#first we had issues with our boarding pass working

[txttletale]

how do ml's reconcile with lenin going for a bigbrainhaver hierarchy which just so happened to place him at the tippy top? most of the things he's quoted for writing make a kind of sense in that longwinded academic philosopher way, but, like, russia went from having a revolution against monarchy to having a monarchy, essentially, and what folks do tends to align with their desires, yeah? wouldn't that make everything he said, idk, suspicious?

we reconcile with this because none of this is even remotely true. lenin did not 'happen to be placed at the tippy top' but was in fact elected by the soviets, who worked in a very simple electoral system by which workers and peasants would elect representatives to their local soviet, who as well as administering local services would also elect members to higher bodies. the quote unquote bigbrainhaver hierarchy system in question was as follows:

The sovereign body is in every case the Congress of Soviets. Each county sends its delegates. These are elected indirectly by the town and county Soviets which vote in proportion to population, following the ratio observed throughout, by which the voters in the town have five times the voting strength of the inhabitants of the villages, an advantage which may, as we saw, be in reality three to one. The Congress meets, as a rule, once a year, for about ten days. It is not, in the real sense of the word, the legislative body. It debates policy broadly, and passes resolutions which lay down the general principles to be followed in legislation. The atmosphere of its sittings is that of a great public demonstration. The Union Congress, for example, which has some fifteen hundred members, meets in the Moscow Opera House. The stage is occupied by the leaders and the heads of the administration, and speeches are apt to be big oratorical efforts. The real legislative body is the so-called Central Executive Committee (known as the C. I. K. and pronounced "tseek") . It meets more frequently than the Congress to which it is responsible-in the case of the Union, at least three times in the year-passes the Budget, receives the reports of the Commissars (ministers), and discusses international policy. It, in its turn, elects two standing bodies: (1) The Presidium of twenty-one members, which has the right to legislate in the intervals between the sittings of the superior assemblies, and also transacts some administrative work. (2) The Council of Peoples' Commissars. These correspond roughly to the Ministers or Secretaries of State in democratic countries and are the chiefs of the administration. Meeting as a Council, they have larger powers than any Cabinet, for they may pass emergency legislation and issue decrees which have all the force of legislation. Save in cases of urgency, however, their decrees and drafts of legislation must be ratified by the Executive Committee (C.I.K.). In another respect they differ from the European conception of a Minister. Each Commissar is in reality the chairman of a small board of colleagues, who are his advisers. These advisory boards, or collegia, meet very frequently (it may even be daily) to discuss current business, and any member of a board has the right to appeal to the whole Council of Commissars against a decision of the Commissar.

—H.N. Brailsford, How The Soviets Work (1927)

you might notice that the congresses of soviets were not directly elected -- this is because they were elected by local soviets, who were directly elected, in a process that many people have given first hand accounts of:

I have, while working in the Soviet Union, participated in an election. I, too, had a right to vote, as I was a working member of the community, and nationality and citizenship are no bar to electoral rights. The procedure was extremely simple. A general meeting of all the workers in our organisation was called by the trade union committee, candidates were discussed, and a vote was taken by show of hands. Anybody present had the right to propose a candidate, and the one who was elected was not personally a member of the Party. In considering the claims of the candidates their past activities were discussed, they themselves had to answer questions as to their qualifications, anybody could express an opinion, for or against them, and the basis of all the discussion was: What justification had the candidates to represent their comrades on the local Soviet. As far as the elections in the villages were concerned, these took place at open village meetings, all peasants of voting age, other than those who employed labour, having the right to vote and to stand for election. As in the towns, any organisation or individual could put forward candidates, anyone could ask the candidate questions, and anybody could support or oppose the candidature. It is usual for the Communist Party to put forward a candidate, trade unions and other organisations can also do so, and there is nothing to prevent the Party’s candidate from not being elected, if he has not sufficient prestige among the voters. In the towns the “ electoral district ” has hitherto consisted of a factory, or a group of small factories sufficient to form a constituency. But there was one section of the town population which has always had to vote geographically, since they did not work together in one organisation. This was the housewives. As a result, the housewives met separately in each district, had their own constituencies, and elected their own representatives to the Soviet. Here, too, vital interest has always been shown in the personality of every candidate. Why should this woman be elected ? What right had she to represent her fellow housewives on the local Soviet ? In the district next to my own at the last election the housewife who was elected was well known as an organiser of a communal dining-room in the district. This was the kind of person that the housewives wanted to represent them on the Soviet. Another candidate, a Communist, proposed by the local organisation of the Party, was turned down in her favour.

[...]

The election of delegates to the local Soviet is not the only function of voters in the Soviet Union. It is not a question here of various parties presenting candidates to the electorate, each with his own policy to offer. The Soviet electorate has to select a personality from its midst to represent it, and instruct this person in the policy which is to be followed when elected. At a Soviet election meeting, therefore, as much or more time may be spent on discussion of the instructions to the delegate as is spent on discussing the personality of the candidates. At the last election to the Soviets, in which I personally participated, we must have spent three or four times as much time on the working out of instructions as we did on the selection of our candidate. About three weeks before the election was to take place the trade union secretary in every department of our organisation was told by the committee that it was time to start to prepare our instructions to the delegate. Every worker was asked to make suggestions concerning policy which he felt should be brought to the notice of the new personnel of the Moscow Soviet. As a result, about forty proposals concerning the general government of Moscow were handed in from a group of about twenty people. We then held a meeting in our department at which we discussed the proposals, and adopted some and rejected others. We then handed our list of pro¬ posals to a commission, appointed by the trade union committee, and representing all the workers in our organisation. This Commission co-ordinated the pro¬ posals received, placed them in order according to the various departments of the Soviet, and this co-ordinated list was read at the election meeting itself, again discussed, and adopted in its final form.

—Pat Sloan, Soviet Democracy (1937)

Between the elections of 1931 and 1934, no less than 18 per cent of the city deputies and 37 per cent of village deputies were recalled, of whom only a relatively small number — 4 per cent of the total — were charged with serious abuse of power. The chief reasons for recall were inactivity — 37 per cent — and inefficiency — 21 per cent. If these figures indicate certain lacks in the quality of elected officials, they show considerable activity of the people in improving government. The electorate of the Peasants' Gazette, for example, consisted of some 1,500 employees, entitled to elect one deputy to the Moscow city soviet and two to the ward soviet. For more than a month before the election every department of the newspaper held meetings discussing both candidates and instructions. Forty-three suggested candidates and some 1,400 proposals for the work of the incoming government resulted from these meetings, which also elected committees to boil down and classify the instructions. These committees issued a special four-page newspaper for the 1,500 voters; it contained brief biographies of the forty-three candidates, an analysis of their capacities by the Communist Party organization of the Peasants' Gazette, and the "nakaz," or list of "people's instructions," classified by subject and the branch of government which they concerned. At the final election meeting of the Peasants* Gazette there was literally more than 100 per cent attendance, since some of the staff who for reasons of absence or illness had not been listed as prospective voters returned from sanatoria or from distant assignments to vote. The instructions issued by the electorate in this manner — 1,400 from the Peasants' Gazette and tens of thousands from Moscow citizens — became the first business of the incoming government.

—Anna Louise Strong, The New Soviet Constitution (1937)

does this mean that the soviet project was some utopian perfect system? no. there were flaws in the system like any other. it disenfranchised the rural peasantry (although not, i would like to add, to any extent greater or even equivalent to the extent to which the US electoral system disenfranchises the urban working class) -- the various tiers of indirect selection created a divide between the average worker and the highest tier of the executive -- and various elements of this fledgling system would calcify and bureaucratise over time in ways that obstructed worker's democracy. but saying that it was 'a monarchy' is founded in absolutely nothing except the most hysterical anticommunist propaganda and tedious orwellian liberal truisms.

even brailsford, in an account overall critical of the soviet system, had to admit:

Speaking broadly, the various organs of the system, from the Council of Commissars of the Union down to the sub-committees of a town Soviet, are handling the same problems. Whether one sits in the Kremlin at a meeting of the most august body of the whole Union, the "C.I.K.," or round a table in Vladimir with the working men who constitute its County Executive Committee, one hears exactly the same problems discussed. How, be-fore June arrives, shall we manage to reduce prices by ten percent? What growth can we show in the number of our spindles, or factories, and in the number of workers employed? When and how shall we make our final assault on the last relics of illiteracy? Or when shall we have room in our schools, even in the remotest village, for every child? Was it by good luck or good guidance that the number of typhus cases has dropped in a year by half? And, finally, how can we hasten the raising of clover seed, so that the peasants who, at last, thanks to our propaganda, are clamoring for it, may not be disappointed?

—H.N. Brailsford, How The Soviets Work (1927)

genuinely, i think you should take a moment and think about where you learned about the soviet union. have you read any serious historical work on the topic, even from non-communist or anti-communist sources? because even imperialist propagandists have to make a pretence at engaging with actual facts on the ground, something which you haven't done at all -- and yet you speak with astounding confidence. i recommend you read some serious books instead of animal farm and reflect on why you believe the things you believe and how you know the things you think you know.

[disregardcanon]

a few ways others influenced how Billy manifested "The Road"

the conversation about "taming your fears" and then "trials" and agatha claiming that they would face a trial for "each skill" shapes not only the setup as A Series of Four Trials, but also the emphasis on PERSONAL GROWTH. Billy ends up focusing in on what he knows about these different women whose minds he can read and who he keeps getting to know more and more as they go around

"i thought this would be obvious, but we should stay on the road" and then teen adding "I STRAY NOT FROM THE PATH!" happily like a student eagerly raising their hand in class. and then agatha is able to say "hello yes favorite student PLEASE make our situation go by what happens in the song i made up with my son. if you believe it then that'll become our reality! yay!"

agatha keeps asserting that billy is the familiar because oh boy! if he doesn't think of himself as Part of the Coven in the same way maybe his brain won't turn on him and get us all killed! yay!

For the first trial, Jennifer says that she "looks like one of her customers", and her business and clientele are BOTH something that Billy is familiar with. From the different versions of the Ballad, he already considers Personal Trauma to be something that's confronted on the Road, so of course he subconsciously chose something that created traumatic hallucinations, and then Agatha is still figuring out How This Thing That Shouldn't Be Is Going to Work so of COURSE she's reticent to drink the weird ominous now surely poisoned wine. she knows that the road isn't a real, cosmic entity that has set rules the way that others think. she fights against the idea that they all have to drink because if she had convinced billy that they didn't... she wouldn't have to! but with the combination of his preconceptions and the rest of the coven, who thinks that this is One Hundred Percent Real... he stays set on the idea that them, the Coven Members, all have to drink.

agatha stops fighting for HEY NO WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS as soon as billy decides if she doesn't, he will. she doesn't want to die for this, but she's also not stupid enough to have The Kid That Almost Definitely Is Making This Happen drink the wine instead of her. it actually IS better for her to be incapacitated and them have a chance to get out than to poison the kid who's clearly Doing The Magic Here,

For the second trial, Billy has some information from Alice about how her situation with her mom went via Being Right By Her During Her Hallucination and Alice Telling Him Things. from the hallucination: we get lorna playing with the cigarette lighter, saying she could feel alice's grandmother die thousands of miles away, smoke, and "I CAN'T PROTECT YOU!" he was right outside the door, where i'm sure he could hear her thoughts. this gives him enough to clearly connect Alice with fire in his mind. the rest of the trial was just... him knowing that alice has issues with her mother and her mother's version of the ballad, and creating a circumstance where she'd work through that issue. he really lucked into it being a protection spell for a proper generational curse.

other bits of trial number two: "seriously, we're an album cover waiting to happen!" teen exclaims. the walls of assorted Bad Things That Happen to Witches and then lorna wu merchandise.

he doesn't actually know nearly as much about agatha as the others, because he can't read agatha's mind. i think that the ouija board trial was the first one where his brain was just "huh, okay... what are the vibes of talking to spirits?" lilia establishes that spirit magic can't be hers because it was a con and establishes herself as divination for later, and then RIO is the one that makes it agatha's. i haven't totally figured out why, though. or what his subconscious had in mind for what "passing" the trial would look like. evanora and nicky were definitely the real ghosts pulled in with the help of the ouija board, but the reasoning behind it is a lot less... clear to me than the others.

the outside of the road was treacherous enough to keep sharon inside, but it didn't kill him and i don't think that it would have. the goal of that subconscious bit of magic was a fence, vs the subconscious use of the Trials, which according to the ballad, being used to construct it, COULD be deadly. (if one be gone we carry on, spirit as our guide). then of course when agatha, lilia and jen got sucked under it, despite how angry he was... it was a conscious enough use of magic and he didn't ACTUALLY want them dead.

the divination trial was pretty clearly set up in his brain for lilia. the tarot, the old timey european aesthetic of the set, and then the different witch costumes assigned to different witches to represent how he views them. it also makes sense that they couldn't figure out how to "pass it" before lilia got there because neither billy nor agatha are very good at tarot and they were just sniping at each other about how to do it, vs lilia who divined her whole life and was able to use the power boost billy's powers gave her to go out with a bang.

the green trial, i think, was a desperate last moment brain attempt to just shove them in a room and get results. the aesthetic was Scary Morgue because he finally had rio/death to slot into the green witch part of his brain. the idea, then, became Give the Survivors What They Came For, then they can leave. they got jen unbound and she got to disappear. agatha guided him through getting tommy a body and then he got to disappear, and then his brain kept agatha there until she was able to get at her own reason for being on the road: starting anew. then it let them all out.

[cazort]

I have seen a post circulating that talks about US politics and basically insinuates that in the upcoming presidential election, Biden is "99% Hitler" and Trump is "100% Hitler" and it makes me so frustrated that people can't see this as the disinformation and anti-vote propaganda that it is.

I'm intensely frustrated with Biden for how he has acted too little, too late on the Palestine issue, and how the U.S. continues to send billions in arms to Israel. And yet I'm going to be voting for him, and the analogy above is hugely dishonest. There is a massive difference between Biden and Trump:

The Biden administration and Democrats have strongly and unambiguously protected abortion rights, whereas Donald Trump appointed three supreme court justices who overturned Roe vs. Wade, and Republicans have across-the-board passed draconian abortion restrictions far more conservative than even their base.

Biden and the Democrats are strongly pro-LGBTQ rights including trans rights, at a time when Republicans are threatening trans rights in every state they control, and when even mainstream, "center-left" publications like the NY Times have been publishing transphobic drivel.

The Biden administration continues to expand healthcare access and work to control costs whereas the Trump administration worked to undermine much of the coverage we had.

The Trump administration was hopelessly corrupt and dysfunctional, with turnover in most appointed positions, scandal after scandal. Trump committed crime after crime in plain view, and incited an insurrection when he lost the election and has continued to back conspiracy theories undermining the very foundation of our democracy. Biden has been a relatively straightforward, "what you see is what you get" politician over his whole career, with a sort of level of flaws and corruption that is more typical of politics.

Trump had unprecedented anti-immigrant stances and under him, life became much more difficult for immigrants to the US as well as for non-citizens living here legally. Biden's administration has tried and worked against tough resistance to reverse many of the worst immigration changes made under the Trump administration, including doing things like giving 320,000 Venezuelans temporary protected status as refugees, trying to halt the border wall construction, and increasing legal immigration across-the-board.

Biden's rhetoric has become more critical of Israel over time, Biden has called for regime change and the ousting of Netanyahu, and under Biden the US Ambassador finally stopped voting against a ceasefire resolution and only abstained. Whereas Trump and the Republican's rhetoric has retained entirely critical of Palestinians and not at all critical of Israel, and Republicans have consistently supported draconian restrictions such as bans on BDS and some even introducing legislation banning referring to the region as Palestine. And weeks back, when public sentiment was not as anti-Israel as it is now, several Democrats voted for scrutiny to the Israeli military aid, whereas only one Republican did.

I am highly critical of Biden and I too am appalled that he's still running and that we don't have a better candidate who even ran in the primary. But it's far from truthful to say there is only a 1% difference between Biden and Trump, and even more dishonest and inaccurate to call Biden "99% Hitler", that's crazy talk and it serves only one purpose: to demotivate people and suppress voting.

There is a huge difference between these candidates. They will affect my daily life and your daily life and they will affect the whole world and they will affect Palestine.

Do you want a better candidate? Do you want to vote for an idealistic third-party candidate as a protest vote?

Support ranked choice voting first. Then, if you are in a state like Maine or Alaska that allows ranked choice for the president, vote for your ideal candidates and place Biden however low you want and then omit Trump entirely.

But if you do not have ranked choice in your state, especially if you live in a swing state, vote for Biden. And make sure to also join a movement that advances ranked choice, ideally Total Vote Runoff (TVR) as that is the best system for ranked choice.

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

yay!! the gift has been gifted, so here's the little ficlet i wrote for @thefreakandthehair's wedding gift zine!!! congratulations Lex!!!!!

pairing: steddie | word count: 1,313 | rated: G | on AO3: it started with the oven

It started with the oven.

Well, with him complaining about the oven, to be specific. The house those government folks put them up in after everything happened last year was new to them o’course, but nowhere near brand-spankin’. Still had some issues to work out.

“Sorry boys, roast might be a bit crispy on one side. Damn oven is acting up again.” 

Wayne didn’t notice it that first time, but Steve immediately perked up, the look completely throwing off his attempted casualness about what he said next.

“I can help you fix it if you like.”

Without even looking at his nephew, Wayne knows they’re both giving Steve twin looks of confusion.

“You know how to fix an oven? How in the hell do you know how to fix an oven?” Eddie asks, half incredulous, half actually curious.

“I uh…had to figure it out once when ours went out…”

Wayne could hear the rest of that statement clear as day, though Steve stayed quiet after that. “It was either that, or go hungry.” Those goddamn Harringtons…

“Sure thing son, let's let it cool down and we can take a look at it.”

By time dinner is over, Eddie’s disappeared, back to his room to do god knows what while he and Steve pull the oven away from the wall.

The longer they work, the quieter Steve becomes. Knowing what he knows now, it was the nerves about what he wanted to ask, but to the Wayne in the moment, it was just nice to get some help around the house without also hearing loud complaining.

Steve tells Wayne what he’d done before to fix his, and Wayne gives him a couple other tips with other potential problems, and soon, the oven is once again able to heat evenly.

“Looks good, kid,” Wayne says, clapping a hand on Steve’s shoulder once they’ve got the thing pushed back where it goes.

He turns to put away his tool box, leaving the young man to do whatever it is he normally does with his nephew (gross), when Steve’s voice stops him.

“Wayne?”

“Hm?” 

Steve falls quiet again, so Wayne turns, taking in Steve’s uncharacteristically anxious demeanor and now pale complexion.

“I–” Steve looks him in the eye, but only briefly. His gaze drops to the dirt on his hands, which he brushes off. “Nothing, just–thanks.” he finishes with a small smile, heading down the hall immediately after.

Wayne shrugs, going back to his toolbox. Odd. But whatever; glad to be of help with…whatever it was he helped with.

—

The next time, it was the front porch.

Luckily not ‘cause of anyone fallin’ through or anything, just about high time he got those front few planks replaced before someone does.

He says as much to his boys at dinner a few weeks after he and Steve fixed the oven, and Eddie volunteers himself for moral support.

“You just wanna see me shirtless and sweaty.” Steve accuses.

“Correct. Moral Support.” Ed sweeps his hand out and leans back in his chair.

“Do I hafta be shirtless too?”

Both boys loudly protest in answer, fake gags and all.

He and Steve get to work tearing out the old rotted boards a couple days later, and as expected, Eddie makes himself scarce within an hour. Something about “You guys workin’ this hard is making me thirsty. I’m gonna go grab milkshakes.”

“Moral Support my ass...” Wayne mumbles, shaking his head fondly.

Again, not long after Eddie’s gone, Steve’s easy conversation peters off; and again, Wayne just assumes he’s not quite used to being around him alone, or that he just prefers comfortable silence over chatter (something Wayne himself can appreciate).

He does come back in, however, after a long lull. “Wayne, I wanted to ask…”

Wayne doesn’t find out what Steve wanted though, as Eddie’s van rattles up the road at that moment, the promise of a cool treat too good to pass up for chattin’ with his boyfriend’s Uncle.

Though, as he watches Steve help Eddie out of the van, grabbing the milkshakes (and a quick kiss) from his boy, Wayne thinks he already knows what it is Steve was gonna ask.

And what his answer would be.

—

The third and final time was definitely the time.

This time, there was no pretense. Wayne and Steve weren’t already working on something together, no current excuse to talk without Eddie nearby. It was a Thursday evening and Wayne was alone at home about to head in for a shift.

Opening the door to a knock was weird though. Steve basically lived here, so opening the door to his wide-eyed, pale face was a shock.

“Steve? What’re knocking for, boy?”

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just–I’m–”

“You ‘right, son? C’mon inside now..” Wayne coaxes the kid inside, and Steve takes his shoes off automatically, lining them up along the messy pile of Eddie’s shoes just inside the door.

“Eddie’s at the Emersons’ y’know.” Wayne says, plopping back into his previously abandoned armchair.

“Y-yeah, I know, I just dropped him and Henderson off there for their game.”

They both fall quiet then. 

Steve rubs the back of his neck nervously, and Wayne waits patiently.

…Okay, maybe not that patiently.

“Now look, Steve, not that I don’t appreciate spendin’ time wit’cha, ‘cause I do, but it seems t’me you came here for a reason.”

Steve’s gaze snaps up, mouth agape. “How’d you–nevermind.” he clears his throat and continues.

“Mr. Munson–”

“Nope, none’a that, not even for this. M’name’s Wayne, son.” He enjoys throwing Steve off sometimes, alright? Sue him.

All the breath in Steve’s lungs seems to escape at once and he smiles slightly, visibly relaxing just a tad. 

Good.

“Wayne, Eddie and I have been dating for over a year now…obviously…you know that..”

“Is that what you two’ve been doin’? I thought you two were just the best of buds.”

This time, Steve actually laughs. “Shut up, I’m nervous, okay?”

“I know y’are, kiddo.”

He takes another settling breath, much calmer now, and continues. “I love him, Wayne. More than anything in my life.

“I know it’s not for real, I know, but I want him, and you, to know that I mean this to be forever. That if I could, I would marry him tomorrow.” Steve chuckles to himself at that, “Probably would’ve months ago, to be honest.

“All this to say—to ask! Ask…” he shuffles nervously again.

‘You got this, Steve, you’re almost there.’ Wayne thinks encouragingly at him.

As if he could hear him, Steve steels himself, looks Wayne in the eye, and (finally) says:

“Wayne, I would like your blessing to propose to Eddie.” He takes another short breath and presses on. “And I don’t want to hear anything about “Why’re you askin’ me, he’s not my kid.” or some crap, either. You’re the most important person in his life, and always will be. It may not be important to you, but it is to me… That you approve, I mean.”

Okay, he knew it was coming. But the added impassioned (and unnecessary) speech that came with it was a surprise. As if Steve was willing to fight Wayne for thinking Wayne wasn’t important to Eddie. 

He stands, hefting himself out of the sunken springs of his chair, and immediately pulls Steve in for a hug.

“Good speech, son.” he says, squeezing the kid tightly for a moment before adding on, “Though I don’t think there was a single question mark in that whole rant o’yours.”

Steve laughs into his shoulder, beaming his wide bright smile when they separate.

“Do I have your blessing or not, old man?” he snarks, pulling a bellowing laugh out of Wayne.

“That’s more like it!” He claps a hand onto Steve’s shoulder. “And of course y’have it, Steve…

“I’d be proud to call you a Munson.”

you can read this one and the whole rest of the collection here!

[uniquexusposts]

Her || Charles Leclerc

Main characters: Charles Leclerc x OC Genre: fanfiction, fluff  Story type: novel  Part: 10/? Word count: 2602 Co writer: @mistrose23

Story summary: Matilde Jørgensen, the new Scuderia Ferrari team principal, faced the nerve-wracking challenge of reviving the team's fortunes and aiming for a championship. Leading a historic team as a 'newbie' and separating her work and personal opinions posed a significant challenge. The big question: is she capable to do so?

Previous chapter

Chapter 8. Call It What You Want

Matilde sat in the airport, waiting for her flight to leave. She was seated in the business class lounge, enjoying a cup of coffee. Well, she couldn't really enjoy it. The events of yesterday played through her head; from the perfect race and victory, to the moment in the restaurant. Even though it hurt, she still had a fun night with Max and her former colleagues.

"Hey," a voice said, he sounded surprised.

Matilde looked up and a smile came to her face. "Hey," she smiled at Kevin, who took a seat next to her. "Going home?"

The Danish driver nodded. "You too?"

She nodded. "It's my mum's birthday tomorrow."

"Ah, that's sweet. Congrats on your win, by the way! Your first victory as team principal and the first victory for Ferrari this year!"

A weak smile came on her face. "Thanks."

"Hangover?" The off reaction didn't go unnoticed by Kevin.

"Yeah," she breathed. "Something like that."

He smirked. "You will remember this one forever."

"And if I will," she muttered. The good and the bad, she thought. "How was your race? P11, P10?"

"P10, quite average. It was an alright weekend. The track is fun, but the entire show around it... Not a big fan, to be honest."

"Yeah, Miami is something else. I wonder what Las Vegas will be like," she mentioned.

"We are Danes, we keep it low profile."

They both laughed.

"Where are you seated?" Kevin asked.

Matilde looked at her ticket. "2A, you?"

"8H," he replied. "I don't know if it is me, but it's quite funny that in America, we get paper boarding passes, and in Europe, or flying from Europe, we have them online. Or it's me, my subconscious preference."

"No, I have it too. But I don't know. Also, when going through security here, we have to remove our shoes. I have never done that in Europe. Bizarre how many things are different between continents." She took a deep breath. "It makes travelling interesting and fun."

Matilde and Kevin made their way to the gate when it was almost time to board. They had to wait for just a few minutes, because the crew still had to arrive after a short delay on their side. Matilde's eyes fell on the crew of SAS, who now arrived. A smile came on her face, and tears flowed in her eyes. One of the stewardesses happily smiled as well and excused herself from the crew, just like one of the pilots. Matilde stepped towards the inflight manager of the flight.

"Mati," the stewardess said and embraced her daughter tightly.

Matilde closed her eyes, not saying anything back. She was so relieved and happy to see her mother after five months. More tears welled up, but she was fighting against them.

Freja pulled back, looking at her daughter. Matilde opened her eyes and took a deep breath. "Sweetheart..." Freja found herself in a difficult situation as well, trying to hold back the emotions as well. She stroked a piece of hair behind Matilde's ear and placed her hand on Matilde's cheek. "I'm so happy to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Matilde whispered, not wanting to bother her mother before the flight and her job with her issues. "I'm so happy to see you, too," she said and smiled. "I didn't know you were on this flight."

"Coincidence," her mother smiled. "We will talk once we are in the air, okay?" She let go of Matilde and looked at the man who sat on the bench; she assumed it was a friend of Matilde's. "Are you flying together?"

Matilde looked behind her, at Kevin. "Yes, but we're not seated next to each other. He's a friend of Lars."

"Since when does Lars know Kevin Magnussen?"

"Lene is friends with his wife," Matilde smirked, thinking how ironic it was.

Freja looked impressed and introduced herself to the Danish driver. While they had a quick chat, Matilde greeted the pilot with a hug, happy to see him as well. The stewardess and pilot excused themselves and boarded the plane.

"Parents?" Kevin asked curiously.

Matilde nodded. "Mother and stepfather," she exclaimed. "She says it is a coincidence that she's working on this flight, but I know she planned it like this."

"Parents..." He smiled. "It's adorable." He looked at her. "This might be a personal question, and if you don't want to answer it, it's fine. But do you still see your father?" Kevin looked waitingful at her. "Lars doesn't really talk about this family, as you probably know by now."

A comforting smile came on her face. "Yeah, Lars is really private. But we all still see our dad. My parents divorced twenty-four years ago, and they're still friends. Mum met Emil through work, and they try to work on the same flights since they got together."

"Did they get together..?"

"Oh, no. A few years after the divorce."

"And your dad?" Kevin's eyes grew round. "Sorry, I'm asking way too much."

She shook her head. "It's okay, it's not like I have issues talking about it. My dad has a girlfriend, Astrid. They met two years ago. It's complicated, but it is what it is," she said and shrugged. "How are Louise and Laura, by the way? And how is the pregnancy going so far? You're having another girl, right? "

"They are both doing fine, and yes, we're having another girl." A smile came to his face as he continued to talk about his family.

* * *

Since it was a day flight, Matilde didn't manage to get any sleep. She planned to do some work on the plane, but ended up watching some movies. Her mind kept drifting off to last night. She got up from her seat and walked through the aisle, passing Kevin, who sat on the other side of the cabin. Their eyes met, he smiled, she nodded. Once she got in the galley, she waited for the bathroom.

"Mati," Matilde's mother said when entering the galley. "How is everything?" She closed the curtain.

"Fine, a whole new experience in business class," Matilde replied and playfully smiled.

"You've never flown business class at SAS?"

"No, economy is all I could pay for, and Red Bull could book for me. Now Ferrari books business class for me. Well, not this flight. I happened to get an upgrade?" She raised her eyebrows. "On this flight only? Not the first flight?"

Her mother smiled. "That is weird, lucky you."

"Mum, you didn't have to do this."

"You are the team principal of Ferrari and flying economy? A woman like you should fly business class. And it is a pleasure to have my daughter in business class on my flight," her mother proudly said and nudged Matilde's shoulder.

Whenever Matilde or her brothers were on the same flight as their mother - which wasn't often, they flew economy. And they grew up appreciating the small things, they didn't bother to fly business. Matilde wanted to ask Ferrari to book economy tickets, but she didn't dare to ask because she understood that by booking business class, she could properly rest or work during a flight. But flying business class wasn't in her nature.

"Still... This is a flight for a private event."

"Still. At least you're not flying private." Freja handed over a bottle of water. "How was yesterday?"

"Aren't you supposed to work?"

"We are mid-flight, all the passengers are served, and now we get on a break."

"Oh, yeah, that is right." Matilde took a sip of her water. "Well, go get your break. It's important."

Her mother proudly smiled. "You sound like a real boss, a caring boss."

A fragile smile came on Matilde's face. "I will tell you all about this weekend once we are home."

"Of course. Unless you want to say something now?"

"No, no, it can wait. You should take your break."

"Okay, sweetheart. By the way, are you driving home with Emil and me? After the plane lands, we have a quick debrief, and then we are free to go. It's okay if you want to go home. Are you staying at mine or your dad's?"

"It's your birthday tomorrow, so I was hoping to crash at yours?"

"Yes! Of course. You're always welcome."

"And if I can drive home with you? I think that's fun," Matilde smiled. "We're going to the same destination, after all."

Freja nodded. "I will share the plans after my break, yes? And you go to the bathroom, it's free now."

Matilde laughed. "See you soon." She stepped into the toilet and did her thing. When she stepped back into the galley, her gaze fell on Kevin. Business class was almost empty, and so was the seat next to Kevin. Without thinking too much about it, she sat down next to him; only the aisle was in between them. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

He sat up and smiled. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

She licked her lips and looked around her. "Well, uh, I don't know if you're the right person to ask this, but yeah... From my experience, we did things differently... but when you're going out after a race, celebrating a...perfect result... do you ask Steiner to join? Or other Head of Departments?"

A frown came on his forehead, and he crossed his arms. "We don't have those results often, but... Yes. Why?"

Matilde slowly nodded. "Exactly," she mumbled. She looked down and saw that her hands trembled slightly.

"Why?" Kevin asked again.

"I'm telling you this in confidence, okay?" Matilde said and looked at him.

"No one will know about it; whatever you have to say, I promise."

"No one in F1," she repeated. "I'm struggling with this thought, but...uhm, the team went out to celebrate the win and P2," she told him. Kevin nodded. "Without me." Tears filled her eyes. "And I don't know if it was their intention, like, not to invite me. As in, they didn't want to celebrate it with me. Or if this is how it goes at Ferrari."

A concerned look came on his face. "Oh, wow. Matilde..." He didn't know what to say. "Why is that your thought?"

"Things are not going smoothly with the team and me; there's still a lot of friction. And I'm still an outsider, which I get; I'm new, young, a woman, still learning to speak Italian. But this weekend... It felt like we bonded, like we finally became a team. And I was, am, still proud of this weekend with all the performances, but then I got a message from Leclerc, asking where I was at their celebration. Coincidentally, we were in the same restaurant. I was with Gemma, and we ended up at Red Bull's dinner. And then I saw the team celebrating the great results."

"But didn't they go out with the team and... I don't know, perhaps the crew only?" Kevin asked, trying to understand it and trying to soften the blow for her.

Matilde shrugged and wiped away a tear that was rolling over her cheek. "No." She looked in front of her. "Everyone was there, except me. But why would Leclerc text me, asking where I was? If it was a crew-only dinner, then why would he text me?"

He showed a weak smile. "I don't know. I'm trying to find some reasonable excuses, to make you feel less shit. You know, I know my crew often goes out as well without inviting the board." He scanned her face. "But the message from Leclerc doesn't make sense. But why were you with Gemma at the Red Bull dinner?"

"I kinda forgot," she said, more tears rolling over her cheeks. "I had so many emotions, and everyone was texting and calling me and asking me things. I asked a mechanic, and he said that they would stay in, because they all had an early flight home the next morning," she rattled. "And then Gemma showed up and asked if I wanted to join her. Next thing I know, I was doing shots with Max." She ran a hand through her hair. "I was thinking of throwing lunch or something after the days off, but I'm not too sure about it now."

Kevin nodded and took a deep breath. "This is not nothing..." He didn't want to say too much; what if he said something wrong? Or gave her an idea? "Did they see you?"

"I sent them champagne."

Kevin straightened his face. "You did what?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, but what the fuck was going on? It didn't make sense. And I wanted to let them know I was there without actually standing next to their table," she blurted. When she thought about it now, it was a bold move, a dick move, but it was genius. "And I told the waiter to say that I gave them my compliments."

"Matilde..." He looked impressed and disapproved at the same time. "This is so..."

"Not me? Yes, I know. But I already had alcohol in my body, and I just... I don't know, I was so confused and disappointed. And when the waiter pointed at me... You should have been there. They looked like they had seen a ghost."

Kevin couldn't help it, but laugh. "It is such a dick move, but such a great move. You can't do this. This is not professional."

"It's not professional to invite everyone, but your team principal. And I get it; it's awkward, but I'm not awkward. Half of the team is older than me and more experienced than me. And it's not like I don't know how to function in a team." She shrugged.

"But how did things go at Red Bull?"

"We would go out for dinner first, often with Christian and the board. The team would go to a club, and Christian and the board often would go back to the hotel; sometimes, they would join. Or we would go out without Christian and the board, team only thing, but they would know. Or they declined the invitation. We were very open," she said and dried her eyes when her sight became blurry. "It was asked... And everybody had a choice. I know things work differently at Ferrari, but this was the last thing that I expected." Matilde shook her head. "We still have to bond and stuff, apparently, but I honestly thought we bonded well over this weekend, and I was just so proud to lead this team." Warm tears left her eyes again. "They didn't invite me for a reason."

"Why?"

"I don't know." She sniffled. "But it's good to know that this isn't normal. Or that this is the way Ferrari operates. The text of Leclerc still doesn't make sense."

"Well, I know that this isn't normal."

She got up. "God, I'm sorry you had to see me having a breakdown," Matilde embarrassedly laughed and dried her eyes. "It's the lack of sleep, hangover and yeah... But thanks for listening. I won't hold you up longer from whatever you wanted to do."

"Matilde, this is a serious issue. I'm not saying you have to go to the board and say something about it, but you have to talk about it. If you say nothing, they will think this is normal, and it's definitely not normal," Kevin mentioned. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly, just to let her know that he was there for her. "Let me know how it goes." He gently let go of her hand.

She nodded. "I will, thank you. Really," she said and walked away, back to her own seat.

Kevin was perplexed and processing the words he just heard. Should he do something about it? Or did her team have other intentions? Either way, he knew he had to text her brother when they landed, sharing his concern. 

Next chapter

[louloulemons-posts]

The Criminal And The Princess I

Grumpy!College!Eddie X Sunshine!Skater!Reader

Summary : The second year of college life is starting and Eden Bennett is already swamped, but when she meets her new partner in history class, will that all change?

Word Count : 1.6k

Warnings : introduction piece, not much eddie, edens dad is a prick, talk of dead parent, talk of food issues, swearing, billy hargrove

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

I felt like I’d settled into college pretty well, I’d successfully gotten through my first year and was starting my second today.

“I’m so glad we’ve gotten a bigger apartment,” Nancy laughed, coming out of her room with an empty box. “I know right,” Robin said, throwing herself on the green couch.

“We were lucky to find this place,” I spoke.

“You mean, we’re lucky your dad’s part of the education board.” I rolled my eyes, that was true. Mainly focused on sports but he played rolls in other places around campus.

“Yeah that too,” I began, “Listen I’ve gotta go to the rink, I’ll see you later.” Grabbing my duffle I headed out. Honestly the apartment was more of a home for Nancy and Robin, than myself, the rink was my home.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“You’re late,” my dad spoke as I walked into the rink. “Sorry, we were unpacking.”

“Just get your skates on,” he waved you off, walking up to his office.

Throwing my bag down I pulled my trainers off, taking off my hoodie and laced up my skates. My hair was tired up into a bun and the guards came off my skates.

Being on ice was easier than being on solid ground. Sliding onto the ice, I put my earphones in, letting the music take over.

There was an upcoming championship, and training was had, dad told me that my axles had gotten sloppy, that’s where I began.

I don’t know how long I was skating for, but when the lights were being flicked at me, I looked up spotting my dad stood on the edge of the ice.

Putting my earphones away, I skated over to him with ease. “They’re getting better,” He said, “But the hockey boys are gonna be here soon.”

“Right, yeah I’ll get off then.”

“You coming for dinner on Friday?”

“Do you really want me too?” I asked.

“Of course I do Eden.”

Giving him a nod, I began to untie my skates, throwing my trainers back, along with my hoodie.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” dad spoke.

“Tomorrow? My classes start tomorrow.”

The man let out a sigh, “Eden, regionals are coming up, your training isn’t changing. 6am.”

With a huff I nodded, heading out of the rink. “Coach!” I heard a voice call, making me speed up. Billy Hargrove. Resident asshole, and dad’s star player on the hockey team, along with the one and only …

“E!” Steve Harrington.

“Hey,” I smiled at him, giving him a quick squeeze. “How’s the moving in going?”

“It’s gone, we’re all settled in. You got a match coming up?”

“Friday.”

“I’ll be there,” I smiled.

“Course you will, Robin won’t come alone.”

I laughed, nodding, “That’s true. Good luck on your practice. Billy seems more asshole-ish today.”

Steve cocked him brow as me, making me shake my head, “I know, when is he not?” Saying my goodbyes to Steve I headed out to my car, sighing as I sat down, my feet aching from the skates.

I did love to skate, I did. I always wanted to be on the ice, in the winter I’d skate by the lake near our with mom. Sometimes dad would join us.

Mom had wanted to go pro, well she had, until she met dad and had me. We skated together for fun, but when she passed, dad kept pushing, got me a proper trainer. I was with professional skaters more than my dad.

I loved to skate, but I didn’t want to go pro, that’s why I went to college. I was studying history, wanting to work in a museum and go and find hidden treasures.

Dad didn’t want that for me though, he wanted me to skate, wanted me to be what mom never was. An olympian. And if I ever said no … well then came the guilt trips and “Eden think of your mother.”

Shockingly, maybe even to my dad’s surprise, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think of her.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Pushing through the front door, I called out, “It’s only me!” Sliding my shoes off I threw them by Robins beat up docs and a pair of trainers owned by Nancy.

“Just in time! Dinner!” The curly haired girl smiled, her head popping round the door into the hallway. “I’ll be right there, just gonna take my bag to my room.”

“Well don’t take too long! The lasagna will go cold.” Nancy Wheeler was one of the kindest souls, she was also a total badass.

Dropping back on my bed with a groan, I let my bag fall to the floor. It wasn’t really my room yet, I was still trying to find a home for everything, the walls were bare, and hospital like.

The only thing that said me, were the countless medals and trophies scattered here and there. Along with the picture of me sat on my mom’s lap on my desk.

With a sigh I rubbed my thumb across the photo, she was beautiful.

“Eden!” Robin shouted, making me jump slightly. “Yeah I’m coming!” Putting the photo down I flicked the light off and headed to the girls.

Heading to the kitchen I sat down at our dining table, the chairs mismatched. “Uh I don’t think I can have the lasagna,” I said. Nancy stopped plating up my dinner.

“You okay?” Robin asked.

“Is it one of those days?”

Both girls were very aware of my issues with food, you had to look a certain way to skate, had to be a certain weight for a partner to lift you - something my dad never failed in reminding me.

“My dad’s not letting up on the training, so I’ve just gotta watch what I eat,” I sighed, giving the pair a sad shrug. I saw the girls share a glance.

“Eden-“ Nancy began.

“I’m not gonna do what I did last time, I’ll eat with you, I just can’t have what you have.” Robin sighed shaking her head,

“I swear next time I see your dad I’m kicking him in the throat.”

I laughed. “E, I’m saying this cause I love you, eat the fucking lasagna, fuck your dad-“ me and Robin gasped, Nancy barely swore, “Shush, the pair of you. You need to get better, analysing everything you eat will make you sick again.”

Under Nancy stern glaze and Robins smirk, “Give me the fucking lasagna.”

“Language!” Nancy scolded, making Robin cackle.

They really were the best friends I could ever ask for.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Sat in class, our professor spoke to us about our first assignment, that we’d have to a presentation about an influential history figure - someone who was important to us. Only catch, she had pre-assigned partners for us.

A lot of groans rang out through the room, I didn’t mind, I was in class with a girl Robin was head over heels for, Vickie, but I assumed I wouldn’t be lucky enough to be paired with her.

“Victoria Carmichael and James Morgans.” What did I tell you?

“We’ve got Edward Munson and Eden Bennett,” the woman spoke. I looked up meeting a pair of dark eyes, I hadn’t ever really spoke to Eddie. “Now if you could please move to sit next to your partners.”

I threw my bag over my shoulder, grabbing my laptop, notebook and pen heading a few rows up to the boy. “Hey,” I offered him a smile, sitting down next to him. “Hi,” he grunted.

“I know you’ve all come back from your break, so this class can be used for planning your assignment and presentation. Next class we’ll be back to our regular schedule.”

“So Edward-“ I began.

“Eddie,” he cut me off.

“Hm?” He looked up at me, his face looked tired. “Nobody calls me Edward.” I nodded my head, “Ah okay, well Eddie. Any ideas who you want to study?”

He sighed, rubbing his face, “Queen Victoria?” I snorted a laugh, making him scowl at me. “What?”

“Just wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

“Something against Queen Victoria?”

I smiled at him, shaking my head, “No not at all, you sure you wanna study her? How about you make a list of people, I’ll do the same, and the we can choose one randomly?”

“Sure,” he turned from me, picking up his pen and began writing in his notebook. I did the same, giving us both a few minutes. “You ready?” I asked him.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, close your eyes.”

“What?” he asked with scrunched brows. “Close your eyes and point at any name.”

He sighed, shaking his head, making curls fall out of the bun at the base of his neck. He closed his eyes, and slammed his finger down onto my list instead of his.

“Oh cool!” I said, clasping my hands.

“Wow is it, Florence Nightingale? Cause she wasn’t all shes cracked up to be-“

“James Hetfield, he’s in Metallica.”

He looked at me with wide eyes, “You know James Hetfield?” I laughed, shaking my head in a yes motion. “Shocking I know, but I don’t live under a rock, my mom loves Metallica.”

“Oh right.”

“So, is that good for you?” He hummed nodding, “Y-yeah that’s fine.”

“Great could we swap numbers just so we can plan when to work on stuff together?”

“Sure?”

“You don’t sound sure?” I smiled, “We can swap emails if you want?”

“No, phone number is fine.” Ripping the paper from the bottom of my list off, I wrote my number down, giving it to Eddie.

“Just text me when you’re free and we can figure stuff out.”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Okay guys that’s all for today!” the professor said loudly. I packed up my stuff, throwing my back on my shoulder, “It was nice meeting you Eddie, make sure to let me know when you’re free,” I smiled, before heading over to Vickie.

“Yeah, bye,” he said quietly, packing up his own things.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

I hope you enjoyed the first part of The Criminal and The Princess! More will be coming soon 🫶🏻

taglist : @gnrquinn @flawiette @taylorswiftsloverfr @mygirlchaos @marvelcasey05 @ali-r3n

let me know if you want to be added 🤍

[anexperimentallife]

Help a disabled, neurodivergent, interracial family get back to the US for medical treatment

After three bouts of COVID and other medical issues over the past six years here in the Philippines, my health has deteriorated to the point at which I'm worried I won't get to watch my little girl grow up unless I can get back to where I can use my Medicare and VA benefits for various surgeries and treatments.

Unfortunately, even with all y'all's help, @thesurestthing and I are still in debt from the two-year ordeal of fixing our daughter's stateless status, so we can't do this on our own. My little sister started a fundraiser for us, and there are a couple of other ways to help, as well. If you can't help, please reblog. Thank you! (The PayPal link takes the lowest fees, but whatever works for you is best!)

If you want more details, they're under the cut:

Six years ago, while still grieving the deaths of my adult sons and a painful breakup, I moved from the US to the Philippines with just what I could carry, in large part because it's actually possible to survive here on the pittance US disability pays. I had kind of given up on life and figured I would sort of drift off eventually. I wasn't going to kick my own bucket, mind you; I just wasn't going to try very hard to keep living. And I figured I'd just pass away someplace beautiful.

Soon after I got here, though, @thesurestthing (also American) started messaging me from the states, told me she was going to come to the Philippines and be my girlfriend (even though I told her no at first), and eventually joined me here. We had a baby under lockdown, and got married.

So now I had something to live for. (And most of y'all know the drama with the error on El's birth certificate that left her stateless and took almost two years and a lot of money to get fixed.)

But I have had health scare after health scare over the past few years, including three bouts of COVID (some of you remember the month I spent hooked up to an oxygen machine), two bouts of pneumonia, a persistent two-year foot infection that took surgery to clear up (and is going to require another surgery to keep cleared up), damage to my heart and scarring in my lungs from long covid, a literal hole in my throat that is growing bigger, a spine injury, joint injuries, osteo and rheumatoid arthritis, a traumatic brain injury that affects my memory and concentration, adhd, bipolar disorder, autism, and other issues.

(Not even getting into the dental stuff--Hope to be able to get that done before we go back, here where it's cheaper, because Medicare doesn't cover that.)

I'm terrified that I won't be alive to watch my little girl grow up unless I can get someplace where I can use my Medicare and VA health benefits.

An old friend of mine is a social worker and on the school board in a small Minnesota city with its own VA clinic, and has offered to help us get settled in there, but we still have to find a place to live (suitable for a couple that includes a physically disabled adult, and who have a toddler), some basic household goods, some cheap used transportation, and need to survive for a couple of months while Zoey looks for work.

Given our situation in general and the fact that right now my disability is our only income, we're probably looking at having to pay at least six months (or possibly an entire year) of rent up front in order to get anyplace to lease to us.

We can't stay with friends because every single stateside friend we have with a spare room also has a cat--and I have an anaphylactic allergic reaction to cats, meaning that I will literally die if I'm around a cat for too long. I've had to go to the ER because I slept in a room that had a blanket in the corner that a cat had momentarily lain on. The only way I can be around cats is if I'm on massive doses of immunosuppressive drugs, which, well... The whole issue here is that I keep getting deathly ill, so suppressing my immune system even more is a non-starter. Oh, and Fel D 1, the protein secreted in cat dander, saliva, and waste, can stay even on hard surface for up to two years, and even longer on porous surfaces.

Again, if we weren't still in so much debt from El's birth certificate debacle, we might be able to do this at least mostly on our own. But as things stand, we can't do it on our own. We need your help.

If you read all of this, thank you very much. And again, if you can't give, please reblog.

For more medical details, check my Rob Gets Medical tag. For more details about Eleanor's birth certificate saga, check my Baby El tag.

[exitrowiron]

What to do when your flight is cancelled. (This is a long post, but if you travel you will find it helpful.)

Even though I'm mostly retired, I still fly frequently but I'm with Beth more often. Most flights are on-time and uneventful, but lately we've had 3 of 4 with a problem; the most significant was a cancelled flight when trying to return from Cincinnati to Seattle on Alaska last week.

The plane boarded and took off uneventfully, but it failed to gain altitude and within 10 minutes the pilot announced that an engine had malfunctioned, couldn't be restarted and we'd be returning to the airport. The plane was heavy with fuel for the cross country trip so the landing speed was higher than normal, the roll out was longer and fire trucks met the plane on the runway to ensure that the overheated brakes didn't catch fire - all standard operating procedure.

All the passengers and their carry-on luggage were deplaned and asked to stay close to the gate area while the two Alaska gate agents figured out what was going to happen. Nearly every one of the >160 passengers immediately got in line to speak with the agent at the gate; Beth and I were among the few who sat comfortably in the gate area.

Alaska is a relatively small airline, they don't have spare aircraft and crews hanging around in non-hub cities like CVG, so after two hours the gate agent announced that the flight was cancelled and that Alaska would create a replacement flight for the same time tomorrow and that we'd all be automatically rebooked. The line of 160 people hadn't moved an inch. Within a few moments we received emails with meal and hotel vouchers and the Alaska app updated with new boarding passes for the flight the next day. Our checked luggage was sent to the baggage carousel and we were sent on our way for the evening. The following day we boarded the flight and made it home without any more problems.

Here are some helpful tips:

If your arrival time is very time-sensitive:

Book a direct flight. Yes, you'll pay more but the odds of arriving on time (with your bags) go way up.

Don't check bags. If your flight gets delayed and you absolutely, positively have to be there on time, you may have the option of booking another flight on another carrier, and simply abandoning your original flight. If your flight is delayed due to weather, booking another flight won't make a difference - every flight is going to be delayed.

If you are deplaned and awaiting a decision about your flight, don't bother standing in line with all the other passengers. Your reservation, along with the reservation of every other traveler is being worked by the airline automation - check your app and email for updates. If the flight is cancelled and the airline has other flights to that destination, they will rebook everyone and unfortunately the passengers with the highest status will be first in line. Again, you may wish to try to book a flight with another carrier, but that will be expensive. Many years ago carriers would cooperate and rebook travelers on competing airlines, but this practice has been largely discontinued.

If your flight is cancelled for an airline controllable issue (ex. mechanical failure) and you are rebooked on a flight the next day most airlines will offer hotel and meal vouchers. Here's the thing, airline hotel vouchers are generally for crappy airport hotels (what other kind of hotel has last minute availability for a bunch of stranded passengers?). The Alaska Airlines fine print says that you can make your own accommodations and send them the receipt for reimbursement. Instead of the 1.5 star Quality Choice voucher hotel, we stayed at Marriott Courtyard. I have status at Marriott so we got a 4:00 pm checkout and didn't have to hang out at the airport all day. The hotel cost $175 and Alaska promptly reimbursed me $150 - that's a great deal for us and surely cost Alaska $100 more than the voucher hotel.

Lastly, Alaska is very generous in providing discounts for future flights as a way of apologizing for service issues. I've flown >1.5M miles on Delta and never received something similar. Alaska sends an email with a discount code for a future flight, but you have to keep the email OR add the code to your Alaska wallet yourself. That isn't a huge burden, but I think they should do it automatically.

In a rare example of bipartisanship, by the end of the week Congress is expected to pass a bill requiring airlines to automatically issue refunds for cancelled flights, rather than requiring travelers to chase down refunds themselves.

From Rolling Stone: On Tuesday, The Lever reported that financial statements from Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines suggested that the companies had an estimated $2 billion and $6 billion each in unused flight credits, respectively. According to a February filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, per the publication, Hawaiian Airlines made $312 million from 2020 to 2023 in unused, expired passenger tickets.

Interestingly Ted Cruz believes that conservatives don't want their money back, “Most consumers, if a flight is canceled, don’t want an immediate refund, they want to book a new flight,” he reasoned, dumping the last vestiges of logic as he explained that “almost all conservatives say, OK, put me on the next flight, and the rule saying no, you gotta give the money back automatically, no matter what the customer wants, that’s frankly a dumb idea.” Not surprisingly, for the 5 year period through 2024, Delta and American have contributed ~ $75K to Cruz's election campaign and leadership PAC.

[goth-oatmilk-latte]

for context, my work schedule is done on 3 week rotation.

week 1, I work mon - sun. week 2 I work tues - thurs (off mon, fri - sun) and week 3 I work mon - fri.

this week is my tues - thurs. we also all had Monday off for labor day. my boss last week mentioned in passing he wanted to take this entire week off but couldn't bc he didn't have the PTO. on tues, he told another manager he was also foregoing vacation.

yesterday I found out he lied to both of us and isnt here, and hadn't been on tues or wed like he said, he just got on the morning zoom and lied about what he was doing.

and that's a huge problem bc I scheduled funerals and things thinking he was in. and again this is my 3 day weekend. and he told a cemetery counselor he would also take a service for an out of state funeral home. and she called me all panicked.

baby first of all, I legally am an apprentice until Sept 17 when my state board license is printed and issued. I can't actually do anything.

two, I AM A GODDAMN FUCKING APPRENTICE LEGALLY I CANT DO SHIT FOR FUCK BY MYSELF WITHOUT A FULLY LICENSED DIRECTOR WITH ME. so he's also violating state law.

three, this is not only irresponsible to me but also unfair to me and all of our other coworkers who also weren't aware.

four, I can't have overtime so I can't even go in today (and I also don't want to) so now I have ppl calling me and I'm like hahahahaha ask him.

I am so fucking tired of this. this man has the audacity to complain he's "always" at work this mf is never here and doesn't tell anyone a goddamn thing he's doing and makes everything my problem.

as soon as the state issues my license I'm fucking out. yall didn't wanna replace my other work partner and burn me out and take me for granted? fine. pay my license fees and get fucked. I'm not doing this abusive ass shit anymore. have fun working alone like I have for almost six months now.

[tuliptiger]

Hello again! House/life update.

I am in a much better place mentally but really rather the same financially. I am currently laid off for a month seasonally since I'm still not a permanent employee. I have something in the works I'm hoping plays out so that I have a permanent position and worst case scenario I go back to work May 6th as a temp for 6 more months. I have side jobs and unemployment lined up in the mean time.

Anyway though! On to the house. Disappointing news but honest news in terms of the first contractor we hired. We still haven't gotten money back from him.

Recap: my mom and I fired him because he lied to us, charged tools on our account we up front said not to do, built a shoddy excuse of a foundation and frame for my house that we eventually had to pay our current contractor to demolish because it was so bad. It was for all definitions a different house the original contractor built. He used the wrong framing type for the blueprint and didn't even use framing nails to the city code. He wasn't even on site for 90% of the build and seemingly subcontracted it out which we didn't know.

In addition my mom is...not the best person to work with and makes a lot of mistakes. She's not a critical thinker on a lot of things. I made the mistake of asking her to help me buy land and build a house in the pursuit of escaping my generational poverty. I made the second mistake of asking her to take on individual responsibilities and not step in when the red flags started coming up.

I left her in charge of getting the money back from the OG contractor since she had all contact with him and she was originally the one who found him. That went as well as anyone could guess and she's, in summary, procrastinated doing any proper paperwork for attorneys or the contract board. I keep pushing her and she always says she'll get to it this day or that day or hits a dead end and then it goes nowhere.

This would not be a big issue but we're talking more than $20,000 he did in damages and $1,000 he directly stole from us like straight up $1,000 we handed him to do work he never did. The donations everyone has been sending in slowly are very much appreciated and remind me to keep fighting for this.

At this point I just want to get the house done so I can be done with the contractors and done with my mother. I don't want to be in this situation anymore and it's been dragged out for 3 years now. I've added pictures of where the house is at now and most of it having been done in January and February.

As the electric was finished and passed inspection I'm waiting in the HVAC and plumbing as the last things professionals must do before I can finish the house. I've started putting in flooring and the wood stove was just delivered so things are still moving.

The donations haven't covered anything large from the build but it has covered smaller things (I've used it for nails, locks for the doors, etc.) and given me strength to continue. Motivation from strangers, acquaintances and friends to not just walk away and to keep my head in the right space. I've emotionally and mentally been in a better place since I initially made the gofundme which has helped.

Anyway I've been meaning to make this for awhile and I'm sorry for the delay. I've been working my full time job before I was laid off, my side gigs, working on the house, still living out of my car and trying to work with my mother. I appreciate everyone who's been invested in this, shared it and donated. More updates will come in the future and thank you all again.

[forestknifefight]

Blupjeans Week Day Two!

I thought a modern au working on a pier like Santa Monica Pier would be so fun. Please enjoy!

There is a man in a red robe and crisp, blue denim. He leans over the edge of a grandiose metal hull and stares out at the stares as they pass by. He realizes that he’s being watched, and his body tenses for a moment.

He turns and smiles behind horn-rimmed glasses. The corners of his eyes wrinkle delightfully. He looks happy and in love. Beautiful.

“Lu-Lu,” Taako says after Lup finishes describing the dream she had the night before. “You’re being a bit delusional. Delulu, even.”

Lup’s face pinches. She holds her index finger up in front of her brother’s face. “First off, you know how I feel about Lu-Lu, and second, be nice to me, I saw the literal man of my dreams.”

“Yeah, of your delusional dreams,” Taako mutters. He steps to the side and wipes down the grill of his taco stand, cleaning grease from it.

Lup adjusts her position on the bar stool stationed in the corner of Taako’s small kitchen. She grips the edge of the seat cushion and leans forward.

“No, no, Taako, you know this, we’ve discussed this,” she insists. One of her hands comes up, and she points at her temple. “Our brains can’t construct a human face. Every face we see in our dreams, we’ve seen in real life. That means I’ve seen this beautiful, horn-rimmed man before. I need to see him again.”

Taako whips around to face his sister. “Lup, we’ve seen a lot of people,” he says. “We work on a pier. You run a rollercoaster. Speaking of! Don’t you have to be at work right now?”

Lup straightens her back, her face contorting into offense. “You just don’t support my goals and dreams.”

“Not when they interfere with my cooking.” He crosses his arms in front of his chest. “Now get out.”

“Fine.” Lup jumps down from the stool and swipes her bag from the floor next to it. She digs through it and pulls out her employment-issued hat labeled “The Firebolt” and slams it over her head. “I will go to work. I will also not be giving you a free ride today.”

She leaves the small stand, the sound of Taako calling that he doesn’t care following her. She walks around the stand, glancing up at the glittering Sizzle it Up with Taako sign, and rolls her eyes.

The Firebolt is not that far down the pier from Sizzle it Up, but having to wade through crowds of tourists doubles the amount of time it takes to get to the coaster. She rocks up to the control panel, dropping her back next to it, and grins up at Magnus.

“Sorry I’m late, Taako just would not stop talking my ear off,” she says, the lie falling easily past her lips.

Magnus waves his hand at her dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, Lup, sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He scoops up his backpack and descends the rickety metal staircase of the ride.

“Later, Maggie!” Lup calls after him.

She double-checks the settings on the control panel before nodding with satisfaction. She and Magnus run this coaster like a well-oiled machine. She jumps down from the panel to the short line, collecting tickets from each passenger as they step up to board a car.

A slightly shorter-than-average red-haired guy hands her a ticket, and she takes it with a smile. He takes the first couple of steps up to the platform before looking back at his friend.

The friend comes up next and extends a ticket to Lup. She wraps her fingers around it and looks up at the passenger.

Her breath catches.

It’s him.

The beautiful, horn-rimmed glasses of the man she saw in her dream. He stares at her in awe, like he’s dreamt of her before as well.

Lup drops her hand from the ticket. “Congratulations, you get to ride for free today,” she says with a wide grin.

A pink blush colors his cheeks. “O-Oh, really?” he stutters. “Th-thanks, uh…” he trails off as he steps past her and up after his friend.

“Oh, me?” she says with a purposefully accentuated drawl and a hand over her chest. “I’m Lup.”

“Lup…” he says wistfully. He smiles at her, and the corners of his eyes crinkle delightfully. “I’m Barry.”

[gnostichymns]

Happy October, everyone! As you may already know, Gnostic Hymns is celebrating its first year anniversary this month! It's been a fantastic year full of faces old and new, and we are so happy to have had you along for the ride with us. We've got a lot to get through in this newsletter, so let's get to it!

Spiral Abyss has concluded! We hope you had a fun time getting to test out more of our system than ever before. If you haven't already, please review the closing post for more information on prizes and feedback.

We are introducing a brand new system to the group! As an incentive to keep up activity amongst the group, Gnostic Hymns is introducing monthly artifact rewards! Here's a glimpse at how it'll work:

For every 5 IC posts in a calendar month, muses will gain 1 chance to roll for a tier 1 artifact for a maximum of 3 rolls a month.

Upon claiming 3 tier 1 artifacts, you will be given the opportunity to exchange them for 1 tier 2 artifact of your choosing.

Interactions with the same muse and ask memes will not count for more than 3 IC posts towards this reward each.

Ability to claim these rewards will start in November, with posts from October eligible to claim. We will be providing instructions on how and when to submit your claims closer to time. For those of you who were not involved in Spiral Abyss, you can preview our current artifact options here.

We have also updated our Rules and Guidelines regarding characters with NPC familiars. Going forward, the ruling will be as follows:

Certain NPCs exist in game as designated companions to playable characters, such as Ajaw, Oz, Gouba, Changsheng, and Mr. Tail. Gnostic Hymns will not consider these characters separately appable from their designated playable character, and muns will maintain jurisdiction over their familiars narratively. Following this, however: Gnostic Hymns will consider Clara and Svarog separate characters, allowing them both to exist as appable characters within the group at the same time.

As many of you know, we will be hosting another group-wide event in November to celebrate one full year of GH. Keep your eyes peeled for more information when signups drop next month!

With all this talk of GH turning one year old, so will a number of our members and muses! You'll be seeing anniversary announcements in the Newsletters and Discord server regularly going forward, but a very special shoutout to the very first of us to celebrate in the month of October:

Muns: Alina (10/25), Neffi (10/26), Ree (10/28) Muses: Neuvillette (10/26), Wriothesley (10/28)

Don't forget to fill out or monthly feedback form, especially if you participated in Spiral Abyss. We'd also like to take this moment to remind you all that your feedback matters, regardless of what it is. GH strives to create a healthy and fun environment for its members above all. If you are having trouble with another member, or are unhappy with anything going on among the group, please let us know. We cannot resolve issues we do not know about.

And last but not least, there are new additions to our Swirl commission board, which you can find here!

Thank you all again for being here with us and continually contributing your passion to build this community. It's truly bizarre to think that an entire year has passed and we are still here. We hope for many more to come!

-Mod Alina

[bibliophilicwitch]

Time for a Life Update

Long-time followers may remember my time struggling in retail which led to retail pharmacy. I worked for a Shopko pharmacy until Shopko went out of business and then a Kroger pharmacy that had purchased our profiles but was a brand new location. Opening a brand new pharmacy with existing profiles and staff that does not know the system is a heckin nightmare fyi. Right when our pharmacy was finding its stride the pandemic started and by the time we had reached our first vaccine season that would include the COVID vaccine as well, I was Over It. Our manager left about late spring and as we were heading into that dreaded vaccine season one of our techs got a job elsewhere and it was at that point that I opened up the internet to job hunt.

Y'all may also remember that I had worked for my public library since 2008, first as a page shelving materials, then at the circulation desk, and finally, as the adult program and volunteer coordinator which morphed into marketing and volunteer coordinator. I had spent about 10 years begging the library director for full-time hours so I could have more on-the-clock time to dedicate to my duties as well as to have benefits and not have to constantly juggle two jobs both physically and mentally, but the timing was never right. Around 2021 our City realized they had really messed up the budget and we still haven't recovered, so when I opened up the internet to hunt for an alternative to working in pharmacy (or general retail) and saw a full-time job as a marketing assistant and office manager for my City's destination management organization (convention and visitors bureau), I bit the bullet and applied.

When offered the position I chose to leave not only the retail pharmacy job that I was miserable at but also the library position that I was passionate about. Upon leaving I was told my position at the library was going to be frozen because of the budget, but shortly after, they ended up giving my hours to another part-time person making them full-time and requiring giving them benefits as well. This person had been working for the library a couple years longer than me and could also use the full-time hours, but it still hurt that it had essentially been a game of who will leave first so the hours can be juggled. (I continue to be bitter that the work I put into branding was thrown out the window by this person as well and the fact that their marketing material style does not fit the voice we had been building.)

I've been at my new job for almost two years. We have a board of directors in addition to myself and my executive director. He is a very chill person and we work very well together. It's wild to be encouraged to take an hour lunch after a working lunch or to go home and enjoy the rest of my birthday instead of working the whole day. We work very well together imo and, though the office building we lease with our local chamber has plenty of drama, we are very stress-free. I am not constantly stressed trying to herd cats to reach deadlines and I am financially stable with 9-5 work weeks leaving me with personal time.

That said, my landlord of 15 years sold our building so I have a new landlord. Currently, my new landlord has been pretty chill, but he did issue tenants a letter letting us know that we would likely see a rent increase in the new year and I happen to know my rent is about $100 less than the others and very low for the area. I have to pay for a yearly parking pass for a City lot. We have a single washer and dryer for four apartments and no change machine and I have lived over 15 years without HVAC or a dishwasher. If the rent goes up enough I will be looking into alternatives including the possibility of buying a house. This likely change will likely make me feel much less financially secure which sucks, but that's definitely life.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Chapter 2 (His POV)

These translations are not intended as a replacement for the game. Please support cybird by buying their stories. SPOILERS under the cut. Expect mistakes.

(Sounds like a pain in the ass.)

I muttered this to myself as I left the guest room.

(I can’t let her flimsy sense of justice get in my way.)

(She said she was from the countryside, but I guess I need to be on the lookout for now.)

I was always suspicious of anyone who came near me.

Even when I see no major issues, I remain on my guard because I understand that even the slightest thing can lead to unintended consequences.

(If it’s nothing, so be it.)

(It’s just better to be cautious.)

Kicho: “Show the new maid in the guest room to her room.”

Subordinate 1: “Yes, sir.”

I ordered my men, waiting outside the room.

Subordinate 2: “Lord Kicho, thank you for waiting. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Kicho: “Yeah, no problem. Thank you.”

Kicho: “Let’s head for the port. I can’t keep my business partner waiting forever.”

Kicho: “He’s not feeling well?”

Subordinate 2: “Yes. The captain has a fever and needs a doctor.”

Subordinate 2: “He doesn’t want anyone on board to meet with the others if the reason is still unknown.”

Kicho: “He’s right. If we were to get sick too, we wouldn’t be able to make a deal here either.”

(I noticed a lot of fuss, but it looks like he’s just sick.)

(The business meeting will have to wait until later.)

Kicho: “Let’s go back. There’s no point in staying here.”

Subordinate: “Yes, sir.”

We turned on our heels and headed back home.

(My schedule has gone south. As soon as I get home, I’ll have to rework the contract for the next business meeting.)

(The attack on Azuchi Castle is already a success, and skirmishes are intensifying all over the country.)

(I can’t let this sort of thing interfere with my plans.)

I furrowed my eyebrows lightly, faintly annoyed.

(Anyway, we need more weapons now.)

(More...)

------------Flashback------------

Mai: “I think conflicts will happen if more people get their hands on weapons.”

Kicho: “That is my goal.”

Kicho: “I’ll incite the forces of various regions and disturb Japan. This trading post is for that purpose.”

Mai: “A lot of people are going to die.”

Kicho: “………….”

Kicho: “It’s a necessary sacrifice.”

---------Flashback Ends---------

Kicho: “.............”

(Why do I remember that woman’s words now?)

The wrinkles between my eyebrows deepened, and I quickened my pace, my heart burning with a feeling similar to irritation.

When I returned to the trading post, a maid happened to pass by and looked at me in surprise.

Maid: “You’re back early. Are you expecting a visitor?”

Kicho: “No, but is there something wrong?”

Maid: “Yes. I left her to clean the furniture while you were gone.”

Maid: “The one who just arrived today.”

(Mai, huh?)

(What the hell is that woman up to?)

After hearing the story from the maid, I looked for Mai.

(Is she dedicated to her work, or is she working for some purpose?)

(From the very first day, she’s been acting weirdly and suspiciously.)

As I reached the end of the hallway and was about to turn around the corner一

Mai’s voice: “I-I’m sorry!”

(There you are.)

I heard Mai’s voice and hid.

Mai’s voice: “Um, thank you for the warning.”

(It sounds like she’s talking to someone. Who is she talking to...?)

Shojumaru’s voice: “Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Shojumaru.”

(This voice belongs to Motonari. I see, so he’s here.)

Motonari, of course, had no intention of revealing himself to Mai and took the name he used for his trading business.

(Weird. He doesn't usually speak to the maids here.)

(What was Mai doing?)

Curious, I peeked out from the shadows to see what was happening.

Luckily, Mai had her back to me and was looking up at Motonari, who was smiling.

(That look in his eyes says he’s probing.)

Shojumaru: “I’m a trader, so I often come here.”

Mai: “I see. My name is Mai. I work here as a maid.”

Shojumaru: “Lady Mai, huh? And what are you doing now?”

Mai: “Well, as you can see, I’m cleaning.”

Shojumaru: “I didn’t mean that.”

Shojumaru: “You were thinking pretty hard about something, so I thought maybe you have something else you want to do.”

Mai: “------!”

(Thinking, huh?)

I didn’t miss the slight jerk of her shoulders at Motonari’s words. It seemed like Mai was trying to push down her agitation as she continued speaking.

Mai: “I was just worried I’d get lost here.”

Mai: “I was trying to remember the route I took so that I could at least return to my room properly.”

Shojumaru: “I see.”

Shojumaru: “As I said before, I often come here, so if you have any questions, just ask.”

Mai: “Okay, thank you!”

(He’s a good actor.)

From Mai’s point of view, Motonari must have looked like a good person.

Even though I couldn’t see her face, I could tell that she was relieved.

(Well, it’s about time.)

Deciding that, this time, I turned around the corner.

Mai: “By the way, are you here for some business?”

Mai: “If you want to see Kicho, he went to the port a while ago.”

Shojumaru: “Port?”

Mai: “Yes. So, if you’re looking for Kicho一”

Kicho: “I’m listening.”

Mai: “That’s right. Wait, what!?”

Mai turned around and took a step back, surprised to see me standing behind her.

(You mentioned me right where I was intended.)

Mai: “Are you done with your work?”

Kicho: “No, it got pushed back to a later date. Apparently, the captain is not feeling well.”

Mai: “I see.”

Kicho: “Shojumaru. If you need me, I’ll be in my room.”

Shojumaru: “No, it’s okay. I’m just here to pick up something.”

Shojumaru: "More importantly, Lady Mai there seemed to have something to say."

Mai: “Huh?”

(I think it's better to pretend I don't know anything about it.)

Kicho: "Oh, what is it?

Mai: "No. I didn't一"

Shojumaru: "She's worried that she might get lost because this place is too big."

I listened to Motonari’s explanation while Mai watched the two of us with a flustered look on her face until the conversation was over.

Kicho: "I see. Then, Mai."

Mai: "Yes?"

Kicho: "Follow me. I'll show you around."

(Just the excuse I needed. I'll observe this woman while I'm showing her around.)

Mai frantically shook her head at my suggestion.

Mai: "You don't need to do that! I'll just ask the other maids."

Shojumaru: "This is also the job of the head of this place, right?"

Kicho: "Yeah. You also need to keep this information in your head."

Motonari realized what I was trying to do and cut off Mai's escape route.

Mai: "I guess."

Shojumaru: "Good luck with your work."

After seeing Motonari off, I took Mai and left the place.

Kicho: "That's all for the first floor."

Kicho: "There are a few rooms for visitors, but for the most part, they are reserved for those who work in this building."

Kicho: "You’ll be using them every day. Remember that."

Mai: "I understand. Still, this place is very spacious."

Using a piece of paper and a brush I had given her, Mai wrote down a simple floor plan of the building, noting the location of the kitchen, her room, the parlor, and the hall.

(It looks like she's got it all figured out. Now she won't be able to say that she got lost.)

Mai: "Oh..."

(Hm?)

When I looked at the paper, the line got cut off.

Mai, looking troubled, dipped the tip of her brush into a small portable inkstone and slid it onto the paper again, repeating the gesture somewhat awkwardly.

Mai: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Kicho: "It's okay. Have you never used a brush that much?"

Mai: "Yes. I've been in that kind of environment all my life."

(It looks like she can write without difficulty, but it's taking her too long.)

(Is it because of her environment?)

(What the heck has she been using to write things?)

Feeling uncomfortable with the topic, Mai blurted out something while moving her brush.

Mai: "If only there was a brush that never ran out of ink, it would be useful in this situation."

Kicho: "You're right. If I had a ballpoint pen right now, I'd lend it to you."

(That was a useful one. I don't think this person would get it even if I told her.)

(Okay, all idle chatter aside, I've got to check it.)

I turned to Mai, who had finished writing.

Kicho: "By the way, Mai."

Mai: "Y-Yes. What is it?"

Kicho: "Shojumaru told me earlier that you were cleaning up."

Kicho: "I already told you that you don't have to do anything today. Why were you wandering around the building?"

Mai: "That's..."

Mai: "I was rude to you earlier. I didn't want you to fire me, so I decided to help."

Kicho: "You already said that earlier. Does it bother you that much?"

Mai: "Yes. If I get kicked out on my first day, I don't know how to face everyone back home."

Mai: "Well, going home might not be the right way to describe it."

Kicho: "..............."

(I see she's not lying.)

(There seems to be a reason, but I don't see the need to press the issue here.)

Kicho: “Okay. I understand.”

I asked nothing more and nodded before walking down the hallway again, followed by Mai, who seemed to have relaxed.

Without any further conversation, we reached the end of the second floor, and I stopped.

Kicho: "The second floor is basically used for guests, document storage, etc."

Kicho: "I'll skip this part since you won't be using it much, but just keep this in mind."

Mai: "Okay. What about this room?"

Kicho: "This is my room. Never enter it for any reason."

Saying this, I inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it firmly.

Kicho: "Wait here for a moment."

(I'm sure I already received it.)

(I think it's on this shelf.)

I quickly found it, picked it up, and left the room.

Kicho: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Mai tilted her head slightly as I returned with a small wooden box.

Mai: "No, it's okay. What's that?"

Kicho: "It's called perfume. It's a fragrance you can put on yourself by spraying the liquid inside."

Kicho: "I prepared it as a gift for you."

(Frankly, I don't like it, but a strong scent will let me know where she is and where she's been.)

I handed Mai the wooden box, not caring about her surprise, and urged her to open it by looking at her.

Mai: "Oh..."

An elegant and distinctive sweet aroma wafted over the place.

(The smell is still strong. It smells like a flower spreading poison around.)

(It probably doesn’t suit this woman’s style, but I don’t have a choice.)

I almost frowned, but continued with my explanation.

Kicho: "It's an item made abroad. In some places, the fragrance is considered part of one's appearance."

Kicho: "It's important to make a good impression, so I always order everyone to wear this when dealing with VIPs."

Mai: "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Mai nodded her head in agreement and bowed politely.

Kicho: "Yeah. Well, this is the end of the tour."

Kicho: "This time, you can rest in your room."

I said that and turned on my heel.

As if on cue, I heard the voice of my subordinate calling out to me and strode in that direction.

That evening一

I received some news.

Kicho: "I see. You caught their tails."

Subordinate: "Yes, the others are already waiting over there."

Kicho: "Okay. I'll be right there."

Subordinate: "We have information that there will be a transaction today in this area."

Subordinate: "They're gonna show up soon."

Kicho: "Okay. You stay here for a while."

Kicho: "If they show up, don't catch them immediately. We need to get some solid evidence."

Subordinate: "Yes, sir."

I left my subordinate, who responded firmly while keeping his voice low, and continued down the street with only the moon as a light.

(I better avoid running into them.)

I carefully moved down the narrow alleyway, not making a sound with my footsteps.

(I can hear them talking. It sounds like they're just around the corner.)

Man's voice 1: "Three Matchlocks. I'll pay you in advance."

Man's voice 2: "Yeah, okay. Then, tomorrow morning."

(Matchlock? Those are the guys I've been looking for.)

Kicho: "............"

I suddenly stopped as a flowery scent reached my nose, spreading like poison.

(Don't tell me...)

Looking closely, I could faintly see a figure in the darkness just around the corner.

(Why are you here?)

(Are you aware of the situation this place is in right now?)

Angered by her defenseless back, I reached out and一

Kicho: "Mai."

Mai: "Mhmp!?"

Previous Part╏Masterlist╏Next Part

[ryuichirou]

Replies

We’re back with more replies! Long ones today…

Anonymous asked:

Can you recommend us any tumblrs to follow?

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend any tumblrs either… we don’t even have a feed here, we just drop posts and leave; I am sorry. 😔 It’s easier to check my tl when it’s only my art there lol Once again, read this as an invitation to share your favourite blogs in the comments.

Anonymous asked:

Hello! I'm the anon from the headcanon ask about TreyRidChe and wanted to thank you for answering! I had to dig because for some reason the tag system wasn't working and I was never sure if it got answered until today! Again though as someone who likes TreyRiddle first and foremost (so the bias was perfectly acceptable) I do agree Che'nya would be more a provoker especially from what I've seen in the manga. (It's really in the way Trey was so much more enthralled by Riddle from certain pages.)

I am happy to hear from you again, Anon! And I am very glad that you found the post despite all the issues with the tags… it’s very difficult to find posts on this site sometimes, especially when there are so many of them, and the notifications don’t work all the time either. 😔 (By the way, here is the post that Anon is talking about!)

Also, I completely agree with you, I still think that their dynamic is basically like this. Like I’ve said in the initial post, Che’nya loves Riddle, but doesn’t mind sharing and ultimately wants his friends to be happy, and he knows how hopelessly in love Trey is with Riddle. The manga panels with these three are so pretty and filled with emotions…

Anonymous asked:

Omg I just saw your other reply about not liking ship kids, I'm so sorry if my previous ask made you uncomfortable or something ;;;

-Idia's womb tattoo anon

Anon! No worries whatsoever, this isn’t related to it and you didn’t make us uncomfortable at all. Like I said, there are certain scenarios in which we enjoy the theme, and if it’s dark and/or kinky, the chances of us being on board are always higher. Moreover, your ask is related to a comic that we posted ourselves, so it’s all good – we started it >:3c

What we don’t like is the 100% wholesome and genuine “our baby is kicking, can you feel it?”, “passing out because he’s just found out he’ll be a father” thing. Nothing against it, it’s just not our thing. I’m also just taking my time with a lot of asks because I want to reply properly, but my brain is small and my limit is a couple of replies per day 😔 This is why I am slow…

Thank you for your concern though! And I’ll reply to you in a moment 👀

Anonymous asked:

Random, but since you imagined you don't like pregnancy tropes, does that also count for MPreg? (which stands for male pregnancy)

tbh, MPreg is not my thing, but suddenly remembered that, that’s a thing. This brings me back to the good old days of hetalia cuz this fandom had a LOT of Mpreg going around, lol.

But in a world of magic and such is not impossible? I mean, Malleus did come from an egg, so like, yeah.

Just like I said in a previous reply: it depends on how it’s used. If it’s just a happy family, and the purpose of mpreg in the story is simply to put characters in the scenario in which they are expecting, it’s absolutely not for us; it could even get triggering at times. Even in terms of kinks, sometimes it works well, but sometimes it turns into a massive squick. I can’t even describe it in a way that would be 100% conclusive; it’s a delicate topic, I guess. If it’s more messed up or if there are darker themes involved, it’s much more likely to work, and with mpreg it has a lot of potential to be messed up by definition.

When it comes to possibility and magic, yeah, twst universe gives a lot of opportunities to make mpreg happen! Be it convenient magic, unique reproductive systems of certain species, or even something that simply exists in-universe. It’s funny that you mentioned Malleus because the idea of him being able to lay eggs certainly pops up in our conversations from time to time… the mechanics of that, the implications, the complicated relationship Malleus would have with it and stuff; there is a lot to talk about. (We actually have a kinky comic where he lays an egg and Lilia crushes it, but completely forgot about it... it’s been a while.)

And Azul too, I think we talked about him making Idia carry his eggs at some point. When it’s animalistic like that, it’s much more fun because it’s less real, more weird and a bit gross <3 which automatically makes it hot because Idia would be freaked out the entire time.

So yeah, it all depends, and honestly goes from -100 to 1000 at times lol, so it shouldn’t stop you from sending asks. If the theme is something that we don’t like or have nothing to say about, we’ll just skip it.

(oh god, good ol’ hetalia days! I guess we missed all the mpreg- or just erased it from our memories lol)

Anonymous asked:

have you ever considered Sebek/Leona?.

(you view Sebek as a top and Leona as a bottom so it doesn’t break your no switching rule right?)

Leona would get a kick out of “stealing” Malleus’s little boytoy form him and setting out to do so.

while Sebek the poor naive gullible croc has no idea how even ended up fucking Leona in the first place let alone that it was happening to get under his liege’s skin…

who knows if it even work to piss Malleus off though.

You know Anon, miraculously we did talk about these two in a couple of posts!

What’s interesting about this ship is that Sebek has no idea where to put Leona in his mental scale of important people: he really doesn’t like him, he hates how Leona treats Malleus, but he is also supposed to respect Leona nonetheless (Lilia and Malleus both remind him of that) + doesn’t like being dismissed by Leona for some reason. So if Leona wants to provoke Sebek into sleeping with him somehow, it’d be easier than one might think: Sebek really is gullible… but if he learns about Leona’s motive behind seducing him, he would get so angry and also disappointed in himself that he might actually attack Leona and get in trouble for that lol

Although the thing is, there is a big problem with Leona’s plan: if Sebek is having an active affair with Malleus (= being his little boytoy), it won’t be easy to seduce him. And if Sebek isn’t having an affair with Malleus, Malleus probably wouldn’t care much. So was the croc dick even worth it, Leona?

[canyouhearthelight]

Nihilus Rex Ch. 26: Hunt and Chase

Scheduling this ahead of time since I've had time issues with getting posts up on Fridays.... This chapter is definitely one of my favorite examples of what happens when @baelpenrose and I are really working in a cohesive way. Tech stuff happens, plot moves forward, but people stuff happens as well.

Interested to see who can spot the most easter eggs in the online handles...

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I stifled a groan at the stiffness in my shoulder as I scooted to the edge of Nils’ bed.  Fingers clumsily fumbled down my back, forcing me to stand up before he tried to yank me back down in his sleep.  I grabbed the first shirt that I found on the floor and padded out into the living room, opening my laptop to scratch the itch in my brain that was keeping me awake - we knew one person who was looking for us, time to find the other.

Ever since the interview with Agent Watson - and ever since I had royally screwed up - I had been trying to track down the person who was working to seduce Nils’ minions away for their own nefarious purposes.  For the past four days, I had been practically living off antacids to keep from vomiting at the amount of absolute trash that filled the message boards these people frequented, but something told me I was getting close.  I just didn’t know what.

There was no telling how much time had passed when I felt a chunk of my hair being lifted and played with - at some point it had started raining again, so for all I knew the sun had been up for hours. “How are you not cold?” Nils yawned while twisting the lock between his fingers.

“Fat deposits,” I muttered. “Besides, your bed is rock hard, so cold and soft wins.”  Drumming my nails on the screen, I finally turned toward him only to be momentarily distracted by his bare chest.  I blinked rapidly to get my brain back on track. “They’re here.  I know it.  I found them in two other boards, under different names, but I know it has to be them.”

Nils continued playing with my hair, slowly braiding it. “How do you know it’s them, Elakshi?” His voice was probing, but there was an odd cheer to it. “You’ve made progress?” 

I nodded, changing tabs. “Right now, this one in particular.” Highlighting one user, than another, I pointed to the names. “VassilisaAura and CasparsNERVE. They’re arguing, but look at the way they talk… They’re either very good friends in real life, or the same person.”

He gave an interested grunt.. “Same style of pseudonym…that’s interesting. Certainly I’ve run that trick when I want to get people talking about the same thing, regardless of where they go with it, so I can steer them with account number 3. So…we seeing anyone else who is steering them? Ideally with the same name?” 

“Even better,” I confirmed, switching tabs again. “EcoDekorashion. There’s some sub-tagging, but it’s like whoever this is decided to pick AI names from whatever anime they had on the shelf.  I’m not even going to start on their taste, honestly.” I tapped my chin before digging his hand out of my hair so I wouldn’t be distracted. “Then again, these are so obscure that they honestly don’t clock unless you know what you’re looking at.”

“Which we do, because we’re nerds. So, next step. How do we know this is our guy?” 

“We’ll have to trace the accounts, which is going to be a righteous pain in the ass,” I yawned. “But I know it has to be the right person… All three accounts I’ve found aren’t arguing if we are right or wrong, they’re arguing over why it could have been done better.” Tipping my head over, I dropped it onto his shoulder before looking up at him. “And, just so you’re aware, there is a not-insignificant amount of mockery over the names of your factions, mister clever.”

Nils gave a light smirk. “I’d love to say I gave a shit, but it was clearly clever enough. I don’t have to be a genius, just smarter than the mark. And as long as he’s not fucking that up, rather than…” 

He looked at it, where it was obvious that the three accounts were pushing the idea that whoever was doing it was making up names for real stuff because he thought people were too stupid to understand codenames. One of them was arguing that Nothing had made the whole thing up, and getting shouted down by idiots - Nils pointed out that one was also arguing that Q was bullshit to begin with and that the new guy was clearly just digging deeper - and the third one was simply mocking the names of these “pretentious assholes” who thought the world was their playground. 

All in all, I had to admit it was pretty clever, given the crowd we were playing. Mock while drawing attention to power that these idiots claimed. Make denial unpopular. Make it okay to believe in it while mocking it because everyone on these boards was irony-poisoned half to death. That was perfect - almost exactly what we needed. “This person doesn’t want to deescalate. They either want to usurp us…or want in.” I gave Nils a sleepy grin. “So, let’s bring them in.”  He looked like he was going to argue, so I sat up and clicked over to one of the dozen or so tabs I had going. “Here.  VassilisaAura again, basically calling out whoever hit the banks and called for the people behind the fire to be taken care of.  Claiming that, if we meant it, we would be recruiting, not dividing.  And, right on schedule, EcoDekorashion pointing out that, as pretentious as we sound, more people benefitted from our ‘sloppy’ work than from just sitting around and bitching.”

Nils rubbed my shoulders. “Alright. You were right, babe. This is a good idea. We’ll get him on our side.” He took a step. “So, do we want to trace him and get a meeting?”

“Hmmm.” I considered it. “This is more your court than mine.  Would it be better to track them down and set up something, or to give them a challenge to find us?”

His eyebrows raised. “Depends on how serious he is. My issue is that if we dangle ‘find me’ in front of them and piss them off, we’re looking at a person fluent on a board famous for hosting dox who will have found out where we are. If they can meet the challenge. Plus, seeking them out for a meeting indicates we know what’s happening and we’re able to probe - but he’s strong enough to attract our attention. Issuing a challenge means we aren’t worried - but also puts power in his hands if he can meet it, and that he doesn’t get that power if we ping him through enough proxies. And that’s assuming he can find us, because if he can’t he may just fuck off and then we lose the option. Which matters more here, real power or perceived power?” He clearly had an opinion on it. “I’d edge towards perceived power since we’re trying to prove that the government isn’t as strong as they say, and we need to let them think we’re stronger than we actually are to do that. But we are at risk if someone pushes and we actually can’t shove them back.” 

I was hesitant, but made the decision to trust his judgment. “Like I said, your court, so it’s your call.  Do we want to set up contingencies if this person is halfway across the country? Like, a neutral ground situation?  Because I know, I know you aren’t about to ask me to fly out to some other state to meet someone face to face while we’re under FBI scrutiny.”

“No, I was talking about an end-to-end encrypted Usenet Chatroom that we scrub the minute we’re done with it, actually. Horrible system, lots of absolutely awful shit gets moved across the bones of the original internet. But it is amazing for privacy.” He sounded distracted. “No, I think perceived power is better, but there’s practical reasons as well. If we reach out to him as a response to what he’s already said, and he’s a mole, we’re fucked. If we say ‘come find us’ then that’s much easier to fake like he made a mistake, or claim we were trolling online if caught. Challenge is better. So…let’s give him a challenge.” 

At this point my brain was spinning trying to trace what had just spewed forth from Nils’ mouth.  Challenge was dangerous, but perceived power was advantageous, no challenge, yes challenge… “So, yes challenge,” I finally worked out, feeling on more firm ground. “How does ‘could be mistaken for viral marketing in the wrong hands’ sound? I can definitely whip up some images with links and shit contrasted into them, some flash cartoons with binary or hex glitches, that kind of stuff.”

“That’s brilliant. I’ll frame it, you make the links and shit? We stick in some code and dog-whistles that these idiots will recognize that most people won’t and we draw smart boy to come to us?” He was sounding more coherent now. 

“Double order of dog-whistles with cheese, coming up,” I agreed, yawning again, this time hard enough to pop my jaw. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Uh…” He glanced at the clock. “10. We slept in.” 

I craned my neck around to scowl at him. “We who? You and the mouse in your pocket?  I’ve been awake for hours, at least.”

“Mattress shopping so you can sleep better at my apartment? Is that where we’re going next?” 

“Orrr,” I teased, “we can just sleep on your couch when I stay the night?”

“Or, and hear me out, we get a mattress my amazing girlfriend doesn’t hate. So that she wants to come over more often.” 

My nerves spiked outrageously, and I fought not to show it. “That sounds like a pretty major step.  I don’t even have a toothbrush over here.”

“Yes, my bathroom and its famous black hole that makes toothbrushes of yours just. Vanish.” He said, quietly. “Lash, it’s okay if you aren’t comfortable coming over here more often but I still want to get a bed that’s comfortable for you when you do.” 

I started squirming when he called me out. “I like being over here, especially with Mori and the kids staying in the apartment while my parents are still in the hospital.  But you bought that bed - which, I’m not stupid, was a few grand easy - because it’s what you prefer, and you live here.”  I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt before looking back up. “Can we compromise on a mattress topper for half of it?”

“We can get a mattress topper with a lot of memory foam or something to make it more comfy for you. Does that work?” 

I nodded, biting my lip to hide my residual anxiety. “And I’ll figure out what’s causing the black hole and stop the vanishing toothbrushes.” And we are totally going to pretend I haven’t been throwing them away. “With that decided… do we have time for me to take a nap before our regularly scheduled shenanigans, or am I running on coffee and the promise of an early night?”

“Class starts in half an hour, so coffee, unfortunately. Not even that if you don’t get dressed.”

I looked down at myself and realized several things: I had no pants on, not even shorts; I was wearing Nils’ shirt from yesterday, backwards and inside out, and at no point had I thought to grab - “Oh my god,” I bolted to my feet. “Shower, dressed, give me five minutes and we’ll be out the door.”