#day twenty eight: regional production

[todaysdocument]

On August 10, 1988, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was passed into law, apologizing and making reparations for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. 

Record Group 11: General Records of the United States Government

Series: Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress

File Unit: Laws of the United States; Public Law 100-383: An Act to Implement Recommendations of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

Transcription:

Public Law 100-383

H.R. 442

One Hundredth Congress of the United States of America

At the Second Session

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the twenty-fifth day of January,

one thousand nine hundred and eighty eight.

An Act

To implement recommendations of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.

Section 1. Purposes.

The purposes of this Act are to--

(1) acknowledge the fundamental injustice of the evacuation, relocation , and internment of United States citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry during World War II;

(2) apologize on behalf of the people of the United States for the evacuation, relocation, and internment of such citizens and permanent resident aliens;

(3) provide for a public education fund to finance efforts to inform the public about the internment of such individuals so as to prevent the recurrence of any similar event;

(4) make restitution to those individuals of Japanese ancestry who were interned;

(5) make restitution to Aleut residents of the Pribilof Islands and the Aleutian Islands west of Unimak Island, in settlement of United States obligations in equality and at law, for--

(A) injustices suffered and unreasonable hardships endured while those Aleut residents were under United States control during World War II;

(B) personal property taken or destroyed by United States forces during World War II;

(C) community property, including community church property, taken or destroyed by United States forces during World War II; and

(D) traditional village lands on Attu Island not rehabilitated after World War II for Aleut occupation or other productive use;

(6) discourage the occurrence of similar injustices and violations of civil liberties in the future; and

(7) make more credible and sincere any declaration of concern by the United States over violations of human rights committed by other nations.

SEC.2. Statement of the Congress

(a) With regard to individuals of Japanese Ancestry.-- The Congress recognizes that, as described by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, a grave injustice was done to both citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II.  As the Commission documents, these actions were carried out without adequate security reasons and without any acts of espionage or sabotage documented by the Commission, and were motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a

[page 2]

H.R.442--2

failure of political leadership.  The excluded individuals of Japanese ancestry suffered enormous damages, both material and intangible, and there were incalculable losses in education and job training, all of which resulted in significant human suffering for which appropriate compensation has not been made.  For these fundamental violations of the basic civil liberties and constitutional rights of these individuals of Japanese ancestry, the Congress apologizes on behalf of the Nation.

(b) With respect to the Aleuts.--The Congress recognizes that, as described by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, the Aleut civilian residents of the Pribilof Islands and the Aleutian Islands west of Unimak Island were relocated during World War II to temporary camps in isolated regions of southeast Alaska where they remained, under United States control and in the care of the United States, until long after any potential danger to their home villages had passed.  The United States failed to provide reasonable care for the Aleuts, and this resulted in widespread illness, disease, and death among the residents of the camps; and the United States further failed to protect Aleut personal and community property while such property was in its possession or under its control.  The United States has not compensated the Aleuts adequately for the conversion or destruction of personal property, and the conversion or destruction of community property caused by the United States military occupation of Aleut villages during World War II. There is no remedy for injustices suffered by the Aleuts during World War II except and Act of Congress providing appropriate compensation for those losses which are attributed to the conduct of United States forces and other officials and employees of the United States.

TITLE I--UNITED STATES CITIZENS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY AND RESIDENT JAPANESE ALIENS

SEC 101.SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the "Civil Liberties Act of 1988".

SEC 102. REMEDIES WITH RESPECT TO CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

(a) Review of Convictions.-- The Attorney General is requested to review any case in which an individual living on the date of the enactment of this Act was, while a United States citizen or permanent resident alien of Japanese ancestry, convicted of a violation of--

(1) Executive Order Numbered 9066, dated February 19, 1942;

(2) the Act entitled "An Act to provide penalty for violation of restrictions or orders with respect to persons entering, remaining in, leaving, or committing any act in military areas or zones", approved March 21, 1942 (56 Stat. 173); or

(3) any other Executive order, Presidential proclamation, law of the United States, directive of the Armed Forces of the United States, or other action taken by or on behalf of the United States or its agents, representatives, officers, or employees, respecting the evacuation, relocation, or internment of individuals solely on the basis of Japanese ancestry;

[page 3]

H.R.442--14

estate of a parcel of land consisting of all land outside such village that is within 660 feet of any point on the boundary of such village.  The conveyance may be made under the authority contained in section 14(h)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92-203;43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(1)), except that after the enactment of this Act, no site on Attu Island, Alaska, other than such traditional Aleut village site and such parcel of land, may be conveyed to the Corporation under such section 12(h)(1).

(f) Authorization of Appropriations.-- There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to the Secretary to carry out this section.

SEC.208. COMPLIANCE WITH BUDGET ACT.

No authority under this title to enter into contracts or to make payments shall be effective in any fiscal year except to such extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in appropriations Acts.  In any fiscal year, the Secretary, with respect to--

(1) the Fund established under section 203,

(2) the trust established under section 205(b), and

(3) the provisions of section 206 and 207,

shall limit the total benefits conferred to an amount not in excess of the appropriations for such fiscal year.  Any provision of this title which, directly or indirectly, authorizes the enactment of new budget authority shall be effective only for fiscal year 1989 and thereafter.

SEC.209.SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this title, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this title and the application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected by such invalidation.

TITLE III-TERRITORY OR PROPERTY CLAIMS AGAINST UNITED STATES

SEC.301. EXCLUSION OF CLAIMS

Notwithstanding any other provision of law or of this Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed as recognition of any claim of Mexico or any other country or any Indian tribe (except as expressly provided in this Act with respect to the Aleut tribe of Alaska) to any territory or other property of the United States, nor shall this act be construed as providing any basis for compensation in connection with any such claim.

[signature] Norman Mineta

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Speaker pro tempore

[signature] Spark Matsunaga

["Vice President of the United States and" crossed out] Acting President of the Senate. Pro Tempore.

[stamped] APPROVED

AUG 10 1988

[signature] Ronald Reagan

[aligndentalcare]

8 Home Remedies for Tooth Pain-Align Dental Care

Toothache can occur at any time and frequently does so unexpectedly. It can interfere with everyday activities and make it difficult to focus, whether it be a mild ache or a strong, throbbing pain. When tooth discomfort becomes severe or persistent, it is important to visit a dentist. In the interim, a number of efficient DIY treatments might offer momentary respite. These treatments are readily available and easy to use because they only require basic household products and natural substances. We'll look at eight effective over-the-counter treatments for tooth pain in this blog. It will also provide thorough justifications and advice for every technique to assist you in finding alleviation.

Salt Water Rinse

An all-natural disinfectant, saltwater can help heal oral wounds and lessen inflammation. It's among the easiest and best treatments for dental discomfort.

How to Rinse with Salt Water?

Procedure: In a glass of warm water, dissolve half a teaspoon of salt.

Use: Before spitting it out, swish the solution around your mouth for around thirty seconds.

Frequency: You can do this up to three times every day.

Rinsing with salt water can help to minimize swelling, encourage healing, and clean the region surrounding the damaged tooth. All ages can use this mild strategy.

Cold Compress

When it comes to treating dental pain brought on by trauma or swelling, a cold compress works especially well. It lessens inflammation and aids in numbing the affected area.

How to Apply a Cold Compress?

Preparation: Use a cold pack or wrap some ice cubes in a tiny piece of fabric.

Application: Leave the compress on the affected area's exterior for ten to fifteen minutes.

Repeat: Whenever necessary, every few hours.

Many individuals find that applying a cold compress is a fast and simple method of relieving pain and minimizing swelling.

Cloves Oil

Eugenol, a natural antibacterial found in clove oil, has the ability to lessen pain and inflammation. For generations, people have utilized this cure to ease dental discomfort.

How to Use Clove Oil

Preparation: To prepare, dab a cotton ball with a tiny bit of clove oil.

Application: Either use the cotton ball directly to the sore spot or use a few drops as mouthwash by combining them with a tiny amount of water.

Caution: Be careful—direct touch with the gums can irritate them.

Clove oil is a potent cure that relieves tooth pain quickly, especially when you need it right away.

Peppermint Tea Bags

Tea bags with peppermint extract help numb the discomfort and calm irritated gums. This gentle technique is effective for treating mild to severe tooth discomfort.

How to use bags of peppermint tea?

Preparation: Brew a peppermint tea bag in hot water and let it cool down a bit.

Use: For approximately twenty minutes, apply the warm, moist tea bag to the afflicted area.

Option: For a cold compress effect, use a tea bag that has cooled.

Breath fresh and clean after using peppermint tea bags, in addition to relieving toothache.

Hydration Peroxide Rinse

Rinsing with hydrogen peroxide can help decrease plaque, kill bacteria, and ease pain. It works very well for infections or gum disease.

How to rinse with hydrogen peroxide?

Preparation: Prepare by combining equal parts water and 3% hydrogen peroxide.

Use: Swirl the concoction in your mouth for a quarter of a minute, then spit it out.

Caution: Be careful not to swallow the rinse, and then rinse your mouth with simple water.

Tooth discomfort brought on by infections may be relieved by using a hydrogen peroxide rinse to clean the mouth and lessen bacterial accumulation.

Garlic

Garlic can significantly reduce tooth discomfort and has inherent antimicrobial qualities. It has antiseptic properties and antibacterial properties.

How to Prepare Garlic for Tooth Pain?

Preparation: Grind a clove of garlic to get its juice.

Application: Chew a clove of garlic carefully or apply crushed garlic directly to the impacted tooth.

Option 2: Before applying, combine the crushed garlic with a small amount of salt.

Garlic is an effective natural medicine that helps prevent infections and relieve tooth discomfort.

Vanilla Extract

Alcohol, which is present in vanilla extract, can help to numb the discomfort. Additionally, its antioxidant qualities may promote recovery.

How to Apply an Extract of Vanilla?

Preparation: To prepare, dab a cotton ball or your fingers with a tiny bit of vanilla extract.

Application: Immediately apply it to the gums and teeth that are impacted.

Frequency: Using this cure up to three times a day is the frequency.

Vanilla extract is a popular choice because it is a sweet-smelling and efficient dental pain reliever.

Guava Leaves

Guava leaves can help relieve tooth discomfort and reduce swelling since they have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities.

How to Use Leaf Guava?

Preparation: To prepare mouthwash, boil fresh guava leaves and chew on them.

Application: Allow the mixture to cool before swishing it about your mouth if you're using it as mouthwash.

Frequency: For optimal effects, apply this medicine a couple times per day.

If you are a fan of herbal medicines, guava leaves provide a natural and efficient solution to treat dental discomfort.

Finishing Up

Although experiencing tooth pain might be upsetting, there are practical and efficient at-home solutions available for short-term relief. Even though these techniques can lessen discomfort, it's crucial to see a dentist to treat the underlying source of tooth pain. Maintaining healthy teeth and averting pain in the future require routine dental exams and excellent oral hygiene habits. You may guarantee improved dental health and get relief from tooth discomfort by implementing these natural solutions into your daily routine.

[mariacallous]

On November 17, Russia’s State Duma approved the final version of its national budget bill for the next three years (2024–2026). Five days later, the plan was approved by the Federation Council. When Vladimir Putin signs the bill into law, it will mark the first time in modern Russian history that a budget has designated more money to the military than to social spending. At 10.7 trillion rubles ($120.8 billion), expenditures on “national defense” make up a third of all spending outlined in the budget, while social spending receives 7.5 trillion rubles ($84.7 billion), though the latter amount also included some military-related expenditures such as medical care for injured soldiers. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has defended the bill as necessary to “ensure victory.” Meduza explains how the budget’s final draft differs from the original version, how objections to the militarization of national spending fell on deaf ears, and why Russian businesses should expect an increase in their own tax burden.

How did the budget change during lawmakers’ discussions?

By the second reading of Russia’s next national budget bill, State Duma deputies and officials had introduced over 900 amendments, 768 of which were ultimately adopted. Most of the proposed changes concerned the reallocation of spending from the classified part of the budget to the public part. As a result, the unclassified part increased by 1.17 trillion rubles ($13.2 billion), reaching 26.82 trillion ($302.8 billion), according to the outlet RBC.

Most of the redistribution occurred in the budget’s “national defense” section: its non-classified portion increased by 725 billion rubles ($8.2 billion).

The category that had the second-highest amount of funds redistributed was “national economy”: 152.49 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) were transferred from the classified to the non-classified section. A significant part of these funds are set to go to rebuilding the Ukrainian regions that Russia annexed.

In total, for the next three years, the Russian authorities moved about seven trillion rubles ($79 billion) from budget’s classified section to its non-classified section, according to the Finance Ministry. While this did increase transparency, the budget remains more classified than any previous one: the share of expenditures that are classified will be just under 27 percent in 2024, compared to about 19 percent in 2022 and 15 percent in 2021.

More spending on the annexed Ukrainian regions

The Russian government’s program to restore Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it annexed, was originally slated to receive 232.9 billion rubles ($2.6 billion) in 2024. Later amendments increased funding for the program by several tens of billions of rubles (equal to hundreds of millions of dollars) by reallocating money from the budget’s classified section.

Twenty-four billion rubles ($271.9 million) will be designated to support people whose homes were destroyed or damaged by the war; three billion ($34 million) will go to restoring power grids; 2.2 billion ($25 million) is earmarked for the development of the coal sector in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions; and 3.9 billion ($44.2 million) is set to go towards recapitalizing local industrial development funds.

Increased subsidies for state-owned companies

By redistributing expenditures from the classified section of the budget to the unclassified section, the government also increased subsidies for state-controlled companies.

For example, funding for the transport of agricultural and food products will increase from eight billion rubles (90.3 million) to 11 billion rubles ($124.2 million).

Fifteen billion rubles ($169.3 million) was reallocated to banks to subsidize preferential auto loans. In 2024, more than 17 billion rubles ($191.9 billion) will go towards these loans; in 2025, more than 23 billion rubles ($259.7 million) will; and in 2026, they’ll receive more than 24.7 billion ($278.9 million). In total, 65 billion rubles ($733.8 million) will go to preferential car loans over the next three years compared to the initial proposal of 50 billion ($564.5 million).

Additionally, the amount of money designated for preferential leases in 2024–2026 will increase from 10 billion ($112.9 million) to 31 billion ($350 million). Subsidies for the purchase of natural gas vehicles will increase by a factor of 1.5, reaching 16.7 billion rubles ($188.5 million).

A modest increase in healthcare funding

Lawmakers marginally increased spending on several items popular among voters: they designated an additional six billion rubles ($67.7 million) for the purchase of medications for patients with cardiovascular diseases and another three billion rubles (33.9 million) for children’s recreation and health.

An increase in funding for law enforcement salaries

Another notable change the Duma made in the federal budget is the indexation of salaries for security officers. The initial budget draft included provisions specifying that law enforcement salaries would not increase. By the State Duma’s second reading, however, lawmakers decided to remove these provisions, evidently taking care to preserve the loyalty of the country’s security apparatus in an election year.

Did anyone argue against spending so much on the military?

No — at least not openly. But some lawmakers did publicly criticize the decrease in spending on categories such as infrastructure as well as the inadequate funding on specific social programs.

Some State Duma deputies demanded certain rejected amendments be put to a separate vote. For example, Communist Party deputies Mikhail Matveyev and Nina Ostanina proposed increasing funding for housing for orphans, arguing that the program has been receiving only 10 billion rubles ($112.9 million) annually for years and that this amount should increase to 30 billion rubles ($339 million).

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov opposed these amendments, saying there’s insufficient money for it in the Federal Treasury. State Duma Budget Committee chairman Anton Makarov added that simply maintaining funding for the program at its current level is a challenge on its own. The amendments were ultimately voted down.

Other deputies proposed allocating additional funds for the resettlement of citizens living in dilapidated housing and people living in the Far North, as well as funding for fighting forest fires. These proposals were also rejected.

Broadly speaking, however, lawmakers supported the proposed budget. The bill was approved by the leaders of all party factions except the Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov. Though he did advocate for an increase in spending on the war, he ultimately refused to support the budget due to the reduction in spending on the economy.

Is anyone worried about running out of money?

When the budget was first submitted to the State Duma for discussion, economists criticized its authors for being too optimistic. To cover the increased military expenses laid out in the bill, Russia’s Federal Treasury will have to take in 35 trillion rubles (about $395 billion) in revenue — 22 percent more than it received in 2023.

Anton Siluanov explained that the funding will come from the introduction of export duties, the improvement of indirect tax collection processes, and an increase in excise taxes on tobacco and wine.

Nonetheless, analysts from the Telegram channel MMI referred to the budget revenue estimate as an “artistic rendering based on strategic objectives.” If Russia’s economy does worse than forecasted, the budget could fall short by up to one trillion rubles ($11.3 billion), according to Denis Popov, an analyst at the government-owned bank Promsvyazbank. The Audit Chamber estimated the potential shortfall at 119.3 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) in 2024, 129 billion rubles ($1.5 billion) in 2025, and 151.7 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) in 2026. Andrey Baturkin, an auditor with the agency, called the expectation of an increase in the VAT collection rate “excessively optimistic,” noting that the rate is already at 95 percent.

During the bill’s first reading, Alexander Demin, a deputy from the New People party, asked Siluanov what the government plans to do if expenditures don’t increase as expected. “In any event, all of the obligations outlined in the budget will be financed either through revenues or through other sources,” the minister responded.

An economist from a major investment firm told Meduza that one method the government may employ to meet its budgetary goals is an increase in taxes on businesses.

Already in the works

The Russian authorities are already discussing a tax hike for businesses. On November 15, members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), a lobbying group for major businesses, met with Vladimir Putin at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo.

One of the issues the businessmen were most concerned about is the stability of their tax load. Rather than discussing the maintenance of the tax rate at its current level, they asked about its predictability.

RSPP chairman Alexander Shokhin said that he would be open to a tax increase in exchange for long-term predictability in the government’s tax policy. He proposed that the government raise the corporate income tax rate (which is currently at 20 percent) while simultaneously guaranteeing the stability of other taxes and fees, including customs duties, tariffs for natural monopolies, and others.

So far, the government has only resorted to one-time contributions from enterprises. For example, part of its revenues next year will come from export duties (which contribute around 750 billion rubles, or $8.5 billion, to the budget) and a windfall profits tax (which is expected to yield approximately 300 billion rubles, or $3.4 billion).

Russia’s businesses have likely come to terms with the inevitability of further withdrawals from their profits to supplement the national budget. Absent any better alternatives, business owners want to make the size of the payments more predictable and less painful, which is why they’re currently doing their best to negotiate tax increases.

“Entrepreneurs no longer have the feeling that things will be easy, but the conversation ended with applause,” said one person who attended the meeting with Putin, according to the Russian newspaper Vedomosti.

[bookofjin]

Commentary on the Water Classic: India (cont.)

[We finish the section on Tianzhu = India, and the Heng = Ganges River. The commentary's crisscross of the landscape rather than going strictly downriver reflects the actual path taken by Faxian during his journey. Again there is a heavy focus on sites associated with the life of the Buddha and Buddhism.]

The He River河水 sets out from their north-eastern corner, bending to follow its south-eastern flow to enter into the Bo Sea渤海.

[6]...

Kang Tai's Account of Funan says: Formerly, in the time of Fan Zhan [King of Funan, fl. 243 AD], there was a person from the state of Tanyang嘾楊國, Jiaxiangli, who once came from his home state to Tianzhu天竺. He tossed and turned as a drifting merchant until he arrived in Funan扶南, and discussed with Zhan the lands and customs of Tianzhu天竺. The principles of the Way flowed throughout, gold and treasure piled up in heaps, the mountains and streams were productive and fertile, indulging one's wishes. Left and right were great states, the Generationally Venerated One esteemed them. Zhan asked about it, stating: “Now, what is the distance and time in one could arrive, how many years would a round-trip take?” Li told him: “The distance from Tianzhu天竺 could be more than thirty thousand li. To go and come back could exceed three years. When travelling, four years and just then go back is considered to be the middle of Heaven and Earth.”

The Heng River恒水 again goes east to pass Lanmo pagoda藍莫塔[Rama]. By the pagoda's side there is a pool, within the pool there is a dragon who defends and protects it. King Ashoka wished to destroy the pagoda, and build eighty-four thousand pagodas. He realized that what had been provided by the dragon king was known not to exist in his era, and thereupon ceased. Within here was empty and wasted without people. A crowd of elephants used their to take water and sprinkle the earth. Similarly to Cangwu蒼梧 and Kuaji 會稽, the elephants ploughed and the birds weeded.

The Heng River恒水 again goes east to arrive at Wuhekou五河口 [Lit. “Five River Mouths”], perhaps where five rivers meet – there are no details. Ananda went from the state of Mojie 摩竭國[Magadha] towards Pisheli毗舍利[Vaisali], wishing for parinirvana. The various devas informed King Ajatasatru. The king pursued until he arrived upon the He河. The Licchavis [the rulers of Vaisali] heard that Ananda was coming, and likewise also came to welcome him, all arrived upon the He河. Ananda thought about it. If he went forward, King Ajatasatru would become resentful. If he retreated, the Licchavis then would be angry. Exactly when he was in the middle of the He, there entered him a fire shining samadhi, he burned completely in two, [achieving] parinirvana. The body was in two parts, with a part on each of the banks. The two kings each grasped a half as a relic, and returned home to erect two pagodas.

Crossing the He and going down south for one yojana, you come to the state of Mojieti's摩竭提國 Balianfu Town巴連弗邑[Pataliputtra]. The town is precisely the city where King Ashoka ruled from. The palace halls within the city on all their standing walls and watchtowers had engraved patterns and carved inlays. They piled up rocks to make a mountains, and beneath the mountain they made a rock chamber, three zhang long, two zhang wide, and more than a zhang tall. There was a Brahmana master of the Great Vehicle, named Radha-sami and also named Manjushri, he resided inside of this city. He had a vivid perception and much wisdom, in affairs there was nothing he did not comprehend, and so clear and pure he lived by himself. The king of the state honoured and respected him as his teacher in affairs. Relying on this one man, they expansively circulated the dharma of the Buddha, outsiders were unable to encroach. Altogether among the various states, only this city is great. The population is wealthy and flourishing, and contend to act with humanity and righteousness.

When King Ashoka destroyed the seven pagodas, he built eighty-four thousand pagodas. At the very beginning he built the great pagoda, it is two li or so south of the city. In front of this pagoda are the Buddha's footprints, where they have erected a place of pure activity. The north door is towards the pagoda. South of the pagoda there is a stone pillar. Its greatness is four or five in circumference, and it is more than three zhang tall. On it there is an inscription, the heading states: “King Ashoka used the Jambudvipa to dispense as alms to the four regions. The sangha returned it and used the ransom money for the pagoda. Three hundred paces north of the pagoda, King Ashoka there built Nili City泥犂城. Within the city there is a stone pillar which is also more than three zhang tall. On it there is a lion pillar, and there is an inscription recording the principle and subsidiary causes for building Nili City泥犂城, and the year and the number of days and months.

The Heng River恒水 again goes south-east passing a little solitary rock mountain. On the mountain's head there is a stone chamber, and the stone chamber faces south. The Buddha formerly sat within it, the Heavenly Emperor, Sakra, used the forty-two affairs to question the Buddha. The Buddha one by one with his finger drew them up on the rock. Traces of the drawing formerly were there.

The Heng River恒水 again goes west passing Wangshe New City王舍新城 [New Rajagriha], the one constructed by King Ajatasatru. Setting out from the city and going south four li one enters a valley and arrive inside of five mountains. The circuit made by the five mountains in shape is lake a city's outer walls. This is precisely King Bimbisara's old city. East to west it is five or six li, and south to north seven or eight li. The place were King Ajatasatru first wished to murder the Buddha. Its city is empty and deserted, and again no person passes by.

On entering the valley and holding on to the mountain, going up south-east for fifteen li one comes to Qidujue Mountain耆闍崛山[Gidhra-kuta]. Three li before the peak there is a stone cavern facing south. The Buddha sat in meditation at this place. Forty paces south-east there again is another stone cavern, Ananda sat in meditation at this place. The Mara Pisuna transformed to act as a vulture to frighten Ananda. The Buddha used his divine strength to separate the rock, spread his hand, and rub Ananda's shoulders. His terror then immediately ceased. The bird's footprints and the hand's opening fully exist, for that reason it is called the Vulture Cavern雕鷲窟. Its mountain peak is graceful, straight, and stern, it is the tallest of the five mountains.

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions states: Qidujue Mountain耆闍崛山[Gidhra-kuta] is north-east of Anavatapta [and?] Wangshe City王舍城, looking westward at its mountain. There are a pair of peaks standing up, the distance between them to or three li. In the middle road there are vultures, they commonly reside at its peaks. People of the land call it Qidujue Mountain耆闍崛山, in foreign speech “gidhra” is “vulture”.

Also Zhu Fawei states: The state of Luoyuezhi羅閱祗國 has the Lingjiu Mountain靈鷲山 [“Sacred Vulture Mountain”], in foreign speech they say Qidujue Mountain耆闍崛山. The mountain has blue-green rock. The rock's head resemble a vulture. King Ashoka sent people to cut the rock. They made use of the settled [?] pair of wings and a pair of feet, and cut to arrange its body which is now seen to exist. Looking from far-away, it resembles the shape of a vulture. For that reason they call it Lingjiu Mountain靈鷲山.

The several explanations are not similar, and the distant and near are also different. Now, Faxian personally stayed at its mountain, and recited the Surangama with fragrant flowers to provide and furnish, the reverence of hearing and seeing.

Again west passing thirty li south of Jiana City迦那城[Gaya], you come to the place where the Buddha during six years of exacting practices sat at the tree, and there is a forest. Travelling west for three li you come to the place where when the Buddha entered the water to wash and bath, a heavenly king pressed a tree branch so he managed to pull himself up and get out of the pool.

Again travelling north for two li, you get to the place were the Mijia彌家 girls offered the Buddha milk gruel. Travelling north two li from this place, is the place where the Buddha beneath a big tree and upon a rock, sat turned east and ate the gruel. The tree and rock fully exist. It is six chi long and wide, and about two chi tall. Within their state, cold and heat are equally attuned. Trees sometimes are several thousand years [old], even ten thousand years.

Travelling north twenty li from there, you come to a single rock cave. The bodhisattva entered within it, and turning west sat down cross-legged, thinking in his heart: “If I have perfected the Way, there will be a divine proof.” Upon the rock wall there immediately was seen an image of the Buddha, three chi in length, presently it is still clear and bright. At the time Heaven and Earth greatly moved, and the various Heavenly beings in the hollow talked: “This is not a place where bygone and coming Buddhas perfected the Way. Depart here and go south-west for less than half a yojana, below the patra tree, this is the place where bygone and coming Buddhas perfect the Way.” The various Heavenly beings guided and pulled the bodhisattva to rise up and go. When he was thirty paces from the tree, a Heavenly being conferred kusa grass. The bodhisattva accepted, and again went fifteen paces. Five hundred blue-green sparrows came flying, they circled around the bodhisattva thrice and left westward. The bodhisattva went forward and came beneath the patra tree. He spread out the kusa grass, turned east, and sat down. At the time King Mara dispatched three jade girls who came from the north to test the bodhisattva. King Mara himself came from the south. The bodhisattva pressed firmly on the ground with his feet and fingers. The Mara troops stepped back and scattered, the three girls changed to become old crones who did not apply themselves.

Where Buddha beneath the nyagrodha tree upon the square rock sat turned east, the place where Brahmadeva came to the Buddha, and the place where the Four Heavenly Kings holding up their alms bowls, at all of them were raised up pagodas.

The Affairs of the Outer States says: Pipoli 毗婆梨 [Vaibhali?], the Buddha at this place was beneath a single tree for six years. A woman of grown age used a golden alms bowl filled with milk gruel to send up to the Buddha. The Buddha got the milk gruel, and halted his feet at the Nilianchan He尼連禪河[Nairanjana] to bathe. He bathed fully. At the edge of the He河, he ate the gruel fully, and threw the alms bowl into the water. After going against the current for a hundred paces, the alms bowl sank into the He河. The dragon king of Jialijao迦梨郊 received and took it at the palace to provide furnishings. The previous three Buddhas' alms bowls are also seen. The Buddha near by the He河 sat at the mahabodhi tree. The distance from the mahabodhi tree to the patra tree is two li. He was beneath this tree for seven days, thinking only of perfecting the Way. The Mara troops tested the Buddha.

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: The Nilian River尼連水 to the south pour into the Heng River恒水. West of the river is the Buddha's tree. The Buddha at this place [underwent] exacting practices, daily eating gruel for six years. The distance west to the city is five li. East of the tree upon the He河 is precisely the place where the Buddha entered the river to bathe. Eastward upon the bank is the nyagrodha tree beneath where he sat and devoted himself. The residing girl[s] sent up gruel at this place. West of here across across the river, south of the six year tree, is the patra tree he sat beneath, brought down the Mara, and obtained Buddhahood.

Fotutiao says: The inside of the Buddha tree was dried out, at the time of his coming, it changed to bear branches and leaves.

Zhu Fawei says: The distance from the six year tree to the Buddha tree is five li. The texts on it differ.

Faxian from there travelled south-east, and returned to Balianfu Town巴連弗邑[Pataliputtra] following Heng River恒水 went down west. He got to one place of pure activited named Kuangye曠野 [“Empty Wilderness], a place where the Buddha had dwelt. Then he again followed Heng River恒水 and went down west, and came to the state of Jiashi's 迦尸國 [Kasi] Boluonai City波羅柰城 [Varanasi].

Zhu Fawei says: The state of Boluonai波羅柰國 is one thousand, two hundred li south of the state of Jiaweiluowei City迦維羅衛城[Kapilavastu]. In between them is the Heng River恒水 which flows south-east. The place where the Buddha turned the wheel of the dharma is twenty li north of the state. The tree is named Chunfu春浮, the place were was Weimo維摩 [Vimalakirti?].

Faxian says: Ten li north-east of the city is precisely Deer Wilderness Park鹿野苑. Originally a pratyeka-buddha resided here. He often had wild deer staying overnight, and for that reason used it as the name for it. Faxian turned back from there, and dwelt at Balianfu Town巴連弗邑. He again followed the Heng River恒水 and travelled east. On its southern bank is the great state of Zhanbo瞻婆大國 [Champa].

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: Next east of Hengqu恒曲 is the state and city of Zhanbo瞻婆國城. To the south is Buqulan Pool卜佉蘭. Heng River恒水 is to the north. The place where the Buddha sent down his explanations and cautions. Heng River again passes the state of Boli波麗國, which is precisely the state of Fowaizu佛外祖國.

Faxian says: Heng River恒水 again goes east to come to the state of Duomolijian多摩梨靬[Tamralipti], which precisely is at the ocean's mouth.

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: Daqin大秦 is also named Lijian梨靬.

Kang Tai's Account of Funan says: South-west from Jianadiao Island迦那調洲 you enter a great bay, perhaps seven or eight hundred li [wide], and then come to the mouth of the Zhihuli Great Jiang枝扈黎大江. Crossing the Jiang江 and to pass travelling west, is Jidaqin極大秦.

He also states: Issuing out from the mouth of Gouli利口, and enter within the great bay, entering straight north-west, could be one year or so, you get to Tianzhu's 天竺 Jiang Mouth江口, which is named the Heng River恒水. The Jiang Mouth江口 has a state titled Danzhi擔袟 which belongs to Tianzhu天竺. Dispatched Yellow Gates Zixing [?] to be King of Danzhi擔袟.

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: Heng River恒水 flows east to enter the Eastern Sea. Perhaps where two rivers pour into, and where the pair of seas take in, themselves become the Eastern and Western.

[gotmeringinghellsbells]

After the Storm

Fandom: Pokemon

Characters: Steven Stone, Wallace

A/N: There’s not enough Steven and Wallace tickle stuff in the world and my brain had been begging for me to do some of my boys soft. 

Summary: After the events that occurred in the Kalos region, Steven returns home to Hoenn where his boyfriend and long time best friend was ready to help care for the trip’s aftermath on the champion. 

_

Wallace had to admit, there was just something about a man with a bit of scruff that was just so…. attractive. It was a bit sloppy in his opinion and required a certain body and style to truly be able to be pulled off; but whenever Steven had become so busy to remember to shave and let his grow slightly, Wallace was all for it. Just returning from a rather large journey through Kalos that involved babysitting an angsty, headstrong fifteen-year-old and clumsy ten-year-old (not to mention trying to stop Lysandre form destroying the world…. or just pokemon because somehow he could destroy one without the other, but whatever), and he’d been rather distracted to say the least. 

As a result, his typical hygienic self-standards were rather off. He’d grown a bit of a scruff, his hair had become less tame, and he wasn’t fullying paying attention to detail of his outfits. Wallace smirked behind his hand slightly as he examined the other. Steven had also been allowing himself to fall behind on sleep, earning discoloration and swelling under his eyes and the current exhaustion he was now dealing with as he lay on top of his bed’s comforter. “Perhaps a nap would do you good,” Wallace hummed as he strolled into the familiar bedroom to unload his boyfriend’s luggage. 

The oor jet lagged man shook his head. “I’d like to get back to having a sleep schedule Wallace. If I nap now, it’s going to take forever to get back to a routine.” Wallace felt his cheeks heat up slightly when he caust Steven’s eye. The tired, dorky smirk that grew on his face as he stared at the other. Shaking his head, the water-type-gym leader unzipped the large suitcase and started to sort through it. “Well, what do you plan to do with your day if you won’t nap then; hm? I can’t imagine that almost twenty hours on a plane feels that well.” Steven laughed softly before sitting up. “It’s not like I didn’t sleep on the flight at all love,” he said stretching out slightly before leaning back against the soft pillow that sat against his bed frame.

“I’ve been on flights with you. It’s never a true slumber, Steve,” Wallace lectured, using Steven’s nickname. “Mmhmm,” Steven hummed before resting his head back against the wood of the head board. Steel eyes closed as he exhaled softly, only to snap open again as he jolted upwards, attempting to pull his legs into his chest. Wallace let out a grunt, still holding onto his boyfriend’s shoe as he was tugged forward from the reaction. “Geez Steven, I’m just tring to take your shoes off,” the taller huffed. “Ah, sorry,” the champion said sheepishly before leaning forward to undo his other shoe; as Wallace finally managed to wrestle the designer item off his boyfriend’s foot. 

“See, isn’t that better,” Wallace hummed before furrowing his brows from the Steel-type specialist’s response. Well, lack there off, anyway. He was groggily looking Wallace over, repeatedly. “Did…. did you acquire a new uniform,” Steven finally asked as he reached a hand out to feel the thin, narrow piece of cloth that attached the top of Wallace’s outfit to the bottom. “Ah, yes…. you like it?” Steven was continuing to feel the fabric as he nodded rather easily. “Feels nicer than your last one,” he mumbled before slipping four fingers under the purple crop top, earning a squeak. Wallace turned slightly, curling up the best he could as he stood. “Steve,” he squeaked. “Don’t do that.” 

“Hm? Oh.” Steven didn’t bother to apologize. He merely removed his hand from the crop top and gently started to tickle the exposed sides. Wallace threw his head back with a sequel as a result. One hand attempted to over his mouth, the other trying to pry his boyfriend’s callused hands off of him. “Ah! Stheheheve! Chahahut it out!” Steven chuckled softly as he watched his long-time best friend squirm and laugh about. “It feels nicer, but I don’t get why you decided to expose so much skin? Is it meant to be a bathing suit as well or something? Honestly, with a weakness like this, I would have thought you’d keep such vulnerable spots covered.” 

“Whahaht ahahare you - ah,” Wallace gasped for air as he finally pulled away enough to escape the tickle monster’s hands. “What… are you … t...talking about,” he panted as he rubbed away the ghostly ticklish feeling. “You know, weakness? You're a gym leader after all.” Wallace paused before quirking a brow. “Steven, dear, trainers don’t fight gym leaders hand to hand.” Steven nodded, rather confused. “Yes? I know that love.” Wallace gave a slow nod. “So…. why would I have to worry about… someone tickling me?” Steven shrugged before simply saying: “Weakness to water”. What? “Dear you should really take that nap,” Wallace sighed as he turned his attention back to the suitcase. “I’m not made of water, Steven. Just as you’re not made of steel.” 

“I know that,” the other yawned out before laying back into the bed more. “But a Tangela could easily have you at it’s mercy.” Wallace still couldn’t figure out what his beloved was trying to say. “Steve, I don’t fight the pokemon. My pokemon fight trainers’ pokemon. There’s no reason for a tamed Tangela or Tangrowth to tickle me for a badge.” There was a long silence as Wallace started placing dirty clothes in the hamper and rocks on Steven’s dresser to be sorted later. “Oh, you found more mega stones I see,” he hummed; despite feeling it to be pointless to try to talk to his zombified boyfriend. 

‘Yeah,” Steven confirmed, sounding as if he was deep in thought. Wallace placed teh suitcase aside before climbing up the bed to lay beside the shorter. “We…. don’t…. Fight pokemon? But we fight pokemon.” God, Steven was so cute when he was sleep deprived. It was amusing to say the least. “We don’t touch the opposing pokemon. Our pokemon fight them.” Steven slowly started to nod. “You need that nap,” Wallace giggled. “Come on, I’ll help you change and then you can rest that poor brain of yours.” He ruffled the steel, slightly greasy locks of hair before feeling his wrist be gently grasped. “No,” Steven yawned softly. “I’m good,” he assured. “Your good? For the last twenty minutes you’ve been convinced that we fight challengers’ pokemon. Not that our pokemon do.” Steven nodded slowly nevertheless. “Mmmhmm. I’m good.” 

With that, he slowly started to get up to look for things to do to feel productive, but he found himself being pulled back onto the firm mattress. “No. You're going to rest,” Wallace insisted as he started to adjust Steven back on the bed. “I’ll fall asleep if I keep laying here,” Steven protested weakly. “And you’ll hurt yourself if you don’t,” Wallace lectured. However, his boyfriend wasn’t having it. Steven was starting to sit up again, only to be pushed back down. Steven huffed, pouting slightly before attempting to roll the green haired male off of him. “Are you seriously trying to roll me off you,” Wallace laughed as he pulled the other with him. 

“Yes. Wallace please, I’m f-pfff! Hey,” the champion giggled as he scrunched his shoulders into his neck. Well cared for nails gently fluttered against the soft, warm neck of the shorter; moving to the soft, right ear when the neck became unavailable. “Tangela for me huh? Blaziken would have some fun with you,” Wallace teased before moving to tickle the silk, button-up shirt-clothed chest. “Ehehehehehe! Mmmmm Wallace,” Steven whined as he rolled beside the taller. Wallace giggled before moving to sit on top of the other’s waist. Nimble fingers delicately moved to untuck the soft shirt from the pant line that tucked it away. Said fingers then carefully glided under the surface on the warm, taught stomach that danced below the gentle touch in an attempt to escape the touch. 

“W-Whahahahllace,” Steven laughed, reaching with a bit more coordination and energy for the assaulting digits. “Coochie, coochie, coo,” Wallace laughed before moving to squeeze at the shooter’s hips. Steven bucked, practically squawking through his adorable snorts that only encouraged his boyfriend to tickle the poor dork even more. “Hmm…. you seem a bit more awake now. Maybe I should move down to tickle thoe aching feet of yours, hm? A tickle massage sound ideal,” the water specialist teased softly. He looked over the other so adoringly, so lovingly. He hadn’t seen Steven in months, maybe two at the most, but still… it was more than one month! He just missed his significant other; the champion of the region who couldn’t be bothered to text or call back generally. Wallace had been rather lonely the last eight weeks.

However, said loneliness was over as suddenly Wallace snapped out of his daze. He felt a hand grasp his torso before gravity come up to meet his side with the comforter below him. Blinking in shock for a moment. Turquoise eyes sheepishly glanced up to see playful, steel ones looking back at them. Steven was panting softly, smirking playfully as his eyes scanned the other. “Thanks for the wake up dear,” he panted, continuing to gently pin his partner. “Ah, of course,” Wallace replied rather sheepishly. He wiggled slightly, testing Steven’s grip on him and weight balance. “No, truly,” Steven chuckled, moving to lay Wallace out on his back some while still sitting on him. 

“You’ve been nothing but caring since you came to greet me at the airport. Helping me into the passenger seat of your car, into my house. You even unpacked my luggage for me. Now you’ve woken me up enough to be productive and I really think my first task of productivity is thanking you.” Wallace felt his stomach fill with butterflies as he gently squirmed under the other. “You truly don’t have to dear, it was nothing,” Wallace attempted to bargain. However, both new that wasn’t going to happen. “I meant what I said earlier,” Steven chuckled as he sat back on Wallace’s pelvis. He gently placed a hand on the hardly clothed stomach with a small smile. “You do look nice, but I still don’t understand why you decided to expose so much skin. I mean, your hips are even exposed.” 

Wallace let out a giggle as his boyfriend started to tweak his bare hip gently. “Stheheheve!” Wallace felt his face heat up as he gently tried to bite his bottom lip. “Wallace,” Steven said softly. He truly could careless about the skin exposure. In all honesty, it was probably for Wallace to move around quicker, feel the ocean breeze on his skin, and bring more attention to himself and his pokemon during pokemon performances. “Oh? Trying not to laugh,” Steven practically purred as he leaned forward. He ceased teh attack on the taller’s hip before gently taking Wallace’s wrists and lifting his arms over his head. “Oh no,” Wallace giggled as he started to gently try to shift his legs and wiggle his feet. “Oh yes,” Steven whispered softly, huskily, into his lover’s ear. “You're going to kill me,” Wallace whined, turning in an attempt to avoid the soft lips that were attacking his ear with warm air. 

Steven rolled his eyes before gently kissing the warm cheek before him. “Don’t be so dramatic.” Wallace giggled slightly as Steven briefly and gently fluttered his fingers under one of his arms. “Ah, no,” Wallace squealed as he gently started to wiggle in his boyfriend’s grasp. Steven chuckled before leaning close to his lover’s ear. “Ah,” he fake sighed, “yes. Let’s start with these sensitive hallows, hm?” Wallace tried to hide his face in his arms, his breath already starting to go haywire from just the idea of being tickled by his sweet boyfriend. Steven wasn’t always so playful, but when he was, he made sure Wallace was enjoying himself as well. “Wrestling with me, ah, my bad. Tickle wrestling with me? Did you truly think I’d let you just walk away from that? Let alone let you truly start to tickle me?”

Wallace was slowly starting to giggle, twisting and turning in his boyfriend’s hold. “I haven’t even started to tickle you yet,” Steven laughed. “Why in the world are you laughing so soon? Could it be… you want me to tickle you? That you want to laugh so freely?” Wallace started digging his heels into the mattress, just wanting the other to start already. He’d missed Steven so much, and quite frankly, if this was how he was going to get cuddles out of the other, he was willing to “suffer” at the hands of the tickle monster. Regardless, one of them was going too for that cuddle time, Wallace was going to make sure of it. Of course, he fancied the idea of him getting revenge on the more ticklish later once cuddle mode had entered it’s full relaxation status much more than Steven gently trying to tickle him here and there at random not allowing them to get to such a state. 

“Coochie, coochie, coo,” Steven teased, hovering his fingers just above the delicate, hairless skin. Wallace bucked gently, shaking his head as he tried to compose himself. Clearly, it wasn’t working so well. “I’m gonna getcha,” Steven continued. “Have to make up for lost time, right? Would you like that?” Wallace was really laughing now. “Oh Stheheheven,” he whined. “Sthahahaop theheheasing!” Steven may be the more ticklish and typically the easier to tickle, but Wallace was weak to teases. The stupider, the better of a reaction. “Oh? You want to be tickled?” Wallace was pressing his head back into the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut. “Huh? Do you want to be tickled Wallace? The famous Wallace of Sootopolis. The water specialist who’s become a champion in the world of pokemon battling and performance, wants to be tickled at the hands of his boyfriend? Is that what your telling me?” 

Wallace started wiggling his feet desperately. “Steve sthahahahop,” he squealed. “You truly are a sight to behold,” Steven started. He moved his hand from the underarms to gently flutter his fingers under the exposed chin. Wallace let out higher pitched giggles, now trying to hide the area. “Such soft, radiant skin; glowing like the cleanest diamond.” Wallace’s face was right red at this point as the compliments and lack of air were affecting him. “Er, well, I guess ruby at this point. But I suppose it looks rather unique with such beautiful hair and matching eyes.” Wallace shook his head more frantically now. He may seem like the type to love compliments, but they always made him a little flustered. With Steven, they made him weak, like an old time cartoon girl being complimented by a bad boy she had a crush on. It was embarrassing but true. “Oh just tickle me,” Wallace begged. Steven stopped for a moment, a look of entertained shock on his face. “What,” he chuckled out in disbelief. “Did… did you just ask me to tickle you?” Wallace was silent, panting softly before daring to open his eyes slightly. 

“I haven’t been this close to you in months. If I can’t get you to sit still, can you at least stop teasing me,” he huffed before giggling as fingers slipped under his exposed underarms. ‘Anything you want dear,” Steen cooed as he slowly started to dig into the sensitive hollows more; earning louder laughter. “Oh shahahahit! S-Stheheheven, eek! Nhahahahahaha! N-No, no, no, no! Ghahahaha!” Music to the champion’s ears as he worked his way down to the half clothed rib cage, playing it like a piano…. kind of. He was a little sloppy. “You said you wanted me to tickle you, so that’s what I’m doing.” Wallace’s back was arched, his arms trying to fight him to cover the area as he tried to hold on to the top of the headboard or anything to keep him from bringing them down. 

“It took a little while longer, but Steven eventually stopped, just smiling down at the mess that was his boyfriend. No matter how dolled up Wallace tried to present himself as, or how “ugly” he could be with messy hair and blood shot eyes…. he was always just beautiful to Steven. Nothing he wore made him any less attractive, not emotion, no hair style, no time of day; Wallace was always just an image of beauty to him. He was like a rare stone amongst the humans Steven had met in his twenty five year of life. Wallace slowly pulled his arms down, panting quite heavily as he tried to calm down. 

Part of him was disappointed it was over, the other, glad to relax a bit. He slowly brought a hand up to wipe at his face. “Oh Arceus,” he sighed. “Oh, I didn’t over do it, did I,” Steven asked with slight concern as he used his coat to help wipe some of the tears of mirth from the flushed face. “Ah, just a little. My underarms are just…. ah, you know,” Wallace sighed as he gently clamped his hands under his arms. He sat up looking a bit sheepish, only to be pulled into a hug. Steven nuzzled into the other’s neck as arms struggled to free themselves to hug him back. “Steven come on,” Wallace sighed as he moved away slightly from his boyfriend. 

“What,” Steven asked with a bit of a pout. “Your…. your scruff,” Wallace huffed. “It tickles.” Steven sighed, rolling his eyes. “You know, I just want to cuddle now and you just have to be so sensitive huh?” Oh, was that how he was going to play? Wallace knew Steven was messing with him, but quite frankly, it was on. “Oh? Is that so? Well, if that’s the case.” Wallace pushed the other off of him before gently taking his boyfriend’s ankles into his arms with a smirk. “Well my dear, you should have jus settled for cuddles earlier.”

[thephantomofthe-internet]

Not Your Type 2

Steve Harrington x Reader

Read the first part HERE

Word Count: 5,651

Warnings: Swearing

Authors note: You want it, I found a way to do it! Sorry if I came off mean at first about doing a sequel, comments that are purely asking for sequels to fics are really disheartening because I get all excited about a comment and then it just feels like a demand for more with nothing else. But I found a thing I like so here ya are! Thanks to everyone who read part 1, I hope you like part 2 too!!!

Tag List: @moonstruckhargrove @hotstuffhargrove @carolimedanvers @thechickvic @alex--awesome--22 @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @so-not-hotmess @hipsmcgee @agentsinstorybrooke @sunflowercandie @kaliforniacoastalteens @songforhema @spidey-pal

It took him a full twenty-four hours to call. You suffered through the whole sleepover at Robin’s, filled with ‘I told you so’s’ and holding back her hair when she puked from a bad combination of sour belts and malt whiskey. She nearly puked on the lavender trumpet sleeves you’d lovingly built for Juliet herself and you nearly killed her.  You’d never bolted out of her house faster and back to your own, only a block away, to check your messages.

Unfortunately, there were none to check. You were insanely disappointed. But you held out hope, you had nowhere to be with the demon child’s parents taking him to the zoo for the day. You spent half the day cooped up in the living room on your couch, switching positions every thirty minutes and watching everything your tiny selection of TV channels, watching soap operas and the news and b movies from the fifties and reruns. You ate sparingly, flipped through every magazine on your coffee table, you found a great dress to recreate once you were done the Juliet dress, you did your makeup and then took it off-anything to fill the time.

And then, at five o’clock on the dot, he called.

Every phone call that had come through all day, you waited at least two rings on before answering. Both your parents worked full time, so you were free all day to do nothing. But with your mother home since four, you were risking her answering, so you pounced on the phone. You were glad that the first call the house had gotten was him, it meant that you could finally ignore the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, is this Y/N?” Steve asked. He sounded so nervous and awkward; he probably expected to get an older sibling or parent. He was trying so hard to sound polite. It was a little bit adorable. Just a little.

“Hey, Steve, what’s up?” you asked with a chuckle. The corded phone in the living room only reached so far, so you pulled the recliner’s matching stool to you with your foot and sat down again, resting your elbows on your knees and your head in your hands.

“Hey! Nothing much, how was Robin’s place?” Across town, Steve was fully laid down in bed, clutched his own phone to his ear. It had taken him all day to buck up the courage to make the call-he didn’t want to get your mom or some sibling he hadn’t heard about yet by mistake, that would be embarrassing and weird. He’d slowly given up on trying to be popular, but part of him wanted to live up to others expectations of him.

“About as fun as always. I half-watched Carrie for the fourteenth time and held back her hair after she drank too much and threw up. Party of the century...” you replied with an awkward laugh. You felt weird about making fun of Robin to Steve, but he laughed all the same and you didn’t want to seem totally lame and boring. In actuality, the night was boring and uneventful. You threw handfuls of popcorn at Robin’s younger brother Kyle when he tried to bust in all creepy. You hemmed a dress. You ate dinner with Robin’s mom. Nothing insanely eventful. Even the puking was fairly normal; Robin couldn’t hold her whisky despite her love for the stuff.

“No pillow fights and practising kissing?” Steve asked. He felt gross about it, especially knowing Robin, but he did it anyway. Maybe you’d laugh. Or say something snarky and cool.

You giggled, rolling your eyes “No, not really?” you replied, your tone turning up into a question. You couldn’t tell if he was serious. You hoped it wasn’t.

“No? Oh well...you’ll have to have one with me next time. Way more fun.” Steve propped his head up on his race car themed pillow.

“I generally like to have a guy take me out on a date before I start planning sleepovers with them...” you twisted the coiled cord around your finger, looking down the hall to ensure that your mother wasn’t listening from the kitchen, or worse on the other line getting the full conversation. Luckily, she had her ABBA cassette on blast as she cooked in the kitchen, mouthing the words to dancing queen into her slotted spoon.

“Well, then I’ll have to take you out then, what’re you doing tonight?” Steve asked, checking the time. It was only five fifteen, he had all night to see you.

“Nothing much, where’re you taking me?” you asked. You’d need at least an hour, to wash your hair and change your clothes. And that was just to look less sweaty and awful, to be at the level you’d like to be for a date you’d need at least another hour.

“How about I pick you up at eight and I take you to this diner I know and we get some food. And then we can drive around for a bit, nothing crazy.”  Steve offered out, trying to not sound meek and weird. He was not exactly proud of the half-assed plan, but it would work for now.

“I think I can make that work...I’ll see you at eight at 1245 Orchid Lane, alright?” you said, grinning giddily.  Steve bid his goodbyes and you hung up, rushing upstairs to take a shower. You scrubbed your hair rigorously, filling your private bathroom with the scent of artificial roses. You wanted the scent to linger in your hair as long as possible, even though you were going to put perfume over top. You knew that perfume never lasted as long as a man’s cologne, so you wanted to make sure you still smelt good. You scrubbed your body in strawberry body wash and scrubbed your face in apricot face scrub. You turned off the water fast and jumped out of the shower, pulling on a massive ‘Hawkins High’ tee shirt.

“Y/N! Robin’s here!” your mother called from downstairs, clearly annoyed by your not telling her that someone was coming over for dinner.

“Send her up!” you replied, pulling your baby pink hairdryer from the lowest drawer of your vanity and plugging it in, blasting your hair with hot air and using a rounded brush to build some waves in your hair.

“Harrington called.” Robin mused with a smirk as she walked into your room, plopping herself on your twin bed.

“He called. He’s taking me out. You got one right, bask in the glow or whatever.” You huffed, talking over the roar of the hairdryer.

“And we’re doing our hair...interesting...” Robin replied, examining her short nails and their chipped black paint.

You turned to her with a scoff   “I do my hair for every date. Unless I have no time, I always try to bring a bit of glamour to the equation.” Robin chuckled at that, reaching for the Seventeen magazine on your nightstand. “Well, if they’re going to take me out, they should get a bit of a show, shouldn’t they?”

“Whatever you say...” Robin said “But I’m sure Steve isn’t putting in this much effort.”

Robin was wrong. The second he got off the phone, he rushed to start his own process. He had just washed his hair the day before, but the Steve Harrington hair process took a bit of effort and time. And his hair needed to be damp. So he rushed to get it wet under the bathroom sink, running water into his palms and then his fingers through his hair. He repeated the motion over and over again, until he deemed his hair wet enough. Then went in the Farrah Fawcett spray and the fluffing and preening until it was the right height and shape.  He thought about calling Robin for help.  He felt completely out of his depths with you: you were still an enigma to him, confusing and strange and hard to discern. One moment you were bitchy and snarky and the next you were funny and supportive. He couldn’t gauge where he sat with you. Sure, you’d agreed to this date with him, you even seemed excited, but that didn’t mean that he was in the clear with you. You could turn on him again. He wanted to be sure that this would go okay. But Robin might not know, or worse she’d tell you and you’d laugh at him.  He couldn’t handle that.

He put his focus on choosing something to wear, something that wouldn’t look like it too much effort and yet came off attractive.

Back in your bedroom, you were freaking out. And Robin wasn’t helping. She had taken to pulling clothes from your closet to laugh at. It was like she wanted to stress you out. You tried to keep your focus on the tiny foam tipped applicator brush between your fingers, smudging very light peach eye shadow over your lids. You’d already filled in your eyebrows and put on the faintest amount of blush, to look flushed but not caked with makeup.  

Robin sauntered behind you, holding up a teddy bear themed knit sweater with a cheeky grin. “I think this would be perfect for your date with Harrington.” She giggled, bouncing the material up and down behind your head.

You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you tried to apply some mascara to your lashes.  “Yeah, that’s a no.” You muttered, jabbing the wand back into its pot and pulling it out to force more product onto the brush, swiping it thoroughly through your lashes till they looked defined enough for your liking.  You reached into the cup you’d filled with various lip glosses and lipsticks, digging through to find the cherry flavour you wanted. It was just pink enough to look defined on your face, but it wouldn’t stain the skin if you made out with him. Not that you were planning to make out with him. Just a precaution.

But it wasn’t in the cup. You whipped around to glare at Robin, who’d returned to your closet, examining a costume from the regional theatre’s production of Sweet Charity, which you’d snagged before the theatre snatched up all your hard work to keep in their vaults. “Did you borrow my cherry lip gloss?” you snapped.

Robin turned to you briefly, deadpan “Why on earth would I touch your lip gloss?” she asked, her voice completely monotone. You knew she didn’t touch the stuff. You were just stressed out.

“Damn...it was my favourite one...” you sighed, turning back to the mirror, choosing two lesser glosses and deciding between vanilla and strawberry flavour.  “Hey, while you’re in there, can you dig out my acid wash skirt? The one I hemmed too short, not the knee length one my mom bought.” Robin did a mocking salute before pushing through the hangers roughly. You felt like making a crack about her going back into the closet, but decided it wasn’t couth.

“Y/N! Come down if you’re eating! And bring Robin, she’s too skinny!” your mother called from the stairwell. You got up with a sigh, grabbing Robin’s wrist as she threw the skirt on your messy bed. You picked at your dinner nervously, unsure if eating would be beneficial to you or if it would just make you look bloated. Across town, Steve ate cold pizza while standing in the fridge.  Neither one of you were exactly focused on eating, simply on killing time before they had to meet one another.

Once you were able to excuse yourself, Robin left you to panic on your own and you went back to getting ready. Time flew by much faster with Robin not looming behind you, you were able to relax again as you dressed and painted your nails. Your tight denim skirt and white imitation silk blouse weren’t exactly comfortable, but you looked good and when you saw Steve’s car pull up to your house, you made your break downstairs. You shoved your feet into your white tennis shoes and threw your purse over your shoulder.  

“Be back later! Don’t wait up!” you called, yanking open the door. You waved shyly at Steve, who you found waiting outside his car, leaning on the passenger side door.  He looked effortlessly cool and confident; he wasn’t even looking at you. You made your way quickly over to the car, muttering a quick hello which he didn’t return. He did come to your side of the car and opened the door for you. That was the first time he looked at you in your whole interaction and he looked...nervous. It only showed in his eyes, but they completely gave him away.

He rushed to his own side again and climbed in, starting the car fast. You sped off a bit too fast out of your street and off into the night. Steve had the radio on low and The Smiths were playing, softly filling the car. You watched him drive, how he slowly began to find himself with his hands on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road.  You watched the grin slide onto his lips and the way it lit up his face, how it warmed his eyes and brought a bit of colour to his paled complexion.

“So, where are you taking me here?” you asked, turning to look at him fully. You crossed your right leg over your left, tapping your foot slightly to the melancholic wailing coming from the stereo.

“I know this absolutely awful diner, just the worst. And I figured, since it’s always empty, we’d go there, since its quiet. And hopefully, if all goes to plan, you won’t let me eat there ever again.” He chuckled and you bit back a grin, nodding slowly. With anyone else, having a boy tell you that they were bringing you to a secluded, empty, crappy diner would make you nervous and annoyed, but Steve was so trustworthy.  He wouldn’t pull any tricks on you. So you let him drive you to the outskirts of town to a faded, desolate diner off the turnpike, its spinning sign spelling out ‘Benny’s Burgers’.

“Isn’t this the place where the owner killed himself? In like the dining room?” you asked, furrowing your brow.

“No clue.” Steve replied with a shrug. He put the car in park and climbed out easily. You took a breath and followed behind quickly, not wanting to be left behind in the empty, dark, and far too quiet parking lot. Steve held open the door for you and ushered you in quickly to the desolate diner. The bright, white florescent lights hit you like a wall and you went momentarily blind, squinting under their harsh glow. You hadn’t realized how dark it was outside until they smacked you in the face.

Steve found you a booth and you slid in, still not used to the lights. He looked over you, concerned. “You alright over there?” he asked, leaning his elbows on the table as the ancient waitress brought you menus and cups of coffee.

“Just regaining sight, why is it so bright in here?” you asked, rubbing your eyes rigorously.

“No idea, it’s always like this at night.” Steve shrugged easily, flipping open the menu.

“You spend a lot of time here?” you followed his lead, looking over the standard diner fare at the offer.

“Yeah kind of...” Steve muttered, looking up to meet your eye. You nodded, easing him into the rest of the story obviously on the tip of his tongue. “My dad is a big investor in a chain of hardware stores. He’s always off out of town and my mom goes with him most of the time, so I’m on my own a lot. Big empty house, gets quiet. Sometimes I come here.”

You nodded “I get it, kind of...my dad’s never home either. He’s a truck driver, so he’s always gone, driving something somewhere. My mom has a job here now, but before my sister was born, she used to be one too, that’s how they met.” You explained.

“You have a sister?” Steve asked, surprised by the news. He’d hardly heard of you, much less another one in the family.

“Yeah, she’s like seven years older than me. Lives in Kentucky now with her fiancé and their kid. You probably wouldn’t know her, she didn’t live her very long before she graduated and moved out.” You replied. Steve looked confused, so you added “I didn’t move here till like fourth grade, super late into the year.”

Suddenly, Steve’s face lit up into a look of pure realization “I totally remember you now!” he slapped the table. You raised an eyebrow, cocking your head to the side. Steve pulled his hand off the table, pushing himself into the back of the seat shamefully “From school, I mean...” he added.

“Oh yeah?” you chuckled awkwardly. There were two options here: one was embarrassing, the other flashy and cool. You were really hoping he remembered the cool thing, not the awkward one.

“Yeah! You were in my gym class that year, you totally yakked on the gym floor on like the first day!” he cried with a laugh. You felt your whole face turn beet red and you turned away, utterly embarrassed. You hated that memory; it made you feel so small. You were so nervous that day and the cafeteria had accidently served milk out of date, it was a recipe for disaster.

“Everyone called me puke face for like a year...” you muttered. That shut him up quick. Steve’s laughter died in his throat and he coughed to clear it, rubbing the back of his neck, heat rises up his skin.

“That sucks, man...” he said awkwardly, floundering for something to say to fix the moment. He found what he was looking for quickly. “If it makes you feel better, like a year later I ripped my pants in front of like the whole school at one of the big assemblies, Tommy never let me live it down.”

You smiled sadly “Yeah I remember, I laughed my ass off about your Spider Man undies.” This made Steve blush, which was cute. But a bit of bitter bile came up in the back of your throat and you let the words it carried with it out thoughtlessly. “But mostly I remembered the way your butt was the gossip of the school for the rest of the year. I was puke girl after what I did, but you were just hotter.”

Steve frowned “I mean, that’s not completely true: all the guys gave me the same amount people gave you. And the puke thing wore off after Ricky Scott got stuck on that chain in the woods and had to be rescued by the fire department.” He argued, crossing your arms over your chest.

“The difference is that you had people on your side. You had Carol and Macy and Tina all telling the boys to stop. The right people. Anyone who stood up for me was shamed too, it was too much of a risk. And Ricky was left in that tree by Tommy H and Chris Samuels. Nothing would’ve happened to him if they had stayed to help him.” You fired back quickly.

Steve opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again. What could he argue? That it wasn’t a competition? He was battling against the hurtful memory of yours he’d brought up. He wouldn’t pretend that he didn’t call you that behind your back, that he didn’t laugh when people made fun of you to your face. He was a bad guy, he knew that. He was trying to be better now. And that meant, in that moment, to shut up.

You sighed, releasing the anger. You shouldn’t have brought up any of it anyway. You had let most of it go, that little bit was the last of it that remained. “But nobody really remembers puke girl now, except for you, I guess. I lived it down.” You said offhandedly. Steve nodded, his mind elsewhere, trying to figure out how to fix this.

“But you know who’ll never like her nickname down?” you asked. Steve didn’t respond, but you said it anyway. “Carol.”

“Carol didn’t have a nickname.” Steve muttered, clearly annoyed by the mention of her name. He really didn’t like Carol, not after what she said about Nancy way back when they were just starting out.

“Oh yes she did. Everyone called her period head in sixth grade. She got her period in Mr. Fitz’s history class and after that everyone called her period head, cause her hair matched her jeans.” You giggled at the memory. Karma was sweet: Carol was the worst about your cruel nickname, having her deal with the same embarrassment for a year was sweet revenge.

“Nobody called her that after seventh grade, when Tommy beat up Anthony Parks.” Steve countered, leaning on the table. You’d piqued his interest just a bit. Or maybe it was your smile. You looked so happy in the moment, it was hard to ignore.

“You and your friends might not have, but mine did. After she pushed Amanda Peats down the stairs in freshman year, we all started calling her that in silent protest. Amanda’s boyfriend, Arnold took care of actually going after Carol for it, and getting his ass handed to him by Tommy for it. Whenever we talk about Carol, she’s still period head.”  You said a bit too proudly.

Steve nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. Your waitress had returned and you couldn’t even remember what you had ordered as you handed back your menus, your focus solely on Steve and his pensive, thoughtful look. You didn’t think you’d ever seen him look pensive in your life.

“So, wait, what did your friends call me?” he asked, setting the mug down.

You scrunched up your face thoughtfully “Oh different people called you different things...Harrington, the hair, I know the whole soprano section of the Hawkins High choir called you heart stopper Harrington. My friends alternated between Harrington and that douche.” You replied.

Steve nodded “Sounds about right, I knew about the heart stopper thing. Don’t know where it came from.”

“You went to see the choir in junior year.” Steve shook his head, looking at you like you were crazy. “No you did, I remember I was there too, I went to see Robin perform with the band and you were there in the third row. You had detention or something, forced to see the show. You smiled at Tammy Thompson and she about near fainted. That’s where the nickname came from.”  

Realization washed over his face “I had to go cause Ms. Seymour gave me detention for skipping drama like four times in a row.” He added quietly before turning to you, wide eyed “How do you remember all this stuff?”

You found yourself blushing again, looking down at your lap “I don’t really know...I guess my life has just happened in parallel to your for awhile and I never noticed that it was weird till now.” You said shyly.

Steve smiled cheekily “I like it.”

You rolled you eyes, trying not to smile back “Well that’s cause you’re an egomaniac.”  Steve laughed at that and you watched him for a second. A piece of his puffed up coif had fallen into his eyes and his eyes crinkled up at the edges when he laughed. You wished freak Byers was wandering around with his camera, taking his creeper shots. You wouldn’t have a copy of this moment.

When he finally recovered and your food arrived, Steve looked you over, watching you for signs of discontent. He’d already fucked up once and you finally seemed to be happy again, he didn’t want to ruin it. But he had one moment he wanted to recount with you.

“I remember you for one more thing, you know...” he said softly, building a large pile with his corned beef hash, using the sides of his fork to mix everything together.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” you asked, leaning your head on your palm, watching him lazily.

“You were in my drama class in junior year. It was the sophomore class, cause I didn’t have the credits for the junior one and I needed a class that I couldn’t fail.” He said confidently.

You nodded slowly “That all?” It wasn’t exactly a deep memory, it hardly had anything to do with you, just a glimpse of your life happening far in the background of his.

Steve swallowed. This was the part that could hurt him, he didn’t know how you’d take it. “No, I remember one more thing. We had to do monologues for our final. I don’t remember most of them, because they were shit. But I remember yours. You did this one from some Shakespeare play and I just remember how...beautiful you liked. Seymour insisted on having everyone stand under the spotlight on the stage in the cafeteria. And you were up there, and your hair looked so pretty under the lights, and you seemed so...confident. You were the only one who seemed confident about anything. You did the best job.” He explained.

You demurred. This was not the amazing moment you wanted to remember. That moment was really insignificant in your life. You preferred backstage work, you move onto crew quickly. Nobody else thought that scene was good, everyone liked Kristy McNeel’s scene better, she did the monologue about Santa killing her mom so naturally it was popular.

But you didn’t say any of that, though.

“You remember that?” you asked softly, almost in a whisper. You suddenly felt very seen and very shy.  

“Yeah, it was cool! You did like Romeo and Juliet or something. I didn’t really get what you were saying, but you sounded so dreamy and sweet. And then I actually met you and-”

“And I was a massive bitch, sorry about that...” it was your turn to be embarrassed and awkward. You reached up to run your fingers through the side of your hair, destroying the styling you’d done in one awkward movement.

“It’s cool, I was a douche like all of the time you knew me, it evens out.” Steve shrugged “So wait, what do you think? Did my reviews live up?” he gestured wide towards the empty seating around you.

You chuckled “Well...yeah kind of.” Steve chuckled, shaking his head. “But I can see why you’d want to come here sometimes. It’s peaceful in a way.” The diner wasn’t insanely loud, but it wasn’t dead silent. You could hear the hum of the radio in the kitchen, the distant chattering of your waitress and the cook in the back, the jukebox in the corner looked absolutely desperate to be played. When combined, it wasn’t bad company. Add in the sound of your forks scraping plates and the cups hitting the table and a good book and this place could feel like home.

“Plus it’s open really late.” Steve added thoughtlessly. You raised an eyebrow at him curiously. Steve swallowed hard, his throat turning dry. “I have a bit of insomnia.” It wasn’t a complete lie, he just didn’t give any reasoning behind it. He could rationalize holding back information, it made things easier.

You pursed your lips, nodding your head back and forth “I guess that’s good then, good to have somewhere to go.” You decided.  “But you know what this means, right? Now I know your hiding place. Robin has been trying to figure out where you go besides your house, work, the arcade with Henderson, and the occasional party. Now I know, I could sell you out to her in a second.”

“Don’t you dare! That girl has been trying to get me to go to a Chicago concert with her for the past week and a half! Do you know how much Chicago sucks? If she knew where I hid from her I’d never hear the end of it.” Steve pleaded jokingly.

“Oh she’s on you about that too? I won’t go see it with her either! I saw them once, with my mom when I was ten, and it sucked ass. I won’t do it again.  I can’t believe she’s bugging you about it now!” you moaned, shaking her head as the image of Robin heckling Steve over the counter at Family Video to come to the dumb concert filled your mind and made you cringe. Poor guy, Robin was persistent about those sorts of things too, he probably never heard the end of it.

“It’s not so bad; if it was like three towns over I’d go see it with her, but it’s right in Carmel, people will see me there.” Steve said.

“Oh, and I thought you were over caring about your rep in this town?” you asked cheekily, swatting his arm.

“A man’s gotta put his foot down somewhere. I choose to not be seen at Chicago concerts with girls who I’m not dating.” Steve answered truthfully. Your waitress brought over your check and cleared your half-eaten food away before either of you could pretend to want to take it home. Steve dropped two twenties on the check before you could even attempt to pull your wallet from your purse.

“So, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re saying that you’d be seen at a Chicago concert if the girl was putting out.” You asked with a giggle. The logic was so stupid, you had to laugh.

“Pretty much, you ready to blow this place?” he offered you his hand and you took it happily, letting him pull you up and walk you out of the diner. It was nice; his hands were warm and enveloped yours easily. You found yourself gravitating towards the heat his body gave off. And he smelt good, like good cologne and hairspray and something else, maybe laundry detergent? Whatever it was, it made the smell utterly intoxicating. You wanted to be wrapped up in that smell and that warmth.

Steve drove you home in comfortable silence, your hand held in his and your gazes switching from each other to the road ahead and back again. You felt giddy and drunk. You really liked him. That was weird to think, that you liked Steve. You remembered making fun of him with your friends in school, joking about how dumb his hair is and how stupid he was. But now...now, you saw something different in him. How self-aware he was, how focused he was. He was just a big old dork with money and a cool car and more than an ounce of charm.

You liked that he was a dork. It made him more approachable.

Steve already liked you. He knew that he liked you the second he saw you smile in Burger in a Basket the day before. He didn’t want you to stop smiling. You were too pretty to not smile. And you were smart and funny and you paid attention to people, to him. He wasn’t used to that. Nancy didn’t pay attention to him, especially after Christmas. He always paid attention to the girls he dated, especially Nancy, but you? You matched his attention at every move.  It was flattering. But it was also nice to feel as though his effort was matched by yours. It made him feel wanted.

“You know...in that drama class, I had a massive crush on you...” you whispered softly, running your thumb over his knuckles. There were scarred and jagged from some events you weren’t a part of. You wanted to know the stories behind the scars, the fights he’d won or probably lost. Everyone already knew that he lost a fight to Billy Hargrove, expected, and Jonathan Byers, very unexpected and kind of embarrassing.

“Yeah?” Steve muttered back, his expression softening.

“Yeah...I mean you were so cool and charming...it was hard not to like you. But I did fall out of it quick enough. You’re a terrible actor.” You chuckled, brushing a strand of hair out of your hair, grinning up at him.  Steve scoffed dramatically, rolling his eyes with a wide smirk.

“No, I’m serious you’re awful! You did that scene from A Streetcar Named Desire, which I’m sure Seymour chose for you since you were never there, and you were awful! You didn’t even know what you were saying!” You cried. Steve shook his head, laughing along with you. He pulled up to your house, parking outside.

The pair of you stared at one another for a moment, the laughter dying out in both your throats and your eyes locking onto one another. You weren’t sure what to do, but you couldn’t look away. You watched as Steve’s eyes flicked to your lips and yours did the same. You couldn’t tell who kissed who first, but you knew that Steve was a really good kisser. Top five at least, maybe even top three. He was firm and slightly aggressive. He kissed you like it was his last moment on earth and he needed to savour it. He set your whole body on fire in a single moment.

Steve broke away first, but you pulled him back fast, pulling him to your chest and letting his hands run up your back and to your hips. The gear shift was in your way, but it was clear that Steve wanted you even closer. You wanted him closer too.  

When you broke away again, your chest heaving in breaths, you nodded to Steve with a small smirk “Wanna go to your place?” you asked slowly, drinking him in.

Steve’s eyes darkened and he swallowed hard, nodding hard. He shifted the car into drive and slammed the gas, sending you flying back in your seat and laughing loudly.

This was going to be a fun night.

[newstfionline]

Friday, June 25, 2021

The United States ranks last among 46 countries for trust in news (Reuters Institute) Trust in news worldwide grew slightly in the wake of the pandemic, according to the Reuters Institute’s annual Digital News Report. But not in the United States—it was one of the few countries that did not see an increase in trust from 2020 to 2021, and the percentage of Americans who trust news overall—29%—was the lowest among the 46 markets surveyed. The long-predicted end of the “Trump Bump” showed up clearly in the research, with Americans’ interest in news declining by 11%. National news outlets like The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN and MSNBC have all seen significant dips in their audience numbers.

Western drought brings another woe: voracious grasshoppers (AP) A punishing drought in the U.S. West is drying up waterways, sparking wildfires and leaving farmers scrambling for water. Next up: a plague of voracious grasshoppers. Federal agriculture officials are launching what could become their largest grasshopper-killing campaign since the 1980s amid an outbreak of the drought-loving insects that cattle ranchers fear will strip bare public and private rangelands. In central Montana’s Phillips County, more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the nearest town, Frank Wiederrick said large numbers of grasshoppers started showing up on prairie surrounding his ranch in recent days. Already they’re beginning to denude trees around his house. “They’re everywhere,” Wiederrick said. “Drought and grasshoppers go together and they are cleaning us out.”

Condo building partially collapses in Miami-Dade (Washington Post) A large oceanfront condo building near Miami Beach partially collapsed early Thursday morning, killing at least one person, injuring another 10 or more and prompting a mass search-and-rescue response as 51 people remain unaccounted for. Dozens of units from police and fire agencies rushed to Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., at 1:30 a.m. after the northeast corridor of the building collapsed, assistant fire chief Ray Jadallah said. Rescuers evacuated 35 people from the 12-story building, including two recovered from the rubble. Fifty-five of the more than 130 units were destroyed. The partial collapse came one day after the building had passed inspection.

Calls grow to evacuate Afghans to Guam as US troops leave (AP) In the chaotic, final hours of the Vietnam War, the U.S. evacuated thousands of South Vietnamese who supported the American mission and were at risk under the communist government. With U.S. and NATO forces facing a Sept. 11 deadline to leave Afghanistan, many are recalling that desperate, hasty exodus as they urge the Biden administration to evacuate thousands of Afghans who worked as interpreters or otherwise helped U.S. military operations there in the past two decades. Despite unusual bipartisan support in Congress, the administration hasn’t agreed to such a move, declining to publicly support something that could undermine security in the country as it unwinds a war that started after the 9/11 attacks. The Biden administration for now is focusing on accelerating a special visa program for Afghans who helped U.S. operations. Even if the legislation passed immediately, the number of visas would fall far short of the estimated 18,000 Afghans waiting to be processed. And the average wait is more than three years. The process also has been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, which led the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan to suspend visa interviews.

Footage of Amazon destroying thousands of unsold items in Britain prompts calls for official investigation (Washington Post) British lawmakers are demanding a meeting with tech giant Amazon’s country manager after an investigation at a warehouse in Scotland revealed that thousands of unsold or returned items—including televisions, books, sealed face masks and laptops—were being destroyed by the company. Footage from the undercover investigation by ITV News at a warehouse in the Scottish town of Dunfermline, also showed drones, headphones, jewelry and countless other high-value products being placed into boxes labeled “destroy,” before huge trucks were followed carrying the stock to landfill sites and recycling centers. One ex-employee told ITV News that workers were expected to get rid of an estimated 130,000 items a week. The broadcaster described the practice as “waste on an astonishing level.” Amazon operates 175 centers worldwide, spanning more than 150 million square feet of space where employees prepare items to be shipped and delivered to customers around-the-clock. ITV News noted that the reason for the destruction of the goods may be attributable to Amazon’s business model. Companies worldwide store items in warehouses owned by the online shopping giant. However, if the items fail to sell, they are charged rising fees that some may struggle to pay, leading to piles of goods that need to be stored—or dumped—elsewhere. Many Britons, also concerned by the investigation, demanded to know why items that appeared to be in good condition were being dumped when vulnerable people or charities could have used the goods.

Black Sea tensions (Foreign Policy) Russia complained on Wednesday of a “blatant British provocation” in the Black Sea, as a British Navy vessel sailed near the Crimean peninsula on its way to port in Georgia. Both sides contest the facts of the incident: The Russian Defense Ministry said it fired warning shots near the British ship and dropped four bombs in its way, while the British Defense Ministry said no such obstruction occurred. A BBC journalist on board the British ship said he heard shots “out of range,” and that Russian military planes shadowed the vessel. Tensions in the area are expected to remain high as NATO conducts military exercises in the Black Sea starting on Monday.

It’s 118 Degrees in Siberia (Vice) The Arctic Circle is known for viciously cold winter temperatures that can cause frostbite within minutes—but this summer, parts of the area are so hot that touching the ground could burn your skin. The Siberian town of Verkhojansk recorded ground temperatures of 118 degrees on Monday, according to the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme. The agency’s satellites captured images of the record-breaking heat wave gripping the Russian north. The Siberian town of Saskylah saw an all-time peak ground temperature of 90 degrees, and other towns recorded temperatures near 110 degrees, according to the EU’s space agency. The World Meteorology Organization highlighted how dire the situation is in the Arctic, which is warming more than two times quicker than the global average. The fast rate is caused by a phenomenon called “Arctic amplification,” or the domino effect of the region’s highly reflective snow, large water volume, and fragile ecosystem. The high temperatures are causing wildfires in the Arctic too. As early as April, wildfires began to spark across Siberia, and got so bad the smoke could be seen from space, according to NASA imagery. In 2020, Siberia was also hit by record-breaking hot temperatures, dating back to 1885, according to National Geographic. “For a long time, we’ve been saying we’re going to get more extremes like strong heat waves,” Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, told National Geographic in 2020. “It’s a little like the projections are coming true, and sooner than we might have thought.”

Afghan government could collapse six months after US troops withdraw (The Hill) Afghanistan’s government could collapse as quickly as six months after all U.S. troops withdraw from the country, according to new analysis from the U.S. intelligence community. The latest intelligence assessment, reported by The Wall Street Journal, said that the Afghan government, led by President Ashraf Ghani, could collapse between six to 12 months after all American forces are pulled from the country. Some other officials, however, said that the government could fall as soon as three months after the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is finished, the Journal reported. Previous analysis, the newspaper noted, said that Afghanistan’s government could stand for as long as two years after the American troops leave.

China’s borders (Foreign Policy) China’s borders will remain closed to most visitors until at least the second half of 2022 over concerns of further COVID-19 outbreaks imported from abroad. Chinese officials are reportedly worried about two sensitive events: the Beijing Winter Olympics and the formal conferral of an unprecedented third term for Chinese President Xi Jinping near the end of 2022. It’s possible some restrictions will remain until after the annual Two Sessions in early 2023. But the move may also reflect China’s lack of confidence in its own vaccines. Although its domestic vaccination program has been highly successful, with more than 1 billion doses administered, case data from other countries shows the Chinese vaccines aren’t doing a good job at preventing the spread of the virus, particularly the spread of new variants.

China says after massed drills that Taiwan’s future lies in ‘reunification’ (Reuters) Taiwan needs to be clearly aware that its future lies in “reunification” with China and that it cannot rely on the United States, China’s military said on Thursday, responding to questions on a massed incursion by Chinese warplanes last week. Twenty-eight Chinese air force aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) last Tuesday, the largest number to date reported by the Chinese-claimed island’s government. The incident came shortly after Group of Seven leaders issued a joint statement scolding China for a series of issues and underscoring the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, comments China condemned as “slander”.

Japan proposes four-day working week to improve work-life balance (DW) Japan is attempting to buck its “salaryman” stereotype and improve the work-life balance of its citizens in new economic policy guidelines that recommend a move to a four-day workweek. The Japanese government cited increased employee retention, especially for those caring for children or older relatives, as an incentive for employers to adopt the policy. Japanese authorities are hoping an extra day off per week will lead its citizens to solve even more societal problems: By using the time to do more shopping to boost the economy and by giving young people more time to socialize, which may, eventually, boost the country’s sluggish birth rate. However, there is concern that management will be reluctant to do away with some of the attitudes towards business that have served Japan Inc. so well for generations—even if there is clear evidence that traditional approaches are less effective than they were in the past. Employees, on the other hand, find the idea of a shorter working week appealing, but they do worry about reduced wages and accusations that they are not fully committed to their company.

Settlement Is Reached Over Stuck Ship That Blocked Suez Canal in Egypt (NYT) The owner and insurers of the enormous container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for six days in March and disrupted global shipping have reached a settlement with the Egyptian authorities, one of the insurers said on Wednesday. The insurer’s statement did not specify the amount, but said that once the settlement was formalized, the ship—after nearly three months of haggling, finger-pointing and court hearings—would finally complete its journey through the canal. Since the ship was freed in a huge salvage effort in March, about six days after running aground across the Suez, the canal authority had been locked in an often acrimonious standoff with the ship’s owner and operators over what the authority said it was owed for the incident. The authority had sought up to $1 billion in compensation.

[automatic-palletizer-machine]

Excessive Automatic Palletizer Machine Stage

This course of repeats till a full layer of products and products are configured to be placed on a pallet. The system is designed to ensure full performance even in heavy seas. The outcome is a robust computerized palletizer machine of excessive quality that saves an unlimited quantity of area. Columbia's conventional high level palletizer machines set the industry normal automatic palletizer machine.

Because your specifications for palletizing are reliably met, hundreds are much less likely to incur damage during loading, cargo and unloading. Roll feed, Hot soften, Cold glue, Self-adhesive and shrink sleeve labelling machines in standalone or mixed variations for various formed bottles. Linear and Rotary Rinsing, Filling & Capping solutions utilizing Net weight, Flow meter and Level filling technologies. A low friction curler transfer desk is out there to allow easy handling of heavy and shrinkwrapped circumstances.

Feed and orient empty plastic containers of various shapes & sizes to the filling line mechanically. Achieve maximum output with minimal downtime for peak effectivity and machine profitability. Our palletizing consultants help with each step of the method and stand by 24/7 to resolve any questions.

No lifting, stooping or strolling around the pallet is required to operate this case palletizer.

An automatic palletizer can present up to 60 baggage per minute, nonetheless, it's nonetheless potential to extend this fee by integrating a second robotic to the cell which optimizes velocity.

Wearproof steel guides make positive the curler bearings roll efficiently.

In some palletizing stations, when a pallet layer is full, the operator lowers the work surface as required to hold up a comfortable working height.

The Science of Palletizing is a 72-page educational introduction to the basics of unit-load forming and is designed to familiarize you with the basics of automatic palletizer machine.

The use of 6-axis robots allows most flexibility in palletizing schemes, structure and built-in extra functions. Compact and strong design combined with a laterally mounted vertical linear axis system result in a low general machine peak which permits the use even with low ceiling heights. Multi-axis automation products together with H-Bots, T-Bots, Gantries, and Cartesian Robots. Our palletizer is a perfect alternative for palletizing aboard factory trawlers, because the stretch movie is added while the machine palletizes.

Of course, product is transferring all the time and often has to go very far before reaching its destination. But getting it there is only half the battle; the other half is getting it to the ultimate automated palletizer consumer in an interesting, salable condition. This design permits three pallets to be stacked on the ground on each side.

Trust in our four-station palletizer with supreme operating consolation. The pallet magazine is built-in with a switch system that enables for a completely computerized pallet dealing with process. Automatic conveying and palletizing system is used for palletizing unit load, together with various carton bins in paper-making, food and medicine business and so forth. Depending on package deal weight and load configuration, manual palletizing may be backbreaking work. [newline]Automating these processes can scale back publicity to continual injuries and potentially severe accidents. An automatic palletizer can decrease worker’s compensation prices and enhance employee satisfaction on the same time.

Excessive Stage Palletizers

In some cases, pallets are moved away from the machine and packed/wrapped both by hand or by another machine. Columbia Machine offers the most innovative and flexible palletizing options available. Columbia standard palletizers deal with nearly any bundle sort together with trays , shrink-only bundles, RPCs, Totes, tab-lock instances, milk crates and a lot extra.

In the top, robotic computerized palletizers supply extra flexible and dependable options than standard methods. These solutions make it attainable to evolve with the rising needs of an organization. Low upkeep costs and easy palletizing sample changing add to the advantages of a faster return on financial investment. Their excessive reliability and low maintenance demand give them a transparent advantage over standard methods. Nowadays working with palletizing equipment is of a crucial significance in numerous industries worldwide. Therefore, palletizing machines are generally utilized in wooden and paper industry, metal industry, construction trade as properly as in beverage and meals business.

Commonality of part techniques allow cost financial savings for end customers, rapid supply and proven performance with future flexibility when required. Equipped with a forty one" Wide x 48" Long x fifty three" High pallet stacking part, seventy two" long chain infeed conveyor extending 12" past body with a 34" infeed top. Equipped with a forty one" Wide x forty" Long x forty eight" High pallet stacking section, one hundred twenty" lengthy chain infeed conveyor extending seventy eight" past body with a 37" infeed top.

The use of a collaborating robotic permits an open layout with out safety fences. This ensures greatest accessibility and minimizes the house requirement on your shopfloor. Proven drive technology with frequency controlled AC motors guarantee excessive reliability and are easy to keep up. Compact and robust portal building allows a small foot print and good accessibility.

In order to acquire a complete solution, additional options could be built-in to the top of the production line getting ready your pallet for storing or transport. Conveyorized palletizers have a feed area that receives the products which are to be palletized. The packaged items are obtained by curler conveyors and are continuously transferred and sorted to the pallets by automated conveyor rollers, permitting higher packaging speed than robotic palletizers. Robotic systems also can offer several advantages over conventional machines.

There are 5,447 palletizer machine suppliers, mainly situated in Asia. The top supplying country or region is China, which provide 100 percent of palletizer machine respectively. Easy to make use of, with superior options including easy pattern edit/creation. Our palletizers contribute to an efficient processing course of and preserve the standard of your powders. You have selections in relation to packaging supplies and on this webinar, we'll walk via totally different materials and the way it impacts your provide chain.

Innovative automated gripper that ensures precise positioning on the pallet. Safe and stable transport is a prerequisite to ensure that your product reaches its destination whereas safeguarding the standard. TopTier Sales Engineers provide price range quotes in a matter of days. Cost is based on particular products to be handled, fee requirements, layout, and desired features. Format vary subject to feeding and collating system and features of machine.

Robotic palletizing arrived later and introduced with it many advantages in comparability with standard techniques. Reliability and flexibility are some of the property these techniques have to offer. Additionally, if you need upkeep and repair, Robopac USA offers full help through our components and service division. We also can advise you on potential upgrades to improve your machine’s effectivity and presumably lengthen its life. View our TopTier palletizer machines for sale to find out the finest option on your facility.

For these larger footprints and attain conditions a user can simply add a further axis to meet any problem. To obtain the improvements automation techniques produce, it is essential to select one of the best combination of robot fashion, gripper and auxiliary equipment to match the production need. An automation options integrator can provide the proper answer for any palletizing software. Conventional palletizers usually use a layer approach that forms the pack pattern of instances, squeezes them into form and deposits them one layer at a time onto the pallet. This palletizer may be broken down into two categories – a low-level or high-level palletizer.

Dairy Products

Accessible and highly sensible respecting operator security with the photoelectric obstacles. The robotic or choose and place is customised to delicately deal with the product and turn it to the appropriate place before placing it into the pallet. Simple configuration called “GROUND PALLET” the place the empty pallet is positioned by an operator with the pallet truck by hand. Picking the stuffed pallet takes place in the identical means with the pallet truck by hand by an operator.

Fully Automatic 25kg Kraft Paper Valve Bag Filling Production Packing Line Palletizer

Brenton engineers and manufactures case packing, palletizing and built-in packaging systems. Robotic automatic palletizers are designed to adapt to present traces and area to have the ability to enhance production rates or adapt to new merchandise. An automated palletizer can present as much as 60 bags per minute, however, it is nonetheless possible to extend this fee by integrating a second robot to the cell which optimizes speed. Safety systems are the most advanced within the trade, with the highest attainable security score.

Semi-automatic palletizing tools, which is well-liked in area of interest markets the place merchandise are heavy and troublesome to palletize manually, can deal with as much as 20 bags or instances per minute. This tools is nicely suited to low-speed operations that can’t justify the worth of full automation however require a solution to help forestall worker damage. Aagard is an engineering company that builds custom packaging automation techniques. Our group of inventive problem-solvers utilizes our progressive expertise and proven technologies to create the exact solution that our prospects must win.

Fully automated mannequin consists of pallet handling, stretch wrapping, load exit conveyor, and security access doorways. Fully automated model includes pallet dealing with, stretch wrapping, load exit conveyor, mezzanine, and security entry doors. They are excellent for medium to excessive pace vegetation and multiline functions. Hamer absolutely automating palletizing techniques utilize automatic in-feed conveyors to tempo product in-feed to the pick-and-place palletizing station. The product is then stacked on empty pallets with or with out slip sheets, that are automatically fed to the stacking space. Once a pallet has been accomplished it is prepared for forktruck pickup or it is transferred to the in-line stretch wrapping/hooding equipment to mechanically complete the pallet for cargo.

Palletizers are mostly integrated in a much bigger packaging system line, which ensures quick and environment friendly packaging for a spread of products. A hydraulic robotic arm lifts circumstances, bottles, bags or drums using flat pincer arms or suction cup arms in organized rows onto a pallet, stacking items with near-perfect precision. Massman Automation integrates ABB, Fanuc, or Motoman robots into the robotic palletizing cell. These techniques deal with a quantity of packaging strains with a number of SKUs that includes ALBA pallet dispensers and pallet conveyors that are appropriate with many custom-designed case and pallet dealing with methods. PalKombi is an computerized palletizer suitable for crates, cartons, trays, shrink-wrapped packs and all kinds of packages in general. Designed for medium to high speeds, PalKombi works with a gentle low-level infeed pallet.

This compact structure provides minimum house usage and works well in slim spaces. If your workers are engaged on different strains on different days, they'll take the palletizer to their workplace. Movable on rollers and with pallet guides folded up, PalTeq Cobot suits via doorways from 900 mm width.

Manually putting bins on pallets may be time consuming and costly; it could additionally put unusual stress on employees. PalTeq Robot is our fully automatic robot palletizer for palletizing of shipping instances or trays, or almost all type of stackable products. Due to our modular building platform the layout can be designed almost freely and extra features can be built-in easily. Macron Dynamics presents a Cartesian fashion MGS-UC2 linear robot kit that can be built-in into palletizing systems. The Macron MGS-UC2 gantry product is a sturdy and sturdy 2-axis system with broad payload capacity. This ready-made kit, in pre-configured commonplace travel lengths, contains integrated cable management, low profile T-slot sensors and MPG gearboxes ready for any motor mounting.

The VPG palletizer is designed with a particular gripping head, so to stack the bags in an overlapping manner. This palletizer version has a special rotating head, so the product may be imported at excessive pace. We are a professional manufacturer & exporter specialized in numerous tin cans making machinery. [newline]We are always able to develop long-term and good relationship with abroad customers. If you want to know more about us, please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time. SPLX MKII High Level Palletizer’s key parts are primarily maintenance-free, and are simply accessible via detachable guards and doorways.

Manual palletizing may be carried out by people and without any mechanical help at all. Furthermore PalTeq Cobot offers tool-less kind change and changeover between totally different pallet sorts. By using totally different robot sizes we are in a position to all the time offer you the ideal space-optimized structure for every product weight. Proven technology with frequency managed AC drives guarantees high reliability and straightforward maintenance. Using a novel, flexible belt based mostly “rack and pinion” design and structural aluminum MacFRAME parts, our Robotic Transport Units can handle all kinds of lengths and payloads.

[katchwreck]

PROGRAMME OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY

The constitution of the Russian democratic republic must ensure:

1) The sovereignty of the people; supreme power in the state must be vested entirely in the people’s representatives, who shall be elected by the people and be subject   to recall at any time, and who shall constitute a single popular assembly, a single chamber.

2) Universal, equal, and direct suffrage for all citizens, men and women, who have reached the age of twenty, in the elections to the legislative assembly and to the various bodies of local self-government; secret ballot; the right of every voter to be elected to any representative institution; biennial parliaments; salaries to be paid to the people’s representatives; proportional representation at all elections; all delegates and elected officials, without exception, to be subject to recall at any time upon the decision of a majority of their electors.

3) Local self-government on a broad scale; regional self- government in localities where the composition of the population and living and social conditions are of a specific nature; the abolition of all state-appointed local and regional authorities.

4) Inviolability of person and domicile.

5) Unrestricted freedom of conscience, speech, the press, assembly, strikes, and association.

6) Freedom of movement and occupation.

7) Abolition of the social estates; equal rights for all citizens irrespective of sex, creed, race, or nationality.

8) The right of the population to receive instruction in their native tongue in schools to be established for the purpose at the expense of the state and local organs of self-government; the right of every citizen to use his native language at meetings; the native language to be used on a level with the official language in all local public and state institutions; the obligatory official language to be abolished.

9) The right of all member nations of the state to freely secede and form independent states. The republic of the Russian nation must attract other nations or nationalities not by force, but exclusively by voluntary agreement on the question of forming a common state. The unity and   fraternal alliance of the workers of all countries are incompatible with the use of force, direct or indirect, against other nationalities.

10) The right of all persons to sue any official in the regular way before a jury.

11) Judges and other officials, both civil and military, to be elected by the people with the right to recall any of them at any time by decision of a majority of their electors.

12) The police and standing army to be replaced by the universally armed people; workers and other employees to receive regular wages from the capitalists for the time devoted to public service in the people’s militia.

13) Separation of the church from the state, and schools from the church; schools to be absolutely secular.

14) Free and compulsory general and polytechnical education (familiarising the student with the theoretical and practical aspects of the most important fields of production) for all children of both sexes up to the age of sixteen; training of children to be closely integrated with socially productive work.

15) All students to be provided with food, clothing, and school supplies at the cost of the state.

16) Public education to be administered by democratically elected organs of local self-government; the central government not to be allowed to interfere with the arrangement of the school curriculum, or with the selection of the teaching staffs; teachers to be elected directly by the population with the right of the latter to remove undesirable teachers.

As a basic condition for the democratisation of our country’s national economy, the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party demands the abolition of all indirect taxes and the establishment of a progressive tax on incomes and inheritances.

The high level of development of capitalism already achieved in banking and in the trustified branches of industry, on the one hand, and the economic disruption caused by the imperialist war, everywhere evoking a demand for state and public control of the production and distribution of all staple products, on the other, induce the Party to demand the nationalisation of the banks, syndicates (trusts), etc.

To safeguard the working class from physical and moral deterioration, and develop its ability to carry on the struggle for emancipation, the Party demands:

1) An eight-hour working day for all wage-workers, including a break of not less than one hour for meals where work is continuous. In dangerous and unhealthy industries the working day to be reduced to from four to six hours.

2) A statutory weekly uninterrupted rest period of not less than forty-two hours for all wage-workers of both sexes in all branches of the national economy.

3) Complete prohibition of overtime work.

4) Prohibition of night-work (from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.) in all branches of the national economy except in cases where it is absolutely necessary for technical reasons endorsed by the labour organisations—provided, however, that night-work does not exceed four hours.

5) Prohibition of the employment of children of school age (under sixteen), restriction of the working day of adolescents (from sixteen to twenty) to four hours, and prohibition of the employment of adolescents on night-work in unhealthy industries and mines.

6) Prohibition of female labour in all branches of industry injurious to women’s health; prohibition of night work for women; women to be released from work eight weeks before and eight weeks after child-birth without loss of pay and with free medical and medicinal aid.

7) Establishment of nurseries for infants and young children and rooms for nursing mothers at all factories and other enterprises where women are employed; nursing mothers to be allowed recesses of at least half-hour duration at intervals of not more than three hours; such mothers to receive nursing benefit and their working day to be reduced to six hours.

8) Full social insurance of workers:

a) for all forms of wage-labour;

b) for all forms of disablement, namely, sickness, injury, infirmity, old age, occupational disease, child-birth, widowhood, orphanhood, and also unemployment, etc.

c) all insurance institutions to be administered entirely by the insured themselves;

d) the cost of insurance to be borne by the capitalists;

e) free medical and medicinal aid under the control of self-governing sick benifit societies, the management bodies of which are to be elected by the workers.

9) The establishment of a labour inspectorate elected by the workers’ organisations and covering all enterprises employing hired labour, as well as domestic servants; women inspectors to be appointed in enterprises where female labour is employed.

10) Sanitary laws to be enacted for improving hygienic conditions and protecting the life and health of workers in all enterprises where hired labour is employed; questions of hygiene to be handled by the sanitary inspectorate elected by the workers’ organisations.

11) Housing laws to be enacted and a housing inspectorate elected by the workers’ organisations to be instituted for the purpose of sanitary inspection of dwelling houses. However, only by abolishing private property in land and building cheap and hygienic dwellings can the housing problem be solved.

12) Industrial courts to be established in all branches of the national economy.

13) Labour exchanges to be established for the proper organisation of work-finding facilities. These labour ex changes must be proletarian class organisations (organised on a non-parity basis), and must be closely associated with the trade unions and other working-class organisations and financed by the communal self-governing bodies.

In order to do away with the relics of serfdom, which are a heavy yoke on the necks of the peasants, and to enable the class struggle to develop freely in the countryside, the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party demands:

1) Fights with all its strength for the immediate and complete confiscation of all landed estates in Russia (and also crown lands, church lands, etc.).

2) Stands for the immediate transfer of all land to the peasantry organised in Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies or in other organs of local self-government elected on a truly democratic basis and completely independent of the landowners and bureaucrats.

3) Demands the nationalisation of all lands in the country; nationalisation implies that all property rights in land are vested in the state, while the right of disposal of the land is vested in the local democratic institutions.

4) Encourages the initiative of those peasant committees which, in various localities of Russia, are turning over the landowners’ livestock and agricultural implements to the peasants organised in these committees for the purpose of their socially regulated utilisation in the cultivation of the land.

5) Advises the rural proletarians and semi-proletarians to strive towards turning every landed estate into a sufficiently large model farm, to be conducted on a communal basis by the local Soviet of Agricultural Labourers’ Deputies under the direction of agricultural experts and with the aid of the least technical appliances.

Furthermore, the Party under all circumstances, and whatever the conditions of democratic agrarian reform may be, will unswervingly work for the independent class organisation of the rural proletariat, will explain to the latter the irreconcilable antagonisms that exist between it and the peasant bourgeoisie, will warn it against the false attraction of the system of petty farming, which, while commodity production exists, can never do away with the poverty of the masses, and, finally, will urge the need for a complete socialist revolution as the only means of abolishing poverty and exploitation.

[dopescotlandwarrior]

A Hero Among Us-Chapter 6

On AO3

Chapter Six

Jamie toiled in the vines with the men and they had cleared over half of the vines on the valley floor by mid-afternoon. They were tired, looking skyward at building black clouds. What would rain do to the picked fruit in the holding containers? No one knew. How to find the market value for the grapes, what happens to the vines now, how to extract the juice and ferment it for wine? No one knew those answers either. Jamie had turned three buyers away throughout the day, each time he lied and doubled the bid the last man gave and each time the buyer met the price. It was the only way he knew to ferret out the true value of a ton of wine grapes. He was getting frantic at the growing possibility he would have the fruit ripening in containers while he tried to figure out how the grape game was played.

Misses Crook rang the bell for refreshment and Jamie ran to the house in search of Claire. He opened the door to their rooms and saw her sitting in the window seat watching the men. She turned a dazzling smile on her husband and jumped to kiss him.

Claire looked at Jamie’s pensive face and wondered what could be so wrong on such a day.

“How can anyone so loved, look so lost?” She spoke almost in a whisper.

Jamie said not a word but put his hand over her mouth to stop any other words from coming out.

“Sassenach, who loves me this much?”

“I do.”

It was a simple statement in a hushed voice but Jamie heard it like it boomed across the land and could be heard by all living things.

“Sorry lass, I dinna ken.”

She pulled his face to hers and kissed him. “I do Jamie, I love you that much.”

Jamie closed his eyes so he could burn the memory into his brain. She said she loves me.

He held her hands and looked into her eyes wishing he did not have to share his truth. That he was lost after the fruit was picked and didn’t know what to do next.

“Mo chridhe, I was filled with confidence this morning, but …”

“Jamie, darling, I have to show you Frank’s journals. I read one yesterday and with the wedding, I clean forgot to tell you.”

Claire ran to the office and handed Jamie the education he desperately needed. He leafed through all three journals quickly and then jumped up and kissed her soundly.

“Thank you, my wee savior.”

His smile was bright when he vacated the room to find a quiet place to read. Frank’s voluminous notes were meticulous and included the stock and grafting, the viti vinifera grapes vines that were producing exceptional wines in Europe. Large robust yields, exceptional tolerance for this region, and on and on. The journals were packed with useful information on the whole process except how to sell the fruit for market value. Before he started on the third journal he was pulled to the door with heavy knocking.

“Jamie boy, someone has come to buy the grapes and tried to walk into the vineyard after seeing the fruit. He is pushy and I think he may be trouble.”

“On my way, Angus, thank ye for keepin an eye out.”

The man was being watched by five Highlanders who gave no apology for standing between him and the vines. The man paced and chewed a cluster of grapes he helped himself to. Jamie approached with a dislike for this man already.

“Can I help ye, sir, are ye buyin grapes today?”

Jamie looked around but saw no wagon or horses. He narrowed his eyes at the clean-cut man, not a farmer, freshly shaved with clean boots. Now he really didn’t like him.

“Looks like you have a nice yield of whites this year. Better than last year?”

Jamie did not answer but felt his heart rate climb at the question.

“I’m sorry, forgive my nosy questions but I can hardly hold back. I think I’m looking at a miracle in your vineyard, unless I’m wrong, and I haven’t been yet. If you will indulge me with my questions and inspection of your plants I will buy all your white grapes for at least eighty dollars per ton. Will you show me your vines sir?”

Jamie scrambled to see the danger of showing the man the vineyard.

“I represent two brothers, Beringer brothers, looking for high-quality grapes for this year’s crush. Their own vineyard has failed this year due to vine blight. It devastated sixty percent of their vines, all dead, and in their fourth year of growth. It could cripple their winery so they have hired me to help them. So far, I have visited several other vineyards and found telltale signs of the same disease in different stages. The quality of the fruit declines steadily until the vine is dead. From what I see from here, your vineyard has not been effected. And you are…?”

“James Fraser, sir.”

Jamie’s alarm bells were going off in his head telling him to get this interloper off the property. When the man shook his hand he held it and looked directly into Jamie’s eyes.

“I have learned a lot about people in my line of work. Sizing a man up for the lowest price I can offer, that sort of thing. I get the feeling you're an immigrant settler and this is your first harvest. It’s okay son, we all had a first year. Maybe I can teach you how to negotiate a fair deal, and where to find market prices when the grapes are close. If I am right, that is just the beginning.”

“I see no harm in ye lookin at the vines, sir, but I canna see how this will make much difference.”

“Lead on and I will tell you all about it. Can I see all varietals planted and do you have a hydrometer we can use?”

Jamie patted his deep pockets and produced the hydrometer used early that morning. There had been no time to put it away. He handed it to the man.

“Your name sir?”

“I am Ben Yountz and as I said I am here representing the Beringer brothers but you and I will do business far beyond this crush I hope. I have always stood by the belief that in business there is enough for every level, from dirt to table, so I’m not going to swindle you. There is far too much money to be made and I am not the kind to it under any circumstances.” He laughed and indicated to Jamie he was ready for a walk into the vines.

Yountz scrutinized the vines from the dirt to the upper leaves saying little as they walked. Sometimes he would dig his hands into the dirt and look at it closely. Leaf undersides were inspected, stems from the trunk were plucked and inspected. He took several Brix ratings from the remaining whites and stopped.

“I suggest you wait with the remaining harvest. One more day will increase the alcohol per volume and produce a better wine. Just a suggestion. Let go see the hills and terraces.

Jamie had dozens of questions but stayed silent during the inspection. When they inspected the zinfandel and deeper reds they were both sweating from the hot afternoon and Yountz said he had seen enough. He could not stop smiling and shaking his head.

“Is there a place we can get out of the sun and talk a bit. You are sitting on a fortune here Mister Fraser and I am going to teach you how to get every penny out of your hard work.”

When they were settled on the porch with a cold glass of Lemon Aide they sipped in silence until Claire came bursting out the front door and jumped in Jamie’s lap giggling. Jamie grabbed her and stood up formally introducing Ben Yountz, a buyer for the Beringer brothers. Claire blushed crimson and apologized for intruding. She tried to flee into the house but Jamie stopped her.

“I think ye should hear this Sassenach. I think it’s important.” He kept his arm around her waist hoping she would brush off her embarrassment and listen. She did just that but wouldn’t look at the stranger for quite some time.

Yountz smiled at the two of them beaming with love and took a quick inventory of this remarkable vineyard. A fine house, high born wife straight from British society by the sound of her speech, carriage, and grace. The husband, a Scottish immigrant, first-year with little experience in viticulture, at the mercy of crooked buyers that would pester him in the coming weeks. They will try to increase their margin at his expense. How did they find their way to this piece of land, those superior vines, and magnificent structures that scream money? The ways he could swindle them were many. He had never taken advantage of another person and he would not be starting the practice today. He smiled at them both and set about rocking their world like a hurricane.

“I am very happy for your trust to show me the vineyard, Mister Fraser. Tell me about the offers you have had for the whites so far.”

“Twenty, and forty per ton. I expect the yield to total maybe three tons per acre but I have no equipment for weighing the fruit. We have one hundred acres whites.”

“I would guess your yield to be closer to six-ton per acre and the price is between 80 and ninety-five dollars, it fluctuates a bit daily. The Beringer brothers produced whites, zinfandel, and deep reds. They are very gifted vintners that caught the attention of the world market last year. They are highly motivated to bottle a superior product again this year, so they will take their losses, replant their vineyard and buy the best grapes from other growers. You are going to be rich, Mister Fraser. I will buy the fruit pulled today for eighty dollars per ton, and ninety-five dollars per ton for what is picked tomorrow.”

“Excuse me, sir,” came out in a pant as Jamie sprinted toward the vines. He rang the bell hard and motioned for all the men to come in. He noticed the Chinese men did not stop so he sprinted for them staying their hands from taking any more clusters. When the picking finally stopped Jamie took a breath and told them all they were done for today. Then he ran back to the porch. He was heaving for air when he sat down again with Yountz and Claire.

Yountz was figuring on a folded sheet of paper and smiled at the final numbers. “I am betting on six tons per acre, one hundred acres, today you pulled approximately sixty acres of the white, estimating now, eighty dollars per ton, you're looking at twenty-eight thousand. Forty acres tomorrow at the higher price will be around twenty-two, twenty-three thousand dollars. Total for the whites will be approximately fifty to fifty-two thousand.”

“Dollars?!” Claire jumped to her feet and stared at the man like he had lost his mind. “Fifty-two thousand dollars just for the white grapes?”

Yountz chuckled and said, “yes ma’am. We can wire the money first thing in the morning but the fruit must be weighed and tasted by the brothers. Not to worry. Yours are the best grapes available this year.”

“May I ask about the Zinfandel, sir?”

“The Zinfandel is the most popular bottled wine across America and quickly gaining in popularity in Europe. It is also the crown jewel of the Beringer winery and they will buy your entire yield if you are willing to sell it all.” Yountz looked at the young couple, If you pull the fruit at the Brix I tell you, the price is one hundred to hundred-thirty per ton. Selling price for your seventy-five acres will be forty-nine to fifty-eight thousand. The Beringers will pay cash in wired transactions to your bank and you have made one hundred to hundred-ten thousand dollars selling half of your acreage.”

Jamie was frozen in his chair. His mind raced with the figures Yountz had thrown out, he tried to find the swindle, he wanted to know why these grapes were so special, and a dozen other questions. Most of all, he could not wrap his head around their good fortune and wanted to know the rest.

“May I speak freely, sir?” Jamie struggled to compose himself and organize his thoughts. It was not possible when he was thunderstruck at the earnings.”

Claire heard the words and knew the meaning of each but she struggled to plug them into her disastrous reality of the past year on this farm. She needed space and a level head to make sense of it all.

“I am so very happy to have met you Mister Yountz. I must tend to my duties feeding the men but I will hurry back if you are still here. It has been a most eye-opening meeting.” She smiled at Yountz and dazzled him with her beauty and refinement. She shook his hand and closed the door slowly on the two men and then ran full speed to Misses Crook accidentally slipping on the waxed kitchen floor and sliding across the room with skirts going in all directions.

“Misses Fraser!” Misses Crook helped her to her feet and looked closely at her shocked face. “What’s happened then, are ye alright Mistress? She ran for a towel to wet and placed it on Claire’s wrist and dabbed her cheeks. “What has happened?”

Claire looked up at the older woman with light shining out of her eyes and a broad smile. “For the misery I have endured since marrying Frank it was a small price for finding the love of my life who just sold our grapes for over one hundred thousand dollars cash.”

Misses Crook stood up with a gasp, “honey, ye heard wrong, that would be the harvest for a number of years to come, aye?”

Claire stood and started working on supper for the men, “no. That is the cash value for this year and only one-hundred seventy-five acres. We still have the same acreage left to sell later in the month.”

Misses Crook had a look of astonishment and deep inside she felt pride in the man she had raised from a lad. Conflicting emotions no doubt. He was many things, many hurtful and abusive things, but he made good on his venture and she was overwhelmed by his accomplishment.

“Misses Fraser!” Crook took Claire’s hands, “dinna write your good fortune to yer friends or uncle Lamb in London. There is still the threat of losing the vineyard to Frank’s family if they choose to force ye off and say ye have no right to the property. Say nothin lass and give sorrowful answers to their questions about how yer doin. Ye ken?”

Claire looked into the eyes of her protector. No matter the transgressions of the last week, Misses Crook was on her side and giving her good advice.

“You are right, that is not information to be shared at this point. Thank you Misses Crook.”

The women busied themselves with the evening meal for the men and heaped much joy and compliment on those who came to get the food. Claire took the tray of meats and bread from Misses Crook and left through the back door to deliver the food without Jamie seeing her. She knew he would stop her, fearing for her injury or overexertion. Tonight she had to serve the amazing men who answered her ad for Scots to work the harvest. She felt hot tears behind her eyes when she set the tray down on the food table and looked at each face; dirty, hot, tired, and triumphant. The men were surprised to see this refined lady, so British, so much a target for their hatred, humbly serving them.

“I wanted to say thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, men, for coming and making this glorious harvest a reality. I am so appreciative of each one of you. We have a special treat, each night of the harvest, you will be stuffed with the best supper and a wonderful dessert that Misses Crook has made. We are all strangers to this land but together we have made a miracle happen and I am so fortunate to have made your acquaintance.”

Claire shook the hands of every man she could reach and looked them in the eye when their hands touched. Those she couldn’t reach raised their hands to her and she shook each one and wiped her tears.

The men were absolutely quiet as Claire made her impassioned speech and each of them was touched deep inside by her sincerity. The simple act of serving them and claiming a space among them changed many hearts that were against her. All the men were subdued and smiling when she curtsied deeply and bowed her head, honoring them all. She left forty-eight Highlanders speechless, honored, and proud.

Yountz was very impressed with Claire as she excused herself to attend to supper for the men. Jamie was accustomed to her ways but he would never see her as anything but a shining star among the mortals who inhabit the earth. He wanted to hold her in the magic of their rooms, safely locked away from the world. With the negotiations completed, he expected mere minutes before he could see that a reality. Then Yountz changed James Fraser forever with a short dissertation on his true reality.

“With my business for the Beringer brothers concluded, let us discuss the coming disaster, your miracle vines, and what that equation means to us both. Mister Fraser, by some miracle you have won the heart of a lady who by marriage has made you master of this vineyard. I suspect you have met after Misses Fraser’s first husband passed away and you may not understand the unique circumstances of this vineyard. Do you know anything about the vines? Where they came from, how they were purchased, what they are grafted to?”

At first, Jamie was horrified this man could read his ignorance so quickly and he looked away as his face flushed bright red.

“Tis true, I came to work for the lady and help with the coalition’s attempt to grab her land. I fell in love with her, and eventually, she with me. We were married last night and I am still in the clouds with happiness but concerned about the vines. You are correct, I ken nothing of this business but what I learned in three months working for another vineyard.”

“You honor me with your honesty Mister Fraser and I want to explain a phenomenon that is happening in this region right now and will cripple the wine industry for a decade to come. The history of this region is agriculture and farming. For decades, the wine produced here was for religious affairs and the monasteries became excellent viticulturists but the vines produced small yields, low alcohol content, and tasted bland. The grapes were known as mission grapes around these parts. European settlers came with a vine called vinifera that produced the fine wines of France and Italy. Interest grew because the vines were hardy, temperature tolerant, producing huge yields that created robust high alcohol wine. The acreage dedicated to growing this grape has gone from about one hundred to over three-thousand acres in the last three years and more people are coming. It reminds me of the gold rush.”

Jamie listened closely. Not wanting to interrupt or stem the flow of information, he said not a word.

“There is a disease in this soil that attacks the vinifera grapevines and it is spreading quickly. I have visited almost every vineyard in St. Helena, Sonoma, and Napa Valley and it is everywhere. Like a blight, it attacks and eventually kills the vineyard, as it did with Beringer. Only your vines show no symptoms of the blight meaning you will have no competition from other growers and the wineries will pay three, four, or five times for your grapes. Replanting a vineyard requires at least three years before it is productive and the decline from the blight is around five years before the vineyard dies. The vines become sicker, yields drop, and quality is low. Where did these vines come from Mister Fraser?”

“Frank Randall purchased them from the natives who used to live in the region. According to his journals, the natives were mistreated by a corrupt sheriff and landowners who made them like slaves. They used a special grafting plant for their vineyards and then vacated the region due to poor treatment. He purchased the vines in their third year of growth and just moved them to his land. His journals are full of notes about the native rootstock and there was a hand-drawn picture of two stems gouged halfway through, wrapped together with string, and planted. Is that what is making my vines resistant to the blight?”

“Possibly. The university is building a field station for research in Napa. They, along with the United States government have a mission to make California’s northern regions the best in the world for wine production. We can leave the science to them so you can concentrate on keeping your vines in the best shape.”

Jamie looked at Yountz with a lost expression.

Yountz leaned forward and looked Jamie in the eye. “I know more about this business than any grower or vintner in California. I’ll tell you all about my dedication to winemaking when we open a bottle of your first vintage. For now, there is much to learn.”

Yountz looked down at the floor for a minute. “I am going to teach you if you want to learn, whether we make a deal or not Jamie. I want you to know that before we go on.” Jamie nodded. “You produce the highest quality grapes that will account for as little as thirty percent of the demand and there is little offered as a second choice. You will sell to the top vintners only, and they will pay to keep their place in the world market. I will broker your crop next year somewhere around three hundred to five hundred dollars per ton for whites, four to six hundred per ton for zinfandel. Your white harvest alone will pay you one hundred eighty to three hundred thousand. This year, you make fifty-eight thousand, next year, three hundred thousand, for the whites alone. The Zinfandel multiplier will be ridiculous. Ha, a million dollars per year for your crop over the next six to ten years will make you and Claire extremely wealthy.

“How do you get paid, sir?”

“I take a couple of points from you and maybe one or two from the winery as payment for services. It will take me a few hours to broker one hundred acres of your grapes to starving vintners. You? You will be tested by this land and crop for eight months out of the year. You look strong and I promise there will be times you question your ability to keep going.”

“The vines are planted. They just grow now,” Jamie looked confused.

“When the rain comes you will walk the vineyard in the downpour looking for pooling water, checking the integrity of the terraces, digging the dirt until your hands bleed trying to divert the excessive water. Eighteen hours a day thinning the clusters when they emerge to force more flavor into each berry at harvest, digging vines up and relocating them to quarantine. In drought, you will dig troughs that hold whatever water comes, when it comes. These are dug each week because excessively dry soil collapses. When the berries emerge you will tend them like a new father. If the temperature drops to freezing at night you could lose the entire vineyard so you build fires and fan the warm air toward the fruit. All night until the sun warms them up. After each harvest, you cut seventy percent of the vine away in a very specific manner to prepare the vine for the next growing season. The tonnage of waste you will burn or otherwise dispose of is massive, back-breaking, and required for the best yield next year. Now, whether you do all the work or keep some of your crew to help, you still have to pay them. Here’s my point. You are being paid for eight months of hard labor and I am being paid for three hours. Do you see?”

Jamie wondered if his face revealed the utter chaos in his head from information overload.

“I would not waste my time teaching anyone who didn’t have the strength, youth, and motivation that you have. What’s the motivation? I leave that to the philosophers because I oversimplify such things. To me, it’s either money or it’s the love of creating the best table wine in the world which is an art form in itself. I don’t care which it is, as long as you are all in, with me.”

Jamie was pushed off his narrow mental cliff and free-falling at the enormous gain and possibilities this man offered. He jumped to his feet and stuck out his trembling hand to seal the deal.

I will help you learn every part of this business Mister Fraser. We have both spoken with trust today and I have offered you the best price for your grapes this year. I am happy with this deal.

Ben Yountz was fifty-two years old and imagined if he had a son he would be about Jamie’s age. He was impressed to the bone with Jamie and his lovely wife. When they shook hands, neither man knew they would each fill a void in the other forging a bond to last until each took his last breath.

Yountz left to bring several clusters to the Beringer brothers for approval. He cradled the clusters on the way to find his horse feeling thirty years younger with excitement and the serendipity of the day. All the lonely moments in the past, when he questioned his existence and wondered why he was here on earth, were clarified as he morphed into the teacher he would become.

Jamie looked vacant as he filled his mouth with food. His gaze was unfocused and masked giving no clue to what was going on inside. Claire tried to tease him out of his head but that only worked for a minute or two.

It was hot and miserable in the house as they ate their supper in silence. Claire used her forearm to wipe the sweat from her face.

“God it’s hot tonight. I have a mind to sleep outside in the grass, or in the lake.”

Jamie’s head shot up. “I will accompany you to the lake Sassenach if you would like to bathe and cool off. I would also find it a rare treat.” It was decided and Misses Crook sent them on their way

Jamie watched Claire strip down to her shift as he threw caution to the wind and walked into the cool water butt naked, losing himself to the cold soft water. He dropped under the surface and came up to an empty beach.

“Sassenach!”

He heard the bubbles behind him and turned to pull her close, feeling her naked body down the length of his made him shiver with need. He kissed her deeply and she ran her hands over his body underwater.

“Jamie, what has you so quiet tonight? Are you not happy with the harvest?”

“Aye, I am happy with the harvest. I am livin in a dream mo ghaol, a bit overwhelmed I think.”

“Suppose you take me for a ride on your back and tell me all about it”

Jamie spun in her arms and suggested she hold on as his powerful arms and legs cut through the water. He told her about the rest of the meeting after she left to feed the men. As he talked Claire wrapped her legs around his waist thrilled at the contact between Jamie’s skin and her core.

“So, Yountz is sure we will make a million each year until the other growers learn how to graft the native rootstock.”

Jamie heard the splash as Claire fell off his back. “Claire!” She scrambled back up on his back wiping the water off her startled face. He decided to work his way back to the edge of the lake where he pulled her under him in the shallows and kissed her until she clung to him. He entered her slowly, surprised by her readiness to make love out in the open under a full moon.

Claire arched her back and pushed him into her body meeting his demanding lips and tongue with her own. Jamie kept his movements slow because he was fascinated watching Claire’s face, feeling her body respond to him, hearing her panting and moans.

“Jamie you must go faster.”

He smiled down at her and pulled them nearly out of the water before rubbing against her core until she arched her back and moaned his name. He could feel her body change on the inside as her muscles gripped him and pulsed. “Jesus Sassenach.” He pushed hard into her, quite out of control with the erotic lovemaking on the beach.

Claire hung onto his shoulders for dear life and noticed the changes in his power and his rigid muscles before he growled into the night and let it go. She watched his face in utter euphoria as he gripped her to him. Wow, she thought, I made that happen, my body brought this giant man to his knees. She smiled at the full moon, completely enchanted with love, with Jamie, with her desire for him. Their souls reached for each other and locked into an embrace that bound them to each other for eternity.

“Come Sassenach, let’s sit on the shore until we dry and you can tell me how ye parents taught ye to swim.”

“I did not have parents after age five. They were killed in a carriage accident. I was raised by a governess and uncle Lamb, my only relative.”

Jamie watched her face change into sorrow, loneliness, isolation, and want that was never appeased. His heart hurt for her, throbbing with pain over her loss. He pulled her to him and tucked a stray curl behind her ear, searching her eyes.

“I’m sorry love. So young to lose your mam and da. I want to hear about every minute of yer life but we’ll do it slowly, aye? Yer too pretty to be sad. He kissed her softly and felt a wet tear roll down her cheek. He kissed it away and pulled her up helping her dress before finding their way back.

The moon drifted across the night sky and aligned with the window of two naked lovers locked in their embrace. They were bathed in yellow light as their future whispered on the breeze, “come and get me…if you dare.”

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hello I was wondering if you know any Sterek fics where Stiles is enemies with the Hale pack or just Derek but after spending time together they start to trust each other (preferably an AU) the angstier the better

Hey @e-mm-s, here’s some enemies to lovers. - Anastasia

The Curve of Your Clavicle by WhoNatural

(1/1 I 6,264 I Teen)

Derek isn’t an uptight person - seriously, for an alpha, he’s downright laid-back - but something about Stilinski makes him want to bare his teeth and grasp him by the scruff and bite.

No, not bite. That would be incredibly inappropriate, of course - and Derek plus the legal department are aware of that. Anyway, the point is, Stilinski needs to be kept in line.

Or, wherein Derek's office rival might be the same person keeping him sane at night when the loneliness hits.

Where to Search for Snow by suburbanmotel

(1/1 I 8,594 I Mature)

Stiles and his Gigantic Repressed Feelings accidentally affect the weather. A lot. Like. A lot.

//

“It’s snowing, Stiles,” says Derek.

Stiles looks up. He nods. “Yeah. Yeah it is.”

Derek looks at him. “It’s snowing, Stiles. In your bedroom.”

bend bridges, mend bones by Thealmostrhetoricalquestion

(1/1 I 20,588 I Mature)

They burst through the portal in a gust of stale air and violet light, landing hard on the outskirts of a swamp. Stiles feels his knees buckle, both from the magic required to keep the portal open and from the force of their landing, but he grits his teeth, determined to stay standing in the presence of Derek Hale and his pack. Christ, it would be just his luck to rocket through his own portal at neck-breaking speeds and collide face-first with a puddle of sticky, disgusting mud.

Thankfully that doesn’t happen, which is good because Stiles can’t really afford to add useless to the list of things that Mage’s are; untrustworthy cowards, meddlers, monsters.

(In which there's an awful lot of fighting, people learn to trust people, and Stiles saves the day. Repeatedly. Over and over again. And he would like some credit, goddamnit, Derek.)

Tchaikovsky’s Nightmare by fshep 

(1/1 | 30,089 | Mature)

After a week of rehearsal, Stiles is convinced that there’s no way this production is going to end in anything other than misery.Beacon Hills Classical Ballet Academy performs a variation of Swan Lake where all of the swans are males, forcing Stiles to partner up with Derek Hale. Things go about as well as one would expect.

Five Times Detective Stilinski and Fire Captain Hale Had Sex In Public, and One Time They Did It In A Bed by bleep0bleep

(7/7 I 32,853 I Explicit)

"Did you say--" Stiles starts.

"What?" Derek growls.

"We're not a couple!" they both retort in unison.

"We're not together," Stiles insists.

Lydia coughs pointedly. "An incident report filed by 87th Precinct Captain Erica Reyes. March twenty-fifth, eight p.m. Came back to the precinct to grab my coat, only to hear Stilinski banging his new boyfriend in the holding cell."

Knot Your Typical College Romance by stilesanderek

(5/5 | 51,546 | Explicit)

In which Stiles loves studying at Beacon Hills Supernatural University and even though he loves his group of friends, he just wishes that Derek wasn’t included in it. Stiles hates the guy fiercely, and he knows it’s completely mutual, and what he also knows it’s completely mutual is the hate boner they both have going on for each other. What happens after they finally hookup after years of tension, though, isn’t something Stiles ever signed up for.“Shut the fuck up, Stilinski,” Derek hisses, their foreheads less than half a dozen of inches apart.“Oh yeah, big guy?” Stiles says, stuffing his chest in defiance, licking his mouth once and then finally saying, “Make me.”

Married at First Glance by WonderWolf

(14/14 I 63,558 I Explicit)

“Those contracts that you signed was you agreeing to follow producer instructions.Your instructions were to give us drama. Whether or not you like each other, you are, for all intents and purposes, hired actors for these seven weeks,” Finstock snaps. “Pretend to actually like each other or I will dock your pay.”- - -Married at First Glance gives its participants seven weeks. Seven weeks, starting when they meet and marry their “perfect match”, to decide if they want to stay married or divorce.

For Stiles and Derek though, the challenge lies within trying to pretend that they don’t absolutely hate each other’s guts. When you’re married to a werewolf who dislikes humans, however, this can get a little tricky.

But the sweet, sweet cash reward at the end will be worth it. Right?

(A Married at First Sight AU)

Words Cannot Espresso How Much You Bean to Me by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

(1/1 I 68,366 I Teen)

“You’re late,” Derek informed him coldly, jaw clenched. He barely even moved his mouth to speak. This guy was seriously scary.

And because Stiles was suicidal, he said, “No, I’m Stiles.”

The look he got could’ve curdled milk. Stiles even noticed that Derek’s muscles were tensing, arms bulging even more and wow this guy was scary and hot but mostly scary holy shit.

“You’re not funny,” Derek informed him coldly.

Stiles shrugged. “I think that’s a matter of opinion.”

Be a Witness by Gia279

(31/31 I 104,639 I Not Rated)

“Hello, Stiles,” Headmaster Reed said. He had an uncanny memory for students’ names.

“Hello, sir,” he replied.

"When was the last time you summoned?”

Stiles shifted in his seat. “This morning.”

“Who or what were you contacting?”

He shifted around again. “My mother.”

Enemy Lines by qhuinn (tekla)

(17/17 I 149,179 I Explicit)

This is the story of werewolf Derek Hale and human Stiles Stilinski: two people who grew up in the same town but completely different worlds, their realities split by the war between men and wolves.

Years later when Derek returns to Beacon Hills, he does it as Alpha of a military pack on a mission to capture those responsible for the region’s resistance. With his main objective, Sheriff Stilinski, out of sight, he settles for the next best thing: his son, Stiles.

Neither of them suspects they’ll need to trust each other if they want to make it out this alive.

[emmysbeauty2-blog]

Best medicines to keep your hair healthy.

Beginning in 1988, Rogaine lotion was accessible only by prescription, and just in two per cent concentration.  Back in 1995, the FDA decided minoxidil lotion was adequately safe for use with no prescription and Rogaine was soon available over-the-counter in pharmacies and grocery shops.  Generic versions of Rogaine became accessible once the patent on minoxidil died, and the assortment of concentrations grew up to five percent.  The five percent strength lotion is chosen by people using cream, because it produces faster results than the two percentage concentration. Dutasteride is currently being studied for baldness, but results haven't yet been released.

Dutasteride, avodart, was published for treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy at the end of 2001.   Type II is located in hair and skin in the prostate gland and Type I'm.  Women have type II with thinning hair, women can gain from Dutasteride.  I regularly place my male patients on Dutasteride if they are part of the little group who continue to lose hair whilst on Propecia.  Avodart (dutasteride 0.5 mg) daily lowers DHT 90% whereas finasteride only lowers DHT 65 -- 70%.  Even though it hasn't yet been accepted by the FDA for hair loss, I prescribe Avodart when Propecia is not strong enough.

Clinical studies have been conducted through which some men and women with pattern hair loss applied Rogaine to their scalps, and many others with pattern hair loss applied a placebo: exactly the identical mixture of water, alcohol, and propylene glycol used in Rogaine, but minus the minoxidil.  The women and men selected for the study had thin hair or baldness at the top of their heads, in which minoxidil is the most effective at promoting baldness.  The treatment's effectiveness was compared to placebo cream.  The results of clinical studies involving thousands of women and men have shown Rogaine can produce a statistically significant increase in baldness.

In men vulnerable to pattern baldness, certain scalp hair follicles are more prone to react in a negative ways to elevated levels of DHT in the blood.  The most susceptible hair follicles are typically located at the temples, front, along with the mind, but all of hair follicles may eventually be influenced to some degree by regular DHT levels.   The final result is hairs, and fewer and fewer hair follicles producing hairs. Hair transplant patients may use minoxidil.  Many surgeons recommend using it in just a couple of weeks after surgery to promote the growth of the hair follicles.   1 medication, Propecia (finasteride), is usually prescribed for men only, due to possible side effects when taken by pregnant women.  Still another, Rogaine (minoxidil), is helpful for treating both men and women.  The previous two, high-estrogen oral contraceptives and aldactone (spironolactone) are usually prescribed for girls only, on account of the chance of undesirable feminizing side effects in men.

also read Best Foam Wrap Lotion For Relaxed Hair by same author

Propecia blocks from converting testosterone to DHT a sort of 5-alpha-reductase found chiefly in the prostate gland, called type-II 5-alpha-reductase.   Over many years, DHT in the bloodstream signals their growth phase to be shortened by hair follicles and to miniaturize.  By reducing the amount of DHT in the blood, Propecia lessens the strength of the DHT hormone message, so a number of the follicles which would have quit rather continue to produce new hairs. Double blind clinical tests have shown that Propecia helps guys keep the hair that they have.  In a recent study, eighty-three percentage of men taking Propecia maintained their hair at the top of the heads (vertex area), compared to twenty-eight percent of men taking a placebo.  In the same study, seventeen percent of the men taking Propecia still experienced measurable hair loss, but seventy two percent of the men taking the placebo also undergone additional hair loss.  Following the initial couple of years, results of the team taking Propecia continued to increase. Research on minoxidil's potential as a anti-baldness medication started after a few Loniten patients noticed substantial new hair growth, a condition physicians call hypertrichosis.  Normally the new hair growth has been on the mind and was desired, but sometimes it also happened on the arms, chest, back, and other regions.  So researchers worked on a lotion form of the medicine that could be put on the face or scalp where it was wanted to lead hair development. Topical medications that could be integrated to block the receptor site are flutamide, progesterone, zinc additives acid, spironolactone, dutasteride, and finasteride.   Make their prescription blend of some or most of medications.  These drugs are often added to a minoxidil solution, and also also the entire blend may be applied one or two times . Merck, the manufacturer of Proscar for the prostate and Propecia for hair loss, has taken the position that women shouldn't touch with the pill or the bottle if they're pregnant, and they should not have sex with guys that are taking the medication.  The reason for that is that 5-alpha-reductase, if inhibited at a growing fetus, might lead to a male child with a very small penis.  People that are missing the receptor 5-alpha-reductase type II--and you can find households of them--have boys that are born looking like small women.  But the testicles descend and they become men.  Considering that the facts, Merck set a warning in their bottles of Propecia and Proscar.  Though this defies logic and might sound ludicrous (even though it was radioactive you'd have a hard time measuring it and also a woman would have to have gallons and gallons of semen to absorb enough to quantify it), Merck did not want to take the risk.  Compare this to this warning on a bottle of Jim Beam.  It does not say women should not have intercourse with drunk men, it says women should not get drunk.  However, no physician --like me--would inform a man individual it's perfectly safe to use Proscar or Propecia and then have sex with a pregnant spouse because a certain number of boys have been born with this birth abnormality for unknown reasons and it could be blamed on the medication.

Continuous treatment is required to maintain this benefit, as 5-alpha-reductase will keep on converting testosterone into DHT when therapy is discontinued.  The benefit of using Propecia for any time period is still realized; Propecia buys time for men with a genetic predisposition for hair loss.  The DHT message to stop growing hair must continue for many years, and often many years, for DHT-sensitive hair follicles to get the message and stop growing new hairs.  The clock has been stopped, When the DHT message is interrupted for a time period.  To put it differently, if a thirty-year-old man who would shed his hair by age sixty uses Propecia for twenty five years and then quits, he will delay the age when he'd lose his hair to age .  When use is stopped, the advantage of using Propecia for twenty years isn't lost. Higher estrogen oral contraceptives such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen or Ortho Novum frequently work nicely to inhibit production of androgens (such as testosterone) from the ovaries and adrenal glands, which causes reduced levels of DHT, therefor, and such stops hair thinning.

Spironolactone is for women what Propecia is in preventing baldness with about precisely the same success rate for men.  Spironolactone binds to DHT receptor sites on hair follicles, A, thus blocking DHT from getting its own hair loss message.  This medicine is used just for women with androgenetic alopecia (genetic pattern hair loss), since it can produce undesirable side effects in men. Lotion is applied on the scalp two times.  The lotion form of the drug causes the hair-growing effect to happen on the scalp only, and not on different parts of the human body.  When applied as directed there is not any impact on blood pressure.  Rogaine is a remedy, not a cure.  This means that the lotion has to be applied to the scalp twice per day for those benefits to continue.  Skipping a day or two occasionally isn't likely to make any measurable difference in the efficacy of minoxidil treatment.  After several months of use that is discontinued , no matter how the regrown hairs will probably be shed. Spironolactone is regarded as a pill or made into a lotion that's applied to the scalp, usually along with minoxidil, when used as a baldness treatment.

There was a report of a single percent melatonin put on the scalp of post menopausal women, leading to thicker hair after twelve weeks of usage.  There is absolutely no mechanism for why it works.

This chapter shows that the four most medications proven for treating genetic hair loss clinically.  All four of those drugs were originally approved by the FDA for treating clinical conditions other than hair loss.  All can slow down the rate of baldness that is inherited, and in many cases they can help hair follicles which have shut down to begin to grow hair.   This chapter also includes a last section on remedies.

In 1998, after years of further testing for a hair loss treatment, finasteride was also accepted in pill form, at a lower dose, as an anti-baldness therapy.  It's sold as a pharmaceutical prostate medication in tablet form under the brand name Proscar.  It is sold in tablets.  The dose is sufficient, for treating hair loss.  Propecia's hair loss reduction effect happens at a lower dose than that needed to take care of enlarged prostrate glands.

Along with decreasing androgenetic baldness, the benefits of taking birth control pills contain decrease of the danger of pregnancy, improved skin tone, reduced acne, and for women beginning the initial stages of menopause, higher bone mass, decreased occurrence of hot flashes, somewhat tempered mood swings, and reduced irritability. High Estrogen Oral Contraceptives

The risks of taking oral contraceptives consist of risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer, also, for older women, an increased risk of disease such as strokes and heart attacks.  

Researchers aren't certain increase hair growth or minoxidil works to stop hair loss.  It is understood that it does not impact DHT levels in blood flow.  Minoxidil is a vasodilator, meaning it helps blood vessels enlarge.  Other vasodilators, but do not stop baldness or increase hair growth.  Minoxidil lotion appears to work just on active hair follicles nevertheless capable of producing some hair, even when hair produced is just"peach fuzz."  1 symptom of people with hereditary pattern hair loss is the progressive miniaturization of hair follicles in the end of each growth cycle, leading to finer and finer hairs being generated. Propecia treatment might cause a loss of sex drive in one to 2 percent of patients as a result of reducing levels of DHT circulating in the blood.  Treatment with Viagra can be useful in such instances.  Discontinuing Propecia eliminates this potential side effect, if it occurs.

There is also a small risk of reducing the quantity of ejaculate if the prostate gland has been diminished in size as a consequence of Propecia treatment.  Activity remains normal.  Discontinuing Propecia eradicates this potential side effect.

Finasteride effectively blocks one kind of the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT.  By blocking the conversion of testosterone into DHT, Propecia prevents the"hair loss message" from getting to hair follicles that are genetically programmed to be sensitive to DHT.  This helps prevent further hair loss, and in several cases regular Propecia use really leads to significant hair re-growth of lately lost hairs.

In 1988, Rogaine lotion became the first medicine approved by the FDA for treating genetic hair loss.  The medicine is a colorless and odorless liquid applied to the scalp.  When used as a baldness treatment in cream form, rogaine is the brand name for the medication minoxidil.  Minoxidil had already been FDA approved in pill form for a prescription medicine for treating hypertension.  The brand name for pills is Loniten.

The single medication proven to treat genetic pattern hair loss is Propecia.   Propecia is the brand name for the medication finasteride.   To the joy of some individuals taking finasteride for enlarged prostate glands, hair loss was decreased, and often re-growth of baldness lost. Scientists figured that if they could create a medication to regulate the action of 5-alpha-reductase they can accomplish a number of the favorable effects of the genetic trait, for example prostate gland normalization and, later hair loss prevention. Minoxidil lotion is safe.  Only very small quantities of it reach the blood, when used as directed and applied to the scalp.  The risk of serious side effects is very small. Those likely to achieve the best results with Rogaine are at the early stages of pattern hair loss.  On the average folks get better outcomes than folks.  Those with baldness or thinning on the top of their minds get better results.  People with hair loss, particularly women, tend to get much better outcomes than those with spots.  Those with spots usually show more regrowth than those with large bald spots.

A research conducted having a 1 percent Zinc Pyrithione ZnP solution each day to the scalp showed that subjects needed thicker hair .    The study concluded that Zinc Pyrithione kills yeast and bacteria in the glands and hair follicles resulting in healthier hairs.  Another possibility is the Zinc itself may inhibit 5-alpha-reductase from the hair follicle. With Propecia usage, the rate of hair loss slows, and in many cases stops.  In many people, some recently miniaturized hair follicles start to grow back to normal size, and begin to grow normal size hairs .  This results in hair that is increased.  The degree of hair regrowth can vary from no quantifiable regrowth, to significant regrowth. Minoxidil seems to reduce the speed of hair follicle miniaturization, and can cause hair follicles which formerly produced full-size hairs, but have lately become miniaturized, to increase in size and start to grow full size hairs .  Additionally, the enlarged follicles appear to stay in the anagen, or expansion phase for a longer period.  A longer growth phase ends in the creation of longer hairs, and a look of more hair.   Countless drugs, herbs, nutrients, and compounds have been claimed to prevent or reverse baldness, nevertheless when tested clinically in well regulated, double-blind clinical trials, almost none have been shown to work.  Obviously, countless bogus hair loss products continue to make claims about their effectiveness, including presenting bogus"testimonials" by clinical doctors and users,"scientific proof" of effectiveness, as well as fake results from"nicely controlled, double-blind clinical trials."   Hair loss treatments also sell well in Europe, in Asia, and Central and South America. A woman taking finasteride would have just a small decrease DHT levels because most of the effect of finasteride is on type-II 5-alpha-reductase that's primarily made in prostate glands.  Women who take finasteride and become pregnant can lead to a male embryo to develop ambiguous genitals, also have female characteristics until puberty (at puberty, the child's genitals normalize). For several years before it was accepted as a hair loss treatment, a level of security was created for finasteride, the active ingredient in Propecia.   Based on studies of hormone breakdown products found in the urine, it appears to affect only the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme, and not other hormones in the blood like testosterone.  Propecia is not an antiandrogen.  In fact, levels of testosterone in the blood often increase by ten to fifteen per cent when taking Propecia.   Some potential side effects of finasteride remedy for baldness might be regarded as beneficial, such as possible shrinking of the prostate gland in males susceptible to an enlarged prostate.  

Direction of women's hormone levels is an easy task, nor one where medications are prescribed without consideration of the range of advantages and risks.

Birth control pills have a combination of estrogen and testosterone hormones.  Since they were introduced in 1960, the estrogen component of oral contraceptives was decreased from .150 mg per tablet to .020-.035 milligrams.  An birth control pill with .035 mg of estrogen is considered a"high-estrogen" oral contraceptive.  And for reference, the estrogen level in oral contraceptives is a few times higher than that of estrogen replacement drugs prescribed .

Propecia may also help regrow lost hair in addition to stopping further baldness.   Within this study, only one percent of men taking Propecia continued to possess hair loss at the top of their minds, while thirty-three percent of men taking a placebo revealed a diminished hair count in this region.

The story of finasteride begins with scientists that had been working with a family in the Dominican Republic who had a hereditary characteristic that caused them to give birth to male children with ambiguous genitalia.  Infants weren't affected.  In many cases it was hard to determine such a baby's sex by observation alone.  When hormone levels within those affected individuals increased, these boys normalized.  They had children of their own, and perpetuated the trait.

The most frequent side effect when used as directed would be slight scalp irritation.  In clinical trials involving 6,000 men and women around seven percent of these using 2 percent strength Rogaine lotion experienced some degree of scalp itching, inflammation, dryness, or flaking.  A smaller percentage of patients experience an increased pulse rate.

Both of these states can affect around 2 percent of men in the first month of usage, but fall to approximately a half percent when measured after two years.

1 drawback to spironolactone cream is a unpleasant smell, which can be made worse when combined in the same container with Rogaine. Some physicians prepare custom-blended minoxidil cream, with added ingredients to decrease the danger of inflammation and increase absorption.  1 such additive is tretinoin (Retin-A): Tretinoin is a prescription medication applied to the skin, and is also well known for helping to reduce facial wrinkles.  Minoxidil lotion implemented with low concentrations of tretinoin has been show to encourage greater hair growth--and possibly faster results--compared to minoxidil used alone.  The absorption of minoxidil can increase throughout skin as well as having extra hair growth promoting effects.  In addition to advantages and the dangers of use tretinoin adds additional risk of inflammation and skin irritation. Minoxidil takes time to create results.  A change in appearance occurs in a matter of months, when 2 percent minoxidil can be used per day; five% minoxidil produces faster results.  Before significant benefit can be seen, several months are often required.  The outcomes may improve with twice-daily use that is continuous.  The benefit is achieved following twelve months of use, and at that point hair regrowth will stabilize.

Minoxidil lotion may be used at precisely the exact same time as Propecia tablets.  The results are far better than when either medication used alone.

One milligram Propecia tablet taken every day is the normal prescribed dose for baldness treatment.   This usually means that a pill must be taken every day to last.  The hair loss process aids, when Propecia is stopped.

Aldactone is the newest name for spironolactone, a prescription medication used in tablet form for treating women with three common issues seen by dermatologists: acne, hirsutism (too much hair, particularly on the face), and androgenetic alopecia.  The March 2005 British Journal of Dermatology reported on a study which revealed eighty percent of women getting oral antiandrogens (spironolcatone) could expect to see no progression of the female pattern baldness, enhanced likelihood of stopping their baldness, or getting some hair back, after taking the medication for a year at 200 mg every day. Ladies inherit a trend for routine hair loss as guys do.  However, in women the DHT message is obstructed by significant levels of estrogens.  As girls start perimenopause around age forty estrogen levels start to decline, and in menopause most girls are by age fifty-five to fifty-eight.  While levels decline along with estrogen and progesterone, the DHT message will finally start to get through, and thinning hair can result.

It was observed that the men in this category being studied didn't suffer from enlarged prostate glands, never developed prostate cancer, nor did they lose their own hair.  No pattern baldness!  Genetic research showed that their gene for generating the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme was dormant.  To DHT, testosterone in the bloodstream wasn't easily converted with no 5-alpha-reductase enzyme.  The low levels of DHT that led prevented their hair follicles from getting the concept to have shorter growth cycles and miniaturization.

Also, for those who stop the minoxidil for a few months the hairs which would have been shed in the event the minoxidil had not averted follicle miniaturization will also be dropped as those follicles begin to shrink.  So both regrown hairs and hairs that would have been lost if not for the minoxidil use may be drop after stopping use.

Another lotion additive is betamethasone valerate.  Along with reducing potential scalp irritation, it might also enhance the hair recovery impact of minoxidil in 2 ways: first, it helps block the metabolism of testosterone in the tissues of the hair follicle in which the hormone signal to"stop producing new hairs" occurs.  Blocking this signal may maintain more hairs growing.  Second, betamethasone valerate can help to disperse the white blood cells that are called up to push at out the hair shaft.  The white blood cells scar that the hair follicle, decreasing the follicle's ability in doing so.  By reducing scarring valerate might help keep the hair follicles energetic to more hair growth cycles.   Some girls using additional strength minoxidil cream (5% ) experience increased facial hair growth.  This side effect tends to decrease after the first few months of therapy, or 2 percent minoxidil can be utilized.  Hair growth resumes, when treatment is stopped normal.  Minoxidil treatment does not work with thinning hair due to pattern hair loss.  It is less successful for hair loss in the hairline compared on the top of the head.  It is not as effective on large bald spots than small ones.  It is not as effective on bald spots compared to diffuse locations that are thin.  It is successful on glistening regions than those with baldness that is recent.

For some people, it appears to have no effect in any respect.  There is rate of baldness, but no new hair growth that is visible.  Women and some men experience fresh hair growth, but not sufficient to cover hair areas that are thin.  Others like dense new hair growth with regions that had been thin developing hair thinning very similar to areas which weren't affected by baldness.

[diegoalvesisgod]

You have to be from my city to look in the calendar, seeing the date 12 February, and think: “It’s Doubrava anniversary.” 71 years ago, an accident happened in one of the coal mines in the region. Not the first and not the last, but every single one of these left a deep wound in people’s hearts. For me, coming from a family of miners, it’s the third generation trauma. These stories have always terrified me, although it could never happen to me personally. I suffer from claustrophobia, it took me twenty-eight years to muster up the courage to visit a mine and go down under, there are movies about these accidents that I will never watch because I have enough of these nightmares even without them. This is not the most famous story, there is no movie about it, but it deserves to be known as well. 

It was the early morning of February 12, 1949. In the coal mine in Doubrava, Czechoslovakia, 330 miners were working on a night shift. Just before 4 AM, there was an explosion above the eight floor. Out of the 32 miners working in the area, 19 would never come back up.

To understand the reasons of the tragedy, of which the specific cause isn’t clear to this day, you have to look at the historical context. It was shortly after WWII, and the Communist regime has just took control of the country. The production of coal was the absolute priority. The safety... not so much. The government was telling the mines how much coal they had to produce, and not fulfilling these expectations had grave consequences. That’s why when they measured dangerous concentration of methane in the mine, they didn’t stop the work. They changed the numbers so that the work could continue. Also, after the war, there were little qualified people to be in charge - the leading positions in companies (and mines as well) were taken up by young people with little experience, who were maybe doing their best, but couldn’t oppose the regime anyway.

When the first explosion happened, 32 people were working in the area. 13 of them managed to get to the surface themselves. Five were completely fine, eight were seriously injured, but they still managed to escape and survive. 19 men remained down there in the seam, and nobody knew what happened to them, or if they were still alive.

Five technicians went down first to try and save them. About 80 meters from the epicenter of the explosion, they found two dead men. However, they couldn’t go any further - the heat from the fire and the high concentration of methane their machines measured forced them to return to the surface. By going back, they saved themselves as well - soon after, there was another explosion, and later that day, another one.

A search party of five men led by a young engineer, Alexandr Kanczucki, decided to go back down at around 11 AM and look for the 17 men who could have been still alive. Kanczucki was responsible for the seam, and trying to save his injured colleagues, or even to retrieve their bodies was a question of honor and duty for him. This decision, unfortunately, led to another tragedy.

After the search party went down the shaft, another group of three people went after them. About thirty five minutes later, they saw black smoke and dust coming out of the down-cast air shaft - which meant only one thing, another explosion. The group was injured by the shock wave and immediately returned back to the surface. 

Kanczucki and the members of the search party were trapped in the mine. The mine claimed another five men to the already lost nineteen.

On February 20, the whole mine was closed down. 

The bodies of the dead could be finally retrieved on April 2, 1950 - almost a year after the accident. The five members of the search party were found together. They didn’t even have time to put on the protection masks, and there were no burns on their bodies. They were all killed by the shock wave of the explosion - since they were walking, the shock wave crushed their skulls and killed them on spot.

The nineteen miners were all killed by the first explosion in the early morning.

The tragedy wasn’t over, however. The public - and mainly the regime - needed to know the culprit. What followed was a true witch hunt - also because shortly after this accident, another one happened in 1950. 32 miners died, 7 of them were apprentices - most likely just eighteen years old or even younger. Another two accidents happened in 1951. The public has started to realize that something was very wrong with the safety policies.

Two men were sentenced to death for the accident, others were sentenced to life in prison. The two later appealed the sentence and claimed that they confessed under torture. Luckily for them, in 1954, Stalin died and things got a bit better even here, so the sentences were commuted to 22 and 25 years in prison. In 1966, they were released, but no one has ever said they were innocent. Still, no one knows what caused the first explosion - it could have been a spark from a lamp, someone breaking the no-smoking policy, or spontaneous combustion of the coal. We will never know. But we will always remember.

[lessofthelego]

MURKY OF MIRKWOOD

[Part One: Dwarvish Iron]

The whiff of carbon-etheral coloured the atmosphere, a by-product of the lurid gas fittings along the walnut stairway descending to a similarly clad and lit cellar; the low panelled ceiling and lack of ventilation offered no relief to the unnatural closeness of this room, for so it was for such a one who had sat there seemingly overlong. The four that came with him seemed perfectly adapted to this space and gossiped idly with another behind a clerk’s hatch, they knew it was safe to do so for he was secure; the walking-irons about his wrists and ankles rubbed sorely through overuse, his bruised and cut head throbbed and, to compound the misery, the split below his shin had reopened. “Alright there, Murky?” scoffed the intendant, the newest gang member having learned a fresh quarry’s nickname. Murky remained unruffled and offered no reply; having some twenty minutes ago given his true name to the Panel of Eight upstairs; otherwise known as ‘The Mete,’ also ‘The Dispensation,’ or just ‘Heads!’ Now, it has been long established in the Iron Hills that upon the absence of their lord the heads of leading dwarf families govern in a dispensation commonly known as the Mete; this ensures the smooth running of administration and the continuance of law. Most citizens tend to grumble under these conditions preferring to abide under one authority, albeit that nothing much changes for them. These so-called Heads seldom involve themselves in the tedious fundamentals of running daily business, predominantly leaving such matters to their ambitious nephews and such.  Notwithstanding it is more than apparent among the rank and file that in the absence of Lord Dáin (now King) they are motivated to do more whilst others do less. However, on this day it has not gone unnoticed by anybody that the incarceration of a Woodland-elf’ has certainly, ‘Turned a few Heads!’

Thus they named their captive “Murky of Mirkwood!”, choosing not to believe his account which, as incredulous as it sounded, was true (it is curious that the truth often seems like folly to those who decide not to hear it:) and so the officiators ordered him to be cleaned up and “Arrayed as one befitting his station!” ere he should face them once more. Therefore Murky waited patiently to be processed and looking down upon his fettered limbs he began to review that day’s events: suddenly with remembrance of pain!

Having wakened for the second time this day, he knew straightway that he’d been blindfolded and collared whilst his incapable arms burned and tore behind him. His manacled hands scrambled awkwardly crosswise between compacted shoulder blades; hands winched up against his lissome spine by a chain that looped through the collar and fed into a small square aperture behind. His ankles being set apart and similarly attached within the stony perimeter. A clattering of linked iron proclaimed his sudden stirring and the entirety of this full-grown elf retorted grudgingly in taut sporadic jolts; indeed it had taken some time to discern how he’d come to be so restrained or indeed where he was. Thus, firmly held in place upon an instant he wondered why; verily the fetid air revealed this mystery, the profound stench and onerous tang of smote iron: Dwarvish Iron!  

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”

The jarring recollection of that resolute voice announced a fresh throbbing on the left side of Murky’s forehead, coupled with thumping at the back of his skull. He touched the still tender spot and his eyes rolled halfway back into his head as his memory began to reset itself: “Two nights ago,” he guessed, “This must be the third day… yes two, surely… and yet I cannot be sure…”

His mind sloshed in uncertainty: “Nay, not even Finrod could have withstood such prolonged hold-fast a full day!” but confirmation came by the remembrance of a trickle from the gash above the eyebrow; whence the leather previously obscuring his vision had absorbed fresh blood which being saturated seeped forth unto the corner of his mouth.

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”

Indeed two nights had passed since his setting out, for the going had been slow and wary in an ineffectual effort to skirt the Iron Hills. Nevertheless there had been call for guardedness, excepting for this: any whosoever in Middle-earth with all reasonable sense might suppose that a skilled elf such as he should pass quickly and undetected through hostile lands at need. What then shall be said? He had dwelt overlong on recent events, this captain of the royal household, scratching about in the wasteland of a rival people: was he a captive before he was a prisoner? Yes, all of it and more: for in truth the Iron Hills had kept Murky in thraldom, a part of him (indeed the very heart of him) had to know what it was about these people and his own kind; alas, he was finding out. And even now, he could not reconcile it: “She loved him, how could she have loved HIM?”   

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”

“What a terrible waste it was, the Battle of the Five Armies!” thought Murky of Mirkwood , “Many fine warriors fell in the service of the king, and each one, to the last elf, gladly fulfilled it!” Every elven fighter learns early on what joy lies beyond their last encounter, but how does one respond when faced with such carnage? How does one simply look away and not remember fallen friends? These and other grave questions weighed upon Murky as he sat and waited. A single tear burnt his cheek and dropping it plinked almost inaudibly upon the shackle encircling his right wrist; (now, it should be known that open sentiment demands much of elves, albeit that these people comprehend and cherish the intricacies of life far deeper than most other living creatures;) but the dwarves didn’t even notice him, chattering still amongst themselves.

“What then of family honour, of valour, of friends and newfound allies, and why such profound ferocity in opposition?” he wondered, “And for what cause, heirlooms and riches?” And even more, ever quickening reflections of two others encompassed his thinking; even three, counting the faded drawing of his long departed mother preserved somewhere in his chamber at home. Home, the very place from which he fled; for what was there to keep him, love? Legolas Greenleaf thought not!  

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”  

“Go north, find the Dúnedain…” his father, King Thranduil, had said at their last parting. It happened that these instructions were somewhat vague given that the Dúnedain patrol the reaches of Eriador, west of where he was. In order to have gone that way Legolas must negotiate whenceforth he had not long since returned: the uppermost range of the Misty Mountains, Gundabad and the Mountains of Angmar. He had no desire to go back thither, not least by which time he should have arrived at that accursed place it would surely abound with orcs fled from the battle. In addition recent hearsay abroad stated that an old evil, long thought dead and buried, had arisen once again out of the bowels of that region.

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”

Strident winds blustered into the upper reaches of Wilderland on the day of his departure. Winter was not full set upon Middle-earth but many peoples in the regions of the North, already feeling its premature bite, had hunkered down for a lengthy season of cold weather. Swirled jets of freezing air hissed down from the Northern Waste of the Forodwaith and not even the resilient shoulders of the Grey Mountains could withstand the incursion. These peaks (also called Ered Mithrin) were rather less compacted than their taller mist-covered sisters that reached away south; these too also offered scantier and less protection as the lands to the east became ever barer, particularly in the barren gap known locally as Dragons Teeth. Maybe it was in this land that the dwarves first spotted him; a lone rider, barely a raw cloud of dust, whose going was betrayed by a disturbed trail. For indeed it was he which moved swiftly northward across that gritty fallowness; the austere grey range rising in front of him and the Lonely Mountain standing behind. And southward on that same day smoke and reek blotted out an otherwise cloudless sky, for Erebor was besieged; and directly ahead now only the Withered Heath beckoned.  

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”  

Legolas remembered his horse’s valiant part in these last few days; for in sensing his departure from the Woodland Realm, the mare followed her master into self imposed exile, meeting him unlooked-for approximate to the ‘Long Bridge’ at Lake-town. The prince remembered too with remorse, how she panted heavily under her labour during the latter northward sprint: particularly since he’d all but mentally given up on this course of action. Mostly though he remembered rearing to a halt in full sight of the highest and most jagged section of the Ered Mithrin, which came into clear focus, escarpment, bowl and crag; and he remembered shivering at the very sight of those mountains. In order to negotiate the tricky foothills at this trickier time of year it would have taken a full day riding out from Erebor at first light; and ever the deeper within him it made no sense to go forward: “Which way now?” said he.

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”  

Thus discerning that the hour would soon darken he had set up camp beside some nearby boulders; and ere night full came the elf distinguished movement in the east, for under the evening shadow a large convoy of dwarves moved out from the Iron Hills heading towards the Lonely Mountain. Now it has been told elsewhere, how a great army from that inexorable range had joined in the Battle of the Five Armies: and amongst these was the new King under the Mountain, one Dain Ironfoot. Legolas had heard already of Dain’s coming and ultimate succession to the Seat of Erebor; it therefore seemed safe to assume that the denizens of the Iron Hills would remove in order to see him crowned there. Nevertheless any elf knows that one must proceed with caution when entering into such territory as this; so he had set forth in a slow clockwise arc from whence he had cleared up camp. This course of action somewhat slowed his advancement but that hardly seemed to matter since he knew not where he was headed. at last he’d decided, “Eastward then!”  

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”  

The winds had lessened considerably that night although the prevailing clear sky yielded a ground frost over the lands round about. Much of the evidence of the previous day’s battle had blown away, though the mountain remained forever scarred; as did many bodies and hearts. Legolas averted his eyes from that region and motioned toward the Empty Lands; empty save for the Iron Hills ahead to his right with the Redwater rushing southward from its source. The low morning sun lighting his progress remained unhindered by cloud, forcing him to throw up his hood to shield his sensitive eyes. The frost glistening as myriad white jewels had merged into a vibrant glare; and the usually russet heights stood dark save for a crimson peak-line slicing them against the blue, the river gushed as blood; he took it then as an ill omen but continued on regardless.  

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!”  

So it was that on the third morn since Erebor, Legolas chose to abandon the grey region for good and all. He knew this was a crucial moment for much unclothed land stood betwixt Dwarven-home and the last foothills of the Grey Mountains where he stood, and beyond far more bare territory still. He had risen long before the sun, being mostly prepared the previous night; thus he had taken a quick bite and packed up his bedding, and speaking in Elvish-tongue he had primed his mount for the sprint. However ere he put foot to stirrup, there spoke a voice above him: “Going somewhere, Woodlander?”  

Appalled, kindled and shamed, the elf with much haste systematically examined the hinterland; beholding thickset boxy profiles round about; then, from above and to his rear there came yet more, leaning forth into view from a low ledge above the rock-face whence he sheltered: “Dwarves!”    

Ere he could reach for a weapon needs must that Legolas elude a volley of stones; and keeping his back close to the wall he stooped low speedily tumbling beneath the mare, a flat-sharp missile aimed at his head bounced off the rock-stack and sliced into her rump.  The incensed horse hustled in flight through the approaching group of dwarves, splitting them up as she trampled; wherefore rising fast and reaching forth unto the saddlebag her reins-keeper unsheathed a blade as she went.  Legolas stood alone thus encircled by an unnumbered foe, whereupon a large sweep of stout shields closed in..

“Think not that we shall keep the granite back, Elf!” threatened one in front.  

“Think me not able to leap!” the prince replied.

“Aye, sprites can dance but we…”  

“YOU ARE NOT SUFFERED TO PASS THROUGH THESE LANDS!” an authoritative other interjected; when at once from him a jagged nugget cleanly struck Legolas’ brow, knocking his head hard into the rocky mass behind.  Those above him cast down a heavy net with woven metal strands, however this was not required since the flying stone did its work knocking the target out cold. It is not recorded by the Woodland Elves whether or not their prince heard Dwarven laughter that morning as he slumped into oblivion, but laugh they did, long and heartily; and oftentimes the more at the remembrance of it or in the telling of the tale.  

“Not dancing now, eh sprite?” gloated the threatener.

“GET HIM UP!” demanded the leader.  

“Are we going to have some sport?” said another.

“A Woodlander stake-down perhaps?” suggested the first voice from above as many others applauded his proposal.

“NAY, THIS ONE IS FOR DAIN!” spoke the leader.

“What: we are not taking him all the way to the Lonely Mountain?!”  

“NOT SO FAR, NOT YET: THIS FELLOW NEEDS ACCOMMODATION, SO LET’S FURNISH HIM WITH ONE OF OUR BEST ROOMS!”

A red dawn broke over the land as the merry company of Ironhill Dwarves wasted no time in hauling their thump-wilted detainee onto a goatwain. They swiftly dispersed into organised clusters; some fanning out cross-country embarking on patrol, whilst others marched directly homeward. Now, anybody viewing this operation from afar would have to esteem the efficiency of dwarves; particularly upon witnessing the apparent swallowing up by the landscape of those accompanying the prisoner, or indeed upon noting the lack of evidence that aught may have taken place, at the very place whence they departed.  

Had Legolas only known it, the dwarves took him deep into a territory long since kept secret these ages past; a vast subterranean network burrowed throughout much time by several hands, with divers causeways knit closely alongside the roots of the mountain ring above. This ancient marvel of industry originally spread from Mount Gundabad to the Iron Hills, as far up as the Withered Heath, also linking the Iron-lands to Erebor, and even impinging upon the watery grots beneath the northern borders of the elf’s own lands. In latter years the great complex fell into disrepair: the Gundabad-conduit was certainly collapsed by the dwarves themselves and other tunnels were neglected through disuse; yet some legends endure in children’s fables, citing ‘The Invasion of the Earth-eaters!’

These tunnels should not be compared to the Great Halls or Mines fashioned by the Khazâd in Durin’s time, rather they were built as a means of commerce and logistics between the Longbeard and Orocarni Mountain clans. Initially the dungeons were storage chambers along the ‘Famous Goat and Pony Road’ nigh to ‘Ironmasters Marketplace’ in more prosperous days. There are no annals that register the usage of these lockups as instruments of torment, but this practice almost certainly came into effect during and after the bitter Wars of the Dwarves and Orcs; each bank of cells being craftily measured to suit differing sizes of orc, some of which are apt for elves.  

Legolas had collected his thoughts thus far, having pieced together all what had taken place up until this morning’s attack; hereafter his cognition lit clearer.

Being still unusually restricted, he called out behind blinded eyes to see if any others were present with him, but there came no reply save the echo of his own voice; he now deemed correctly that he was being held underground.  He licked the corner of his mouth where the blood had dripped, and taking account of the rough handling by his captors he rightly guessed that the time of day must be between the third and fourth hour since the rising of the sun.  For some reason these estimations soothed him, he was back to himself for a moment. He recalled what his father used to say whenever he hurt himself as a child, “Sound thinking eases bodily pain!” and the impassive visage of Thranduil formed sharp in his mind’s eye.

“Legolas, your mother loved you… more than anyone… more than life…”

Those were his father’s parting words, the memory of which punctured all good sense as if shot through by one of his own arrows. Ultimately pain consumed him: the pain of loss, of estrangement, of love, of folly, of shame and bonds, and he cried out aloud because of it. So singular was that cry that the magnification of it alerted his subjugators to his awakening: after which he fell silent reverting to his accustomed composure once more, howsoever evident his physical discomfort.   

Beyond the walls two dwarves begin out upon a well walked passageway, cleverly hewn, well lit and very long; one tarries momentarily to pat himself down for a token not found as the other speaks, “One hour’s ‘Hard-fit’ is a tough penalty in anyone’s book, but two… that’s severe!”  

“He’s been out cold most of that time.”

“It pulls at the limbs something terrible, Gim, even after ten minutes I’ve heard the hardest of ‘em shriek; and all that regardless of wakefulness.”

“I know… but that’s orcs, Dad: Elves are… well… they’re bendy like!”    

“Elves are muscle and bone the same as us, Lad; not as tough mind!”  

“No two ways on that!”

“Huh, I’ll be surprised if his arms are still in their sockets…”  

At length Legolas perceives two sets of footsteps approaching from his left side which ultimately brake upon his cell door: the muted voices of their owners perish behind the rattle of heavy keys and the substantial clamour of hefty doors grinding apart on runners. The sudden influx of bright light pools about the entrance but doesn’t much reach his already shielded eyes; though right now that was the least of his worries, the newcomers had headed diagonally opposite to the farthest corner, whereupon one spoke: “There they are, drag them over!”

And then, THAT NOISE: an ear scrawping screech of heavy metal across a stone floor that squeals dead at his feet. The elf concludes the worst as two heavy boots stomp up steps approaching him and soon after Legolas can hear, feel and smell the breath of the one before him; he is unable to turn away.  A rough hand pulls the back of his skull forward, banging his throat on the iron choker and snagging a tress of hair already caught in it; “They fitted this one up good and tight,” says the closer dwarf, “Here, bring your steps around to the side of him!”

“Right-o,” a younger voice complies.

‘That sounded like him,’ thought Legolas, ‘That Kili!’  

After the displeasure of more racket within his sensitive ears, Legolas feels a burning on the right side of his face: “Put that bloody torch down you fool,” barks the elder, “Look, just step off: I’ll do it!”

“Why are we bothering anyway?” the offended junior sulks: “Let’s just…”

“Let’s just do nothing but follow our orders, RIGHT!” replies the chief dwarf, climbing the other block of stairs.  

“Whatever it is,” sighs Legolas dryly, “Please… do get on with it!”

“Who yanked your chain? Haha, oh yes it was me: do you want some more?”

The elf dips his head in resignation of the obtuseness of dwarves: “Aye, I thought not: Now don’t move!”

Chunky fingers rifle manfully through elven hair searching out the back of the blindfold, at last a long pin is removed and the strap comes apart; although the tacky blooded section must be peeled away from the skin.  

Legolas blinks in the torchlight as the dwarf takes the buckskin covering and, almost tenderly, wipes off the excess leakage covering his left eye: “That’s a nasty cut there; the back should be alright, just bruised: sore looking but!”

With that the dwarf steps down and beckons his young fellow, and then both stand deacon-like at the open doors, backlit by the corridor:

“Well?” questions the prisoner.

“Orders were that you witness what you have come to, so… give it a minute!”

He wanted to reply sarcastically in his best Dwarf accent, “Aye, it won’t hurt!” but in truth it really, really did, so he just offered back a wry smile and nod; the tactic worked: he felt ridiculous.  

Before long the dwarves re-enter and transfer the box-ladders against the wall behind him, yet more screeching: Legolas’ wits plead, ‘Could they not put wheels on those things?’ Those things slotted and fit beneath dark wooden blocks with tall vertical beams set into their fronts; the captive had not noticed them until now due to his restraints, and even now he needed to crane and strain to see their placement either side him at about a longbow’s length a piece. Presently, the little operatives key-in large looped studs into the uprights releasing a locking mechanism within each wooden block; and pulling the rings toward them the stanchions come out with a clunk, roughly fifteen degrees from their base.  

Nothing happens, “Did you count properly?” demands the supervisor: “Too right, I did!”

The dwarves alight and stand sturdily in front of Legolas. On a sudden there comes a deep rumbling directly above their heads followed by a series of loud clicks… one… two… three; then abrade, a rubbing of sorts, and one more click louder than before. After five seconds of silence the younger dwarf sniggers expectantly.  Now from behind, but still on high, begins an escalating whirr pursued by a cacophony of rapid chains, gears and wheels. Within seconds the ankle restraints loose and the dwarves rush in to prop up the elf as his legs give way; accordingly, the neck chain frees soon thereafter, compelling the reduced Legolas to collapse forward into their waiting arms.  They unshackle and de-collar him and lay him on a low cot; he hurts too much to resist them. There is then the bother and din of resetting the chains; shortly after which the lead dwarf draws near to the elf handling a bulbous flask:

“Here, drink this!”  

“What is that?” demands Legolas.

“Ale…” says the dwarf as the elf crinkles his nose: “Get it down you: What‘s the matter with you?  You’ll need that… we’ve a long walk ahead!”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see, come on sup-up!” says the dwarf as the prince wretches down the vulgar brew in stages: “Do you good that, build you up!” Legolas returns the flask, flopping back down: “No-no Laddy, no time for that!”  

“Tell me, what is your name sir?” enquires the elf politely.

“ur-well… I’m Dimroc and this is my lad, Gimroc, but we aren’t any Sirs!”

“Hail Dimroc and Gimroc, well met!”

“Likewise… I think!”

“May I ask… have you ever been up in those…?”

“The Orc Creakers: can’t say I have…”  

“I guessed as much, let me explain…”

“Spare us…” sneers Gimroc, who now in full view is nothing at all like Kili.

Dimroc wrestles within himself: “Now look I’ll offer ten minutes respite because your two hours aren’t up yet… and five for the courtesy!”  

Legolas groans with gratitude: “No Dad!” exclaims Gimroc.

“Fifteen minutes, no more… understand?”

“Thank you!” murmurs the elf.

“You, fit walking-irons on him: I need some ale… get the biggest set, Gim; he’s taller than most… and Son, do it civil!” Gimroc complies: disgruntled and somewhat perplexed, but knowing to hold his peace once ‘The Silence’ befalls his father. Even so, despite the dwarf’s honest obedience the longest chains proved too short for Legolas; allowing him the minimal flexibility of movement, for they were designed with orcs in mind, not elves.

Dimroc has worked the dungeons now these past forty-six years, and his son with him for the last eighteen; their main job is maintenance although included in this is the occasional loosing of exhausted orcs, and oftentimes from far worse devices used on the elf. Now, for a surety, Dimroc had heard the tale of how the two kings fell out of fellowship, and how a condescending elf lord demanding his due petulantly refused to assist Erebor in her gravest need. Nevertheless until now he had never before encountered an elf, and despite himself the conduct and durability of this one impressed him. Never before has he suffered compunction about any aspect of his work, but never before has any prisoner ever asked his name: “Orcs have no dignity,” he muttered to himself, “They curse, they bite, they spit and they always piss themselves!”

Thus, he gave Legolas twenty minutes in which to rest; even knowing that the Dispensation would be annoyed and what that could mean to him. Still, it would be unfair to assert that he took this action due to any particular liking for elves, but rather more to do with his own estimation of the day’s events. “This whole matter doesn’t sit right!” Dimroc later explained to his superiors; for to his mind, “Dwarves are better than we had shown; the very meat and mead of Dwarfdom dwells in strength, hardiness and good business: oath-keeping not grudge-bearing!” By his reckoning this prisoner posed no threat to Dwarvish-lands, “The elf was dodging the fringes just beyond the borders and heading toward the empty country!” In short, Dimroc believed that his own people overreacted with bigotry.  

Dimroc had spoken honestly, it was a long walk from the holding cell; and to whither, even now Legolas could not tell. His removal from the cot had been abrupt and hurried, all signs of former consideration had vanished being replaced with flint solemnity; the elf guessed accurately that the dwarves had delayed overlong. None of this however prevented them from fulfilling the remainder of their task, for someone other had instructed that the prisoner beheld the array of torture devices in each open cell as they passed them by. No doubt this parade was intended to intimidate, although one would not have known it with the mundane running commentary given by Dimroc of the names and uses of each instrument. Thereafter turning right, the walking party entered into a rough hewn corridor lit only with braziers at various exit points; the dwarves fully required their flamed torches. Legolas endeavoured to engage with them here but to no avail, receiving only terse directives as they went; the tedium of which being compounded by fettered footfalls linked to heavy irons curbing down his already sore wrists.  

At length the gloomy walkway brightened ahead of them, whereupon egress it opened out to a rotunda; here Dimroc bade them stop. There stood centrally a sturdy wooden table, seeming all the broader for its lone attendant around whom were several other open doorways; all of which seemed to have channels like to the one that the elf had just been through. A bright shaft lit the polished stone circular floor from an unseen source high above: another mystery of Dwarvish ingenuity long guarded throughout the ages. However, the thing most noticeable to anybody seeing this place for the first time was the narrow archway towering directly behind the seated official who now summons Dimroc. Handing the light to his son he motions toward his associate; the two speak together in friendly terms and soon afterward the small company are bidden, “Proceed!”  

Gimroc gestures casually with the flames, pointing ahead, and with a complacent roll-shouldered gait he returns his father’s torch. Legolas comes slowly after, halt in his chains; the third dwarf looks on him darkly as he sidesteps around the bureaucratic board. Dimroc bids his son to lead the way and then follows Legolas single-file beneath the tall pointed arch.  

Legolas plunges into darkness almost bursting his nose on a stone wall; he is saved by the strong fist of Dimroc grabbing the tail of his tunic pulling him back: “Mind your step, there’s a tight corner here…” whereon he shouts angrily to the lead, “Hey Dunderhead, you wait on us and light the way!”  He speaks again to Legolas, “My apologies, he’s not so bad really!” and with that he stretches forth his right hand bearing the torch:

“Now, go left here then right… I’ll show you when, the going will become rough soon so remember to keep your feet!”  

“The going: where are we going?”

“Up…”

“Up to what… to whom…?”

“Just up: now go on, PROCEED!”

They soon come upon Gimroc who with a smirk waits at the entrance of a small stairwell; he does not expect to receive a hard slap from his father’s unfavoured left hand: “When I give an instruction you follow it!  What’s gotten into you today, Lad?” The stone steps formed a compact coil without a handrail and had room only to clear one abreast; indicating to the elf that this spiralled flight must have a sister used exclusively for downward negotiation.  In order for him to access the stairway Legolas needed to stoop low and squeeze himself clumsily through; whereupon the now chastened Gimroc led at reasonable measure with his elder taking up the rear once more. The truth of Dimroc’s warning came into effect as soon as the elf tackled the first step; insomuch that the striding motion required to scale this height tightened his chains and pulled his limbs in defiance of all natural progression. It was not easy for him but Legolas adapted with shimmies here and hops there, and he just about managed to keep pace with the dwarves; indeed the going was rough. For the most part the treads were smoothly dimpled through much use, although others were uneven and cracked; but many of the risers however showed signs of injury caused by the impact of heavy iron-toed boots. This damage obliterated any semblance of nosing and cove work at the front of the steps, thus producing a jagged and indented course with many snags; irrefutably none of this proved conducive to impeded climbing. Therefore the ascent grew tiresome before long, although the dwarves seemed used enough to it; Legolas alas, despite his best efforts caught the base of his shin thrice and his right leg bled sore ere he reached the top.    

They emerged forth unto a vast colonnade with a bustling central square; the whole region stood almost as high as it was wide and was lit in the same concealed uncanny manner from above, only here on a far grander scale. The small delegation did not enter the plaza but rather turned left remaining sheltered beneath the outer pillared walkway. The injury to his leg caused the elf to limp and a great many dwarves witnessed his humiliation as he slowly went along; most of whom sneered in gloomy silence, whilst others muttered among themselves or grunted insults at the hapless captive. Here two things became apparent to Legolas: first of all this place was the heart of commerce in the Iron Hills and judging by the facades of the perimeter buildings it was also the centre of law; and secondly, he had critically misapprehended the number of citizens that would depart from here for the coronation of Dáin.  

At length there came a break in the column-way at the south-west corner whereat a broad road allowed access into and out of the square; and directly opposite from where the elf now stood there loomed a forbidding edifice, plain and windowless but with an excessively large and heavy ironclad door. Legolas instinctively knew that this was their point of arrival and he asked, “What is this place?”

“The Dispensation!”    

[lilacmoon83]

Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 118:Poison & Wine

"What is taking him so long?" Ravenna complained impatiently, as she paced the garden.

"Patience...finding a person to trap in the tower is actually harder than it sounds," Gothel admonished. The Queen huffed.

"Have you thought about how you're going to administer the poison to your step-daughter yet? Because that will not be easy either," Gothel warned.

"No...the little retch is always surrounded by family and she'd never agree to be alone with me. It will have to be by surprise and the only time we're ever in the same room together is the weekly meetings," she mused, as she bit her bottom lip.

"But if I can get close enough by doing something to make her irate...I can thrust the vial toward her heart, assuming she doesn't have to drink it?" Ravenna questioned.

"No...if you break the vial, it takes an ethereal form and will infect whatever you aim it at," Gothel told her. Ravenna smirked.

"Excellent...then I think I know exactly how I will do this and then the Chernabog will help me make a quick escape," she replied, as they saw the beast flying over head. He had returned and there was an unconscious girl in his talons.

"You went for a Princess, I see?" Gothel stated, as he dumped the blonde youth at their feet and transformed back into his human form.

"She wandered away from her palace and into the woods. She made herself an easy target," he responded.

"Do you know this Princess?" Ravenna asked.

"I know of her. This magical forest is divided into three territories. There is the southern marsh region, ruled by Queen Eudora and her daughter Tiana. Then there is the central plains region, which is ruled by King Wesley and his son Prince Gregor. Both are benevolent rulers, but will be easily overthrown when the time comes. Then there is the northern region, Corona, which is ruled by King Frederic and Queen Arianna," she explained, as she looked down at the girl.

"And this is their daughter, Princess Rapunzel. This seems like fate," Gothel mused.

"What do you mean?" Frollo questioned.

"Years ago...I almost stole this very newborn Princess to put in the tower so I could come and go as I pleased while I cultivated by potion and ultimate plan. But then I realized that the only way I would eventually have the power I need was to have a child of my own," she answered.

"You have a child?" Ravenna asked. Gothel smirked.

"I did...but don't worry, I lack the humanity to care about her like most parents. She will only be useful to me when she is grown," Gothel replied, as she poofed the unconscious Princess into the tower.

"We should be going now. I'm eager to leave this place for greener pastures," Gothel said, as they followed.

~*~

Flashback

New York

Nearly 32 Years Ago

Kenneth Grimm arrived at the library that afternoon. His family had owned this library since its inception, but it was no ordinary library. Housed within these walls was a room that was off limits to ordinary patrons. It was the room where he housed all the books of story that his family had been long guarded with protecting. His ancestors, two brothers of the same last name, had been the original authors to pen stories based upon the fantastical things they had witnessed; such stories that were thought only to be fairy tales and myths now. His ancestors had taken a lot of creative liberties in those stories and over the years, many other authors had created their own versions. But within the last century, Kenneth's grandfather, Alistair Grimm had decided that they needed a real account of all those stories as they had actually happened and were still happening. These stories would not be for mass production or consumer consumption. These accounts were to be historical with no author manipulation. It was an undertaking that he needed help with though, so he had traveled to one of the few supernatural meccas in this land without magic.

There were a few places where this world could converge with the realms of story and magic. Upon arriving, his grandfather met with the Sorcerer's Apprentice and presented his idea. The Apprentice agreed that the idea had a lot of merit and agreed to commissioning the books of historical story, but with the stipulation that he was allowed to appoint the authors and that they might not always be of the Grimm bloodline. Reluctantly, Alistair agreed to that and while his son went on to be an author, Kenneth's father's life was cut short due to cancer. Since Kenneth had not been ready at the time to take the enchanted pen, the Sorcerer's Apprentice appointed a man named Isaac Heller as the next author and he went on to record some of the Enchanted Forest's greatest stories, like the real account behind the story of Persephone and Hades, the real story of Snow White and Prince Charming, as well as the real story of many other well known fairy tale entities.

But as with any author, the temptation to leave his own mark and manipulate events proved too great for Isaac. He grew jealous of heroes like Prince Charming and Snow White for all the glory they received. He planned to sully their heroics by manipulating them into doing something terrible by using fear through their unborn child. But fortunately, before he could complete his deception by giving Snow White a very unpleasant vision about her unborn daughter, he had stepped in and stopped him by taking the pen. And since he had broken the rules of the author, Isaac was cast out of their order and Kenneth was awarded the authorship in time to save everything. As a result, Snow White and her husband remained on a path of good and did not commit an atrocity against Maleficent.

Unexpectedly though, as he sat down to record that day's events, something unprecedented was happening. Something that had never happened and something that would change everything.

"I don't believe it…" he uttered, as he watched the pen record events as they unfolded. There had been occasional crossovers between this world and those beyond, but they had always been minor occurrences. But this...this was something that had never happened.

"She did it…" he uttered.

"Did what daddy?" little Annie Grimm asked.

"The Evil Queen...she cast her curse and has brought everyone to this land," he told her. Though she was only eight, his daughter was forever enthralled by the stories and already had aspirations of becoming the author someday.

"Is that bad?" she asked.

"It definitely changes everything. There are people in this world that know about them like us. But they want to destroy the magic," he replied.

"You mean the Order of the Jackal?" she asked.

"That is their ancient name, though these days, they have been going by the Home Office, led by none other than the disgraced sorceress, Circe," he answered.

"What will you do, daddy?" Annie asked.

"I cannot interfere...I would be no better than Isaac if I did. I will record these cursed years until the Savior breaks the curse in the twenty-eight years. And by then, you'll be the author and pick up where I leave off. I daresay your tenure as author will be very interesting," he told her.

~*~

Present Day

New York

Annie sighed and closed the book. She didn't like this development at all. She was very fond of Snow White and her family. She had grown quite attached to these characters and Ravenna's plot weighed heavily on her. But she would never violate the Order of Grimm's rules and could only hope that once again, Snow White and her family could overcome evil as they had always managed to.

"Annie…" she heard a voice and looked up to see her brother Adrian there. He was younger than her and an aspiring author himself.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Circe's father...he's gathering a meeting of his daughter's order now. Something tells me this is big," he replied.

"It doesn't matter...you know we can't interfere," she reminded.

"Father said that in the most dire of circumstances that we could use the pen to access Storybrooke," he reminded.

"Adrian...I don't know…" she lamented.

"Don't you think this is dire circumstances? You know that the Dragon plans to do," he reminded. She sighed.

"Most people in this land wouldn't believe in magic even if it was being shown to them right in front of their faces," she admonished.

"But there is plenty that would and then the process of storytelling would be irrevocably ruined for all time. Storybrooke would become like a living zoo for people to parade through for their own amusement," he warned.

"That's only if the Dragon really succeeded in controlling all the magic," she countered.

"Can we really take the chance that he might? This is what our family does, Annie. We're Grimm's and we have to protect the secrets of the story realms beyond this one. We need to keep the Land Without Magic from meeting the United Realms of magic and story," implored. She sighed, knowing he was right.

"Let's pack and then get on the road. If we drive all night, we can be there by morning," she said. He nodded, as they hurried off to pack their things.

~*~

The day had started out routinely for them both, but they quickly received word of growing turmoil in the Southern Isles. It appeared that the resistance that had been building had finally reached a boiling point and they were threatening war on the palace. Ravenna was strangely no where to be found and neither was the Chernabog, which might have been the reason the resistance against her had chosen this time.

Her brothers had requested aide from neighboring Kingdoms and Midas had responded militarily. Snow and David didn't like that at all. They didn't want Midas' army to incite a war and create a bloodbath. So they had left the palace through one of Hades' insta-portals and were now approaching the castle of the Southern Isles. It was her, David, Lancelot, Grumpy, and a few other soldiers.

The people of this Kingdom were rioting outside the castle walls and the sound of it was like a whirring in their ears. Lancelot and his top soldiers were wearing traditional chain mail, ready to go to battle if needed. Snow and David donned traditional royal attire for matters of diplomacy. She wore a whitish gold gown and he wore his formal red coat and black leather pants with boots. As they arrived at the castle gates, Snow put her hands up and the riot quieted briefly.

"We're here in hopes to find a peaceful resolution to this situation," she declared.

"There is no peaceful resolution!" a man said, as he stepped forward.

"Either remove that corrupt woman from her Throne or we will do it and there will be nothing peaceful about it," he growled. David put his hand up.

"Ravenna will be removed. She has failed to serve her people adequately and Persephone has already declared that she is no longer fit for her Throne. But we ask that you allow us to handle this," David implored.

"If you don't...we will," the man promised, as they portaled inside the castle and were met with Hans and three of his elder brothers, Nikolai, Emil, and Johan.

"Where is Ravenna?" David demanded to know. The four brothers exchanged glances.

"She's not here," Hans spoke first.

"Then she's running?" Lancelot inquired.

"We don't think so. She's left the Kingdom, but for what purpose, we do not know," Nikolai reported.

"If she left the Kingdom, it would have been aboard a royal liner and the journey would have been recorded," Snow said.

"Yes...but we discovered after she was gone that she chose to board a commercial cruiser," Emil offered.

"So she can hide where she's going and what she might be doing," David deduced. Snow sighed.

"You're aware that your people are ready to overthrow your entire family, are you not?" Snow questioned. They nodded.

"None of us agree with what Ravenna is doing. She's obsessed…" Johan revealed.

"Obsessed with what?" David questioned. Nikolai shifted uncomfortably.

"With killing you, Your Majesty," he informed, looking at Snow. David clenched his fist.

"What about Dalben? He's the oldest after Arawn. He can ascend the Throne rightfully if he's freed," David said.

"If we could have done that, we would have already...but Dalben is dead. We found him hanging in his cell this morning," Emil said.

"Do you really believe he committed suicide?" Lancelot questioned.

"No...we do not," Johan responded.

"Who is next in line?" Snow inquired.

"That would be me, Your Majesty," Nikolai stated.

"You must understand that we haven't been impressed by your family's conduct. First Hans tried to Kill Queen Elsa and Princess Anna to overtake Arendelle. And then Arawn killed thousands in his conquest to rule all the Kingdoms," Snow reminded.

"We know that our track record is not good, but Hans will mind his place, Arawn is imprisoned and I assume that we can count on your help to place Ravenna under arrest as well?" Emil asked. David nodded.

"Yes...but you have to be ready to step up and lead. Your people are at their wits end. They won't tolerate another corrupt ruler," David warned.

"And I would very much like to follow the example that I have seen set by rulers such as yourselves," Nikolai claimed.

"We are united in this opinion," Johan added.

"We do not want to see our people suffer any longer," Emil continued.

"Then we'll be calling an emergency meeting of the Kingdoms immediately to install you as King and issue an official arrest warrant for Queen Ravenna and Claude Frollo. In the meantime, the rest of you must quell your people and assure them that justice is in the process of being one," Snow declared.

"To help them believe your words, we'll immediately dispatch relief aide. Your people will have food, water, and other comforts within hours," David added. The brothers looked relieved.

"Thank you, Your Majesties. We will not spit on this chance and strive to repair our sullied reputation," Nikolai stated, already sounding like a King.

"See that you don't...because this will be your final chance," Snow declared, as they used another insta-portal to return to their palace, with Nikolai following to claim his new Throne during the actions that were about to take place.

~*~

Emma looked at Percival through the glass, as he sat in the interrogation room.

"He looks nervous," Neal commented.

"Yeah...which seems odd for a Knight of the Roundtable. I mean, these guys are supposed to be legendary pillars of good," Emma observed.

"Yeah...but if you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing, even the coolest heads can sweat," he replied, as she looked at the vial of glittering red substance.

"Any luck with that annoying witch?" she asked.

"No...she just seems smug and keeps speaking in riddles. She definitely knows what's going on and if my gut is right, she could probably blow this guy out of the water on whatever he's hiding," he replied.

"But getting her talk will be damn near impossible," Emma said.

"Maybe for us...but I made a call," Neal replied. She smirked.

"You know my step-grandpa isn't all that scary anymore, right?" she teased.

"Emma...that hurts, you know," Hades quipped, as he appeared through one of his insta-portals. She smirked.

"Okay...so you can still be scary. Just not to us," she amended.

"Thank you. I may not be the God of the Underworld anymore, but I can still have your grandmother inform Prometheus when there is a particular soul that deserves harsh judgment," he reminded, as he looked through the window.

"You arrested Sir Percival?" he asked, his voice having an impressed note.

"Yep and the witch of Dunbroch," Emma replied.

"That's even more impressive, but she's irritating. I hope you don't want me to talk to her," Hades said. Emma winced.

"She's not talking so a threat from you might help loosen her tongue," she replied.

"But first...this is what he was trying to get from her. That and this," Emma said, as she showed him the vial and the helm.

"The helm of King Fergus…" Hades said knowingly and then he focused on the vial.

"Yeah...we got that out of them about the helm, but not why it's important. But neither of them will say a peep about this vial," Emma replied.

"The helm is enchanted. It ensures the wearer will be victorious in any battle," Hades told them.

"And if Percival wanted it…" Neal started to say.

"Then it means Arthur wants it," Hades finished.

"So...he wants to wear this to win a battle?" Neal questioned.

"I guess that makes sense in a way," Emma mentioned.

"Except it doesn't really," Neal replied, as he looked at Hades.

"Why does Arthur need this helm when he has Excalibur. It's an unbeatable weapon," he said.

"I'm afraid it's not what it seems," Rumple interjected, as he and Belle arrived.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"It's something that best rather shown, but walking into Camelot to confront Arthur is risky, even for me," Hades replied.

"We won't have to. Snow has called an emergency council meeting," Rumple stated.

"Why?" Emma asked.

"Your parents just narrowly stopped a war in the Southern Isles. The people are ready to revolt there. They are sending relief aide to that Kingdom as we speak as a gesture of peace and goodwill. At the meeting, they are going to officially install Prince Nikolai as the new King and issue an official arrest warrant for Ravenna, who is M.I.A, currently," Rumple explained.

"Wow...we better lock these two up and go there," Emma said.

"And while we're at it...we'll confront Arthur. It's time to expose his deception," Hades replied.

"Deception?" Neal questioned in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so. We allowed him to remain on his Throne as long as the people were well taken care of and the status quo didn't change. As long as he didn't make any grab for power, we wouldn't move against him," Hades told them.

"The helm I get, but what kind of power is in this vial?" Emma questioned.

"That is the last of the sands of Avalon. We'll explain more once we confront him," Rumple said, as they locked up Percival and the witch, before using an insta-portal to travel to Snow and David's castle.

~*~

Ravenna stepped off the ship and onto the dock, as they returned to the Southern Isles.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Hans exclaimed, as he, Emil, and Johan were waiting for her.

"None of your business…" she refuted, as she and Frollo pushed past them. Gothel remained hidden, for it was far from time for her plan to come to fruition. But she would watch the current turmoil with great interest from the shadows.

"The people almost revolted! King David and Queen Snow had to come and appease them," Hans reported.

"You let them into our castle?" she growled.

"We had no choice. They came to keep the peace and there is more you must know," Emil stated. She huffed.

"I have more important things to do," she responded.

"You are being dethroned as we speak," Johan informed.

"What?!" she growled.

"Queen Snow has called an emergency council meeting. A warrant is being issued for your arrest and Nikolai is taking over," Hans said. She seethed. That was the last straw and she was now going to make her insipid step-daughter pay for all her treachery.

"Is that so? Well...we'll see about that," Ravenna growled, as she took out the Promethean flame.

"Take me to Misthaven now…" she ordered, as he took to his monster form and she rode upon his back to the Kingdom of Queen Snow and King David. She clutched the vial of deadly poison inside her dress pocket. By the time dusk fell that night, Snow White would take her final breath...if it was the last thing she did...

~*~

They had been driving for hours, all through the night and his sister had drifted off in the passenger seat, but she was jarred awake when she felt the car lurch and accelerate roughly. She opened her eyes and looked at her brother, who had a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

"We're being followed…" Adrian said nervously.

"Adrian...we can't lead them into Storybrooke," she reminded.

"I know Annie! Hang on...I'm going to go off road and lose them," he said, as he took their jeep off into the ditch and started weaving through the trees. It was a very rough ride and they screamed, as another off road vehicle suddenly intercepted them. Adrian swerved and they hit a tree. Fortunately, they were both belted in and their injuries were minor. But that wouldn't matter. Several operatives exited the vehicles and approached with their highly specialized plasma ray guns. They put their hands up in surrender, as they were pulled out of the vehicle. They watched as the smug Mushu, also known as the Dragon, approached them.

"Hello author…" he greeted.

"There is no way in hell that I'm leading you and these psychos into Storybrooke," she refuted.

"That is unfortunate…" Mushu stated, as they grabbed her brother and pressed the barrel of one of the guns to his temple.

"If you refuse us...then he dies," the Dragon warned.

"Annie...don't," he pleaded.

"Adrian…" she said, as tears filled her eyes.

"You can't let them in...it will destroy everything," he warned.

"I can't let you die…" she said, as she relented.

"I'll do it...just don't kill my brother," she pleaded. Mushu smirked.

"A wise choice," he said, as they were led back to the road and put in one of the vans, as Mushu got in the front seat.

"Why are you doing this? You're from there...you're betraying everyone. The damages of these actions could have catastrophic consequences!" Adrian warned.

"These people mean nothing to me. They have taken my daughter away and all to hide their existence from this world. A world they do not even belong in. As the author, you know the dangers of their entrance into this world, yet your father did nothing," Mushu accused.

"My father took the vow of the author to not interfere very seriously, as do I. We had an author that once planned to manipulate the story to leave his mark and it would have had devastating consequences. And this will too," she implored.

"Oh...I'm counting on it," the Dragon answered, as the van pulled back onto the road the line of vehicles followed, as they drove along the winding roads of rural Maine. With the author in their presence, Storybrooke would appear to them when they reached it and allow them passage...

[husheduphistory]

Legacy Lost: The Tortured First Family of St. Louis Lager

Johann "Adam" Lemp arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1838, one of the thousands of new faces pouring into the country in the decades before the Civil War. He was originally from Germany and while in his home country he learned the art of brewing beer from his father, a skill he carried with him to his new home. Arriving in the United States, Lemp aspired to be a grocer but within a few years the entire trajectory of his life and the lives of his family made the first of many sharp turns. The first turn brought fortune to the Lemp name, but the others made it synonymous with tragedy.

While making a living as a grocer two of Lemp’s best selling products were his homemade vinegar and beer. The German population around St. Louis was booming and one thing that the region lacked was authentic German lager, a void that Lemp recognized and knew he was capable of filling. The light, golden drink was a welcome alternative to English ales and within two years Lemp was able to close his grocery store for bigger and better things. He built a small brewery, Western Brewery, at 112 South Second Street unofficially igniting the brewing industry in St. Louis and cementing his path to unimaginable wealth.

Lemp sold his beer in a small bar attached to his brewery but before long the demand for the beverage outgrew his buildings. The brewing operation needed more space and the solution came in the form of another structure that had been around since long before the Lemp family, St. Louis, or even Missouri, was born. Just south of the city limits were limestone caves and the cave’s climate combined with ice farmed from the nearby river provided the perfect atmosphere for the lager process. Lemp’s business thrived and in August 1862 Adam Lemp died a multi-millionaire, passing his empire to his son, William J. Lemp.

The 1860s and 1870s were hugely transformative times for the Lemp family. In 1864 William Lemp built a new plant for the brewery covering five city blocks and connecting to the caves where his family brand of beer was perfected. He continued to expand the company, becoming the largest single-owner brewery outside of New York City. In 1867 his son William Jr. was born. He would have five more children, but it was his fourth son Frederick, born in 1873, who was William’s favorite and who he planned to have inherit the family business. In 1868 William Lemp’s father-in-law had built a thirty-three room mansion close to the brewery and William Lemp and his family moved in in 1876. The mansion served as both a home and a satellite office with tunnels connecting the basement to the limestone caves. As the 1800s came to a close the Lemp family was the picture of wealth, success, and power. It was a prosperous, happy time for the Lemp family, just before it all crashed down around them.

The Lemp Mansion circa 1982. 

Postcard showing the sprawling Lemp brewery complex.

The first tragic blow to St. Louis’s most prominent family occurred on December 12th 1901 when Frederick, William’s favorite son and heir to the family business, unexpectedly died of heart failure at the age of only twenty-eight years old. The effect on William was instant, rendering him despondent and marking the beginning of a slow decline. After the death of Frederick the elder Lemp became disconnected, anxious, and he stopped going out in public, placing himself into a self-imposed and tormented solitude. The spirit of William Lemp was still broken on New Years Day 1904, the day his closest friend Frederick Pabst passed away. Lemp fell deeper into disconnect and became indifferent to the everyday operations of his business and family. On the morning of February 13th 1904 William J. Lemp Sr. walked into his bedroom and shot himself in the head.

William J. Lemp Sr. 

Newspaper story covering the suicide of William J. Lemp.

With the elder William Lemp and his brother Frederick gone the brewing business passed into the hands of William Jr., also called “Billy”, a man who most say was far better at partying and manipulation than running the family business. In 1899 William married Lillian Handlan and they welcomed their son, William J. Lemp III in September 1900, only four years before he was handed the brewery under the unfortunate circumstances of his father’s suicide. While Lemp cultivated the image of a hard partyer who did only what he pleased, his wife Lillian was coined with the nickname of the “Lavender Lady” due to her obsession with the color that took over her clothing, accessories, and even her horse’s harnesses. Lillian was surrounded by luxury, but it was forced upon her. Billy was forever hosting lavish late-night parties filled with friends, alcohol, and prostitutes, and he soon grew tired of his wife. Looking to keep her out of the picture Lemp began demanding that his wife shop on a near constant basis, giving her $1,000 a day and telling her that if she did not spend it he would never give her another cent. Finally, in 1908 Lillian filed for divorce from Billy citing desertion, cruelty, and indignities. The highly publicized divorce proceedings were a huge scandal in the St. Louis region and crowds gathered at the courthouse eager to hear the horrid details of the Lemp home. What prying ears could not pick up from outside the courthouse the eyes devoured from all the regional newspapers who dedicated their front pages to the ordeal. On day eleven in court Lillian, the Lavender Lady, appeared wearing solid black and before she left she was granted sole custody of the pair’s son.

William J. “Billy” Lemp Jr.

Lillian Handlan Lemp.

Billy Lemp built a less than flattering reputation for himself for many reasons but there is one part of his life that has never been able to be fully confirmed. Allegedly, one of Lemp’s many affairs led to a second son being born. The child was said to have Down Syndrome and because of this he was shuttered into the attic of the Lemp Mansion, never to be seen or heard. When interviewed in later years former employees of the family claim that there was in fact a secret son sequestered to living in the attic and servant quarters but there has never been any documentation found definitively proving his existence.

The Lemp family was beginning to enter even darker days but a small glimmer of happiness arrived in 1910 when Elsa, the youngest daughter of William Sr., married Thomas Wright, president of the More-Jones Brass and Metal Company. Amid the celebration there was a pallor of concern. Several years earlier in 1906 nine of the largest breweries in the St. Louis region combined to form the Independent Breweries Company and created a level of competition the family had never faced before. Billy Lemp continued to run the business as best he could, but he had no way of knowing the blows set to strike both his business and his family before the next decade arrived.

The first bit of bad news came in 1918 when Elsa and her husband first separated and then entered into a messy divorce in February 1919 citing cruelty and damage to her physical and metal wellbeing. This was unfortunate but the next hardship to hit the Lemp family extended far beyond their local courthouse, Prohibition had arrived.

The Lemp brewery was struggling before Prohibition but the movement officially hammered the nails into the business’s coffin. The family created a brand of non-alcoholic beer but already wildly wealthy, Billy Lemp saw no reason to even attempt to keep the brewery afloat. The employees of Western Brewery were made aware that their jobs were gone when they arrived at work one day to find the buildings locked. The closing of the brewery took a toll on Billy Lemp but he was not the only member of his family who was feeling themselves slip away. Elsa and her ex-husband Thomas reunited and remarried in March 1920. Within days, on March 20th 1920 Elsa, the wealthiest heiress in St. Louis, entered the bedroom of their home, sat in bed, and shot herself in the head just as her father had done sixteen years earlier.

Elsa Lemp Wright.

Newspaper story covering the suicide of Elsa Lemp Wright.

As the Prohibition years moved forward the Lemp family and their massive brewery complex continued to deteriorate. As the head of the business Billy was tasked with the liquidation of assets and he began to auction off the buildings and sell any trademarks. At its peak the Lemp brewery consisted of twenty-seven buildings, covered ten city blocks, and was valued at seven million dollars. On June 28th, 1922 it was all sold at auction to International Shoe Co. for $588,500. One piece of the ruined family legacy that they fiercely held onto was the family mansion. In a turn that closely resembled his father after the death of Frederick, after the death of the brewery Billy became reclusive, anxious, increasingly ill, and began to shun appearing in public. Six months after the sale on December 29th 1922 Billy went into his office on the main floor of the mansion and took his own life with a gunshot to the heart.

Newspaper covering the suicide of Billy Lemp.

With Billy, Elsa, and Frederick Lemp all deceased there were only three other siblings remaining to take over the family home. Charles, Edwin, and Louis all removed themselves from the brewery in its later years with Charles leaving in 1917 to go into banking and Edwin retiring in 1913 to live quietly in Kirkwood, Missouri dedicating his time to charitable causes. In 1929 Charles Lemp took up residency in the old family mansion where he lived with his dog, two servants, an unrelated married couple, and allegedly the hidden son of his brother Billy.

Charles may have been removed from the family home and business but he was not immune from the turmoil that had plagued his father and siblings. During his time in the mansion he became incredibly bitter an increasingly obsessive about germs, constantly washing his hands and never without a pair of gloves to protect himself. In 1931 his brother Louis died of natural causes and it is said that during Charles’s stay in the mansion Billy’s secret son died inside the home in his 30s. In April 1941 Charles penned an unusual letter to a St. Louis funeral home stating that in case of his death his body was to be taken directly to the Missouri Crematory with no change of clothing or bathing to take place. He went on to instruct that his ashes were to be put inside a wicker box and buried on his farm with no funeral or notice to the public about his death. Eight years later on May 9th 1949 he wrote another note reading: “St. Louis Mo/May 9, 1949, In case I am found dead blame it on no one but me. Ch. A. Lemp". After writing the note he first shot his dog in the basement and then walked up to the second floor of the mansion where he shot himself in the head. He was found the next day, still holding the gun in his hand.

Newspaper covering the suicide of Charles Lemp.

With Billy, Elsa, Charles, Louis, and Frederick gone the last remaining Lemp was Edwin. Quiet and reclusive, Edwin never moved into the mansion and after the death of Charles it was sold and turned into a boarding house. Edwin lived until the age of ninety when he died of natural causes in 1970. Among his last wishes was that all of the family’s collected art pieces, documents, and Lemp family artifacts be destroyed. A butler fulfilled his wishes, burning everything that remained and reducing it to dust along with the legacy of the Lemp family.

The Lemp mansion had a difficult existence after the demise of its founding family. Tenants were difficult to keep and the building fell into disrepair. It was not until 1975 that the building was purchased by a member of the Pointer family and turned into a restaurant and inn.

Today the Lemp Mansion still stands at 3322 De Menil Place in St. Louis, Missouri where it hosts private events, weddings, holiday events, tours and offers delicious dinners year round to hungry visitors. The site is intensely historic, but it is also allegedly one of the most haunted locations in America with regular sightings and experiences from both employees and visitors. For the brave of heart, the Lemp Mansion offers overnight stays and ghost tours where the tragic story of the Lemp family is explained, explored, and investigated.

When Adam Lemp arrived from Germany in 1838 he was just looking for a livelihood and instead found a route to power and fortune beyond his wildest dreams. The Lemp family had a meteoric rise in the United States, but the fall was absolutely devastating with the fortune, alcohol, and entire family, being washed away by their own blood.

The Lemp Mansion.

Relics of the Lemp brewery complex still standing today.