#mc: ?????????

[jonsy-frost]

Emily and Kalter! (mc from twitter, owner [@]cheorr1n)  

[lyon-amore]

Mr and Mrs Liars Chapter 14

Chapter 13 Warning: Mention of suicide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Jake POV*  While I'm driving, MC keeps quiet. She absorbed in her thoughts. When I take a quick look at her, I can see that her eyes don't even seem to be on the road. Schneider... That surname doesn't sound familiar to me at all, it wasn't on my corrupt list, and so MC's attitude towards him must be something personal. I hate that she's like this. It doesn't go with her. This case is affecting her even though she doesn't want to say it. I'd love to know what she's thinking right now. I stray out of the way home, wanting to cheer her up a bit.     “Jake, this way it doesn't go to the apartment."     "I've decided we could eat out."     “What?” She lets out a slack laugh “Are you serious? How busy are we?"     "Trust me, you're going to like it."     "Alright.”      I smile, hoping she likes the surprise. Before parking, I stop in front of a Chinese restaurant. It's not fancy, but, it's something I owed her a long time ago.     “How about we eat here?” I asked her, watching her look curiously leaning out the window.     “Really, Jake?” she asks me, with a nervous laugh “here?”     “I once promised to take you to a Chinese restaurant, how can I not do it now as an apology after all these years?”      She puts a hand to her forehead, shaking her head. I can't stop watching her, see how surprised she is.     “Okay, you win.” she finally gives up, with a sigh.     "A break will do you good."     “Said the one who hasn't slept.”      I shake my head letting out a smirk. Always worrying that me to rest well. It wasn't a five star place, but I think it's fine for us. Although we stand out quite a bit with our outfit. After ordering the food, I see her again looking out the window. I have to distract her so she doesn't think about the case now. It is a dead time for both of us.     "Why don't you tell me what you've been up to these years?" I ask, calling her attention “For example, how was Phil's proposal for a hand?"     “You don't want to hear how Phil proposed to me, Jake.” she says, raising an eyebrow.     "Of course I do." I crossed my arms across the table. “Now I’m your friend and I’m interested in knowing what has happened to your life. Is it bad? ” She sits better in the chair, fixing her hair. She almost looks like she's thinking about how to start telling me.     "He did it classically.”     "Phil? Classic?” I watch as she rolls his eyes as I laugh "did he really kneel?”     "And in public."     "Well, I wasn't expecting that."     "But unlike saying yes the first time, when he asked me out, I made it more difficult for him by refusing to go out with him the four times he asked me."      A smile escapes me as I imagine MC refusing to date Phil those four times. In part, I'm proud because I'm sure it was because of me that she didn't want to go out with him.     "Four times? Are we talking about the same Phil who was said to be a womanizer?” I can't help but think he amazes me how eager he was to go out with her.     "I wanted to see if he was really interested in me or he just wanted one night with me." She crosses her arms across the table as well, leaning in with a mischievous smile.     "You did well to put that test on him,” I imitate her, proud of her, admiring her smile[CM1]  "it's better to be sure than to launch yourself.”     "You should have seen the messages from him desperate." she laughs, only to realize what she said.If I had seen those messages, I don't think I would have liked it at the time.  They bring us our food and MC looks at me, doubtful.     "You didn't bring me here only to make up for your promise six years ago, did you?" she asks me, starting to eat.     "I was concerned about how meeting that man before we left the police station affected you," I open up to avoid any more lies between us. "I felt like you needed a break from the investigation."     "Are you going to ask me how I know him?"     "Not if you don't want to talk about him."      She twists her mouth in doubt.She eats a bit, still with that otherworldly expression on her face. I decide to eat, not wanting to overwhelm her. When she want to talk, then I will listen. The second plate is brought to us and she pushes it away, looking at me.     "Manfred Schneider, he was my father's boss," MC replies, with a rather harsh tone. "Instead of helping us cover up the fact that I was helping in some cases, he decided to give us an ultimatum: either stop collaborating with them or have my father hand over the badge and the gun."     "Only because of a case that couldn't be solved?" I ask surprised, noticing how tense she was.     "When I found out, it was the spark that made me move away from the investigations. The fear that my father could be fired because of me and the scandal that could happen by then." The fear in her eyes gives her away. That man had taken part of her life from her at that time for fear that her father could lose everything. Scaring a teenager with that must be easy.     "But it was also made public that the police were receiving help." I remind her from what she told me and she sighs.     "Many things were coming to light which made the situation more complicated…"     “Until the day of the Lilly video.”     "The people around me who knew part of the story suspected me thinking that it was an opportunity to redeem myself and that I was crazy for kidnapping someone to believe that I could find out easily.” she twists her lips into a smile, letting out a laugh "Good thing I tried to handle it the best I could and make them understand that this was not true.”     “It was crazy that time,” I comment, remembering when I had to leave her alone for a while working it out with Lilly “I didn't think something like that could happen. I don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologize for what happened. I had to leave you alone. ”     "You don't have to apologize." she smiles kindly and makes me want to hold that image in my head. "I always trusted you. For me, I always knew that you would return.”     "And not just because of Hannah's kidnapping." I return her smile, fixing my eyes on her.     “Not just for Hannah.”      I look at her hand so close to mine, that I only think about being able to brush my fingers with hers and apologize again, with a ‘That will never happen to you again now that I won't leave’. She squeezes her hand and sometimes relaxes it. I wonder what she's thinking. At least the silence between the two isn't awkward. We both know what we mean. We searched for our hands and I get to notice the tips of her fingers. But her cell phone interrupts us and we quickly push our hands away.     "It's Peter." she replies, what seemed to be that she was reading "He says to meet us after his end of the day. "     "Looks like he's going to talk."     "Yeah..."     "Are you prepared?"      She quickly replies to the message as she nods at me.     “He just sent me his address, too,” she says without taking her eyes off her cell phone. "He says that the checkout time for his is at eight.”     "We'll have time to get ready then," I answered, looking at the clock on my cell phone "we're too elegant, we'd draw attention."     “Right,” she looks at herself and makes a face, “it's better not to…” She picks up her conversation with Peter and frowns. “He says that you go too."     “I was thinking of accompanying you so as not to leave you alone, but it's interesting that he mentioned me."     “He'll want to talk to us about the case at his house, it must be safer."      She puts the phone away and begins to eat the second course. I’m very curious what Peter Hammer has to tell us. The files on cell phone can wait.  As soon as we left the restaurant, we received a message from the chat group for both of us.We look at each other when we see their concern for us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan And well? How are you doing?  Cleo Have you already uncovered any smugglers?  Thomas Because it's not fair that Lilly, Hannah and Jessy talk to you but you push us away  MC Sorry guys we've been busy 🙏  Jake If we spoke to them it was at a time of rest. Besides, we've just started your investigation. Jessica We just hope you finish soon 😩 here at Duskwood everyone is asking about you MC, we try not to let anyone think you left Phil  MC Haha, I'd never do something like that 😝  Lilly But everything is fine, right? You won't be in danger 😢  Jake It's all under control.  Hanna I hope you are right We don't stop worrying about you  Dan You mean yourself, I at least get my break from my second boss  MC Hey, I treat you more gently than Phil 😤  Dan When he's not looking  Jessica 🤭 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I look up from my cell phone seeing her laugh at the conversation. I want to be able to finish this soon so she can go back to her normal life. That she doesn't have to be afraid.      "Everything okay, Jake?" She asks me, in a sweet voice.     "I was wondering if you're really that scary when you're at the bar." I lie, not wanting to worry her with my thoughts of her.     "Dan exaggerates, although I do get tougher with clients who cross the line," she smiles mischievously. "I'm pretty good at negotiating their… Silence."     "Remind me never managed to get you angry.”     "You'd better, Jake Miller…"      I laugh seeing how she points at me accusingly. She knows how to make me smile. *MC POV*  I hadn't told Jake that the way Peter wrote to me was very direct and quick. I suspect someone was watching what he was doing at the time. I hope to finally get answers.  I change into my comfortable clothes again, along with my black hoodie. I should point out that I should have special clothes for investigations instead of wearing this one, since it's for another use. Maybe I'm too controlling with my clothes? Maybe I'm weird...     <<What a thought you're having right now, MC…>> I try to keep my mind occupied before going into professional mode.     "MC! Are you ready?!” Jake calls me from downstairs.     "I’m going now down!"      I pick up my phone, checking Peter's messages. It is the moment of truth. Going downstairs, Jake hands me a black face mask, his gaze serious.     "Is it necessary?" I ask, making an annoyed face.     "A few years ago you would have worn one, don't complain."     "A few years ago the issue was different." I accept the mask. I'd better put it on when we're downstairs or we'll attract attention in the building "I'm scared to think they might be watching him.”     "That's why I'm doing it for your own good." He opens the front door and adds something else. "We are not going by car either, it would not be safe for them to recognize it too."     "Understood. So we move the legs a little bit."     "If you can keep up with me."     "Are you calling me 'short legs'?"     "Never."     "I'll pretend you're telling me the truth..."      He lets out a nice laugh when I hears it. It’s makes me happy that we can get along like this. The journey is quite long, we even have to take the subway to get to his apartment. I look at Jake who seems to be looking everywhere, paranoid about the people around us.Maybe if I distract him a bit, he'll forget about that irrational fear.     "What are you going to do after this?" I ask curious.      He looks at me and blinks thoughtfully.     "I guess working at my new position."     "Isn't there anything you want to do after your freedom?"      He puts his hand to his chin, concentrating.     "I don't have any reason anymore, but maybe sometimes I'd stop by Duskwood to see my sisters.”     "And to your new friends."      I see how he smiles through his eyes and sighs.     "Yes, that too."     "Because what I don't want is to never see you again…" I murmur more to myself.     "Yeah, me neither."      We remain silent listening to the different conversations on the subway. I shouldn't have said that, I shouldn't have... We arrive at the building. It's a bit old, but still stands up. I look at my phone for the floor number and we go inside. At the moment we don’t meet anyone in the corridors, we are lucky.     “Door 5th B,” I remind Jake, reaching for the door.      What surprises us is to see that it is a bit open.     "MC, stay-"     “Peter!" I lower my mask entering the apartment, worried.    "MC, WAIT!" I ignore Jake. I do not like this.      The scene in the living room froze me completely. *Jake POV*  After a few seconds I hear MC's scream after having been watching that there was no one near the floor. That scream scared me.      "MC!" I see her on the floor crying, putting a hand to her mouth.      Seeing what she was seeing, I could understand her. Peter was hanging from the ceiling, his eyes rolling. I approach MC and help her up, forcing her to look at me.     "MC, look at me." I caressed her face turning her back to her body, preventing her from seeing him "Calm down."     "How can I calm down?!" She yells at me nervously, "Peter is-"     "I know, but right now we can't stand out." I hate being so cold right now, but I'm worried about her and her seeing this scene. "Left the apartment and watched, I took it upon myself to look for any clue as to why he did this."     "Why did he do this to me?" she asks without stopping crying. "Why did he make me watch this scene?"     "MC…" Right now, she can't think straight. She is not the girl who analyzes the environment. She's the scared girl "We can talk about it later, but I need you to get out of here now, I don't want you to keep seeing this, okay? I'll be with you soon."      She nods hugging herself, walking slowly towards the door. I don't like this scenario at all. It gives me a horrible feeling. He is pale and his lips are blue. I'm no expert, but I don't think he's been dead very long, but I'm not a forensic enough to know.     "His hand..." I notice that his right hand is tightly closed. It must contain something important. Luckily I have my gloves to open it. With rigor mortis, it's hard for me to move his fingers, but I do it by pulling out a piece of paper. And I worry when I read it.     "It's MC's full name." I say with concern. This is getting worse.     "Sir, don't worry, a patrol is already going to his house," I hear from the pocket of his jacket. "Stay on the phone, we'll try to help you.”      << Shit! >> I put the paper away and run to the exit looking for MC, worried.     “Have you found anything?” She asks me, still crying.     "We have to go now."     "What? Jake, what did you find?"     "At home, not here."      We head to the stairs, but we hear footsteps of several people.     "Quick! I think I heard something!" says a man.      I lean out a bit. They are cops.     "MC, up now!"     "Jake! What's going on?!"     "Save the questions for later! To the roof! Now!"      I grabbed her hand pulling her, running.     "I hear footsteps going up!” We hear from below.     "Jake!" MC yells at me, worried.     "Continue!” I push open the door, knocking it down, and running non-stop. Accustomed and without thinking, I jump to the next building, hopefully, I support myself on the ground like a cat. Good thing I haven't forgotten how it was done.   I turn to see MC, who is scared.     “MC, jump!” I exclaimed, nervous that she might get arrested.     “I can't! I've never done anything like this!” she exclaims in fear. I see how her legs shake. She looks down and leans back “No, no…. I'm going to fall if I jump.”     "Look at me," I try to speak as calmly as possible, drawing her attention. “I'm not going to let you fall, I'll catch you in time. Trust me.”     "But-"     "I'm not going to let you fall," we hear the screams coming from inside the building and I extend my hand "ever."      I see her doubting, looking back waiting for them to appear. She looks back at me and frowns, nodding.     "Okay, I trust you." She squeezes her fists tight, leaning back to catch a run.      I move a little closer to the edge in case I don't make it to the floor of the building. She runs as fast as she can and when she reaches the edge, she jumps. I manage to catch her holding her hands and she starts to cry now for fear that I won't be able to get a good grip.     "I got you."     "Put me up! Pull me up please!” she yells as I pull her up.      Once I puts her feet on the ground, she hugs me tight crying. I put her hood on, giving her a kiss on her forehead.     "You've done well, you've been very brave." I tried to encourage her, wiping her tears from her face.     "I want to go home... Let's go Jake..." she tells me, still crying.     "Yeah, let's go."      She hugs me and we open the door to the roof. We so lucky it can be opened from the outside without the need for a key. The subway is still a bit empty, so we manage to sit down, hoping that we can relax our bodies. I notice how MC trembles in my arms, without looking up. It's the first time I've seen her so scared, was that how she felt when she saw those video calls from the past? If that's the case, I hate myself that I still puts her in these situations.     "I'm with you, MC," I whispered, kissing her forehead again. "Don't worry, get some rest, I'll let you know when we arrive."      She nods slowly, though she doesn't seem able to close her eyes, still shocked, squeezing me tight.  This was not how I wanted our day to end. Chapter 15 

[longreads]

How Concerned Citizens Drove a Neo-Nazi Out of Rural Maine

Christopher Pohlhaus planned to build a fascist training compound in the woods of rural Maine. The local journalists, veterans, lumberjacks, and policymakers weren't having it.

Pohlhaus, 37, is a former U.S. marine, an itinerant tattoo artist, and a hardcore white-supremacist influencer. He is loud and hostile, and proud to be both. His voice is pitched surprisingly high, and he has a slight Southern drawl. He has a large body and small bald head; a blue-black tattoo crawls up the right side of his face, from his chin to his forehead. Over the years, Pohlhaus has collected thousands of social media followers, who know him by his nickname: Hammer.

Hammer had been living in Texas for a few years when, in March 2022, he bought the land in Maine. He told his followers that he was going to use it to build a haven, operational center, and training ground for white supremacists.

Check out our excerpt of The Atavist’s latest blockbuster story. 

[389]

PORTO ROCHA

[nanaluvbug]

🧀🥪🌶️🥭 The Ravening War portraits  🧀🥪🌶️🥭

patreon * twitch * shop  

[ID: a series of digitally illustrated portraits showing - top left to bottom right - Bishop Raphaniel Charlock (an old radish man with a big red head and large white eyebrows & a scraggly beard. he wears green and gold robes with symbols of the bulb and he smirks at the viewer) Karna Solara (a skinny young chili pepper woman with wavy green hair, freckled light green skin with red blooms on her cheeks. she wears a chili pepper hood lined with small pepper seeds and stares cagily ahead) Thane Delissandro Katzon (a muscular young beef man with bright pinkish skin with small skin variations to resemble pastrami and dark burgundy hair. he wears a bread headress with a swirl of rye covering his ears and he looks ahead, optimistic and determined) Queen Amangeaux Epicée du Peche (a bright mango woman with orange skin, big red hair adorned with a green laurel, and sparkling green/gold makeup. she wears large gold hoop earrings and a high leafy collar) and Colin Provolone (a scraggly cheese man with waxy yellow skin and dark slicked back hair and patchy dark facial hair. he wears a muted, ratty blue bandana around his neck and raises a scarred brow at the viewer with a smirk) End ID.)

[70sscifiart]

One of my favorites by Paul Lehr, used as a 1971 cover to "Earth Abides," by George R. Stewart. It's also in my upcoming art book!

[taizooo]

もともとは10年ほど前にTumblrにすごくハマっていて。いろんな人をフォローしたらかっこいい写真や色が洪水のように出てきて、もう自分で絵を描かなくて良いじゃん、ってなったんです。それで何年も画像を集めていって、そこで集まった色のイメージやモチーフ、レンズの距離感など画面構成を抽象化して、いまの感覚にアウトプットしています。画像の持つ情報量というものが作品の影響になっていますね。

映画『きみの色』山田尚子監督×はくいきしろい対談。嫉妬し合うふたりが語る、色と光の表現｜Tokyo Art Beat

[layla-keating]

#thistension

XO, KITTY — 1.09 “SNAFU”

[nevver]

Arts & Architecture, Sander Patelski

[foodffs]

Noodles with Lamb Sauce (Laghman, 新疆拌面) Xinjiang laghman features chewy noodles served with a bold and rich lamb and tomato sauce that is bursting with flavor.

Recipe: https://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/uyghur-style-noodles-with-lamb-sauce

[lesserknownbots]

CJ from Hello World (MSPFA) by phasedsun?

[shitakeo33]

よく「発明は1人でできる。製品化には10人かかる。量産化には100人かかる」とも言われますが、実際に、私はネオジム磁石を1人で発明しました。製品化、量産化については住友特殊金属の仲間たちと一緒に、短期間のうちに成功させました。82年に発明し、83年から生産が始まったのですから、非常に早いです。そしてネオジム磁石は、ハードディスクのＶＣＭ(ボイスコイルモーター)の部品などの電子機器を主な用途として大歓迎を受け、生産量も年々倍増して、2000年には世界で1万トンを超えました。

世界最強「ネオジム磁石はこうして見つけた」（佐川眞人 氏 ／ インターメタリックス株式会社 代表取締役社長） | Science Portal - 科学技術の最新情報サイト「サイエンスポータル」

[389]

PORTO ROCHA

[theroyalweekly]

HRH The Princess of Wales in Southport today, on her first engagement since completing chemotherapy. It’s so good to see her!❤️ --

[kithtaehyung]

AGUST D : DAECHWITA (大吹打) & HAEGEUM (解禁)  ⤷ movie posters | ig ; twt (click for hi-res)