#China debt collection

[theclnlawfirm]

China lawyer

At CLN Law Firm, our team of experienced China lawyers is committed to providing the best legal services to clients across the world. If you are looking for reliable and quality legal services, make sure to check out our website and contact us today.

[nando161mando]

Of Africa’s Total Debt, Only About 8% Was Owed to Chinese Entities, With Most Owed to the West

https://medium.com/@hrnews1/of-africas-total-debt-only-about-8-was-owed-to-chinese-entities-with-most-owed-to-the-west-45e4ac38f474

[jovialbasementbouquetblr]

2024: Guizhou Contractor Tried to Collect Local Government Debt, Prosecuted for Causing Trouble

When I worked in Chengdu 2007 – 2012, I noticed that many cases of workers protesting (sometimes sending a delegation to petition for redress at higher levels, embarrassing the local government) because of back wages arose when local government failed to pay a construction company. Then it comes back at the local government as a local ‘social stability problem‘. In this case the contractor took…

[reasonsforhope]

Masterpost: Reasons I firmly believe we will beat climate change

Posts are in reverse chronological order (by post date, not article date), mostly taken from my "climate change tag," which I went through all the way back to the literal beginning of my blog. Will update periodically.

Especially big deal articles/posts are in bold.

Big picture:

Mature trees offer hope in world of rising emissions (x)

Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant (x)

Good news: Tiny urban green spaces can cool cities and save lives (x)

Conservation and economic development go hand in hand, more often than expected (x)

The exponential growth of solar power will change the world (x)

Sun Machines: Solar, an energy that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge (x)

Wealthy nations finally deliver promised climate aid, as calls for more equitable funding for poor countries grow (x)

For Earth Day 2024, experts are spreading optimism – not doom. Here's why. (x)

Opinion: I’m a Climate Scientist. I’m Not Screaming Into the Void Anymore. (x)

The World’s Forests Are Doing Much Better Than We Think (x)

��Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief (x)

Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View (x)

Young Forests Capture Carbon Quicker than Previously Thought (x)

Yes, climate change can be beaten by 2050. Here's how. (x)

Soil improvements could keep planet within 1.5C heating target, research shows (x)

The global treaty to save the ozone layer has also slowed Arctic ice melt (x)

The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past (x)

Scientists Find Methane is Actually Offsetting 30% of its Own Heating Effect on Planet (x)

Are debt-for-climate swaps finally taking off? (x)

High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN (x)

How Could Positive ‘Tipping Points’ Accelerate Climate Action? (x)

Specific examples:

Environmental Campaigners Celebrate As Labour Ends Tory Ban On New Onshore Wind Projects (x)

Private firms are driving a revolution in solar power in Africa (x)

How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution (x)

Rewilding sites have seen 400% increase in jobs since 2008, research finds [Scotland] (x)

The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West (x)

Waste Heat Generated from Electronics to Warm Finnish City in Winter Thanks to Groundbreaking Thermal Energy Project (x)

Climate protection is now a human right — and lawsuits will follow [European Union] (x)

A new EU ecocide law ‘marks the end of impunity for environmental criminals’ (x)

Solar hits a renewable energy milestone not seen since WWII [United States] (x)

These are the climate grannies. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren. [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

Century of Tree Planting Stalls the Warming Effects in the Eastern United States, Says Study (x)

Chart: Wind and solar are closing in on fossil fuels in the EU (x)

UK use of gas and coal for electricity at lowest since 1957, figures show (x)

Countries That Generate 100% Renewable Energy Electricity (x)

Indigenous advocacy leads to largest dam removal project in US history [United States and Native American Nations] (x)

India’s clean energy transition is rapidly underway, benefiting the entire world (x)

China is set to shatter its wind and solar target five years early, new report finds (x)

‘Game changing’: spate of US lawsuits calls big oil to account for climate crisis (x)

Largest-ever data set collection shows how coral reefs can survive climate change (x)

The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What Does It DO? [United States] (x)

Good Climate News: Headline Roundup April 1st through April 15th, 2023 (x)

How agroforestry can restore degraded lands and provide income in the Amazon (x) [Brazil]

Loss of Climate-Crucial Mangrove Forests Has Slowed to Near-Negligable Amount Worldwide, Report Hails (x)

Agroecology schools help communities restore degraded land in Guatemala (x)

Climate adaptation:

Solar-powered generators pull clean drinking water 'from thin air,' aiding communities in need: 'It transforms lives' (x)

‘Sponge’ Cities Combat Urban Flooding by Letting Nature Do the Work [China] (x)

Indian Engineers Tackle Water Shortages with Star Wars Tech in Kerala (x)

A green roof or rooftop solar? You can combine them in a biosolar roof — boosting both biodiversity and power output (x)

Global death tolls from natural disasters have actually plummeted over the last century (x)

Los Angeles Just Proved How Spongy a City Can Be (x)

This city turns sewage into drinking water in 24 hours. The concept is catching on [Namibia] (x)

Plants teach their offspring how to adapt to climate change, scientists find (x)

Resurrecting Climate-Resilient Rice in India (x)

Other Masterposts:

Going carbon negative and how we're going to fix global heating (x)

[thisismeracing]

Haunted | LH44

― Pairing: Ghost!Lewis x fem!reader ― Word count: 3.8k ― Warnings: +18; suggestive content and graphic description of sex (fingering and dirty talk); mentions of cheating; description of horror situations and stabbing (but not too graphic). ― Summary: Lost in the years, lost in the days, Lewis Hamilton haunts the house that once was his. The house where he was killed. And the house that now has new inhabitants. He was used to blowing candles, breaking chinas, and it being enough for the curious newbies to leave. However, it was the first time he met someone who wouldn’t act terrified by his presence. Yn was curious, and that curiosity had a price. Lewis was the one who would collect the debt.

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It was a cursed house.

The tale was that a rich man used to live there. He was beautiful. So beautiful the whole town knew who he was. He was also warm and compassionate, he would help old ladies with bags, walk the neighbor’s dog, share his famous coffee whenever he had the time, and help the young boys with driving classes. But his beauty was also his curse because someone’s wife fell in love with him, and as the saying goes, there are two things you cannot hide properly: a cough and a burning love. It wasn’t even a week after the man noticed how his lady would eye the town’s treasure. It was possible the young gentleman didn’t know about this infatuation, but the woman’s husband knew and it was enough for him to stab the man to death in the most brutal way. Rumor had it he tried to get up and walk, but he could only make it to the door of his room, his body collapsing and succumbing to death minutes after agonizing with his own blood. The houses were far one from the other, but his screams were so loud some of the neighbors heard them even after he passed away, haunted by his pleas they moved.

The house went for sale, and someone even bought it a year after the crime, but they did not last for a week, the ghost of the dead man haunted the place day and night moving things, opening and closing doors, as if inviting whoever was there to leave, and when his requests were not obeyed, he would riot. In the night, his screams would get louder, he would grab their feet, play with the TV’s remote, boil water, and let the windows open.

They say he’s an angry ghost, a miserable one because he never got to experience true love. He was killed before he could, and so he closed himself on the house he took so much care while in life. His garden was the most beautiful one. Full of dark roses, and big trees, but once he died so did the flowers. It was like everything rotted.

Yn sighed thinking about the story an old lady told her when she went to get groceries. The woman went as far as advising her to leave the house, the money be damned. But of course, Yn wouldn’t do it. The house cost money for her and her husband, Eric. And besides, she had always been curious about ghost stories. Never truly believed how dangerous it could get.

“And she told me some people still hear his screams when passing by the house,” Yn repeated the tale to Eric while they shared take-out on the living room floor. The fire was lit casting a warm glow around then, but she felt a brief shiver pass through her body as soon as she finished speaking.

The ginger laughed, “Did she tell you when it happened?”

“A long time ago, she didn’t- she didn’t mention the year,” Yn explained. “Why? Don’t you believe it?”

He shook his head, “Nah, you know I’m extremely skeptical about those fairy things.”

“Not fairies, Eric, but ghosts,” she tried.

He shrugged, “I think when we die, we die, period. There’s no second or third dimension, much less one in between to get stuck on.”

Yn nodded, knowing it wouldn’t be a productive conversation. Her husband was usually set on his beliefs, never straying away from them, and sometimes this would cost a peaceful night whenever they couldn’t agree on something. He would have a hard time comprehending her point of view.

“So what, you wanna move now? You’re afraid a bloody man is gonna show up and imprison you here?” Eric joshed.

Yn rolled her eyes tired of how pushy he could get. She loved him, but sometimes it was hell to deal with his mannerisms. When they were younger she thought it would change with time. Turns out it didn’t.

“It’s your turn to clean up, I’m heading to bed,” and pecking his lips she climbed the stairs leading to the long and dark corridor of the rooms. Yn stopped right at the door, watching the threshold and imagining how, even if years ago, someone died there. Right in between. Reaching for the outside. Screaming for help.

She sighed, starting her night routine. It was only their second week at the house, and she was used to how the bathroom lights would flash, or the water would lessen. Except, now she knew about the guy that died there, and everything that happened reminded her of him.

It’s curious how your mindset changes once you’re presented with a different explanation. Once you believe it to be true. And she believed so much to the point of googling it while lying in bed. Eric hadn’t been back just yet, and Yn was scrolling through the results which weren’t that many. It was a small town. Apparently a simple crime. It was probably life-altering and shocking for those who lived there at the time and knew both parties, but if she were a journalist that wouldn’t be the most exciting case to cover.

Yn heard the footsteps on the corridor, but she was so engrossed in the page that she finally found out about the murder of a young man, and just when she was about to reach his name the door opened. She bit her lips, trying to find which line she was reading, “Eric?” Yn asked, and the same door that opened all the way seconds ago closed abruptly making her jump.

The light on the nightstand flashed, and Yn tried to be rational. She told herself it was probably Eric trying to prank her. Or the wind, even though the windows were closed. Who knew? The house had a good ventilating system.

She called for her husband again, and she heard more footsteps, but he didn’t answer back. She huffed stressed, blocking her phone and turning on the bed to try and get some sleep. She had tons of cleaning to do the next day, the house was huge and some of her things were still packed in cardboxes.

Later, when Eric finally got to the bedroom, he walked by the bed squeezing her foot, a habit he had whenever he passed close enough to touch, and seconds before, when he crawled into bed Yn was too drowsy to complain about his stupid pranks. She just curled her body on his and dozed off.

She was humming to a tune she couldn’t quite grasp yet while folding her clothes on her bed when she heard the steps. She tried turning to look, but it all happened too fast. In the blink of an eye, she felt the sting on her back, so close to her neck it felt almost like when sunlight hit that particular spot. She held back a groan but screamed the second that same sting hit full force, this time on the left side of her shoulders. When Yn turned, feeling the tickles of hot blood run down her back, she saw a man with so much rage in his eyes that it was like he was hitting her over and over again on the same spot. But in reality, his hands went up holding a bloody knife, and he stabbed her in a series of different places. She screamed, cried, and asked between coughs why her, why he was doing it, why a knife, why so many hits, why why why? And when no answer came from his mouth except grunts she knew there was nothing to do but to run for her life. She stumbled in the direction of the bedroom door, feeling yet another series of stings on her back. She tried to run, but her own blood betrayed her and she slipped on it. The feeling of the hot liquid against her hands and cheeks made her scream harder for help. But no one came, and the stab continued. She tried crawling. Tried praying. Tried begging for her life or at least to stop and let her die in pieces, but it went on until darkness surrounded her. She weakly turned her arm in the direction of her killer, digging her nails into the skin of his forearm and dragging as if telling him something. And when darkness surrounded her she kept screaming and twisting her body.

“Yn, wake up! It’s me! Wake up, dammit!” Erik tried while Yn relentlessly twisted on the bed. “Wake up, Yn,” he tried louder and she jumped out of bed taking part of the covers with her and almost falling to the ground.

“Omg, omg,” she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, looking around her room and noticing there were no clothes to be folded or blood spots on the ground. Only her scared husband staring at her from his spot on the bed.

“What the fuck was that?”

“I don’t know,” she holds the covers closer to her body, trying to make herself smaller. “I had a nightmare, but it was so real, so real I-”

Erik sighed, “You shouldn’t have entertained that crazy lady at the supermarket, now you’re convinced and thinking there’s a ghost in the house, as if there are ghosts at all!”

Yn shook her head, but kept her mouth shut, standing glued on her spot and assessing the whole room all over again. It was this room. This exact same room was the one she was standing in in her nightmare, and possibly the room where the guy was killed. Her phone lit up on the nightstand, there were no new notifications, and when she unlocked it her browser was still open on the article about the case. She locked it again and took a step back.

“What was it now, babe?” Erik was clearly frustrated, he hated being woken up especially in the middle of the night, and especially in a scary situation like the one he just watched happen.

“Nothing, I- uhm- I should try sleeping again,” she stated, getting under the covers and lying beside him, when her back hit the mattress she swore she felt a small sting, but she kept her mouth shut and closed her eyes, trying to sleep it off.

When the morning came and the sun peeked through the blinds, Yn descended the stairs to the kitchen, stopping at the door and staring at the mess her husband, who was supposed to clean the dishes and discard the takeout containers, left.

Sighing, started the coffee machine, and a few minutes later Eric showed up in the kitchen, rubbing the sleep of his eyes.

“Good morning,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, good morning, you probably had a blast last night watching TV instead of cleaning the kitchen,” she spat, and he arched his brows.

“I did clean the kitchen!”

“Then who messed it up? A ghost?!” she bit back, pointing to the takeout containers on the counter and the dirty dishes pilling on the sink.

Eric rubbed his temple, before walking to the coffee machine. He hated coffee, and the second he poured a cup Yn knew he was stressed, “I cleaned everything, I remember doing it before also cleaning the living room, that’s why I got to the bedroom so long after you.”

Yn saw a hint of truth behind his statement, but shook her head, starting to discard the cans and plastic wrappers in the trash. She watched from her peripheral vision her husband grab an apple and drown his coffee in one go before leaving the room.

Protected from the cold air by a thin robe, Yn ate breakfast peacefully watching the destroyed backyard of her new house. She could see the spots where plants once were, now involved by tall weeds and dark unkept grass. A three with a swing attached to it was hanging on by a thread.

She took notes of things she wanted to renovate and what she wanted to plant where, before getting inside to a virtual work meeting.

The day went on without events. At night she shared dinner with Eric again, and it was her turn to clean the kitchen. She did it alone on the ground floor, Eric in their room doing some readings or whatever. She finished in less than an hour and then went to bed. Her mind and body were tired after not sleeping properly the other night, so when Yn hit the mattress she was out cold faster than you could say “good night”.

His eyes were covered by the shadows, but she could tell he had a thoughtful expression by looking at his eyebrows. He was taller than her, she could tell, and he was broad. Lean and strong arms, chiseled jaw, and pretty dark skin.

Yn tried opening her mouth to ask who he was. What he was doing standing at her bedroom door, but his stare was so intense she couldn’t do anything but look back at him, and as the saying goes once you look something in the face, once you stare too long into the abyss, it looks back. It starts to truly exist.

Her week goes by with lonely days and strange nights. She keeps dreaming about the guy standing on her bedroom door and keeps hearing steps, and hushed voices. Sometimes she’ll live that stabbing nightmare all over again. Some hours, she’ll work on her computer, and though there’s a sense of loneliness, there’s also a sense of company, as if she was being watched.

It would scare anyone in their right mind, but Yn tried to rationalize things. And the things she couldn’t, she just let them be. Sometimes, you have to accept that you’re not supposed to understand everything. Life has its mysteries, and so did her new house.

Things with Eric were going downhill, and they were spending less and less time together. But it wasn’t anything new, and he was busy with work. They were both busy. Yn tried to tell herself. Feeling lonely would explain how her brain threw her into a heated dream.

It was the first time she was able to produce a sound in her dream. It was a simple “a” that passed between her open lips. And so as it happens, it was also the first time the man by the door moved. His eyes never left hers while he walked to the foot of the bed. He wandered as if he knew the place and setting of everything. Like he lived there for centuries. And when he stopped in front of her, his eyes trailed on the covers, moving them to her feet, without moving his body. Yn grunted, surprised with how easily the covers fell, and how her body was exposed to him. The cold air made her nipples harden against the silk nightgown.

When she looked at him again, she saw his eyes for the first time. A deep honey brown, carrying so much and whispering so much on her mind, she had the urge to touch him. But her body would only do so much. Yn watched, as he studied her contours with something she was not able to pin just yet. She watched as his tongue came out of his plush and pink lips to moisten them. And she moaned, she actually moaned when his fingers touched her leg. His skin was cold, his touch so feathery almost like a ghost. He trailed the tip of his short nails on her thighs and with just one look he spread them.

“Yes,” she was able to whisper when his eyes found hers again.

The man smirked devilishly. One of his fingers trailed the path to her unclothed pussy and Yn whined when he spread her sex and caressed her soaked lips. She couldn’t think about anything but his deep brown eyes. Her husband was long forgotten. The house was long forgotten.

“Yes,” she chanted again. It sounded like a prayer. It made the mysterious man’s grin widen. He inserted one finger inside her and dipped his face to her ear. There wasn’t a sound, but she felt a light gush of air against her skin. And she tried to move her hips in the direction of his fingers.

He played with her already puffy clit, and this time the gush of air she felt against her skin was accompanied by a quiet chuckle sound.

Her hips ground against his big hands, and Yn choked when his long fingers hit a particularly sensitive spot. She shuddered and her body went limp when her orgasm hit her like a trainwreck, fogging her mind from any coherent thought.

Yn jolted from the bed feeling sweat slide down her forehead and between her breasts. She took a deep breath and finally opened her eyes trying to adjust them to the darkness of her room, her comforter was lying by her feet and the skirt of her nightgown was hiked up on her hips. She furrowed her brows and tentatively moved her fingers to her core, feeling the dampness of her core.

Cum.

She turned to her husband, but Eric was lying beside her, in a deep slumber.

She turned to the doorway and the once-closed door now rested ajar.

Once again Yn tried to rationalize everything. Was it possible to cheat on someone in your dreams? Was it really a dream?

She tried talking with Eric, but he was in so deep with work he wouldn’t be home until dinner almost every day. And when she tried to tell him about the weird noises and the sensation of being watched, he told her “It just feels weird because it's not decorated with your flowers and things yet, we got it mobiliated, not decorated, so maybe that’s why you’re feeling dislocated or whatever, just relax, will ya?”.

Up until starting to get the house in order, Yn would tell herself that every weird thing happening to her was just a product of her imagination. But while going through things in the living room, she found an album. Inside, a bunch of pictures caught her attention. The first few pages portrayed the house in a much better state. The gardens and a beautiful kitchen. A fireplace lit in the living room, and a corridor full of photos. At some point, she found a picture of a man. A stunning man. He had a big white smile while staring at the camera. His hair was ornated with braids, and two small ones shaped his face to perfection.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She flipped the album frantically being met with pictures of the same man side by side with different people. None of them were familiar to her. He was the only known face. By the foot of one picture, it read “Lewis and friends” signed with a date and a scribbled message she didn’t care to read because that man was Lewis.

That man was the one who would stand by her bedroom door every night.

It was the same man that fingered her until she came.

The same man who haunted her.

And precisely, the same man that haunted the whole house since the day he was killed, she confirmed after tipping on her phone, searching for the news about the case again, and finding his blurry picture there. No mention of his name. But a picture of him. And the mention of the neighborhood.

Her stabbing nightmares were his memories.

He was trying to spook her off the house.

But something changed along the way, Yn thought.

The cup of tea she was sipping tipped on the coffee table. She squeaked in surprise, and she would tell herself it was just her mind again if one of her books weren’t thrown across the living room.

And she swore it happened so fast, she couldn’t really process, couldn’t think of what she was doing when she opened her mouth and questioned, “Lewis?” She gulped. “Is that you?” her last sentence was a breathy whisper. So small only a ghost could hear.

And he did.

In fact, he waited forever to hear someone calling him by the name. He waited for the person who would see him and not run, who would stare, just like she did.

They say that calling someone by their name gives them power and gives them life.

Yn had just given Lewis what he needed.

And without even knowing, she had given herself too.

Lost in the years, lost in the days, he had finally found her.

He smiled, and when Yn turned to the corridor she saw him. She saw him for the first time being awake. Truly saw him. Lewis was handsome. Even more in person. But he was a ghost. He had touched and haunted her.

Yn couldn’t help but scream and try to run, but he was faster, appearing in front of her in the blink of an eye with a smirk on his face.

“Please, don’t kill me,” she whimpered and he chuckled.

“I’m not killing you, sweetheart. Quite the opposite, I’m keeping you here with me,” he states before adding, “Forever”.

Her eyes go round, and she shakes her head scaredly. “I-I have a husband, I’m married, I’m-”

Lewis chuckled, “He doesn’t love you, and neither you love him. Would you let me do this to you if you loved him?” he pins her against the wall and her breath hitches. He found her sweet spot and nipped it while tightening his grip on her waist. “I can practically smell your arousal. You’re such a filthy girl. So bad you get turned on by ghosts,” Lewis mocked.

She purses her lips, darting her eyes to the ground and he dips his head to her lips, tracing her jaw and cheeks.

“You’re cold,” Yn states.

“I’m dead, of course I’m cold, honey.”

“What are you going to do with Eric?” There’s a hint of fear in her voice, and Lewis bites his lips and shrugs.

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” he widens her legs and fits his lean waist between them. “Now you should be worried about what I’m gonna do with you, or rather, what we’re gonna do together.”

And despite the fear and surprise mixed with confusion, Yn couldn’t help but shamefully feel aroused when he ground against her pussy, trapping her body between his and the wall.

“We’re gonna spend the eternity together,” he grinned.

Yn arched her brows, “But I won’t live forever, I’m a human, I-,” but the dark look in his eyes shut her mouth, all the answers she needed right there.

She would spend eternity with Lewis.

Maybe not as a human.

But she would, and he would make sure of that.

― ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: Hi, besties! I hope you guys like this piece! A huge shout out to Dee (@struggling-with-delia) for beta and proofreading this piece!🤍

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[elexuscal]

something I feel Temeraire fandom hasn't dug into enough is how Kaneko and Junchiro are set up as narrative foils to Laurence

Kaneko is the platonic, exemplary ideal of 19th century noble Japanese culture, just as Laurence is for British culture from the same period. He's is diligent, lawful, loyal, and after the death of his family, has made a pledge to aide any traveller in need that he meets.

... and then just like Laurence, he's put in a situation where it is impossible to reconcile these two sides of honour. He's tasked with sheltering a white foreigner with a terrible head wound; and it becomes increasingly obvious that said foreigner isn't some random unfortunate sailor, but a key member of a diplomatic party between two of Japan's enemies. Does he follow the law, or does he follow his personal code of ethics?

He ends up... Splitting the difference. He protects Laurence, even though it's explicitly against the law. Then he ends up chasing Laurence and duelling him, as the law dictates but breaking his vow in the process.

Unlike Laurence, he's never truly able to reconcile these two warring elements, and he is saved from having to make that decision...

... By Junchiro.

Junchiro hasn't made any pledges to protect travellers. He does not like Laurence, does not trust him, and thinks Kaneko should turn him over. But. He also knows and fully believes Kaneko to be a good man, and as a student in his debt, believes the morally right thing to do is protect him. So he breaks the law helping Laurence escape, to spare Lord Kaneko in this impossible choice.

In this, he ends up echoing Laurence's choice to take the dragon cure to France, albeit on a smaller scale. When given the choice of following the law or his personal code of ethics, he chooses the latter.

And this is where the parallels really strike I think. Laurence gets to France, and Napoleon is like, good sir! What you have sacrificed for the sake of others is so incredibly honourable that it's making me want you carnally! Please, will you stay with me here in France? I will keep you in comfort, and we can do good work together!

And Laurence politely declines, says I'm going back to England, to face whatever wait awaits me. And Napoleon says, that's a damn shame but I won't hold you here. Bonaparte lets him go, and that decision definitely kicks him in the ass given how instrumental Laurence is in his defeat, but never seems to regret that deicsion.

So Junchiro breaks Japanese law rescuing Laurence-- a decision which while it spares his master Kaneko, honestly probably ultimately was to Japan's benefit, because can you imagine the fallout if they had ended up imprisoning or god forbid executing the adoptive crown prince of China? but instead of anyone formally recognising he just saved their collective asses, they're like, Yeah You're Exiled, get the fuck out of here.

Exiled, just like Laurence was to Australia.

So Laurence is like. Wow this kid just saved my life; I have the utmost respect for him. He says as much to Junchiro, and does everything in his power to set Junchiro up for success within British culture (just as Napoleon would have done for him). Teaching him English and Mandarin; letting him making connection; learning the ins-and-outs of aviator culture, so perhaps he can one day earn his step and get a dragon of his own, which Junchiro does seem to want, despite being otherwise bitter and listless.

and then after like... six months? (10? idk the timeline is fuzzy) Junchiro comes to Laurence and says: thank you very much for caring for me. However, I cannot continue. While Japan may think me a traitor, I am still loyal to them, and I can't keep helping their enemies. I'm going to abdicate to France. Tell me now if you disagree so I can kill myself.

And Laurence is like. Oh god no. Of course I understand. And let's Junchiro go, just like Napoleon let him go.

And yeah, that ends up kicking him in the fucking ass! Junchiro ends up providing the intel which allows French forces to steal Ning's egg, lure both Iskierka and Temeraire away from the front lines, and bolster Napoleon's early dragon-coalition by making it look like Laurence and Temeraire support it. A master stroke!

And obviously, it hurts, when Laurence realises it. But he realises that Junchiro was perfectly plain in his intentions, and Laurence still cannot fault the man for being loyal to his country. So when they have supper together, Laurence is polite and respectful, despite the dire situation.

TLDR: Kaneko is Laurence if Laurence couldn't choose to go traitor, and Junchiro is a younger Laurence

also i wonder what happened to Junchiro in the end.

[yarochan]

MAFIA AU lmk

Everything is based on general information about the mafia in the world and in China.

There may be inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the AU. This is not accidental. All actions take place within the criminal world. There will be cruelty, blood, and violence.

Briefly about the important things..

Difficult times have come in China, many people had to commit crimes in order to survive by any means. Pigsy, Tan, and Sandy made a deal with Wukong by joining his Triad and being under his protection, but in exchange they worked for him. A little later, Sandy escaped, at the moment his whereabouts and status are unknown.

MK was also planted and raised by Pigsy and Tang, he was literally raised by the street and the mafia. Until he reached adulthood - to the surprise of everyone, Wukong did not touch the boy - but on the day of his 18th birthday, he put forward conditions for joining a family.

At the moment, MK is a boy doing dirty work that Wukong doesn't want to do. Surprisingly, they are very close, and Wukong initiates the boy into all current affairs.

In China, as in other countries of the world, there are their own criminal groups. The most famous of them, called the "Triad," have been clandestinely engaged in criminal activities in the PRC for several centuries. 

Current Triads in China

The Triad of Dragons

The largest and most influential mafia family in China, in addition, they do not have one common boss and they are known in all corners of China (Dragon of the West, East, etc.). Their activities are connected with casinos and some large companies in the country that they finance. They are little known for their murders, but who says that their life path could not have turned out that way?

The first head of the family was May's great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, he actually raised the authority of the triad in the criminal world, which persists to this day.

The Bull Triad

Information about the leadership of the princess iron fan

A female boss is a rarity in mafia circles, but when it's a wife or a trusted person who can curb several thousand thugs, it's a completely different matter. With the loss of her husband, she also lost all influence in the criminal world, since everyone remembers her police past and simply does not trust her.  

Out of desperation, she took up the mafia's dirtiest niche - drug distribution in China. She got rid of all the traitors and weaklings and restored her family's influence in China. approx. Previously, the Triad was engaged in the supply of weapons together with Wukong.

The Wukong Triad  

Second in influence, but last in numbers. Large families differ in the number of members and high staff turnover; the Wukong family is only those whom he really trusts and those who are fixated on negotiations with the most armed countries in Europe.

No one thought that Wukong would be able to achieve anything in criminal circles, but after an unsuccessful attempt on the head of the police station, he surprisingly quickly blew up into the air.   At the moment, the family has contracts with the head of state and people who are not averse to buying several thousand cars. The family is not bloodthirsty, but enters into armed conflicts to protect and collect debts.

The Lady Bone Demon Triad

A little-known family, all spies and informants were executed by the boss of this triad.   It is known that the family removes quite influential people from their places, destroys groups and conducts a very aggressive policy.

If we talk about the relationship of the triads, it is worth noting that at the moment all the Active groups are angry at Wukong, for one reason or another. There is periodic bloodshed on all sides because of these disagreements.

No one is focused on the LBD, but it is the main danger (as in the series).

All the heavenly ones are the police or representatives of any other organization for the protection of citizens in the country (the special services of the People's Republic of China). Of course, their task is to stop the activities of the triads, but who says they can't be under the mafia?  

A little bit about the characters and their designs

MK

is a performer, that is, the youngest member of the family. He was accepted into the group through a traditional rite of passage - he drank wine with his blood and swore an oath of loyalty to the Boss.

It seems that Wukong treats the boy with some love, but at the same time, MK is most often involved in armed conflicts, as well as in other similar work, such as debt collection / fights / etc.

His mother is an employee of the police station, until a certain moment the baby did not even know about it, a little later there was a conflict between parents and the child.

Red Son

He belongs to the Wukong triad, but is not a member of it, such are commonly called mercenaries, but Red san came to Wukong of his own free will and swore allegiance to him on his blood until it became known what had become of his father.

Red escaped from the Bull Triad because before the return of the KDB, the PVJ allowed his family to trade drugs in order to maintain authority among other groups. But besides the fact that this is the most disgusting kind of activity, even by mafia standards, Red also grew up surrounded by police officers, former colleagues of his mother. Some kind of moral framework was laid down for him and he simply feels disgusting.

Red has tattoos all over his back and arms, which is the main distinguishing sign of the mafia, although it is not mandatory in modern triads. Red's mother did this as soon as the child's body was formed, because after losing her husband, she wanted to see a new wealthy boss of the family, since it was very difficult for her alone.

Mei

She belongs to the Wukong triad but is not a member of it, such are commonly called mercenaries, but he is under the protection of the group because of MK at his request. Thus, the MK will be responsible for Mei's tests, but the girl will never allow this.

A daughter in a mafia family is certainly a joy, but apart from traditionally finding a faithful husband from the same criminal world to continue the family, and be a beautiful background for men, May could not offer anything more. She ran away from her triad, hoping to realize herself in the world.

The girl is an excellent gambler and cheater, knows a lot of card games and will be able to beat you even if she is naked.

All her legs are filled with tattoos, especially this image of a Chinese dragon with a lotus. She did it against the will of her parents, and her tattoos do not belong to the criminal world in any way.

Wukong

The head of the family and a respected citizen of his country. The main goal of his triad is to supply weapons throughout the country.

He used to be an ordinary thug who didn't value his own life or anyone else's. During this period, the police even took him away, but he escaped safely, tore up the entire station along the way, climbed into the office of the chief of police, wrote nasty things, stole important documents and photographed this outrage and sent the newspaper to the editorial office. It was a wonderful morning for the representatives of the law.

At the beginning of the journey, I worked with an organization, they called themselves the Brotherhood. But Wukong himself prefers not to talk about them.

He appreciates MK, sees him as a replacement for Macaque, and is afraid of losing him, as well as his best friend.

Macaque

He is an assassin in the LBD triad, a subordinate of the mayor and the second favorite of the Lady.

According to the newspapers, he has been dead for several years, buried without a body, and, according to Wukong, in principle, he is not in this world.

In one of the skirmishes, he was severely wounded and subsequently abandoned by Ukun, as he thought he had lost him. The LBD found him in a deplorable state and took him under its wing.

She was cold, and he had burns incompatible with life, so they came together.

The Macaque harbored a grudge against Wukong and never wanted to meet him after this incident, he believes that he did it on purpose, knowing that the Macaque was alive, in his opinion, Sun Wukong deserved only revenge. He learned about MK from informants in the LBD. The boy became his target.

For him, the preferred method of killing is to act in the shadows, quietly and without noise, that is, covertly.

Pigsy

Kapa, or one of the leaders, monitors the actions of MK, Mei, Red San, Teng.

The noodle shop is in place (acts as a typical mafia bar) and still works, delighting visitors with noodles. However, there is now an automatic revolver and several combat knives behind the counter. But it's true...just in case.

Tang

An informant of the Triad, surprisingly he knows everything that ordinary people could not know and does not know what everyone knows. In principle, otherwise it's still the same Tang, only now in a leather jacket and tattoos on his arms.

Ne zha

Inspector of the 3rd class of the China police in the status of a detective working on the case of Sun Wukong under the leadership of Erlan.

Not to say that he is the most successful detective, because somehow Wukuna always turns out to be one step ahead.

After several years of work, he has become so used to Wukong that he can meet him in a bar and tell him how things are at the police station, simultaneously throwing mats towards the Boss of the group. Maybe during this time they just became good friends? Who knows.

Recently, the mafia has begun to shed more blood, so the investigation and investigation have resumed with renewed vigor.

Sorry if there are mistakes in the text, I hope you like it!!!

[workersolidarity]

🇺🇸 🚨

UNITED STATES CONGRESS PASSES SERIES OF ANTI-DEMOCRATIC AND PRO-WAR BILLS DESPITE PUBLIC OPPOSITION

The United States Congress and Senate passed a series of bills, including three controversial anti-democratic and pro-war bills, two of which were tied together, on Saturday, bypassing public opinion and popular opposition to the profligate, pro-war, globalist, Neolib/Neocon agenda currently driving United States domestic and foreign policy.

Included in the bills passed was a bill to force TikTok to divest from its connections with China at risk of being banned immediately, which naturally was tied to a Foreign aid bill.

However, as even Republican Senator Rand Paul mentioned in an opinion piece in Reason Magazine, the Bill is almost certain to lead to more power for American political elites and their administrations to pressure companies like Apple and Google to further ban apps and sites that offer contradictory opinions to that of the invented narratives of the American Political class.

Before long, Americans, many of whom are already poorly informed, and heavily misinformed by their mainstream media, could lose access to critical information that contradicts the narratives of the United States government and corporate elites.

Horrifically, this only the start. The US Congress also extended the newly revised FISA spy laws, which gives the United States government the power to spy on the electronic communications of foreigners, while also conveniently sweeping up the conversations of millions of Americans, as we learned years ago thanks to the sacrifices of whistle blowers and journalists like Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange.

The new FISA Law goes further than this, however, granting US Intelligence agencies the power to spy on the wireless communications of Americans in completely new ways.

A recent Jacobin article describes these new powers as a, "radical expansion of government surveillance that would be ripe for abuse by a future authoritarian leader", or it could just be used by the authoritarian leadership we have right now, and have had for decades.

In fact, when one commentator described the new powers as "Stasi-like," Edward Snowden himself replied with a long post in which he remarked, "invocation of "Stasi-like" is not only a fair characterization of Himes' amendment, it's probably generous. The Stasi dared not even dream of what the Himes amendment provides."

The amendment in question just "tweaks" the current law's definition of an "electronic communication provider," which is being changed to "any service provider," something extremely likely to be abused by the government to force anyone with a business, a modem and people using their broadband to collect the electronic communications of those people, while also forcing their victims into silence.

The government could essentially force Americans to spy on other people and remain silent about it. Cafe's, restaurants, hotels, business landlords, shared workspaces all could get swept up into the investigations of the Intelligence agencies.

Worse still, because picking out the communications of a single user would be next to impossible, all of their victim's data would end up being surrendered to the authorities.

Sadly, the assault on Americans by their own political elites didn't end there, to top this historic day in Congress, at time when the United States public debt is growing at an astounding rate of $1 trillion every 100 days, US lawmakers also passed a series of pro-war aid packages to American allies (vassals) totalling some $95 billion.

Included in the foreign aid bill are aid packages totalling $61 billion for the Ukraine scam, $26 billion for Israel's special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, and $8 billion to the Indo-Pacific to provoke WWIII with China, at the same time we're also provoking a nuclear holocaust with the Russian Federation.

Also buried in these aid packages is the authorization for the United States government to outright steal the oversees investments of the Russian Federation, and thereby the Russian taxpayers.

Astonishingly, and in direct opposition to the wishes of their own voters, Republican support was won without the possibility of conditioning the aid to any kind of border security, this despite the issue being among the top biggest concerns of Republican voters.

Although much of the money is to be used replenishing the heavily depleted stocks of America's weapons and munitions, it remains unclear where the munitions are expected to come from, as US defense production has remained sluggish and slow to expand despite heavy investments and demand in recent years, despite the rapid urgency with which the policy elite describe the situation.

It bodes poorly for working Americans that only a relatively small handful of lawmakers opposed the bills, producing unlikely bedfellows like Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Mike Lee in the Senate, opposing the FISA bill.

While in the House, the loudest opposition to the foreign aid bill mostly came from populist Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Paul Goser. Only 58 Congresmembers voted against the Foreign Aid Bill in which the TikTok ban was tucked.

Not one word from American politicians about the need to raise the minimum wage, which hasn't been increased since 2009 despite considerable inflation, nor a word about America's endlessly growing homelessness crises, property crime increases, or the 40-year stagnation of American wages, the deterioration of infrastructure, and precious little was said besides complaints about border security over the immigration crises sparked by American Imperialist adventures and US sanctions.

What we've learned today is that we are highly unlikely to see any changes to the insane behavior of the US and its allies any time soon, neither with regards to the absolutely bonkers Neocon foreign policy leading us to the edge of abyss, nor the spending-for-the-rich/austerity-for-the-poor Neoliberal domestic policy of the last 45 years.

#source1

#source2

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#source8

@WorkerSolidarityNews

Blue: titles are opinion pieces or analysis, and may or may not contain sources.

[twitter-bores-me-to-death]

Blue Revenge arc, a turning point in Ciel and Lau's relationship? A theory.

This is a follow-up to my analysis of chapter 212

Tl;dr Aboard the train, Ciel and Sebastian are being watched. Although well aware of the situation they're in, both engage in a leisurely discussion about their top secret plan for all to listen, while sipping tea.

I have been thinking... If Scotland Yard is listening in to Ciel and Sebastian's little chat, doesn't them mentioning Lau being directly involved in their operation plus potentially trying to smuggle some advanced technology to China, essentially amount to throwing him under the bus?

I believe an arrest warrant was issued for the sevants already (Finny was making the front page of The Times alongside Ciel and Seb), so mentioning them offhandedly is kind of inconsequential at this point.

Lau, however, he's been hiding our crew for a few weeks yet the police didn't knock on his door, meaning he wasn't that high on their list of suspects.

Looking at the way Ciel speaks about his relationship with Lau, it is a purely buisiness-based, mutually beneficial one. He doesn't believe he was done any favours for free and Lau himself did say he was expecting the debt to be payed with interest.

O!Ciel is currently embroiled in a mass murder, blood harvesting scandal. If the police catch wind of Lau, one of his accomplices, effectively acquiring advanced medial tech shipped for China, wouldn't that add more allegations against o!Ciel? He could be charged with treason, to top it off. Lau is obviously not paying any mind to his actions' repercussions on o!Ciel's already muddied reputation. He could even be planning to flee England altogether if everything goes smoothly.

and Ciel, of course, is aware of that.

Which is why, if you look closely at Ciel and Sebastian's discussion, the most they do in regards to the other servants is drop their names and some personal trivia. Nothing about their missions or whereabouts.

In contrast to that:

-Ciel spared no effort exposing Lau's ties to the mafia, his location, his goals AND his motivations. Not only that but Sebastian backed him up, saying that there was no doubt about his operation's success... They are basically urging, nay, *begging* the police to go to Athena Sanatorium to thwart Lau's schemes, be it by getting him arrested or simply having the Yard sieze the medical equipment (and the miracle healer?) before he gets his hands on it.

Ciel and Lau are playing 4D chess and unfortunately for Lau, Ciel is three steps ahead of him. He refuses to compromise and is ready to cut Lau off the second he's served his purpose, aka dismantling the blood collecting facility.

Now, the question is: What will become of Bard in all of this? I don't know. I doubt Ciel informed him of his plans but I am sure he'll come back to retrieve him if he ever gets caught. Maybe Bard is sharp enough to sniff out Ciel's plot and retreat in time.

In conclusion: Could we possibly be witnessing Lau's villain origin story? If he connects the dots and manages to slip through the fingers of justice, he'll certainly try to get back at our earl. Which will unavoidably lead to an epic confrontation not unsimilar to that of season 1 of the anime!

(Yes, I believe that for better or worse, the manga will follow the main plot points of the anime...)

[dxstopiaa]

Roommates..

Summary: Moving in was a tough task, thankfully someone will be accompanying you, I wonder what what they’re like?

A collection of my personal headcanons and short scenarios regarding how my favourite genshin boys will be like as roommates! Mainly Platonic and Romantic (depends how you want to interpret it) fluff with some crack!

Characters: Zhongli, Xiao, Wanderer. (I will do a part 2, planning to include: Albedo, Kazuha, Rosaria, Heizou, Childe.)

Zhongli

• Extremely Organised, from when you first entered the dormitory, the senior student had already expected your arrival and was courteous enough to prepare your wardrobe and sleeping quarters. There was no denial that you were pleasantly surprised.

•Even his section of the accommodation was tidy and orderly, various folders stacked into a neat divider, a selection of stationary and a rather comfortable chair parallel to the desk, decorated with a beige throw blanket.

•He greeted you with such formalities you began to question if he was secretly a professor instead of a student. Your visible confusion mixed with delight painted your face unusually, exerting a light, mellow chuckle from Zhongli. God, He already seemed so amiable, precious indeed.

•Over the first couple of days, you could say you adjusted perfectly to his schedule, taking your individual responsibilities up whilst still maintaining a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. Often times when you both sauntered around the campus after your lessons had finished, you would arrive at the dorm and Zhongli would immediately brew any sort of tea.

• Emphasis on Often, He had a huge luxury stash of the finest teas and even coffees, though he didn’t particularly like the former. Spectrums of caffeinated beverages from iced peach tea, to oolong and even osmanthus..? Though you weren’t familiar with the last. Zhongli was quite proud of his collection, understandably. He had told you of his trips to China, expressing his love for his nation, and how he would constantly buy out the stocks of drinks they had.

•This leads you onto your next discovery, it seemed as if Zhongli had not learnt of money management as well as you had expected him to, for instance, you had to pry him away from his observations of new purchasable books at your local stationery shop, pleading how he would go into debt, though that was more for dramatic effect. He would admire the new pens with intense observation, i mean, new stationery right, who wouldn’t? Though you had to remind him of the abundance on his table, overflowing out of his already oversized pencilcase. My, Is he even a real economy student?

•Your slightly different personalities attached you two together like glue, it would be rare for somebody to see one without the other. Like recently, when Hu Tao’s eyebrows rocketed when she saw you alone in the library, bombarding you with questions. ‘Oh my, did the poor guy already pass on? Where is he?’ Was an example, let’s just say that an unimpressed student had his arms folded tightly with an eyebrow raised heard that, initially intending to give the younger girl the caramel waffle he bought. Welp, guess who had two?

•Archons, Your roommate was an outstanding chef, where the hell did he get all these culinary skills? Such delicacies laid upon the table, a surprise given to you from him for excelling your exams, you had to press a hand against your mouth not to shriek with excitement at that instant. Zhongli laughed in appreciation at your unspoken compliment, which were the arms wrapped around his neck, an affectionate embrace.

Xiao

•Xiao couldn’t deny that ever since a notice letter had been left on his doorstep from the institute, which had detailed that he was going to have company in his dorm, he felt nervous.

•Since then, Xiao had attempted to make the accommodation as comfortable and hygienic as possible, which wasn’t a strenuous task as he already kept up to these standards previously. He was even able to replenish the house with consumables, despite the fact he didn’t eat much himself.

•The day you arrived at the college, you made your way to the room number mentioned on your welcome letter, knocking on the door lightly. A student with the most gorgeous aureate eyes opened the door for you, returning your soft gaze with a light smile, gesturing you inside.

•Well, grateful you were seeing how you had been rewarded with an orderly roommate, the space he had arranged for you was embellished with neutral tones, most likely as he didn’t know what colours you preferred. A comforting atmosphere indeed.

•Due to sharing the same course, you had grown closer to him as he warmed up to you. His usual stoic attitude had adapted into one of care and even a hint of sarcasm, to your surprise. Often times, he’d find you in the kitchen before your lecture with the end of a pen tapping against your chin, searching the cabinets.

•’We are a bit low on food, Xiao, why don’t we go shopping after?’ You requested, watching him pack a bottle into his bag for the both of you. He sighed quietly, ‘Your obsession with purchasing reminds me of someone’ He side-eyed you, who was dramatically clasping your hands together in pleads for him to accompany you. Xiao exhaled softly, ‘Okay, though you’re paying this time.’

•So you did as you said, waiting outside Xiao’s lecture hall with two breakfast bars in your hands, grinning to yourself at the thought of him browsing aisles with a basket upon his forearm, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion. When he had finally finished, Xiao gratefully accepted the snack, rather hungrily tearing the pack open before leaving the building with you closely by his side.

•The grocery shop across the campus was well favoured by all students, large ranges of deserts to instant foods available. You held Xiao’s hand gently, pulling him into the brightly lit store, giving him a basket of his own, challenging him to see what he would purchase for you and vice versa.

•By the end of your shopping, you had met him back at the front of the self-checkout, his basket half-full of his favourite desert, piles of almond tofu, the rest with snacks he knew you enjoyed. You fawned over the kind action, which you returned with other goods you thought he would like, such as cold noodles and some jasmine tea. ‘Thank you..’ Xiao acknowledged, rubbing your cheek lightly with thumb.

•You infact, did not pay this time, as you had claimed to have ‘forgot’ your card at home, sheepishly scratching the back of your head and averting his critical stare, muttering a ‘You’re impossible.’ Although he didn’t mind paying, you’ve helped him so much without even knowing so. Xiao now found it easier to engage with others, especially when around you. It’s like you pulled out the treasure hidden in the depths of his heart.

•Shopping meant stocking the cupboards, your least favourite part, as the college decided to make them the smallest size as inconveniently possible, which either caused items topple onto you when opening cupboards, or to fall onto Xiao, which he usually caught with his swifter reflexes, How does he sense them? Was a question you found yourself asking.

•You lived a very relaxed life with Xiao, and he felt your arrival changed him for the better.

Wanderer

•Kunikuzushi jolted from his sleep when he heard the familiar sound of knocking on his dormitory door, he hit his head and groaned irritably at himself for forgetting such a thing. He was expecting a roommate and he fell asleep?

•He groggily approached the entrance, combing his navy hair with his fingers to look ever more slightly presentable, before hesitantly clutching the handle and greeting you. You couldn’t help but giggle at the state your new roommate was in, his half lidded eyes looking up at you, he donned an oversized inky shirt accompanied with teal shorts and sandals, which were the wrong way round.

•’Don’t laugh, you’re lucky i even let you inside at such an early hour!’ He berated, opening the door fully and letting you in. Apparently, 12 pm was still morning in this guy’s schedule. He was grateful for the darker surroundings, if not, you could of seen how his face burned in embarrassment.

•Kunikuzushi flipped the dim lights on, treading towards the bathroom as he left you to your own devices in the main area. ‘I won’t be long, organise the room as you wish.’ He dismissed with a wave of his hand, slamming the door shut. Despite his quite disoriented impression, he had basic decency to at least make space for your possessions and provide you with some extra snacks in a mini-fridge on your side of the room.

•Kuni may of seemed rude and eccentric, but in reality, he had a playful soft heart, though often shadowed. Over the following weeks, he would give you some of his notes so you could catch up with the content, and in return you would give him random things you bought. Sometimes it would be as simple as a drink, other times a new notebook. You gave him a plush penguin once, to which he insisted he didn’t need and you could keep it, then the following night you saw him hugging it gently in his slumber. Definitely took a picture of that as blackmail material.

•Around a couple of days ago, you had planned to visit the library to revise for your upcoming exam, which went successful until you walked outside and noticed the ridiculous downpour of rain, comparable to a typhoon. Smacking your hand against your forehead, you called Kunikuzushi, begging him to come and give you your umbrella which you had unfortunately left back on campus. His response? ‘No can do.’ Even though this was over mobile, you could see the conceited smirk plastered on his face, as he cut the call abruptly.

•Sighing deeply, you decided to just wait for the rain to pass, sitting down on a nearby bench under a canopy whilst entertaining yourself with your phone. Little did you know, Kuni was already standing a few feet behind you, his arms crossed impatiently. Your device buzzed, signalling a notification. ‘Look behind you, dumbass’ And you did, sheepishly grinning at him, who sarcastically huffed as if he had anything else to do, another floral umbrella in his hand as he held up his own.

• The rain had calmed down in intensity as you continued walking, the ripples upon puddles grew less frequent and more so of a dripping faucet instead of a running waterfall. You lowered your umbrella and kept it to your side, glancing at Kuni to see he did the same. He reciprocated your look, a small smile present as he faced forward again. Why is he smiling?

•You received the answer to that as you tripped over something, upon falling to the ground, you noticed the retracted umbrella which grazed the concrete you once stepped on. Breathless deriding chortles were heard above you, Kunikuzushi hunched over in fits of laughter, covering his mouth. You pouted in irritation, yet you couldn’t deny his joyfulness made your heart flutter, the purity of one’s happiness.

•Once his laughter had subsided slightly, he extended his arm in an attempt to help you up from the floor. Perfect chance, it seemed as though he didn’t doubt you one bit. With all the force you could, you tugged his arm and brought Kuni tumbling to the ground with a yelp, just as you did. Although this didn’t end up as you thought. His hands were either side of your body, knee braced to the cement in-between your own, hovering above you, your faces directly in-front of another. Your own exploded in a furious blush, whilst his only wore a sly smirk, shaking his head lightly.

•’If you were this desperate, you could of just said so.’ He complacently advocated, remaining in said position whilst you sputtered out denials of all sorts, playfully shoving him away from yourself.

•Honestly, he was too much work, but that was a responsibility and chance you were willing to take. <3

[jangillman]

Jan Gillman-Westgarth

I woke up and as I had my morning coffee, I realized that everything is about to change. No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation, and our lives are never going to be the same.

I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends. I look at people I have known all my life--so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would never express as their own. I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone.

You can't justify this insanity. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!

• If a man pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

• Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

• It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.

• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.

• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

• Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate to the US must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

• $5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

• People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.

• We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

• Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

• Criminals are caught-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

• And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!

Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility and people are dying of a Chinese virus, but it’s racist to refer to it as Chinese even though it began in China. We are clearly living in an upside down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong, but killing innocent babies is right.

Wake up America, the great unsinkable ship Titanic America has hit an iceberg, is taking on water, and is sinking fast. The choice is yours to make. What will it be? Time is short, make your choice wisely!

(Not my words but very accurate and disturbing!)

Feel free to copy and paste. I did.

See 2 Timothy 4:3 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5

[theclnlawfirm]

We are licensed Chinese lawyers focus on foreign trade solutions. Besides all trade-related legal area, we conduct due diligence, identify scam, review trade term, monitor delivery, act as client's on-site representative to eliminate their business risk when buying from China.

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[l-in-the-light]

En, on, giri and inherited will

Inspired by @mochiajclayne absolutely fantastic post about akuen, I decided to share my thoughts about how Japanese culture concepts are everywhere in One Piece. Might be unexpected for many, because One Piece feels like such a western type of story on the surface, it's not even set in Japan. But like always with Japanese popculture, no matter if it's Death Note, Silent Hill (especially Silent Hill since it's set in America, and yet it's so Japanese at it's core) or anything else (yes, that includes all the isekais), it's always heavily rooted in Japanese culture.

Let's start with "en", it's mostly referring to relationships between people, understood in a very broad sense of the word, like the environment you live in or the whole society/community, but also relations between things. It's often connected to reincarnation, en is the connection that accumulates through many past lives. I don't have a good link in english about the Japanese concept, but it's mostly the same in China and Korea, so here you go for the last one: Inyeon (Korean equivalement of en) in Korean culture. Like yeah, it will have some differences here and there, but the core concept is exactly the same.

Law described his connection to Luffy all the way back in Marineford as "akuen". Akuen is basically "en" + "aku" (evil), a connection to someone that is ill or negative in nature. Like your experiences with that person were negative and it might be the complex result of different connections and events leading up to that. It can be because two people are on two different ends of a conflict or because the communites they both lived in or important events in their lives lead them on the path to oppose each other, or it might be because of past lives. The only way to break akuen is dying in such a way that eliminates your life from the reincarnation cycle alltogether. Ouch. But I'm pretty sure One Piece will show us an alternative way of severing akuen connection. One of the greatest things about One Piece is how it takes traditional Japanese concepts and turns them upside down, but in a subtle way.

For example, it takes the concepts of on and giri and instead twists them into a new idea altogether: that of inherited will. Both on and giri are debts you have collected in your life. On by definition is the debt you can't ever truly repay and you're always bound by it, it's the debt to your ancestors, family, also emperor (who was believed to be set on his throne by gods). It's basically the debt you gain simply by being born into a family, cared for when you were a child incapable of doing it yet by yourself. You return it by always taking care of your parents, especially when they grow older, but you can never repay it in full, you will be always bound by it until the day they die. And sometimes, if your parents die before you even are able to start repaying the favour, you will be in a very unfortunate/disgraceful position, because you couldn't fullfill your duty.

Sometimes that debt can be more sinister and as a result of "on" obligation you will be forced to do in your life whatever your parents want you to do. If you dream to become a veterinarian because you love animals, but your parents own a huge company and want you to inherit it as the heir, you're basically morally obliged to fullfill their wish and that's also a form of debt of on. It's really heavy.

In One Piece, Law calls Cora-san his "onjin", using the very word of "on" + "person", signaling his debt to Cora has the nature of on. It's not because Cora-san was his parent or a religious figure akin to an emperor in his mind. It's because he gave Law his life, prolonged it, that's why this debt is an "on". It's very heavy and Law will never be able to repay it in full.

And then we have "giri" which is also a form of moral obligation. It's a debt of gratitude, kinda a favour for a favour, this one definitely can be repaid.

That's one example of it. Another good one is Chiffon's debt to the Strawhats because of Lola. She tells Bege they need to do everything in their might to repay that debt. It's so important she puts her own safety in the second place. In short, it's when someone does something for you, you gain "giri" that will be expected to be repaid. You might have heard that strangers in Japan are reluctant to impose their help on others, that's because they don't want to impose "giri" debt on them, because forcing someone into a "giri" is considered rude/unwelcome. There's one notable exception though: they don't have that problem with foreigners, because foreigners by definition aren't expected to follow the rules of Japanese culture to that extent. Since they're outsiders, it's fine, the giri doesn't apply to them, so it's safe to help them. That's why many foreigners are often offered helped and Japan has such a friendly image in their eyes as the result. If you're interested to know more about on and giri I reccommend Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture. This book gained a bad rep because of the part it played in World War II, but it's still an excellent anthropological study and stays true even today.

And then we have inherited will in One Piece. It's a debt you take over yourself to repay, a debt of gratitude. Sometimes to repay it you will have to make someone's wish or dream come true (Chopper inheriting Hiluluk's dream), to avenge them (Akazaya Nine for Oden), to do things in their stead (Luffy saving Wano in place of Ace). It's basically the same concept as on and giri, but I think it does one revolutionary thing: anyone can inherit the will. It doesn't have to be kids that take it over from their parents, especially when it's a debt that's been carried over many generations (debts like that also exist in Japanese culture). No, anyone feeling like the wish and the passion of it moved their heart can take it on themselves and carry it. That's why we have Coby taking over for Garp instead of Luffy, for example, or Yamato taking over for Oden, despite the two of them having no "on" or "giri" debts that bind them to do that. They do it instead out of their own free will.

That's why I find "inherited will" a greater concept than on and giri, despite it being almost the same. There's just one important difference here: freedom of choice. Despite sometimes being extremely heavy, on and giri are beautiful concepts, and "inherited will" brings out the best of them while saying goodbye to the most limiting part: it sets you free from the cage of on. It replaces it with unconditional love instead that doesn't imprison you. You have no idea how big such a simple change like this can be.

That makes Law's ultimate quest to find out what Cora-san meant when he wanted him to find freedom even more important.

[zvaigzdelasas]

[VOA is US State Media]

A report by researchers from Johns Hopkins University is giving China better than expected marks for its performance in helping to restructure the crippling debt loads carried by some African countries. The report is based on a detailed evaluation of Beijing's participation in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, or DSSI, an international vehicle for developed nations to support struggling countries like Angola and Zambia. The DSSI was introduced in 2020 at the start of the global pandemic by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which suggested the world’s 20 largest economies, known as the G-20, temporarily halt the collection of loans from the world’s poorest nations. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and World Bank Chief David Malpass have recently accused China of being a barrier to debt relief, and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was in default-stricken Zambia last week urging the country's bilateral creditors — of which China is the biggest — to do more on restructuring Zambia’s debt. But, despite some caveats, the report released this week by Deborah Brautigam and Yufan Huang from the China Africa Research Initiative found that overall, China “fulfilled its role fairly well as a responsible G-20 stakeholder.” The analysts added that China “did implement the minimum steps of the DSSI fairly well, communicating with other players, and following through on pledges.” According to the available data, Chinese creditors accounted for 30 percent of all claims and contributed 63 percent of debt service suspensions in the countries that participated in the DSSI. “The metric by which you evaluate [China’s] performance depends on what your expectations were for the initiative,” Brautigam told VOA, noting that this was the first time the world’s second-largest economy had joined a multilateral initiative – a move one G-20 source called “miraculous.” Brautigam said it was obvious that a new architecture is needed to deal with debt relief because the current system is dominated by the Paris Club, a group of wealthy Western nations that started lending to developing countries in 1956. In recent years, there have been more major new creditors, like China and bondholders. “So what evolves out of this is really up in the air,” she said, adding that all lenders “need to be in together because otherwise you get all these suspicions, you know, worries about free riding.” Successes and failures The study concluded that China might have achieved more during the DSSI if not for fears that countries would simply take advantage of any debt relief to repay other creditors. In Zambia, for example, Chinese creditors wanted assurances their relief wouldn’t be used to pay off the bondholders, while the bondholders were concerned that any relief from their side might go toward paying off China. China was “totally justified” in its suspicions on this front, Brautigam said, because “in most countries, all of those creditors continued to be paid.” “We need something that is simultaneous - you know, they all need to be in the room together … so that we don’t have this first-mover problem,” she added. In Zambia, the Chinese decided against suspending their debt payments while the country was still paying bondholders, but this didn’t happen in Angola, China’s largest African borrower with around $20 billion in debt to Chinese entities. In that case, Chinese creditors provided 97% of the debt relief over the two-year period without asking for assurances that Angola wouldn’t continue making other repayments.

The researcher’s third African case study, Kenya, showed how China’s DSSI treatment was different from the other two. Chinese banks agreed to provide relief at first but later stopped loan disbursements and suspended only some 40 percent of the expected amount in 2021. Moving forward The study also showed how China's banks and central government, despite the country's top-down political structure, do not always act in unison. The fragmented nature of the Chinese system and bureaucratic hurdles often remain a barrier to debt relief. Being part of the DSSI helped address that because it “pushed the Chinese government to align interests among fragmented banks and bureaucracies with conflicting goals. This process, still under way, is a necessary step toward full acceptance of the necessity for debt restructuring in the post-pandemic era,” the researchers found. The DSSI ended in December 2021 and has been superseded by what’s known as the Common Framework to continue helping indebted countries like Zambia with their restructuring. In January, World Bank chief Malpass said, “China is asking lots of questions in the creditors' committees, and that causes delays, that strings out the process.” Last month, Yellen accused Beijing of leaving developing countries “trapped in debt.” China has called on the IMF and World Bank to also offer debt relief, with President Xi Jinping saying at the G-20 summit last year: “International financial institutions and commercial creditors, which are the main creditors of developing countries, should take part in the debt reduction and suspension for developing countries." The Chinese Embassy in Zambia hit back at the U.S., calling Yellen’s “debt trap” comments “irresponsible and unreasonable.” Ultimately, the study found, “the DSSI was a success in what some saw as its primary goal: to bring China into a multilateral, G20-supervised forum where Beijing has an equal voice.” It now remains to be seen how the challenges highlighted by the pandemic relief program spill over into the current debt negotiations.

6 Apr 23

[the-monkey-ruler]

Funny Journey to the West (2016) 搞笑西游记

Director: He Qing Starring: Wang Zhe Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Duration: 73 minutes Also know as: 嘻游疯神记 / The Legend of the Crazy God Type: Retelling

Summary:

This story uses a nonsensical approach and takes the story of Journey to the West as a template to tell the various funny events encountered by Tang Sanzang and his four disciples during their journey to the West. At the beginning, Tang Sanzang successively encountered Sun Wukong who was pressed under the Five Finger Mountain, Zhu Bajie who fell from the sky, Sha Wujing who was fainted by Wukong's bad breath after not brushing his teeth for 500 years, and the defeated Japanese businessman Kato Yingying, and then tamed him into a white dragon horse and gathered the team to go to the West. Then the five of them set out together. While being chased by the repeatedly defeated leader, Dongfang Bubai, and Saiyans, they also experienced small episodes such as stockholders jumping off buildings and migrant workers collecting debts. Finally, the five of them passed through the Kingdom of Daughters and met the Bull Demon King and his family, but they finally obtained the true scriptures and achieved the right results.

Source: https://movie.douban.com/subject/26877520/

Link: N/A

[thisismeracing]

LEWIS HAMILTON MASTERLIST

✦ LEWIS HAMILTON ▶ LH44

All my Lewis posts here

▸ main masterlist | patreon guide ▸ taglist ▸ who I write for & guidelines ▸ subscribe to Patreon for exclusive content ▸ tip me on ko-fi

KEYS: s: smut f: fluff a: angst ✷: Patreon exclusive

― ✦ SOCIAL MEDIA AU

it's just us against the world (f): Some fans noticed how Leiws is constantly listening to Y/n’s songs and decided to back him up and make it happen a bit faster. Will their cupid play work?

jealousy, jealousy (f): After a red carpet interaction, people are shipping Yn with Chris Evans without knowing that she’s dating a pilot. What will Lewis do when he sees the fuss internet is making about it?

a friend of a friend (f): After a friend in common introduced them, Lewis and Yn can’t seem to stay away from each other, and the fans are quick to catch and manifest a relationship.

part of your world (f): What happens when Lewis goes to the theater with his nephews and realizes he now has a new favorite Disney movie. The princess? Ynl Yln and she’s definitely fairytale-worthy outside the screens as well.

she's that girl (f): Lewis would never imagine that something, or rather someone, could take his attention off Beyonce during her own show, but one of her dancers did

sunshine (f): In which Lewis starts dating an earthy/spiritual girl who just loves nature and good energy.

moonshine (f): In which Lewis is sunshine, but dates a grumpy!reader and fans start noticing how different they are.

food baby (f): Yn is used to posting her belly after meals, claiming it’s her “food baby”, but fans are hell-bent on waiting for the reveal of a real baby Hamilton.

mó paz (f): It’s time for the Interlagos GP and fans are excited to see how Lewis’ Portuguese sounds after becoming a citizen AND dating Yn.

after the afterparty (f): Fans have been watching Yn and Lewis interact since she first started attending races. Nothing seemed enough for them to pinpoint what was going on between the two until the Las Vegas Gran Prix happened, and contrary to the belief, what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Yn and Lewis are about to find out.

your time (a): A couple months after the biggest breakup in the F1 paddock, your song gets leaked, and the internet uproars about your relationship again. This time they have more ammunition than ever to feed the narrative that Lewis Hamilton cheated on you. Are they right though?

more than friends (f): You’re friends with Lewis, but fans don’t buy the “just friends” discourse - for them, you and Lewis make the most powerful couple, even if you’re not famous. And maybe they’re right, maybe you’re supposed to be more than friends.

― ✦ BLURBS

Home (f)

Essays and cuddles (f)

More than friends (a)

― ✦ REGULAR IMAGINES

the phantom of miscommunication (a): Dating a professional athlete is hard, and it’s even harder when you are famous too, and your schedules just keep crashing. How will their love beat their insecurities? 

haunted (s): Lost in the years, lost in the days, Lewis Hamilton haunts the house that once was his. The house where he was killed. And the house that now has new inhabitants. He was used to blowing candles, breaking chinas, and it being enough for the curious newbies to leave. However, it was the first time he met someone who wouldn’t act terrified by his presence. Yn was curious, and that curiosity had a price. Lewis was the one who would collect the debt.

bad religion (s)✷: He used to be a sinner, maybe that’s why nowadays he has so much compassion for those. Your kindness, however, can be your downfall. Especially when directed towards a demon. A breach and a hand to hold were all that Yn needed to complete the Devil’s wish. Lewis should have crushed the snake’s head before she swiftly bit him.

this love is ours (f): Relationships aren’t usually easy. Add to it the fact that you date a world champion racing driver, and your dad doesn’t really like said driver and the media is ready to dissect every move you make. At the end of the day, the stakes are high and the waters can be rough, but what you share with Lewis is true love, and it’s yours

heartdresser (f): When Lewis finds himself just a couple days away from a racing weekend and without his usual braids he desperately searches for suggestions of available hairdressers in the area. As the saying goes, love can come from the most unexpected places, and Lewis is about to discover that this is, in fact, true.

falling (in love) (f)✷: When your kid found a new friend in his new school, you did not expect that would mean you would find yourself friends too. And sure enough, you weren’t expecting to fall for his friend’s uncle.

falling (asleep) (f)✷: You had dinner with a few friends, and Leo loved the fact that Lewis was included - so much so, that he wanted his new favorite pilot to tuck him in bed and read him to sleep

― ✦ HEADCANONS

♡ lewis dating a korean girl ♡ lewis marrying a desi girl ♡ lewis as a dad ✷

©thisismeracing do not copy, steal, or translate my work. do not repost on a different media platform.