#talking about the entire economy tanking here

[oldmanlogan]

i know since writers and actors are already striking thats gonna take up most of the news space on social media but like. ups has until july 31st to meet the teamster's demands and if not then theyre going on the biggest strike against a single corporation since the early 1900s. the uaw (auto manufacturers union) contract is up this fall, and i believe the alu (amazon labor union) is as well. there's a huge possibility that they might strike as well, depending on how long the ups strike lasts.

im seeing a lot of talk about hollywood going down but i want to see more talk about labor rights and working class solidarity across the board... like A Lot of shit is about to go down

we're about to see a lot more propaganda by more than just hollywood, we're about to see a lot of bullshit political moves on local, state, and federal levels. dont fall for it. workers have power.

can we talk about the ups strike can we PLEASE talk about the ups strike

[elfven-blog]

Complacent (1)

Summary: You meet the new attraction at your aquarium job. Orca!Merman!Connor Kenway x Reader A mini series. CW: Connor in too small a tank/being held against his will. Dedication: Credit to the lovely @ramshackledtrickster who gave me permission to make a fanfic based on their art (You should absolutely check them out, they're amazing) Word count: 2.3K

You had been working at the aquarium for a little while now. You didn’t necessarily enjoy the job, it was just a job. And yes maybe you felt a little guilty when you saw some of the animals in their enclosures, but especially the poor merman. When the merfolk were discovered it was like some mad dash to get the last toilet rolls at the supermarket. You knew nearly everyone in the aquarium was disgusted with the Director who said he had brought one, the building didn’t have room for such a creature. The biggest marine life you housed were black tip reef sharks and jellyfish.

And unfortunately, so many of them were captured. But you had also heard many of them escaped. So here you were cutting up the bits of fish for some of the animals, your nose scrunching in disgust at the smell and you swore the gloves weren’t working to stop the blood from coating your hands as you practically threw it in the bucket. 

Normally you weren’t the one duty for the ‘bigger’ animals, you tended to the fish in the tunnel and the rock pools. But one of the aquarists had to go home because they’d cut themselves on some rocks, and no one really knew how the merman would react to blood. You carefully picked up the bucket and made your way to the door that closed off the merman’s feeding area. Nerves pricked at your skin, even though you’d been told plenty by everyone else that all he’d do was watch you place the bucket and he wouldn’t eat until you leave.

Your hands shook as you pressed your id to the door and pushed it open. The bright lights of the inside area cause you to flinch and squint your eyes. As your eyes adjusted you looked around while stepping into the inside enclosure, taking a deep breath to settle your nerves and almost immediately regretting it as you smelt the fish in the bucket you were holding. And you swore you heard someone laugh as you gagged and held the bucket away from you before there was a splash and your attention was back on the big pool of water in front of you.

You took very careful steps towards the edge of the water, you hadn’t seen the creature yet. Only a few had. He hadn’t even been shown to the public, the Director wanted the public to settle down first. There were still plenty of protests and government talks happening about whether this was okay. You didn’t tell them that you’d been keeping an eye on it all, you didn’t want to lose your job. Not in this economy.

The water didn’t move, entirely serene and you thought for a moment you had imagined the splash. You were so focused you didn’t notice the head slipping out the water and the eyes watching you until a deep rumble filled the room and you nearly slipped into the water “You’re not the normal one they send” It sounds almost like an accusation.

Your eyes widen as you turn towards where the voice came from. They hadn’t told you he could talk. They hadn’t told you he could talk. Your mouth hung open as you tried to process what you’d just heard. And the creature…the man? Raised an eyebrow at your reaction, eyes glancing down at the bucket in your hand and you didn’t miss the look of disgust in his own eyes.

“Do you not like fish?” The words slipped out before you could stop them, and the merman narrowed his eyes at you before he turned from you so he could dive back into the water. Your eyes watching the black tail slide out the water before disappearing, the white patch underneath visible for all of a few seconds. The bucket in your hand felt almost useless now, he obviously did not like the fish…maybe because it was raw you thought. But you left it there for him, right at the edge of the pool just in case you were wrong.

And that night when your shift finished, you found yourself searching about orcas and their eating habits. From the pattern on his tail you thought he might be a ‘transient orca’ (you didn’t even know there were different kinds), and no. They didn’t eat fish.

Which meant the aquarium had been feeding this more man things his body probably wasn’t meant to have. And from what you saw, he was quite large. The pool was probably too small for him. The guilt of him being there felt like it was eating at you. It wasn’t like you had put him there, but by feeding him the wrong things, by not advocating for him, were you not just as bad? The thoughts didn’t leave your mind as you continued your research.

That was your first encounter with the Orca. You didn’t have much interaction with him beyond that, after all he had his own keepers. And you had your own animals? No, that word didn’t quite fit him. 

But sometimes you found yourself outside his tank when you’d get in for an early shift, or after the aquarium was closed to the public and you were on night duty. You couldn’t help yourself. You’d just stand there and watch the water. The water that was too bright you’d discovered on one of your researching nights, too bright and too warm. Apparently Orca’s preferred slightly colder water.

Tonight was one of those nights. The aquarium wasn’t too scary once everyone but the keepers and janitors were around. The lights above his tank were dimmed, trying to give some illusion of darkness but it didn’t really work. Your eyes could only make out so far, the water murky in the dark.

The sound of something smacking against the glass caused you to jump, and then you saw the black and white tail moving against the glass leading you to look up. And there he was. Grinning down at you, clearly pleased at himself for scaring you like that.

Your brow quirked up as you shook your head at him. Something you had discovered was that he really enjoyed scaring people when he could. You’d heard a story a few days ago about him grabbing the ankle of one of the keepers, completely freaking him out so that he had to go home.

“You come here a lot, but you’re not one of them” The rumble of his voice pulled you out of your thoughts, and you shrugged at his words. You did come here a lot. Maybe it was a fascination for something new, or maybe it was that tug of your heart with how pitiful? No. Guilty. You felt no end of guilt at how he was trapped in a too small tank when he should be elsewhere. 

He seemed more calm that day, you realised as you settled yourself on the edge of the tank. Your shoes next to you and your uniform pants rolled up so you could deep your feet into the water. “No I’m not, I work in the rock pools”. Your leg jerked slightly at the feeling of his hands wrapping around your ankles, the glare he gave you as he bobbed out the water made you give him a small smile and apologise. 

He lifted your leg causing you to balance yourself backwards against the platform beneath you, his hands slightly squeezing your leg as he touched the skin. His brow furrowed for a moment before he shrugged and dropped your leg back into the water with a small splash, no longer interested in your limbs at the discovery that it felt like his human parts. “The rock pools?” he asked, confusion showing on his face “Like those tiny bits of water that crabs live in?”

The way he spoke about your job had you pursing your lips while nodding, you hadn't expected to be judged by the marine creature. Instead of listening to someone being harsh on your job, you changed the subject “Do you have a name?” You asked quickly, the Orca raising his brow at your sudden change of subject but he didn’t call you out on it.

He moved to pull himself out of the pool, something you had seen him do a few times and each time it reminded you of how much larger he actually was. And you wondered if he’d let you measure him.Even with part of him out of the water, his large tail still swishes under the water sometimes brushing up against your leg. The skin on his tail felt slightly weird, a little rubbery if you were honest.

Once he had finished pulling himself onto the platform, he turned over onto his back and lay down, his nose scrunching as his eyes closed. His way of basking in this artificial light he had told you once, it was nothing like actual basking but it was all he had. You had almost forgotten about the question you asked until the deep rumble of his voice answered “Ratonhnhaké:ton” the name was a mix of human languages and clicks, one of his eyes opening to look at you as you looked at him, brow furrowed “You can call me Connor if it’s easier”.

Maybe that was the day you decided to do something about him. The day he told you both the name his mother had given him, and the one a mentor had. 

You had signed petitions, gone to protests and donated money to try and help ban the use of merfolk in aquariums but none of it seemed to do anything, and the Director was starting to get ready to advertise his new ‘attraction’. You had seen the posters. So now you were trying to think of some way that would let him escape, Connor had told you about the times he’d gotten out of fishing nets and gotten some of the villages’ calves out of trouble.

The sea churned in front of you as you stared out at it, biting at your nails as your eyes narrowed. Hundreds of ideas floating into your mind. Each one seemed crazier than the next. You were only pulled from your thoughts when a large hand wrapped around your wrist and tugged you backwards causing you to turn and grunt and in surprise.

The man grinning at you as he pulled you towards the water, half of his body pulled onto the platform but it slipped slowly back into the lukewarm pool as he pulled you with him. He had you in the water pretty quickly, your arms moving to wrap around his shoulders as one of his wrapped around your waist “Stop thinking” he whispered against your ear. Part of you swears you feel him purr against you.

You tried to untangle yourself from him but he swam away from the edge of the platform until you were in the middle of the pool, your eyes wide as you pressed yourself closer to him “There are other ways to distract me! That does not involve forcing me into the water” you snap at him, and Connor only gently pinches you in response.

“It’s not like you’ll drown” his arm tightens around you “I wouldn’t allow a cow to drown, I’m not that mean” His words have you scrunching your nose, an annoyed noise leaving you as your legs gently kick at the water. Although your annoyance halted in its tracks at the new word.

“Cow? Like a cow?” This time it was Connor who was confused, his head turning to the side. His brow twitching slightly as he looked at you. The hand on your waist dimpled the bit of fat on your hips as he looked at you like you were insane, his eyes only widening further as you repeated “Like ‘moooo’ cow?” 

His arm loosened around you as you made the noise of a cow, his face scrunching into a disgruntled look as his tail flicked in annoyance. “What is a ‘moo’ cow?” Even his tone shows his annoyance at your question, the playful grin gone from his face as he tries to learn what you mean. And it takes you a little while to explain about bovines to the orca, who in turn does tell you that Orca’s call themselves similar things.

But now he can’t escape your teasing of calling him ‘Bull’, which results in you getting splashed more often. Both of you ignore how when he has you swimming with him, he purrs when you call him that. His chest vibrates against you as his nose huffs at your hair. Connor has become more and more relaxed around you, his hands often pulling and situating you how he wants. Whether that is pulling you into the water to swim with him, or pulling you on top of him white he basks.

His favourite thing it appears is when you straddle him so that you can clean his tail and fins, his body practically shaking with how loud he purrs while your hands are picking off whatever is on his dorsal fin. “I’ve decided to commit a possible crime” One of Connor’s eyes open to look up at you with a lazy hum, his tail gently splashing the water keeps himself wet “And what crime would that be?” he asks, the way he speaks shows you the comfort he feels and how his entire body has relaxed under your gentle grooming. Lately he’s been less agitated at being stuck in the tank, more relaxed. Less resistant. It worries you, makes you concerned that he’s getting complacent.

“I’m going to aid in an Aquarium break” That has his attention, both of his eyes opening and he pushes himself to sit up until you slide down to where his tail and abdomen meet. The large merman grins down at you with nearly all his teeth showing, that feral excitement gleaming in his eye. Maybe you didn’t need to be so worried about him being complacent.

[antisemitism-eu]

aaigis-sero

No one wants to rape you, you're overestimating your own appeal. I heard you guys are raping though? I know children are in those facilities where you do those things. Maybe stay off land that isn't yours and your government won't participate in the culling of your "own people" (cause lets face it you guys are just white people/europeans) when the rightful owners come and rightfully claim your worthless lives Funny how you guys have to project yourselves to feel justified in how you deal with people who have never met or wronged you. Hezbollah is liquidating you nazi's everyday. Hamas hasn't stopped neutralizing your tanks. Houthi's have wrecked your economy and the economy of your allies who you pay with your filthy jewish money. All this while you think killing leadership means anything. It is the entire world against Israel. None of you will live to see the resolution of your problem. You will never enjoy peace, you will die troubled by the likes of men who see you guys for what you are. Here and the afterlife. Your children's children will never know peace aslong as you fucking white european fucks go back to europe and continue your fascist battle royale.

I suppose, since this person calls Jews "Nazis" and thinks we're "fucking white Europeans", that they're so-called "progressive" anti-Zionist.

As I've said before, it's hard to tell Nazis and anti-Zionists apart, but if you pick up on the little things you can usually tell.

Just for context: this was written on a post about how Gazans stole a child's Torah Scroll.

So, obviously, they're dumb as fuck and don't care that everybody knows how antisemitic they are and that they make up their own reality.

But what I find interesting is that the same people who think that a woman who says she was raped 40 years ago should be believed no matter what she claims, are the same ones will deny the rape of Jews by saying things like "No one wants to rape you, you're overestimating your own appeal."

This is the face of antisemitic progressives today.

Thank you antisemitic person for pointing this out.

Btw, for any anti-Zionist Jews out there - this person, whom you consider a friend and agree with almost everything they say because you think they're talking about "those evil Jews, not us good Jews" - is a threat to you - they will murder and rape you when the time comes, because you're just fucking white Europeans who should go back to Poland. You have been warned.

[ambelle]

At this point, as a first generation American whose immigrant family has been through hell...I'm not willing to talk to people who are xenophobic.

Just did a fact-check on some lies about illegal immigrants being given good jobs, free housing, free health insurance, and kicking students out of schools so they could live there in exchange for voting Democrat. I don't like being lied to. I also don't insist something is true to other people unless I know it is. Spreading rumors about entire races being violent rapists getting freebies is how you incite violence (it also sounds exactly like what they say about black people- whether citizen or not.)

That's how you get here :

Trump did nothing about immigration he tanked the economy and got like a million Americans killed by mismanaging the pandemic. Then even more when MAGA clowns decided to convince each other not to wear masks and get vaccinated. Does no one remember what Trump did in office. He singlehandedly brought neo-nazi's to mainstream politics. He did everything wrong yet Im supposed to think Biden was worse because house REPUBLICANS wouldn't sign a bi-partisan bill to address immigration?

If you are anti-immigration you should maybe read the fine print where it says you've now subscribed to white supremacy. Meaning you won't be helping Palestine by doing legwork for Trump/Maga. Meaning you wont be helping working class American's and the homeless by slut shaming Kamala and lying about her record as an Attorney General. Wont stop illegal immigration without acknowledging America's hand in them fleeing their countries which ironically is what Kamala was trying to do in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. I know it's nice to think America has nothing to do with South America but we do.

The only reality is that either Trump becomes a Dictator and ruins the life of anyone who isn't a conservative rich WM or Kamala wins and Democracy lives on.

A Trump Dictatorship will not help Palestine. There are valid ways to help. Share the links, show up at rallies to raise your voice, do the boycotts, DONATE some money.

[nekomacheercaptain]

Can’t get this out of my mind, so here’s a quick and small list of headcanons with the boys’ reaction to a free boxing session you got at your university / job. Set in a modern au!

Reader: gender neutral

Characters: Eustass Kid | Killer | Luffy

Content warning: Kid's part is kind of suggestive

Eustass Kid

He’d rush you to that class right away

- “It’s not until next week” “if we don’t go right now I won’t live to see next week”

- He’d go fucking feral, he would shamelessly pop a boner just seeing you in your gym clothes 

- And stain his pants once you put on boxing gloves

- Honestly he has a lot of fighting experience, just not from any gym or classes, so he’d pull out moves that definitely would send him to prison if he ever exercised them on somebody…. and got caught

- bruh the GRUNTS he’d let out, no wonder Oda made him a bull if he was an animal, this man is LOUD

- He’d traumatize everyone in that room, it would honestly be embarrassing (also hot, but PLEASE he needs to control his volume around people)

- anyway it would be fun, he would just be completely  merciless and punch hard against your mitts no matter the level of your strength

- and would fall so much harder for you when you did the same to him

- as well as get aroused, he won’t even bother to hide it

- anyway, he signs you up to classes multiple nights a week, you’d be the toughest couple around

- (also he’d wear a headband and tank top, and would look so good, I need to to see him work out in it)

Killer

- ..he’d be the one leading the class tbh

- personal trainer Killer 🫶🫶🫶 (I would ruin my economy just to have him all to myself a few hours every week)

- “Babe I got a coupon for your class!” “yeah, only your University / workplace got it, take the hint”

- it would be a really good bonding experience because he gets to share his passion while you get to be really badass, so win-win

- extra win for you though because you would get see everyone else drool over Killer with a braid and beefy muscles sculpted by the gods knowing it’s all yours

- is he ripped? No. That man is HUGE because he is thick as fuck, no visible abs, just raw and pure strength; a healthy layer of fat covering his muscles. He is DELICIOUS, a literal teddy bear that could carry anyone without issue

- he is a good trainer and wouldn’t prioritize you (too much) over the other attendees, and would make sure you left that session sore - like you’re not used to that with him?

- you’d unlock something in him by attending his classes tbh especially when you put on the gloves - he’d be proud and horny

- but it would be a really fun lesson, especially for him, being able to share such a huge part of him with you

Luffy

- he’d be ecstatic!!

- I’m a personal believer of Luffy persuading MMA in a modern au, it just fits him so well

- and he’d obviously be world class, having sponsors and contacts all across the globe

- SO when he was at home with you for the short time he has (wants) vacations, and you get a coupon for a free class he’d be insufferable until you finally got there

- he would immediately talk over the instructor and take over the class but it would be so much fun!

- …until he wanted to spar with everyone even though most people had barely gotten the footwork down

- the entire class would lay down and gasp for air after 10 minutes because no one can keep up with his moves

-it would be a lot of fun though, just be prepared to be utterly exhausted

If anybody knows about any good boxer au fanart or fics about one piece men (or women oh my GOD 🧎‍♀️, please let me know). Anyways thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed it!

Tags: @hawkix @unsuretater-simp @mxhitos @owlight

If you want to join my taglist, you can find it here!

[melishade]

In your Optimus in episode 1 timeline, how does Megatron treat Erwin? In the original, Megatron had to threaten the commander into telling the truth about him using Optimus for him own selfish gain. But that was because Megatron arrived before they got to Eren's basement and learned the truth about the outside world. In the episode 1 timelines, Megatron is there after they get to Eren's basement, find the notebooks, and are even negotiating with Marley. Erwin has everything he wanted and can now continue his work without having to be deceitful. But will Megatron still have a "talk" with him or not see a need to?

Previous Episode of TFP Optimus in Episode 1

You're absolutely right. Megatron holds nothing over Erwin. It's actually the other way around. Erwin is holding something over Megatron.

Because what's funny about Erwin's situation is that mere hours about Keith Shadis quit and promoted Erwin to Commander of the Survey Corps, Shinganshina is attacked by the Colossal Titan.

"Five minutes after you get this shit show, Shinganshia's under attack," Levi remarked.

"Yes, Levi, the irony is not lost on me," Erwin sighed.

"More like a bad omen," Mike added.

Mere hours after that, they get a report about titans fighting each other, one armored and one metal, and the metal one kills the armored one before exterminating the titans in the area and keeping watching. Erwin and the Survey Corps don't know what to make of this, so they go to Shinganshina and see Optimus killing the titans with a gun for a hand and everyone is like 'WTF?'

"Imma touch it," Hanji giggled, only for Mike to grab her by the collar and pull her back, "Mike!"

And during the time of reconstructing Shinganshina's gate, they learn more about this being. His name is Optimus Prime. He was a leader of a faction called the Autobots during a war. Oh, and apparently there are other worlds besides this one with others beings and space is infinite and what not, and holy shit this is a lot to take in.

But Optimus being here is a blessing, a miracle if anything, because Optimus wanting to help humanity and proving that he is an ally, ultimately gets the Survey Corps custody of him, because everyone loves this titan, even the noblemen. Because of Optimus, the economy didn't tank and lives weren't lost. The Survey Corps gets more funding, more recruits. This is the first time the Survey Corps really is given any form of hope for survival in a long time.

There's still the matter of investigating outside the walls and figuring out how to kill the titans. Erwin sends Optimus and Levi on some errands because Levi still distrusts Optimus and Erwin needs these two to get along...but then they come back with no supplies, but two kids and a woman in a wheelchair. Levi this is not what I meant!

But then they all learn why, and the truth, and while Optimus is silently lamenting over the fact that he might've just killed a child, Erwin is just feeling:

Because he was FUCKING RIGHT! HIS DAD WAS RIGHT! AND IT FELT GOOD!

But now they gotta overthrow the government because there's no way that the current one is just going to let that shit slide! And Erwin's internally excited! Not only was he proven right, but he gets to overthrow the government that killed his dad! And then Kenny kind of pops up with his crew saying he wants to help in exchange for immunity and Erwin is just loving this. Although Levi's not entirely thrilled about having Kenny around. Because although Kenny didn't attack them and kill some of them, Kenny still left Levi so he has abandonment issues. Also ya know the "Kenny the Ripper" title.

But it's all successful. Monarchy is overthrown. The island is run by the military for the time being. And Marley shows up, but they're willing to have a tentative alliance. Things seem to be going well...

Until Megatron shows up.

Now Megatron, as Galvatron, raises suspicion with his behavior and how he interacts with Optimus. Erwin knew that he wasn’t a good person. When fighting a war, not everyone is going to be an ally. He knows that. But when Hanji finds out about some pretty damning, sensitive information she managed to get while spying on the duo talking, they need to confront Optimus. And it goes about as well as one would expect, what with learning that they were harboring an intergalactic war criminal.

So Erwin now has to create a contingency, multiple ones in fact, while he, Mike, Levi, and Hanji spy on him to figure out his mannerisms and why he’s even bothering to stay and help in the first place, when Megatron has shown hatred for humans. Doesn’t help when Megatron and Eren are antagonizing each other almost every day!

But Megatron does eventually get wise to the way that Erwin has been acting. He notes Erwin’s mannerisms around him go from suspicion to fear and has to deduce that Erwin knows who he is. Megatron tries to confront Erwin about it, blackmail him, scare him, go through the motions.

But Erwin is not backing down, and because Erwin doesn’t have the same emotional baggage he has in Attack on Prime, it works. And Erwin calls out Megatron. How Megatron’s presence put everyone here in danger? How many enemies has Megatron made? How many will try to hunt him down and try to kill him, making the people in the walls collateral?

This doesn’t faze Megatron, but then Erwin brings up the fact that his presence will call Optimus’ integrity into question. This gets a visible reaction out of Megatron, but Erwin elaborates. Optimus is the one willing to strive for peace and peace talks, and he is talking with Willy Tybur, the one controlling Marley from the shadows. The one that holds the most power in this situation. And even though Optimus and Willy are willing to talk, the rest see Optimus as a demon that killed the Armored Titan. So how bad would it look for Optimus if Marley learns that Optimus killed a child, but is letting his 4 million year old enemy live? One who takes lives without a second thought and hates humanity like it’s second nature? The hypocrisy! The scandal! Optimus would be seen as a liar and everything would go up in flames as long as Megatron was there!

And Erwin can now see a mix of anger and concern in Megatron’s face, which is good because Megatron is recognizing the severity of the situation. And Erwin tells him he’s creating contingencies incase shit goes side ways and the only reason Megatron is still around is because he’s still useful. But the minute Megatron’s presence jeopardizes them all, he’ll use everything he can to get rid of him.

Is it a bluff? Maybe, but Erwin cannot let anything bad happen to the walls. But Erwin should be really grateful he’s resolved most of his emotional baggage!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Political cartoons 2020]  :: Los Angeles Sentinel :: David Brown

* * * * *

Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 23, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Both President Joe Biden and House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have stated publicly that the U.S. will not default. They are negotiating over the budget. For my part, I’ve started to wonder if the whole debt ceiling crisis isn’t about Republicans’ determination to cut taxes for the wealthy at all costs. When Ronald Reagan called for tax cuts in 1980, he argued that tax cuts would concentrate money in private hands, enabling investors flush with cash to build the economy. That growth would keep tax revenues stable even with the lower rates. That was the argument, but it never came to pass. In fact, a 2022 study by political economists David Hope and Julian Limberg shows that “tax cuts for the rich…do not have any significant effect on economic growth or unemployment,” but they do “lead to higher income inequality in both the short- and medium-term.” Indeed, Estelle Sommeiller and Mark Price of the Economic Policy Institute, an independent, nonprofit think tank, noted in 2018 that 1% of all families in the U.S. take home 21% of all the income in the U.S., making 26.3 times more than the bottom 99%, whose average income is slightly more than $50,000 a year. On average in the U.S., someone would need an annual income of slightly more than $420,000 to be a member of that top 1%. In 2020, annual wages for the top 1% grew by 7.3% while those in the bottom 90% grew just 1.7%. A 2020 study by Carter C. Price and Kathryn A. Edwards of the RAND Corporation showed that the changing economic distribution systems of the past forty years have moved a staggering $50 trillion upward, out of the hands of the bottom 90% of Americans. (The national debt is currently about $31.5 trillion.) Nonetheless, today’s Republicans continue to insist that cutting taxes promotes growth. Today, Representative Bob Good (R-VA) talked over journalist Katy Tur to defend his support for extending the Trump tax cuts, which are due to expire in 2025 and which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will add $3.5 trillion to the debt. Good insisted that tax cuts are “incentivizing the right things.” Leaving the White House today, McCarthy told reporters that he would not entertain rolling back the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. “[T]he problem is not revenue,” he insisted. “The problem is spending.” But the Trump tax cuts and Trump's increased spending even before the pandemic ultimately added $7.8 trillion to the national debt, about $23,500 for every person in the country. The increase in the annual deficit under Trump was the third-biggest increase of any administration, relative to the size of the economy. He was beaten out only by George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln. Bush, of course, led the U.S. into two foreign conflicts that were financed almost entirely through debt (in the past, the U.S. paid for war through taxes and war bonds), after Congress cut taxes by about 8% for the wealthiest Americans. Lincoln fought the Civil War. “It’s not that Americans are taxed too little, it’s that Washington spends too much,” Russ Vought, Trump’s acting budget director, wrote in 2019. He was defending Trump’s 5% budget cuts to nondefense discretionary spending. President Biden’s 2024 budget proposes to reduce the federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade by raising taxes on those who make more than $400,000 a year. His budget would effectively repeal the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy, restoring the top tax rate to 39.6% rather than the 37% the 2017 cuts established. It would also raise corporate taxes from 21%, to which the 2017 tax cuts dropped them, to 28%, lower than the high of 35% before the Trump tax cuts. Biden’s budget also calls for taxing capital gains at about the same rate as income for those making more than $1 million, and it calls for a new tax on unrealized capital gains. It also seeks to close loopholes that enable high earners to avoid taxes. Funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that was passed in the Inflation Reduction Act will enable the IRS to go after tax cheats who make more than $400,000 a year, netting an estimated $204 billion through 2031. But the Republicans say they will not agree to any tax hikes of any sort, and the right-wing extremists in the Freedom Caucus have said they would not agree to anything but the bill McCarthy muscled through the House by promising it would never become law. That bill, called Limit, Save, Grow, would cut discretionary government programs by at least 18%—more if Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ benefits aren’t included. “My conservative colleagues for the most part support Limit, Save, Grow, and they don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage,” said right-wing Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL). As Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post pointed out last week, the bill also forces Congress to approve every “major” regulation proposed by a government agency, with the recognition that Congress is unlikely to agree to any such regulation, thus unraveling the federal government. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), who before the 2022 election called for sunsetting all laws every five years, forcing Congress to repass all discretionary spending, today fell back on the idea that Democrats calling for addressing the deficit through taxation are socialists. Poking fun at the recent travel advisories by LGBTQ, immigrant, and Black rights organizations warning against visiting Florida, he issued a “formal travel advisory” for “socialists” “in direct response to the Biden Administration attempts to erase capitalism and the system that has brought prosperity to Florida and the entire United States.” And yet it was the Republican Party that originally established the pattern of turning to increasing revenue to enable the government to meet its financial obligations, a pattern members of both parties relied on until 1981. Faced in 1861 with funding the Civil War, members of the Republican Party invented the U.S. income tax and graduated it to make sure that “the burdens will be more equalized on all classes of the community, more especially on those who are able to bear them,” as Senator William Pitt Fessenden (R-ME) put it. Justin Smith Morrill (R-VT) agreed. “The weight [of] taxation must be distributed equally,” he said, “Not upon each man an equal amount, but a tax proportionate to his ability to pay.” The government had a right to “demand” 99 percent of a man’s property for an urgent necessity, Morrill said. When the public required it, “the property of the people…belongs to the Government.” Far from objecting to taxes, Americans asked their congressmen to raise them, out of concern about the growing national debt. In 1864, Senator John P. Hale (R-NH) said: “The condition of the country is singular…I venture to say it is an anomaly in the history of the world. What do the people of the United States ask of this Congress? To take off taxes? No, sir, they ask you to put them on. The universal cry of this people is to be taxed.” Those taxes helped to pay for the war and, after it, to repay the debt. And in 1866, when Confederate-sympathizing Democrats tried to undermine support for the government by changing the terms of that debt to make it less valuable, Republicans wrote into the Constitution that “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[leftistyachtclub]

Seeing some truly insane Falklands/Malvinas War takes On Here. I hate Thatcher as much as the next guy, I really do, but…the irredentist war drummed up by the fascist junta as a diversion from the fact that they tanked the economy and disappeared thousands is NOT the anti-colonialist slam dunk you think it is. Also, it’s not a military base. There’s barely an airport. The fact that the islands were basically undefended was like…the point of the war. Argentina expected an easy win, because distracting the population from the authoritarian mess with a low effort victory was the entire goal.

Just incredibly frustrating that people regurgitate the talking points propagated by the US-backed far right junta that couldn’t have given less of a shit about a few thousand sheep farmers on islands in the South Atlantic that never even had an indigenous population. It’s a case of pure self-determination, and that’s been litigated to death.

[starseedfxofficial]

Why Most Traders Get It Wrong (And How You Can Avoid It) If you've ever traded the Canadian dollar against the New Zealand dollar, you've likely realized that it's not a straightforward pair to tackle. It's a bit like those times when you decide to try a new recipe and end up with a dish that vaguely resembles something edible but not quite what the picture showed. Many traders approach the CAD/NZD pair thinking it’s just another cross-currency, but they end up making all the classic mistakes, like forgetting to season the proverbial broth. Today, we're diving deep into hedging strategies for CAD/NZD to make sure your trading dish not only looks good but actually tastes like success. The Forgotten Strategy That Outsmarted the Pros Let’s address the elephant in the room—or, in our case, the kiwi bird in the Canadian forest: hedging. Most traders either overlook this strategy or do it incorrectly. The main issue? They treat hedging like buying insurance for that pair of sneakers you got on sale that you know you'll never wear. Newsflash: hedging is more like getting an extra pair of laces. It helps keep everything together, just in case things start to unravel. The CAD/NZD pair is notorious for its volatility, owing to both currencies being influenced by commodities—oil in Canada, dairy in New Zealand—and global risk sentiment. A well-executed hedging strategy allows you to take advantage of both the bullish and bearish market scenarios without getting your trading account all scuffed up like those unworn shoes. How to Hedge CAD/NZD Without Feeling Like You’re Walking in Circles It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get into some tactics. Hedging CAD/NZD doesn’t mean putting on two opposing trades and hoping one of them turns out well, like flipping a coin and praying it lands on its edge. Instead, let’s talk about dynamic hedging, an approach where you adjust your positions based on market conditions. Think of it like shifting gears on a bike—you don't use the same gear for uphill as you do for a smooth ride downhill. The key here is being flexible and making sure your moves match the terrain. The Hidden Patterns That Drive the Market To master hedging strategies for CAD/NZD, understanding market correlations is essential. The relationship between oil prices and the Canadian dollar is almost as predictable as a cheesy reality TV show plot—you always know where it's going. Conversely, New Zealand's love affair with dairy products influences their economy more than an all-you-can-eat cheese buffet influences lactose intolerance. Keeping an eye on these key commodities can give you insights into when to adjust your hedge. For instance, when oil prices start to tank, the CAD is likely to lose value against the NZD. That’s when you’d want to adjust your hedge to favor NZD. Conversely, if oil is on a rally, you might want to adjust your position to be more favorable to the Canadian dollar. This isn't just an ordinary hedge—this is intelligent risk management where you actually make use of what’s happening in the world. The One Simple Trick That Can Change Your Trading Mindset One thing traders often misunderstand about hedging is that it’s not about avoiding losses entirely—it’s about minimizing risk while positioning yourself to profit. It's like driving with a seatbelt; it won’t prevent an accident, but it will keep you safer if things go south. In trading, having a protective hedge in place when dealing with the CAD/NZD pair means you've got a cushion against extreme volatility. Here's an example: Let’s say you have a long position on CAD/NZD because you’re expecting oil prices to rise, thus strengthening the CAD. However, there are some negative economic indicators from New Zealand—like a drop in dairy prices—that could add to your gains. To hedge, you could take a small short position on another correlated pair, such as NZD/USD. This setup protects you if things don't go your way, but also leverages your bet on the initial analysis. How to Predict Market Moves with Precision One of the advanced, lesser-known strategies is to use options for hedging. This approach provides a lot of flexibility, much like the remote control on a TV—you can switch channels based on what’s going on in the market without having to change your entire stance. Options give you the right, but not the obligation, to enter a position. Using options on CAD/NZD can mean positioning for a strong directional move while capping your losses in the event the move doesn’t materialize. Imagine you’re expecting the CAD to strengthen due to positive economic reports. Instead of taking an outright long position, you could buy a call option on the CAD. If your analysis is correct, the CAD will appreciate, and you can either exercise your option or profit from the option's increased value. If your analysis is wrong, your loss is limited to the cost of the option premium. Emotions, Hedge Funds, and Bad Sitcom Plots Let’s not forget the emotional aspect of trading. The urge to “sell everything” when the market goes against you can feel overwhelming. It’s like when you're halfway through a cringe-worthy sitcom and you just want to change the channel—that’s emotion talking. A solid hedging strategy helps you hold your ground by knowing you have your risks covered. It means you don’t have to act out of fear, and you can keep your head level even if the plot takes an unexpected twist. Think of the big players—hedge funds. They use sophisticated strategies involving correlations, options, and often multi-currency positions. The beauty of their approach lies in their ability to adapt. They’re not afraid to shift their stance, much like how you need to move from one hedging approach to another depending on market cues. Why Hedging CAD/NZD Is Like Ordering Pizza in a Foreign Language At first, it might seem daunting. You’re unsure which topping to pick or if you'll get the crust you want, but once you understand the basics, it starts making sense. Whether it’s cheese in New Zealand or crude oil in Canada, hedging CAD/NZD is all about understanding the relationships and having a backup plan in case your toppings come out wrong. You’re essentially covering your bases, ensuring that if one ingredient disappoints, the overall meal still satisfies. So, what’s the key takeaway? The Canadian dollar and New Zealand dollar pair is perfect for those who like an extra layer of strategy. You need to understand the underlying fundamentals that drive each currency and leverage hedging to control risk while maximizing opportunities. Stop thinking of hedging as a confusing safety net; instead, view it as an active component of your trading plan. Wrapping Up: Hedge Smarter, Not Harder Trading the CAD/NZD pair doesn’t have to feel like a bad sitcom where every mistake is a new episode of chaos. By incorporating smart hedging strategies, such as dynamic hedging, options, and monitoring key market drivers, you can make it work in your favor. Remember, the goal is not to eliminate all risks, but to manage them effectively and profit from opportunities others may overlook. Next time you dive into trading CAD/NZD, put your hedging knowledge to the test—treat it like your seatbelt on a bumpy ride, or that extra slice of pizza that makes everything a little better. Manage risk, anticipate market moves, and most importantly, enjoy the process. Because while trading can be serious business, it doesn’t always have to be without a good laugh. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated   Read the full article

[xtruss]

Anti-China Narrative Psychological Projection of US

— By S.L. Kanthan | February 08, 2024

Illustration: Tang Tengfei/Global Times

The US has struggled with a congenital defect - its addiction to wars. President John Quincy Adams famously said, "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy." However, history tells a very different story, with the US having spent about 94 percent of the time in wars since 1776. The American Empire now has 800 military bases in 140 countries, and keeps doubling down on perpetual wars. Not satisfied with the current proxy and real wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria - and possibly Iran soon - the cackle of American think tanks and corporate media is clamoring for a delusional hot war against China.

The narrative against China can only be described as psychological projection. Using twisted logic and fallacies, the China hawks scream that China is a threat to the US and the world. But they forget to mention that the US has been waging non-stop economic war and propaganda war against China for years. Also, it is the US that surrounds China with hostile military bases - building new ones in the Philippines. Yet, in the world of inversion, China is the bad guy.

The US tries to hobble China's economy in countless ways, and then claims that China's slower GDP growth - relative to China's past performance, but still much better than the G7 nations - is an indication of China's intent to "invade Taiwan."

From Monday through Wednesday, US media gloats that China is collapsing. And Thursday through Sunday, the same media cries that China is on the cusp of taking over the world. Which one is it - China is weak or omnipotent?

Another popular talking point among anti-China hardliners is the rapid growth in China's defense investment. China's military strategy is mostly defensive like the Great Wall. China is a "threat" only to rapacious invaders.

As for Taiwan, here is the bitter pill for imperialists: there will be reunification. When China was weak in the 19th century, it was attacked by vultures who plucked off strategic regions. However, as China regained its rightful position in the world, former colonialists retreated, giving back the stolen lands. Remember how Portugal returned Macau and the UK returned Hong Kong? Similarly, the US will one day let go of Taiwan. The sooner the Americans accept this inevitability, the better the world will be.

"America Does Not Go Abroad in Search of Monsters To Destroy." — President John Quincy Adams

There was a time when one could tell the difference between a sensational tabloid and serious journalism in the US, but not anymore. Now, the once respectable media outlets such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are filled with fake news, disinformation and war propaganda.

A recent article by Hal Brands in Foreign Policy is an exemplary case for this decline in American intellectualism. By the way, Mr. Brands has stellar credentials - educated at Stanford and Yale, author of numerous books, and a regular columnist. However, his article is filled with misinformation and sensationalism. Lacking any real evidence of "China threat," he quotes the CIA, the organization that lies, cheats and steals - to paraphrase Mike Pompeo, former CIA director.

Finally, Hal Brands' entire premise about the state of China's economy is deeply flawed. In his echo chamber, nobody talks about China's 5.2-percent GDP growth in 2023, a trade surplus of a staggering $800 billion, China becoming the world's #1 exporter of cars, BYD surpassing Tesla, the resurgence of Huawei, and a long list of other accomplishments.

China watchers have been wrong for long but nobody gets fired for being wrong about China. Why? The goals of incessant big lies are to convince Americans that they have the greatest economic and political systems, and to manufacture consent for a war against China. Sadly, the propagandists are quite successful - the number of Americans who view China favorably dropped from 53 percent in 2018 to 15 percent by 2023 (Gallup Poll).

This is not the old Cold War. Today, the US economy is intricately linked to and dependent on China. From Apple and Tesla to Walmart and Starbucks, American corporations' fortunes depend on Chinese workers and consumers. Even the US military cannot function without Chinese products - for example, the CEO of Raytheon admitted that his company relies on "thousands of Chinese suppliers." Decoupling is a pipe dream.

US elites need a grand reset in their understanding of the world. A multipolar world is emerging. The US needs to stop being the "most warlike nation in history of the world," as Jimmy Carter put it. It's time to discard the paradigms of the military-industrial complex, and instead embrace a future of multilateralism, development and peace.

— The Author is a Geopolitical Analyst, Columnist, Blogger, Podcaster, and Writer Based out of Bangalore, India. His work can be found on Substack, X and more.

[angelsndragons]

okay since folks really like my original cockroach party post i’m going to expand a bit and talk about how and why the mighty nein turned into a cockroach party.

but before we do that, i’m going to talk about mechanics on this post. warning: long post ahead.

first, let’s define terms. all adventuring parties find their own play style when it comes to combat. from my experience, these tend to fall into three broad categories that i am calling the glass cannon, the control, and the cockroach. to be clear, no one party style is better than another; the players and characters simply have different priorities and skill sets.  

glass cannon: these parties are built for doing damage. that’s basically it. they do damage and hope that they kill their enemies before their enemies kill them. these parties tend to be low on support casters, healers, or both. round 4 is where things start to get really rough for these parties and chances are good that if the fight has gone on this long, someone’s at least unconscious.

control: these parties tend to go around obstacles and enemies. there are a million ways to do this; for example, these parties can regularly avoid conflicts all together via stealth or charisma or some other check. when forced into combat, they excel when they have plans or traps to spring on opponents. they struggle a bit but ultimately triumph because they have a myriad of ways to not get hit or they are able to escape and lose their pursuers. 

cockroach: these parties don’t engage in combat, they endure it. their goal is to outlast their enemies via healing, support, and tanking. you hit them? joke’s on you, they don’t care. unlike their glass cannon counterparts, round 4 is where things turn around for the cockroach party. they’ve dug in and are starting to push back.

vox machina is a quintessential glass cannon party. part of that is simply down to player availability; ashley their cleric worked across the country so that made it tough for her to attend on the regular. but. the party technically still had a primary healer who could have stepped in and filled that role: keyleth. druids are pretty dang good healers and support casters, even moon druids. however. marisha and keyleth decided to instead take a dps and tank role similar to grog. this ain’t a diss either so don’t any of you all start anything, especially considering keyleth was often burning her higher slots just to get vm to different places. when keyleth was tanking in wild shape and focusing on dps, it meant that vox machina was reliant on: vex’s cure wounds (and with her being a half caster, you weren’t getting a lot of mileage of it), scanlan as the only support role, and later vax’s lay on hands for emergency healing. percy could heal himself a bit if things got really dicey, grog was taking half damage from most attacks, and the twins could hide as a bonus action or stay at range out of the way. in fact, most of vm had some method for staying at range and letting grog and keyleth tank. and this style worked for them for the most part. their biggest dangers were always the longer fights, with or without pike. longer fights meant more chances for these fragile kids to get hit and possibly drag out the fight even longer by trying to get someone up.

the ashholes from exandria unlimited is a great example of a control party. i count half of their encounters which they’ve been able to wriggle out of without killing their opponents. their liberal use of charm spells, high charisma, and just flat out out of the box thinking (they flipped a fucking crocodile!!) has saved their bacon so many times. during unavoidable combat, they have struggled a little bit, but they’re a low level party to begin with so struggle is expected. all the casters appear to be offensively geared with dariax and fearne having prepped utility on the side. even so, that control vibe still permeates the party; dorian’s most clutch move was that dissonant whispers on mister, which he cast not to harm mister but force him to move away from the rune that transformed and powered him, thus ending the combat.

and finally we have the mighty nein, the cockroach party. we’ll get into the hows and whys later, for now, cockroach parties are built on three major founding principles: action economy, mindset, and versatility. action economy is king in dnd. pcs get an action, bonus action, and reaction per turn. having turns each round is critical to a dnd party's ability to overcome the enemy and the more turns you have compared to your opponent, the better. for large parties, that is a sizable advantage over enemy monsters, which is why even low level monsters are packing multi-attacks, decent ac, and/or good solid hit points. more members means more attacks the creature(s) needs to take and focused fire adds up fast, even at low levels. for example, kylre had about 90 hp and was dead in three rounds, with fjord alone dealing 64 points of that damage. yeah. want to know why mid to high level monsters have legendary actions and resists? action economy. want to know why some silly min-max number crunchers think that cleric healing is severely under-powered? action economy. laura's assessment of healing, that it is better to damage the enemy and only heal to bring people up to make sure they get their turn, is a solid, reasonable assessment of the economy, especially when it comes to the cleric spell slot economy which I elaborated on here.

so, in light of the action economy, let's talk about the cockroach mindset. the cockroach party doesn’t ask ‘how do we beat this opponent’, it asks ‘how do we outlast this opponent.’ it’s a subtle difference in combat focus but an important one. survival of the party is the cockroach’s top priority and all members go into the encounter with that priority in mind. the players aren’t focused on the survival of their character, however, they are focused on giving their party another round to act. they give themselves room to breathe. whether that is stunning the enemy completely, whether it's lowering the enemy's attacking ability, whether it's giving a party member an extra action, whether it’s bringing someone up from unconsciousness, those methods combine with damage generation to win an encounter. cockroach parties don't rely on damage output to keep themselves safe, they rely on their own ability to survive and support their team. 

which brings us to versatility. cockroach parties tend to have a wide array of skills at their disposal and aren’t afraid to use them. while they have solid support roles, casters are not the only ones who can bring utility to a party. just ask beau. just ask yasha as she flew caleb out of danger in the first lucien fight. heck, just ask orym and his swip swap battle flop. or damian and the owlbear from the darrington brigade. cockroach parties, more than control and glass cannon parties, prefer to have a wide range of options available to them. the more tricks up your sleeve, the more likely you are to have something to deal with whatever the dm throws at you. marine layer, anyone? at the same time, the party also uses this wide array to have multiple ways to handle the same problem. jester is the backup stealth scout and teleporter. fjord is the emt, able to remove and heal injured party members if caduceus or jester cannot. caleb is the backup backup cleric with polymorph. veth can also stun/incapacitate enemies with her spells. caduceus is the backup backup tank and battlefield control via his shield of retribution and spirit guardians to beau and jester.

these three tricks combine into one inescapable reality: there is no one better or obvious target to take out. the entire party is one giant interlocking trap; break one and the others will reinforce the weak point and make you pay for the effort.

(incidentally, the cockroach approach is so ingrained in the cast that the vm side of the battle royale didn’t play with the urgency the vm playbook requires and that, more than anything, screwed them over. but that’s a different post.)

tune in next time for a break down of how, when, and why the nein went from glass cannon to cockroach because it is a fascinating ride.

[volcanokids]

Hey idk who needs to hear this but the shit going on with Robinhood and Gamestop right now should make you really fucking angry and I’ll tell you why

If you’re not up to speed on the situation, here’s some good posts explaining it. The gist is that using completely legal means, a bunch of individual retail investors (fancy words for normal ass people who, like the rest of us, have very little money) who invest on online brokerage apps (like Robinhood) bought stock in Gamestop after hedge funds worked hard to manipulate the market for their own gains. These average people interrupted the plans of these much larger hedge funds to essentially drive Gamestop’s stock price into the ground by buying all of the stock these companies had and holding onto it, which has now costed these hedge funds BILLIONS of dollars, and for once has disrupted their long standing practice of market manipulation to fuck people over and maintain the wealth of the 1%.

Otherwise average people with accounts on Robinhood, Fidelity, Webull, etc., have now taken and held a ridiculously huge amount of control over GME stock and the rich corporations invested into it and caused it’s growth to absolutely explode. I’ve seen COUNTLESS stories in which many of them turned hundreds of dollars into thousands, made enough much needed money to pay off debts, medical bills, or just to put into savings that they wouldn’t have gotten under other circumstances. They accumulated small fortunes and gave power back to the people, and best of all took that money directly out of the hands of greedy and corrupt billion dollar hedge funds.

But of course, there had to be backlash for this.

Last night (1/27), Robinhood took away its investors’ ability to buy any more stock in Gamestop than they already owned, and today has made its user base fully unable to trade Gamestop stock AT ALL unless it is to sell their already owned shares, like literally fully took away the button that lets you purchase GME stock, period. Straight up preventing trade like this to any degree in the free market, much less to favor billion dollar corporations, is incredibly blatant market manipulation which is very illegal, hence the class-action lawsuit that has already been filed against Robinhood. Hedge funds have lost literally BILLIONS of dollars to normal people trading stock legally, and Robinhood halting trade and making selling the ONLY option for Gamestop, AMC, and similar companies is their attempt at helping the hedge funds gain back their fortune after they failed to manipulate the market in their favor, and fucking over the average people who are invested on their platform in the process. 

Retail investors—regular people—when this happened, lost THEIR ability to buy, and therefore continue taking back the wealth held by the hedge funds, but this restriction on Robinhood has NO effect on hedge funds, who have now been able to buy and sell all day today (1/28) freely. They used the opportunity to drive the price of Gamestop down again, essentially trying to bail themselves out after they manipulated the market and fucked themselves over in the first place. So, Robinhood, several other trading brokers, CNBC, and any other large corporation who has pissed on Reddit for “manipulating the market” have also now revealed their alignment with these companies, who are the reason the wealth in America is as disparaged as it is. They’re complaining, shifting the blame, even making up straight up lies about retail investors being involved in the alt-right to defame the people who have beat them at their shitty game.  

People on Reddit saw the manipulation, played the game fairly, and hedge funds are STILL trying to fuck them over for daring to touch the fortunes that they have gained by their shady as hell practices and fucked up the economy by hoarding. Reddit saw an opportunity to actually literally redistribute wealth, and these companies are trying to put us all in our place and keep that from happening by extremely corrupt means.

Market manipulation has been going on for a very long time with very little pushback from the people who actually take the blow when the market tanks—i.e. lower to middle class people who can’t afford bailouts and end up broke and out of jobs when the market crashes. The crash of ‘08 was caused by big brokers doing illegal shit and fucking around with people’s money with absolutely no personal repercussions. No lawsuits (or at least no lawsuits that did fuck all about it) no jail time for anyone responsible, nothing. Not only has this Gamestop movement taken back some of the wealth, we are beginning to finally hold these companies accountable. Again, as of right now, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Robinhood for their blatant market manipulation, and hedge funds invested in GME have lost over 5 billion dollars.

We always talk about eat the rich, fuck the 1%, redistribute the wealth. I know the stock market is confusing—it’s made that way on purpose—and I understand anyone’s personal reluctance to participate in the stock market directly because of the hatred for it’s capitalistic nature and everything it’s done wrong and every way it’s failed so many people. But, if you want to actually be a part of a movement that is literally taking billionaire’s wealth and redistributing it right now, show support on social media for the people putting in time and money to make this happen.

I am not qualified at all to give financial advice, and I can’t in good faith tell anyone to buy stocks, ESPECIALLY knowing many, many people do not have the disposable income to be able to do so. Do not spend money you don’t have. But the media is going to and has been altering the narrative, making the small investors look like they’re being corrupt. Do not believe them. They’re often paid out or owned by these big corporations in the first place, they do not give a shit about any of us, about ruining our lives, about taking everything we’re worth. They’ve done it forever. But the HUGE number of people buying GME, supporting, and cooperating with each other with the solitary goal of fucking over these hedge funds, fighting them and beating them at their own game is scaring the absolute shit out of them. It’s becoming a movement that’s being compared to another occupy wall street. It’s showing people they have the power to instigate change and could legitimately lead to an entire restructuring of the system if we play our cards right. Of course changing one capitalist system into another capitalist system is not ideal nor is it the goal, but this whole thing has very quickly become a movement backed by A LOT of people who have knowledge about the system, have seen it work and seen it get corrupted in real time, acknowledged exactly where it fucks us all over, and are beginning to break it down by exposing a huge and obvious instance of corruption at the hands of billionaires.

If you can do nothing else, educate yourself about all the fuck shit these companies are doing, rally support on whatever social media you use, keep posting diamond-hands-we-like-the-stock-gme-to-the-moon-memes, put pressure on the brokerage apps like Robinhood who are manipulating the market and let them know there will be hell to pay. Robinhood is sitting at a well deserved one star review on the google play store for their shitty actions and has gotten burned over and over on twitter, lots of investors are planning a mass exodus and closing their Robinhood accounts when all this shit is over, as WELL as the lawsuit, and all of it has garnered the attention of some very influential figures who now have our backs. All of the repercussions they’re facing is the direct result of our outrage and backlash. Be outraged with us and let’s make real fucking change.

GME to the fucking moon everyone 🚀

[dreamer213]

Broken Machines: Lights The Dark

Chapter 5: Lesson Plan: Orientation

Penny sat nervously on the train car as it began to move upwards towards the city. She’s looking down at her feet and legs, now dressed in a pair of black stockings and a pair of brown Mary Janes, her rocket boots was now sat at her side in shape of a handbag. She had gotten up early that morning to make sure she got ready on time and looked nice. She even double checked after her morning patrol but she was still absolutely terrified! But what girl wouldn’t be if the cute boy she met at an evening party, who’s life you saved, and shared an amount magical evening with agreed to be your etiquette teacher.

Penny: Is like a something out a romance novel. The perfect scenario for a modern take on the charming prince falling for the ditzy commoner girl. There’s even a twist on the trope with the prince protecting the girl not with a sword but with his wit!

Penny blushes her head fulling with different possible romance scenarios that could happen during her lessons. But soon her better judgment makes her recall why she was doing this in the first place. She takes both hands and smacks her cheeks until she’s forced the romantic thoughts out of her head.

Penny: No, no, NO! Bad Penny! These lessons are supposed to help you with the investigation. This is a meeting with comrade NOT a romantic encounter! There is simple plan in place for this mission and I am following it! I am going to take these lessons, learn to act like an Altas elite, investigate the suspects, find the spy, get “the project” back on schedule, and help protect EVERYONE! That is what I’m here to do and that is all I will do.

With that reaffirmation Penny feels motivated and gets pumped up. She starts bouncing in her seat as the car nears the station. Soon the train comes to a stop, she’s arrived at the station. Penny quickly grabs her things and heads out the doors when they open. She makes her way though the station and once she’s outside she looks for the car mentioned in last night’s message. She only has to look for few seconds before she spots man in a Chauffeur’s uniform standing outside an expansive looking black car holding up a sigh with “Ms. Polendina” printed on it. It was unbelievably, the limousine for the evening party was understandable but this was just over the top, Penny could barely process the sheer amount of shame and embarrassment she was experiencing but still she knew she has to get in. Penny hastily walks over to him once she gets close enough the chauffeur, Godfrey, calls out to her.

Godfrey: Good Day, Ms. Polendina.

Penny: Good Afternoon, Mr..?

Godfrey: It’s Godfrey, Ms. Polendina.

Penny: It’s nice to meet you Godfrey and you don’t have to call me Ms. Polendina, please just call me Penny.

Godfrey: Alright then Ms. Penny shall we be on our way?

Godfrey sits the sign in front passenger seat then opens the back passenger door for Penny. Penny gets inside, sits, buckles up, and looks around. The interior was spacious with black leather seats with a built in cooler full of bottled sparkling waters. It’s such an overall lavish scene inside and out that it’s honestly overwhelming.

Penny: Is this really necessary? A taxi would have been much more practical and cost effective. And much less overwhelmingly obvious.

Godfrey: Ready to go?

Penny:Oh! Yes, I’m ready to go!

Godfrey starts the car and pulls out onto the road. During the drive Penny looks out the window, the streets were so different from Mantle’s much cleaner and less populated, so many fancy shops, cafes, and skyscrapers, but somehow it felt unauthentic like the city itself was all for show. After an hour or so the car finally comes to a stop in The Schnee Manor driveway. Godfrey opens the door for Penny and walks her to the front door where a maid stands waiting. Once they’re at the door Godfrey tips his hat to both the maid and Penny then leaves. With him gone Penny turns her attention to the maid, the maid bows to her then looks Penny directly in the eyes and speaks.

Mary: Good Afternoon Ms. Polendina Welcome to the Schnee Manor. I am Mary Shallor, I am here to escort you to the Young Master. Please follow me.

Mary walks inside with Penny trailing behind her. After going through several hallway they arrive at one of the libraries where another maid stands waiting. The maids share a nod and Mary leaves, the other maid ups the door and guides Penny to the back of the library. As they go deeper into the room Penny spots someone sitting at by table next to a window reading a book. Once they’re close it becomes clear who it is. There he is Whitley Schnee dressed in his everyday business causal wear, sitting cross legged in an arm chair, sunlight beaming down on him, reading a book on art theory, topping his finger against leather covered spine as he reads.

Penny starts to fidget and looking around, trying her hardest to focus on literally anything besides the literal daydream come to life sitting in front of her. But she just can’t keep her eyes off him no matter how hard she tries. She can feel herself tensing up and her cheeks are starting to go red again. She tries change tactics by focusing on her mission and repeat the purpose of this meeting,

Penny: This is a formal meeting with a comrade. You are here to learn about etiquette and investigate the thefts. This young man is your instructor. This is a professional meeting nothing more-

At that moment Whitley looks up from his book, they’re eyes met, and Penny’s mind goes blank. He sets the book down on the table and gestures to the seat across from him. All while wearing a picture perfect smile.

Whitley: Good afternoon Ms. Polendina, I’ve been waiting for you. Please come take a seat.

Aaaand there goes her plans to be professional about this. Instead her head starts feeling hazy and the drumming in her chest returns as she sits down. Her legs are shaking and she can barely keep her composure. It was just so strange that one smile could make a battle android like her feel so painfully nervous.

Whitley: Now before we get start the orientation we need to get couple things out in the open. First I need you to go over the case details you already have so I can figure out which events you’ll need to attend and which families and or business groups you’ll need to focus in on. Second I need to know just how much you know about etiquette so we can make you a proper lesson plan.

Penny: W-while that’s a reasonable request, for the first subject I can not give you many specific details as the matter is still classified.

Whitley: That’s fine all I need to know is the crime and a list of suspects, nothing more.

Penny: A-Alright I can give you that much. In the past month several supply trucks carrying military equipment have been stolen while in route from the shipping facility or direct from the factories. It appears that someone in a position of high authority is divulging classified information to help facilitate the thefts.

Whitley: That’s very unfortunate. And the suspects?

Penny: Regina Holly, CEO of the Holly HighTech communications technology company, Elio Brugmansia founder and president of Mansia Mobile, Julia Primrose of Inscribed cellular, Arthur Hemlock Vice President of Hemlock Steel, Matthew Datura primary shareholder of Arum Iron and Steel, Alejandro Altissima head of Altissima Fuel, Sylas Foxglove owner of FastFox Fuel and Jospeh Speedwell chairman of Speedway Energy and Fuel. Half were suppliers of the now stolen equipment and Many of the others are also contracted suppliers but could not be ruled out as suspects. At least not yet.

Whitley: My, my, my, that is quite the list, a lot of big players and old money in there. Hmm, one more question Ms. Polendina. Why did the military contract so many different companies at the same time, especially since several are known rivals in their industries?

Penny: With the loss of global communications everything had to be bought or made locally and with most local companies being cut off from their other factories and facilities, no single distributor could supply enough material to fulfill the contract completely so the order was spilt and divided amongst several companies instead.

Whitley: I see. Now on to the etiquette lessons. How much do you know about etiquette and manners?

Penny: I’ve been taught to say please and thank you as a sign of gratitude, to not place my elbows on the table at a meal, to never talk when my mouth is full of food, to always smile when I greet someone regardless of they’re attitude, to hold the door for the person behind me when entering a building, to give up my seat for any person in greater need of it on public transportation, and to say bless you when someone sneezes near me.

Whitley: That is…not exactly what I…….Never mind.

There is a moment of silence as Whitley digest this information. The situation was not the best, too many people on one job makes things too complicated. Especially when dealing with egotistical elites with little empathy or impulse control. And with the current state of the the economy things could only get more complicated.

Whitley: Every person on that suspect list has more then enough means and motive to pull a stunt like this. Could be attempting fraud or price gouging or just a new means to undercutting their competition or something else entirely, there’s no storage of possible motives. And with the market tanking and global trade slowing to a near standstill they’ve probably grew desperate to maintain their business a float as well. (Sighs) Every suspect is the perfect suspect and their motives are endless. Ugh this investigation is going to be absolute nightmare.

Trailing off from that Whitley looks over at Penny, when her identity as a soldier and a huntress were revealed Whitley had assumed that her appearance was just a sort of camouflage to disguise her true nature but it would what seem that was not the case.

Whitley: How she could have possibly became a huntress skilled enough to be recognized by Ironwood himself and yet still retain such an childish and innocent mindset is beyond me. Still she follows orders well and speaks much more properly then I expected so it’s not completely unusual. And it’s not as though having an innocent personality is a bad thing, in fact given the situation we’re in this might make things a little easier.

Whitley stands up from his chair and walks over to Penny, he holds out his hand to her and gestures to her to stand. Instead of just standing up Penny takes his hand as she pulls herself up and out of her seat. The moment they’re hands touch Whitley suddenly feels a tingle, a sort of warm jolt his never experience before. He had held her hands before, at the evening party, but at the time his focus was on getting out of the situation and getting her to Ironwood rather then how her hands felt but right now things were different. Right now she had his full attention and something about her just made him feel so….different. He didn’t why but this one touch just felt so odd like he was burning from the inside but it didn’t hurt. Instead it feels. It feels. He doesn’t really know though some small part of him, almost desperately, wants to know. But now is not the time for this.

Whitley quickly pulls his hand back, causing Penny to pull hers back as well. There a few seconds of awkward silence before Whitley regains his composure and clears his throat.

Whitley: Since it appears that you’ll need a bit more teaching then original thought we’ll have to readjust your lesson plan. So for today we’ll just take a quick tour of the areas we’ve already prepared then you’ll be dismissed.

Penny: Un-understood.

Whitley: Good then we’ll start here. This is the east wing library. It’s stuck with numerous text on almost every topic one could think of. History, Classic literature, Science, the list goes on.

Whitley begin walking through the library towards the entrance with Penny and the maid following close behind. He holds the door for the ladies as they exit from the library and move to the hallway. From there the tour begins with the three walking to the different area in manor, Whitley gives a quick bio of the room or area, then moving on to the next.

First up, a room with a large cream colored L shape sofa paired with a glass coffee table with wood trim was a few magazines, an ashtray and a small phone, and a matching loveseat, a few paintings in walls, potted plants, and a fireplace.

Whitley: This is one of our many lounge rooms. It’s primarily use for entertaining guests or as a sitting room for business colleagues. It’s also used as a rest area for tired or inebriated guests during parties. The small phone on the table has three set speed dials 1 is our in house physician 2 is for the kitchen and 3 is for the clean up crew.

Penny raises her hand to ask a question, Whitley notices and points to her.

Whitley: Yes.

Penny: Why is necessary to have a speed dial for the clean up crew in a lounge room?

Whitley: I’d rather not say but if this investigation last longer than let’s say a month you’ll probably be here for my father’s next black and white party. And if he serves red wine and the good rum again trust me, you’ll find out.

Penny: Oh.

Whitley: On to the next room.

Next stop seems to be a studio, there some sound equipment and speakers, wood floors, and a large mirror covering the entirety of the back wall with a ballet bar going across it.

Whitley: This is the dance studio. Here myself and many others were taught to dance, walk, maintain good posture, and to greet properly. Soon you will learn the same.

Penny takes a moment to look around, she remembers seeing rooms like this in some books and magazines. She runs her hand across the bar as she reminisces about her days in the lab, training her fighting abilities and learning about human through books and old movies. She stands on her toes and does a little twirl, emanating the dancers she’d seen so long ago. Whitley lets her enjoy herself for a bit then calls her back so they can continue the tour.

Next up , a room full of instruments mainly a selection of violins and cellos in various size, a few flutes, three pianos, a record player, and several bookshelves filed with a variety of records and sheet music.

Whitley: Welcome to the music room, this addition built almost forty years ago. During that time a number of people have learned to play their chosen instruments with most advancing to an expert level, myself included.

Penny: You’re a musician?

Whitley: Yes, a pianist to be exact. In the music world I am known as the Silver Maestro of Atlas, I perform every 50 days sometimes solo sometimes with an Orchestra.

Penny: Amazing. May I come see you perform someday?

Whitley: Hmm. Given that most of the venues I play in are usually elites parties and high profile concerts you’ll most likely have to attend one during your time here.

Penny: Wonderful! I’m excited to hear your music.

Whitley says nothing and heads towards the next room with Penny and the maid in tow. While walking towards the next area they pass a large window with a view into a grand garden. They are about to pass the hall to gardens main entrance when Whitley spots Willow walks past on the other side of the glass, a bottle in hand and several more being carried by Mary most being empties. Whitley stops the two women almost trip trying not to run into him. Whitley turns around with a almost stranded smile on his face, he stands there for a few more seconds until he knows Willow has passed their field of vision then taps the window and gestures for Penny to look throughout it.

Whitley: If you look over here you’ll see the famous Schnee Manor garden, home to several hundred different types of flora and fauna, many of which can only be seen here or at the Atlas Botanic Garden. This garden was built by my grandfather Nicholas Schnee as a birthday gift to his dear daughter Willow, my mother.

Penny stares at the window in awe, her face almost pressed to the glass. There’s so many flowers in some many pretty colors. She hadn’t seen many flowers since she’d been stationed in Mantle, outside the ones in pots hung on houses as décor and the few stray wildflowers that grew in the parks so seeing something like this was just incredible. It was like field of eternal spring with roses, lilies, tulips, even some of her dad’s favorite,Yellow Snapdragons! So gorgeous she could just run inside and spend the day there, just watching, picking, and smelling flowers for hours and hours. She looks over to Whitley her eyes practically shining in excitement.

Penny: It so beautiful! I’ve never seen so many flowers in one place! Whitley could we please go-

Whitley: NO!

There was a surprised silence, Everyone, including himself were stunned, shocked by the volume of the young Schnee. It was very very rare to hear him speak so loud and when he did it was always a sigh of something unpleasant happening. Once out of his shocked state Whitley looks a bit uncomfortable and ashamed.

Whitley: I a-apologize for that, it was inappropriate of me to yell. (Coughs) To answer your question, No there’s working been done inside right now so we can’t go into the garden today.

Penny: Okay.

Whitley: We’ll go in at another time just not today. Let’s just continue the tour.

The group continues walking in complete silence. They continue going to the few more room but the mood has taken too much of a downward turn. They ended at the ballroom standing in the middle of the room Whitley gives his last speech before the end of the tour.

Whitley: This is Ballroom, a place I’m sure you’re at least a little familiar with.

Penny blushes a bit puts her head down and nods.

Whitley: There’s really no need for a lot of explanation, this room has only one use, to host all the manor’s grand events and parties. Be it evening parties, charity galas, dinner parties and so on, this is where some of the grandest parties in Atlas are hosted and only a select few get to attend this events often for others it’s a once in a lifetime experience. And with that this is the end of our tour.

Penny gives an enthusiastic round of applause to which Whitley gives a slight chuckle and a few dramatic bows.

Whitley: Thank you, Thank you, your too kind. Now since the tour’s over you’re dismissed for the day, I’ll have your new lesson plan sent to you before tomorrow morning so please remember to check your scroll for it before you return. Have good day and Ms. Polendina, Genevieve Please see her to the car.

Penny: Thank you for having me. I look forward to seeing you- You all to-tomorrow.

Penny gives a small wave as Genevieve guides her to the front door, Whitley gives her a smile and wave back. Once she’s out Whitley turns around and heads back to his room to his desk. His day has just begun and he had a mountain of paperwork and studies that need to be done before dinner. Meanwhile Penny’s back in the car with Godfrey, heading back to station she looks out window and chats with Godfrey until they get there. Once she gotten out from the car into the station, and on the train back down she looks at her scroll and realizes that it’s still quite early and she still has a lot of work to do. But despite that fact she didn’t feel groggy or groggy or deflated like most would. Oddly enough she actually felt sort of calm, relaxed and ready to get to work. When the train car finally stops in back at the Mantle station Penny gets off the train, heads outside and sits at the near bench, puts her boots back on, and gets back to work!

After another long day of protecting Mantle Penny goes home, has dinner and family time with her dad, then head to her room to get ready for bed. Sitting in her pajamas brushing her hair, Penny think back on all that’s happened today and what could happened tomorrow when she remembers what Whitley said about sending her new lesson plan. She picks up her scroll and looks through her messages to see if Whitley’s sent the new lesson plan for her or if he sent it through Ironwood instead. She looks and looks but finds nothing, it getting late and she needs to rest so she plugs herself in to charge but keeps looking at her scroll waiting for his message. She knows it’ll come before she leaves for patrol in the morning but she wants to read it the moment it’s sent to her, she wants to see his message.

Penny pauses for second and realized what she was actually doing. She was unnecessarily waiting up for a work related message just because he was the one sending. Suddenly she recalls everything she said to him today and starts to blush again. She buries her face in her pillow and starts screaming into it.

Penny: Did I really stutter that much? why did I asking so many unnecessary questions? Why did I grab his hand like that? He pulled his away so fast he must have felt so uncomfortable! How could I be so stupid!

She continues to whine and worry about how she might have come off for another hour or so, never once let her scroll go as she turns into a blushing embarrassed mess.

.

.

.

Whitley sits at his desk typing away at his laptop. He had finished his work hours ago but he still had to update Penny’s lesson plan and find an easy event for her to attend as soon as possible to help jump start the investigation. He was almost done with the lesson plan but still needed to find a more causal event with the right people in attendance to send Penny to. He’s typing away at his laptop with one hand and looking through his scroll at the local social media with the other.

With global communication gone the elites had lost most of their social media audience and now only had fraction of onlookers to watch them flaunt their wealth so the local servers had become a giant message board were young elites post about the parties they’re having, dangerous pranks they were pulling, stupid stunts, petty drama, and weekly shopping hauls.

Whitley detested using social media as it was full of amount nothing but vapid idiots looking for validation but it was the easiest way to keep up with happenings of Atlas youths so he checked it every few days. After scrolling through countless food pics, videos of people being stupid, morons screaming at each over things they don’t really understand he puts his scroll down leans back, and puts his hand on his face, completely frustrated.

Whitley: If I have to see another picture of an idiot eating dish cleaner for attention I’m going to have an aneurysm. (Sighs) Why I am even doing this we only agree to teach her and get her into events not to hand pick them for her.

He looks up to the ceilings and and recalls the events of the afternoon. She had only been in the manor for a couple of hours but he had learned quite a lot in that time.

Whitley: That girl, She’s definitely a intelligent, driven, and strong person, the way she spoke about the case was concise but clear, not hint of worry, doubt, or deception just cold facts. Her articulation and vernacular while a bit stiff were also far more advanced than I was expecting. If she learns quickly and keep her head on straight she should do fine but-

The memories of that afternoon flash in his mind, her twirling by ballet bar, the excitement in her voice when she discovered he had musical talent, her vibrant green eyes staring with wonder at the garden. A soldier she made be but that wasn’t all she was. She was sweet, innocent, excitable, and very much vulnerable. She could become a true darling in high society if trained right but right now she’s too gentle, like a hummingbird flying without fear if she gets too close to wrong flower a predator could rip her apart before she could even put up a fight.

Whitley sits back up, stretches his arms the gets back to searching. He calls for a maid to get him a cup of coffee, takes off his vest, and settles in for a long night of work.

[mysmegrace]

Hey! I noticed your masterlist is a bit empty, can i fix that? Haha. Maybe you could write some headcanons with Saeran (and if you do more characters), Jaehee and Jumin having a cooking date with mc? Like maybe cookies, or browniesor cake! Idk haha. Sorry for the long ask. ☺️

Hey 👋 Haha yeah my master list isn’t doing so well right now lol. I love your ask, it’s so cute, and it’s not long at all! I didn’t see this until right now so forgive me if this is late lol!

Cooking Date with Saeran/Jumin/Jaehee 🥘

Saeran (Normal Ending)🌹

Staying indoors all day wasn’t fun in the slightest. Fortunately for you and Saeran, the coronavirus hadn’t reached the island you inhabited yet

Given that didn’t mean you guys were entirely safe, so you two had to follow the safety measures just like the rest of the RFA had to do back in South Korea

That meant you had to forget about your vacation to Greece you had planned for to go explore the European country and discover it’s beauty

You two definitely weren’t happy about that as you both were incredibly excited about the trip, the cancellation of the trip caused your moods to tank this week

As if you two weren’t already down in the dumps enough, you woke up to loud rain drops banging on your window

When seeing the combination of strong rain and high winds, a sigh escaped your lips

Walking around the island and admiring the gorgeous nature combined with seas that surrounded it was the only thing bringing you two comfort in these rough times

But because of how messy the weather was today, you couldn’t even do that

Feeling upset, you accepted defeat from Mother Nature and laid back down in bed, cuddled up to Saeran

After resting another few hours, the weather had only gotten worse, contrary to what you’d hope it’d be

You could see the look of disappointment that came across Saerans face as he looked outside the window

Nature was not just a pretty sight to Saeran, but a much stronger comforting sight to him, so you understood completely how this made him feel

The entirety of your early afternoon contained of just you and Saeran laying down focused on your phones

Nearing dinner hours you got a sudden yet welcoming motivation to get up and make something out of this horrible day after seeing lots of inspiration online

After a lot of thought you came to the conclusion that a cooking date sounds like something you two could use right now

You surfed the web until you came across the perfect recipe, Moussaka for dinner and Loukoumades for dessert

Two Greek dishes served frequently around Greece, maybe trying your hand at making these dishes could lighten your moods

This sounds like a great idea not only because it’s delicious food, but also because it could give you and Saeran a feel of Greece far away from the country

With everything planned and making sure all ingredients are in stock, you approach Saeran with your plan

He isn’t too enthusiastic when hearing your idea but with the puppy face you’re giving him, he found it hard to deny your offer

So he eventually agreed and you two were off to work

You turned on some calming music while you and Saeran began cutting up the vegetables needed for the Moussaka together

As time went on, you noticed you began getting happier as you two were cooking and making conversation

Your plan seemed to be working incredibly

After all ingredients were done and assembled correctly, you two gave it all time to cook

While it was cooking, you started talking about the future and about your dreams, you could tell his mood was lifting

You grew increasingly open with each other in discussing your wants and dreams, then a sudden but very welcomed kiss from Saeran touched your lips

It was only a little kiss, but that little kiss turned into another little kiss, and eventually it wasn’t just a little kiss anymore

You thought back to the days in Mint Eye, you could never see you and Saeran coming so far, but here you were now making out on the couch you shared

His hand laid gentle on your cheek as you two sat there enjoying every piece of each other and this amazing feeling

You both snapped back to reality once the timer rang loud through the home

Getting up disappointed because you two were interrupted, you walked over to take out the dinner with Saeran following you

Once you sat it down to cool, a giggle left Saerans mouth as his eyes laid on a trace of honey he left on your cheek

You returned his chuckle as you attempted to wipe the honey off with a towel

His hand stopped you from doing so as he turned your face towards him and wiped the trace of honey off with his thumb

“Thank you” you replied to his actions accompanied with a blush

“No need to thank me, it’s my job” he responded

You gave him a loving smile as you turned around to grab plates

You served the meal blown with a kiss on top as you two got to eating

Satisfied with the creation, you both had a loveable conversation and got a little piece of Greece in your home while missing out on your trip

After dinner dessert was served and you could’ve sworn you gained 30lbs from that delicious food

You both realized as long as you two are together, there’s no excuse to be upset about something that can always hold off until a later date

Jumin💎

The front door opening got your attention as you laid on the couch waiting for Jumin to arrive home

An hour ago he had run out to the grocery store to pick up some essentials and ingredients you two would need tonight

You both had planned cooking a meal together this afternoon and enjoying it over a candle lit table

Having a dinner date inside the home to relax and spend time together was something you definitely needed

It was perfect to make you feel even more loved and great for Jumin to lift stressful things from his mind

After an exhausting week of almost working himself to death, he brought up the idea to you

You didn’t even need to think before you agreed

Knowing Jumin, he was going all out

You swore the table cloth alone costed more than your rent for your old apartment

While he was sliding off his shoes with his arms holding many bags, you walked up to him and placed a short but sweet kiss on his lips

After you both brought the bags to the kitchen and got them unpacked, you got to work

You decided on stir-fry and lava cake

With Jumin focusing on the vegetables and chicken, you got to work on the sauce

Every time he passed you to get to the fridge, his hands wrapped around your waist for a brief minute as he placed a soft kiss on your temple

A light blush always came over your cheeks whenever he did loving actions like this, even after 3 years of marriage

You both were getting into conversations about life

About Elizabeth the 3rd, the next RFA party, plans for C&R, the current political climate, and much similar

Jumin was such an interesting man, how he could talk for hours about topics regarding the economy and fail to make you bored is beyond you

But you liked that about him, along with many other attributes of his

You always felt loved and protected in his presence, a feeling you’ve never felt throughout your childhood

As your conversation slowly shifted and you two starting getting more depth with your discussions, he expressed how much love he felt for you everyday

He never thought he could love someone this much, he can’t even imagine how much more love he’ll have in his heart when/if you two create your own family

While talking, you added the stir fry sauce to his concoction of vegetables & chicken on the stove, along with adding in noodles

You stirred the mixture carefully, making sure not to spill

An unexpected hand came on top of yours and joined you in stirring the mixture

You took those few minutes when he was directly behind you to take the situation in, to just breathe out and relax in his presence

Your stir fry was cooked perfectly as you turned off the heat and let it to cool a bit

While cooking, you both got to work on the lava cake

It was a quick & simple recipe that Jumin had never attempted to make before

He usually had his chef cook for you both so this entire experience was a special occasion to him

You both continued where u left off in your conversation

The look in his eyes as he spoke passionately, the way his lips moved along with his words, god you loved this man

You still remember the days when Jumin seemed like such a cold man to you at first

But when getting closer to him and hearing him open up to you, you realize how broken he’s been from childhood

He deserved better

Your thoughts were cut off the loud timer going off

As Jumin went to take out the cake, he told you to go get dressed

You were confused but listened, he had an outfit already laid out for you on the bed you two shared

He really was over the top somethings

After getting the gorgeous dress on, you walked back out to the kitchen to meet him

You were met with a well set table already prepared and a lit candle in the centre of you two

He took your soft hand into his and led you to your seat, pulling your chair in and out for you

He joined you seated at the table and you two became to eat

The dinner tasted great, better than you both expected

It wasn’t to his chefs level, but it was great for a non-chef

The rest of your night was spent in each other’s arms drinking a glass of wine on the couch

you two may or may not have had a shower after to clean yourselves off together and did some things 👁👄👁

Jaehee 🧁

You arrived at Jaehee’s apartment around noon

You two had planned to bake some cookies and donate them to the orphanage to give to children

Jaehee had her cooking supplies ready before you even arrived, she’s incredibly good at being prepared

You both got straight to work and had decided on chocolate chip and raisin cookies

Jaehee turned on some music to listen to in the background

She did the chocolate chip, you did raisin

A song came on from her playlist that you loved, you knew the dance to it and everything

You started dancing as you mixed the batter, singing along to the songs

That earned you a quick look of confusion from Jaehee

You stopped mixing and sat down the bowl as you stretched your hand out to Jaehee, offering her to dance with you

She stared for a minute before hesitantly agreeing after you told her to let loose a little

You started off slow, making sure she got a hang of the moves

Then you began gaining pace, building up speed

You saw a smile creep onto her face as she moved along with you

The song came to a short and after a short laugh you both got back to work

Hours passed of you making cookies before you were done, covered in a mess

You wiped your finger into the flour you had on your apron

You gave Jaehee an unexpected surprise by swiping the flour on her nose

She quickly returned your action back and you were soon in a flour war zone

After coating each other in the white powder, you two decided to call it quits for the day as you removed your apron

Looking at the cookies on the counter, you both grabbed one and cheered them together, making a toast

“To us”

I hope you enjoyed! I apologize if Jaehee’s seems rushed in any way, it’s almost 3am right now and I’m not functioning properly lol. Plus I’m not the best at writing with Jaehee. Thank you for your request!

REQUESTS: OPEN

[shwazzberryswriting]

Sweet Treats

Pairing: Jeno x Original Female Character|Reader

Genre: Meet-Cute (sort of), Fluff, AU - Non-Famous Jeno

Word count: 2.4k

Rating/Warnings: Teen (12ish+)/Kissing

Prompt: Random Word Generator

*Must be about Jeno

*Must be 2k words (overshot it ROFL)

*Use these words (random word generator):

-main

-mutual

-organ

Author’s Note: Thank you to my friend for their patience with me taking forever to get this prompt fufilled! It wasn't from a lack of inspiration. Hot Sauce era gave me a lot of fuel for Jeno!

--------

If Suyuan could make a dessert to represent her cousin’s bake sale, she’d bake a Keylime Pie. The middle school’s front entrance was lined with thick green grass that glistened in the sunlight. The late spring breeze carried the scent of the lime trees nearby, tingling her nose.

The PTA was throwing a Mountain Retreat Bake Sale to raise funds for a weeklong mountain retreat for the 6th grade class. Fen, Suyuan’s cousin, should have been setting up the baked goods under the tent, but the 12-year-old was having too much fun playing with her friends. They were currently bullying a man who seemed to be related to Fen’s best friend, HaeWon.

He wore black skinny jeans and a loose white and black striped knit sweater. His black hair fell over his eyes as he grimaced a smile. He was trying to dance along to an Itzy song, but the kids were booing him as he refused to do “aeygo”. Suyuan grinned as she recalled how she and her classmates would tease their older cousins to do cute dances to entertain them. It was a circle of life to be forced to do cute dances at various points in one’s life.

“Fen, I think we have to set up the lemonade, too,” Suyuan called out, setting a sign down on the table as she stood up. “Give that guy a break, too! We’re helping you for free, you know. I should have told you to buy me Starbucks.”

“Jeno Lee! Jeno Lee! You can’t dance!” Fen and HaeWon chanted. The main bullies had even started a dance where they sashayed their hips. They stopped once their friends began to retreat back to pick up their tasks.

“Thanks,” Jeno Lee said with a shy smile as he walked away from his red motorbike to join her under the tent. “I’m Jeno.”

“Suyuan,” she replied, waving her hand. “I’m Fen’s cousin. How’d you get roped into this?”

“My aunt and uncle helped me with my bake sale when I was 13,” he replied. He began helping Fen and HaeWon line up trays of cookies on one of the white topped plastic tables. “HaeWon should buy me some Starbucks, too, I think.”

“I don’t even have a credit card,” HaeWon replied, looking over her shoulder to glare at him.

“Suyuan helped me bake these strawberry macarons!” Fen exclaimed, setting the cookies down beside the blueberry jam thumbprint cookies. “My mom and I made the shortbread cookies.”

“Did you have to do this?” Jeno asked as he sat down to help make the signs to indicate the prices of the baked goods.

“No, for our school trip we pitched our trip to family members, Shark Tank-style,” she replied.

“What?” he sounded incredulous as he stopped writing on the white board to stare at her. “Your school turned it into a Economy project?”

“It was fun. I mostly used cute pictures of me in my slides and I kept saying, ‘You’re investing in my future and well being,’ enough to make my parents emotional. It annoyed my siblings and other relatives enough that they handed me at least a couple dollars before I could finish my pitch.”

“Smart,” he said, looking impressed. “Do you know how to write DanPatBbang?”

“My mom made a huge batch!” HaeWon spoke up as she pointed to the golden buns wrapped in clear plastic bags.

“Um, no,” Suyuan replied. “We can write Sweet Red Bean Paste Buns. We’ll find someone to write it the correct way. They look amazing, HaeWon! Your mom told me you made the paste.”

“I also brushed the egg wash on,” she said.

Fen and HaeWon took over all the tasks Suyuan and Jeno started. Soon enough, Jeno and Suyuan were seated behind the pastries and water cooler filled with lemonade, chitchatting. They exchanged war stories about their 6th Grade Mountain Retreat. Jeno’s class were locked in their dorms for a few hours as a family of bears foraged around their camp for food the first day they arrived. It sounded more exciting than what really happened, he claimed.

Jeno seemed captivated as Suyuan told an elaborate story about her group’s river raft ride. Their raft capsized partway through the ride, and her group had to walk their way back to camp with nothing but an old compass as help, all of them soaked to the bone. Suyuan had sprained her ankle, and cried her entire walk back to camp, which had been roughly a half mile walk.

“It’s funny now,” Suyuan said as Jeno chuckled into his fist, “but I was miserable for the rest of the trip.”

“How many days did you have your ankle sprained?” he asked, picking up a sugar cookie and taking a bite.

“That’s a dollar fifty,” she said, holding out her hand. His eyes widened as he stopped midchew.

“All I have is my debit card,” he replied, spitting out crumbs into his fist.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she scolded gently, leaning over to grab a napkin that sat behind him. Her chin bumped into his shoulder and she jumped back immediately.

“Sorry!” they exclaimed in unison. She threw the napkin over his mouth as he spat out more crumbs.

“Let me get you some water,” she said, standing up to walk over to the cooler near a table where HaeWon and Fen were standing. They were talking to some of their classmates, Fen staring at the blue haired kid holding a skateboard. “Can I buy a bottle of water?”

When she returned to Jeno, he was biting into strawberry danish. He thanked her for the water, and gave half of the danish to her.

“I’m going to spend $10, and I’ve eaten $3’s worth of pastries so far,” he reasoned, picking up a scallion pancake Suyuan’s mom made for the bake sale. “These are good. I’d love some kimchi with this.”

“Do you think someone’s auntie brought her own jars of kimchi to sell here?” she asked, sitting up straight to crane her neck around.

“I’d smell it before either of us see it,” he said, pointing to his nose. “Maybe in an hour? It’s good to have people filter in late. My uncle says it keeps the flow going and the food fresh.”

“Your uncle gave you economics lessons anyway,” she said, impressed.

As the day wore on, Fen and HaeWon began whistling Red Velvet’s “Red Flavor” whenever they came around Jeno and Suyuan, to the point that Suyuan had to bribe Fen with $20 in cold hard cash to leave them alone. Jeno was very kind and gentle, but his absentmindedness led to a chaotic energy. Jeno’s card was declined when his aunt showed them how to use electronic transactions on her iPad.

He realized he’d been using his Student credit card’s PIN when the card was declined for a third time. Suyuan poured Jeno a cup of lemonade as he had to call his bank to explain why his card had been declined three times. His face was flushed as he took a sip from the purple straw in the cup she handed him.

“Thank you, yes, I’ve got it,” Jeno said after 15 minutes of transferring to 2 different departments of customer service. “Auntie, I think I’ve solved it. I’m going to buy $10 extra for these pastries.”

“It was that bad?” Suyuan asked as Jeno picked up one of the bao buns Suyuan had made with her aunt and mom. “Those buns are $2.”

“OK,” he said through a mouthful of food.

“You never learn,” she said with a grin, handing him a napkin. “Chew, then speak.”

“These buns are so good, I love the barbecue pork,” he said, staring at the red filling. “This bake sale is probably more legit than the China Town in the city.”

“I haven’t been there in years,” she said. “I heard they opened a Korean patisserie near that tacky karaoke bar.”

“Jeno,” HaeWon called out, waving from the playground behind the tents they’d set up, “how do you shoot from the three-point line?”

Some of the kids had arrived with a basketball, and they watched as Jeno made shot after shot on the basketball court. After making a basket from every angle the kids requested, Jeno handed the basketball back to HaeWon. Despite teasing Jeno earlier, it was obvious that HaeWon looked up to him a lot. She showed it in her own special ways.

“Did you want to go get some boba?” Jeno asked, holding his hand out to Suyuan. “My mom and aunt are relieving me of my duties soon.”

“My mom’s on her way, too,” she replied, taking his hand. “Perfect timing.”

When Suyuan’s mom arrived, she eyed Jeno on his red cruiser motorbike.

“Be safe,” her mom said pointedly before hugging her. “I heard Jeno’s quite polite, but...be safe.”

“Oh, mom, calm down,” Suyuan sighed, giving her mom a grin. “You know Jeno’s parents well enough.”

“A motorbike,” her mom mouthed silently as Fen and HaeWon walked by. She rolled her eyes.

“I’ll text you, mom. Bye, Fen! See you, HaeWon!”

“Don’t kiss him too much,” Fen uttered out and HaeWon laughed as the pair ran off at the sight of Suyuan glaring at them.

Her annoyance disappeared as she saw Jeno sitting against his bike, holding out a helmet to her. His grin made her chest feel like it was growing, and she thanked him in a soft voice as she took the helmet. True to the rumors her mom heard, Jeno politely helped Suyuan secure her helmet on, and checked with her that she felt secure before starting the engine to his motorbike.

She pressed her body close to him as his body warmed her. She smelled the blueberry on his shirt, perhaps due to the slice of blueberry pie he’d accidentally spilled onto the left sleeve of his sweater. It took everything in her not to sit up and kiss his cheek as they stopped at a red light.

Once they reached the boba shop near the church one of her aunts volunteered at, Suyuan slowly slipped her hands away from Jeno’s body. She was afraid to admit to herself that she enjoyed her time on the ride with him. It was better than her time with any significant other she’d ever been with, even her boyfriend of 8 months during her freshman year in college.

The church organ music playing in the distance reminded her to stop her imaginations from going too wild as she watched Jeno brush his hair out of his eyes. As they sat on the picnic table near the boba shop, Suyuan asked Jeno questions about his bike, and how he got into riding motorbikes.

“My Engineering final had me do a group project,” he explained between sips of his watermelon slush. “We refurbished an old Honda Fury. We were docked a grade for turning our Shop project into our Engineering project, too.”

“That’s bullshit,” she said with a grin. He laughed in agreement. “Is it easy to ride a motorbike?”

“Easy enough,” he said with a shrug. “You have to go in without so much doubt and fear, and then you’ll be confident in your riding.”

“You’ll have to teach me,” she said, sidling up close to him. “How were we able to miss each other when we were teens?”

“You traveled in the bookish crowd, and I was with the jocks and gamers,” he replied.

“What does that mean?” she asked, feeling her cheeks turn warm.

“We had Algebra 101 together but you were home sick for the first 3 weeks,” he said. “I had a small crush on you, but I never worked up the courage to talk to you. I wanted to ask you to help me with my homework. I’m not good at math.”

“We went to school together?” she asked, shocked that she had assumed that they were mutual strangers when they met that morning. “I’m sorry. My teen years were my confused queer years. I spent all of high school crushing on girls and boys, and I didn’t know if it meant I was a lesbian or bi...or something else along the queer spectrum.”

“So do you have it figured out?”

“Um,” she grinned at him as he threw his arm over her shoulders, “I’m OK saying I’m bi, but I know that things are never set in stone.”

“I’m glad we spent today together,” he said, resting his hand on her chin, pulling her close to him. He kissed her. “I had to wait for my cousin to tease me for you to notice me.”

She laughed against his lips, kissing him as she rested a hand on his shoulder.

“You wouldn’t have liked angsty me anyways,” she admitted, pulling away from his kiss. She wiped her lipstick stains off his lips with her thumbs. “I wasn’t prepared for a relationship as a high schooler. Did your crush return today?”

“It was when you stood up to my bullies,” he said, his cheeks flushing pink.

“Our cousins?”

She laughed before planting a wet kiss onto his lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and requested he take her home.

“For the record,” she said, taking his hand and kissing it quickly, “I think I crushed on you at the same moment. You were putting up with the kids’ bullying so well.”

She held on tight to him, relishing the feel of his back as she pressed her cheek against it, hearing his heartbeat against her ear. His body felt firm, and his sweater was soft, although a bit itchy. Once they reached her apartment complex, she got off the bike and handed his spare helmet back to him.

“Thank you for bringing me home safely,” she said. Before he could respond, she kissed him, pressing her tongue against his lips. He pushed back immediately, his lips capturing hers.

“Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow?” he asked when he broke their kiss. She licked her lips, tasting a hint of sweet red bean paste. “No pressure.”

“Pick me up at 6:00 PM?” she asked. She kissed him, and his hand reached up to touch her cheek.

“It’s a date,” he breathed out as they rested their foreheads together. “I should let you go home. I want to be a gentleman today.”

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” she said before caressing his earlobe. She kissed him. “Text me when you get home?”

He kissed her one last time before they broke apart. As she walked up the stairs to her apartment her mind clouded with thoughts of Jeno’s lips on hers. He was warm, like the bright spring sun. The scent that radiated from him was grassy and refreshing, energizing her in the same way the scent of limes did. Jeno Lee was her perfect Keylime Pie.

------

Thank you always for reading!

[empty-dream]

So I read 86 LN vol 1

S1 anime covers the entire Vol 1 except for the latter's epilogue, so full anime spoiler here.

And as of this writing, I'm still on Vol 2 so the things I mention here are solely those that happen in Vol 1. Idk if a thing happens in the latter volume, gotta dodge spoiler so I don't browse about it.

There was an interview with a person inside the anime industry that basically said "The point of an anime adaptation is not to be an exact replica of the original material, but to shine as its own medium for a story." I forgot who it was and I can't find the interview anywhere for the life of me, but that statement opened my eyes. I agree with it, that's why I can appreciate the differences between LN/manga and anime, especially if they turn out good and/or interesting.

And that's exactly what happens in 86. I'll start with this: I watched the anime first, and after I read the Vol1 novel, I actually like the anime more. Because there are a lot of meaningful original scenes in it

And because the Vol1 novel turns out exactly what I fear when I first watched the anime: that I won't care much about the squadron aside from the main 5. (Look, the anime promotional materials mostly only have Lena and those 5 only. As shocked as I was in the anime, I did have an idea where the story would go from those alone). The rest are barely mentioned. Not even the girls are named in the novel, even though they do talk and Lecca is even prominent in anime.

For example, the second half of the first episode, the one that shows Spearhead squadron's daily life right before Lena contacts them, is anime original scenes. Kujo already dies the moment the novel starts focusing on the squadron. Simply put, a lot of the squadron members that aren't the main 5 or Kaie get a *lot* more focus in the anime, like Daiya, Haruto (For characters who appear on the introduction page, their novel screen time is less than I'd expect), Kujo and Lecca. While the other members often appear in the background and actually behave like equal members instead of glue-them-on figurines.

(Idk if those other members are named and/or designed in the light novel before the anime is a thing or when the anime becomes a thing.)

The anime also adds relevant information in the Raiden's talk with Lena in EP7, like Kaie receiving racial abuse from 86 (in fact in both versions, she is the first one to get highlighted about this) and Haruto also having prominent Giadian Empire blood like Anju and Shin. These weren't in the novel.

I might be just nitpicking here because I love Kaie and Haruto, but see, this scene is amazing on its own. This is where Raiden and the squad reveal the weight of their motivation all along, that they *each* have different backgrounds and different kinds of sufferings, yet they are all sentenced to die, and they all choose to fight because they know no side is saintly but some things are still worth fighting for.

The prominent characters' deaths (besides Kaie's) are often mentioned with only one or two dry lines. I expected at least Daiya's to be detailed more, but it's just that so matter-of-fact-ly. Well I came from the anime, so I guess it's normal if I expected something as heartbreaking.

I broke down HARD at the last half of EP10 and that is nowhere in the Vol 1 novel. (Having Hands Up to the Sky playing in the background is also an advantage for being an anime. Fuck that song, I now play it 24/7 in despair)

Having a lot of original anime scenes really complement the story's nature. That there are two different sides of life here, it's not just Lena's or 86's only. And those couldn't have intertwined if not for their willingness to listen and communicate.

I know I mentioned this some days ago but really, I can't get over how many of the merch are Lena (and Annette) being cute doing cute stuff while the story itself is actually depressing. Merch staffs know the market lol.

- Novel side -

That said, the novel does have an advantage that the anime/visual media doesn't: Internal explorations and explanations.

It's obvious from the get-go, but Asato confirms that the inspiration of Republic of San Magnolia and its racial discrimination and genocide is taken from Nazi Germany in WW2. The Republic who favors the white/silver haired-eyed Alba drives Colorata out of the 85 sectors, overtakes their properties, and forcibly sends the now-called-86 to either fight their war and die, or work on the wall and die.

The life inside the Republic is also elaborated on. Class always exists, even inside one race only. The center of the republic is for the elites, Lena and Annette's families included. The farther a sector is from the center, the lower the education and economy there is. Most of the military come from these areas, which explains why Lena herself is in difficult situation. Since no one in the military is either capable or willing to bring change.

It's *insane* how easily the Republic could create such vile lies, and how easily the majority of the citizens go along with it.

Gotta admit, Asato does a good job at foreshadowing the fate of the 86, the truth that we can only see after Ep7 of anime. It is mentioned that supposedly, 86 soldiers will be welcomed back once their 5-years term is up. Lena once wonders about it, but ultimately she buys it thinking that surely they must have come back to another sector. She only realizes it's utter bullshit after Annette points out how, 9 years later, they have never seen even one Colorata inside the Republic when they should have seen at least some. This also shows that Lena has never ventured to the other sectors to find out more, probably due to work or maybe she's still a sheltered noblewoman in the end.

And the mentality of the majority of Alba is shown differently. Whereas the anime uses the academy classroom to show how deeply rooted the racism against 86 is, the novel uses Lena's mother who a) more or less does the same as the classroom, and b) presses Lena to get married and preserve their pure noble bloodline. This, when the nobility doesn't actually mean anything anymore. This version shows not only Alba's racism but also Lena's strained family life.

There is a scene of an Alba high school valedictorian who, during his graduating speech, says “My friends died fighting the Legion.” I’m not sure this will make it to the anime, and it’s just a minor scene in the novel, but the weight of that scene is heavy.

The science of Para-Raid is explained, which has something to do with tapping the collective consciousness of humanity and connecting it to one another. A bit far-etched but I guess that works, science fiction and all. But I like the part where despite (or maybe because?) of connecting via hearing only, the other senses are faintly receptive as well. For example, one can sense that the other side is biting their lips in frustration, something like that. Of course, actual real life things like sensing the hidden bitterness or elation in a talking partner's words are present, this being a story where listening matters.

The novel elaborates on Raiden's stay with the Alba old woman. He calls her Old Hag, but it's clear he greatly respects her. The part where she screams and curses in the middle of the road at the Republic soldiers who take Raiden and the other children away stays in Raiden's mind forever, and so it does to me. Ngl it is quite a chilling scene.

Same with the story of the previous Laughing Fox, Theo's Alba commander. It turns out, the entirety of Theo's first squadron didn't like him at all and bet on how fast he'd tuck tail and run back to the Republic. When he faced his death the way Theo explained, he sent a message to Theo revealing he knew about it and knew his place to not ask for acknowledgment or forgiveness. This made Theo regret why he didn't try to talk more with his commander and he keeps thinking about it forever. Now it makes even more sense why Theo, blunt as he is, is willing to listen to Lena and when he snaps, he wonders if his late commander would do the same.

What actually happens in Kurena's backstory is also touched upon. While in the anime some viewers could think "Man, I get where you're coming from but chill out." The novel graphically shows her parents being toyed on by the Alba soldiers while her sister protected her, the two could only watch, and then the same sister got sent to the battlefield to die. Now at that, anyone would think "Man, no wonder she can't chill out. Not with all that trauma."

I also like the addition that Lena can sense Kurena is the one who dislikes her the most.

The novel describes greatly that it isn't just Alba and Non-Alba. Essentially speaking, Non-Alba is called Colorata, and they consist of different race groups as well. Just as Alba is associated with the color silver/white, the other race have their associated colors as well. Asato assigns races to the named members in Vol1 and what their distinguished color features are. This also explains why Anju is exiled despite looking like an Alba.

It's a question that I pondered on when I first saw Shin's armor plates, and that I pondered harder on when Chise died: What happens if there is no armor plate to carve its processor's name's on? So it turns out Shin would substitute it with anything; piece of wood or some random piece of metal. For Chise's case, Raiden, Chise's leader, suggested using the wing of Chise's in-progress airplane model. Which did my heart so bad because I'm strangely fond of Chise and finding out that in his spare time in his limited lifespan, he was working on an airplane model made me sob.

I'm not particularly into mecha, and could care less about how it moves. But Asato did a good job describing the fight between a glorified suicide car and a line of brand-new solid A-grade tanks. Special mention to I-IV because wow the concept arts for all the mechas are so cool, even though I don't really understand. (Asato even said to I-IV "Go draw a tank so horrible it's stupid for the Juggernaut" and I-IV came up with the current Juggernaut)

You know how the Republic greeting is "Glory to San Magnolia and the five-colored flag"? I won't disclose who says this in what situation, but there is someone of Colorata saying "If you hate colors so much, you should have just colored your flag white" AND OOOH THE BURN SO HOT HOT HOT

Tl;dr: Bottom line is, I personally enjoy Vol 1 because I already watched the anime and got attached to it. If I were to read the vol 1 first, most likely I wouldn't fall this hard for the series. Hell, maybe I wouldn't even pick it up in the first place because I knew it'd be depressing. But this is not to say that the LN is bad. It’s very good, it just does not really touch the lives of other soldiers whereas that’s the very thing that I love from the anime.