#with stalls selling their own stuff we all pay for individually

[thetruearchmagos]

Finding out how US schools deal with food and feeding is a little surprising from my own experience in Singapore

[mariacallous]

Almost two and half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s war machine still runs on energy revenues—despite unprecedented Western sanctions that took a bite out of, but hardly battered, the Kremlin’s cash cow.

Russian exports of oil, natural gas, and coal continue apace with their biggest markets in Asia, especially China and India. Even Europe, which has largely sworn off Russian gas since the invasion, is stealthily buying a lot more of the stuff off tankers to meet its own energy needs, indirectly helping finance the invader that it spends so much time, energy, and money trying to combat. 

Russian energy export revenues before the war were about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a day, and the whole gamut of sanctions had brought that down to about 660 million euros ($720 million) by this June—but those levels have stayed remarkably steady for the past 18 months. Russia recorded a rare current accounts surplus just last month, a sign of that export health. The sanctions battle, like the war itself, seems to have stalemated.

“The glass is neither half full, nor half empty. The sanctions are working, but not as well as we expected,” said Petras Katinas, an energy analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Some aspects of Russia’s energy exports have fallen off a cliff, such as its exports of natural gas via pipelines, which have all but disappeared from the lucrative European market. But the country’s exports of oil and refined oil products, which make up the biggest chunk of its sales, have stayed essentially the same after an initial hit in the first months after the introduction of Western sanctions, and state earnings even crept a little higher thanks to a rise in global oil prices.

The main Western effort to curb Russian energy earnings was a balancing act meant to keep the global market supplied while limiting the Kremlin’s take by capping Russian oil sales at $60 a barrel. Some countries wanted an even lower price cap of about $30 a barrel to really cut Moscow’s earnings, but that idea—as demonstrated when Ukraine floated it again this spring—was politically and diplomatically a lot tougher. 

Still, the original price cap worked great at first, until Russia—with a little help from its friends in OPEC—goosed the global price of oil higher, which dragged the price of discounted Russian oil above the cap as well. That’s pretty much where it has been for the past year.

More importantly, Russia has found a reliable way to sidestep that formal limit on its crude oil exports by using a fleet of so-called shadow tankers that don’t have to follow Western restrictions on insurance, safety, and the like. About 4 out of every 5 barrels of seaborne crude that Russia sells are now carried on shadow tankers, Katinas said, meaning that they are entirely outside the reach of Western measures. (Those shadow tankers aren’t beyond the reach of the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents in Yemen, though: One got blown up trying to take Russian oil to China this week.)

“The strategy was good, but the tactics were poor—there was little enforcement,” Katinas said.

The United States cracked down on part of that trade a couple of times—late last year on shadow tankers and earlier this year on Russian state-owned vessels—by sanctioning individual tankers; CREA estimates that tougher enforcement probably cost Russia about 5 percentof its oil export revenues since October 2023. But there is still a long way to go to ensure thorough enforcement of the existing limits on Russian oil trade: Full enforcement would have kept almost 20 billion euros ($21.8 billion) out of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers, CREA estimates. 

The Biden administration has toyed with additional efforts to tighten the screws on the shadow fleet, but it worries that stricter measures might send oil (and gasoline) prices higher just in time for a pivotal U.S. presidential election in November.

But there is a way to get there without causing much pain, if any, for global energy consumers, argue global economy experts Robin Brooks and Ben Harris of the Brookings Institution. There remain some 100-odd unsanctioned ships in the Sovcomflot state-owned fleet that are doing heavy lifting for Russian oil exports. Targeted sanctions on just 15 of the busiest of those tankers would cut into a good-sized chunk of Russia’s oil export earnings with little market impact. “With such a process in place, we anticipate little to no impact on global oil prices but suspect the action will meaningfully lower Russia’s revenue from the oil trade,” they wrote.

But it’s not just oil. Russian natural gas exports are not dead yet, either, despite lots of pain for state-owned energy company Gazprom and plenty of crowing in Europe about largely weaning itself off of what used to be its biggest energy supplier. Some European countries, including Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia, are still heavily reliant on the remnants of Russian gas that arrive via Ukraine or Turkey, for reasons that range from the geographic to the political. 

What’s amazing about the sharp decline in exports of Russian natural gas to what was formerly the nation’s biggest market is that Russian natural gas is not sanctioned in Europe at all, yet it has suffered the most of all of Moscow’s energy streams.

“Gas is not sanctioned; it was the stupidity of Putin” that drove the Europeans off of it, Katinas said.

But this year, Russian gas is sneaking back into Europe in liquefied form, supercooled and shipped on tankers rather than compressed and routed through pipelines. European Union imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, or LNG, are up 24 percent over past year, especially to big Western European countries such as France, Spain, and Belgium; the bloc buys half of all Russian LNG exports. 

There are plenty of reasons why—Spain’s main suppliers in North Africa have their own geopolitical squabbles that have disrupted exports, long-term contracts with Russia essentially lock in some European buyers for years, and Russian gas is nearby and fairly cheap compared to alternatives—but the biggest reason is simply concern over the security of supplies.

“There was lots of talk even last year about banning LNG imports, but then what prevailed were the fears about the implications for the security of supply,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a gas expert at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. The trickle of Russian gas that still comes in through Ukraine will end later this year; Turkey, despite offers to do more, can hardly export significantly more gas to southern Europe since it isn’t a gas producer itself. And Europeans remember the shock and pain of the war’s first winter, when energy prices skyrocketed due to the upheavals in the gas market.

Last month, the European Union finally took its first step to deal with Russian LNG—not by banning the import of the fuel, but by making sure that European ports would not be waystations for Russian exports to Asia. That measure won’t even start until early next year. And there certainly won’t be any further EU efforts to target Russian gas this year, with Hungary at the helm of the rotating presidency of the EU council.

“We are not actually banning imports, but preventing other countries from getting Russian LNG,” Corbeau said. “It makes life more difficult for Russia’s Asia exports, but does nothing to keep LNG out of Europe.”

The good news, such as it is, is that LNG isn’t quite the cash cow for the Russian government that other energy sources are. Oil is sold in huge volumes and is taxed; pipeline gas, too, helps prop up the federal budget. But LNG has all sorts of tax breaks that mean much less of that Western money goes straight to the Ukrainian battlefront. In terms of how to target Russian energy earnings, Corbeau said, “first oil, then piped gas, then finally LNG.”

The bad news is that despite years of unprecedented sanctions on one of the world’s biggest energy providers, Russia’s cash machine is still working enough to continue underwriting the war. The relatively limited success in the battle against the country’s energy sector is mirrored by similar failings in cracking down on Russian trade in all sorts of other things, from Western machinery routed through Central Asia to the high-tech Chinese-made components needed for the war. 

“We are not doing enough. We need to strengthen sanctions—we need to start enforcing sanctions, and start punishing companies that are violating them,” said Katinas. “There are just too many loopholes.”

[my-writings-and-musings]

Here's my latest commission from another wonderful and amazing person! A human reader is secretly a pyrokinetic, but an attack on Rodimus forces them to reveal their powers, and the more they unleash the more their appearance changes...

Warning for some violence and angst!

In the back of your mind, your relationship with Rodimus had been oddly perfect and ironic in ways you'd never dare tell him. The Autobot's love of heat had extended well beyond a simple temperature preference; he had a power over fire you'd never seen the likes of before. Even his own species didn't seem to understand how naturally he wielded flames for combat, nor how he possessed such an incredible resilience to temperatures that would have been painful for most. For his part, the cocky captain took the peculiarity in stride, emblazoning himself with fiery motifs and embracing his nature using an adorable mixture of puns and catchphrases.

It was something you loved about him, and while it perhaps explained some of his adoration of the seemingly unremarkable human that had plopped into his life, it also made you a little wary for his sake. If he only knew how attuned with fire you really were...

The thought of him discovering your greatest secret was a daily intrusion, but for today, you decided that it could go on the back burner. The Lost Light would be docking on a planet safe for humans, and you wanted to enjoy the time off to the fullest of your ability. No worries, no paranoia, no thoughts of past rejection... just you and Rodimus exploring a vibrant alien city together. It was going to be perfect.

"Got your debit chip, Y/N? I'm planning on doing a lot of shopping, and I don't want you to feel left out!" Rodimus said, exuberant even by his own standards as he stepped out onto the landing pad. Giggling as you kept your balance on his shoulder, you let the warm light of a foreign star cascade over your body with a sigh, the sight of a bustling alien port making your heart accelerate in your chest. All around you were races from a hundred different worlds, selling their wares and taking rest stops to relax during long intergalactic trips, and the flurry of sounds and sights and smells was intoxicating. You almost forgot to confirm the device Rodimus mentioned was indeed secure around your neck in a makeshift necklace.

"Got it right here! Show me where we should start, Captain!" You held the tiny black square in between your fingers, unable to imagine something so small holding so much value. Evidently it was the spacer equivalent of a debit card, as the name implied, and after a purchase it would simply be scanned and the necessary amount deducted from your account. Its simplicity was almost as hard to grasp as the fact you'd been gifted a ludicrous amount of money for this trip by Drift. In his own words, the ninjabot had told you to spend it on having a fun day with his best friend. The kindness of the entire crew was still so foreign to you...

"Let's check out the surf shop! My last board melted on an especially high power asteroid, so I need a new one." Rodimus said cheerfully, hefting you a little higher so you were right beside his helm. As a somewhat taller than average individual from a naturally towering species, he had an ideal view over everything in sight, resulting in you having the same. Between the packed landing strip and the notion of a store that sold surfboards for space, you were a little too overwhelmed to speak. Rodimus had no such difficulty. "Oh, or if you're hungry, we could check out an interspecies cafe! They've always got lots of earth food, even out here. Especially the extra spicy stuff you like so much."

For an instant, you were taken aback by his mention of your preference. Had he truly been paying so much attention he noticed such little details? On the one, more dominant hand, you were flattered. Rodimus had to care deeply to have noticed you preferred your food as hot and zesty as physically possible.

"I'm not hungry just yet, but thanks." you said in genuine gratitude, hiding some wariness that you desperately wished would go away. In the past your unnatural preferences had been the first clue most had to your "peculiarities", and it had never taken long from that point for things to come together in the worst possible way. Holding on tight to Rodimus for more than just balance, you quickly returned to the wonderful present, refusing to fall into the belief that the past would repeat itself. "I just want to start wherever you think is best. You're the experienced one, show me what's fun around here!"

"Well, if it's fun you want..." he said in a fake contemplative voice, having obviously had an idea he was preparing to spring on you. Taking long strides through the narrow path left by the many other denizens of the spaceport, he gave you an eager and barely restrained grin. Something almost like childish glee seemed to twinkle in his brilliant blue optics.

"There's a holo-suite lounge in some hole in the wall locale by the bay. I've heard nothing but good things about it, and it's all above board. Want to go on a vacation in a vacation?"

Thinking over your limited knowledge of the virtual reality establishments, you knew more than anything how your beloved bot adored the experience of risk free adventure they offered, finding it to be relaxing due to his day to day life. You were more than happy to let him show you one at long last, and chuckled happily as you leaned against his helm. "I'd love to, Captain."

"Yes! I have got to show you the coaster simulation, it's totally wild!" he said in victory, pumping his arms so suddenly you were nearly cast off his shoulders. Recovering quickly and catching you, he let out an abashed cough as he made sure to resettle your tiny form before proceeding far more carefully. In the moment it took you to realize the lack of leg room would make it rather hard for him to trek it anywhere in good time, Rodimus gestured to a narrow gap between skyscrapers. "We can cut through some alleys to get there faster. I plotted it out on the satellite map before we landed."

Though it didn't seem especially smart, there wasn't anything to suggest the move would be dangerous, as the planet had been cleared entirely as a secure zone. The few whisperings of anti-Cybertronian bias were too small for anyone to be worried, so you nodded your assent to use the shortcut. Careful to stick to the narrow walkways for beings of his size, Rodimus kept you secure with one hand as he hopped an underwhelming barrier to access the alleyway, chatting the whole time about all the possible simulations the two of you could try. He's talking so fast it's actually impossible to keep up as he walks between two superstructures and down the alleyway that feels more like a canyon. As the hubbub of the crowd fades to the gentler din of the machinery keeping the city going, it's easy to forget your surroundings entirely, all to allow the other's excitement to wash over you. You don't even notice how the alleyway has tiny side sections for maintenance and smaller species to traverse safely.

Until you see one pop out right in front of you.

Rodimus stops politely, assuming initially he's just met another traveler that he plans on letting pass so as not to be rude. But the alien doesn't move. Though you can't read their expression, the none too tiny organic immediately sets of your alarm bells, and a hot knot of anxiety twists in your stomach as you tense atop your partner's stiffening shoulders. As awkwardness morphs into tension, the Autobot speaks with an even and cool tone.

"There a problem here?"

An answer came not from the insect like being in front of you, but from another stepping out in the space behind, their clawed hands curled about a weapon of unknowable function.

"Typical tin man, cutting corners and plodding around like it owns the place." they said, rasping voice echoing through the translator in your ear. Before you could even guess what they meant by a phrase that was probably intended to be an insult, more began to slowly emerge from splintering alcoves and alleyways, and in moments the two of you were surrounded. Skillful as Rodimus was in a fight, there had to be enough firepower between them all to make this far from an easy win. As heat crackled instinctively to your palms, the Autobot remained calm.

"Look, if this is your filthy back alley, I'll happily leave you to it. I've got better places to be and far more attractive company to enjoy." he said glibly, making you want to kick him for not being diplomatic. For his sake he needed to be, and as for you, situations like this one had never gone well in the past... Your heart began hammering as the lead alien replied with what was likely a glare.

"Bit too late for that."

Like sharks, they began to close in on the much bigger bot. You wondered how things could have taken a turn so quickly. This was a reputable port on a stable planet, how could it be unsafe? Had the two of you not just been planning a day of fun? These aliens had to have been waiting to be this prepared, and as the next one spoke you started to understand.

"Should have stayed in your own corner of space, tin man. We're not gonna let your kind set up shop here."

"Last I checked, this was a bot friendly planet." Rodimus replied, still unnerved but tense as a rock beneath you. He was getting ready, you knew, but for what was anyone's guess. As you held onto him you prayed the plan was solid, because the heat in your body was starting to grow to levels he might notice, and that couldn't be allowed to continue. Hopefully his need to stall wouldn't last long...

The circling group, that you counted at twenty or more, took the bait. "For now, until the beauracracy gets its priorities straight. In the meantime, we're here to make sure you don't bring your trouble to our home, like your kind always does."

"Plus, can't hardly expect the authorities to prosecute what they don't know about, can you?" another said, now so close Rodimus could have kicked them. The hatred in their eyes was beyond you, and their words made the heat in your gut twist into nausea. "Your kind is easy to clean up afterwards; melt down what you can and sell it all offworld."

Rodimus, one hand still steadying you, tightened his grip possessively. Time felt like it was slowing down as you looked about madly for an exit, swearing that the enemy seemed to double every time you blinked. There had to be over twenty of them now, and the high but narrow space gave your partner little room to work with you in the mix, something he seemed well aware of as he next spoke. "What about the human? They're innocent in all this, and organic. Let them walk away."

"They chose the wrong side." the apparent leader clipped.

Bright blue optics looked to you, and a hushed voice whispered at impossible speed.

"Y/N, when I say now, be ready to tuck and roll and run. No looking back, understand?"

There was no time to say you agreed, let alone to argue.

"Now!" he shouted as a high energy weapon began to hum in preparation, followed by so many others. Before you knew it you were being moved in a wild blur. Rodimus made good on his plan, moving as precisely as he could with your comparatively fragile body to toss you over the heads of the enemy. Using the reflexes you'd honed in his company, you did as you were bid more or less subconsciously, curling up and moving with the momentum so that your landing was less than disastrous.

"Rodimus!" you choked out upon catching your breath, turning to see the group advancing with their weapons glowing hot and ready.

I said run!" he shouted, not looking at you before taking care of the first row of attackers with a wide arcing kick. More seemed to be emerging every second, but the Autobot only looked concerned for you as he swiped away another batch. "Get the others! I can hold them off until-!"

With a screech, the first weapon fired, but there was no energy beam or bullet. Instead, Rodimus was ensnared in a tangled mess of high voltage cords, their arcing metallic webs circling his upper body like a snake. Crackling electricity seared across him in a blinding burst, and he was on his knees in moments, crying out at the agony that left him helpless. In rapid succession several more shots were fired. The Autobot was left to scream on his hands and knees, the electronic pulse weaponry having been specifically designed to cripple Cybertronians in seconds and kill them in minutes.

You knew he wouldn't last long enough for you to get help.

In last ditch desperation, you grabbed the cord on your neck and pulled, snapping it so the microchip in your palm could be held aloft. "Please! I have a debit chip worth thousands! Just take it and leave him alone!"

"Just something else to make this more worth our while." the alien you'd begged to sneered, giving you a kick straight to the gut with a deceptively powerful leg. The wind was knocked from your lungs, and you were left trembling on the ground. Vision spinning, you caught sight of Rodimus barely clinging to consciousness, his flaring optics pleading for you to run. Clawed hands had a hold of your arms before you could attempt to fight back, and the leader gave a casual order as they continued to fire pulse after pulse through the metallic web. "Grab the sympathizer; we'll take care of them after this one's fried."

It was clear that survival hinged on the unthinkable. Heat in your gut became molten as you summoned what you knew was your only hope, the air about you filling with the scent of smoke as you looked up Rodimus one final time as his partner. You'd always hoped it would never come to this, but fate, it seemed, was determined to be unkind.

"I'm sorry..."

The aliens on either side of you yelped and released their hold on your arms as the skin went from hot to searing, their confusion turning to fear as the heat only continued to intensify. Your clothes singed and the air thickened, and while it only took moments, the remaining attackers became aware of the change far too late. Shouts of alarm didn't register amongst the crackling sparks that started dancing up and down your body. It had been very long since you'd used these gifts, but you knew the steps far too well to ever forget.

A jet of flame erupted from your palms with the force of a rocket leaving the earth, blasting back numerous aliens from the sheer power. You heard screams but they hardly dissuaded you, as they'd all more than earned what was coming. The heat began to reach levels high enough to clear the air of any moisture, making those still alive after the first blast cough and struggle to breathe, all the while rendering them incapable of fleeing.

You should have just ended it there; cut the flames and told the survivors to get lost, but you weren't done. It felt far too good for you to stop.

A literal ring of fire encircled the gathered aliens, trapping them all in with you as they tossed aside their white hot weapons and tried to find a way out. Rodimus was immune even to the extreme heat, but dazed enough from his shock not to truly be conscious. You stepped over to him as the fire danced at the command of your fingertips. After the fear of the ambush, the choking heat and crackling flames felt like a breath of fresh air. You were at home in the inferno.

Hearing a scream, you realized rather quickly that payback was still due. Smiling softly, you beckoned the fire to move, controlling it with mere gestures and the simplest of thoughts. It danced like a snake would for a master charmer, coiling about the enemy and suffocating them. You were far too busy indulging yourself to notice how the waves of heat washed over your skin, particularly how the flesh hardened and patterns began to emerge like the scales of an otherworldly being. Similiarly, the sharpening of your teeth and the rise of claws from your fingertips drew no trace of concern. All that mattered was how good it felt to make your attackers pay.

There were more than enough of them for you to take your time, and so you did, keeping them corralled in the fire as you picked them off one by one. Had they expected anything like this when they'd made you a target? Had they prepared for the possibility that not everyone would just lie down and die? Had they even bothered to consider the Autobot wasn't the most dangerous being here?

As one body crumbled to ash, you got your answer in a way that made you smirk; clearly they hadn't.

As you began to run low on targets, it occurred to you that keeping up your wall of fire might draw unnecessary attention. Frowning around canines you realized had developed a lovely point, you decided to finish the fun. Clawed fingertips snapped together to command the flames to converge, and they did so in a heartbeat, jumping upon the survivors like rabid dogs on a meal. You barely registered a scream before ash and cinders began drifting past on a hot breeze. With another smile, you recalled their comment on crimes going unpunished when they were properly cleaned up. Dismissing the fire with a wave of your hand, you thought smugly on how these piles of soot would hardly suggest what had happened here.

Rodimus stirred from his daze, groaning in discomfort and shifting beneath the web of deactivated electric pulsers. Frowning at the sight, you summoned a thin jet of fire from your fingertips and got to work. The metal coils turned to red slag with very little effort, which melted down the heat resistant bot's body like wax before dripping to the ground around him. In no time you had him free, and while the flames actually seemed to perk him up a bit, the Autobot was clearly not in a good way. When he failed to awaken after you said his name your confidence started to dissipate. Heart hammering once more, you dropped to your knees beside his helm, hoping to wake him with some gentle encouragement to get him moving.

It was when you laid your hands on his helm that your thoughts shifted to horror, but not for his sake. The normal human hands you had once possessed were now tipped with wicked claws, and as your eyes trailed upwards you saw that your skin was patterned with scales of an equally inhuman nature. Sharp fangs registered with proper horror in your mouth now that the adrenaline of the moment was gone, and you realized that unlike every single time before, you weren't turning back to normal. You must have gone too far this time... How could you not have, killing dozens of people, as desperate as the situation may have been? You had liked it too, and even now you couldn't bring yourself to regret what you'd done...

"Y/N?" a raspy voice spoke up, startling you with good enough news that you momentarily forgot your panic. Rodimus stirred more effectively, groaning in pain but appearing otherwise stable as he lifted his helm off the ground and looked to you. His expression turned to fearful concern before you could speak. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"I..." You didn't have the words. No doubt you were a horrifying sight, twisted as you were and smoking in your burnt clothes... It was a miracle he recognized you at all.

Rodimus narrowed his optics, perhaps thinking everything he'd seen was the result of processor trauma from his shock. "You burned them... I saw... but you don't have a weapon."

"I am the weapon." you blurted out, baring your fangs without meaning to. At his confusion, you tried to explain, a sinking feeling pulling you down as you did so. There was no way you could be with him like this... Appearance aside, you'd awoken a part of yourself you couldn't trust. Still, he deserved to know. "I never told you... I've always been able to do this, but could never go too far, unless..."

"You saved me." he whispered in awe, weak but insistent as he reached for you. On reflex, you pushed his hand away.

"I killed them. All of them. I finally lost control and now..."

Rodimus perked up a bit, looking desperate when your intent became clear to him. Even after a beating, he could read you well, and your decision to leave for his sake was clear in your face. "They were going to kill us both! You didn't do anything wrong-"

"Look at me!" you shouted back, curling clawed hands into fists as each grabbed at your head. You swore you felt newly erupted horns crowning your brows, and that discovery drew sizzling tears down your cheeks. "I burned them, and I liked it, and now I look like this! I'm a monster, and I'd do it again!"

"Y/N-"

Wiping away the wetness from your eyes, you stood up sharply, knowing he wouldn't accept what was best for him. "You can't be with me like this, Rodimus. I'm not even human..."

"I'm not either!" A gentle but insistent hand looped about your middle, turning you back around to look at him before he nearly collapsed from the effort of the movement. Wide blue optics pled to you as he did the same, baring his spark with every single word. "Please, Y/N, I know this is a lot for you but please... don't leave me... I can't lose you."

"Haven't you already?" you said bitterly, optimism nowhere to be found as you surveyed a clawed hand. Rodimus didn't flinch at the sight.

"You think a new look will scare me away? Plus, I'm fireproof, remember? You can't hurt me." he said with his best attempt at a winning smile in his current state. Losing it in an instant, he hugged you closer, optics betraying the depths of his pain and desperation as he did so. The Captain was holding on to you like a lifeline. "I need you, okay? Please, just give me a chance to work this out with you. I love you, no matter what."

It was the first time he'd told you that, but you knew he meant it. A softer heat, like a pleasant campfire, filled the space around your heart. Holding a digit of his in your hand, you gave a gentle squeeze. "I love you too..."

"So stay with me?" he said softly, pulling you in for something like a hug. Getting down on your knees, you cuddled close to his helm, a few stray tears dripping down onto his armor. Rodimus didn't even flinch as he whispered into your ear. "We'll figure this out. I don't care if this is the new normal, as long as you're with me."

"Okay..." you replied, nodding as you recalled the thoughts of irony you'd had just that morning. How perfect he was for you, a fireproof being so enamored he didn't see what a risk you were to everything... But if he was willing to try? Well, you couldn't deny how much you wanted this to work either... Holding him tight, you replied with the best promise you could give at the moment, but like him you meant it.

"We can try..."

Like this? You can commission me for a story of your own here!

[avengerscompound]

Running to a Standstill - 15

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1610

Rating:  E

Warnings: Nothing for this chapter

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers.  While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Chapter 15

It was too easy to fall into a sense of comfortable security while you were navigating your relationship with Bucky and Steve.  Whether it was false or not, you still had moments where it scared you how many defenses you’d let down when you were with them.  Two weeks after the incident at the library and you were heading out to parks again with Geo and Bucky.  A month of nothing popping up on your radar and you were relaxed enough not to keep looking around everywhere while you were out.  It wasn’t a conscious thing, but if you were asked why you’d relaxed so much you might have said that it was just a hope that the people after you had seen you with the Avengers and figured you were too difficult a target to pin down.

It was hard to say if it was exactly that.  The truth was that being that relaxed most of the time made those times you weren’t relaxed worse.  When it all bubbled up that it was quite possible that there were people out there that still wanted to get their hands on Geo you’d have a panic attack and on more than one occasion Steve and Bucky had needed to talk you down from doing something really rash or stupid.

You wished that there would be some kind of break in the case so that whoever the hell it was that had been hunting you could be arrested and your son could get a normal fucking life.  Or at least a happy and stable one.  Steve kept you up-to-date with what was going on, but even after almost two months of having people undercover they’d only managed to get in with a few of the larger dealers on the island and they still didn’t have the supplier.

You figured it had to happen some time though, so even when those panic attacks hit, you didn’t run.  You were falling in love and as much as you were trying to protect Geo from becoming attached to Bucky or Steve you knew he already was.  And not just to Bucky or Steve, but to Tony, Pepper, Natasha, Clint, and FRIDAY too.  You had to commit to this working for his sake and hope it wasn’t the worst decision you’d ever made.

They made it easy to commit to though.  The three of you had been following the plan you and Steve had set out.  Bucky had been sticking to your side for every outing.  He came to parks and museums with you, always making sure to stay alert ever when Geo was babbling away to him or using him as some kind of organic jungle gym.  Even after a month and a half of no signs of being followed he stayed alert in ways you had stopped being.  He noticed everything, and it might have been part of the reason why you had started to relax so much.

The three of you had been taking time to bond with each other individually as well as together. It was working well and even when you did have small flares of jealousy over what might have been perceived as a special bond between Bucky and Steve that you didn't always feel you shared, they were quickly chased away when your own unique bond with each man was pulled into the spotlight.

This was not at all the life you had envisioned for yourself when you’d started college all those years ago, but considering the huge dip the roller coaster that was your life had taken, while this new high was unique, but you were definitely enjoying it.

Bucky had organized a trip to the Math Museum.  He’d had to call ahead because the security at the venue was pretty tight and he didn’t want to have to explain why he was carrying two different handguns and three different knives into a children’s museum.

They let the three of you through the gift shop and as soon as you’d entered the play area Geo had rushed to the square wheeled tricycles and started riding one of them around in circles, occasionally needing Bucky to give him a little push but squealing with excitement anytime he got any kind of speed up.

“We really need to get that kid a bike,” Bucky said.

“Yeah, things like bikes were never really very practical,” you admitted. “I guess if we’re sticking around we can get one.”

Bucky smiled.  It was a smile that made his eyes look soft and content and he wrapped his arm around your waist.  “Next time we go out, we should take him to get one.”

Geo climbed off the bike and toddled over to you.  You crouched down to face him and he flopped down onto the ground, his fingers opening and closing on the ground.  “Down dare,” he said.

“You want to go downstairs?”  You asked.

“They down dare,” he said and patted the floor.

“Okay, come on kiddo,” Bucky said, picking him up so he was upside down, kicking and giggling in delight.  “Let’s go see downstairs.”

Bucky carried Geo down the stairs and it was clear even by halfway down what had been calling to Geo.  The room was filled with interactive screens, battling robots, and floors that lit up with different games.  Geo came alive.  Running from activity to activity with no pattern you could follow but a smile that wouldn’t leave his face.  There was no other kid there, regardless of their age that could keep up with him.  Every machine seemed to want to please Geo and they all performed their roles perfectly for him.

It felt like you were down there for hours.  Geo just jumping from one thing to the next.  Eventually he started to wane and he ended up just lying down in the middle of the mathsquare - much to the annoyance at the kids trying to play on it.

Bucky went and scooped him up.  “Okay, Gee, how about we go and get some hotdogs?”

“Bug-key,” Geo whined, flopping dramatically in his arms.

“Maybe we should just get him home, he looks pretty tired,” you said, as you walked upstairs with Bucky.

“Didn’t you want to head down to the farmer’s market?”  Bucky asked.  “You have the stroller right?”

You nodded.  “Okay, if you’re sure.”

You grabbed the stroller and Bucky put the little boy in it.  Geo immediately shoved his thumb in his mouth and held his hand up.  Bucky dug around in this backpack and pulled out the tablet, giving it to Geo who immediately hugged it and closed his eyes.

Moments like these gave you such mixed feelings.  Bucky had gotten so good with Geo he could read him without Geo using his words.  He was becoming a dad to him more and more each day.  It was wonderful in so many ways.  Both Steve and Bucky seemed to love that role and it was rare to find men like that and here you had two who not only obviously liked Geo and cared about his wellbeing, but cared about you too and accepted that the two of you came as a package.  Yet it was also terrifying.  The more they fit that role the worse it would hurt if it didn’t last.  It was so soon in your romantic relationship and it was so much pressure to love up to that even under normal circumstances things would feel like they were moving too fast and were too fragile to hold onto.  And these were far from normal circumstances.

Bucky offered you his arm and you hooked yours around it and began the walk past Madison Square Park.

It wasn’t a long walk to Union Square Park and it was a nice day out.  Geo was deep asleep by the time you arrived at the bustling markets.

“I consider myself a native and I don’t think I’ve ever been to these markets before,” Bucky said as you passed under the banner welcoming you to the markets.   “There’s so much stuff.”

“What do you want to get?  Purple carrots?  Edible flowers? Little chilies that blow your head off?”  You asked.

“Yes to all of those things,” he agreed.  “But I’m hungry right now, so let's find something we can eat as we walk around.”

You found a place selling pastries and paninis and grabbed a sandwich each to eat as you strolled the markets. Bucky kept getting ideas for meals with every new stall.  Your reusable bags were soon filled with colorful tomatoes and chilies, purple carrots, rainbow chard, edible flowers, crusty bread, pickles bottled in Amish country, fresh herbs, raw honey and milk, and a selection of cured meats and cheeses. 

“I think we might have enough,” you said as Bucky started browsing punnets of fresh berries.

“We don’t have any fruit,” he argued.  Geo likes blueberries and I could make a mixed berry pie.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t argue with pie,” you said.

Bucky had selected a few punnets and his phone rang as he went to pay.  You took over for him as he answered the phone.

“Hey, Steve, what’s up?”  He said, pressing the phone to his ear.  “We’re at Union Square… Five minutes if I can get a cab…  Alright, see you soon.”

He hung up the phone and looked at you.  “Gonna have to go.  Steve said it’s urgent.”

“Good urgent or bad?”  You said, a familiar panic starting to close in around your heart like a snake.

“I don’t know. Come on,” he said, leading you back out of the markets. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

// NEXT

[semi-imaginary-place]

rewatching decadence

ep1: so... indoctrinating kids that they life their life in service to an upper class. also like, the way deca dence takes care of giant gadoll is to punch it like no giant sword or laser canon or anything just the power of a giant mountain sized fist. this show actually has some good foreshadowing from seeing Natsume from the perspective of Kaburagi’s hud, to Natsume’s dad (Muno) finding the Solid Quake logo at the beginning of the episode and the logo again being shown in the last shot at the announcement signs off with have a profitable day which is a weird public safety announcement but makes sense as a company slogan. I’m still not sure what the “TIME 1:00  POINT SE,07,G” means. I didn’t write it down last time because I was unsure of myself, but my first thought when the cyborgs showed up was VR chatroom for the upper class.

ep2: yeahs that’s totally an advertisement that plays right after natsume realizes the human costs of war as the tankers pay respects to the fallen. I realized what it was with the cartoony designs, the bright colors and patterns, the funky shapes of all the structures aboard the space ship, it looks like a tv show for toddlers. inoffensive and deliberately cheerful to distract from the horrors of a corporation owning your person. the eng subtitles are confusing here it should be “real death(simulation) awaits” in that the company is advertising being able to experience death but not have any of its permanent consequences as a feature of the game. The cyborgs are corporate wage slaves being compensated for their labor in company credits and the only other things we seen them do outside of work is play the company’s mmo, or recreational drugs. “I should be proud of my function and to be scrapped” as property of the company. aaaa that’s terrible. aaa. what are cyborg cores??? and why are they valuable. Solid Quake has no control over the core, only the cyborg’s housing. Is it that they cannot produce more? Considering the others on the team got executed for sentenced to an eternal forced labor camp with appalling conditions, Minato really did pull some strings for Kaburagi. ooh so “time until scrapping” and “operational limit near are two different warnings. the first is a general reminder of lifespan and the second is because oxyone levels are low. now its “TIME 20:00  POINT SE,05,I”. all those new gadoll events probably wreck havoc on the tanker economy. its 400c now and i think it was 500 for 2 earlier. First time through I wasn’t paying attention and totally thought kaburagi was an assassin, but no he’s just clean up crew. ahh yes, come spend you wages at the company run stores. micro transactions... wait so where were people getting the number 13 from?

ep3: ah yes Solid Quake charges to use the media center, truly a micro transaction hell. Natsume’s character arc is about whether to push herself or not. Here Fei acts as part of a continuing dialectic saying that Tankers have no place outside of Deca-Dence, that sooner of later Natsume will die from it, and once again highlighting Natsume’s right arm. In the other level of this though, tankers shouldn’t go outside because that’s not their role in the solid quake mmo, and those who would disrupt the mmo are killed. I like how you can see Kaburagi switch from videogame logic (oh she’s low level so let’s just stick her in the tutorial zone) to real life (what skills and experiences would help in fighting). So several corporations took advantage of desperate people to sell them a service that would augment them with mechanical parts. I get that pipe in a little outfit is funny, but does no one really realize its a gadoll, i meant natsume recognizes it instantly. like the scene where Natsume talks about her right arm, the anime does a good job of showing how her feeling about it are complicated. She’s lived with that arm for years, but it also hinders her sometimes, and people will comment about it. there’s this specific type of humor that pops up in this show and given how its the same joke, my guess is that its the same person behind it. The “joke” being that Natsume is put in a position that references sexual assault. The first is with fennel where she makes up an excuse of having to go see kaburagi to get away from him. And then there’s this episode. There’s also a few stray lines here and there that alarm me in that they imply Natsume has dealt with the threat of assault before. Since they didn’t do anything meaningful with this, I’d rather it just not be there. Minato is in on the secret of Pipe’s existence and by the way the two talk, they’ve called each other before in the last 7 years. Its good to know that Kaburagi wasn’t JUST brooding for 7 years and that the two of them stayed in contact.

ep4: Natsume after having gained confidence in herself takes down several gadoll and earns her place in The Power. Its a fulfilling payoff after seeing her train for several episodes. Natsume is where she always wanted to be, fighting gadoll in the Power. gahh It really is a patch release trailer. Ohh so I assumed that the other structures on the cartoon earth were other corporations, but in this episode we see one of them (the white and red striped cone thing opposite the deca-dence dome) and the cyborgs there are talking about the game (MMO LARPing lol), so either Solid Quake owns multiple of those structures, or these cyborgs are customers not owned by Solid Quake and playing of their own volition. that would makes the cone cyborgs where solid quake is deriving its profit from since its not like it pays its workers. reading comments online, a lot of people missed that because a ranker was found to be cheating (mikey), the rankings were abolished. In the present time, gears/players are not ranked. Ah so Kaburagi was transferred to the maintenance department from the warrior department. Wow reassignment is so much better than the poop jail. I remember it being said, armor repair, doctor, and weapon shop could be employee(cyborg) run so I wonder if the medics and that one armor shop guy are tankers or not. So this anime already snuck in a sex joke with the when the poop gang swapped kaburagi’s avatar with a sex toy, so i wonder if the safetyprivatemode was made so that the mods wouldn’t have to listen to robot sex. I really wish this show could have had 24 episodes. The trend for the past 20 years has been shorter and shorter shows so I know it would have been likely impossible to get the clearance and funding for 24 eps but oooh in som alternate universe maybe... i brought up fleshing out minor characters and character relationships before but there also stuff like Natsume’s right hand almost clamping on ... Mindy? Which usually would be a narrative flag but is completely dropped because of the episode limit. And the confidence Natsume gained last episode come to work against Kaburagi trying to keep her from the suicide mission. Its only from this point on that Kaburagi starts to really change, as of this point he is still a loyal cog to a machine that does not care about him. Kaburagi and Natsume in the 2nd half of the episode continue the same dialectic that runs through the whole of the show, about giving up and learning to try again, about pushing your limit, about why someone bothers trying. On the collectivist versus individualist spectrum, Deca-Dence is on the individualist side with assertions of the importance for deciding for yourself what you will do with your life. Its an interesting counterpoint to The Twilight Mirage (Friends at the Table) which I am currently listening to in that The Twilight Mirage is a western production and strongly collectivist with one of the antagonist being sort of kind of an embodiment of independence/individualism while japanese works as a whole tend to be more about the whole over the individual than western ones. Kurenai talking about why she fights is very good and very important for 2 reasons, first it help flesh out not only her but offer a very needed other opinion on what its like to live as a Tanker, second it segues nicely into Natsume’s memories of her dad telling her about the outside world and him being the only one to believe she can do it (fight in The Power) as contrasted with flashbacks of all the other characters telling her she can’t. This culminates in Natsume gathering her resolve to fight not because of something grand like changing the world or the fate of humanity, but something very personal scale: changing herself and proving to herself that she can do it. The is also the climax of her character arc, the point of no return.

ep5: If last episode was natsume’s point of no return, then either this episode or episode 7 is Kaburagi’s. Rationally speaking, the optimal scenario would have been for Kaburagi to stall long enough for the Tankers to escape before pulling back himself, but emotionally and narratively, there’s no way he couldn’t. After all the build up of deciding for yourself how to live and pushing your limits. Its appropriate that here in defense of the girl that inspired him to live and choose for himself rather than just continue existing in the default of what Solid Quake demands of him, that Kaburagi chooses to release his operational limiter (literally pushing him limit) and derail the company’s plans. How did no one realize purple dude was breaking imprisonment to play on a hacked avatar. Like he’s still as purple and bloodthirsty as ever. He acts and speaks the same. Someone would have totally seen him and gone “eyyyyy [i forgot this guy’s name] is back” and talked to people about it and someone should have heard. So I remember reading comments from various idiots who were mad because they mistakenly thought the anime took place in a virtual space and that Natsume was made of lines of code. And first off even if that was true there’s a difference between objective reality and the lived experiences of a person and what’s to say her experiences and emotions would be any less real than yours. And second, did everyone forget The Hunger Games? Like its just another game that plays with real lives and doesn’t care who gets killed. Solid Quake is just using humans as a stage prop. Man this episode is jam packed. Its like getting punched in the face 4 times. The pacing of the last 4 minutes was really good. The quiet scene as dawn breaks acts in direct contrast to the high energy of the Stargate takedown that preceded it. After time and against not listening to him, Minato still calls Kabu to check in with him. There’s also his certainly that it was Kaburagi that saved the Deca-Dence mech (i need to be clearer when I’m talking about the physical fortress city mech, the mmorpg game, or the deca-dence system itself). And then when the world state gets reset is just so good because it make it clear that the gadoll were never the true enemy. The tankers could kill as many gadoll as they want and nothing would change. Kaburagi’s at an interesting point here, in that he’s no longer in a state of having given up like he was in episode 1 just waiting to die and following along with Solid Quake’s orders, as of this episode he has deliberately gone against the company’s rules, and yet he’s still believes that nothing will actually change. He’s broken a rule and resigned himself to punishment instead of say for example getting rid of the punishment all together. He’s still a good little employee that hasn’t rebelled against the system. And then the “Take care of Pipe” and Natsume turns around and he’s already gone, is sooo good. The final shot too of his avatar face down in the snow! The “This world needs bugs” is in direct contrast to Hugin/Fugin(?) repeating that this world must be rid of bugs, and the same phrase Kaburagi repeated 7 years ago when he was transferred to the Maintenance Department instead of being killed. I wonder how much the cyborgs feel in their original bodies  vs. how much they feel in their Gear avatars. Kaburagi doesn’t seem to care about food and no food stalls were shown in the Gear area so maybe they doesn’t have much sense of taste? The avatars also have a lessened sense of pain. And then the limit release sequence shows connections increasing between the two bodies so does it make the cyborgs more attuned with the avatar’s senses?

ep6: eh so this is another example of what I mean when I say some of the humor in this show is in bad taste. They probably put the oxyone port where the ass would be just to make this joke. But this is better then doing to it Natsume. The animators even had a gleam censor for the over where the capsule was inserted as if it wasn’t obvious enough what it was suppose to look like. Spurned on by the the promise that one day if they work hard and behave (”rehabilitated”), the cyborgs will get let out when in actuality its a forced labor camp so that Solid Quake can squeeze just a little more labor our of the cyborgs for even less compensation. The cartoony style here helps offset just how horrific there working conditions are. And Kaburagi still the good little employee (iiko) tries his hardest to play by the rules and win. Except in this game, there is no “win’ written into the rules. So finally he is forced to move outside of the system Solid Quake has made. I still can’t believe they let Donatello keep the gun... Maybe cyborg cores are brains. In 5.5 Kaburagi’s core is in the top half of his metal case, and Donatello’s is also in his head. I’m still not sure what that sequence where Kaburagi takes the head fin and an image of a cyborg core is overlayed, means.

[rocksandrobots]

Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 4 - The First Day: Shopping Spree (part 2)

The ‘mall’ was a massive indoor marketplace. It was three stories tall with an open courtyard in the center and a sky-lighted roof above. On each level were open walkways and connecting stairs with rooms off to the side serving as individual shops. Stalls lined the center of the walkways selling even more wares and entrances to larger stores were at the ends of each of the three branching corridors that lead off from the courtyard. 

Varian was easily overwhelmed by the enormity of the place. He stood still in awe for a few moments just drinking in the sight. After his initial surprise began to fade, he took off, excited to explore every nook and cranny he could find, dragging Ruddiger along on a leash. He wanted to see it all; every store, stall, and vendor. 

The first store he came across was one that sold musical instruments. Inside a window display stood a setup of wires and black boxes all connected to what looked like a guitar. Another customer was testing the instrument out and from the boxes emitted a loud strumming noise as he played. Varian ran into the shop with a wide grin, eager to inspect the new invention for himself.

The rest of his new friends followed close behind him, bemused by his curiosity. As soon as the other customer was done testing out the instrument, Varian took the guitar from him and told the others, “this is so much more successful than my own attempts to amplify a guitar’s sound. I just attached a horn to the base of mine.”

He then experimentally began to play an old folk song that he knew. It was just like playing a regular guitar, only it produced a slightly metallic sounding dissonance at the end of each strum. Once he was done, Honey Lemon burst into a round of applause.

“Oooh, that’s so good!” She enthusiastically cheered and the rest of the group also started to clap. Varian blushed, not used to receiving praise nor ever thinking his musical talents were of anything worth writing home about. 

“Man, I would love to have this in my own world.” he said as he placed the guitar back onto its display stand. 

“You’ll need electricity to make it work.” Wasabi informed him. “Come on, let’s get you the clothes we came for and then you can check out the rest of the shops.” 

With that, they all filed out of the music store and walked over to the first clothing outlet.  

As soon as they entered, Honey Lemon gasped in joy and ran over to a bunch of racks where articles of clothing hung and a big yellow ‘sale’ sign stood on top. 

“Yay! They have bikinis on sale!” She exclaimed and pulled one of the suits of clothes off the rack and bounded away to the other end of the shop where a couple of enclosures stood. Presumably to try on the aforementioned, ‘bikini’, whatever that was. 

“Oh that reminds me,” Hiro said,” we’re going to the beach next weekend. You should come along if you’re still here by then.” 

“Yeah, we’ll make sure to buy you a bathing suit on top of the other stuff you need.” Wasabi agreed. 

“Bathing suit?” Varian echoed in confusion. 

“Yeah, for swimming in. You.. you do know how to swim don’t you?” Wasabi asked. 

“Of course I know how to swim.” Varian said indignantly. He had grown up next to a river his whole life, and the ocean itself was in walking distance of his village. Though it was a full day’s worth of travel to get there and back. However, swimming as a leisure activity was one that was normally done by one’s self. It just wouldn’t do to be caught running around in wet under-drawers in public. “I just never heard of needing special clothes to swim in.” Varian continued to explain. 

Just then their conversation was interrupted by Honey Lemon calling to them. “Hey guys, what do you think of this one?” She flung open the door to the fitting room and that was when Varian found out what exactly a bikini was. 

She was dressed in a rather revealing two piece orange swimsuit. The gang called out compliments to her as she gave a little twirl to show off the piece of clothing in full. All but Varian, who stared at her with bated breath. He had never seen anyone wear so little before in person and in that moment she reminded him of images of Greek goddesses he once saw in a book. 

Fortunately, only Gogo noticed his flustration.

"You've never seen a bikini before, have you?" She said. 

Varian numbly shook his head no, his gaze never leaving Honey Lemon. 

"Well, don't stare then." She advised. 

Varian snapped out his stupefied state as it dawned on him that he was being inappropriate. "Oh, sorry." He said as he quickly threw his hand over his eyes. 

Gogo just rolled her own eyes. "No, you can look," she said as she gently lowered his arm, "just don't stare. It's just a bikini."

She explained to him that this was what girls normally wore to go swimming in and Varian was reminded once again how out of place he was in this world. That he wasn’t just in a new country with new inventions, but one with its own culture and societal standards.  

Ears burning, he turned his attention to the rest of the clothing racks hoping to focus on something else and avoid embarrassing himself any further. He was just grateful that Honey Lemon herself hadn’t seen his faux pas. She had been nothing but nice to him and he would have hated to have accidentally offended her. 

However nothing more came from the incident. Honey Lemon went back to the changing room to put on her regular clothes again and Varian, along with the others help, chose some outfits to buy.  

He picked out some long sleeved buttoned shirts. One was a dark burgundy and made of a light cotton material. The second one was light blue and made of a sturdier material called denim. It also had pockets on the front and Varian figured it’d make for a good work shirt. 

He also found a white linen collared shirt. This one had a single pocket on one side. Such shirts were usually reserved for special occasions in his world and he had never owned anything so fine in his life.

Finally, he found on sale something called a ‘flannel’ shirt. It was made of a thick wool like material and was checkered with crossing red and green stripes. Varian had never seen such a dyed pattern before and personally found it impressive looking, though the others were more non-pulsed by it. He was told it was ‘out of season’, hence it being on sale, but he didn’t care, he was planning on keeping these clothes for longer than just a season after all. 

Next he picked out some pants. He found two pairs made of the same denim as the previous shirt. One had a darker blue tint and hung loosely around his ankles. The sign above it said ‘boot cut’ and Varian figured it would do well to have something that went with his Saporian boots. The other was of a lighter blue and was more form fitting. The sign above it said ‘slim cut’.

He also found a pair of light brown pants with several large pockets. Hiro called them cargo pants. They were a little baggy but the idea of having all those pockets on hand while working was enough for Varian to get them. At Wasabi’s insistence he also bought two pairs of ‘dress pants’. They were pressed and straight cut and he got one in black and another pair in a light tan color called khaki. 

Satisfied with his selection, they made their way to the counter where Fred generously paid for everything. Varian offered to pay him back as soon as he could earn some money of his own but the older teen just shrugged it off and told him not to worry about it. 

Apparently Fred came from a wealthy family and had more than enough money to spare. All he asked for in return was that Varian and the others would stop at his favorite store while here. 

It was called a comic shop and it sold games, toys, and various small books full of illustrations. In fact they were made of nothing but illustrations. There were no words on the page save for the occasional line of dialogue and the drawings themselves told the story. 

Varian thought them to be young children’s picture books at first glance and couldn’t see the fuss. But Fred was practically bursting with excitement as he ran around the store. 

“Now my young protégé, welcome to a whole new world of wonder, excitement, and adventure! Here you shall embark upon your first quest into geekdom..” Fred exclaimed in all seriousness before gathering up various comics for Varian to try. 

“Protégé?” Varian questioningly whispered to Wasabi while the other boy was busy. 

“Don’t think too much about it. Once you get to know Fred long enough you tend to learn when to tune him out.” Wasabi whispered back. 

Just then Fred dumped a stack of comics into Varian’s arms and he had to quickly readjust his stance so as not to drop their collective weight. He struggled to peer over the top of the pile as Fred launched into a frantic explanation about the story of the comic he himself was currently holding. Varian though was struggling to keep up. 

Fortunately, Gogo came to his rescue again.

“Seriously, Fred, he doesn’t need you to buy him the whole store.” She admonished the blonde haired boy. “Look, just get him one. Let him try it out and see if he likes it.” With that she picked up one of the comics off the top of the stack, indicating that it should be the one that Varian got. 

“Aww but, he needs to read at least one from each of the big two; IC and Wonder comics!” Fred whined in return and held the comic he was currently holding up in a pleading manner.

Gogo rolled her eyes and relented. “Fine, but only two, now put the rest of these back where they go.” She took the comic Fred was holding from him and then gave the stack Varian was holding back to Fred. She then proceeded to watch Fred as he put all the comics back in their place; like a mother making sure her small child was cleaning up his room. 

Once everything was back in its place, Fred paid for the two books and handed them to Varian. One was titled ‘Miracle Maiden’ and had a drawing of a woman, dressed in red and blue star-studded armor, wielding a spear and leading an army to victory on the cover. The other was called ‘The Avenger’ and on the front was the picture of a man dressed all in black standing on top of a tower in the rain with a cityscape sprawling behind him. He held in his hand a skull, as if he was reciting Hamlet’s famous soliloquy. 

Varian had to admit that the covers looked intriguing, but there was little time to read through them as they we’re off to the next store.     

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

The next shop was one that sold electronics. Varian starred in wonder at the various inventions. Fascinated, he went to poke and prod each new device; bubbling over with questions about each one. His friends patiently answered him in kind. 

While there, it was decided that Varian would need something called a ‘cellphone’ for the duration of his stay. The phone was the same black box he had seen Wasabi use earlier that day. Apparently the device was for long range communication. One could talk to another person miles away so long as they also had a similar device. 

The trick, however, was one required the services of an outside source to connect the two devices. So you had to pay another company for 'minutes’ on a regular basis. Since no one knew how long Varian would be stuck in this world the gang collectively decided to buy him a cheap 'prepaid’ phone. You simply bought a new card whenever you ran out of minutes instead of paying a monthly fee and Varian hoped that if he was here for longer than a month he’d be able to earn the money to buy that himself. He was already feeling guilty that everyone was going so much out of their way for him. But everyone kept insisting that it was no big deal and that they were happy to help. 

“I’ll help you set the phone up when we get back to the dormitory.” Wasabi told him. “Get you everyone’s phone numbers so you call any of us if you need something." 

“Also don’t worry about the money,” Gogo reassured him. “No one expects you to have it all together given the circumstances. If you see something that you would like just let us know.” 

And ‘find something' Varian did. He spotted in a display window a shirt with alchemy symbols printed on the front and excitedly ran inside. To his disappointment the establishment was not in fact an alchemy store, but rather a novelty shop that sold various clothing and accessories. However, setting that aside, there were still quite a few things that caught Varian’s interest. Including the aforementioned shirt. It was black, with short sleeves, and in gold print were various triangular images lined down its front.    

“What’s with the triangles?” Wasabi asked when Varian showed off his find. 

“They’re alchemy symbols. Each one is a different element; water, fire, earth, and air.” Varian explained while pointing out each ideogram. 

Wasabi nodded along as if he understood, but he didn’t fully comprehend the significance of what Varian was saying. 

“And that’s important because…?” 

“Because, I’m an alchemist.” Varian replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I had hoped this store would be selling like ingredients for alchemical potions or something, but it looks like this shirt is all they have.”  

“Yeeeah, no one’s seriously practiced alchemy in like hundreds of years.” Hiro interjected. 

“But you still have chemistry and engineering?” Varian responded, confused by how the two most important applications of his field could be around but not the science itself. 

“That’s because they’re considered their own separate fields of study.” Hiro explained. 

“Chemistry kind of replaced alchemy in this world,” Honey Lemon carefully interceded. “Now we use the periodic table instead of symbols. Oh, like this one.” She cheerfully held up another shirt that she had found. On it was printed a graph with various colored squares and upon closer inspection Varian noticed that each box corresponded to an element. 

“Wow. Look how many new chemical elements have been discovered,”  Varian breathed in wonder. 

“I know right!?” Honey Lemon exclaimed. “Ooooh, we should get matching tee-shirts. We could be chemistry buddies!” She leaned in towards him as she said this, her face a mere foot away from his own. She had a wild gleam in her eye and a smile so wide that it threatened to split her face in two.

Varian had never seen someone so excited by chemistry before. Well, no one but himself that was, and he found himself agreeing to her proposal in a dizzy haze. The enthusiasm with which the girl threw herself into everything made Varian feel off-kilter. She hardly seemed real; no one was ever this nice, this genuine, this…earnest all the time. Or maybe they were. Maybe his time as a criminal had him so disillusioned that he had forgotten what real people were actually like.    

She handed to him the shirt that she was holding and picked out a new one for herself. It was exactly the same as his own, light material and short sleeved, but instead of grey her’s was a bright sky blue. 

From there, Varian found other things within the shop that also intrigued him. First was a lighter jacket, called a ‘hoodie’. It was shorter than the great frock coat he currently wore and made of a less heavier material, with a hood attached and a large pocket in the center. He didn’t want to admit it to Wasabi but he did indeed find himself getting overly hot in the bright heat of the day. Apparently, San Fansokyo had a warmer climate than he was used to. The hoodie was red with the image of a raccoon printed on the front with the word RENEGADE underneath in bold white letters. Both he and Ruddiger found it amusing.

He also bought a couple of belts, and a new pair of suspenders. These had a fanciful black and white diamond design woven into the material and were clearly meant to be worn on the outside unlike the leather straps he currently wore under his vest. Both of the belts were in black, though one had silver studs across it and came with a matching necklace that, to Varian, looked kind of like a collar. 

He was also lucky enough to come across a wallet with more alchemy symbols imprinted onto the leather. It was the philosopher’s stone diagram and the whole thing came with a chain and clip to attach to his belt. 

Wasabi suggested that Varian should also pick out a backpack to carry some of his new stuff in while they were there. He chose one made from a dark green canvas. It had lots of pockets with leather buckled straps and was big enough to hold most of the new clothes he had bought. 

Just when he was about ready to check out, he noticed the two girls perusing over a stand filled with tiny brightly colored bottles. Curious he walked over to join them. 

“What about this color?” He overheard Honey Lemon ask Gogo as she held up a bottle that was a bright shade of pink.

“Eh, not my style but it should look good on you.” Gogo replied. 

“What is it?” Varian interrupted. 

“Nail polish, you use it to paint your fingernails.” Gogo answered. 

Varian picked up one of the bottles to inspect it. The bottles were made of clear glass and he could see that the various colors he had first noticed were in fact thick colorful liquids contained within each. The one he held in his hand was a black color with a shimmering sheen that glinted when he curiously swirled the bottle around. 

“Only it’s not like oil paint. It’s made of synthetic polymers.” Honey Lemon explained further. “Like a type of plastic.” 

Varian didn’t know what ‘plastic’ was but he did know a lot about polymers. Polymer was a Greek word meaning ‘part’ and in alchemy was used to refer to organic compounds whose structures were composed of multiple repeating units. He had never heard of a man made polymer though. 

“Fascinating” Varian whispered as he continued to hypnotically stare at the bottle as he held it up to the light. 

Unbeknownst to him, the two girls shared bemused looks between each other while he was distracted. They found his curiosity over simple ordinary things both simultaneously amusing and endearing.  

“Do you want to try some out?” Gogo prompted. 

“Yeah,” Varian absently said all while still looking at the liquid trying to decipher its chemical makeup from sight alone.   

“Yay! We can have a makeup party! I can help you put it on!’ Honey Lemon cheered, “Which color do you want?” 

“This one will do.” Varian said, still barely focusing on what the other two girls were saying. He turned to carry the bottle and the rest of his items to the counter, still never fully taking his eyes off the liquid. Until he was stopped by Honey Lemon that is. 

“Oh you’ll need this too.” She pulled a larger bottle off the top of the shelf and handed it to him. It was filled with a clear liquid and the words ‘nail polish remover’ was printed on a label on the front. “It’s acetone, “ She explained “It’ll dissolve the paint once it’s dried.”   

“Ahh” Varian nodded his head in realization. Acetone had a lot of alchemical usages; so he was already familiar with the substance. With all that settled they finally went to check out. Once everything was paid for the gang decided that it was time for lunch. 

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

The food court in the center of the mall was a veritable feast of sights, smells, and tastes. Eateries of all sorts were tucked into every nook and cranny. Food stalls were scattered here and there, in amongst tables and chairs for guests to sit and eat at. Vendors sold delicacies from all over the globe and some specialized in serving rare treats like coffee, chocolates, or teas. 

Varian was bombarded with the scents of various spices, sweets, and meats being prepared a hundred different ways. And everywhere he turned he spied mouth watering dishes being severed to crowds of people. 

Wasabi gave him a slip of the green paper that served as currency in this world. On its surface was printed the number twenty with the image of a woman Varian did not recognize on one side and a picture of a large stately manor on the opposite. 

He was told to pick out whatever he liked, while everyone else shuffled off to their own choice of cuisine. However this proved to be easier said than done. There were far too many options to choose from and Varian didn’t know where to start. 

Some of the merchants stood to the side and offered free samples to the passing customers. Which Varian figured might be helpful in making a decision, if it wasn’t for Ruddiger. 

His pet was all stomach and far too eager to try the tasty morsels to mind any manners. It was all Varian could do to keep the raccoon from climbing on to the poor waiters and stealing pawfulls of the treats. Once he had managed to stop him from assaulting the servers, the animal was off to bother the guests sitting at the tables. 

"Sorry,” he apologetically mumbled as he grabbed Ruddiger and pulled him away from another customer’s tray of food.

He held his pet tightly in his arms as the critter struggled to get away. Things were starting to get out of hand and Varian needed to make a decision fast before Ruddiger caused even more of a scene. That was when he spotted Hiro and Honey Lemon standing in line to order food from one of the establishments and he figured it was as good as any other place so he walked over to join them.

The restaurant was one that served meals from the island of Japan and their specialty was a soup that was called ramen. The stew consisted of noodles in a clear broth and from there customers could choose what toppings to be added to the dish. Varian didn’t even recognize half of the options on the menu so he stuck to only things he knew; pork slices, boiled egg, mustard greens, and slices of green onion. 

He then joined his friends at a nearby table. He sat Ruddiger down between himself and Honey Lemon in a special enclosed chair predominantly meant for small children and then tied his leash to the back of the chair’s legs. That way even if his pet escaped he still couldn’t run off to bug anyone else. 

Though he doubted it would be necessary, as Honey Lemon was already feeding Ruddiger pieces of food from her own meal. The raccoon greedily gulped down the bits of egg and noodle given to him while the tall girl cooed words of encouragement as if he was a small baby and not a wild animal. 

“Don’t feed that thing with your bare hands.” Wasabi admonished her as he came to over join them. “It hasn’t had its shots yet. I gotta take him to the vet on Monday." 

"Oh good, he’ll need a checkup.” Honey Lemon agreed, all the while continuing to pet Ruddiger as she fed him, completely ignoring Wasabi’s advice. 

Varian had to chuckle at the irony of that as he sat down to eat himself. Then he noticed the utensils they had given him. 

“What’s this?” Varian asked as he held up two wooden sticks. 

“Chopsticks,” Hiro explained. “ You hold the two pieces in your hand, like this, and use them to pick up the food.” He then proceeded to demonstrate how to do just that. 

“Who eats soup with sticks?” Varian asked in disbelief. The practice seemed totally impractical to Varian, but he gave it a try anyways, mimicking the other boy’s actions, and promptly failing at it. 

No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get his hands to hold the chopsticks correctly and the food kept sliding out from between them. Finally he just angrily impaled the dish with the two wooden dowels, attempting to utilize them like you would a fork, but this too proved to be unsuccessful. 

He gave up in frustration and was about ready to just drink from the bowl directly, when Wasabi took pity on him and brought him a spoon that he acquired from another vendor. 

The soup had a savory, salty taste not unlike a consommé. It was however the combination of noodles and toppings that made the dish stand out to Varian, giving the stew a unique texture. He also made sure to give Ruggider some so that Honey Lemon wouldn’t have to give the raccoon all of her food. 

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

After lunch Honey Lemon wanted to stop in a store that sold candles, soaps, and perfumes. The combined scents of flowers, herbs, fruits, and pastries wafting through the air was nearly overpowering. Any one of the fragrances might have been nice on their own but all combined together was too much. Fortunately, Varian wasn’t the only one with this opinion and the rest of the guys in the group went into a separate but connected side of the store that sold toiletries for men.  

Once there, the other boys helped Varian pick out some soap, shampoo, cologne, and something called deodorant, which was meant to help stop sweating. Wasabi also bought him a shaving kit that included some disposable razors. They looked far safer than the steel blades men had to use in his world. In truth he didn’t really need to shave yet, but he wasn’t going to tell the other teens that. He was already sixteen, and the fact that he hadn’t grown a single hair on his face was a source of some shame for Varian. Better to let them think he was clean shaven then risk having his manliness questioned. 

Afterwards they met back up with the girls and continued to explore the mall. There were stores of every kind selling anything you could think of. Jewelry, more clothing outlets, games, athletic gear for sports, shoes, music, sweets and candies, furniture, novelty knickknacks, decorative items for rooms such as rugs and lampshades, kitchen supplies, barber shops and nail salons, a spa, a ‘magic’ store that sold crystal balls and healing stones, (something Varian turned his nose up at), more electronics, and even a second hand store that sold anything as long as it was used. The last one Gogo stopped into real quick and reemerged carrying an old, beat up, guitar that she gave to Varian. It wasn’t electric and it needed tuning and some new strings but Varian was very grateful for her thoughtfulness. 

However, out of all the wondrous shops and stalls he had seen that day, his favorite by far was the book store; walls and shelves lined with nothing but novels, magazines, and thick research books. Everything was divided up into categories and genres and he made a beeline to the section labeled ‘Action/Adventure’. He scanned the titles and covers hoping to find something familiar or at least interesting to read. 

Reading was one of his favorite activities. He loved being transported away on grand adventures through the words on the page. It was a relief to a lonely farm boy, to pretend he was some hero in a far off land, befriended and admired, where the dangers weren’t real and you could come home again whenever.  Sadly, he was no hero and the dangers he had faced were very real. Because of them, he hadn’t had the chance to just curl up and read a good story in nearly a year and a half. 

“Do you have any Flynn Rider stories in this world?” Varian asked Hiro, who had walked over to join him. 

“No, I don’t think so. What’s it about?” 

“Flynn Rider is an amazing ne’er-do-well swashbuckling adventurer. He rides around exploring various far off lands, tricking villains, finding treasures, and saving people from nefarious evil doers.” Varian explained all while thrusting his arm out in a mock display of sword fighting. 

Hiro gave a little laugh at the other boy’s antics. “No never hear of him, but there’s lots of other adventure books you may like; Robin Hood, Treasure Island… oh and this one. It’s one of my favorites.” 

Hiro picked up a book from off the shelf and gave it to Varian. It was a small novel titled, ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, and on the cover was the image of a boy wearing a straw hat and painting a white picket fence. Varian though couldn’t fathom what was ‘adventurous’ about doing such a menial chore. 

“It’s about a boy growing up on the Mississippi river and he and his best friend witness a murder while hunting for buried treasure.” Hiro explained. 

Varian had to admit that the description provided was certainly a lot more interesting than the cover would initially suggest.  

“My brother, Tadashi, used to read it to me when I was younger.” he said with a more hesitant and somber tone to his voice. 

“Tadashi?” Varian queried. He hadn’t met anyone by that name yet and wondered why he wasn’t at breakfast this morning if he was supposed to be Hiro’s family. 

“Uh, yeah, he passed away last year.” Hiro said with a little crack to his voice. 

Varian’s heart dropped. He had been so caught up in his own problems, and the brief respite from them that this world provided, that it never occurred to him that anyone else was suffering. He felt foolish now for being so oblivious.  

“Sorry, I.. I didn’t mean to...I” He tried to stumble out an apology for his lack of tact, but the other teen interrupted him.   

“It’s ok. You didn’t know.” 

A brief moment of silence passed, where neither boy wanted to meet the other’s gaze, and then Hiro continued on, trying to awkwardly change the subject.

“Uh, if you want to give it a read, I could buy it for you” He said pointing to the book Varian still held in his hand. 

“You, sure?” Varian asked, “It wouldn’t be too much?” 

“Naw, it’s only five bucks.” Hiro laughed. 

Varian didn’t know what a ‘buck’ was nor if five was a substantial amount or not, but he appreciated the offer and made an agreement to read the story the first chance he got. 

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

The last shop they visited for the day was one of the larger department stores attached to the mall. There they gathered up the remaining items that he needed. A couple of undershirts, a pack of underwear, and some socks. Two new pairs of shoes, one pair was white and made for running  and were called ‘tennis shoes’, and the other was a pair of brown work boots. Varian didn’t want to mess up his nicer Saporian boots while experimenting, so he figured having them on hand would be prudent. 

He also bought a pair of thick brown overalls for working in as well, since leather aprons weren’t common, along with a short sleeved collared shirt in teal green that Wasabi called a ‘polo shirt’. In addition to the work clothes, Varian bought two pairs of shorter britches in case the warmer weather proved to be too much for trousers. One pair was grey and called ‘jogger shorts’ and made of the same light material as the hoodie he had bought previously and the other was dark green ‘cargo shorts’ that held several pockets just like the cargo pants. 

To round things off, he also got a pair of swimming trunks, a sleeveless shirt called a ‘tank top’ to go with it, and a pair of pajamas to sleep in. That, along with the clothes Wasabi had given him the night before, brought his total number of outfits to twelve. He still couldn’t believe how much he had been given. Anyone else in his world would be envious of such a vast wardrobe, but here it was deemed comparably small. It was still enough though, that Wasabi thought to buy some cheap plastic drawers for Varian to store his new clothes in. There would be just enough room to place them next to the couch. 

Wasabi also bought him some basics that he might need, while there. Toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloth, towel, sheets and his own blanket, a pillow, and a notebook and pencils to work with. He was asked if he would like a hat as well, but Varian rarely took off his goggles so he declined. He did however take notice of several small timepieces that were on display nearby. They were called watches and were like tiny clocks you wore on your wrist. They came in all shapes and sizes and colors, some rustic looking and others more high-tech. Varian went with one that displayed the inner brass gears through the glass and came attached to a leather band. 

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

Finally the day came to a close and they all convened out in the vast parking lot as the sun was setting. Fred had called his manservant to come pick him and Hiro up, and the rest of the gang was waiting for him to arrive. They hung around just simply talking and laughing and Varian thought to himself just how much fun he was having and how much fun the day itself had been. He hadn’t had fun in a good long while. Longer than he cared to admit to himself and he really couldn’t even remember the last time he had enjoyed the company of other people close to his age.   

“Oh, there’s Heathcliff” Fred exclaimed as a long black car pulled into the lot. Apparently it was called a ‘limo’ and was quite an expensive vehicle. Though, Fred himself made no big deal about his social status.

“Bye guys, see ya later! Oh, and tell me what you think of the comics as soon as you get the change to read them, ok!” Fred told Varian. 

Varian promised he would and waved the blonde boy goodbye as he got into the car. 

“I texted Professor Granville. She said she’ll meet us on campus on Monday at nine in the morning. That’s in two days, so I’ll see you then.” Hiro said to him with a parting smile and got into the limo with Fred. 

“We better be off as well.” Gogo said. She put on a helmet and sat upon a two-wheeled vehicle called a motorbike that she and Honey Lemon had ridden there. 

“I hope you had a great time on your first day here.” Honey Lemon said with a sweet smile and then gave Varian a quick hug before bounding away and hopping on to the bike behind Gogo. That was certainly not something he had been expecting to happen and once again he felt knocked for a loop by the pretty girl. All he could do was dumbly wave back at her as she and Gogo sped away on the bike. 

“So did you?” Wasabi asked as he leaned against his own car with a bemused smile upon his face. “Did you have a good time today?” He clarified when Varian looked back at him in confusion. 

“Oh yeah, yeah. Loads of fun. This world is amazing.” Varian answered back. 

“Well good. I’m glad your first day went well. Let’s head home. I’ll pick us up some tacos for dinner on the way.”

“What are tacos?” Varian asked as he entered the car, while unbeknownst to him, off in the distance, a pair of eyes watched as he and the green vehicle departed. 

“Soon.” A voice said to no one in particular. “The time is coming soon.” 

[xathia-89]

How to accumulate a heard

I’ve borrowed @shrimpalompa ‘s OC Erik, because we need more fluff with these two. We also can confirm it’s canon that Evelyn likes the purebloods. Very soft and fluffy as per the request of @ihavenotfallenyet thank you!

The herd seemed to be forever growing as Evelyn was hoisting a heavy feed bucket across the gardens. The grand lawns were designed to impress, but she had taken over a considerable area and fenced it off to keep her pets more than a little happy. She was dutifully followed by a beige coloured Pomeranian, who was running just to try and keep pace with the vampire, but glad to do so from the expression in his eyes. 

Erik was watching from the mansion; the woman was unusual in many ways. She loathed to be dressed up like a doll-like many of those around her would love, especially given Le Comte’s preference for her. She would do anything to evade dressing up, and it wasn’t a secret that Sebastian would frequently use a bribery system to get her into the really fancy stuff. 

She glanced over her shoulder, after feeling the weight of a gaze on her, and smiled to the pureblood before unlocking all of the gates. The small herd was like nothing he had seen before, thirteen of the goats and the most she had of any species was three. She collected the runts and the unwanted, a reflection somewhat of her work at the shelter as well as the incessant Pygmy that had attached himself with a devotion to her that was being carried in her arms. Some of the bigger ones were trying to knock the feed bucket out of her hand early before she could get them to the trough. 

He watched with a curiosity. There was no rush to her actions, even though she would likely need to come inside to change before going to the shelter unless her plans for the day had changed. 

“They won’t bite if you go over and she’s feeding them,” Sebastian spoke up, reminding the pureblood that he wasn’t the only person in the room. 

“It’s her chance to be alone without a care in the world, I don’t want to take that from her,” Erik replied. 

“She isn’t going to the shelter today, she has administration work to do from here, and they are well stocked for a few days,” the butler nodded, as though reading the man’s thoughts. 

“Huh,” Erik chuckled, resuming his gazing of the female during her chores.

***

“Good evening, raring,” a deep voice startled Evelyn from the book she was reading, one of Arthur’s latest attempts before he was sending it for publication. “Apologies, you looked too cute to resist,” the Nordic male grinned and sat next to her on the sofa in the library where she was currently taking up residence. 

“Erik,” Evelyn’s eyes flickered back to the paper in her hands, currently trying to engross herself in something that wasn’t to do with her strays.

“How did you end up with all of those goats of yours?” 

“There are many parts to that tale,” she shrugged, trying to avoid his golden gaze. She found it hard to resist on any of the three purebloods she was involved with, and all three of them loved to abuse it at times. “I’m sure there are more interesting things to talk about than my goat collection. Heidrun, for starters,” she smiled. 

“Heidrun is a wonderful goat that I am hoping will be as attracted to you as I am,” the Nordic male plucked the manuscript out of her hands, using as little force as possible. Arthur would never scream at Evelyn for tearing it, but he would definitely attempt to have Erik’s ass for the smallest rip. She couldn’t avoid his eyes now, and he rested his head on her stomach. His expression was akin to that of a small child wanting a bedtime story. 

“Fine, but no interrupting me,” she caved with a dramatic roll of her eyes, a soft smile breaking her facade. “It started with a stall trader; he was selling off all sorts. He had two half-starved Pyrenean goats, he was trying to get anyone to take them, weaving tales of how their milk would feed any human for years and that they would never dry up. But the second they started to make any sort of noise, he would beat them. He wouldn’t sell them to me, saying that I couldn’t possibly afford the cost of two magnificent beasts,” her fingers were idly stroking through Erik’s blonde locks, enjoying the simplicity of the moment. “I was dressed like a woman on her way to work; he had no reason to believe me, so I sent a message to Sebastian and asked for him to ensure that the goats would have a home as I kept track of the trader for the rest of the day. Several people made enquiries about the goats, but no one was soft enough to offer up the amounts he wanted for them. It didn’t take too long for Sebastian to come back to me with a modest coin purse from my savings; I approached the man again. I was looking to be reasonable, but even when I suggested a price that wasn’t too far below his own, then I caught sight of the terror these poor animals were in under his control. I smiled, and it seemed to agitate the man. He wasn’t going to sell me the goats if I offered him their weight in gold. I said that would be a lower price than I was already offering to pay. He had to sleep, but Sebastian then came to check I was okay. The trader tried to make an attack on me, using the fact I was turning away from him to his advantage, but he wasn’t expecting me to know what his type are like. He also expected me to be weak, for I am a woman, I caught his wrists and broke them with a swift move. He cried like a child as I was able to take the goats away from him. They were scared, terrified of any of the men of this mansion. I was lucky in that as long as I wore a skirt or a dress then they would not cower from me, and they even would eat from my hands. Arthur was talked into wearing one of my skirts when I was trying something out, and he was able to feed them after some hesitation. It took several goes for them to adjust to his scent, and then he was able to wear trousers, and they wouldn’t run away. The male began to follow him around the grounds, Arthur was known for keeping treats in his pockets too much, to the point where he would find himself attacked if he didn’t have anything on him. He declared the goat his ‘Moriarty to him as Sherlock’, so I decided that would be the goat’s name. The female Pyrenean had begun to wander around the grounds as well; the sound of music soothed her. To the point, she would begin to sing back to the window where it came from. She would headbutt the window until Mozart began to play any kind of music, and then she would sing along, so he said she said in a ‘Forte’ way, hence her name,” Evelyn’s tone was soft, it would be easy to fall asleep to her voice the pureblood considered. 

“That’s two, you have thirteen of them,” the Nordic chuckled, tugging a blanket off the back of the sofa over his back before shuffling up to her a little, so he was resting under her bosom. 

“Apple, the Peacock goat, Dazai won him in a game of cards. Sebastian was feeding Lotte one morning when he found out that there was a goat in with his lamb,” she laughed softly. “I was accused of kidnapping him during the night until Dazai came downstairs to find me. He had meant to surprise me for my birthday, only he was early by a couple of months and told Sebastian he thought the sheep pen was the goat one,” she smiled. “He would take anyone’s arm off for an apple, which Isaac tended to find in his pockets for some reason.” 

Erik recognised the glimmer in her eyes. Evelyn was a terror at times, and this had clearly been one of them. 

“He was hating the fact I had five goats at that point,” her giggle was so innocent, but Erik coughed to point out that she had skipped over acquiring two others. 

“The two Pygmy goats were the ones I had acquired before Dazai assisted,” she sulked, pushing her lips into a pout. “There was a less than savoury individual at Port de Grenelle. He was rumoured to have many exotic goods for sale, but only to those who knew his trade. Several of the women at the shelter recalled that he mentioned animals but that he had propositioned that they would be required to share his chambers on the boat before he would even show them anything. He was persistent to those he believed would be easy prey. Who would be easier to get on board your ship than an elegantly dressed albeit naive noblewoman? He tried to corner me, his crew were onshore for the nightlife, so it was only the two of us. The exotic goods he was claiming to have turned out to be nothing but a lure, and the two terrified goats he had acquired for their journey to try and keep them fed. So we had a little fight, he went over the side of the ship from the deck, and he couldn’t swim. I liberated the goats, and they were so grateful to me that neither of them would let me leave the goat pen. I dread to think how they lived until I brought them here,” she murmured, her gaze distant. “Leonardo had to come and try to rescue me, and it ended up being that we would take shifts to look after the goats so the other could rest. The only exception was when Theo would bring his pancakes out, and then the male goat would not leave him alone,” her smile lit up her face like the fourth of July celebrations in America. “Leonardo had found a love in Jocande, she would smile for him whenever she heard his voice, and my little boy loved me too much and insisted I would cuddle him and carry him like I did the first time we met.”

“I heard that the Murcia-Grenada trio were on the market in town,” Erik mumbled, his face pressed into her stomach now. He was enjoying the sound of her voice, and the feel of her fingers threading through his hair. 

“Yes, the stallholder was trying to sell the milk of them. They were underweight and underfed. I forcibly made him sell them to me; Le Comte did not appreciate that I hadn’t sought his permission, and then the others I obtained when Theo and Napoleon rescued me from an attempt at a forced marriage. They had gathered five goats as a wedding gift to me, and to keep me quiet, but they were in a pen smaller than Lotte’s, and they were so eager to get away from the treatment they’d had that they followed us all home to the mansion.” 

“Sounds a little like you all here,” Erik sighed, content with the warm feeling. 

“It does, and we are all happier for our being here,” she replied, her smile evident in her tone as she watched the pureblood slip into a contented slumber. 

[tarysande]

How many wips do you have at the moment?

Like ... ALL OF THEM? Including original fic?

FANFIC:

For Lucifer, I have Taking the Fall and a percolating idea for something post-S4 that’s mostly just ideas and notes. (And there are other one-shots and stuff I’m sure I’ll tackle or prompt for, but TtF and PostS4 are the Big Stories.)

For Mass Effect, I have A Handful of Dust and Any Four Walls.

For Dragon Age, I have Unshaken by the Darkness (which, I admit, it pretty low priority; I might go back to it if/when I play Inquisition again).

ORIGINAL FIC:

I’ve got the first two books of a fantasy trilogy written; they need extensive revision because I’ve changed some major ideas since their inception (for the better). They have good bones, though. Worth saving, I think. Both have complete 100+K first drafts. 

@w0rdinista​ and I are still diligently plugging away on the first book of what will hopefully be a contemporary fantasy series (murder! local politics! magic! characters who need to kiss each other!!) This latest draft is up to about 50K, we’ve solved all the previous issues we had (fingers crossed), and it will probably end up 100-130K.

I have the first 35K of a book tentatively titled Be Not Afraid, which is a contemporary angels/demons/supernatural/global-agency-of-agents-keeping-tabs-on-the-supernatural-but-how-CORRUPT-ARE-THEY book. With family drama, a missing child, and angst. (Also characters who need to kiss each other.)

I have another contemporary fantasy that may actually get folded into the same universe as the angels/demons book; its working title is What the Thunder Said. It follows a woman who can see how people die, a man trailed by ghosts, and the end of the world (maybe). I think this is sitting in the 20-30K range.

Percolating Original Fic Ideas:

There’s a percolating fantasy novel in my brain that I ... can’t get into too much detail about but GOD I wish it would just sort itself out because I love the idea so much and I’ve had the opening scene in my head FOR YEARS.

A sci-fi-ish not-too-distant future story based on the (completely original!!!) backstory I came up with for my Shepard’s parents. (It wouldn’t be connected to anything Mass Effect; I just ... love their story. A lot. And it could completely be pulled into its own book with no issues at all.)

Things I’m Probably Never Going to Go Back To, IDK, Maybe:

Nocturne is a finished book; it didn’t find a home. I’ve been tempted to just sell it as pay-what-you-like. It’s ... different from my other work in that it’s a) present tense, b) not fantastical, c) old enough that it doesn’t really represent my style anymore. It’s about a woman whose fiance dies a month before her wedding. Mostly, it’s about depression. And friendship. And survival.

LA Book: Also contemporary and not fantasy. This could be a screenplay one day, I think. I liked the characters in this one a lot. (Easter Egg for peeps reading Taking the Fall: The bitchy actress in this book is named Bianca Bennett heh.)

Beauty and the Beast Book: It’s also contemporary, not really the fantasy, but ... maybe has some magical realism aspects (dreams, fairy tales, etc.). It’s a kind of Beauty and the Beast meets Pride and Prejudice story, where Beauty/Lizzy is an artist, the Beast (OR IS HE)/Darcy is the CEO of the company her father works for, and Gaston/Wickham also works for the company and is not content with his position. This has a complete 1st draft, but I got stalled in the 2nd because I realized I had to change some things. IDK. I’ve been temptedto maybe use this one as a chapter-by-chapter Patreon release/reward. I really did like it! 

Another fantasy novel ... that would need a LOT of work and revision and I’m just not sure if I want to do it.

OTHER:

I also have a screenplay first draft, called Likes Flowers, which is about a girl haunted by the ghosts of a woman and her dead baby after she sees them killed. It asks the “If you knew you had three days to live, what would you do?” question.

And an idea for a play about killing a deer and psychology and faith. 

A book of interconnected short stories that center around a safe house for women of all backgrounds across the entire long lifetime of the home’s founder.

I feel like I might have a few other things kicking around but if they’re not coming to mind, they’re probably mostly dead at this point ;P

And I’m also seriously contemplating founding a small publishing company. If I did this, though, I would try to form it as a collective where the few others involved would bring unique skill sets to the company (my editing, for example, and leadership; someone else’s marketing or cover design or editing or InDesign/page layout knowledge, etc. etc.) We’d collaborate to make the books the best they could be and take small percentages of sales (instead of charging the individual sums for all these services that indie authors, in general, struggle to pay professionals). It would be a kind of in-trade setup where everyone’s invested in every book we chose (as a collective) to publish. It’d focus on digital publishing. Ideally, we’d end up with a reputation for putting out really polished, really professional indie work. This is something I’ve been considering for years; I just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. (About me: When my brain is firing on all cylinders--thanks, medication--I remember that I’m actually ... ambitious. ;D)

[orbemnews]

For Britain’s Art Dealers, Post-Brexit Trade Isn’t So Free LONDON — “You could just jump in a van, drive to Europe and cross all the borders to buy decorative antiques. You’d drive straight back through French customs. It was seamless,” said Andrew Hirst, a British dealer specializing in old textiles, who in 2018 moved with his family to Ireland, after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Hirst’s business is still based in London, and he said he was concerned that the combination of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic would put an end to his specialist trade. Britain left the European Union in January 2020, but it followed E.U. rules until a new trade agreement negotiated with the bloc came into effect on Jan. 1. But British businesses across a range of sectors, including art and antiques, are now discovering trade is not quite as free as they had hoped. Value-added tax, or VAT — a tax on goods and services that is usually paid by consumers — is now payable when importing artworks into Britain from the European Union, and vice versa. Dealers at every level of the trade are also encountering unforeseen administrative and transportation costs that are damaging their profitability. “I won’t be going to Europe to buy antiques like that again,” Hirst said. Britain was the world’s No. 2 market for art and antiques in 2019 after the United States, with $12.7 billion of sales — 20 percent of the total global market, according to the 2020 Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report. But owing to “turmoil with the rollout of Brexit,” the report added, Britain’s market declined 9 percent in 2019, while sales in France, Europe’s next biggest market, grew 7 percent. Since Jan. 1, collectors based in the European Union, where member countries set their own tax rates, now face VAT bills varying between 5.5 percent (France) and 25 percent (Denmark) on art or collectibles imported from Britain. (Britain charges 5 percent for items coming from the bloc.) “Brexit has made the U.K. a faraway country,” said Andre Gordts, a Belgian collector who is one of an unknown number of international buyers who quietly moved their collections after the Brexit referendum to avoid VAT payments. “It just makes things extremely difficult, enhancing the trade of bureaucrats and punishing hard-working artists and honest tradesmen in their galleries,” Gordts said. In 2016, he sold his London apartment and moved permanently to Brussels. “The only way out for British based galleries, I think, is to open a branch in the E.U.” Ursula Casamonti, the London-based director of Tornabuoni Art, a leading Italian gallery specializing in modern and contemporary art, with branches in Britain, France and Switzerland, said the dealership would now have to pay thousands of euros in administrative charges when moving artworks around to mount exhibitions. “The administrative, tax, shipment and timing costs for doing business in the U.K. have now increased,” she said. “While we still love the city, we now have a more negative idea about London as an international center for modern and contemporary art.” Victor Khureya, the operations director of Gander & White, one of Britain’s biggest specialist art shippers, said there had been a “quite significant” rise in the cost of transportation since Brexit. “There is a lot of administration, a lot of documentation and there are a lot of teething problems,” Khureya said. “It results in delays, which are costly,” he added, noting that a recent shipment had been delayed for 24 hours by a French customs officer who misunderstood the relevant forms. Khureya said that a shipment that before Brexit had cost about 250 pounds, or about $340, was now almost £1,000. If a work of art is worth many thousands of pounds, these shipping costs represent a relatively marginal increase. But Brexit has also resulted in punitive cost increases in the transportation of lower-value items. In January, Thomas Heneage, a long-established dealer in London specializing in art books, sold an item for £75, or about $100, to a customer in France, he said in a recent interview. The courier added charges adding up to more than $60, including a “fuel subsidy,” “Brexit adjustment” and “duties and taxes” that were almost four times what they usually charged, he said. The customer canceled the order, Heneage said. Disruption at the top end of the auction market, however, appears to be minimal, said Sebastian Fahey, the managing director of European operations for Sotheby’s. “For the vast majority of buyers and sellers at Sotheby’s, there is no change, post-Brexit,” Fahey said, adding that private individuals in the European Union represented only a “small minority” of the buyers at his company’s London auctions. He said that the new VAT charges for importing items into the bloc from Britain “will be no different to the situation they faced previously when they bought in non-E.U. locations, such as New York, or Geneva.” Some dealers and collectors in European Union countries with high taxes on the art trade, like Germany, see Brexit as an opportunity. “In terms of trade between Germany and the U.K., it actually has quite some advantages,” said Johann König, a leading Berlin contemporary art dealer who also has a gallery in London. König pointed out that art bought in Germany could be imported to Britain relatively cheaply and that pieces bought in Britain would be subject to import VAT of 7 percent, whereas Germany charged 19 percent on domestic transactions. “I believe that in the long-term, once a period of adaptation, and Covid, has passed, London will retain its importance within the European and global landscape as a major cultural hub,” König said. “We are continuing our activities in the U.K. and probably are going to even build it out more.” Hirst, the British textile dealer now living in Ireland, said he also saw opportunities in post-Brexit Britain — as long as he can stay in business. Until December, when government imposed a more stringent lockdown in England, he had been flying from Cork, Ireland, to London each week to trade every Friday and Saturday from an open-air stall at the popular antiques market on Portobello Road. Hirst said he expected thousands of small businesses to go bust, creating openings for those who survive. “There will be a lot of bankrupt stock,” Hirst said. “I may have to sell contemporary fabrics, rather than the beautiful old stuff I used to buy in Europe. “It’s adapt or die.” Source link Orbem News #Art #Britains #dealers #free #isnt #PostBrexit #Trade

[higher-state-of-mindd]

Little decoration.

At the point when we originally began attempting to sell the stuff we made - we did not understand what we were doing. Presently we're offering carefully assembled home stylistic layout to West Elm, which is insane! We additionally sell items on the web and we've done what's necessary in-person markets to have taken in some things, so in this post we'll cover tips for selling items through any of the underneath roads:

Selling on the web (like Etsy)

Selling at face to face occasions (like specialty fairs and spring up shops)

Today we will discuss what we've realized, the pluses and minuses of these three different ways to sell things, and tips we have for you (particularly in case you're new to this entire selling stuff thing!) Some of these points we cover more in the video over, some we get somewhat more nitty gritty in the composed instructional exercise, so it's unquestionably important to look at both (in addition to we have more visuals of the stuff we're discussing in the video). more on little play.

Stage 1: What to Sell

It tends to be difficult to haul item thoughts out of nowhere, so we utilized ourselves as a beginning stage: what might we need in our own home? (simply on the off chance that you don't sell any and end up with a bundle extra… I kid!) But genuinely, if it's a plan and style that you like, you'll have a good time causing it and you'll to be more pleased to show it off.

We additionally did some online examination. It's incredible for motivation and you can perceive what is by all accounts moving on various scenes (hand woven merchandise selling admirably on Etsy? Does Target have bunches of solid home style at this moment? and so forth)

It assists with concocting an item you can cluster without any problem. This encourages you keep it at a lower value point, which makes it simpler to sell. As far as we might be concerned, we realized we could all the more effectively bunch things that included 3D printing, solid items we could make with reusable molds, and basic/fast carpentry.

Taking a gander at what we enjoyed, what appeared to sell well, and what we could clump, driven us to our beginning product offering: 3D printed deer heads mounted on wood, solid napkins, and 3D printed geographical Texas's.

Before you finish on an item, ask yourself a couple of inquiries: What are you ready to sell it for, what might others pay for it, and how intently do those two numbers coordinate. Which brings us as well…

Stage 2: Pricing

Estimating was the hardest part for us, so we worked in reverse. We took a gander at the overall sorts of items we needed to make, the scenes we needed to sell, and we attempted to think of items that fit that value range. We additionally indicated our items to loved ones and approached what they would pay for it in a store.

There is a great deal of fascinating brain science associated with valuing. Obviously, there's the self-evident "$49 looks in a way that is better than $50" stuff, however there's significantly more to it than that. For instance, lets state you have 3 items you need to sell at 3 distinctive value focuses. It is now and again a smart thought to make 1 or 2 more costly individual things to show at your stall, not with the assumption for selling them, but rather in light of the fact that it will make even the most costly of your 3 principle items look shabbier in correlation.

Stage 3: Where to Sell

First we'll go a little into the pluses and minuses of those three selling roads we referenced above: on the web, face to face, and discount.

On the web

Probably the greatest favorable position of selling on the web is you can possibly contact an exceptionally huge crowd. Likewise, it's generally simple nowadays, particularly with destinations like Etsy or modules you can add to your site.

One drawback is you need to manage delivering. This could make it restrictive to selling bigger things (like side tables, huge divider workmanship, and so on) in light of the fact that it adds so much delivery cost and can be a problem. For little items, dispatching isn't really awful. In the event that you use Etsy, paying for delivery and printing marks is completely coordinated into the framework. On the off chance that you sell on your own site, you can buy transportation and print names through USPS and different destinations, so it's still beautiful simple. Delivery things isn't the most exceedingly awful thing on the planet, however it adds a little layer of issue.

Specialty FAIRS

Specialty fairs and in-person spring up shops are cool since they are extraordinary statistical surveying. You can converse with individuals and get a thought of what they like, and you can check your value guide dependent on their response toward your costs (did they appear to be intrigued until you disclosed to them the cost, for instance).

The drawback of these occasions is that there are a ton of coordinations associated with getting your items on the spot, setting up a stall, and so forth We do have a few hints to deal with these coordinations, however we'll get into those later. Occasionally you sell a great deal and it's magnificent, however different days can be truly moderate and it's unpleasant to go through 6 hours simply remaining around.

Discount

Selling discount has it's favorable circumstances and burdens as well. It's pleasant in light of the fact that you get enormous bunch orders, which makes it simpler to turn out to be more effective in your shop. Typically you can anticipate that the enormous requests should be quite ordinary as well, and you regularly possess a more drawn out lead energy for orders than you do offering to people on the web. It's ideal to dispatch off a gigantic request at the same time.

The disadvantage is you don't make as much benefit per item. The organization you're selling discount also will for the most part take an enormous level of the cost, so you'll need to ensure you can in any case cause a benefit in the event that you to choose to go discount.

[giancarlonicoli]

Submitted by Michael Every of Rabobank

*I* Can, You Can't(illon)

The US bill imposing mandatory sanctions on Chinese individuals and entities who “materially contribute to the contravention of China’s obligations” to Hong Kong’s autonomy --and banks that do “significant transactions” with them-- which we learned yesterday was being delayed, has instead just been passed unanimously by the Senate. The House of Representatives is working on its own version; that gets reconciled with this bill; the final bill gets passed to President Trump, who either signs it or vetoes it - in which case it has a veto-proof majority anyway. This is the constitutional dynamic that has been described several times in the last 12 months for China-focused bills with serious consequences for not just international relations, but international business and finance. So far the results have not hit markets: but this bill cuts out the middleman and takes us straight to the biting sanctions.

Of course, that does not matter to markets at the moment. Neither does Texas and Florida pausing on re-opening as virus cases surge. Neither does the Fed telling US banks it expects them to see USD700bn in bad loans ahead, and ordering them to cap dividends and suspend buybacks until the end of Q3. (Yes, this is the Fed, not the PBOC, who have already ordered similar measures.) Stocks are up, Bloomberg tells me, because more stimulus is expected now that US re-opening is stalling. Bad news is good news - and good news is of course good news.

This dynamic is well known to regular readers. Less well-known is Richard Cantillon (1680–1734), the Irish-French economist. That’s no accident, as economists are not taught any economic history. Moreover, Cantillon’s ideas are so piercingly relevant that it’s more comfortable not to teach them. He was a mercantilist, and he bequeathed us the “Cantillon Effect”, which like all the best theories is very simple: when money gets printed, those closest to it within the institutional structure get to skim the cream, and those farthest away get none. You can dress this up in economic jargon like differential inflation rates as money supply expands, but the basic message is “It’s good to be the King”, in those days, or today, “*I* Can, You Can’t(illon)”

Is it any wonder we have soaring asset prices at a time of mass unemployment? No! Because money is cascading out of our institutional structure, some are at the front of the queue, others at the back. (And some are outside in the rain.) Our present "solutions" are our problems.

That the BOE Governor just stated the UK government nearly went broke in March when his job is to ensure that can never happen is pure Cantillon. So are the excerpts from two recent articles below, both of which are sadly true:

The New York Times: “The Jobs We Need”

If income had kept pace with overall economic growth since 1970, Americans in the bottom 90% of the income distribution would be making an extra $12,000 per year, on average. In effect, every American worker in the bottom 90% of the income distribution is sending an annual check for $12,000 to a richer person in the top 10%.

The Onion: “Study Finds Gap Widening Between Rich Pets And Poor Americans”

“Since the 1970s, economic growth has slowed for all but a tiny fraction of Americans and their pets, such that not only are the vast majority of luxury goods much more available to these purebred dogs, cats, and chinchillas than the average person, rich pets enjoy lavish lifestyles that many US citizens could only dream of.” The report concluded by suggesting that the most viable path to prosperity for low-income Americans was becoming a wealthy family’s pet. [NB That conclusion is not too far away from former Fed Chair Yellen’s thesis that if only poor people had more assets they would be less poor.]

Of course, one can accept the Cantillon effect exists but that it has no negative impact on the economy. For example, if institutional money gets channelled into infrastructure and industrial mercantilism, it’s pro-growth - as we see today in China. However, it’s still a paradigm with a half-life unless market forces also dictate where the funds flow, or unless China can keep finding new foreign markets to absorb its perpetual over-supply. Which brings us back to the US Hong Kong Accountability Bill: try selling more goods when not only are tariffs rising, but your banks are under US sanction.

The other problem we face is when the Cantillon effect lifts some boats by so much more than others. That’s Piketty and Marx territory: is it any wonder we are hearing allegations of “Marxists!” being levelled today?

Things are absolutely worse when Cantillon devolves from doing something productive, and not (re)distributing the gains, to one where it does nothing. I am thinking of the recent run of UK government projects that suck up funds but produce no high speed railways or COVID-19 contact-tracing apps. Is this just bureaucratic incompetence,…or is it actually the Cantillon effect? Somebody is still getting all that money. As one UK radio talk-show host joked yesterday, why can’t the government pay him millions NOT to produce a contact tracing app, as it would be far cheaper? Perhaps his joke is missing the real (politik) point – not just in the UK but in a swathe of countries, including the US.

Meanwhile the other key real politik --the US pushing China into a corner globally and saying “*I* can, you can’t”-- continues to play out. There is that latest Hong Kong bill, and the Wall Street Journal reports the US is considering getting the federal government involved in 5G, perhaps even ‘persuading’ key US firms to buy key European rivals, to ensure that there is a “not China” rival to embattled Huawei. This is unlikely to see Beijing respond well.

Similarly, Berlin is not going to respond well if the US also pushes Germany into a corner too by trying to kill off the Nord Stream 2 pipeline via sanctions, which Bloomberg states is now expected and for which EU retaliatory measures are being prepared - like removing German troops that protect US territory?

The institutional structure is *really* going to have to step up the liquidity support to keep markets smiling, if so. Indeed, those kind of twin shocks would require so much ‘institutional structural support’ that a whole lot more people might ask: “Why Can’t-illon we get some of that good stuff too?”

[pixiealtaira]

In the Twilight Hour Alone

Hummel Holidays 2015 day 11:twilight

Kid Kurt fic: no pairing

Kurt Hummel was waiting, in what he considered a rather patient manner - although he was certain Mrs. Austin, the babysitter would disagree, for his father to come and get him. He was leaning his head against the window and Mrs. Austin was sure to make him clean it the next day, she always did. His dad was supposed to be early and they were supposed to finally be able to go Christmas Shopping.  But it was already twilight and full dark was fast approaching.  Oh, he knew that dark fell fast in winter but he also knew some stores closed at dark and it got cold at dark and so they wouldn’t be able to spend much time at the open farmer’s market if Daddy didn’t get here quick.

His dad had been late every night so far for the whole month…and last month and the month before that. His dad hadn’t been on time since he started being babysat by Mrs. Austin. Sometimes, his dad didn’t get there until past 8pm.  Kurt knew he paid Mrs. Austin extra so she wouldn’t stop watching him even though he was always late.  When they got home Kurt did his homework while his dad made dinner…Mrs. Austin refused to feed kids she watched or help with homework or even oversee their homework. Mrs. Austin had lots of things she DID NOT DO. At Mrs. Austin’s the kids she watched got off the school bus and then went into the backyard and played until the sun started to go down, or the playroom in the basement if it was too cold out. She came and watched the kids when fights happened or too much screaming occurred, but Kurt and the others were supposed to be nice and shut up and not cause problems. When the sun started to set then they all went to the main room and waited for their parents to pick them up, they were supposed to sit and read or sit and just be quiet and still. Most kids sat in the main room for less than a half hour.  Kurt’s dad was almost always the last to pick him up. The ride home was always the radio and set to his dad’s music. Then Kurt went to the table, set it, and pulled out his homework and his dad went to the kitchen.  When dinner was done his dad put some on Kurt’s plate and took his own off to the living room in front of the TV. As soon as Kurt finished his homework and was finished eating he put his dishes in the dishwasher and then went and bathed himself. Then Kurt was put to bed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d watched a movie or TV show he wanted. Mrs. Austin only watched game shows and news.  The only day that didn’t go wake, school, Mrs. Austin, eat late, sleep was Wednesday…and that was only because Kurt’s piano lessons were paid in full for the full year before his mom died and he missed so many during summer his teacher added those missed to the end so he was paid up until the end of March.  Miss Leanne picked him up from school even though his lesson wasn’t until 4pm and then dropped him off at the garage after piano.  She even fed him an afterschool snack. She asked how his day had gone.  Kurt loved Wednesdays.

His dad’s truck came around the corner just before he was about to give up hope.

Kurt rushed to the door and had his bag and coat together before his dad even left the truck. “Bye Mrs. Austin.  See you on Thursday!” Kurt yelled as he let himself out the front door and ran to his dad’s truck as it pulled up in front of Mrs. Austin’s house.

“And what if I had wanted to talk to Mrs. Austin?” Burt asked his 8 year old son as he climbed into the truck.

“Than you should have been early…or even on time.  Twilight is fading and the farmer’s market will close before we get there. There are only five more days of school before Christmas break starts, Daddy, and we have NOTHING to give anyone yet.” Kurt said.

Burt sighed and Kurt looked at his dad.  

“No.  Mr. Robinson at the very least deserves a gift this year. He has to make up work for me, Dad, because you chose not to listen to either him or me and I’m still repeating second grade even though I was ahead LAST YEAR!  All you had to do was go to the school board and get me tested when I ended up missing too many days.  WE told you I was completing my school work.  MOM told you I was completing my school work. But you let Mr. Johansen make an example out of me so no one would notice that he and HIS kids missed as many days as I did because he took THEM on Vacations!”

“Kurt, do not yell at me about this again.” Burt said in a warning tone.

Kurt just glared at his dad until Burt looked back to the road and asked “Ok, so who all do we need gifts for?”

“Have you sent anything to Aunt Mildred yet?” Kurt asked.

“I haven’t done anything.” Burt said.

“I know.” Kurt replied. “You do realize Santa comes soon, right?”

Burt huffed and Kurt nearly baked down.  But Kurt had backed down over everything and it was past six months and things had GOT TO get back to some sort of functionality soon.

Kurt sighed. “We need something for Aunt Mildred and her family. After all that is where I spent half the summer so you could ‘get it together’, even though I did come home with multiple injuries and everything I owned that I went there with ruined. Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Moore and Miss Little at the school and Mrs. Austin for babysitting. Miss Leanne needs a gift.  People at the garage. “

“And we have to go to the farmer’s market?” Burt asked.

Kurt glared. “If you had arrived at 3 like you said you would, and not during twilight, it would not have been a problem.  That was why I asked for today. I asked Mr. Roland for you to have this afternoon off. I asked your co-workers to get you out in time to hit the farmer’s market. Because you didn’t follow through on your own last week or the week before Thanksgiving, even when you said you would.”

“We’ll make it there.” Burt said.

Kurt just scowled.

The Farmer’s Market was lit up when they pulled into the parking lot, each different booth lined with small lights and inside bulbs turned on.  Kurt dragged his dad to a booth in the back first, one he’d heard about from Miss Leanne.  It sold ornaments and sun catchers mostly, but also held keychains and magnets.

Kurt picked out a suncatcher and a wooden music note ornament for Miss Leanne and Wooden Christmas ornaments in the shape of apples for his three teachers.  He was having a hard time picking out anything for Mrs. Austin, though. He picked up an extra wooden music note ornament…he was hoping on having that one for himself.

“I don’t think Mrs. Austin would want a music note.  Maybe she’d like a star or one of the candy canes, those are nice.” Burt said.  He took the second music note and put it back and handed Kurt one of the wooden candy cane ornaments.  Kurt glared but accepted the choice.  

“I thought we could get my teachers and Mrs. Austin some hot cocoa mixes as well. That would be a good gift and not too expensive.” Kurt said.

Burt nodded and paid for the gifts Kurt had chosen thus far.  As his dad paid, Kurt checked his pocket and the money he’d slipped into it.  He only had ten dollars and if he bought the ornament himself he’d only have 8 left to buy his dad a gift with.  Kurt sighed and looked at the music note ornament again before heading with his dad to the next booth.

It was almost completely dark by the time Kurt found the booth that sold chocolate stuff.  He picked out individual packets of flavored hot cocoa mixes for his teachers and Mrs. Austin, and his dad added hot cocoa mixes in tins for the people at the shop and his Aunt Mildred.  Kurt figured that was because his dad was done with being out shopping.  Kurt sighed. He found a box of chocolates that he could afford that he thought his dad would like and while his dad was paying he bought those.  He even had a few dollars left.  He darted into the stall next door while his dad chatted with the man selling him the cocoas and bought his dad a keychain.  It even had a wrench on it. Kurt was back standing by his dad before his dad even noticed he was gone.

His dad bundled them right into the truck as soon as they’d bought the hot cocoa mixes, not allowing them any more time to look around.  Kurt sighed and went with it.  At least he’d got his shopping done.  He knew where there was wrapping paper at home that had been tucked away at the end of the season last year and he’d just leave the gifts on the dining room table if his dad never got around to doing anything about Christmas at the house.

The house dark when they got home.  Kurt had forgotten to leave the dining room light on.  They were home earlier than they had been for ages though, so even though Kurt headed straight to the dining room table to do his homework and his dad went to make dinner there was a difference in the pattern. Everything was done much earlier and it was too early for Kurt to head to the bath and then off to bed when he was done eating and with his homework.  Instead Kurt went to the living room and sat down by his dad.

“Are there any Christmas shows on?” Kurt asked.

“I don’t know.” Burt answered. “I didn’t look for those in the TV schedule.”

“I’d like to watch something dealing with Christmas. It would be nice to see something Christmasy.”

“I don’t know why.” Burt said.

“So I could see someone enjoying the season and maybe find a little bit of seasonal joy somewhere.” Kurt snapped. “There isn’t any here.”

“We went Christmas shopping, kid. What more do you want?” Burt snapped back.

“Really dad?” Kurt said. “I’m going to go write a list for Santa.  I doubt he cares, either, but maybe he’ll at least pay attention enough to decide I was undeserving of anything.”

Kurt stalked off. He grabbed paper from his backpack and a pencil from the kitchen drawer so he didn’t leave his school pencil at the house.  As it was he only had school supplies because his teacher bought them for kids who didn’t have any and that meant he didn’t have much of anything.

He sat in the dining room. He remembered last year and how it looked.  Even though his mother had been sick, there had been garlands and lights up.  Music had played in the background while they baked. There had been a tree in the living room and Christmas shows played in the background while he and his mom wrapped gifts and wrote out cards and did crafts.

He had more than two pairs of long pants and they fit.  His shirts weren’t too small and he had a warm sweater, heck he’d had several. In fact he’d had a whole brand new ‘Christmas’ outfit so he’d have something to wear when they went to Christmas parties and Christmas programs and Christmas gatherings. He had a warm coat that was the right size and gloves and a hat. He had boots that fit and Momma had even taken him outside to make a snowman and snow angels and to go ice skating and sledding.

Everything seemed bright and shiny, not this pale grey nothing that he’d been living in since his mom died that was steadily getting darker and darker.  Not this echoing existence where he never seemed heard except by himself, especially at home.

Kurt remembered from somewhere that ‘things are always darkest before the dawn’, but he didn’t know how much darker things could get really before he was not going to be able to stand it anymore.

Maybe dawn only came when you made it come.  Kurt just knew he was sick and tired of this…this half life.

“Dear Santa,

I want someone to notice me and love me again.”

Kurt just knew that he was done, next year was not going to be like this, the rest of this year was not going to be like this.  Even if Kurt had to do it all himself.

Kurt stomped over to the drawer in the china cabinet that his mom had stored the cook books in. First things first, he wasn’t eating another chicken nugget at home for a year…which meant he had to do some reading.

[themoneybuff-blog]

A postcard from Europe: A mid-journey update on my travels

Greetings from Prague! I'm just over halfway through my European vacation, so I thought it'd be fun to share some of my adventures and to take a glimpse at the financial side of this journey. This trip is unusual for me because I'm traveling with a party of six. My cousin Duane has terminal cancer and wanted to see some more of the world while he still can. A few family members decided to join him. We're exploring Christmas markets as a group.

For the most part, Duane's health has been fine over the past two weeks. He tells me that he's felt great lately, and he's hopeful he has more life left in him than the doctors say. (Who knows? Maybe he and I can squeeze in another trip before his time on this Earth expires.) That said, he did have to take a short rest yesterday because he became dizzy and disoriented as we strolled the cobblestone streets of Prague. He's obviously not feeling 100%. Our group doesn't have a set agenda. We're merely moving from city to city, exploring the Christmas markets and other touristy delights. Often when I travel, I'm a traveler not a tourist. Right now, I'm a tourist. I wouldn't want to do this every trip, but I'm fine with it at the moment. General Impressions So far, we've been we've been to Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. I liked Vienna. I loved Budapest. But after 24 hours here, I'm ambivalent about Prague. I didn't like it at first, but the city is growing on me. I think one problem is our location. In the first two cities, we were a mile or two outside the downtown core. We stayed in residential neighborhoods. (In both cases, we were relatively close to university areas too, but that was pure chance.) We were directly across from metro stations each time, so it was easy to get where we wanted to go. Here in Prague, however, we're staying in the downtown core, which means we're immersed in the tourists. (Yes, I realize that we ourselves are tourists and thus part of the problem.) There's no escaping the crowds and commercialism because of our location. This is an interesting lesson to learn for the future: Stay close to downtown in popular cities but not in the downtown. If you're close to a transit station, it's plenty convenient to get where you want. The Christmas markets have been festive and fun. They remind me of Portland's Saturday Market, a craft market held every weekend in my home city. Vendors erect small stalls where they sell either food or wares. A lot of the stuff being sold at the Christmas markets is the same from stall to stall ornaments, winter clothing, jewelry, souvenirs but occasionally there are vendors with unusual items, such as cookie stamps, wooden toys, and hand-forged knives.

I'm more interested in the food stalls. In each individual city, these huts are similar to each other. But the food offered varies from city to city. Vienna food stalls sold wieners (wiener literally means Viennese), wurst, spaetzle, baked potatoes, toast with cheese, and roasted chestnuts. The drink vendors sold hot punch and glhwein. (Glhwein is mulled wine. It's very popular in Vienna.)Budapest food stalls sold paprika sausages Hungarians love their paprika! and pig knuckles and delicious goulash. The drink vendors also sold mulled wine and a variety of punch.Prague food stalls sell chimney cakes, fire-roasted ham, toasted cheese (with jam), and a sort of potato-onion dumpling dish. Here they sell mulled wine too, but they also sell hot mead and cold pilsner. (Pilsner comes from Bavaria, and it's available everywhere. I like the Czech word for beer pivo and I enjoy asking for it at the market: Pivo, prosm.)

The one factor our group failed to consider was the cold. Actually, we considered itbut not enough. We prepared for Oregon cold, not central European cold. (It didn't help that Duane emailed us from Paris to say that the weather wasn't as cold as we'd feared.) We all brought warm clothes, but each of us has had a turn getting chilled to the bone. One night in Vienna, I was the coldest I've ever been in my life. While the rest of the crew enjoyed ice skating, I made a brisk one-mile walk back to the flat so that I could take a hot bath. Everyone else has been equally cold at some point. I'm a little worried about Switzerland. The forecast low for when Duane and I arrive in St Moritz tomorrow night is -25 celsius (-13 fahrenheit). Holy cats!

Financial Considerations While I'm not pinching pennies on this trip, I'm doing my best not to be profligate either. It's interesting to see how my travel habits have changed over the past decade. I used to spend a lot to buy a lot. Now, I buy very little. What I do buy is mostly food. During my first trips to Europe almost a decade ago, I was very much a tourist as opposed to a traveler. I wanted to go to the tourist spots and to buy tourist goods. I talked to every tout. My compulsion to buy was very very strong. Even in 2010, after writing Get Rich Slowly for nearly five years, I had some bad habits with money when I traveled. I remember when my ex-wife and I landed in Venice, the first stop on our three-week tour of Europe in autumn 2010, I found a funky used bookstore. I bought fifteen pounds of books on the first day of our trip. I had to carry that weight with me for the next twenty days. On this trip, I've bought little despite spending hours and hours and hours in markets. (If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say I've spent sixty hours in Christmas markets. I've bought nothing but food. And glhwein.) In Vienna, I bought a t-shirt as a souvenir, and I bought a Christmas gift for my niece.In Budapest, I bought some warmer clothes and a Christmas gift for my ex-wife.I've bought nothing so far in Prague, although I expect to purchase a gift for Kim before we move on. We're spending little on transportation (aside from connections to various cities). We walk a lot about ten miles per day and we take advantage of the fantastic transit systems in each city. We're on our feet over twelve hours each day. As a train nut, I enjoy riding the subway. I was particularly enamored with the Budapest metro system. The stations are beautiful, especially the old M1 (opened in 1896, it's the oldest electrified underground in Europe) and the new M4 (whose stations feel like sets from a science-fiction film). We're not paying much for lodging either. Instead of spending $150 or $200 per night per couple on hotels (for a total of $450 to $600 per night), we're renting rooms through Airbnb. This costs us between $75 and $150 per night for the group. That's a huge savings!

Plus, renting flats gives us a tiny taste of what it's like to live as a local. For instance, my cousins have had to adjust to the idea that Europeans don't use clothes dryers; they use drying racks. The light switches and outlets are different. The instructions on appliances aren't in English. And here in Prague, our shower sprung a leak so we couldn't use it for a couple of days. (And our internet connection doesn't work, so I'm currently eating breakfast in a coffee shop so I can publish this article.) Our food expenses are hit and miss. Left to my own devices, I'd eat restaurant meals now and then but not often. When I travel, I like to buy a few groceries bread, meat, cheese, fruit, juice to keep in my room for breakfast and snacks. I grab a quick lunch in the afternoon, then maybe eat a sit-down dinner featuring local cuisine. This is relatively cost-effective. My cousins like eggs for breakfast, though, and they need their coffee. We're frequently starting the day in restaurants. (They can't always find their eggs, though, because egg breakfasts are much less common in Europe.) We frequently snack or lunch at the Christmas markets, which is less expensive than visiting restaurants, but our dinners are always restaurant meals. One big factor in our finances is currency exchange. Most places took credit cards in Vienna but not the stalls in the Christmas markets. In Budapest, most places did not accept credit cards. In Prague, it seems to be variable. As a result, we have to carry cash. Not every source of cash is created equal. Here's an example: We landed in Prague late in the evening. We needed some cash to buy tickets for transit (and to grab some food), so I offered myself up as sacrificial lamb at the airport. I was carrying 137 U.S. dollars, which I exchanged for roughly 2340 Czech crowns. The exchange rate was something like 1 to 19.2. Yesterday morning, my cousins pulled money from a bank ATM. They got an exchange rate of roughly 1 to 22.4. In other words, the airport cash exchange milked me for an extra 10%, which is a terrible deal. Lesson: When possible, never exchange money at the airport. (To be fair, I knew this already. In this case, though, I didn't have a choice. We needed some cash, so I sacrificed about $14 to get it.)

Meeting the Money Bosses I've had a lot of fun on this trip so far. I'm traveling in a very different way because I'm not the one deciding where we go when. My cousins are directing the decisions, and that's fine. It allows me to see how other people travel and what their priorities are. All the same, I do hope to return to these cities in the future to do some J.D. travel. My favorite city of the three so far has been Budapest and by a wide margin. I loved the history, I loved the culture, I loved the food, I loved the people. I have no doubt that I'll return for a more leisurely visit in the future (possibly as soon as August or October, the next two times I'll visit Europe). I feel like every vacation offers certain highlights that become the core memories I carry with me. Midway through this trip, I've enjoyed three five-star highlights, each of which was in Budapest. The Labyrinth One day, we walked across the Cable Bridge from Pest (on the east side of the Danube) to Buda (on the west side). We boarded a bus to the top of the hill, where we visited Fisherman's Bastion, which offers a stunning view of the city. (Click this image to view a larger version.)

The weather was sunny, clear, and cold. We ducked inside a coffee shop for a few minutes. When we emerged, it was pouring rain. There had been no indication (or forecast) that rain was imminent, so we were unprepared as was everyone else, tourist and local alike. We took refuge in the nearby labyrinth, a network of natural underground caves that, over the centuries, had been expanded by local residents. We toured the labyrinth for nearly an hour while we waited for the rain to subside. It was amazing! (But take my rave review with a grain of salt. I love caves. I visit them whenever I can. Others in our group were less impressed. Online reviews are mixed.) I enjoyed the caves themselves, of course, but also the history. The real-life Dracula Vlad the Impaler was supposedly imprisoned in the labyrinth for an entire year. Also, there's a section of the tunnels that's completely dark. It's pitch black. For maybe 50 meters, you make your way by feel. (There's a rope attached to the wall, if you want it.) So fun! Fun with Ferenc When we arrived in Budapest, we walked a mile from the train station to our flat. As we were puzzling out the intercom system, a man stepped up to me. Are you J.D. Roth? he asked. I was surprised. Yes, I said. He handed me a bottle of wine and an envelope with my name on it. My name is Ferenc. I read your blog, he said. Turns out, he had determined where we'd be staying based on an Airbnb screencap I shared a few weeks ago. He'd spent two hours parked in front of the flat, waiting for us to arrive. He gave us a warm welcome and some tips about his city. Here's a photo of me and Ferenc. I like this because it shows me carrying all of my luggage at the end of our walk. (You can't really see my backpack, though.) This is how I travel:

Later, I wrote to thank Ferenc. Thanks for greeting us. Do you want to grab coffee or beer? I asked. Sure! he said. I have to work all day today. Later, my son has a soccer game, then I have dinner with friends. But I could meet you at 23:30. I'm no longer a night owl plus I've had bad jet lag on this trip so this normally would be a no-go. But hey! This was a once in a lifetime experience, right? Ferenc picked me up in his Mini Cooper at 23:30. As we sped through the streets of Budapest looking at the beautiful lights, he told me about the history of Hungary and about daily life in Budapest. He drove me to his favorite viewpoints so that I could snap photographs. Then, when we were finished sightseeing, he took me to a ruin bar named Szimpla Kert, which was started by one of his friends from high school. Ruin bars are exactly what they sound like. They're pubs that have been built in hollow, decaying buildings. Instead of remodeling these spaces, as we would in the U.S., the Hungarians have left them in a state of decay. Inside, they've added bars and stages and dance floors and other pub amenities. They are very, very popular among Europeans.

Ferenc and I stayed out until nearly 03:00, drinking beer and chatting about life in our respective countries. (Naturally, much our talk revolved around personal finance.) To me, this experience is what travel is all about. It's not the Christmas markets that I love (although those are fun), nor the cathedrals nor the castles. It's connecting with real people and real life. A Morning with Vica

The next morning, I was up early. At 09:30, I met another GRS reader for coffee. Vica is a landscape architect who lives near Budapest's main train station. She is warm and funny and engaging. As we sat in the basement coffeehouse, she told me about life in Hungary and about her goals for the future. She shared the places she loves to travel around Budapest. When I complained about how cold I was, she volunteered to take me to a shop where I could buy a couple of quality items at reasonable prices. As we walked to our destination, she gave me a tour of the city. As a landscape architect, Vica seems fascinated by urban design. It was interesting to see things through her eyes. While we talked, she helped me understand more about the Hungarian language, which is quite difficult for native English speakers. Vica and I spent more than four hours walking across Budapest, and I enjoyed every minute of it. As I said, when I remember this trip in the future, it's my time with her and Ferenc that will come to mind first and foremost. I'm eager to meet up with other readers on this adventure. On Sunday, Matthias will join me and Duane for our ride on the Glacier Express across the Swiss Alps. I also have invitations to visit readers in Cologne and Luxembourg, although I'm still uncertain whether I'll be able to make those connections work. I hope to! Final Thoughts I've been in Europe for eleven days now, and I have nine days left on this trip. Four of my cousins fly home tomorrow morning. At that time, Duane and I branch off for adventures of our own. First, we'll fly to Switzerland to take the train ride through the Alps. All told, it'll take us three days of travel just to enjoy that eight hour trip. We'll spend very little time actually seeing Switzerland. On the surface, that's ludicrous. But because Duane and I both enjoy the process of travel, it's actually a worthwhile excursion. Plus, Matthias will join us with a bottle of whisky!Next, we'll spend a couple of days in Strasbourg, France, the ancestral homeland of the Roth family. Yes, we know there was just a shooting in Strasbourg that left three people dead. No, we're not worried. We were aware of the potential for terrorist attacks before we left for this journey and it didn't dissuade us. (I refuse to make fear-based decisions.) If anything, we feel that Strasbourg will now be safer than before. (True story: During the precise moment of the 2017 London Bridge attack, I was traveling on a subway train underneath the site. People were confused why the train bypassed the station. It became very clear later.)Finally, Duane will branch off to Munich and I willI don't know. I have three days and no plans. I have those invitations to visit GRS readers in both Cologne and Luxembourg. The offers are tempting. But I haven't yet seen anything of Germany, so I might simply make my way to Berlin (from which my final flight departs early on the 23rd). We'll see. As always, this travel has given me perspective on my life back home at Portland. It's made me more mindful of my daily habits and routines, made me think about the things I need to change in order to become a better version of me. I always find it fascinating the way comparing how I normally live to how others live in different countries can be such a transformative experience. Until I get home, this site will continue to host guest articles from some of my favorite people. I hope that you're finding them worthwhile. After Christmas, things will return to normal around here. Until then, I hope you're all staying healthy and growing wealthy. Happy holidays!

My biggest mistake on this trip? I grew a beard because I thought it would keep me warm. I always have a mustache and goatee, but I keep them relatively short. Now I have a full beard and I hate it. It itches. It makes me appear 69 instead of 49. And it gets in the way of my food and beer. There's a barber just outside our flat here in Prague. Once I publish this article, I may ask them to shave me.

Author: J.D. Roth In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals. https://www.getrichslowly.org/postcard-from-europe/

[wikitopx]

Our cinema has usually projected Vietnam as a nation where the US troops had to withdraw after a decade-long push and pull, and the country’s personal north-south conflicts.

True! but those days are gone now, and if you still think that it is a post-war wounded nation with absolutely nothing to exhibit, then we will change the way you think. This write-up is devoted to that, we will focus our learning on Hanoi with this read, it’s the second most populous city and also the capital of this nation. Several lakes, temples, pagoda, and also the military museums are worth a visit during the daylight, but below in this article, we will share with you a list of the best night markets in Hanoi. Stay with us, if you’re curious to know about them.

1. Weekend Night Market Hanoi

Crowded and crazy, that’s probably the best explanation for this Weekend Night Market in Hanoi. Hang Duong Street holds this colorful bazaar, and if you’re thinking about touring Hanoi someday, it’s our sincere suggestion that you plan the arrival before Friday so you wouldn’t miss out the fun. This market deals in every random item, so if you’re shopaholics it’s your paradise. Vietnamese food stalls will also be a thing to draw your attention, so better arrive starve.

Weekend Night Market Hanoi Address: Hang Dao Street, Old Quarter, Hanoi

2. Long Biên Market

This Asian wholesale produce market is held under a bridge, the first few vendors would come up at around 1:00 AM, and then this market will remain active until 7:00 AM. As it’s a wholesale market, there isn’t much of purchasable stuff for an individual, but roaming around at such place and clicking a hundred picture would be your once in a lifetime experience, some light refreshment stalls will also stay open throughout the night. The prime items of this market are fruits and flower, and by the sunrise, a few fresh meat sellers will also go live. This is a signature Vietnamese wholesalers market, but you can buy some items with the locals, like exotic fruits and vegetables. By the way, this street market is voted one of the seven best street markets in the world.

Long Biên Market Address: Under Long Bien bridge, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi

Opening hours: Midnight to sunrise everyday

3. Old Quarter's Night Market

Every weekend the local administrators would shut the vehicle entry in this area, and transform this already busy street of Old Quarter district into an electrifying night market. The market shall be so crowded in its peak that it would seem like everyone from Hanoi is walking with you, locals love this place and they have a reason. Because Old Quarter’s Night Market sells everything, and the rates are reasonable. However, it is possible that you will be quoted a higher price being an outsider, but bargaining is always an option. Anyway, this market looks endless, they have clothing and accessories, electronics, mementos, and also drink and dine area. If you really want to explore every inch of this night market, rent a bicycle.

Old Quarter's Night Market Address: Hàng Đào, Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi

Opening hours: Friday to Sunday 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM

4. Linh Nam - Hoang Mai Night Market

This interesting market is situated in Hoang Mai district, it’s popularly known for inexpensive purchasable, such as clothing, shoes, and cosmetics. Such stuff would be marketed for as cheap as 100,000 Vietnamese Dong here, which approximates only about 4 USD, of course the first quoted price would be much higher. During the daytime, vendors would sell fruits and vegetables at large, and as the sun sets the same stalls would be selling everything except vegetables. Dining is not a specialty of Linh Nam, thus you can come after finishing dinner, this night market would stay open after midnight.

Linh Nam - Hoang Mai Night Market Address: 317 Đường Tam Trinh, Hoàng Văn Thụ, Hoàng Mai, Hanoi

Opening hours: Daily, 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM

5. Phung Khoang Night Market

Located in Thanh Xuan district, Phuong Khoang Night Market is a small-sized bazaar in this city. It matches its characteristics with the Linh Nam and Dich Vong street, as this street would also hold vegetable vendors in the daylight, and as we will look at the Dich Vong in the next heading, Phung Khoang will also become a student targeted street after evening. All size denim jeans, footwear, belts, cosmetic, everything is inexpensive here. It’s not as crowded as another student bazaar, but you can expect a crowd during weekends.

Phung Khoang Night Market Address: Đồng Xuân, Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi

Opening hours: 6:00 AM - 10.30 PM

6. Dich Vong Night Market

Dich Vong Night Market is located in Cầu Giấy district, and it’s a famous student bazaar in this city, it’s a great place to shop as vendors are generous with the rates. The philosophy behind Dich Vong is named as a student market is because of the inexpensive rates with the items sold here. University students and the poor-class locals cannot pay much, but this market has every item of their need, from shoes, formal clothing, belts, bags and everything at the cheaper tag. All other random goods are also on the display, and tourists can shop for those souvenirs as well, but there will be nothing new. Be aware, this market is packed every night.

7. NHÀ Xanh - Cầu Giấy Night Market

NHÀ Xanh is another student-oriented market in Hanoi, and with this included, now we have three inexpensive markets on your list. This bazaar is also situated within Cầu Giấy district, which is why it’s only a walk away from the Dich Vong, visiting both the place for rate comparison will be handy. You will see all the similar inexpensive purchasable in this market, however, some even say that the price range of this market is even lesser than the previous two student market, visit and check by yourself.

8. Quang Ba Flower Night Market

Have you ever heard of a night market selling just flowers? Congratulations, you’re about to know one. Quang Ba is that rare species of night markets, which is also not just an after-evening kind of night market, but it actually functions entirely after midnight and everyone would be leaving for their home before the sunrise. There are hundreds of stalls, selling just too many flower varieties, thus this market will not be a stinking experience as you could imagine with an Asian street market. Leave your hotel room as early as 3:00 AM to have the best sights of it.

9. Bargaining is a way of life here

Although the products are varied, there is one thing which is common with all of such markets in developing nations, it is bargaining. The vendors usually do not keep a fixed rate chart, and even if they do, there is still a call for bargain session. The rest is all good with the Land of the Blue Dragon, the unemployment rate is also lower, and happy faces are everywhere. You will enjoy your Hanoi tour, that’s a promise.

10. Drink bia hoi at Beer Corner

Beer Corner is located at Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Although it is referred to as Beer Corner, it has become such a popular drinking spot for locals, expats and backpackers that its name should really be changed to Beer Street.

Ta Hien is already narrow enough but at night you’ll have to squeeze through the crowds of bia hoi enthusiasts to walk down the street or find your own drinking spot. Customers sit on mini plastic stools on the street for hours on end, but with 10 beers costing 50,000 – 70,000 VND (2.25 – 3.15 USD) you can understand why! Since you’ll be drinking bia hoi on the street outside of all the establishments, the specific bar you choose should not be much of a concern. Beer Corner is so busy that you’ll just need to grab a stool wherever you can find one! Plus, most establishments give you a plate of salty nuts for free, which of course encourages you to drink more bia hoi!

Read also: Top 9 things to do in Hue, Vietnam

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-see-in-hanoi-best-night-markets-704597.html

[bpellerin]

Oh yes, there is a price for everything, including “free” plastic

This didn’t make too many waves when it came out, but apparently the Ontario government wants to make producers responsible for Blue Box programs.

Yes, I fell off my chair, too. The Ontario government — the one led by Doug Ford — is doing something good for the environment? Hell’s bells.

But yay, you know. Well done.

Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said Thursday the transition will happen in phases starting in 2023 and be completed two years later.

Recycling rates in the province have been stalled for 15 years and as much as 30 per cent of materials currently put in Blue Boxes are sent to landfills, he said.

The program will encourage industry to change how it packages products to cut down on waste and would harmonize the 240 existing Blue Box programs, which each have their own lists of accepted materials.

“It’s clear the Blue Box program has become unsustainable,” Yurek said. “It costs municipalities and taxpayers millions of dollars a year and those costs are expected to increase by approximately $10 million a year after 2019.”

A government discussion paper released earlier this year said shifting the responsibility for the Blue Box recycling program to producers would save municipalities more than $125 million annually.

It’s interesting to read the comments on that piece, from people going straight to complaining about having to pay more for their products. Because — and on this point the commenters are essentially right — whenever governments force a cost onto corporations, the costs get passed down to the consumer. It’s funny that very few people mention the savings to municipal coffers, mind you, but never mind that for the moment.

What if… yes, what if the prospect of having to make consumers mad by raising prices prompted corporations to review how they package their products? What if, for instance, the makers of simple disposable manual toothbrushes realized they don’t actually have to encase each one of them in a hard plastic shell? Couldn’t there be a different form of packaging that wouldn’t be so hard to get rid of? And that would also be easier to open? (Ever cut yourself on these things trying to pry your ^%^#& toothbrush out of its plastic sarcophagus?) Couldn’t there be some kind of packaging that’s just as hygienic, easier to dispose of in an environmentally sound manner, and not really more expensive? I don’t know. But it’s worth investigating.

Or take Costco. We all love to hate Costco. It’s great for bargains, but the crowds, sheesh. And my goodness, do you ever buy loads of plastic along with your bags of noodles and crates of water bottles. Everything you buy there is bundled because you get better deals when you buy three of everything. So each package is wrapped, then the bundle itself is wrapped to make sure you have enough ketchup to survive the next ice age. And that’s nothing: If you look up, to the top shelves, you’ll see pallets full of bundles, triple wrapped in yet more plastic. It’s nothing but giant cubes of cellophane up there. I get that having everything tightly encased like that makes it easier to store and move products around the warehouse, which contributes to Costco’s ability to sell us stuff cheaper. But at what cost to the environment? They even sell bananas in plastic bags. Bananas. The fruit famously wrapped at birth.

Do this experiment for me next time you do your shopping at Costco. When you get home, unwrap everything down to individual packages. Make a pile of the wrapping material you now need to dispose of. Does this seem like a good deal to you? Wouldn’t you feel better if you didn’t have this mound of plastic to get rid of?

True, if suddenly Costco was made responsible for the disposal of all this packaging, it might affect the price we pay for noodles at the cash. Unless, of course Costco turned around and insisted its suppliers start sending their products wrapped differently. Costco is a big buyer. I’ll bet you when it asks its suppliers something, they do their best to comply because otherwise, some other noodle company is going to take advantage of this situation and get its ravioli on those shelves.

Retail Council of Canada CEO Diane Brisebois said retailers are embracing the change because it has become a global trend.

Increasing consumer complaints about the amount of packaging and how to dispose of it also played a role, she added.

“They are hearing customers saying they want to use less, why is there this much packaging? Why can’t I recycle this?” she said.

And here I wanted to put in a little plug for Farm Boy. In response to customer demands they have increased their offering of loose produce. You can buy kale in packages, or not. Loose carrots or bagged carrots. You have a lot more variety than you used to, if what you’re looking for is fruits and veggies without plastic. That’s just good business. Try to satisfy your customers by listening to what they say they want. It’s so simple it almost hurts.

Maybe you enjoy shopping without having to think about any of this. That’s fine. But the plastic packaging still costs something to someone, even if it’s recyclable, and right now the customers who purchase it pass along the cost of disposal onto someone else, which isn’t especially nice. Making that cost more visible to those who usea the products is a big step in the right direction.

[click2watch]

Stable Times at Circle: A Crypto Startup Counted Out Is Riding High

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As I walked from my car to Circle’s offices in Boston on a Friday afternoon in early November, the sun appeared to have already set, even though it would be up a while longer – past 4:00 p.m.

The weather was gray, windy and cold – above freezing, but only because it was due to rain biblically for the entire drive back to New York. If a bright orange parking ticket wasn’t already fluttering on my windshield, it would be soon. Oh, and bitcoin was down two-thirds from its peak less than a year beforehand, with further to fall.

Winter – crypto winter, winter winter – had arrived.

But Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s co-founder and CEO, didn’t seem to care. Asked if crypto market conditions had affected Circle’s business, he gestured to his co-founder and Circle’s president, Sean Neville. “Yeah, clearly, Sean’s wearing black.”

Everybody laughed.

Of course, one doesn’t weather a crash like 2014 – or 2008 or 2001, for that matter (Circle, founded in 2013, is not Allaire’s first rodeo) – without a bit of “bear market? what bear market” swagger. But there may be more than that to Allaire’s insistence that “the bubble deflates, but you actually have brought an enormous amount of capital and talent into the space, and innovation continues.”

Despite being a year of decline for the crypto sector as a whole, 2018 was a banner year for Circle.

In February the company acquired Poloniex, a troubled exchange whose reputation Circle is working hard to rehabilitate, for a reported $400 million. The following month it launched Circle Invest, a product that allows users to buy and sell 12 (at the time of writing) of the most well-known cryptocurrencies.

In May Bitmain, the China-based crypto mining hardware manufacturer, led a $110 million Series E investment in Circle, which valued the company at nearly $3 billion. At the same time, Circle announced that it would issue a dollar-linked stablecoin, USDC, to compete with the beleaguered incumbent, Tether.

Circle began issuing USDC in September, and Coinbase joined the Circle-led initiative behind the coin, Centre, the following month.

And finally, also in October, Circle signed a deal to acquire SeedInvest, a platform that lets companies raise equity from retail investors through crowdfunding, using an exemption from the 2012 Jobs Act.

Nothing about raising boatloads of money or jumping into multiple lines of business guarantees success, of course. ConsenSys, an ethereum-focused startup and incubator that recently announced layoffs and a strategy overhaul, is a cautionary tale in this sense.

But Circle has already been chastened by a long retrenchment, unlike the un-wintered ethereum ecosystem. In 2017, the year retail piled into crypto and seemingly every media outlet on the planet stoked the mania, Circle was mostly MIA – if a bit less so than most people realize. Meanwhile, Coinbase ate its lunch.

In 2018, however, Circle got back in the game. And if its timing meant a missed opportunity in the Year of FOMO (to be fair, Circle was still “meaningfully profitable” in 2017), that’s OK. Allaire has a longer timeline in mind: “it’s probably going to take 10 to 20 years to realize all these ideas,” he said, “but in the end, it literally can change the world.”

And by that, he means, “you could reconstruct the whole financial system on top of this.”

Sitting it out?

Almost exactly five years before I spoke to Neville and Allaire, Circle entered the world with a bang. The company’s $9 million Series A was the largest ever for a bitcoin company (this was before there was any “crypto” to speak of outside of bitcoin).

Allaire had just moved from CEO to chairman at his latest venture, the video platform Brightcove, and his goal with Circle was “making bitcoin extremely easy for consumers and merchants to adopt.”

That would prove easier said than done. The dream of merchant adoption faded, but Circle persevered. It completed a hard slog towards regulatory compliance, becoming the first company to win a BitLicense from New York state’s notoriously finicky Department of Financial Services.

It also won approval from British regulators, which allowed users of its flagship payments app, Circle Pay, to send money between the U.S. and Britain using bitcoin as a bridge. But as with merchant adoption, bitcoin’s promise of basically free, basically instant cross-border payments also proved illusory.

Meanwhile, Venmo was doing very well without any blockchain, thank you. And a focus on bitcoin – that first, clunky implementation of the “underlying technology” blockchain, in the emerging narrative – well, that was just quaint.

Allaire and Neville appear to have agreed. “You can find all kinds of stuff about us saying things that were critical of bitcoin,” Allaire told me recently, referring back to 2016. “That the developers weren’t moving, that innovation had stagnated, that a lot of the ideas that were important in this ecosystem weren’t happening.”

By mid-2016, Allaire was downplaying bitcoin’s role in Circle’s mission, saying the firm “was not positioned as a bitcoin thing, it was [about] making money work.”

“We tried to define the product around instant money,” he told CoinDesk at the time, “and underneath it was bitcoin.”

Allaire presents ‘Bitcoin’s Mainstream Moment’ at Bitcoin2014.

And then at the end of that year, bitcoin went from underneath to more underneath. In December 2016 Circle removed the ability for customers to buy and sell bitcoin, and to send it to other bitcoin addresses, using Circle Pay (customers who held bitcoin could still keep it in the app or convert it to fiat without charge).

That left the way open for Coinbase to take full advantage of a hype cycle that was – though few at the time could have guessed it – only six months away.

When I spoke to him in November, though, Allaire stood by the “heresy” that bitcoin had stalled out, arguing that “now everyone sort of acknowledges that it was all true.” Of course, he allowed, “there are still maximalists.”

Or biding time?

Yet that’s not the whole story. Circle did not abandon bitcoin. For one, cross-border payments on the Circle Pay app still used bitcoin, by way of a hazily defined new technology Circle spoke about at the time, called Spark.

More importantly, though, at least in retrospect, Circle maintained the trading operation it had built to power Circle Pay.

“What a lot of people don’t realize,” Allaire said, “is that starting in 2014, we started to become one of the largest buyers and sellers and traders of bitcoin in the world.” That business grew in 2014, 2015 and 2016, he added. And of course, in 2017, it grew “like crazy.”

“So while we turned off for a period of time the ability for the average retail individual person to be able to access and get bitcoin using Circle’s consumer product,” he said, “we were actually one of the biggest and still remain one of the biggest buyers, sellers, traders and market makers in the world, not just bitcoin but in all the major digital assets.”

Sean Neville onstage at Consensus 2018.

Despite its radio silence, in other words, Circle did not really miss out on the crypto boom.

And in a way, the out-of-control growth the industry experienced in 2017 provided Circle with rare opportunities to rebuild its crypto offerings.

First, one of its trading desk’s biggest customers was looking for help. Poloniex, a Boston-based exchange created by altcoin miner Tristan D’Agosta, hit – as Allaire put it – “a lot of the constraints that happen when a business grows really, really fast.”

In 2017, as token projects were proliferating and customers were flocking to the exchange, the relatively small team at Poloniex was having trouble keeping up on multiple fronts: operations (maintaining crypto wallets, for example), regulation (the SEC’s dim view of many token projects was becoming increasingly clear), customer service (there was a backlog of 185,000 open customer service tickets) and compliance (such as conducting know-your-customer [KYC] checks).

It was all too much to handle, and the exchange began talking to Circle about being acquired. Which was convenient, because as Neville told CoinDesk, “we had imagined much more of a broader marketplace for all kinds of assets that can be tokenized,” though they “didn’t necessarily decide to build that right away, in 2016 or 2017.”

Following the Poloniex acquisition, Circle has such a marketplace. And while the company has work to do to rehabilitate the exchange’s image, Allaire says they’ve made progress: open customer support tickets are down to 2,000, KYC checks are in place, a number of tokens have been delisted, and regulators are reportedly less keen on pursuing Poloniex for potential violations of securities law.

Another opportunity presented itself in the form of the ICO boom, which served as a sort of proof-of-concept for a form of crowdfunding Allaire and Neville are now planning to offer: sales of securities – such as debt and equity – to retail (that is, non-wealthy) investors.

The issue, of course, is that unless they register with regulators and comply with burdensome disclosure rules, companies are not allowed to issue securities to retail investors – only to “accredited” (read, “rich”) ones. That’s the crux of many token issuers’ current predicament: they may have broken the law by conducting unregistered securities offerings.

There’s a relatively obscure exception to those rules, however, which was passed as part of the 2012 JOBS Act but not implemented until 2015. It allows companies to raise limited amounts of capital from ordinary investors, providing an avenue to conduct what amount to compliant ICOs.

Yes, you can actually buy this crypto card and own it forever.

“It’s slightly different from … crowdfunding, slightly different from something like token sales that we saw last year – it’s a maturation of both in a new direction,” said Neville. To provide a platform for these security token offerings, Circle has signed a deal to acquire SeedInvest, a platform built around the Jobs Act exemption that already – as an “alternative trading system” – has the necessary regulatory approvals.

“Businesses can issue these digital tokens that may, in fact, be securities, and that’s OK,” Allaire said. “It’s not like a scary thing. A security is just a way to ensure that investors have some protections.”

Finally, the grinding saga of Tether – a wobbly “stablecoin” with nearly $2 billion in outstanding issuance – proved two things: that crypto traders want fiat-linked blockchain tokens, and that their go-to left much to be desired.

USDC (what eventually came of the “Spark” initiative) is Circle’s answer to that demand, and the coin has also been adopted by Coinbase as its stablecoin of choice.

Tokenize the world

A year ago, Circle’s product suite was an odd, barbell-shaped contrivance. The company had, as Neville put it, “Circle Pay at the extreme consumer end of the spectrum – people using crypto and they don’t even know they’re using crypto.”

At the other end, the company had “this sort of high-touch, high-value trading system, OTC that enabled that thing to work.”

To fill the “big gap” in the middle, the company created a retail investment product not unlike Coinbase’s. But the rollout of USDC and the acquisitions of Poloniex and SeedInvest do more than fill out a lopsided product offering. They point to a lofty ambition to create “a radically more open, global and inclusive financial world,” as Allaire put it.

Allaire kicks off day one at the BitFin conference in July 2014.

In a world of tokenized – well, everything – Allaire said, “an individual in one part of the world can not just send and receive value, but can enter into economic arrangements with other individuals over the internet without an intermediary.”

People could tokenize not just debts and equities and claim on cash flow, but contractual relationships – “all mediated by code on blockchains over the internet.”

“The level of economic integration that becomes possible on a global basis,” Allaire said, “is just staggering. And so for us, we’re just excited to create the platforms and markets and tools to let people take advantage of that.”

That “tokenization” has so far enabled little more than the creation of probably-immutable, probably-non-confiscatable cat-themed collectibles – is beside the point. “It’s sort of like in the early 90s saying, here’s all the websites that are out there, this is it, we’re done, the web’s done,” Allaire said.

Circle has capital, live products, experience and ambition – none of which guarantees success. But even if tokenizing the world falls flat, the company has proven the ability to survive a bad bet in the past, and go on to thrive.

Facilitating the adoption bitcoin – or whatevercoin – for day-to-day purchases will be some other firm’s coup if anyone ever manages it. Circle, for its part, has moved on.

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Art by CryptoKitties (@CryptoKitties)

Photos by David Floyd for CoinDesk

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