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pinkhairedlily · 3 years ago

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Chapter 6 - Student Council President Sakura

SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

“When’s your birthday, Sasuke?” Naruto asked unprompted. He was eating an onigiri in one hand and writing in a notebook with another. “Captain Haru gave me a journal and told me to fill in the dates.”

“Why are you treating it like a slam book?”

“What’s a slam book? Why are you even changing the topic?”

“July 23.”

Naruto went silent for a moment as he jotted down Sasuke’s name. “Oh, last week? During our sleepover?”

“You mean, hostage sleepover.”

“Ah shit. We didn’t get you a present. Sorry, grumpy.” Naruto’s face was sincerely apologetic and Sasuke was on the verge of nonchalantly assuring him that it was all right when he heard his following reply. “But make sure you get me one okay. It will be on October 10.”

“I wish I was allowed to physically harm you right now but your training next week will suffice,” Sasuke jested right back. “I’ll put in a word with Haru to make you suffer.” He would have said more clapbacks if they didn’t hear loud footsteps running their way.

Their two heads popped just a few inches above the bushes that lined behind the fence and saw a disheveled Sakura catching her breath with bent knees and her arms full of folders. Sasuke surmised she might have come from a council meeting.

“It’s Sakura – “ Sasuke covered Naruto’s loud mouth with his palm.

Her phone rang inside her skirt’s pockets, and her expression panicked when she saw the caller id. The folders fumbled out of her grasp when she answered it. “Oh hello, Kakashi-sensei.”

Both the boys’ brows raised in curiosity when her voice went a pitch higher.

“Ah, I’m actually out of the campus right now, Sensei. Got an errand to run. I’ll see you for consultations…..soon?” Then she ended the call. They all heard another set of footsteps nearing their location, and Sakura repeatedly said I’m screwed to herself.

Naruto wrestled out of Sasuke’s headlock and pulled a surprised Sakura inside their hiding place. The latter grumbled but quickly gathered the folders from the ground and followed suit. Three heads now looked over the bushes, and true enough, Kakashi appeared in the clearing with his phone in his hand. “That’s funny. I thought I heard her voice here.”

When they were sure he was out of their sight and earshot, Sasuke signaled a thumbs up, and Naruto, not missing a beat, started with the obvious question. “Why are you hiding from our mathematics teacher?”

Sakura blushed with intensity, her cheeks the color of cherry tomatoes with a ripeness Sasuke liked the most. She flushed so intensely she couldn’t hide it for her sake. The thought of wanting to have that kind of privilege crossed his mind. “Uh, he wanted a report from me, but I wasn’t able to finish it.” Like the self-aware person that she was, she immediately got her bearings and recognized the place. “This is behind the library.”

“It’s Sasuke’s favorite hiding place until I barged in. And now, it’s yours too.” Naruto grinned at her even when he just revealed this place’s existence to their student council president.

“Shouldn’t you be asking me permission first?” Sasuke arranged the folders first before returning them to Sakura who seemed to calm down a bit.

She laughed dryly. “Technically, it’s public property so we don’t need your permission…grumpy.”

Naruto erupted in laughter while Sasuke closed his eyes in annoyance. Two loud-mouths in what was supposed to be in his safe space and yet all he felt was just mild annoyance. Stopping his thoughts before they ran him aground, he rummaged through their storage bin and found an extra sandwich he bought this morning and the last pack of his cherry tomato juice.

He passed the food to her and gave her a little bit of scolding. “At least have your lunch first before making fun of me.”

“You’re really giving her a tomato juice?” Naruto never could hide his disgust for certain food. “Don’t tell me this is your rite of passage.”

Sasuke glared at the blonde, forcing him to shut up. “Bring any more people here, and I’ll tell your captain to drag you to hell.” That wasn’t so difficult, given that Haru has taken a liking to him, for what he didn’t know. He just treated him like a big brother would, like Itachi would.

Sakura took a sip in the middle of their banter, and she emitted a surprised sound. “So this is what it tasted like? It’s actually good.”

That was the first time someone liked what he liked, and he vaguely realized he was waiting for her opinion. With that, he had trouble suppressing the smile that started to form on his face, so he looked away and mustered his focus on the nearby yells of a practicing dragonboat team.

“Oh, I forgot, belated happy birthday Sasuke.”

He strengthened his resolve not to turn his head just as quickly because he was sure the shock was visible in his face. He was so taken aback he didn’t hear Naruto ask Sakura where she learned of it.

“I came across our class records during the meeting and saw the date. Sucks we weren’t able to get you a present. Anyway, I gotta run. I have another presentation to the principal for a personal project.” Sakura finished off her sandwich in one bite and ran out of the secluded space.

Naruto stared after her disappearing figure, the bunched-up juice carton and sandwich wrapper in his hands. “I should make her a decent lunch sometime. I don’t think she’s eating well.”

But Sasuke had another observation in mind. “Why didn’t you ask for her birthday?”

“I know already. I asked Hinata about it.”

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

Sakura tried to catch up with the baseball captain in the seniors’ hallways before she would lose him to his after classes dates with Hinata. “Haru, wait up please.”

His brown hair has grown longer to hide his undercut which Naruto wanted to replicate as he often mentioned in between their conversations in classes. It was actually a wonder how the usually demure Hinata gravitated towards Haru who had a strong personality. His annoyed gaze softened when he realized it was her calling him, his smile turning into a wide grin as she raced through the halls.

“No running, Ms. President,” he chided.

Sakura playfully punched his shoulder, her fist’s impact light as she struggled to catch her breath. “Can I at least have some of your time? I promise I won’t take long.”

The captain’s face took on an incredulous look. “How the tables have turned.”

They found themselves on a rooftop, away from the incidental eavesdroppers (if there were any), and moreover they needed some quiet space to talk about important matters. The first of which was the baseball team’s finances.

“I gotta hand this to you rather straightforwardly. The board didn’t foresee your qualification in the preliminaries hence they didn’t allot a big budget for your team – not for training, not for travel expenses, not for uniforms, and miscellaneous expenses.” He towered over her, her height a third short from his shoulders, but when he hunched them forward and leaned against the railings, he was almost shoulder to shoulder with her. “So what are your plans?”

Back in junior high, he would often ruffle her hair out of her immaculate ponytail, and this closeness wasn’t really odd because they were from the same town and grew on the same block. Distance just crept in as they made more friends and entered different circles.

“My personal savings,” Haru simply replied. “Our coach will chip in half of our projected expenses so we’re good to go.”

Sakura sighed. “As always, you don’t like to rely on anyone.”

“We’re not really too far from each other, Sakura. So what’s your plan anyway?” Haru turned with his back this time against the railing.

“Pass-the-Hat.”

Haru nodded. “And your savings.”

Sakura shook her head vehemently. “Hell no.”

“Gears are turning in your head, and I can see you’ll fill in a part with your savings. Stop it, Haruno.”

“I’m telling you, I won’t give you a part of my savings. Anyway – “

“Anyway? There’s more?” Haru hastily looked at his watch to check the time, almost formed a reply, and thought better of it, hiding his wrist from his view.

“I saw your career sheet form. You know you could always try to apply for an athletic scholarship, right?” If she can hazard a guess, Haru may not be planning at all to proceed to college. He always has his father’s fishing business to take over back in their town.

“No association would vet for a player who only qualified for prelims on his senior year.” Haru playfully ruffled her hair, the gesture she thought was once forgotten between them. “So don’t feel sorry for me. I already have Hinata to deal with.”

“You sound so pessimistic when you’re just going away for a year until she decides to follow you. Your story’s almost like a fairytale,” Sakura scoffed.

“First of all, long distance relationships don’t work and second and last of all, there’s her father to think about.” Haru let out a long sigh. “Believe me, Sakura, I want to make it work, but I feel like the distance between us had already set in even before I go.”

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

Haru was right. While Pass-the-Hat garnered lots of amounts enough to shoulder the logistics of the training of the baseball team before the semis, there wasn’t enough to pay for their new equipment. She could ask the teachers, but she knew Haru and the coach have already asked for prior favors. At the last minute before the trip got cancelled, Sakura anonymously put in two-thirds of her savings into the donations pool which the captain got wind of and somehow reached Kakashi.

While she was successful in avoiding him for the first few days of the school trip while Naruto and his team was in Fukuoka, he caught her alone as she was reading the markers outside the walls of a castle.

“Haruno Sakura.” His voice startled her. She turned around, like a good student that she was, and waved a bit too enthusiastically. “Mind telling me why you won’t talk to me outside of our council meetings? Did I say any directive that offended you or overworked you? I need to have an open communication with you kids.”

Kids. “Ah, I was just a little busy these past weeks,” Sakura assured him. She nervously fidgeted with his rubber band that was still on her wrist. His eyes followed her movements, and she hid them quickly behind her back, afraid of what he would say if he realized.

“I heard from the principal that he greenlighted your personal project, and that you will be presenting this to the board next week for a possible funding. You accomplished that on top of the feats you pulled to bring the baseball team to the semis.” As Kakashi recounted her accomplishments, she couldn’t help the blush that rose to her cheeks. She was finding it difficult to say an excuse right now. “So I’m returning your personal donation.”

Sakura stared at him directly, never mind the raven irises that drowned her in undivided attention. “What?” He smiled, highlighting even more his mole, and she gasped, breathless at the sight.

“Don’t worry your pretty head over these things. You’re too young for this. I’ll have the funds downloaded to your bank, all right.” Kakashi patted her head softly and disappeared in the meandering crowds.

She slapped the rubber band against the thin skin of her wrist repeatedly. She didn’t know whether she should feel grateful that her savings were back or feel angry that she was patronized because of her age. Didn’t Kakashi know that teenagers grow up faster than their actual age and that she had every right to worry her pretty head? When will he start seeing her as she was?

Her self-deprecating thoughts ran awry when someone took hold of her wrist that has gone red from the slap of the rubber band.

For someone who alternated between being grim-faced or stoic, Sasuke’s hand was gentle and kind. She knew that ever since she saw him in the café, all the good things in him seeping out through cracks in his wall. Right now, she knew he was worried about the supportless baseball team.

“They’re losing, aren’t they?” Sakura suppressed the overwhelming emotions from her earlier interaction with Kakashi and concocted a plan in her head.

She coordinated with the guides and had them add a stop at the baseball field at Fukuoka for one last hurrah for the team.

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

Thirty minutes later, their school witnessed how the top teams decimated Naruto’s team. No innings won, batters relentless, and Haru got injured. Sakura, sensing the dampened atmosphere among the student body, rallied yells, earning surprised looks from the team members.

Through the crowds, Sasuke saw Hinata, her fingers twirling the ends of her long braid, and her eyes scanning the place for her boyfriend…until her gaze shifted to Naruto. He traversed the space to stand beside her, breaking his own rule to remain uninvolved in other people’s affairs.

But he owed this to Naruto and Haru who never failed to include him in after practice dinners and effectively kept the gaping depression in his apartment away.

“Your boyfriend has a broken arm, but you’re looking at Naruto.” He said, even before he could announce his presence to her.

Hinata turned her face to him and repeated his words. “My boyfriend has a broken arm but I cannot look at broken limbs for too long. Thanks for pointing that out.”

“There’s a second statement after my but.”

“Hmm, my eyes just probably gravitated to him unknowingly. But it couldn’t be helped, right? He just has this bright, sunshine energy.” Hinata shrugged, seemingly confused by her words as well.

Sasuke wanted to prod more but her eyes narrowed at something behind him. When he glanced back, he saw Sakura stood in tiptoes as she hugged a downtrodden Naruto. If he wasn’t so sad, he would have blushed and awkwardly pushed his crush away, but for this instance, he choked back his sobs and eventually cried on her shoulder.

“Maybe the student council can also support other teams which are gearing up for nationals. You may suffer backlash if favoritism becomes obvious.”

He scoffed at Hinata’s advice. “I’ll tell our student council president that.”

Sasuke made his way to the blonde and pinkette, his arms engulfing both of their heads in a very rare hug. He felt Sakura stiffen beneath him while Naruto changed shoulders and cried openly against Sasuke’s shirt.

This he didn’t mind, as long as both of their faces were hidden from her view.

AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 7

#SCPS #student council president sakura #sasusaku #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #narusaku #uzumaki naruto #kakasaku #hatake kakashi #hinata i will redeem you soon but for now you're a menace love you

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love-killed-the-superstar · 4 years ago

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what the hell is this i’m so LATE for the last day of cassunzel week but here, take it

CASSUNZEL WEEK DAY 7 - HOME IS WHERE YOU ARE

Cassandra has been everywhere at this point. She has climbed mountains, drifted for days on the open sea, trudged through deserts and forests, passed through quaint town after quaint town, bustling city after bustling city. Every life is so very different from her own.

Still, after just over six years of walking this earth, nothing quite feels like home when she’s alone. Letters from Rapunzel find her easily, thanks to Owl, scrawled with child-like excitement; they document long days in the palace court and fun little mishaps with their friends in the same chipper tone, all while telling her each time without fail how much she misses her… how much she loves her.

Cass, in return, has done her best to keep Rapunzel in the loop in regards to her travels. There’s a letter sent from the peaks of the Koto mountain range, slightly blood-stained from scraping her hand on a rock during her climb; a postcard reading With Love, From Arendelle! on the cover, with warm regards from Anna and Elsa along with her own; several letters that are more ink prints of various fish she’s caught than anything, with a few words about how good they tasted and a vague grid location of whatever woodland she’s been wandering through between settlements. She’s even sent Rapunzel crude copies of maps she’s made, spinning the tale of how she’s made a small side business out of selling her maps to travellers she meets on her journeys. They don’t sell for all that much, with most travellers being just as broke and starving as she is, but it’s a small, honest living, and it does feel good to have her efforts appreciated.

She never used to be much of a sentimental type, but if Rapunzel is good at anything it’s rubbing off onto others, so for every loving letter that Rapunzel writes to her, she saves it in a small wooden box and sends her own back in return. Cass is pretty bad at writing mushy things to Rapunzel, but she does try to throw in an I-Love-You on occasion. More often than not, she writes what she knows, waxing poetic in her own special love language.

One such letter comes to her tonight, as she winds down for the day and watches the sky darken overhead.

Hey Raps,

It’s been another long day of travelling. Fortunately for me, I mapped out this area the last time I travelled through, so as long as I keep my wits about me I’ll be out of the woods in no time. For now, I’ve made camp. Owl is out hunting, so I will wait until he returns to entrust this letter to him, and Fidella is just outside the cave, grazing. I’m at the mouth, just sheltered enough so that my fire doesn’t blow out, but still with a view of the night sky. I hope you’re looking too.

I often find myself staring up at Polaris these days when the nights are clear, and I’m ever thankful for all those times you’ve taught me what you know about stargazing. I don’t have quite enough time or patience to chart the skies each night, but that’s why I’m grateful for navigational stars like Polaris. I LOVE that it doesn’t move. The other stars will stray from port, but no matter how far they go Polaris is always there like an anchor until they pass by once more. In that sense, I suppose that makes you the Polaris to my own fleeting skies.

Thank you for that. I love you.

Always Yours – Cassandra.

As she awaits Owl’s return, Cass watches that star like she does every night – the star that burns so brightly night after night, as though holding up an oil lamp, waiting in the darkness for something, some one – and hopes that maybe Rapunzel is watching that same sky with matched wonder.

Rapunzel’s reply comes a few days later, and Cass is knee-deep in a river trying her hand at spear-fishing when Owl swoops overhead, a letter clutched in his talons. She hoists herself out from the water and reaches for the letter, uncaring of the mud that squelches uncomfortably between her toes. She wastes no time in tearing open the envelope with that familiar purple royal seal.

Parts of the letter are nearly illegible; Cassandra can only imagine that Rapunzel scrawled it feverishly, so as not to keep Owl away from her for too long. But her reply is as lovestruck as ever, and Cass is unable to hold back her laughter at the adoring response.

My Darling Cassandra,

I’m glad to hear you’re doing well. Your letters have grown a little infrequent lately, I thought maybe you were somewhere new and remote, and perhaps too far away for Owl to fly or for the courier to travel. I’m grateful you wrote to me. I treasure each and every letter you send my way, I hope you know! I scrapbook them so that I can flick through and read them whenever I miss you. They’ve filled up almost an entire journal at this point.

Castle life is as it always is: hard. Everyone is wonderful and I feel like I’m making good strides, but gruelling work is gruelling work, as you perfectly well know. Entertaining allied royals and diplomats is always a treat, but they ask after my absent wife often since you’re rarely back in Corona these days. (I’ve also heard rumours that a few don’t truly believe you exist, because you’ve alluded their notice. Lucky you! They can be very boring. Oh, I know that sounds mean, but we’re just incompatible people! I’m sure they find me boring too!)

Cass laughs aloud at that. Rapunzel may be many things, and they certainly might not enjoy her company, but the notion of Rapunzel being boring, even to people who don’t understand her, is just too ludicrous.

But anyway. Let’s talk about stars.

Your words on Polaris moved me when I read them. Eugene thought I had seen a ghost! I will gladly treat you to another astronomy lesson the next time you come home. I never knew you to be such a poet, Cass, but here you are! I find it hard to pick a favourite star, but now that I know your favourite I’ll have to watch Polaris each night too, and hope you’re also looking. Watching the same sky does make me feel closer to you now. I just wish there was some way to fully bridge that gap. Do you know that I miss you when I climb into bed at night and you’re not at my side, ready to hold me? I’d give anything to have you in my arms right now.

I love you so much. Please be safe, wherever you go next.

With all my love, Rapunzel.

PS. Eugene says hi. Well, he’s actually working right now, but I’m sure if he was here he’d be saying hi.

With a heavy sigh, Cass leans back, bringing the letter up close. It smells faintly of Rapunzel, somehow – a trace of her perfume or something. Just enough that if she shuts her eyes tight, she can pretend her wife is hovering over, a playful smile on her lips, ready to kiss her.

She can’t wait any longer.

“We’re going back to Corona,” Cass tells Owl and Fidella, who seem unsurprised that the change of plan comes so soon after a letter from her sweetheart. “At first light, we’re heading east.”

I’ll be home soon, she thinks to herself, resolutely. Wait for me, just a little longer.

…

A week later, home is in sight. She passes through the Corona gates just as night is about to fall. The guards at the gates are pissed that she’s slipped through at this time of night, grumbling that it makes their life harder having to carry out ID checks by lamplight, but when she says as sweetly as she can that she’s the princess fucking consort and hasn’t posed a threat to the kingdom for many, many years now, they shut up surprisingly fast.

Cassandra feels a little bad for them, in all honesty; she used to be just like them, after all, and they’re only following orders. So she thanks them for their service and crosses over the bridge, choosing to ignore Fidella’s disapproving snort. After all, she’s so damn close.

She rides through the courtyard, nodding towards Stan and Pete and asking breathlessly if they’ve seen Rapunzel this evening. She’ll catch up with them later, but she’s on a mission that leaves no time to stop and smell the roses.

“The princess has already retired to her room for the night,” Stan begins, and Cass gives him her thanks and swiftly rides on, giving a quick wave as she goes. Owl, who has been silently perched on her shoulder the entire time, takes off into the sky and soars upwards, past the balcony of Rapunzel’s room. Cass and Fidella wait at the bottom, watching with bated breath as he disappears from sight.

She feels… disheveled. Maybe she should have freshened up a bit first? But then again, Rapunzel has seen her in just about every state of dirty, sweaty and tired known to mankind, so to pretend that she’s been fresh as a daisy this whole trip would be a little ridiculous.

Cass reaches up to smooth down her hair, self-consciously trace a thumb across the crows feet that have become more noticeable in the last few months, and for a moment she considers turning around and heading towards her old quarters to freshen up.

But then there’s the creaking of a window pane, and suddenly Rapunzel’s face, flung over the edge of the balcony, stares down at her in starry-eyed wonder. Cass stares up at her, a beacon in the fading light.

Ah, Polaris.

“Cassandra, you came back?!”

“I am! Didn’t I tell you?” Cass calls up to her, cocking her head in confusion. “I could have sworn I wrote another letter.”

“No,” Rapunzel says simply. “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh.” A beat of silence, then Cass stretches out her hand towards her. “Hey, come for a ride with me?”

“Are you sure?” Rapunzel asks, craning her neck a little further. “It’s getting late.”

“Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time we snuck out at night, would it?” Cass grins up at her. “Come on, Raps. Let’s go on an adventure.”

Rapunzel matches her grin with equal glee, and nods.

“Okay, okay, yes! Give me a moment to change, I’m in my nightgown.”

She blows a kiss and then turns, disappearing from view. Cass waits patiently, reveling in the silence of the empty courtyard, before seeing another figure peeking over the edge, looking more pasty than usual.

“Oh, look what the cavalry dragged in.”

Cass can’t fight her eye-roll back. “Evening to you too, Fitzherbert. What’s that on your face?”

“It’s an oat facial,” he retorts. “What’s it to you?”

“Well, I’m just glad to hear it’s not mould, because from here…” She waves her hand in an uncertain manner, earning a harsh laugh from him. Her face softens. “How have you been?”

“Oh, just great. I’m training some new recruits and they’re right cocky little shits. You planning on sticking around for a few days? I need someone to scare ‘em straight and you look like you have at least six facial scars at this point. I’ll tell them you were barred from the guard for extreme war crimes.”

“Sure, it’s a better story than choosing not to join after having all of my extreme war crime charges dropped in court because of my quote-unquote ‘emotional issues’.” She clicks her tongue. “So an oat facial won’t help my cause, then?”

“Cass, if you want to do facials with me all you have to do is ask, I’ve been dying to set you up with a skincare routine for years.”

“I’ll pass, but thanks for the consideration,” she says dryly.

“Rapunzel will be down in a second.” Eugene hesitates, and for a moment Cass gets the sinking feeling he’s going to ask to tag along on their would-be date, but then he adds, “You’ll keep each other safe?”

Cass cracks a smile.

“We can handle ourselves,” she promises. “I’ll be sure to get her back in one piece.”

“You’d better, because I can’t be waiting up for you two, I have morning drills at five and I need my damn beauty rest.”

“Well, I won’t keep you,” Cass says cheerily. “I only came for my wife.”

“Our wife.”

“Details, details.”

Cass hears the heavy creak of the main doors opening and closing, and turns her head to see Rapunzel approaching. In terms of physical appearance, she looks marginally the same as always, but Cassandra is pleasantly surprised by the fact that she’s donned a pair of riding trousers for their big adventure, though has still foregone any shoes. They suit her, Cass muses. She finds her gaze lingering on Rapunzel’s legs a little longer than she should, but then Rapunzel is right in front of her and all thoughts leave her head as they lean down to kiss.

“Hey there, stranger,” Rapunzel whispers, giggling as Cass takes the opportunity to pepper her brow and nose and cheeks with quick kisses.

“Hello to you too, Princess. Here, hop on.”

Rapunzel reaches over to give Fidella a loving pat in greeting, and Cass outstretches her arm to pull her up. Rapunzel hugs her waist once she’s settled down, and Cass shivers happily at the contact.

“You kids have fun now,” Eugene calls, punctuated by a yawn. “I expect no funny business, all right? Make good choices!”

Rapunzel blows him an exaggerated kiss as Cass rolls her eyes, and they take off towards the gates once more. The guards from earlier are perplexed by the sudden appearance of the princess, while being revisited by the grumpy woman they’d only just ushered in; but after taking a brief statement as per safety protocol (“A romantic rendezvous with my wife,” Rapunzel says cheerfully, while Cass simply responds, “We’re going out, what other reason would we have for leaving?”) the gates are opened, and they take off into the night.

With Rapunzel clinging to her, whooping and cheering, Cassandra feels happier than she has in a long time. She encourages Fidella to go faster, faster… the thrill sets her heart aglow, the blood thrumming in her veins.

They soar through the country roads and follow the light of the moon, and Rapunzel is squealing with laughter, uncaring of any attention they may draw from shopkeepers locking up, or drunkards leaving The Snuggly Duckling. They glide past effortlessly, and Rapunzel asks, “Where are we going, anyway?”

“Oh trust me, you’ll know,” Cass calls back. They veer off the roads and into the woodland, heading west for a while. Rapunzel’s laughter dies out once Fidella begins to slow down, weaving through unruly trees. Under the cover of the forest, moonlight barely peeking through the high branches, it becomes increasingly difficult to see. Cass blinks rapidly, eyes trying to adjust to the darkness, thankful Fidella is having an easier time of it than she is.

“You didn’t find another strange cottage with a magic teapot on your travels, did you Cass?” Rapunzel teases. “Because wherever you’re taking us…”

“Trust me, will you?” Cass says again, tilting her head back to fix Rapunzel with a raised eyebrow. “You think I’ve ever gone to someone’s creepy magic shack after what happened out on the road with those bird-brains?”

Rapunzel giggles and leans forward to press a quick kiss to Cassandra’s cheek.

“Sorry, sorry. I trust you! Wherever you’re taking us, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

They ride on in comfortable silence for another few minutes, both happily revelling in each other’s company, until they pass through a pair of old oaks.

“Ah, I see,” Rapunzel sings, squeezing Cassandra’s waist a little tighter. “You’ll go all out on the romantic gestures when it’s the middle of the night, but if I invite you to come home and spend the most romantic Coronan holiday with me…”

“Nice try, but you can never guilt me to join you for the Day of Hearts, Raps,” Cass sing-songs back to her. They follow the path as it grows narrower, and Fidella treads carefully through the gulch, raising their feet to avoid the cold rush of water. The lagoon comes into view, the moon gleaming on the water’s deep indigo surface.

“Oh, it’s beautiful as ever,” breathes Rapunzel. “I haven’t been back here in a long time.”

Cass cocks her head towards her. “You never visit?”

“Not without you. It feels weird.”

“Well fear not, I’m here now!” Cass reaches over to pat Fidella’s head. “Think you can hang back here for a while so Raps and I can have a little… alone time?”

Fidella grunts in reply, and Cass reluctantly pries Rapunzel’s arms from her waist before climbing down and reaching into her travel pack to offer Fidella up an apple.

“Good girl, thank you.”

She helps Rapunzel down and the two of them take off, running through the narrow strip of shoreline. Rapunzel wastes no time in shimmying off her trousers and wading in, while Cass hangs back to take off her boots, pouring sand out of them with a grimace and slipping down her stockings.

“Augh, it’s cold!” squeals Rapunzel. “Not like, horribly cold? Lagoon-cold? But still, it’s cold!!”

Cass laughs at Rapunzel’s shrieks, but still finds herself shivering a little once she slips her tunic off. She takes a few tentative steps in, gasping sharply as the cool water laps around her ankles. Rapunzel, at this point, has slipped off the waistcoat and blouse she’d been wearing, and flings them in the vague direction of the shore. They land, unsuccessfully, in the shallows.

“Oh, well done. You’re lucky I have some spare shirts in my travel pack.”

Rapunzel cheers. “Yes! You know I love wearing your clothes!”

“It’ll be a bit spicy,” Cass warns. “I haven’t had a chance to do laundry in the past week.”

“Eh, I’ll manage.”

Cass plucks the now drenched clothing from the water and tosses it onto shore, before following Rapunzel further into the water. She makes it up just above her waist, shivering and grumbling all the way, when suddenly the sand beneath gives away and she plunges below the surface. For a split second, panic settles in; that primal fear of sinking like a stone and never coming back up that has haunted her since she was a child. Her arms thrash wildly, trying to push herself up to the surface, when a pair of arms wrap around her waist and pull her up.

Cass gasps and splutters, and Rapunzel’s face swims into view.

“Cass! Cass, it’s okay! You’re okay, I’ve got you!”

Gulping a few deep breaths, Cass is pulled in close, and Rapunzel kisses her brow and strokes her soaking wet hair.

“It was just a sand bank that gave away underneath you. You’re okay. You’re treading water without even realising, see?”

Cassandra realises dizzily that Rapunzel has a point. She’s doing okay. She’s not drowning, not even close.

“I… I don’t normally, uh,” she begins, and Rapunzel shushes her.

“I know. It just took you by surprise, huh?” Cass nods numbly, and Rapunzel pulls back a little, hands reaching to cup Cassandra’s face. “I’ve got you,” she says again, quietly, eyes bearing into hers with fierce devotion.

Cass manages to smile, heart still pounding in her chest, her mouth dry. “Yeah. You’ve got me.”

They swim a little further out, with Rapunzel facing her the whole time and offering smiles of encouragement, and when Cass’s heart has calmed down, she leans over to kiss Rapunzel softly.

“Well,” breathes Rapunzel, punctuated with another kiss, “this has been quite the excursion, huh.”

“I aim to please.” Cass kisses her again, humming happily against her mouth. “By the way, those riding pants you were wearing? They really suit you.”

“I had a feeling you’d like them,” Rapunzel grins.

She holds her arms out, and hesitantly, Cass leans back into them. She focuses her centre of gravity and lightly sculls the water with cupped hands to keep afloat while Rapunzel lays back beside her, arms and legs spread out like a starfish. It’s only once Cass properly looks up at the stunning sky above, stars and light everywhere, that her body grows still and simply floats on the lagoon’s surface.

“What a view,” she murmurs.

“I know it’s the same sky, no matter what,” Rapunzel muses, “but somehow the stars look even prettier here in the lagoon, don’t they?”

“Corona is always lit up,” Cass explains, voice tuning in and out as the water laps against her ears. “The sky isn’t as visible in places where a lot of people gather because of the light they produce. You remember how many stars we could see on the road, whenever we spent the night between towns?”

Rapunzel nods. “It was beautiful. I suppose you enjoy views like this all the time, then?”

“When the weather permits,” Cass laughs. “But yeah. Out in nature, it’s much easier to see a full sky of stars.”

“But Polaris is your favourite!”

Cass feels the heat come to her face a little, knowing Rapunzel is about to steer this somewhere overly sentimental. “Yeah. I mean, It’s a key navigational star, so… it’s a pretty obvious pick.”

“I like that,” insists Rapunzel. “The reasoning, it’s… authentically you. I think.”

“Why, because I like things based on how practical they are?”

“Because only you could make a navigational tool sound romantic.”

“Is that a gift or a curse?”

Rapunzel giggles and Cass joins in, their hands lacing together as they stare at the patchwork sky above.

“I love the idea, though,” Rapunzel murmurs, once their laughter dies down. “That I’m your anchorpoint.”

“You’re so much more than that.”

“Oh, I am?” grins Rapunzel, tilting her head towards Cass.

“Don’t ruin it,” Cass says flatly.

“Sorry, sorry. Please, tell me?”

Cassandra stares up at the northern star, twinkling bright, and exhales. “Rapunzel, when I’m coming back to visit and I’m riding through Corona, all that I really feel is that I’m in Corona. It might as well be any other place. Sure, I’m more familiar with each side street and stray cobble, but… there’s no real, you know, connection there, not after everything that’s happened. But when I turn the corner and lay eyes upon your face, that – that’s the moment I think to myself, ‘I’m home’.”

The world is still, just for a moment, before Rapunzel lets go of her hand and changes to an upright position in the water, reaching up to smooth her soaking hair back. Cass also gives up on floating on her back, already thinking of ways to backtrack if what she said was too embarrassing, even for Rapunzel to bear. But then she notices the way the tips of Rapunzel’s ears are burning.

She turns to face Cass, all red-faced and slicked back hair and wide, longing eyes, and utters, “Cass, I love what you’re saying, but Corona and I are kind of a package deal.”

Cassandra snorts with laughter. “Yes, Raps, I know that. And I do love Corona, in my own way. But my point is that if you were… I don’t know, living life out in the marshes as a bog witch or something, I’d still feel the same way. To me, home is wherever you are.”

“If this is your way of saying you want to go live in a marsh for a while,” Rapunzel begins, a sly gleam in her eye, and Cass reaches over to splash her.

“Shut up! This is why I don’t do schmaltz.”

Rapunzel squeals and splashes back, before swimming over to her and reaching for her waist, pulling her in close. The constellations above don’t compare to the galaxy of freckles dusting Rapunzel’s nose, or the universe in her irises. Cass reaches up to cup her jaw, and Rapunzel shivers when her cold wedding band makes contact with the soft skin of her cheek.

“Cass,” she murmurs, eyes bearing into her own, almost afraid of the answer she’ll find, “do you think you’ll stick around this time?”

“I don’t know,” Cass admits. “I’m not ready to settle down just yet, if that’s what you mean. I’m… I’m getting good at making my own happiness, Rapunzel. Real good.”

Rapunzel nods, offering up a bittersweet smile. “Okay. I understand. I’m proud of you, Cass, I really am.”

Cassandra sees herself as Rapunzel sees her, just for a moment as she catches her brief reflection; an older soul, face marred with scars, eyes tired but kinder. The road has been hers for a fair few years now – the events prior to the eclipse feel like a lifetime ago, out of sight and out of mind. She likes to keep it that way, and perhaps that’s why she never stopped moving, even after the honeymoon, even after her textbook happily ever after.

She isn’t ready to give up that life yet – maybe she never will be – but perhaps she can take a short reprieve from destiny. Maybe staying in one place for a little while, being around Rapunzel, letting Corona get used to the idea that someday she’ll be around for a long time… maybe this is something she can do.

“I know you are,” Cass affirms, offering up a warm smile. “I don’t know if you’ll be so impressed with me once I start sitting in on some of these fancy diplomat dinners as your wife, though. Any training I might have had is long gone by this point.”

Her proposition takes a few moments to really dawn on Rapunzel, who then squeals, launches herself at Cassandra and hones in with a kiss, drinking her in readily as the placid water laps around them. When they part, Rapunzel hugs her tightly, resting her head against the crook of Cassandra’s neck and pressing kiss after gentle kiss to whatever bare skin she can find.

“I never said this earlier,” Rapunzel utters, dithering happily, “but welcome home, Cassandra. Welcome back.”

“It’s good to be back,” Cassandra whispers.

She holds Rapunzel close as they tread water in the quiet of the lagoon, the stars their only witnesses as they enter the next chapter of their happily ever after.

…

(Eugene is unimpressed when they finally stagger into the castle at 4:30, shivering from a night of swimming and Rapunzel in Cassandra’s grubby clothes and barely standing upright from the way that sleep seizes her. He helps Cassandra set her down on the bed, and is about to launch into a speech about how they promised to be safe and responsible in their late night tomfoolery, before catching the goofy smile on Cassandra’s face.

“What’s got you so chipper?” he asks.

“I’m home,” she says with a shrug. “That’s all there is to it.”)

#cassunzel #cassunzel week #tangled #cassunzel week 2020 #writing

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dansnaturepictures · 4 years ago

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19/12/20-Birds and interesting weather on a trip to Portland with a hint of Weymouth too-Part 1 of 2: Portland harbour (Five of these pictures, the first, third, fifth, eighth and tenth in this photoset, are different to ones I tweeted tonight)

We came to Portland for a third time this year today, our first further afield trip since Bushy Park in early October, and our third Portland visit this year after New Year’s Day to the harbour and bill and the final weekday I had off work in late June to the bill and Weymouth’s RSPB Lodmoor nearby. All at interesting different stages in this year and all it has brought. We had made the habit of coming to Portland and/or Weymouth in November in 2018 and 2019 doing it the day Eastleigh our town switches the Christmas lights on as it meant being back late to miss the fireworks for it that scares Missy our dog so much having brilliant birding days both times. But this year COVID-19 and more specifically lockdown 2.0 prevented that and indeed the lights switch on themselves.

It was a chance to make the most of coming to Dorset in case tighter restrictions have to greet us after Christmas, with tier 3 or what is now tier 4 coming to the east of our county Hampshire this week Portsmouth, Gosport, Havant, with most of Surrey and Berkshire neighbouring counties too but not to us yet anyway. I know it will have been hard to hear the Prime Minister’s latest briefing this evening and I would like to offer my support and best wishes to those who maybe have had plans for precious family time at Christmas scuppered now. I must also extend my support and gratitude to those in the areas such as the south east where this scary development of the new strain is occurring and those working in the NHS and other key workers in those areas who are doing an unimaginable and incredible job. As are such workers all over the country, thank you will truly never be enough!

Today we came to Portland harbour first and then Portland Bill. Due to opportunities to not have to post as many of my pictures on my Twitter Dans_Pictures with nearly 50 produced today I have done two blogs of my day today the other posting shortly about our time when we moved onto Portland Bill. We arrived at the harbour in sunshine on a promised changeable day for weather again. I took the first, second, fifth and sixth pictures in this photoset of nice views here today, and the third picture in this photoset of Missy. It was great to take in views here of the scenes of coast with big boats in and also Portland castle here which I had never really appreciated much before so this was very nice today. It was also nice to see a lot of birds here well, Cormorants in great numbers I had not seen so many together before I don’t think which was brilliant to see there was a nice group of four of five of them which was great to see I took the ninth picture in this photoset of one in the sun, some Shags too on the rocks, some Red-breasted Mergansers in a strong area for them in the past for us and both Common and Herring Gulls showing well I have had a good year for both especially a brilliant one for commons with so many seen in 2020. I took the fourth picture in this photoset of a common and seventh and eighth of two herrings with one flying and a juvenille and adult with both calling typically as Herring Gulls do a nice seagull’s cry so this was a brilliant moment to witness today.

Then just before a shower hit a bird caught our eye, after I saw the Great Northern Diver in Weymouth harbour from the car on the way into Portland this afternoon which was great we spotted in Portland harbour a diver species and enjoyed watching it for a little while bobbing up and down on the waves. After some deliberation of features and checking of records we were clear this was a Red-throated Diver. Not one I had seen this year, and only my fourth ever occasion of seeing one after Minsmere in Suffolk in 2013, a fly by at Stokes Bay, Hampshire in 2015 and a couple of locations on Scotland’s Moray coast in 2018. This felt fantastic to get this year tick, three years on from the day my 2017 year list moved from 188 to its final figure 190 at Blashford Lakes with Lesser Redpoll and Caspian Gull seen my 2020 year list went up to 189 making it my fourth highest a year list of mine has ever been on this date which could quite happily be how it ends I am so lucky to have been able to see so many bird species this year of all years but I am hot on the tail of my 2017 total still if I am able to get any more year ticks this year. Most importantly though it was just brilliant to see a cracking bird. I did take the record shot the tenth picture in this photoset of it. It turned out when reviewing ID standard pictures I’d taken of the bird quite far off into the harbour there was a second bird which I had got onto which was a great northern so I saw both Great Northern and Red-throated Diver here today.

This bird year tick makes personal birdwatching history for me firstly making it the first year I have ever seen three species of the lovely, special and fascinating divers in they are birds I like, and all were listed as being seen here first on my year list this year after my first Great Northern Diver of the year and first ever Black-throated Divers here on New Year’s Day. So this is a lovely little quirk and point of my year.

And also it now means a fifth of my year lists running I got at least one bird year tick in each month of the year. I feel relieved and very happy to have achieved this in 2020, as it could have so easily not have happened in the months of the first lockdown and the uncertain recent months with one of those spent in lockdown. So I am so proud that I have safely been able to achieve this and also get me to a total I would be so delighted to end the year on. The year tick in each month thing is something I never take for granted I will keep up anyway due to different parts of the year where things go quiet and that I cannot believe I have gone 61 consecutive months without drawing a blank and not getting a year tick at all as the last month I did this was November 2015 so I know it can’t last forever but right not I just feel so happy to get over the line and know I’ve done another full year of it when from April onwards really I had some under my belt for March before lockdown came I had to question whether I would keep it up in every month. As we left the harbour the shower came on so strong and hail stones began, so it was comical how I had to walk back to the car backwards as the hail stones were hurting my face otherwise. What winter can be all about these fun moments at times.

Wildlife Sightings Summary at Portland harbour today: My first Red-throated Diver of the year, Great Northern Diver, Shag, Cormorant, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Red-breasted Merganser and Pied Wagtail.

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selemina · 4 years ago

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So how about you tell me a bit about what you're upto? What's going on in your campaigns this week? :3

This week nothing, because I have been busy with real life, I didn’t have time to prepare. ^^’ But I can tell you what happened in the last sessions up to this point!

The quarantine story arc started with everybody going to a student fashion show. Alexia and Isa had been invited to be models, but once there and with a few events, both Permid and Lyn also asked to join. However, in the middle of it, they realized their tech wizard Raph was... not online. Which was impossible : Raph is ALWAYS online! They tried to contact people in Saclay and couldn’t get anybody. Worried, they drove with a few other people from Saclay, over to a secret entrance. (I took some liberty with reality, based around the historical fact that there are aquaduct networks that used to bring water from Saclay to Versaille’s castle for the fountains of the palace. :) ) Using those tunnels, they managed to get inside... All of Saclay was under a severe quarantine : no radio, no internet, no phone lines... Everything was cut off. Knowing this had to be about the magical events happening around town, the group realized they would be hunted down sooner or later. In any case, Salin and Saka (both from Mira) coulldn’t be found by the government, so they offered to get a few of the kids and go over to the other world, Mira, to hid in there for a week or so until the search let up.

Saka, Isa, Lyn and Permid agreed to go with Salin to Mira, while Ivan and Alexia decided to stay to keep an eye on things and protect who needed it. They also had not heard about Damiana in a while...

The A team, in Mira, landed at the White tower as usual, where Master Kavoleg was in the middle of a meeting with representants of each nation, informing them about the existence of Earth, and the imminent crisis it faced of having magical resurface, all unsupervised and without direction. After most left, they met the Human representant of this council :

He seemed very curious about this new human-only world with no magic. They all discussed the current state of things, and the worry that if there was already a military presence during this “quarantine”, things might be a little difficult to resolve peacefully...

Still, since they had a week of down time, Saka asked to start looking for his missing brother, Sisik, that had last been since just before the whole thing. They headed to the port town where he had been seen last, and started looking. They heard about the fact that Sisik was looking into disappearances that seemed to target specifically magic users, and just as they exited the building, someone tried to get saka alone in an alleyway. While Isa was 100% here to help, Saka and Permid saw right through it, and managed to stop the kidnapping attempt peacefully (I will never say enough how proud I am of my players for going out of their way to not be murder hobos! ;W;)

They learned that those kidnappers had no real idea who they worked for, they were just there to subdue people and pass them over to someone else, and got a better cut if the people were magic users. They handed the kidnappers to the town’s guard, and Saka immediately stormed out, realizing that this was a serious issue, and his brother might be somewhere in there. He went to the Axis outpost, and was told that if he could provide something that belonged to Sisik, they could attempt to locate him.

Which meant They had to go back to Saka’s home, in Iridescence, the land of dragonborns. A place he had avoided at any cost for three years... Still, for his brother, he pushed through and went, with the others in tow. It didn’t take very long for his anxiety to return to be explained, as they ran into his ex-lover, Zahz. Apparently their relationship had been toxic, between Zahz’s abuse of control, and Saka’s desperation to be loved at any cost, and the break-up had been messy. But it had been enough of a shock that Zahz had decided to work on himself, or at least start the process to become a better person. The two awkardly reconnected, wary of falling into old habits but still very much in love with the other. Saka also visited his parents again after 3 years, and after some scolding for not giving news himself, he was given one of Sisik’s baby teeth to help locate him.

The process didn’t seem to go through, until Permid realized the problem was that Sisik was in a different plane of existence. With Salin’s help, they devised a spell to locate the plane in which Sisik was being held, and once they had this information, they adapted the locate spell to be able to reach Sisik. They very quickly realized he was in the Underdark (which I THOUGHT was a different plane for some reason, so woops, now the Underdark is a different plane in my world. XD), and that his magic had been drained from him to the point of leaving him barely alive. There was also mention of a Wish spell, that left Permid very worried... Saka on the other end focused on the fact that magic drain at this degree was not only against the Axis’ codes, but also a warning sign of a potential catastrophy about to happen. He made a report to his superior in the Axis, and called for backup. They agreed to start organizing a strike team to take this threat down and save the captured civilians, giving the group a few days to get ready before the attack while they located precisely where the prison was.

Lyn, Isa and Permid had a moment of hesitation : they came here to hide for a while, not to be part of a strike team and potentially kill people! Salin reminded them that they always had the opportunity to leave if they wanted, but she would be doing everything she could to keep them safe and away from the main battle. In the end, they decided to stay and assist Saka. -Which Salin was very glad for, as it would force Saka to hold back to keep them safe too, keeping him from putting himself in danger recklessly like he had a tendency to. A little bit of manipulation Zahz reproached her later, but to each their way of keeping their friends safe. ;)

The B team had their own adventure in the meantime! :) As a doctor, Ivan realized very quickly that the Tieflings under his care were being brought to a field hospital the government had put in place, away from prying eyes, essentially in a temporary military base. VERY unhappy about this, he started organizing a passive resistance with the nurses and other doctors, while making sure he could go to said hospital and visit the tieflings himself.

Damiana, who had started showing tiefling traits, had been kept in her own room without any phone or internet for a week now by her very religious grandmother, in the hopes of forcing the devil out of her. All it did was push her to escape her house once she heard that her family wanted to send her to a covenant essentially, so god could help her repent. None of that for Dami, thank you! She eventually found her way to the student dorms, and was given a place to stay for the moment, and a way to disguise herself to look like she used to.

On her side, Alexia had been keeping an eye on her and her patron’s territory : the school. To their credit, the military presence here wasn’t abusive, just checking for anybody’s ID as they passed by. Soon, though, a different kind of government official showed up, walking straight to her : enter Special Agent Dyla Ross, that I’ve spoken about at length already. XD He presented himself, and asked Alexia, as a person of interest, to follow him to the field camp. There, a small firing squad suddenly appeared, weapons trained on her, and got ready to fire. Alexia decided to protect herself with mage armor, while Ivan (who was just coming back from the field hospital and saw his student in danger) rushed over, projecting an illusion in front of her for added protection. The weapons clicked, unloaded from the start, and the firing squad moved back into their hiding spot while Dylan casually walked back in. This had been a test to see what their first reflex to danger was : if they had attacked the firing squad, it would have looked very bad for them, but instead they chose to be safe. He then got them both into his office and got as much information from them as he could. Ivan being very forthcoming and open with information, even helpful, seemed to surprise Dylan deeply, but he appreciated it. There was only one attempted lie, that Dylan dissuaded quickly. Ivan offered to send Peter his way, since the vampire was originally from Mira, to get more intel on the new world.

The next day, Alexia and Damiana met a new friendly face over breakfast : Tethys, an exchange student that seemed to also have magic abilities. Shortly after, Dylan showed up again, offering to drive the kids over to the atomic research facility next to the Synchrotron to test out some theories about magic. Under the supervision of Archeon White talon, Permid’s dad and local scientist, they set up different dummies and tries spells on them. Everything was recorded in any ways science knew how : heat, motion, air displacement, visual, slow motion... After a few shots, Dylan got on the field and asked to be fired at with magic. Everybody immediately protested, but he insisted. He tried to use deflect missile on a few things, quickly realizing he could not actually catch magic, and after a round of test got himself healed on camera for the record.

They then drove to Ivan’s house (because Dylan wanted to try and see Peter again), where the doctor and Dylan spoke some more while the team welcomed a second new face : Shanti! :) Recently turned tiefling too, plagued by voices in her mind for a while, Shanti got to meet Omnideus and become a cleric like Ivan. They caught her and tethys up to speed, and everybody turned in for the day.

Next day! :D While Shanti was getting used to the new house, Oni came by the see if she needed anything (since he’s been adopted more or less by the Standons, and is still looking for purpose). After a short talk, shanti noticed Omnideus staring ominously in the direction of the school, and they both hurried there. At school, a fire alarm had gone off, and Alexia, Dami and Tethys started evacuating, when Alexia was informed by her patron that something bad was going on. They quickly realized there was a student in distress, in the middle of a wild magic surge, unfortunately wrecking havoc on the school ground as she looked for help. They got there, along with Shanti while Oni kept the military forces from doing anything stupid and making things worse. Damiana figured out that they needed to help the student focus on a spell to expel the excess magic, and with reassuring words and a comforting, confident presence, they helped her calm down enough to cast a spell, resolving the surge as peacefully as they could. (Rip school windows) And guess who showed up! :D Dylan, again, having heard that something was going on at the school. He took in the situation, forced to recognize that these kids knew what they were doing. He also confronted Alexia about things she was not telling him on purpose, and as a show of what her patron could do, she made the statue right behind her brandish its stone cane straight at Dylan’s face, not touching him but barely. (Dylan had to recognize that yeah, ok, she was being honest about her patron being In the statue...)

He then told them to all come at the field camp tonight, as they needed to discuss how to handle this whole situation, and make a proper plan before his superior, the General in charge of the quarantine, showed up to demand a report and a plan of action.

And that’s it! :D So next time will be a big session : between storming the underdark fortress and deciding on what the world should know of what’s going on here, big things are going to happen, as we reach this arc’s finale! :D And after that.. Beach episode on Mira! ;) (And then we move to the next and final story arc! ;) )

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the-master-cylinder · 5 years ago

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SUMMARY In a small suburban town, a group of high school students–Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan), China Webster (Michelle Johnson), Sarah Brightman (Deborah Foreman), Gemma (Clare Carey), James (Eric Brown) and Tony (Dana Ashbrook)visit a mysterious wax museum, resulting from Sarah and China’s earlier encounter with a taciturn gentleman (Warner) who claims to own the exhibit and extends them an invitation. There, they encounter several morbid displays, all of which contain stock characters from the horror genre. Tony and China unintentionally enter two separate pocket worlds, as depicted by the waxwork displays, by crossing the exhibition barrier rope. Tony is at a cabin where a werewolf (John Rhys-Davies) attacks him. A hunter and his son arrive and try to kill the werewolf. The son fails and is torn in two, while the hunter shoots the werewolf, then shoots Tony as he begins to transform into a werewolf. China is sent to a Gothic castle where vampires attack her, and Count Dracula (Miles O’Keeffe) turns her into a vampire. Two of the other students, Mark and Sarah, leave the waxwork unscathed. Later, Jonathan (Micah Grant), “a college jock”, arrives at the wax museum looking for China, but The Phantom of the Opera display gets his attention as David Lincoln (David Warner) walks him into the display. Mark goes to a pair of investigating police detectives. He and Inspector Roberts (Charles McCaughan) meet Lincoln as he lets Roberts investigate the waxworks. As Mark and Roberts leave the museum, Mark recognizes Lincoln.

Later, Roberts realizes that some of the displays look like some of the other missing people, then comes back to the wax museum, cuts off a piece of China’s face (revealing black tissue underneath), puts it in a bag, and walks into the mummy display; the mummy throws him in the tomb with another undead mummy and a snake. Later, Roberts’s partner sneaks into the museum, and gets his neck broken by Junior (Jack David Walker), “a tall butler” Lincoln scolds for killing the partner.

Mark takes Sarah to the attic of his house, where he shows her an old newspaper detailing the murder of his grandfather (which was seen in the prologue); the only suspect was David Lincoln, his chief assistant, whose photograph closely resembles the waxwork owner. The two then consult the wheelchair-bound Sir Wilfred (Patrick Macnee), a friend of Mark’s grandfather, who explains how he and Mark’s grandfather collected trinkets from “eighteen of the most evil people who ever lived” and that Lincoln stole the artifacts; Lincoln, having sold his soul to the Devil, wants to bring their previous owners to life by creating some wax effigies and feeding them the souls of victims, a concept taken from Haitian Voodoo. Providing all eighteen with a victim would bring about the “voodoo end of the world, when the dead shall rise and consume all things”.

On the advice of Sir Wilfred, Mark and Sarah enter the waxwork museum at night and douse it with gasoline. However, Sarah is lured into the display of the Marquis de Sade (J. Kenneth Campbell), and Mark is pushed into a zombie display by the waxwork’s two butlers. Mark is approached by a horde of zombies, but finds that if he does not believe in the monsters, then they do not exist and cannot harm him. Mark finds his way out of the display and into the Marquis de Sade exhibit, where he rescues Sarah, while the marquis vows revenge.

Despite Mark and Sarah’s attempts to escape, Junior and Lincoln grab Mark and Sarah, pulling them out of sight as Gemma and James return. Gemma gets lured into the Marquis de Sade display, and James attempts to steal something from the zombie display; moments later, the bodies of James and Gemma reappear as wax figures, the displays completed with the figures and their victims reanimating as evil entities. Suddenly, Sir Wilfred and a huge group of armed men, along with Mark’s butler Jenkins, arrive, and in the ensuing battle, several waxworks and slayers die, including Lincoln’s butlers and Mark and Sarah’s former friends, now evil. Jenkins consoles Mark by saying the China-vampire he killed wasn’t his friend; it just looked like her. Mark duels with the Marquis de Sade, who is finally killed by Sarah with an axe.

The reunited couple are confronted by Lincoln, who dies getting shot by Sir Wilfred and falls in a vat of boiling wax. Sir Wilfred is decapitated by a werewolf as Sarah and Mark manage to escape the burning waxwork with their lives and begin to walk home, not noticing that the hand from the zombie display is scuttling away from the rubble.

BEHIND THE SCENES What’s it like for a 29-year-old director to work with the likes of David Warner and Patrick Macnee. “Terrifying,” nods Hickox. “David Warner is a hero of mine, and it’s very difficult to work with your heroes. I was an extra on one of his English TV shows, and I’ve always been a great fan of his. Patrick Macnee is the guy in the movie that knows what’s going on, the ‘Van Helsing’ of Waxwork. In a funny battle scene moment, after the werewolf has been killed with a silver sword, Patrick yells, ‘Tally-ho!’ and fires his gun in the air. At that point, we have a chicken come squawking down and land in his lap.

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“Bear in mind, when you see the battle, that we only had three 12-hour days to film it,” Hickox specifies. “There were 300 extras and a lot of story to tell in that sequence. I think our stunt coordinator Bobby Bragg set some sort of record by doing six full-body fire gags in one day. We’d dress him as one of the characters, set him on fire, film it, then dress him up as someone else.”

In another part of the fight, Deborah Foreman throws Michu, a little person, into an Invasion of the Body Snatchers pod. Instead of duplicating him, the pod cries out, “Feed me! Feed Me!” “I hope we don’t get sued for that one,” moans Hickox.

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Although the script was set in England, Hickox moved the production to America to give it a broader appeal. This caused much hardship since this meant Keen’s crew, located in England, had to design their work without the benefit of lifecasts of actors. As a result, many of the makeup crew ended up appearing as monsters, because they were available to be lifecast. A somewhat more novel solution was found for making a cast of Patrick MacNee, who suffers a grisly fate at the film’s conclusion: the makeup crew videotaped an old AVENGERS episode, watched it several times, and sculpted MacNee’s head from that.

SPECIAL EFFECTS The job of designing the waxwork displays was given to Bob Keen, who acted mostly in a supervisory capacity, hiring other makeup artists to build the creatures while he took care of the administrative end of the business and also directed second unit. Cliff Wallace and Dave Elsey headed a crew of about fourteen, many of whom were working on their first job, “because Bob in his wisdom decided to use people who he could get cheaply,” laughed Wallace.

The majority of the displays for “The Eighteen most evil beings” used in the film are the Marquis de Sade, the werewolf, Count Dracula (his Brides and son exist only within the portal and are not among those displayed), the Golem, the Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy, George A. Romero-style zombies, Frankenstein’s monster, Jack the Ripper, The Invisible Man, a voodoo priest, a witch, a snakeman, Rosemary’s Baby, an axe murderer, a multi-eyed alien, a giant talking venus flytrap, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Keen agrees, “We had a partnership in designing the creatures. Tony asked me what could be done, and like a fool I said, ‘The world.’ Really, the restrictions from Universal were a golden opportunity to do it our own way. Tony was already in the States rewriting the script, so I’d FAX him designs and drawings. He’d call and generally just say, ‘Cast them up.’ Because we were shooting in the States, we had to have everything finished here in England and shipped over before the cameras started rolling. Consequently, we worked 18-hour days for about eight weeks before we could leave.

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“Once in the States, the first scene we shot required the mummy to stamp on someone’s head and squash it,” Keen continues. “Then the werewolf literally tears someone open from the top of his head to the base of his spine-just tears the guy in half and eats what’s inside. It’s a lovely family movie, you know? The zombie scene was a toughie, requiring about 20 effect gags including a mechanical hand, and it had to be shot all in one day.”

“We did the zombie sequence in black-and-white because we ran out of money,” Hickox deadpans. “No, no, just kidding. It was really a tribute to Night of the Living Dead. Romero’s another one of my all-time favorites. They all get credit at the end, Romero, Dante, Argento and all.”

Waxwork (1988) Enzo Sciotti

“That entire zombie scene had to be done in reverse,” Zach Galligan recalls. “When I stumble onto the zombies, I chop off one of their hands and the hand attaches itself to my leg. I pull it off my leg and it grabs my arm, then my other arm. Finally, I have to do a ‘Magic Johnson running two-step slam dunk’ and impale the hand on a spiked fence, where it’s left wiggling and bleeding. Because the hand was made with monofilaments and wires and was mechanically delicate, the entire sequence had to be shot backwards. First it was impaled on the fence, then I jumped up and grabbed it. When you run that forwards, it looks like I’m impaling it.”

“I never pumped so much blood in my life,” effects Bob Keen gasps. “The producer walked onto the set, opened the door. went, ‘Oh, my God!’ and left. Every single piece of the set was covered in blood. Everything was dripping. There was a two-inch river of blood flooding into the other rooms. We used up our entire blood budget in the first week.”

“It was a record amount of blood.” assures leading man Zach (Gremlins) Galligan. “It’s staggering! It’s sprayed all over the white tile walls of Dracula’s castle. Imagine, there’s a guy lying chained to a table. Dracula (Miles O’Keeffe), his son and their guests have been feeding on the guy’s leg! It’s gnawed down to the bone. But the guy’s still alive and awake and alert. Then Dracula’s son grabs a piece of skin off the leg and eats it. It’s gonna be one of the great gross-outs of cinema.”

“We made a false leg that’s raw from the knee downwards,” adds Keen. “The vampires have been picking meat off to serve at the main table, just scraping meat off the bone. Very nasty stuff. After that. Michelle Johnson holds a cross on one vampire’s forehead and the creature starts to burn, like a good vampire. But instead of falling to the floor, his head literally rips open like a banana peeling itself.”

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CONCLUSION “I submitted Waxwork to the MPAA four times,” the director mentions. “Luckily, we’ve retained most of it, but there’s something about squirting blood that they don’t approve of. You can cut off limbs, you can have heads rolling, but the censors won’t allow spurting, moving blood. And you can’t linger, either. You can show things, but you can’t linger.

“The MPAA was terrifying until I actually started communicating with them,” Hickox admits. “Then, they were very direct about what they wanted. Actually, most of that scene was supposed to be comedic anyway, sort of like that Monty Python routine where the Black Knight gets his arms cut off.”.

CAST/CREW Zach Galligan as Mark Loftmore Deborah Foreman as Sarah Brightman Michelle Johnson as China Webster Dana Ashbrook as Tony Micah Grant as Jonathan Eric Brown as James Clare Carey as Gemma David Warner as David Lincoln Patrick Macnee as Sir Wilfred Mihaly ‘Michu’ Meszaros as Hans Jack David Walker (as Jack David Warner) as Junior Charles McCaughan as Inspector Roberts Kenneth Campbell as Marquis de Sade Miles O’Keeffe as Count Dracula John Rhys-Davies as Werewolf Jennifer Bassey as Mrs Loftmore Edward Ashley as Professor Sutherland Joe Baker as Jenkins Buckley Norris as Lecturer Tom McGreevey (as Tom MacGreevey) as Charles Rick Rossovich as Michael Loftmore (uncredited)

Several crew members appear in small roles: Anthony Hickox, director, as English prince James Hickox, assistant editor, as werewolf hunter’s assistant Gerry Lively, director of photography, as Sir Wilfred’s butler

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Cinefantastique v19n01-02 (1989) Fangoria#78

SUMMARY The film opens with a reenactment of final scenes of Waxwork, with Mark and Sarah leaving the burning waxwork (the part of Sarah having been recast from the first film). The disembodied zombie hand from the first film follows Sarah to her run-down flat and kills her stepfather with a hammer, a murder for which Sarah is blamed. No one believes her story about the evil waxwork.

In the hope of gathering evidence, Mark and Sarah visit the late Sir Wilfred’s home, where they find a film reel of Sir Wilfred speaking of his and Mark’s grandfather’s adventures and of the artifacts they collected together. A secret switch in Sir Wilfred’s chessboard opens a door to a room full of objects where Mark and Sarah find a small compass-like device. They learn this device was used in history by light and dark angels to travel through another dimension consisting of stories that have become realities (including homage to Frankenstein, The Haunting, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dr. Jekyll, Alien, Godzilla, Jack the Ripper, Nosferatu, and Dawn of the Dead). According to exposition later given by Sir Wilfred in the form of a raven, these worlds comprise “God’s video game,” where God and the devil battle over the fate of the world, each victory being reflected in events occurring in the real world. When Mark or Sarah appear in each reality they take on the persona of characters in those stories, sometimes having their personalities and memories taken over by those characters until they regain their senses.

Mark plans to gather evidence of the reanimated dead to bring back to the real world as proof of Sarah’s story in court. After several failed attempts and being lost in one world after another, they battle with an evil sorcerer and Mark is able to send Sarah home with an animated zombie hand as proof of her story. Unable to return with her, Mark instead arranges to have another compass delivered to Sarah after her trial ends so she can rejoin him.

DEVELOPMENT/PRODUCTION What Waxwork II: Lost in Time has in common with its progenitor is that the time periods to which the characters travel tend to bear a noticeable resemblance to familiar horror movies. The film picks up directly where its predecessor left off, with Mark (Zach Galligan) escaping the burning wax museum with his girlfriend Sarah (Monika Schnarre, replacing Deborah Foreman). Before either has a chance to recover, they both find themselves thrust into peril again as they enter a time portal that takes them through distorted planes of existence, where good battles evil in a movie-monster inspired arena.

According to Hickox, Mark has been brought into this environment because, “God has chosen him to fight as a sort of white angel. They actually go into a parallel universe where God and the devil fight it out in different vignettes, and use people like Zach and other human beings who’ve proven themselves as time warriors,” the director adds. “It’s not just a matter of time travel; they’ve actually gone into a different universe which is Cathagra-an old expression for purgatory. It’s a place between heaven and hell where people do battle.”

“We get to one of my favorite movies, THE HAUNTING—a wonderful parody all done on 18mm split diopter lenses—which outdoes the kitchen scene in WAXWORK by far. We’ve taken human mutilation to points never dared.” Hickox hoped the sequence’s black and white photography would help the bloody action pass the MPAA ratings board, since he was contractually bound to deliver an R-rated picture. “It’s not a gore movie,” said Hickox. “Eighty percent is very clean; then you’ve got these amazing moments where you can’t believe your eyes. WAXWORK was tongue-in cheek; this is comedy. We’re saying to the audience up front, ‘Feel free to laugh.’

“In the first one, there was a gag here and a little bit of silliness there, but it was basically a straight out horror movie—except for the ridiculous battle scene at the conclusion,” said Galligan of the difference in tone between the two movies. “This one is over-the-top but not inane—it’s believably over the top. I keep saying, ‘Tony, this is so exaggerated!’ He says, ‘I know, but it’s working.”

Hickox agreed with Galligan’s assessment of the first film’s ending. “That was a mistake!” admitted Hickox. “When you’re Mict young, you think you can do anything; then when you get to the set, you realize you can’t, and there’s nothing you can do-you’re locked in a corner. But you learn from your mistakes—I switch off the TV when I see that scene coming. One English paper did say it was the silliest ending to any movie ever. I suppose being the silliest is better than being forgotten.”

Though the film’s schedule was approximately the same as that of the first, experience and planning helped get more coverage. “The first two or three days were difficult, getting used to the pace at which Tony operates,” said Galligan. “He does 50 or 60 set-ups a day, which is almost unheard of. It’s three times more than I usually do, and there are no stand-ins, so we’re constantly on the set, constantly working.”

“I’m doing something else I haven’t done before, which is really making the actors work,” said Hickox. “I always felt silly before, making actors be emotional. They’re other people, and you’re trying to dig emotions out of them. Now I realize that’s what it’s about—to get that realism.”

The toughest challenge facing the Waxwork II crew, however, will be getting the film safely past the MPAA without any major cuts. Though Hickox has been shooting two versions of each gruesome scene for insurance (one slightly tamer than the other), he has also been throwing around other possibilities to protect the final film from being entirely goreless.

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“We’re thinking that if we put in silly sounds, that will help it pass,” reasons Hickox. “Like when eyeballs come out-there’s two ways you can play it, very graphically with a realistic sound or more of a ‘pop’ sound.”

Keen knows that Hickox usually pushes the limits in terms of gore. “Bob’s gotten used to me, so he always brings a few spare body parts,” jokes Hickox. Adds Keen, “We haven’t topped our all time record on the first Waxwork, where we pumped 35 gallons of blood, but we’re getting close.”

While shooting the zombie march in Los Angeles at the West Side Pavilion mall, blood wasn’t one of the more immediately pressing problems, though Hickox smiles. “I heard they’re still trying to scrub it off the floors.” What caused the most disruption were the sounds of gunfire shot off by the cast during filming.

“We nearly got closed down, because supposedly the M16s sounded like cannons outside the supermarket, so all we did all night was set off alarms,” recalls Hickox. “Drew Barrymore came along to play a cameo that night in the Nosferatu scene. We had to film those two scenes on the same night, so we had to build Nosferatu’s bedroom in the shopping mall. The passing crowd must have been thinking, ‘Why the hell are they building sets in a mall?'”

SPECIAL EFFECTS The tasks faced by Image Animation and Bob Keen on WAXWORK II included a seven-piece prosthetic makeup for Frankenstein’s monster, an eviscerated chest for Bruce Campbell, a man-in-a-suit alien, and a woman-to-panther transformation, not to mention various throwaway images like Godzilla and Mr. Hyde. “The trick about a WAXWORK film is that the effects are realistic, but they’re ultimately played for a laugh,” said Keen. “They are often amusing, but they are never phony or funny-looking, apart from Godzilla, who is a little more rounded and cute than the original.”

After putting his own spin on such timeless creatures of the night as vampires, werewolves and mummies in Anthony Hickox’s 1988 Waxwork, he returns to the fold for another parade of frightening folklore in Waxwork II: Lost in Time. This new excursion features variations on the Frankenstein Monster, Nosferatu and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, among others.

“I love doing classic creatures like Frankenstein,” enthuses Keen. “When you’re a kid trying to get into makeup effects, all you ever want to do is Frankenstein and werewolves. The nice thing about the Waxwork movies is that I have the chance to reinvent them.”

Getting away with using some of these copyrighted characters does occasionally pose some problems, but as writer-director Hickox explains, “It’s a satire and we’re doing our own versions of them, so it’s pretty free.” Keen adds, “The fact is that I don’t want to do the wonderful Universal classics because one, they’re copyrighted and two, there’s no fun in just duplicating someone else’s work.”

The two universes that Keen particularly enjoyed exploring were the Aliens-inspired landscape and a medieval, Poe-type world. For the space nasty. Keen created probably the screen’s first albino extraterrestrial. He describes the beast as a sort of crustacean that uses a huge endoskeleton of a monster as its armor, while inside hides a little “space sucker.” This idea was loosely inspired by the Dalek robots from Dr. Who, which Hickox has always been fond of.

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“They had this protective shell that was mean, and inside there were actually these small slime monsters,” Hickox describes. “So imagine that inside this alien shell is a kind of weasely little slug controlling it all.”

Though monster favorites are an integral focus in the Waxwork framework, more modern creations also get the Keen touch. The lineup includes Godzilla (with a smoker’s cough). shopping mall zombies, a nifty albino alien and a woman who transforms into a panther.

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“It’s been four years since the last one. so the audience is more sophisticated, and we’re more sophisticated as a group,” comments Keen. “This movie is strong on the monster elements.

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For the Poe segment, Keen designed the woman transforming into a big jungle cat, which he feels is one of the picture’s FX highlights. “She’s absolutely incredible,” Keen raves. “We have this five-stage transformation and end up with this beautiful mechanical head. It’s very sexy.”

One of Waxwork II’s grislier elements is a homage to the 1963 classic The Haunting. Shot in black and white, this sequence features Bruce Campbell with his chest cavity carved open in the shape of a diamond and fully exposed. While birds peck at it, other assorted maladies occur to make it more than just a “flesh wound.”

“It’s kind of asking, “What can you do to the human body and still keep somebody standing there?” Hickox grins. “It’s very Monty Pythonesque, and it’s certainly the most graphic scene, but it doesn’t play that way because it’s shot in black and white. The alien scene as it stands now is pretty graphic, and so is all the medieval stuff.”

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In addition, a Dawn of the Deadlike segment set in a shopping mall promises to spurt enough grue to fill a beer keg. As Hickox explains, “The camera never shies away from a good death.”

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CAST/CREW Directed Anthony Hickox Written Anthony Hickox

Zach Galligan as Mark Loftmore Monika Schnarre as Sarah Brightman Martin Kemp as Baron Von Frankenstein Bruce Campbell as John Loftmore Michael Des Barres as George Jim Metzler as Roger Sophie Ward as Elenore Marina Sirtis as Gloria Billy Kane as Nigel Joe Baker as The Peasant Juliet Mills as The Defense Lawyer John Ireland as King Arthur Patrick Macnee as Sir Wilfred David Carradine as The Beggar Alexander Godunov as Scarabis

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Cinefantastique v22n06 Fangoria Horror Spectacular#05

DOUBLE FEATURE RETROSPECTIVE – Waxwork (1988)/Waxwork II Lost in Time (1992) SUMMARY In a small suburban town, a group of high school students--Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan), China Webster (Michelle Johnson), Sarah Brightman (Deborah Foreman), Gemma (Clare Carey), James (Eric Brown) and Tony (Dana Ashbrook)visit a mysterious wax museum, resulting from Sarah and China's earlier encounter with a taciturn gentleman (Warner) who claims to own the exhibit and extends them an invitation.

#80sFilms #80sHORROR #90sMovies #DOUBLE FEATURE RETROSPECTIVE #Vestron

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littlemissshortstuff · 5 years ago

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So I just got back from my first ever adult vacation! It was a lot of fun, but had some issues, because that seems to be my life right about now. I went down to Seaside Heights, NJ which is where my family went every August when I was a kid.

I used to know the boardwalk layout like the back of my hand when I was younger. Unfortunately, in 2012 Hurricane Sandy crashed through the Jersey Shore area and Seaside Heights got hit pretty hard. So not only is the boardwalk entirely new, a lot of shops and stands are no longer there. To add to the misery of things, a year after the hurricane hit, a fire broke out and basically torched a good section of the southern part of the boardwalk.

Caught in that fire was a candy store called Berkeley Sweet Shop. It was where we would go at the end of the every vacation and get a box of salt water taffy. It finally opened back up in 2017 and I was so excited to see it again.

A Bad Start

I packed all my stuff in my car for 10:00 AM on Sunday, ready to gas up, then pick up my friend so we could hit the road to get to Seaside.

Well, it literally was a “bad start” as after I finished gassing up, my car refused to start. I won’t sugar coat things, I started crying. I had recently had previous car trouble that I outlined in my post Life Update: 2019 Hates Me as well as my driver’s side window motor needing to be replaced. So having the car fail once again within a two month span, I just lost it.

Thankfully I was literally across the street from a Firestone. I had to wait to be towed and the my friend picked me up so we could use her car to drive down.

After a call to my parents, my father graciously offered to pay for the fix. He also decided that since my catalytic converter had been throwing my check engine light on for the past two years, that he would have them fix that as well. I was and still kind of am uncomfortable with being helped with that amount of money. But now my car should be in relatively working condition. They only thing amiss is the air conditioning. The entire dashboard needs to be taken apart and it’s about 11 hours of labor. I can open my windows for now. (If you want to donate to my financial woes, click here!)

Hershey Motel

We stayed at the same motel I stayed as a child. Mainly due to the high ratings and its proximity to the boardwalk.

We got a room in the back on the second floor with a balcony. It costs a bit more, but having a balcony to sit out on is such a wonderful addition that I was willing to shell out a little more money.

The motel hasn’t changed much from my memory. They switched out carpet for tile, and updated the furniture a bit, but everything else is exactly the same.

The Boardwalk

As I mentioned earlier, the boardwalk changed drastically from my childhood. A lot of the smaller arcades had been moved out in favor of vendors and stalls. There are a lot more shops than wheels or arcades, which is fine.

One of the last times I went down there Rita’s had popped up all over the boardwalk, they seemed to have been replaced by a similar place call Polish Water Ice. Almost entirely the same menu, with a few differences.

My favorite arcade, however, remained almost entirely untouched. Lucky Leo’s was able to withstand both the fire and the hurricane and came out pretty damn untouched compared to the rest of the boardwalk.

For the arcades, the biggest difference is a lot of cranes contained mystery boxes or bags that could contain either a “choice” option to win a very expensive prize (beats headphones, macbook, iPad, etc.) or a certain amount of points, instead of generic stuffed animals. But times have changed and apparently stuffed animals aren’t exactly a hit with the kids much anymore.

The Food

The food will never change. If you ever head down there yourself, you need to check out 3 Brother’s From Italy. There are conveniently 4 locations on the boardwalk, so no matter where you happen to be, you’re almost right next to a restaurant.

There’s also Midway Steakhouse which has the same advertisement signs as I remember. It’s literally in the middle of the center of the boardwalk. Boardwalk food may not be the healthiest for you, but damn, it’s good.

As I mentioned earlier, the thing I was most excited about was Berkeley Sweet Shop which is now called Berkeley Candy. The store size is less than half of what it used to, and they only offer one shape of taffy rather than two, but it’s just as good as I remember! Just by picking out a few pieces of the flavors I like I ended up with almost 1.5 pounds of taffy!

We also had to stop at the Seaside Eatery before we left and had ourselves some taylor ham sandwiches.

The Beach

When I was younger we basically stopped going to the beach once building sand castles weren’t a thing anymore (and that was maybe 7 or 8 years old). And because I am on a variety of medication that makes me more susceptible to the sun, I had always avoided the beach.

Man, was I missing out!

We went to the beach for a few hours and it was so much better than I remembered. We rented an umbrella because it was ungodly hot with no clouds in the sky. My friend and I took turns going down to the water so someone was there to watch our belongings.

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I managed to inch my way in to the ocean, which is something I’ve never done. For a few seconds I wasn’t touching the sand, which I will accept as a win for now. However, the waves threw me back at the beach and in trying to land I my feet, missed, and ended up scraping up my knees on the sand as the waves kept throwing me around.

The Rides

We decided to go on two rides, the Ferris Wheel, and the Sky Ride. We managed to get some beautiful pictures.

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There was also a bunch of furniture on top of one of the stores that looked strangely like a set. With the announcement of the new season of Jersey Shore, I might have to give it a watch to see if it makes an appearance.

The Prizes

I spent far too much money on games (seriously!) but ended up with about 126,000 tickets from Lucky Leo’s. I was able to walk away with a T-shirt from the arcade and a slow cooker! I’ve been meaning to get a new one, but I never actually took the plunge to get a more modern one. So now I have a slow cooker that has a timer on it!

My friend won a stuffed llama and a stuffed smiling pineapple. They’re adorable and very cuddly. Especially compared to a slow cooker.

I did buy a few things that aren’t exactly prizes. I picked up a .5ml of 200mg CBD watermelon flavored vape cartridge, and two bracelets that were popular during my childhood. They’re called Wish Bracelets. They have beads throughout the braided bracelet. Each color is supposed to represent something different. The point is to make a wish in accordance to the bracelet type when you put it on, and the wish will come true when it falls off. I got “Good Fortune” (green) and “Adventure” (orange), because I need some good fortune with all the financial issues I’ve had lately!

In the End

Overall, I had a lovely time. I honestly wouldn’t mind trying to go back for a weekend before the summer end, if only the go to the beach and experience that again, and more properly with beach chairs, a book, and closer to the ocean.

My finances are screaming at me, but I don’t regret the money I spent. I had fun and that’s the point of a vacation! However, in the future I will definitely be setting a solid budget instead of just winging it and trying to stay within a general amount.

Have you ever been to Seaside Heights, NJ or any of the other shore points? Do you have a favorite memory from them?

Leave a comment, tweet me, leave a facebook comment or message, or hit me up on Instagram. Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest and Tumblr.

Feeling extra generous? Head over to my Ko-Fi page and leave a donation!

My First Adult Vacation: Revisiting My Childhood So I just got back from my first ever adult vacation! It was a lot of fun, but had some issues, because that seems to be my life right about now.

#Berkeley candy #Berkeley Sweet Shop #Hershey Motel #jersey shore #Lucky Leo&039;s #seaside #seaside boardwalk #seaside heights #seaside heights new jersey #the jersey shore

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ressarioth · 8 years ago

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HEY SUKIE.... would u wanna write me a zevistair thingy... id love to read the reunion when alistair becomes king n zevran had left to take out the crows and stuff so they thought theyre over but THen at inquisition times they meet again

This took me way longer than I would’ve liked, but I finally finished it! Have a bit over 3.6k words of Zevistair reunion before I overthink the question of how they can get their happily ever after ending. That would be something for a multi-chaptered fic after all.

I hope you enjoy!

[ Writing Requests ]

It’s been on his mind for the longest time, a seed of yearning that took roots and grew a sprout of hope against all his principles. One day Zevran doesn’t know how to fight it anymore, because he runs out of his most prominent reason against it when he finally breaks free from the Antivan Crows for good. For the past decade his heart has been growing stronger and now it’s overthrowing the rule of his rational mind.

So Zevran returns to Ferelden: the country where he tasted freedom for the first time and embarked on a journey to stop the blight; the country where he fell in love against all odds with a man who in the end became someone he cannot have. He’d be better advised to never look back, like he never allowed himself to miss Taliesen or Rina — though Rina was a dead woman when he turned his back on the Crows and Taliesen met the same fate when coming after him. It’s not unreasonable to think that these two don’t compare, not to a man who lives and breathes and haunts his mind whenever he doesn’t indulge in distractions.

What fate is worse? To love a dead assassin or a living king? Having experience both, Zevran concludes it’s the latter for all the temptation it holds. Temptation he’s finally giving in to as he sneaks past the guards in the courtyard and into the kitchen of the Ferelden palace. It’s the middle of the night so the fire in the hearth has died down to nothing more than embers and the servants are asleep in their quarters.

He presses on in the faint light of a few torches on the walls. There are some guards patrolling the corridors, but he knows how to avoid all of them. The only disadvantage he has is that he isn’t sure where the bedroom is which he’s trying to find. Though he takes a gamble and guesses that it would be on one of the upper floors and most likely guarded. So he ventures upward, determined to find his destination as soon as possible.

It’s not the hiding and sneaking past armed men that has his heart beat faster in his chest — Zevran is used to doing that from his time as an assassin and it has long since become second nature to him. What has his pulse reach new heights in his throat is the prospect of what awaits him behind the door he’s trying to locate. This isn’t the first bedroom of royalty he’s sneaking into, but for the first time it’s not to assassinate whomever is inside. In a way he’s out of his element and his nerves know it, that’s why they’re troubling him so much.

When he comes across a door with two guards, Zevran realises he isn’t sure how to get past them. He hasn’t planned this far ahead which goes to show just how foolish this whole endeavour is in the first place. Should he knock them out, risking someone to come across them and raise the alert, or should he draw them away with a distraction which might also get the attention of other guards? All he knows is that he shouldn’t kill them, he did not come here to stain his daggers with blood.

As he lurks around the corner of the hallway, debating how to handle the last two guards in his way, Zevran has a thought. It’s his biggest gamble yet in this nightly infiltration, but he considers it his best bet at this point if he wants to avoid drawing any attention to his presence. If the door is blocked, find a window to get inside — one of the oldest rules he’s been following in his occupation. So he picks the door closest to him and slips into the room, out of sight of the two guards further down the hallway. Had someone been asleep inside he’d taken his chances sneaking past them, but as if to ease the final steps on his way, the bedroom is empty and he can proceed to unlocking the window without worry.

Zevran knows what comes next is going to be way harder. There are no years of practice and experience to fall back on, he has no routine for what he’s about to attempt. Nothing in his life could’ve prepared him for facing the man he grew to love more than he could’ve ever imagined who long since wears the Ferelden crown. How can an elven assassin approach a human king and ask to be loved as an equal?

The voice of reason in Zevran’s head tells him that he’s being foolish and wasting his time on a idle fantasy which can never become reality. But his heart persists and clings to hope even more than Zevran holds on to stone wall as he inches along the windowsill two stories above the ground. He’s not scared of heights, but his nerves straining in anticipation of what lies ahead makes this go less smother than he would’ve liked. Two times he nearly slips as he’s trying to maintain his balance.

Finally Zevran reaches the window to the royal bedroom and crouches down in front of it. The lock keeping it in place is easily taken care of and he pushes it open and climbs inside. The room lies quietly in the pale moonlight and he gets a good look at the man sleeping soundly in the wide bed. Recognition turns into relief that he finally arrived at his destination in the blink of an eye. The feelings pass as quickly as they’ve come before he’s struck with awe at the sight which presents itself to him.

After a decade, Zevran is seeing him again: Alistair, the features aged with the years, his jaw and cheekbones becoming a little more defined than those of the 20-year-old Zevran met back then, but still familiar. There’s a slight stubble covering his jaw and the hair is now long enough to fall into his forehead in its dishevelled state. Beneath it Zevran can make out thin lines as if he’s been frowning too much for his skin to smoothen out entirely.

Zevran forgets to release the air from his lungs, the sound of Alistair breathing almost melting into the silence of the room. Or maybe the blood in Zevran’s ears is rushing too loudly and he just assumes everything to be so quiet when actually Alistair is snoring. With a pinch in his chest he realises he can’t even recall if Alistair was ever prone to snoring in his sleep.

For a moment Zevran just watches Alistair in the scarce moonlight falling through the windows. He used to do that a lot when they were resting by the campfire, curled up together in the bedroll they started sharing. Alistair had needed some time to allow for the intimacy of a man — especially one who tried to kill him and his Warden companion. Zevran had teased him for it, but never too much to drive him away. It was way worth it though, their first tentative kiss stirring something up inside of Zevran which he had never felt before.

There was a sincerity in the way Alistair went about everything, proof of a naivety which Zevran found simply endearing at first even though it felt misplaced in a world he knew was filled with intrigue and deceit. But when Alistair looked at him he came to realise he had never felt so loved in his entire life. When Alistair reached out for him with fingers trembling from nervousness, every touch tentative as if Alistair was scared to break something, he felt treasured.

Zevran closes his eyes, his mouth twisting in an expression of anguish as the memories start welling up. A yearning fills his chest, stronger than ever, and what makes it so painful is that he knows that he should not give in to it. It’s the one truth inside his mind which he feels he cannot deny. He broke free of the Crow’s chains, but he can never overcome the fact that he is an elf and the social conviction that elves have no place in a royal castles apart from being servants.

Yet Zevran is drawn closer, against his better judgement, drawn in by the peaceful look on Alistair’s face. He wants to touch it, that skin which now is seeing less sun than during the time they travelled and slew darkspawn at the Hero of Ferelden’s side. He wants to trace them, those features which are relaxed in a way almost exclusively reserved to a person being fast asleep. He wants to feel it, the stubble rubbing against the skin of his fingers in a sensation between scratching and tickling him.

Before Zevran can stop himself he’s standing directly next to Alistair’s bed and leaning over to better reach down. His hand hovers inches above Alistair’s head, his breath hitches in his throat. He’s still hesitating as if what he’s about to do could have insufferable consequences. Fear is a curious thing with how much power it can hold over someone.

It’s a faint brush over Alistair’s cheek that marks the crumbling of Zevran’s resolve. That’s also all it takes to have Alistair stir in his sleep. Zevran freezes as he blinks open his eyes, caught in the act like a lousy pickpocket. It lasts only a moment though before Zevran snaps out of it and quickly puts one hand over his mouth so he can’t raise the alarm. He struggles like anyone would who wakes up finding a dark figure leaning over their bed.

“Shhh,” Zevran tries to calm Alistair as he puts his index finger on his own lips to emphasis his point. “It’s me, Zevran.”

That does the trick and has Alistair go limp so that Zevran dares to let go of him and step back to give him some space. In the pale light which now finds his face again Zevran can make out bewilderment.

“Zevran,” Alistair repeats, a whisper which is softer than mere surprise. Then the first shock wears off and with it disappears the gentle tone. “What the hell, were you trying to scare me to death?”

Zevran feels guilt and embarrassment and worry about the situation he landed himself in and having to explain himself. He’s not the type to open up and easily share his genuine feelings like Alistair. He’s too used to keeping his guard up and trying to steer clear of all the emotional pitfalls like rejection and ridicule. So he tries to make light of the topic, giving his voice the usual carefree note. “An interesting way to kill someone for sure, but I did not come to assassinate you — please don’t be disappointed.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not,” Alistair retorts as he sits up on the edge of his mattress and reaches over to his nightstand to light the candle standing there. “I’ve had an attempt on my life recently, that’s more than enough for a lifetime if you ask me.”

“You aren’t cut out for Antivan politics, that’s for sure.”

“Well, thankfully I’m the King of Ferelden and not Antiva.”

There it is, the painful reminder, and Zevran tries not to flinch at it. He turns his back to hide his face in case his features betray him, though Alistair seems momentarily to occupied with himself, rubbing his tired eyes, to notice any effect the words have on Zevran.

Silence spreads around them and Zevran begins to think that the distance was the smallest obstacle which has grown between them. After all he’s finally here and yet he doesn’t even know how to look at Alistair anymore, let alone how to hold him. Zevran wonders what the past years have done to them. He wonders if this is what it’s like to grow apart and it’s almost funny how it never used to bother him as much with anyone before. (Or maybe he was just good enough at lying to himself.)

“Why have you come?” Alistair finally asks and though he doesn’t sound hostile, the gravity in his tone makes Zevran’s heart grow heavy.

Despite it, Zevran tries to maintain his lighthearted air as he walks along the windowed wall. “To test your security and let me tell you, it’s way too easy for a pro like me to get in here.”

He glances only briefly over to Alistair, but the silence which meets him breaks down his weak resolve and he relents. “Or well, that sounds way more fanciful than me simply wanting to see you.”

Zevran tries to play off the confession as an aside yet it leaves him feeling vulnerable as if he had taken off his armour in the midst of an arena in front of his opponent. In a way it feels more reckless and foolish to do than pointing an enemy at your vital spots and inviting them to hit you there. You can dodge a blade far more easily than you can avoid sharp words which cut like a knife. But maybe he’s going a bit overboard with the worst case scenario for this reunion.

“You wanted to see me?” Alistair questions and there’s a painful edge to his time. “After all those years you’ve been roaming the world without ever sending a word, leaving me to wonder if anything we had ever mattered in the end.”

Zevran turns around and stares at Alistair, a sense of horror building in his gut. The accusation hits him whether he thinks it’s fair or not. For the first time it occurs to him that Alistair was hurting, too; that maybe he wasn’t the only one who had been longing for something he could no longer have, hung up on the past and all the promises it held. The thought burdens him.

“I never said it didn’t matter,” Zevran objects quietly. “I just said what we both knew: that with you becoming king there was no place for me at your side.”

Alistair had agreed back then, even though not right away. Zevran wonders if he has to bring that up though he’s still reluctant to do it. That would make it seem like he’s defending himself like man unjustly accused of a crime. He refuses to accept that role.

“You made leaving seem so easy,” Alistair notes, though his solemn tone doesn’t make it sound like an accusation. His eyes are fixated on the ground somewhere in front of his feet as if he’s avoiding to meet Zevran’s gaze.

“Trust me, it wasn’t.”

At those words, Alistair jerks up his head and looks at Zevran with something akin to surprise. This time it’s Zevran who averts his eyes, only catching a glimpse of the shadow of a thought crossing Alistair’s face in the flickering candle light.

“Tell me, were you angry with me for claiming the throne?” Alistair asks and his voice has grown even softer.

“I don’t think I had any right to be.”

The wall Zevran is looking at is starting to blur in front of his eyes, but he doesn’t bother to refocus his vision. He also still doesn’t meet Alistair’s gaze, too afraid the emotions he feels quelling up inside of him could show in his face.

“I didn’t ask if you thought you had the right,” Alistair clarifies. “Were you angry with me?”

Silence takes over as Zevran has Alistair’s question drift around in his head, seeking for resonance. He tries to fight it, the feeling which forces its way out in response. It was something he never wanted to acknowledge, but with Alistair calling it by name he can no longer deny it.

“Yes,” Zevran admits finally, a hoarse whisper from his lips. It’s quite horrifying not only to face an aspect of himself he’s been repressing for years but also to lay it bare in front of someone else. But for Alistair’s sake he wants to try. “The moment you announced your claim to the throne I knew you’d leave me behind.”

“So you decided to move on before that could happen,” Alistair concludes, his assumption scarily accurate. Zevran feels unable to respond, but he doesn’t have to, the lack of protest being answer enough.

“But I wouldn’t have, I could never have!” Alistair stands up from his bed in protest.

Zevran turns to look at the king who resembles the naïve man he used to be more than ever. A sad smile spreads on Zevran’s lips as he regards Alistair with fondness hiding away the mocking voice in his head which has already started to come up with countless objections. If only things were as simple as Alistair makes them sound.

“You show a severe lack in realism if you think your human nobles would’ve accepted an elven man at your side,” Zevran remarks, touched by Alistair’s devotion even though his own experience tells him it would’ve been worthless if confronted with the cruel currents of this world.

“Like I care what they think about who’s at my side or not!”

“Has your time on the throne taught you nothing about politics?”

“Oh it has, but that doesn’t mean I have to go along with everything. Besides, we’re not in Orlais.”

Zevran shakes his head, still convinced that Alistair is getting hung up on a pipe dream which cannot withstand reality. “That’s not how these things work, not even in Ferelden.”

“Yet despite all that you’ve come here.” Alistair moves close, covering nearly all the distance between them with a few steps. “There would’ve been no point in that if not at least a part of you had hope that what we had doesn’t have to be a thing of the past.” He briefly pauses before confessing: “I know I have hope now, because you’re here.”

“Hope, maybe you can call it that.” Zevran chuckles lightly at how ridiculous the thought is to him and yet it was something he considered. “Or maybe your foolishness has rubbed off on me.”

Alistair tilts his to the side, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Is that really all?”

First Zevran shrugs. Then he closes his eyes, halfway fooling himself into believing that he isn’t being watched. The words come easier this way. “Maybe, after all those years of you haunting the back of my mind I need to ask you what you think I should do.”

He keeps his eyelids shut and waits for an answer — one moment, then two moments pass. It makes him wonder if he could’ve just as well posed the question to the image of Alistair in his head with the same result.

“I don’t know.”

Zevran hears Alistair’s admission, but only opens his eyes once he can feel touch of Alistair’s arm against his back. It’s firm, the shaking hands tentatively reaching for him definitely a thing of the past. He stares up into Alistair’s eyes and finds a determination that makes him convinced that it’s the opposite of what Alistair just said.

“I’ve never known how to love you under the scrutiny of others,” Alistair admits, his voice quiet but solid. “Maybe because deep down I’m a coward who was always too concerned with what others think.” A slight smile plays around his lips at the confession, but before long he turns serious again. “But there was a time I could’ve never imagined being with a man and it was you who taught me to challenge my own conceptions. So why stop at that when I’ve learned to stand up more for myself and what I want?”

Entranced by Alistair’s words, Zevran finds himself reaching up and touching Alistair’s cheek. He almost can believe it, even though the voice inside his head keeps faintly insisting that it’s a lost cause. “You don’t want me to give a reasonable reply to that, do you?”

“If you find my notion unreasonable, I’m telling you to screw reason.”

Zevran laughs, his wit returning and making him lighter as if relieved from a heavy burden. “Now there’s a thought. I had a multitude of lovers in my life, but I never considered my liaison with reason to be a thing of pleasure.”

Though Alistair chuckles, he doesn’t take the thought any further. Instead he leans in even closer, his warm breath brushing over Zevran’s skin, ensuring to maintain eye contact. “Stay with me this time.”

The request is simple in words but made complex by circumstances. The reasons why this can’t possibly end well won’t disappear even if Zevran tries to will them away. Even if Alistair is determined to figure things out, Zevran isn’t sure he’s up for the challenge.

But then Alistair kisses him and the protest Zevran was about to voice slips from his tongue. Alistair’s lips are enough to make reason and worry a tertiary concern on his mind. He wraps his arms around Alistair’s back to pull the man closer. The hunger inside him is aflame now that he finally gets to taste the one he loves again.

As his yearning is fed the sprout of hope grows inside him like a young tree stretching towards the sun. Zevran knows he’s not going to leave now, not tonight when he finally finds himself in Alistair’s arms again. It may be temporary — it may end tomorrow, in a week, in a few months. Or maybe it’ll last for years to come this time. He doesn’t know and doesn’t trouble himself with it. That’s a concern for another time, when daylight breaks.

Zevran breaks the kiss only to give Alistair his answer, a whisper of warm breath in his beloved’s ear.

“I’m not making any promises,” he declares and for tonight that is enough.

#viishkar #writing requests #zevran arainai #alistair theirin #zevistair #dragon age #writing tag #alistair x zevran

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nointrustions · 8 years ago

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Season 2, Episode 2- “Heart Me”

hey, it’s me! here i am, back at it again. (i’m gonna aim for once a month with these, because, like, emotionally i am not down with spending 4 hours a week doing nothing but analyzing csi cyber. i have shit to do. like not watch csi cyber.)

if you’ve lost the plot a bit, i’ve got a list of all my recaps here. some quick stats for people who don’t want to read all that shit

times the writers didn’t actually know how computers or other electronic devices work- 65

times someone should have been fired or arrested for bad policing or hacking- 45

times brody should have been sent back to jail- 7

van der geek death toll- 4

times the writers forgot how time works- 22

times the writers forgot how the police works (for example, that there are other police and fbi divisions, including people who are qualified to do CSI shit)- 28

times i wanted to steal krummy’s lunch money- 53

times they used the holodeck that they invested millions of taxpayer dollars in- 4

times they use l33t sp34k to convey that someone is a hacker- 7

times vdg is a bad parent or partner- 13

times avery does bad psychology- 33

characters named ricky skaggs- only 1, unfortunately

times IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU- ALL OF THEM GET OFF THE COMPUTER

Triggers for this episode- alcohol, stalking, blood, drugging, kidnapping, basic entitled dude bullshit

we open at a hot, hot nightclub that's apparently an old castle or some shit. It's full of attractive young people drinking and dancing and using apps, so you know shit's going to go down. Raven is there with a friend, Tracy, and she asks tracy how she found this place. Tracy used an app to find it, so she's going to be the victim in this episode. She tells raven what she's been missing working every friday night- namely, “major male hotness.” man, i've really missed the csi cyber writers interpreting things that an actual human being might say. While they chat about the male hotness, some guy hearts them both on heartmate, an app which is not at all like tinder. They make fun of him for being a loser, a skill that raven needs to leverage more often in her professional life.

just as they team-reject this guy, some guy walks up behind tracy and hits on her. He asks if he can buy her a drink, and she turns him down, and he's like “hey that's cool I go to alcoholics anonymous” and she's like “samesies” and it's kinda weird and uncomfortable. He tries to pick her up, but she tells him she has a boyfriend, so he fucks off out of there, giving us a nice view of the fact that, in this incredibly packed busy nightclub, there's a solid 10 feet of space between the bar and any people. Tracy laughs and reveals that she lied about having a boyfriend to him. “But this guy,” she narrates as a guy hearts her on heartmate, “unf, hell to all the yeses.” these writers! They're so good at talking to people! The guy who hearted her walks over and starts nuzzling her, and rejected club guy watches from afar, glaring.

Afterwards, raven and tracy leave the club and hop in a cab. Rejected club guy opens up heartmate and clicks onto raven's profile. He somehow uses the distance feature to track her down, despite them being in a cab and him being on foot. When he gets there, he calls the police to say that he's worried, because his neighbour might be in danger and the guy's still in there. Oh, you sneaky boy!

a swat team breaks into raven's apartment, where tracy is sleeping on the couch and raven is apparently full naked in the bedroom. Wait, how did he know what apartment she was in? There is no way that heartmate is that precise in distance tracking, and even if he saw them through the window or something, I think “my neighbour is in trouble, I heard gunshots? Oh, where she lives? Uh, let me find a street number…. Yeah I don't know her apartment number, but I know the window faces the street and I think it's the third floor….” would not raise some questions.

one week later, raven is chatting with brody about the SWAT team. Brody, I know it's casual friday, and apparently permanent casual friday for you now, but I think you still have to wear your id. He asks if she knows who called the team, and she teases him because apparently when the swat team was called, he snuck out via the fire escape! Wait, what? Did she go home with tracy then call brody over to bang? Or was he waiting there all night in her apartment all alone? We know they're not roommates because apparently the knowledge that they were in the same apartment would be trouble, even though they're talking loudly about how they're totes magotes banging in their workplace, but whatever.

meanwhile, avery is looking at a tablet in her office, and db walks in with a baby binky in his mouth. Oh, so this is going to be one of the weird fetish episodes. Db says that he didn't get them so mommy avery could give bad baby db a spanking, but actually because they're bluetooth enabled and can detect the baby's temperature, location, and what medications the baby had. I don't know why he bought seven of them, but, like, whatever, you do you, dude. He asks how avery's doing, but before she can answer, van der geek wanders by to tell them that they have an update on the “infamous” (a word which here means that we've never heard his name) garth rizzo. You know, normally i'd say this guy might be a friend of ricky skaggs, but idk, he seems like a rat to me.

garth rizzo is otherwise known as “the most hated man on the internet.” he runs a revenge porn site called shamedexxx.com, which kindly places big black censor bars over the women's tiddies. Wait, even with the censor bars, is it still fine to just bring up porn on the big screen in the cybercave? Why did they have to give his website the hit? Anyway, vdg makes a point of how he really, really wants to arrest this guy, but he hasn't actually done anything illegal yet so they have to prove he's been hacking people. You know, guys, far be it from me to criticize vdg, but, like, this is the first time ever in his life that he's ever given a shit about due process. It's a bit weird that the first time he doesn't just show up and tackle a guy to the ground is the porn guy for jilted exes. I'm just saying, mister “i know what it feels like to want to murder your ex-wife!”

they explain what revenge porn is, and then raven glances at her phone so avery tells her to leave while they go through all the victims, track them down, and contact them to get their devices and see if they've been hacked. This guy hasn't even committed a crime yet! Are there seriously no proven hackers left?

raven goes to get a latte with tracy. She's been having hella computer-based problems. Her utilities were shut off, then her mail was put on hold via an online form (oh, no, not the mail! Like, seriously, it's been a week since they met club guy [also spoiler, it was probably club guy what did it] and it's 2015, it's not like anything important comes in the mail) and then she got fired from her job for sending an e-mail to her coworker about how she was going to tell his wife about the affair they were having. It's notable that he did not get fired for that same affair. Finally, two days ago, she got kicked out of her apartment, because she apparently e-mailed the landlord and requested to end the lease. I am not an expert on DC rental law, but I think 5 days isn't enough notice for your landlord to completely shut you out of the apartment. Did he get a new tenant, despite not showing the apartment to anyone because otherwise she would notice? If not, why would she not just sign a new lease under the same terms?

Then she went to the cops, and the cops told her that they couldn't do anything because she didn't know who hacked her. That's, like, the best cop-work i've seen ever? “sorry I know there has been a crime but I can't help you because you have not already solved it on your own, and we can't kick it to the cyber division because they're too busy tracking down every woman in revenge porn on the internet to see if they've been hacked.” raven offers to check out her computer and shit to see who hacked her, and just then her phone gives her a notification to let her know that her bank account has been emptied. Because that's a thing that happens, I guess.

meanwhile, back at the cybercave, vdg is telling someone on the phone that they're being unreasonable. He then gets back to work immediately, but avery stops him with an “elijah, there comes a point where whatever's going on in your personal life starts to reflect on your work.” yeah, and that point was halfway through the last season when he started emotionally abusing coworkers, destroying physical evidence, and committing some pretty serious police brutality because he was mad that his wife wanted to get her dream job and take the daughter that she was more or less raising on her own with her, but you were pretty much down with that noise.

It turns out that he was on the phone with his father, who had been refusing cancer treatment. This is a pretty personal and nuanced issue, which vdg boils down to “it's not fair to MEEEEE that he's chosen to go gently into that good night.” how dare he, when he could be taking care of my daughter for me!

time for a sick cyber-montage, in which raven hacks into tracy's bank accounts! We see that, instead of just transferring the money out, the hacker purchased several expensive things that just happened to add up to the exact amount left in her bank accounts. That takes skill. I would have expected the bank to call her about it, because usually banks do that when you spend several thousand dollars in three minutes, buying multiple TVs in one transaction, that sort of thing. She could also call the bank and explain that she was hacked- oh wait shit never mind I forgot that would make sense. Or maybe that cop from earlier also runs the bank. Who knows.

Anyway, she finds an odd ip address. The hacker is a guy named kyle bristow, which raven tells avery. Avery goes “listen, one case of bank fraud doesn't require the whole cyber division.” no, avery, it just needed raven, and she solved it. The rest of the cyber-division can keep working on trying to find what this one guy who is, I cannot emphasize enough, innocent of everything except being a scumbag, might have done wrong. Avery agrees to send van der geek out, as long as raven stays to work on garth rizzo.

vdg's gun is out! He sees a blood trail leading from kyle bristow's front door, which is oddly even and symmetrical, but stops abruptly at the end of the walkway. He runs in, gun out, and sees that someone's murdered kyle before he got the chance. Rough day for vdg.

Kyle was murdered by being beaten to death with an ugly bookend he had on the mantelpiece. Vdg wants to give this case to the actual police, but avery says that raven proved he was the hacker (because it's not like the hacker could be his wife, because girls don't know computers) so there's a cyber element to this case so it belongs to the csis cyber. Kyle apparently had two phones, one of which was a burner phone with heartmate on it. Far be it from me to judge a cheater, but if you're going to cheat on your wife, why not use your real phone and hide the app somewhere? It's way less suspicious than just having a whole other cell phone. The heartmate phone has some very angry messages from tracy, with the positively incriminating messages of “DUDE. UMMMMMMM – you're MARRIED????? WHAT. THE. HELL.” and “You lying, cheating bastard. Is this some sort of sick game????? You're gonna pay for this. I could seriously kill you.” so they conclude that tracy is the murderer. Then we see tracy with blood all over her hands flashing back to the crime scene.

Intro at 11:26, although really we could stop here.

the definition of the week is cyberstalking. It's like stalking, but cyber! Thanks, csi, we needed that one spelled out for us.

raven and krummy are calling people up about the revenge porn. Krummy's entire interaction goes “I'm pretty sure this is your photo. Yeah. There's a naked photo of you online. No, this is not a prank. I'm an agent with the FBI. Hello? Ehhhhh well.” you got your typical-krummy-asshole-behaviour in my trying-to-deal-with-society's-objectification-of-women! Do they not have some sort of civilian-facing staff who could be doing this, instead of getting the best hackers in the world to waste time doing a job they're not qualified to do?

Raven is stressed because tracy, and krummy goes over to help, but raven takes the first opportunity to talk to literally anyone else. Unfortunately, that means van der geek, who tells her that tracy probably did a murder because she used to be an alcoholic. JUSTICE

for those who are interested in a sweet krummy cosplay, you can get his shirt here.

tracy leaves her motel room. How did she get a motel room? She has no money. Club guy is waiting outside, and follows her in his car after she turns her phone off. Once she's out of the area, he calls the police again to say that he found a murderer!

meanwhile, brody is explaining online dating to DB. Brody refers to the burner phone as kyle's sidepiece phone, and DB clarifies “side piece phone? You're saying that tracy was brody's mistress?” for any square old white dudes who may be watching. Kyle and tracy had been talking for a month, and she had been asking to meet for weeks. They then go over the messages we've already seen, because the episode needed padding. It turns out that kyle had also told tracy he was starting to fall in love with her, and DB goes “without ever meeting?” and brody goes “welcome to the world of online dating.” I mean, like, as someone who has dated online, it's a lot more likely to get unsolicited dick pics than love confessions, but hey, whatever, i've never been on heartmate. Nelson explains how tinder works, and then uses a girl as an example of how the app documents how often you cross paths, without noticing that the app also says she is literally 10 feet away from him. Db tells him to heart her, because apparently it's cool if the whole cybercave is a hotbed of fucking. Db is not into online dating, and tells brody that he's more into waiting for serendipity to strike. Brody asks if serendipity is an app. Get it? Because he's young! And they only know the apps and how to disappoint their elders!

raven is getting interviewed by the detective on tracy's case about how they found the murder weapon in tracy's hotel room, and she gets mad and says tracy was framed. She also lies about brody being in her apartment. Apparently they found tracy's fingerprints all over the crime scene. Raven leaves, and The detective then gets mad at avery and says that she needs to pass the case onto the police, because there's a clear conflict of interest on the cybersquad. We're supposed to think he's the bad guy for this. Avery says that it's clearly a cybercase, because it involves a computer, and that regular cops can't solve it. You know, it might help if there was another cybersquad, because apparently being on the cybersquad means that you will need to help solve cases that are directly related to your coworkers. Then again, I guess another holodeck that they never use would be a big investment.

The csis cyber legal guy tells avery that she needs to get on garth rizzo so he can close the case file, because if garth rizzo gets arrested for non-revenge-porn reasons, that means he can start lobbying for stronger revenge porn laws. That's… that's not how things work. You can still push for somcething to be illegal, even if the guy who does it hasn't done any other crimes. No wonder the legal guy is so chill about everything that happens in the cybercave, he doesn't actually know how laws work.

meanwhile, in the cybercave, we see that the only time that kyle's real phone and his burner phone were in the same place was at his house during the murder. They figure it out by tracking the data points on the heartmate app on both phones, despite the fact that kyle supposedly didn't have heartmate on his real phone. That, and the fact that he types in lowercase on heartmate and using proper grammar with his wife, mean that the phones were used by two different people. They have to prove it with science, though. DB yells “Microbials” and runs the fuck out of that joint.

meanwhile, raven is telling a woman that her photo has been used as revenge porn. “i took that photo years ago,” the woman says, as a photo comes up in which she looks exactly the same, down to having the same makeup and hairstyle. It looks like she took the photo hours ago. Anyway, revenge porn is still bad and raven promises to hack the devices.

db is using everyone's unique face-germs to prove that the burner phone hadn't been used by kyle. “microbials are a new identifier, as unique as fingerprints.” Wait, why can't they just use fingerprints? That's still a thing that exists. Anyway, the germs are different, so the burner phone wasn't kyle. Glad we finally solved that mystery that the viewers have known the answer to since the beginning of the episode. Avery concludes that all the data from the sidepiece phone was all “cyberstaged.” we have a word for that, avery. It's “staged.”

club guy, meanwhile, is calling tracy's mom, pretending to be a detective. He asks where tracy is, and her mom tells him that she sent her a money transfer. What a garth rizzo.

at the cybercave, they're narrowing down who the catfisher was. They refuse to use the word “catfish” for some reason. They use the data from heartmate instead of the regular cell phone location data for some reason. He was following tracy around a bunch, so they triangulate the heartmate connections that aren't with tracy. Avery looks at his fake profile to psychoanalyze him because she hasn't done that in a while. “he chose kyle's photo. A handsome man, because our target has low self-esteem about his own appearance.” or because you don't catfish with ugly people, you dingbat. Some rando drops by a tablet that says kyle didn't do the hack, but that the hack came from a computer at a frame shop. Looks like tracy was FRAMED YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH. nobody makes that joke and it’s upsetting.

at the frame shop, they confirm that the hack was made from the employee computer and that he used a photo of kyle that he had brought in to have framed. They could have compared the schedule that they got from the heartmate matches with the employee schedule and catch their guy, but this episode still has a solid 20 minutes or so.

Wait, why would you catfish with someone who lives in the same town? That's asking for your mark to go up to the person in real life if they see them around and try to start up a conversation. they do realize that, like, there is a whole internet with pictures of pretty people on it, right? Here's my human lie detector analysis- this guy is bad at his crimes.

raven is stressed about rizzo and tracy, and has some emotions like “what if i'm wrong about tracy?” this loses some impact because we know objectively nobody in the cybersquad is ever wrong.

Tracy drops by the convenience store to get the money her mother sent her, but the transfer was cancelled- sorry, cybercancelled. She only has ten dollars in her wallet, and asks how much a sim card is. What a coincidence, it's exactly ten dollars! When she goes out to put the new sim card in her phone, however, club guy puts on a baseball cap and goes to talk to her. Oh, no, he slashed her tires and she has no access to money and he's offering her a ride!

She gets in his car, and he starts getting weird about meeting at the club, so she turns on the phone with the new sim card.

Cut to Brody and Raven, who are hanging around the cybercave. A computer beeps nearby, because they've been tracking tracy's heartmate profile. As raven helpfully explains, heartmate will keep tracking you even if you get a new sim card! Wait, why would she spend her last ten dollars on a new sim card, then? That's not even something that really plays into the narrative. Anyway, Brody goes to call VDG, and raven gives him this look which I guess is supposed to be concern but comes off more as “wait, vdg? Do you want her to fucking die?”

club guy, meanwhile, is getting all weird. “so, how's your boyfriend? Must be nice to have a boyfriend? Someone you can trust? Because he isn't a LYING LYING SLUTFACE? Have you ever heard of the red pill?” luckily, the cops track her down and bring her in and she looks completely freaked despite the fact that, you know, she's at least 10% safer in prison. 20% if VDG isn't allowed in.

tracy gets interrogated by avery. She says she didn't kill kyle, but she doesn't remember anything because she blacked out and she keeps seeing images of his body on the ground and lots of blood, so, like, not the most watertight of cases. Avery tells her she was catfished, without ever using the words “catfished” because we can only use one new term this week and we needed cyberstalking spelled out to us. She pulls up a picture of all the guys who work at the frame show, and tracy points club guy out for us. Turns out his name is holden. She doesn't mention him going all serial killer on her, which I think is a relevant detail in a murder case. Turns out holden was catfishing for weeks to find out that tracy likes amy schumer, tupac, and watching tv in her Pjs. Tracy is completely shocked that a guy on the internet who she has never met and who didn't send any more pictures besides his propic is not who he says he is, because she grew up in an amish community or something, I guess.

avery tells the legal guy that tracy clearly didn't do it. It's clear that she was drugged and holden got a hotel room, took her unconscious body there without anyone noticing, and planted all the evidence! Wait, how did he get the hotel room? Most hotels won't let you use someone else's credit card to check in, and she was out of it. If she even had a credit card- she seemed pretty convinced that the ten dollars was her last. Did he get the room with his own credit card? How did that not come up in the investigation? He then sent the messages from tracy's phone after taking her from the scene, which can be easily verified as false given that heartmate tracked the time she was at kyle's house and presumably also tracks the time messages were sent. But, like, they're not going to do that for some reason. I guess that's giving up.

avery goes to ask nelson and krummy if they have any evidence that tracy didn't do it, and they don't, because she was at kyle's place in the window of his time of death. Avery yells enzymes and runs out with db because talking is for the pre-cyber era.

It turns out that db's got an experimental testing method to test the enzymes of kyle's muscles so that they can determine the exact time of death, and it's proven that tracy didn't do it. Avery then goes to db and is like “wait how experimental is this?” this was your idea, avery!

yay, tracy's free now. Raven comes out as an fbi agent to her, and she's chill about it. Tracy gets a new phone and laptop that are completely hackproof, and they give her a hotel room. Hurray!

meanwhile, van der geek is driving his daughter, michelle, home. He Is a bad enough dad that she asks “why didn't grandpa pick me up from school? Is he okay?” because it's completely unthinkable that vdg could do some gotdang parenting without his dad being dead. Vdg, being a good comforting person, tells her, “yeah, it's cool, he's just asleep.” she asks if they can get ice cream because it's friday and grandpa always got ice cream on fridays. Wait, what? The club night was explicitly on a friday. Then, when tracy met with raven, it was also a friday. The next day was when all the stuff after that happened- we know because VDG told raven that the murder had happened yesterday. And this is the day after that, which means it's sunday. Is michelle trying to trick her dad into getting ice cream? You're gonna be a great cybercriminal someday, kiddo! Hack time itself! Anyway vdg starts crying and michelle comforts him and it's very heartwarming, but we never know if they do get ice cream.

in comes the legal guy, to point out that the enzyme thing isn't going to fly in court. Yeah, if only they had an exact time for all of tracy's movements and proof that the messages were sent from her phone later. Anyway, avery's all “it's not recognized now, but it will be in the future! There's real science to back it up! You know I do things in an unconventional way!” he still gets mad because they let her out on this experimental evidence, instead of the real evidence that exists. Like, I can't stress this enough. There is evidence that, at the very least, she left the area way before sending an “alright i'm walking in the door now” text. That should at least shed some doubt on the story.

tracy is walking down the street, and gets a text on her new hack-proof phone about how she looks good in blue but she should be wearing an orange jumpsuit. Turns out holden found her anyway! She calls raven in distress, and raven is all “that's impossible!”she goes to krummy, who explains that holden was actually tracking raven, and he followed raven into the fbi, and then used a cell catcher to get tracy's number. That sounds wrong but whatever, i'm not a tech guy. He's got a fake heartmate profile by the name of brad, so raven calls tracy up to let her know not to contact anyone named brad and to just stay in the hotel room. I mean, like, tracy, don't pick anyone up on heartmate. Now is not the time. I don't care if you want to show off your swanky hotel room.

tracy is bad at listening. She opens up a new heartmate account by the name of “amy” and tells “brad” she wants to meet for a drink in 20 minutes. Wait, what? Why? Why would you do that? You're under police protection! You don't need that! Holden accepts, because, yeah, he's spent a month tracking this chick and has finally stalked her down to her hotel room, but might as well take a break to buy a shitty margarita for some rando heartmate girl at 3 pm. You've earned it, holden.

Tracy also steals a box cutter from the hotel lobby on her way out, which is fucking rude. Luckily, avery comes in to let them know that tracy never checked into the hotel, and raven opens up all the heartmate users' locations to figure out that tracy made a fake profile.

so they track down holden, which is easy enough and I don't know why they didn't do that earlier. Tracy's plan was to just walk, like, ten feet behind him and then stab him on the street, so raven stops her from stabbing him and holden is under arrest and tracy isn't going to jail for anything, even though she was just about to try and kill a guy despite being pretty much safe from him. Hurray, all the people we're supposed to like are gonna be okay!

Avery says “let's get tracy home” despite the fact that, you know, tracy doesn't actually have a home. Raven asks how avery found her, and it turns out that avery slipped one of db's tracking pacifiers in the pocket of her jeans without her noticing. Has whoever wrote this episode ever worn women's jeans? You're not getting a penny in those shitty pockets without being able to feel it.

in the elevator, avery talks to vdg about his dad and he says he's real sad. Then she goes to talk to db and chides him for doing the enzyme thing, despite the fact that it was her idea. Avery, you're a bad boss. They talk for a bit about how the infamous garth rizzo is still at large, so I guess that the season villain is gonna be a guy who has not yet done any crimes. Then db mentions he keeps getting push notifications on his phone. Turns out brody created a profile for DB on soulmatestop.com, against his express wishes! It's not even a free site, it's just on a free trial period! DB's username is “dollabill” and brody and krummy go “DOLLA BILL YOOOOO” and it's…. this show is bad, guys. They make comments about db's virility and he says he's not comfortable with the situation and the show fades out on this blatant workplace harassment. Catfishing is cool when you're a good guy!

So, the tumblr site crashed the first time I wrote this out, so I had to rewatch the episode to make the commentary again. And you know what? This is a boring-ass episode. No wonder it took me a year to get to it. At least it had some half-decent basic social commentary, wrt entitled dudes. I guess they had to get all the good good social justice shit out there before the next episode, because that's the black lives matter episode and, guys, it's not good. It's a bad time.

Logging off the cyberweb, see you soon.

#csi #csi cyber #csi cyber recap #csi cyber recaps #cybertime for cybercrime #cyber with bobbie

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paulbenedictblog · 4 years ago

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New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Usa today Mnuchin's testimony, Missouri execution, NFL's reopening plans: 5 things to know Tuesday

Usa today

Editors, USA TODAY Published 3: 44 a.m. ET May perchance well well 19, 2020 | Up up to now 7: 05 a.m. ET May perchance well well 19, 2020

Usa today Mnuchin, Powell to testify in entrance of Senate committee

The Senate Banking, Housing and City Affairs Committee will doubtless be retaining a digital hearing Tuesday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve Machine, location to testify. One peril obvious to get back up is why the Treasury Department and the Fed own loaned out little of the $500 billion designated in a spending invoice for economic relief from the coronavirus, in addition-known by the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Commission. The commission reported Monday that none of the $46 billion location apart for loans to airways and diversified businesses excessive to national security has been disbursed. Of the closing $454 billion, the commission stumbled on the Treasury had disbursed simplest $37.5 billion to the Fed's Secondary Market Company Credit Facility for supporting company bonds. The $500 billion is supposed for loans to "eligible businesses, states, and municipalities connected to losses incurred as a outcomes of coronavirus."

Powell speaks out: Recovery from coronavirus disaster might additionally originate up by summer, is regularly slack

Will global traipse resume this year?Mnuchin says it is 'too hard to reveal'

US is 'printing' money to again place the economy from the COVID-19 disaster: Nevertheless how some distance can that stride?

Where does the U.S. stimulus money come from? Right here is how the Federal Reserve is saving the economy from the COVID-19 disaster. USA TODAY

Ranking to hear? Attempt the 5 issues podcast below and subscribe with out cost on Apple Podcasts:

Usa today Pause in U.S. executions doubtless to terminate in Missouri

The stop in U.S. executions throughout the coronavirus pandemic doubtless will terminate Tuesday with the scheduled lethal injection of a Missouri inmate for slaying an aged lady virtually three a long time previously. Walter Barton, 64, might be the main particular person completed in the U.S. since Nathaniel Woods modified into once keep to dying in Alabama on March 5. Rapidly after that, some states, including Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, postponed executions after attorneys argued that pandemic-connected closures steer clear off them from securing data or conducting interviews for clemency petitions and court appeals. Barton modified into once convicted of the October 1991 rupture of Gladys Kuehler in Ozark, Missouri. She had been overwhelmed, sexually assaulted and stabbed extra than 50 conditions. Barton has prolonged acknowledged he modified into once harmless, and his case has been tied up for years as a result of appeals, mistrials and two overturned convictions. Barton's authorized authentic has asked for a take care of from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Federal prisons: Chief defends company coronavirus response as infections, deaths mount

Investigation: Despite urgency, few federal prisoners released below coronavirus emergency insurance policies

Old protection: Federal jail officers repeat device-wide lockdown in reveal to restrict coronavirus unfold

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Usa today NFL groups can originate up opening amenities — with conditions

The NFL is taking one in every of its first steps towards increasing on-bellow score entry to amid the coronavirus pandemic. Groups can originate up reopening amenities on Tuesday "if they're popular to enact so below governing bellow and native guidelines," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced on Friday. The edict will allow no extra than 50% of workers, now not exceeding 75 participants, to be at a membership situation at anybody point. The reopened amenities is now not going to, nonetheless, be accessible to coaches. Essentially the most attention-grabbing gamers who will doubtless be allowed to enter are these undergoing scientific therapy or rehabilitation.

Interview guidelines: NFL expands Rooney Rule requirements on interviews, per enlighten

Column from Jarrett Bell: NFL incentive opinion for minority hiring is love yet every other form of Hail Mary cross

States' moves: New York, California, Texas getting closer to hosting authentic sports actions, doubtless by terminate of May perchance well well

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Usa today Harry and Meghan own an excellent time their second marriage ceremony anniversary

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan of Sussex will own an excellent time their second marriage ceremony anniversary Tuesday. As USA TODAY reporter Maria Puente notes, "It needs to be acknowledged that few would own predicted on that euphoric day of their nuptials at Windsor Castle that they would be residing two years later in pandemic quarantine in Los Angeles..." The royal couple welcomed their son Archie into the arena in 2019, but they're locked in bitter factual wrangling with British tabloids while now residing in the paparazzi capital, looking for additional "privacy." They insecure the planet after they announced they were "stepping again" from their roles as working royals and now are having a compare to originate up an honest lifestyles. This wild scuttle has made followers surprise if a 1,000-year-ragged monarchy might adapt to the techniques of an American actress. Or will own to Meghan had been greater prepared to take care of the customs of the dynasty that counts survival above all else?

Ecstatic birthday, Archie! Harry and Meghan's toddler turns 1 in LA

Give a settle on to: Prince William shouts out brother Harry in commence letter to anti-bullying organization

Duchess vows to press case: Meghan loses opening factual battle towards British tabloid

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle well-known their son Archie's first birthday by releasing a video of Meghan reading the traditional "Duck! Rabbit!" to him. Wochit

Usa today Excessive college, college seniors can score free Krispy Kreme doughnuts

Donut miss this opportunity, Class of 2020! Krispy Kreme is offering a free field of a dozen doughnuts to high college and college seniors. The offer is simplest accessible on May perchance well well 19. To declare the treats, high college or college seniors have to head to a Krispy Kreme store wearing their cap and costume with a 2020 tassel. If students don’t own a cap and costume, they own the likelihood to wear class of 2020 apparel. College students can additionally carry their 2020 pupil ID displaying senior location or their commencement announcement and matching ID.

Tasty treat at dwelling: Krispy Kreme launched 'national doughnut beginning' Feb. 29

American citizens are 'craving consolation food' during coronavirus: Cereal, snacks, baked goods flit off cabinets

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Contributing: Connected Press

Be taught or Part this legend: https://www.usatoday.com/legend/news/2020/05/19/mnuchins-testimony-missouri-execution-5-issues-know-tuesday/5211295002/

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freshleadprovider · 5 years ago

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Google Maps vs Apple Maps: Who Will Reign Supreme?

It’s been a big couple of weeks for map apps. Who knew getting from A to B could be so thrilling? On January 30, 2020, Apple announced a whole host of new features for its Maps offering — and if that wasn’t quite enough action to satisfy your need for direction-providing services, soon after, Google unveiled a shiny new look and plans for its very own new features. I struggle to believe there was ever a time I survived without Google maps. https://t.co/2arbHAb3mr — (Stephanie) Slade (@sladesr) February 6, 2020 But when it comes to being crowned King of the Maps, who will take the throne? Read on to learn about Google Maps’ new celebratory features, and find out how Apple Maps is striving for feature parity. What’s new with Google Maps? In anticipation of its 15th birthday on February 6th, (sidenote: how much cake do you think is being eaten at Google HQ right now? ), Google announced that it was refreshing its well-used Maps app, as well as introducing a host of new features and bringing existing elements to the fore. Arguably the thing you’d notice first is the app’s new logo. Once a simple map, the app icon is now a colorful pin. Most likely this change is designed to reflect the app’s transition from mere directions-provider to one-stop-shop for all your favorite places. Going beyond the logo change, users can expect to see a bunch of existing app features brought to the fore. Navigation items such as ‘Contribute’, which were once hidden away behind multiple menu items, will now be front and center. According to Google, the new display will look a little something like this: Source: Google With CTAs like ‘Contribute’ taking center stage, users will be encouraged more than ever to share feedback with restaurants, plumbers, and other local businesses they choose to visit. As predicted by several members of the local SEO community, this feature supports the idea that Local Guides will continue to gain prominence, and Google will increasingly encourage users to leave reviews. Additionally, Google has shared plans to introduce several never-before-seen features. Among the new features will be a new function for Live View. Now users who don’t want step-by-step directions can get general guidance and reassurance so they know they’re going in the right direction, without having to hear “Turn Left” (or similar) every few minutes. Source: Google From March onwards, we can also expect to see new features relating to public transport, something I’m sure many day-to-day users and frequent commuters will view as a godsend. Among the new features, users will be able to see how many coaches a train has, the temperature on board, and whether or not there’s security on the service. There will even be an option to tell Google if a train has a designated women’s area. Once again Google will be encouraging users to submit their own content, meaning features like these will rely on a user’s ability to submit data reliably. Google already provides crowdsourced information about how busy train services tend to be, and using the same sources for these new details should ensure their credibility and freshness. What’s new with Apple Maps? After all that excitement, you might be wondering “How the heck can Apple top all of that Maps-y goodness?” Well, interestingly enough, the tech provider hasn’t tried to top Google at all. Instead, the new features aim to create parity between second-place Apple and front runner Google, making the former option more enticing and prompting users to transition. This should also help to bring Apple’s devoted followers, some previously reluctant to make the move, back into the Apple fold. Source: Apple Announced at the end of January, Apple’s updates are already in full swing in the US, while Europe can expect to see changes roll out in the next few weeks and months. As Google continues to innovate, Apple is playing catch-up, releasing several Google Maps-adjacent features such as: Look Around: HD 360-degree street-level photography similar to Google’s Street View feature Collections: Shareable lists of your favorite places Favorite locations: Navigate quickly and easily to home, gym, work, or school Real-time transit information with live departure and arrival times Shareable ETAs to send to friends, family, or coworkers Flight status: Use Siri to scan your emails, apps, and calendar for relevant flight info and get updates on delays and more Indoor maps of airports and malls: See what level you’re on, where the restrooms are located, and what stores or restaurants are open Siri natural language guidance provides more natural-sounding directions and guidance Flyover allows you to explore more than 350 cities from above with photo-realistic, immersive 3D views Source: Apple While those features may sound tempting (maybe not quite tempting enough to make the switch, but pretty close nonetheless) Apple has provided details on one “breakout” feature that could see users trading allegiances. It’s the word on everyone’s lips, the reason the likes of DuckDuckGo are paddling back into relevance, and something we should all be concerned about in this day and age: privacy. At the end of Apple Maps’ press release, the company offers further information on what their new app means for users’ data collection. Apple is committed to keeping personal information safe and has built privacy into the core of Maps. With Maps, no sign-in is required and it is not connected to an Apple ID in any way. Personalised features, such as suggesting departure time to make the next appointment, are created using on-device intelligence. Any data collected by Maps while using the app, like search terms, navigation routing and traffic information, is associated with random identifiers that continually reset to ensure the best possible experience and to improve Maps. Maps goes even further to obscure a user’s location on Apple servers when searching for a location through a process called “fuzzing.” Maps converts the precise location where the search originated to a less-exact one after 24 hours and does not retain a history of what has been searched or where a user has been. The ability to use Apple Maps ‘anonymously’ (unlike Google Maps’ offering of incognito mode, where users are still required to log in) could certainly persuade some users to make the switch. Don’t love Apple sitting on another tech domain, but hell if I’m going to give my travel and location data to Google. Apple Maps used to suck, but now it’s actually good (in the US). If its been a while since you tried, you should give it another shot. https://t.co/TkAaCktjl6 — DHH (@dhh) January 30, 2020 What does this all mean for local SEO? For local SEOs, these updates don’t really mean a great deal. Sure, there are some exciting features you might want to try out and keep tabs on, but there really are only two key takeaways from this whole thing: Reviews will gain more prominence on Google Maps with the centering of the ‘Contribute’ tab (but hey, you’re already managing your online reputation anyway, right?) It’s still important to optimize for Yelp; after all, Apple Maps uses it to populate listings, reviews, and even listicles. So if you’re not already on there, it’s time to sign on up and get optimizing. With feature parity beginning to emerge, if you don’t have a healthy, active presence on Yelp you could be missing out on a great deal of the market share. Aside from those two things, these updates shouldn’t affect local businesses in any serious way. There’s been very little chat on Twitter or Local Search Forum about the updates, so that alone should tell you something about how important these updates are for the local SEO community. Who will prevail as King of the Maps? While it may be growing wider, it looks like the Apple versus Google divide is still leaning in favor of the world’s best-loved maps provider. Google Maps: lets get you home the safest quickest way possible. Apple Maps: I know a short cut down this dark ass ally. Take it all the time. Yeah the streetlights are always out and that guy was just taking a shit in the street but what’s life without a little risk, ya know? — Candice Clifford (@CandiceJoe) January 31, 2020 I have had both on at same time. to give me directions on car play and am continuously surprised how much better and accurate google maps is over Apple Maps. — Noah Learner (@noahlearner) February 3, 2020 When it comes to getting from A to B, which Maps app will you be opting for in the future? Has your opinion been swayed by any of these recent update announcements? We want to know who you’re elevating to king of the castle — pop us a comment below and let us know who’s got your vote. Has Apple done enough to rise to nobility? Regardless of which service you opt for, we wish you the best of luck in getting to your location safely, quickly, and enjoyably. Happy mapping, friends! The post Google Maps vs Apple Maps: Who Will Reign Supreme? appeared first on BrightLocal. https://probdm.com/site/MTA0MTI

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wikitopx · 5 years ago

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Venture into the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second-largest city, for a trip into a glimmering metropolis filled with world-class attractions, vibrant nightlife venues and exclusive shopping destinations that range from upscale to unique.

Home to cosmopolitan delights coupled with Southern hospitality, Tulsa is a dynamic city known for a variety of bustling urban districts, exceptional dining, and unsurpassed love of the arts and one of the largest collections of art deco architecture in the nation. Immerse yourself in the rich cultural legacy of Tulsa’s renowned performing arts venues, and tap your toes in the birthplace of Western Swing while letting the sights and sounds of Tulsa tempt you into enchanting travels around the city.

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1. The Gathering Place — Tulsa River Parks

Visit the Gathering Place, and discover why USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice named it America's Best New Attraction in 2019! At this Tulsa River Parks destinations, guests can choose from a variety of outdoor explorations, from a walk through the Four Seasons Garden to a kayak adventure at the ONEOK Boathouse.

All ages are sure to have a blast at the Chapman Adventure Playground, with creative structures shaped like animals, castles, and fruits.

The Gathering Place also offers plenty of fitness activities like the SemGroup Sports Courts, skate park, Midland Valley & River Parks Trails, as well as an indoor cafe, outdoor patio and QuikTrip Great Lawn for live entertainment.

Offering diverse recreation for pedestrians, cyclists, fishermen, disc-golfers and more, the full Tulsa River Parks system is an outdoor retreat along the banks of the winding Arkansas River.

Bring your walking shoes for over 26 miles of asphalt trails, or rent a mountain bike, hybrid or tandem bicycle from Tom’s River trail Bicycles and hit the trails while soaking in plenty of suns and fresh air.

Descend into a slice of Oklahoma wilderness without leaving Tulsa by visiting the parks’ Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area, which features 300 acres of dirt trails perfect for hiking, mountain biking or horseback riding. This 300-acre area of heavily-wooded, riverfront property also provides picture-perfect views of the downtown Tulsa skyline.

2. Blue Dome Entertainment District

With nine square blocks filled to the brim with trendy eateries, local pubs, indie boutiques and some of the best nightlife venues around, the Blue Dome Entertainment District is quickly becoming the place to be in Tulsa.

Anchored by the famed Blue Dome, a revitalized 1920s-era Gulf Oil station, this downtown Tulsa district is serving up custom cocktails, stylish food and live entertainment any day of the week, all year long.

Sashay your way into this hub of Tulsa’s nightlife scene, and listen as the hottest local bands turn up the amp and crank up the heat. Treat yourself to a stout Guinness draft at Arnie’s Bar or a rooftop margarita at El Guapo’s Mexican Cantina.

Pair German cuisine with your favorite beer on tap at Fassler Hall, while favorite locales like Juniper Restaurant & Martini Lounge treat customers to lip-smacking entrees, smooth drinks and plenty of creative, Tulsa-grown charm.

Dilly Diner serves up breakfast food favorites, while Andolini's Sliced creates five styles of pizza to satisfy cravings across the board.

3. Utica Square

For an elegant dose of retail therapy, there is no shopping destination more fully equipped to fulfill your desires than Utica Square in Tulsa.

Designed to satisfy the cravings of fashion fanatics and home décor fans everywhere, Utica Square features a wide range of upscale boutiques, specialty shops, and time-honored department stores waiting to deck you out in designer duds, swanky shoes and posh purses.

Let your designer dreams run wild in such industry heavyweights as Saks Fifth Avenue, Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, and Coach. When the weight of filled shopping bags awakens your hunger, travel along the manicured outdoor avenues of Utica Square to one of the square’s exceptional bistros.

Relax with a cup of freshly brewed Topeca coffee at Queenie’s, whet your appetite with stuffed Italian bread and crab cakes at The Wild Fork, or indulge your palate with French cuisine at the Stonehorse Café.

At the end of the day, nothing says relaxation after a long day of shopping quite like a hot stone massage or soothing pedicure at Ihloff Salon & Day Spa.

4. Catch a Live Show

Recognized as home to one of the top 10 music scenes in the nation, Tulsa’s live music and historic entertainment venues know how to put on a show. Nab a ticket to the iconic Cain’s Ballroom and enjoy the energetic sounds of some of the biggest names in music today.

Known as a top performance venue in Tulsa since the 1920s, the historic Cain’s Ballroom has played host to everything from Western swing to rock-n-roll, new wave, and post-punk.

Tulsa’s Brady Theater, a 2,800-seat former vaudeville house, attracts diverse acts such as U2, Eddie Vedder, Deftones, and Tenacious D, while the Tulsa Performing Arts Center interjects a level of sophistication with heart-stirring performances by the Tulsa Ballet, arts groups, and international talent.

Local artists grace the stage at Guthrie Green, while indie artists often stop through at The Vanguard. For everything from major concerts to family ice shows, grab a seat at the colossal BOK Center and hold on tight for a night of unsurpassed live entertainment.

5. Gilcrease Museum

[caption id="attachment_703735" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] [/caption]

Enter a world filled with American Indian legend, frontier lore and the romance of the American West at the nationally celebrated Gilcrease Museum, only a short 10 minutes from downtown Tulsa, and celebrate the unique American experience with one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Western art, artifacts, historical manuscripts, antique maps and more.

Visitors to the Gilcrease are encouraged to wander through vast galleries filled with an astonishing 10,000 works of art including 18 of Frederic Remington’s 22 bronze sculptures, large-scale masterpieces of American landscape and an unrivaled anthropology collection.

Discover the fascinating history of the Americas with the aid of interactive collections, and head outdoors to stroll through the museum’s 11 themed gardens.

6. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Get in on the action at Tulsa’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and enjoy the exhilaration of a jackpot-winning slot machine, the thrill of hitting 21 at a blackjack table, or the excitement of pulling a royal flush in front of poker’s greatest players.

Spend time admiring the rock-n-roll memorabilia displayed around the 110,000 sq. ft. casino floor, and celebrate your winnings in style with a sleek VIP suite within the 19-story Hard Rock Hotel tower.

Let your inner rock star shine with a night on the tiles at Riffs, the Hard Rock’s premier nightlife venue. Dance to the sounds of a live band performing on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and enjoy cocktails and drinks with their premium service.

Don’t miss a chance at hitting a hole-in-one on the back nine of the illustrious Cherokee Hills Golf Club located at the casino, and check out a variety of dining options, ranging from homestyle favorites at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill and the Wild Potato Buffet, to fine dining coupled with outstanding views of the Tulsa skyline at McGill’s on 19.

7. Tulsa Zoo

Gather the kids and the rest of the family to visit the highest rated Tulsa Zoo and enjoy African lions, Australian kangaroos, jaguars of South America and Malayan tigers on 84 acres of wildland.

Take a ride around the zoo onboard the popular Safari Train and visit a variety of unforgettable exhibits that include state-of-the-art audio and visual displays, walk-through caves, interactive petting areas, sensory gardens, a recreated Massai village, pre-Colombian ruins and much more.

Don’t leave the Tulsa Zoo without seeing the Giraffe Experience, Chimpanzee Connection, the African penguin exhibit, Lost Kingdom or the Helmerich Sea Lion Cove, which invites visitors to view these playful creatures from an underwater viewing station.

8. Philbrook Museum of Art

Walk onto the lush grounds of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa for a taste of 1920s refinement and opulence. This renowned art museum is located in the 72-room old Tulsa oil villa, Waite Phillips.

The Philbrook Italianate villa is now considered the preeminent art center of Tulsa and welcomes visitors year-round to view its stunning permanent collections, delightful art exhibits, and flawless garden landscapes.

After touring the art pieces within the museum, step out onto the black terrace to see the symmetrical, living design work of the gardens, inspired by French, English, and Italian designs.

The gardens, which also include dramatic water features, reflecting pools, elaborate wrought-iron niches, and the Westby Sculpture Walk, are scattered across 23 acres only three miles from downtown. Choose free audio tours for an extra treat during your visit.

9. Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium

Let your imagination take you on a journey of epic proportions at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium, where Oklahoma’s rich aerospace heritage is brought to life with vintage airplane displays, interactive exhibits, and a state-of-the-art planetarium.

The 3D, 50-foot planetarium dome will take you from the skies above Tulsa to alien galaxies 70 million light-years away, all while whipping past stars, planets, and asteroids on your voyage skyward and beyond.

Sit in a cockpit of an F-14A Tomcat fighter jet while humming the theme to Top Gun, test your flight skills in the pilot’s seat with realistic simulators, fly a scale airplane through a wind tunnel and maneuver robotic arms like astronauts in space. The possibilities for fun and adventure are endless at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum.

10. Local Shopping Havens

Take home the perfect Oklahoma gift item at one of Tulsa’s well-known specialty shops. Spend time exploring the many businesses at The Boxyard, a shipping crate shopping development, from Okie Dokie, an indie boutique with Tulsa pride tees and Oklahoma-themed gifts, to small-batch ice cream made at Rose Rock Microcreamery.

Travel a short distance to Tulsa’s Brookside District and visit Ida Red General Store for Cain’s Ballroom merchandise, Tulsa t-shirts, postcards, retro candy, and one-of-a-kind Oklahoma items.

Plan your visit to Ida Red’s just right and you’ll be rewarded with live music or a local art event. Found within the Deco District, Okie Crowe whips up batches of handmade soaps, sold among Oklahoma-made jewelry and gourmet MIO foods.

More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Tampa

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-tulsa-703714.html

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rolandfontana · 5 years ago

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‘Where’s My ID?’ Prosecutors Get a Harsh Lesson in Post-Prison Life

District Attorneys are accustomed to recommending prison sentences as part of their job.

But in an unusual exercise this month, they learned what it felt like to reenter society after serving time behind bars.

The “Reentry Simulation” that took place at the Fortune Society facility in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, was intended to be a hands-on lesson in the challenges of reforming a system that many say has been distorted by the “punishment culture” of American prosecutors.

It was the final event in the three-year-long series of “Executive Session” meetings organized by the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution (IIP) at John Jay College, aimed at reimagining the role of prosecutors.

Since 2016, the Executive Session has been bringing together the foremost experts in the field of prosecution—elected prosecutors, legal professionals, scholars, policy experts, and individuals directly impacted by the justice system—for a series of facilitated conversations to develop guidance for high-level culture change.

The event, hosted by the Fortune Society, which provides a range of services to New Yorkers coming home from prison, took place in the community room of “the Castle,” as the society’s Harlem location is commonly known.

And this time the tables were turned. About a dozen prosecutors and just as many criminal justice experts faced formerly incarcerated individuals seated at tables around the room labeled Food Bank, Probation, ID Center, Transportation, Treatment, and others.

Each participant was assigned an assumed identity, which included facts relevant to the challenges of re-entry: what crime she had committed, how much money she had, what documents she possessed, and where she was expected to report each week.

The participants were given four “weeks”—each week lasting approximately 15 minutes—to accomplish all the tasks facing a person released after a long stay behind bars.

The rules were simple: Go to every place assigned to you in a week. Pay a bus ticket each time you reach a new station. Do not violate your probation.

It didn’t take long for prosecutors to come face to face with the challenges faced by thousands of assuming the roles of returning citizens each year.

It was no coincidence that the simulation occurred following the release of the tenth—and possibly the most ambitious— paper produced by the Executive Session.

The paper, co-authored by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., Fortune Society Executive Director Stan Richards, and Courtney Oliva, executive director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University, advocated a fundamental rethinking of the prosecutor’s job.

“The time has come for prosecutors to expand the notion of what their jobs entail,” said the paper, which called on prosecutors to expand their frame of reference to include the “back end” of the system—what happens to the individuals sent to prison who are faced with navigating the journey back to normal society.

“Public safety and community betterment are not served by ignoring what happens to people after a prosecutor obtains a sentence.”

The first step in the process of going home means dealing with an opaque and often unfriendly bureaucracy.

Within minutes, the room in the Castle echoed with complaints: “I don’t know where to begin!”

“Does anyone know where to get an ID?”

Nearly immediately, the participants were not just stumbling through; they were failing.

The formerly incarcerated staffers at each station used their own experiences to provide real-world answers to the participants when they approached each station during the accelerated-time exercise.

Accomplishing anything without an ID was almost impossible and, as is often the case in real life, a prison release ID did not do the trick.

Too Tense to Eat

The participants could not get enough bus tickets to get where they needed to go because they had no money. Almost everyone forgot to eat in the stress of checking all the right boxes.

At the conclusion of the 15-minute-long first “week” of the exercise, the participants were told to return “home” to the center of the room to discuss their first week out of prison.

A “wild card” awaited every participant at her seat: phones had been stolen, late fees were owed, medical attention was needed, or many other typical life experiences faced by those returning home.

The frustration, disappointment, and shock amongst the participants were tangible.

The DAs complained they had tried hard to complete the assigned tasks, but it felt as if the system was working against them.

“Everyone who knows me knows I am a perfectionist. I like to check all the boxes of my life,” said one. “When I began this simulation, I believed this exercise would be no different.

“Within minutes, I realized it is just impossible. And we are only going across the room. I cannot imagine how difficult it actually must be to complete these tasks in real life; but I do know we have to do something to change it.”

The Castle residents didn’t respond by saying “Welcome to our world.” But they might as well have.

In the review of the first 15-minute exercise, the residents shared stories about the real-life challenges they had faced during reentry, including destroyed social security cards, lost IDs, homelessness, missed probation meetings, and substance use relapse.

The following three “weeks” were no better. Ten people waited in a line to replace their prison IDs with state IDs—only to be turned away when it was discovered that they didn’t have their birth certificates and social security cards.

‘Arrested’ for Missing Probation

Those who missed probation the first week were “arrested” on the spot when they reported to probation during the second week.

Participants without a place to live were told they could not be considered homeless because they had previously had a place to live: prison. If participants had any money at all, the food bank could not help them.

No one completed all the tasks they were supposed to complete.

The takeaway of the exercise was clear.

Only if prosecutors take a more active role in reentry, including by easing the struggle of getting an ID, declining to enforce technical parole violations, and encouraging a focus on the success of people coming home to the community, will the system start to fulfill its rehabilitative functions, rather than simply be an instrument of punishment and despair.

“You take for granted the simple things like having an ID or being able to afford transportation,” said another DA participant. (All the participants were granted anonymity in order to speak freely.)

“Because of that, we’ve forgotten just how crucial those things are to just surviving. We have a responsibility to not forget these privileges and ensure that those just released have the help they need.”

Shonna Carlson

Another prosecutor captured the hope which the simulation—and the Executive Session itself—was intended to embody.

“This exercise,” he said, “forced me to think about all the ways I can bring changes to my jurisdiction.

“Now that I am more aware of the intense struggles (that returning citizens face), I can take active steps to improve the reentry process, and listen to what my community needs.”

Shonna Carlson is a candidate for J.D. at the CUNY School, and a candidate for an MA in forensic psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

‘Where’s My ID?’ Prosecutors Get a Harsh Lesson in Post-Prison Life syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

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kgbinwanderland · 5 years ago

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This blog post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my Disclaimer.

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Are you looking for a fun activity to do while in Osaka? Why not book a Japanese cooking class hosted by a local using AirKitchen.me. For more ideas, check out my list of top 30+ activities to do when in Osaka!

First off, let me apologize for being MIA for the last couple of months. I’ve been meaning to finish off my long list of blog posts but never seemed to have the time to do so. Recently, I’m feeling a little bit more motivated in keeping up with my blog work. So here’s to hoping that I get my usual rhythm back soon!

For today, let me share with you our Airbnb experience in Osaka. One of my goals for this blog is to tell stories of real traveler experiences, and that includes reviews and recommendations of tour providers and accommodations. Whenever my family and I travel, Airbnb is our default choice of accommodation. We prefer taking advantage of the extra space, kitchen amenities, and the feeling of living like a ‘local’.

So naturally, on our most recent visit to one of our favorite cities in the world, we automatically turned to Airbnb for apartment options. I was a little concerned at first that we would not be able to find that many choices since Japan enforced stricter regulations for apartments and B&B rentals. Sometime last year (2018), Airbnb removed 80% of their Japan apartment listings to comply with the new regulation and hundreds of tourists were left scrambling to find new accommodations. If your trip is still a few months away, you can still easily find a suitable hotel or apartment that would fit your requirements. But if your trip starts tomorrow? Good luck with finding a good and reasonably priced hotel.

Gamo 4-Chome Intersection (Subway Station)

Fortunately, we found an apartment that not only fits our housing requirements but is also a registered rental. It is a three-story apartment in the Joto Ward, a little outside the main business and entertainment area of Osaka.

We arrived at Kansai International Airport around 7:00 PM local time and was supposed to meet our host Yoko at the Kyobashi Station around 9:30 PM but because of my visa-related woes, we were delayed for about 2 hours at the airport. When I was finally allowed in with my “Special Landing Permission” visa, my family rushed over to the train ticket office and bought tickets for the next train going to Kyobashi Station. Fortunately for us, the Kansai Airport Rapid Service goes straight to Kyobashi Station (with a few stops along the way), which meant we could rest while en route. The train ride is about an hour and 10 minutes.

We arrived at the Kyobashi Station past 11:00 PM and instead of meeting Yoko outside the station, she sent me instead of a photo collage of the directions going to the apartment. It was too blurry for me to use but fortunately, Kyobashi Station has free wifi access so, after a quick search on Google Maps, we were finally on our way to the apartment.

According to the listing, it should be about a 10-minute walk but it took us twice the time to get there, probably because we were already tired and hungry. We finally made it to the apartment and met Yoko. She briefly showed us the apartment then had to leave immediately to catch the last train.

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Facade of the apartment

Beautiful flowers in front of a home

Self-service laundry in the area

MY RATING

Location: (4/5)

If it is your first time in Osaka and your itinerary is jam-packed, you’ll probably find this apartment a little inconvenient location-wise. It is 7-8 stations away from Shinsaibashi, which is where most of the tourist action is. Honestly, it’s not that bad. The apartment is located in between (within a 10-minute walk) two train stations. The Osaka Metro Imazatosuji Line from the Gamo 4-Chome Station on the east side and the JR Osaka Loop Line/JR Kyobashi and Keihan Kyobashi on the west side allow easy access to major tourist spots in the city. The Osaka Metro Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line passes by both Gamo 4-Chome and Kyobashi as well, and this train can take you directly to Shinsaibashi. It is also a convenient starting point if you want to take a day trip to Nara or Kyoto from Osaka.

You’ll pass by several convenience stores when coming from either the JR or subway station and several small restaurants are in the vicinity of the apartment. There’s also Edion Kyobashi, a big grocery store halfway through the apartment and Kyobashi Station, which has a great selection of hot and ready-to-eat food items.

Kyobashi Station is also well-known among locals as an after-work hot spot. The narrow alleys surrounding the station are lined up with izakayas, sushi restaurants, and bars. Occasionally, you’ll find a local performer singing or playing an instrument on the street. Located above the station is the Keihan Mall for your usual shopping needs. And just south of the station is Osaka’s must-see tourist spot, the Osaka Castle Park. So really, just the Kyobashi Station alone is worth visiting.

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Airport Express going to Kyobashi Station

Quiet neighborhood

Cleanliness: (5/5)

As expected, the whole apartment upholds the Japanese standard of tidiness. It is super clean and well-maintained! And because we are in a country where they take the segregation of garbage and recycling seriously, it is only right that we follow their systematic approach (and maybe try to adapt this in our own homes) when it comes to garbage disposal. Yoko left intructions as to what to do and where to put our plastic bottles, etc.

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Second-floor bath

Third-floor toilet

Stairs to the Ground Floor

Amenities: (5/5)

The apartment is equipped with all basic amenities, plus some more. Toiletries and towels are provided. The kitchen has everything you need, but we did not get to use any of that except for the electric kettle. Why would you want to cook when there’s yummy and very affordable Japanese food at every corner? The only thing missing is an electric dryer for when you want to wash your clothes. It’s not something that we needed, but it’s convenient to have especially when you are staying for more than a week. Since the apartment is in a residential area, there’s a laundromat a couple of blocks away. So that makes it an option too!

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Living Room

Dining and Kitchen

Family-Friendly: (4/5)

I’m knocking off a point for accessibility. The stairs were too narrow and it can be challenging to haul your luggage up the stairs. We ended up leaving our luggage on the second floor, even though our bedrooms were on the third floor. But honestly, it is to be expected that a Japanese home is on the smaller side and it makes sense that this apartment was built with a narrow staircase to save space. To be fair, the house is larger than the standard Japanese housing and there is ample space for a big group.

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Vending Machines are in every corner of Japan and it’s not limited to just beverages. Some machines dispense ice cream, hot meals, snacks, and even secret packages that contain random items.

Alcoholic drinks like beers are also commonly sold at vending machines and more or less the same price if you buy it from a convenience store. If you are wondering if there is an ID check, there is! A driver’s license is inserted to verify the buyer’s age. Some people who have tried it though said that the ID verification doesn’t always work on some machines.

Airbnb Host: (5/5)

Yoko is very nice and accommodating. It was easy to communicate and message her whenever we have a question. She also lent us a pocket wifi that we can bring with us when we’re out. She’s the best!

Value for Money: (5/5)

My family and I love the Dotonbori/Shinsaibashi area and it may have been wise for us to just stay in that area considering that we all wanted to eat out, shop, and stroll at night. But again, we wanted all the comforts of living in a home and this apartment fits our requirements. It is a three-bedroom house with 2.5 baths so for 5 adults and a pre-schooler, it was just the perfect size. The rates were very reasonable too. All the other Airbnbs we had considered were almost double the rates per night.

Overall Experience: (5/5)

We had a pleasant experience at this Airbnb and would consider booking it in the future, especially if we plan on taking a day trip outside Osaka. Its close proximity to a JR line and a subway station made it very easy for us to explore the city. We had everything that we needed and were very comfortable during our 6-day stay.

Earlier on I’ve mentioned that Japan imposed stricter regulations and required Airbnb rentals to register their unit with the local government. Although Airbnb has been diligently removing all unauthorized rentals in their platform, it’s still wise to verify that you are renting from an authorized host or else you could end up without accommodation. We all know that last-minute reservations are very expensive, so why take that risk and ruin your vacation? To know whether the rental that you are interested in is compliant, check if their listing has their license or registration number. It is important that you book from a registered host to protect yourself as a guest in the event that there’s a dispute or problem with your reservation. Registered Airbnbs are required by the local government to request a copy of your passport and record your basic information, so don’t be surprised if your host asks for this information!

Have you ever used Airbnb before? Get $25 off your first Airbnb rental by clicking here.

Like this post? Need it for later? Pin this!

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Osaka Airbnb Review: Joto-ku Apartment 3bd/2.5ba This blog post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my Disclaimer. Booking.com Are you looking for a fun activity to do while in Osaka?

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rou5a-blog · 6 years ago

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Djerba was a curious start of a road trip around Tunisia, it turned out it is a rich little island with a lot of tradition, it was also pretty raw. And it was puzzling how intact it remained despite the flood of tourists who come in the summer to relax.

Accessing Djerba

While planning the itinerary the goal was to minimize driving time and win a day. The trip theoretically would take 7 hours on GPS which meant 12 in reality. That’s mainly because of the lack of real highways, most of the roads connecting the cities are bidirectional roads with only two lanes with no separators, means you are subject to rush hours, dangers like people or animals crossing the street or other drivers trying to pass the traffic ahead, the roads are not straight either, there are many curves except on Douz-Tozeur road which also meant we had to avoid night driving.

Anyhow, we decided to book a local flight, it was not fun to drive in the capital and my rental car (check my recommendation here) was waiting for in Djerba’s airport. The rental cost, fuel, a lost day and my spinal health seemed more expensive than a “less than one hour” flight. And actually it was cheaper if I we were two…You could also directly fly to Djerba from Europe. Look for great offers in those sites: Flyin ,Expedia,Trip

Tip: Use these sites for information on best deals and timings but book directly from the airline official site as it gives you more flexibility and you don’t pay a commission.

The car matters because Djerba is small, you can tour it in a day but it has many points of interest, it offers you a lot more in terms of what you see and when to stop. I am a car rental addict, I used to reject the responsibility but a few years back by pure luck in Jordan I got hooked.

The majestic island of traditions

In case you’d like to do it differently, there are points of access to the island one through the ferry from Jorf that drops you in Ajim which is around 20 kms from houmt souq in the north which is where I recommend you to stay. And looking at the map that gives you an idea on the size of the island.

The other access point is through the historical “Chaussee romaine” that extends along 12 kilometers between El Kantara and the road to Zarzis. Djerba is a special island as the water is shallow all around it, so the Romans strategically placed an amount of stones to form a pathway linking the island to the mainland built mainly for commercial purposes. The road lasted from the 2nd century till today. So you should at least pass by there once, it feels like you have become part of the story.

A decent 12 KM 2 way road, if only Tunisians were patient drivers…!

Accomodation

Now I’ve mentioned that it’s recommended to stay in Houmt Souq, cause this is where you can easily find accommodation, restaurants and above all it has the souk (market) for local crafts, food, also the traditional fish market. There is also a huge tradition museum that is very informative and explains a lot of what you see, architectures, beaches, port and a roman castle.

One of Houmt Souq mosques in the old medina…Sidi Ibrahim

It’s also easy to stay in a hyped tourist area on the eastern part of the Island because this is where you’ll find the beaches. . I personally stayed in a traditional Djerbi house owned by a french guy who’s married and settled in Tunisia, it’s called Dar Sema and all rooms were equipped with a kitchenette not to mentioned the quality of the furniture, bedding and service. You can find similar experiences in Booking and Expedia.

We had to keep the memory of the place, it was one of the best we had in Tunisia…

Djerbi Attractions

Cultural experiences (Live the Djerbi tradition):

There’s a lovely feeling of diversity cause despite the strict tradition and raw nature of the place, people accept differences. In terms of religion, there are plenty of mosques built in a simple and attractive architectural style. There is a couple of churches for foreigners that are only open during service as well as a major Jewish community, the largest one of the most vibrant in North Africa.

Saint Joseph Catholic church in Houmt Souq

Djerba is the home of one of the largest and msot vibrant jewish communities in North Africa..

Djemaa in Djerba

El Ghriba synagogue hosts hundreds of pilgrims gather for the Lag B’Omer festival in spring time, and they are not the only one to celebrate…

The oldest synagogue in North Africa…

The evidence of diversity is how well people from different cultures and background feel living there, despite the attack on the synagogue 10 years ago (the locals refused to talk about it) but they all live in Harmony now. And I quote uncle Mohamed (the palm leaves weaver): ” Alla created us with a beautiful diversity, how do we expect people to think the same way of everything?”

The experienced craftsman is illustrating the steps to make palm leaves articles…

Like I mentioned Djerba sticks to its traditions to a great extent, everything from crafts to food to outfits is explained. Here are the key museums:

Musee de Guellela in Guellela

An extensive museum of social and commercial traditions…

Musee du patrimoine traditionel Djerbien in Houmt Souq

Mainly focused on different professions and locals everyday life…

Local crafts workshop in Houmt Souq

A local hub for traditional crafts …

Biological diversity is also a thing, you’ll find goats, sheep, olive trees wherever you go, you’ll enjoy the diversity of sea life, there is also a zoo that unfortunately was closed during my stay but it’s also an interesting natural reserve on the island.

Fact: the island was not all olive and palm trees, there were apple orchards but somehow the locals lost interest in apples and preserved vegetation to different crops. This you learn at the entrance of the castle of Djerba, it has a great view in addition to some Roman and Islamic relics as the island had a key role strategically and economically in the old days.

Inside view

View from the outside

Ultimately it doesn’t have to be all running around, checking out museums, religious and historical relics. The best you can do is to relax by the sea at sunset or sunrise with or without your favorite drink.

A classic winter sunset in the northern shallow side of Djerba

A foodie’s heaven

Another tradition you gotta observe; the fish auction. All fishermen gather in “souq el hout” (fish market) and offer lines of their fresh catch: what typically happens is that they thread a variety of fish on a thin rope and everyone offers their bid and so on…

He was very proud showing off his line to my lens…

I’ve asked for a few fish only as we wouldn’t be able to eat a full line or store it and they were very generous to give me exactly what I wanted at an excellent rate. Outside the market there are restaurants that would cook your fish and prepare the classical fish sides, like the “harissa” “eggs with peppers salad” and so on…I recommend Chez Hanini.

Spicy green chili

The delicious fresh fish right off the hook

The fish market

Then you need to try the original Djerbi specialties like the Djerbi Rice (the spices and different aromas make it heavenly) or Couscous, the Ojja with Merguez (eggs with merguez sliced and dipped in a red sauce)…

Rouz Jerbi

Egg salad

Harissa (chili paste)

Ojja Merguez

Couscous with Lamb

Egg plant and harissa salad

You can eat the “Rouz Jerbi” in el Medina restaurant, it had the most enticing flavors, you can also check le Berbere for a fast meal. Do not miss out on breakfast at cafe Ben Yedder in the heart of Houmt Souq medina and right in front of the covered market entrance. The location is optimum for relaxing, contemplating, people watching and writing diaries while sipping your coffee and nibbling on your breakfast pastry.

Fresh pastry filled with eggs and tuna, seems weird but it was super delicious with a cafe au lait under the sun…

View From Ben Yedder’s

There is a place for men only in the park right off of el medina, where we used to sit in the afternoon for some tea and more people watching, mostly elder men activities this time and jobless guys. We were three girls but they were enjoying our co-existence in a friendly manner. One of the waiters though cheated on us as the tea was so cheap but his colleague apologized on his behalf and served us for free the day after, so in case you go one cup of green Tunisian tea there costs 0.5 TND.

The sweet strange looking traditional green tea of Tunisia…

Shopping and Local crafts

We regretted not buying local crafts from the market there, we thought everything would be available in Tunis Medina which was true to an extent but they didn’t have same quality or variety in terms of traditional clothes, Pottery, palm leave crafts or leather. Mostly traditional clothes and pottery…There are few spice specialties also like dried fish that you reduce into powder while making soup as well dried red chilis.

Dried anchovies/ sardines

red chili

covered souq

Local crafts workshop

There is a space that used to be the “Medina hotel” where traders used to stay during their commercial travels that is now a local crafts and artisans workshop.

if you’d like to book your itinerary through a tour operator, Adventoro and Trip Guru seem to offer good deals.

The sea side in Houmt Souq…

Djerba: The island of tradition… Djerba was a curious start of a road trip around Tunisia, it turned out it is a rich little island with a lot of tradition, it was also pretty raw.

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