#now we cant say anything about it because to bring it up is jeopardizing everything weve built and the people were keeping safe!

[homophyte]

it is interesting to me that ive seen lately (n yknow this is subjective and likely not any real social force just what ive seen) many queer people simultaneously talking about taking back and embodying unpalatable and ‘unmarketable’ queerness (the recent return to the terms faggot and transsexual come to mind) which i think is pretty evidently shaped by the conservative moment were in of demonizing queer ppl and especially gnc and trans people as predators--it reads as a return to queer isolationism in the face of external hostility, imo--while at the same time ive seen a lot of rallying around the “original” 6 stripe rainbow flag as opposed to any of the purportedly ‘factional’ flags of different queer identities, with the assumption being different identity flags divide us while the rainbow flag encompasses everyone and its kinda fascinating to me bc the rainbow flag is probably the single most marketable and palatable and uncontroversial symbols of queerness which has been seamlessly uptaken by those who wish to sell it back to us as gets pointed out every pride month with all the cringey pride merch.... i dunno you could maybe take that as a point of hypocrisy and claim the queer community is itself in a conservative moment rn where its returning to a sense of history and historical continuity (perhaps even out of that sense of external threat) or even that the queer community has for some time been in a conservative moment given the like, decade of identity discourse and lashing out at any people deemed to not have a sufficiently established history or however we should categorize the bihets/ace discourse/transtrender-tucute discourse/pan discourse/bi lesbians discourse (because lets be frank its essentially all the same discourse just keeping up its momentum by leapfroging from one target to the next) which i think is, like, SOMEWHAT true but not entirely? its more interesting to me, in any case, as an expression of a conflict the queer community is facing given that current state of affairs RE antitransness and that very recent history. like, the simultaneous need to retreat to a safe sense of community which is welcoming to the very things the outer world is demonizing ie mutable gender, complex or contradictory experiences of gender, gender expression which is hostile to the cis binary, but also the ways in which it has to grapple with those discourses which have largely defined the community infighting for again the past decade. its queer people begging the question ‘how can we make the queer community welcoming to the girlfags and genderfucks and tboys who are being threatened when we have spent so much time making the queer community a hostile place for anyone with a non-conventional or not easily (or even just palatably) sortable sense of queer identity’. and the answer it seems to be grappling with at the moment is like, welcoming all that diversity of experience but being absolutely averse to naming it. yes we love all the fuckery with gender and sexuality never be marketable but like, ew, why are you calling yourself [insert microlabel here]. you can be genderweird but you cant call yourself genderweird. you can only exist as queer in the broadest possible way (the all-inclusive gay pride flag!) but if you try to name the specifics or use those identity labels weve been fighting over for years youre doing it wrong (the progress pride flag is now ugly and cringey and ‘too much’). i think theres something also to the way (at least on this site) transmisogynistic discourses have really taken hold as legitimate (though yknow i wont downplay how much a problem transmisogyny has like. always been in queer spaces no matter what) in the name of protecting n defending trans people. like its just regurgitated transmisogyny but its being mobilized supposedly in the service of helping trans people. idk its definitely getting a little late for me to string this together fully coherently but theres a throughline there, in the ways certain ideas are being consolidated and reified as ‘yes were more progressive now!’ when i think theres definitely something to question there in terms of like...are we? are we actually? are we doing better by the people were trying to help or are we setting strict standards and forcing ppl to adhere to them again?

[yeojaa]

SUGAR HIGH, chapter xiv. (w. JJK)

You're not entirely sure when it happened, though you'd come to terms with it. You'd counted the days, waiting for the inevitable. You'd truly thought you'd be okay, but by the broken, half-beating thing in your chest - you knew you'd never really been prepared.

alt summary.  You thought you’d known real love and maybe you had - it just wasn’t with who you thought.

pairing.  jeon jungkook.  mentions/involvement of ot7.

tags.  angst, break up, post-break up, comfort, OT7, slow burn, friendship, moving on, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, emotional baggage, fluff, canon compliant, jeon jungkook is bad at feelings, jeon jungkook is a good friend, jeon jungkook is a sweetheart.

rating.  general (for now?)

word count.  2500

chapter 14.  Right Here

When you finally meet his gaze, he wonders if you see him at all.

"Earth to Park Soomi.  Earth to Park Soomi."  It barely registers even on his last try and Jungkook can't help but sigh, curling his fingers and spreading them in some wonky, squid-like wave in front of your face.

You're back at your apartment - his request, not yours - and seated alongside one another on the loveseat.  Your blanket is draped over your laps, more effectively centred over your legs that rest over his thighs.  He's been flipping through Netflix for the better part of five minutes, tossing suggestions out to silence.  You weren't even doing anything - just staring off into space like you were seeing the future.

"What?"  You snap out of it with a jerk of your head, nearly colliding your nose with the tips of his fingers.  

"What do you want to watch?"  He repeats for what is the fifth time.  There's an edge of exasperation to it that has you frowning.  He immediately softens, because he hates when you're anything but sunshine and summertime.  "I was thinking something scary, for old time's sake?"

He doesn't call you on the way your eyes glitter, mischief pouring honey into the depths. 

"Let's watch Midsommar."  Neither of you have seen it - as far as you know - but you've been dying to watch it.  You'd tried, once, with Yejin and Minji, but the former had torn out of the room, ranting about how she didn't want to have nightmares for days.  You'd given up, after that.  

"Okaaay."  The single syllable is dragged out as he selects the chosen film, tossing the remote onto the opposite chair like he's some kind of basketballer.  You watch as it bounces off the cushion and lands on the floor, nudged out of view by a furtive foot.  

"I saw that."

Jungkook pretends as if he has no idea what you're talking about, individually covered toes - god, why did he wear those stupid weird socks? - disappearing back beneath the cover of blanket.  He casts a cursory glance your way, the picture of innocence.  If he weren't so cute, you'd probably make him pick it up.  "Saw what?"

You can't stop the smile that spreads like butter, sinking into every little crevice and warming you from the inside out.  It pools in your lopsided grin and the lines at your eyes, reflected right back at you by your childhood best friend.  

"Nothing,"  you hum, ignoring the way your stomach flips at his self-satisfied grin. 

As if to push his luck – he loved to do it, had all his life – he hooks his arm over your stretched legs, his left hand snaking around the small space between your back and the couch, and pulls you closer.  You try to ignore the way it ignites heat, spreading warmth beneath the soft material of your shirt.  You can’t.

“What’re you doing?”  It comes abrupt and demanding.  A little sad, too.  (You hope he doesn’t notice.)

It somehow feels worse when he draws his hand away, as if you’d burnt him and not the other way around.  His expression slips, falls, and he doesn’t try to fix it, allowing it to slide into something begrudging and hurt.

When he speaks, it’s a hard line imposed between the two of you, a verbal barrier.  “I just wanted you to be comfortable.” 

You have no right to be upset and yet you are.  Jungkook thinks he sees a flash of it in your eyes before you’re facing forward yet again.  You’re closed off and it makes his heart ache but he’s not about to apologize for who he is – who he’s always been.

Even if he’s dying to know why you seem to suddenly hate it. 

Instead, he lets the movie roll, carefully contained in his little section of the couch.  He loathes it.  Your knees over his, a weight that drag his heart into the pit of his stomach and burns it in acid.  You don’t relax, hands locked in your lap like you’ve got your secrets hidden between them.

It’s only when your phone buzzes, face-up on your living room table, that you move at all.  Your movements are a marionette’s, unnatural and unforgiving;  you’re holding a world of tension within your bones and he’s afraid they’re going to snap like strings.  You never check your phone when you’re hanging out.  It was kind of a rule of yours and one Jungkook did his best to abide by, despite his responsibilities. 

“Is everything okay?”  He finally asks, reluctant, after you’ve been staring at your phone for far too long, completely disregarding the scene on the television.  He’s staring right at you, a million questions on the tip of his tongue.

He wonders if he’ll get an answer to even this one.

You don’t immediately respond.  He can’t read the tone of your voice when you do.  You won’t even look at him.  “It’s just Hoseokie’s friend.”   

When you finally meet his gaze, he wonders if you see him at all.

The next few weeks seem to fly by and while Jungkook loves the distraction, it's a reminder of your distance. 

He hasn't seen you since that night and there's this distinct hole in his mind and in his heart, each thought of you repeating tenfold like in an echo chamber.  He hates it more than he can say, the loneliness sinking into his bones when he least expects it.

Like now, for instance, in the car ride home.  Jimin sits beside him, singing along to what blares through the speakers, and stares out the window, completely at ease.  On the other hand, Jungkook can't focus on anything, his gaze locked on the leather console between the two front seats.  

He wonders what you're doing or if you're still awake.  (It's just past nine.)

"Are you okay?"  The question forces its way into his thoughts, drawing him from his reverie with a harsh hand, despite the gentle delivery.  His hyung's face is soft, worry framed into the slope of his eyebrows and the way his full lips purse.  

He's not quite sure what to say.  Lie?  Or verbalize things he'd rather not?  He hesitates, tongue slotting into the space of his cheek as he considers the question.

The silence seems answer enough.  "Is it about Soomi?"  There's no demand in Jimin's voice, no pushiness or reproach to be found.  He wants to express his support for his friend but toes the line of too much and not enough, head canting to the side as he studies the younger - and yet bigger - member.

"Yeah."  His admission is quiet, almost lost among the melody that filters through the speakers.  Truthfully, he wishes it had.

"Did..."  A pause, because Jimin wants to be very careful.  He's seen the bond you two have - know how precious it is, cradled in the cavity of Jungkook's chest like a treasure.  "Did something happen?"  He hopes its innocent enough;  he knows his maknae would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship.

"I don't know."  Jungkook sounds wrecked when the words come, anguish coating each syllable like a fine dust.  Still, there's more to be found in the spaces between them - in everything that's left unsaid.  "She's just been distant."  He shrugs, the line of his broad shoulders - ones that could hold the world up but faltered with this misery - rising beneath his black bomber.  "I'm not sure if I did something wrong but I'm too afraid to ask."

That, and you'd been near avoiding his communications, providing brief - though never cruel - responses and only answering his calls at half the consistency you'd used to.

To anyone else, it wouldn't have been bad but to him - it was like a knife to the heart.

Jimin mulls over the revelation, turning it over and over in his head.  He's spoken to you here and there, sending hilariously filtered photos over Snapchat and new songs over KaTalk.  He hadn't noticed anything amiss in your own friendship with him but then again, he wasn't Jungkook.  

He wasn't the person missing his other half, somehow, despite you being right there.

He doesn't bring that up, though, steeling knowledge of your regular responses behind the enamel grate of his teeth.  Instead, he gives what advice he hopes he would receive.  "I think you should talk to her."

"I've been trying."  It's almost a whine - very Jungkook-like in its delivery.  He's even pouting in that way he does best, lips curled in.

"No, I mean, tell her you want to talk about whatever it is."

As if the mere thought might be worse than death, Jungkook flinches.  "I can't do that!"  

"Why not?"  Jimin's not always this way, but he feels like the other needs a solid push in the right direction.  

"Because what if I did do something wrong?"  There's suffering in every word, colouring them in a mosaic of blue and purple like a moulted bruise.  "What if she doesn't want to talk to me and I just make it worse?"  He sounds so small, Jimin's heart aches for his friend.

"The alternative is never addressing this and having it become something more than it is."  He's not sure if this is the right approach - realism wasn't something people often appreciated in times of distress - but he presses on anyway.  "What if it's all just a misunderstanding but because you aren't talking to her, she stops talking to you?  How silly would that feel?"

By the ticking in Jungkook's jaw, he knows he's struck a nerve.

"You're right,"  the brooding brunet is finally relenting, the heaviest of sighs escaping his soft pink lips.  "I'll text her when we get back."

"You mean you'll call her."  Emphatic, because Jimin can practically feel the nervous energy rolling off of the other in waves. 

"Yeah."  It's not the most believable but he's trying.  "I'll do that."

Instead, he does one better - standing in front of your apartment like he doesn't feel sick to his stomach, tension spread across his limbs like venom and rooting him to the spot.  It feels too heavy in his veins, weighted lead that sinks into his feet and keeps his hands curled.

He just needs to knock.  One knock.  That's it.  Easy.

So why can't he do it?  

"Get it together, JK."  The grumble is quiet but pierces the evening air, seemingly bleeding into the wood grain of your door frame.  With a sharp inhalation, his fist meets with three loud raps.  He doesn't immediately hear anything on the other side - why he thinks he would, he's not sure - but it does nothing to alleviate the bile that boils over and rises in his throat.

This was a bad idea, he thinks, when the silence stretches on for longer than a second.

And yet, the door opens, flies open in the next and he can't help the surprise from affixing like a mask.  It shoots into the curve of his brows, arches disappearing into his mop of multi-colour.  His lips curl around a greeting, though the sound falls short when you speak first.  

He's relieved that there's no anger there - only bewilderment and confusion.  "Jungkook?  What're you doing here?"

Your question seems to spur him into action, his broad palm moving to brush over his ear.  A default action, a tic he's had since he was a kid.  It teases at the intensity that sits just beneath his facade of a smile and makes you regard him more carefully.  He's still got makeup on, shadow around his pretty eyes highlighting the doe-like quality of them.  Even his hair is still done, neatly curled into place across his forehead, though it looks like he's swiped his hand through it a number of times.

Another nervous habit, you think.

"I wanted to see you."  

You can't help the way the words stir something in your chest.  First, delight.  Pure unadulterated joy at being wanted by the person you want most.  Then, concern.  Because it's late on a random Tuesday and he wouldn't be here without reason.  He'd have called you.  But then his next words are a nail in your coffin, sinking you six feet under beneath his clunky black boots.

"I think we need to talk."  

You say nothing as you step back, turning your body to allow him over the threshold.  You're the picture of calm, gently clicking the door shut when he's manoeuvred his way inside and goes about untying the intricate laces on his shoes.

Inside, you're in full turmoil, a kerosene-soaked rag held dangerously close to a flame. 

"Can we sit?"  Even now, with the possibility of brutalizing your heart in two - yes, you were a cynic - he's so polite.  The best boy you've ever met, a sweetheart full of good intentions.  He extends a hand to you, taking a step back in the same instance.  You hate - love? - the confidence with which he moves, like this is his home, too.

You suppose it is.  Tu casa es mi casa, or something.

"What do you want to talk about?"  You ask because you can't help it but you don't really want to know.  Not right now, when your poor heart is about to leap out of your chest and throw itself at his feet.  No, you'd much rather do anything but talk.  Watch a movie, take a nap, sit in silence.  Anything sounded better than the great unknown.

"Uh,"  he stumbles over himself - a decidedly un-Jungkook thing to do - and settles himself into the comfort of your loveseat.  He waits for you to alight yourself alongside him, knees pulled to your chest as you face him sideways. 

He looks nervous.  Somehow, that doesn't help your own frayed nerves.

When he speaks, it's with all the care of someone in a delicate position.  Each word is carefully chosen, handpicked and pruned with unrelenting shears until it's exactly what he wants.  "I feel like something's changed."  No malice, no blame.  Just a statement of fact, cloaked in sadness and misunderstanding.  "I don't know if it was something I did but if it is, I'm sorry."  The apology for nothing comes easily, because he's willing to give you anything if you asked.  "I feel like you're so far away and I don't know how or why, but I don't want it go on."  He's gnawing on his lip, his cheek - anywhere he can find purchase.  "Please talk to me."

Your heart breaks a little more with every syllable.  You want to reach out, hold him as gently as he's always held you.  Instead, you twist your fingers in your lap, clasp and unclasp them in quick succession.  You don't trust yourself - not yet.

"Soomi."  Whether he intends for it, your name falls like the prayer of a dying man.  

"I'm sorry,"  you croak before you can figure out anything further.  You need to get this out now - anything to alleviate the sadness that burns him to the core. 

notes.  i'm sorry this is so severely overdue!  i finally found my inspiration again and will be (hopefully) getting some chapters queued now that i have an idea of where/how i want this to go.  thank you for sticking around. xo

[loki-fanfic-whore]

Consumed ch.8

Warnings: cussing, negative situations, adult situations, neglect, bad grammar, blood, possible misscarriage

@jessiejunebug @imagine-that-100 @onceuponagleepottermindlock @drakesfiance @iloveyouthreethousand-o6

Chapter 8 Damaged

"What do you mean I cannot see her?!" Loki snarled furiously. Thor had him pinned against the wall, the shackles already on him

"For fucks sake you are covered in blood and rabbid!" Tony scoffed

"Thor, Loki! Thank goodness...I need to talk to you." Natasha quickly walked over.

"Loki- she cannot see you...she she has forgotten you. The repeated flatlining has caused short term memory issues...she says she can see memories of you but it's all fuzzy... " Loki was glaring daggers at all of them.

"Then let me see her! I demand it!"

"Loki- you cant! It could kill them." Bruce stepped forward with his arms crossed.

"Who is them?! I swear to Odin someone explain to me-" Loki was roaring in fury.

"Lady Embers carries a babe!" Thor clamped a hand over Loki's mouth and roared into his face. Their eyes glaring each other down.

Loki's eyes widdened as he registered what Thor had said. The memory of your love making coming back to him. He slumped against Thor's arm and sighed. Thor removed his hand and sighed as well.

"Brother- she cannot see you...she has almost lost the babe once. If she becomes too ill or too upset she may lose it for good." Thor released Loki entirely who stood there completely in shock. You were pregnant. You were carrying his child...dear gods what has he done to you?

"Bruce-...sedate her...I need to see her...even if she doesn't see me." Loki looked to them with pleading eyes.

"Loki how do we know this isn't a trick?" Natasha stepped forward this time.

"I-I swore by Frigga that I would protect her...even if that means I have to protect her from me...I need to see her...to see my child.." Loki kept his voice low, but registered the shock in Thor's face.

"That isn't enough reindeer games. You stole her once and you'd do it again-"

"I love her! I would never chance hurting her or our child! Keep me shackled and watch me close, whatever you have to do to sleep at night, but you cannot keep me from- from her and my child." Loki was shaking in a rage. Natasha's mouth dropped.

"Loki- you love her?" Loki looked away before clearing his throat.

"I do...I'm in love with her." His voice cracked.

"Please...just let me see them..." he stayed quiet and didn't move. He stood dejected and shackled.

"Let me sedate her..." Bruce sighed and rubbed his face.

You were still suspended in the tank with your hands on your belly. You didn't want to move your hands for fear of losing the baby.

"I'm gonna give you some medicine to help you sleep. Dont worry it's completely safe for the baby." Bruce spoke gently as he drew up clear medicines within a syringe.

You closed your eyes and nodded. Sleep would do you some good. You winced as the needle bit your skin but within moments you were blissfully asleep.

"Jesus I hope this goes right." Bruce sighed and rubbed his face again.

"Bring them in." He called overhead to the brothers.

The door opened and Thor put a finger to his lips signaling Loki to be quiet. Loki glared until he came into the lab and saw you. His eyes widdened as he drank you in.

Your hair was suspended upwards above your face, you were ebony with red cracks covering your flesh, light shining from these cracks. Loki could see they were lineage markings showing you to be Surturs daughter. He drank in your half naked body down to your round belly, the cracks in your flesh meeting to swirl into a beautiful design. You were the most beautiful creature he had seen.

He approached the tank and put his hand up.

"Not wise...we dont know how they will rea- oh for fucks sake!" Tony groaned as Loki ignored him and touched the tank. He watched as the child shifted within your belly. He grinned and put both hands to the tank.

"What sex is the child?" He asked gently turning to look at Bruce.

"Well...we aren't sure...based off of the genetics this is a giant and seems to have...both sexes." This made Loki smile further.

"A Jotun and Muspel offspring. I hope they are strong..."

"Well considering they almost killed her I would say they are." Tony chimed in again.

"Its time to go...you will need to stay close by... in case anything happens." Bruce spoke as Thor gently pushed Loki from the tank. Loki refused to budge at first.

"I love you so much...I'm so sorry...daddy loves you so much sweet babe." With that Loki turned and let Thor remove him from the room. Bruce jumped as an alarm began to blare.

"Her heartrate jumped." He immediately went to the fridge and began drawing up medicine.

"You don't think she could hear him?" Natasha asked as she gently pulled your hand from your belly. Your heart rate spiking even more.

"Nat dont touch her. She is too fragile right now." Bruce warned. Natasha let your arm go and it immediately moved back to your belly protectively. Bruce administered the medication and your heartrate slowed, your blood pressure dropping into the low catergory.

"We will have to keep her pretty much comatose until the birth...if not then we risk losing both mother and child..." Bruce sighed and took a seat near the tank.

"This is so unethical. Its...fucked up." He finished. Natasha took his hand and sighed staring at your enclosure.

"Its what we have to do to protect her....Loki will just-" your heart rate spiked again at the name. Bruce gave Natasha a warning look.

"Don't mention him....even though her short term memory is shot, she still subconsciously remembers him...."

"Speaking of 'him'...do you think it wise for him to visit? I mean she has what five or six months left? That's a lot of time for him to scheme." Natasha looked between you and Bruce.

"Unfortunately there isn't much of a choice....he knows now and he has the right. You heard him, he understands taking her now would jeopardize both her and the child. The most he can do is wait, like the rest of us. Wait hope and pray this child survives....every day closer to her due date is that much closer to a breech or worse..." Bruce eyed your tank warily.

"If she loses the child I fear for her mindsake... and for L- his." Bruce and Natasha both stood as Thor entered the lab.

"He is in his room relaxing. He said it was a lot to process." Thor motioned for them to sit.

"How is the lady Embers?" He asked staring inquisitively at you.

"Sedated to the point of being comatose. Her heart rate spikes at the mention of his name...so please refrain from saying it. We were just talking about whether to allow him supervised visits while she is in a coma." Bruce brought Thor to speed. Thor moved to the tank and pushed a hand against the glass. Your belly shifted at his touch. Thor eyed the glass warily.

"The babe seems to have a bond to me as well. Perhaps it is well aware of its' family." Thor mumbled as he touched the glass again.

An alarm blared as Thor damn near fell over. The viscous fluid surrounding you began to turn a deep scarlet color. Loki rushed in to stare horrified.

"Loki get out!" Thor roared. Your heart rate spiking dangerously high.

"Nat help me pull her out! She can't take the baby's strain. We have to term." Bruce was trying his hardest to pull your limp body from the tank. Blood gushing from you.

"No! She can't! Please don't let them die." Loki screamed. He ran towards them all only to have Thor slam him back against the wall. He sank down helplessly as he watched them begin to cut you open to remove his child. Tears streaked his cheeks as he screamed out in agony.

This was it.

Both of you would surely die, and it was because of him, because he had forced your hand. Because he had pushed you and broken you and then he had loved you. His heart felt like it was shattering within his chest. He was never allowed such emotions and now he saw it was for good reasons.

Your monitor screamed with alarms as your heart rate zeroed. Natasha began to pump your chest as Bruce removed a large black human looking mass from your belly. He held it out and Thor wrapped it in a medical blanket before handing it to Loki. Thor clamped a hand down on Loki's shoulder and nodded his head in a respectful manner.

Everything slowed, and silenced as Loki stared down at his child with teary eyes and held the bundle with trembling hands. The babes skin was jet black with blue lineage markings. He cried as he rolled its' head gently towards him staring into his childs lifeless red eyes. A small patch of black hair adorned the child's head and he counted ten fingers and toes. A sob wracked his chest as he held the tiny creature close, trying to wish the child alive, the touch of the babes skin causing him to turn Jotun. He wailed into the corpse as he mourned the loss of his daughter.

Your monitor continued to wail as the pumping did no good.

"Bruce we are losing her!" Natasha cried as she became fatigued from cpr.

"I'm almost done with the stitches, then we can switch. Tony I need you to draw up the blue ampule. Now!" Bruce was tying off his last set of stitches closing your belly.

Loki stared up with raw numb emotion as he realized what this meant.

He couldn't lose you too.

[oh-my-otome]

I absolutely adore your thoughts on the psychological health within the SLBP characters! If you don’t mind, could you scale MidC, DtL, and IkeSen (pick whichever game you want!), too? If it’s not too much to ask ☺️

Hello, Precious! Let’s do all three!

Again, purely for fun! And, like the last time, there will be SPOILERS!

0=unstable, 50=borderline, 100=normal

MidCin, you’re up!

Louis (65):

Tsunderes, kuuderes and yanderes, by design, are not normal to begin with, because their logic only makes sense to themselves. 

Louis being both a kuudere and a yandere are what take his score down.

Frequently thinking it to himself, and sometimes saying it out loud, Louis has obsessive thoughts about wanting to keep his love interest to himself, and fantasizes about keeping her somewhere where only he can see.

He also thinks that acting like a frigid ass, like the nobles, will somehow save her from the nobles. 

Even though Louis falls deeply in love with the princess, he will also lie to her face without a hint of hesitation, undermine her hard work, and jeopardize the stability of the monarchy.

He also entertains a suicidal fantasy, and attempts to see it through.

Sid (80):

Even though he lies for a living, Sid praises honesty when it comes to his inner circle.

He has no qualms teasing Louis left and right, because he’s made it known to Louis that he wants to save him from himself. 

Finding himself trapped in a loveless engagement, Sid makes sure that his fiancée knows ahead of time that he doesn’t love her and never will. He gives her the chance to break it off, even making sure that she understands that he will take other lovers, and is only with her to get information about her father.

Because Sid always has to be “on,” in order to take advantage of any kind of situation, so that he gets the information he needs to do his job, Sid sometimes has a problem with reigning it in and just being himself– and not his trickster alter ego.

This causes communication problems between him and princess, but Sid always knows how to smooth it over.

In every case where parents are involved, in MidCin, Sid has the most positive and supporting relationship with his. 

He is close to his adopted father, who always has his back, and builds a positive relationship with his estranged parents.

Giles (70):

Anything– and I do mean A N Y T H I N G ! –that the princess does, whether positive or negative reflects on Giles. And I mean that the princess’ reactions reflect on Giles as a person and on his capacity as a Chamberlain who knows what he’s doing. 

We all give him crap for it, but one small mishap from princess could realistically cost Giles his entire life’s work, since the first thing out of anyone’s mouth would be to question why she wasn’t taught and trained better– which isn’t Leo’s job, but Giles’.

And “well, I told her not to!” isn’t a valid answer. It’s Giles’ job to ensure.

Understandably, we can see why he has a vested interest in breathing down Princess’ neck, all the time. It’s also why he’s always so stressed out, and persnickety.

To add to that, his family life is complicated, leaving him depressed and estranged. 

Giles is also sickly, and prone to bouts of fever, so his plate is quite full.

He works himself to the bone, and cant even get a decent amount of rest due to both lack of time, and a weak body.

Fortunately, Giles’ strong character keeps him running, even we he wants nothing more than to crawl into bed and cuddle up with his cat. 

Always able to be depended on, one would never know from looking at him that he’s hiding so much turmoil inside.

Alyn (75):

His biggest “quirk” is that he hates tomatoes. who can blame him

He’s pretty damn normal, aside from his random and intense one-sided feud with his twin brother, Leo. 

Alyn knows that his brother needs help, but doesn’t really do much to facilitate that, beyond throwing a few words of encouragement at his brother’s girlfriend.

His attitude toward Leo’s anguish is basically the embodiment of the phrase: “like pouring water on a drowning man.”

However, when he’s needed, Alyn will be there in a pinch, ready to make good on his promise to protect.

Although physically strong, he can be a bit of a pushover under the right conditions.

Leo (50):

You would think for someone who has women climbing into trebuchets in order to launch themselves at him, that Leo would be a little smoother than he is. 

What brings his score down so low is that Leo’s backstory isn’t just a backstory– it’s right there with him in the present. 

He (and Alyn) experience a trauma so deep that it continues into adulthood.

As such, Leo entertains the dangerous idea of pre-meditated murder in the hope of avenging his family, not realizing that he’s also contributing to its destruction.

Byron (65):

It’s supposed to be looked at as a way to get to know him, but not being aware of one’s own feelings– positive, negative, or neutral –and questioning whether it is “okay” to feel them, or express them, is neither normal nor cute.

Byron is also given to whims, either not giving a damn at all what the nobles say, or purposefully putting them in their place with ostentatious displays of affection.

Byron is very sweet to his romantic interest, but is also coldly indifferent to others who are close to him. 

He understands that he wields incredible power, but he’s not above making his own brother (Nico), another king (Alyn), and a close friend (Louis) essentially beg on their hands and knees before he’ll lift a finger to help them.

He can also be unnervingly detached, such as when he’s attacked in broad daylight and just shrugs it off while his best friend throws himself bodily in the way to block a sword.

Byron may not like his father, but the apple didn’t exactly fall far from the tree, either. 

They may not be exactly alike, as one wouldn’t expect them to be– they’re two different people –but he is definitely Gerald Wagner’s son, by blood and to some extent, personality.

Nico (65):

When the only thing that stops you from murdering a man in the middle of the woods is that your brother and his friend arrived just in time to prevent it, because they didn’t have much trouble following the trail of other people’s blood that you’ve been leaving, have a seat because you’re not normal.

Nico started out his young life as the bastard son of a king, who was forced by circumstances outside of his control to survive on the streets. 

Even when he was taken in by his brother, Nico was forced to live in two different worlds: in the light as someone that everyone in the castle can see and here, and know that he’s there, but also in the shadows, as his relationship to the royal family was still kept secret.

In that sense, the sins of the father were carried on by one of his sons, Byron, who wanted to rescue his brother, but also treated him to some extent like the nobles who had chased Nico and his mother from the castle.

Nico says himself that no one really takes him seriously about anything, and that his opinions don’t matter. 

Albert is very comfortable with making Nico his whipping boy right in front of Byron.

Byron, for his part, barely ever defends his brother.

All of this can’t be easy for Nico, who confesses to the first person he crushes on.

Not only that, he goes way out of his way, almost killing himself, to protect the person who truly loves him, and risks displacing a monarchy to ensure that he can maintain his relationship.

Albert (75):

Albert’s flippant nature stems from the fact that no one’s checked his ass, before Princess. 

If not for her, he would continue on forever, bowing and scraping before his king, without realizing that there can be loyalty beyond fealty, and devotion that transcends admiration and patriotism.

Through love, Albert comes to understand trust and forgiveness, and how to handle one’s emotions.

Albert likes to plan for every situation, but as a tsundere, he is also reactionary.

Robert (65):

Robert’s idea of dealing with the past is never talking about it, ever, which is neither helpful nor healthy.

He also likes to literally run away from his problems, and is just fine with up and leaving at a moment’s notice, with no regard for how that might potentially unnerve, frighten, or traumatize another person– in his case, a group of four specific individuals, all still technically children, who were close to him: Byron, Albert, Nico, and Princess.

While mature in every other regard, Robert is prone to lashing out verbally when people try to talk about his past, even in private. 

He also uses stone walling and pretending the incident didn’t happen, as defense mechanisms.

He will also actively ignore any past connections until doing otherwise suits his purposes, leaving the people he used to know in the awkward position of having to guess at whether they’re supposed to try to reach out to him, or go along with acting like strangers.

Now for DtL!

Todo (30):

Todo, first name Heisuke, is the identical twin of Kyo. 

Separated at birth, Todo grew up as the wealthy little lord (bocchama) of a crime-ridden family. 

At some point, that house fell, and Todo would frequently dream that was in a futuristic place.

In one dream, he discovered that he had a twin, Kyo. 

In his dreams, Todo would visit his brother regularly, and that’s when he realized that it wasn’t a dream at all!

Todo possesses the ability to travel across time, backwards and forwards, without restriction– and what he was seeing in his “dreams” was actually real.

Oh, and he’s also a pathokinetic empath who can control the emotions and physical well-being of others, most notably, Kyo.

Apparently, the knowledge that one has powers such as these will mess a person right up, and Todo proceeds to lose his damn mind.

Because time means nothing to him, death and life also mean nothing to him, since all he would have to do is press fast forward or rewind or whatever he does, and “fix” everything. 

It would also mean, if he chose to, he could go forward in time and know everything.

Living in an era where superstitions are still deeply rooted in the culture, Todo oscillates between understanding that Kyo is a completely separate person from himself, and thinking that Kyo is literally a part of him that was split off.

Kyo (70):

Pretty normal until he takes his NOTICE ME, SENPAI! act straight into outright threatening others to stay away from the woman he’s crushing on.

He is skeptical and hard-working.

Handsy, clingy and uncomfortably honest when drunk, Kyo is otherwise a good-natured person who enjoys helping others.

Yamazaki (85):

Yamazaki is as popular with the ladies as any other ikemen, but he is also insecure and occasionally distrusting of other’s intentions, particularly around women in the RLD, whom he suspects want to use him (he’s half-right).

He also lets Okita get away with far too much, but he also possesses the power to lay Okita out like a picnic blanket, if he wanted to, so maybe it’s a good thing that Yamazaki chooses to let so many of Okita’s shenanigans slide.

An unrepentant hand fetishist, Yamazaki may look and act innocent, but he’s a beast in the bedroom.

Saito (80):

Saito is secretive and mysterious, but also kind and helpful. 

He always keeps his promises, and trains his MC in self-defense so that she has an added layer of protection in an unfamiliar place, beyond ‘I know a bunch of samurai, so don’t mess with me.’

However, he can also be distant and secretive in a negative way, such as getting himself a fiancée when he’s still in love with his MC. 

Haru/Kirisato (45):

That moment when the year is 1864 and The Silence of the Lambs novel won’t be published until 124 years later, and you’re talking about someone else’s skin belonging to you– while being completely, creepily serious –is how you know you’re not normal and never will be.

That and the fact that he’s very firmly in yandere territory. 

Haru lives a double life as a spy, hitman, and courtesan, who seems to be keeping it all together, until he meets his love interest.

Keiki (60):

Not only does Keiki start out depressed, his own MC makes sure that he can barely climb his way back out, by actively traumatizing him when he needed her the most.

Keiki still carries the pain of watching a friend die in front of him, and as such, dislikes anything that reminds him that beauty– like life –is fleeting.

He is also surprisingly trusting, once he lets his guard down, and very fragile once his trust has been broken.

Kondo (90):

His biggest flaw is that he has no sense of direction, and that he loves animals, but they don’t love him,  AND THAT HE DOESN’T HAVE A ROUTE!

Sakamoto (85):

Stubborn and brusque, Sakamoto has a preternatural intuition that has saved him and The Exclusionists more than once.

Too bad it didn’t help in that alley!

Sakamoto is typically chased down and pestered by women, and to that end tries to make himself inconspicuous as much as possible, which is easy to do when you have flaming red hair.

He is thick-headed, but also sensitive, playful but considerate.

Okubo (85):

A graduate of the Byron Wagner School for Robots, Okubo doesn’t know what love is, but wants you to show him. 

But look out, because he is chock full of naughty kinks, such as being a very frisky and bold drunk, playing footsie, an unashamed ear kissing and biting fetish, and dominating during sex.

Okubo is very observant when he’s not reading at the speed of light, and his anger is prone to his whims– sometimes he briefly says what is bothering him, and other times he is quite angsty and demanding.

Although he often vague, he is a sincere person.

He is also forgetful, and has no qualms about mooching off of others.

Katsura (90):

Energetic and suave, calculating and capable, Katsura is surprisingly sensitive. 

Unable to leave others alone when they need him, he even goes so far as to politely ignore the fact that his former friend’s wife has been coming on to him for years, all because he doesn’t know how to say ‘no,’ without hurting her feelings.

Comfortably open about his hair fetish.

Okita (55):

Okita manages to be both gullible and naïve, which are not mutually exclusive.

His score is low because he is a yandere. He doesn’t find it odd in the slightest that the first thing to pop into in his mind is orchestrating another man’s death, rather than explaining the situation.

Because of his illness, Okita is understandably depressed and anxious, causing him to react to situations in ways that a healthy person wouldn’t.

He is also intensely loyal, and finds that a life spent living without the people he’s close to, is no life at all.

Hijikata (75):

Hijikata likes to take on more than he can chew, but at the same time, doing exactly that frustrates him. He’s super stressed, but finds it difficult to say no.

Like his real-life counterpart, Hijikata believes that someone must go down with the ship, and he has sworn undying loyalty to the Shinsengumi and the shogun, alike.

Because of his workload, and the fact that he is a light sleeper, Hijikata spends his days running on fumes, barely able to get any shut-eye, until he finds his MC.

Although his devotion to Kondo and Keiki is unshakable, Hijikata folds like a cheap suit when Kyo slides up to him and tells him to break up with his MC.

Doesn’t give a damn about anyone knowing that he likes women’s accessories, and wants to dress Yamazaki in women’s clothes.  

Yuki (90):

Gender-fluid, bi-sexual Yuki is almost always bubbly and positive. 

However, he is not above threatening others when he sees the need, as he doesn’t take kindly at all to having to watch the woman he likes be with a man whom he feels doesn’t deserve her.

His kimono shop is a legitimate business, but also a front where one can buy guns, swords and yes– smoke bombs!

He sometimes pretends to be drunk to get information, or further the romance of his love interest and her chosen partner.

He is stronger than Hijikata and Sakamoto. Combined. 

Yuki also has sword skills that make Saito weep.

Takasugi (55):

Retroactively forced into the kuudere box, Takasugi is now a kuu/tsun mix of volatile angst and depression, often using silence as a weapon just as much as his angry retorts.

Takasugi knows that his illness is getting the best of him, and uses others where he cannot succeed on his own.

Stubborn and prideful, Takasugi just wants to be loved, but doesn’t know how to be straightforward about it.

Your turn, IkeSen!

Nobunaga (75):

Nobunaga has inexhaustible trust and faith in his inner circle, and rather than treat them like lesser lords, he treats them like family.

Even as an adult, he still experiences the trauma of a failed assassination attempt, and cannot sleep comfortable until he meets his MC.

He is stubborn about his feelings, denying them and excusing them away, until they become so blatant that he can’t help but act on them.

Ieyasu (55):

Hard-headed and resistant, Ieyasu has a hard time letting others care for him. Quick to try to prove himself, Ieyasu is prove to bouts of seeking vengeance even when the situation is in control.

Obsessed with affirmations of love, Ieyasu is several different dere-types, most notably a yandere. 

He takes it personally when people have talent, but squander it.

Hideyoshi (60):

Loyal to the death, Hideyoshi is devoted to Nobunaga with every fiber of his being. 

When Nobunaga is believed dead, Hideyoshi proceeds nose dive into a pit of despair so deep that he can barely feel anything.

Mitsuhide (75):

Genuinely believing that there is nothing worth loving about him, Mitsuhide is a sadodere who enjoys teasing others– the closest thing to love that he thinks he’s allowed to have.

Because Mitsuhide keeps his feelings and secrets close to his chest, he is often mistaken as a villain, which exactly what he wants.

Mitsunari (80):

Obtuse and clueless, Mitsunari lovable and pure.

His score is lowered because he actively refuses, at his age, to learn to take care of himself, and has a co-dependent relationship with the other warlords, who merely joke or chastise him about it, rather than taking him aside and demanding that he get himself together, since he is in no capacity a child.

Kennyo (55):

Self-loathing, and chock full of martyr complex, Kennyo goes from murdering madman to regretful, forlorn monk at the speed of light.

His determination to see Nobunaga fall blinds him to the fact that he has other options such as forgiveness.

Shingen (90):

Laid back and chivalrous, Shingen is mature, and dependable to those in his inner circle.

He keeps his illness a secret, which is a personal choice.

Kenshin (50):

A yandere bent on keeping those close to him, Kenshin honestly believes that he cannot die. 

The first thing out of Kenshin’s mouth is that he won’t be cowed by a hostage, but the next time you turn around, he’s wrapping himself all kinds of ways around his MC’s (hostage) finger, the better to acquiesce to her every request.

As such, Kenshin experiences the cognitive dissonance of presenting himself one way, but behaving another.

Even knowing that that is how others see him, he is quick to defend himself when made fun of, as he doesn’t like his good intentions joked about.

Battle hungry and single-minded, Kenshin is often in the grip of ennui so strong that only extreme circumstances can pull him out.

Yukimura (70):

The only thing that brings Yukimura’s score down so low is his penchant for joking even when his MC has said she’s had enough, and the act that he’s extremely reactionary under the right circumstances, such as having sex on an unprotected battlefield and leaving his love interest there, deep asleep, with no shelter or anyone/thing to keep her safe.

Masamune (75):

Quixotic and capricious, Masamune is always raring to battle. He is preoccupied with appearing cool at any cost, but is also considerate and thoughtful.

His stubbornness is what cost him a higher score, as he contributes to his MC almost killing a man to prove herself, before he realizes that prattling about his own resolve has an effect on others’.

Sasuke (80):

Sasuke is incredibly smart, but he’s also a bit of a masochist, on top of being a huge fanboy.

He also subscribes to taking forever to notice/confess his feelings, but he is extremely loyal, and down-to-earth.

[letslivelady]

5 Lessons to Learn from My First Online Dating Encounter

If you just want the bottom line about the online dating lessons, go to the end of the post. But this online dating story is worth the read.  

Email and text excerpts that follow are authentic actual conversations (including misspellings) saved on my computer and cell phone.

The Last Love of Mark Rossi!

Less than 24 hours after I had put my profile on the online dating website, Match.com,  I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from Mark Rossi -- age 62 (five years younger than me -- could I handle being a cougar?).  Mark's profile showed him to be  Italian/American, a widower, a successful international businessman and very good-looking!

"This looks really promising,"  I thought.  He asked to exchange personal email addresses and send additional photos of each other.   The match was off to an exciting start. I chalked up the poor grammar to his foreign native language.

Here are a couple of excerpts from Mark Rossi

"My old friend and pastor would tell me, if you aren't ready to feel or look stupid, then don't fall in love ,lol but sincerely that is the bitter truth. When i lost my wife , he told me that the fact that something good ends doesn't mean something better cant start. Can you prove that right? I have come to realize that let a man is reduced to nothing except he has a woman to call my companion.

I don't need a super model, I rather need a very good friend, a good woman with a good heart, someone who knows when i am tensed just by looking into my eyes. The whole world may be mad at me, but if you are smiling at me, i would care less. Can't wait to read from you again dear.I wish you have a wonderful evening ahead.Till I read from you again soon, sending you morning hugs."

It all sounded great.  But...

But I was asking him specific questions like how it was that he was located out of Bedford, Kentucky?  And if Italian was his first language?  The name of his business?  But he never really answered those questions.

After a week or so the first shoe drops!

"I have been so busy today because something came up and i have to travel tonight to Dubai for a week, i was contacted by the customs there to come over to sign some confirmation papers because some security protocol was breached by the shipper during the shipment of my cars and some incomplete paperwork from Germany. The cars are 16 in total, a total of 4 - 20ft container consisting of 4 cars in each.

The plan was to ship down to Dubai, talk to a dealership and move them for sale. We can always communicate everyday through emails and phone until i get back home, I promise to keep in touch and seeing you would be top priority on my return.

This could be the beginning of forever and i would put my mind to it and i want you to also. please have a good evening, i would talk to you soon , please leave me your phone number.

Sending you hugs. Mark.."  

So, what was so bothersome about this?

The delay did not bother me at all because I wasn't so sure I was ready to meet him anyway.  What bothered me is that there was no traceof an Italian accent in his voice during our phone conversation -- despite the fact that he was supposedly raised in Italy until the age of 12.

I asked him again why he was based out of Kentucky, but I was not satisfied with the answer as he only spoke to getting out of Florida after his wife's death.

Put on Your Investigator Hat!

Being the savvy investigator that I was, (wink, wink) I decided to check him out online.

The only Mark Rossi my google search found in Bedford, Kentucky looked nothing like my Mark.  The guy was the wrong age, very scruffy looking and it was a mug shot.

Well, that can't be him.   So, I checked in California where he supposedly first lived and I checked in Florida.  A little voice in me said that he might not be who he says he is.   But, I decided to play it out, see where it led. Maybe he was just a really great guy.

Gullible? Yes, a bit!

I asked him to send me photos of himself in Dubai (to see if he is really there).  Also, I decided I wanted to re-read his online profile as I could not remember everything on it.

After all, if I wanted to be the last love of Mark Rossi, I better double-check on what he actually had said about himself.  But, the profile had been removed from the online dating site. (Not a healthy sign.)

What Happened to Mark's Online Dating Profile?

Mark wrote:

"It was a Lovely day in Dubai and a pretty warm weather.

For your questions, I moved to Bedford to start a new life and create new memories with a new love and companion on a long term, someone i can love forever because i am commited to it and i am focusing on you alone now thats why took off my profile from match.com to ensure i can bring out the best of the relationship we have.

This busines has been lucrative since i started and thats why i invested a lot in this because its my last business trip before i retire to bring 16 cars in to sell at once to the dealership, i have two Porsche and four Ferrari among them , i wanna get into retirement because the income i get from this would establish me more and i would have agents to run this without leaving the house, my motive is to always be there for my companion, life is short m this is my last opportunity to be in love and i want to seize it .

I really dont have time for phone cameras now because this is business trip and i dont want jeopardize it for pleasure my next trip here has to be a vacation with my companion and lover and i see you as the one to occupy that position."

Mark is pretty smooth, isn't he?

The next day, I had notice of a security breach on my iCloud account and I had to reset the code. (Never really sure whether he had anything to do with this or not.)

The emails and text messages continued with romantic language and details of how the trip was going, etc.  Then, the news! Mark was not going to fly home from Dubai, but instead was going to fly right into Kansas City.

Mark was Flying in to See Me!

He wrote:

"My One and Only, I am about to sleep here. Tomorrow will be a long day for me I have to get every paper work cleared and have things back on track for the full release of all my shipments so i get to deal with the dealership that buys them before leaving for the states, can't wait as it's been a long week already.

I think of spending alot of time with you when I get back to town and holding you so close to me. Whenever you think of me, please know that no matter how many miles separate us or how much of our lives comes between us we would have many lovely times and fond memories.

Even though we're apart, this will not be the end of our commitment until i meet you and i fell you in my arms.

Just always remember that I really adore you already and I want you to be part of me and me for you too as i can feel my lonely days are over.

Big Hugs sent your way. Love . Mark"

Click on the link below to see the itinerary.

mark-rossi-klm-flight-itinerary

When I first got the itinerary, I thought

Wow, he must be for real.  He has booked a flight!  Now what do I do?

I needed advice.  I was excited that he might be for real but scared as to how to handle the situation if he actually showed up.  Should I offer to pick him up at the airport?  Should I suggest or book a hotel? Or, do I invite him to the house? What do I wear?

So, I contacted a couple of friends.

My sister-in-law recommended online dating and she has had considerable experience.  So, I asked her.

She gave  me good online dating advice.

NO, you do not pick him up at the airport.  You meet in a public place.

No, you do not invite him to the house.  You do not even tell him where you live when you meet through online dating.  If he is an international business man, he can book his own hotel and get from the airport to the hotel on his own steam!

Why don't you meet someone local?  If a guy sounds too good to be true, it is probably because he isn't real -- he's a fake!

It didn't sound very hospitable for someone who is traveling thousands of miles to see me, but I realized she made sense.

I contacted another friend with the good news and sent her a copy of the itinerary to prove that he was really coming to see me.

We agreed to meet over lunch the next day since this online dating encounter was heating up.  My friend decided she needed to comb through my wardrobe to figure out whether I had anything suitable to wear.  We are both excited and nervous. Then ...

The Bubble Burst!

The next morning, I awoke to an email from Mark:

"My love, I have been asleep all afternoon in stumble and distress. it had been a bad day. I don't know how to say it but i just have to say it as it would ease the burden.

I was robbed on my way to the seaport at gunpoint this morning, it was the worst experience i ever had. i am sorry I didn't mean to show you this so you don't feel bad or spoil your day but i just couldn't hold it in my heart, i had to email it to you. Please download and view document, its a police report of today's event."

mark-rossi-dubai-police-report

I bet you can figure out where this is going? Right? Well within an hour or so, Mark texted me further about his plight and I offered him my prayers.

That is not what Mark wanted.

He texted "The paperwork would finalize the major dealings here and I would be back home as planned and right now I need 2900USD to solve this problem within the next 24hours.  So far no one is able to help me out. I am devastated."

After some more back and forth he said:

"Honey is there anyway you can give me a short loan and when I return on Monday I would pay you back, I can double it for you. I feel so ashamed of myself asking you. I never wanna creat a wrong impression. I just wanna get out of this mess. Deadline got me so worried."

What a load of crap!

I asked him why he didn't just call his bank and get them to wire the funds to him.  And, how could it be that he, an international business entrepreneur, had no one at his age of 62 who he could call besides a lady he had never even met? He had an answer for everything.

I told him I would have to think about that.

It  took me about a minute to decide.

That was it.   Mark had finally revealed the real reason that he had contacted me thru online dating in the first place.  The gig was up.  He called a few more times, but I did not take the calls.  And my wardrobe make over could wait.  The take away is this --

5 Online Dating Lessons:

You need to meet someone in person, if you want to have any hope of  knowing who they are.  Otherwise, you only know what the online dating profile says and what they want you to know.  a) They might still be hiding something that would be very obvious if you were to meet them in person.  b) Some people have long distance relationships with what turns out to be a fantasy.  The person is not what they think.

Do a little research to find out about a person who might make a potential match from an online dating service as soon as you have a name.  Try doing a search on your own name. It is surprising how much you can find out yourself that is actually out there and available if someone searches for it.   a) Although it never occurred to me at the time, Mark Rossi probably was the guy in the mug shot.  I just had never in my wildest dreams guessed that someone would go to the lengths that he did to perpetrate a fraud.  b) The flight itinerary looked authentic at first glance.  Reading it more carefully,  KNS is not the symbol for Kansas City International.  The symbol is MCI. When I checked the flight numbers through the airline, they do not exist.  So, what looked real was just a fake.  If Mark (or whoever he was) had used his skills for something positive there is no telling how successful he might have become.

Read the online dating safety tips below. There is something similar on most websites.  The links below are safety tips from Match.com which are buried at the bottom of their website.  You can click the links below and copy them for a quick reference:  Online-safety-tips and Offline-safety-tips   As you read the tips you can see that if I had followed them, I would have easily avoided the situation.

Be real when you put together an online profile.  I was advised, for instance, not to list myself as a widow.  But, to say that I was divorced instead.  The premise is that gold diggers are looking for a recent widow because they think she probably has life insurance money.  But I really would rather keep my radar up than start off by presenting myself as different from who I really am.  I have met gentlemen that have shaved a few years off themselves in their profiles, probably this is true with ladies too.  You don't want or need to tell them everything, but whatever you do say in the profile of yourself, I would try to be honest.  You want to find someone who likes YOU -- not an image of someone you wish you were or someone you think is more desirable.

Have fun with online dating!  Don't take yourself too seriously.  If you are sitting home alone and would rather be in a relationship; if you want someone to share a meal or a drink with you, if you want to find your own "last love" go online and meet someone.

If you have done any online dating, I bet you have some great stories to share.  We'd love to hear about them.  Meanwhile, live your life to the fullest!

[theconservativebrief]

For those who know their skin care products, Sunday Riley is a beloved brand. Good Genes face acid is a best-seller at Sephora and frequently hailed as a holy grail product. But the company got some unwelcome scrutiny this week after a former employee shared an email directing employees to open fake accounts and leave glowing Sephora reviews of new Sunday Riley products, on the subreddit r/skincareaddiction. The post shocked customers and served to highlight the questionable trustworthiness of online product reviews at retailers like Sephora.

Online reviews are really important to brands. Studies have shown that customers trust products that have a lot of reviews, and it’s human nature to look to peers and “real people” for their opinions. It’s why, especially for makeup and other beauty products, so many people follow bloggers, YouTubers, and Instagrammers. They’re perceived to be authentic (though recent drama in that world has revealed that their reviews can sometimes be purchased for a lot of money).

This is not the first time the authenticity of online reviews has been called into question. Amazon has been singled out frequently in stories alleging that brands pay people to write reviews. It happens enough that there are now even plenty of tips for recognizing when a review might not be what it seems.

In 2017, I reported on this phenomenon in the beauty industry for Racked. There are a variety of companies that offer free products in exchange for “honest” reviews, and small brands admitted feeling pressure to solicit fans to leave positive reviews. But this is the first time a major brand has been called out on the practice, with receipts. It provides insight into the way the beauty industry sells products, and how cutthroat and dishonest it can be.

A user and supposed former Sunday Riley employee calling themselves “throwawayacctSRiley” posted on Reddit and shared a copy of an email that clearly shows that employees had been asked by the company to register as fake Sephora users in order to leave glowing reviews for new acne products that the company was launching. The email lays out in great detail how employees should register as reviewers to avoid having their IP address traced back to the company, and to leave reviews on other brands as well to avoid drawing suspicion to themselves. It was recommended that employees set up several different profiles and “mix and match your identities.”

The most eye-opening section of the email reads:

It helps to make yourself seem relatable — like you know how hard acne is and you’ve tried everything, and this one actually works or mention things like, yes it’s a little more expensive but works incredible [sic] well compared to the cheaper masks out there. If you need any help with things to come up with to say, feel [sic] to ask myself, Sunday, or Addison. As reviews come in, read them too. If you notice someone saying things like I didn’t like “x” about it, write a review that says the opposite. The power of reviews is mighty, people look to what others are saying to persuade them and answer potential questions they may have.

It caused a huge commotion in the beauty world, racking up over 500 comments on r/skincareaddiction. And the news only got bigger when Sunday Riley confirmed that it was true. A brand representative wrote in the comment section of the anonymous beauty industry watchdog/gossip Instagram account Estee Laundry:

As many of you may know, we are making an effort to bring more transparency to our clients. The simple and official answer to this Reddit post is that yes, this email was sent by a former employee to several members of our company. At one point, we did encourage people to post positive reviews at the launch of this product, consistent with their experiences. There are a lot of reasons for doing that, including the fact that competitors will often post negative reviews of products to swing opinion. It doesn’t really matter what the reasoning was. We have hundreds of thousands of reviews across platforms around the globe and it would be physically impossible for us to have posted even a fraction of these reviews. Client word-of-mouth, sharing how our products have changed their skin, has been the cornerstone of our success. In the end, our products and their results stand for themselves.

(Sunday Riley did not return Vox’s request for comment by publication time.)

Responses were swift and decisive. Fans of the brand on Reddit commented things like, “Joke’s on Sunday Riley, even if they actually have good products now I’ll never believe it because of their manipulation” and “As someone who suffers with acne, I find this extremely upsetting. Advising your staff to write a review saying a product cleared your acne is preying on the vulnerable.”

People have strong attachments to brands, especially when it comes to skin care. This was largely seen as a breach of trust.

Sunday Riley is likely not alone here. “This happens a lot. Sephora puts the pressure on brands — they really ‘encourage’ reviews,” says a beauty industry source who wished to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardize their relationship with Sephora and beauty brands. “When you have a new launch, the sales will increase with a ton of good reviews. I do want to reiterate how common this practice for brands is. Sunday Riley just got caught. I’m not defending it, but it’s a vicious cycle.”

Caroline Hirons is a popular and well-respected UK-based skin care blogger and beauty brand consultant. She posted a sponsored video with Sunday Riley a few days prior to this controversy and worked as a consultant to the brand five years ago. She says she was never asked by the brand to post any sort of fake review, and wouldn’t ever agree to do so. But she concurs that it’s a common practice in the industry.

“It’s not the brands. The direction comes from the retailers,” Hirons, who has called out the practice in the past on her blog, says. She notes that she’s never had a request quite as detailed as the Sunday Riley email, though. “I’ve never come across anything that organized. I’ve just had verbal requests in retailer meetings.” (She also clarifies that she’s never heard those requests from UK-based retailers like Space NK, Cult Beauty, or department stores like Selfridges.)

In Hirons’s skin care fan group on Facebook, which has almost 10,000 fans, a user shared a screenshot of communication she had supposedly had with Sephora’s customer service department after she’d asked about the Sunday Riley issue. The email read: “Thank you for taking the time out of your day to reach out to us about this matter. We have recently found out about it and we are looking into it. We do not condone this type of activity. Rest assured we are working diligently on this.” It was signed “Jazlyn, Sephora Client Services.”

A screenshot of the Sephora email, with the customer’s name erased for privacy. Facebook

Sephora declined to comment for this story, but a representative offered the following comment in the 2017 Racked story about its reviews policy: “The goal of Sephora Ratings and Reviews is authentic client experiences that can inform fellow beauty fans on the product solutions and benefits based on their concerns. Reviews are monitored and if needed, removed if they are truly not centered around the product experience, therefore not a benefit to the larger community.”

The shelves of Sephora are crowded, and competition in the beauty industry is fierce. Brands, especially small ones, are under a lot of pressure to sell and to conform to the whims of retailers. Retailers often hold a lot of the cards. Read this cautionary tale about Sephora and the now-defunct makeup brand OCC for an example of how this can sometimes play out.

A small brand owner who wished to remain anonymous wrote in an email to Vox, “We are under a lot of pressure to drive reviews for our products on Sephora.com, but Sephora’s site is also really good about weeding out reviews that aren’t legitimate, so it’s very hard to build up a product page by leaving a large number of ‘fake’ reviews.”

Sunday Riley has struggled in the past few years, facing a lawsuit about false advertising, which was eventually tossed out. It also launched a foundation called The Influencer earlier this year, which no longer appears to be available. But it’s also been actively trying to build its business in the UK, launched a wellness-focused beauty box, and relaunched its website. This will likely be a setback, at least temporarily, but it’s a case that shines a brighter light on how retailers can manipulate customers.

It’s all just a modern-day example of the old adage, “Buyer beware.” As one redditor suggested, perhaps be wary of any review that’s too glowy, and head for mediocre territory: “This is why I tend to trust only the reviews that are 3 stars. That’s where the honesty is.”

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Original Source -> A leaked email reveals why you can’t always trust Sephora product reviews

via The Conservative Brief