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felix21im · 3 years

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"Ice Cold", a Leon Kennedy x reader fanfiction

As an Art and Design student all you want to do is just knuckle down and finish that one goddamn piece you've been working on for months. Too bad your time is constantly stolen by your Waiter job with minimal pay, but hey, at least the tips are good if you unbutton your shirt that one more time.

Masterlist

Chapter 8: Alone

You woke up early the next morning. The sun shone through the big window next to your bed and warmed your skin. You slowly opened your eyes and looked over to Leon. His breathing was calm so you figured he was still sleeping. You made sure to get up quietly, making sure not to wake Leon up.

You went to the bathroom to have a quick shower and change into something nice to wear. Since the weather was good you chose a white polo shirt and some shorts. After brushing your teeth and styling your hair you went back to the bedroom and sat down on Leon‘s side. You brushed some hair out of his face and placed a kiss on his forehead. You felt him move and he slowly opened his eyes. “Good morning, Sleepy. I hope you don't mind me waking you up.” Leon covered his eyes with his arms to prevent the sun from shining in his face. He didn't answer you but instead grabbed your wrist and pulled you into his arms. You chuckled lightly as he hid his head in your chest, reminding you of a little kid. You two lay there for a few more minutes before you sat up again next to him. “Come on now, Leon. You wanted to go out to eat breakfast, right? So get up!” You turned around to see him lying on his stomach and hiding under the blanket. You shook your head and laughed as you began pushing him out of the bed until the thud of him falling on the floor was heard, followed by subtle laughter. Moments later Leon lay on the ground beside the bed looking as tired as ever. You were laughing too hard so you didn't even hear him standing up and grabbing a pillow from the bed. The next thing you felt was the soft cushion hitting your face, stopping your laughing. You looked at Leon surprised and opened your mouth to say something but before you had the chance to, another pillow was thrown into your direction. You stood up from the bed and grabbed the two pillows Leon threw at you before. Instead of throwing them at him though, you ran around the bed and started hitting Leon with them. Leon was able to take one of the pillows out of your hand and tried defending himself. At some point you two were laughing too hard and didn't have the strength to continue fighting anymore. You lay on the bed together, legs hanging from the side. You turned and looked at Leon who was now also looking at you. “I love you, Leon.” You said with a smile on your face without even thinking twice about it. Leon looked at you surprised before saying it back after a short moment. He kissed you on the cheek before finally standing up and going to the bathroom. You let out a deep sigh as he closed the door behind him and closed your eyes for a second. You then decided to clean up the mess the two of you created and put the pillows and blanket into the bed again. After you were done you grabbed your phone and fixed your hair again. You didn't have to wait long before Leon came out of the bathroom. He was wearing some dark jeans and a light blue button up. His hair was also looking as perfect as ever, no signs of the pillow fight from before. You grinned at him as you stood up.

“Ready to leave, Buttercup?” He asked as he grabbed his wallet and his fancy sunglasses. You nodded as you put on some sneakers and put your phone in your pocket.

You realized you didn't bring sunglasses so you looked at Leon and pointed at his pair. “You don't have another pair of sunglasses by any chance, do you?”

Leon let out a small laugh and shook his head. “You didn't bring your own? Give me a second, I think I actually have another pair.” He turned around and went over to his suitcase to look for them. A few minutes later he came back to you and handed you some fancy looking round sunglasses. You thanked him as you put them on and opened the door. You two left the room together and walked the long hallway to the front door.

As you left the building the morning sun was already hot and warmed your skin. You took a deep breath as you looked around the front yard.

Your face went back to Leon as you heard him unwrapping a piece of paper. As it turns out it was a map of the city, which made you laugh. “A map? Really Leon? You know we both have working phones, right? If you wanna go somewhere I can just look it up online.”

You went to grab your phone out of your pocket but Leon stopped you. “I want this day to be phone free. I just want to enjoy the time with you. And also using this map feels more like a vacation, don't you think?”

You let out a small laugh again as you nodded and put your phone back. “Alright, whatever you say, Mr. Kennedy.” Leon also smiled now and soon after began walking into one direction. You quickly followed and put your hand in his to keep up.

Leon led you through the streets and as the day started more and more people filled the streets around you. He ended up leading you to a small bakery and brought you to a small table outside. It felt like you had been walking for days when realistically it was only a few hours. “Perhaps some breakfast will help you walk a bit faster?” Leon chuckled as he poked at your slow walking pace.

You rolled your eyes as you sat down at one of the tables outside of the bakery. “Not all of us are superstar athletes, Leon.” He still continued his laugh as he sat down too. “Oooo! Pastries!” You got excited at the selection of foods available, back home it would always be quickly bought junk food as neither you nor your roommate had time to cook.

“You like pastry?” Leon looked up from the menu. “You could have just asked Angel if that's what you ever wanted, we would have bought it specifically for you.”

Your face went hot from the embarrassment. “Oh please no, I’m honestly so grateful when Angel cooks for me, I don't want her to think I’m taking advantage by ordering something specific…”

“How about I ask then?” He smirked as he then looked back down at the menu. “I think I'm going to go for the brioche and some coffee.” He announced as he then tucked his menu back to where he found it.

You smiled at him as you began to read out what you were struggling to pick from. "I’m not sure if I want to go with the pain au chocolat or the cornetto…”

“Well the first one is actually French so that depends on if you want to stick to italian foods or not, but personally…” He scratched the back of his head. “I think both.”

“Both?” You flurried your eyebrows. “I’m not that hungry Leon, a-and these are expensive! Twelve euros for a coffee?!” You whisper-shouted for the last part, sure they were extortionate prices but maybe it was worth it?

“Really, Buttercup? You do realise that money isn’t an issue, right?” He smirked.

“I just feel guilty spending your money, that’s all..”

“Trust me, Buttercup. I like seeing yo-”

“Buongiorno!” A small woman exited the front of the bakery with a notepad and a pen in her hand. “What can I get for the two of you?” She asked as she looked at Leon so he went first.

“Would I be able to get the brioche and a shot of espresso?” He asked politely as he gave her his million dollar smile.

“And for the compagno?” She asked as she wrote down Leon’s order.

Just as you were about to state your order Leon did it for you. “They’ll have both the pain au chocolat and the cornetto, with a moka coffee please.” Leon then turned his head to smile at you as you chuckled and smiled back. The waitress nodded her head and then went back into the bakery, preparing your food. “Now you get to try them both.”

“I have had them both before, you know…” You shook your head at him.

“Oh… Well now you get to try them… Italian style!” He smiled again as he dramatically waved his hands, emphasising the ‘Italian style.’ You simply rolled your eyes at him and smiled. The two of you waited quite a while for your food but it didn't annoy either of you as it simply meant that it was being made fresh for you, besides it also gave you time to look at the view of both the ocean and Leon. Considering you never left the US and you stayed landlocked you've never actually seen the ocean before, sure you saw big lakes and stuff but this was so much more intense. Not only was it humongous it was almost crystal clear. “How about we go snorkeling or something once I'm back?” Leon suggested.

“I would love that.” You nodded your head and just as you answered your waitress came over with your dishes and drinks. You simply squealed to yourself as your senses engulfed the food that sat before you, not even stopping to talk to Leon once. Eventually you looked up at him and you noticed he was simply smiling at you, lost in his thoughts as he watched you eat. “Leon?” You lightly waved at him and you raised your eyebrow.

He then snapped back to reality. “Sorry, just thinking about how at first you said you weren't very hungry.” He chuckled as he took a bite out of his own food.

“I guess pastries just do something to me?” You replied to him as you went back to eating your food. Leon simply took his time, he slowly drank his coffee and ate his bread as he looked at both you and the view on his left.

“Much different than the view at home. Here we get flowers, the ocean and beautiful trees, whereas at home we get a jungle… a concrete jungle..”

“How about in twenty years time when you retire, just move to Italy?” You joked at him in response to his little monologue about the different landscapes. “You can get a beautiful little villa on the mountain side that looks over the ocean, all you would need is three kids and a beautiful wife so that you can have the american, nuclear-family, dream.” You copied his hand gesture from earlier and chuckled.

“How would that be the american dream if i'm living in Italy?” He questioned as he placed his empty cup on the metal table.

“That was what stuck out to you about that entire bit?” You raised your eyebrow at him as you wiped your hands with your napkin. “Are you not going to eat your food?” You asked him as you looked down at his plate, him only being about halfway through.

“Sorry, sorry.” He picked up a piece. “I just wanted to take my time so we could be together longer. Just before we got here I got a text from Chris saying I had to meet him after we ate, thought I could drag it out as much as possible.” As he spoke he held out his free hand on the table, wanting you to place your hand in his. Obviously you accepted and he lightly squeezed it. You let him continue eating his food as the two of you sat in comfortable silence until the waitress came and collected the dirty dishes, replacing them with two new coffees for the two of you.

You took another sip from your mug as you noticed how Leon's eyes scanned the area and he seemed to be deep in his thoughts again. You put your mug on the table again and searched his eyes. He didn't notice you staring and only reacted when you mentioned his name. "Leon? You still there?" You snapped your fingers in front of him, making sure he was listening.

Leon turned his head and faced you. "Oh, sorry Buttercup. Did you say anything?"

You shook your head in response before talking again. "I'm worried about you, Leon. Even though we're here together, you seem so far away. Are you really okay?" You looked at him with puppy eyes and reached out to his hand. He just shook his head and looked away again. You sighed and felt hopeless. It was the first time Leon took you with him on a big mission, so of course you were worried. You always were when he was away, even though it wasn't the first time for him to do this stuff. Whatever it really was that he was doing now.

"Leon, please don't do this now. Tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you, distract you or whatever. Anything to help you, okay?" It took Leon a minute before finally giving it. He sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

"It's just.. this mission is different. I didn't get much information beforehand and I don't know. Something feels odd. And now that you're here, too, I'm just.. worried about you. Maybe it was the wrong idea to bring you with me." He said the last sentence more to himself than you, but you still understood every word of it. Even though he probably didn't mean it like that, you felt hurt. Did he think you were a helpless child who would only cause trouble? You didn't really know what to say but you had to do something about his mood.

"Leon. Listen to me. I don't know what you do all the time when you're gone, but you always manage. I'm sure everything will turn out fine, alright? And you don't have to worry about me. I'll stay inside the hotel or around your big bodyguards, I'm sure they could take care of tons of bad guys." You gave Leon an optimistic smile, hoping he would lighten up a bit.

"Yea, you're right. I guess. I just never.. had someone close to me in this kind of situation."

"Everything that matters now is that you're concentrated, Leon. If it helps you can tell me the information you already have, maybe we can work on this together. And who knows, maybe I'll end up being a better agent than you." You jokingly said and finally Leon let out a laugh as well. As you waited for his response you saw a pen on the table behind Leon so you ran to grab it, getting ready to write your notes on a clean napkin.

"Yea sure, whatever you say, Buttercup." You two continued joking for a while longer before ordering something else to drink. As the drinks were delivered to your table, you noticed someone sitting at a table close to you. You didn't know why exactly he caught your eye so you shrugged it off and continued talking to Leon. Soon he began talking about his mission and all the information he had. Which was, as he said before, really not much. All he knew was that someone in this city intended to initiate a virus-breakout similar to ones Leon had to fight before. You wrote down what he said but it wasn't really the equivalent to much. You sighed as you tried your best to help him out. Sure, he was a professional, but it was worth a shot. Especially if you could make him smile with your stupid ideas. In the end that's all that mattered to you, anyways.

You two continued chatting a while longer before Leon's phone suddenly rang. He excused himself, showing you who called. Chris. Leon stood up and left the table to talk to him in a more quiet place. You watched him walk away as you noticed the man from before staring at you again. He seemed to have seen you noticing since he suddenly looked away. You raised an eyebrow, a bad feeling growing in your stomach. Even though you were worried slightly, you didn't want to tell Leon. Maybe you were just starting to imagine things and you didn't want to make Leon worry any more. Speaking of him, he finally returned to the table. He didn't seem too happy though, so you knew what was coming next.

"Chris is already waiting for me. I guess I really tested his patience today. I'm sorry that it has to end so abruptly, Buttercup, but I really have to go now. We have new information and it seems like quite a big deal." Leon grabbed his wallet and handed it to you. "Get yourself something nice with it if you want. And don't forget to pay for our breakfast. I really need to go now, please be careful on your way home." He gave you a kiss on the forehead but you stopped him before he went to leave. "I love you, Leon. Don't worry about me and please come back soon.." He nodded lightly and gave you another kiss, this time on the mouth. You didn't want this moment to end but you knew there was no other option. You watched him leave and suddenly felt so alone and lost. Sitting down again you waited for someone to bring you the bill.

A few minutes passed until someone came over to your table, grabbing the last dirty cups. You asked them for the bill and after paying a ridiculous high amount of money for breakfast you left the table and went back to the main street. You sighed as you thought about what to do for the rest of the day since it was still not that late. With no destination in mind you just started following the street and seeing where it would take you.

Leon carefully closed the door behind him as he was escorted into the home. “Couldn’t have picked a basic home?” He shrugged as he looked over at Chris who was sitting at a table in the kitchen. “This mansion is fucking huge.”

“The fuck you mean?” He snarled at Leon as he pushed back the chair adjacent to him for Leon to sit in. “We’re in an upper class neighbourhood, it blends in.”

“Where’s Angel and Daisy?” Leon asked as he sat down in the chair and gestured at the two empty ones opposite him.

“Miss Badawi and Miss Chu are doing some recon.” He passed over a singular folder and Leon opened it to the first page.

“You call me by my first name, why not those two?” He always thought it was weird but now that it was just those two alone he actually was able to ask.

“Neither of them have passed the required rank for me to call them my equal, meaning they haven’t deserved the right yet."

“They’ve both saved your life countless times-”

“-Oh please! You think we care about validation from some old white man?” Angel laughed as both her and Daisy entered the room and sat down at the table.

Now that all three of them were sitting opposite Chris he could begin his briefing.

“We’re going to be heading to a small provenance called Valtorta, there’s no such thing as tourists there which means this is a stealth operation. Miss Chu, your favourite.” Daisy smiled and lightly clapped her hands together as she heard about the standards of the operation.

Angel raised her hand. “Miss Badawi?” Chris accepted.

“Where is Valtora?” She asked.

“Near the border of Italy and Switzerland.” He replied as he flicked Angel’s folder to the map page. “Around a two hour drive from Milan which is where we’re going to be starting after a three hour helicopter ride. Which means a five hour trip so that you kids can catch up on your podcasts or whatever it is that you guys do nowadays.”

“I’ve been listening to this really interesting podcast about a woman who kills her boss because he didn't give her a payrise… Pretty inspiring if you ask me.” Angel smirked as she looked towards her boss, Leon.

“Depends on how good you do after this operation, and if you can get some pastries for us to bring back home.” He replied as he looked up from the folder and at Angel.

“I think that’s a very fair trade, croissants for an extra one hundred percent markup on your pay?” Daisy smirked at her girlfriend.

“How about we focus on our jobs rather than the pay?” Chris interrupted them. “So the woman we’re looking for is Leona Capulet.” He placed a photo of the woman holding a small child onto the wooden table. “Forty five, six foot tall and batshit crazy.” He then placed another photo on the table. “For the last four years she’s been attempting to recreate another virus, called the LC-020-Virus. Ever since we found out about it we’ve been calling it the ‘Loco-virus’.”

“Let me guess…” Angel interrupted. “Rather than it turning you into a zombie it just makes you go crazy?”

“Bingo.” Chris nodded as he placed another picture on the table. “Blueprints of the town, and the suspected laboratory Capulet has been working in.”

“How have you got so much information?” Leon asked.

“Inside man.” Chris replied. “Capulet’s son, Valentino, has been helping us. Once his mother tried to use him for a human trial experiment he had enough and tried to shut her down. After failing he turned himself in and he’s been helping us for around four months now.”

“And you trust him?” Daisy asked as she looked at the picture of Leona. “How do we know it isn’t a trap?”

“The boy is a millionaire and he gets nothing out of betraying his family, it's personal to him.” Chris picked up his pictures from the table and placed them back into his folder. “But that doesn’t mean we can fully trust him, we all need to stay vigilant.” Chris stood out of his chair and tucked it under the table. “Our mission is to capture the target Leona Capulet, destroy any trace she has of the virus and figure out where her funding comes from. Any questions?” All three of them nodded their heads as they looked at Chris. “Great. We’re heading out at nine A.M. tomorrow morning, I expect everyone to be ready with a maximum of two standard issue duffle bags with the essentials needed for the maximum of two weeks.”

“A fortnight?” Leon asked. “I was told only three days.”

“A maximum Leon, just in case. If we all work well enough we can be back here within two days so let's all get some sleep so we can make that happen.” Chris left the three of them at the table. Angel and Daisy just began chatting amongst themselves about what they were going to do once they were back and could enjoy their time together in the countryside, whereas Leon was thinking about you. He pulled out his phone and called your number but to his surprise you didn’t answer, he looked at the time and saw that it was around seven at night so he thought that maybe you were in the shower, at home you usually showered at that time. So rather than calling you again he simply sent you a text message.

‘Done with work for the night so give me a call when you can. Leon <3’

The sun began setting as you felt your stomach growl. You've been walking around for so many hours, you didn't even think about stopping somewhere to eat or drink anything. Thankfully, you weren't somewhere in the woods but rather close to the city. Your phone battery died a while ago, so you didn't have a chance to just google where to go now or call a taxi. "I should have taken the map from Leon earlier." You muttered to yourself as you scratched the back of your head. Instead of giving up though you tried to follow the signs all around the streets. Most of them were in Italian but you still managed to find your way back.

Even though it wasn't that late, or so you assumed since it was not dark yet, there weren't many people outside. You hoped to find a store to get something to eat and drink and maybe ask for the time or your current location but it felt like you were going in circles and as the time passed you felt really tired. Suddenly everything felt like too much and you had to sit down. You almost fell to the ground, feeling the effects of not eating or drinking for a few hours in the heat. Your head was spinning and your vision blurred and you just barely saw a silhouette walking in your direction. You rubbed your eyes in hope of seeing clearly again. A young man stood before you, reaching a hand out. He soon seemed to notice that you didn't understand what he was saying, so he repeated himself in English. "Are you okay? You look really pale and I'm assuming you're not from here, right?" You slowly nodded your head and tried forming words in your mouth.

"Water.. Do you have water?", was all that came out in the end. The man let out a small laugh and nodded. He pointed towards a house just on the opposite side of the street before helping you get up.

"That's where I live. There aren't any stores open around here so that's all I can get offer now. If you feel comfortable with it you can rest a while before continuing your way."

You looked at the man and thanked him as he supported you walking. The two of you slowly walked towards his house and you waited in silence as he opened the door for you. You walked inside the small house and looked around. It was something completely different from the hotel you slept in last night, but it seemed very friendly. The man led you into the living room and you sat down on the old couch. He left the room to get you something to drink and shortly after returned with a coke, a bottle of water and some cold lasagna.

"This was my dinner today. I'm guessing you are hungry, the way you look. Please eat as much as you like." He went over to a cabinet and got a plate, a fork and a knife. He placed it on the small table in front of the couch as you gulped down the coke. You already felt better as the sugar spread through your body.

"Thank you so much. Where I come from most people wouldn't care for strangers, like you're doing right now. I don't know how I can repay you." You said as you put down the can and took a piece of the lasagna. The man put up his hands and shook his head. "Oh please, don't worry about it. This is nothing, I'm just glad to be helping." You smiled at him in return and enjoyed the rest of the lasagna in silence as your body finally regained strength. After you were done you leaned back on the sofa and sighed. "Now that was a really good lasagna. I definitely need the recipe!" You said jokingly and the two of you laughed.

You two talked for a while longer before you noticed the time on a clock hanging on the wall. It was almost 11pm. You opened your eyes in shock and stood up abruptly. "It's so late already?! I'm so sorry, but I think I really need to go. Please, if there is any way to thank you, tell me." The man now also stood up and walked you to the front door. "Like I said before, I don't want anything in return. I'm just grateful to be of help." You smiled at him and went for a hug. It just felt right at that moment. He returned the gesture but you soon parted again. You unlocked your now almost fully loaded phone and checked the route to the hotel.

"Thanks for letting my phone charge as well, I don't think I would ever find my way back without it." You laughed as you stepped outside. By now the moon was shining high in the sky, making the night light up.

"If I'm not mistaken your way back shouldn't be too long. Please text me when you're back so I don't have to worry." The man said as handed you a piece of paper with his number. You smiled as you added him to your contacts.

"Oh, I don't think I've gotten your name, did I?" Now it was his time to laugh. "That's right, I believe. My name's Leonardo." You couldn't believe what you were hearing and let out a laugh. "No way. That's kind of a funny coincidence, my boyfriend is actually called Leon."

"Oh, well.. That really is a funny coincidence." Leonardo scratched his head as you two laughed again.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Leonardo, but I really have to go now. Maybe our paths will cross again." You waved him goodbye as you put in your earphones and followed the route that was presented on your display.

As you followed the instructions you felt like you were being watched. You looked around, not seeing anyone. Shaking your head you began walking faster, the feeling of being watched never vanishing. Just when you thought the feeling of being watched had gone you heard some footsteps behind you. You slowly pulled out your earphones and looked back. Nobody. "Jesus.. What is wrong with me?" You could already see the tall building you left earlier this day and felt relieved. Only a few more minutes and you were safe. From whatever it was that you felt afraid of. Not realizing you started walking faster again you suddenly tripped and fell to the ground, your phone sliding away. "Fuck.." You rubbed your knee and felt blood on your fingertips in return. You stood up with a pain filled groan and slowly went over to your phone. Just before you were able to reach it something hard hit the back of your head, sending you in a realm of darkness...

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Taglist: @trinswhimsys @dixanadu @oppsie--channie

#resident evil #re2 #re4 #re6 #resident evil vendetta #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon x reader #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #x reader #x male reader #x female reader #x gn reader #x gender neutral reader

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sturchling · 3 years

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Gilded Poppy VS Hawkmoth

This is another part to the idea that I saw and talked about with @anastasian-dreamer and @musicfeedsmysoul12 . I just had to write it out! Find the first story here! The Gilded Poppy helping take down Hawkmoth. There will be some spoilers for the final episode of the first season of Jett’s route, so keep that in mind if you still haven’t read it. I hope you all like it!

The Gilded Poppy had never really paid Hawkmoth any mind. Sure he was a pain when his akumas interrupted their heists. But sometimes the chaos worked to their advantage as well. So they never really saw a point in worrying about it. Sure, they always made sure that Tom, Sabine, Marinette, and the bakery were fine after each attack, but that was about as involved as they got with the situation. That was until Hawkmoth came after one of their own.

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Jett couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He felt almost numb. One of his best mates, Jock was laid out on the floor in front of him. Dead. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings at all. So it was a good thing that the rest of the Poppy was heard the ticking sound, and pulled him out of the building before the bomb went off. Now, as he stood on the street, watching the building before him burn and a crowd gathered around, Jett didn’t know what to think. Then he saw him at the edge of the crowd. Hugo Vansittart standing there, staring at Jett. Jett instantly saw red. He knew that Hugo did this and he was going to make him pay dearly for it. From the corner of his eye, he saw a dark butterfly fly towards his poppy pin. Then suddenly a strange feeling came over Jett, like his rage was increased ten fold. And a soothing voice spoke in his head. That is the last thing he remembered.

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Jett had been turned into Judgement, a justice based akuma that used an attack he called truth bomb. Anyone hit with his bombs confessed to any crimes they may have committed. For most people hit during this akuma attack, it was small stuff like jay walking, or littering. But Jett made sure to hit Hugo who confessed, during the live TV coverage of this akuma, to killing Jock and making the building explode. The other members of the Poppy made sure to avoid Jett. They wanted to help their friend, but if they got hit they would reveal they were members of the Poppy and that couldn’t happen. Ladybug soon had Jett deakumatized and Hugo was arrested immediately, along with some other citizens who had admitted to more serious crimes. Now Jett and the rest of the Poppy were angry for a whole new reason. How dare Hawkmoth come after one of them. They were fine leaving him to Ladybug, until now. An attack on one of them was an attack on them all, and no one messed with the Gilded Poppy and got away with it.

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That said, the Poppy knew they would need help. They knew they needed to contact Ladybug. So, they left a burner phone at the top of the Eiffel Tower, where she and Chat Noir often met during patrol. They also set up a camera pointed at the platform, so they would know when the two heroes arrived. As soon as the two heroes arrived on scene, the phone lit up with a new text message. The two heroes were confused, but looked at the phone thinking someone had lost it and maybe they could return it to its owner. But when they read the message they knew it was for them. Hi Ladybug and Chat Noir. We are the Gilded Poppy. We wish to help eliminate Hawkmoth as a threat. He has become quite a pest to us. Our only condition is that if we meet, you do not tell anyone who we are. If this is agreeable to you, meet us here same time tomorrow. -Thief Lord

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Marinette was freaking out. She had been able to keep her composure while she talked with Chat Noir and they had agreed to at least hear the group out. But now that she is alone, she was panicking. That manner of speech from the text reminded her of someone. It reminded her of the way Nikolai spoke. And now that she thought about it, she remembered Nikolai, Remy, Vivienne, Jett, Leon, and Zoe all wearing the same pin. A golden poppy pin. Oh my god. They are the Gilded Poppy. I am friends with the Gilded Poppy. It didn’t bother Marinette, but it was certainly shocking. But she couldn’t be sure, maybe she was overthinking again. She wouldn’t be sure until she met with them tomorrow.

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Marinette was freaking out internally again. She and Chat Noir had just arrived at the Eiffel Tower when she heard Nikolai’s voice from behind her. “I assume since you are here, you agree to our terms and won’t turn us into the police?” Marinette did her best to curb her panic, and slip into her Ladybug personality. “Yes, we won’t turn you in. Come out here.” And then, standing before her, were all her friends. She had been right. They were the Gilded Poppy. For their part, the Gilded Poppy was also surprised. Sure they knew the two heroes were young, but they didn’t realize how young until now. They couldn’t be older than Marinette. But they pushed that aside, they had work to do.

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Marinette quickly took charge of the meeting and brought the thieves up to speed on everything. That the source of Hawkmoth’s power was his miraculous and how once they took that from him, he wouldn’t be a threat anymore. The Poppy felt comfortable. This was right up their alley. Stealing some fancy jewelry was nothing new to them. It would be weird to return the jewels to Ladybug and not sell them, but the Poppy understood that it was too dangerous for that to happen. For the next few weeks, the Poppy put all their resources to trying to get any clues towards who Hawkmoth could be. They also continued to meet with either Ladybug or Chat Noir every other day or so to go over any information they may have found. It was one night, during one of these meetings, that Marinette made a mistake.

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They had just finished up going over all their information. They were getting close to a suspect and the Poppy was sure they would have a name for Ladybug in the next week. As she turned to leave, Ladybug called over her shoulder “Thanks guys! See you at the bakery tomorrow.” Marinette froze as she realized what she just said. She hoped maybe they would just brush it off, but of course, the Poppy caught exactly what she had said. And it only took them about two seconds to realize what that meant. They had always thought Ladybug looked like Marinette, but convinced themselves that it was just a coincidence. But how else could they explain that comment. Remy stepped closer to Marinette, who still stood frozen on the edge of the platform in a panic. “Marinette? Is that you?” All of the Poppy was just staring at her and Marinette didn’t see a way out. So she just detransformed.

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

Needless to say, there was a lot of explaining to do that night. Marinette told them everything that had happened since she received her miraculous and all her adventures as Ladybug. The Poppy was horrified to learn that this girl that they viewed as a little sister had been fighting Hawkmoth without much help. And their rage toward Hawkmoth was renewed all over again. Now this monster had gone after another one of them. He had been making Marinette’s life hard for years now. And it was going to end soon.

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

By the end of the week, The Poppy had used all their Underbelly resources and found a name as a suspect for Hawkmoth. Gabriel Agreste. He was the only person in Paris that had the resources and time to be Hawkmoth. They immediately told Marinette through the burner phone they had been using and the group of thieves met with Paris’ heroes. Chat Noir seemed hesitant to consider Gabriel as a suspect, but did eventually agree that it couldn’t hurt to check into the lead. Since the heroes couldn’t exactly be breaking into a random civilian’s home, it was decided that the Poppy would break into the manor that night and search for the two missing miraculous. With a description of the two jewels from Ladybug, Nikolai, Remy, Vivienne, and Jett quietly broke into the mansion and searched the place top to bottom for the jewels or any proof that Gabriel was Hawkmoth. Zoe remained at the hotel, monitoring all the security systems for the mansion as well as the camera feeds from the cameras being worn by Nikolai and Vivienne. Ladybug and Chat Noir were with her, watching the camera feeds. Leon was outside, ready to speed everyone away from the mansion at a moments notice.

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

When the group went into Gabriel’s office, they found the hidden safe in the wall, and inside that was the Peacock miraculous. Vivienne grabbed it and put the jewel in her pocket, before continuing to feel along the wall for any other secrets. Meanwhile, Chat Noir watched in horror as Vivienne pulled the miraculous out of the safe. This at the least confirms his father is involved somehow. Then the group accidently hit the right buttons to open the secret elevator up to Hawkmoth’s lair. When the cameras being worn by Nikolai and Vivienne showed the room with all the akuma butterflies flying around, it was clear that Gabriel Agreste must be Hawkmoth. Finally, Nikolai silently entered Gabriel’s bedroom. And there, resting on his nightstand was the butterfly miraculous. Nikolai snatched it and quickly left the room, as quietly as he came.

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

The Poppy returned to the hotel and gave the two miraculous to Ladybug. Ladybug called the police as soon as she had the miraculous. She told them that some concerned citizens had told her that they thought Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth. She also told them that after some investigation it was proven to be true and she had recovered the missing miraculous, making it safe for them to go arrest Gabriel. When the police arrived, they found Gabriel tearing the mansion apart, looking for his miraculous. He was arrested just in time for the morning news. Soon rumors started that the other members of the Agreste household were involved as well. Adrien, feeling he had no other choice at the time, had already revealed himself to Ladybug and accidently in front of the Poppy as well the night they recovered the miraculous. Marinette also revealed herself to him. So, knowing that Adrien wasn’t involved, Ladybug publicly announced that she had cleared Adrien of any wrong doing and that he had no idea what his father had been doing. Adrien ended up living with the Dupain-Chengs, being unofficially adopted until a more permanent situation was decided on.

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

Once everything had calmed down, Remy and Jett started joking that Marinette and Adrien should join them on a heist. Or at least, it had started as joking. Soon, the rest of the Poppy had joined in and they were completely serious. Jett would often wrap his arms around their shoulders, saying “Come on you two! You could do some amazing things for a heist. Think of the possibilities!” Of course they both immediately denied it. After all, Paris’ heroes couldn’t be involved in crime. But then Nikolai said that they could just steal back a stolen painting from another thief and return it to its rightful owners. The Poppy didn’t care about keeping whatever they stole, they just wanted to go on a heisting adventure with the two kids they viewed as their siblings. When he heard the suggestion, Adrien was excited and begged Marinette to agree. Eventually Marinette relented. The combined force of the Poppy begging and Adrien’s puppy dog eyes was too much.

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

They worked a small heist with the Poppy to steal back a painting that had been stolen from the Louvre many years ago. It didn’t take long to retrieve the painting and Ladybug and Chat Noir made sure it was returned, anonymously so as not to raise any questions about how they recovered the painting. Soon after the heist was completed, it was time for the Poppy to leave Paris for their next heist. The thieves came by the bakery to say goodbye to Tom, Sabine, Marinette, and Adrien. They never thought these four people would become so important to them, but now they couldn’t imagine their lives without them. After saying goodbye to the group and seeing them off, Marinette and Adrien went back up to Marinette’s room. When they opened the door, they saw something shining on Marinette’s desk. Sitting on her desk were two golden pins. Two golden poppy pins. The two teens smiled wide as they picked up the pins and fixed them to their shirts, happily waiting for the day they would see their friends, the Poppy, again.

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costellos · 4 years

Text

author’s note: this wasn’t a request, just something super self-indulgent that I wanted to do! ❤⃛(*ૂ❛ัᴗ❛ั*ૂ) also this ended up taking 2.5 hours to write aldkf;j so much for unwinding at the end of the day. overall, I’m super proud of how this came out — please enjoy!

❥ ┋ ❝ bucci gang realizing that they’re in love!

bruno bucciarati.

Bucciarati realizes he’s in love when he sees you defending civilians.

he is a man made of love. for his people, for his community, for his goals — he firmly believes that everyone and everything can be built on yes, but more importantly, taken care of.

he sees you protecting an elderly couple during a stand battle. in a split second do you throw your stand at the couple, taking a hefty amount of damage in their place. you’re bloody and your arm is definitely broken, but you still turn to them. "you need to leave. now,” you say. although your words are harsh and hoarse, your smile reminds them that yes, everything will be fine, I just need you to trust me.

you didn’t have to protect them. any other gangster would have left them to die. they’re old, no one would miss them.

but you did. you put these two strangers, two no ones at the wrong place at the wrong time, before yourself. even if it meant you’d die.

Bucciarati would visit you shortly after the battle. Giorno had already tended to your wounds, evident by your lack of bandages. his hair is normally neatly placed, but it looks like he had been rustling it, with his clips out of place and the braid atop his head uneven. his concern is apparent; he’s wracked his brain waiting for your recovery. you knew that Bucciarati cared about his team, but when did he care this much? ↳ “I admit, your actions were certainly reckless,” he would say to you, taking a seat beside your bed. “you’re lucky that fight didn’t end worse than it did. nonetheless...” his voice is tired yet soft, comforting. “I’m glad you’re okay. I’m... I’m incredibly glad.”

leone abbacchio.

Abbacchio realizes he’s in love when he sees you upholding true justice.

although he would never admit it, he is haunted by his inability to save his partner during his time as an officer. as such, Abbacchio envies those who back justice in spite of the system Italy lives under.

you’re patrolling one of La Passione’s turfs with him when you see it: two officers harassing a young girl. even though Abbacchio tells you not to get involved, you quickly storm over to the scene. their voices are loud and clear, despite them being several meters away. the girl looks scared.

it turns out she had stolen a handful of painkillers from the corner store. the cops noticed her scurrying out as they were buying a pack of smokes. and now, they were threatening to take her into the station. “I need them for my family!” she explains, but the cops don’t buy it. they huff something about her bringing them to school and selling them to her friends.

“here. I’ll pay for her. just leave her alone.” Abbacchio watches as you flash 30 euros to the cops, more than enough to pay for the medicine. playing them at their own game, he sees. thankfully, they relent, pocketing the money and leaving the scene. and after you talk to the girl, explaining that if she needs more help to come find you, you both leave the scene too.

it’s a brief affair. truthfully, he wouldn’t have gotten himself involved. he wishes you hadn’t either. it would’ve been less of a headache, and now that girl is going to pester you again in the future. but he can’t stop replaying the scene in this head. how you willingly stood up for her, reassured her that everything would be okay. how you smiled and looked so content after the fact. ↳ “ I envy you,” he would say as you walked away from the scene. “doing the right thing is...” he pauses. stupid? naive? “...it’s not easy. you didn’t have to do anything but I admire your valor. just don’t be surprised if that girl comes up at your doorstep begging for more money.” nonetheless, he wants to learn more from you. to be good again, he thinks. maybe then he can be someone that he himself is proud of. and maybe, eventually, he’ll make you proud too.

giorno giovanna.

Giorno realizes he’s in love when he sees your ambition.

he prides himself on his resolve. to him, resolve is committing to something regardless of the difficulties that a person faces. seeing you be so goal-oriented would make him believe that he’s found his match.

it doesn’t have to be a huge goal, like dedicating yourself to a field of practice or learning a new language. it can be as simple as trying to keep your houseplants alive. in fact, those little things come off as more charming to him. it shows that you’re passionate about everything you do, no matter what it is.

seeing you continuously try despite numerous failures would make Giorno’s heart pound. you refuse to give up. even with everything against you, you still roll up your sleeves, take a deep breath, and pick yourself up again. he adores this about you.

he realizes it when you’re rambling about your next move in your goals. your face is so excited, your eyes so wide and bright. your mouth is voicing your steps a million words a minute but all he can focus on is how beautiful you look. the smile on his lips is unmistakable. ↳ “tell me more. I want to know everything. tell me about every detail, every step, what you’ll do when you’re finished... all of it.” he won’t say it — after all, he doesn’t want to come off as too desperate — but he wants to be there every step of the way with you. and when you’ve completed your goal, he wants to be the one next to you, the one to say, “I am so, so proud of you.”

guido mista.

Mista realizes he’s in love when you laugh at one of his jokes.

life should be simple. that’s the mantra he lives by. despite being a gangster, he just wants to have a simple life filled with simple pleasures. one of those ways is through telling stories.

it happens when the group is eating dinner at a local restaurant. Mista is telling some long-winded anecdote, something about how he heroically beat up a landlord for harassing his tenants over money. at the end, it turned out to be the set up for a really brief and really stupid punchline.

everyone is looking at him. “ah? ahhhh?” he muses, but no one responds. the silence in the air is unbearable. hm. wow. is it hot in here or what? finally, Narancia breaks the silence, muttering that he doesn’t get it. Fugo tells him that Mista could have made the joke so much shorter. Bucciarti exhales quickly from his nostrils, a half-assed attempt at laughing. Giorno and Abbacchio don’t say anything.

but then you. oh, you. it takes you a moment to get it, but when you do, your giggling disrupts the awkwardness. it sounds like bells, Mista thinks. sweet bells, ringing like how they used to at the church every Sunday morning in his hometown. it makes him feel warm, welcome, and he can’t help but feel his face flush when he hears your laughing.

Mista stays in place afterwards, pushing his white beans to and fro on his plate. he’s not hungry anymore. he keeps looking up at you, and while he had acknowledged you were attractive before, something about you was now beautiful. you were happy here, with your eyes bright and your smile wide. eventually, he would say: ↳ “hey, thanks for covering me back there. those guys never laugh at anything I say.” he rolls his eyes playfully, adding a slight shrug of his shoulders. “lemme make it up to you. what can I do for you?” he’s trying to be smooth, but he’s so giddy at the prospect at spending more time with you!

narancia ghirga.

Narancia realizes he’s in love when you don’t lose your patience with him.

he doesn’t have much of a formal education. hence, critical thinking skills don’t come easy to him. he tries his best, he really does, but it’s difficult when he’s hardly flexed his brain.

he’s writing a song. nothing fancy, but music has always been a part of Narancia’s life that he wants to give it a go himself. maybe one day he’ll be a famous hip hop artist, touring across Europe and maybe even the U.S. one day! the thought makes him excited. but for now, he needs to establish the lyrics.

rap is easier said than done, though. Fugo is teasing him about his inability to write poetry — what makes Narancia think that he could write a whole song? he grits his teeth and turns back to his paper.

that’s when you approach him. you sit down with him, asking him what he would like to write about. “oh, uh... growing up in the streets, I guess,” he mumbles. he’s taken aback by your help. plus, talking about it now makes him embarrassed. but you don’t judge him, no; you sit down with him and try to help him nail down the theme. and once you have that, you assist him in finding snappy lyrics and catchy rhymes.

you don’t criticize him for his ideas. you don’t yell at him for his suggestions. you just listen and add on. the encounter is foreign, to say the least... but not unwelcome. Narancia finds your help incredibly productive (much better than Fugo could ever offer him). and the time goes by so fast! within a few hours, his song is done. yet he’s not happy... no, he starts to feel lonely the moment you stand up, off to assist Bucciarati with whatever he needs. ↳ “wait, hold on, [Name]!” shit. his voice is way too desperate. he softens it as best he can muster: “can... can we write another song sometime? I have a lot more ideas and I can’t do it without you.” fuck. he did it again. but when smile at him and nod, promising that you’ll help him hit the Top 40, Narancia can’t help but smile back.

panacotta fugo.

Fugo realizes that he’s in love when you put him before yourself.

genius. prodigy. failure. Fugo is defined by how others see him. after his parents abandoned him for leaving an abusive establishment, he finds himself lost in the world. who is he? what is he worth?

he’s escorting you to your mission when his car is attacked by a rival gang. the assault is a blur. he can remember the car flipping over, tumbling off the road and into the Mediterranean Sea. it happens so fast. the salty water surrounding you both. the windshield cracking. the airbag goes off, suffocating him. he can’t see. he can’t breathe. and suddenly, it’s dark.

when he wakes up, he realizes that you’re both on the beach. “where are we?” he musters out. it hurts to talk. you hush him to take it easy, that he had most certainly broken a few ribs. and that’s when he sees it: when he looks down, his wounds are tended to. gashes have been tenderly wrapped in gauze and minor cuts treated with balm. a pain relief patch has been placed on his chest, no doubt where the air bag hit him. but when he looks at you, you’re bleeding through your bandages.

that’s right. there was a first aid kit in the car. based on his injuries, you spent the majority of supplies on him, even though you definitely had it just as bad. “why?” is all he can say.

why? you shake your head. “because you’re my friend,” you answer, adjusting the gauze on his wrist. “I’m taking care of you because you’re worth it.”

your words catch him by surprise. he doesn’t believe it, but... your face is honest enough. his thoughts are jumbled, as mixed as the sand and water at the shore just a few meters away. and when your hand touches his wrist... he shakes his own head.

↳ “you should’ve tended to yourself first.” his tongue tastes of nothing but blood and salt and his words show it. a beat, and gentler this time: “I appreciate your thinking of me. thank you.” that’s all he can say, at least for now. it hurts to much to talk, moreover think. so he places his hand over yours as a gesture of thanks. friends, huh? the idea before sounded laughable, but now... there was something warm about it. the answer to his question — who is he? — had come as quickly as the waves beneath him: a friend.

#bucci gang #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #giorno giovanna #golden wind #bruno bucciarati #leone abbacchio #guido mista #narancia ghirga #pannacotta fugo #headcanons #part 5 #toya whisks u away

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kenzichi · 3 years

Text

Summary: Riku gets an unexpected visit from Roxas. Post KH3.

Note: Totally self indulgent. Don’t mind it too much lol.

Riku pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes were burning from lack of sleep. His appearance probably didn’t look like much either. He needed to get off the database. He took one more look at the Sora in the computer screen before he stood up and hastily removed his jacket. He threw it onto the stool and walked outside Merlin’s house.

But once he did he had no idea what he wanted to do. His eyes stung at the morning- morning? -Midday sun. There was no one walking along the streets which was usual for this time of day. Maybe Leon and the others were visiting Kairi? He needed to do that soon.

"Hey." Came an unexpected greeting followed by footsteps. He turned to see Roxas walking towards him. Wait-

"R-Roxas!" It had been months since Riku had last seen him. Since the final battle over half a year ago in fact. "What are you doing here?" Roxas had never been to Radiant Garden as far as he knew. And he had no connection with anyone here so for him to be here...

"I came to check up on you." Roxas smiled, hands in his pockets.

"Me?" Riku was taken aback. Roxas certainly didn't seem like he was the type to pay friendly visits and they weren’t friends even if they didn't hold a grudge against each other.

"Yup." Roxas replied with a smile that worried Riku for some reason. "Let's fight!"

"What?"

"You heard me." Roxas stepped closer until he was a few feet away from him.

"Why would I-?"

"You owe me a fair, finished fight. Last time you turned into that man. A cheap trick to win." Roxas glared up at him.

Riku subconsciously gripped his wrist that Roxas had injured in that very fight. Riku had thought this was all in the past. But looking at Roxas it seemed he still wasn't quite over it.

"I want to fight you for real this time." Roxas summoned his Kingdom Key without breaking eye contact. "Real ‘till the end!" He announced. Riku had no time to protest before he had to summon his own keyblade to block Roxas swinging down from straight above. The impact sent Riku sliding backwards on the stone pavement.

"Roxas!" Riku yelled angrily. What the hell? That hit would have been really bad! Is he being serious?

The impact of the hit sent a stinging aftershock through Riku’s legs straight to his ankles. He winced and fell onto one knee.

I... I know I haven't been training much, but...

Roxas scoffed, "Are you serious? Have you just been fooling around since Sora disappeared?"

"Of course not!"

"Prove it then." Roxas replied sourly. He broke into a run. "Come at me!"

Just as Roxas had reached him, Riku sprinted under Roxas’ swing as if to run, but as soon as he was right behind him he halted suddenly, spun around and swung his keyblade towards his opponent. But Roxas turned around just as fast and blocked his attack.

Roxas smiled, "Ahh, there's the Riku I remember! Give me a good fight, alright!" They pushed each other back with their blades and put some distance between themselves.

"I don't have time for this." Riku practically hissed. Not while Sora is still out there. We’re wasting time!

"You have time." Roxas retorted. "By the looks of you, this will be over real quick."

Riku narrowed his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Roxas leaped towards Riku to close the gap between them. With both hands he swung towards Riku’s left side, but Riku blocked. Roxas swung again in the same spot, harder this time. "Exactly how it sounds!" Roxas lunged forward and slammed his shoulder into Riku’s chest, knocking him backwards. Riku stumbled wide eyed.

"What happened to the strongest kid on the islands? Keyblade Master Riku?" Before Riku could regain his balance, Roxas started an excessive chain of swings that Riku couldn’t help, but block helplessly against.

Riku felt cornered. Roxas wasn't giving him any chance to counter. All he could do was make sure Roxas didn’t run him into a dead end.

Roxas’ blows started to slow down just slightly, but enough for a seasoned fighter like Riku to notice. He’s getting tired... "Brings you back to the islands, huh? Just like old times, right?" Roxas said in between breaths.

Huh? Why would he bring up the islands?

Just as Riku thought that, Roxas took a big gasp before going in for another swing. Now! Riku quickly cast a single thunder bolt to strike between them.

Roxas jumped backwards before the attack could hit. Riku let out a heavy breath, relieved they were no longer so close.

Roxas chuckled at the exchange they just had. What’s with him? Was he making fun of him?

Riku clinched his teeth. That magic attack seemed like nothing, but it was more to get him off his back than to cause injury. And he felt like Roxas knew that too. That’s why he had that irritating smirk on his face.

Roxas lifted his keyblade into the air and cast firaga. A plethora of fireballs came flying towards them.

Riku gasped. He couldn't dodge. They were surrounded by buildings. Not to mention Merlin’s house with their only clue to finding Sora in a long time. Quickly, Riku ran in front of Merlin’s house and managed to produce a larger dark barrier than usual and deflected as many fireballs as he could back at Roxas. Without missing a beat, Riku released dark barrier and cast waterza on the fires that were quickly building up around them.

Riku let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Through the smoke he saw Roxas standing on the other side of the walk area, waiting patiently for him.

Riku steadied his breath before clinching his fists. "Are you an idiot?! People live here! Don't throw reckless magic around!"

"This is a real fight remember?" Roxas replied. "If you don't like it, stop me."

Riku had had it. He charged at Roxas so fast he was only a flash of dark energy. Roxas had no idea he had this ability. He certainly didn’t have it in The World That Never Was. Before he could react, Riku appeared before him, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him to the ground. He knelt down on Roxas’ weapon-wielding hand, causing his grip to loosen and his keyblade to disappear. Riku slammed the end of his Braveheart into the ground next to Roxas’ head. "That's enough. Playtime is over."

“But we were just getting warmed up!" Roxas chuckled.

"Stop screwing around!" Riku yelled, clinching the boy's shirt tighter. He was straddling him and with his arm pinned down Roxas couldn’t move.

"Would you treat Sora like this too?" Riku paused. "On the islands," Roxas continued. "is this how you were when you fought with Sora?" There was no underlying playfulness to his words this time.

Why is he bringing up Sora? And the islands? No. This was nothing like that. Even when Riku was mad he still enjoyed his sword fights with Sora. Even when he was clouded by jealousy; he just wanted to be close to him. But right now Roxas was just pissing him off. "Why do you keep bringing weird things up?" Riku demanded.

With his free hand, Roxas gripped the fists that were holding him by the collar. "Kiss me."

Riku froze.

"You miss Sora don't you? It’s obvious to everyone. And sad, really. Even I’m starting to pity you."

"What are you saying?" What does he mean ‘everyone’? "You don't know anything." I'm fine. I'm the same as usual. Did someone put him up to this?

"So much so that you shut yourself away from everyone for 2 months."

But... I haven’t. Right? I’ve done plenty these past few months... Riku quickly thought back to his current day to day life. He would wake up, check the database, eat (maybe), run scans on the database, check on Kairi at the castle, train for an hour... maybe less, go back to check the database...

"We know about the computer in there. You unlocked everything you could on that thing and there are still no answers. So why are you still always on it?"

Riku looked away. "There could still be a clue." He answered quietly. He did truly believe that, but he also couldn’t deny just seeing Sora’s image on the screen comforted him. "Anyway, it doesn’t concern you. You do things your way on your end and I’ll do the same-"

Roxas sat up on his elbow, "It does concern me! Sora wouldn't want you to spend your days staring at a computer!"

"I'm fine. I don't need your twisted help." Riku let go of Roxas' collar and started to stand, but Roxas kept his grip on Riku’s wrists, keeping him close.

"But I look like him don't I? Remind you of him?" He pulled Riku so close their bodies were touching. Riku could feel Roxas’ body heat through their sweaty clothes. He felt a knot form in his throat. "I don't think Sora would mind. Not if it was to help you."

"Stop." Riku lowered his head. Despite them being so different, Roxas was still Sora’s nobody and they almost looked exactly the same. Their builds were strikingly similar. Not to mention their eyes. Riku squeezed his eyes shut, ashamed they were even having this conversation. Ashamed he was actually feeling something. Did everyone feel this much pity towards him? Was he really that miserable looking?

Roxas grabbed Riku’s shirt, and pulled him closer. "Look at me." He said as softly as he could. Eventually, Riku did. He saw Riku’s eyes for the first time that day. Tired and sad. Eyes that hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks. "I know you want to. So kiss me."

Of course he wanted to! Or rather, of course he wanted to, with Sora! To touch him and kiss him. Somehow, now that he knew his true feelings for Sora, it only made it harder for Riku to be away from him.

"Kiss me like you would Sora." Roxas ran a hand through Riku’s hair, "Touch me like you would Sora." He wrapped his arms around Riku’s neck, "He wouldn’t want you to suffer like this anymore."

He wouldn’t, huh?

Every night he’d dream of a city with towering buildings. Shining signs and bustling roads. And every day he’d imagine Sora next to him, talking to him, like a curse.

Every day, since having those dreams of the city, Sora would lean into him when they talked. Lay a gentle hand on his shoulder whenever he laughed. He’d smile up at him and say his name. He’d pout when he lost at a game of Rock Paper Scissors to decide who got to take a bath first. But then Riku would be forgiven when he let Sora have the last piece of meat for dinner.

When Riku was settling in for the night it was only a matter of minutes before Sora came to his room. Sora would lay down onto his bed before he even had the chance to. Riku would caress Sora’s spiky brown hair he loved so much.

And Sora would laugh.

He’d wrap his arms around Riku’s waist and nuzzle close to him. They would talk about their day of training even though they had just spent the whole day training, together. Sora would fall asleep telling his stories and only then would Riku kiss him good night because that was the only time he was brave enough to do it. But Sora wouldn’t be asleep. And he’d demand Riku kiss him again. And again and again. And each kiss would be less nerve wrecking than the last. Riku would fall asleep feeling Sora’s warm skin and soft lips. And his slim frame that fit so perfectly against his muscular one. And he would wake up the next day and realize it was all a dream, or an illusion, or whatever the hell it was.

And it would start all over again.

So when Riku actually felt a warm (real), gentle hand run through his hair... Soft, slender fingers against his neck, he was so tempted. Oh so tempted. And for a flicker of a second he did see Sora’s face in Roxas. Riku gently let his fingertips brush away the strands of blond bangs on Roxas’ forehead. He wanted to imagine they were Sora’s messy brown ones. Imagine his flushed cheeks were Sora’s, bright and pink. His eyes were the exact same blue as Sora’s it almost scared him. Riku clinched his fist on the pavement.

But Roxas was not Sora no matter how much they looked alike.

"No." Riku finally replied. "You’re not a replacement for Sora. And you know that better than anyone. Sora... He told you that." Riku said, eyebrows furrowed.

Roxas stared at him for a bit before closing his eyes, sighing. "He did... didn’t he..." His grip around Riku’s neck loosened, but he didn’t completely let him go.

"You and Sora. Even if I tried... I could never mistake you. You, who’s so quick to anger." He smiled genuinely, the hand playing in Roxas’ hair now on his cheek. "You, Roxas, with the sharp tongue and the presence so strong an enemy would shutter as soon as you entered the area." Roxas’ eyes widened. "Whereas-"

"Whereas, Sora," Roxas continued, "is the one who would brighten up any room as soon as he entered it." He smiled small. "And Sora, who could never say a bad thing about anyone no matter how much they deserved it."

Riku nodded, “Yeah.”

Roxas felt so stupid, but relieved. Roxas stiffened under Riku, suddenly feeling self conscious at their positions. He let his hands fall from Riku’s shoulders to his chest. "Yeah..." He whispered.

......................

"If we had gone through with it, would you have hated it?" Roxas looked up from the half empty glass of water in his hands. He hadn't realized he had zoned out. The little lamp on Merlin's table stung his eyes. Had he dozed off? The tall, red chair at Merlin’s table was cozier than it looked.

Roxas looked across the room. Riku was on that damn computer again, staring intently at the screen. "Sorry... What did you say?" Roxas asked.

Riku let out a long sigh, "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

Roxas groggily looked back down at his hands. The hands he used to touch Riku. The hand he used to caress Riku’s hair.

Back when he had dreams about Sora, Roxas recalled Sora always looking at Riku. He always admired his height, his strength, and his long, silver hair. The silver hair Sora secretly longed to touch...

Roxas closed his eyes.

I’m sorry, Sora.

If they had gone further, would he have liked it? His feelings for Riku, Sora’s feelings for Riku, weld up in his stomach. Even though I’m not Sora... Sora’s memories, Sora’s feelings for Riku were still imbedded in his heart. So had Riku desired it, he would have kept going.

Roxas’ chest tightened.

He was a terrible person.

"I know you want to. So kiss me... Like you would Sora." Roxas ran a hand through Riku’s hair, "Touch me like you would Sora."

Riku clinched his teeth before leaning in and kissing the blond on the lips. And Roxas parted his lips instantly, welcoming Riku’s touch.

#kingdom hearts #fanfic #fanfiction #roxas #riku #kingdom hearts 3

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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Wonder Egg Priority – 05 – Omelette Rice

Now that each girl and the group as a whole have had their spotlight episodes, it’s time to return to Ohto Ai’s story. While she’s exhausted and sore from her last battle, Ai’s mom insists she get out of bed for breakfast. Her mom also made her omelette rice for lunch and they’ll be having sukiyaki for supper. Ai notes that they usually only have sukiyaki on special occasions. Then her mom asks if she’ll have a “proper talk” with Mr. Sawaki today.

When Ai joins the others, it’s clear she’s in a mood. First of all, she’s skipping emphatically, then starts kicking a traffic cone around and then a sandwich board that she accidentally shatters. The other three are understandably curious what caused this change in her. The four visit the Accas, who inform them of a new threat: Haters, who disguise themselves as Seeno Evils but are far more powerful.

Haters are the result of the four girls “standing out” by their protecting the egg girls. “Those who stand out pay for it”, Acca says, reminding me of how conformity was also the best defense in Ikuhara’s Yuri Kuma Arashi. They present the girls with a different kind of defense: cute pendants that awaken when spoken to in Latin and imprint upon their owners.

Each girl finds somewhere private to awaken their “Pomanders”. Neiru’s is a snake, Rika’s a turtle, Momo’s is an alligator, and Ai’s is a chameleon. While envy and spite birth the Haters that attack Ai and her latest egg girl, those same qualities are like “bread and butter” to her Pomander, who proceeds to gobble one up. As a big fan of beast-taming in FFXIII-2, I like the extra boost they provide to Ai as the difficulty level increases.

In life, Yoshida Yae could see dead people and “strong grudges” no one else could. Because only she could, no one believed her, and she was eventually committed. The facility was full of the very thing only Yae could see, which do doubt led to her suicide. Ai tries to keep her safe by hiding her, but this time the Wonder Killer itself is invisible.

While it’s a little confusing at first, it becomes apparent that Ai’s defense of Yae and battle against an invisible foe comes after the “special occasion” for which her mom is making sukiyaki: Mr. Sawaki is joining them for dinner…and not to talk about school. While the sukiyaki is a clue, it still feels like an ambush, especially when Ai is still drying her hair from a bath when he basically invades her safe space.

Ai’s mom and Sawaki aren’t done with the surprises, as they announce to her their intention to start dating, if it’s okay with her. YIKES. Look, I get it, her mom is divorced and ready to find love again, and Sawaki seems on the surface to be a kind and decent guy. But your daughter’s teacher, who was a major presence in both her and her only friend’s lives prior to Koito’s sudden suicide?

The cynic, i.e. the Rika in me smells something rotten in the state of Denmark. Just as she supposed Ai’s mom used Ai’s need for counseling as an excuse to make Sawaki’s visits a regular occurance, leading to their growing closer, Rika has even darker concerns based on her own mother’s relationships. In her experience, live-in boyfriends always abuse their girlfriend’s kids—violently if it’s a son, sexually if it’s a daughter.

When Ai tells the other girls about this, Momoe is giddily over the moon, as it could mean she and Ai could be family someday. She does not take Rika’s aspersion casting well, and not just because Rika makes a distinction between how a boy or girl would be abused. Momo trusts her uncle, and believes Rika is letting her perspective curdle Ai’s. For him to use Ai’s mom as a decoy to get to Ai…she just can’t believe he’d be that way.

And yet…sometimes it’s the closest friends and family members who have a blind spot where their loved one is concerned—just ask anyone who was close to someone who has been #MeToo’d in the last few years. “[What they are alleged to have done] isn’t them” is a common refrain. The bottom line is, Ai seems most troubled by the fact she still doesn’t know what caused Koito’s suicide, and as long as the mystery remains unresolved, Ai will understandably feel uneasy.

And then there’s Neiru’s input, which is to draw in so close to Ai she can’t hide her face. She brings up Occam’s Razor—the simplest theory is the best—and wonders if the bottom line is that Ai likes Mr. Sawaki. From where they each stand, Momoe, Rika, and Neiru all have valid reasons for how they feel about Ai’s predicament. There simply isn’t enough information for anyone to be proven right or wrong.

All that is certain is that the uncertainty is extremely frustrating for Ai, so much so that after getting beaten by Yae’s invisible Wonder Killer, and Yae tosses her prayer beads that enable Ai to see it, Ai wastes no time taking out those frustrations on the Killer, kicking and smashing it into oblivion.

Before Yae also vanishes, she gets to experience the release and relief of having Ai embrace her and tell her in no uncertain terms that she believes her. For Yae, Ai was the only one. Upon returning home, she decides to name her new chameleon buddy Leon. It’s a bit obvious, but it feels right.

The next day, it pours. Ai’s mom comes home while she’s still in the bad, and scolds her for leaving her dirty clothes out. When she says she’ll turn out the pockets before putting them through the wash, Ai bursts out of the bath without drying off, dresses herself, and runs out the door into the torrential rain. When her mom asks where she’s going, she defiantly yells “SCHOOL!”

Ai keeps running, and by the time she reaches her school, the rain has let up and the sky has become clear and beautiful. She spots Mr. Sawaki as two other schoolgirls are saying goodbye to him. She runs up to him takes hold of his arm, and catches her breath. It looks for all the world like she’s about to confess her love, but she doesn’t. Instead, she brightly declares that she’s going to start going to school again, purposefully brushing the hair out of her face to reveal her blue eye.

Ai doesn’t give Sawaki an answer about whether its okay for him to date her mom. She also doesn’t have any satisfying answers about Koito; at least not yet. Depsite all that, she’s emerged from her cocoon after a lengthy hibernation, and to give ordinary school life another go. Not for Koito, not for her mom, and not for Mr. Sawaki…but for herself.

Perhaps she was “egged on” (I’m so sorry) by her mom and Mr. Sawaki’s announcement, but defending all the egg girls and hearing their stories, as well as those of her fellow egg defenders, and even Leon helped her put her own situation into relief. Avoiding school hasn’t brought her all the answers she’s sought since losing Koito. Maybe by returning to school they’ll reveal themselves…or maybe not! Regardless, she’ll move forward and live her life. I just hope she didn’t catch a cold running forward through all that rain!

By: sesameacrylic

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

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limewrites-archive · 4 years

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Haircut | Bruno Bucciarati X Leone Abbacchio ( Bruabba )

Warnings: N/A Word Count: 674 Also available to read on Archive of Our Own! (Kudos and comments appreciated <3)

Leone had let his hair grow out for a long time now. It was almost to his thighs and he decided he needed a haircut. His usual salon had gone out of business, he was skeptical about the new salon in its place, but he had no choice; his split ends were horrendous. He’d let it grow, only trimming once in a while but he really wanted to cut it shorter this time.

To his surprise, there were a lot of women waiting, some with their kids but he was surprised that with them being open for not a long of a time now, that they wouldn't have this many people coming in. No matter, Abbacchio waited, reading the magazines that were kept in the waiting area. He waited, and eventually, there was a tap on his shoulder from one of the hairstylists. "You're next. Thank you so much for patiently waiting," the hairstylist had a very well kept bob cut with bangs, slim figure and his voice was sweet. Abbacchio nodded, standing and placing the magazine back into the pile as his hairstylist lead him to his chair. "What can I help you with, today? A trim, hair dying, styling- anything you wan just let me know, my name is Bruno." The male smiled, waiting for a response from the goth. "I need a cut, I'm thinking about maybe six inches off." Leone wasn't mad or irritated or anything, but he had a resting bitch face that usually gave people the impression he was pissed off. Bruno nodded, getting a comb, clip, brush and hair scissors and put them in the apron pockets around his waist. “Any layers? Just a straight cut?" Leone nodded, "Yes, just two." Bruno gently lifted Abbacchio's long hair, clipping it into a bun before putting the salon cape around him, clipping it into place.

Bruno began his work, gently releasing the large mound of hair as it was once in a bun, making sure that he was cutting evenly all around and then working on the layers. Abbacchio had never felt such gentle hands from a hairstylist, he was almost too gentle and Abbacchio would be concerned if he didn't hear snipping of his own hair. "So, did you use to come to the old salon that was here?" Bruno spoke, but Abbacchio had to keep looking straight so Bruno wouldn't mess anything up, "Mhm. Used to dye my hair as well, now I do it myself." Bruno was impressed, Abbacchio must take really good care of his hair, he thought it was professionally done. "Hm. Nicely done. How ever did you get your hair to be this long? It's so silky and was very long up until now. It still is, but what made you keep it to that length?" Bruno snipped then was starting to part his hair where the second layer was going to be. Abbacchio reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet as best as he could without disturbing the other male. "It's hard to believe that I used to be a police officer and that my hair was this short." Leone pulled out the photo that was in the back of his wallet, a photo of him and his partner and showed Bruno. Bruno examined it for a moment, then back to Leone to see the similarities and differences. 'Your badge, says Leone Abbacchio, Mr. Abbacchio, thank you for serving." Abbacchio nodded, the two chatted all while Bruno continued layering and finishing up his hair. When it was time to pay, Abbacchio took out his wallet and Bruno refused him. "Free cut on me. It's your first time here after all and we had such an exiting conversation. Don't worry." Abbacchio thanked him, and Bruno went to the next customer, though Abbacchio took a look at the stack of business cards. The owner was Mr. Bruno Bucciarati. Abbacchio felt the need to visit the salon every week for a trim, just to talk to Bruno. He always made an excuse to show up, but Bruno didn't mind. He enjoyed their conversations, and how pretty Leone's golden eyes were from time to time.

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savingpartoftheworld · 5 years

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Saving Part of the World - Part Two - Chapter Sixteen

Summary: Set after G-Rev, the World Championships have come to Belfast, Northern Ireland in the hopes of spreading the interest and drawing in tourists. In between all the teen angst and the team drama, something powerful and hungry lurks on the horizon and with the help of the beybladers, it may just destroy part of the world.

Rated: T for cursing and mild violence

Ships: Hints of Mariah/Rei, Hilary/Tyson, Enrique/Julia

Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven EightNineTenEleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen

The conference room of the Odyssey was in chaos. Lights burned onto the canvas of the top wall, making shadows flee to the back. A machine gusted a strong breeze that did little to alleviate the rising temperature. Assistants scrambled, tilting reflective screens while a photographer ducked and dodged in front of the posing couple, calling out orders and coaxing smouldering looks.

Ming-Ming paused to survey the scene. No amateur affair, she mused, but hardly something to rival the magazine photo shoots she frequented to promote her albums. Not to mention the lack of enthusiasm exhibited by the models gathered within the room. She eyed the cluster of bladers huddling together at the back of the room while she made a few more notes on her tablet.

The photographer crouched down, camera up, and tried to cajole Julia — who'd been quite enjoying the camera's attention — closer to an equally unimpressed Enrique. Ming-Ming stifled a sigh. So that was her team Europe and where was Eoin? Nowhere to be seen, again. This was becoming a joke, a farce. She was half tempted to go to Dickinson and demand his expulsion from the team. The guy had less team spirit than Kai Hiwatari and Bryan Kuznetsov combined.

At least Bryan had made an appearance and standing in the corner with his other two cronies. She couldn't wait to get Tala in front of the camera. With his cheekbones and jawline and that vivid colouring, oh he’d be popular with nonblading fans. The boy was billboard material and add in his disdainful attitude, he’d make the WBBA a lot of money. Which was fantastic, except for the team posters, the Blitzboys were lacking a certain important teammate. She scowled and made another note on her tablet. Hiwatari had promised to show and she believed that promise. He marched to his own beat, yes, but he wasn't a flake when it came to the sport, he just had no punctuality; Eoin, on the other hand, was a, what was the cute Irish term she’d heard, oh yes, a piss-taker.

"Ming-Ming?"

"Hikaru can you please phone back this company" — she handed Hikaru the letter — "and tell them if they want to sponsor the tournament, they'll need to get their placard and posters into me before close of business tomorrow, otherwise they'll miss out. I can't wait all day for them, my media team is almost ready to go."

She shoved up the frames of her nonprescription glasses — a trick she’d picked up from a famous actress who explained the genius of props in changing people’s perceptions — and frowned at the email on her screen. "Why am I being billed for a bench in the changing rooms?"

"The maintenance team say someone scratched it but I checked it and here are the photos.”

Ming-Ming peered at the screen. “It looks like someone welded it together. Badly. There’s no finesse. They’re saying we did this?”

She opened her mouth to put forth a denial, then slumped. There was nothing to suggest one of the bladers hadn’t contributed to this. For Venus's sake. "Right, no more blading in the changing rooms. Honestly, who does that? Get signs up for those idiots and..."

Across the room, Julia muttered a loud curse and smacked Enrique’s hand. Ming-Ming figured he deserved it but she’d deal with that in a second. If Julia stormed off stage, well she’d worry about that then. “When would someone find the time to weld a bench together? I can believe they scratched it but welding? Puh-lease. Get someone down there to make sure it didn't happen before we took over that section. Maybe they’re trying to con money from us and we can’t afford to just pay — Where did the Blitzkreig Boys get alcohol from?!” she demanded, mouth dropping as the trio knocked back a shot from a hip flask. "Are you kidding me? Go take that off them, I'm not having a photo shoot with drunk Russians."

And if Tala looked bleary-eyed in those photos, she'd lose money! Unless it made him look sleepy-eyed and sexy... No, definitely not. "What are you waiting for Hikaru?"

Hikaru wrung her hands but eventually spread them helplessly. ”You don't pay me enough to take a drink from the Blitzkrieg boys, I'm sorry Ming-Ming. I'll go do those other duties."

That was fair, Ming-Ming wasn’t sure that she, herself, was paid enough to take alcohol from the Blitzkrieg Boys, but it had to be done. Tapping on her screen, she glanced up when the photographer ordered Enrique and Julia closer only for Julia to snarl something in Spanish. Surprisingly Enrique seemed to understand enough to rattle something back at her until they were both nose to nose, simmering with fury.

The photographer — Leon? It was probably Leon — sent Ming-Ming a questioning look. She flashed a thumbs up; of course, she wanted photos of them bickering, the more sexual tension she could create for them, the better her chances of selling merchandise. People loved a romance, even if it was fabricated.

Realising they were now becoming the centre of attention for the wrong reasons, Enrique and Julia started to pose like consummate professionals. At least they liked the camera, which was more than she could hope for from the other teams.

Was that another shot?!

Right, that was it, she had to do something about the Blitzkrieg Boys and their obvious alcoholic issues.

Just as she mustered the courage to march over there — repeating over and over just what she would say to them — the door opened and the Russian midget barrelled into the room bringing a blessedly cool draft, followed by Hilary Tachibana and Kai Hiwatari. Thank god.

“What is this? Who is that?”

Ming-Ming veered off course, and caught Ian by the arm, cutting off his barrage of questions, as she began to lead him back to the door.

“Kai, go next door and get ready. I want to get your team through this before they're too drunk.”

“What is this?” Kai repeated Ian's question, digging his hands deeper into his pockets as if he could burrow away.

“Questions later, you need to — what did you do to your face?” she demanded, not even bothering with tact because who had time for that nonsense when Hilary was trying out for the role of Rudolph in a pantomime no one wanted to see!

“It’s not that bad,” Hilary muttered, hand rising to cover the neon flesh.

Bad was an understatement. “Go next door to the makeup guys and get ready.”

"Wait, am I being photographed?"

"Yes, everyone's being photographed." Ming-Ming shoved them out of the door with a scowl.

Ian planted his feet, his expression solidifying into mutinous. “Why?”

“Because I want photos,” she explained, motioning to the setup. “They’re for posters and promotional material; for going on the website and other things.” Really, this is why Dickinson hired her. Bladers never thought of anything but the game.

“Why do I have to go?”

“You’re a member of the Blitzkrieg Boys aren’t you?”

Hilary stroked her nose. “Is Kenny going to be in the Bladebreakers one?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Now hurry up. I’ve got a schedule to keep.” God, you’d think they didn’t understand how teams worked. Just because they might not have been in the arena didn’t mean they weren’t part of the team, didn’t mean the fans didn’t know who they were.

She huffed out a breath, then scowled when she realised Ian hadn’t moved but was warily watching her. “What?! Why aren’t you in makeup? Do you know how long it’ll take them to transform you into a human?” She so did not have time for this.

“But I’m not the team. I’m just computer guy.”

“You are part of the team so stop fighting with me,” she ordered and swiped at the screen of her tablet to jot down a reminder to get the Blitzkrieg Boys matching jackets. Team USA and the Bladebreakers had them, as did the new continental teams, but she couldn’t ever remember the Blitzkrieg Boys sporting a team jacket or even team colours. Tala for god knows what reason insisted on wearing orange jackets that clashed with his hair while the other two looked like lumberjacks about to venture into the great unknown. That would have to end. Uniformity was key and also great for merchandising. Team Europe would need ones too, blue with yellow perhaps? Something to get Hikaru working on.

She stomped back into the room, bypassed the Australian Team who, with the help of Team Africa, were mocking the heat of the room and how certain teams couldn’t handle it, probably in reference to Michael who was fanning himself with a paper plate.

Ming-Ming came to a halt in front of the Russians and nipped the flask from their grasp.

“No,” she told them. “You’ll get this back at the end of the shoot. For the meantime, there is coffee over there and water. Sober up!”

Turning on her heel, she stalked back out of the room and headed for her office before the headache throbbing at her temples escalated to a full-on pound. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this much stress. She was a performer which meant people told her where to stand, how to act, what to do. Now, here she was taking charge, conducting a global event on her own and she was terrified of messing it up.

Her heels clicked over the tiles and then thudded when she reached the carpeted floor of her office. Tossing her stuff onto the leather couch, she crossed to the desk and shrugged off her jacket, rolling her shoulders and kicking off her heels.

Better, so much better, she mused as she tiptoed over to the window and studied the city rising over the river, orange lights creating shadows in the fading blue sky.

“So this is where you retreat to?”

Ming-Ming stiffened but plastered on a polite smile as she turned to greet her guest. “Miguel.”

She moved to her desk and took her seat; petty but, as a performer, she was all about the illusions.

“Ming-Ming,” he greeted. “Got some time to talk?”

“I spoke enough at the conference last night, as any other reporter knows. So why are you here and how did you get past security? You’re not a blader anymore.”

He flashed a reckless grin and she scowled. Miguel was a pain in her backside. The worst kind of journalist when it came to the BBA because he knew exactly what went on behind the scenes and had so many sources and contacts that it was almost impossible to stop him from getting the latest scoops. Ming-Ming liked controlling her leaks but Miguel tended to preempt her time and time again. Such as an exclusive with Mr Dickinson which had appeared in the morning paper.

“Just curious about how this is going down? Thought I’d check in with the European team. Seems they’re having a bit of trouble, you know anything about this?”

“Such as?”

“They’ve only got three players and the Irish guy isn’t showing up to practice.”

“Not my problem Miguel, in fact, you’re partially to blame for that. Mathilda was supposed to join but, what was your response, oh yes, you don’t want Enrique near her.” She sent him a blade sharp smile. “I’m simply in charge of setting up the tournament and making sure it goes smoothly for the public. The teams are their own people and I cannot interfere with them. Four members were sent tickets for the tournament, I can’t be blamed if one of them wasn’t allowed to get on the plane.”

“Heard people were expecting me,” he said, seating himself down opposite her. He wore stonewashed jeans, faded and comfortable with a pale blue shirt rolled up at the sleeves. His blonde hair was a mess of tufts and his blue eyes were scrutinising the desk in a way that made her want to stand before him and spread her arms, protecting everything from his all-seeing gaze.

She wished she still wore her jacket, at least that could have acted like a tiny bit of armour. Instead, she folded her arms and leaned back in her seat. It took all of her skill as a diplomat to deal with Miguel since he’d become a freelance reporter on all things Beyblade. “I gave no one the impression that you would be taking a place on the European team. As you have so often told me, you are an unbiased reporter of the truth in Beyblade.” Her tone was scoffing as her temper began to rise.

“I’m an honest man, Ming-Ming.”

“Yes,” she placated, with a tight smile. Her fingers itched to grab for her tablet once more but she couldn’t while the snoopy journalist was around. He stuck his nose into everything. Ideally, he shouldn’t have been handsome, nor should he have looked like he belonged outdoors. That wasn’t how a journalist was supposed to look. But because he did, he charmed people into telling him their innermost secrets and spoiled all her surprises. How the hell had he gotten past security anyway? She was going to get Hikaru to write a strongly worded email — if she didn’t rip the staff a new one herself.

“You’re pouting Ming-Ming. Do you not like it when I question you?”

She released a deep breath, deciding that she really should be magnanimous for the sake of the tournament. “Miguel, I don’t know what you’re insinuating or what you really believe, but I desperately want this tournament to be the best tournament ever. I have no intention of letting it become a hell on earth spectacle. I want people to watch this and become enthusiastic about the sport. This will be amazing and there are no secrets for you to unearth.”

“Then why have you banned all major news networks from filming and insisting that the only commentators be Brad Best and AJ Topper?”

“Because those contracts may bring money in, in the short run, but they cost us loyalty. I want fans to be able to see the sport anywhere without restrictions. Those cable networks demand payment to see the sport but it can be easily watched on our site for free or on any of the screens around the arena; people can even come down and fill the empty seats. I want this arena to be packed with people. Besides, who better than Brad and AJ to understand the nuances of the sport? And they’re subtitled for foreign channels. I’m trying to keep it real, not to make it bigger than it needs to be. We’re still building the WBBA up.”

There that sounded satisfactorily clear. He couldn’t possibly pick on… She watched as he wrote something in his notebook, waving it slightly. She knew that mannerism; that was his ‘I-have-something-to-say-but-I’m-unsure-how-to-broach-it’ move.

“What about the sightings of Brooklyn and Mystel in the city?”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

Brooklyn and Mystel were in here, in the city? Why hadn’t they told her? Neither of them had replied to her last email but she just thought they were incommunicado, out in some mountainous area so remote that it still used pigeon express (she’d been tempted to get a pigeon but Garland talked her out of that). If they were coming to the tournament, they would have told her.

She strained to keep her expression politely interested as Miguel watched her quietly.

“I imagine that this was a publicity stunt or someone simply imagined it. If not, then they are merely visiting the city and there is no reason why they cannot come to the tournament as fans of the sport themselves. If you’re asking me if they’re registered to participate in the tournament, I can tell you now that they are not. Miguel, you are simply trying to find something wrong, and everything here is good. I made sure of it. I will not allow anything or anyone to jeopardise this tournament. It will be amazing.”

“And Boris?”

“Boris?” she queried, then her expression crumpled and she dropped her forehead to her open palm. “Boris isn’t here, Miguel,” she groaned, lifting her gaze to beseech his. “Boris has nothing to do with WBBA. He’s in prison.”

“He’s missing.”

“Are you certain?” Stupid question. Of course, he was; he wouldn’t say it unless he knew for sure.

“According to my sources, he was being transferred between two facilities when there was an accident and he went missing. Am I to believe that is merely a coincidence? Boris goes missing, and Brooklyn and Mystel show up here to a tournament you’re running. Sounds like a nice BEGA reunion.”

She blew out a breath and clenched her fists, barely maintaining control. “Well, here’s an idea Miguel. You go to the airport and you stake it out and if you see him, you report him immediately to the police and get him rearrested as a fugitive because I’m telling you now, Boris has nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to do with this tournament.” She rose to her feet. “Now, if you’re finished interviewing me, I have somewhere to be and things to be doing. Good evening, Miguel.”

She shot to her feet and grabbing her jacket and tablet from the couch, she stalked out of her office and headed in the direction of the conference room.

“Did you see how pissed off Ming-Ming was when she came back? I thought she was going to bite Enrique,” Michael said with a smirk aimed at the blonde Italian.

“He would have enjoyed it,” Julia muttered, muffling a yawn. The evening had dragged on and on as the photographer circulated through the teams, taking individual shots, group shots, rival shots, and so many shots of Tyson and Kai that he must have filled up rolls of film on those two alone. Now Julia was exhausted and all she wanted was her bed, but the idea of getting up and dragging herself to her room seemed like an untenable task.

She groaned as Enrique’s shoulder jolted under her cheek but she was too tired to even move, never mind scald him with a look. It was his own fault anyway. She’d called dibs on the couch and he’d thrown himself on to it, sending her a shit-eating grin, so she sat on him. Eventually, after many elbows to the stomach, they’d arranged themselves in a more comfortable, almost companionable, seated tangle on the couch.

“Not everyone is into your brand of kink, Julia. Though if you wanted me to play—”

She made a halfhearted attempt to punch him but the angle was wrong and her arms felt like lead. All the hours she spent launching blades and posing had turned her muscles to jelly. She was so pathetic, though she took comfort in knowing the rest of her competitors were feeling the same. In the corner of the lounge, Ian slouched in an armchair, watching the DVD player propped on his knees. Hilary had retreated to bed with Emily quickly following, claiming she had some aloe vera gel. Rei and Mariah were out on a date, taking advantage of another night of delays in the tournament while Tyson and Max were huddled around Kenny looking at blade porn. Daichi occupied the other couch snoring loudly much to the amusement of Team Australia, though the fact that one of them was fiddling with a black marker concerned her a little. If they moved an inch towards Daichi, she’d say something. Daichi may have been a loud mouth chaotic whirlwind, but she kind of enjoyed his presence.

Michael shifted in his seat and finally stopped staring down her top long enough to make eye contact. “So where’s your brother, Ralph? I thought he’d be here to battle.”

“Raul. He got a job offer before the tournament was announced, so he’s following his dream and performing magic shows for children on a cruise boat.” That still stung. It was weird being at a tournament without her brother, but he wanted to pursue a dream that didn’t involve blading competitively. She couldn’t even imagine a life that didn’t involve her blade. Oh she knew he used it in his tricks and that working with children satisfied him on a level she couldn’t understand, but still, she felt lonely without him. Especially when she was stuck on a team with a no-show and Enrique of the roaming hands. When she was more energetic and when the tournament was over, she’d consider breaking his thumb.

"Ian, go to bed."

Julia startled at the sudden appearance of Spencer. For such a large man, he was surprisingly silent. He leaned down and shook Ian's shoulder, catching the boy's hands when the midget came up swinging. Amused, Julia glanced at Enrique with a grin but it died when she saw the sober expression he wore as he watched. Right, the Blitzkrieg Boys had one of those child horror backstories.

"What the hell Spencer?"

"You were falling asleep. It's probably time for you to go up to your room."

Ian's expression turned petulant when he looked to the bar and saw Bryan and Tala still standing beside it. "Are you going to bed?"

"Yes, Ian, very soon. Bryan wants to finish his drink."

Ian nodded, then covered his mouth as he yawned widely. Over his head, Spencer and Tala exchanged a look that lured the lanky redhead from the bar. Julia admired his approach and smiled faintly as he and Spencer exchanged another silent conversation. Maybe they had terrible childhoods and torments no one could truly understand, but from that they'd formed bonds, become brothers. It didn't make their experiences okay by any means, but it was always uplifting to see something good and true come from the wrecks of despair.

Tala bent over and Julia tilted her head, jerking when Enrique elbowed her and sent her a smug look. She rolled her eyes. So what?! Tala had a nice backside. Most Beybladers did and she wasn't going to not look, especially when he bent over in front of her wearing really tight trousers.

Scooping up the tablet, Tala frowned at the screen. "Hey, what's this? Are you spying on your girlfriend?"

As he angled it so Spencer could look, pushing Ian back onto the chair when he lunged for the tablet, Julia caught sight of a video playing of a girl curled up on a couch sipping from a mug. So Ian was some kind of voyeur?

"She was supposed to gloat. She's not gloating," Ian muttered, snatching the tablet back and allowing Spencer to escort him to the stairs, clearly ignoring the lecture about stalking he was receiving from his older brother.

“Oi, Granger, where’s Hiwatari?”

Tyson glanced up from Kenny’s laptop and jerked a shoulder, as he straightened with a stretch. “No clue. Probably practicing somewhere.”

“Typical, he’ll not practice with us but instead he’ll go out at night to practice. Bryan! Come on. I need sleep.”

“You need Kuznetsov to hold your hand?” Michael baited.

“No,” Tala replied, eyes cool. “Making sure Bryan goes to bed means you don’t end up dead or at least in hospital.”

Michael sent him a dark look, but when Tala’s blood red brow rose in challenge, Michael glanced at the bar and paled. Julia followed to see Bryan’s wicked sharp grin fade into a malicious smirk before he set the glass down and headed to the elevator. Tala bowed low and mocking, then followed.

Michael shot to his feet and stalked to the bar, as others drifted upstairs, leaving only the vaguest smattering of bladers and a group of visitors who occupied the tall table near the fire exit. A while later, Enrique finally untangled himself to go to the bathroom, leaving Julia sprawled out on the couch. She snuggled down into the cushioned surface and breathed in the sweet chemical scented fragrance - obviously some kind of fabric freshener - and closed her eyes.

She probably would have dropped off, if not for the squeak of springs and the something that nudged her foot. She pried open an eye and blearily frowned at Michael, sprawled in the chair across from her again, nursing a coke - possibly with an addition.

“Yes.”

“So what’s the deal with you and Enrique then?”

Her and Enrique? Ha, bar Ming-Ming’s audacious and frankly obvious plan to make them her Romeo and Juliet playthings?

“Yeah, I’ve seen the articles speculating about you two.” He leaned forward, eager for news.

Flinging a hand over her eyes to shield them from the harsh glare as she flopped onto her back, she groaned. “Don’t be such an American Stereotype Michael, falling in with your peers, gasping for gossip and believing the hype the media sells you.”

“You sure looked cosy on that couch together.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Because I was too tired to move, and now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my room to sleep.”

Not giving Michael time to respond, she grabbed her jacket and headed for the stairs, fiddling in her pocket for her key card and giving her phone another glance.

“Raul not responding to your texts?”

She glanced up as Enrique fell into step with her, eyes heavy, blond curls flattened, with a bottle of water in one hand and the other stuck in the pocket of his jacket. He should have looked tired and worn, but instead, he just looked rumpled and handsome. It was a curse of his genes, she decided. “Hmm?”

He motioned with the bottle to her phone. “You keep checking it.”

“Oh, no, it’s not Raul.” She jerked a shoulder. “I sent a message to Eoin, I figured he could at least show his face for the photos but no response.”

Enrique heaved a sigh, expression bitterly resigned. “Of course he didn’t.”

“Yeah,” she muttered, slipping her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. “So I was thinking—” she ducked under his arm as he held the door open for her and they began to ascend the stairs “— maybe we should pay him a visit, let him know we’re not taking this attitude from him anymore. He’s part of this team, he needs to commit. We’re not going to carry him anymore, so we track him down and drag him to practice or we kick him off the team.”

Enrique curved his hand around the newel post and raked his free hand through his hair and making a small moue when he found it to not be perfectly tousled. “You’re right. I initially considered talking to Dickinson, but going to him about it feels a lot like telling tales.”

“Exactly.” She pressed her hands against the cool wall, leaning back against them as she studied the ceiling, a simple distraction from looking at the boy beside her. Not that she could hide from his cologne, warm, spicy with just a hint of heat. Expensive. Enrique smelled expensive. Another tick in the con column. “Raul suggested the same thing but if the media hears about it, it’ll be twisted, like we’re the divas who don’t want to play with the amateur, and it’s not that, we were all amateurs once.”

Enrique snorted and quirked a brow. “I was never an amateur.”

She refused to be charmed by his cockiness. “No, you came out of the womb using your umbilical cord to launch your blade. But not all of us are as special as you. We give Eoin his chance, if he squanders it…” Well, she didn’t know what they could do. While a two-man team was perfectly fine during the previous tournament where most teams relied on two players for the match, a two-man team in a tournament where three players were the very least a team could comfortably compete with would just be exhausting. Even if they managed to take down one team, they would be too wrecked to even consider another full-on match. No, whatever they did, they could not kick Eoin off the team.

“We’ll sort that out if that happens. Worst case scenario, I force Miguel to play. He owes us,” Enrique added darkly.

Right, the cheating incident that caused both Robert and Johnny to rage quit Beyblade. She couldn’t imagine that happening. There was a bad history there. “No, let’s find a way to make him work for us.” She tapped her fingers against the wall. “The media pays him a lot of attention. What if his diva attitude got released to the papers? That might teach him a lesson. After all, he’s an amateur, he’s not going to be used to dealing with the media the way we are.”

Enrique flashed a grin, blue eyes bright. “You’re quite devious, Julia. I like that.”

She met his grin with a subtle curve of her lips, reluctantly amused by his pleasure in her vindictiveness. Still, she pushed away from the wall and made her way up the stairs, pausing when she reached the landing to look down at him. He propped himself against bannister, expression mockingly subservient.

“I’m going to bed. Make sure you’re up early tomorrow so we can go issue our ultimatum to our wayward teammate.”

“But of course, captain.”

She flicked him a dark look over her shoulder as she flipped her hair and stepped into the hushed silence of the corridor.

Kai woke suddenly, mind alert, eyes opened and his heart beating so fast it would have escaped but for his ribs keeping it hostage. For a moment he lay in the dark, struggling to figure out where he was. Not at home in the quiet, hollow mansion with only servants and a butler for company, and there was no breathing or long sawing snores from the corner of the room, so he wasn’t at school. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, frowning at the faint glow of light from… the bathroom. He was in the hotel. Of course. The tournament, and Rei had moved into a room with Mariah, leaving him with a room to himself.

He stretched his arm over to the bedside table and grabbed his phone. As it lit up, he squinted and read the time. 03:46.

Better than most nights, he mused, lying back and drawing the covers up over his shoulders, protecting the bared skin from the cold.

A door slammed somewhere down the corridor and he jolted, then rolled his eyes as he heard Hilary’s frantic whispers and Tyson’s barely muted scolding. Then Daichi said something, the words blocked by the walls and the door slammed once again. With a shake of his head, Kai sat up and reached for Dranzer, nestled safely under his pillow and he ran a hand over his face, hoping to chase away the exhaustion threatening to crush him but he was awake and he wouldn’t sleep now.

Rolling his neck to ease the crick, he kicked off his covers and searched the floor for a pair of socks. Tugging them on, he grabbed a vest and his bomber jacket, and shrugging them on, he headed for the door. A few seconds later, shoes on and key card in hand, with Dranzer tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket, he left his room to go get some practice and didn’t notice the strange shade of moonlight seeping through the blinds casting green lines onto the white duvet.

#beyblade #beyblade fanfiction #saving part of the world #saving fanfic #fanfiction #chapter sixteen #Enrique Giancarlo #giancarlo tornatore #julia fernandez #ming-ming #kai hiwatari #forgot I hadn't posted the rest of the chapters here

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eyesopen2019 · 5 years

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Lyon for Leon

From Carcassonne we headed to Lyon (on 19th July) which is one of France’s largest cities sitting at the confluence of the Rhone and Saone Rivers. It was about 4 hours on the train from Carcassonne and we arrived quite late at 8pm and it was a bit of a hike to get to our Airbnb and with the kids tired, we ended up getting a taxi for our bags and 4 of us, while Hung and Aiden walked. Our apartment was a small but cute and very homely unit in block of flats with a well-equipped kitchen and an elevator. Our hosts had kindly left us a local brioche, jar of delicious salted caramel and a bottle of organic apple juice to try. Lani pretty much ate all the brioche and I had most of the salted caramel which was so delicious – but not so good for my waistline!

I chose to go to Lyon basically because of the name really but found it to be a very impressive and historic city with lots to do. Lyon was historically famous for silk production but now has a reputation for being the centre of gastronomy. There are many different areas to explore in Lyon, most of which we did on our own. We found the La Croix Rousse Market which is the largest outdoor farmers market in Lyon and wandered through looking at all the produce and tasting cheese, fruit and sausages. As we headed down the Croix Rousse hill to the city we found the Amphitheatre of the Three Gauls which is the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre built in 19 AD, seating 20,000 and used for shows, circus performances. There is also a stone pole off to one side which was apparently used for the slaying of Christian matyrs with them being tied to the pole and lions released into the theatre. The most famous martyr to die here was St. Blandine who the lions apparently refused to kill, so they were replaced by a bull which also refused to kill her so Roman soldiers eventually killed her with their swords.

We had a picnic lunch/dinner in the Parc de la Tete d’Or with Leon and Lani one afternoon and spent a few hours laying around in the shade to escape the heat. The park is one of the largest in France with 290 acres but we pretty much just sat in one corner as it was too hot to walk around too much.

We went on a fantastic walking tour of Vieux Lyon which is one of the largest renaissance old quarters in Europe. In this area there are many Traboules which are secret passages connecting buildings and streets, which are an architectural feature specific to this area. The guide showed us the trick to opening the doors and Leon and Lani spent the afternoon exploring them which was fun. They were mainly used to easily transport people and goods around the city but they were apparently very important during WW2 in preventing the Germans from taking complete control of the city as people could ‘disappear’ from the streets and hide very quickly from soldiers by moving into Traboules. The guide took us to see the 9m tall Astronomical clock in the Lyon Cathedral which until very recently has been keeping the time and path of the stars since the 14th century. A few years ago a man with mental health issues escaped from nearby facility and broke into the church and damaged the clock but apparently it will be fixed soon. It was interesting to note the sun was circling the earth which was what the church believed at the time, although scientists didn’t.

After the walking tour, we caught the furnicle up the steep hill to visit La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere which was built in 1872-1884 and sits overlooking the city of Lyon. It is a very majestic and impressive Gothic style building with an amazing view of the whole city. It was interesting to try to spot all the places we had visited during the week. By this stage Leon had enough and waited by the station entrance while we had a look at church and view.

Lyon has number of Michelin star restaurants which we learnt about on the walking tour. I was interested to find out how the rating system started – in 1926 when the tyre company Michelin put out a book of restaurants with star ratings to encourage people to drive (and obviously use their tyres). Kai was surprised that neither Hung or I had ever been to a Michelin star restaurant and said he would pay for us with his pocket money to go to one on our trip. I must admit I have never been a huge fan of really fancy restuarants where you pay a fortune for a very small plate of barely recognisable food. But maybe I’ll change my mind after we go to one! Hung did find a great bakery in Vieux Lyon and we enjoyed some croissants, pastries and baguettes while walking. Lani and I also bought a lovely cake to share from a shop recommended by our guide.

I spent an afternoon with Leon and Lani at the Museum of Cinema Minatures which is a huge collection of realistic miniature everyday scenes as well as move props and special effects exhibits. We enjoyed it all but Leon especially like the movie props like the characters from Gremlins and ‘The Mask’ masks while Lani loved looking at the detail in the miniature scenes.

We all enjoyed Lyon but as we only spent three days there it was not enough time to fully appreciate the city but it is a place I’d like to go back too.

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indischen · 3 years

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Are Lab-Grown Diamonds Forever? Depends on Who You Ask

When Michael Coan went in for an interview at Christie’s, one of the world’s most prestigious auction houses, his interviewer laid out 20 items for him to price. Some of them were diamonds. Coan, who currently teaches gemology at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York but knew less about diamonds at the time, made up his mind: He wouldn’t be getting this job.

“I walked in there not knowing a darn thing.” But Coan took a stab anyway, listing off prices: “This bracelet’s $20,000, this is about $45,000, this is $12, this is about $18,” he remembered saying. “I’m thinking, ‘Okay, that’s it. I had a good day. I’m leaving.’” But he had priced the items closely enough — and landed the job.

The predicament that pleasantly surprised Coan years ago underscores a conversation that’s been shaking up the jewelry industry in recent years: how much a diamond is really worth. In a world where diamonds can quickly be grown in labs and customers are increasingly aware of ethical and environmental consumption concerns, both lab-grown and mined diamond companies are crafting a precise narrative to woo prospective customers.about:blankabout:blank

First produced in the early 1950s, synthetic diamonds are cheaper to manufacture and purchase than ever before. Meghan Markle even sported lab-grown diamond earrings on a London outing. Leonardo DiCaprio, meanwhile, has thrown his weight behind a lab-grown diamond company, the Diamond Foundry. The market for lab-grown diamonds increased as much as 20 percent in 2019, according to Bain and Company, a management consulting firm. Still, it remains unclear just how synthetic diamonds will carve out their place in the jewelry world —- but diamond experts harbor strong opinions.

What Is a Diamond, Anyway?

Clear, crystalline and sharp, diamonds are known for their hardness. They’re actually the hardest naturally occurring substance in the world and, although they’re solely composed of the element carbon, diamonds themselves are considered a mineral.

Diamonds aren’t found that deep within the earth — only about 100 miles. But to form naturally, they require precise conditions: Carbon must receive 725,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, which only happens within the earth over the course of billions of years.

Although we often associate diamonds with sparkly rings and engagement promises, most of them don’t end up in jewelry. Only 30 percent of natural diamonds make the cut to be considered “gem quality,” according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The rest are used for industrial purposes, mostly as an abrasive, a tool to polish or sand other materials. But the vast majority (by some estimates, 98 percent) of diamonds don’t come from these natural byproducts and are mostly synthetic. “The only way that mined diamonds are economic is if they’re sold as jewelry,” says Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond industry analyst.

The Diamond’s Dark History

Diamonds weren’t always a crucial part of the engagement equation. They didn’t receive a major marketing campaign until 1947 when De Beers, one of the oldest and most prominent diamond businesses (considered a monopoly for a time), ensured that these shiny gemstones became synonymous with marriage proposals. about:blankabout:blank

The infamous ad featured the slogan, “A Diamond Is Forever,” with images of dreamy prospective wives sporting dazzling rocks. Around 20 percent of brides received engagement rings around when the ads started, but the portion shot up to 80 percent by 1990, according to a 2019 report by De Beers. In turn, it became one of the most successful ad campaigns of all time.

But diamonds have always had a sinister side — one associated with conflict borne of a history of colonial exploitation for natural resources and economic gain, coming at the expense of the independence and stability of the inhabitants of diamond-rich nations. In countries including Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola, diamonds mined by forced labor have funded violent rebel groups.

Gemstones linked to these acts are known as “conflict diamonds.” An effort called the Kimberley Process was established in 2000 to curb their market presence, verify diamond origins and create a legitimate flow of capital to these countries. But diamonds can’t always be traced back to their original source. Overall, certification processes aren’t foolproof.

Not to mention, the climate crisis has increasingly alerted customers toward the extraction of the world’s limited natural resources and its environmental toll. According to the Diamond Foundry, a manufacturer of lab-grown diamonds, the synthetic version comes with a much lower carbon footprint production, emits lower quantities of greenhouse gases, creates less waste and uses less water. Of course, the natural diamond industry’s Diamond Producers Association disputes this, and published their own figures that pointed to the opposite.

Enter Lab-Grown Diamonds

While working for General Electric in 1954, physical chemist H. Tracy Hall created the first synthetic diamonds that could be reproduced commercially. They weren’t meant for jewelry, but rather as industry-oriented abrasives. Since then, the technology to “grow” lab-made diamonds has become more advanced and less costly. Lab-grown diamonds of “gem-grade” are easier than ever to manufacture, and make up a small but steadily growing portion of the diamond trade — about four to six percent, according to Zimnisky. about:blankabout:blank

Today, synthetic diamonds can be created with high-temperature high-pressure or chemical vapor deposition techniques. In the first method, carbon material is enclosed in a multi-layered container and then essentially pressed with enough force on all sides by anvils to change the carbon’s atomic structure. With chemical vapor deposition, slivers of existing diamonds are placed in a high-temperature chamber where carbon-rich gases break down their molecular bonds and the pure carbon attaches to the slivers or “seeds,” accumulating slowly as pure diamond, eventually turning the “seeds” into sizable gems.

To the untrained eye, lab-grown diamonds seem identical to mined ones, and can only be identified as “lab-grown” with specialized spectroscopy equipment.

Many of the worlds’ manufactured diamonds also come from countries that mine them, and according to Niraj Sojitra, they’re here to stay. Sojitra manages a lab-grown diamond business called Unique Lab Grown Diamond. They grow their gemstones in India, and have offices in four countries. When Sojitra started the business seven years ago, they saw it as the future of diamond jewelry. “In the world population, how many people can afford a natural diamond? It’s like, two or five percent, maximum,” he says. “So we were thinking about the largest scheme for people who cannot afford natural diamonds.”

Recently, lab-grown diamonds have gained legitimacy as bigger companies like De Beers and Pandora began selling them, Sojitra says. It also helps that the GIA, a major accrediting body, began to certify lab-grown diamonds. “People used to think we were crazy. Now they realize we were not crazy. We did the right thing,” he says.

The traditional diamond industry, unsurprisingly, argues that natural diamonds provide jobs for people in developing nations, and emphasize lab-grown diamonds’ environmental toll (the energy used to power diamond plants). about:blankabout:blank

To this, Sojitra says that his business plans to transition into solar power to run the India-based labs within the next few years. And Sojitra rejects the premise of lost jobs. “There’s no machines working the labs. There are people handling the machines,” he says. “So, is it better to work in an air-conditioned office and handle the machines, or do you want to go down and dig in the earth?”

Why Natural Retains Its Appeal

The marketing of the “natural” diamond, however, still influences our collective imagination and stirs our desire for a good story. Michael Fried, CEO of an online diamond exchange called The Diamond Pro, says that customers who choose natural diamond want to feel like they’re buying something special. “They’re driven to the story of something that’s been in the ground for billions of years that’s been forged over time,” he says. “It all pulls on people’s heartstrings in a certain way. I’m not saying it’s logical, but people are still driven towards it.”

Coan, meanwhile, feels that synthetic diamonds won’t be able to fulfill that need. “I don’t think natural diamonds will ever lose their place above synthetics, because in the mind’s eye we equate it with Frankenstein,” Coan says. “Diamonds truly appeal to the mystery, the lore. Diamonds truly are forever — nothing comes close to a diamond.”

A Place for Both?

There’s plenty of reasons to choose lab-grown diamonds or natural ones, but experts say that neither will win out any time soon.

Fried points out that though younger diamond buyers at his online store are interested in making a more “ethical” purchase, ultimately it’s not always up to them — but rather, who is paying for it. “Millennials and Gen Z’s are 100 percent more interested in lab-grown diamonds.” But that doesn’t mean that they’re not getting pressure from other places, he says. “How many parents or in-laws are going to be okay with a lab-grown diamond?”

Still, Sojitra says that more and more young people are interested in making what they see as a more ethical choice. “It’s pocket-friendly for most people, and especially the millennials.” Major companies have started selling synthetic ones, he adds, possibly sensing that the tide has turned.

The market says otherwise: As synthetic sales grew in 2019, Bain & Company predicted that rough and polished diamond sales would decline by 25 percent and 10 percent.

Even if certain consumers’ preferences for the natural version linger, the Earth has a finite amount of profitable diamonds (which some speculate may run out by around 2050, or at least bring dramatic supply gaps in coming decades). In 2019, Bain & Company foresaw an 8 percent annual decrease in natural diamond supply beginning in 2021, a shortage now likely amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately, the natural diamond industry can’t possibly keep mining forever, Sojitra says, “Natural diamonds are going to vanish in the next ten, 15 years. And then what? Day by day, the cost is getting higher.”

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adiabolikpastelrp · 4 years

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Hate, Loath and Despise

This is a role play between @remnants-of-tragedy and myself. It features her OC Juliet (daughter of Ruki and Hisoka) with my OC Yukio (son of Kanato and Yuuki).

Status: Ongoing

Word Count: –

ღ Warning: that this may contain content that may be unsuitable for some readers such as mature themes, strong language, adult situations, and sexual content. There is also heavy mention of bullying and death threats, also adult language.

Quick note - This takes place after Leon and Isaiah have started dating, but before Silas and Yukio. ღ

♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧

Yukio sat alone in some random coffee shop. His face focused on the screen of his phone. Locked on messages he had sent, waiting for the intended parties response. This was completely out of his character, to care this much about anything.

For a while Yukio dated a Isaiah Sakamki, a fellow vampire and cousin. The two had amazing chemistry, and even after the break up, Yukio was able to use him for sex whenever. Recently, that stopped, and the reason behind it was some blonde pathetic waste of space.

Isaiah had gotten himself a new boyfriend, and was now rejecting any of Yukio’s interactions. This boy was not nearly as cute as he was, nor could he satisfy a vampire the was another one could. Why would Isaiah choose to ignore him for that… complete garbage.

So, Yukio did what he could to remind Isaiah that he was superior. The most recent was to ‘accidentally’ run into them. It had been months since they’d actually seen one another, and hugging Isaiah was sure to… spark something. After all, Yukio was his first, and that’s a special connection.

Since then he’d been texting him all kinds of things. Some sexy, others threatening, but Isaiah wouldn’t answer. He’d seen them, the phone told him so, but he wouldn’t answer! This was so infuriating, being ignored. How on earth could HE be ignored.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

It was safe to say that a certain raven was angry.

Scratch that. She was murderously livid.

At first, Juliet was rather bothered as when he came home with a fake smile. However, when she heard Leon’s quiet sobs inside his room as she past it, her instincts managed to force her way into his room by open the locked door with one of her hairpins.

That was when she found a heartbreaking sight of her little, blond brother, Leon Mukami in tears, blue orbs puffy and red.

Once she managed to get her brother to confess what was going on, her eyes showed every sign of wanting nothing more than commit merciless slaughter.

Apparently, someone one decided to try and steal her brother’s boyfriend, Isaiah Sakamaki, to flirt with him continuously to a point of shattering her poor little brother’s heart. Leon wasn’t capable to hate. So of course he can’t do anything but become this fragile.

But Juliet was capable of hatred. She was capable to take action.

She’s Juliet Mukami after all.

After staying with her brother and comfort him until he calmed down and passed out, the raven-haired human wasted no time to search for the damned vampire that dared to hurt her baby brother.

Using the information she was told by Leon, how this person, Yukio Sakamaki, was an ex of Isaiah, Juliet quickly went on social media sites to find clues about this Yukio. Apparently, He was a son of Kanato Sakamaki, the same vampire that her mother stayed away from as a teenager due to being ‘creepy’.

Being able to find him on Instagram, Juliet went on her search with a note left at home about running her own errands and being back later. As well as taking the dagger that belonged to her mother, hiding it in the inner pocket of her jacket.

“Where the hell is that bastard…?” She cursed under her breath as she stared down on her phone, with her target’s Instagram on the screen. The longer she looked at the picture of this vampire Yukio, the more she became impatient in wanting to murder him.

He was a vampire. ‘Maybe if I focused well enough, I may be able to find him…’ She thought to herself, ‘I’ll make sure he will never hurt Leon again…’

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“Tch… Annoying.”

Yukio locked his phone and forced it into his pocket. This was stupid, behaving like Isaiah was the only man he could get. If he wanted to waste time before eventually crawling back to him, why should he care.

Why should he be the only one having fun? It never stopped him before, so why start now? Hell, maybe he could get some nice photos and send those to him, that will definitely get a reaction.

With that thought in mind, Yukio glanced around the coffee shop. There were all ready multiple people checking him out. Of course they were, he was irresistible. The true questions was, which one of them would be his dinner for tonight?

After some consideration, Yukio eventually decided on a rather good looking young male. He wanted Isaiah to see him too, he how beautiful he was, both in life and death. The two of them walked around, taking photos, touching one another, kissing. All of which Yukio uploaded to his Instagram.

‘Seems I found a new hottie! Let’s hope this one sticks? :P’ ‘His body’s pretty impressive, are you jealous yet?’ ‘(ʃƪ ˘ ³˘) I’m gonna take him home~’

After posting the last photo, Yukio looked over at the corpse beside him. The human who’d he flirted with all night, shown to the world, was now naked and dead beside him. In some unknown motel, one owned by vampires, for vampires, just for this reason.

“Aha~ You were nice but… no human can make me feel like he could. Don’t be mad at me okay, you’re blood was yummy at least, fufu~”

Yukio kisses the corpses head once more and hops happily out of the room. He felt a lot better, and there were plenty of naughty photos to send to Isaiah. Unable to wait, he started right away, sending Isaiah the photos in order. He was nice and full, so the rest of the night was going to be boring.

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‘Tch… where the fuck is that son of a bitch…’

So far, no luck. She couldn’t find where the vampire was. And the raven-haired girl is starting to get impatient. Was it because she was still blinded by rage? Or was he just not in the area and she just missed him? No matter, she’ll still hunt him down.

Looking back to her phone, she realized her target has just uploaded new pictures and recognized the background instantly. In that area, there was a motel for vampires, by vampires. Both Leon and herself, who both know the places like the back of their hand, found this out after sensing presence of vampires coming from there.

“Jackpot…” She smirked sadistically before running over to that area, “I found you, you fucking bitch…!” While her smirk was in place, both her eyes and aura screamed out a lust for murder.

‘For Leon… For Leon… For Leon…!’ The image of her little brother smiling genuinely and the image of him crying flashed in her mind as she continued running, ‘I’ll make him pay…!!!’

As soon as she got to the area, she looked around and gritted her teeth. ‘Where are you…?’ She thought, ‘Where are-?’

And there she sensed him.

An aura of a pure blood.

‘Found you, bitch!!!’ She thought as she toned down her murderous aura and returning from her sadistic smirk back to her stoicism. The raven-haired human decided to hide away and wait.

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“Mouuu… Isaiah-kun… I know you’re not asleep. Why wont you answer my calls? That human was so boring… I need you to erase his touch.”

Yukio had decided to call Isaiah, who of course didn’t pick up. No matter sexy voice mails worked just as well, if not better. Leave it all up to his imagination.

“Come on… call me back… We can feel good together.”

He hangs up and pouts a bit. This was so annoying, having to work this hard to be noticed. Quite… maddening actually. Never in his entire life had someone ignored him. Now the one person he actually…

Don’t think like that. It’s sex, nothing else. Our bodies are compatible,that’s the only reason.

Yukio thought to himself to stop the cycle in his mind. No need to think too hard on anything, it would all be fine if Isaiah would just leave that pathetic human. Enough for tonight, this was all tiring.

He began heading home, though, there was something off. A human girl was following him, who’s scent smelt familiar. Not that he could remember where though, must not have been too important. Perhaps the man he just killed at a lover? Saw the two of them and now was looking for him?

What ever the case, she could be a nice desert. Women were always so boring but, no one could resist his charms. Especially not a human.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

It was only a matter of time.

Juliet tried to calm herself as she followed the vampire. If there was anything she learned from observing Vampires, it is that acting demure and naive is a great approach.

From the looks of it, he doesn’t know who she was. ‘Even better…’ She thought, ‘This is for Leon…’

“U-um.. excuse me?”

Switching from her personality to a personality polar opposite from it, as well as her actions from confidence to fidgety and add a fake shy blush, The human girl started to speak in a soft tone as she performed the act of approaching the vampire timidly, “I-I’m looking for someone.. d-do you know w-where they might be?”

Although the raven would rather just kill him right then and there, It would be better to confront him in a quiet place. Also, from what she was told by her mother, this kind of approach can work, as long as you can find the weakness of the target, such as boosting their ego; Unless they can see right through the act, like how Juliet was told about how her father was smart enough to see through her mother’s act when she was still a huntress. Which means the chances of this working might be a 50% chance.

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Yukio glanced at the female, whom surprisingly enough, might just be shorter than him. Not by much, but anytime he found someone short, it boosted his ego. She was… not dressed in the way she was speaking. A soft and shaky voiced, dressed in so much black.

“Do I look like someone who could help?”

This was too painfully obviously not about a missing person. This girl was trying to fool him, but it would not work. With that in mind, however, she may prove more trouble than worth for food.

“Leave me alone, go ask someone else.”

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Damn, he was smarter than he looked; Maybe she should’ve chosen a different attire. Then again, She didn’t have much of a choice. Everything in her closet was either black, or leather, or both.

Plus, there has been people that dressed the same fashion yet behave timidly. So just to be safe, just continue the act a little bit more.

Tilting her head innocently, She questioned, “Eh? B-But…” Maybe acting innocent wasn’t the right approach for her? Hm... wasn’t this Vampire with another guy earlier? “Y-You were with someone.. Someone I knew… Why is he not with you…?” She questioned further, as she continued to get closer to him.

Continuing such an act felt gross, but it was all for Leon. For her little brother, she will go at far at any length.

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Yukio felt himself smirk at her question. He wanted to simply come out and tell her the truth. That he had gotten bored and killed him. Perhaps that would scare her away and leave him alone.

“Ehhh… a man huh? Was he a lover? Or a relative?”

He shakes his head and waves the human away. Playing with women just wasn’t much fun.

“He is not with me now, nor do I have any interest in why you want him. Begone from my sight at once.”

He ordered, using his vampire power of persuasion. This was all ready a boring night, honestly he just wanted to return home.

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“N-No… I-I want to..”

As much as she can sense the vampire’s abilities, She tried her best to act as if it had any affect on her. Carrying the blood of a well-known hunter bloodline, Juliet wasn’t really affected. But she can at least act on it.

Honestly, this wasn’t even going anywhere. ‘Fine… He asked for it…’ Glancing around, Juliet spotted an dark alley near them. Well, his ego was boosted a little. Smirking mentally, She let her inner beast out.

“… Not until I’m done with you, you little bitch.”

Taking this opportunity, Juliet used her strength to grab Yukio’s arm and get them both to the alley and punch Yukio in the stomach before throwing him against the wall and using her arm pinned against his neck, “Sakamaki Yukio… so I finally meet you at last..” She smirked, revealing her true nature, “You’re actually smarter than I thought.. how ironic… since you can’t even take the hint that you’re not wanted…”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

This was… unexpected. So this was no ordinary human. She was rather strong, and her voice now showed her true colors.

“You… know me…?”

Not good. Yukio was not good at physical fighting. Strong as she may be, this girl was human. There should be no problem over powering her and simply leaving.

“Not wanted…? Seems you are not some slut on the street. Fufu… but you see I am also not some weakling.”

Grabbing her arm, Yukio squeezed, tightly. And tighter. And tighter. Snapping a human’s limbs were so easy. Especially since he just ate, poor thing, she was going to die this night.

“I will break you~”

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Finally…!

“How cute for a Livestock.”

Despite feeling the pain, Juliet still smirked at how this gives her a perfect opportunity. Using her free hand to get out the dagger and ignoring the bruise she felt forming from her arm, She aimed it to one of Yukio’s shoulders, threatening to pushing it in slowly.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t even know you existed if you haven’t been asking for a death wish by making my little brother cry.” Her voice deepened, “You should’ve just kept your distance and left him and Isaiah alone. No shit you weren’t fucking wanted, you slut.”

The more she felt the grip tighten, the more she slowly pushed the dagger in by the tip.

“That’s right, my brother…” Juliet’s smirked widen sadistically, “I’m Juliet. Mukami Juliet. I’m Leon’s older sister, and the person that’s going to force you to pay with your life for what you have been doing to him, Livestock.”

“Oh, and just so you get the picture already,” She added, “I’m not any where as nice as him.”

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Yukio’s reflexes were quick enough to grab onto the other arm which held the dagger. He stopped her from piercing his shoulder, but even so, she was strong for a human. With her arm pressed against his throat it was difficult to push her away. This woman wasn’t taller than him, but just short enough to be at the right angle to really pin him.

Leon Mukami. Juliet Mukami. Livestock?

So this human was one of those. An offspring from those fake vampires he had heard about. Although it did not seem this girl was vampire at all. Yukio smirks down at her, plenty cocky though for a human.

“Livestock, am I?”

Yukio pushed his body forward, forcing himself towards the girl. He was going to prove that no human can match a vampire in strength. It was no problem for him, especially since he had just fed, to move the smaller girl back.

“That’s funny, seems between the two of us, you’re the one who’s the food here.”

With his back now free from the wall, the pressure on his neck loosened. He used this opportunity to yank the arm away from him and spin himself out of her grasp. Although this was only his first chance to get away. No doubt she would come after him. Running wasn’t going to work.

“Did that person send you after me? Why, can he not fight his own battles? Is my presence that much of a threat~?”

♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧ To Be Continued ♬° ✧❥✧¸.•*¨*✧♡✧

#remnants-of-tragedy #star crossedfidelity #yukio sakamaki #juliet mukami

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blockheadbrands · 6 years

Text

Why Vicente Fox Thinks Like a Capitalist, Acts Like a Radical

X of Leafly Reports:

Vicente Fox, El Presidente, delights in being the most talked about Mexican in Donald Trump’s America.

At age 76, Fox may be more familiar to Americans today than when he served as the 55th President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006.

From the moment Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015—by slurring Mexicans who come to the United States—Fox has acted as Mexico’s counter-puncher, needling and mocking Trump via the American President’s favorite medium, Twitter. He celebrates his nation’s refusal to fund Trump’s pet project—“Mexico is not paying for your fucking wall!”—and embraces the imagery of a popular internet meme that depicts him as a badass senior citizen and contender for that Dos Equis crown:

The persona indeed fits Vicente Fox, a towering rancher, former Mexican CEO for Coca-Cola, and ex-governor of the central Mexican state of Guanajuato. In many ways, Guanajuato reflects Fox: devoutly Catholic, with a cowboy swagger and a coarseness of tongue that would make el Papa — the Pope – cringe.

Here near the city of León lies Centro Fox,Fox’s vast presidential library, think tank and cultural retreat. This is where Fox produces his hilariously profane videos pledging to save the United States, a land he loves, from President Trump.

Fox is taking on the greatest challenge of his life: Ending Mexico’s wrenching violence by enacting dramatic drug reform – including full cannabis legalization.

More seriously, this is where Fox is taking on perhaps the greatest challenge of his life: He is crusading against Mexico’s wrenching violence by advocating for dramatic drug policy reform – including drug decriminalization and full-scale cannabis legalization.

It’s a cause that increasingly occupies his mind and his schedule. In the past three years he’s appeared at countless cannabis industry conferences in the US and Canada, urging more reform, faster, now. Last month he even joined the industry, kind of, by becoming a member of the High Times board of directors.

“Fox has been great on this issue,” says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and former executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “He has been bold and courageous not just on legalization of marijuana but on ending all prohibition. I think he has had an impact in his country and elsewhere.”

When asked why—Why cannabis legalization, why drug reform, why now?—Fox’s answer is quick and determined. “My main interest is to stop the War on Drugs,” he told me in a one-on-one interview at Centro Fox. “My main reason is to save kids’ lives, to stop the killing and the bloodshed on the streets of Mexico. And that will happen by legalizing – and taking away money from the cartels.”

One Goal: Stop the Killing

Last year Mexico suffered more than 29,000 homicides, the highest total ever recorded in the nation’s history. Most were cartel killings, or cartel-related, including a percentage blamed on Mexican security forces and emerging rural autodefensas, vigilante groups taking up arms against narcotraficantes in place of police.

Mexico’s long, disastrous epoch of violence first exploded in December, 2006, when Fox’s successor, President Felipe Calderón, unleashed the Mexican Army on the criminal networks shipping cocaine, meth, heroin, and cannabis to the United States and other countries. The death toll in 2018 is on pace to top 30,000.

Guardian news✔@guardiannews

Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall http://ebx.sh/2D0vvm3

11:23 PM - Jan 13, 2018

Legal marijuana cuts violence says US study, as medical-use laws see crime fall

Murder and violent crime found to have decreased most in states bordering Mexico as drug cartels lose business to regulation

theguardian.com

To answer the begged question: No, Fox has never tried cannabis. This is about politics for him, not self-medication or personal enjoyment.

He is an outspoken international champion for cannabis legalization. Yet his journey may seem contradictory. He vetoed key drug reform legislation as president. And notably, critics assailed him for promising massive reforms to change Mexico’s corrupt political system and then failing to deliver.

Mexico has legalized the importation of cannabis medicine with 1% THC or less. Smokable cannabis is not permitted.

But this is not the Vicente Fox of 2000-2006. This is a fit, active and thoroughly liberated senior, a globe-trotting personality pleased to say whatever the hell he wants, whether in eloquent writings on international affairs or in profane riffs on Donald Trump.

In his sunset years, he is fighting to rescue his country by pushing cannabis legalization as an alternative to chaos and carnage. He tells me he embraces the uncertainly and risk of the cause.

“Every day, we must have a purpose,” he says. “The harder it is, the more complicated it is, the more you’re going to enjoy it.”

Mexico’s Small Steps

Only last year, Mexico approved extremely limited medical cannabis legalization, a tepid step after 90 years of prohibition. Mexico currently allows the importation of “pharmacological derivatives of cannabis” with less than 1% THC. Smokable cannabis is not permitted. Medical products with higher THC levels are allowed only for patients with special government approval.

Mexico currently has no legal domestic cannabis production. Sales of medical marijuana are likely still two years away, as government officials refine the regulations for importing small supplies of medicine from places such as Canada, Europe or Israel—and not, of course, the United States, where such exports remain illegal.

Fox is currently lobbying Mexico’s Congress to do much more. He envisions a flourishing Mexican cannabis industry on par with thriving medical and adult-use economies in many states in El Norte.

And that, he hopes, might begin to put an end to his country’s years of nightmarish violence.

'I want to get rid of the fear that legalizing marijuana is the devil,' Fox says.

In late May, Fox invited Leafly to Centro Fox and his family hacienda on the eve of the May 30-31 Canna Mexico World Summit. It would be the former president’s foremost event for affecting drug policy change. Scientists, regulators, academics, business people and would-be investors descended on Leon to ponder the opportunities offered by a future Mexican marijuana economy.

Legalizing cannabis, Fox believes, will stop the bloodshed by taking away money from the cartels.

On a hot and humid morning, Fox and I sat in one of his many offices at the compound. El Presidenterelaxed beneath a portrait of him and former first lady Marta Sahagún de Fox, whom he married in 2000 when she was Fox’s presidential press secretary. Elsewhere on the compound, Fox has built an exact replica of his former office as Mexico’s chief executive, complete with windows bearing giant photographs of his past views from Los Pinos, the pine-shaded presidential place in Mexico City.

He began our discussion neither with drug policy or cannabis nor with his nemesis, Trump. He started by talking about his grandfather, the man who made his existence here, on this sprawling hacienda, possible in the first place.

“This is the place where I was born and raised,” he told me. “It’s where my grandfather came back in 1895 without a penny in his pocket, looking for the American Dream.”

Chasing the American Dream in Mexico

Yes, that American Dream. Fox’s German-Irish-American grandfather, Joseph Louis Fox, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a young man, he set out on horseback for central Mexico.

Fox's grandfather migrated from Ohio to central Mexico to raise a family and pursue his dream.

He married the daughter of a French soldier and an indigenous Mexican. He worked as a night watchman in a horse carriage buggy factory and eventually owned the place, earning a sufficient fortune to buy this hacienda, now his grandson’s post-presidential Centro Fox.

It is the headquarters for arguably the most active ex-president in Mexico’s modern history. This is the base for Fox’s policy center and philanthropic organization, Vamos Mexico, which promotes education and nutrition for children in poor, indigenous communities.

This now is also the intellectual bastion for Fox’s quixotic push to address narcotics violence and despair in Mexico. He advocates effectively abandoning Mexico’s militaristic Drug War, for which Fox pins heavy blame on drug consumers in America and international prohibitionist polices enforced by the United States. After so much trauma over so many year, he insists he wants his country back, harmonious and peaceful.

“Today, this place is a think tank, an academy, a place of leadership, love and compassion,” he said of his vast retreat. “This is a beautiful place, where Marta and I are welcoming anyone who is humane and compassionate. This is the place to come. This is the Mecca of happiness and love.”

Gracias and Get Out

In Mexico, there is traditionally little love for ex-presidents. Vicente Fox is no exception.

Mexican presidents have a habit of leaving office in disrepute. It’s been that way since 1910.

Historically, Mexican presidents have made a habit of leaving office in disrepute. It’s been that way since 1910, when a popular revolt threw out Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, touching off an epoch of turbulence and violence.

In 1929, Mexican governance was consolidated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (or PRI) and – for 71 years – the party controlled the presidency and imposed a ruthless patronage system that effectively dictated access to political power and wealth. When presidents left office, they were inevitably reviled as villains suspected of enriching themselves through looting the treasury or other forms of corruption.

The stories are virtual folklore: José López Portillo, president from 1976 to 1982, tripled oil production only to crash the economy and dramatically devalue the Mexican peso, which he had pledged to defend “like a dog.” He left office despised, retiring to a vast five-mansion complex secured with suspicious wealth. People dubbed the place “Dog Hill.” Carlos Salinas de Gotari, president from 1988 to 1994, departed amid searing scandal, including discovery of a $100 million European bank account in the name of his brother, Raúl, a mid-level civil servant.

Villas and Swiss Bank Accounts

“Most former chief executives of Mexico do not build presidential libraries (or) crusade against hunger,” Fox wrote in his 2007 memoir, Revolution of Hope. “They generally caught the first plane to Europe, turning over power to a designated successor by pointing the dedazo, ‘the finger.’

“(Then) typically, Mexico’s former presidents exiled themselves to Ireland, drew on their Swiss Bank accounts and hid from the world in walled suburban villas.”

In 2000 it was ‘Fox the Savior’

Vicente Fox was supposed to be the one to change that. In 2000, running as the candidate of the heavily Catholic, conservative and pro-business National Action Party (PAN), he defeated PRI candidate Francisco Labastida by a margin of 46.5 percent to 36.1 percent. Celebrations spilled into the streets. Mexico’s so-called “perfect dictatorship” – the enduring, sinister hold of the PRI – was thought to be over.

With Fox's election, the enduring one-party hold of the PRI was thought to be over.

When Fox left office after his six-year term, ceding power to another PAN candidate, Calderón, he left a legacy of having worked to modernize the Mexican economy through trade deals and globalization. But those policies were seen as harming the poor he sought to help. Worse, he failed to end Mexico’s unrelenting culture of corruption.

Ultimately, he was vilified in the press for lavish spending in constructing his presidential library and retreat, something never seen in Mexico. Pundits wondered whether he had enriched himself in office. Fox asserted he was a self-made man spending his own money, insisting all he took from Los Pinos were his personal belongings, namely, he wrote, “my blue jeans andvaquero belts with the big silver Fox buckle.”

‘He Didn’t Change Anything’

Supporters of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador protest against President Vicente Fox in 2006. Lopez Obrador, a longtime rival of Fox’s, was elected president in Mexico’s national election last week. (Marco Ugarte/AP)

The regal Centro Fox complex, including construction of the posh Hotel Hacienda San Cristóbal, was the least of his image problems. Fox had pledged to change Mexico, to save it, as president. By many accounts, he failed.

“He was an amazing guy who became the figurehead of a democracy movement,” said Benjamin Smith, a professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick in London. Smith is a leading researcher on the Mexican drug war and political culture. Fox “was a hopeless president” said Smith. “Terrible. Bad. In American terms, he was a blowhard. He had an opportunity in six years to change Mexico, and he didn’t change anything.”

Fox could not reverse Mexico's culture of corruption. But he points to his achievements in improving education and elevating the rights of women.

Fox blames a hostile PRI-dominated legislature for blunting many of his initiatives. Despite his critics, he claims credit for attacking inequality in Mexico by passing budgets that funded scholarships for millions of poor rural children. He changed the welfare structure to elevate the rights of women – other than solely men – as heads of households. He worked to empower teachers’ unions and increase their salaries.

Fox also pushed an aggressive globalist agenda, building on the North American Free Trade Agreement to integrate Mexico into the world economy. He lobbied President George W. Bush on immigration reform and a European Union-style common market for the Americas. He famously got a standing ovation when he addressed the United States Congress on September 6, 2001. Five days later, the United States was attacked on 9/11. New trade deals were dead. Border security was the sudden rage.

The Imperfect President

In his writings, Fox asserts he worked to change Mexico’s pattern of “cronyism, corruption and crisis.” But Mexican scholar and activist Sergio Aguayo, a professor at Mexico City’s El Colegio de Mexico and former head of the Mexican Academy for Human Rights, says Fox notably quit on exposing the corrupt stain of the PRI – thus paving the way for its return to power.

A liberal intellectual, Aguayo embraced the conservative Fox. They met at Los Pinos during the early days of his presidency. Aguayo and other scholars expected Fox to create a Truth Commission to investigate the former ruling party’s Cold War-era “Dirty War,” including the infamous massacre of student protesters in 1968, and the disappearances of more than 1,200 leftists in the 1970s. Fox read the commission proposal and appeared to embrace the idea, which Aguayo saw as essential for restoring democracy in Mexico. But the Truth Commission plan was quickly –and quietly –scuttled.

“It wasn’t taken seriously, and Fox (effectively) became an accomplice with the old regime,” Aguayo told me. “He became one of them. He betrayed all of us who believed he was going to make the change we were longing for.”

Making Allies Across Party Lines

Fernando Belaunzarán, a leader in Mexico’s third major party, the PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution), represents Mexico City in Mexico’s Congress. He’s one of Mexico’s longtime drug reformers, having introduced a bill to legalize cannabis nationwide back in 2012.

Belaunzarán, who joined Fox at the cannabis conference in León, is well aware of Fox’s mixed reputation, including his contempt for the left-leaning PRD. But he’s eager to work with the former president on cannabis reform.

“President Fox is a controversial figure,” Belaunzarán told me. “He was the first president who wasn’t a PRIista. He was criticized because he raised expectations that weren’t fulfilled. But now he is helping in this cause.”

“He took this on after his presidency, when he realized that the consequences of the Drug War had become so grave. He is saying prohibition has been a disaster—and I applaud him for that.”

Fox today inspires hope among policy reformers and cannabis advocates with his calls for drug peace in Mexico and creating a legal marijuana industry. But during his presidency Fox proved to be a disappointment to legalization advocates, going along with the same old Drug War policies of the past.

In May 2006, Mexico’s Congress passed a package of drug reform legislation that would have dropped criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis. The nation’s cannabis possession limit was to be set at five grams. Fox was expected to sign the bill. At the last minute, however, he vetoed it. “The Mexican government will have to deepen the fight against drug trafficking,” he proclaimed at the time. “In no way is it promoting the use of drugs.”

Critics charged that Fox folded under international pressure, particularly from the drug warriors in the United States. Some 500 protesters held an angry cannabis smoke-in in Mexico City. Similar legislation would be passed again in 2009, three years after Fox left office. Fox’s successor, Felipe Calderón, signed the measure into law.

Forgiving Past Clashes

In our meeting at Centro Fox, the former president defended that 2006 decision, claiming he found the law dangerously vague. It could send people to prison, he claimed, over a distinction of less than a gram of cannabis. “The discussion was over what you could have in your pocket,” he said. “If you had less than the amount, you were a consumer. If you had more, you were a trafficker.”

In the United States, many cannabis reformers give Fox a pass, viewing him as little different than many politicians in El Norte who were prohibitionists in office only to find cannabis religion after returning to civilian life. A recent case in point: former House Speaker John Boehner. An ardent legalization foe in office, Boehner joined the advisory board of a cannabis company last year, declaring his thinking had “evolved.”

“Look, I welcome Vicente Fox’s embrace of Cannabis,” said California cannabis entrepreneur Steve DeAngelo, who joined the former Mexican president at a pro-legalization media event in San Francisco earlier this year. “The more people like Vicente Fox and John Boehner embrace this issue, the more we welcome it.”

Drug War Unleashes a Disaster

Mexican federal police officers escort detained men from a home in Mexico City in 2008. Eleven alleged hit men for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel were captured at two Mexico City mansions stocked with grenades, automatic weapons and body armor – a day after Mexican authorities reported nabbing one of the cartel’s leaders. (Gregory Bull/AP)

Fox’s caution in office came as narco-violence was building. By 2006, his last year as president, drug-related killings climbed above 3,000. Cartel violence increased notably in states such as Michoacán and Sinaloa, and along the Baja California peninsula. Mexico’s murder rate rose to just over nine killings per 100,000 people. (In 2017, it hit 20.5 killings per 100,000.) But despite his anti-trafficker rhetoric, Fox wasn’t inclined to pull the trigger to escalate the Drug War.

That decision was made, almost immediately, by his successor Felipe Calderón, who dispatched 6,500 troops – the number would eventually rise to 20,000 – in an unprecedented crackdown on the cartels. During the six years of Calderón’s rule, more than 200,000 people were killed. According to a University of San Diego study, Mexico’s homicide rate nearly tripled to almost 25 deaths per 100,000 residents by 2011.

Not long out of office, Fox had an epiphany. He concluded that prohibition and the escalation of Mexico’s drug war had unleashed a humanitarian disaster.

“He (Calderón) thought it was going to be an easy action and, in six months, Mexico would be back in order,” Fox told me. “Nothing could have been further from the truth.”

As the carnage ebbed and then rose anew under President Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI, with cartels currently battling for spoils after the arrest and extradition to the United States of the infamous narco kingpin Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, Vicente Fox set off on a world tour promoting drug reform and cannabis legalization. Those events are only part of a rigorous schedule of paid speeches and appearances, an average of 45 a year, on international issues, also including protecting human rights and the environment. Fox says he donates earnings to support Centro Fox and Vamos Mexico programs.

AMLO: A Fox Rival Takes Over

Now Peña Nieto is on his way out. Former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the new National Regeneration Movement party (MORENA) swept into power in a landslide July 1 election.

López Obrador is perhaps Vicente Fox’s most hated rival. Fox compares the president-elect to the late Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. López Obrador has suggested granting amnesty for narcotics offenses as another path out of Mexico’s Drug War. But cannabis reform was largely ignored in the race. The president-elect has been noncommittal on the issue, saying only that it is an issue “worthy of discussion.”

“Politicians in Mexico don’t want to talk about this,” Fernando Belaunzarán told me. “But it is conversation in our living rooms.”

Move Faster, Now

Fox told me the day before the conference that he hoped to “get rid of the fear…that legalizing marijuana is the devil.”

“I want to move ahead in the process,” he said. “I want the decision makers to move faster.”

The event drew a few Mexican congressional members and heads of government agencies that regulate medicine. Those agencies are currently drafting regulations for the forthcoming medical cannabis sector, which is expected to be heavily restricted and rely solely on imported medicine.

“In this moment, let’s share our points of view,” Fox told the gathering. “I want to be able to say that Centro Fox has a plan for a productive industry, a sound industry, a legal industry. This would be a great change for humanity.”

Fox is under no illusion that cannabis legalization alone can wipe away all the bloody footprints of narcotics violence. But he believes it’s the absolutely necessary first step.

“There has been too much blood, too much criminality, too much delinquency,” he told the conference. “Centro Fox is proposing solutions. Let’s take this plant and its processes and study them. This is a great phenomenon. It’s a transformation.”

Big Idea: Add Cannabis to NAFTA

Vicente Fox speaks during a news conference on the first day of the U.S.-Mexico Symposium on Legalization and Medical Use of Cannabis in 2013. Fox calls himself a soldier in the global campaign to legalize marijuana, and he foresees a day when the marketplace will deliver an array of benefits from sharply reduced cartel violence in his home country to new jobs and medicines. (/Mario Armas/AP)

Fox works best with big, bold, brash ideas—ones that he himself won’t have to implement. Case in point: Last June, at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Oakland, Fox called for an amended North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that includes a new accord allowing for cross-border flow of regulated, legally-produced cannabis between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. In October, he told the Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo in Phoenix that “prohibitions don’t work – they have never worked.”

Fox’s pro-business outlook isn’t lost on DeAngelo, director of Oakland’s Harborside dispensary and the California cultivation venture, FLRish.

“Fox is one of the leading voices in Latin America on cannabis reform, perhaps the loudest and most vocal,” he said. “And he comes from a business establishment that has not always been supportive.”

But business is what Fox knows—it’s the environment in which he’s thrived. He’s not by nature a political radical. In business, he rose from driving a truck for Coca-Cola to heading the company’s Mexican division. Quality products, well-known brands, and national distribution networks—that’s Fox’s wheelhouse.

Last February, the cannabis entrepreneur Marco Hoffman, found himself sought out by El Presidente at a Seattle cannabis conference. Hoffman is CEO of Evergreen Herbal Distribution, a state-permitted cannabis company with a 44,000 square-foot production facility in the state of Washington.

The former president was fascinated by the cannabis industry experience of the much younger Hoffman, whose firm produces cannabis sodas named HighDrate, Stoney Mountain and Blaze.

“We communicated about the lineage of Coca-Cola,” Hoffman recalled. “And then he said, ‘We need a guy like you to come to Mexico.’”

Trump as a Comic Foil

Fox’s cause is drug reform and a peaceful end to the cartel wars. But his current fame is due largely to his ability to poke and prod the bull up north—Donald Trump.

In Fox’s eyes, Trump is an unprecedented antagonist who poses a real threat to Mexico-United States relations on immigration, drug policy and many other issues.

Candidate Trump’s infamous slur against Mexicans during his June 2015 Trump Tower campaign kickoff (“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump declared. “They’re sending people who have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and, some, I assume are good people. But I speak to the border guards and they’re telling us what we’re getting.”) angered and emboldened one Vicente Fox Quesada. He told me that Trump is appealing to “white supremacists who don’t want brownies” in America.

Fox took to writing about Trump as a scoundrel, a con man spewing “America First” rhetoric in the same spirit as corrupt PRIistas used to rail about the “evil American empire” to the north, while silencing political dissent in Mexico.

In his recent book, Let’s Move On – Beyond Fear and False Prophets, Fox likened the nationalistic populism of Trump with the nativist socialism of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. He writes: “I am no longer president of Mexico, but I have dedicated the rest of my life to working for social justice and democracy and to opposing hypocrisy and fraudulence of popular demagogues.”

But such pearly political writings aren’t what is making Fox a cult hero. It’s that “fucking wall” thing, Fox’s assault on Trump’s purported $30 billion “racist monument.” Particularly, his profile has lit up with Fox’s Trump-trolling YouTube videos – produced at Centro Fox, complete with goats and Mariachis. They are making him a septuagenarian rock star.

Last September, Fox announced his satirical candidacy for president in 2020 with a message for Trump from his replica Los Pinos office:

“Donald, every time I make fun of you…people say, ‘Why can’t you be our president?,” he begins. “America, I feel your pain. We all do. And that is why today I am proud to announce my candidacy for president of the United States.”

A goat enters, strapped with the sign: “Vicente for Presidente!”

“Now, I know, a lot of you will say, ‘How can you be president?” You’re a Mexican,” Fox continues. “And to those people, I have three worlds: Donald Fucking Trump. If that worn-out baseball glove tightly gripping a turd can be president, then, amigos, anyone can!”

Sergio Aguayo, an unsparing critic of Fox’s presidency, finds important humor and purpose in his Trump trolling. He calls it a morale boost needed by many Mexicans.

“I’m glad he is raising his voice because we have a president who isn’t,” said Aguayo, who depicts outgoing president Peña Nieto as too timid in his reluctance to push back against Trump. “I think there’s been a policy of appeasement.”

For his part, Fox calls the videos “marketing, pure marketing” to disseminate a larger message. His feelings run deep. He believes fully in the righteousness of his crusade to legalize cannabis, and he will defend to his final word the honor and dignity of his fellow Mexicans. But he also acknowledges the place of joy and humor in the human experience. “You must have some fun,” he told me. “And in 76 years of life, I have.”

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON LEAFLY, CLICK HERE.

https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/el-cruzado-para-cannabis-why-vicente-fox-thinks-like-a-capitalist-acts-like-a-radical

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airadam · 6 years

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Episode 106 : Flavaful

"...I can't listen to it, 'cos all I hear is mistakes."

- Phonte

Ok, it's not the actual globe from the cover of "Flava In Ya Ear", but it's the closest thing I've ever shot - it reminded me of the man Craig Mack himself, who sadly passed away this month. That means that this month we pay homage to the twin pillars of Bad Boy Records (Craig and Biggie), as well as Phife and Eazy-E, while also showcasing some outstanding new releases and finishing with some soul classics.

Get yourself down to the Lords of the Underground show in April!

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Pudgee ft. The Notorious B.I.G and Lord Tariq : Think B.I.G.

Only the first - and best - verse for you right here, but despite this track not getting an official release due to sample clearance problems, it shouldn't be too hard to find if you do a little digging. Biggie just blasts out pure disrespect in his inimitable style over a beat by Minnesota. I had to rewind this when I remembered playing this on a mixtape with DJ Mathmatics - the first line hadn't even finished before he was calling for the pull-up!

The Lox : New York City

I don't know if the bassline here is a sample or a replay, but either way it did get an official release! This 2014 single from the stalwart Yonkers crew also samples the hook from "Think B.I.G" directly, so it was a great opportunity to bring it in here.

[K-Def] Theodore Unit : Wicked With Lead (Instrumental)

I'm not sure what's up with some of the kick drums here sounding like there was an issue splicing the track together, but I promise you this is how the uncredited K-Def instrumental came off the vinyl!

Craig Mack : Get Down

RIP Craig! This was the second single from his debut "Project: Funk Da World" LP (following "Flava In Ya Ear"), and once again it was Easy Mo Bee doing the business on the beat - you can hear his style for sure. Craig commands the track ably, and you can tell why he was such a solid foundation stone for Bad Boy.

A Tribe Called Quest : The Pressure

Great tune from "Beats, Rhymes, and Life". I don't remember Tribe ever doing a DJ track but the section of this before Q-Tip comes in might be the closest - lots of cuts and scratches, much of which came from their own records! Phife goes off on the second verse, continuing the rampage that kicked off back on "The Low End Theory".

The Mouse Outfit ft. Sparkz : No Wonder (Tall Black Guy Remix)

I don't know how I've managed not to play you this one already! From the very nicely-priced "Mouse Outfit Remixed" collection, this is a shoulder-mover where Sparkz kicks Manchester rhymes over TBG's trademark boom-blap.

Phonte : Such Is Life

One of the best MCs in the artform, and one who has let us into his life from the beginning of his career. The "No News Is Good News" album comes seven years after Phonte's last solo release, and it's a powerful, concentrated album which is packed with real life experiences that we will all face. This particular track, produced by DJ Cozmos, is a standout on my strong purchase recommendation for the month!

Focus... : Beautiful & Beastly

I must have convinced you to pick up "Analog In A Digital World" by now? So many great beats on that project...

Simtraks ft. Camp Lo : Eternity Window

In a more reflective mode than many will know them for, Camp Lo take the mics for a deep cut in all senses of the phrase. This was a standout on the "Sputnik Sweetheart" album by Houston's Simtraks, and the samples of the astronomer Carl Sagan add to the cosmic vibe of the track. Not a well-known track, but an excellent one - if I could change just one thing though, it'd be that snare...

Guilty Simpson ft. Meyhem Lauren and Starving B : CO-OP

I'm not familiar with Cuns and Sine One, but they did a top job on the production here. Great new single from Detroit's Guilty Simpson alongside two Queens MCs, conjouring up images of the New Day Co-Op in "The Wire".

Tanya Morgan : Just Not True

AKA the Trump theme tune...a pick from the 2009 "Brooklynati" album that I hadn't heard in a while. Brick Beats on production, allowing the group to use all their energy on the mic.

PRhyme : Rock It

The second PRhyme album came out this month and I think it may well have surpassed the original! This single gave us the first peep at what to expect, and it's just a great beat, classic Premo cuts, and killer rhymes - not all of which you'll catch at first. Definitely some rewind lines on this one, and take some time to appreciate how DJ Premier breaks down the main hook/bridge phrase on the turntables - masterful.

J-Zone : The Art of Shit Talkin' (Instrumental)

I somehow don't have the vocal version of this (yet) but it's the expected excellent level of production from J-Zone - you can get this beat as part of his instrumentals collection on Bandcamp. Peep the technique.

G-Dep ft. Ghostface Killah, Keith Murray, and Craig Mack : Special Delivery (Remix)

A sparse, uptempo number from the Bad Boy camp, and a solid single for the currently-incarcerated G-Dep back in 2001. Every MC drops quotables, from the always-fire Ghostface through to the surprise appearance of Craig Mack, who'd last released a record four years previously and stepped back from the industry. In a kind of tribute to the incredible "Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)" video, this one was also shot in B&W but with a pace to match the EZ Elpee-produced beat. This MC lineup was just the thing needed to elevate the original track from "Child Of The Ghetto".

Camp Lo : Retro

Back to that slang-dense Lo flavour! One of the best tracks from their latest album ("The Get Down Brothers"), they channel some old-school flavour but keep a modern feel at the same time. I bought the digital release of this LP, so I'm still trying to find out who produced this cut!

Eazy-E : Eazy-er Said Than Dunn

It's been twenty-three years since the NWA founder's death, and he's too often forgotten. For this selection, we go back to his 1988 "Eazy-Duz-It" solo album for the only track clean enough for radio play - and intentionally written as such. Dr.Dre and Yella produced it, and Dre is also credited as the writer - which is interesting, as in later years he would be known as someone who would employ writers for his own lyrics! This song was tributed eleven years after its release by fellow Compton native DJ Quik on his "Quikker Said Than Dunn".

Black Moon : Who Got The Props?

The first time I heard this on the pirate station Supreme back in Leeds in the early 90s, they didn't announce the artist or the track title, which was frustrating - because I thought that this was one of the best records I had ever heard! Eventually I found out what it was and emptied my pockets to buy the import 12" single. A straight classic of Brooklyn rhymes over a jazz sample and some kicking drums, which gave us a preview of the quality to expect from the "Enta Da Stage" album.

[Hangmen 3] Benzino : Bang Ta Dis

Back in the days of the SOHH message boards, this beat was a popular one when it came out! Benzino's not the most heavyweight lyricist in the world, so searching out the vocal of this isn't a must necessarily, but he along with Johnny Bananas and Jeff Two Times kill it on the production here.

The Doobie Brothers : You Belong To Me

My assumption is that this is supposed to be a love song. However, it can't be just me that think it sounds a little...pimpish? This song was written in the late 70s by the Doobies' Michael McDonald and Carly Simon, who herself recorded a more popular version than this, one which got a Grammy nomination. Anita Baker, J-Lo, and others have recorded it as well, but this, the first recorded version (from "Livin' On The Fault Line") is my personal favourite. McDonald is one of the most unmistakable voices in music, and he does a top-notch job with this song.

Marvin Gaye : After The Dance (Instrumental)

An early track from Marvin Gaye's 1976 "I Want You" album, some of you will know this as the ending credit music on "American Pimp". While the vocal version is clearly a love ballad, the Gaye and Leon Ware-produced instrumental seems to take on a sadder character without Marvin's voice over the top. I love it.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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