View allAll Photos Tagged Compatibility
Loki - Holly Butterfly Top FATPACK
♥ 14 Colors
♥ Each Top Includes 2 Sleeve Options; Sheer & Solid.
♥ Each Color Pack Includes HUD For Sleeves Type.
♥ FATPACK Has more Customization Options.
♥ Comes with Alpha to fit Top.
♡ Body Compatibility:
✿ Maitreya X
✿ Legacy + Perky
✿ Ebody Reborn + Waifus
★ Taxi ---> K u s t o m 9
Hi Spookies & Culties, Here is your "must have these Cult Items" Weekend Shopping List!!
★ For Happy Weekend Sale ★ Annatto ★ Zaatar ★
★ Annatto Rigged For ★ Reborn ★ MaitreyaX ★ Legacy F/M ★ MaitreyaOG ★ Kupra ★ Gianni ★ Jake ★ Kario
★ Zaatar Rigged For ★ Reborn ★ MaitreyaX ★ Legacy F ★ MaitreyaOG ★ Kupra ★
★ Featuring Color Hud w/ 10 light colors & 10 dark colors & 3 metal colors!
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★ Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility ★
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/337
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
The F-4EJ "Kai" is an update to the F-4EJ Phantom II. Updates include a new Westinghouse look-down APG-66J radar, Kaiser/Shimadzu HUD, new radar warning receiver and INS. Compatibility with air to surface munitions, such as the ASM-1 anti-ship missile was also worked into the EJ Kai.
🌐 GIVE AWAY TIME 🌐 Like, Share , and Comment your avatar name for a chance to win the “IV Trunk Bag” release.
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/MILANI-IV-Trunk-Bag-Fatpack/...
Compatibility : Gianni / Jake / Legacy
Gender : Unisex
- Many different colourways 🌐
- UNISEX !! 🌐
- Unrigged 🌐
- Resizable 🌐
Marketplace release with many more to come in the near future. In “Milani” you’re always going to drip with the drop. This cannot be found anywhere except exclusively through Us.🌐
What's new in 1.2?
- added MAN TGX E5 (by Madster) skin
- added Mercedes Actros MP3 skin
- added Krone Profiliner (by Sogard3) skin
- added compatibility for Eugene's Next-Gen Scania S
- added license plate for Scania S (REQUIRED: www.mediafire.com/file/qdjfn3cil7n73i8/nr_plates.zip/file)
DOWNLOAD: sharemods.com/501y5gbr945b/kschultz_skinpack_1.2.zip.html
Have fun!
Credits: Sogard3, 50K, thomas16, TheNuvolari
Hi Culties & Spookies, time for even more sales for your Sunday Leisure!!
★ For Lazy Sunday!!! ★ Yuno-Uwu ★ For So Kawaii Sundays ★ Turbinado ★
★ marketplace.secondlife.com/p/CULT-Yuno-Uwu-Fatpack/27405359
★ Yuno-Uwu Rigged For ★ Maitreya-X ★ Legacy F/M ★ Reborn ★ Kupra ★ Lara ★ Jake ★ Gianni ★ Kario ★
★ Turbinado Rigged For ★ Maitreya-X ★ Legacy F ★ Reborn ★ Kupra ★ Lara ★
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility★
★ Comes with a Color Control HUD for changeable color options
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/33
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
J-Tac's 2nd entry into the US Armed Forces M4A1 rifle replacement trials.
Retaining many of the key factors of the M4 family of rifles, such as STANAG compatibility, and 1913 rails.
Not gonna write a big piece on this, because I am a lazy son of a bitch.
Credit Beck rail shading
Hi Culties & Spookies, More Weekly Sales for your shopping pleasure!
★ For Crafty Weekend Sale ★ Marigold ★ ★ For Hot Drop Weekend ★ Colette ★
★ Rigged For ★ Legacy F ★ MaitreyaX ★ Reborn ★ Kupra ★ Lara ★
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility★
★ Comes with a Color Control HUD for changeable color options
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/33
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
Metroline route 332: Brent Park, Superstores - Paddington, Bishop's Bridge
Approaching Paddington Green Police Station (EW)
New Routemasters on the 332 became a thing last summer. Starting off as an odd-working or two, LTs are now pretty much the main allocation. I concede they make a good impression, but on the basis of compatibility between ride satisfaction and route, I prefer a TEH.
LT649 illustrates a key perk of route 332 - the only service that directly connects Edgware Road to Paddington from the north. The turning at Paddington Green is made tighter by the LT's 12m length, so with barely any margin for error, the driver is pictured at full lock making use of the modified kerbing and pavement.
©London Bus Breh 2020.
Candidate ‘green’ satellite propellants within a temperature-controlled incubator, undergoing heating as a way to simulate the speeding up of time.
Today hydrazine is the most common propellant employed by thrusters aboard satellites: it is highly energetic in nature but also toxic and corrosive, as well as dangerous to handle and store. ESA initiated a study with European Astrotech Ltd in the UK to look into greener propellants and propulsion systems, to provide comparable performance with reduced toxicity and handling costs.
The testing investigated the compatibility between a variety of current and future materials and weld combinations with two propellant candidates in detail while checking others as well. By using materials already present in propulsion systems, the aim is to help to reduce any necessary modifications needed, shrinking costs and development times.
An eight-month test cycle became the equivalent of 5.33 years on-orbit by elevating temperature, hunting out for any degradation in the welds, materials and propellants – such as broken welds, material mass loss or etching.
Two green propellants called LMP-103S – flight-tested on Sweden’s Prisma formation flying mission – and HTP – high-test peroxide, previously used in past UK rockets – were shown to have compatibility with up to ten welded materials (while HTP was incompatible with titanium).
The project was supported through ESA’s Technology Development Element, investigating promising innovations for space.
It comes in response to the European Commission’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) regulation, that seeks to limit industry’s use of chemical substances that may be hazardous to human health or the environment.
Credits: European Astrotech Ltd
B♭ (B Flat)
Here is the beginning of my new novel. :)
It’s not final yet.
1
——People fall in love for all kinds of reasons, but realizing you've fallen in love only after the fact—
that needs no reason at all. I believe that’s what true love is.
If only, at that moment, a pale, white light had filtered in around me, it would’ve been easier to know.
Soft light envelops people. It stirs memory. It shines through the eyelids and reaches the depths of one’s heart.
To meet a stranger and come to know them deeply—light is essential for that.——
Even though it was nearly noon, the soft light of morning streamed in through the high warehouse windows.
Tiny specks of dust floated in its glow, and a pale ribbon of light quietly washed over the floor.
It was an old, cluttered warehouse, where artists had gathered on the weekend to display and sell their work.
From beyond the half-open loading shutter in the back, a heavy beat of bass-laden hip hop throbbed faintly—probably from a van one of the exhibitors had driven in.
A young man sat low, flipping slowly through Anaya Patel’s sketchbook,
which had been carelessly placed on the floor still sticky with forgotten duct tape.
His brown skin suggested he was likely Middle Eastern, like Ana herself.
On his handsome profile, his blue eyes glowed quietly.
His gaze followed Ana’s lines, carefully, repeatedly—
the subtle curves, the layering of fine straight lines, the shading done with delicate shifts in pencil pressure.
Those who can speak with their eyes, Ana had always felt since childhood,
are also those who can absorb the most with them.
Lifting his gaze from the sketchbook, he noticed Ana standing nearby and smiled.
“Is this your work?”
Caught off guard by his question, Ana replied a little flustered, trying to play down how intently she’d been watching him.
“Yes, it’s mine.”
“Why did you draw it with just a regular pencil? A rough sketch?”
What he was looking at was a drawing of Ana’s husband, Arjun, waiting at a café.
When Ana had arrived late, Arjun had been seated by the window, glaring at his laptop.
The sharp angle of light pouring in had overlapped with the intensity of his gaze,
burning that side profile into her eyelids.
She’d captured that fleeting moment.
“No, it’s not a draft. It’s finished.
I like using simple things like pencils or pens... familiar tools.”
He smiled back and said,
“Is that man your boyfriend?”
“No, my husband.”
He responded with a somewhat exaggerated surprise.
“You’re married?”
“Yes.”
“I see. That’s a little disappointing... for a weekend.”
Shrugging lightly, he stood and spoke to Ana as he rose.
Then, with a bright smile for the other artists at nearby booths,
Mika came briskly over, her F30 canvas slung over her back.
“If you’d like, check out my work too. I’m Mika.”
The man smiled and extended his hand in thanks.
Mika passed her painting to Ana and shook his hand.
Ana leaned in and whispered to Mika, a bit annoyed,
“Why are you giving me your stuff?”
Mika smiled and whispered back,
“Because you’re married.”
“My name is Amir. Amir Nasser,”
he said with a boyish grin—
a bright, innocent smile still tinged with youth.
As he typed something on his smartphone,
Rafi walked quickly over.
With a quick glance at Ana,
he spoke to Amir in a low voice.
Judging by the heaviness around his neck, he looked much older than Amir.
“It’s time. Let’s go.”
“Got it.
Thank you both—it was a lovely time.
See you Saturday.”
Mika smiled and thanked him,
but Amir’s gaze lingered on Ana.
Ana watched the two of them walk away and found something odd.
Even though it was Saturday, both Amir and Rafi were dressed in suits.
As they walked off, Mika muttered,
“Rich boys? Maybe heirs from Saudi Arabia.”
Ana looked at her, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“The suits are Brioni.
Shoes are Edward Green.
That's about the price of a luxury car.
Ah—two of them, so maybe two cars. Just a guess.”
Memo
Republicans. TV. Rallies.
Education, family background, wealth.
And then family, friends, lovers—
those perfect, polished rings you all wear stacked neatly—
you’ll never understand what it's like to have none of it.
To be caked in mud, working from morning to night, and still go unrecognized.
How many times did I tell myself not to envy people like you?
One day, I was working on the fountain at Hope Garden in Battery Park.
There was a leak.
I couldn’t shut off the water, and I was covered in mud.
At lunch break, a man and woman in white-collar clothes passed by,
giving me that look—
the one people give a crushed frog on the side of the road.
Set in New York City.
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
_________________________________
_________________________________
僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
僕は、小説の冒頭を公開します。:)
まだ決定ではありません。
1
ーーーー 恋に落ちる理由は、人によってさまざまだけど、恋に落ちていたと、あとになって気づくことに、理由はない。それをほんとうの恋だと、私は思う。できればそのとき、辺りに白く滲んだ光が差し込んでいたら、もっとわかりやすい。淡い光は人を包み、記憶を呼び覚ます。瞼を透かして、胸の内まで照らしだす。名も知らない人に出会い、多くを深く知るためには、大切な光だ ーーーー
もうすぐ昼だと言うのに、朝の陽のような、やわらかな光が、倉庫の高窓から差し込んでいた。そのなかを小さなほこりが舞い、光の帯が静かに床を濡らしている。週末に、展示や販売のためにアーティストらが集まった、雑多な古い倉庫だ。搬入口である奥の半開きのシャッターの向こう側から、低音の効いたヒップホップが、引きずるような重いビートを響かせている。たぶん、展示者が寄せたバンからだ。
若い男性が腰を落とし、剥がし忘れたガムテープのへばりついた床に無造作に置かれた、アナヤ・パテルのノートをゆっくり繰りながら、静かに眺めている。褐色の肌は、たぶんアナと同じ、中東系の男性だ。端正な横顔に、ブルーの瞳が静かに輝いていた。その眼差しは、アナの作品の線を、丹念に、そして何度も追っている。緩いカーブの線の太さ、細い直線の重ね具合。鉛筆の濃淡を使った陰影。
言葉ではなく、眼で語ることができる人は、眼で多くを吸収することができる人だ。アナは幼少の頃からそう感じていた。
繰っていたノートから目を離した彼は、そばに立ち止まったアナに気づき、微笑んだ。
「この作品は、君の？」
アナは、見入っていたことを取り繕うように慌てて答えた。
「ええ、私です」
「どうして普通の鉛筆で描いたの？ ラフスケッチ？」
彼が見ていたのは、カフェで待ち合わせていた夫のアルジュンの横顔だった。アナが遅れてカフェにやってきた時、アルジュンは窓際に腰掛け、ノートパソコンを睨んでいた。鋭利な光の差し込み具合がアルジュンの真剣な眼差しと重なり合って、瞼に焼きついていた。その一瞬の横顔だ。
「いえ、下書きではなく、完成品です。鉛筆とか身近なペンが好きだから….」
彼はアナに微笑みで返した。それからいった。
「男性は彼？」
「いえ、夫です」
男性は、少し大袈裟に驚いてこたえた。
「君は結婚しているの？」
「ええ」
「そうなんだ。少し残念だな、週末だというのに」
軽く首をすくめた男性は、立ち上がりながらアナにそう答えた。他のブースのアーティストらに明るい笑顔を振り撒きながら、ミカは自分のキャンバス、F30の作品を背中に背負って足早にやってきた。
「よかったら私の作品も見ていってね。私はミカ」
ありがとうと言いながら彼が手を差し出した。ミカは背負っていた作品をアナに預け、握手を交わした。アナは、なんで荷物をわたしに？ とやや不機嫌にミカへ耳打ちすると、ミカは結婚しているでしょと微笑み返した。
「僕の名前はアミール。アミール・ナッセル」
アミールは口元を緩めてふたりに笑いかけた。少年のような、屈託のない笑みで、まだあどけなさを残していた。
スマートフォンに文字を打ち込みながら、ラフィは足早にやってくると、アナを一瞥し、アミールへ低い声でいった。首周りの贅肉からアミールよりもずっと年上のようだ。
「そろそろ時間だ。いくぞ」
「わかったよ。ふたりともありがとう。素敵な時間だった。また土曜日に」
ミカが、ありがとうと笑顔で返したが、アミールの視線はアナをじっと見つめていた。アナはふたりを見て、不思議に思った。
アミールもラフィも土曜だというのにスーツを纏っている。二人の後ろ姿を見送りながら、ミカがつぶやいた。
「ふたりともリッチマン？ サウジアラビアの御曹司とか」
アナが不思議そうにミカへたずねた。
「どういう意味？」
「スーツはブリオーニ。革靴はエドワードグリーン。高級車一台分ぐらいよ。あ、二人だから二台分。たぶんね」
メモ
共和党員 テレビ、集会など。
学歴、家柄、裕福さ。そして、家族、友人、恋人。美しい輪が幾重にも揃ったお前らには、なにひとつない俺の気持ちはわからないだろう。泥まみれになって、朝から晩まで働いても俺が報われることはなかった。
お前らを妬んだりしてはいけないと、どれだけ自分に言い聞かせてきたか。ある日、俺はバッテリーパークのホープガーデンの噴水を工事していた。漏水していてね。俺はなかなか水が止められず泥まみれになっていた。昼休みになって、ホワイトカラーの男と女が侮蔑するように通り過ぎていった。まるで路上で轢かれたカエルでも見るようにね。
これまでのメモ
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
舞台はニューヨークです。
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
_________________________________
_________________________________
PACIFIC OCEAN (Apr. 15, 2021) – An MV-22B Osprey assigned to Air Test and Evaluation (HX) Squadron 21 of Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., idles aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy’s (T-AH 19) flight deck Apr. 15. Mercy is underway off the coast of Southern California completing Dynamic Interface Testing, where the ship’s aviation facilities will be evaluated for compatibility with the V-22 Osprey and MH-60 Seahawk, and establish launch and recovery windows in adverse weather conditions. Mercy recently returned to its homeport in San Diego from a regular overhaul in Portland, Ore., where improvements were made to its flight deck to support multiple aircraft platforms. Mercy must be in a five-day-activation status in order to support missions over the horizon, and be ready, reliable and resilient to support mission commanders. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg)
My idea when creating this sandal was to expose the feet as much as possible while still bringing elegance and sensuality, a versatile model for all occasions. I included a diamond add-on with two metals, gold and silver, which adds even more sophistication. The add-on is available in both the simple models and the Fat pack. Available in seven PBR Materials colors and some more exclusive options in the Fat pack, in the DEMO version I included the FP HUD so you can test all the colors before purchasing. Compatibility for the following bodies: Legacy, Reborn, LaraX, GenX, Kupra/Khara and Vipra.
Marktplace: marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Morfeu-Coco-Shoes-Unpack-Bla...
★ Hot New Release for The Darkness Event- opens October 5th, 2023 ★ The Jinx Heels have a lovely skeleton heel that would make Morticia jealous!
★ Rigged For ★ Legacy ★ Reborn ★ Maitreya ★ Kupra ★ Gen-X ★
★ Comes with a Color Control HUD for changeable color options
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility★
★ The Darkness Event LM: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zen%20Soul/47/244/3201
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
"What is this stuff?" Kuni asks.
"Compliance is given to performers to ensure maximum compatibility between performers and/or followers." The Framework explains, "The affects will not fully ware off for 24 hours so please plan accordingly."
"I have a fight tonight." Kuni gasps.
YOU CHOOSE:
A. "Can you take this back out of me? I need to focus, I promise I'll do what I'm told."
B. "What is it doing to me? Why does it feel like the room is getting bigger?"
C. "Why am I in a locker room?"
D. Dynamic Choice.
Amidst the aromas of pumpkin spice and leaves that paint the sky in golden hues, a new skin tone emerges that embodies the essence of autumn 🍁✨.
Our new Hazelia Skin, sprinkled with freckles, captures the warmth of this season: vibrant, inviting, and as unique as every September sunset. 🌾
Find it at maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/xLUMINOUS%20HALLWAYx/189/1... for this TSS Fall Week and let the spirit of autumn shine on your skin.
Compatibility:
-2K BOM EVOX and now 10 Velour Skin Tones!
Tones: Blush,Icy, Cloudy,Porcelain, Snow, Chantilly, Rosekiss, Sunkiss, Sienna and Ibiza
Variations of:
-Brown and No Brow Skin
Remember to wear your group tag for a 10% off in every purchase
Compatibility: LEGACY, ATHLETIC, SIGNATURE GIANNI, BELLEZA JAKE.
available @ Tannenbaum November 20th - December 25th
PACIFIC OCEAN (Apr. 15, 2021) – An MV-22B Osprey assigned to Air Test and Evaluation (HX) Squadron 21 of Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., idles aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy’s (T-AH 19) flight deck Apr. 15. Mercy is underway off the coast of Southern California completing Dynamic Interface Testing, where the ship’s aviation facilities will be evaluated for compatibility with the V-22 Osprey and MH-60 Seahawk, and establish launch and recovery windows in adverse weather conditions. Mercy recently returned to its homeport in San Diego from a regular overhaul in Portland, Ore., where improvements were made to its flight deck to support multiple aircraft platforms. Mercy must be in a five-day-activation status in order to support missions over the horizon, and be ready, reliable and resilient to support mission commanders. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Luke Cunningham)
*ADN Bad Witcher Ensemble
Features:
-BOM Bodysuit & Face Tattoos
-Hat
-Necklace
-Dress
-BOM Alpha (for Kupra)
COMPATIBILITY:
-Freya
-Hourglass
-Kupra (shown)
-Legacy
-Maitreya
-Maitreya FIX
-Reborn
ADN Mainstore: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Puffetta/26/192/21
~~~~~~~~~~
*Utopia Design: Anika - Available now at UBER
FEATURES:
- 20 Preset
- Multi-texture changer: click on each tab of the HUD to change style for each part of the shoes.
- Glossiness Level: 5 different levels of glossy (with "Advanced Lighting" enabled).
- Tinting: adjust color or add a Plain Texture and retint everything.
COMPATIBILITY:
- Maitreya Lara
- Slink Physique Hourglass
- Belleza Freya
- Legacy
- Kupra
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/utopia_design/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/elisabetta.hyun
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/UtopiaDesignSL/
Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/1609538299340809/
Twitter: twitter.com/elisabetta_hyun
Instagram: www.instagram.com/utopia.design.sl/
Store LM: slurl.com/secondlife/Triglav/208/124/501
Marketplace: marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/18951
★ Hot New Release for Access —opens May 12th, 2024 ★ The Melina heels are sleek and sexy, strapped and chained for the gods. These sleek heels would make any outfit stand out from the crowd!
★ Rigged For ★ Legacy F ★ Reborn ★ Maitreya-X ★ Gen-X ★ Kupra ★ Lara ★
★ Comes with a Color Control HUD for changeable color options ★
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS! ★ Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility★
★ Access LM: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ACCESS/128/129/2002
★ Access Cam Sim: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ACCESS%202/14/130/2004
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
My New Novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
This is the third time I'm sharing it. (^^;;
It's a rough sketch from the beginning, more like notes.
Hope you enjoy reading it. :)
I've added quite a bit.
I won’t be uploading any more. (^_^;)
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
Set in New York City.
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
Red, yellow, blue—
Light rain began to fall on East 52nd Street just after 7 p.m.
Anaya Patel leaned against the wall of the building next to Tot Ramen, where she was supposed to meet someone, and absentmindedly stared at the traffic light at the intersection to her right. Though it was already July, it felt like a cooler summer than last year, and she regretted stepping out in just a T-shirt.
When the light turned green, Anaya squinted and stared intently. Kana, her former classmate, was smiling and waving as she ran toward her—
The flat ceiling of Madison Square Garden looked as if it were swelling from the heat of the crowd to Jack. Cheers welcoming the presidential candidate mingled with angry shouts, shaking the air like a wave.
Jack surveyed the arena briefly before returning his gaze to his iPhone. Several social media feeds scrolled simultaneously on the screen, overflowing with rapid posts.
One post in the Meta feed caught his eye. A death threat.
Republican presidential candidate Justin Bradford was about to take the stage with his fiancée, Eleanor Blake.
As the red lights symbolizing the Republican Party lit up the center stage, the two appeared together.
Then came the gunshots.
Jack recognized it instantly—two shots.
While chaos erupted inside the arena, Jack calmly closed his eyes and visualized the scene. He traced the sound of each shot to its possible source.
The first shot had likely come from the PA area near his right side. But Secret Service agents were stationed there.
He recalculated the second shot—probably fired from the left side of the stage. The assailant must have known the couple's precise positions. A security leak, perhaps.
Then came the second report. Ben Holloway, his colleague, delivered it with practiced calm. The bullets had grazed Justin’s left shoulder and abdomen. No arteries were hit, but the bleeding was severe.
Jack replied with steady resolve:
"Justin has Bombay blood. I confirmed it three days ago with Bellevue Hospital. They have a reserve."
Ben acknowledged it calmly, as if nothing had happened.
Justin was rushed to Bellevue, the nearest hospital. Jack called Elijah Kane, who was already waiting there. Secret Service agents, of course, never used apps like WhatsApp.
Before the first ring ended, Elijah picked up.
"Jack, it’s bad. We don’t have the blood. The Bombay blood is gone."
Jack couldn’t believe it.
"I confirmed it personally three days ago with the staff. Saw the blood bags myself."
After a brief pause, Elijah answered:
"The person in charge of those bags died in a car accident yesterday."
Anaya waited for her husband Arjun at Tot Ramen. Her college friend Mika (Sato), a Japanese artist, was with her.
As the waiter placed her bowl in front of her, her phone rang.
It was Bellevue Hospital.
Without hesitation, Anaya answered. Mika watched her with concern.
"Ms. Anaya Patel? This is Sasha Wilson from the ER. You may have heard, but the Republican presidential candidate was shot. We need your blood immediately. A Secret Service vehicle will pick you up. Please do not move."
Anaya turned toward the display hanging over the counter. A male reporter was broadcasting live from MSG.
At the entrance, a well-dressed man in a blue suit approached quickly.
"I’m Rohan Shah with the Secret Service. Please come with me. The car is outside."
Just as he reached for her, Anaya's phone buzzed again. The caller ID was unknown.
"Hello?"
"Ms. Anaya Patel?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"Jack Vance, Secret Service. I'm almost there."
"How do you know my location?"
"We’re professionals. We have ways."
"But the agent is already here."
Jack’s urgent shout rang through the phone: "NO!"
The man before her drew a rifle from inside his suit and aimed it at her forehead.
A soft gunshot echoed inside the restaurant.
Anaya froze in shock, unable to speak. The man collapsed to the floor.
Then Arjun appeared—her husband, pointing a gun at her.
"Freeze! FBI!"
Several NYPD officers and suited FBI agents stormed in.
"Everyone down! Hands behind your heads!"
Classic movie dialogue. Anaya was trembling. So was Mika. But probably no one was shaking more than Arjun.
Moments later, Jack burst into the restaurant.
"Anaya Patel!"
Without looking up, she answered:
"Yes, that’s me."
Jack wiped sweat from his brow, lifted her up, and said:
"We’re going to the hospital."
At the hospital, Elijah sent Jack a message with a link.
Jack tossed his phone to Anaya in the passenger seat:
"Open the link!"
It was a live broadcast.
"Good evening, New York. And Los Angeles. My name is Zakaria Haddad. That’s my real name.
I used to live in Gaza. Now, I'm in a room modeled exactly after your President’s office."
Zakaria, a brown-skinned man with a beard, sat calmly in a chair identical to the Oval Office's.
He glanced at his watch, then back to the camera.
"There’s about to be breaking news. Watch your smartphone alerts."
Seconds later:
BREAKING: Former Democratic President Owen Reid shot at Los Angeles Convention Center.
Zakaria smirked and said:
"A sad alert, isn’t it, America? But don’t be too sad. What I went through in Gaza was 55,000 times worse. We lost more than 55,000 loved ones. And cried tears we couldn’t stop."
He bowed his head, clenched his fists, and pounded the desk.
When he looked up, his eyes were wet.
"We seek no money. No glory in death. We only ask that you cry as many tears as we did. Only tears can heal what we lost."
He placed his elbows on the desk, rested his chin on clasped hands, and closed his eyes.
His eyelids trembled slightly.
"I'm just one of the 55,000. If I vanish, 50,000 more remain. Our will cannot be silenced. I'm here to declare it."
From the drawer, he pulled out a Glock 17, chambered a round, and aimed it at his temple.
As a Sunni Muslim, he looked into the camera and said dryly:
"God bless you, America."
He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.
The screen went black.
The corridor to the ICU was tightly guarded.
Jack handed Anaya to Sasha.
Sasha had her sign a consent form and led her to a bed.
The bed next to hers was enclosed in vinyl sheets, a man inside, barely recognizable as the candidate.
Sasha gave detailed instructions to the staff.
Vital monitors, oxygen equipment, ventilators—every machine had someone watching it.
A nurse wiped Anaya's arm with disinfectant and inserted a needle.
Blood flowed into the tube.
Direct transfusion is usually avoided due to infection risk, but Bombay blood is an exception.
Anaya had signed, understanding the danger.
She didn’t feel it yet—that her blood was saving a life.
She stared up at the ceiling and breathed deeply.
She had only come to eat ramen with Mika.
What would happen to Arjun? Who had he shot?
As these thoughts swirled, sleep took her.
Justin's father, Cyrus Rajan Bradford, emigrated from Mumbai in 1971 and served five terms as a Democratic congressman from New Jersey's 6th District.
He was shot while giving a speech in Union Square.
Justin, then a child, couldn't grasp what had happened.
The shooter was a young Democrat—a white-collar idealist who demanded immediate healthcare reform. Cyrus’ gradual approach wasn’t fast enough for him.
Cyrus, himself an immigrant, believed real change took time.
But little Justin just wanted to hug his father.
Even as he stopped breathing.
He believed the hug might bring him back.
Justin never forgave that man.
Cyrus Rajan Bradford:
"We must dream big, but move forward step by step. Sudden change only divides society. Democracy means lifting the voices of the unheard and walking together."
Anaya and Mika drove from Paramus, New Jersey, to Williamsburg for the Artists & Freeze weekend event.
Mika had come from Japan to study at Montclair State University and admired Anaya's black-and-white drawings.
Anaya used pencils, pens, and everyday stationery to draw portraits and scenes.
Mika, who painted vivid oil works, was drawn to the simplicity of Anaya's work.
In the campus cafeteria, Anaya once told Mika:
"The place I grew up was barren. No green. No rivers. Just dry wind and sand. But I didn’t hate it."
She poked at her ham and eggs.
"There was nothing but paper and pencils. That’s all I had."
She smiled gently at Mika.
"But I felt I had to treasure it. Everyone on social media seemed so wealthy. But I didn’t envy them. I wanted to show the world my own everyday life. Isn’t it beautiful to share the place you love?"
Mika nodded deeply.
She had grown up in Kamiyama-cho, Shibuya, where the streets were quiet, lined with traditional homes, even as the rest of the district transformed with flashy ads and modern towers. That contrast shaped her art.
"The darkest hour is just before dawn."
Manhattan's dawn recalled that phrase.
When America fell into darkness, a trader once said it.
Amir had heard it from Zakaria, his professor at the Islamic University of Gaza.
Amir and Rafi Ghanem were both his students. They studied electrical engineering, electronics, and programming.
Understanding America’s weak IT networks was easy for them.
Zakaria helped scatter families of Gaza's 55,000 dead across the U.S., waiting.
Rafi and Amir were among them.
They had lost wives, lovers, families.
Those in darkness find no light.
Only those who gather at the bottom of the abyss, resolved, can rival true power—even the U.S. presidency.
Rafi had begun building a pirate radio two years earlier.
Using Caribbean and Hispanic immigrant communities as cover, he revived ancient communication: one-way broadcast.
They carried smartphones but used them only for idle talk. Nothing sensitive.
Rafi pressed the switch.
A tiny click was swallowed by the night.
A red lamp glowed.
The voltage meter twitched.
At exactly 2 a.m., on FM 87.9, a woman’s voice read poetry:
"If the world ends,
I want to be singing,
Alone."
To be continued...
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
1 U2 Helter Skelter (Live) youtu.be/OBL-gVSJp2I?si=CuYs7HKsxCaVTQb3
2 Jimi Hendrix: The Star Spangled Banner (Live): www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzZh6-h9fM
3 Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze (Live): www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJunCsrhJjg
4 The Beatles: If I Fell (2009 - Remaster): www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX3Xm4TNF00
5 Tyler, The Creator: Take Your Mask Off (feat. Daniel Caesar & Latoya Williams...): youtu.be/tSd85SmghYs?si=-E-M6dhSdcYzBFjU
6 The Weeknd: Niagara Falls: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxWx5UuznGI
7 Drake: Laugh Now Cry Later (feat. Lil Durk): www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFm7YDVlqnI
8 Linda Sikhakhane: Inkehli: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDHbPFAlrO4
9 Freja Lundgren - Finding Silence – : Not found.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUo7F3P2ObeLyC8Fwp70NEQ
10 Mathias Eick: Loving: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYh_orn9ydA
11 21 Savage & Summer Walker: prove it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNIJmlhgqGk
12 Tiana Major9: On God!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wp1Q5V2eKI
13 Usher: Kissing Strangers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fepftsv6RA
14 JUNG KOOK: Never Let Go: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_n4Ysi5iUM
15 Taylor Swift: This Love: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xsL45rr3VU
16 Metallica: Disposable Heroes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIiXONFj6lM
17 The Beatles:Across The Universe (Remastered 2009):youtu.be/90M60PzmxEE?si=DvkYgRwEK_lha6CT
18 Ganavya: Land: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRmU6z6v1cs
Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
Manhattan. New York. USA. 2007. (7 / 8)
Shot with a Nikon Coolpix 8700.
Today's photo has never been published before.
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
3回の公開です(^^;;
冒頭からの走り書きです。メモ程度です。
よかったら読んでください。:)
結構、加えましたよー^_^
もうアップしません。(^_^;)
舞台はニューヨークです。
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
— 赤、黄色、青ーーー
イースト５２ndストリートに小雨が舞いはじめたのは、午後七時過ぎだった。
アナヤ・パテルは、待ち合わせたトットラーメンのとなりのビルの壁面にもたれ、右手に見える十字路の信号機をぼんやり眺めていた。もう７月だというのに、昨年よりも冷夏に感じ、Tシャツ一枚で出かけてきたことを後悔していた。
十字路の信号が青に変わると、アナは目を細め、凝視した。同級生のカナがこちらへ手を振りながら微笑み、駆け寄ってきていた——
マジソンスクエアガーデンの平坦な天井は、吐き出された人の熱気でいつもより膨らんでいるように、ジャックには見えた。大統領候補を歓迎する声とそれを罵倒する叫び声が錯綜し、鼓膜の奥を揺らしていた。
ジャックは、軽く場内の隅々まで目を凝らしてから、再びアイフォンに目を落とした。画面には、いくつかのSNSが同時に広がっており、それぞれが激しい書き込みによって文字が流れてゆく。
右下の、メタの書き込みに、ジャックは目を留めた。殺害予告だ。
大統領候補のジャスティン・ブラッドフォードは、フィアンセのエリノア・ブレイクとともに間も無くステージに立つ。
共和党を示す赤い光がステージ中央に差し込むと、二人は同時に現れた。
と、同時に、銃声が響いた。
一聴しただけでは気づかなかったがジャックの耳は聴き分けた。弾は二発だ。
騒然とした場内をよそに、ジャックは静かに目を閉じた。発射音から着弾までを想像した。
一発目の弾は、ジャックの右手、たぶん、PA近辺からだ。しかし、ジャックと同じ配属のシークレットサービスが張り込んでいたはずだ。もうひとつの弾丸をジャックは再び目を閉じて計算した。
弾は、たぶん、ステージ左手側からだ。ジャスティンとエリノアの二人の立ち位置を計算しているようだ。ひょっとしたら情報が漏れていたかもしれない。
ジャックの耳に第２報が入った。同僚のベン・ホロウェイの冷静な声だ。心臓ははずれたものの、弾は左肩と腹部をかすめていた。動脈には達していなかったが、出血がひどかった。
ジャックも冷静に、ベンへ伝えた。
「ジャスティンはボンベイブラッドだ。三日前にベルビュー病院に確認した。予備の血液は保管されている」
ベンは、何事もなかったかのように、わかったと静かにいった。
マジソンスクエアガーデンにもっとも近いベルビュー病院に、ジャスティンを運び込む。ジャックは、病院で控えているイライジャ・ケインにスマートフォンから直接電話した。シークレットサービスではもちろんワッツアップなどのSNSはご法度だ。
ワンコールが切れる前にすぐイライジャは反応した。
「ジャック、大変だ。血液がない。ボンベイブラッドがないんだ」
ジャックは、耳を疑った。
「三日前に、俺は直接担当の、名前は忘れたな。とにかく目の前でブラッドバッグを確認したぞ」
イライジャは、数秒の沈黙の後、応えた。
「その血液の管理者は、きのう、交通事故で亡くなったんだ」
アナヤ・パテルは、夫のアルジュンをトットラーメンで待った。
学生時代からの親友、ミカ（佐藤）（日本人）も一緒だ。
店員が、アナヤの目の前にラーメンを差し出したとき、スマートフォンが鳴った。
登録してあるベルビュー病院からだった。
アナヤは、躊躇わずに出た。着信を見たミカは不安げにアナヤを見守った。
「アナヤ・パテルさんですか？ 私は救急部のサーシャウィルソンと言います。すでにご存知かもしれませんが、共和党大統領候補が撃たれました。あなたの血が必要です。すぐに病院へ来てください。シークレットサービスの車が迎えに行きます。動かないでください」
アナヤは、呆然としているミカの視線を追って、背後を振り返った。カウンターのちょうど左上に下がったディスプレイには、MSGの現在が男性レポーターによって放映されている。
アナは開いた入り口に目を移した。青い、洗練されたスーツをまとった褐色の肌の男性が、足早にアナに寄ってきた。
「シークレットサービスのロハン・シャーと言います。私と一緒に病院へ来てください。外に車を用意してあります」
彼は真剣な眼差しでアナへ伝え、手を引こうとした瞬間、アナのアイフォンが再び震えた。番号だけ浮かびあがっている。登録されていないようだ。アナは慌てて、タッチした。
「はい」
「アナヤ・パテルさん？」
「ええ、あなたは？」
「ジャック。ジャック・ヴァンス。シークレットサービスです。もうすぐそちらへ到着します」
「わたしの場所をどうやって？」
「わたしたちはプロだ。あらゆる手段を用意しています」
「もう、シークレットサービスの人が来てるわ」
ジャックの、違う！ という怒声が響いた瞬間、目の前の男性はスーツの内から小銃を引き抜き、アナの額に向けた。
店内に小さな銃声が響いた。
アナは、震えることすら忘れ、言葉を失い、放心していた。
目の前の男性がゆっくり床へ崩れると、夫のアルジュンが、やはりアナに銃を向けて現れた。
「フリーズ！FBI ！」
数人の制服を着たNYPDとグレイのスーツを纏ったFBIが叫んだ。
「全員、手を頭の後ろに回して床に伏せろ！」
映画のようなお決まりのセリフに、アナは震えていた。もちろん、ミカも。たぶん、アナの夫のアルジュンが最も震えていただろう。
遅れて、ジャックが店内に向け、叫んだ。
「アナヤ・パテル！」
アナは、見上げることなく、そのままに応えた。足がまだ震えている。
「わたしです」
額に汗を浮かべたジャックは、アナの身を起こすと、いった。
「すぐに病院へ行く」
病院にいるイライジャから、リンク付きのメッセージが届いた。
助手席に乗り込んだアナへジャックはアイフォンを放り投げると、リンク先を開け、と叫んだ。
慌てて、アナが触れると、どうやら生放送のようだった。
「こんばんは、ニューヨーク。そしてロサンゼルス。私の名前はザカリア・ハッダード。本名だ。
数年前、ガザに住んでいた。今は、みなさんがよく目にする部屋を真似た部屋に私はいる」
褐色の、顎髭をたくわえたザカリアは、アメリカ大統領執務室とほとんど同じ部屋の椅子に座っていた。
腕時計にゆっくり目を落としてから、再び、カメラに視線を向けた。
「そろそろブレイキングニュースだ。スマートフォンの速報に注目して欲しい」
ザカリアがそういった途端、速報が流れた。
【民主党前大統領のオーウェン・リードがロサンゼルス・コンベンション・センターで銃撃された模様です】
ザカリアは、一瞬俯いて笑いを堪えながらいった。
「悲しい速報じゃないか。アメリカのみなさん。でもどうか悲しまないで欲しい。私が経験したガザではこの55,000倍だ。55,000人以上の大切な人を失い、そして、涙を流した」
ザカリアは、再び俯いたまま、両手を固く握りしめ、力強く机を叩きつけた。
顔を上げたザカリアの目にはうっすらと涙が溢れていた。
「私たちは、お金を求めない。また、死による名誉も求めない。私たちが欲しいのは、55,000人が流した涙と同じだけの涙だ。流された涙と同じだけの涙だけが、私たちを癒す」
両肘を机につき、両手を組むと、ザカリアは静かに顎を乗せた。目を閉じて、しばらく沈黙が続いた。目尻が細かく震えているようだった。そのままゆっくり口を開いた。
「55,000人のうちの私はひとりに過ぎない。私が消えても５万人もの意思は決して消えず、引き継がれる。私は、私たちの意思をここに表明するためにいる」
ザカリアは、机の引き出しから、グロック１７を取り出すと、スライドしてチャンバーに弾を流した。そして、自分のこめかみに向けた。
スンニ派である彼は、まっすぐにカメラを見つめ、皮肉混じりにいった。
「神のご加護を。アメリカ」
ザカリアは、目を閉じると、トリガーを真っ直ぐに引いた。乾いた音が部屋に響いた。映像は、瞬時に黒へ切り替わった。
ICUまでの通路は、警官らによって厳重に確保されていた。ジャックは、サーシャにアナを引き渡した。
サーシャはアナに簡単な挨拶を済ますと、同意書にサインさせ、ベッドへ横たわるよう指示した。
となりに置かれたベッドは、薄いビニールシートに囲われ、男性らしい人が寝ているようだ。ネットで見た大統領候補とは到底結びつかない。
アナにはそこにいる男性が大統領候補だということにピンとこなかった。
サーシャがスタッフに細かい指示を出している。
バイタルモニター、酸素装置、人工呼吸器。それぞれにスタッフが張り付き、患者の血圧や心拍数が監視されているようだ。
スタッフのひとりが、アナの腕を消毒液で拭うと、静脈ラインに針を刺した。血液はビニールの管をすぐに見たした。
通常、ダイレクトトランスフュージョン、直接輸血は、感染症の危険が伴うので行われないが、ボンベイブラッドは別だ。
いままさに、となりにいるジャスティンに必要なのだ。その危険性について、アナはサーシャの説明を理解し、サインした。
アナには、実感がなかった。曇りガラスの向こう側にいる男性の命を、自分の血液が救っていることを。
アナは白い天井を見上げ、深い深呼吸をした。ミカとラーメンを食べにきただけだったのに。アルジュンは、男性を撃ったようだった。
いったい彼はどうなってしまうんだろう。撃たれた男性は何者だったのか。
アナは、今の自分を取り巻く状況に考えを張り巡らせているうちに、眠りに落ちていた。
ジャスティンの父、サイラス・ラージャン・ブラッドフォードは、7１年、ムンバイから渡米し、ニュージャージー州第6選挙区で下院議員を5期務めた民主党の重鎮だった。
ユニオンスクエアパークで、集まった労働者らに向け、演説中、聴衆の真正面にいた男に銃撃された。一瞬の出来事だった。
幼かったジャスティンは、呆気に取られ、何が起こったかを理解できなかった。父は、一瞬にしてその場に倒れ、病院へ運ばれたものの、即死だった。
犯人は、若い、民主党員のホワイトカラーだった。父の古い理想主義は彼に通じなかった。医療費の即時無料化を求めた彼は、父の段階を追った手法を受け入れることはできなかった。彼の母は、すぐにも医療費の無料化を必要としていたからだ。父は、早急な変化は退けた。医療だけでなく、あらゆるすべてが多くの人に浸透し、行き渡るためには、多くの時間を要するのだと、移民として、ムンバイからニュージャージーに移り住み、地域に溶け込むことに多大な時間が必要であることを身をもって知っていた。しかしーーーー
幼かったジャスティンは、父のそばに駆け寄って手を握り締めたかった。父の呼吸が止まっていても、そばに寄り添って、父を抱きしめたかった。
抱きしめることで、ひょっとしたら、父は目を覚ますかもしれないじゃないか、、、幼かったジャスティンは、そう信じていた。
ジャスティンは、ホワイトカラーを決して許すことはなかった。
サイラス・ラージャン・ブラッドフォード
「我々は大きな夢を見るべきだが、一歩ずつ確実に進まねばならない。急激な変化は社会の分断を深めるだけだ。民主主義とは、声なき者の声を拾い上げ、共に歩むことだ」
アナとミカは、週末に開催されるアーティスツ・アンド・フリーズに展示するため、（ニュージャージー州の）パラマスからウィリアムズバーグに向けて、車を走らせていた。だいたい５０分ほどで到着する。
モントクレア州立大学に日本からやってきたミカは、同じ美術学部に同籍していたアナの、白黒の作品に魅了された。アナは、鉛筆やシャープペンシル、ボールペン、万年筆など、日常に使われているステーショナリーで、人物や風景、静物を描いていた。多彩な油絵で表現するミカは、色らしい色のないアナの作品に関心を持った。
アナは、大学の食堂でミカに答えたことがある。
ーー わたしが住んでいた街は、殺風景だった。緑や川はなく、乾いた砂が吹き荒ぶ。それが私を幼い頃から囲んでいた。でも、私はそこが嫌いではなかった ーー
そこまで、静かににつぶやくと、プレートに乗ったハムエッグの真ん中を小さく突いた。続けて、いった。
ーー 風景だけでなく、実際、私の周りには何もなかった。あったのは、紙と鉛筆ぐらい ーー
アナは軽くミカに微笑んだ。ミカも笑い返した。
ーー でも、わたしはそれを大切にしなければならないと感じた。スマフォのSNSの人たちはとても豊かに見えた。でも、なぜか羨ましいとか、こうなりたいとか思えなかったの。むしろ、私は私の日常をもっとみんなに見せたいと思った。だって、自分が好きな場所を誰かに伝えることって、素敵だと思わない？ ーー
ミカは笑わずに深く頷いた。ミカも同感だった。渋谷の神山町で幼少時代を過ごしたミカは、ずっと渋谷の変遷を見てきた。渋谷の艶やかな広告やビルの外壁などの変化は彼女を魅了した。反面、自宅のあった神山町は穏やかで、古風な邸宅が並ぶ昔ながらの街並みだった。その対比が、彼女の内面を支えていた。
ーー 夜明け前が一番暗い ーー
マンハッタンの夜明けは、そんな言葉を思い出させる。
この国が闇に堕ちた時、トレーダーがそう言ったと、アミールは、イスラム大学工学部の教授だったザカリアから生前聞いた言葉だ。
アミールと同じようにラフィ・ガンナムもザカリアの師弟だ。二人は、電気工学をザカリアから学んでいた。
電子機器だけでなく、プログラムから幅広いコンピュータ機器まで学んでいた。アメリカの脆弱なITネットワークを熟知することなど彼らにしてみたら容易いものだった。
当時、イスラエルによって圧倒されたガザ地区の５５，０００人の死者の家族の一部は、ザカリアによってアメリカへ不法に散らばって居住し、時を待った。
ラフィも、そしてアミールもそのうちのひとりだ。ザカリアも、ラフィも、アミールも、妻や恋人、そして家族を失い絶望した。生きる意味を見失ったものに光など与えられない。光を見出せなどという人間は偽善者だ。与えられたのは、深い闇だけだった。闇の底で、集い、意を決したものほど、力強いものはいないだろう。おそらく、世界最高の実質的な権力を掌握しているアメリカ大統領に匹敵できるのは彼らのような存在だけかもしれない。
ラフィは、２年前からパイレーツラジオを仕込み始めた。カリブ系やヒスパニック系の移民コミュニティの傘を利用して、伝令を一方的に伝える、そんな古いやり方に答えを見出していた。SNSはもちろん、スマートフォンのやりとり全てはアメリカの情報機関に掌握されている。まったくやりとりをしないことも不自然になるので、ラフィらもスマートフォンは持ち歩いているが、日常的な、他愛ないやり取りだけだ。
ラフィは、放送機のスイッチを押した。微かに発したスイッチ音は、夜の静けさに吸い込まれていった。
小さな赤いランプが灯り、沈黙の中で、近辺に居住する同胞らにつながった。電圧計の針がわずかに震えた。
午前2時ちょうど、FM87.9から音が流れた。砂嵐に混じって、女の声が詩を読んでいた。
「この世界が終わるなら、私はひとりで歌っていたい」
つづく。
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
1 U2 Helter Skelter (Live) youtu.be/OBL-gVSJp2I?si=CuYs7HKsxCaVTQb3
2 ジミ・ヘンドリックス: The Star Spangled Banner (Live): www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjzZh6-h9fM
3 ジミ・ヘンドリックス: Purple Haze (Live): www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJunCsrhJjg
4 ビートルズ: 恋におちたら (2009 - Remaster): www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX3Xm4TNF00
5 タイラー・ザ・クリエイター: Take Your Mask Off (feat. Daniel Caesar & Latoya Williams...): youtu.be/tSd85SmghYs?si=-E-M6dhSdcYzBFjU
6 ザ・ウィークエンド: Niagara Falls: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxWx5UuznGI
7 ドレイク: Laugh Now Cry Later (feat. Lil Durk): www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFm7YDVlqnI
8 Linda Sikhakhane: Inkehli: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDHbPFAlrO4
9 Freja Lundgren - Finding Silence : 見つかりませんでした。https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUo7F3P2ObeLyC8Fwp70NEQ
10 マティアス・アイク: Loving: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYh_orn9ydA
11 21サヴェージ & サマー・ウォーカー: prove it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNIJmlhgqGk
12 ティアナ・メジャーナイン: On God!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wp1Q5V2eKI
13 アッシャー: Kissing Strangers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fepftsv6RA
14 JUNG KOOK: Never Let Go: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_n4Ysi5iUM
16 テイラー・スウィフト: This Love: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xsL45rr3VU
17 メタリカ: Disposable Heroes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIiXONFj6lM
18 ビートルズ:Across The Universe (Remastered 2009):youtu.be/90M60PzmxEE?si=DvkYgRwEK_lha6CT
19 ガナヴヤ: Land: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRmU6z6v1cs
メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
マンハッタン。ニューヨーク。アメリカ。２００７年。( 7 / 8 )
Nikon coolpix 8700 shot
今日の写真は、未発表です。
_________________________________
_________________________________
- Strength and tenderness, are always completely and utterly compatible ......
- Fortaleza y ternura, son siempre, total y absolutamente compatibles.....
Hi Spookies & Culties, Here is your "must have these Cult Items" Weekend Shopping List!!
For Waifu Dreams ★ Bunnicula ★
★ Rigged For ★ Reborn ★ Maitreya-X ★ Kupra ★ Legacy ★ Lara ★
★ Featuring Color Hud w/ 10 light colors & 10 dark colors & 3 metal colors!
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★ Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility ★
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/337
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
yeah i made stuff for the first time in forever. three vday nail sets & one updated older set -- all in updated textures and HUDs, with slink, omega and maitreya compatibility!
more info here:
Muse - Miss Priss - Dress - FATPACK
♥ 11 Colors + 11 Patterns for Corset , Bra, Skirt, & Sleeves.
♥ On & Off Option for Bra & Skirt.
♥ Transparency Options for Bra, Skirt, & Sleeves.
♥ Dress is fully Customizable.
♡ Body Compatibility:
✿ Legacy + Perky
✿ Ebody Reborn + Juicy Boobs + Teacups + Vtech
★ Taxi --> Kustom 9
A prototype 3D-printed antenna being put to work in ESA’s Compact Antenna Test Facility, a shielded chamber for antenna and radio-frequency testing.
“This is the Agency’s first 3D-printed dual-reflector antenna,” explains engineer Maarten van der Vorst, who designed it.
“Incorporating a corrugated feedhorn and two reflectors, it has been printed all-in-one in a polymer, then plated with copper to meet its radio-frequency (RF) performance requirements.
“Designed for future mega-constellation small satellite platforms, it would need further qualification to make it suitable for real space missions, but at this stage we’re most interested in the consequences on RF performance of the low-cost 3D-printing process.”
“Although the surface finish is rougher than for a traditionally manufactured antenna, we’re very happy with the resulting performance,” says antenna test engineer Luis Rolo.
“We have a very good agreement between the measurements and the simulations. Making a simulation based on a complete 3D model of the antenna leads to a significant increase in its accuracy.
“By using this same model to 3D print it in a single piece, any source of assembly misalignments and errors are removed, enabling such excellent results.
Two different antennas were produced by Swiss company SWISSto12, employing a special copper-plating technique to coat the complex shapes.
“As a next step, we aim at more complex geometries and target higher frequencies,” adds Maarten, a member of ESA’s Electromagnetics & Space Environment Division. “And eventually we want to build space-qualified RF components for Earth observation and science instruments.”
Based at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the test range is isolated from outside electromagnetic radiation while its inside walls are covered with ‘anechoic’ foam to absorb radio signals, simulating infinite space.
The range is part of ESA’s suite of antenna testing facilities, intended for smaller antennas and subsystems, with larger antennas and entire satellites put to the test in its ‘big brother’, the Hertz chamber.
Credit: ESA-G. Porter CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
IMAGE:
Body: eBODY - REBORN
Head: LeLUTKA
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Thanks to my SPONSOR: Arpels poses
ARPELS XMAS 10
LM: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hippoden/181/247/26
MP: marketplace.secondlife.com/en-US/stores/218644
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/arpelsposes/
Thanks to my SPONSOR: MINA
MINA Hair - Evelina - All colors
Included Items:
- Fitted PBR Hat with hair (specific to certain head shapes).
- Unrigged version of the Hat (with and without hair) for compatibility with all heads.
- Fitted PBR Shawl, available in various breast sizes and a male version.
- PBR Texture HUD for customizing the Hat and Shawl.
- Colorpicker for adjusting hair color.
- Materials-enabled hair for enhanced realism.
Technical Requirements:
A PBR viewer is needed for proper use of the materials and textures.
LM: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MINA%20Hair/149/126/27
MP: marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/9079
Facebook: www.facebook.com/minahairSL
Instagram: www.instagram.com/minahair2ndlife/#
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/minanakamura/
Flickr Groups: www.flickr.com/groups/2474587@N24/
Flickr: Groups: www.flickr.com/groups/1261189@N21/
Primfeed: www.primfeed.com/mina-hair
🎁 #Giveaway #Skin #Genus4K
.
Congrats to the winners:
★ Kalibudz
★ Strapleasure
★ AsyA2504
.
###
★ Skins: Isabel
Includes:
★ Face skin without eyebrows (BoM Layer)
★ HD Layers "Mini collection" (Brows, Eyes, Lipstick)
★ Bodyshape for Genus Morph and Classic w.001
★ Stylecard for Genus Morph
.
-shades compatibility: The Skinnery and Velour
.
-Head Compatibility: Genus 4K
.
***
Now at Simple Bloom, room 05 store.
Model: hectic1 (Maitreya)
Photo, Edit, Retouch: hectic1
The Outfit is a lighter, Maitreya-ONLY Offer.
Full-blown individual parts are also available separately, with all (but the stockings) supporting more bodies.
Top: flic.kr/p/24RBzzY
C-String: flic.kr/p/23ePNay
Corset: goo.gl/PzKxV4
Stockings: goo.gl/krwWvU
To see the garment in all its glory, please enable Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) in the Graphics preferences of your viewer, and switch on the lights of the room you are in (or use our free Body Light Bundle for ALM Testing).
• 100% Fitmesh (Maitreya ONLY)
• 2 Alpha-Mode Models: A-Blend (realism), A-Mask (compatibility)
• 4 HUD-Driven Hideable Parts (top, corset, c-string, stockings)
• 4 HUD-Driven Corset Parts (upper, lower, laces, metals)
• 5 HUD-Driven Stockings Parts (band, main, seam, heel, toe)
• Unlimited Colors (mix & match any part)
• Multiple Glow Levels (mix & match any part)
• Strip Button (show/hide)
• Shoe Friendly Stockings (tight foot fit, hideable heel and toe)
• Inventory Friendly (just 1 item per A-Model)
• Screen & Lag Friendly (just 1 minimizable HUD, just 1 script)
• Materials Enabled (full use of Advanced Lighting Model)
• Original Realistic Textures (best with Advanced Lighting Model)
Quality Mesh Fashion
Models : hectic1 (Maitreya)
Photo, Edit, Retouch: hectic1
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
UPDATED to v1.2 on Nov 10, 2020
Teaser video: 30 secs
• Visually improved HUD
• Blend/Mask options on HUD
• Gloss adjustments for Main and Band parts (needs ALM)
• Fabrics changes retain last used color (were reset to white)
• Improved manual color input (RGB codes)
• Leg Lights for gloss boost in places with poor lighting (needs ALM)
Free update via Redelivery for owners of previous versions!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Single fabrics are also available separately.
To see the garment in all its glory, please enable Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) in the Graphics preferences of your viewer, and switch on the lights of the room you are in (or use our free Body Light Bundle for ALM Testing).
• Original Mesh (Maitreya Lara ONLY)
• Shoe Friendly (tight foot fit, hideable heel and toe)
• 2 Alpha-Mode Models (Blend for realism, Mask for compatibility)
• 5 Parts (top-band, main, back-seam, heels, toes)
• 4 Band Fabrics (2 rib stitched, 2 lacy)
• 4 Main Fishnet Fabrics (F1, F2, F3, F4)
• 5 Seam & Heel Fabrics (Opaque, F1, F2, F3, F4)
• Unlimited Colors (mix & match)
• Multiple Gloss Levels (mix & match)
• Multiple Glow Levels (mix & match)
• Hideable Band
• Instant Strip (Show/Hide)
• HUD Driven (Minimize button, Just 1 Low-Lag Script)
• Materials Enabled (Full use of Advanced Lighting Model)
• Original Realistic Textures (best with Advanced Lighting Model)
Quality Mesh Fashion
• Check this item out at Lakrya's Marketplace Store ♥
◦ Compatibility :
- Maitreya Lara
- Belleza : Freya - Venus - Isis
- Slink : Physique - Hourglass
◦ Yasha Mesh Bracers :
- Rigged Fitted Mesh
- Materials Enabled
- Copy / Modify / No Transfer
- Includes :
• 1 Version for both arms.
• 1 Version for right arm.
• 1 Version for left arm.
◦ HUD :
- 2 Customizable Sections
- 3 Group Tabs
- 45 Textures
- 6 Presets
- HSL Color Palette
- Alpha
- Glow
- Brightness
- Script Delete
✧ Updates
◦ 06/10/2018
- Item has been rigged to Belleza & Slink mesh bodies.
- HUD Updated with new design.
- Added Preset Menu with 6 premade textures.
- Added Reset/White Button to the HSL Color Palette.
- Added Links & Detach Button.
⊡ 75L Weekend sale
☰ Items Included:
⋮ Color Hud
⋮ 5 colors
☰ Compatibility with:
☑ Maitreya ☑ Belleza ☑ Slink ☑ Ebody Curvy ☑ Tonic
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Northern%20Lights/32/195/2806
Hi Culties & Spookies, Time to kick off your weekend shopping just right!
★ For K9 Weekend Sale ★ Beats ★ Mariella ★
★ Rigged For ★ Reborn ★ Legacy Female ★ Kupra ★ Lara ★ MaitreyaX ★
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility★
★ Comes with a Color Control HUD for changeable color options
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/33
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
The Glow Up Project
Hey beths! Long time, no see!
Behind the scenes, there is a long list of projects that I have been working on for both Flesh and in collaboration with some amazing brands. My favorite project has been one of passion: The Glow Up Project. It was born out of the constant desire to improve my skills as a designer but also out of my attachment to my old skins. As a part of this project, I have taken some of my favorite previous releases and given them a facelift. Some of the improvements are minor and will be redelivered as free updates while others are complete reworks and will require a new purchase. I hope you all enjoy this project as much as I have.
__________________________________________________
Skin Details
• Available in four pigments (each sold separately): Nutmeg, Cafe, Fudge, and Carob.
• Features a Uniform Neck Seam System which allows compatibility with both the male and female body appliers.
• Includes HUDs for both Catwa and the Omega Applier System.
• Includes Two Brow Options: On and Off.
• This advertisement is a completely raw and unedited shot.
__________________________________________________
Visit the Temporary Store now!
Shop online at our webhouse (ALL ITEMS WILL BE REMOVED SOON).
2 Sizes Included (A4 & US Letter)
Photoshop PSD Files
Very Easy to Change the Colors and Images
JPG previews included
Compatibility Back to Adobe CS6
Vector Graphics
CMYK Color Scheme
Used Free Fonts
Inside the pack:
Maitreya Body app
Omega System app
available in three shades
Check the compatibility of your body.
---------------------------------
The omega system is compatible with all bodies, as long as you have in your inventory the omega system compatible with your body type.
-----------------------------------------
CHECK COMPATIBILITY
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/PRESCOTT-TATTOO-FLOWER/14692358
"Yo yo
I pull up in Lamba!
I pull up in my Louboutin!
I pull up phone in my hand and ice on my bracelet and all I've got'
I am so super pupper drupper
I'm the front girl in round
I am so cool with my sexy bad hips
When I am walking down'
All the boys say: 'Wow wow!'
Girls in the back same: 'Wow wow!'
Enter the party
Call me dandy candy cause I'm high, high!
I am so super pupper drupper
I'm the front girl in round!
I am so cool with my awesome big tits
On the ground!"
-MiMiMi by Serebro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Collab with @grizald Resident and DGRaven
Playist: open.spotify.com/playlist/7L6fxJDznxJtE3Db9UjUSK?si=aaf46...
Primfeed post: prmfd.co/p/hvnvq0RuUD4H
(more photos can normally be found on my tumblr) Tumblr post: www.tumblr.com/ellesmerestarchild/788298328783929344/yo-y...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bespoke
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/188307425@N03/
Primfeed: www.primfeed.com/bespoke
Discord: discord.gg/MhdVCVd9sM
Mainstore: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Honeydale/120/124/30
BeSpoke - Frog Gizzy
An oldie but a goodie, it’s a cute little head to work with :D
Located at the main store: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Honeydale/120/124/30
~~~~~~~
Vae Victis
Primfeed: www.primfeed.com/vae-victis
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/vaevictissl/
Discord: discord.gg/f4xwH7hgxq
Mainstore Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eldritch/65/166/1015
/Vae Victis\ - "Lightbringer" - Gilded Head Wings
"Between valor and violence lies but a breath - a hush between heartbeats, where glory and grief share a face. One is praised in song, the other buried in silence, yet both are born of the same hand."
Sun God villain era commences, and everything will burn.
It's already too hot outside.
For Bleeding Solstice, which Opens June 7th 2 PM”
Official post: www.flickr.com/photos/vaevictissl/54567822661/in/dateposted/
Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fort%20Santiago/207/156/28
/Vae Victis\ - "Lux Omnia" - Lightbringer Crown
“Their hand was not always just, but it was never hollow. In the blur of battle, they chose to rise - and though fire clung to their shadow, so too did light."
A crown fit for a noble sovereign, or perhaps the smoldering remnant of valor.
This unrigged, unisex crown comes with 4 base metals to mix and match. The PBR version comes with the addition of emissives to add a smoldering effect to the tips.
This is our Punch Pass Prize at MadPea PlayXpo (opening June 20th.) To obtain this, and more prizes from multiple great creators, you will have to purchase a Punch Pass. Once you finish the quest - a small hunt every day at the PlayXpo sim - you'll gain the key to unlock the vault and obtain the loot within.”
Official post: www.flickr.com/photos/vaevictissl/54599646762/in/dateposted/
Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MadPea%20PlayXPO/155/76/25
~~~~~~~
[AERTH]
Primfeed: www.primfeed.com/aerth
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/144691864@N03/
Main store Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aii%20and%20Ego/125/212/1525
[AERTH] Starchild
Now available!
bom evox only
2k textures
4 different opacity stages
tintable
copy + mod
Official post: www.flickr.com/photos/144691864@N03/54541372610/in/datepo...
Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aii/132/210/1526
~~~~~~~
Seydr
Primfeed: www.primfeed.com/seydr
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/yukio_ida/
Mainstore Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Botanica%20Magika/31/82/1503
[Seydr] Harley - Dark: Carnival EvoX
BOM & EvoX Compatibility
Eye makeup that comes with 4 color options and light and dark tints for different skin bases.
Official post:
Body:
REBORN by eBODY v1.69.6
BOM/Makeup/Tattoos:
[Salal] Dragonling Scales
/Vae Victis\ - "Ev'zhur" - Throat Tattoo
ALT3 > Creeping Touch - Growth
/Vae Victis\ - "Atra Solis" - Sun Burst Eyes
Clothes:
+ Iron Rose set from Aii and ego
+ Demonic Touch – jewelry from Aii and ego
PANIQ - Lunar Ring
Marketplace: marketplace.secondlife.com/en-US/stores/27911
V/. [Phalaine] - {EBODY.Reborn}
Vanesia armlet
Extras:
Void & Musgrave - Asteria Aura - Reborn
[Cynful] Stripper Dust - eBody Reborn
Poses:
Mysteria - Silhouette Vol. 2 Solo Poses
Taxi : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eternal%20Falls/194/63/2404
Decided to pick up RAGE again. I played the game a few times, but it never really clicked with me, so I never really got that far. I decided to give it another try. I am really trying to get ReShade working on this game, but it doesn't seem to work, I know it should work since I checked the compatibility list for ReShade. If there is anybody that can help, it would be much appreciated. Besides that, on a graphical standpoint, this game looks pretty good. The textures are not that great, but for lighting and art design, it is really friggin' good.
👑✨ She awakens from her golden tomb, after millennia of silence.
Cleo, the immortal empress, returns with eyes that hypnotize like the Nile and lips marked by eternal mystery.
A fantasy and Natural skin that blends Egyptian royalty with the enchantment of the spooky season: majestic, lethal, and divine 🐍🌙.
Find it at Haunting Labyrinth, 5 hidden pumpkins in the crazy spooky maze, will it be possible to find them all? 🎃
Prizes are 25L or less.
Compatibilities :
-2K BOM EvoX Velour compatible skins
Tones: Sienna, Sunkiss,Rosekiss,Snow, Papaya,Orange Flame, Ocean and Pink Fairy.
★ Hot New Release - GIVEAWAY!! ★ The Dr. Feelgood Slipper are Cute & Fun that would make any outfit stand out! ★GIVEAWAY ★ for these fab heels over on Cult's Facebook Page & Cult's Discord Server ONLY!
★ GIVEAWAY RULES FACEBOOK★
★ FOLLOW OUR PAGE, LIKE THIS POST, COMMENT LEGACY NAME & SHARE POST PUBLICALLY to WIN ★
★ GIVEAWAY RULES DISCORD ★
★ JOIN OUR CHANNEL, LIKE THE GIVEAWAY POST ★
★ Rigged For ★ Legacy F ★ Reborn ★ Maitreya-X ★ Kupra ★ Gen-X ★ Lara ★ Unrigged
★ Comes with a Color Control HUD for changeable color options ★
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS! ★ Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility★
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/33
Wow! What an entry pool- you guys made this judging really tough. But, as I only have so many prizes to give out, I had to narrow the winners down to three dragons and one figure. So, without further ado, the winners of the “(Not) LEGO Dragon Lands” Dragon-Building Contest are as follows:
1st Place: Brother Steven’s “Stórhǫggvi!”
Ever since Brother Steven submitted this gorgeous dragon early on in the competition, I knew it’d be the entry to beat… well proportioned, impeccably color-blocked, and excellently sculpted, this is just a lovely build. The round scale motif used across the body – which, cleverly, uses studded surfaces to its advantage – the toothy mouth (complete with tongue!), and the curves of the back spikes are just some of the details I relish the most. Sir Roland is a clean figure (the cape/glove coordination gets me) with a definite “St. George” flavor, perfect to counterpoint the dragon. Overall, this was a wonderful build that I was honored to receive!
2nd Place: d’Qiu Brick’s “Fryse!”
I was extremely impressed by this entry when I first saw it, and I still find new, original part usages every time I look at it! Simply put, I’ve never encountered a LEGO dragon quite like this one… The fusion of BIONICLE and system elements here is balanced, and allows for a remarkable trans-dominated color scheme that incorporates some very difficult-to-use elements to make dynamic shapes. The BIONICLE eyepieces as jaws are absolutely inspired, and I really love the interior wing cut pattern. The Lyscian mage figure helps place this entry in a distinctive, intriguing genre. Great work, d’Qiu Brick!
3rd Place: SpicyGrievous’ “Smaug the Impenetrable!”
This entry was one of the last sent in, but I’m extremely glad SpicyGrievous made the deadline! This version of Smaug looks just the way I imagined him as a kid… tremendous and impenetrable, serpentine and regal. The color choices themselves are solid, and they’re solidly blocked throughout this build. The texture along the spine is wonderful, as are all the angles of the body and limbs. My favorite part of this build is the head, though: flawlessly shaped, with an impressive crest and teeth to boot! The gilded underbelly was a charming final touch. I hope you post more pictures, SpicyGrievous, as I’d love to get a more in-depth look at the build!
Best Minifigure: Zelcher, from genecyst’s “Hasai!”
Aside from giving this figure a neat backstory, I found the employment of the Elves hairpiece with the bandana to be just awesome. Zelcher’s got neat weapons and a neat cape; what more can you ask for? Cool combos, genecyst!
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But I don’t want the rest of you to feel left out! Even though I don’t have prizes enough to give you, I figured you might enjoy hearing my thoughts on your entries. So here they are:
Nacht: I love the premise of a black undead-style dragon, as you’ve executed it here- the Radgha-esque skeletal frame really looks neat in darker colors. Your entry pic itself is also quite dynamic.
Thorny: Certainly a thorny dragon! You worked an impressive number of spines into the build. The cameraman is a highly original touch.
Lineback Ice Dragon: I like the color scheme; it reads as “icy” right away! And I like the cast of characters you included, especially the meat-eating goblin.
Hommer’s Dragon: I really enjoyed getting this entry… it was insouciant and wacky (and I’m a Simpsons fan!) so it made me laugh, but beyond that the dragon itself is pretty solid, too. The neck and feet are my favorite bits.
Hatchling: Succinct and effective. I wish the robot legs actually came in a color like that.
Wyvern: Nice color choices, unified without being blasé… Those daggers as claws, and the long tail, made this entry distinctive.
Hermdaryrði: HONORABLE MENTION! Those wings are, as I already said, gorgeously clean, as is a lot of the rest of the build; I really liked the brutish face you achieved, and the use of those Knights Kingdom armor bits along the spine. This dragon rocked, rather than fought, a grayscale color scheme, which I respected.
Arsimis: The setting you built here really helped frame the entry. Nice variety on the orc figures, too!
Derolth Eater of Sheep: The green-on-red contrast made this entry jump out to me right away! It’s a classic dragon color scheme, vibrant and exciting. The cow horns are sweet – I want to use those at some point, now – as is the red-hooded archer you included.
Ulysses: The beard/hat combo you used on Vencar aside (I love it), this is a sturdy-looking beast that seems ready to trample off to war! The entry’s definitely completed by that orc army you included.
Perilously Ascending Dragon: What a diorama! The lava is wonderfully realized, as are the rocks, but the scene’s obviously stolen by the dragon bursting forth… Love the wings, and the detail you packed into the head. I especially like the shape of that chin.
The Dragon of Peliger: There’s a certain charm to this low-legged, hefty beast. Its crest is unique and dynamic, and its simple colors make a real statement against the red backdrop you chose. Nice rider, as well: the fur-lined helmet and scarf combo is a satisfying one!
Belerogrim: HONORABLE MENTION! You definitely used the unlimited scale and color possibilities afforded by LDD to create a singular and impressive beast. This is an extremely intricate build, and every time I look at it I discover another detail… the ring-scales lend this well-shaped dragon excellent texture. I like the subtle, earthy color scheme and the sculpture on the head.
Rågòthîs: Cool figures, especially Lich Clörtil! I like the mace-tail on the dragon itself.
Hasai: I appreciated the variety this eastern-flavored dragon brought to the entry pool! This dragon’s got a very Ninjago-inspired look, and you made sweet, clean color choices. Obviously I’m a big fan of Zelcher, but I also like the shape of the saddle you made for her.
Bat-Dragon: Another entry with a singular flavor. Bat-dragon? I never would’ve seen it coming! This is a really neat beast, nicely unified by good texture choices. The detailing of the head, particularly the nose and the ears, makes me quite happy.
Pebbles: Reminisces the Ninjago style, too, to nice effect. I dig the way you cut those wings, and the head’s got a lot of leonine spunk!
Shadesbane: You squeezed a ton of poseability and character into such a small entry. The head’s adorable and well formed, and I enjoyed the trans-blue touches.
Earthen Dragon: Four wings are better than two, it seems! Nifty choice about the wings, and well done on the dragon proper, too; the palm tree tail and leafy legs give your entry distinctive elemental affiliation. The rider gets an HONORABLE MENTION for best figure, too!
Náyl: Excellent and dynamic texturing on this dragon. I love the choice of orange alongside the various hues of layered grey. You did a good job of covering poseability gaps with armor, too.
The Face of Death: The neck design here takes the cake, but I also enjoyed a lot of what you achieved on the head… The full set of teeth is pretty sweet. This is a lovely, nightmarish dragon. I like the outland raider figures you included!
Baal: I like how you really bulked up my basic dragon frame here. The entry looks muscular and dangerous! Nice color coordination with the rider.
Drachentöter: The bits of this dragon that poke out of that treasure cave are wonderful! I think the eye section on the main creature is perfect. Ashei with her oversized sword (and Unikitty trophy) and the baby dragon with its oversized eyes create a fun, playful tone to this entry.
Dark Dragon: The cool jagged texturing makes the monochromatic color scheme work in your favor, here. I like your choice of wing material, and dig the ferocious head!
Frost Dragon: Excellent use of my basic dragon design to make a distinctive new creature. I also can’t get over how you included a spring-loaded Spell Launcher in the supplemental part of the entry; I feel so studied!
Grass Dragon: Another slick reworking of my general dragon framework! This dragon’s quite vibrant, which I really approve of- nice use of lime. The troll warrior’s nifty, I enjoy the helmet/pauldron combo as well as the ruby axe.
Mechanical Dragon: What a unique decision! I’ve been personally toying with the idea of making a mechanical/clockwork dragon for a while, and you’ve definitely given me lots of cool ideas. I like your use of the nets.
Faerie Dragon: I adore the sail wings, and appreciate how you stuck to a simple color scheme… Trans-blue and white are proven scientifically to look good together; with the purple wings, they become more interesting at no cost to their compatibility. The front paws are rather clever.
Glowkie Dragon: Cute… The underbite gives it a lot of character.
Dragon Bolt: The size of this entry astonished me. It’s not often you encounter a dragon MOC big enough to carry a full-sized Hero Factory character on its back! The scale you worked at makes the CCBS shells on the back look like scales, which is an awesome texture.
--------------------------------------------
Huge congratulations again to all the entrants- I really had a great time watching your builds roll in. You’ve inspired me to build all kinds of new dragons, so thank you for that!
Hi Spookies & Culties, Here is your "must have these Cult Items" Weekend Shopping List!!
★ For Saturday Sale ★ Boliviana ★ Spookyween ★
★ Spookyween Rigged For ★ Reborn ★ MaitreyaX ★ Legacy F/M ★ MaitreyaOG ★ Kupra ★ Gianni ★ Jake ★ Kario
★ Boliviana Rigged For ★ Reborn ★ MaitreyaX ★ Legacy F ★ MaitreyaOG ★ Kupra ★
★ Featuring Color Hud w/ 10 light colors & 10 dark colors & 3 metal colors!
★ Remember to always try the DEMOS!★ Check for Body Type & Body MOD Compatibility ★
★ Cult LM ★ maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cult%20Coven/129/75/337
★ Cult's Social Media Links ★
Title:
From inside the car. 2.
(LUMIX G3 shot)
Manhattan. New York. USA. 2017. … 2 / 7
(Photo of the day. Unpublished.)
Images:
Geoffroy … No Calls Before Noon
youtu.be/Sua7LOBd9x4?si=vczU4fV0pMY6xrMN
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My new novel
B♭ (B Flat)
Volume 16😄
The following is still in its draft stage and will be revised further.
Key parts are not disclosed.
The order of the content shown here is mixed.
(Of course, this is not the final version.)
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My new novel
B♭ (B Flat)
Night was drawing its heavy veil over the neighborhoods of the San Fernando Valley, and Kevin Mori’s car slid forward as though gliding on a shadowed surface. Beyond the window, the heat of summer’s night rose, while the asphalt, still holding the brilliance of the day, scattered red and black reflections like fragments of muted fire. His day as an officer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not yet ended; it merely continued into the dark. Papers on the passenger seat trembled faintly—orders, reports, each sheet a cold reminder of how every decision could alter the lives of flesh-and-blood people.
The radio crackled with static, then carried the clipped voices of another unit.
“Check complete—residential route secure. Residents advised, heat alert.”
“Roger. Next, proceed to downtown infiltration confirmation.”
The words were concise, yet beneath them lurked the weight of responsibility. Kevin’s colleague at his side listened in silence, and Kevin imagined the strain, the fatigue, the daily fears borne by his subordinates.
The quiet houses of the district floated in the pale light of the streetlamps. Windows glowed with the warmth of family life, and the trees in the yards swayed with the scent of summer. To Kevin, that scene was both what he was sworn to protect, and a stage upon which the gravity of judgment was constantly revealed.
Merging onto the freeway, he entered a sea of headlights undulating like waves. Far ahead, the spires of downtown buildings pierced the night sky. The air was thick with heat, the car’s air conditioning too feeble against the humidity clinging to his skin. On the phone screen in the passenger seat, messages flared cold and abrupt—emergency notices, field reports, each short phrase carrying the weight of lives in the balance.
Through his commute Kevin narrowed his eyes, as though unconsciously trying to read the palette of the summer night. Neon reds and oranges crossed with the green of traffic signals, while the outlines of distant mountains and the shore emerged dimly in the haze. In the rearview mirror, his own face appeared distorted by fatigue and responsibility. He imagined how it must look reflected in the eyes of his men, and in the eyes of those who lived in this city.
As the suburbs gave way to downtown, the flow of cars turned into a red river of lights—not the bustle of rush hour, but a current charged with tension. Footsteps of passersby, the wail of an ambulance far off, exhaust mingling with sea breeze—each sound and scent announcing the unvarnished reality of the city.
Conversation in the car was pared to the barest minimum. His colleague tapped silently at the phone, scanning reports and maps. Every burst of radio static carried words few and clipped, but each syllable held the weight of someone’s life.
At the office, the parking lot was lined with colleagues’ cars, their engines humming in faint reply to one another. A night wind slipped through the windows, rustling the scattered papers—a sound that resembled the heartbeat of responsibility itself.
Inside the building, the cool air brushed his skin, blending with the stillness of late night to bind the corridors in a taut silence. Each step sent back a cold echo. Notices and bulletins on the walls caught the dim light, whispering of daily duty and the reality that awaited beyond.
In the meeting room, his subordinates lifted their eyes to him; reports on the table quivered slightly in the conditioned air. No one spoke, but silence itself was steeped in tension. Everyone knew that today’s decisions would ripple outward to change the lives of people unseen and far away.
As the meeting began, real-time transmissions crackled from the radio, and gazes crossed one another. Between the numbers and the dry lines of reports, there were always living human beings. To protect them—or expose them to danger—was the responsibility that each man recognized as his own.
The meeting stretched deep into the night: communications with the field, sorting of documents, instructions for the next day. Outside, the city wavered in the heat, neon glinting against the office windows. Kevin pressed the day’s weight into his heart as he stared at that restless light.
By the time he set out for home, the city had assumed a face wholly different from daytime. Shadows under the streetlamps, red reflections of neon, exhaust tangled with the sea wind, the faint silhouette of mountains dissolving into the night sky—all of it bore silent testimony to the consequences of the day’s choices.
He glanced at the papers on the seat, drew one deep breath. Summer night air slipped in through the window, brushing his skin. The sense of responsibility weighed heavy on his chest, and so did solitude, but in the pulse of the city he found, still, the strength to take another step forward.
Through the night’s lattice of light, Kevin drove on across summer Los Angeles. The voices on the radio, his men’s tension, the office’s chilled air, the neon glare, the tang of the sea breeze, the distant siren of an ambulance—all of these tangled together, imprinting themselves as the day’s memory. In the silence and in the few words exchanged in the car, in the quiet and the clamor of the city, in the interplay of light and shadow, a living map of the city was etched inside him, sharpening both the solitude and the responsibility of his role as an officer of ICE.
As night deepened, on his way home he clutched the papers on the passenger seat and watched his own shadow fall beneath the streetlamps. He listened closely to the city’s voice: the reflection of light, the tremor of heat, the siren far away, the stillness of neighborhoods. All of it pressed responsibility and solitude deeper into his chest.
When Kevin pushed open the door of his house, the night’s heat retreated slightly, replaced by the cool air of the living room flowing to meet him. He dropped the documents onto the table; the bundled papers struck with a dry sound that sank into silence, as though absorbing some measure of the weight that had burdened his shoulders.
Yet that moment of relief quivered almost at once, like a string brushed by an unseen hand. From the depths of the house came a faint creak—timbers straining, or perhaps the plucked resonance of some hidden instrument. Kevin strained to listen, then wondered if it was no more than the ghostly trick of fatigue.
The air trembled. Water in the half-drunk glass on the table rippled with faint light. The ripples, small yet certain, seemed to resonate with a force lurking in the house’s depths. A frame on the wall slipped askew, and through the glass the smiling figures in the photograph appeared slightly warped. A raw unease rose in Kevin’s chest, and his gaze lifted toward the ceiling. Above the panels, the beams murmured to one another, a low groan not of chance but of deliberate design, as if some hidden architect had composed the house itself as an instrument.
The floor rumbled, faint vibrations pressing upward through his feet. Streetlamp light bled through the curtains, filling the room with a wavering orange glow, as if already foreshadowing collapse. The house expanded and contracted like a lung, like an unseen heart pulsing in the dark, its beat echoed by the beams and pillars. Kevin set his hands on his knees, unmoving, listening. The sound overhead no longer resembled random creaks. It grew with rhythm, swelling into a low wave that spread across the room. The wallpaper split, revealing a thin fissure that carried within it the promise of widening.
The water in the glass quivered, scattering the lamplight into shards. The window shuddered under the night wind; metal fastenings clicked faintly. The beams groaned louder, as if in answer. In that instant the whole house became an instrument, releasing a deep, resonant note. The vibration struck his inner ear, mingled with the pulse of his blood.
Kevin pressed a hand to his chest—but his own heartbeat and the heartbeat of the house merged, the boundary between them dissolving. Cracks across the wall swallowed light, dark lines spreading. The beams moaned and bent, their sound a summons downward, inevitable as gravity. Glass burst into fragments, scattering the street’s light into the air. Furniture leapt, books tumbled, the table tilted.
And then—the ceiling split, and fell. The roar shook even the lamplight outside; dust rose in a choking tide, the world turned white and sightless. Kevin’s body, too, was caught in the same current as the beams and pillars. Whether he stood, or fell, or was torn apart—he felt not terror but a strange relief. Together with the house, he was sinking into the close of a final movement. There was nothing to flee, no document to guard, no responsibility: all dissolved now into dust.
The beams broke, the pillars collapsed, the floor split. His bones, his blood, his voice—all shattered into fragments carried into the night air. The collapse was not violence, but the coda of a meticulously designed score. Kevin, too, was only one note within it, drawn at last into silence.
When the dust settled, silence returned. Kevin was no longer among the wreckage. Only the shadow of a fallen beam lay there, like a remnant of his being.
Far away, a dog barked. An ambulance siren split the night. The city’s breath went on, but Kevin’s had ceased forever. In the streets remained only the echo of collapse, and the quiet memory of a death no one would hear.
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My new novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
There’s still more to come. 😃
(This is not the final draft.)
Set in New York City.
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Soundtrack.
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
My new novel:
B♭ (B-flat)
Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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Title.
車内から。１。
( LUMIX G3 shot )
マンハッタン。ニューヨーク。アメリカ。2017. … 2 / 7
(今日の写真。それは未発表です。）
Images:
Geoffroy … No Calls Before Noon
youtu.be/Sua7LOBd9x4?si=vczU4fV0pMY6xrMN
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
第16弾。 😄
以下は、まだ初稿の段階です。まだ推敲します。
重要な部分は公開していません。
公開している内容の順番はバラバラです。
(もちろん最終稿ではありません。)
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
夜の帳が低く下り始めたサンフェルナンドバレーの住宅街を、ケビン・モリの車は滑るように進んでいた。窓の外には夏の夜の熱気が立ち上り、路面からはまだ昼の光を吸い込んだアスファルトが、赤黒い光の反射を散らしている。移民税関捜査局（ICE）の職員としての彼の一日は、すでにその夜も続いていた。助手席の書類は微かに揺れ、そこに積まれた命令や報告書は、この一日の決断が生身の人々の生活にどう影響するかを、冷たく問いかけていた。
ラジオ無線がかすかに雑音を混ぜながら作動し、別の車両との連絡が飛び込んだ。
「確認、住宅街ルート異常なし。熱気のため住民注意」
「了解、次はダウンタウンへの侵入確認」――言葉は簡潔で、しかし背後には重くのしかかる責任が潜んでいた。助手席の彼はその声に耳を傾け、部下たちの緊張や疲労、日々の恐怖を想像する。
静かな住宅街の家々が、街路灯の光に浮かんでいた。窓に灯る温かい光は家族の生活を、庭に揺れる木々は夏の匂いを、しかしその光景はケビンにとって、守るべき対象であり、同時に判断の重さを思い知らせる舞台でもあった。
フリーウェイに合流すると、他の車のヘッドライトが海のように波打ち、遠くのダウンタウンのビル群が夜空に鋭く突き出す。空気は熱を帯び、車内のエアコンでは追いつかない湿気が肌にまとわりつく。助手席のスマートフォンに届くメッセージは冷たく光り、緊急事態や現場からの報告が短く、しかし命を握る重さを帯びて彼の視界に入った。
通勤路の間、ケビンは無意識に目を細め、夏の夜の色彩を読み取ろうとした。ネオンの赤やオレンジ、信号の緑が交錯し、遠くの山並みや海岸線の輪郭がぼんやりと浮かんでいる。車内の鏡に映る自分の顔は、疲労と責任の影で微かに歪み、部下たちや街の人々の目に映る自分の姿を想像した。
夜の住宅街を抜け、ダウンタウンに近づくと、車列は赤い光の帯となり、通勤ラッシュの喧騒とは別の、緊張の波を帯びた流れに変わる。通行人の足音、遠くで鳴る救急車のサイレン、海風に混じる排気ガスの匂いが、都市の生の現実を告げている。
車内の会話は最小限に抑えられる。助手席の部下は無言でスマートフォンを操作し、報告書や地図をチェックする。無線が作動するたび、言葉は短く、しかしそれぞれの一語には誰かの生活を左右する重みが宿っていた。
オフィスに到着すると、駐車場には同僚の車が整然と並び、エンジン音やタイヤの振動が微かな呼応を見せていた。夜風が窓から入り込み、紙や書類をかすかに揺らした。その音さえ、責任の重さを耳に伝える鼓動のように聞こえてくる。
建物内に入ると、冷房の風が肌に触れ、深夜の静けさと相まって、空間に緊張を張り巡らせる。廊下を歩くたび、足音が冷たく反響し、壁に貼られた注意書きや掲示板の文字が微かに光を受け、日々の任務とその果てにある現実を思い出させた。
会議室に入ると、部下たちの目が彼を見つめ、報告書がテーブルの上で微かに揺れた。熱気を帯びた夏の空気はエアコンと混ざり、紙の端を微かに波立たせる。誰もが沈黙の中に緊張を抱え、今日の判断が遠く離れた誰かの生活をどう変えるかを知っていた。
会議が始まると、無線から入る情報がリアルタイムで伝わり、部下たちの視線が交錯する。数字や報告書の行間には必ず生身の人間が存在し、その命を守るか、あるいは危険に晒すかを決定するのが自分だと彼らは認識するのだ。
深夜まで続く会議、現場との通信、書類の整理、部下の指示。夜の街は夏の熱気で光を歪め、ネオンの光がオフィスの窓に反射してちらついていた。その光景を見ながら、ケビンは一日の重みを胸に刻んでいた。
帰路につく頃、通勤路の光景は昼間とは違う表情を見せる。街灯に浮かぶ影、ネオンの赤い反射、海風に混じる排気ガスの匂い、遠くの山影が夜空に溶ける。そのすべてが、今日の決断の結果を静かに告げていた。
助手席の書類を確認し、深呼吸をひとつついた。夏の夜風が窓を通り抜け、肌に触れる。ケビンの胸には責任感と孤独感が重くのしかかるが、それでも次の一歩を踏み出す力を与える、都市の息遣いが確かにあった。
夜の光の中、ケビンは夏のロサンゼルスを車で駆け抜ける。無線の声、部下たちの緊張、オフィスの冷房、ネオンの光、海風の匂い、遠くの救急車のサイレン――それらすべてが絡み合い、今日一日の記憶として刻まれていく。車内での沈黙と対話、街の静けさと喧騒、光と影の交錯が、彼の心に都市の立体的な地図を描き、ICE職員としての孤独と責任を鮮明にしていた。
夏の夜が更け、家路につく道すがら、助手席の書類を握り締め、深夜の街灯に浮かぶ自分の影を見つめながら、彼はこの街の声に耳を澄ませる。光の反射、熱気の揺らぎ、遠くで鳴るサイレン、住宅街の静けさ――それらすべてが、ケビンの胸に責任と孤独を刻み込んだ。
ケビンが自宅の扉を押し開けると、夜の熱気はわずかに後退し、リビングの冷えた空気が迎えるように流れ込んできた。書類を手から放り投げ、束ねられた紙の重みがテーブルに小さな衝撃を与え、乾いた音を響かせて静けさの中に沈んだ。
彼の肩にのしかかっていた一日の重さが、わずかながらその音に吸い取られたかのように思えた。
しかし、その安堵の瞬間は、見えない振動に触れるかのようにすぐに揺らぎへと変わっていった。家の奥から、微かなきしみが生まれた。木材が互いに軋むような、しかしどこか楽器の弦を爪弾くような響きであった。ケビンは耳を澄まし、しかし次の瞬間にはそれがただの疲労による幻聴ではないかと思った。
空気がわずかに震えた。テーブルにあった飲みかけのグラスの水面がかすかに揺れ、光を帯びて波紋を広げた。その波紋は小さくも確かに、家全体の内部に潜む力と呼応しているかのようであった。壁にかけられた額縁が斜めにずれた。ガラス越しの写真の中で、笑顔を浮かべる人影が、わずかに歪んで見えた。
ケビンは胸の奥にざらついた感覚を覚え、視線を天井へ向けた。天井板の奥で梁が共鳴し合い、低い唸り声のような音を放っていた。それは自然に生まれたものではなく、あらかじめ設計された響きの連鎖のように感じられた。建築を学んだ者ならば知る、木と鉄とコンクリートの呼応だ。その呼応が、今ここで一つの方向へと収束しようとしていた。
床板が低く唸り、足裏に伝わる微細な震えとなった。外の街路灯の光がカーテン越しに入り込み、部屋を淡い橙色で満たしていた。その光さえもわずかに揺らめき、倒壊の予兆を映すかのように見えた。家全体が呼吸をしているように膨らみ、そして収縮する。まるで見えない心臓が脈打ち、その鼓動に合わせて梁や柱が響きを返しているかのようであった。
ケビンは両手を膝に置き、動くことなく耳を澄ました。天井の奥で響く音は、もはや偶然のきしみではなかった。規則性をもって増幅し、やがて低い波となって部屋全体に広がった。壁紙がわずかに裂け目を見せ、薄暗い亀裂がその奥から姿を現した。亀裂は細い線にすぎなかったが、確かに広がりを孕んでいた。
グラスの中の水が震え、その表面に映る街灯の光が細かく砕けた。外の夜風が窓を揺らし、金属の留め具がかすかな音を立てた。それに呼応するかのように、梁の唸りが一段と強くなった。その瞬間、家全体がひとつの楽器と化したように、共鳴音を放った。空気の震えが耳の奥を打ち、体内の血流と混ざり合うように感じられた。
ケビンは胸に手を当てた――だが、自分の鼓動と建物の鼓動が重なり、境界が失われていくのを感じた。壁に走った亀裂が光を呑み込み、闇の線となった。
梁が深く軋み、鈍い音を吐き出した。それは重力の命令であり、逃れられぬ下方への召喚であった。ガラス窓が粉々に砕け、夜の街の光が断片となって飛び散った。家具が跳ね、本が崩れ落ち、テーブルが傾いた。
そして――天井が裂け、崩れ落ちた。轟音は街路灯の光さえ震わせ、粉塵が一気に立ち上った。世界は白く濁り、息が奪われる。
ケビンの体もまた、梁や柱と同じ流れに組み込まれていった。彼は立ち尽くし、あるいは倒れ、あるいは引き裂かれ――だが、恐怖ではなく、奇妙な安堵を感じていた。家と共に、自分もまた一つの楽章の終わりとして沈むのだと。
逃げるべきものはなく、守るべき書類も責任も、いまや粉塵の中に溶けていく。
梁が折れ、柱が潰れ、床が裂ける。
そのすべてと同時に、彼の骨も、血も、声も、無数の破片となって夜の空気に散った。崩壊は暴力ではなく、むしろ緻密に設計された楽曲の終章であった。ケビンという存在も、ひとつの音符としてその中に含まれ、やがて静寂に吸い込まれた。
粉塵が沈み、静寂が戻る。
瓦礫の中にケビンの姿はもはやなかった。
ただ、崩れた梁の影が、彼の名残のように横たわっているだけであった。
遠くで犬が吠え、救急車のサイレンが夜を割った。
都市の呼吸は再び続いていたが、ケビンの呼吸はもう戻らなかった。
夜の街に残されたのは、崩壊の余韻と、誰にも届かぬ静かな死の記憶だけだった。
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
舞台はニューヨークです。
15
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54793744070/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54771288620/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54769008619/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54758538180/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54743658539/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54737038151/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54720346098/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54713957969/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54703714420/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54696914108/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54686544606/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54653035442/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54639396885/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54628511025/in/dateposted...
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www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
Soundtrack.
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b-my-novel-soundtrack/pl.u-47...
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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Candidate coatings for a new space antenna undergoing testing at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands.
“Protective coatings safeguard antennas against temperature extremes or other environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation,” explains antenna engineer Elena Saenz, performing the testing at ESA’s technical centre in Noordwijk.
“Working with industry, we were asked to evaluate several candidate coatings for the coming MetOp microwave imager – which sounds the atmosphere at various frequencies to gather data on rainfall, water vapour, temperature and clouds.
“The testing needs to measure the radio frequency behaviour of sample coatings across a very wide range of frequencies, from 18.7 GHz up to a maximum 191.3 GHz – checking, for instance, that they do not cause unacceptable signal losses.”
Feed horns send out radio signals to be reflected across the table to the coating and back again, to assess performance.
Two of the candidates proved most promising to coat the carbon-fibre reinforced polymer honeycomb microwave imager antenna. ESA’s antenna test facilities carry out around several of these kind of campaigns annually.
Higher frequencies were tested on the cleanroom tabletop system seen here, while testing for lower frequencies below 50 GHz was undertaken in ESA’s Compact Antenna Test Range, normally used for antenna testing but adaptable for materials testing as well.
Credit: ESA-G. Porter CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
B♭ (B Flat)
Here is the beginning of my new novel. :)
It’s not final yet.
1
——People fall in love for all kinds of reasons, but realizing you've fallen in love only after the fact—
that needs no reason at all. I believe that’s what true love is.
If only, at that moment, a pale, white light had filtered in around me, it would’ve been easier to know.
Soft light envelops people. It stirs memory. It shines through the eyelids and reaches the depths of one’s heart.
To meet a stranger and come to know them deeply—light is essential for that.——
Even though it was nearly noon, the soft light of morning streamed in through the high warehouse windows.
Tiny specks of dust floated in its glow, and a pale ribbon of light quietly washed over the floor.
It was an old, cluttered warehouse, where artists had gathered on the weekend to display and sell their work.
From beyond the half-open loading shutter in the back, a heavy beat of bass-laden hip hop throbbed faintly—probably from a van one of the exhibitors had driven in.
A young man sat low, flipping slowly through Anaya Patel’s sketchbook,
which had been carelessly placed on the floor still sticky with forgotten duct tape.
His brown skin suggested he was likely Middle Eastern, like Ana herself.
On his handsome profile, his blue eyes glowed quietly.
His gaze followed Ana’s lines, carefully, repeatedly—
the subtle curves, the layering of fine straight lines, the shading done with delicate shifts in pencil pressure.
Those who can speak with their eyes, Ana had always felt since childhood,
are also those who can absorb the most with them.
Lifting his gaze from the sketchbook, he noticed Ana standing nearby and smiled.
“Is this your work?”
Caught off guard by his question, Ana replied a little flustered, trying to play down how intently she’d been watching him.
“Yes, it’s mine.”
“Why did you draw it with just a regular pencil? A rough sketch?”
What he was looking at was a drawing of Ana’s husband, Arjun, waiting at a café.
When Ana had arrived late, Arjun had been seated by the window, glaring at his laptop.
The sharp angle of light pouring in had overlapped with the intensity of his gaze,
burning that side profile into her eyelids.
She’d captured that fleeting moment.
“No, it’s not a draft. It’s finished.
I like using simple things like pencils or pens... familiar tools.”
He smiled back and said,
“Is that man your boyfriend?”
“No, my husband.”
He responded with a somewhat exaggerated surprise.
“You’re married?”
“Yes.”
“I see. That’s a little disappointing... for a weekend.”
Shrugging lightly, he stood and spoke to Ana as he rose.
Then, with a bright smile for the other artists at nearby booths,
Mika came briskly over, her F30 canvas slung over her back.
“If you’d like, check out my work too. I’m Mika.”
The man smiled and extended his hand in thanks.
Mika passed her painting to Ana and shook his hand.
Ana leaned in and whispered to Mika, a bit annoyed,
“Why are you giving me your stuff?”
Mika smiled and whispered back,
“Because you’re married.”
“My name is Amir. Amir Nasser,”
he said with a boyish grin—
a bright, innocent smile still tinged with youth.
As he typed something on his smartphone,
Rafi walked quickly over.
With a quick glance at Ana,
he spoke to Amir in a low voice.
Judging by the heaviness around his neck, he looked much older than Amir.
“It’s time. Let’s go.”
“Got it.
Thank you both—it was a lovely time.
See you Saturday.”
Mika smiled and thanked him,
but Amir’s gaze lingered on Ana.
Ana watched the two of them walk away and found something odd.
Even though it was Saturday, both Amir and Rafi were dressed in suits.
As they walked off, Mika muttered,
“Rich boys? Maybe heirs from Saudi Arabia.”
Ana looked at her, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“The suits are Brioni.
Shoes are Edward Green.
That's about the price of a luxury car.
Ah—two of them, so maybe two cars. Just a guess.”
Memo
Republicans. TV. Rallies.
Education, family background, wealth.
And then family, friends, lovers—
those perfect, polished rings you all wear stacked neatly—
you’ll never understand what it's like to have none of it.
To be caked in mud, working from morning to night, and still go unrecognized.
How many times did I tell myself not to envy people like you?
One day, I was working on the fountain at Hope Garden in Battery Park.
There was a leak.
I couldn’t shut off the water, and I was covered in mud.
At lunch break, a man and woman in white-collar clothes passed by,
giving me that look—
the one people give a crushed frog on the side of the road.
Set in New York City.
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
Note: I gave a brief explanation of this novel in the following video:
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
Notes
1. "Bombay Blood Type (hh type)"
•Characteristics: A rare blood type that lacks the usual ABO antigens — cannot be classified as A, B, or O.
•Discovery: First identified in 1952 in Mumbai, India (formerly Bombay).
•Prevalence: Roughly 1 in 10,000 people in India; globally, about 1 in 2.5 million.
•Transfusion Compatibility: Only compatible with blood from other Bombay type donors.
2. 2024 Harvard University Valedictorian Speech – The Power of Not Knowing
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3. Shots Fired at Trump Rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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僕の新しい小説。
B♭ （ビーフラット）
僕は、小説の冒頭を公開します。:)
まだ決定ではありません。
1
ーーーー 恋に落ちる理由は、人によってさまざまだけど、恋に落ちていたと、あとになって気づくことに、理由はない。それをほんとうの恋だと、私は思う。できればそのとき、辺りに白く滲んだ光が差し込んでいたら、もっとわかりやすい。淡い光は人を包み、記憶を呼び覚ます。瞼を透かして、胸の内まで照らしだす。名も知らない人に出会い、多くを深く知るためには、大切な光だ ーーーー
もうすぐ昼だと言うのに、朝の陽のような、やわらかな光が、倉庫の高窓から差し込んでいた。そのなかを小さなほこりが舞い、光の帯が静かに床を濡らしている。週末に、展示や販売のためにアーティストらが集まった、雑多な古い倉庫だ。搬入口である奥の半開きのシャッターの向こう側から、低音の効いたヒップホップが、引きずるような重いビートを響かせている。たぶん、展示者が寄せたバンからだ。
若い男性が腰を落とし、剥がし忘れたガムテープのへばりついた床に無造作に置かれた、アナヤ・パテルのノートをゆっくり繰りながら、静かに眺めている。褐色の肌は、たぶんアナと同じ、中東系の男性だ。端正な横顔に、ブルーの瞳が静かに輝いていた。その眼差しは、アナの作品の線を、丹念に、そして何度も追っている。緩いカーブの線の太さ、細い直線の重ね具合。鉛筆の濃淡を使った陰影。
言葉ではなく、眼で語ることができる人は、眼で多くを吸収することができる人だ。アナは幼少の頃からそう感じていた。
繰っていたノートから目を離した彼は、そばに立ち止まったアナに気づき、微笑んだ。
「この作品は、君の？」
アナは、見入っていたことを取り繕うように慌てて答えた。
「ええ、私です」
「どうして普通の鉛筆で描いたの？ ラフスケッチ？」
彼が見ていたのは、カフェで待ち合わせていた夫のアルジュンの横顔だった。アナが遅れてカフェにやってきた時、アルジュンは窓際に腰掛け、ノートパソコンを睨んでいた。鋭利な光の差し込み具合がアルジュンの真剣な眼差しと重なり合って、瞼に焼きついていた。その一瞬の横顔だ。
「いえ、下書きではなく、完成品です。鉛筆とか身近なペンが好きだから….」
彼はアナに微笑みで返した。それからいった。
「男性は彼？」
「いえ、夫です」
男性は、少し大袈裟に驚いてこたえた。
「君は結婚しているの？」
「ええ」
「そうなんだ。少し残念だな、週末だというのに」
軽く首をすくめた男性は、立ち上がりながらアナにそう答えた。他のブースのアーティストらに明るい笑顔を振り撒きながら、ミカは自分のキャンバス、F30の作品を背中に背負って足早にやってきた。
「よかったら私の作品も見ていってね。私はミカ」
ありがとうと言いながら彼が手を差し出した。ミカは背負っていた作品をアナに預け、握手を交わした。アナは、なんで荷物をわたしに？ とやや不機嫌にミカへ耳打ちすると、ミカは結婚しているでしょと微笑み返した。
「僕の名前はアミール。アミール・ナッセル」
アミールは口元を緩めてふたりに笑いかけた。少年のような、屈託のない笑みで、まだあどけなさを残していた。
スマートフォンに文字を打ち込みながら、ラフィは足早にやってくると、アナを一瞥し、アミールへ低い声でいった。首周りの贅肉からアミールよりもずっと年上のようだ。
「そろそろ時間だ。いくぞ」
「わかったよ。ふたりともありがとう。素敵な時間だった。また土曜日に」
ミカが、ありがとうと笑顔で返したが、アミールの視線はアナをじっと見つめていた。アナはふたりを見て、不思議に思った。
アミールもラフィも土曜だというのにスーツを纏っている。二人の後ろ姿を見送りながら、ミカがつぶやいた。
「ふたりともリッチマン？ サウジアラビアの御曹司とか」
アナが不思議そうにミカへたずねた。
「どういう意味？」
「スーツはブリオーニ。革靴はエドワードグリーン。高級車一台分ぐらいよ。あ、二人だから二台分。たぶんね」
メモ
共和党員 テレビ、集会など。
学歴、家柄、裕福さ。そして、家族、友人、恋人。美しい輪が幾重にも揃ったお前らには、なにひとつない俺の気持ちはわからないだろう。泥まみれになって、朝から晩まで働いても俺が報われることはなかった。
お前らを妬んだりしてはいけないと、どれだけ自分に言い聞かせてきたか。ある日、俺はバッテリーパークのホープガーデンの噴水を工事していた。漏水していてね。俺はなかなか水が止められず泥まみれになっていた。昼休みになって、ホワイトカラーの男と女が侮蔑するように通り過ぎていった。まるで路上で轢かれたカエルでも見るようにね。
これまでのメモ
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
舞台はニューヨークです。
www.flickr.com/photos/stealaway/54599616429/in/dateposted...
追記 この小説を多少説明しました。
youtu.be/3w65lqUF-YI?si=yG7qy6TPeCL9xRJV
iTunes Playlist Link::
music.apple.com/jp/playlist/b/pl.u-47DJGhopxMD
メモ
1
「Bombay型（ボンベイ型、hh型）」
•特徴：通常のABO血液型を持たない（A、B、Oに分類されない）特殊な型。
•発見地：1952年、インド・ムンバイ（旧ボンベイ）で初めて確認。
•発生頻度：インドでは1万人に1人程度だが、世界的には約250万人に1人とも。
•輸血制限：同じBombay型しか輸血できない。
2
2024年ハーバード大学首席の卒業式スピーチ『知らないことの力』
youtu.be/SOUH8iVqSOI?si=Ju-Y728irtcWR71K
3
Shots fired at Trump rally
youtu.be/1ejfAkzjEhk?si=ASqJwEmkY-2rW_hT
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HAIR:
Stealthic - Somber