#European City Asks
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need to know more about italian lestat and why is this so overshadowed by his french side 😤
Have you heard about the fact that Lestat is nonbinary on his mother side? We could say the Italian thing is the same kind of situation really lmao
His mother, Gabrielle De Lioncourt, was born in Naples and grew up there. It was common for Italian nobles to marry in France for political alliances reasons, the most famous is the Medici family from ‘400 Firenze: Caterina De’ Medici was a french queen in 1547 (fun fact: the Medici family seal has similarities to the royal French seals with the arald of a lily I think for some alliance thing in the ‘500 but I can’t exactly remember). But I digress. This is to say that, as direct neighbours, Italy and France have a lot of history and a lot of beef, mostly due to wine and cheese if you can believe it. And football. Oh, especially football.
Gabrielle isn’t really an affectionate mother, she has a complex and fascinating relationship to her role as a woman and a wife and a traumatic experience, I’d say, with giving birth to seven sons (can’t wait for her character in the show, especially since Hannah, who wrote a play on these themes called What a young wife ought to know, which I wholeheartedly recommend, said she is really excited to be writing for her!). This results in her and Lestat having a really weird relationship, cold and distant but at the same time extremely visceral due to the both of them being kind of prisoners in their own life. Gabrielle never teaches Lestat Italian, nor is particularly forthcoming about her old life or her cultural roots. When Lestat runs to Paris, Gabrielle tells him to find someone who can write Italian for him, so he can send her letters that his father can’t read. She also never bothered to teach him the alphabet, even less a second language, and she used to read Italian books that Lestat couldn’t understand. So, very mixed feelings about this on Lestat’s part I’d say. He is, I think, really resentful of this side of his mother that he isn’t allowed to know, but at the same time really fascinated by it: his first attempt at escaping is with an Italian troupe of commedia dell’arte actors, a type of play that involves a lot of improv. Basically you have a series of “maschere” (characters) that have a definite set of characteristics but no written lines (we call it canovaccio I have no idea how to translate this concept though). Each character is tied to a specific part of Italy, for example Pulcinella is the neapolitan one, Arlecchino (Harlequin) is from Bergamo (near Milan). Lestat plays Lelio in the book, a character from the italian play that is the maschera of the lover. (He is also the protagonist of a play by Goldoni where he is also a liar (title of the play Il Bugiardo), totally unrelated to iwtv but it always makes me laugh).
I basically wrote all this stuff to say that Lestat knows basically nothing about his italian heritage and that explains why it is so overshadowed by his french side, but I will say that both italian and french people are extremely extra, in wildly different ways and also they will fight each others over nothing (they stole the Gioconda btw), so this accounts for why Lestat is like that ™️. Particular about food? Italian heritage. Snobbish about music? French heritage. Extremely petty? Eh, to be fair, both. Will hold a grudge forever? I will tell you, during fifa and uefa football games we still yell at the French team about that time during the 2006 World Cup final when one of their players went and hit one of the Italian team players with a headbutt (Italy won btw💁🏻♀️). So yeah. Lestat never stood a chance really
#european cultural wars do be like that anon what can I say#we used to declare war to each other every few years so now we can only fight about football and wine#don’t know if I answered your question lmaooo I basically yapped for a while about things that randomly came to my mind#italian wine is better btw#this is all in good fun my French friends#the truth is that I had the best time visiting French and their cities are a lot more livable than Italian ones#*France#anon#asks#iwtv meta
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wait, did you see fk in Italy??
Alas, I did not! I was around 250km too south for that, visiting a friend and being stuffed full of sfogliatelle.
Honestly, fan meetings really aren't my speed or I'd have tried harder to go, but there's a bit too much singing and screaming for my tastes. It looks like the boys had fun, though!
#i do intend to visit rome someday but it'll be for boring things like history and architecture and food#i do also feel i'd be rather outside the target age demographic of the audience at something like an fm#that's my own personal bias tho full love to anyone who attends and enjoys these things!#i am unfortunately in the camp of people who dies a little more every time gmm make their actors sing#i have other extremely unpopular opinions but those aren't for sharing#anyway i had italy planned first so really those boys copied me#they just got the destination wrong rip to them#it's very sweet to see them all having fun in a european city tho it's lovely#ask post#so it is decreed#anonymous
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Phil has reached the point of being without Dan he needs us to keep him company I can’t 😭 I feel we’re a couple of weeks away from him announcing a spontaneous meet-up in london lmao
phannie raffle to take phil on a date and buy him a treat at the cinema
#anon ask#no but another round of sponsored meet ups in the middle of random cities#he should just follow dans european leg with his own m&g outside the venue
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at the pool earlier this older lady i hadn't met before said "oh, are you new?" and i told her yes and we introduced ourselves. she gave me her first name and then paused and was like "back in my country older people would introduce themselves by last name, because of the formality. but here i don't :333" looking So delighted and mischievous about it. i hope i see her often in the future and also that she remains this thrilled by Illicit Informality forever.
#can't speak to what she was thinking but in her shoes i'd love using peer language like a younger person#i already get jarred enough by being called 'the nice lady' and 'maam' by teenagers and i'm not even 27 yet#older women (in a liberal city at least) are some of the most healing people on the planet. so good#it's tragic that i can't participate in senior swim events. i have the body soul and hearing of an old lady let me in#swim tag#her accent was vaguely eastern european but i dont want to incorrectly assume which country shes from. i'll ask if/when i see her next
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I'm annoyed and have been stewing in these thoughts for a few weeks, it's time to get it off my chest.
Despite their enthusiasm, i think i will not he working with the local marxist group here after all. Ive met with them a few times and honestly they fall into all of the classic shortcomings of white european leftist groups.
This group of upper middle class white swedes seem really and truly convinced that they will be the leaders of the great global revolution. They openly told me the first time we met that they are studying the literature to train the future leaders of the movement (the ego is just...wow). Dogmatic and enthusiastic, yes, but aware of the global currents happening right now, no. They dont see that capitalism is reliant on imperialism, and the idea that they might not be center stage when the workers of the world (most of whom live in the global south) rise up has never crossed their minds. They say they only want members who are serious and committed to the cause, but it really looks like they just want to create an echo chamber to boost their egos.
They think that boycotts and direct action are meaningless, as if disrupting the capitalist war machine is antithetical to their "great revolution". They use protests and demonstrations as opportunities for recruitment and to prosthelytize about reading theory. I watched them stand in front of a group of mostly migrants and refugees from syria, iran, palestine, and talk at them about the situation as if everyone showing up to a demonstration organization meeting wasnt already aware. As if refugees with family in the region wanted to hear this blond guy with a mustache posturing for Woke Points(tm) and say nothing constructive, dominate the conversation and ignore suggestions for action from people who have lived through the imperialist wars in SWANA.
Besides going to marxist conferences aka paid field trips, these people dont talk about any action if it's not directly about the great revolution and recruiting more communists, and place way too much emphasis on reading "the classics" (dont get me wrong reading theory is useful but its not the end all be all they think it is). And they dont read literary response/criticism to the classical theory, or modern interpretations, it's not "pure" enough. Theyre not just reading it for theory either, theyre literally and uncritically looking to 100 year old descriptions of society for instructions and methods for creating a revolution in the current day - descriptions which do not acknowledge climate change or indigenous sovereignty or the hyperconnected global economic system we live under - with no critical thought to how it must be adapted to the current epoch (i watched them shoot down all suggestions for organizing online and on social media, or provocative visual demonstrations, insisting that the only and best way to spread awareness is to stand in the hallways and pass out fliers to passersby like its still 1980 and sweden isnt already a paperless cashless society).
I made a comment about how soviet agriculture in west asia wasnt sustainable and got blank or disappointed faces in response. Which leads me to suspect that they idolize the ussr and have no intention to look at non european perspectives. I even tried to bring up the fact that we are currently on occupied sami land, sweden still has a literal actual monarch, living off of taxes and the imperial conquest of the sami people and neighboring countries. It got quiet, they did not want to have that conversation, they dont care beyond lip service about the rights of the indigenous people in their backyards (literally, theyre camped outside the city with their reindeer right now). Getting rid of the monarchy is not a priority, the concept of a monarch in the 21st century is not offensive or antithetical to their beliefs because the "great revolution" will take care of it anyway. Theyre not interested in actions, anything short of their fantasy of a total revolution is meaningless to them. These self proclaimed leaders of the revolution arent even interested in leading a push for an end to the monarchy which takes the workers' taxes to uphold an imperialistic remnant.
Like its basically a pay to play book club, theyre super insistent on the member fee being 10% of your income (even if you have no income you still pay) and it needs to be paid to participate in any of their group meetings etc. Like i get that they have a newspaper and printing press and a full time newspaper employee to pay for, but how is that not capitalistic? How is it not a class barrier, and especially when non-european students have to pay 5 figure tuition costs and they get to go to uni for free. The fact that their group is entirely 100% white and almost all swedes says volumes. And the fact that the palestine organizers have stsrted to schedule their meetings at the same time as the marxist group regularly does, almost like they dont want to work with these white guys who are trying to control the local solidarity movement.
When all you do is sit around reading literature and patting yourselves on the back for being special, when you look a refugee in the face and talk about revolution like theyre not the ones who have literally lived through it, when you are completely uninterested in taking action to fight imperialism in your own country, when you staunchly refuse to get with the times, why are you surprised nobody wants the 'revolution' youre offering them.
#im not so surprised but i am frustrated that the local marxist group is like this#but with how groups in the uk and on the continent are i expected just a tiny bit of awareness from these guys#i guess we are too isolated up here and sweden is just too comfortable for the white people to wake up#but at the literal colonial frontier with sami people sitting outside the city i thought maybe the leftist groups would be talking about it#but as usual white europeans have a large ego blocking their vision#theyre happy to criticize the rest of the world and even other eurooean countries#but ask them to make a change in theirs? good luck#honestly ive been thinking that living in europe isnt for me in the long term. this is not where the progress is happening#europe north of the alps hasnt felt the effect of climate change and theyre just so detached and complacent#you cannot push these people into meaningful action they just dont understand how the world is anymore#im going to stay for another 18 months to finish my degree but im starting to feel really limited by the conservative worldview here#even among the so called left
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Italian Cream Cake: Name five of your top travel destinations.
Italian Cream Cake: Name five of your top travel destinations.
Well, except other five I already said (Iceland, Stockholm, India, Las Vegas and Egypt) we have Brasil!! and London and Paris because those are just classics <3 then probably Amsterdam and Japan :)
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hey so um. the kids (me) are asking after you… can u stop having a life and be more online for their (my) sake please and thank you ok bye mwah
sorry kids i promise i will pay reparations (spend million hours on tumblr dot com going insane about some old man) mwah
#ask#now that my european tour is almost over i can promise that#let's forget that 80% of my 'european tour' was just me getting drunk and binge watching 16 seasons of sunny. at least i did it in hotels.#in european cities.#the other 20% was getting drunk with other people and i was also working at some point i guess
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I saw your tags on that recent rb about Sam Vimes, who’s the other character that you also relate to? 👀
ahaha it's harry disco elysium, they are verrrry different categories of characters except for the way that like... they are both clearly cops/in narratives inspired by detective noir. and thus struggle with addiction & trying to do right in an uncaring world.
if you like discworld, i would really recommend disco elyisum -- they both have this mix of cynicism & political critique & hope & goofiness that's a mark of characters/stories i really enjoy : )
and the way they write people with such... tenderness? one thing pratchett does really well is writing all the good and bad of people, including the sort of banal stupidity that you can't help but laugh at. de does the same -- that portrayal of humanity that neither condemns nor denies.
uh, i relate to both for different reasons, but also yeah because i have. Problems (tm)
#if you get disco elysium you should pirate it though. i found out the og creators got ousted from the company in some sort of#capitalism shenanigans. unfortunately after i'd already bought it on steam : (#i am not a recovering alcoholic but i share their beliefs /j also admittedly it might've been the undiagnosed adhd#oh also they're both. european? idk there's just a different flavour sometimes to the worldbuilding#esp cos most of the other detective noir i've read is pretty american#since a detective is always a reflection of his city what the author thinks of as the 'city' really affects their character i think#bytebun rambles#asks#[writes an unasked for essay]#OH AND THEY BOTH START WITH ‘DISC’?? Clearly this is a sign
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⏰Hello everyone once again⏰,
I would like to introduce myself again😃…
I am Dr. Mohamed Al-Deeb, and I used to work as an ER doctor💉🩸🩺 at Al-Shifa Medical Complex. 🩹🫁🫀
But I was forced, along with my family, to flee south😣,
leaving behind my home🫀, memories😔, and the workplace 😓that held so many beautiful recollections with my colleagues.😞
This war has affected us deeply, destroying us internally and exhausting us physically😩, mentally😓, and financially😢.
We left our home—a five-story building😔that now no longer exists💔😭, completely reduced to rubble.
That beautiful home held the memories of my childhood🧡, cherished days with my siblings, family, and the warm, joyful gatherings that are now nothing but echoes.💛💚💙❤
Today, I am displaced in the city of Deir al-Balah, 😔
living in a tent that lacks even the most basic necessities.😭😭
It doesn’t protect us from the heat of summer😪 or the cold of winter😫.
Yet, this hasn’t stopped me from fulfilling my duty✋, both humanitarian and moral, to serve my patients🤟💛.
I have not left them even for a day, not hesitating for a moment to provide care, whether at the Martyrs of Al-Aqsa Hospital 🩸or the European Hospital.🩺
I deeply feel the suffering of these patients🥺, who have lost everything and have only their health left to cling to😥.
I only wish that this nightmare would end🥺🙏💜.
After an entire year of this devastation, all that remains for me is my small family🙏💐,
and my hope is to protect them from the ravages of this war and to live in peace and safety—perhaps even far from this land🥺❤.
I humbly ask for your help in any way possible🙏💜🖤.
Thank you.💚
Dr. Mohamed Al-Deeb-from gaza strip
#support palestine#free palestine#palestine#free gaza#palestine news#gaza#gaza genocide#i stand with palestine#palestine genocide#palestinian genocide#viva palestina#pray for palestine#free free gaza#gaza strip#gazaunderattack#genocide#end the genocide#stop the genocide#gaza gofundme#vetted gofundme#gofundme gaza#please help#help donate#please boost#help palestine#please donate#donation#donate
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for the ask game-☘️?
City birds, such as pigeons, starlings, and house sparrows. Some people might see them as "rats with wings"-- which insults both the birds and the rats. (Rats are cool animals too, but this post is not about them.)
Rock pigeons are actually pretty smart birds. They can recognize themselves in a mirror and solve simple puzzles. They're also well-known for their keen sense of direction. A pigeon can find its way home from almost anywhere by using the sky and landmarks to navigate, combined with being able to sense Earth's magnetic field. In fact, some messenger pigeons were war heroes during the first and second world wars! Nowadays, there are plenty of people who keep domesticated pigeons as pets, and they genuinely love their birds.
House sparrows might be an invasive species in most parts of the world, but you can't deny that they're tough. Rather than shying away from humans, they thrive in urban and suburban habitats. And much like chickens (another common bird), they have a "pecking order" that helps them avoid physical fights (for the most part).
And finally, the European starling-- my personal favorite of these birds. Their pitch-black feathers have an iridescent purple-and-green sheen in good sunlight, and they are speckled with starlike white spots-- giving the starling its name. Starlings are also very good mimics, and can even be taught to talk! And last but not least, the huge flocks of starlings, called murmurations, are a mesmerizing sight to behold. I could watch them for hours.
And there you have it: three birds that I think are cool, even if other people might not agree-- especially given that I live in the US, where all three of these species are non-native, and two of them are invasive. Yes, I wish people hadn't messed up the ecosystem by bringing house sparrows and starlings here. Yes, I still enjoy watching these birds. It's not their fault that they're here. That's on us humans.
#asked and answered#birdposting#finch rambles#rock pigeon#house sparrow#european starling#AKA the triumvirate of “city birds not native to the US”
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no comment i just want to make sure you think that ignoring the request of a minority group is not racist and is in fact ok, also max isn’t dutch he grow up in germany he only races under the dutch flag, like alex drives under the thai flag. poc in germany have been repeatedly speaking out about the racism in the country. //
max never lived in Germany? His ex only was german and his current actual racist and fascist girlfriend was born there.
Are you implying that Alex isn’t thai because he didn’t grow up there? Because he wasn’t raised there when his mother is Thai and taught him about the culture of her country? Why should he do that? He has every right to drive under the thai flag. As he is British-Thai. You know being from two different countries and having two nationalities. Same as max. Max holds Dutch and Belgian nationalities but chose Dutch because of his father.
Max was born in Belgium where his mother is from. Max grew up between Belgium and the Netherlands as maxs dad is from the Netherlands.
The word max used was widely used all across Europe around the time as a synonym for idiot.
And I think you should educate yourself. Because the „facts“ you’re using are wrong. I don’t think you should talk about anything you don’t actually have knowledge of.
Well Germany is still way less racist than your beloved states. Because you still have segregation and wide spread racism going on. Even tho your people claim that that is not the case but the actual facts speak for themselves
i started to get why poc say never to go to europe…… also like change starts with you.
#tbh i messed up it thought belgium was a city in germany#but like does europe have reading comprehension classes?#the european mind could not handle seeing my college campus#they would see a a afro latino and faint#america has a this image of being the most rasict#did i every say what state im from#like ny def has some race issues but seeing the treatment people are giving to minorities rn is shocking#how do i make europeans take the diversity cruise i need for my degree#feel like i’ll be useful for them#when i see stuff about this i think about how many careers and shit have been fuck in the usa for racism#like in the us i could send these ask to a uni and probably have them get in trouble#a nascar driver was let go for using the nword#if you’ll american did you have to watch that ruby bridge movie form disney#racism in the us is clear but racism in europe is systemic and deeper
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9/16/23 - Vancouver B.C
Both border agents going and coming back asked about my Florida plate and commented on how I was rather far from home.
Vancouver is amazing though! It’s as if Boston was placed at the foothills of some epic mountains. Yet the density of buildings is something I haven’t seen in a long time, sooooooo cool. Truly awe struck by the mountain range just across the river though, it feels like a taste of what Alaska and the greater frontier has to offer. ( next big road trip - Juneau )
I also spent over an hour just watching the sea plane operations - how incredible is it to have such an active and used seaplane port like that right in the heart of the city. Truly love it - if it weren’t for Canadian aviation being in shambles I would absolutely love to do that job.
#pic#traveling#Vancouver#road trip#giant pumpkins#first time crossing a border by car#pretty effortless just the usual questions#they don’t stamp the book though….#I wanted my Canada entry stamp#speaking of which holy accent#I asked for the bathroom and genuinely didn’t understand me#one Bc it’s a washroom#two because the accent#amazing to hear#did feel like being in a European city again#wtf is a kilometer#I definitely want to go back but mainly to hike up the mountains to see that view
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I have to explain what is going on in the UK, because it is absurd.
So, this is Gary Lineker:
He's known for a fair few things over here. He was a very good (association) footballer, playing for England in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, winning the Golden Boot in 1986, and managing to never get a single yellow card in his playing career. He played for Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, and Tottenham, before finishing his career in Japan. But if you aren't in your mid 30s, you probably know actually know him him for a couple of other things. The first is the role of spokesman for another Leicester icon, Walkers Crisps (which are sort of equivalent to Lays, but hit different), as pictured above. Despite being a notably clean player, he used to play a cheeky serial crisp thief. I don't think he's done that for well over a decade, but his ads were on the telly a lot when I was a kid and it's a bit like learning that the hamburglar was an incredibly clean (American) football player or something.
The second thing Gary is widely known for is having presented Match of the Day, the big football program on the BBC, the sort-of state broadcaster, since 1999. He is, incidentally, very well paid for this (though with a consensus that he could get even more if he went to one of the non-free-to-view broadcasters because he is very good at the job). He also has a twitter account. And political opinions. So, the UK government has got itself dead set upon doing heinous stuff that will totally somehow work to prevent people who want to come to the UK making the perilous crossing of the Channel (between England and France). By heinous, I mean "openly advertise that they won't attempt to protect victims of modern slavery" stuff. It's very obviously using a legal hammer to victimise a marginalised group of people in order to win votes. And, uh, I should clarify that by "legal" I mean "using the passage of laws" - the policy is, in addition to all the other ways it's awful, probably incompatible with the Human Rights Act and the UK's international law obligations. Gary, top lad that he is, objected to this. On Tuesday 7th March, he made a quote Tweet of a video of the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, bigging up the policy, he wrote "Good heavens, this is beyond awful.". This got a bunch of backlash from extremely right-wingers, and then he made the tweet that really got him in trouble (with right-wingers): "There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?".
Now, I am not actually subjecting myself to watching a video of Suella Braverman bigging up a cruel policy to say whether the specific comparison of the language to 1930s Germany is accurate. But needless to say, Ms Braverman was amongst the many figures on the right of UK politics objecting to Gary's rhetoric. And here's the part where a fact about the BBC comes in: it is nominally neutral and impartial (and so, of course, is routinely accused of bias from all sides but particularly the right-wing), and has something of a code for its contributors to this effect. Now, that code has previously been applied to Gary Lineker, over a comment about whether governing Conservative Party would hand back donations from figures linked to the Russian regime. But it generally hasn't been applied too strongly to people like Gary, whose roles have nothing to do with politics (such as presenting a "here's what happened on the footie today" show), on the basis that, well, their roles have nothing to do with politics. However, when directly asked about whether the BBC should punish Gary Lineker for his tweets, government figures basically went "well, that's a them problem". But a couple of days passed, and it seemed like Gary's approach of "standing his ground because he did nothing wrong" was working and everything would die down. He was set to get 'a talking to' but not much more than that. The Conservative right, after all their fire and fury earlier, had gotten bored and moved onto something else. And then, on Friday 10th March, the BBC announced that he would be suspended from hosting Match of the Day this weekend. But it could still go ahead, because there are, like, other hosts! Except, well, funnily enough, when you take a beloved figure off air, for making a fairly anodyne tweet, no one wants to be the scab who actually takes up the role of replacing him. Gary's two co-hosts, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, said that they would not appear without him. People who (co-)host Match of the Day on other days followed suit. The net result is that Match of the Day is currently set to air without hosts, BBC commentary, or global feed commentary. And the solidarity shown to Gary Lineker, over what is very flagrantly actual cancel culture and an attack on freedom of speech (the logic implied is that institutional impartiality requires that no one say anything too critical of the government ever), has continued to grow. The BBC has pretty much been unable to run pretty much any live sports content today, and has resorted to raiding the BBC Sounds archive to fill the sports radio channel. And, as of 17:30 on Saturday 11th March, the situation shows no signs of improvement, though some are calling for the Chairman Richard Sharp, who is separately facing corruption allegations, to resign (yes I linked to the BBC itself there, there is nothing, nothing, the BBC loves more than going into great detail about how much the BBC sucks).
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I open my mouth and ask a local for directions and their face immediately twists up in hate as they register my American accent 😍
Flying to Belgium in either June or July……. Europeans I’m about to be one of u
#Do Belgians speak English btw like how lost am I gonna be 😭😭#im staying w my uncle but I plan on rly taking the reins on this trip and taking trains wherever the fuck I want#I have family strewn throughout so I’ll be hitting so many cities#But I don’t wanna not have fun bc people can’t understand me#Also I should guy on a date w some European guy and then ditch him at a seaport#I’m being so serious#He’ll ask me questions about America and I’ll ask him how it feels like to live in medieval times
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Ask an older generation of white South Africans when they first felt the bite of anti-apartheid sanctions, and some point to the moment in 1968 when their prime minister, BJ Vorster, banned a tour by the England cricket team because it included a mixed-race player, Basil D’Oliveira. After that, South Africa was excluded from international cricket until Nelson Mandela walked free from prison 22 years later. The D’Oliveira affair, as it became known, proved a watershed in drumming up popular support for the sporting boycott that eventually saw the country excluded from most international competition including rugby, the great passion of the white Afrikaners who were the base of the ruling Nationalist party and who bitterly resented being cast out. For others, the moment of reckoning came years later, in 1985 when foreign banks called in South Africa’s loans. It was a clear sign that the country’s economy was going to pay an ever higher price for apartheid. Neither of those events was decisive in bringing down South Africa’s regime. Far more credit lies with the black schoolchildren who took to the streets of Soweto in 1976 and kicked off years of unrest and civil disobedience that made the country increasingly ungovernable until changing global politics, and the collapse of communism, played its part. But the rise of the popular anti-apartheid boycott over nearly 30 years made its mark on South Africans who were increasingly confronted by a repudiation of their system. Ordinary Europeans pressured supermarkets to stop selling South African products. British students forced Barclays Bank to pull out of the apartheid state. The refusal of a Dublin shop worker to ring up a Cape grapefruit led to a strike and then a total ban on South African imports by the Irish government. By the mid-1980s, one in four Britons said they were boycotting South African goods – a testament to the reach of the anti-apartheid campaign. . . . The musicians union blocked South African artists from playing on the BBC, and the cultural boycott saw most performers refusing to play in the apartheid state, although some, including Elton John and Queen, infamously put on concerts at Sun City in the Bophuthatswana homeland. The US didn’t have the same sporting or cultural ties, and imported far fewer South African products, but the mobilisation against apartheid in universities, churches and through local coalitions in the 1980s was instrumental in forcing the hand of American politicians and big business in favour of financial sanctions and divestment. By the time President FW de Klerk was ready to release Mandela and negotiate an end to apartheid, a big selling point for part of the white population was an end to boycotts and isolation. Twenty-seven years after the end of white rule, some see the boycott campaign against South Africa as a guide to mobilising popular support against what is increasingly condemned as Israel’s own brand of apartheid.
. . . continues at the guardian (21 May, 2021)
#israel#palestine#gaza#south africa#i think all of us need to seriously study the history and actions of the anti-apartheid movement#and apply these lessons to the israeli occupation
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down bad
pairing ꩜ husband!mingyu x afab!reader
sequel to hurts so good, please read it first to understand their background/dynamics.
content/genre ꩜ haters to lovers, ceo/mean husband mingyu, smut (18+ mdni). they sort of have a fwb thing going on.
author's note ꩜
not proofread. comments are appreciated!
warnings under the cut!
warnings ꩜ smut, masturbation (m. and f. receiving), oral sex (m. receiving), unprotected sex, breeding kink, corruption kink (it's not deeply explored), orgasm denial, creampie, dom-ish mingyu, dirty talk, cock warming, pet names (baby, dear husband/wife, my queen, pretty girl), mentions of threesome.
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You loved birthday parties, especially if they were children’s parties. It’s Saturday afternoon and you’re in the backyard of Wonwoo and Claire’s house to celebrate Yeji’s 4th birthday.
You’re sitting by the pool, your legs submerged to your knees. You see your husband playing around with his friends’ kids. He’s holding Minjoon—Seungcheol’s son—in his arms while he pretends to drink tea with Yeji and three of her school friends. Your heart skips a beat when he looks your way and smiles. It’s almost unfair how handsome he is, even dressed with pink fairy wings, a princess tiara and a pair of plastic earrings.
You sigh and turn your attention to the big form approaching. Joshua greets you with a smile. "Y/N, why are you here all alone?" he asks while sitting by your side.
"Just chilling." You offer a shy smile, a bit intimidated by his presence.
Joshua Hong is gorgeous. When you first met him, you were completely enamored with his face. And when you found out he was nice and friendly, you kinda developed a crush on him. Now, a few years later, you still feel intimidated whenever he’s around.
You take in his visuals, from his dark hair pushed back, featuring his perfect face, to the white button up shirt that allowed you to see a bit of his chest, to his light brown cargo shorts that showcased his legs perfectly. He carried an amused smile on his lips, as usual.
"I’m glad you joined me, though."
"Well, all of my friends are talking about parenting and I can’t listen to another minute of tips on how to change a diaper." Joshua states and you laugh lightly.
"I know the feeling very well." You throw him an empathetic look. "So… how was your trip to Paris? Mingyu mentioned you went there for a convention or something?"
Shua stares into the water, he’s watching your feet move around. "Yeah, for this Luxury Hotels thing. My dad’s trying to expand the franchise and I went to meet some European investors."
"Seems a bit boring." You blurt out and Joshua chuckles, agreeing promptly.
"It is. But it’s work so it’s not meant to be fun."
"True. But Paris is a great city with amazing food and museums."
"Maybe we should go together next time." Joshua comments and your movements freeze instantly. Realizing what he said, he adds "With everyone else, I mean! Like a group trip."
The mischievous gleam in his eyes makes you feel warm inside. Joshua’s flirting, you’re not dumb. And he’s not either, he knows the truth about your situationship with Mingyu.
"That would be nice." Your voice is soft and shaky. He barely said anything and you’re freaking out inside, which leads you to think that maybe you have a big crush on him.
"Hey! You two!" You hear Mingyu’s voice calling. "Let’s sing happy birthday and cut the cake."
Joshua gets up and extends his hands to help you. His palms feel soft under your fingertips, and you feel your insides twist. "C’mon, Y/N. Your husband’s waiting." He flashes a knowing smile and walks away, leaving you too stunned to follow.
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It’s been a year since you and Mingyu made peace and started being friends. You agreed to be friends with benefits and to be exclusive, since you couldn’t risk someone assuming one of you was cheating. So you two reaped the benefits like dates, physical touching and, of course, sex, but didn’t really work on getting romantically involved. Of course that doesn’t mean that both of you didn’t develop some feelings, because you did. But, for now, you played husband and wife and everything was good.
But now, thinking about the way Joshua flirted with you, you wished you could have him. And your brain, always being one to come up with naughty ideas, had the best solution to your problem.
"Gyu?" You call your husband softly. You’re both lying on your shared bed watching TV, his head on your chest and his big hand caressing your belly.
"Hm?" He responds without looking away from the big screen.
"Remember that one time we talked about having a threesome, and I said I didn’t have a guy option?" Your words sparked his interest, so the man got up on his elbows to look at you. "I have a name now…"
Mingyu looks curiously at you. He has an idea of who, but he wants you to say the name. "Who?"
You bite your lower lip, feeling a bit nervous. "Joshua."
Your husband smirks. He knew it. "You have the hots for Shua hyung, dear wife?"
"So what if I do?" You pout. "He’s single and he seems to know about us."
Mingyu scrunches his nose. "I accidentally told him last time we went out for a drink." He reveals with a sheepish smile. "He’s reliable, don’t worry."
"Well, one more reason to do it with him." You say excitedly, your mind already picturing the things you would to do Joshua.
"I don’t want to have a threesome anymore." Your husband states in a quiet voice.
When you look at him, he’s staring down at his hand that’s resting on your hips. He looks a bit annoyed. "What? Are you jealous?" You chuckle, fishing for an answer.
"Not at all." He lies, rolling his eyes to add to the dramatics. "It’s just not on my kink list."
His words make you realize that he’s never once told you about his kinks. In the past year, you’ve talked a few times about it. And Mingyu’s been really open to exploring them, always being so generous and giving you new mind blowing sex experiences each time.
"So what’s on your kink list?" You ask with a sly smile, liking the direction of the conversation.
Mingyu lets his body fall on the bed, hiding his face. He shakes his head, indicating he’s not talking.
"Tell me!" You insist, shaking his arms. "I told you all of mine, but you never told me yours. Besides angry sex, of course."
"Never mind. It’s stupid."
You grab his chin to make him look at you. His cheeks have a pink hue, and he’s scrunching his nose. "Please baby, tell me."
Mingyu sighs, giving in to your soft plead. "It’s not actually a kink, but maaaaybe I’ve been thinking about fucking you in a wedding dress. Since our wedding night never happened."
The air gets caught up in your lungs. The idea of Mingyu having his way with you in a sort of reenactment of your wedding day makes your core burn and your stomach twist and turn.
"I like that idea." You give him a quick kiss before letting go of his face. "What else?"
"I wanted to try corruption kink." He looks away, his face burning even more. It’s funny how cute he looks while revealing his sexual fantasies.
"We can totally try it too." You agree, even if he didn’t actually ask. "But only if you look at me and give me another kiss."
Mingyu chuckles and goes in for the kiss. You touch lips for a few seconds before pulling away.
"Let’s sleep, I’m beaten."
"Not easy being uncle of the year, huh?" You taunt him. "You looked cute dressed up as a fairy."
"The things I do for my goddaughter." He sighs. You both knew fully well he enjoyed playing with the kids, but you let his little lie slide. "Good night, dear wife."
"Good night, dear husband." You allow him to engulf you in a warm hug before slipping into unconsciousness.
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A couple weeks later, you and Mingyu go out to celebrate your 5th anniversary. It’s the first one you’re going to celebrate, now that you’re on good terms. For this reason, you prepared a little surprise for Mingyu, wanting to spice things up a bit.
After your conversation about his kinks, you decided you needed a special occasion to try them, and what’s more special than the first anniversary you celebrate?
So you went out with Gwen and she helped you pick out a nice wedding dress. You settled for a sparkly white satin rhinestone strap mini dress that really compliments your boobs and legs. You’re sure he’s going to lose it when he sees you.
Mingyu also planned a surprise: he made a reservation for an overnight stay in a luxurious hotel room, which had the biggest bed you’ve ever seen.
You arrive after having dinner at your favorite Italian restaurant. Mingyu has a goofy smile, maybe because you both had a couple drinks, maybe because he is excited for the night.
There’s a small table in your room with two flutes and a bottle of champagne waiting. Mingyu pops it open and you toast. You take a sip and decide it’s time to put on your dress.
"Wait here, I have a surprise."
While you rush to the big bathroom to get changed, Mingyu takes off his blazer. He’s wearing a deep purple shirt that compliments his skin, and perfectly tailored dress pants. His hands are shaking in anticipation, because he has another surprise for you before the night ends.
Meanwhile, you put on your dress pretty quickly—you chose one that you’re able to zip up yourself. You pull the white lace garter up your leg, adding a touch of sensuality. To finish off, you place the short veil on your head. Taking a quick glance in the mirror, you decide you look perfect. You slip back into your white heels and open the bathroom door.
Mingyu’s looking out the window, his champagne glass nearly empty. You approach him slowly and cover his eyes with your hands. "Guess who?"
"Hm… I have a feeling it’s my wife. Not sure though." He joined in with a laugh.
You place your hands on his shoulder and turn him around, revealing your new outfit. His jaw drops when he sees you.
"Y/N, what is this?" His breathing is quick and you can see he’s starting to malfunction.
"Well, I kept thinking about how we never had a wedding night." You bite your lower lip, inching closer to him. "And I figured tonight would be a good one to make up for lost time. Don’t you agree?"
Mingyu just stares, still in shock. He takes in your form, how your boobs look delicious in your dress, the way the fabric hugs your waist, and how you look fucking angelic while asking him to fuck you. "Shit, you can’t do this to me." He groans in a low, deep tone.
You can see he already has a tent in his pants. Mingyu looks flushed, and you haven’t even touched him yet.
"How about you lie down, dear husband?" You say in a provocative tone. "You look a little pale, let me take care of you."
The man nearly runs to the bed. He gets comfortable and you get on top of him. Your core is starting to grow hot, seeing how much he wants you.
Without giving it a second thought, pull out his pants along with his boxers. His cock stands hard and leaking pre cum, which makes your mouth water at the sight.
Before leaving the house, you decided you want to have a night to remember. And you hold on to that determination when you keep pushing Mingyu’s buttons.
"I want to help, but I don’t know how…" you take his cock in your hand and pump it slowly. He shudders at the stimulation. "Can you teach me how to do it, dear husband?" Your saccharine voice makes something twist inside of Mingyu. He takes in your doe eyes and semi innocent smile, quickly catching on what you’re doing. The man chuckles in pleasant disbelief, he knows he’s in for a treat.
"My pretty girl needs guidance?" His big hand starts to guide yours as you masturbate him. You’re sitting on his beefy thighs and you can feel him trembling as you increase the speed of your movements. Mingyu’s eyes are closed and his mouth slightly parted, allowing some sighs to fall off easily.
You feel him twitching under your palm and his hand holds your wrist to stop you. "That’s enough, baby." His voice is breathy and it makes you happy to see how much you affect him.
"Can you do something else for me?" Mingyu asks. You nod and bat your eyelashes at him. "I need you to put your mouth around it."
You feign shock, widening your eyes and slightly gaping your mouth. Mingyu sits up a bit, and kisses you softly while kneading your thighs. "I'll help through it, pretty girl".
You slide down the bed and inch closer to his throbbing cock. "Open your mouth." Mingyu instructs and you play along.
His heavy hand grabs the back of your head and guides you to start sucking him off. He loves the wet and warm feeling of your tongue on his cock, it makes the fire in his abdomen burn hotter and hotter with each passing second.
Mingyu starts to feel hot and unbuttons his shirt, his hand leaving your to bob your head on your own for a few seconds. "You're so good at this, baby." He groans deeply and you feel arousal pool on your lace panties, his reactions turning you on even more.
When he feels he's about to cum, Mingyu pulls you away. You take a good look at your husband, taking in they way his toned chest glistened because of the thin layer of sweat. He takes off his shirt, laying bare beneath you. He looks beautiful and your heart races.
You sigh and move closer, needing to feel his lips on yours. You share a passionate kiss, your tongues dancing in sync. Mingyu guides your hips and you grind against him, his big hands giving occasional slaps on your ass.
By now, you're already soaking wet and desperate for his cock. You need Mingyu and you need him now. "Gyu, I need you".
"Need me to do what, baby?"
Of course he wasn't going to make it easy for you. You take his hand and guide it to your dripping cunt, acting shy. Mingyu runs his fingers on your lace panties and grunts when he feels just how wet you are.
Mingyu decides to play nice and slips his fingers in your panties. He glides his fingers easily, collecting your wetness while rubbing your lower lips. His middle finger settles in your clit and he circles it slowly, sending electric waves through your body.
Your head feels heavy with lust, so you let it fall on his shoulder. He keeps masturbating you until you feel on edge. When he senses you're about to cum, he stops his ministrations, earning a frustrated cry from you.
"I-I was so close" you complain with a pout. Mingyu laughs and pecks your puckered up lips.
"I promise I'm going to make you feel even better."
Mingyu reaches for the zipper on your back and undoes it in a way to expose your boobs. He grabs them and runs his thumbs on your nipples. "So perfect for me, they fit perfectly in my hands."
He attaches his lips to your right nipple and keep massaging the other. You go back to rutting each other like animals on heat. You pull his hair and let you head fall back, the familiar burning sensation running through your veins.
Mingyu decides he's had enough, so he manhandles you so you're on all fours. He stands tall behind you, admiring your exposed ass and covered cunt. Slowly, he slides your panties down your legs. You shake in anticipation.
"My beautiful wife..." he sighs. "You're going to be good to me, aren't you?" You agree quickly. "I can't wait to ruin you. To fill you up with my seed and get you pregnant." You both moan in unison.
Your heart is racing with his words. God, you'd let him do anything to you. Anything. "Please, do it."
Mingyu's cock throbs with your request. He aligns himself with your whole and sinks in slowly. You lose strength and bend your arms, exposing your ass even more. Mingyu grabs your waist to support you in place, even if his own legs were trembling with pent up desire.
He slides in and out of you, catching up speed until his unrelenting tempo makes the bed shake and hit the wall. His cock massages your inner walls in the most perfect way, hitting all the right places to put you in a lustful frenzy.
You're sure you're moaning and whining, but your heart pumps so loudly in your ears that you don't quite hear it. But Mingyu does, and it only spurs him on. He's lost in your heat, in the way you clench around him. Plus, you in that fucking wedding dress... every time his eyes glimpse at the sheer white fabric, he swears his cock gets even harder.
Mingyu slows down and pulls out of you. You let out a whimper at the loss, feeling really worked up and frustrated.
The man sits down again and pulls you on his lap, and you're so wet you sink down on him with ease. You start to ride him, your boobs bouncing deliciously for Mingyu to see.
His eyes focus on the place where you two connect. Your cunt swallows his big cock beautifully. "You're taking me so well, pretty girl".
You place your hands on his chest for support, your short nails sinking on his skin and leaving small crescent marks. "I'm close."
Mingyu snaps his hips up to meet yours, reaching even deeper within you. It only takes a few slides for you to cum.
You feel your spirit being lifted from your body and you tremble, falling into Mingyu. He places two fingers on your clit and circles it to intensify your pleasure. You're so out of it you don't even notice when Mingyu flips you both over and starts to rail you missionary, chasing after his own high.
"Fill me up, dear husband" You sigh in his ear and Mingyu shivers. "Make my pussy full of your warm cum. Give me your babies".
That's enough for Mingyu to lose it and cum with a deep moan. He shivers and start to unload inside of you, his white milk covering your abused walls. His hips slow down and he stills inside of you.
Once again, he flips you both over, and you stay on top of him again, his cock still inside of you. You kiss his neck and rub your hands on his arms while you wait for him to come down. Mingyu grabs your ass, and you know he's partially recovered. So you sit up again, still cock warming him.
When he looks up at you, you can see the admiration in his eyes. Mingyu smiles beautifully, his canines showing up and his orbs shining with something else you can't quite identify.
"I have to ask you something" He says and you smile, indicating he can keep talking. "But I have to get something first... It pains me, but I need you to slip off".
Even full of his cum, you feel empty when Mingyu slides off. The dress you're wearing is all bunched up and wet, so you take it off and throw it on the floor.
"Can you grab my panties?" You ask your husband and he gets one from your bag. He also brings a wet towel from the bathroom and cleans you up before you slide in your fresh panties. When you're both semi-clean and with underwear on, you slide into the fresh Egyptian cotton sheets.
"What did you want to ask me?" You question, feeling a bit anxious.
Mingyu bites his lower lips. He's feeling shy and self-conscious, but he musters the courage to say what he wants. "Well, this night is about celebrating our wedding, right?" You agree. "This past year's been amazing, and I really liked getting to know you better".
"Me too, Gyu" You smile, your heart beating faster.
"I know we agreed to being friends with benefits, but I realized I can't keep going like that." You have a big question mark in your eyes and Mingyu can see it, so he hurries to complete his line of thought. "I can't be friends because I'm down bad. I love you, Y/N. I never expected this to happen, but I do."
You smile and jump him. Your heart's beating like crazy and you're completely at a loss for words. "I love you too, Gyu."
You both kiss in such a soft way, it makes your heart flutter.
Mingyu's smiling widely, once again showing his canines you adore so much. "Well, I think I can ask you what I wanted then".
He pulls a black box from under the pillow, one you didn't even see him placing there. He opens the box and there lies the most beautiful engagement ring. You never really got engaged, since you hated each other back then.
Mingyu takes the ring. "I kept thinking about how I never asked you to marry me. So, will you be my queen? Will you marry me, for real this time?"
"Yes! Yes, yes... God yes!" He places the ring on your finger and you kiss again, this time with more passion.
"My queen" He places a kiss on your cheek, sighing with a dreamy smile. "We're gonna be so happy, I promise".
"I know we will, baby. I'm gonna give my best for it to happen, too".
Then, Mingyu gets up and fills another glass of champagne for you to toast your engagement. You keep talking and exchanging kisses until late hours. You're down bad, but you're sure you don't want to get up.
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