#in terms of how safe you are in their cars ranked its like

[parasitoidism]

Serph drives some kind of sensible hatchback Heat drives a 70's station wagon and NOT a nice one argilla drives a little 2 door sedan cielo has a fancy minivan and gale drives a tesla

[bourbonificould]

I saw that you did thoughts on Lilly, so how about your thoughts on her main counter, Kenny

Fair goes. Again, SPOILER WARNING (+ A LOT OF TEXT)

I think Kenny is one of the best written characters in the entire series. The apocalypse clearly changes him from Day 1. In the first episode, hes family oriented and willing to do what it takes to keep them alive, but in episode 2, you can see how hes already cracking a little (mainly due to arguments with Lilly). I actually think we miss a crucial detail. Katjaa. Something tells me in between episode 1 and 2, he and Katjaa's relationship begins to get tough. They probably argue a lot(shown by him trying to convince Kat that guns are mandatory), and it ends up with Katjaa not wanting to live in a world where all she has is Kenny(could be a stretch, but Ken was willing to go on after losing Duck + Katjaa.)

Kenny's biggest weakness is his strength. He is TOO convinced that hes unbreakable, that bad things dont happen to people like him. And when they do, he doesn't cope well because he doesn't know how to handle it. In season 2, after losing Sarita, he blames Clementine briefly, but in little time, hes back to being all caring/trusting of her. AJ and Clem is what he wanted to protect, even if he was doing a questionable job. Arvo turns into his frustration punching bag, and while Arvo kinda..... does..... play a part in the group's downfall, Kenny is VERY hard on him.

One thing I love about Kenny is his willingness to make things right. He sacrifices himself for Christa or Ben, attempts to care for Clementine, and when he fights Jane, he accepts your choices for what they are, and he practically begs you to go to Wellington, sacrificing a person to turn to in the darkness. In my eyes, that's a great trait of his.

I do think that Telltale fails miserably with he and Jane in season 3. Kenny turns into a caring parent again, wanting to teach Clementine the basics and keep AJ safe. Its like a small family, which they rip away in such a lame way. He survives the herd in season 1 but dies to a car crash...

Idk really, I think Kenny is an S or A tier character in terms of writing and link to the story, and in my personal favs, he ranks probably top 5ish. But I can totally see why people dont like him, maybe my playthroughs have generally went well with him.

[antifreelancer]

Atlas' Salmon Run Tips!

- Learn how to Squid Roll. It's so important in the midst of battle, especially at higher ranks. It will give you a shield as you roll, so Salmonids can't hit you! It will also refill your ink tank faster, both in Salmon Run and Turf/Ranked.

[ OOC note: If you've forgotten how, press B at the same time as pulling your joystick in the opposite direction of where you were going before to Squid Roll. Hold B on an inked wall to Squid Surge upwards. This also gives you armor! ]

- Know your weapon. You need to learn what each weapon can do in terms of Salmon Run to make the best use of it. For example, the Explosher's shots can act as bombs, and can take down Flyfish baskets. However, it can't take down Maws.

I will be happy to answer any questions about any weapon! Just shoot me an ask, and I'll help!

- Use your bombs. Spit them out wherever you can. Instead of jumping into a horde, throw a bomb in. They'll do all the work for you. Toss them along the ground for a Maws instead of throwing them, it makes them go less far.

[ OOC note: Aim down! Make your bomb skitter along the ground instead of tossing it, sort of like a curling bomb! You can get them exactly where you want them this way. ]

- Keep your turf! It's essential to have good space to work in, so keep the ground inked. Otherwise, you're bound to get overwhelmed really quickly.

- [ OOC tip: Don't use Y to reposition your camera backwards. Use motion controls, and if you can't, turn up your stick sensitivity. Using Y will only disorient you. This will take some practice! Trust me! Be patient :) ]

- Please listen to your teammates. If they're shouting This Way at you repeatedly, it's probably for a reason. Also, be nice and Booyah back, why don'tcha?

- Don't get cocky if you have a Grizzco weapon. They do make it easier, but you're still fighting for your life out there.

The Splatana can take down unprepared Steelheads, Drizzlers, and front-facing Scrappers with its charged swipe. However: it's very slow, so make sure you have room to charge safely before you try! And try not to charge into the water.

The Slosher is the same as the Splatana, but you can do all that from the back lines. Also, it can take down Flyfish with a shot to the center!

The Dualies have very little range. Always remember that. They are very good at lesser clearing, but keep an eye on your ink and your location in respect to the water. Too many people dodge roll right into the water.

The Blaster is simple: point and shoot. This is one of the only Grizzco weapons that doesn't particularly have a strategy, and is fairly well balanced. It can't do anything special, but it is a heavy DPS weapon.

The Stringer is a backliner. It can take down Steelhead bombs with one shot, and the explosives are fairly decent at lesser clearage. It's also very good for Cohozuna. I'll admit, this isn't my area of expertise, so I can't tell you much more than that 😅

The Charger is really, really good for Horrorboros. That's about the only time I recommend spamming it, despite its quick charge speed. It has terrible ink consumption, and it's best to use it like any other charger in most cases. Great for Mothership, though!

The Brella is an inker. Keep the area clear for your teammates at all times! Keeping turf is one of the most important things in Salmon Run. Don't go head on into a mob of Chum like the Blaster, you won't make it.

The Roller is a car. Run them over. (Don't try and roll over Scrappers, though. That'll just bounce you back.) Don't flick unless absolutely necessary. If you must, a single vertical flick can take down a charging Steelhead, but you have to start your flick before it starts charging or you'll miss your chance.

- Most of all, have patience. I know I'm not one to talk on this, but if you get frustrated, clock out! You won't do good work if you're worried about your rank constantly or you're getting really angry at the freelancers.

[ OOC note: Take breaks! Don't get yourself super stressed over this game, okay? You can always put it down and come back later. It's a game, make sure you're having fun! ]

This isn't everything I could say, but it's a good start, I think. Once again, if you have any questions, let me know! I'll answer as best as I can. Atlas out!

[loveyougoodbi]

Hamilton to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc

I promised a post with my opinion on this move (specifically how it affects Charles) and honestly I'm still undecided but I thought it's best to sit down and put my thoughts in written form and maybe post later as well.

First of all, what my problem with Lewis moving to Ferrari was. Ferrari had gotten my hopes up in the few weeks prior to the announment in the sense that they want to focus on Charles and that they will give Charles the treatment he deserves. The news of the move shattered all that to pieces in my eyes. To me all it meant was that they are not planning to win the championship with Charles. They are again not giving him the support and trust he deserves. And that hurt.

If you read my thoughts when Charles signed the contract I kept saying one thing: this announcement has changed nothing for me. Ferrari has to prove to me that they are serious about Charles and that Charles' role in the team is the role they claim to have given him: a leader. There are 3 things that (to me) would make me happy about the contract extension and I will now look into each of them separately and how they relate to Lewis joining under the cut.

1. They have to give him a competitive car suited to HIM, not his teammate. ✔️

This is still possible. Charles is the undisputed leader of ferraris car development for 2024. That is more than clear now. 2024 (and probably 2025) cars will be done with charles' feedback.

However, 2024 and 2025 do not matter from a championship perspective. They are still Red Bulls year. And I find it highly unlikely that any team would be able to come close enough in these regulations to even fight for a championship with red bull. The year that matters from a championship perspective is 2026. The car that will be built in 2025 aka the year Lewis is joining. I'm not saying Lewis will automatically take over everything (charles IS ferrari after all) but it's also safe to say that having a 7 time champion with the rank and reputation of Lewis Hamilton would sway the cards to a more equal playing field. And this would happen for the car that matters. But Lewis is a great driver who can drive any car as long as its fast (unlike some people iykwim). So is Charlrs. So this is not a huge concern in terms of them having to slow down the car like they did in 2022. Check

2. He has to have a teammate that will not sabotage him ✔️

Listen im not saying Carlos ever sabotaged Charles but im also not NOT saying that. The impeding (frankly he does that to everyone), the preferable strategies, the purposefully trying to prove he's better (he's not), the whining on the radio, Silverstone, Singapore, refusing to help at any given moment. You get it.

I do not see Lewis (yes I know I called him half of brocedes just yesterday but I was in shock ok? Look away) doing any sort of thing like that to charles. Mostly because Lewis has nothing to prove.

Am I sad and dissapointed that once again Charles has to fight tooth and nail to get that n1 driver position? Yes. Would I have preferred Ferrari to give him a teammate aware of his role (the role being fighting for Charles)? Yes. Do I think Charles can beat 41yo Lewis? Yes I genuinely think he can. I still wouldve liked it if he had it a little bit easier for once in his life but we work with what we can get.

What will happen in 2026 if they are somehow competitive and the team has to choose who to help with the wdc fight? They will probably choose Lewis. Unless Charles is far ahead in points. I am still pissed that they made him have it so difficult and in the end he still might end up having to help someone else get a wdc. I will never not be bitter about this. But I'll move on cos I am not a bitter person (she said lying like a liar).

All in all anything is better than what he had the last 2 years (and probably this year) so I gave it a check just for the fact that it's not Carlos.

3. Ferrari has to want to do it with him, not anyone else. ???

This one im not so sure about folks. If this was true they would not sign the biggest name in the sport who is chasing a record breaking title. They simply wouldn't. A team that believes in you believes in you. They do not bring you competition. They bring you help. Like Christian brought Max help. Like Toto Wolff chased Lewis' help away in 2021 which ultimately led to Lewis losing (yes I do think he would've won 21 if Toto had not chased Bottas away when Lewis needed him most)

That leads me to my final point (more like a question): Why did Charles sign The deal if he didnt feel like Ferrari wants to win with him? I dont think he would do that. What if Lewis IS the help Fred is bringing Charles? I personally would love to see Charles and Lewis bringing Ferrari back to its glory days together. Lewis by bringing in the team and reputation, Charles by being a generation talent, Il predestinato my beloved. Either Ferrari lied to us (and Charles) or Fred is COOKING!!! Honestly now that we're in this, it all comes down to: I'm just waiting and seeing what will happen and I trust Charles immensely which means I also trust him to leave if he doesn't feel like his dream is being taken care of. That is it.

[sfarticles]

Watermelon stars in creative recipes

Grilled Watermelon and Kale Salad: The sweet and smoky grilled watermelon is a great balance to the nutrient-dense and bitter dinosaur kale. (National Watermelon Promotion Board)

Check out my latest column

One of my jobs when visiting my parents is to unload the groceries from the trunk of the car; keep in mind, Mom is in her late 80s and Dad will be 92 in a few weeks. Dad couldn’t wait to cut up the 15-pound watermelon he carefully chose once I gently put it on the counter.

While carrying the large, seedless melon into the kitchen, I was thinking about some creative recipes incorporating the fruit. Or perhaps vegetable? It is a much-debated discussion. Botanically, it is a cousin to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.

I am intrigued by the watermelon recipes in the food publications I read. With summer being the peak season of its consumption in the U.S., it is time to celebrate with a juicy slice and prepare creative recipes. (National Watermelon Day was Aug. 3.) Thanks to countries like Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras that experience summer during our winter, watermelon can be enjoyed all year.

In my culinary travels, I’ve noticed that restaurants have incorporated watermelon as a featured ingredient in their dishes. It is among the fastest-growing “fruits” in terms of use on food-service menus, having grown by 54% in the past few years, according to a recent menu trends study commissioned by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

According to the Board, 65% of food service operators feature fresh watermelon on the menu, up from 38% in 2020 and 50% in 2022. One in 10 restaurants serving alcoholic beverages feature a drink containing watermelon, more than doubling in the last 10 years.

Watermelon 101

• The Watermelon Promotion Board represents 800 watermelon growers, shippers and importers nationwide. Its goal is to promote the nutritional, culinary and convenience benefits of watermelon.

• The first cookbook published in the United States in 1796 contained a recipe for watermelon rind pickles.

• Watermelon’s official name is Citrullus Lanatus of the botanical family Cucurbitaceae.

• Early explorers used watermelons as canteens.

• The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt.

• More than 1,200 varieties of watermelon are grown worldwide.

• Watermelon is grown in more than 96 countries worldwide. The USA ranks seventh in production; China is first.

• In China and Japan, watermelon is a popular gift to bring a host.

• In some Mediterranean countries, the sweet taste of watermelon is often paired with the salty taste of feta cheese.

• Watermelon is 92% water.

• By weight, watermelon is the most-consumed melon in the U.S., followed by cantaloupe and honeydew.

• Watermelon doesn’t contain any fat or cholesterol, is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6 and C and contains fiber and potassium.

• Watermelon is approximately 70% flesh and 30% rind.

• Watermelon is considered both a fruit and a vegetable; it is the state vegetable of Oklahoma.

• Every part of a watermelon is edible, even the seeds and rind. Zero food waste!

• Some people find it challenging in picking a ripe watermelon and cutting one. These videos are helpful: https://bit.ly/30Vgosi and https://bit.ly/4dwARWV.

Once you pick the perfect watermelon, and know how to cut it up safely, try these recipes provided by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

For the recipe for grilled watermelon and kale salad, visit https://bit.ly/4dUsaa3.

Watermelon Rind Stir Fry

The headnote says: “Next time you buy a whole watermelon, reserve the watermelon rind for this ingenious recipe. The rind will soften and quickly absorb the flavor of your sauce. Add shrimp, tofu or chicken for an extra protein boost!”

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 cups watermelon rinds, julienned (white part only, from about ½ of a seedless watermelon)

1 cup julienned carrots

½ cup chives, cut into 3-inch pieces

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, minced

½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn

¼ cup mint leaves

¼ cup cilantro leaves

Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Heat sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the watermelon rind and carrots and stir fry, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Let sit over high heat for 1 additional minute without stirring.

Add the chives and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic and ginger.

Pour the sauce over the watermelon rind and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant.

Transfer to a serving dish. Add the basil, cilantro, and mint, tossing to combine.

Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired, and serve as a side dish.

Watermelon Pomegranate Green Tea

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

4 cups watermelon puree

2 cups pomegranate juice

4 cups strong prepared and chilled green tea

1 cup white grape juice

Ice for serving

Directions:

Mix ingredients together in a large container (except ice) and chill well. Stir before serving and serve over ice.

Spicy Watermelon Hummus

The headnote says: “What if you could have a delicious snack and it was good for you, too? Well, you can. This hummus is packed with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant goodies, while being low-fat, low-calorie and the best hummus you have ever tasted! It also makes a great sandwich spread or topping for bruschetta. Extra virgin olive oil is the best to use here, since it is a good source of healthy fat and antioxidants.”

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 large clove garlic

2 heaping tablespoons of diced red onion

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup watermelon juice (liquefy watermelon in a blender)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon lemon peel

¼ teaspoon each: ground cumin, coriander, ground ginger, paprika and turmeric

1 15-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and washed

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup diced watermelon

Parsley sprigs

Directions:

Mince garlic in a food processor. Add onion and parsley and blend until fully minced. Add the rest of ingredients and blend until smooth.

Refrigerate for at least a half-hour to allow flavors to blend. Garnish with diced watermelon and parsley sprigs. Serve with pita bread, baked chips or baby carrots.

Watermelon Strawberry Shake

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 container (8 ounces) lemon nonfat yogurt

2 cups cubed, seeded watermelon

1 pint fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled

1 medium banana, peeled and sliced

Directions:

In blender or food processor, process yogurt, watermelon, strawberries and banana until smooth and frothy. Serve immediately.

Kids Watermelon Sandwich Cookies

Serves 6

Ingredients:

12 blueberry pancakes (3-inch round), cooled to room temperature

½ cup white frosting

6 seedless watermelon slices (2/3-inch thick, 3-inch round), drained to remove excess moisture

Directions:

Evenly frost bottom of each pancake with white frosting. Arrange six pancakes frosting side up on serving platter. Place one slice watermelon on each frosted pancake. Top each with remaining pancakes, frosting side down. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Savory Watermelon “Pizza”

Servings will vary

The headnote says: “Paired with savory ingredients like prosciutto and goat cheese, this savory “pizza” skips the bread to make watermelon the new star. Use any cheese and/or meat of your choice — some classic watermelon pairings include feta, bleu, parmesan and mozzarella.”

Ingredients:

Watermelon round cut 1-inch thick (for crust)

Goat cheese

Prosciutto

Balsamic

Greens of choice (we used arugula)

Pepper to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl mix goat cheese and heavy whipping cream to make it spreadable. Spread goat cheese to cover watermelon, leaving room to hold the rind.

Place prosciutto then greens as toppings on watermelon pizza as desired.

Drizzle balsamic glaze on watermelon pizza. Pepper to taste.

Watermelon Rind Pickles

The headnote says: “Created by Chef Dave Wooley for the National Watermelon Promotion Board, these watermelon rind pickles leave the slightest bit of red flesh for a beautiful color and taste experience.”

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

4 cups water

1 tablespoon coarse salt

2 cups peeled watermelon rind (leave a thin layer of pink) cut into 1-inch by 1/2-inch by 2-inch pieces

¾ cups granulated sugar

1 each of all spice berries

½ cup cider vinegar

4 each peppercorns

4 whole cloves

½ teaspoon pickling spice

1 long slice of fresh ginger root

¼ teaspoon celery seeds

Directions:

In large pot, bring water and salt to boil over medium high heat. Add rind pieces and boil until tender, about 5 minutes. Strain. Transfer rinds to large metal bowl.

In saucepan, combine all of the other ingredients and spices. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 15 minutes, until slightly reduced. Pour over watermelon rinds in bowl. Place plate over top to keep rinds submerged in liquid. Cover and refrigerate for one day. Transfer to a glass jar and keep sealed in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Serving suggestion: enjoy with your favorite deli meats and cheeses, perhaps with other pickled veggies.

Recipes and photos courtesy of the National Watermelon Promotion Board.

Stephen Fries, is professor emeritus and former coordinator of the Hospitality Management Programs at Gateway Community College, in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been a food and culinary travel columnist for the past 17 years and is co-founder of and host of “Worth Tasting,” a culinary walking tour of downtown New Haven, and three-day culinary adventures around the U.S. He is a board member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Email him at Stephen@stephenfries.com. For more, go to stephenfries.com.

[autoversemobility]

How To Choose Best Car Spare Part Shop Near Me

In car maintenance's difficult world, choosing a "car spare part shop near me" might affect how well and long your car lasts. Choosing among the many options on the market might take a lot of work. This article will guide you through the maze of alternatives and provide important information to help you choose.

How Good Are Spares

Quality parts are crucial for any decent auto parts store. Your car needs genuine, reliable spare parts to run well, stay safe, and last. Look for stores that say they only sell genuine parts. A positive clue is that they clearly state where their parts come from and what requirements they meet.

Well-known companies supply parts to trustworthy retailers. Discover famous brands and ask about supplier links. Because they stay longer and operate better with your car, genuine parts are worth the extra money. Avoid shortcuts that could damage your car by choosing realism.

Stock Items Type

A reliable car spare part shop near me has a vast, well-organized selection. A business with many parts for many makes and types commits to customer satisfaction. A well-stocked shop can save you time and effort when you require particular repair or maintenance items.

Check the shop's stock for OEM and replacement parts. An OEM part manufacturer also made the original car part. However, aftermarket components may be cheaper. A reliable store will contain things for all likes and budgets.

Research and reputation

Start your search for the best car spare part shop near me by doing research. Check internet communities, forums, and review sites for local shop names. Get honest evaluations from other automobile fans who have visited these attractions. If an auto shop has a reputation for high-quality spare parts and good service, you may trust them to suit your demands.

Consider the shop's overall ranking and customer reviews. Look for patterns in product quality, reliability, and customer service. Look for stores that respond to client feedback—they want to improve.

Great client service and skills

Staff knowledge and customer service are crucial when choosing a car parts store. Experienced car spare part shop near me workers can assist you in selecting the necessary parts, advise you on installation, and demonstrate proper maintenance.

Knowledge and client service are crucial. Customer-focused stores communicate effectively, answer questions swiftly, and solve problems. Check their response time, friendliness, and willingness to serve consumers. Customer service improves your mood and faith in the shop.

Prices, Guarantees

Cost is crucial but shouldn't be your only consideration when choosing a vehicle parts retailer. Compare pricing and components and services from several shops. Beware of stores that offer large savings over competitors. This could suggest their products could be better or there are hidden expenses.

Read about guarantees and returns. A car spare part shop that guarantees its spare parts displays confidence in their quality. The warranty's terms and conditions are crucial because they protect you if the parts you bought break down.

Conclusion

Choosing the appropriate car spare part shop near me may make car maintenance and repair easy and fast. Buying trustworthy spare components is an investment in your car's health and well-being, not just a savings. Making a smart choice will increase your driving safety and your beloved car's long-term performance and happiness. Be sure to consider all your options, ask the correct questions, and choose something that fulfils your requirements as a responsible car owner.

[cowboy-canoodler]

Can’t Teach The Mad Dog New Tricks, Chapter 1 (Majima Goro x GN! Reader) SMUT

This work is for 18+ readers only, minors DNI ! ! !

You’re the captain to The Majima Family of The Tojo Clan of Kamurocho, a diligent worker who balances out Majima’s own brand of crazy.

You trust him and he trusts you, but does that trust go deeper?

Are there feelings you previously hadn’t thought about?

And just how far are both of you willing to go so the other may survive?

Tags: TW: Blood, knives, stab wounds, bullet wounds, doctors, fighting, smoking, “c-word use” Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff, Smut, blowjob (giving), dry humping, whining, bottom Majima, praise kink, edging, throat fucking, almoat public fingering/handjob, possessive sex, dirty talking, private fingering/anal fingering

Notes:

“Seiko” is a nickname for the reader, not an OC or a specific gender, it’s a moniker like Hawke or Shepherd in their respective games.

Set during the year off in Yakuza 3-4

Also:

When the reader is having sexual things done to them I have included separate vagina and penis versions just read the one that accommodates you. Chest and body descriptions are left gender neutral; it's only genitalia that’s different. If you’re unfamiliar with the way I write I try my best to be as inclusive as I can for the reader. This includes writing separate paragraphs for each genitalia (penis and vagina) while also including non-descript hair, skin, chest, and body sizes. If you feel that I haven’t done a very good job at that in particular parts of this fic please let me know and I will alter it to the best of my ability.Slowly working on this while balancing life.

Also this chapter has no smut but the rest of the work does

“We all know what you and Majima-san get up to you behind the closed doors” the lieutenant of a small family said out loud as you collectively waited patiently for the officers meeting to be finished.

You were there with a calm, level headed, expression. Your eyes fixed on the painting on the other side of the hallway as you stood by for Majima to either be told to leave or for him to walk out on his own terms when it got too boring.

“It’s no wonder a newbie was able to be promoted so quickly in their family,” another snide comment from a different lieutenant, once again from a smaller family but a family that was getting too big for its britches, “sleep with the patriarch and you’re sure to move up in the world.” A couple of them laughed as you took a deep breath in, your calm composure falling ever so slightly as a sensitive topic was touched upon.

It was true that you had moved up quickly within the ranks of The Majima family but you hadn’t gotten to where you are now by sleeping with Majima himself. He had always seen how diligently you had worked, sticking to The Yakuza ideals and always keeping a level head when doing your work. Right now, however, you did not have to work, there was no reason to keep these low-level lieutenants happy with you, or the family you belonged to, as you thought of that your hand slowly slipped into the back of your suit and grasped the dagger that was tucked away, ‘always for safe keeping’ Majima would say to you. This, however, did not mean to keep it safe, but to keep you safe, always.

“Gotta admit” the one who had spoken up first walked towards you, a cocky smirk on his face as he strode towards where you were patiently stood, hidden dagger in hand. “Someone who’s so good at keeping level headed does suit Majima-san the most, like that Nishida guy, gotta keep someone calm to balance out the craaaazyyy” his last few words had been drawn out in a mocking manner, a hand raised to his right temple and jokingly twirling in the air to represent his words.

As the other men laughed you pulled out your dagger, grabbed his hand, and turned the tides, pinning his face down against the wall where you had previously stood while twisting his arm and pressing the dagger against his neck. “Mock me all you like,” you whispered into his ear as the other men gasped, “but mock Majima-sama and we have serious problems,” you pushed the dagger further into his skin, a slither of blood dripping down the blade as he swallowed his pride, along with his saliva, “I don’t think your family would survive against ours, would they?” Your tone was one of feigned ignorance, calm and inquisitive as you asked the quivering coward simple questions. “Perhaps you should think before picking a fight with someone you can’t handle, particularly me and Majima-sama, hm?”

Before your victim could reply the door swung open and Majima came into view, his brow furrowed and an angry glare emanating from his good eye. Immediately you stood back, placed your hands firmly at your sides and bowed to greet him.

“Sir! I wasn’t-“

“It’s nothing Seiko-kun, musta deserved it. What’d he do?” A small grin made its way to Majima’s lips as he admired your devotion, he knew you only got that way when someone had insulted him, or the family, personally.

“Nothing that concerns you, Majima-sama , believe me-“ you glared over at the guy and held up your dagger to him once more, “it’s not worth your precious time” you placed the dagger back into its sheath and hid it behind your back once more

“No sir!” The lieutenants bowed as an apology before Majima shrugged and began walking down the hall.

“If ya say so, let’s go Seiko-kun” Majima began walking away and you followed closely behind, your eyes upfront and calm as you made your way out of Tojo HQ and into the car, you in the driver's seat and Majima behind.

A couple of minutes had passed in silence, both of you enjoying the calm of each other's company as you focused on the road and Majima focused on you. His eye bore a hole into the back of your head and you saw it every time you checked behind the car in the mirror, but you chose to say nothing. He was obviously in a bad mood from the meeting, him escaping partway through with a scowl was enough to tell you that, but usually there was chatter in the car as you rode back to the office.

“So what happened?” Majima broke the silence after a couple minutes of staring out of the window, he must have grown bored with the passing cars.

“They said things I didn’t agree with”

“Like?"

“Do you really need to know?”

“Now,” Majima tutted as a smile made its way back to his face, a finger pointed up and waving side to side, “is that any way to treat your boss?”

“Tch-“ you looked back in the mirror and saw his smirk before moving your eyes back to the road, you hated how he knew your weaknesses, “they said we were sleeping together, and that was the only reason I had been so successful, and so quick, with my promotions in the family”

“Ohh, no wonder you were so harsh on ‘em, I woulda been, too” Majima leaned back and looked out of the window as he crossed his leg, his right ankle on his left knee and his lightly hands resting on the inner of his thighs. “Having your achievements pinned on something you didn’t do that woulda been a lot easier, sure as shit ain’t nice to hear- ah- I didn’t mean it like that-“

Knowing Majima had your back always brought a smile to your, usually calm, face. A small display of emotion that was usually kept hidden, on show just for him. “I know what you mean, don’t worry about it, to be honest, I would have slept with you if I could but you were always so damn busy”

“Oh? You woulda?” Majima’s gaunt cheeks reddened a little as he looked over at you, smirking and staring at him in the mirror, “oh- you’re joking” he rolled his eyes and sighed looking back to the window at the passing cars.

“You got really happy at that Majima-sama, something you wanna tell me?”

“Eat shit”

You sat there staring at each other through the mirror as the car sat at a red light before bursting into fits of laughter

The light turned green and you drove off towards the office once again, the last few minutes sat in a happy silence between you both, appreciating the content atmosphere you had cultivated with Majima. Your eyes often wandered back to the mirror to watch him in his small and comfortable world, one of the few places he could let his guard down a little before heading back into his role as Patriarch and Senpai to the family, plus his jacket did nothing to cover himself and you did so enjoy watching him breathe.

“We're here, sir” you said before stepping out of the car and opening his door for him, once more bowing as he exited.

“Thanks Seiko-kun” Majima smiled at you before walking to the doors, hands in pockets and his guard back up once more in the characteristic sway of his hips. You stood and watched him walk away amongst his family members who were all bowed with their head low to greet their patriarch, and you. Another member ran up to you and bowed as you stood aside to let him take over the car and park it in The Family’s usual spot.

The feeling of walking amongst your peers as their captain was still a strange one, while you had filled in the role easily and commanded their respect it was still very alien to you being their commander. Listening to the shallow breathing of the men at your side as you walked past calm and collected, sticking to the Yakuza code and showing them the amount of respect you were supposed to, was rough and something you had never fully agreed with. These men were willing to die for Majima and the family, the same way you would, and probably will, and not being able to show all of them what that means to both you and Majima was insulting. A code that doesn’t value the people who uphold it, not just the top brass who are in charge but those grunts who do the hard work, is a code that will die. It was inevitable.

As you came to the doors you looked back at the men, still bowing low and waiting for you to enter the building, and then down at the pin on your lapel. A familiar, warm feeling spread through your chest as you felt the comfort of your found family before turning back around and proceeding into the offices.

Majima usually took time to himself after a meeting he didn't agree with, usually they were asking him to do something he didn’t wish to do or demanding The Majima family lay their lives down for some bullshit cause. Everytime a Patriarch dies, or a family has to disband Majima, more often than not, would get up to 200 hundred new recruits into his own, making it the biggest of The Tojo Clan so he’s always asked to lay down his men's lives for the sake of Daigo or the greater good. It’s really one of his biggest peeves about being tied down into the Tojo Clan, while he was, ultimately, in charge of his family he had to obey Daigo’s orders no matter what. Yakuza code to uphold and all, and Majima always upholds his moral codes even at the cost of his dignity, freedom, or life.

-

A couple of hours passed and you had kept yourself occupied looking over paperwork concerning the finances of The Family, sorting out spending, repair work for damages made to Majima family turf, and collection payments from said turf. This was the work that you liked, the filing and organisation of it all, keeping things behind the scenes running smoothly. It was what you were good at, the best in the family if your title was anything to go by, and you often felt proud of the work you did, and how little you made mistakes.

Of course there were others who handled the wages and every day frivolities, you were there to check any major problems or spare work whenever you had a moment to breathe away from Majima… but you hadn’t heard from him, not a hair or even a whisper of what he was doing right now.

“Hmm...” you hummed, quietly putting your documents down and looking out of the window, “he’s been too quiet tonight… maybe I should check in on him” the statement seemed to be questioning but you had already placed your documents into the drawer before speedily heading to the door.

The halls of Millennium Tower were always so quiet, the slightest cough or sneeze ringing and echoing through the walls of your floor. Just like the footsteps you were making that erupted through the desolate silence. As you walked down you nodded to the guards, men were stationed at each door, 2 at yours and Majima’s, and 1 at the lieutenants along with their respective groupies inside the rooms when needed.

Your footsteps continued to echo through the halls as you passed various doors, the guards bowing in respect as menial mumbling chatter rang through the cracks of each room until you came to Majima’s corridor, you walked up and signalled his men to move further down the hall. Still on guard but with a little more privacy. You took a moment to yourself before knocking lightly and waiting for a response.

“Who‘s banging at my door this fuckin’ late?”

“It’s Seiko, sir”

“Oh… justa sec-“

A pause before you heard something heavy drop behind the door and Majima exclaiming painfully.

“Majima-sama? Are you okay?” More groans of pain made your heart quicken in worry, the beating echoing into your ears overpowered your, usually, calm composure, “I’m coming in!” Hastily you opened the door and saw Majima sat on his couch clutching his foot, and a bowling ball on the floor slowly rolling towards you.

“Ah,” you chuckled to yourself, “I think I see what happened”

“Just tryna have a happy memory and it’s gotta do that shit to me?!” Majima sighed and leaned back, legs apart and knees spread wide with his arms stretched out along the back of the seat. You smiled and closed the door behind you before picking up the ball and walking over to him, bowing for respect, and placing the ball back into the open bag on the coffee table, his eye following you every step of the way.

“Are you hurt Majima-san?”

“Naw- well... my pride maybe? Having you see me like this sure is a kick in the dick” he rolled his eye and looked away from you, sending his pout out of the window.

“Better than an actual kick in the dick though, right?” His response was nothing more than a click of his tongue and a sigh as he rolled his head, and his eye, back, “I hadn’t heard from you tonight so I thought I’d check in. After today’s meeting you seemed preoccupied, maybe even a little stressed-“

“I ain’t stressed Seiko-kun” his tone was short and guarded as he raised his head to meet your gaze.

“With all due respect Majima-sama, you are. I know you very well, better than most, and I know something happened in that meeting today” you sighed at his silence and sat in an adjacent chair, placing your chin on your fist and staring at him with bored eyes. He looked at you and scowled before averting his eye back to the window, but you continued to stare and crossed your legs.

“Tch- it’s just- it’s shit The Chairman’s got me doing, now that he’s healed and able to lead again, plus losing Mine and shit, everything’s just gone to fuck and I’m the one who has to put it together again”

You could see how annoyed it made him to be tied down like this, he just wants to do his own thing with people he trusts surrounding him but every time something happened in The Clan Majima was usually the one who had to clean up the mess and with every mess he got tied down even more.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t like in 2006 when you were able to just break away and start on Kamurocho Hills… although-“ he looked back over to you, eye soft and pleading behind his dagger-like glare, “-technically there’s not much stopping you from doing the same right now, if that’s what you choose to do, sir”

“Nothing but a promise”

“To whom?”

“Kiryu Kazama"

You both sat in silence for a moment, the muffled sounds of Kamurocho below echoing into the dimly lit room. The silence was suffocating, unsaid feelings and context ripping the two of you apart before you gathered the courage to break it.

“I see, you do hate breaking promises, sir"

“You really do think you know me don’t you Seiko-chan? Huh?!” Majima stood up and balled up his fists, the soft squelch of leather rubbing against itself filling the angry atmosphere. You sat there and stared at him silently, your eyes telling him you weren’t buying this façade he was putting up. “Ain’t nothing worse n’ a guy who can’t even keep his word. It’s too much that we let Yakuza get this fuckin’ soft all this time, only caring about makin’ money and being on top. Ain't shit without the strength to back it up.”

Majima turned around and sighed before walking over to the window, he placed his elbow above his head and stared down at Kamurocho like a lion watching and guarding over his pride.

“Is this about Makoto Tateyama-san?”

Once again, silence.

You could hear Majima’s breathing getting heavier as he thought about how he wanted to approach this with you and you sat there ready to take it all, he needed to get his emotions out and into the open. Carrying a torch for someone for 21 years wasn’t exactly healthy and the only way Majima knew how to take his mind from it was filling his days with menial tasks, or finding people to fight to prove to himself

“It’s been 4 years since she left the country with her family” you could see Majima’s fist tightening and the scowl on his face getting even angrier as he continued to stare out of the window.

His voice was low, almost a growl, and nothing like his usual scratchy tone “you should know when to shut up and to keep her name outta your mouth”

“I can tell you how she’s doing if you wish, I have people checking on her and her family often to make sure she’s safe”

Majima’s breath hitched in his throat and he looked over to you, his eyebrows still knitted together but now in a combined look of anger, curiosity, and affection. “Why? I never ask’d ya to do that, how’d ya even know?!” He took a step towards you, his arm falling down to his hip and hands still balled into fists. You stood up and clasped your hands behind your back keeping eye contact with him.

“When I joined the family I had my sights fixed on becoming your captain as fast as I could so I dug into your past. The things that happened with Shimano-san and Saejima-san, Yuki-chan and Makoto-san.” He stopped and stared at you, eye wide with awe and mouth slightly agape along with his still knitted brow, “I’ve made it my goal to make sure no loose ends come and bite you in the ass in the future, and that the people you care about are taken care of no matter what. I had hoped to keep your mind at ease.”

“At ease?” Majima’s voice was barely a whisper, the words only just crawling their way to your ears as you stood your ground. “Finding out one of the only people I trust is going behind my back to get info on me, that’s supposed’ta put my mind at ease? Huh?!” Majima’s voice rolled into a roar as he took a step towards you, the anger radiating off of him and his mad eye shaking around as he bore a hole into your skull with glare alone.

“Yes.”

Your reply was short and abrupt, the final tipping point before Majima ran towards you and grabbed your collar pushing you back into the wall. You both grunted at the impact as books fell off of his shelves. Your hands came up and gripped his arms in a futile effort to keep him at bay, there was no way you’d be able to take The Mad Dog in any kind of fight, not that you’d want to but you had to try to calm him down somehow.

“The fuck you think you are?! Huh?!”

“The one person who’s always on your side no matter what Majima-san!” He didn’t budge, “I didn’t do it for blackmail or for any kind of leverage, if I wanted that I wouldn’t have worked so fucking hard to get to where I am now. Here! Right by your fucking side where I plan to stay!”

Tears blinded your vision as you poured your heart out to him, the things you admire most about Majima flashing through your mind as his grip on your collar loosened.

The way he never backed down from fights.

His loyalty to the people close to him, especially his family.

The promises he never breaks no matter how hard it is to get to the result.

How hard he fights when he lets loose, especially when he fights Kiryu.

His smile.

His laugh.

His nose.

His lips.

Him…

“Sei- no… (Y/N)-kun…” him saying your name made your heart skip a beat and the breath in your lungs disappear. His hands lay on your chest, slightly smoothing down the fabric of your creased shirt and he averted his gaze, almost sheepishly, as he realised what he had done.

“Unless you throw me out yourself I don’t ever plan on leaving you, Majima-san. Not for all the Yen in Japan, not even to start my own family-“

“You’d be a great patriarch, y’know”

You smiled and lightly sighed, “not nearly as great as you.”

A small gasp made it’s way past his lips once more before his gaze made its way back to your own, eye slightly watering as you studied him making sure to remember every little detail you could. Only now could you feel how close he had gotten, Majima’s breath a small breeze upon your lips, both of you breathing in eachothers air.

All the blood in your body became intimately known to you as well as where it was rushing to. The heat rising in your cheeks and the small, rushed, beating of your heart echoing into your eardrums.

Majimas voice was barely above a whisper as he leaned his head forward, eye now focused solely on his gloved hand smoothing down your shirt. “Seiko I…” he let out a breathy sigh before a small smile made its way into his lips, Kansai accent slipping from his words, “I haven’t felt this comfortable alone with someone in years, I don’t even know how I’m supposed to feel… not anymore”

“I know” you were in no position to give him advice about how to feel when your own emotions were hardly ever in check, “I’ll be here whenever you need to feel comfortable. No matter how far away I am, even if another family has me locked up. I’ll fight my way to you with every fibre of my being, nothing will keep me from you Majima. Our world has no enemy I won’t kill to make my way back to you.”

He leaned his head down slightly, eye closing as he became more and more vulnerable the closer he got to you, and you felt the same about him. Your breath became shakier as your heart continued to beat out of turn, you leaned your head forward and pressed your forehead against his, feeling how hot his body was, your noses barely touching and your hand resting on his bicep.

Kamurocho stopped in those few seconds, no sounds, no lights, no traffic, just the two of you alone on this earth.

Majima was the first to move, his hand creeping up to the side of your neck and his head tilting to the right as he brought your lips closer together, your breath trapped in your lungs as you anticipated his lips upon yours. Your eyes had been focused on anything but his gaze until now, you looked up and he had already been studying you. Just as your lips were about to touch there was a knock at the door, both of you jumped and parted before someone walked in and bowed, looking like he had bad news.

“Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt but there’s a phone call from The Chairman, he says it’s urgent”

Majima sighed and turned away from you, the lingering heat from his hand on your chest slowly fading away as you averted your gaze. All of the trapped air in your lungs made its way out and you stood there out of breath and embarrassed.

“You should get that! I’ll leave you alone. Thank you for seeing me Majima-sama, have a good night.” You bowed and Majima opened his mouth to protest but before he could you quickly made your way out of the door and down the hall to the elevator, face red and still short of breath.

Once the elevator doors closed, and you were alone, everything hit you and you couldn’t stop yourself falling onto the wall for support, the cool metal of the lift. All breath left your lungs as the emotions took over, arms wrapping around yourself and eyes fixed on the floor as you tried everything you could to calm down the thoughts in your head and the thoughts in your heart.

You remained that way until the elevator came to the floor of your office. You stepped out, having regained your calm persona, and walked down the halls with your hands firmly by your side, the right one almost burning as you remembered the feeling of Majima’s bicep in your grip. Your chest aflame with his handprint as you continued trying to keep your composure, determined not to let any of The Family see you like this.

You spent the remainder of your night awake and alone in your office, laying down on your couch with a pillow for company and the Kamurocho sounds, and rain, for ambience. Each thought was of him, how close the two of you had gotten, and how much closer you were about to get before you were interrupted.

[atlurbanist]

Kasim Reed is pandering to NIMBYs who oppose growth near MARTA. That stinks.

Atlanta mayoral candidate Kasim Reed is pandering to anti-density voters in the Ansley Park neighborhood by promising he’ll oppose the (very good) proposal to allow small apartment buildings, with only eight to twelve units each, to be built within a half mile of MARTA rail stations in the city.

The proposal that Reed opposes is part of a concept that the city’s planning department put together that offers some much-needed change to Atlanta’s overly-suburban zoning.

The contents of the proposal rightly echo the Atlanta City Design document from several years ago which was, ironically, created by Kasim Reed’s administration and adopted and approved before he left office. That document makes a very clear call for inclusionary zoning, and for eliminating barriers to ‘missing middle’ housing.

Essentially, Reed is pandering to the NIMBY tendencies of Atlanta by opposing a good concept for urban density that grew out of his administration (arguably one of the few commendable things from his storied time in office).

All mayoral candidates should support this proposal, not oppose it, and they certainly shouldn’t be catering to NIMBY fears.

The proposed level of sensitive growth near our high-capacity transit lines is the kind of move the city should have made years ago. We need Atlanta’s built environment to do a better job of supporting transit in many ways. Adding small multi-family buildings in walking distance to rail stations is a logical step, and it will help undo the harmful, car-centric products of the ‘war on density’ this city waged in the past.

In the letter to Ansley Park residents quoted in full below, notice how Reed wrongly states that this is a “drastic” up-zoning, fanning the flames of fear for his benefit.

He also refers to these small apartments as a step that will “sacrifice” neighborhoods, implying that they’re being killed. Which is ridiculous — instead of dying, they’ll actually be joining the ranks of the MANY wonderful places in Atlanta where detached homes and small duplexes and apartments have already been mixed for many decades, such at Cabbagetown (pictured above).

KASIM REED FOR MAYOR September 22, 2021

Dear Concerned Ansley Park Resident,

I am proud to be the only mayoral candidate to have unequivocally opposed the recent proposal to drastically up-zone all property within a half-mile of certain MARTA stations. I have a record of fighting for Atlanta’s neighborhoods. In my eight years as your mayor, I fought to protect historic neighborhoods against encroachment, inappropriate redevelopment, and up-zoning. Atlanta’s historic neighborhoods are our crown jewels, unique to most American cities in terms of their proximity to the urban core. We cannot sacrifice such irreplaceable assets.

I reject the false idea that Atlantans must make a choice between affordability and historic preservation.

It is true. Atlanta needs to take bold action to increase its supply of affordable and workforce housing. If you elect me as your Mayor, I will look for ways to site more housing near transit and the Beltline. But those vital efforts shouldn’t come at the expense of Atlanta’s unique and historic neighborhoods. One of the ways in which Atlanta is special is our legacy of historic neighborhood development radiating from activity centers. It is that vitality that makes Atlanta a great place to live.

As Mayor, I fought to protect and preserve our historic neighborhoods. I commit to you that I will do so again, with your support and your vote. Working together, with our neighborhoods and community leadership, we can channel growth and density purposefully. That’s how we can build an affordable Atlanta for the 21″ Century — not by mindlessly tearing down historic neighborhoods.

I have a proven record and a cutting-edge vision for our city. I would be honored to serve as your Mayor again. If you’d like more information about how we can build a safe and prosperous Atlanta, please visit my website www.kasimreed.com. Thank you.

Sincerely, Kasim Reed

Opposing this good improvement to Atlanta’s urbanism — which is much need of help — is simply idiotic.

We need our city leaders to be more forward-thinking than this. Yes, the zoning change is not an affordability solution in itself, but it’s an essential piece of the puzzle that will work with other tools to create more-affordable homes**. And without this piece we’ll be unable to create the equitable, human-centered city we need.

The overly car-centric neighborhoods near some of our MARTA stations cause too many challenges, mismatching the urban design of the places with the transit infrastructure we have. Reed was fond of the phrase “world class city” during his previous terms. Opposing transit-supportive urbanism is absolutely the wrong way to try to reach goals for world-class status.

** [There is an optional density bonus included in the proposal, which allows developers to add more units if 1 of 2 of them are offered at affordable prices.]

Darin Givens is co-founder and board member of ThreadATL. Follow him on Instagram at @atlurbanist

[falquinold]

MY FORMAL DEMAND TO BE GIVEN THE RIGHTS TO (1) JOAQUIN TORRES.      ( AKA - The Big Canon Expansion Post™ )

steve vc: so.... you got played by the writers. you put your trust in them when you probably shouldn’t have. they lured you in with a false sense of security and promises of representation, and then ripped the carpet from below your feet. and the sad thing is... this isn’t the first time. 

hey! stupid opening aside, this is gonna be my explanation of torres’ backstory up to his presence in the falcon and the winter soldier, including the character arc that i believe he would have had if the show had been allowed to keep its original 10 episodes. this is mostly based around my own personal headcanons, so i please ask that you don’t steal or reblog this! 

anyway, putting it under a cut since it’s longer than i thought it’d be!

PART 1: PRE-IW.

like in the comics, joaquin immigrated to the united states from mexico with his mother and grandmother when he was 6 years old. they moved to sonoita, arizona, where they soon found a place to live and started to settle into their new life. while the first half of his school years consisted of him working twice as hard as any of his classmates due to the faults in the american public education system, he eventually shot up the class list, earning his spot as valedictorian by the end of his high school career. 

this caught the attention of multiple military recruiters, who came to his school with hopes of swaying as many teens (specifically teens of color) to join the forces as possible. with promises of great pay, free housing and healthcare for himself and his family, and the opportunity to use his intelligence to help ‘change the world for the better,’ the eager 17-year-old didn’t even have to think twice. that very same week that they showed up at his school, joaquin had taken the asvab test and passed with flying colors, soon putting in his application for the air force academy. 

the next 3 years went by in a flash - joaquin moved out of his home and to the academy in colorado, along with 1000 other teenagers who had found themselves in a similar position. he remained at the top 5% of his class, though all of his studies did nothing to prepare him for the day that thanos and his army broke through the atmosphere.

PART 2: IW --> ENDGAME.

in the 3 years that joaquin had been a student at the academy, the strict schedule of his day had never been broken. however, when the giant spaceship hovered over new york, thousands of students crowded around any available tv to stop and stare. he watched for what seemed like hours, frantically texting his mother to make sure that she and his grandmother were safe back at home in arizona. everyone watched with baited breath, until the students in the mess hall started disappearing. everything went in slow motion after that, with the blaring alarms ringing and the remaining teachers instructing everyone to go back to their dorms. the halls filled with dust and the yells for people that had vanished into thin air. 

calls and texts weren’t going through, and the news stations that everyone had been anchored to soon showed nothing but static. after a day, the school allowed for people to leave, and joaquin took his car and made his way back to arizona as fast as he could. he burst through the doors of his childhood home, to see dust settled on the couch in front of the tv that still blared on. he was alone. 

the few weeks remaining of the school year had been cut short, and in that time joaquin found himself spiraling. at the advice of one of his teachers, he sought out peer counseling, and eventually was able to come to terms with what had happened. at the end of that summer, the true nature of what had happened had finally dawned on the population - the avengers wouldn’t be saving them and their family members. nobody was coming back. the world continued to spin on, and with that, was the air force academy sending for the remaining students to finish out the rest of their time there. joaquin, now a senior and only 21 years old, was left with no choice but to sell his childhood home and pack as many family memories as he could into the trunk of his car, making his way back out to colorado to finish what he had started. 

the school looked like a ghost town, and the air of dread and grief hung around all year. at graduation, there were still the same 1000 seats on the football field. however, half of them remained empty - memorials for the dead scattered amongst the living. 

after graduation, joaquin started his service. he started renting a small one bedroom apartment outside of langley air force base in virginia, where he had been recently stationed. he threw himself into his work, moving up the ranks and proving himself for 4 years, up until the very moment that the dead started coming back to life. he found himself right back at his childhood home, where the new inhabitants had freaked out over the people that had revived themselves in the living room. after realizing what had happened outside, they had allowed them to stay there until joaquin could make his way down to find them. after a series of long hugs and tears shed outside the house that he grew up in, he took them back to his apartment where they tried to make sense of what had happened. 

PART 3: THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER.

six months after the dead had returned, joaquin’s family still lived in his small apartment. it was nearly impossible for anybody to find a new home when half of the world’s population needed places to stay. relieved that his survival meant the avoidance of the rapidly-filling grc camps, he and his family were more than happy to make do with what they had. he’d become the sole supporter of the household at 26 years old as his mother struggled to find somewhere to work, and he yet again poured himself into his own job, but he brought a new sense of optimism into the mix. the family that he mourned for years had returned to him. in his eyes, anything was possible. 

he soon found himself working alongside sam wilson, acting as his ‘boots on the ground’ and as his intel provider for his missions alongside the air force. after a successful rescue of one of his supervising officers from batroc and his crew, he found himself starstruck at what the man was able to accomplish completely on his own. the two quickly bonded and joaquin offered his help wherever he could give it, especially after sam seemed to take an interest in the flag smashers, a group that joaquin had been following since the creation of the grc camps. promising that he’d continue to watch the group’s movements online and notify sam if things started to escalate, joaquin found himself in switzerland just a couple days later, figuring that the best way to get information would be to get in the mix himself. that lands him with a broken orbital thanks to a man that has super strength, hinting at the possibility of the flag smashers being much more than meets the eye.

after the reveal of john walker as captain america, the air force immediately puts both him and lemar on the newly formed flag smasher case. due to his discovery of the group, joaquin is recruited onto the team as the only intel officer, helping to locate any and all information on the group and keep walker and hoskins up to date as they go and try to apprehend them. at the same time, sam is running his own mission on the side, as he’s able to use redwing to track the flag smashers to an abandoned warehouse in munich. joaquin drops everything to fly the plane and take them there. he doesn’t know that the ops department put a hidden tracker inside of redwing, but that revelation makes him start to become weary of them when sam tells him. 

after he returns to langley air force base from munich, he’s immediately spoken to by his superiors. he’s no longer under orders to help sam wilson, as that was a one-time mission to save captain vassant, and is told to instead focus his energy on what he was assigned to - assisting walker and hoskins. he’s not punished for his actions, but there’s a threat should he get caught helping someone with air force resources again. he agrees, though has no intentions on stopping his contact with sam. joaquin calls him after that, letting him know what went down and how he had to be more careful if he wanted to keep being able to help with things. he keeps his head down for a while, just doing what’s asked of him while trying to keep an ear out.

eventually, he’s called by sam and asked to find information on donya madani. he finds out that she and karli were registered at the camp in riga, lativa, and that she appeared to hold a loved position within the community. because of the rising threat of the flag smashers, the air force adds two more intel officers onto the case, which keeps joaquin from being able to delay information from getting to walker. he’s only able to buy sam and bucky a couple hours, before walker and hoskins meet them in latvia and the rest of episode 4′s events unfold. 

joaquin sees the video of the murder in the plaza along with the rest of the world, and immediately watches as the base turns to chaos with the higher ups seeking to take control of the situation. his scene with sam remains the same, and he excitedly picks up the bag with the wings and keeps it in the trunk of his car. he then goes back to dc (?), where walker’s punishments are set to be read to him. as a part of the team, he’s told to stand at the back of the room and bear witness, and he hears the accusations that he spews to the government officials. he doesn’t expect them to make sense, taking the seeds of doubt that had planted themselves after being told to work against sam and sprouting them into a genuine distaste for the air force. 

before he can leave, he’s stopped by the major from the vassant mission, a man that he’s known since his first days out of the academy. he reminds joaquin about the upcoming run of promotions, and how he’s been a first lieutenant long enough to apply for captain if he wanted to. with the reputation that he got after being the one to discover and report about the flag smashers, the major tells him that he was almost guaranteed to make the promotion if he applied for it. with walker’s voice still echoing in his head, and the wings now passed down to him, he hesitates and plays it off as being humble, telling the man that he’ll think about it. 

during the time that passes during the montage, joaquin spends his time trying to locate the flag smashers while fixing his wings in secret back at his apartment, until he finally realizes that their next target is new york. since the wings aren’t finished by that time, he offers to help as himself, pushing the fact that he told sam he was his boots on the ground, and he meant it. meeting them in new york, joaquin worked to evacuate people from the buildings, and was the person to hack into the flag smasher app to apprehend them. he’s also there with the big circle of people as sam has his speech to the government official, a giant smile on his face. it’s in that moment that he makes his decision regarding his promotion - sam was able to help countless more people in just a week (?) than joaquin had in the four years after his graduation from the air force academy. he doesn’t put in an application for promotion, and makes a mental note to leave the air force in the next couple months, once his 5 years of contractual post-grad service are completed. 

a few days later, joaquin video calls sam to show him the fixed wings, extremely proud of himself. sam then starts training him to take over the falcon mantle, and joaquin starts getting accustomed to the superhero world that he’s found himself in and everything that it entails. 

[trulycertain]

fic writer interview

Tagged by @skogrr Thank you very much! It's a while since I've done one of these, and I've missed them.

Name: Tru/"Oi you" Fandoms (that I write for): Dragon Age, mostly. Still the fandom of my heart. Mass Effect, Deus Ex... uh, accidentally GreedFall? I don't know how or when that happened. Two-shot: Hmm... The actual last two-shot I wrote was Terms & Conditions, a very silly Dorian/Inquisitor modern AU where Gal is the guy Dorian hires to stop his late father's house falling apart. Recently? I suspect that's going to be Driftwood, which can stand on its own as a sort of weird post-canon first-meeting AU, but is trying to tempt me to continue it. (Vasco ends up going looking for Tír Fradí, which has disappeared - and finds it. He also finds De Sardet as a highly avoidant tree god of the island, post-Bad Ending, who transformed against her will. And he ends up falling in love with her anyway.) Weird tree gods! Pining by literal pine! An eventual happy ending! More grumpy commentary by Vasco!

Most popular multi-chapter: Either An Unquenchable Flame or Distraction, probably - both juggernaut pairings, the former close to the game's release and the latter with some fancy forbidden romance, so not so surprising. But surprisingly, Prague, 10:42 PM has done really well, considering it's for a small fandom (Deus Ex) and a rarepair age/rank-difference pairing that I thought would be a one-off experiment? I get it, guys. I like sad repressed stoics too.

Actual worst part of writing: Editing - which can be fun, but that "over and over" stage when you're about to post, especially in a longfic if you fear you've lost the spirit of the thing and the character voices and you can't see the wood for the trees. And when I have to remove a whole scene which Jenga-unbalances the fic, and then I have to redux from the top. Basically, most things to do with pacing. How you choose your titles: I like double-meanings and one word titles. If that fails: quote from a song. If that fails: quote from poetry, but very rarely. Do you outline: Only a little. A bulletpointed list of events or noted-down major lines of dialogue, that's usually it.

Ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: Uh... oh god. I blame so many people for some of these.

Post-Destroy ending where John is attempting to build a shed on Rannoch because that's the kind of thing retired people do, right? and Tali is far better at it than him, and it's just... disgusting fluff.

Actually, just reduxing the early John/Tali stuff with a bit more nuance and a stronger style.

Eva and Kaidan, and their mutually wary first meeting. ("Wow, that's a lot of pomade." "Wow, that's a lot of death-glare.")

AU where Gal and Dorian never met in DAI, and after everything went down, Gal tried to fade into the shadows and leave. He ended up working in Tevinter as an occasional informant/odd-jobs guy the way he was pre-Inquisition. He ends up being a gardener for a bitter, wry magister who seems to hate the entire Magisterium, has recently lost his father to political scheming and murder, and wants to take down the entirety of the remaining Venatori with one staff and maybe his teeth if he has to (hi, Dorian). But first, Dorian's going to drink his own body weight in whiskey and be a recluse for a while and start thinking about time magic again. Gal is trying to keep his head down and should definitely not be falling in love with said magister. Who's someday going to end up at one of the more southerly ports, come across a statue of the great Inquisitor, and go, Oh.

Stuff on Jensen's PT and rebuilding himself post-augs. More of Proprioception, basically.

Mer-AU where Marie De Sardet is still a diplomat attempting to make new connections, just not a human one, and it's a disaster. An awkward disaster. Highlights include her being framed as the beast trying to drown their best captain; her attempting to wobble about on brand-new legs and Vasco's coat while everyone assumes the dear captain has had a few too many; her asking Vasco if his "fascinating markings" glow; them getting into a duel, and her (fondly) getting punted off the side of the ship going "Woo-hoo." OK, I wrote a bit of that, but only a 1k doodle I'll probably never return to.

Non-Naut court AU where Marie gets promised to Bastien D'Arcy, because he's a bit of a layabout but he's also rich, popular at court, and amenable to bribe - [cough] suggestion, and the D'Arcys have prominent trading links with the Alliance. Instead she falls for his far less of a social butterfly, tired, worried-numbers-guy brother Léandre, who's pretty damn uncomfortable around Nauts because he's well aware he nearly got sold to them and he is not the favourite.

Straight-up role-reversal AU (another thing where I've put down 1k that I'll probably never return to), where Marie's Naut name is Paz, and she's a fed-up second-mate who's tired of noble idiots and feels a little strange and conflicted about her mark (and has context for it, because they make frequent crossings to Tír Fradí). Also a little more jaded, without the love of her mother, and not nearly as much of a tryhard as Vasco in canon; she ended up here because she had nowhere else to go and the Nauts were like "Ooh, free kid," and she's well aware. She gets stuck escorting the D'Arcy brothers to Tír Fradí for their new venture and is not looking forward to it. Except one of them is intensely bright and wry and keeps asking questions about the ship and noticing shit he is definitely not meant to notice, and they keep ending up in strange conversations, even if he seems really, really wary and uncomfortable about Nauts.

Some vague stuff about Vasco's thoughts on Jonas and that whole side quest, considering he's also a sea-given and implies sea-given take some shit in the Nauts, and also how damn difficult it must be watching a sea-given's parents endeavour to get their kid back when he knows full well his didn't do that for him.

Actually, just more Vasco POV in general, even though he's damn hard to nail down. I've written much pining for him from Marie's perspective, and I'd like to try things from the opposite. This guy's idea of wooing someone perfectly normally is to panic and then recite Baroque poetry. You know he's sappy as hell in the privacy of his own head, even if he's trying not to be.

Jean and Síora having the "I'm a sad healer who just lost my mother and I'm trying so hard not to crumble under the weight of assisting the leader" mutual talk way too late at night around the campfire and maybe him crying on her shoulder a little, with mutual kindness and the beginnings of attraction, and her finally getting past his jokey-smug facade to understand him.

More stuff about Jean's past in general, and how he wanted to be a doctor before he was dragged away from it by looking after Constantin and being nobility.

Síora and Eseld and the ways they changed over the years; something like an exploration of grief and growing her own will and the ways they very differently view the renaigse. Also maybe more about the en ol menawi magic, if I can worldbuild well enough?

I'd also love to do a GreedFall soulmark AU - it's generally not my kind of trope, I'm not into biological determinism type tropes - just because names and aliases and assumed identities are such a mess in GreedFall and it's a repeated plot point. That said, I feel like it's been done so beautifully in this fandom before that I wouldn't have much to add.

Callouts @ me: So. Many. Commas. So much over-explaining everything. If they get out of the car, your readers do not need a five-page manual of "and then he undid his seatbelt and leaned over to grasp the door handle, and then pulled it, and then stepped a foot out before he almost thought better of it - but no, he was going to get out of this car. The other foot joined the first, and he nearly banged his head on the doorframe."

Best writing traits: People say I have a head for finding small-but-important moments. I'm also told I write likeable protags. People have more than once said my writing makes them feel safe or makes them smile, and I really couldn't ask for more than that. I'll take those.

Spicy tangential opinion: I don't think I have any, really? Oh god, that makes me sound so very boring. Oh! Um. There should be more tree body horror in fandom. And body horror in general. *thumbsup*

No pressure tagging: @artemis-crimson, @eridanidreams,@rainypixel, @aphreal42.

[spectralspices]

The possibility of a Resonance Cascade is never zero. 

It is, however, always nearly zero. The chances, day to day, of a Resonance Cascade, are approaching 5e-9. Not impossible. But about as low as a titanic pair of fingers reaching out from the void to snuff out our sun like a reading candle. 

But at Black Mesa, they were studying the dimensional barriers that separated this space from that space. Which is where the chances are raised dramatically. At the beginning, at the first discovery of the signals that indicated that some sort of “Border World” existed, the chances of a Resonance Cascade was raised to 6e-9. Still miniscule, but the simple awareness of another reality is enough to raise it.

When the first experiments into observing it occurred, Quantum Mechanics kicked in. The simple act of direct observation changes things-And so, the chances jumped suddenly. 6e-8 percent chance of Resonance Cascade. 

This is when Black Mesa had a visitor. He had all the proper credentials, never gave them a real name, spoke like a broken robot, and he always seemed to stare past whoever he was talking to-like they weren’t even there. A picture perfect G-Man type, here to give them lots of money nobody officially knows about to keep researching, so Someone Else didn’t know before America.

Well, they assumed it was for America.

7e-7 Percent Chance of a Resonance Cascade.

Director Breen met with him, and secured more than enough funding to develop the technology needed to transfer matter back and forth between this “Borderworld” that they had named “Xen”. He assigned some of Black Mesa’s best to the project. Isaac Kleiner, Eli Vance, Arne Magnusson, Richard Keller, Stan Rosenberg...the greatest minds in their field (and under Black Mesa’s employ. Damned Aperture, poaching Ratmann...)

Another massive jump. 9e-5 Percent Chance. And this was not just simply mathematic calculation that was determining these things-As the pieces moved together that would eventually result in a Resonance Cascade, the fabric of reality was actively weakening, making the process all the easier. 

Do you understand what’s being said?

The progress the Black Mesa Team made seemed exponential. When at first, the most they could transfer were simple probes...they soon discovered a frequency that would open holes in space. They sent teams-Ill fated as they were-to collect samples. Both Mineral and Biological. 

1e-3 percent chance. Or, in clearer layman’s terms, a Resonance Cascade had .001 percent chance of occurring. That number would be catastrophically high, if they had understood what a Resonance Cascade actually meant. 

Three men, around the same time, are promoted. Gordon Freeman becomes a Research Assistant on the Anomalous Materials team, working directly under his MIT mentor, Isaac Kleiner. Barney Calhoun is granted Level 3 Security Clearance and meets the previously mentioned men, becoming fast friends. Corporal Adrian Shepard joins the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit of the United States Marines, fast-tracked there by recommendation by an unnamed high ranking official. The HECU marines are ostensibly meant to counteract unconventional enemies in dangerous areas and tight corridors. While a heroic description to the outsider, the simple truth is they are meant to clean up any mistakes that could lead to deserved scrutiny towards what the military is actually funding.

The chances are .01 percent. 

Experiments begin to determine the composition of certain crystalline structures discovered in the Borderworld, and the nature of the energy they seem to hold. Doctor Rosenberg develops a variant of the more common mass spectrometer to analyze these exotic materials, under the watchful eye of that G-man. 

The Anti-Mass Spectrometer is theorized, developed, and constructed. 

There is a 1% chance of a Resonance Cascade.

Experiments begin. Incredible things are learned from the first samples- HG-1866, HP-1937, IA-1992 are all immediately replicated and put into use for the development of Tau Cannons, localized gravitational displacement through Zero Point Energy Emission, and further stabilization of the portal generation. Experiments continue on living tissue from the Borderworld. But a problem arises.

All of the samples have certain impurities, non-exotic matter that prevented certain data from being gathered. Namely, the origin of this matter-the way to make more, not just synthesize similar material.

Director Breen is approached by the G-Man. He has something to provide Black Mesa-A sample purer than any they’d ever gotten their hands on. Breen asks no questions, as the two had...come to an understanding.

The sample is christened “GG-3883″, a tongue in cheek reference to a phrase Doctor Breen’s son often repeated during his time playing the online shooter “Quake”. After all, when Black Mesa came out with the fact that they’d discovered free multiversal travel and near infinite energy, it would be the absolute end of their rivalry with Aperture. The director sent the sample off for analysis, no matter how unstable it may have been, with a self-assured certainty that he would go down in history as one of the most important figures in the field. 

If only he knew.

Chance of a Resonance Cascade had reached 13%, and was climbing as the sample was brought closer and closer to the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Some work is done to prevent it, however-Safety measures are put in place in the time before the experiment. The chances of a Resonance Cascade are lowered to “only” 7%. 

Gordon Freeman wakes up late after snoozing his alarm one too many times, and must rush to get ready. He rides the Black Mesa Transit system. His car pulls into the station.

Barney Calhoun is locked out of the security office.

Adrian Shepard is finishing a morning jog.

9% of Resonance Cascade.

Gordon Freeman climbs into the Hazard Environment Suit Mark 4, a variant of Black Mesa’s advanced body armor systems that increased physical capability, featured modular ports for various pieces of equipment, and generated a low-yield battery powered energy shield for the partial deflection and absorption of small projectiles and other dangers common to the work they were doing. Everyone called it a “Hev Suit”.

Barney Calhoun is finally let in, pulling on his own variants that were developed for the security guards. Bulletproof vests and helmets, containing the same type of battery powered field generation...even if charge was less potent. At least it didn’t mean every single guard was walking around with a 127,000$ piece of equipment...

Adrian Shepard inspects his Powered Combat Vest, a military produced variant of the HEV suit’s technology, along with his other equipment. The others in his unit are joking around. He’s making sure that if their helicopter crashes, he won’t get impaled on the wreckage or suffocate from an improperly secured gas-mask. A grim man, that Adrian Shepard. But not a paranoid one. At least...not unjustly paranoid.

13% chance of a Resonance Cascade.

Gordon Freeman is shortly briefed, before witnessing a major equipment malfunction in one of the support systems for the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. The safety measures have been lowered to their absolute limit for a safe reading of the exotic matter present in sample GG-3883. Eli Vance and Isaac Kleiner stay behind to repair it as best they can, but doubts are expressed for the safety of this experiment. Not only was this the largest sample ever put through the analysis procedure, it was the purest and most unstable. The system cannot handle this. Nevertheless, Gordon descends, beginning the process to prepare the Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

27% chance of Resonance Cascade.

Barney Calhoun notices the lights flickering above, as the strain on the facility’s generators is too great to maintain everything. The air feels wrong, the people are uneasy, but they aren’t sure why. 

33% chance of Resonance Cascade.

Adrian Shepard showers alone once the others had finished, as he preferred the quiet. He steps out and stares into the mirror. Did he ever plan for a life other than this? Was he going to be a grunt, doing wetwork until he died? Would he ever grow old? Did he even want the chance?

These are the things a quiet man thinks when he trains to murder civilians for knowing too much, when he knows nothing at all.

49% chance of Resonance Cascade.

The sample is brought up. The Spectrometer is powered to levels that the system cannot handle for an extended period. Gordon Freeman pushes the sample in. 

100% of Resonance Cascade

At once, the machinations of two vast powers clash. A meddler who has carefully manipulated the pieces into position, who provided funding, who held authority and power despite not a single living human recognizing him. Who had changed things...made sure certain discoveries were made, and others were not. Who had done all this, changed the course of human history...Because his employers had a vendetta against Something Else Entirely, using the Resonance Cascade as a flare to bring them to this world. 

But at the same time, a vast psychic force, master of an enslaved race of enlightened psychics, creator of twisted weaponized flesh and guns that shoot bees at you, a creature that had harnessed its own power and the power of its thralls to peer into the world beyond them-and the worlds that were yet to be-and it knew of the meddler’s plans. A conflict with the force he had directed his enmity towards was not something the creature could allow, as an invasion of Earth...would pass through it’s Borderworld. 

So, the creature took control of the Cascade. In most situations, a Resonance Cascade occurred when an object begins to vibrate at the exact frequency required to begin “Resonating”, meaning it has started to emit energy that causes the same reaction in other matter, which then cause the reaction both in the original matter and the matter around them, massively weakening the fabric of space and the barriers beyond one world and the worlds that border them. This chain reaction was self sustaining, but did not spread laterally in the space it originated. Instead, it would spread to other worlds-Exchanging matter between them at random as the two spaces began to blend. 

The Psychic Force stopped the cascade in Xen, forcing it to focus on sustaining the reaction between just those two worlds, weakening its hold...but allowing it to send its forces (And hostile wildlife) to Earth, to destroy the systems that caused this-To stop the cascade with the death of every human in the facility. To this end, it maintained the cascade in a lesser form.  

The Meddler had predicted something of this sort. He had...preparations in place. Including two agents of chaos...

Gordon Freeman awakes to the destroyed remains of the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, dazed and confused. He has seen alien worlds, and nearly died several times. They won’t be the last for a very long time.

Adrian Shepard’s unit is alerted to their next deployment. They gear up, enter the choppers, and ride. A Manta Ray that shits lasers destroys their helicopter, and Adrian Shepard is glad he charged his vest that morning.

Barney Calhoun desperately tries to escape the deadly forces that were flooding the facility. He was not a piece in a cosmic game. He was just...some guy.

An unexpected enemy appears. Marauders that only seek to steal resources before greater threats stake claim on this newly opened world. They are repelled by the Meddler’s more trained agent, as Adrian Shepard trades one amoral faceless master that decided who he killed for another.

But the Psychic Force...The Nihilanth. Its death would come by a different hand. One clad in orange and black, swinging a bright red strip of metal. Gordon Freeman frees a race, stops an alien invasion, and was prepared to die in an impossible world for his troubles-all to save lives. But he did good work. He was the right man for the job. He’s “Hired”. 

In the end, the Meddler’s plans worked better than anyone could expect. His true targets were alerted, preparing their forces to take the Earth. The lesser marauders repelled and the psychic barrier dealt with, making the blue marble seem an even sweeter prize. Several agents obtained for his schemes, to be deployed when and where they would be appropriate. Dangerous alien life and Portal Storms-the aftershocks of a Resonance Cascade-prevented the governments from truly being able to prepare. 

The Combine arrive. The war lasts seven hours. Wallace Breen negotiates humanity’s surrender. Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance firmly disagree with this course of action. Judith Mossman, another survivor of the Black Mesa Incident, is less sure. 

The last human child for the next two decades is born. The Combine establish a field that prevents human procreation. Other hostile alien life begins to take hold-Antlion Nests, hives of Headcrabs, Barnacles spreading, ichthyosaurs stalking the oceans and lakes. Combine weapons-made from heavily modified creatures from previous conquests-are regularly deployed, roaming the streets in shows of force. Humans are converted into their police, enhanced infantry, special forces...and lobotimized worker slaves. 

The Meddler waits for a red-letter day, and he chooses his agent carefully. To destroy a machine like the Combine, one needed not a precision implement. Military training would do nothing against a force that conquered worlds in hours. No, Adrian Shepard-a knife in human sheath-would be unfit for this.

What one needed to destroy the Combine was a blunt thing. A force of chaos that couldn’t be stopped. Whose strength was matched only by his luck. His intelligence, matched only by his willingness to do things like drive a muscle car into hyper-agile flechette-firing cyborgs, or throw a toilet at a man’s face so hard his skull is obliterated and he backflips twice before hitting the ground. Or fight a helicopter from an airboat equipped with a fully automatic plasma cannon.

To break a machine of World Consumption, the G-Man would ram a crowbar into the mechanism, just where it can cause the maximum damage-and keep causing damage to the entire thing. The right man in the wrong place.

Gordon Freeman wakes up on a train car, as it pulls into the City 17 station, deeply confused and disoriented. The moment he steps out, a floating camera photographs his face-which would soon enough be processed and identified as Anticitizen One, Gordon Freeman, the most wanted man on the planet-who had been gone for twenty years and looked identical to the day the Black Mesa Incident occurred. Minus the ponytail. His old boss is on a giant viewscreen. One of the aliens he used to fight is sweeping. Cops in gasmasks maintain a fascist state and he’s somewhere in Eastern Europe. His confusion and disorientation deepens severely.

Wallace Breen receives notice that Gordon Freeman had been sighted. A pit forms in his stomach. He feels a familiar hand in this. Within a few days, he will be screaming high-concept threats from an ascending sphere of energy as a former research assistant flings tightly condensed plasma orbs at him with a gravity cannon.

The G-Man continues to meddle, despite the intervention of a hive mind of benevolent psychics. His plans are, for the most part, undeterred. However...

He begins to regret deploying Gordon Freeman. Chaos, while able to be directed, is quite hard to wrangle when it’s gotten loose. For now, Freeman continues to act in favor of the disruption of Combine operations. But...his personal connection to a secondary objective-another new agent to recruit-sours the G-man’s elation at a plan more or less well executed. The end of this, however, is still untold. 

Because who fucking knows when they’re making Half Life Goddamn 3.

[untilspringdays]

Catalyst Chapter 6: Burn It

Summary:  You were the catalyst, the start of it all. They would have found each other eventually but you brought them together sooner, faster than expected. Then you vanished from their lives and they were determined to get you back.

Pairings: OT7 x Reader (BTS)

Genre: Mafia AU | Angst, Fluff, Smut (Eventually)

Warnings (This chapter): Panic, Blood, Swearing

A/N:  This took a while because of work.. I’m so sorry that it took this long but oh well its here now and I’m happy~

Word Count: 4.3k

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Taglist: @jooheonbee​ @s-noir​ @asifetch7​ @crackhead1-800​ @softescapism​ (Ask, Comment, or Message me to be added!)((If I missed you I’m sorry)) 

You didn’t like it. You didn’t like either option presented to you, and there was no third option. There wasn’t a way out of this mess you've gotten yourself into. You could have just waited for Hobi to recover on his own but you wanted him- No. You wanted BTS out of your life so badly that you ended up doing the opposite. Now they were all going to know one way or another that you were alive. 

Fear was eating at you as you stood in front of Yoongi. Being presented this choice wasn’t boding well for you in the slightest. It felt like your fingertips were going numb and honestly? It felt like you were going to pass out. Your teeth dug into your lip, causing a slight pinch of pain hoping it would keep you rooted to the moment. You needed to give him your answer because they certainly weren’t going to wait for you to make up your mind as their brother was missing from their ranks. 

Yoongi would certainly go back and tell them, which would lead to having BTS on your doorstep and as much as you didn’t want to go see them, Yoongi was right. If you went with him.. Then you could reveal yourself on your own terms.. Granted the timing of it wouldn’t be what you wanted, but it seemed your preference of ‘never’ wasn’t going to happen. 

You could feel Yoongi’s eyes on your form. His gaze was intense as he waited for your answer. He could really see the conflict that was going through your mind at the moment but the choice still had to be made. 

You let out a shaking say, regretting the words as soon as they leave your mouth. "Okay fine. We can take Hoseok to the base, together." You could see Yoongi's face light up at the news. His lips twitching upwards slightly at the news. 

He nodded, keeping his composure for the moment that the two of you were out in public. "Let's get going then." He said approaching you, ready for you to lead the way back to your home. 

✦

You never expected to bring another BTS member into your home so soon. It was.. not as terrifying as last time but still having them in your space, in your safe haven.. It didn't sit well with you. 

The second the two of you stepped through the door, Yoongi rushed to his friend’s side. He didn’t even take a moment to take in your tiny apartment, but considering the circumstances it was understandable.

 His expression softened from its earlier hardened state at the sight of his sleeping friend. His gaze taking in every mark, every bruise, every cut, like he was going to get an answer of who did this out of it. What hid behind that expression he wore you didn’t know. Anger, sadness, resentment.. Maybe even relief.. You didn’t know for sure. It had been way too long for you to be able to read the man in front of you like you used too. 

A gentle sting on your neck reminds you of the wound the same man had given you not too many moments before, and your place in this situation. You didn’t belong here, in this moment, with them. You didn’t belong with BTS anymore and that is where you will remain. 

Turning away from the two men you made your way to the bathroom, ready to take care of your knife wound, but not ready to face the situation here soon. Meeting all of them again.. All at once.. You certainly weren’t ready but it's the situation you choose. 

You let out a small sigh as you stepped inside your bathroom. It was a bit of a relief to be away from Yoongi and Hobi but in the back of your mind you knew they were there. You supposed that was always true even when they knew you weren’t alive. Every waking moment you spent in fear of them, paranoid they would show up.

You pulled out the first aid kit from under your sink, careful in opening it so that way you didn’t send anything flying by accident. You grabbed an alcohol cloth, tearing it from its packet and carefully pressing it to the cut on your neck. The sting causing you to flinch and a small hiss to escape you, but you didn’t need an infection. 

Once you were certain the cut was clean you bandaged it up as best as you could, knowing that it wouldn’t last too long considering it was on your neck, and you moved your neck way too much. Oh well as long as the cut sealed up well you didn’t need the bandage to stay there. 

You sealed up the first aid kit, and placed it back under your sink. Your gaze turning up to your reflection. You looked absolutely tired.. Your eyes held no shine, your hair was a mess. You were certain there were bags under your eyes from how much stress you had been under for the last while. 

With another sigh you pushed your hand through your hair trying to tame some of the mess before stepping out of the bathroom. You needed to get this over with. When you returned to the living room, Yoongi hadn’t really moved at all, though his gaze was on you now. 

“Are you ready?” He asked, his tone soft like you were used too. 

As much as you didn’t want to you gave him a small nod. 

The older man hummed before speaking again. “Alright come help me carry him, I had someone bring a car near here.” At least he wasn’t bringing more people to where you lived. 

You stepped up to the pair, helping Yoongi lift the taller man. The two of you moved slower than you would have thought, but it was alright. You both needed to be careful considering his injuries. 

It didn’t take long for the three of you to reach the black vehicle, in your opinion what took the longest was settling Hobi into the back seat with you. His head resting in your lap, as much as you wanted to hate him, hate BTS you couldn’t. As much as you didn’t want it, a certain fondness sat in your chest looking down at Hobi’s slumbering expression. 

The car lurching forward, and beginning to move caused the man resting on your lap to stirr, but he didn’t wake up. You placed one of your hands on Hoseok’s arm to help hold him steady, the other settled in your lap near his head. 

You lifted your gaze to Yoongi’s form. The man in question remained silent and stoic, his concentration remaining on the road ahead of him. You wanted to say something to him, to ask him something but no words were coming to mind. It was uncomfortable, and awkward. You shifted slightly, your heart beating heavily in your chest. You turned to look out the window trying to forget the awkward feeling in the car. 

What was a short car ride to the main BTS base felt like hours. Hoseok seemed to be stirring more often pulling your attention away from how uncomfortable you were. Concern swelled in your chest every time he did. You hoped he wasn’t hurting too badly from his wounds.

You watched as Hoseok moved once again, your hand running through his hair trying to calm him, like you did the past couple times, but this time instead of him settling back down, his eyes blinked open. 

He looked up at you with confusion, and slight panic in his unfocused eyes. You let out a soft hum, keeping your hand running through his hair trying to calm him. Eventually his eyes focused on you, relief flooded his features. 

“I found you in time..” He said softly. 

You nodded. “Yeah you did,” ignoring the look you got from Yoongi. 

“Where are we?” He asked trying to sit up in his spot, but you kept him from moving. 

“Stay down.” You told him sternly but keeping your voice soft. “We are heading to the Base. Yoongi is driving us.”

His expression quickly shifted to concern. “But.. They will know..” He was concerned for you, and because of that you felt a small thing of happiness but the situation still weighed on you heavily. 

You shook your head. “It’s alright. I couldn’t take care of you by myself.. So I wanted to make sure you returned to your brothers.” It wasn’t the whole truth but he didn’t need to hear that coming from your mouth. 

He was about to speak up again but the car suddenly stopped. Yoongi turned back to the two of you. “We are here.” He said, before getting out of the car. 

Hoseok went to sit up once again, and you didn’t stop him this time choosing to help him instead. Yoongi opened the door to the back, helping his brother step out of the vehicle carefully. Once you knew Yoongi had him, you turned to get out yourself. 

You stepped out onto the concrete. Your eyes turning to the building you haven’t seen in many years. It looked the exact same as you remembered. The only change to the building in front of you was the fact that ivy had grown more on the face of the building. The other buildings in the area matching the one in front of you. 

The base was a couple stories tall, nothing about it making it stand out as anything special. You knew that, despite the small looking building, there was a network of underground sections below, making the base a lot bigger than it appeared. 

Hoseok approached you with the help of Yoongi. “Are you ready for this?” He asked you, eyeing you carefully, hoping you weren’t going to run. 

You shook your head. “No I’m not ready..” You said to him, looking your friend in the eye. “But I don’t have much of a choice do I?” You said mostly to him, but your gaze flicked to Yoongi for a split second.

“At this point.. No I guess not. Someone probably has already seen you.” The injured man said resting a hand on your shoulder trying to relax you a little even with the anxiety eating at you and numbing your fingertips once again. 

Hoseok tightened on your shoulder. “I’m by your side, and so is Yoongi and Jimin.” 

You nodded, letting out another sigh. You looked at the two men with a determined look, letting them know you were ready. 

✦

The first one you had run into was Jungkook. His eyes wide as he took you in. Confusion was clear on his face as he watched the three of you walk past him heading for the stairs that sat near the entrance. 

You locked eyes with the youngest, giving him a small smile and a wave before turning your attention back to the other two males. You didn’t know if he recognized you but with the way he stopped what he was doing and started to follow the three of you, his eyes watching you carefully. 

The next to show was Jimin. He stepped out of one of the may rooms on the second floor, he was shocked to see you with his two brothers, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he gave you an apologetic look for your situation. He pointed down the hall trying to communicate with you without breaking the silence that had settled between all of you. You nodded, knowing exactly what he was trying to ask you. You were on your way to see Namjoon. 

The five of you stopped in front of the door to Namjoon’s office. You expected one of them to knock on the door to let the leader know that you were there but Yoongi just turned the door knob sort of busting his way inside with Hobi hanging on to the smaller man. 

As the rest of the boys stepped inside you stopped just outside of the doorway. All of them were talking to one another quietly. You could hear Namjoon’s deep voice asking about Hobi, and expressing his relief that his second in command was alright. Eventually the voices quieted down, and you noticed that Jimin was staring right at you. Concern was on his face but he beckoned you inside. 

“Joon.” It was Yoongi that spoke up first, as you debated if you still wanted to do this. “There is someone here you haven’t seen in a while.. All I can say is that we were wrong.” 

You could hear the pause in the voices, you could just imagine the confusion on Namjoon’s face as he tried to figure out who it was Yoongi was talking about. 

Your breath caught in your throat as you stepped inside. All of their eyes were on you, causing you to freeze in your spot just inside the office. Just behind the desk stopped BTS’ leader, his hard gaze narrowed at you as he took you in. 

Beside him, off to the side of the desk stood Jin. His look on his face remained neutral. He stood tall, hands folded behind his back as he took you in as well. Jungkook still regarded you with weariness, not knowing what to think of the situation. 

Your hands were clasped tightly together in front of you, your fingernails digging into the skin in your hands trying to root yourself to the moment, to get yourself to speak instead of getting lost in your panic for being in front of these men. The only one you didn’t see up here was Taehyung but you didn’t doubt he wasn’t too far.

With a shaky exhale, you gathered yourself before speaking. “Hi.. Joon.” You stepped a bit closer to the leader trying to get a gauge on what he was thinking. 

His gaze flicked over to Yoongi, seeking answers before flitting over to Jimin and Hoseok who didn’t seem to be questioning your presence. He looked back to you still confused as to why his brothers would bring in a random stranger into his office. “And you are?”

You frowned, it was more for allowing some of your stress out instead of his reaction. You opened your mouth to speak but one of the others beat you to it. 

“Come on Joonie. You don’t recognize your favorite girl?” Hobi cracked with a smile despite his exhausted and damaged state. You watched as Joon’s eyes widened as he turned to look at his second in command once again. 

Jimin scoffed. “Come on Hyung you didn’t even recognize her at first. I guess I was the only one who was able to see that it was actually Y/N behind all of those scars.” His serious demeanor turned into playful as a smirk graced his beautiful features. 

The three that didn’t recognize you had their eyes locked on you, trying to see if it was actually you behind all of those scars and changes. 

You rubbed the back of your head, finally being able to speak up again. “I actually prefer going by King now..”

“King..” You heard Jungkook echo. Suddenly he was in front of you in a flash. “You mean you were in front of me this whole time? Everytime I went to the arena with Jimin, that was you who I saw fighting?” He asked, taking your face into his hands, looking you over. 

You let out a small giggle more out of nervousness instead of happiness. “Yeah.. I was in hiding.” You said to him looking to Jimin or Hobi for help. 

“Hiding?” You heard Namjoon speak up. “Jungkook move.” 

At his leader’s stern voice the youngest released you moving to the side. 

While your vision was blocked by Jungkook’s voice, Namjoon had moved from behind his desk and closer to you. Jin had stepped closer as well, his eyes now curious. 

You locked eyes with Namjoon, giving him a small shy smile, unsure of what to say to the leader and he seemed unsure of what to say to you as well but it seemed that Jin did. 

“What happened to you?” Jin asked, his voice concerned. 

“I uh..” You didn’t know what to say now that they were all in front of you. You didn’t know if you could outright 

“We should hold off on that.. Someone needs to go get Taehyung.” Joon finally spoke up for the first time seeming to involve you in the conversation now instead of treating you like you weren’t there. “Kook, go get him from downstairs. Tell him it is important.” Jungkook nodded hurrying out of the room. 

You watched the younger man go before turning back to Joon. He put his hands on your shoulders taking you in once again before pulling you into a big hug. His face burying into your neck. “It really is you..” You heard him say softly. He pulled back still holding you within arms length as the others watched you reunite with their leader. A long time friend of yours. 

“I thought.. I thought you were gone..” He said to you. You could see some red in his eyes, was he really fighting back tears for you? Did he really miss you that much? You couldn’t help but feel your chest tighten. Did you actually miss them despite what they had done to you?

“I..” You started. “I was hiding for reasons that I have explained to Jimin and Hobi fully.” You started to tell him. 

Joon shook his head. “Let’s wait for Taehyung. I’m sure he would want to hear this too.” He finally dropped his grip on you returning to his seat at his desk, you could tell he was trying to process everything. He thought you were dead, but here you were. 

Your gaze turned to Jin as he looked unsure if he could approach you or not. “It’s been so long..” He said to you. You could tell he was holding back his emotions as well, these normally so hard to read men, were showing emotions at your arrival. 

You raised your arms inviting the oldest into a hug. He pulled you in a little faster than the others did. You could hear a small sniffle leave him but you didn’t think you were worth crying over. 

Just as Jin pulled away from the hug, the door burst open once again, revealing Taehyung and Jungkook. “Seriously Taehyung? You didn’t have time to change?” Jimin asked, grossed out by his brother’s appearance. 

You turned to look at the one you hadn’t seen yet. There were blood splatters on his clothes. The sleeves to his button up shirt rolled up past his elbows. His hair slicked back whether that was from hair gel or maybe from something else you didn’t know. Despite your anxiety earlier, it wasn’t there now despite how scary looking the second youngest seemed to appear. 

The bloody man approached you quickly, not even bothering to retort to Jimin. His dark eyes took in your form. His hand came up and cupped your check, smearing not yet dried blood over your check but you didn’t mind. You leaned your head into his hand returning his smile he gave you.

His voice was deep when he spoke up, knowing where he came from, you weren’t surprised but you couldn’t help the shudder that ran down your spine. “It really is you.. I thought Kookie was joking.”

You placed your hand over his that rested on your face. “Yes it is me, and as much as I like your hand on my face the drying blood is making me uncomfortable.” Taehyung grinned before pulling away from you. 

Joon finally spoke up once you had your moment with everyone. “Alright so why.. Why the hell were you hiding? Why did you not come to us if you were in danger?” He asked. He was hurt that you didn’t turn to him, to his friends, the ones you used to trust so much. 

You didn’t know how to form the words, almost afraid to tell him the truth. 

“That's the thing Joon.. We were the danger.” Jimin said for you. You shot him a thankful look for getting it started for you. 

Jin spoke up, “What?” The others looked at you for confirmation on Jimin’s words. 

“I was attacked a few years ago as you must have seen to assume I was dead.” You started. Joon nodded for you to continue. “Well I was attacked by a BTS member..” The ones that didn’t know the news looked at you shocked. 

Namjoon’s eyes turned dark, trying to figure out what you were accusing them of. “What do you mean?” He asked, his tone dropping a bit getting serious. This wasn’t something he could take lightly. 

Jimin spoke up again seeing how he was the one working with you on this whole thing for a while. At least up until the whole fight with Hoseok. “It’s true. You know that one trusted member that she put out of commission? That was who attacked her that night, and I’m not lying considering the way she reacted when she saw him.”

Joon nodded, taking in all of the information as best as he could. “And what are you insinuating?” He asked, turning his gaze back to you. 

“I.. I was afraid. After realizing who had attacked me I didn’t want to turn to any of you in case you had… ordered it.. I found help in Mason, he took me in, gave me a job, and a place to stay. I stayed in hiding until Jimin found me not that long ago.” You said, your voice was timid and afraid of their reaction. Afraid of what they might do to you.

“So you think one of us wanted you dead? Do you realize how stupid that sounds Y/N?” It was Tae that spoke up this time, he was leaning against the wall closest to the door, not minding if he got blood on the wall. 

“Taehyung do you not see how scared she is?” Jimin spoke up his voice stern as he tried to defend you. You had already been through these questions twice now granted a little kinder. 

“No it’s alright Jimin, I expected this.” You said to him, giving him a timid smile, trying to reassure him. 

Your friend shook his head. “No. You have already been through this, you have expressed your fear many times. Yet you are here in front of us facing something you shouldn’t. I can answer any questions if you want me to.” 

You replied quickly, “Are you sure?” The nod he gave you in reply was all you needed. You felt relief wash through you. You didn’t want to go through this a fourth time, to relive your trauma again, and again.

You stepped away from the others, quickly toning out the conversation. From what you heard Jimin answered questions as you would have but he also tried to bring up what possibly could have happened, trying to take the blame away from one of his brothers, bringing up the potential hole they had in their ranks that he hadn’t been able to track down. 

Your need to destress brought you to the window. Your gaze watching some of the lower ranks walk by enter and leave some of the other buildings, but one caught your attention. He wasn’t moving.. Something didn’t feel right. 

There was a man. A single man stood just on the ground below, just a few meters from the building. You watched as someone came by and spoke a few words to the man standing right in front of the office you were gathered in. The man you noted nodded, before the other man moved on. 

You didn't recall the man being there when you had arrived. The entryway way to the complex just a little ways from where the stranger stood. At first glance he seemed like a guard but the long he stood there the worse the feeling in your gut got. Something was wrong. You just didn't know what yet. 

Every fiber in your being screamed at you, telling you to look away from the man to get out of the office or to get out of the building or something but you didn't know if that was because of the increasingly intense conversation behind your or the simple looking man below you. 

He turned towards you. You could tell he was a part of BTS from what he was wearing but there was something on his clothes something you didn’t recognize at first but you froze in your spot as soon as you did. It was the same symbol. The exact same symbol that man wore when he tried to kill you. You gasped as the memory appeared in your mind.

Only one of the members seemed to sense the tension that had built up in you, how uncomfortable the situation had become for you. Jimin could see your hands gripping on the window seal so tightly that your knuckles turned white. 

"King?" He called to you, his voice cutting through the conversation, and your panic but his tone was still soft. 

He stepped forward ready to pull you away from the window when suddenly you turned. Everyone was slightly startled by your sudden behavior. Fear and panic were clear in your wide gaze causing the seven men to hesitate for a moment.

Your wild eyes locked on Jimin in a moment recognizing the danger you were both in now. You lunged forward arms outstretched, as you tackled Jimin to the ground, pushing you both away from the window. 

All of the members were at the ready, hands going to the weapons they had on hand at your action, but when a crash was heard in the window their attention shifted. 

What had come through the window was something they never expected, especially at what they considered a safe house. 

Right as they turned their attention to the window, the whole side of the office was engulfed in flames. Right where you and Jimin had been standing. 

[coreastories]

Modern Royals: Queens Day Q&A about the queen of Corea

With syndicated excerpts from Corean Inquirer and the Corea Timesⓒ 

Corea celebrates Queens Day annually on September 9 

All eyes the world over are trained on the kingdom’s young new queen, former detective Jeong Tae Eul

Speculation is rampant on whether the Queen is in a delicate condition. Clues might be seen through the security and catering protocols in the upcoming celebrations

In a shocking move that has the Queen’s characteristic stamp of irreverent impishness and modernity all over it, the Royal Public Affairs Office released an open call for submissions of questions people want answered about the Queen. (But don’t get too excited, as you’ll see below). 

Corea has a long tradition of celebrating the Day of Queens on September 9th, the most auspicious date in the kingdom. 

The first Queens Day was held by HM The Queen Tae-Ra, who wanted to honor the Queen Mother and the Queen Dowager for their contribution to the country’s stability in the conflict with Japan in 1592. 400 years later and the tradition continues.

The palace opens its doors to the public on Queens Day. The people can pay their respects to the queen, or queens, in residence. You’ve read that correctly. Unlike other royal families, the Royal Court of Corea keeps no dower house. As many as three to four queens can be alive and in residence in the main palace, counting generations rather than the multiple wives/consorts of the polygamy periods.  

It seems implausible that nearly 500 years of queens never came into conflict, but this seems to be the truth as far as the Royal Public Affairs Office and the archives kept by the media would reveal. 

At present, there is only one queen. The king’s mother died in 1990. His wife is the current and only queen of the kingdom, and it’s the first Queens Day in 30 years that Corea has a queen enthroned. 

The palace gates open and festivities start September 2nd, lasting the week through until the grand feast on September 9th, when 999 lucky children will dine with the queen.

The Q&A

With resignation, Corean media-- and the rest of the world, including this author-- learned that the queen forwarded the questions for her Unbreakable Sword, Jang Mi-reuk, to answer. 

Coreans can’t and don’t complain: After all, the call of submissions never stated that the Queen herself will answer the questions. 

Majority of the press and the citizens find this move amusing. 

As for us, we’ll take what we can get. We are absolutely delighted at the candor and lack of censorship in the Q&A, directly transcribed from audio. 

Jang Mi-reuk, 27, started the rigorous and highly selective training with Royal Guards in 2016, rising in the ranks and emerging the best trainee in all fields, excelling in both close range combat and long-range weaponry. 

In 2020, his strength and abilities made him the Queen’s Unbreakable Sword, the life title given to the king’s and queen’s personal defender. 

Traditionally, the Unbreakable Sword is close to the king’s or queen’s age, a confidant as much as a bodyguard. Appointment is at the discretion of the king and queen, a personal choice without any influence or veto from the Court or Parliament.

The king’s Unbreakable Sword is Jo Yeong, famous in Corea in his own right for his dashing good looks. (Rumors abound that Jo Yeong is dating Myeong Seung-ah, one of the daughters of the old-money Myeong family, and working in the Royal Public Affairs Office). 

This author has seen both Unbreakable Swords from a short distance, and they are both intimidating. You wouldn’t want to cross either of them. 

HM The Queen sends her warm greetings and thanks to everyone who sent their questions. The Palace carefully reviewed them all. HM The Queen assures everyone that all your questions and wishes have been received and will be addressed sooner or later. 

HM The Queen wishes you all a Happy Queens Day, and thanks her Unbreakable Sword Jang Mi-reuk for his service in this task. 

Q. Is HM expecting? 

A. It’s not my place to answer that either way. 

Q. What is HM’s favorite food? 

A. I’m not aware. She asks me to get tteokbokki often, but sometimes this is a ruse to lose me, and I don’t fall for it after that one time, and she has a whole herd of us now. Good luck losing us. 

Q. What is HM’s favorite music? 

A. Is this a test? I don’t know. She’s tone deaf. 

Q. How did the king and queen meet? 

A. They’ve already met when I met Her Majesty. I’m not aware. I think it’s romantic. It’s one of my fondest wishes to know the story myself. 

Q. What is HM’s favorite color? 

A. I’m not aware. Neutrals. Her Majesty wears a lot of neutrals. It’s a good choice. It becomes her, especially cream and ivory shades of white.

Q. What is HM’s favorite scent? 

A. I’m not aware. If you mean the scent she wears, it’s very subtle citrus, florals, herbs and woods scents. She appreciates lavender in the car, too. We both like it. 

Q. What is HM’s shoe size? 

A. This is ridiculous. I think it’s 7 or 8. Her feet are small for her height, which is why she prefers sturdy shoes. Her Majesty does wear heels from time to time. It makes her legs and ankles look really nice. His Majesty and I agree she shouldn’t wear very high heels. It’s not safe. And Her Majesty likes to run around. 

Q. Does HM call the king an endearment? 

A. I. Am. Not. Aware. But I’ll get back to you if I hear them use one. It’s sweet, isn’t it? 

Q. Does HM miss being a detective? 

A. She does. I… I won’t elaborate on this. 

Q. What does HM think of PM Koo? Are they really friends? 

A. As far as I’m aware, Her Majesty and Her Excellency are on good terms. Sometimes they argue about the kingdom in the car. But nothing malicious. Mostly it’s the prime minister making acerbic remarks about the queen’s outfits. She thinks Her Majesty should dress better so she can dress better, too. *laughter 

Q. How many children does HM want to have? 

A. I am not aware. I think they should have four. That’s a nice number. No one will feel left out. Two sets of close friendships between the siblings. That always happens. I’m one of three and I’m left out. Their Majesties should start soon though. 

Q. Where did HM live before becoming queen? 

A. Seoul, of course. You know she worked in Jongno-gu. She lived there. 

Q. Does HM truly love the king? 

A. Wow, I’m glad the queen doesn’t have to answer crap questions like this. She loves him. He loves her. It makes the others uncomfortable when they’re together. We take 10 steps back but we can see them. Sometimes when the queen is in a temper, we hear them, too. *laughter

Q. Does HM ever have fights with the king? 

A. Not really. Just normal squabbles. The queen doesn’t have tolerance for bullsh--. Pardon me. I don’t mean to imply that His Majesty ever says bullsh--. Forgive me. Are you sure you’re deleting that? This gesture means I want you to delete it. I’m not just fanning my neck with my hand. Delete it. 

Q. How and where do Their Majesties date? 

A. I want the answer to that myself. I think they sneak out. Wait. Delete that. Hey. That compromises security. (Editor’s Note: We’ve confirmed with the Royal Court and the Royal Public Affairs Office that this is safe to publish, and the Royal Court assures the public that the king and queen are always safe).

Q. Does HM have advice for other female detectives, or female professionals in general? 

A. Well, this question should have gone to the queen. I’ve worked long enough with Her Majesty to confidently say she would advise women to never back down from what they believe to be right and just. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think Jang Michael/Jang Mi-reuk is adorable. This is a guy unafraid of what society would consider “feminine” sensibilities. I love him. 😆

If you have questions you think the public of Corea would wanna know, send them in and I’ll pass them on to Jangmi lol 

And yep, I made Tae-ra a queen too haha. 

In case you’re wondering, it’s the Corea Times/Corean Inquirer excerpts when they refer to the queen as HM or HM The Queen. It’s the Daily Mail everywhere else. 

[leporellian]

warrior cats rewrite part 2: fire and ice

more of This apparently! this is a continuation of this post so go over there to get the gist of this. 

with the last book i was focused on establishing characters and dynamics within thunderclan, so this one is more focused on establishing the other groups outside of thunderclan (windclan, riverclan, the rogues in shadowclan, kittypets) and the exact mechanics of the world. also assume that anything i mention little of stays the same- bluestar, yellowfang, etc 

-so like in the original we open on a prologue of windclan. the prologue is from the perspective of a young apprentice, gorsepaw. he and his brother mudpaw are trying to comprehend What Is Going On while morningflower soothes them and tallstar attempts to lead. they are helped by members of the blood brothers (the city cats who try to keep things safe in the city and suburbs). little is mentioned about the blood brothers but it is mentioned they’re not as good as they once were and could use a fresh young leader to give them real direction again

- anyway back in thunderclan we hear about darkstripe’s pov of redtail’s death

- redtail was a risk taker and very fiery and passionate- much like fireheart himself. bluestar chose him because his eagerness balanced out her pragmatism. however, redtail’s impulsivity and tendency to be a bleeding-heart became more and more loathed by others- especially the elders and tigerclaw.

- tigerclaw values conservatism, duty, and tradition. he’s a man of stability. and he realized that redtail’s ways could get thunderclan in trouble- he had a point, of course, but he took it too far.

- the entire sunningrocks battle was suggested by thistleclaw, tigerclaw’s father, and quickly approved by the elders (elders are often the ones who start battles), although none of the other elders knew of the plan.  thistleclaw also suggested the time- in the dark of night, where no cat could see who was fighting who too well. thistleclaw was helping tigerclaw the entire time.

- redtail was killed by not oakheart, although it was often claimed they had killed each other (and who had no voice to speak up- oakheart was dead and was an impulsive type like redtail who would have totally killed him in defense if they had fought), but tigerclaw, who figured it was the only way to become deputy and lead thunderclan with the stability he had desired it to be led with.

- fireheart shares his findings with the others, in secret. raven, gray, and cinderpaw all believe him, although it takes them a while to come to terms with the idea of tigerclaw being a murderer, but sand and long are unconvinced- neither wants to even entertain the idea their father was murdered.

- anyway thunderclan sends a few cats to retrieve windclan now that Brokenstar Is Gone(TM), gray and fire being two of them. windclan doesn’t like how little thunderclan seems to care about them because none of the high ranking warriors were sent- especially the angry mudpaw, who is still rather traumatized from being chased down with the rest of windclan by shadowclan. meanwhile, fireheart meets onewhisker and they become fast friends. onewhisker is kind of a Cool Older Brother type but he’s also sycophantic and a little bit of a coward.

- meanwhile there’s barkface, the quiet medicine cat of windclan. on the way back starclan sends him an omen: the moon will bring unnecessary death on its back.

- on their way back they find riverclan dicking around on windclan territory and so there’s a Fight- right by the gorge. it plays out like in canon and whiteclaw dies, fire figures ‘oh that’s the death’ and moves on

- once they get back a few days pass and then The Gang Become Mentors to lionheart and frostfur’s litter: brackenkit, thornkit, brightkit, and swiftkit. (cinder meanwhile was goldenflower’s kid.) fire gets bracken, gray gets thorn, sand gets bright, and long gets swift

- while this goes down, gray falls in love with silverstream like he does in canon- further propelled by his own half-clan heritage and desire to know outsiders beyond thunderclan. fire spies on him as he does in canon, etc etc. also it’s here that fire sees princess, and he recognizes her immediately.

- also thorn doesn’t like that graystripe isn’t really paying attention to him, which makes him kind of a try-hard prick that Just Wants To Be Noticed. Patrol Guy: Origins

- meanwhile tigerclaw keeps asking bluestar to see some unusual activity at the thunderpath. he looks worried about it.

- this comes to a head when tigerclaw rushes into camp with a few other thunderclan warriors. “there was a rogue attack at the thunderpath!” everyone follows him and finds two cats being carried out, both unconscious- darkstripe and cinderpaw. cinder’s leg has been shredded by a car (the rogues pushed her out in front of one) and darkstripe’s face is clawed up to hell and back.

- fireheart immediately Suspects Shit because this is tigerclaw. nobody else does except for ravenpaw, who notes that while cinderpaw’s injury is plausible, whoever clawed darkstripe did it in a very deliberate manner and not in defense as usually is done in the midst of dispute. fire figures out that tiger probably did the same trick he did with redtail, but targeting darkstripe instead.

- (”why are you relying so hard on mystery here?” mystery is really good for setting up worldbuilding, which is the main intent of the first three books.)

- meanwhile, cinderpaw is told that even though she can be a warrior, with the loss of her leg working properly she will likely need extra time and dedication to become one, and that it won’t be an easy road. cinder however refuses to give up, even though she’s initially left shaken and hopeless

- fireheart goes to see princess, who’s much more of a homebody than he is and comfortable in her life. however, she’s so relaxed because she doesn’t leave her home into the outside kittypet world, and is concerned about smudge and her mate- who both leave and get in fights with other cats pretty often. did you ever find smudge? she asks. what do you mean? replies fireheart. oh, this moon he decided to come with you, into the forest. i haven’t seen him since...

- anyway since princess doesn’t want her first child to enter the chaotic disputes of Kittypet Borders (and the other calamities of having little established government) she hands fireheart cloudkit

- like in canon nobody initially likes cloudkit but brindleface takes him in. their main worry is that he’s a white cat with blue eyes, which could mean that he’s deaf- not that this would hurt thunderclan, but that this could leave cloudkit to have a harder time being a warrior. cinderpaw however makes the connection and tells everyone that she wants to mentor cloudkit as soon as he becomes an apprentice.

- fireheart asks darkstripe to tell him more about tigerclaw killing redtail, hoping to get the details he needs to properly accuse him. but darkstripe is... different, this time. what do you mean!?! he screeches. tigerclaw is a loyal thunderclan warrior! you would never accuse lionheart or spottedleaf of this. how dare you even think- 

- fireheart realizes that barkface’s ‘the moon will bring unnecessary death on its back’ omen was not referring to only whiteclaw, but also, perhaps, darkstripe in a way. whatever tigerclaw did to darkstripe, whatever he told him, it changed the tabby tom forever. as fireheart continues to think about the omen, his mind flickers to smudge for a moment, and then it returns to thunderclan.

- the gathering goes down like it does in canon. thunderclan slowly realizes that the rogues nightstar mentions are the same ones that tigerclaw had to fight at the border. ohhh shittt, they collectively go

- they get back to see rogues everywhere in thunderclan camp. the usually-bellicose thistleclaw isn’t fighting them, and darkstripe is half-hearting it. those who are There however are doing an okay job of fending them off, and their asses are collectively kicked when the ThunderClan Gang gets to them. they also manage to capture brokenstar after yellowfang blinds him (and fire hears that she was his mother- honestly i’m not changing a lot abt yellowfang)

- in the midst of this, fireheart accidentally kills clawface. he’s wracked with horror at it, and wonders if this is how graystripe felt when he killed whiteclaw.

- anyway there’s like 2 days of peace and then mudpaw rushes into gathering like ‘HOLY SHIT GUYS WE ARE BEING FUCKING ATTACKED BY THOSE SHADOWCLAN RIVERCLAN MFS’ and everyone is like ‘god DAMMIT we JUST PUT you guys back there’ and they all go in, ally with windclan, and have a Big Ass Fight like in canon. we get a good idea of everyone’s loyalties to who- graystripe is only fighting shadowclan, darkstripe only attacks whoever is around tigerclaw, sandstorm and longtail tagteam fight against river and shadow, onewhisker is just running around doing nothing but Look Cool,

- barkface dies in the battle, leaving windclan to wonder if he had predicted his own death in the omen from about a moon before. fireheart doesn’t have the heart to tell them that it meant much more than they could know. spottedleaf joins windclan in barkface’s stead as he left behind no apprentice. ‘wait you can just Leave Clans like that?’ says graystripe. he is Thinkin

- the book’s end is uncertain as fireheart is still reeling from clawface’s death and the big battle between all the clans. he wonders if this is how the rest of his life will be- and then, as he falls asleep, he gets a nightmarish vision of hell and heaven, life and death, and an odd peace afterwards, all narrated by a voice he swears he knows but not from where. it almost becomes... oddly soothing, like a long-forgotten childhood memory.

- lion and tiger will meet in battle, and fire alone will herald it. there will be three, kin of his kin, and they will hold the power of starlight in their paws; yet peace will only arrive on the gentle wings of the fourth. out of the darkness of blood-spilling-blood will come a new dawn, and the four oaks will live beyond the memories of its memories. nothing is as it was, yet this is how it always has been, and this is how it always will be...

[cutiepisenpai]

Gifted part 10

Spencer Reid X F!Reader

Warnings: Nightmares, sexually suggestive themes

Y/N and Spencer were in the elevator going to the parking garage leaving Quantico having just got back from a case. “I really think you should stay at my apartment tonight.” Spencer says as they make their way to the parking garage. “No way. It’s not like you have said that everyday since we came back to work.” Y/N says with a smirk. “It’s a safety precaution. You haven’t been sleeping.” “You aren’t the authority on sleep, your sleep schedule is all out of whack.” She says getting into the car. “I may not have the most consistent sleep schedule but if you don’t feel safe in your own apartment you’re not going to get any rest.” She hated that he was right, they both had the same issue with getting enough sleep. “Fine but I have some conditions. First, I need to go to my apartment to get some things. Second, we are going to get real food at a grocery store. I don’t know how you survive on take out. And lastly, we are having a movie night. How does that sound?” “As long as I know you are safe I’ll go along with your crazy demands.” He says. “Don’t call them crazy demands, I am not an unsub.” They stopped at Y/N’s apartment so that they could get the things she needed and went to the grocery store. “Alright grab a cart and let’s go.” She says to him. She walks him through the store picking out produce and adding it to the cart moving around to the meats. “Do you have soy sauce at your house?” “I have soy sauce packets.” He answers and her eyes narrow at him. “What it’s soy sauce just in packets.” “I’m just going to act like your answer was a simple no and go from there” “While walking the aisles Spencer grabs sugar filled snacks and places them in the cart which Y/N keeps putting back. When he gets Cap’n Crunch to place in the cart she stops, “Okay what’s with the sugar coma you are trying to achieve?” She asks. “What do you mean this is good?” “Cap’n Crunch rips your gums. Of all the sugary crap you have grabbed so far this is by far the worst.” “You act like you eat so healthy. How much salt do you consume from pickles, chips, and nuts.” He says smugly. He looks into the cart noticing the snacks he placed in were gone. “Hey you took my snacks out.” He says, his voice rising. “I said real food Spence not processed sugar coated crap.” He pouts at her comments. “Okay fine here is what we can do, we can get all the things and I will bake cookies. You can keep your gum ripping cereal that will be your personal problem. We can also buy popcorn and ice cream but that’s it.” Y/N says and he smiles. “By the way if we looked at our entire week day by day my salt consumption is not as great as your sugar consumption. What kind of cookies do you want?” “Chocolate chip and snickerdoodles.” He says. “Both huh. Okay but only because you’re cute.” She says. “Alright last thing we need is ice cream and we can leave.” When they get back to Spencer’s apartment they unload and put away all of the groceries. 

After showering and changing, Y/N is in Spencer’s kitchen making fried rice. He gets out of the shower using a towel to dry his hair when he turns the corner and sees her there cooking. “That smells good.” He says coming up behind her. “Of course it does. I’m sure you’re unfamiliar with the smell of home cooked food in this apartment.” She laughs out. “I might not be a good cook but you have cooked here enough that I am familiar with it. You have told me enough about eating real food.” He says mimicking hand gestures she has done before. She turns around facing him and wraps her arms around his shoulders and he places his hands on her waist. Y/N’s smile is beaming at Spencer. She is so happy with him even when he is being overprotective and a condescending know it all. “What’s that look?” He asks. “I just realized something.” “Are you going to tell me what or keep this new found knowledge to yourself?” He asks. “I think I’ll keep this to myself just for a little while. Okay?” She says, smile getting brighter than she thought possible. “Okay.” “Alright let’s eat.” After finishing their dinner they are discussing what they should watch. “One episode of Doctor Who, just one.” Spencer pleads. “Fine” She mumbled, flopping back on his bed. He jumps on the bed hovering over her with excitement. “Really?” He asks. “Yea. It’ll make you happy and you’re extremely persistent so…” He leans down placing kisses all over her face. She starts giggling, breaking into full laughter. “This is going to be so amazing. You’ll love it ok I’ll be right back.” He says before jumping out of the bed and running out of the room. He comes back with the first season box set of Doctor Who, “Ok this is the original Doctor Who that aired from 1963 until 1966, he explains.” “Oh this is going to be a journey.” Y/N responds. “There are only one hundred and fifty eight episodes in the original Doctor who. You have watched two hundred and fifty three episodes of the twilight zone multiple times.” “It’s the twilight zone, you can’t knock the twilight zone.” She argues. “Your arguments make no sense.” He says sitting down next to her waiting for the title screen to show up. “Are you ready?” He asks “As I will ever be.” and he starts the first episode. Two hours later Y/N is asleep with her head in Spencer’s lap as the credits for the fourth episode scroll across the screen. “You weren’t supposed to fall asleep.” he chuckles in a whisper moving the hair out of her face. He slides his legs out from under her, moving her to lay on the other side of the bed before going to the other side lying beside her. 

Y/N is standing in a ditch with Morgan. It's quiet, unsettling quiet considering they are outside and there is no buzzing of bugs. The air is still Morgan’s mouth is moving but no sound comes out. She sees him walking up the steep slope out of the ditch so she follows. When they reach the top she sees Morgan looking around. What is he looking for? And then she feels it no pain just the impact it was almost like she got punched but there is no one there. Then it happened again she couldn’t react. It was all happening too fast. She can feel something shaking her, a faint voice calling out to her, her surroundings shift around her fading into darkness. She opens her eyes, it's blurry and dark she can feel that her face is wet. She can hear someone talking to her faintly, it’s getting louder. “Y/N ssh, it was just a bad dream. It’s just a dream, it isn’t real.” Spencer is talking to her holding her face in his hands trying to wipe away the tears as they fall. She tries to talk but it comes out as a crying whimper she can feel the back of her throat closing as she begins to heave out shallow breaths. Spencer is trying to get her to sit up to take deeper breaths but she can’t get her body to move feeling paralyzed. Seeing no other option Spencer lifts her up setting her back against the headboard of the bed. “Lift your arms above your head. It will help with the breathing. Deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth as slowly as you can.” Spencer says helping her raise her arms and trying to keep her as calm as possible. A few minutes later her crying hadn’t completely ceased but she was breathing at a more regular pace and had regained more control over her body. “I’m going to go get you some water. I’ll be right back.” It was a statement but he still waits until she nods before hurrying out of the room not wanting to leave her alone for too long. When he gets back into the room she seems calmer wiping the tears from her eyes breathing evening out. He comes to sit down in front of her glass of water in hand. “I’m sorry.” She whispers, voice horse from the crying, it was the first clear thing she had said since waking up. “It’s okay you have nothing to be sorry about.” He says, he moves to set the water down on the nightstand. “I didn’t know your nightmares had gotten this bad.” His voice is low. She attempts to clear her throat but it is so dry from the crying she picks up the water to take a drink. “I don’t… I don’t think it was a nightmare. I think it was a memory.” She says hand going up to rub the scar, it was a bad habit she had developed but Spencer has seen her do it enough times that his hand immediately goes to grab hers pulling it away. “What is the memory of?” He asks. She can see it so vividly but all of the information isn’t there. “Um.. I was in a ditch with Morgan at a crime scene I think but there wasn’t any sound and when we left we got to the top..” She trails off not wanting to say what happened next. “You got shot?” He asks, he knows what happens next or rather what happened next that day he heard Morgan tell the other side of that story. She nods in response not sure if the words would even come out.  Spencer moves so that he is sitting by her side and wraps an arm around her ushering her body closer to his. “What can I do?” He asks. “Just talk please about anything.” He can do that, the team hates when Spencer rambles on about whatever random topic presents itself but even before Y/N would follow along listening intently usually adding in her own tidbits. “The “Windy City” name has nothing to do with Chicago weather. The term was actually coined by a nineteenth century journalist who referred to the fact that it’s residents were “full of hot air”... No number before one thousand contains the letter “A”... Cap’n Crunch’s full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch and it had been pointed out that he only has the bars of a Navy commander but the company held its ground stating that captaining the S.S. Guppy with his crew makes him an official Cap’n in any book...” “The fictional character of the worst cereal ever made is arguing the legitimacy of his rank?” She interrupts. “He is a Cap’n and his cereal is great. We can have a bowl now to prove it.” “Ripping my gums and the roof of my mouth to shreds eating cereal is going to be a hard pass for me.” She says she hasn’t moved but she is more relaxed than before. “Do you want to talk?” He asks “What about?” “The dream” “There wasn’t more to it than what I already told you.” She says. “How many times have you had that dream? Or memory? Is that why you haven’t been sleeping?” Y/N bites her lip avoiding his eyes and with a deep sigh, “None of the memories have been that clear before so I’m not sure but it might be the reason.” She says. “I’m sorry you remembered that.” He says, “It was traumatic which might be why it came through so clearly.” She turns burying her head in the crook of his neck, mumbling incoherently. Spencer pulls her in closer hugging her tighter. “How does ice cream sound?” He asks. “Sounds like a good idea” She continues mumbling into his neck making him laugh but neither makes a move to get out of the bed. “Should I go get the ice cream and come back to bed?” He asks, rubbing circles on her back. She lifts her head to look at him. “No, I know you hate it when I eat in bed lets go.” She says grabbing the throw blanket from the bottom on the bed wrapping it around herself. Spencer follows her to the kitchen. “Cone or bowl?” He asks. “We should have gotten waffle bowls, it's the best of both worlds.” She begins to pout, “Bowl, please” Spencer takes out two bowls placing them on the counter scooping a generous amount of ice cream into each bowl sitting one in front of her. She stares down at the bowl slowly spooning ice cream into her mouth. She looks up and furrows her eyebrows seeing Spencer staring at her. “What” She asks, licking ice cream from her lips. Spencer blushes a deep red having been caught staring lost in a fantasy. “Um… nothing sorry.” “Seriously, what’s up?” “Really it’s nothing, just a little distracted.” He explains. “By me eating ice cream. Why would that be distracting?” She asks, sticking another scoop into her mouth while humming.”   Spencer’s pupils dilate, his breathing becomes heavy and he licks his lips. “Oh” Y/N chuckles, breaking into full laughter, if her smile and laughter wasn’t so beautiful he might have been upset about it. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh, it was just unexpected.” She continues to giggle. “It’s ok I’m just glad you feel better.” She scoops another spoonful into her mouth keeping eye contact with Spencer while licking the ice cream off the spoon. “Oh come on.” Spencer groans at the sight and Y/N starts laughing loudly. “Is there something you would like to discuss?” She laughs with a wink, she gets up walking over to Spencer getting as close as possible without touching him looking up at him. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone react to ice cream like that?” “Are you trying to kill me?” He asks. “We hunt killers if I want to kill you. I know how to do it.” She teases. “That was rhetorical” “I know” Spencer leans down to kiss her, it is a sweet kiss he places his hands on her waist pulling her closer to him. “ You taste sweet.” He says, pulling back from the kiss. “You do too.” “What do you say we go back to bed?” “What are you implying, Dr. Reid?” “Words from a wise woman I need to sleep more and I suggest that you get more sleep as well.” He says placing a kiss to the top of her head. “Look at you taking self care seriously. So back to bed?” “So long as you’re okay with it.” “And what about the nightmares?” “I’ll be there to keep you safe.” Spencer says.

Taglist:

@itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @groovygoob

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I’ve admitted before on this blog that I sometimes browse Reddit. It is not something I’m proud of doing or recommend to other people. But sometimes a good hate read of something terrible written by terrible people can be a reliable (though definitely unhealthy) way to keep myself distracted and produce some angry dopamine.

Anyway. I came across this post the other day. I read lots of shit on Reddit that I think is wrong and generally terrible; I’m pleased to say I don’t actually sink so low as to try to respond to any of it (I can at least maintain some dignity by saying I am not now, nor have I ever been, a person with a Reddit account). But this post... I just couldn’t let this post go without showing it to other people. I managed to avoid the temptation to create an account on the spot just to reply to this person and suggest that they might want to consider reading their fucking post again. But I need to show it to all of you.

I’d like to start by saying I think it’s a huge problem that people often talk about Canada as some great progressive paradise. We have plenty of major problems in Canada. We have a history of genocide. We have systemic racism in our institutions. We currently have thousands of Indigenous Canadians across the country without access to clean water. Really. That’s a fact I hear repeated in the news so often (but still not often enough) that sometimes it almost starts to lose its meaning, but it’s worth really thinking about what that means. A developed country has about 60 Indigenous reserves that are towns where lots of people live, and the people who live there have to boil their tap water before being able to safely use it. Canada is not a fucking paradise.

We have socialized health care, but when you stack our health care system up against those of most other Western countries that also have socialized health care, it ranks low. The problem is that we still rank far above the US on many of these issues, so because we’re right next to the US, we get to just say we’re better than them and therefore we’re great. If we had to compare ourselves to a lot of European countries we wouldn’t look nearly so good.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that caveat in there. I’m not trying to claim Canada is the best country in the world. I’m also not trying to talk down to any Americans who might happen to be reading this... I have family in the States, and I know that the vast majority of the fucked up things in that country are not the fault of the vast majority of individual American people.

However. Having said all that. Canada really is, by most metrics, better than the States. There are some exceptions, and of course it depends how you measure it. Obviously they’re a much richer country than us. But in terms of quality of life for most of the individual residents, it’s better here than there. I once coached a tournament in the States, and a kid on my team got hurt. We had him sit in a car for six hours with a broken wrist so we could wait until we got back across the border to take him to the hospital, because we weren’t about to pay the cost of treating that in the States. This is a kid from a very low-income family; the cost of even a basic hospital procedure in the States would have meant financial devastation for them. We were lucky enough to be able to drive back to Canada and get him treated here. If he’d been American, he would have been in an awful situation.

I once coached a different tournament in a different part of the States and a teenager from my team (the guy in the last story was a teenager too, I just call them “my kids”, no offense to any teenagers on here, you’re lovely people but also children to me) knocked on my hotel room door crying at 9 PM. He’d been running around the hotel, was mistaken about which room was his, found that his card didn’t work on what he thought was his room so he knocked on the door to get his teammates to let him in, and was greeted by a man with a pistol telling him to get away from that room. He was fucking terrified; he immediately ran to my room, told me the story while freaking out, and asked to sleep in there for the night. I comforted him for a while, but had to make him go back to his own room (the correct one, this time) due to rules about coaches not sharing rooms with athletes of different genders. Not that these rules are bad or anything, but I did feel guilty making a kid who’d just been traumatized go back to stay with his teammates, when he wanted to stay in the safety of a room with an adult.

When we drove home from that tournament, as soon as we crossed the border he sighed with relief and said, “I’m so glad we’re home, let’s never go to the States again." And this wasn’t some sheltered suburban kid who’d be tramautized by any look at the real world. He grew up in Cairo. And he now lives in one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in our Canadian city. Which isn’t a very dangerous city overall so it’s not like where he lives is all that bad. But he is used to kids from his school carrying knives, and getting involved in gangs and drugs. But still, that one experience in a nice hotel in America scared him more than anything he’d seen in the alleys of a bad neighbourhood in Canada, enough for him to say he was glad to have the safety of Canada and never wanted to return to the States (and again, he did grow up in Egypt). 

The kid in question, as well as the other people who were on that trip, joke about that story now. The time that [his name] knocked on the wrong door and almost got shot in the States. But jokes aside, that is fucked up. I have spent a lot of time at a lot of hotels in different parts of Canada with different groups of teenagers, and I have never had anything like that happen here.

Therefore, I stand by my argument that Canada is, by the most important metrics, better than the States. And this brings me back to the above picture. Of someone... telling us the States is better than Canada, listing a bunch of reasons that aren’t actually real things, then listing some reasons why Canada is actually a much better place to live, then saying the US is still better though. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone contradict themselves so beautifully in one post before. Paragraphs 1 and 2: make your point. Paragraph 3: disprove your point. Paragraph 4: reiterate your point as though paragraph 3 didn’t happen. “Yeah Canada has less poverty than the States and people can get health care even if they’re poor, but my teachers told me to respect minorities and you can’t buy guns in vending machines so Canada is much worse overall.”

(This should certainly go without saying, but to be clear, I’m not saying the lack of free speech in Canada is fine. I’m saying of course we have free speech in Canada, you just think free speech is the right to be a terrible person without anyone ever complaining about that. The idea that we have a meek and neutered population is something that would come as a surprise to the  Wet'suwet'en protesters who shut down pipeline construction last year. And everything else in paragraph 2... actually, the rest of those things sound like good things. I wish they were all as true as this person claims.)

Also, I realize this isn’t the point, but what’s with the drive-by shot at Oregon? What did they do to deserve to get dragged into that post?