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kemetic-dreams · 4 months ago

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Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (born Hubert Gerold Brown; October 4, 1943), is an American human rights activist, Muslim cleric, African separatist, and convicted murderer who was the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s. Best known as H. Rap Brown, he served as the Black Panther Party's minister of justice during a short-lived (six months) alliance between SNCC and the Black Panther Party.

He is perhaps known for his proclamations during that period, such as that "violence is as American as cherry pie", and that "If America don't come around, we're gonna burn it down." He is also known for his autobiography, Die Nigger Die! He is currently serving a life sentence for murder following the shooting of two Fulton County, Georgia, sheriff's deputies in 2000.

Brown's activism in the civil rights movement included involvement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Brown was introduced into SNCC by his older brother Ed. He first visited Cambridge, Maryland with Cleveland Sellers in the summer of 1963, during the period of Gloria Richardson's leadership in the local movement. He witnessed the first riot between whites and blacks in the city over civil rights issues, and was impressed by the local civil rights movement's willingness to use armed self-defense against racial attacks.

Brown later organized for SNCC during the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, while transferring to Howard University for his studies. Representing Howard's SNCC chapter, Brown attended a contentious civil rights meeting at the White House with President Lyndon B. Johnson during the Selma crisis of 1965 as Alabama activists attempted to march for voting rights.

Major federal civil rights legislation was passed in 1964 and 1965, including the Voting Rights Act, to establish federal oversight and enforcement of rights. In 1966, Brown organized in Greene County, Alabama to achieve African voter registration and implementation of the recently passed Voting Rights Act.

Elected SNCC chairman in 1967, Brown continued Stokely Carmichael's fiery support for "Black Power" and urban rebellions in the Northern ghettos.

During the summer of 1967, Brown toured the nation, calling for violent resistance to the government, which he called "The Fourth Reich". "Negroes should organize themselves", he told a rally in Washington, D.C., and "carry on guerilla warfare in all the cities." They should, "make the Viet Cong look like Sunday school teachers." He declared, "I say to America, Fuck it! Freedom or death!"

In this period, Cambridge, Maryland had an active civil rights movement, led by Gloria Richardson. In July 1967 Brown spoke in the city, saying "It's time for Cambridge to explode, baby. Black folks built America, and if America don't come around, we're going to burn America down." Gunfire reportedly broke out later, and both Brown and a police officer were wounded. A fire started that night and by the next day, 17 buildings were destroyed by an expanding fire "in a two-block area of Pine Street, the center of African-American commerce, culture and community." Brown was charged with inciting a riot, due to his speech.

Brown was also charged with carrying a gun across state lines. A secret 1967 FBI memo had called for "neutralizing" Brown. He became a target of the agency's COINTELPRO program, which was intended to disrupt and disqualify civil rights leaders. The federal charges against him were never proven.

He was defended in the gun violation case by civil rights advocates Murphy Bell of Baton Rouge, the self-described "radical lawyer" William Kunstler, and Howard Moore Jr., general counsel for SNCC. Feminist attorney Flo Kennedy also assisted Brown and led his defense committee, winning support for him from some chapters of the National Organization for Women.

The Cambridge fire was among incidents investigated by the 1967 Kerner Commission. But their investigative documents were not published with their 1968 report. Historian Dr. Peter Levy studied these papers in researching his book Civil War on Race Street: The Civil Rights Movement in Cambridge, Maryland (2003). He argues there was no riot in Cambridge. Brown was documented as completing his speech in Cambridge at 10 pm July 24, then walking a woman home. He was shot by a deputy sheriff allegedly without provocation. Brown was hastily treated for his injuries and secretly taken by supporters out of Cambridge.

Later that night a small fire broke out, but the police chief and fire company did not respond for two hours. In discussing his book, Levy has said that the fire's spread and ultimate destructive cost appeared to be due not to a riot, but to the deliberate inaction of the Cambridge police and fire departments, which had hostile relations with the African community. In a later book, Levy notes that Brice Kinnamon, head of the Cambridge police department, said that the city had no racial problems, and that Brown was the "sole" cause of the disorder, and it was "a well-planned Communist attempt to overthrow the government."

While being held for trial, Brown continued his high-profile activism. He accepted a request from the Student Afro-American Society of Columbia University to help represent and co-organize the April 1968 Columbia protests against university expansion into Harlem park land in order to build a gymnasium.

He also contributed writing from jail to the radical magazine Black Mask, which was edited and published by the New York activist group Up Against the Wall Motherfucker. In his 1968 article titled "H. Rap Brown From Prison: Lasima Tushinde Mbilashika", Brown writes of going on a hunger strike and his willingness to give up his life in order to achieve change.

Brown's trial was originally to take place in Cambridge, but there was a change of venue and the trial was moved to Bel Air, Maryland, to start in March 1970. On March 9, 1970, two SNCC officials, Ralph Featherstone and William ("Che") Payne, died on U.S. Route 1 south of Bel Air, when a bomb on the front floorboard of their car exploded, killing both occupants. The bomb's origin is disputed: some say the bomb was planted in an assassination attempt, and others say Payne was carrying it to the courthouse where Brown was to be tried. The next night, the Cambridge courthouse was bombed

Brown disappeared for 18 months. He was posted on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Ten Most Wanted List. He was arrested after a reported shootout with officers in New York City following an alleged attempted robbery of a bar there. He was convicted of robbery and served five years (1971–76) in Attica Prison in western New York state. While in prison, Brown converted to Islam. He formally changed his name from Hubert Gerold Brown to Jamil Abdullah al-Amin.

After his release, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he opened a grocery store. He became an imam, a Muslim spiritual leader, in the National Ummah, one of the nation's largest African Muslim groups. He also was a community activist in Atlanta's West End neighborhood. He preached against drugs and gambling. It has since been suggested that al-Amin changed his life again when he became affiliated with the "Dar ul-Islam Movement"

On May 31, 1999, al-Amin was pulled over while driving in Marietta, Georgia by police officer Johnny Mack for a suspected stolen vehicle. During a search, al-Amin was found to have in his pocket a police badge. He also had a bill of sale in his pocket, explaining his possession of the stolen car, and he claimed that he had been issued an honorary police badge by Mayor John Jackson, a statement which Jackson verified. Despite this, al-Amin was charged with speeding, auto theft and impersonating a police officer.

On March 16, 2000, in Fulton County, Georgia, Sheriff's deputies Ricky Kinchen and Aldranon English went to al-Amin's home to execute an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court over the charges. After determining that the home was unoccupied, the deputies drove away and were shortly passed by a black Mercedes headed for the house. Kinchen (the more senior deputy) noted the suspect vehicle, turned the patrol car around, and drove up to the Mercedes, stopping nose to nose. English approached the Mercedes and told the single occupant to show his hands. The occupant opened fire with a .223 rifle. English ran between the two cars while returning fire from his handgun, and was hit four times. Kinchen was shot with the rifle and a 9 mm handgun.

The next day, Kinchen died of his wounds at Grady Memorial Hospital. English survived his wounds. He identified al-Amin as the shooter from six photos he was shown while recovering in the hospital[citation needed] Another source said English identified him shortly before going into surgery for his wounds.

After the shootout, al-Amin fled Atlanta, going to White Hall, Alabama. He was tracked down by U.S. Marshals who started with a blood trail at the shooting site, and arrested by law enforcement officers after a four-day manhunt. Al-Amin was wearing body armor at the time of his arrest. He showed no wounds. Officers found a 9 mm handgun near his arrest site. Firearms identification testing showed that this was used to shoot Kinchen and English, but al-Amin's fingerprints were not found on the weapon. Later, al-Amin's black Mercedes was found with bullet holes in it.

His lawyers argued he was innocent of the shooting. Defense attorneys noted that al-Amin's fingerprints were not found on the murder weapon, and he was not wounded in the shooting, as one of the deputies said the shooter was. A trail of blood found at the scene was tested and did not belong to al-Amin or either of the deputies. A test by the state concluded that it was animal blood, but these results have been disputed because there was no clear chain of custody to verify the sample and testing process. Deputy English had said that the killer's eyes were gray, but al-Amin's are brown.

At al-Amin's trial, prosecutors noted that he had never provided an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the shootout, nor any explanation for fleeing the state afterward. He also did not explain why the weapons used in the shootout were found near him during his arrest.

On March 9, 2002, nearly two years after the shootings, al-Amin was convicted of 13 criminal charges, including Kinchen's murder and aggravated assault in shooting English. Four days later, he was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole (LWOP).He was sent to Georgia State Prison, the state's maximum-security facility near Reidsville, Georgia.

Otis Jackson, a man incarcerated for unrelated charges, claimed that he committed the Fulton County shootings, and confessed this two years before al-Amin was convicted of the same crime. The court did not consider Jackson's statement as evidence. Jackson's statements corroborated details from 911 calls following the shooting, including a bleeding man seen limping from the scene: Jackson said he knocked on doors to solicit a ride while suffering from wounds sustained in the firefight with deputies Kinchen and English. Jackson recanted his statement two days after making it, but later confessed again in a sworn affidavit, stating that he had only recanted after prison guards threatened him for being a "cop killer". Prosecutors refuted Jackson's testimony, claiming he couldn't have shot the deputies as he was wearing an ankle tag for house confinement that would have showed his location. Al-Amin's lawyers allege that the tag was faulty.

Al-Amin appealed his conviction on the basis of a racial conspiracy against him, despite both Fulton County deputies being black. In May 2004, the Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously ruled to uphold al-Amin's conviction.

In August 2007, al-Amin was transferred to federal custody, as Georgia officials decided he was too high-profile for the Georgia prison system to handle. He was first held in a holdover facility in the USP Atlanta; two weeks later he was moved to a federal transfer facility in Oklahoma, pending assignment to a federal penitentiary.

On October 21, 2007, al-Amin was transferred to ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. He has been under an unofficial gag order, prevented from having any interviews with writers, journalists or biographers.

On July 18, 2014, having been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, al-Amin was transferred to Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina. As of March 2018, he is incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Tucson.

Al-Amin sought retrial through the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Investigative journalist, Hamzah Raza, has written more about Otis Jackson's confession to the deputy shootings in 2000, and said that this evidence should have been considered by the court. It had the potential of exonerating al-Amin. However, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal on July 31, 2019.

In April 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from al-Amin. His family and supporters continue to petition for a new trial.

#african #afrakan #kemetic dreams #africans #brownskin #brown skin #afrakans #african culture #afrakan spirituality #h rap brown #Jamil Abdullah al-Amin #Black Panther Party #black panthers #kwame ture #fred hampton #civil rights #civil rights movement #malcolm x

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wannaeatramyeon · 1 year ago

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Ryuhei Kuroda x Reader: Moon and Tide

F!Reader. Colleagues to Lovers. Mitsuki leaves, Ryuhei has some realisations.

Ryuhei experiences his first heartbreak at nineteen.

(In truth, his heart had broken time and time again with his unrequited love. Each time that Mitsuki dismisses him, each time he saw her with Shiba Inu.

But each time he used to see her, he also fell in love all over again too.)

Shortly after Sinu Han leaves, Mitsuki also departs.

"What?!" Ryuhei slams both fists down on the boardroom table, "Then I quit."

"Haven't you harassed her enough? She obviously doesn't want you to follow." Samuel Seo gazes over the top of his glasses, smirk on his face and relishing the blonde's distress.

"Watch your mouth." Ryuhei snarls, low and menacing, a clear warning as any.

"Samuel is right," Eugene is calm, voice even. "Please respect Mitsuki's wishes this one time." Unlike all the other times you've ignored her boundaries does not need to be said.

The room stills at his words. The chairman has spoken, although it does nothing to dissipate the tension. The air hangs heavy. Like an elastic band stretched taut, to its limits.

Samuel observes Mandeok tensing and Ryuhei’s nostrils flaring, and he wonders who will break first.

Ryuhei's eyes flit around the room. The silence, lack of support, from Kenta or even yourself is damning.

"Fuck you," he hisses. Leaving, not wanting to be here a second longer.

The door slams, reverberating off the walls.

"My apologies for Ryuhei's interruptions," Eugene gestures to you, "In Mitsuki's absence, Y/N will take on her duties and title."

You give a curt nod to the rest of the room, acknowledging your promotion, but your eyes stay glued to Ryuhei's empty seat.

To both of your surprise, you're the first one to reach out.

(You like to think it’s you fulfilling your new duties as president. The alliance, the uncomplicated relationship you always had with Ryuhei helped too.)

Gently knocking on his room door, calling his name. The voice, the tone, the pitch pulls him out of his mood. Briefly, for a second, before he realises the two of you sound nothing alike.

"Go away,"

He watches you respond by jiggling the handle aggressively. So much so that the entire door shakes then a second later - it opens with you striding in.

"That's handy," Ryuhei, lying in bed, glances over at you rearranging the pins back into your hair, "And a complete invasion of my privacy."

"Like you ever cared about anyone's privacy,"

Right. Another jab about Mitsuki. One that he used to take on the chin because it's true, he's not ashamed. He pines after her openly, certain that everyone in 2A would have heard of his antics by now, if not the whole of Workers.

Tonight is a different story. It's less the wound being raw and tender and more Ryuhei is missing an entire limb.

How can she leave without saying goodbye?

He misses her.

Ryuhei throws the covers over his head.

The message is clear though not enough to drive you out or to muffle your voice.

"You have 3 days to get yourself together, then I need you by my side."

Fuck off he wants to say. But what's the point anymore?

"I have negotiations that could go wrong. I need all the manpower I can get my hands on."

Like you wouldn't be able to handle it by yourself, a small voice in his brain retorts.

Whatever. This, Workers, everything has all been a complete waste of his time.

Ryuhei was officially Mitsuki's bodyguard, and it makes sense that his duties now extend to you.

Everything else thus far has transitioned smoothly, except your current dilemma: how do you deal with a bodyguard that doesn't want to guard you?

After the three days, you barge in at the crack of dawn and try to wrestle him out of bed. Out of the room that stinks of despair and depression.

A one sided obsession that has run its course, ended in the best way it could. You don't voice these thoughts out loud.

Ryuhei is a dead weight in your arms, childish and insolent and completely unhelpful.

He's a grown man. There's little you can do.

Your lips crease thin with fury but no words spill forth.

You leave without him.

It's a full week later that Ryuhei musters up enough energy to crawl out of bed, throwing on something half presentable to stretch his legs.

Wandering the corridors, guilt creeps over him when he sees you talking to Kenta, right arm bandaged and in a sling.

Kenta nods at his friend's reappearance, you ignore him completely.

Well. He supposes he deserves that.

Seeing you kick starts a little change.

Not a lot, enough to get Ryuhei out of bed every day and put up an appearance of semi-normality. Key word: semi.

He slumps over a desk half the time, willing away the hours by fiddling with the edges of papers and documents, heart aching.

(A small part of him, maybe the most pathetic part, wants to doodle Mitsuki's name over and over.)

Other times he takes to training with a ferocity that surprises himself.

The only moments he feels anything other than a hollowness is when he's by your side. Eyes constantly attracted to your broken arm.

Steel pins, Kenta had mentioned, face grim as he clicks his lighter, adding that it was only thanks to your quick thinking the executives of Workers made it out alive.

Huh, it was that bad?

The guilt builds, claws under his skin and at his conscience. Could have sworn you were ambidextrous except now he watches you struggle with your dominant hand out of action.

He's not sure if it's out of stubbornness or forgetfulness that you have used chopsticks all week. Albeit your dexterity has vastly improved since Monday, watching you is nothing short of exasperating.

Ryuhei’s peace offering comes in the form of a spoon.

You've barely exchanged words since that day where you tried to hoist him out of bed. Only on a needs-must basis. Terse and to the point.

You were thoroughly pissed off and everyone knew it.

Righteous in your anger at first. You had explicitly said that you needed all hands on deck, implicitly asked for his help and frustrated he couldn't separate his personal feelings enough to do his job when there are lives at stake. Over the past couple weeks, your ire has reduced, cooled until he is now nothing but a thorn in your side.

"Go on, just take it," The thorn in your side holds out the utensil.

You ignore him.

"Or else I could just feed you?" He offers, a hint of mischief returning to his eyes.

Ryuhei huffs when you tell him he can try if he wants a broken arm to match yours.

Inch by inch, you thaw.

Would have thawed quicker if Ryuhei lessened his efforts to get back into your good graces, causing headaches and extra work more often than not.

Still, he tries. Following you around, part bodyguard, part puppy. You appreciate it in hindsight. It’s almost cute.

Little by little, he also regains the bounce in his step.

Ryuhei tries once to contact Mitsuki.

She says she has no plans to return or to see him again.

She doesn't offer anything else.

He stays silent the whole time.

Some may consider that a form of closure, Ryuhei isn’t sure. Things at least get slightly easier after that.

Once an all encompassing searing pain, the hurt and heartbreak eventually settles and dulls into a throb.

Normalcy becomes less of a facade.

Ryuhei flips off Eugene in earnest, tells Samuel Seo to eat shit with sincerity, struts 2A with his confident gait once more.

"Nomen," you nudge him lightly with your shoulder. Even with your mask on, he can hear the smile in your voice. "It's good to have you back."

"Yeah," he agrees. It is good to be back.

Not everything is smooth sailing, however.

In his more melodramatic moments, in which there are many, Ryuhei vows never to love again, endure a lifetime of chastity, promising to never so much as gaze at another woman.

You snort at the declarations.

"What?" He snaps and you pointedly return his gaze as he remains indignant, "You don't count."

You let that particular one slide but- "Who's going to sleep with you anyway, you're a pathetic asshole."

"A very handsome pathetic asshole," he corrects.

"Hmm." Yet you don't disagree.

It's only later that day, stuck in another godforsaken meeting with you and Eugene, when boredom strikes and his mind wanders that Ryuhei realises that you didn't refute his claim.

He watches you, head tilted and eyebrows furrowed.

Huh.

Ryuhei doesn't care about you, not like he cares about Mitsuki. Though he doesn't care about anyone the same way he cares (cared?) about her.

It's not personal.

His relationship with you has always been easy, flirtatious without intent.

Sharp words and double entendres litter your conversations. Fun during the better moments, aggravating during others. Skin deep, superficial. He doesn't know you beyond the limits of your words, not really, and the experience is mutual.

Others have commented on your strength and character before. Formidable. A force to be reckoned with.

Even more have taken note of your looks, a common water cooler topic.

To Ryuhei, you're like the moon. Sure you're nice to look at. Yet when Mitsuki is the stars and beyond; dazzling, glittering with untold adventures, how can anyone possibly compare?

(In the end, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Though not in the way Ryuhei expects.)

He carries out his new bodyguard tasks without complaint.

It only made sense with your arm out of commission, and him technically and almost literally being your right hand man, that he carries your bag, your coffee too. Really, whatever you need.

What’s more, he now knows you take your coffee exactly like him. Quadruple shot, milky and disgustingly sweet.

Spends more time scrolling on your phone than a president probably should.

Hate sitting with your back to the door. And in meetings where there are no other options, Ryuhei makes sure to position himself opposite instead of being next to you. Himself sat where you would have preferred. One eye on any potential dangers and the exit route, giving a reassuring, roguish smile that eases your worries.

Bags under your eyes naturally mean a poor night’s sleep. Bags under your eyes and hair in a ponytail means you do not want to be here today. Something you would never voice out loud, but Ryuhei can read you anyway.

On those days, he makes sure he’s always one step ahead and extra considerate. He’s not completely altruistic, he also doesn’t want to be shouted at again.

The emptiness still comes and goes, catches him out when he least expects it. Usually he feels Mitsuki’s absence more than remembers her presence.

Ryuhei notices you a bit more too, these days. Ever since your offhand agreement.

The way you say his name is nothing like how she used to. The way you look at him is nothing like how she used to.

It’s actually warmer.

“You fucking idiot,” your tone is a complete contrast to your gentle hands, now completely healed and bandaging up his instead.

Ryuhei pouts with mock hurt and you roll your eyes. You will not give him sympathy, not for this.

(A yelp diverted your attention earlier today, and you rushed to find Kenta holding his lighter and Ryuhei cradling his own hand, wincing in pain.

You took one look at the two guilty faces and realised that the blonde moron wanted to learn how to set his finger alight like Kenta without hurting himself.

Ryuhei is one thing, but you expected better from Kenta. You turn to him, disappointment painted on your face and tell him exactly that.

“What about me!” Ryuhei had the audacity to pipe up. You roughly snatched his wrist and dragged him away.)

“Don’t set yourself on fire again,” you punctuate each word by sharply jabbing him in the chest with your finger.

Ryuhei flutters his eyelashes at you in a way he thinks must be quite charming and endearing. Who knows where the hell he got that idea from. You’re tempted to gouge out his eyes more than anything.

Somehow, you manage to resist. You also refrain from rolling your eyes at him again.

(You worry if you do that anymore, they might get permanently stuck and never return back to normal.)

Ryuhei studies his injured hand. Lying in bed, other hand behind his head, holding it up into the direct path of the silver moonlight cutting through the darkness.

He moves it, angles it this way and that. Letting the highlights and shadows illuminate your neat handiwork.

Something about this makes him feel funny. A little light headed.

He can’t recall the last time anyone touched him so kindly. Can’t recall anyone ever taking care of him when he’s been hurt before.

If he squints and looks at the neat little knot just right, he can almost see a heart shape.

It’s odd.

Were you always this flirtatious? Was he always this coquettish with you?

Did you always return his taunts with such a sparkle in your eyes?

When did you start having so many inside jokes, your own moments snickering together?

And it’s like he can finally see you. No longer subjected to his previous tunnel vision, he finally understands what everyone has been saying.

You’re much more stunning than Ryuhei remembers.

He also doesn’t remember your smile making him feel this way before.

Lastly, he remembers saying ‘you don’t count’. His words have come back to bite him.

Ryuhei wakes up at his usual time on a Wednesday.

It’s a nothing special sort of day.

Slinks out of his bed like he usually does, goes about his day as he usually does, teases you with intention and a quickened pulse. Which… ok, that one is new.

All in all. It’s fine. It’s an unremarkable Wednesday.

Except the dull ache in his chest, one he has had to endure for the last few months, isn't there anymore.

There’s a different type of guilt at play.

First-

When you’re used to something for years and years, it takes time to break out of a habit. For the first time, Ryuhei begins to see his attachment to Mitsuki as the unhealthy obsession that it is.

He’s not fully ready to pick this apart just yet.

Second-

How do you separate a rebound from something real? That you’re not just a replacement, a new person to pass the time?

And that idea, that you’re a replacement for anything, shocks him. It’s unimaginable to think of you as a passing fancy because you deserve so much better.

That really should have given him an inkling.

On the other hand. When Ryuhei has only surrounded his love life with the one red flag, and himself being the other red flag too… he has a lot to learn.

Unfortunately you did get one thing right: Ryuhei is pathetic. His baseline personality is an absolute simp.

Maybe it would have been different if his informative years played out differently. Alas.

Alone, he tries to dissect his thoughts and feelings. In your company, he is much more simple. Constantly wanting to capture your attention, which you give easily and with minimal conditions.

Ryuhei can now read you like the back of his hand, knows your preferences so well that he’s able to anticipate your needs before they develop into needs. Wants, at best. Perhaps not even that.

And when other people look at you, the desire shown easily on their face that he has tried to tamper down, his possessiveness and jealousy flares.

Unsubtle shoulder barges and sneers are thrown in their direction.

But Ryuhei is nothing if not patient. He supposes it won’t be so bad if you turn him down and you’re happy with someone else.

He’s used to that.

Giving you the opportunity to turn him down though, he’s not sure yet how to go about.

Conveniently, an opportunity does arise.

Celebrating the new Fifth Affiliates, Eugene had said, showing his face at the gathering for about ten minutes before leaving.

Then the two newbies, who Ryuhei doesn’t bother to get the names of because he sure as hell doesn’t want to know anyone with tacky ‘H’ tattoos (on their forehead and neck for crying out loud!), leave shortly after.

Ryuhei also considers it a small victory when Samuel Seo departs, after a very witty verbal sparring to see who can tell each other to fuck off in increasingly creative ways.

“You’re so fucking juvenile,” you sigh, though you begrudgingly admit that you were impressed throughout that display.

“At least I got the last word in,” Ryuhei grins, giving the finger to Samuel’s retreating back.

The room empties out at a quicker rate now that the non-mandatory, completely optional (if you want to keep your job) gathering is devoid of the more severe senior management.

No more than another 30 minutes pass and only you and Ryuhei remain. Two small figures in an oversized room, full of empty tables but one.

Ryuhei rests one elbow on the table, propping up his head and looks at you with a cocky smile.

“Remember when I said I’m never going to gaze at anyone ever again? That was a lie.”

“Really.” You deadpan, resisting once more the urge to roll your eyes. It might be the most difficult thing you have ever had to do.

“I lied when I said you don’t count too.”

Ryuhei, for all his flaws, has only ever been forthright with his emotions. In his own roundabout and very sex-pest way with Mitsuki, though he did confess in the end. As for right now, well, he has learned his lesson.

You give him a response he didn’t expect.

“I think you should spend more time on your own first.”

Ryuhei is immediately placed on a leave of absence the next day.

You explain clearly to him as he sits opposite, his very official letter scrunched in his fist and feeling extremely petulant, that while you do like him, he needs some distance to everything.

He only hears the first part. You like him? You? Like? Him? The words swim round and round in his mind.

“Ryuhei,” you snap your fingers and him out of his daze.

“Then what’s the problem?” he whines.

“Don’t make me into another Mitsuki,” Ryuhei opens his mouth to argue that he won’t, there is no way-

“Ryuhei,” you repeat his name again in an authoritative tone that leaves no room for argument. Echoing your words from yesterday. “You need to spend more time on your own. This is non negotiable.”

Ryuhei sulks like there is no tomorrow.

Tries to manifest you outside his door but to no avail. He doesn’t see you at all.

That just about surmises his first week.

The week after, he thinks about you. How strange that you started as colleagues, almost friends first. How well he actually knows you.

Now months after Mitsuki has left, Ryuhei can only piece together fragments of her.

Even still, he had never seen the whole picture. He never knew her in her entirety, only the portrait he painted.

What becomes exceedingly clear is his one sided behaviour.

The fog, the rose tinted glasses fully lifts in the fourth week.

The sixth week he carefully pries open the past.

Gently picks apart what he wasn’t ready to before.

Moments of self reflection are painful, embarrassing. If the earth could open up and swallow him whole, he would gladly take it.

He still feels something for Mitsuki, though pertaining more to the remorse and shame side rather than anything else.

In an ideal world, he would seek her out and offer an apology for his past behaviour. However, in the real world, that only helps to alleviate his own conscience.

He has already reached out once before and she has given her answer.

Nothing else from Ryuhei now would benefit either party.

Two full months later, Ryuhei sees you once again at work.

Your smile still makes his heart flutter and brain short wire.

Except he can now see you as a whole person, all your flaws and faults too. What he used to ignore with Mitsuki, blinded by his obsession.

His feelings for you don't change.

Ryuhei wonders when he started to like you.

Thinks his heart liked you before his brain even realised. When the time is right, he needs to apologise for how long it took him to fully catch up.

He remembers thinking of you as the moon once, paling in comparison to the stars and the great beyond.

That wasn’t quite fair. Wasn't accurate at all.

If you are the celestial body, luminous and hung high in the heavens by the gods themselves, then Ryuhei considers himself the tide.

He understands now, with its lunar radiance, there is nothing that comes close.

Quite simply: 月が綺麗ですね

(The moon is beautiful, isn't it?)

At twenty, Ryuhei experiences real love.

Experiences what it truly means to love and to be loved.

#lookism #lookism x reader #lookism webtoon #lookism manhwa #lookism fic #ryuhei kuroda #ryuhei kuroda x reader #ryuhei x reader #wannaeatramyeon #3.5k words on this fucking asshole #a little. maybe a lot OOC.#trying to break him out of Mitsuki's grasps #✨character growth✨#making this pathetic meow meow less pathetic

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3rdeyeblaque · 1 year ago

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On August 30th we venerate Young King Brother Fred Hampton on his 75th birthday 🎉

Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton was the one of THE greatest orators, leaders, and visionaries to join the Black Panther Party Of Self-Defense 🖤✊🏾

Fred Hampton was born & raised in the Chicago suburbs of Illinois. Civil liberties, rights, and laws were always of great interest to him. After graduating high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College in River Grove, Illinois. He joined his local NAACP branch to get involved in the civil rights movement. He rose to the position of Youth Council President for his strong leadership and organization skills. In this position, Brother Hampton mobilized a racially diverse group of 500 young men/women who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities for Black American youth.

In 1968, he joined the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, headquartered in Oakland, CA. Shortly thereafter, he was selected to head the Chicago Chapter. Here, he created strong personal and political ties with his mentor & chaplain, Father George Clements at the [then] Holy Angels Catholic Church; which served as a safe haven for the Panthers targeted for police surveillance or harassment.

Brother Hampton accomplished a great many things as a young, prolific leader of the BPP Chicago Chapter. He successfully negotiated a gang truce on live television.One of his greatest successes was an unprecedentedly integrated approach to sociopolitical unity; he formed a “Rainbow Coalition”, which included: the Students for a Democratic Society, the Blackstone Rangers, a street gang and the National Young Lords, a local Puerto Rican organization. He was the first leading Panther to achieve this. This alliance is what truly struck the cord of fear in the Chicago P.D. & the FBI. In an effort to neutralize the Chicago Chapter of the BPP, the Black Panthers were placed under heavy surveillance & were subjected to several harassment campaigns.

By 1969, several Black Panthers and Chicago cops either suffered injury or were killed in shootouts across the city, which resulted in the arrest of over 100 members. On Dec 4th of that same year, under the FBI's initiative, the County PD & Chicago PD conducted heinous, unlawful, and unnecessary raid on the Black Panther Party's HQ in the early morning hours while Brother Hampton, leader Mark Clark, and other Panthers slept. They fired over 100 rounds into the apartment without warning. Twelve officers executed Brother Hampton as he slept, drugged by a sedative slipped into his drink by "Panther"/FBI informant O'Neal. Naturally, in Jan 1970, the County Coroner's office ruled the Black Panther leaders' deaths as "justifiable homicide".

Over 5,000 souls attended Brother Hampton’s funeral. Many civil rights activates eulogized him, including his good friend and mentor Father George, who also held a Requem Mass for him at his church.

After many years of coverups, internal investigations, lawsuits, raids, and conspiracies confirmed, the FBI, County PD, & Chicago PD finally admitted to the wrongful deaths of Brother Hampton and Mark Clark. In 1990, and again in 2004, the Chicago City Council passed resolutions commemorating December 4th as Fred Hampton Day. Today, Brother Hampton rests at the Bethel Cemetery in Haynesville, LA where his parents are from - which continues to endure violent desecration from White Supremacist vigilantes/supporters.

" You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution. People have to be armed to have power" - Young King Fred Hampton

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his love of our people, his relentless dedication to the BPP cause, and his young yet wise spirit that lives on. May be the find restful peace in spirit that he was/is denied in the physical.

Offering suggestions: flower offerings at his grave, libations of water, prayers and frankincense toward his elevation

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

#hoodoo #hoodoos #atr #atrs #the hoodoo calendar #the black panthers #Fred hampton #Chicago #black panther party #BPP #ancestor elevation #ancestor veneration

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beardedmrbean · 26 days ago

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HOUSTON - Several Houston-area bars and clubs have received a 90-day suspension from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) after an investigation into alleged human trafficking.

The TABC and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance performed the raids, leading to the emergency suspensions at nine locations that the TABC says were "in flagrant violation of international justice."

The commission says the raids are the result of ten years of investigations, which involved the TABC, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement.

"This operation was a massive undertaking that is likely the largest of its kind in Texas history," wrote TABC Chairman Kevin J. Lilly in a statement.

The suspended businesses included:

El Flamingo Club, 3715 Aldine Mail Rt.

Koko Bongo, 955 Federal Rd.

Los Escorpiones #2, 1636 Federal Rd.

Los Escorpiones #5, 2815 Luell St.

El Cruzero Sports Bar, 7715 W. Hardy

Bora Bora Sports Bar, 11028 Aldine Westfield Rd.

El Rinconcito Night Club, 743 Freeport St.

La Condesa, 8810 Jensen Dr.

Las Margaritas Night Club, 210 E. Little York Rd.

All nine locations received the suspensions under Alcoholic Beverage Code Sec. 11.614.

The code allows for the emergency suspensions if a business poses a "continuing threat to the public welfare."

"Our primary goal tonight was to shut down these hives of criminal activity and to put a stop to the continued victimization of the people held there against their will. This investigation is not over, and we’ll be working closely with our partners in HTRA to track down all of the suspected traffickers involved in these heinous crimes," wrote Lilly.

More information is expected to be released about the raids next week.

#nunyas news

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carnelianwings · 4 months ago

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Something I find really funny is how for all the rumors that Seed’s staff/writers don’t like Cagalli, Orb under her leadership just keeps ending up in a better (political) position with each addition - Seed Destiny ends with Logos wiped out, Blue Cosmos severely hampered, and the entire Seiran family wiped out, including Yuna. This leaves Cagalli with almost no political opposition in Orb (since the second Battle of Orb would’ve flushed out a majority of the Blue Cosmos/Logos sympathizers within the government/military), along with giving her a boost in popular and military support thanks to her actions and field leadership during the battle.

(Cutting for me just rambling on a bit about the in-universe politics after Seed Freedom)

You can tell with how much she’s managed to get done in the years between Seed Destiny and Seed Freedom - in that short year and a half to two years, she was able to propose and found COMPASS, secret away and upgrade the Impulse, Destiny, Strike Freedom, and Infinite Justice, arrange for ties between Orb and Terminal to investigate/exchange intel (Athrun and Meyrin), and put into place all the evacuation/defensive protocols in case of another attack on Orb (as seen vs Foundation and Requiem, even if she needed Kira to pull an “I lived, bitch” to Aura 😅).

And it doesn’t end there - thanks to Foundation, Cagalli arguably has an easier time internationally now, because the Eurasian Federation leadership also got hit and the Eurasian Federation, while not necessarily Blue Cosmos sympathizers like the Atlantic Federation, was very staunchly anti-PLANT, which I think would’ve caused some problems for Cagalli, especially post Seed Destiny with Lacus joining her for that broadcast.

I actually think Orb probably has fairly decent diplomatic relations with PLANT (I think Chairman Lament mostly cut off that call after everything went south in Eldore because of the whole nuke situation), especially since Lacus is COMPASS’s inaugural president, plus the time both Dearka and Waltfeld (I’m not sure if he’s in Orb or PLANT as of Seed Freedom since his silent cameo has him helping to stop the coup in PLANT in Seed Freedom) spent there. And we have a very prominent all-Coordinator team with the Yamato Team - truth be told I actually wonder how much the Earth Alliance invested into COMPASS because everything we see on screen is either contributed by Orb (Archangel, Murrue and crew, Kira, Mu, and the Murasame Kais), PLANT/ZAFT (Millenium, Konoe and crew, Heinlein, Shinn, Lunamaria, Agnes, Gelgoog, and Gyan), or arguably both (namely, Rising Freedom and Immortal Justice). Unless I missed a minor crew member along the way. Which is possible.

Also pure speculation on my part on this - but the fact Seed Freedom has Athrun going into intelligence with Terminal (which we first see as having a presence in the PLANTS) from the Orb side and Yzak and Dearka going into intelligence from the PLANT side can’t be a coincidence. I want to think the three of them decided on it together because being in intelligence/covert ops gives them the chance to work together without having to force anyone to change their current loyalties - I don’t think Athrun can be truly loyal to anyone except Cagalli after Seed Destiny, and Yzak was always loyal to PLANT, and if Dearka hadn’t been captured and made to realize how extreme PLANT had become under Patrick Zala he wouldn’t have switched sides to Orb/Three Ships Alliance during Seed either. Which also indirectly feeds into Orb and PLANT having better political relations than Orb and Earth Alliance.

Which brings me to my final point - I would be very surprised if Orb isn’t the primary target for the antagonists in a Seed Freedom sequel. At this point Orb’s capable of doing too much with the limited resources it has as a small nation with too much military strength at its command. And there is room for a sequel (setting-wise) because while Earth Alliance took another major hit with during the Foundation Conflict, the ideologies that led to the First and Second Earth Alliance-PLANT wars still exist - even if Blue Cosmos lost another leader, even if the believers of Coordinator Supremacy lost another leader (in Jagannath) those ideologies still fundamentally exist. All the Foundation Conflict did was serve to take down the military leadership of those ideologies - even if the public on both sides see those views negatively it doesn’t make them go away.

#gundam seed #cagalli yula athha #I like taking the political landscape of Cosmic Era into account when I write #it’s just so funny to me bc Orb and Cagalli just keeps getting more badass every time #like Orb has 2 One Man Armies at its beck and call as it is #Kira and Athrun if need be can and will just take out swathes of an invasion force #especially if there’s no opposing prototype unit #and that’s assuming Shinn doesn’t try to help #and Mu is like … half one since he’d go in the Akatsuki #and Akatsuki is battery powered #I do think AsuCaga going public would cause a shift in power balance #even post Seed Freedom bc Earth Alliance still has some power in its own right #and bc most people will associate Athrun with PLANT before Orb due to his name #it might be less bad if it’s after Cagalli steps down as Chief Representative #but I think she would still have some degree of political pull unofficially after #and I think Athrun would have more time to put some distance between himself and his father’s legacy #I think him going into Terminal is a smart choice bc it also lets him do what he wants while staying out of the spotlight #I’ll stop talking in the tags now #just know I find it all fascinating as a backdrop for AsuCaga fic writing purposes

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anastasiareyreed · 28 days ago

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this is World War III

the military of North Korea has joined the russian army to fight against Ukraine. this is a direct threat to world security.

earlier South Korean intelligence has revealed that North Korea is involved in the war in Ukraine and will send 12,000 military personnel, including a special forces unit - Reuters.

head of The Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine said that North Korean infantrymen are being trained in eastern russia for further participation in the war.

the troops of North Korea on the territory of Europe is a direct signal to Western partners of Ukraine – either they provide Ukraine with the necessary support and weapons, or very soon their own troops will fight against the alliance of russia, North Korea, Belarus and most likely China and Iran.

now Ukraine must officially fight against Belarusian soldiers, Iranian drones, Russian and North Korean military and deter this whole horde from attacking NATO countries.

Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Turner: "the use of North Korean troops against Ukraine must be a red line for the United States and NATO."

spread the word, call on your authorities to provide Ukraine with all the necessary assistance, necessary weapons, and permission to strike in response to Russian military facilities. our future depends on the reaction of Western countries.

#arm ukraine #let ukraine strike back #stand with ukraine #ukraine #russia is a terrorist state #fuck russia #russia #stop russia #north korea #war #important #world #spread the word #signal boost #support ukraine #help ukraine #nato #usa #america

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tsukimino · 3 months ago

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RGGO Card Story: Yu Morinaga, A Man Concerned About the Tojo Clan

In a story set before Yakuza 5, a near-death experience forces Morinaga to consider whether the Sixth Chairman might actually have what it takes to lead the Tojo Clan after all.

Before the calamity that engulfed Japan’s five major cities…

[Morinaga is talking with a generic goon in the hallway at Tojo HQ.]

Tojo Clan Member: …You’re here, Morinaga.

Morinaga: I received an urgent summons from Chairman Dojima and rushed over. Do you have any idea why we were called in?

Tojo Clan Member: Nope. Seems like everyone who works under the Chairman got the call — that’s all I know.

Morinaga: Hmm. Well, I guess we have no choice but to go and hear it from him directly.

Tojo Clan Member: Everyone who got the summons is already here. Let’s go — the Chairman’s waiting in his office.

[Daigo is standing in an office. There’s a knock at the door.]

Daigo: Come in.

[Morinaga and a bunch of generic goons enter.]

Tojo Clan Member: Chairman. Everyone’s here.

Daigo: Alright. First off, I have a mission for you all.

Morinaga: A mission…?

Daigo: That’s right. Let me start at the beginning. Last night in Kansai, someone attacked several Tojo Clan members who were there for a meeting. The victims were a man named Tomokawa and four of his associates.

Morinaga: Tomokawa?

Daigo: He’s the man in charge of accounting at Tojo HQ. He’s a key figure in the management of the Tojo Clan’s finances, so he was probably the target of the attack. After Tomokawa’s meeting wrapped up, he headed for Osaka Station to return to Tokyo, but he was attacked en route. His entourage was killed, but apparently he managed to escape, because I’ve just received a call from Tomokawa himself asking for help. So, I’d like you all to travel to Kansai and bring him safely back to Tojo HQ.

Tojo Clan Member: In other words, our mission is to escort Tomokawa back here.

Morinaga: Chairman. May I ask a question?

Daigo: What is it?

Morinaga: Why do we need to mobilize every man at HQ just to rescue one single accountant?

Daigo: Tomokawa may be a Tojo man, but there’s no man alive who won’t cough something up if you hit him hard enough — and he’s been the clan’s accountant for years, so he has a lot in him to spew about our organization’s underbelly. That’s why we need to keep him from getting caught.

Morinaga: I see.

Daigo: And this mission must be carried out with utmost secrecy. If the executives find out that Tomokawa was attacked, the hot-headed ones might start coming out of the woodwork.

Morinaga: …

Morinaga: Chairman. Doesn’t it feel like other organizations have been walking all over the Tojo Clan lately?

Daigo: Walking all over us?

Morinaga: Yes. The other clans look down on the Tojo, so of course they’re showing up to attack us. There was a time when no one would’ve dared to go after the Tojo Clan. Wouldn’t it be better to put them in their place?

Daigo: You’re Morinaga, right? I appreciate that you’re speaking out of concern for the clan, but I think the old way of doing things is going to make things harder for us in the long term — so please have a little faith in my approach.

Morinaga: I understand.

[Out in the hallway, Morinaga talks with his fellow goon again.]

Tojo Clan Member: Morinaga, what was that all about? A grunt like you, questioning the Chairman’s methods!

Morinaga: …You don’t have any concerns about the Chairman’s policies?

Tojo Clan Member: Concerns?

Morinaga: Frankly, I’m not satisfied at all with the way things are going under the Sixth Chairman. In order to protect the clan, the Chairman’s reaching out to the Omi and other organizations to build alliances and cooperate with one another. But why should the chairman of a clan as big as the Tojo personally go begging for an alliance with a bunch of low-ranking yakuza out in the sticks? That self-abasement is exactly why no one takes the clan seriously.

Tojo Clan Member: I support the Chairman’s methods. I don’t have any complaints, and there are lots of us who believe this is the right way of doing things.

Morinaga: I’m sure there are lots of men who trust Chairman Dojima. But there are more than a few who share my complaints. This is why the clan’s authority is dissipating by the day… And it’s the Chairman’s fault that the Tojo Clan’s grown so weak.

Tojo Clan Member: Morinaga…

Morinaga: It’s time. We’ll be leaving for Kansai shortly.

[The screen fades to black.]

Six hours later, at a certain hotel in Kansai…

[Morinaga shows up in a hotel hallway with two goons.]

Morinaga: Room 902… Tomokawa’s hiding in here.

[Morinaga knocks on the door.]

Morinaga: Tomokawa-san. We’re Tojo men. We’re here to pick you up under Chairman Dojima’s orders.

[Tomokawa opens the door.]

Tomokawa: You guys sure took your sweet time… Is it safe to leave this place?

Morinaga: It’s fine — we’re with you. We have a car waiting out in front of the hotel, so let’s get you out of here.

Tomokawa: A-alright, got it… I’m counting on you.

[The screen fades to black; we hear the sound of a car starting. When we fade back in, Morinaga is sitting in the car, making a call on his phone.]

Morinaga: Chairman, this is Morinaga. We’ve just secured Tomokawa and are in a car en route to Tokyo. We have several other cars in a convoy around our vehicle, so everything is under control.

Daigo: Alright. Please be careful out there.

[Morinaga hangs up.]

Morinaga: Don’t worry, Tomokawa-san. All that’s left is to drive back to Tokyo.

[Tomokawa is snoring.]

Tojo Clan Member: He’s asleep.

Morinaga: I guess having a security detail allowed him to relax. He probably hasn’t been able to catch a wink since yesterday’s attack.

Tojo Clan Member: Hey, Morinaga, can I ask you a question? You came from another clan, right? Why did you decide to join the Tojo?

Morinaga: …I admired the clan’s strength.

Tojo Clan Member: Admired?

Morinaga: Yes. The Tojo Clan I admired was intimidatingly strong. Its charismatic leaders kept things under control. Their strength and authority were unsurpassed. Under their power, Kamurocho became a sanctuary, an absolutely inviolable city, and they preserved the peace in Kanto by keeping all the smaller organizations in line. That’s the Tojo Clan I admired, and the one that I left my old family for.

Tojo Clan Member: I see.

Morinaga: I came from a small-time family, so I know what I’m talking about. A strong clan can protect its members; that’s the kind of power the Tojo had. But these days? So much of the old guard that supported it is gone. The clan’s power and command are nothing but shadows of what they once were. The Tojo Clan that I know has never been weaker, and it’s Chairman Dojima’s fault that it…

[Before Morinaga can press this seditious monologue any further, there’s the sound of tires squealing on pavement.]

Tomokawa: Huh? What’s going on? Why’d we stop?

Driver: There’s a bunch of cars parked on the road ahead of us. The way’s blocked — we can’t get through!

Morinaga: What?

[There’s another sound of squealing tires.]

Driver: And now another car’s come up behind us! We can’t push forward or go back!

Morinaga: Don’t tell me they were lying in wait!

[The scene shifts outside for a moment; we see three goons with guns lined up. As the sound of gunfire plays, the scene shifts back to the interior of the car.]

Tomokawa: Eek! Th-they’re shooting at us!

Morinaga: They’re probably the same guys who attacked you before. It’s dangerous to stay in the car.

Tojo Clan Member: We’ll go out and use the car as a shield while we fire back, Morinaga. Let the guards in the other cars know.

Morinaga: Got it… let’s go!

[Morinaga heads outside and, instead of doing what he’s told, makes a phone call.]

Daigo: Hello, this is Daigo Dojima.

[More guns fire in the background.]

Daigo: Huh? Was that gunfire…!?

Morinaga: This is Morinaga. The convoy was attacked en route. We’re in the middle of a shootout on the road.

Daigo: What’s going on? Give me a detailed status report.

Morinaga: Right now, we’re sustaining fire from the front and the rear, and we’re using several cars from the convoy as shields.

Daigo: Can’t you use one of your cars to break through?

Morinaga: Not possible. They’ve got the road completely blocked with their vehicles. We’re hemmed in on all sides.

Daigo: I see…

Morinaga: We’re running low on bullets here, and the other guards in the convoy are going down one-by-one.

Daigo: Alright, listen up, Morinaga. I’m sending you some backup right now. Just hold out for a little longer.

Morinaga: Backup!? There’s no way they’ll make it in time! We’ll be wiped out before they even get here! Our priority should be to get Tomokawa out!

Daigo: No. Pull yourselves together and hold the line. That’s the only way to get all of you out of this.

Morinaga: !

Morinaga: (That’s today’s Tojo for you: even in a situation like this, the Chairman’s still taking his soft-hearted approach! Ugh, I can’t go along with this — we should be prioritizing the mission even at the expense of our lives.)

Morinaga: Chairman. It’s high-risk, but I’m going to take Tomokawa and escape into the brush by the road. It’s the best chance we have of getting him out of here alive.

Daigo: Wait, Morinaga! That’s only going to make you a target! Hold off until the reinforcements arrive!

Morinaga: I’m prepared to accept the risk. If we stay here, things are only going to get worse. Right now, our priority should be to keep Tomokawa alive.

[Morinaga hangs up; more guns fire.]

Tojo Clan Member: The hell are you doing, Morinaga?! Hurry up and fight back!

Morinaga: Listen. I’m going to take Tomokawa and make a break for the thicket at the side of the road. You guys fire some shots to draw their attention.

Tojo Clan Member: What?! Were those really Chairman Dojima’s orders?

Morinaga: No. The Chairman said to wait here for backup, but there’s no way that’ll keep Tomokawa safe, so I’m taking him and getting out of here. This is our highest priority, so I’ll also be taking your bullets.

Tojo Clan Member: Hold on a second! Those are all we have left!

Morinaga: Tomokawa-san. Please follow me and do your best to keep up.

Tomokawa: R-right!

[Tomokawa bolts for it with Morinaga while the hapless Tojo goon looks on in alarm.]

Tojo Clan Member: W-wait, Morinaga! Morinagaaaaa!

[The screen fades to black. We shift to a nighttime scene out in the wilderness. Tomokawa is standing with Morinaga.]

Tomokawa: Hah… hah… I can’t do it. I’m too tired to keep going…

Morinaga: We’ve been on the run in the mountains ever since those men attacked us. But at least we’ve managed to shake them.

Morinaga: (Well, I was right. If we’d stuck around to wait for help, Tomokawa would definitely be dead.)

[Morinaga’s cell phone rings; he answers the call.]

Daigo: Hello, Morinaga? Are you safe?

Morinaga: Yes, Chairman. Somehow, I managed to escape with Tomokawa.

Daigo: I see… That’s great news. I’ve just arrived at the scene of the attack with my men. Unfortunately, there were quite a few casualties.

Morinaga: Oh…

Daigo: I’m sorry… If I had just gotten there earlier, we wouldn’t have lost so many.

Morinaga: Well…

Morinaga: (If he’d gotten there earlier? …That’s absurd. The Chairman made a bad call. He told me to wait for backup so he could save everyone, but if I’d done that, Tomokawa and I both would’ve died. It was risky, but I was right to prioritize the mission. I knew his soft-hearted approach wouldn’t work.)

Morinaga: Chairman, there’s one thing I’m wondering about.

Daigo: What’s that?

Morinaga: This escort mission must have been top-secret clan business, but somehow the attackers were lying in wait for us along the route. In other words, inside information is being leaked. Or someone on the inside was behind the attack.

Daigo: …It was probably an inside job.

Morinaga: Any ideas as to who?

Daigo: Actually, yesterday, it came to light that Tomokawa’s been cooking the Tojo Clan’s books.

Tomokawa: Huh!?

Morinaga: Cooking the books…?

Daigo: That’s right. Tomokawa was in charge of summing up the monthly dues paid by the families to Tojo HQ. But he was colluding with someone in one of the direct-line families to falsify the records and pocket part of the profit for himself.

Morinaga: Is that true, Tomokawa-san?

Tomokawa: Urk…!

Daigo: When I uncovered Tomokawa’s scheme, I ordered my subordinates to take him into custody right away. But immediately after that, someone attacked him. …That’s pretty convenient timing, isn’t it?

Morinaga: In other words, whoever was helping Tomokawa to skim a little off the top tried to shut him up by having him killed?

Daigo: It’s very likely. Tomokawa holds the evidence — if he were to be caught and confess, that’d be it for his accomplice, too. So, to keep any traitors from leaking information about this rescue mission, I assigned the job to a group of trustworthy men who reported directly to me.

Morinaga: So that’s why the job was top-secret.

Daigo: Are you listening, Tomokawa? After I take you in, you’re going to tell me everything about your crimes against the clan. You’ll be punished accordingly, but I don’t intend to make you pay with your life, so I hope you’ll come back here with Morinaga without trying to run off.

Tomokawa: U-understood… I don’t want to get killed by those guys… I’d rather accept your punishment.

Morinaga: Tomokawa-san. Who was working with you to forge the records and skim the profits?

Tomokawa: Ahh, he’s the head of one of the clan’s direct-line fa—

[To no one’s surprise, there’s a bunch of gunfire. To our surprise as readers, Tomokawa is not shot dead by a cutscene gun before revealing an important piece of information; everyone just stops in surprise.]

Morinaga and Tomokawa: !?

Attackers: There they are! The guys who got away! Everyone, grab them!

Tomokawa: They found us! A bunch of them are coming down the mountain!

Morinaga: Ugh! If we don’t hurry and get out of here…!

Daigo: Morinaga, where are you right now?

Morinaga: We’re in the mountains. I can see city lights in the hills not far from here.

Daigo: I’ve just checked a map, and there’s only one town in the area. Alright, head to the town in the foothills, Morinaga. I’ll make my way there right now to help!

Morinaga: Huh? You’re coming personally!? That’s ridiculous — please reconsider!

Daigo: Morinaga. I wasn’t able to save my men before, but no matter what, I want to make sure I at least save you. I’m always ready to put my life on the line for my men’s sake. …So, Morinaga, please hold out ‘til you get to that town.

Morinaga: Chairman…!

Morinaga: (Imagine — the head of the Tojo Clan himself trying to rescue a couple of underlings! That’s definitely his soft-hearted style, but he’s got the strength to risk his life for it. I thought he was just some pampered little brat, but this guy might actually have what it takes to lead the clan…)

Daigo: I’m sending my men ahead of me to the town’s entrance. Stay safe and make your way there.

Morinaga: Understood. Let’s go, Tomokawa!

[The two of them make a break for it. The screen fades to black. When we return, Morinaga and Tomokawa are on a dark city street.]

Tomokawa: Hahhh… Hahhh… We made it to the town. What about the guys on our tail?

Morinaga: I don’t see them, but they must be following behind.

Tomokawa: The Chairman said he’d send backup to the town’s entrance, right? Hurry up and call him!

Morinaga: Actually… I dropped my phone in the shootout back there.

Tomokawa: Huh!? Shit! That means we’re gonna have to make our own way there.

Morinaga: Yes, but when we get there, help will be waiting. Let’s get going.

[They run off in another fade-to-black. The scene opens on a different dark city street.]

Morinaga: The entrance we saw on the way down should be in this direction. If we turn onto this road and go straight, we’ll be right there.

Tomokawa: Alright! Just a little further and we’ll be saved!

[Naturally, the second he says that, three goons with guns show up.]

Morinaga: Ah! It’s the guys from before! Were they lying in wait for us…!?

[The goons’ leader shows up, too.]

Man: For shit’s sake! You had us running all over the mountains!

Morinaga: You… you’re one of the direct-line heads… Shiromoto-san!? What are you doing here?

Tomokawa: T-that’s him! That’s the guy who was helping me to embezzle the money and forge the records!

Morinaga: What?

Shiromoto: That’s right. Tomokawa helped me bleed the clan dry for years. But now they’re onto our scheme, and if they catch him, they’ll find out I was in on it, too. I figured I’d kill the guy and get rid of the evidence, but my boys screwed it up and I had to come all the way out here to take care of it myself — so how about you just go and die, already?

Morinaga: But how did you find this place? Only the Chairman and his men knew about it.

Shiromoto: We tapped the Chairman’s cell phone. Thanks to that, we knew all about your convoy’s route and this meeting spot. But that’s enough blabbing — boys, let’s clean up this mess before the Chairman gets here!

[Shiromoto’s three gun-toting goons show up again.]

Shiromoto Family Members: Hah!

Morinaga: Shit! Tomokawa, get behind me!

[The screen fades to black as guns fire and fades back in on our protagonists.]

Morinaga: Tomkawa-san, we can’t go this way — let’s take a detour to the town’s entrance!

Tomokawa: A-alright!

Shiromoto: Tch. After them! Don’t you dare let them get away!

[Morinaga and Tomokawa make a break for it; they arrive in another part of town.]

Tomokawa: Ahh, we made it! There’s the entrance!

[A couple of generic goons in suits show up.]

Morinaga: There they are! Those are Tojo pins… They must be the backup the Chairman sent.

[Tomokawa runs toward one of the goons.]

Tomokawa: Hey, over here! Help me!

Tojo Clan Member A: Huh…? That’s him! Tomokawa!

[In an upset that no one could’ve seen coming, the goon pulls a gun.]

Tomokawa: Huh?

Morinaga: Tomokawa, get down!

[Luckily, Morinaga still has those bullets he took from his fellow men back at the shootout; he fires his gun.]

Tojo Clan Member A: Ugh! The bastard shot back!

Morinaga: Are you alright, Tomokawa-san? Were you shot!?

Tomokawa: I’m alright… b-but why did they shoot at us!? Aren’t they our allies!?

Morinaga: Worry about that later — let’s get out of here!

[They run off again.]

Tojo Clan Member A: Shit! They’re still alive!

Shiromoto: Hey, you! What happened?

Tojo Clan Member B: Sorry, boss — they got away.

Tojo Clan Member A: What should we do? The tappers say the Chairman’s gonna be here soon…

Shiromoto: Ugh, I’ll have to pull back for a bit. Go put on a good show for the Chairman.

Tojo Clan Member A: Got it.

[Daigo pulls up to the meeting spot in a car to discuss things with Tojo Clan Member A, who’s now been revealed to be Shiromoto’s ally.]

Daigo: You still haven’t found them?

Tojo Clan Member A: Sir, we’ve been waiting here for a while and they still haven’t shown up. Maybe they were attacked along the way and they didn’t make it…

Daigo: Damn it! Comb the area around the town for them. They might’ve been attacked and taken a detour.

Tojo Clan Member A: Understood. Please wait in the car, then, Chairman.

Daigo: No. I’ll look for them, too. They came here under my orders — I have to protect them!

[We return to Morinaga and Tomokawa, who are still on the run.]

Tomokawa: Hahhh… Hahhh… We got away somehow. But why did those guys attack us? They came here to save us, didn’t they!?

Morinaga: They must be with Shiromoto. He probably bought their loyalty.

Tomokawa: What?! You mean they’re traitors, too!?

Morinaga: (But for the Chairman to have traitors among his own men… That’s what you get when you go with his soft-hearted approach. No matter how much you think of your men as family, that alone isn’t enough to keep your subordinates in line. A pile of money’s all it takes to get your comrades to turn on you… Everything the Chairman says is just idealism. I knew the man was useless; he’s not fit to lead the clan.)

Tomokawa: Hey, what should we do now…? If we ask the Chairman for help again, they’ll tap the line…

Morinaga: That’s enough — we’re not relying on the Chairman anymore. From now on, we have no choice but to take care of things ourselves.

Tomokawa: Eh? Are you serious!?

Morinaga: We can’t tell who the enemy is, so we’re done with being on the defensive — we’re going to go on the offensive, now.

[The screen fades to black yet again. We fade in on a scene in an office. Shiromoto is talking to one of his underlings.]

Shiromoto: It’s been two days since you let Morinaga and Tomokawa slip and you still haven’t found them?

Shiromoto Family Member: Sorry, boss. Word is they got back to Tokyo yesterday, but we’ve got no clue where they are.

Shiromoto: Have you heard anything from the guys on the Chairman’s wiretap?

Shiromoto Family Member: Nothing. Seems like Morinaga hasn’t contacted him at all.

Shiromoto: Damn it, if I don’t get rid of Tomokawa soon, they’re gonna find out I helped cook those books. I’ve gotta do whatever it takes to figure out where they’re holed up before those Tojo guys do.

[Shiromoto’s phone rings; he picks it up, and a conversation ensues.]

Shiromoto: Yeah, it’s me.

Shiromoto Grunt: Boss, it looks like they’re in Kamurocho.

Shiromoto: What? Is that true?

Shiromoto Grunt: Yeah, I’m sure — I got this info from a trustworthy source.

Shiromoto: Got it. I’m heading for Kamurocho right away.

[Shiromoto hangs up and addresses the goons standing there.]

Shiromoto: Listen up, boys! We’re booking it for Kamurocho!

Shiromoto Family Members: Got it, boss!

[Shiromoto and his goon squad head out. The screen fades to black; when we fade in, Shiromoto and company are in Kamurocho, and Shiromoto himself is on the phone with his underling again.]

Shiromoto: We’re in the Champion District — where are you now?

Shiromoto Grunt: I’m at the informant’s place. Sorry I couldn’t make it there, boss, but I’ve got some new information. Morinaga’s got Tomokawa hidden somewhere in the Champion District, on Pink Street, or on Suppon Street. I’m sending you a list of safehouse addresses that I got from my guy — try these.

Shiromoto: Good work.

[Shiromoto’s phone vibrates.]

Shiromoto: …I’ve got the informant’s info. We don’t have time to visit these places one-by-one — they might run off somewhere else in the meantime. We’ll split up and search the addresses I got. You guys check Pink Street and Suppon Street.

Shiramoto Family Members: Got it, boss!

[The goons head out to their assigned places.]

Shiromoto: The rest of you, come with me. They’re probably hiding at this address.

[Shiromoto and his goons break into an empty office.]

Shiromoto Family Members: There’s not a soul here, boss.

Shiromoto: Tch, what a bust. This is where Tomokawa and I used to meet up to mess with the ledgers. I figured they’d be holed-up here…

?: I expected you to think as much, so I laid an ambush here.

[A gun fires, leaving Shiromoto’s goons all bloodied.]

Shiromoto Family Members: Augh…!

[The goons all collapse to the floor. Morinaga steps in.]

Shiromoto: You’re… Morinaga!

Morinaga: I’m glad you fell into my trap so easily, Shiromoto-san.

Shiromoto: Trap!?

Morinaga: Yes, it’s elementary. After I got back to Tokyo, the first thing I did was nab a Shiromoto Family man. I roughed him up and made some violent threats so he’d listen to what I had to say. All that was left was to send you an eyewitness report about Tomokawa along with the leads from before. I was certain that after so many failed attempts, you wouldn’t trust your men to finish the job and would come here yourself.

Shiromoto: So you heard about this place from Tomokawa…

Morinaga: That’s right. I predicted that if I stuck that one place that you and Tomokawa both knew in with the false information, that’s where you’d go yourself. And if you sent your men to the red-herring addresses and spread your forces thin, it’d be easier for me to take you down.

Shiromoto: Huh. You’re saying you’re gonna settle this on your own, without asking Daigo Dojima for help?

Morinaga: Indeed. That man has already let me down, so I decided to end this myself. If I don’t take matters into my own hands, my dream of returning the Tojo Clan to its former glory will remain just that.

Shiromoto: Huh? What the hell are you talking about? Where’s Tomokawa?

Morinaga: He’s hidden someplace safe. If you want to know where that is, you’ll have to pry it out of me.

Shiromoto: Sounds good — my forces might be spread thin, but I’ve still got a bunch here with me. Get him, boys!

Shiromoto Family Members: Ha!

[A fight ensues; Shiromoto and his goons are thoroughly thrashed.]

Shiromoto: S-shit…!

Morinaga: It’s over, Patriarch Shiromoto.

[Without any further ado, Morinaga shoots him.]

Shiromoto: Ugh…!

[Shiromoto collapses.]

Morinaga: …

[Tomokawa comes in.]

Tomokawa: Looks like it’s over, Morinaga. But I was surprised — you really took them down on your own.

Morinaga: Are you satisfied, Tomokawa-san?

Tomokawa: Yeah, I’ve always hated that bastard Shiromoto. Glad I got to see him die with my own two eyes.

Morinaga: I see. Well, that’s good.

[He turns his gun on Tomokawa.]

Tomokawa: Huh!? Wait, why are you pointing that at me?!

Morinaga: You and Shiromoto are part of the rot that’s festered in this clan’s soft heart. I can’t allow men like you to live.

Tomokawa: What’s this nonsense you’re spewing!? You were ordered to protect me! How in the world do you intend to explain this to the Chairman!?

Morinaga: Don’t worry about that; I’ve thought it all through.

[Morinaga shoots Tomokawa.]

Tomokawa: Agh…!

[Tomokawa collapses.]

Morinaga: Tomokawa-san, I owe you my thanks. This incident has made it clear to me: our current chairman’s way of doing things is wrong. It’s how vermin like you infest the clan, and it’s how men come to betray their own comrades so casually. And that soft way of thinking, that desire to save everyone, that’s what leads to so many men losing their lives… don’t you think?

[The screen fades to black.]

The day after… at Tojo HQ.

[We fade back in on a meeting room at Tojo HQ, where Morinaga is giving a report.]

Daigo: So, Morinaga, to summarize… Shiromoto’s wiretap kept you from meeting up with me. And after you’d given up getting in touch, the two of you decided to head for Tojo HQ, but you were attacked again and Tomokawa was abducted. So, you tracked Shiromoto down to defeat him, but Tomokawa was already dead?

Morinaga: Yes. I’m sorry, Chairman. This all happened because I wasn’t able to protect him…

Daigo: No, I’m the one who should apologize. I took over in the middle of things, and I wasn’t of any help. Shiromoto probably kidnapped Tomokawa to get him to reveal where he’d hidden the evidence of their collusion.

Morinaga: That’s likely the case.

Daigo: …Are you alright, Morinaga?

Morinaga: Is something wrong?

Daigo: Well, something about you just seems different since you left for this mission.

Morinaga: …

Daigo: I apologize; you’ve just lost a number of comrades. It was a difficult job. We’ll take it from here — you go home and get some rest.

Morinaga: Alright. I’ll take my leave, then, Chairman.

[Morinaga leaves the room, then pauses in the hallway.]

Morinaga: …

Morinaga: (Chairman Dojima, your way of doing things will never protect anyone. You’ll sail your ship out and try to save all your friends from drowning, but the way you’re going, it’ll capsize someday, and you’ll drag the entire clan down with you. …That’s how weak this vessel is.)

Morinaga: (I’m going to reform the Tojo Clan before that can happen. Not in your way, but in my own…)

[The screen fades to black.]

After this, Morinaga joins the Omi Alliance’s Seventh Chairman Kurosawa’s faction and turns on the Tojo Clan in order to return it to its former strength.

[End.]

#rgg translations #rggo

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gatormeister · 4 months ago

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Gundam SEED Finished!

So, I came into this show with no idea what to expect. I was uncertain of how I'd think of the series, and even partly expected it would disappoint. Anyways, Gundam SEED deserves every bit of praise it's received. The show is genuinely fantastic.

Yes, the show re-uses a lot of ideas from UC Gundam, I mean if I didn't just watch through SEED, I probably wouldn't be able to tell the Archangel from the White Base. You have the story begin in a neutral colony, with the colony being destroyed, several civilian teenagers recruited to fill out the positions on an experimental battleship, and one kid who's special because he's the only one who can pilot the giant robot. It's not exactly the most subtle throw back, but even in that first half of the show, SEED manages to stop itself from feeling like a carbon copy of 0079 thanks to the show's greatest strength. Its characters and the different dynamics going on between them.

You have Murrue and Natarle and the tension over what decisions Murrue should make as Captain, neither one of them being entirely wrong or right most of the time. You have Kira and Athrun, neither one wants to be fighting the other, but circumstances forcing them to come to blows frequently and violently. You have the whole Heliopolis kids particularly Sai, Kira, and Flay. How all three of them clearly want to be able to just sit down and talk things out with each other at various points, but are too afraid to actually suggest it. Flay is a fantastic character with fantastic character development both positive and negative btw just thought I should mention that.

But then you get to Orb, and everything starts to feel almost entirely original from that point on straight to the finish line. And all throughout the last half its characters are going strong as ever. Especially the ones with less of a chance to shine in the first half.

My one biggest complaint would be in regards to Chairman Zala and Azrael. They're ultimately just monstrous people who do monstrous things in positions of power. The Chairman at least gets something to him being Athrun's father. Azrael and the Earth Alliance as a whole feel kind of empty. We hear about stuff, but the show never really has anyone on the inside to follow and show what they're all about until the very end.

All that aside, the next show I'll be watching is Gundam SEED Destiny. I didn't know what to expect from SEED, and came out loving it. This show however, even when I see people who enjoyed it's basically never all praise. I am both excited to see what happens next for the Cosmic Era and concerned about finding out why so many people came to hate it. I'll be watching through either way, so hopefully it's at least entertaining.

#mobile suit gundam #gundam #gundam seed #the music was so fucking good omg #that first opening and ending were wild

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fans4wga · 1 year ago

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8 NOVEMBER: SAG REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT TO END STRIKE

"After a grueling118 days on strike, SAG-AFTRA has officially reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with studios, a move that is heralding the end of the 2023 actors’ strike.

The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved the agreement in a unanimous vote on Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA announced. The strike will end at 12:01 am Thursday.

The performers’ union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced the provisional agreement on Wedneday, after about two weeks of renewed negotiations. If ratified by the SAG-AFTRA members, the deal could bring an end to the strike that kneecapped Hollywood for much of the summer and early fall in conjunction with the writers’ strike, which ended in late September.

The union and the AMPTP are so far being mum on the details of the agreement, which will emerge in the next few days prior to the union’s ratification vote. If the deal is ratified, the contract could soon go into effect, and if not, members would essentially send their labor negotiators back to the bargaining table with the AMPTP. It was unclear as of press time whether the union would end the strike before or after the ratification vote.

When negotiations restarted on Oct. 2 for the first time since SAG-AFTRA called its work stoppage in July, hopes were high in the industry that Hollywood’s largest union could come to terms with major companies quickly. Just like they had in the final days of the writers’ negotiations, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Disney CEO Bob Iger and NBCUniversal Studio Group chairman and chief content officer Donna Langley attended the talks at the union’s national headquarters in Los Angeles. But the studio ended up walking out on Oct. 11 over SAG-AFTRA’s proposal to charge a fee per every streaming subscriber on major platforms in a move that the union’s chief negotiator called “mystifying” (Sarandos called the ask “a bridge too far“).

The sides reconvened on Oct. 24 after a nearly two-week break. This time, the studios came in with a more generous offer to increase actors’ wage floors and a slightly modified version of a success-based streaming bonus they had previously offered the WGA. The two sides exchanged proposals for much of the week in a tense situation that had the industry on edge. Even as a deal came into sight, progress was slow, especially when it came to putting the contract’s inaugural guardrails on AI: The union considers the rapidly advancing technology an absolutely existential issue for members and sought to close any potential loopholes that could lead to future issues. On Saturday the studios presented what the union characterized as the companies’ “last, best and final,” overarching offer (still, the two sides kept swapping offers after).

When the union’s previous contract expired in mid-July and SAG-AFTRA went out on strike, many outstanding issues were left on the table. Setting terms for the use of A.I. was a major sticking point between union and studio negotiators, as was a proposal to provide casts with additional streaming compensation. Union negotiators sought to institute an unusually large minimum rate increase in the first year of the contract, a host of ground rules for self-taped virtual auditions and major increases to health and pension contributions “caps” that have not been changed since the 1980s. Meanwhile, as the entertainment business continues to experience a period of contraction, major companies looked to preserve some measure of flexibility and cost control.

SAG-AFTRA’s strike, coming as it did amid an ongoing writers’ strike in July, gave the union an unusual amount of leverage early on in its talks with the AMPTP. Almost immediately, most remaining unionized U.S. productions that were operating without writers shut down, including Deadpool 3 and Venom 3. An as the months of the work stoppage stretched on, a strategist at the Milken Institute has estimated that the strikes have cost the California economy alone at least $6 billion.

But pressure started to build as the strike neared and surpassed its 100-day mark. A-lister actors began talking to both their union and the studios in an attempt to improve progress in the negotiations. A number of actors also started drafting a letter expressing concerns about the union’s leadership but held back from publishing it, fearful of the missive’s potential impact on negotiations. Then, on Oct. 26, a separate letter was released signed by apparently thousands of actors, exhorting negotiators, “We have not come all this way to cave now.”

The amount of time that the union spent on strike in 2023 will certainly raise expectations for the deal they reached with studios. In the union’s upcoming ratification vote, the date of which has not yet been announced, members will decide whether the pact is acceptable to them."

#sag-aftra strike #sag strike #actors strike

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tiannasfanfic · 9 months ago

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The One I Love

Tianyou Zhao x Reader (Fluff)

| Main Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: When the Geomijul headquarters burns to the ground, the only life you've ever known is ash. Left with nothing to your name, you're given refuge at a bar called Survive and you find youself thinking back on how you met the man you love.

Rating: General Audiences

Author Notes: Gender neutral Reader, they/them pronouns (if any). Tianyou Zhao x Geomijul!Reader. No physical description, race or cultural heritage mentioned for Reader.

CW: Mentions of canon violence and canon typical violence; non-graphic mentions of injuries; suggestive non-graphic mentions of sex.

Word Count: 6,676

The unthinkable had happened.

Ijincho’s Great Wall of Muscle was close to falling down all thanks to an unexpected invasion by the Omi Alliance.

There was a surge of infighting within the Seiryu Clan. Chairman Hoshino had done his best to quell it, but many of his men had defected to the Omi and left them severely weakened.

A coup had occurred within The Liumang, resulting in the leader, Tianyou Zhou, getting captured and tortured by his second in command, who had also defected to the Omi.

Geomijul’s headquarters had nearly burnt to the ground when the Omi stormed in, including the computer systems that made up their vast information network, which had severely crippled all three factions in the process.

Granted, it wasn’t the Omi who set the fires, but they may as well have. The leader of Geomijul, Seonhee, had her hand forced to protect their biggest secret. A secret so big that even you, an officer and trusted member of her inner circle, had not been aware of until the very end when you were briefed and ordered to help evacuate the nearby residents.

Being a part of the rear guard didn’t mean you were completely out of the action though. A handful of Omi officers had come around in an ambush from behind to stop the retreat. You and the others leading the evacuation were far from sitting ducks though. All of you had varying degrees of combat training, both with and without weapons.

While a few lives were lost in the fight, none of those were the civilians you’d been sent to protect. It was a small victory, at least, yet you couldn’t be happy about it. Not when the only life you ever knew was nothing but ash.

And that was how you found yourself sitting in a bar called Survive with a swollen jaw, a black eye, a sore body, no home, and no job.

You didn’t understand how it all came to this. None of it made any sense. How could you start out the day with a decent life and now end it with absolutely nothing? It was aggravating, to say the very least.

And the more you thought over your last conversation with Seonhee, the more aggravated you got.

“What do you mean my services are no longer required?” you’d asked in dismay. “Aren’t you going to rebuild?”

She had just returned from meeting with Geomijul’s new allies, with whom she had sent Joongi Han to help. Good people she could trust were now in short supply, so to send you away made little to no sense.

“That is the plan,” Seonhee replied. “But our information network is our top priority, not our other services. This is your best chance to get out. I know this was never the life you wanted.”

She had you there. The two of you were old childhood friends, having grown up and raised through the ranks of Geomijul together, so she was aware of your thoughts on the matter. Being an only child, you had inherited your position as the chief accountant for the Geomijul from your father, just as he had inherited it from your grandfather. Your family had a natural talent for numbers, and that paired with your formal training and modern technology, you were one of the best in Ijincho.

Well. Calling yourself an accountant was a bit of a stretch. While you were the first in your family to have any official certifications in that line of work, what you did was far less legitimate.

Your actual job was keeping all the financial records for the whole district. All the businesses, both real and front, reported their finances directly to you. You did regular audits, kept the accounting tidy, and manufactured fake books that would easily pass inspection by government officials.

Back in your father’s youth, Seonhee’s predecessor realized they could make extra money off your family’s expertise with numbers and expanded the Geomijul’s offerings of information to include financial advising. What that meant was, when the Seiryu Clan or the Liumang needed accounting assistance or comprehensive financial audits beyond what their own people could accomplish, they contracted you out for a hefty fee.

It was decent work, and you liked what you did, but you would’ve been much happier with a regular job at a legitimate accounting firm in the city. While the pay wouldn’t be as good, sometimes you wanted more simplicity and less paranoia. You always had to be on your guard, always looking over your shoulder for people lurking in the shadows. As one of the select few faces of the Geomijul that were known to the other two factions, just going about your daily life carried a large amount of risk.

To say it was exhausting was putting it mildly, but, at the same time, it was all you ever knew. You would have to start over, begin your life fresh. Outside of your certifications, you had nothing you could put down on a resume. You had no work history, no references, and no good explanation as to why you had neither. A background check would come up empty, your credit report too. The chances anyone would give you a chance were slim to none. A blank life history like that for someone your age usually screamed “I was a criminal” to prospective employers.

You relayed all this to Seonhee and begged her to reconsider, but she stood firm.

“We will provide you with as much as we can in that regard,” she replied, her tone indicating her mind was made up. “I know it isn’t much, but this is a chance hardly any of us get. Now you can lead a normal life, settle down with a good man. It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

A bark of laughter left your throat at her words. You couldn’t stop it, nor did you try.

“A good man,” you repeated, shaking your head. “Like that will ever happen.”

Seonhee stepped forward and patted you on the shoulder reassuringly.

“You never know what the future may bring,” she said, smiling at you as if she knew something you didn’t.

You raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, but she offered no explanation. She simply gave your shoulder one last squeeze, then walked away.

At times, you couldn’t help but wonder if she knew.

You did have a good man, but settling down together and living a normal life would be impossible.

Presently, you were brought out of your thoughts by the bartender of Survive setting a glass of water and a bottle of ibuprofen on the bar in front of you.

“I’ve got herbs marinating that will ease your wounds,” he said. “It needs a bit more time to meld together, but this should help in the meantime. I sent Iroha out to pick up supplies for you. Once she’s back, we can get the extra room ready for you. It’s not as big as the one Kasuga and his friends share, but it should do until you get on your feet.”

“Thank you,” you said. “I really am sorry for all the trouble.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said, waving off your thanks as he walked away. “Any friend of Kasuga’s is a friend of mine.”

Calling you Kasuga’s friend was a bit of a stretch. You’d only met the man twice, once after the attack on Geomijul and the second not even a half hour ago when you walked through the door to the bar. But he’d taken a liking to you, it seemed, and vouched for you when you asked if you could stay there as if you’d known each other for years.

You chuckled softly to yourself and shook your head. Kasuga was something else, that was for sure.

As he was leaving the bar to meet with Chairman Hoshino, he’d thanked you for all your help despite the fact you’d done little to aid him in his cause. In all reality, you were the one who should’ve been thanking him.

If it weren’t for Ichiban Kasuga, Tianyou Zhao, the love of your life, would be nothing but a corpse rotting in an unmarked grave right now.

But had no way of knowing this, of course. No one knew about the two of you. That’s just how it had to be for both your protection and Zhao’s.

It wouldn’t have looked good for the leader of the Liumang and a high-ranking officer of the Geomijul to be in a relationship together. The balance would appear skewed, as if your love would tip the scales in favor of one faction or the other. And none of the factions could risk you spilling the confidential information you’d learned over the years by working for all three.

It had been a huge gamble you both had taken by entering a secret relationship, but one you couldn’t say you ever regretted. Your time with Zhao had been the happiest of your life.

The whole thing started a little over three years ago when the Liumang had thieves within their ranks.

Normally, thievery was taken care of in-house, same as with the Geomijul, but these thieves were cleverer than most. Despite massive sums of money disappearing, sometimes even overnight, no one could find their trail. They had combed over the financial records repeatedly, interrogated anyone with access to these records, and always came up empty handed.

Finally, with no other options, a representative contacted Geomijul for help and you were contracted out for a modest fee.

The contract was initially for thirty days with the option to renew it in thirty-day blocks if finding them proved complicated even for you. Considering the magnitude of the theft, you felt thirty days was an overly optimistic timeframe. You were going to be combing over all the financial records for the Liumang from the last year, including all businesses operating within their area, as well as for the organization itself. This was going to take a long time and a lot of patience.

Anytime a contract took you into Liumang or Seiryu territory for more than a day’s work, they wanted you on site until the job was finished. It was too much of a risk having you come and go freely, but you didn’t mind. Both factions always treated you as a welcome guest, even if your freedom was a bit restricted during that time.

You were set up with a modest apartment in the district, all your daily living necessities provided at no cost to you. All you brought with you was a few changes of clothes and your regular toiletries. Your workspace was set up in an unused office on the ground floor of Qing Jin, the high-end restaurant that served as Liumang’s headquarters. They gave you a day to get unpacked and settled in, then after that, you went right to work.

Every morning, a guard escorted you from your apartment to the restaurant, then escorted you back that night when you were done for the day. You had a habit of losing track of time while working, so you always ended up falling into bed close to the wee hours of the morning. You didn’t mind though. The one day a week you had off was more than enough to catch up on sleep, send out your laundry and write up your progress report for the higher ups.

Unfortunately, your progress reports during the first few weeks didn’t have much to report. These thieves, whoever they were, were good. Outside of standard accounting errors where someone forgot to carry a number or subtracted an expense wrong, you didn’t find any major discrepancies.

No one bothered you while you were working, at least until you were going into your fourth week. It was at that point, someone decided to check in on you. But you were so focused on your work that you didn’t hear anyone enter the office, nor did you hear your name being called. You didn’t become aware that you weren’t alone anymore until you felt a hand on your shoulder.

It scared the hell out of you.

You jumped so hard you nearly turned over your chair, a loud shriek leaving your mouth that also startled the man in question. The man jumped back from your chair, startled himself by your scream. You stared at each other for a few seconds before you both started laughing.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya,” he said through his laughter and held up his hands.

“It’s alright,” you said, pressing one palm to your chest and taking a deep breath to calm yourself. “It happens. I get a little too focused on what I’m doing sometimes.”

“That ain’t a bad thing,” the man said, a good-natured grin coming to his face as he looked at you over his glasses. “You’re a hard worker, that’s a rare thing to find sometimes.”

While you’d never spoken to this man before, you had noticed he was there at the restaurant nearly every day. It was hard not to; his leather jacket and relaxed way of dressing made him stick out like a sore thumb among the flashy suits all the other men wore.

At that point, you’d never met the leader of the Liumang before and, thus, had no idea who it was you were talking to. You just assumed he worked at the restaurant.

“Speaking of hard work, have you taken any breaks?’ he asked. “Have you eaten today?”

You blinked a few times, the question catching you off guard.

“Yeah, this morning,” you replied. “I had a sandwich before I came in.”

The man looked at his watch and tutted at you.

“You got here almost nine hours ago,” he said. “You seriously haven’t had anything since then?”

“No,” you said, shaking your head. “It’s fine though, I’ll eat after I’m done for the night. That’s what I normally do.”

The man tutted at you again, shook his head in disapproval and left the room without another word.

That was strange, you thought to yourself.

No one had ever bothered to check in on you before. You didn’t think more of it though, just shrugged and got back to work.

Sometime later, the man came back, knocking loudly on the doorframe this time to announce his presence.

“Who’s hungry?” he stated.

Looking up from your work, you blinked a few times in surprise.

“Huh?” you said.

“Dinner’s ready,” he replied. “Time to eat.”

“Oh, that’s really not necessary,” you said, then gestured to all the paperwork on the desk. “I haven’t had any luck finding what I’m looking for, and I don’t want to make your boss think I’m slacking off.”

The man blinked at you a few times, then a grin spread across his face.

“Actually, it was the boss who sent me down here,” he stated. “He noticed how hard you’ve been working and wanted me to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

Your mouth dropped open a little and you gawped at the man.

“Really?” you asked.

“Yup,” he said, nodding. “After all, it’s much easier to think when you have a full stomach.”

He took a few steps into the room and then bowed grandly, gesturing out the door with one arm.

“Now, come have dinner with me,” he said. “Bosses orders.”

You couldn’t argue that, so you left the desk to follow the man.

The restaurant was closed for a deep cleaning thar day, so there weren’t any customers or even many employees about. He led you up the stairs to the second floor, where you found yourself at a table loaded down with food.

“Once I got in the kitchen, I realized I didn’t know what you like, so I made a little bit of everything,” he stated as he pulled a chair out for you and gestured for you to sit.

You stared at him in shock for a moment before taking the offered seat. He pushed your chair back up to the table as you sat.

“Are you the chef here?” you asked.

“Something like that,” he said, walking around the table to take a seat across from you. “Now dig in, I can hear your stomach complaining from here.”

It was true. As soon as all the delicious smells hit your nose, you realized exactly how hungry you were.

Most evenings after that, you had dinner with him. It wasn’t always at the same time, but it always happened the same way. He’d come to ask if you’d eaten, you’d say no and then, next thing you knew, you were sitting at a table filled with enough to feed an army even though it was just the two of you.

The conversation was light the first few times you ate together, mainly basic topics like food and what you both liked to do outside of work. That’s how you found out cooking was a hobby of his rather than his job, but something he really enjoyed doing. Much like you with accounting, being a chef was something he would’ve loved to do had he not been in the Liumang.

After your contract was renewed for another thirty days, the two of you began opening to each other about more personal topics. As it turned out, you both had remarkably similar childhoods. Both of you were born into your factions and were expected to follow in your respective father’s footsteps. While he never told you exactly what his father did, and you never asked, it sounded as if he was higher up just as yours had been. It was clear that you’d both had big shoes to fill and, being the dutiful children you were, were still doing your best to live up to those lofty expectations.

While he didn’t outright say it, his tone and body language while talking about it gave away the same discontent with things that you felt. Life was good, yes. Neither of you could complain, nor did you have any right to, but you both knew there was more to life than what the factions provided.

In those weeks, you found yourselves growing closer with each conversation. He was easy to talk to, easy to open yourself up to. You felt a deep connection with him, a kinship you’d never felt with anyone outside of Seonhee, but in a way that was more than just friendship. Anytime you were with him, you felt a spark inside that had the potential to grow into an inferno should you both allow it.

It was a shame, really, since you knew nothing could come of it.

Halfway into your second month with the Liumang, you finally made a breakthrough in tracking down the theft. You began to pick up on their trail. It wasn’t much at first, just a small pattern in the numbers that was so subtle you almost didn’t notice it. But once you did, you began to get an idea of how they got away with it for so long without being noticed and how far back it went.

Rather than making your job easier, finding the evidence made it even more complicated. The Liumang had to pull more financial records for you dating back to the last three years and you had to go back over some of the records you had already done to re-examine the accounting errors you’d found. A lot of them ended up tying it in with the theft, but without knowing the pattern, they had looked kosher your first time over them.

These thieves were good. Some of the best you’d seen, in fact, if not the best. Whoever this mastermind was, they were just as good at numbers as you were.

Your contract was extended again by another thirty days as you became absorbed in your work. With your workload increased, you found yourself staying even later than before, sometimes working through the night, and only getting a short nap on the small couch there in the office. The fancy dinners came to a stop for a while, but your new friend always made sure you took a break to eat. Even on the days you didn’t see him, someone always brought up a takeout container of food for you to graze on while you worked.

But pushing yourself like that had a major drawback. I quickly wore you out. Soon you were exhausted, not only physically but mentally as well. You weren’t taking days off anymore and it was catching up to you. This job was far more in-depth and rigorous than anything you’d encountered.

The boss eventually noticed that your work had slowed, but rather than crack the whip like you would have expected, the opposite happened.

One night when your friend grabbed you for dinner, rather than the normal selection of water and tea to drink, there was a bottle of wine at the table.

At first you protested, insisting you couldn’t drink since you had more work to do, but he waved them off.

“One drink with dinner won’t kill ya,” he stated as he filled up a glass and set it in front of you. “You’re way too stressed out; you need to unwind and relax. Boss’s orders.”

As much as he used the boss as an excuse to get you to do things you normally wouldn’t do while on a job, you had to wonder if they really were orders from his boss, but you gave in since you weren’t in any position to question it.

As the two of you ate and the conversation flowed, one glass turned into two. The conversation turned flirty and two turned into three. With that second refill, he took the seat next to you rather than returning to his own. And then, the next thing you knew, you were sitting in his lap sharing a slow, deep kiss.

There was no denying the spark anymore, and it was clear he felt it too. While there was lust in the way his lips moved against yours, there was no sense of urgency, no rush to do anything more. He was taking his time just as you were, holding you close but loose enough you could easily pull away if you wanted.

You weren’t sure how long you were like that before his lips parted from yours. At first, you felt some disappointment, but that didn’t last for more than a second before he shifted downwards towards your neck. Your breath caught in your throat as you let your head fall back a little, giving him better access.

“You know what?” he muttered against your skin, waiting for you to hum in acknowledgement before continuing. “You should take the rest of the night off.”

His words made your heartbeat faster, but you couldn’t help a small chuckle.

“Now that I’m pretty sure the boss would frown on,” you said, softly tracing the tips of your fingers over the back of his neck.

“Trust me, he really won’t give two shits about that,” he muttered quickly, then nipped at your collarbone. “Let me take care of you tonight, baby. Please.”

It was tempting, so very tempting. He was making you feel things you hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.

Before you could answer though, a thought occurred to you. It is something you always meant to ask him, but it always slipped your mind when you were together. Now seemed as good of a time as any since you were seriously considering taking him back to your room.

“You know what?” you said, then waited for him to hum in acknowledgment before continuing. “You’ve never told me your name.”

His lips were beginning to trail down to your chest when he suddenly froze at your words, then slowly pulled back to look at you. For the first time since you met him, he looked nervous.

“I’ll tell you my name,” he said, swallowing heavily. “But promise you won’t freak out?”

You tilted your head at him curiously.

“Why would your name freak me out?” you asked, then smiled as your voice took on a teasing tone. “Are you a famous celebrity living in hiding?”

Rather than get a laugh like you expected, he looked away from you. He was quiet for a moment, his brow furrowed as if thinking hard.

It was only then that you finally realized he had been hiding something from you.

“Something like that, yeah,” he said finally then sighed. “All right. My name is- “

Before he could finish his sentence, from downstairs you heard the front door of the restaurant burst open and several pairs of feet urgently running towards the stairs.

“Boss!” a loud voice called. “Boss, where are you?”

Quite suddenly, you found yourself deposited back in your seat as your friend jumped to his feet. He grabbed his glasses off the table then and quickly moved around the table to his original chair across from you.

“Act natural,” he said quietly, putting his glasses back on.

His entire demeanor changed at that moment. Gone was the relaxed pose and easy-going attitude you were accustomed to seeing, replaced by an authoritative energy and piercing gaze.

By the time four gruff looking men made it up the stairs, you both had gotten yourselves back to the appearance of having dinner together.

The men looked around frantically, saw you two at the table and hurried over.

“Boss,” the man in the lead said and you recognized it as the one who called out from downstairs. “We’ve got trouble over on Ijin Street. It’s those shit sucking bikers again.”

“Little fuckers don’t know when to give up, do they?” he replied, shaking his head. “Get Mabuchi down there, he’ll take care of it.”

“That’s just it boss, they’ve got him and some of his boys cornered.”

You took a bite of your food and kept your face neutral as you watched your friend jump out of his chair so fast it nearly tipped over. His demeanor changed again, his calm facade slipping into one of anger.

“Then why the fuck didn’t you lead with that?” he snarled, quickly jumping to his feet, and grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. “Round up as many of the guys as you can. This shit’s gonna end tonight!”

Now that they had their orders, the men scrambled back downstairs to carry them out. Your friend started to follow, putting on his jacket as he went, but stopped just before he left the room, and turned back towards you.

“I meant what I said before,” he stated, his voice still authoritative but softer now as he addressed you. “Take the rest of the night off. You deserve it.”

Speechless, you simply nodded. Then flashed you a grin and a wink and followed his men.

Even if he hadn’t given you the go ahead to take the night off, there wouldn’t have been any way for you to focus after that. Realizing you had fallen for none other than the leader of the Yokohama Liumang, Tianyou Zhou himself, had shocked you to your core.

Presently, a commotion in Survive startled you out of your thoughts and you looked over towards the door. Iroha had returned from her shopping trip. You watched as the bartender went over to help her lug a new sleeping mat upstairs. That meant your room would be ready soon and you would be able to get cleaned up, changed, and finally get some rest. Just that alone thought made you aware of just how exhausted you were. It had been a very long night, and you couldn’t wait to fall into bed. Honestly, if given enough time alone, you could’ve easily fallen asleep right there at the bar. To keep that from happening though, you returned to your thoughts and remembered the remainder of your time spent with the Liumang.

You didn’t see Zhao again until your job was done. After the night you learned of his real identity, it only took two more weeks for you to figure out who was responsible for the theft. There were six men total that were behind it all and they were quickly taken care of. With that done, all you had left was to complete a final audit and make sure the books could pass a government inspection, which only took a couple of days.

While you were waiting for the car that was coming to take you home, Zhao came downstairs and dismissed the guard who had been waiting with you.

“I’ll take it from here,” he said. “I have one last thing to discuss with them before they’re off.”

He waited until it was just the two of you before speaking again.

And this time when he spoke, it was as the man you shared dinner with all those times, not the leader of the Liumang.

“I’m sorry about lying to you,” he said, then chuckled nervously. “But when I figured out you didn’t know who I was, I thought not knowing might make it easier for you to relax.”

You waved off his apology with a smile.

“It’s okay,” you said. “You were right, I would have had my guard up the whole time.”

He nodded, chuckled, then started rubbing the back of his neck.

“Would it be okay with you if I asked for your phone number?” he asked.

You raised an eyebrow.

“Is that even allowed?” you said. “I mean, we’re technically not even on the same side here.”

“What people don’t know won’t kill ‘em,” he said, then winked at you with a grin. “Or us.”

You couldn’t help but grin back at him and slipped him one of your fake business cards with your very real personal cell number written on the back.

Since you had to keep the whole thing a secret, it was like a long-distance relationship in the sense that most of it occurred through text messages and late-night phone calls. Occasionally, Zhao was able to slip away from his bodyguards to sneak off to your apartment, but those times were very few and far between. It was extremely dangerous for him to enter Geomijul territory, yet he always managed to slip in and out without being noticed. He never could stay the night though, just a few hours at most. You’d fall asleep in his arms, then wake up alone the next morning. While it made you sad, you wouldn’t have traded those few hours with him for anything.

Another commotion in the bar roused you from your thoughts again, this time from Adachi and Nanba enthusiastically greeting someone. You assumed it was Kasuga returning from his meeting and turned to greet the man as well. Instead, you saw it was Joongi Han who had arrived.

Sliding carefully off the barstool, you got to your feet to greet your old friend, but you froze in place as you watched another man limp into the bar behind him.

It was Zhao. And your heart broke at the sight of him.

The Liumang traitors had put him through hell, the results of the beating they had given were obvious. He moved slowly, a slight wince on his swollen lips as he walked, one arm hugged tight across his abdomen in an indication of broken ribs. His face was battered and bruised, scabs and dried blood caking areas of his skin.

It was obvious he was in a lot of pain, but little showed on his face. The man was an expert on hiding how he truly felt unless you knew how to read him.

Your first instinct was to rush over to him, to take him in your arms and comfort him, to take care of him in his time of need. It took everything you had, a willpower you didn’t even know you possessed, but you managed to stay rooted in place.

Zhao nodded a greeting to the others, then his gaze quickly swept the room, as if searching for something. When his eyes landed on you, they widened in shock, his expression looking as taken back as you felt. You hadn’t looked in a mirror yet, but you assumed you probably looked about as bad as you felt.

The reservations you had about rushing over to him he clearly didn’t share. He strode right over to you as quickly as his injuries would allow and, in full view of everyone, pulled you into a tight hug. It made you both gasp in pain, but you didn’t care about the pain. All you cared about was the man holding you in his arms.

“Should we be doing this here?” you muttered against his jacket, holding it tightly in your fists as if afraid he’d disappear.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said, then pulled back slightly to look at you. “I’ve stepped down from the Liumang. Seonhee oversees both factions now.”

That surprised you and your mouth dropped open.

“Seonhee?” you repeated, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

It took a moment, but things finally started clicking in your head.

“Then that means…we’re both civilians now?”

Zhao smiled a little and brought one hand up to caress your uninjured cheek.

“Yeah, we are,” he said softly. “We don’t have to hide anymore, baby.”

The effect of his words was immediate. Suddenly the mask you always wore around others was gone and the walls you’d built around yourself to protect yourself from outsiders came crashing down.

You couldn’t stop yourself from kissing him, tears of happiness and relief streaming down your face. The force of the kiss made you both wince, but he only pulled you closer, returning it with just as much passion.

You were so engrossed in one another that neither of you heard Han grumble to Namba about how he now owed Seonhee a thousand yen thanks to you two.

It wasn’t long before Kasuga returned from his meeting. By the time he’d filled you all in on what happened, your room had long since been ready, so you and Zhao retired upstairs for the night. While there wasn’t much room, the space was only a little bigger than your average walk-in closet, it was more than enough for the two of you.

Between the broken ribs and the lingering effects of a dislocated shoulder, getting his jacket and shirt off was slow going, but you managed. After filling a small basin with warm water from the sink in the other room, you helped clean him up. Once the dried blood and dirt was washed away, you applied the herbal poultice the bartender made to his wounds and bruises, then wrapped them in bandages.

While you insisted that he rest, Zhao insisted it was his turn now, wanting to take care of you as you did him. You changed the water in the basin since you could move around a little easier than he could, but once that was done, he took over as caregiver. He helped you undress and gently cleaned your wounds, softly kissing your neck and shoulders as he went, and dressed your injuries just as you did for him.

By the time he finished, your body felt electrified, and you couldn’t help but find his lips with yours. The kiss was softer than the one you shared downstairs, soft enough it didn’t hurt. He was more than eager to return your affection, his hands trailing gently along your body, caressing all the places you loved to be touched.

Considering the state you were both in, physical activity should have been the last thing on your mind. But at that moment, the need for physical touch and comfort overrode all common sense and logic. Soon you were under him on the bed. He held most of his weight off you with his good arm, your bodies close but not crushed together. His thrusts were slow to keep from hurting either of you, even slower than the times he’d teased you and taken his time with you. But, despite that, neither of you were able to last long. The fact it had been weeks since you’d last seen each other combined with the fear you’d lost one another to build a foundation for quick, earth-shattering orgasms. Afterwards, you passed out in each other’s arms, exhausted and hurting like hell, but happy.

When the next morning came, you were lulled up from sleep by a severe pounding in your head. You made the mistake of cracking your eyes open and then immediately shut them again with a groan. The tiny window in the room had no curtain, allowing bright sunlight to beam directly into your eyes. The sharp pain it sent into your brain caused your eyes and nose to water. It took a little while but eventually the pain began to recede back down to a throb. As it did, you became more aware of your body, and you wished you were still asleep.

You felt like total, absolute garbage.

From the top of your head to bottom of your feet, every single part of your body hurt horribly.

But then you became aware of a different sensation, one that was a contrast to all the pain. It was soft, a very gentle stroking feeling on your upper arm that was soothing.

You risked cracking your eyes open again. While it still hurt, you were prepared for the light this time, so it wasn’t quite as bad. Carefully, you tilted your head up and found yourself looking at Zhao’s smiling face. You were still laying in his arms, your head against his chest.

“Morning baby,” he said softly.

“Morning,” you whispered, then you smiled. “You’ve never stayed the night before.”

“First time for everything,” he replied with a chuckle, then he softly kissed you on the forehead. “Now I can always be by your side.”

While your heart swelled at his words, a thought occurred to you that made your smile falter and you looked away from him.

Now that you were both normal, everyday civilians, your lives were about the drastically change. Things were about to become much, much harder for the both of you. While The Geomijul had never been the wealthiest of factions, The Liumang, however, were a different story. They easily rivaled The Seiryu Clan in terms of finances, even if it didn’t appear that way on the surface. From birth until now, anything Zhao desired could be his. From the everyday necessities of life to fancy cars, dinners, and women, all he had to do was snap his fingers and it would be his.

Sensing your sudden turn of mood, Zhao lifted his free hand to gently take ahold of your chin and tilt your head up, so you were meeting his gaze once again.

“Hey now,” he said softly. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

You started to nervously chew on your bottom lip but stopped when you accidentally bit down on the scab that was running right down the middle. It made you wince, and Zhao tutted at you with a chuckle.

“It’s just…won’t you get bored?” you finally asked. “We’re not going to have much of anything. My whole life burnt to the ground, everything I own is now in this room.”

He shook his head.

“I’ve never cared about any of that,” he said, stroking your arm again, but this time in a gesture of comfort. “But getting to wake up with you in my arms…now that’s something grand. I want to be here with you. I want to be by your side, now and forever. You’re the one that I love, and now I have the chance to love you the way I want to. The way you deserve.”

There were no more words needed at that point, neither from him nor from you.

The kiss that followed said anything that remained unsaid.

#tianyou zhao x reader #tianyou zhao #zhao tianyou #yakuza imagines #yakuza fanfiction #yakuza headcanons #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza #yakuza like a dragon

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mariacallous · 22 days ago

Text

In August, the leaders of Georgia’s ruling party gathered in the ancient capital of Mtskheta to outline their plans for if they win the country’s parliamentary elections on Oct. 26. Speaking at a campaign rally near an Orthodox Christian church, the Georgian Dream party’s honorary chairman, Bidzina Ivanishvili, committed to a measure to ban opposition parties.

“The Oct. 26 elections must turn into Nuremberg trials for the UNM,” Ivanishvili said, referring to the United National Movement, Georgia’s largest opposition party, which left power in 2012 and remains deeply divisive. The moment encapsulated Georgian Dream’s strategy since passing a controversial law in May to regulate so-called “foreign influence” in the country: targeting all perceived threats.

Widespread protests against the Law on Transparency in Foreign Influence—which entered force in August and requires organizations receiving funding from abroad to register as foreign agents—fizzled out months ago. But opposition to Georgian Dream has not disappeared; it has simply changed shape amid increased repression. Nongovernmental organizations refuse to comply with the draconian requirements of the law, and Georgia’s opposition parties have formed unprecedented alliances in an effort to bring a new government to power.

All sides now view the elections this week as a referendum on the country’s future. Georgian Dream portrays itself it is a bulwark against conflict amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, while opposition parties see their victory as the only way to preserve Georgia’s democracy and hopes for membership in the European Union.

Vladimer Mkervalishvili arrived at his office building one day in May to find its outer walls covered with spray paint. The director of Rights Georgia, a prominent human rights organization, Mkervalishvili has not experienced many threats during his career, making the words scrawled outside—calling his employees “traitors,” “fascists,” and “enemies of the country”—unsettling.

Such incidents were common in the spring as the Georgian Parliament debated the foreign influence law and Tbilisi’s streets swelled every evening with protesters carrying EU flags and shouting anti-government slogans. Some opposition activists and political figures even came under attack, targeted with death threats and even physical violence.

The foreign influence law drew large-scale opposition because—compared to similar legislation in some Western countries, including the United States—Georgia’s is more far-reaching, imposing monitoring on nearly all organizations that receive foreign funding. Neighboring Russia has employed its own foreign agents law to give the government wide-ranging powers to muzzle dissent.

After the Georgian law passed, the EU halted Tbilisi’s bid for membership, and the United States began to review its relations with the country, fearing that the law’s passage marked a shift away from the West. Officials in Washington implied that the United States wouldn’t support a government responsible for democratic backsliding. Ties have deteriorated further since, with the EU ambassador in Tbilisi recently announcing the suspension of all high-level meetings with Georgian government officials.

The foreign influence law appears to be just one part of creeping anti-liberalism in the country. A few weeks after Georgian Dream’s announcement of a probable ban on opposition parties, the government gave final approval to a slew of anti-LGBTQ measures, including a ban on same-sex marriage. Though likely an attempt to appeal to traditionalist voters, such moves only add fuel to the argument that the party’s aim is not actually to achieve European integration, but rather to retain power at all costs.

Rights Georgia is the kind of organization that faces a total shutdown as the foreign agents law is implemented. Because of the adversarial nature of the group’s work, which has recently included offering legal assistance to people arrested during this year’s protests, Mkervalishvili assumes that it is among the law’s top targets. Refusing to comply, Rights Georgia prepared to pay mandatory fines earlier this year—a tactic that many NGOs are employing—and hopes that the elections will produce a Parliament ready to revoke the law.

“Fighting against this law—it was not political for us; it was a human rights issue,” Mkervalishvili said.

The organization is involved with a constitutional challenge against the law that is working its way through the courts, but Mkervalishvili admitted that the future is uncertain. He said the fact that September passed without a promised ramp-up in enforcement of the law made him think that officials either don’t have the capacity to fully implement the law or are waiting to do so until after the elections. “We don’t know what their plans are,” he said, adding that potential repercussions depend “on what their main goal is in this situation, and who are the main targets.”

That fear is shared by many people in the political opposition, who are increasingly casting the outcome of the elections as vital for the fate of Georgia’s democracy. “These are the last days—literally—of a free Georgia unless we all do everything to make sure that Georgian Dream is replaced through democratic elections,” said Grigol Gegelia, the foreign secretary for the opposition party Lelo.

Georgian Dream identified Lelo’s electoral coalition, alongside a handful of others, as a group to be banned if it wins the upcoming elections. By the ruling party’s logic, all these parties are offshoots of UNM and therefore carry its controversial legacy of political scandal, brutal crackdowns on protests, and creeping authoritarianism during its time in power. Gegelia refuted these claims by using Lelo as an example; he said that while the party may include some former UNM members, it has no connection beyond that. “This election is about Georgia’s statehood. Full stop,” he added.

Other observers describe the elections as a choice between progress and stagnation—economically as well as politically. “This particular election will be crucial, not only for the future of democracy in Georgia, but also for what kind of Georgia that Georgians want to see,” said Kornely Kakachia, the director of the Georgian Institute of Politics, an independent think tank in Tbilisi.

A major motivation for Georgia’s ongoing effort toward joining the EU, for example, is the perceived economic benefit of full membership. But banning opposition parties and other similar moves are only likely to cement Georgia’s frayed relations with the bloc, which has emphasized that the door remains open to membership talks if the government in Tbilisi walks back anti-democratic initiatives.

As organizations grappled with the surprisingly restrained implementation of the foreign influence law over the past few months, campaigning was getting into full swing. Opposition politicians crisscrossed the country, promising to address pressing issues such as net emigration and economic stagnation—but only after reversing Georgian Dream’s course.

The high stakes of the elections have supercharged Georgia’s already-contentious political environment. Around the time that the foreign influence law passed, there were widespread calls to overcome the divides that have long plagued Georgia’s opposition. In June, President Salome Zourabichvili—an independent politician who holds a largely ceremonial role—announced a plan of action called the Georgian Charter, which would guide an opposition-led government.

For a short time, it seemed that Georgia’s opposition would finally unite as one, but it proved hard to overcome old differences. Opposition parties that initially expressed interest in a broad alliance split into blocs once discussions got underway. Now, a handful of opposition alliances are vying for seats in Parliament: Unity—National Movement, led by UNM; the Coalition for Change, comprising former UNM members and small parties with little prior representation; and Strong Georgia, of which Lelo is a member.

“Unity is very important, but for me, unity doesn’t mean one list,” said Giorgi Gakharia, a former Georgian Dream prime minister who left the party in 2021 and now leads the For Georgia party. His party is running an independent campaign, something that he said will allow it to pull voters away from Georgian Dream.

But that strategy—which Gakharia called a “golden key” to success—could end up benefiting the ruling party, which could use the opposition’s split support—as well as the potential for smaller parties to miss the 5 percent parliamentary threshold—to its advantage.

One recent poll, commissioned by a government-aligned TV station, estimated Georgian Dream’s support at nearly 60 percent of the vote, while another, commissioned by an opposition-aligned station, suggested that the party’s support is closer to 32 percent. Party leaders seem unfazed by this discrepancy, even as they mirror the opposition’s dire rhetoric about the vote.

The opposition’s victory will depend on whether it can pull substantial votes away from Georgian Dream, according to Kakachia, of the Georgian Institute of Politics. “It would be better if the Georgian opposition were united … but it’s still fine if they have three or four different groups,” he said. “The main thing is what they will offer to Georgian voters in order to convince them they are not just able to challenge Georgian Dream, but they can also work together.”

No matter who ends up at the head of the opposition pack, it’s likely that any Parliament not dominated by Georgian Dream will quickly try to undo the ruling party’s work. The opposition’s primary campaign goal is to restore Georgia’s so-called Euro-Atlantic trajectory by rolling back repressive policies. To that end, repealing the foreign influence law is the Georgian Charter’s first action item.

And if Georgian Dream wins? Maka Botchorishvili, a member of Parliament for the ruling party, told Foreign Policy that their plans are to pursue “stability”—a common phrase among party officials—and to develop Georgia’s role as an economic linchpin between East and West. She acknowledged that there are “difficulties” in relations with the EU but brushed off the idea that Georgia’s membership accession is on ice, seeming to imply that Tbilisi can wait Brussels out.

“I would not look at EU enlargement or Georgia’s accession process in a very limited time frame, because that is a big issue,” Botchorishvili said. “It is not ending tomorrow, right?”

Perhaps most striking about the lead-up to this year’s elections is how little Georgian Dream’s messaging has changed, even in the face of immense public dissatisfaction. It still advertises itself as the party for those who dream of EU membership. Its campaign banners across Tbilisi display the party logo mixed with the European flag and words that it hopes will appeal to those voters: “To Europe only with peace, dignity, prosperity.”

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ttccprojectoverdrive · 2 months ago

Text

Quick summary of this AU

CONTENT WARNINGS: experimentation, death, body horror, mental/physical torture/abuse, mental health and physical health issues

Basic Summary

2 years after the game’s current time, the war between toons and cogs is going in favor of the toons. The chairman is getting both nervous and desperate. Prethinker, who'd been quite aware of the whole situation, had a plan. That plan was a project he wanted to propose known as project overdrive. It had been his secret passion project he'd been working on with his husband Bellringer.

Prethinker had discovered a way to harness pure “toon energy” from the gags of toons and toons themselves, and after a complicated process was able to combine it with cog technology to create what’s essentially an upgraded override. Cogs who are given the overdrive chip, otherwise known as changnium, can achieve an overdrive state. Overdrive is a monstrous form that has animal traits based on random animals if toon energy from gags is used, and specific animals if toons are used.

Prethinker suggests sending these monstrous cogs out at night to take out resistance members. The chairman, who again is desperate and under blackmail shortly into the project’s company endorsement, puts more funding and research into this project. He was worried that the very limited energy from gags would make the project difficult, but then prethinker’s husband bellringer suggested using toons themselves. With the help of dip of course. The chairman, much to the secret horror of the VP and CFO, agrees to this and using some of the managers as test subjects if regular cog test subjects work. They do, so after six months to a year the managers the chairman is willing to let get experimented on get overdrive forms.

What no one but the chairman, Brian, Ben, and Brian’s “suppliers” (his family) know is that the chairman was blackmailed into letting this project happen. He'd wanted to back out when Ben and Brian revealed that the idea of using gag energy had been scrapped a long time ago, and that toons were being used. As it turns out, Brian has been working on Project Overdrive ever since his failed tune-up on Buck. During that time Brian discovered that toons themselves were better than gags as “toon fuel”. The narrative of the chairman being concerned about gags not providing enough energy and agreeing to using toons is a fabrication. Ben and Brian hold over the chairman’s head that they could go and tell everyone back in Suitopia that none of this was their idea in the first place, and that the chairman forced them to do it. Ben was good at fabricating evidence and acting after all. The chairman basically made a deal with the devil without fully realizing what he was getting into. To make things even worse, the CLO and CEO end up promoting and support Ben and Brian once they learn all the juicy details. The VP and CFO are forced to stay under threat of harm.

Overdrive, like override, is an AI. Unfortunately for Prethinker and Bellringer, the overdrive AIs become sentient. They're animalistic in mind at first, but over time the managers that have them and the managers that don't manage to “tame” and befriend them as the AIs become more intelligent. It's a battle for the afflicted managers and the AIs sharing a body with them (think Eda and the owl beast) to retain control and to not bring too much harm to toons. Thankfully, secretly of course, an alliance is forming between some resistance members (thanks to Rain) and the managers in order to take down cogs.ink for good.

Supporting Details

-Chip, Spruce, Bubble, Buck, and Dave are the leaders of the eventual revolution

-so far the ones who have overdrive are Chip, Dave, Graham, Misty, Mary, Holly, William, and Flint

- the monstrous cogs are only sent out either at night, or during missions where toon groups are fighting in buildings

- there's very little known about monstrous cogs by the general public, half of them thinking that they're just rumors

-the toon resistance is trying to learn as much as they can with the help of the managers, though at first a lot of them didn't even want to associate with cogs. Rain had to convince them to work in secret with the managers, and in the process earned ire from some of them for dating a cog manager.

-threats against the managers and their loved ones are the only reason the managers haven't blasted this all out to the public

-Prethinker thought that the managers would be too afraid of the overdrive entities to do anything about them, so he was Big Mad ™️ when they pulled a How to Train Your Dragon on his ass

-secret groups in the resistance are established and coined as “cog control”, a play on animal control

These groups are made of only the resistance’s strongest warriors

They're sent out either to seek out overdrive threats in the night and to come to the aid of weaker toons that have encountered them while in a building

They wear special uniforms and voice modulators that conceal their identities so that cogs.ink can't target them outside of work

They're also the ones that help the managers when it comes to getting over the “kill initiative” of the overdrive

Non afflicted, afflicted, and tamed overdrives also assist when there isn't the threat of being caught

Multislacker helps immensely with avoiding security detection, and if possible the managers try to obscure their identities (some such as Alton can't really do that)

Rain is the leader of the strongest cog control group and the tutor of all cog control groups, bubble (oc partner of chip) providing assistance when not busy with helping with taming overdrives

-”kill initiative” is coding that activates in the presence of a toon that has gags on hand. It heightens the fear and aggression of overdrive, making it so they're more likely to deal fatal damage rather than merely self defense when fighting toons.

This coding was put in as merely a safeguard against rebellion at first, as during training overdrives were told to fear toons

After realizing that the overdrives were becoming more sentient and less cooperative, Brian made it so the coding would be activated more easily

The resistance and the other managers work through this by helping them “fight” their programming, something Chip is most familiar with considering his past with override

Ways to activate overdrive

Instant loss of control: Prethinker speaking the word “resistance”

Slower loss of control: kill initiative overpowering both the manager and the overdrive, great emotional and/or physical distress being experienced by both, ben saying resistance

Giving over control: the managers and the overdrives can decide who's in control. This only happens either when both parties are in control/calm, or in a dire situation where overdrive is needed and can control itself

Overdrive forms produce dip, which is how they're able to kill toons

Overdrive forms have the animal traits of the toons that were killed in order to make the changium core that the overdrive chip resides in

There are toons known as “specialized toons”, which are toons with very powerful and unique gags. These toons are the primary targets for overdrive forms.

Important Notes

- the overdrive concept was originally made for @linxprime giants AU, so check out this page if you wanna see more cool art and AU stuff!

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