#4 EVs Launched

[batboyblog]

Welcome to Infrastructure Week, Biden edition.

For the 4 years of the Trump Presidency it felt like every other week was gonna be "Infrastructure Week" but some piece of chaos derailed the Trump White House's plans.

well Yesterday, May 13th 2024, The Biden Administration declared this week Infrastructure Week to highlight ALL the major work they've done in the last 3 years.

Under the 2021  Bipartisan Infrastructure Law $454 billion in funding has gone to over 56,000 specific projects across all 50 states, the territories, DC, and tribal communities.

The White House launched a Map of all the projects you can look at

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is part of President Biden's wider Investing in America agenda, and together with the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the American Rescue Plan, all passed by Biden and Democrats in Congress has brought $866 billion dollars in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments.

They released a State by State factsheet to show projects in all 50 states, all the territories and DC

Roads & Bridges: The Biden Administration has launched improvements on 257,000 miles of roads, and repaired 13,000 bridges. This $300 billion investment in our roads and bridges is the biggest since President Eisenhower’s interstate highway system in the 1950s. The Administration has given special attention to addressing historic injustice in our infrastructure. Many minority communities have been divided by highway bypass projects from the 1940s forward, such as the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta Georgia. The Biden-Harris Administration is now helping reconnect divided communities and righting historic wrongs. The Department of Transportation put out a video highlighting the story of Philadelphia's Chinatown, how being split in half and have a multilane highway in the middle of their community effects them, and how the Stitch project will positively impact the people who live there who have fought for years for such relief.

Rail: The Biden Administration has invested  $66 billion for rail, the largest investment in passenger rail since the inception of Amtrak. The President recently announced $16.4 billion for 25 passenger rail projects on the Northeast Corridor. This will improve service for riders from Boston to Washington DC. President Biden has also announced $8.2 billion in new funding for 10 major high speed passenger rail projects across the country. These include a high speed rail project to connect Los Angeles with Las Vegas, which broke ground April 22nd. Planned to be finished in 2028 in time for the LA Olympics, the train will take 2 hours to get from Rancho Cucamonga, California to downtown Las Vegas making it the fastest way between the two cities.

Transit and School Buses: The Administration has invested $90 billion in public transit, the largest in American history. To date the DoT has helped replace 3,000 public buses with low or zero emission buses while the EPA has replaced 5,000 school buses with clean buses.

Electric Vehicle Charging, EV Batteries & Critical Materials: The Biden Administration is the first to directly invest in electric vehicle charging. the number of publicly available charging ports on America’s roads has surpassed 182,000, over a 90% increase since President Biden took office. The President has also invested in domestic manufacturing of batteries, already five manufacturing plants have broken ground.

Clean Water: The President invested over $50 billion government-wide for the largest upgrade to the nation’s water infrastructure in history. This funding places us on a path to meet the President’s commitment to replace every toxic lead pipe in America and works to close the wastewater gap for 2 million people who lack basic sanitation. These funds have already financed over 1,400 drinking water and wastewater projects across the country, including over 800 projects that will deliver clean water for Tribal communities that lack basic water services. To date, the Administration has deployed funding that will help replace up to 1.7 million toxic lead pipes. 

High-Speed Internet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $65 billion to help ensure that everyone in America has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet—regardless of their income, race, or zip code.  Over the last year, all 56 states and territories have developed their plans for how they will spend more than $40 billion in funding to connect every unserved location within their borders. That funding comes atop $1 billion for middle-mile infrastructure, which will build more than 12,000 miles of fiber across 370 counties. These projects, will connect 10,500 people, 1,600 farms, and 295 businesses directly to fiber networks. The Department of Commerce has also awarded 148 Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) grants, serving over 280 Tribal Governments, which will connect more than 65,000 Tribal households, subsidizing thousands of devices, and funding digital inclusion activities for Tribal communities. 

Deploying Clean Energy: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes more than $62 billion in funding at the Department of Energy to advance our clean energy future by investing in clean energy demonstration and deployment projects, developing new technologies, and modernizing our power grid. This includes an investment of over $20 billion to upgrade the nation’s grid—a critical component to achieve President Biden’s goal of delivering a 100% carbon-pollution free power sector by 2035. 

Legacy Pollution: Thanks to funding in the The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law the EPA has been able to cap 8,000 orphaned oil and gas wells, with tens of thousands more to be plugged in the years to come. Over 100 Superfund sites have also been cleaned up or started with funds from the Law as well.

And More!

[finitevariety]

"Logan Charles Roy was a legendary news proprietor, a media visionary, a brilliant businessman, a job creator and, above all, a loving family man. For over 60 years, he presided over the company he founded, Waystar Royco, the largest family-owned media conglomerate in the United States.

Logan's childhood was marked by adversity. Born in Dundee, Scotland, on the eve of World War 2, his father died shortly after his birth. A few years later his mother, Helen Roy, sent Logan and his older brother Ewan to Canada to escape. They were never to see their mother again, and their sister Rose also died as a young child. Both Logan and Ewan were raised in rural Quebec by relatives.

Though academically gifted, Logan left school at the age of 13. After a brief period working as a store clerk, Logan inherited his Uncle Noah's small advertising billboard company along with his brother Ewan. Over the next decade they grew their small businesses into the largest billboard companies in Canada. From there, the brothers' diverging interests saw Logan take control of the company.

Logan moved to the United States in 1972, determined to diversify Waystar Royco by moving into media. He quickly acquired several declining newspapers, such as the New York Globe, working his magic to dramatically turn these around and [elevate?] them to their former glory.

Logan firmly established himself as one of the country's most important media moguls with the launch of ATN, American Television News, in 198[1?/4?]. Now widely regarded as the nation's most [?respected] news source and a [?format admired] around the world, ATN changed the American media landscape overnight. Since its launch, ATN has, in the service of public interest, provided a [??] breed of television ...

[STEWY FINGER INTERLUDE 👀 ]

... several American Presidents ... necessary, a strident defender of the ... American people against threats both [[?? and ??].

Though Logan scaled such lofty heights [??presumably 'in his'] public life, he remained a humble individual, prioritizing his work, his family, and his [??]. He is survived by his wife Marcia and his children, Connor, Kendall, Siobhan and Roman Roy."

[thewintersoldierdisaster]

a/n: merry christmas eve and happy sunday! the promised andrei christmas fic (written extremely fast and edited even faster lol) title is from cher’s new christmas song which is a bop and a half so i suggest listening. going to be quiet the rest of the year to stockpile some writing, but happy new year everyone, i’ve been beyond grateful for the love my fics have gotten this year 😘

word count: 3.9k

tw: minimal smut, unprotected sex, brief fingering

summary: christmas eve at the svechnikov house is a chaotic but fun affair

“Mama?”

“Yes, my love?” You look up from the bowl of cookie dough batter. Evie was supposed to be helping after waking up at the ass crack of dawn, but the lure of rearranging all the decorations on the small tree in her room was more appealing. Your little perfectionist oldest daughter had shifted ornaments no less than fifteen times since you’d put the decorations up right after Thanksgiving.

Alina hops from foot to foot and you don’t necessarily love the sparkle of mischief in her eyes. “I catch Santa!”

You squint at her. “You’re catching Santa? Santa’s not a lizard in the backyard,” you say gently.

“I catch Santa,” Alina repeats. “Tonight! With presents!”

It clicks in your head - she means that she wants to stay up late and catch Santa leaving presents - and you laugh. “Oh, baby, you can’t stay up to see Santa, otherwise he doesn’t leave presents, remember?” You set the bowl of dough aside and scoop Alina up into your arms, sitting her down on the counter. She pouts at you, chubby little fingers reaching to play with the strings on your hoodie.

“Wanna see Santa,” she huffs. Her little pout is identical to Andrei’s and it makes you smile. You love seeing your husband’s traits and mannerisms in your girls.

You lean in to whisper conspiratorially, “guess what? Someone better than Santa is coming in a little bit.”

“Who?” Alina perks up, eyes going wide as she bounces a little. “Mickey Mouse?”

Another laugh bursts out of your mouth and Alina giggles with you, always ready to laugh with whoever’s around. “No, not Mickey Mouse,” you giggle, tickling her sides lightly and enjoying her childish laughter. “Babushka and dedushka!”

Alina shrieks happily and you catch her when she launches herself forward off the counter. The kids love when Elena and Igor come to visit and they don’t know that this trip will be extra long, as they’re staying for nearly three weeks. Once Andrei finishes his workout, he’s supposed to be going off to pick them up from the airport.

“Bring puppy?” She asks, little arms locked around your neck and wide awake considering it’s not even seven in the morning.

“No,” you shake your head, “they’re not bringing the puppy. He has to stay home where he has his bed and all his toys.”

That would be the last thing you need in the house - in-laws, three kids, a husband who’s traveling several days a week, and to add a dog on top of that? No, thank you.

“I share my toys,” she says sweetly.

You press a kiss to her cheek. “Yeah, you do share your toys with Evie and Kira. But puppy toys are different. Why don’t you go draw a picture to give Babushka when she gets here?”

Alina nods wildly and wiggles her way out of your arms and down your body before running off to the kid sized table you have set up in the den with all their craft supplies. She’ll be distracted for at least ten minutes, which gives you enough time to get the cookies on a baking tray and in the oven. Why you waited until Christmas Eve morning to make the cookies for Santa is a question for another day.

You’ve been awake since 4:30 already and your energy is starting to flag, so you make a quick mug of coffee before portioning out the sugar cookies and dipping them in the green and red sugar sprinkles. While you sip at the drink and finish the cookies with your other hand, your mind wanders to everything that has to get done today. There are a few more gifts that have to be wrapped, but for the most part you’d managed to get everything you and Andrei bought for the kids and his parents wrapped at night. You’d also wrapped all the gifts Elena and Igor had bought for the girls and had shipped directly to your house.

Dinner tonight is going to be chill and Elena had insisted on handling most of that, so you don’t worry too much about the menu. You’ll be helping her, since most of the recipes are from your childhood, but she loves cooking when she visits so you don’t mind letting her.

You decide that you’ll have Andrei take all three girls with him to the airport so you can have a minute to shower - hair wash and shaving included - without little hands knocking on the bathroom door.

Otherwise, you have to iron the girls’ outfits and tidy up the chaos before the girls hopefully go to sleep early so you and Andrei can set out the presents.

“Thinking hard?” Andrei’s teasing voice startles you out of your mental to-do list. You turn away from the counter and take him in with a smile. He’s sweaty from his workout, hair falling over his forehead that he swipes back with his free hand. Kira is on his hip, a giant four-toothed smile on her face. You nudge at her round cheeks with your knuckles, grinning back at her.

“Were you Papa’s workout buddy?” You ask her in a bubbly voice. “How’d he do?”

“Papa!” She yelps, smacking at Andrei’s chest with her hands and cuddling closer to his side. She plants a smacking kiss against his cheek, her favorite party trick to get adults coping over how cute she is.

Andrei kisses the top of her head and rests his cheek against the crown. “She’s a good cheerleader,” he laughs. And as if they practiced it, Kira waves her hands in an imitation of jazz hands. You laugh and kiss your youngest on the tip of her nose, making her giggle.

“Give me the baby and go shower,” you say, already taking Kira into your arms. She transfers easily, snuggling into your neck, one hand splayed over your chest. “I need you to take all three with you to the airport and you’re going to need to get going if you want to get your parents on time.”

He looks at the clock over the stove and frowns a little. “They don’t land until 9:30, plenty of time.”

“Yeah,” you nod, untangling your hair from Kira’s grip, “but you have to shower, the girls have to be changed and put in the car, and you have to drive to the airport. Time goes faster than you think, please just get everything going?”

Andrei nods and grips your chin in his hand to tilt your face up for a kiss. You melt a little, humming quietly. “Okay, solnyshka. We will go when everyone is ready. Do I need to pick anything else up?” He asks, tickling Kira’s back.

You shake your head, “just your parents. Next year they’re coming here earlier. None of this flying on Christmas Eve business.”

“I will tell them,” Andrei laughs before heading upstairs to shower.

Four hours later, after you’ve finished taking the cookies out of the oven, showered, and pulled together a quick little breakfast spread, Andrei’s car pulls back into the driveway. You pull open the front door with a huge smile on your face, laughing when Elena’s dragged into the house by Evie and Alina, Kira held on her grandmother’s hip. Andrei and Igor are back at the car, handling all the bags.

“Moya devushka,” Elena greets you with a warm smile and a tight hug, Kira squeaking and complaining when she’s caught in the middle of the two of you. “Ah, prosti, myshonok.” She kisses Kira’s head.

“Mama!” Evie dances at your feet, tugging on your sweater. “Babushka said she’s staying forever!”

“Mid-January, at least,” Elena shares a smile with you, helping you usher the girls inside. Kira clings to her like a koala and you love how much the girls love their grandparents.

Evie widens her eyes - Andrei’s eyes - at her grandmother, “that’s like forever! And look,” she grabs Elena’s hand, pulling her to the living room, “r’member we showded you our tree on the phone? Now you can see in real!” Alina trails along after them, clutching the stuffed Grinch that she’d recently decided was her new best friend.

Confident that the girls are handled, you head back outside to help Andrei and Igor with the bags. Your father-in-law greets you with a kiss to the cheek and waves off your help, “you have strong men. Go with Elena and girls.”

You know from past experience that it’s basically useless to fight with him, so you grab up Elena’s oversized purse from the backseat of the car and run back inside with it, wearing a sneaky little smile, before Igor can chastise you. Andrei’s laughter follows you inside.

“Elena,” you call out, “do you want your purse or should I put it in your room?”

“Oh! Bring it here,” Elena looks over her shoulder at you from where she’s sitting on the ottoman, having been oohing and ahhing over the drawings the girls made for her. “I have surprises.”

You hand over the bag, talking over the girls’ excited squeals, “you shouldn’t have. It’s Christmas Eve.”

Elena waves a hand in the air at you and if it were anyone else, you’d be annoyed at the dismissive gesture. “Small things,” she explains, reaching into the bag and drawing out little toys and Russian candies for the girls. “These were your Papa’s favorite,” she explains, handing Evie a wrapped chocolate.

Andrei appears behind you and leans forward, snatching another candy out of his mother’s hand. “Still are,” he winks at the girls. He unwraps the chocolate and pops it in his mouth before giving you a quick kiss. “I’m going to clean out the car,” he gives Kira a faux-glare, “one of the myshonok spilled her Cheerios.”

“It was Kira,” Evie pipes up, chocolate smeared around her mouth. “She spilleded out the whole bag!”

Kira, recognizing her name, giggles and chants, “Mama! Papa!”

“Our messy little girl,” you ruffle her hair gently. “Not too much candy, okay? It’s still really early.”

You know you’re going to be ignored, but you have to say it if only to stave off the mom-guilt. With the girls distracted by their grandparents - Igor’s wandered in and is telling Alina a joke she surely doesn’t understand yet - and Andrei busy with the car outside, you take the opportunity to slip upstairs and finish wrapping the few gifts that had been delivered in the last few days.

When you come back downstairs after finishing up and taking a few extra minutes to just breathe in the relative quiet, everyone’s huddled around Elena’s phone FaceTiming with Geno and his family. Everyone chatting in rapid fire Russian, even your kids, and you smile. You love that the girls are fluent in Andrei’s native language and it’s good practice when they talk to his family. The girls giggle with their cousins and you pull out your phone to snap a candid shot before joining the call, waving to Geno and his wife.

You stand behind the couch, looping your arms around Andrei’s neck and resting your chin on his shoulder, just enjoying the lively conversation. You’ve learned some Russian over the years, but you’re nowhere close to fluent and once they all start talking so fast, you’re basically lost at sea.

Andrei leans his cheek against yours, holding out his hand while he talks to block Evie’s foot from hitting him in her attempt at showing off a cartwheel. She pouts at Andrei when he tells her to sit down - that you understand, at least - and Andrei huffs in exasperation when Elena turns right around and clearly reprimands him for stopping Evie. Your head is starting to swim a little from all the noise and you press a kiss to Andrei’s cheek before standing up and heading into the kitchen.

A dog barking joins the chaos and you know Geno’s brought Igor’s dog on the screen. The girls squeal with delight and you know this means you’re going to get a barrage of begging for a puppy.

“Mama,” Evie skips her way into the kitchen, “can we show Babu and Dedu Belle’s christmas?”

The call with Geno is either done or the girls had gotten bored of sitting in one place. You nod, knowing she means the Beauty and the Beast Christmas movie, and say, “sure, bunny. Ask Papa to put the movie on the TV.”

The movie keeps them occupied for a little bit, even after Elena leaves to come help you in the kitchen. You work quietly with your mother-in-law, chatting easily about the girls and the plans for their extended trip. You’ll have a more involved celebration on January 7th - when Christmas is traditionally celebrated in Russia - with Elena making dishes that Andrei remembers from his childhood. But with the girls being raised in America, it’s easier for them to have Christmas traditions in line with their classmates and friends.

You’re incorporating some of your holiday traditions - namely the relaxing aspects of the day, watching movies and spending time with the kids - and it’s nice to not have to worry about going super over the top. Tomorrow, Andrei and his dad will grill steaks and you’re making a few side dishes and Evie helped make some cookies during the week. More than anything, you’re just excited to see them get into Christmas and to make memories with them.

The girls go down for their naps and you and Elena get to finish prepping dinner. It’s a quiet rest of the day, until suddenly it’s after dinner and the girls are bathed and changed into their matching pajamas - little candy canes printed on a white background - and Alina’s chattering about catching Santa.

“Where did she even come up with that?” You ask Andrei, laughing a little. “She said it this morning too.”

“Ah,” he gives you a sheepish smile and you’re instantly on guard, “maybe I said something. They asked about Santa and magic.” He shrugs. “I don’t know how to explain so I said to stay up and see how he does it.”

You snort a laugh, filling Kira’s bottle and closing the lid. “Yeah, that’ll do it. Better hope she knocks out like usual or we’re going to have a long night.”

Andrei settles his hands on your hips and pulls you close, kissing you gently. “I think there was enough excitement today. They will sleep, solnyshka, don’t worry.”

Resting against his chest, you loop your arms around his lower back, excitement bubbles up in your chest for the girls to see their gifts. “I know I’ve said it before,” you mumble into his chest, “but thank you for agreeing to do two Christmases.”

“Anything for you, solnyshka,” he replies, dropping a kiss to the top of your head. And then you’re interrupted by the two older girls, running in and begging to set out the cookies for Santa. Andrei lets you go and lifts both girls up onto his hips, telling them, “make sure you pick good cookies. I think he likes ones with a lot of sprinkles.”

He winks at you over the girls’ heads and you suppress a little smile while you put the cookies the girls select on a special plate. The plate of cookies is carefully arranged on the coffee table, next to a glass of milk that Evie had very carefully carried from the kitchen.

“Can we watch Frosty, Mama?” Evie asks, giving you puppy eyes. She’s already tucked up on the couch in between her grandparents, one little hand wrapped around Elena’s forearm and the other clutching her Stormy plush - this version has a little Christmas sweater on and you’d tried to resist buying it but you’re weak when it comes to saying no sometimes. Alina’s already looking like she’ll pass out any second, head resting on Igor’s chest. Andrei has Kira in his arms, rocking from side to side so she’ll fall asleep.

“Okay,” you nod, “but as soon as Frosty’s over, it’s time for bed. Remember, Santa doesn’t come if you’re awake.”

Behind you, Andrei snorts a quiet little laugh and you know exactly why, but you refuse to dignify him with a response. You press your lips together to smother a laugh of your own.

“I’m not gonna sleep,” Evie informs you, apparently on Alina’s side with wanting to catch Santa. “I’m not even sleepy, Mama.”

Her sentence is punctuated by a huge yawn and you catch Elena’s eye, both of you muffling laughter.

“It would not be so bad,” Elena says, stroking Evie’s braided hair, “to close your eyes a little, zaychik.”

Evie wrinkles her nose and shakes her head, but you’re not surprised when all three girls and both grandparents are all passed out before Frosty even gets on the train to the North Pole. Andrei’s already brought Kira up to her crib and now he helps you bring up the older girls, lifting their combined weight easily into his arms while you wake up Elena and Igor.

“Jet lag,” they both laugh tiredly, Elena giving you and Andrei kisses on the cheek before retiring to their room. Igor offers to help bring the gifts down to the tree, but Andrei says something in Russian and his father nods, closing the door behind him.

You leave the doors to the girls’ bedrooms cracked a little, hoping you’ll hear them in case they get up. Tossing Andrei a Santa hat you’ve kept around just for this moment, you grin, “let’s get this done, Saint Nick.”

Andrei jams the hat on his head and gives you a crooked smirk. “Red is my color, solnyshka,” he teases and swats at your ass gently when he follows you to the second guest room that’s been serving as your gift and wrapping room.

Between the two of you, all the gifts are brought downstairs in less than an hour. Andrei likes to deposit the boxes randomly, leaving the huge box that you know is a Barbie Dream House for the girls to share right in the middle of everything. You shake your head and move it towards the back, making sure the presents are arranged nicely and there’s room to walk around all the furniture. You spot a handful of gifts labeled in Andrei’s messy scrawl and it makes you smile.

“Last one,” he says, setting a smaller box on top of the rest. “Time for bed?”

You survey the scene, skipping over the gifts and landing on the plate of cookies. “Oops, no! We almost forgot the cookies, take a bite out of one or two,” you suggest, knowing his massive sweet tooth. Andrei bites off half of a tree shaped cookie and holds out a second to you for you to bite.

A yawn escapes as you’re chewing and you cover your mouth immediately, mumbling an apology. Andrei scoffs and rests his hand on your lower back to guide you up the stairs, “let me take my zhena up to bed.” His voice is low and deep, warm despite the tiredness lacing his tone. The Santa hat is crooked on his head and it makes him look boyishly handsome. You recognize the look in his eyes and you add a little sway to your hips on your way back to your bedroom.

“Your parents are right down the hall,” you say quietly, even as you pull your pajama top over your head and push your pants and underwear to the floor.

Andrei raises an eyebrow at you, hungrily taking in the sight of your bare body. Your nipples tighten under his scrutiny and you feel a rush of warmth between your legs. He steps forward, crowding you until the backs of your knees hit the bed and you fall back, landing flat on the mattress with your legs splayed open. He leans one knee in between your legs and covers your body with his to kiss you deeply, sliding his tongue into your mouth. You moan softly when he pulls back, one of his hands sliding up your side, over your chest, to rest at the base of your throat, “guess you’ll have to be quiet, solnyshka. Can you do that for me?”

You nod, hooking your ankle around Andrei’s hip and pushing at the waistband of his joggers. “Get rid of these,” you demand and Andrei kisses you again before standing up and stripping, his clothes discarded to the floor in seconds.

“Remember,” Andrei grins, running his fingers over your sensitive clit, making your back arch off the bed and a sharp gasp escape your lips, “quiet.”

You bite down hard on your lower lip to prevent any noise from escaping as Andrei pumps his fingers inside of you, curling and flexing them until you’re dripping down the curve of your ass. “Andrei!” You can’t help but moan his name when his fingers press up against your g-spot.

“Ah,” he tuts, pulling his fingers from your cunt and covering your mouth with his palm. “Quiet.”

With his hand muffling your noises, Andrei kneels between your open legs, lining up his cock at your entrance and sliding into you with one smooth thrust. You whine behind his hand, clenching immediately around his length, legs coming up to wrap around his waist. Sparks dance behind your eyes, pleasure building low in your stomach.

Andrei fucks into you with a steady rhythm, his hand warm over your face. You roll your hips, meeting him thrust for thrust and before you realize it, your orgasm is building and cresting, flooding your veins with fire. You bite down on Andrei’s palm and he hisses, finishing inside of you with a few more thrusts.

Everything is hazy and sticky and you blink up at Andrei, trying to focus on something other than the selfish desire for a second orgasm. Andrei’s hand shifts from your mouth to cup your cheek. His eyes twinkle with mischievous glee and you brace yourself for whatever he’s about to say.

“Santa was not the only one coming tonight, huh?”

“Oh my god,” you burst out laughing, push at his chest, “I hate you.”

Andrei kisses you sweetly, laughing too. “Sorry, that was bad,” he climbs off the bed, pulling you to your feet so you can both shower quickly and he can change the sheets before you go to bed.

It feels like you’ve only gotten ten minutes of sleep - thanks to a pair of wandering hands on your husband - when your bedroom door bangs open and Evie’s screaming, “SANTA BROUGHT PRESENTS!” She jumps onto your bed, bouncing on her knees in between you and Andrei, shrieking with delight. Andrei catches her around the waist and pulls her into a big hug.

“You’re going to wake the whole house, zaychik,” he teases, giving you a sleepy smile over her head.

“Everyone’s awake! Babu’s makin’ coffee and she said I had to wait five whole minutes before I woke you and Mama,” Evie informs him. “Can we pleaseeeee go open presents now?” She throws her arms around Andrei’s neck and pokes her lip out in a pout until he nods and she scrambles off the bed, racing for the stairs and screeching, “Papa said we can open!”

You yawn and slump against Andrei’s side, grinning tiredly, “I wish we could bottle her energy.”

“I will work on it for your birthday,” Andrei teases, kissing you warmly. “Merry Christmas, solnyshka.”

“Merry Christ—“

“MAMA! PAPA! PRESENTS!”

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - October 22-28

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. Industrial wastelands to wildlife oases: Five nature wins that have actually worked

“[An archipelago in the Indian ocean] experienced a major whale comeback after signing up to a debt for nature swap[….] In Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo, local efforts have transformed what was once a rubbish dump to a wetland teeming with [wildlife….]”

2. Louisville launches America’s first 100% electric garbage truck fleet

““These innovative EV collection trucks will fulfill our trash, compost and recycling needs, reduce noise pollution, and include larger windshields to increase each driver’s field of vision and lower greenhouse gas emissions[….]” [The trucks are equipped with] audible devices that alert nearby drivers and pedestrians to compensate for their quieter operations.”

3. How a nearly extinct crocodile species returned from the brink in Cambodia

“By the late nineties, [Siamese crocodiles] were thought to be extinct. […] Today there are about 1,000 Siamese crocodiles in the wild[….] The first crocodiles were reintroduced into the wild in 2012 and they have begun breeding in the wild: over a hundred eggs were discovered in the forests in July, the most so far.”

4. Before his death, this conservative combat veteran filmed a PSA advocating for his transgender son

““Eric [“a conservative South Carolina U.S. Army combat veteran and father of a transgender child”] believed in the importance of freedom for trans kids — the right to live authentically and without fear,” [his widow] said. “He saw this not as a political issue but as a human one, recognizing that every child deserves the chance to thrive and feel whole.”” [Curator’s note: obviously, utmost condolences to Eric’s family; I’m including this as good news because it’s impactful to see a respectable member of the political party more often known for transmisia instead publicly advocating for his son’s human - not just political - rights]

5. Azores to create largest Marine Protected Area in North Atlantic – and a 'blueprint' for the rest of the world

““The Azores’ waters are a hotspot for marine life, hosting a third of the world's whale and dolphin species,[…” and harbouring] “cold-water corals and sponge fields that act as nurseries and feeding grounds for countless species, from deep-sea sharks to commercially valuable fish stocks.””

6. ‘It’s a big lever for change’: the radical contract protecting Hamburg’s green space

“Citizen power forced Germany’s greenest city-state into a binding agreement balancing housing and nature[….] The authorities signed an agreement with the citizen’s initiative to protect 30% of Hamburg’s land area – 10% as untouchable nature reserves and 20% with a looser conservation status – and ensure the share of public green space in the city rises over time.”

7. Behind the Scenes at the Federal Bee Lab Powered by Native Plants

“Once native plants reappeared at the lab, he says, the impact was dramatic. In the first year, many of the region’s 200 native bee species arrived in droves. [… B]irds Droege had never before seen on the premises began to turn up to feed on the native plant seeds[….]”

8. Atlanta neighborhood hired case manager to address rising homelessness. It's improving health and safety for everyone

“Michael Nolan, an Intown Cares social worker, is trained in an approach that emphasizes individual autonomy and dignity, recognizes that being homeless is a traumatic experience, and prioritizes access to housing. [… H]iring a social worker has enabled East Atlanta Village to resolve conflicts gently, through conversation and negotiation.”

9. Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nests Make a Remarkable Comeback in Greece

“As long-lived and migratory species, [loggerheads] contribute to the health of seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are vital habitats for many marine organisms. Their nesting activities also contribute to beach ecosystems and help promote biodiversity.”

10. Rapid genome analysis of a Whippet sighthound sets new standard for biodiversity research

“[Scientists] have sequenced and analyzed the complete genome of a Whippet sighthound in less than a week. […] Rapid analysis is increasingly important for the conservation of endangered species, [… giving] insights into their biological relationships, evolution and adaptations to environmental conditions.”

October 15-21 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[anim-ttrpgs]

Songs for Eureka Sessions: Investigators Fleeing/Hiding from Monster

Masterpost of Eureka song lists & how to choose good music for any TTRPG session.

Beastiality - The Thing

Don't Cry, Jennifer - Clock Tower

Anguish - Martha is Dead

Mynah - Signalis

Claws of the Dead - Death Stranding

The Man in the Hat - Little Nightmares

Detritus - It Follows

Strange Dreams – The Mount Fuju Doomjazz Corporation

Disposable Entertainment – Little Nightmares II

Zombie Attack – Resident Evil 1 Remake

Reliving the Present – Resident Evil 2 Remake

Vigilante – Trigg & Gusset

The Second Malformation of G – Resident Evil 2

Black Tiger – Resident Evil 1 Remake

One Step, Two Step – Little Nightmares II

Black Impact – Resident Evil 2 Remake

Ashes and Ghost – Silent Hill 2

Screaming Target – Resident Evil 2

Vengeance – The Guest

Falling Victim to the Ex-Neighbors – Resident Evil 2

Richard – Hotline Miami 2

Theme of Aya – Parasite Eve

The First Malformation of G – Resident Evil 2

Faces – Martha Is Dead

Track 17 – Galerians

Nightwalk Restlessness – Martha Is Dead

Stalker – Parasite Eve II

Intruders (Alternate) – Silent Hill 4

Ultimate Bio Weapon – Resident Evil 1 Remake

Final Battle – Resident Evil 1 Remake

Absurd Advent – Resident Evil 2 Remake

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but you can still check out the public beta on itch.io to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, etc.!

You can also follow updates on our Kickstarter page where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more, you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy earlier, plus extra content such as adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[psychopasss4]

PPP Novel is out❣️

...just in time for the Lunar New Year Eve, Feb. 9th. 🎉

Noitamina Shop will hold Arata Shindo-kun's bday campaign and at the same time promotes the PPP novel sale 🥂🥳.

Have you already prepared dried persimmons? 🤗 You know, in ancient times people used to wind-hang outside Hoshigaki, thus the Japanese lantern shape we know about today were taken from. 📸 Google Images.

Quick Review:

During the premier of PPP movie before the Global launch, fans kept asking Dir. Shiotani about

The meaning of empty liquor bottle in Kogami's desk.

Why Kogami removed his jacket during his balcony scene

And his answer were simple. Kogami didn't know the difference of wearing it inside or outside. At first, I thought it was some kind of a funny little joke, or I didn't understand the words full well (I'm not a full-bred Japanese though I studied Nihonggo way back in grade school).

But if you read the PPP novel, you will realize Kogami isn't fully adjusted from his traumatic experiences as a mercenary overseas 🤧. So he doesn't feel how to act just as he used to when he's back.

And ofcourse, we all know he and Saiga only emptied the liquor after long hours of chatting and Tonami profiling.

2. It's interesting that the writing team have taken the pulse of the fans during the Q&A session, thus some points in PPP novel is what we might've expect after all 🤭.

3. Some may say it's nothing new. As it seems the writing team pretty much remain loyal to the movie summary. But if you read between the lines, you realize how it is a bit forgiving & fan-serving, compare to the movie itself 👍🏻.

4. The locations...last minute alterations... 😆😂.

5. And ofcourse the last time Akane spent with Saiga on his detention cell 😭. She literally blame herself for asking him to come to them on Dejima in MoFA's HQ to retrieve the Stronskaya Papers a day after. Which we all know ended tragically.

6. She pulls the trigger. She question the justice. Which quotes the same kind of line from PP3 novel when she's writing her thoughts down in an analogue typewriter. From that scene she thought of Kogami's action and how Sybil judged him for that.

But in PPP novel, no doubt she puts into consideration the life of Atsushi Shindo and how he was used as a pawn, only to be a master pawn who puppets the life of another pawn like what happened to Akira Ignatov.

Aswell as Akira Ignatov's sacrifice. He volunteered to be a puppet for the sake of the future generation. For the sake of his brother in particular 😢😓😓😢.

7. Frede-chan's holding back and being indecisive to keep the truth about the mission to Kogami. Is like keeping her phone number to her crush 😹🤭. Sure, she's just conscious how would Kou-chan would react since she knows Saiga and him are pretty close 😮‍💨.

8. The writing team did a pretty good job by staying true to their plot work. They know what they're doing. As if taken up some piece of advice from Gege Akutami 😅😂.

9. The last scene is pretty much heart-aching but well executed 😘🤌🏻❤️

10. The General was a medical AI but I wonder if the creator of Sybil also created that?... how about BiFrost? Oh hello, Season 4! We're waving at you ☺️😀!

11. Many hate Akane for trying to control Kogami, again?! Let me get this straight, SHE ISN'T CONTROLLING ANYONE!

There's a MASSIVE difference when he a.) first pulled the trigger against Makishima (out of revenge) and when he b.) pulls that against Tonami.

Akane knows it best.

a) She doesn't want him to be a person swallowed by revenge like Sasuke (Naruto).

b) She hopes Kogami is back for the better but instead he acted again with his animal instinct which indicates he can still be easily outplayed by emotions instead of not letting it get the human out of him.

Akane still looks up to Kogami. She knows he was labeled as a latent criminal by Sybil. But the way Kou acted is like proving to Sybil that their labeling of him as latent criminal was right. And if there's one thing Akane isn't fond of, that is proving Sybil right.

So it's not about Kogami. It's about her campaign against Sybil's false and unfair judgement! So don't mock her! 😖

Lastly, PPP novel is enjoyable because a lot of fans are exerting efforts to translate it to English for fans abroad. Kudos to you all❣️

Not everyone have the time, capacity and dedication you've spent. Including me, I'm not good in translation. So thank you. You are the heart of PSYCHO-PASS franchise global expansion ❤️🥰.

End of Review.

Okay, so that wasn't a quick one 😋 sorry about that. I just hope you guys have a wonderful day. Have fun and enjoy everything that you do!

🥰🤗

Meanwhile, the original crew of PP1 are in their podcast discussing how the series have been progressing so far 😋😂

Nah! It's just a trace sketch of CD Discussion Vol. 1

🤣🤣🤣

[catdotjpeg]

Around 100 Jewish American and allied activists were arrested in New York City Wednesday after they blocked President Joe Biden's motorcade route to protest U.S. complicity in Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate Gaza cease-fire. The group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) led the Upper East Side demonstration, during which activists sat down in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, where the president was attending a nearby fundraiser. "As Jewish New Yorkers we want to make crystal clear that President Biden is not welcome in our city while he continues to fund and arm the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza," said JVP's Jay Saper.

JVP activist Maya Edery noted that this is Biden's first visit to New York since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. "Instead of answering to the majority of his base that is calling for a cease-fire, he is meeting with corporate donors behind closed doors," Edery said. Biden's staunch support for Israel—which includes asking for an additional $14.3 billion in U.S. military aid atop the nearly $4 billion the country already receives from Washington and repeatedly bypassing Congress to expedite armed assistance to the key ally—has prompted many activists to call him "Genocide Joe." The president has also come under fire for casting doubt on the number of Palestinians killed and wounded by Israeli forces.

As JVP noted:

The Israeli military has killed over 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza, over 11,000 of whom were children, in four months of bombing and military assault. Gaza has been made uninhabitable by design, with Israeli airstrikes destroying 70% of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities, and the electricity and water grids. Nearly 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes; 1.9 million are sheltering in the southern city of Rafah, where the Israeli military has lately launched airstrikes.

"Biden says that he is funding and arming Israel for Jewish safety. We're here to call his bluff," said JVP's Eve Feldberg. "The president is advancing the U.S.' own military interests."

-- From "100 Jewish Cease-Fire Supporters Arrested Blocking Biden's NYC Motorcade Route" by Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams, 7 Feb 2024

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 4 - Catholic Character Tournament

Propaganda below ⬇️

John

he’s a priest. he can punch your lights out. he would never hurt a fly. he has connections in the black market. he gives everything he can to the local orphans. he will not hesitate to play pranks on you. he wants everyone to be happy. he has daddy issues probably. he wants a promotion sososososoooooo bad.

I accidentally submitted the last 5actors name but it’s the same guy

Hey everyone please vote for this man I love him he truely is what we need more of in this world the kindest most relatable character has flaws etc etc. Deserves the world

Enrico propaganda

He grew up in the church and became a priest. so devoted to his faith he ended the UNIVERSE to achieve the perfect world aka heaven

Hes Catholic but also so gay for this one vampire that he ended the world for him

He is LITERALLY one big metaphor for the catholic church as a villain. He’s a guy who believes himself to be a martyr on a fundamentally altruistic quest that will better humanity and the world, but in truth hes a destructive force blind to his faults and hypocritical of the atrocities he commits. Even his altruisim is just a lie (that he does believe himself though) because it all just stems from a deep rooted desire he has to alliviate the guilt he feels. Also hes obsessed with ”the world to come” to the point that hes downright nihilistic towards the current world he actually lives in, as well as the other people in it. which i mean. lol. Ultimately hes an insane delusional queen and he should win this because he is just That catholic. also he is a catholic priest :)

his names pussy bc he served cunt (in a catholic god honoring way)

I want my bestie’s guy in bere

No one could feel guilt to this level if not catholic

Religious Allegory mostly woth how his power(white snake) is contradictory it has white to make you think of good things but it contrast with snake a creature that tempted adam and eve. Although he is a Man of faith his stand’s design is far from it being incredibly intimidating and lined with the genetic of dna whihc is scientific compared to faith.

Bro tries to kill a child

serial killer priest bro

HE IS INSANE He spent his whole life believing in fate and when his world turned around Shakespeare tragedy style he made it his mission to bring 「HEAVEN TO EARTH」, which means TEARING AWAY THE FABRIC OF REALITY SO THAT EVERYONE IS AWARE OF THEIR OWN FATE. How does he get there? Simple! By using a half-baked horse to SPEED UP TIME UNTIL THE UNIVERSE RESETS AND LAUNCHES EVERYONE INTO A NEW WORLD. How did he GET this horse??? Oh, as one does - his (dead) best friend’s toe bone grew into a baby made of leaves that vored him, but he survived and grew even more eyebrows than he already had. And that’s without getting into the STUFF that makes him a phenomenal, S-tier, fine wine that EXPLODES and causes you to see VISIONS type of character. That’s just the surface. But, ah, that’s Catholics for ya. Vote Enrico Pucci for king of the Catholic tournament. 👍🏻

[ladykailitha]

If I Rescue You, Will You Rescue Me, Too? Part 15

I am seriously enjoying how much you all love my Mrs Harrington. She is so fun to write. And while we aren’t there yet, she absolutely will go for Mr Harrington’s jugular. She’s been building a case for five years. She’s going to bury him. :D

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13  Part 14

***

Steve sat at the fanciest restaurant in town in just his jeans and a polo shirt. He felt a little out of place, but he knew if it really bothered him, he could change in the restroom.

“I’m sorry, Steven,” Mrs Harrington began. “I had been finding out so many horrible things about your father over the last few years and to learn that he kept your injuries from me as well? That was the final straw.”

Steve grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You didn’t know. Hell, I didn’t know either. I think he was trying to keep us apart.”

Mrs Harrington sighed. “You’re probably right. Because if we compared notes...” she trailed off.

“Then we would be able figure out what a douchebag he was sooner,” Steve agreed.

Mrs Harrington laughed. “So your father was telling me you were seeing someone new.”

Steve blushed. “Yeah, it’s very new. We went to a concert in Indy last weekend and ended up realizing we both felt that same.”

“That’s so sweet,” Mrs Harrington cooed. “What’s her name?” Steve blushed harder and deeper and she cocked her head knowingly. “Or his?”

Steve’s head shot up and his jaw dropped. “What?”

She covered his hand with her other hand. “Darling, your father might be an ignoramus but I am not. I was one the few DAs in the state that were fighting to get rid of the sodomy laws in Indiana.” She tilted her head and smiled. “Plus you clearly had a crush on John Travolta.”

Steve sputtered. “Really?”

“Oh yes,” Mrs Harrington said. “You had to have your hair just like his in that musical he did with Olivia Newton John.”

“Oh god,” Steve muttered. “I do remember that. And here I was thinking it was a new thing. Something that only came about because of him.”

Mrs Harrington smiled warmly at her son. “Tell me all about this boy.”

And so Steve did.

“He sounds wonderful my darling,” she said once he was done. “Would you have gone to his house tonight if I hadn’t joined you?”

Steve nodded. “Or my best friend Robin.”

“Boy or girl?” Mrs Harrington asked.

And so Steve launched into Robin, which of course led to the kids and then still being friends with Nancy and Jonathan.

“Sounds like you were building a life for yourself,” she said gently, “while I was building a divorce case against your father. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, love. But I promise to be from now on.”

Steve nodded, fighting back tears. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.”

They finished their dinner and Mrs Harrington paid the bill. “Do you mind if I borrow your car for tonight until I can get mine out of storage tomorrow?”

Steve shook his head. “I don’t work tomorrow so that should be fine.”

She smiled brightly at him. “Where would you prefer I drop you off, Eddie’s or Robin’s?”

Steve blushed. “Would–would you like to meet Eddie?”

“Yes!” she said jumping up and down. “Of course I would!”

Steve jutted his thumb at the payphones. “I’m going to call him so you don’t give him a heart attack.”

“Fair enough.”

Steve waited as the phone rang, his heart in his hand. His mom wanted to meet his boyfriend.

“Hello?”

“Eddie?” Steve asked.

“Stevie!” Eddie greeted. “Hey, you need me to come get you?”

“No, but I will need a place to stay,” Steve explained. “Can I stay at yours?”

“Of course you can,” Eddie agreed. “I’ll just make the bed in the spare room.” He paused for a second. “Steve...I have a spare room...”

Steve’s heart soared. “Yes, you do, babe.” He chuckled when he heard his boyfriend giggle on the other end. “Uh...there is one thing you should know before I get there though.”

“What that, sweetheart?”

“He kicked both of us out,” Steve whispered.

“Both?” Eddie asked. “...Your mom, too?”

Steve nodded even though he knew Eddie couldn’t see. “Yeah, um... apparently he didn’t tell her all the times I got hurt.”

“Holy shit. Does she need some place to stay too? I mean you can share my bed and she can have the spare room.”

“That’s sweet of you, Eds,” Steve said. “But she has some place to stay. She had been planning on divorcing my dad for a while so...because she’s Allison Harrington she had a escape route ready.”

“Wow.”

Steve took a deep breath and let out slow.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Eddie asked. “Are you okay?”

“She wants to meet my boyfriend.”

There was silence on the line for so long that Steve worried the line went dead. “Eddie?” he said, his voice starting to quiver.

“Boyfriend,” Eddie repeated. “She knows it’s a boy?”

“Yeah, she guessed when I told her I was seeing someone,” Steve admitted shyly.

“Wow,” Eddie breathed. “And you told her about me?”

“Of course I did,” Steve said with a sigh of relief. “So would it be okay if you met her?”

“Yes!” Eddie said. “Of course, Stevie.”

“I’ll be there soon, love,” Steve said.

“Bye, babe.”

Steve hung up the phone and went out to meet his mom.

She cupped his cheek. “Everything all right, sweetie?”

Steve nodded. “It was just a shock. When I speak of you and dad, it’s, it’s not...”

“Flattering?” she asked softly.

He shook his head. “I mean it’s most Dad and I did use you as a reference for both my jobs, but...”

“But I haven’t been around.”

“Yeah.” Steve hung his head.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” she said. “I understand. Besides it’ll be more fun this way.”

Steve looked up at her in confusion.

“I get to surprise them!” she said gleefully.

Steve laughed. “You’ll certainly do that.”

*

The drive to the Munsons’ new house was filled with laughter and stories.

“He thought it was a regular dog,” Steve was saying. “Until it ate his cat.”

“Oh no!” Mrs Harrington said through her giggles. “That poor cat.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, a bright smile on his face when they pulled up to the house.

“There’s going to be boxes and shit everywhere because they’re still moving in,” he warned her as they got his luggage out of the trunk.

She smiled brightly. “I’m in no place to judge anyone’s housekeeping. As they have one and I don’t. Well, not yet anyway.”

They walked up to the door and knocked.

Uncle Wayne opened the door. “Won’t you come in?” As he led them to the front room, he called, “Eddie! Your boy is here!”

Steve blushed. Apparently Eddie had already told him about his mom knowing about them.

Eddie came thundering down the stairs. He had clearly put some effort into his appearance. His hair was a little damp from a shower and his clothes were clean. He still wore his ripped jeans and the band t-shirt from last weekend. His feet were barefoot but it was his own house.

“Stevie!” Eddie said happily as he bounded into the room.

Steve went over and picked up his boyfriend and spun him around. Eddie giggled.

“Put me down!” Eddie shrieked.

Steve let him slide down in his arms and gave him a deep kiss. “Hey, sunshine.”

“Hey, sweetheart,” Eddie murmured and kissed him softly. “Do you want to introduce me to your mom?”

Steve let him go, but grabbed his hand as they walked over to her.

“Mom,” he began shyly. “This is my boyfriend, Eddie Munson and his uncle, Wayne.”

Mrs Harrington smiled. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Allison Harrington.”

“She’s pretty,” Eddie said. “Now I know where you get your good looks from.”

Steve and Mrs Harrington laughed.

She shrugged. “Eh, his father’s good looks was his only redeeming feature. But thank you.”

Eddie laughed. “At least he has one.”

“His only one,” she agreed. “And his biggest curse, unfortunately.”

“Would you like a drink before you go?” Wayne asked. “I don’t think we’ve got much other than beer if you want something stronger than soda or water.”

She shook her head. “I really need to get going. I have so much to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”

Mrs Harrington kissed Steve on the cheek. “We’ll meet up for lunch and I’ll give you the car back then, okay?”

“Sure thing, Mom.”

As she turned to leave, she called out over her shoulder. “Bring Eddie and your best friend, too. I’d like to meet her.”

Steve laughed. “She’ll be there!”

She waved and was out the door.

“Holy shit,” Eddie breathed.

“Holy shit,” Steve agreed.

*

“Edmond Joseph Munson,” Robin said, coming to a dead stop about fifteen feet from the table Steve was waiting for them at. “Why is the most beautiful woman in the world sitting with Steve?”

Eddie chuckled. “Isn’t she just gorgeous? Come on, so you can meet her.”

Robin opened her mouth to say no, but squawked when Eddie grabbed her wrist and dragged her over to the table.

Eddie leaned over a pressed a kiss to her cheek. “It’s good to see you again,” he murmured and sat down next to Steve.

“Oooh,” she said gleefully. “I like this one. So polite. You can keep him.”

Steve laughed. “Was going to happen with or without your permission.”

She cocked her head to the side and then nodded. “Good.” She smiled up at Robin who had gone completely red. “You must be Robin. Steven has told me all about you. Every word not spent on Eddie is spent on you.”

Robin smacked Steve. “What do you mean I’m second? I deserve better than that! I’m your Platonic soulmate with a capital P. One week. One week is all it took for me to replaced.” She sighed dramatically.

The woman leaned forward and stage whispered, “Is she always this exuberant?”

Steve laughed. “No.” Robin preened. “Sometimes she’s worse.”

“Hey!” Robin protested. She sat down in a huff.

“Robin this is my mom, Allison Harrington,” Steve said with a small smile.

“Oh!” she said. “Wow, yeah. Hi.” She looked over at Steve. “You never told me your mom was gorgeous.”

Steve cocked his head to the side. “Doesn’t every little boy think his mom is the prettiest woman in the world?” Allison blushed. “I don’t think you would have believed me.”

Robin thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “Fair.”

They got talking and everything just clicked. Steve watched as his favorite people in the world got on like a house on fire. He didn’t think he would have this. Hell, he didn’t think he would survive the final push against the Upside Down, either.

He had a future. And wasn’t that just grand. 

***

Part 16 Part 17  Part 18  Part 19  Part 20    

Tag List: @anaibis @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666  @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @whalesharksart @nburkhardt @snapshotmaestro @shrimply-a-menace @theotalksalot @child-of-cthulhu @bookbinderbitch @cr0w-culture @punctualhowell @obliosworld @eddiemunsonswife @sharingisntkaren @dididisrespectyourbridgegoatman @lillemilly

[girlactionfigure]

🟣Northern Arrows updates - Tuesday - events from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO - 2 LARGE rockets hit by a highway in HAIFA. )

⭕More than 100 rockets have been launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel today.

🔹BRAGGING? OR REALITY?  A senior Israeli official: After yesterday's attacks, only half of the precision missiles Hezbollah had on the eve of the war and only a quarter of the rockets up to 40 kilometers range remain.  Their ability to fire a coordinated barrage of hundreds of rockets and missiles at the same time that would overwhelm the air defense systems has been severely damaged.

🔹US SAYS.. American official to AFP: We oppose an Israeli ground entry into Lebanon and will present ideas on how to curb the crisis

🔹UN SAYS.. The UN Human Rights Commissioner, Volker Turk, called on all the countries involved in the campaign between Lebanon and Israel to use their influence to prevent further escalation.  ( Hmm, why now? )

🔹IRAN SAYS.. Iran president tells CNN Hezbollah ‘cannot stand alone’ against Israel.  ( Hmm, then why have they been attacking Israel? )

🔹The US Navy is preparing for the sea evacuation of American civilians stuck in Lebanon.

🔹AIR TRAVEL CANCELLATIONS.. Virgin Atlantic - not before Sept 28.

🔹IDF WARNS.. residents of a village in the Sidon region Lebanon received calls from the IDF this morning - "Evacuate your homes immediately".

♦️IDF dropping bridges in Lebanon, latest a bridge across the Litani river separating Jezin and Marjayon. (Which would slow the redeployment of Hezbollah troops.)

♦️IDF spox: The IDF continues to attack Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. In the last hour, Air Force fighter jets attacked terrorist targets of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, including launchers, military buildings and buildings where weapons were stored. 

⭕INJURIES.. 20 - 4 from traffic accidents due to alarms, 3 rocket strike near their cars, 11 falls running to protected spaces (including broken bones), 2 shrapnel victims.

▪️PM TO THE UN.. PM’s departure to the UN delayed until Wed. late night due to the security situation.

▪️CHAREDI RECRUITMENT.. “You shouldn't show up at the recruiting offices at all”.  Rabbi Dov Lando is intensifying the fight against recruiting ultra-Orthodox in the midst of a war for survival.

▪️ON HIGH COURT JUDGE APPOINTMENTS.. The Justice Minister, being required by the High Court to convene the selection committee and offer his nominee for High Court President, convened and submitted ALL the High Court judges names.  All High Court judges withdrew their candidacy for the position of president, except Elron and Amit.

▪️ECONOMY.. Despite the escalation in the north, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on Tuesday was up.

[master-john-uk]

At last... Bentley have unveiled their new hybrid Flying Spur.

A very luxurious 4 door saloon, with extremely good performance and reasonable fuel consumption for a car of this size and weight. I do not like the colour of this one at the Belgian motor show, but that is a minor problem.

I have been waiting for Rolls-Royce to launch their new electric vehicle range, but the only EV currently available only has two doors... not suitable for being chauffeured in.

This looks ideal. My current Bentley Turbo R is 40 years old... and she is in immaculate condition. But she guzzles gas, and the emissions are not good for the environment.

The purchase price of this new Bentley is quite reasonable... compared to current Rolls-Royce models. I need to sleep on this, and think about it when I am wearing my sensible head!

[jpitha]

The battle was not going well.

The Starjumper Minor Key was taken by surprise near the border with the Xenni empire. They were escorting a pack of K’laxi cargo freighters back to K'laxi space and wouldn't link away until the K’laxi entered the warp gate. Pack Commander Na’varen was onboard to help coordinate communications with the K’laxi.

As soon as the attack started, the Starjumper put themselves between the Xenni and K’laxi to give them a chance to break for the gate. As they streaked away the Xenni had to choose between the larger, more valuable target of the Starjumper or put themselves at risk to pick off the vulnerable cargo ships. The Xenni, choosing glory, attacked the Starjumper.

The Starjumper, with War Emergency Power authorized was a sight to behold. Their main batteries were firing almost constantly, the piercing white-blue light striking the Xenni frigates and destroyers over and over again. Missiles streaked away from launchers and the point defense slug throwers shot any missiles sent to them.

For a moment, it felt like they were evenly matched.

While Na'varan was making his way back to the command deck with a Lieutenant to escort him there was a ripple of heavy thumps he felt in his feet, through his pressure suit. After the last thump was felt, there was a piercing, mournful howling alarm. It sounded like a scream of pain. It was so loud it overcame the noise and confusion of battle. Na'varan never heard an alarm like that before on any ship but at the sound, everyone around him went wide eyed and dropped what they were doing, in some cases literally.

"What? What is it?"

"Reactor overload!" The lieutenant shouted. "Helmets down, they're going to purge to vacuum! We have to leave, now."

Na'varan hurriedly flipped his helmet down and he felt the reassuring rush of air as it pressurized. It was mercifully silent for a second, then he was tied into the suit radio open channel.

It was chaos.

Everyone as shouting all at once, all at the same time. Na'varan couldn't hear anything out of the din. The lieutenant noticed this and clinked his helmet to Na'varans, enabling the suit to suit.

"Concentrate on my voice! Just listen to me! Tune the others out. Your survival now relies on it." In a deft movement, he clipped a line to Na'varan. "We're going. We have to evacuate."

"Leave? But we're in a Starjumper being attacked by the Xenni!"

"Exactly. They had a lucky hit." They started to run down the hall.

They didn't get a third of the way when there was another brace of heavy thumps along their feet and Na'varan suddenly felt weightless.

"Shit! The gravity." The lieutenant swore and reeled Na'varan in closer. "It's too much to hope that you have maneuvering jets on your suit is it?"

"You do?" Na'varan was bewildered. Why would human suits have jets on them all the time?

"Humans come prepared!" And from his shoulders, thighs and the small of his back, panels opened and little jets spun out. The Lieutenant grabbed Na'varan and hugged him to the front of his suit, and they zipped down the hall, now without gravity. He deftly spun and ducked and juked over debris and other humans as they all had their jets out and were moving like a shoal of fish towards the escape pods.

The pod bay was barely organized pandemonium.

Each pod held 4 humans. A petty officer was moving down the line, opening a door, counting 4 humans in, then slamming the red button marked "LAUNCH." She would move down to the next pod and repeat. For all the stress and havoc around, everyone was following procedures, lining up, not pushing or fighting.

"It's going so smoothly." Na'varan remarked.

"You practice until it's automatic. Then you don't have to worry in a real emergency." The Lieutenant countered.

As they waited their turn to evacuate, the alarm suddenly ceased. It was replaced with...a song? Music was playing over the PA and radios at full volume.

"It's Ode To Joy! The Minor is planning on sacrificing themselves!"

"What?"

"In the event of battle damage that the ship determines is fatal, they can choose their fate. The usual options are to be downloaded into a coffin box and evacuated with the crew, doing an emergency link to another location on their own, or sacrificing themselves by blowing the reactors. Ode To Joy signals that Minor is going to blow themselves up."

Na'varan was speechless.

After the first bars of the song started the Petty Officer in charge of the escape pods shouted "DOUBLE TIME! DOUBLE TIME! WE'RE GONNA LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!" Everyone immediately started going faster.

"In addition to the frenzied activity of the evacuation, the main batteries sounded different. They were wilder, firing faster, and with each pulse, Na'varan felt a tingle through his suit. "What's going on?" he asked.

The Lieutenant took a second to feel it too. "Minor is running the batteries on overload. They're trying to shed some of the energy from the overloaded reactor and buy us more time to escape."

Na'varan looked around. It seemed like most everyone was gone. They were going to be in the next few pods. "Where's Captain McVarish?"

The Lieutenant shook his head. "Captain goes down with the ship, Na'varan. Minor probably needs some help setting the final coordinates anyway."

"But you said that the song meant that Minor was going to sacrifice themselves."

"By linking into the Xenni fleet most likely. Come on, it's our turn"

Na'varan was hustled into the pod and the Lieutenant pushed the safety bar down over him. The Petty Officer looked in, counted to four, saluted, and slammed the door shut.

Nothing happened for two heartbeats and then the weight of the launch was so tremendous Na'varan passed out for a moment.

He came to as the Lieutenant was running a small joystick in his seat. "I'm connecting to the other pods. We're going to grab hold of one of the K'laxi freighters. They agreed to pull us through the warp gate. We don't have addressing modules in the pods, we can't go through on our own."

"And the Minor Key?"

"Look our your window."

Na'varan looked and saw the massive Starjumper. It was rotating slowly, orange fire and flashes of detonations rippling across its sides. The whole time, the batteries were firing though, and still scoring hits. Then before he could even blink, there was a white flash, and it was gone.

"Where did it go?"

"Look at the Xenni!"

He looked towards the Xenni fleet just in time to see the Minor Key detonate. It was...breathtaking. There was a white flash, like a wormhole link except it just kept spreading. Larger and larger, with black tendrils on the edge of the explosion. Every single Xenni ship caught in the blast just...disappeared. In a few seconds, it was done. The Minor Key was gone and the Xenni fleet was taken with them.

Na'varan shrank into his chair, tears flowing from his eyes freely.

The Lieutenant saw him and said "Take a moment. But don't mourn yet. We're still not safe. Once we're out of these pods and on a Starbase, I'll buy you a round. For now though, we have to concentrate.

"On what?"

"Staying alive. Otherwise Minor Key's sacrifice will have been in vain."

[hananoami]

KIRABASE | Limited-time theme store

2024/2/21 (Wed) will launch a limited-term theme store for 《Love & Deep Space 》 at Sancheng Base, a 2-month cooperative event!

This collaboration is based on the three characters of Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, and Yao, combined with their hobbies and backgrounds, to launch their own main meal, desserts and drinks! The scene in the store is designed with the background of the story, the scene wall not only can see the three characters of various looks and posture, but also their standing cards, so that everyone can enjoy the special meal while also entering the game, and enjoy a visual and taste feast with the favorite characters!

◐------ ┇ Special with meal ┇------ ◑

DINNER SPECIALS: ◈Consumer cooperative meal (no matter sweet): Giveaway character matching card (all 6 models, can be cumulative)

◈Consumer cooperation main meal: get 1 diamond card (3+3 models, can be added)

【2/21-3/18 】Q version: Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, 祁煜 【3/19-4/15 】Personal ratio: Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, 祁煜

◈Consumer co-op drinks: get 1 cup matching (3+3 models, add up)

【2/21-3/18 】A:Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, 祁煜 【3/19-4/15 】B model: Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, 祁煜

◈Permanent Event (1): Every shop to spend cooperative catering, spend 300 yuan (excluding service fee), and like the official fan group of "Love and Deep Space", KIRABASE, send a random postcard (3+3)

【2/21-3/18 】A:Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, 祁煜 【3/19-4/15 】B model: Li Shen, Shen Xinghui, 祁煜 (Not tired, limited to one per person per visit)

◈Permanent Event (II): Anyone who comes to the store to spend cooperative dining, spend a single sum of 800 yuan (excluding service fee), you can randomly get a beautiful pass card of "Love and Deep Space" (all 3 models).

(Can be cumulative, e.g. get 2 pass cards randomly after spending 1,600)

◐------ ┇ Booking instructions ┇------ ◑

Online booking: 36 reservation seats available per session per day (reservations are limited to 2 seats).

Each person enters the store, activity cooperative dining, only one per main meal, dessert, drink (maximum 9 kinds, not packed and takeaway).

Dine time for each entry is 90 minutes.

The same person can't make repeat reservation on the same day, do not accept phone reservation.

Online booking system open 7 days ago.

Online booking, when checking in on-site, will check the booker has the original photo ID. If it does not match the booking information, the reservation will be cancelled. If the same person leaves different phone numbers, repeat reservation, only reserve the first time reservation, cancel the rest of the reservation (cancelled seats, open on-site waiting).

Reservation for 10 minutes, timeout will be considered as giving up reservation.

Each table is maximum for two people, take one table and one checkout, can't be combined.

On-site registration for waiting seats (no guaranteed location), but no waiting outside the store. In case of cancellation, you can only fill in according to the order of registration. Phone notice will only be given if there is a location (reserve 10 minutes after notice).

KB VIP reserved seats: 11 regular guest seats are reserved for each session of the day (cannot order event meals).

◐------ ┇ Note ┇------ ◑ ◈All specials, please make sure to check them out before leaving the store. No replacement after leaving the store.

Infiltration card can't avoid minor scratches. It can't be replaced if it's not a major flaw.

◈All specials will be supplied in sufficient quantities during the event. If there is insufficient on-site spare parts, the on-site will be registered for you. When the goods arrive, they will be unified in the KIRABASE fan group announcement. You can return to the store with the invoice details, check that the registered reporter has the original photo ID and collect it (please pay close attention to the announcement of the fan group, no separate notice).

◈KIRABASE reserves the right to final modification, modification, explanation of the event and cancellation of the event.

◐------ ┇ Store information ┇------ ◑ ◈ Event period: February 21, 2024 - April 15, 2024 ◈Event Store: ▎ KIRABASE Sanchuang Base | 8F, No. 2, Sec. 3, Civic Avenue, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City

Booking way ➮ https://reurl.cc/8jzgKb

[quizmasterfred]

13 in 'The God Complex'

I saw a Reddit post a while ago asking 'what episode would you like to see a different Doctor tackle', and now it's been ages but i had some thoughts, and can't stop thinking about it, and just desperately need to write them down somewhere so here if you're seeing this: sorry, you've got to deal with my ramblings now.

This could replace ‘Legend of the Sea Devils’ wholesale. It was most people's least favourite centenary special, so hopefully we’re not losing much. OR, if you want to wrangle 4 specials in that year, it comes between ‘Eve of the Daleks’ and LotSD, which I’ll elaborate on later.

Arrival:

13 genuinely intends to follow through with “that moment on the beach where you tell me everything”, directly says as much at the end of EotD. Instead of fobbing it off with “whatever happened to the lost treasure of the Flor de la Mar”, they ARE going to San Munrohvar, which Yaz is ecstatic about.

In the OG God Complex (quick reminder: 11/Amy/Rory originally), it’s Amy’s faith in the Doctor which brings them there, and it’s the same now. Except it’s not just the generic faith of a particularly attached companion, it’s the exact specific moment of Yaz knowing she’s about to get that conversation.

Her faith is both restored, and about to be rewarded. After years of asking, and wondering, and being fobbed off, finally the Doctor is opening up. And right after Yaz’s coming out to Dan? Wow - what if!

They aren’t there because Yaz “has faith in the Doctor”, they’re there now because in the exact moment the TARDIS launched, that faith was higher and more intense that it has ever been.

Dan:

Common complaint is that Dan’s a bit of a blank slate – Diane, Liverpool, nice bloke. Fun moments, but not enough time to really develop as a character. I’m not going to make a spectacular reveal here and give him an amazing arc, but at the very least we have a chance to make that blank-slatedness really work. He takes on Rory’s role in the story:

13’s Room:

We never see 11’s room, only hear the TARDIS’ cloister bell as he looks in. The implication, of course, is that he’s afraid of dying – permanently. Trenzalore, no more regenerations. Very nice and subtle for 11’s arc/personality – the old man disguising himself as a 20-something.

13 has a very different problem: she’s the Timeless Child, she’s been alive for potentially a billion years before her memories begin, and she’s still regenerating. 11 is afraid of regenerations running out; 13 is afraid they’ll never run out.

It’s harder to convey my idea here with just a noise, not showing the inside of the room itself, so I will describe what I imagine the room to look like, but if there’s a way to do this without showing the viewer, that’d obviously be great.

Her room is a field of graves: “Susan Foreman”, “Sarah-Jane Smith”, “Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart”, “Donna Noble”, “Amy + Rory Williams” (an exact copy of the grave from ‘The Angels take Manhattan’), “Clara Oswald”, River('s Screwdriver/Neural Relay sitting on a Library server?), “Bill Potts”, “Yasmin Khan”, even one written in Gallifreyan (could be inferred to be the Master, but not directly stated). Only a brief look, but enough for someone to pause it and read a bunch of companions’ names.

Many are faded, symbolising a fear that one day she’ll be so old with so many lost loved ones, there simply won’t be room for all of them, and she’ll starting to forget their names and faces. Thousands more we can’t read, the people she’s yet to meet across all her future lives, and they will age and die all the same. In the centre, she’s still there. Alive, young, never dying. Maybe it’s not even Jodie standing there – maybe it’s Ncuti Gatwa, or some completely other actor: ‘generic future self’.

This is the moment of tragedy for her. After her own chat with Dan, the fireworks, seeing Sarah + Nick happy, she had decided to give it a try with Yaz. But seeing this room is what changes that. This is the moment she says to herself:

In OG, this happens immediately after 11 effectively invites Rita to join the crew, but maybe we can swap these around. So 13 sees this, completely psyches herself out of pursuing a relationship with Yaz, knows in her heart that her biggest fear is losing more and more and more people, but seeing Rita being a little bit brilliant again makes 13 invite her along anyway. She can’t help it – a clever little human working their way in, no matter what. Bittersweet.

Speaking of:

Rita:

Another young Muslim woman who’s a little bit brilliant and a little bit too brave? In all of time and space, it’s a bit weird for a bottle episode to have someone who, on the face of it, is basically a carbon copy of our main companion, right? We’ll see.

13 gets along with Rita just as 11 did. Maybe Dan is the butt of the ‘with regret, you’re fired’ joke. Maybe in a moment alone, Dan can crack a line to Rita that ‘she’s got a thing for clever Muslim gals’. But of course, most importantly, Rita and Yaz have a bit of bonding over their shared faith. Rita mentions ‘Jahannam’ in the OG, and we can use that to get some insight to Yaz’s faith. We know she’s practicing-enough to visit a Mosque (mentioned in Rosa), but really we get very little exploration of what Islam truly means to her throughout Chibnall’s run. Give Yaz something personal that isn’t tied to the Doctor, y’know.

Then, the phone call when Rita is about to die. Like 11, 13 tries to talk her into coming back: maybe she can save her, she really wants to save her. She can’t convince Rita, but Yaz takes the phone off of her. Two young women of the same religion have a heart-to-heart about faith and rapture and Jahannam. They both start off thinking Yaz was brought here for the same reason Rita was (and the viewer does too) – stealing their religion from them.

BUT, Rita gradually realises that isn’t true for Yaz. She realises that Yaz’s faith in the Doctor is stronger: “if you come back, the Doctor can save [you/us]”. That brief, shining moment of beauty that Yaz felt when the Doctor confirmed she would follow through on ‘tell[ing] you everything’ was so powerful, it eclipsed her religious faith. Not forever, she hasn’t become an atheist, but the novelty, the cocktail of love, and rewarded patience, and anticipation, and trust – for a tiny moment, it out-shone her other faith, and that’s why the TARDIS was pulled in by the eponymous God Complex.

Maybe Rita says it explicitly, or maybe she doesn’t. Either way, Yaz also realises what Rita has seen, but the Doctor isn’t privy to Rita’s side of the conversation (because… phone). They hang up, turn off the cameras, and Rita dies. If Yaz hadn’t let the Doctor take over her life and heart, could she have saved Rita? Did someone die because she failed as a Muslim? (Obviously the answer is no – that’s not how faith/religion works, and Rita was dead anyway because that is how the minotaur works, but the point is Yaz has a total crisis here)

As with the OG, the very next scene is the Doctor’s ‘I figured it out’ moment.

Yaz is hit with a whole fresh wave of guilt. The whole reason they’re here, the thing that killed Rita – and the Doctor agrees with that assessment (the Doctor couldn’t hear Rita, so this obviously isn’t actually the Doctor saying ‘you’re right, you got her killed’ – the Doctor would never think or say something like that – but that’s what it feels like to Yaz).

Yaz’s Room:

Now this is what’s really beautiful about the change from 11 to 13. Amy and Yaz’s rooms are the same thing. Amy’s is a little girl waiting by a window for her Raggedy Man to come back; abandoned. Yaz’s is a young woman in a basic white TARDIS console room, surrounded by sticky notes and sheets of paper, after hundreds of failed attempts to make it fly, waiting for the Doctor to come back from Gallifrey; abandoned.

[Quick side-note: the moment between Amy and Gibbis where she says ‘I thought that room was for me’ about the Weeping Angels still works for Yaz. In her only meeting with the Angels, what was the result? They took the Doctor away from her for 3 years]

11’s speech to Amy, tearing down the image of him in her head – saving her life by pretending he can’t – absolutely stunning. But 13 has even more to work with here: Amy/Rory, Clara (died because she became too much like the Doctor – hello Yaz), River. The added tragedy of breaking not just a friend, but someone who is actively in love with her and who she shares those feelings for, and the only way to save Yaz’s life is to shatter those feelings.

AND: Bill. "Remember that man who tried to kill you, Graham, and Ryan in a plane crash the instant he met you? The man who tried to kill us all on Gallifrey, and is ultimately the reason I left you, vanishing for 10 months? The man you’re most afraid of, of every villain we’ve met together? I TRIED TO HELP HIM. I put his redemption above Bill and Nardole’s safety because ‘[he’s] the only one person that I’ve ever met who’s even remotely like me’ (direct quote, btw(!) – ‘World Enough and Time’), and it got her mercilessly killed and converted. That’s the sort of person I am, and now I’m about to get you killed too."

Falling Action:

Because Yaz is a little bit brilliant, and coming into her own as “becoming like the Doctor”, like Clara did, she later works out that the speech in her room was ‘the plan all along^TM’ to get rid of the minotaur, and starts to patch herself up by telling herself that the Doctor didn’t really mean not to trust her. So Yaz presses, once again, asking for the Doctor to tell her something about herself.

The Doctor, of course, actually was being genuine, because her own room – the field of graves – scared her that much. 11 rebuffs Amy’s question, continuing with his exposition about the prison. 13 does the same to Yaz. The episode started with Yaz being elated that the Doctor would finally open up, and ends with 13 reverting back to closed-off, and refusing to answer a personal question. Because 13 saw what was in her room, and decided, against everything they both wanted 45 minutes ago, that she can’t fix herself.  So back in the box it goes.

Then:

From 11’s perspective, this could be perceived as bittersweet. He’s still afraid of death, but at least there’s someone here and now commiserating with him. Maybe it would be a gift, and maybe he can accept it in time, and go to Trenzalore in peace. But for 13, it’s just bitter. 'Yes, it would be a gift – if only I could ever have it. But at least I can grant it to you.'

We can either do the beach scene now, ‘can’t fix myself’…

(and then in my ideal world, alter Power of the Doctor to give us a slightly happier end / opening up / explaining 13's hotel room / Thasmin kiss, because god knows us gays need someone to throw us a bone – but that’s not important right now, not relevant to 13!GodComplex)

Or this is where the Doctor goes ‘let’s fuck about looking for the Flor de la Mar’, cue LotSD. Again we see the contrast between her genuine intent to be honest with Yaz 45 minutes ago vs fobbing it off now. Yaz’s heart is broken for real, just after she managed to convince herself that the Doctor’s speech in the hotel room was all a trick.

I can't stop thinking about it, because Doctor Who has consumed my every waking moment for the last 2 months...

[happinessismusic]

Gwen Stefani recently announced a new album, Bouquet, which is slated to drop in November. The full-length marks her first non-holiday collection in eight years, and she’s been quietly promoting the project for months now.

The pop singer scores a new hit on one chart this week, as the latest single from Bouquet debuts. As her latest focus track launches on one radio ranking, Stefani makes 2024 her busiest year on the list in nearly a decade.

Stefani’s new single “Somebody Else’s” debuts at No. 39 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart this frame. The latest cut from her forthcoming full-length barely breaks onto the list of the most successful tunes at the pop format in the U.S., which features 40 spaces. Now that it has arrived, it marks a special appearance for the singer.

The Grammy winner has now scored a pair of new hits on the Adult Pop Airplay list in 2024 alone. Before “Somebody Else’s” debuted, she and husband Blake Shelton pushed their latest duet, “Purple Irises,” to No. 16 this spring.

2024 marks the first time in eight years that Stefani has landed more than one new hit on the Adult Pop Airplay ranking. In 2016, both “Make Me Like You” and “Misery” reached the tally, peaking at Nos. 17 and 34, respectively.

Stefani has only managed to score several wins on the radio list in four different years, including both 2024 and 2016. She snagged a pair of hits in 2007, with both “The Sweet Escape” with Akon and “4 in the Morning.” The former song missed out on becoming her first leader by just one space.

2005 remains Stefani’s biggest year ever on the Adult Pop Airplay chart. Nearly two decades ago, several singles taken from her debut solo album, Love.Angel.Music.Baby, hit the tally. That lineup included “Rich Girl” with Eve, “Hollaback Girl,” “Cool,” and “Luxurious.”