and marketing resources

The best business books for personal trainers are worth many times their cover price. Beckles says these books helped her make the mental switch from “independent contractor” to “entrepreneur”:

The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber

The Conversion Code by Chris Smith

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Coaches

Still not sure what you’re doing, or how to get from where you are to where you want to be? Do what your clients do and hire someone to help. Helmes says the best thing he ever did was hire a business coach to help him with Facebook ads and marketing strategy.

READ ALSO: These Are the Best Personal Training Certifications in the United States

9. Make your own rules

Google “daily routines of the super-successful,” and you might think the only way to get ahead is through highly structured days. Beckles calls BS on that idea.

Each of her days is different. She might start working first thing. Or she might go to the gym, spend time online, meditate, or just chill out for a while. “The way we’re taught is very masculine-energy-driven,” she says. “‘Go go go! Never sleep!’ That’s good for people who like that energy. But I like balance. And I run my company with balance in mind.”

Doehla can relate. He prefers less structure so he’s always available to staff and clients, and has more flexibility to react. “A lot of young trainers see this stuff and think ‘Oh, I need to do that,’” he says. “There are no rules to this. Do what you want, and see what works.”

10. Don’t limit your options

Seen the ads for Equinox Hotels? Beckles has. “All the comments are ‘Oh my god! I can’t wait to go there!’” she says. “No one is saying ‘But you’re a gym. Why are you a hotel now?’”

Her point: Trainers need to think outside narrow definitions of what a fitness business can offer. “Bring your uniqueness to the game,” she says. Just because no one else has done it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. For Beckles, that word doesn’t exist. “Unless you physically can’t do something, you’re only limited by what you think.”

Optimistic? Maybe. But it’s a sentiment shared by many of the successful online trainers we spoke to. You can’t win big unless you dream big.

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