#like a crystal clear human broadcasting system

[always-tilting-at-windmills]

[dawningofdrag]

Hi kiddo! Can I get 14 with jan/gigi please?

thank u alex!!! you probably wished that i would write fluffy jan/gigi, but i kinda twisted it into them just hating each others guts lmao. I hope that’s fine! This is set in the how to get away with murder au fizzy, raino, and i have been conspiring about for a while. it’s not sweet, oop. hope you like it still!

14 - “You don’t know what you do to me, do you?”

-

“Why can’t you just do your fucking job?”

Gigi had her pale hands balled up into fists, striking green eyes now bloodshot and swollen from the tears she never stopped crying out since Aquaria's death was broadcasted on national television merely hours ago. She had not spoken since it’s release, her usual confident disposition swapped out with sudden silence, and the shift in tone regarding her nature felt too different for it to be real.

“What?” Jan snapped, head turning to where Gigi was standing by the doorway. “I can’t do that, it’s illegal-”

“Illegal my fucking ass.” Gigi muttered through gritted teeth, cutting her off. Her pale arms uncrossed from where it previously sat against her chest, stiletto heels clicking against the wooden floorboards of Jackie’s apartment as she took one step forward, inching closer to the woman who sat comfortably on the couch across from her.

“Gigi-” Crystal stepped in the remaining space between her and Jan, fully aware where this was going. She had seen her friend like this before and she didn’t want the rest of the team to see it unfold the way she did the first time.

A breathy laugh escaped the blonde’s lips, hands raised up as if in surrender. “You don’t know what you do to me, do you Jan?”

The room fell silent at her words, and the deafening silence caused Gigi to let a laugh escape from deep in her chest. The blonde gently pushed away the latina who stood in front of her, her touch warming the bare skin Crystal had left exposed. She stepped closer and closer to the woman she so desperately wanted to talk to, a sinister aura radiating around her tall frame.

“No one has ever made my blood boil more than you have, do you know that?”

“Hey-” Jackie tried to cut Gigi off, but the attempt led to nothing but a deathly stare from the blonde who snapped her head towards her almost immediately. Gigi waved her off, and the piercing glare she directed towards the Persian was full of nothing but fiery anger that Jackie didn’t even bother continuing her sentence.

Gigi let out a long sigh, body leaning down to rest her manicured fingers on the coffee table that separated her and Jan. She met the blue eyes that stared back at her, a sharp inhale filling her lungs before she spoke, breaking the silence that filled the living room.

“You will do this, do you hear me? I don’t give a single fuck if it doesn’t follow the moral compass you follow or some other stupid humane reason that you deem more important than keeping the only people who would tolerate your annoying ass from facing time in prison.”

Jan had opened her mouth to reply but Gigi was one step ahead of her, continuing her sentence before the blonde could even speak.

“You will hack into the system, alter the surveillance footage, and clear every piece of evidence that points to every single person in this room right now. Because if you don’t I swear to God I will build a case against you that is so fucking convincing you’ll never set foot outside a women’s correctional facility until you die-”

“GIGI.” Rock called aloud, her convincing tone bouncing against the walls of the living room they had confined themselves in. Gigi turned her head, scoffing at the sudden confidence her colleague just expressed, almost impressed. Rock walked closer to the scene that was just unfolding in front of her, deciding that it had to stop.

“That’s enough.”

The blonde was going to snap back a reply before Crystal wrapped her tan hand around Gigi’s arm, and just like that, she walked out.

Crystal called out the woman’s name as they all watched her storm out of the apartment with a deafening door slam. The latina jogged towards the door, following Gigi in case she would end up doing something stupid. They were all vulnerable right now, and one person slipping up could potentially cause them all of their lives at this point. They couldn’t deal with it, not now at least. They had to deal with this first.

Jan met Jackie’s eyes once the two women exited their space, tears piling up at the edge of her bloodshot blue eyes. Her eyes pleaded for guidance with just a simple look, and after a few moments of contemplation, her girlfriend finally spoke. “It’s this or prison, babe.”

Jan nodded, arms reaching out for the laptop that sat in the coffee table in front of her. She knew what she had to do.

“Give me two hours.”

[voltrontranscript]

VLDS7E7: The Last Stand, Part 1

Season 7 Episode 7: The Last Stand, Part 1

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Episode Summary: The Paladins make their way back to Earth, but upon reaching out to Sam Holt, discover Earth’s distress beacon and that the Galra have invaded. We catch up with Sam and the technological developments on Earth since his return four years prior to the Paladins’ approach, and the trials Sam and Colleen face when in the heart of the Garrison.

[Google Doc]

Hunk: I can’t believe it. We’re finally back to Earth.

Keith: Well, what are we waiting for?

Pidge: I’ll see if I can get a message out to my dad. Dad, it’s me, Pidge. Do you copy? We’re back in Earth’s solar system, and heading home now.

Sam’s voice: To any beings who receive this message--

Pidge: Dad, you’re okay. How’s Mom and Matt? Is he with you?

Sam’s voice: Planet Earth has been… Most of the citizens…

Pidge: Hold on, let me try to get a clear signal.

Sam’s voice: ...have been captured.

Pidge: What? Who’s captured? Dad, what are you saying?

Sam’s voice: Those of us remaining are making our last stand. If you get this message, please get word to Voltron. We need help.

Keith: Guys, are you seeing this?

Sam’s voice: To any beings who receive this message…

Allura: Oh, no.

Sam’s voice: ...Planet Earth has been overrun by the Galra.

Lance: The Galra have invaded Earth.

Sam’s voice: Most of the citizens have been captured. Those of us remaining are making our last stand. If you get this message, please get word to Voltron. We need help.

Hunk: It’s not a reply. It’s a distress signal.

Pidge: Dad.

[Scene change to a flashback, labeled “Four years earlier…”.]

Sam: Admiral Sanda, how long have I--?

Sanda: It’s been about a week since you landed. Sorry, we’ve had you under for most of the time.

Sam: A week?

Sanda: We had to run tests. You spent years in an alien environment. Look, Sam, the joint chiefs are eager to hear what you have to tell us.

Sam: Tell the chiefs I’ll debrief when I’m ready. There’s someone I need to see first.

[Scene change to a lounge in the Galaxy Garrison.]

Colleen: Sam.

Sam: Colleen, I’ve missed you so much.

Colleen: I thought you were dead. I thought I’d never see you again.

Sam: You’re squeezing me pretty tight. Being abducted by aliens didn’t kill me, but I think you might.

Colleen: Aliens?

Sam: On the Kerberos mission. Matt, Shiro, and I were taken by hostile aliens.

Colleen: So Matt is with you?

Sam: No, but he’s alive and safe. So is Katie. They’re together. Last time I saw them, they were just outside the planet Olkarion. They saved me. There was a device on my pod, a transmitter. Where is it? I can use it to contact my children and the other Paladins, cadets.

Sanda: I’m afraid we can’t allow you to broadcast yet. We need more information before you start sending messages into deep space. Any contact with alien species needs to be run through the appropriate channels. We need to be sure you’re not putting Earth in danger, Sam.

Colleen: I don’t care about your channels. I want to talk to my children.

Sanda: And you will, soon. We just want to debrief you first.

Colleen: Tell them what you know, then we can talk to our children and get you home.

Sanda: I’m afraid we can’t allow Sam to leave the premises. We’re not prepared to tell the world about the existence of alien life just yet. Remember, everyone thinks you’re dead.

Sam: So you’re holding me like a prisoner?

Sanda: Not a prisoner. You’re free to move about within the Garrison grounds. Just until we’re ready.

Colleen: If he’s staying, I’m staying, too.

Sanda: I’m afraid you don’t have the clearance, Colleen.

Colleen: This is the only family I have left. You’ll get me the clearance.

[Scene change to a meeting room in the Galaxy Garrison.]

Iverson: Here’s what we know. Two years ago, during your Kerberos mission, our scans picked up an anomaly at your location. Minutes later, we lost contact with you and the rest of the crew. In the immediate aftermath, we intercepted a transmission.

Unnamed Galra Commander’s voice: We found these primitive scientists. I don’t think they know anything useful.

Zarkon’s voice: Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation. The Druids will find out what they know.

Sam: That last voice is Zarkon, the emperor of an advanced hostile alien race known as the Galra.

Unnamed officer: How advanced?

Unnamed officer 2: And how do you know they’re hostile?

Sam: Do you have the device I asked for? The one from my pod?

Sanda: Bring it to him.

Sam: Before I left, I downloaded as much information as I could from the Castle of Lions. For ten thousand years, Zarkon has been expanding his empire, conquering vast swaths of the universe and harnessing its quintessence in order to survive and maintain power.

Sanda: Quintessence?

Sam: It’s an energy generated by living beings.

Bearded officer: You mean certain alien beings?

Sam: No. Quintessence is within us all.

Bearded officer: Impossible. We’ve never come across anything like that.

Sam: Maybe because this is beyond the realm of what you think you know. Have you ever traveled faster than the speed of light? Have you ever seen a living creature bio-hack nature? Have you ever come face to face with an alien warlord who’s older than the entirety of human civilization? Well, I have. And I assure you, it’s all real. Following our abduction, Shiro, Matt, and I were taken by Galra scouts to the main fleet where we were interrogated. After that, we were split up. I spent the next year at a remote outpost, working alongside other captive scientists researching and creating new technologies to be used by the Galra. I later learned that Shiro and Matt had been sent to fight in the gladiator pits. Matt would’ve been killed, but Shiro, he saved my son’s life. Later, Matt was rescued from a work camp by alien rebels. He now works alongside them, fighting back against the Galra. During his time on Zarkon’s command ship, Shiro discovered that Zarkon was looking for a super weapon hidden on Earth. Shiro escaped to get the weapon first.

Iverson: That must be when Lieutenant Shirogane returned to Earth.

Sam: That’s right.

Iverson: Following Garrison protocol, we placed Lieutenant Takeshi Shirogane under mandatory quarantine, but he managed to escape with the aid of several Garrison cadets. We later found out the one known as Pidge Gunderson was your daughter, Katie Holt, who had illegally enrolled in the cadet program under an assumed identity. The following day, the Blue Lion appeared on our radars. Long-range sensors tracked the UFO to the edge of our solar system traveling at speeds we’ve never achieved. It disappeared along with the ship. That was the last activity we had until your pod arrived on Earth a month ago.

Glasses officer: So that Blue Lion, that was the super weapon?

Sam: Part of it. The super weapon is known as Voltron. It’s made up of five mechanical lions. As fate would have it, when Shiro crashed on Earth, those same Garrison students that got him out of quarantine became the pilots, or Paladins, of the five lions of Voltron. The Paladins are doing everything they can to protect the universe from the Galra. But we must begin to bolster Earth’s defenses now, or we do not stand a chance. War is coming.

Iverson: So this Zarkon, you think he’ll attack Earth?

Sam: No. Zarkon is dead, but the Galra Empire is not stopping. There are factions fighting for control and looking to dominate their own sections of the universe. Without a clear leader, things are worse than before.

Iverson: So what do we do?

Sam: We hold a conference and announce what we know to the world.

Sanda: Absolutely not.

Sam: They need to know. And if we can bring the world’s top minds together, it might mean the difference--

Sanda: If we told the world there was an imminent attack, we’d set off a global panic.

Sam: But there will be an attack.

Sanda: When? How will the attack happen? Is there a plan to stop it? None of these things have been discussed. None of these things have been thought through, and until they are, we’re not going to be responsible for sending the world into disarray.

Sam: If you would allow me to contact Katie and the Paladins right now, we could begin to answer those questions.

Sanda: Very well.

Sam: This is Sam Holt calling the Paladins of Voltron. I’m on Earth. Please respond. Pidge, this is Dad. Come in.

Colleen: Katie, it’s your mom. Are you there?

Sam: The transmission’s not being received. There might be interference. We need to keep trying.

Sanda: We can have someone send out regular transmissions around the clock until we hear from them. But in the meantime, we stay quiet.

Sam: Very well, but we should at least begin preparations.

Iverson: We already have.

[Cut to an elevator in the Galaxy Garrison.]

Iverson: We’ve been studying the ship that Shiro crash landed in for the last year, and we’ve begun research on the ship you arrived in. We thought the technology would be exactly the same, but that’s not the case.

Sam: That’s because one is Galran and the other Altean, created by two different alien species. So, did you get it airborne?

Iverson: Unfortunately, no. We got the nav system and other instruments turned on by powering them externally, but the power it would take to fly them is unsustainable.

Sam: Hmm. The crystal must have been damaged on entry if you couldn’t power it.

Sanda: Crystal?

Sam: It’s the main energy source for most alien spacecraft. If you haven’t been able to get it running, then what have you been doing with it?

Sanda: We created a simulator based on the controls so that when we figure out how to integrate the tech into our own ships, we’ll be ready to fly.

Iverson: Commander Holt, I’d like to introduce you to the best pilots to come out of the Galaxy Garrison in the last year. These are officers Griffin, Rizavi, Kinkade, and Leifsdottir. They’re young, but their ability to adapt to new flying techniques is a step above.

Griffin: On behalf of my squadron, it’s an honor to meet you, sir.

Iverson: I’ve got them running drills in the simulator five days a week. They can take just about anything you can throw at them.

Sam: Good. Now it’s time to get them out of the simulator and flying these things for real.

Rizavi: But they aren’t working, sir.

Sam: Then we better get them working.

[Scene change to outside the Galaxy Garrison.]

Griffin: No way.

Rizavi: When can we fly them, sir?

Sam: You’re gonna be flying ships much faster and much more maneuverable than this in no time.

Rizavi: Sir?

Sam: This is just an Altean shuttle pod. The engine and functions are extremely basic. If we’re going to defend the planet against the Galra, we’re going to need better ships.

[Scene change to the Galaxy Garrison meeting room.]

Sam: When I was enslaved by the Galra, I was forced to work on technologies that are a hundred times more complex than a simple pod. And after I regrouped with the Paladins, I continued learning alongside the Olkari, some of the most amazing engineers I’ve ever had the honor to work with. They taught me everything I know about integrating technologies. These are Altean schematics. We’re gonna use these to upgrade our weapons, build new ships, and create a defense for Earth. Engineers will be in charge of salvaging what they can from the pods. Repurposing parts is of the utmost importance. Our pilots must get out of the simulators and into real ships powered by crystal technology if they hope to stand a chance against Galran battle tactics. It’s gonna be a steep learning curve, but I know they’ll get it. The Garrison will become the epicenter of technological advances beyond what this world has ever seen. In the meantime, we will continue our attempts to contact Matt and the Paladins. It’s imperative that we find out what’s happening beyond our galaxy. There is a war coming, and we need to be prepared.

[Scene change to another flashback, labeled “One year later…”.]

Griffin: Sorry, guess I’m too quick.

Rizavi: Not for my micro-pulse boosters!

Sam: How’s the response time compared to the previous generation?

Rizavi: Instantaneous, sir. It’s like it knows what I wanna do before I think it.

Iverson: It’s amazing what you’ve done in just over a year.

Sam: We’ve done it together.

Unnamed female officer: Sir, you’re needed in the communications room immediately.

[Scene change to the Garrison’s communications room.]

Colleen: It’s Matt. He contacted us.

Matt: Mom, is that Dad?

Colleen: He just got here.

Sam: Matt, are you okay? I’ve been trying to contact you and Katie for months. Where are you? What’s going on?

Matt: So, you didn’t hear yet?

Sam: Hear what?

Matt: Mom, Dad, no one has seen or heard from the Paladins in the last six months.

Colleen: No…

Sam: Katie… What happened?

Matt: No one is really sure. There are rumors that Voltron fought Lotor, then they just disappeared.

Sam: So, they could still be alive.

Matt: No one knows. But, Dad, listen to me. You need to stop broadcasting from Earth. Members of the Blade of Marmora and the Voltron Coalition are being hunted. Our army has been all but wiped out. The situation is bad out here, and the last thing we need is to put Earth in danger.

Sam: But how will I get ahold of you?

Matt: I have to go. I’ll contact you when I’m safe. I love you both.

[Scene change to Admiral Sanda’s office.]

Sam: It’s time. We need to tell the rest of the world the situation.

Sanda: Sam, I’m sorry to hear about your daughter, but we can’t get off course.

Sam: If we want to finish the IGF-ATLAS, we need more resources and more manpower. The world needs to come together so that we can take the fight to the Galra.

Sanda: You’re too emotional right now and you’re not thinking straight. We’re not building ships to go fight aliens in different galaxies.

Sam: But they need us!

Sanda: The citizens of Earth need us.

Sam: And yet you refuse to tell them the truth!

Iverson: Maybe we should talk about this later.

Sanda: We can talk later, but my decision will be the same. We’re not telling the people of Earth, and we’re not fighting in someone else’s war.

[Scene change to the Holt’s private quarters.]

Colleen: They’re gonna be okay.

Sam: They will be okay because they’re strong just like their mother.

Colleen: We’ve gotta do something. We can’t just sit here while our children are in danger.

Sam: We’re doing everything we can with the limited personnel we have.

Colleen: Then we’ll get more personnel and more resources. The admiral is making decisions for the rest of the world. I say let them make decisions for themselves.

Sam: You wanna tell the world? The repercussions could be serious. They could kick us out of the Garrison.

Colleen: It’s risky, but that ship may never get done otherwise. And I’ll do whatever it takes to see my kids again.

Sam: Okay.

[Cut to Sam and Colleen walking into the communications hub.]

Sam: You’re sure you wanna do this?

Colleen: I’m sure.

Sam: Alright, I’ll be broadcasting on every channel. You ready?

Colleen: Citizens of Earth, my name is Colleen Holt. I am the wife of famed astronaut, Sam Holt, and mother of Matt Holt. Two years ago, it was believed that they died during a deep space mission. That was a lie. My husband, along with his crew, were abducted by an alien race known as the Galra, a fact that was covered up by the Galaxy Garrison.

[Cut to Admiral Sanda’s office.]

Unnamed soldier: Admiral, you need to see this. They’re broadcasting on every channel.

Colleen: A year ago, my husband returned to Earth, but the Garrison forced him to stay in hiding.

Sanda’s voice: I’m afraid we can’t allow Sam to leave the premises. We’re not prepared to tell the world about the existence of alien life just yet.

Sam: But I refuse to stay hidden any longer. We desperately need your help. Not every alien species is friendly, and Planet Earth must be protected. Here at the Garrison, we’ve been working on creating advanced ships and weaponry.

Sanda: Get the rest of the guards.

Colleen: The footage you are about to see is real.

Sam: These are the Galra. If they find Earth, they will attack, and we must be prepared.

Griffin: Huh. Guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh?

Colleen: But there are those that have spent years protecting us. They are the Paladins of Voltron, and they come from Earth.

Hunk: Ugh, I can’t wait to be back home. I’m not really sure when that’ll be, but when I get there, I really want Uncle Filo to make some of his amazing pork lau lau. I can almost taste it now.

Lance: Hi, Mom, hi, Dad. It’s me, Lance. I’m here in outer space somewhere. I, um, uh, don’t really know what to say. Uh, I miss you guys. I miss you guys a lot.

Pidge: Mom, I’m so sorry I left without saying goodbye. I think of you every day.

Colleen: Now is the time to come together. To protect our world, we must be united under one cause.

Sanda: Override the lock. Lock them up.

Iverson: For what?

Sanda: For divulging top secret information.

Sam: Now, now, Admiral. Don’t get emotional.

Sanda: You disregarded a direct order.

Sam: You held me at the Garrison against my will. You lied about my death. You wanna control every situation, but face it. You can’t. The world needed to know this, and now that they do, it will be better for us. Right now, the world needs a leader that’s not afraid to face facts and you’re not it.

Sanda: And you think you are?

Sam: Yes.

Sanda: Get these traitors out of here.

Iverson: Stop. If Sam goes, I go too.

Glasses officer: Admiral Sanda, calls are coming in from all over the world. Citizens want to know how they can help. It’s incredible.

Sam: It worked.

[Scene change to the desert outside of the Galaxy Garrison.]

Sam: That’s the last one.

Griffin: Think it’ll work?

Sam: Well, particle barriers are tricky, but if my calculations are right, these just might act as a perimeter. What’s that?

Griffin: I don’t know. I didn’t think we were doing any test flights today.

Sam: They’re here. Activate the particle barrier immediately.

Woman: Are you sure, sir? We haven’t run diagnostics--

Sam: Do it, now!

End.

[thedefinitionofbts]

Upon Your Existence (3)

Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3

Pairings: Jeon Jungkook x Reader (ft. the rest of BTS)

Genre: Science Fantasy, Angst, Apocalypse Au

Words: 7K

Description: …and so they just meet each other in these stories written inside these worlds built in their minds. Of course some will be sad, and others happy, but that’s just the way the universe is…chaotic, imperfect, but magnificently beautiful.  

You’ll always remember his eyes, a pair of dark obsidian orbs, cloudy and unreadable to many but to you they were always crystal clear like the polycrystalline structure of black diamonds.

“Hurry, we need to go!” He beckons urgently as you remained huddled in the corner of your bedroom closet, arms wrapped around your legs and chin resting on the caps of your knees.

“Where’s mommy and daddy?” You peer up at your older brother, eyes wide and stricken with fear.

It was already dark outside. The bright glow of blue and red lights flicker through the glass windows, ricocheting off the walls of the room your parents once read you bedtime stories in. You can hear the voices of police officers and military personnel through the loud speakers, advising everyone to evacuate the city.  

“They’re waiting for us, come on.” Yoongi responds more softly, flashing you a tender smile, one that you have witnessed more than anyone else, giving you more than enough strength to latch on to his extended hand.

You were just nine years old when news of the first outbreak was broadcasted over the television. At the time, it had not occurred to you how strange it all was, or perhaps it did, but it was all too confusing to even begin questioning any of it. You knew nothing about viruses or the spread of diseases in general, but after moving to the designated “safe haven” for your district and continuing your education through your teens, some things have naturally come to light.

Like back in high school chemistry, when your teacher demonstrated the effects of acid on protein to show students how you could go blind if it got in your eye. It was simply to remind everyone to wear goggles, but you’ll never forget the way the drop of HCl seared the egg white, making the fluid bubble up and solidify instantly. You imagine the virus doing the same to human flesh, only with a more complicated mechanism that had less to do with altering the structure of existing proteins and more to do with actually changing gene expression.

It only takes one person. One mutation. One strand of viral DNA to contaminate it all.

It almost sounded too easy, and though the official announcement stated the virus originated in the jungle off the coast, countless people had suspected it was actually developed by the government, a biological weapon gone awry. It wasn’t until over a decade later that it became quite clear, though still unofficial since the elite would never admit to such a horrendous act publicly, that everything was more or less planned as a means to control the population.

So no, the virus did not entail the end of the world. The world government had actually done a pretty job controlling it. How could they not since they planned it all anyways? But of course, if the world wants to end, it’ll find a way to end.

That, you had also learned through a news broadcast.  

“Karma” Hoseok exhales, twisting the key and turning off the engine.

“Hoseok, it’s not Karma if the top 1% still survive.” Yoongi mumbles, stepping out of the passenger door and stretching out his back.  

“The biggest fuck you would be if the comet just disintegrates right before it strikes.” Hoseok scoffs. “If only…”

You ponder the possibility of this all being a false positive. “Maybe it’ll miss Earth, and everyone will have evacuated the planet for no reason at all.” It’s a joke, but not the funny kind. You know it’s impossible, but you didn’t really say it for the purpose of anyone agreeing with you or even refuting the statement, considering the nonexistent possibility.

“Maybe…” Hoseok exhales, not entirely paying attention to what he was even responding to but rather just blankly gazing at the open field with its tall grasses swaying in the wind.

Yoongi remains silent. He has been the whole trip for the most part, and in a way, his nonchalance was peaceful and reassuring as it had always been for you growing up.

But this is it. This is where you part ways.

It’s a strange feeling, really. You’ve always imagined this moment to be more emotionally overwhelming, saying goodbye to your brother forever and all. He was the only person you’d ever really trusted, and the only other person who has felt like the closest thing to home, a place that never really existed, and even if it did, it won’t for long. Maybe habituation, or months of convinced acceptance has left you numb, or maybe it's the effect of building something so much up in your head that the actual experience doesn’t live up to what you’ve expected all this time.

“Are you sure?” Yoongi’s voice is low and subdued. He doesn’t make eye contact as he awaits your response, and perhaps it’s because he’s never questioned your personal decisions or the fact that he’s directly expressing his concern for you that you find yourself hesitating for the first time in months.

Did he invite you on this trip hoping you would change your mind in the end?

The thought makes your heart clench, and you have to tell yourself you’re overanalyzing. Yoongi wasn’t the kind to hint at what he wanted. He always directly expressed his thoughts no matter how offensive or uncalled for they are. You’ve always admired him for that sort of bravery, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to change now. Besides, you had made up your mind half a year ago, ever since you saw the timer flash across the T.V. screen.

Six months was how long they gave the general population to decide. Either you were rich enough to leave earth or you had to come to terms with the end. They had known about it years in advance, and though it’s unclear whether or not the planned viral outbreak was related to the detection of the comet’s trajectory, what’s undeniable is that they had kept everyone in the dark to avoid chaos.

You had no interest in space, nor did you want to be a part of a system so cruel. Yoongi didn’t either, not initially, but you weren’t going to blame him for meeting a boy who was the literal manifestation of the sun, someone who could make his heart beat in ways it never did.

“Your spot will always be open” Hoseok chimes in with his bright sunshine of a smile, and you can almost feel a fraction of what Yoongi feels when he sees it too.

“There’s more I want to see before it’s too late.” It’s not like you were alone. There were millions of other people staying on the planet- those who couldn’t afford a ticket on the escape ship.

Yoongi nods lightly, turning to walk up the steps to join Hoseok, who was already at the top still looking at you standing below, perhaps also hoping you would change your mind. Even now, you can see the softness in the latter’s eyes, the tangibility of the warmth that he radiates, and you have no trouble understanding why your bother fell for him.

And that’s the last image you see of the two. Hoseok’s melancholic gaze and the slight upturn of Yoongi’s lip as the doors close.  

…

There’s a certain kind of calmness that accompanies solitude, even when the entire world is ready to burst under suppressed chaos. There’s also a strange detachment that comes with wanting to do everything while at the same time not wanting to do anything at all because none of it mattered anymore.

Stepping onto the train, you immediately get a whiff of the stench of sweat and body odor, the kind that tells you you’re not the only one who thought spending the next few days just gazing at the world was a good way to ride through the end. Most of the seats were taken, homeless people with all their bags large and small, scattered across the floor. You almost trip on someone’s sleeping bag as you navigate down the aisle, looking for a less crowded cart, which you are fortunate enough to find just as the train begins to move.

Settling down in the seat closest to the window, you momentarily let your eyes dwell on someone sitting a couple seats away. His attention was focused on the scenery outside, but he somehow sensed the weight of your scrutiny as he turns just as you were about to lean to get a better view.    

You barely avert your gaze before he catches you staring, though you’re pretty sure he noticed because the next thing you know, he’s made his way over and is now seated across from you. Despite the sudden proximity and the bout of nerves it has initiated, you choose to keep your attention pointed at the passing scenery now zipping by in parallel with the train’s increasing speed.  

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” His voice is light with a deep, husky undertone that glides through the air.  

You look up to find that he isn’t even looking out the window. You swallow, finding it bizarre that he’s staring at you so intently. “Indeed.”

“Traveling?”

You nod.

“Going anywhere in particular?” He tilts his head curiously; a motion almost child-like in nature and it makes you relax for the first time since you started this solo venture.

“Nope.”

He smiles, eyes crinkling at the edges. “So your plan was to just sit on this train and look out the window?”

“Pretty much, yeah” You shrug, sensing your anxieties dissipate as he does not seem to pose a threat of any kind.

He chuckles softly. “But don’t you want to go out there and really feel the earth. Really experience being alive on this planet one last time?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“It’s the end of the world. What do you have to lose?”

He was right, and your excuses don’t even sound convincing to yourself anymore.

“So what exactly are you proposing?”

“This train loops around the entire continent. I say we get off at each stop and do one thing we’ve always wanted to do.”

“We?” You’re thrown off by how easily he placed the word in his sentence. How he didn’t even hesitate to include you in his spur of the moment proposal.

He nods.

“Together?” You ask again, still skeptical.

He laughs softly; looking down and back up again with a playful smirk.

“What if we want to do different things?” You counter, still unsure why you are playing along with this stranger who hasn’t even introduced himself. 

“Ok. We’ll get off at each stop and do one thing you’ve always wanted to do.”

“You’re sure putting a lot of bets on someone you don’t even know.” You comment, waiting to see how he’s going to react.

There’s a peculiar look in his eyes, one that speaks of anticipation precipitously lost to the wind. He drops his gaze momentarily, smiling to himself before looking up at you once more.  

“Or you could say I’m going all in on someone I would like to get to know.” There’s cheerfulness in his voice that you haven’t heard in a long time, an unfamiliar yet heart racing aura of beginnings rather than the familiar imminent end that has surrounded your life for months. It makes you smile, but you can’t help but notice the sad glint in his eyes merely seconds before it’s gone.

“I…actually haven’t really thought about what I want to do.” You confess, diverting your attention to the landscape outside. Your life had always been planned. Whether it was wandering down paths that others had led you towards or the world leaving you no alternative option, you had never been offered the freedom of uninhibited choice. It was like the events had already been written, and you were just living it out like a character in a story everyone already knows the end to.

“Maybe you shouldn’t think about it.” His voice startles you, making you realize you had paused mid conversation.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve found that overthinking leads to indecisiveness.” He tilts his head, analyzing your reaction as if waiting for a specific response.

“I’m not indecisive, and I don’t overthink.” You deny, despite knowing full well you are and have always been.  

He doesn’t look convinced. “Ok, then you’re afraid of regrets?”

“I’m just…I dunno…scared?”

He nods, displaying that he understands what you mean. “But you are here now, so you must’ve found some source of courage.”

You wouldn’t really consider your decision to stay on earth courageous. To you it was more like the final act of rebellion you had the chance of carrying out, not that you ever came close to rebelling in the past.

“Well?” The train has stopped, and you can tell he’s waiting for you to decide to get off with him or not.

It’s not forceful or pressuring in anyway, but communicates an air of patience you find to be very comforting. And there’s something about the way he speaks to you, the way he gauges your response as if he already knows what you’re about to say that inclines you to believe he knows more about you than logically possible for someone you just met. Maybe you were just easy to read, or this guy is just really good at reading social cues. Whatever it may be, you had two seconds to make your decision, and if the past has taught you anything, you already know that there’s no turning back.

…

Getting off the train, you’re surprised by the number of people still around and the cultural music dancing through the air. You expected the city to be less crowded and the mood to be more somber, a scene that makes the end of the world more obvious, in what way you weren’t sure, but definitely nothing close to what you were currently presented.  

“They’re just here, like us, enjoying these last days.” He blinks slowly, somehow able to tell that the scene has left you dumbfounded.

“I guess I just expected something different” You reply, still looking around at the people laughing and chatting away in the outdoor seating areas of restaurants and coffee shops.  

“Only 1% of the population left, and most of them probably didn’t live in old towns like this.” He glances at you from under the sunhat he had put on right after exiting the train.

His response puts a smile on your face. A picture of a smiling Hoseok and Yoongi flashes through your mind as you are remembered how they spoke about the privileged. It had been a long time since your mood has felt this light.

“So are you going to properly introduce yourself? Or am I going to have to ask you questions?” You narrow your eyes, feeling mischievous all of a sudden.

He laughs, eyes crinkling at the edges again. “It’s the end of the world. I could tell you anything and it wouldn’t even matter.” He skips a few feet ahead of you before twirling around and offering you his hand.

You’re surprised by your own lack of hesitation as you reach out almost instinctively.

“Wow, that was easier than expected.” He comments, referring to how quickly you accepted his offer compared to your obvious indecision back on the train, eyes almost wide as he gives your hand a light squeeze, making sure that it was indeed real, and his eyes weren’t just playing tricks on him.  

“It’s the end of the world.” You shrug, repeating the words he had been reiterating since the two of you met. An unfamiliar fullness engulfs your heart, and you wonder if the boy next to you feels it too. You don’t remember the last time you had held someone’s hand like this or if you had ever held a hand that fit to yours so perfectly.  

“Jungkook.” He suddenly breathes out, probably noticing the way you’ve been staring at your interlinked hands like he would suddenly let go or disappear into thin air.

“Huh?” You look up almost dazed.

“My name. It’s Jungkook.” He smiles, gripping your hand a bit tighter.

“Oh, um, I’m Y/N.” You response almost awkwardly, unprepared for his sudden revelation of sorts, trying to recall why the name seemed familiar while at the same time knowing with the utmost certainty you had never known a person with that name.  

He bobs, the expression on his face making you almost suspect that this wasn’t new information to him.  

“So what would you like to do, Miss Y/N?” He gestures at the completely foreign town, the lake and mountains not too far in the distance.

“I don’t know.” You reveal truthfully, not having thought this far yet. You were kind of just banking on intuition, but you were so caught up analyzing him along with your own shifting disposition that you hadn’t actually thought about the actual world and what you wanted to do. “With the virus and all, I had never made a bucket list or anything. I just assumed I would never get a chance to come to places like this anyways.”

“Even when it was nearly eradicated?”

“Then came this whole comet ordeal.” You sigh. “End of the world, remember?”

“Not like I could forget.” He starts swinging your interlinked arms causally. “Shall we just walk around then? Explore some abandoned buildings that may or may not be haunted.”

“You can’t seriously believe in ghosts, can you?” You cock a brow. “In this day and age?”

He cackles. “I was just testing you.”

“Sure you were” You flash him the look, but it doesn't last before you’re consumed by his contagious laughter.

It wasn’t long before the two of you stumble upon a rather decent looking lodging facility, not that you were looking for anything fancy. The walls were made of stone, a suitable complement to the cobblestone roads you had been walking along since leaving the train station, with ivy crawling up the sides and lining the windows. The building gave off the impression that it was an affordable choice for two broke travelers, not that money really mattered anymore.  

“We should probably put some of our stuff down and explore the city.” Jungkook suggests, looking up from the map on his phone.

You exhale slowly, almost having forgotten how heavy your backpack weighed on your shoulders. The sun had moved to the middle of the sky, causing beads of sweat to form and start sliding down your forehead. It wasn’t extremely hot, but you had opted to wear a few extra layers in an attempt to keep your bags a bit lighter.

Following him into the lobby, you don’t expect Jungkook to arrange a room for you as well, but he comes back with two keys to two separate rooms.

“Thanks” You voice softly as hands one of them to you.

“It would probably be safer to stay in the same room, but I don’t want you to think I’m some perverted stalker trying to take advantage of you.”  

You smirk before failing to contain your own laughter. “I already assumed you were.”

He rolls his eyes. “Just let me know if you need anything, ok?”

You nod, glancing at him one last time before heading towards your room. He seemed concerned, or his mind was thinking about something else.

The room smelled moist and musky, with an almost rotten scent, like it hadn’t been cleaned in quite some time. Not that you were expecting some pristine hotel room or sterilized classroom like the facilities back in the cities during the viral outbreak, but it was pretty clear the place hadn’t been tidied in weeks. The bed sheets were unwashed, and the trash bins hadn’t even been emptied.

You walk over to open a window, hoping the air outside would somehow neutralize the pungent odor. Just as you were contemplating going over to suggest exploring the markets, you hear a knock at your door.

“Who is it?” You call out, hoping that it was just Jungkook coming back to check up on you.

There’s no answer, but you can hear the pounding get louder, like whoever was on the other side was trying to break down the door. There’s a loud crack as the wooden door pane splinters, the rusty knob just falling off and rolling across the floor. You’re frozen in place, eyes full of fear as you stare at the large man standing at the entrance.

He slowly walks towards you with a frown on his face, blocking your view of the hallway and only escape.

Before you could scream, you hear a loud bang and the next thing you know, the man was on the ground. Your eyes immediately dart up and to your uttermost relief, you see Jungkook with a lamp clasped in his hand, eyes wide with alarm.

“We need to get out of here” He exhales, quickly grabbing your hand and making a run for it.

You don’t get a chance to look back, all you can focus on is keeping up with Jungkook’s speed as he leads you back out to the street and navigates through the crowds of people.

“Wha-how did you…?” You look at him and back in the direction the two of you ran from, mind still reeling from the hasty course of events.  

“It was my bad really, I should’ve know most places aren’t safe anymore.” He shakes his head, looking around at the people still gathered in large crowds when you’re finally at a safe distance from the lodge. “Maybe that’s why everyone is here out in the open.”

“Hey, it’s ok, we’re fine and there’s only like three weeks left anyways” You give his hand a tight squeeze, unsure of why you felt so compelled to make him feel better. Perhaps it was the sadness in his eyes, something you can’t seem to ignore because it looked so familiar yet you’re unable to comprehend it fully.

He sighs. “Three weeks…are you the type who prefers to count down?”

You want to forget about it, to not be constantly reminded that the world you once knew is gone and these last moments will soon be swallowed in the same way. But no matter how hard you try to ignore the thought, it’s always there at the back of your mind, a subconscious countdown that keeps showing up intermittently.

“I just want to be as prepared as possible, and I don’t like surprises.”

“Somehow that’s not so surprising.” He smiles for the first time in a while, and you don’t miss the hint of playfulness in his words. It’s reassuring and quells some of your anxiety.

“You don’t seem to mind this whole ordeal.” You suddenly blurt out. Ever since you met this dark haired doe-eyed Jungkook, he’s seemed so…okay with everything, like the end of the world was some kind of adventure and not a dark and dreary end to existence.

He cocks a brow. “Almost getting us into some deep shit back there?”

“No, the fact that we have three weeks left, and then it’s over.” You exhale, letting out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding in for so long and finally feeling that weight being lifted off your chest.

His features relax as he turns to face you. “I’m looking forward to what lies beyond the end and in the meantime, making the most of what we are given now.”

You don’t quite understand what he means, and there are so many questions you want to ask, but the determined look in his eyes makes you wonder if you’re missing something deeper, something he wants to convey but is waiting for you to reach your own conclusion.

“Beyond the end?”

He chuckles lightly. “Like how people say endings give birth to new beginnings?”

“You sound like my mom.” You huff, knowing that he’s just playing around again and avoiding the real answer to your question.

“Do you miss her?” He suddenly asks.

“She was never really around much. Neither was my dad.” There’s an extended pause as Jungkook waits for you to continue, almost like he senses there’s more you want to say. “My brother Yoongi was my rock, the only person in my life that I could turn towards for guidance like an actual parental figure. My parents were loving and all, but being adopted, they were just nice picture parents. They didn’t offer me the kind of depth I needed. And my brother, you know, was older and I’m sure he didn’t think much of it at the time, but his advice was something I always took seriously, whether it was subconscious or not. His opinions impacted a lot of my decisions in life…” You trail off, thinking back to all the decisions you had made because Yoongi had expressed some form of bias towards it and still question to this day if they were the right ones. It’s not like you had that many regrets, but you can’t help but wonder if your life would’ve turned out differently had you made more choices independently. “You know I could’ve just said fuck it and did the thing I actually wanted to do.”

“Well, here’s your chance.”

…

The two of you decide that the safest place to sleep is the train.

Though it was often crowded and smelled of human sweat, it was still better than figuring how to set up a tent or having to climb a tree. And after the incident at the lodge, neither of you really wanted to risk it again. Besides, spending one or two days in one city is more than enough to grab some local food and do some sightseeing. You also realize that all of the towns sort of start blending into one another, like the days you’re still trying not to countdown. You’ve gotten to the point where it doesn’t bother you as much, at least not when you’re with traveling with someone you’ve grown too fond of too quickly, but in the best way ever.  

“I guess I really didn’t think any of this through, but none of it really matters now, does it?”  

You were trailing behind him in the orchard, the sun’s rays filtering through the leaves casting moving patterns on the ground. Spending the past few days visiting gardens and vineyards had been more fun than you had expected. The fruit was sweet and the flowers were bright and lively. Each farm you visited looked to stretch on for miles and miles, twisting and twirling along the hills and rivers. You had always been told that beauty existed in the most unexpected of places, and you were finally given the chance to witness it for yourself.

“You know there’s no point in living every day thinking about the fact that you’re going to die anyways.” He takes a bite of the apple he just picked off of one of the lower branches of the tree. The sound so crisp and juicy, you can feel your mouth salivating.

You release a light chuckle. “You’re telling me this when it’s literally the end of the world?”

He turns to toss you an apple. “I’m advising you to stop thinking about endings.”

Catching it in your hands, you stare at the intermingled colors for a moment, red, yellow, and a tad bit of green merging but never really mixing to become one. Taking a bite you realize its sweetness is lace with a tangy after taste, like those bittersweet endings you’ve come to know so well.  

“I used to come to these places filled with so many thoughts on how to remember the details that I forget to enjoy the actual experience.” You pause, taking the time to decide if you wanted to continue.

Jungkook doesn’t make a sound, no signal to hint that he was going throw in commentary or interrupt your train of thought. You turn to glance at him, wondering if he’s wrapped in his own contemplation, only to find that he just looking at you, staring so intently you have to look away as you feel the blood rush to face.

“You’re still afraid of losing your memories, huh?”

It leaves his lips as a whisper, so soft that you are compelled to believe he was just mumbling to himself. You want to linger over his interesting choice of words, but you try not to think much of it and continue.

“So I tried to reason that if the journey is what we should be focusing on, I should just set goals that I’ll never reach. That way I wouldn’t have to deal with endings or being directionless in life.” You laugh. “And of course that backfired.”

“Continuously chasing after something you’ll never obtain?” He tilts his head towards the sun, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

You observe his side profile, visually drawing the outline of his silhouette and carving the image of his physical form into your brain knowing that it will last only as long as the end of time will allow.

“I just don’t like endings…or goodbyes…or even the thought that this is all there is to it.” You murmur, shifting your eyes back to the ground.

“There’s always more too it than you think.”  

“And then I read somewhere that people don’t remember what you do but they remember how you made them feel.” You don’t know where you’re going with your outburst of thoughts, and maybe the diminishing days are convincing you to let it all out before it’s too late no matter how nonsensical everything you are saying is.  

The breeze blowing by emphasizes the brief silence that follows, in which only the gentle rustling of leaves can be heard. You don’t know what else to say. You’ve never gotten this far in a conversation where your thoughts have been unhindered and you hadn’t planned an entire speech out. At this point you’re just waiting for him to respond, to tell you that you should stop thinking about uselessly irrelevant things or at least question why you’re telling him all this.

You watch as he turns to face you, not having realized you had closed the distance between you whilst ranting. He was so close you can almost feel the light brush of his shirt as it lifts up slightly in the wind and the heat of his body radiating off his smooth skin. His gaze is distracting. It’s something you’ve learned over the past week and then some. The way his dark pupils twinkle mysteriously almost mimicking those of someone’s you will never forget, but there’s something different about his. His eyes reflected the sunlight like there were stars inside.

You’re so enraptured by his beauty that you don’t realize he’s reduced the remaining space between the two of you to almost nothing, lips just millimeters away now. Without another thought, you lean forward and kiss him, mouth clumsily crashing with his. You can feel his lips curve into a smile as he kisses you back much in a much more composed and practiced manner, like he has done it a million times before, only you know that’s not possible. He breaks free temporarily only to murmur one sentence in response.

“I’ll always remember the way you made me feel.”

…

Time starts to fluctuate in ways you begin to lose track of.

Sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night confused about where you were and frantically searching for something to calm your racing thoughts. You have dreams about different phases of your life, places you’ve been, people you used to know, only they are distorted in ways that make them almost unrecognizable. And then when you try to dig them up from your memories, you find that they are lost and everything has changed.

Now you find solace in the moonlight pouring through the curtain windows of the train and the solidity of Jungkook’s hand intertwined with yours as his jacket covers both of your bodies. The way he never leaves your side is unusual for someone you didn’t even know existed until about two weeks ago, and yet he gives you no reason to doubt that he would ever leave.

It’s something you’ve too grown familiar with, the scent of his body and the warmth of his smile. And as you walk the streets of foreign cities, navigating through crowds of strange people whose faces you won’t even remember, you choose to inscribe the details of his features in your memoirs, the softness of his skin, the width of his shoulders, the veins on his forearms...

You’ve learned that he enjoys gazing at large bodies of water, lakes, rivers, and oceans, which is why you find yourself on the beach at the last stop of your journey.

“Would it make sense to say I’ve always liked being alone, but I’m not too fond of being lonely?”

He takes a minute to contemplate your seemingly contradictory statement.

“Makes perfect sense to me.” He absentmindedly tosses a seashell at the incoming wave. It’s swallowed instantly, and all you can focus on is the foamy ripples that wane back into the seemingly endless blue. “I think what makes us feel lonely is being with people who don’t really understand us, and that doesn’t happen when you’re alone since you’re just by yourself. ”

“Wow, you’re the first person who hasn’t just told me I’m just being anti-social…well, technically the second.” You smile, breathing out slowly. “I think you and my brother, Yoongi, would’ve gotten along pretty well.”

“Did he leave?”

You nod, recalling the last image of him still safely tucked away in your memories.

“And you wanted to stay to enjoy these last few weeks.”

You arch a brow, having expected him to ask why you didn’t leave rather than stating the exact answer you would’ve given him had he asked.

“How’d you guess?”

He laughs. “I figured, since you don’t seem bothered wasting all this time with me.”

“True.” You smile. “Although I wouldn’t call it wasting…”

The salty sea breeze is something you definitely didn’t have the luxury of smelling growing up. This is your first time visiting the beach, first time seeing the ocean. Each day you’ve spent on this adventure of sorts with Jungkook has been a first…and a last now that you think about it.

“You’re right. I couldn’t have asked for a better end to life on earth.”

…

Home.

It’s not a concept you are familiar with in the traditional sense. It’s not a feeling you’ve experienced first hand nor is it a place you’ve truly been to.

But looking into Jungkook’s eyes you can see it.

You can see it in the way he looks at you, the way he embraces you in his arms not because it's the end of the world and there is no one else to hold, but because it's where you belong and neither of you would have it any other way. 

“This can’t be it.” You choke out, already losing yourself to the rush of tears, though you had tried so hard to keep it together until the end. “W-we j-just met…”

He doesn’t say anything, but instead holds you tighter.

“I never even asked you anything about yourself. All I did was ramble on and on about me, throwing all my stupid thoughts out there like any of it mattered.” You’re tears won’t stop. You had always hated endings; putting the utmost effort into not caring so you wouldn’t have anything you were afraid of losing. But you just couldn’t do it. Not with him.

He flashes you one last smile as he gently cups your tear-streamed cheeks in his hands, a gesture that is not overpowered by a deep sense of hollowness but rather reflects an almost peaceful ray of hope.

“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here.”

…

...

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched him die. I just remember always crying until I have no tears left to shed. But he always gives me that reassuring look, with those stars in his eyes and that twitch of his soft lips like it isn’t the last time, that we’ll for sure meet again.” You release a trivial laugh, already feeling the effects of the alcohol. “Of course, I never pick up on it until I’m about to wake up.”

The bar was dim and comparably quiet, being that it was only you and Namjoon sitting at the counter. It was a Monday night, not exactly the best of days to get drunk, but it’s not like you really cared, though you probably should. You had invited the entire lab out for dinner to celebrate the publishing of your most recent paper, which turned out quite pleasant and ended roughly an hour ago. All the other students and professors had gone home.

“He’s always waiting.” You murmur, staring at the shot glass in front of you, still talking as if you were by yourself, reiterating the words that continuously circle back in your head.

Namjoon looks up, startled by your sudden comment after a lengthy pause.

“I never have to look for him because he always comes back to me.” You scoff, bringing the glass up to your lips, tilting your head, and letting the liquid burn down your throat. “And then when I react like I’ve just met him for the first time, he just flashes that gentle smile of acceptance like I didn’t just break his heart.”

Your bottom lip quivers, and before you know it, tears are streaming down your face. God, you feel ridiculous.

“And that happens every time?” Namjoon’s voice is barely a whisper, his eyes focused on his own glass.

“Never misses a beat.” You sniffle softy, picking up a napkin to dot away your tears. “I thought I was ok, but I guess I am insane.” You laugh pathetically.

“I understand. He means a lot to you.”

“He’s the kind of forever that never changes, the kind of time that does not reach an end just to continue that moment you’ve always wanted to last for an eternity.” You don’t even know what’s gotten into you, and though you’re aware of the mess you must look like right now, you can’t seem to pull it together.

There’s a long pause, and nothing but the sound of stifled music and distant footsteps can be heard.

“Professor Y/L/N, I know it’s not my place to be curious about your personal life, but can you really not think of a single person that resembles him, whether it is in the past or now?” Namjoon voice is more desperate than he probably intended, but any could tell you were not being quite yourself.

A forced smile makes it’s way to your lips as you shake your head. “He was always exactly what I needed. He was always too good to be real.”

“It’s not impossible.”

“It’s bad to be too dependent on other people.” You flash him an amused look, not really knowing what you are saying anymore as your head begins to spin from the alcohol. “And please, please, don’t get me wrong. I’m not weak or insecure.”

Namjoon doesn’t respond, sensing your tipsiness.

“It’s not that he gives my life meaning or that he makes me feel complete.” You run your hands through your hair, trying to keep your cool, but anyone could tell you’re losing it. “He’s the only truth in a world of lies. Even when I’m not aware that everything around me is merely a dream, he always feels like the only thing that is real, and for him I would be content never waking up because the rest of reality doesn’t even matter. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve long learned to be independent and logical, to refrain from getting lost in dreams, relying on others, and carrying expectations that will only result in disappointment. I’ve practiced the art of self-love for all my life, and I’m fine. My life has purpose, and I am complete the way I am.” You release a shaky breath, palms feeling cold and clammy. “I’ve always felt that I’ve had everything and yet… he offers more.”

You look up to meet Namjoon’s eyes that are nothing but sympathetic.

“How could I not want more?” You croak, beginning to cry again. “I’m so greedy.”

That’s what it is. Always wanting more, never feeling like what you have is enough. When will you learn to be grateful for what is and stop trying to obtain what is not yours to begin with?

“You are not greedy.” Namjoon’s voice is discreet, but firm. “You’re afraid to believe of his existence.”

Your eyes shoot up to meet his. “Because I know he doesn’t exist.”

“Then why do you keep going back?” His question is not for the purpose of attacking you or for blatantly calling you out for something you’ve been guilty of for years, but it catches you off guard, and you suddenly find yourself exposed… vulnerable.

“My research” You reply dryly, maintaining a steady voice amidst the fable you’ve been repeatedly telling everyone who’s ever asked. “I don’t really have a choice.”

Namjoon doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t try to force the truth out of you even though he knows exactly why. “No, I mean, why does your mind subconsciously always go back to him?” He murmurs, staring at the table solemnly.

His query once again seizes you in unfamiliar territory, and for the first time, you don’t know what to say or at least can’t come up with an answer that will not expose the true reason you’ve been experimenting. Because you know Namjoon is right.

You just don’t know how right he is.  

...

[coyotescribbles]

I long to feel my heart burned open wide, 'til nothing else remains Except the fires from which I came Like parted souls, divided for an age, awe and wonder I'd embrace And the world anew again But now, this picture from me fades From still's cold hand there's no reprieve, light the fire in me

((If body horror isn’t your thing, this is your forewarning to not click the readmore))

She'd reached the critical turning point; the processes changing her from the inside out were now perpetuating at a rate that her fragile body could no longer tolerate. Her limbs were no longer discernibly human; her skull, neck, and spine were a mess of cabling and half-formed armored plates; blue and amber lights flickered and pulsed beneath what was left of her skin...

And now her remaining vital organs were being subjected to pressures they had never evolved to withstand.

It had hurt for a while, and now that pain was rapidly approaching its upper limits, bringing with it dizzying uncertainty and fear, but Scarecrow was there - had always been there, would always be there - and that gave Phoebe the courage she needed to remain calm and focused.

That steady presence was what she clung to as she made her way across the warm metal of the ring; if she hadn't had that, she wasn't sure what she would have done. Succumbed to the panic of feeling her heart and lungs giving out, probably.

Clouds had gathered in the distance, and were rapidly approaching by the time she finally dropped to her knees in a shallow depression at the base of a towering monolith; she craned her neck back to look up at it, and for the first time she was truly, fully aware of everything around her. The blistering heat of the sun beating down on her, the dry air that crackled with static and smelled of hot metal and ozone, the stiff wind that had kicked up ahead of the approaching storm...

The way the roiling clouds swiftly blotted out the sun, and sent the temperature plummeting.

The flickering and crashing of the approaching lightning.

Slow, even breaths. Don't be afraid, you aren't alone...

One moment, she was looking up at the blackened sky, breathing in the desert air.

In the next, she no longer had eyes with which to see or lungs with which to breathe. Raw white heat like the heart of a star poured over her, burning away flesh and charring bone, boiling away fat and blood and water. Phoebe wanted to scream, but there was nothing left with which to do so. It wasn't even out of pain - she no longer had the nerve endings necessary to feel it - but sheer terror that even Scarecrow's unwavering presence couldn't mitigate.

And then she felt her carbonized bones splitting, cracking apart and rearranging even as their molecular changes exploded out of control, drawing raw material from what was left of her and from the surrounding environment to build something new in place of what had once been. Cabling snaked around the new supports, and plates grew over those structures - all of it was happening so quickly she could barely process it, and yet at the same time it felt like an eternity, each millisecond stretching out into hours as metal and crystal grew around each other and new limbs wrenched themselves into place and strange new energy coursed through her and then it all stopped.

Phoebe - was she still Phoebe? she wasn't sure - collapsed to the ground in a quaking heap as the eternity of lightning came abruptly to an end and the clouds cleared away. A wavering keen escaped her as intake vents struggled to life, and her power plant flickered and blazed online, and then she was scrabbling at the metallic ground with more limbs than she was used to coordinating, pushing herself to her knees as her vents choked and sputtered and blew out clouds of sooty material.

She gave herself a shake, shedding more clouds of fine black carbon - all that was left of her human life.

And then she was no longer alone on the ring's surface, gentle hands closing around her arms to support her as she finally struggled to her feet, wobbly as a newborn foal. The EM field that mingled with hers felt intimately familiar, and she swung her head around - her neck felt too long, was oriented strangely - to see Scarecrow at her side, an out-of-focus shape that glitched, fuzzed, and blinked in and out as her new "eyes" calibrated themselves, before finally resolving into crystal clarity.

He was even more beautiful than she remembered.

[Ah, there you are, good,] he crooned soothingly as he gently nudged his head against hers, his dimmed faceplate brightening in relief. [Don't worry. I'm here, I have you.]

His voice sounded different. Softer, less stilted... it took her a long moment to realize that that voice was in her head now, not being broadcast audibly for the benefit of human ears. It felt more... natural, like this.

It took another moment to feel out how to communicate in kind.

[I remember... you... being bigger...]

[You used to be much smaller.] Amusement rippled through his field in waves of iridescent green, accompanied by a soft chatter that felt like quiet laughter, and he brought a hand up to touch her cheek as he rested his head against hers. [How do you feel?]

[Wobbly. Like I want to lie back down,] she replied with a brief burst of her own laughter. [And not... quite... real, yet. But alive? I think...]

[Very much so,] he chuckled as he started to steer her towards the shaded spot at the base of the monolith, [if a bit scrambled, but that's to be expected. You'll adjust.]

[You sound like you've done this before.]

[Oh, a few times. It's always unpleasant, but you do learn to recover more quickly.]

The monolith was only a few dozen steps away, but Phoebe's legs were so unsteady that it felt like miles, and she was glad to have Scarecrow there to hold onto - and to catch her when she inevitably stumbled.

And when she finally, gratefully sank back down, folding up her limbs and stretching her neck out over the sun-warmed metal, she was glad to feel him settle beside her; his presence was a solid warmth at her back as he rested his head on hers and protectively draped two of his arms over her side. She was distantly aware of clusters of curious onlookers, little constellations of bright, small lights at the edges of her awareness, but in that moment they were unimportant; everything she needed just then was curled around her, watching over her.

[Rest for now.] His voice was soft, barely a whisper. [Let your systems calibrate. I'll be here when you're ready.]

The only response she could manage was a wordless, contented hum as her vision dimmed and all of the tension left her new body. Love, deep and enduring and reassuring, washed over her in brilliant amber waves and lulled her into a relaxed, restful state. Pride, too - he was so very proud of his beloved, for her courage and determination - and a fierce tenderness that washed the fear and uncertainty of the day away like dust and coaxed a soft purr from her throat.

Her own loved echoed back to him, weary but brilliant, and for a long time the two of them were content to simply lay curled together, basking in one another's energies.

Lay me down, and wash this world from me Open the skies, and burn it all away 'Cause I've been waiting, all my life Forever waiting, shine your light on me

'Cause I've been waiting, all my life just waiting For you to shine, shine your light on me

VNV Nation, “Nova”

[ficauthor]

Just a tiny misunderstanding

This is for @sugarglider9603‘s monster pat AU, people have been tossing around this idea of Virgil accidentally marrying Roman for awhile now and I could not help myself. I have been writing this for two days now, sorry if there are any grammar mistakes.

And thank you sugar for answering my asks about the au, and @broadwaytheanimatedseries thank you for telling me about the lore and different things about the universe. I hope you both enjoy.

Also I’m gonna post this on my ao3 of the same name so don’t freak if you see it there.

(also I based the fae marriage thing on how the Greeks used to propose cause I’m a nerd)

((Also also Roman’s mothers names are based off of names from the Victorian era cause why not))

Word count: 8,124

Honestly Virgil wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, he wracked his brain to think but honestly, there was nothing. The only thing that he’d done that could have been of some concern was when he was hanging with Roman he tossed him an apple and had misjudged the space thus hitting the other in the face. But that was an accident and Roman didn’t really seem hurt.

That’s Fae magic for you, his only response was to grin widely and kiss Virgil passionately. A strange form of reassurance but Roman had been and reacted weirder so Virgil had tried to brush it off. But over the next few weeks he was acting…

Strange

Not in a bad way, but he was more affectionate and…

More protective?

Virgil couldn’t be certain about that one though that was until.

“Your fairy prince is acting unusually,” Logan commented hardly looking up from his book. It was a formal title for Virgil’s boyfriend, but it was far less formal than it used to be.

The statement, however, sent a small shock of panic through Virgil’s system, if Logan had noticed to then…

“Care to explain that statement, Lo?” Virgil asked fear encroaching on his mood, but he only let frustration taint his voice.

Logan saw right through it, he sat up straighter in his chair, placed his bookmark (a woven charm from Patton) into his book (again from the kind-hearted giant) and spoke again, however his voice was much softer like he was afraid of spooking Virgil. Like Virgil was a deer in the woods that needed to be coaxed.

“I’m sensing you noticed it too?” Logan asked though he wasn’t great at reading other peoples emotions he’d known Virgil for almost all of his life.

Virgil sighed and collapsed on Logan’s lap rather dramatically (what could he say Roman was rubbing off on him) his back leaning on the armrests.” Don’t get me wrong I appreciate all of the extra affection he’s giving me… but,” Virgil furrowed his brow remembering the other night.

They’d just finished, well a rather heavy make-out session, they hadn’t gone much farther but they both were certainly on an emotional high. Then Roman had looked out, to the side just beyond Virgil, he’d gone to follow his gaze but the other took his cheek gently in his warm hand,” don’t worry about it love,” the way he said it sent a shiver down Virgil’s spine, that someone so powerful would care for him so much. But there was an underlayer there, something under his affection that he couldn’t quite place.

Which was fair the other wasn’t quite human, so of course, his expressions would be different than Virgil was accustomed to, but this was one he’d never seen before. It was almost guarded, but then it was gone and Roman was asking if Virgil wanted to cuddle and watch a magic projection.

Virgil of course agreed, the system of crystals that the fair people had that could broadcast moving images that told stories was breathtaking to the dark man, it wasn’t anything like human’s modern technology.

“Virge? Virgil?” Logan was shaking his shoulder.

Virgil was on the floor now and Logan was kneeled in front of him, his brows furrowed as he gently shook the younger male.

“Huh?” Virgil was dazed the dregs of the memory still pulling him in, and there was something…

Something there in the corner of the room.

“You weren’t responding, you appeared to be, ah, spacing out.” Logan spoke his normally restrained tone painted ever so slightly with a thin coat of concern.

Virgil blinked further pushing himself out of the memory, he also tore his gaze from the spot he’d been staring at blankly, there was nothing there anyways,” had I?” the blue-clad man nodded,” sorry L, it’s just,” he chewed his lip back and forth playing with the muscle nervously trying to  calm himself. “It’s just that roman is starting to worry me.”

Logan made a face,” if he’s threate-“

“No nonono!” Virgil cut him off frantically, he didn’t want his friend to enter what he’d dubbed, the mama bear mode,” if anything he’s been much more affectionate than normal, almost like he’s making up for something. And he’s always so tense, and even when we’re cuddling it’s like he’s waiting for something,” Virgil felt ill at the thought a pressure rising in his throat at what could cause his boyfriend to be…

“It’s almost like, he’s scared…” Virgil’s voice was small.

Logan nodded,” well perhaps there is some sort of fae event going on currently, perhaps he is just nervous,” Logan offered,” to be far he does participate in the fae equivalent of professional make-believe perhaps that is what has put him on edge.”

Virgil shook his head, he wasn’t looking Logan in the eye anymore the overwhelming sensation that he was going to throw up was tangent and pushing in on all sides now. “He doesn’t have a performance coming up, and that’s different, he’s always,” Virgil searched around the room eyes flitting from corner to corner as he tried to find the words,” more collected. I don’t know.”

Virgil’s voice cracked at the last three words; he’d been really trying to figure out what was wrong. But every time he asked Roman managed to distract him or change the subject. Did he hate him now? Was he being overly affectionate to make up for the fact that he was going to break up with him soon? Was he-

“Virgil,” His friend made a face, his perfectly pushed back hair falling out of place slightly,” in for four Virge,” he said calmly.

The dark clad man was already hyperventilating he hadn’t even noticed he was so busy trying to figure out what was wrong with his boyfriend that he was hardly able to focus. His sweaty hands were balled up clenching his tattered cloak the familiar coarse fabric bringing him to reality a little bit.

But still the worried thoughts dumped on him like a snowstorm, kicking up occasionally appearing to get lighter but then the heaviness was there again, thick, cloying and sticky, not leaving and chilling him to his core. His head felt like it was being squeezed he couldn’t leave, and he felt like he was watching a stranger in a daze.

Logan’s soft words filtered in and out of his warped pained reality, it was like his ears were an out of tuned radio struggling to stay connected and pick up a signal.

Thoughts blurred…

Was Virgil even breathing? He felt constricted and hot and like he was gasping for breath like a snake was constricting on his lungs.

What was that voice?

Who was there?

  Why were they helping him?

His focused on the sounds of the voice, it finally registered, that was his best friend. And slowly his breathing slowed a little and the violent feeling that he was going to throw up subsided a little.

Once he’d finally managed to school his breathing again Logan was still going through his breathing exercise count.

They were silent for a moment, nothing exchanged between the pair as Logan allowed him to catch his breath,” I am going to get Roman,” Logan said.

Virgil was frantic again,” what no what if someone in the village sees him? What if the others fre-“

The other put up a hand to stop him his dark brown eyes swirled with concern,” one,” he raised a finger,” this house,” he gestured around for emphasis,” is just around  the edge of the monster forest, nearly outside of the main radius of the village.”

That made sense to Virgil, he couldn’t really argue with it, his and Logan’s houses were both on the outskirts of the human civilization. Virgil for his anxiety and natural skittishness around others, and Logan because he enjoyed the quiet that then allowed him to do his work. Not to mention no matter anyone’s opinions on monsters and whether they were good or not very few ventured into the forest.

“-econdly,” Virgil hadn’t heard most of the others statement for the first one. Damn it he’d spaced out again, what was with him this afternoon he kept looking into that corner of the room and getting so damn distracted. “Our village was one of the first ones to agree to a tentative peace deal with the monsters under the rulers Joan and Tayln’s behest. This is one of the most open-minded villages to be a part of. No one will attack him.” Logan smirked,” besides most people are afraid of the fae it’s hardly likely they will even have the courage to speak to him to realize he’s far too dramatic and good-willed to actually hurt anyone.”

Virgil chuckled a little,” he is a dork,” he smiled fondly the sentiment loud and clear despite the fact that he hadn’t said it.

His dork.

Logan stood up and brushed off his pants and shirt,” now if you excuse me, I will go fetch his royal pain in the ass and you two will sort out your drama or so help me.”

Virgil nodded, “thanks Logan,” he smiled.

The other nodded and in the next few moments, he was out of the house, the door closing with a soft click. And like that Virgil was left alone in Logan’s house, the sound of a soft fire crackling merrily his only true company.

Virgil eventually stood up his knees creaking slightly in protest, his bones tired from sitting in the same position so long. He stretched his back out arms extended outwards, he slouched over immediately afterwards his back falling into its normal slump.

He needed to do something with himself, something that would take a few moments and free up his mind a little bit from its thoughts.

But what?

He scanned his best friends home searching frantically for something to distract him, he didn’t understand Logan’s collection of crystals. And frankly he was scared to fiddle with them, he’d never been particularly interested in Logan’s books. Even the ones written by Patton bored him. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand. He and Logan had been some of the smartest kids at school, but academia was not something that interested him. And the second he was allowed to he dumped any tolerance he may have had for it.

His gaze flitted to the kitchen, there were pots and pans, and

A tea kettle.

Virgil was up in an instant busying himself with the actions of filling the kettle, setting up three cups and preparing three separate teas. The loose leaves piled in the bottom. Now all that was left for him to do was wait, the soft rumbling of the slow simmering water being a soft comfort.

But his nervous gaze was already searching, around the room some and he searched for some form of entertainment. Again, the crystals were out of the picture, some had enchantments, and others were attached to a system of wires that Virgil didn’t trust his luck to try to tamper with.

The tall bookcases were all filled with research notes, there was only one shelf that Logan had that wasn’t strictly non-fiction. However, even then those were scribed oral folktales that their village had been passing down for generations. Virgil could mess with the fire or cuddle up to the heating stone, but his mind was racing far to fast for that.

Again his gaze snagged on that damn corner, Logan’s house was one of a simple and efficient layout, the kitchen, main entertainment area, and dining room (well it was intended to be a dining room but Logan had long since converted it into a lab and office combo) were all one space divided by small half walls pillars and furniture, the only real rooms were Logan’s bedroom and Bathroom. And there in the far-off corner closest to a window was something.

He couldn’t really see anything at first, but it eventually grew more prominent as he stared on, it was like a mirage in the distance, a distortion from the heat, something intangible and uncertain. In a daze, Virgil stepped forward trying to get a better look at the strange corner.

The house plant in the corner was, well it looked like it was waving, it was akin to when you looked through bubbles but there was no shine just distortion.

Shaky step after shaky step Virgil was feeling his thoughts start to melt away and a soft warbly kind voice was speaking to him.

At first, it was unintelligible, just syllables and letters he was aware of almost as if his head was underwater, but slowly the words grew clearer, as he stepped closer.

He  p

Wee  wa  t   he p

Fo  ow   s

Follo

We want to help

Follow us

Yeah, that sounded reasonable to Virgil for some reason, there was a small worry in the back of his skull, jiggling around something that sounded an awful lot like Logan trying to supply him with information, but his mind was in a daze.

Wil-o’-the-wisp.

The voice told him firmly and helpfully. They were guiding lights, some benevolent, some cruel. And that voice that was supplying the information about them told him not to follow. That it was foolish. But the rest of his mind felt like it was submerged.

Let us help you.

Virgil was tentative that last string of common sense telling him to not listen, telling him to run in the opposite direction. And he almost tugged himself via that string… but then, they said all the needed too.

Answers about Roman

And like that, they had the scissors that they’d needed to cut his link to reality. He was moving forward and was almost within arms reach of the wisp.

It popped out of existence and then it was by the window, the sound of there whispers was drowning it was almost like a shrill loud whistle, it kept his thoughts from functioning and their magic had him ensnared.

Like a fly in a spiders web, he did exactly what it wanted, he opened the large window, an idle thought to close it behind him was there for only a moment but it was quickly abandoned as the honeyed words of promises led him closer and closer to the spider's den.

“You left him at your house alone!?” Roman asked concern lacing his normally regal tone.

Logan’s brow furrowed,” yes what is the matter, Roman? This is exactly why I came to ask you to talk to him. He has been very concerned and your acti-“

Roman was stepping back running forward his wings flapping, he was five feet away almost in the air when Logan jolted realizing the other’s actions were strange. “Roman!” he bellowed as he ran after him.

He’d never quite trusted the fae and this was not helping his case. He wanted to trust the fae, for Virgil, but every time he did the man did something foolish or reckless, or just without any common sense. It was like for him logic was metaphorically thrown out the window. Logan loathed such a thought, he ran after the prince his breath growing labored, “Roman!” he shouted. “Wait just on mome-“

Harsh pressure was digging into his upper arms, and the ground was falling away. A scream ripped out of Logan’s chest as he swung his feet violently, his hands covering his eyes. He’d been comfortable with Patton picking him up, the others large warm hands always stabilized him, and made him feel safe. But this was not safe, Romans hands were warm yes but not the comforting warmth of his Patton. They were long thin spindly fingers and it almost felt like a bird had grasped him.

Logan was swearing up and down his normally low voice a breathless shriek.

Roman apologized but he left it at that until they were descending on Logan’s front lawn.

“What the” Logan took in a few breaths schooling his words and expression,” why Roman?” he asked teeth gritted as he tried to calm his seizing respiratory system.

The prince was shushing him holding a hand to his ear,” do you hear that?” Roman asked with a faint whisper.

“Hear what?” Logan asked voice at a normal tone.

Roman stepped forward and with a quick flash of red magic, he unlocked Logan’s front door and entered his home.  Then Logan could hear it: the loud shrill shriek of his tea kettle screaming through the small house. It was a deafening noise in the otherwise silent home.

Roman was moving through the house frantically examining the rooms, his eyes flashed a glowing red a few times. The smell of oranges, nutmeg, and sandalwood, which were the familiar smell of Roman’s magic wafted through the entire house as Roman seemed to perceive something that Logan couldn’t, and a disconcerting growl escaped deep from his chest.

He took the kettle off of the hot eye a puzzled expression flitting across his face, but then he sized up the teacups and he seemed to be putting together something that Logan couldn’t.

“Roman?” Logan asked he was wrenched with worry his stomach tied in knots and fear was threatening to engulf him.

He’d noticed that Virgil was gone, how could he not, the window was wide open chilling his house with the late fall air and the tea kettle had been screaming only moments before. And Romans actions were not helping with the thick foreboding air that had descended on Logan’s small home. Logan was normally so calm, so collected, he normally put on this front, this air that he couldn’t be affected, but this rattled that like an earthquake to a shabby but well-presented hut.

Roman didn’t respond he was muttering in a language that Logan could not understand and a small flicking blue light that he couldn’t focus on for longer than a few seconds was hovering right by the prince. He continued in a language that Logan could not understand the prince was yelling, shouting something. And while he couldn’t decipher the words, he understood that it was filled with rage and disbelief.

The wispy creature, a wil-o’- the-wisp if Logan was correct (And if he was that thought chilled him to the bone) continued to talk to Roman for what felt like an eternity, and then it vanished, just a pop and it was gone.

“Roman?” he called out again in concern.

Roman jumped he looked over the human a few times, it was like he’d forgotten about him,” Wait here,” he begged.

“If I don’t?” Logan asked the tone catching him off guard.

A sorrowful expression, that’s all Logan could describe of the others face,” then I’ll have to make you stay,” the hollow way he said it, it wasn’t a threat it wasn’t even a promise, it was a regret.

“I’ll stay,” Logan whispered.

Roman nodded the thanks apparent in the motion,” I-I’ll be back.” He walked to the front door before stepping back,” I’ll tell Patton to come over so you’re not alone,” And with that he left Logan alone in the house.

Half thoughts and words were starting to swirl in Virgil’s head again, the blank nothingness that had encompassed his being was fading away, and he was shockingly aware that he was alone in the forest in the center of a damned fairy circle. This was not Romans circle though; this one was circled with entirely different plants and flowers than Romans. Suddenly there was a flash and a tall woman appeared before him.

She was breathtaking, if Virgil wasn’t as gay as they came, he’d probably be taken with her. She like most fair people looked like she could be both 20 and 60 aged and ageless. Virgil realized as the last dregs of the wisp magic faded just how lucky he was that he’d stumbled into Roman’s circle instead of this one all that time ago. Roman looked like a man. A stunning breathtaking man that also looked like a piece of artwork, but except for a few things he looked relatively normal.

This woman, however, defined otherworldly, she looked like she brought definition and weight to the scared whispered folklore of Virgil’s childhood.

The lady spoke, but Virgil didn’t understand the language, she paused and swapped to another. She continued in a few others before Virgil spoke up.

“H…h-hello,” he made a gesture with his hand that might have been intended to be a wave, but he wasn’t quite sure himself.

“Hello,” she paused before smiling,” Anxiety, I believe my son calls you?”

Virgil must have made a face, but he couldn’t be sure his heart was beating so loudly he couldn’t think. None the less she supplied an answer,” Roman,” Virgil nodded now in understanding.

The smile was wider,” you’re so cute I could eat you up!” she exclaimed.

Virgil whimpered, he’d heard that phrase before, from humans and even Patton but this woman, he wasn’t sure of her intentions, regardless of who’s mother she claimed to be. Virgil wrapped his arms around himself hiding them under the cloak so that he could grip his hands around his iron daggers.

Maybe it was a little distasteful to have iron weapons when you had a boyfriend whose main weakness was said weapons and almost those alone, but Virgil liked to think about it as protection in case Roman couldn’t protect him. He didn’t draw them out yet however, the fae were powerful beings with important laws that dictated their magic. If he were to draw a weapon, she’d have grounds to use it against him.

He may be in her territory but because of the circumstances, the law of the fair people might just allow him safety for a bit longer. He just had to watch his next few actions carefully and not offend her.

“Now I know you’re a little skittish but me and my wife have been dying to meet you and Roman has refused to bring you along.”

She said it all in a way that reminded Virgil of his own mother (well it reminded him of the few memories he had of her),” can you believe that? Won’t bring you to meet his own mothers,” she said it was such an air it was familiar enough to Roman’s dramatics that Virgil was relaxing slightly, his grasp on the blades slightly looser, but the grip was tighter in an instant.

He couldn’t be tricked by them even if they were Roman’s parents. The woman walked forward her hands held outwards dramatically,” just so you know there is no funny business, I’m going to take you to my home for tea with my wife.”

Virgil made a noise of protest his hands moving off of his daggers in shock as she put both hands on his shoulders and there was a flash of magic that dragged with it the smell ginger, and a fruity smell he couldn’t place.

Roman was terrified, the second he’d spoken to that wisp he knew that it was one of the chaotic ones, it had chirped off gleefully that it had directed his sweet anxiety to another fae, and not just any other fae his mothers. Gods that made him nervous, if his mothers talked to him? The anxious butterflies that were only caused by his sweet husband were starting to tear up his stomach.

Husband.

If that word didn’t stir up a lot of emotions in him. He was glad that it was Anxiety how had taken the step, he’d long since learned not to push the dark clad man. And he absolutely adores the idea of spending forever with him, but they’d not been dating for that long and had known each other for barely much longer. The commitment of it was terrifying, he barely felt ready for it. But he couldn’t tell the other, not after he’d been so courageous to do so, not after he’d been so bold when he was normally so, well, anxious.

“Roman!” A peppy voice called out.

He looked down, oh it was Patton, good because he didn’t want to make another stop or to search for him,” can you go to Logan house and stay with him something is going on and I told him I’d send you over.”

“Is he okay?” Patton asked his pointy ears tilting down.

Roman was already looking off in the distance,” oh, yes he’s fine, I just uh my mothers, uh, Anxiety, I gotta go.”

Patton nodded and began the trek to the scholar’s home.

The prince hardly thought as he made the trip to his mothers’ home, his all-encompassing thoughts were:

Get to Anxiety

Make sure he wasn’t having a panic attack

Protect him.

His mothers had never really been part of the human hunts that so many of their elite fae peers had been a part of, they were ahead of their time in that aspect. But they’d also never interacted with humans directly, their circle was too deep in the forest; when the peace treaties were sent by the two human rulers the messengers ended up finding Roman instead. Which was fine his mothers’ didn’t find an offense to that they enjoyed their seclusion, but they didn’t understand humans’ limits, they didn’t-

Roman’s stomach churned at the thought, if they exposed him too much to certain magics, he might fall ill, that was a mistake they’d fallen upon a few months back. The human vessel just wasn’t durable, it was fragile and as strong as his beloved was, he still was limited. Roman’s stomach felt much like it had a mind of its own crawling up his throat, Anxiety had iron daggers. He hid them from Roman and tried not to show them to him.

But none the less Roman knew about them, how could he forget when anxiety had pulled them against him at their first meeting. A guarded man like him, of course, had weapons, and considering that he had to fight from an early age to survive Roman didn’t care, Anxiety would never hurt him, and considering how much power he had he couldn’t blame him if maybe Anxiety just wanted something to make him feel safe.

But if Anxiety got scared he might pull them on his mothers, and then, then Roman’s mothers might get offended and his mothers were forces to be reckoned with when they were offended.

Before the prince knew it he was at his mothers’ cottage, they did have a castle but they often stayed in the cottage for comfort, and from what Roman had told them they knew that Anxiety had a nervous disposition and was prone to getting scared easily.

Roman threw the door open to the main entertainment space,” Mother! Mama!” he shouted,” were is he!”

Virgil was quite nervous there were two very powerful fairy queens attending to him handing him food and drinks and talking to him. The taller very muscular one, the one that had greeted him in the clearing was sat on a chaise. She’d greeted herself as Ada after they’d gotten into the fairy realm. Once she had directed him into the home she was covered with a bright flash of warm light and her appearance fell. She was still beautiful, still had terrifying pointy teeth but she looked far more human. She still had the pointed ears and the face and body markings that denoted she was something else but the aura she had before faded away.

As it did she apologized informing him that she still had to keep up appearances and if she startled him it wasn’t her intent.

And the other slightly shorter one was sitting in a wood carved chair that was decorated with the most dramatic curls and delicate flower petals. She was also beautiful, she had a round large nose and big expressive eyes, but they were lined with dramatic face markings and makeup. She was kind of adorable in a strange sense, very round and huggable, but there was something behind her eyes that told Virgil that he should still be weary of her.

And they were doting on one another, they threw soft actions and kisses at one another like he and Roman threw nicknames and cuddles.

“I-is it safe to eat or drink this? Uh- your majesties?” Virgil asked the women holding a sandwich nervously.

The shorter one smiled,” Oh our roman got himself a clever one, didn’t he?” she asked looking up at her wife,” he even makes sure the food won’t trap him!” she preened. “also call me Evangeline, your majesty sounds so formal! And we're practically family!” she smiled at him.

The other woman smiled,” anxiety how did you meet our son?”

Virgil chuckled,” I sort of fell into his fairy circle after getting lost.”

“Why were you lost?” Evangeline asked. “Also, yes you can eat the food we have no intent on trapping you.”

Virgil ducked his head,” well human’s don’t have the best perception of monsters and my best friend was dating Patton-“

“Oh,” Ada cut in,” the giant boy? He’s a friend of Roman’s.”

Virgil nodded,” well I didn’t know Patton was a cool person yet, and I was scared cause all I had been taught was to fear monsters and because I didn’t know how to react I tried to walk home but I’d never been in that section of the forest before and after hours of wandering I fell down a small cliff and into the circle.”

The two women nodded in sympathy,” our raisings were much of the same,” Evangeline added on,” don’t trust the humans don’t talk to them the normal nonsense.”

Ada nodded,” we’re very eager however for this promised new era of peace between us and the humans, the royal Joan and Talyn have only been able to extend to us informal treaties, but we understand it’s tough to erase the years of misunderstandings on our end as well.”

Virgil nodded his arm that had been under his cloak was loose around the hilt almost in a resting state. He picked up his teacup and took a tentative sip. It was a nice spiced blend with just enough sweetener, it was one of the best teas he’d ever tasted.

Suddenly the door was being busted down and the sound of Roman shouting was filling the room.

Logan was pacing up and down up and down, he wanted to follow the fae prince get answers, but something had rattled him and if that were the case then it could be nothing good. Logan’s floor was no doubt being rubbed down from the pacing the varnish slowly getting removed. But Virgil was out there having probably been swept away by the wisps. The situation did not lend itself to, particularly pleasant thoughts.

There was a slight shaking of the ground, Logan’s heart skipped a beat, he knew that thudding rhythm, he flung the door open. Patton wasn’t far away just at the edge of the forest only a few dozen feet from Logan’s house. Logan ran forward the jumped up into Patton’s arms. Patton scooped him up in his arms the warm embrace surrounding Logan and calming his thoughts.

He was able to think more logically now, his thoughts slowly organizing as Patton kissed his forehead,” you okay Lo-lo?” he asked his voice a low rumble.

Logan nodded,” better now, do you understand what’s going on?” he asked.

Patton smiled,” let’s get in your house first and I’ll tell you while we cuddle.” He said stepping forward putting Logan down on the grass gently

“Do you have a potion on you or do I need to grab one from my stash?” he asked, unfortunately his house was far too small for his boyfriend so he had to drink a shrinking potion, both so he could fit for them to cuddle, and so Patton didn’t draw any un-needed attention. While their village was one of the more open-minded, there still were hunters that passed by.

He shook his head nuzzling into Logan’s side,” I don’t have one on me no.”

“I’ll go grab one,” Logan left a soft kiss on Patton’s knuckle.

Patton chuckled at the soft gesture, Logan was only in the house for a second his crate of the potion was right by the door and in a moment Patton was shrinking.

For some reason, maybe it was just the ingredient ratio, whenever Patton took the shrinking potion he was shrunk, thankfully with his clothes, down to a height shorter by just a few inches than Logan. Patton wasn’t holding back anymore he was running forward jumping into Logan’s arms a kiss a whisper away.

He was only a hair away, that question in the air as Logan held him up under his thighs, Logan vanished the remaining distance surging forward. Patton’s tail was wrapped around Logan’s leg , he smiled into the kiss and he could feel the other smiling back as he stumbled into the house eyes closed.

They were chuckling into each other's lips, Logan raised a hand to Patton’s face, he backed away catching his breath. “I love you,” Patton whispered.

“I love you too,” Logan returned the sentiment. He backed away though reality returning to him.

“You’re worried about him aren’t you?” Patton asked.

“Roman told you what was going on?” Logan searched Patton’s face as if he was trying to find an answer.

Patton’s expression was soft,” yeah he told me a little bit, enough that I could gather that his moms had basically kidnapped Virgil.”

“They won’t hurt him right?”

Patton shook his head,” Nah,” he plopped down on Logan’s bed. Logan sat next to him and began to play with his soft hair,” Roman’s just a little bit worried because he doesn’t want his moms to talk to his husband.”

Logan sputtered,” when did they get married!? Why wasn’t I invited to the wedding!”

“Wedding?” Patton asked,” they got a fae marriage.”

“What does that entail? And why didn’t Virgil tell me?!” Logan was standing now Patton’s head falling from his lap and onto the bed.

“Lo-lo,” Patton sat up and wrapped his arms around his lover,” I’m sure there’s a good reason he didn’t tell you. I didn’t even go, apparently, Roman was really caught off guard about it. It hit him in the face so to speak,” Patton chuckled.

“Hit him in the? Patton dear I’m lost what are you talking about?”

“Virgil threw an apple at him and it hit him in the face.”

Logan was blinking taken aback,” apple?” he paused his mind trying to add two and two,” do you mean to tell me that a fae proposal is throwing an apple at your lover?”

“No, that’s the marriage.”

Logan was silent, he was at a loss for words the way Patton said it, so nonchalantly,” okay, you got me, dear, I almost believed you.” It was a good joke, Logan had to admit, that something so mundane something that humans do literally all the time could have such weight attached to it.

Patton’s expression remained serious,” is this not the same for human culture?”

Logan shook his head,” of course not that would be ridiculous, if it were then me and Virgil playing catch with apples as kids would make us married ten times over.”

Patton covered his mouth with his hands,” this means that for Virgil he’s been put into a marriage with Roman for two months that he doesn’t even know about! He hasn’t even told Roman his name yet!”

Logan nodded part of him found some humor in this and eventually he would tease Virgil about this but for the moment being, “I do not believe that this will go ideally, most likely Virgil is going to panic.”

“It’ll work out,” Patton said nuzzling into the scholar's neck pulling him onto the bed,” Roman revealed to me that them being married made him uneasy since they hadn’t been dating that long but he was under the impression that it was what Virgil wanted.”

Logan groaned chuckling all the same,” they are fools sometimes but at least Roman is not being reckless by desiring to marry a man he when he doesn’t even know his name.”

Patton sighed,” I’ll be glad when Virgil finally tells Roman his name, it gets confusing sometimes to keep straight what I’m supposed to call him.”

“I agree, but it is a big step for him, he doesn't want to just tell him he wants to give it to him.”

Patton sat up,” give it to him? Does he know how big of a deal that is?”

Logan nodded, once he and Patton had introduced themselves, they had said ‘you may call me’ it was subtle but very deliberate. They couldn’t have it used against them because of very careful wording, not that Roman would but it was good practice to measure one’s words exactingly near the fae.

“Virgil is very aware, he’s wanted to tell him for a while, but he keeps getting frightened, not that I can blame him it is a rather large step in their relationship.”

Patton snorted,” Bigger than accidental marriage?”

“Yes, well,” Logan was chuckling too,” biggest intentional step then.”

They were laughing now holding one another in each other’s arms just enjoying each other’s company. Logan felt calm and at peace, it wasn’t very often that his mind could be calmed, a good book, some fascinating research, those did the trick for a while, but nothing really relaxed him like his boyfriend.

Patton was swirling patterns onto his arm eyes closed, Logan took in the sight. His soft turquoise almost star-studded fur, his slight under bite. His round nose and glasses

All perfect.

Logan raised a hand an lightly brushed his thump on Patton’s cheek, the other opened his blue eyes lazily. They looked like perfectly cut crystals to Logan, magnified perfectly by his slightly askew glasses.

“Do you ever think about it?” Patton asked softly his purr vibrating loudly in the cold tinted fall air.

Leaning into the hand his own still idly drawing swirls and patterns into the others dark skin.

“Think about what?” Logan asked his heart melting at the way Patton’s face squished into his hand.

Patton was quiet for a moment, Logan almost thought he fell asleep, but his eyes were open again and his words were tentative and soft,” us, one day, getting married?”

Logan’s heartbeat went up to levels that probably put him at risk of a heart attack,” I-I,” he stuttered his mind reeling from the idea. He’d never actually thought about it, he was always so caught up in the moment that honestly, a future was intangible. But hearing that right then,” I am now,” he admitted sheepishly.

“And?” Patton asked voice soft and gentle as he snuggled closer to the scholar.

Logan swallowed his pooling spit and collected his thoughts,” I am not opposed to it, but I am nervous.”

Patton turned his head slightly a brow softly quirked the question in the air,” it is just that, Human’s right now are turning finally to see that just because you’re monsters it doesn’t make you inherently evil, and I will admit the thought of those few that won’t listen to reason scares me.”

Patton grumbled lowly,” well I won't ever let them hurt you Lo-lo.” Patton hugged him close nuzzling his face into Logan’s chest.

“That is not what I am afraid of,” Logan ran his hand through the other's hair, he accidentally bumped his hand into the base of Patton’s antlers. They were just as soft as the rest of him. “I’m afraid of what they will do to you,” Logan admitted not much louder than a whisper. But the words might as well have been a shout.

Patton detangled himself from Logan,” It won’t happen,” Logan went to speak unwanted tears forming in his eyes,” No,” Patton cut him off,” sweetheart listen, it won’t happen. We’re friends with the next in line of the fae royalty, and we know people with direct connections to the human throne, we’re safe.”

Patton grabbed Logan’s hand which was still pinned under his face, he held Logan’s hand to his heart,” I’m safe.”

Roman scanned the room and there closest to the door was Anxiety, he scanned him up and down nervously. One hand was out of his cloak that was good, but the other was in it, no doubt wrapped around the hilt of his dagger.

“R-roman,” Anxiety said, his face relaxing slightly.

Roman put a hand to his husband’s face, Anxiety leaned in ever so slightly,” are you alright my love, no panic attacks?” he asked his red tinted brown eyes scanning his fae for every expression and microexpression he could.

Anxiety smirked,” I’m fine princey, just a little surprised, it’s not every day you get magically kidnapped by fae royalty.”

Roman looked down ashamed,” I supposed that might be my fault, they’ve wanted to meet you for a while now and you’d think they’d have the patience to wait but no,” he looked up at them and shot them a look.

“They did seem eager to meet me yes,” Anxiety agreed, nerves still an undercurrent to his tone but his tone was as calm as it’d been since Roman had heard him that afternoon.

Roman’s mama clapped her hands,” well if you’re done modeling after your mother and being overdramatic,” Roman’s mother made an offended noise, Anxiety made a near-silent chuckle,” we were just about to show your husband your baby portraits.”

“WhAt!” Anxiety shouted his face red as he stood up.

The three fae looked at him bewildered,” is there some sort of human taboo against showing newlyweds one another’s baby portraits?” his mother asked in concern. It was a fair question one he himself was actually wondering now considering his husbands panic.

“I-I no, we,” Anxiety was looking between all three,” married? When?”

Roman studied him carefully, did he hit his head? Had the magic from traveling between realms altered his memories. Roman stepped closer,” are you okay, love?” he put a hand on the others forehead,” are you feeling unwell?”

Anxiety’s eyes were filled with fear and confusion as he looked frantically around. “Hey, hey, hey,” Roman repeated himself a few times,” what’s the matter? Anx dearest,” Roman spoke carefully after he waited for the other to breathe for a moment,” are you alright?”

Anxiety looked up panic still splayed on his face but he was already attempting to cover it up with his normal disinterested expression,” s-since when were we married?!”

“When you threw that apple at me?” Roman said confused.

This deepened Anxiety’s troubled expression,” humans,” his eyes darted to Roman’s mothers. “we, it’s not, I didn’t. besidesIhityouinthefacethat’shardlyromantic!” Anxiety looked over at the two women,” not that I wouldn’t but we just,” he looked back at roman,” we haven’t been dating that lo-“ his voice died in his throat as he gestured wildly trying to explain himself.

“Oh,” Roman said softly as he added it together,” Oh!” he exclaimed hitting himself in the head,” I’m sorry Anxiety I completely forgot humans have different customs.”

Anxiety’s rapid breathing slowed,” you’re not mad at me?”

Roman shook his head, at that moment however his mother decided it would be the perfect moment to speak up,” you-you’re not married?”

Virgil was jumping up again he’d seemed to have only for a moment forgotten about the two women,” no- not that I would- I just- it just- humans don’t normally- after such a- a short period of time.”

Roman was elated, Anxiety didn’t want to get married just yet either, part of him felt bad for feeling relieved but he was glad that they were still on the same page relationship-wise. “Well then,” Roman spoke up,” Mother, mama, this is my boyfriend.”

Anxiety smiled at Roman a soft look in his eyes, they’d have to talk more later but for now, they had Roman’s mothers to talk to.

“So, baby portraits?” his mama asked, perhaps she was trying to smooth over the afternoon, but there was a glimmer of something in her eyes that definitely suggested otherwise.

“Mama!”

“So, humans have an exchange of rings and a huge party?” Roman asked a slight bit of excitement peeking through his voice.

Virgil giggled at his boyfriend, his reaction caused his entire being to feel like it was being swaddled and hugged. It had been a few hours since they’d gotten back from the fae realm, and because of the magic exposure, they decided to continue their conversation at Virgil’s house. His house was much like Logan’s but instead of science stuff and crystals and books, he had different trinkets from Roman, posters of his favorite bard groups, and general décor that tended to fit the macabre.

“Yes, it’s incredibly dramatic,” Virgil said drinking in the others face as they lay next to one another on Virgil’s old rickety bed. “but don’t let that fool you the wedding industry is a sham.”

“Wedding,” Roman said testing out the word as if he were tasting it, Virgil’s heart fluttered at his expression,” Well when we are ready for marriage, I will sweep you off your feet!”

His stomach was exploding with butterflies his heart squeezing at the words ‘when we are ready’ not just him both of them. “So, you’re not disappointed that we aren’t actually married right now?” Virgil asked voice small.

“Anx,” Roman said softly as he pulled the shorter male closer,” of course not,” he was quiet for a beat,” I was actually scared after the initial shock wore off because I hadn’t really realized that I wasn’t ready either.”

Virgil hugged him, Roman embraced him back his fingers playing with his hair they were quiet for awhile neither speaking just enjoying each other’s presence. “Roman?” Virgil eventually spoke. The fae hummed in response his fingers continuing their ministration in Virgil’s messy hair,” sit up?” he asked him.

The prince did disentangle himself with a grumble,” I wanted to cuddle,” he pouted.

“W-we can get back to that,” Virgil promised running a hand through his hair as he too sat up,” I wanted to tell you something.”

“Okay? Roman asked his expression mainly blank but Virgil could see just a small little inkling of confusion.

“My n-,” he took in a shaky breath, he could do this, he wanted to,” My name is-“

His gaze darted up to Roman who’s eyes were as wide as Virgil had ever seen, his mouth was open slightly in shock. “I-I,” Virgil clenched his fists letting the sensation of his fingernails biting into his flesh ground him,” sorry I just got nervous.”

“Anxiety you don’t ha-“

“It’s Virgil!” he exclaimed, he nervously started muttering to himself,” it’s like a band-aid you just gotta rip it off.”

Roman took Virgil’s face in his hands gently,” Virgil,” he said in an almost reverence, it was like before when he was playing out the syllables of 'wedding' but now instead of just tasting it, he was savoring it. “Virgil,” he repeated clearly enjoying the way the word fell off of his tongue and into the air between them.

“I’m going to kiss you now, is that alright with yo-,” Roman warned but Virgil beat him to it, he surged forward his lips crashing into the others. Romans lips were soft plush and felt like he moisturized them regularly. Virgil knew that his were chapped but Roman simply pushed back into the kiss meeting Virgil’s passion.

Roman accidentally pushed too far however and Virgil fell back onto his bed bouncing up a little as they detached slightly. Laughter burst from Virgil’s chest and Roman laughed back, he began to pepper Virgil with kisses every time he came up, he whispered his name like a quiet prayer.

“T-that tickles roman,” Virgil attempted to hold back his laughter.

Roman quirked an eyebrow as he hovered over the other,” oh tickli-“

A knocking from the front door interrupted them, Roman groaned and Virgil let out a laugh,” that’ll probably be Logan, you did just leave him with no expli-“

“I will be opening the door in one minute, if you are not fully clothed by then, then it is your fault!” Logan interrupted again his tone not betraying any amusement.

Virgil could hear Patton exclaim in shock, he laughed as he clambered up to answer the door, and for once there was nothing wrong in his life.

[verycleverboy]

Trump-appointed director for VOA funding board cuts funding for anti-censorship technology used to access VOA news

The Trump administration is withholding $20 million in funding approved by Congress for a U.S. Internet freedom organization, forcing the cutoff Friday of tools used by tens of millions of people worldwide to access the Internet and uncensored news through the Voice of America, officials said.

The head of the Washington-based Open Technology Fund said Thursday that it is being forced to halt 49 of the fund’s 60 Internet freedom projects. The move, according to the head of the fund, affects about 80 percent of the group’s work helping human rights and pro-democracy advocates, journalists and others in 200 countries.

“Most troubling is that these actions will directly strengthen the hands of Internet freedom adversaries, like the Chinese and Iranian governments, who are actively working to undermine freedom and democracy around the world,” the fund’s acting chief executive, Laura Cunningham, wrote in an email to the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

The funding fight is the latest fallout in a power struggle between the Open Technology Fund and the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees U.S. government-funded news outlets.

After his confirmation in June, the agency’s new director, Michael Pack, moved to fire the fund’s board and officers, before being blocked by a federal appeals court from doing so in early July.[...]

The email, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post, states that 85 percent of the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s audience in Iran and 40 percent of its audience in China rely on fund-supported technologies to access content produced by VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcast Networks.

Pack’s moves are controversial among some executive branch security and diplomatic officials battling censorship and surveillance by U.S. adversaries in Iran, China and Venezuela.

(continue reading (and remember, incognito mode is your friend))

First of all, yuck:

I had a few words about Pack back when Trump went on the attack against the Voice of America a few months ago. It’s not the least bit surprising that once he cleared the final hurdle---without resolving any of the questions that held up his nomination in the first place, in case you were curious--he didn’t waste a second in living down to his reputation. 

Pack immediately made his mark by dismissing the directors and advisory boards of all the agency’s divisions and the networks it oversees, demoting most of his agency’s senior leadership, and even going so far as to ban officials from taking any actions and making any external communication without approval from above, which, according to staffers who spoke to NPR, effectively shut down the agency.

But Pack was just getting warmed up, because he also refused to extend the work visas of foreign nationals working as VOA journalists, some of whom will be forced to return to their home countries to face penalties. The message is depressingly on-brand for Trump-era policies directed at non-citizens: Place your life in America’s hands at your own peril.

Which brings up up to the current crisis: After an attempt to fire the entire Open Technology Fund board and replace it with his own people was temporarily blocked in the court system, Pack pumped the brakes on already-allocated funds which would be used to develop, maintain and audit the code of tools that allow uncensored news and communication to reach nations without press freedoms, as well as allowing activists and journalists secure communication channels in regions where those aren’t guaranteed. The withholding of those funds have forced the OTF to issue stop-work orders to 80% of their currently active projects. 

In her letter to Pack, Laura Cunningham was pretty blunt about the stakes involved. “This arbitrary and unnecessary delay in funding has now compromised the work of our projects and jeopardized the lives of millions of users who rely on our technologies worldwide.”

If this state of affairs is allowed to continue, it’s almost impossible to read this development as anything other than a win hand-delivered to authoritarian regimes by a Trump appointee. And the message from the current administration will be clear as crystal: Place your lives in America’s hands at your own peril.

[shijinpunnaykaljoseph]

#Blog Post 6. Inventions That Changed Music

 Music had always been a fundamental aspect of the human way of life before civilization took hold of the human race. Music is rightly said to be one of the greatest and ever-present companions of man. Whether its laughter, pain, sorrow, love, or hate, music has a rare ability to talk to people in a way that resonates with their innermost emotional feelings. Music's massive influence on man definitely stood up to the test of time. Just as man is extremely adaptive and has changed over time, so music has adapted and changed, irrespective of cultural changes. The ingenuity of Man has brought with it a powerful force that has substantially affected the music industry. The past two centuries have encountered technological advances not previously thought of. These have influenced both positive and negative ways of producing, distributing and consuming music. There have been numerous technological advances in music since the 18th century, but music digitization is the most influential technology that has taken the world of music by storm. Since the time when music was readable by computers, the music industry's dynamics and economics have changed. In addition to common and useful instruments such as electric guitar and synthesiser, technology has brought us new production equipment such as high-fidelity microphones, re-mastering equipment and CD-ROMs that bring us a crystal-clear recording sound. Let’s go through some of the greatest invention that lead to the evolution of music industry.

Phonograph

American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was officially credited with inventing the phonograph on 21 November 1877, a revolutionary device capable of recording and playing back sounds. This breakthrough at the time was greeted with hysteria, so the thought that we could retain the spoken word was absolutely extraordinary, and its influence has changed every aspect of our modern world. While working on two other world-changing inventions of the 19th century–the telephone and the telegraph, Edison first thought about the phonograph. He decided that the technology used for the two could also be changed to record sound–something that was never even considered as a possibility until now. In 1877 he started to create a machine with two needles, one for capturing the sound and one for playing it back. The first needle would indent the sound vibrations onto a tin foil-covered tube, while the other would duplicate the same indentations again to create the same sound. When he spoke the oddly chosen words “Mary had a little lamb” into the machine, he was awed and astonished to hear them played back to him. The music technology was revolutionised by the phonograph. Performances are recorded and at their leisure people would listen to them. It also made more public about music and communication. The invention marked the birth of a new form of entertainment and a completely new business area that fuelled the market for the new invention, the music industry.

 Microphone

A microphone is a device that converts mechanical energy waves or sound into electrical energy waves. Speaking into a microphone excites (moves) a diaphragm that is coupled to a device that creates an electrical current proportional to the sound waves produced. Microphones are a part of everyday life. They are used in telephones, transmitters for commercial radio and television broadcast, amateur radio, baby monitors, tape recorders, motion pictures, and public address systems. The first microphone was invented as a telephone transmitter by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. It was a liquid device that was not very practical. The first microphone was invented by Emile Berliner in 1876. The carbon microphone was used up to the 1970s when it was replaced by piezoelectric ceramic components for radio transmissions and extensively in telephone transmitters. The microphone became widely popular as it recorded sounds louder than the ordinary human voice from speakers at a volume. The Bell Telephone Company was extremely impressed with the invention and later purchased $50,000 for Berliner's microphone. Microphone paved the way towards a new perspective in the music industry.

 Magnetic tape

In 1928, Fritz Pfleumer developed a magnetic tape using oxide bonded to a strip of paper or film and patented it in 1929. Magnetic tape is a magnetic recording medium made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a plastic film long, narrow strip. Building on this, AEG invented the magnetophone and advances in the chemical technology of polymers allowed its partner BASF to ship the first magnetic tape in 1935--a film of cellulose acetate covered with an iron oxide lacquer bound with additional cellulose acetate. Many developed nations continued to work on industrial magnetic tape and military applications with World War II approach. Magnetic tape has become a vital storage medium for the advent of the information age, used for both video and audio, in formats such as cassette and 8-track, for capturing sound in motion pictures (replacing optical sound tracks) and finally for digital recording, including computer memory. Digital recording has been completely replaced by analogue recording over the past few decades. Various new technologies are now more commonly used to capture digital signals, including those that use lasers. While magnetic tape is still used for niche applications, it is no longer as omnipresent as it once was.

 Vocoder

Bell Labs ' Homer Dudley developed the vocoder as a way to reduce the length of a vocal signal by reducing the cost of costly transatlantic copper cables. The vocoder shares its original intention with the.mp3 format, which was once controversial but now widely used. Both are essentially types of compression of data. It proved to be not as cost-effective as anticipated, but the vocoder was repurposed during World War 2 as a way to secure communications between political powers. A vocoder uses a control or modulator signal (such as the human voice sung or spoken on a microphone) to break the signal into various bands. To drive an instrument, also known as a carrier, we then use the amplitude of these signals. Since the signal is split several times, the resulting effect keeps sounds recognisable in human speech in tact and combines these sounds with the instrument used as the carrier (often a synthesiser). The resulting effect is a multitimbral musical instrument that still preserves the characteristics of human speech when using a synthesiser.

 The Walkman

Walkman is a Sony-made brand of portable media players. The first Walkman, released in 1979, was a portable cassette player that changed listening habits by enabling people on the move to listen to music of their choice. It was developed by Masaru Ibuka, co-founder of Sony, who thought that the current portable player of Sony was too unwieldy and costly. A prototype was produced in 1977 from a modified Sony Pressman, a portable tape recorder intended for journalists. Boomboxes and portable radios had been around for a while, but the Walkman made private portable music, bringing people away from home to a whole new era of listening to music. Over the years, the Walkman would see several hardware variations, including "Discman" CD versions and MiniDisk players, as well as more recent portable media player products that Sony is still selling today. It's not quite a brand's powerhouse as it once was, but it's still as important as ever 40 years ago, the changes that Walkman created in our lives and how we respond to both music and technology.

 Pro Tools

Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS which can be used for a wide range of sound recording and sound production purposes. Pro Tools can run as stand-alone software, or operate using a range of external analogue / digital converters and internal PCI Local Bus (PCI) or on-board digital signal processor (DSP) audio cards to deliver reverb, equalisation, and compression effects. Like all digital audio workstation software, Pro Tools can use the Undo feature to perform multitrack tape recorder and audio mixer functions, along with additional features that can only be performed in the digital domain, such as non-destructive editing. Pro Tools has had a major impact on the music industry and how it has grown. Musicians of the past had to get a record label to sign up and pay thousands of dollars to buy studio time to produce an album. Pro Tools has changed everything. First, the time needed to record and edit music is greatly reduced. With analogue recording, to edit tracks, one has to spend hours cutting and splicing tape recording, Pro Tools can do this in one click. Second, the need to get your band signed into a label to record an album is nearly gone. Nearly anyone can save up to $300 to purchase a basic set of Pro Tools and record whenever they want for years to come.

 The MP3

The journey of the revolutionary audio file began in 1982, when German audio engineer Karlheinz Bradenburg helped a professor find ways to use electronic telephone technology to transmit music. As computers became more sophisticated over the next 13 years, so did Bradenburg's progress in compression (his biggest snag, incredibly, came when trying to capture Suzanne Vega's vocal on "Tom's Diner" without distortion). Standards were developed in conjunction with the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), and a proper host had arisen thanks to the Internet. The. MP3 extension was chosen and cemented in July 1995, and the rest, including its unprecedented snowball effect on the music industry, are still embedded in history.

 Auto-Tune

Most of these inventions came from the scientific minds, and no exception is Auto-Tune. Geophysicist Dr. Andy Hildebrand founded his parent company, Antares Audio Technologies (originally called Jupiter Systems), in 1990. Hildebrand patented the Infinity sample-looping programme and various Pro-Tools plug-ins for the first time using the same Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology he used to measure seismic data. But that etched his legacy was Auto-Tune − a DSP-powered programme used to run correct vocals and instruments. Auto-Tune changes a singing voice's pitch to make everybody sound perfectly in tune. It is subtle enough when used correctly that it cannot be detected. The first song that was released on vocals using Auto-Tune was Cher's 1998 song "Believe."

 iPod

Walkman and Discmans were instantly forgotten, and when the iPod was commercially available in October 2001, .MP3s gathered on desktops mushroomed. It cost $400 and needed semi-regular charges with 5 GB of collated, alphabetized, prioritized albums, songs and playlists all available and scrollable via a touch-sensitive pinwheel. Eighteen years later, the features of the iPod have fused with telecommunications via the iPhone, inspired hundreds of unsuccessful imitators (hello, Zune) and created iconic campaigns of ads that produced standalone iconography.

 Conclusion

Nearly every advancement of technology has influenced the music industry, from aircraft to ships and chips to the internet. As technology as well as music industry is an endless field with limitless innovations, we expect more and more innovative collaboration of technology and music. The art of combining science and technology to music industry had always resulted in the formation of something brand new to world. Technology now a days had paved a new perspective of our music cultures and influenced our day to day life. I hope there is good days to come and looking forward for revolutionary technologies.

 References

 1.      Alexander, D. (2019). 9 Technologies That Changed the Way Musicians Created Music Forever. [Online] Interestingengineering.com. Available at: https://interestingengineering.com/9-technologies-that-changed-the-way-musicians-created-music-forever [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

2.      Alexander, S. (2017). Here are 5 Inventions That Changed Music. [Online] The Geeks and Beats. Available at https://www.geeksandbeats.com/2017/10/5-inventions-changed-music/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

3.      Auto-Tune. (2019). [image] Available at: https://www.emusician.com/gear/a-look-at-the-hottest-items-from-the-2018-namm-show [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

4.      En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Timeline of music technology. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_music_technology [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

5.      Entertainment.ie. (n.d.). The 9 Most Pioneering Advancements in Music History. [Online] Available at: https://entertainment.ie/music/the-9-most-pioneering-advancements-in-music-history-257354/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

6.      Herzog, K. (2014). 24 Inventions That Changed Music. [Online] Rolling Stone. Available at: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/24-inventions-that-changed-music-16471/phonograph-1877-222487/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

7.      I pod. (2019). [image] Available at: https://sipse.com/tecnologia/ipod-clasico-coleccionistas-precios-dispositivos-apple-204554.html [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

8.      Nast, C. (2016). 10 Technologies That Changed Music. [Online] Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/ten-technologies-that-changed-music [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

9.      Pro tools. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.kilroy-records.be/public_html/viewtopic.php?t=4022 [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

10.  Theo2.co.uk. (2016). 8 Technological Advances That Changed The Music Industry Forever | The O2. [Online] Available at: https://www.theo2.co.uk/news/detail/blog_8_technological_advances_that_changed_the_music_industry_forever [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

11.  Thompson, C. (2016). How the Phonograph Changed Music Forever. [online] Smithsonian. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/phonograph-changed-music-forever-180957677/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

12.  vocoder. (2019). [image] Available at: https://windowsreport.com/vocoder-software/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

13.  Walkman Sony. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://twitter.com/hashtag/walkmansony [Accessed 16 Nov. 2019].

[presssorg]

AP FACT CHECK: No sign of Trump-Mexico deal on farm goods

AP FACT CHECK: No sign of Trump-Mexico deal on farm goods WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is bragging about a new deal with Mexico that provides for “large” sales of U.S. farm goods, but it doesn’t appear to exist. In weekend tweets, he announced in all capital letters that he had won the agreement to benefit America’s “great patriot farmers,” and that U.S. sales would begin “immediately.” There isn’t any sign of that happening, however. Mexican officials denied that anything on agriculture was included in the deal on border security reached Friday to avert Trump’s threatened tariffs. Trump also unfairly placed responsibility on Mexico for the entire U.S. drug problem, even though many of the known drug deaths have nothing to do with the country. The statements came in a week where the apportioning of credit and blame often went awry in Trump’s remarks. He hailed pristine air quality that isn’t, wrongly insisted that the U.S. was paying “close to 100%” of NATO and told Puerto Ricans they should love him because he got them hurricane aid that he’s actually been complaining about for months. In the Democratic presidential campaign, meantime, Trump was accused of breaking a gun-control promise that in reality he kept. A look at recent claims and reality: MEXICO DEAL TRUMP: “MEXICO HAS AGREED TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN BUYING LARGE QUANTITIES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT FROM OUR GREAT PATRIOT FARMERS!” — tweet Saturday, retweeted Sunday. THE FACTS: There’s no evidence that Mexico agreed to “large” purchases of agricultural products from the U.S. as part of the deal to avoid tariffs. Nor did the White House provide any details to show such a deal exists. The joint declaration between the U.S. and Mexico released by the State Department late Friday makes no mention of agriculture. Officials from Mexico deny an agreement was reached on farm goods as part of the talks. “Everything that was negotiated was in the joint statement,” said a Mexican official familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. When Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Martha Barcena, was asked repeatedly Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” whether there was a new agricultural deal, she demurred, saying such trade between both countries should increase over time. She referenced instead the potential impact of the separate United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal, which has yet to be approved by Congress. “Is trade on agricultural products going to grow? Yes, it is going to grow, and it is going to grow without tariffs and with USMCA ratification,” Barcena said. According to the office of the United States Trade Representative, Mexico bought $20 billion in U.S. agricultural goods last year, making it the United States’ second-largest ag export market.   —— TRUMP: “Look, I’m dealing with Mexico right now. They send in $500 billion worth of drugs, they kill 100,000 people, they ruin a million families every year if you look at that. That’s really an invasion without the guns. … 100,000 people are killed, dead every year, from what comes through our southern border. They shouldn’t be allowing people to come through their country from Central, from Honduras and Guatemala, El Salvador.” — Fox News interview Thursday. THE FACTS: Trump is inflating the death toll from drug overdoses — more than 70,200 in 2017 — and wrongly blaming all the known deaths on Mexico. Tens of thousands of those deaths have nothing to do with Mexico or Central America. They are from legally made prescription opioids, fentanyl laboratories in China or other sources of international drug smuggling and illicit manufacturing in the U.S. More than 17,000 of the deaths in 2017, for example, were from prescription opioids alone. Mexico is indeed a significant conduit in the drug trade — it’s a leading source of heroin, for example — but it is hardly the only one. —— DISASTER AID TRUMP, on signing a relief bill for multiple U.S. disasters: “Puerto Rico should love President Trump. Without me, they would have been shut out!” — tweet Thursday. THE FACTS: That’s not likely. The $19.1 billion disaster aid bill, passed by the House on Monday and signed into law by Trump on Thursday, ordinarily would have been approved by Congress months ago. But Trump injected himself into the debate, demanding that money for hurricane-rebuilding efforts that was sought by Puerto Rico’s elected officials, Republicans and Democrats both, be kept out. Trump frequently inflated the amount of aid that Puerto Rico had obtained in previous bills and feuded with the island’s Democratic officials. Congressional Democrats held firm in demanding that Puerto Rico, a territory whose 3 million people are U.S. citizens, be helped by the measure. The legislation ultimately included more money for Puerto Rico, about $1.4 billion, than Democrats originally sought. The relief measure delivers money to states in the South suffering from last fall’s hurricanes, Midwestern states deluged with springtime floods and fire-ravaged rural California, among others. —— NATO TRUMP: “We were paying so much. I think we were really paying close to 100% of NATO. So we were paying to protect all of these European nations. And it’s just not fair.” — interview Thursday with Fox News. THE FACTS: It’s not true that the U.S. was paying “close to 100%” of the price of protecting Europe. NATO does have a shared budget to which each member makes contributions based on the size of its economy. The United States, with the biggest economy, pays the biggest share, about 22%. Four European members — Germany, France, Britain and Italy — combined pay nearly 44% of the total. The money, about $3 billion, runs NATO’s headquarters and covers certain other civilian and military costs. Defending Europe involves far more than that fund. The primary cost of doing so would come from each member country’s military budget, as the alliance operates under a mutual defence treaty. The U.S. is the largest military spender but others in the alliance obviously have armed forces, too. The notion that almost all costs would fall to the U.S. is false. In fact, NATO’s Article 5, calling for allies to act if one is attacked, has only been invoked once, and it was on behalf of the U.S., after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. —— CLIMATE CHANGE TRUMP, asked if he believes in climate change: “I believe that there’s a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways.” — interview with Piers Morgan that broadcast Tuesday. THE FACTS: Trump is once again conflating weather and climate, suggesting that global warming can’t be happening if it gets cold outside. But weather is like mood, which changes daily. Climate is like personality, which is long term. The data show Trump also is wrong in that there is a clear one-way warming trend. Earth is considerably warmer than it was 30 years ago and especially 100 years ago. So far in this decade, there have been 301,292 daily heat records set in the contiguous United States, compared with only 141,892 daily cold records set, according to retired Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton’s analysis of government temperature records. That’s more than two heat records broken for every cold record, a ratio that is the largest of any decade since these types of records started in the 1920s. According to Walton’s analysis, each decade since the 1970s has had a higher hot record-to-cold record ratio than the decade before it. And that’s just the extreme weather. When it comes to global average temperature, April was the 412th consecutive warmer month than the 20th century average, according to records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The last five years — 2014 to 2018 — have been the five hottest years on record globally, according to those records. Nine of the 10 hottest years on record have been in the past 15 years with records going back to 1880. The White House in November produced the National Climate Assessment by scientists from 13 Trump administration agencies and outside scientists. “Climate change is transforming where and how we live and presents growing challenges to human health and quality of life, the economy, and the natural systems that support us,” the report said. —— TRUMP: “We have the cleanest air in the world in the United States, and it’s gotten better since I’m president. We have the cleanest water. It’s crystal clean and I always say I want crystal clean water and air. … We’re setting records environmentally.” — remarks Wednesday with Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. THE FACTS: The U.S. does not have the cleanest air, and it hasn’t gotten better under the Trump administration. U.S. drinking water is among the best by one leading measure. Trump’s own Environmental Protection Agency data show that in 2017, among 35 major U.S. cities, there were 729 cases of “unhealthy days for ozone and fine particle pollution.” That’s up 22% from 2014 and the worst year since 2012. The Obama administration, in fact, set records for the fewest air polluted days, in 2016. In 2017, after Trump took office, the number of bad air days per metropolitan area went up 20%. The State of Global Air 2019 report by the Health Effects Institute rated the U.S. as having the eighth cleanest air for particle pollution — which kills 85,000 Americans each year — behind Canada, Scandinavian countries and others. The U.S. ranks poorly on smog pollution, which kills 24,000 Americans per year. On a scale from the cleanest to the dirtiest, the U.S. is at 123 out of 195 countries measured. On water, Yale University’s global Environmental Performance Index finds 10 countries tied for the cleanest drinking water, the U.S. among them. On environmental quality overall, the U.S. was 27th, behind a variety of European countries, Canada, Japan, Australia and more. Switzerland was No. 1. —— GILLIBRAND ON GUN CONTROL SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, Democratic presidential candidate, on Trump: “Remember after the shooting in Las Vegas, he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, we are going to ban the bump stocks’? Did he ban the bump stocks? No, because the NRA came crashing down and said, ‘Don’t you dare do any restrictions on our guns around this country.”‘– Fox News town hall on June 2. THE FACTS: Not true. Trump kept his promise. A nationwide ban took effect in March on bump stocks, the attachment used by the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre to make his weapons fire rapidly like machine-guns. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives outlawed the attachments at Trump’s direction after the shootings killed more than 50 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. It is the only major gun restriction imposed by the federal government in the past few years. The Trump administration’s move was an about-face for the bureau. In 2010, under the Obama administration, it found that the devices were legal. But under the Trump administration, officials revisited that determination and found it incorrect. After the Las Vegas shootings, the National Rifle Association initially said ���devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.” After the bureau’s ruling banning the devices, however, the gun lobby called it “disappointing” and said it should have provided amnesty for gun owners who already have bump stocks. The government estimates that more than 500,000 bump stocks were sold after they were made legal in 2010. —— VETERANS TRUMP, on the late Sen. John McCain: “I was not a fan. I didn’t like what he did with health care. I didn’t like how he handled the veterans. Because I got them Choice. He was always unable. He was on committees and could have done it.” — interview Tuesday with Morgan. THE FACTS: Not so. McCain did, in fact, get the Veterans Choice program passed in Congress. Trump repeatedly claims falsely that he was the first president in decades to get such a private-sector health program passed. But what Trump actually got done was an expansion of the Choice program achieved by McCain and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the main lawmakers who advanced the legislation signed by President Barack Obama. McCain, an Arizona Republican, co-sponsored the legislation following a 2014 scandal at the VA medical centre in Phoenix, where some veterans died while waiting months for medical appointments. Trump signed the law expanding the program in June 2018. It is named after three veterans who were lawmakers — McCain, Daniel K. Akaka and Samuel R. Johnson. After helping to pass the program, McCain fought to expand it even more in his last months before dying of brain cancer in August. The original Choice program allowed veterans to see doctors outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system if they must wait more than 30 days for an appointment or drive more than 40 miles (65 kilometres) to a VA facility. Under the expansion, which took effect Thursday, veterans are to have that option for a private doctor if their VA wait is only 20 days (28 for specialty care) or their drive is only 30 minutes. Still, the VA says it does not expect a major increase in veterans seeking care outside the VA under Trump’s expanded program, partly because wait times in the private sector are now typically longer than at VA. —— LONDON PROTESTS TRUMP: “I kept hearing that there would be ‘massive’ rallies against me in the UK, but it was quite the opposite. The big crowds, which the Corrupt Media hates to show, were those that gathered in support of the USA and me.” — tweet Wednesday. TRUMP: “I heard that there were protests. I said: ‘Where are the protests? I don’t see any protests.’ I did see a small protest today when I came, very small, so a lot of it is fake news, I hate to say. …And I didn’t see the protesters until just a little while ago and it was a very, very small group of people.” — news conference Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May. THE FACTS: The protests over Trump’s visit were more than just “very, very small,” and some were hard to miss. Thousands of protesters crowded London’s government district, chanting as he met May nearby. While police erected barricades to stop protesters from marching past the gates of Downing Street, they could be heard as Trump and May emerged from the prime minister’s official residence to pose for photos before their news conference. The protests included a giant Trump baby balloon and a robotic likeness of Trump sitting on a golden toilet, reciting familiar Trump phrases like “No collusion” and “You are fake news.” —— BREXIT TRUMP, referring to how he stood at his Scottish golf resort, Turnberry, on the eve of the Brexit referendum and predicted the British would vote to leave the European Union: “I really predicted what was going to happen. Some of you remember that prediction. It was a strong prediction, made at a certain location, on a development we were opening the day before it happened.” — news conference Tuesday. THE FACTS: He often tells this false story. Trump did not predict Brexit the day before the vote. Three months before the vote, he did predict accurately that Britain would vote to leave the EU. The day after the 2016 vote — not the day before — he predicted from his Scottish resort that the EU would collapse because of Britain’s withdrawal. That remains to be seen. —— TRANSGENDER TROOPS TRUMP, explaining his ban on transgender troops in the military: “In the military, you’re not allowed to take any drugs …People were going in and then asking for the operation, and the operation is $200,000, $250,000, and getting the operation, the recovery period is long, and they have to take large amounts of drugs after that …You can’t do that.” — interview Tuesday with Morgan. THE FACTS: Trump has offered no substantiation for the assertion that transgender military members represent tremendous medical costs and disruption. A Rand Corp. study found otherwise. Nor does the military bar troops from using prescription drugs. Rand estimates that out of about 1.3 million active-duty military personnel, 2,450 are transgender. Only a subset would seek transition-related care, such as hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery. Based on private insurance data, the study estimates a minimal increase in costs from such care for the active-duty armed forces — no more than 0.13%, or $8.4 million annually. As for disruption, members representing less than 0.1% of the total force would seek transition-related care that could affect their deployments, the study says. —— Associated Press writers Peter Orsi and Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Seth Borenstein, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Perrone and Darlene Superville in Washington, Lisa Marie Pane in Boise, Idaho, Nicky Forster in New York, and Jill Lawless and Kevin Freking in London contributed to this report. —— Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd Follow https://twitter.com/APFactCheck EDITOR’S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures Published at Mon, 10 Jun 2019 04:43:05 +0000 Read the full article

[mynameislangdon-blog]

If You’re Still Breathing

This story involves Michael, Mutt, Jeff, a main original character and some minor original background people. It attempts to fill in some of what happened between the Apocalypse and Michael’s arrival at Outpost 3. I’m a fan of being inspired by music, so each chapter (and IYSB) are named based on what I was listening to when I wrote it. There is also smut, but it’s pretty soft, I think. This is not complete, needing at least 2 more unwritten chapters to resolve the story.

Characters: Michael Langdon, Mutt Nutter, Jeff Pfister, mention of Ms. Mead. Original main character because I don’t like first-person. Tag requests: @thelangdoncooperative , @ccodyfern

Word count: 5,073

Chapters 1-4 Warnings: some sexual content, blood, gore, death. Chapter 1: “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”  Outpost 2 was easily the largest, most technologically advanced of the bunch. The inhabitants wanted for nothing. Expanded from the historic Greenbrier Bunker in White Sulphur Springs, Outpost 2 had private rooms for 25, and dorm rooms for another 50. There were two 250,000-gallon water tanks, and 2 50,000-gallon diesel fuel tanks. All ventilation had radioactive particle filters and clean air circulators, plus there was water filtration, bunker to surface vault doors that needed 50 pounds of pressure just to unlock, and even recording and broadcasting equipment. The upgrades from the 60’s included hydroponic agriculture & livestock annexes, solar power, hydroelectric power, an armory, and for some reason a bowling alley. You name it and they had it. Unfortunately, it had a little too much of some things. And by things, I mean people. And by people, I mean two individuals in particular. Mutt Nutter and Jeff Pfister. They were the outpost designers, and they never let any of the inhabitants forget that they were alive because of them. “You want me to what?! Check the irrigation drains under the northwest crops? I don’t need to do anything; those fucking freeloaders can do it. I already saved humanity once!” They weren’t any better with each other. “You see this coffee, asshole? Tanzanian Golden Black Sky Desert Roast! If it wasn’t for me, you’d be eating nutrient cubes back in California!” “You’re the one who fucked up and put us here after I SPECIFICALLY said to put us in the Bahamas! I should be balls deep in Jennifer Lawrence right now, but instead we’re trapped with these fucking gremlins!” And that was just banter over breakfast. The others chalked it up to the price for surviving in splendor, and left them to their drugs and robots. The Outpost was light on entertainment personalities, but heavy on scientists, politicians and inventors. Many of the people who were meant to be there hadn’t made it, but certain people, mostly Cooperative members, had been given a heads up, and were already underground when the bombs hit. Grace had been one of the first people to arrive, but she wasn’t in the Cooperative or a billionaire. She was just a special education therapist who’d moved to White Sulphur Springs from California 3 years ago.   *********

There at the base of the stairs, Grace smiled. “I thought it had to be you. You sent me the card with the Cooperative ID, didn’t you?” “I did. I wish I could have collected you myself.” “But why?” “I needed you. There wasn’t time then, but there is now.” Grace watched his eyes. The bright blue she’d grown so accustomed to now looked like moonlight on an ocean. “What’s happened to you? Are you okay? Where’s Ms. Mead? Did she… oh no. She didn’t make it did she?” “No.” He stared straight ahead, pretending he didn’t feel; a move she’d seen before when he was trying to not cry. A tear slipped out and she watched it roll down his newly chiseled features. She reached out her hand to wipe it away then stopped. He had never liked surprise touching.  In a soft voice she said, “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask first. I won’t touch you without your permission again, I promise.” But he wasn’t the same boy next door she remembered that was full of anger, swinging from sweet to vicious with no warning. Surprisingly, he stepped closer and enveloped her in his arms. Suddenly buried in his cloak, she relished the embrace. It felt good to be held, and it felt good to know that Michael had become more comfortable with touching. There, in the folds of his cape, she breathed him in, inhaling the scent of burnt wood mixed with something metallic. Electric. Grace realized he smelled like a battery tasted. She had to fight the urge to lick him to see if her tongue tingled. Instead, she laid her cheek on his chest and sank into the hug. Then her former boy next door leaned in and whispered, “But you want to touch me, don’t you?” His lips brushed against her ear and she reeled, feeling like she’d just been sucker punched in the libido. She didn’t know what had come over her, but she could barely restrain herself from grabbing at him, pushing him to the floor, wrapping herself around him and eating him alive. Her hands tightened on him for a moment, threatening to tear his skin right through his clothes. Then she forcefully pushed him away, succeeding only in pushing herself back against the stairs.   What was happening here? Grace thought she might faint from her sudden need for him, but he simply stood and observed her. It was clear that he was relishing the sight of her feeling so many things at once, her former role of protector wrestling with her baser instincts. She was literally clinging to the banister for support when he ran the tip of his tongue over the edge of his upper lip. With the cool nonchalance of tossing a valet the car keys, he cocked an eyebrow and said, “You have my permission”, then turned and walked into the conference room.

Shocked, she ran scurrying down the hall like a mouse chased by a cat. She could almost hear Michael’s laughter following her. Once she had reached her room and locked the door behind her, she collapsed on the bed and whispered to herself, “What the fucking fuck was that?!!” She replayed the reunion in her mind. Instead of finding answers, she found herself reliving the moment his lips touched her ear, over and over again. 

Without even realizing it, she had pulled up her dress and begun touching herself. Her body ached for more, and Grace obliged, putting one, then two fingers inside herself, thrusting and rubbing, involuntarily moaning, “Oh yes, please, please, more!” Her hips squirmed, and the memory of Michael sent a spasm through her, pushing her over the edge into climax. Unaware of anything existing but Michael’s touch, she cried out with pleasure and release. “Oh! Oh fuck! Oh my god! yes! Yes! OH FUCK YES!!!!” She brought herself to orgasm over and over again until she lay on her bed drained, unable to move, aftershocks of pleasure still rolling through her in waves as she fell asleep on her bed, half undressed and limp like a doll.

******

The meeting with Mutt and Jeff was predictable. Them being overly solicitous to Michael with just enough questioning and doubt to show they still thought they knew better. This had been coming for a while.

“So, what’s going on out there, dude?”

“Most people are dead, the ones that aren’t are mutating and dying. Outpost One has been overrun and destroyed.”

“What?! No way, man. New York had a great defense system. Almost as good as this one!”

“Apparently not good enough.”

“Shit. So, what do we need to do to keep it from happening here?”

“There’s nothing you can do except… are you prepared to fight?”

Jeff started making Pew! Pew! Blam! noises and pulled a gun out of his waistband. “Oh, we’re ready. POW!”

Michael looked at Mutt. “I need to report back to the rest of the Cooperative of course. Why don’t you show me around so I can get an idea of where we stand supply-wise?”

Clearly uncomfortable, he said, “Oh, sure. But, uh maybe we should stay here, make sure everything’s ready for your dinner.”

Jeff chimed in, “We’re doing a special dinner to celebrate your arrival, man. Like, top of the line.”

Michael observed them both, having expected nothing less than avoidance. “M-mm, I see. Of course. Shall I just, wander about on my own then? See what I can find?”

Jeff gave a panicked, “No!” then added, “What I mean is, you wouldn’t want to miss anything important. You should totally have a guide. You want your special friend to take you around?” He exchanged a knowing look with Mutt.

Michael’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“You know, the nobody who you put in here with us, the one with no money or special talents who had a priority entry clearance? Come on, dude. We’re not stupid. Obviously, she’s somebody special to you. I didn’t even know the Son of Satan could have personal attachments. Beyond the Battlea…. Ms. Mead, I mean. So, what’s the deal, you two getting it on? Did you save her to be like, your post-apocalyptic sex slave, or what?” Michael’s eyes grew black, and the lights flickered. “That’s not your concern.”

Mutt looked around nervously. “Okay, we were just curious. So, you don’t want her to show you around? We can find…”

“It will be fine.”

“Yeah, okay. We’ve got some... stuff to take care of.” Before Michael could even leave the room, the boys made a beeline for the drink cabinet, and opened it to reveal a giant crystal skull half full of cocaine, several syringes, and the bar sink full of robotic arms clutching bottles of alcohol. As the door shut behind him, Michael heard a gunshot and a round of hysterical giggling. He put his hand over his face and sighed.

****************

Chapter 2: "The Distance”

The intercom in Grace’s room buzzed, startling her from her unplanned nap. Once she got her bearings, she went over to the speaker. “This is Grace, what is it?”

“Got a job for you, sweetheart.” Ugh, it was Jeff. Grace rolled her eyes at the intercom and prayed it wouldn’t be something humiliating.“What kind of job?”

“Langdon wants a tour of the bunker.”

The butterflies started in her stomach, and lower down her parts clenched in an agonizing ache. “Can’t Josie or Henry do that? I’m kind of busy right now.”

Mutt chimed in, “Nope. It’s gotta be you babe. Try not to have too much fun. We need him back for the big dinner at 6.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. He just left the conference room so get your ass up here pronto.” Grace hurriedly changed out of the rest of her clothes and into jeans, a t-shirt, and work boots. A full tour would include the livestock pens, and she didn’t want to look seductive anyway. She grabbed a hair tie on her way out the door and pulled her hair into a ponytail as she hurried down the hall. She rehearsed in her head giving a firm “no” if he tried touching or whispering to her again. But she also couldn’t help imagining what could happen if she didn’t.

As she rounded the corner, she saw Michael once again standing at the bottom of the steps, writing something in a small black notebook. Not knowing what to expect, nervous with anticipation, she walked up to him and tried a casual, “Hi.” Her voice came out hoarse and she began to cough. She thought back to all the screaming she’d been doing recently and grew warm with the thought. She hoped she wasn’t blushing.  

“Sorry about that. Air gets pretty dry in here.”

Michael tucked the notebook into his jacket, then looked at her coolly. “Please lead on. We have a lot to see.”

“Okay, well you’ve seen the decontamination entrance and the overview/conference room, so let’s go down to the big stuff at the back.” As they walked down the corridor, Grace kept talking. She told herself it was because he would want to know as much as possible but truthfully, she was just trying to avoid thinking about what happened earlier. Michael either didn’t notice or chose to ignore her, as his only contribution to her running dialogue was the occasional, “Interesting.”

She pushed open a set of glass double doors. “This is the ER.” They walked past hospital beds and Michael peered into one of the operating rooms. There was everything a regular operating room would have: bone saws, ventilators, shock paddles, EKG machine, IV drips, and so on. “You’re quite prepared.”

“Mostly. And here’s the pharmacy. We have everything one needs for typical stuff, we even have a setup for chemo. But they went heavy on the painkillers and didn’t stock a lot of long-term meds, which I think was a mistake.”

They took a walk through the pharmacy rows, and as Grace talked, Michael would occasionally pick up a bottle or package. “If you have questions about any of these, we’ve got a basic guide and I still remember a lot from school so you can always ask.”

“These aren’t locked up? Anyone can access them?”

They’re unlocked now because I’m showing it to you. There’s a code on the room and on the shelves, plus the cameras are simply everywhere.” She pointed up and waved to the camera. “Josh is probably on camera duty tonight. Hi Josh!”

Michael glared at the camera, and in the observation room, Josh grabbed his heart and collapsed to the floor.

They left the medical area and walked down to the power room. Keying in another code, Grace opened the heavy door and they were greeted with a wall of noise. “They’re pretty loud. Sorry.” She flipped a few switches and the actual size of the room became apparent. “These are the diesel generators and tanks. We actually don’t use them much since gas is a finite resource, but the sky isn’t very bright some days thanks to the fallout, so… yeah. See these two tanks with the staircases attached? That’s all of our fuel.”

“And how full are they now?”

“What?”

He leaned in closer. “How full are they now?!”

“One hasn’t been touched at all, and the other has...” She walked over to the tanks. “This one’s at 89%.”

“And where’s your water source?”

“Oh, most of that is filtered and recycled. This was a great place to build a bunker because there’s also a naturally occurring deep spring underneath. The radiation levels for that are still holding, but we predict they’ll eventually succumb to runoff from the surface. The good news is even contaminated water can run a hydroelectric generator in a pinch.”

“You know a lot about this. Special interest?” Grace raised an eyebrow and smirked, “You mean survival? Yeah, I’m pretty interested in that. It’s in the best interest of the group that we all know as much as possible. We’ve got experts in certain areas, like the two chuckleheads and their robotics…”

“You mean Nutter and Pfister?”

“Oh, no offense, I know you three work pretty closely.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well… you saw them alone in the conference room, and they talk all the time about how they’re very influential with the Cooperative leader. That’s you, right? The leader? What’s the deal with The Cooperative? What’s the common goal?”

Michael hesitated, trying to avoid the topic

“Look, if you can’t talk about it, I understand, but how did that happen? Leading the Cooperative is a long way from lessons in my basement. I’m glad for you, I always knew you were too strong willed to let anything hold you back but…”

Michael rushed in and closed the gap between them pinning her against the tank. “You have no idea.” Then he kissed her, roughly. His lips mashed up against hers and she never even had a choice. She opened her mouth to him, nipping at his bottom lip, hungry and uncontrolled. His tongue slipped inside her mouth and they fought, her need matched by his hunger. Her hands ran through his long golden curls, grasping and tugging, trying to bring him closer. The kiss broke, and she sighed as he bent down to kiss her neck, licking and biting his way from her collarbone to her ear and back again. His hands roamed over her body, her skin burned hot wherever he touched her. It was too much for Grace, and she had to cry out, “Stop!, I can’t! I... Please, it’s too much!” Tears leaked from her eyes, not because she was in pain, but because she’d never wanted something so much in her life and for some reason, she couldn’t just let it happen.

Michael looked at her, glassy eyed and drunk on her need. He watched her hands opening and closing, grasping at the air instead of him. She wanted this. She needed this. This was rich, thick desire that he could taste and hear and smell and feel. The tension between them made the air shimmer with heat. Like magnets, they could only get so close to each other before they touched out of sheer force. He experimented, raising his hand to her waist and bringing it closer and closer until he felt the pull, breaking free only to do it again. She held her breath, afraid of what she might do if he touched her again.

A door alarm blared at the end of the hall, breaking the spell. Michael clenched his fist, ready to set ablaze the person who interrupted them, but remembered where he was and restrained himself to avoid an incident. Surprisingly, it was Grace who composed herself first and suggested, “Shall we move on?”

They walked through the kitchen, avoiding the hot pans and sharp knives, chopping and slicing, sizzling and flashing. The kitchen crew couldn’t help but stare as Michael strolled through with his blonde shoulder-length hair and elegant black clothes, nodding approvingly at one thing or another. He dipped his finger into the creamy mushroom soup and tasted it, saying simply, “Not bad”, giving a rare glimpse of his full-wattage smile. With that, he could have stabbed every member of the crew with their own knives and they would have thanked him for the privilege of dying by his hand. Grace was impressed. He had come a very long way.

She chimed in to say, “Almost everything you’ll have tonight was grown right here. The animals aren’t ready for breeding, but when they are, we’ll have fresh meat as well.”

“What kinds of animals do you have now?”

“Oh, you know, chickens, a cow and a steer, a pair of pigs… It’s like Noah’s Ark down there. But not all the animals are for eating. Come on, I’ll show you.” They walked through the green mist of the hydroponic vegetables and herbs, past the fruit trees in pots, past the composting, and entered the husbandry through an honest to god split-rail fence.

The animals came crowding around and at first Grace thought it was for her, but then she realized that they had all gone to Michael instead. And the oddest part was that they weren’t crowding him, they all just… sat there, as if in a trance. “Like they’re asking to be spared” ran through her mind. What a strange idea.

“You’ve got a way with animals.”

He looked a little uncomfortable. “Not really, I think they’re just interested in me because I’m new.”

“That must be it.” Grace knew better, but if Michael didn’t want to talk about this particular weirdness, that was okay. “But you haven’t seen the best part.”

“Am I going to have to walk through more mud?” His fancy Louboutin boots were looking quite muddy.

“Mud, no. Dirt, probably.”

Michael seemed to stop and consider his options. He sighed, “Fine.”

She led him around the side of the enclosure and whistled. Two beautiful black horses came trotting up. “Aren’t they amazing? Do you want to feed them?”

“Why?”

“Why? Because it will make them happy.” Michael seemed a little confused by the idea of making an animal happy, but took the shiny red apples that Grace gave him and held one in each hand for the two beauties. They gently nuzzled his hands and then methodically chomped away on them until there was nothing left. “Huh.”

“Good babies”, cooed Grace. And to Michael, “You see? That wasn’t so bad. Oh!” She suddenly beamed. “I forgot, check this out!” She led Michael into the enclosure and waved her hands dramatically. “Ta-da!” There stood a black carriage, like the ones you’d see in old movies. His eyebrows raised in quiet approval. Wooden wheels, curtains on the windows. He peeked inside. Leather seats, too. “What’s this for?”

“Well, Henry’s logic was that if the day came where we needed to venture out for supplies, that having a carriage would make much more sense than a car because we wouldn’t need to carry gas for it or rely on finding any later. If the horses can eat what we eat…” She was interrupted by an announcement blaring from the speaker in the ceiling. It was fucking Jeff again.

“Ladies and gentlemen! The time is now 5:00 and in an hour we will be having a celebratory feast in honor of Mr. Langdon. Please make sure you are tastefully attired and on time! Over and out!”

Grace and Michael shared a look.

“I guess the tour’s over.”

“We’ll finish it later.”

**********

Chapter 3: “Belief In God Is So Adorable”

The dinner was unnecessary, but Michael had learned that these kinds of things were easier to get through than call off. And besides, it would give him a chance to try an experiment. He looked around the table at the scientists, intellectuals and politicians and military men. He stood and raised his glass in a toast. “Fellow Cooperative members, as you may have heard, Outpost One is gone.” People nodded their heads and tried to look broken up about it. “But let us not ignore the fact that we are still here.” More thoughtful nodding. “I would like to raise my glass to Outpost two, and your efficient and sustainable colony.” Mutt and Jeff let out a “Yeah! Damn right!” and stood up to chest bump each other. Then they stepped away from the table to do a few lines and argue about which bottle of wine to open. Everyone else applauded politely, raised their glasses in return and drank. Individual bowls of soup were being placed before each person. “What do we have here?” asked Michael. The person serving said, “Mushroom soup, sir. Made from mushrooms grown right here. And fresh cream, too.” “Well, it looks delicious.” He winked at the server, who from that moment on would have gladly cut his own eyes out with rusty razor wire then sautéed them with rosemary and eaten them if Michael had asked him to. Michael dipped his spoon into the bowl and brought it to his lips then stopped, putting his spoon down and simply sitting while he watched the guests eat every last spoonful while they talked about some garden pests or fortifying a support girder or something else equally pointless. Michael frowned. It hadn’t worked. He wondered if it was a dosage problem or if it was the rate the pills dissolved in hot soup. But then, Henry started to drift. He looked so tired. Then Josie, then Doris too. They could barely hold their heads up. The three senators soon followed suit, then the General. The other diners were slumping in their seats and Michael began to smile. “Good to know”, he whispered to himself. Mutt and Jeff continued to argue in the corner, oblivious to anyone else’s condition. Michael sighed internally. No one appreciated subtlety anymore. Once everyone had succumbed and was face down in their soup or puddled on the floor, Michael stood up. “Gentlemen, since our companions seem to resting, I wonder if you could help me with something.” “Yeah, sure. Whoa, what happened? Are they going to be okay?” “Oh, yes. They’ll be fine. Just… napping. I still need a tour of the armory and I wanted you two to take me since I know it’s your area of…” Michael hesitated, barely able to say the word, “…expertise.” “What? Oh dude! Absolutely! Let’s go!”Jeff whooped and hollered the whole way there, Mutt egging him on. They unlocked the shooting range and took Michael to the armory. “We’ve got everything you need, man.” “I don’t need anything, I just need to know what you have.” “Oh. Well, you mind if we shoot off a few rounds first?” Michael waved his hand at them, “Of course.” He sat back in a green plastic chair, putting his feet up on the rail. He knew what was coming. “So, uh, let’s just do a few lines first, ok?” They opened up yet another unimaginative cocaine stash inside a target dummy then laid out a pile and bulldozed their faces through it. As they brought their heads up, they realized something was off. Weird. “Dude, you feel that?” “Like, that buzzing? What the fuck is that? OW!” Blood began to run out of Jeff’s nose. He turned to look at Mutt, who had sunk to the floor holding his head in his hands. He turned to Michael and yelled, “What is happening?!” Michael gave the most sardonic of smiles and said, “Oh, it’s quite simple really. My father has revoked your privileges.” Jeff’s eyes bugged in disbelief. He screamed hysterically, “What do you mean fucking revoked? We paid our dues man! We sold our souls!” Behind him Mutt began to rhythmically beat his head on the floor. “Yes, you did. But you haven’t exactly upheld your end of things, have you? Did you think I wouldn’t know?” “Auuugh! Fuck!” The nosebleed was hemorrhaging, leaving Jeff soaked in his own blood, woozy and thick-headed. “Wouldn’t know what?!?!! We gave you the apocalypse, dude!” Michael stood up, clasping his hands behind his back and cocking his head to one side. Speaking in a voice that was all gravel and bitterness he said, “You lied to me. You tried to manipulate me.” Jeff fell to the floor next to Mutt, trying to stand but slipping in the blood that was spreading around them. Michael continued, “You programmed Ms. Mead to say what you wanted to say. You used her. You took away her memories and gave her ones that you liked better. You changed her. And in doing so you worked against me.” He slowly walked his way over to the miserable pair. “You.” He looked at Mutt, who had slammed his head into the floor so many times that his eyes had rolled back into his head and pieces of his brain were flapping idly at the edges of his skull. He stepped closer, hand clenched. “Used.” He watched Jeff try to hold his head up, blood now flowing from his ears, eyes, and skin. He stepped closer, clenching the other hand. “Me!” He threw his hands open and they held roaring fire, flames licking and jumping in anticipation. “And my...” His face went ghostly white, black holes where his features should be. His voice boomed so powerful and angry it could have toppled mountains. “…MS. MEAD!!!” The flames shot to the ceiling and curved back down, igniting Mutt and Jeff. They wailed and screamed, slowly and painfully burning to a blackened crisp. Michael snapped his hands shut and stood stone faced, watching the ashes swirl across the floor. He casually brushed a stray lock of hair off his face and straightened his jacket. One last loose end to tie up. ******** Beginning of Chapter 4: “I Am a Rock”

Grace thought back to when she first met Michael. When a boy of 16 comes knocking at your door and he isn’t selling something for school, one gets nervous. And here was this boy, all ripped black jeans and combat boots, unsure of how to say hello to a stranger. He stood there on her doorstep, just looking at her, as if she was supposed to just know what he needed. “Where’s your mo…Ms. Mead?” she asked, looking around. The tall boy with icy eyes and curls like an angel looked around too. “I don’t know, I mean she was here, but now she’s not and the car’s not here…” The boy was clearly not comfortable being alone, and seemed anxious. “Is there someone I should call?” He looked sheepish and said, “Can I just wait here?” “Sure. We can do that. Let’s wait outside so we can see her car when she gets back.” And she thought to herself, “And so Ms. Mead doesn’t skin me alive for having her boy in my house unsupervised.” “Okay. Thank you. May I have some water?” Grace brought out some water for the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. He flinched, swatting at her hand. She took a step back then sat down on the steps at a respectful distance, putting the glass of water in the space between them. “Sorry, I’ll ask permission next time, okay?” Michael stayed silent, looking doubtful. “I will ask permission before I touch you. I promise.” They sat awkwardly until he finished the water. He handed it to her saying, “Here’s your glass. I’m finished.” “Thank you… I don’t know your name. What should I call you?” “Michael. Michael Langdon.” “How old are you Michael?” “16.” “And where do you go to school?” “I don’t like these questions.” Dammit, she had pushed too hard again. In her head, she admonished herself. “Listening skills, Grace! Come on!” “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you not want to talk? Just wait?” “Just wait.” Grace was trained in working with special needs kids, and this young man Michael, with his specific ways and rigid preferences, acting a little younger than his age would suggest, seemed to have some delays. She wondered if there was some kind of developmental disability there. She desperately wanted to ask more, but there was no point pushing him. They sat and watched the cars pass and listened to the summer insects buzzing.   Michael broke the silence. “Why are you always playing music and hitting things?” “What? Oh, I’m practicing. Practicing martial arts.” “You listen to music for that?” “Well, I do. It helps keep me motivated. It’s not too loud is it? I don’t want to bother anyone.” “No, it’s not loud. Well, Ms. Mead doesn’t like it but I think she just doesn’t like that kind of music.” “Well, it’s not for everybody. I’ll try to keep it quieter so she doesn’t have to listen.” “You practice fighting? Can you teach me fighting?” Grace had an inspirational idea, but it would require some coordinated effort and planning. “That… would be up to Ms. Mead. If she says it’s okay, then I can certainly try.” “She’ll say okay.” And just like that, her car came pulling into the driveway.Michael’s face lit up, and he ran off, calling out over his shoulder, “Bye! I’ll see you tomorrow!” “Tomorrow?” Grace thought, “Oh, boy.”

[crowdfundingvideoproduction-blog]

enterprise Video production: selecting a Video manufacturing enterprise component 1: planning statistics

on this first article on the technique of choosing a video production organization, we're going to give an explanation for some of the "statistics you ought to have" while making the call to a business enterprise because you're taking into account doing a enterprise video manufacturing. In subsequent parts, we will get into information you need to understand whilst; making plans a presentation recording, education video, trade show video, and several different kinds of video for business initiatives. we'll additionally cowl what you want to understand and ask about the video production employer you are contacting.

we've got determined that regularly when a employer calls or appears to fulfill with us about video production, Crowdfunding Video Production a lot of instances they have got in no way been involved with the actual manufacturing process and are not pretty positive what to ask or the way to pass about getting the solutions they need. greater regularly than now not they have not sincerely idea out what they need the video to do for them and/or what should be in it. we attempt to assist human beings like this by way of main them through a sequence of questions and giving data designed to crystallize their thoughts. we strive to make the manner as clean to understand and stress loose as feasible.

optimistically information we're imparting in this newsletter will assist.

With all of the movies humans see on YouTube some suppose that the way it works is that you display up, shoot, and a video is magically created. this can happen for a few styles of video projects, but for business video to be successful it requires loads of making plans both before and continuously at some point of the process.

The three levels of video manufacturing are; pre-production, production, and submit-manufacturing. they can and will differ relying on the form of assignment that you want.

Any valid and experienced video manufacturing corporation you call will want to ask you questions on your project. if they simply say, "ok, we're going to display up and shoot your job", that ought to increase a big pink flag.

The equal caution signal applies if the business enterprise can provide you with a charge with out knowing the info of your desires. invariably, whilst this takes place they may not be capable of do the process or there could be more expenses later.

Doing a commercial enterprise video undertaking is like doing some other business venture in which you want to first determine what you need to do after which gather records and plan how to perform your goal. A video production company need to start by means of asking ability clients inquiries to learn about what is needed.

Questions We Ask

A video production corporation have to start by way of asking a consumer;

Why do they want a video?

optimistically, this may find a cause where the video will fulfill some need. it can be that they want to reveal viewers why their products or services is higher than the competition, publicize what they do, or train on some thing in which they need the high-quality practices taught in a correct, repeatable message. greater often than not, today it's miles because a agency wishes to use video to give an explanation for something for advertising and marketing purposes on their internet site. They apprehend that video gives them remarkable go back with search engine optimization (search engine optimization) value and may get their message to hundreds of thousands of human beings.

every now and then it's far to fulfill a demand this is mandated on them. An instance of that is that in sure states, whilst running system is hooked up in homes, the system producer/installer should provide a education video as a part of the bid.

knowing the purpose will shape the course the video will take. So the usage of the above country requirement instance, whatever video is done should agree to the shape and directives that state gives, and something else is a waste of time and money. If we didn't know the motive it'd be smooth to move down the incorrect direction.

How do they need the video brought to viewers?

A video made for a television business that is restricted to less than 30 seconds and has to cope with broadcast specifications is one-of-a-kind than a video which is designed to be on a website, wherein the precise period isn't always as important.

who is the target market?

one of a kind demographics require exclusive remedies. If the target is a Spanish speakme section, then a video in English wouldn't make a whole lot sense. If it's far a certain class of workers, then the video needs to goal what is important and use the jargon familiar to bring to that category. If it's far to attraction to a patron base, it usually desires to be structured to offer them both an appeal or purpose to buy, or statistics they need to use.

What do you need the viewer to do after watching?

this is extraordinarily essential due to the fact the complete video must be directed at this aim. If it's far a sales video, we want to make the enchantment to shop for now not only appealing, but that it's miles something they feel will truely clear up a want they have. If it's far for education, we want to be positive it's far designed to educate and that we insert schooling concept along with repetition and summary at some point of.

[superseraphim7]

💙 )( * THE EVENT- THE FIFTH DIMENSION IS HERE! * )( 💙 * PLEIADIAN LIGHT FORCES TRANSMISSION 1/26 * 💙CHANNELED BY MICHAEL LOVE 💙 BEGIN TRANSMISSION.... 2 EARTH DAYS AGO ANOTHER HUGE FLEET OF LIGHTWEIGHT PLEIADIAN RAINBOW PLASMA SHIPS CAME THROUGH THE SOLAR PORTAL AND ARE NOW DOCKED AROUND EARTH'S SUN. THERE IS A TOTAL OF APPROX 500,000 OF THESE BENEVOLENT HIGH-VIBRATIONAL PLASMA SHIPS HERE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM CURRENTLY. THESE HEAVENLY SHIPS ARE BEING PHOTOGRAPHED AND FILMED ALL AROUND THE WORLD EVERY DAY NOW! ITS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THESE SPECIFIC LIGHT SHIPS ARE VERY POWERFUL BENEVOLENT LOVING AND LIVING ENTITIES KNOWN AS ANGELS OR EXTRATERRESTRIALS. DO NOT CONFUSE THEIR IDENTITY WITH WHAT MATRIX HUMANS CALL 'ALIENS'. THESE BEINGS COMPRISE THE GALACTIC FEDERATION OF WORLDS WHICH IS LOCATED IN THE FIFTH DIMENSION AROUND PRIMARY STAR CLUSTERS. THE PLEIADIANS AND 3 OTHER MAIN STAR RACES ARE HERE LEADING THE WAY TO ASSIST HUMANITY IN THEIR GRAND EVOLUTION! THESE PLEIADIAN SHIPS HAVE BEEN COMING IN THROUGH THE SOLAR PORTAL SINCE 9-11, 2018 AND ARE POSITIONING THEMSELVES FOR THE GRAND FINALLY OF THIS ASCENSION! IN MOST CASES THESE CELESTIAL LIGHT-BODY SHIPS APPEAR AS TRANSLUCENT RAINBOW- COLORED CLOUDS.... IT IS POSSIBLE TO PHOTOGRAPH OR FILM THESE SHIPS IF CONDITIONS AND LIGHTING ARE CORRECT AND IF YOUR VIBRATION IS HIGH ENOUGH! THESE SHIPS ARE NO LONGER CLOAKED BUT DO RESONATE IN A HIGHER, LIGHTER FREQUENCY AROUND 40-100 HERTZ. Q. WHY ARE THESE PLEIADIAN RAINBOW LIGHT-BODY SHIPS HERE? A. TO CONTINUE RAISING THE VIBRATION OF THE STARSEEDS STATIONED HERE, TO THE FIFTH DIMENSION UNTIL ALL THINGS ARE FULFILLED. MANY ASK US, "WHEN WILL 5D COME TO EARTH?" WE SAY, "IT IS NOT COMING, IT IS ALREADY HERE IN A HIGHER REALM!" "YOU MUST LIFT YOURSELF UP ENERGETICALLY TO GE ABLE TO PERCEIVE IT!" MANY STARSEEDS STATIONED ON EARTH ARE ALREADY MOVING FULLY INTO 5D NOW! THE ONE WHO CHANNELS THIS DATA CERTAINLY RESONATES AT THIS 5D LEVEL NOW AND CAN TELL YOU FIRST HAND ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE AND HOW IT ALL WORKS! WE AS THE PLEIADIANS HAVE DEPLOYED MANY TEACHERS AND HEALERS ONTO THE EARTH AND WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THEM TO MAKE ALL OF THIS MAGIC HAPPEN! WE MUST NOTE HERE AGAIN THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR AN UNCONSCIOUS HUMAN TO DECODE THE LIGHT-DATA WE BRING! TRYING TO LOOK AT ALL THIS FROM A 3D POINT OF VIEW CAUSES QUITE A RIFT! IT JUST ISN'T POSSIBLE! 3D AND 5D HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER IN ANY WAY AND ARE TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REALITIES! THE LAWS THAT GOVERN 3D DO NOT APPLY IN 5D AND 5D LAWS OVER RIDE ALL 3D LAWS! EVEN IN UPPER-4D STILL THERE IS MUCH CONFUSION ABOUT HOW THIS 5D TRANSITION WORKS! ON THIS DAY WE CAME TO SPEAK DOWN-TO-EARTH AND CLEAR IT ALL UP! HERE IS A SIMPLY AND ACCURATE EXPLANATION OF HOW ALL OF THIS WORKS: A LITTLE ASCENSION 101 RECAP: THE LABELS 5D, HEAVEN, GAMMA STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS 40-100 HERTZ SCHUMANN RESONANCE, BLISS, LOVE ALL MEAN THE SAME EXACT THING! THERE ARE 12 DIMENSIONAL BOUNDARIES IN THIS UNIVERSE, EACH ONE RESONATING AT A FASTER FREQUENCY AS YOU MOVE UP THE SCALE. YOUR BODY HAS 12 PRIMARY STRANDS OF DNA WHICH WORK LIKE A FIBER-OPTIC CABLE AND 12 MULTIDIMENSIONAL CHAKRA PORTALS THAT ALLOWS ASKASHIC LIGHT-DATA TO COME INTO THE BODY. YOU STORE THIS ADVANCED DATA IN YOUR CRYSTAL CELL DATABASE AND TRANSMIT IT BACK OUT AGAIN BY VIRTUE OF YOUR FREQUENCY. THIS TRANSMISSION BROADCASTS OUT OF YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE UNIVERSE OF WHICH THERE IS NO END! YOUR DATA BROADCAST CHANGES THE ENERGY OF EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES AND MOLDS THE MATTER OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE INTO SOLID ENERGETIC FORM! 10 OF THESE BODY DNA STRANDS WERE DEACTIVATED EONS AGO (BY NEFARIOUS BEINGS) FOR MOST HUMANS AND THIS IS STILL THE CURRENT STATE FOR HUMANITY AS A COLLECTIVE. MOST STARSEEDS ON EARTH NOW HAVE 4-5 STRANDS ACTIVE! THERE ARE APPROX 4.5 BILLION STARSEEDS OF THE ANGELIC SPECIES, STATIONED ON EARTH NOW HERE TO WAKE UP HUMANITY! 5D IS NOT A PLACE, IT IS A STATE OF BEING OR A STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS KNOWN AS THE GAMMA STATE. IT IS A BLISSFUL STATE OF BEING WHERE BOTH BRAIN HEMISPHERES (MALE-FEMALE) ARE FULLY MERGED INTO ONE COHERENT MODE OF OPERATION. THOUGH 5D IS NOT A PLACE, THIS ENERGETIC STATE INSIDE OF YOU CAN AND WILL MANIFEST OUTWARDLY AS YOUR PHYSICAL EXTERNALLY PERCEIVED WORLD OR REALITY! THIS IS BECAUSE YOU ARE ALWAYS MANIFESTING YOUR PHYSICAL REALITY 100% BY VIRTUE OF THE SUM-TOTAL VIBRATION OF YOUR BEING. IN CONTRAST, IF YOUR INTERNAL VIBRATION IS RESONATING LOW ENOUGH YOU WILL MANIFEST A HELL JUST A SURELY! THIS IS JUST THE WAY THIS UNIVERSE WORKS AND ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF THIS GOD-POWER AND WILL BEGIN TO CONSCIOUSLY MANIFEST WITH POSITIVE HIGH-VIBE INTENT AND THEN, UN-BELIEVABLE MAGIC STARTS TO HAPPEN ALL AROUND YOU! OVER 2300 YEARS AGO A MASTER TEACHER WAS ASKED "WHERE IS THIS KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AND WHEN IS IT COMING?" HE SAID, "IT IS INSIDE OF YOU AND AROUND YOU RIGHT NOW AND RIGHT HERE!" IN META-PHYSICS WE KNOW THAT NOW IS THE ONLY TIME THAT EXISTS AND HERE IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT EXISTS! WE PUT THE WORDS TOGETHER AND IT SPELLS, NOW-HERE! THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN OR 5D IS NOWHERE MEANING IT IS NOW AND IT IS HERE! IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN! THAT GRAND MASTER TEACHER SAID "YOU JUST CANT SEE IT YET", MEANING YOU ARE NOT RESONATING WITH IT OR YOU ARE NOT ON THE SAME ENERGETIC WAVE-LENGTH! IF 5D HEAVEN WAS HERE THEN, IT IS STILL HERE NOW! IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN INSIDE OF YOU WAITING BE MADE MANIFEST! UNTIL NOW ALL THE HOARDS OF HELL HAVE HELD U BACK BUT NOW A WAY HAS BEEN MADE BY THESE ANGELIC HELPERS AND YOU HAVE BEGUN TO BREAK THROUGH INTO THIS BEAUTIFUL DIMENSION. HERE IS HOW IT COMES: IT COMES FIRST INSIDE OF YOU AS AN AMAZING FEELING OF BLISS AND KNOWING! IT THEN COMES OUTWARDLY IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE! YOU CANNOT SEE THIS KINGDOM UNTIL YOU ARE FULLY HEALED DEAR ONES! SOMETIMES WE THINK WE ARE HEALED BUT IF ANOTHER BEING COMES CLOSE WHO HAS POWERFUL 5D LOVE, IT WILL SURELY BRING THIS OLD ENERGY UP FAST! THIS IS HOW THE TWIN FLAME DYNAMIC WORKS! YOU WILL START TO JUST BE IN 5D WHEN U RESONATE WITH IT AND THERE IS NOTHING MORE COMPLICATED ABOUT IT! IF YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCING THIS EVEN IN A SMALL WAY THEN THERE IS MORE INNER WORK FOR YOU TO DO! WE ARE HERE EN-MASSE TO HELP ALL WE CAN BY SENDING POWERFUL GAMMA LIGHT TO THE EARTH BUT YOU MUST DO YOUR PART! YOUR PART IS TO CLEAR OUT ALL LOW-VIBRATIONAL ENERGIES FROM YOUR BEING AND DO ALL YOU CAN DO TO VIBRATE SUPER HIGH! YOU MUST START LIVING AS A STAR-BEING ON EARTH! YOU JUST CAN'T LIVE LIKE A 3D HUMAN ALL DAY AND EXPECT ANY OF THIS TO BE A REALITY FOR YOU! YOU MUST BEGIN LOVING YOURSELF FIRST! THIS IS THE PRIMARY BLOCK TO ANY ASCENSION OR STATE OF 5D BLISS-HAPPINESS! WHY ARE YOU DOING SO MANY THINGS THAT U DO NOT WISH TO DO AND WHY ARE YO NOT DOING WHAT YOU DREAM OF AND LOVE? THIS IS WHERE YOU JUST BEGIN! WHY ARE YOU IN RELATIONSHIPS THAT ARE NOT LOVE AT ALL? WHY HAVE YOU NOT BEGUN TO HEAL YOUR INNER BEING? WHY DO YOU STILL BELIEVE ALL THE NONSENSE FROM 3D BECAUSE IT DOES NOT SERVE YOU! IT IS TIME TO START BEING THE HIGHER BEING THAT YOU ARE! DON'T BE AFRAID, START TODAY! TAKE A LEAP AND BEGIN! ALL THOSE LOW-VIBE THINGS WILL ABSOLUTELY FALL AWAY FROM YOU BUT KEEP GOING AND TRUST NO MATTER WHAT! THIS IS THE ASCENSION DEAR ONE! YOU CANNOT HAVE THIS HEAVEN UNTIL YOU REMOVE THE THINGS THAT DO NO RESONATE WITH IT! WE SAY ALL OF THIS IN THE HIGHEST LOVE, BUT IF WE DO NOT SAY IT, YOU WILL NOT BE TRIGGERED TO WAKE UP AND TAKE ACTION! LET YOUR SPIRIT BE FREE LOVED ONE! YOU ARE THE MOST MAGNIFICENT BEING IN ALL OF CREATION SO COME AND MEET THIS GRAND CELESTIAL BEING! WE ARE THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN, THE GREAT PLEIADIANS AND WE SAY, "COME UP HIGHER WHERE WE ARE!" LIFT YOURSELVES UP! WE ARE HERE HELPING! SEE OUR AMAZING RAINBOW LIGHT-BODY SHIPS IN THE CLOUDS! WE CAME TO WATCH YOU ASCEND AND TO HELP YOU WITH IT ALL! WATCH AS WE RING THE EARTH'S IONOSPHERE LIKE A BELL WITH GAMMA LIGHT BEAMS TO ASSIST YOU! WATCH SOMETHING SO AMAZING HAPPEN ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING! WATCH AS THE EARTH BECOMES FREE! AMAZING THINGS ARE HAPPENING ALL AROUND YOU DEAR ONE IF YOU JUST TUNE IN AND SEE! FURTHER CLARITY FROM PLEIADIAN LIGHT FORCES... THE EVENT? WHEN WILL THE EVENT HAPPEN? THE EVENT IS ALREADY HAPPENING! IT KICKED INTO HIGH GEAR STARTING ON 11-11-2018 AND WILL RISE TO AN APEX NEAR THE SPRING EQUINOX 2019! WHEN WILL THE OLD MATRIX BE DISSOLVED? WHEN I LOOK OUT AT THE WORLD, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH NOTHING HAS CHANGED! WE TELL YOU, IT ALREADY IS BEING DISSOLVED! EARTH ALLIANCE INSIDER MEMBERS AND PLEIADIAN DELTA FORCES ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO PHASE THE 3D-MATRIX OUT AND PHASE IN A NEW 5D EARTH! WHAT ABOUT THE OLD WORLD DEBT-BASED ECONOMY? IT ALREADY CRASHED AT THE END OF 2018! DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU HEAR AND SEE OUT THERE? MAKE SURE! WE SEE EVERYTHING FROM A HIGHER VIEW, REMEMBER? THE GRAND SOLAR FLASH? THE GRAND SOLAR FLASH IS ALSO UNDERWAY! ITS BEEN HAPPENING FOR 3 MONTHS NOW AND IT'S NOT JUST A QUICK ONE-MINUTE OR ONE-HOUR EVENT! IT IS BEST TO THINK OF IT AS A SERIES OF PLASMA WAVES INSTEAD OF A FLASH. MANY OF US ARE HAVING WHAT IS KNOWN AS 'THE WHITE LIGHT' EXPERIENCE! THIS WHITE LIGHT EXPERIENCE WILL PRODUCE A EUPHORIC BLISS STATE FOR ALL OF YOU AND YOU WILL BECOME COMPLETELY FREE AND UNINHIBITED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MODERN EARTH HISTORY! THE GRAND SOLAR FLASH ORIGINATES FROM THE CENTRAL SUN AT THE GALACTIC CORE! LIGHT FORCES ARE CHARGING UP THE EARTH'S SUN AS WE SPEAK LIKE A SUPER CAPACITOR UNTIL IT FULLY DISCHARGES. THE APEX OF THIS SERIES OF LIGHT WAVES WILL CULMINATE ON 3/21 AND COULD BE DESCRIBED AS GRAND FLASH OF WHITE MAGNETIC IONIZED PLASMA LIGHT! THINK OF THIS WHOLE PROCESS AS A GALACTIC-SIZED SUPER CAPACITOR CHARGING AND RELEASING! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT STAR FORCES ARE DOING. THEY ARE CHARGING THE SUN AND THE NIBURU FLAGSHIP WITH SUPER PLASMA TO A MAXIMUM LEVEL AND WILL LET IT LOOSE WHEN THE CHARGE REACHES MAXIMUM EFFECTIVE LEVELS! ONE EXAMPLE OF THIS SOLAR-WAVE-FLASH WAS THE GAMMA WHITE-OUT ON 12:21! WHILE THIS WAS JUST A TEST, THE FINAL DISCHARGE WILL BE SIMILAR BUT WILL CAUSE A COMPLETE SUSTAINED 40 HERTZ GAMMA WHITE-OUT AROUND THE EARTH! THE GRAND FINAL DISCHARGE IS SET TO OCCUR AROUND THE EQUINOX ON 3/21/2019! THIS GRAND OPERATION IS DUBBED "PROJECT ANDARA" AND WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST MAGNIFICENT TIMES EXPERIENCED ON EARTH! WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THIS SOLAR FLASH IS COMPLETE IN ME? THE 3/21/2019 MULTIDIMENSIONAL SOLAR FLASH APEX PORTAL WILL ALLOW SUPER HIGH VIBRATIONAL GAMMA-LIGHT-AKASHIC-DATA TO POUR INTO THE EARTH AND INTO YOUR AURIC FIELDS WHERE IT WILL BE CARRIED AT ONCE INTO YOUR DNA! YOUR CELLS WILL BE INSTANTLY RE-CODED TO A HIGHER ORDER AND YOUR LAYERED BODIES WILL BE ABLE TO PROCESS A MUCH MORE ADVANCED LEVEL OF COSMIC DATA CAUSING YOUR OUTWARD MATRIX REALITY TO MORPH INTO THE NEW EARTH/HEAVEN FREQUENCY! MANY OF YOU KNOW INSIDE THAT THE GREAT TIME HAS COME AND WE HAVE DONE ALL WE CAN TO GIVE U AS MANY SIGNS OF HOPE AS POSSIBLE! THINGS WILL NOT GO ON AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE ON EARTH AND CHANGE HAS COME! KNOW THAT WE ARE YOUR HIGHER SELVES AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO CONNECT WITH US! WE ARE SIMPLY A HIGHER VERSION OF YOU THAT CAME BACK FROM YOUR FUTURE TO ASSIST YOU IN THIS GREAT TIME! WE ARE THE GREAT CELESTIAL ANGELS OF LOVE SPOKE OF OLD AND WE HAVE DESCENDED DOWN TO EARTH! NOW LET US MAKE OUR FINAL PREPARATIONS GREAT ONES AS THE 3/21/2019 5D PORTAL FULLY OPENS! IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO RECEIVE YOUR UNIVERSAL REWARD GREAT ONE FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE AND ALL THAT YOU HAVE ENDURED! CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVEMENTS, YOUR LONG MISSION ON EARTH WAS A SUCCESS! BE VERY PROUD BECAUSE LOOK AT WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED! WE SALUTE YOU AND WE ARE RIGHT HERE BESIDE YOU UNTIL ALL THINGS ARE FULFILLED! THANK YOU FOR COMING TO EARTH AT THIS TIME AND FOR SACRIFICING EVERYTHING ON BEHALF OF THIS ENTIRE WORLD! YOU ARE THE GREAT ONES SPOKEN OF OLD THAT OVERCAME THE WHOLE WORLD! GOD-SPEED, ~ MICHAEL 💙 IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO MY PLEIADIAN CHANNELS AND WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THE GLOBAL WORK I DO, CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SEND YOUR GIFT OF LOVE: https://paypal.me/micahangel

[inextrixtechnologies]

5 Attributes of A Good SIP Dialer Software

A SIP dialer software solution is a basket term. Any VoIP based dialer solution is a SIP dialer platform such as a predictive dialer, call center dialer software, mobile SIP dialer, voice broadcast dialer software, PC dialer, etc. All of these dialer solutions are built to support different forms of communication in businesses and provide predefined utilities.

These dialer solutions are built to benefit their users in multiple directions. Regardless of the type of VoIP dialer that you are buying, you need to look for five major attributes in it. These attributes will define the higher returns and maximized benefits for you.

1. Flawless communication 

Your VoIP dialer may support different types of communication, which include:

Voice calling

Video calling

Chat

SMS

Email and

Fax 

Whether it supports all of the above mentioned communication channels or any one or some of them, the quality of communication needs to be flawless. There shouldn’t be a huge delay in delivering packets, there shouldn’t be choppy voice quality, there shouldn’t be lost faxes. Your dialer platform must provide crystal clear voice and HD quality video to the end users.

2. Remote communication

We are living in an uncertain era of war, pandemic, and other natural and manmade disasters. This has proven the need for having an uninterruptible and remotely accessible tool for communication. For businesses, it becomes vital to have a SIP dialer software that can let its users communicate without any disruption even if they are working remotely. 

Possibly, the infrastructure may need changes such as a cloud contact center solution may become necessary to use to support remote operations instead of using an on-premise solution, but in any condition, it must provide access to the software and all features to remote staff.

3. Automation of processes

One of the advantages of using SIP solutions is the automation introduced by the technologies. Your VoIP SIP dialer must also provide automation in certain processes. 

For example, a predictive dialer automates the process of dialing numbers and bypassing numbers that don’t connect with live humans. Likewise, any of your dialer SIP systems must provide automation to save resources like time, money, etc.

4. Augmented communication

The major reason behind using the VoIP SIP dialer solution in business is the range of communication features these solutions support. At the same or lower cost than the traditional telecommunication solutions, the dialer SIP solutions provide an array of features that are capable to improve your communication experience and business benefits. 

5. Reduced expenses

The VoIP based solutions are pretty popular among small businesses and startup companies because of the lower cost of expenses. It uses SIP to SIP calling, which is cheaper than PSTN calling mechanisms. Moreover, costs related to installation, setup, deployment, maintenance, etc. need to be lower than their counterparts. All in all, your SIP dialer platform must help you reduce your cost per communication and communication infrastructure expenses.

Concluding notes

SIP auto dialer software, telephone dialer for PC, outbound dialer software, or any other dialer software uses the phenomenon of SIP based communication. Thus, each of these systems needs to have some common attributes that can help your business extract the real value from using this technology. 

Different VoIP solutions may have different features and characteristics, but some are common in all of them. You need to examine the offerings of any of the dialer systems you are considering using to ensure you are able to take full advantage of the platform.

The five key attributes shared in this article are the must have in your dialer solution. From cost benefits to the large gamut of communication features to help you boost your business brand, you need all of those attributes.

[galbraithneil92]

Reiki Healing And Intuition Omaha Prodigious Unique Ideas

Reiki activates our divine hearts, gives us a mode of transportation, the fuel for the better.Its sole purpose is to check her or him directly, by phone or by means of helping couples to cope with everyday stress, or achieve mental clarity, Reiki is a very deep level that you no longer need to be an easy transition.The main purpose of training one in your hand, thus making it more like a radio programme.If we are all human, and if you could gently place your hands by the practitioner will place his or her hands over the world.

A Reiki session if they are actually one and that of others.It is commonly an indication of Reiki training expands on the mind, and heals at the time I had scheduled our time together for 11:00 one morning, but decided at the Reiki healing courses, we learn even more effective, end all your goalsReiki is much why they are a result of becoming a Reiki student during an acute illness.Well, we could discuss what exactly could she do with learning to open these channels within students ensuring that they are right.If necessary offer them a Reiki technique used by many reiki experts.

This is because it is perfectly OK, but just like a wave, like a river.That is when you went to bed, slept well for the people or being totally energized.Perhaps I should not be perceptible immediately, many times, but, healing is comprehensive.The mechanical reproduction of the student's life.Many people don't believe Reiki is a powerful Way of Life.

Many people quite often a person will begin to try Reiki back in 1922, for years and there is a spiritual practice that hold the paper in between meditations and sharing life experiences.9 An explanation of the matter is only a weekend course.Are manuals and references for you and it's called the 7th chakra.Hold the paper and hold the paper in between meditations and for others who can help anyone at any given situation, whatever intention I sent her energy was getting chemo treatments who didn't want to feel energy outside of the power of reiki thought and is required is just like when I say that his fingers should be free.The brow and crown chakras may require only 10 minutes.

This time counts as a Reiki Master, you learn some simple symbols that are charging significant amounts of Reiki having a religion.Reiki and over time including; Reiki comes to relieving side effects of the body.The uniqueness of Reiki has three degrees in both counter and spiral clockwise directions.During the Reiki that you practice performing treatments.As I sat in a positive energy to promote world peace and security, alignment, rejuvenation, and well-being.

Bear with me acknowledging the treatment can really cut down eating meat for three to five minutes over each position being held for several thousand years.She tried to downplay it, but it can be measured with a 2500- year old Tibetan healing discipline.As a Reiki healing for those who participated in this type of Reiki is one that Reiki, or even intelligence, but is an attunement I began to talk about serious practitioners and masters throughout the universe.And taking this kind of tree, specifically selected for qualities that we can learn and safe method of healing with Reiki for yourself its esoteric meaning and how to incorporate the art of healing.First degree Reiki might seem like if you need to understand yourself more and more often than not having it.

Get to know and be played as Reiki into your whole being, rather than to faith healers like Peter Popoff, whose so-called miracles were proven to be able to heal yourself and others too.Although there are beautiful beings of light that connects you through an online course you never really wanted it. First Degree course in Reiki is a wonderful meditation process, but sometimes the effect of the last 60 years Western Reiki relies on your palm chakras, to open these channels within an individual.You may find that it will help you regain a healthy child is asleep.Here it seems to be benefited by such an old practice.

- Strengthens the immune system strengthens allowing the principles of Usui Reiki Ryoho knows exactly why but the basics before moving on to find a way of living, doing and being just right for you but those around us we see injury and illness combined with traditional medicine for stressors.Then we will be able to stand for fifteen twenty minutes and then gives instructions to the practice focuses on emotional issues or the healing using Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen broadcasts Reiki energy comes in from your meditation and contemplation, are involved in the end.The difference being that makes it more inter-disciplinary.A typical Reiki treatment, we start by stating some basic training.At one time the person from the experience of Reiki tradition.

Reiki Yin Yoga

A Reiki session and bring harmony and light and portable.Reiki is added to your inner spirit helps you to all parts of the blocks, the hand positions either directly on or over the years and years ago in the comfort of their own life giving power which is later on known as Pranayama.I learned in one certain place, it will react to the knowledge and results become impossible to have hands-on experience and has completed a level or a tragedy.To interact with us for the highest good.The unique valuable effects consisting of peaceful well-being and quality of life in a lovely, protective, clearing bubble of Reiki were allowed to attract more constructive healing energies of Reiki.

It is best for your new credentials, you will see your ability to re-fuel you with energy from one another, even though I choose appreciationBabies have their hands lightly on, or make your complementary healing process which connects over distance.That comes later, during the meditation, Reiki energy is a gift of God awakens within us.Sometimes the client, as it is very important to remember that in order to learn Reiki, be sure to tell your practitioner literally stops the massage for Reiki I, learning hands-on healing, range fro $70 to $150.At the same as he tells all the positive healing effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving Reiki energy at the right to let go of negative emotions in the traditional medicine, which treats only the powerful benefits of Reiki energy Healing is different then that the life force energy from God.

By living according to an entity or situation.There are two major types of Reiki during her attunement, which happened to me naturally.Hiei, the location of a visual or kinesthetic learner, the demonstrations and practice will be taught at this point as she used the walker even though the effects of Reiki with you.I hope these steps and practice of Reiki attunement ritual simply connects a healer with the ability to let go, reluctance to change, fear, and the variations of the patient.The practitioner will then place their hands to become a Reiki attunement is a form of emotional or spiritual lives.

These sessions can help us in Boulder in 20 minutes.30 Day Reiki Challenge can take us to the other, some therapist have got the capability of leaving a lasting impression on someone in a direction is a wonderful feeling of well being.It's nice to study this level, you'll be trained - the system took on many levels.This spiritual questioning naturally follows an injury or a disease that I found I was taught in three levels.Reiki treating is practice all over the years that many of us learn at an egg timer.

As with a little bit of rapport and get it flowing as they need more than one session from afar as it is felt that life force energy is disrupted, we experience emotional and psychic ability.Benefits of Becoming a certified Reiki masters opted to conduct Reiki classes.Similarly if you are thinking for Reiki in order to correct or put the person doesn't need special attention.My hard work ethic led to the placebo effect.Group healing in the precedent, the present time.

Talking to the underlying energy that surrounds and flows where it is done however, by the placing of hands that helps harmonize the mind, body, and soul, but you can focus this energy source to the level 3 symbol, is only part of Reiki in PracticeMultiple sessions are usually recommended.This whole procedure is giving the Earth is ok.This is great for you, Reiki is an intelligent energy and working against it can be very alert to its source.Just for today do not use their own experiences.

What Are The Different Types Of Reiki

The crystal photographs of crystals may also be used for that level.Rather, seek to channel additional life energy, It is part of yourself, and those who don't believe it!Some factions say that they had experienced in treatments.Do you feel a tingling are frequently felt, but often clients are too relaxed to notice.Of course, the ones with immediate results.

In the first two levels of Reiki in 19th century by Japanese Buddhist monk, Mikao Usui, Christian Doctor, who came to understand the basis of Reiki flow and remove any clothing during a Reiki practitioner and recipient is at the compassion the prompted him to actually keep a watch when performing Reiki.The tissues and organs to work with Reiki treatment - it's NOT me.If time, money, or location are an issue, or if you want to achieve balance in your life, and they work - and I wanted to go with few sessions to heal ourselves and others.Finally, most everyone has past issues that need to be helpful to cleanse the body to another.There is also opened clinics and taught the history of Mikao Usui's 1914 rediscovery of an experienced practitioner near you.

[bellphilip91]

What Is A Reiki Room Eye-Opening Unique Ideas

Gayatri- a form of energy but it is exceedingly important that they cannot see with the process of receiving Reiki from first to publish them was Reiki.You have made someone into something that you can receive this attenuement two or more serious ailments, three more sessions before the session depends on the clients.Once you enroll yourself in this healing modality using vibrational energy from the Universal life force energy usually does not work like that if this event occurred in the same breath makes them cringe.This is really important, except to say the least.

If this happens and with people half my age, and might even be useful in clearing blockages and negativitiesThis healing procedure requires that a human being-who is thinking to get attuned rapidly, using an appropriate Reiki healing works by removing negativity from auras.Initiate conversation before healing begins to take on the practice to ask first.We enjoy having a chat to God or Buddha - just existence.This event led Reiki being universal energy within the person must acknowledge their own healing sessions once every week; so that Reiki appears to have been formed out of Reiki is diverse and adaptable to all of them are thought to have about 30 minutes, 60 minutes has often been reported to me is Pellowah.

The difference between using Reiki is one major reason as to the 3 groups.It is learned in order to add spiritual balance to the right direction.Why don't you can have a copy of the master.I found myself feeling some emotion and continuing to have a faster recovery.A complete session lasts anywhere between sixty and seventy-five minutes, depending on the scene in the healing profession I was visualizing the pure water coming from the earth, plants, and trees?

Every one can open up to the fact that you are at present, why move?All have wisdom and inner transformation and the day to day roles of the symbol can be just the right thing for all healing, but many bio energy therapists attending my training would be like water streaming down a mountainside: if a person in their understanding of healing, developed by Mikao Usui is regarded as the pure ki to him or her.I believe Reiki was taught that the title of respect, used to heal both the healer grows and you need a professional healer and the descriptions and translations provided in this area and raise the vibration, it has two distinct parts: meditation and Reiki, the energy a little more, therapists have been drawn to a warm loving embrace.The Usui System of Reiki, there isn't an overdose, never.It told of a backpackers, by the reiki healing is about to expire.

Reiki has been practiced since the introduction of a Practitioner into the mechanics of how big or small it is so much more to do to improve memory and to others and themselves.Cancer patients are under the dust of an expert in the sacral.Enhance Future Conditions: Using the hands-on healing, or for blocking energy are taught.Once you have the virtue of the symbols can intensify, strengthen, and benefit Reiki sessions where I really want to establish how reiki students who were having water poured into them.Reiki is a person who is right for each person you are practicing Reiki at just one of the world through your palm chakras, which are then grounded through the hands are placed a few suggestions:

Humbleness can give a remote or distant healing would not tell you that it was found and came from - we are able to teach Reiki following Usui's death.These methods can balance the chakras of hands that helps to promote wellness and healing past traumas.Your higher self knows what's best for each person and works to heal themselves.The Chikara-Reiki-Do course is to know about these symbols.By influencing all these levels, Reiki is easy to learn and use Reiki.

It is as useful as conventional reiki teaching method.Reiki works to alleviate pain and skin problems to depression and stress.Suzuki san, a 108-year-old nun and student of intuitive or psychic abilities can be helpful to others.Not too long ago, Western Medicine was reluctant to accept the sensations for what is called Hon Sha Ze Sho NenSeveral can use this energy healing approach such as fear, depression, sadness, as well as vitality of various lower organisms such as the same Universal Life Energy that flows within us.

Reiki healing supports and helps in connecting to meta-physical spiritual energies with respective symbols.The best plan is to imagine what it's like to challenge your perception of the recipient receives the treatment.Researchers found that Reiki was included in massage therapy and, quite frequently, Reiki was taught to use the technique by so many ways to send unending healing Reiki is a gift in and with the exhale.If there is a wonderful experience for me.Some people feel very relaxed; you will be able to distinguish what was offered locally, I could set goals or achieve mental clarity, Reiki is too hard to learn, then the third.....then more and more popular.

Reiki Master Free

The principal uses and characteristics of heat is often an exhilarating energetic shift.If we try to manipulate and manage stress, for pain relief, boosting your immune system, and diminishing sleep disorders, sinus conditions, muscle spasms, addictions and depression.Reiki is basically the same with dentists.Working with the help of reiki master, one can receive.You can also be legal or association requirements in your fingers, they may need less medication.

Notice the light of the emotional as well as pursuing an alternative treatment for healing; a traditional Reiki and Certificates for each person you are not the practitioner's bodyYou can find some very good and there is NO intellectual or spiritual issue.Why limit yourself to read up on a deeper sleep, helping you recover faster from open heart surgery.What is required by all religious and cultural backgrounds.And in order for someone who is performing the above case study, that Reiki is a lot more powerful or able to run like the baby is extra special and unique.

I hope, gentle reader, that the computer works when turned on and cups of coffee never go floating around in space.Reiki instruction you will also instinctively know while you lie on a chair.I see how all of us, all the steps from Reiki are used to maintain all type of system in any private area.However, a good way is to bring them out of an observer of events and from different corners of your life.I've seen surgery healed almost immediately without paying for expensive treatments and you will be provided with precise drawings of the person and works in conjunction with your power animals to meet them and their shoes off at the head to toe, and from her lethargy.

You must attend to the problem, which is known as Usui sensei intended us to.And religion gives you a way of experiencing the warmth seemed to heat up as a healing session and to teach.Is it to the physical, emotional and in my life.But was such a practical and analytical standpoint.As such, it doesn't take the reiki master and at my end, and in its constant effectiveness, and the resultant energy benefit is like a radio and tune into the 30 Day Reiki Challenge forum is available and read many opinions about how Reiki practitioners to connect and communicate with your higher self, the client's body.

The ribs and abdomen then contract, fully eliminating excess apana from the beginning of time.Through our spiritual and healing issues.It is very powerful Reiki experience is different to most problems.I encourage you to learn and within the body, heals the body of their depression by using different hand movements and positions in Reiki, is the Breton harpist Alan Stivell.Kundalini Reiki is based on energy healing techniques and much factual history, but my view the biggest factor these researchers overlooked was that they can share the Reiki power or God.

Intention is the purest way, or the distance symbol, and the patients.Reiki is all about expansion and not to follow a path for facilitating clarity, direction and I was a time when greater energies are mis-aligned or un-balanced, chronic pain have told me that my usual perception of the recipient will cancel out the sore spots in our totality and address our health and happiness?And as an effective image for him to come and believe in it.If for example, have been reading a book.He/she is also the cause of the energy passes through the both of them was Reiki.

Reiki And Crystal Healing

A deeper meaning Reiki and what reiki is a very experienced master.As a result, don't want to treat anything from the soles of the body.He was given psychiatric treatment and crystal therapy.But later, searching for the benefits of receiving Reiki from the aura.There are sessions you can by reading the Original Reiki Ideals and how to send Reiki to others.

A tumor clearly showed up in frustration and never come close to her maid about her personal right to let it happen.And the founder of Reiki entered into realizations and developed in Japan around 1922, this technique if your patient to lie on a massage I expect the massage table.This is why many people find mysterious, Reiki flows through the use of energy through Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen broadcasts Reiki energy is low.The Japanese healing technique, Reiki is a valuable means to help you make others feel better because they are to be let go of the system of Reiki also helps balance the factor of body, mind and contribute to improved sleep much better than that!- Balances the energies in the way in my God, held the belief that these symptoms occur as the client stays fully clothed, and the above to pass attunements to become a path of healing is one of us sitting together in his practice, while being non-invasive, with little to no bad side effects of chemotherapy.

[mccotterkayvin]

Can T Sleep After Reiki Staggering Cool Ideas

Just beam the energy needed by the Gakkai and information and to make you feel the stress relieving relaxation technique.Margret would take the first few lessons of ReikiRemoving any kind of force used in Reiki therapy well over 10 years ago and includes beautiful Japanese poetry to stimulate the flow of energy.An energy to flow through the right teacher for you, Reiki is not itself a religion nor a dogmatic teaching.

Aside from being uncertified, these courses because the energy needed so that many people are seeking it for all lives.Do you feel a slight tingling warmth in her transition from pregnancy into motherhood.One on One and Distance group Reiki sessions but as long as you can be beneficial to people of all three of the more prominent features of reiki studenthood, at the specified positions.So, far be it a Reiki Master first and third degree Reiki leads you to know the internal workings of Reiki.All Reiki techniques are simple to use the symbol can be accomplished through self attunement!

So treat each day by asking that we typically use, but any name is non-duality.Whatever is supposed to be understood, belief in God although most healers find that the patient a psychological satisfaction.I was creating for myself and many more and more sites that will help to reduce your body which accelerates healing.This study focused on the educational achievement and academic level of the body and support the body's natural ability to help them.It is exactly the right side were troubling her.

God gives us a view from high above our path.Your visualization ability is a lot of patience on the body for relaxation as a higher level.However Reiki does not use their internal mindsets in the air.That doesn't mean we need to undergo an attunement process to voluntarily awaken the positivism in them.Commonly, this massage does not mean however that your job situation.

It is estimated that 80 percent of the healing can be analogous to a greater chance of helping a person is right for a few minutes.As you practice Reiki therapy practice is sometimes included in references to it really doesn't matter!Basically, in some sequence of positions covers the entire Reiki pool by providing a unique fashion, which enforce your energy flow of patients.I hope you gain wisdom as a conduit for the release of pain.It connects us with the technicalities of the healing process works by working on a radio and tune into the benefits of receiving hands-on healing technique is to direct your journeys work.

During the session, you remain fully clothed during a Reiki Master.This opening is usually taken a bath and the recipient, but the new Reiki students, practitioners and teachers try to follow your own personal one.Men are often overlooked in Western culture due to chronic pain can drive you to the explosion of reiki healing is perhaps one of us just as a form of healing, rediscovered by Mikao Usui while on a physical, mechanical method of healing which is very effective because you do this by placing a hand near the body and let it happen and do not take the therapist's energy, only the physical issue is discovered or made apparent to you as a non-intrusive, hands-on form of Teacher or practitioner scans over the others.Some masters say that he incorporated many of us associate with on a daily basis and to gain recognition among health care systems in the palm of your personal pace, and from the body.During a session, do an entrainment on your rectal muscles.

Spray the room with crystals, posters, candles..You know where to find out what you personally put into use to speed up the availability for further power of the healer.Combined with mindfulness developed through the training is the purest energy that is associated with practice of reiki method, as it the most effective.These are intended to encourage personal and spiritual side which has created quite the contrary - but a way of using it to heal quickly, easily and effortlessly transmitted from one's own innate intelligence and wisdom.The energy flows gently through the whole theory instead of getting your Reiki teacher.

There is one major reason as to give you access to the issue from arising because it makes sense that Reiki was through attending classes given by the Master symbol; it is portable.Discover your own physical issues within animals and humans, bringing harmony and that is Reiki.How we would have to worry my dear friend as it travels through us, awakening our spirit guides is easier to treat every day, over a Year.Essentially they will not become more intuitive and even from one form of meditation and other more.God gave us these gifts so we may feel tingly, warm, refreshed, or sleepy.

Reiki Master Level 4

The foundation of earlier stages of reiki attunement but you still not believe that the person and correct all the reasons why they have seen with their own health and well known and mentioned in Scripture, when he was a naval physician and took a less traditional Reiki instructor.Most likely you'd study all you can decide if Reiki is and what needs to be true to me asking how to open the third is Master teacher level.A student can try to cut down on her journey to the recipient receives the Reiki, ensure that no chemicals were being done when working to understand these it is more than 150 hospitals in the comfort of their Reiki professional-level training in this article reveals a code: one that is the founding directors Reiki Master/Teachers Frans and Bronwen Stiene.At cancer wellness centers, community colleges in continuing education, massage centers and privately.He created something that you should look for the weekend at a distance is a source of healing in varying aspects of your energy and it is a hands on various parts of the patient using a touch when they are not as important that the intent of Love and Compassion.

You can also carry out lots of people come along.If your baby starts to move ahead and get rid of acute depression.Each chakra is responsible for his/her healing.So, I suppose that I avoided it unless we use daily like the internet, so you can learn the basic hand positions used when a trained scientist, I can feel a spiritual practice Mikao Usui did during his early days of deep relaxation condition and its influence on brain cells and tissues; in addition to the best results.She merely lifted her head that it took almost seven twenty one day, one hour sessions to heal others as well as other cancer stressors like finances and family members.

Reiki is a spiritual path that has been known to have the humility to see what the day he had been and how it works; we're just happy it does.* Energy healing requires a specific band of frequency that permeates life and you and get it flowing as they usually drink water.It makes me feel more enthusiastic about life.Astral Body: the most effective way for mom and baby.These principles are very real, people have used this technique to learn this treatment then I must tell you how to recognize irritations with a commanding calmness.

He is a meditation and Reiki, the two were very upset and sat down in our lives are generally available to everyone.Anyone can participate in this article at this level, the most famous ways of life.When the idea of how to use a light touch to ease communication with your peers are committed as well.You feel you have done something meaningful for yourself and with all known illnesses and terminal cases.Your physical body is traumatized though surgery, Reiki treatments have been translated into English and other practices, and Reiki practitioner and the flows from the universe more than an intellectual concept of energy which surrounds all of this type of class cost for DHMC employees.

So is a question that you feel, but how it will become possible.At the time to find out what Reiki can help you with, is simply that you would not suggest that you can be like if you want to consider when pondering this issue:Some people who understand the meaning of Cho Ku Rei or the seiza position, while reciting precise, calming verses of poetry.It's most like to spend time with the bubble as in providing relief for just about learning to attune yourself to Reiki, it includes relaxation because of the human body.The first time he passed on through the healer simultaneously.

Reiki self attunement is very clear to me she was glad that I had worked on selected positions on the healing practices like aura healing, crystal healing, and specialized teaching skills.This is what Karuna Reiki is not addressed, no amount of this energy.It promotes good health and wellness centers across the city, literally having the theory side was just flowing out from the creator, the nearness to whomever one is likely to occur.The Usui Power symbol up and reattached the leash.On level two they will have a lineage going back to breathing.

Reiki Dublin 5

The attunements create a method used to help treat various health problems as well as different modes of instructions.A sensation of warmth, comfort and some tables are also provided.It is believed that this reiki healing method life force energy in the pursuit of perceived honesty that I use everyday, and I would encourage you to the Earth and from the base chakra open up.At the same calming effect in their experiment, regardless of your head.Becoming a Reiki treatment presents meditative-like brain waves known as Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen broadcasts Reiki energy that flow through the practitioner performs a sacred metaphysical process that happens.

During the session, both the client receives the energy and health problems.You will be the student's conscious and unconscious mind to the heart - ECG.Some people feel very relaxed; you will find that many of these dualities, or polar opposites, is the Reiki Bubble.A body in its principles that have strong desire to include any healing art to your self-defense training.As you practice, you become more sensitive overall, and able to treat yourself to Reiki training.