#weapon market research report

[weapons-market-report]

Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Global Weapons Markets

In the intricate tapestry of modern conflict, the arms market plays a pivotal role, shaping the dynamics of warfare and security strategies across the globe. This article delves into key sectors of the weapons market, exploring trends and developments in shoulder-fired weapons, cyber weapons, small arms and light weapons, and even drawing parallels with fictional black market scenarios in games like Splinter Cell Blacklist and the virtual arms trade within Warframe.

The Shoulder-Fired Weapons Market: Precision and Versatility

The shoulder-fired weapons market remains a focal point in military advancements. Characterized by a continuous quest for precision and versatility, nations are investing heavily in research and development. Anti-tank missiles, man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), and rocket-propelled grenade launchers are undergoing transformative upgrades. The integration of smart technologies, such as advanced guidance systems, is becoming standard, marking a paradigm shift in the capabilities of infantry forces.

The Cyber Weapon Market: Battleground beyond Borders

In an era dominated by technology, the cyber weapon market has emerged as a critical theater of conflict. Nations and non-state actors are actively engaged in developing offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. The market for cyber weapons encompasses tools for espionage, sabotage, and disruption. The demand for cybersecurity solutions is soaring as governments and private entities seek to fortify critical infrastructure against evolving cyber threats, highlighting the growing importance of securing digital frontiers.

Small Arms and Light Weapons Market: Compact Powerhouses

The global trade in small arms and light weapons remains a cornerstone of the arms market. From handguns to assault rifles, the demand for compact and efficient firearms persists. However, the shadowy presence of a black market, reminiscent of scenarios in Splinter Cell Blacklist, underscores the challenges posed by illicit arms trafficking. International efforts to curb this trade involve collaboration, stringent regulations, and border control measures to ensure global security.

Splinter Cell Blacklist Black Market Weapons: Fiction Meets Reality

In the realm of fiction, games like Splinter Cell Blacklist vividly illustrate a clandestine black market for weapons and gadgets. While a creative construct, it draws parallels to real-world concerns about the accessibility of advanced weaponry on illicit markets. The gaming industry's portrayal of these markets serves as a thought-provoking reflection, emphasizing the consequences of unregulated arms trade and the need for international cooperation to address such issues.

Best Secondary Weapon in Warframe Market: Virtual Economies

Shifting gears to the virtual realm, the gaming industry, exemplified by Warframe, introduces a unique perspective on weapon markets. Players actively engage in the pursuit of the best secondary weapons for their in-game characters. This virtual arms trade underscores the intersection of entertainment and commerce, with micro transactions and in-game economies thriving. While fictional, it mirrors the economic dynamics of real-world markets, providing an interesting parallel to contemporary discussions on the global arms trade.

In conclusion, the weapons market is a multifaceted landscape, encompassing traditional firepower, cutting-edge technology, and even virtual realms. Navigating this complex terrain requires a holistic approach, combining technological innovation, international collaboration, and regulatory measures to ensure a balance between security and ethical considerations on a global scale.

[ashimbisresearch]

Detailed Guide to Autonomous Weapons and Cybersecurity in Defense | BIS Research

In 2022, the global military Robotic and Autonomous System (RAS) market was valued at $17,575.1 million and is expected to reach $19,794.0 million by the end of 2033, growing at a CAGR of 1.10% during the forecast period 2023-2033.

[mohitbisresearch]

The defense & security market research has experienced a major transformation in the innovation of defense protocols by different countries, and the weapons market has witnessed the development of different product types for military applications. BIS Research tracks the changing dynamics and developments in the defense & security industry and covers market intelligence on several segments.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Friday

SpaceTime 20240927 Series 27 Episode 117

The biggest black hole jets ever seen

Astronomers have detected the biggest pair of black hole jets ever seen, spanning an incredible 23 million light-years – the equivalent to lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies end to end.

NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission ready for launch to the Jovian ice moon

All systems are go for the launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on a mission to study the oceans of the Jovian Ice Moon Europa.

Iran tests another nuclear missile in defiance of United Nations Resolutions

Iran has launched another medium range ballistic missile into orbit as it continues to perfect a planned nuclear weapons delivery system.

The Science Report

Discovery of a link between polyunsaturated fatty acids during fetal development and autism.

A new meta-surface based edge detecting filter for remote sensing of agriculture and crops.

Discovery of a decline in the consumption of alcohol among young people.

Skeptics guide to Tyler Henry.

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Aja Romero at Vox:

With mere days left on the 2024 political campaign trail, you might have noticed the Trump camp has increasingly turned to scapegoating familiar targets, including immigrants, the press, and women. It has also increasingly doubled down on attacks on trans people.

A recent report by ABC News revealed that nearly a third of recent campaign funds — or $21 million, per ABC’s report — for television advertising has been spent on transphobic messaging from the Trump campaign and various conservative political groups. The independent journalist collective the Bulwark pushed the total even higher, to $40 million poured into transphobic advertising within the last five weeks. The ads, paid for by the Trump campaign, use a litany of transphobic coding, including photoshopping Kamala Harris to appear as though she’s posing beside a nonbinary person in a mustache and a dress, despite plenty of evidence that this strategy is a turn-off for voters. “Kamala even supports letting biological men compete against our girls in their sports,” one ad declares. All three ads attack Harris for supporting gender-affirmative care for trans prisoners, including surgery where medically necessary. “Kamala is for they/them,” each ad concludes. “President Trump is for you.”

Given that trans people make up barely half of 1 percent of the US adult population and that trans-related issues are low on the priority list of most voters, many might find it baffling that Trump has focused so much of his attention on singling out trans people. Indeed, two different media research groups, the left-leaning Data for Progress and video marketing firm Ground Media, working in partnership with GLAAD, each released studies last week finding that the ads had no real impact on voter decision-making and instead alienated many viewers, even among Republicans, who felt they were “mean-spirited.” So then why do them? Well, there’s “winning” in terms of appealing to voters, and then there’s “winning” in terms of determining the conversation. Keeping the focus on trans people — Harris’s actual policy proposals do almost nothing to advance the status of trans citizens — fires up a certain base and crowds out other discussion.

[...]

In other words, these ads help to reinforce the idea of a common enemy. They are continuing — which is to say winning, in a very real sense — the larger ongoing culture war against queer and trans people. The willingness of Trump and his supporters to invest in these ads arguably indicates that even if Harris wins the election, marginalized communities in red states will still be under threat from Trump supporters and from growing legal restrictions on those regions. But trans people aren’t isolated targets. They are scapegoats in the historical sense — canaries in the coal mine for the growing march of fascism in the US. That puts all of us in danger. Trump centering transphobia in his campaign strategy is not new. It’s the culmination of a decade-long conservative political strategy of weaponizing anti-trans messaging to undermine and reverse what was a broad cultural shift toward LGBTQ equality.

[...]

As the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize same-sex marriage took effect, conservative groups turned away from targeting queer people to instead target trans people in a “divide and conquer” strategy, as a conservative organizer named Meg Kilgannon summarized in a 2017 Family Research Council panel: “For all of its recent success, the LGBT alliance is actually fragile,” she told the assembly. “If you separate the T from the alphabet soup, we’ll have more success.”

To do this, conservatives joined forces with unlikely allies, including “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” to drum up antagonistic sentiments against trans people. Right-wingers spread alarmism, rolling out dozens of anti-trans bathroom laws across the nation, then using them to introduce other transphobic ideas into local conservative platforms, all of them coming straight out of the moral panic playbook. These tactics didn’t directly address the sociocultural progress that trans people were making; instead, they cultivated a new wave of unfounded fear and alarmism about trans people themselves.

And the propaganda has only gotten more effective over time. Where transphobic bathroom bills mostly failed a decade ago, they’re now coming back into fashion; last week, Odessa, Texas, passed a bathroom bill that offers a $10,000 bounty paid to anyone who spies a trans person using the “wrong” bathroom.

The core elements we see used to attack and oppress trans people in the US in 2024 aren’t really about trans people; we’ve seen these same fearmongering tropes weaponized against numerous marginalized groups throughout history. They serve a greater political purpose — not just to demonize one specific group of people but to reinforce an in-group mentality that can then be deployed against all enemies. These attacks are a political cudgel.

Donald Trump’s anti-Kamala Harris ads bashing trans people are all about demonizing trans people.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

There is also a border with Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. And, lest anyone forget, there is a maze of underground tunnels one recently-freed Israeli hostage calls "Lower Gaza" which presents numerous illegal exit opportunities.

As Ari Zivotofsky observes in the Jerusalem Post, a September 19, 2023, episode of the Palestinian television show Emigration claimed that, "in the past 15 years a quarter of a million young Palestinians left for abroad." In 2022, over 15,000 of them who lived abroad (having apparently escaped the "prison") willingly returned to it to celebrate the feast of Eid al-Adha.

This is not how prisons work.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has been running a series on "Gaza Before October 7" refuting the "concentration camp" and "open-air prison" claims with pictures and videos. The first two episodes follow Palestinian "influencer" Yousef Alhelou as he travels around Gaza, showing off the top spots for tourists, including a gold market. Subsequent episodes include an Al-Jazeera feature of the economic boom in Gaza, Turkish television reports on the markets of Gaza, and various Arab media outlets covering the many sporting events in Gaza.

Hamas propagandists argue that Gazans are denied goods and services they are entitled to because of Israel's "land, water, and sea blockade," but Israel only blocks weapons from entering Gaza. Even after October 7, Israel has continued to supply electricity, food, and medicine.

What the "pro-Palestine" luminaries will never admit is that Israel has been forced into controlling Gaza's ports by the long history of weapons shipped there. In 2001, two vessels, the Calypso and the Santorini, were seized with weapons destined for Palestinian terrorists, and in 2002, a Palestinian ship called the Karine A was seized with 50 tons of Iranian weapons destined for Gaza. Since then, Israel has acted to prevent further shipments of weapons from reaching Gaza by sea. In 2007, after Hamas took over Gaza completely, Israel imposed an inspections regime and began more aggressively searching ships for smuggled weapons. Food and medicine are not prevented from entering Gaza.

Poor access to healthcare is another complaint about life in the Gaza "open-air prison." In April 2023, the Jerusalem-based anti-Israel activist group B'Tselem faulted Israel for preventing Palestinians from leaving Gaza in order to be treated in Israeli hospitals. But Israel treats plenty of Palestinians. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sends his entire family to Israel for medical care. In 2013 his 1-year-old granddaughter was treated in an Israeli hospital; in 2014 his daughter was treated at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital and his mother-in-law was treated at Jerusalem's Augusta Victoria Hospital; in 2021 his niece was treated at Ichilov Hospital. Just this month, it was reported that Haniyeh's grandniece was being treated at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. But why should any Gazans be treated in Israeli hospitals? There are 36 hospitals in Gaza, many of which are run by foreign nations (Indonesia, Turkey, Jordan, European countries) serving a population of around 2 million.

Of course, hospitals in Gaza are dual-purpose buildings, offering both healthcare and camouflage for the entrances to Hamas's elaborate subterranean infrastructure. An IDF spokesman said that "Hamas systematically built the Indonesian Hospital to disguise its underground terror infrastructure." The Al-Shifa hospital, where IDF soldiers found a stash of rifles, ammunition, and ballistic vests, also sits atop a major tunnel junction. IDF soldiers recently found unopened boxes of medicine for Israeli hostages at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

If Gaza is a prison, Hamas is the jailer.

[sirofreak]

(Additional SCP context is in the tags since a lot of this is kinda hard to understand without it)

A first look into the Uncontained Anomalies Canon; starting with a few members of the O5 Council!

O5-4: “The Marketer”

Male. African descent, European origin. Appears to be mid-40s, most likely around 100 years old. Always seen wearing designer suits and carrying a wooden cane with a bird skull. Often seen with other forms of skull imagery, significance is unknown, if any.

Previously a part of Marshall, Carter, and Dark, said he left MC&D on neutral terms but rumored to still be part of the organization. How he joined the Foundation is unknown, but most likely joined as a high level researcher or site director.

O5-4 is in charge of handling relationships with other organizations such as the Global Occult Coalition and world leaders as a form of ambassador for the Foundation. Also known to help with many of the Foundation’s bigger financial decisions.

Friendly but condescending personality, secretive in nature. One of the 05s more commonly seen in public.

O5-6: “The Pirate”

Male. European descent, American origin. Appears to be late-30s, most likely about 50 years old. Heavily scarred face from days as a field agent. Almost always seen wearing a cowboy hat and carrying a pearl revolver and matching cane with the head of a wolf, given to him by 05-4, significance unknown, if any.

Formerly a member of the Global Occult Coalition before it joined forces with the Stork Brigade, then joined the Foundation as a field agent. Quickly rose in the ranks before joining the Council.

O5-6 is in charge of the Foundation’s Defense Department and has created many Mobile Task Force units including MTF-Alpha-1, Red Right Hand, which reports directly to the O5 Council. Also serves as the Council’s weapons expert and battle strategist.

Highly competent but aggressive and somewhat violent in nature, known to get into fights with members of the Ethics Committee when his ideologies and methods are considered unethical.

[myhauntedsalem]

Queen Anne’s Revenge – The Flagship of Blackbeard the Pirate

Before she ran aground in 1817, Queen Anne’s Revenge haunted the waters off the Eastern United States during the early 1800s, sending fear into her victims at the mere sight of her. The ship had the ability to intimidate visually just as her Captain, William Teach did. He was more commonly known as Blackbeard the Pirate. Blackbeard himself is said to haunt the waters where he met his demise off the coast of North Carolina to this day.

Built in 1710, the British cargo ship Concord, was captured by the French shortly afterward and rechristened La Concorde. The French enlarged the ship to carry more cargo as it was used to ferry slaves to market. In 1716, La Concorde had an encounter with the pirate Benjamin Hornigold who then converted it to do battle, fitting it with 20 cannons. Hornigold terrorized the Guinea coast before setting said for the Bahamas and the Americas. It is thought that Blackbeard derived the name of the ship from Queen Anne’s War in which he participated in.

In late 1717, Horgnigold turned his ship over to one of his crew members, Edward Teach. Captain Teach renamed the ship Queen Anne’s Revenge and fitted her with twice the number of cannon, making her one of most intimidating warships of the day, a devastating weapon to be used in the name of piracy. Teach amassed a flotilla of ships, using Queen Anne’s Revenge as his flagship. His menacing appearance with a long braided beard with black bows and his reputation earned him the nickname Blackbeard. He would destroy any ship or person who resisted his attacks.

At one point in his notorious pirating run, Blackbeard and his devilish flotilla blockaded the city of Charleston, South Carolina and held it for ransom. Upon his departure from the city while fleeing pursuing ships, he hastily ran the Queen Anne’s Revenge aground while trying to enter Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. He transferred his flag to another of his ships named Adventure, thus ending the Queen Anne’s Revenge reign of terror.

There have been no consistent reported sightings of Queen Anne’s Revenge as a phantom ship, although some claim that one of the ghostly vessels of Whites Creek off the coast of Virginia, is that of Blackbeard and his men. There are those that believe that Blackbeard hid some of his treasure there in the coastal forests and that he returns in his ship on occasion to make sure that his treasure is safe.

In 1996, a team of researchers discovered what they believe to be the remains of Queen Anne’s Revenge off the coast of North Carolina, retrieving one of the cannons, anchor, and other artifacts from the ill fated vessel. Many of the artifacts are on display at the North Carolina Maritime Museums.

[mageofsleep]

Koishi vs Miss Merry The Prologue, Silly but very long story

alright, before I begin this is was all meant to be lighthearted shitposty but got wayyyy too wordy. 🥲 It's a little bit related to these two, but it's self-contained and can be read without them. Also, it was meant to be a hifuu story, too.... I will edit this post and post part 2 later Please click "Read more" after you're done with the first paragraph

In the forests of Youkai Mountain, there’s a small market stall run by tengu reporter, selling books and cawing at youkai passersby, “You should read this book report! As the war between humans continues, sailors from the land of Portugal have arrived in Japan! They’ve been selling specialized weaponry to profit from the war for economic gain! Some of these sailors have been sighted and killed right here on the Mountain by fellow youkai! There are treasures flying about Gensokyo that have been lost and forgotten about! Just as there are wars between humans, wars between youkai are being fought right here in Gensokyo over treasures!” A satori with mint green hair, Koishi Komeiji, strolls along the path and becomes curious, “Hmm? Treasures? Por…tugal?” The tengu cheerily answers Koishi, “Good morning! Would you like to buy one? It’s all about treasures! Gensokyo is scattered with treasures worth plundering! You satori could read my mind and find out that it’s no lie! Give some of those long weapons to the kappa for their research and they will most surely reward you. Act fast, I couldn’t publish a whole lot of them, so what you see here is all I have.” Koishi says, “Well, I can see that you’re not lying. Hmm… I’ve never seen a tengu journalist talking about technology and writing book reports like that… I’ve only seen papers about trashy gossip and drama from the tengu. Hmm…” The tengu then reassured Koishi “Nothing to worry about! These papers aren’t that speedy as that gossipy tengu Aya, but they are packed with information! You see, if you buy this book, you’ll have more knowledge about the treasures and inventions better than others!” “Hmm… Maybe it could convince my sister to go outside and treasure hunt with me, too! She’s always shut-in our little house. She’s so sleepy and I think she’s starting to grow sickly from being indoors so much, too. The tengu hesitated, “Ummm… Yeah… Y-You have a nice day, now,” The tengu then thought, “You can get sick from being indoors for too long?” Koishi replied to her thoughts, “As long as you adventure outside every once in a while, you’ll be healthy and won’t be sick, too! Can’t write reports when you’re always sleepy and tired, y’know.”

Koishi happily strolled away with her purchase, but the tengu cawed back to her, “Wait! I forgot something! Come back!” Koishi turned back, and the tengu gave her a small felt bag, “As my very first customer, I’m obligated to give you one half of the treasures I found while I went outside for once, as a bonus offer. I’d hate to spoil the reading a bit, but since I’m thinking about it, anyways, and you can read minds, I had to let you know that they are one of the most valuable treasures. I was ordered by my boss to find any treasures that landed on the Mountain for her, and found these bags of seeds by the corpse of the sailor at the foot of the Mountain that nobody seemed to bother taking. Nobody else had gotten a hold of these, either. If you plant these now and take good care of them, then they will allegedly grow unique and sweet fruit next year. Once they do, that will make Gensokyo one step ahead of the rest of Japan!” Koishi took the bag of seeds and continued her journey to her house while reading the book report.

Koishi entered back down to her and her sister Satori’s small little house on the skirt of Youkai Mountain with the tengu book report and seeds. “Satorin! I’ve got some stuff!” Koishi sees Satori sleeping with her head on her desk with stacks of paper, and her quill taken off from her hand, as it had dripped strands and drops of ink onto the paper. “Satoriii! I’m too late! She fell asleep!” Koishi tries to shake the shoulders of Satori in order to awaken her, but she had barely opened her dark baggy eyes. Koishi rests her sleepy sister against the chair, and places the bag of seeds on the desk. Koishi tries another method to wake her up one more time, “Satori! You look so sick, you need sunshine! I got a book for you to read! It’s a book report about treasures from the tengu,” Koishi said as she opens the book to a random page and hands it to Satori. Satori was enticed by sketches of a mansion, and her eyes opened up even more. Koishi continues, “The tengu who wrote it even gave me these seeds, too. She told me to keep them safe, they might contain strange fruits we don’t know about! Maybe we can go outside together, get some fresh air plundering for treasures, or even garden! Also, I wanna try out that memory digging hypnosis magick you taught me!” Satori sighed, “Oh alright, Koishi… I do want to see what sorts of information we can dig up with that skill and our mind reading powers. I guess I’ll go outside, but let me finish reading this first.” Koishi beamed with excitement, “Yay! In the meantime, I’m going to brew some remedies for exploring and for you since you are so ill from being inside all the time.”

The Komeiji twins wander around the foggy mountain and come across two different paths with the sign at the top pointing to the left that says, “Forest of Magic” and the sign below it that says “Misty Lake”. Koishi exclaims, “There shouldn’t be any more treasures on the Mountain since the tengu took them all, so we should head downwards. Where should we go first? I bet the Forest of Magic has magicians with tons of knowledge on treasures that we can memory dig from!”  Satori then warned her, “Koishi, some of those magicians are pretty scary, even for satori like us. Some of them are weaklings, sure, but some know terrible spells from youkai who live in an underground world deeper than Hell. Some know how to give us headaches for reading their mind… some can even forcefully close our third eye with magic stitches that seals it forever… I think we should take another path.”  Koishi turned to Satori and startled, “They can do such a thing?! Wouldn’t that just make us lose our ability to read minds?”  Satori replied “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard scary stories from other satori on the mountain. Our third eye is our ‘heart’, so if the stitches seal the eye, then the ‘heart’ is also sealed. Another story is that those whose hearts are sealed are forever forgotten.’” Koishi shivers, “Why would such a thing even exist? Do other youkai hate and fear the satori as much as humans do? How do you know this stuff when you’re always in your room?”  Satori tells her, “Koishi, maybe you’re a shut-in yourself if you don’t know those horror stories. Anyways, Let’s try that lake with fairies and mermaids. Fairies are weak enough and we can grab some information from them with our memory digging hypnotism. Same goes for the mermaids, too.” Koishi agrees with her, and they continue their descent from Youkai Mountain to the lake.

Later on, a purple magician aimlessly wandered through a foggy forest on the Mountain. She passed a cliff and heard a youkai communicating with her, "So she says, 'Well... I think I’m lost, but I guess I have to make my way to the top somehow.'" Another voice was then heard after, "'Well, I know it's a mountain filled with youkai, but I just hope that I don't encounter anything uninteresting,' How silly this human is!" The purple magician turned around and looked at the cliff behind her: she saw the two Komeiji sisters. Satori had continued to mock her thoughts "'Oh dear, not just a youkai, but a satori…’” and Koishi followed “‘Weren’t they banished to Former Hell?’ Huh? Satorin, this one’s thoughts are a bit silly… What’s she talking about?” Satori had replied “Here to climb the mountain to find more ‘interesting’ youkai like the oni? Might as well write your wills.” Satori looked at the human magician more carefully and mocked her once again, “‘Oh dear, I must’ve landed in a time period where they were still on the mountain,’ Hmm… I think this individual isn’t human, Koishi, she might be the gap youkai Yukari Yakumo. That youkai is more terrifying than us satori, she can set up barriers that block our ability to read her mind! The barriers are filled with nonsensical readings that might give you a headache, sister, so try not to read them too much.” The magician chimed in, “I don't know if I'm even human either, but I’m pretty sure my name is Maribel Hearn, not Yukari Yakumo.” Koishi cheerily says, “Oh, a human who speaks her mind for once. This silly human’s name is ‘Maeribeu’ or something. Satorin, she might be a sailor! Thinking she’s in the past! Oh goodness, in her mind she says she’s from Ireland and moved to Japan, she wants to reach the summit.” Satori then followed after, “Pay attention and read carefully, sister. Look, ‘At least they think I’m someone else, a stronger youkai even. I might be able to just walk away from them and just head to the top,’” Maribel walked away from the two and continued to traverse through the forest, Koishi was shocked, “Oh right, right! We were supposed to prank humans like her and warn her about the mountain, but she’s getting away! It would be very tragic of a silly human like her to die. We have to chase her and prank her before the other youkai kill her, sister!” Satori replied to Koishi, “If you say so, I’m too lazy to prank today, though. I do want to see what interesting things you can do with pranking her, so I’ll just follow you. Maybe you can test your new skills of hypnotism that I’ve taught you on this human, Koishi.” The Komeiji sisters continue to follow Maribel deeper into the steep forest.

Maribel had carefully tried to walk along very steep terrain and found shrubs bearing small pome fruit. She inspected them carefully, but found that they were still not ready to be harvested. While distracted, Koishi had talked behind her, “I wouldn’t eat those fruits if I were you, they’re pretty sour and can make your face scrunch up and maybe even kill you! We wouldn’t want a dead human while trying to read her mind, right?” Maribel became startled and fell down. Koishi continued, “Maeribeu, right? Would it be okay if I called you Miss Merry instead?” Satori scolded Koishi, “Koishi, you scared our test subject and killed her. How are we gonna find another human to test the hypnotism I’ve taught you now?” “Aww…” Koishi poked Merry’s head with a stick and read her mind “‘Hmm, I don’t think she’s dead, I’m still able to read her mind. See? She thinks, ‘Oh dear, these two are not going to leave me alone, huh. Well, I guess I could make a report about the satori for my studies, instead.’” Koishi turned back to Satori and excitedly claimed, “Satorin! This’ll convince Miss Merry to play with us, too!” Merry, annoyed by Koishi poking her head, tries to stand up. Once she stands she tells Koishi, “Alright, Koishi, I’ll play with you. Do be warned that I do know some magical skills myself, though.” Merry takes out a strange rectangular device with a set of lenses to the side. Koishi mocks her mind one more time, “‘Bullets from youkai turn to nothing with thi-’” but Koishi was interrupted by a flash, "Aaah!" and a shudder was sounded from the strange device.Koishi recoiled back, “Wait! Restart! Let me start first! I attacked from behind you, so it's only natural that my turn is first! Also, if you lose, you have to play with us again! I’ll start by testing this skill that makes you think of your true inner secrets and traumas!” Koishi spinned lasers towards Merry and scattered simple yellow bullets of light throughout the field. Merry’s vision had grown darker and darker throughout until she could see nothing but the light of the danmaku. Merry had felt as if she had died, and this feeling is what floods her thoughts of precious memories and traumas.

“I see them now… This skill makes it so I can dig up precious and unforgettable memories and traumas stored in a hidden part of the mind that satori can't read by forcing one to think of them! But Miss Merry’s precious memories… they are a bit strange… I feel a bit of a headache but… It’s like they are from another world! Or more worlds than one!” Koishi said, “Miss Merry is no ordinary human who landed on the mountain… She’s a magician who studies minds from a world stranger than Gensokyo, or maybe even the future! Precious memories of the future, of leaving her faraway country to Japan. There’s tall, rectangular prismic buildings… And she’s always with another girl who studies the forces of nature and things that are tiny and unseeable! She’s traveled to Paradise… to the Moon… to Hell except it had a big castle in the middle… and then there was another stranger Hell??. She’s traveled to the past and seen the formation of Japan by Izanagi… As a matter of fact, the girl standing before us isn’t really her, but a doll of some sort, that she created to possess and traverse these strange worlds without endangering her real self who’s just sleeping in her room in the future! What a strange human!” Satori tries to read the trancing Merry’s mind as well, but she develops headaches and passes out from the information she’s read. Koishi shocked, “Oh no!! Merry put sister Satori back to sleep! I’ve got to have vengeance!! Alright, so I’ve narrowed it down to three choices: A battle with a silvery blade maid of a vampire, visions of a fiery Hourai immortal, and a battle with a cat-like chimera youkai from a spacey place with wings! Although, there isn't enough information about their attacks, as each one of them ended with her waking up in the end, so I will collect them and do each of them in order.” The bullets of yellow light and lasers continued to rotate. Merry had started to develop migraines and vertigo after trying to just dodge and time out the attack, but then remembered that she can’t time out Koishi’s attacks because they are not spellcards. She then tries to use her strange device to flash against the bullets and Koishi. “Eek!” Koishi recoiled against the flash once more, “That strange device, it’s a ‘smartphone’? Spellcard rules? Don’t worry, my first attack will be from your future! My next trick is to use the attacks of the blade maid you’ve battled once before! This one will have a timer.” Despite delivering an attack to Koishi, Merry’s headaches continue to develop into more severe migraines. Koishi scatters knives throughout the field. Knives are placed behind Merry, but she was too distracted by her migraines to pay attention to the patterns. The knives then, all at once, quickly jolt towards Merry. The ‘doll’ that Merry is possessing is destroyed and disappears before Koishi.

“I won! I won! Miss Merry was nothing compared to a mountain youkai! She has to battle us again!” Koishi cheers, but then she turns back to the downed Satori. Koishi crouches down and tries to gently shake Satori’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. Satori slowly wakes up. She then sits up but tries to hold her head and faintly responds to Koishi. Koishi takes out a vial of medicine and hands it to Satori. Satori drinks the vial and tells Koishi, “I told you… I told you those magicians are terrible… I think this fog made us go the wrong way…” Koishi cheers, “We’re on the right path, and we won! Miss Merry was from the future and she was possessing a doll that looked just like her. I used all my power, copied abilities from her memories, and she lost! We can go back to siphoning information and finding treasures! Then prank Miss Merry again once she comes back!” Satori sleepily responds, “Koishi… What are you even talking about? That human magician was from the future?” she then, still drowsy, smirked, “We can’t prank Merry because she’s from the future, and I lost anyways to her, so that makes it a tie. No more migraines from Miss Merry ever again.” Koishi sulked, “Well… if we live long enough, we can see Miss Merry in the future again… right?” Satori questioned Koishi, “How were you even conscious during that whole battle? Miss Merry’s memories and thoughts gave me such a headache.” “I think I can explain but let me help you stand back up so we can explore more afterwards,” Koishi helped Satori back up, they both paused and their thoughts scrambled with time travel and other worlds. Koishi then snapped out of it and clarified, “Miss Merry’s future is where humans like her study minds and become magicians, and she’s traveled to other worlds, other time periods. She has a friend who believes that everything is made from really tiny things we can’t see. If humans can end up learning tricks like that, then we youkai must grow and form new tricks, too!  We satori can only read what people are thinking about at the moment, there has to be more to the mind than just what people are thinking about. For example, memories are stored in a place of the mind that us satori can’t read unless one thinks about them at the present moment, so we needed to learn that magic about how to hypnotize people to reveal their memories and traumas. If we learn more psychic skills like memory digging, we could learn more about that side of the mind and become powerful, so much more powerful than Miss Merry even! We could do so much and change fate if we just explore!” Satori smirked, “We satori will become the most powerful youkai there is.” Koishi and Satori then continued their journey and wandered downwards from the foggy Mountain.

Afterward Notes: So for this beginning part I wrote them in the Sengoku period, because of Zanmu Nippaku who's based on a monk from that time, Zanmu Nichihaku. (their given names are spelled slightly differently in kanji and surname for the real guy is pronounced Nichihaku instead but with the same exact kanji spelling as Nippaku) There's not too much information about him either way and he's a bit enigmatic, but Nichihaku's death is recorded in 1576, or in touhou lore Nippaku from TH19 "purposely descends into hell and becomes an oni" possibly vaguely around that time. If you want to read more about the lore of Zanmu Nippaku and Nichihaku I suggest reading this post. And obviously after she turns into an oni, Nippaku from TH19 is the one who convinces the Yama and the dwellers of hell to abandon the underground/former hell in favor of a new hell. This first part of the story takes place many years before that time and the middle of the youkai expansion project, tho.

This may be obvious but the original joke is because Maribel is Merry but Koishi pretends to be a vengeful spirit urban legend named Miss Merry/Mary in ULiL that nobody in the game seemed to get because gensokyo residents dont know what a phone is. And also this part having Koishi before she closed her eye happy about her mind-reading ability... well... I know AO3 exists but also im too lazy to make an acct, i just bookmark things on my browser when i read on there, but I'll crosspost anyways if i do

The pome fruit that Merry sees is the quince of some species of Chaenomeles that is native to Japan, and is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae) and Koishi uses roses as bullets. It's a very hard fruit when its raw and very sour in general but the flowers are quite amazing to look at during the spring.

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Netga: Speedy Rabbit

Designer’s Reflection: Speedy Rabbit

Obtained: Hot Pursuit gacha

Rarity: SSR

Attribute: Blue/Cool

Awakened Suit: Dashing Bunny

Story - transcripts from Designer’s Reflection

Chapter 1 - Mecha Girl

Chapter 2 - Uninvited Guest

Chapter 3 - First Mission

Chapter 4 - New Partner

Story - summarized

Netga is behind on bills, and it doesn’t help when some of her customers come storming back demanding refunds because they decided they don’t like her modified mechas. Unlike most in her neighborhood, she doesn’t see mechas only as battle weapons. To Netga, each mecha has a unique personality, and she intends to unlock their full potential with her modifications.

If she can get the money for that.

One day, a newscast announces a reward for catching a scientist selling illegal stimulants through the black market. These stimulants would provide a violent, unfair advantage in mecha battles. And the experiments done to make these were on live animals!

Shortly after the broadcast ends, something rifles through the wires in Netga’s garage. She approaches it... and it’s a small bunny, containing a chip behind its ear. Netga hacks into its data-frame and discovers its creator’s origins.

Following the directions, she and her favorite mecha find a suspicious man leaving a building at the back of an alley. It doesn’t take long to break in with Netga’s skills... but instead of a criminal’s lair, she finds a cluttered, disgusting room,filled with cages of bunnies. Other than being brainwashed by violent movies, the critters seem harmless and happy.

Netga reports the suspect’s hideout and hands over the info on the fake stimulants. In days, she collects the reward. It’s not enough to boost all her tools and modifications for her job, but it’s enough to pay her bills. So, she decides to do both bounty-hunting and mecha modification from here on out!

Connections

-While Nightbane isn’t a part of this Reflection, his suit Soul Magic makes an appearance in the trailer for this event. Netga is hunting the girl wearing his suit.

-Besides Netga, we’ve met only two other woman scientists/engineers, and that’s Hestia and Cecilia.

Fun Facts

-Rabbits are a common experiment animal. They’re not the most common animal, but they’re mainly used in tests regarding antibodies and health.

-From what I could look up, animal experimentation still occurs, but it seems to be for research purposes rather than for testing makeup or products. No one is forcing them to watch bloody films, though.

[jack-kellys]

Détective au + afterlife au for the ask game!!

what's quite funny about this ask is that it became a ghost hunting/destroying storyline and then maybe two hours into writing the snippet i got a ghost hunting au + something else ask. more for me!!

i have a lot but u can send me more randomized aus!

okay SO! recently i saw this 8 episode show called lockwood & co on netflix (originally a book series) and it was sort of a weird first season to follow without the lingo and historical context of the world so basically this is an au adjacent to that concept. inspired by, if you will. one thing that's important is that young ppl lowkey function as living tools to listen to, see, or feel ghosts' energy. so they are tasked with destroying ghosts. without further ado here's a 1.6k word scene of a one-shot idea i'll finish eventually!

–––

Sarah and David stood at the door together, the eerie home where their research had brought them. A haunted item, some music box, had been being bought and sold across the city, only leaving haunting incidents in its wake. It wasn’t hard for the spirit within to free itself with all that travel and the likely lack of protection the music box had undergone. David had tracked the hauntings, cross-referenced with recent black market sales, and estimated the next location via finding the latest buyer’s home. Sarah had surmised the threat level based on the hauntings (the deaths; there had been ten recent ones of hypothermia, which could only mean a ghost’s touch), finding police reports and tapping their forensics friend Finch to properly place what kind of threat they’d be dealing with. 

And now, armed with iron bullets, chest plates, and lined gloves among other things, Sarah tried the doorknob. Unlocked. 

The twins shared a look, David nodding and fingering his pistol as Sarah carefully opened the door.

An iron blade poked into David’s throat, both siblings freezing in place. After a moment, David groaned.

Holding the sword was ex-detective Jack Kelly, who looked about as shocked as David had been. His two brothers-in-arms, Charlie and Anthony, flanked his sides with their own weapons drawn. 

“Who gave you this case?” Jack demanded in a whisper, while Sarah scoffed. 

“Who gave you this case?” she countered. “You’re not registered detectives anymore, Kelly. You can’t be here.”

“And somehow, we were here first,” Anthony grinned. “If we cracked it better and quicker than you, then I think we gotta be the right people to be here.”

“Too many of us’ll make us dead a lot faster, so you guys should go,” Charlie nodded. “We got it covered.”

David scowled, guiding Jack’s iron away from his neck with a finger.

“Not a chance in hell,” he muttered, marching past all of them. “Follow me.”

After a moment of hesitation, he heard footsteps behind him, and his own grew more sure. 

The old hardwood of the house barely creaked under their feet, careful of the noise they made as they were essentially breaking and entering– it was the buyer’s property, and David wasn’t sure if the man was home or not. Essentially, all they had to do was secure the music box and get it to their detective agency, to determine if it should be stored or if it was safer to destroy it. Spirits were mostly tied to objects, and since these specific hauntings had been within a short radius of the box, it had to be the spirit’s physical connection. But where in the house the box could be was another matter. 

David’s hand found his sister’s, letting her take it and closing his eyes. Listening.

“Right,” he heard Jack drawl out. “The spirit gonna give us directions?”

“You know it doesn’t work that way,” David sighed, “or I’d be calling you an empath.”

“He does love his crystals,” Charlie teased, and David heard a small rustling between the two brothers, likely from Jack pushing the other.

“Quiet,” he said softly, suddenly, a small sound at the back of his head. Mechanical, a trill of gears tapping and moving to his left. He drifted toward it, allowing Sarah to guide his steps. The sound moved forward, between his eyes now as the noise of it came more into focus. It wasn’t tinny, wasn’t machine-like despite the ticking and tapping of it. He felt his feet hit the stairs, and cautiously started up them.

“What are you hearing?” Sarah whispered, resting her other hand on David’s back.

“It’s fluid,” he murmured, “as much as a music box can be, anyway. Guessing it’s because of the spirit’s post-life being attached- or… combined with it.”

“I’d rather fight a ghost than a box, so let’s not hope ‘combined’,” Anthony muttered behind him. Jack stifled a laugh, before letting out another one. David heard the railing’s wood creak, maybe a hand tightening around it.

“Wasn’t that funny, Jack,” Anthony said. “Now you’re just patronizing me.”

“I know, you’re not that-” Another giggle broke it off, what sounded like a hand slapping over Jack’s mouth as they made it to the top of the stairs. The fluid sound grew louder in David’s ears. Melodic, bright, and pretty, a swirling tune that tried to make David smile.

His eyes flew open with a small gasp, squeezing Sarah’s hand.

“Something’s wrong,” he murmured. “The spirit sounds too strong, we have to find that box- we have to find out if the buyer’s still- …alive.”

His gaze had landed on Jack, hunched over the banisher with his shoulders shaking as his brothers tried to get him to look at them.

“Jack,” Sarah hissed, “what do you feel?”

“Come on,” Charlie encouraged, rubbing Jack’s back. “Jackie, you’re okay, come on.”

“It’s- kind of…” Jack started, falling into a strained batch of giggles again. He lifted his head, fingers pressed to his temples and pained look on his face while a smile resided on his lips. He shook his head, laughing again. “Very.. happy. It’s happy, that kinda bubbly ecstatic feeling? You should…” 

Jack grinned, lopsided and loose, and David stepped back. They had to get him out of here.

“You should check- on the buyer,” he laughed, curling into himself. “You should- oh, man, you should–hahaha–check on the buyer…” 

“Fuck. Fuck,” Sarah breathed, hand on her sword. “Charlie, stay with Jack. You two, with me.”

David nodded, glancing at Anthony before casting his gaze at Jack once again. The boy couldn’t hold it in anymore, wheezing with delirious laughter as Charlie leaned against the bannister with his iron cane at the ready. David tore his eyes away, running after Sarah.

The noise, the music was present in David’s ears now without him even trying to concentrate, loud and repeating and quite beautiful. He gripped his forehead between his index finger and thumb, trying to silence it while he drew his pistol. Sarah kicked open the bedroom door, and the pretty music faded away from him. 

“Oh, shit,” Anthony sighed out, crossing over to the bed. A body laid there, with skin chilled and lips blued and eyes grayed. “Well, there’s our buyer. How’d Jack know by a feeling?”

“And why would a ghost in a music box be happy to kill?” Sarah frowned. “Spirits don’t often know they’re killing others, that’s…”

And then noise as a whole left completely, David’s eyes falling on an object on the dresser as the world fell into static silence. It was ornate, rectangular, with run-down gold moldings on its edges and glossed rose along its top and sides. He stepped towards it, wanting to investigate the rest of it. Look at it, look into it. Wanting to open it, wanting to hear it again, so pretty and soft...

“-avid!”

He winced at the surge of live sounds- walls creaking, Sarah’s voice, her feet on the carpet, the clink of Anthony’s pistols in their holsters. Something was in his hands, rectangular, and he could hear Jack’s laughter shriek in amusement from down the hall.

“Don’t open it,” she was saying, her eyes wide. Anthony was still by the bed, hands by his hips, fingers spread. “David. Don’t. Just give it to me.”

David’s gaze dropped to what was in his hands, the pretty music box occupying his vision again. All he had to do was tug his finger towards himself, and he’d hear the song again. That was all he had to do. 

“No,” he said suddenly, though his grip tightened on it.

“No?” Anthony scoffed, shifting on his feet a bit- a more active stance. “For the know-it-all, you sure are stupid. Drop it, Jacobs. Now.”

“All we have to do is get it in the iron sack,” Sarah said softly, shooting Anthony a look. “David, just let go, and I’ll put it in. Don’t listen to whatever you’re hearing–”

“I’m not hearing anything,” he interjected. “I can’t hear it, it’s in my head, Saz, so if I just- if I open it then it could counter it–”

“No way,” Anthony said, shaking his head. “It’s like Charlie said. The more of us there are the easier we wind up dead, so don’t try shit to make that true.”

“But what if- if it could counter what Jack’s going through too?” David tried. “He’s sick with it, it’s contained in him right now, right? If we open it, we can release it.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying right now,” Sarah said, her voice the material of her weapon. David watched her hands take hold of the box in his grasp. “You’re not in your right mind, Ach. Let go.”

“Once it’s open, we can put it in the bag,” David scoffed. “That’ll make sure the spirit stays trapped and Jack and I will be fixed-”

She tugged it, like they were seven years old again, and David tugged it back.

“Jesus christ,” Anthony muttered. Swiftly, he pulled out a pistol, David glancing up to see the circular, hollow barrel of it.

“You’re insane,” David scoffed. 

“That’d be you,” Anthony sneered. “Drop it.”

“Fine.”

David raised his hands over his head, and the box went flying behind him. 

Sarah shoved him aside, Anthony raced around the bed, and David watched as it hit the ground.

A bright, tinkling sound filled the room as Anthony drew both his guns and Sarah raised her sword, both stepping back as a flickering shape rose into the air. David’s brain felt noisy, but… grounded. Clearer, feeling a bit sick though present. 

“She’s in a fuckin’ tutu,” Anthony sputtered out, eyes wide. David didn’t have the clearest sight when it came to spirits’ physical forms, only a flicking outline. “She’s a dancer, and… she’s smiling.”

And Jack’s laughing hadn’t stopped.

[mariacallous]

I have a feeling of déjà vu. Just like in February 2022, as columns of troops approached my city of Kyiv, I have a feeling of impending apocalypse. Back then, my worry was the Russians. I was thinking of my inevitable death, of soldiers laying their hands on me, torturing me just because I am Ukrainian.

This time, the sinking feeling comes from the West. Our allies, who promised to support us as long as it takes, have other problems to deal with. As Vladimir Putin’s Russia bulks up with weapons from North Korea and Iran, our partners have to restock their armies, help Israel and the Palestinians, and — most of all — struggle for power at home. In Ukraine, we’re left with a sense of rising insecurity, division and worries we might soon be left on our own.

Two years ago, when I said I was Ukrainian, people cheered for my nation. Today, they go silent and look at me as if I’m terminally ill. I can see that they’re sorry for me. They don’t know what to say.

Ukrainians in 2024

If you are tired of this war, imagine how exhausted Ukrainians must be. In a poll carried out at the beginning of the year by the research agency Info Sapiens, 35 percent of Ukrainians said they felt happy, while 58 percent reported being unhappy. In 2022, just 19 percent of us were unhappy.

Another poll, by the Democratic Initiatives Fund think tank, found that some 60 percent of Ukrainians still look with hope to the future. But anxiety is rising. Ukrainians still largely believe in each other, in their army and in its ability to eventually repel a Russian attack. However, fewer think the country will regain the territories Russia has occupied since 2022.

“Ukrainians are losing faith, probably due to the long duration of the war, problems with the supply of weapons, conflicts between the government and the army, corruption scandals, etc.,” said Inna Volosevych, deputy director of Info Sapiens. “However, the majority is still against agreeing to any of Putin’s demands.”

The growing pressure is widening the country’s divisions. Tensions are rising between different groups of Ukrainians: those who serve in the army, those who stayed but do not fight, those who left Ukraine, escaping from war.

“I think the biggest divisions are between those who are absorbed in the war ­— the mobilized and their families, people who lost their loved ones, residents of frontline territories — and those Ukrainians who are still trying to live a normal life,” Volosevych said.

It’s the latter, she added, who were most likely to describe themselves as happy.

“Paradoxically, Ukrainian refugees abroad reported psychological problems almost twice as often as people in Ukraine, and most often they reported a sense of guilt, apparently towards those who stayed,” she added.

Those who left

More than 6.3 million Ukrainians have left the country since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to the United Nations. Taisiia Semenova, a 27-year-old digital marketing specialist from Ukraine now lives in Portugal. She left Ukraine on February 26, two days after the start of the war.

These days she feels she has to be careful with her words. “People may be triggered by my experience in Portugal now, and I do not want to devalue the experiences of Ukrainians who stayed at home and are experiencing constant attacks,” she said. “People might say, ‘It’s easy to say something under the palm trees,’ so I often choose not to share at all.”

She found it painful when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his New Year’s address to urge Ukrainians abroad to return — to decide whether they are refugees or citizens.

“It is becoming more and more difficult to communicate,” said Semenova. “Earlier, my friends and I could spend hours discussing plans for self-development and how we will spend the next year: We will look cool, earn more and have better relationships.” Now when she speaks to people back home, their only goals are “to survive and not go cuckoo.”

“My conversations about plans for the future would hardly find listeners,” Semenova said.

Those who stayed

As a Ukrainian who stayed, I understand her predicament. It was my choice to stay, as I felt my country would fall if all of us left. Most of us, a nation of 30 million, stayed home and joined the fight for our country’s existence. We all paid dearly.   

It’s been two years since Putin’s full-scale invasion — two years in which I haven’t been able to plan anything without worrying about a possible missile strike or air raid. In May 2023, we in Kyiv slept only for a week as Russia barraged us with missiles almost every night, trying to test the newly arrived Patriot air defense system.

Every time I turn on the light or hot water in my apartment, I feel blessed and guilty at the same time. Last winter we survived in the darkness and cold of blackouts, as the Kremlin wanted to freeze us into surrendering.

This winter we do have electricity and hot water, but it sometimes seems luxury I don’t deserve. Ukrainians in frontline cities have forgotten about normal sleep, hot water and electricity. Every morning someone loses their home or life. Hope is still there, but slowly falling, like grain from a wheat storage destroyed by a Russian drone.

Life has become a never-ending Groundhog Day of Russian shelling, working, paying taxes, donating and fighting. We are trying hard to stay resilient and keep our sense of humor. 

“Being a Ukrainian in 2024 is when you think about what you are wearing,” said Mila Yaroslavska, a volunteer of the “I will be your back” charity foundation. “If a missile strikes and you are pulled out from under the rubble, dead or not, your photos will be all over the internet.”

“As a woman you want the last pictures of your life to be beautiful,” she said. “So, every night I think through my pajamas. They have to be cute but also warm enough to save you from frostbite in winter when you will lie under the rubble if you are lucky enough to survive and wait for rescuers to dig you out.”

Those who lost everything

Then there are those for whom the war has already taken so much. Serhii Zeinalov, a Ukrainian independent filmmaker, now lives in Kyiv. But all his dreams are about the warm sands and sea of the Kherson region where he comes from. His native town Oleshky has been occupied by Russian forces.  

“My collection of books and records, my film archive, is in someone else’s hands,” Zeinalov said. “I cannot go to my father’s grave. My favorite places of strength — happy places where I could return if something was not going according to plan — simply do not exist, they are destroyed.”

Zeinalov left Oleshky a week before the full-scale invasion. His mother and brother later managed to escape and join him in Kyiv. His grandparents spent 533 days under occupation, leaving their home after it was almost destroyed by flooding after Russian forces blew the Kakhovka dam in the summer of 2023.

“For almost 40 days, my relatives sat on the second floor of our house blocked by water. They shared one can of food per day for two, a dog and a cat,” Zeinalov said. “The murky water swallowed our lives and belongings, along with family treasures.”

Like many residents of territories near or behind the front lines, Zeinalov is pessimistic about an all-out victory over Russia. But he still thinks it’s worth fighting. “The more successful and effective the Ukrainian army will be, the more arguments we will have during negotiations.”

In 2022, Ukrainians united in one giant fist of a nation. In the first two months, with almost no assistance, we showed we were ready to fight the second-largest army on earth.

Amazed by our bravery, the world responded with military and financial aid that helped us take back some 50 percent of the territory Russians had taken in their offensive. Inflows of assistance, the overwhelming support of the free world and — most of all — our unity made us think we could win. Today, that’s getting harder to believe.

[kumarchandan]

how to select niche in digital marketing?

Selecting Your Niche in Digital Marketing.

In the vast and ever-evolving realm of digital marketing, finding your niche is akin to discovering your secret weapon. Your niche is not just a segment of the market you target; it’s your domain of expertise, your playground for innovation, and your pathway to success. However, with countless possibilities and avenues to explore, selecting the right niche can seem like navigating a labyrinth. Fear not, for in this guide, we will illuminate the path to identifying and embracing your digital marketing niche, paving the way for your triumphant journey in the online world.

Grow your Business

Understanding the Significance of Niche Selection

Before delving into the process of selecting your niche, it’s crucial to grasp its significance. In a digital marketing teeming with competition, specialization is the key to standing out. By honing in on a specific niche, you position yourself as an authority in that domain, thereby attracting a dedicated audience and fostering deeper engagement. Moreover, a well-defined niche enables you to tailor your marketing strategies more effectively, resonating with the unique needs and preferences of your target demographic.

Assessing Your Passions and Expertise

The first step in selecting your niche is introspection. Reflect on your passions, interests, and areas of expertise. What topics or industries excite you? What skills or knowledge do you possess that set you apart? Your niche should align with your passions and expertise, as this will not only sustain your motivation but also enhance your credibility and authority within the chosen field.

Researching Market Demand and Competition

While passion is paramount, it must be tempered with pragmatism. Conduct thorough market research to evaluate the demand and competition within your prospective niches. Utilize tools like Google Trends, keyword research tools, and industry reports to gauge the popularity and viability of different niches. Additionally, analyze the strategies and tactics employed by competitors in each niche to identify gaps and opportunities for differentiation.

Identifying Audience Needs and Pain Points

Central to the success of your digital marketing endeavors is a deep understanding of your target audience. Take the time to research and empathize with your audience, uncovering their needs, desires, and pain points. What challenges do they face? What solutions are they seeking? By aligning your niche with the needs of your audience, you can create content and campaigns that resonate profoundly, fostering genuine connections and driving meaningful engagement.

Evaluating Monetization Potential

While passion and audience alignment are paramount, it’s also essential to assess the monetization potential of your chosen niche. Consider the various revenue streams available within your niche, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored content, digital products, or services. Evaluate the scalability and sustainability of these monetization avenues to ensure long-term profitability and growth.

Finalizing Your Niche and Crafting Your Brand

Armed with insights from your research and introspection, it’s time to finalize your niche and craft your brand identity. Define your niche with clarity and precision, articulating your unique value proposition and positioning within the market. Develop a cohesive brand identity that reflects your niche, incorporating elements such as your brand voice, visual aesthetics, and messaging.

Conclusion: Embrace Your Niche, Unleash Your Potential

In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, selecting the right niche is not just a strategic decision; it’s a transformative one. By embracing your niche with passion, purpose, and precision, you unlock a world of possibilities and position yourself for unparalleled success. Remember, your niche is not just a market segment; it’s your platform for impact, innovation, and influence. So seize the opportunity, unleash your potential, and embark on your journey to digital marketing mastery.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Madeline Peltz at MMFA:

Media Matters has obtained a galley copy of Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts’ now-delayed book, Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America. In a review of the chapter on American education titled “Schools Should Teach Piety,” Roberts attacks teachers and advocates for gutting the public school system through so-called “school choice” policies. “A revolution in American education has begun,” Roberts threatens, before later specifying the scope of his vision: “We don’t merely seek an exit from the system; we are coming for the curriculums and classrooms of the remaining public schools, too.”

Media Matters previously reported on the content of Dawn’s Early Light in which Roberts attacks birth control, in vitro fertilization, abortion, and dog parks. In the chapter on family policy, he says that having children should not be considered an “optional individual choice" but “a social expectation or a transcendent gift,” and he labels reproductive choice methods as a “snake strangling the American family.” Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance wrote the foreword, calling Roberts’ ideas an “essential weapon” in the “fights that lay ahead.” Roberts begins the book’s education chapter with a warning: “I’ll state it extra clearly for the FBI: I am a parental rights extremist.” Presumably he is referring to the false right-wing media narrative that the FBI is targeting conservative parents who show up to and complain about policies at school board meetings. (This is not an accurate understanding of the way that the FBI tracks threats across the country — in this case, those made against school employees — and the bureau explicitly stated that it “has never been in the business of investigating parents who speak out or policing speech at school board meetings, and we are not going to start now.”)

[...]

Roberts also passionately advocates for so-called “school choice” policies. “The most powerful tool we have in realizing the ideal of American education is universal school choice,” he claims. “Universal school choice lifts all boats by ensuring that parents are supported to make the decisions that are best for their kids and creating meaningful competition and market signals to all schools, including public schools.”

“School choice” is a favorite cause of the right and is associated with the conservative push to upend and destroy the American public school system. The term refers to policies providing private school vouchers or promoting school privatization, which conservatives and right-wing media argue is an answer to “woke” public school curriculums. These private school vouchers take funding away from public schools and ultimately do not benefit school kids — as the American Federation of Teachers notes, “research shows that voucher programs either fail to increase student performance or actually hurt student achievement.”

[...] In the introduction to Project 2025, Roberts wrote that “bureaucrats at the Department of Education inject racist, anti-American, ahistorical propaganda into America’s classrooms.” This language echoes years of right-wing media attacks against schools and teachers as “woke” “groomers” who push radical racial and gender propaganda.  Project 2025 is also partnered with the extreme far-right group Moms for Liberty, an extreme far-right group that rose to prominence in the backlash to COVID-19 school policies and has opposed various LGBTQ- and diversity-related efforts in schools and school libraries.

In the now-delayed Dawn’s Early Light book from Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, he calls for war on public schools and teachers unions.

[goodagencytx]

Maximizing Your Reach: Unleashing the Power of Email Marketing with Good Agency

In the fast-paced digital landscape, where trends come and go with lightning speed, one marketing strategy continues to stand the test of time: email marketing. As the cornerstone of any successful digital marketing campaign, email marketing boasts an impressive return on investment and remains a vital tool for businesses aiming to connect with their audience on a deeper level. At Good Agency, we understand the unparalleled potential of email marketing and specialize in harnessing its power to drive results for our clients.

Why Email Marketing Matters In an era dominated by social media and instant messaging apps, email might seem outdated to some. However, the numbers paint a different picture. According to recent studies, there are over 4 billion email users worldwide, and this number is expected to continue growing. Moreover, research consistently shows that email marketing offers one of the highest conversion rates among all digital marketing channels.

So, what makes email marketing so effective? For starters, it provides a direct line of communication with your target audience. Unlike social media, where algorithms determine who sees your content, emails land directly in your subscribers' inboxes, offering a personalized and intimate connection. Additionally, email marketing allows for highly targeted and segmented campaigns, enabling businesses to tailor their messages to specific audience segments based on demographics, interests, and behavior.

The Good Agency Advantage At Good Agency, we recognize that successful email marketing goes beyond crafting compelling copy and eye-catching designs. It requires a strategic approach that encompasses audience segmentation, automation, and performance tracking. Here's how we leverage these elements to help our clients achieve their marketing goals:

Audience Segmentation: One size does not fit all when it comes to email marketing. That's why we work closely with our clients to segment their email lists based on various criteria such as demographics, purchase history, and engagement level. By dividing their audience into smaller, more targeted groups, we can deliver highly relevant content that resonates with each segment, leading to higher open and click-through rates.

Automation: Automation is the secret weapon of successful email marketing campaigns. With our advanced automation tools, we help our clients set up triggered emails that are sent based on specific actions or events, such as a user signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, or abandoning a cart. This not only saves time and resources but also ensures that no opportunity to engage with customers is missed.

Performance Tracking: We believe that data-driven decision-making is crucial for optimizing email marketing campaigns. That's why we provide our clients with comprehensive analytics and reporting tools that allow them to track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated. By continuously monitoring and analyzing campaign performance, we can identify what's working well and what areas need improvement, enabling us to refine our strategies for maximum impact.

The Future of Email Marketing As technology continues to evolve, so too will the landscape of email marketing. Emerging trends such as interactive emails, AI-powered personalization, and hyper-targeted messaging are poised to reshape the way businesses engage with their audience via email. At Good Agency, we stay ahead of the curve by constantly innovating and adopting new tools and techniques to ensure that our clients remain at the forefront of email marketing best practices.

Conclusion In an increasingly crowded digital marketplace, effective communication is key to standing out from the competition. Email marketing offers a powerful and cost-effective way for businesses to connect with their audience, build relationships, and drive sales. At Good Agency, we specialize in unlocking the full potential of email marketing for our clients, leveraging advanced segmentation, automation, and performance tracking to deliver measurable results. If you're ready to take your email marketing to the next level, contact us today, and let us show you what we can do for your business.

[crisalidaseason]

Who is the monster, who is the human?

Chapter 1 - Paradis Island (check index for more)

Chapter summary: You and your team of scientists arrive at Paradis to work in weapon and medication improvement. You meet commander Hange Zoe and captain Levi. You are struggling a little with the situation you're in. You meet a blond boy with an intense stare at the end of the day.

Tags and CW: Talks about racism (the devil eldian thing), implied ableism towards Viktor, disabled characters, treason, mentions of death, menitons of war crimes, mentions of chemical weapons.

The devil island was nothing you expected it to be. Not that the Marleyan propaganda was convincing to your people, but you could not help but think why that seemingly beautiful place was named so negatively. As the ship you were in docked at the shy harbor, you watched the completely normal and average people living their lives, unloading boats and ships, guiding the new people into their homeland, selling a variety of products in the nearby market. There was nothing extraordinary or evil about them at first sight, and you doubted all of them were inherently evil just because of a name they received by the scum of Marley, and yet, you remained attentive.

“Welcome” a person dressed in somewhat formal attire greeted your crew “Commander Hange Zoe, from the Survey Corps”

Your military captain, Fahron, shook the Commander’s hand and soon your group was guided into big carriages. It had been years since you stepped into a carriage, it was nostalgic enough you almost forgot how nauseating the ride was.

“The trip to the walls lasts a few hours, but we will be making a stop at a nearby Corps base to let your crew rest for the night and then we proceed the journey tomorrow” the Commander said once everyone was seated.

You looked at the Corps leader, they were a bit tall and with a typical build for a soldier. You noticed the black eye patch, wondering what kind of injury they suffered to result in a covered eye. Next to Commander Zoe was a relatively small man, that you could mistake for a teenager if it was not for his mature and handsome features. Not once his face relaxed, seeming permanently stuck in a grimace.

“This is captain Levi” Hange introduced, as if reading your mind “he is second in command”

He did not move, not even to acknowledge his introduction.

“Captain Levi” your captain greeted “it’s a pleasure to meet you”

Captain Levi barely moved his head, but acknowledged the direct response. He seemed to be the silent kind, you could relate to that very much.

“I cannot emphasize enough how glad I was when Onyankopon told me about this program” the commander said “Paradis is in desperate need of more scientists”

Oh. Onyankopon. You remembered his name from the countless meetings revolving around his coded letters. Nobody in your team understood the details of the bigger plan he spoke of, only that they were planning Marley’s downfall in some way. The only obvious step was that they needed chemists and physicists for weapon and medicine related research and production, which essentially was your team’s job.

“It’s a pleasure to provide more knowledge to your homeland, Commander Zoe” Gael, the lead engineer of your group, said “I’ve heard you were also an avid scientist before your current status”

“Oh, I would barely call it science” the commander said, a weak smile on their face.

You did not know Commander Zoe, but you heard enough about their inventions to know their work was far from ‘barely science’. Despite the rudimentary materials and resources that you read about on the reports, you found the commander’s inventions and discoveries very innovative and creative. Despite your expertise on chemicals, you could still understand enough of Hange’s intricate work with engineering.

The trip to the post lasted about an hour, filled with introductions and some basic conversation about everyone’s expertise and role in the military system. Commander Hange was quite confused when Fahron explained he was the only official soldier on that mission.

“None of us are soldiers per se, Commander” Gael said “we were enrolled in the army, but only completed the basic training. Our roles were purely research, improving the weaponry and producing chemical ammunition as well as some emergency medicine”

“Which means none of you had substantial experience on the field” Levi spoke “How can you develop weapons if you do not use them regularly?”

His voice was quite deep and calm for a man of that stature. He did not speak in a condescending way or shaming your group, but with genuine confusion.

“If you allow me to speak, leader Gael” you said.

Gael nodded and you proceeded.

“Marley’s military system is very full. They usually don’t need all of those people who enlist every year. Once you complete basic training you are redirected to your affinity area. That could be heavy artillery, anti titan squad, engineering, chemistry and physics and many others”

“Our team makes the research and improvements needed regarding the essentials in the battlefield, the artillery group tests our weapons and the nurses our drugs” Gael complemented.

“Besides, most of the chemists and physicists are the ones who never excelled much in physical abilities. Some of us have problems and birth defects that could be considered a hindrance in the battlefield, but there are still uses to our minds. It means we can dedicate more time to our research while the good soldiers train” Viktor finished.

Viktor was a physicist, the longest you worked with. The two of you enlisted the same year and started your basic and affinity training together. He was an extremely tall man, very slender and with longer arms and fingers than others. He suffered a lot during basic training, due to his appearance and also his heart almost giving out multiple times.

“Forgive my comrade” the commander said “here in Paradis all of our enlisted were required to remain active soldiers, even the ones who were injured. We used to have a high mortality rate, it did not allow us to dismiss people or make divisions according to affinity. But now that we find ourselves in a less mortal lifestyle, we might implement some of the Marleyan measures”

“Maybe starting with a research and science branch is a good beginning. All of us are specialized enough to train others. Those two here entered our affinity training program at the age of 13, they can teach your soldiers and even some civilians” Gael said, pointing to you and Viktor.

“That is very impressive!” Hange replied.

You noticed how overly animated they became once the conversation shifted to your team’s work and abilities. You could recognize in the commander the same behavior Gael often displayed, all of you to be fair acted the same, the excitement over experimentation and the scientific method. You wondered if Hange still researched and made inventions, or if the role of commander was just as heavy as it was for Gael once he became leader and began enrolling in more political matters.

“Commander Zoe” one of the soldiers guiding the carriage announced “We arrived at Erwin’s base”

“Finally. All of you will get some rest”

Erwin’s base was a slender and tall tower made of stone. You and your three teammates were assigned to a single room. Your group had slept in worse places during your life, the small and shared room was not an issue. What kept your teammates awake was the fact that some people said there were still titans lurking around the outskirts of the island.

“That Levi captain” Maria whispered on the hammock next to you “he had that strange belted gear attached under his coat”

Maria was a physicist just like Viktor. She was the only eldian person in the group, average height and a soft build. Her personality was loud and sometimes it resulted in trouble with the marleyan officers. You two were not close, not that you were close to anybody but she was the one you least spoke with outside of work related topics.

“Probably their omni directional mobility gear” Viktor commented “the one we saw at the exposition in Marley’s intelligence quarters”

“If he still wears it, the rumors must be true” she exclaimed.

“Onyankopon mentioned in one of his letters about Levi being Zeke’s personal vigilance” you said “if this single man is assigned to watch over the beast titan, he must have enough abilities to protect this tower from titans. That is if the rumors are true, I highly doubt it”

“You are always doubtful of everything” Maria softly hit you with her feet.

“Instead of being afraid of potential titans, we should be worried about our situation” you grunted “Gael can play this revolutionary leader role all he wants, but if something goes wrong, if Marley suspects we lied on our research permission documents, we are all dead”

“They’re right” Sofia spoke for the first time.

Sofia was the second and newest chemist in your group. A tall and slender young girl that sometimes was confused for a man because of her short black hair. She came from another squad located in the middle east. Alongside you, she was one of the few scientists who worked in no man’s land. You and her shared this silent understanding of how wicked the battlefield could be, how devastating your abilities could be used for in times of war.

“We were dragged into this with the sheer hope that Zeke will be successful with whatever plan he came up with” she continued “but we are still at risk and we better be careful with who we interact with in here”

“Aren’t all the soldiers here somewhat aware and in agreement of this plan? someone would have snitched already if they were infiltrated” Maria insisted “actually, they would be long dead with a bullet in their skull. That Yelena soldier smells traitors from kilometers away”

“I trust nobody here” you said “we don’t know if Zeke is actually on Paradis’ side. He could be using everyone here for a personal interest and endanger all of us in the end”

“This is not like our previous discreet sabotaging of marleyan missions” Sofia continued “this is something bigger, we are probably helping this nation develop enough weapons to fire back. The punishment will be worse than death if Marley finds out”

The night was restless for everyone. You were not able to sleep, worried that this situation was a step larger than your legs could afford. As much as your team was already used to being traitors, your actions were only occasional and never big enough to alert the marleyan intelligence: a small malfunction in a specific kind of tank, an adulterated chemical capsule that could be seen as normal degradation or bad storing. Never, in your team’s history, you were trusted to lie to your base about an entire expedition, lying about the research mission, the place you were located, everything. It was too much, a small error and you were all doomed.

The morning came fast, with the weather already much warmer than you were used to. Commander Hange was very energetic, you noticed, loud, but not in a strong commander demeanor, and a little chaotic when giving orders. The captain, Levi, was beside them, eyes focused on everyone and everything, face still contorted in an indifferent stare. Breakfast was simple and quick, all of you eating in the hallways due to the lack of a mess hall.

“We should move” the commander announced “we still have about two hours to go and the day will only get warmer”

It did get warmer. The carriage was open enough that the breeze could still flow through, but the heat was still significant. You never imagined that mornings could be so hot, and also dry, the amount of nosebleeds you had during the trip was quite alarming.

“Used to humid weather?” The commander asked when your nose bled for the third time.

You nodded while lifting your head and holding the already stained cloth onto your nostrils.

“I will arrange you a place to rest once we get on the quarters, I have already developed a good method to diminish the bleeding” Hange said “you would be surprised with the amount of foreigners that had this issue upon arrival”

You nodded slightly, muttering a thank you. Viktor offered his shoulder for you to keep your head elevated. You spent the entire journey in that position, a headache already growing. You were able to see the colossal walls from a distance, watching as they grew more and more with every kilometer the carriage covered. You always heard of the walls, made of thousands of colossal titans, about 50 meters of height.

“I thought the walls would look more like…” Viktor whispered to you.

“Titans” Maria completed “I genuinely thought it would be titan shaped. It looks so man made”

Maria was correct. The books and reports made it seem like you would see a long row of crystallized titans instead of a common wall structure. From that distance you could see small figures walking on top of the wall, as if they were not stepping on 50 meter monsters. Crossing the gate to enter the district was almost an unrealistic and dreamy haze, you were crossing a wall made of titans.

“We are almost there, I have some errands to run with Levi and some of my squad leaders, but our meeting should be this evening after dinner” Hange announced, looking at you “It should be plenty of time for you to rest and recover from the bleeding. Everyone, make sure to hydrate well, we also commonly have foreigners fainting from time to time due to dehydration”

The Survey Corps quarters were extremely different. It looked like a commercial building with only the winged symbol to indicate it was a military base and also the amount of soldiers wearing uniforms walking around. There were many large halls and doors leading to most likely offices and rooms. Behind the building you could see large spaces for training.

Once your military captain said his goodbyes to Gael, wishing everyone a successful mission, another group of three soldiers, most likely Paradis military if the gear was any indication, directed your team to the lower levels of the base. Surprisingly, you would enjoy the wonders of privacy for the first time, with everyone having a room for themselves. Yours was the closest one to the bathroom, and also the smallest, but you did not care.

“Can I come in?” Viktor’s voice was muffled behind the thick wooden door.

You muttered a yes.

“Bleeding stopped?” he asked “the soldiers said you could visit the infirmary if needed”

“Honestly I am slightly terrified of whatever ‘method’ the commander has in mind” you confessed “I had this issue before, it goes away with time”

Viktor smiled, you invited him to sit next to you.

“It’s strange to not have you as a roommate” he said.

You nodded. Viktor shared barracks, rooms, even the cold ground of the streets with you. Despite both of you keeping a good distance from each other’s personal life, the years of work were enough to form a somewhat close bond. You were terrified of considering him a friend, let alone family, but he was the closest thing you had of those two things.

“It was about time” you said “I know my sleeptalking must have bothered you for years”

“Indeed, I will not miss hearing demonic gibberish out of nowhere during the night”

You rolled your eyes at him, unimpressed. It did not take long for him to excuse himself to his room, leaving you alone with your thoughts. The headache was still going strong in your head, and you were not sure if you had enough patience for a meeting later on. Gael would murder you if you missed it, being the main chemist of the group made your presence indispensable. You poorly attempted to stop the nose bleeding from happening again by sticking damp pieces of cloth inside your nostrils, while sorting out more presentable clothes and preparing to shower.

“Anyone in there?” you knocked on the bathroom’s door.

A lack of response prompted you to enter. The bathroom was simple and small, with absolutely no bathing supplies. Hopefully, you were always prepared with your own products, but wondered where you could get more once you ran out. The quarter was quite distant and isolated, you would have to walk into a nearby city or market. The shower was quick, but enough to clean multiple of your generations. Back in your room, you were organizing some of your clothes and personal items when a knock on your door distracted you.

“It’s me” Sophia said “the soldiers are here to show us the way to the mess hall, we should hurry”

The mess hall was just as chaotic and loud as any other. It took a few minutes for your team to be able to reach the food table because of the long line, the food was standart military bland. You looked around, trying to find a big enough table to fit all of you.

“Where is Gael” Maria said.

“He wasn’t in his room when I knocked” Viktor answered “I don’t think he will come, we shouldn’t wait for him”

“Found a table” you announced “come on before someone takes it”

The table was big enough, but there was one chair missing. You sat Viktor down, knowing how uncomfortable he was getting every minute his stature was in plain sight. You looked around for a loose chair, finding one a couple tables on your right. There was only a blond boy reading a notebook, his food untouched on the plate.

“Excuse me” you said in a low voice “Can I take one of the chairs?”

The boy looked at you as if he broke a trance, shaking his head a little. He looked at you with eyes as blue as the sunny sky, you had never seen someone with eyes so light but dull at the same time. His stare was intense and he seemed to analyze every single micro movement you made, it made you uncomfortable.

“The chair” you said again when he did not reply “can I take one?”

He quickly nodded, light blonde brows, almost invisible, frowning slightly at you. You took the chair, not sparing him a second glance, the eyes still burning in your mind. You felt as if he was still staring at you the entire dinnertime, but did not dare to look back and confirm it.