#if you know what each flag is u get a gold star

[agilident]

Uoughh,,, your rev transfem propaganda is sooo important to me,,, thank u for converting me to the dark side,,

UOAUGH i always melt into a sad ugly puddle whenever someone tells me ive successfully drawn them into th transfem rev hcuuuooghh this single hc has irreparably changed my life i wish iwas joking

[jungshookz]

the one with the scrunchie

➺ pairing; min yoongi x reader

➺ genre; universitystudent!yoongiverse!!!!! uni!yoongi is the broody skater boy that everyone has a crush on!! y/n will never see her scrunchies in the same way ever again and also in case it wasn’t already blatantly obvious by the gif above this drabble is 98% smut and the other 2% is also smut (dirty talk! thigh riding! yoongi has really nice thighs!!!) 

➺ wordcount: 4.4k i feel like this is shorter than usual i’m soRry 

➺ summary; yoongi believes that one scrunchie is just as capable as a pair of handcuffs - it’s time to put that theory to the test. 

➺ what to expect; “i wouldn’t mind being more intimate with you but i don’t know how and also i’m just not ready to take my clothes off yet.”

➺ optional reading: not necessary but feel free to read some other drabbles from the uni!yoongiverse! 

➺ note; we all knew this was going to happen as soon as yoongi formulated the scrunchie theory so buCKLE up and be prepared!! happy valentine’s day!!! mwah mwah!!! (i couldn’t locate the original creator of the gif but it was pulled off of this pinterest page!) if you can guess which specific part of the drabble was inspired by the gif then i’ll give u a gold star 

                                           »»————-　♡　————-««

min yoongi does not beat around the bush

sure, he’s been known to be overly blunt and a little too honest at times (aka a little bit of an asshole) but that’s just part of who he is and that’s not going to change

he attacks problems head-on and with the confidence of a bull charging towards a waving red flag

and yet

here he is, with a problem

except this is the first time he’s ever had a problem with his problem

here’s the problem: ...he doesn’t know if you’re physically attracted to him or not 

whICH he understands is kind of silly because he knows you’re certainly not with him for his brains because his grades are mediocre at best

he’s riding the 70s-80s range which he’s completely fiNE with by the way

keep your judgements to yourself! 

what was he talking about again

oh righT

he feels like you don’T want him to touch you for some reason??

which is a teensy little problem because call him old fashioned but he thinks that people who are together should probably be okay with touching each other

obviously if you aren’t ready for anything more than kissing on the sofa and some light petting that is totally okay and he completely understands 

it’s just weird because you always seem very eager to touch him but when he gets his hands on you you get all bashful and blushy (which is cute for the most part but that’s not the point) 

whenever he wants to return the favour you always shake him off and tell him that he can help you out next time

and then when next time rolls around you tell him that he can do something next time

and then when next time rolls around you tell him that he can do something nExt time until it turns into an endless cycle of ‘it’s okay, you can return the favour next time!’ in which he’ll nEVer ever return the favour! 

and so on and so forth

also it’s weird because he doesn’t really know if he can even classify this as a problem?? 

for the millionth time in a row he’s totally 100% fine if you aren’t ready to do anything just yet but he wouldn’t be so riled up about it if it weren’t for the fact that your butt looks fantastic in those jeans  

he can’t help but wonder if it’s his time of the month because his hormones are raging and everything you do turns him on 

like the other day when you were eating your sandwich you licked some mayo off your finger and yoongi nearly [censored] 

is he just thinking with his head and not with his head???

now that he’s really thinking about it he realises that he’s never actually gotten you off before

wha-

he’s nEVER given you an orgasm????????

so yeah

that’s pretty much it

he’s boiled it down to you being completely rePULsed by him

it’s just been on his mind ever since the two of you officially got together and he doesn’t really know how to phrase this without sounding like a complete dick

he feels a little bad because he’s supposed to be paying attention to what you’re teaching him but his mind just won’t let him focus and he feels like if he doesn’t ask you this rigHt now he’s going to explode from the inside out

his arm shoots up in the air (you asked him to start raising his hand instead of just blurting out the answer even though he’s literally your only student)

“do you not like me touching you?” yoongi blurts out before pausing

…okay yeah there were probably a million better ways to have worded that question

you look up at yoongi with wide eyes as you stare at him across the table

ok

well

you don’t know what this has to do with chemistry but you’ll bite

“maybe i wasn’t clear enough-” you click the cap back onto the marker before setting it down “but when i asked you if you had any questions, i meant questions that were related to intermolecular forces or nuclear fusion.”  

…has he even been paying attention to anything you’ve been saying this whole time???

hm

you’re going to have to test him later with a surprise pOP quiz >:-)

“oh yeah well i have a toN of questions about whatever you were talking about but we’ll get to that after you answer my question.” yoongi drops his pen before leaning back against his chair “so, please - answer my question.”

“well, i… i have to be honest, i don’t really understand your question.” your brows knit together and you purse your lips in thought “of course i like you touching me! i mean, sure, i’m a little germaphobic but i hold your hand all the ti-“

“not like that, y/n. i mean the other kind of touching.” yoongi sighs and leans forward a little bit

you’re about to tell him you’re not sure what he means when it suddenly registers in your brain what exactly he’s referring to

oh

that kind of touching

well

you and yoongi have.,,. definitely.,. fooled around before but a lot of those interactions have been limited to heated makeout sessions anD that one time u gave him a blowie before class

and also that hand job in the back of the library

…and then another blowie back at your apartment

but other than that you guys haven’t done anything else

and it’s not that you don’t want to be intimate with yoongi

in fact you’d have to be craZy to not want to jump his bones buT the one thing that’s holding you back is that you’re just not ready to expose yourself to him like just yet

even the thought of flashing your bra strap to him is making you queasy

and it’s not because of anything he’s done!!

he’s always very considerate with you and he never pushes you to do anything that you don’t want to do

like that one time his hand was slowly sliding down to your butt (this was very early on when you two weren’t a thing yet but you had makeout sessions like a pair of hormonal teenagers) but you stopped it before it could reach its destination

and since then his hands have not wandered at all!

actually that’s a lie he did glide over your bum the other day but he’s allowed to do that now because he’s ur boyfriend so

and it’s not like you aren’t handsy yourself, miss let-me-slide-my-hands-underneath-yoongi’s-shirt

so if you think about you’re just doing a lot of giving and basically none of the receiving which you thought yoongi would be ecstatic about but apparently not

anyways

this is literally just a you thing

it’s a mixture of insecurity and anxiousness and overwhelmingness all rolled up into one big ball that’s just sitting in the pit of your stomach

you’re sure you’ll get over it one day

but today is not that day

“-because i’d love to go down on you if you’d let me.” yoongi finishes his rant and you feel your cheeks immediately redden

wha-  

what the heCk was he talking about when you blanked out

“no, i d- i do want to… do things with you but i… i don’t know, i would rather just keep my clothes on, that’s all.” you mumble sheepishly and scratch the back of your neck

yoongi’s eyes widen a little and he perks up “so you… don’t mind me touching you?”

“of course i don’t mind you touching me.” you snort before rolling your eyes “anyway, as i was say-“

“as long as we keep our clothes on?”

you have a feeling yoongi is no longer focusing on chemistry

in fact you doubt he was even paying attention from the very beginning 

“i… yeah! pretty much.” you shrug “i just, um, i don’t know if i want any hands down my pants yet. hands on the butt is welcome.”

you probably sound like an idiot right now

you can’t do things with yoongi while fully cloTHED

“okay, i think i get it…?” yoongi narrows his eyes a little

uh oh

you recognise that look

that’s the ‘i’m just going to pretend like i know what you’re talking about but i actually have no idea what the hell you’re talking about’ look

you’ve seen it many times before

that’s fair though because you’re basically telling him you wanna do stuff with him but also you don’t wanna do stuff with him so how can you wrap up your main points in one single sentence??

“i wouldn’t mind being more intimate with you but i don’t know how and also i’m just not ready to take my clothes off yet.” you blurt out and keep your eyes glued to yoongi’s face to see if he gets it now

“oh!” yoongi lets out a ‘huh’ before nodding to himself “okay, i get it now. yeah, i totally understand. also, i hope it doesn’t seem like i’m pressuring you into anything, it’s just that this is my first time being with someone who doesn’t have a lot of experie- noT that that’s a bad thing, i just- you know, you’re you and i’m me- okay, uh, i’m not explaining this very well-“

now you’re the one who’s barely paying attention to the other because you are getting wAY too into your head about this

was your explanation super lame??

oh god

why are you so nervous all of a sudden

maybe you should come up with another excuse to make yourself sound less lame

“also, this might sound a little silly,” you snort and shake your head “but if you had your head in between my legs i honestly wouldn’t know what to do with my hands, and that’s just one more thing i’d have to worry about! so if you think about it maybe this is just a blessing in disguise!”  

yoongi pauses before the corner of his mouth twitches in a tiny smirk

“i could cuff you to the bed.”

oh dear lord

you feel your cheeks get even reDDer and you clear your throat before whipping back around to face the whiteboard “so! let’s get back into it…”

in your haste to change the subject you fail to notice the ‘i have a very sneaky plan up my sleeve’ look on yoongi’s face

so from what he understands:

a) you DO want to be more intimate with him (yay!!) (but a respectful, non-selfish yay)

b) you DO want to keep your clothes on

c) you DON’T know what to do with your hands

okay

he can work with that

he can definitely work with that

yoongi presses his lips together to hide his smile when it hits him

he knows exactly what to do

fun fact: yoongi has actually never celebrated valentine’s day before

well

okay

he haS celebrated valentine’s day before but this is the first time he’s actually cared about valentine’s day

and usually he forgets that valentine’s day exists (he really doesn’t understand why it’s so special) so when his previous significant others would ask him what he got for them his go-to was aLways something related to the bedroom because it was kind of an easy way out and made both parties happy

and he’s never stuck around to celebrate more than one valentine’s day with the same person which is pretty nice because that way he can’t be accused of recycling gift ideas

anyways

what was he talking about again?

oh riGHt

valentine’s day presents

not only did he surprise you but he also surprised himSelf when he bought a dozen red roses for you AND a box of bougie chocolate covered strawberries

because he’s literally never done this before so he decided that if he was going to go all out it was going to be for someone he genuinely really liked

and that person is u :-)

and then he made a comment about how valentine’s day is really just part of the whole ‘gross commercialisation of a day that really has no meaning to it’ scheme before presenting you with a brand new scrunchie

and it wasn’t the gorgeous roses or the rich chocolate that got you excited

it was your brand new heart-patterned scrunchie

the base is white but it has little red hearts dotted all over it and it’s the cuTEST and you immediately put it on as soon as yoongi gave it to you

he ordered it off etsy!! anD he paid for express shipping

and if that doesn’t show you how much he cares about you he doesn’t know what will

and you know what

yoongi would buy you a hundred more scrunchies because you are all over him right now and he is very into that

also it might be due to the fact that the chocolate-covered strawberries were actually champagne infused chocolate-covered strawberries (he was wondering why they were so exPENSIVE) because he can usually hold himself back pretty well (aka after a particularly heated makeout session he’ll politely excuse himself to the washroom for ten minutes even though you always insist on helping him out but most of the time he declines because he wants to return the favour but he can’T) but tonight.,.,. 

tonight he’s putting in extrA effort to keep it together because you slid his hands down to your bum and he nearly lost his shIT

here’s a sum-up of the night:

yoongi took you out to a nice dinner even though you insisted you’d be fine with ordering takeout or something (also he wore a crisp white button up but he rolled the sleeves up and you sweAR he knows exactly what he’s doing)

you guys went to a little donut shop afterwards and you got powdered sugar all over yourself but c’est la vie

and now you two are at your apartment where you decided to binge-watch netflix for the rest of the night and enjoy the chocolate-covered strawberries

and well

only half the box of strawberries have been consumed because now the two of you are kind of focused on enjoying each other

your hands instinctively slide down to pop the button on yoongi’s jeans but before they get a chance to reach it yoongi grabs your wrist and brings your arms back up around his neck  

“you know how you said you wanted to be more intimate with me but you didn’t know how?”

you clear your throat before pursing your lips

if this is him talking dirty it’s not working  

“…are you talking about the conversation we had at the beginning of last week?” you wonder out loud before shaking your head gently “yoongi, listen, it really isn’t a big deal, you don’t have to do anything for me-“

“and do you remember what you said about not knowing what to do with your hands?” yoongi interrupts you and his eyes flicker up to the scrunchie peeking out from the back of your head

“well, yeah, but- is there a point to all of this?” you sigh before leaning forward to smush your cheek against yoongi’s shoulder

“do you trust me?” yoongi hums and pokes the tip of your nose

“of course i trust you.”

also

unrelated but you need a pick me up

another one of those strawberries will do

you’re going to ask yoongi to get these evEry valentine’s day because they are obscenely delicious

you pull away from yoongi and turn to reach for another strawberry and at the same time yoongi reaches over and tugs the scrunchie off from your head 

“wha- hey!” you whip around as your hair falls around your face before noticing that yoongi’s giving your scrunchie a bit of a stretch “what do you think you’re doing?”

yoongi can’t help but laugh lightly at your pouty face before he pats his lap “i want you here.”

yoongi’s speaking to you a little more assertively than usual anD he has that familiar gleam in his eyes 

hm

okay

you’ll play along 

the strawberries can wait

you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear as you settle on yoongi’s lap before resting your hands on his chest to keep yourself from toppling over

“good. now arms behind your back.”

your brows knit together slightly in confusion but you figure it’s best not to question yoongi because he seems pretty sure of himself

and you sure as hell have no idea what’s about to go down

this is weird

usually you’re the one in control

you feel like you want to fill the silence by talking about something and for some reason you can hear your heart drumming wildly in your chest even though you don’t have a reason to be nervous

...right? 

yoongi reaches behind you and pulls your hands through the scrunchie before moving them gently so that one wrist is crossed over the other and-

oh

oh

you can’t seem to wiggle out of the scrunchie

“not too tight?” yoongi murmurs

you shift your hands a little

yep 

definitely noT getting out of this any time soon 

“i can handle it.” you respond quietly and yoongi feels himself twitch in his pants

noPe

tonight is not about him

tonight is about you

you’ve never been restrained like this before but the idea of yoongi being completely in control is getting you far more riled up than you’d like to admit

“if at any point you feel uncomfortable,” yoongi murmurs against your skin as he moves his kisses up your chest, “the safe word is strawberry.”

“mhm, strawberry, got it.” you sigh impatiently, barely paying any attention to what yoongi’s saying because his mouth has travelled up onto your bare neck  

“good. on my thigh.” yoongi spreads his legs a little and you feel your heart hiccup in your chest

oh

you know exactly where this is going

you wobble slightly as your knees settle on the soft couch on either side of yoongi’s clothed thigh and yoongi smiles fondly

“comfy?”

“mhm.”

unsurprisingly, yoongi’s thigh is vEry firm  

it’s from all that skateboarding

you’re sure of it

you would be lying if you said you weren’t a little worked up from the ten minutes of copious kissing but now that you’re sitting on yoongi’s thigh you can definitely confirm that you are: worked up

yoongi places his hands on your waist and pulls you closer until your torso is pressed against his 

typically this would be the point where you drape your arms around yoongi’s shoulders but the fact that you can’t do that right now is torture and yoongi can see the frustration swimming in your eyes

you’re about to tell him to do something, anything, before he suddenly pushes your hips back and flexes his thigh at the same time

you let out a gasp when your body instinctively spasms a little bit out of surprise

that is definitely a new feeling

it’s a very good thing you decided to wear a skirt tonight

a pitiful whimper slips past your lips at the feeling of the rough fabric of yoongi’s jeans rubbing up against you through your panties

“like that?” yoongi pulls you towards him and then backwards again and he swallows thickly when he notices how blown out your pupils are

now that you know what yoongi’s plan is, your body seems to go into autopilot mode

you start moving on your own as your muscles begin to melt into him but yoongi’s hands stay glued on your hips as he guides you back and forth

the two of you share licking, burning kisses as you continue to ride yoongi’s leg and yoongi lets out a grunt when your knee digs into his crotch

“y/n, fuck-“ yoongi pulls away when you do it again

he can’t tell if you’re doing it on purpose or if it’s unintentional but he has to shift the focus bAck to you

yoongi takes his bottom lip in between his teeth as he watches you grind your hips back and forth with hooded lids

his hands slide down so that they rest on either side of your thighs

he lets out a low groan when he realises that this would be his exact view if you were actually riding him

“yoongi-“ you hiccup pathetically when you feel that particular spot within you flutter

your nails dig into the soft flesh of your palms when you suddenly feel the urge to get your hands on your boyfriend

yoongi’s mouth twitches in a smirk when he notices your shoulders straining

it looks like his makeshift handcuffs are working veRY well

he’s definitely going to use them again in the future

“something the matter?” yoongi mocks with a slight pout of his lips

“god, you- this was the worst idea ever and i hate you-“ you shudder as you continue grinding against his firm leg

you can’t even find the words to describe how incredible this feels and the only thing going through your mind is fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck because fuCK this feels good

“oh yeah? show me how much you hate me-“ yoongi’s hands find their way underneath your skirt and his fingers dig into your bum to bring you closer to him

he has to admit that he’s losing his grips on the reins a little bit because the more you grind against him the more turned on he gets

and he is currently very, very turned on

you’re riding his leg anD your boobs are like right at his eye-level so he’s kind of living the dream right now

but also in a way he’s torturing himself too because he usually loves it when you slide a hand down his chest or when you bury your fingers into his hair

“fuck, i can feel how wet you are-” yoongi groans just under your ear and you let out a choked moan in response 

you never thought something like this would be as hot as it is but also it’s the idea of you being bare on his leg that’s making the two of you go crazy

another wave of pleasure tremors through your body and your head dips back as yoongi kisses up your throat

“that’s it… you’re so pretty like this… so needy…” yoongi curses quietly when he notices the darkened patch on his jeans

he slips an arm around your waist to keep you balanced and he uses his other hand to take your chin in between his thumb and pointer finger so that you’ll look at him

“god, look at you… you’re doing so well…” yoongi knows that getting approval is something that’s verY important to you but he’s only seen you get excited over it when it comes to projects and assignments

and you obviously want to hear another remark of approval considering the way you start to roll your hips more smoothly

but it’s when you take his thumb into your mouth that yoongi ascends to a whole new level of turned on

he leans back against the couch and his hands start to forcefully guide your hips so that you’re rocking against him harder, faster

“yoongi, i think- nngh-“ you pant and your shoulders strain even more in a desperate attempt to wiggle out of the scrunchie “oh, god-“

he can tell by the way your breathing has become increasingly shallow and how your cheeks have gotten progressively pinker that you’re almost there and he’s definitely going to keep this image of you in his brain for a long time

“gonna cum for me?” yoongi growls as his hands grip at your ass to mould you to him

you head starts spinning from pleasure and you feel every nerve in your body begin to go into overdrive

all you can focus on is how good this feels and how hot it is that yoongi’s in complete control over you and how you are definitely going to want to do this again-

“you have no idea how badly i wanna fuck you right now.” yoongi groans and thAt pretty much does the the trick

“ah-!” you let out a sharp cry as your whole body tenses up as your orgasm rocks through you

your toes curl and your legs tighten around yoongi’s thigh and you sweAr you would’ve blacked out if it weren’t for yoongi keeping you anchored to him while pressing reassuring kisses along your shoulder

he has his arm wrapped around you while his other hand loosens its grip on the side of your thigh

you’re panting like you just ran a marathon and you lean forward to press your forehead against yoongi’s “hi.”

“hey.” yoongi’s out of breath too but he has no idea why lol

if anything, seeing you work through your orgasm has gotten him even harDer but he reminds himself for the millionth time that the purpose of this whole scrunchie thing was so that you’d be more comfortable being intimate with him

“how was that?”

“really nice.” you respond almost instantaneously and yoongi feels a sense of pride bloom within him

you’re not the only one who likes getting approval!!!

he reaches behind you and pulls the scrunchie off and placing it next to him

your wrists have gone a little pink considering how much tugging you did and yoongi brings them up to his mouth to sweep soft kisses over them

your cheeks flush for a different reason when yoongi leans up to give you an affectionate little kiss

when you finally drape your arms around his shoulder you can’t help but let out a happy sigh

now thIS feels a lot better

“you okay?” yoongi can’t help but notice that you’ve gone quiet

“…was the purpose of buying the scrunchie for me just so you could turn them into makeshift handcuffs?” your eyes narrow suspiciously and you glance down at the scrunchie

yoongi turns to look at it before looking back over at you

he clears his throat

“if i say yes does that make me a bad boyfriend?”

(later that night you tell yoongi you’d like to try grinding on him again - only this time, you’ve requested that he have his hands tied.) 

help me help you make your wishes come tru (aka send me a request)

requested drabbles masterlist

[nancypullen]

What’s Up, Buttercup?

It seems like forever since I’ve posted on the ol’ blog,but I’ve been waiting for something to happen that was worth writing about.  And waiting....and waiting...and waiting.   Let’s face it, nothing is happening.  The days all run together and look the same.  What day is it? Oh, it’s Blursday again.  I suppose I’ve been a bit down in the dumps.  Not really blue, just weary.  I’m so tired - tired of the headlines screaming worse news every day (another surge!), tired of political ads that tell the most preposterous lies as if we’re all idiots, and tired of straining my eyes to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I miss Home Goods and Sephora (there, I said it).  I miss normal. That said, I never forget how fortunate we are.  So far all of my family is healthy and the pandemic hasn’t impacted our sources of income. That alone makes my whining seem selfish and shallow.  I get it.  I should be thanking my lucky stars, and most nights I am.  I’m sure that others can relate.  This relentless sense of heaviness can crack even the most cheerful among us.  We’re allowed to feel it.  Wouldn’t you know that just when I was feeling so unsettled and weary, an unexpected package arrived.  This person gets me.

A dear friend surprised me with Agatha, the world’s BEST spoon holder and steam releaser.  I was so tickled when I opened this that I made a pot of soup just to give her a whirl.  Agatha and I are now BFFs and if you think she’s only getting used during the spooky season, think again.  She is FAB-U-LOUS and she is now a fixture in my kitchen.  Thank you, Leesa, you have no idea how much your thoughtful gesture meant to me. Instant happiness! I’m also trying to draw joy from this beautiful season.  The trees are changing daily and if there’s anything more beautiful than autumn, I don’t know what it is.  If I’m asked my favorite color I will answer with pink, because you can’t just say fall.   Fall is like living inside a treasure chest filled with gold, rubies, topaz, and garnets, with a scattering of sapphires for the sky.  Just on our little patch you can find every one of those colors.  Yellow and red leaves flutter to the ground in a daily dance.  Deep garnet mums and fat, orange pumpkins sit on the porch and at the mailbox.  I love it all!

That lantern is filled with fairy lights that twinkle at night!  The table linen is just an old pillow case that I added trim to - I’ll flip it over and add trim to the other end for a Christmas table. ha!  Use what ya’ got, right? The porch railings look the same - a container on each side.

A couple of mums, a few pansies, and some pumpkins dressed up the mailbox.  I left the Russian Sage in place when I pulled up the summer flowers.  It was still in bloom, but I may cut it down now that it’s looking kind of ghostly behind those mums.  I kept everything cheap and easy this year, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty and pleasing.  Those mums at the mailbox were $4.98 but they’ll bring me a million bucks worth of happiness.   Posting these pics just helped me to realize why I was a bit glum.  This is usually the time of year that we travel.  It doesn’t help that Facebook (ugh,I hate FB!) is constantly offering up “memories from 2 (3,4,5,6) years ago” along with a photo I snapped at some wonderful spot.  My internal calendar says I should be packing a bag. I think the pics of Salem hit the hardest, it’s my favorite October haunt.  Pun intended.   This is where I remind myself that I’m fortunate to have a home and shouldn’t complain about being in it.

I haven’t put out much Halloween decor in the aforementioned home this year. I used to smother this place in witches and candy jars and pumpkins.  Mickey doesn’t need the candy, I can’t trust a certain cat not to knock over all of my witches...

...so it’s mostly pumpkins. My kitchen window has a bit of cheer and a Halloween countdown (obviously snapped last week).

And in the living room I added this nonsense. 

Why yes, I was watching a true crime show - aren’t I always?  Anywho, I thought the cats weren’t interested in the Halloween banner and that all was safe.  Then I noticed this...

one rosette is missing from a little flag.  I thought perhaps it had fallen off, but I have looked everywhere and can’t find it.  It’s been carried off by one of the borrowers in this house.  They don’t act one bit sorry and they’re not talking.

A dog would have the decency to look guilty. It’s time for me to set this laptop aside and make some dinner for the mister.  I promised him stuffed peppers so that’s what he’ll get.  That’s not my favorite so I think I’ll skip it and just have a turkey sandwich.  That means leftovers for his lunch tomorrow - win,win!  So there you go, a missive from my oddball little corner of the world.  If these crazy times are getting to you as well, take a break from it.  We can’t escape everything that’s happening, but we can give ourselves a break.  Take a walk and soak up the gorgeous season. Create a pretty fall planter for a porch or window, or just treat yourself to a cookie and a good book.  Let the world turn without you for a bit.  It’ll be fine.  We don’t have to carry the weight in our hearts all the time, rest if you need to and pick it back up when you can.  There are enough of us to carry it.  Be kind to yourself, be generous with yourself, restore yourself.  

I think we all need some peace. Sending you lots of love. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[suncatchr]

36

thank u! hehe

36. “How much do you remember?”

“Wow, Seoll, thank you!”

Rare happiness sparks in Khaon’s eyes when I hand him the journal I found for him. It’s dark and leather-bound, clasped with a stark gold latch. I thought it was pretty. I’m elated to see that it’s put a smile on Khaon’s face.

“It’s so fancy for a food journal, don’t you think?” He turns to Delta, who’s staring over his shoulder at the new book. I wonder if I should have gotten him something, but the journal just stood out to me as something Khaon should have. I’ll get something for Delta tomorrow, I’ll remember.

“You can write about more than food in it,” Delta suggests, reaching around Khaon to draw his finger over the golden latch. “Right? You can like, write about how our day went before we stopped for our meal.”

“Well, I already do that,” Khaon responds. “I don’t wanna- uh…” He stops himself, fiddling with the clasp to let the book fall open. I wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t. Khaon does that a lot, actually, lets his sentences fall flat on their faces before he’s done.

“What?” I ask, trying to be helpful. Khaon screws up his face and turns to Delta like he’s looking for help.

“Like, lose track?” Delta supplies. I wish I had what they do, that ability to see the words in each other. They travelled together for a while before the last eclipse. We all run together now, but I can tell there’s something that keeps us on separate levels. I wonder if that’s how we’re supposed to be. You know, since they’re both drawn from the night in a way that I’m not. Or something. I don’t completely understand it, honestly, I didn’t do a lot of reading on our history before I met them. The closest thing I did was look at photos taken and sketches done the last few generations of us. In the museum-academy we visited before we left.

They all had wondrous things to say. About places they went and lives they had. It was cool, I guess, but it was also like reading the journals of long-gone poets. I can write my own poetry, you know? I don’t need their life story to do it. Else I get caught up in what they did and I forget what I really want.

Which brings me back to Delta and Khaon. Am I really willing to let the idea of them being the moon and stars keep me distant from them? No, right? That can’t be the way it’s supposed to be. I’ll grow to understand them, I know I will. So I try not to feel too locked out when they pick up the edges of each other’s trailing sentences. Right now, all I need is for the sentence to be completed.

“Yeah,” Khaon says. “Without context, the food stuff isn’t the same. It’s about…”

“Memories?” I supply. It’d be nice, I think, if it’s all about sentiment. And finally keeping track of the places he’s been in a way that draws fondness.

“Yeah, like the people we met and the stuff we did.” Khaon shuts the journal and locks it back. “I have to finish my old one. But I like it a lot, C, thanks.”

He likes it. Warmth makes my head fuzzy. “I’m glad!”

Delta smiles over at Khaon and then up at me. So Khaon really likes it, if Delta can see it too. Oh, I’m happier than I thought I’d be.

“What’re you grinning at? C'mon, flag down the waiter, wouldn’t you? I need coffee.”

“K, it’s nine-thirty,” Delta chastises. “You shouldn’t-”

“D, you’re not my mom.”

Delta leans off of him to wave at a young man walking towards us. “But I care about your heart and your sleep. Tell him, Seoll.”

“I was gonna get one too,” I admit before I think about Delta’s reaction. He narrows his eyes at me, and then shoots a criticising glance at Khaon when he snickers. “Sorry, I just wanna stay up with you guys.”

“There will be no staying up. I’m going to bed when we find a hotel, and so should both of you.”

Khaon’s expression flattens when he returns Delta’s glare. “D-”

“It’s okay, Khaon. Just relax on the caffeine, will you?”

Well, this is unfamiliar territory. Delta’s words are coming from a context that I haven’t got. “Wait, what’s wrong?”

“Khaon has trouble sleeping at night,” Delta says quietly, like it’s a secret. Khaon does tend to be secretive. I can see why he would want to hush about this, I guess. Around other people, though. Not me. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask. Khaon doesn’t answer. He glances instead past Delta to the waiter that just arrived. 

“I want a red-eye, please,” he mutters.

“No, he doesn’t,” Delta snaps, laying a hand over Khaon’s and pushing him away from the waiter. “You wouldn’t even serve those so late, would you?”

The waiter looks a bit confused. “We still serve espresso drinks,” he says plainly. Delta makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and the waiter blinks as though he realises he’s made a mistake.

“Although-”

“Forget it,” Delta mutters. The waiter nods. Delta grips Khaon’s hand too tightly. “I’ll take a hot chocolate, please.”

“Can I just have some water?” I ask quietly. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of Delta’s sudden wrath. The waiter nods and thankfully walks away. “K, why didn’t you tell me-?”

“It’s not a big deal, Seoll, it’s just another stupid trick the gods are playing on me. If I can’t sleep at night, what choice do I have but to Chase the moon?”

“But you don’t do that,” I remind him. “So why-?”

“To try to force me, I bet. Leave it alone, it’s not like you can talk it out of me.”

“But why the coffee if you want to sleep?” I try to ignore how his face contorts with discomfort. He’s not making sense, doesn’t he see?

“Haven’t you ever stayed up a little too late before? I at least want the energy to do something if I’m gonna be stuck by myself until five in the morning, you kn- I don’t know.”

I didn’t know all of this! “K, I’m-”

“I’d like to stop talking about it. It’s really not a big deal, only D thinks it is.”

Delta’s cheeks go flushed. “You need to sleep!”

“Well, take that up with the gods, then. All they do is pick on me, I’m used to it.” He shrugs. “Did you guys want to see the market square before we go home?”

“No, we’ll go tomorrow.” Delta is still holding Khaon’s hand and Khaon doesn’t let go. I don’t think they’re fighting anymore, but I don’t want to reignite it so I’m going to leave Khaon alone about this for now. I guess. “If we wait too long, all the hotel rooms will be gone.”

“That’s not true. It’s never true.”

“I’m scared you’ll keep saying that and then one day it will be.”

“Well, then you can tell me I was wrong.”

I laugh a little so they remember I’m still here. Then I add, “Regardless, it’s late. These small towns sleep at night.”

“Okay, tomorrow, then.”

We get our drinks after a minute, and Delta makes a point of turning up his nose at the scent of Khaon’s coffee. Khaon ignores him, though he winces when he tastes it. I don’t understand what’s going on here. I stir the ice cubes around in my water and wish I could have held my awkwardness off for long enough to get something hot.

After Delta explains the function of our badges (for the millionth time in our lives) to the waiter, we pick up our stuff and head out. It’s cold outside, colder than Khaon is comfortable with. He shoves his hands into his pockets with a wordless complaint.

“Can’t believe you guys would have wanted to go to the square in this!” he whines. Delta blinks.

“You were the one who asked,” he says.

I shush them. For best friends they certainly do argue a lot. Besides, I need to concentrate. My falcon is flying somewhere above this place, and I have to call him back before we find a place to stay. I’m never afraid that he won’t return, but sometimes I hesitate to let him free because I’m not sure when I’ll stumble into an area where people hunt birds of prey. I mean, who knows, right? 

“Are you calling that damn bird?” Khaon asks just as I slide my bag off my shoulder to pull out my sleeve.

“I don’t know, maybe,” I answer playfully, pulling the leather sleeve over my coat. It’s tight but it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as raptor talons in my arm. “Why? Do you not like him?” I’m teasing, I know Khaon doesn’t like birds.

“I just don’t get why you don’t let it free.”

“He’s domesticated.” I pick up my stuff and start walking again. Waiting here for Bennu will take too long, and I know poor Khaon’s about to freeze to death. “How cruel of you, Khaon.”

“You can’t domesticate a bird of prey!”

“He’s Seoll’s pet, Khaon, we’ve been over this a million times,” Delta cuts in insistently. He shoots me an apologetic look, as though I’m not totally used to Khaon’s relentless complaining. 

“Well, then, I’m going to adopt a sewer rat from a New York subway and name it Iah. It’ll be my lunar guardian and you’re both gonna have to put up with it sleeping in our bed and giving you rabies.”

“Bennu doesn’t have rabies,” Delta sighs.

I like that Khaon assumes we’ll all keep travelling together after this eclipse. 

“What’re you smiling at?” Khaon huffs, “I’m dead serious.”

“I know. But my bird will eat your rat.”

For a hot second, he actually looks upset.

We find a quiet local hotel off the side of the highway, after twenty minutes of walking and Khaon’s increasingly high-pitched remarks about frostbite. As soon as we open the door to our room I spot my falcon, perched on the balcony rail outside the glass back door.

“There you are! You took your sweet time tonight.” I rush to open the door for him and he swoops inside, settling himself onto my arm like he’s offended at how long I took to let him in. “Sorry, your highness. Are you cold?”

He shuffles his feet and looks away from me. I hope he’s not mad.

Khaon drops his bag. “I’m gonna go wash up. Seoll, you’d better go next, wash the bird flu off of you.”

“Ha, ha. If he had the bird flu I’d have caught it already.”

“That’s not reassuring.” He walks into the bathroom and shuts the door.

Delta trails up behind me, lays his head on my shoulder. “You know he’s only playing, right?”

“Of course I do. You think Khaon’s misery has the power to hurt my feelings? Or his?” I ask, gesturing to the bird.

Delta snickers, reaches with a finger to stroke some of Bennu’s feathers. Normally I don’t let anyone touch him, for the safety of their fingers, but he seems to understand Delta and Khaon’s presence by now.

“I don’t know, he seems to have that effect on other people.”

“I feel like I know him too well for that.”

“Hm,” Delta says, leaning back. He looks at me like he’s not sure he believes me, but before I can ask the look fades away and he goes to seat himself on the bed. I don’t see any issue with what I said, so I decide not to ask lest Delta bring one up. Instead, I set myself to setting up Bennu’s temporary roost, jessing and hooding him so he’ll rest for the night. I make sure to set it all up on the dresser away from the window, since Khaon likes to sleep by the window.

He comes out of the bathroom a little while later, after Delta and I have already lain down. We’ve been watching TV this whole time, even though I don’t think Delta’s very entertained. He glances up when the bathroom door opens, and then immediately sighs and rolls over to sleep. I guess he was waiting on Khaon, but that was about as far as he could get. I hand Khaon the remote when he sits down. He accepts it wordlessly and changes the channel. Feeling a little off-put, I follow Delta’s lead and just close my eyes.

Snow flickers past my face.

I shoot a glance to my side, but whoever I had expected to be there isn’t there. I’m standing on the edge of a valley, fat snowflakes hardly visible where they fall relentlessly against the white ground. Without meaning to or feeling it I creep forward, walking along the valley’s edge. I don’t call for anyone, though I think about it. I think about it constantly, actually.

There’s a patch of ice under the snow; I’m on my knees before I even realise that I’ve slipped. It’s cold under my hands, bitingly so, and I worry I might freeze out here. I’m not wearing my jacket, I notice- gods, my mother’s going to kill me! I’m not to play outside in anything less than three layers all over. Khaon and Delta won’t tell her, will they? I don’t even know why I’ve come out without my coat, it wouldn’t be fair if I were to get punished for it. 

The cry of a falcon makes me jerk my head up to the sky. There’s no sight of Bennu anywhere, but there’s a person standing in the snow when I look back ahead. They weren’t there before. I get to my feet and try to back away from the ravine’s slippery edge, but it seems to follow me back, the dip just touching the toes of my boots each time I move.

“Wh-what do I do?” I call to the figure. Apprehension is rising cold in my belly as I keep trying to run back. Eventually my rushed stumbling makes me lose my balance, and I stay where I’ve fallen in the snow this time. The edge freezes.

“Move forward!” The figure gestures to me. “Walk along the edge.”

But I’m scared! I nearly fell so many times, he just watched the ground recede with every step I took, didn’t he? 

“I brought your coat!” He raises what seems to be another figure, until I realise it’s legless. It really is my coat! I can’t get in trouble with my mom now! Carefully standing myself up at the edge, I start forward again. “Come get it, I’m not far.”

I try to run.

“No! Take your time!”

Right. I don’t want to slip. Frustration prickles in my fingertips, but that might also be the cold. It’s my own fault for coming out here coatless. The figure gestures me to him again and then extends a hand to me. He isn’t wearing a coat either. I keep my steady pace until I’m close enough to reach out for his hand. He pulls me to him and drapes my coat over my shoulders, warming me from head to toe. Thank the gods for this thing. I try to thank the figure, too, but I can’t open my mouth. He smiles at me, and there’s something familiar about him, in a fuzzy sort of way. I don’t quite understand his features. 

“Good work,” he says. “You can go back now.”

Back? Back where?

I jolt awake, opening my eyes to darkness and sitting up to try to make sense of where the hell I am. The bed rocks underneath me, that’s right. I’m in a hotel bed with Khaon and Delta. Delta didn’t notice me waking, he’s still curled into his pillow with no trouble on his face. Thank goodness, I wouldn’t want to scare him awake.

“Seoll? What’s the matter?”

Khaon is here too, that’s right, it’s all coming back to me. I sigh my relief. He blinks curiously. 

“Weird dream,” I report. “Aren’t you tired yet?”

“Dream?” he asks urgently. Oh, is he trying to deflect again? Delta wouldn’t let him. “What kind of dream?”

“Maybe we should take a walk, see if that helps you feel tired.”

He huffs. “What kind of dream, Seoll? Answer me.”

Is it that important? “I don’t know, just a dream. Nothing bad happened, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“What do you remember of it?" 

"What’s with the interrogation, K? It was snowy and cold and then someone gave me a jacket.”

“Who?" 

"I don’t know!” He’s really starting to freak me out. “Why?”

“Seoll, we don’t dream!” he drops his voice to a noisy whisper, like he’s worried about Delta hearing.

“What do you mean? I just had one.”

“No, you didn’t.” He growls with frustration, shaking his head and turning away from me. “Do you see now what kinds of stupid tricks they play on us?”

“What are you on about? It was just a dream!”

“Were you in danger?”

“I was cold..?”

“Was there something you had to find?”

“My jacket.”

“They’re pushing you to something. There’s something else they need you to do for them, you-”

“Khaon, what are you talking about?” I hop out of the bed because I’m scared to disturb Delta. “I think you need to rest, you’re freaking out.” This happens to people who don’t sleep, I know, they become agitated and frustrated and both of those things describe Khaon perfectly right now.

Khaon gets up, too, meets me at the foot of the bed and braces his hands against my shoulders. “Seoll, you- I read a lot of stuff while we were staying in Greece. People like us don’t have dreams. If you didn’t see the afterlife, you saw something that the gods were showing you, do you understand me?”

The more he insists upon it, the more I’m convinced that not only my dream but his insomnia are a lot more normal than he thinks they are. “Why should they care about me getting cold? They don’t care about anything else about us.”

“You thinking that is probably why they sent that dream,” he whispers. 

“Sent-?”

“You should have paid more attention to the artifacts the last few Chasers left behind,” he mutters crossly. “You might be in danger, Seoll, the gods don’t like it when we don’t listen, that’s why I don’t sleep!”

“Khaon, I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself.”

“Would you please just listen to me?” A whine threads his words all of a sudden, a desperate one quite unlike his normal complaining. “Seoll, you’re our Sun. You-" 

He lets go of me. 

I’m trying to hear him out. "I what?”

“Seoll, if you ever have another dream, tell me. They’re giving you puzzle pieces, you have to make up for whatever they’re mad about.”

“How do you know they’re mad?”

“Other Chasers say that’s the only reason they ever heard from the gods.”

“We’re not other Chasers.”

He groans. “We’re all the same. That’s why we exist, Seoll, to live the same life again and again.” He backs away from me. He turns suddenly to face the window as though something had startled him. It’s dawn, the sky is paling. 

“Khaon?”

“I feel stupid now.”

My heart sinks. “I didn’t mean to make you-”

“Shh. Just…”

“If I hurt your feelings I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t about me, C, it’s about you.”

“But I don’t understand what’s wrong!”

“Oh, Seoll, of course you don’t.” He shakes his head. I feel bad. “Don’t tell Delta about this, okay?”

“Wh-Delta?” Does everyone know something that I don’t? 

“Yeah, he’ll worry. Just… just keep me updated on any other ‘dreams’ you might have.”

“Okay, K, I will.”

He’s silent.

I’m so confused, but I’m relieved that this seems to be… over? I think. My worry is all for Khaon, I don’t know what he thinks is going on with me but he’s really scared of it. I put my hand on his shoulder and try to offer a few comforting strokes. He doesn’t seem to notice me.

“I’m gonna clean up for the day,” I mutter, backing off.

“Okay,” he grunts, going back over to his side of the bed. Before I close the bathroom door behind me, I spot him grabbing his new journal off the bedside and drawing his knees up to write on. He reaches a hand over Delta’s shoulder, but he hesitates. Slowly he picks up a pen instead. Biting down on my rising worry, I close the door.

[bahamutgreen]

A hyper analysis of the Mario Stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Hey I took the liberty of spending too much time of my life going through some of the Mario stages in Ultimate to find pretty scenes and interesting secrets. I go through each stage one by one in this MASSIVE text post so it’s all hidden under this readmore link! Enjoy the post if you have the time and energy to read it all, haha!!

Super Smash Bros. 64 (2 stages)

Peach’s Castle

As one might expect, the Smash 64 stages don’t have too much to talk about. But I tried to find as much as I could! For starters, here’s a very pretty scenic shot of the background, which is a bird’s eye view of the starting area in Super Mario 64.

Secondly, there are these trees, which are taken directly from Super Mario 64 smushed down a little bit, and had the colors desaturated a bit.

And, just for fun: This isn’t the first time this tree appears on the Nintendo Switch, as this same tree sprite was used in the recreation of the courtyard in Odyssey!

Mushroom Kingdom

Again, not much to talk about but hey here’s something everyone already knows: You can see the blast zones in this stage. I believe this is actually in each iteration of this stage (64, Melee, Ultimate) I also think the fake 2D pipe is a little interesting to look at. It doesn’t blend in very well but it’s cute.

You can also get a glimpse of how far down the vines and mushrooms go

And lastly, here’s a picture of the cute Buzzy Beetle on a spring. Rumor has it that this was added in by a developer without permission in the N64 version? I don’t know if that’s true but it’s a neat story. Also, Buzzy Beetles don’t usually appear above ground, so there’s some trivia for you

Super Smash Bros. Melee (4 Stages)

Princess Peach’s Castle

This is the first stage to get an HD remaster! Look at the beautiful recreation of the Peach Mural in front of the castle!

You can also see the bridge over Peach’s Moat, which I don’t think you could see before

Also, this isn’t intentional and is surely a coincidence but if you clip under Peach’s castle, it looks like there’s a hole in the water which is almost what it looks like if you clip under Peach’s Castle in Super Mario Odyssey.

Lastly, here’s a nice scenic shot of the waterfall behind the castle

Rainbow Cruise

So, this stage opens up with a really beautiful scenic shot. And to the left of the lake, you can see a little town! This was also in the original Melee version of this stage.

Interestingly, if you move the camera you can see that the whole stage is already loaded while you’re on the airship, and the airship is actually stationary.

Yoshi’s Island

OKAY this is a Yoshi Stage cause it’s based on Dinosaur Land but it comes from Super Mario World which is a Mario game so I’m putting it here.

The walk off part of the level actually has grass on it

And the level has been updated to have cute New Super Mario Bros. flowers!

And this stage has cute 2 paintings of the Sprites from Super Mario World AND a shot of nice HD Yoshi Fruit. These fruits have a much more berry or persimmon look in modern Mario titles but the apple look isn’t too far off.

Mushroom Kingdom II

A sequel to the first Mushroom Kingdom Stage, this doesn’t have a lot to talk about either but there is some stuff! It looks very pretty with the All-Stars sprites

And if you look, the tops of the platforms are just a very... neat looking solid green color

And you can even get a peek at where the stage’s background cuts off!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (4 stages)

Delfino Plaza

My favorite Smash Bros. Stage ever! I love all the detail put into this stage, particularly all the stages you can see from the plaza itself. Like Ricco Harbor and Bianco Hills

Pinna Park and Sirena Beach

And even the Airstrip!

There’s also tons of cute details in the Plaza, like the manhole covers and the overhang that contains the Pachinko stage!

Even the open windows have been updated to have fully rendered rooms inside them! Although the camera can’t zoom in very far to see them.

And here’s a fun glitch, you can clip the camera underwater just like clipping Mario under the water in the original Sunshine!

Also I noticed that the fire from Mario’s Final Smash leaves a special burning effect behind when it touches grass

Mushroomy Kingdom

The spinoff to Mushroom Kingdoms I&II, it has a TON of fantastic visual detail. Being a realistic, worn down reimagining of the original 1-1

You’ll notice in the last one that the pipes have covers on them, so you can’t enter them. The castle itself also has a fantastic visual wear and tear

Here’s a cute detail! 6 blocks away from this pipe is a hidden box. Just like the original Super Mario Bros.! In the original game it had a hidden 1-up inside!

Also here’s a nice shot I got of Mario grabbing the flag pole!

Figure-8 Circuit

Most people already know this but you can almost see the full track just out of reach of the screen

You might notice a cute garage and even stands for the audience! However, the stands are filled with humans instead of Mario characters. I think they’re recycled from the Punch Out arena stage. But there’s a screen that keeps track of where the Shyguys are in real time! Neat!

Speaking of which, here’s a close up on the Shyguys. They use the Standard SG Kart just as they would when playing multiplayer mode with 1 cartridge in Mario Kart DS. Which is where Figure-8 Circuit comes from, of course.

Lastly, one of my favorite details in this track is it’s use of Mario aesthetics and platforms as set pieces to build the environment. You can see large mushrooms, hills, checkered floors, and the block platforms seen in Mario Bros. 3!

Luigi’s Mansion

A really nice detail in this stage is that all the rooms you can see are actual rooms from Luigi’s Mansion! In order, left to right, top then bottom, the rooms are: Nursery, Foyer (1F), Study, Kitchen, Foyer, Ballroom.

And by stepping out of the Mansion you get a good look at the front!

But don’t worry, you can still see the cross section if you turn the camera

Some other cute details include the well where you first see Mario’s fate in Luigi’s Mansion, there’s a lot of tombstones around the mansion which take designs from Luigi’s Mansion’s graveyard. And even the chimneys at the top of the mansion are right where they should be!

And lastly here’s some of the Boos that spawn when you destroy chunks of the mansion

Mario Bros.

I only have one thing to talk about with this stage, and it’s that the POW Block has a strange amount of detail to it. It’s updated with this cool, cybernetic design.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3 Stages)

3D Land

This stage is GORGEOUS, in my opinion. Here’s some good shots that show the detail of blocks, flip panels, Peach’s castle, and spike pillars, all with their 3D Land designs

You can also see a little visual thing where this mountain isn’t exactly in the water

An interesting developer trick is that when you go into the pipe to restart the stage, tilting the camera will show you that almost the whole stage unloads around you

And now... Here’s just a ton of really pretty scenic shots I got from this level. I just think it’s a really nice looking stage. It also does a good job of incorporation Mario elements and platforms into the environments.

okay I’m done sorry

Golden Plains

Some really nice recreations of Mario props in this stage. Here’s the 3 types of coins that appear in the stage, Gold, Red, and Blue. Gold/Blue count as 1 and Red counts as 5.

The little sign at the bottom appears when the stage starts scrolling. Also here’s some other Mario set pieces.

Also this stage isn’t as pretty as 3D Land, it does have some nice background shots

And here’s a screenshot of the stage gimmick, getting 100 coins will turn you into a gold version of your fighter!

Paper Mario

this is another stunning stage to look at. The detail in the paper and crafts are so amazing. 

In the first area, based on Hither Thither Hill, if you look to the side the walk off part of the stage actually has the same walk off between areas that Paper Mario games have!!

Here’s a close up of the fan

The 2nd area, based on the S.S. Flavion, has a super cute references to the reoccuring Big Blooper bosses in Paper Mario and the Whale from Paper Mario 64

The 3rd area, based on Bowser’s Castle in Sticker Star, is just pretty. And when the stage transitions back to the 1st area it actually closes like a story book, how cute!!

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U (4 Stages)

Mushroom Kingdom U

A really underrated stage in my opinion. This is the most recent entry in the Mushroom Kingdom series of stages, based on the New Super Mario Bros. series this time. The first area, based on Acorn Plains, has some very cute environments in it.

You can even see trees containing Super Acorns, which naturally grow in this area! The 2nd area is based on the Meringue Clouds world. It’s so pretty and I even got a shot of the icicles that fall periodically through this stage. Sadly I couldn’t get the beanstalk to spawn? Maybe it’s not in Ultimate’s version of the stage. But I don’t know.

The next area is based on the games’ fortress stages! It has REALLY complex machinery for the center platforms, and you can even move the camera to see down the tower. It’s a LONG drop. I also got close ups of the multiplying blocks

The final area is based on Sparkling Waters and Rock-Candy Mines. It has pretty backdrops and sea urchins!

Lastly, some nice pictures of Kamek!

And Nabbit! Who, interestingly, has a visual glitch on his bag. The top of the Mushroom emblem is incorrectly doubled right underneath it.

Mario Galaxy

Another super pretty stage. It has gorgeous set pieces

Here’s a closeup of Starship Mario and one of Bowser’s airships. Starship Mario has Lubba, the Lumas, and all the trimmings. The airship doesn’t seem to have many crew members, though.

And here’s a closeup of a falling starbit

Mario Circuit

This, like Figure-8 Circuit, is a recreation of Mario Kart 8′s Mario Circuit. It has all the same details (minus an audience to watch)

Also, some of the towers you land on have staircases that go a lot further than you’d think

And lastly, here’s a close up of the shyguy racers. They’re now decked out with the Standard Kart design from Mario Kart 8. If you look closely, the Shyguy’s clothes are also far more detailed than the Shyguys in Figure-8 Circuit.

Super Mario Maker

This is a neat stage because it can shift artstyles mid battle. Here’s a picture of the 4 art styles: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U!

I also got some shots of the hands that will appear to fix parts of the stage you break during combat! I’m sure there’s more hands but we do have human hands, animal hands, and Mario hands!

Mario also has a cute Mario Maker alt. to go along perfectly with this stage!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (1 Stage)

New Donk City Hall

We finally made it! Here’s the end of this massive, way too long post! Here’s some nice shots of the city, a shot of the park, and I even tried getting most of the sky scraper in one shot

Here’s some nice shots of the Odyssey! You’ll notice it has 21 Power Moons, as the official art for the Odyssey has. But it actually takes 55 Power Moons to reach the Metro Kingdom.

Some bonus stuff: A lightbulb, the New Donk City players (plus poster), and even a shot that shows how much of New Donk City was rendered.

And look! It’s Captain Toad!!! I love this fella so much!

His arm looks very weird and long when he puts it in front of his face. But you wouldn’t notice that during normal gameplay anyway

And now... I have no other way of saying this. I have a million shots of Pauline. She’s so gorgeous. I love her so much.

A really nice detail about this is that we get a good shot of Pauline’s back! You don’t get a good look in Odyssey because when you get to her during the festival the camera is locked.

AAAAAAND that’s it! That’s all the little snacks and secrets I found in the Mario stages. This was very fun and very tiring. I hope you enjoyed what I found. I know there’s a ton more stuff I missed. I do also have screenshots from the Mario spinoffs, like Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Wario. So if people wanna see that too I can share them. But hey, for right now. I’m going to sleep. Let me know if you wanna see the spinoff stages or if I should share nicer quality pictures of the environments. That’s all for today. See ya later!

[wayoutrp-blog]

ORLANDO, FLORIDA SETLIST

Under the read more are the set lists and schedules for the Orlando, Florida show! Feel free to use the set lists for reference as to who’s sharing a stage, which songs are performed, etc. Each show we’ll be changing up the people who share a stage and orders of performance.

The Orlando show is going to be an outdoor show in traditional music festival setting. There will be three stages. There are vendors, DJ’s between sets, and etc. Feel free to use your imagination! The show will last from 6-12 PM, and each band will perform for 45-60 minutes.

Below is how you can get points for your band/team!

Each time someone posts/reblogs about the show - photos, instagram, twitter, music posts, etc. - we will give the band/artist ten points.

Each time someone posts about a band/artist, we will give the artist that’s been posted about and the poster ten points. For example: @tinacc tweets: Rachel Berry’s set was great! Almost as good as ours 😉  (Rachel and Tina would each get ten points.)

We will give ten points for every gossip/confession we receive about a band/artist on the gossip blog, on the day of the show.

We will give ten points for each anon answered on the day of the show.

We will give twenty points for every starter - f2f or dash starter - that mentions the show.

We will give thirty points to both bands in the event of a surprise collaboration.

We will give thirty points for every show based self para - watching or performing.

Those with a character not in a group can still get points - and their player decides which band to give the points to!

The bands with the most points will get an encore in the nextshow! If you have any questions about this, message the admin team!

Please tag all posts in regards to this show with #wayoutorlando ! You can begin using this tag now, and continue to use it up until we post the next set list.

The following are the points from last show’s contest:

Cool Cool Cool - 60

Eureka Serpent - 60

Wilde - 30

Les Ladies - 20

Puddle of Peace - 0

Mercedes And The Oracle - 0

Rachel Berry - 0

Mousetrap - 0

Reflective Smoke - 0

Indigo - 0

Santana Lopez - 0

VENUE ONE:

ACT ONE - Santana Lopez

New Rules

IDGAF

Hotter Than Hell

Garden

Be The One

No Goodbyes

Begging

Homesick

Last Dance

ACT TWO - Rachel Berry

hummingbird heart

animal love i

animal love ii

welcome to new york ( cover - taylor swift )

forever is a long time

don’t make me believe

uuu ( unreleased )

honey ( unreleased )

no promises

better off ( cover - ariana grande )

are you satisfied ( cover - marina and the diamonds )

woman up

ACT THREE - Les Ladies

Tempt My Trouble

Hallowed Ground

The Chain (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Lyin

Dream

The Fire

Hi-Lo (Hollow)

Wild Horses

Move Like U Stole It (ZZ Ward cover)

Water

White Flag

ACT FOUR - Cool Cool Cool

Turn Into

Gold Lion

Heads Will Roll

Hey (Pixies Cover)

Black Tongue

Y Control

Runaway

Fade Into You (Mazzy Star Cover)

Cheated Hearts

Mysteries

Maps

Dragon Queen

Soft Shock

Zero

Shame And Fortune

Linger (Cranberries Cover) (encore)

These Paths (Unreleased) (encore)

VENUE TWO:

ACT ONE -  Reflective Smoke

I Love My Friends

Waste

Coming of Age

Call It What You Want

Broken Jaw

Pay The Man

Pseudologia Fantastica

Houdini

Lotus Eater

Pumped Up Kicks

Loyal Like Sid & Nancy

Don’t Stop

Sit Next To Me

ACT TWO - Bone Apple Tea

Colonic

Gold Chain

Tickle My Taint

Good With My Hands

The Craft

Business Is Pleasure

Prone Cobra

Robot Dick

ACT THREE - Puddle of Peace

Honey

A Dark Congregation

Molasses

City Traffic Puzzle

Tidal Wave (unreleased single)

Don’t Wake Me Up

Lions Roar

The Artist

Magnolia

Crawling Towards The Sun

Unsafe Safe

Not Your Concern

Break The Sky

Hospital Bed Crawl

Wine Red

ACT FOUR - Eureka Serpent

Brianstorm

Snap Out Of It

Crying Lightning

The View From The Afternoon

505

Fire Meet Gasoline (piano Sia Cover)

One Point Perspective

Mardy Bum

No. 1 Party Anthem

Do Me A Favour

Cryin (Aerosmith Cover)

Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?

Do I Wanna Know?

Arabella

One For The Road

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (encore)

R U Mine? (encore)

VENUE THREE:

ACT ONE - Indigo

Cool Girl

Moments

The Way That I am

Symphony (Clean Bandit Cover)

Love Ballad

Got Love

Heroes (we could be)

Not On Drugs

Rather Be (Clean Bandit Cover)

Not Made For This World

Timebomb

High You Are (What So Not Cover)

Talking Body

My Gun

Habits

ACT TWO - Mousetrap

Everything

Outta My Mind

Chunky

Bulletproof

Sugarcube

Welcome To The Family - Watsky (Cover)

Limousine

The Meanest

Old Ways

Freestyle

Pass The Mic - Beastie Boys (Cover)

Wet Brain

Dreamin

We Can’t All Be Heroes

Dispensary Girl

Rosana

Stupefied

Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest (Cover)

ACT THREE - Mercedes and The Oracle

Future People

Dunes

Hang Loose

Shoegaze

Guess Who

Heartbreaker

Miss You

On Your Way

Joe

Be Mine

Don’t Wanna Fight

Gimme All Your Love

Sound & Color

You Ain’t Alone

Over My Head

ACT FOUR - Wilde

Gasoline

Alone

Sorry

Ghost

Hopeless

Hurricane

Drive

Devil In Me

Don’t Play

Angel On Fire

Young God

Roman Holiday

Now Or Never

Heaven In Hiding

Bad At Love

Colors (Encore)

Walk The Line (Encore)

[yeehawbisexualold]

It’s a Party in the USA

A Fourth of July AU written for CS AU week day 1: Holiday AU. America vs. Great Britain antics ensue.

The rivalry started when Killian first moved in three years ago. It was less than a week from the Fourth of July and he made an offhand comment about how he hoped she wasn’t as “into” the holiday as his buddy David.

Emma wasn’t. At least, not yet.

At the age of 15, it was the first holiday she celebrated with the Nolan family, her first taste of how all out the family went for holidays. Being the wholesome, all-American family they were and living in one of the thirteen original colonies no less, Independence Day was the holiday they did with the biggest bang. Mr. and Mrs. Nolan invited all of their close friends and the entire block to their patriotic, backyard BBQ extravaganza—red, white and blue decorations galore, meat from every American animal imaginable, all sorts of water activities, a bounce house and face paint for the youngsters, and fireworks, so many fireworks.

It was all a little overwhelming at first, the extravagance and grandeur, but it soon became something she looked forward to. For that reason, it became her favorite holiday. But she didn’t make a big deal about it. She didn’t put on as much fanfare as her adoptive family. She mostly just showed up and enjoyed the festivities.

“Actually, I am,” she told him, straight faced and with zero hesitation.

Her and Killian weren’t antagonistic with each other but they did enjoy a little it of conflict. They bantered well, argued better, and seemed to disagree with each other often enough to keep things… interesting.

She wasn’t about to let this little dig towards her country and her brother’s enthusiasm slide.

It escalated quickly after that.

The America vs. Britain argument was a constant debate. Emma would do a little extra for the holiday, dress a little more patriotic, hang up some streamers around the apartment. Killian would combat that by wearing a British flag shirt and humming God Save The Queen. It wasn’t just the holiday that brought tension though. No, that was a year long thing.

(“Why do you Americans put the month before the date? It doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s easier to say January 1st than the 1st of January.”

“Yet the holiday celebrating your country is the Fourth of July.”

“You mean the country celebrating our independence? The independence we gained from yours?”

He printed out a chart comparing the homicide levels and taped it to the fridge. The next day she printed out a chart comparing the number of Olympic gold medals.

 She poked fun at the stupidity of Brexit. He fired back when Trump was elected.) 

Most people would probably take prudence not to agitate a new relationship but she doesn’t intend to call a cease fire now that they’re together. If anything, she’s more determined than ever. She hopes he feels the same. Because this year, she has big plans. 

She gets up before Killian, a feat in of itself (slipping out of bed without alerting him and managing to wake before him.) She gives herself just enough time to decorate the apartment and set up her pranks before he joins her in the land of wakefulness. 

Sneaking back into their bedroom, she makes sure he’s still asleep and then places the portable speaker on the nightstand next to his head. Carefully, she drops one leg on either side of his hips, moving into the position of kneeling above him, hovering just enough to not make contact. 

Giddy off vindictiveness, she presses play on the remote and exceedingly enjoys the way he shoots up, eyes wild, startled awake by the sound of Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA. She blows into her party horn and smirks down at him.

His eyes narrow and his brows furrow, a mixture of annoyance and arousal, as he takes her in, sitting astride him I n a strapless corset, red and white striped with a square of blue with white stars over her right boob, and a pair of matching blue and white starred underwear. He looks to the speaker on the night stand, back to her, back at the speaker, and then back at her.

“Ok, you’ve had your fun. Will you please turn that off?” he asks, looking thoroughly put out.

“But it’s a Party in the USA,” she says, saccharine sweet, slowly moving her hips back and forth.

“This party would be a lot more fun with out the tunes.”

She pretends to consider it for a moment, running her hands up and down his bare chest, scratching her nails through his hair. “Mmm, no.”

“I’m sure I can figure out a way to convince you,” he growls before flipping her over so that she’s underneath him.

“You can try,” she giggles, pulling his mouth down to hers.

~

He shouts, completely horrified, from the bathroom. "Swan!“

“Yes?” She doesn’t really need an answer though. She’s sure he’s found the box of Twinnings tea dumped in the toilet.

“This is blasphemous! Sacrilegious!”

“I put tea in the toilet, Killian. I didn’t light a cross on fire then drop it on a pentagram.”

She calms him down enough to get in the shower, promising she’ll never waste perfectly good tea like that again, and then begins working on breakfast—white chocolate chip pancakes topped with strawberries and blueberries, with a side of iced tea.

“Something smells delicious,” he hums, coming up from behind and nuzzling her ear. He stops suddenly though when he realizes the additions she’s made to his favorite breakfast. “Really, Swan?”

“White chocolate for taste and the berries for healthiness.” She turns around and plants a kiss on his disgruntled mouth before stepping away to take a shower of her own.

“Why can’t the streamers be enough?” he grumbles to himself.

She sings cheerily along to Fifty Nifty United States as she scrubs herself with her apple pie body wash and smiles at the thought of him humming God Save The Queen or some other British anthem to himself in order to tune her out. Surely he can’t be feeling to joyous what with the way he’s scrubbed the words “England Sucks” off the bathroom mirror.

It’s Emma’s turn to be irked when she steps out of the bathroom to find him standing in a full British flag suit.

“No. Absolutely not,” she says clutching the towel to herself and shaking her head.

“Come on, love. You didn’t think you were the only one with a bit of naughtiness up your sleeve, now did you?” He’s smirking and his eyes are alight with mischief.

“I hope David kicks your ass.”

She dresses in a red and white stripped dress, blue flipflops, and little star earings—something she had thought would be patriotic enough but pales in comparison to Killian’s obnoxious suit. She ties a red and white polka dot bandana around her head and flexes her arm at him.

“Ready to go?” she asks and he simply kisses her bicep and nods.

When she steps back into the living room she finds images of famous British figures taped all over the walls—the queen, The Beatles, David Beckham, J.K. Rowling, Freddie Mercury, Princess Diana,  Jane Austen along with the cover of Emma, even One Direction. She clenches her fists and breathes in deeply in an effort to not rip the pictures off the wall and shove them in his mouth.

“I love watching you suppress your violent antics,” he whispers in her ear. She hadn’t realized he was so close behind her and she shivers. “But I think I’m even fonder of when you let them happen.”

“I’ll show you violence,” she grumbles, stomping out the front door.

He laughs aloud when he sees his car. With red and blue window paint, she wrote ‘Merica, football, independence, tea sucks, a U with a line through it, and drew a picture of an American flag.

“Just how early did you get up, love?”

“Early enough.”

He makes her listen to British patriotic songs on the way to her brother and his wife’s home but he gets his Karma when David pushes his fully clothed ass in the pool. She feels slightly bad for laughing when he presents her with a swan water float. The feeling doesn’t last very long though because she later overhears him bragging about all of the musical talents to originate in Britain.

“We have Beyonce, you dumbass,” she says before spraying him in the back of the head with a super soaker filled with red Kool-Aid.

The party goes on like that with the two of them bickering back and forth, most people content to just watch the entertainment they provide but David takes Emma’s side and Robin joins Killian in ragging America.

Everything calms once the fireworks begin. David and Mary Margaret’s house has a pretty good view of Boston’s Fourth of July firework show so everyone sits and watches from the backyard.

“How expensive do you think it would be to rent an orchestra to wake you up next year?” she asks, as she sits tucked into his side on a blanket in the grass.

“I don’t know but I’m sure we can budget for it if you promise you’ll be wearing that lovely outfit to wake me up again.”

“I’ll consider it.”

But who is she kidding? Of course, she’ll wear it again.

[britshits]

To the gay anon First of all just because you have been in a relationship with someone older than you doesnt mean you're going to get abused by them okay? My boyfriend is 23 and im 18 and we get along so well because of the dynamic. We get each other. Okay? Bye yall are so quick to judge.

hoenstly like .. i was considering not answering this bc it’s not even relevant to the discussion about that stupid film, but actually…… fuck outta here trying to imply that someone who was ABUSED by an older partner when they were a CHILD is in any way being “quick to judge”. that anon was talking about a relationship they were in at 15, with someone who was of legal age. do not come into my inbox and use your relationship – one between two legal adults – to push the whole “age is just a number” agenda when 1) we’re specifically talking about the issues with adults dating ppl who are underage, and 2) you’re spring-boarding this bullshit off the back of the experiences of a person who, again, was abused by an adult when they were a child.

like i get it, mayhaps your relationship is good. congrats. good for you. here’s a gold star m8. ( /s ) but going around trying to normalise the idea of GROWN ASS ADULTS dating ppl who arent even legal yet is 50 shades of fuckt up, bc you know what ? the power difference between an adult and a minor is a breeding ground for abuse ( yes,, even if said minor is “so mature for their age uwu” there’s a fuckn difference, legally, socially etc. ) and regardless of how Wholesome™ u view a relationship like that to be, it will never be anything but morally fucked up, bc one of the two is a fucking child. 

i’ve said it before, but young ppl having crushes on adults is fine ! it’s normal ! but what we shouldn’t be doing is normalising adults reciprocating those feelings. as an adult, someone being underage should be the biggest fuckin red flag / no entry sign you’ve ever come across. the shutters should come down in your brain, going there should not even be a thought that crosses your mind. as an adult, you have no business dating a minor. you have no. fucking. business. interacting with a minor in a way that is anything but platonic. and if you want to date a minor or want to fuck a minor as, again, a grown ass adult, guess what ? you are a paedophile. get help m8. truly, and un-ironically, get help. and if you’re gonna spend your time being an apologist for paedos, you also need help. kids deserve protecting and it disgusts me that you wouldn’t prioritise that over pushing your disgustingly harmful agenda.

anyway, im tired and i’ve gone off on a tangent, but honestly ? im str8 up ??? abt why you chose to send this. i find it strange that you read an ask talking about an abusive relationship between a 15yo and an 18yo, that was prompted by a post about a film involving a 17yo and a 25yo, and somehow thought that it was slighting ur 18/23 relationship. if your first instinct after reading peoples’ criticisms of a movie that romanticises a relationship with a fundamental power imbalance or someone’s account of a past abusive relationship has you getting heated, to the extent that you felt the need to message someone you don’t even know to try and defend / justify your current relationship, it seems like there could be some underlying issues there. typically people who are secure and in a healthy relationship wouldn’t do this. i hope that your bf is a good person and your relationship is healthy, but if this isn’t the case, i’ve put some links to masterlists / helplines below.

http://togetherweare-strong.tumblr.com/helpline

http://riot-company.tumblr.com/post/104655560344/save-a-life-help-master-post

https://autismserenity.tumblr.com/post/148703078846/masterpost-for-victims-of-psychological-abuse/embed

[hussar4]

Description: World War I Archive, included assorted documents, poster, certificates, and ephemera, 60 plus items total, pertaining to Judge James A. Newman, whose currency collection is featured in this auction, from the time of his service as First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, 51st Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division. 1st item: Letter in French with envelope from Mr. and Mme. Terriot of Recey-sur-Ource, Cote-d'Or, dated May 26, 1919, addressed to Monsieur James A. Newman/ 1st Lieutenant 51st Inf./American E. F. France/A. P. O. 777., with translation on Salvation Army stationary, presumably by Newman. The letter states how "greatly we regret not having you with us any longer...There are not many Americans in Recey by now. The company stationed close to us has left yesterday, and others follow it daily. May you all leave with the conviction that the French will always remember their friends (Americans) well and that they will never forget the eternal gratitude the French owe them". They request for Newman to "Please write us often. Your letters will be welcomed, for we will never forget you. Your absence is very noticeable in our house. Trusting that you will visit us, we are forwarding you our best sentiment, our excellent thoughts about you; and do deem us your devoted friends. A Terriot". 1 1/2" dried flower attached to letter, top left corner of first page. 2nd item: Letter in English with envelope from Malnouiy of Recey-sur-Ource, Cote-d'Or, dated December 6, 1946, addressed to M. James A. Newman/Attorney at Law/1210-11 Independent Building/Nashville/Tennessee/U.S.A. The letter begins "I write to say that Mr. Terriot is dead the last week, after a few days of illness. Worn by work, he went to bed for no use again; he kept his lucidity until he expire[d]. My mother remained near him to the last minute, since we were his best friends". Malnouiy writes that "In the France, for the time, we are in a critical situation. The revictualling is very bad and our directing - men think more politics; It's a pity after all things that we had seen during the Germans occupation! Perhaps a day, we will have a veritable chief who thinks French". 3rd item: Pre-World War I chromolithograph poster titled "Men Wanted For the Army" after a painting by Michael P. Whelan (American, 20th Century), published by American Lithography Company, New York, 1909. U.S. Army recruiting poster depicting an officer standing with a soldier, seated on a horse, blowing a bugle. "Apply at ---- Recruiting Station." lower center under image. Signed in the plate, lower right. Housed in a light blue painted wooden frame. Sight - 39 5/8" H x 28 1/2" W. Framed - 41 1/8" H x 30" W. 4th item: Thirty-one (31) page document titled "Selection and organization of Snipers", undated. The first paragraph reads "A good sniper must be a good shot. He must be more inteeligent [sic] than the average man to be used as an observer. As such he must remember what he has observed, and know how to report it. He mus[t] be a man with plenty of guts. Must posses patience. He does not get frequent shots, and must often wait considerable time. He must not fire unless he is pretty certain that he will scorea [sic] hit. He must be physically fit, much more so than the average soldier". Mathematical notations, back cover page. Pages bound by twine, top left and right. 5th-9th items: Six (6) copies, three (3) incomplete, thirteen (13) pages total, of "The Voyage", "a semi-Occasional news periodical published by the Fifty-First United States Infantry in the interest of Sport, Fun and Good-Fellowship, on the occasion of its trip across the Atlantic and on its mission to help make the world safe for Democrats". 10th item: One (1) page document detailing "Platoon Attack Formation" organized under "1st Attack Formation" and "2nd Attack Formation". 11th item: Three (3) page document containing an "Alphabetical List of Officers in Fifty-First Infantry" dated June 3, 1918. Pages stapled, top left corner. 12th item: One (1) U. S. S. Leviathan Abandon Ship card, dated June 5, 1919, for Capt. J. A. Newman, stating that "You are assigned to Life Boat No. 61 located C deck near main mast for the current trip. A. Stanton/Commander, U. S. Navy,/Executive Officer". 13th item: One (1) Sixth Division, U.S. Army Time Inspection Service certificate, No. 17031, dated June 10, 1918, stating "This is to certify that watch No 1082803 make Ham...has been inspected and is up to the standard required in this Division". signed by Griffith-Weaver, Inspector. 14th item: Twelve (12) page official copy of "Memorandums -- Hq. 51st. Inf. & Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga. Now in Force./Memo, Hq. Ft. Oglethorpe, GA. #1." dated June 30, 1917. Facsimile signature of S. F. Howard, cover page. Pages stapled, top left and right corners. 15th item: Two (2) page "Office of Supply Officer, Fifty First Infantry./Camp Forrest, Ga., 12th June, 1918./Memorandum:" from H. Robert W. Herwig, Captain & S. O., 51st Infantry. Pages stapled, top left corner. 16th item: Blank four (4) page "War Department./Quartermaster Corps./Officer's Pay Voucher.", Form No. 336. Front and back pages folded with two loose interior pages.17th item: One (1) page carbon copy of a letter with two (2) page War Department Circular No. 9, dated November 13, 1917 describing field glasses. The letter is a refusal of Newman's request for field glasses from Howard Elliot, Captain, Sig. R.C. A.S., Disbursing Officer, Chicamauga Park, GA, dated January 11, 1918. Letter and circular bound by paper clip, top center. 18th item: One (1) page document listing "Articles" of "Intrenching Tools" and Organization Equipment" in one column with a second column listing "Allowance" of each item. 19th-24th items: Six (6) pages of documents with envelope detailing Newman's loss of equipment will he was stationed in Recey-sur-Ource, Cote-d'Or with voucher for reimbursement for the sum of $174.66, dated February 4 - April 22, 1919. Three pages pinned, top left corner, two pages pinned, top center, one page, dated March 26, 1919, loose. 25th item: One (1) page carbon copy "Advertisement" reading "Come Join the Circus/Enlist in Headquarters Company/51st Infantry./Extraordinary Opportunities...[for] Men of the Following Trades/And Professions Are Required..." including "Pacifists/Trapeze Performers/Doughnut Hole Cutters/Lion Tamers/Beauty Specialists/Tooth Brush Makers" among other positions. 26th item: One (1) page receipt from the Atlantic Hotel, Boulevard Victor-Hugo, Nice, France. 27th-41st item: Fifteen (15) assorted military pins, medals, service ribbons, including one American Legion pin and one uniform button. 42nd item: One (1) faux black leather three-ring address book with photograph of an unidentified man and woman. Illegible pencil writing on front notebook pages, address section mostly blank. Book - 5 1/2" H x 3 1/2" W x 1/2" D. Photograph - 4 1/2" H x 2 7/8" W. 43rd item: One (1) black and white photo of an unidentified solider. Inscription reads "Not J A Newman", en verso. 11" H x 6 3/4" W. 44th item: One (1) miniature Brodie helmet stamped "American Legion Dept of Tenn Nashville" with laurel wreath and five pointed "US" star. 1 3/4" H x 5" W x 5 1/2" D. 45th item: One (1) blue felt with gold trim and writing reading "Welcome Legionnaire". 4" H x 11" W. 11" H x 6 3/4" W. 46th-49th items: Five (5) small flags, including four (4) United States of America flags and two (2) American Legion flags. Approximately 14" H. 50th item: One (1) card stock "disk", "prepared by Lt. James A. Newman Inf. R. C.". 5 1/8" dia. 51st item: One (1) tobacco advertising tin for the "Three Castles" cigarettes, W. D. and H. O. Wills, Bristol and London. 3 1/4" H x 2 3/4" dia. 52nd-56th item: Four (4) shoulder epaulets in one (1) brown canvas drawstring bag labeled "Newman". Bag - 6" H x 6" W. Epaulets - 5 1/2" L. 57th item: One (1) hardback copy of "No. 1923 - Description and Rules for the Management of the United States Rifle, Caliber .30, Model of 1903" published by the Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1917. 9 1/4" H x 6 1/8" W. 58th-60th items: Three (3) black and white photographs, one taken by Fletcher Harvey Schumacher, a Nashville, Tennessee photographer, depicting a man, identified as Billye Newman, en verso of one photograph. Housed in a card stock folder with" Portrait by Fletcher Harvey Schumacher" embossed lower right corner of front cover. Photographs range in size from 7" H x 5 1/8" W to 15 1/8" H x 11" W. Folder - 15 3/8" H x 11 3/8" W. 61st item: One (1) cotton and lace baby bib. 9" L. Early/mid 20th century. Provenance: the collection of the late James A. Newman (Nashville, TN, 1892-1964). (Additional high-resolution photos as well as information about PMG and third-party grading, the Friedberg Numbering System and James A. Newman are available at www.caseantiques.com.)Condition Report: All tems in overall good condition with toning, tears, dampstaining, etc., to be expected from age. 3rd item: Sheet adhered to auxiliary support. Areas of loss to poster, largest 3 5/8", exposing auxiliary support. Scattered foxing spots, largest 3/8", surface of sheet. Scattered creases, wrinkles, largest 5", surface of sheet. Areas of dampstaining, largest 1 1/2", surface of sheet.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/-1-c-F074542ADB?utm_source=inv_kwalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalertlive&utm_term=2

[deehollowaywrites]

horse of a different color

Four jockeys, two cities, one love, all Pride.

New York City - June 25, 4:15PM

“You know what’s so great about being based at Gulfstream?”

Joel looked at me over his sunglasses, black eyebrows quirked like he was ready for me to say something foolish or obvious. “The year-round riding?”

“Good point,” I allowed. He was such a workaholic, but I liked that look on a guy. “I was thinking more that Miami’s Pride is in April, so we get to do two per year. Aren’t we the luckiest motherfuckers on the planet?”

We were, to my way of thinking, or at least I was. Me with my paragon of a boyfriend, handsome and talented and a Classic win deep into a very good summer. Me in one of the most beautiful cities in the world--New York was no Miami, but it was a good place to be on the second Saturday in June, and the third Sunday was even better. Me surrounded by color and life, music, chanting in twenty different languages. Me and him and everyone else, the same and different for that moment.

“You just like parades,” Joel said, and wrapped his arm around my waist. “And marches and rallies. You remember…”

He cut off, a hint of a smile on his mouth, and I tried to decide what he might be remembering. Us two months earlier in Miami Beach, dancing on one of the drag floats with his cousin Dani, wearing Hawaiian-print board shorts and not much else? Us the year before, the weekend after Belmont, our first Belmont and our first New York Pride, or us this past Friday night at Fantasy, the ‘Men At Work’ theme and Joel’s breeches in a context different than the one I was used to--

“That rally,” he said. His arm tensed, his hand on my hip. I was wearing a tank top, Breeders’ Cup purple the perfect shade for a Pride weekend, and the sides were slashed down far enough that his skin was warm against mine. He turned his head, looking beyond the High Line, and his lips met my curls. “You remember.”

I remembered: the two of us in a crowd heading for the Miami-Dade courthouse, the wet June heat. His mouth, vodka-flavored; my best friend texting where r u and me ignoring it. Joel trying to tell me something, to open up, and me ignoring that too because I was a dipshit, or scared, because it was easier to go for what I wanted in that moment instead of what I was afraid I might want for life. The two of us at the start.

Across the rooftops Fifth Avenue was visible, the glitter and noise of the March snaking slowly through Manhattan. People we knew were down there, street-level, in the parade itself and along the sidewalks. Tallis was somewhere with Jessa and her girlfriend, and we’d have to go find them pretty soon, because we had dinner reservations at Ngam. As though on cue, my phone buzzed and I slid it out of my pocket, expecting a chiding Tallis text. Instead it was Lexington’s own blond-bitch princess, a picture of Felix and Adair in front of a rainbow horse statue in Triangle Park. A giant LexPride flag wrapped them together. I’d have sworn Adair’s smile was brighter than the light reflecting off their sunglasses.

“The cutest,” I declared, and showed my phone to Joel. “Great. Now we’ll have to one-up them.”

There was no question of the quantity of photos in my phone. We’d been walking all morning, pausing to get drinks and take pictures and kiss. If Felix was going to be all adorable, we’d be adorable right back at her--even more so, because I had a secret weapon of industrial-strength cuteness, and he was standing right next to me. Joel’s flannel had accumulated more pins and patches beside his old rainbow Cuban flag button as we’d stopped at stalls and merch booths, and--I rubbed my arm against his shoulder, where skin met the soft, torn edge of his sleeve. Was it the same flannel? Black-and-red plaid, faded, the softest thing in his closet. Back then, in front of the Miami courthouse, it’d been buttoned up; now it was open over his bare chest, sun glinting on a gold cross and the warm brown skin of his abs, black boxer-briefs visible above cut-off jeans and his Jordans.

“Just so you know,” I said, and I hadn’t expected my voice to be rough. “You look deadly.”

“You should be looking at the parade,” Joel said, but a smile slipped across his face. The hand on my hip eased north, his fingers hooking inside my shirt. His other hand tipped up the brim of my hat, then adjusted the JEWS FOR JUSTICE patch and the rainbow Keshet pin. A pinky lifted my Magen David from where it dangled over the Breeders’ Cup logo. “You look like free advertising.”

“The powers that be should pay me for this endorsement,” I said, and tugged his face down to mine. “The best is yet to…come.”

Joel snorted. “I guess I’ll give you some credit for waiting so long to whip that out.”

“Considering what you were whipping out on the dance floor last night, I deserve all the credit.”

In the sky above us, the sun passed over a cloud. It’d been like that all weekend, fast-moving clouds shot with brutal sunlight. Colorful sunscreen and body paint were everywhere. Yesterday Joel, long-suffering mensch that he was, had let me draw stars and horses all over his arms in rainbow splotches of zinc, a gigantic green outline of Florida on his stomach, a heart on each cheek. Now he pushed his sunglasses into his hair and gazed at me. “Ben.”

“Petsl.”

Tatteleh, I wanted to whisper to the smooth skin beneath his jaw, bubbeleh, gelibt boychick, every soft, sweet thing I could think of, all the endearments that weren’t enough in English and were somehow almost enough in Yiddish. He had a tendency to forget--how good he was, how beautiful, even on days like Pride when it was so easy to remember that we were loved, when it was safe to love.

I liked reminding him.

“I hope you’re having fun.”

“I’m always having fun,” I said, which was only the truth.

“Well--” he said. “But you know what I mean.”

“You mean,” I said, “that the racetrack is suffering without us.” He pressed his lips together, a sure sign that he was trying to be serious and failing to resist my notable charms. “You mean that the bettors are pining. You mean that Jamie Hamilton is gnashing his teeth over race five, which you would be winning right now if you weren’t here. Is that what you mean?”

He kept looking at me, his eyes soft black without the blue-tinted aviators, humoring me.

“Thank you for being here with me.” I kissed his cheek, the skin tasting faintly of sunscreen. “I know I can be a one-man gay Pride parade, but this only happens once a year.”

“Twice a year,” Joel murmured, turning so that I felt his smile on my lips. “If you’re lucky like us.”

New York City - June 25, 5:05PM

Jessa’s new girlfriend was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen.

To be fair, every woman I laid eyes on was up there; I just happened to really, really like women. And maybe I should’ve been jealous--maybe I should’ve looked at Esther draped over Jessa like kudzu and sucked my teeth--maybe in the back of my mind there was a highlights reel playing, the two of us that summer when everything changed, and the two of us in an Ozone Park walk-up, a Morningside Heights cafe, a Saratoga ballroom. But Jessa was happy and it was Pride, and as my grandma would’ve said, my cup was overflowing.

“Your cup,” Jessa said, giggling. “Tallis.” She grabbed the solo cup out of my hand as it tipped, my elbow on the railing of the rooftop bar. “Some poor soul down on the street won’t know what hit them.”

“Hey, like, if I time it right--like, when Ben texts me they’re heading over I’ll have to keep an eye out,” I said. “I’ll spot Joel’s frowny-face a mile away and then I’ll dump this right on Ben’s head.”

“That would definitely give them an idea of our location,” Jessa agreed. Esther looked at her and then at me, smiling and a little confused. Her face, I decided, was sweet. She looked like an icon of Black Mary, round cheeks and big dark eyes and a neck that wouldn’t have seemed out of place with the swan boats, her hair hidden beneath a bright blue-print turban. Jessa leaned over and darted a kiss at her, and I thought very hard about anything other than the berry flavor of her favorite purple lipstick, the way the sun hit her deep brown skin. “They’re Tallis’s friends. She just has a strange way of showing affection.”

“Ben understands me,” I said loftily. “And Joel respects me. Like, on the dirt, at least.” I sipped at the rest of the cocktail in my cup, what Jessa called an Ice Pick. Something along the lines of an Arnold Palmer, but with vodka. It was refreshing as hell on what was turning out to be the hottest day of New York’s summer so far. “They were supposed to come to the rally but--I mean, I suppose they were hungover. I guess I’ll allow it, like, how often does Joelito get smashed? Not often.”

Still, it would have been nice to have them at the rally. Ben was more political than he let on, and Joel was more political than he looked, and it was always chill when they were around, among the chants and the signs. If I couldn’t have Iris and Marcy, my best friends from high school, armed with slogans and literature, the boys were a good next-best.

“Those were some pictures from last night.” Jessa cocked an eyebrow. They were sparkling today, her perfect eyebrows, pink glitter swept along their arches to match the fuchsia braided into her hair. She looked like cotton candy, pink and purple swirled together in a galaxy-print romper and her lilac lips. “Tallis, I kind of figured you might wear something similar today, yet here you are in civvies.”

The pictures in question involved breeches, because Ben and Joel were predictable. I looked down at my own gear. “So maybe I didn’t feel like wearing my work uniform, geez.”

“Still,” Jessa said, face straight and brown eyes dancing. “Does what it says on the tin.”

The tin said DOWN TO RIDE in white block letters across my sports bra. It was too hot for real clothing, and Pride wasn’t for real clothing anyway, and I couldn’t figure why Jessa was giving me a hard time. Between my bra and cut-offs and Docs I still had more coverage going on than half the people dancing on this roof.

“You look great, Tallis,” Esther said, almost gushing. Maybe she felt like she had to be extra-nice, since she was kissing on my former lady-friend right in front of me. “Can I ask what your work-out regimen is like? Because Lord, you are in really good shape.”

“I mean,” I said. “I mainly just, like… ride horses.” I flapped my hands at my chest, not that there was much chest to be flapped at. Whatever boobs I’d been packing had long vanished in favor of muscle. “Like Jessa said. Does what it says on the tin.”

“Oh,” Esther said, and did that thing again, her eyes swerving between me and Jessa like she’d missed something. They hadn’t been dating for that long, they were still in the gooey stage of staring at each other and touching every three seconds, and when I’d heard--when I’d gotten back to New York after the Derby and Jessa had called me instead of responding to a simple hook-up text--when I’d seen Esther today, lovely and giggling on Jessa’s arm… It was difficult to be angry, or even that sad. Sad was a well-worn spot in my heart that would probably never scar over. But it was Pride, and Jessa was happy. Esther made her happy. Esther, who looked at me again and said, “Well, you look amazing.”

“Speaking of pictures,” I said, because things were starting to get awkward, “check what my guru’s up to.” My agent’s wife had texted me an hour or so before, and I flashed my phone at Jessa. “I mean, for real, look at this old man! I gotta tell him to perk up. Somebody up there better dunk his head in a cooler or some shit, like, it’s too early for naptime.”

Jessa giggled. “If I were Phil I’d have drawn dicks on his face.”

“Good to know,” Esther said. She slipped Jessa a sidelong look, lips pursed. “Remind me not to fall asleep around you.”

“That ain’t what you’ll wake up to,” Jessa said, composed. I tried to ignore that face of hers, the calm one she pulled on when she was delivering lightning bolts, the smooth full cheeks and innocent expression that came out when her hand was on your thigh. “Tallis, there’s a cutie at the bar giving you mad eyes.”

I tugged a curl of my frohawk and turned, hoping I seemed casual even though if said cutie bopped my way she’d find out soon enough that there was nothing casual about me. She was pretty, all legs in a pair of sailor shorts, black ink peeking out of her waistband and a belly-button ring turning olive skin golden in the sun. She had a tallboy in one hand, the aluminum hiding her mouth as she sipped, round sunglasses low on her nose.

Jessa whistled and kicked my ankle. “Quit standing around, girl. We’ll keep an eye out for the boys.”

Ben and Joel could take their time, as far as I was concerned. The girl at the bar wasn’t looking away, and Jessa and Esther had their heads together, tittering like pigeons, and it was Pride. Maybe I should’ve been at the track, making money instead of spending it, but there were a few things I loved more than horses and this was one. All around me New York was partying; from this high up the streets below looked like they were paved in glitter. Hands were being held and cheeks kissed and in bathrooms and stairwells and on balconies and throughout the parading streets people were in love. I was in love, with my work and the people in my life, even if... And some of that feeling I could pinpoint, I had the receipts committed to memory, and some of it seemed like it’d always been in me, and some of it I knew would never leave.

But there was always room for more.

Lexington - June 25, 5:35PM

It’d been five years, I realized when the float was swinging past Broadway, aimed straight for the arena.

“What?” Phil called, her hip twisting under my hand. She’d been dancing, so it seemed, since we woke up that morning, hungover beyond the telling of it in a hotel off Red Mile and Felix beating our door down, get the fuck out of bed, Eduardo, we got bigots to piss off. Phil grinned, her face close to mine. “Five years since what?”

“Five years!” I put my lips to her ear so she could hear me over the loudspeakers, the grand marshal in the distance and our float blaring Tegan and Sara. “I know you ain’t forgot. It was all your idea anyway.”

She looked at me a moment longer, and then her smile broke into laughter. Sun glinted off her tongue ring, a tiny little gold-edged rainbow for the occasion. “Oh my god. Eddy. I totally forgot I popped your Pride cherry. Baby.” She kissed me, still laughing, and I caught the taste of orange-bourbon slushies on her tongue. “Mazel tov, man. Happy anniversary.”

June was a good month anyway, so I’d always figured, the Belmont being my preferred of the Crown races and my birthday landing another week in, and now Father’s Day. I did like being a father. Add Pride into it, and June was the heavy favorite for best month of the year, as far as I was concerned. Phil linked an arm around my waist, moving faster as the DJ switched over to a Gaga remix. Her cheek pressed mine, the gold lame fabric of her dress slightly sticky under my palm. “I’m glad we’re still here.”

Still here. Still in Lexington, still together--still brazenly queer, her, and still a little squirrelly about it, me. I remembered that conversation, when we’d been together for nearly a year. You’ve really never been? But Felix… Felix, Pride enthusiast extraordinaire. Felix, who’d probably be Grand Marshal of Lexington’s Pride before she turned thirty-five. Felix, who right then was about a mile ahead of us, her and Adair and Maribel with Iona on the Ruffians float. It was the first year that batch of ritzy Kentucky horsewomen had reserved a spot in the parade. Felix had scoffed, but I liked what I thought it said about her mother.

“Anybody give you a hard time yet?” Phil said, and leaned past me to wave. “Here, we should start throwing beads again.”

There was a bucket of beads at our feet, half-forgotten as the sun and noise had gone to work on us. It was real easy to forget a lot of things, I’d noticed, this particular weekend. The mass of color caught my eyes, made me look everywhere at once instead of focusing on any one detail. The simplicity of the whole thing gummed up my gears. For once, for just a few days, you could believe things were all right.

I grabbed a handful of beads and raised them, looking out at the crowd on the street. “Anybody gave me a hard time, you’d have known about it. Seeing as you been all over me all day.” Phil bumped her hip into mine. “I’m not complaining, mind.”

“You better not,” she said. “And they better not.” Her lips tightened, her profile sharp with its sunglasses against the downtown skyline and the bright blue sky. “When we were getting ready to push off I heard that new guy say something to Marisa. ‘Who invited the hets?’ Some shit like that.” She tossed her beads out to the air, aiming for a couple of girls in UK gear, then leaned into my shoulder. “Like, of course I’ve got to come out to some rando on Pride. Of course.”

“You don’t have to say anything to anyone.”

Our float was one put on by the art collective Phil was part of, had been running in the Lexington parade every year that I’d been going. Any new guy participating needed to introduce himself to Phil, not the other way around. It prickled me--how this happened every year in some form, somebody looking at us and thinking they knew what they were seeing. It bothered me because it bothered her, not so much for my own sake. That had been part of the reason why I’d never been to Pride, before Phil took me. It had seemed like I’d be butting in, even if I belonged there, and I’d never been sure I did. Phil had been the first person other than Felix I’d said those words to. Even now I didn’t know, not really.

“Eddy,” she said, and kissed me softly. “Don’t worry about it. It’s been a great weekend.” Her hand slid down my back, slotting into my pocket. “Also, you look hot.”

“I am hot,” I told her, and pulled back just enough to drop a strand of beads around her neck. I’d been doing this off and on all day, watching the multi-colored beads nestle into her cleavage until she complained they were sticking to her and took them off. “It’s very hot out, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Uh-huh.” She lifted her hair with both hands, the heavy black weight of it, and pulled some magic trick to keep it in a bun without an elastic. “I meant that new ink, but you’re not wrong. You should take up meteorology when you get bored with agenting.”

I examined my right shoulder where it lay open to the warm air. I’d finally used up all the real estate on my left arm, the round petals of a Bayahibe rose inching down over the back of my hand. The first and only ink on my right arm thus far was our daughter’s name, etched into a scroll to match the one with my mother’s name on my left bicep. When I looked up again, Phil was looking too, green eyes narrowed over her heart-shaped sunglasses. She licked her lips and winked.

“I’m just saying. I’d marry your ass if I hadn’t already, tattoo like that.” She leaned in again, her mouth against my ear. “I like commitment.”

I liked it too. My whole life people had been calling me serious, too serious sometimes. In the early days someone had told me Phil got bored easily, and maybe it was true, but if it was, apparently my glitz hadn’t worn off yet. Hers sure hadn’t, and I doubted it ever would. She’d been hard to resist then, smirking at me over a big fancy Nikon, her tongue ring and those hips I wanted to die between; she was even harder to resist now, the soft stamp of motherhood on her, that gold dress low-cut over a strappy black bra and sandals winding up toward her knees.

Somewhere on this float was a guy who thought the two of us didn’t need to be here. Somewhere in the parade was our baby and her aunties. Phil had started this chapter of my life and we’d finish it together, us and Mari and Felix and Adair, and right then I couldn’t think of anything better.

Phil’s hand pressed harder into my pocket, then flashed my phone. “Someone wants you.”

“I know she does,” I said, and kissed her nose. She giggled, swiping open the phone. “So who wants me now? Better not be Tallis.”

“It is Tallis,” she said. “But not for work.”

The picture on the screen was my errant little girl-jock, smack between Gwen Taylor’s daughter and a very pretty girl I didn’t recognize. New York soared behind them, and color exploded in every corner of the picture, Tallis with a rainbow painted across the slope of her nose and Jessa wearing pink braids and purple lipstick. happy PRIDE 2 my favorite bi babes, the text read. B good & kiss Mari PLEASE xoxoxox Tallis n Jessa

Phil giggled, her head tipped against mine. The sun lit her skin and the unicorn-sheen blush she’d swept on that morning. “Happy Pride, Eddy.”

I kissed her and kissed her again, murmured it back to her, let it sink into me. Viva Orgullo.

Lexington - June 25, 6:30PM

Somehow, this was the first time I’d cried at a Pride festival.

The amphiteatre was crowded to capacity but every scrap of conversation and laughter died as the recitation began. Voices swelled over it, the choir on the stage singing ‘Amazing Grace’ while the speaker read out Antonio Brown...Luis Conde...Eddie Justice...and maybe it was shoulders pressing mine, a hand on my waist, and maybe it was Adair’s face on the platform among the women singing, and maybe it was too many other faces in my mind, too much terrible potential.

Eddy’s arm on my shoulders went tight. He didn’t say anything, and neither did Phil, not even to whisper jokingly that the rainbow painted on my cheek was about to smudge. I licked my lips, then said, voice low, “Can I hold Mari?”

I knew they were looking at each other over my head, but Phil smiled as she shifted the kid in her arms. Mari’s weight was comforting, her cheek rolling against my chest and her hair smelling of sunscreen. I wanted to close my eyes and bury my face in her black curls, but Adair deserved more than that, and so did the woman speaking.

So did the dead.

“She sounded amazing,” Eddy said a few minutes later when the crowd around us began to move. We stood there on the grass, an island of three and a snoozing baby, watching couples kissing and groups forming, friends calling out directions and plans. “They all did, but Adair--por Dios, up there looking like an angel.” He slapped my shoulder, tweaking the thin strap of my dress. “And you, Miss Slutty Charms, pride of Lexington.”

So maybe the dress was bright green and transparent in the sun, and maybe it was so short as to barely deserve the name, but I thought the Honeycomb Hills snapback and high-top sneakers kind of leavened the look. Anyway, Adair’s eyes popping when I’d come out of the hotel bathroom this morning was the whole point. I hefted Mari up, patting her back as she mumbled something. “That’s Mrs. Slutty Charms to you, asshole.”

It still felt bizarre, being someone’s missus, bizarre and impossible and perfect. We were nearly a year in, me and Adair, and I was never going to be used to it. It was just one more thing kicking this year’s Pride into the stratosphere: the rock on Adair’s finger, the smile on her face now there for yet another reason. I looked at her again, across the crowd, still on the stage with her chorus. She’d come meet us in a few minutes but for now I wanted nothing but to stare at her. Her long legs in that high-waist skirt, her brown belly under that bright pink crop top. She had on one of her fun prosthetics, rainbow-print plastic meeting her thigh, and a pair of lacy leather gladiator sandals. Even on a stage full of women in peacock feathers and wild hair, she glowed.

“So am I getting my daughter back any time soon?” Eddy peered at us, his disapproving dad face out in full force. “You going to add kidnapping to your long list of incorrigible activities, Felicity?”

I hmm-ed and didn’t answer. Truth be told, Mari was something to clutch right then, something to remind me that life was still going on. Eddy’s eyes softened, and he pushed us over to a bare spot on the ampitheatre’s north wall. “You ok?”

The stone felt gritty on my thighs when I sat down. “I hate being afraid.”

He didn’t say, what do you got to be afraid of?

I let Phil take Maribel off my lap. She was starting to wake up and would probably be hungry, and that was her parents’ arena, not mine. Flicking open my phone, I showed Eddy the screen. “Look at this.”

He chuckled, gray eyes skating over the picture. “Yeah. Tallis texted me earlier too. Looks like they’re all having fun, eh?”

The text had arrived sometime late in the afternoon, when our float was just pulling up in front of the arena. It was a message like a dozen others I’d gotten over the past month, pictures and captions from Pride festivals in cities all over the country. I liked seeing them--liked knowing where all my friends and colleagues were, that they were having fun, they were safe. And it wasn’t like Ben Goldfarb didn’t text me more or less endlessly anyway. Fucking up your Laurel track record, nbd or hey you ever been to the Keys? Next time you’re at GP we’ll go, pictures from the jocks’ room, Joel frowning at the camera.

It was cute, and this message was too: the two of them on the New York City High Line, Fifth Avenue’s blaring-bright parade in the distance. The two of them smiling at the same time for once--hell, you could even see Joel’s teeth--the two of them in love with each other and their world. There was a ball cap barely staying put on Ben’s curls, and sun flared on a pair of necklaces, gold and sapphires. Everything about it broke my heart.

“We don’t deserve them,” I told Eddy. “It was supposed to be better by now.”

“Felix, come on.” He showed me his own phone. “It is better.”

The text displayed was pure Tallis. She was the most joyful kid I’d ever met. She and Ben both--and Joel in his own way--and all of that, everything I knew about them, just made my eyes sting again. “You know Ben gets… and he didn’t tell me this, Canseco did. People send him death threats.”

Phil looked up from where Mari was nestled against her with a juice box. “Jesus Christ. Eddy, you never told me that.”

He shook his head. Phil had braided his hair for this weekend and it looked fantastic, tight rows against his scalp, his profile all jaw and nose. “Felix, you got to focus on what’s in front of you.” He waved his phone at me. “Let them live. They’re living, so let them. You think maybe Joel left out a detail when he told you that?”

There had been plenty of details when Joel had told me that, but I knew what Eddy meant. There was no way Ben got those kinds of emails and Joel didn’t. I’d gotten them--still did; they’d slowed down for a minute and then ticked up again when Adair and I sealed the deal. Almost always men, telling me how they’d fix me, they knew where I lived, every filthy word under the sun. Sometimes women, the hellfire types. Stuff about Adair--about my wife--that chilled my blood.

It was worse for the boys, I knew it, and for Tallis. No one had ever slapped a goddamn swastika on any of my nastygrams.

Phil touched my arm and nodded across the amphitheatre. “Adair’s about to come ask you why you’re sad.”

She was moving toward us, Phil was right, and I had about three minutes to get my shit together, because I wasn’t going to ruin tonight. None of this was news. We’d been dealing with it and we’d keep dealing with it, because the generation coming up deserved better.

Eddy leaned over, and somehow managed to get his arms around all of us. He kissed my cheek above the rainbow paint and tucked blond strands back under my hat. “You’re part of the reason they’re here at all, mija. Don’t downplay it.”

Who knew selfishness could get spun into heroics?

“I’m here,” he said, quiet, and his chest moved like he’d drawn a deep breath. “We’re all here. Todos juntos.”

We were here and we weren’t going anywhere, not out of our cities and certainly not out of our sport, and if I hadn’t managed to fix everything, maybe they would.

[lovedreaming]

himnusz. || drabble

@chcpxn​. continued from here.

(j.s. bach included with @oktova​'s blessing.)

she isn't actually about to kill someone (well maybe). but her eyes scream bloody murder.

these kids. these stupid kids. well, they were probably more college age than actual kids, but--how in God's name did they manage to beat up her Cho-chan?! sure, he's frail for a classicaloid, but given their inherent nature, not even the most muscular of these kids should be able to put a dent in him, no matter how many tough-looking gang signs they made to make themselves feel stronger. which meant that somehow, somewhere, they had some semblance of the power that ran through her and her fellows. could there really be such a thing?

apparently, there is.

they call themselves UPROAR, a policewoman told her when she asked about gang activity near one of cho-chan's favorite outcluse spots. they've occupied this area for the past day--we thought we'd be able to clear them out in no time, but then their leader took out a boombox and when his mixtape started playing--i don't even know how to explain it, but he used some sort of sound-force from it to keep us away. now if you want to cross over to the highway, i suggest--

don't worry, said franzi, giving the woman a wink as she brushed past her. i'm sure everything will be all right.

and now they're standing right in front of her. and now they are going to be judged.

the place is a mess thanks to them, that's for sure. the trees are all graffitied tops to roots--whatever tags the gang had, they spray-painted them vertically instead of horizontally to accommodate. it appears they've taken over a park of some sort, with benches dragged out to form a barricade with the group name plastered across a cardboard plank in bold letters:  U P R O A R. they even marked out their territory with physical signs: orange cones sporting amateurishly photoshopped signs that read PASS IT, GET HIT. (ugh--the font is cheap, and she can barely read it underneath the edgy grunge overlay. did these kids have any sense of style?)

there is, so to speak, a line in the sand.

she steps right over it.

two neon blue heads turn at the clack of her heels on the concrete--two teens with too many piercings and hideous dye jobs, crouching on top of the barrier they've thrown together.

❝ay yo, who is this clown?❞ one of them yells. immediately the whole gang clambers over the barricade, buff japanese men with arms crossed, gold chains hanging from their necks--even sporting the backwards caps, nike tank tops and sagging baggy jeans in the american style she'd seen in the hip hop music videos that rapper schubert had shown her during his phase. college punks, trying way too hard to be tough. she'd never met the type before, but she knows it when she sees it. she can almost feel the insecurity radiating from their power-grubbing souls. hell, she doesn't even think they're authentic--they can copy the bare bones of the hip hop aesthetic to a T, but there's something missing from their empty display (aside, that is, from healthy emotions). it just doesn't feel real. though the black american rappers that schubert showed her were shocking at first, she could still sense a certain spirit inside them, which perhaps came from where they came from and how they'd lived--a spirit that, in these young men, is clearly deficient.

❝you hurt my cho-chan,❞ she snarls. ❝you hurt my cho-chan.❞

at her words, a giant boombox appears out of the middle of the throng, and the other uproar members part to let it through. definitely the leader--which she can tell for sure because he is the tallest, with the most buff physique, the biggest gold chain and the saggiest baggy pants. she narrows her eyes as he swaggers to the fore, giving the boombox an extra heft to show off his well-muscled arm. that thing should be too heavy for a normal human to carry--not only does he have mujik, but his mujik seems at least as far advanced as hers. not to mention--there are two other people there--do they have mujik as well?

no matter. she would beat them all. ALL.

❝hey, big nose,❞ he calls, and the whole group guffaws. ❝why don't you get that bird beak out of our business and run off crying like your limp noodle boyfriend?" he turns to uproar. ❝outdoor walker choppin'. ha. we had a ton of fun choppin' him to pieces, didn't we, boys?❞

the guffaws rise as he makes his second gaffe. she balls a fist at her side.

                                   ❝i bet my nose is bigger than your dick.❞

the group ohhhhhhs--doesn't matter who gets burned as long as the burn is sick--which the leader doesn't seem to mind. he just gives a contemptuous snort and talks right back.

❝lady, i'm gonna tell this to you once," he replies, giving his boombox another heft. "these guys all know i'm not the type to leave a nice pair of ass 'n tiddies a bloody smear on the concrete, but i mean, you seem to be asking for it. so what's it gonna be? you gonna give it to me, or are you gonna git gud?❞

she whips out her nunchucks and whirls them around, each one dancing like a butterfly in the air.

❝oh, i'll give it to you, all right. i'll give you the beating of your LIFE.❞

he snickers and steps forward. the rest of the group moves behind him like a pack, but he holds a hand up and tells them, ❝she's mine.❞ in a swift movement he flicks the switch on his boombox and the opening notes of his mixtape ring through the occupied park: A, G#, C# on piano, over and over again, easy yet deadly like he wants his footsteps to be. she knows this is mujik once she sees the soundwaves--each one washes over the scene in a different hue, sonic coatings of red, orange and yellow graffiti paint that warped the world around her at its edges. with each note, the park sinks deeper into a different place--the mujik dimension. he can take people to the mujik dimension.--until the trees are no longer there, only towering grunge-stained treelike pillars of uproar's machismo--

and then the beat drops.

      ❝gather 'round motherfuckers, come on, where you at, yo            it's ya boy AKI D. up against a cheap hoe        BACH bangin' on them keys is what gave me this magic            he made me the real deal--bitch you just plastic!       you know what i'm sayin', bet you don't even have dick           to face me--hell, i don't think you'll ever have dick!        yeah, you look okay with your makeup and titties           but up in the morning, what would your man see?        you heard me right, bet you ain't even a three           you'll need more than a nose job to get a hot ride like me!❞

those words. those words. ordinarily they would roll off her like raindrops off a leaf, but here? it's as if every syllable is built to drain the spirit out of her, along with the sharp slices of pain in her face, so fierce that she can't even open her eyes. and her head--her head pounds with the insults swirling inside it, unable to resist: he is right. i'm not even a three. i look okay with the makeup on but without it i look like a man. i'm plastic and i don't even do a good job of being plastic. yes, i know i haven't had dick. i will never have dick in my life.

this is not schubert's rap. this is not even the rap of those american hip hop stars she heard. it is something crueler, sicker. thirsty for the pain of those it targets, instead of simply trying to prove a point. not even pretending to be righteous in its viciousness--seeking only utter degradation, damn the moral consequences. blood runs down the shredding fabric like the tears down her face. the mixtape's dubstep slams into her, one sound wave after another throwing her about. she's forgotten why she's here. all she can do is sink to her knees, covering her face in her bleeding arms over her worthlessness--

          no.

                NO.

                      YOU ARE NOT THIS.

                            YOU ARE A GOD ABOVE THIS.

slowly she stands, green mujik ribbons swirling around her, healing her wounds, wrapping swathes of new cloth around her once-bleeding body. not just any cloth, she realizes--but clothing, actual clothing--a traditional hungarian dress with white billowing sleeves and a flower-patterned chest and skirt. the dubstep dims to a whisper as a cadenza begins to roll and the ribbon glides away to its sway; the nunchucks melt into a baton in her hand, but no sooner does the baton  than it turns again into a saber, silver-bladed, gold-hilted--she doesn't question it. it could have been an extension of her hand--she has never held a sword before in her life, and yet using it seems so simple.

a rush of anger bubbles up within her, an anger surging with rap battle rage--step aside, spineless, step aside, amateur / i bet you've never faced this level of power / ever heard of franz liszt, you whiny little spastic / don't call me a fake when i know i'm i'm a classic--but she does not give in. she will not give in. she will face him her own way. she will face him not as someone like him, but as LISZT. what could someone with such a frail sense of identity have against that? what could any mortal musician have against that?

he is an electronic musician. she is a pianist. she will face him with the piano, the whole of herself--or nothing at all.

there's no need for her to strain for this. the power's at her fingers and it's ready to scream.

          ♫❝Mujik is asskicking--asskicking is MUJIK!❞♫

the cadenza stops dramatically--in this context it almost parodies the dubstep's beat drop--and in its place the fierce chords of a hungarian march surge forth like the pounding of soldiers' boots in battlefield dirt. a sea of red, white and green washes over the dimension, wiping out the tidal wave of mujik spray paint. the others rush forward with CDs of their mixtapes in hand, flinging them at her like discuses, but a wave of furious fortissimo chords cuts them down--and smashes the bench barricade that they’d made to block the path. as aki d. looks on in shock, she slices the air with her saber, and a massive wave of sound sends them all flying back, splattering them in the hues of the hungarian flag, the hues that just replaced their gang colors on this turf. 

❝I saw right through you from the start,❞ she snarls. ❝I don't know why the hell Bach-sama would give such strength to people as pathetic as you--but whyever he did, even he wouldn’t want you to use it like this!!❞

❝ayy, you gotta rap!" aki cries. ❝you're not allowed to do that shit, you gotta rap!❞

he turns up the volume of his mixtape. the red, white and green quivers, and the red, orange and yellow begins to seep its way back in.

❝so even music such as this has rules,❞ she says, using the sheer force of her hungarian rhapsody to speak over the noise. ❝well, i got news for you kids. i don’t play by the rules.❞

her blood strums to a boil in her veins as the march theme builds to a punishing row of descending and ascending intervals. and now here comes the army for whom this piece was originally written--scores of hungarian soldiers and their cavalry lining up behind her, each man tall and fit with a cockade pinned to his chest, each horse’s dark pelt shining with health, rippling with strong muscle underneath. as one they advance with franzi in the lead, surrounding aki d. and his three-man band--no way out. as the volume climbs and then descends, the troops immediately around her begins to melt, infusing her with their strength, as the rest of the troops stand guard from behind, and it is with their strength that she begins to speak.

they are strength of a thousand men in one. the strength of franz liszt.

        ❝Mujik is the expression of the soul. I’m surprised you three                 can use it when you don’t seem to know your souls at all.           You talk tough and you fight hard, but your power--there’s nothing to it.              There is  nothing here you have that is your own--not your clothes,          not your confidence, not even the culture that you’re trying to ape with all                 this posturing. You have nothing. YOU ARE NOTHING.❞

frantically aki d. cranks the boombox to full blast--but she hears only own mujik, feels only the surge of ecstatic confidence and the strength of a NATION that two hundred years ago poured out its entire heart to her. for she sees them. they are nothing. once you see nothing as nothing, it can do nothing to hurt you.

            ❝I see how your mujik makes others helpless. You prey on           those who don’t know their true selves, just like you, and so they              let you define them in the only way you know how: through a view           of the world that makes everyone your inferior. But your reign has             breathed its last--I know who I am. I’ve always known who I am.          I am Hungarian. I am a pianist. I am a woman. I am Liszt. Who are YOU?                        WHO ARE YOU?! WHO ARE YOU?!!❞

she doesn't wait for them to reply. several troops rush to restrain them, pinning their arms behind their backs as she strides toward them, into the circle of men and horses. one slice of her sword--and all their manhoods vanish, just before the troops shove them to the ground. each uproar member seizes his crotch, screaming in pain, undoubtedly noticing that nothing is there as they hold and hold but feel nothing.

            ❝I'll tell you what you're not, she breathes.                  A man who uses his strength to harm the weak                       is no man at all.❞

❝YOU BITCH!" the uproar leader howls, clutching his dickless crotch. ❝YOU BITCH!❞

she cocks a hip to the side.

❝You know, I'm not actually sure what to fire back because I don't know who the hell you are.❞

the mujik fades out with the end of the piece, restoring the park’s scenery in a clamor. she returns to bach skydiving out of a helicopter, his epcot ball wig descending from the sky onto his head as he makes a perfect landing with his capelike celestial jacket billowing around him. ah, yes--the uproar leader himself said that bach gave them their abilities, so perhaps he can sense if they are misused, but why was this even an issue in the first place? if he's so great, shouldn't he be able to tell right off the bat they were  terrible people, even if they tried to hide it? franzi crosses her arms, but says nothing. 

it's the same as before. it’s the same as every other time she’s tried to face that man. she can't say anything.

he looks briefly down at the perfectly castrated privates of the now-unconscious aki d. the others appear to have regained theirs, for a stage 2 mujik user’s changes usually only last in the world of mujik. but their unfortunate ringleader seems to be the victim of a common phenomenon among untranscended classicaloids: as they get stronger, some of the changes they make in the mujik dimension become permanent in this world as well. no blood drips there in graphic fashion--instead his dick and balls have simply disappeared, leaving empty flesh behind.

❝…permanent change," he muses, after several moments of silence. ❝you're making progress.❞

❝b-bach sama?!❞ she stammers, mouth falling open. isn't he going to comment on the fact that the guy doesn't even have a dick anymore? her first instinct is to make a big speech to justify herself, telling him of how they'd beat up her cho-chan and then tore at her with beats like knives. but as it turns out, he just--understands.

❝you've done enough. stand back.❞ 

his voice is almost a growl. she obeys.

she watches from a short distance as he raises his baton, and the well-tempered clavier begins to play. long rainbow threads pour from the three bodies into his baton, not haphazard ones, but rather--music strings. he's taking the mujik from them. the two other uproar members leap at the hem of his coat, seizing it and begging bach-sama, oh, bach-sama, PLEASE--but he continues to let the mujik play, sweeping his variations through the air as his gift disappears back into the wand from which it came. the notes are ever so repressedly controlled, but she can feel the anger rolling off him like a series of arpeggios. no--she can see it in the shining gold aura that surrounds him, so hot with sunlike rage that it causes the whole park to heat-shimmer.

he turns to her when the ritual is done, as though expecting her to say something. and oh, there's a thousand things she wants to say--you can give and take mujik? why did you give it to them in the first place? how did you give it to them? i thought you didn’t like rap. are you upset with me? would you be upset if i asked you how the hell you missed the fact these are objectively terrible people if you’re supposedly omniscient? but they don’t give each other any time to converse. she nods to him, he nods to her, and then he turns and dissolves back up to his helicopter in a ray of golden light as though he were never there at all.

the two uproar subordinates gape at her, then gape down at their leader’s crotch. saber in hand, she slashes the air between them with a yell--to which they seize the arms of their still-unconscious friend and hurry away as fast as they can--they don’t even stick around long enough to see the sword turn back into nunchucks.

as for aki d.?

he never did get his dick back.

                          ❦яάкσ́czι мαяcн: υηƖσcкєɗ.❦

[christianworldf]

New Post has been published on Nehemiah Reset

New Post has been published on https://nehemiahreset.org/christian-worldview-issues/immigration/trump-administration-planning-changes-to-u-s-citizenship-test/

Trump administration planning changes to U.S. citizenship test

New U.S. citizens attend a naturalization ceremony at the Convention Center in Los Angeles on May 22. (Etienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

If you were to take the test to become a U.S. citizen tomorrow, you might be asked to name one of five U.S. territories, or two of the rights contained in the Declaration of Independence, or to provide the correct number of amendments to the Constitution.

The naturalization test is a crucial part of an immigrant’s journey to becoming an American. And, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, it is meant not just as a measure of U.S. civics knowledge, but also as a reason to study and absorb the principles, values and functions of the U.S. government, including the rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship.

(Question No. 49: What is one responsibility that is only for United States’ citizens? Answer: “Serve on a jury” or “vote in a federal election.”)

The Trump administration is planning to update the test, and a new version is slated to debut before the end of President Trump’s first term, officials said Friday. A pilot test should be available this fall.

USCIS officials are offering few details about the changes to the test, which was last revised in 2008. Officers who administer the exam now pose as many as 10 randomly generated questions to each applicant from a list of 100 in three categories: American government, American history and integrated civics (geography, symbols and holidays). The questions are not intended to trip up applicants — they are published and available for all to study.

[How would you do on the U.S. citizenship test? Try our quiz to find out.]

With the executive branch able to control the test, and with Trump making it clear that he wants to dramatically change the nation’s immigration policies and laws, how the White House approaches new questions or the test’s format could become an object of scrutiny.

[Did you like Round One of the citizenship quiz? Try Round Two.]

“Isn’t everybody always paranoid that this is used for ulterior purposes?” USCIS acting director Ken Cuccinelli, an immigration hard-liner and former Virginia attorney general whom Trump appointed last month, said in an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday. “Of course they’re going to be sorely disappointed when it just looks like another version of a civics exam. I mean that’s pretty much how it’s going to look.”

Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli poses for a photo with Army National Guard Pfc. Shamsiyyah Jibo, a new U.S. citizen originally from Nigeria, during a naturalization ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial Museum on July 2 in New York. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In the first two and a half years of his presidency, Trump has slashed the number of refugees admitted to the United States; banned thousands of would-be immigrants based on their nationality in a handful of majority-Muslim countries; made it more difficult to qualify for asylum; and proposed a visa system overhaul that would prioritize immigrants with advanced degrees, English-language skills and deep pockets.

[I’m a dual citizen of the U.S. and Britain. But people rarely consider me an immigrant.]

In tweets this week, Trump also sought to draw a line between the kinds of rights enjoyed by existing U.S. citizens, distinguishing between “the people of the United States” and four minority Democratic congresswomen, who, he claimed, “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.” Many critics have said the president was suggesting that the latter had little or no right to criticize the former.

(Question No. 51: What are two rights of everyone living in the United States? Answer: freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to petition the government, freedom of religion, or the right to bear arms.)

Readers of Trump’s tweets have pointed out that only one of the four congresswomen he was tweeting about is foreign-born, and that, like all members of Congress, they are U.S. citizens. (Question No. 50: Name one right only for United States citizens. Answers: “Vote in a federal election” or “run for federal office.”)

USCIS officials described the forthcoming test revision as a benign act; a rewording or reshuffling or reconsideration of some questions in alignment with adult education standards and best practices, which, they said, mandate regular updates to standardized tests.

“I just think we need to freshen the material,” Cuccinelli said. “Even if all we do is go pull questions from 2000 and questions from 2008.”

Maria Ferreira and Ana Larios go over citizenship questions with instructor Nellie Mitchell at the Central American Resource Center in Washington in 2015. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Hundreds of thousands of people become naturalized U.S. citizens every year. Last year, USCIS naturalized more than 750,000 people, a five-year high. Immigration attorneys have said there is an increasingly long application processing time, and there is a record backlog that has grown dramatically since 2016. A foreign national has to be a legal permanent resident of the United States for at least five years before applying for citizenship.

The questions are developed in consultation with middle school and high school curriculums across all 50 states, according to USCIS. An applicant must get at least six out of 10 correct to pass. The average pass rate on the naturalization test is 90 percent, according to USCIS data.

Not all the questions are easy.

Cuccinelli said that he often encounters applicants for citizenship who are better versed in U.S. civics than natural-born U.S. citizens.

“I can’t tell you how many spouses seeking to become citizens know more about that answer than their spouse,” he said, referring to Question No. 20: Who is one of your state’s U.S. senators now?

He said his staff also has been “joking about the ones that currently exist — and whether we know them all.”

A survey last year by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation found that of 1,000 U.S. citizens questioned, just 1 in 3 would pass the naturalization test. Khizr Khan — the Gold Star father whom Trump attacked during the 2016 campaign — publicly challenged Trump to take the test.

Question No. 91 asks applicants to name one U.S. territory; Trump has referred to the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands — one of the correct answers — as the “president” of the Caribbean territory, and he has complained that Puerto Rico — another correct answer — has gotten too much aid “from USA.” Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, has twice referred to Puerto Rico as “that country.” (The three other correct answers would be American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.)

Introduced in 1986, the test was last revised in 2008; a shift that officials said removed a lot of the trivia — such as an excessive number of questions surrounding the appearance of the American flag — and incorporated questions meant to foster a better understanding of the U.S. system of government and how the country came to be.

On July 4 in Washington, D.C., Vice President Mike Pence gave remarks at a naturalization ceremony in the National Archives. (The Washington Post)

Cuccinelli said there isn’t anything in the existing naturalization test that strikes him as out of place in the way the previous test did. That version, he remembers, included a question about the United Nations, which he found preposterous because it “has absolutely nothing to do with United States of America,” and having such a question in there is “just not right.”

“Who gives a flying rat’s ass?” that the U.N. is located in the United States, he added. “So is the Russian Embassy. We don’t ask about Russia.”

But nothing stands out as inherently wrong with the existing test, he said.

“Really — and you see it in a lot of the questions that are already there — I want to see it reflecting American principles, constitutional principles, that are unique that help make us exceptional and are frankly part of the reason people want to come here,” Cuccinelli said.

The first pilot test is expected to involve approximately 1,400 volunteers around the country. A second pilot is expected to be field tested in the spring.

A lot of the questions — such as “What is the economic system in the United States?” and “What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?” — is likely to stay the same, officials said.

Two new questions that USCIS officials said are on the drafting table — but could be abandoned — include: Why did the United States enter World War II? (Answer: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.) And: Whom do we celebrate on Veterans Day? (Answer: people in the military, or people who have served in the armed forces.)

Some people have contacted the citizenship office with their own suggestions, requesting more questions about inventors or scientists; a question about the national parks; and maybe something about Mount Rushmore.

“Nobody has suggested anything specific to me,” Cuccinelli said.

The president, he said, has not weighed in.

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[therealdragu-blog]

TheRealDragU Episode 1, Part 1: The New Students

(This is a fanfiction show about every queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race going to college and getting into fights/struggles/romance/mischief/mysteries, all with some laughs along the way. Enjoy!)

-----

It was a cool summer day in central California, with animals bright as the sun, for once a more quieter city, especially for Cali, and most importantly little traffic, good for one bus of queens.

The front row of the bus had a gloating Aquaria, talking to one of her friends on the phone about her successes after winning, while Miz Cracker right next to her sat looking in the other direction, arms crossed, and probably streaks of steam coming from her head as she’s forced to hear her half-friends talks of money, jewelry, fame and worship. The next seat had the team of Monique Heart and Dusty Ray Bottoms facing each other with quiet whispers of the other girls.

Dusty then asked Monique “Girl, have you seen this part of San Francisco before? I don’t recognize it.” Monique replied “Nope, doesn’t look anything like I’ve seen. All I was told was that we’re all going to a special gig.” Which gave Dusty a confused face into the distance. She looked at Monique again and said “Do you know what the name of the place is?” Monique just nervously shrugged after a wide-eyed look to Dusty. “Do you see something purple outside?” Dusty looked back and said “No.....I’m seeing red.” They both looked out in wonder.

The seat behind them had Yuhua Hamasaki, in a very deep sleep with half of her body on the floor and the other half on the actual seat, and for some reason a 1st grader’s book plastered over her face in the middle pages. Sitting poised next to her, Blair St. Clair, was cross-legged with a small coinpurse in both hands, and staring wide-eyed at Yuhua’s pose and loud snoring.

Next to them was Asia O’Hara and Vanessa “Miss Vanjie” Mateo. Vanjie couldn’t help but notice Asia’s lack of a smile for the entire bus ride, presumably due to her failed butterfly stunt during...that performance. She decided to try to cheer her up by saying “Miss Vanjie?”. Asia only shifted her eyes at her with a dead glare for a few seconds until staring at the floor again. Vanjie reached for her hand as Asia shed a single tear.

Behind them was Monet X Change and Mayhem Miller, both questioning the too long ride like Monique and Dusty. Monet saw Mayhem’s raised eyebrow and said “May-may, don’t you live in California? How come the road’s turning as baron as the fun in this bus right now?” Mayhem responded “This is strange, there’s always buildings in this city, never cacti and sand. I’m sorry, am I seeing pink smoke?” Monet leaned in overlapping Mayhem into the window. “No, I’m seeing orange dust. It’s probably just some erosion.” Granted Monet was skeptical in saying that.

In the back was The Vixen and Kameron Michaels, with Kameron peacefully listening to some light synth-pop on her with her earphones in closed eyes, while Vixen on the window end looking over at the opposite seat in deadlock - Eureka O’Hara looking at her with just as ferocious eyes, while Kalorie Karbdashian Williams in between them shifted her eyes back and forth in worry. She whispered to Eureka “Are you two gonna let this go? It’s been a year.” Eureka whispered back “I’ll let it go when she apologizes” Vixen heard and whispered “When you apologize” Eureka moved her finger across her throat, while Vixen cracked both her gold-covered knuckles. Kalorie wanted to absorb herself into the seat to avoid a possible quarrel, but she couldn’t help but notice the stream of blue and yellow smoke coming from the outside.

Suddenly, when Aquaria stopped talking to her friend, she noticed outside the window “Holy shit, I think it’s snowing!” Cracker looked at Aquaria in a face of disgust and ridiculousness, which quickly turned into bewilderment as soon as she saw over the window. Monet walked over to their seat and said “Snowing?! In California?! My ass!” She scooched over Cracker to look at the window next to Aquaria. Dusty grew concerned and tapped on the seat of the busdriver. “Excuse me. Where in the fuck are you taking us? We’ve been here for 6 hours!” With no reply after a minute, Monique chimed in with her “Hello?! Do you know how Google Maps works?” Dusty kicked the bus driver seat “HEY!” She finally decided to look over and soon Monique noticed a look of panic in Dusty’s face, as if she’d seen a ghost.

“There’s no one in the fucking seat....” Monique looked over the seat to see an empty driver’s chair and let out a frightening shriek. Vanjie overheard all of this and said, “Are you bitches smokin’ som...” she said until she too noticed the baron seat and almost fainted onto the floor if in wasn’t for the passenger seats she grabbed onto.

Soon everyone on the bus was in shock and terror, with Blair yelling “We’re all gonna crash and die!” She tried to open the bus window but couldn’t manage due to her hands shaking furiously. Cracker pulled her back and said “Are you stupid?! The bus is at 100 miles per hour! What’s happening!” A pink pixel hue over the windshield started forming, which caught Vixen’s eye first. She screams “Look over there! Mayhem, isn’t that the pink you saw?” She replied “Oh my god, it is! Is.... is this Ru or something?” Suddenly, RuPaul herself appeared on the windshield, and all queens froze in a mixture of shock, confusion and somehow relief for some of them.

The holographic Ru calmly told them “Don’t you worry kitty girls, all will be well and good when you get to the college. Be sure you packed everything, you’ll be here a while!” followed by an ecstatic laugh. Everyone looked at each other without a word. Yuhua suddenly woke up and took the book off of her face, and gleefully said “Hi girls! Why��s everyone standing?” Aquaria looked at her in amazement “Were you asleep this whole time?” Yuhua said “I don’t know actually, I think my eyes might’ve been open. Hey, why’s the bus vibrating?” Blair screamed while clamping Yuhua’s shoulder’s “We’re all gonna fucking die!” Eureka slapped Blair across the back of the head and said “calm your ass down! “I think we should just stay in one spot. Ru’s probably not going to kill us after season 10 just finished!” Monique challenged “Then why is she making us go in the speed of Nascar?” Aquaria responded “Maybe just good technology? I haven’t spent my $100,000 yet! There’s no way something bad will happen.” Kameron thought out loud “What did she mean by college?” the other queens looked at each other with the same question

Bursts of rainbow smoke and specks of glitter and confetti cover all the windows. “Are we running over a pride parade? What the fuck is happening?!” Exclaimed Cracker. Suddenly, the bus stopped in a strong halt. Some of the queens fell forward including Eureka landing on Blair, which resulted in Blair letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Monet said “Girl, we’re fine, no one’s dead or maimed or whatever.” Blair shouted “You try being 4 feet tall and crushed by a hippo.” Eureka rebuttled “That’s an elephant to you, sweetie.”

The doors to the bus opened gently, all of the queens walked out slowly in cautious steps, noticing the ground was made of a cloud-like substance. Small specks of rainbow circles, presumably balls of fire stars or possibly streetlights, were barely visible behind waves of fog. The only building in sight was a large castle-like structure, all white, with orange and purple flags on the tips. “What...is this place?” murmured Aquaria as she led the rest of the season 10 sisters with scepter in her land like an Amazonian tribe leader. As they walked up to a 20 foot tall gold gate with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, brown and grey diamonds studded into the bars in that same pattern over and over, it suddenly opened, with a grinning RuPaul standing in front of the 100-stair steps of the house.

Asia in a slight yell of panic said to Ru, “What are you doing to us? You’ve sent us to... f-fucking Candyland, and you’ve almost gave us all a heart attack!” Dusty added “Asia’s right, you could’ve just told us about this before we got on a bus that turned into a fucking subway!” Yuhua also added “Specifically a japanese bus - Ru, what’s up?” Ru simply laughed feverishly and explained the story.

She said “You see ladies, there was a little show about turning some regular women into drag queens with the help of my season 1 to 4 sisters. Does anyone remember.... RuPaul’s Drag U?” Kalorie said “Oh yeah, I remember that, it was cancelled because of bad ratings.” RuPaul chuckles and said, “Oh no, I personally cancelled it, and only said it was because of the ratings to keep the secret.” Cracker asked “What secret? Is this the “college” you’re talking about?” Ru responds “Well, I have something to say - I’ve built a set of machines that can take over the world! They’re called the Dragulators, of course! What it is is a set of ray guns that when shot by a gay, can make a straight person do any sort of thing under mind control.......including ending homophobia.”

All the queens stood in shock with whispers from queen to queen. Vanjie asked “So what that got to do with us?” Ru laughed at Vanjie with a subtle wink that only an awkard looking Vanjie and Vixen noticed. Ru said “The issue is, I only have this technology in these guns, and I have no teleporter. Which is why I have my new set of recruits.” Kameron thought and said “Wait, so have the other girls done this?” To which Ru said “Oh, bitch, they’re still doing this! That’s why we have the dorms here!” “You have to stay here for life, with very few contacts to the outside world.”

All of the queens suddenly gasped and thought “Dorms?! For Life?! Sharing a room with another bitch?!?!” Aquaria shouted “You know what, if we’re ending homophobia, I’ll do it. Especially in pride season!” Monique, Eureka, Vixen and Cracker walked up behind Aquaria, Vixen said “As long as we still do performances, I’m going for it!” Monet looked at the 5 as if they lost their mind. She said “Are you crazy? I think I can handle a little dumb homophobic nobody if I don’t have to live in Equestria, who’s with me?” Blair, Mayhem, Vanjie and Dusty all raised a hand, with Dusty saying “True that, I have a husband to see every day, and I’m not losing him, let’s go”

Before any of them could take a step, Ru said “Oh, I guess you wouldn’t be paid then. Monet said “Paid? We’re getting paid for this?” Ru chuckled “How does.......$25,000 a day sound?” Both Kalorie and Aquaria shouted “What?!” with one sounding joyful and one sounding saddening. Ru then asked “Would you do it now? You can still use the internet here you know?” Monet, Blair, Mayhem, Vanjie and Dusty looked at each other with all smirking together. Mayhem turned to Ru and said “We’ll do it! We can take the homesickness, right gals?” They all shouted a reluctant “Yes!”

The remaining 4 - Asia, Kalorie, Kameron and Yuhua - were still on the fence. Kameron said “There’s no way I can do this, I need to see my family, friends and fans all the time. I’m out.” Ru scowled at her and pulled out a small gray box with a big red button on it. She used her other hand to slap as hard as she could. As soon as the four were near the bus, it disintegrated in a gout of rainbow flame. Ru slowly walked to the gate and said “Do you change your mind?” Yuhua let out a big gulp, with Kameron forced to say “Um....Alright, I’ll...we’ll do it, r-right Asia? Kalorie?” Asia and Kalorie nodded in fear. Ru in a millisecond turned to glee and proclaimed “Great! Welcome my girls, to Drag U! I’ll escort you to your dorm-mates!” Vixen shifted her head quickly to Ru and shouted wide-eyed “Did you just say dorm-mates?”

~~~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~~~

(Hope you enjoyed part 1! Part 2 coming soon!)

[usatrendingsports]

There’s nothing nice, America, about rooting in opposition to Lindsey Vonn at Olympics

Lindsey Vonn settles for bronze in downhill.  USATSI

Lindsey Vonn by no means made it to the promenade. You will not dig up her image on the web, in all her awkward teenage glory, like different star athletes akin to LeBron James. No costume. No corsage. No forgettable updo.

Nope, Vonn, who completed third in Wednesday’s downhill in South Korea in probably her final, greatest likelihood to win an Olympic gold medal, by no means bought to go.  

“I did not go to promenade, I did not go to an everyday highschool for a yr,” she informed me and some different reporters practically 10 years in the past after she’d gained her second World Cup general title at simply 24. “I sacrificed all these items for snowboarding.”

Lindsey Vonn did not get to do a whole lot of stuff that common American children do — like strolling in her highschool commencement or a freshman yr within the dorms at school. As a substitute, she’s finished a whole lot of issues that make her fairly a exceptional American — like snowboarding in her first Winter Olympics, at 17, within the 2002 Salt Lake Metropolis Video games, or successful extra World Cup ski races than all however one particular person on all the planet. 

So why is it that so many Individuals need Lindsey Vonn, the best United States skier of all-time, to fail so badly at these Winter Olympics? Make no mistake, there have been cheers that went up in residing rooms throughout the nation on Tuesday night time throughout NBC’s stay broadcast when Vonn didn’t overtake Italy’s Sofia Goggia for the lead after her run, and certainly extra when Vonn was bumped to 3rd by Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel.

Individuals rooting in opposition to a well-known American athlete on the Olympics? It is apparently the brand new nationwide pastime at these Pyeongchang Winter Video games — whether or not it is Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy or the dazzling ice dancing siblings, Alex and Maia Shibutani. 

Not that Vonn’s haters really know a factor about her, or ski racing, or how a lot she really loves representing her nation. All that issues to them is what she informed a CNN reporter in December, when she was requested, “How wouldn’t it really feel competing at an Olympic Video games for a United States whose president is Donald Trump?”

“Effectively, I hope to signify the folks of the USA, not the president,” she stated. 

“I take the Olympics very severely, and what they imply and what they signify,” she added. “What strolling beneath our flag means on the opening ceremony. I wish to signify our nation effectively. I do not assume that there are lots of people at the moment in our authorities that try this.”

She by no means talked about Donald Trump’s identify. And he or she later clarified her remarks to Sports activities Illustrated’s Tim Layden, because the backlash grew, stating: “Individuals have been calling me un-American or some loopy liberal, which I am really not. I used to be greatly surprised by the negativity. I really like my nation. I am pleased with the flag and our troops. Simply because I disagree with some issues would not make me much less American.”   

No, it would not in any respect. 

Nevertheless it did not matter one bit to the ocean of trolls who’ve been residing beneath each single considered one of Vonn’s social media posts throughout these Olympics. To them, she’s a traitor who deserves to lose. She’s an “conceited princess.”  She’s one more entitled star athlete who, like LeBron in basketball, ought to simply shut up and ski. 

About time you bought out of it, thanks for ending on an unpatriotic, dropping observe! Karma is hard isn’t it!!

— Bryan Dover (@Tigersith68) February 20, 2018

Or worse, she’s a slut, since she dated Tiger Woods for a number of years and was the goal of a telephone hack that led to bare footage and movies of her hitting the web. It is all there — on her Twitter and Instagram feed, or within the feedback sections of this website, earlier than getting zapped. 

Factor is, if those self same folks — assuming they don’t seem to be Russian bots — who’re spending a lot effort gloating about Vonn’s failure to win a gold medal on the Olympics really took the time to be taught something about her, they’d be hard-pressed to seek out something unpatriotic, or entitled, or downright unlikeable about her. 

Take it from somebody who’s lined her going all the best way again to when she was Lindsey Kildow, the delight of Ski Membership Vail, with huge goals and an unquenchable drive to be the perfect on the earth.  

Who’s the actual Lindsey Vonn? She’s a lady from Minnesota who, after successful a World Cup race in Val d’Isere France in 2005, opted to maintain the prize dairy cow that went to the winner, as a substitute of taking the money worth, like race organizers anticipated. 

“Effectively, I picked her over the $5,000 pot as a result of she was actually cute,” Vonn stated in an interview. “I heard earlier than the run that they have been giving a cow and that it might be within the end. I bought actually excited. I remembering considering, ‘I desire a pet cow.’ On the prize-giving ceremony, they informed me to offer the cow again and so they’d give me a verify. I freaked out at them, ‘No! You possibly can’t take her away. You stated she was my cow!”http://ift.tt/1OPItWM;

The cow, Olympe, it seems, was pregnant, so Vonn really bought two cows. Then her two cows had extra cows, and now Vonn owns a herd of cows. One’s named after her sister, Karin, and two others — a boy and a lady — are named after  her grandparents, Don and Shirley. She additionally gained a goat as soon as, however she gave it away to a pleasant farmer that all the time purchased her contemporary baked bread. 

How nice is that? A goat for the GOAT of ladies’s ski racing. 

However, no, Lindsey Vonn is an entitled ski brat. It would not matter that her grandpa, Don, a Korean struggle veteran, is the person who bought Vonn into snowboarding, constructing a ski hill on his land in Wisconsin. Or that she began working gates in her native Minnesota at an previous trash dump in Minneapolis. Or that her household would make frequent 16-hour highway journeys from Minnesota to Vail, Colo., when she was a child to nurture her Olympic expertise earlier than lastly making the transfer full-time. It put a pressure on her siblings and her mother or father’s marriage, which ultimately led to divorce, but it surely was a sacrifice all of them made to assist Lindsey fulfill her Olympic goals. 

Does not matter, both, that Vonn got here into these Olympics vowing to be the oldest lady to win an alpine gold medal for her late grandfather, writing his initials on her ski helmet and tearing up each time somebody requested her about him. By some means eager to win for a former veteran is not patriotic sufficient should you do not wish to ski for the president.

“It has been actually exhausting for me to not get emotional for thus many causes, particularly due to my grandfather and I wished to win a lot due to him,” Vonn stated on NBC’s stay broadcast Tuesday night time, preventing again tears. “However I nonetheless assume I made him proud. Our household by no means offers up, and I by no means gave up. I saved working exhausting, and I am actually pleased with this medal and I do know he’s, too.”    

Actually, nothing would placate the trolls, actual or not, who do not care that Lindsey Vonn has spent actually her complete life coaching to win the Olympic gold she gained within the Vancouver downhill in 2010, however has eluded her three different occasions. She had a horrendous coaching crash on the 2006 Turin Olympics, when she was the favourite, that led to her being helicoptered to the hospital. She skied within the downhill a number of days later, bruised and battered, and completed eighth. 

She blew out her knee twice and missed the Sochi Olympics in 2014. She’s come again from a damaged arm, which left her with extreme nerve harm, a fractured knee, a damaged left ankle, concussions — plural, let’s be sincere — and too many bumps and bruises to rely. She severed a tendon in her thumb opening a champagne bottle after successful one other race. She additionally skied to gold within the Vancouver Olympics on a shin so bruised, she could not buckle the highest of her proper ski boot. 

If that is not the embodiment of dedication, perseverance and exhausting work that make up what it means to be an American, you are an fool. Like this man:

Possibly it’s best to have centered in your sport extra as a substitute of foolishly bashing our American President proper earlier than the Olympics…

— James Wehner (@JimWehner) February 17, 2018

Or this dope:  

Hey Lindsey- perhaps u ought to focus in your snowboarding as a substitute of disrespecting our President and being unpatriotic. U assume there’s a connection between that and u dropping? I do. MAGA

— Hardino (@Mjhardino71) February 17, 2018

Yeah, Lindsey Vonn did not the gold in downhill on the Pyeongchang Olympics. It is a powerful break for essentially the most profitable feminine skier of all-time. However Lindsey Vonn has all the time been a winner, and she or he would not want anybody to inform her that. Not soccer legend Julie Foudy, who got here to her protection on Twitter, or her military of supporters who tried to shoo away the trolls. 

I simply spent final 20 min’s studying via tweets directed at @lindseyvonn. Sickened & disgusted as soon as once more by the shortage of humanity that engulfs our nation. She simply raced her rattling coronary heart out & Trump supporters gloat/cheer/have a good time her incapacity to medal. Is that this what we have develop into?

— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) February 17, 2018

She has given it her all at these Olympics in a efficiency that ought to make Individuals proud. If you cannot see that, effectively, then, you are a loser. 

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