#European City Asks

[jon-snows-man-bun]

what Hewn City worldbuilding details are you most proud of?

That time I mapped out the entire tax structure to understand how Velaris and Rhysand were so rich with no income tax 🤨

The answer is their economy needs to be exporting huge amounts of high value added products (eg jewellery and pharmaceuticals) and depends on military and political stability

[balrogballs]

Ballie, I need to know what job you do that you spend all your time travelling because you spend all your time travelling and I’m not jealous (I am)

😭😭😭 if you mean the amalfi pics i was just on holiday sksksk i try and go to a new european city every year and you would too if you grew up in kornwestheim for the most part

if you mean the general travel it is because i work in humanitarian advocacy* so the job involves quite a bit of travel, it is also why i have so much time to write aka bc i can write on public transport and my org is super keen on public transport

*specifying the advocacy part because mr balls still laughs about the time someone on here asked if i was a fucking UN peacekeeper 😭

[ahappydnp]

We need to coin a term for phannie groupies bc I’ve seen people on here/twitter talking about how they went to 10+ shows bc while yes I love dnp and I wish I got to go to another one that’s just something else 😭😭

we really don’t lol love and light to you anon but people go to shows as a hobby and not everything requires external commentary

[chaos-coming]

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.

[sincerelyyoursg]

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 :)

[raspberryspace]

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.

[loustatdivorce]

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

[bytebun]

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)

[mohammedaldeeb]

⏰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

[spacefinch]

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.

[fairie-grl]

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.

[lizardsfromspace]

There's this Tumblr poll going around asking when was the last generation people's ancestors were farmers. And the option for none of them is "none, my family was always wealthy" and I'm fascinated by the assumptions that

a. the only options historically were "rich" or "farmer"

b. farmers were never rich

Firstly I swear it wasn't just castles and farms until 1900, cities and towns existed, people had jobs besides King and farmhand, but also I think people conflate "farmer" and farm laborer. They are often the same but a farmer is technically just someone who owns or manages a farm. Plantation owners were farmers. European feudal lords were farmers. Oddly enough control of agriculture lead to a lot of power and resources, historically speaking

[theworldgate]

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).

[celestiamour]

‧₊˚✧ ❛[ bad liar ]❜

━━━ .°˖�� requested by @gothic-rat112 (lost the ask...) ˚₊ ⊹

ft. seong gi-hun x f! reader — squid game

╰₊✧ how he is when jealous & insecure┊1.2k words 

setting: season 1 contains: age gap relationship (unspecified but legal obviously), insecurity & jealousy, he’s a little immature & broke as hell but it’s okay i love pathetic men, reader is a sweetheart, this is all over the place omfg

➤ author's note: okay i kinda went on a tangent, first season because i miss his stupid smile and his fluffy hair (also look at how cute he is in this gif omfg i love him sm, i need to write for him more, underrated in his own show, THE PUPPY EYES)

╰₊✧ honestly, gi-hun isn’t so much as jealous as he is insecure. sure, he has an outgoing personality and always makes you laugh without fail, but he can’t think of any other positive traits aside from that. he doesn’t think of himself as particularly attractive with his scruffy appearance, and he’s painfully aware that he’s lacking when it comes to finances and has a gambling problem to boot. on top of all that, he was a divorced middle-aged man who didn’t even have joint custody of his only daughter and still lived with his mom rent-free, a terrible husband, father, and son— he’s truthfully the type of man people avoid when dating.

╰₊✧ yet he still managed to pull a pretty young thing like you who looks past all that, not sure if you were stupid or desperate. during the first few weeks of being together, he made jokes about still being able to date younger women in his old age because he was still in disbelief it was happening, but when you stuck by his side through all his flaws and the first year passed with you supporting him to get better, insecurity hit him like a ton of bricks when he realized that he was genuinely in love with you and that he didn’t have what it took to be the boyfriend you deserved when he wasn’t even someone his biological family deserved. 

╰₊✧ he sees other people buying their girls jewelry and clothing from name-brand stores, taking them out to eat in luxury restaurants with multiple courses, driving them around in european cars, and he’s out here saving money to do something as little as cake for your anniversary. he’s always on cloud nine when he spends time with you, but there’s something so humbling about looking up “broke date ideas” and scraping together what he already has to make it more special. no matter how much things like that don’t matter to you with the mindset of the intention counting more than the price, he still feels shitty about having you pay for most of the things you do together when he’s the man and the older one in the relationship along with the fact that you were barely better off than he was. 

walks around to admire the sights: especially during holiday seasons when there are pretty lights, you like holding his hand and admiring the sights of the city you often take for granted. if the streets are empty then he doesn’t mind it, but he does get self-conscious about the looks you both get so it’s not super common.

candlelit dinners of takeout and beer: a regular one, gi-hun likes to gather a bunch of candles to make the place look a little more romantic, maybe even having some roses to make it look nicer. the man doesn’t cook much though, so you’ll just have replated takeout with bottles of beer, but he always makes it lively with conversation and puts effort into fixing his hair to look more handsome.

and anything else he can think of, he can be really creative when it comes to you and you’re pleasantly surprised each time.

╰₊✧ these things bother him a lot more than he will let on, but he tries to stay all smiles around you which you see right through like glass. he’s a bad liar, a trait he would always get in trouble for when he was a child since he couldn’t lie about his antics.

╰₊✧ he feels awful when he finds that you also entered these games to pay off your respective debts, because no matter how much you try to convince him you aren’t, he knows that you intended to use any extra money to help him out as well with his debt being higher than yours. it should be the other way around, he should be the one helping you, and when the first shots are fired during “red light, green light,” he makes you swear that you won’t come back.

╰₊✧ of course, you do come back, because while he is your boyfriend, you’re also a grown-ass woman who can do what she pleases (also because you’re desperate and prefer not to find out what those loan sharks would do to you if it took too long to pay them back, and you might as well go to support gi-hun because you know his ass went back).

╰₊✧ he feels a little bit better about himself seeing all of the other people in a similar position as him, drowning in debt and petrified of death. he tries to be protective over you, but let’s be honest, you’re the protective one who mothers him, and since the constant threat of death is always looming, he lets you do it even if it looks stupid. people are either judgemental or jealous, but there are bigger things to worry about.

“people are staring…” he muttered, his eyes darting around to meet theirs and watching as they looked away the second eye contact was made. “you don’t need to do this, you know, it’s a little embarrassing.”

“i don’t care, let them stare,” you stated simply, rubbing into the back of his shoulders with practiced circular motions. “they are just jealous that they don’t have a cute girlfriend to take care of them like you do, and i want to! your muscles are so tense— i don’t want you participating in the next games when you aren’t in the best shape. we could die any day here, i want to give you all the love i can!”

╰₊✧ jealous of sang-woo with his intelligence and emotional security. even if both of them are wearing the same teal tracksuit, his childhood friend was in here because of failed investments which sounded a lot better than just losing constant bets in gambling dens. (to be fair, if you were gi-hun’s controversially young girlfriend, i don’t think either of you would get along well as he probably looks down on you and you probably find him stuck up, so he doesn’t have to worry about you being stolen away by him). not really jealous of that block-head deok-su hitting on you, after the little altercation they had on the first day, more annoyed than anything but the feeling quickly vanishes when he sees you reject him with a roll of your eyes. 

╰₊✧ actually jealous of anyone your age paying attention to you, especially ali who has a really sweet personality and gets along with you really well, maybe even sae-byeok who has a pretty face and is decently nice once you get to know her. 

“you need to stop pouting.”

“‘m not pouting…”

“you’re a bad liar, you know that? but it’s so cute,” you exclaimed, reaching out to pinch his cheeks childishly. “you don’t need to be jealous of ali, he’s already married and has a kid.”

“i know, i know…”

“i don’t think you do.”

╰₊✧ it’s so obvious when he’s jealous, it’s actually painful. he stares holes into the head of the person talking to you and is pouty until you address it. he’ll also blush when you call him out and tease him about it, it’s so cute. please give him assurance, pinch his cheeks, ruffle his fluffy hair, and give him lots of kisses, he deserves it.

(author is slightly delirious with a fever, i took medicine dw, i just really wanna kiss gihun)

[idontmindifuforgetme]

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

[heritageposts]

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)