#Fort Novosel Training

[walkingthroughthisworld]

Larry Taylor was born in 1942 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He grew up in a family and community that emphasized the importance of military service. His great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, his great-uncle in World War I and his father and uncles in World War II. 

Larry Taylor joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, then joined the regular Army in August, volunteering as an armor officer. 

He joined the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Upon graduation in June 1966, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve, then joined the regular Army in August, volunteering as an armor officer. After graduating from the U.S. Army Armor School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Taylor quickly realized he was better suited to be a pilot than an armor officer. He had already obtained a fixed-wing pilot's license before joining the Army and thought that experience would make it easier to learn rotary-wing flying. 

After receiving permission to train as a helicopter pilot, he attended the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters, Texas, and then advanced helicopter training at Fort Rucker (renamed Fort Novosel in 2023), Alabama, where he qualified as an Army aviator in June 1967.

Taylor served in Vietnam from August 1967 to August 1968, flying some of the first Bell AH1-G Cobra attack helicopters in combat. Serving with D Troop (Air), 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, Taylor flew over 2,000 combat missions in UH-1 and Cobra helicopters. He was engaged by enemy fire 340 times and was forced down five times. The U.S. Army awarded him at least 50 combat decorations, including the Silver Star, 43 Air Medals, a Bronze Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. He also received the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star.

 Among his many harrowing operations, the most dangerous and frightening took place on June 18, 1968, when he rescued a four-man long range patrol team at significant risk to his own life. For his heroic actions that night, the Army awarded him the Silver Star, which President Joe Biden upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2023. Taylor concluded his military service as a captain with the 2nd Armored Cavalry in West Germany. 

After his Army service, he operated a successful roofing and sheet metal company in Chattanooga and was involved with several veterans' organizations. He has also been a generous donor to charitable nonprofit organizations in the Chattanooga area. Taylor and his wife, Toni, reside in Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

(via Captain Larry L. Taylor | Medal of Honor Recipient | U.S. Army)

[culturalshocks]

CulturalShocker of the Day: James Hong

-Born on February 22, 1929 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Chinese emigrants.

-Known as one the most prolific character actors in Hollywood

-Performed in numerous productions since the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 50s

-During his childhood, he experienced racism and bullying by his peers due to his limited proficiency in English

-He developed his love for the performing arts by watching Peking opera performers rehearse. Peking opera is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics

-From 1952 to 1953, Hong served in the Minnesota Army National Guard and trained in Alabama at  Fort McClellan and Camp Rucker (renamed Fort Novosel in 2023) with the Special Services. Hong would perform for other soldiers, and eventually the camp general told Hong to stay and be in charge of the camp's live shows rather than deploy overseas.

-Hong co-founded the East West Players, the first Asian American theatre organization and the longest continuously-running minority theatre in the United States, to increase Asian American representation in the industry

-Some of Hong's best roles include: Barry Chan from "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan" (1957-1958), Kahn from "Chinatown" (1974), Chi-Fu from "Mulan" (1998), Mr. Ping from Kung Fu Panda (2008), Parmenion from "Gladiator Cop" (1994), Mayor Tong from "Avatar: The Last Airbender", and many many more.

-He is a Daytime Emmy nominee, an Annie Award winner, and a Screen Actors Guild winner

-2020, Daniel Dae Kim started a GoFundMe campaign to get Hong a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He received a star as a member of the 2022 class of honorees, becoming the oldest person to receive the honor at age 93.

-Hong lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Susan Tong whom he married in 1977. The couple have three daughters and eight grandchildren.

-Hong is a Presbyterian; he attended the Westminster Presbyterian Church with his family as a child in Minneapolis.

*All information comes from Wikipedia.com*

[jcmarchi]

Soaring high, in the Army and the lab

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/soaring-high-in-the-army-and-the-lab/

Soaring high, in the Army and the lab

Starting off as a junior helicopter pilot, Lt. Col. Jill Rahon deployed to Afghanistan three times. During the last one, she was an air mission commander, the  pilot who is designated to interface with the ground troops throughout the mission.

Today, Rahon is a fourth-year doctoral student studying applied physics at the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE). Under the supervision of Areg Danagoulian, she is working on engineering solutions for enforcement of nuclear nonproliferation treaties. Rahon and her husband have 2-year-old twins: “They have the same warm relationship with my advisor that I had with my dad’s (PhD) advisor,” she says.

Jill Rahon: Engineering solutions for enforcement of nuclear nonproliferation treaties

A path to the armed forces

The daughter of a health physicist father and a food chemist mother, Rahon grew up in the Hudson Valley, very close to New York City. Nine-eleven was a life-altering event: “Many of my friends’ fathers and uncles were policemen and firefighters [who] died responding to the attacks,” Rahon says. A hurt and angry teenager, Rahon was determined to do her part to help: She joined the Army and decided to pursue science, becoming part of the first class to enter West Point after 9/11.

Rahon started by studying strategic history, a field that covers treaties and geopolitical relationships. It would prove useful later. Inspired by her father, who works in the nuclear field, Rahon added on a nuclear science and engineering track.

After graduating from West Point, Rahon wanted to join active combat and chose aviation. At flight school in Fort Novosel, Alabama, she discovered that she loved flying. It was there that Rahon learned to fly the legendary Chinook helicopter. In short order, Rahon was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and deployed to Afghanistan quickly thereafter.

As expected, flying in Afghanistan, especially on night missions, was adrenaline-charged. “You’re thinking on the fly, you’re talking on five different radios, you’re making decisions for all the helicopters that are part of the mission,” Rahon remembers. Very often Rahon and her cohorts did not have the luxury of time. “We would get information that would need to be acted on quickly,” she says. During the planning meetings, she would be delighted to see a classmate from West Point function as the ground forces commander. “It would be surprising to see somebody you knew from a different setting halfway around the world, working toward common goals,” Rahon says.

Also awesome: helping launch the first training program for female pilots to be recruited in the Afghan National Air Force. “I got to meet [and mentor] these strong young women who maybe didn’t have the same encouragement that I had growing up and they were out there hanging tough,” Rahon says.

Exploring physics and nuclear engineering

After serving in the combat forces, Rahon decided she wanted to teach physics at West Point. She applied to become a part of the Functional Area (FA52) as a nuclear and countering weapons of mass destruction officer.

FA52 officers provide nuclear technical advice to maneuver commanders about nuclear weapons, effects, and operating in a nuclear environment or battlefield. Rahon’s specialty is radiation detection and operations in a nuclear environment, which poses unique threats and challenges to forces.

Knowing she wanted to teach at West Point, she “brushed up extensively on math and physics” and applied to MIT NSE to pursue a master’s degree. “My fellow students were such an inspiration. They might not have had the same life experiences that I had but were still so mature and driven and knowledgeable not only about nuclear engineering but how that fits in the energy sector and in politics,” Rahon says.

Resonance analysis to verify treaties

Rahon returned to NSE to pursue her doctorate, where she does a “lot of detection and treaty verification work.”

When looking at nuclear fuels to verify safeguards for treaties, experts search for the presence and quantities of heavy elements such as uranium, plutonium, thorium, and any of their decay products. To do so nondestructively is of high importance so they don’t destroy a piece of the material or fuel to identify it.

Rahon’s research is built on resonance analysis, the fact that most midrange to heavy isotopes have unique resonance signatures that are accessed by neutrons of epithermal energy, which is relatively low on the scale of possible neutron energies. This means they travel slowly — crossing a distance of 2 meters in tens of microseconds, permitting their detection time to be used to calculate their energy.

Studying how neutrons of a particular energy interact with a sample to identify worrisome nuclear materials is much like studying fingerprints to solve crimes. Isotopes that have a spike in likelihood of interaction occurring over a small neutron energy are said to have resonances, and these resonance patterns are isotopically unique. Experts can use this technique to nondestructively assess an item, identifying the constituent isotopes and their concentrations.

Resonance analysis can be used to verify that the fuels are what the nuclear plant owner says they are. “There are a lot of safeguards activities and verification protocols that are managed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure that a state is not misusing nuclear power for ulterior motives,” Rahon points out. And her method helps.

“Our technique that leverages resonance analysis is nothing new,” Rahon says, “It’s been applied practically since the ’70s at very large beam facilities, hundreds of meters long with a very large accelerator that pulses neutrons, and then you’re able to correlate a neutron time of flight with a resonance profile. What we’ve done that is novel is we’ve shrunk it down to a 3-meter system with a portable neutron residence generator and a 2-meter beam path,” she says.

Mobility confers many significant advantages: “This is something that could be conceivably put on the back of a truck and moved to a fuel facility, then driven to the next one for inspections or put at a treaty verification site. It could be taken out to a silo field where they are dismantling nuclear weapons,” Rahon says. However, the miniaturization does come with significant challenges, such as the neutron generator’s impacts on the signal to noise ratio.

Rahon is delighted her research can ensure that a necessary fuel source will not be misused. “We need nuclear power. We need low-carbon solutions for energy and we need safe ones. We need to ensure that this powerful technology is not being misused. And that’s why these engineering solutions are needed for these safeguards,” she says.

Rahon sees parallels between her time in active duty and her doctoral research. Teamwork and communication are key in both, she says. Her dad is her role model and Rahon is a firm believer in mentorship, something she nurtured both in the armed forces and at MIT. “My advisor is genuinely a wonderful person who has always given me so much support from not only being a student, but also being a parent,” Rahon adds.

In turn, Danagoulian has been impressed by Rahon’s remarkable abilities: “Raising twins, doing research in applied nuclear physics, and flying coalition forces into Taliban territory while evading ground fire … [Jill] developed her own research project with minimal help from me and defended it brilliantly during the first part of the exam,” he says. 

It seems that Rahon flies high no matter which mission she takes on.

[georgemcginn]

Contracts For Dec. 11, 2023

View Online FOR RELEASE AT 5 PM ET Contracts For Dec. 11, 2023 ARMY M1 Support Services LP, Denton, Texas, was awarded a $567,369,278 modification (P00152) to contract W9124G-17-C-0104 for aviation maintenance and flight school training. Work will be performed at Fort Novosel, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2025. Fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance, Army funds were…

[eurovisionsocialnewswire]

US-TX: UAE astronaut candidates train at NASA facilities

UAE astronaut candidates Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre worked to complete various training exercises, NASA said on Thursday, June 15. This includes wilderness survival training in Fort Novosel, formerly known as Fort Rucker, in Alabama, and suiting up at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. AlMatrooshi and…

[morethanaprincess-a]

SLEEP HABITS.

NAME: Sonia Nevermind

RESIDENCE: She has quite a few! In no particular order: the Princess’s wing of Novoselic Castle, her dormitory at Hope’s Peak, her residences at university (outside of Japan, often Oxford or Paris), her family’s Tokyo condo, the master bedroom of Boudry House (Sonia’s gifted residence upon her 18th birthday, located in Novoselic’s capital. Based on London’s Clarence House), and various grand estates throughout the country. As Queen, naturally, she lives in the largest, grandest set of rooms, often reserved for Kings past.

TYPE OF BED: My reference for her Novoselic Castle and Boudry House bedrooms is here, right down to the curtains, the crown moulding, and the sage green decor. 

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: A top sheet and a comforter, minimum. She often has a down comforter and a throw blanket or two when it’s cold. One blanket may be wadded up in her arms as something to cuddle.

NUMBER OF PILLOWS: 2 pillows near her head, one beneath it and one against the headboard. The other pillows are likely set up on either side in case she happens to roll over. Sonia also keeps 1-2 pillows to clutch in the night if she’s sleeping alone, or needs to set up a pillow barrier between herself and someone else whom she’s sharing a sleeping space with (so she doesn’t accidentally cuddle/hug them while asleep). She’s an expert at constructing a pillow barrier/pillow fort for this reason.

TYPE OF CLOTHING: More often than not: silk. Much of Sonia’s sleepwear is silk: it’s light, soft, and good for her skin. Often it’s thin-strapped slips or camisole and shorts sets, sometimes adorned with delicate lace, decorative buttons, or ruffles, with matching dressing gowns/robes. When it’s colder, she’ll switch to full length silk pajamas or fleece and flannel, complete with a cozy, oversized jumper and thick socks to keep her feet warm. She also has plenty of pairs of coordinating slippers and, contrary to the DR3 OVA, she does not sleep with her hair loose. Hello, tangles! Instead, she braids it back loosely and secures it with a ribbon or elastic that won’t make her hair frizz. Note that when the braid comes undone or she doesn’t bother, she is suitably distracted

DO THEY SLEEP WITH COMPANY?: Does a lot of stuffed animals and/or pillows count? Outside of a romantic relationship, Sonia loves her stuffed animals and other, particularly macabre, stuffed toys. Black cats? Yes. Bats? Of course. Kawaii skeletons? She’s got more than one. A menacing plush Freddy Kreuger? She has better dreams when he’s in the bed. Of course, if she’s in a romantic relationship and they’re at the point where they’re sharing a bed, then yes, she’s sleeping with someone else there beside her I wish them well for getting a good night’s sleep

DO THEY SLEEP BETTER WITH COMPANY?: Well, Sonia does. I feel bad for the company: Sonia is very much a hugger/clingy in her sleep. Usually it’s blankets, pillows, or a stuffed animal...but if it’s a person beside her? They’re getting royal arms and legs wrapped around them and Sonia’s head buried into their shoulder, chest, neck, etc. That person’s heartbeat is lulling her to sleep and their scent is greeting her each morning. She’s happy that they’ve stayed. She’s used to loved ones leaving her for something more important: running the country. She’s got some abandonment issues.

DOES IT MATTER WHERE THEY SLEEP?: Yes. Unless she’s really exhausted, Sonia’s used to sleeping in familiar places: all the various bedrooms at her various residences, the bed on the Royal Train, the bed on her private plane, etc. This woman is not used to falling asleep in a chair, standing up, etc. 

WHAT DO THEY DO IF THEY CANNOT FALL ASLEEP?: Sonia will usually have something to drink (water, tea, alcohol...depending on why she can’t fall asleep) and then watch or read something. She’s forever trying to catch up on anime, movies, television shows, etc. with how busy her schedule is. Sometimes she watches a favorite title. If she’s away from friends/has a large time difference, she may try to phone someone to talk. In other cases, family members and/or friends will force her to talk about why she’s not sleeping (she’s not exactly fond of this). 

FREQUENT DREAMS, NIGHTMARES: In Non-Despair/Non-Canon, it really depends on the verse and what Sonia’s currently doing/facing. But yes, she does have an active imagination and does dream quite a bit. In canon, especially during SDR2 and post-SDR2...nightmares. All the time. They persist long after she’s left Jabberwock Island and returned to Novoselic. She often can’t sleep well unless she’s drunk herself to sleep or she’s not sleeping alone. Her mind is too active remembering everything she’s done, virtually and in real life. It’s pretty sad: guilt consumes her most of the time unless she has others to help her through it.

DEEP SLUMBER OR NAPS: Deep slumber. Like mealtimes (which are taken at mealtimes), sleep occurs when it should happen/is scheduled. Sonia doesn’t often take naps because she simply doesn’t have the time and it’s seen as laziness in her family (being sick/elderly/frail/infants aside).

WHEN DO THEY SLEEP: Way. Too. Late. Sonia waits for her day’s schedule to conclude and only then does she have time to indulge in her hobbies. She’s prone to staying up very late, trying to watch a movie she’s been meaning to see or catch up on a manga. She’s excellent at hiding dark circles and drinking a lot of caffeinated tea in the morning.

WHAT COULD WAKE THEM UP: Sonia can sleep through thunderstorms, lightning, and heavy rain. But when a maid comes in to wake her/open the curtains/lay out her morning outfit/give her a tray with tea and a chocolate shortbread biscuit to nibble at while her secretary follows, detailing the events of her day, there’s not much chance of her going back to sleep. Her time at Hope’s Peak is really the only time she utilizes a phone alarm to wake up: Sonia’s used to being woken up by a member of staff. But if for some reason she wakes up first, she’ll press the appropriate call button to alert her maids that she’s ready to get up and start the day. Otherwise, she wakes up far more content and happy when her lover is at fault: kisses anywhere (though if they go for the back of her neck, they best be prepared for the consequences. That’s her weak spot), hugs, whispers in her ear, stroking her arm, her shoulder, down her back. Yes, Sonia will wake up and be very pleased about it.

EARLY OR LATE RISER: Most of the time, she’s an early riser and has little choice in the matter. She’s got a schedule to stick to and little sleep is often the norm. On the rare holiday or time off, she gets to get up late and she loves it. To Sonia, getting up for a late breakfast is a true luxury.

Tagged by: @ahogedetective​ (Thank you!)

Tagging: I have no idea who has done this and who hasn’t so...you! If you want to!

[mythgirlimagines]

DR2 characters with the DR1 casts talents!

I put these in a random generator and may I just say I love the idea of Biker Gang Leader Sonia

Ultimate Imposter (Idol):

He always worked really hard towards his goal, and he made it!

He doesn’t worry about his image too much; it’s part of him, but it’s great as is.

His music is one of a kind, and is really good. He got a good-sized following early on.

Teruteru Hanamura (Gambler):

Teruteru knew which bets were smart to place, both in gambling and real life.

His actions were always strategic; he hardly did anything without thinking about it first.

Of course, that did not include flirting with many people.

Mahiru Koizumi (Fanfic Creator):

Since she started posting, she was one of the biggest names in fanfiction.

While she loves what she does, she hates that fanfiction has the stereotype of being just NSFW things.

But when she’s writing her fanfics, she can’t help but fall in love with the source material again.

Peko Pekoyama (Fashionista):

It started as a sort of hobby of hers, but soon her fashion blog gained a pretty big following.

Mostly she stayed on the more comfortable trends, but she’s been known to invent some of her own.

It’s not a huge deal to her; street fashion especially was just something that she loved.

Ibuki Mioda (Detective):

She’s the kind of detective that finds the humor in that one detective vine.

In all seriousness, she has a tremendous eye for detail, and has great hearing as well.

She’s solved a lot of cases that may not have been solved otherwise, and she’s proud of it!

Hiyoko Saionji (Moral Compass):

Nobody would guess that she was the Ultimate Moral Compass.

Her attitude was a bit sour, but she always made sure everyone followed the rules.

She also made sure that the unfair rules were broken, though, because otherwise it wouldn’t be just.

Mikan Tsumiki (Lucky Student):

A lot of the time, she doesn’t feel very lucky, given her clumsiness.

It’s more like she’s a bad luck magnet, since she doesn’t have much good luck.

Maybe it’s there, but if it is, it’s very few and far between instances.

Nekomaru Nidai (Soldier):

Nekomaru was one of the most loyal people you could meet.

He’s wonderful at following directions from higher-ups, and always delivers.

While he seems serious a lot of the time, he can let loose when he wants to when he’s not on active duty.

Gundham Tanaka (Swimmer):

Swimming was something that Gundham was always a natural at.

He was an Olympic hopeful, and that was the goal he always trained towards.

Of course, some of it he believed was hydrokinesis, but who was to say?

Nagito Komaeda (Baseball Star):

He didn’t really think he was that good. Baseball was just something he enjoyed.

There was nothing like the rush of stepping up to bat, or pitching for someone he knew would likely hit it.

Winning was a whole other amazing feeling, one he was glad to share with his team.

Chiaki Nanami (Clairvoyant):

A lot of her clairvoyance is being able to predict the endings of stories or certain events in people’s lives.

Her predictions are nearly always trustworthy, though to her they seem shaky at best.

She’s surprised herself a lot with her accuracy.

Hajime Hinata (Literary Prodigy):

Hajime had been writing for as long as he could remember.

Sci-fi and dystopian novels were his forte, something he liked worldbuilding.

His characters all had a small piece of him in them. They were just enjoyable to write.

Akane Owari (Affluent Progeny):

Her family was big and she was supposed to act like a lady, but that didn’t mean she liked to.

She knows how to sneak away from situations she doesn’t want to be in.

However, she’s also a lot more intelligent than people give her credit for.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu (Martial Artist):

Martial arts had always given him something to focus his energy on, something productive he could do.

Not to mention, the feeling of working out by practicing felt pretty darn good.

Working his way up in the world in strength helped him forget about his short stature.

Sonia Nevermind (Biker Gang Leader):

She started her gang as a way to keep the streets of Novoselic safe.

They seem intimidating- her especially, in a beauty-that-kills way- but they’re a bunch of sweethearts if you’re a good person.

She doesn’t tolerate anyone treating any of her friends or innocent bystanders horribly.

Kazuichi Souda (Programmer):

He started reprogramming some of his toys when he was little, and his interest grew from there.

One of his secrets, though, is that he can’t often read his own code. He just has to trust that it’s right.

But his projects are still really big, impressive ones. AI development is something he’s always dreamed of.

[more-than-a-princess]

SLEEP HABITS.

NAME: Sonia Nevermind

RESIDENCE:She has quite a few! In no particular order: the Princess’s wing of Novoselic Castle, her dormitory at Hope’s Peak, her residences at university (outside of Japan, often Oxford or Paris), her family’s Tokyo condo, the master bedroom of Boudry House (Sonia’s gifted residence upon her 18th birthday, located in Novoselic’s capital. Based on London’s Clarence House), and various grand estates throughout the country. As Queen, naturally, she lives in the largest, grandest set of rooms, often reserved for Kings past.

TYPE OF BED: My reference for her Novoselic Castle and Boudry House bedrooms is here, right down to the curtains, the crown moulding, and the sage green decor.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS: A top sheet and a comforter, minimum. She often has a down comforter and a throw blanket or two when it’s cold. One blanket may be wadded up in her arms as something to cuddle.

NUMBER OF PILLOWS: 2 pillows near her head, one beneath it and one against the headboard. The other pillows are likely set up on either side in case she happens to roll over. Sonia also keeps 1-2 pillows to clutch in the night if she’s sleeping alone, or needs to set up a pillow barrier between herself and someone else whom she’s sharing a sleeping space with (so she doesn’t accidentally cuddle/hug them while asleep). She’s an expert at constructing a pillow barrier/pillow fort for this reason.

TYPE OF CLOTHING: More often than not: silk. Much of Sonia’s sleepwear is silk: it’s light, soft, and good for her skin. Often it’s thin-strapped slips or camisole and shorts sets, sometimes adorned with delicate lace, decorative buttons, or ruffles, with matching dressing gowns/robes. When it’s colder, she’ll switch to full length silk pajamas or fleece and flannel, complete with a cozy, oversized jumper and thick socks to keep her feet warm. She also has plenty of pairs of coordinating slippers and, contrary to the DR3 OVA, she does not sleep with her hair loose. Hello, tangles! Instead, she braids it back loosely and secures it with a ribbon or elastic that won’t make her hair frizz. Note that when the braid comes undone or she doesn’t bother, she is suitably distracted

DO THEY SLEEP WITH COMPANY?: Does a lot of stuffed animals and/or pillows count? Outside of a romantic relationship, Sonia loves her stuffed animals and other, particularly macabre, stuffed toys. Black cats? Yes. Bats? Of course. Kawaii skeletons? She’s got more than one. A menacing plush Freddy Kreuger? She has better dreams when he’s in the bed. Of course, if she’s in a romantic relationship and they’re at the point where they’re sharing a bed, then yes, she’s sleeping with someone else there beside her I wish them well for getting a good night’s sleep

DO THEY SLEEP BETTER WITH COMPANY?: Well, Sonia does. I feel bad for the company: Sonia is very much a hugger/clingy in her sleep. Usually it’s blankets, pillows, or a stuffed animal…but if it’s a person beside her? They’re getting royal arms and legs wrapped around them and Sonia’s head buried into their shoulder, chest, neck, etc. That person’s heartbeat is lulling her to sleep and their scent is greeting her each morning. She’s happy that they’ve stayed. She’s used to loved ones leaving her for something more important: running the country. She’s got some abandonment issues.

DOES IT MATTER WHERE THEY SLEEP?:Yes. Unless she’s really exhausted, Sonia’s used to sleeping in familiar places: all the various bedrooms at her various residences, the bed on the Royal Train, the bed on her private plane, etc. This woman is not used to falling asleep in a chair, standing up, etc.

WHAT DO THEY DO IF THEY CANNOT FALL ASLEEP?: Sonia will usually have something to drink (water, tea, alcohol…depending on why she can’t fall asleep) and then watch or read something. She’s forever trying to catch up on anime, movies, television shows, etc. with how busy her schedule is. Sometimes she watches a favorite title. If she’s away from friends/has a large time difference, she may try to phone someone to talk. In other cases, family members and/or friends will force her to talk about why she’s not sleeping (she’s not exactly fond of this).

FREQUENT DREAMS, NIGHTMARES: In Non-Despair/Non-Canon, it really depends on the verse and what Sonia’s currently doing/facing. But yes, she does have an active imagination and does dream quite a bit. In canon, especially during SDR2 and post-SDR2…nightmares. All the time. They persist long after she’s left Jabberwock Island and returned to Novoselic. She often can’t sleep well unless she’s drunk herself to sleep or she’s not sleeping alone. Her mind is too active remembering everything she’s done, virtually and in real life. It’s pretty sad: guilt consumes her most of the time unless she has others to help her through it.

DEEP SLUMBER OR NAPS: Deep slumber. Like mealtimes (which are taken at mealtimes), sleep occurs when it should happen/is scheduled. Sonia doesn’t often take naps because she simply doesn’t have the time and it’s seen as laziness in her family (being sick/elderly/frail/infants aside).

WHEN DO THEY SLEEP:Way. Too. Late. Sonia waits for her day’s schedule to conclude and only then does she have time to indulge in her hobbies. She’s prone to staying up very late, trying to watch a movie she’s been meaning to see or catch up on a manga. She’s excellent at hiding dark circles and drinking a lot of caffeinated tea in the morning.

WHAT COULD WAKE THEM UP: Sonia can sleep through thunderstorms, lightning, and heavy rain. But when a maid comes in to wake her/open the curtains/lay out her morning outfit/give her a tray with tea and a chocolate shortbread biscuit to nibble at while her secretary follows, detailing the events of her day, there’s not much chance of her going back to sleep. Her time at Hope’s Peak is really the only time she utilizes a phone alarm to wake up: Sonia’s used to being woken up by a member of staff. But if for some reason she wakes up first, she’ll press the appropriate call button to alert her maids that she’s ready to get up and start the day. Otherwise, she wakes up far more content and happy when her lover is at fault: kisses anywhere (though if they go for the back of her neck, they best be prepared for the consequences. That’s her weak spot), hugs, whispers in her ear, stroking her arm, her shoulder, down her back. Yes, Sonia will wake up and be very pleased about it.

EARLY OR LATE RISER: Most of the time, she’s an early riser and has little choice in the matter. She’s got a schedule to stick to and little sleep is often the norm. On the rare holiday or time off, she gets to get up late and she loves it. To Sonia, getting up for a late breakfast is a true luxury.

[rollingstonemag]

Un nouvel article a été publié sur http://www.rollingstone.fr/kurt-cobain-le-garcon-perdu/

Kurt Cobain : le garçon perdu

Les douleurs – et le génie – de Kurt Cobain remontaient-ils à une enfance confrontée à la typique brutalité américaine ?

PAR CHRIS MUNDY – extrait de l’article publié dans Rolling Stone USA le 2 juin 1994

Kurt Donald Cobain est né le 20 février 1967 dans une petite ville toute proche d’Aberdeen, dans l’État de Washington. Il était le premier enfant de Donald, mécanicien automobile, et Wendy, femme au foyer qui travaillera par la suite en tant que secrétaire. Trois ans après la naissance de Kurt, l’arrivée d’une fille, Kim, vint compléter la famille. De sa prime jeunesse, Kurt gardait des souvenirs on ne peut plus heureux. Enfant plein d’énergie et curieux à souhait, il était le point de mire de tout le monde, chantant, dessinant, exécutant des petits numéros lors des sorties familiales. Puis, à l’approche de son huitième anniversaire, son univers se transforma radicalement. Sa mère demanda le divorce, décision à laquelle son père s’opposa vivement, en vain. Maussade et renfermé, Kurt passa un an avec sa mère, avant d’aller s’installer chez son père. “Après le divorce, il a complètement changé, confiait sa mère à Rolling Stone en 1992. Je crois qu’il avait honte. Et il s’est replié sur lui-même, intériorisant tout. Il est devenu extrêmement timide. Ça l’a dévasté.” Outre ses problèmes familiaux, Kurt a grandi dans un camping-car en plein cœur d’Aberdeen, terne communauté reposant sur l’exploitation forestière, guère réputée pour ses désirs de compassion à l’égard de marginaux fragiles et avides de culture. Dans son enfance, Kurt était souvent malade, devant prendre du Ritalin (une sorte d’amphétamine) pour combattre son hyperactivité. Plus tard, les médecins diagnostiquèrent chez lui une bronchite chronique et un début de scoliose. Toutefois, son caractère de plus en plus obstiné ne tarda pas à éclipser sa santé précaire.

© Getty Images

Au cours de l’éloge funèbre qu’il prononça, son oncle Larry Smith évoqua le jour où Kurt s’était fait tabasser par un bûcheron pesant cent quinze kilos. Il n’avait rien fait pour se défendre, raconta Larry, et chaque fois que le bûcheron le flanquait par terre, Kurt lui adressait un grand sourire et lui faisait un doigt d’honneur. Le bûcheron finit par abandonner et continua son chemin.

En 1979, la famille Cobain fut confrontée au suicide d’un grand-oncle de Kurt. Cinq ans plus tard, un autre oncle mit fin à ses jours. Il est clair que la vie chez les Cobain n’était pas simple. Lorsque Donald Cobain se remaria avec une femme qui avait déjà un fils et une fille, les rapports de Kurt avec son père, déjà difficiles, se détériorèrent complètement. Kurt fut ainsi renvoyé de la maison pour aller vivre chez une tante et un oncle, avant de revenir vivre chez son père. Un autre accrochage lui fit prendre la porte une nouvelle fois. Et une fois encore. Au total, entre 1975 et 1984, Kurt aura habité chez son père, chez ses grands-parents paternels et chez trois de ses oncles et tantes. Il persuada finalement sa mère de lui m��nager une place chez elle. Cela ne dura qu’un an. Wendy Cobain s’était elle aussi remariée, et l’arrivée d’un fils au comportement erratique dans un environnement déjà instable se révéla un trop gros poids pour elle. Un jour, après avoir découvert que son mari la trompait, elle braqua un pistolet sur le visage de ce dernier en menaçant de le tuer. Sous le regard de se deux enfants, elle chercha à charger l’arme, sans succès. Finalement, par dépit, elle rassembla toutes les armes pour aller, à la nuit tombée, les jeter dans la rivière (la Wishkah River mentionnée dans le titre de la compilation live From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, parue en 1996, ndlr). Le lendemain, Kurt, après avoir payé deux gamins pour qu’ils les récupèrent dans l’eau, vendit les armes pour se faire de l’argent de poche et s’acheter son premier ampli.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U77Yw3Oq8Nc

À l’époque, le punk-rock était en plein essor et exprimait bien ce que Kurt ressentait : le désespoir, la colère, l’exaspération. Il laissa tomber le lycée, se fit virer de chez sa mère et passa ses nuits entre le canapé d’un ami et la banquette arrière de la voiture d’un autre. Il vécut même un temps sous un pont. Il discuta de l’idée de former un groupe avec son ami Krist Novoselic. Deux ans et plusieurs changements de noms (Fecal Matter, Skid Row) plus tard, Nirvana était né. Au sens propre du terme comme spirituellement, la délivrance de Kurt arriva à l’automne 1987. Si seulement quatre-vingt kilomètres séparent Aberdeen d’Olympia, quitter l’une pour s’installer dans l’autre fut pour lui comme quitter l’enfer pour le paradis. Siège de l’Evergreen State College, université ultra-libérale et Mecque culturelle du Nord-Ouest américain, Olympia devint dès lors la base spirituelle de Kurt, et ce, jusqu’à la fin. S’il avait choisi le lieu, à l’origine, pour aller vivre avec sa petite amie, Tracy Marander, Cobain ne tarda pas à découvrir – pour la première fois de sa vie – une communauté qui appréciait ses talents. Il tomba sous le charme de Calvin Johnson, leader du groupe Beat Happening et patron de K Records, un label indépendant sans prétention dont Kurt se ferait bientôt tatouer le logo sur l’avant-bras.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k13-x5yvXdA

Avec le recul, il n’est pas faux de penser qu’Olympia joua un rôle éducatif important pour Kurt, son séjour là-bas devenant pour lui l’équivalent d’études supérieures. Ceux qui buvaient les paroles de Johnson se trouvaient affublés par Kurt du surnom de “calvinistes”. Lui faisait de la peinture et des collages, commençant à composer et répéter avec Nirvana. En 1988, après avoir enregistré plusieurs démos, Nirvana sortit son premier single, “Love Buzz”/“Big Cheese”, sur Sub Pop Records, le label qui sera plus tard réputé pour avoir su capter le “son de Seattle”. En 1989, Bleach, le premier album du groupe (enregistré pour la somme de 606,17 dollars), vint prouver à tous que quelque chose de nouveau émergeait. L’album était effrayant et corrosif, mais possédait en même temps un côté étonnamment familier, presque rassurant. Le groupe s’embarqua dans une tournée, remplaça le batteur Chad Channing par Dave Grohl et se prépara à retourner en studio. C’est alors que le miracle se produisit.

Nevermind fut commercialisé en septembre 1991, sans trop de publicité ni grandes espérances de succès. En quelques mois, il devint le premier album de punk-rock à atteindre la première place des charts, se vendant au bout du compte à dix millions d’exemplaires dans le monde. Traduisant les multiples déchirements de son auteur, la musique qui le parcourait, balançant entre violence et apaisement, torturant en même temps qu’elle soulageait la douleur, imposa Kurt Cobain au grand public. Plus que le message qu’il véhiculait, c’est la méthode employée par Nevermind pour le faire passer qui attira ses auditeurs, en parfaite osmose avec ce qu’ils mouraient d’envie d’exprimer. Un véritable cri de douleur. Pourtant, en privé, Kurt était d’un calme déconcertant. Il était renfrogné et introverti, et le tourbillon qui l’entourait parlait souvent plus fort que lui. Nirvana était en train de révolutionner la musique des années 90. Quant à Cobain, il avait beau essayer de se recroqueviller dans son coin, loin des projecteurs, il demeurait toujours dans l’œil du cyclone. Commencèrent alors ses soucis avec la drogue, problèmes qui le poursuivirent jusqu’à la fin. Sa liaison avec Courtney Love, la chanteuse du groupe Hole, ne tarda pas à donner lieu à un grand nombre de récits ravageurs, le couple se voyant vite affublé de l’étiquette “Sid et Nancy des temps modernes”. Plusieurs mois après son mariage à Hawaii, le 24 février 1992, et quelques semaines après la naissance de sa fille Frances Bean, le 18 août 1992, Kurt fut surpris à jouer sur l’herbe avec son bébé, à deux pas de la caravane de luxe qui lui tenait lieu de loge à l’occasion des MTV Video Music Awards. Quand on lui rappela les débuts un peu trash de sa relation avec Courtney, il préféra en sourire. “Je regrette tout ça, ajouta-t-il. C’était un jeu stupide, une parodie du rituel de l’accouplement animal. Maintenant, je suis père. Tout a changé.”

https://youtu.be/3kwhs_JWWe0

Pas vraiment, en vérité. On accusa Courtney d’avoir pris de l’héroïne pendant sa grossesse, et le couple dut se battre avec les services de protection de l’enfance de Los Angeles afin de pouvoir conserver la garde de Frances Bean. Une dispute conjugale au cours de laquelle la police confisqua plusieurs armes chez les Cobain fit les gros titres des journaux, et ce, alors que Kurt et Nirvana n’avaient aucune actualité musicale. Après Incesticide, compilation de singles et de faces B, le groupe s’attaqua aux sessions de In Utero, un successeur de Nevermind aussi inspiré que résolument moins commercial – et qui fut l’objet d’une controverse avec Geffen, le label du groupe, à propos de sa production. Quant aux amis de Kurt, ils s’inquiétaient de son incapacité manifeste à décrocher de l’héroïne.

Mais il restait la musique. In Utero se classa d’emblée numéro 1 des charts à sa sortie. Le groupe joua en tête d’affiche d’un concert au profit des victimes de viol en Bosnie. Il partit ensuite en tournée, avant de donner une magnifique prestation lors de l’émission MTV Unplugged, qui, malheureusement, devait servir d’épitaphe à Nirvana. Il y avait la musique, mais aussi les amis de Kurt, et son couple qui, malgré le chaos qui le définissait, lui offrait apparemment beaucoup de bonheur ainsi que plus de sérénité –aussi étrange que cela puisse paraître, une sérénité comme il n’en avait jamais connu. Et il y avait bien sûr Frances Bean, la ravissante fillette qui doit son prénom à l’actrice Frances Farmer, une autre enfant de Seattle en son temps tourmentée par la gloire et l’antagonisme opposant sa vision artistique et ses démons personnels. Au milieu de toutes ses épreuves, ainsi qu’en témoignent ses amis, Kurt considérait sa fille comme un don du ciel.

https://youtu.be/aztw2s3PZzY

Le fait que le monde pleure la mort de Kurt autant que sa propre famille atteste de l’immense pouvoir de sa catharsis et de son mal-être, tant ceux-ci étaient partagés. Aussi nombreux que puissent être ceux qui le dépeignent sous d’autres traits, Kurt Cobain n’était ni la manifestation ni la réincarnation des idoles des générations précédentes. Il était simplement Kurt Cobain, être singulier et paradoxal dans une génération pleine de gens singuliers et paradoxaux. Un être extrêmement frêle, mais dont le cri fut si perçant qu’il parvint à briser le silence radio auquel se heurtait le rock’n’roll au moment de Nevermind. Il pouvait se montrer aussi doux qu’antisocial. Tout à la fois un enfant du divorce, un mari et un père. Un héroïnomane. Un défenseur acharné de la cause des femmes et des homosexuels. Et, au bout du compte, une statistique de plus dans une Seattle capitale américaine du suicide, où le taux d’actes irréversibles sur cette tranche d’âge a doublé au cours des dix dernières années.

Kurt Cobain est mort à l’âge de 27 ans. Il laisse derrière lui une femme qui l’aimait, une petite fille qui ne le connaîtra jamais, et des millions d’inconnus dont la vie s’est trouvée enrichie par son bref passage sur terre.

L’article est paru dans notre hors-série Nirvana, publié en 2014, qui est disponible sur notre kiosque en ligne. Vous pouvez vous le procurer ici : http://bit.ly/1V3YGKq

[morethanaprincess-a]

@madamhatter​ said:  Sonia x Sophie (be it platonic or romantically)!

Rating some ships after finishing some drafts! I still have three more to finish before clearing out my queue but feel free to send ships

vomit / don’t ship / okay / cute / adorable / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell / two people who enable each other’s bad behaviors / also the most supportive people for one another / you threaten one? you threaten both / so many apology letters 

I’m torn because I love them platonically and romantically now. They just have a very strong bond as childhood friends with mothers/mother figures who make their lives hell who will fight anyone who hurts the other. Sophie is one of the very few people who has seen Sonia at her very worst and her very best and Sonia can trust her with anything. And surely someone who sticks by you when you accidentally summon a demon prince from Hell will always be there for you, no matter what. Not to mention, these two are both constantly under pressure to work hard, and yet they will always know when the other needs to take a break and won’t stop until they’re both relaxing and having fun.

As platonic friends, Sophie will 100% be making Sonia’s wedding dress should the time come. She will also threaten Sonia’s future partner and/or spouse that if they hurt her friend, they will regret it. Do not mess with Sophie Hatter, people. She will destroy you and make it look like an accident. It’s less the King and Queen they have to charm when trying to appeal to Sonia’s family, it’s Sophie. The girls are pretty much sisters in every way except blood. 

And if Sophie’s hurt? Sonia’s sending an army or several well-trained hitmen to take care of anyone causing Sophie harm. And if you piss both of them off at once, you should be afraid. Be very afraid.

As a romantic couple, I definitely see them as being in denial of their feelings for years. But in Sonia’s case, it’s a matter of none of her relationships working out and she can’t figure out why. No matter the person, they cannot handle the rigorous schedule and constant scrutiny that being romantically linked to Sonia entails. And so Sonia looks to Sophie whenever she needs cheering up from another broken heart. She’s trying to fulfill her parents’ wishes to marry someone they want for her, but she can’t manage to do it.

And then they remember the promise they made, on a night when they’re both feeling particularly lonely: if they aren’t married by 30, they’ll marry one another. Sonia never thought that day would come, that it was something Sophie probably forgot about. But now 30 is staring them both in the face and they start to understand that they were never meant for anyone else but each other.

I’m here for Sophie being an incredible Queen Consort to the Queen, tbh. Think of the power suits. Think of the firm hand in getting shit done. Think of Queen Sonia giving her her own studio in Novoselic as a gift with all the hired help, equipment, and materials she could ever need. Because she wants her wife to be happy and fulfilled for herself, and not just as her spouse.

Finally, what these two love most for dates are lazy days made for old souls. A good pot of tea, Sophie’s baking, and something calming to watch. And plenty of pillow forts ideal for cuddling.

[morethanaprincess-a]

@kazouda​ picked #7 for the Soulmates AU meme! 

“People are born only seeing in black and white until they find their soulmate. Then they can see in color.”

(Nothing NSFW here, just under a cut due to length. I had a really fun time plotting this out!)

"Nevermind-san, would you mind telling Souda-san it's time for lunch? He is on cleaning duty today so it is important he's here on time," Yukizome asked politely to Sonia, who had just down to her own meal with her friends.

She wasn't one to refuse a request from a teacher. Sonia sighed, said a quick apology to Peko and Fuyuhiko, and left. Quite frankly, she felt rather extraneous around them, but that wasn't uncommon. They finally saw the world in color after admitting their feelings to one another. So did most of Class 77-B and Hope's Peak Academy at this point, leaving Sonia as one of the last few in their grade to see the world in shades of gray. Though it hadn't been for lack of trying.

The King and Queen of Novoselic hadn't begun to panic when their daughter saw every eligible member of the kingdom's aristocracy in black and white. They even had kept their concerns at bay when, after a week-long celebration of parties and balls, their only daughter and heir to the throne saw every future earl, duke, and second-in-line prince across Europe in the same limited color palette as she saw her favorite films, anime, and comic books. But when they'd paraded their daughter like Prince Charming in Cinderella, encouraging every eligible bachelor in Novoselic to meet the Princess and still her sight remained limited, they began to worry for both the future of the country and their daughter's mental stability.

Sonia walked briskly down the hallway, keeping her gaze on the door and avoiding the windows. Deep down she was happy for her peers, including those like Sayaka Maizono and Leon Kuwata who were sprawled underneath a tree in the front courtyard with a guitar and a stack of sheet music. But for now, she had to control her frustration, her anger, at not only feeling like an inadequate leader but an inadequate person. Sonia gritted her teeth, pushing open the heavy door to the stairwell as she made her way to the ground floor.

She took the stairs three at a time, her quickened pace forcing her to focus on the task at hand and instead of her own thoughts. Her place at Hope's Peak Academy was already a precarious one: The headmaster, though impressed with her linguistic, mathematical, and negotiation skills, had raised initial objects due to her transfer. Her previous boarding school, In Utero, had decided to expel Novoselic's future queen after a viscount had publicly humiliated Sonia in front of her entire class.

"Those colors don't go together!" Frederick, viscount Hanworth, sneered at Sonia's painting. The viscount had been fortunate: at nine, he had met his soulmate early on and had been a proud authority on the beauty of color. Due to resources and connections, most of the students of In Utero had followed suit by age 14: everyone except their future Queen.

"They're fine!" Sonia proclaimed, dipping her brush into a shade of gray to add to her painting of Novoselic's castle. She hadn't wanted to be excluded from a class just because she could not see colors, but it wasn't without its problems.

"Don't be an idiot! What castle has hot pink walls and neon yellow and blue turrets?" Frederick rolled his eyes, grabbing the canvas off of Sonia's easel and holding it high in the air, prompting the laughter of a class of middle schoolers.

It had been like this for years, the sons and daughters of Novoselic's esteemed peerage and newly rich alike picking on the one who outranked them all. A future monarch who couldn't even see the rich green hills, slate blue mountains, and pink Edelweiss flowers that dazzled inhabitants and tourists alike was a joke.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Sonia screamed, tears running down her face as she ripped the canvas from his hands before punching him squarely in the jaw. Her extensive training on modern warfare, including basic martial arts, had resulted in a broken nose and the loss of two teeth for the viscount. Despite Sonia's title, both the school and her family felt it would be best for her to transfer: out of In Utero, out of Novoselic, and out of Europe, in the vain hope there was a hidden baron or conglomerate heir who would allow her to open her eyes for the very first time.

"Why does Yukizome insist I find him all the time. He does have other friends," Sonia questioned aloud, pushing open the door on the ground floor and stepping out into the late spring sunshine. Kazuichi's preferred workspace was kept far away from the main school building, primarily for everyone's safety. The garage was prone to explosions from various projects, some strong enough to shake the school's foundations.

When she'd arrived at Hope's Peak, her reputation had preceded her. After a cold, embarrassing introduction to Japan's wealthiest heir, Byakuya Togami, her family thought it was best for her to remain at his academic institution in the hope of meeting more exceptional potential soulmates. Whispers from her fellow students as well as the news coverage of Europe's most eligible princess being whisked away nearly every weekend for a social obligation had turned her presence at Hope's Peak into continuous gossip. It had been only Kazuichi Souda who had shown any interest in her outside of her condition. Instead he'd focused on her crown after they met, which had irritated her more than her inability to appreciate a rainbow after thunderstorm. But he had shown her kindness when no one else did, introducing her to his closest friends, Nagito Komaeda and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. The trio had then welcomed the company of Peko Pekoyama, Chiaki Nanami, and a reserve course student, Hajime Hinata, to form a merry band of Ultimate Misfits. It became only natural for them to take Sonia under their protection, and instead of dutifully studying outside of class hours, the group embraced frivolity at the arcade, karaoke, cafes, and more. The Ultimates relied on Hinata to introduce them to the life of normal students and in turn, they welcomed him into their friendship just as he was. And Sonia had been grateful: their loyalty was perhaps the only thing that kept the whispers and jeers from eating away her heart.

"Souda!" Sonia shouted, approaching the garage. Whatever he was building, it was too large to be contained in the enclosure so Sonia squinted up, attempting to find him on top of a mountain of junk and spare parts. "Yukizome-sensei is going to assign detention, again, if you don't come back to the classroom for lunch! You understand that if you receive one more, you won't be able to attend the summer festival!?"

The Ultimate Misfits had already begun their summer plans: trips to the beach, the amusement park, anything to celebrate their final summer as high school students. The local summer festival was also not to be missed, full of food booths, carnival games, and most importantly, a fireworks show. Fireworks weren't foreign to Sonia, but they were supposedly best experienced in color. Peko and Fuyuhiko certainly wouldn't have trouble seeing the kaleidoscopic display in the night sky, and while they were less forthcoming about it, Naigto, Chiaki, and Hajime did not seem concerned about their enjoyment of the festival's main event.

It had been Kazuichi who'd listened to her qualms. In an attempt to mollify her, he'd insisted that it wouldn't be a problem for 'Miss Sonia,' and that they'd all miss her company, he'd miss her company, if she stayed behind in the dorms to watch Bela Lugosi as Dracula for the millionth time. It wasn't the colors of the fireworks that had made the summer festival important, he'd explained, but the time spent together.

"Souda, are you listening!?" Sonia's yell grew louder in an attempt to talk over the loud engine that had picked up speed and volume. She was no expert, that was his forte, but even she knew something didn't sound right. "Yukizome-sensei will keep you after school into the summer vacation and you'll miss everything!"

It all happened in an instant. The engine on top of the pile continued to roar until it exploded into a cloud of smoke and oil, splattering the junkpile and Sonia herself. She fell to her knees coughing, grease covering her hair, her face, and all over her uniform. Due to his work, she was now a complete mess.

"S-Souda!" Sonia gasped, rubbing her eyes furiously in an attempt to see clearly, "You need to be more careful! Look at what you've...done..."

The shades of gray she'd previously attributed to the daytime sky now seemed to shine a bright hue she'd never seen. She squinted, the brilliant sky blue shade overwhelming her vision as she took in the world around her: a junkpile in various earthy tones and brass metallic components, the silver-metal paneled garage, and a soda bottle with a bright red label. And at the summit of the scrap mountain, she saw two of the colors she'd been teased about so long ago: hot pink and blue, as Kazuichi emerged from the mess. And while she could've attributed her tears to the oil that ran into her eyes, Sonia knew that this time, she cried tears of joy at the bold, radiant colors that didn't clash at all. Instead, they'd burrowed deep into her heart, waiting for her to finally embrace them.