#I just calculated i actually watched it 41 days ago

[woyms]

Day 23 since I watched season 2 of Sweet Tooth

I saw someone carrying a guitar case and almost cried

[uncpanda]

Scars

Prompt 41: Let me see your scars

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x GN!Reader

Requested by: ANON

It’s about a month after Haley’s death when you end up having to head back to the office at close to one in the morning. You left behind a file you need over the weekend, and you figure on your way home from a rather disastrous date is as good a time as any. And since the BAU never seems to close you figure you’ll take advantage of it.

You’re shocked to see the light still on in Hotch’s office. You’d been pretty sure that he had left around the same time you had. You stuff the file in your bag before heading up the stairs. You find him asleep on the couch, his eyes fluttering, and little whimpers coming out. You sink to your knees beside him and gently shake him awake.

It’s automatic, and as he jack knifes into a sitting position he knocks you backwards. You wince when you bang your elbow on the floor. Hotch sees you immediately, and a second later he’s pulling you to your feet. “What are you doing here?”

You rub the sore spot on your arm, “I forgot a file I needed over the weekend. I expected a cleaning crew and maybe a few stragglers. I thought you went home.”

“I did.”

The usual stoicism is in place and you sigh. Hotch had never been good about letting people in, even if he has known you for a handful of months, “So, the couch in your office was more comfortable than the one in your home.”

He grunts, “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“Not according to the brass.”

“The brass doesn’t know shit. They sit behind a desk and play politics while we see the gruesome horrible stuff this world has to offer. And each time we go out there we get scars. More times than not they’re mental more than physical. It’s okay to share your scars.”

He studies you for a second and says, “Let me see your scars and I’ll show you mine.”

You hesitate for a second, but you had always hated hypocrites, “I have three kids at home. My siblings. Ian, is fifteen. Grayson is twelve. And the youngest, Freddy is nine. He also happens to be a genius on Reid’s level. My parents died two years ago in a robbery gone wrong, and the courts said my grandpa was too old to take care of them by himself. So, I moved them here with the money I got when I sold my parents’ house, put their life insurance into college funds, and convinced my grandfather to move out here too. He watches them when we’re away on cases.

“On top of that, I have an older brother, Leigh. He’s a year older than me and an alcoholic. He’s an amazing artist but he has a hard time sticking to his program. I actually just finished bailing him out of jail for drunk and disorderly conduct, and I’m going to have to take a few days to try and talk him into rehab . . . again.

“And I love my siblings. I really do. I’d do anything for them, but sometimes I wish I could have that perfect life I always dreamed of. I wish that I could go on a date without having a cop call me in the middle of it and have the person across from me scowl as I leave him again for something out of my control.” You shrug.

Aaron studies you, “Then why the BAU there are other departments.”

Your bottom lip disappears under your teeth before you sigh and say, “I put my career on hold when my parents died. They had Leigh and Me young like seventeen and eighteen young. They gave us everything they had and I figured I needed to do the same. So I took sabbatical, came up with a routine, and when I went back to work I transferred from homicide to the white collar devision because it had me home at a predictable hour. And I was miserable. I hated it. With a passion. Everyone noticed. Ian was the one who told me to transfer to a department I liked even if meant more hours. He said I was dragging everyone down with my mood. The others assured me they would be fine. Freddy came up with some sort of calculation proving we could make it work, and my grandfather said I would only be a call away if they needed me.

“And I know myself well enough that if something is important I would pass up a case in a heartbeat to be there. So, when the position in the BAU opened up, I applied. And I got it. And we’ve all been happier since. Your turn.”

He hesitates for a moment, but you’ve just bared your soul and he’s a man of his word, “The house is too quiet. Jack is away with Haley’s family, which is good, but the house is too quiet. And at the same time it’s too loud. When I’m alone there, all I can hear are my failures. And I start to think about how I let the job swallow me whole? I wonder when I became a man who can’t smile?”

You settle in on the seat next to him, “You’re in mourning. It’s normal. Trust me. I didn’t smile or laugh for months after my parents were killed. I couldn’t. I was too focused on being what everyone needed me to be: a mom to my siblings, a sponsor for Leigh, and a reassurance for my grandfather. And one day I just broke. I was in the parking lot at the grocery store, maybe eight months after it happened. I’d been back at work for two months, and I just broke down in tears. I sat there crying for so long that the ice cream melted.”

You watch his lips quirk, “See, there’s your smile. Or at least a hint of it.”

“Is it possible to move on?”

“Life moves on Hotch. And there’s no use in trying to stop it.” He nods, and you throw in a bit of teasing, “And, if your apartment ever gets too quiet, I have a moody teenager, and a preteen that you are more than welcome to borrow.”

“Not Freddy?”

“Freddy is my angle child. You’re not getting him.”

This time he smiles for real and you stand up. He leans back into the couch and you study each other for a moment before you swoop down and brush a kiss against his cheek. You linger long enough to whisper in his ear, “I’m here if you need me.” And then you head home.

[coolpolarbear123]

Band Camp Day 3

"we can either be the picconets or the clarilos." "The picc-a-nut?" "clarilo it is"

August 17th, 2021

<< 3 >>

forgive me if this is short:

4 hours of sleep later, we're heading to the field with literal mugs of coffee in hand to start the senior prank

the prank today: hanging underwear on the band director's podium

it's a tradition. I've probably mentioned it in past posts

at 8:30, we start, I'm more anxious than ever bc of all the drama

practice, fundamentals, the works

ML2 doesn't clap for the DI's and it freaks me out bc I know it's bc she hates that I have it

I've literally been texting the picc drum major (her roommate) about it all of band camp

my marching today??? absolutely awful. I could barely pay attention or anything

it's ML2's bday!! so I have been trying to mention it a lot and get her recognition so that maybe she's not as angry at me

We got put in a temporary band block yesterday and it's??? terrible? I'd like for the temporary part to end bc we're still using it

today I did a lot of messing up, and I feel really bad and gross about it

there's been this issue that when we do stuff in our big band block, someone in the middle will mess up, and by the time it gets to the ends of the block (us, the piccs), it's a huge mess, and we get blamed

this happened and our DM (the other one, the one who plays alto) was like "I know when I'm wrong" and we were scrambling to figure out where we were supposed to be

lunch!

people from random sections have been eating with us. This is fine, but?? it seems really early. Do you guys even know your own sections?

full band rehearsal! it was uneventful

our first playing sectionals! we stickered our nametags, then played through a lot of songs

we actually did really well, which is probably because we're mostly returners (re: one freshman)

and!! we were worried that our SL was gonna be super nitpicky and she's not! she's super reasonable!

back to full band rehearsal. Our band director made us watch a bunch of videos?? like they were sorta related to what we were doing but eh

I've been doing a lot of exchanging glances with the alto drum major. Mostly about ML2

we also?? have to move section bonding? which usually happens on Thursday night? I told our section leader that she needs to take that day off from her CA stuff, but she didn't, and now she works that night. Finding a replacement was aggravating, and we chose an hour and a half window on Sunday

that's not enough time, and it's... mediocre at best, really

it doesn't leave much space for fun things

dinner! the other librarian staff person is very well known for making really weird food combos that are super gross, and she is on a roll this week, lemme tell ya

a couple days ago it was coffee and chicken, there was cake and meat sauce at one point, etc

"If I can eat it, it's not a dog"

after dinner was more marching

our band director said he was writing pregame drill tonight, which means us drill librarian staff will have our hands full in the morning

did i mention the IMMENSE AMOUNT OF ANXIETY i have about being leadership bc of certain other members in the section?

it's so bad that our section leader had to give us the "don't talk about other members behind their back" speech

we did our singing at the end, and the 5th years led. One of my best friends is a 5th year, and there's only, like, 5 total, and it was really cute

very last of the real ones

and then we flash mobbed the hey song to scare the freshmen, like we do every year, even though we usually do it in the band room

our freshman caught on to the movements fairly well

the night activity was the scavenger hunt!

on the drive to the main part of campus, i asked if we are still doing the "not last" chant, and ML2 was like "I think the other sections get annoyed at it"

I texted our DM bc I was sad that we're retiring the chant

we get out of the car and the piccs aren't sitting in their usual spot which is like the icing on the cake for my stress rn

and then my SL comes up to me and is like "I'm gonna start the chant" "did [DM] talk to you?" "yeah, and I wanna do it" "let's just... wait and see"

but then later, one of the piccs started it, so at least we chanted it and I'm not the only one who cares

the clarinets only had one returner show up (one of my really good friends), so they requested to combine with a different section, and the piccolos all raised their hands up after a moment and shouted "PICCOLOS" so they joined us!

it was sorta scary bc that's a lot of people? we had all 10 of us, and there was a good amount of them, and we only have 15 minutes to run around and do things

but literally no one else wanted them (one of the clarinet freshmen even begged the drumline to take them) and we're friends with them, so

the scavenger hunt began, and SL did an amazing job of leading. I got to help with it! i called out prompts

and DANG were we efficient

we werent even late to getting back

usually while the scores are being calculated, we dick around, and every section did plenty of that, including us, but it was kinda awkward bc the senior piccs wanted no part of it

i was upset bc why can't we just,,, not separate ourselves like that. Why do we have to be different and extra and not social

I stayed with the seniors bc I was more scared of leaving them, but I was annoyed

after scores were calculated and we were all standing together, I went around and said "reminder! all we want is not last" and I get back to my place where I was standing to hear the seniors just like "idc what we get, I just wanna go home"

cool thanks

but we didn't get last!! and we did sorta scream bc that's huge!

last place had 41 points

AND THEN WE DIDN'T GET SECOND TO LAST

YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOKS ON OUR FACES

but then we

DIDN'T GET THIRD TO LAST EITHER

at this point we're holding our breath, not screaming, just giving each other Looks

how well did we do? we had such a big section

fast forward to them announcing fourth place, and that wasn't us either, we were all whispering about how we ranked. No matter what, we were first, second, or third, and that's like getting a medal

and we weren't third

"first place had significantly more photos"

that kinda where we all accepted that we got second

and WE FUCKING WON WITH 81 POINTS

WE

WON

WE WON MY FRESHMAN YEAR AND NOW MY SENIOR YEAR

THAT'S H U G E

piccolos don't win things

we don't even know the clarinets

we called ourselves the clarilos

we're so fckn stoked about our win, guys, it hasn't even set in, really

NOT LAST NOT LAST NOT LAST

[wixelt]

Stargate: “Hoag” - Mass X’over Idea

About this time last year, I started watching Stargate with my dad. We watched the original movie and SG-1. And Atlantis. And the SG-1 movies. And Universe. And Origins.

We finished the franchise somewhere about a third of the way through 2020, though with how this year’s been it feels like that was years ago, now. And for a lot of the time we were watching it and for at least a little while after it, I had a thought that wouldn’t go away and that I kind of liked.

Namely that I wanted to write a Stargate fanfic of some kind, possibly even a crossover. A mass crossover, in fact. As with most of my fan-fiction thoughts, no matter the work, they eventually fell onto my pile of half-started ideas. I’m awful at keeping to things and not getting distracted by “new shiny” ideas like some kind of fanfic magpie, even when I like the idea.

That said, this was a concept I really liked, so i’m going to share the basics of it now, as far as I got with it. Maybe it will inspire someone else, or maybe i’ll come back to this someday.

Regardless, though here’s the notes:

- Post-Universe, the war with the Lucian Alliance is still going, and despite the slightly dire situation things were headed toward last we saw, the SGC’s winning. The LA are on the back foot, and is starting to break into smaller factions. One of the larger LA factions decides to cut their losses and make a run for it, their space fleet making a beeline for the Supergate the Ori Army built to link the Milky Way and Alteran Home galaxies, having either deciphered or stolen the codes required to dial it. The SGC puts together an attack force to intercept the faction at the gate and stop their escape. The fleet is accompanied by several characters from existing series.

- The battle’s one sided, but the LA faction continues to make a run for the gate. And then it happens. I’m undecided on the details, but a mix of weapons fire on the ships trying to pass through and other circumstances - in much the same way as that classic episode of SG-1 - causes the open Supergate to “jump tracks”, the destination shifting to somewhere not in the Alteran Galaxy. A side effect of energy on this scale causes all ships in the vicinity to be pulled through.

- Emerging on the far side, the surviving ships exit through what seems to be another Supergate, albeit of less refined design. Later study will show it to be Ancient, instead of Ori. This lesser design proves unstable, leading to the SGC fleet being forced to destroy both it and their crippled ships to force a ceasefire with the LA ships, stranding a cast of both old and new faces wherever they’ve ended up.

- As for where they’ve found themselves, it’s the Hoag’s Object galaxy, they eventually discover. For those unaware, this is a real ring galaxy more than 600 million light-years from the Milky Way (~200 times further from Earth than the Pegasus Galaxy). It’s a galaxy for which we have a low understanding of the mechanics behind its formation - which sparked my interest as the ideal location for a Stargate series with an underlying mystery beyond just “get home”, in the tradition of Atlantis and Universe. It’s a fun place to read and speculate about.

- The base of operations for the “Hoag Expedition” as they try to contact Earth (a challenge when their arrival method and much of their equipment has been destroyed), is the “Spire”, an automated Ancient outpost which is, as the name implies, a massive pointed tower in space. The story behind it, as the cast discover, is that the Ancients were very interested in what was causing Hoag’s Object’s structure, and sent a large automated seeding ship to the galaxy, with the intent that it would automatically drop Stargates on various interesting worlds and other locales - similar to the Destiny - also seed a few worlds with human life, as was their MO to an extent, then take up a preset location and convert itself into a stationary... station, that would serve as the Ancient’s home once they were ready to arrive - a local Supergate also being constructed as one of the projects they were intending to test alongside their studies in Hoag. Like Destiny, though, they never arrived. The Spire was dispatched late in the Ancient’s time, likely around about when they were fighting the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy. After that, they focused on ascension, and the Spire lay forgotten, its systems waiting for a crew that wasn’t coming.

- Some of the first things the expedition discover on arrival are tied to the local gates. Firstly, they can’t dial home. Even when they work out where they are relative to Earth, they can’t calculate what the 8 symbol address required to dial would be (for reasons made harder by the second point). There’s no indication what the address would even consist of, given there’s no “dial Earth” address in the Spire’s database - presumably the Ancients didn’t know where they’d end up dialing from, and no-one ever arrived to clarify. Secondly, while the local gates are Pegasus-era 3rd generation Stargates, they have a different color palette - being purple rather than blue, because I like purple - as well as a completely different set of symbols. These symbols are determined to be a very symbol numeric system set up in 5s, presumably because the gate seeding was automated and chose a structured visual system. I actually created a guide for this system. As might be obvious, this gate network has more symbols them any other - to account for Hoag’s Object being a larger galaxy - featuring 41 non-Point of Origin options:

- As I mentioned before, however, I wanted this to be a mass crossover, which is where the Ancients’ MO of seeding human life comes in. Like the Pegasus Galaxy, you can still have those human cultures, but how far out Hoag’s Object is - as with Stargate Universe - allows for more alien cultures as well. Which naturally lets you drop pretty much any non-Earth (or otherwise, in some cases) setting into this concept amid other, more original planets and have it turn up as the expedition does what Stargate does best: explore new worlds. RWBY? No problem. Avatar? Eeyup. Fairy Tail? Definitely. Madoka Magica? Trickier, but even with that being set on Earth the Incubators have to come from somewhere, right? MLP? Simple, if the Equestria Girls world is considered the local side of the mirror and Equestria another reality. Heck, you could even throw in something as out there as Hermitcraft and probably make it fit.

- And yes, I did briefly play around with gate addresses for a few of the above places, too, but didn’t get very far due to waning inspiration (the above symbol system itself was already my 5th or 6th attempt to make something workable). I did include my meta-logic for choosing the symbols, though:

- There were other ideas I had for this whole thing, too. I played around with the idea of writing this on a forum thread on somewhere like SpaceBattles or Sufficient Velocity, and maybe I still could one day, where other people could write in the setting too if I got enough traction (always been a big fan of interactive and/or collab ventures). Also played with the concept of a story-line of two Goa’uld “brothers” who had left the Milky Way in centuries past in search of new pickings, finding Hoag’s Object and setting themselves up as gods over multiple worlds (one of which may have been RWBY, if that gives you an idea of where that was probably going), but that fell apart once I started questioning how they got to Hoag’s Object when the Spire and its gate hadn’t been touched before the SGC arrived.

All that aside, though, this idea is out in the open now. If someone wants to play around with it, they can. Or if people want to ask what i’d do with various settings or features, i’m happy to give it some more thought to get the creative juices pumping again.

For now, though, enjoy! :)

[name-me-regret]

If The World Was Ending 3/?

If The World Was Ending Chapter Three: California Dreamin’

Read on AO3.

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

“All the leaves are brown And the sky is grey I've been for a walk On a winter's day I'd be safe and warm If I was in L.A. California dreamin' On such a winter's day

Stopped into a church I passed along the way Well, I got down on my knees And I pretend to pray You know the preacher liked the cold He knows I’m gonna stay California Dreamin’...”

~California Dreamin’ - Barry McGuire

- ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Tony sprang to his feet as he immediately rushed toward the suit that opened up for him. The skylight he’d had installed after invasion slid open and he blasted into the sky. “J, deploy the Iron Legion now!” As he did, he remembered Evan and he pulled up where the tsunami had hit and felt cold terror grip him as he saw that the Santa Monica pier had been taken out. “Shit! JARVIS, what’s my ETA?”

The HUD popped up a calculation. “At the speed you’re going, your estimated time of arrival should be three hours.”

That was unacceptable. He put more power into the thrusters as he could, and heard the BOOM as he broke the sound barrier somewhere over Lake Eerie. “At this speed ETA is two hours,” JARVIS intoned without having to be asked.

“What about the Iron Legion?” Tony was so relieved now that he hadn’t destroyed the rest of his suits after the Battle of Norco.

“ETA four minutes,” JARVIS told him. That was a much better time since when it came to natural disasters, especially involving large amounts of water, every minute, every second counted. Tony set his suit to auto-pilot for the remainder of the flight, making sure to call the FAA. He didn’t want any aircraft to accidentally stray into his path, and he’d be a disaster on top of a disaster.

“Give me eyes as soon as they reach the affected areas. Also, patch me into the channel the first responders use.” A few minutes later his HUD was filled with live feed from the suits, and he was rendered speechless at what he saw. Tony wished he could speed up past Mach 5 without the suit falling apart.

He decided to concentrate on what he could do (and not on a certain someone), and pulled up the stats on the suits that were functional. Out of the 35 suits he’d made between the invasion of Manhattan and the Mandarin Incident, there were nine viable suits. It was the Mark 20: Python, Mark 25: Striker/Thumper, Mark 28: Jack, Mark 33: Silver Centurion, Mark 34: Southpaw, Mark 36: Peacemaker, Mark 37: Hammerhead, Mark 38: Igor, and Mark 41: Bones.

Tony wished the Mark 35 would have survived, since the Red Snapper was made to save people during natural disasters; for example, rescuing victims trapped during an earthquake. He’d gotten the idea after the 7.1 earthquake that had hit LA, and now a year and a half later they’re hit with a tsunami. Unfortunately, Killian had destroyed it during the Battle of Norco.

Well, Southpaw would have to do, even if Red Snapper would have been better with its extendable and retractable claws. At least Hammerhead would come in handy, since it could remain submerged for long periods of time.

“This is Iron Man. I have multiple suits flying over the city and ready to help out. Just point me in the right direction and I’ll help where I can.” Almost immediately he was flooded with calls of trapped civilians, several inside and on top of their houses. He told JARVIS to concentrate on the ones trapped inside their houses, since there was another wave and the water was rising alarmingly fast. There were some people still trapped in their vehicles and unfortunately they couldn’t get to everyone on time.

He directed the suits where to go that they’d be the most useful. Tony heard dispatch call Swift Water Command, calling in a Code Three. Tony heard the commander say they were delayed and luckily J had a suit in the area. It was Bones and he saw the armor detach into several pieces and break through two roof vents to save a man trapped in the attic of his flooding house. As he watched the suits save people; Hammerhead dove for a little girl that had fallen into the water from off the roof of her house when she slipped, and Igor large enough that it could fly with several people hanging from it to take them to higher ground, he was even more glad he hadn’t destroyed the suits.

Sure he loved Pepper and would do anything for her, but with every life he saved, he remembered why he’d become Iron Man in the first place. He’d remembered those soldiers he’d laughed and joked with before they’d been gunned down, with his own weapons no less, and knew he’d made the right choice to not quit this. And maybe Pepper would come around and maybe she wouldn’t, but he refused to be guilted for doing something that saved people’s lives; even if at the times he was so sick and tired, and so inured he could barely move or breathe without something hurting.

It was more important to be able to help people, made him feel like he was alive for a reason. He’d told her three years ago, that he shouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for a reason, and this was that reason. It wasn’t fighting Killian and aliens, but helping and protecting the people from those threats.

It was almost two hours later, after remotely piloting the other suits, that he was physically flying over the city. The water still hadn’t receded, and three more waves had hit, and hopefully that would be the end of it but he doubted it. Tony wanted to call Evan and make sure he was alright, but cell phone service was wonky at the moment. Besides, he didn’t want to tie up the line when there were others that needed actual help. Evan’s apartment was out of the flood zone, so he was sure he was fine. He was weirdly glad he had a serious blood clot condition that had him confined to his home, and not out there with the rest of the first responders. Tony wouldn’t be able to concentrate if he knew Evan was in danger.

He decided not to unpack all of that right now and quickly dismissed the rest of the live feeds of the Iron Legion, letting JARVIS take over. Although now that he’d seen some of what was required for something of this magnitude, he knew he needed to remake Red Snapper and more Iron Legion, probably a special force that could be used for natural disasters. While Southpaw was for natural disasters as well, it was mostly to protect the user from damage from natural disasters. He needed more armors that had emergency features, like medical features such as the ability to be used as a defibrillator or even carry oxygen or breathing equipment for CPR.

Tony headed toward the pier, since flooding was still extensive, and he heard calls earlier of first responders being needed at the Santa Monica Pier. As he neared where the worst of the flooding was, he saw that the whole pier was underwater. There saw also an actual Ferris wheel that was still standing after all three waves, but it wouldn’t hold for much longer.

As he neared, he saw that the wave was starting to recede, going in the other direction. He heard the ones at the Ferris wheel call the coast guard. ‘Coast Guard, Coast Guard. This is Captain Nash LAFD. We need a miracle at the pier. We need one quick.’ As the helicopter flew in, the Ferris wheel started to tip, and he blasted forward.

“Incoming, Captain Nash!” he called over the speaker on his suit, arriving in time to catch the Ferris wheel as it almost toppled. Tony saw that most of the people had been evacuated except for the one who was being airlifted and a woman with curly hair, as well as two first responders, both firefighters by the looks of it.

“Iron Man!” he heard someone call in surprise.

“Yes, I’ll sign autographs later,” he joked, “but right now this thing is coming down and I might not be able to hold it for long.” The two firefighters, one Hispanic man and another Caucasian woman had just finished lowering the woman and now looked at each other, unclipped from their lines and jumped, landing feet first in the water. “Ten out of ten!” Tony called, “now let’s go go go!” They scrambled onto the speed boats as Tony grunted as the debris hit it hard and it started to put a strain on the armor. When he saw they were clear, he let it drop as he flew out of the way barely in time from getting knocked down by it.

He met them at the entrance of the pier by the sign that read ‘•Yacht Harbor• SPORT FISHING •BOATING Cafes’, the water still high enough that it reach most of their calves. If he’d been in any armor before the Mark 8, he’d have thought twice before landing in the water. However the Mark 43 was a better version of all the armors that had come before. He wanted to see if anyone needed help.

“Iron Man,” he heard someone call. Tony turned to see a stern looking man in his early fifties with a helmet on his head and the red vest that declared him a fire captain. This must be Captain Nash. He was wet and obviously tired, but there was still a certain amount of authority to the set of his shoulders. He had the kind of presence Howard had given off, but tempered with something softer Tony couldn’t identify.

“That’s me,” he said as he lifted up the face plate but refrained from stepping out of the suit. He didn’t want to get his shoes wet, and besides, this man appeared to be at good six feet and even if it was only two or three inches, he hated feeling short. Especially when it was from a man that reminded him if even just a tiny bit of Howard. “But just Tony, please. What can I do for you, Captain?”

Nash extended his hand, and Tony took it without hesitation. He had more respect for first responders than any bureaucratic asshole that wanted to shake his hand and play nice for the cameras. “Bobby Nash of the 118. Thank you for the assist,” giving his gauntlet covered hand a firm shake. Tony liked the sincerity in his voice.

“It was no problem, Cap. I didn’t really do much,” he assured. The man’s lips quirked a bit, whether in annoyance or amusement, it was hard to tell. Bobby Nash had one of those faces that gave almost nothing away. “Do you need anymore assistance?”

The woman opened her mouth but Bobby held a hand to stop her. The woman’s nametag, which was surprisingly still on, read Bosko, and the man had Diaz on his. Tony wondered why that sounded familiar. “We have a missing member of Firehouse 136, Captain Ronnie Cooper. There’s also a lot of people trapped and missing. I had thought I heard that Iron Man was helping out, and it’s nice to see it’s true.”

“Sure am, wherever it’s needed.” He’d already been able to help a lot of people and hoped to continue as long as his body and the power supply on his armors allowed. “I’ll keep an eye out for Captain Cooper, and if you need help with anything, give me a holler. There are several other suits flying over the city. So, even if I’m not nearby, my co-pilot JARVIS will be able to assist you if I can’t.”

He gave the man a salute that wasn’t meant to be at all mocking, and then the faceplate snapped shut before he blasted into the air. Tony wanted to make sure there weren’t any locations that had been damaged that could potentially become deadly. The last thing he needed was for the water to catch on fire if there was any gas spillage, and he expected it’d be a terrifying sight.

“J, try Evan’s phone,” he said. “Also, bring up satellite images of Hawaii. I don’t want to be blindsided in case they were hit as well.”

“Bringing up images right now, sir. Also, I’m getting no response from Mr. Buckley’s phone.” This made Tony worry, since Evan always answered his phone (even when he called him an old man for calling and not texting). He couldn’t do anything though, since he was needed right where he was. Tony couldn’t just rush to Evan’s apartment, there was no flooding in the area, and there were people in need of help. So, he reluctantly continued on.

“You better be safe, Evan,” he muttered.-

[leothelionsaysgrrrr]

🍁🌻🌳💦 Soft OC asks for Warden-Commander Caron and his husband, Eynon (quietly blubbers in the feels)

e🍁 Where does your OC go when they need to have some time to themself? Would they ever have their own “comfort corner” filled with all the things they like? Do they have a favourite spot outside that feels like its theirs and theirs alone?

Rémy and Eynon have been husbands for 35 years by 9:41, but they’ve known each other practically their entire lives. They’ve had a LOT of Places. Places around Rémy’s father’s estates (he’s the youngest son of an Orlesian governor during the occupation of Ferelden and Eynon is the son of an elven apothecary who worked for his family, so when Baron Caronet returned to his holdings in Orlais near Jader after the war he brought Eynon and his father with them), places around Jader and Val Royeaux, but their favorite Place is their home in Starkhaven. It was the first that was truly theirs as opposed to a place they were...not so much trespassing (though that WAS the case sometimes but not often as it made Eynon anxious to be somewhere they weren’t supposed to be) as like...borrowing someone else’s space for a while. Their house wasn’t the biggest, but there was enough room for them to have space for their separate hobbies, a den, an office, places they could share or let one another be when needed, space for Emma after they adopted her. Rémy has done his best to replicate their home in his quarters and an otherwise unused room at Vigil’s Keep, both for his own comfort and for Eynon’s when he visits. It has similar chairs arranged in a similar way near the hearth, a similar rug to the one Emma would sit on to read and arrange her blocks as a child, a potted aglaonema grown from a cutting of the one Eynon has cared for since Orlais.  The rest of Vigil’s Keep isn’t so much like his home, but it feels like a home, mostly from the Warden-Commander’s efforts to make it so.  It is home to the people who live and work there, and he’d have them feel like it.

🌻 What little things do they notice about people or the world around them that make them happy? What tiny little treasures do they find in the normal every day that makes the world seem a little brighter for them? 

Rémy is like that post I’ve seen a few times talking about watching someone stand in the rain letting it fall on their face and how strangers can fall a little bit in love with you?  Little moments of people finding joy in life light him right up.  He used to love making faces at Emma and watching her try to make them back, and the way the corners of her mouth twitched in mimic whenever he’d smile at her.  Eynon has a habit of idly twirling some of his hair around his fingers while he works, mouthing the calculations he’s doing in his head, counting by tapping the tips of his fingers on the tip of his thumb.  The care and precision he puts into his alchemical work is obvious and he loves to see it.  Likewise, Eynon can see the joy Rémy found in being a father to their daughter (Eynon himself was reluctant at first, not having ever anticipated having children of his own, but warmed to the idea mostly through watching how much Rémy enjoyed it), and a mentor and father figure to his wardens.  He knows the strength it takes to stand up for people who can’t stand up for themselves, and how effortlessly Rémy does it - and inspires others to do it - is one of his favorite things about him.  

🌳 What is your OC’s favourite way to relax after a stressful day? Do they have a favourite book to curl up with? A hobby? Or do they have a nice bubble bath and have an early night to bed?

Aside from idle snuggles with his family (he is SUCH a snuggler), Rémy likes to do puzzles and play what he considers “low-stakes thinking games” - something to focus his mind, but not stress it too hard. A word game similar to Scrabble. A block-stacking game similar to Jenga. 3D puzzles he can fidget with in one hand while he reads, like a Rubik’s cube. Chess, but he has to be in the right mood for that (chess carries a lot of pressure to be The Best at it, as opposed to just being fun. Also he once spent the better part of three weeks getting absolutely trounced at it by his then-nine year old daughter). At Vigil’s Keep, he checks in on his people and takes some time to catch up with them, and a good, hearty meal with a nice wine is a favorite way of his to offset the stress of his day - a stew with big chunks of meat and potatoes, a roast, some Fereldan dish as he’s Fereldan at heart despite being technically Orlesian.  He likes to watch birds.  Butterflies remind him of Emma; he has lots of flowers that attract them planted around the keep and tends to them himself.

Eynon has difficulty relaxing until he’s satisfactorily set things in order, working through numbers for their business or tidying up, he’s an alchemist and apothecary by trade so he might spend some wind-down time working out what he plans to do the next day work-wise and prepare what he can ahead of time. Rémy used to try to pull him away by being coy, but as they got older he stopped doing that and started helping him finish his tasks instead - less trying to get him to relax the same way he did and more adapting to what works best for him. Truthfully, with some tasks he isn’t much help, but his presence is soothing and helps Eynon feel better anyway. He missed it a lot after Rémy left.

💦 If you as the writer could erase one traumatic event from this OC’s life what would it be and why?

I mean...technically, I already did lol. Rémy becomes a Grey Warden to save him from the Blight sickness, but until like...a year or two ago - maybe, I have no sense of time when it comes to this blog - he died from it. I changed it because a) it would’ve happened because Emma tried to cure him and she carried a lot of guilt over it, and the Catharsis(TM) in Atlas (my Inquisition era fic I might actually write one day) when she’s reunited with him gives me infinite feelings, b) can I resist man with long curly hair and grey at the temples? I cannot, c) I knew I wanted my HoF to make the ultimate sacrifice and was too lazy to make YET ANOTHER OC when there was a perfectly suitable one RIGHT THERE and d) as is usually the case when I decide that one of Emma’s three dads is going to end up not dying after all, @bladeverbena yelled at me about it until I figured out a way to keep him alive. Anyway I’m glad I did, because he’s awesome and has worked incredibly well as Warden-Commander.

[scribbles97]

Left Behind - Chapter 43

PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3

Chapter 37 / Chapter 38 / Chapter 39 / Chapter 40 / Chapter 41 / Chapter 42

Read on Ao3

If her leg hadn’t have been killing her, she would have probably been standing and pacing the arc of the circular lounge. Her leg was aching though and Lucy wasn’t sure she was capable of holding herself up. 

 Not when Eos had said she was on to something. 

 Not when that something was a signal from deep space. 

 Not when deep space was where they thought Jeff was. 

 “Here.” Val murmured as she sat down next to her, “Drink.”

 Part of her wished the water was alcohol. Part of her knew that it was one too many chick flicks that made her wish for the cliche. 

 Her mind was spinning with possibilities though, even if she didn’t dare to think his name for fear of temping some sort of fate. 

 “I’m not sure I can stomach it,” She whispered, glancing over to Gordon as he returned from possibly the quickest shower she had ever seen. 

 “Anything?” He asked, russett eyes not leaving the scrolling jumble of data highlighting the room. 

 “Not yet,” John murmured from his seat, hand gripping tight on to Ridley’s, their argument about the AI apparently forgotten for the moment. 

 Taking a breath, Lucy looked back to the hologram, suddenly wondering how on earth she was to thank an AI for helping them as Eos was. Not that she had actually done anything yet, but Lucy could see that she was trying, and she knew that had to count for something. 

 Maybe she really was changed, even if it had only been a matter of days. People were capable of change, she only had to look at herself to know that was true. Computer programs updated and refreshed constantly. Could the same not be true of an AI?

 “Scott said you’d found something!” Alan exclaimed as he came screeching to a halt at the edge of the lounge, “What? What is it?”

 She held her arm out to him, hoping he would accept the request and take a seat under her arm.��

 “We don’t know yet.” John told him with a sigh, “Eos detected a signal from the same source as before, she’s trying to decode it now.”

 Scott was still frowning as he took a seat on John’s empty side, “She couldn’t decode the last one, how can she decode this one if it’s from the same place?”

 “It’s less d-degraded.” Hiram informed them, “R-readings from Thunderbird Five s-suggest that the rem-menants from a solar flare may have b-been enough to disrupt the first signal. It m-may also be why th-this signal is so p-poor.”

 “If we waited a month we’d probably get a near perfect signal through.” John added.

 Lucy couldn’t help but scoff, “I’m not waiting a damn month.”

 Scott nodded in agreement, “How long will we have to wait?”

 Virgil was quiet as he cleared his throat, “We shouldn’t get our hopes up.”

 Alan tensed under her arm, straightening towards his older brother with a sudden glare. 

 “What else can it be?” He snapped, “There’s nothing else possibly in deep space!”

 Squeezing his shoulder, she shook her head, “We don’t know that Allie,” She swallowed, not liking to think of the possibility, “Nobody has ever been out there. Maybe the Calypso is on its way back, but we have no idea what they might have found out there. For all we know it could be a fault in their comms.”

 “It can’t be!” Alan exclaimed, “It has to be something!”

 Scott was watching his youngest brother, leant forward with his elbows on his knees and hands braced behind his neck, clearly also afraid of what they might not find.

 “It could be anything,” Val murmured from beside Lucy, “For all we know it could be Gaat.”

 Lucy froze at the comment, eyes widening in realisation and thought. 

 “Mom?” Virgil prompted, “What is it?”

 She shook her head, “Your Aunt has a point. Gaat did always have a flare for dramatics, especially when…” She trailed off, knowing that the boys knew everything now but telling them still not coming naturally. 

 “When you dated?” Scott grimaced, “No offence Mom, but he has tried to kill you since then.”

 Gordon snorted as he leant back in his seat, “Every bad guy has a theme though Scott, geeze did you never watch the movies?”

 Val squeezed her shoulder, offering a tight, sympathetic smile as she shook her head. Lucy leant into her, resting her head against Val’s shoulder as she sighed. Her mind was spinning, full of so many questions of what and how and why. It probably didn’t help that anything even slightly strenuous still took energy from her like water from a leaky bucket. 

 She knew that not even Sally - sat directly across from her- would scold her for pushing too hard though, not when it was a question of--

 I don’t know if anyone may receive this. 

 The shift of the hologram drew all of their attention, dragging Lucy back upright as she read the words. 

 But I’m still out here. The ship launched. I’m in deep space.

 Lucy swallowed, her hand finding Val’s and gripping tight. 

 Tracy Island, I could do with a lift home if you get this.

 “I believe that this is the entire message,” Eos elaborated, “I have cross referenced it with what I could of the previous message and they seem to match.” 

 Silence met her, nobody quite able to talk. Nobody sure of what there was to say. 

 “Thank you.” Lucy whispered, swallowing and looking to the second hologram alongside the first, “Eos, thank you.”

 “He’s alive.” Sally croaked, “My boy’s alive.” 

 Virgil was quick to move to her, wrapping his arm securely around her shoulders and holding onto her tight. As Lucy smiled across to the older woman, she found her own cheeks wet, too many emotions to properly process flooding her at once. 

 “So,” Alan started, hesitant and soft, “what do we do? We’ve gotta do something, right?”

 “And we will Alan,” Scott replied for her, even his voice thick with emotion,  “We’ll figure something out.”

 Pulling the youngest into her side, Lucy took a long breath, “Orbital alignments aren’t going to be right for years yet, plus we have no way of getting out there.”

 She could feel the weight of her words as they settled on the room, everyone's shoulders falling slightly at the thought. They knew he was there, but there wasn’t anything they could do about it. 

 “Eos, dear,” Sally murmured, “Do you think it might be at all possible to send a message back?”

 The circle of lights lit up a soft shade of blue, her voice softer as she replied, “Oh yes, it would be quite easy. I believe that the ship Calypso is in close enough proximity to the true origin of the sign to be used as an amplifier.”

 Hiram looked up suddenly, eyes wide as he looked from the hologram to Sally, to Lucy and then back again. 

 “Mrs Tracy, we can use the Calypso.”

 She frowned at him, tilting her head as Sally straightened, beating her to the question, “What?”

 The engineer pushed his glasses up his nose before reaching out to the hologram and bringing up a new image. Lucy remembered it from months ago, weeks before her accident had even happened, the assumed coordinates of exactly where the Zero-X had gone. 

 “This is where we b-believe the Zero-X is. And this,” A pause as a badge was added to the image, “is where we know the Calypso is.”

 Alan pulled away from her, “That’s not where the Calypso is meant to be.”

 The shift of the great ships flight path was subtle, but Alan was space mad, hooked on anything that related to man’s exploration of the great unknown. She should have known that, out of her whole family, he would pick up on the differences. 

 “We might have borrowed it, changed the flight plan,” She shrugged, “Just slightly.”

 Gordon was grinning, “Ooo Mom playing espionage, I like it.”

 “The Calypso is where I traced the signal back to,” Eos informed them, “I would imagine without it we would not have received the message.”

 Hiram waved the AI off with his hand and a shake of his head, “What I am t-trying to say is, if we turn the Calypso back, once we get close enough to Mr Tracy’s location, a landing pod could be used to pick him up before the ship returns to Earth.”

 “How long would it take?” Scott asked, eyes darting from the hologram to Hiram, “To pick him up?”

 His shoulders sunk as he glanced back to Lucy, “The calculations are still in p-progress, most likely m-months.”

 She shook her head at him, “It’s the best we’ve got. I’ll have to ask permission from the Calypso’s owners though.”

 “I’ll arrange a meeting next week,” Scott nodded eagerly, “When we go over for you to start physio.”

 It was hard not to scoff at the thought, physio hardly seemed important in the grand scheme of things. Jeff was out there, he was alive and they had a way of contacting him. 

 He’d murder her if he found out she wasn’t looking after herself. 

 “You’re still going to physio.” Val told her in no uncertain terms, “When he gets back I’m not getting blamed for you not looking after yourself.”

 When, She swallowed at the thought, When he gets back. 

 “Meanwhile,” Scott started as he stood, “I think you and Grandma have a message to send, perhaps from your office?”

 Lucy looked to her mother-in-law, “What do you say Sal?”

 She smiled as she stood, gesturing for Lucy to go first, “I say four years is plenty long enough, let’s not waste another minute.”

[boowoomuu]

50 QUESTIONS YOU'VE NEVER BEEN ASKED

Tagged by my amazing friend @thequeenchoices ♥

1) What is the color of your hairbrush? Pink (I actually use my mom's hairbrush)

2) A food you never eat? Meat (vegetarian bitch)

3) Are you typically to warm or too cold? Well... I can change to super warm to super cold in 2 seconds so, yeah...

4) What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Having lunch (and I had to use a calculator to see what time it was haha)

5) What is your favorite candy bar? I don't actually have a favorite

6) Have you ever been to a professional sports event? Yeah

7) What is the last thing you said out loud? Probably "Thank you for the food grandma, it was very good" :)

8) What is your favorite ice cream? ChocoMint

9) What was the last thing you had to drink? Water

10) Do you like your wallet? Yeah

11) What was the last thing you ate? Rice with beans with farofa and chickpea dumpling

12) Did you buy any new clothes last weekend? Nope

13) The last sporting event you watched? Does a sports anime count?

14) What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? ... Popcorn has flavors?

15) Who was the last person you sent a text message to? I think it was a friend of mine

16) Ever go camping? No

17) Do you take vitamins? Yes

18) Do you go to church every sunday? I don't go to church

19) Do you have a tan? Can't, I'm in quarantine and starting to look green

20) Do you prefer chinese foof or pizza? Pizza

21) Do you drink your soda with a straw? Not if I can have a glass

22) What color socks do you usually wear?

23) Ever drive above the speed limit? I don't drive

24) Look to your left, what do you see?

25) What terrifies you? Loosing someone I love to depression again

26) What chore do you hate? ┐(´ー｀)┌

27) What do you think of when you hear an Autralian accent? Noice

28) What your favorite soda? I don't have a favorite, and I'm trying to drink it less

29) Do you go into a fast food place or just hit the drive through? I only hit the drive through when I'm on a car trip, and even then sometimes we stop and go into.

30) Who's the last person you talked to? My grandma

31) Favorite cut of beef? I'm vegetarian

32) Last song you listened to? Quereres by Caetano Veloso

33) Last book you read? The Bro Code

34) Favorite day of the week? Currently wednesday bc I have voice acting classes

35) Can you say the alphabet backwards? I just realised I have to sing the whole alphabet to remember the order so nope... Also I just noticed that the alphabet is named alphabet, like, alpha, beta... Omg

36) Do you like your coffee? I don't remember if I ever tried to make coffee...

37) Favorite pair of shoes? My black boots :3 Also the sunflower shoe my aunt gave me for my birthday but I couldn't use it yet bc of quarentine :/

38) At what time do you usually go to bed? 1am

39) At what time do you normaly get up? Around 1:40pm

40) What do you prefer, sunrises or sunsets? Sunrises😍

41) How many blankets are on your bed? Two

42) Describe your kitchen plates: White

43) Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage? I hate alcohol

44) Do you play cards? Not as much as I would like :/

45) What color is your car? Silver

46) Can you change a tire? Never tried to

47) What is your favorite province? You mean state? Well, I love mine haha

48) Favorite job you've ever had? I've never had a job

49) How did you get your biggest scar? "I'm not running, I'm walking fast" next thing I saw was red

50) What did you do today that made someone else happy? I petted my dogs

Tagging: @ilovetoimagine @tired-and-dumb @fandomsand-oops-politicstoo @yeahhiyellow @yes-prisoner @doriansapprentice @trappedinfandoms

And anyone else that sees this on their dash😘

[whiskynottea]

An Interruption in the 1st Law of Thermodynamics.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27,  Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35,  Chapter 36, Chapter 37, Chapter 38, Chapter 39, Chapter 40, Chapter 41, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Chapter 44,  Chapter 45, Chapter 46, Chapter 47

AO3

@theministerskat , my Detroit airport and Ann Arbor specialist, thank you so much for your help!

Chapter 48. Closer

“Gimme a ticket for an airplane, I ain’t got time to take the fast train. Lonely days are gone – ”

“Lamb! Stop it!”

“What?” My uncle looked at me, with a most innocent face. “What’s wrong with The Box Tops? I’m trying to get you in the mood for your flight!”

“I am in the mood, I don’t need your singing to help me!” I huffed, looking out of the car window.

Will it be raining in Michigan, too?

Lamb was driving ridiculously slow, casually tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he sang, when all I could think of was reaching the airport and getting on the plane that would take me to Jamie.

Well, I wouldn’t get exactly on that plane.

The first plane would get me to London. Then a second one would whisk me across the Atlantic to Chicago. And finally, after a third flight from Chicago to Detroit, I would finally get to see my Scot. Really see him. Run my hands through his red hair. Smell the spices of his perfume. Tickle him until he would beg for mercy. Kiss him until there would be no breath left in his lungs.

In twenty-two hours I would be standing in front of him - if I could still stand. I would most likely crawl to him, unable to move after travelling for so many hours.

I didn’t care. I would be in Michigan.

Total flying time was almost twelve hours. Total time of the journey, twenty-two. Cheap flights. Not everyone can handle it - or so I was told by Lamb.

Scot: Have you arrived at the airport?

Sassenach: Almost. You know how Lamb drives.

Scot: Tomorrow you’ll be here, babe.

Sassenach: I wish I could just apparate.

Scot: You haven’t taken an Apparition Test.

Sassenach: Since when do Gryffindors care about rules?

Scot: It wouldn’t do to get you here splinched, wee Ravenclaw witch.

I choked back a laugh that made Lamb shoot me a questioning glance. “I haven’t seen you so happy since you got your letter from Oxford. Which was almost a month ago, if I remember correctly.”

“More than a month,” I murmured. In retrospect, it seemed even longer.

The first day or two, I had spent the majority of my time on Google maps, mentally strolling around  Oxford via computer screen. Then, I caught up with a few TV shows Jenny and Joe had been raving about. I read books that had nothing to do with human anatomy and physiology and enjoyed staying at home, a cup of tea and a hardcover in my lap, the rain pelting down on the living room windows.

Joe and Gail had left for New York, their semester starting when Jamie’s had. Jenny and Ian remained in Beauly after the summer had ended. They had both accepted their offers to the University of Edinburgh and they would come back in September, which was exactly when I would be leaving for Oxford. Jenny and I talked almost every day, but I missed having everyone in close proximity. It felt as though I had been left behind.

The flight to London was less than two hours and I had resolved myself to watching a movie, when the tiny lady sitting next to me started talking. I smiled politely and nodded more times than I could count, and kept making attempts to insert my headphones while I silently prayed that she would get the message. She didn’t. Her son was graduating and then getting married and “Oh ye can imagine, dearie, how many things remain to be done!” Even if I couldn’t imagine, I didn’t need to. By the end of our journey, she had listed and analyzed them all, pausing only once or twice. Most probably to breathe, I had thought. Her enthusiasm made me smile. Her nasal voice, however, made my head buzz by the time we arrived at Heathrow. Mrs Macallan - “Like the whisky, ye ken?” - was sweet and kind hearted, but I felt lucky to be getting away from her on my next flight.

After retrieving my oversized rucksack, and bidding her farewell, I walked around the airport, absentmindedly looking at window displays and testing several perfumes. Finally, bored and tired, I searched for a quiet place to sit.

Sassenach: Seven more hours in Heathrow.

Scot: In thirteen hours I will kiss the hell out of you.

Sassenach: Oh really?

Scot: Yes. I can’t stop thinking about it.

Sassenach: Me or the kissing?

Scot: Both.

Sassenach: Hmm where are you?

Scot: Just finished up at the pool. We’re going to a place called “Fraser’s Pub”!

Sassenach: So you’re already THAT famous there?

Scot: Aye, restaurants open in my honor. I can’t help it Sassenach.

Sassenach: Snob.

Scot: Oh, is that you Ms. ‘I’m studying at Oxford, you common peasants’?

Sassenach: Ass.

Scot: THIRTEEN HOURS!!

Sassenach: Twelve and forty-five minutes 😛

Scot: I love you, got to go, the guys have started making fun of me. Ttyl?

Sassenach: Okay. I’ll be right here.

A ridiculous picture followed right after that, with Jamie’s lips so close to the camera I could hardly recognize them. Then another one, with him and John smiling broadly, heads bent together. I sent him a picture of me cuddled up next to my huge grey and purple rucksack and then tried to get as comfortable as possible, determined to get some sleep.

It seemed I was one of those people who can sleep wherever and whenever they want, not allowing anything to disturb them. Not the endless amount of people passing by, not their phone ringing, not even announcements calling their name.

When I opened my eyes, my phone had fifteen unanswered calls, nineteen unread messages, and two missed alarms. The most terrifying of all, however, was the time.

I had ten minutes to be at my gate and I didn’t even know which gate I was supposed to be at.

I picked up my bag, hoisted it unceremoniously over my shoulder and started running.

I had struggled to sleep the last two nights, the excitement of visiting Jamie making dozing off an impossible task. And now that I had a plane to catch, I fell asleep in the airport, and slept for more than six hours!

Seriously, now?

I was the last person through the boarding gate and I was the only one who went through it gasping for breath. When I finally took my seat, I checked my phone. All the missed calls and messages were from Jamie, all saying pretty much the same thing.

Where are you?!

Sassenach: Just got on the plane. OMG THAT WAS SO CLOSE! I almost missed my flight. I can actually hear my heart beating inside my chest.

Jamie replied immediately.

Scot: You scared the shit out of me, do you know that? First, I was afraid that you’d miss the flight, then I was terrified that something happened to you.

Sassenach: I’m sorry. 😞

Scot: You better be.

Sassenach: I didn’t do it on purpose!

I quickly calculated the time in Ann Arbor.

Sassenach: Are you still out?

Scot: No.

Sassenach: You’re at home? Still awake?

Scot: Yes, guess why! Because my girlfriend is crazy, and she sleeps in airports like the dead!

I saw the three dots appear, then stop. My heart thumped inside my chest.

Scot: You just scared me, is all. It took all the nerve I had to stop pacing back and forth in the room, and that’s mostly because I woke John up at least three times. I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you.

Sassenach: I’m okay. I’m sorry I scared you so. I love you. gtg! Plane taking off. ❤️❤️

Scot: I will kill you when you arrive. Even before kissing you.

Sassenach: That will make a fool of you. You’ll miss my kissing you back.

I spent my time during the flight watching movies and sleeping. No one talked to me, apart from the stewardess with the impossibly perfect makeup, who came passing by every ten minutes with coffee or tea, food, more coffee or tea …

I only had an hour layover at O’Hare International Airport and I didn’t even stop to look around. One last flight - and a short one, at that.

One hour later I landed at Detroit Metro, murmuring continuously, “I’m here, oh my God, I’m here!”

My whole body ached from sitting for so long, and walking felt like an exotic exercise. I had been right in that I would be crawling once I got here.

But then, I wasn’t. I rushed off the plane and pushed my way to the tram, jumping into a car just before the doors closed. I followed the flow of the other passengers, feeling like herded cattle, and took the escalator down to the arrivals area.

The moment the escalator brought me low enough to see out across the great open space of baggage claim I saw him standing there, tall and beautiful, waiting for me. I felt a huge smile spread across my face and mentally urged the people in front of me to move faster. Finally, a kind of magic seeped into my muscles, pushing me forward, and the only thing I could do was run to him.

I dropped my bag just before I reached him and a moment later I was jumping into his arms, wrapping my legs around his body, relying on his strength to support my weight.

A crushing hug. And then we were kissing as if we were the only people in the whole terminal. Fierce and consuming, it was a kiss that tried to make up for all the lost ones, all those we had been sending to each other during the last month, vanishing somewhere in the space between us.

But this kiss was real and hot and powerful, filling our hearts with blood again, after more than a month when distance made their beating dull, normal.

“You’re here,” he whispered. “I can’t believe you’re finally here,” he added, echoing my thoughts. “I missed touching ye, Sassenach. My arms always feel so empty without ye in them.”

I looked at him for a long moment, my throat too tight to talk.

“Come,” he said, and bent to pick up my rucksack. “We’ve a bus to catch.”

His hand was warm when he took mine and we walked together towards the shuttle pickup area. It was silly, but even walking next to him felt different. As if I couldn’t discipline my feet and each step would be the first to start a dance.

We sat in the second to last row of the bus, desperate for some privacy. His hand perched on the inside of my thigh, drawing abstract lines that were driving me crazy. I leaned my head onto his shoulder, trying to be decent, but five minutes later I was biting and sucking his neck until I felt him shiver.

“What are the plans for today?” I asked, my voice low.

“Today we’re going back to my dorm and we’re not leaving the room at all.” He shot me a naughty glance, implying that I knew exactly what was going to happen in his room.

“What about John?” I asked, frowning.

“He won’t come back tonight.” Jamie’s owlish wink and the sly grin that followed suggested that he had taken care of everything.

“I’ve turned everything upside-down for him. Trust me to make a bad first impression.”

“Dinna fash, Sassenach. Ye’re doing John a favour,” Jamie said, his lip curling up as he looked out of the window.

“What do you mean?”

“Ye gave John the perfect excuse to stay over at another guy’s place. He’s on the team, too. And I think John was waiting for an opportunity to stay alone with Hector since the first time he saw him. He hasn’t admitted it yet, but I’ve seen the way he looks at him.”

“John is gay?” I asked when he finally finished. “You haven’t said anything!”

“What was I supposed to say, Sassenach? ‘Claire, let me introduce ye to my gay roommate?’”

“Well, no, but… Anyway. And how about Hector? Do you think that he returns John’s feelings?”

“He’ll be a fool if he doesna. John is amazing. It’d be like you giving me your number and I never calling you. Impossible.”

I laughed at that, shaking my head. My curls escaped from my unruly bun, but I didn’t care. Jamie liked them down. “Yeah, right. That being said by someone totally unbiased.”

He looked out at the winter landscape for a moment. Then, his eyes were back on me and he let out a long sigh. “I’m so happy ye’re here, mo chridhe.” He squeezed my hand and bent his head to kiss me.

I couldn’t get enough of his lips.

We got off of the bus and walked quickly towards his dorm, partly because we ached to be finally alone and partly because it was freezing cold outside.

“Why did you have to come here?” I asked, feeling my nose go Rudolf-red. “Hawaii is one of the States, too.”

“Oh, excuse me Sassenach for not getting a scholarship somewhere sunny!” Jamie smiled and pulled his beanie lower, to cover as much skin as possible.

“It would be a nice change to Edinburgh,” I murmured. He just squeezed me closer to his body.

As we walked, I was fascinated by how much of the campus was woven seamlessly into the city itself. Just off the main streets that were filled with restaurants and shops, were smaller homes all in a line, and then suddenly a university building would pop up with a distinctive blue and yellow sign out front.

We didn’t stop walking fast once we pushed through the entrance doors of Jamie’s dorm. He rushed me across the lobby to the elevators, only this time I was almost sure he was moving quickly as not to be stalled by any fellow Wolverines looking for greetings and introductions.

We reached his room unnoticed. Jamie tossed my rucksack into a corner and closed the door softly behind me. I stood still, looking at the room.

His place.

It wasn’t big, and the beds and two desks made it seem even smaller. But it was cozy and clean, and had something of him that made me feel comfortable. I turned to look at Jamie, and for the first time in a month, I felt like I was home.

“I missed you, you bloody Scot.” My whisper was more than a confession. It was the profession of the gift I had been bestowed. The gift of having him in my life. Of having a home.

“I missed ye too.” He smiled in his crooked way, the way I had fallen in love with. “More than ye’d ever imagine.”

And then his lips were on mine, tender and honest. The connection we had longed for, when all we could do was rely on a screen to see each other. Now, we could feel. Our love was tangible, filling the room as our breaths mingled, as our hands intertwined, as our hearts beat together, their own song.

It didn’t take long for our kiss to turn wild.

Jamie shed the outer layers of my clothing, murmuring that I was a wee onion or something. I smiled and helped him, taking off some of his own clothes as well. It was when his hand found its way underneath my sweater that I yelped.

“Cold! Freezing hands!” He looked at me with a pout that wasn’t nearly cute enough to make me relent. “Don’t even think about it!” I said, pushing against his chest with a pointed index finger.

Jamie laughed and swiftly took me off my feet, eliciting yet another yelp from me. He lay me carefully on his bed and took off my sweater.

“No hands,” he promised, raising them in the air as he bent to kiss my neck. His lips moved to my chest, teeth softly biting my nipples, and I slightly regretted keeping his hands off the game. I needed him to touch me.

I squirmed beneath him, making my intentions obvious.

“Oh, no,” Jamie said, sucking my breast in a way I was sure would leave a hickie. “I spent so much time this past month telling ye what I was planning to do to ye when I’d have ye close again. So much time, seeing ye touching yerself and wishing it would be my hand instead of yers. I mean to take my time, mo nighean donn.”

A soft bite and a wicked grin. His eyes burned in mine.

“I mean to lick ye, kiss ye, taunt ye, feel yer smooth skin against mine and leave my marks on ye. I mean to hear yer moans and whimpers fill the room. And then, Sassenach,” he paused for effect, and I ground myself against him. We were both ready. And all the talking during our video calls didn’t go to waste, after all. “Then, I mean to fuck ye and feel ye fucking me until we canna move our limbs anymore.”

Everything went according to the plan.

Chapter 49

[viiavi]

Get to know me tag

3 more traits to add to the 3 that’s been on my profile for a long time now.

I was tagged by @galaxysuede​. Thank you!! ♥

I tag @ceechalla, @vvildhoneypie, @bloomlet, @naelu, @keysims, @shellywellylove, @nolan-sims, @a-kind-red, @simxiety, @frostsims21, @racingllama, @foursims and whoever else is interested!

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Jay

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? Still Jay, lol

3. BIRTHDAY? Summer baby

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? I don’t read as much as I used to, but growing up, I was a huge Goosebumps fan. Now, I’m waiting for the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? Yes!

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? Now, idk. But as a child, I loved Mary Downing Hahn.

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION?  I don’t have a favorite radio station, but I really enjoy 96.5 with Delilah because I’m an old fart

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? Coffee.

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? amazing

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG? "Evan Finds the Third Room” by Khruangbin

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? Bamboozled.

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO? Shades of Man by Khruangbin

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? Parks & Rec is good, Breaking Bad, The Good Place.

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN? Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? Yes! Not as much as I used to though

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Failure and loneliness

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? I’m a problem solver.

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? I lack patience

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? Dogs 100%

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? Spring

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? Yes!

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? Peace of mind/less responsibilities.

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? My boyfriend

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? Dark brown

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? Dark brown

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? My family, my boyfriend, my friends and my dogs

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? Boyfriend, again. He is the only person I can truly be myself with

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? See above. Also, my family and my dogs.

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? Yes! I’m excited for a trip I’m going to soon!

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? Coffee and video games

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? Sailor Moon, Are you Afraid of the Dark, All That

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE? I think we already know this... starts with a B, ends with a D

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? I would like to say no, but I am

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? Not really... all of mine are pretty common

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT? Both!

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? Gardening

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I don’t remember. I think a documentary about fragrances

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? Violin

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? Orangutans

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? Look at my blogroll for that.

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? I would love telekinesis/telepathy. Or, the power to materialize anything you desire

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? By the ocean, or when I’m gardening

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? I appreciate the small things in life, so I smile to a lot of things, and would be too tedious to list

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? Tennis

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? Water, all the way.

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? A month ago?

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? Yes!

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Passive aggressiveness, though I am guilty of it myself sometimes

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? Yes! The latest one I went to was Journey’s with my Madre

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? No, I have to force myself to eat most veggies

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? A scientist

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN? Gonna go with Harry Potter world for this

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? Finances and health.

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? I’m a little embarrassed to admit that yes, I still am.

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? Yes! No one is saying I’m good at it though, lmao

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? Once, maybe? Idk, I actually liked school

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? The beach!

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? A little town by the sea

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? Yup, I have 3 dogs

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? For a long time, I considered myself a night owl, but now that I’m older, I think I’m leaning more towards early bird

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER? Sunrises! I love walking on crisp mornings with the sun just starting to peak through the horizon

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? Yes! And I must say, it is BORING AF

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? Headphones! Earbuds never stay in my ear

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? Yes, for four years

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? Not sure

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? My mom! She is the most patient, caring, emphatic, talented and hard working person that I know. I strive to one day be as good of a person as her

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? I used to. Me, Garfield and Archie Comics go way back

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? Intolerance

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? The real thing. Reading on a electronic device all day makes my head hurt

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? English and Microbiology

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? I have an older sister and brother

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? A foot massager for my mom

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 160cm

75. CAN YOU COOK? Yes! But I don’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would

76. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? Coffee, bouganvilleas, and bear hugs

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? People who litter, broken promises, and when people don’t give me a sufficient amount of time to do/prepare for something

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? Nowadays, I have more male friends

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? Straight

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? The US.

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? My sister

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday, while watching a documentary, lol

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? Laura from Garden Answers, lol

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? Nope.

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP? The calculator app, lol

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE? I’m definitely closer to my mother than I am to my father. My dad and I have had a strained relationship while I was growing up, but now that I’m out of the house, our relationship has gotten better.

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? I love the Creole accent

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT? Too many places

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 4 and 47

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? I can juggle one ball

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? Not really. But as I’ve gotten older, I feel a little bit more religious than I was before

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OF THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? That’s a tough question, and definitely not one I can choose between. Both are really interesting

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? Eh, sometimes

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? Dog dander

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? No

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? Only when I also move my entire face

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? Certainly not an easy thing to do, but I admit that I’m wrong most of the time

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? I love both! But I’m drawn to large bodies of water

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU? It’s on the tip of my tongue... tip of my tongue 😕

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR? I don’t think so, lol

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? Hufflepuff

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? Yes, and I’m not afraid to admit it

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? I’m an introvert, but can be an extrovert when liquid courage is around

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? I used to

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? Yes, wholeheartedly

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Pick it up, look around, call out and probably mail it back to the person who lost it

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? Yes! Everyone is capable of change. Though the rate of growth varies greatly from individual to individual, so the amount of change you may hope to see is often not what you get. Giving people second chances and wanting to grow takes a lot of time and patience.

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? Certainly

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? Yes, and I hate them

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? My ears

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? Let’s go with Captain America with this one, idk

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? Yes, I have 2!

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? Cutting toxic people from my life

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? Yes, definitely

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? I do, though, my simself aint wearing any

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? Absolutely

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? My boyfriend is one of the smartest people I know

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? I took my dog to the groomer’s and she asked for my dog’s name, and brain kept glitching and making my mouth say “Boner”

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? Who hasn’t?

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOU CLOTHES? Black

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? YES!! I love spontaneity

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? I don’t think so

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 31

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” - Bruce Lee

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? Savory.

[patriotsnet]

Why Are Republicans So Afraid Of Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-are-republicans-so-afraid-of-trump/

Why Are Republicans So Afraid Of Trump

Officer Goes From ‘sadness’ To ‘rage’

Why Are Republicans Still So Afraid Of Trump? | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Sicknicks partner on the Capitol police, Sandra Garza, wrote an essay about the attack and the aftermath in which she said in part, I saw officers being brutalized and beaten, and protesters defying orders to stay back from entering the Capitol. All the while, I kept thinking, Where is the President? Why is it taking so long for the National Guard to arrive? Where is the cavalry!?

She added, As the months passed, my deep sadness turned to outright rage as I watched Republican members of Congress lie on TV and in remarks to reporters and constituents about what happened that day. Over and over they denied the monstrous acts committed by violent protesters.;

For example, when Gosar called the Jan. 6 attackers peaceful patriots.

During the Benghazi hearings, Republicans were laser-focused on trying to place blame on then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But after four years of investigations, most of them purely partisan affairs, they found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing on her part.

Republicans dont want anything close to that type of scrutiny on the Capitol attacks of Jan. 6. In fact, they dont seem to want any scrutiny at all.

Almost as if they know what will be found.

Almost as if I didnt have to use the word almost.

Reach Montini at .

Trump Is Here To Stay And Republicans Should Be Worried

There are Republican office holders who genuinely embrace Trump. For other leading GOP politicians and strategists, it’s a calculation: placate Trump and his crazy stuff now, win the Congress next year and start to move on.

That’s a fantasy.

The narcissistic former president is incapable of just going away. The Trump brand hardly suffers though it seems every week a new book comes out on his tragic governance and those from people without subpoena power.

Start with the 2020 election, which should be history; Biden won the popular vote handily and the electoral college with several states to spare. That has been validated by Republican state officials, dozens of court cases, Congress and Trump’s own attorney general and vice president. It was more clear-cut than Trump’s victory four years earlier and two other presidential elections in this century.

Time to move on, right? Trump won’t allow it.

Trump is an effective demagogue. Six years ago, he had many Republicans questioning whether Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaWhere is Joe Biden’s ‘red line’?Newsom recall spurs unprecedented turnout campaignBiden is steering America to lose asymmetric warsMORE really was born in the United States, even though Obamas 1961 birth in Hawaii was in the newspaper.;

Actually, the former president could take credit for the rapid development of the extraordinarily effective vaccines but this might help Biden, avoiding which apparently motivates Trump more than the lives he might save.

Todays Republicans Really Hate Democrats And Democracy

1) Trumps supporters have embraced anti-democratic ideas

This chart shows results from a two-part survey, conducted in late 2020 and early 2021, of hardcore Trump supporters. The political scientists behind the survey, Rachel Blum and Christian Parker, identified so-called MAGA voters by their activity on pro-Trump Facebook pages. Their subjects are engaged and committed Republican partisans, disproportionately likely to influence conflicts within the party like primary elections.

These voters, according to Blum and Parker, are hostile to bedrock democratic principles.

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John Kasich Says Republicans Are ‘afraid’ Of Trump

EmbedEmbed

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks with NPR’s Leila Fadel about the GOP’s unwillingness to stand up to President Trump, who still refuses to accept the results of the presidential election.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Last night, President Trump received another loss in court. A federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed the campaign’s attempts to stop the certification of Pennsylvania’s votes. This is just the latest of more than two dozen failed challenges brought by the Trump campaign to overturn the election results. President Trump refuses to concede, and for the most part, his party has supported his efforts to pursue legal challenges based on false allegations of widespread voter fraud.

Very few high-profile Republicans have publicly acknowledged Joe Biden as the winner, but one of them is John Kasich. He’s the former governor of Ohio and a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, and he joins us now.

Governor Kasich, welcome.

JOHN KASICH: Thanks, Leila. Glad to be with you.

FADEL: So you endorsed President-elect Joe Biden. He won this election. What do you make of President Trump’s attempts to overturn the results?

KASICH: It’s just absurd. The whole thing is – it’s just – it’s ridiculous. I mean, he has clearly won this election. And it is just sort of amazing to me that Republicans just keep sitting on their hands. It makes no sense.

FADEL: That was the former Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich.

Governor Kasich, thanks for speaking with us.

Republicans Still Scared To Death Of Trump

Trump went on yet another unhinged rant this weekend during a speech to donors in Florida, attacking Mitch McConnell as a “stone cold loser” for refusing to go along with his attempt to steal the election, but you won’t find any profiles in courage in the GOP willing to stand up to him.

Case in point, on this weekend’s Fox News Sunday, South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune was asked about Trump calling him “weak and inneffective RINO” earlier in the year and saying he might back a primary challenger to Thune. Thune responded telling host Chris Wallace that “I’ve been through wars in South Dakota, political wars, with my own party when I ran the first time, with the Democrats in a couple of hotly contested Senate races, so being afraid of a fight or somebody coming after me is not something that’s going to influence that decision,” but Thune refused to admonish Trump for his rhetoric, and refused to stand up for McConnell when asked about him as well.

Which is pretty much the equivalent of “I support Trump, but I really don’t like the tweeting” that we heard from so many of them over the last five or six years.

As the Fox article discussed, Trump called Thune “Mitch’s boy” when urging Gov. Kristi Noem to challenge Thune in 2022, but no amount of insults are apparently ever breaking point for these jellyfish.

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Why Republicans Are Scared Of Texas New Abortion Ban

For years, conservative legislators have passed increasingly restrictive abortion laws, knowing theyd be struck down by the courts. Now, Republicans are going to have to defend their views at the ballot box. And that might not go well for them.

At a pro-choice rally in Texas in 2013, one sign reads “Republicans, your seats aren’t safe.” | AP Photo/Eric Gay

09/18/2021 08:41 AM EDT

Link Copied

Sarah Isgur is a graduate of Harvard Law School who clerked on the Fifth Circuit. She was Justice Department spokeswoman during the Trump administration and is the host of the legal podcast Advisory Opinions for the Dispatch.

When the Supreme Court allowed Texas 6-week abortion law to stand earlier this month, it was presented asa major victory for anti-abortion conservatives. After all, Republican state legislators in deep red states have long been passing increasingly restrictive abortion laws, only to see many later get struck down in the courts. Finally, one law got through .

Whats going on? When considering the political ramifications of the Texas abortion law, Ian Malcoms famous line from Jurassic Park comes to mind, with a little social-wars twist: Your were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didnt stop to think if they should.

So the more relevant question is whether the abortion issue motivates voters in both political camps and which side it motivates more.

Filed Under:

As Gop Makes It Harder To Vote Few Republicans Dissent

ATLANTA In Arizona, a Republican state senator worried aloud that his partys proposed voter identification requirements might be too cumbersome. But he voted for the bill anyway.

In Iowa, the states Republican elections chief put out a carefully worded statement that didnt say whether he backs his own partys legislation making it more difficult to vote early.

And in Georgia, Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan left the room as Senate Republicans approved a bill to block early voting for all but the GOPs most reliable voting bloc. Duncan instead watched Mondays proceedings from a television in his office to protest.

This is what amounts to dissent as Republican lawmakers push a wave of legislation through statehouses across the nation to make voting more difficult. The bills are fueled by former President Donald Trumps false claims of widespread voter fraud and many are sponsored by his most loyal allies. But support for the effort is much broader than just Trumps hard-right base, and objections from GOP policymakers are so quiet they can be easy to miss.

Its a startling shift for a party whose voters in some states, such as Florida and Arizona, had embraced absentee and mail voting. Several Republican strategists note the party may be passing laws that only box out their own voters.

Read Also: When Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Platforms

An Effort To Investigate Was Blocked In The Senate

Its different with the Jan. 6 insurrection. After Republicans in the Senate blocked a bill to investigate, the House decided to investigate on its own.

This time around, however, all but two Republicans in the House Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming voted against setting up a committee to find out what happened on;Jan. 6.

All of Arizonas Republican representatives voted no.;This would include Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar. You may recall that right-wing political activist Ali Alexander claimed that these two Arizona representatives worked with him to plan pro-Trump rallies, including the one that ended with an attack on the Capitol.

That kind of connection to the Capitol riot seems to be what Republicans are worried about. They;fear the exposure of possible;links between the rioters and Republicans, and the implications that may have for former President Donald Trump.

Gladys Sicknick, the mother of Brian Sicknick, said of the Republicans who voted not to investigate the event, I just dont believe anybody could vote no, it doesnt make sense.

Republicans Can Govern Without Winning A Majority That Threatens Our Democracy

âRepublicans Are Afraid Of Donald Trumpâ Despite Election Loss, Kasie Hunt Says | TODAY

So, lets talk about why Cheney is once again on the chopping block and what that means for the Republican Party moving forward that is, can we finally stop debating whether the GOP is Trumps party now?;

But first: the role of the Big Lie. For a while now, refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election has proven a fealty test of sorts to Trump, and its one Cheney has refused to take. How much of that is responsible for Cheneys current situation versus her politics being increasingly out of step with the rest of the party?

related:Bidens Push For Big Government Solutions Is Popular Now But It Could Backfire Read more. »

nrakich :Its the entire reason for her current situation, Sarah.

Ideologically, Cheney is a faithful conservative at least as conservatism used to be defined. According to DW-Nominate, which uses voting records to quantify the ideology of every member of Congress on a scale from 1 to -1 , she has a score of 0.515.

And according to FiveThirtyEights Trump Score, she voted in line with Trumps position 93 percent of the time. Instead, her main transgression appears to be not going along with the Big Lie .

micah : Yeah, agreed. The idea that Cheneys troubles are about policy the argument that her hawkish foreign policy views or her free-trade-y views are behind her split with the bulk of the GOP is a bit silly?

Americans are living in two different realities right now.

micah: Yeah, agreed.

Thats scary!

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Is The Census Wrong

nrakich: I agree that its circular, Micah. The reason more Republican elites dont criticize Trump is that theyre afraid of his voters punishing them. But what they dont seem to realize is that they themselves also have power to shape those voters opinions! Theres a lot of evidence in political science that elites can shape public opinion.

sarah: Do GOP elites, though? So much of Trumps story in 2016 and 2020 was about the high voter turnout that he was responsible for driving. And although I think we should question how much turnout helped the GOP in 2020, there does seem to be an unspoken fear among GOP elites that these voters arent really Republicans now that is, they wont turn out for anyone other than Trump which is why so many GOP elites are scared to break with Trumps messaging.

micah: What do you all think would happen public opinion-wise if Republicans in Washington came out hard against the Big Lie but Trump and state-level Republicans kept it going?

nrakich: To be clear, it would be a political risk for Republican politicians to come out forcefully against the Big Lie. A solid chunk of the party would likely stand by Trump and continue to think the election was stolen. But it could lead to serious infighting within the GOP. At least, though, our democracy would be on a healthier path.;

But, hey, Im not staring down midterms.

micah: I think they are not long for this world.

I mean, how many are even left?

sarah: Or John Kasich.

Republican Party Faces Rage From Both Pro

By Peter Eisler, Chris Kahn, Tim Reid, Simon Lewis, Jarrett Renshaw

13 Min Read

WASHINGTON – After riots at the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trumps supporters, the Republican Party is facing defections from two camps of voters it cant afford to lose: those saying Trump and his allies went too far in contesting the election of Democrat Joe Biden – and those saying they didnt go far enough, according to new polling and interviews with two dozen voters.

Paul Foster – a 65-year-old house painter in Ellsworth, Maine – is furious at party leaders for refusing to back the presidents claims that the election was stolen with millions of fraudulent votes. The party is going to be totally broken if it abandons Trump, Foster says, predicting Trump loyalists will spin off into a new third party.

I just wish he would run away with his tail between his legs, Cupelo says.

Though Republicans have now lost control of the White House and both houses of Congress in just four years, Trumps base remains a potent electoral force in the party. That base helped him capture more voters some 74 million than any Republican in history. The vast majority of his supporters, including 70% of Republicans, remain loyal, according to new Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted days after last weeks riot at the Capitol, and many activists say theyre willing to abandon the GOP for any perceived slight against their leader.

Recommended Reading: Dinesh D’souza The Big Switch

Republicans Are Suddenly Afraid Of Democracy

Were not a democracy, Republican Senator Mike Lee tweeted in the middle of Wednesday nights vice-presidential debate. He was reacting to something hed heard onstage there, in his home state of Utah. Another tweet: The word democracy appears nowhere in the Constitution, perhaps because our form of government is not a democracy. Its a constitutional republic. To me it matters. It should matter to anyone who worries about the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of the few. Hours after the debate Lee was still worrying the thought: Democracy isnt the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.

Why did Lee choose this momentless than four weeks before an election in which his party seems likely to suffer defeatto make the familiar, even pedantic, point that we live in a republic rather than a pure democracy? Why did he insist on the point so vehemently that he neglected to mention that power in the American system ultimately lies with the people, which means that our system could also be called a representative democracy? Did he mean rank as in foul, rancid, or outright? If the last, does that mean the tyranny of the majority leading to perverse rule by the few? What did this short, misleading course in Civics 101 have to do with anything?

Time To Reckon With Gop Radicalization

The lies about 2020 and the increasing dedication to destroying democratic institutions in the quest for power are inextricable from one another. As Jay Rosen says, the press is comfortable calling out the former it can be packaged as a fact check.” But being forthright about the latter requires depicting one party as far and away the only primary threat to our democratic stability. Thats accurate, but its uncomfortably adversarial.

Relatedly, describing Republicans as cowards who fear Trump casts their machinations as mere reluctant efforts to cope with externally imposed circumstances theyd prefer not to be dealing with. This lets Republicans off the hook in a very fundamental way. It risks misleading the country about the true depths of GOP radicalization and the real dangers it poses.

Read more:

Also Check: How Many Democrats And Republicans Are In The House

[wiener-blut]

i was tagged by my bb @babypaulchen ages ago and now the time has come to finally do this shit!! i told u i was gonna do it Brig!!

rules: answer these 85 questions and tag 20 people (i wont tag anyone bc im doubting i even know 20 ppl on here lmao)

— what was your last…

1. drink: peach flavoured ice tea 2. phone call: my mom bc i asked her if shes interested in some hyacinth bulbs for her garden since the ones that stood in my room decayed 3. text message: to my cousin, setting a time where we can call and chat 4. song you listened to: actual surprise - its not Rammstein *ooohs and aaahs fly through the crowd* it was “The Schuyler Sisters” from Hamilton 5. time you cried: yesterday bc i had the worst fucking headache ever and i was being a whiny bitch

— have you ever…

6. dated someone twice: nope 7. kissed someone and regretted it: uhh no? 8. been cheated on: no 9. lost someone special: yes 10. been depressed: yes 11. gotten drunk and thrown up: yes, multiple times and ive come to the conclusion that throwing up makes me feel better afterwards like im back to being able to actually perveice my environment again lmao

— fave colours

12. black 13. pastel pink 14. actually i kinda love all colours idk

— in the last year have you…

15. made new friends: yes! 16. fallen out of love: no 17. laughed until you cried: yes, multiple times, good 18. found out someone was talking about you: like uh shittalking? idk so i guess not 19. met someone who changed you: uhhh kinda? 20. found out who your friends are: um well i found out that my friends are good friends and that i love them and that i dont want to miss any of them 21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list: what? u can “kiss” someone on facebook? lmao i didnt take a look on facebook for literally years .......man i had a massive brainlag here. i thought u can now “kiss” ppl on facebook like u can “poke” ppl on facebook and it didnt come to my mind this could mean “irl” lmao bury me IF it means irl tho, then yes

— general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl: pff idk man who the fuck still uses that shithole of a site anyways

23. do you have any pets: no but i had a super cute and fluffy bunny and i still miss him and think about him everyday also i plan on having half a farm and half a zoo in the future

24. do you want to change your name: not anymore; i used to hate my name bc its so outdated and the only answer i ever got on introducing myself was “hey my grandma has the same name isnt that funny” but then more and more people told me my name was pretty and unique and well now that im older (sounds like im 40 lmao) im even kinda fond of it

25. what did you do for your last birthday: umm uhh i guess i was studying for my exams lol but i remember my gf cooking an amazing dinner for me 💖

26. what time did you wake up today: uhhhhhh smth around 9am i think

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: actually sleeping for once bc that headache knocked me out completely

28. what is something you can’t wait for: fucking going to fucking Hamburg in fucking five fucking days

30. what are you listening to right now: the birds chirping outside

31. have you ever talked to a person named tom: yes i had a classmate named Tom........he was a bit strange tho.......

32. something that’s getting on your nerves: i cant think of anything rn

33. most visited website: Tumblr and Youtube

34. hair colour: natural? blonde / current? dyed it pink two weeks ago

35. long or short hair: long ass hair and i mean, literally, they reach all the way down to my hips

36. do you have a crush on someone: ohhhahahaha so, so many, one - and maybe the king of em all - being Christoph Schneider (not obvious at all cough cough)

37. what do you like about yourself: uhhhhhhhhhhh.........;;;;; i guess... uh... *insert more unintelligent noises* maybe my legs?

38. want any piercings: no, except for maybe some on my ear

39. blood type: 0 positive, i think

40. nicknames: Lily

41. relationship status: super duper gay af with @haifisch-ohne-traenen

42. sign: officially capricorn (i like to say “the last capricorn” bc it sounds like “the last unicorn” and well my birthday is on the last day that still counts as capricorn), but honestly im more of an aquarius

43. pronouns: she/her

44. fave tv show: i recently watched Grimm and the story was okay but the cast was like super adorable and i fell in love with every single one of them

45. tattoos: none. YET. i have plans for so much i just am very bad at deciding

46. right or left handed: right handed 47: ever had surgery: okay, small story time. there are these childrens books by german illustrator and author “Janosch” in which a tiger and a bear are best friends and i used to love those books. so once, tiger got ill (his stripes slipped out of place) and he needed to see the doctor. and the exact line was “soothing small shot, blue dream, surgery over, noticed nothing, tiger healthy”. and i once was in the hospital bc there was something wrong my nose (i dont remember what it was tho) and so they anaesthetized me (and my fav stuffie which i brough with me for mental support) and afterwards i told everyone of my “blue dream” and everyone was like ????? wtf kid bc they didnt know what i was talking about and it was just some months ago when i finally found out that a narcosis isnt called a “blue dream” and that i just knew this bc of this books which i adored and tbh i was like MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE “BLUE DREAM” IS AN ADORABLE TERM FOR IT 48. piercings: none 49. sport: i did ballet for 15 years and i still love to dance around the house and the mother of my best friend once called me cute bc i cant stand still and always spin around or stretch my toes while lifting my leg or do some pliés and tbh i wasnt even aware of that

50. vacation: uh...i love? lmao

51. trainers: umm like my shoes? mostly wearing my black doc martens

— more general

52. eating: i love me some good salad with tomatoes, mozzarella and tuna but ngl a pizza margherita could beat that salad any time. or a nice ragout fin. or mac’n’cheese. i love food in general, okay

53. drinking: i’d kill for a tequila rn. but like non-alcoholic beverage - plain water, yes thank u

54. i’m about to watch: some movie with my gf which we havent decided on yet

55. waiting for: my gf to return home from work so i can smooch her pretty face

56. want: to cuddle honestly

57. get married: since its legal in germany for some months now... idk tbh, its not smth i debate about on a daily basis

58. career: um i have a vague plan for becoming a speech pathologist but yea... its very vague

— which is better

59. hugs or kisses: hugs

60. lips or eyes: gotta say eyes

61. shorter or taller: i dont care actually

62. older or younger: um sweats loudly...... older (fun fact i recently calculated the average age of my celebrity crushes....yes i was bored.... and it resulted in 50.... well.....)

63. nice arms or stomach: arms, fucc me up

64. hookup or relationships: relationships

65. troublemaker or hesitant: me? kinda both

— have you ever

66. kissed a stranger: no 67. drank hard liquor: yes 68. turned someone down: not really?

69. sex on first date: nope

70: broken someone’s heart: probably

71. had your heart broken: uh yea...kinda

72. been arrested: no

73. cried when someone died: yes, im a whiny bitch so i cry easily

74. fallen for a friend: yeah binch im dating that lovely ho right now... im gonna leave Brig’s answer here bc its perf and same here

— do you believe in

75. yourself: ugh

76. miracles: i want to

77. love at first sight: no

78. santa claus: i want to lol but no

79. angels: fuck yes

— misc

80. eye colour: blue-gray-green-ish mud 81. best friend’s name: Dana

82. favourite movie: so? much? i cant decide, really

83. favourite actor: Tom Hiddleston, i love this british dork, lemme tell u

84. favourite cartoon: phuh, idk i dont really watch cartoons

85. favourite teacher’s name: SWEATS LOUDLY AND AGGRESIVELY i had two massive teacher crushes back in my school days and that makes me a bit biased but im gonna say Herr Wolf was a great teacher bc he always said “hey, astronomy’s a minor subject, the test won’t be hard and i wont give u homework, u guys concentrate on math, german and english” and tbh we need more teachers like that

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Dad Finds His 14-Year-Old’s Comics Funny So He Decides To Post Them Online, And People Are Praising His Humor

14-year-old Jake has been drawing a new comic on the whiteboard on his bedroom door every single night. The talented teen’s comics are charming, funny, and they’ve already won over a large chunk of Instagram and Reddit. “Drawing is both a talent and a hobby of mine so comics are always fun to do,” Jake told Bored Panda about what keeps him drawing every day. “The main motivation, however, is the fact that over 10,000 people love my comics. I always try to have something ready when it’s time to post a comic, and I take my time to make sure they’re excellent.” Scroll down, upvote your fave Jake’s Door Comics and read on for our full interview with both the creative and disciplined young artist and his supportive father David. And keep an eye (or two) out for Jake’s first book which should come out by Summer’s end. More info: Instagram | DoorComics.com | Twitter | Facebook | Reddit #1 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #2 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #3 Image credits: jakes_door_comics Jake told us all about the origins of his viral comics. Like lots of great things, it started out with something done entirely for fun. “I always liked drawing little comics, but I haven’t really done anything with them until 6 months ago when the social media page started,” Jake said. “It all started when I watched a movie about a spelling bee that inspired me to make a ‘word of the day’ for my family to see. So I got a tiny whiteboard my dad had, put a hook on my door, stapled some twine onto the back of the whiteboard, and hung the twine on the hook. I wrote a word of the day for a while, but finding an interesting word every day got harder and harder until I gave up and l left the whiteboard blank.” However, the teen soon found other uses for the whiteboard. “I occasionally doodled on it and made comics sometimes (out of boredom), some of which my dad loved. My dad took pictures of them, and once we got around 50, my dad asked for permission to put them on an Instagram page. I was reluctant at first, but I gave my dad the green light to put the comics up. The page got 10,000 followers in two days, and I drew comics on the whiteboard more frequently. And that’s how it all began!” #4 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #5 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #6 Image credits: jakes_door_comics The 14-year-old also revealed what it’s like to draw his comics behind the scenes and let us in on his secret to coming up with great daily content. “It usually takes around five minutes, sometimes longer because of my hand erasing the comic while I draw (markers are not the most effective drawing tool). My dad usually gives me critique on the comics so that can take longer, too.” However, coming up with new ideas is much tougher than drawing them “Ideas are more complicated. My main source of comic ideas is my overactive imagination. I’ll have an idea for a comic, think, ‘Hey that’s actually a good idea,’ and write it down on a sticky note for future use.” #7 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #8 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #9 Image credits: jakes_door_comics He continued: “If that fails me, a good idea generator is ‘What if…’ For example, what if... ...you divided 0/0 on an experimental calculator? ...your fridge was, literally, running? ...a man hated puns so much he would kill over it? ...you played a sport with a ball filled with enough helium to make it fly? ...there was way too much caffeine in someone’s coffee? ...people noticed that whatever they say comes up in a speech bubble above their heads?” Jake said it’s a great method for generating comic ideas, especially when he’s running low on them. #10 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #11 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #12 Image credits: jakes_door_comics Meanwhile, Jake’s dad, David, says that his son has impressed everyone with his art, insight, observation, and humor. “Every night, he would draw something funny on his whiteboard, and I recognized how awesome they were. But the drawings would simply get erased and drawn over so I felt I needed to preserve them somehow. The easiest way was to just take a snapshot with my phone, and decide what to do with it later,” David said. “Eventually, the comics got funnier and funnier, and I decided I needed to post them online—if nothing more than to preserve them. I thought one day he would look back and see how creative he was at age 14.” #13 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #14 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #15 Image credits: jakes_door_comics Jake was reluctant for his dad to upload his drawings onto Instagram at first but gave in. “Things kind of took off from there,” dad David said. He explained that the main goal of this whole project was to unleash his son’s creativity. “Throughout this whole adventure, the goal was only to let Jake be creative as he wanted to be, and if it made people smile—then that was a bonus. The fact that over 20,000 people now have followed him on Instagram and Reddit is pretty mind-blowing, but as his dad, it doesn’t surprise me. He’s quite an amazing kid.” #16 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #17 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #18 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #19 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #20 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #21 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #22 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #23 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #24 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #25 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #26 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #27 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #28 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #29 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #30 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #31 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #32 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #33 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #34 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #35 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #36 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #37 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #38 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #39 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #40 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #41 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #42 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #43 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #44 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #45 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #46 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #47 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #48 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #49 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #50 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #51 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #52 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #53 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #54 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #55 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #56 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #57 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #58 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #59 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #60 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #61 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #62 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #63 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #64 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #65 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #66 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #67 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #68 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #69 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #70 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #71 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #72 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #73 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #74 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #75 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #76 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #77 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #78 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #79 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #80 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #81 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #82 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #83 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #84 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #85 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #86 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #87 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #88 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #89 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #90 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #91 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #92 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #93 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #94 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #95 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #96 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #97 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #98 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #99 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #100 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #101 Image credits: jakes_door_comics #14-year-oldArtist #Comics #HomepageFeatured #Bp-exclusive #ComicsOnBedroomDoorWhiteboard

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/dad-finds-his-14-year-old-s-comics-funny-so-he-decides-to-post-them-online-and-people-are-praising-his-humor

[littledonkeyburrito]

Some lint

1. Have you ever punched someone and broke their nose? Haven’t broken their nose but I’ve certainly hit a few in the face bc karate

2. What is the longest time you have gone without sleep? Forty-something hours without even a nap

3. Have you ever been someplace tropical? Several places

4. You see an ant on the ground, do you squish it? If it’s in my house, yes.

5. Have you ever baked a pie? I don’t think so.

6. What is your favorite social networking site? Instagram probably

7. Has anyone in your family fought in any of the wars? Dad’s dad was in WW2. Dad fought in Belfast in the 70s I think

8. Would you make any changes to your current bedroom? Yeah, I would like $100,000 to magically appear under my mattress.

9. Has a stray dog ever tried to bite you? Playfully. I stop playing with strays when they get boisterous bc rabies

10. When riding a bus, do you prefer to sit up front, down back or the middle? Middle-back generally

11. Have you ever been on a cross-country train ride? Yes, in a few places. I freaking love sleeper trains, I think they’re so fun with a group. On one of the sleeper trains I went on in China we accidentally taught the guy with the food/drink trolley the english word for beer because we bought more every time he went past.

12. Is there currently any caffeine in your system? No

13. Look around, are things organized? Yes, I keep my apartment very tidy.

14. Is there any TV show that ended that you wish hadn’t? Don’t Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23

15. Know what you’re planning to do after this? Attempt to kill time for a couple of hours until I can go to bed

16. How often do you update your Facebook status? I don’t really do statuses, just post photos from my instagram.

17. Do you even wear any jeans other than skinny anymore? All my jeans are of varying levels of skininess. From slim-fit to practically painted on.

18. Are you sensitive to caffeine? Yes. I would have a rum and coke right now but 1) I don’t have any coke, and 2) if I drank any it would take me a long time to get to sleep.

19. How do you usually get around? Walking or metro

20. Which languages do you wish you could speak fluently in? It would be nice to be fluent in spanish but if it happened magically overnight it wouldn’t be fun because I like the challenge. It would be cool to magically become fluent in arabic and/or mandarin.

21. Have you ever been accused of being too clingy? No

22. Can you speak any French? No.

23. Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Dozens. I travel a lot.

24. What is in your pocket? Some lint.

25. Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents? There are certainly some details of my life that I have omitted. Such as some experiences with sex, drugs and alcohol.  

26. Who was the last person to smoke a cigarette in your presence? People from that office I briefly worked at. Or probably more recently just random people on the street.

27. Have you ever lived with a friend? Yeah, a few.

28. What are a few of your favorite tv shows? iZombie, Brooklyn 99, Jane The Virgin, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Club De Cuervos, Parks and Rec 29. What kind of socks do you like to wear? Brightly coloured ones with wild patterns 30. Do you have your own house key, and how often do you actually use it? Whenever I need to get into my apartment. (This question must have been written by a teenager)

31. How often do you eat chocolate? Not actually that often. I don’t have as much of a sweet tooth as I did when I was younger. 32. How often do you wash dishes at your house? Every 1-3 days depending on how lazy I am.

33. How much sleep did you get last night? ~7 hours 34. When was the last time you went to a cemetery and why were you there? Last year on halloween myself and a few other drunk people from the party I was at decided to go wander around the nearby cemetery. 35. What were you doing when you heard about the attack on the twin towers? I don’t remember specifically hearing about it. I was only 7 so I wouldn’t really have cared anyway. Mostly what I remember is that they took cartoons off tv to play non-stop news for at least a week. 36. Doesn’t John Mayer suck? I have no opinions on him. 37. When was the last time you saw the sun rise? When I was in Colombia. One night in Cartagena I stayed up with a swedish and a colombian guy chatting in spanish while we watched the sun rise over the river. Then the cops came over and told us to leave.

38. What was the last picture you took? It was of my DS because I started playing pokemon in spanish and I was sending the picture to a couple of friends to say that the pokemon names are still the same in this language.

39. Are there many traffic incidents in your area? I don’t drive anymore so I don’t pay attention. 40. Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck? Probably at some point during travels. I’ve done a lot of weird shit 41. Are you currently downloading anything? No. 42. Does your father have any facial hair? No

43. Have you ever played golf? My mum attempted to get me into golf when I was a kid (maybe young teen?) and I absolutely hated it. It was the most infuriating game I’ve ever played.

44. What was the last tv show you watched an episode of? The Defenders 45. Do you like beer? If so, what’s your favorite brand? Beer is fine. I’m pretty used to Moritz and Estrella Damm because they are common local brands. The fucking worst beer is Balboa in Panama. God it was so awful. Also not a fan of San Miguel which is common across all of spain. 46. Do you feel bad when you throw food out? Yes 47. When was the last time you waxed anything on your body, if ever? I’ve never waxed. I just shave. 48. What’s your favorite fast food place? I don’t have one. I don’t really eat takeout here. 49. When was the last time you went out for a meal? A few weeks ago. 50. Have you ever been in a car accident? A few minor ones but not while I’ve been driving. 51. What colour shirt are you wearing right now? Navy blue

52. Have you ever had a bonfire on the beach? Y’know I actually don’t think I have... I should get on that.

53. Are you skilled when it comes to working in the kitchen? I don’t burn anything. That’s a skill, right?

54. When was the last time you went to a campground? That would have been back in April, camping in the Sahara Desert.

55. Do you listen to music while driving? Yes, and I sing along Very Loudly.

56. When was the last time you hung out with people younger than you? I have absolutely no idea. 

57. What is the closest blue object to you? Box of tissues on the coffee table.

58. How much did you spend on your last shopping trip? Probably about 25 euros at the grocery store

59. Have you ever gone over your cell phone plan by accident? I used to go over my data limit pretty regularly at my old job.

60. Can you honestly say you’ve been drunk before? Very, and many times. (this question must have been written by a teen)

61. Where did you get your last bruise from? Probably that mystery bruise I got in my armpit in central america. I’m pretty sure I got roofied that night so I don’t remember anything at all but I am still sooooo curious how I got that bruise. Nobody I was with knew how it happened either but then again they were all pretty trashed anyway so even if they saw they might not remember.

62. Are you a person that likes to take chances? Depends. Sometimes I take calculated risks.

63. Would you consider your life to be great right now? Right now it’s pretty mediocre but a month ago it was freaking awesome.

64. Do you remember the dream you had last night? Not exactly but I think it involved me getting tattoos on my arm

65. Do you get emotional easily? I don’t really have emotions tbh

66. Do you get obnoxious when you’re drunk? Nah, I get fun when I’m drunk

67. Who was the first person to ever give you flowers? I’m not sure anybody has ever given me flowers.

68. What was the last thing you heated up in your microwave? Chicken and veggies to go with my baked potato the other day

69. Were you born somewhere other than a hospital? No.

70. What was the last flavor of ice cream you had? Mango. It was homemade by a woman in Comuna 13 in Colombia 71. When you go out drinking, what do you prefer to drink? Beer or rum and coke 72. Is there a trash can near you? Yeah

73. When and where was the last time you took a picture of yourself? I think I took a selfie in my kitchen a few days ago 74. When was the last time you stayed up throughout the entire night? Cartagena, Colombia. ~8 weeks ago. But I stayed up until 2 or 3am a few times after that.

75. Have you ever considered a foreign-exchange program? No, I just fucked off overseas on my own accord.

76. Are sex and sexual activities something you enjoy? Yep 77. What’s an interesting fact about the state in which you were born? I know literally nothing about the region I was born in.

78. What’s one aspect of your life that did not turn out as you expected? Well I definitely didn’t expect to learn spanish 79. Is there a subject about which you know a great deal? Probably, but nothing immediately comes to mind 80. What was the last thing that you put off doing? I should probably vacuum and mop my apartment 81. What did you do instead of that activity? Anything else.

Before and after: 3 years ago, today

82. What size is the last bed you kissed on?  - Double.  - A single bed in a twin room in a hotel. Tbh I probably could have swapped to a double room but at that point I didn’t realise he’d be staying with me

83. When was the last time you were sick? - I got the flu pretty bad in 2013. Probably should have gone to hospital but instead I only took 2 days off work. - I had a mild cold when I got home from my last trip. 84. Do you have any summer plans yet? - I ditched summer in favour of going skiing in Japan - Summer just ended. I don’t know whether my next summer will be here next June/July, or back in Aus in January. Will depend on whether I find a job 85. When was the last time you shaved your legs? - Probably within 2 weeks - Earlier today 86. Is there someone you wish you were closer with? - I think I had just started developing a crush on a guy that I later dated briefly and then he cheated on me, lied about it and broke up with me by facebook message while I was on holiday overseas. So, not the best idea really. - I’m all g. 87. Do you tend to waste a lot of money? - I made 1 or 2 poor decisions with money but I was earning enough to cover my ass. - It’s not a waste when it’s something I actively want to spend the money on. 88. What did you last drink? - Probably pepsi - Orange juice 89. Have you ever received an injury from a hook up? - Uhhh no? - Not unless that’s how I got that mystery bruise in my armpit. 90. Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex? - Yes - Yes, the same ones 91. When was the last time you had a crowd at your house? - Probably around this time 3 years ago was my housewarming - I have never had more than 2 people visit this apartment at a time. Last time I had a crowd would have been my moving out party (from the place I just moved into 3 years ago) which was a bit over a year ago.

92. How many cell phones have you had? - 5 - 7, if you include the work phone I had 93. Where do you get all your clothes? - JayJays - H&M, C&A, Mango etc 94. Have you ever regretted kissing someone? - Nah - Nah 95. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? - No. - I got one just under 3 years ago 96. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone? - Alone - Depends. Sometimes I wouldn’t mind having someone here 97. Do you think age matters in relationships? - To an extent - Not really 98. Have you ever lived with a girlfriend/boyfriend? - No. - No 99. When will your next kiss be? - Probably the next party I went to. I made out with a lot of people that year - No idea 100. Add up all the digits of your cell phone number. What do you get? - 40 - 50 101. When you lost your virginity, do you honestly feel like you were ready? - I didn’t regret it but I probably wasn’t emotionally ready for it. - Same as above I guess. You only lose it once.

102. Was the person you lost your virginity to younger or older than you? - Older. - ^^

103. Were you sexually experienced whatsoever when you lost your virginity? - Not at all - ^^

104. Have you had sex with more than one person? - Yes - Yes by a larger amount

105. Have you ever had sex with the lights on? - Yes. - Yes

106. Have you ever had sex on a floor? - No - Yes

107. When is the last time you had sex? - Probably like at least 6 months before - About a month ago (can’t believe my trip ended so long ago)

108. Do you care for that person? - Eh - I guess

109. Is this your boyfriend or girlfriend? - No - No

110. The first time you got drunk, how old were you? - 16 - ^^

111. Where were you located the first time you got drunk? - The afterparty of my highschool formal. It was in the backyard of a girl in my grade - ^^

[bitter-sweets-tragedy]

Why I have it

Well, as many people may not know, I am suffering from an eating disorder. While writing this at 4 am I am sitting here thinking why I have tortured myself with it. Why I constantly worked out and restricted the best I could with low blood sugar. For all my lies, skipped meals and plenty of tears, pain and fears to last a life time, here's why I have it. 1. Because my boyfriend (now ex) at the is thin and another thin tiny girl hit on and all he did was smile. 2. Because of my childhood bullies who constantly reminded me how fat, stupid and ugly I am. 3. Because of my chubby face 4. My ex best friend began losing weight and rubbed it in my face 5. The smiles I now get from everyone 6. I had four guys in the same week ask for my number (even my crush at my workplace, but he's also a fuckboy I've now learnt 🙄) 7. Because I'm described at my office as "Em, the tiny girl short girl" 8. To be the smallest in my family and I don't mean height wise 9. Because as a child I went from clothing meant for kids that are bigger (la senza girl) to adult lathes and extra large. Never getting the chance to fit in small and medium clothes. 10. From never finding shoes that fit and were cute. 11. For my thick thighs rubbing 12. How proud I made everyone in my family when I lost the weight. 13. How jealous I made my family when I lost the weight, I remember when I hadn't seen my nana and grandpa in 8 months because we couldn't drive up north for Christmas due to bad weather so when we went down the following June/July my nana's mouth dropped as soon as I walked in. She was jealous of me the entire time because how thin I was. 14. Because being 5'1 (155 cm) weighing in at 168-170 is not healthy especially for being under 18. 15. Because I didn't believe I was beautiful 16. Because no one ever made the first move on me. 17. Back problems, I couldn't support myself that well as I had larger breasts. 18. How much nicer I'm now treated by everyone 19. The shock people have when they realize I'm actually fairly smart. 20. For being able to do sports and workout again. 21. For trying work to become comfortable in my own skin 22. So I wouldn't have buy my bras from specialty stores 23. Being told that I am a tiny girl while shopping at PINK/Victoria Secret 24. For being the size small/medium instead of large/Extra Large 25. Being able to wear whatever kind of clothing I wanted without being ashamed. 26. Wearing bikinis confidently instead of being ashamed. 27. Shorts 28. Being a size 6-7 in clothing such as jeans 29. People ask me to be in photos, such as today when I was sitting with my co worker and she pulled out her phone and took photo with me just because she wanted to. 30. For all my co workers whose mouths dropped when they saw my photo I took with Shawn Mendes when I was 16 (so 2 years ago) and they saw how much weight I lost. One girl even pointed it out. 31. People ask me for exercise, gym and nutrition advice (I of course do not tell them to starve them selves, I took plenty of cooking classes in high school so I told them everything I knew from what I learnt in classes on healthy eating) 32. Because the fuck boy I had a crush on looks at me as a little princess ( not in a bratty way if you know what I mean 😉) 33. Because my ex boyfriend telling me how beautiful I was more often when I lost the weight 34. Watching how protective he became. 35. When I worked at Tim Hortons, all my co workers used come up to me and compliment me constantly on how much I lost 36. Money saved 37. For how proud my gym teacher was in high school for how hard I worked in gym class and accomplished my goals. 38. For being the cute nerdy girl instead of the fat nerd girl. 39. For feeing my hip and wrist bones 40. For finally having collarbones!! This one is big for me because I never have seen mine. 41. Being asked and sometimes even begged to have dessert because of how hard I've worked. 42. Because I now get compared to Barbie but short 43. Because the popular girls in high school became x15 times nicer towards me when I lost the weight and even began befriending me before we all graduated. 44. For how people think I'm wearing foundation (this is more of a not having acne or very little acne on my face) 45. My prom dress in February when I bought it was a size small (it was super stretchy for some reason) and when I put it on again in June it did not stretch at all and It was even a little lose 46. How my side bangs look now that my face is slimmer 47. Not always being so hot 48. For ankle bones 49. For when my ex boyfriend best friend told me I wasn't fat but I'm short so I look extremely chubby. 50. Too finally feel confident and comfortable in my skin. Despite all the pleasures I got from this, if I had the chance to turn back time and lose weight the healthy way, I would have. 100% because now all I have is -Fear foods -Fear of calories in food -Being able to calculate how many calories I've had in a day even without an app -107 day streak of constantly putting in what I ate -Fearful friends and family who worry of my eating disorder -Still very low blood sugar -Bruising. Everywhere. -Headaches -constantly being over whelmed with food and calories - constant shakes (from low blood sugar and anxiety) - Worsen depression - Excessive exercising - My my begging me to try to maintain weight instead of lose (once I hit 120, she asked me to maintain and to stop losing because she feared how bad it could get. I ended up losing about 5 more pounds putting me at 115 -Obsession with my weight -Hangry -Love of water - Hunger pain -Skipped meals -crying when I had to eat a oatmeal raisin cookie (although I love them) -Putting every single thing I ate even the tiniest bite of something into my food diary app -Missed desserts -how disappointed I was when I didn't hit 130 on my 18th birthday. -I get irritable and sometimes even mad really quickly because of hunger -Thinspo -Worsen anxiety & depression - Dark circled around my eyes -Parents checking on me to make sure I have ate -Worried friends and family with the fact I may have a eating disorder and how fast I lost weight -One the reasons my ex and I broke up is because he was appraising me for my eating disorder (before you say omg what an asshole, I don't think he realized what he was doing or meant to encourage me down this path. He just meant to support me during weight loss journey) If you feel like you may have an eating disorder please for the love of whatever god you worship, get help. Get the fuck away from this side of Tumblr. Save yourself. If you worry about your weight (even though your perfect the way you are) please do it in a healthy way and don't let it become your obsession. Please.

[georgecmatthews]

Global markets: What to watch for in May

One month ago in this blog, I noted that April would be a critical month to gauge the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the board, it was a massive response, including significant monetary and fiscal stimulus from a variety of economies and widespread lockdowns designed to slow the rate of infection. But as we enter May, we are seeing differences in approach come to the fore — between countries, between localities, and between political parties.

How will we know which approaches are working to stem the rate of infections and to get people back to work? By examining the data. Here are some of the key issues that we will be watching in May:

1. Infection rates. Some European countries have begun to roll back lockdown measures, and some states within the US have also begun to loosen restrictions. The concern, of course, is that a second wave of infections may arise as a result, especially given that a number of the state rollbacks are occurring in contradiction of White House guidance that a loosening of restrictions should occur after 14 consecutive days of declining infection rates. And so we will be watching infection rates very closely for signs of a resurgence. If there isn’t a second wave, that would certainly encourage other countries and other US states to open more areas of their economies. If, however, there is a second wave, restrictions may have to be reinstated, prolonging the period of time before economic activity can re-accelerate.

2. Earnings. We are in the midst of earnings season with 55% of companies in the S&P 500 Index having reported earnings, and 45% still left to report.1 Importantly, much of the first quarter brought relatively normal activity before the pandemic spread in earnest. Therefore, from my perspective, the most important part of this earnings season is the forward guidance — and there has been relatively scant forward guidance on earnings from companies. FactSet Research found that, of the 122 companies that reported earnings as of April 24, only 50 (41%) discussed earnings guidance for 2020. Of those 50 companies, 30 said that they had withdrawn or were withdrawing previous earnings per share guidance for 2020 because of “the uncertainty of the future impacts of COVID-19.” Only 20 companies actually provided earnings guidance for the year: 10 lowered their previous guidance, six maintained their previous guidance, and four actually raised their earnings guidance. But while companies have not provided much guidance themselves, analysts have been slashing second-quarter earnings estimates at a dramatic clip. This is the single largest decline in a quarter’s earnings estimates to be made by analysts in the first month of the quarter since FactSet began tracking this statistic in 2002. It would be helpful to hear from more companies about any forward guidance they can provide — or lack thereof — during this crisis even if it involves a variety of possible scenarios dependent on monetary, fiscal and health policy as well as medical outcomes.

3. The US Employment Situation Report for April. This is going to be an ugly report: According to Barron’s, consensus estimates are for an unemployment rate of 16% and a loss of 21 million nonfarm payrolls. It could be even worse. Investors should expect the report to be shocking and not be caught by surprise — we have to keep in mind that there has been a dramatic drop in economic activity compressed into a very short time period, so the employment losses should be massive. What’s more important than the job numbers is what policymakers are doing to maintain solvency in the face of this.

4. Negotiations about Phase 4 fiscal stimulus for the US. While the ink is barely dry on Phase 3.5 of fiscal stimulus passed just two weeks ago, I believe the US needs to see another fiscal package soon, particularly one that’s geared towards state and local governments, as well as additional support for small businesses. This will not happen without serious debate, however, given Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that perhaps states should just file for bankruptcy — or at least they should not expect a check to “finance mistakes” not related to the pandemic. I believe a lack of economic support for states could be disastrous and only amplify the current downturn, given that state and local governments combined are a major employer. I suspect that we will see heated debate on this topic, but I believe that ultimately Congress will pass another stimulus bill that provides support for state and local governments, small businesses and other entities.

5. Possible re-ignition of the tariff war between the US and China. The United States is becoming more vocal in blaming China for the pandemic. Last Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened to apply new tariffs to China in retaliation. The next day, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow also suggested there could be retaliation of some kind. We will want to follow this situation closely as any new tariffs would place more pressure on the US and global economies — and even the threat of such tariffs could significantly impact the stock market, as we saw in recent days. Over the last six weeks, the stock market has enjoyed a decoupling from the economy as a result of monetary and fiscal stimulus, but that could change with the risk of another tariff war.

6. Brexit negotiations. Yes, despite the pandemic, Brexit negotiations are continuing. If a deal is not struck by the end of 2020, the trading terms between the UK and European Union would default to World Trade Organization terms. This would be a negative development, especially for the UK, dealing a blow to an economy that has already been hit hard by the novel coronavirus contagion. We will want to follow this situation closely as well. Given COVID-19, there is certainly a very compelling rationale to extend negotiations beyond the end of 2020.

7. Data reports. There are several key economic data reports we will want to watch in the next month, including:

US Retail Sales for April

US Industrial Production for April

China Retail Sales for April

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (preliminary)

ZEW Financial Market Survey – economic sentiment for May

UK Retail Sales for April

IHS Markit Eurozone Composite PMI for May (preliminary)

Eurozone Business Climate for May

Eurozone Consumer Confidence for May

US Consumer Confidence

US Durable Goods for April

This economic data will give us a sense of where various economies are in terms of bottoming, in the case of most, and recovering, in the case of China.

Perhaps the biggest question I get from clients is about the shape of the economic recovery — whether we can rebound quickly into a V-shaped recovery, or whether we will linger at the bottom of economic activity for an extended period. As I have said many times before, I continue to believe that the shape of the economic recovery will be dictated by three policy prongs: health, fiscal and monetary. We’ve seen impressive steps in each category so far, but there is still a long way to go, and differences in approach are marking the path ahead. I expect May to shed more light on what’s working and what needs to be rethought, helping us get a better sense of the shape of that recovery.

1 Source: FactSet Research Systems, as of May 1, 2020

Important information

Blog header image: SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Getty

The S&P 500® Index is an unmanaged index considered representative of the US stock market.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is published monthly, based on a telephone survey designed to assess US consumer expectations for the economy and their personal spending.

The ZEW Financial Market Survey is a monthly survey of about 350 analysts that measures economic sentiment in Germany for the next six months. The results are used to calculate the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment.

The IHS Markit Eurozone Composite Output PMI is based on original survey data from IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys of both services and manufacturing. Purchasing Managers Indexes are based on monthly surveys of companies, and gauge business conditions within the manufacturing and services sectors.

The opinions referenced above are those of the author as of May 4, 2020. These comments should not be construed as recommendations, but as an illustration of broader themes. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions; there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations.

from Expert Investment Views: Invesco Blog https://www.blog.invesco.us.com/global-markets-what-to-watch-for-in-may/