#which should be reasonably matched according to the corresponding needs.

[zhejiangleihaoelectric]

[the-tired-tenor]

Alright, I just received a video recording of a briefing with a school district lawyer the other day regarding how new legislation in Florida is going to affect public education and uh. It’s a fuckin doozy. So let’s talk about it.

I’ll be referencing 6 laws today: HB 1069, HB 1521, HB 258, HB 379, and HB 254 (2022). Feel free to fact check me as needed, but I’m going to be telling you exactly what I saw in the video unless I tell you that I’m extrapolating, meaning what you’ll be reading is essentially district policy. This video is not from my district and (at time of writing) is not publicly available; in the interest of protecting my friend who sent it to me, I’m not going to be sharing it.

HB 1069

This law is separated into several parts.

Part 1 of this law defines the term “sex” to mean biological sex assigned at birth. Under this definition, sex is a strict binary; you can either be male or female. We’ll talk about the definitions of those two terms later. According to the text of the law, sex is an immutable physical characteristic. Using pronouns which do not directly correspond with a person’s sex is considered false speech under Florida law; because of this, it is therefore unlawful to require another individual to refer to you by pronouns not corresponding to your sex. Additionally, it is unlawful for school employees to provide to a student personal titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms.) or pronouns which do not correspond to that employee’s sex. It is also unlawful to ask students to provide their personal pronouns.

Part 2 of this law requires written consent from parents/guardians to use a preferred name or ‘nickname’ for a student if it does not ‘closely match’ the student’s legal name on their birth certificate. <No, the law does not define ‘closely match.’ Additionally, this would create a paper trail for the state to seize custody of children from supportive parents under HB 254 (2022).>

Part 3 of this law prohibits instruction regarding sexual orientation and gender identity from Pre-K through 12th grade, except as proscribed by state DoE standards.

Part 4 requires that schools teach only “traditional” reproductive roles in health classes. The state department of education must approve ALL materials used for sex education classes.

HB 1521

This law, known as the “safety in public spaces act,” provides some definitions for terms in other laws. This is also known as the “bathroom bill” for reasons that are about to become obvious.

Defines “male” and “female” in the eyes of the law. I didn’t write down the exact definitions, because it’s basically what you’d expect. Males impregnate, females get pregnant.

All persons may only use restrooms corresponding to their sex (as defined in HB 1069).

HB 258

This law prohibits certain apps from being downloaded to government owned and issued devices, as well as the accessing of those apps over government administered networks. For now, this is basically exclusively a TikTok ban, but the door is open to add more apps later.

HB 379

Prohibits the use of TikTok to promote district-sponsored activities. This extends to things like concerts, sports performances, and fundraisers; most notably, this also applies to booster clubs and similar organizations. This law didn’t get a lot of press, so I’m expecting to hear about lots of boosters getting disbanded or disciplined over this.

Prohibits students from accessing social media (any) using district resources. This included school-issued laptops, tablets, etc. as well as school internet.

Prohibits the use of student personal electronic devices during instructional time without express permission from the teacher in the room. I have no idea what the legislature thought they were drinking with this one, because not only is it micromanaging to a ridiculous degree, but it’s unenforceable and there’s no punishment provided for it.

In summary, this is the widest-reaching anti-student (and specifically anti-trans) legislation I’ve had a chance to closely examine. It’s deeply fucked, and I cannot stress enough that if you are able to send your trans students to school anywhere other than Florida, you should make that happen.

[defencelawyersvic]

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[mingyesblog]

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1m-4m vehicle roof-mounted lighting tower providers remind you to pay attention: Different models should use different hooks. It can also be directly fixed on the roof plane, or on other fixed platforms.

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[dincobbzine]

Q&A #4

Q: Per the contributor guide, “art must be vertical alignment, single page only,” but on the application there’s a selection available for 2 page illustrations.  Is two page drawing reserved for fancy special people?  Like a one time only super cool spread in the very middle of the zine?  Could the 2 page option be horizontal?  Like, say you wanted to do a two panel comic, could that be landscape oriented?  

2 page spreads will be limited based on the number of applications we receive. The question in the application is there to gauge the interest applicants may have in doing a 2 page spread. Indicating you want to do a 2 page spread will not mean you'll be guaranteed one.

Q: OOO COMICS!!!! Can we do short comic panels if they all fit on one page? Or illustrations only?

Comics are certainly allowed as long as they're finished and fit within the same submission guidelines as a regular illustration.

Q: Does the artwork/fics have to have a title?

Yes, please. It helps with organization. All fics will be required to have a title by the time of publication, you can have a working title in the meantime if you do not come up with one at the beginning. Artwork will not be required to have specific titles, but when submitting pieces for check-ins, the file names will need to at least include your artist name.

Q: Do we need a description for each artwork?  If you have a drawing that is not matched with a writer’s contribution, can you write your own little blurb for it?  How similar is this going to be to like… a coffee table book?  You know, like where the pages have little directional descriptions: Above: Din and Cobb stare at a sunset, by ___. Opposite: The husbands prepare to take their son to the first day of school, by ____. 

It will be closer in size to a trade paperback book than a coffee table book (5.5 inches by 8.5 inches as opposed to 12 by 12 or larger, like the concept art books) To let the art speak for itself and be large enough to take in the level of detail in each, there will likely not be descriptions for each piece. Additionally, most art will not be matched to a fic or vis versa. Fics and art must be standalone pieces unless you are selected during the application process to collaborate with an author to supply spot illustrations for their fic.

Q: Are the artists/authors going to be credited on each page, or just in one big lump at the beginning/end of the book?  Is there going to be a table of contents???

There will be a contributors line-up at the end of the zine with information about each artist/author with a page number corresponding to their work.

Q: Should artwork have artist signatures included on it? 

All your artwork should be signed (this goes for outside of the zine, too, sign your artwork, y’all!!!).

Q: Depending on the amount of people involved, can we submit more than one thing?

This will be considered should the need arise. Right now, each applicant is limited to one piece.

Q: The final thing has to be submitted as a PSD file?  I’m assuming that’s for editing and stuff?  So like, do we have to cut the picture down to size ourselves, or is that gonna be the mod’s problem to make everything pretty and uniform at the end?

Finals must be submitted as a PSD file for the following reasons: - it preserves file quality in ways that a flattened PNG or JPG image do not; - it is backwards compatible with Photoshop as well as Clip Studio Paint, which some of the mods work with. We would recommend working in the required file size from the start, so you can adjust for the bleed area in the composition of your piece. Each artist is responsible for sizing their artwork according to the submission guidelines. If you need help, please don't hesitate to ask one of the mods. Please note however that it's not the mods' job to make sure the image is the correct size; we will have a lot of other things we will need to be doing.

[vivelareine]

have you read the "I Love you Madly" book from Evelyne Farr? What do you think? since saw a reblog post recently saying you don't think there was an affair.

Yep, I have!

There's a lot to be said about it. The first is that it was wholly disappointing on the level of "I expected Farr to actually try to present a new analysis” but it’s more or less the same arguments as her old books: Louis is ugly, Antoinette wrote flowery things to Fersen and that means they were having sex, part of the rumor mill says her children were his so it’s true even though all of her children were rumored to be by other men because she was portrayed in the public eye as a promiscious wanton and Louis was portrayed in the public eye as a cuckold who couldn’t get it up, etc etc.

But deeper than that, there are a number of issues with the information presented.

Farr's personal interpretation of what was hidden by an unknown person at a later date does not match the words found using scientific methods & lab technology to decipher what was under the the ink in the censored passages. Representatives from the national archives have described the findings as not containing evidence of a sexual affair.

The book also includes several notable mistakes in its attempts to connect Fersen and Antoinette. To give just a few, the book claims that Esterhazy gave Fersen the nickname "Le Chou," (which Farr uses as evidence of their love and Louis Charles' paternity because of her nickname for Louis-Charles, Chou d'amour) when it was in fact the nickname was "Le Chose" (The Thing).

The book also incorrectly claims Louis Charles was Fersen's son when scientific evidence indicates that his father was Louis XVI. The book does the same with Sophie (Fersen must be the father!), and in the process discredits one of  its own arguments for Louis Charles' paternity (Louis Charles must be Fersen's because of Louis XVI writing, paraphrased, 'birth of the duc de Normandy everything [in the birth] was the same as that of my son').

Yet Louis XVI wrote "death of my daughter" after Sophie's death in his logbook. But somehow Louis XVI referring to Sophie as "his" daughter doesn't matter now, when by contrast the odd phrasing in a singular text, according to Farr, is evidence that Louis Charles wasn't his; and that is of course in addition to the fact that Louis XVI referred to Louis Charles as his son on other occasions, all of which doesn’t matter for some reason.

There’s other information which needs to be scrutinized rather than presented as a whole fact, though some of that information is due to new analysis and findings (for instance, the supposed “Swedish apartments” at Versailles are now contested rather than wholly accepted)

I also find it notable that Farr more or less says in the book that it's not important to look at Fersen's activities after the queen's death, because I guess "Fersen stalking and then writing negatively about a young Marie Therese in Vienna because he wants money he's owed for his spending on the failed flight to Montmedy so he can start a comfortable life with his mistress whom he may or may not marry" doesn't fit the swoonworthy picture that's been painted of him.

I am finally working on a proper review of it, but I need to finish another analytical book review first, so I'm not sure when it will be done. Sometime this summer, since I want to be as exact as possible in regards to how Farr's version of the correspondence differs from the scientific findings.

I will say I am very excited to have learned recently that a book about their correspondence and the subsequent partial discoveries underneath the later censored ink strikeouts is coming out from someone who works with the French national archives; someone who is keen to study the correspondence and analyze it through a more neutral and contextual view, since all we have so far is Evelyn Farr (whose conclusions don't match that of the scientific analysis) and Evelyne Lever, who did base her book on the lab/scientific findings but whose biographical analysis is based on decades of hoping the affair was true.

Lever’s analysis is also sorely lacking on the political side. (Please, please, someone do an entire analysis of her political correspondence from 1789-1792--Fersen, Barnave, all of it. It’s absolutely essential, particularly in the context of what she’s writing to Fersen. It should not be taken piecemeal.)

I’m not sure, but I may or may not wait for a full analytical review until the other book studying the findings comes out. Right now I’m comparing it to Lever’s presentation of the information, but maybe by the time the other book comes out, additional info will be available re: the correspondence.

[aks3raao1]

Danganronpa shorts: Luck in a mansion

It was a rather cloudy day when Kazuichi had an idea. A rather strange and disastrous idea, if I, Hajime Hinata, were being honest.

"So, let's go to this mansion! I heard it was scientifically interesting!"

Kazuichi Soda was a rather cowardly man and his defining characteristic was crushing over a woman (and making her uncomfortable with his advances) who would never return his feelings. He was truly hopeless in that regard and prone to fits of jealousy towards anyone who got close to her.

However, he had another side to him. He was also the Ultimate Mechanic and had been accepted by Hope's Peak for that reason. Thus, whenever he came upon a machine, his first instinct was to attempt to open it up and see how it worked. I suppose his fascination with machines in this manner is somewhat similar to Nagito's fascination with hope.

Speaking of which—

"What a hopeful idea, Kazuichi! I am sure the scientific mysteries of the mansion would give rise to hope when solved by someone as great as you!" Nagito Komaeda said, a little starry eyed. Well, that wasn't unexpected since he appeared to try and find hope....virtually everywhere.

However, it was an unspoken thing in our class that we are likelier to be less confident in things after Nagito's over blown praises than more confident unless it benefited the person being praised.

Now, it benefitted Kazuichi.

"Yeah, we all might find something for ourselves too!!! Besides it would be a fun outing!!!"

"Your hope for this outing is so beautiful, Kazuichi, I am sure it will turn out as the Ultimate Outing!" Nagito went on, ecstatic.

"Errr, yeah," Kazuichi looked mildly uncomfortable at that and I swallowed a retort of, "A taste of your own medicine, huh?" and instead said,

"Well, happy outing, you too, then."

"Wait no, you are coming with us as well," Kazuichi said, "No way in hell am I going with this weirdo alone."

I wonder what made him think that I wanted to go alone with two weirdos who were drunk on their respective obsessions. Atleast Kazuichi was less likelier to murder people due to said obsession but still.

"So Hajime is in," Kazuichi said, not waiting for my answer.

"Wait, I never said—"

"—however it appears that you need four people according to the ticket, Kazuichi, so it appears that you need to invite another person," Nagito said, completely ignoring me and looking over the paper Kazuichi was clutching in his hand.

"I do, yes," Kazuichi said, "Miss Sonia would you—"

She pretended as if he did not exist.

Downtrodden Kazuichi went on, "I can kick out Nagito if you want—"

Still no response.

Utterly crushed, Kazuichi turned back to us.

"So.....," his enthusiasm was noticeably less than before, "I...."

"Don't give up hope, Kazuichi! I am sure something would turn up for you at the mansion!"

This caused me to feel like Nagito just wanted to go to that super mysterious mansion. Well, I suppose my own curiosity had been spiked as well due to the ambiguous way Kazuichi framed it.

"You think?" Kazuichi said, looking slightly more hopeful.

"Absolutely! There's hope in that mansion!"

Slightly uncomfortable, Kazuichi scratched his neck.

"Well, I suppose I can't turn this down......but we need another person."

He looked around the place and I sent a silent prayer to the unfortunate person who would grab his eye.

"Hey, Fuyuhiko—!"

Now I felt sorry for Kazuichi.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu was the Ultimate Yakuza and rather foul mouthed and brash despite his small stature. He was also the last person who would get dragged into such a thing.

Or so had I thought, woefully underestimating Kazuichi's persuasion skills.

"What is it?" Fuyuhiko snapped, "What do you want?"

"Hey, want to go with us to this mansion?" Kazuichi said, walking over and sitting down in front of him with a wide shark like grin.

"...who's us?" Fuyuhiko said.

"Hajime, me and Nagito."

"....I am not going."

"Why, do you want to make out with Peko or something?"

"No, what the fuck."

"Come on, please, we just need another member and you are perfect for that."

"I said I am not going—"

Kazuichi proceeded to whine and annoy the living hell out of Fuyuhiko for the next one hour, causing him to give in. Evidently, his dedication to machines was more than his personal pride.

~

A day later, we were all standing in front of the mansion.

The weather was still cloudy. The weather forecast hadn't informed us about any rain, but considering that Nagito was tagging along.....well anything was possible. Already he was sporting bandaged arms when he had arrived today and seemed apprehensive to go with us. However Kazuichi had dragged him along anyways, with a, "No backsies."

I had asked him about the bandaged arms and his reply had been,

"Ahaha, it's the bad luck for the good luck that an Ultimate would invite such a worthless person like me........all I would do is bring along bad luck, however I am sure the Ultimates can overcome that."

If just going on a fun trip punished him in this manner, I suppose I can see why he is the way he is. In a way. I don't think I will ever come close to understanding Nagito Komaeda.

"So, we are staying here for a week, okay?" Kazuichi said, bringing out the keys. They were huge and fit for such an ancient mansion like this.

He unlocked the door. We pushed it together, causing it to swing back with a groan.

Silence.

That was the first thing I noted about this place. How absolutely silent it was.

The next thing I noticed was how dark it was.

Fuyuhiko took out a lighter to light the torches, looking creeped out himself.

"Oi, Kazuichi, I thought this was a scientific mystery, not a test of courage in a haunted house," he said, grumbling.

"...a scientific mystery is what they called it," Kazuichi said, looking confused himself.

"Ah, I am sure we can use science to investigate a paranormal mystery! If it can be solved using science, then it makes it a scientific mystery!" Nagito pointed out.

"I suppose so."

"I still have a bad feeling about this place.....," I muttered, going to help Fuyuhiko with the lights, "Besides, do we have a map?"

"Right in front of you, Hajime," Nagito chirped and I turned around to see that indeed, there was a map right in front of me.

"It looks like your hidden Talent could be Ultimate Map Summoner," he joked next, going to check the map in question.

"Lay off that already."

I might have forgotten my Ultimate Talent but that didn't give him the permission to rub it into my face at every turn.

Kazuichi used the light of the torches to check the keys.

"The numbers inscribed on the keys correspond to that on the map," Nagito spoke. This guy had some seriously good skills of observation. For a brief moment, I wondered why he isn't the Ultimate Detective instead.

"I see," Kazuichi went to check the map as well and began matching the keys to the map, "The map is incomplete....it looks too small for such a huge place.....wait, it's burnt off at the end."

"....ah."

Having finished lighting the torches, Fuyuhiko and I went to check the map in question as well. To allow Fuyuhiko to see it, Nagito moved back.

"Well, I am sure Ultimates such as yourselves would be able to figure out the rest of the map."

"Dude, we none of us are the Ultimate Mansion Map Imaginer over here," Kazuichi said, rolling his eyes.

Nagito looked at me.

"Definitely not," I said, "The map is extremely weird."

"I wonder which dumbass thought it would be a great idea to burn this map off," Fuyuhiko grumbled, "This better not be a prank Kazuichi."

"Why don't the lot of you believe me," Kazuichi spoke, "I saw this place at the same time as you all did. I originally got the ticket from my uncle who asked me to visit this place with three other people."

"Highly suspicious uncle, I see," Fuyuhiko said, "Well it would be the best to explore what areas we can explore and keep our stuff in the bedrooms."

"There are two bedrooms," I said squinting at the map, "Or that's what I can get from this map anyways."

"Well then we have to share it!" Kazuichi said, most cheerfully.

".....what," the rest of us chorused.

None of us had ever heard such a suggestion before.

".....share one bedroom between us, isn't that the most obvious conclusion?" Kazuichi tried again.

"I am too worthless to—," Nagito started up.

"We aren't that chummy—," Fuyuhiko spoke up.

"...sounds rather embarassing," I said.

Faced with our combined refusal, Kazuichi took a step back in exasperation.

"Then do you all geniuses have a better idea????"

"Yes," Fuyuhiko spoke before any of us could, "Explore the mansion and find atleast two more bedrooms."

".......you guys are so dedicated to being tsundere that it's honestly really sad," Kazuichi said, checking the keys again.

"Hey, what was that for—," I started.

"How fucking dare you," Fuyuhiko growled.

".....Uh, since none of us want to share rooms, I suppose we should split up and search? After all, it would be troublesome if we got lost," Nagito said, trying to quell us. It worked, apparently since Kazuichi nodded appreciatively.

"Nagito and Hajime can go together," he said, giving half the keys to me, "And Fuyuhiko can come with me."

Suffice to say, neither Fuyuhiko nor I were too happy about our respective partners, however we chose not to argue.

Kazuichi pushed open the door to the entrance hall which had electric lights on for some reason.

"Let's go."

~~~~~~

"It would be rather interesting if your hidden Talent could come into play here," Nagito said while we searched the kitchen. It was, shockingly enough, filled with modern amenities, which caused me to wonder what the hell was up with the first corridor. It was probably for show, though. And Nagito was still hung over my Talent since we started walking together, making me wish I had brought a duct tape to seal his mouth with.

"I don't see why you are so obsessed with my Talent," I said, searching the microwave. It had a single roasted chicken. It looked rather appetizing.

"What, don't you want to know what Talent got you into Hope's Peak? Maybe your hidden Talent is Ultimate Amnesia for all we know...."

"That's a mental disorder, not something to excel at," I grumbled, taking the chicken out.

"Hm...?" Nagito appeared to have caught smell of the roasted chicken and came over, ".......how odd."

"Well—," my sentence remained incomplete as a light came out of the open microwave and sucked Nagito to God knows where like something out of a sci fi movie.

The chicken dropped from my hand in shock.

"NAGITO?????"

~~~~~~

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu with anyone who wasn't Peko Pekoyama happened to make a rather caustic pair.

Especially right now, when he was searching a bedroom that resembled that of a hospital with Kazuichi Souda. Kazuichi had been needling him on tips to get a girl (Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess) to like him, because apparently he was supposed to be an expert on that somehow since he had Peko. He tried to explain that they had just been raised from birth and that they were best friends for that reason. Kazuichi looked downtrodden at that, prompting him to ask whether he had brought him along just to question that.

"Well," he said rather shamelessly, "I can't ask Hajime or Nagito for that, can I?"

Fuyuhiko felt the beginnings of a severe migraine in his head.

He would have to use all his patience in the following week to not murder this guy on spot.

"GUYS—," a rather shrill voice rang out, causing the both of them to jump and bump their heads against one another.

Hajime had come and he was looking extremely frightened and entirely out of his element. Hajime was someone who was extremely likely to faint at shocking events and tended to react strongly to abnormal things, so it was not a shock to see him freaked out. However, what was a shock was the absence of the cotton candy haired guy running after him in attempts of placating him.

Which led Fuyuhiko to assume that the reason was definitely Nagito.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nagito got sucked inside a microwave and disappeared," Hajime said, panting.

".....pardon the fuck?"

".....This must be the scientific mystery they talked about in the brochure," Kazuichi said, eyes wide in excitement and slight fear, "Nagito's luck caused him to find it."

~~

It was a bland tasteless white room, whiter than even his own hair. Equipment was scattered around on the metal tables. Cupboards overflowed with bundles of paper and files. There was a projector at the far corner of the room.

Nagito Komaeda groggily rubbed at his face with his hands.

Ultimate Luck was truly something.

He turned his throbbing head around to check behind him. There was a gramaphone's trumpet there, sitting innocently. However, he was perfectly aware of exactly how innocent it was.

He looked at the room again. It was huge and there were no doors nor windows. It was, to say, an entirely sealed room apart from the gramaphone record that he assumed served as the pathway from the kitchen's microwave to this room.

He closed his eyes and exhaled.

[1/2]

Kazuichi is hopeless beyond sjjsjwjwjw

[kabane52]

Luke and Romans

A reasonable argument can be made for the idea that each of the four gospels was written intentionally as part of a canonical set of books known to us as the New Testament- and that each of the four gospels has a partner epistle.

Matthew is clearly connected with the letter of James, which quotes teachings of Jesus in Matthew according to Matthew's transcription.

Mark is the witness of the Apostle Peter and so is connected, in my view, with 1 Peter and was published together with it as Matthew was with James.

John's Gospel and letters are so obviously connected it hardly needs comment.

That leaves Luke. Luke's connection with Paul is well-known. Might one point to a specific work of Paul's that could have been published together with Luke as 1 Peter was with Mark and James with Matthew?*

I've suggested elsewhere (and am not the first to do so- David Trobisch provides evidence for the publication of the New Testament as a single text, meaning it was meant to be read as a collection with a specific order- Trobisch puts this in the mid second century, I just roll it back to the Apostle John) that the books of the New Testament are apostolically ordered with intentionality to link in coherent ways with the Tanach (in its tripartite construction calling attention to central themes at compositional seams) and with itself. That Revelation ends with a reference to the whole company of the prophets, John's collegiality with them, and with the "neither add nor subtract" command** at the very least warrants consideration of an apostolic unity to the New Testament as hypothesis.

Romans makes most sense as the letter of Paul co-published with Luke and circulated together with it. As above, the evidence is reasonable but does not compel one to this conclusion. Several reasons:

-Romans is the first letter in the Pauline corpus and is not an occasional letter, despite attempts to read it as such. On the contrary, Paul presents it as an ordered explanation of his preaching, since he has not personally visited the Romans. Its position after Acts (in the Majority Text- I don't want to get into this trail in the comments but in certain manuscripts the Catholic Epistles precede the Pauline Epistles) makes great sense. Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome with Paul proclaiming the gospel. Romans presents the content of this proclamation. It begins with Rome- Paul's express wish to visit the church in Rome- and ends with Jerusalem, completing the circuit we see in Acts- the gospel radiates out from Jerusalem and returns to Jerusalem in successively greater distances. It ends without a return journey to Jerusalem, but Paul describes exactly such an intent in the letter (he will "reap some harvest" in Rome and then in 15:16 will present that harvest as "tribute" to God- fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 66, remembering that the tribute offering is of bread and thus the result of what is harvested).***

-Luke addresses his Gospel to "Theophilus" and describes that which was transmitted by designated "witnesses" who were "from the beginning" ministers of the word. Acts makes it explicit that these "witnesses" played a formal role in verifying the risen kingship of Jesus as the heart of their apostolic calling. Romans 1:6 is addressed to those who are "loved by God" - the only letter of Paul with this kind of address- which is what "Theophilus" means.**** Moreover, Paul begins Romans by directly citing his unique apostolic call to bear witness to the risen kingship of Jesus in 1:5. Like the address to those "loved by God", this is a feature which differs from every other of Paul's epistolary introductions but which is *shared* with the Prologue of Luke. In terms of an inductive argument, that double-relationship is probably the strongest.

-Finally, the leading words of Romans very closely connect with Jesus' closing words in Luke. Compare:

(Romans 1:1-5)  Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

(Luke 24:44-49)  Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

1. "Promised beforehand through his prophets" comes from Jesus' "Everything written about me" in law, prophets, and writings "must be fulfilled." The participial "promised" here is the verbal cognate of the noun "promise" in Luke 24 ("promise of my Father").

2. Reference to Davidic descent in Romans matches Jesus' identification of His prophesied mission as that of "the Messiah." To say "Son of David" is to say "King Messiah." (That Jesus speaks of the "promise of my Father" likewise underscores His identity as Son of God and could be construed, in light of other factors, as an implicit connection between the two texts)

3. That Jesus would "rise from the dead on the third day" is constitutive of His messianic vocation as in Romans: "declared to be the Son of God in power...by His resurrection from the dead."

4. The apostolic call enjoined is to proclaim the reign of Jesus "all the nations" in both Luke 24 and Romans 1. Jesus says this is done for "in His [the Messiah's] Name" and Paul says "for the sake of His Name."

5. Jesus instructs the eleven to wait until the coming of the Spirit clothes them with "power" and enables them to carry out their appointed mission as apostolic witnesses. Paul says that the Spirit constituted the Son of God "in power" (unless otherwise noted here, verbal links are made on the basis of identical or immediately cognate Greek words) and is the one "through whom" he fulfills his apostolic witness for "all the nations" and the "Name" of Jesus.

To sum up:

-There is a pattern of epistolary correspondence with a Gospel. James quotes Matthew directly, Peter's witness is the basis for Mark, 1 John and the Gospel of John are obviously intimately bound up. And Luke is the companion of Paul..

-With Romans being the most "theological" and by far least occasional of the letters- not to mention standing at the head of the collection- it is the most likely candidate for a matched letter to begin with.

-Romans 1:1-5 has divergences from every other of Paul's epistolary introductions which converge with Luke's Prologue.

-There are a series of closely connected verbal and thematic links between the apostolic commission of Jesus in Luke 24 and Paul's description of his own commission in Romans 1:1-5.

Finally, I will note that in 1 Timothy 3:16 there is a very strong parallel to Romans 1:1-5:

(1 Timothy 3:16)  Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Yet on further consideration, this isn't a reference to Romans 1:1-5. This is a reference to Luke 24. "Seen by angels" has no parallel in Romans 1:1-5 but it makes perfect sense as a reference to Luke's narration of two angels at the tomb of Jesus. The word for "proclaimed" here in 1 Timothy is the very word used by Jesus in Luke 24 in "proclaimed to all nations." And while Romans 1:1-5 lacks a reference to the ascension, there *is* such a reference in Luke 24. Finally, the word for "taken up" is "analambanw" in 1 Timothy 3:16- almost identical (the prepositional prefix is the only difference- the angels' reference to Jesus' being "taken" up is completely identical) to Luke's narration of the ascension in Acts which uses "upolambanw." Specifically, it is a *cloud* which is said to have "taken" Jesus from their sight. Such a cloud is the *glory-cloud* of the Old Testament, the cloudlike presence of God which went with Israel and dwelt in the tabernacle and temple. And so in 1 Timothy 3:16 it is "in glory" that Jesus is taken up.

Add into the mix the fact that Romans 16 ends by recalling 1:1-5- identifying it as a "mystery", which is the very word used to introduce 1 Timothy 3:16 AND the fact that 1 Timothy 5 quotes Luke's Gospel *directly* and one has a very powerful case- at the very least- for the idea that Paul in Romans 1:1-5 is intentionally echoing the specific words of Jesus written down in Luke's Gospel. But my argument goes further and suggests that the four gospels- which have compositional links to each other- each have a corresponding letter with which they were first circulated. They are:

Matthew-James Mark- 1 Peter Luke- Romans John- 1 John

*If one rolls with that- and while there is reason to think it is true, it's clearly not enough to intellectually *compel* one in the strict sense)

**The "prophecy of this book" should be read in light of immediate context. We have just heard of "your brothers the prophets" whom the Spirit inspired. In Revelation 10 we are told that Revelation describes the fulfillment of that which was amounts to God's "servants the prophets", so it makes sense to take this as a reference to the biblical authors (this is the usage of 2 Peter as well). It's a little too perfect to have the last book of the Bible conclude with on the nose references to Genesis 1-3 and a final injunction to preserve the given text as is if Revelation was meant to be taken as a standalone work alongside the Tanach with no relation to its order.

***Obviously Acts is written after Romans. I take Luke to have been written in the mid to late 50s with the intent to publish the Acts when appropriate. That time comes in 62- on this hypothesis, Romans is the epistolary partner of Luke. Acts is written intentionally to precede Romans and the two are joined in that way rather than Paul beginning his letter to follow Acts. See links on the relationship among the four gospels.

****Obviously "Theophilus" is from "philia" and not "agape" as is used in Romans 1:6. But "philia" and "agape" were often interchanged with one another and I am not aware of a personal name meaning "loved by God" rooted in "agape"- though there may be one out there. In case it's not clear, I suspect that "Theophilus", like John's "elect lady" is a way of designating the church as beloved of God.

[blvejeanbaby]

The Farmhouse (m)

Pairing: Wooyoung x reader, San x reader, Yeosang x reader + multiple Ateez members x OC characters + boy x boy action Word count: 14.9k Warning: sex (though mostly foreplay), threesome, mentions of sex, alcohol use, some Ateez members are gay

disclaimer: I am not trying to assume anyone’s sexuality with this story, that was not what this was meant for! This is all a work of fiction and what I write in this story doesn’t necessarily reflect my thoughts in real life.

A/N: I had originally planned for this story to end up very, very differently but I like to write wherever my mind goes. That’s why I had originally planned to split this up into four parts, with a different ending in my mind. You’ll find out part of what that different ending was in the extra scene at the end n.n

Day 1 On a trip, the last mile is always the longest - it’s not so much the truth as the truth of a feeling. Yunho made sure the last mile wouldn’t come for a while. Even though he had proclaimed himself to be an excellent driver, perfectly capable of following up instructions while driving safely, he hadn’t been too successful in making that statement come true. With Jongho screaming different directions at him, increasingly getting more frustrated with Yunho’s inability to follow these, Yechan from the back attempting to give directions without really knowing where all of you were, you were more so focused on what was outside of the car. Over the course of your journey to the countryside, the landscape had gradually changed; from the tall buildings of the busy city, you got closer and closer to the national park, where you would be staying nearby.                “This must be it!” Daemi said excitedly. She had been quiet while the others had been arguing, but when you looked out of the front window, you noticed she was right. The building, a large two-storey farmhouse, concealing an even bigger backyard, with a vineyard next to it, matched the AirBnB advertisement perfectly.                “Oh, that’s Seonghwa’s car,” Yunho said, unable to keep the relief out of his voice. He steered the car onto the driveway and parked it right next to Seonghwa’s.                When you got out of the car, you were instantly greeted by a voice from higher up: “Hey, look up!” You shielded your eyes from the sun as you looked up to find a half-naked Wooyoung hanging out of an open window. “You’re the last ones to arrive.”                “It’s because Yunho can’t drive,” Jongho said, at the same time Daemi said: “It’s because Jongho doesn’t know how to read a map.”                “Well, you’d better come up and get yourselves a room,” Wooyoung said. “The others have already started drinking and none of the groceries have been done yet.”                To that, everyone nearly fell over each other to collect their bags from the trunk of the car. The house had enough rooms to accommodate 16 people, but because of some being less comfortable sleeping in rooms with certain others, everyone had more or less divided up the rooms beforehand, and mattresses were dragged around to make sure everyone had a bed to sleep in at night. Or during the day, considering the objective of this trip was not to have a wholesome trip to escape from your usual busy lives in the city. Of course it was that too, but there was also the idea that you would just get away to party and get drunk, the way you couldn’t so easily in the city, where there was always some authority to monitor you.                 You shared a room with Daemi and Yechan, your best girl friends. To accommodate Yechan, you got an extra mattress from the room opposite yours, which was one with an in-room shower. “…so that’s our bathroom,” Yechan concluded as she flopped down onto her unmade mattress and closed her eyes. “I’m going to take a nap.”                “A nap? We have to make our beds first. And the groceries still need to be done,” Daemi said.                “Why didn’t anybody else go while we were gone?” you sighed.                “Well, if Wooyoung’s right and they already started drinking…” Daemi shrugged. “Maybe we should do the groceries. Before everyone gets too drunk.”                When you got downstairs, you saw that Daemi had been right; a lot of people were already quite drunk. Seonghwa was one of them, pressing his car keys into your hands, despite you not having a drivers’ license. “Take them,” he said. “Take them. Take more beer with you too. The good ones.”                “Hwa, I don’t drink beer-“ you started, but Seonghwa kept rambling about the beer you needed to get.                “I’ll come with you,” San said, jumping up from his seat next to Alice and pushing Seonghwa into it. “I know which brand of beer he likes.” He smiled at you and you smiled back thankfully. You were glad to find that it wasn’t just going to be you and San doing the groceries – as he had been drinking and you didn’t have your license, there was no one who could even legally drive the car off the property if you had wanted to. You were glad to find it wasn’t just going to be the two of you. That would’ve probably made for some awkward moments between you. You had been alone with just San before, and it had been normal, until it wasn’t anymore. Something snuck into your relationship that could only be described as attraction. Perhaps it was just plain physical attraction, as your heart always beat slightly quicker when you saw him, or perhaps it ran deeper, but what you did know was that your friendship was good and you didn’t want to ruin it with a crush.                The dynamic in the friend group had always been amazing. The traditional idea about boys and girls not being able to be friends without romantic feelings involved, was completely destroyed by you guys’ friendships. Only Seonghwa and Sooyoung were officially dating, following a set-up Hongjoong had cooked up by himself. Sooyoung had never been part of the friend group before, and the same went for Soojin, her best friend. The friend group dynamics had actually improved upon Sooyoung and Soojin’s introductions to the group nearly two years ago.                It was for that reason you didn’t feel uncomfortable while in the car with only boys: Yunho drove again, Jongho navigating once more. You were squished in between Hongjoong and San in the backseat of Yunho’s car, which was roomier than Seonghwa’s, with the latter’s car keys pressing into your leg through your jeans. While Jongho and Yunho already started arguing about which way to go and which supermarket to choose, you turned to Hongjoong as he talked about the plans for the next couple of days: “…sauna, so maybe we can hop in there tonight. And tomorrow Anna and I want to do a barbecue by the lakeside. It’s not that far a drive but if we want to take beer there, we can walk too.”                “Of course we’ll want to take beer,” San said. “Maybe even wine and stuff. Hey, Y/N, we have your favourite drink too. It’s cheaper in cities than in the countryside, we figured out.”                “My favourite drink?” you turned to him.                “That soju-yogurt cocktail you like so much. Wooyoung and Yeosang made it for you.”                You felt your heart swell at San remembering you liking soju-yogurt cocktails. It had been a while since you told him about loving it the first time you tried it and it becoming your signature drink when going out. You weren’t big on alcohol the way other people could be, but sometimes you found yourself casually wanting to make your own soju-yogurt cocktail at home. “I hope there’s still left when we get back.”                Once at the grocery store – which was tucked away behind a scary-looking church that, according to Yunho’s limited amount of information about the surrounding area, once belonged to a cult – Hongjoong was in charge of listing off the grocery list and checking the boxes corresponding with what the others put into the cart. You were staying close to San’s side, as you always did when he was around. Yes, you found him physically attractive, which made you want to look at him all the time, but there was also something absolutely magnetic about his personality that made you want to be talking to him always. And it seemed like San was really into your conversation as you wandered off from Hongjoong and Jongho to find a certain brand of pasta sauce. Despite the simplicity of the topics you were talking about, which ranged from Yunho not being able to drive and Yechan karate chopping you in the head when she saw a mosquito flying past that she wanted to kill, you felt a little nervous around San. Once you had told Daemi about it, hoping she would come with valuable advice, but instead she had laughed at you and just declared you were crushing on San, hard. And perhaps she was right.                When you got back to the farmhouse, needless to say, the soju-yogurt cocktail was gone. Feeling robbed of the one thing you were looking forward to about returning, you opted to drink water instead. You’d start drinking alcohol after dinner, you told yourself, so you wouldn’t get sick. Finally, when it was clear there were little to no sober people you could strike up conversation with, you excused yourself to go upstairs and shower.                The summer heat made everything hot and sticky, including your body. You grabbed a towel and some clean clothes as well as your toiletry bag before going to the single room with the shower. The room was small and simple, with a window overlooking the backyard and the mountains in the distance. You cracked the window open, quickly glancing down to see the back patio, only accessible through the kitchen. As you put on the shower, you enjoyed the smell of freshly cut grass and summer drafting in through the window, as well as the sound of the water cascading on your body mixing with the sounds of a chirping bird outside and the sounds of cows in the distance. Until your attention was caught by a sudden yelp: “Wooyoung!”                Your eyes shot wide open when you recognized that voice. Rose. Along with Alice and Anna, they were in your friend group because Daemi liked them a lot. Your personality didn’t match well with Rose and although you didn’t hate each other or anything, you weren’t very fond of Rose and you were sure the sentiment was shared by her. As far as you knew, Wooyoung, however, thought she was amazing.                “Don’t tell me you don’t like it,” Wooyoung’s voice sounded, loud, as if he was right there in the room with you. It immediately gave you goose bumps.                “Hm, I like it,” Rose’s voice came again. You could just about imagine her shaking her blonde hair out of her face, over her shoulder… You had always thought she looked closest to an angel as was humanly possible. Perhaps your dislike of her had something to do with how you were jealous of her always getting the guys she wanted, how she managed to get every single boy to ever lay eyes on her to fall in love with her and how she could effortlessly keep and make friends… “You like this?”                “Hm, Rose…” That was a groan. A groan from Wooyoung. You had never heard something so utterly sexual. You shivered. Saying you were feeling increasingly uncomfortable was nearly an understatement. They continued to make sounds that made you want to throw up in your mouth. Had they been drinking this much already? Or were they just that into each other that it didn’t bother them it was broad daylight outside? Did they not hear your shower running too? Or were they not aware how perfectly audible they were? You felt like you weren’t supposed to be naked while you could hear them so clearly; it felt weird.                You quickly turned off the shower and wrapped your towel around yourself. Even though you had taken your clothes and toiletry bag into the single room, you didn’t want to hear a single sound anymore, so you made your way back to your room where you took your time getting ready, trying to shake off the nasty feeling Wooyoung and Rose’s acts had left behind.                While putting on clothes and jewellery and smearing light makeup on your face, you felt the urge to dress the best you could, despite the fact you were just going to be cooking and eating and drinking with your group of best friends. There was something inside of you screaming that you wanted to prove to everyone that you, too, were worthy of getting fingered and giving handjobs on the patio as well – there was no other explanation for what they had been doing and no need to lie to yourself about it. More importantly, you felt the need to prove to specifically Wooyoung you could handle whatever he would give you on that patio. More so than Rose. But that was ridiculous. You wouldn’t really want Wooyoung to touch you like that.                As you finished the perfect winged eyeliner, you decided that was enough makeup. You made your way downstairs, collecting Anna, Daemi and Hongjoong for dinner. “Let’s get going,” you said.                “Seems like you already got going,” Daemi chuckled, following you closely into the kitchen. “Who is that outfit for?”                “For you, of course.” You sent her a wink.                “San is one lucky boy,” Daemi said quietly, so no one else could hear, before getting to work on cutting up onions. If only she knew, you thought to yourself, taking it upon yourself to cut up the potatoes.                It took a surprisingly long time to cook for 16 people, despite the extra hands pitching in to slice up vegetables and do the washing up. You realized how much you’d been underappreciating the restaurant people who churn out dishes at an insane speed, compared to how you’re cooking a relatively simple dish with little ingredients while needing all the help you can get.                “Ah,” you hear a voice, “can I taste?” Before getting confirmation, the spoon is already in the pasta sauce and before you can scold him, the spoon is already in his mouth. “Hm, needs a little more spice, I think.”                “Yeah? Well, you think wrong.”                “What? You haven’t even tasted yet,” Wooyoung said, putting the spoon back on the counter. There’s a smirk on his face that your hands are itching to wipe off with a slap, and a blush on his cheeks that you know is not the effect of the hot weather.                “The recipe doesn’t call for extra spices, thank you very much.”                “What’s got you all upset?”                “I’m not upset,” you bite back, proving the opposite.                “Ah, it must be the period,” Wooyoung said, with an air of superiority.                “Fuck you, Wooyoung.” You threw your own wooden spoon down into the pasta mixture, splattering both yourself and Wooyoung with the red sauce, before storming out onto the patio – only to find Rose standing, a gleeful smile on her face and a cigarette between her lips.                She looked up instantly. “You look a little upset.” Her smile faded away as she stuck out her hand to you. “Need a drag?”                You didn’t even bother responding, instead dealing with the embarrassment of having to go back through the kitchen to escape. When dinner is served, you can’t even muster up the faintest of smiles or feign happiness. At least what got you so upset wasn’t your period. And quite frankly, you were even angrier that Wooyoung thought it was okay to make such a joke, whilst normally being so attuned to girls’ feelings, especially yours.                You hated the pasta, but you ate it anyway. You glanced over to where Wooyoung was seated, chatting excitedly to Seonghwa and Mingi, the left-overs of the splattered sauce staining his white shirt. You didn’t even feel remotely guilty.                You were glad when dinner was finished, so you could commit yourself to working on another batch of soju-yogurt cocktail, this time without Wooyoung, since he was too busy in the sauna. Probably flirting with Rose, you thought to yourself as you grumpily got to work on the ingredients. San and Yeosang were right there with you; Yeosang because he knew how to make it and San because he evidently wanted to cheer you up. He kept saying cheesy jokes and poking your cheeks and then his own ‘to see if he could give you his dimples’. Every time you gave him an annoyed look, his smile made your heart flutter and your mouth shut.                As the night progressed, you were aware you were drinking a bit too much of the mixture. Maybe a bit too much of any liquor, really, because by the time the clock struck 11 o’clock, you were already very close to quitting alcohol for the night, while Soojin was only on her second drink of the evening.                “I’m going to get some air,” you said to no one in particular, before getting up and stepping outside, sliding the door closed behind you. Away from the stifling heat inside, the cool mountain air managed to cool you down enough to not sway on your feet as you threw your head back to look at the night sky. It was dotted with stars, only visible because you were so far away from cities and their light pollution. You were in the middle of deep contemplations about the universe, when you heard a noise. Oh no, not again, you thought to yourself, your head snapping down to look over the balustrade, down at the swimming pool.                On the edge of it you could see two figures, barely visible in the darkness. But from what little light the porchlight shone on them, you could make out that it’s San – it’s unmistakably him. But who is with him? It takes a little more squinting and a moan before you make yourself rip away from the sight, stomping back into the house. You don’t even tell anyone that you’re heading up to bed.                Only when you’re finally underneath the covers, you allow yourself to think about what you saw. Your long-time crush, Choi San, shoving his tongue down the throat of Kim Alice, someone you had always figured was rather harmless a person to have around. She didn’t speak much in big groups – kind of like you – but when she did, she was funny. She was a joy to be around, seemed to have a life devoid of problems, she was conventionally attractive… With a sigh you turned on your side, closing your eyes, willing yourself to fall asleep. But all you saw with eyes closed was San and Alice, kissing as if their lives depended on it.

Day 2 After you and Anna had put away the dirty plates and cutlery into the dishwasher and turned it on, everyone was about ready to leave for the lake. The morning had been off to a slow start but with the sun beaming down on everyone, scorching hot, they were all suddenly up and running. Their sudden energy was not the reason you left the cars at the house and instead walked through the significantly cooler forest to get to the lake. After all, according to Hongjoong, it’s not a far walk. The reason was solely to be able to drink.                Jongho and Yeosang carried the cool box filled to the brim with drinks and meat, which was undoubtedly the heaviest thing to carry, while Daemi and Alice offered to carry the blankets to sit on. Everyone else was assigned their own towels and clothes to carry. You stayed at the back of the group with Mingi, who was positively hungover from the night before and had to stop every few minutes or so to clutch at his stomach and complain about how nauseous he felt. Needless to say, the two of you arrived only when Seonghwa had already started to set up ‘camp’, as he called it, and the others were already half-undressed and in the water.                Soojin was in the midst of stripping off her sundress, convincing Alice to do the same. Both were trying to get Yunho to abandon his duties of helping Seonghwa lay down the blankets, for him to come swimming with them. Jongho and Yeosang, who had been in the front with Hongjoong, setting the pace and navigating, had already put the cool box down, Jongho in the process of taking off his pants.                “Y/N,” Sooyoung appeared in front of you suddenly. “Do you want to come with us to the village? It’s just a ten minute walk, Hongjoong said, and it’s apparently really pretty. Maybe you can take some photos.” She gestured toward your film camera, a gift from Wooyoung for your last birthday. You had taken it with you to the lake, thinking you could get a lot of use out of it to capture the memories of the trip.                “Sure, seems like fun,” you said. “Who’s coming?” You felt torn as Sooyoung told you it was just going to be you, Seonghwa, Hongjoong and Yeosang. On the one hand you were glad that San and Wooyoung were staying behind, as you weren’t sure you could handle having to deal with them for too long. On the other hand, you were a little torn on leaving them behind with Alice and Rose. You had to remind yourself they were nothing to you but your friends as you shrugged your heavy backpack off and gave Mingi a pat on the head before he threw himself down on the blankets. Even though he was groaning and being apologetic, no one believed he found it really terrible he could not come with.                Hongjoong and Seonghwa were completely attached to Sooyoung, which caused you to stay with Yeosang. He was typically a very observant but quiet person; he noticed a lot but never said a thing about it. Imagine your surprise when he asked: “So, you were not having a great time last night?”                “Was it that obvious?” you groaned.                “Wooyoung told me you cursed at him. You know, he was joking about the period thing.”                “I know. Doesn’t make it okay.”                Yeosang turned semi-serious. “He hates it when you two fight.”                “Has he told you that as well?” You were starting to lose your temper, which you did not want. After all, Yeosang had nothing to say about what Wooyoung was feeling, saying or doing.                “No,” Yeosang said. “I just know. You’re his best friend, even though it might not seem like it sometimes. What were you mad about anyway?”                You gnawed at your lip. The fact was, you weren’t entirely sure what you were particularly mad about. That he was fingering Rose on the patio while everyone could notice? That he was fingering Rose on the patio of all places? That he was fingering Rose to begin with? That it was Rose, of all people? And what reason did you have anyway to care about what Wooyoung was doing romantically or sexually? You were only friends.                But if there was someone you could talk to this about, it would surely be Yeosang, right? Apart from you, he had known Wooyoung the longest. Before it was you and Yechan and Daemi, it had been you and Wooyoung and Yeosang. And even before that, it had been Wooyoung and Yeosang. That was before San had come in and essentially stolen Wooyoung away. It was before a lot of things.                You sighed. “Well, when I was showering last night? Before dinner?” You mentally cringed at what you were about to say: “I heard some noises outside. I’m pretty sure – No, I’m 100 percent confident that it was Wooyoung and Rose going at it. If you know what I mean.”                “I can guess,” Yeosang said. “And that bothered you, why?”                “I never said it bothered me,” you said. Too defensive. “I don’t like Rose,” you admitted, knowing damn well it was not just that. From the look on Yeosang’s face, you could see he was thinking the same thing. And there was something else too... You were grateful and relieved when he left it at that, though. Instead, Hongjoong pointed you to a small café.                Although it might be small, it was not characterless. There were few people inside that afternoon, leaving a lot of different cakes and pies for you and your friends to try out. As you waited for your order, you glanced around the café. It was covered in pink flowers, even the walls were painted pink. You saw what Hongjoong liked about it – it had a certain charm. One that apparently made Sooyoung feel like she had to excessively comment on everything in a squealy voice. You liked her, but her excitement was giving you headaches. Honestly, you were still feeling kind of miserable and sorry for yourself.                Yeosang cheered you up by sharing the remainder of his chocolate-cherry cake with you when you had finished your own, knowing the best remedy for what you were feeling was food. While on your way back to the lakeside, Yeosang kept to your side, purposefully bringing up things you had done together where Wooyoung hadn’t been involved. The happy memories you had shared with Yeosang were plenty enough to make you smile again and by the time you arrived back to camp, you were genuinely in a good mood.                “Y/N!” Yechan exclaimed as she saw you. “Come jump in! The water’s so good.”                “Gotta set up the barbecue,” you said. “Sorry!” All of that was a lie. After all, you didn’t really have to set up the barbecue and there was Hongjoong already getting started on it. In all honesty, you just didn’t feel like joining the happy couples in the water. As soon as Seonghwa and Sooyoung had raced each other to the campsite, they had discarded their clothes and jumped in the water, engaging in a splash war against Jongho and Soojin. Alice was seated on San’s shoulders, battling Rose, who was on Wooyoung’s shoulders. You didn’t want anything to do with them.                Instead you chose a soft spot on the blankets next to Mingi, who was sound asleep, Rose’s straw sunhat shading his eyes from the sun, relentlessly beating down. Yunho and Daemi were on his other side, playing a game of cards that Yeosang immediately joined, claiming it as his favourite game, although he then proceeded to ask what the rules were.                You watched Hongjoong struggle with the barbecue for a while until you decided it was time to help him out of his misery. As he noticed you helping him, his face immediately brightened up. “What did you think? Of the café?”                “It was great, Joongie,” you said, giving him your brightest smile. You actually meant it. “Thanks for taking us.”                “Oh, don’t worry about it,” he said. “I just wanted you to have some fun.”                With a sigh you leaned back to sit. “Is everyone just a mind reader now?”                “No, I just overheard your conversation with Yeo on the way to town. Sorry about that. If you allow me to give you some advice – I think you should just be having fun and not letting something like that bother you. And anyway, I always thought you had a crush on San, not Wooyoung.”                You looked at him, shocked. “What?”                “You heard what I said. Hand me the coals, please.”                You did as he said. “What do you mean I have a crush on San?”                Joong shrugged. “It’s pretty clear from the way you behave around him that you do. Or maybe did?” He winked at you playfully. “I mean, why else would you be angry at Wooyoung for finally approaching Rose? You know he’s been talking about her for years now.”                You didn’t know. Perhaps your friendship with Wooyoung was not as unconditional and carefree and honest as you always thought it had been. “Joongie, you’re not making me feel any better right now,” you said, your mind wandering off to his previous comment about you crushing on San. It was true that you liked him, there was nearly no denying it. But if Hongjoong knew, then did the others as well?                “I don’t know, Y/N. I think you should just let loose and have some fun.”                When the fire beneath the barbecue was finally going and Daemi took your place at it to grill chicken satay, you took her place at the card game. When the first batch of food was served, you woke Mingi to call for the others, still in the water. They were quick to join at the mention of food.                Everyone gathered in a circle, smiling and laughing, but all you could do was stab at your food as you looked around the group, wondering who out of all of them knew of your crush on San, who, by the way, looked absolutely stunning with the water droplets on his naked chest glimmering in the afternoon sunlight, like little diamonds. You hated it.                “Say ‘ah’.” You turned to look at Wooyoung, an apologetic smile on his face.                “Ah?”                “No, like this.” He widened his mouth and stuck out his tongue a little, dragging out the ‘ah’ longer. You rolled your eyes but followed his example, which was followed by Wooyoung putting a piece of meat on your tongue. You chewed on it, watching him as he sat down next to you. “Here. Have some more.”                “My favourite,” you said, grabbing the plate from him. “Is this your version of a white flag?”                “Yes,” Wooyoung said. “I’m sorry about the joke I made. Yeosang might have mentioned you really didn’t like it and I guess it’s a pretty assholey thing to say anyway. I don’t want to fight with you.”                “I guess I have to apologize as well,” you said. “I’m not in the best mood and I’m taking it out on you. Among others.” You glanced over at San before focusing back on Woo. “I don’t want to fight with you either.”                “Good.” Wooyoung stuck out his pinkie finger to you, as if you were kindergartners still. “Promise me that we won’t fight during this trip again.”                “Just this trip?” you joked, curling your own pinkie around his. You’re just about to say something else, when a girl plops down on Wooyoung’s other side. You would recognize that blonde hair anywhere.                “Got you pork belly, like you asked.” Rose handed a new plate to Wooyoung. “Hi, Y/N. Why didn’t you go swimming?”                “I might swim after dinner,” you said, surprised she even talked to you. You were not so surprised to find out this was the only thing she was going to say to you, instead looking at Wooyoung, totally transfixed by him. You sighed, going back to stabbing at your food. At least there was no fighting with your best friend now.                You’re glad when the drinking begins and you have an excuse to chug down liquor. You even go swimming for a bit, hanging around Yechan and Yeosang the most. It’s not long after evening falls that Soojin calls out for everyone to return to the farmhouse. You’re clinging onto your beer bottle on the way back, walking next to Yeosang, your arm linked through his. After all, he managed to majorly cheer you up and perhaps he could perform that same magic trick again.                Back at the farmhouse, Mingi perked up enough from his massive hangover to call everyone to him for a beer pong match. With a little help of Anna, he set up teams of two to compete against each other. “Y/N and Yeosang, you begin! Against Yechan and Daemi.”                As you took your place next to Yeosang, you realized it was obvious either Mingi or Anna had picked up on the tension in the house. You kind of wanted to convince Yeosang to cheat and purposefully lose the game, but when you saw his fanatism at landing the first ball in Daemi’s cup, you didn’t have the heart to tell him you didn’t want to play. He was just so smiley and happy… You convinced yourself that a) you wanted to win this game just as badly as he did and b) that you’re not absolutely shit at beer pong.                The first opponents were luckily nearly as bad as you are at the game. Although the ball takes awfully long to land in the last cup, you and Yeosang still manage to defeat Yechan and Daemi. While the two of you are not up against anyone yet, you vow to yourself to get even more tipsy. It won’t help with aim but you were sure it would help your mood. It’s a fine line between tipsy and drunk and you were walking it with little care in the world.                Your next opponents were Hongjoong and Jongho, who already proclaimed themselves Kings of Beer Pong. Only to be beat by you and Yeosang; turns out Hongjoong just had extreme luck playing against Seonghwa and Sooyoung, for his aim is honestly worse than yours, and Jongho can’t keep up against Yeosang, who deserves to officially be crowned King of Beer Pong.                Yeosang’s so surprisingly good at the game that you’re not surprised when you win the finale round against Wooyoung and San. Overcome with emotions that you can’t properly explain and do not want to face and will probably never address ever again, you reached for Yeosang’s face, cupping it in your hands and pressing your lips against his. You felt a shock of surprise run through his body, but his hands effortlessly found your hips to steady you and kiss back.                Despite the absence of butterflies or fireworks or any of the sorts, you become aware of how unaware you are of the sounds around you two. The only sound that’s coming through is Yeosang’s small moans and the sounds kisses tend to make. It doesn’t help that you’re both using an obscene amount of tongue, but you might be drunk and you don’t care – especially not that anyone or everyone is watching and cheering.                When you pull away, you smile at Yeosang, who looks a little stunned but not unhappy about your actions. “Congratulations, King of Beer Pong,” you tell him.                “Thanks, Queen.” He even has the liberty of squeezing your ass, earning him a yelp that broadens his smile. Take that, Woosan, you think to yourself. “Let’s get you another drink.” With his arm still around you, Yeosang guides you to the kitchen, away from prying eyes, both unaware that Mingi was ready to crown you both winners and offer you a prize. You couldn’t care less about what the prize was.                The kitchen is completely empty except for a collection of trash and dirty plates and glasses. After clearing a space on the countertop, Yeosang picked you up with a surprising amount of strength and sat you down on it, then going to fix you a glass of water. “There you go.”                “Water?” you complain. “Yeo-“                “No, you need to sober up a little,” he spoke in a tone of amusement. “I think you’re an amazing kisser and I really enjoyed that, but I also know that kiss wasn’t meant for me.”                “Oh, are you going to tell me who the kiss was meant for then? Because, last I checked, my lips were on yours and not on anyone else’s. I think that was meant for you, Yeosang.”                “Maybe,” he said, “but then with the intent of hurting someone else. Or whatever you thought you were doing back there. You’re not attracted to me.”                “Says who?” you pull Yeosang closer to you by his shirt collar, capturing him between your legs. He looks profoundly comfortable in between them, but you know what he means when he says: “I do. You do, with your body language.”                You rolled your eyes at him, setting the glass of water down next to you. “I’m not going to endure another talk about how in love I am with San and how everyone can tell.”                “I wasn’t going to say you’re in love with San.”                “Okay, Wooyoung then. Only because I was jealous he fingered Rose on the patio. The patio! That one over there!” You pointed at it for emphasis. “All of those feelings are not yours to comment on, Yeosang. Hongjoong.” You narrowed your eyes at him as he entered the kitchen rather innocently.                “Wh-“ Hongjoong locked eyes with Yeosang and immediately his eyes widened. “I’m out of here right now. Sorry.”                “Drink your water,” Yeosang said, giving you a little pat on the knee before following Hongjoong out of the kitchen. You sighed in frustration, grabbing the glass and bringing it to your lips. It actually tasted pretty nice to be drinking something as pure as water after all of the alcohol you had been consuming. Perhaps Yeosang was right and the kiss hadn’t been meant for him at all, not even a little bit. Perhaps you were just trying to make him jealous. And you weren’t quite sure which him you meant with that.                Perhaps the him that came walking into the kitchen right at that moment, empty bottle of beer in hand. “Oh, have you come to lecture me too?” you said before he could even open his mouth – just one look was enough. “I’m sick of it.”                “Well,” San said, “now that you mention it. Why did you kiss Yeosang?”                “Why wouldn’t I? You have been all over Alice too, haven’t you?”                “You really don’t understand, do you?”                “Understand what?” There was a viciousness to your voice that made San shake his head. “I’m not going to argue with you while you’re still drunk.”                “Yeah? Well-“ But you didn’t get a chance to say anything hurtful to him as he had already left the kitchen. With a sigh you chugged down the water, slid off the countertop and walked to your room. You could faintly hear all the noises in the living room, the partiers, but you were glad you weren’t there with them. This was not the fun trip you had planned for it to be.

Day 3 Even though Anna had planned something to do the day after, everyone was so hungover that no one really felt like going anywhere. You woke up first, quietly stepping over a snoring Yechan and trying not to wake a sleep-talking Daemi as you went to the single room across the floor to have a shower. This time without opening the window, even though you knew it was highly unlikely you would hear Wooyoung and Rose again. You went downstairs, made yourself breakfast, and by the time you had finished, the first people started coming down. The first was Jongho, followed by Soojin and Anna. Soon thereafter, Yunho and Daemi appeared as well, looking different states of dishevelled. There was still dried up spit in the corner of Yunho’s mouth. “Who’s up for a walk?” he excitedly said.                No one felt like going, but you jumped up at the opportunity to be away from the farmhouse for a bit. Accompanying Yunho on his walk was quite peaceful. You never had a really close relationship with him as you did Wooyoung or Yeosang, but you were happy to be around him. It certainly helped that your surroundings were breath-taking, with views you could barely get enough of. It was so vastly different from what you were used to living in the city, that being at the farmhouse felt all the more special. You were reminded that this was partially why you had agreed to come on this trip; to see the beauty of the nature park. Not to get wound up in drama you yourself created by being… Well, was there a word for the way you were feeling? The way you were acting?                It gave you some peace of mind walking with Yunho and realizing that he wasn’t going to break out in a lecture about not kissing Yeosang if you don’t like him, your everlasting crush on San, or whatever was going on with your friendship with Wooyoung. You had no desire to talk about any of that, but as you walked alongside Yunho, basking in the warm morning sunlight, it was the only thing you were thinking about.                By the time you guys circled back to the farmhouse, the others were up already. Most were still yawning and staring at their untouched plates of eggs and bacon with sleep in their eyes, but Yeosang perked up as you came in. He nodded with his head to get you outside on the patio from which you had seen San and Alice kissing the first night.                “I think I know what this is about,” you started. “Yeo, I was very drunk. It didn’t mean anything between us, at least not to me. I hope you understand.”                “I-“ Yeosang started, but he was interrupted by someone you really didn’t want to see at this particular moment.                “If you don’t like him, then why would you kiss him?” Wooyoung said, his arms crossing over one another in front of his chest. He stood leaning against the closed sliding door, obviously not understanding that this was a private conversation. Obviously not understanding that this was the last straw.                “Okay, I’m done with this,” you said. “Normally I feel like I can be honest with you both but for the past few days-“ You sighed, not fully comfortable with sharing every thought you had, the things that had drove you to go bed so early in the night to mull over by yourself. “You know, I did it because I had something to prove. And besides, why is everyone so upset over this? San is always face sucking Alice whenever he can and you!” You had subconsciously moved closer to Wooyoung, now pricking his chest with your finger. “You did whatever with Rose out there and you didn’t even know that everything you did, I could perfectly hear. You’re both having so much fun with the girls here, but are so quick to scold me for wanting to do the same with Yeosang?”                “That’s really not the same thing,” Wooyoung started.                “Oh, and what makes it different?”                “You’ve known Yeosang for years!”                “You’ve known Rose for years. San has known Alice for years.”                “It’s all not the same thing.”                “Do I get a say in this?” Yeosang said, finally intercepting. Perhaps he had got quite uncomfortable with seeing Wooyoung and you so close to each other, staring each other down.                You both broke away from each others’ gaze at the same time and spoke simultaneously: “No!”                There was a silence and finally a sigh from Wooyoung. “Come find me when you think you can talk like a grown-up, yeah?” He didn’t even really sound mad, perhaps somewhere between defeated and disappointed. He tugged open the door and slammed it shut behind him. You waited for a second, not daring to look at Yeosang, before you followed Wooyoung inside. Instead of heading up the stairs behind him, you went into the kitchen and out onto the patio.                There was no one out. You hoped for Yeosang that he was inside, since clouds had gathered above and there was a light drizzle coming down now. You let it cool your temper as well as your skin, thinking of the trip. You had looked forward to it for so long but it really wasn’t going as you had planned. Yes, you had joked with Daemi and Yechan that some crazy things would happen, claiming that Mingi would be the first one to throw up because of all of the alcohol (you were right about that) and that someone would accidentally throw someone in the pool while they still had their phones on them (hadn’t happened yet, but the trip wasn’t over). Daemi had bet that she would get into an argument with Yechan, Yechan had bet that she would catch Seonghwa and Sooyoung in a compromising position.                The bet made about yourself had been that you would drunkenly act upon your crush on San. You had known when placing the bets with your friends that there was a very slim chance you would ever dare to approach San in that way and as you stood outside, overlooking the mountain area, you realised you didn’t want San anymore. Not the way you had always wanted him, at least.                You used to think San was relationship material, the only guy you wanted to fulfil the need of having a boyfriend. But he wasn’t. He was perhaps too flirty, perhaps too much a person you could only look at from a distance and admire. He wasn’t boyfriend material. Just a friend.                So what about Yeosang? Was that you drunkenly acting upon your hidden crush for him? Was that kiss because you liked him? Was he even boyfriend material to you? No. The answer was simple and clear, you didn’t even have to think about it. Yeosang was just one of your closest friends. He was sweet, really, and you would be lying if you said you had never thought about how it would have been if you were to date him. You were sure he harboured fond feelings for you as well, but those were probably along the same line as what you felt for him. Nothing romantic. After all, it was Yeosang, and you two had known each other for forever. You’d seen each others’ good and bad sides and you thought you knew what he would be like in a relationship. You’d seen his failed relationships play out in the past. You thought you had that figured out.                So then that kiss… Who were you trying to prove something to? What were you even trying to prove? It was true what you had said, however. You were trying to prove to yourself that... Your mind flicked to the first night, when you had heard Wooyoung and Rose’s escapades. You were bothered about it, in a different way than what you had felt when you caught San and Alice.                You replayed the fight you just had with Wooyoung in your head. What did he care what you were up to? You sat down on the small bench. It was wet now, washed clean by the rain; there was no way you otherwise would have sat down on it, considering what had happened a few days before. You rested your head against the wall of the farmhouse. Closing your eyes, you saw the look in Wooyoung’s eyes. You felt how close you had been standing to him.                A knock on the patio door startled you. When you opened your eyes you saw Yeosang, eyes big and with two mugs on a tray. “Hey, Y/N… Can we talk? I brought hot chocolate.”                “Sure,” you said, patting the spot next to you. Yeosang came outside, handing you the tray as he closed the door behind him. “What did you want to talk about?”                “Well… I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. About anything.” This was clearly something that had been bothering him for a while, longer than everything that has gone on in the farmhouse. “Yesterday when you kissed me… I know why you did it and I know why you’ve been so upset these past couple of days. But I just wanted to clear things up so there’s no misunderstandings between us. And besides, I feel like I have lied to you all these years I’ve known you.” He took a deep breath, his hands wrapping around the mug. You saw he was shaking and his nails were bitten down. Maybe you hadn’t paid enough attention to his feelings, instead only rambling on about yours. “I guess I got a little upset this morning too. I hate seeing you and Wooyoung fight, for many reasons. But also because… because I am in love with Wooyoung.”                “W-what?”                “I like Wooyoung. Y/N… I’m gay.”                “But, Yeo…” You bit your lip, wrapping your own hands around the mug. From everything he could’ve said, this was the least of what you had expected. “Wooyoung is… straight.”                “I know, I know!” Yeosang quickly said. “I’ve always known I don’t have a chance with him. Not romantically. I’m fine being his friend, just his friend. You have to believe me.” He was still shaking however. “I also know that no matter what, I want to see him happy. And knowing what I know, you would realize that the Wooyoung he is around Rose? That’s not him being truly happy.”                You frowned. “What are you trying to say?”                “I mean that he’s more into you than he’s into Rose.”                “What?” You shook your head. “Yeo, that’s not right. Wooyoung doesn’t like me like that. I mean, it’s pretty clear-“                “Why do you think that everyone is so upset with you kissing me?” Yeosang chuckled. “They might’ve thought you were into San, or now that you’re into me. But they know for sure that Wooyoung is into you. He’s told San and I that much before. And I think you like him back.”                “How does everyone know that better than I do myself?”                He shrugged. “I can’t speak for everyone, but… All these years of being in love with Wooyoung means I look at him more or less the same way he looks at you. And when you look at him? I see the same thing. You two are just oblivious to each other.”                You finally took a sip of the hot chocolate, your thoughts aligning in your head to form a question: “So what does this thing with Rose mean? Why did he… finger her?” You realized how pathetic it sounded to ask.                “I don’t know. That’s something you have to ask him yourself.”                You nodded and then you turned to Yeosang again. “Yeo, thanks for telling me. I appreciate knowing that you trust me enough to.” You put your arm around him, pulling him into a side-hug like you used to do when you two were younger. “Who else knows?”                “Only Hongjoong does.”                “Of course,” you said. Joong had come out of the closet as bisexual about two years ago. It made sense Yeosang would want to go to him, knowing Hongjoong wouldn’t judge him. “Nothing changes, Yeo.”                You hope Yeosang feels relieved, finally having that burden off his shoulders. You talk a little about how long he’s known and eventually Yeosang asks to leave the subject alone for now and go swimming instead. You are not one to deny him, so you head upstairs to get changed and meet him at the swimming pool. It’s empty except for Yechan and Seonghwa. Sooyoung and Soojin are on sunbeds on the side, but it’s clear the girls were fast asleep. The drizzle of before has stopped but the clouds have remained, however the temperature is climbing upwards as you’re in the pool.                When you and Yeosang join, it breaks up the conversation between Yechan and Seonghwa, the latter of them suggesting to play a game instead. You team up with Seonghwa to even out the playing field and through multiple rounds of a handball-resembling game, you realise that it was futile because you and Seonghwa were bound to lose the second you agreed to teaming up together.                The sun started going down while you were still hanging by the pool, wrinkled out like a raisin but enjoying the contrast between the cool water of the pool and the stifling heat of the overcast summer weather. You and Yeosang didn’t get out of the pool until Anna came to collect everyone for dinnertime. You’re happy sitting in between Yeosang and Mingi – who had remained in his room for the better part of the day, insanely hungover again and having emptied his stomach multiple times – as they talk over your head about this TV show they figured out they both had been watching.                Having not changed out of your bikini for dinner, you are the first to get back into the water afterwards. It’s still warm outside, although it’s pretty much pitch black except for the porchlight. It’s bound to rain and you guess there will probably be thunder and lightning involved. After a moment, you’re joined in the water with Daemi and Yechan, and then Yunho and Mingi, and then San and Alice. As you float around, trying to avoid getting caught in the middle of Daemi-Mingi against Yechan-Yunho, you glance over at San and Alice. They were laughing at whatever joke they told each other, genuine happiness in their eyes, and you knew it didn’t matter that you thought you had a crush on San. He was obviously very happy with Alice. It didn’t matter.                That feeling was amplified when you noticed Wooyoung, just a small distance behind San and Alice, kicking around a ball with Jongho. You were about to look away when you saw him glance over and shoot you a smile. Despite your fight, you smiled back. Maybe this was the right time to make up. You nodded your head in the direction of the trampoline, farther our into the field behind the farmhouse. It was too dark to see out by the trampoline, even with the porchlight, so no one went there at night. It was the perfect spot.                Wooyoung nodded, kicked the ball back to Jongho and said: “I’ll be right back. Go annoy Hongjoong, he looks bored.”                You both laid down on the trampoline in silence, staring up at the sky. Clouds were chasing each other and there was a low rumble in the distance. Thunder. “I’m sorry about how I reacted,” you said, knowing to speed this up. You had known Wooyoung since you two were little and he was still scared of thunder and lightning. By now he had grown up more and also matured – he had told you he still was a little scared, but at least he saw the beauty in the violence of Mother Nature.                “Me too.”                “I just didn’t want to see Yeosang get hurt.”                You were hit suddenly with the realisation that Wooyoung had no idea about Yeosang’s sexuality, or his crush on him. You wouldn’t tell him, because it was up to Yeosang to tell, and that meant that you couldn’t say that it didn’t matter you had kissed Yeosang, because of obvious reasons. Instead you said: “Yeo and I discussed it earlier today. We’re not mad at each other or anything. And I figured this was the best possible time to be honest with you.”                “About what?”                “About…” you sighed lightly. “About that I might… like you?”                “You like me?” Wooyoung sounded no longer like himself, but a little more choked up, his tone of voice very serious. Was he angry at you for sharing this? For fucking up your friendship? You hadn’t even considered the consequences to your friendship, or what any of this would do to your dynamic between you two and Yeosang.                “I guess?”                “You guess or you know?”                “I don’t know. I think I do. Everyone tells me I do.”                “Well, if you don’t know, then I cannot tell you that I like you too.”                Now it was your turn to feel stunned. “What?” You had been told by Yeosang, of course, but that was different. Now you heard it right from the source, from Wooyoung himself.                “I like you too.”                “But I thought you were more into Rose,” you said. “I mean, you two… out on the patio… I thought you were more into her.”                Wooyoung shrugged, making the whole trampoline wiggle. “She’s pretty. I- Okay, I have shared so much with you before but it feels so weird saying it now.” He let out an awkward laugh before he said: “I just felt horny. You know? And Rose was there and she was horny too and she’s not a sight for sore eyes, so I thought: what’s so bad about this? I didn’t know you were showering right above us, or that you had the window open. Otherwise I would’ve probably taken her somewhere else. Or not done it at all.”                “You were just horny?” you repeated. Wooyoung nodded, the trampoline shaking again. “So no feelings for Rose then?”                “Nope,” he said, letting the p pop. “Nothing serious. Not like the way I feel for you.”       ��        You moved over closer to him, shakily reaching out for his hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t realise it sooner. Then we wouldn’t have had to fight.”                “I should’ve told you the second I knew,” he said, taking your hand in his and squeezing it lightly. “So what made you realise? I knew you liked San-“                You blushed, which fortunately, he could not see. “Can we not talk about San right now? I mean, yes, I had a crush on him, but it was silly. I mean, I liked him when we were still in high school, you know? He was the guy every girl had a crush on and I guess I just jumped on the bandwagon. And I always thought it would be easier to hook up with him because we were already friends, but that just makes it more difficult. And I don’t know him as well as I know you. I just don’t feel what I think you’re supposed to feel when you’re in love – with him. I never noticed the way I feel about you, though, until I compared my feelings for you to what I feel for San or Yeosang.”                “Well, you’d best believe it was torture to see you kissing Yeosang, not knowing what you were truly feeling.”                “Would it be better if I kissed you instead?” And with no further words, you bridged the distance between the two of you, softly kissing his lips. Where your kiss with Yeosang had primarily taken place because you were drunk and trying to make whoever else jealous, the way you had been jealous all throughout the trip, this kiss served an entirely different purpose. It was strange too, kissing Wooyoung, whom you had known for so long and never imagined you would harbour romantic feelings for. But there was a spark, a spark that caught and ignited a flame inside of you. A flame that apparently burned inside of Wooyoung as well, for he pulled you infinitely closer, until you were on his lap.                It was very uncomfortable on that trampoline, and you were glad when a dizzyingly bright flash of lightning followed by deafening thunder caused Wooyoung to yelp. “Let’s go inside,” you said, hopping off the trampoline and pulling Wooyoung with you.                As you walked back, your hand in his, he bent down a little to whisper in your ear: “Come to my room tonight, yeah? Take your film camera.”                And so you did. After everyone had gone to bed, you sneaked out of yours to cross the floor to the room Wooyoung shared with San.

Day 4 The room smelled of boy. And not just any boy. You glanced around in the darkness, the first thing that stuck out to you being Shiber. San had brought his cuddle toy to this trip? You wondered for a second what Alice would think of her having to share the bed and San with Shiber, until you realized that she wasn’t there. You shut the door after yourself, blocking out the light from the hallway to prevent San from waking up, instead going over to Wooyoung. You set your film camera down on the night stand and when you turned to look at Woo, he was already sitting up in the bed.                “There you are,” he said. He sounded surprisingly relieved.                “Did you think I wasn’t going to show up?”                Wooyoung didn’t answer but instead pulled you onto the bed, blindly placing his hands on your cheeks and pulling you in for a kiss. Instantly, it clouded your mind with desire for him. Your head spun as he pulled you on top of him. You gasped as he let himself fall backwards onto the bed, allowing him to slip his tongue inside of your mouth. It was almost obscene – how good of a kisser Wooyoung was, how his tongue softly tapped against yours, how his hands slid down from your face to the hem of your pyjama shorts, slipping his hands under the fabric and onto your ass.                You groaned into his mouth as his hands knead your ass, pulling you closer to him. Wooyoung pulled back only a little bit, but you hated the moment, his voice slightly breathless as he said: “Don’t be too loud. San might wake.”                You glanced over to the other bed and yelped to find San already sitting upright, Shiber wrapped in his arms, just staring at you. “What the fuck!” you exclaimed.                “I’m already awake,” San said.                Wooyoung pushed himself up on his elbows. “Have you just been… listening to us? Watching us? The whole time?”                San shrugged. “It was kind of hot. Maybe next time you’ll allow me to join in.”                You looked at Wooyoung for a second, exchanging a glance. There was an unspoken conversation within that glance, a result of many years of friendship in which you had been a unit, had had an unbreakable bond. And now all of that was transforming into whatever this was, and someone was asking to partake in this same adventure with you? You gulped as you realized what you were seeing in Wooyoung’s eyes. “Fuck,” you muttered. And you nodded.                “San, come here,” Wooyoung said, his voice an octave deeper. San was quick to throw Shiber aside and make his way over to you. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him move this fast, although he was as quick to come to a halt at the side of the bed. You felt your breath hitch as Wooyoung grabbed San’s shirt in his hand and pulled him closer, essentially making San topple over on the bed as he lost his balance. “I think Y/N hasn’t had enough love this trip. If you know what I mean.”                You gulped, not entirely knowing what to say. The boy you were currently into and the boy you had always been harbouring a crush on were on the bed together with you and it was pretty clear what was going to happen now. You felt a familiar wetness, synchronic with San nodding to Wooyoung’s statement. “I think we should give her whatever she wants, don’t you agree?” San nodded again. Wooyoung then turned to you: “Tell us what you want us to do.”                For a moment you were about to ask for what you had always lusted after, which was a filthy, intense make out session with San. But right now, looking at him – his shirt crumpled in the place Wooyoung had pulled him in, his hair messy from having been in bed earlier, his plump lips slightly parted and with a small tent visible through his pyjama pants – you knew what you wanted to see. And still it even surprised you a little when you said: “Kiss each other.”                San’s head shot around to look at Wooyoung, physically below the both of you but in some other way he was dominating you both. “Is that okay?”                Wooyoung leaned up only a little bit to put his hand on the back of San’s head and pull him in, their lips locking. Right off the bat there was tongue involved. You were well aware that you were staring, and well aware that there was no one to catch you staring as San increasingly got more comfortable and seemed more into the kiss. “Slowly,” you instructed. “Slowly.” They listened as if they were puppets, entirely under your control.                The kiss was somehow more heated now that they weren’t hungrily clawing at each other. You thought to yourself how this couldn’t be real life. Just a couple of days ago you had been wanting San as badly as ever, then you had thought him to belong to Alice, and now he was here. Let alone the entire situation with Wooyoung – how just a few hours ago you had still been angry with him for fingering Rose on the patio. But that was something you didn’t want to think about at that moment. “Woo, strip San for me, please.”                Wooyoung listened well – he helped San lift his arms above his head and proceeded to take off his shirt for him, tossing it aside. Next were San’s pants. It took a bit more effort to strip those and then get rid of his boxers too. “San, your turn,” you said. There was no shame visible in Wooyoung, who seemed utterly comfortable with stripping as well. They were still kissing, albeit a little bit more clumsy now San was trying to take Wooyoung’s pyjama’s off. It had never occurred to you that perhaps San wasn’t all that confident and experienced as you had taken him to be. Perhaps he had only been truly intimate with a handful of people. Perhaps this was a first for him – the first time he had a threesome. You couldn’t say you had any experience in this department either.                “Woo-“ you started, but the instructions you were about to give him stuck in your throat as Wooyoung ripped himself free off San and said: “Aren’t you going to get undressed, baby?”                Your mouth almost fell open in an o-shape at the pet name. You had never heard Wooyoung call anyone by a pet name. Let alone be the one to be called one by him. “Sorry.” You felt like you had to say sorry. Why? You weren’t sure. “San?”                San, who visibly wasn’t entirely sure what was going on but was along for the ride regardless, scooted over so he could reach for you. He was less clumsy with you, but you weren’t sure if you had to attribute that to past experiences with girls or to not being engaged in a wild make out session with you. Which quickly changed as your lips smashed together.                Now the three of you were all fully naked, everything that was uncomfortable or awkward about the situation seemed to ebb away. You wrapped your arms around San’s neck, pulling yourself up a little bit so you could rub yourself on him. You couldn’t remember how long it had been since you had started crushing on him, but you had had some fantasies and wet dreams about San before. Admittedly, you’d had them about Wooyoung too. You felt his hands sneak in between San and you and jumped a little from the sudden sensation of Wooyoung’s thumb against your clit. You were sure his other hand was wrapped around San’s shaft – there was no other explanation for the sudden noise that erupted from the boy, your kiss temporaily stopping.                “What do you want me to do, baby?” Wooyoung’s soft voice sounded.                “Hm-“ You didn’t trust yourself to be able to properly tell him what you wanted, so instead you let go of San to kiss Wooyoung instead. San chased after you, attaching his lips to your neck. The confidence he gained made you groan into Wooyoung’s mouth as San nibbled and licked and sucked, sure to leave marks behind. There were noises from San as well, noises that were only explainable by Wooyoung moving his hand on San.                It occurred to you that this was every girls’ dirtiest fantasy and you weren’t taking one second for granted. You let Wooyoung push you back onto the bed, which was in no way able to fit three people in it, but you somehow made it work. You were glad Wooyoung didn’t need any verbal instructions; softly pushing his head down, in the direction of where you needed him most, was enough. He went to work, expertly licking and sucking. It nearly made you fold in on yourself from the sheer pleasure he was giving you, but you were too busy tending to San’s proud erection, oozing precum from Wooyoung’s earlier ministrations.                You wrapped your lips around him, working your mouth in a way that was sure to earn San’s approval – it was audible in his moans and groans, ones you gave back to him from Wooyoung’s actions. San was the first to succumb. The pleasure rendered him nearly unable to speak, but you understood the little taps on your cheek well enough. You didn’t pull away however, allowing San’s cum to fill your mouth. And you swallowed.                San seemed just about spent, but he didn’t leave you hanging. Instead, he went to work on your neck again, his hands coming up to cup your boobs. San didn’t have to do much for Wooyoung had done most of the work on getting you to your high. You came with a high-pitched moan; there was a certain shyness overtaking you at the sound you hadn’t previously thought you could make. You were panting, admiring Wooyoung and your glistening juices on his lips as he came up. There was very little to no talking as you motioned for him to come closer. The sudden urge overcame you – you couldn’t explain what had triggered it. You pushed yourself up just a little bit, in a way that wouldn’t disturb San, as you pulled Wooyoung just a little bit closer, your tongue darting out to lick Wooyoung’s lips, getting a taste of yourself.                “What about you?” you asked tracing your hand down Wooyoung’s chest, down his happy trail, to his cock. “What do you want? Tell me.”                “San-ie,” he said. San looked up from his work on your neck, his eyes slightly hazy. “I want you… to suck me.” That was the first time you saw Wooyoung seem even just a little bit fazed by the situation, instead of looking like he had everything under control. “And Y/N, baby… kiss me.”                You gave San a quick kiss on his lips before coming up onto your knees so you could reach Wooyoung better. There was equal part of kissing and moaning from Wooyoung’s side – he was a lot more vocal than you had expected. The part of Wooyoung that was moaning mirrored the part of you that wanted him inside of you, but tonight was not the night. Instead, tonight was the night Wooyoung grabbed your film camera from his night stand and, in the dark, figured out how to take photos of you and San, coated in Woo��s cum. Yes, tonight was the night Wooyoung coated both you and San in cum – and then went to clean it up himself with San’s T-shirt from the floor.                “Woo,” San complained, but you both heard quite clearly that his heart wasn’t in it.                “Ssh.” Wooyoung pressed a kiss against San’s forehead and then to yours. “Let’s go to sleep.”

The bed really was too small for three people. You had thought it the night before and you were proven right the next morning, when you woke up to a yelp from a distraught San – he had fallen off the bed. He was disgustingly handsome, but your heart didn’t flutter the way it had before. What had remained the same, however, was the heat in your cheeks at the memory of what you got up to the night before, the evidence right there on San’s T-shirt, which he had picked up off the floor with a disgusted expression. “I probably won’t be able to wear this ever again. Damn you, Wooyoung.”                You were surprised to find Wooyoung awake already too, one of his arms folded behind his head. His eyes had been closed before, which lead you to believe he was still asleep, but the smile that played on his lips was unmistakably one of someone who was awake and heard every word of what San had just said.                You watched as San strode across the room and threw his T-shirt in the trash can behind the door. “I’m taking a shower,” he announced, leaving you and Wooyoung in the bed by yourselves as he closed the door behind him.                Wooyoung’s eyes stayed closed, his smile having slightly faded. You pushed yourself up on one elbow and looked at Wooyoung, really looked at him. You had known him for so many years, had gone on so many adventures with him… This was the next big adventure. You reached out, doing something you had always thought of doing but never felt confident enough to. You traced his finely shaped eyebrows, the curve of his eyes… You trailed your finger down his cheeks to rest at the corner of his lips. You were about to carefully trace his lips, full and relaxed, when Wooyoung suddenly snapped his teeth at your finger.                “Woo!” you complained, pouting at him. His eyes were open now, the brown highlighted to several shades of gold in the narrow stroke of sunlight from the window. By the way the sun shone into the room, you could see it was nearing noon. Although in that case, it wasn’t exactly morning anymore, this was by far the best morning you had spent at the farmhouse. “Why did you do that?” You let your finger fall back to his lips and this time he let you trace them, his warm breath hitting your skin. When you let his lips alone, opting to crawl into his embrace instead, you said: “San joined us last night…” Stating the obvious. Great.                “Was it good?” Wooyoung asked, his hand coming up to play with your hair.                “Yeah. I liked it.”                “Me too.” You could hear from his tone of voice – delicious, delicious morning voice – that he was smiling. “I hope San had a good time too. But next time I want you all to myself.”                You felt your heart flutter at his words. There was a next time and that next time would consist of you and Wooyoung exploring each other. You were absolutely certain that this was the best morning at the farmhouse – you felt like the happiest girl on earth. You didn’t know what to say, so instead you just hummed in agreement.                “Would you like me to bring you breakfast?” Wooyoung asked after a while.                “Eggs and sausages,” you said.                “Ooh, making demands now? Actually using your words?” He chuckled and tapped your shoulder, signalling you to get up so he could move. You pushed yourself up and watched as Wooyoung got out of bed. With his back toward you, you saw his muscles stand out as he bend to pick up his shirt off the floor. The room was a mess. “Any preferences for your breakfast beverage, milady?”                You grinned. “The finest tea you serve, milord.”                “Of course.” He bowed before making his way out of the room.                As you were left alone in Wooyoung’s bed you tried to wrap your head around the events of the night before. Coming to the farmhouse you had never expected that this was the way you would end the trip. You hadn’t even suspected anything remotely like this would happen. You got out of bed, dressing yourself in the clothes from the night before, before crossing the room to open up the window.                You had just crawled back into bed, sitting up with your back against the wall, when San came back, his hair wet and a towel hung lowly around his waist. He closed the door behind him and got to getting dressed as you watched him. The silence between the two of you was palpable but nonetheless quite comfortable. You wouldn’t know what to say anyway.                “I didn’t mean to insert myself,” San suddenly spoke up, sitting down on the edge of his bed, clutching Shiber to his chest, “in between you and Woo. I know it was all quite new to you both.”                You shrugged, leaning your head against the wall. “We both wanted it. You didn’t insert yourself in at all. Was it good?” you couldn’t help yourself asking.                San nodded, his cheeks turning pink. “I hadn’t expected it.”                “Believe me, me neither.” You looked at the way San was playing with Shiber’s tail. “It was really new to us,” you then said, surprising the both of you. “I mean, we were friends. And now we’re more.”                “I think everyone saw it coming.”                “I don’t think so,” you said, shaking your head. “You know, I was always crushing on you.”                “You were?” San looked up, stopping his playful antics with Shiber. “I didn’t notice.”                You nodded. “It was a long time crush. But there’s a difference between crushing on someone and loving someone. I realised that because I watched you and Alice.”                There was no response to the mention of Alice. You found you didn’t really care. San resumed playing with Shiber, but his eyes stayed trained on you. “So why Yeosang?”                “Vengeance.” You knew how terrible that sounded but there was no other word for it. “He was… there. I know it’s wrong. But I needed to know why I felt so jealous of Rose.” With a sigh you let yourself fall sideways onto the bed. “Now I do. And now I know why I don’t love you. Not in that way.”                The door opened to reveal Wooyoung carrying a tray, a literal mountain of food on the plate that he carried, a tea pot and three cups next to it. “Breakfast!” He set the tray down on the floor, and despite the mess that was the room, the three of you crowded around the tray to eat the breakfast Wooyoung had prepared.                The idyllic bubble of Woosan’s room had to be broken some time. You regretted stepping foot out of the room the second you did it, but you felt dirty so you wanted to shower, and besides that, you had to pack up the rest of your belongings to return home. You got into the shower, the same one you had been in the first day. The window was cracked open, letting in the sounds of nature and summer. You shut your eyes, enjoying the feeling of the water scorching your body.                Yechan was waiting for you in your bedroom when you got back to pack up. “I know where you went last night. I’m glad I didn’t have to hear it. I know Seonghwa and Sooyoung had a front row seat though.” She smiled. “So, you have to tell me all the details. How was your first threesome?”                “Yechan!” you covered your face with your hands. “I’m not going to talk about this with you.”                “Okay, maybe without details, then,” she said. “At least tell me you had a good time.”                You lowered your hands a little bit to look at her. Your best friend, with you through everything… “It was really good.” You bit your lip at the excitement that erupted from Yechan. Her happiness rubbed off on you, though, and soon enough you were, despite yourself, telling her just a few details. Like San having to throw out his shirt afterwards. You left out the pictures Wooyoung took of you and San. Those were private.                “Are you in a polyamorous relationship now?” she asked, her eyes wide and genuine.                You shook your head. “I don’t think so. I think it’s just me and Woo.”                Yechan nodded. “That’s good too.” She took your hand and softly squeezed, her smile saying more than words ever could.

The next person you had to talk to was Yeosang. You were carrying your bags out to the car when he popped up beside you. “Let’s go on the trampoline,” he said. You nodded, following him across the backyard to the trampoline, overlooking the vineyard. It was better in the day than it was last night.                The little kids in you jumped out by the way you nearly toppled over each other to get onto the trampoline, performing tricks as you jumped. After a bit you let yourself fall down, out of breath. “Yeo, I need to tell you something,” you said and he stopped jumping as well. “I had s-“                “Sex with Wooyoung. I know,” he said.                “You do?” Okay, perhaps you weren’t right to be surprised he knew. If you had to believe Yechan, the three of you hadn’t been very quiet. “I mean- San was there with us too.”                “I know. I heard everything,” Yeosang sat down on the trampoline now too. “The walls are pretty thin, you know.”                “I’m sorry.”                “You’re sorry that I heard?”                You chuckled. “Yes, that too. But also that I did that. Now that I know you like him-“                “It doesn’t matter,” Yeosang said, turning his head to look up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. “He’s not into guys anyway and I know how much you two like each other. I haven’t been completely blind over the last couple of years, you know? I’ll find someone that likes me like that and that I’ll like back. I’m fine with what happened. Don’t worry about me.”                “If you’re so sure,” you said, looking up at the sky too. “I just feel guilty.”                “Don’t.” Yeosang reached over and grabbed your hand in his, giving it a squeeze. “Just know that Rose also heard and she’s crazy upset with you two.”                You sat up, looking over at him. “Just about how many people have heard every single second of last night?”                “How many people are with us on the trip?” Yeosang started counting on his fingers. “So 13. Except maybe Mingi. He was out cold. That makes 12.”                “Jesus Christ,” you swear. And you do so again when you return to the farmhouse to find Rose already storming out to find you. Apparently someone had told her you and Yeosang were hanging out on the trampoline. There’s a look in her eyes that you’re not sure you ever want to see in anyone’s eyes ever again. It speaks of all-consuming anger. “Rose-“ you start. And that’s also where you end. She didn’t even take the time or effort to talk it out. Her first reaction was violence.                You had always jealously compared Rose’s visuals to that of an angel, but the way she lashed out at you proved she was all but that. “You slut!” she shrieked, her nails finding a hold in your skin. You barely felt the pain as she raked her nails down your face. You had never thought of yourself as a violent person, but you also weren’t the person to back down from someone attacking you like this. Your pent up frustrations were threatening to spill out of you in a violent manner, but before you could do much damage to her, Mingi’s strong arms wrapped around you, picking you up as if you weighed absolutely nothing, carrying you away as Jongho did the same to Rose, who was now clawing at him.                Mingi set you down on the countertop of the downstairs bathroom, checking you for injuries like the worried big brother he always acts like towards you. “You’re bleeding.” He grabbed tissues for you to hold against the wound, as if that would help much. Silly, hungover Mingi.                “She has sharp nails,” you said, wincing as you pressed the tissues against the marks.                Wooyoung came storming in, carrying a white box with a red cross on it. “First aid!” he said, to which Mingi nodded and left. You bet he knew why Rose had got violent with you too. “I didn’t know she was going to do that,” Wooyoung said, opening up the first aid kit.                “It’s fine,” you said. “Did I at least fight her off a little bit?”                He laughed. “God, that that’s the first thing you’re thinking about… Here, you’re bleeding.” He got to work, cleaning up the scratches Rose’s nails left behind on your face and arm. His fingers were soft on your skin, leaving behind a trail of heat. Even though you hadn’t known him to be very skilled with cleaning up wounds and bandaging up injuries, he was doing quite a good job. Better than Mingi would have done, had this been his job to do. “And the way you stood your ground was pretty hot, Y/N.”                You chuckled. “You’re just saying that.” You looked at Wooyoung as he took expert care of you, the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration, a habit you had always loved about him. You realized suddenly how blind you had been all along not to notice him, or his love for you. You had never actively fantasized about Wooyoung in a sexual way, although you had sometimes wondered what it would be like to have a romantic relationship with him. In your mind it had never worked out, whereas a relationship with San would seem the most plausible. He had always been the one boy you thought you would end up with, if it was going to be anyone out of the friend group. Everyone had known each other for varying lengths and with different intensities, something which had never lead you to believe that you and Wooyoung would be a good match.                “What are you looking at?” Wooyoung asked, chuckling, throwing away the stuff he had used to clean and bandage your wound.                “You,” you said, no trace of shyness.                “Like what you see?” Wooyoung wiggled his eyebrows, his classic playfulness erasing what you had felt over the past couple of days, leaving only behind what you had always thought to be simple, platonic feelings for your best friend. But now you knew it was more.                You shrugged. “I think you could do better, but this’ll have to do.” You stuck out your feet, wrapping your legs around him and pulling him closer. “Thanks for stitching me up.”                “I’m sorry about Rose,” he said, his arms coming to rest around your waist. “Take the same car as me back?”                “So you can finger me in the backseat while no one notices?” You chuckled at the surprise on his face. Must be due to your sudden dirty mouth. “No, thanks. I’ll ride with Yunho and Jongho. But maybe we can see each other when we get back? Get lunch, or dinner… Go out on a real date…”                “A real date.” Wooyoung nodded. “Sounds wonderful.”

Alternative scene How the ‘morning after’ would have had gone, had I decided to stick with the shower Woosan x reader threesome I had originally planned to happen after the initial Wooyoung x reader sex scene

The room smells. Of what you’re not entirely sure, but it’s sour and makes your nose crunch up as you slowly open your eyes, only to find Wooyoung next to you. His dark brown hair was curling up at the ends and his mouth was slightly open, his chest bare. You had managed to wrap most of the blankets around yourself, leaving Wooyoung uncovered. Not just his chest was bare. You draped the blankets over him and in the process, noticed you were only wearing a T-shirt. That’s it. Just a T-shirt. When you glance underneath the covers, you see it’s Woo’s, one you got together while he was shopping for his First Date T-Shirt, nearly 4 years ago now. You smiled to yourself at the memory and turned onto your back.                That’s when you realize that it wasn’t just you and Wooyoung in the room. “San!” You pull up the covers again to cover yourself, even though there’s no bit of you left uncovered. He’s casually resting on his bed, eyes trained on you and Wooyoung in the bed.                “Good morning. What a coincidence I catch you here. Morning, Woo.”                “San,” Wooyoung groans out from next to you. He seems utterly unfazed to see you laying next to him. He must know you’re wearing nothing but his T-shirt. You also reckon San must know what has happened between you and Wooyoung. “Aren’t you supposed to complain about your headache?”                “I think throwing up prevented my headache,” San said, pointing at a bucket at his side of the room, standing half under half next to his bed. You guessed that was what the sour smell was all about. “Aren’t you two supposed to be even a little bit ashamed that you two had steamy, hot sex while I was literally in the same room with you?”                “I just seized the opportunity,” Wooyoung said, wrapping his arm around you and pulling you against him. “And you were asleep.”                “Apparently not,” San said. “I was miserable, though. Maybe next time you decide to fuck each other again, you could invite me.”                “Oh, shut up,” you said, hiding your face in Woo’s chest. This is really just way worse than seeing San and Alice kissing on the edge of the swimming pool or Wooyoung fingering Rose while you’re in the shower. This is humiliation of a different kind.                “Why were you actually listening to us?” Wooyoung said.                San shrugged. “Like I said, I was miserable. Couldn’t sleep, especially not with those sounds. Disgusting. What would Rose say?” That remark landed him with Wooyoung’s pillow in his face. “Okay, yes, that was slightly mean. Sorry. Will it make you feel better if I say it was kind of hot though? Like, I don’t know what you did that made Y/N go like-“ He made a noise that landed him with your pillow in his face. “Okay, yes, shouldn’t have said that. But! Promise me next time you won’t let me get so drunk I won’t be able to join in, yeah?”                “Would you actually want to join?” you said. You weren’t sure if you were completely disgusted by this morning conversation with San, or if you were getting turned on again. You also weren’t entirely sure if you would have had Wooyoung pin you down underneath him if you had known San was in the bed opposite.                “Could be hot,” Woo said.                “Honestly, it’s been on my to-do list,” San said. “A threesome with someone who claims himself to be a sex god and also the hottest girl from high school? I wouldn’t say no to that.”                “You tell others you’re a sex god?” you laughed at Wooyoung who turned a suspicious shade of pink.

[blishwix]

❝ WE ARE ALL WEARING MASKS. THAT IS WHAT MAKES US INTERESTING ❞

huh, who’s LUKE MITCHELL? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually JIMBO “WICK” BLISHWICK VI. he is a 35 year old PUREBLOOD wizard who is CEO OF A WIXEN TECH & MEDIA COMPANY. he is known for being CALCULATING, FRAUDULENT, HEDONISTIC, CONCEITED, and AMORAL but also CHARISMATIC, AMBITIOUS, INNOVATIVE, METICULOUS, and PERSONABLE, so that must be why he always reminds me of the song IT’S LONELY AT THE TOP BY BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY and STYLISHLY RIPPED JEANS AND SUEDE SHOES, PURELY AESTHETIC AND MISLEADING SOCIAL MEDIA FEED, NEATLY TRIMMED BEARD AND SANDALWOOD MUSK, HORN RIMMED GLASSES WITH SMUDGES ON THE LENS, MOLESKIN FULL OF ENDLESS CODE AND FUTURE TECH INNOVATIONS, EXTRAVAGANT PENTHOUSE OVERLOOKING THE CITY, WHISKEY STONES AND EMPTY DECANTERS, and CHARMING PERSONABLE SMILES WITH MALICIOUS INTENT HIDDEN UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE. i hear he is aligned with THE DEATH EATERS, so be sure to keep an eye on him.

GENERAL

FULL NAME: Jimbo Dashiel Bartholomew Blishwick VI NICKNAME(S): Wick, Jim, Dash, Bart (yes he legit will go by any of these) AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 35, 02/16/1994 OCCUPATION: Tech & Media Mogul GENDER: Cis Man PRONOUNS: He/Him/His HOMETOWN: Dallas, Texas CURRENT RESIDENCE: London, I guess ALMA MATTER: Ilvermorny, Horned Serpent BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood

BIOGRAPHY

MEET JIMBO BLISHWICK: THE YOUNG AMERICAN CHANGING THE WIZARDING WORLD ONE STATUS UPDATE AT A TIME. 

I’m not sure exactly what to expect when the invitation comes in. It seems archaic to be communicating over owl. There was even a part of me that thought I should revert to the “email” form which my subject is so fond of. What if the wixen tech mogul’s fondness for typing meant he had poor penmanship? To my delight not only was Mr. Blishwick’s handwriting clear as day, but it came with a gleeful acceptance to be interviewed. So it was on that high note that I made my way to Blishwix HQ in London to meet with the illustrious CEO. What I had expected was some pristine corporate office with dark leather and wood accents, sterile and admittedly cold and disconnected from the world. What I was met with was surprising. Blishwix is anything but old school in its style. Much like the young hip branding that accompanies its many products and services, the corporate HQ of Blishwix is sleek, modern and very accessible. It’s a open space of mostly glass walls, the bull pen dotted with standing desks and stability balls replacing wheeling chairs. Towards the entrance to the main floor there is a food bar, one which changes weekly I’m told. This week it’s a cereal bar, last week it was a sushi bar, the next week it’s expected to be a pho bar. Employees are scattered around it with tablets and laptops, giddily conversing around mouthfuls of rainbow marshmallows and corn flakes. There’s also several corners tucked away with velvet cushions where some team members curl up with headphones and e-readers or handheld video game consoles. Designated comfort zones, the tour guide describes them as. It’s the Blishwix goal to make sure the employees are all comfortable, so whenever they get stressed out or overwhelmed, there’s always a little place they can escape to in order to calm their nerves. In truth, Blishwix looks less like a company and more like an urban hang out for pretty hipsters in crop tops and flannels. Surely the big man on top would have a more professional set up, right? 

Even the display in the bull pen did not prepare me for Jimbo Blishwick’s personal office. It’s one of a few closed off areas to the side of the floor, wide with tall glass walls over looking the bull pen, and predominately empty save for another bean sack, a slim desktop atop a standing desk, and a row of bookcases displaying dozens upon dozens of novels, all of which I can’t place and among the only print media to be found anywhere in Blishwix. “They’re muggle books,” says a voice from behind. When I turn and get a first glance at the figure leaning casually against the glass door to the office, my gut instinct is that this is just another one of those twenty something year olds squeezing stress balls on the work floor. He’s tall, wearing a handmade beanie in a burnt orange color -- One that is, frankly, not a good pair with his golden hair. His neatly trimmed beard and horned rimmed glasses speak of an elegance that doesn’t exactly match the acid wash tattered jeans or the faded t shirt worn under an oversized cream cardigan. The shirt is colorful and bears a phrase that doesn’t come easy to me. Woodstock. Perhaps this is another “muggle thing”. It isn’t until he draws close enough that I recognize the bare footed man. It’s Jimbo Blishwick himself. “Call me Wick,” he easily responds to my surprised expression, knowing full well he wasn’t what I expected. Instead of holding out a hand in a formal handshake and then pulling up a chair for the interview, he engulfs me in a hug and ushers me into the love sack. It’s awkward at first, but eventually I melt into it. It’s just as comfortable as it looks, and their use in the designated comfort zones make more sense to me now. Wick opts to sit crosslegged on the floor, a large coffee in one hand and a bowl of granola balanced on his thighs. He sips the coffee as my eyes wander the space, finding small and interesting little things to ask him about. 

The first thing that draws my attention is a set of crystals sitting on the top of his desk, and when I ask he lets out a howling laugh that echos throughout the office, surely drawing the attention of his hard playing -- and hardly working -- employees beyond the glass walls. “Oh, I had a bit of a headache,” he says with a somewhat amused grin. “My wife said they might help.” The wife in question isn’t some darling stay at home mom you might expect. In Wick’s own words: She’s the reason the “Boss Girl” phrase was invented. Selene Blishwick is as shrewd a business person as her husband is, and perhaps a bit more progressive. As I attempt to shift a bit in the cushion, Wick relays some confidential information about some of their upcoming branding collaborations. Each is more unconventional than the last, and they all have one vital thing in common: Selene Blishwick is the one that found them. I’d go into detail, but Wick swears it would become a marital problem if I spill the big secrets before they’re due to come out. Instead he offers a sly grin and taps a single finger to his lips. “Our little secret, then you can be the cool hip one among your friends who knew all about it before it came out.” An exciting proposition, though I realize that I do need something I can share with the public from this visit, and as Wick’s bowl of dry granola gets emptier I fear I’m running out of time. So I set out to do what I’d planned: a profile on the CEO of Wizarding London’s premiere tech company. 

When I ask Wick what was the event that kickstarted his long journey to bringing the wixen world into the 21st Century, he answers in one simple phrase: “A pen pal program.” I was surprised to say the least, but it all became more transparent as I urged him to elaborate. What ensues is a story about the overweight son of a MACUSA politician who was teased and bullied all his life and struggled to maintain platonic connections. “I had no friends,” he says, a sad truth but it comes out with a light and airy laugh. “But I didn’t make it quite easy for people to be my friend.” Despite his laid back and easy going charm, Wick reveals a disabling shyness and insecurity that kept him from engaging with the world. The only one privy to his thoughts and personality was the journal he carried with him wherever he went. “I always thought I sounded better on print than in person. I could be whoever I wanted to be on paper -- Handsome, smart, clever and fun. I just could never bring that outwards, you know?” I think we can all sympathize with the young Blishwick’s plight. It didn’t help that he had quite the shoes to fill. Sixth in his line, the Jimbos that came before the media mogul were all tied to American politics. They’re all charming and ambitious men, but Wick says he just didn’t have it in him to be a lawmaker. “Big Daddy” -- yes, that’s the moniker his father, Jimbo the fifth, goes by -- “He’s just built to be a Senator, I’m just the apple that fell a little too far from that tree.” Secluded and distant, educators began to worry that Wick’s development would be halted by the lack of socialization between him and his peers. So one Ilvermorny professor had suggested Wick be one of a handful of students elected to partake in a cross continental penpal program. “Fabricating friendship,” he called it. What they didn’t know is that the program would lead to a lot more. When I ask him who his first penpal is, if it’s someone he still has direct contact with, he lets another one of those amusing grins slip. “Oh yeah, very much so. I’m actually married to her.” 

A fifth year at Ilvermorny, Wick was matched with a Hogwarts student a handful of years younger than him by the name of Selene Rowle. According to Wick, their correspondence lasted throughout both of their schooling and beyond, until he had taken a chunk out of his trust fund in order to travel to the United Kingdom to meet in person. He says that’s the only time he used his family’s money to get where he is now -- literally using it to transport across the Atlantic. Leaving behind his family’s estate in Texas and the promising job at MACUSA his father had acquired for him, Wick came to London in order to meet his long distance friend for the first time. The only person “who really knew what he was about” he says. I ask if it was for romantic reasons. He thinks about it while he sips his drink. “I guess in hindsight it does seem a little romantic.” Whatever his reasons, Wick came and he never turned back. He said that one of the first times they interacted in person, he and his future bride had lamented on their past communication and the long waits between letters. “We felt like we’d left things off on cliff hangers so often, and you’d have to wait forever just to get some kind of answer to those burning questions the last letter gave you. It was one of the most frustrating things.” The pair wondered what it would have been like if there had been a more instantaneous way to talk with wizards across the globe. After all, Wick had concluded, the muggles did it just fine. During his teen years, the Texan said he had grown very interested in what nonmagical civilization was like. A “No-Maj Studies Class”, as they call the Muggle Studies program in the states, had a unit on the technological advances of the nonmagical community during much of the modern era. The professors tried to teach the students that this was all building towards a very dangerous threat to the magical community: exposure and the fast spreading of information over the internet. Wick saw something different. “As I thought about how I wished I had a better gateway to my penpal during my teen years, I just kept thinking about how muggles had that already figured out. They could instantly send letters to anyone anywhere in the world. No long wait times for traveling owls or anything like that. It was instantaneous.... And why shouldn’t we be like that?” 

It was this very thought that birthed the company the Blishwicks lead now. 

So how do you bring the magical world safely into the 21st Century as dictated by the nonmagical? That was no easy feat. For his part, Wick said he had to learn all about something that didn’t exist in their world, something that didn’t interact well with magic. And how do you study muggle tech without magic interfering? Simple: You “become a muggle”. That’s when I realized there was a book I recognized on his eclectic shelf of reading material. Daisy Hookum’s best seller My Life as a Muggle. It’s the first book on the shelf, in the most pristine condition. A first edition, and it’s even signed by the author herself, though Wick doesn’t remember the meeting. It has a simple message in it: I hope you enjoy the time you spend in the nonmagical world and make memories as fond as my own. “Oh yeah,” he laughs, “I did tell her I was also voluntarily giving up magic in order to help kickstart my company.” He says it with an air of unfamiliarity, like he only vaguely remembers the moment. Still, he presses on with the story. A controversial choice for the son of a self proclaimed “conservative-traditional” pureblood senator, Wick was shortly disowned by the American Blishwicks for his choice to give up his magic for two and a half years to live among the muggles. But it had purpose. “I may have lied my way into an internship with a tech company in Edingbrugh. I was trying to learn as much as I could about this muggle innovation. If I wanted to create something similar for our community, I needed to master their version.” He says it took more than the two years he gave himself to live among them, and he’s still studying it to this day, but after that amount of time he had the ground work he needed to then create his tech and media empire. The biggest obstacle wasn’t even in creating the highly secret magically encrypted network which allows smart phones to be used in the wizarding world. No, for Wick the biggest hurdle to pass over was the longstanding traditional values the community had. “I think there’s an innate fear in not just advancing the community, but in mirroring any sort of progress than the muggles have done. There’s nothing wrong with it, I mean we have adapted enough of their inventions into our own world already so why not take it a step further?” He refers to radio and electric hook ups that appeared in a lot of wixen homes in the past century. 

Blishwix started out small, creating and selling smart phones and desktops primarily with the idea in mind to change the way we communicate. Email was one of those first muggle digital contraptions that made its way into the wixen mainstream and has stayed, but within a short decade the company’s offerings expanded to mirror exactly what the digital world of the muggles looks like now. It’s becoming more and more rare to see wixen without a Loquix* in hand, or a Blishwix desktop at home. The Wixpix social media app, in which users post photos taken from the cameras on their cellular devices and add witty captions which can then be “liked” or “commented” on by users across the globe, continues to grow in popularity. And now the media and tech giant is rolling out a “streaming platform” -- a sort of home theater in the form of an app that catalogues film and television programs created by wixen for wixen. There’s Accio, an application that allows you to ask random questions and receive an answer instantly; Portky** which allows users to request forms of transportation when they desperately need it, including ministry-approved portkeys (or so it claims, we haven’t used it yet here at the Prophet). There’s even applications for those lonely wixen looking to find a love connection. Erised is one such app where user profiles are made with a handful of photos, a small ‘about me’ section, and a few small details that can be provided to prospective dates in order to help connect those with similar interests and hobbies. The married Wick does not have an Erised profile, but his assistant allows me to scroll through her’s and even swipe a few times on other profiles. I accidentally match her to someone she admits she can’t see herself interested in, but we all have a good laugh about it. These are only a few of many “experiences”, as Wick refers to them, offered by the company in order to branch the magical people from across the globe. “What is more beautiful than seeing people from different cultural backgrounds and walks of life coming together and sharing ideas and thoughts so quickly?” I realize as I’m sitting there in that bean cushion, scrolling through a prototype of the next Blishwix tablet that I know so little about the world beyond my little corner of it. I suddenly understand Wick’s enthusiasm about expanded communication. 

It’s all pretty exciting to see coming together, it’s almost impossible to understand what more could be done by Blishwix. So when I ask him what’s next, Wick gets a very eager look in his eyes. “There’s a lot of places we still don’t have our tech in that I think would be all the better for it,” he solemnly reveals, and I’m shocked to hear it. Since visiting Blishwix, I have seen their product seemingly in every corner of Wizarding London I explore daily. Who isn’t using connected to their expansive network at this point? “I would love to do a partnership with the Ministry. As the governing body, I feel like we can offer them so much that could continue to further develop the community and continue progressing us into the future. If we could get our desktops in every Ministry Department, we can further the sort of work that keeps our world moving. Just imagine how we could expand Law Enforcement, Education or Wellfare departments if we can make all the relevant information they need all the more accessible to their employees? Think about how much easier it would be for them to process information on our fast and reliable network.” 

On the topic of Education, Wick reveals his ambitions don’t stop with the Ministry. “I would love to see Blishwix in schools like Hogwarts,” he says, revealing what may be the biggest bombshell yet. “This whole dream started because of a chubby boy who had no friends in school and wanted a faster way to communicate with the one he made far away. I think a lot about that and how my life would have been different had I had this kind of technology available to me. If there are lonely kids like me who could have that, or even kids who are just struggling to get the information they need to be successful in school, and I could give them what they need to advance in life? Then I could say I’ve done what I initially set out to do. Until that day, I would say that Blishwix hasn’t been a success yet. Even teachers could benefit from the use of the internet and all the resources we have out there which we now have access to.” I begin to wonder if the technological genius is actually more of a philanthropist. “I don’t know, you tell me,” he quips when I muse out loud. Our interview comes to a halt by this point, and I’m left with so many more questions. What is Blishwix cooking up for the wizarding world next? What kind of innovations will define the company’s next decade? These, and so many more, questions are left unanswered as I walk out of Blishwix HQ, a takeaway bowl of fruity cereal in one hand and my previous generation Loquix in the other (scrolling through shopping apps in order to find that “love sack” I spent much of the afternoon lounging in).

The same day I begin writing this piece out, Blishwix has announced the Loquix VI, their most advance smartphone yet. They livestream details of their upgraded OS and hardware reveal on the company’s social media, an event I watch while typing this article up on my worn out typewriter. Halfway through and I’m out of ribbon, and I silently curse myself as I order a new set online. All the while the Blishbook Pro is being revealed on the stream, its sleek wireless keyboard and slim expandable monitor shimmering under the stage lights. I join in with the loud gasps from the shareholders crowding the conference room where the event is being held. The irony of this isn’t lost on me, and as I sit here writing out these last few paragraphs with a quill in my cramped hand I begin to realize exactly why I admire Jimbo Blishwick and his forward thinking. At least he’s not sitting here with ink blotches in obscene places, running to his editor’s office just barely before deadline with a mess of typed and handwritten article. I remember in that moment, drenched in the rain while rushing through the offices of the Prophet, the first line in his owl response to my inquiry for the interview: 

You should have just emailed. 

Touché, Blishwick, touché. 

*Portky app idea comes courtesy of Kim ( @strvngemagics​ ) **Loquix phone name comes courtesy of Vic ( @cfdiggorys​ / @moodyparis​ / @aarlingtons​ ) Both gave permission to use / mention these galaxy brained concepts in the intro and credit for their conception goes to them. Thank you guys so much!!

TL;DR: Wick is full of shit. What can I say? Here’s the ‘Murrican lad who claims to be some hip and cool CEO of a wizarding tech and media company. Okay he’s I guess apple meets zuckerberg. Idk I’m not galaxy brained enough for this afheiahfpea hence the very oddly written bio. Wick’s a pureblood from america who supposedly forsake his family’s purist ways and then decided to create a company modeled after muggle tech in order to “bring the wizarding world into the modern era”. In actuality? He’s a fucking bigot who created a network that he could use to spy on people who may be enemies of the cause. At least that’s how it’s being factored into the DEs. His theme song is “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell bc he’s always watching you. Gives off this very laid back and down to earth and charming persona just so he can gain your trust and meanwhile he’s leaking your information to the DE and helping them further their agenda. Some extra tidbits not seen above: 

He’s got some daddy issues which are leaking into his parenting. Aka he is not exactly excited to be a father but you wouldn’t know that from his Wixpix feed which feature so many “cute” dad photos with his baby boy. In order for him to become his best self, his dad had to make his life a living hell and he believes that’s how he’s gonna have to handle Zephyr as well. 

He is smart, yes, but he’s not some brilliant innovator like the world thinks he is. His empire is built on stolen material which he simply “adapted” to the magical world. He’s not original, but he is clever. 

He’s not a fighter, clumsy with a wand, had a severe stutter as a kid which made it very hard for him to cast spells etc, so he avoids battle often and instead offers up his company more for espionage for the DEs. He’s better suited to behind the scenes mayhem, and that’s kind of the way he likes it. 

He’s a coward. He’s hiding behind computer screens and tbh if things get really sticky he’s likely to try and sell out the DE in order to save his skin. Has an escape plan to the states if things get really sticky but the likelihood of him succeeding are slim to none. 

He acts very charitable and humble and kind but he’s conceited as hell and he’s a real shady bitch sometimes. Talks shit on everyone behind their backs

He’s had a few affairs here and there despite being married. Even with that, he is in love with his wife and feels a sort of fealty towards her. She’s a very important part to the company, she’s pretty much the brand of it and so he relies on her a lot to help manufacture their image even just as individuals to help the rouse. 

BODY IMAGE TW/EATING DISORDER TW. Wick has some body image issues due to his past tbh. He got bullied a lot as a kid for being overweight and quiet, his solace was in food and he was a binge eater. As he got a bit older, he made some desperate choices in order to lose weight to gain a slimmer figure. It wasn’t healthy, it landed him in hospital a few times, and eventually he had to meet with nutrition specialists and therapists in order to work out a more healthy mindset on food. He’s still harbors body imagine issues, but he’s learned to be better about it. Still, he maintains a very strict diet and work out regime because he feels his image is one of the most important things about him. He did meet Selene when he was slim and athletic and therefore thinks it’s best he maintain the figure even just out of fear she wouldn’t find him attractive otherwise. 

is any of the stuff he said in this interview true? Idk, idk

Idk, I hate this man and this bio afheuiahfpea I’ll end up rewriting it eventually. 

MISC

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic LANGUAGES: English FAMILY: Jimbo Dashiel Bartholomew Blishwick V (but they call him “Big Daddy”; father), Cricket Blishwick née Berkeley (mother), Beaufort Harland Blishwick (younger brother), Cora-Lou Blishwick (younger sister), Selene Blishwick née Rowle (wife), Zephyr Blishwick (infant son), and by extension all the fucking Rowles I guess PETS: TBD FACE CLAIM: Luke Mitchell ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius MBTI: hm PINTEREST: (coming soon)

WANTED CONNECTIONS

interns - a couple new grunts at the blishwix HQ. they can be any affiliation, but if they are DE affiliated then they’ll know a little bit more about what is going on behind closed doors at the company. could be fun for future plotting purposes. 

co conspirators - other DEs who similarly to wick lead a double life in the public eye. philanthropists, media stars, all sorts of “do gooders” who are banning together in order to break “harmful stigmas and stereotypes and join the wixen community globally”. blishwix mission statement aims to create a platform for wixen of all types across the world to interact free of prejudice and judgement and to bring the magical community into a modern era free of harmful ideologies. of course that’s a fucking lie, so if you play a baddy bad who’s pretending to be goody good then this could be a fun collaboration. 

partnerships - alternatively, let’s see some honest to good people and groups get schemed by these fuckers. this would involve some potential screwing over but no worries, at the end of the day blishwix will tank and then your character can get their sweet revenge on this man and his corrupt business. 

idk hmu with ideas. 

[astro-break]

Thoughts on the third ep of Hypmic Rhythm Anima (as always, spoilers beware but not only for the anime itself but for future things covered in the Drama CD and the Manga. If you’re an anime only, those are marked with a *)

Right off the bat. Super disappointed that it isn’t a MTC episode. I wanted an MTC episode. :((((

Still got my MTC crumbs this week tho and I think I can hold out until next week which hopefully will give me the MTC episode I so desperately want (Yes, i have a division bias and i’m not afraid to show it)

Jakurai entertaining kids are just so cute. I think its very very precious.

* Also. What kind of doctor is Jakurai anyways? So far we know that he’s a councilor/therapist (helps Doppo w/ his anxiety), a pediatrician (he helped a kid), a family doctor (I think i might be wrong on this one), a surgeon (In the FP vs MTC manga he’s shown preforming surgery), a hitman/assassin (:/ yeah evil line records seems intent on retconning this one), a battle field medic (he’s state to be one during WWIII) and now he’s getting called into the orthopedic (things concerning the musculoskeletal system) and gastroenterology (working w. the digestive system) department, two things that have nothing in common with each other. And I’m sure I’m missing some. There is no way in hell this man can do all that he’s 35 for fucks sake. You’d be old and grey before you could learn and complete the credentials needed to work half of these jobs

Nice to now that theres some hints of jakurai’s past. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing more of the detective later in the story, esp for Matenrou

Doppo being overworked as usual *sigh*. When will the man ever rest? Never... Though im a bit skeptical as to why one of his co-workers calls him doppo. this is a work environment, usually he’d be called “Kanonzaka” for the least amount of informality. seems sus to me. Though his depiction of his insecurities is nice

I love how his first reaction is to call Hifumi and as him if he’s killed anyone. Peak bromance guys. 

Honestly Doppo’s method of trying to calm down is nice but not at all effective. He has the right mindset of calming down and letting his body breath, but the way he goes about it is... eh. 

Tom and Iris’ argument is hilarious and I really want to see more of them and Rex! Can’t wait to see what happens with these three new characters

Iasdgfjsd;flkasjdflkasdjfkasdlvn ajsdk, MTCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

MY BPOYS OH MY GOD RIOU NEVER CHANGE

fsajghasdf i love them asdhfoiksldjfasdfj riou’s food looks so so so so so good omgggggg

Samatoki respecting the fuck outta Jakurai is amazing and I never get tired of their father-child kind of relationship (yes jakurai is a dad to TDD fight me.)

The Riou and Samatoki interactionnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ah my heart!! they know each other so well and play off each others strengths. its so cute and I love how Samatoki knows his teammates well enough to know when to play each of his pieces. He isn’t just some brute who speaks through his fists, but he does use his head too. I think this is one of the reasons why he’s also high up on the Yakuza ladder since he’s not only brawny but also brainy

EAT RIOUS FOOD SAMATOKI

ah yes, Jyuto kneeing a bitch. just what I needed to see on a stressful friday thank you for feeding me

I love MTC, im very happy with the MTC crumbs. Since MTR showed up in BB’s ep last week, i really really hope that next week’s ep will be MTC

There it is. Jakurai’s “Jitsuni Kyoumibukai” line

lolololololol the sound effects for MTR is hilarious. Though please give Doppo a break, man deserves it

Jaku’s hair man. its beautiful

Again, please give Doppo a break, he deserves with the 4 joints that they attacked

They say 3 times, but they attacked 4 places?? Did they not report one of them?

Ahhhhh the DoHifu interaction on the temple grounds is both hilarious and cute. Though I can’t help but feel bad for Doppo

* Huh, Jaku did you get that from your hitman days loll

Oh man host mode. Though I like how Doppo recognizes when Host Mode is  a legitimate shield that Hifumi needs and is willing to give him that shield when he needs it. God I love their dynamic]

wow... yet another female stalker for Hifumi... very original. This is pretty similar to the stalker girl from the manga and CD

Lol callback to when Doppo was in the toilet and trying to calm down. 

pffft the girl is so weird. I can’t stand her or Uwabami. 

The plot is so convoluted holy shit. Is this a drama now? (I’ve never watched any c-dramas or k-dramas so I’m the furthest thing from a voice of authority but this seems like a drama show plot lmao.)

This is just a drama at this point lol. Misunderstandings, plot twists and cheesy shit all over the place. Its a badly written and hilarious drama thats for sure

Someone please write a fic where instead of the hypmic universe, the boys are all in a tv drama show plot and their hijinks bc it would fit perfectly. please

Ah, Doppochin snapped~ He’s very interesting once he gets fired up and thats when I really really like MTR. Don’t get me wrong, I love them normally but its when they get down to it that really makes me squeal in delight

Oh! So i think each character gets their own personalized intro w/ their speakers, not just the leaders. Thats honestly so so so cool. The 3D didn’t get in the way of the sequence and was really flashy and smooth. I love how they show the transformation and reveal of the mic and speaker. Honestly the Anime has so many good takes on thigs that aren’t touched on often in the franchise.

The rap was honestly fire this time around. I love it and have replayed it almost 20 times. According to the ending credits its called Welcome U which is so cute for such a funny and badass song. The strong base beat and imagery were so strong and included a lot of homages to things that really matches both Shinjuku, Matenrou and the lyric’s themes and they’re really small but important details! The humor was on point without sacrificing any of the amazingly cool elements and the three distinct styles of rap were integrated in such a catchy melody!

EG) the verse All Year Round features a quick shot of the four seasons and the things most prominently associated with each season. Spring has cherry blossoms and flower viewing, Summer has festivals, Fall and Winter have food that corresponds to events that happen in those seasons.

Doppo’s line of “The flea counters w/ a bite” is so so so cute bc he’s got a little w at the end and thats jp chatspeak for a laugh and skjdfhsdjfkslad adorable

Hifumi picking up right after and asking if Doppo is okay is just. Goals. And his gratutious english works really well and is super smooth! Very very good

Also the small homage to The Champions with Hifumi’s “Jump around” line and the format where Hifumi takes separate lines than Jaku and Doppo. Its a brilliant way to sneak these references in and they’ve kept that theme going from last episode

Foreshadowing with “We’re the true leader, Matenro!” Nice touch there lol.

Lol of course its attempted murder. Still gotta keep this PG 13 even though theres swearing abound

The ending w/ mimimi..... leaves me kind of torn since i don’t like how it ended but they did provide some nice advice. i guess

lsdf;jsalkdfjsldf Hifumi please you’ve known Doppo for over 25 years, you should know better than anyone what his charm points are. and shouldn’t you be the one who understands Doppo’s appeal? smh

SCREEEEEEE THAT TITLE OF THE NEXT EP. if its an MTC ep i will scream even more bc asudhfsdkjflasd A friend in need is a friend indeed this is just pushing my Poly!MTC agenda isn’t it

Final thoughts:

Please please please let next week be MTC please please please

DoHifu are goals, both romantically and platonically

The rap was fire and I’m going to keep listening to it on repeat. First ep was a bit of a disappointment in terms of CGI and raps but these latest two eps are really picking up the slack! I really hope they continue this for the next two!

JAKURAI WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR ARE YOU PLEASE TELL ME

[trishajanson-blog]

Theories of Entrepreneurship

Want to learn more about Entrepreneurship? Interested? Check this blog cause we made it much easier to understand Entrepreneurship!

But before we proceed. Make sure to like, comment, and share with your friends! Also, don’t forget to follow for more Entrepreneurship studies! Let’s begin!

These are some Theories of Entrepreneurship that we’ve hand-picked to teach you so that you have an idea about Theories of Entrepreneurship! Let’s start with…

Innovation Theory

The Innovation Theory by Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist & political scientist, believed that an entrepreneur could earn economic profits by introducing successful innovations. To gain more information, watch this video down below!

Innovation theory of profit posits that the main function of an entrepreneur is to introduce innovations and the profit in the form of reward is given for his performance. According to Schumpeter, innovation refers to any new policy that an entrepreneur undertakes to reduce the overall cost of production or increase the demand for his products.

Thus, innovation can be classified into two categories; The first category includes all those activities which reduce the overall cost of production such as the introduction of a new method or technique of production, the introduction of new machinery, innovative methods of organizing the industry, etc.

The second category of innovation includes all such activities which increase the demand for a product. Such as the introduction of a new commodity or new quality goods, the emergence or opening of a new market, finding new sources of raw material, a new variety, or a design of the product, etc.

The innovation theory of profit posits that the entrepreneur gains profit if his innovation is successful either in reducing the overall cost of production or increasing the demand for his product. Often, the profits earned are for a shorter duration as the competitors imitate the innovation, thereby ceasing the innovation to be new or novice. Earlier, the entrepreneur was enjoying a monopoly position in the market as innovation was confined to himself and was earning larger profits. But after some time, with the others imitating the innovation, the profits started disappearing.

An entrepreneur can earn larger profits for a longer duration if the law allows him to patent his innovation. Such as a design of a product is patented to discourage others to imitate it. Over the time, the supply of factors remaining the same, the factor prices tend to rise because of which the cost of production also increases. On the other hand, with the firms adopting innovations the supply of goods and services increases and their prices fall. Thus, on one hand the output per unit cost increases while on the other hand the per unit revenue decreases.

There is a point of time when the difference between the costs and receipts gets disappear. Thus, the profit more than the normal profit disappears. This innovation process continues, and the profits continue to appear or disappear.

Keynesian Theory

Keynesian economics by John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, is a macroeconomic economic theory of total spending in the economy and its effects on output, employment, and inflation. ... Based on his theory, Keynes advocated for increased government expenditures and lower taxes to stimulate demand and pull the global economy out of the depression.

For me, the Keynesian cross theory is a graph of expenditure and output level also a graph of different levels of equilibrium aggregate expenditure at different interest rate levels.

Since the investment spending is a function of interest rate when there is a change in interest rate which in turn results in a change in total output corresponding to the new equilibrium. Keynesian theorists argue that economies do not stabilize themselves very quickly and require active intervention that boosts short-term demand in the economy.

X-efficiency theory of entrepreneurship

What is the x-efficiency theory of entrepreneurship?

Harvey Leibenstein, the American economist, developed the X-efficiency theory in the 1960s. He views entrepreneurs as gap-fillers and input complementors. Gaps (X-inefficiency) emerge when there are inefficiencies in markets, such as when incumbents do not utilize their resources efficiently (Leibenstein, 1966;1978) because of political, normative, cognitive, and structural factors.

A classic example is a startup without a union that enters a market where all the incumbents have strong unions. The cost advantage of disorganized labor may help firms with low-cost business models to thrive at the bottom of the market at margins that are uneconomical for incumbent firms to pursue within the target ranges given to them by their shareholders.

If the maximum possible productive use of a resource is greater than the actual use by incumbents, an arbitrage opportunity emerges that an entrepreneur can exploit for profit. Entrepreneurs can also improve inputs by putting to use new resources, thus making existing products more efficient.

Incumbents can ignore, waste, or misuse resources due to inertia, incompetence, or ignorance. Thus, the entrepreneur is seen as correcting market inefficiencies by improving the information flow in a market.

X-efficiency theory seems to align well with Kirzner's view of entrepreneurship as alertness to opportunities caused by the lack of insight of incumbents.

Leibenstein’s thoughts focus mainly on two things: suggesting a theory of entrepreneurial economics and using this theory to explain the value of entrepreneurship within the economy. Rather than taking sides with a certain type of entrepreneurial activity, Leibenstein considers two sides, what he calls routine entrepreneurship (well-defined markets) and N-entrepreneurship (Schumpeterian-like). He introduces ways and possibilities of how both can exist within the economy, illustrating characteristics of the entrepreneur such as risk bearer, taking ultimate responsibility, gap-filler, input-completer, and the ability to evaluate economic opportunities.

Leibenstein’s procedure to both theories rests upon inputs and outputs of entrepreneurship (an example of the input would be a motivational factor) and the fact that entrepreneurship is a resource, a scarce one to be specific. Since his theory describes entrepreneurship as a resource, Leibenstein implies that entrepreneurship has value in the economy in the sense that the creation and fruition of tools and technology expand the economy and its features. But he states that because entrepreneurship is not predictable, controllable, or undetermined, it becomes scarce because the “up-and-coming” entrepreneurs have a lack of input-completing capacities. Thus, in some cases a well-defined market is impossible and that is his reason for considering both routine and N-entrepreneurship.

Leibenstein’s work is very credible in the sense that it outlines what an entrepreneur should do to be successful, and why we need entrepreneurship to exist. This passage would be helpful to a relatively new entrepreneur because Leibenstein is merely giving advice on how to be an input-completer and gap-filler, which he says makes for a successful entrepreneur.

Kirzner’s Learning-Alertness Theory

The basic concept in Kirzner's theory of entrepreneurship is alertness. ... The role of entrepreneurs lies in their alertness to hitherto unnoticed opportunities. Through their alertness, entrepreneurs can discover and exploit situations in which they can sell for high prices that which they can buy for low prices.

The book Competition and Entrepreneurship by Israel Kirzner, published in 1973, was a watershed moment in the revival of Austrian economics. While prices are the medium through which knowledge spreads in an economy, entrepreneurial activity–people recognizing previously unimagined opportunities to combine inputs into more valuable outputs–is the cause of that spread, according to Kirzner. Entrepreneurship is a discovery procedure, not a maximization exercise under given constraints. Markets are competitive, according to Kirzner, when the discovery procedure is unconstrained, rather than when markets match the assumed conditions of the textbook "perfect competition" model.

Alfred Marshall Theory

This theory was created by Alfred Marshall who was an English Economist. Marshall made a book called Principles of Economics published in 1890. So, if you what more information, watch this video down below!

Modern research on the economics of education began in the 1950s with research by T. W. Schultz, Jacob Mincer, Sherwin Rosen and some others, although there are earlier precedents, including analyses by Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, and Milton Friedman. This new literature treats education as an investment that has both costs and returns. The returns analyzed are principally the increase in earnings because of greater amounts of schooling. The costs included tuition, fees, and other direct expenses from schooling, and the earnings foregone by being in school rather than at work. Higher education has boomed throughout the world during the past three decades in much poorer and in all rich nations. An important part of the explanation for this development is that new technologies, such as computers and the Internet, increased the demand for persons with college education because college graduates more easily utilize and adapt to these technologies. Other important developments explaining the greater incentives to get a higher education are the shift to high-skilled services, such as the education and health sectors, and away from manufacturing and increased globalization that helped spread the demand for these new technologies throughout the world.

And that's it! Thank you so much for reading until the end. Don't forget to like, comment on some suggestions, or even your learnings from this blog post. Also, share it with your friends! Hope you learn something! Stay tuned for more Entrepreneurship lessons!

[yaorong]

Application of LED plant lights in hydroponic cultivation

With the development of technology, indoor planting has developed soilless planting, hydroponic planting and other planting methods, which not only improve the utilization of land and water and fertilizer, but also promote the vigorous development of agriculture.

Hydroponic cultivation is to create a relatively closed environment that can store nutrient solution through specific facilities, and keep the water, fertilizer, gas, heat and other conditions required for root growth relatively stable, and all or part of the root system is "immersed" in the nutrient solution. Cultivation methods.

When planting indoors, LED plant lights can be used to supplement light during hydroponic cultivation. LED plant lights are made according to the absorption and utilization of sunlight by plant growth, and the spectrum and light intensity meet the requirements. It can be used to supplement light for vegetables, seedlings, fruits, and flowers. It can not only promote the progress of photosynthesis, but also achieve the effects of increasing production and increasing, launching in advance, and enhancing quality.

Advantages of LED plant lights in hydroponics

1. It can be well used in hydroponic cultivation, and can be illuminated at close range to provide sufficient light to plants;

2. The wavelength can be customized, which can replace high-pressure sodium lamps, halogen lamps, and fluorescent lamps with 3-5 times the power, saving 80% of electric energy;

3. Long service life, up to 50,000 hours;

4. The ratio of lamp beads can be freely matched to meet the needs of different plants and different growth stages;

5. It can control the growth rate of plants and predict the maturity time of the market;

6. LED plant light is a kind of energy-saving, environmentally friendly and efficient plant growth light.

7. The heat emitted is much lower than traditional plant growth lamps.

8. No standard power socket connectors for drivers or cooling fans are required.

9. Promote early maturity of plants, increase production, and improve the quality of melons and fruits;

10. Ensure the taste of vegetables in greenhouses and realize off-season cultivation;

11. Inhibit the reproduction of germs and pests, and make it green without pollution.

Significance of Hydroponic Plants

1. Adapt to market demand

Annual cultivation can be carried out on the same site. Leafy vegetables are not easy to store, but in order to meet market demand, annual production is required. Hydroponic cultivation is very simple. You only need to plant seedlings in the planting holes. For example, lettuce can be sown, planted, harvested at any time, and produced continuously without interruption, so hydroponics is suitable for planned and contracted production.

2. Solve the problem of anti-seasonal supply of vegetables

Hydroponic vegetables have a short growth cycle, and the hydroponic method belongs to facility production, which is generally not easily damaged by natural weather. Planted throughout the year, fresh vegetables can also be supplied in off-season to obtain higher profits.

3. No need to change the nutrient solution midway

No need to change the nutrient solution midway. Due to the long growth period of fruits and vegetables, even if there is no major physiological disease, in order to ensure the balance of nutrients in the nutrient solution, it is necessary to renew the nutrient solution in half or full amount.

4. High economic benefits

Hydroponic leafy vegetables can avoid continuous cropping obstacles, and the multiple cropping index is high. The facility operation rate is as high as 20 crops a year, and the production economic benefits are high. For this reason, generally leafy vegetables are often carried out by hydroponics.

Attention should be paid to the LED plant light hydroponic supplement light:

Appropriate lighting time

In terms of the duration of light, most plants have a natural circadian rhythm. This can also be imitated with the artificial light in the greenhouse. There is already a greenhouse lighting system, which can be programmed with the timer function, so that the LED plant light can slowly fall on the plants like nature.

Appropriate light intensity

The light intensity depends on the photon flux density, that is, how many photosynthetic photons are in the radiation. It can be quantified as micromoles per square meter and second (μmol/m2s). For comparison: Direct solar radiation up to 2,000 μmol/m2s. Your greenhouse plants usually don't need as much light. As the guiding principle of light intensity in artificial greenhouse, 600μmol/m2s is enough to achieve good growth.

Reasonably distribute the light evenly

Measure the floor area. Multiply the length by the width to get the area of the hydroponic area in square meters. You can make the right choice based on how much power to provide per square meter, that is, how many LED plant lights are installed per square meter. In this way, each lamp can be evenly distributed, so that the outer edge will receive strong light, so that the light will be more uniform, and the growth of plants will be more effective.

Appropriate light color

Light travels from the sun to the earth as electromagnetic waves of different wavelengths. The wavelength range visible to the human eye is between 380 and 750 nanometers (NM), which roughly corresponds to the light that plants can use for photosynthesis. The wavelength of light determines the so-called light color. The short wave turns blue, and the long wave turns red. Light waves around 500 nautical miles are green and reflected by plants. This phenomenon is also called green space because less photosynthesis can be used to use green light. You should not rely on greenhouse lighting that only combines blue and red light without any green part, because it is still very common. Because this can shut down the weaker photosynthesis and complete plant growth under green light.

Vertical agriculture is the trend of future agriculture. Hydroponic cultivation is an innovative cultivation method in vertical agriculture. LED plant lights are also the trend of indoor planting to supplement light. With the continuous advancement and development of technology, the two will definitely be a perfect combination. Vertical agriculture and LED plant lights promote the development of each other.

[mingyesblog]

Lifting Lighting Tower Maintenance

Vehicle roof-mounted lighting tower This product is suitable for nighttime emergency repairs of railways, nighttime emergency repairs of electric power, and large-area emergency strong light lighting at accident sites.

1.300W metal halide lamp is equivalent to the light efficiency of a 2000W incandescent lamp, with a low energy consumption rate. The excellent thermal trigger performance of the light source ensures the user's work needs.

2. Good earthquake resistance and rainproof performance are suitable for reliable use in various situations.

3. With high precision electromechanical components, it can reach the advanced level of electromechanical integrated lighting that can be lifted, rotated and can be rotated.

4. A small generator power supply can be used, and the mains can also be used for lighting.

When installed on the roof plane, it can be installed using the provided hook.

1m-4m vehicle roof-mounted lighting tower providers remind you to pay attention: Different models should use different hooks. It can also be directly fixed on the roof plane, or on other fixed platforms.

Check the corresponding power supply voltage, match the work light according to the corresponding voltage, use the wire control or remote control to control the opening and closing of the lamp, and control the remote control of the lamp head and the lifting and lowering of the lamp pole. Simple operation: use wired and wireless or 485 communication three kinds of control for users to choose, with the one-key collection, one-key extension automatic reset function.

Excellent sealing device: The vehicle roof-mounted lighting tower adopts an imported air pressure sealing device, which has strong sealing performance and can work continuously for 24 hours without pressurization.

Wide irradiating range: The vehicle roof-mounted lighting tower is installed on the gimbal without a dead angle to irradiate and search, and can search and irradiate any surrounding target. Advanced circuit protection: Overvoltage, overcurrent and automatic recovery protection control devices are configured in the middle to prevent circuit damage caused by improper operation.

Affected by the complicated global and regional situation, global economic growth, geographical disparity and other factors, according to the analysis, Ming Ye Machinery's current research and development mechanism is market-centric, through the front-end team, the customer's demand time in practical applications is passed through research and development information. Feedback to the various business departments of the company, strengthen the capacity building of green testing and certification, and actively promote third-party institutions to carry out green implementation effect evaluations in accordance with regulations. When a hardware company conducts a brand extension, a new product with a different positioning from the original product will appear, and the new product will have a close connection with the original brand and product.

Ming Ye Machinery's Roots blowers, Fine Bubble Aeration Tube Diffusers and other products are widely used in sewage treatment, mining, metallurgy, chemical industry, light industry, building materials, electricity, pneumatic conveying, aquaculture and other industries. The company has pursued the sales and after-sales service tenet of "professional management, honest service, customer first" for many years, and the company's sales and after-sales service are all over the country. 1m-4m vehicle roof-mounted lighting tower providers always adhere to the market concept of good quality, reasonable price and high-quality service, and constantly adapt to the changes and needs of the international market, so that the majority of users can buy with confidence and use them. We sincerely invite friends at home and abroad to negotiate, cooperate and seek common development!

[didanawisgi]

Following the science

“Please, follow the science (even if it has now become inconvenient and uncomfortable)

Today, I was made aware of the following publication:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.01.21259833v1.full.pdf

This is one of the most abominable publications I’ve ever read. It’s simply unthinkable that this would pass peer review. I am truly sorry to say so, but this article is really an unprecedented violation and misrepresentation of the science. I have no choice but to react to this and copy the corresponding author (venky@nreference.net). Clearly, these guys have a mission that is all but inspired by science. I am truly wondering who is financing this type of fancy ‘machine-taught science’.

The corresponding author is the ‘rchief evangelist for nference’ and ‘has led multi-year R&D data-science alliances with global biopharma companies… ‘. This may already explain why pedantic messages are conveyed, which, unfortunately, are not supported by any data in this paper (‘This study demonstrates that mass vaccination may serve as an antigenic impediment to the evolution of fitter and more transmissive SARS-CoV-2 variants, emphasizing the urgent need to stem vaccine hesitancy as a key step to mitigate the global burden of COVID-19’) and why the title is misrepresenting the impact of mass vaccination.

Instead of ‘COVID-19 vaccines dampen genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2: Unvaccinated patients exhibit more antigenic mutational variance’, the title should read: ‘COVID-19 vaccines dampen genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2: Vaccinated patients exhibit diminished antigenic mutational variance’! This at least would reflect the increasing trend of convergence of immune escape mutations to a limited set of Sars-CoV-2 S protein-associated epitopes. This trend coincides, indeed, with mass vaccination and has extensively been documented by a number of molecular epidemiologists (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33688681/) and is now considered a serious ‘Risk of rapid evolutionary escape from biomedical interventions targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein’ (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33909660/).

In all of the section reporting on the results of this study, there is literally only one sentence that deals with the comparison of variants in vaccinates versus non-vaccinated patients (see under results: Whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals reveals different mutational profiles):

‘We find that the known B-cell epitopes exhibit more mutational diversity in the unvaccinated individuals than in the vaccinated individuals (Figure 4b,c).’

None of this is even further debated under Discussion! So what is justifying their title and gospel message?

My comments: OMG, really? Is it this what prompts them to preach the gospel of mass vaccination? Do they have any notable background in immunology or vaccinology? They seem to seek whatever data they can get their hands on to confirm the mantra of mass vaccination evangelized by the WHO: ‘The more viral replication, the more mutations and hence, the more mass vaccination will prevent new variants from arising’. Don’t they read what their peers are publishing (see reference above) and what I’ve been reiterating in my most recent contributions? (“Critical opinion article: Why is the ongoing mass vaccination experiment driving a rapid evolutionary response of SARS-CoV-2?” and “The chicken-and-egg problem”)? Don’t they understand that you cannot do mass vaccination with these C-19 vaccines without having the vaccinees exerting major S-directed immune pressure on the virus and without providing a steadily growing breeding ground for the selected immune escape variants? Don’t they understand that precisely this widespread immune selection pressure is now promoting convergent evolution of immune escape variants to the same antigenic sites within the S protein and thereby enabling the virus to adapt to its altered host environment? That this is eventually going to lead to dominance of variants of concern? That those are predominantly shed by vaccinees? (almost according to their own findings: ‘Furthermore, a larger fraction of the vaccinated (82.6%) cohort had alpha variant compared to the unvaccinated cohort (60%) (Table S1). Availability of a larger number of sequenced genomes in the future can help understand whether specific variants of concern are more likely to cause breakthrough infections’).

Of course, the spectrum of mutational diversity in non-vaccinated people will be higher as these individuals do not exert selective immune pressure on S protein, even if naturally infected. Moreover, non-vaccinated populations do not provide a suitable environment for immune escape variants to propagate as there is no competitive advantage for them to gain.

I am stunned at the immunological and epidemiologic illiteracy of the authors. If you really want to study the effect of mass vaccination on the evolution of mutations, you compare HEALTHY vaccinees with HEALTHY non-vaccinated people! Why? because the selective immune pressure (towards S protein) is highest in healthy vaccinees and (presumably) lowest in healthy non-vaccinated subjects (as they clear the infection rapidly). So, in terms of the degree of S-targeted immune selection pressure one expects the following gradation: unvaccinated <breakthrough vaccinated < healthy vaccinated or, in terms of (irrelevant!) mutational diversity: unvaccinated >breakthrough vaccinated > healthy vaccinated.

Mass vaccination at the height of a pandemic enables selection and adaptation of S-directed immune escape variants and leads to dominant circulation of variants of concern (VoCs), not the other way around as the authors try to make readers believe! Indeed, they erroneously pretend: ‘Dominance globally results in increased mutation of antigenic sites’! Conclusions as drawn by the authors reflect, indeed, the risk of bias and scientific misinterpretations when the analysis of complex phenomena such as the evolutionary dynamics of a pandemic is reduced to an exercise in computational stamp collection. Teaching machines how to read biological data can be extremely dangerous as lack of holistic insights lead to correlations that some tend to interpret as causation. For example, the current study results do not seem to take into account the impact of a number of tricky confounders, probably due to lack of knowledge in other biological fields (in this case: immunology, virology, evolutionary biology, vaccinology). For example: What about the impact of differences in the infectious pressure (number of active infections) in those different countries? What about the influence of the infectiousness of the circulating variants? Differences in the level of immune pressure? (e.g., which percentage of vaccinees only received a single injection of a 2-shot vaccine)? Differences in the total vaccine coverage rate? Differences in the speed of the mass vaccination campaigns? Differences in the type of vaccines used? Differences in flanking infection prevention measures?

Also their reasoning in regard of co-morbidities seems confusing. Although they did not find a statistically significant association between mutation count and rates of complications, they seem to suggest that co-morbidities resulted from Covid-19 rather than constituting a predisposing factor to Covid-19 disease. In this regard, the fact that vaccinated patients had lower rates of comorbidities would even suggest that vaccination was rendering them more susceptible to the disease! As underlying co-morbidities augment the risk for C19 disease, it is logical, indeed, that the majority of their unvaccinated subjects only contracted C19 disease provided they had an underlying health issue.

It’s amazing that in the key limitations of their study they didn’t even think about mentioning their full ignorance of the immunologic context that is deeply and massively altered by mass vaccination campaigns!

Their interpretation of how T cell responses may ‘buffer’ viral evolution is of course only hypothetical but nevertheless completely irrational. The large diversity of T cell peptides combined with the extensive heterogeneity of peptide-matching MHC class I alleles already explains why it is highly unlikely for a naturally infected population to place widespread selective immune pressure on a particular T cell epitope. I would not understand how degeneracy of T cell recognition would need to be involved in protecting against immune escape, especially not since degenerated T cell recognition has rather been associated with auto-immune disease (which is almost the opposite of immune escape!).

Last, their suggestion that T cell-based vaccines may offer a perspective to successful immune intervention is not based on sound scientific grounds either! Or do they think there is on or more promiscuous or universal MHC class I-dependent T cell epitope(s) that has the capacity to induce T cells capable of eliminating virus-infected cells? If this approach would work, we would already have several T cell-based vaccines on the market. It’s not the case as T cell antigens are only protective in individuals who are genetically predisposed to controlling the pathogen by virtue of their protective alleles.”

[cowperviolet]

Vittoria Accoramboni and a Renaissance Revenge Tragedy – Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Last week we have heard about Cardinal Montalto’s rough past. However, those youthful escapades were as nothing compared to the nature of the man who came to court his niece-in-law Vittoria.

Paolo Giordano Orsini, the Duke of Bracciano and one of the most powerful men in Rome, was smitten with Vittoria from the evening he first saw her, her finery valiantly cobbled together from her family’s modest resources. If there was any danger of him consigning her to the heap of the many lovely infatuations he’s had since his wife died in suspicious circumstances (more on that later), Vittoria’s brother Marcello was ever ready to work on his mind.

Marcello had to flee Rome after stabbing the brother of Cardinal Pallavicino in one of the scuffles young bloods of Italy engaged in when wearing a sword on the street was normal for everyone who could afford it. Then the young man went straight to Castle Bracciano to enroll into Paolo Giordano’s unofficial private army, and set to work talking about his sister’s beauty, as well as the misery of her reduced circumstances, straight away. Her husband Francesco Peretti might have counted Marcello as a friend – but for the latter, as for all Accorambonis, family ambition was above all. In this particular case, it was even understandable – if Vittoria were to become a widow (out of completely natural causes, of course) and marry Paolo Giordano, they would become kin to one of the first families in Rome.

The Orsinis’ brilliant position was above anything Marcello, Vittoria, or their mother could have ever hoped for. The clan had eleven European queens in their family tree, two popes, and innumerable cardinals. In the present day, King Philip II of Spain referred to Paolo Giordano as his kinsman. They also had the dubious fame of having one of their ancestors, Pope Nicholas III, consigned by Dante to Hell for his corruption.

One could say that, even all this great pedigree aside, Paolo Giordano didn’t have much in common with Vittoria. If she was a dark and glimmering beauty, his fatness stemming from the life of excess was so great that ordinary horses couldn’t bear him. In September 1575, he had to write to Cardinal Antonio Caraffa with a request to send him one of the muscular bay mares from his stables, since no other steed could suffice. If Vittoria had an ambitious and determined mother dedicated to the wellbeing of her family, Paolo Giordano had been raised by a spendthrift uncle who had killed his father in an ambush, and his own mother left him with relatives in order to remarry when he was still a child. Vittoria was not exactly modest in her habits, but she knew the value of money; Paolo Giordano’s unthinking largesse, on the other hand, was proverbial. He managed to get deeply into debt by the age of sixteen, and remain there for all his life despite the opulence of his lifestyle.

And then, of course, there was the little matter of his first wife’s death.

Paolo Giordano had married Isabella de Medici when he was seventeen and she sixteen. Naturally, it was a political marriage – however, one expected that he is going soon to be smitten with his bride, who was dubbed ‘the fairest star of the Medici’ for her beauty and her intellectual accomplishments. Isabella spoke Spanish, French and Latin, and wrote poetry herself. However, Paolo Giordano preferred the low milieu of whorehouses; as for intellectual accomplishments, he did not consider them that much of an adornment for a woman. Isabella paid him back with the same coin, taking his lissome and courteous relative Troilo Orsini to be her lover. She bore Troilo two illegitimate children, whom her servants then placed discreetly in orphanages, as she could not be seen to raise them herself.

This relative freedom of conduct was facilitated by the curious clause in the marriage: although Isabella and Paolo Giordano were now man and wife, she was to remain at her father’s court in Florence, where her husband would visit her. It was during these brief visits that they managed to conceive their legitimate children: the daughter Leonora and the heir Virginio.

Isabella’s father, Duke Cosimo de Medici, had a good reason to maintain this state of affairs: Isabella’s dowry consisted of 50,000 gold ducats and 5,000 ducats in jewels, which today would have been amounted to $20 million. Naturally, Cosimo didn’t want this vast sum to find its way into the hands of a man who would rather die than live within his means. Isabella was completely satisfied with the situation, and only wished her unwanted husband’s visits were even rarer.

However, this situation could only last while Duke Cosimo lived. Isabella’s brother Francesco (whom, to avoid confusion with Vittoria’s husband, we are going to be calling the Grand Duke from now on), who ascended the ducal throne after his father died, had no desire to protect her. If anything, he must have been somewhat gleeful that his brilliant sister, who has always overshadowed him both in the public life and in their father’s affections, would finally get what’s coming to her. Paolo Giordano couldn’t agree more.

Paolo Giordano took his wife to the villa of Correto outside Florence, supposedly to go hunting. She never left the villa alive.

According to the official version he put out afterwards, she suffered a heart attack while washing her hair. People were understandably reluctant to believe that about a healthy thirty-three-year-old. The Ferrarese Ambassador Cortile produced a completely different report. Isabella was strangled by her husband behind a bolted door, he claimed; or, rather, by an assassin named Massino, a Roman Knight of Malta, who was hiding under the bed at Paolo Giordano’s orders. Later that year, the same Massino killed the late Isabella’s lover Troilo, again at his master’s behest. The fact that Troilo was also an Orsini mattered not – personal pride and masculine honour were at stake.

That little detail of Paolo Giordano’s biography should have made Vittoria and her family at least pause. However, if they did, no historical record of them doing so survives.

To them, the greatest difficulty of all was the fact that Francesco Peretti was still annoyingly alive. However, that was the difficulty that Paolo Giordano was about to remedy.

On the night of Sunday, April 16, 1581, Vittoria and Francesco were woken up by a messenger. According to him, Marcello was in danger – Cardinal Pallavicino, who knew what he did last summer (i.e. killed the Cardinal’s brother) sent his henchmen after him. He needed Francesco’s help urgently, and begged him to come to the Sforza garden on Monte Cavallo right now. With the messenger having promptly departed after handing the maid a note, there was no way to find out more. The whole thing looked even more fishy to Vittoria by the virtue of the fact that Caterina of Bologna, the maid who received the note and passed the news on, had been placed in her household by Paolo Giordano in order to facilitate their secret meetings and correspondence. The Duke of Bracciano’s recent Carnival escapade, when he showed his race horse in black trappings with the words, Either tears or blood, embroidered upon them, must have seemed a bad omen, too.

However, nothing could dissuade Francesco from going to his friend’s rescue.

In the moonlit shadows of the Sforza garden, three bandits met him. In what seems almost like too perfect a metaphor to be true, three guns felled him before he could even pull his chivalrous sword out of its sheath. Then the henchmen stabbed him repeatedly in the neck and chest, to make sure they won’t be repeating to their master a job half-finished.

How much did Vittoria know of this plan, if anything? Opinions differed, and they differ still. Some think her a completely innocent party; some portray her as a calculating murderess who was in on it from the start. However, her grief seemed too raw and genuine to her contemporaries for the latter option to be true. If the former were the case, however, she wouldn’t have behaved the way she did after.

It seemed that now that the lovely Vittoria was a widow, Paolo Giordano could finally get his hands on her, and she on his title and money in a match made in the opposite direction from Heaven. However, his plan was not as cunning as he thought it to be, and the two had to be ready to face great opposition – not least from the Grand Duke and the current Pope…

Sources:

Eleanor Herman, Murder in the Garden of God