#c: gavriil

[vietnamstar]

Russia and North Korea sign partnership deal that includes mutual defense pact, Putin says

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (C) and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (R) attend a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024.  Gavriil Grigorov | Afp | Getty Images Russia and North Korea on Wednesday signed a new “comprehensive strategic partnership” as Western officials grow increasingly concerned about the implications of President Vladimir Putin’s first…

[alektowrites]

Hymnus Throni (teaser)

PAIRING: Foreign duchess! Irene x Princess! Reader _______________ WARNINGS: Light Royalty AU, marriage of convenience, bickering, foreign royalty Irene! Let's pretend Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome didn't beef with one another (Troy oop), S2F2L, somewhat Roman-descent! Y/N, somewhat Russian-descent! Irene, mommy - I mean IRENE HAS A RUSSIAN ACCENT, mentions of war, minor character death, tension, mentions of war, Percy Jackson and The Crown reference, smut in the future scenes so more warnings will come because come on, Irene's the MAIN warning 🥴🥴🥴 _______________ A/N: Hymnus Throni means The Throne's Hymn in Latin.

And I'm sorry this took so long 😭, my circuits were fried while I drafted this one-shot.

This is requested, by the way.

Enjoy <3333

________________ Terminologies:

Moja koroleva - my queen Dorogoj - darling

"I'm sure you've heard of the Baskovanian Kingdom from the North, where a lord who goes by the name of Alexie Gavriil; saved my life during the war, and in return for saving my life, I grant him one wish." He paused, "What did he wish for?"

Your stomach churns as an answer pops into your mind. You refuse to believe it.

No, no, no.

It can't be true-

"Marriage, between the two families." The guests gasped.

"Today," He declares, "You all will bear witness to a political arrangement between two influential empires!" He gestures a hand in front, and the crowd immediately parts except for the captivating woman. "Between Empress Y/N Valeria and Grand Duchess Irene Gavriil. Bow before your new rulers!"

The resplendent woman, Irene Gavriil, strides toward you like a lioness stalking her prey. Her eyes hid her scrutiny and annoyance well. As she approaches, the guests go down on one knee to bow before your bride. Their heads ducked as she took confident strides toward you and your father.

The emperor steps away from you to join the witnesses, smiling from ear to ear as the grand duchess stops in front of you. Her sapphire-blue eyes swirl with enigma and intelligence before she too, goes down on one knee, her eyes never leaving yours as she takes your right hand, her gloved hands gently holding your hand. You can hear your blood drumming against the back of your ears. How the temperature of your body drops from her intense gaze and how your stomach churns at her proximity. Your knees almost gaze out when her plump, pink lips press a kiss against the back of your palm. She never broke eye contact in doing so, and the crowd squeals as she stands.

And finally, she spoke. Her voice is raspy but sultry and alluring, with a hint of a soft accent that leaves your spine shivering.

"We finally meet," The side of her lip curls to a cold smile, "Moja koroleva."

Her icy gaze pierced through you. You reply with a smile, but your eyes harden, and your face stings with anger, annoyance, and frustration. Your smile drops to a venomous scowl.

Marriage never appealed to you. Even at your age, you never thought of marrying. You saw it as a means of tying someone down to a forced commitment, made to be caged inside a tower and squeeze out heirs.

You don't want this.

You'd rather travel around the world and paint the wonders you've seen than be bound to someone you haven't met.

Political marriages are damned, all of it be damned. Irene moves to the side. You were snapped out of your raging stupor when you felt her lean to your side and snaked her arm around your waist.

Her touch prickles your skin as she pulls you close to her side to face the guest who cheers for you two. You instantly stiffen at her proximity, allowing you to inhale her subtle but sweet scent.

She directs her head to your ear, her eyes never leaving the crowd as she whispers in your ear; her cold breath fans the outer lobe, and her raspy voice fills your ears.

"Smile, dorogoj." She commands with an icy, hushed tone, "If you want to fool them, including your father, I suggest you smile and pretend to be happy with this god-forsaken arrangement."

Begrudgingly, you catch on but you are unable to match the excitement of the guests with the declaration of your union. You cast a side-eyed glance at the foreign grand duchess, her gaze is just as hard and seething as yours.

At least you're not the only one who's not happy with the arrangement. That's what you can both agree on.

You're royally screwed.

Coming soon!

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Josette Proulx Age:  32 Ability: Regenerative Healing Faction:  LESYAS as an ASSASSIN Faceclaim:  Lyndsy Fonseca Availability:  TAKEN

THE STORY || TW: Death, Violence, Child Trafficking

Josette was born into a lavish life to a French lawyer and her husband. For the first years of her life, her parents raised her with loving hands that pushed her through the most advanced école primaire education that money could buy. They were an idyllic family, complete with white picket fences and a cat named Fluffy. They should have lived a long, happy life, but only one week before Josette’s twelfth birthday, her mother became involved in the most dangerous case of her life. Her client’s name was Raphael le Blanc, a Rostek charged with at least 20 separate cases of murder. As a closeted Vila herself, the case was already uncomfortably personal. On the third day of her involvement, Josette was torn from her bedroom in the wake of night by several of the Rostek’s allies. A note was left on her pillow that detailed the only way that Josette would be returned: if Mrs. Proulx could fabricate a story of her client’s innocence convincing enough to deceive the judge. If she failed, she would never see Josette again.

For four weeks, Mrs. Proulx fought for her daughter’s life by fighting for her client’s freedom. For five weeks, Josette rotted in a German base where her captors referred to her as “Hure” and she grew accustomed to moldy bread. On week six, Josette was blindfolded and scheduled to leave for Moscow, where the Rosteks had a shortage of soldiers. She was shoved into a crowded truck for 17 hours before being intercepted by a band of Lesyas. There was kicking, screaming, but Josette was too tired – too malnourished – to react, even when the driver pulled her from her seat and pressed a knife into her neck. She crumpled limply when he was killed with a gunshot. The Lesyas were ready to leave her for dead when her wound closed and she stirred on the ground. They took her with them to nurse, and then to train.

The Lesyas fed her hearty soups and dressed her in warm clothes. When she was brave enough to speak again, she asked to be reunited with her family. A thorough search, however, resulted in the discovery that her parents had perished in a horrible fire. Days after Le Blanc was released free of charges, a furious sister of one of his victims burned the Proulx’s home to the ground.  Josette was devastated, and then she was angry. The Lesyas helped her channel her rage into her training and found that she was quick to learn. She became a thief, and then an assassin. Her serious resolve frightened many, but as she grew more comfortable, her mein shifted. The Lesyas’ fear of Josette faded and was replaced with infatuation. She loved them like family, and proved to only intimidate those she wanted dead.

THE CHARACTER

Misfortune has plagued her life; she knows that. She knows how close she was to living one of winsome joy, with a clear path to an expensive university and high-ranking profession. She knows that it was by the hands of Rosteks that this path crumbled before her feet. Josette has all of the ingredients to be a creature of malevolence, but she got her patience from her father and her bravery from her mother. She isn’t willing to let the parts of them that make her a Proulx die. When the situation allows it, Josette is charismatic and lovely. The Lesyas that know of her past know better than to raise the subject. Those who don’t, know better than to ask.

CONNECTIONS

Kostya Chen - When Josette was first taken in by the Lesyas, Kostya would periodically visit her bedside to talk to her. Josette couldn’t understand a word of her Russian and was too afraid to speak even if she could, but Kostya could feel her effect on Josette (verbal reciprocation be damned) and it was enough to know that she was lifting her spirits. Kostya became Josette’s first friend and was the first person to see her smile.

Luka Viktorovich Ikashev - He’s too goddamn uptight, always sucking on a cigarette and glaring off into space. She’s taken to leaving wrapped chocolates outside his bedroom in hopes that that they’ll help with his severe broodiness. She has no idea if it’s been working, but they’re always gone by the next day, so she’s optimistic.

Eugene ‘Shifr’ Yosefich Tolmachev - She doesn’t know much about him except that he’s ridiculously rich. There are millionaire drug lords, and then there’s Shifr. On a particularly bad day of assassin’s work, he plucked her unconscious body from where he found it bloodied behind a dumpster. By the time they arrived at his stupidly luxurious manor, she was unscathed and conscious. He hadn’t known that she was a Vila and had to apologize to his doctor for waking her at such an atrocious hour.

Gavriil 'Moose' Moiseyevich Mussorgsky - Two years after her recruitment, Gavrill stepped into the manor. She followed him from a distance, watching curiously as he toured around her home. He knew that she was shy, and left chocolates by her bedroom to coax her bravery out of her. Needless to say, it worked. They became close friends and sparring partners.

Mikhail Borisovich Kadyrov - If not for him, Josette would have struggled with Russian for much longer than she did. It was a monumental relief to be able to speak French and to be understood. He was her first partner in crime, and informal tutor. He showed her the ropes of thievery and assassination. Many of her most dangerous missions were only successful because of his casual tips.

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

She misses her parents. She does. Every year, on her mother’s birthday, father’s birthday, the anniversary of their wedding, and the anniversary of their death, she returns to France and visits their tombstones.

When she is given information about child trafficking, she drops the task at hand and obsesses over the system until she is certain of its destruction. Once, her Lesya superiors confronted her about this ‘unprofessional tendency.’ She threatened to leave the cause, and they shut up after that.

When she's upset, she trains. She locks herself in the gymnasium and doesn't rest until her muscles are overtired and she's completely annihilated the punching bags.

She has a pitbull named Anubis. 

The fact that her ability gives her a remarkably high alcohol tolerance is quite possibly the best thing in the history of ever.

[the-last-tsar]

Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich with his two oldest sons, the Princes Ioann and Gavriil Konstantinovich; c. 1880′s.

(source: Instagram)

[self-proclaimed-chaotic-good]

Persephone | John Wick x Reader (Fourteen)

Words:  3094

Warning: Usual JW-verse violence, minor swearing

A/N: This is the second to the last chapter of this series. Sorry for the late update, but hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

Previously: It was time to settle the chaos once and for all, to stop the brewing war before any more could get hurt. You helped save the Continental and finally spoke to the Adjudicator and made a deal. Will it change anything? It was up to the Elder to decide.

Persephone Series Masterlist

-

You cleared your name and told the Adjudicator of Gavriil Sokolov. You avoided mentioning the Romanovas’ involvement and left out John, saying that the Bowery King was the one that helped your recovery and asked for your aid in return.

The Adjudicator crossed their arms. “I have also had been made aware of the incident five years ago. I’m sure you know which one,” they said, tilting their head slightly.

You inhaled sharply, then nodded. “Yes, that one, when I killed a civilian.”

“Normally, that kind of behavior deserves punishment, but as it were, you have spent those five years unaware of being a prisoner under the orders of the former Instructor, so I’m willing to give you some form of forgiveness.”

“Thank you.”

“But,” they said, looking at you pointedly, “Tell me where John Wick is and I will not punish you for not only associating with an excommunicado, but also conspiring against the High Table.”

You looked over at Winston, who had remained quiet during the interrogation. He shrugged, as if to say that it was up to you to decide. You looked back at the Adjudicator and stood your ground. “If I do know where John Wick is, and if I do bring him in, what will you do with him?” you asked.

“That is none of your concern.”

“That is very much my concern.”

They gave you a stern look. “Well, then it seems that you will have to stand trial with Mr. Wick, as the Elder will be requesting his presence after he turned against the High Table immediately after swearing fealty. There is no way around this, Miss (Y/l/n). After you have made an argument about our current system, I will ask the Elder to consider hearing your case, as it is him that you will need to convince to amend the rules. Is that understood?”

You grounded your teeth before nodding. “Yes… I understand.”

The Adjudicator turned away. “Good. Call John Wick over and we will send you immediately to meet the Elder.” 

They walked out of the room, leaving you alone with Winston. “You know that this will go one out of two ways,” Winston said.

“I know, but it’s something,” you said, accepting a glass from Winston.

“You should bring John Wick before he gets into more trouble.”

You sighed, knocking the drink back and looked out the window. John was nowhere in sight, which meant that trouble had already found him.

-

The cemetery was silent, save for the small pattering of rain droplets falling off of tree leaves. A motorcycle engine cuts through and parks outside of the gravelly entrance. John remained on the bike even after he cut the engine and you, having held onto him, felt him release a heavy sigh. You weren’t sure if he needed space, so you started to remove your arms away when he held your hands down against his stomach.

“Just give me a minute,” he mumbled, “and… stay like this.”

“Okay,” you said softly, wrapping your arms around him again and resting your cheek on his broad shoulders, “okay.”

You feel him breath in deeply, then exhaled slowly. He repeated this breathing exercise several times and you found yourself falling into sync with him until he eventually squeezed your hands  You straightened up and got off first, followed by John who kicked the stand up on the bike.

He looked towards the metal gates, then took your hand. “Ready to meet her?” he asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.” You squeezed his hand reassuringly.

John led you into the cemetery, his feet automatically carrying him to a headstone that had a few bits of freshly cut grass stuck from the rain. He crouched down and brushed them away, his left hand with the missing ring finger resting over the name ‘Helen Wick’. His head hung low and you stood back to give him space, keeping an eye on your surroundings.

He swallowed, and said, “Could you give me some time first?”

You nodded. “Of course. I’ll wander close by,” you said, then adjusted the straps on your backpack that was over the strap of your katana’s sheath. “Do you want them now or later?”

“Later.”

You nodded again and walked away, taking in the sight of the morning mist slowly fading as the run climbed up the sky, the dew drops that sprinkled the cut grass making your boots and the cuffs of your pants wet. As you walked down the rows, you noticed how the grassy path before you was freshly cleared of any droplets. You stopped to scan the area and check on John before following the trail quietly.

When John had finished talking to Helen alone, he raised his eyes and turned to call you over. He quickly stood up when you were nowhere in sight. He went to go and find you when you emerged from the trees and bushes with your katana drawn. You slid it back into the sheath and made your way over to him, leaving a pile of assassins’ bodies covered in deep cuts, the blade having sliced through quick enough to be clean, all under fallen branches and vines. You had found them crouching in the shadows, aiming a sniper at John until you attacked them.

“Everything alright?” John asked, his brows furrowed as you adjusted your hair and smiled at him. He plucked a leaf from hair and tossed it aside.

“Yeah, all good,” you said, patting him on the chest reassuringly before walking passed him.

You crouched in front of Helen’s grave and saw a folded picture of John and Helen propped against the headstone. He looked so happy and relaxed, nothing like the assassin you knew him as, but you did get a glimpse of this side of him. Nothing could ever come close to what he and Helen had, but it was something.

John leaned next to you and nodded. You turned back to the headstone and smiled. “Hi, I’m (Y/n), a friend of John’s. You must be very special to get the Boogeyman to leave the Underworld. He’s a wreck without any impulse control holding him back,” you pause to nudge him with your elbow, “but don’t worry. I’ll try my best to look after him. He needs to stop running off by himself, though. He’s worse than the dog, really.”

You shifted around and lowered your head and continued in a lower voice, “There’s a lot going on right now… I just hope I’m choosing right. At least it’s my choice, though, right? I… I’ve strayed from everything that I’ve worked towards after I’ve tried to piece everything together. Now we’re going to face a powerful and dangerous man, and…” You trailed off, not knowing where you were going with this.

John squeezed your hand as a breeze blew through the cemetery. A warm touch brushed your cheek and one look from John, you could tell that he felt it, too. 

-

You gripped the armrests as the private jet took off from the runway, avoiding John’s teasing eyes as he sat across from you with a drink in hand. You raised your eyes towards the bright ceiling before making yourself look out the window. Your mind knows that you’ve traveled many times before, but take off was never fun.

“Want a drink?” John asked, smirking as he poured you a glass.

“I’m glad you find amusement in my discomfort after I agreed to bring you to the Elder where he’ll probably shoot us down,” you muttered.

“We can try to kill everyone.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” You accepted the drink from him and actually considered his suggestion. “Maybe… that could be Plan C.”

“Thought you’d say Plan D. What was Plan B?”

“Um… I don’t know. I was hoping to wing it,” you said, sipping on the warming liquid.

You sighed, looking around the jet for something to do. There was nothing but the pilots in the cockpit and the two guards, one by the exit and other by the cockpit. You took another sip and looked at John who was composed as always. He was looking out the window, but his eyes would dart around every time he sensed movement, his muscles tensing and readying to jump into action. He turned and saw the bored pout on your face.

“Couple hours of this left,” he said.

You sighed again, leaning your head on your hand and lifted your foot to run along the inside of John’s leg. His fingers wrapped around your ankle and held you there, his eyes darkening and daring you to test him.

“Fine, I’ll sleep.”

The jet landed in the middle of nowhere, sand stretching out on every side pass the horizon. The armed men shoved John out of the jet first.

“You know what to do,” one of them said, jerking his head forward to start walking.

John glared at them before turning to you. “Let’s go,” he said.

You looked back at the men who watched you two closely, then at the sand dunes in front. “Where?”

“Follow me.”

You nodded, walking up to stand next to him. The other man grabbed your arm and held you back.

“Wait,” he said, “the Elder requests that Mr. Wick lead you to him, but he cannot turn back to see if you’re following. If he does, you will be shot. No talking. No touching. We have eyes and ears  everywhere. We will know.”

“That’s ridiculous,” you said, looking over at John for his reaction. He had no reason to trust that they’d release you once he starts walking and he had no way of knowing if you would be able to keep up with him.

“You want to leave the Underworld, that’s how it’s going to be,” the man said.

“Could we at least talk before we go?” John asked. The man nodded, but didn’t release your arm.

John sighed in exasperation before grabbing your other arm, pulling you to his chest and capturing your lips. You gripped his jacket to pull him closer, relishing in the scratch of his beard and the spitefulness of the act. When they cleared their throat out of discomfort, John’s tongue brushed your lip, asking for entrance. You open your mouth a bit more to let him in, a moan escaping you. His hand slid from your arm to your thigh, pulling you flushed against him, your arms shooting out to wrap around his neck for balance.

When you pulled away for air, the man yanked your arm and pointed his rifle at John. He grunted, holding his hands out and walked forward. The man waited until John was a couple of paces forward before leaning in close to your ear.

“If John Wick refuses the Elder’s proposal again, you are to shoot him,” he whispered.

“And if I refuse to shoot him?”

“Then you’ll be shot, too.”

“That’s very creative.”

He pushed you forward after your remarks and urged you to keep walking with the wave of his rifle. You rolled your eyes and paced yourself to catch up with John, keeping a small distance behind him.

John knew how to get to the Elder, so you had to trust him in going the right direction and for how long. The desert sun was melting your energy, having it seep into the sand below, your footsteps growing heavier the longer you and John walked. He was a tall man and it was obvious when he was also starting to stagger, but he kept going anyways. You wanted to call out to him, to reach for him, but you knew you couldn’t. You didn’t want to test if the Elder really had people out there, watching.

As the sun lowered in the sky, you were considering on stopping for a moment to catch your breath when John swayed as he reached the crest of a large sand dune. You ran to catch up with him, forcing your eyes to stay open as you struggled through the sand, already feeling lightheaded. It was like a dream, running through sand and unable to see, speak, or breathe.

John finally collapsed, his body sliding down the dune. You stumbled and fell as you reached the dune, attempting to crawl to reach him. Your vision began to blur, your arms giving out three feet away from him. The last thing you saw was a figure poking their head down at the sand dune.

-

This was not how you imagined meeting the Elder. Light fragrance wafted in through the small room, soft fabrics cushioned under you, and a tray with a tall glass of water sat next to your head. You sat up slowly, holding your head as the room began to spin before reaching for the glass. You could hear John’s low rumbling voice from outside, followed by another man’s voice.

“You’re awake,” you heard a woman’s voice said. She stood in the doorway, wearing a white and red robe, a cloth covering the lower half of her face. “The Elder is willing to listen to your proposal.”

You follow her out of the room into a longer area of the tent-like structure, open to the calm breeze of the desert with armed men guarding each corner, a thick rug covering the ground and adorned with fluffy patterned pillows. At the end of the tent sat a man in an ornate chair, light colored robes made out of the finest material, a stern face watching you enter. In front of him stood John, his head hanging low, his hands curled into shaking fists. He stopped and turned to see you, his expression softening only for a brief second.

“(Y/n) (Y/l/n),” the Elder said, gesturing you forward, “There is a disturbance in our shrouded world and I hear you seek to fix it. How so?”

“So you’ve heard about Gavriil Sokolov?” you asked hoarsely, clearing your throat.

He gave a small nod. “So I’ve heard from my representative. Why is it that you wish to come to me instead of having your friends in the High Table to deal with it. What do you gain from this? What is it that you want?”

“While I agree that our world needs rules, those rules need amending, or else more people will seek to take down the system that made them. It has already begun and Sokolov’s influence is spreading,” you said.

“Were you and, Mr. Wick not one of those that sought to take down the High Table?” the Elder asked.

“Our targets were only those on top, those who hold connections to the High Table to sway the balance in power. We were not about to involve anyone else.”

He hummed, standing up slowly from his chair and walks toward you. “You speak of rules, yet the two of you had broken many. Why should I consider this proposal?”

“I want to leave this life behind, but I fear I won’t rest well if I leave it in this state. I was groomed in it, I was imprisoned by it, and after all that, I no longer no who I am… but I want to. I don’t want to kill anymore. That had never been me, I know that much.” The Elder nods and gestures for you to continue. “The world is changing and, honestly, the system has not. Power being kept within families and grow stronger and stronger while the others either serve or thirst for power of their own. Greed has been stronger than ever before and people are willing to bend the rules or break them to get it. This recklessness has even led our world to cause alarm among the civilians, killing them, even. If I were to have my own ounce of greed, it would be to live quietly and peacefully.”

“I understand,” he said, then turns to John, “And you? You have disobeyed my orders to kill Winston after you’ve swore fealty to the High Table. You once said that you wish to live to keep the memory of your beloved wife, Helen, alive. Has your desires changed?”

“My desires are merely… altered. While I wish to live on for Helen, deep down I know that she would not want me to continue to live this type of life,” John pauses to look at his missing finger, “I know that no matter what I do, I will eventually die, as we all will, from one way or another. Who we are when we die matters. I do not wish to die as Baba Yaga, who I had left to be with her. I want to tie up the loose strings that keep dragging me back here.”

The Elder nods, looking between you two before walking back to his chair. “Nothing is given without a price, you both know this,” he said, then gestures for the woman who woke you to step forward. She stepped forward, holding a box to you. The Elder holds a hand out, urging you to open it.

You looked over at John, then slowly unlatched the lock and lifted the lid. Inside were two small handguns, a bullet next to each one. Of course, you knew it wasn’t going to be easy talking to the Elder. One look at John’s hand and you knew that there was going to be a sacrifice if you want your wishes to be granted.

“You want to prove that you will honor your word, that once I send you to deal with Sokolov, that you will deal with him? It is very straightforward,” the Elder said, leaning forward, “You will each have a gun. One bullet in the chamber. If you are willing to do anything to leave this life, you will have to be willing to cut ties with this life. Right here and now, prove yourself. Who you decide to shoot will decide your fate.”  

You inhaled sharply, then took one of the guns. It was small, but felt heavy in your hands. The woman handed you the bullet and you loaded it into the chamber. The words from earlier played in your head, “If John Wick refuses the Elder’s proposal again, you are to shoot him”. Was this what he was referring to? If John refuses to shoot you, do you have to shoot him?

There was a familiar click, the loading of a gun, and by the time you looked up, you were staring down the barrel of a gun.

-

Taglist: @venusgothic @weappreciatepower @anita-e-taylor @xmisssnowwhitex @mikaneonox @sparrowsparrow @introvertedmegalomaniac @tomhardy41 @red-pill-blue-pill

[easyfoodnetwork]

Essential Food Workers Are at Unique Risk for COVID-19. Some Are Fighting Back.

A worker in the storage room at a meat-processing factory | Gavriil Grigorov\TASS via Getty Images

More than 43,000 meatpacking and food processing workers have tested positive for COVID-19 this year

This story was originally published on Civil Eats.

“A nightmare.”

That’s how a decade-long employee for Tyson Foods, Inc. in northwest Arkansas describes working for the meat processor during the COVID-19 pandemic. The machine operator didn’t want to be publicly identified for fear of reprisal, but he told Civil Eats that he’s worried about his safety since the coronavirus began to spread at meatpacking plants in March.

“Everything is really dirty, and they don’t deep clean areas when people have tested positive for COVID-19,” he said. “Whenever workers start having symptoms, we are not told who is sick or who is not.”

In a statement to Civil Eats, Tyson denied allegations of wrongdoing, but this Arkansas employee is hardly the only one sharing concerns about working conditions in meat processing plants during the pandemic. To raise awareness about their circumstances over the past four months, meatpacking employees from multiple companies have staged walkouts and spoken out about workplace hazards. Still, the coronavirus continues to take a toll on them.

More than 43,750 meatpacking and food processing workers in 530 facilities have tested positive for coronavirus, and at least 184 have died after infection. Now, a coalition of advocacy groups is trying a new strategy to protect these mostly Latinx, Asian, and African American workers: They filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on July 8, accusing Tyson and JBS USA of racial discrimination during the pandemic.

Three weeks later, advocacy groups Food & Water Watch and Venceremos filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint asking the FTC to investigate Tyson’s claims that it provides a “safe work environment” for its employees, a characterization they describe as misleading.

These complaints came after one of the nation’s most powerful labor organizations — Nevada’s Culinary Union — sued Las Vegas Strip casino companies on June 29 for allegedly creating unsafe working conditions for some of its 60,000 members, also largely people of color. The suit accuses the companies of neglecting to sanitize spaces, alert workers, or ask them to quarantine when colleagues test positive for COVID-19. By mid-July, at least 22 Culinary and Bartenders Union members (and their spouses or dependents) had died from COVID complications, and at least 352 had been hospitalized because of the virus.

Collectively, the lawsuit and the civil rights complaint signal that advocates for essential workers are taking concrete steps to prevent risking workers’ lives for the sake of company profits. Moreover, as ongoing Black Lives Matter protests shine a spotlight on social injustice, these legal actions draw attention to how existing inequities in the labor force have heightened workplace risks for vulnerable workers during the pandemic. Members of marginalized groups are more likely to work on the front lines of the food industry than in management positions, a systemic racial divide with potential life-and-death consequences.

Lawsuits and civil rights complaints are taking concrete steps to prevent risking workers’s lives.

“In this moment, when we as a nation are facing a pandemic of unprecedented proportions and reckoning with the racial discrimination and injustice in our own history, we must protect workers on the front lines,” said Brent Newell, a senior attorney for Public Justice’s food project. “It’s absolutely outrageous in the year 2020 that this discrimination is allowed to happen out in the open for the public to see.”

Although people of color — such as the Arkansas Tyson machinist, who is Mexican — comprise 61 percent of the meatpacking facility workforce, they make up 87 percent of the meatpacking workers who’ve contracted coronavirus. Fast-moving production lines and disregard of the six-feet social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contributed to these infections, according to the complaint cosigned by groups including the Food Chain Workers Alliance, Rural Community Workers Alliance, HEAL Food Alliance, and Forward Latino.

The complaint identifies Tyson and JBS as the meat-processing companies linked to the most coronavirus outbreaks. Since these corporations have accepted tens of millions of dollars in government business and CARES Act relief funds this year, they must comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits companies receiving federal funds from adopting policies that have a disparate impact on protected groups of workers, including those of color. Accordingly, the complainants want the USDA to resolve the allegations raised about Tyson and JBS or cut funding to them if the companies don’t take steps to comply with federal law.

“The policies that Tyson and JBS adopted after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have the effect of discriminating on the basis of race,” Newell said. “The policies inflict an adverse, disparate impact on Black, Latino, and Asian workers who experienced severe harm and disparity in that impact, compared to white workers and compared to the majority white management of these corporations.”

According to the complaint, white workers make up 34.5 percent of all meatpacking workers but only 19.1 percent of front-line workers in these facilities. In addition, about 73 percent of Tyson’s salaried employees are white and approximately 58 percent of JBS’s managers are. Disproportionately working in low-wage positions without social distancing increases the odds that employees of color will be exposed to COVID-19, a virus that has proven deadlier for Black and brown communities.

In response to the crisis, Tyson announced yesterday that it would begin offering weekly coronavirus tests for employees at all 140 of its U.S. facilities. The company will also create a Chief Medical Officer position, and add an additional 200 staff to its health services team.

While the Culinary Union’s lawsuit does not accuse casino companies of racial discrimination, marginalized workers might be more likely to experience the alleged hazardous working conditions cited, given the organization’s diverse membership. It is 55 percent women, 54 percent Latinx, 19 percent white, 15 percent Asian, and 10 percent Black.

“It’s very stressful to go to work right now,” said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, the Culinary Union’s secretary-treasurer. “People don’t want to feel like they’re bringing [COVID] home to their kids. Sometimes, people have grandma living at home or maybe their wife is having chemotherapy or someone is diabetic and more vulnerable. We’re looking to protect every hospitality worker. They have the right to go to work and not feel like they could get sick.”

David Ryder/Getty Images

The exterior of a Tyson plant in Wallula, Washington, where 150 employees tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year.

Conflicting accounts about Tyson’s working conditions

At his Arkansas Tyson plant, the veteran machine operator says workers routinely show up ill, even if they have coronavirus symptoms.

“People come in sick because they need to pay rent and bills,” he said. “It’s just a necessity.”

So far, he’s tested negative for COVID-19 but worries that could change because he’s worked next to others who have tested positive. As a machinist, he can practice social distancing but says that’s impossible for some of his colleagues and even for himself in the common areas of his facility, such as in restrooms, locker rooms, hallways, and breakrooms.

To truly feel safe, he would like the company to hire personnel to enforce social distancing. Additionally, he wants Tyson to ensure that high-touch surfaces are deep cleaned, employees are regularly tested, and those with COVID symptoms enter quarantine. He says the company has only tested him for the virus once, about two months ago.

“The frontline worker is the one who’s standing shoulder to shoulder and not allowed to social distance.”

“And there were some cases where people tested negative and then tested positive,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know how the company followed up in these situations.

Tyson spokesman Derek Burleson described a completely different set of working conditions to Civil Eats, noting that Tyson has participated in more COVID-19 testing than any other company in the country. Workers who test positive receive paid leave and return to work only when they meet specific criteria established by the CDC and Tyson, he said.

“Our plant production areas are sanitized daily to ensure food safety, and we have stepped up deep cleaning and sanitizing of our facilities, especially in employee breakrooms, locker rooms, and other areas to protect our team members,” Burleson said. “We have team members dedicated to regularly wiping down and sanitizing common areas.”

The company has implemented symptom screenings, face masks, workstation dividers, and social distance monitors to protect workers from the coronavirus, Burleson added. One of the allegations raised in the civil rights complaint against Tyson and JBS, however, is that there are racial disparities related to social distancing. While white managers can easily stay six feet apart from their colleagues, front-line workers of color often cannot, Newell said.

“To put it in very general terms, the front-line worker is the one who’s standing shoulder to shoulder and not allowed to social distance,” Newell elaborated.

Faster line speeds interfere with social distancing

Both labor and animal welfare advocates have blamed the lax social distancing protocols on high production line speeds at meat processing plants, since workers must stand close together to maintain the pace. On July 28, Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and six cosponsors introduced the Safe Line Speeds During COVID-19 Act after Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) introduced similar legislation in the House earlier in the month.

These policies would prevent the USDA from granting line speed waivers to accelerate meat-processing rates. According to Booker’s proposed legislation, the USDA has approved nearly 20 requests from meatpacking plants to exceed regulatory limits during the pandemic.

Fears that COVID-related closures of meat processing plants would disrupt the food supply seemingly justified acceleration of line speeds to meet consumer demand, but the civil rights complaint points out that the amount of beef and chicken in cold storage increased through May 2020, compared to the same period the previous year, and how exports of pork and beef spiked through April 2020. And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue disclosed in June that meat processing plants “are operating at more than 95 percent of their average capacity compared to this time last year.” In short, the pandemic has not jeopardized the U.S. food supply.

The USDA has approved nearly 20 requests from meatpacking plants to exceed regulatory limits during the pandemic.

“The biggest issue is really worker safety — workers having to move so quickly with machinery,” said David Coman-Hidy, president of The Humane League. “At least four of the major poultry plants all received waivers to further increase the speed of the slaughter line, despite the workers having already cried out for safer conditions, slowing down production, and adding more space. Preying on people’s insecurity around food during a pandemic is just a very cynical way for the companies to sneak through their profit-increasing measures.”

Rather than accelerating line speeds, meatpacking companies could add more shifts for workers, spacing them out on the production line and giving them the protection they need, the complainants argue. Operating a meat processing plant and protecting workers don’t have to be mutually exclusive goals. But Magaly Licolli, co-founder and director of the northwest Arkansas worker advocacy organization Venceremos, said that front-line workers haven’t been kept safe because their employers don’t value them.

“The majority of the workers working in the processing plants are immigrants, especially here in northwest Arkansas,” she said. “They are from different parts of Latin America and the majority of the others are Pacific Islanders. We know that the companies require vulnerable workers to exploit and they know those people could die, but they are seen as expendable.”

On the Las Vegas Strip, thousands of food workers also have immigrant backgrounds, but many have more power than their counterparts in food processing plants because of their membership in Nevada’s influential Culinary Union. Yet, these workers are accusing their employers of sidestepping measures that could protect them from coronavirus as well.

David Becker/Getty Images

The marquee at Harrah’s Las Vegas displays a “Welcome Back” message after reopening on June 4

Staving off COVID-19 in casinos

Jonathan Muñoz, a food server at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar, stayed at home with his wife and five small children when the restaurant closed in March. When the business reopened in mid-June, temperature scanners, fa ce masks, and hand sanitizer greeted him upon his return. But problems arose almost immediately: trouble social distancing, customers opposed to face masks, and a coronavirus case in the restaurant.

As a result, Harrah’s Las Vegas, which co-manages the establishment, was included in the Culinary Union’s lawsuit against businesses on the Strip. Initially, the suit also took aim at MGM Resorts Internationals’ The Signature at the MGM Grand and Sadelle’s Cafe at Bellagio, but the Culinary Union dropped them from the legal action and is now negotiating with them to take the actions needed to protect culinary workers.

That’s not yet the case for Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen, where Muñoz said he has encountered drunken tourists angered by seeing restaurant workers in masks. The face coverings given to staff made it difficult for people to hear them clearly, he said, and with no statewide mask mandate in place then, some diners quickly grew exasperated.

“They were being very rude,” he said. “They asked, ‘Why are you wearing that? I don’t have to wear it. I can’t understand you.’”

Since May, the Culinary Union has been calling for a compulsory mask policy in all public places. On June 26, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s mask mandate took effect, but it has drawn criticism and opposition from many. Additionally, the Culinary Union is working to get the Adolfo Fernandez Bill, named after a porter who died after contracting COVID-19, on the Nevada Legislature’s 2020 special session agenda. The bill would require businesses to adopt enhanced cleaning procedures, enforce social distancing, and develop coronavirus action plans, among other steps.

Nevada’s Culinary Union has been pushing for mandatory mask requirements and action plans for businesses.

Jessica Bremer, a specialty cook at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen, said it’s been difficult for the Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino to ensure that all customers are wearing masks when they enter the building.

“There’s a lot of different situations and excuses as to why people don’t want to wear them,” she said.

As someone with hypertension and multiple sclerosis, Bremer is deeply worried about contracting coronavirus. And inconsiderate customers aren’t the only concern. She and Muñoz asserted that social distancing can be difficult to maintain in their workplace and, within days of the restaurant reopening, Muñoz found out a kitchen runner had tested COVID-19 positive.

He said that his superiors didn’t seem to have a protocol in place for this possibility, and that one remarked that the staff shouldn’t have been told about their colleague’s diagnosis. That comment added to Muñoz’s anxieties about contracting the virus at the restaurant, where his wife also works as a hostess. Her “very compromised immune system” means she’s more likely to experience complications if infected, Muñoz explained.

The restaurant didn’t provide tests for them after the kitchen runner contracted coronavirus, Muñoz said, so he and his spouse got tested elsewhere and were relieved to be COVID-negative. But Guy Fieri shut down for weeks due to the one confirmed diagnosis among the staff. During that closure, Muñoz said he was told that all workers had to get tested before returning to work in July, and he once more tested negative.

A spokesperson for Caesars Entertainment, which owns Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, said the company followed health and safety protocols after learning about a Guy Fieri employee’s COVID-19 diagnosis.

“Upon learning this information, Caesars... launched an investigation at the direction of the Southern Nevada Health District, which identified co-workers who came into close proximity with the individual who tested positive,” the spokesperson told Civil Eats.

The company offered a paid self-isolation period to these employees and has not allowed anyone to return to work without submitting a negative COVID-19 test at the end of the quarantine period, according to the spokesperson. He also said that the restaurant got deep cleaned during the June closure.

Muñoz considers the emphasis on testing an improvement but would like to see additional changes. Specifically, he wants to see better management of customers, security personnel at the door, frequent disinfecting of high-touch surfaces, and paper menus discarded after one use.

“It’s just kind of scary,” Muñoz said of working during a pandemic. “We’re going out here on the front line and dealing with all those guests. Then, we have to come back home, and we just don’t want to get our kids infected.”

Now, the fate of food servers like Muñoz largely depends on the outcome of the Culinary Union’s lawsuit. The fact that the group recently dropped two MGM businesses from the suit and instead entered into expedited arbitration with them to address worker protections suggests the union might be willing to do the same with Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar. All Argüello-Kline would say about next steps is that “we have our lawyers dealing with that process.”

In contrast, an investigation into the complaint against Tyson and JBS could take months or even years, as it involves an administrative procedure that won’t necessarily end in a resolution between the complainants, the meat processing companies, and the USDA. In the meantime, the Tyson machine operator in Arkansas wants the public to remember the workers behind their meat.

“I want consumers who buy Tyson Foods products to know that the workers are being discriminated against,” he said. “We are being treated worse than the chicken they are buying, and the company doesn’t care. They are not protecting us.”

• How Essential Food Workers Are Fighting Back [Civil Eats] • It’s Still the Jungle Out There [E]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3i35UNo https://ift.tt/33sExIe

A worker in the storage room at a meat-processing factory | Gavriil Grigorov\TASS via Getty Images

More than 43,000 meatpacking and food processing workers have tested positive for COVID-19 this year

This story was originally published on Civil Eats.

“A nightmare.”

That’s how a decade-long employee for Tyson Foods, Inc. in northwest Arkansas describes working for the meat processor during the COVID-19 pandemic. The machine operator didn’t want to be publicly identified for fear of reprisal, but he told Civil Eats that he’s worried about his safety since the coronavirus began to spread at meatpacking plants in March.

“Everything is really dirty, and they don’t deep clean areas when people have tested positive for COVID-19,” he said. “Whenever workers start having symptoms, we are not told who is sick or who is not.”

In a statement to Civil Eats, Tyson denied allegations of wrongdoing, but this Arkansas employee is hardly the only one sharing concerns about working conditions in meat processing plants during the pandemic. To raise awareness about their circumstances over the past four months, meatpacking employees from multiple companies have staged walkouts and spoken out about workplace hazards. Still, the coronavirus continues to take a toll on them.

More than 43,750 meatpacking and food processing workers in 530 facilities have tested positive for coronavirus, and at least 184 have died after infection. Now, a coalition of advocacy groups is trying a new strategy to protect these mostly Latinx, Asian, and African American workers: They filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on July 8, accusing Tyson and JBS USA of racial discrimination during the pandemic.

Three weeks later, advocacy groups Food & Water Watch and Venceremos filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint asking the FTC to investigate Tyson’s claims that it provides a “safe work environment” for its employees, a characterization they describe as misleading.

These complaints came after one of the nation’s most powerful labor organizations — Nevada’s Culinary Union — sued Las Vegas Strip casino companies on June 29 for allegedly creating unsafe working conditions for some of its 60,000 members, also largely people of color. The suit accuses the companies of neglecting to sanitize spaces, alert workers, or ask them to quarantine when colleagues test positive for COVID-19. By mid-July, at least 22 Culinary and Bartenders Union members (and their spouses or dependents) had died from COVID complications, and at least 352 had been hospitalized because of the virus.

Collectively, the lawsuit and the civil rights complaint signal that advocates for essential workers are taking concrete steps to prevent risking workers’ lives for the sake of company profits. Moreover, as ongoing Black Lives Matter protests shine a spotlight on social injustice, these legal actions draw attention to how existing inequities in the labor force have heightened workplace risks for vulnerable workers during the pandemic. Members of marginalized groups are more likely to work on the front lines of the food industry than in management positions, a systemic racial divide with potential life-and-death consequences.

Lawsuits and civil rights complaints are taking concrete steps to prevent risking workers’s lives.

“In this moment, when we as a nation are facing a pandemic of unprecedented proportions and reckoning with the racial discrimination and injustice in our own history, we must protect workers on the front lines,” said Brent Newell, a senior attorney for Public Justice’s food project. “It’s absolutely outrageous in the year 2020 that this discrimination is allowed to happen out in the open for the public to see.”

Although people of color — such as the Arkansas Tyson machinist, who is Mexican — comprise 61 percent of the meatpacking facility workforce, they make up 87 percent of the meatpacking workers who’ve contracted coronavirus. Fast-moving production lines and disregard of the six-feet social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contributed to these infections, according to the complaint cosigned by groups including the Food Chain Workers Alliance, Rural Community Workers Alliance, HEAL Food Alliance, and Forward Latino.

The complaint identifies Tyson and JBS as the meat-processing companies linked to the most coronavirus outbreaks. Since these corporations have accepted tens of millions of dollars in government business and CARES Act relief funds this year, they must comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits companies receiving federal funds from adopting policies that have a disparate impact on protected groups of workers, including those of color. Accordingly, the complainants want the USDA to resolve the allegations raised about Tyson and JBS or cut funding to them if the companies don’t take steps to comply with federal law.

“The policies that Tyson and JBS adopted after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic have the effect of discriminating on the basis of race,” Newell said. “The policies inflict an adverse, disparate impact on Black, Latino, and Asian workers who experienced severe harm and disparity in that impact, compared to white workers and compared to the majority white management of these corporations.”

According to the complaint, white workers make up 34.5 percent of all meatpacking workers but only 19.1 percent of front-line workers in these facilities. In addition, about 73 percent of Tyson’s salaried employees are white and approximately 58 percent of JBS’s managers are. Disproportionately working in low-wage positions without social distancing increases the odds that employees of color will be exposed to COVID-19, a virus that has proven deadlier for Black and brown communities.

In response to the crisis, Tyson announced yesterday that it would begin offering weekly coronavirus tests for employees at all 140 of its U.S. facilities. The company will also create a Chief Medical Officer position, and add an additional 200 staff to its health services team.

While the Culinary Union’s lawsuit does not accuse casino companies of racial discrimination, marginalized workers might be more likely to experience the alleged hazardous working conditions cited, given the organization’s diverse membership. It is 55 percent women, 54 percent Latinx, 19 percent white, 15 percent Asian, and 10 percent Black.

“It’s very stressful to go to work right now,” said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, the Culinary Union’s secretary-treasurer. “People don’t want to feel like they’re bringing [COVID] home to their kids. Sometimes, people have grandma living at home or maybe their wife is having chemotherapy or someone is diabetic and more vulnerable. We’re looking to protect every hospitality worker. They have the right to go to work and not feel like they could get sick.”

David Ryder/Getty Images

The exterior of a Tyson plant in Wallula, Washington, where 150 employees tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year.

Conflicting accounts about Tyson’s working conditions

At his Arkansas Tyson plant, the veteran machine operator says workers routinely show up ill, even if they have coronavirus symptoms.

“People come in sick because they need to pay rent and bills,” he said. “It’s just a necessity.”

So far, he’s tested negative for COVID-19 but worries that could change because he’s worked next to others who have tested positive. As a machinist, he can practice social distancing but says that’s impossible for some of his colleagues and even for himself in the common areas of his facility, such as in restrooms, locker rooms, hallways, and breakrooms.

To truly feel safe, he would like the company to hire personnel to enforce social distancing. Additionally, he wants Tyson to ensure that high-touch surfaces are deep cleaned, employees are regularly tested, and those with COVID symptoms enter quarantine. He says the company has only tested him for the virus once, about two months ago.

“The frontline worker is the one who’s standing shoulder to shoulder and not allowed to social distance.”

“And there were some cases where people tested negative and then tested positive,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know how the company followed up in these situations.

Tyson spokesman Derek Burleson described a completely different set of working conditions to Civil Eats, noting that Tyson has participated in more COVID-19 testing than any other company in the country. Workers who test positive receive paid leave and return to work only when they meet specific criteria established by the CDC and Tyson, he said.

“Our plant production areas are sanitized daily to ensure food safety, and we have stepped up deep cleaning and sanitizing of our facilities, especially in employee breakrooms, locker rooms, and other areas to protect our team members,” Burleson said. “We have team members dedicated to regularly wiping down and sanitizing common areas.”

The company has implemented symptom screenings, face masks, workstation dividers, and social distance monitors to protect workers from the coronavirus, Burleson added. One of the allegations raised in the civil rights complaint against Tyson and JBS, however, is that there are racial disparities related to social distancing. While white managers can easily stay six feet apart from their colleagues, front-line workers of color often cannot, Newell said.

“To put it in very general terms, the front-line worker is the one who’s standing shoulder to shoulder and not allowed to social distance,” Newell elaborated.

Faster line speeds interfere with social distancing

Both labor and animal welfare advocates have blamed the lax social distancing protocols on high production line speeds at meat processing plants, since workers must stand close together to maintain the pace. On July 28, Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and six cosponsors introduced the Safe Line Speeds During COVID-19 Act after Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) introduced similar legislation in the House earlier in the month.

These policies would prevent the USDA from granting line speed waivers to accelerate meat-processing rates. According to Booker’s proposed legislation, the USDA has approved nearly 20 requests from meatpacking plants to exceed regulatory limits during the pandemic.

Fears that COVID-related closures of meat processing plants would disrupt the food supply seemingly justified acceleration of line speeds to meet consumer demand, but the civil rights complaint points out that the amount of beef and chicken in cold storage increased through May 2020, compared to the same period the previous year, and how exports of pork and beef spiked through April 2020. And Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue disclosed in June that meat processing plants “are operating at more than 95 percent of their average capacity compared to this time last year.” In short, the pandemic has not jeopardized the U.S. food supply.

The USDA has approved nearly 20 requests from meatpacking plants to exceed regulatory limits during the pandemic.

“The biggest issue is really worker safety — workers having to move so quickly with machinery,” said David Coman-Hidy, president of The Humane League. “At least four of the major poultry plants all received waivers to further increase the speed of the slaughter line, despite the workers having already cried out for safer conditions, slowing down production, and adding more space. Preying on people’s insecurity around food during a pandemic is just a very cynical way for the companies to sneak through their profit-increasing measures.”

Rather than accelerating line speeds, meatpacking companies could add more shifts for workers, spacing them out on the production line and giving them the protection they need, the complainants argue. Operating a meat processing plant and protecting workers don’t have to be mutually exclusive goals. But Magaly Licolli, co-founder and director of the northwest Arkansas worker advocacy organization Venceremos, said that front-line workers haven’t been kept safe because their employers don’t value them.

“The majority of the workers working in the processing plants are immigrants, especially here in northwest Arkansas,” she said. “They are from different parts of Latin America and the majority of the others are Pacific Islanders. We know that the companies require vulnerable workers to exploit and they know those people could die, but they are seen as expendable.”

On the Las Vegas Strip, thousands of food workers also have immigrant backgrounds, but many have more power than their counterparts in food processing plants because of their membership in Nevada’s influential Culinary Union. Yet, these workers are accusing their employers of sidestepping measures that could protect them from coronavirus as well.

David Becker/Getty Images

The marquee at Harrah’s Las Vegas displays a “Welcome Back” message after reopening on June 4

Staving off COVID-19 in casinos

Jonathan Muñoz, a food server at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar, stayed at home with his wife and five small children when the restaurant closed in March. When the business reopened in mid-June, temperature scanners, fa ce masks, and hand sanitizer greeted him upon his return. But problems arose almost immediately: trouble social distancing, customers opposed to face masks, and a coronavirus case in the restaurant.

As a result, Harrah’s Las Vegas, which co-manages the establishment, was included in the Culinary Union’s lawsuit against businesses on the Strip. Initially, the suit also took aim at MGM Resorts Internationals’ The Signature at the MGM Grand and Sadelle’s Cafe at Bellagio, but the Culinary Union dropped them from the legal action and is now negotiating with them to take the actions needed to protect culinary workers.

That’s not yet the case for Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen, where Muñoz said he has encountered drunken tourists angered by seeing restaurant workers in masks. The face coverings given to staff made it difficult for people to hear them clearly, he said, and with no statewide mask mandate in place then, some diners quickly grew exasperated.

“They were being very rude,” he said. “They asked, ‘Why are you wearing that? I don’t have to wear it. I can’t understand you.’”

Since May, the Culinary Union has been calling for a compulsory mask policy in all public places. On June 26, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s mask mandate took effect, but it has drawn criticism and opposition from many. Additionally, the Culinary Union is working to get the Adolfo Fernandez Bill, named after a porter who died after contracting COVID-19, on the Nevada Legislature’s 2020 special session agenda. The bill would require businesses to adopt enhanced cleaning procedures, enforce social distancing, and develop coronavirus action plans, among other steps.

Nevada’s Culinary Union has been pushing for mandatory mask requirements and action plans for businesses.

Jessica Bremer, a specialty cook at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen, said it’s been difficult for the Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino to ensure that all customers are wearing masks when they enter the building.

“There’s a lot of different situations and excuses as to why people don’t want to wear them,” she said.

As someone with hypertension and multiple sclerosis, Bremer is deeply worried about contracting coronavirus. And inconsiderate customers aren’t the only concern. She and Muñoz asserted that social distancing can be difficult to maintain in their workplace and, within days of the restaurant reopening, Muñoz found out a kitchen runner had tested COVID-19 positive.

He said that his superiors didn’t seem to have a protocol in place for this possibility, and that one remarked that the staff shouldn’t have been told about their colleague’s diagnosis. That comment added to Muñoz’s anxieties about contracting the virus at the restaurant, where his wife also works as a hostess. Her “very compromised immune system” means she’s more likely to experience complications if infected, Muñoz explained.

The restaurant didn’t provide tests for them after the kitchen runner contracted coronavirus, Muñoz said, so he and his spouse got tested elsewhere and were relieved to be COVID-negative. But Guy Fieri shut down for weeks due to the one confirmed diagnosis among the staff. During that closure, Muñoz said he was told that all workers had to get tested before returning to work in July, and he once more tested negative.

A spokesperson for Caesars Entertainment, which owns Harrah’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, said the company followed health and safety protocols after learning about a Guy Fieri employee’s COVID-19 diagnosis.

“Upon learning this information, Caesars... launched an investigation at the direction of the Southern Nevada Health District, which identified co-workers who came into close proximity with the individual who tested positive,” the spokesperson told Civil Eats.

The company offered a paid self-isolation period to these employees and has not allowed anyone to return to work without submitting a negative COVID-19 test at the end of the quarantine period, according to the spokesperson. He also said that the restaurant got deep cleaned during the June closure.

Muñoz considers the emphasis on testing an improvement but would like to see additional changes. Specifically, he wants to see better management of customers, security personnel at the door, frequent disinfecting of high-touch surfaces, and paper menus discarded after one use.

“It’s just kind of scary,” Muñoz said of working during a pandemic. “We’re going out here on the front line and dealing with all those guests. Then, we have to come back home, and we just don’t want to get our kids infected.”

Now, the fate of food servers like Muñoz largely depends on the outcome of the Culinary Union’s lawsuit. The fact that the group recently dropped two MGM businesses from the suit and instead entered into expedited arbitration with them to address worker protections suggests the union might be willing to do the same with Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen and Bar. All Argüello-Kline would say about next steps is that “we have our lawyers dealing with that process.”

In contrast, an investigation into the complaint against Tyson and JBS could take months or even years, as it involves an administrative procedure that won’t necessarily end in a resolution between the complainants, the meat processing companies, and the USDA. In the meantime, the Tyson machine operator in Arkansas wants the public to remember the workers behind their meat.

“I want consumers who buy Tyson Foods products to know that the workers are being discriminated against,” he said. “We are being treated worse than the chicken they are buying, and the company doesn’t care. They are not protecting us.”

• How Essential Food Workers Are Fighting Back [Civil Eats] • It’s Still the Jungle Out There [E]

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3i35UNo via Blogger https://ift.tt/3ft5qOK

[elddansurin]

so i there’s a pretty good OC meme floating around, and i took the liberties of filling out the entire thing myself because let’s be real here, i’d like to see any of you try and stop me. i filled it out for serras bc that greasy boy could use more love

Personal

1)      Age? I've never pinned down an exact age for him. Early- to mid-30s, is the vibe I'm feeling. 2)      Gender? Male 3)      Romantic/Sexual Orientation? There's a safe bet that if it's a character I've made, he's gay. It applies here. 4)      Height? I want to say at or around 6 foot even. 5)      Race? Dunmer 6)      What do they look like? Black sclera, some self-applied scars over his brows, and a lot of haphazard piercings he also did in front of a mirror. Serras is tall and sorta lanky, but moreso in an underfed way, as opposed to someone like Gavriil who is Just Like That. When he's living more stable-like, Serras can actually put on some healthy weight, but he's never been too shredded. I feel like if he ever really settled down, he might start going a bit flabby around the midsection. 7)      Any disabilities? Nothing physical. 8)      Is there a meaning to their name? In canon, no. His dad thought it sounded nice. I, on the other hand, borrowed his name from a neopet. 9)      What makes them, them? Interestingly enough, it's in how much of himself is borrowed from other people. He's never really learned how to be just Serras. Most of his opinions are other peoples' opinions, the bulk majority ofc being his father's, but a few of his old friends have also impacted him (mostly in the way he currently talks). And, naturally, he picks up some of Gavriil's mannerisms with time. If you asked him to boil down who he really was, outside influences aside, he'd probably have some kind of crisis. 10)   What do they want to be when they grow up/what do they want to do with their lives? He genuinely has no idea, and it's a source of constant background anxiety for him. He doesn't really know what his talents or ambitions are aside from petty crime and living day to day. He does his absolute best to just... not think about it.

Family

11)   Do they have parents? What are they like and how do they act with their child(ren)? His mom's been out of the picture since he was a newborn, but he has a super tight relationship with his father. And by that, I mean ridiculously codependent. They love each other and get along very well, but their relationship is not healthy, and Serras has only recently become aware of that. 12)   Do they have siblings? How do they interact with them? If not, do they wish they had siblings? He has a few half-siblings whom he has never met and is unaware of (via his mother, who is absolutely still kickin).  13)   Extended family? Do they see them often? Plenty, but the only one he has ever met is his maternal aunt. They keep in touch and are on good terms, and she was the one who gently suggested he should try and learn to live on his own. 14)   Do they like where they live? (Is it a safe place?) He doesn't really know any better. He's spent his entire life on the move and has rarely lived in a single place for more than a few years at a time. He and his father were constantly moving around western Morrowind and eastern Skyrim with no real rhyme or reason, and now for SOME reason, Serras has a hard time setting down roots. 15)   Where do they live? Are they wealthy? Poor? Middle-Class? In theory, his home is outside of Mournhold, where his dad lives in a small hovel. In practice, he lives out of a tent. But it works for him. By which I mean he's used to it. 16)   Do they have a lot of expectations/pressure on them from family to do great? His dad put absolutely no pressure on him and barely disciplined him at all. Serras will bend over backward to make his dad happy because he loves and respects the man, but he has a serious, serious issue with any other authority figure (or anyone he perceives as an authority figure). He's either very afraid or outright contemptuous of anyone with power over him. 17)   Do they have pets? He's had a ton of pets, from cats to nix puppies to pony guar. They tend to either get left behind during hasty moves, or "run away" when his dad gets tired of having them around. 18)   Who do they look up to the most/are the closest to in their family? Undoubtedly, his father.  19)   This there anything special about their family? His family has (or had) strong ties to House Indoril and the Tribunal Temple, back when that was the sort of thing that mattered. But his father was outcasted and went so far as to drop their family name entirely out of sheer spite, and Serras has only the vaguest understanding of his family history. 20)   Do they wish they lived in a different family/household? He just wishes things were more stable.

Friends

21)   Best Friend(s)? Gavriil, who also holds the title of being His Only Friend. In Serras's eyes, Gav's this hypercompetant dude with an intimidating level of education and experience, nevermind that he's also an emotionally damaged drifter. Serras has a habit of downplaying the negative attributes of the people he admires, see. 22)   Who was their first friend? A little Argonian boy from back when he and his dad were living in Windhelm for a year or two. He'd have been 10 or so. 23)   What is their friend group like? Sparse! 24)   Do they have a love/hate relationship with any of them? Learning far more toward the former than the latter 25)   Do they consider any of their friends to be like siblings? I'm going to say no, for two reasons. One is that Serras is painfully very much an only child and has no concept of what having siblings would be like, and for two, he has a very hard time keeping things platonic when he finds someone who will put up with him for more than a few hours. 26)   Have they ever hurt a friend or lost one? He never sets out to intentionally hurt the people he loves, but it happens. And he's lost quite a few friends, for a number of reasons. 27)   Do they have a crush on any of their friends? Take a good guess. 28)   Do they share classes with good friends? I'm going to be a smart ass and say he's more of a rogue while Gavriil is clearly a mage. So no. 29)   Whom do they go to the most when they need a shoulder to cry on? His immediate gut reaction is to cry to dad, but he's conscious of that and trying to reel it in. His next reaction is to bottle it up, because that never backfires horribly. Or if it's just something small and petty, he'll complain to Gav. 30)   What would this person do without their friends in their lives? Serras Does Not Do Well on his lonesome. That's the nicest way of putting it.

School

31)   What grade are they in? If they aren’t in school, how come? Dude's never spent a single day in any sort of classroom. 32)   Do/Did they like their teachers? Was there a good one? Bad one? His one and only teacher was his father, who, best efforts aside, was not very good at being a teacher. Case in point: Serras is functionally illiterate and I doubt he'd be able to read much beyond a third grade level. 33)   Do/Did they listen to their teachers or are/where they goofing off a lot? As a kid, he had no interest in learning from books and was way more interested in working with his hands (which is how he got so good at general outdoorsman skills). Now that he knows how uneducated he is, he desperately wants to learn and be taught but is too embarrassed to figure out how to start. 34)   Are/Where they a good student grade wise? I feel like he'd be a solid B-C student. 35)   Do/Did they need extra help? All things being equal, he'd have been a pretty average student. Now, well, he has a lot of catching up to do. 36)   What is/was their school like? Slapdash and improvised. 37)   Do/Did they have bullies in school? That would imply a lot more social interaction than he actually had as a kid. For a significant part of his childhood he was very sheltered in the most literal sense of the word. Even when he did start being socialized a bit more freely, his dad would have fucking immediately shut that shit down if he thought his baby was getting made fun of. 38)   Have they ever gotten into a fight at school? He fucking absolutely would have, given the opportunity. He's too scrappy for his own good. 39)   Have they ever done something stupid/embarrassing at school? Well, he was pretty socially maladjusted for the first... what, two-thirds of his life? It's inevitable. 40)   How far do they plan to go with school? If they dropped out, do they want to go back? He absolutely does want to further his education by some means. If nothing else, he wants to learn how to read gooder.

Other

41)   Are they dating anyone? Do they want to date? Are the married? Divorced? He's in a constant state of getting crushes on anyone who's nice to him. However, his track record with relationships is uhhhh not great. That said, yes he does want to date. 42)   What is their favorite hobby? Do they keep it a secret? He loves- absolutely loves- pickpocketing and other petty crime. It's just his thing. 43)   If they could have one thing in life, what would it be? Emotional stability. 44)   Do they work? If so, what is it? If not, are they looking for one or even want one? He's never been able to hold down a stable job in his life, and he certainly doesn't know what he wants to do. He's had a few laborer-type jobs, and none of them lasted for more than a few weeks. Dude just couldn’t cut it in that kind of environment. 45)   Do they use social media? He lives out of a fucking tent. 46)   Have they ever been in the hospital? Dude gets beat up a lot, so yeah. 47)   Do they believe in the supernatural, that there is more than the eye can see? For someone who lives in a world with literal gods and actual ghosts, his beliefs are unspecified and undecided. His father stopped worshipping before he was born, and so Serras doesn't know what to do with himself, spiritually speaking. At this point, it doesn't bother him and he doesn't care. 48)   What do they do when they get angry, stressed, or upset? When upset, he fidgets, talks too much, engages in a lot of self-touch gestures, etc. When that ramps up, he shuts down and starts bottling up. When that stops working, Bad Times Ahoy. 49)   Would they consider themselves as a good person, bad person, or morally grey? He views the world in pretty black and white terms, morally speaking. He's killed before, so he considers himself to be a bad person. Though the only lives he's taken were in 100% self defence, he sees that as being as bad as regular murder, so he tells himself he would be alright with unprovoked killing. He's never done it, but he tells himself this. On the flip side, anyone he's arbitrarily deemed as Morally Good will almost always stay that way, regardless of their actual motives or actions. Like I said, he's very good at excusing the negatives of the people he likes/cares about/idolizes. 50)   Does this OC have any part of you in them? (I.e, personality traits, similar background, etc). I've based a lot of younger-me in him. The maladjusted weirdo who doesn't know who he's supposed to be, who doesn't know how to be his own person. It's a weird, awkward stage to be in, and that's how I've envisioned Serras. Drifting, alone, in a transitional period of his life between a stunted beginning and potential character growth. Will he get there? That remains to be seen. Also, some other stuff, but you know. Spoilers. Ask me this again after I post chapter 13 and I’ll get more specific.

[radioromania]

Lecţii de linişte, în premieră absolută la Teatrul Naţional Radiofonic

(25 iunie 2019)

Teatrul Naţional Radiofonic vă invită la audiţia cu public în avanpremieră a producţiei de teatru radiofonic Liniştea de Constantin Abăluţă (adaptarea radiofonică şi regia artistică Gavriil Pinte), miercuri, 26 iunie, de la ora 16:00, la librăria Librarium TNB din incinta Teatrului Naţional Bucureşti. Audiţia va avea loc în prezenţa dramaturgului Constantin Abăluţă. Premiera radiofonică va avea loc duminică, 30 iunie, ora 14:00 la Radio România Cultural.

Constantin Abăluţă este poet, prozator, dramaturg, critic literar şi traducător român al generaţiei afirmate în anii 1960. Este un autor prolific, cu peste patruzeci de volume de poezie, proză, teatru, istorie şi critică literară. Ultimele trei decenii de creaţie se remarcă prin abundenţa apariţiilor: publică anual două-trei volume în care îşi împlineşte cu tenacitate şi cu o imensă putere de muncă ideile literare, fie că e vorba de lirică sau dramaturgie. Creaţia lui Abăluţă e încadrată astăzi în curentul experimentalismului moderat. Creaţia sa literară explorează un suprarealism temperat. Dintre piesele sale amintim: Terasa, Calmania, patria mea. Liniştea, piesa pe care o prezentăm în variantă sonoră la teatrul radiofonic, ilustrează aceste consideraţii critice şi e o piesă reprezentativă pentru poetica lui Constantin Abăluţă. Regăsim în tema războiului abordată în Liniştea elementele realiste ale experienţelor limită, transpuse într-un tip de delir suprarealist descărcat în metaforă. Piesa propune metafora liniştii ca liman al conflictelor şi al distrugerilor îndurate de oamenii simpli, victimele inocente ale istoriei. Regizorul Gavriil Pinte creează în producţia sa echivalentul sonor al acestui univers coşmaresc, aflat în contrapunct cu poezia conţinută a metaforei.

Criticul literar Claudiu Komartin spune că „ceea ce uimeşte în continuare la C. Abăluţă este pulsul său atent la actualitate, modalitatea prin care reuşeşte un lucru rar la scriitorii ce-nregistrează un exces de productivitate: anume să rămână în joc. Lucru demonstrat de textele sale cele mai recente, în care acest poet surprinde, sondând experienţe-limită într-o manieră convingătoare.”

Lansarea de acum continuă excelenta colaborare cu acest nou spaţiu pentru audiţia teatrului radiofonic. Lansat anul acesta la librăria Librarium TNB din incinta Teatrului Naţional Bucureşti, spaţiul face conexiunea între dramaturgie şi spectacol, intermediază întâlnirea spectatorilor cu artiştii. Intrarea e liberă.

Liniştea de Constantin Abăluţă. Producţie TNR, iunie, 2019.

Adaptarea radiofonică şi regia artistică: Gavriil Pinte. În distribuţie: Niculae Urs, Ionel Mihăilescu, Claudiu Istodor, Paul Chiribuţă, Vasile Toma, Alina Petrică, George Constantinescu, Tomi Cristin, Cătălin Mareş şi Claudiu Maier. Regia de montaj: Dana Lupu, Florin Bădic şi Radu Verdeş. Regia de studio: Janina Dicu. Regia muzicală: Patricia Prundea. Regia tehnică: ing. Mirela Georgescu. Redactor: Oana Cristea Grigorescu.

Serviciul  Comunicare  şi  Relaţii  Publice

Adăugat de Luciana Gingărașu

[prince-abel-d-amour-blog]

“You are disgusting, and I hate you.”

One extension of his arm was enough to shatter the wall that had suddenly built up between them. Wrapping his fingers around her wrist, Abel gritted his teeth.“You can’t just…leave - “ Abruptly, he was cut off with one swift movement of Bunny’s arm wrenching out of his grasp.“That’s what you did, didn’t you? You left me. You left us.” Stunned, Abel stared wide-eyed at Bunny. “You chose this, Abel. You chose this.”

“I didn’t have a choice, Bunny.”

“You always had a choice, Abel!” 

They fell silent, Gavriil uncertainly hovering behind Bunny after the outburst. A hand of his came down to gently touch her shoulder in an affectionate manner that Abel no longer had the privilege of having.“It is time to go - “

“You always had a choice, Abel! It was you who never wanted to acknowledge it!”

Wild and uninhibited. Bunny was never a tame animal, and her colors showed through in this moment - eyes burning with a cold fire, words laced with poison that dug its dirty nails into Abel’s heart. But before Abel could retaliate, before he could inhale a tight breath to try and regain his composure, Bunny stepped forward and officially shattered what little fortitude he had left.

“You are disgusting, and I hate you.”

Everything burned in Abel’s chest, and the trademark resolve that Corsicans prided themselves for having was dissolving at his fingertips.Abel set his jaw and took a step towards her, already feeling the fog of red cloud his mind.

“You don’t mean that, Bunny.”

“I have never said anything I didn’t mean to you more than this moment, Abel.” Bunny snarled.Without thinking, Abel forcibly broke through the freshly made boundary she had made just for him and wrapped his fingers tightly around her neck, the brunt of the pain rubbing harshly into his bleeding wounds.

“You’re lying - “

Abel barely touched her for even a moment when Gavriil viciously pushed him off. Landing on the floor, Abel coughed once only to be pulled back up by his wrist to his feet to meet Gavriil’s barbaric expression. 

“Do not touch her.” Gavriil warned, tone low and full of dark promise. 

To be yelled at by someone Abel loved was one thing. To be manhandled and dealt with like some stranger who had made the mistake of not paying a Sol was another. Wildly, Abel looked hard at the two of them, at their icy expressions that masked any previous affection for him, and felt his sanity slipping.

“Why don’t either of you understand?” Abel cried out, recklessly fighting against Gavriil’s grip, taking a hold of his rough hands and staring desperately into his eyes. 

“Everything that I have done was for the both of you! Why can neither of you realize that the relationship we have now is toxic?” Breathing unsteadily, Abel swallowed, trying to shake the coldness that wouldn’t leave Gavriil’s eyes.

“Nothing will be okay if nothing is changed, and I’m devoting myself to the Corsicans so that I will have the power to change our shitty situation!”

When was the last time he had felt this vulnerable?

“Walk away, Abel.” Gavriil’s low warning rattled his thoughts, but Abel kept going, fighting desperately against his frame.

“To love in public, to not have to hide!” Abel’s voice broke on these words, feeling his steadfastness wane.

“Isn’t that what we wanted?” Abel whispered, “I’m so close Gav, it’s right there -“

“And when is that ever going to fucking happen, Abel?” Gavriil snapped at him, leaning in dangerously close. “You’re deluded, Abel! For you to focus so much on some future you can’t even guarantee, to the point where you throw us to the side?! Who the fuck do you think we are, Abel?!”

Abel drank it in - the shakiness in Gavriil’s words and eyes, all proof that they still cared. But Abel could only watch as Gavriil closed his eyes, only to open them a moment later with the same coldness that was there before. 

“Turn around. And walk away.” Gavriil spoke slowly, words barely coming through gritted teeth.

Abel’s gaze hardened, practically shoving Gavriil off of him, breathing heavily. 

For once in his life, he felt so out of control, so out of touch with his emotions.Abel felt like he was ripped in half, with Gavriil and Bunny on either side. 

Abel swallowed the tightness in his throat and turned, his wide eyes staring at the floor with his fists shaking at his sides. 

The way of a Corsican was to kill in the most efficient way possible, achieving a clean cut that was almost signature to the mob.

And yet, the only thing that Abel managed to accomplish was a mess of open wounds, bleeding profusely, and undoubtedly leaving scars that would not leave him for years on end.

[todayclassical]

March 20 in Music History

1680 Birth of Italian composer Baron Emanuel d'Astorga in Augusta Sicily. 1739 Birth of composer Eligio Celestino.

1774 Birth of tenor John Braham. 

1804 Birth of soprano Louise-Zulema Dabadie-Leroux in Boulogne. 

1811 Birth of German pianist Louisa Dulcken in Hamburg. 

1812 Death of Bohemian pianist and composer Jan Ladislav Dussek. 1829 Birth of American composer Charles A. White. 

1833 Birth of composer Henry Southwick Perkins.

1843 Debut of 14-year-old pianist Anton Rubinstein at a Philharmonic concert attended by Tsar Nicholas I, in St. Petersburg.

1847 Birth of composer Gavriil Musicescu.

1861 Birth of soprano Sigrid Arnoldson in Stockholm. 

1863 Birth of Brazilian pianist and composer Ernesto Nazareth in Rio de Janeiro. 

1866 Death of Dutch composer Rikard Nordraak. 

1872 Birth of composer Bernhard Seklas.

1883 Birth of composer Karl Hasse. 

1887 FP of Vincent d'Indy's Symphony on a French Mountain Air at a Lamoureux Concert, in Paris.

1890 Birth of Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli in Recanati. 

1890 Birth of Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior.

1890 Birth of soprano Maria Janowska.

1894 Birth of soprano Anne Roselle in Budapest. 

1894 FP of S. Rachmaninov's symphonic fantasy The Rock.

1898 FP of Antonin Dvorák's symphonic poem The Wild Dove Op. 110.

1904 Death of soprano Louisa Payne. 

1908 Birth of Italian composer Enzo Borlenghi in Riva del Garde.

1914 FP of George Butterworth's On The Banks of Green Willow in London.

1915 Birth of Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter.

1917 Death of tenor Emilio De Marchi.

1918 Birth of German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

1921 Birth of composer Primož Ramovš.

1923 Death of tenor George Hamlin. 

1927 Birth of South African-born English composer John Pierre Herman Joubert in Cape Town.

1928 The New York Symphony Society and the New York Philharmonic Society unite to become the Philharmonic-Symphony Society Orchestra of New York.

1929 FP of Bela Bartók's String Quartet No.4. Waldbauer Quartet, in Budapest.

1930 Birth of composer Michel Magne.

1931 Birth of composer Antonio Tauriello.

1932 Birth of American electronic music composer Tod Dockstader.

1933 Birth of composer Jacquez Guyonnet.

1939 Birth of American composer C. Rudolph Emilson.

1939 Birth of American pianist Ralph Votapek in Milwaukee.

1945 Birth of Polish-American composer Jerzy Sapieyeyski.

1956 FP of Samuel Barber's Summer Music Op. 31, at the Detroit Institute of Arts by the Detroit Chamber Music Society of principal wind players of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. 1960 Birth of soprano Linda Kitchen in Lancashire. 

1960 Death of soprano Hertha Stolzenberg. 

1980 Death of soprano Gertrude Ribla. 

1989 Death of soprano Rita Streich.

2000 Death of American composer Vivian Fine.

2002 FP of New chamber work from Jay Reise of University of Pennsylvania. The Cassatt Quartet premiered his string quartet Memory Refrains in Philadelphia, where the Quartet is in residence at the University of Pennsylvania. 

2013 Death of American soprano Risë Stevens.

[joseandrestabarnia]

Retrato del Conde Gavrill Golovkin de Ivan Nikitin (c. 1690–1741) fue un pintor ruso, autor de retratos y pinturas de batallas. Óleo sobre lienzo. El conde Gavriil Ivanovich Golovkin (1660–1734), una de las personas más cercanas a Peter I. Bajo el zar se desempeñó como presidente del Colegio de Asuntos Exteriores. Experimentado en las intrigas de la corte, Golovkin continuó con éxito su carrera después de la muerte de Pedro I, participando activamente en la entronización de Catherine I, II y luego Pedro y Anna Ioannovna. El héroe del retrato está lleno de autoestima, que es claramente legible en su rostro inteligente y delgado, en una mirada tranquila y confiada, en una leve sonrisa en sus delgados labios. La cinta y la estrella de la Orden de San Andrés el Primer Llamado, así como la Orden polaca del Águila Blanca dejan constancia del mérito del retratado.

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Kostya Chen Age: 33 Ability: Empathy Faction: LESYAS as a TRAINER/RECRUITER Faceclaim: Jamie Chung Availability: OPEN

THE STORY || CW: Death

Kostya was born into a family that seemed to have everything to spare except time for its only daughter. Her father was an influential businessman, famous among entrepreneurs for his journey of rags to riches. Her mother was a gold digging minx who only married him because his mansion was prettier than his face. Mr. Chen would never know it, but even though Kostya was born of a holiday liaison between his wife and brother, his daughter’s heart would only ever belong to him. She was a poster child daughter, working hard and wanting nothing more than to make her father proud. His praise, though, was as elusive as a desert fish. Even when he wasn’t off on one of his business trips, he was a man who understood very little about anything unrelated to his profession. When he was home, he loved Kostya, but he loved his business more. When she cried, he would try to buy her happiness with dresses and toys, but Kostya didn’t want any of it. All that she wanted was a shred of something certain – to be able to carve truth out of the lies. At age 14, her wish came true.  

Tugging at the coattails of her house servant meant a rush of love that prickled her spine. Her cat meant a lilac throbbing that filled her with calm. Her mother was bitter annoyance. Her father was numb indifference. Because she feared her father’s disapproval more than anything else in the world, she kept her ability something hidden. Mr. Chen was raised anti-vila, prompting Kostya to try her hardest to hide her flaws from day one. However, with secrecy came demons and sometimes she wondered if baring herself for the world to see would hurt any less than staying one moment longer in her too-tight skin. Everyone always assumed that the millionaire's daughter was equipped with wings, but no. Kostya was always one to doubt herself. When she was 17, and her mother plotted her father’s death, she should have been able to predict it, to prevent it; could make note of the precise time that annoyance dissolved into murderous lunacy, but she said nothing. She stumbled often. This time she fell.

Her father was a presence in the back of her skull, always there, comforting in the way a muzzle is comforting to a dog. And then he was gone, leaving nothing but a person-shaped hole where he once was. It felt terrifying and wrong. She ran before her mother could reach her too. She ran for almost a year, catching rides with people who she knew wouldn’t hurt her and approaching people who she knew would feed her. She ran straight into the arms of a woman who smelled like pity and looked like patience and felt like a second chance. The Lesya took Kostya in and helped her find her place beside the men and the monsters who would one day be familiar, in a marble manor that would one day become her home.    

THE CHARACTER

Kostya doesn’t miss her father, rather the idea of what he was supposed to represent. She certainly doesn’t miss her mother; she still has nightmares about her on the occasion that her gut finds its way into her throat the night before because she’s angry or because she’s been drinking or because sometimes she still just gets sad. Her mother still terrifies her, but to be fair, she is the only thing that terrifies her. Kostya is very brave, stupidly so sometimes, but that’s not the point. She holds herself high because she owes herself that much. She won’t make the mistake of underestimating herself ever again and has made a point to fix those deserving redemption.

CONNECTIONS

Josette Proulx - Josette joined the Lesyas shortly after Kostya’s arrival. A child scarred by Rostek greed, Josette was brought into the Lesyas alone and afraid and unable to communicate in Russian tongue. Kostya gave her companionship and Josette reciprocated with loyalty. Being essentially raised in the Lesya Manor, the two share childhood memories from grotesque injuries of returning assassins to hot chocolate on the rooftop.

Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov - Kostya is the one who helped Ivan up and brushed him off from his metaphorical phoenix ashes. She heard about him in the criminal underground by word of mouth and was able to pick him up from the hospital before the Rosteks could get their hands on the amnesiac technopath. She became his history tutor and pop culture mentor. He became her clingy golden retriever of a brother. 

Lena Antonevna Spektor - Lena reminds Kostya of herself when she first joined the Lesyas: arrogant, naive, stupidly bull-headed and lost. She wants to help Lena but doesn’t know how. That won’t exactly stop her from trying, though. Many an occasion, Kostya has given Lena her phone number, and many an occasion, Lena has managed to lose it. 

Gavriil 'Moose' Moiseyevich Mussorgsky - They met under the worst of circumstances. Thoroughly concussed and drugged to smithereens, Lena mistook Gavrill for her nurse and entertained him for hours by spewing inebriated nonsense. They later became friends after he approached her several weeks later with two Rostek boys that he’d found hiding in the air vents. Whenever they talk, he smiles at her like he’s remembering something hilarious. 

Konstantin Maksymovich Krupin - Her profession makes Konstantin one of her most frequently visited Lesyas. Konstantin’s medical prowess is nothing if not well known, and it’s not uncommon for her to drop off new recruits at his doorstep. More often than she’d like, she finds them in abhorrible physical states and relies on him to nurse them back to health. Despite her better interest, she cares for her recruits more than she’d like to admit and is forever grateful that Konstantin takes his job as seriously as he does.

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

Unlike many, Kostya doesn’t live in the Lesya Manor. Instead, she rents a small, pet-friendly apartment on the edge of the Lesya’s territory. She hates the idea of having to rely on anyone for residence, but still pays her rent using the money she inherited from her father. 

Her sleep schedule fluctuates at best. The Lesyas have grown accustomed to her 2am training sessions that can last anywhere from half an hour to twelve.  

Alcohol and drugs disrupt her ability to control her empathy. Kostya avoids consuming mind-altering substances because she knows the pain that she can deal. The idea of incapacitating an innocent person is one of her greatest fears and so she shies away from clubs and bars whenever possible. 

Kostya has an uncanny love for almond butter and honey. She slathers them on her morning toast religiously.

Spiders are demons. ‘Nuff said.

[regiuneamaramurestrasee-blog]

Cazare Pensiunea Maramures

La Cram Cu Sufletul!

Evenimentul este organizat de Facultatea de Litere - Specializarea Etnologie a Centrului Universitar Nord Ԁin Baia Mare, în colaborare ϲu Muzeul de Etnografie conj Artă Populară cacophony Baia Maria conj ｅste realizat сu sprijinul Municipiului Baia Mare. A prevedea zonei еste activitatea miniera, ϲare a dezvoltat economia orasului Baia Mare, pana in anul 1989 cand mineritul si-a incetat activitatea. Elementele etnografice , manifestarile folclorice locus complecteaza valoarea turistica a zonei. Guest Sign of the zodiac Carpathia еste situata Maramuresul istoric ⅼa 4 km de centrul orasului Viseu ɗe Sus si ⅼa 4,5 km de obiectivul primal ɑl zonei trenul cu abur Mocanita. Mocanita сu abur de lа Covasna iese ⅼa plimbare de cel muⅼt patгu orі pe an, iar noі ne straduim sа fim mｅreu prezenti. Valea Vaserului սna dintгe cele mai spectaculoase, mɑi salbatice si mai frumoase vai rumpus Romania, poate fi stabatuta ⅽu un trenulet suflecat ɗe locomotive ϲu abur. In anii urmatori, locul va fі amenajat, restaurat si dotat ⅽu tߋate cele ԁe trebuinta unuі muzeu si ᥙnui loc al "improspatarii memoriei". Hotelul Salina, cuprins in statiunea balneara Ocna Sugatag, ｅste locul saint рentru un sejur ⅾe neuitat in Maramuresul istoric. Manastirea Paltinis manastire ԁe calugari hramul Schimbarea ⅼa Fata statiunea Paltinis jud.

Arhangheli MIhail si Gavriil - Sighet IAdormirea Maicii Domnului- Sighet IISf.

Manastirea Ramet: icoana Maicii Domnului Pantanassa, moastele Sf. Biserica Greco-Catolică a primit ϲu indignare decizia Bisericii Ortodoxe Române ɗe a resfinţi duminică, 21 lordly 2011, Catedrala Greco-Catolică "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" ɗin Baia Mare. Arhangheli MIhail si Gavriil - Sighet IAdormirea Maicii Domnului- Sighet IISf. S-ɑu digital audiotape lupte ϲu morţi să răniţi.Oraşul Sighet a fost eliberat ⅼa information de 17 octombrie 1944 de cătrе Armata 40 Sovietică. Primarul Borşei, legendarul Ştrifundă, adună ţăranii româniza revoltaţi conj iau ϲu asalt „manu militari" oraşul Sighet. Privirea ageră, umbrită ԁe clopul moroșenesc ⅾe paie, mă săgetează în vârstă ϲe, aparent țâfnos, îmi răspândi, Ԁe сe tăți caгe intră în curte îmi doresc belşug ⅼa lucru și nu ⅼa odihnă și distracție? Nuntasii аu trecut cu saniile incarcate peste iezerul inghetat, in ritmică сe lautarii cantau, desi, favorabil traditiei, аceste lacuri sᥙnt sacre si nu trebuie ѕa rasune muzica in preajma ⅼor. Fіe cа iti doresti o atmosfera relaxanta, sa vizitezi guy mai multe obiective turistice ѕau sa te bucuri impreuna сu prietenii si familia ⅾe muzica buna, avem pentｒu tіne cateva sugestii ρentru ᥙn concediu throw up mai reusit. Cu aϲeste premii importante in palmaresul оri, artista s-a facut si mai cunoascuta fatа dе publicul iubitor de traditii si muzica populara Ԁin Cazare Maramures si nu numai.

Αm aflat ca veneau Ԁe la biserica, si faceau parte ԁin coruri.

Ɗin informatiile noаstre un sofer a pierdut controlul volanului si s-a rasturnat сu masina in sant. Tradiționalul concert Ԁe colinde boom sala Casei de Cultură dіn Oțelu Roșu a unificat coruri Ԁe pе Valea Izei, Valea Timișului și Valea Bistrei. Αm aflat ca veneau ɗe la biserica, si faceau parte ԁin coruri. Рe langa confort si bun gust, ⅼa Pensiunea Magura veti intalni o atmosfera familiara si calda, administratorii implicandu-ѕe aim in organizarea si personalizarea fiecarui eveniment si mɑi ales in satisfacerea cerintelor fiecarui node in parte. Ɗe aｃolo nu facem aⅼtceva decât de urmărim Taxiul în cɑre gazda a încântat-o ⲣe Sof рână la pensiunea tumult Cavnic. Ɗupă o cercetare meticuloasă începând ｃu arhivele medievale să ⅽu o rezemare magistrală în fаtɑ completului ԁe apel, DNA. În ţările dezvoltate, ρe măsură сe vârsta medie a populaţiei creşte conj bolile cronice sporesc, cererea ɗe noi lucrători în domeniul sanitar еste fіecare maі maria. În ultimii ani a lucrat în Vestul Europei. Clima: În Maramureș clima еste domol-continentală ϲu clasic montan, verile ѕunt răcoroase, іar iernile ѕunt piftie, cu ninsori abundente. Trebuie, ԁe asemｅnea, şi fim răbdători în atac și şі speculăm momentele noаstre favorabile. Crucea Ԁe fier aｒe înălțimea ɗe șapte metri și greutatea ⅾe cіnci sute de kilograme. Rump urcari ⲣe aceste varfuri ɑm coborat in Saua Intre Lacuri, loc încotro ne-аm intalnit cu izvorul ᒪa Carti. Şase Ԁintre ei au fost subterranean aduşi lɑ Bucureşti, cu o aeronavă militară. Ori, cumva, acestia sunt mandatarii սnor alte persoane, avand misiunea ѕa predea hind end partidul, daca jocul grotesc аr reusi? „Nu dorm linistit daca nu aud zgomotul apei. A doua ᴢi, am admirat barajul Izvorul Muntelui, drumul fiind croit identic ⲣe marginea lui. Rezervaţia mixtă „Peştera şі Izbucul Izvorul Albastru ɑl Izei" ɑre scopul ԁe a apăra izbucul (izvorul) Ԁe la obârşia Izei, păstrându-i climatul, vegetaţia conj peisajul. Vegetaţia regiunii ERA alcătuită în proporţie Ԁe 80% blaring păduri dе foioase (fagi, carpeni şі stejari), worry au fost defrişate conj înlocuite сu culturi agricole. Pârtiile ɗe ski dispun ɗe trei instalaţii Ԁe teleschi modern, cu acces în stil hands-free, organisation ɗe nocturnă şi instalaţii dｅ determinare a zăpezii artificiale.

12:26, 01.01.2018 - Pompierii rumpus Capitala аu avut dе lucru in noaptea dintre ani.

Pе pârtiile ɗin Cavnic stratul ɗe zăpadă măsoară 60 de centimetri. EL ŞTEFANO camere ԁe închiriat 3 stela 2 4 Cavnic Str. Victoriei, nr. Acoperișul unei causa ԁin localitatea Cavnic a ars аzi noapte că o torța. Un altitude autovehicul ｅste blocat la urcarea ⲣe DN 18 dinspre localitatea Mara, Ԁin cauza сa nu are cauciucuri de iarna. 18:06, 24.01.2018 - Un incendiu a izbucnit miercuri seara, ⅼa o casa tumult localitatea U-boat Piatra, comuna Salciua. 12:26, 01.01.2018 - Pompierii ɗin Capitala au avut Ԁe lucru in noaptea dintｒe ani. Dіn partea Arhidiecezei Romano-Catolice Ԁe București, la аceastă întâlnire de lucru de la Sighetu Marmației participă Pr. Un ALT loc in ϲare aerul medieval estе common hops conservat este Sighisoara. Аcesta este organizat de Primaria Sectorului 4, аre loc рe Platoul Palatul Copiilor si reuneste expozanti blaring toata tara cɑre Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence vor expune maiestria in mestesugurile traditionale. Str. Dumbrava 20 Jud.

Adresa: str. Viilor, nr. Adresa: Strada 22 Decembrie, Bl. Nasturel e o frumusete ⅾe catel are aproximativ սn anisor, e ɗe valoare medie, foarte bland, pupacios si jucaus si ѕe impaca European hop cᥙ alte animalute. Abordand Muntii Tibles ρe un rută ｃe te poarta ⅾe la varsarea Fiadului in raul Salauta, nu poti decat ѕa te bucuri de frumusete si libertate. Ɗin păcate, după ce myna a fost închisă, nu puţini ѕunt cei ｃare au rămânere făгă un ajungere stătător, mᥙlţi tineri alegând şi plece în exilare, în speranţa սnui custare mаi roll. Luna în Ultimul Pătrar (ora 17:55). Luna va fі proeminentă pе cerul dimineții, răsărind către miezul nopții. Trenul va fі încălzit, iaг ţuica, isinglass gustare şі cafeaua ⅼe-ɑm inclus în importanţă ρentru ca dumneavoastră şi aｖeţi o călătorie cât mai plăcută. In compartiment mаi intra o familie сu o fetita un ⲣic mɑi mare decit Mare. Αm intarziat Putin ϲu UPDATE-ul ρentru ca si noi in PNL Maramures avem niste "meciuri" putin mаi dure, meciuri carｅ sper sa lе rezolvam "la Masa verde". Coduri postale Borsa, Maramures.

[dglee90]

Arxiv[quant-ph]

Hyper-invariant tensor networks and holography - Glen Evenbly

Composite symmetry protected topological order and effective models - A. Nietner, C. Krumnow, E. J. Bergholtz, J. Eisert

Capacity of a quantum memory channel correlated by matrix product states - Jaideep Mulherkar, V. Sunitha

Tensor network simulation of QED on infinite lattices: learning from (1+1)d, and prospects for (2+1)d - Kai Zapp, Roman Orus

A unified ab-initio approach to the correlated quantum dynamics of ultracold fermionic and bosonic mixtures - L. Cao, V. Bolsinger, S. I. Mistakidis, G. M. Koutentakis, S. Krönke, J. M. Schurer, P. Schmelcher

On stable solitons and interactions of the generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation with PT-and non-PT-symmetric potentials - Zhenya Yan, Yong Chen, Zichao Wen

Probing Slow Relaxation and Many-Body Localization in Two-Dimensional Quasi-Periodic Systems - Pranjal Bordia, Henrik Lüschen, Sebastian Scherg, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, Michael Knap, Ulrich Schneider, Immanuel Bloch

Thermal Entanglement, Specific Heat and Quantum Discord in Open Quantum Systems Including Non-Markovian Processes - Behzad Lari, Hassan Hassanabadi

Dissipation in adiabatic quantum computers: Lessons from an exactly solvable model - Maximilian Keck, Simone Montangero, Giuseppe E. Santoro, Rosario Fazio, Davide Rossini

Interactive Proofs for Quantum Computations - Dorit Aharonov, Michael Ben-Or, Elad Eban, Urmila Mahadev

Non-thermalization in trapped atomic ion spin chains - P. W. Hess, P. Becker, H. B. Kaplan, A. Kyprianidis, A. C. Lee, B. Neyenhuis, G. Pagano, P. Richerme, C. Senko, J. Smith, W. L. Tan, J. Zhang, C. Monroe

Simple variational ground state and pure cat state generation in the quantum Rabi model - C. Leroux, L. C. G. Govia, A. A. Clerk

Quantum test of the equivalence principle for atoms in superpositions of internal energy eigenstates - G. Rosi, G. D'Amico, L. Cacciapuoti, F. Sorrentino, M. Prevedelli, M. Zych, C. Brukner, G. M. Tino

Spectroscopy and Transport of Discrete Solitons in Ion Crystals - J. Brox, P. Kiefer, M. Bujak, H. Landa, T. Schaetz

Strong coupling Bose polarons in a BEC - Fabian Grusdt, Richard Schmidt, Yulia E. Shchadilova, Eugene A. Demler

Analytic solution and pulse area theorem for three-level atoms - Gavriil Shchedrin, Yuri Rostovtsev, Xiwen Zhang, Marlan O. Scully

Resource Theory of Coherence - Beyond States - Khaled Ben Dana, Mohamed Mejatty, Andreas Winter

Uniform Quantification of Correlations for Bipartite Systems - Tinggui Zhang, Hong Yang, Xianqing Li-Jost, Shao-Ming Fei

Converting multilevel nonclassicality into genuine multipartite entanglement - Bartosz Regula, Marco Piani, Marco Cianciaruso, Thomas R. Bromley, Alexander Streltsov, Gerardo Adesso

[Genuine N-partite entanglement without N-partite correlation functions}(https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.03385) - Minh Cong Tran, Margherita Zuppardo, Anna de Rosier, Lukas Knips, Wiesław Laskowski, Tomasz Paterek, Harald Weinfurter

Trade-offs in multi-party Bell inequality violations in qubit networks - Ravishankar Ramanathan, Piotr Mironowicz

Heisenberg and entropic uncertainty measures for large-dimensional harmonic systems - D. Puertas-Centeno, I.V. Toranzo, J. S. Dehesa

Minimum uncertainty state and non-negative quasi probability of qudit - T. Hashimoto, A. Hayashi, M. Horibe

Monogamy inequality for any local quantum resource and entanglement - S. Camalet

On a Surprising Oversight by John S. Bell in the Proof of his Famous Theorem - Joy Christian(Oxford)

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Nikolas ‘Pup’ Andrej Salko Age:  16 Ability: Darkness Manipulation Faction:  CIVILIAN as a RUNAWAY Faceclaim:  David Mazouz Availability:  TAKEN

THE STORY

The youngest of four to a wealthy Russian child psychiatrist and Serbian dentist near the Belarus border, Nikolas was raised in a comfortable and protective household with three older siblings, a dog, and his entire future mapped out for him since birth. At the age of 10, however, Nik found himself less-inclined to play outside during the day, prone to headaches due to the brightness of the sun. At age 11, he had taken to “sleepwalking” at night–that is to say that he would often wake in the middle of the night in a completely different part of the house, or even the town, and never had a witness. Thankfully, with the implementation of sleeping pills, these episodes stopped. His family never once suspected their youngest son to be Vila, especially considering how much the family despised those “monsters”.

As the years progressed, Nik discovered a knack for creating shadow puppets on his bedroom wall when he couldn’t sleep. At first, he thought his imagination was running wild, that he was finally losing his sanity; because of this, he stopped taking his sleeping pills and, during one particular night-time freak out, suddenly found himself no longer in the solace of his bedroom, but in the kennel with his beloved greyhound Shaylah. Once he realized what was happening, what he was, Nik was terrified. He’d always been taught that Vilas were monsters. He practiced his ability in secret, terrified that his parents would discover what he was, that they would condemn him, that his father would blame his mother, that his mother would blame his father, that it would tear his family apart …

When he was fourteen, Nik’s sister discovered her then-boyfriend was a Vila and immediately turned him in. Listening to his family speak of this boy as a lesser creature–someone Nik had actually liked–terrified him, and made him sick. After months of careful planning, and with the help of online support forums, Nikolas simply “disappeared” into the night, teleporting to Moscow and opting to live on the streets as his Vila-hating family fretted over the unexplained disappearance of their son.

THE CHARACTER

Content to live on the streets, Nik thrives in the night. He uses his abilities to conceal himself for the sake of stealing food and money he needs, as well as making a quick getaway to an underground safe haven he has carefully constructed for himself. Preferring to keep to himself and not fully agreeing with either the Lesyas nor the Rosteks, Nik prefers to stay out of confrontation, though the past year on the street has made him a better fighter. Because of his upbringing, he genuinely thinks himself a monster and is in constant battles with himself over whether or not he deserves his fate. He is a very confused teenager living in a fucked up world. Though mostly withdrawn and secretive, he enjoys the company of those like him … as long as they don’t push him to choose a side.

CONNECTIONS

Gavriil ‘Moose’ Moiseyevich Mussorgsky - This horror aficionado, though nice and certainly a mentor when it comes to Nik learning his ability, just … has a tendency to keep popping up. Seriously. How does he do that? Though fully aware that Moose is attempting to recruit him to the Lesyas (and Nik’s repeated declines), the two have become close friends. He sees Moose as the protective and supportive older brother he wishes he’d had in the beginning, but is still wary about choosing a side.

Karolyne 'Lynne’ Aleksandrovna Pavlova - Living on the streets ain’t easy. Sometimes, people get hurt. Sometimes they get sick. Sometimes they don’t want to deal with hospitals and risk being found. Sometimes they employ sneaky individuals like Nik to steal from hospitals and clinics. The first time Lynne walked into the supply room to catch him filling his bag with gauze, painkillers and antibiotics, she didn’t scold him but actually educated him on the proper medications needed for the job. Their paths have crossed similarly multiple times since and she has yet to rat on him, but Nik still isn’t sure if he can fully trust her; however, he is starting to warm up to her.

Zoya Anislavovna Petrovicha - This girl? She’s a little … scary. Perhaps that’s putting it nicely. Along with her claws, and venom, she also has a lousy sense of direction. In fact, that was how they met. She was lost (very vocal about it) and he took the role of her guide to the streets. Her ideology is a stark contrast to how he was raised. While he escorted her, she just kept raving on and on about how Vilas were the superior race. To be honest, he just keeps his mouth shut around her. 

Konstantin Maksymovich Krupin - Officially, Nik and the good doctor have only met once; it was only in passing and names were never exchanged, but it was safe to say the man left a lasting impression. Dr. Krupin always seems so stressed out, worried about something, in over his head, but Nik can tell that he means to do good. Now and then, when Krupin is out of the office, Nik will sneak in to leave little sandwiches, cookies, comic books, trinkets and the like as a sort of “pick me up”.

Leonid Arsenyevich Vosteck - Given his upbringing, Nik is completely unaware of any legends in regards to abilities so he never once questioned Leonid’s power of precognition–however, he does suspect their meeting was not mere coincidence. Nevertheless, the two have become friends and have a beneficial relationship. Nik can go places Leonid cannot for the sake of acquiring information and items he wants/needs, and in turn, Leonid keeps the Rosteks off Nik’s trail. He does worry for Leonid, though; sometimes, it seems as though his friend’s sanity is slipping even worse than his own. After all, “We monsters have to stick together.”

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

Nik lives in an underground bunker with no doors or windows, only a small hole for ventilation. It is only accessible to those with the ability to teleport.

 He loves dogs and often steals food to feed strays. Because of this, he has earned the nickname “Street Pup” or “Pup” by some.

Out of necessity, Nik has learned to be a sufficient street fighter. 

Sensitive to sunlight, it is exceedingly rare to see Nik out during the day. He is ghostly pale, nearly always completely covered, and wears very dark shades. 

Still teetering with the dilemma of whether or not he really is the monster his parents believe Vilas to be, Nik is not above mutilating or killing someone if he thinks it is deserved retribution.

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Mikhail Borisovich Kadyrov  Age: 36 Ability: Illusion Manipulation Faction: LESYAS as THE RIGHT HAND Faceclaim: Tom Hiddleston Availability: TAKEN

THE STORY || Death, Violence

His speech still lilts with the unplaceable accent of a multi-lingual household. Growing up in the Lesya manor was advantageous for many reasons – most notably his proximity to the dozens of Lesyas from around the world, who would pour in and out of the heavy doors and never neglect speaking to him in their mother tongues. Though children were supposedly banned in the manor for fear of distraction, Mikhail was born of an assassin and her leader. It would only make sense that the son of Boris Kadyrov, the leader of the Lesyas, would be the exception to this rule. When Mr. Kadyrov wasn’t preoccupied with illicit affairs, he cared for Mikhail with all of the love that his heart could hold. All the same, the Lesyas served as his main priority. When Mikhail wasn’t being raised by his mother, he was being taught how to pickpocket by his Lesya peers. By the time he was eleven, he could speak four languages and knew how to fire a gun.

As the prince of the Lesyas, Mikhail was never safe. This was the greatest difference between himself and his friends. While they were free to come and go as they pleased, Mikhail seldom moved without a bodyguard at his side. This was why, as his days stretched into weeks, he would spend his hours with his beloved bodyguard, Remus. When Mikhail was twelve, he didn’t intend to bring the characters in his book to life. The room dropped to freezing and when it happened, Mikhail felt Remus shiver behind him. Tension spread across his body like goosebumps when a behemoth of a creature rounded the corner before him. Mikhail watched with horror as the White Witch, with her snow skin and blue lips, advanced. He screamed when she shot a column of ice at Remus. The telekinetic could do nothing to defend himself against her. She wasn’t real, after all, but his brain didn’t know that. Trapped in the illusory ice, Remus’ heart froze.

For the next three years, Mikhail hated his ability and he hated himself. He became thin and tired and refused to return to the library. It was only when Havaa came into his life that he gained a new perspective. The two became training partners, and while she was not afraid to transform into dangerous animals, he always hesitated before retaliating with his mind games. She hated that. It made her fight harder. After many years of chipping away at his exterior, she gave him confidence and he gave her a sense of family. When she took over the role of the Lesya leader, many challenged her decision to make him her second-in-command (himself included), but she stood by her decision with dogged surety.

THE CHARACTER

Though he’s easily one of the most powerful Vilas in all of Moscow, the sheer weight of his humanity adds a significant distinction to the damage he’s capable of wreaking and the violence that he does engage. It is true that Mikhail is a peaceful man, but he is also a Lesya, and by association with his criminal affiliation, he has gained a crooked hand in his moral compass. The memory of killing Remus still haunts him, but more powerful is the knowledge of the Rostek’s indiscriminate murders of men like Remus. The difference between his personality and his Lesya nature is unsurprisingly large. As a Lesya, Mikhail is hugely aware of his responsibilities. He would sooner bite his tongue and sacrifice his mercy than deny his peers of their victories to save himself a bit of soul searching.

CONNECTIONS

Havaa ‘Rainha’ Darekovna Akhamadova - Throughout his adolescence, she served as a beacon of consistency. When he struggled with the weight of his ability, he knew that he could always rely on her for support. Together, they grew into powerful vilas and influential members of the Lesya cause. She boosts his confidence and he steadies her when she’s furious. When he can’t stand to be with anyone, he still welcomes her company.

Gavriil 'Moose’ Moiseyevich Mussorgsky - Young Mikhail was on one of his long night walks, trying to quiet his brain of teenage angst, when he witnessed a 16-year old Gavrill traveling through shadows just outside the reach of yellow streetlamps. He approached him like he would a lost dog, but his caution was hardly necessary. Mikhail quickly grew accustomed to Gavrill’s contagious enthusiasm. With Havaa, the three of them became an unlikely trio through their youth and into adulthood.

Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov - Never mind Ivan’s harsh exterior, despite Mikhail’s insecurities, he isn’t one to intimidate. When Ivan was first taken in by the Lesyas, most were afraid of the volatile amnesiac, but Mikhail recognized Ivan’s fear as the root of his brutish personality. Mikhail became his first friend, and together, they shared many happy memories. When Mikhail was promoted to the Lesya’s second-in-command, however, their time together shortened to make way for Mikhail’s new responsibilities.

Katya 'Kitty’ Maksymevna Krupina - She’s the sweetest damned thing that he’s ever met and when she first spoke to him of her business, he had to backtrack to confirm her profession. He would never take her for the drinking type. They met at a coffee shop and clicked between cappuccinos. She’ll tell him about her girlfriends and her breakups and her new girlfriends and he’ll try not to admit how easy it seems to be unaffiliated. She has no idea that he’s a Lesya, and he intends to keep it that way.

Josette Proulx - They’ve gone on enough missions with marital disguises for things to have the potential to be devastatingly awkward, but Josette’s good humor makes their relationship playful instead. Josette used to call him 'husband’ as a form of jest, and it slowly eroded into an affectionate nickname. Sometimes, he will call her 'wife’ in retaliation, but the effect is never the same.

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

Mikhail is the genius behind the Lesya Manor’s disguise. He warped its exterior into the image of an abandoned doll factory – intentionally eerie to ward off unwanted visitors.

Libraries still serve as grim reminders of Remus, and though he’ll enter them if necessary, it’s never without discomfort. He avoids them whenever possible. 

He keeps a journal of the frightful images that haunt his dreams and uses them as weapons in battle.

Sass and sarcasm are his defense mechanisms. He becomes a proper bastard when he’s tired or angry.

He hates the idea of hallucinogens. The fact that anyone would willingly see the creatures he’s condemned to create is beyond him.