#Christmas Spirit Expo

[travellingnews]

Christmas Spirit Expo: Η πιο Χριστουγεννιάτικη Έκθεση ξεκινάει αυτή την Παρασκευή στο Σύνταγμα!

Christmas Spirit Expo: Η πιο Χριστουγεννιάτικη Έκθεση ξεκινάει αυτή την Παρασκευή στο Σύνταγμα!

Christmas Spirit Expo: Η πιο Χριστουγεννιάτικη Έκθεση ξεκινάει αυτή την Παρασκευή στο Σύνταγμα! 16-24 & 27-29 Δεκεμβρίου 2022 Αίθουσα πολλαπλών χρήσεων | Σταθμός Μετρό Σύνταγμα It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Everywhere you go! Το φαντασμαγορικό χριστουγεννιάτικο δέντρο στην πλατεία Συντάγματος, ο εντυπωσιακός στολισμός σε δρόμους και πλατείες, αλλά και τα χιλιάδες λαμπάκια που…

[drabbles-mc]

Take It Down

Sydney Adamu x Richie Jerimovich Carmen Berzatto & Neil Fak

For @storiesofsvu's Holiday Bingo 2023! Prompt: decorations Also completely inspired by @withmyteeth, like so many of my favorite fics are

Warnings: 18+, language

Word Count: 2k

A/N: Shout-out to Cricket for always having a never-ending supply of inspiration for all of my fictional faves. I owe you my life and also like 50% of my masterlist lmao. This is just a fun and silly little something-something!

The Bear Taglist: @garbinge @hausofmamadas @darqchilddaydreamz @ashlingnarcos @narcolini @justreblogginfics (If you want to be added to any of my taglists, please let me know!)

It wasn’t Christmas yet. There were still a couple weeks to go before it would be Christmas. The rest of the world was in full holiday swing, but stepping into The Bear wiped that entire slate clean. There were no decorations up in the dining room—it looked classy and beautiful the way that it always did, but it wasn’t festive. No one found the lack of décor surprising, per se, because they all knew Carmy and they knew enough about the history of Berzatto Christmas Bullshit to know that he wasn’t going to be decking the halls of the restaurant.

Just because Carmy had a deficit of Christmas spirit, though, didn’t mean that everyone else was in the same boat. No one was feeling bold enough to try and throw a tree up in the dining area, but apparently someone had been bold enough to sprinkle some holiday cheer back in the kitchen.

“What the fuck is this?” Carmen asked, standing directly below the light that was previously hanging perfectly centered above the expo.

Everyone turned to see what he was looking at. Richie stepped over to him, crossing his arms across his chest as he looked at the same spot. “Looks like mistle—”

“I know what it is, cousin,” Carmy cut him off.

“You asked,” Richie shot back with a scoff.

Carmy shook his head. Looking over at Richie, he gestured to the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. “How, how the—who put this here?”

Richie held his hands up in surrender, was halfway through taking a breath to try and defend himself from the accusations he knew were about to come his way, when he heard someone giggling in the midst of everyone. He dropped his hands back down to his sides, brows coming together as he turned and looked to see who it was, not that it was really much of a question to anyone if they thought about it for more than five seconds.

“Neil Geoff,” Richie said, trying to sound annoyed with him the way that he usually did but struggling because the only thing he enjoyed more than harassing Fak was anyone harassing Carmy. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

He forced himself to get his giggles under control as he shrugged. “I don’t need to say anything for myself.” He gestured above their heads. “It’s mistletoe!”

“Yeah, we know what it is, Fak,” Carmy said. He looked like he was ready to grab a chair from the dining room so he could climb up and take it down himself. “Why did you hang it up?”

“C’mon, it’s almost Christmas! Have some holiday cheer.”

“What the fuck does mistletoe have to do with holiday cheer?” he shot back, running his hand along his browbone like he was going to flatten the stress out of himself.

Richie piped in before Fak could. “Maybe he thought if someone planted one on you, you might loosen the fuck up a little bit.”

Carmy waved him off. “Shut the fuck up.” Looking at Fak, he pointed at him and then up at the mistletoe. “Take it down.”

“I can’t!”

“You can’t?”

“Someone’s gotta kiss under it, Carm! If I take it down before that it’s bad luck!” Fak argued.

“We don’t need more bad luck,” Richie agreed, his tone so coated with sarcastic seriousness it was hard for everyone around them not to laugh.

Carmy was looking back and forth between both of them. “You’re both gonna have some bad luck if no one takes this shit—”

“We need to open,” Sydney begrudgingly inserted herself into the conversation, “so if we could finish this argument after dinner service, that would be ideal, I think.”

“I’m not leaving that shit up for all of dinner service,” Carmy said as he shook his head.

“Why?” Richie asked with a laugh. “Afraid no one is gonna wanna step up and kiss you?”

“Or he’s afraid that everyone is gonna be too busy kissing each other to do their work,” Fak chimed in before Carmy could answer.

“I’m not afraid,” he tried to stop both of them. “I’m fuckin’ annoyed. Take it down!”

“I can’t!”

Syd rolled her eyes throwing her hands up in exasperation. “Oh my god! No one cares!” She turned to Carmy. “We open in three. Can we just let it go?”

“No. I’m not leaving it up there. It’s, it’s fuckin’ ridiculous.”

“You’re fuckin’ ridiculous,” Richie muttered.

Carmy’s gaze snapped over to Richie. “Cousin, I swear to—”

“Two minutes,” Sydney cut him off.

Carmy looked back over at Fak. “Take it down.”

“It’s bad luck!”

Carmy almost wanted to argue that there was no such thing as bad luck, but there was too much in his life and the lives of those around him that pointed to the contrary. However, he didn’t think that his luck, good or bad, was influenced by something as simple and silly as mistletoe hanging over their goddamn expo. But he also knew that if he said something to that effect, Richie was going to come right back with some comment about how he shouldn’t be so sure about that since his love life was either a fucking mess or completely nonexistent.

They also had about sixty seconds left until they had to open.

“Oh my god,” Sydney said as she looked over at Fak. “Neil, please. Just, take it down.”

“Can’t do it. Not until someone does the thing!”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Fuck me. We don’t have all day!” Stepping in, he placed his hands on the outsides of Sydney’s arms and pulled her up and into a kiss. It was short, almost harsh in the way that it knocked the wind out of Sydney’s lungs. It was over almost as soon as it started and Richie wasn’t even looking at Sydney when it was over, immediately turning to Fak and Carmy. “There! We all happy now?”

Carmy smacked Richie, the back of his hand colliding harshly with Richie’s shoulder. “Cousin! You can’t just fuckin—that’s sexual harassment! Don’t just fuckin’ take her and—”

Sydney cut him short, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. “Stop, Chef. It’s, uh, it’s fine. I’m good. Let’s just,” she turned to Richie, “let’s just open? Alright? We can do that now?”

Carmy sighed, shaking his head as he stared at Sydney in disbelief. He thought that if anyone was going to be on his side about Richie’s behavior it was going to be her. But there was no time to get into it all. He also had the feeling that the more he talked about it, the angrier he was going to get about it, and the more that Richie was going to give him a hard time.

“Fine, fine. Yeah.” He looked at Richie. “Go ahead and open, cousin.”

Richie nodded, the self-satisfied grin on his face enough to make Carmy want to hit him again only this time with a closed fist to his jaw. “Yes, Chef.”

Once Richie was heading out to the dining area, Carmy turned back to Fak. “Take that shit down. Now.”

“Alright! Alright. Now I can.” He fell into his half-muttering. “No more bad luck now. Would be nice if you had some holiday cheer but—”

“Fak!” Carmy shouted to stop him.

“Taking it down!” Fak said, finally stepping away to get his ladder so he could restore the kitchen to its former glory.

Carmy dismissed the rest of the small crowd that had gathered, telling them to get back to wherever the fuck they were before everything started. They were about to have people coming in to eat, after all, and none of the customers were going to wait or give a shit about their arguments back in the kitchen.

When everyone else had dispersed, Carmy returned his attention to Sydney. “Sorry about that. You, uh, you good?” He knew there must’ve been a more graceful way to ask that question but grace hadn’t ever been his strong suit.

“I’m fine,” she said, giving a small and dismissive wave of her hand. “I’m fine and we’re open now so I really gotta…” she trailed off and gestured towards where the orders were about to start flowing in.

“Right, right.”

He stepped out of the way, acutely aware that there were about a thousand other things that he could have and should have been doing, but he couldn’t quite pry himself away. He stared at her for another moment, gaze flicking over to the glass pane that let him see out into the dining area. He watched as Richie saw people to their seats, and he would have easily wasted much more time looking back and forth between the two of them if Fak hadn’t reappeared with a ladder.

“Here to strip away the only piece of Christmas The Bear has ever—”

“Just take it down,” Carmy stopped his sentence short.

“I’m going!”

Sydney was trying not to laugh at the two of them and was barely successful. She wasn’t laughing but she was still smiling. “Can’t believe you’re making him take that down now when we’re about to start—”

“I figured you of all people would want it gone,” Carmy argued, defensive already. “Keep you from getting fuckin’ harassed by Richie again.”

Syd was shaking her head as she finished getting herself settled and organized. “I’m just saying maybe it’s not the best time.”

“Am I leaving this up here?” Fak asked from the top of the ladder. “Because I’ll leave it up here.”

“No!” they both answered in unison.

“Dammit!” Fak made no move to hide his exasperation and disappointment.

Richie strode back into the kitchen just in time to hear Fak voice his feelings. He couldn’t help but to laugh. “If you want me to kiss you, Neil Geoff, you’re gonna have to find another way.”

“Yeah, right,” Fak said as he got down from the ladder, mistletoe in his hand, “like I would ever want to kiss you.” He shoved the small plant with its pretty red bow right into Richie’s chest. “Not even to avoid bad luck.”

Fak was walking away before Richie could try and come back with a clever response. Instead, Richie looked over at Carmy, waiting for him to say something. He must’ve also been struggling to come up with something pithy and cutting to say, because he just gave one last shake of his head in Richie’s direction before turning on his heel so he could go do his actual job. The one that had nothing to do with holiday decorations.

Richie looked down at the mistletoe in his hand and then looked over at Sydney who was already immersed in her work. Walking over, he stopped so that he was standing right next to her. Sydney had watched the whole thing happen in her peripheral and had made a concentrated effort to not say anything to him about anything, let alone what had happened before. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she was still thinking about it, that she had any type of feeling in the wake of it.

“Want the good luck charm?” Richie asked with a laugh. He dangled the mistletoe in front of her, watching her shake her head and try not to burst into laughter. “Something to remember me by? Maybe even cash in on later?”

“There are plenty of things that you need to be doing right now that aren’t this, Chef,” she replied but avoided answering the question.

“Want me to leave it in your locker?” he teased.

Sydney hated the fact that she could feel warmth creeping up her neck and into her face. “Richie.”

Richie laughed and clapped her lightly on the shoulder. “I’ll leave it in your locker.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then can you run these plates?” she called after him.

“Sure thing, Chef!” he yelled back, laughing the entire time.

[benefits1986]

dey/tu/mee

Hello, love, emeeeemmmm. Tabi.

"What are your thoughts on marriage?"

"Do you see yourself getting married?"

"Syempre, gusto ko ikasal. Ikaw ba?"

Whenever I get these questions, syempre ang lala ng sagot ko.

"Marriage is a social construct."

"Kamusta mga married people sa circle mo at sa pamilya mo?"

"Anong lagay ng home life mo? 'Yung totoo."

"Why get married when you can live together and get pets? Less complicated. Less mess pa just in case, alam mo na."

"May galaw na ang divorce sa Pinas. Next question."

Red flag na red flag ako in all levels. Hahahahahaha. Shemay. But, in the spirit of Christmas and all ganaps, sige. Let's friggin' revisit this burning question. Maiba naman.

So far, pinaka interesting counter argument dito na nakuha ko ay something like:

"Alam ko na gusto ko at kaya kong ikasal at mag-pamilya. Gusto kong may makasama sa buhay. 'Di naman masama na 'yun dream ko 'di ba? Pero, puwede naman na walang kids."

OPAKKKYUSIII. Sino ka diyan kahit super basic naman ng sagot?

I went back to getting to know XY kinda late kasi akala ko nakapila na ako ng landas. 'Pag kasi XX, 'di naman 'to topic kaya for me, red flag agad 'to which is malabo 'di ba? 'Pag usapang XY talaga, iba ang tono at toyo ko. Ganun talaga e. 'Pag kasi may legalities na ang mga bagay tapos may-sa harap ng Diyos at madlang pipol, iba na ang takada. Coming from a place where na-apply ko ang concept ng "Blink" sa mga weddings na na-shoot ko na medyo marami-rami na rin naman, makikita mo talaga na marriage is but a social construct at times.

May mga weddings pa nga na solid talaga pero ayun, nagkakalat sa socmed dahil nga millennials are in their era ng level up na ang adulting that comes with shitshow szn din.

Sabi ng bestfriend ko, 'di talaga obvious 'pag may gusto akong nilalang. May mga specific examples pa ako na tingin ko talaga obvious na obvious ako. Of course, we go back to the roads na: E kasi naman you make all people feel special when they're not. Back then, isa 'to sa mga malalang sagupaan namin kasi I really felt I was slapped so hard. Na parang kasalanan ko pang I'm wired this friggin' way. These days, he tells me na ang solusyon e maging upfront ako dahil kaya ko naman talaga. Ayoko lang. Shemayyyyy.

So ayun na nga. What are my thoughts on marriage?

Ang aga pa masyado pero dahil maraming ganaps ng Q4, tara. Usap tayo. Lels. 'Yung "from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part" hay nakooooowwww. 'Di 'yan basta-basta binibitawan lalo 'pag aging millennial ka. I think kasi sa edad ko na 'to, sadly ang dami na talagang naghihiwalay which makes me question why and why not 'di ba? Listened to a podcast din na expert divorce lawyer na 'di pinayagang mag-set up ng booth sa wedding expo sa US kaya naman, mas may meat and bones na rin 'tong construct ko. Emeeemmmssss.

Mga tanong na kaya mo ba talagang itawid 'yan vow na 'yan kung ngayon palang e napaka-paepek mo na? Kasi ako, I don't tap out once I'm in. For sure 'yun. Avoidant ako, true. Pero sa mga connections ko, I really try my best kaya 'di talaga ako magse-settle lalo 'pag nakikita mo 'yung micro signs na 'di sanay 'to sa inconvenience. 'Di 'to tatagal sa hassle at hirap ng totoong buhay.

Speaking of "settling" may na-come across na "settling in" versus "settling on". PAKKK-Q malala. Decision kasi ang marriage na would end up on either divorce or death, sabi nga ni Atty. And sabi rin sa mejj fresh podcast: the most dangerous person a woman comes across with is her husband. Tatay ko: Tama naman. Hahahahahaha. PAKKKK. 'Yan din kasi isang tanong ng tatay ko lately. Kung naging mas mabuting asawa raw ba siya, sana raw andito pa mom ko. Me: Tigil mo na 'yan, huy. Isipin mo na lang na validated 'yung studies dad. At 'di ka nagiisa sa sanlaksang ulupong sa mundo. Kidding aside, mom wanted the best for you, me and her favorite child. Ganun lang 'yun. Sabi nga sa Miss Saigon, I'd give my life for you. Woohoooohuhuhuhuhu.

May takot din kasi talaga ako na either na sabi nila 'di ba, 'yung level ng pagiging nanay ng nanay mo, malaki ang chance na 'yun ang benchmark mo bilang nanay. Me: Nooooo. Sorry. 'Di ko kaya at all. Hahahaha. Kahit nga mga 50% ng performance level ng nanay ko, 'di ko talaga ma-imagine na magiging ganun grind ko just in case mapunta ako sa marriage sphere. Mom loved us too much talaga and syempre 'di ba, though toxic siya, iba 'yung pagmamahal niya na mala-Lily Potter pero Asian mother dragon version. Ganernnnn.

And another thing, syempre, with marriage comes kids. FUCK. Ang sagot ko talaga dito: Menopause be mine para tapos na. Tatay ko: 'Pag mag-asawa kayo, matic na 'yung kids, 'nak. Ganun talaga 'yun. Parang tanga naman na may asawa tapos walang anak. Pero mahirap talaga sa babae. Sa aming mga lalaki, sperm lang, oks na. Iba rin naman ngayon. Nagaalaga na rin naman mga tatay. 'Di tulad namin noon. *Sabay luha ng slight si ungas* Me: Boomers bombing.

'Di ko talaga kasi ma-imagine na may lalabas na bata sa akin. Pota. 'Yung ire, 'yung possibility ng C-section. Kakanood kasi ng Sineskwela at Discovery Channel Pro Max since the 90s kaya naman it's too graphic and kadire talaga. 'Di ko talaga ma-gets 'yung "bringing a child in the world" shitballs na 'yan at the expense of that tiny hole na ma-stretch ng malala.

'Yung hassle na 'di biro na nakikita at naririnig ko sa mga okay na okay na nanay na self-giving to the point na they gave up their career and their lives for their kiddos. Jusko. Nangingilo ako. As in. I admire them so much talaga as in. Kasi sa generation na 'to, iba na. I'm not going after validation na external ha. Pero the stories, the behind-the-scenes are just soooooo maddening. 'Di rin madaling maging tatay kasi naman apart from the funds na talaga namang 'di biro, mas may pressure na rin mag-show up and grow up sila ngayon. Pero sa babae talaga ang mas pressure. Perioddttzzz.

Forda record, I've raised kiddos but not sa infant era nila. Though honestly, 'di naman super hassle mag-alaga kasi sabi nga nung mga momshies na kilala ko, lalabas talaga 'yung maternal instincts mo sa ayaw mo at sa gusto mo. And in fairness, kahit mga legit na party girls nagiging mainam na nanay na mismong ako nangingilo sa mga linyahan na: Anything para sa anak ko. Me: Wow. May ganun. Actually, 'yung hassle part is feeling ko talaga is hindi ako good example. Tats pa lang mhiema. Piercings pa lang. At lahat ng mali ko sa buhay, wala na. May nanalo na sa pagiging palalo. Byeee.

Pero ang bubog ko talaga sa kiddos area ay eto. I don't want to risk my potential kid to take care of me at his/her/their expense. I've seen it. I've gone through it. Kaya naman, wala akong pake na mom got an autoimmune disease. 'Yung strong feeling na may 50% chance ako na may bad genes. Wala na rin akong pake sa gene pool.

Pero, natatawa ako kasi nung sinabi sa akin ang similar storyline nung friend ko na two parents are C patients malala, sabi ko: Mhie, true love knows no fear. And for sure, aalagaan ka niya. At ganun ka rin. 'Di mo naman sure kung anong meron today and tomorrow kaya I say, go. Push. --I meant this talaga saka ayoko lang din masayang ang mga engagement shoots nila. Emmeemmmssss. Madali talagang mag-payo 'pag hindi ikaw ang subject at predicate noh?

I'm at the point where in kung puwede walang marriage, mas okay for me. However, eto naaaaaa tayo. Kung may makaka-go beyond sa fears and toyo and kabaliwan ko na 'to, I'll consider. Shemayyy. And sabi ko nga, 'di kasi ako takot mag-isa. Default ko na 'yun. I still stand by that. 'Di rin ako takot na just in case I get to an old age which is still debatable, I know I'll come through. Kung paano, ako na bahala doon. And this time around, while I have a solid and stronger connections sa crazy fam and sa chosen fam ko, just in case someone comes along, I think I can consider na rin. OPAKKK. Consider! Consider settling on and not settling in. Shemayyyyuyyy.

And sige, forda standards naman... sige, we will be a bit gentler. Hahahahahaha. Eto na naman tayo. Not gonna let the basics and the core go pa rin, pero tama nga naman best friend ko, it's time to demolish my double standards, for once. LUH. I know you're happy... I know you're happy right now... something has changed within me... something is not the same... Weeked na naman pala ang takbo noh? Tapos ending: I'm flying free... defy grabe teeeh. LOL. Malapit na ang showing neto. Abangan. CHOOOZZZ.

Ang hassle mag-demolish ng inner and outer demons. Jusko. Is it even worth it? Hindi ko sure pero wala namang kasing sure sa mundo. And when you're faced with something na real and possible, naiiba rin ang takbo. 'Di siya madali. 'Di siya walk in the park. 'Di siya lullaby, pero tignan natin. No pressure pa rin pero this time around, this is me trying to give things a chance. And giving me a chance too. I'm failing at it badly since I'm on training wheels, syempre.

Note to self: 'Pag tinanong ulit ako ng ganito, mas magiging intentional na ang sagot ko. Abangan. Sana lang wala akong toyo 'pag napunta sa usapan na 'to. Try ko talaga best ko na i-challenge 'yung sarili ko na: Is this kid actually growing up? Puksaan na ba?

[brookston]

Holidays 3.18

Holidays

Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)

Austria Asteroid Day

Awkward Moments Day

Bindus Diena (The Day the Bears Wake from Hibernation; Ancient Latvia)

Carnival of Body Music

Casey Jones Day

Cheikh Al Maarouf Day (Comoros)

Colonel Day (Battlestar Galactica)

Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence (Australia)

Day of Internal Troops (Belarus)

De Molay Day

Electric Razor Day

Flag Day (Aruba)

Forgive Mom and Dad Day

Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)

Global Recycling Day

Grandparents' & Grandchildren's Day (Michigan)

International Day of Revolutionary Political Prisoners

Maidenhead Fern Day (French Republic)

Make Peace with Your Parents Day

Marien Ngouabi Day (Republic of the Congo)

Men’s and Soldiers Day (Mongolia)

My Whole Self Day (UK)

National Anthem and Flag Day (Aruba)

National Biodiesel Day

National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day

National Day of Remembrance for COVID-19 Victims (Italy)

National Farm Rescuer Day

National Natural Gas Utility Workers’ Day

National Public Defender Day

National Supreme Sacrifice Day

Oil Expropriation Day (Mexico)

Ordnance Factory Day (India)

Paris Commune Anniversary Day

Phoebe, Moon of Saturn Day

Saint Throw-Up Day

Stab e-Barat (Night of Records; Bangladesh)

Sheelah's Day (a.k.a. Sheela Na Gig; Australia, Canada, Ireland)

Sheikh Al Maalouf Day (Comoros)

Sheep and Goats Separation Day

South Carolina Day (South Carolina)

Space Walk Day

Sparky the Fire Dog Day

Supreme Sacrifice Day (Congo)

Take Down Tobacco Day

Teacher’s Day (Syria)

Transit Driver Appreciation Day

Trisomy 18 Awareness Day

World Eagle Day

World Juvenile Arthritis Day

World Young Rheumatic Diseases Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Jambon Day (Ireland)

National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day

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Oatmeal Cookie Day

St. Broccoli Day

3rd Monday in March

Act Happy Day [3rd Monday]

Benito Juarez Fiestas Patrias (Mexico) [3rd Monday]

Dangerous Dan's Annual Coffee Cup Washing Day [3rd Monday]

Dribble to Work Day [3rd Monday]

Labor Day (Christmas Island) [3rd or 4th Monday]

Wellderly Day [3rd Monday]

World Folk Tale and Fable Day [3rd Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning March 18 (3rd Week)

Act Happy Week (thru 3.24) [begins 3rd Monday]

Global Money Week [thru 3.24]

International Teach Music Week (thru 3.24) [begins 3rd Monday]

Independence & Related Days

Aruba (from Netherlands; 1976)

Panay Liberation Day (Philippines)

Festivals Beginning March 18, 2024

AKFCF Convention (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 3.22]

American Meat Conference (Nashville, Tennessee) [thru 3.20]

Bar & Restaurant Expo (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 3.20]

Culpepper Downtown Restaurant Week (Culpepper, Virginia) [thru 3.24]

IDFA Women’s Summit (Washington, DC) [thru 3.20]

World Tea Expo (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 3.20]

Feast Days

Adam Elsheimer (Artology)

Alexander of Jerusalem (Christian; Saint)

Anselm of Lucca (Christian; Saint)

Asklepieia (Ancient Greece)

Barney Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Breasil of Hy-Breasal (Celtic Book of Days)

Cyril of Jerusalem (Christian; Saint)

Edward of the West Saxons (Anglican Church)

Edward the Martyr (a.k.a. Edward, King of England; Christian; Saint)

Exorcist Day (Make the Spirits Disappear; Pastafarian)

Fridianus (a.k.a. Fridian; Christian; Saint)

Goddess of Fertility Day

Hrethmonath (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

John Updike (Writerism; Humanism; Saint)

Oide Matsuri (Departure Festival; Shinto; Japan)

Philo Zilfinger (Muppetism)

Salvator of Horta (Christian; Saint)

Sheela-na-gig (Irish Pagan Fertility Goddess)

Sheep and Goats (Separation) Day (Shamanism)

Socrates (Positivist; Saint)

Usajingu Reitaisai (Shinto; Japan)

Vodka Day (Pastafarian)

Waqf al Arafa (Islam)

Orthodox Christian Liturgical Calendar Holidays

Great Lent begins [1st Monday in Lent; Orthodox Christian] (a.k.a. …

Ash Monday

Blue Monday

Clean Monday (Greece)

Collop Monday

Green Monday (Cyprus)

Hall Monday

Kathara Deftera

Merry Monday

Monday of Lent

Pure Monday

Rose Monday

Shrove Monday

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Unlucky 18th (Philippines) [1 of 3]

Premieres

Alexander’s Ragtime Band published (Song; 1911)

Allegiant (Film; 2016)

The Bronze (Film; 2016)

Cedar Rapids (Film; 2011)

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown (Novel; 2003)

D.O.A. (Film; 1988)

Dominick and Eugene (Film; 1988)

Flora (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1948)

Getz/Gilberto, by Stan Getz and João Gilberto (Album; 1964)

Happy and Lucky (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

The House Builder-Upper (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1938)

Ice Princess (Film; 2005)

The Lincoln Lawyer (Film; 2011)

The Lost Dream (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1949)

The Man Who Fell To Earth (Film; 1976)

Mickey’s Mellerdrammer (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

The Milagro Beanfield War (Film; 1988)

Naked Gun 33-1/3: The Final Insult (Film; 1994)

Paul (Film; 2011)

Pee Wee’s Big Holiday (Film; 2016)

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Minor, by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerto; 1927)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland Ride; 1967)

The Poet and Peasant (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1946)

Rio Bravo (Film; 1960)

Sanditon, by Jane Austen (Unfinished Novel; 1817) [Last Day She Wrote It]

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty James Thurber (Short Stories; 1939)

The Spine of Night (Animated Film; 2021)

Steamboy (Anime Film; 2005)

Strangled Eggs (WB MM Cartoon; 1961)

The Suicide Sheik (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; 1929)

Wanted: No Master, featuring Count Screwloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog (MGM Cartoon; 1938)

The Well of Loneliness, by Radclyffe Hall (Novel; 1928)

Whatever and Ever Amen, by Ben Folds Five (Album; 1997)

White Riot, by The Clash (Song; 1977)

Today’s Name Days

Cyrill, Edward, Sibylle (Austria)

Ćiril, Edo, Eduard, Spasoje (Croatia)

Eduard (Czech Republic)

Alexander (Denmark)

Edi, Eduard, Eedi, Eedo, Eedu (Estonia)

Edvard, Eetu (Finland)

Cyrille (France)

Edward, Cyrill, Sibylle (Germany)

Edward (Greece)

Ede, Sándor (Hungary)

Cirillo, Salvatore (Italy)

Adelīna, Ilona, Razna, Sartite (Latvia)

Anzelmas, Eimutė, Eimutis, Sibilė (Lithuania)

Aleksander, Edvard, Sander (Norway)

Aleksander, Anzelm, Boguchwał, Cyryl, Edward, Narcyz, Narcyza, Salwator (Poland)

Chiril (Romania)

Eduard (Slovakia)

Cirilo, Eduardo (Spain)

Edmund, Edvard (Sweden)

Cyril, Cyrilla, Grover, Salvador, Salvatore, Sibyl, Sybil, Sybilla (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 78 of 2024; 288 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 12 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 2 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 9 (Xin-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 8 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 8 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 18 Green; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 5 March 2024

Moon: 65%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 22 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Xenocrates]

Runic Half Month: Beore (Birch Tree) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 89 of 89)

Week: 3rd Week of March

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 29 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 3.18

Holidays

Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)

Austria Asteroid Day

Awkward Moments Day

Bindus Diena (The Day the Bears Wake from Hibernation; Ancient Latvia)

Carnival of Body Music

Casey Jones Day

Cheikh Al Maarouf Day (Comoros)

Colonel Day (Battlestar Galactica)

Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence (Australia)

Day of Internal Troops (Belarus)

De Molay Day

Electric Razor Day

Flag Day (Aruba)

Forgive Mom and Dad Day

Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)

Global Recycling Day

Grandparents' & Grandchildren's Day (Michigan)

International Day of Revolutionary Political Prisoners

Maidenhead Fern Day (French Republic)

Make Peace with Your Parents Day

Marien Ngouabi Day (Republic of the Congo)

Men’s and Soldiers Day (Mongolia)

My Whole Self Day (UK)

National Anthem and Flag Day (Aruba)

National Biodiesel Day

National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day

National Day of Remembrance for COVID-19 Victims (Italy)

National Farm Rescuer Day

National Natural Gas Utility Workers’ Day

National Public Defender Day

National Supreme Sacrifice Day

Oil Expropriation Day (Mexico)

Ordnance Factory Day (India)

Paris Commune Anniversary Day

Phoebe, Moon of Saturn Day

Saint Throw-Up Day

Stab e-Barat (Night of Records; Bangladesh)

Sheelah's Day (a.k.a. Sheela Na Gig; Australia, Canada, Ireland)

Sheikh Al Maalouf Day (Comoros)

Sheep and Goats Separation Day

South Carolina Day (South Carolina)

Space Walk Day

Sparky the Fire Dog Day

Supreme Sacrifice Day (Congo)

Take Down Tobacco Day

Teacher’s Day (Syria)

Transit Driver Appreciation Day

Trisomy 18 Awareness Day

World Eagle Day

World Juvenile Arthritis Day

World Young Rheumatic Diseases Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Jambon Day (Ireland)

National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day

National Sloppy Joe Day

Oatmeal Cookie Day

St. Broccoli Day

3rd Monday in March

Act Happy Day [3rd Monday]

Benito Juarez Fiestas Patrias (Mexico) [3rd Monday]

Dangerous Dan's Annual Coffee Cup Washing Day [3rd Monday]

Dribble to Work Day [3rd Monday]

Labor Day (Christmas Island) [3rd or 4th Monday]

Wellderly Day [3rd Monday]

World Folk Tale and Fable Day [3rd Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning March 18 (3rd Week)

Act Happy Week (thru 3.24) [begins 3rd Monday]

Global Money Week [thru 3.24]

International Teach Music Week (thru 3.24) [begins 3rd Monday]

Independence & Related Days

Aruba (from Netherlands; 1976)

Panay Liberation Day (Philippines)

Festivals Beginning March 18, 2024

AKFCF Convention (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 3.22]

American Meat Conference (Nashville, Tennessee) [thru 3.20]

Bar & Restaurant Expo (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 3.20]

Culpepper Downtown Restaurant Week (Culpepper, Virginia) [thru 3.24]

IDFA Women’s Summit (Washington, DC) [thru 3.20]

World Tea Expo (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 3.20]

Feast Days

Adam Elsheimer (Artology)

Alexander of Jerusalem (Christian; Saint)

Anselm of Lucca (Christian; Saint)

Asklepieia (Ancient Greece)

Barney Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Breasil of Hy-Breasal (Celtic Book of Days)

Cyril of Jerusalem (Christian; Saint)

Edward of the West Saxons (Anglican Church)

Edward the Martyr (a.k.a. Edward, King of England; Christian; Saint)

Exorcist Day (Make the Spirits Disappear; Pastafarian)

Fridianus (a.k.a. Fridian; Christian; Saint)

Goddess of Fertility Day

Hrethmonath (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

John Updike (Writerism; Humanism; Saint)

Oide Matsuri (Departure Festival; Shinto; Japan)

Philo Zilfinger (Muppetism)

Salvator of Horta (Christian; Saint)

Sheela-na-gig (Irish Pagan Fertility Goddess)

Sheep and Goats (Separation) Day (Shamanism)

Socrates (Positivist; Saint)

Usajingu Reitaisai (Shinto; Japan)

Vodka Day (Pastafarian)

Waqf al Arafa (Islam)

Orthodox Christian Liturgical Calendar Holidays

Great Lent begins [1st Monday in Lent; Orthodox Christian] (a.k.a. …

Ash Monday

Blue Monday

Clean Monday (Greece)

Collop Monday

Green Monday (Cyprus)

Hall Monday

Kathara Deftera

Merry Monday

Monday of Lent

Pure Monday

Rose Monday

Shrove Monday

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Unlucky 18th (Philippines) [1 of 3]

Premieres

Alexander’s Ragtime Band published (Song; 1911)

Allegiant (Film; 2016)

The Bronze (Film; 2016)

Cedar Rapids (Film; 2011)

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown (Novel; 2003)

D.O.A. (Film; 1988)

Dominick and Eugene (Film; 1988)

Flora (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1948)

Getz/Gilberto, by Stan Getz and João Gilberto (Album; 1964)

Happy and Lucky (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

The House Builder-Upper (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1938)

Ice Princess (Film; 2005)

The Lincoln Lawyer (Film; 2011)

The Lost Dream (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1949)

The Man Who Fell To Earth (Film; 1976)

Mickey’s Mellerdrammer (Disney Cartoon; 1933)

The Milagro Beanfield War (Film; 1988)

Naked Gun 33-1/3: The Final Insult (Film; 1994)

Paul (Film; 2011)

Pee Wee’s Big Holiday (Film; 2016)

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Minor, by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Piano Concerto; 1927)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland Ride; 1967)

The Poet and Peasant (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1946)

Rio Bravo (Film; 1960)

Sanditon, by Jane Austen (Unfinished Novel; 1817) [Last Day She Wrote It]

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty James Thurber (Short Stories; 1939)

The Spine of Night (Animated Film; 2021)

Steamboy (Anime Film; 2005)

Strangled Eggs (WB MM Cartoon; 1961)

The Suicide Sheik (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit; 1929)

Wanted: No Master, featuring Count Screwloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog (MGM Cartoon; 1938)

The Well of Loneliness, by Radclyffe Hall (Novel; 1928)

Whatever and Ever Amen, by Ben Folds Five (Album; 1997)

White Riot, by The Clash (Song; 1977)

Today’s Name Days

Cyrill, Edward, Sibylle (Austria)

Ćiril, Edo, Eduard, Spasoje (Croatia)

Eduard (Czech Republic)

Alexander (Denmark)

Edi, Eduard, Eedi, Eedo, Eedu (Estonia)

Edvard, Eetu (Finland)

Cyrille (France)

Edward, Cyrill, Sibylle (Germany)

Edward (Greece)

Ede, Sándor (Hungary)

Cirillo, Salvatore (Italy)

Adelīna, Ilona, Razna, Sartite (Latvia)

Anzelmas, Eimutė, Eimutis, Sibilė (Lithuania)

Aleksander, Edvard, Sander (Norway)

Aleksander, Anzelm, Boguchwał, Cyryl, Edward, Narcyz, Narcyza, Salwator (Poland)

Chiril (Romania)

Eduard (Slovakia)

Cirilo, Eduardo (Spain)

Edmund, Edvard (Sweden)

Cyril, Cyrilla, Grover, Salvador, Salvatore, Sibyl, Sybil, Sybilla (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 78 of 2024; 288 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 12 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 2 of 28]

Chinese: Month 2 (Ding-Mao), Day 9 (Xin-Si)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025)

Hebrew: 8 Adair II 5784

Islamic: 8 Ramadan 1445

J Cal: 18 Green; Foursday [18 of 30]

Julian: 5 March 2024

Moon: 65%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 22 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Xenocrates]

Runic Half Month: Beore (Birch Tree) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 89 of 89)

Week: 3rd Week of March

Zodiac: Pisces (Day 29 of 30)

[expostandserviceusa]

Transform your Christmas into an exhibition of elegance with Expo Stand Services. Let us build the magic of the season, crafting bespoke stands that showcase the spirit of joy and celebration. Unwrap the art of exhibition with us and make this Christmas unforgettable! Merry Christmas!!!! https://www.expostandservice.us/

[exhibitionsstandbuilder]

Transform your Christmas into an exhibition of elegance with Expo Stand Services. Let us build the magic of the season, crafting bespoke stands that showcase the spirit of joy and celebration. Unwrap the art of exhibition with us and make this Christmas unforgettable! Merry Christmas!!!! https://www.expostandservice.com/

[bristefreelanceservice]

A Look Ahead: Upcoming Events and Seasons

Introduction

From attending a live sports game in person to catching a gastronomic event in your hometown, events and seasons are embodiments of new experiences that we should all strive to anticipate and participate in. Whether you’re a stay-at-home person or not, these experiences mark the highlight of our lives and allow us to explore new realms. This article delves into the future by providing an overview of what’s to come along with an exploration of upcoming events and seasons.

Delve Into the Future: An Overview of What’s to Come

For those on the lookout of unique and wonderful experiences, the future definitely has a lot in store. From delicious weekends of barbecues to fun and family-filled days at the beach, the upcoming months that lay ahead offer a myriad of satisfying occasions that you can plan with friends and family. In addition to the spontaneous getaways, resorts and restaurants are doing their best to provide satisfying packages that cater to the needs of the customers. Whether it’s an extravagant ‘all-in’ holiday planned out or a thoughtful romantic meal for two, it’s impossible not to think of the exciting opportunities placed ahead of all of us. But of course, the centerpiece of all these experiences even further into the future are the big celebrations and events that shape our calendar year. From Easter to Christmas, these are the important occasions that put us into the spirit of giving and remembrance, upon which we can reflect and appreciate on days to come.

Peeking Into the Next Chapter: Upcoming Events and Seasons

Events- March:- Elton John Farewell Tour Asia - Ernesto Gismondi Exhibition - Festival of Lights 2020 - April:- Good Fridays - Tattoo Expo - Mink World Championships - May:- Music Festival - Colorful Gardens 2020 - Wimbledon 2020 - Spring:- Gardening workshops - Bird watching - Picnic day - Summer:- Mountain event - Bonfire night - Sports day - Autumn:- Apple picking - Hiking trips - Forest exploration - Winter:- Outdoor ice skating - Snow shows - Christmas markets

Conclusion

As the future will inevitably bring a plethora of events and seasons to look forward to, this article has provided a glimpse into the variety of opportunities, both big and small, that will come. From taking the time to explore our local community events to planning an extravagant holiday abroad, there are plenty of positive moments to explore and enjoy that the future ahead holds. Read the full article

[coghive]

The Kingdom Choir Return With New Single & US Tour Dates

Offering love, hope and inspiration, The Kingdom Choir today make a timely return with their brand-new single “Not Giving Up”. Founded in 1994 by Karen Gibson MBE (the Godmother of Gospel), The Kingdom Choir have continued to win hearts since their unforgettable performance at the 2018 Royal Wedding in front of a global televised audience of 2 billion people. Listen to “Not Giving Up” HERE. Offering a ray of hope amongst the darkness, “Not Giving Up” is instantly affecting as Wayne Ellington’s rich, baritone exalts the power that comes with believing that better times are waiting ahead of us. While his voice alone would make for a captivating, emotional experience, the harmonies from the rest of The Kingdom Choir take it to a whole new level with their grace, majesty and sheer expressiveness able to move anyone.  “Not Giving Up” was written by Alex Hart, Greg Dwight, Karen Gibson, Wilson Atie, Jonathan Owusu-Yianomah and produced by Alex Hart and Jonathan Owusu-Yianomah. The Kingdom Choir commented, “In our changing world, this is the song that rises from our hearts. It speaks of freedom and a determination to press on, a reminder that hope takes us through the broken moments of life onto a brighter day.” “Not Giving Up” is also a reflection of The Kingdom Choir’s own journey. Karen Gibson had led the choir for over two decades before their breakthrough moment in the spotlight, during which time the group – spread across London and from various Christian traditions – became renowned for their shared talents, collective spirit, and instantly uplifting performances. The Kingdom Choir’s performances have remained in global demand ever since their performance at the Royal Wedding, with highlights including the Invictus Games, ITV’s Concert for Ukraine, Prince Albert II of Monaco’s 2021 gala, Expo 2020 and a headline show at the Hollywood Bowl. They have been sought out as collaborators by artists such as Gladys Knight, Gregory Porter, Emelie Sandé, and Madness, as well as for brand collaborations which have included Cartier, Ralph Lauren, Coca-Cola, Burberry, British Airways, and Marks & Spencer. The Kingdom Choir ended 2022 by performing as special guests at Trevor Nelson’s Soul Christmas extravaganza at the Royal Albert Hall alongside the likes of Corinne Bailey-Rae and Andrew Roachford. THE KINGDOM CHOIR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR: - February 19 Montreal, Canada. Place des Arts – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier - February 21 Erie, PA Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center - February 22 Athens, OH Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium - February 24 Galveston, TX The Grand 1984 - February 25 Spring, TX The Centrum - February 26 Irving, TX Irving Arts Center - February 28 Cedar Falls, IA Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center - March 2 Eau Claire, WI RCU Theatre - March 3 Chicago, IL Harris Theater - March 4 Chicago, IL Harris Theater - March 5 Goshen, IN Sauder Concert Hall - March 7 Madisonville, KY Glema Mahr Center for the Arts - March 9 Kutztown, PA Schaeffer Auditorium - March 10 Fairfield, CT Kelley Theatre - March 11 Union, NJ Enlow Recital Hall - March 12 Red Bank, NJ Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts - March 14 Thomasville, GA Thomasville Center for the Arts - March 16 Birmingham, AL The Library Theatre - March 17 Birmingham, AL The Library Theatre - March 18 Meridian, MS The Riley Center - March 20 Gainesville, FL Phillips Center - March 21 Belle Glade, FL Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center - March 24 Palm Desert, CA McCallum Theatre - March 25 San Diego, CA Balboa Theatre Read the full article

[1310miles]

Forty one

My dear mother passed away on December 22nd. It’s no exaggeration to say that my heart was broken that day and that I’m still probably in a state of shock. Proceeding with normal life while you are grieving is an unsettling experience. I have felt off balance, as though I am functioning on two different plains. All this being said, I wasn’t in the mind set to run my next marathon on January 15th.

I arranged this trip back in September with my friend Lisa. Lisa is pursuing the goal of running a half marathon in all 50 states, and since we are both single travelers, she reached out to coordinate at least one trip together in 2023. It was far outside my experience to travel with another runner, but in the spirit of pushing my comfort zone, I jumped in. We were headed for a three day trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana!

Right off the marathon I ran in Maine, I continued my training. My mom’s medical issues became apparent in early December, and despite traveling back and forth to Indiana often that month, I was able to keep up with my long runs and check my workouts off. Everything took a terrible turn the week of Christmas, however, and even though it would have helped my mental state, I wasn’t able to run for several days over a two week stretch.

Coming into January, not only did I not feel enthusiastic about traveling and running a marathon, I was nervous that my training hadn’t been complete. If it wasn’t for Lisa, I would have likely bailed on the marathon and the trip. But I had committed to her, and in my heart I knew it would be good for me to go, so I packed my shoes and lowered my expectations.

Lisa was so easy to travel with, and we had a great time getting to Louisiana. I even got some speed work in while sprinting to our connecting flight in Houston. We arrived late Friday, and on Saturday morning we got out for a nice run along the Mississippi River. It was incredible to see the sun shine after many dark days in the Midwest.

At the expo, we discovered that Lisa Way was not registered for the half marathon! She created quite a queue behind her while she sorted through what must have gone wrong. Through sleuthing, the expo volunteers finally discovered that when she registered, she auto filled her last name as her email address. We had a great laugh as we imagined her results being posted as “Lisa lisaway77@gmail.com.”

Downtown Baton Rouge was sleepy and there were no interesting tourist attractions within walking distance, so the rest of our Saturday found us laying in our hotel room, reading and napping. Exactly what we both needed! We talked about our plans for the race, and based on the route map, we saw that we could run together for 11 miles. That’s where the half marathon would break off from the marathon.

Lisa was planning to take the race very easy. She is strong and fast, but she hadn’t trained hard for this race and wasn’t doing much speed work. She thought she’d run about 9:15 miles. I thought about starting and staying with her. But as I laid there, I couldn’t think of a compelling reason as to why I couldn’t run faster. True, my focus was shaken, and my training wasn’t 100% complete, but I had been running strong. Additionally, I find that if I don’t run “my” speed, my body feels uncomfortable and eventually hurts. If I started with Lisa at the speed she planned to go, I might find the race more challenging than if I pushed my pace and ran quicker. I decided my plan would be to start at 8:25 miles and try to keep up that pace.

Sunday morning we walked to the starting line at the state capital building. The sun was just coming up and Lisa and I were in our matching visors. We took off and quickly headed out of downtown Baton Rouge toward the garden district and LSU. For as non-descript as the downtown area was, the residential areas were amazing. I have never run through such unique, diverse residential architecture in any other race. I was so entertained by looking at all the different houses and admiring them. Also, it was refreshing to see leaves on trees and green plants growing.

We headed into the LSU campus, which was enormous. It looked like we were going to go inside Tiger Stadium, but we only ran around the perimeter. I was thinking about how wild and busy games days must be there. The campus was so spread out you would definitely need a car if you went to school there. It was miles from one end to the other.

As we came out of campus and back into a neighborhood, we circled a few lakes that just added to the beautiful ambiance. We rounded one corner and I was preoccupied with reading a spectators sign when I tripped on the ground at the same moment as the man next to me did the same thing! I recovered easily, but he almost fell completely onto his face. It was strange, there must have been a rise in the pavement right there, and it caught us both dragging our feet. Honestly, the roads that we ran in Baton Rouge were in terrible condition. Potholes everywhere. Worse than Chicago! The “falling guy” and I stayed about the same pace the entire race. I would catch up with him or he would catch up with me, but in general we were pretty much matched and laughed about him almost wiping out more than once.

I was cruising along, running around 8:25 miles consistently. My body felt good and the weather and course were basically perfect. The temperature lingered in the low 50s and the sun was out but not too bright. There were no notable hills, but the course wasn’t flat. There were slight ups and downs that kept my muscles engaged. Flat courses just feel tiring because you are using the same muscles the entire time. It was nice to not have to plan for some extreme hill late in the race, but it can be nice to have a great downhill to fly down. None in this race.

Running at such a consistent pace had me lingering around the 3:40 pace group. I never stuck with the group tightly, but they kept passing me and I kept passing them. The group was led by one male runner for the first half, and then he was joined by his friend for the second half. The new assistant leader seemed to simply provide relief from holding the “3:40” sign and to add some energy. They were both nice guys and seemed to know everyone along the course.

Around mile 20, the leader shouted “is anyone here doing their first marathon?” and some runners from the group said they were. Then he shouted “is anyone here doing the 50 states challenge?” to which I said I was. They were all boisterous when I said it would be my 41st state. A woman next to me said “have you heard of the sub 4 club? Because you are running a great pace!” and of course I told her about the people I met in New Hampshire, and that I’d have to run about 30 of my marathons over again to qualify!

I had engaged with this same woman a little earlier in the race. She was running in front of me, and I was looking at the back of her t-shirt. It had a picture of a chicken head and underneath, it said “teaching chickens how to read.” I became lost in thought…teaching chickens how to read!?!? How is this possible. What a very, very strange thing to put on a t-shirt. Looking up again, I realized that my exhausted running brain had completely interpreted it wrong. The shirt said “teaching chickens how to run.” Ok, yes, that’s still very strange. So I told her I thought she was teaching chickens how to read and how silly that was. She laughed, and then told me that she has a chicken sanctuary and saves chickens from slaughter and lets them live out their lives on her farm. I told her that perhaps she could try to teach them how to read in her free time.

The miles continued to add up, and my pace was holding strong. Spectators were really great during this race. Most of the course was through residential areas, so lots of neighbors had their lawns set up to cheer for us. Pretty much everyone was drinking heavily. One of the best lawns advertised a “Corona shot and a Kleenex” and they featured small cups of Corona beer. They were all having a good time, as I think people in Baton Rouge do almost every chance they get.

The finish line was back in downtown Baton Rouge, so as I came out of the final neighborhood, I could see the capital building and knew I just needed to make it there. My energy stayed high and when we were at 1.25 miles left to go, a runner said “only five laps around the track.” I liked that because that’s how I think a lot. I was glad to hear that other people do the same thing. About a quarter mile from the finish I saw Lisa, who had run the half marathon, gone back to shower, and had a coffee in hand. She cheered me on as I came through the finish line. I commiserated with the 3:40 group, the falling guy and the chicken lady, all of us congratulating each other. 

Another 2nd place win in my age group resulted in another awesome medal! It could have been a big celebration, because all of the finishers were given SIX drink tickets to enjoy at the after race party. But Lisa and I needed to head for the airport and return home. We did celebrate with chicken and waffles though. I hope that chicken that I ate didn’t know how to read.

[rulinarulina]

Christmas Spirit Expo: Η πιο Χριστουγεννιάτικη Έκθεση ξεκινάει αυτή την Παρασκευή στο Σύνταγμα!

Christmas Spirit Expo: Η πιο Χριστουγεννιάτικη Έκθεση ξεκινάει αυτή την Παρασκευή στο Σύνταγμα!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Everywhere you go! Το φαντασμαγορικό χριστουγεννιάτικο δέντρο στην πλατεία Συντάγματος, ο εντυπωσιακός στολισμός σε δρόμους και πλατείες, αλλά και τα χιλιάδες λαμπάκια που φωτίζουν τις γειτονιές της πόλης, έχουν ήδη φέρει το πνεύμα των Χριστουγέννων στην Αθήνα, σκορπίζοντας χαμόγελα σε παιδιά και μεγάλους, που απολαμβάνουν τη βόλτα τους στην πόλη! Το…

[theshapeshifter100]

Yeah, which sucks 'cause they were showing off two new specialities at the liveshow, and we've heard nothing since!

Right, holidays, probably a mix, honestly. The ones listed in the Core Rulebook are as follows:

The Belltower Chorus

The Gauntlet

The Great Airship Regatta

The Festival of Illumination

The Newfaire World Exhibition

First one is a religious one, the next two are races, the next one is commemorating fallen soldiers, and the last one is tech expo, essentially

Other holidays that tend to show up are News Years, some sort of midwinter celebration, harvest celebration (really should be big in the Fairelands given the temperate climate lending well to crop growing, and the current in-universe climate), spring celebration (which given how the calendar is, may tie-in with New Years. First month is Early-Spring)

The Ascendency is not from Hale, so any holidays likely would have been translated, if you will. They may also have overtaken some of the holidays (like midwinter and harvest) Honestly, any harvest celebration is probably religious in the Fairelands, given that the Ascendancy is very prevalent in Tottergrass. Although, unless Hale had the equivalent of the Puritans banning Christmas, midwinter is probably drunken merry making

There is the Halloween equivalent (representing the general dead, as the Festival of Illumination is recent in-universe). Given the fact that ghosts actually exist in CO, there is probably a literal day when the barrier between the living and dead is weakest (or when the Flare is weakest if you want to swing it that way). That one would probably not be on the Ascendancy are happy about, given that they've taken the breath binding tradition from Oldfaire, so to them any spirits out and about are probably criminals or otherwise unhallowed dead.

A lot of the lore around the Ascendancy is vague. It is basically fantasy Catholicism, so a lot of Catholic holidays could be slipped in if you felt so inclined.

There could also be weird historical ones, first thought comes to mind for me is Bonfire Night. Celebrating the failed Gunpowder Plot and the execution of it's most public conspirator; Guy Fawkes. We do this by setting off fireworks, and building bonfires, which we tend to put a 'Guy' on top of (basically scarecrow). Doesn't have to literally be this, but it's a fun one.

So, generally, almost certainly a mix of both. And most folk would celebrate the religious ones whatever, even if they don't go to church, because culturally Ascendant

I think it's obvious at this point that we're not going to be getting any new Candela chapters for the foreseeable future if at all, since Critical Role's focus appears to be on Daggerheart and the upcoming live shows next year. So, in lieu of any new Circles and assignments, and since my thought gremlins always turn to these kind of plots this time of year, I thought I would ask...

What holidays do you think get celebrated in Newfaire/Hale?

[cutiepatootiess]

I miss Wynonna Earp and a rewatch of the chrsitmas episode sounds so damn good right now.

[jibrillenyan]

Eldarya Come-Back

[Disponibile in Italiano qui]

Eldarya EU servers are back up. For people out of the loop, a fire destroyed both the servers and the backups of Eldarya. It's not beemoov's fault.

BR and US servers, stored somewhere else, are perfectly ok.

The FR server accounts were lost, but the story retrieved.

All the others (IT HU PL DE ES RU) have both the accounts and the story wiped out. ANE has been re-translated/Recovered, but origins is currently only playable in english.

Only the first 2 episodes of ANE have been translated so far. Errata corrige: PL, RU, ES haven't released any ANE episodes yet. DE IT and HU have the first 2 available in english. DE and HU appear to be broken.

Level 7 and episode 6 of origins (completed) are needed to access the market.

BUG REPORT: Currently there is a bug where if you change the name of your companion for the first time after evolving it you lose 100gc. please take care.

BUG REPORT: If you already have a companion and you play episode 3 of Origins you won't be able to hatch the companion Kero gives you and you might get stuck right after "Objective: Go to Kero’s room to complete the Companion Questionnaire" 

Accounts must be recreated. You have to create a new account and, if you ever bought maana or gold coins, follow the instructions below.

I REPEAT, ACCOUNTS ARE LOST ON THE EU SERVERS. YOU MUST MAKE A NEW ACCOUNT. (sorry, I get this one a lot)

FAQ of sort under the cut, original here. Italian translation will be here starting tomorrow. warning: it’s long XD

♦ WHAT DO I GET?

Everyone gets 1000 maanas, 100 gold coins and 350.000 ancient coins upon creating an account. You will also get 5 big exp potions, 10 small, 5 big energy potions, 10 small, 1 evolution potion and 3 incubators. You will also get the companion Sogiluv... it's not very good. You can retrieve some (most?) of the currency you bought by contacting the support (see below), you will be credited maana/ancient coins depending on your purchases; once you get the money back the 3 spin-offs will automatically unlock, along with the bank outfits.

The first companion to hatch will require no incubation time.

BR and US Server got 10.000 AC for their troubles too, but no maana or GC or items.

♦ I ENDED UP IN THE WRONG GUARD.

Please check this page. Re-doing the 3rd episode of Origins WON'T help.

♦ DECORATING GUARDIENNE'S ROOM, EP 5-6.

If you want to know how to get the guy you like AND have the room decorated by him, or other questions along these lines check this link

♦ WHAT'S THE BEST COMPANION TO USE?

Since you can now get any companion you like if you want to get the "best" one in terms of energy/luck ratio you should consider these:

PLESE NOTE: Hatching an adult companion (Chiromagnus, Blobbiathan) has the advantage of giving you an adult companion AND saving the evolution potion. This could be nice to have, for example, during a map event, you can use all the energy of your companion after midnight, then hatch another egg, use all the energy of the baby, evolve with the potion, use all the energy of the adult. If well played , with a baby companion, it means potentially 400-500 energy to use on the map

"Best" Companion, bought food (36 maana): Blobbiathan Energy 170 (already an adult when hatched) Luck 360 - 400

"Best" Companion, bought food (30 maana or less):

1. Chiromagnus Energy 160 (already an adult when hatched) Luck 340-390

2. Zarali Energy 90-160 Luck 350-380

3. Ocemas Energy 100-150 Luck 310-360

4. Ciralak Energy 110-160 Luck 300-350

4. Rawist Energy 110-160 Luck 300-350

"Best" Companion, farmed food (in exploration):

1. Alfeli: Energy 80-150 Fortuna 320 -370

2. Gallytrot: Energy 110-150 Fortuna 320-370

I consider the Alfeli "better" because its food, elven grapes, comes from a 20energy/30 min area, Mont sizhe, compared to the food for the gallytrot, gallyflore, from the Cave (35 energy/60 min).

♦ WHAT CAN I USE ANCIENT COINS FOR?

There is a special ancient coins shop (Until May 9th) with ALL the items ever released in the game. I do not advise using them for Origins illustrations but I suggest you grab some of the rarest items at least. It's among the boutiques.

BANK ITEMS WILL ONLY APPEAR AFTER RETRIEVING THE PURCHASED CURRENCY (? Im not sure about this, some are there from the beginning and I'm still waiting on the email I sent for the currency)

♦ HOW LONG DOES THE SHOP LAST?

May 9th

♦ HOW DO I GET MY BOUGHT MAANA/GOLD COINS BACK?

Go to "your account" by clicking on your name (top right). There is a button to retrieve the credit, for many payment options there is a simple form to fill.

However, if you paid by credit card or paypal you have to send an email to the support (you can get the adress by clicking on "other"). In the mail you should include:

Credit card:

- Old/New Username (if they aren't the same) - The email address associated to the accounts - The date and the amount in €/$ of a recent transaction (max 12 months old, the most recent, the better). - Last 4 digits of the credit card you used. - I'm not sure what happens if you you used more than a credit card, I'd suggest sending one transaction per credit card and telling them about this issue.

Paypal:

- Old/New Username (if they aren't the same) - The email address associated to the accounts - If it's not the same email address, the email address/username of the paypal account. - The date and the transaction ID* of a recent transaction (max 12 months old, the most recent, the better).

* Transaction ID's can be found in the confirmation email you get when you make a payment or on the paypal website, in the payment history section.

One ID should suffice, they can retrieve them all from there.

♦ WHAT DO YOU ADVISE WE BUY?

On a general note, do not buy things that can be found at all times, like explorations items, other than that, anything you like, but I'd at least consider to buy/play the following:

*** PLEASE NOTE: I've heard rumors that during each event, you will be able to find things in explorations from the previous events of that kind, so easter should have the other easter events' outfits on the map. I'd wait a bit to spend the coins to see if we get any confirmation, the store will be open until May 9th.

HOW CAN I KNOW WHERE (SOMETHING) IS FROM?

Wiki. Or This wonderful site. Or the wikinyan (c'est moi!), I don't mind answering specific messages, I'll update this post with any question I get. If you don't know the french name you can find it out in the French shop.

1. COMPANIONS:

Other than the event companions that you like you should probably consider...

GET:

Minaloo and Draflayel. These only comes from the purro'swap. Once the store closes, if you're unlucky, you'll never see them again.

Calunko and Bunraku. They're 2 of the japan expo rewards and with the merchandise boutique closed, they're incredibly hard to obtain, you need a physical code.

Chiromagnus, while you can get this from explorations, the scroll for it is extremely rare, and 2000 AC is stealing it.

ON THE FENCE:

The Seryphon , Poulpatata (both of them) and the chestok. These can be found on AH but require Gold coins to get in exploration. Personally I won't get them, but it's personal preference.

SKIP:

All the normal explorations companions, no matter how rare. They'll start popping up at the market soon enough

2. CLOTHES:

This is clearly completely at your own discretion, Events and ranking rewards should be considered. However there are some times never released before, like the fireflies so...

GET:

Fireflies. A beta-tester reward item, they were never made available to purchase before.

Steam girl set (Total: 1594 AC). It's the japan expo 2017 reward, 9 pieces

Maana demon and its other 3 colorations is a skin never seen in the game, previously reserved for admins. It could however be added to explorations, like other items of this kind.

Frency French was once an inside joke for ChiNoMiko, has not been made available to the public before, you can buy the skin, the hairstyle (it's a special jackson), Frency French Top, etc it's just a joke, but it's still something you won't see again, if you like it.

ON THE FENCE:

Depending how much you hate alchemy, you can consider some alchemy stuff.

Some rare Skins like Nan'vi, that could be hard to find in explorations

Rainbow and Pearly hair colours, if you like them, they can be rare/offered only in rare circumstances.

Crylasm set (526 AC), top, socks, hat. It was a special Christmas outfit released one piece at a time during Christmas events of 2016, 2017, 2018

Healer support Set (400 AC), made of 7 pieces, it was a special gift given at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic)

Rainbow Spirit (1594 AC), released for the 2020 Pride month (sorta)

Guard ranking rewards, the total il 11.980 AC (thanks Desdhi ♥)

SKIP:

Anything normally on the shop, or from (normal) map explorations.

3.ILLUSTRATIONS:

GET:

Possibly the event ones you like the best, there should be 42 event illustrations for a total of 105.000 ac

SKIP:

If you have the time to farm, the episodes' ones. They're way cheaper with replay, with a few exceptions (see below).

ON THE FENCE:

There are a few episodes where it's cheaper to buy the other illustrations than replay, I'll make a list below.

♦HOW MUCH IS... 

EGGS

As "one time" I mean it's either now or never, so exclusive items or event items, unless they come back with their event.

No Explorations is events + rare +the stuff  that you would pay gc to get the bait for

All the eggs: 222.400,

One-time + rare ones: Chiromagnus, Minaloo Draflayel: 164.500

one-time: 158.000

No explorations (+GC/rare ones): 180.700

BACKGROUNDS:

All: why do you hate yourself? don't. it should be around 5660

Events only: 2460

EPISODES:

Event Illustrations are 2500 each, Episodes' 2000

It's generally cheaper to play the episode to unlock illustrations. Coins won't disappear, so if you can slowly make your way up you will end up saving A LOT of Ancient Coins. During episodes, each dialogue is 2 AC

(cost is rounded up) (!) = Replaying is not worth it, money wise (*) = more expensive than 1 illustration, but still worth it in the grand scheme of things

(how much it costs playing Origins VS how much it costs at the shop)

Episode 1 - Free - 1 Illustration, play once (FREE vs 2000) Episode 2 - Free - 3 Illustrations, play twice (FREE vs 6000) Episode 3 - Free - 1 Illustrations, play once (FREE vs 2000) Episode 4 - Free - 2 Illustrations, play once (FREE vs 4000) Episode 5 - Around 1200 maana - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (3600 vs 6000) Episode 6 - Around 1500 maana - 2 illustrations, play once (1500 vs 4000) Episode 7 - 1200maana ca - 4 Illustrations, play 4 times (4800 vs 8000) Episode 8 - 1700maaana ca - 4 Illustrations, play 3 times (5100 vs 8000) Episode 9 - 2000 maana ca - 1 Illustration, play once (2000 vs 2000) Episode 10 - 1500 maana ca - 3 Illustrations, play 3 times (4500 vs 6000) Episode 11 - 1900 maana ca - 2 illustrations, play once (1900 vs 4000) Episode 12 - 1500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (4500 vs 6000) Episode 13 - 1500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (4500 vs 6000) Episode 14 - 1500 maana ca - 2 illustrations, play once (1500 vs 4000) (!) Episode 15 - 2500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (7500 vs 6000, it's better to buy the other 2!) (!) Episode 16 - 2150 maana ca - 1 illustration, play once (2150 vs 2000 it's still worth to play the episode) (*) Episode 17 - 2450 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play ONCE (2450 vs 6000) Episode 18 - 1900 maana ca - 6 illustrations, play 3 times (5700 vs 12000) Episode 19 - 1700 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times (6800 vs 8000) Episode 20 - 1800 maana ca - 5 illustrations, play 4 times (7200 vs 10000) Episode 21 - 1800 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play once (1800 vs 6000) Episode 22 - 1700 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 3 times (6800 vs 8000) (!) Episode 23 - 2100 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times (8400 vs 8000, it's better to buy the other 3!) Episode 24 - 2000 maana ca - 2 Illustrations, play once (2000 vs 4000) (!) Episode 25 - 2500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play once (2500 vs 6000) (!) Episode 26 - 2200 maana ca - 4 Illustrations, play three times (6600 vs 8000, it's better to play once for 2 illustrations then buy the other 2!) Episode 27 - 1800 maana ca - 4 Illustrations, play 3 times (5400 vs 8000) Episode 28 - 1700 maana ca - 5 illustrations, play 3 times (5100 vs 10000) (!) Episode 29 - 3250 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times (13000 vs 8000 it's a huge ac loss to replay) (!) Episode 30 - 2400 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times. (9600 vs 8000 it's better to play once and buy the other 3)

Grand total so far: 93 Illustrations, 71 playthroughs, 58 suggested.  Extimated maana/Ancient coins: 129.000 replay eveything vs  186.000 buying everything. Optimal:  122.750

IF you play everything once then buy the rest you should spend around 146000

* Optimal means buying the illustrations where needed before May 9th, then play all the episodes at your leisure.  The episodes where you'd have to buy illustrations are: 15, 23, 26, 29, 30.

Please remember that if you buy the illustrations then you decide to play the game you will ended up paying not only 186.000 ac for the illustrations, but also roughly 60.000 to play all the episodes. The only case where my racommendation is to buy the illustrations is if you really don't care about origins or you only want a few illustrations

[technicalthinker]

Im in this weird place in my life where it feels like a probable future ill be happy with is unattainable

Like a part of me rly would love to work from home as a freelance artist and hopefully in the future move have a dog and move to a house (and hopefully someone to share it with). But I also feel like I just cant mentally and physically deal with the tempo and demand to actually make it in that line of work.

Another part of me is looking at what other liferoad options there would be, but everything else feels just as unattainable for similiar reasons or at least wouldnt give me the circumstances for the dream life lmao

[queenssunshine]

Making a Living off of Death (1/4)

I literally cannot believe I’ve posted my first fic to AO3! This is my first fic in almost seven years, so I’m really excited to become a contributing member of fandom again. 

Anyway, here’s my first Spider-boy fic, and in the spirit of Whumptober, it is of course whump.

Read On AO3 Here

When people ask him what he does, he generally tells them he’s a freelancer. On occasion they will enquire further, “A freelance what?”, to which he will respond, “Whatever I can.” That’s basically true—while he deals mostly in assassinations, he also does assaults and robberies on occasion. Sometimes he needs to put the fear of God into people. Sometimes he just needs to play God.

The hit on Tony Stark comes to him in a heavily encrypted email that takes his computer two days to work through. Sometimes clients are paranoid like that, making the orders so difficult to access that most people in the business walk away before they even know what they’re for. He supposes this isn’t a bad idea. Plausible deniability and all that. But it’s annoying for him to have to wait around for his program to work out the endless lines of tangled code. This also probably means payment will come in a similar form, which is even more annoying.

Anyway, the hit on Tony Stark gets sent to him and three other colleagues and he’s the first one to decode it (and probably the only one to try) so first come, first kill. The built-in kill code activates and his instructions unwrite themselves from the screen, his laptop defaulting to his desktop photo of the silhouette of a dog on a sunset. Alright, time to strategize.

First, he has to get to New York. Then he has to figure out how to get Stark’s schedule. Then he has to get close to him. Then he has to kill him.

Hacking into Stark’s security team is above his skill set but gaining access to his employee files ends up being pretty easy. Cross-check some names, Google some addresses, hack a local AT&T store, and boom, he has access to the personal phones of who he has decided is two key players in his plan: the head of security and an intern.

He decides these two are key because he sees them too much. Photos from expos, parties, conferences, press events—the two are a constant presence at the side of Tony Stark. The security head quite frankly looks like an oaf, and the intern doesn’t appear to be older than college age, so he decides that they can’t do too much thwarting to his plan. The more he gets to know them through the screen, the more he feels that way.

The emails that the two have sent back and forth are heavily encrypted, and there are heaps of text messages that are as well. He can’t believe it, but his main source of information is coming from the animojis that the two send each other on occasion. The intern favors the alien. The security head favors the brown bear. (The intern also thinks the security head should use the poop one more, but that’s beside the point.)

Through the animojis, GPS tracking, and some old-fashioned stalking-- er, in-person reconnaissance, he discovers that the intern is a student at a magnet school in Forest Hills and that the security head is, for whatever reason, his personal after-school driver. The relationship between the two of them seems pretty relaxed. They clearly have a long history of uneventful school pick-ups, because he just sits in the visitor parking lot and stares at them without detection as the security head pulls up in the black Audi, the intern hops in, and they wait in the long queue to get off the campus. He trails the car, but the location of drop-off changes on the daily—sometimes a restaurant, sometimes a bodega, twice it was just an alleyway. Once they went to Stark Tower, or at least he assumes that’s where they were heading, but by the time they were two blocks away he decided to drop off to avoid getting clocked on any of Stark’s cameras. Even though Stark probably had access to every CCTV in town. Sometimes you just have to play it safe.

After about two weeks of monitoring, he gets his golden ticket. His phone pings a few times in a row, and he opens it to witness an exchange between Alien and Brown Bear:

[Alien] Are we still on for after school? [Brown Bear] Yeah, he had to move some stuff around so we might be late, but we’ll still be there. [Alien] Cool! It’s probably better, I don’t want—[the alien hesitates, rotates his head, lowers voice] Mr. Stark to have to deal with people freaking out about him being here. [Brown Bear] Don’t worry about it, kid. [Brown Bear] I think he’s kind of excited to see your school and your friends. [Alien] Okay, well I’ll see you guys later then. [Alien] OH! Can we please go to Julio’s again? Please? I’m craving breadsticks. [Brown Bear] Boss says okay.

So the decision had to be made: to carry out the assassination on a high school campus, or at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. He sighs as he Googles “Midtown academic calendar forest hills,” and sighs again when he discovers that tonight is the Annual Science Fair. What will Tony Stark do in the presence of one thousand geeks and their parents: double down on security or keep it modest? He rapidly Googles some more, trying to find instances of Tony Stark, billionaire and savior of the universe, attending a high school science fair. Bingo. Seven years ago he had attended the science fair of the Bronx High School of Science, and according to r/TonyStark and r/IronMan, he had only had Brown Bear and his gauntlets at his disposal. No supplementary guards? Not wise, Stark. Still, one instance was not enough to base his operation on.

Further inquiries reveal that Stark, in his years since becoming the savior of the universe, has only grown laxer. His prosthetic arm doubles as a housing unit for the Iron Man suit, sure, but it seems to be de-weaponized most of the time. He’s spotted without security regularly—outings with clients, with the Avengers team, with the kid, all solo. Rarely a body guard appears, but it’s only when he’s with his daughter or wife. Maybe it’s because Stark thinks he’s too big to fuck with. Maybe Stark is, and maybe this is a big mess in the making. Oh well. He decides the assassination is going to go down at the school, but he needs one more thing to make it go off well. So he calls a colleague, has them transfer the encrypted message, decodes it again (but faster, thank you machine learning), backward engineers it, and makes a phone call. And a request.

Two hours later, a cloaking suit arrives at a P.O. box, to which he has the key.

Sometimes his clients gift him cool things to execute a mission, but a cloaking suit is hands-down the coolest thing he’s gotten. He didn’t know what he expected when he takes it out of the courier box, but it looks almost civilian—a thick grey windbreaker with lines of reflective material running down the sleeves, and a pair of pants to match. It’s basically a tracksuit. He’s relieved. New Yorkers have likely seen weirder things than a man dressed in full tactical attire on the subway, but it’s still nice to have a low profile.

He messes around with the settings and soon enough he’s standing before the hotel bathroom mirror almost completely invisible, only a slight warp betraying where he is. Nothing anyone would see unless they were looking for it. Without the hood on, he looks like Harry Potter on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. He is—he dare say—giddy.

He deactivates the cloaking, grabs his guitar case (read: sniper rifle) and wallet and leaves the hotel.

Before getting to the school, he has a slice of pizza, a coke, and a bag of gummy bears. This is not good fuel for the potential get-away sprint, but he can’t help himself. He’s so happy, he can just feel the brewing of a good mission on its way.

He arrives at the school after classes have let out and before the end of the science fair, meaning that the parking lot is a ghost town. His cloaking suit already activated, he climbs up on his predetermined hiding spot (a portable building next to the bus parking lot which would allow him ample cover and a quick escape were things to get hairy), sets up his Barrett M82 (already sheathed in its matching grey cloaking suit), and hunkers down. He lets his mind wander as half an hour passes, thoughts looping around his ex-wife (that bitch), his breakfast tomorrow (maybe that 2.8-star diner down the street), and his dog (who was currently boarding at a doggy daycare next to his house in Kentucky and got a time-out today). Finally, families start spilling out of the front doors of the school, and from his view atop the portable, he can clearly see the faces of all exiting.

Fifteen minutes pass of parental pride and filial embarrassment before Stark, the security head, and the intern come walking out. By the time they exit, most of the fair has cleared out and only a few cars remain in the lot—probably teachers and staff. The intern is clutching a blue ribbon and a small trophy while the security head struggles to maintain hold of some kind of robotic device. Stark has his hands jammed in his pockets, strolling casually, lips quirked in a contented smile as the intern rambles about something. He can barely hear it—something about how the intern knew his project was good but didn’t think it would win an award or anything. For a moment, he pauses, feeling a little remorse. He had always wanted kids. The intern seemed pretty endearing. Oh well. Moment over.

He lines up the sight on Stark. It’s a clean shot, a beautiful shot, a stars-have-aligned-and-I’m-about-to-get-away-with-this shot, and he feels the rush of a perfectly executed assassination flow through his veins. This moment is why he mainly deals in assassinations. This high of having so much power yet not even being seen, it hits different. He drops the safety and just as his finger twitches back to the trigger the most bizarre thing happens.

The intern looks at him.

Of course, the kid can’t look at him, he has the cloaking suit on, but the kid’s suspicious eyes pass over the top of the portable and he feels violated.

Also, he squeezes the trigger thrice.

And then a more bizarre thing happens: the kid drops.

Well, shit.