#yes i made another text divider this one has a BOAT

[sailing-through-hawkins]

ANOTHER WIP GAME LET'S GO tagged by @xenon-demon thank you kindly o((>ω< ))

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We're posting progress here. If you haven't made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you've posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That's it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

✧wips⁠✧

1. Eddie Gets Isekai'd 2. kitty!!! 3. Wonderland AU (yes i know i said i'd share it before shh, it's fine) 4. MOTHMAN

✧a snippet from the wonderland au (which is a steddie/buckingham fic)✧

It's something out of a Lovecraftian erotica writer's wet dream. A giant, fluorescent blue mushroom, for one thing, with a man lying languidly across it. Except it isn't just a man, because while Eddie can see the upper half of a human, the bottom half is definitely some kind of bizarre (and kinda gross) caterpillar thingy. It's - well, it's fucking bizarre.

"Argyle, the Cheshires have changed the woods again," Robin says to the giant half-caterpillar, half-man because haha, Eddie should have known things would get wild and wacky! He does not appreciate this. He is not high enough for any of this. "Do you know the way back to the gardens?"

The man-pillar - oh nope, not thinking about that, trying that again.

The cater-man gives them both a lazy smile, taking a deep hit from the pipe in his hand, and leans down from the mushroom. He exhales a ring of brightly coloured smoke directly onto Robin's clipboard as one of his arms (of which he has fucking several) comes down and points to something on it.

"Should be good to get you where you need to go," Argyle smiles at them both, before moving himself back onto the mushroom. He gives them many, many waves with a cheery, "Say hi to Jonathan for me, won't you, Bob?"

Robin sighs, one of her ears (her fucking rabbit ears) twitching, and thanks him before brusquely walking away. Eddie has to scramble to keep up with her, holding his tongue when he hears her muttering nothing but curses and swears as she stares down at her clipboard (which apparently has a map now? How the fuck does this place work?)

"So..."

"Don't start with me," Robin cuts him off with a glare, her ears twitching yet again. Are they soft? Could they pack a punch? "It's bad enough Steve and I couldn't co-ordinate this week, and then you drop in way, way behind schedule, do you have any idea how long Nancy is going to use her 'I'm disappointed in you' face on us?! It is not pleasant -"

"Woah," Eddie says because he's honestly offended at the idea that any of this was his choice. "Hey, I never asked to be sucked down some sort of warp hole and into fucking cloud cuckoo land! I'm still half-convinced I'm on a really bad trip -"

But that's when he hears it. A voice close by, soft and sweet and lovely and oh fuck, oh it has to be -

"Chrissy?!" Eddie calls out, stopping in his tracks to scope out the enormous trees around them. "Chrissy, is that you?!"

"What are you doing?" Robin hisses, grabbing and tugging at his arm. "We're supposed to be -"

"Eddie?" And oh glorious day of days. that beautiful voice replies back to him from a distance. "Oh my god, Eddie?!"

Without hesitation, Eddie runs towards the voice and prays to whatever fucked up god lives here that he finds her.

and of course, no pressure tags for:

@unamusing-s @a-little-unsteddie

[some-dr-writings]

Gundham x shy reader who asks for kisses

·       Gundham always found himself enjoying his time with you, you were by far one of his greatest companions in this life. With how shy and meek you seemed to be when you first met, he never thought someone like you would become his partner, he always imagined that if he were to find one they’d be more outwardly bold, yet he fell for you.

·       Time and time again he had seen you try to approach others only to back out, running away in the end. It seemed you might have had a social anxiety of sorts, there had been several times where he had happened upon you after running, leaning against a wall breathing heavily, telling yourself that everything was alright. It was a rather pitiful state to find a person in, Mikan for as… flighty as she was could at least stammer out a few words to people if they talked to her, you on the other hand ended up just blabbering nonsense.

·       Well he thought what you spoke was gibberish till one day he found a little tablet on his desk. Curiously he turned on the device and was met with a box of text. “In a fairy tale kingdom far, far away peoples anxieties exist as monsters who follow them around. Tired of their monsters getting in the way of making friendships a shepherd and riddle solver devise a plan to meet without their anxieties. A river divides their lands and in that great river, a single, small island. There they would meet. First they would capture their anxieties and meet on the island in case they escaped to still be away from them. The shepherd successfully captured his monsters but the riddle solver failed, and more monsters were born of the failure, the riddle solver now having “hopelessness”. Can you get the shepherd and the riddle solver to the island? There are several conditions to this however. 1, no monsters can be with the shepherd and the riddle solver on the island, 2, with every trip the boat makes across the river another monster will find the riddle solver, the shepherd’s monsters will find him every other turn, 3, if the shepherd or the riddle solver are with 5 of their monsters they will be consumed and it’s game over, 4, if the shepherd or riddle solver are left with their monsters for three turns they will be consumed by anxiety and it’s game over, 5, the boat needs two people to row it they can be human, monster or both, but the river is too powerful for only one to move the boat”

·       Tapping the screen he was greeted to a picture on a person on each side of a river, one of them with a black creatures beside them as well as a boat, and island in the middle of the river. There were also buttons at the top labeled “rules and “hints” and such. The style seemed to be like a picture book. After some tapping around he learned the controls and intrigued by whatever this exactly was he played along. Eventually he found a way for them to meet, but it took much trial and error, and was certainly not helped by the fact he refused to check the hints. In the end when he did beat it he was instructed to leave the tablet in between specific books in the library.

·       The next day on his desk he found that tablet again, this time with a new game in it and once beaten, instructed him to hide it in the library once more. Over and over this went on.

·       Once more he had solved the mystery of the new game, however he found the library was about to close. Not wanting to have to wait another day for another fun game he and his devas raced for the library. Though everyone was being ushered out Gundham charged through, bolting straight for the appointed section, the crossroads between mathematics and history. There he spotted you, pulling out a book then looking in between books, sliding them over, a tablet exactly like the one Gundham held in hand tucked under your arm. “… Excuse me-” A high pitched squeak sound escaped you as you flipped around, looking to the Dark Overlord, dropping your tablet in the process. “A-ah, oh, uh, h-hi- uh ummm, hamster squeaking, lost, find the-” Then you ran, leaving behind your tablet. Turning it on Gundham found the new mystery had to do with a woman dying and her sister getting her pet hamsters but the person who was to deliver the hamsters to her lost them in a pet store, and though the sister never saw the hamsters before, she could recognize them by their squeaks always hearing them in the background of her video calls with her sister, and the mystery was to figure out which hamsters made which squeaks in the giant group of them.

·       “Hmm, so the hiding soul speaks riddles…”

·       After the encounter Gundham did research on you, he didn’t know your name or talent, but since Hope’s Peak attendees were always a hot topic on the internet he was sure he could find something on you and that he did, Y/N the Super High School Level Enigmatologist.

·       “Hint.” “AH! Oh, uh, huh?” Before you could panic you were consumed in confusion seeing the dark brooding man before you, holding your latest puzzle before you. It was on the hint page, strange since he had never used the hints before. “Your words fall on deaf ears. Extract the meaning of this!” “… uh… n-new hint? Okay.” And so you began mumbling to yourself about the puzzle, while trying to not give away the answer till you came up with a new hint. Then after Gundham had solve it and was given a new puzzle to solve, he insisted that you give him a new hint again, then again with the next puzzle. Every time there after he came to you, asking for a new hint.

·       Gundham was rather intrigued by you, who found comfort in puzzle solving, getting lost in finding solutions to strange problems. He was willing to help meet you half way across the river, secluded on an island with you, away from the monsters that consumed you anywhere else, he wanted to get to know you without them in the way.

·       He rather liked so much about you, how passionate you were about your craft, going on rants about it for hours, your willingness and even enthusiasm to learn about his passions, how despite your anxieties you always tried your damnest to become a better person and push through them, how you never were confused by his words, always understanding him, how that even extended to his body language and understanding his boundaries on touch.

·       You were a rather logical sort even if your emotions of fears tended to get the best of you. It was only natural since you always were working on puzzles. Even emotions to an extent were logical to you. You saw everything, even yourself as a puzzle to be solved, and so often times the solution to aches and pains was affection. Usually you’d ask Gundham what he thought of you, knowing you’d only receive honesty which was mostly praise. Eventually after a long time you would get to hold hands or hug.

·       It was a rather lazy, sleepy day, it was just so peaceful, before Gundham knew it the day had already passed and it was past dinner time. “Hmm? Y/N?” Usually you’d have come to see him by dinner, but it seemed you never showed up. Did something happen? Sitting up from his desk he found his devas before him. “Ah, so you know where my mate hides?” He slowly got up following him companions.

·       “… the closet?” They simply sniffed at the door, and cautiously he opened it. “Ah!” You sat on the floor, curled up in a ball, cowering in the corner silently. It… had been a very long time since Gundham had last seen you in such a state, it had taken him aback for a moment and there he stood, his mind blank. “G-gundham… affection ple-please.” Your voice cracked and wavered, your breathing ragged. And hearing it almost brought tears to the Ice Lord’s eyes. Did… did you have a panic attack, and he never noticed? Why else would you sound so wreaked?

·       He slinked into the closet, closing the door behind himself before sitting beside you. Taking a deep breath, he took one of your hands into both of his own, squeezing it tightly. “Of course my Emperor, one who unravels the world, who reveals the truth behind veils of deceit. How could I not? You who takes my heart each and every moment, you who I cherish so dearly, you who is so cunning, what possible words could I have other than praise and love?” He felt how tight you squeezed his hand, how you trembled. He was not sure this would be enough this time, he had failed to be by our side when you needed it most.

·       “… My Emperor. Would you be so kind as to unravel my next words?” “… a riddle?” “Yes. Would you solve my riddle?” “o-okay.” “I… I, uh…” Preferably Gundham wanted to come up with a good riddle, one that you would have to think on for a long time, but he doubted he could come up with one. You had asked for affection so maybe… “I am… I am one action that can only ever be shared by two at a time. I am a way to show love. I am… uh… I am-” “A hug?” “…” Slowly Gundham wrapped his arms around you. “I am… something Gundham has never shared with you before.” “Huh? Something……… a kiss?”

·       Damn it. Gundham thought the darkness would make this easier but it only made him more anxious. Placing his hands on your shoulders, he clutched them in a tight grip. Okay! He could do this! He could hug you, and this was less contact than a hug, so he could do this!

·       “of course… someone as brilliant as you could solve my twisted words.” Leaning into you, he felt as if his heart were trembling. Even in darkness he closed his eyes. He tenderly pressed his lips to your forehead for a few moments before somehow managing to loosen the grip on our shoulders, though his fingers were still tense. Slowly he traced them up your neck as he pressed his lips on the bridge of your nose. Finally his hands stopped, cradling your head in them, allowing him to easily kiss your cheeks.

·       “P-perhaps… we can… prepare a meal for ourselves and by the time we’re finished I’ll have come up with an even more confounding riddle for you.”

[gmebackup]

psychology 2 Electric boogaloo

So yesterday I posted about the psychological aspects of the entire stock craze.

Today I want to go a bit more in depth of how PSYOPS (psychological operations) normally work for military, but also how they apply to us today. if someone wants me to go in depth on how psyops is used on businesses feel free to let me know I'll do some research and post here

There is a certain order when it comes to PSYOPSIn order to create a successful PSYOP the following must be established:

1  clearly define the mission so that it aligns with national objectives   2  need a PSYOP estimate of the situation   3  prepare the plan   4  media selection   5  product development   6  pretesting - determines the probable impact of the PSYOP on the target audience   7  production and dissemination of PSYOP material   8  implementation   9  posttesting - evaluates audience responses   10 feedback

Before these steps can occur, intelligence analysts must profile potential targets in order to determine which ones it would be most beneficial to target. In order to figure this out, analysts must determine the vulnerabilities of these groups and what they would be susceptible to.

The analysts also determine the attitudes of the targets toward the current situation, their complaints, ethnic origin, frustrations, languages, problems, tensions, attitudes, motivations, and perceptions, and so on. Once the appropriate target(s) have been determined, the PSYOP can be created. this is the basic outline of how a PSYOPS work, now lets compare that to the entire GME situation

this is the basic outline of how a psyop works, now lets compare that to the entire GME situation

1 they need to find out what we think/feel and find our weakness.

this is the most simple one as we work in plain sight and let everyone see our DD

2 Can they pull this off? can they create FUD and divide our ranks?

Also easily yes

3 the plan:

Divide and conquer, make them doubt themselves and show their comrades are not as brotherly as they imagined.

4 the Media selection is also fairly easy to fill in

modern news media, meaning TV, newspapers, and reddit itself. We���ve all seen the people on tv saying we are idiots, we are dumb etc etc News article after news article stating that it’s over And here is the only one that may have actually shown to have some effect: other users Other users saying we missed the boat, other users showing their “gains” and using others to turn against each other. 5 Product development See how well it’s doing so far? 6 pretesting Can and will these things affect us? Yes and no, the media didn’t work as we could see the facts were skewed across the board, and they are still using short ladder attacks so… no Having other users spread doubt… Yes, this has worked for some people. 7 product and dissemination Normally this is where (if it was used by a military operation) it would be implemented, but due to time constraints I believe they started right after the “planning” phase in 3 8 Implementation Putting it to use, again I believe the implementation begon at point 3 9 posttesting Evaluation of the audiences response, do they react and how do they react 10 feedback If it works, at which points, if it doesn’t where and why? This last one is very easy, noticed how all mainstream news died off about the negativity towards GME BB AMC and NOK? But how the influx of new users on WSB become more prevalent? This is because they knew we didn’t give a fuck about the mainstream media, we cared about our brothers in arms.

Now with knowing some of the basics lets do a quick and dirty analysis of all of this, From end of 2020 to about 18-01-2021 the sentiment was positive. At this date we saw a wide range of implementation of the media. And everyone was saying we were stupid etc etc. Hell we even got a billionaire to cry on tv

This negative attention seemed to only bolster us in our conviction that we were and are correct in what our DD has lined out for us.

Ok so the main media networks don't work, What does?

Ok so the main media networks don't work, What does? Well lets use their main tools (reddit) against them. And what did we suddenly see since the 27th/28th? Suddenly the mod team changes, and this is very important because if you control the people who control the board you control the narrative, skewing it from positive to negative. (as we’ve seen a lot of people getting their positive posts deleted, their DD deleted etc etc) We also seen a massive influx of bots, negative posters, people showing their “gains” And this seemed to work so they stuck with it. Now look at these last paragraphs and compare them to a normal Psyops mission. Do you think they kind of align a lot? Good because this is what we have been using since as long as we can remember Some real world examples of things like this being implemented are for example: The Gleiwitz incident Hitler invaded Poland, took control of their radio tower and made it seem like Poland attacked Germany, this way he could “retaliate” without any repercussions at the time. As he was only defending his country.

Operation Bodyguard A plan to mislead the Germans during WW2 to make them think the time and place of the invasion (D-day) would take place at another time and date then it did. There are a lot of WW2 examples but I think it’s more prudent to focus on modern day as this was the beginning of modern psyops, but it has evolved a lot since then. To most people when you say “PSYOPS” they think of Vietnam, and rightly so as here we were starting to use more and more psychological methods. First off this is a very interesting read; http://www.psywarrior.com/VietnamCommanders.htmlAnd for the people who think PSYOPS are no longer used, they are and they’re still recruiting; https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/special-operations/psyop/psyop-history.html

Vietnam;

The Phoenix program; The program was designed to identify and destroy the Viet Cong via infiltration, torture, capture, counter-terrorism, interrogation, and assassination. The CIA described it as "a set of programs that sought to attack and destroy the political infrastructure of the Viet Cong". The Phoenix Program was premised on the idea that infiltration had required local support from non-combat civilian populations, which were referred to as the "political branch" that had purportedly coordinated the insurgency.

Operation Wandering soul; Now this one is actually one that is pretty fucked up in my book, this was an OP that screwed with their heads on such a level this one should be criminal.

The VC believed at the time that the dead should be buried at home or else the soul was stuck wandering the earth aimlessly, sounds fairly normal if you believe in those things. But then the US was like “they aren’t at home right? What if we play distorted human sounds and zombie like sounds to fuck with them”. This is the gist of what happened

Check this site out for more on OP Wandering soul: http://www.psywarrior.com/wanderingsoul.html

Now to keep this a bit shorter I will give you a couple of operation names here which you can research if you want, they are important in this grander thing but or else this post would turn into another thesis on PSYOPS. Operation CHIEU HOI Operation MOCKINGBIRD (highly unclear of the scope but it does reflect a lot of what we see today in the ways of media manipulation) Operation FIELD GOAL (leaflet drop mission, much like the recent “GAINS” posts as it has the same effect, either you get convinced the squeeze is squoze or you lose morale)

Modern day(desert storm to now)

Gulf war Banknotes; This one is a very good one, as they used banknotes which had some added text to it, sounds innocent enough right?Nope this one was one of the more effective ones they used in desert storm/shield.http://www.psywarrior.com/GulfWarBanknotes.html

Give it a read because it’s too good to just give a small synopsis here.

Command Radio Solo over Iraq Because Iraq was still a technologically lagging country back then they used radio to give out propaganda, again using mainstream media to push their idiology.http://www.psywarrior.com/CommandoSoloIraqScripts.htmlThis page has everything on it, including the scripts they have used at the time.

Some other golf war things to look into:

http://www.psywarrior.com/Iraqleaflinks.html

Compare those to the disinformation we are receiving when it comes to gains and why we should sell.

Operation OBSERVANT COMPASS 2003 initially an op to get Joseph Kony and to end the “lord's resistance army in central afrika.

Toppling of Saddam Hussein statue Arguably the most visible image of the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the toppling of a statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in central Baghdad. Allegations that the event was staged have been published.

It is claimed it was actually an idea hatched by an Army psychological operations team. Allegations surfaced that not only were the cheering group of people surrounding the statue in fact smaller than they were made out to be, in media depictions, but that also the group were not local to the area and were instead brought in by the military for the specific purpose of watching and lending credence to the pre-planned toppling.

Use of music in interrogation of prisoners. Again this one is one we all know about, using heavy metal on Iraqi prisoners, as they’ve never heard heavy metal this fucks them up beyond belief. this is a more hands on PSYWAR but it's morale based

Pentagon analysts and the mainstream media In 2008, The New York Times exposed how analysts portrayed in the U.S. news media as independent and objective were in fact under the tutelage of the Pentagon.

According to the NYT:

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance

CNN and NPR interns incident In 2000, it came to light that soldiers from the 4th Psychological Operations Group had been interning at the American news networks Cable News Network (CNN) and National Public Radio (NPR) during the late 1990s. The program was an attempt to provide its PSYOP personnel with the expertise developed by the private sector under its "Training with Industry" program.

The program caused concern about the influence these soldiers might have on American news and the programs were terminated.

National Public Radio reported on April 10, 2000:

The U.S. Army's Psychological Operations unit placed interns at CNN and NPR in 1998 and 1999. The placements at CNN were reported in the European press in February of this year and the program was terminated. The NPR placements will be reported this week in TV Guide.

Conclusion:

Am I saying the army or government is involved? No What I am saying is that most of the information regarding PSYOPS is publicly available, and anyone with a decent understanding of sociology and psychology can use this to their advantage. And I’m sure that not everyone who was in PSYOPS at one point or another, would stay there forever. These people usually branch out and use their acquired skillset and use it on the open market to get some big bucks. And while there are laws forbidding the U.S. government to use misinformation/PSYOPS on their own people, there are none for corporations, so they can still implement this. What you can see here is a fairly simple pattern and Modus Operandi. Just translate it to modern times.

-TV and Radio have been used to spread doubt about “is this over or not”.-They use twitter as an outlet showing “experts” who say we are stupid bad or nihilists, this is bait don't take it ok?

-Leaflets have been updated for the modern day, “LOOK AT MAH GAINS” “LOOK IVE SOLD SO SHOULD YOU AT AN ALL TIME LOW”, pictures are all we need instead of leaflets now. Why sell for losses? If you believed in the stock then believe in it now, even Mark Cuban said “if you can afford to hold, hold. That’s what I would do.”

Infiltration and seed Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Make people lose faith in the cause they are in.We have seen this with bots, and real people who are suddenly in the WSB group and other groups, but it’s funny how it’s mostly concentrated on WSB no ?We have seen other members talking to people on Webull asking if they’re getting paid and they flat out said yes 20 bucks for every post with minimally 3 interactions.When those naysayers get caught on reddit and pointed out suddenly they do an account wipe (seen this at least 5 times myself and seen others post about this).

Control the narrative

This is the most important one can do, if you control the narrative you control the way people think interact etc Since a week or so WSB has become very negative about something they were rallying behind for months, like on the flip of a dime.

New mods instated, old ones removed

And suddenly all the positive things about GME are suddenly gone. u/zjz has been removed out of the blue while being one of the better mods on there.

Right now they are controlling the narrative and spreading “fake news” I fucking hate Donny but I’m ashamed to admit that he might have been right about the entire fake news idea. Because look at the news media; Gme craziness they will crash the market GME craze over now silver Silver now Uranium They all went broke etc etc. EVERYTHING BACK TO NORMAL PLZ DONT LOOK

But if you look at multiple sources…. The shorts are not covered at all The Short ladder attacks (which we can just call ladder attacks at this point) keep going day in day out because we are not selling and they keep shorting it.

Take the facts that you can check yourself. Cross check over and over and over, you will see automatically which ones are correct (if a 100 say the outcome is 120 and 20 say they’re at 50 look at the credibility of those people giving the information).Do your DD, cross check with the DD of other members (this is most likely why WSB removed these)As this is the most powerful one, who is on board who does what why do they do it etc etc.

Normally the announcement that Cohen,fils-aime, Francis, Durkin AND Kruger would impact the stock in a very positive manor, yet the stock went down 20% that day

Compare your findings with the Median of when something like that happens normally the stock shoots up, you can find what’s actually happening and what is being pushed on you.

Like: people have already sold out their shares (while the data shows otherwise https://www.reddit.com/r/GME/comments/lejf39/good_news_apes_are_holding_numbers_are_out_apes/ )My conclusion is that there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes to keep us infighting and divided, as long as we all keep positive we can actually come out on top of this.

Make no mistake gentlemen we are at war. And half the war is a war of hearts and minds

Capture their minds and their hearts and souls will follow

[winchesters-favorite-girl]

Flatline-Part Six

A/N: Jensen and his sixteen year old daughter get into an argument before she goes out for a night with some friends. A few hours later, Jensen gets a call that is going to change his family’s life forever.

Word Count: 1,428

Warnings: Car accident, angst

Masterpost

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Jensen stood in the hallway across from your room, catching glimpses of the chaos that was occurring as the hospital staff tried to restart your heart. The man who removed him from the room, whom Jensen learned his name is Lee, a a Chaplin at the hospital, remained by his side. He had tried to bring Jensen out to the waiting room but allowed Jensen to stay on the unit as long as he didn’t try to go into your room.

“What’s taking them so long?” Jensen asked in a worried tone.

“They’re doing everything they can Mr. Ackles.” Lee told him as he tried to give a reassuring smile.

Jensen continued to look forward into your room, tears forming in his eyes.

“Please don’t take her.” Jensen said to himself, hoping that whatever higher powers were out there were listening to him, “She’s too young, she has too much left to do in this world.” Everything seemed to be quiet for a moment as your father focused on his breathing, “I can’t lose her.” More silence, “I won’t survive it.”

Lee looked down at Jensen while he spoke and opened his mouth to try and console him when more movement in your room gained their attention. Hospital equipment was being moved and soon your nurse Julie was rushing out of the room and towards Jensen.

“We got her back, but the doctor wants to perform an emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on her skull. Do you consent?” She quickly asked.

“Is it going to save her life?” Jensen questioned.

“Yes.” Julie responded, glancing back at the room she needed to get back into.

“Then do it.” Jensen told her. Nodding her head Julie turned and ran back into the room to tell the other hospital staff what was happening.

“Let’s go to the waiting room, they’ll be bringing out a piece of paper for you to sign consenting to the surgery.” Lee suggested as he started to walk away.

“I wanna see her one more time.” Jensen stated, refusing to move from the spot until he saw you again. Lee didn’t say anything, instead he nodded his head and stood next to Jensen once more.

In a matter of moments you were being wheeled out of your room with hospital staff surrounding you, all of them communicating with one another about what they were doing. Jensen blinked and you were gone, down the hallway headed towards the elevators that led to the operating room.

The men were silent, Jensen was trying to wrap his mind around everything.

“Let’s go sign that paper.” Lee said, moving to walk away, “You need to tell your wife about what’s happening.”

At the mention of Danneel Jensen broke out of his thoughts, “Yeah.” He stated, nodding his head, “Let’s go.” 

After signing the consent form for your surgery Jensen was led to the waiting room where different family members and friends were waiting to hear news about how you were doing. Danneel shot out of her seat when she saw her husband’s bloodshot eyes.

“Jay, what happened?” She quickly questioned as she grabbed onto his hand.

“Her heart stopped beating.” Jensen spoke in an emotionless tone, his parents, Jared, and Gino swarmming him.

“Wh-what?” Danneel whispered, gripping onto his hand even tighter.

“They got it started again and she’s in surgery right now, but-De, she died. She was dead.” Jensen’s voice cracked as he sank into a chair in the waiting room. “I was holding my little girl’s hand and she died.” Placing his hands over his face Jensen tried to pull himself together when all he wanted to do was break down.

“Honey,” Donna, Jensen’s mother spoke softly as she sat down next to him. “She’s in surgery now you said?” Nodding his head Jensen grabbed onto his mom’s hand when she offered it, “What’s the surgery for?”

“Get pressure off her brain.” Jensen replied, looking his mom in the eye which she returned with a gentle smile.

“Okay, that’s good. They’re helping her. Her body has been through a lot, but she’s young and she’s a fighter. With the doctors looking after her and how stubborn she is, she’s gonna be fine. You hear me?” She told her youngest son.

Jensen absentmindedly nodded his head, not believing what his mother was telling him.

“Jensen Ross Ackles.” Your grandmother said firmly, gaining Jensen’s full attention. “I said do you hear me? That little girl isn’t going anywhere. She’s your daughter, my granddaughter, she is a strong spirited fireball who isn’t going to give up so don’t you dare give up on her.”

Jensen looked at his mom and broke into tears, “I’m so scared Mom.” He said as he continued to cry, “I can’t lose her, she’s my babygirl and I-I-I won’t-”

“Shh, sweetheart don’t think about that.” She told him as she wrapped him in her arms, “Until a doctor comes up to you and says to give up don’t let your mind go down that path. Even if a doctor tells you to give up you tell them to shove it cause they don’t know Y/N/N and what a fighter she is. Got it?”

“Got it.” Jensen agreed, letting his mother’s words soothe him, “Y/N’s gonna be fine.”

Your family sat in the waiting room hoping for word about how your surgery went. Jared went and got coffee for everyone before he sat down with your father. They didn’t speak much. They didn’t need to. Jared being present with Jensen on the worst day of his life was enough.

“She’s gonna be fine.” Jared told his best friend after twenty minutes of silence, “She survived the wipe out of ‘10 with minimal tears and was back on the water skis in minutes. Don’t you go underestimating her now.”

A small chuckle made it’s way out with Jared’s words as your father remembered the time Jared and him brought you water skiing for the first time.

You were nervous as hell but determined to stand on your own and show everyone you could do it. By the third hour you were skiing around like a pro and gaining more confidence, which turned out to be your downfall when you made a mistake and went crashing into the water.

Jensen jumped into the water within seconds of seeing you fall and was holding onto you a few moments later.

“Hey now babygirl it’s okay, I got you.” Jensen told you while you desperately clung onto him, the fear of falling down still fresh in your mind.

“Th-that was sc-arry.” You said brokenly as tears came from your eyes. Jensen could tell you wanted to cry more but were holding back.

“It’s okay to be scared sweetheart,” He let you know, “I get scared sometimes too.”

“She okay?” Jared shouted, interrupting the conversation as he slowly pulled the boat up next to you and Jensen, the ladder next to you so you could get up.

Carefully Jensen bent your knees so that he could reach the skis that were attached to your feet. After releasing you he held onto you as he climbed the ladder and lifted you onto the boat.

“You okay sweetheart?” Jared asked as he approached you, a towel in his hand, he wrapped you up in it before doing a quick glance of your body to make sure you weren’t hurt.

“I-I’m okay.” You informed him, turning towards your dad as he engulfed you in his arms again.

“She’s okay, just a little shaken.” Jensen said, sitting down as he held you in his lap with his arms wrapped around you. Taking a deep breath he placed a long kiss on your head as he tried to calm himself down from the fear that overtook his body when he saw you disappear into the water.

“You guys wanna head back in?” Jared questioned, pointing his thumb behind him in the direction the docks were located.

“No.” You spoke before your father could, “I wanna try again.”

“You sure kiddo?” Jensen asked, “We can try again another day if you wanna go back. We can get some ice cream.”

Jared let out a small laugh at his friend who was trying to bribe you with ice cream so they could go back but Jared knew what he was doing; Jensen was still freaked out and didn’t want to risk it again.

“I’m sure Daddy, I wanna do it again.”

“That kid has always had more guts and been stronger than either of us combined. She’s gonna be fine.” Jared told his best friend, “She has to be.”

Next

(Text divider by @writeyourmindaway)

[mikauzoran]

Lukadrien: Late to the Jabberwocky Chapter Eleven

Late to the Jabberwocky Chapter Eleven: Reunion

(Yes, I’m aware that this looks suspiciously similar to what I just posted as Chapter Thirty-Six of Daisy. This is the extended version with the Lukadrien content and the actual Luka-Adrien reunion.)

His driver Victor scowled. “You want me to take you where, Adrianka?”

Adrien’s Russian really wasn’t the best, so it was conceivable that he had just said something unintelligible. He took a deep breath and slowly repeated, “To the Couffaines’ house? Uh…the family that lives on the boat?”

The cavernous trenches of Victor’s forehead seemed to deepen, if that were truly possible. “Couffaine? That’s that—” A word in Russian that Adrien didn’t know, but it sounded angry and guttural and was mostly likely not a nice thing to be called. “—who made you cry for half a year,” Victor accused.

Adrien winced, switching back to French. “To be fair, Luka wasn’t the one who made me cry. That was my father when he threatened to ruin my friend and his entire family’s lives and careers and make Luka hate me unless I ceased all communication with him. It wasn’t Luka’s fault.”

Victor did not acknowledge Adrien’s clarification. Instead, his meat cleaver-sized hands went to his hips, and he tipped his head to the side with a suspicious frown. “Isn’t he dating little Masha from the bakery now?”

Adrien tried to smile disarmingly as he nodded, but it came out as more of a wounded grimace. “Yes. Yes, Luka and Marinette are dating.”

“And what business do you have going to see the young man dating the girl you like?”

“I was planning on seeing if he wanted to be friends again now that my father is less strict,” Adrien explained feebly.

Victor continued on in Russian. “Your father? Does your father know where you are going?”

“I told him,” Adrien fibbed, switching back to Russian so that if he were found out later, he could blame his inaccuracy on a “misunderstanding” caused by his poor language skills.

Victor leaned forward, bending at the waist to position himself eye to eye with Adrien. He arched an eyebrow. “Oh? You told him where you were going? So, if I go ask him now, he will tell me he has approved your trip to visit the Couffaine boy who broke your heart?”

“Yes,” Adrien insisted, banking on the fact that Victor would never actually go interrupt Gabriel’s work to follow up on Adrien’s lie. “Except Luka didn’t break my heart,” he clarified as an afterthought.

Victor snorted. “You are trying to tell me that you were not heartbroken two years ago?”

A sulky expression leaked through Adrien’s composed mask. “Okay, but that wasn’t Luka’s fault. That was my father’s for ripping me away from a friend who was really important to me.”

Victor nodded in a manner that indicated that he couldn’t care less whose fault it was. “Yes, yes.”

Suddenly a sausage-sized finger was being wagged in Adrien’s face. “Adrianka, I love you dearly, but—” An idiom that Adrien surmised meant something like “so help me God”. “—if I have to listen to you banging on that piano at all hours and sobbing into your pillow when you think no one can hear again…” he trailed off dangerously, crossing his arms over his chest.

Adrien flinched, shrinking as the tips of his ears turned pink.

Victor’s voice softened as he sighed and laid a giant palm on Adrien’s shoulder. “I am sick of Chopin,” he confessed gently. “I am even more sick of listening to you in pain, knowing there is nothing I can do to fix it for you. Do not put yourself in situations where you will be hurt, Adrianka.”

Adrien’s apprehension melted at the warmth and affection in his bodyguard’s words. With a bright smile, he threw his arms as far around Victor’s torso as they would reach, wrapping his steadfast companion in what would have been a crushing hug on anyone else.

“Thanks, Vitya,” he mumbled into Victor’s chest.

Victor sighed again, patting Adrien on the back. “Yes, yes. All right. Yes. Enough with the mushiness. It is nothing. I am simply tired of Chopin. I wish never to hear that brooding man’s melancholy coming from your piano ever again.”

Adrien pulled back and repeated, “Thank you…for caring about me.”

Victor rolled his eyes, affecting indifference and professional stoicism as he patted Adrien on the head. “This is not what I am paid for. This is not in my job description.”

Adrien snickered, amused at the fuss Victor was making all for show. “That’s why it means so much to me that you do care.”

Victor rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “…I am going to ask your father about you seeing this Couffaine boy,” he snorted and then actually turned and took a step towards the atelier.

Adrien’s heart dropped into his stomach. “W-Wait!”

Victor looked back at Adrien, cocking an eyebrow and smirking knowingly. “Why, Adrianka? Surely your father will confirm what you’ve told me, and then we can be on our way. What is the problem?”

Adrien grimaced.

Victor took another step and a half towards the atelier.

“Okay, fine,” Adrien sighed heavily. “You called my bluff. I just said I was meeting a friend; I didn’t say it was Luka, but in my own defence, I am legally an adult, and you guys can’t stop me from going where I want. So there,” Adrien concluded, petulantly crossing his arms in defiance.

Victor stifled a chuckle. “I look at you, and I still see that tiny, blonde, doll-like baby who I used to carry around on my shoulders. Perhaps you’ve grown too big for that now, but you will never grow so much that I stop seeing you as a child in need of my protection and mother-henning. You can be an adult when I’m dead. Until then, you’ll be hard pressed to stop me from throwing you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carting you off to someplace I determine you will be safe.—What does your photographer always say? ‘Capiche’?—Do we understand each other, Adrian Gavrillovich?”

Adrien’s face fell even further, and his arms dropped helplessly to his sides. He nodded dejectedly. “Yes, Vitya…but…I’m going anyway. I mean, I’ll go even if I have to sneak out, but…in case this all blows up in my face and I have a panic attack or emotional breakdown or something…I would really rather you drive me…please?” He peered up pleadingly at his bodyguard with the most pathetic, sad puppy-dog eyes he had in his arsenal.

Victor sighed heavily, scrubbing his face with a massive hand. “…Adrianka, this is not a good idea. Why do you want to do this so soon after you’ve had your heart broken?”

Adrien bit his lip and switched back to French to make certain that he expressed himself clearly. “I think repairing things with Luka will help.”

Victor crossed his arms, but he tipped his head slightly and cocked an eyebrow to show that he was listening.

Adrien took a measured breath and continued, “When I was hanging out with him and his family before, I felt…like I belonged…like I was okay how I was, even though I had a lot of issues. Luka still liked me on my bad days. It didn’t matter if I was crying over a fight with Dad or if I was an anxious wreck over an upcoming fencing tournament or piano recital. Whatever I was feeling was fine. Whenever I was in good spirits, we’d hang out and have fun, but whenever I was a mess, he’d sit with me and let me cry, comfort me, help me to talk it out. …I think I could really use a friend like that in my life right now. Everyone else has been great,” Adrien rushed to assure, “but Luka always seemed to get me…and it couldn’t hurt to have another friend, could it?”

Victor pursed his lips, weighing Adrien’s arguments. “What if he’s changed? What if he’s not the boy you knew anymore?”

Adrien frowned, caught off guard momentarily. “He…It didn’t seem like he’d changed much the other night when I saw him at Chloé’s party. And he texted me yesterday to apologize for the misunderstanding and make sure I was okay. I’m sure he’s not exactly the same, but I can’t imagine Luka changing all that drastically in just two years.”

Victor shook his head slowly. “Adrianka, perhaps under normal circumstances it would be good for you to rekindle your friendship with the Couffaine boy now that your father is easing up on restrictions, but I do not see this going well, you trying to befriend the boy that the girl you like chose over you. This ends poorly.”

“I think you’re wrong,” Adrien gently insisted. “I think being friends with Marinette’s boyfriend could be a good thing.”

Victor gave Adrien a look that said that he thought Adrien was delusional, but Victor did not verbally respond, letting Adrien continue.

Adrien let out a soft, frustrated sigh and forged forward. “Look, ever since things first blew up with Marinette, my friend group has been divided. Alya has been trying to split her time between us, but the reality is that she’s Marinette’s best friend, so she feels like she has to be on Marinette’s ‘side’, so I’ve hardly seen Alya in two months. I don’t want there to be ‘sides’. I don’t want to cause a rift. I don’t want to not be invited to things because Luka and Marinette are going to be there. Sunday was Marinette’s graduation party, and she didn’t invite me. She didn’t even tell me about it because—I don’t know—maybe it was because Luka was going to be there and she wasn’t ready to tell me they were dating. Maybe it was because she still needed space or whatever, but the point is that I was excluded because of the mess between me and Marinette.” His voice dipped low, cracking.

His gaze dropped to the floor. “That’s not a good feeling. I don’t know how many other graduation parties I wasn’t invited to because of this, but I don’t want to be left out any more than I already am. If I’m friends with Luka, if everybody can see that things are okay, that there doesn’t have to be an Adrien side and a Marinette side, maybe things can slowly go back to normal. Maybe being friends with Luka will help me be friends with Marinette again too. I just…” Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet Victor’s gaze imploringly. “More than anything, I want some kind of normal again.”

Victor nodded slowly, resignedly, a look of deep compassion in his eyes. “I don’t know that this is the way to go about it, but…I’m not about to let you go alone to find out the hard way that this is a bad idea. I wouldn’t want you getting upset and falling off a roof on your way back. I don’t trust that suit of yours to protect you.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as he realized that of course Victor knew. The man had only spent the better part of nearly every day of the past decade within shouting distance of Adrien. Victor would have been a poor bodyguard if he hadn’t picked up on his charge’s secret.

“Go wait around front, Adrianka,” Victor instructed, giving Adrien a gentle pat on the head. “I’ll bring the car around, but if this goes badly and your father asks why I took you, I’m going to—” An idiomatic expression that Adrien did not understand but surmised from context to mean something like “throw you under the bus”. “—and tell him you swore up and down that you had his express permission to go.”

“I think I can live with that,” Adrien snickered and started to make his way out front to wait.

 “Forgive me,” Nooroo’s disembodied voice whispered from inside Adrien’s right shoulder as they waited for Victor to bring the car. “but yesterday I thought that you told Ladybug that you did not wish to be her friend any longer and needed some space and some time.”

Adrien blinked, frowning down in confusion at the offending shoulder as he fiddled with his ring and readjusted his tie. “Yeah? What about it?” he whispered back gently.

“Just now, you told your guard that you wanted to rekindle your friendship with Monsieur Couffaine so that it would facilitate rebuilding your friendship with Miss Dupain-Cheng. I am just a little confused about this development. Do we wish to be friends with Miss Dupain-Cheng now?”

A florid blush burst forth on Adrien’s cheeks, and he looked away, mumbling, “No. Not right now, no.”

“He just knows he’s going to change his mind,” Plagg snickered helpfully from within Adrien’s left shoulder.

“I’m allowed to change my mind if I want,” Adrien grumbled sullenly. “Human beings often say one thing and then turn around and do another. It’s not that I have changed my mind…just that I can.”

“Of course you can,” Plagg agreed more gently, easing up on his chosen.

“Of course, Adrien-bocchama,” Nooroo echoed.

Adrien took a deep breath, trying to re-center himself. “For right now, though, I’d kind of like to focus on the task at hand. I’m not one hundred percent certain what’s going to happen with Luka, and I’d like to concentrate on him before I really start thinking about the dizzying prospect of being just friends with the girl I am madly in love with.”

 Crossing the gangplank to the Liberty, Adrien was all nerves. He took a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm himself before checking the railing for the bell pull that the Couffaines used to keep on the banister at the end of the walkway. Adrien had only used it a handful of times when he’d first started visiting before Anarka had reassured him that Juleka hadn’t been kidding: Adrien really could just come aboard at his leisure, without invitation, at any time of the day or night, and the Couffaines would be happy to have him.

This time, though, Adrien thought it better to stand on formality. Despite Luka’s behaviour at the party and despite Luka’s texts the day before, Adrien wasn’t entirely sure that he was welcome anymore.

He’d just reached for the rope to pull when someone cleared their throat in a manner that suggested Adrien had been caught doing something he oughtn’t. He looked up and around to find Juleka rising from a deck chair and setting down her magazine to make her way over.

“Uh…hey…Juleka,” he greeted lamely, completely thrown off.

She came to a stop in front of him with her arms crossed, a wary look on her face. She was affectively barring his way, blocking him from coming down off the gangplank and properly coming aboard the Liberty.

Adrien couldn’t determine whether it was deliberate.

“Hey,” she returned his salutation in a monotone…not that that was unusual or in any way telling for Juleka. She brushed her hair out of her face with a finger to peer at him curiously with both amber eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Adrien was wondering the same thing.

He gulped. “I came to see Luka?”

Juleka stiffened at that, but at the same time she laughed, teasing, “Are you sure about that?”

Adrien nodded, not certain what to make of his former classmate. They hadn’t talked much the past two years. Adrien had, in fact, actively avoided Juleka and Rose for twelve whole months after their abrupt parting until the following year when they had all been placed in the same class again and avoiding them became near impossible. Two years before, Adrien and Juleka had enjoyed a tentative friendship, teasing one another relentlessly and giving each other trouble just for the fun of it. Now, Adrien had no idea where they stood.

“Is Luka expecting you?” Juleka eyed him intently in a cross between suspicion and circumspection. Her expression and stance were still guarded.

“Uh…no,” Adrien admitted with a frown. “I’m sorry. I just kind of decided this morning to drop by spur of the moment.”

Some of the tension seemed to come out of Juleka’s posture.

Adrien bit his lip. “Is now a bad time?”

She nodded. “Luka’s not actually home right now.”

“O-Oh,” Adrien replied, the word sticking in his throat as his heart sank.

Yes, Adrien had been nervous and, frankly, scared stiff at the thought of seeing Luka again and possibly getting shot down like a pheasant, but now that seeing Luka was no longer an option, Adrien began to realize how badly he’d wanted the reunion.

“Do-Do you happen to know when he’ll be back?” Adrien asked, hearing himself like some disembodied voice.

Juleka’s lips pressed together, and she let her bangs fall back into her face as she frowned, crossing her arms once more. “Look…Adrien… This is nothing against you personally, but I don’t think you should be hanging around my brother.”

Adrien’s mouth dropped open, and he stared at Juleka, thinking he must have misheard. “S-Sorry. What?”

She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and continued in the strongest, most determined voice Adrien had ever heard from her, “Please stay away from my brother. I don’t know what’s going on with you this year, but I do know that I don’t want my brother mixed up in it. Luka doesn’t need you in his life right now.”

“O-Oh,” Adrien croaked, breath hitching as he began to hear blood rushing in his ears.

“He’s finally with the girl he’s always wanted,” she pressed on. “He’s happy, and I don’t want you messing that up for him, okay? He’s one of the best people on this earth, and he deserves to be happy. He doesn’t need you coming back here after the way you just dropped him last time.”

“I-I didn’t—My father was—” Adrien tried to explain, but his thoughts were fragmented, and it was getting hard to breath, let alone form coherent sentences to explain Gabriel’s blackmail tactics.

Juleka let out a derisive bark of laughter. “Yeah, yeah. Luka’s told me it was your father’s fault, but do you really believe that you’re completely blameless?”

“I…” Adrien gulped.

“You didn’t fight for him,” Juleka accused with heat, eyes beginning to dampen as the memories flooded back, reigniting the rage she had felt, the fear, the confusion of when Adrien had left them without explanation, ripping her brother’s heart out and taking it with him.

“You just rolled over and did what your father told you to. You didn’t even try to fight for Luka. He wasn’t worth it to you,” she hissed.

Adrien opened his mouth to tell her exactly how much Luka had been worth to him, but she spoke again first.

“You hurt him,” Juleka added, voice losing its edge, sounding pained instead of accusatory.

Her strong, dependable, unshakable brother had fallen to pieces right in front of her eyes, leaving her helpless, not knowing what to do, not knowing if things would ever be okay again for a little over a year.

“…I thought we were going to lose him, you hurt him so bad,” she whispered, voice raw, visible eye piercing through Adrien, robbing him of his voice. “Why should I let you come back and hurt him again?”

All Adrien could do was stand there on the gangplank with his mouth hanging partially open. He was completely defenseless against her words. What could he say?

“Juju!” Rose called as she ascended the stairs to the deck, her singsong cutting through the tense atmosphere. “Juleka! Have you seen my—Oh!” Rose came to a sudden stop when she spotted their visitor. “A-Adrien! Hi!” she greeted, skipping across the deck to her girlfriend’s side.

“Uh…Hi,” Adrien replied in a bit of a daze. “Hi, Rose. How are you?”

Oddly enough, Rose didn’t seem displeased to see him. Her face lit up in a wide grin, and even her crystal blue eyes smiled as she answered, “Pretty well, thanks! How about you?” She tipped her head to the side. “I’ve heard you’ve been sick. Are you feeling okay? You look awfully pale.”

Adrien opened his mouth to respond, but Juleka cut him off. “Rose, Adrien was just dropping by to say hi to Luka—”

Rose brightened an extra hundred or so watts, opening her mouth and starting to gesture back towards where she had come from below deck, as if she were going to offer to go back down and fetch Luka for Adrien.

Juleka steamrolled over Rose’s offer. “—but Luka isn’t here right now, right, Rose?”

Rose frowned in confusion and started to contradict her girlfriend when Juleka gave Rose a look.

Rose’s eyes widened, and her lips came into the shape of a miniature letter O. Slowly, she began to nod. “Ooooh. Right. Luka…Luka isn’t here right now.”

“Oh,” Adrien replied flatly, finally understanding. Luka was downstairs, but Adrien wasn’t welcome aboard the Liberty. Luka didn’t want to see Adrien. “I don’t suppose I could wait for him?” he suggested petulantly just for the sake of being difficult.

“No,” Juleka decreed as Rose surreptitiously slipped her phone out of her pocket, holding it down at her side so that Juleka wouldn’t see her typing: “drop what you’re doing and get up here NOW pretend to be looking for something LOUDLY”.

“No, he’s going to be gone for hours,” Juleka lied, unaware of Rose’s subterfuge.

“We’ll tell him you stopped by,” Rose assured with a bright smile. “He’ll be really happy to know you came to see him.”

Adrien blinked owlishly at Rose, thinking he’d misheard her. “R-Really? You think he’d be happy?”

“Mmhm.” Rose nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll be sure to tell him you were here.”

“But you should probably go now,” Juleka added pointedly with the conviction of someone certain she was protecting a loved one from ruin.

“Juleka!” Luka called from below deck.

Adrien’s heart ceased to function properly. All air molecules left his lungs, and the tips of his ears turned poppy red.

Juleka, as if to provide contrast, turned milk white.

“Juleka!” Luka called again. “Have you seen my—?” He paused at the top of the stairs, blue eyes catching on green. “…Adrien,” he breathed reverently.

Adrien’s doubts evaporated with one glimpse of Luka’s smile. It was obvious from the expression on Luka’s face that Luka very much did want to see Adrien.

Adrien returned the smile shyly, hand going to rub at the back of his neck. “Hi.”

“Luka! When did you get back?” Rose greeted in an attempt to keep up Juleka’s ruse. “We thought you’d be gone for hours still! What good luck! Adrien came by to see you, but we thought you weren’t here, and Adrien was just about to leave, but you came up just in time!”

Luka didn’t seem to hear Rose as he made his way over to the gangplank, eyes locked on Adrien. “Hi,” he chuckled, beaming with a star-like effulgence. “You really came to see me?”

Adrien nodded. “Uh…yeah. Yeah, I did. At the party, you’d mentioned hanging out, and then…” Adrien bit his lip. “I mean…your texts yesterday made it sound like-like that offer was still on the table, despite recent plot developments, so…” He took a deep breath and looked Luka in the eye. “I came to apologize and see if you’d be willing to give me a second chance.” His smile took on a nervous aspect. He still half expected to be rejected.

But Luka grinned his closed-mouth smile, shoulders shaking as he laughed. His eyes were warm and welcoming. “As many as you need,” he assured.

A weight lifted from Adrien’s chest, and he sighed in relief, chuckling giddily. “Thank you.”

Luka shrugged. “No thanks necessary. Come aboard.”

Adrien took a step forward but stopped when he realized that Juleka wasn’t moving to let him past. “Um…?”

Luka blinked and then seemed to register his sister’s presence. “Hey, Jules? You’re kind of blocking the path.”

Juleka looked down at her feet, muttering something not even Adrien could make out with his enhanced hearing as she shuffled out of the way.

Luka turned his gaze back on Adrien, holding out a hand. “Watch your step. Wouldn’t want you to trip.”

“I am never going to live that down, am I?” Adrien groaned, taking the proffered hand as he stepped down onto the deck.

“Nope,” Luka confirmed. “It’s one of my favourite memories of you.”

Adrien gave a snort. “Don’t sass me.”

“Don’t be catty,” Luka returned with a wink.

Adrien’s pout turned into a smirk. “I’m allowed to be a bit of a sourpuss. After all, you just foiled my ingenious scheme to trip and fall into your arms,” Adrien took a risk and teased, testing the waters to see how easily they could fall back into their old patterns.

Without missing a beat, Luka clicked his tongue. “Darn me and my gallantry. Warn me next time, and I’ll happily allow you to ‘trip’.”

“I’ll make sure to give you a heads up,” Adrien assured, glad to see that platonic flirting was still acceptable.

“How long are you going to keep holding his hand?” Juleka inquired reprovingly, cutting through the moment.

Adrien jumped and almost pulled back, but Luka gave his hand a squeeze as he responded, “Forever,” with a shrug, tugging Adrien’s hand into his chest. “This is mine now.”

Adrien couldn’t help laughing. “But I need that.”

Luka shook his head. “You’re ambidextrous. You can just learn to use your right hand for everything.”

“But I need both hands to play the piano,” Adrien protested even as he noted that Luka’s REO Speedwagon shirt was really soft.

“Ah.” Luka pursed his lips. “All right. He makes a good point. It would be a crime to rob the world of such a pianist. You can have this back on the condition that you play me something later.”

“Deal,” Adrien agreed with a laugh and immediately missed Luka’s warmth as his hand was released.

Juleka rolled her eyes with a snort and stalked back over to her deckchair to ressume her magazine.

Rose followed, sitting at Juleka’s feet and resting her head in Juleka’s lap, giving her girlfriend comforting nuzzles and gentle reassurances that things were going to be okay.

Adrien cleared his throat awkwardly. “So…at the party, I believe we established that we both enjoy opera?”

“We did,” Luka agreed, tipping his head to the side in curiosity.

“Have you ever seen Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo?” Adrien baited.

Luka arched an eyebrow. “I mean, online, yes, but never in person. They don’t really perform it often.” His cheeks turned pastel pink as he confessed, “Honestly, I haven’t actually seen much opera in person at all.”

Adrien blinked in disbelief. “You haven’t?”

Luka shook his head and shrugged. “Too expensive.”

Adrien winced. “Sor—”

“—Don’t worry about it,” Luka cut him off with an easy grin. “I’ve seen some excellent performances online and by borrowing recordings from the library.”

“Would you like to see Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in person?” Adrien inquired, wearing a sly smile.

“Don’t tease me,” Luka pouted with an undercurrent of excitement as he nudged Adrien’s arm.

“I’m not teasing,” Adrien promised, elbowing Luka back. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

Luka gazed at Adrien, glacial blue eyes full of tentative hope. “Going to see Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo?”

Adrien grinned, flashing the tickets. “I got us box seats. Some obscenely rich dowager is putting on a private performance tomorrow night because she has nothing better to do with her time and money, and since I am also rich and famous and friends with the mayor’s daughter, I was able to get on the guestlist. Wanna be my date?”

Luka could only nod as he stared in awe at the ornately embossed invitations.

“In case you missed it, this is me trying to impress you with my money and social status in an attempt to bribe you into being my friend again. …How am I doing?” Adrien chuckled nervously.

“I’m definitely impressed,” Luka assured. “Bribery isn’t necessary, but you won’t hear any complaints from me. I’m just kind of worried that I don’t have anything nice enough to wear to a snazzy event like this. What you saw me in at Chloé’s party was the nicest thing I own, and even that is a little on the casual side.”

“No worries,” Adrien replied, waving away Luka’s concerns. “I have a whole basement level filled with formalwear. How about I pick you up at six and bring you back to my house for dinner? Then we can play dress up and leave for the opera from there. How’s that sound?”

“Your father would let you do that?” Luka asked incredulously. “Have someone over and borrow one of his designs like that?”

Adrien’s smile turned sheepish. “I think so? If I asked, probably. I’m not exactly sure what the rules are nowadays, but he’s being pretty lenient in general since my first breakdown two months ago. And, I mean, if he says no, I’ll just buy you a suit and take you out to dinner instead—I’m not accepting ‘no’ for an answer, by the way,” Adrien added as he saw Luka start to open his mouth in protest. “You know money is nothing to me. I want to take you to the opera. Okay?”

Luka bit his lip but quickly gave up all thought of arguing. “Okay. But I owe you, all right?”

“For what?” Adrien snorted. “This is a trade: I take you to the opera; you be my friend again. Honestly, I think I’m the one who still owes you.”

Luka rolled his eyes, insisting, “Seriously, Adrien, you don’t have to bribe me. I want to be friends again just as much as you do.”

“Fine,” Adrien relented. “Then take all this as an apology…for how things ended last time. I’m sorry about my father, and I’m sorry that I…that I couldn’t…didn’t…I’m sorry, Luka,” Adrien concluded with a sigh. “I’m so sorry.”

Luka shook his head and tentatively reached out a hand to ruffle Adrien’s hair. “It wasn’t your fault, Angel. Look at me.”

Hesitantly, Adrien did. “But I should have—”

“—Shh,” Luka interrupted softly, giving Adrien’s head a gentle pat. “No. You didn’t do anything wrong. Let’s put that behind us, okay?”

Adrien’s teeth cut into his bottom lip as he studied Luka’s face, the soft look in his eyes.

Luka was all warmth and fondness and forgiveness.

Adrien let out a long sigh of relief. “Okay. All right…. Friends?” He held out his hand.

“Friends,” Luka agreed, taking it and using it to pull Adrien into a hug.

They squeezed each other fiercely and then quickly stepped back, all smiles.

“Hey, so are you busy right now?” Luka inquired, feeling giddy. He stuffed his hands into his pockets in an attempt to keep himself from reaching out for Adrien again.

Adrien smelled just as good as Luka remembered. Adrien was warm and solid, compact yet muscular. His hair was like feathers, his skin smooth and soft. Two years had added hints of a more mature masculinity around the edges, but Adrien hadn’t really changed much. Adrien was still a delight to have in Luka’s arms.

Luka had to remind himself that he was no longer single and no longer in love with this boy. He couldn’t allow himself to dive back in where they’d left off. Luka was over the Adrien of two years ago and didn’t yet know the Adrien in front of him. Luka needed to police himself.

“Right now? No. I don’t have anywhere I need to be.” Adrien replied with a shrug. “Why do you ask?”

“Do you want to come below deck and hang out for a bit?” Luka offered, suddenly nervous again.

Adrien’s eyes lit up. “Really? Sure! I’d love to. Just let me text my driver not to wait for me.” He smiled sheepishly. “I wasn’t really certain what your response to me showing up here would be after the whole…uh…” His gaze dropped down to his feet for an instant. “…debacle with your girlfriend, so…” He looked back up, mentally reinforcing the edges of a shaky smile. “Victor was waiting for me in case you said you never wanted to speak to me again and I ended up slinking back to the Mansion with my tail between my legs.”

Luka winced. “Well, I can’t really blame you for being concerned, I guess. I was sort of worried that you would never want to talk to me again, so…I suppose we were equally wrong.”

“Thank goodness,” Adrien chuckled, pulling out his phone and typing a quick text to Victor, letting him know that Adrien was staying and could make his own way home.

“All right,” Adrien announced, slipping his mobile back into his pocket. “Take me to your keyboard. I believe I owe you a song for the safe return of my left hand?”

Luka chuckled, assuring, “Only if you want to, but I’d personally love to hear you play. I’ve been deprived of your talents for too long.”

“Ditto,” Adrien snickered. “I’ll trade ya. I’ll play whatever you want, but then I want to hear everything you’ve been up to musically for the past two years.”

Luka gave a surprised snort of laughter. “Everything?”

“Everything,” Adrien confirmed. “How am I supposed to be your biggest fan again if you don’t catch me up?”

Luka quirked an eyebrow at his friend’s sincerity. “But catching you up will take weeks.”

Adrien shrugged. “I’m not opposed to moving back in with you guys. I assume my bed is still right where I left it?” he inquired innocently.

Luka put a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. “Your bed?”

“Mmhm.” Adrien nodded. “You know. The one I annexed two years ago and then magnanimously allowed you to use?”

“Ah, yes,” Luka snickered. “I am intimately acquainted with the bed in question. Don’t worry. It’s right where you left it.”

“G-Good.” Adrien’s voice caught as he suddenly found himself getting choked up. “Sorry.” He took a quick swipe at his eyes. “I don’t know why I’m—” He met Luka’s gaze bashfully. “…I missed you.”

Luka nodded, tentatively reaching out to stroke Adrien’s hair, unsure of whether he was allowed to anymore, and, even then, whether he should.

“I missed you too.” The words were abysmally inadequate for the sentiment they were meant to convey.

“After my father—I was miserable for months,” Adrien confessed, sighing. “It was like a part of me had been ripped away suddenly, and I couldn’t be the me that I was when I was here. I had to go back to being the me I was before, and I just couldn’t make myself fit anymore, but—” He rolled his eyes self-deprecatingly, smiling wryly. “I’m probably not making any sense.”

He was making perfect sense to Luka. Those feelings weren’t exactly the same as what Luka had experienced at their separation, but Luka could relate to the suffering behind Adrien’s words.

Adrien looked down at his feet. “Just...What I’m trying to say is, I missed you guys. I missed the Liberty and the person I was when I was here with you and your family. I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to have any of this ever again, so…I know I’m a sentimental sap, but being here and joking with you like nothing has changed means the world to me. A lot of things—everything—in my life is changing right now. It’s really nice to have something that feels normal. Everything is overwhelming right now, so…this is really nice. Sorry I’m being ridiculous and emotional,” he laughed sheepishly, trying to trivialize his feelings and so excuse them. “Thank you for having me here.”

Luka stepped forward, pulling Adrien into a tight hug. “Thanks for coming back to me…even though it took a long time,” Luka whispered into Adrien’s hair, lips brushing against the shell of Adrien’s ear.

Adrien’s whole body tingled pleasantly as he began to melt into Luka.

Catching himself, Luka pulled back and smiled disarmingly. “How’s your Liszt?”

A surprised laugh burst forth from Adrien’s lungs, yanking him out of the previous moment in Luka’s arms. “Liszt? Tolerable. Any piece in particular you had in mind?”

“Totentanz,” Luka replied decidedly.

Adrien nodded to himself as he mentally ran over the song. “I think I remember most of it, but promise you won’t laugh when I totally blank.”

“Never,” Luka swore, crossing his heart. “Come on below deck.”

“Make sure you behave, Luc!” Juleka called after them. “Don’t make me tell your girlfriend on you. No blondes in the bed!”

“Is this a concern?” Adrien laughed, a tad confused at Juleka’s vehemence as Luka escorted him over to the stairs.

“Juleka may have seen us dancing at the party and gotten the wrong idea,” Luka sighed, waving his sister off over his shoulder.

Adrien winced. “Sorry about that.”

Luka shook his head. “No big. I’d dance with you again every time.”

Adrien grinned, cheeks heating up. Even though he didn’t really know what to do with that comment and how it made him feel, it still evoked a warm, happy glow in his chest.

“Luka, make sure you play him the Vivaldi piece!” Rose added her two centimes. “That way you can stop practicing because we’re all sick of it.”

“Vivaldi?” Adrien’s head cocked to the side.

Luka grimaced. “Uh…you mentioned the first movement of Vivaldi’s Winter at the party…. I may have been playing it all week.”

Adrien laughed. “You see, that’s really funny because you mentioned Ravel’s Miroirs No. 3, ‘Une Barque sur l'Ocean’, and I’ve been playing it all week too.”

Luka blinked, a blinding blush creeping up on his cheeks. “R-Really?”

Adrien smirked. “Mmhm. I’ll play it for you after Totentanz.” With a patented wink, he turned and headed down the stairs.

Luka paused for a minute, trying to puzzle out the meaning of all this. He promptly got distracted by the fit of Adrien’s jeans as his friend descended the steps.

It was then that it dawned on Luka that, even though he was no longer in love with Adrien, he was closer to the edge than he’d realized. One good shove, and he’d fall headlong.

Luka was in serious trouble.

[yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy]

Magic and Miracles and Beyond Chapter 8

Ya’ll I have STRUGGLED with this chapter for MONTHS because I couldn’t figure out how to connect the first scene of this chapter with the rest of it. But as you can see, I powered through and all the puzzle peices are coming together nicely and I felt like I just slapped things together but that’s only because I AM DESPERATE to show you chapter 9 that’s been sitting in my documents for a while. And I was listening to ‘Let the bodies hit the floor.’ while writing 9. so if that’s any indication. And this chapter I had “What Side of Love?” by Parachute going on. And yes Sylva is a BAMF because she plays all the angles and all the sides. And Tredd really doesn’t get enough credit for being as observant as he is. He’s still much smarter than he looks. 

So here it is on AO3 or if you want, read below. 

@the-immortal-marshal, enjoy girl. 

Chapter 8

“Hey, Sylva?” Tredd asked as he came up to her in the hot tub.

“Yes?” Sylva asked curiously.

“Hey, is it just me or is Ada preggers?” Tredd put to her as Sylva cut her eyes to Ada and watched her very carefully for a few minutes.

“Who have you told that to?” Sylva asked nonchalantly as she looked around to see if anyone was close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Just Stella, she told me to ask you since you’re The Oracle and the expert.” Tredd shrugged as Sylva hummed and nodded in agreement.

“You’re very perceptive and observant aren’t you?” Sylva put to him.

“Yeah, I guess.” Tredd nodded with a shrug.

“Ok, so here’s the deal...

I will pay you five thousand dollars to be Luche’s shadow over the next two weeks, let Luche and Ada get close and bond emotionally but the moment your instincts tell you they’re gonna fuck, intervene and ruin their moment and remind Ada that she’s dating Cor. They’re both going to hate you for the next two weeks but in a month, they’re both going to thank you in a really big way.” Sylva put to him.

“Make it ten grand and only if you tell me why.” Tredd returned with a smug grin as Sylva and Tredd had a stare off for a few long moments.

“Fifteen if I don’t have to tell you anything and you be a good guy and do me and Luche and Ada a solid by doing this.” Sylva countered.

“Twenty grand, in cash. You tell me why or I announce right now that she’s preggers.” Tredd grinned smugly before they had another stare off before Sylva took his hand and brought him face to face, close enough to kiss her but it was so that what Sylva would say, she could say quietly and softly so that no one could overhear her.

“Fine, when we get back, shit’s gonna hit the fan and there will be a war delivered to all of our doorsteps courtesy of Gilgamesh and everyone is going to be divided and pick sides and everyone is going to choose the wrong side except for you and for me because you are going to be on my side. Ada has a 95-99% chance of loosing that baby because Gilgamesh will go after her first and all of us will be scrambling to protect her and if we’re lucky, we’re all gonna get through it with our lives. I have a plan that’s already in motion to keep us all safe. But in order for that plan to work, I need Luche and Ada to not fuck it up by fucking each other because you and me caught this early. But by the time everyone else will catch it, if they fuck, Cor and Luche will both think that they lost a baby and that will lead to a whole different war that will destroy them both and Ada will get crushed with guilt because she couldn’t keep her legs closed. So you and me we’re gonna protect them by ruining their romantic moments. But part of this deal is you- Will. Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut. You don’t tell anyone, not even Stella, that we had this conversation or that Ada is expecting, you’re not even going to hint at it, in fact when we’re done talking, you’re going to go up to Stella and you’re going to tell her that I said that ‘Ada is not pregnant and that you’re seeing things and that your ego at being the first to see that Crowe was pregnant has you thinking every girl is’ but you’re going to be reluctant to say that, let her push you to get that answer, and you’re going to do your best to avoid the subject and you’re going to let her think she has this victory but when Ada looses that baby, and Stella comes back to you, you’re going to take her apology with grace and I’ll even publicly apologize for seeing what you saw and not realizing you were right and then when Luche asks, tell him that it was just a hunch but that I told you- you were wrong and to forget about it. So in the meantime when Luche asks why you’re being a dick, you’re going to remind him of the night of my wedding and how broken and betrayed he felt when Ada flirted with Cor while she was still with him and how it’s not right. He’s gonna glare, but he’s gonna see that you’re right and then he’s going to thank you and you’re going to keep it up and even by the end of the week and even next week, all you’re going to have to do is give them a look and that will be enough. Now, give me your cell phone number so we can keep in touch, when I text you or call you, you will not ignore me, you will answer me immediately because our lives could be on the line.” Sylva explained.

“Deal.” Tredd grinned before they shook on it and Sylva put his phone number in her phone that was sitting next to her.

“Now go, Regis is coming back,” Sylva urged him as she saw her husband coming back with her drink in hand.

“Yup, when am I going to get my money?” Tredd asked.

“Half tonight, half at the end of next week, I don’t want you blowing all of it while on the boat at the casino.” Sylva answered.

“Sounds good to me.” Tredd beamed happily as he got out of the hot tub.

“Oh and Tredd?” Sylva called after him.

“Congrats on having the gift.” Sylva grinned as Tredd offered her a bashful smile before he left and went back to Stella.

“So? What did she say?” Stella insisted.

“It doesn’t matter,” Tredd shook his head no as he grabbed his pop from her.

“Yes it does, come on, what did she say?” Stella narrowed her eyes playfully as she poked him in the rib cage as he moved to keep her from tickling him.

“Tell me, tell me now.” Stella insisted before she pinned him to his chair and pretended she was about to tickle him.

“Fine, fine, she said I was seeing things.” Tredd told her reluctantly.

“Ha! I knew it, see? You just got super lucky with Crowe, quit thinking you have the magical ability to see things that aren’t there. Now, let’s just enjoy this expense free vacation from aunt Sylva.” Stella beamed as she kissed him before Tredd hiked his hips up to grind his hardening cock at her center.

“Care to enjoy something else?” Tredd hinted with a mischievous grin as he did it again and watched her reaction with delight.

“Yeah, come on,” Stella nodded as the two slipped away.

Meanwhile Selena and Ravus were both lying under a cabana, putting sunscreen on the twins next to the pool after Selena had applied two layers of it to Ravus so he wouldn’t burn.

“Your hair has gotten lighter.” Selena noted as she watched him out of the corner of her eye as he made sure to get every nook and cranny of Izzy.

“It does that. When I was a kid, my mom complained it used to turn white. It nearly did when my dad died.” Ravus answered as he fed Izzy another handful of blueberries to keep her sated and still.

“Really?” Selena asked as she did a double take and imagined his hair white.

“Yup. Marie Antoinette syndrome. I actually colored my hair darker blonde for a year or two to keep it normal.” Ravus revealed.

“Huh,” Selena hummed as she finished getting Gabby covered in sunscreen and proceeded to feed her a few of the blueberries too before she let Gabby rest on her chest and stroked her little back lovingly as she watched Tredd and Sylva talk with curiosity.

“Rae?” Selena asked.

“Hmm?” Ravus looked up from Izzy to her before he followed Selena’s finger to see Tredd talking to his mother.

“What the hell is going on there?” Ravus frowned in confusion as he watched Tredd and his mother have a stare off.

“I don’t know. Something to do with Stella I would think.” Selena ventured.

“Maybe.” Ravus tilted his head curiously before he finished up with Izzy and had her sit on his lap and dig into the rest of the blueberries.

“That’s a negotiation if I ever saw one.” Selena noted as she watched Tredd and Sylva talk.

“Yeah it is.” Ravus agreed. “Whatever it is, has her hackles up.” Ravus noted as he read his mother’s body language.

“I wonder what it’s about.” Selena mused aloud.

“Me too.” Ravus hummed.

“I hope it’s not us.” Selena muttered under her breath.

“No, it’s not us.” Ravus shook his head as he watched Tredd and his mother continue to talk before they seemed to reach an agreement, wishing he could read lips better than he could.

“Nyx and Luna?” Selena wondered as she cut her eyes over to them swimming in the pool with Dani.

“I don’t think so.” Ravus shook his head as he wouldn’t take his eyes off of them.

“Something ‘half’, she’s hired him for something.” Ravus realized as he watched his mother’s mouth intensely.

“What would your mother hire Tredd for?” Selena asked.

“I don’t know, let’s just watch him and see what he does,” Ravus urged as they both watched Tredd go back to Stella before they talked and slipped away.

“That’s just weird.” Selena shrugged as she turned her attention back to Gabby, who was trying to eat most of the blueberries and eating them by the heaping handful.

“Yeah it is,” Ravus nodded in agreement before he saw Dani swim up to Craig and plead to get yeeted into the pool which he obliged as Selena and Ravus both snickered at the squealing screeching Dani made as she got some impressive air before the other kids came up to him and got yeeted too.  

For the next two weeks, Tredd did as Sylva asked and let Ada and Luche draw close and have all kinds of time to reconnect but the moment either one of them got that ‘look’ he was there to ruin it. Tredd, to keep from getting suspicious however, had to do it with some of the other couples too and play it off as him just being a dick. Even Stella was at a loss as to what had gotten into him.

Meanwhile Cor used the break in not having Ada around to worry about him to throw himself completely into his work and he got dangerously close. So close he could practically feel Gilgamesh’s wrists in his cuffs and saw him when he closed his eyes and had dream after dream of killing him and ending it while Hazel, Titus and Sylva could only pray he succeeded.

The last night of the last week of the cruise was the last formal night and Sylva was perhaps extra evil in that she had the DJ play ‘‘What Side Of Love” by Parachute and watched Luche dance with Ada as she and Tredd both grinned at each other as they watched Luche dance with Ada before Tredd’s phone dinged and was notified of an electronic deposit into his account and grinned wider.

“Job well done.” Sylva toasted casually as she clinked her glass with his.

“So how fast are things going to go to shit when we get back?” Tredd murmured quietly.

“Relatively quickly I would think, Cor’s probably been throwing himself completely into pursuing Gilgamesh quite hard. Judging by how much Clarus has been texting Regis and how tense Regis has been the last two weeks.” Sylva revealed. “Could be hours, could be days, possibly weeks, although if it takes more than a month, I’ll be surprised, probably just about the time everyone’s guard is down.” Sylva added as Tredd nodded.

“So basically wait until Hazel gets the warning.” Tredd offered lowly.

“Good for you figuring that out.” Sylva congratulated proudly.

“Yeah, it wasn’t rocket science, she at the drop of a hat decided to come on a three week vacation with us? She’s ordered in Mandarin at the asian restaurants on both ships and she’s been checking her own phone just as much as Regis has been checking his. I mean both of their last names are Stevens for crying out loud and she does have you know, the same accent that Charlotte has and their speech patterns are the same, the same way sisters or mothers and daughters have the same speech patterns, like you and Luna do. And the way she looks at Ada is kind of a dead giveaway.” Tredd murmured.

“Yeah,” Sylva had to admit.

“But I take it since I’m the only one who’s been around Charlotte and Hazel, that I’m the one who knows half of that.” Tredd furthered.

“Correct.” Sylva nodded. “Remember, lips sealed Dearest.” Sylva reminded him before Tredd gestured that his lips were zipped closed.  

When they all did disembark on the boats and finish up the rock tour and Luna and her group finish looking at all the houses in Colorado and Montana before coming home just in time to go back to school, Ada was the first one to be dropped off, Crowe helped cart all of her things inside and Ada was actually disappointed that Cor wasn’t even home and the place looked haphazard. Like all he had done was eat and sleep here while she was gone. She tidied up and freshened up the place as she waited for him to come home before she got irritated and just called him.

“Yeah?” Cor asked when he answered his phone.

“Hey, long time no see, guess who’s home?” Ada asked as she sat on the couch and let Baxter lay on her lap.

“Oh shit, you’re home already?” Cor realized as he looked at the time and realized it was like 8 in the evening.

“Yeah, did you miss me?” Ada asked hopefully.

“Yeah, yeah, of course I missed you, been missing you like crazy.” Cor reassured her as he quickly and busily shoved things into his bag to go home for the night. “Um, have you had dinner?” He asked as he realized he hadn’t eaten anything in the last….8 hours, maybe 9.

“Yeah, Sylva made sure I ate before she dropped me off.” Ada answered. “Kind of been starving for something else though Love.” Ada confessed, maybe she just needed to reconnect with Cor physically to feel right again. Because the last month on the road with all her friends and especially being with Luche again, it had her feeling off in a way she couldn’t define.

“I’ll be home as fast as I can, don’t go anywhere Love.” Cor grinned happily as he came home as fast as he could, but not before grabbing a burger through a drive through to wolf that down on the way home too.

“Ok, I won’t.” Ada giggled.

Cor came home and fucked Ada good and hard, but just...a little too quickly since Cor hadn’t even had a chance to please himself while she was on the cruises and after two rounds and for Ada, one disappointing orgasm later, Cor was out like a light and Ada could only lay in bed and look up at the ceiling as her mind wandered back to the cruises and the few weeks of being on the road with the band. Luche had changed in all the right ways but was still the same in all the ways that mattered and were important. Even though he didn’t say it, he showed it a thousand times over that he still loved her, he still respected her and cherished her and made her feel so special. All Cor cared about is making sure she didn’t cheat on him. Which honestly was a little off putting because his main concern should have been that she had fun and had a good time and missed him. And honestly, being away from him for so long, was sex with Cor always that...lackluster? Like it got some kinks out of the pipes but that was it. Since when was sex with Cor that... disappointing? She would have thought he would have been ticking down the hours until she was home, had a meal ready and waiting for her, had rose petals and candles all over the house and been overly romantic and charming and would have been waiting at Sylva’s house for her… but now all she could feel was disappointment. Had he even missed her that much? At all? He even had new scratches and bruises and new stitches, he had gotten hurt while she was gone and he didn’t tell her. Here she was hoping for a reconnection and she felt even more disconnected now than she did before she came home. Here she thought he would have just wanted to romance her right and then hear every little detail about her trip and her time away from him and it was like, he didn’t want that at all, he wanted to get his rocks off, made sure she was “good” and didn’t stray and then came back in one piece. What the fuck?!

The next morning, Cor outright refused to let Ada leave the house to walk the dog and honestly tried to even keep her away from the windows. Ada felt like she was on house arrest.

“Why?! Why can’t I just take Baxter on a fucking walk?!” Ada demanded angrily.

“Because it’s not safe!” Cor finally snapped.

“I was halfway across the country on a road trip of all things and on two cruises with thousands of strangers but walking the dog in your neighborhood isn’t safe?” Ada questioned. “I need to go grocery shopping, I should be going back to work, I…”

“You can’t, not without me.” Cor cut her off. “Just wait until I get home tonight.” Cor placated as he got ready for work. “Don’t worry about going back to work, we’re ok. You don’t need to work. There’s still plenty of food in the house, you’ll be fine, just stay away from the windows and don’t leave the house.” Cor commanded before he left for work leaving Ada to growl in frustration as she stared at the daggers into his back. This was ridiculous.

She didn’t listen, she still went to the store and got groceries and brought Baxter with her at least as she idly wondered what Luche was up to before she texted him.

‘Hey, what are you up to?’ She texted him as she waited in line at the grocery store.

‘Choosing an apartment. Lol’ he texted back immediately.

‘Really? Where?’ Ada blinked in surprise.

‘Oak Gardens,’ Luche answered. ‘I’m actually looking at different apartments now, wanna help me pick one out?’ He offered hopefully, hoping that didn’t come off weird.

‘I’ll be there in fifteen.’ Ada instantly agreed as she put her groceries on the conveyer belt to be checked out.

She put the perishables into the cold bag and drove straight there and wasn’t surprised to see most of their friends already there picking out different apartments too. Pelna and Yasmine had gotten one and surprisingly Gladio and Pashmina had gotten the one next to that and Craig and Iris had gotten one across the street and even Ravus and Selena had gotten one since Selena had adopted one of Craig’s newfoundland puppies, Bunny since these were townhouse apartments that allowed pets for an extra charge a month and Luche had a hard time deciding if his apartment should be on the left or on the right of Ravus because he liked both, but they were different in their own ways and thankfully Ada was able to look at both and Luche went with the one she liked best which was to the right of Ravus because it had a nicer more easy set up and the color scheme she liked better as she realized, this townhouse was way nicer than the house Cor had and she couldn’t help but feel jealous and wishing she could live here. It had brand new appliances and state of the art this and that and even Baxter liked the apartment really well which Luche took as a good sign. And even though it was a townhouse, it was huge, it had three big bedrooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, dining area that was pretty open floor plan and even a basement that had washer, dryer hook ups and brand new appliances otherwise. It was gorgeous.  

Ada decided to stay with them and go out to lunch with them and sat next to Luche and poured over the furniture websites at different furniture and helped him choose what furniture he wanted in each room and in each space using the dimensions she helped him gather of all the rooms in the apartment to make sure they would all fit good as well as picking out a great washer and dryer combo and the apartment complex was in it’s own community that had a pool and a playground and was really close to a nice shopping center and tons of restaurants. It was amazing.

Ada got home in time to put her groceries away, grateful she didn’t get ice cream because it would have melted. But Cor came home pissed at her.

“Why did you leave the house and why did you ignore my calls?!” Cor boomed when he came home as Baxter barked at him for raising his voice before Cor kicked Baxter outside so he couldn’t interfere.

“Because I texted you instead.” Ada answered as she continued to cook dinner. “You knew exactly where I was and who I was with. I was safe, I was fine. Because I was careful.” Ada argued as she paused and turned to face him, her arms crossed over her chest defensively.

“You can’t be too careful Ada!” Cor growled angrily.

“Oh my God, I was gone half the summer and was fine and now that I’m back you’re treating me like I’m a child like you can’t trust me to take care of myself! I’m an adult Cor!” Ada argued.

“You don’t understand! It’s very dangerous right now, I’m just trying to protect you, when Gilgamesh is no longer a threat, I won’t care what you do, because I’ll know then that you’ll be fine but right now, it’s like there’s a bear loose in the neighborhood and all I’m asking is for you to stay in the goddamn house, why can’t you do that?! Why can’t you just listen to me?!” Cor demanded.

“Because that bear wouldn’t be a threat if you didn’t keep poking it with a stick! Just shoot the damn thing and be done with it!” Ada snapped.

“I’ve been trying to! It won’t get into my damn sights!” Cor growled in frustration. “And what’s the deal with you hanging out with Luche all day? According to Gladio, you never left his side.” Cor accused angrily.

“Because he’s been my body guard all summer and is still on body guard duty and will be on body guard duty until you take Gilgamesh down, Sylva fucking hired him to do that. Nothing happened between us all summer, it’s not like that’s going to change over night now that we’re back home. He’s a friend and he trusts my judgement and simply asked for my opinion on stuff, which is something I wish you would do.” Ada defended before the two had a stare off before they both gave each other the silent treatment the rest of the night.

The next day Ada went shopping with Luche again for things to decorate his apartment with as they filled two carts up with stuff since his furniture would be delivered the next day since he was already starting to move his stuff into the place, although he was mindful to leave plenty of room for her things as well since he hoped she’d be moving in sooner than later, but in the meantime he tried to include her in everything apartment wise because he wanted her to feel like she was at home at his place and part of that included having things in his apartment she liked and would use so now both of them were comparing dishes both online and in the stores before they found a set they both loved and adored and afterwords, Luche took her to a tea room for lunch. Ada hadn’t gotten high tea since she came to the states and while Luche’s didn’t love tea, he didn’t hate it either and was open to trying a few varieties before he found one he liked, it was a hibiscus and berry blend that they both liked but Ada’s favorite was still that Irish Breakfast blend.

Ada was torn because for the second time, all over again, she was happiest when she was with Luche because he just talked with her, valued her opinion and input and trusted her judgement on everything, like she was his equal in every way, if anything, like she was more precious than him and more important than him and she was once again the center of his world. God, she had missed that. She missed his sense of humor and his ability to make her forget that anything happening outside the bubble of his presence mattered or existed. She had missed his handsome face and his bright smile and how warm and friendly and at ease he was and how he had all the time in the world to spend on her and how he wasn’t in a rush at all and how every moment spent with her was precious to him. Why had she ever left him? Had Cor really been worth it?

That night she came home and looked around at Cor’s house and realized how little of her was here. That day had been the best day of his career because he had just gotten done arresting Charlotte Stevens and had her in custody, but he couldn’t enjoy it because Ada had been with Luche all day again. The fight with Cor that night was more than she could take and she left with Baxter to take a walk to cool off. It was sunset and she was so angry with Cor she didn’t notice the car following her, and she didn’t notice until it was too late how Baxter seemed to freeze, every hair on his spine standing on end as he started growling and barking ferociously and she barely had a chance to scream before a bag was thrown over her head, she was picked up and she heard a gunshot and Baxter yelping in pain before she was hit over the head and became unconscious.  

[joannalannister]

Another ask, this time regarding dorne - I was under the impression that the people, in regards to skin tone and appearance, were based of the Spanish? If so, why does the majority of fan art seem to draw them (and lots of fan castings) with an Indian/middle eastern appearance? I noticed that they also have typically Indian clothing (sari and veil) and jewellery - is this true for their intext descriptions?

Hi. So this is a controversial subject, not least of which because GRRM has said in extra-textual comments that he imagined the Martells as “Greek, Spanish, Italian, Portugese”. I think this is a situation where “Death of the author” applies, because I think GRRM’s is obviously wrong here. 

I think there is significant evidence in the text that Dornish people, if they existed in the real world, would not be European. 

My friend @lyannas has written extensively on this topic, and I highly recommend her posts:

“Dorne’s Not White” 

“Dorne is more similar to MENA than India“

These posts on @asoiafuniversity are also good:

POC fans and Western fantasy

A collection of official ASOIAF artwork that portray the Dornish as non-European (this addition by @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly is good too)

The Case for Dorne being Nonwhite

“I’m worried about Oberyn Martell”

Dornish clothing

These posts go through many textual descriptions, so I will leave the quotes to them. I also recommend going through these tags on @asoiafuniversity, because I only linked some highlights above. If you want more, I suggest you look through:

#dorne (there are 14 pages there, go aaaaall the way)

#dornish racism

#racism

Also, many people fancasted Alexander Siddig (who was born in Sudan) as their dream fancast for Doran Martell, loooooong before the show casted him. So that casting / fancast has influenced the way fandom thinks about the Martells. 

I’m aware of this comment by GRRM: 

In the case of Dorne, yes, Wales was definitely an influence, for all the reasons you cite. But there’s also some distinctly unWelsh elements down there. South of the wall of mountains you have a hot, dry country more like Spain or Palestine than the cool green valleys of Wales, with most of the settlements along the seacoast and in few great river basins. And you also have the flavor given the culture by the great Rhoynar influx led by Nymeria. I suppose the closest real life equivilent to that would be the Moorish influence in parts of Spain. So you could say Dorne is Wales mixed with Spain and Palestine with some entirely imaginary influences mixed in. Or you could just say it’s Dorne….

and I think @lyannas does a good job addressing the “Spain” part in the links I gave above. 

(When I think of sandy deserts and armies being engulfed by sand storms, I do not think of southern europe, even if that is what GRRM thinks of.)

Regarding Wales, I’ve talked before about this with my friend @girlwholovesherwords​, who is my expert on Wales, and she explained to me that Wales historically had strong female inheritance laws, similar to Dornish female inheritance laws, so I think GRRM’s comment about Wales had more to do with legal traditions than skin tone. (A lot of people like to take GRRM’s Wales comment and use it to whitewash the Dornish, but those people are obviously wrong, when the text describes the Dornish as brown-skinned.) 

(@ Gemma, I thought you made a post about this? But I can’t find it? idk if you would like to share your thoughts again if you see this?)

So anyways I think there’s a very strong case to be made that Dornish people most resemble Palestinians, or at least people from the Middle East. 

Why do some people imagine the Dornish as southeast Asian rather than Middle Eastern?

Well, for one thing, GRRM told Janina Gavankar, who has Indian ancestry, that she looks like Nymeria Sand. (GRRM fancast Apollonia Kotero, who has Mexican ancestry, as Arianne Martell, so GRRM is kind of … all over the place … with Dorne, and someone needs to tell GRRM that pocs aren’t interchangeable.)

The official art of Sunspear was based on the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, which is in Brunei (southeast asia), while the domed architecture of Sunspear has been compared to Mughal architecture. 

The Dornish paint their silk - painted silk is a tradition that originated in east Asia. “Silk painting in India touched great heights during Mughal rule in 17th – 19th centuries.” 

When I was first reading ASOIAF, before I became involved in the online fandom, I personally associated Dorne with southeast asia / India for various reasons:

Dornish subcontinent // Indian subcontinent

Dorne becoming part of the Targaryen empire (elitist/racist white people) // India becoming part of the British Empire (elitist/racist white people)

Dornish desire for independence // Indian desire for independence

(Obviously Palestine also has a history of British occupation, I’m just saying that it was India I thought of while reading, rather than Palestine.)

In India, the British made arbitrary distinctions based on colorism // In Dorne, Daeron I arbitrarily divided the Dornish based on skin color (“salty Dornish” and “stony Dornish” and “sandy Dornish”)

Martell princes retaining royal status under Targ rule // Indian princes under British rule

the Ganges as a sacred river of great cultural and life-sustaining significance made me think of both “Mother Rhoyne” in Essos from which the Rhoynar came, and now the Greenblood which the Orphans go up and down in their boats

When someone asks me to think of a snake, the first one that comes to my mind is Kaa from the animated Jungle Book, this is just who I am, ok, that snake scared me as a child. I know that Kaa is a python and Oberyn called himself a viper, I know these things, I’m just explaining how my mind works

Dornish deserts // Indian deserts

Important agricultural products as exports (British really like drinking tea from India // Westeros really like drinking Dornish wine)

food cooked with lots of spices

I’m not saying these are the best associations, I’m not saying these are even all that accurate. I’m only saying that these were the associations I brought to the text as a reader, and these are the associations that shaped my imagination of Dorne as drawing a lot of inspiration from India. In the words of Ursula Le Guin, 

As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music. 

Your reading experience depends on what you bring with you to the text and that shapes how you imagine it, how you create the world inside the book. 

So whatever associations and backgrounds and personal experiences readers are bringing to the text, the important thing to keep in mind is that the Dornish aren’t white people, especially when the text describes the Dornish as dark-skinned and “brown” skinned. 

I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong if some people want to imagine the Martells as Moroccan, and other people want to imagine them as Palestinian, and other people want to imagine them as Egyptian, and other people want to imagine them as Indian, and still other people want to imagine them as Chilean. (Pedro Pascal was a wonderful Oberyn Martell.) Different people are bringing different things to the text, and they’re “creating” the world of ASOIAF in different ways, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that making quality gifs / graphics / fanart is hard and poc are unfortunately very underrepresented in Western media. Photoshoppers might imagine something really amazing, but not be able to execute it very well, because they’re limited by the movies and tv shows that are already out there. (Fanartists have more flexibility, but they still often need references.) Photoshopping difficulties aren’t an excuse for whitewashing, but it does explain why, for example, gifs/graphics/fanart of Elia often depict her in a saree when she should probably be wearing a more medieval style gown, if we’re going by how GRRM describes Dornish clothing. (The closest thing to a saree in ASOIAF is probably the Ghiscari tokar.) 

Finally, I’m white, so my thoughts here might not be the most valuable ones to have in this discussion. I’ve tried to give as many links as possible to poc discussing this topic, but you might want to ask a poc directly what their thoughts are. @lyannas is always very eloquent and insightful, so you might want to send more questions about this to her. 

EDIT #1 - Yes, I am aware that medieval Spain was not necessarily white and there was a significant Moorish influence (including people from North Africa) in medieval Spain. That’s why I linked to lyannas’ posts above discussing this issue (did y’all click on all my links??), and that’s why I specifically mentioned Moroccan and Egyptian up above. This ask was in the context of fancasting, ie what ethnicity/race of actors alive today should be fancasted as Dornish.

EDIT #2 - @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly also recommended this post of hers. 

@nobodysuspectsthebutterfly replied to your post:

[wales is] only a reference to their guerilla warfare, not their ethnicity

also, for further Wales influence on Dorne: www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Asshai.com_Forum_Chat

Thanks!

[2021laxteentour]

Day Three (Reflection and Departure)

Thank you so much for this opportunity, I’ve learned so much more than I thought I ever would. This trip showed me how differently the two extremes of the United States live. Seeing all of the different kinds of people was very interesting and was a truly unique experience. On the last day we visited Bruce Beach which was absolutely beautiful. I would have never heard about his story or the beach without Dr.Mike.I am so grateful that I was able to attend the trip to LA and meet everyone else. -Ariyana L.

This whole trip has been amazing for me. I got to see Hollywood as it seems like on tv. I also really enjoyed seeing the parts that aren’t televised. This helped show how everything always isn’t glam as it is made out. Also with learning the history of Bruce Beach it made me appreciate the trip even more. It was truly a eye open ring experience and I can’t wait to travel with Dr.Mike again. -Paris B.

Dr. Mike, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's WECCAN! We had an amazing group and the energy was just right! The reflection time on Manhattan beach was great, I loved to hear the teens and young adults share their feelings about this weekend and how Skid row volunteering event impacted them, how they will share with their friends and family their experiences and how this is and will shape their future/lives. THIS IS what it's all about! So thank you for another successful year, love love love our WeCCAN family. -Rania A.

The morning circles were always times of reflection.  Dr. Weaver would leave us with a history tidbit and outline the routine for that day.  Today we were going to Bruce’s Beach (Manhattan Beach) for a time of reflection.  This beach was condemned through eminent domain proceedings in 1924 from several minority families.  The beach is my favorite place of refuge & reflection.  After arriving, we formed our normal circle and Dr. Weaver gave the history as we stood directly in front of the land. The beach is absolutely beautiful.  I think I saw a few minorities wandering about, whether walking, running or riding bikes.  We were instructed to go separately and reflect on events that transpired during the tour, what are we thankful for.  I think experiencing skid row was most impactful for me.  I’m so thankful & grateful for my life, the opportunities & freedoms I have.  To see the “super rich & famous” across town and in this area, those that could possibly die because of the decisions made. To see people not knowing where the next meal was coming from or even asking for water, was touching.  The most populated homeless area in America….touching! I reflected on having family that care enough to see about my well being.  After the reflection period alone, we gathered again in our circle and each person was given the opportunity to share his/her experiences.  I can definitely go out & share with others the impact this organization has on others.  -Pamela F.

Wow! What a awesome weekend we had. This was definitely one for the books. This service learning experience was well organized from start to finish. As I reflect over the entire experience I was touched by the way all of the teens conducted themselves and served willingly without complaints. I loved that the entire group bonded so quickly like we were all family. That made the experience even more rewarding. All of the places that were toured was worth the effort put into the planning. The entire weekend was very impactful! I look forward to continuing volunteering with this group. -Stephanie L.

Skid row, one of the most populated homelessness sections in America was quite an eye opener.  Being able to help provide community service in this area was uplifting. The group was divided into smaller groups and we picked up trash and cleaned the area the homeless where the homeless people lived.  It was difficult determining what was trash.  The saying “one man’s trash is another’s mans treasure” goes a long way here.  I learned that most homeless people are hoarders.  They think they will never have enough. You can also see the “classes” of homelessness, better texts or better looking tents we ran across a gentleman who is now a minister.  He used to be homeless as well.  He came back to skid row and feed the hungry. He talked with us for a while and mentioned that he’s unified some family members.  He also stated that women come looking pretty when they get off the bus, then a couple of weeks later, after the drug dealers have gotten to them, they are unrecognizable.  He said many will die on skid row.  It’s up to the individual to decide his/her fate. He encourage us to keep doing what we doing — it’s making an impact, it can change lives. He’s been recognized by LA with many certificates for helping the homeless and is part owner in a seafood restaurant around the corner from skid row.  Our next stop was the Rose Bowl stadium which was very nice to see where all the games are played.  One of the chaperones, Steven actually played in the Rose Bowl in 2019 while at University of GA. UCLA was a huge campus.  We had the opportunity to see the swim team area walk the campus.  Any campus that have an Amazon store on-site — well, you’re doing a lot of business! Venice Beach had so many activities - tennis, basketball, skate park, vendors, etc.  A fun yet relaxing place to enjoy.  The condolas neighborhood was awesome with the paddle boats to mimic Venice, Italy.  The Sacramento Pier was a nice board walk with plenty of eateries and fun stuff to do. -Pamela F.

I’m very grateful to have experienced this trip, not with just the amazing people who were on it but going places and realizing and opening the minds of I and others about how things truly are in the world. I loved every part of it. I wish to go on MANY more with this group and see the world. And learn so much more things about what goes on in the world and other cities and countries etc. Thank you for this trip Dr. Mike!  -Ashleigh F.

This was a morning of reflection. Looking back over the weekend I had some really exciting moments and some emotional ones also. I was emotional because I started to compare the places we visited. From visiting Hollywood and Rodeo Drive to experiencing Skid-Row and seeing the different social classes and life choices that people have made. But visiting Skid-Row made me confirm that I want to do more hands-on community service. Visiting Manhattan Beach, which was once owned by a black family and now after 100 years they regain their property was heartbreaking. Being there, made me reflect on the Juneteenth holiday and everything that it stood for. I loved the group that I met and the new relationships that formed and now consider everyone family. I can’t wait for more opportunities to explore the world and expand my knowledge. I thought the trip was overall a fun and learning experience. On the way back home I felt more inspired, thankful and energized as I share back home the memories, experiences and knowledge I received from this trip. Hopefully those who I speak to about what I learned gets inspired and want to join on the next trip that’s planned. -Morgan F.

Yesterday evening while on Venice Beach some of us got in the Pacific ocean. Yes it was as cool as it sounds. There's nothing quite feeling the crisp refreshment of being in an ocean. I slept like a baby when we got back to the hotel. This morning we went to Manhattan Beach and observed the land that will be returned to the people whom it was stolen from over a hundred years ago. This makes my heart joyous and reminds me to continue believing the world can constantly improve by the voices and acts of those who turn energy into action. Who translate their passion in progress in the world around us. That's the impact of SSA; to galvanize the volunteers to channel the energy gained from the tour into action within their own community. To inspire the next generation to continue to pay it forward. I'm honored to be a part of SSA and grateful for all the volunteers in the past and in the future; and incredibly grateful for the philanthropy of our donors who make this enlightening tour a reality. Counting down until next time. -Giovan B.

Being able to break the beautiful shell of Los Angeles and explore its “light and dark” sides showed me the importance of community. Skid Row is a community of people who may have or have not made the right decisions in life at one point in time. It exemplifies how even though you may be down or not as capable as the the next person with the support of people around you, you can still keep moving forward. The residents of Skid Row have developed their own form of civilization. What stood out to me the most from visiting this community was the inspirational people from those that still lived their to those that had found a way out, it was all inspirational. To be able to see one of Skid Row’s own people mural placed on his street was a show of how they uplift each other. Pastor Blue , a resident of Skid Row, showed us that nothing can stop you from your faith. You personally have to be willing to motivate yourself to higher heights. Since a child, I’ve always been told that “being able to talk amongst others is one thing but being able to liberate those that are listening is better.” Overall, being able to have the chance to Skid Row even more pretty than what it already was brought a sense of joy not only to my heart but to my soul because my life purpose is to serve,advocate, and grow. Alongside, going to Skid Row to do community service, I was also granted with the opportunity of visiting the beautiful campus of University of Southern California. While at USC I got to see how money is able to influence a lot on a college campus. This includes what amenities you may have, how the campus looks, and the opportunities that can be granted to you when their is more funds. Before going to USC I had the opportunity to visit the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena and catch an amazing photo with the Hollywood Sign. Later in the night we had the chance of not only visiting Venice Beach better known as “Muscle Beach” but also got the chance to explore the Santa Monica pier. Be able to explore gave me the chance to try new foods and see mew things. While at Venice Beach I was granted the opportunity of tasting Birria Tacos but I also tried Elote. Trying new foods allowed me to be able to explore the foods of a different culture and ethnic group of people. Lastly when visiting Santa Monica I was able to walk the pier and see the different rides and attractions that the pier had to offer. -Roderick T.

[sensiblestudy]

I finished my first year of Uni not too long ago and looking back I can safely say I made a ton of mistakes. I thought it would be nice to maybe give advice based on my experience of college, which is also hopefully some realistic advice! This post turned out to be waaaay longer than I had anticipated so everything is below the cut lol! Also!! Please bare in mind that, like I said, this is purely based off my own experiences! I go to Uni in Ireland so I’m sure things are kind of different elsewhere but hopefully some of this info will still be useful! Oh and one more thing, my college is like a 10 min drive from my house so I still live at home, which means I can’t give any tips about accommodation, sadly! Alright here we goooooo

ORIENTATION

Feeling Overwhelmed: IT’S OKAY! You’re in a new environment, filled with people you most likely don’t know, it’s perfectly normal to feel this way. Do not feel pressured into speaking up and asking questions if you don’t feel comfortable to. I was lucky to have one of my best friends with me for orientation, but even at that I was still nervous and too shy to ask any questions. You’ll have plenty of time to find out the answers to your questions!

Campus Tour: I’m assuming this is something most colleges do. If you were given your timetable before the tour, make sure you have it on you, so that you can try and take mental notes of the locations of your classes. Of course, depending on the size of your campus, this may not be completely possible to do. Don’t worry if you feel lost and feel like you won’t be able to remember where everything is, you’ll surprise yourself at how quickly you’ll get the hang of the campus once you actually start.

Bring A Notebook & Bag: I was given a “fresher’s pack” before entering a hall where they were giving a talk about the college, my course and various important info. The pack was basically a drawstring bag filled with useful supplies, including a refill pad and pen! So you may receive something like that, but I would still recommend bringing a small notebook and pen, just in case you don’t! That way, you can write down any useful info you’ll need, e.g. how to access lecture notes, where you have to submit assignments, etc. If all else fails, use your phone to write these down!! Also bring some sort of a bag, because you will most likely receive sheets and booklets for various things! 

Talking With People: If you are more of a chatty person, then I definitely would recommend trying to talk to some people! Many people you’ll see will be most likely on their own, or maybe only have one friend with them. Everyone is in the same boat, and everyone wants to make new friends. I was shook at how friendly everyone was, it was obvious people just really wanted to get to know others, and orientation is a great chance to do this!! Especially if your orientation is a few days long, chatting with someone on the first day means you can try and hang with them for the rest of orientation, too! Even if you’re not the sort of person to approach others, I bet you someone will start talking to you. Get chatting!!

FIRST WEEK

Feeling Lost: Going back to what I said about knowing where your lectures are on, if you find yourself getting lost, just ask someone! It can legit be anyone. If someone walks by you, just stop and ask where X Room is or X Building. It doesn’t matter if they’re a student or a member of staff, they will be more than happy to help you out! Again, after your first week you should feel more confident in your new environment and remember where a lot of places are! So try not to stress that much at first.

Go To Your Lectures: Please attend your lectures during this week. This is honestly the most vital time!! You more than likely don’t know a huge amount about uni and how it all works, so this is such a good chance to get a feel of how things are carried out. Your lecturers should give you a course outline, and these are suuuuper helpful!! You can see what you’re going to be covering each week, what way you will be assessed, what weeks you will have tutorials and more! 

Gather Info: Another important reason to go to these lectures is to find out info such as how to register for your modules and what not. For example, some lecturers in my college use a site called Moodle as a way of uploading notes and other info, as well as having a space to upload assignments. In these first few lectures we were told how to enroll for the modules. So you know, you’ll find out things like that, which are super important!! 

DURING LECTURES & NOTE-TAKING

First Week Notes: Okay so during the first week you probably won’t be covering too much but I still recommend having a notebook to write down some notes. You can wait until the second week (or even later) to decide how you’re going to do your notes! So for the first week, just take down some notes in a random notebook, you’ll have time to re-write them if you decide to change how you take notes.

Note-Taking Method: Continuing from above, it’s good to figure out how you’re going to do your notes, but again, if it takes you a few weeks to find a method you prefer, that’s fine. I started Uni by handwriting my notes in an A4 notebook with subject dividers. I used to think “wow I’d love to type my notes but my laptop is a 15.6″ so it would be embarrassing using it because surely people only use smaller ones right??” but boy was I wrong. I started taking notice of everyone’s laptops, and while some had smaller sized ones, quite a few people had bigger ones, like mine! So I said screw it and brought it in and it was amazing. I’m waaaay faster at typing than writing, so for me it was a life-saver. Figure out what’s best for you, take a look at what other people do, you’ll eventually find a method you like!

If You Use A Laptop: Okay... so yes I found using a laptop for notes quite useful, BUT!!! whenever I got bored in a lecture I went straight to Tumblr, and scrolled and scrolled... and scrolled. I legit regret it so much. I mostly did it for history because I hated history and then when it came to my assignments I had no clue where to begin. So if you’re someone, much like me, who has very little self-control but want to use your laptop, maybe try out some of those website blockers!! I used Block Site during study week, but there are tooons of extensions to choose from! 

Taking Notes: My biggest regret, when it comes to note-taking, is taking down everything in the lecture slides, during lectures. Chances are your lecturers will put their lecture slides online for you to view. It’s even better if they put them up beforehand, which sadly most of mine didn’t. Basically, I find it’s best to take down what your lecturer says. Obviously, take down what’s on the lecture slides too, but shorter. Give yourself enough time to be able to actually listen to your lecturer so you can note what they’re saying. That way when you get the time to, you can view the lecture slides again and add in the info you missed. 

Bring Water: Or some sort of a drink. I can’t stress this enough, it’s great to have water, you never know when you’re gonna get a tickle in your throat, or how warm a lecture hall/room is going to be! Also it’s important to stay hydrated in general!!

OTHER TIPS

Going to Lectures: Look I’m going to be real here, yes of course it’s great to attend all your lectures, but come on we all get lazy. For example, last semester I had only one class on Thursdays and one class every other Monday. So of course there were times where I was too lazy to head over to college just for one class. Just try not to skip too many, it’s easy to fall behind, so you’ll end up building up more work for yourself!

GO TO TUTORIALS: Okay. Legit. Super serious here. Please please please go to your tutorials!! I haven’t a clue if they’re called tutorials everywhere?? But it’s those once-a-week classes (or sometimes every second week) that you have with a tutor and they’re in smaller groups. They’re more of a discussion-based type of class. You cover what you’ve been doing in your lectures and the tutors will basically discuss it with you and it gives you a great chance to speak out and ask questions. Most importantly, you (usually) get marks for attending. If you hate speaking up, I get it, I really do. However you really really need to for these. Some tutors only give you full marks if you give an answer, so please, try to speak at least once! For me I also usually had some work to do for tutorials e.g. for history we had documents to read and analyse and for Philosophy we had various texts to look over. I usually left them until the day before my tutorial, or sometimes even on the day. I wouldn’t recommend it, I’d advise maybe 2 or 3 days beforehand. You don’t wanna do it too early either because you might forget the stuff. Don’t spend hella long on the work for these, again, if you don’t understand something just ask a question! Also pro tip: your tutors will most likely ask questions to the group first, and then later ask those who haven’t spoke out questions. So, when they ask a question to the group, if you know the answer or just have any sort of response to it, speak up!!! That way they won’t (well, hopefully) address you with a specific question that you might not know the answer to! The main reason I recommend going, which is for if you get marks for attending, is that you then have a % from them before heading into your exam. For me, tutorials are usually worth 10% or 15%, even 20%. Your marks from tutorials could be the difference between and A and B, or even a pass and fail!

Having Multiple Lectures in a Row: Make sure you have some sort of snack in your bag that you can eat in between lectures. You might think you’ll be okay, but I bet after a few classes you’ll start feeling a bit light-headed or tired. I had like 4 in a row this semester and when I didn’t have food I legit felt like death. Also don’t forget to pee. Obvs.

Assignments: Can I be a hypocrite and tell you to start early? Like, idk if it’s the same for everyone, but for me my first year grades don’t go towards my overall degree, so I wasn’t too worried about how well I was doing, but I still wanted to do good of course. I usually started mine pretty late because I was like “uggggh I can’t do this hopefully tomorrow I’ll have an idea of where to start” but that was just kidding myself tbh. Just please try to give yourself enough time! I did a 1,500 word Philosophy essay in one night... like okay I still got an A1 but that was a fluke but THAT’S NOT THE POINT THE STRESS ISN’T WORTH IT I PROMISE!!!!! 

Okay okay wow that was long I apologise. I hope you found any of this post helpful! If you have any more questions please send them on! Good luck to anyone starting Uni this year or in the future, you’ll be fine, honestly!

[yeslabyrinth]

IMPROV: A NEW RELIGION WITH THE SAME OLD FAULTS  (HUMANS)

When you first get into improv, it's very much like finding a new, wonderful religion. Everyone is super nice, supportive, and you are learning all these exciting principles, and beliefs that make you feel like part of something bigger than yourself. It can truly be a cathartic experience. But soon you start hearing rumblings, and attacks on other people within your own belief structure. You start to see that humans have found ways to make what you thought was "Us", into "Us vs Them Who Are A Lot Like Us".  In religion it comes as, "Those Lutherans are too obsessed with the Gospel, but we know glory to God is what is most important thing.", or, "You know those Presbyterians say the Lord's prayer in a weird way." In improv you'll hear, "Those UCB people are too obsessed with Game, but we know relationship is what is most important.", or, "You know those short form people are a weird breed."

 Ahhh! Can I not escape the drama of life in this thing that is supposed to be my escape from life!?!?!?!?!? The answer is yes, and no. You will have opinions on these divides, and you should, but like religion, the fault comes when you let these minor differences of opinion make you feel superior, or that you have the "right" answer, instead of just what you have found works for you.  

 And I will not try to act above this. If you tell me you don't, "Get into the philosophy of improv.", I will scream (internally), "Than what do you practice! And why!?!?", or if you tell me you don't "play game", but do a premise based opening to generate ideas, I will think, "Suuuuuure. You don't play game."

 I'm not void of opinions, but I think where improv can go off the rails is when we get too distracted by these details, and forget to focus on the fact that we all want the same things in an improv community: Fellowship, friends, laughter, and seeing great comedy made up on the spot. So, with that, here are some things that we often argue over, but actually completely agree on.

 1.) We want to see performers committed to what they are doing.

 Whether you are playing game, doing a short form set, or building a slow relationship in a monoscene, we ALL want performers who are committed to what they are doing on stage. We don't want to see people who are selling out their scene partners, dropping their character, not acting to their best of their ability, being ironically detached, or texting on their phones while on the sideline(yes, I have seen this). Regardless of your preference on style of play, I think you'd rather see a committed short form set, than an ironically detached Harold.

 2.) A rising tide raises all boats.

 Even in Kansas City, we can get into the trap of thinking, "I do improv this way, and only this way.", which, if you want to feel that way, do so, but know that getting outside of your comfort zone is the only way you ever learn new skills. No guitarist ever mastered the blues, and then thought, "I have nothing to learn from jazz." Well, they may have, and I guarantee they stagnated as an artist. What we can agree on is if Theater A is doing well, Theater B gains from it. If someone got into improv by seeing a show at B, but then found out they dig Theater A more, you both gained a fan of improv in your community, who could go on to spread that joy exponentially. If Theater A is doing a lot better monetarily than Theater B, at least the love of improv in your city is growing, the amount of people who want to learn how to do improv is growing, and maybe one day down the road the popularity of the theaters flip (if the history  of Chicago improv is any example). No matter what, your WHOLE city grows from it, as well as the art form.

 3.) What works for me may not work for others.

 Language is a fickle thing. I am a super believer in Game style play the way UCB has worded it. It works perfectly for me in a way I understand. Some super talented performers I know, can't stand it, but I will watch them play, and think they are playing game. They have a way of approaching improv that is different than mine, but ends up with a finished product I absolutely love. So, I have to understand that my way of thinking is just that. My way. Now, this can get a bit more complicated if you're on the same team and using different terminology, or the same words with different meanings, and you may need to sit down, and ask each other, "What do you mean by relationship?", "What do you mean you want to focus on character?", but those things can be worked out(and honestly need to be worked out as a whole. A universal improv language has so many benefits, but that’s a rambling for another day). If you have the hubris to think you have a solution on how to do perfect improv every time, please share it. If not, know that not every great baseball player stands, and holds the bat the same, but you gotta respect what works for them when you see the results.

 4.) Short form is a vital part of this art form.

 Now, this is my final, and probably most controversial thing to say we all agree on. The short form vs longform discussion is a question like Mary Ann or Ginger? New York style or deep dish? It is a matter of tastes, and what you want from your improv. Personally, I prefer longform simply because the time constraints of a short form set make it hard to do my favorite things in improv. Callbacks, characters that develop and get richer over the set, and the occasional slow, patient burn of a monoscene. Does this mean these things can never be done in short form? Of course not.  I have seen them all, including the monoscene, happen in short form sets. It's just statistically less likely in a form where there are these set-ups to punch lines we have to deliver on in less than five minutes. By no means do I think this makes short form inferior. Just less likely to satisfy my improv cravings. With that said, there is no arguing that short form is a vital part of the art form. You'd be hard pressed to find a great improviser who never does it, at least in warm-ups and instruction, and even harder pressed to find someone who thinks it has no value. Short form for a lot of theaters gets people to see a show that is instantly recognizable and engaging. In fact, I'd say most of the people reading this probably got into longform through seeing short form improv at a club, or through tv. And if they didn't, I guarantee, the people that got them into improv did. Short form is fun, it's got a wide appeal, and that again, makes more people become familiar with the entire thing that is improv. Shortform is a gateway drug that can become a lot of people's favorite vice. Don't deflate it because it's not what gets you high.  

  These are my non-religious, religiously held beliefs, on a non-religious religion. Take them with a grain of salt, and let others do the same.

[carpetravel]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Looking to experience Colorado wine country and outdoor adventures? We have the top pairings.” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%23848484″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Colorado is home to countless outdoor adventures many of which pair well with my favorite beverage – wine! With nearly 100 Colorado wineries, there are several opportunities to blend the two. I’ve pulled together my five favorite towns – and adventures – to help you pair the perfect wine tasting in Colorado.

Evergreen | Creekside Cellars

My absolute favorite Colorado winery is Creekside Cellars in Evergreen, just 30 miles west of Denver. Named 2018 Winery of the Year, Creekside Cellars not only produces award-winning wines but an amazing experience at its tasting room.

But first the wines… The Cabernet Franc has been rated a 91 by Wine Spector – the highest earning of any Colorado wine (so far!). The Petite Verdot is amazing too…and, the winemaker, Michelle Cleveland was named Winemaker of the Year in 2018. But, what keeps me going back to this Colorado winery is the location.

Being in the heart of the little, rustic town of Evergreen, Creekside Cellars is the perfect spot to kick-back after a morning hike. I can’t count the number of times my family has headed up to Evergreen to hike Alderfer/Three Sisters Park and then pop over to Creekside Cellars for lunch and a bit of wine tasting.

The outdoor patio sits along Clear Creek making for a gorgeous backdrop, and entertainment for the kids. My girls have grown up sitting on the patio feeding the ducks and geese wading along the banks.

The patio is outfitted with heat lamps, so it’s a year around option. However, you can always sit inside the cozy restaurant sipping wines and sampling the Italian Antipasto Platter. The kids recommend the grilled cheese. I personally suggest pairing the Cab Franc with the Prosciutto and Fig sandwich, but the Black & Blue sandwich is a close contender. The rare roast beef, carnalized onions and smoked gorgonzola is to die for….

Hiking Alderfer/Three Sisters Park isn’t the only thing to do in Evergreen though. There are a variety of trails, so check out All Trails for a few more ideas. During both the summer and winter months Evergreen Lake is home to many activities. From fishing, paddle boarding and kayaking in the summer to ice fishing and ice skating in the winter. Not to mention the golf course adjacent to the lake.

Given Evergreen’s elevation of 7,220 feet you’ll want to plan most outdoor activities for earlier in the day – storms tend to roll in around 2pm – making Creekside Cellars the perfect spot for wine tasting in Colorado.

  Denver | Urban Wine Scene

Urban wineries are popping up all over the United States, Denver is no exception. The Mile High City is now home to 10+ urban wineries in the downtown area alone. Denver’s urban dwellers will attest to the slew of outdoor activities the city has to offer, but when it comes to pairing them with wine the best combo is on two wheels (or two feet).

With most of the downtown Denver wineries within a few blocks of each other walking, biking or hopping on a scooter are fun and easy ways to create your own self-guided Denver wine tour. If you prefer to do a guided tour, Mile High Wine Tours can make sure you get the VIP treatment.

To get a taste of the urban wine scene in Denver it’s only appropriate to start at The Infinite Monkey Theorem, one of the city’s leaders in kicking off the urban wine revolution and an industry leader in canned wine.

Located in the River North Art District (RiNo), Infinite Monkey has been named one of the country’s top urban wineries and has a slew of award winning wines to sip. Just another reason why kicking you’re your wine tasting in Denver here makes since…

Starting at Infinite Monkey you can easily bike to Stem Ciders, Bigsby Folly Craft Winery and Restaurant, and Deep Roots Winery and Bistro. If you’re up for a bit of a longer ride – or grabbing a 10-minute Uber – I suggest you visit Balistreri Vineyards where not only can you do another wine tasting in Denver BUT you can see an urban vineyard.

  Breckenridge | Continental Divide Winery

The iconic town of Breckenridge is regularly recognized as one of America’s favorite ski resorts, and for good reason. The runs and powder are awesome!

Winter in Breck is a dream for outdoor sports lovers – skiing, boarding, snow shoeing, tubing, and ice skating are just a few things do in Breckenridge during the winter. The other months of the year are filled with warm weather and more sunshine for hiking, biking, fly fishing, horseback riding, kayaking and rafting.

So where does the wine tasting fit in? In my opinion – on Main St., in the afternoon, after all your outdoor activities.

The Continental Divide Winery in downtown Breckenridge is one of the coolest things do in Breck, besides skiing. It truly takes wine tasting in Colorado to a new elevation… You can simply stop in for a wine tasting, but I highly recommend you set up a wine blending experience.

The wine blending experience is a unique opportunity that lets you play winemaker for a day by blending the winery’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zinfandel and Petit Verdot to create your personal wine blend. The fun and interactive session lasts about two hours and includes one souvenir bottle of your custom crafted wine YOU blend. Make sure to make a reservation in advance.

  Boulder | Because it’s Boulder

There are only four wineries in Boulder (and 24 breweries) but this Colorado town is home to some out of this world outdoor adventures.

Spend the day hiking any number of trailheads around town. My favorites are at Chautauqua Park, located a few blocks from the heart of downtown. Make sure to stop into the Ranger Cottage at the Chautauqua Trailhead before you set out to grab for a free wildflower identification brochure. If you’re hiking with the kids at Chautauqua Park, I highly suggest checking into doing one of the theater hikes during the summer months.

The Three Little Bears Theater Hike

If water sports are more your thing head over to Boulder Reservoir to soak in the sun – and paddle boarding – at one of Colorado’s great beaches. (Yes, there are beaches in Colorado!) I would be remiss if I didn’t mention rock climbing at Eldorado Canyon, skiing at Eldora and mountain biking on countless trailheads in and around town.

Now, for the four wineries in Boulder… I know four is not a lot but with 24 breweries and six distilleries, you’re sure to be able to quench your thirst. For me, it’s all about the wine. I personally love Bookcliff Vineyards.

I discovered their Merlot several years ago and have since enjoyed sipping the other 15 wines they produce – all are made with 100 percent Colorado fruit. If you want to pop in for a tasting at Bookcliff you’ll need to plan for Thursday through Sunday, unless you call to schedule a private tasting. The tasting room is only about five miles from Chautauqua Park so hike and picnic early and head over for some wine samples for an après hike.

Want to visit more than one Boulder winery, Decadent Saint is right next door to Bookcliff. It’s worth the visit!

  Palisade | The Heart of Colorado Wine Country

This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Palisade, located in the heart of the Grand Valley, aka the Colorado wine country. Home to more than 25 Colorado wineries, Palisade is a must visit for wine lovers, and for those seeking outdoor thrills – the pairing is equally delicious.

One of the best ways to see the Colorado wine country is on two wheels. Any of the local bike shops in town can set you up to do a self-guided winery tour. Maps of all the wineries are available at the Visitor Center, your hotel will more than likely have them too. I also suggest checking out Map My Ride before you set out, to you know – map your ride.

The Palisade Fruit & Wine Byway, aka “The Fruit Loop” is one of the popular biking routes through the Colorado wine country as it takes you along the Colorado River, in and out of vineyards, tasting rooms, orchards and fruit stands. Topped off with stunning views of the Grand Valley.

One of the more unique ways to see – not sip – the Colorado wine country is to book a guide tour with Palisade Wine Country Float Trips. The two-hour tour takes you down the Colorado River where you can view different vineyards and orchards (April to October). You can also rent a kayak, paddle board or canoe instead. Just to clarify, the tour does not stop at any vineyards. But, you can take your own Colorado wine on the tour to do your own, private tastings.

Those aren’t the only outdoor activities in Palisade though. East of town, you’ll find DeBeque Canyon and the Colorado River State Park where you can camp, fish and boat. For horse lovers, check out the Little Bookcliffs Wild Horse Range, home to 30,000 acres of rugged terrain and herds wild horses. We’ll be exploring Little Bookcliffs soon, but don’t tell Princess Two – it’s a surprise!

What’s your favorite town or spot for wine tasting in Colorado?

Interested in learning more about Colorado wine country? Check out our Colorado Wine Travel Guide, and save this post to reference back to later.

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The Ultimate Pairing of Outdoor Activities and Wine Tasting in Colorado! #wine #coloradowine #travel Colorado is home to countless outdoor adventures many of which pair well with my favorite beverage – wine!

[jjamwal]

THE BASHING OF BRAHMINS AND INDIA’S CASTE-SYSTEM HAS AN AGENDA Common people in the west know hardly anything about India. But one thing they all know: India has an ‘inhuman’ caste system, which is an important feature of their religion, Hinduism. Most also ‘know’ that Brahmins are the highest caste, which oppresses the lower castes, and worst off are the untouchables. I learnt this already in primary school, but knew nothing at that time about the concentration camps of Nazi Germany only a few years earlier or about the atrocities of slavery or colonialism. Yet the Indian caste system with Brahmins as villains was part of the curriculum in Bavarian schools in the early 1960s, and it still is today: some time ago I asked three young Germans in Rishikesh what they associate with Hinduism. Their prompt reply was, “caste system”. Surely, they also had learnt that it was most inhuman. In all likelihood, all over the world school children are taught about the ‘inhuman’ caste system. Why? There is likely an agenda behind it. Yes, the caste system exists, and untouchables, too. And it exists all over the world. Curiously, ‘caste’ is Portuguese for class. It is not even an Indian term. The ancient Vedas mention four varnas – Brahmins, Kshatryas, Vaishyas and Sudras, which form the body of society, like the head, arms, thighs and feet form the body of a human being. It is a beautiful analogy which implies that all parts are important. True, the head will be given more respect, but will you ignore your feet? Not everyone is made for intellectual work, fortunately, because a society without farmers, traders, workers won’t be possible. All have their role to play. And in future lives, there are likely to be role reversals. Varna was not hereditary originally. It depended on one’s predominant guna (quality of character) and one’s profession. The job of Brahmins was specifically to memorise the Vedas and preserve them absolute correctly for future generation. They had to have predominately Satwa (pure) guna and had to stick to many more rules for purity than any other caste. Brahmins were the guardians of the purity of the Vedas. So it is understandable that they would not touch those who for example remove the dead bodies of animals or clean the sewers, though a society needs people, who do these jobs, too. In the west, people also wouldn’t shake hands with them. But no issue is made out of it. Due to their satwa guna, Brahmins were least likely to be abusive to other groups in society. Usually it is the group which considers itself socially just above another group, which looks down on those lower. This trait is there in all societies, but it is true, that in India, unfortunately over time, the four varnas were inherited by birth. There are today many Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Sudras, who do not follow their dharma any longer and therefore should not consider themselves as belonging to their inherited varna. But why is the structure of the society in India constantly decried, when nobody accuses for example the nobility, the highest ‘caste’ in the west, that it does not mingle with workers and won’t live in their neighbourhood? Why is nobody upset that the British allowed only ‘whites’ into the club of Madikeri town in Karnataka and probably all over the country, as an old Indian gentleman told me? If I remember right, he said that the sign at the club read, “Dogs and Indians not allowed”. Why is nobody upset that the agriculture policy of the British Colonialists starved some 25 MILLION Indians to death? 25 million men, women and children slowly dying because they had nothing to eat in a country that was one of the richest before the British took over… There are terrible pictures on the net of Indians only being skin and bones, barely alive. Why is nobody upset that the British, after slavery was abolished, sent indented labour from India all over the world in cramped boats, where a big number died during the journey already (and were spared the torture in the sugarcane estates)? Why nobody talks about what the Muslim invasions did to Hindus and especially to Brahmins? How cruel they were? How many Hindus were killed or made slaves? How many Hindu women committed mass suicide by jumping into fire so that they won’t fall into the hands of the Muslim troops? Nowadays, due to ISIS we can well imagine what happened then, yet the Leftists and even ‘respectable’ British Parliamentarians are not concerned with all this. They are concerned with the ‘most inhuman caste system’ of India. It can be safely assumed that the colonial masters tried to drive a wedge between the castes by ‘fixing’ the former fluidity of varnas in their census from 1871 onwards. And today, their democratic successors, though without political power in India, try to drive a wedge with the help of manipulative media and even parliamentary legislation in their own country. My point is: what Brahmins did by segregating from others or even snubbing others is negligible in comparison what Christian colonialists and Muslim invaders did. So why are the so-called atrocities of the caste-system so hyped? The reason may well be to divert the attention from those who actually should feel guilty what they did and still do to India. It’s not the Brahmins. Many of them suffer today, mainly due to reservation and, though poor in many cases, by being excluded from benefits which are given to religious minorities or lower castes. But this is not the only reason why the caste system and Brahmins are being bashed worldwide. Another important agenda is to shame Brahmins, to make them feel guilty about their forefathers and to make them reluctant to follow their original Dharma of learning and teaching the Vedas. The goal is to make Vedic knowledge disappear in India, because it poses a danger for Christianity and Islam. It can easily challenge their so called “revealed truths”. Vedic knowledge makes sense and is therefore the greatest obstacles for Christianity and Islam to expand over the whole world. Unfortunately, a lot of Vedic texts are already lost. The former Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram, Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, says in his book “The Vedas” that out of 1180 Shakas, into which Veda Vyasa divided the 4 Vedas some 5000 years ago, only eigth are still in use. (Just wondering: would a search in England, Germany and other countries rediscover some of this treasure? ) It is about time to stop this Brahmin bashing and stop portraying the Indian caste system as the worst that has ever befallen humanity. It sounds so fake, especially, when ISIS gets neutral treatment by just mentioning facts, like, “ISIL burns 19 Yazidi women to death in iron cages because they refused to have sex with fighters” without any emotional colour or condemnation. Some time ago, I saw an old Brahmin couple in a temple in south India. They had dignity, but were very thin. When Prasad (sacred food) was distributed, they were in the queue before me. Later I saw that they joined the queue again…. It was in all likelihood due to poverty. Brahmins don’t need to feel guilty about their forefathers. They can be proud of them, because it is only thanks to them that India is the only country that has preserved its precious, ancient wisdom at least partly. Yet others should indeed feel guilty, but those others are brazen and won’t. They rather vitiate the atmosphere with unjustified hatred for Hinduism and anti-Brahmanism. By Maria Wirth http://ift.tt/2DO9xSA

[clubofinfo]

Expert: Capturing the wisdom and the beauty of Donald J. Trump in just one statement escaping from his charming mouth: Our military has never been stronger. Each day, new equipment is delivered; new and beautiful equipment, the best in the world – the best anywhere in the world, by far.1 Here the man thinks that everyone will be impressed that the American military has never been stronger. And that those who, for some unimaginable reason, are not impressed with that will at least be impressed that military equipment is being added EACH DAY. Ah yes, it’s long been a sore point with most Americans that new military equipment was being added only once a week. And if that isn’t impressive enough, then surely the fact that the equipment is NEW will win people over. Indeed, the newness is important enough to mention twice. After all, no one likes USED military equipment. And if newness doesn’t win everyone’s heart, then BEAUTIFUL will definitely do it. Who likes UGLY military equipment? Even the people we slaughter all over the world insist upon good-looking guns and bombs. And the best in the world. Of course. That’s what makes us all proud to be Americans. And what makes the rest of humanity just aching with jealousy. And in case you don’t fully appreciate that, notice that he adds that it’s the best ANYWHERE in the world. And in case you still don’t fully appreciate that, notice that he specifies that our equipment is the best in the world BY FAR! That means that no other country is even close! Just imagine! Makes me choke up. Lucky for the man … his seeming incapacity for moral or intellectual embarrassment. He’s twice blessed. His fans like the idea that their president is no smarter than they are. This may well serve to get the man re-elected, as it did with George W. Bush. The strange world of Russian trolls Webster’s dictionary: troll – verb: To fish by running a baited line behind a moving boat; noun: A supernatural creature of Scandinavian folklore. Russian Internet trolls are trying to stir up even more controversy over National Football League players crouching on one knee (“taking a “knee”) during the national anthem, said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), warning that the United States should expect such divisive efforts to escalate in the next election. “We watched even this weekend,” Lankford said, “the Russians and their troll farms, and their Internet folks, start hash-tagging out ‘take a knee’ and also hash-tagging out ‘Boycott NFL’.” The Russians’ goal, he said, was “to try to raise the noise level in America to try to make a big issue, an even bigger issue as they’re trying to just push divisiveness in the country. We’ve continued to be able to see that. We will see that again in our election time.”2 Russia “causing divisiveness” is a common theme of American politicians and media. Never explained is WHY? What does Russia have to gain by Americans being divided? Do they think the Russians are so juvenile? Or are the Americans the childish ones? CNN on October 12 claimed that Russia uses YouTube, Tumblr and the Pokemon Go mobile game “to exploit racial tensions and sow discord among Americans,” while the Washington Post (October 12) reported that “content generated by Russian operatives was not aimed only at influencing the election. Many of the posts and ads intended to divide Americans over hot-button issues such as immigration or race.” Imagine … the American public being divided over immigration and race … How could that be possible without Russian trolls? The Post (October 9) reported that the Russian trolling operation resides “in a large gray building north of the St. Petersburg city center … There, young people work 12-hour shifts and make between $800 and $1,000 a month, “an attractive wage for former students and young people. It is impossible to get inside the building, and there are multiple entrances, making it hard to tell who is a troll and who is not.” Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are amongst the many Internet sites that we are told have been overrun by Russian trolls. The last named is a site that specializes in home decor, fashion and recipes. Have the Russians gone mad? Or are the American accusations the kind of stuff that is usually called – dare I say it? – “propaganda”? “How much the trolls affected the outcome of the U.S. election is unclear,” the Post had to admit. “But their omnipresence is evident on Twitter and in the comments section of publications like the Washington Post, where trolls can be found criticizing news stories, lambasting other posters and accusing one another of being trolls.” Are you starting to chuckle? At one point the Post reported that Facebook “identified more than 3000 advertisements purchased in a Russian-orchestrated campaign to influence the American public’s views and exploit divisions around contentious issues.” And Congressional investigators said that some of the Facebook ad purchases had “obvious Russian fingerprints, including Russian addresses and payments made in rubles”, and that “accounts traced to a shadowy Russian Internet company had purchased at least $100,000 in ads during the 2016 election season.” However, at other times the Post told us that Facebook had pointed out that “most of the ads made no explicit reference in favor of Trump or Clinton,” and that some ads were purchased after the election. We’ve been told, moreover, that Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos’s team “had searched extensively for evidence of foreign purchases of political advertising but had come up short.”3 In any event, we have to wonder: What political savvy concerning American elections and voters do the Russians have that the Democratic and Republican parties don’t have? I have read numerous references to these ads but have yet to come across a single one that quotes the exact wording of even one advertisement. Is that not odd? To add to the oddness, in yet another Washington Post article (September 28) we are informed that “some of the ads promoted African American rights groups, including Black Lives Matter, while others suggested those same groups posed a growing political threat, according to people familiar with the material.” Politico, a Democratic-Party-leaning journal, reports that Russian-funded Facebook ads backed Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Democrat Bernie Sanders, and Republican Donald Trump. Who and what is behind these peculiar goings-on? More fun and games: the Department of Homeland Security in September notified Virginia and 20 other states about Russian efforts to hack their election systems in 2016. Earlier this year, UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson declared, apparently without embarrassment: “We have no evidence the Russians are actually involved in trying to undermine our democratic processes at the moment. We don’t actually have that evidence. But what we do have is plenty of evidence that the Russians are capable of doing that.”4 At a September 27 Congressional hearing, FBI Director Christopher Wray joined this proud chorus, testifying: “One of the things we know is that the Russians and Russian state actors are trying to influence other elections in other countries.” Mr. Wray forgot to name any of the other countries and the assembled Congress members forgot to ask him for any names. Perhaps the main reason for questioning charges of Russian interference in the 2016 US election is that Russian President Putin would have been risking that the expected winner, Hillary Clinton, would have been handed a personal reason to take revenge on him and his country. But that’s just being logical and rational, two qualities Cold War II has no more use for than Cold War I did. Know thine enemy The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency issued a report in June entitled “Russia: Military Power: Building a military to support great power aspirations”. Here’s an excerpt: Moscow seeks to promote a multi-polar world predicated on the principles of respect for state sovereignty and non-interference in other states’ internal affairs, the primacy of the United Nations, and a careful balance of power preventing one state or group of states from dominating the international order. To support these great power ambitions, Moscow has sought to build a robust military able to project power, add credibility to Russian diplomacy, and ensure that Russian interests can no longer be summarily dismissed without consequence. … Russia also has a deep and abiding distrust of U.S. efforts to promote democracy around the world and what it perceives as a U.S. campaign to impose a single set of global values.5 Great power aspirations, indeed. How dare those Russkis promote a multi-polar world, respect for state sovereignty, non-interference, the United Nations, and balance of power? It’s all straight out of Lenin’s playbook, 100th anniversary edition. As to the US promoting democracy around the world … Oh, right, that’s what the Pentagon calls Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the Philippines, Honduras, Turkey, et al. Like the southern gentlemen who agreed that it was right to free the slaves, but did so only in their wills “Hypocrisy is anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised.” – Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (1828-1910) An anti-abortion congressman asked a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair to get an abortion when he thought she might be pregnant. A Pittsburgh newspaper said it had obtained text messages between Republican Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania and Ms. Shannon Edwards, a divorcée. A message from Edwards said the congressman had “zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options.” It turned out that she wasn’t pregnant. The revelation came as the House approved Republican legislation that would make it a crime to perform an abortion after 20 weeks of fetal development. Murphy, a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, and popular among anti-abortion groups, is among the bill’s co-sponsors. He subsequently announced that he will not seek re-election next year.6 Our beloved president at one time clearly supported a woman’s right to abortion. In recent times he has once again exhibited his high (double) standards by speaking, just as clearly, against abortion. Anti-abortion activists like to speak of saving the lives of “unborn children”, of how the fetus is fully a human being deserving of as much love and respect and legal protection as any other human being. But does anyone know cases of parents grieving over an aborted fetus the way we have often read or heard of parents, as well as their friends, grieving over the death of a three-year-old child or a teenager? Of course not. If for no other reason than the parents choose to have an abortion. Does anyone know of a case of the parents of an aborted fetus tearfully remembering the fetus’s first words, or high school graduation or wedding or the camping trip they all took together? Or the fetus’s smile or the way it laughed? Of course not. Because the fetus is not a human being in a sufficiently meaningful physical, social, intellectual, and emotional sense. But the anti-abortion activists – often for reasons of sexual prudishness, anti-feminism, religion (the Catholic members of the Supreme Court have been very consistent in their anti-abortion votes), or other personal or political prejudices – throw a halo around the fetus, treat the needs and desires of the parents as nothingness, and damn all those who differ with them as child murderers. Unfortunately, with many of these activists, their perfect love for human beings does not extend to the human beings of Iraq or Afghanistan or any other victims of their government’s warfare. * Washington Post, September 8, 2017. * Washington Post, September 28, 2017. * Ibid. September 18, 19, 24, and October 13, 2017. * The Guardian (London), March 14, 2017. * “Russia Military Power,” Defense Intelligence Agency, pages 14-15. * Associated Press, October 4, 2017. http://clubof.info/

[garynsmith]

Inside Hurricane Harvey relief: 5 aid workers swap stories

http://ift.tt/2eIss7b

Roofs of homes dotting the water’s surface like glaciers in the arctic, families being rescued from second-story apartments, harrowing stories of families being separated and losing everything, including family members — watching the devastation in Houston on the news last week was heartbreaking.

And we were only seeing glimpses of the destruction that is a reality for Houstonians.

Amidst the Hurricane Harvey chaos, I was hearing many stories, second-hand, of volunteers from our real estate community doing amazing work and helping in dire situations.

I reached out to the Inman Coast to Coast Facebook page and asked for names of agents who were helping. I received hundreds names.

Below you’ll find five interviews with professionals in our real estate community who are aiding the Hurricane Harvey efforts in a variety of ways.

Interviews with Ryan Bokros on boat rescues, Enid Cleland working with the Red Cross in the city’s largest shelter, Caroline Pinal and GiveBack Homes organizing fundraiser relief, Joseph Diosana assisting in the warehouses of incoming donations and Mark Maniha helping people gather their belongings.

Tears were shed in practically every one of these interviews; no one would don the title of hero willingly, but I believe you’ll agree that the work they are doing is nothing but heroic.

Ryan Bokros

Ryan Bokros

Ryan Bokros, managing partner with JLA Realty with eight offices across the Houston area, is a first responder who has been busy rescuing stranded citizens by the boatload, but not just in Houston — in Port Arthur, Beaumont, Orange and Orton as well.

His group of about 600 with 200 boats has been using a church in the Woodlands as one of about four or five command centers. But Bokros says they’re “just a bunch of regular dudes.”

Are there any road vehicles available to used, or is it pretty much still boats?

We’ve seen large jacked-up trucks that are able to be used in certain areas, but we’re more of a command center for one of those desperate situations that will require a lot of rescue.

We had a crew yesterday that left our staging area probably at about 9:30 in the morning, and they didn’t get back until about 11:30 last night.

They went to Port Arthur, and then as they were coming back home to Houston, they had another call for an apartment complex downtown and a crew of two or three boats with two to three men per boat rescued about 80 people.

Volunteers preparing for evacuations.

Is there one image or one situation you’ve seen that stands out to you?

There are two of them. I carried a pregnant woman about 300 yards yesterday. She had a medical condition, high blood pressure, and just the look in her eyes, it really struck me.

And then I also carried a five or six-year-old little girl to safety. She just wrapped her arms around my neck as tight as she could. I had her and her little puppy in my arms. Those are the things — just the looks in people’s eyes.

  How can the Inman community help out?

Just because of what my mission has been, it’s really hard for me to even answer that question. My focus has been here on this with the boats and rescues and all.

My wife Maggie created an Amazon wishlist, which I know a lot of people have purchased things from because she has been in direct contact with the local shelters and the community of people that are running the shelters.

And money for gas to keep all of these boats running. People have been sending me PalPal payments to use to buy gas cards and distribute to the boat drivers.

Bokros’s PayPal.

Maggie’s Amazon wishlist.

Enid Cleland

Enid Cleland

Enid Cleland is the CEO at The RE Luxury Team/ReMax Collection Luxe Portfolio in Houston.

Cleland has spent every day since the flooding started volunteering in the George Brown Center, Houston’s largest shelter, holding over 9,000 evacuees.

She was reluctant to be interviewed because she didn’t want to be dubbed a hero.

What’s the largest shelter in Texas like?

A lot of the people displaced have been transported there. That is true. It’s really sad. I’m just very emotional about this. I needed to do something. It’s very traumatic … outside the George Brown Center, the line of volunteers was almost wrapped around the building.

It was incredible. So, to be a volunteer these people have to go there and stand in line. And so many did.

There are several stations where we could register with the Red Cross or different departments of the Houston government that are working there.

And then there’s FEMA. There is legal. There is medical. There is mental health. It’s all very organized.

What it’s like for the new residents of the center?

Once the evacuees get registered they are sent to one of the many halls. It’s gigantic here. So they divided the halls, like A, B, C, D, E. There is a hall for families. A hall for single women, a hall for people with pets so people did not have to leave their dogs behind.

Then there’s another area for single women, and there’s another area for families. It is very organized.

They’re all in one area also at the beginning, and what they do is that they evaluate people to see if they’re OK. You know, if they need anything and then to check on their mental health as well.

Is there anything you have seen that stands out to you?

I met a lady that I had to help right away. She was rescued by a helicopter [and] was separated from her kids … she was there, and the kids were somewhere else.

Two days later, they were reunited.

We had another lady come in, and she was so traumatized that she was on suicide watch. So we [had] to move her to the hospital.

How are you doing as a Houston resident through all of this yourself?

So I have been here for days, but I will probably have to check on my building this afternoon. I just opened a huge new office. I don’t know what’s going on there.

It’s a luxury building on the first floor though so who knows. But that is nothing compared to what all of these people are living through.

You have set up a Red Cross site, correct?

Yes. I’ve been so impressed by the Red Cross. I’ve set up a website for donations. The Red Cross is organized. It is a big, big part on the effort here.

Donations can be made to the Cleland’s Red Cross website.

Diaper donations at the George Brown Center, Houston’s largest shelter, holding over 9,000 evacuees.

Caroline Pinal

Caroline Pinal

GiveBack Homes is based in California and has been in fundraising mode since the flooding in Houston started.

Caroline Pinal, a co-founder of GiveBack Homes is organizing relief efforts through fundraising.

What has Give Back Homes been able to do from California?

Well, the quickest thing we could do was set up a fundraising page.

When I first heard about everything that was going on in Houston, I immediately started reaching out to our members, our Houston GiveBack Homes members, to see if they were safe and to ask them what can we do immediately. And they were sending me texts and photos and videos.

Pretty unimaginable what they were going through — and continue to go through. So, we put up a fundraising page right away, and we got it out to all of our members across the country … people all across the country are watching it on TV, but don’t necessarily know how to help and make a direct impact.

What kind of support have you received?

We’ve had real estate companies stepping forward and donating, and companies like Referral Exchange and Adwerx have donated.

I woke up this morning to an email from Seth Price at Placester, saying he wanted to match every donation up to $10,000, which is pretty incredible.

And then that was followed up by a text from Concierge Auctions saying they want to jump on a call and figure out how they can get involved.

So, it’s really just been about organizing efforts, and giving people someone to contact and say, “What can we do,” and brainstorming with them on that.

How can the average person help out?

Well, we have worked with Habitat for Humanity in Houston for years.

All the homes that we helped build last year are now flooded. So, we’re going to be working with Habitat to see where we can send volunteers [and] how we can help coordinate efforts there because it will be at first cleaning up and then rebuilding.

Once the water recedes it just kind of reveals more disaster and more devastation that it was hiding these past few days. So, we do plan on continuing to fundraise and to also mobilize volunteers and clean-up efforts as well.

How about three months from now? How would a reader get involved in that process?

Anyone can email me directly at Carolyn@GiveBackHomes.com, and I’d be happy to help either direct them in the right place depending on what they’re looking to do or get them involved with Give Back Homes.

We’re letting first responders, they’re there on the ground, [do] what they need to do right now. Our focus right now is fundraising, and then … figuring out what the greatest needs are and how we can best leverage what we’re good at.

How can readers assist you in your fundraising efforts?

The Inman reader could donate towards our fundraising efforts. They could share our fundraising page. They could encourage others and inspire others to donate as well.

You know, social media is great. So, every single person that posts — it helps. I think that’s the easiest way to help.

I want to remind people, people who aren’t familiar with Give Back Homes, it’s really important for us to check every donated dollar to a specific family and see exactly where the dollars are going.

Donate to the relief effort in Houston through GiveBack Homes.

Joseph Diosana

Joseph Diosana

Joseph Diosana is an agent with Keller Williams Memorial in Houston, and since the hurricane, he has helped out by doing a little bit of everything because simply donating didn’t seem like it was enough.

Tell me about what you’ve been doing in the Houston area.

When the flooding first started I was like, “Gosh, I’ve got to do something.” So it was more of a grassroots effort where I went to buy some stuff and take it down to the George Brown Center.

That was my initial start.

But it felt like, I wasn’t really helping at that moment. I was helping, but it didn’t really feel like I was helping. And it didn’t feel real.

It’s sort of like you watching on TV. You see all this struggle, but you don’t really. I was just so disconnected from it.

Then one of the teams, who had a relationship with a guy who had a warehouse, got us this space. They said, “Look, we just got this warehouse, and we’re not actually ready to start our business, so you guys can use it.”

I have no idea how big this thing is, but it’s large. Two 18-wheel trucks came in, and we were able to unload it, and we have tons of space.

Tomorrow, we have about 600 [Keller Williams] agents, and KW Cares Fund, that are coming in, and they’re going to work shifts all through the weekend and all through the next couple weeks, which will be the big challenge, right after the initial shock.

People have to go back to work, are we going to have enough crews to go out and do the [follow-up] on work that needs to happen?

What else concerns you?

It’s going to be really hard for real estate agents once this part of the crisis is over. All the closings that they were counting on, they’ve all fell out of contract pretty much. They’re flooded. They will need to be repaired, reinspected and resold.

How long is all that going to take? So their income now has completely gone away. Then, there is the personal side for all the agents.

Last night, one of the agents in my office starts texting me asking about the process for relief. Her texts to me were kind of weird, I didn’t know what she was getting at.

She ended up saying, “Joe, I need to be with my daughter because she has two kids, a three-month-old and a three-year-old, and they were rescued and staying at a hotel.”

Their family is devastated. You know what I mean? It’s really challenging.

Is there anything from the past 24 hours that stands out?

I was on this conference call yesterday with the planning committee to organize the relief effort. They were doing all kinds of operational stuff, and at the end of the call, we wrap up with, “Are there any needs right now?”

At that point, we started sharing three or four immediate needs that really got me. I got off the phone, and I started sobbing because when I think about it, it’s tough.

One girl had cancer, had her surgery on Friday before they evacuated before the storm. Her house gets flooded, and how is she going to rest and recover?

In your opinion, what’s the biggest need?

That’s easy, money.

At this point it is not going to be supplies, I don’t think, but it’s going to be money.

We’ll need money to buy the sheet rock. We’ll need money to buy the carpeting.

Just think about it: you know if you have to make a mortgage payment, that’s a thousand dollars, a few thousand dollars. That’s a lot of money on a house that’s busted. And it will be busted.

Then it’s going to be volunteers who can come in. Not now, but months from now. We have volunteers here that also went out to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and went out to Katrina that were working six months after the fact.

They are here today, and they say, “Yeah this process takes a long time.” It takes a long time to rebuild people’s lives.

Donate for the Houston relief effort through Keller Williams.

A Houston home destroyed by the flood.

Mark Maniha

Mark Maniha

Mark Maniha, of Mark Maniha Real Estate Expert, and his wife have been organizing and providing help in the field both rescuing and taking people back to their homes to gather what belongings they could. He believes that the key to helping victims is to think long term.

You’ve been tough to track down. What have your days been like?

I’ve been all over the place. We’ve been helping a lot [of] folks. You know, we were at the Addicks Reservoir area yesterday.

Most of the folks have gotten evacuated. Now, it’s family and friends and just regular individuals helping to take folks back out … to get in and get their stuff back out.

So we are just helping these folks get in because they’re realizing that they’re not going to be able to go back for several weeks.

Everybody is pretty safe, but now its just trying to figure out how to move on from here.

From your perspective, what do you think the biggest need is going to be?

Honestly, I think maybe cleaning supplies. I mean that’s probably one of the biggest things. We had some folks who were coming in from Austin yesterday, and we had them stop at Walmart and buy hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of Clorox, spray bottles and wipes, and they’re just going to need cleaning supplies.

And school supplies.

My wife was a teacher for a long time, and she’s putting together school supplies. A lot of kiddos, it’s heartbreaking because school was supposed to start this last week.

Families literally just finished getting school supplies, and for a lot of families, those school supplies are a sacrifice. It’s money that they don’t really have to give up, but they do it because they love their kiddos and want the best for them — and then they all got flooded out.

So [my wife is] working with getting school supplies, and we’re getting cleaning supplies and clothing.

What do you think the future looks like for the area after everything starts to dry out?

Well, a lot of kids are being relocated to different schools. So that’s going to be different from the norm.

And the rental market will probably go nuts, it already has. I mean, we’re getting 10-15 phone calls on every rental property that we have.

I think you’ll see investors going crazy for a while.

But people are resilient, and the area as well as market will bounce back. It just may some months.

Is there a moment from all of this that sticks out in your mind?

I’m a native Houstonian. Seeing it on the news, and then seeing it live in person is completely different.

It really sets in when you’re here, and you’re seeing water go into the second story windows of people’s houses and watching Suburbans float by.

But I’m extremely proud of Houston, extremely proud. And I think that people across the country can see us come together, and hopefully, it’ll do the country and the entire world good to be able to see that … we can really help each other.

What else would you like to tell readers?

This is going to be a long-term deal … but we’re going to be slugging through this now for the next three to six months. There’s a lot of families that didn’t have money to take care of their kiddos that are going to need help.

So, I would say not to disappear, not to forget, and if you can’t really help here locally, just sending $10 – $20 to be able to buy Clorox and disinfectants and stuff like that is a lifesaver.

Ryan Bokros’s kids helped out by walking the dogs of neighborhood volunteers who didn’t have as much time for their pets.

Last thoughts

Since the storm hit, we’ve read about members of the real estate community all helping in the relief efforts of Hurricane Harvey in the general Houston area.

The perspectives these agents have brought to us through their interviews have been tear-jerking accounts of not only tragedy and loss but also fortitude and strength.

These five will be the first to tell you they are doing nothing special; they are simply five people in a sea of thousands of volunteers who have come together to support their city and fellow human beings in this time of need.

These are just a few examples of the work being done by many thousands in our real estate community. For all of those who remain not mentioned and unnamed, the rest of us thank you as well for all you have done and continue to do.

Dan Smith is an author, speaker, strategist and team leader in Mission Viejo, California. Follow him on Facebook.

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[mikauzoran]

Adrienette Drabble: Daisy Chapter Thirty-Six: Steps

There’s a Daisy Chapter Thirty-Six: Steps 

His driver Victor scowled. “You want me to take you where, Adrianka?”

Adrien’s Russian really wasn’t the best, so it was conceivable that he had just said something unintelligible. He took a deep breath and slowly repeated, “To the Couffaines’ house? Uh…the family that lives on the boat?”

The cavernous trenches of Victor’s forehead seemed to deepen, if that were truly possible. “Couffaine? That’s that—” A word in Russian that Adrien didn’t know, but it sounded angry and guttural and was mostly likely not a nice thing to be called. “—who made you cry for half a year,” Victor accused.

Adrien winced, switching back to French. “To be fair, Luka wasn’t the one who made me cry. That was my father when he threatened to ruin my friend and his entire family’s lives and careers and make Luka hate me unless I ceased all communication with him. It wasn’t Luka’s fault.”

Victor did not acknowledge Adrien’s clarification. Instead, his meat cleaver-sized hands went to his hips, and he tipped his head to the side with a suspicious frown. “Isn’t he dating little Masha from the bakery now?”

Adrien tried to smile disarmingly as he nodded, but it came out as more of a wounded grimace. “Yes. Yes, Luka and Marinette are dating.”

“And what business do you have going to see the young man dating the girl you like?”

“I was planning on seeing if he wanted to be friends again now that my father is less strict,” Adrien explained feebly.

Victor continued on in Russian. “Your father? Does your father know where you are going?”

“I told him,” Adrien fibbed, switching back to Russian so that if he were found out later, he could blame his inaccuracy on a “misunderstanding” caused by his poor language skills.

Victor leaned forward, bending at the waist to position himself eye to eye with Adrien. He arched an eyebrow. “Oh? You told him where you were going? So, if I go ask him now, he will tell me he has approved your trip to visit the Couffaine boy who broke your heart?”

“Yes,” Adrien insisted, banking on the fact that Victor would never actually go interrupt Gabriel’s work to follow up on Adrien’s lie. “Except Luka didn’t break my heart,” he clarified as an afterthought.

Victor snorted. “You are trying to tell me that you were not heartbroken two years ago?”

A sulky expression leaked through Adrien’s composed mask. “Okay, but that wasn’t Luka’s fault. That was my father’s for ripping me away from a friend who was really important to me.”

Victor nodded in a manner that indicated that he couldn’t care less whose fault it was. “Yes, yes.”

Suddenly a sausage-sized finger was being wagged in Adrien’s face. “Adrianka, I love you dearly, but—” An idiom that Adrien surmised meant something like “so help me God”. “—if I have to listen to you banging on that piano at all hours and sobbing into your pillow when you think no one can hear again…” he trailed off dangerously, crossing his arms over his chest.

Adrien flinched, shrinking as the tips of his ears turned pink.

Victor’s voice softened as he sighed and laid a giant palm on Adrien’s shoulder. “I am sick of Chopin,” he confessed gently. “I am even more sick of listening to you in pain, knowing there is nothing I can do to fix it for you. Do not put yourself in situations where you will be hurt, Adrianka.”

Adrien’s apprehension melted at the warmth and affection in his bodyguard’s words. With a bright smile, he threw his arms as far around Victor’s torso as they would reach, wrapping his steadfast companion in what would have been a crushing hug on anyone else.

“Thanks, Vitya,” he mumbled into Victor’s chest.

Victor sighed again, patting Adrien on the back. “Yes, yes. All right. Yes. Enough with the mushiness. It is nothing. I am simply tired of Chopin. I wish never to hear that brooding man’s melancholy coming from your piano ever again.”

Adrien pulled back and repeated, “Thank you…for caring about me.”

Victor rolled his eyes, affecting indifference and professional stoicism as he patted Adrien on the head. “This is not what I am paid for. This is not in my job description.”

Adrien snickered, amused at the fuss Victor was making all for show. “That’s why it means so much to me that you do care.”

Victor rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “…I am going to ask your father about you seeing this Couffaine boy,” he snorted and then actually turned and took a step towards the atelier.

Adrien’s heart dropped into his stomach. “W-Wait!”

Victor looked back at Adrien, cocking an eyebrow and smirking knowingly. “Why, Adrianka? Surely your father will confirm what you’ve told me, and then we can be on our way. What is the problem?”

Adrien grimaced.

Victor took another step and a half towards the atelier.

“Okay, fine,” Adrien sighed heavily. “You called my bluff. I just said I was meeting a friend; I didn’t say it was Luka, but in my own defence, I am legally an adult, and you guys can’t stop me from going where I want. So there,” Adrien concluded, petulantly crossing his arms in defiance.

Victor stifled a chuckle. “I look at you, and I still see that tiny, blonde, doll-like baby who I used to carry around on my shoulders. Perhaps you’ve grown too big for that now, but you will never grow so much that I stop seeing you as a child in need of my protection and mother-henning. You can be an adult when I’m dead. Until then, you’ll be hard pressed to stop me from throwing you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carting you off to someplace I determine you will be safe.—What does your photographer always say? ‘Capiche’?—Do we understand each other, Adrian Gavrillovich?”

Adrien’s face fell even further, and his arms dropped helplessly to his sides. He nodded dejectedly. “Yes, Vitya…but…I’m going anyway. I mean, I’ll go even if I have to sneak out, but…in case this all blows up in my face and I have a panic attack or emotional breakdown or something…I would really rather you drive me…please?” He peered up pleadingly at his bodyguard with the most pathetic, sad puppy-dog eyes he had in his arsenal.

Victor sighed heavily, scrubbing his face with a massive hand. “…Adrianka, this is not a good idea. Why do you want to do this so soon after you’ve had your heart broken?”

Adrien bit his lip and switched back to French to make certain that he expressed himself clearly. “I think repairing things with Luka will help.”

Victor crossed his arms, but he tipped his head slightly and cocked an eyebrow to show that he was listening.

Adrien took a measured breath and continued, “When I was hanging out with him and his family before, I felt…like I belonged…like I was okay how I was, even though I had a lot of issues. Luka still liked me on my bad days. It didn’t matter if I was crying over a fight with Dad or if I was an anxious wreck over an upcoming fencing tournament or piano recital. Whatever I was feeling was fine. Whenever I was in good spirits, we’d hang out and have fun, but whenever I was a mess, he’d sit with me and let me cry, comfort me, help me to talk it out. …I think I could really use a friend like that in my life right now. Everyone else has been great,” Adrien rushed to assure, “but Luka always seemed to get me…and it couldn’t hurt to have another friend, could it?”

Victor pursed his lips, weighing Adrien’s arguments. “What if he’s changed? What if he’s not the boy you knew anymore?”

Adrien frowned, caught off guard momentarily. “He…It didn’t seem like he’d changed much the other night when I saw him at Chloé’s party. And he texted me yesterday to apologize for the misunderstanding and make sure I was okay. I’m sure he’s not exactly the same, but I can’t imagine Luka changing all that drastically in just two years.”

Victor shook his head slowly. “Adrianka, perhaps under normal circumstances it would be good for you to rekindle your friendship with the Couffaine boy now that your father is easing up on restrictions, but I do not see this going well, you trying to befriend the boy that the girl you like chose over you. This ends poorly.”

“I think you’re wrong,” Adrien gently insisted. “I think being friends with Marinette’s boyfriend could be a good thing.”

Victor gave Adrien a look that said that he thought Adrien was delusional, but Victor did not verbally respond, letting Adrien continue.

Adrien let out a soft, frustrated sigh and forged forward. “Look, ever since things first blew up with Marinette, my friend group has been divided. Alya has been trying to split her time between us, but the reality is that she’s Marinette’s best friend, so she feels like she has to be on Marinette’s ‘side’, so I’ve hardly seen Alya in two months. I don’t want there to be ‘sides’. I don’t want to cause a rift. I don’t want to not be invited to things because Luka and Marinette are going to be there. Sunday was Marinette’s graduation party, and she didn’t invite me. She didn’t even tell me about it because—I don’t know—maybe it was because Luka was going to be there and she wasn’t ready to tell me they were dating. Maybe it was because she still needed space or whatever, but the point is that I was excluded because of the mess between me and Marinette.” His voice dipped low, cracking.

His gaze dropped to the floor. “That’s not a good feeling. I don’t know how many other graduation parties I wasn’t invited to because of this, but I don’t want to be left out any more than I already am. If I’m friends with Luka, if everybody can see that things are okay, that there doesn’t have to be an Adrien side and a Marinette side, maybe things can slowly go back to normal. Maybe being friends with Luka will help me be friends with Marinette again too. I just…” Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet Victor’s gaze imploringly. “More than anything, I want some kind of normal again.”

Victor nodded slowly, resignedly, a look of deep compassion in his eyes. “I don’t know that this is the way to go about it, but…I’m not about to let you go alone to find out the hard way that this is a bad idea. I wouldn’t want you getting upset and falling off a roof on your way back. I don’t trust that suit of yours to protect you.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as he realized that of course Victor knew. The man had only spent the better part of nearly every day of the past decade within shouting distance of Adrien. Victor would have been a poor bodyguard if he hadn’t picked up on his charge’s secret.

“Go wait around front, Adrianka,” Victor instructed, giving Adrien a gentle pat on the head. “I’ll bring the car around, but if this goes badly and your father asks why I took you, I’m going to—” An idiomatic expression that Adrien did not understand but surmised from context to mean something like “throw you under the bus”. “—and tell him you swore up and down that you had his express permission to go.”

“I think I can live with that,” Adrien snickered and started to make his way out front to wait.

 “Forgive me,” Nooroo’s disembodied voice whispered from inside Adrien’s right shoulder as they waited for Victor to bring the car. “but yesterday I thought that you told Ladybug that you did not wish to be her friend any longer and needed some space and some time.”

Adrien blinked, frowning down in confusion at the offending shoulder as he fiddled with his ring and readjusted his tie. “Yeah? What about it?” he whispered back gently.

“Just now, you told your guard that you wanted to rekindle your friendship with Monsieur Couffaine so that it would facilitate rebuilding your friendship with Miss Dupain-Cheng. I am just a little confused about this development. Do we wish to be friends with Miss Dupain-Cheng now?”

A florid blush burst forth on Adrien’s cheeks, and he looked away, mumbling, “No. Not right now, no.”

“He just knows he’s going to change his mind,” Plagg snickered helpfully from within Adrien’s left shoulder.

“I’m allowed to change my mind if I want,” Adrien grumbled sullenly. “Human beings often say one thing and then turn around and do another. It’s not that I have changed my mind…just that I can.”

“Of course you can,” Plagg agreed more gently, easing up on his chosen.

“Of course, Adrien-bocchama,” Nooroo echoed.

Adrien took a deep breath, trying to re-center himself. “For right now, though, I’d kind of like to focus on the task at hand. I’m not one hundred percent certain what’s going to happen with Luka, and I’d like to concentrate on him before I really start thinking about the dizzying prospect of being just friends with the girl I am madly in love with.”