#chai is viewed as a nuisance

[psychangels]

ik everyone associates mimosa with birds bc she literally has wings, but consider the chai bird symbolism

[pocketbelt]

Hi-Fi RUSH (PC/Steam Deck)

A Christmas gift from my friend Evan, who is now 2-for-2 for action/rhythm game hybrids as Christmas gifts. Patterns emerge in my friends

Hi-Fi RUSH existing at all is still surreal, though the nature of its surprise shadow-drop release at the start of the year seemed less like a deliberate surprise and more Microsoft farting out something with no fanfare, which is a shame because this is the sort of thing the AAA space needs. And it's from the one Japanese studio Microsoft owns, funnily enough.

Hi-Fi RUSH follows the trend started by Crypt of the Necrodancer of merging rhythm game with another genre, in this case character action, and like my time with the Metal: Hellsinger demo I don't think I can get a hang of these hybrids entirely. There's a marked difference in learning the timing of parries or when to pause to change the next attack and having to keep to a beat to make things do extra damage or even work, especially as the beat will change with the background music. In truth, if it were a straight action game I think Hi-Fi RUSH would've felt better.

It's a charming and incredibly performant game (RTX3070 and Ryzen 5800 get a flawless 4K60FPS with most settings maxed on my rig, and it's equally flawless though not as high-res on Steam Deck), the cast are great, Chai's a delightful protagonist and its world is super neat, but it also has a lot of annoying bits that speak to me of traces of Western AAA game dev brain. Tango Gameworks are a Japanese studio, sure, but one set up and run by Bethesda, and I feel like that sneaks down more than you'd think (especially when you hear of the horror stories now of former Activision employees talking of Bobby Kotick, then distant CEO of the company, fucking with every project he could).

To wit, I can't imagine why else a studio initially run by Shinji Mikami of all people would put out an action game that abandons lock-on for an auto-targeting system that can, will, and mostly does decide to get distracted by enemies you aren't attacking to swivel Chai 180-degrees or make the camera invert against a wall to follow someone who happened to walk past you mid-combo. It's got a lot of that kind of nuisance, which makes me hope for a Hi-Fi RUSH 2 that chucks it out and puts in a proper lock-on or arena-wide camera view (or both).

Quite a lot of the "rhythm" mix-in just results in glorified quick-time events, which end up not being so quick very quickly. Needing to perfectly time a string of fucking 8 attacks to break open an enemy to finally kill him, where failing once will make him repeat the sequence from the start and he is invincible until you finish it (and this is a normal recurring enemy!) is some PS2-era shit.

But then, at the same time, that is Hi-Fi RUSH's golden charm; this feels like a very Dreamcast/PS2 era game but with modern tech powering it. And for that I want more of it, if Microsoft ever deigns to let them make a game again and doesn't just consign them to purgatory or, now, the Call of Duty Mines.

[dark-ambition]

@burning-fcols continued from X.

In truth, he had no damn reason to care about why Angel seemed to despise him so. He knew that the spider seemed to be holding some level of intense disdain toward him, ever since he had first arrived in the Hotel looking for temporary refuge when Alastor had gone and wrecked his ship, what with the spider’s constant glaring, snappish words and overall bristling body language that could put a porcupine to shame, but he always simply put it out of his mind. If the spider had sudden reason to see him as an enemy now when before he had seemed to view him as nothing more than a joke and a nuisance, just for the sheer sake of residing in a space that Angel had apparently claimed as his own, then he could hardly give two shakes of a rat’s tail.

So when Angel’s scathing remark, dripping with obvious anger, came after his own greeting, he merely responded to it with a roll of his eyes and brief huff, hood twitching out and rattling faintly to express his own annoyance as he looks over toward the man while he rummages through the fridge. “Oh pleasssse. You do realize it’s the Princesss who’s giving me all of her attention and not myssself, correct? Hells knows why, given I didn’t exactly choose to be here voluntarily.”

He huffs again, but turns away from Angel as he begins to retrieve a fancy looking white tea cup from a wooden box that he had sitting next to him, setting it down on the countertop next to the stove while the kettle is silently heated up by the flames running underneath. He looks back again when he hears the fridge door slam, seeing Angel picking at a grapefruit with a talon, and at the comment to the kettle, he scoffs a little, tail giving a minuet flick, his expression turning into a vaguely impassive frown. “If you mean I’m making tea, then yessss. It’s vanilla chai if you happen to want any.”

[ladychlo]

unpopular opinion Chay but I’ve distanced myself from the larry fandom lately and one of the reasons is, I feel uncomfortable with the way people here talk about women. On this side of the fandom, women are always the jobless, the opportunistic, the attention hungry. And their presence is met with annoyance as if it was an inconvenience. I’ve seen people already scoff at the fact that there are women in this video and that Harry shares scenes with them. How dare Harry cuddle with a girl!? (it’s almost like a knee jerk reaction for some larries to view women, next to HL, as obstacles/problems/nuisances). If you belief Harry is queer, the presence of women in his art shouldn’t threaten you so much. The mindset that Harry only includes women to appeal to the GP or for marketing strategies is inappropriate. Harry himself has never shown disdain for girls and yet some people are like “the way girls are touching him is unnecessary, they way he’s laying next to them is tiring and annoying” do you hear yourselves? Many people are being let down by their own expectations.

Hi love!

I feel quite glad that I didn't see people on dash express this sort of negative takes on women's presence in Harry's art, even tho it is generally assumed some of these people in his mv are women, but I totally agree with, how it is so unnecessary to have this sort of mindset about it, I was just thinking about (@swimmingleo ) Leo's post and tags and they said what I was really thinking. it's not enough to just acknowledge that Harry is queer but it's important to not see his art from a cis and heteronormative lens, he is very happy and proud with his music and music videos and he really weights on symbolism and you can't just hate a certain negative narrative then project that specific narrative on his art.

[chaimerax]

hellooo!! effie here (they/them) excited to join everyone here in magicka!! it’s been awhile since i’ve done tumblr rp but i’m glad to be back. today i bring to you today my little nuisance chai! if you’re mobile you can view his profile and plots on the page and i was too lazy to set up a background just yet but i promise i have it all in my head and will go a little bit over it below!

so chai comes as the only witch of his immediate family, aka his parents and 3 younger siblings are all humans, so he didn’t learn about his magical abilities until about 14 years old

so he’s only been aware/participating in the magic world for the past 12 years which is still a long time to get the hang of things! he’s an elixirs witch which kinda falls in line with his enjoyment of cooking and gardening i think

he came to jeju island three years ago to get away from his family because (surprise) being the only witch is kinda isolating at times, his family doesn’t really get magic, and he wanted to be somewhere he felt more connected to 

because of some bad interactions after learning of his witchiness (is that a word idk?) he’s not too fond of humans outside of his family. they’re like... irritating, and he’s not afraid to say that to their faces

i think because he’s a little brash, he struggles with incantations. that’s assuming you have to be really poetic about them, which he would not be.

his favorite planet to call upon would be venus. he loves making love potions. cupid chai anyone?

speaking of love, he totes got into a bond within a year of coming to jeju and oops that didn’t work out for either of them apparently (plot? 👀 plot? 👀) so now he’s been focusing on himself and is lowkey anti-bonding rn

he now works at poshun’s, selling his own elixirs, and tutors some at tamna academy for elixirs 

his favorite location on jeju island is probably the waterfalls, he collects some of the fresh water as ingredients for his elixirs

i would love to see his elixirs going horribly wrong though

plot? 👀 like for plot? 👀

you can hit me up either through tumblr dms or straight to discord at effie.png #5980.

[harlot-of-oblivion]

A Daisy follows soft the Son of Sparda (Part 3)

You and Vergil spend some time together in your quiet corner of the book café reciting poetry, drinking tea, and sowing the seeds of delightful affection.

So this just popped into my head and I just had to write it down. Hope you enjoy! 💕 Here ya go, @drusoona 😘

Here’s the link to the list of all the flowers featured in this part. 🌹🥰🌹

The city is buzzing with activity as you walk though the city streets. The exhaust pipes of cars clanging loudly as they blur past you, the soft chattering of distant conversations floating through the breeze, and the glittering sunlight flaring off of the windows on numerous buildings…it all just feels exciting and lively as you make your way to the local book café for tea, books, and interesting company that goes by the name of Vergil Sparda.

I wonder if he’ll be grumpy or reserved today, you thought, laughing quietly to yourself because it seems that man is always a combination of both. You do not mind though…in fact, you find his surliness kind of endearing. The little crinkle in between his brow that seem to be there permanently scrunching up as his eyes spark in agitation and his jaw tightening as he clenches he teeth…most people would find him intimating, but you just cannot help but to admire such an expressive face.

Those distinct lines on his face do occasionally smooth out though. Every time you give him your homemade tea blends or a fresh flower that crinkle seems to fade as his lips curve into a grin. The lack of smile lines tells you that he does not smile often, so you feel honored to witness such a rarity. You feel yourself swoon as you remember the day he sought you out in the rain after completely blundering your attempt at conversation, holding your forgotten umbrella over you as he smiles down upon you. The thought of his gorgeous face makes you do a little twirl on the sidewalk, your purple floral dress flaring out as you feel a soft warmth settle on your cheeks. You solemnly vowed to yourself that you would do everything in your power to make him smile more. And every time you are successful you cherish every single one of those smiles, engraving them into your memory so you can look back on them in fondness.

The familiar chime of The Book Nook Café rings as you step through its threshold. You greet the barista with a cheerful smile and order a cup of chai tea before walking over to your quiet corner. You glance over at the chair that is usually occupied by a certain handsome devil, an amused grin spreading across your face as you recall that he claims this spot as his as well. You set your tea and purse down as you examine the bountiful shelves of knowledge and adventure, trying to find the book that Vergil recommended to you after he found out that you are a gardener and florist extraordinaire.

“Ah!” you whisper as you finally spot The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, sliding it out of its place and placing it on the small table next to your seat. You rummage through your purse, taking out a perfectly pressed pink and white clove gillyflower and remove a book you hope to recommend to him during your chat today. He has returned your books about gardening and botany to you, but the book about the language of flowers has yet to make it back into your hands. There is a chance that he will understand the message your leaving…that you have developed a bond of affection with him.

The thought of him knowing what your little gifts actually mean makes you nervous and giddy as you place the delicate flower into the book. The idea of him reciprocating has you blushing as you recall the snapdragons he gave you. You did not have the heart to tell him that you actually provide those for this particular restaurant, not wanting to ruin the moment as his uncertain eyes soften when you accept them. You may have grown them, but that is not what makes your knees weak and heart throb thinking about that moment...

They just…reminded me of you.

You snap the book closed, the musty whoosh of air blowing against your face doing nothing to cool your redden cheeks. A part of you hopes that he knows what those snapdragons mean, but he is probably referring to the petals since you can never stop your face from flushing pink when his hand touches you in some benign fashion. He may be cool and reserved, not really a man for unnecessary words, but that just means his actions are what your flowers are to you…a way to express the feelings you cannot say aloud. Your heart always quivers when he subtly caresses your hand and fingers. Your belly fills with fluttering butterflies as his eyes glance sideways when he thinks you do not notice.

Taking a deep breath you reel in your swirling thoughts, making yourself the very model of decorum. You make yourself comfortable in your seat as you reach for the recommended book on the table. You crack open the old book and your eyes widen as a pressed purple flower falls into your lap. Funny…I don’t remember putting one this book, you muse as you pick it up and inspect it. Instantly you know it to be heartsease, a type of violet that grows wild around certain parts of the city. It is also known by many other colorful names, such as heart’s delight, tickle-my-fancy, come-and-cuddle-me…warm tingles cascade down your body as its purple petals all but confirm your suspensions of Vergil being well aware of the language of flowers.

You occupy my thoughts.

You bring the flower to your chest as you lay the book on your lap, clutching it close with both hands over your heart. You are still for a moment, doing your best to hold back a squeal, but your lips slowly spread into a bright smile as your body begins to bounce like a bumblebee among the sweetest flowers. You are glad that he does not find your little antics foolish. After you almost ruined your chance with him you knew that conventional means of flirting will not hold sway over him.

So, you started this little ritual of leaving him flowers, then giving him the means of figuring it all out, hoping that your intent was clear. You really like Vergil and do not want to mess up this budding relationship by letting your blunt mouth do all the talking. For the first time since the passing of your family and moving back into the city you do not feel so alone in the world. He can be a bit prickly at times, but you are a very patient gardener and you will tend to the seeds of affection you have sown with him diligently.

When your done dancing in your seat you place the pressed flower next to your cup, a subtle way to let him know you got it his message. You open the book back up and begin to read while you wait for Vergil to arrive. After reading a few pages you fully understand why he suggests this poet to you. The short biography of Emily Dickinson did mention that she was more well known for her gardening and her knowledge of plants than her poetry during her lifetime. So there are many short poems about flowers and nature conveying intricate imagery and metaphor. It makes your heart soar that he knew just the perfect poetry for your personality.

The signature chime of the door has your eyes instantly glancing up to see a tall and imposing figure clad in very distinctive clothing and a charming scowl that only Vergil can pull off. Uh oh…it seems he’s in one of his cranky moods, you observe, wondering what ever present nuisance makes him so easily irritable all the time. Your lips lift into a sunny smile like they always do when he is around and he slightly nods his head towards you as he makes his way to the barista to order his tea.

While he is distracted you mark your place in the book and reach into your purse for the tin of tea you have prepared for him. Guess it’s a good thing I brought him a little pick-me-up gift. You also grab a handful of today’s flowers, sweet alyssums, since it looks likes he could use a flower shower. You hide both beneath the fabric of your dress as you hear him thank the barista and approach the cozy corner. You put on a face of pure innocence as he appears, eyeing you suspiciously while he places his tea on the table.

“What are you hiding this time?” he warily questions.

“Whatever do you mean, Vergil?” you say as you tilt your head to the side feigning confusion. He just continues to stare at you with those striking silver eyes like a leery cat. You try to fight off the urge to smile, but the sight of that little crinkle between his brows bunching up has you grinning impishly in seconds. His eyes narrow at the sight of it and he leans down a bit, reminding you of the tall sunflowers you used to look up at when your were a child…minus the obvious agitation.

Slowly you lift one hand to reveal a tin of cherry blossom green tea. “Well, it seems I can longer take you by surprise, huh?” That crinkle instantly relaxes when he glances down at your hand to ensure that you are indeed holding one of your homemade blends. His eyes soften a little, that lovely shade of blue coming to the surface to blend harmoniously with molten silver. He reaches for his gift and just as his hand grabs the tin you feel his familiar touch, a gentle fingertip grazing one of your fingers. This never fails to make your breath hitch slightly as your heart thrums like a hummingbird.

Before he fully withdraws his hand you stand up to get a better view of his stunning face that you hope will grace you with the presence of his smile soon. “And since I can no take you by surprise, then you already know what comes next,” you say, voice brimming with enthusiasm as you stare up at him excitedly. “Vergil…lose the glower…”

His expression turns weary. “Must you insist on-?”

“And smell the flowers!” you exclaim as you bring your other hand up and toss the tiny white flowers into the air as you give him a big joyous smile.

His eyes never stray from yours as the small blossoms fall down upon you both, even when one lands right on his shoulder. Those lips you so want to smile are in a tight line as he sighs through his nose. “Evidently, you must…” he comments wryly before the corners of his mouth twitch, flashing you a small amused smirk.

Success! You are absolutely beaming as you let your thumb brush against his fingers before releasing the tin. You quickly gather the fallen flowers before the barista notices you have pulled this stunt once again in the café. A soft chuckle reaches your ears and you look over to see him shaking his head at you as he picks up the lone flower off his shoulder. You give him a mischievous shrug as you finish cleaning up and get back to your seat, opening your book to continue where you left off. Vergil grabs a book he has been reading for awhile and takes his seat, placing the one survivor of the flower shower next to his cup of tea.

Out of the corner of your eye you see him pause when he spots the purple heartsease on your side of the table. You can practically feel those keen eyes gazing at you, surely noticing the light dusting of pink on your face as you continue reading while trying to focus on the imagery of the current poem. I’ll have to really up the ante in our quiet flower game, you ponder, the gears of your mind already turning. Something even more bold than the ice plant flower...pff! Who am I kidding? I already went straight past bold with the forget-me-nots...maybe a flower of passion? I hope those hybrid roses I’m working on for him will bloom soon…

“I see you’re reading my personal recommendation.”

Vergil’s smooth voice breaks you out of your frantic flower thoughts. You head snaps over to see him staring back down at the heartsease. Those captivating eyes slowly lift to meet your gaze, openly admiring every inch of you. Hmm...a variegated tulip it is, you mentally note as a fresh burst of tingles rise through your skin. You do not need a mirror to know that your face must remind him of those damn snapdragons. The corner of your mouth twitches into a grateful grin as you reply. “I am! I wish I knew of her poems sooner. The way she describes flowers and uses them as metaphor is brilliant!”

“Do you have a favorite thus far?” he inquires, resting his arm on the table as his hand cradles his head, his eyes never leaving yours for a moment.

“Hmm…” You flip the pages to the table of contents and swiftly skim the list of poems until one sparks your memory. “Ah! The Daisy follows soft the Sun speaks to me,” you inform him with a fond smirk as you meet his eyes again.

“Read it to me.”

You blink bemusedly at what you refer to as a “commanding request” because Vergil has a habit of just not emphasizing the question mark that usually goes at the end of such requests. Admittedly, that is part of his charm, but you are not so easy to command. You quirk an eyebrow at him as you devise an even compromise. “Only if you recite Blake for me.”

Now it is Vergil’s turn to quirk an eyebrow. He taps his index finger on his head in thought, making a few strands of his white hair shift slightly out of its perfectly slicked back style before forming back into place. Does the power of Sparda include exceptional hair care? you mentally quip to yourself as you await with bated breath, hoping he will indulge you with his soothing voice. His finger stops tapping and his eyelids droop ever so slightly as his lips part and he graces your ears with that rather nasal but sensuous timbre.

The modest Rose puts forth a thorn, The humble sheep a threat'ning horn: While the Lily white shall in love delight, Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.

Vergil flashes you a smug grin as he finishes his reciting of Blake, clearly enjoying the affect it had on you. If he gets his hands on scarlet lilies that’s probably what he’ll give me next…because that’s what my face probably looks like right now! You sigh exasperatedly as you cover your face with the clever words of Dickinson. “Well...now I really feel like I can’t do this poem justice!” you whine, playfully bemoaning your awful luck that the power of Sparda must also include the ability to reduce you to a blushing babbling mess.

You hear his cocky laugh burst through the air. “You should have read while you had the chance.”

Your shoulders slump as you try to pull yourself together for the task at hand. You remove the book from your face and turn to the page with the poem. When you turn your head to make sure you have his attention you notice that he is pensively studying you. “Flower for your thoughts?” you softly ask, bringing him out of whatever ruminations plaguing his mind.

“I wanted to hear you read, and yet I recited a poem at your behest for the privilege…why?” he abruptly asks, his eyes regarding you inquisitively.

You feel your eyebrows burrow in confusion. “Quid pro quo…not everyone is going to listen to your demands unless you do something for them in turn.” Your eyes dart down to the delicate heartsease next to your cup. “And it’s been awhile since I heard you recite poetry.” You blink and meet his intense gaze once more. “Not since that day in the rain.”

Vergil’s eyes drift away as he seems to be lost in thought. They brush over the pressed flower he left for you and the corner of his mouth lifts into a small grin. Then he shifts his gaze back to meet yours as those alluring lips bless you with the presence of his sublime smile. You feel your brain check out as you savor this moment, knowing that if you had the talent for art you could paint this man from memory alone…considering how often he haunts your thoughts as well.

The warm moment passes when Vergil taps his finger on his head again as he quirks an expectant eyebrow at you. “I’m waiting.”

You sigh, resigning yourself to this fate you have brought upon yourself by enacting quid pro quo. Bringing the book back up you toss a loose strand of hair out of your vision as you softly clear your throat, preparing your voice for a reading that you know is going to pale in comparison to his spine chilling voice. You breathe in and hope for the best.

The Daisy follows soft the Sun And when his golden walk is done Sits shyly at his feet He—waking—finds the flower there Wherefore—Marauder—art thou here? Because, Sir, love is sweet!

We are the Flower—Thou the Sun! Forgive us, if as days decline We nearer steal to Thee! Enamored of the parting West The peace—the flight—the Amethyst Night's possibility!

You do not even try to hold back your smile as you read, letting the imagery of the shy and hopeful daisy pull you in as the words spill from your lips. When you finish your head turns over to Vergil to see how badly you butchered this poor poem.

Instead, he is wearing an expression you have only seen twice: once after you made a complete fool of yourself in front of him in this very corner and the other in your garden after he revealed his demon heritage. Your heart aches when you think about that memory, getting the feeling that living a life caught in between two vastly different worlds has taken on toil on his soul. It explains why he seems so different, why he is so defensive about his personal life…but you know how it feels to not belong and you are glad he told you. Because at that moment you do not see something to be afraid of. Staring upon his face now, so openly expressing awe and admiration, you cannot help but wonder if this feeling in your chest is what Cupid felt when he first saw the aching beauty of Psyche before he shot himself with his own arrow.

After a few moments of awkward silence and a bit of fidgeting he compliments your reading and settles back into his chair, burying his face in his book which is his way of signaling you that he needs a break from conversation. You graciously oblige, needing a break yourself from all the tension currently wafting between the two of you. Both of you read together, enjoying the familiar companionable silence as the outside world fades away. At some point you finish your tea and stand up to get another cup, asking Vergil if needs a fresh cup as well. He nods without looking away from his book and you grin as you walk up to the counter, order two more cups of tea, and bring them back to the secluded corner. Just as your sitting back down Vergil speaks while still engrossed in his book.

“That day in the rain…you said you would point out some recommendations of your own.”

“Oh yeah!” you exclaim, bouncing in your chair in energetically. “I did, didn’t I? Well…what are you in the mood for? Tragedy, comedy, philosophy…poetry?”

Vergil’s lips twitch in amusement as his eyes continue to read. “I am familiar with some of the more prolific epic poems of the ancient era, but I am curious about what you would suggest for me otherwise.” You ponder for a moment, trying to figure what he might find interesting when it hits you.

“Catullus.”

His eyes shoot up in astonishment as his eyes finally tear themselves away from his book to look at you. “Aha!” You giggle as you point a finger at him. “It seems I can still surprise you!” Your hand wipes the invisible sweat off your brow. “Whew…and here I thought I could never get one over the Son of Sparda ever again.” His jaw clenches in that signature scowl you have come to adore as his eyes narrow in annoyance. You show mercy and stop your teasing as you smirk with sincerity shining in your eyes. “But seriously…I would suggest reading his poems. They’re very uh…eclectic.”

“In what way are they unique from the others of that time?” Vergil inquires, his scowl lessening as his eyes regard you with genuine curiosity.

“Well, on one hand he wrote affectionate love poems for his mistress…but on the other hand he wrote really angry and very vulgar poems about people who pissed him off.”

A low rumbling hum vibrates through the air as Vergil contemplates your words, a wave of heat rushing through body at the mere sound of it. “Sounds intriguing. I honestly anticipated a more well known poet of that time.”

“Oh? Like Horace? Or Ovid? Or…Virgil?” You list playfully, wriggling an eyebrow as you mention the last one with a cheeky grin. He rolls his eyes as he lets out an irksome scoff, but the soft twitching of his lips lets you know that he is trying not to smile. This makes you laugh as you continue speaking. “Don’t get me wrong…their poems are good too.” You take a calming breath as your laughter dies down. “But I like Catullus because he’s just so honest and some of his poems just drip with raw emotion. You really feel his adoration for his lover and his wrath at the friends that betrayed him. And it is his poems that later influence Ovid and Virgil.”

“Will you do me the honor…of reciting his poetry…for me?” he hesitantly requests as his eyes soften, actually asking you to do something for the first time instead of demanding it. You feel your eyes widen in surprise, but your overwhelming joy of having him show an interest in one of your favorite poets overrides it quickly. You give him your warmest smile as you close your eyes and recite a short one that will hopefully pique his interest more.

I hate and love. If you were to ask how I got this way, I’d have no answer; but since I can recall, I have suffered –I have felt this torment.

You open your eyes and see that Vergil has his eyes closed during your recitation as well. Your heart melts at the sight of his calm face, meditating on the words of the poem as he considers your recommendation. His eyes suddenly snap open after a few moments. “Very well,” he states confidently as he pins you with his intense stare. “I shall see what complexity this Catullus has to offer.”

A victorious grin spreads across your cheeks and it must be contagious because Vergil gives that rare smirk you strive to pull out him every second you are near him. You both spend more time in that cozy corner finishing up your books until you have to depart. Before leaving you set a time and date to meet in the café again, already looking forward to another quiet reading session with your prickly poet. You almost tell him he could always call you if he ever wants to have a rendezvous somewhere else…like a local bistro or even your garden since you do have a nice outdoor seating, but you did not want to push your luck. And it seems he is new to the usage of cell phones, so you did not want to bring it up just in case it makes him crabby. Plus, he might bring up the forget-me-nots you somehow craftily tied around his fancy sword and you have already filled your quota of blushes for today.

Both of you say your farewells and you leave the café feeling like a sunflower basking in the rays of beautiful sunshine. As you pass the café window you spot a tall figure standing up in the secluded corner, selecting the book you put your flower in earlier. Your feet stumble as you stop in your tracks and scramble to take out your phone, furiously pretending to be checking your notifications and texting some nonexistent recipient. Surreptitiously, you watch as Vergil opens the book and he must have went straight for Catullus since his hand picks up the clove gillyflower you left for him. Your heart skips a beat when you see his face light up with genuine tenderness. You decide to end your act before he notices you, swiftly walking away as you put your phone back into your purse.

You do no know what it is about Vergil that draws you to him. It could be his fierce presence that you find oddly soothing, his cool and collected exterior that hides a passionate love for literature, or that little crinkle between his brow that deepens when he is aggravated. Whatever it may be you are glad he let you step through his briars, allowing you to gently pry his thorns apart as you find fertile ground to plant the seeds of trust. And you will tend to them as the seeds sprout and grow...entwining their gentle blossoms carefully among the briars in tenderness.

And you, like the shy and hopeful daisy, follow soft the Son of Sparda.

Read Part 4 here.

Or read them all on my Ao3

My Master List if you want more. ❤

[simplymes-blog]

THE NEWS CONUNDRUM:  Real  news vs. Distraction??

Well, there is the news and then there is a nuisance. My very first experience with the news was when I was roughly around three or four through the good old DD National (Doordarshan) which was the only channel that we had in our house in the early 2000s. Sharp at 8:00 pm there would be a 20-minute slot of news that would be presented with such well-dressed people and they would read out a bunch of things that my three-year-old self couldn't decipher. But I do remember the faces such as that of Neelam Sharma(her Hindi was impeccable and was enough to capture me at that time), Ashok Shrivastav, and Mark Lynn. I was enthralled by these people later on in life when I could understand a little bit more but for the time being, I only wanted the news to pass so that I could watch the next show in line.

 Well, those were simpler times because back then news was just a part of your day first through your early morning newspaper with a cup of chai and then through the Samprati Vartah that was aired on all India radio and later on in the day through these 20 minutes slots of news.

 And then in the mid to late 2000 emergence of independent news channel came about whose sole purpose was to give news and inform the public throughout the day . 24 hours news format well if you ask me what's wrong with that?? Nothing at all but here we see  that a pattern emerges how do you fill-up the entire day with news (Some were made up while the others not so much.) And then the era of debates came about in the Indian news channels. The dictionary meaning of debate is an argument or a discussion expressing different opinions. The audience wanted the latter to happen and have some sort of information on the issues of the country.

And from the last, I remember this whole thing of the debate came about was by this famous  “the nation wants to know “ journalist (at least in India )while the rest tagged along. So today if you see most of these news channels there is a copy of some form of his style in these debates. what do these debates look like ?? For starters a lot of screaming, secondly a lot of name-callings, and lastly hard to understand. At the end of it all, it makes the audience feel exhausted and their ears bleeding ( a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point.

And the news that’s been broadcasted is influenced by this higher power( some would say the” act of god” if you get the reference ) pushing the real issues aside. And having your narrative in the picture which shouldn’t be there in the first place. There is only so much you can distract the public from the real issues until the bubble bursts. Some would say Journalism is the fourth pillar of democracy and my response to that would be “Not so much in today's time”.

Well, the entire point of all this is that do we even want real news, or are we happy with the circus that is going around. A question to ask yourself?

P.S.  I am not some sort of writer or anything but I sure am an opinionated person. I wanted to write my whole point of view on this subject because of the circus that’s been going around gradually over the years and at this point, I can’t even fathom where it is heading towards. And I needed to put my view out there to get some sort of semblance for my sanity.

[didilosemymindordidifindit]

IF I SHARE A LINK, GRAB IT WITH IT YOUR LIFE

I may not be the greatest musician or writer(who dash monkey?!!!) but am a very sensitive person. My inner antenna is on steroids. So, if I tell you to listen to a song, watch a video, read a book or share a link, you should fall over yourself to the direction in my hand. The reason why I recommend stuff is because I have very ingrained generosity impulse since when I was very young. Whenever I discover something I enjoyed, I am like the bird that discovered a huge barn of harvest, I will first have a belly full and then I will fly away to call my comrades. Not that am the most righteous person in the world or because na me wan go heaven pass but because only one bird cannot eat all the bag of corn. That's a greed fuelled act of stupidity and it is good to have other birds around you to reduce the probability of one being the dinner in the act of attack by a predator. Giving & coperation is alway a selfless act, it can be a tool for self preservation. You can learn more on this selfish selflessness by reading the book, CHEATING MONKEY & CITIZEN BEES by LEE DUGATKIN

It's funny how some people, especially #MonitoringSpirits react to my recommendation as if it's an act of soliciting help. Once they come across it, what they see is a mob of dirty, hungry, smelly beggers singing "babiyaala"

MY VIEW:

THEIR VIEW:

Dem go come carry shoulder pad like Sister Calista wey dey lead praise and worship for church and scroll past the recommendation. The chronic monitor spirits will check the link to see what this guy is on about. When they see it is my song, write up or anything that is an expression of my genius, they will just go;

"Na even him song, na him write up! Mtscheeew! Wetin he dey even sing? Wetin he dey even right? E don dey disturb us with him post all this years, he still no blow. While people dey blow on a daily. If something no pay you all this years, shey you no go use your tongue count your teeth ni?" Then our monitoring spirit will then move on to doing much more 'better things' like picking another person to monitor or checking out and commenting on the latest gossip trending about one celebrity or the other. Person wey no know your papa oh!!!!! Person wey no go ever give you one Kobo!!! Continue dey do challenge up and down for blown artiste but no show love for your friend wey be upcoming artistes, na that challenges you go continue dey face all through your life.

When they find out that what I recommended has nothing to do with me but is the work of others, they go;

"Abegi! Unemployment na bad thing oh. Shey person wey busy for work go get time to dey post another person work. Chai! Na lazy Nigerian youth jare"

But na so you take lose opportunity oh, mumu.

My latest eBook, It Is Better To Feel Like A Billionaire Than To Be A Billionaire is free(Incase you haven't read it, read it for free via OkadaBooks)

and all the songs I have been dropping have always been for free downloads, so really what am trying to gain sharing you a link to my song or write up if not for you to enjoy great music and good read?

"You want fame jare!"

Me, ITOPA Ozi Suru Ozi Agbaje Ozi Ukana, want fame?!!!!

E clear say you no know the kind of person wey I be.

If you still want to remain in your coven of shadows and continue to imbibe in your monitoring spiritism, no wahala because it doesn't affect the fact that am a genius and a legend in the making. I wish you all the best, all I will say jointly using the accent of Patience Jonathan & Buhari, you are free to pick any one you like, CONTINU/KWANTINU!!!!! but brase yourselves you hordes of zombiec nuisance that whenever I am online, I will singlehandedly hunt you guys down like this guy here.

Rubbish!!!

#WahalaBeLikeWhenYouKnowActProperlyAroundMe either I make you the subject of my song or my next article, I go Sha treat your fuck up, in an artistic way. Make wuna Sha continue to dey hide in the shadows and no cross my path.

[biofunmy]

Early results in Hong Kong district council elections show pro-democracy parties sweeping establishment aside

Pro-democracy parties had comfortably surpassed the number of seats they won in 2015 and were on course for their strongest showing ever in district council elections. They also appear to have secured all 117 seats afforded to them on the 1,200-member election committee that votes for Hong Kong’s leader — a system designed to give an upper hand in the process to pro-Beijing groups and business interests.

The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the largest party in the district councils, had won just 26 races and lost 156. The pro-democracy Democratic Party, in contrast, had won 54 and lost only two.

The turnout — 2.94 million, or more than 71 percent of the 4.13 million eligible voters — was more than double the 1.4 million who voted in local elections in 2015. Voter registration was also a record high, driven in part by 390,000 first-time voters.

“Hong Kongers regard the election as a referendum and have clearly spoken that they are unhappy with how Hong Kong and Beijing have dealt with the ongoing protests in the last six months,” said Kelvin Lam, who won the South Horizons West seat, according to the South China Morning Post.

Lam was drafted to contest the seat for the pro-democracy camp after prominent activist Joshua Wong was barred from standing.

In 2015, pro-Beijing parties won just over 54 percent of the vote and 298 of the 452 seats to take control of all 18 district councils. They tend to be better funded and organized than pro-democracy groups, with solid links with the business elite and political establishment that allow them to argue that they are in the best position to get things done for their constituents.

Pro-democracy groups won 40 percent of the vote and 126 seats in 2015. Independents took the remainder.

But this time around, elections that have typically been fought on issues such as traffic, trash collection and the nuisance of pests such as wild boars became a referendum on the most fundamental issue in the territory: Whether one stands with the movement fighting for democratic freedoms, or with the pro-Beijing establishment that has had a grip on the former colony since Britain handed it back to China in 1997.

The protests were sparked in June by a proposal to allow criminal suspects to be extradited to China. The government eventually withdrew the proposal, but not before demonstrators added more demands: Full democracy, retracting the official description of the protests as riots, amnesty for arrested protesters and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.

“The voice of the public is loud and clear: Five demands, not one less,” said Roy Kwong Chun-Yu, who won in the Pek Long constituency. If Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam “doesn’t listen to our voice,” he said, “she must still not be awake.”

Even in pro-Beijing strongholds such as North Point, fresh-faced candidates running on an explicitly pro-democracy platform unseated longtime incumbents. Among them was 23-year-old Karrine Fu, who beat 45-year-old Hung Lin-Cham, the DAB incumbent who had won the past three elections.

DAB threw its weight behind the unpopular extradition bill. Its vice chairman, Holden Chow, lost his seat to a 25-year-old pro-democracy activist in one of several upsets for the party.

Lo Kin-Hei, vice chairman of the Democratic Party, called the result a “clear win” for the pro-democracy camp. “Really wonder what Carrie Lam & [Chinese President] Xi Jinping thought when they see the record-breaking turnout & result today,” he tweeted.

Voters waited in hours-long lines that snaked around city blocks, an unusual experience for Hong Kong residents. Almost every neighborhood in the city has seen violent unrest at some point over the six-month long protest movement, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets and protesters countering with molotov cocktails and projectiles.

“Everyone just asks what side you are on, pro-democracy, or pro-establishment,” said Sabrina Koo, a pro-democracy candidate. “Only after that do they ask us what our plans are for the community and about local issues.”

Voters, relishing the opportunity to express their democratic rights, were unperturbed by the lines. Gloria Lai, 40, took her two children to a polling station close to a major protest flash point in Wan Chai: A road that in the past months has seen tear gas, water cannons and massive fires. They waited an hour to vote.

“I want my children to always remember that it is their right to vote, it is their right to voice out their opinion, and this is something to be treasured,” she said. “We don’t have the right to vote for our chief executive, but we have this.”

The contest for district council is the only fully democratic election in Hong Kong. The city’s leader is not directly elected. Only half of the Legislative Council, the lawmaking body, is chosen by the people.

Another voter in Wan Chai, which is currently represented by pro-Beijing politicians, said he flew back to Hong Kong from Britain, where he has lived for the past decade, to cast his ballot. The 39-year-old man, who asked to be identified only by his last name, Chan, said he has never seen such lines in an election, including in Britain.

“This is the best way to express our views, it is the right way,” he said. “We don’t want violence on the streets, but if we don’t have a way to express our political views in any other way, that will happen.”

Francis Lee, who researches public opinion and the media at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the high turnout, while “expected because of the heated political and social atmosphere” of recent months, was still impressive for Hong Kong.

“A combination of police tactics and the [subway and rail network’s] tendency to close numerous stations during protest events has made it extremely difficult to hold any large-scale peaceful protests,” he said. “Many moderate supporters of the movement were frustrated by the lack of opportunities to express themselves,” he said, and see the election as a way to reenter the fold.

The well-funded establishment camp was hoping for support from a “silent majority” that has grown uncomfortable with protest violence in Hong Kong.

Some voters expressed a desire for a return of peace to the city streets, and said they were voting for experienced candidates.

“Nothing is more important than bettering the lives of ordinary people,” said a 74-year old pro-Beijing supporter who gave his last name as Chow. “The responsibility of our youth is to study hard, not to make society a mess.” 

Others said the protest movement had changed their views. Two voters in Sai Wan Ho, where a young protester was shot at close range this month, said they were deeply influenced by what they had seen.

“I couldn’t sleep well last night, I’ve been anticipating this election for so long,” said a 52-year-old man who gave his last name as Wong. “I really hope these elections can change the situation and change the political development of Hong Kong.”

The election was overwhelmingly peaceful and orderly, making a rare weekend without violence or police action in Hong Kong. Riot officers in green fatigues, some wearing masks, were seen at some polling stations, but the atmosphere was generally calm.

Otherwise, it felt like a typical weekend in the city before the protests began in June: Families out shopping and eating and people running errands. The weeks leading up to the vote saw the biggest escalation in violence since the protests began more than five months ago, with hundreds of demonstrators arrested after police seized a university campus that had become a fortified base for the movement.

Two protesters still holed up in the Polytechnic University held a news conference urging people to vote.

Hundreds of candidates chose to run in response to the events of the past months. These include Cathy Yau, a police officer who left the force over concerns that they were abusing their authority and is now running on a pro-democracy platform; Jimmy Sham, a leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, the group behind the largest peaceful rallies in the movement, and Tommy Cheung, who decided to contest elections in Yuen Long after mobs attacked protesters at a subway station there.

Sham appeared at his constituency in Sha Tin, walking with the help of cane, a reminder of the political violence against candidates ahead of the vote. Sham was attacked in October by a group of men wielding hammers.

Sahred From Source link World News

from WordPress http://bit.ly/2QMZyY4 via IFTTT

[bountyofbeads]

🚨 🚨 NEWSFLASH: Hong Kong’s pro-democracy parties sweeping aside pro-Beijing establishment in local elections, early results show

By Shibani Mahtani, Tiffany Liang, Anna Kam and Simon Denyer | Published

Nov. 24 at 1:56 PM EST | Washington Post | Posted November 24, 2019 |

HONG KONG — Early results from Hong Kong district council elections on Sunday showed a surge of support for pro-democracy parties on Monday in what appeared to be a significant endorsement of the protest movement and an indictment of the pro-Beijing establishment seen by many as responsible for months of unrest in the city.

Voters took to the polls in record numbers to cast ballots in the only fully democratic election in the Chinese territory, an early sign they wanted to send a strong message to their government and to the Communist Party in Beijing.

Early results compiled by the South China Morning Post showed pro-democracy parties taking 108 of the first 120 seats to be declared, and pro-Beijing parties taking just 12. Several prominent figures in the protest movement won; several pro-establishment figures were unseated.

The turnout — more than 69 percent of the 4.13 million eligible voters had cast ballots an hour before polls closed — was significantly higher than the 1.4 million who voted in local elections in 2015. Voter registration was also a record high, driven in part by 390,000 first-time voters.

“Hong Kongers regard the election as a referendum and have clearly spoken that they are unhappy with how Hong Kong and Beijing have dealt with the ongoing protests in the last six months,” said Kelvin Lam, who won in the South Horizons West seat, according to the SCMP.

Lam was drafted to contest the seat for the pro-democracy camp after prominent activist Joshua Wong was barred from standing.

In 2015, pro-Beijing parties won just over 54 percent of the vote and 298 of the 452 seats to take control of all 18 district councils. They tend to be better funded and organized than pro-democracy groups, with solid links with the business elite and political establishment that allow them to argue they’re best placed to get things done for their constituents.

Pro-democracy groups won 40 percent of the vote and 126 seats in 2015. Independents took the remainder.

But this time around, elections that have typically been fought on issues such as traffic, trash collection and the nuisance of pests such as wild boars became a referendum on the most fundamental issue in the territory: Whether one stands with the movement fighting for democratic freedoms, or with the pro-Beijing establishment that has had a grip on the former colony since Britain handed it back to China in 1997.

Many people waited in hours-long lines that snaked around city blocks, an unusual experience for Hong Kong residents. Almost every neighborhood in the city has seen violent unrest at some point over the six-month long protest movement, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets and protesters countering with molotov cocktails and projectiles.

District councilors’ responsibilities are largely local, but they are given 117 seats on the 1,200-member election committee, dominated by pro-Beijing groups and business interests, that selects Hong Kong’s chief executive.

“Everyone just asks what side you are on, pro-democracy, or pro-establishment,” said Sabrina Koo, a pro-democracy candidate. “Only after that do they ask us what our plans are for the community and about local issues.”

Voters, relishing the opportunity to express their democratic rights, were unperturbed by the lines. Gloria Lai, 40, took her two children to a polling station close to a major protest flash point in Wan Chai: A road that in the past months has seen tear gas, water cannons and massive fires. They waited an hour to vote.

“I want my children to always remember that it is their right to vote, it is their right to voice out their opinion, and this is something to be treasured,” she said. “We don’t have the right to vote for our chief executive, but we have this.”

The contest for district council is the only fully democratic election in Hong Kong. The city’s leader is not directly elected. Only half of the Legislative Council, the lawmaking body, is chosen by the people.

Another voter in Wan Chai, which is currently represented by pro-Beijing politicians, said he flew back to Hong Kong from Britain, where he has lived for the past decade, to cast his ballot. The 39-year-old man, who asked to be identified only by his last name, Chan, said he has never seen such lines in an election, including in Britain.

“This is the best way to express our views, it is the right way,” he said. “We don’t want violence on the streets, but if we don’t have a way to express our political views in any other way, that will happen.”

Francis Lee, who researches public opinion and the media at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the high turnout, while “expected because of the heated political and social atmosphere” of recent months, was still impressive for Hong Kong.

“A combination of police tactics and the [subway and rail network’s] tendency to close numerous stations during protest events has made it extremely difficult to hold any large-scale peaceful protests,” he said. “Many moderate supporters of the movement were frustrated by the lack of opportunities to express themselves,” he said, and see the election as a way to reenter the fold.

The well-funded establishment camp was hoping for support from a “silent majority” that has grown uncomfortable with protest violence in Hong Kong.

Some voters expressed a desire for a return of peace to the city streets, and said they would vote for experienced candidates.

“Nothing is more important than bettering the lives of ordinary people,” said a 74-year old pro-Beijing supporter who gave his last name as Chow. “The responsibility of our youth is to study hard, not to make society a mess.” 

Others said the protest movement had changed their views. Two voters in Sai Wan Ho, where a young protester was shot at close range this month, said they were deeply influenced by what they had seen.

“I couldn’t sleep well last night, I’ve been anticipating this election for so long,” said a 52-year-old man who gave his last name as Wong. “I really hope these elections can change the situation and change the political development of Hong Kong.”

The election was overwhelmingly peaceful and orderly, making a rare weekend without violence or police action in Hong Kong. Riot officers in green fatigues, some wearing masks, were seen at some polling stations, but the atmosphere was generally calm.

Otherwise, it felt like a typical weekend in the city before the protests began in June: Families out shopping and eating and people running errands. The weeks leading up to the vote saw the biggest escalation in violence since the protests began more than five months ago, with hundreds of demonstrators arrested after police seized a university campus that had become a fortified base for the movement.

Two protesters still holed up in the Polytechnic University held a news conference urging people to vote.

Hundreds of candidates chose to run in response to the events of the past months. These include Cathy Yau, a police officer who left the force over concerns that they were abusing their authority and is now running on a pro-democracy platform; Jimmy Sham, a leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, the group behind the largest peaceful rallies in the movement, and Tommy Cheung, who decided to contest elections in Yuen Long after mobs attacked protesters at a subway station there.

Sham appeared at his constituency in Sha Tin, walking with the help of cane, a reminder of the political violence against candidates ahead of the vote. Sham was attacked in October by a group of men wielding hammers, one of several cases of violence against candidates on both sides. A candidate was stabbed, one had part of his ear bitten off, and two others were assaulted.

Ivan Choy, who studies Hong Kong electoral politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said a high voter turnout is usually to the advantage of pro-democracy candidates. But more voters on the “other side” who are desperate for an end to months-long conflicts could also be coming out to vote.

“After a number of seriously violent confrontations, the election will show whether mainstream public opinion is still supporting the movement, or whether protesters have lost the support of society,” he said.

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As Hong Kong Votes, Pro-Democracy Candidates Make Surprising Gains, Early Returns Show

If the district council election, normally a quiet affair, was a referendum on the protests, Beijing may find the result disquieting.

By Austin Ramzy, Elaine Yu and Keith Brasher | Published Nov. 24, 2019, 1:14 p.m. ET | New York Times | Posted November 24, 2019 |

HONG KONG — Pro-democracy campaigners took a strong lead in Hong Kong local elections on Sunday, according to early results, in a vote that turned a usually low-key affair into a referendum on the unrest that has created the city’s worst political crisis in decades.

The election on Sunday was for district council members, one of the lowest rungs of Hong Kong’s elected offices. District councils mainly deal with noise complaints, bus stop locations and neighborhood beautification projects. Elections for them are usually quiet affairs focused on community issues.

But in the midst of the increasingly violent protests that have divided the city, the race took on outsize significance. The vote was the first test of whether the protests could transform public anger that has led millions to take to the streets into actual votes, or whether the populace had grown weary of acts of civil disobedience that have snarled transportation and forced the closing of schools and businesses.

The results were expected hours after the polls closed at around 10:30 p.m. in Hong Kong. The election drew record-setting throngs of voters to polling places on Sunday.

Through it all, the city was calm, as democracy advocates appeared to focus on participating in one of the few elections that Beijing allows in the territory under its sovereignty.

“Politically speaking, the battle of the district councils as a whole is a crucial battle in taking control,” said Eddie Chu, a pro-democracy legislator who is also running for district council.

Here’s a look at the race and what is at stake:

Rumor helps draw voters to polls early

More than 69 percent of voters had hit the polls with around an hour left before sites closed. Those numbers surpassed the 47 percent turnout in the entire election four years ago. Back then, it had already set a record, lifted by an awakening of political interest that accompanied the Umbrella Movement a year earlier.

Before voting began on Sunday morning, the government had strongly denied a persistent rumor on social media that the polls might close after the first several hours, instead of being open for the scheduled 15 hours.

That rumor gave both sides in the election an incentive to urge their voters to show up early. Four times as many people voted in the first hour of polling as did in the 2015 district council elections.

“I haven’t been voting for a while; this time is very important,” Ada Chan, 30, an office worker, said as she left a polling place after casting her ballot early.

Lines quickly became so long on Sunday morning that Patrick Nip, the territory’s secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, appealed to the public to have more confidence that the polls would stay open.

“The voting time is very abundant, so you don’t have to concentrate on voting at the same time,” he said.

By late afternoon, lines had disappeared at some locations. The voters had dwindled to a trickle at the Yau Ma Tei Community Center polling station, nestled between the city’s famous street market for jade and the graceful banyan trees of an ancient temple.

A big election for a small office

A call to expand Hong Kong’s limited democracy is one of the demands of the protest movement, which began in June over a now-withdrawn proposal that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

Protesters have called for direct elections for the entire legislature, where currently only 40 of the 70 seats are selected by popular vote. They have also called for the chief executive, who is selected by a largely pro-Beijing election committee, to instead be chosen by voters.

The district councils have no lawmaking power. They control small amounts of public funds for simple infrastructure, like rain shelters. They lodge concerns with government departments over noise, traffic, sanitation and other issues. (Of the 479 district council seats, 452 are directly elected.)

The district council members do have a modest role in choosing the chief executive, Hong Kong’s highest official. Whichever side wins a majority of the seats controls 117 votes in the 1,200-member chief executive election committee.

That election committee is dominated by pro-establishment corporate interests, and the chief executives they have selected have always been loyal to Beijing. But a win would give the overall pro-democracy camp control of an additional 10 percent of the votes, and put it close to the 150 votes necessary to nominate a candidate.

Protester demands encroach on local issues

The brochures of district council candidates typically show neighborhood concerns they pledge to fix: trash-filled alleys, air-conditioners dripping on sidewalks and streets lined with illegally parked cars.

This year, several pro-democracy candidates have included protest slogans on their materials. Law Cheuk-yung, 22, said he was inspired to run for district council because of recent social movements. He said he would demand answers from the police after residents complained of possible testing of tear gas in his district, Tuen Mun.

“I want to imagine local government being more responsive,” he said. “At the moment the district council is just a rubber stamp. They do whatever the government wants.”

For such candidates, it is more about playing to the sentiment of the protests rather than taking action. They would not have much of a role in addressing protesters’ demands, which include an investigation into the police’s use of force, offering amnesty to those arrested in the protests and expanding direct elections.

“They are all trying to capitalize on public anger,” said Suzanne Pepper, a scholar of Chinese politics who lives in Hong Kong.

Traditionally, an establishment stronghold

Establishment parties have long had an advantage in these races, in part because they are much better funded, with backing from businesses. Currently the pro-Beijing camp holds 327 district council seats versus 124 for the pro-democracy group.

Rising interest in the election has meant that pro-democracy candidates are participating in every race, unlike previous years, when some establishment district council members ran unopposed. And after worries about disqualifications, only one of the camp’s candidates, the prominent activist Joshua Wong, was barred from running this year for political reasons. An election officer ruled that Mr. Wong could not uphold Hong Kong law because his political organization viewed independence from China as a possible goal for the city.

A campaign plagued by violence

A string of violent attacks on election candidates has hung over the race. Twelve opposition figures, including prominent politicians and activists as well as first-time candidates, have been ambushed and bloodied by gangs of masked men or attacked while canvassing for votes.

“We can see Hong Kong isn’t as free and as civilized as we’d previously imagined,” said Jannelle Leung, a 25-year-old accountant who was struck in the back of her head with a hard object in early October the day she announced she was officially running. She also said she received sexually harassing phone calls before the attack.

Jocelyn Chau, a first-time candidate like Ms. Leung who received similar lurid calls before being punched by a man while canvassing last month in the pro-Beijing neighborhood of North Point, criticized the government for not condemning the attacks on pro-democracy figures. “Not even superficial gestures,” said Ms. Chau, 23.

The polarizing pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho was injured in a knife attack this month and his offices were vandalized. He called the attack “a dark day for the district council election,” adding that the “orderly election had been completely obliterated.”

A large number of police are deployed

The attacks on candidates and vandalism had stirred worries that the election might be postponed. Some pro-democracy figures had said that a delay could harm their strength at the polls.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, had said the government would do its best to ensure the election would go on as scheduled. The government posted riot police officers near polling places across the city, though outside the zones marked with yellow tape where only voters could go.

The city had been convulsed by two weeks of intense protest, including on several campuses. At Chinese University of Hong Kong, protesters clashed with the police and occupied the college for five days. At Hong Kong Polytechnic University, more than 1,000 people at one point were trapped by a police siege.

Patrick Nip, the secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, warned last Monday that further unrest would reduce the chances of the election’s being held as scheduled. He called for an end to violence “and all kinds of duress.”

In the past few days, protests ebbed drastically, however, as the city prepared to take its conflicts to the polls.

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Hong Kong votes in local elections with unprecedented fanfare

By Simon Denyer, Shibani Mahtani and Tiffany Liang | Published November 23 at 10:45 PM EST | Washington Post | Posted November 24, 2019 |

HONG KONG — The people of Hong Kong took a breather from months of bitter street clashes to exercise their democratic rights Sunday in local elections seen as a referendum on the territory’s ­pro-Beijing leaders and the pro-democracy movement.

By the time polls opened at 7:30 a.m. local time, snaking lines had formed around schools and government buildings serving as polling stations — a new experience for many in Hong Kong, where local elections usually happen with little fanfare. Many candidates are running on an explicit platform of supporting the months-long democracy movement here, leaving their jobs to compete with pro-establishment political heavyweights.

“I want to make a change,” said Oscar, a 30-year-old voter in the North Point district, a pro-Beijing stronghold. “All we want is democracy.”

Oscar, who spoke on the condition that only his first name be used, citing electoral rules and a charged political environment, said he plans to support young candidates running in his district even though they lacked experience. In North Point, five new politicians are running, including a fresh university graduate who was moved to participate after violence against pro-democracy protesters in her neighborhood.

District council elections are largely fought on local issues, with pro-Beijing parties usually dominating, partly thanks to their links to the business community and the political establishment.

This time, though, the pro-Beijing parties fear Sunday’s elections could show a significant decline in their support, reflecting widespread concerns over China’s erosion of freedoms in the semiautonomous territory. For these candidates, their hope is that Hong Kong has a “silent majority” of residents who are increasingly uncomfortable with disruption and sporadic violence caused by street protests and who will vote to endorse the establishment.

A 62-year-old voter who gave his last name as Tsang also turned up to the North Point district early, hoping his vote can help “restore a peaceful society.”

Pro-democracy parties see the vote as a chance for people to express support for their cause and to send a strong message to the Hong Kong government and their political masters in Beijing. It is the only fully democratic election in Hong Kong, as the city’s leader is not directly elected and only half of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the lawmaking body, is directly elected.

Katherine Ng, 25, a first-time voter, said pro-democracy supporters like her are trying to bring their fight to the political arena. Ng voted in Causeway Bay, ­a middle-class neighborhood known for high-end shopping malls that is dominated by establishment political figures. “We need to vote these pro-establishment councilors out,” she said.

There has been a surge of interest in the elections among the broader public and a real effort by pro-democracy groups to get people to register, with sign-up booths along the routes of marches during the early, peaceful days of the protests. More than 390,000 new electors signed up this year, bringing the total registered voters to a record 4.1 million.

In the first three hours of voting Sunday, turnout was at 18 percent, triple what it was in 2015, according to election authorities.

Hundreds of new pro-democracy candidates have also been inspired to participate in politics amid the unrest that has engulfed city streets. In all, 1,090 candidates are contesting 452 seats, the first time that all the seats in the election have been contested.

The weeks leading up to the vote saw the biggest escalation in violence since the protests began more than five months ago, with hundreds of demonstrators arrested after police seized a university campus that had become a fortified base for the movement.

Across the city, Sunday’s elections were marked with heightened levels of security, with masked riot police officers at polling stations.

But the day before the vote was one of the quietest Hong Kong has experienced in months, with protesters keen to avoid giving the authorities any excuse to cancel the elections.

On online forums and message groups, protesters advised one another not to wear black — the unofficial uniform of the pro-democracy movement — on election day to avoid being detained and denied the right to vote.

The local election has also been marred by political violence against councilors from both sides — though pro-democracy candidates have overwhelmingly been the targets — and the arrest of several pro-democracy lawmakers. Prominent activist Joshua Wong was barred from running for office, which he alleged was evidence of election interference from Beijing.

In 2015, pro-Beijing parties won just over 54 percent of the vote and 298 seats, taking control of all 18 district councils. They tend to be better resourced and better organized than pro-democracy groups, with solid links between the communities and the establishment that have historically allowed them to get things done for constituents.

Pro-democracy groups won 40 percent of the vote in 2015 and 126 seats, with independents taking the remainder. They will be hoping for a repeat of the 2003 district council elections, when they saw a surge in support after mass demonstrations over the government’s plans to introduce a controversial national security law.

Chinese state media argue that a “silent majority” in Hong Kong oppose the protests because of the violence that has been unleashed on the city. But opinion polls show people overwhelmingly blame the government for the violence, even if the protesters shoulder some responsibility.

District councilors’ responsibilities are largely local, but they are given 117 seats on the 1,200-member election committee — dominated by pro-Beijing groups and business interests — that selects Hong Kong’s chief executive.

Polling stations will remain open until 10:30 p.m., with results expected to start coming in late Sunday and into Monday.

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I’ll Pushkar your Festival!

Pushkar is a 3 hour drive from Jaipur, during which you being to realize that driving on the interstate in India is less like driving and more like a Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios. While there are clear sides of the road on which you travel, that’s more of a general guideline so if you miss your turn, just turn around and go back the way you came... On the wrong side of the road. And there’s no right of way so just use your horn to let other drivers know you’re there and off you go. Oh and skip the blinkers, because they’re a nuisance. Can’t be bothered. So every year the small holy town of Pushkar, nestled among the mountains on a high dessert plain, hosts 200K people over the course of 7 days for the camel trading festival that’s part county fair, part music festival and part livestock auction. If India is an assault on the senses, Pushkar is so with a multiplier of at least 21. Everyone enters through a common gate just outside of town and the energy is palpable. As you make your way to the colosseum on the main drag, you pass by vendors selling everything from fancy camel bridal to platters of Bombay mix to cooking supply shops. The road is paved, which is a blessing and a curse because not only is there foot traffic, but there are people parading their horses, camels and donkeys around AND a gaggle of motorcycles, busses and jeeps trying to traverse the fair. I’ve discovered that India is like German in that there are rules, like pedestrian zones, but for every rule there’s at least one exception so while the intention is to have a pedestrian zone, it’s really not so the rule is crap. The good thing about making your way to the colosseum is that inside you can catch a ride on a camel across the fair. Put aside your concerns about animal welfare and enjoy the view because when you’re on foot, you miss the big picture and the layout, which spreads 50+ acres. Beyond the shops and stalls of stuff and things lie the pastures where the camels, horses and water buffalo reside. The pastures are also where the deals are done and the serious traders philosophize the meaning of life over some chai and Bombay mix. It’s also where the breeders stay with their flock so you’ll see tents by camels tethered to stakes in the ground. And before you get too romantic, this isn’t a state park or KOA. Yup, there are camp fires and tents but there are no facilities and there is trash everywhere, which is a topic for later, so just let the no facilities thing sink in a bit. While the horses are beautiful and the water buffalo are huge, the fair is all about the camels. They come in the single bump variety and some are truly beasts of burden with an average life expectancy of 18+ years, others are fancy camels that are used for show, with their colorful saddles, costumes and designs shaved into their fur. And there’s actually a fancy camel contest in the colosseum which is too much. Tassels, bells and dancing camels are quite the site. Beyond the fair is the town of Pushkar, a holy site for all Hindus with a lake at the center that is reputed to have been created by lord Brahma himself. It’s also the site of the only Brahamic temple in India, but getting there means pushing your way through throngs of people, motorcycles and vendors trying to sell you stuff. The Pushkar festival is a must see! The energy is electric, the people watching EPIC and it’s a beautiful part of Rajasthan, which could only be topped by a balloon ride originating in the colosseum, floating past our tent camp and landing in a corn field several miles outside of town.