#it's a crime to not use that to its fullest potential | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nanaminsmoon · 9 months

Text

pervycollegeprofessor!gojo satoru x student!reader. (mdni.) + 1812

a/n: this was meant to be 900 words shorter but i've had severe gojo brainrot recently and couldn't help myself😞 + gojo is 27/28 and reader is in her early twenties.

something about you made satoru feel depraved. it was most probably the way he, your professor, felt about you, his starry-eyed student that always sat in the front of his lectures, eager to receive wisdom. nanami had called gojo's liking towards you ‘perverse’, but nanami hadn’t seen the way the stars in your eyes sprinkled all over satoru’s arm whenever he rolled his sleeves up—forearms exposed, and vascularity on display.

originally just an interim substitute until your uni found a permanent member to fill his role, satoru had overstayed his welcome in the staff lounge due to the countless requests from students, such as yourself, who had fallen for him. because, whether he liked it or not, the man was an expert at captivating hearts—those of students and teachers alike. much to the dismay of his male colleagues, such as nanami who had warned satoru about his ambiguous extracurricular relations with you.

“what?”, satoru questioned a staring nanami, who had overheard his snowy haired coworker arrange a ‘private study session’ with you.

“you know what, satoru. intimate relationships with students are against protocol. you know that. it’s unprofessional, and it’ll get you fired.”, the blonde warned, as he leant on one of the desks to speak to gojo.

“woahwoahwoah, who said anything about intimacy?”, gojo asked, feeling grossly wronged by the accusation, “is it a crime for a professor to care about his students? i just want her to achieve her potential. to its fullest.”, is what he had told his colleague.

and now he wondered what nanami would have to say about this; your hole at its fullest with gojo’s thick length ambushing it as he bent you over his desk. if he wasn’t so pussy drunk, he’d pause to ponder what qualms his colleague would have regarding your opened mouth causing your unmarked papers to stick together, as your manicured fingers cramped to crumple the work of other students.

with the knowledge of satoru’s leniency with his stargirl, you had purposefully waltzed into his classroom during his break—a time wherein no students were allowed entry into his teaching space—to try and seduce a better grade out of him. but your attempts were quickly overtaken by the desires of a man who'd been needing you in a way that angered his leaking tip, and heavied his balls.

and, although satoru had placed one of your legs on the table to pitilessly fuck your ulterior motives out of you, he had never bore an incentive for doing so. he had sunk himself balls deep inside you out of his own volition. because taking you like this had been satoru's boxer staining dream for a few months too long.

after every study session, gojo would stand in his living room facing his sofa with crossed arms, and a conflicted facial expression. outwardly, he was a grown man having a staring contest with couch cushions. but, inwardly, he was a man lacking the strength required to beat the lecherous voice in his mind telling him to pick up a cushion you had used, and smell it. it won over him every tuesday evening, and it’d have him deeply inhaling the fabric to collect all shadows of your scent. gojo felt ill, but there was nothing he could do; he just couldn’t help the way the smell voided his head of its blood, dizzying him as the oxygenated substance travelled to fuel the growth between his legs.

and perhaps that's what was making him fuck into you so hard; the nights his pale hands had been covered by load after load, as his hips bucked up to fuck you through his joined hands and advanced imagination. since the day he walked into that classroom for the first time and you momentarily looked up from your laptop to meet your eyes with his, satoru had been tormented by thoughts of you. he'd try to defeat them by getting closer to you, but he couldn't have possibly fathomed the repercussions proximity would bring. because, once the study sessions started and the nature of your relationship skewed, thoughts of you were unshakeable in a torturous way that made him feel caged in his own body.

“when you get this grade, you owe me a bottle of wine.”, he'd laughed, shaking the bottle of alcohol to show you its emptiness.

“trust me, if i get this grade then i’ll be giving you a little more than a bottle of wine”, as soon as you spoke, your eyes would mirror those of the man in front of you in widening comically,

“wait, i didn’t mean it like that. shit, i’m so sorry i got too comfortable and the wine—”, you’d apologise, but gojo would shake his head in rejection. because what you didn’t know was that inadvertent reciprocation of his feelings, had justified every single thought gojo’s sick little mind had conceived since the day he met you. but he was well aware, that’s why he’d be smirking as he placed a gentle hand on your knee.

“you’re okay, y/n. really, it’s fine”, he comforted, before pulling his hand away to pick up his wine glass, “i’ll hold you to that, though”, he’d chuckle, before taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage.

if anything, gojo was a man of his word so he did exactly what he said he'd do—holding you to your offer. bitter alcohol was meaningless to him, for the most part, because gojo had always had a sweet tooth. his tastebuds much preferred the tingles provided to them by decadent flavours like the wetness gojo had licked from his fingertips, and glistening lips, when he had laid you on his desk and gorged himself with the forbidden fruit hidden between your thighs. or the taste of the sweaty layer covering your heated body, only becoming mind-numbingly sugared once it touched gojo’s lips and tongue as he kissed your neck. he was meant to be preparing for his next lecture, but once you had sat on his lap to ask for a higher grade, he had lost all sight of his bearings. even as you reminded him,

“s-sir, they'll s-see”, you'd stuttered out. cares about your surroundings were dwindling each time his tip made contact with your cervix, but you didn’t want the only reason you attended classes to be robbed from you. meanwhile, said reason was too busy biting his lip to ensure the full extent of how that nickname made him feel didn’t reach your ears.

“call me that again”, he'd groan, “i beg you, y/n, call me that name again”,

“s-sir”, you obeyed, and gojo’s head lowered as he watched his dick disappear inside of you, only to reappear coated in a white cream that surrounded the base of his dick.

“fuck”, he'd whisper to himself, as he fucked into you impossibly harder. being quiet wasn't a thought in gojo’s mind, any drop of sensibility in him was replaced with the intense need to feel you cum around him.

all those warm summer days of seeing your shorts wrapping around the place his large hands now sat; all those group presentations he had tuned out because he was too busy intently examining the curve of your ass, and outline of your underwear, through your tight sundress. only for it to be sat around your waist as he swallowed the whimpers caused by finally being granted the opportunity to feel you around him. it was safe to say the man was losing his mind. and now he was losing grip of the thinning rope holding his release back.

gojo knew that getting caught could possibly mark the end of his teaching career. not just because he was engaging in sexual relations with a student, but for doing so on campus when the only separation between him and the recipients of his next class would resound with small knocks. and the sounds of his balls smacking against your ass would only hasten as gojo recklessly tried to drown out reminders of where he was.

“i have a class to teach but you're gonna cum for me aren't you, sweetheart?”, his chest would be flush against your back, as gojo leant to kiss your jaw, “hm? gonna hurry up for me so i can do my job?”, and quick nods would be all you could manage. the way you stifled those sounds he so desperately needed to hear pained him, but he’d still be amused by how cute you were.

“mr. gojo?”, a voice would shout on the other side of the door, “you in there?”, they’d persist, and gojo would let out a soft grunt of frustration.

“give me 5 minutes!”, he shouted back, before his hips moved faster. his carelessness, and lack of regard for those surrounding you meant that satoru fucked your eyeballs to the back of their sockets as you came around him—his hand catching all your pleasured cries.

honestly speaking, satoru had been holding his nut back since the second he pushed more than just his tip inside of you. the way your walls wrapped around him so intensely was simultaneously every man’s dream and nightmare, and he’d finally be awoken by the orgasm he could feel building, threatening to wash over him.

“gonna let me empty my balls in you before my class?”, he'd ask far too politely for a man who was fucking into you like you were piece of silicone.

“s-sir, please”, the use of that nickname he was growing to be obsessed with, had gojo filling you with his seed, instantaneously. he’d barely have the time to recover because, once he’d look up at the clock, he’d see that his class was set to begin in 90 seconds. meaning that, reluctantly, he’d pull out of you and smear his leaking nut on your skin, so as to not get it on his floor. then he’d pull your dress down, and turn you around to look at your fucked out expression.

“how’s my grade lookin’, sir?”, you’d chuckle, and he’d roll his eyes at you as he pulled you up from where you were laid.

“i’ll see what i can do”, he’d tease, while one of his large hands cupped your cheek, and the other tidied your hair and teary face.

“but i think i'll need you under the table for my next class. y’know, just to make sure i'm giving you the right grade.”, he smirked.

#nanaminsmooninc #jjk x you #jjk x black y/n #jjk x black reader #jujutsu kaisen x black y/n #jujutsu kaisen x black reader smut #gojo x black reader #gojo x black y/n #gojo x you #gojo x reader #gojo smut

225 notes · View notes

eretzyisrael · 7 months

Text

Person arrested in connection with antisemitic threats at Cornell

BY HANNAH GILLOTT

A person has been arrested in upstate New York in connection with a potential hate crime at Cornell University.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed that a suspect is currently in custody, affirming that she is "committed to combatting hate and bias wherever it rears its ugly head".

The FBI were notified of a potential hate crime at Cornell University over the weekend after a series of “horrendous” antisemitic threats had been made against the school’s Jewish community in online posts, according to the college’s president, Martha Pollack.

Messages sent included threats to shoot Jewish students, and posts encouraging others to harm Jews. Authorities response to the Centre for Jewish Life on campus – which students were warned to avoid “out of an abundance of caution”.

Rabbi Silberstein, from Cornell Chabad, told the Jewish Chronicle: “These antisemitic posts were designed to sow panic and hysteria, which they, unfortunately, succeeded at generating. The fact is that by showing panic and fear we play into their schemes”. He said that although “the administration should respond to this with the fullest seriousness… the rest of us should take it for what it is - a cowardly threat and nothing more”.

This was not the first instance of antisemitism at Cornell, whose campus was recently defaced with graffiti reading “Israel is Fascist”. One Jewish student told CNN that such incidents are “really, deeply troubling and upsetting”

Antisemitic incidents in the US increased by nearly 400% in the days after the attacks by Hamas, according to the Anti-Defamation League, with universities a hotspot.

#cornell university #hate crimes #jews #jewish students

16 notes · View notes

twistedtummies2 · 2 years

Text

Top 7 Portrayals of Ichabod Crane

Recently, I made a list of my Top 5 Favorite Versions of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” I’m still on a Sleepy Hollow kick, so I decided it was time to revisit the story again by looking at a couple of its classic characters. We’ll start by looking at the main character: Ichabod Crane.

In the book, Ichabod is an…unconventional protagonist, to say the least. The interesting thing about Irving’s original story is that nobody in the story is really a fully, purely good person: all of them have flaws, faults, and vices. Brom Bones is a trickster and a bit of a bully; Katrina Van Tassel can politely be termed a coquette; Ichabod himself is arguably the worst of the bunch. He’s a glutton, he’s greedy, he only wants Katrina for her money and her looks, and he’s way too full of himself. He has his good sides to keep him likeable, but at the end of the day, he’s a bit of a jerk.

As we shall see here, many versions of Ichabod tend to soften up his rough edges, to make him a more sympathetic and pleasant character. A select few versions actually vilify him completely, making him even more nasty. Only a few really stick to the source and depict the human Ichabod Crane that is presented in the story. Which of these portrayals do I enjoy most? Read on to find out. These are My Top 7 Portrayals of Ichabod Crane! Why Top 7? Well, why not? Let’s go!

7. Rene Auberjonois, from Once Upon a Midnight Scary.

“Once Upon a Midnight Scary” was a TV special from 1979, hosted by the inimitable Vincent Price. The special featured an anthology of short adaptations of classic horror tales, among them “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The Sleepy Hollow segment only covers the latter part of the tale, starting immediately at the Halloween Party at the Van Tassel Manor, so there isn’t much time for Ichabod or the other characters to really develop to their fullest potential. However, the segment benefits greatly from its casting of Rene Auberjonois - best known for his work on Star Trek - as Ichabod. Auberjonois is one of the best casting choices for Crane in live-action I’ve ever seen, in terms of adapting the original character from the book. However, because the segment is so criminally short, I don’t think he’s deserving of a spot in the Top 5.

6. Roger L. Jackson, from The Wolf Among Us.

“The Wolf Among Us” - based on the comic series “Fables” - is a combo of fantasy and film noir. The game focuses on Sheriff Bigby Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf himself, as he tries to solve a series of baffling beheadings. His investigation ultimately uncovers a vast conspiracy at work in the city he protects. (I get the feeling this basic concept is a recurring thing for anything even peripherally related to Sleepy Hollow…huh.) Ichabod appears in this story as the acting mayor of the area. He’s depicted true to the source: Ichabod is not a truly good person, and as the story goes on his many darker qualities come more and more to the surface. However, he’s got some good sides to him, too, although none of them excuse his less savory elements. What I find most interesting about this version of Ichabod (aside from the fact he’s voiced by flipping Ghostface, how ironic is THAT casting?) is that it’s a version of Crane totally removed from the original story. He never faces the Headless Horseman, Brom Bones and Katrina are never brought up, etc. As a result, he stands up all the more as his own unique character, and fits surprisingly well with the role he plays in this twisted mystery of madness.

5. Tom Mison, from the FOX TV Series.

FOX’s “Sleepy Hollow” TV show was a supernatural crime/mystery series, similar to things like “The X Files” or “Lucifer.” In this version, Ichabod is depicted not as a selfish schoolteacher, but a dashing Revolutionary War hero, who worked personally with George Washington to try and take down a dangerous force that threatened not only the American Colonies, but the entire world. After being wounded on the battle fighting a monstrous foe (three guesses who), Katrina - Ichabod’s wife, and a witch, in this version - casts a spell on him, placing him in a state of suspended animation. He wakes up two-and-a-half centuries later in modern day Sleepy Hollow, joins forces with the local police department, and helps them with solving various baffling crimes. Throughout the show, he combats demons, witches, figures of myth…and, of course, his old arch-nemesis, the Headless Horseman. While Mison’s actual character owes almost nothing to the one from the original story, I think the actor, himself, manages to bring a feeling to the role that recalls the classic character to mind. Mison’s tall, sharp, dashing countenance mixes the attractive aspects we would expect a heroic figure of his caliber to have, while still lending itself to the rakish description Irving gives. He also conveys a sort of nervous, eccentric energy, which fits well with the quirks of the typical Ichabod Crane. They even make reference to his schoolmaster roots, as Ichabod actually was a professor at Oxford in his past life before the war. He uses that same identity as a cover story in the modern day. While incredibly changed from the source, the DNA of Ichabod Crane is still somewhere in there, and it makes the character all the more admirable.

4. Andy Mientus, from Tarrytown.

Andy Mientus is likely known to most people unfamiliar with the musical theatre scene as the Pied Piper from The Flash (pictured above). While Mientus has not (to my knowledge) actively played the role onstage yet (which he should, for the record), I still feel that his performance in the official Cast Recording for this musical warrants him high marks. “Tarrytown,” for those who don’t know, is a modern reimagining of the original story, with the big twist (aside from the present-day setting) being that Ichabod is depicted as a homosexual, who longs for Brom instead of Katrina. Aside from this, though, he’s basically still Ichabod Crane. The character is depicted as a bit more sympathetic than the Irving version, but ONLY a BIT more. He’s still got vices and faults: instead of being a glutton for food, he is a recovering drug addict who is easily swayed back into the habit. While he claims to be friends with Katrina, he shows some signs of that friendship being false, such as calling her a “babbling hyena” while fantasizing under the influence. (It should be added that he then catches himself and adds, “I exaggerate.”) It’s also hard to tell how much of his attraction to Brom is real, genuine love, and how much of it is simply lust. Nevertheless, the character is depicted as more of a victim than a villain: much more lonely and naive than the character from the story, and also much more kindhearted. There’s a sweetness and a sadness to this Ichabod that makes him infinitely more tragic than the character in the original book, while still keeping the heart of the source intact.

3. Johnny Depp, from Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.

Much like Tom Mison, Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Ichabod is a very different character from the original legend. In Tim Burton’s chilling, Gothic reimagining, Ichabod is depicted as a detective, who comes to Sleepy Hollow to solve a mysterious series of slayings. He believes, at first, that they are the work of a mortal man who is emulating the legendary Horseman. It turns out Ichabod is only half-right: the Horseman, he learns, is indeed real, but the murdering ghost is being controlled by a mortal monster. Ichabod soon uncovers a vast conspiracy at work in the town of Sleepy Hollow, and works quickly to uncover its tangled ends, all while dealing with his budding romantic interest in the wealthy Katrina Van Tassel. While both the character and the story of the film take MASSIVE liberties with the source, when I recently revisited the picture, I was surprised at how much of the original tale actually still remained intact. Depp’s Ichabod is no exception: while Depp is by no means the definitive actor to play Ichabod, on face value, both his costume and his overall demeanor keep the ideals of Washington Irving in mind. Ichabod is much more virtuous and less superstitious than the Crane from the original story, but he’s still a quirky, panicky coward who is easily spooked, and a great deal of the humor in the film comes from Monk-like portrayal of the character. Ichabod is somehow both a complete pansy and a daring hero at the same time; a Cowardly Lion, who is scared to death of all the horror around him, but perseveres nonetheless. It’s an interesting reinterpretation, and a performance of Depp’s I’ve come to appreciate more and more over time. Depp - and I’m paraphrasing slightly, I must confess - described his Ichabod as what you would get if Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes was played by Roddy McDowall. If that’s not a great couple of inspirations, I don’t know what could be better.

2. The Disney Version.

Originally appearing in the Sleepy Hollow segment of the film “The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad,” Disney’s Crane is interesting to me because, unlike all the other versions I’ve talked about here so far, he’s actually NOT that drastically changed from the original story. His appearance is a perfect caricature based on Irving’s illustrative, exaggerative descriptions in the book, and his personality is perfectly in line with that character. Disney’s Ichabod is toonishly humorous and a little eccentric, but he’s also got all of the issues the one from the story has. In fact, the Disney version sticks REMARKABLY close to the source material. It doesn’t water down anything, and in some places expands on elements to make the characters and story come to life more than ever before. While Ichabod never really speaks in this version, so much is garnered from the animation that he still has a decided personality and character all his own. Unlike some other short versions of Sleepy Hollow that came since, which were really just tellings of the story with animation over them, so to speak, this one really works hard to bring the tale to a new level. The best example I can give is something like Tom & Jerry: the characters are silent, but they are still true, full, believable characters. The Disney take on the story is my favorite, so it stands to reason their magnificently animated Ichabod ranks highly…but he’s only second place on my list. So…who could top Disney?

1. Brent Carver, from the 1999 Hallmark Film.

While this TV Movie version of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” certainly has its flaws - the pacing being a bit slow is probably its most noteworthy issue - it still has, in my opinion, the single greatest Ichabod Crane of any adaptation of the book. While the Disney version is absolutely marvelous, it’s still a pantomime performance from an animated character. Carver, however, truly feels like Ichabod Crane in the flesh: everything about him is EXACTLY what I would imagine Ichabod Crane to be like. His voice, his personality, and even his appearance! If one were to meet Ichabod Crane in real life, and he DIDN’T look like Carver’s version, I would be shocked. Carver almost single-handedly makes this version work; the main draw to this film really is his performance as Ichabod, who is once again depicted true to the story. He’s got likeable qualities, but he’s also hypocritical and arrogant. These elements make him in equal parts humorous and deserving of the fate he faces at the end of the story. There’s really not much to say: Carver just IS Ichabod Crane, plain and simple. When I think of the story of Sleepy Hollow, I typically think of the Disney version…but when I think of Ichabod Crane, specifically, as a character, this is who I think of. There is no doubt that Brent Carver is My Favorite Ichabod Crane.

33 notes · View notes

mi6014ikepearson · 1 year

Text

THE ADVERTISING OF ALCOHOL - “LEARNING THE LAW”

in my 20 years existence on this planet; I have always attempted to stay well away from getting into trouble. especially regarding the law..

throughout school I was too terrified to test the boundaries, and see what I could get away with, like most adolescents: and as such I would usually spend my time being fairly observant to other’s antics, rather than participating - allowing myself deniability by just keeping to myself, and doodling away in my sketchbooks.

that’s not to say, I didn’t ever get into mischief - I do engage in tomfoolery on occasion: especially as I got older, and more sure of myself~

growing up, as early on as I can remember the education system was getting us to think about careers - and one of my initial interests was in being a Detective, for the police force; before deciding on potentially pursuing a career in engineering.

..and then dropping that to concept to become an animator.

point of which being: I have no idea about the laws surrounding this subject matter - and, as such, am ready to delve somewhat into a field I once found interesting to learn the trick of the trade.

ADVERTISING - “THE DOS AND DONTS OF ALCOHOL”

alcohol is interesting in that whilst it’s an intoxicating substance - it still has its space in terms of legality.

in order to we first need to understand the laws around the legal drinking age - as most laws surrounding the advertising of alcohol are in effect to protect children, as young people are especially susceptible to advertising

The majority of countries, in the world have a minimum legal drinking age of 18; others have an MLDA of 19 to prevent the flow of alcoholic beverages in high schools; while others like the United States have a MLDA of 21 to reduce the amount of drunk driving rates among teenagers and young adults.

with young adults being an extremely susceptible audience base, due to their still maturing brain; it’s easy to see why different countries dispute the legal drinking age, in such a way.

alcohol has been proven to have a negative effect on the brain, but this is especially apparent in adolescents; Since the brain is still maturing, alcohol can have a negative effect on the memory and long-term thinking. Alongside that, it can cause liver failure, and create a hormone imbalance in teens due to the constant changes and maturing of hormones during puberty.

as such: it’s important to avoid advertising the product in ways that will appeal to to adolescents.

youtube

a snippet from Jean Kilbourne’s - “Selling alcohol: what is not said.”

a discussion around the advertising attitude around alcohol. even though dated; the information in this talk is even still relevant, in today’s society.

Kilbourne uses a lot of American buzzwords such as her advocating for “more freedom of speech”, and as such I’d like to condense what is a pretty lengthy speech and put forward the footnotes that will attempt to showcase the ways in which this has furthered my research.

alcohol is a drug: and pretending that it isn’t would be irresponsible.

drugs are one of the largest problems in society, even at current day - with a significant percentage of crime statistics being drug related.

In 2020/21, there were around 210,000 drug offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, as well as an estimated 306,000 heroin and / or crack users in England, alone.

Apart from medicines in general, the next most commonly used drug is alcohol, followed by the nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco based products, Cannabis, Amphetamine-type stimulants, opiates, powder cocaine, MDMA, ketamine.

in a world where most illicit drugs are heavily punishable to the fullest extent of the law - it seems weird that one of the most addictive, and life destroying is perfectly legal, as well as heavily advertised.

THE HISTORY OF LAW AROUND ADVERTISING - “ETHICS SOLD SEPERATELY”

advertising is an extremely powerful tool.

and with alcohol as one of the most addictive as well as heavily advertised products: this is a dangerous combination - as corporations are designed to need to increase profit to be successful, at the end of the day.

and increase profit they shall try..

youtube

Mark Grabowski’s Lecture on “Advertising Law & Ethics”

a short and simple breaking down of the history of how advertising became more regulated to protect consumers.

long before the heavy regulations of modern day were implemented to protect consumers - Caveat emptor (Latin for "let the buyer beware") was the fundamental principle in commerce and contractual relationships between the buyer and the seller.

According to the caveat emptor principle, the buyer was entirely responsible for performing the necessary due diligence before the purchase to ensure that a good is not defective and that it suits their needs.

obviously this resulted in numerous scams, that took the hard earned money out of the pockets of hard-working individuals: and as such a few basic laws were created that became the backbone for advertising laws in the modern day

FALSE ADVERTISING

MISLEADING ADS

ADS FOR ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

UNWANTED SPAM TELEMARKETING

with a set of laws in place, it became the goal of advertisers to find alternate ways to work around the laws and sell products;

and in order to boost profits - the alcohol industry is famous for putting out some of the most outrageous forms of false advertising, in the past, that even still have shaped our perceptions around the attitude towards alcohol, in present day.

ADVERTISING ALCHOBOOZE - “THE FINE LINE BETWEEN THE WRONG & ACCEPTABLE”

the current state of alcohol advertisement is one of free expressionism, but out of fear of backlash from consumers, the companies themselves work towards appealing solutions that will not upset audiences.

although this is not how it has always been..

youtube

Kristi Sauer - “The History of Advertising Alcohol”

a short and simple film that discusses the evolution of how alcohol advertisements have changed throughout history.

our current state of being has been reached through what was previously a dark era of advertising techniques such as manipulation, sexism, gender objectification, and other tasteless tactics - that whilst technically legal; are ethically ambiguous..

ultimately in places where freedom of speech exists it is not illegal to do certain things; and as such it is up to the company themselves to take up ethically responsible practices in their profession.

after all..

“you’re responsible not just for what you sell but how you sell it” - Mark Grabowski of Adelphi University in New York

THE RULES OF THE TRADE - “DRINK RESPONSIBLY”

youtube

though, as previously described - the advertising of alcohol is mostly self regulated, by the companies themselves as well as volunteer ran - however there are a very particular set of laws that need to be adhered to..

after compiling information from The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) & The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) I will attempt to break down each law into a digestible format, that sets out a strict guideline of the sort of things that are acceptable in regards to alcohol marketing.

18.1,18.6,18.7 - LEVEL 7 SUSCEPTIBLE: “THOU SHALT NOT ADVERTISE TO THE VULNERABLE”

going back to our discussion about ethical marketing - this point touches on the concept of avoiding the advertising of alcohol to certain demographics who are more vulnerable and therefore will be more susceptible to advertising.

demographics like this include non-adolescent teenagers, and children - but are more focused on individuals with isolated persons with confidence issues.

in essence this is the backbone of every single subsection I have created - and it’s about showcasing alcohol as some kind of magical performance enhancing tonic that will make you more attractive, better at socialising, and increase your chances romantically.

this will effect the way I think about handling the production of this advertisement - having to focus more on creating something that fits the confines of each of these laws, whilst still remaining both faithful to the brand’s source material, as well as being engaging and creative enough to effectively connect with audiences.

18.4- THE WILLIAM LAWSONS WAY: “A SPANNER IN THE COGS”

I wanted to highlight the significance of 18.4, by showcasing it separately from the others, in the similar category - as I feel it quite literally juxtaposes William Lawson’s previous advertising campaigns.

as evidenced through our previous analysis of the style of advertisements that build up the William Lawson’s Brand identity - this might be part of the reason this brief was set..

and as such, when it comes time to brainstorm ideas - we will be attempting to move away from the famous Highlander style of ads that the brand is known for; and instead attempt to encapsulate the spirit of the brand in a more updated format that is both conventionally appealing as well as humorous and witty.

18.2,18.3,18.5 - AN ENHANCEMENT POTION: “ALCOHOL IS NOT COOL”

again, touching on the idea of consumers being easy to manipulate - these three specific laws surround the ideas of advertising alcohol as some sort of miracle liquid that will enhance an individual’s success in some way.

namely in terms of having more friends, being better at seduction, as well as all around happiness in the fields of life.

alcohol is a depressant.

it gets you drunk because it contains ethanol; a water soluble volatile organic compound that when digested, is broken down and flows through your blood all around your body; when reaching your brain it slows down the central nervous system and through this disruption of the balance, affects our thoughts, feelings and actions – and sometimes our long-term mental health.

implying that alcohol is going to do anything more than get you intoxicated is misleading, and therefore classes as deceptive advertising.

18.8 - DRUGS IS DRUGS: “ILLEGAL IS ILLEGAL”

this one is extremely self explanatory..

illicit drugs are illegal - and as such; the correlation between alcohol to such activities is also illegal.

showcasing alcohol being consumed at a session where any of these substances are used, and abused, is a major no-no.

18.9,18.17 - THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE: “ONE MUSTN’T TELL LIES”

another fairly self-explanatory two-piece that thoroughly explains the prohibited and permitted linguistics that are allowed to be used to express factual information about the product to the consumer.

it is important to note that that highlighting the strength of the drink is only in effect when it is a lower % - as is the case with the subject of the brief: ( William Lawson’s NEW, lower percentage “Highlander Orange” )

however, the specific percentage number itself is not permitted: just “reduced-alcohol”

18.10,,18.11,18.12,18.13 - DON’T BE AN IDIOT: “IRRESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION”

you’ll often see the phrase “drink responsibly” shoe-horned in at the end of an alcohol ad; and in essence this is a way to cover yourself, as a brand - if/when consumers let their decision making be numbed by the influence of booze.

the digestion of alcohol by your body makes it harder for the brain areas controlling balance, memory, speech, and judgment to do their jobs, resulting in you being more impulsive - and as such there is a higher likelihood of injuries and other negative outcomes.

this is why, for example, there are so many drink-driving incidents - where people were not thinking about the safety of themselves, and anyone else on the road; by deciding to get behind the wheel, under the influence.

in order to protect your brand from affiliation with the actions of individuals, you need to both showcase the product in lighthearted social environments, as well as highlight the importance of being responsible when drinking - as the fault is on the user who commits the action, and the brand does not condone that sort of behaviour.

18.14,18.15,18.16 - A MAJOR ISSUE FOR A MINOR: “UNDERAGE DRINKING”

underage drinking, no matter how inevitable it may be - is not legal, and going back to the previous article 18.8: showcasing illegal activity in a promotion is prohibited.

though the legal age to purchase alcohol is 18 in most areas of the world - advertisements ask for the actors in the film to be shown in a manner that presents them as 25, or above.

“Challenge 25″ is a retailing strategy that encourages anyone who is over 18 but looks under 25 to carry acceptable ID - as the policy removes any element of doubt around people looking older than they really are.

the products are restricted to young people for a reason, as we have previously discussed - and advertising for a demographic that is unable to both purchase the product legally, as well as use it, is just plain irresponsible.

as such for our film, we will have to find ways to showcase our actors as self-sufficient adults - through having them working jobs, living away from home, etc.

FINAL THOUGHTS - “RESTING THE CASE”

with a thorough understanding of the laws surrounding the advertisement of alcohol - we are in a much better position, when it comes to figuring out the type of film we will be making.

though I will be looking further, through more research into alternate brands in my next blog post, as well as other means of furthering my final product, in the not-so-distant-future: I think it is important to look back on this blog post closer to the time of production, and ensure that everything I am showcasing in my film is legal.

as in following these laws we might end up with something good, but more importantly something that won’t get us into some legal trouble..

youtube

0 notes

never-rpg · 1 year

Photo

FOUNDATIONS FALL TO RUBBLE. I BREAK THE HIGH AND MIGHTY. I DON’T TAKE INSULTS LIGHTLY. I’VE GOT ONE GOAL, PURGE THE SICKNESS FROM THE WHOLE.

The Merfolk have no official governing body and are each free to do as they please with no real laws or regulations in place save the ones Peter enforces, despite preferring to live together in a sort of loosely bound society. However, if there were to be a leader among them, it would be Ianthe. For better or for worse, Ianthe is typically the representative who speaks for the Merfolk, especially if the person she’s speaking to is Peter or Hook. Oftentimes, Merfolk try to usurp her role as self-appointed diplomat to no avail.

One of the most brutal and domineering of the Merfolk, Ianthe is always out to protect herself and her own best interests. Expect no mercy from Ianthe–she won’t lift a finger to save anyone but herself. Most of the Merfolk see her motivations for what they are, but as it is in their nature to be selfish, few see a flaw in this philosophy until it impedes their own comfort or fancies. Ianthe is willing to go along with any atrocity if it helps to assure her own security–and if that so happens to help the Merfolk as a people–well, that’s just a useful bargaining chip to keep in her arsenal for when she needs to manipulate the others into going along with whatever she chooses.

Almost always seen in her company, Marlowe is both her closest confidante and the most in danger of her. She counts him as lesser than herself, make no mistake. However, his determination to survive matches her own drive and she respects that part of him. Even if at the same time she does count it as a potential threat. She knows his alignment with her is a way for him to avoid attacks from the other merfolk, which gives her considerable leverage over Marlowe and she is ever ready to wield it to its fullest should she need to.

CONNECTIONS

✘ MARLOWE: partners in crime, suspicious of, conditional friendship ✘ NERISSA: dislikes, wants her gone, sees her as weak ✘ CALLISTO: airheaded lackey, uses as a pawn ✘ PETER & HOOK: mercurial loyalty favoring Peter

FACE CLAIM IS ANYA CHALOTRA | TAKEN

#bio #ianthe #merfolk #taken

0 notes

nickersonagency9j · 3 months

Text

Auto insurance broker near me

Rising auto insurance rates have been a topic of substantial coverage in recent news articles.

In southern Connecticut, there is a large selection of insurance policies to choose from. Not all notable Connecticut localities have been particularly badly hit by the present downturn in the real estate industry. New London, Groton, Waterford, and Norwich are a few of the locations mentioned. Connecticut is home to a diverse population of nationalities and ethnicities.

Arrive early at any of the several attractions in southeast Connecticut to avoid the hordes of tourists. We want as little downtime as possible. It would take an extraordinary achievement to travel the whole state given all the obstacles. You must rent a car with insurance in order to enjoy the stunning autumn foliage and beaches of New England to the fullest. In order to stabilize the situation and prevent it from getting worse, we must act right away.

Crime rates in metropolitan areas may be greater than in less populous areas due to the higher population density. Those that reside close to major roadways can experience heavier traffic than usual. It is challenging to ensure everyone's safety on the roadways due to drivers' utter disregard for the law. Only brokers and licensed insurance agents are permitted to sell this kind of coverage. It is imperative that you get comprehensive auto insurance. It makes sense to use the money for immediate medical treatment following an accident. Motivating the drivers of the future is a huge undertaking.

Anyone can purchase auto insurance from Nickerson, regardless of age or financial situation. Please give us a call if you ever feel that you might need our assistance. In the event that you need to contact me regarding purchasing a vehicle or locating more affordable auto insurance, my phone is open around-the-clock. If you're still not sure, you should think about it more ++Auto insurance broker near me++++ ++. Getting advice from an insurance agent before getting a driver's license or boosting coverage is standard procedure. Families may experience financial pressure when a child is sick and needs expensive medical treatment.

You may be sure that we'll take care of all of your needs. Nickerson Insurance is available to you 24/7 if you have any questions or issues regarding your insurance coverage. Companies like Easy Auto Insurance and Vehicle Insurance Brokers provide reasonably priced auto insurance in Hartford. If you think you qualify for a discount, it's quite fair to ask for one. Even with vision impairments, customers can still receive substantial discounts. If you think you qualify for a discount, it's quite fair to ask for one. The designers gave the planners all the plans so that their tasks would be easy.

Customers in New Hampshire have trusted Nicholas Insurance, which has its main office in Waterford, for a long time. It is recommended to see an expert if you are experiencing difficulty selecting an insurance plan. Our ultimate aim is to outperform every other insurance company in Waterford, Connecticut. These two improvements have made our service unparalleled. Knowing that our services are accessible across the country gives you peace of mind. You can rely on us to make sure you have the minimal amount of legal auto insurance coverage. If our finances are to make any difference, your outstanding work thus far is essential. Before we can unwind, we need to finish this important step. We can increase the impact of our efforts by giving them a monetary value.

We are very grateful for your interest in becoming a potential business partner of our American insurance firm. They have total faith in us since we constantly surpass their expectations. We will not give up until we are certain that you will be safe. We won't stop fighting until we find a solution. We are therefore willing to give up everything in order to achieve our goal. We have provided you with a variety of options since we recognize that every driver is unique and has distinct preferences. We sincerely sympathize with the families of those who lost their lives in the horrific highway tragedy yesterday. Take advantage of the chance that is currently in front of you. Get your free estimates from Nickerson Insurance Agency for insurance. We promise you won't find a more reasonably priced solution anywhere else. For all of your Connecticut auto insurance needs, click this link to contact Nickerson Insurance. We can serve the whole state of Connecticut from our convenient location in Waterford. If you could provide this assurance as soon as feasible, we could proceed with the business arrangement. At first, we thought it would never be successful to go out and try to get new clients. There won't be any changes made to the quality or price. Customers come from all over the place to our store because of its great location, affordable prices, and large selection.

Never provide your car key to someone you feel may have a gambling problem. Comprehensive and affordably priced car insurance packages are offered by Nickerson Insurance Agency. Recently, Stonington and Waterford, two communities in Connecticut, have gotten along well with one another. Since its founding in 1932, the insurance giant Nickerson has captivated Americans. It may be difficult to get inexpensive auto insurance, but assistance is available. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions or seek any clarifications you might need.

1 note · View note

mirrorgrets · 3 years

Text

Teyvat, the twins, and the Archons: a theory

Hello today I will be explaining my genshin impact theory which is most likely right because I say so and I have an inflated ego

Note: I will be referring to the MC as traveler and the Leader of the Abyss Order as such or as the missing twin for neutrality’s sake. And also because I chose Lumine and I can’t bear to say Lumine is “evil”

Note after writing all of that: Actually, I’m wrong. Reading it made me realize how batshit off the rails it all sounds. But here it is anyways because it’s a funny theory.

Contains multiple spoilers for the entirety of the game (1.3 edition)

Part 1. Gnosticism, Archons, and Humanity

I think by now, most of us have heard of the Gnosticism theory. If you haven't heard of it, Gnosticism is the belief that humanity could be more than what we are at present because of the world we're in.

Gnosticism has many versions but the basic concept of it is that humans are stuck in a fake world where our full potential is locked away because of our belief in false gods. The true God is the creator of the true world and between us and him, are beings called Aeons. One Aeon who is called Sophia (meaning Wisdom) created a being who thought of himself as the One True God and created the physical world in his flawed image. Oh, and he gave seven beings rule over the world he created, who are called the Archons.

Under Gnosticism, humans are thought to be part physical, but also have a spiritual component in us that grants us divinity. But because the false god and archons actively work to make sure we never realize that there is divinity within us, we never reach our full potential.

Connecting this with genshin impact, the humans in Teyvat have access to visions that give them power, as well as a chance to attain godhood. However, they believe that it is a gift from Celestia instead of a thing any of them can attain themselves. In fact, they don't even know that if one "receives" a vision, they can become gods because it's a secret that only Archons are privy to. Venti says this himself at the end of the prologue section of the main storyline when we ask him about visions.

It seems like Celestia doesn’t want humans to ascend to godhood. If we pair this with what we know from the Main Storyline trailer that Dainsleif narrates, it becomes clearer. He says that Celestia goads humans with their seven treasures, rewards for the worthy, the doorway to divinity. However, it seems like there is a warning for those who dare to try and ascend, as if they say that the throne in the sky is not for us even if we have the means to.

Doesn’t that seem to contradict the purpose of the vision? Yes, it is a means to help humans live in Teyvat, but why give out visions when the Archons know fully well that it could help them gain access to Celestia? Doesn't it then seem like visions are not gifts from the Archons but instead innate power that all humans possess?

Part 2. What are the twins + What is Dainsleif + What are they doing in Teyvat + the Genesis Pearl = A Loop

Most signs point to the idea that the twins are actually older than they look. It seems like Lumine and Aether landed in Teyvat at least 500 years ago during the cataclysmic event that wiped out Khaenri’ah.

Going back to the idea of Gnosticism, the true God sends out Messengers of Light to the false world to guide the humans to their full potential. And we see traveler helping their companions ascend further, reaching their fullest potentials when they “max out.”

Furthermore, it doesn’t seem like they’re human. During the 1.2 Dragonspine event, Albedo does tests on us, and though he doesn’t tell us his complete findings, he alludes that we are like him, created from a substance that is yet to be defined. This goes off from the theory that he’s a homunculus, created from chalk, purified soil, the building block of the world. Aside from that, after our fight with Childe, one of the dialogue options after he mentions the fact that traveler can use both anemo and geo, is that they’re slowly gaining back their true power.

And of course, when the twins first enter the world, they have actual wings which were stripped by the Unknown God. Doesn’t seem very human to me.

So, if the travelers are Messengers of Light, then why is that not their main goal? Based on the We Will Be Reunited trailer, when the Abyss Mage mentions the traveler to the missing twin, their face looks shocked, like they just remembered that they have a twin. There’s desperation in their steps when they rush to the cliff to see their twin again, like it’s been so long since they’ve seen their sibling who they literally forgot. I think that aside from stripping them of their power, the Unknown God also took away some of their memories.

So the missing twin might remember the actual purpose as to why they’re in Teyvat, but didn’t remember their sibling until recently, and traveler remembers their sibling but doesn’t remember the reason why they were in Teyvat in the first place (or they do but that isn’t their main concern since they’re putting their sibling first).

So how does Dainsleif relates to this particular segment? Well, in another version of Gnosticism, Aeons come in pairs. Sophia’s partner was Jesus. Now, in the Main Storyline trailer, Dainsleif alludes to a woman when at the very end of the video where he says “My memory has all but faded completely, but I will always remember, how she too loved these flowers.” The flowers are the flowers Lumine especially likes, the ones she adorns in her hair. A flimsy connection it may be, but a connection nonetheless.

Now, I’ve seen theories about Dainsleif being an older version of Aether, but that theory doesn’t hold water if you choose Lumine as your traveler or if you consider the fact that Dainsleif and Aether don’t share the same eye color. Yet, it’s not completely off. There are thirty Aeons in total, although this number can differ in other versions of Gnosticism.

Now, in Dainsleif’s quest, we immediately question this stranger as he is somehow omniscient, if we haven’t already questioned him with all his narration in the Collected Miscellany videos where he hints that he knows more than we do. I will say it now: I think that Dainsleif takes upon the role of Jesus.

I could be wrong. But I think I’m right. For now.

In another version of Gnosticism, Jesus goes to the false world and saves Sophia, as she forgets who she is, she forgets her divinity and is stuck there. If we follow the theory that Dainsleif is actually the second heir from the Gnostic Chorus teaser, and that he is searching for the Genesis Pearl. The Genesis Pearl symbolizes the beginning and purity that is incorruptible. This could be the essence of Sophia, the lost Aeon who incidentally created the false god.

Back to the Main Storyline trailer, Dainsleif says that the war has already begun, and that is just a continuation of past battles. We could take this in a sense that the conflict has reached its boiling point and that it was only because all these problems were left alone for too long. However, we could also consider the possibility that Dainsleif has lived through whatever the twins are going through right now because he is the first Messenger of Light to step foot in Teyvat.

We can also look into Dainsleif’s name, which is a Nordic name, actually written as Dáinsleif. This means Dain’s Legacy which is the sword of King Högni, which aided him in a never ending battle that went on until Ragnarok.

It seems like the twins are repeating a cycle that has already happened to Dainsleif and whoever the unknown woman who also likes the flowers the missing twin likes. All four of them are Aeons or Messengers of Light.

So who is that woman? I have no idea. It could the unknown god but that feels like a stretch. The unknown god might actually be the demiurge, the false god that created Teyvat and the seven Archons, and not Sophia herself. It could also be Paimon who might have some kind of relation to the unknown god, whether it be that she is the unknown god, or she is a being from Celestia. Either way, both feel like shaky theories.

But of course, Mihoyo is only taking inspiration from Gnosticism and several other sources which could lead them to take creative liberties when applying it to the game.

Part 3. The Abyss Order and Khaenri'ah: war crimes against humanity

Going back to my point about the twins’ original goal to why they went to Teyvat in the first place, let’s question why the missing twin joined forces with the Abyss Order and began to lead them to burn the throne of Celestia.

While we don't hear the missing twin mention Celestia in the We Will Be Reunited trailer, the only other time a throne is mentioned is in the Main Storyline trailer when Dainsleif mentions that Celestia does not want humans to ascend to take up a throne in the sky.

Back to the safety of the game's actual lore, we understand that Kaenri'ah is a godless nation that might have underwent a calamity that might have killed off most of its people since they were closer to understanding the truth, and were technologically advanced, compared to the other nations of Teyvat. An alchemist named Gold ultimately led to this cataclysm due to their greed for seeking erudition.

It is safe to assume that Celestia wiped out Khaenri'ah and all the technology they created. We could also assume that the people were all killed, yes, but it would be better to assume they were cursed instead. Into what though?

The hilichurls.

In the archive section of the game, under the books, there's quite a lot written about the hilichurls, thanks to Jacob Musk. The author describes the hilichurls to be drawn to old relics of the past, with even attempts to recreate it. Their way of lifestyle is even described, and it looks like they worship the element itself and not the Archons who represent it.

Doesn't it seem like the hilichurls have a connection with the ancient civilization of the past? Not to mention their strange connection to the elements in which shaman hilichurls (samachurls) can harness the elements without the use of a vision? If I am correct with my theory, then hilichurls were once citizens of the bygone Khaenri'ah who discovered they could harness the elements without an Archon's blessing that came in the form of a vision.

It doesn't feel too surprising considering that for monsters, hilichurls are quite smart. They even display human-like characteristics. In the game, we see them dancing, sleeping, just minding their own business in general. They have their own architecture and their own language. In the Hilichurl Cultural Customs book, we even discover that hilichurls are not as barbaric as they are made out to be as they have leaders who decide their policies and course of action. It's as if they have their own culture.

Ultimately, the hilichurls are part of the Abyss Order. The organization's main goal is to get undermine Celestia's rule, and at this point of this mess I call a theory, doesn't that make them stand in a position where nothing is painted as black and white as it seems. Yes, they do heinous things like steal, possibly murder, and set off a dragon on Mondstadt, but it looks like they're operating through a "the end justifies the means" kind of morality.

And the missing twin shares this sentiment. As they had seen what Celestia had done to Khaenriah 500 years ago before the beginning of the prologue, their desperation grows. Their war with destiny will not stop until Celestia falls because it is their ultimate mission. Traveler has taken up the safer side of this war, wherein they help the humans but the missing twin has taken up the side of fallen humans. This is why they're not evil per se; just going through questionable steps to achieve a righteous goal.

Part 4. Teyvat and its Archons

Based on all that, it seems like I’m painting the Archons to be the bad guys. I am. They wiped out an entire civilization on the basis that they might learn the truth of the world, and their uncanny closeness to Celestia.

But we like Venti and Zhongli, right? Of course we do! However, they were still complicit in the downfall of Khaenri'ah and the limitation of humanity in Teyvat.

To start, Venti had his gnosis was forcibly taken from him. He doesn't seem to mourn over that (although he could be hiding it) and it looks like he can still present himself in a godly manner as we see in Venti's quest when he revealed himself as Barbatos to Stanley. When we spend time with him under the tree of Vennessa, while he divulges the secrets of Celestia to us, he still seems to comply with them. This could be chalked up to the fact that ultimately, he is Mondstadt's Archon and also the weakest of the seven. We could also consider the fact that at the time of Khaneri’ah’s downfall, he was in Dragonspine with Dvalin, dealing with Durin.

With Zhongli, it becomes a bit more interesting. He gave away his gnosis under the agreement of a contract we do not know the details of. But why he did? Why not because of his regret as the geo Archon and of love? Zhongli once ruled over Guili Plains with another god named Guizhong, the god of dust. Guizhong loved their people but perished during the Archon War. He then moved their people to Liyue Harbor and in her place, began to love them. Although he is stilted with the way he deals with his people, we see that he cares. Over the years, he has grown soft and shed the persona of Morax, a god who dealt with war. He says this himself and it feels like his ability to care extends beyond that of Liyue. It's possible he gave up his gnosis because he understands what the Tsaritsa is doing and what she's fighting for.

The Tsaritsa is the cryo Archon and the god of love. However, according to Tartaglia, she had to harden herself to go through with her plan. But what is her plan but an act of love for humanity? Wiping out Khaenri'ah could've opened her eyes to the inherent cruelty of Celestia. The timeline makes sense because Venti said that 500 yers ago, he knew her well but now, not so much. It’s at that point she loses whatever loyalty she had for Celestia. She had to steel herself and begin her plans to overthrow Celestia, which involves taking the gnoses of the six other Archons to fight the false god and alleviate humans from the hell they are in. That is her way of showing her love to humanity.

Teyvat is only a false world. We have seen many instances of this being hinted at like when Katheryne of the Adventurer’s Guild says “rebooting” or “error” as if she is only a program, or when Scaramouche says that the sky and the stars are all fake. Even in the game, if you take a closer look at the stars, it feels fake, as if it is a dome that traps the humans in Teyvat. Even more unsettling, when going deeper within the Spiral Abyss, the more stars you see which could mean Teyvat is actually upside down and that go deeper within the Spiral Abyss, we are ascending closer to the true world.

What greater act of love could the Tsaritsa commit other than giving humanity the truth?

Part 5. In conclusion: none of this makes sense

To summarize my main points:

Genshin Impact takes a lot from the mythos of Gnosticism

Visions are not gifts from the Archons but an inherent power from humans that come from their own "divinity"

The twins and Dainsleif are related in some manner

The twins are repeating a cycle that Dainsleif has already been through

The twins are suffering some kind of memory loss

The twins are in Teyvat to help humans realize their power

Celestia is not heaven but more like hell

Teyvat is a false world

The Tsarita is actually good

The Abyss Order is a morally grey organization

Archons are bad

This could all be wrong as this is only a theory. But the connections I pointed out make a bit of sense. There’s still more lore to uncover as we’ve only unlocked two regions and the Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies only have one volume out so far (this book is important because an Abyss Mage says that there is a lie within it) so this could all be debunked when new regions are unlocked.

Still, it’s a pretty fun theory to believe in at the moment. Thank you for reading this mess I call a theory!

#genshin impact #genshin impact theory #lumine #aether #dainsleif #venti #zhongli #and when im wrong ?#who cares this is a funny theory actually #if anyone wants to discuss this theory ahaha my dms r open #also if i have made any mistakes pls tell me LMAO #take shot whenever i say gnosticism I HATE IT HERE MY BRAIN IS SO FRIED #i could write this more seriously but to keep myself from slipping im writing this what i call i can get away w comedy in my academic papers #bc its not funny #just me barely holding onto the tendrils of my sanity #yes i linked a wikipedia page LET ME BE I DONT WANT TO EXPLAIN RAGNAROK ANYMORE #wont mention battle pass anymore for dainsleif its too long lmao

115 notes · View notes

meetnategreen · 3 years

Text

California’s Seditious Seven

An open Letter to :

Gavin Newsom -Governor of California, and Xavier Becerra - Attorney General of the State of California,

On January 6th, 2021, seven current members of the United States (US) House of Representatives from the State of California publicly and intentionally committed no less than three felonies, (18 U.S.C 1918, 18 U.S. Code 2384 ,52 U.S. Code 20511) leading directly to the deaths of at least six individuals, including two members of federal law enforcement. We are asking for the State of California to hold them accountable for their crimes, and punish them for their actions, and their contempt for the American people, to fullest extent of the law.

Representatives Calvert, Garcia, Issa, LaMalfa, McCarthy, McClintock, Nunes, and Obernolte violated their oath of office (18 U.S.C 1918) to the US Constitution and the residents of the State of California, who they are paid to represent, when they sought to overturn 2020 presidential election, without just cause or provocation.

When they joined with 141 other paid public officials and refused to certify the fair and verified election results, they engaged in the seditious conspiracy, 18 U.S. Code 2384 fomenting fear, distrust and contempt for United States elections and their fellow political representatives. All worked together to deceive and to sow doubt in the minds of both the poorly educated and misinformed, galvanizing hatred and rage that lead directly to the assault on the Untied States Capitol Building and the loss of life that followed.

Together, they not only sought to disenfranchise voters in Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania by discarding their legally cast ballots and by disparaging and defaming both election officials and voters alike, they also acted to disregard the will of the vast majority of California voters, who overwhelming supported the documented winner of the 2020 Presidential election, and not their personally preferred candidate, the verified loser.

By repeatedly espousing false claims and unfounded conspiracies for their own personal benefit, they engaged openly in the election fraud that they then accused others of committing, thus violating 52 U.S. Code 20511.

On January 6, 2021 and then again on January 13, 2021, when these men were afforded two separate opportunities to express or demonstrate regret or remorse for the chaos and carnage they witnessed first hand, and to hold the instigator of the insurrection against America's institutions and representatives liable, they refused to assume or assign any responsibility, other than to scapegoat the minions they helped summon to the Capitol with their lies and public deceptions.

Congress is a legislative body, and not a judicial one. Having seen how Congress failed to hold its own members accountable for insider trading and pandemic profiteering, we are painfully aware that there is a great and inequitable divide between administrative disciplinary action and just federal prosecution.

All across this country, poll workers and poll inspectors are well aware of the criminal consequences they would face if they attempted, or allowed others to attempt, to change the outcome of a fair and free election.

In much the same way, the majority of people of color in the United States are well aware of the potential lethal consequences they face whenever they are even suspected of breaking the law.

Millionaires and politicians, in contrast, are fully aware they are rarely, if ever, held fully and legally accountable for their own crimes and misdemeanors.

If federal persecutors are unwilling or unable to bring these seven criminal co-conspirators to justice, we ask the State of California to protect its residents and our nation’s Constitution from those who ignore both their civil duty and the federal law, and hold those who would defy the constitution and treat our democracy in contempt, fully legally accountable for their on going crimes against both citizens and the state.

Sincerely

Nate Green

If you live in

Washington State,

Oregon,

California,

Arizona,

Michigan,

Wisconsin,

Illinois,

Virginia,

Georgia,

Pennsylvania,

New York,

New Jersey

Please call or write to your state’s Governor and Attorney General today. Many of the Republican House Representatives from your state have made it clear that they do not represent you, your state, or the majority of United States’ voters. They actively sought to overturn your election and cancel your votes. These individuals do not deserve to be in Congress, nor do they deserve a slap on the wrist. They deserve to be in jail.

(Feel free to copy and edit, cut and paste whatever you can use from the letter above adding in your own representatives’ names. Our states may be different, but their federal crimes are the same. )

95 notes · View notes

rebellionmoon · 2 years

Text

illumixoc chimera ant plot: love, loss, and hot guys that ✨SPARKLE✨ (illumi is hot guys)

ok so i think i can say this because i don't know how far i'm going to get in my illumixoc fic, WHERE SHADOWS TOUCH, so here is it! This takes places during the chimera ant arc and due to some unfortunate circumstances, Psyche (illumi's love interest) has been captured by blacklist hunters (because technically she is a criminal) and is going to be to punished by the law, but then the hunter organization pops in and agrees to pardon her for her crimes if she goes to the NGL, with a bunch of other hunters to exterminate the chimera ants. So a whole team is assembled, but Psyche is forced to be there against her will, even more so, they put a bracelet/collar on her that if she were to abandon the team/try to escape, it will kill her (at a certain distance away from the team leader, so she can't go far) so it isn't in her favor to try to run away. Some hunters in the team don't mind her profession but are outnumbered by others who refuse to be working with a criminal and treat her harshly for it.

A hunter says "i'm sick of people who refuse to better their lives." while looking directly at Psyche.

Psyche then doesn't deny what she does or use her capture as a sign to change her ways, saying adamantly "I don't mind killing bad people." At this point in her life, Psyche is so deep in her convictions. She believes she is bettering other people's lives, and hunter's like him don't understand. That just capturing someone isn't enough for retribution. After everything that happens with the Zoldycks, she is kind of depressed (i will not divulge the details here, you need to read the fic for that :D ) To her, some people are incapable of change, no matter how much love or second chances you give. And that when she is pardoned and let go she'll go back to doing what she did before (assassinations.) That really angered the blacklist hunters lol

Various things happen, they battle ants, some of her team mates refuse to help her when she almost gets killed, and it's unfair because Psyche is loyal and for arguments sake a good person, she will not let her teammates die and protects them even though her saving them doesn't changer their attitudes towards her. It becomes frustrating. Then the team leader is like 'put your feelings for each other aside, we're not here to die' so they start working together better now for SURVIVALS sake. but then the team leader is the first to die and anarchy arises lol Then the hunter who hates psyche the most puts himself in charge lol that IS NOT GOOD. Tensions build, more people die, and the hunters remove Psyche's collar because she says she it is hindering her from fighting to her fullest potential. The hunter blames psyche saying this is what she wanted all along, letting most of the group die so the rest would feel pressured and scared, allowing her to escape. Nonetheless the collar is taken off, but she doesn't abandon them. She fights better now.

ALL THE WHILE, Illumi has been tracking down Psyche :D (a lot of things have happened by this point, so I CANNOT SAY T_T ) He needs to find his wife, and has pinpointed the locations they've been to so far, and after communication was cut off between the team and the hunter organization, Illumi is able to speculate where her team might be.

Psyche learns....that she is pregnant. She is pregnant with Illumi's child and this saddens her because when they finally wanted to have children their lives were disrupted and forced apart (that's all i'm going to reveal XD) This wasn't how she imagined bringing a child into the world. She wanted her baby to be surrounded by its parents who loved them so much. But now she is alone and this child might not be given the chance to enter the world.

The hunter who HATED her begins to uh....hate her less when he learns she is pregnant and is going to be a mother. Finally, he actively protects her because even though Psyche is a criminal her baby is innocent. Close enough! The other hunters start giving him attitude like 'wtf dude. she's pregnant, give her your rations' XD dfjgdfgdf Psyche finally starts getting treated nicely and she wishes she found out she was pregnant sooner. Maybe she wouldn't' have been forced to go to NGL and instead carry out her pregnancy in a prison. But she's here!

Illumi finds her. YAY!

Illumi gets eaten by the queen. Not yay T-T but because of his strong convictions as a human he gets turned into a chimera ant. There was a rescue operation and Psyche and the rest of the hunters were rescued but Psyche didn't want to leave and in all honestly, wants to die. And the hunter who hated her is like 'NO. I WILL PROTECT YOU. I WILL HELP YOU ESCAPE." Character development y'all! However, it's because of Illumi's sacrifice that Psyche was able to escape and live. Pysche is taken back by the zoldycks because she is pregnant with Illumi's baby. The zoldycks now resent her for killing their son, and as soon as she gives birth they will kill her. Psyche knows her time is short. Illumi, now a chimera ant, TRAVELS ACROSS THE OCEANS AND CONTINENTS TO GO BACK HOME TO KUKUROO MOUNTAIN. He remembers a few things. His memory is hazy, but he remembers his love for her. He remembers little moments of happiness he shared with her. when they'd lie together on the hammock he built for her, while the wind gently rocked them. Food fights in the kitchen where he'd 'purposely' let her win, he wasn't trying his best, or so he says. In bed when he would lay his head on her chest and she would gently stroke his hair. The town is in a state of panic becase they see this MONSTER heading towards kukuroo mountain, the tour bus hits the pedal and gets the hell out of there. Illumi opens the gate. Mike doesn't attack Illumi because mike is a good doggo and he knows master illumi has finally returned home. The butlers are instructed to not let that THING get to the family and to kill the chimera ant. when that doesn't work, silva and zeno go out to kill it themselves, but they do not know. By some point they think its Illumi who has come back to them, Kikyo goes to her son but Illumi growls at her and oozes deadly aura, stopping her. Amane went to get Psyche and bring her out, she helps her walk outside and now her baby bump is visible. Psyche sees him and immediately he reminds her of her shadow beast. And she can see Illumi in that chimera ant. "You're alive." her voice is sore from haven't talked in months. Illumi can't talk, and he is literally FORCING himself to say to her name. it pains him that he can't. He lays his head in her lap so she will stroke him like she used to and now everyone knows. THAT 'THING' IS ILLUMI AND HE CAME BACK. I almost feel like its payback for referring to Alluka as a THING, now illumi is a THING. Illumi can hear his baby's heart beat and he look up at psyche and in his mind he is like 'will you still love me now that i'm no longer beautiful. Now that i'm a monster, inside and out.'

The zoldycks need Alluka to change illumi back into a human. So then there is a whole plot about that. But Killua is like 'we can use this to our advantage." Killua gets KURAPIKA to put a nen curse on Psyche, basically stating that If Illumi ever tries to capture either alluka or killua, psyche will die. and If illumi really, truly does love Psyche, he will stop pursuing them. Permanently. SO. There are negotiations and finally they come to an agreement. This is insurance for Killua, finally putting an end to him being the zoldyck heir. Killua tells Psyche that he doesn't understand why she loves Illumi and has no desire to try to understand her (but he knows its good insurance because Illumi does love Psyche.) Killua flat out says he isn't doing this for Psyche's sake, but for his own. He also says that he is not responsible for what happens to Psyche or the baby after illumi is turned back to normal. whatever happens to her is on illumi and his actions, and Psyche really has no other option than to agree. She wants her husband back. She will risk her life for it. Her life is now in his hands.

A problem begins to arise with Silva and Kikyo, but mainly with silva. He beings to wonder if Illumi is worth losing Killua..... it didn't take him long to think about it and he came to the conclusion that it isn't worth it and the only answer is SABOTAGE :D they contemplate killing Psyshe after she gives birth, but then Illumi will be a hassle to deal with, so they choose the easiest solution: Kill illumi before Alluka can make the wish then kill Psyche after she gives birth and then capture Alluka and Killua and stick needles in both of their heads (because Silva would be damned if Illumi was the only one who knew how to do it haha) :D Ah yes, you can always count on family to have your back---

Amane, who is loyal to Psyche, tells her EVERYTHING. Even though it could jeopardize her position and her grandmother's position in the household. Stuff happens, i need to properly work out the details, but Silva does not succeed in his plans and alluka turns Illumi back to normal.

Illumi after the transformation emerges out of a body of water (idk how he got there) and comes out looking fucking reborn and gorgeous. Glistening, hot, in his b-day suit. Black hair fanning around the water, sticking to his skin, water dripping everywhere ;) Psyche runs to him. He collapses in her arms, and all he can do is hold on to her. This is real. She is real. He is being held by her and they stay that way for a while T-T Finally, he is reunited with his love, and with their child on the way.

Did i really write this whole plot for the chimera ant arc just so Illumi could emerge out of water being all hot and gorgeous and SPARKLING and ripped af.....yeah pretty much.

HAHHAHAHHA

this is all for my IllumiXoc fic 'Where Shadows Touch."

6 notes · View notes

freshthoughts2020 · 4 years

Text

MAYBE GOKU SHOULD BEAT EVERY VILLAIN?

I’ve definitely been apart of that crowd that complains about Goku getting the win over the big bad, ALL THE TIME. In fact, I even wrote Shueisha about it lol. However, one day I was just reading about Dragonball and I thought you know what maybe Goku should get the win everytime. Here’s why:

I. LOW-CLASS SAIYAN

Besides the writing literally dictating who get the wins over the big bad, in a strictly narrative perspective, Goku isn’t the ideal person to win. In his race of people, he is considered a low class warrior. Low class warriors are sent off to distant planets and the planet he was sent to was Earth. Goku was never a prodigy or automatically strong. He worked and dedicated his life to training, he gets off on breaking his limits. In regards to that, if someone dedicates their life to being the best and shattering their limits, why shouldn’t they be able to defeat everyone they come across?

Yeah, we’ll like to see Vegeta (for those who don’t know, he’s a saiyan too and Goku’s rival) get some wins but besides the writing dictating he won’t win, there is also a reason why Vegeta doesn’t get the big wins.

II. WHY OTHER CHARACTERS CAN’T GET THE BIG WIN

Staring with the Prince of All Saiyans, Vegeta, he can’t get a win because the dude is too cocky for his own good. For the first big villain Frieza, he antagonized Frieza, and was begging him to transform. He repeatedly stressed he was a super saiyan, when he really wasn’t. He constantly pushed Frieza to become his strongest form unnecessarily because doing that Frieza embarrassed the young man to no return. Wait scratch embarrassing he actually killed him. He couldn’t beat Frieza because he simply wasn’t strong enough enough.

The next big Villain Cell, Vegeta cockiness once again destroyed his chances of beating a big bad. Enticed by the same thing with Frieza, he wanted to see Cell at his strongest. At this point Vegeta is far stronger than Cell, he essentially embarrasses him the same way Frieza once did him. Everyone around him begged him to finish the fight and save the Earth from a menace but what did he do? Allow his cockiness/pride to take over and allowed Cell to get full power. What happened next? An ass-kicking of a lifetime is what happened lol.

Vegeta simply can’t win because his arrogance will never allow him too! He can destroy minor villains due to his overwhelming dominance, but the big bad can always increase in strength that rivals his or surpasses him. Vegeta always want to fight people at their strongest so he’s always gonna get his ass kicked lol.

GOHAN CAN’T WIN EITHER

I’m definitely the leader of “Make Gohan Great Again” he ‘s probably my favorite character but my guy hasn’t been getting the love he supposed to get. The only big bad victory he had was against Cell and ever since then fans were begging for Gohan to get the spotlight. Besides the writing dictating Gohan will not get the big win, the in-narrative explaination is, Gohan doesn’t like fighting!

In his fight against Cell, he explained he doesn’t seek the thrill of fighting like his father, Goku. His father and the other warriors live to fight. Gohan doesn’t live like that, he’s a scholar, not a warrior. However, what frustrates fans is that its been stated he has the most potential out of everyone but we never seen him to be the strongest for long. Luckily he defeated Cell but besides Gohan lack of love for fighting, Gohan won’t defeat a main villain because he gets drunk off his own power.

When he surpassed Cell, Goku urged Gohan to finish Cell but Gohan wanted to see Cell suffer more. He knew Cell could not touch him but he wanted to drag it on and on due to his punch drunk power. The same happened with Buu, the next big bad.

This time Gohan was once again the strongest due to his potential being unlocked by the Elder Kai. However, Gohan took his time with Buu, once again getting drunk off his power, wanting to see Buu suffer for his crimes against humanity. Gohan derailing the objective for justice caused him to get absorbed by Buu and Goku had to save the day once again.

II. GOKU REALLY DOESN’T WIN ALL THE TIME

In the Dragonball Super series Goku doesn’t actually get a win. Our perception as fans is that Goku always get the win but this statement is really factually untrue. The first big bad, Beerus, overpowered everyone including Goku. Even with Goku achieving a new form, Super Saiyan God, it wasn’t enough to defeat Beerus. Luckily for them Beerus decides to spare them because of Earth’s delicious treats (we do have great food lol).

In the Tournament between Universe 6 & 7, it was obvious that Goku & Vegeta should win. Did that happened? Nope! In fact Goku was eliminated twice! Once by illegal use of poison by his opponent, so he was allowed to re-enter then he forfeited a fight because the opponent couldn’t fight at his fullest without killing.

Goku didn’t defeat the next big bad, Zamasu. In fact, that fight went so left a whole universe/timeline had to be wiped out of existence just to defeat Zamasu, you’ll have to watch it for yourself if you don’t know the full story behind that.

In the next big tournament. the Tournament of Power, Goku didn’t win that either, he eliminated plenty of opponents, but he sacrificed himself to eliminate the strongest person in the tournament, thus leaving victory to Android 17.

III. GOKU LIVES AND BREATHES FIGHTING

Maybe Goku should win because he literally eats and breathes fighting. He’s barely home with his family, he put everyone at risk, just for the chance to fight the strongest the universe has to offer, If someone has that much passion then maybe he deserves to win everything.

visit gettothecorner.com

follow me on twitter @onlyonejaevonn

#goku #vegeta #shueisha #dragonball #dbz #dragonball z #dragonball super #hit #gohan #buu #cell #ultimate gohan

71 notes · View notes

mhaccunoval · 3 years

Text

i finallyyyy finished the explanations for my tlb playlistttt so come get yall juice

if you haven’t already seen my first (official) post about this silly little playlist then you are still in luck !!! here is the spotify and the youtube links !!! oh yeah also all of the songs are in chronological order (maybe not by month but definitely by year) because i had to be organized like that sbjhshsjbs

———

❥ title

i mean. there isn’t much to explain about it but sbjshbsjhs it’s based on sam’s line “you’re a creature of the night, michael!” of course but i made it plural because this playlist is sort of a. general boys / movie playlist, if that makes sense??? but yeahhhh they’re all littol creechers who love the night >:o]

———

❥ paint it, black — the rolling stones

so !!! i was kind of trying to relate it to the boys vampirism and. love of black clothes sbhsjbshjs but no. similar to the title, they. literally live in darkness because of not being able to go into the sun and because of the few lights in the lair but there’s also a sort of duality where being vampires in an internal darkness??? like. each of the boys takes heavy advantage of the benefits of being undead but i can’t imagine it’s without its faults outside of the lack of sunlight and such. i’m sure there’s a kind of uh. monster complex that follows it, especially with the way outsiders view them, which certainly fits with the song’s vibe of being washed with this sort of sensory overload to color and earning weird looks for it

———

❥ riders on the storm — the doors

first of all, there’s a giant ass jim morrison poster in the lair therefore the boys definitely listen to the doors (if not idolize jim) so jot that down. but also !!! it has very Them vibes !!! i think the storm effects definitely relate to boys in how storms create a darkness that is soothing in its own way, and comes on strong, just like the boys’ presence. and. technically they Are killers on the road that Will kill a sweet family sbhjsbshjsb but no most of all the !!! “into this house we’re born // into this world we’re thrown” and !!! the found family that the boys have going. like, if you look at. vampirism as the house they have LITERALLY been born into it and been thrown into a whole new world, depending on each other for comfort and pleasure !!! oh also. they ride motorcycles so they’re also literal riders sbhjsbshjs (fun fact, according to genius lyrics: apparently it was the last song jim recorded before he died a few weeks later 😳)

———

❥ love her madly — the doors

whole jim morrison poster and listening to the doors reasoning is sustained. HOWEVER for the rest of reasoning… perhaps it’s more straight up 95060 than anything but sbhsjbsshj the whole woman walking in and out of the audience’s life is very symbolic of michael being in and out with the boys, never really deciding whether he wants to fully join them and straining. all of his relationships with that indecision and sitting on the picket fence (those who sit on the picket fence are impaled by it). although, it could also be partly symbolic of that indecision, as he does find Some charm in the boys’ lifestyle and keeps finding himself drawn back enough to even consider partaking in it. also, if you wanna go the parko route, paul loves marko madly enough to go after the frog bros personally for killing him <3

———

❥ walk this way — aerosmith

i am. blanking on how to tie it in other than being on the movie’s soundtrack (yes i avoided it and people are strange until the very end of making the playlist, but one of the evils got me clearly— have always ADORED people are strange though). but. i guess you can make the case that the song is full of innuendos and some scenes, like the feeding scene, are lowkey horny sbsjhbshjsbs and YES it’s the aerosmith version instead of the run dmc one because. i prefer this one and it’s my silly little playlist <3

———

❥ the boys are back in town — thin lizzy

technically the boys never Left town but !!! *christopher walken voice* Boys !!! them cast ARE crazy and they’re ALWAYS dressed to kill, ready to spill some blood and pick a fight !!! yeah no it’s just a very fun song that i think really works to. represent their crazy lifestyle and infamy around town due to causing trouble !!! and you can almost say that in this scenario star is the girl who used to dance a lot and slapped the shit out of someone <3 just girlboss moments <3

———

❥ xanadu — rush

hehehe… this started as the. desire to add more rush to the playlist for my own amusement but the more times i listen to it, the more i’m like “!!! it actually fits”… like. xanadu here is meant to a sort of utopia that’s long searched for, partly BECAUSE of the promise of immortality which !!! the boys have (unless. harmed in one of the ways at the end of the movie) because of their vampirism. like even if we don’t know the exact reasons they got turned, they all still, mostly indirectly probably, sought out that same principle. And the dining on honeydew and drinking the milk of ‘paradise’ is similar to their thrill-seeking tendencies and general enjoyment of being unable to die, leaving them to enjoy their undead lives to the fullest. not to mention, in [b part 2] (as genius refers to it) there’s talk of many, many years passing and waiting for the world to end, which we know there’s been quite a few years in between the boys getting turned and the movie, as well as i’m sure they sit back and wait on Some apocalypse, if not just to watch the world burn. in writing this, i’ve ALSO realized how it can be considered very Michael; he didn’t exactly seek this life out but he found it and indulged, only to be that “mad immortal man” towards the end of the song

———

❥ runnin’ with the devil — van halen

i just van halen is neat sbjshbsjsh and would definitely be something the boys would actually listen to hsjbshjsb i don’t Necessarily think vampires are in any way tied to the devil but. here it’d be more like a metaphor of “taking a walk on the wild side” if you wanna call it that; also, they all truly live their lives like there’s no tomorrow (not that they have to worry about death until the very end), have stolen a lot of things just to get by (probably in life AND death), don’t bode well with the ‘simple’ life (likely including the idea of a nuclear family like max proposed) because of it’s lack of pleasures, and don’t exactly have any “love [that] you’d call real” unless you read into the subtext

———

❥ hot blooded — foreigner

originally this was going to be another joke about the. lowkey horniness of the boys and the movie as a whole but i’ve realized in writing these explanations thus far and rereading the lyrics that it’s. it’s just michael-centric sbshjsbsh sam is “at the mercy of his sex glands” and so is the audience of both the movie and the song sbhsjbshsj like. michael finds himself attracted to star immediately and tries for two secret rendezvouses, with only one working, and. can be said that he also finds a fever running within him when he’s around david and the boys sbhjsbshjs i just 🙈

———

❥ renegade — styx

renegade is my favorite styx song so i just said “fuck it” and added it sbshjsbshj but !!! you can say that, again, the boys live their lives on the wild side and. probably commit enough crimes to warrant dozens of sentences, some that would lead to death row (like, ya know, the. manslaughter) but they manage to get away unscathed. And the law man serving as an allegory to all of the people, including the frogs and grandpa, that want them dead for being vampires, with the bounty to be rewarded being the ridding of their trouble from santa carla

———

❥ big shot — billy joel

mikey :o) … ok yeah he isn’t the. silver spoon in hand (nose) type but he’s LITERALLY the type to open his mouth and get himself deep in enough shit that a fight breaks out, potentially bloodied his eyes, nose, and/or fists. i don’t have much of an explanation outside of he is a himbo jock who pulled a “i didn’t know how to talk to my crush so i wrote a note telling them to get out of my school” except he said it with his fist instead of his mouth sbjshbshsj

———

❥ boys don’t cry — the cure

pretty sure this is one of the ones i stole off of shovel (@/iswearimavamp) sbshjbshjs but i do love this song in a general sense too. in regards to the movie, like. none of the guys. obsess over masculinity or anything— and both david AND michael cry at different points— so that’s not necessarily an issue. but, there *is* still a lot of hurt and stepping on toes in many of the relationships in the film that can be stretched to fit, i would think sbjhsbshjs

———

❥ highway to hell — ac/dc

this and back in black were some of the last two i put on here because i. wanted to make an ‘even’ 35 sbsjhsbshjs BUT, like with runnin’ with the devil, it’s about a devilish lack of care for one’s own life or the “status of their soul” and just doing what feels right or like the most fun, no matter if it lands them in hell or not. and !!! “my friends are gonna be there too” fits with the friendship within the boys’ found family and how they’ll all always be together, no matter what !!!

———

❥ back in black — ac/dc

i can’t really think of an explanation that differs from highway to hell so just reread the above sbsjhsbsh

———

❥ witch hunt — rush

OK !!! this is the song i’m the MOST excited to explain !!! right off the bat, moving pictures as a whole is an IMMACULATE album, absolutely love it. right so !!! this song literally SOUNDS like it belongs on the movie soundtrack; it has the same overtones and sounds as cry little sister and it’s just !!! and with the title, a witch hunt is BASICALLY what sam + the frogs went on in search of the lose boys, relying on little else but hearsay and catching glimpses at what was happening to michael, “confident that their ways are best” and moving along like a mob of three to get to the bottom of it. “features distorted in the flickering light // faces are twisted and grotesque” is very reminiscent of the faces the lost boys pull when they’re about to attack, and “they say there are strangers who threaten us” is symbolic of them being outsiders/outcasts that make everyone uncomfortable, even if You aren’t going to be their next victim. “the righteous rise with burning eyes” AND “quick to judge, quick to anger // slow to understand // ignorance and prejudice // and fear walk hand in hand” can apply to any number of characters, particularly the mains who are all pitted against each other, the humans fighting for their lives and the vampires fighting for their Right to live, neither taking into consideration the other’s perspective. i just… ADORE this song…

———

❥ red barchetta — rush

this one was mainly just because of the car that grandpa keeps in the barn and both sam and michael’s fascination with it sbhjsbsshj and just to get more rush on here shjsbshjsbsh

———

❥ maneater — hall & oates

one of the first songs to hit the playlist !!! because the boys eat people !!! they’re the lean and hungry type that only come out at night !!! they’ll be sitting with you but their eyes are on the door and if you want love from them, you won’t get very far !!! the beauty IS there but there are beasts inside that can rip your world apart !!! they’ll chew you up but also leave you begging for more :o)

———

❥ hungry like the wolf — duran duran

the second song to have gone on the playlist !!! the boys are always on the prowl for fresh meat (in both the food AND turning senses) and they come alive while on the hunt, blood no doubt rushing through their veins (assuming it still can) !!! and in the movie, michael is the one they’re after for the turning connotation, all wanting a taste of him for themselves !!!

———

❥ subdivisions — rush

this rush song actually went on before the others shbsjsbshj but !!! it still fits just as well (certainly better than red barchetta)… the movie all takes place on the fringes of the city, “in between the bright lights // and the far unlit unknown”, and while it’s not exactly in the suburbs, there’s still little comfort to soothe the restless dreams of youth. there IS a drawing like moths into the city, for both the emersons and the lost boys, which is what ends up bringing all of them together, although it starts are cruising for action just to feel the living night. and just !!! NOBODY fits in !!! if you take the movie title as them being Lost instead of an allusion to peter pan, then you get slapped with thinking about what actually makes them lost and how they don’t conform in any way, shape, or form to just about. anything. and !!! the emersons are new, which immediately puts them at a social disadvantage, but they Also don’t seem too terribly great at making new friends in general so !!! “nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone”!!!

———

❥ abracadabra — steve miller band

i just love this song for whatever reason. and i think the allusion to magic to very fitting for the hallucinations that david gives michael, putting a sort of magic spell on him if you want to look at it that way. not a lot of silk and satin going gone but plenty of leather and probably some lace in there somewhere ( ;o] ) … also michael DOES heat up like a burnin’ flame whenever his name is called and the situation with the boys just keeps going round and round with no exact end in sight, only the calling of desire

———

❥ separate ways (worlds apart) — journey

you would think i would have more journey on here ??? because i love them ??? but instead i stole this off of shovel too ??? it’s fine. time to be back on the 95060 bullshit sbsjhbsjhs we all know david Really wants michael to join them but. michael is reluctant, so that hesitance sets them worlds apart from each other— as if they weren’t already— and there’s still love between them, or at least the bgeinning sparks of it, even if michael refuses to act on them and only keeps pushing david away

———

❥ cum on feel the noize — quiet riot

just some boys loving to party <3 some boys with evil yet dirty minds, out of time singing, funny faces, and that have a lazy time <3 yeah no this is one they’d rock out to and someone would probably pull a muscle over because it’s just such a banger sbshjsbsjh

———

❥ rebel yell — billy idol

Another stolen off of shovel sbjhsbsjhs also ever since it’s been pointed out to me that david looks like billy idol i’ve just been losing it a little sbhjsbshjs Anyway. they’d definitely idolize him to some degree, even if just for looks, and it certainly fits the way that they. most Definitely let out a rebel yell at the midnight hour if you know what i mean— *taken out by a sniper*

———

❥ every breath you take — the police

would to believe to know i took it from shovel (i swear the last three where i say that will be rock you like a hurricane, livin’ on a prayer, and cherry pie sbshjsbsh) BUT !!! the watching every move is yet another. david keeping watch over michael and uh yearning from afar moment, heart aching the longer he’s away and the longer he keeps up this game of not knowing what exactly he wants to do

———

❥ handsome devil — the smiths

ok THIS one was lent to me by ej (@/maybe-strawberry-blue) sbshjbshjsbs and let me tell you. this song (especially when paired with this charming man) is Very homoerotic, aka perfect for this movie shbjsbshjsbs like what got me first was “let me get my hands // on your mammary glands” and just. thinking about trans parko sbhsjbshjs but also in general the. “and i would like to give you // what i think you’re asking for” and “a boy in the bush // is worth two in the hand” and just sbhjsbshjs Everything. fits the ambiguous homoeroticism. And i think the boys would listen to the smiths (will elaborate more in the other smiths song explanation)

———

❥ panama — van halen

i Told you all i think van halen is neat sbsjsshjb what can i say. the boys like fast moving vehicles, hard partying, and tender loving sbsjhsbhsj also forgot to mention that i think they’d all be :eyes: about pre-1985 david lee roth and i cannot blame

———

❥ rock you like hurricane — scorpions

third to last shovel snatch sbshjsbh Here you can replace any one of the boys with the animals mentioned, as they’re always hungry and need to feed… they come out scratching and ready to win, willing to rock anyone who gets in their way like a hurricane— including with lust, depending on the situation

———

❥ livin’ on a prayer — bon jovi

i actually can’t even manage an explanation for this one either just because of the song’s plot and how greatly it differs the movie plot <3 however it will stay because shovel said one of the boys (i forget which) would listen to it and friendship is more powerful than my small brain <3

———

❥ the queen is dead — the smiths

rightttt so here’s the deal, buds and duds. something in my gut just tells me that david would pull a me and. listen to this entire album on repeat, particularly bigmouth strikes again and i know it’s over when in dramatics bshjsbsjh BUT to make a case for the title track itself, breaking into buckingham palce— or really any major building— with only a sponge and rusty wrench would ABSOLUTELY be an endeavor the boys would get up to And they’d all pale (worse than normal) about finding out they’re the descendant of some royal. “oh, has the world changed, or have i changed” and “life is very long, when you’re lonely” is quite fitting of their immortality, which i can only imagine would leave them questioning how the world has evolved and, although they have each other, i’m sure living forever still can get a Little lonely. And they’d certainly celebrate the death of a royal (because anarchy <3). mostly i’ve just been listening to this song on repeat for days sbhjsbshj but, i think it’s the most. generally related to all of the boys, whereas like. cemetry gates would be more solely 95060

———

❥ need you tonight — inxs

my favorite inxs song… technically the 21st century Wasn’t yesterday when the movie came out nor when the song did sbhjsbshjs but there *is* a lot of sweating from desire and aiming to put that passion into use, very blatantly letting everyone know that sbjhsbshjs

———

❥ bad medicine — bon jovi

there’s just something so fun about this song… and while listening to it on the drive home, i was thinking about it from a 95060 perspective where. david’s a bit lovesick (hence the love like bad medicine) and the choir of voices in the bg, saying “that’s what you get for falling in love”, would be the other boys knowing he’s gotten himself in over his head over what was supposed to be a minor tease or a small fling (would be a real fun and poppy animatic i think)

———

❥ pour some sugar on me — def leppard

legitimately this started as a “haha what about my ‘what if the blood was kool-aid instead’ joke” and then i realized it was. a fair enough fit, especially with the feeding scene. except they’re actual vamps not just video vamps sbjhsbshjs anyway. sugar highs and red hot flames of passion for one another <3

———

❥ cherry pie — warrant

ok THIS is the last song i took from shovel and. my reasoning is pretty much the same as pour some sugar on me and. Friendship

———

❥ somebody told me — the killers

i wasn’t going to add any modern songs but. i thought it’d be funny if michael had had a girlfriend before leaving phoenix that looked a bit like david sbshjsbshj and then it only just added to angst sbhjsbshj

———

❥ you know what they do to guys like us in prison — mcr

i was reminded that vampires will never hurt you exists but. i went with my favorite mcr song instead because. vwnhy is more like ??? a vampire that fears themselves ??? so like. an edward cullen type ??? while ykwtdtgluip is more about the homoeroticism and community ??? i said what i said

———

❥ house of wolves — mcr

thank god this is the last song because i’m getting tired sbjshsjshb a little less homoeroticism, a little more general sinning and egotism <3

#pant rambles #playlist #ramble #in the last like. ten you can Tell i started getting tired

7 notes · View notes

jeongyunhoed · 4 years

Text

Past-Present-Future

What do you do

When everything you’ve done

Comes back to haunt you?

Group: ATEEZ

Superpowers AU!

Mutants, assassins, confronting the past! a little dive into the concept of romantic soulmates!

with OCs

Genres: Fantasy, Supernatural, Adventure, Angst, Implied smut, Fluff, Gen

Flashback-heavy

Featuring mentions of: Park Jihoon (solo), Chanyeol, Dean, Zelo

Warnings: Blood, gore, death, violence, character deaths

She has lived with guilt. Slowly remembering details of her checkered past when interned at a sanitarium years ago. The sudden reemerging of a person she remembered dying and the resurgence of a powerful crime syndicate will have her trying to walk the line between the person she has become and the person she was once destined to be.

A/N: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post this at all, but I guess it’s worth a try to increase my works on this platform again. The masterlist for this will be up shortly once I figure out/try and make a good graphic. Keyword: TRY (as I suck at photo editing)

Chapter 1.

“As of today, the seven of you will become a unit, a covert unit. To put it simply, if I want someone killed, you will do it for me, if I want people killed, you will do it for me, if I want information, you will retrieve it for me, all in all, if I want something, you will get it for me, I am good they are bad,” A woman, whose face was obscured in the dark, told the seven people - six men and one woman, all of whom had vacant expressions and were staring into space.

They were lined up in a padded room, a secret room in the sanitarium that doubled as a training room from the shelves upon shelves of sharp weapons on display at the very end of the room. She knew they could hear her, they just couldn’t speak.

“Kim Hongjoong, Park Seonghwa, Jeong Yunho, Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung, Choi Jongho, and,” A man said this time, his face also obscured in the dark, reciting each of their names before rounding on the sole woman in the lineup of people wearing sanitarium uniforms. “Lee Mirae,” the man was smirking in the dark. “The future of our program, you will lead this unit, your progress from all the training these past few years has been exceptional, near-perfect, I would like to think.”

Mirae said nothing. “Quite an impressive one you are, Lee Mirae,” The woman spoke again. “It’s almost as if you were born for this kind of job. Changseok, what do you think? She is the most successful one we’ve trained under the program, right?”

“Quite right, honey. Lee Mirae, you are the most successful experiment in this program of ours. It’s not hard to see why, you were born with the mutant gene,” The man seemed to stare at her. “Your own parents didn’t realize your true potential when they interned you in here, but consider this as a way to lead you to what you are destined to be. The most-feared mercenary the world has ever known. The mere sight of you will bring even the most powerful people to their knees, begging you to spare their lives.”

Mirae still said nothing. Like the others, she could hear them, she just couldn’t speak. “You will be pulled out whenever we have a mission for you. This will entail traveling to faraway parts of the world. While you’re all built to be killing machines, I don’t think any of you are invulnerable to harm. But don’t worry, after every mission, upon returning, you will all be subject to electroshock therapy. Just enough to make you forget what you’ve done, where you went, and whom you might have killed,” The woman spoke again.

They could hear her. They just couldn’t speak. “You are all ready for your first mission. It’s in Busan. You will be briefed on the way. It’s time to open Pandora’s Box.”

The seven of them twitched in their places. As the man known as Changseok began to repeat the last two words, the seven of them continued twitching, tilting their heads as if hearing something that hurt their ears. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, forks scratching ceramic plates. When Changseok stopped, all of them stood still, a blank look in their eyes as if in a trance. “Remember, regardless of the weapon you pick, you are the true weapon.”

Seoul. 9:00 p.m. Present day.

Five years have passed since the Seoul attack that changed everything. Almost everyone that was part of trying to stop it was gone, either dead or missing. Lee Mirae stared at the rain tapping on the windows of her apartment. It was now four years since the Utopian cult, the encounter that gave her a rude awakening, the encounter that made everything seem like a lie, the encounter where she lost her adoptive brother Jihoon. There was a memorial in place for the lives lost during those times, placed on the site where the Center for Paranormal Research once stood.

This was no longer the place she once knew. Even the brightest colors from the lights by the river seemed to have a grey, almost black tinge to it all. For some reason, the place she called home was no longer as bright as she knew it to be. It was a lot darker, and it wasn’t only because of the constant dark clouds hanging over the city, but it was also because the crime rate was still at its highest. Gangs were rampant all over. Law enforcement couldn’t be trusted. It wasn’t hard for Mirae to realize how much things weren’t so bright and cheerful since the Seoul attack. It was never bright and cheerful. She just wasn’t paying much attention.

Mirae was a mutant, and had the ability to manipulate energy. She turned the smallest things into extremely explosive projectiles, and she often did it with a deck of cards. Being an omega-level mutant, the fullest extent of her powers allowed her to turn into an energy being, aside from a healing factor that made her almost immortal, and it also slowed down her aging process. She was a fighter, gifted with many forms of combat, and she was often told by her adoptive brother that no one could beat her in any way, but she knew that wasn’t true nor was it going to be true. She often used a steel bo staff made for her by Junhong, one of the surviving tech guys from the attack, who also took it upon himself to make changes to some of her things, including her car and the windows of both her apartment and the record store she owned and operated.

Her powers didn’t stop there. From the two big events that shook the city came her ability to trap souls into objects, usually her cards. This also resulted in a white streak in her hair that she never bothered covering up, not even when she tried to dye her hair.

She heard the door open and turned around. It was her half-brother, Choi San, coming back from getting take-out at the nearest restaurant. San was a mutant like her, and was also gifted with the ability to manipulate energy, only he channeled it through his harpoon. His healing abilities were just as strong as hers, granting him near-immortality. San was also skilled in combat, and when they reunited, he was working as a mercenary for hire. He still was one. Like her, he also had a streak in his hair, a purple one that seemed to cover up the white that formed upon using his powers to their fullest extent.

Mercenary. The mere word made her shake her head. That wasn’t her. If it was, then it was the old her. She was no longer under the control of her Utopian cult. The trigger was gone, taken out of her head. She knew this well. She was the one who drove the sword into the leaders of that cult, her own adoptive parents.

“I’ve come back bearing meat, I figured we could grill some over the stove for dinner tonight” He said, holding up a black plastic bag. San tilted his head. “You had another dream, didn’t you?” He figured.

“Yeah,” Mirae let out an exasperated sigh. She had trouble sleeping, knowing that her dreams would present her flashes of memories from her time at the sanitarium. Only this time, the memories she would have would lead her to wake up in tears as those memories were of Jihoon. Jihoon, whom she promised to protect with her whole life when he got out, whom she practically raised, and whom she ultimately failed to save.

“What was it this time?” San asked, already bringing out a griddle pan to pan-fry the meat instead.

“The first mission I had, or at least that’s what it sounded like, the usual stuff,” She replied, setting the table while he cooked the meat.

San’s expression turned into that of concern as he glanced at her. It made him wonder how he could somehow help her get out of this, out of her inability to sleep. “I could get you sleeping pills if you need it,” He said carefully.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Whether or not I take them, I still have those dreams,” Mirae shook her head, helping him out with cooking this time.

“Hasn’t Junhong… tried to come up with something to help you? What about your friends? Chanyeol? Hyuk? Have they thought of helping you?” San’s tone was becoming increasingly concerned.

“How can they? Hyuk’s not that powerful a telepath, what can Chanyeol do, burn my head? Ino… well, he’s too caught up in trying to manage his own powers to even try and help out other people,” Mirae answered. “Even if they tried, when the trigger was taken out of me, the psychic block in my head grew stronger, they can’t read my mind even if I wanted them to.”

San frowned. He hated that he couldn’t do anything to help her either. “I hear you crying in the middle of the night sometimes,” he said, partly wondering if it was the right time to point it out. “At first I thought you were crying because you missed Jihoon, but over time I realized it was something else,” He quickly turned the meat over in time before one side burned.

“I will always miss him. But every time I go to sleep I’m always haunted by what happened to me before,” Mirae muttered. “I’ll be fine, San. Really, I’ll be fine, I can cope with it,” She assured him. “Maybe some sparring will help clear my head. Want to spar with me later?”

“Will you let me win this time?” San teased, in an effort to lighten the mood.

“I can’t promise you that,” Mirae teased back.

“I thought you said you were training yourself?” Mirae asked later on in the training room down the hall from their apartment later that night. She managed to put San down on the mat in less than a minute during their first try.

“I was!” San argued, sounding frustrated as he got back up on his feet. “You’re just that good!” He pointed out, charging towards his sister, who easily blocked every strike he made while he did the same yet with a few maneuvers later, he was back down on the mat.

“That’s not true, you’re probably just not training enough,” Mirae pointed out, helping him back up.

“Hey! I really was!” San got back up. “Maybe we should just go through the obstacle course kind of training instead,” He said. Although he was frustrated at how he never seemed to be able to one-up Mirae, he couldn’t stay frustrated for long. He wanted to help her clear her head and he was determined to make it happen, even if it was at his own expense.

“Deal. I would never fight you anyway, unless you need to because I might be hypnotized or something,” She assured him, flipping one of the switches to start the courses in front of them. Several dummies were already positioned at the end along with spiked gauntlets that were rotating.

When Mirae flung a few cards towards the dummies in front of her, it signaled San to attack as well, his harpoon gun piercing through the dummy head and as the arrow pulled back, the head was nearly ripped off. The two of them rolled over to either side of the room, picking up the nearest weapon they could get their hands on: Mirae, her staff and San with a pair of nunchaku.

They attacked the spiked gauntlets at the same time with their weapons, kicks, and punches. Their attacks seemed incredibly effortless and precise. San smiled to himself at how they attacked at the same time, and he could tell Mirae was smiling as well, some blood staining the backs of their shoes from kicking a little too hard and breaking the spikes off. When they reached the end of the course, they looked at the nearly broken down obstacles, satisfied with what they did. Mirae handed him a pair of shurikens and the two of them kicked each one towards the dummies that fell out from the ceiling. While San’s hit the dummies on the legs, Mirae’s hit them squarely on the chest and on the head.

They hit high fives. “Close enough, but we did great!” San enveloped her in a hug with one arm. “One day, I’ll hit those dummies just as good as you did” He said, eyeing the shurikens on the legs of the dummies hanging from the ceiling. “I’ve always wondered why you don’t have guns in here.”

“These weapons existed long before there were guns,” Mirae pointed out, retracting her staff. “And they’re a lot cooler to use,” She winked, making San chuckle.

“Okay then, let’s call it a night, I’ve got a game to play and we’ll clean all of this up tomorrow, don’t clean it up, let’s do it tomorrow” San pushed her towards the doors before she could object.

Mirae allowed herself to be led, still feeling the rush from their training session. As she set foot outside the room and into the hallway, she froze as she saw a tall man dressed in black from head to toe, wearing a mask and a fedora. She could tell he was looking right at her before he fled. The way he was dressed seemed familiar to her yet she didn’t know how, it felt a little too familiar as if she wore something like that before. He himself also gave off that familiar feeling.

The man fled before she tried to follow, but as Mirae ran and tried to catch up by the elevator, he was already gone. San caught up to her. “What is it?” He asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing, a stray cat got up here” She muttered. “Let’s go back inside.”

San frowned. “We could’ve taken that cat inside, gave it food, it was probably hungry” He said as they turned back to their apartment. “We could’ve even taken it in for good, like a pet” He eyed her.

Mirae shook her head again as they entered their home, taking their stained shoes off, revealing the bloodied socks they were both now sporting. She was still thinking about the man in black. Why was he so familiar to her? “You can shower first, I’ll go in after you” She said, heading to her bedroom.

“Really? Okay then, I’ll let you know when I’m done” San raised a brow, sensing that something was on her mind. Not wanting to ask further, he went straight to the bathroom.

“Remember our promise, okay?” Yunho choked, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth as Mirae tried to hold him. They were in the middle of a desert-like place, somewhere far away. “Remember it-I’ll look for you-I’ll find my way to you when either of us get out, okay?” He sputtered, looking up at her, eyes becoming glazed over.

The strong wind hit their faces but Mirae didn’t care. Hot tears were streaming down her eyes as she held him, trying her hardest to stop the bleeding coming from his side but failing. “Mirae! Get back here! Leave him!” Hongjoong was yelling as they were on their way back into the military plane, trying to get away from the larger group of what looked like soldiers that worked for their target.

“He’s a lost cause, you can’t save him, Mirae,” Seonghwa tried to pull her up but Mirae refused to budge. “You’re our leader, we’re not leaving without you” He added.

“Go with them-go with them” Yunho sputtered. “I love you, Lee Mirae. I love you. Remember that” and his eyes closed, his form collapsing under her.

More tears fell down the sides of her face as she held his lifeless body close. The pain she felt was slowly being replaced with rage, and as she saw the oncoming soldiers running towards them, about to fire their weapons, her eyes glowed red making all of them combust, exploding in front of her including the weapons they were carrying.

Seonghwa and the others stared at the scene in shock. Tears were still flowing down the sides of her face as the glow in her eyes faded. He was gone. Yunho was gone.

Mirae’s eyes shot open in the middle of the night and she sat up. An overwhelming sadness came over her and before she realized it, tears were already flowing down her face. Her hands were shaking as she sobbed into them, She had forgotten his name, but he must have been someone important to her. Whoever he was, his death felt like a heavy blow, like her heart was being broken over and over.

She had been dreaming about him a lot more lately. Mirae got out of bed and stepped out of her room, sneaking past the sofa bed that San was sleeping on and going to the kitchen. She still felt that overwhelming sadness as she took a drink of water, trying to wipe her eyes from the tears that managed to escape even as she felt like she had already cried her eyes out for the past few minutes.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized how her time at the sanitarium was more than just a blur, more than Jihoon, more than the electroshock therapy sessions she often had to go under. Mirae figured she fell in love while interned, with the guy she was dreaming about, the guy whose face she was being made to remember.

“Mirae,” San was already sitting up, looking at her with one eye open. “Are you okay?” He asked.

“Go back to sleep, I’m fine,” Mirae assured him quietly.

“It’s getting harder for me to see you like this, I can’t just go back to sleep,” San got up and made his way towards his sister. “What was it this time?”

Mirae didn’t know how she could tell him. “Someone who isn’t Jihoon, dying in front of me, I killed a lot of people in return. I can’t remember his name, but I’m remembering his face more and more.”

“Must be important to you, whoever they are” San said.

“He must be. Otherwise I wouldn’t have killed all of those people in front of us.”

San rubbed her back and wrapped an arm around her. “Like what you told me, sis. You’ll be okay. This is what’s helping you heal.”

“I hope so, San,” She looked up at him, feeling the overwhelming sadness and heartbreak again. “I hope so.”

San stayed up with her to keep her company for a little while more until she urged him to go back to sleep. Neither of them were aware that the man, dressed in black from head to toe with a mask and a fedora hat, was looking up at them from outside the building.

44 notes · View notes

stoplookingatmeblog · 3 years

Text

twenty-one

It was around that time that all my friends went to work in different chapters of what you can call ‘the filming industry’. P-G shot beer adverts which used some kinds of robotics to get the right shot, flip the bottle right, and then slept with this girl who offered him a paid internship in managing pretty much everything on sets of a bunch of movies, ads and whatnot. My own mother, finally getting out of the convenient but unemancipated housewife life, got a job in supervising the shoot - making sure the costumes were right, the scenography, all that stuff. It was pretty much, you could call it, the time of Life On Set Then - everywhere you went, ads, movies, Netflix series, all of it wrapped up in fake police ‘do not cross’ kind of tape, horses and knights from our beer-bottles riding the streets, and the catering busses with food that was (mother told me) ‘absolute horeshit’. Whatever. The time was of living in a reality created for money, by money, with money, because of money, giant heaps of money, distributed unequally (of course) to all my student friends who didn’t even need the money except for that feel of ‘life on their own’.

I didn’t have a job. Before not working, I worked a couple of cafes, restaurants and the like. That was the vibe. I hated it. Each time I began working in one of these places, I ended up sleeping with someone (first time a guy, and then a girl or woman that was honestly too old for me) and that I hoped marked the end of relationship with gastronomy for me. So I didn’t work, deciding not to decide what to do next, not putting myself on the road to one kind of future or another. I didn’t want life to go anywhere directed. I thought about writing but then I thought about the seriousness and stiffness of writing, whether or not it’s a purely natural act, all that, and decided on trying to squeeze the last drops of childhood (it was adolescence, but adolescence is really a final sigh of childhood) and live what was left of the kid-life to the fullest.

I was twenty-one years old.

A group of friends convinced me to go with them surfing (on my parents’ money), to Victoria, a place which location doesn’t really matter, except that I thought, and still do, that the spot is an actual a piece of heaven on earth. A nearly imaginary point on the increasingly smaller map of this melting planet. My age, too, was melting away like icecream - not having a job and surfing in Victoria, like a teenage pimple, some place that popped up and presented itself in its complete and vulgar form and purpose that you initially didn’t believe and then wept after at that airport because you could never come back. It was an actual speck of heaven on the map.

Even though everyone was younger than us - four of us, me, P-G, J, and Stone (the last one, a tired intellectual I could never get tired of, except you could see he was really both bored and exhausted by being born and living as himself. And his nickname surprisingly not derived from the astronomical amounts of weed he smoked but his actual god-given surname (which he thought of changing, because of his father) - even though everyone who came to Victoria was younger than us by something like three or four years, we surprisingly didn’t have trouble at least getting along, and at most sleeping with girls there. It was even more grand in that way, even if absolutely not true, when you saw yourself in their eyes as someone older and somehow experienced, who somehow kept going on, and somehow knew what was going on. The same lie made most of us, (excluding me, as I mentioned) get a job around that time. In movies and advertisements, with no creative input or control, but like actors that nobody knew about, playing their own invented parts backstage.

I was twenty-one years old and completely aware of both how small and how big that was. I knew about the kinds of things I probably should be doing and that’s why I sometimes did them, for a minute putting my feet into that creek too, but most of the time staying at the bank and just watching. I knew what being twenty-one meant, so I decided to sit back and watch it.

My friends all surfed a lot, which would normally bother me because I did it only for the first week of our month-long stay, but quickly dropped it and decided to stay at the beach and read, and drink and look at some really beautiful girls who passed me by, and for once enjoy that stranger-life. By the second week, after seeing in a restaurant a shirt with a ‘SeXsurfing ‘00’ inscription on it (‘00 being the year we were born, which made us inspect our parents’ lifelines to check for the possibility that at that time some of them were in Victoria), and in the twenty-one-year-old drunk epiphanius inspiration, all four of us decided that we would lead the ‘SeXsurfing ‘21’ lifestyle, not thinking about the ‘42 and the ‘63 and all that shit.

I wasn’t the most successful one when it came to girls, but I can say that the stories I had with them were the most absurd and worthy of telling. Even though it was J who (and he too asked himself why in the world that was) was able to talk with someone new every evening, somehow perhaps betraying my unwanted by nonetheless existing monogamous attachment, I slept with only one girl over the course of the last week, picking her up (or perhaps her picking me up) through a conversation about our shared borderline-sociopathic or rebellious outlook on reality. That was very twenty-one.

Our first meeting (like every meeting since) was going to one of the three tourist shops on the beach and stealing something. And that too was very twenty-one. We were rich enough (our parents were) and far away from home enough to do all that. And we were both young and beautiful enough to want a mugshot we could keep from an arrest by a Victoria Police County Jail or whatever it might have been called. We were never caught but we did steal something every day, and then get drunk in the evening, and then fuck in the night. While my friends had these singular, although beautiful, encounters I would drunkenly burst into the closed restaurant with my temporary girl-friend, steal absolutely vile icecream from the fridge, and then play chess with her on the hotel rooftop at four AM.

The four of us were twenty-one years old and born in the year 2000 which in the same way made sense - our lives were easy to calculate, clearly-definededly started, and even if they had to end with no thing coming back or being repeated, the twenty-one points we scored didn’t mean anything except the joyride and experiment, and meaningless game that it was. We were taking our shot at living, taking our shot at playing, and even when we didn’t win, it still didn’t mean anything. We lived on our parents’ money, or on advertisement money, or cafe-sleep-with-someone-there-and-then-leave-because-you-don’t-need-money money, all of it a mystification, but that those twenty-one years led to nothing we suddenly did not care.

Well, and then being woken up by the police, although surprisingly not because of the icecream dream but for the crime of sleeping in a hammock on the dunes which (I learned) was territory of both the military and part of some natural park.

What made me go home with something in the end were the conversations we had at that time, and in particular the conversations with Stone. Like me, Stone had a feeling of injustice done to him by his family, not having a real father and hanging down on the tired gray hair of our housewife mothers and all, and it made us connect on a level we didn’t with either P-G or J, who were most often busy surfing or thinking about the jobs they had or would one day have, and the girls they met that weren’t my girls so I didn’t care that much.

Stone kept affirming that both of us (although him in particular) were in possession of superior intelligence, which I instinctively tried to discourage him from saying (because I didn’t like sucking my own dick like that), but nonetheless accepted as at least potentially or partially true. In my case, it was not intelligence that me connect with Stone but some kind of a shared understanding of what was going on, that we were twenty-one and what that meant, like a filthy two-pigeon flock of pigeons flying above the waves, knowing the fact of the creature swimming underneath the surface. I thought, and still do, it had to do largely with coming from an unhappy or non-existent family, which really makes you understand that all you do, with even the most meaningful and beautiful things, is just this game that you play but holds no particular meaning beyond it. That and that love, no matter how beautiful or true, can slip away from you like shit.

‘It is completely lonely’, he said one night as we chugged down the bottles of beer drunk rich kids left behind running away from the police - bottles half-empty to me and I think half-full for him, but I still haven’t quite figured that one out, ‘Because you never really see things the way the rest of them do, and each conversation almost the same, you begin to think the only way to be is to be alone’

I agreed. I usually did, being aware that he was slightly more intelligent than me.

‘Back when I was in the Institute, they told me I would have problems with getting out of relationships with people what other people get from other people because what I want is to be understood and that is problematic when you think you want it but also think it’s impossible to ever understand anything’

I too thought you could never understand anything, but had a sense he perhaps only said it to keep me on the same page. Stone chugged down another half-full beer and kept talking. I stayed silent, in part because I would probably say the same things he did.

‘When I was seventeen and worked in a factory, I gained a sort of awareness of how my life would look like’

‘What kind of a factory?’, I asked

‘A cake factory, I would work in the hot section and pull out cakes out of the oven and then fill some of them with cherry, and some of them with apple-cinnamon. And then, because I was seventeen and my work was fundamentally illegal you could say, they’d let me work in the cold section in the night, and I applied sugar coating on these doughnuts, you know’

‘Yeah’

‘And then wrap them up in plastic covering, you know’

‘Yeah, yeah’

‘when the coating was dry, and send them to another section of the factory. And so over and over.’

‘So, what does your life look like because of that, do you think?’

‘I don’t know…’, he took a puff from one of the cigarette butts we found that night in the ashtray, ‘... I guess working in the factory was a kind of almost psychedelic experience that really made me aware what my attitude towards suicide is. You’re young, and you step into that thing, and you do those things because you want to, you don’t need to. Well, you might need to but the need is still your choice, it isn’t honed into your life like… Like I recognised at some point that each cake I filled with the stuffing or coated was an expression of the same kind of thing I did when I smoked weed (a lot), or drunk (a lot) or had sex. That, ultimately, I would never be able to not think about it.’

‘I mean, I think the position we are in - if I understand you correctly - of being relatively well-off - I mean our parents - would make you unable to really plunge into anything that you’re doing, right? Because you ultimately don’t have to do anything, like, really, like here, you always sort of treat it as a game’

‘Not even a game’, he said, and the sun was already slowly creeping up the mountain in front of the shop where we were sitting, ‘But just not a challenge. Because of our intellect, both yours and mine, the only challenge you really face is whether to continue being or not, and the rest is just, you know, stuffing these cakes. But that decision, you know The Myth of The Sisyphus?’

I did.

‘Yeah, so that decision you have to and always will have to make fundamentally alone. And so either go and work - work in any kind of way and do those things and hand them over to others to complete them and you don’t really ask questions (but we can’t do that, neither you nor I) or you step out of the factory and face the living sun, like you’re definitely going to feel after we leave this place, and decide whether you’re more happy alone or with others, or whether you want to keep on handing things to others or not, and all that.’

‘I mean this is the reason I think people shouldn’t have children - I’ve written a piece about it, you should definitely read it - because it’s kind of like juggling with a hot potato and handing it to someone else, so that they have to confront these questions, instead of you, but what you really do is give up.’

At that point I don’t think I understood his cake factory metaphor or didn’t want to believe that I did in the fear that it wasn’t very profound.

‘So what do you think you’d like to actually do?, if you could pick anything at all?’

‘I don’t know’, again inhaling another cigarette butt and handing one to me. And the sun almost rolled its own boulderous weight to the top of the mountain. ‘I think I would like to have a family, especially since meeting May (he was the only one of out SeXsurfing quartet with a girlfriend), I started thinking that maybe I can, and I’m recognising this, give someone something that my father never gave me, hoping to do it right this time’

‘Yeah, I mean that’s literally the ending of my book - have I told you already I’ve written a book? - that the main character thinks he can do it right this time and he of course fucks it up, but I don’t know if I still think that. You know, life is sometimes surprising.’

‘Exactly’, he exalted the smoke, and the sun, previously rolling up the mountain to sunrise, seemed to have fallen back again to the bottom of the mountain, and began its journey anew.

‘I mean, when I was seventeen I worked in a factory…’

‘What kind of a factory?’

‘A psychedelic cake factory’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I worked in this factory and I worked in the hot section and my job was to take the cakes out of the oven and then pump them full of acid, or pot, or sex, or anything you could get your hands on. I guess it was illegal, but then again I was seventeen so my work was all fundamentally illegal.’

‘Where did the cakes later go?’

‘Later? Well in the factory I sent them to another section that I never really saw, but later later to homes, parties, rich people who really wanted to try the kind of stuff their kids were taking, I guess’, he chuckled, ‘It’s interesting, I wonder if my father ever tried one. Maybe in some alternative universe or something. Maybe he ate it and became like me, and dropped everything and went to work in a factory and in that reality they stuffed the cakes with shit like cherry and coated them with sugar, you know, maybe that was the right reality, and later he dropped that job, and went outside of the factory, and made the choice and threw himself under a bus or something.’

‘The right reality.

Maybe.’

Lou from the restaurant (the SeXsufring tshirt we found was in that restaurant) was the kind of man you’d always want to be. We travelled to him for dinner hitchhiking from the beach, in twos, usually P-G and J, and then me and Stone, around seven, or all together if we could sit in the trunk of the car when we travelled in one of the rich-kid rented cabrios, and you would feel the day (same day, every day) a winding road under our feet (like gods, treading on forever) cutting through the mountains and the sunset rolling his boulder somewhere and when you finished eating you’d lie down on the warm good night asphalt with a can and listen to music on one of our phones and wait for someone to take you back to the beach.

But gods that we were, Lou from the restaurant was the kind of man you’d always want to be. It was always a show, too. He would come by people’s tables (our table in particular, because he knew and we knew), this enormous older man dressed in a white sweaty shirt with eyes that looked blind but saw everything, and told us stories about all that he knew, which was pretty much the town, and the town hall, and the restaurant, and everything. And the girls also came there to eat, and everyone too. And everyone knew Lou from the restaurant.

I always ordered things I could not afford because P-G and J were always happy to lend me money, so I ate octopuses and steaks, and everything was everything you’d ever want to eat. There were half-blind, strangely-speckled cats that roamed under the tables, not even expecting guests’ dinner cat-food enjoying the company, like we did, and there were kid cats and mother cats and they would fight on the backdrop of the white-painted summer trees, and some girls would say the cats’ were really poor and imply their lives were wretched and miserable to which I would reply with something like natural selection and they would say that’s a horrible thing to say and then all of us would bite into the steaks that Lou brought us.

After P-G asked him to tell us his version of the legends we heard of from the girls, about his old restaurant, and how someone ruined it and how the paradise moved from Victoria to this new town (I don’t know the name, but it was simply Lou’s town), and it seemed like god himself was telling us the story, dusting it off, driving away the spiders and the snakes, an old book or a chapter in a book that everyone on the beach talked about but it seemed nobody actually heard. Except the four of us.

‘Well so you know I’m really electrician’, he began, ‘but at one moment I tell my wife - let’s build restaurant. So I go to the town hall, here’, and he pointed to a building not ten meters away, ‘and the auction close at 12, I go in at 11:56 and the price is 12000 and I go in and say 60000. So I get the restaurant and everyone crazy and angry at me but I have it.’, I cut out the portion of the steak and chewed on it orgasmically. Everything Lou cooked was good as hell. ‘So I build restaurant…’

‘But not here, right, on the beach?’, P-G, who heard most versions of the story interrupted

‘Yes, the beach. So I build restaurant and first year I make so much money I put it in…’, his broken eyes and mad half-blind english were both looking for the word, ‘like bags, plastic bags, trash bags, and it is so much I count it then in winter, because I have no time in summer. So it is good, so much money, going great. And then in year two thousand and… two thousand just, maybe, I go away for holiday and they call me “your restaurant is destroyed”, I say “no you’re kidding me”, and they say “no, no, they burn restaurant down, come back”. So I come back, and true, the restaurant is destroyed, and you cannot build it again because the law that was there changed so you cannot build now.’, as he was telling the story, Lou’s eyes stayed monotonously bland, bright and staring somewhere beyond. A true restaurateur, he never stopped looking at what was going on at the other tables so at that point he stood up, saying ‘I finish the story in moment’, and went to take care of something in the kitchen.

Then when he finally came back, he said:

‘So where was I now tell me.’

‘Your restaurant was burned down when you were out of the country’, I reminded him

‘Yes. So I move here and build new restaurant, and it is small but people come like before and they even fight for to eat, and they ask “you finished already, let us eat”, and my restaurant again now is doing well, very well, and people come, and still I don’t have space, but people come’

‘And is it going better or worse than in the previous location?’, P-G asked

‘No, there there was more money but here is good. Very good.’, he waved his grubby big hand at all the tables packed with people, girls, others like us. And he laughed with his tongue flying up and down in his mouth in a way some people find repulsive, but to us it was Lou from the restaurant, and Lou from the restaurant could honestly laugh in whichever goddamn way he pleased.

‘Ok, I’m sorry but I have to go again, the people’, he pointed to the kitchen, ‘don’t know what they do’

Our twenty-one year old quartet replied ‘of course, of course’, in unison and for a while we sat there chewing our steaks, and fish and octopus, and another steak, silently, only saying a couple of words of admiration for Lou from the restaurant, the man you’d always want to be.

‘There are snakes and scorpions here’, P-G told me one time we went to the more rocky part of the dunes near where our tent was pitched. ‘So we have to be super careful, especially during the day. In the night they sleep in their wretched little caves or among the rocks, they won’t bother us in our sleep.’

But they will bother us when we’re awake, or when we think we are, but are someplace else, like Lou from the restaurant who went for holidays. You stop paying attention to what is slithering or crawling in the sand and one time as you are looking for a nice and fresh cigarette butt lost in the sand, BAM, and you are dead, like that (Lou’s grubby old hand falling down on the wooden table with a thud).

We were twenty-one years young and on holidays from either a job in advertising or not yet having a job in advertising, and there were girls and waves, and sand, and scorpions, and it was all a joyride so we didn’t really think about that. Well, to be honest, not much could go wrong - another day, like groundhog day, would be more or less the same, always better and better and better. And the shrinking, melting map - warmer and warmer and warmer.

The worst that could happen, we knew, was the police coming in and chasing us away from the dunes (because it was both military grounds and a national park at the same time). But that wasn’t that bad, after all, it was police in paradise, and we felt so much love for them as we did for the scorpios and the snakes and it was just impossible for them to not love us back.

Well, hen one day it happened. It was after I woke up with her, for the first time in two weeks sleeping in an actual bed, but more importantly for the first time in perhaps a year sleeping with a warm body next to my heart, next to me, in my hands, falling asleep with my lip still in her teeth. I woke up in the morning and having the bare level of awareness of my state, that I must stink and will not be fun to be around in the morning (although the fresh air made hangovers impossible - what can I say, it was paradise), I decided to go back to the our camp on the dunes and sleep off the night in a hammock I usually inhabited.

There were usually some locals (working in restaurants and the shops I stole flip-flops from) who like devils crawled out in the night and tried to party with the twenty-one year old us, drinking our booze and smoking our smokes, so when the white-poloed guy woke me up like bad sunrise saying ‘Police, wake up, police’, in sly english and a broken smile, my instinctive reaction was to reply with a classic ‘Shut the fuck up, you’re not police’, but after seeing one of them who definitely was police, with a uniform and gun and all, I complied with their request for my ID and let them write me a pink slip of paper demanding a fine so astronomic that none of them could not possibly believe I’d actually pay it. A younger policeman (also not uniformed) asked me what happened to my neck and, explaining a bruise that could only look like a love bite (and indeed it was), I replied that I was bitten by a wild animal (and indeed I was). He said that with that bruise-like love bite and a half-unbuttoned shirt I looked like a ‘star, rock star, you know’, and we both laughed, and I decided none of it was that bad after all. He looked like a ‘star, rock star, you know’, as well, slightly unfashionable but at the same time completely incredible in bluish sunglasses, a pink polo shirt and slightly silver but naturally black hair. In Victoria, the snake, too, was quite handsome, and what he ruined, at the end of the day, was only an hour of my sleep.

I met Lou from the restaurant - he saw some creature, and its wretched work, destroying his restaurant, but his bright, half-blind, all-seeing eyes burned with nothing but love. And mine, slowly but surely, started to shimmer with it too. The days, or the same day, grew brighter and brighter, and the nights drunker and drunker and the driving drunk on the beach got faster and faster, and more and more people fitting into one car, with no winding-road end in sight.

There was no hangover in Victoria, but going anywhere in the morning was especially difficult, as if the gravitational force doubled, or thriced, or quadrupled.

Stone, who had an admirable ability to make contact with any kind of an alien species of a person (that I really envied), found himself one night in a conversation with a russian maths student (the Russian started university well before the usual age, he was like 17), and when the next day we asked what the two talked about Stone only said ‘I think we are a week away from merging the theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. But give me another bottle and it will be one day.’

The Russian, Stone told us, was one of the ‘exceptionally intelligent’ ones (which Stone, had the habit of identifying and cataloguing into his set of people ‘worth talking to’). The Russian was younger than us - perhaps sixteen or seventeen, as I mentioned which really gave everything he said an additional benefit of seemingly prodigy-like, but also made Stone wonder whether he was a kind of a father-figure to the exceptionally intelligent maths student, that considering leading Stone to the two days later declaration that it was undoable, stemming from Stone’s own desire to redeem his father’s abusive absence et cetera et cetera.

The Russian was so socially inept, that even I was doing quite well (it was not superior intelligence, that barred me from connecting with others, as Stone asserted). A prodigy, the Russian spoke not just maths and Einstein, but quite good english, french (from my limited knowledge I could confirm also quite good), spanish and bulgarian (which I had absolutely no idea about but he sounded possessed and speaking in tongues when he presented his abilities to us). He could play giftedly most instruments you could think of, but playing, he said, never really excited him. He was one of those kids who know and can do so much they would really rather not do it at all.

Because of our groups’ incidental and unexpected but intense interactions with girls, the Russian treated us with an unjustified reverence, but it was not any kind of envy, with a mind like that you don’t really envy anything except being able to rest from what’s in your head and for once have a good night’s sleep. There is a scene in the movie Beautiful Mind where the main character, a schizophrenic, lays out to a girl he likes, very systematically, astrophysically like, why she should sleep with him. I bet that’s what the Russian would do too in the future.

There is another scene in a movie - Interstellar where a group of astronauts looking for humanity’s potential new home (the map contracting, the world getting small since the year ‘00, now twenty-one, then ‘42 then ‘63, warmer and warmer and warmer), the group of astronauts lands on a planet, of constant, unending sea, sees in the distance what they think is the great mountains of a new found land. After a couple of minutes of advancing towards the mountains, Matthew Mcconaughey says in hollywood style ‘these are not mountains. These are waves’ and the four astronauts have to flee the slowly approaching catastrophic demise of the wave, which, due to a fucked-up gravity on the planet, rose to that catastrophic height.

At six AM, after one of the exceptionally drunk nights, with the sun already in full swing, and the alcoholic gravity fucked-up in their heads, Stone and J went to catch a wave bigger than at any time of the day.

While I was sleeping off the night in the hammock, with God knows what dreams, or maybe even no dreams at all, and P-G tossing and turning in the tent, and Stone and J surfing the morning wave, the Russian sat solemnly and alone on the sunrise beach and looked up at the starless sky, wiped clean by one gigantic white star which at that point (he knew, we didn’t know) was so big and close to the contracting map that it sucked out some of the time and some of the space from the air, making the tide rise more than at any time of the day. He knew why that was and we didn’t know but we were looking at the same thing, the earth getting warmer and warmer and warmer, and the wave growing higher and higher and

And we would sometimes go away from Victoria, to a nearby town where the waves were always bigger and we marvelled at how they whip-cracked, splash-fell and rocked against the concrete-lined shore and drowned the air underneath with all their might, worked it into white foam. He knew and we didn’t, and while we lay down with girls looking into the stars and talking about constellations (only to then laugh about how drunk and absurd it is to think three stars can possibly represent the shape of a great bear or big dipper or any kind of stupid shit like that), The Russian tried to crack the code written in the stars. Looking for a new home for us. The four of us walked the shore and wondered about the origin of colorful pebbles spat out by the lapping magnificent waves, and he could probably tell us everything about each of them, trace lines from each falling star to each stone we cast mindlessly into the sea.

He could explain the shifting realities when the morning came, and why, at seventeen, you have to do certain things and not the others, and now, too, why we did all those things, why we worked in psychedelic factories and sung our hearts out to the bass of the speaker. Why we ran after girls beach-length and back, why we hitchhiked to Lou’s restaurant, why we came to Victoria in the first place, why we had jobs in advertising, why we were twenty-one, but Stone was right about one thing - the Russian was ‘fundamentally alone’

There is another scene in Interstellar, the next one after the giant wave, where Matthew Mcconaughey comes back to the spaceship waiting in the orbit of a water-mountain-these-are-not-mountains planet, discovers that time, tied with an invisible string to the fucked-up gravity) passes differently on the surface of the planet, in its orbit, and in general completely differently back on the contracting earth’s map where he left his children. How old were at the time he left in that movie - I can’t remember, let’s say twenty-one. Having spent only half an hour on the surface, he now plays the received messages from back home and sees his children’s lifetimes growing older and older and older and finally sees them surpassing them in age. He breaks down in tears and I suppose you could say he, too, was ‘fundamentally alone’

The Russian, Stone told us, was taught privately by a tutor who’s line of mathematical origin could be traced all the way to Gauss or someone. He could speak Einstein, french and spanish, and although his tongue got tied in human conversations, one day, as we drank beer on a small patch of grass in front of the local hotel, he proclaimed there was something very important we wanted to tell us. Concluding that the Russian was most definitely possessed by something (you could tell when he spoke bulgarian), we all decided listening would do no harm but at worst would be so incredible that we would not believe it.

‘You guys are now young and strong and you surf and all, but seriously, you have to do sports’, he began, ‘I don’t mean just any sport but something that really puts weight on your muscles. Like rowing or pumping on the bench, you have to train and now prepare for the rest of your life. And cardio, too, it will save you from heart disease and such.’ - and you can imagine mine, our surprise and feeling of absurdity that a being like that was uttering sentences such as these at that moment.

And that was it, the only normal set of words he ever uttered in front of us, which in his mouth was not normal at all - this man, trained by Gauss himself, had one recommendation to us and it was to do sports because it will help us to stay healthy in the future.

In space, the state of weightlessness makes the unused muscles grow weak, and the astronauts have to use the special gym machines installed on their spaceship so that their bodies don’t entropy, and heart is a muscle, too, I think, and I wondered, briefly, after what the Russian told us, if it too can die with no gravity. And it seems that time is a muscle too. It contracts and then it unfolds, it squeezes and releases and lets you breathe and suffocates, and ultimately things seem neither good nor bad but just what they ended up being. Time can definitely die away and fall from you like a dead leaf. Or it can end up a pretty stone under the feet of a giant wave. You don’t feel how it squeezes and unfolds, how it lays you down in a warm bed in the arms of someone you didn’t ever know but who reminds you of everything.

Matthew Mcconaughey - seeing messages from the future, past, present, now, never, always, and breaking down into tears, his heart breaking from weightlessness.

I was twenty one and I knew what it meant.

And in a year I would be twenty two, and in another year twenty three, and in three years twenty four. And the astrology girls, going with us skinny dipping in the midnight water, they will disappear somewhere under the waves and start slowly fading away from our lives like an unused muscle.

J loved quoting this one scene from Matthew Mcconaughey's first movie:

‘You know what I love most about college girls? I get older - they stay the sameeeee age’

And each time he said it, he laughed with the greatest, purest laughter you could find on this now planet.

‘And I got caught one time’

‘For what?’

‘Well, maybe two, but only one time involved the police. Second time. And that was me trying to steal an album, well, it was called Steal This Album’ - I was lying, although I did also steal that album, but having trouble with the police was for an attempted theft of headphones though that didn’t sound as sexy. And for some reason which made me feel real good I was flirting with the most beautiful girl under the good sun by us recounting our thefts both real or invented.

We both quickly settled that we had some borderline immoral thread running through our veins but drew the line at actually killing someone. We were rich and young enough to say those things and be all sexy about it. We knew we didn’t have to steal but arranged we should do it together and some point (‘ok, why not tomorrow?’) and it was beer first, and then flip flops the next and then another day a pink swimming mattress from the backseat of some rich and young and abandoned rented cabrio. And we took it swimming, drunkenly in the night. Rich and young, and full of stars.

We stepped into the calm sea, small waves, shallow, and took off our clothes, most of them, and took our pink stolen mattress against the waves, her covering small breasts with only her hands, our sociopathic personalities meeting somewhere under ridiculous notions of astrology. We kissed, and that was that.

The mattress lay once again abandoned (has someone left the rented cabrio just as we left the shore?) where our friends would say it was ridiculous to steal it. We only stopped kissing when she said we have to look for the damn pink abandoned thing (apparently it was rented by one of her friends) after which we dived deep into the shallow sea.

I remembered all those things other than sex best. The kiss in the sea. The conversation about stealing shit, the hand covering breasts. And after sex, the interruptions of it by my taking sips from a big bottle of booze, and playing chess on the rooftop of the place we stole from.

‘And I got caught one time’

‘For what?’

‘Stealing mattresses, and flip flops, and beer, but it was good, the time I did treated me well’

‘How long were you in for?’

‘Hmm I don’t know, around eight decades’

‘Woah, how old were you when you got caught?’

‘Like, twenty-one’

‘Shit, but you say it was good?’

‘Yeah. It was good life’

2 notes · View notes