#I like holiday Merkel

[thatswhywelovegermany]

Ich glaube, dass, wenn man auf Berge steigt, bestimmte Hirnregionen gut durchgelüftet werden.

I believe that when you climb mountains, certain areas of the brain are well aerated.

Angela Merkel (*1954), German theoretical physicist and politician, eighth chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, responding to the question why she likes to go on hiking vacation in the Alps during the summer holidays

[kudosmyhero]

Batman: Dark Victory #7: Fools

Read Date: July 31, 2023 Cover Date: June 2000 ● Writer: Jeph Loeb ● Penciler: Tim Sale ● Inker: Time Sale ● Colorist: Gregory Wright ● Letterer: Richard Starkings ● Editor: Mark Chiarello ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● I’ll give Calendar Man this: he doesn’t easily ruffle

● oh feck

● 👏👏👏👏

Synopsis: The Special Task Force keeps their guns trained on Batman, demanding his surrender. Batman deploys a gas grenade, which disorients most of them, but Lopez keeps shooting even as her eyes water. As Batman leaves, Gordon orders his men to stand down. Batman is not the enemy, anyone with even the slightest grasp of the good that Batman has done for Gotham would know better than suspect him of being the Hangman. He directs them to help calm down some of the neighbors who were likely rattled by the gunfire, he has the unenviable task of telling Merkel's wife that she is now a widow.

Two weeks later, Two-Face convenes a tribunal in his underground hideout. The Joker, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Riddler, Poison Ivy, and Mister Freeze are serving as jurors, with Solomun Grundy as the bailiff. Calendar Man is delivering his testimony, still wearing his prison uniform, but now featuring tattoos on his head. Two-Face tells them that the tribunal's purpose is to determine the identity of the Hangman. Since Calendar Man offered valuable insight into Holiday, Two-Face suspects he might offer similar insight into the Hangman. Calendar Man notes that all the evidence suggests that Dent himself is responsible for the murders. Two-Face insists that it is too obvious, someone is clearly trying to frame him. He asks Calendar Man who the Hangman will target next. Calendar Man tells Harvey that he should already know that information. He should hurry though, today is a holiday: April Fool's Day.

At the Falcone Estate, Alberto is again contacted by the disembodied voice of his father, who directs him to the gun he used as Holiday. He quickly hides it as Sofia and Mr. Mirti return to the mansion. They have just returned from meeting Don Gazzo in Metropolis. Gazzo is going to have some words with Mario. Sofia demands to know where Alberto stands in her feud with Mario. Alberto simply tells her that she can do whatever she wants with Mario, he has his own plans.

After a training session, Batman and Alfred go over more forensic data from the Hangman murders. Batman expresses his frustration at Porter keeping him out of the investigation, and suggests they investigate her. Alfred tells him to list the order of the Hangman's victims, and he gets it wrong. Alfred notes that Bruce has been behaving erratically since Christmas and the breakup with Selina. Batman finally remembers that he was poisoned by Scarecrow on Christmas. Alfred fetches his medical bag.

Gordon is phoning Barbara from his office, when he notices someone has activated the Bat signal. When he goes out to investigate, he finds a rope around his neck. Batman arrives just in time to see Two-Face cutting him down. Two-Face insists that he is not the Hangman, someone is going to great lengths to set him up. Saving Gordon proves his innocence, but he will not help them any further. He adds that he has two snipers aimed at Gordon, and they will shoot unless they let him go. After Two-Face slips into the shadows, Batman wonders if Two-Face faked the hanging to throw suspicion off him. Gordon suggests that if it was the real Hangman, he would have left a note. Upon closer inspection, they find a police report involving Mario Falcone's deportation. Chief O'Hara was the arresting officer, and Harvey Dent was the prosecutor.

At the Ace Trucking Company, Zucco notes that Skeevers has recovered nicely from the injuries he sustained last month, but Skeevers is more concerned about the war between the Falcones and the Arkham Asylum escapees, as it is starting to hurt their bottom line. Zucco assures him that he has found a new way to move merchandise, and if it works, it will make them both very rich.

(https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman:_Dark_Victory_Vol_1_7)

Fan Art: Julian Day (Earth-27) commission by phil-cho

Accompanying Podcast: ● Batbooks for Beginners - episode 17

[mylittle-sunshine]

Today is my dad's birthday and in three days will be his death anniversary. I don't really know how I am supposed to feel about this and it's been two years now. It's kinda weird not to have him around but at the same time, I have forgotten what it feels like to have my best friend alive.

From time to time, I just remember that he was there. Sometimes I can smell his perfume (Sauvage by Dior, which means almost every dude's perfume) and feel him, which makes me sad because I miss him so very deeply. But at the same time, when I realise that I haven't thought about him for days, it makes me wanna punch myself.

I have blamed myself for a long time for his death. I had dreams about him dying months before and I had my teeth hurting so hard and falling in my dreams that even during the days it would put me into pain.

When I saw him that morning, I tried to bring him back to life by doing CPR but it was too late and i blamed myself for not doing it properly or maybe for having manifested it somehow through my dreams. I guess I just needed to blame someone because it felt so unfair to lose him when he was the type of man who deserved all the love on earth and a long peaceful life.

I blamed myself because I also saw the signs of death, but chose to ignore them. He has always been sort of hyperactive but during that time, he looked tired and in his own world. He was never much of a religious man but he opened his mind suddenly one or two weeks before. He would zone out and I remember his last Monday that he forgot to pick me up. I was so fucking scared and I called him and he was like "I'm so sorry, I fell asleep. I need to tell you something really important. I'm coming." When he arrived, he was mad but I didn't know why and he had forgotten that he had something to tell me. This is probably far-fetched, but what if he was warning me because he knew? He started teaching my mum how to drive again because it had been 10 years since she last drove. The day before he died, he repaired all of our broken furniture, observed birds with me and smoked. The night arrived and I had a fight with my mum because she was organising holidays and I told her that it is useless to foresee it because we don't know what is gonna happen tomorrow. It was way too early. I said goodnight, that I love them and my father watched a documentary about Angela Merkel on Arte alone.

I woke up during the night, felt the urge to go downstairs. Like something was leading me that way but I fell back asleep. When I woke up in the morning, I felt attracted to his room and thought it weird that he was still sleeping. Then I heard my mum screaming and for a second, I thought they were joking. I knew, he knew. But we didn't know.

I don't like to talk about him. Whenever my mum brings him into the conversation I just need to leave. I cannot hear about him because it feels like it's too soon, but when will it not be?

My birthday was not long after that and I was mad at him for leaving me, as selfish as it may sound, because I needed him.

He will never get to see me as a real adult. He will never know if I make my dreams come true, will never meet the love of my life, my children and will never give me that dance at my wedding.

He will forever be my dad and my best friend, but also just a ghost, a character from the stories that i will tell my future family.

Joyeux anniversaire papa.

Je t'aime <3

[skarsgard-daydreams]

"Pfeffernüsse"

Note: This is for @scxrsgxrd :)

Warnings: sexual implications, 18+

You come home from work a few days before Christmas and find Merkel in the kitchen with an apron tied around his waist carefully taking a sheet of little rounded cookies out of the oven. The whole apartment is filled with aromatic spices and the scent of black peppercorns and molasses. You can't think of another cookie that smells so much like Merkel as Pfeffernüsse. He sets the tray on the stovetop and turns off the oven, retrieving a spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. You walk into the kitchen and rise up on your toes to kiss his cheek while you try to sneakily grab one of the cookies. "You never told me you could bake," you say. Merkel wraps his arm around your waist and chuckles softly, swatting your hand away from the cookies with his spatula. "This is the only thing I can bake," he says. "Well, this and Rumkugeln." You pepper his jaw with kisses and ask in a voice sweet like honey, "Can I have one, Mausebär?" He finishes transferring the cookies and looks at you as though he's giving it consideration. "Not yet," he says. "I still have to ice them."

You're tempted to pout, but he turns to you and frames your face with his large hands, tilting it up and leaning down to capture your mouth in a slow sensual kiss that makes you momentarily forget about the cookies. You grab onto his shirt to keep yourself steady as your knees weaken. Merkel gently pushes you back until your hips are flush with the counter and then lifts you up, setting you on top of it. His stubble tickles your throat as he trails kisses down to where his fingers are unbuttoning your shirt. You drape your legs around his hips and press your palms against the counter while he tugs your shirt open and kisses the curve of your breasts. "You're trying to distract me," you mumble, acutely aware of the cookies that are cooling right beside you. Merkel presses his hands down over yours before you can reach for one. He sucks lightly on one of your nipples, making a gasp escape your lips and a tremor run through your body down to your center. "Would you rather not be distracted?" he asks, continuing to kiss your chest as a warm feeling spreads across your flesh. "N-no," you stammer. Smirking, Merkel shifts to your other breast and sucks a little harder. This time, you whimper softly. "Are you going to behave?" he asks, his playful gaze flickering back up to your face. "Yes," you say breathlessly.

He lets go of your hands and reaches for one of the cookies, holding it up in front of your face. You can smell the spices wafting in the air as you give Merkel a questioning look. "Then I suppose you can have a taste," he says. There is something surprisingly indulgent in his expression. He raises the cookie to your lips and watches your face while you take a bite out of it. The cookie is sweet and warm and spicy, with a slight crunch to it. It tastes like Christmas, even before it's been glazed with melted chocolate or powdered sugar. You hum contentedly as he feeds you another bite. "I never knew you had such a sweet tooth," Merkel teases.

You trail your hands over his shoulders and coax him down so you can kiss him again. "Some spy you are," you murmur against his lips, knowing it will rile him. Merkel gives a small growl and nips at your lower lip with his teeth. A second later, you squeal as he throws you over his shoulder and hauls you out of the kitchen, still wearing an apron dusted in flour. "You're in trouble now," he says, whipping the back of your thighs with the spatula. You gasp and try to squirm out of his grip, but you also giggle. "Is that a promise?" you ask as he wraps his arm firmly around your thighs. “With you, Mausi, it’s an inevitability,” he says. “Mm, good thing you’re here to keep me in line,” you purr.

[sweetbillwriting]

Blue Angels - Chapter VI

Characters: AU Gordan Merkel from Atomic Blonde played by Bill Skarsgård. The rest is my own original characters.

Setting: This story is set in a country that is hard to find on a map, in a city without a name and in a time similar to our own with some exceptions.

Music: Solitude by Billie Holiday.

Warnings: 18+, religious themes, some dark history about women/children/sick, mentions about a fire.

Notes: The woman on the picture is Louise Edlind, my faceclaim to a young Marta but of course you can have someone else. After this chapter it's just the finale chapter left of this story.

June, 1962.

The apartment was big and roomy and even if Marta wanted to hate it she really couldn't. The big windows gave the apartment a lot of light and her art would look amazing on the white walls. She patted her stomach. Her daughter was living in a one bedroom apartment inside her womb for now but when she joined the world she would have the bedroom next to the living room. The one with the window facing the park. Hopefully the birds would sit in the big tree outside it and sing for her. Marta really looked forward to the day she would meet her little girl, not just because she wanted to meet her but also because she had become heavy and she had pain in her hips and back. She rubbed her lower back and looked down at the big belly in her powder blue babydoll dress. It felt like the girl would fall out any day now.

Behind her she heard her husband speaking with the real estate agent. He sounded professional and proficient, like he had bought an apartment like this before but this was his first time doing so. They had lived in a rented house outside of town. Marta loved that place but it wasn’t fit for a politician. Her husband was one of the mayor's closest men now, he couldn't live in a cottage in the country. This apartment was more suitable. Fit for him and his gorgeous young wife.

Marta was known for her beauty but also her warm and kind personality. Everyone said she would be the best wife and mom when she was much younger. She was a perfect woman already at fourteen. Her parents were proud and when the lawyer Harry Bergh showed an interest they had made up their mind. He was the right husband for their daughter. Marta didn't have much to say about it and didn't even think or feel she could say anything. They were her parents so she trusted that Harry would probably be a good husband to her.

Harry found her in the room she wanted their daughter to have. He looked at her where she stood patting her stomach. He wondered what she thought when she did that. Sometimes it looked like she talked to the stomach, like the thing inside could understand her. He shook his head.

"Marta, time to go." He said as he put on his hat. She looked up at him and smiled politely.

"So this will be our new home?" She said carefully.

Harry just nodded and let the real estate agent show them out.

*

Leona walked around in Marta's big apartment. It was one of the town's most impressive flats and also with the most history so Leona probably dreamed of how it was here back in the past. I sat on the velvety couch looking at the newspaper Leona had given me. I couldn't understand the language but I recognized one of the persons on the cover. It was a young man in his late twenties. Big green eyes and sharp cheekbones. Whose chocolate brown hair was pushed back messy. Gordan Merkel. He sat with a woman in her fifties with dark short hair. The both of them were dressed in black suit jackets, her with a pink blouse and him with a gray t-shirt. They sat close together, looking at each other with small smiles on their lips.

"So what does it say?" I asked Leona.

"The headline is 'He saved the author's life!' She is the most popular author in my dad's homeland." She said and took a sip from the coffee mug in her hand.

"And what does the article say?" I opened the magazine and looked at the article. There were more pictures of Gordan and the woman but also pictures of the ship.

"Her name is Francesca Edelman, he saved her in that fire but he also saved like ten more people. He risked his life by going inside a room where the fire had spread."

My heart beated hard in my chest. I looked at Gordan. Of course he had done such a thing.

"So you are dating a hero!" Leona joked and sat down next to me on the couch.

I smiled sadly and shook my head.

"No… He moved."

"He moved? Where?" Leona said, confused.

"I don't know. He said he will come back but I don't know when… The hero has work to do."

Leona sat quiet. She knew how in love I was with Gordan and also how much I suffered when he was away.

"I'm sorry… How are you holding up?"

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to look at his face in the newspaper. I felt quite empty. Like I was missing a piece but it wasn't like it had been before. The weather was good and I didn't have any anxiety or headaches.

"Maybe he will come back." Leona said and played with my hair. I tried to smile.

"Yeah. Maybe he will come back."

*

Francesca Edelman. I thought while I sat on the balcony. Now I knew who she was. I had been wondering about that since that accident. That was almost four months ago and it was a month ago since Gordan had left me. I had thought he might have left me for her. And maybe he had in some way. He was clearly with her but it didn't feel like he had a romantic thing with her. Just like he didn't with Marta. Marta and I had spoken about that and she confessed to having some sort of feelings for him but she always knew he was too young. It felt more like he took care of them, like a guardian angel. He was there to protect.

Marta suddenly came out to the balcony. She had been at her book club. She tried to get me to join her but it didn't feel like my thing. Otherwise I loved to be with Marta, she was probably my best friend.

Marta sat down opposite me. Just like me she had a knitted cardigan on. It was almost summer but it was still cool at night. We looked at the swallows in silence. We often did that and then we talked about our day. I had the newspaper next to me, prepared to show her the article. I watched her light up a cigarette before I slid the newspaper over the table toward her.

"What's this?" She said and looked at me without touching the newspaper.

"Look at it," I said and tried to sound nonchalant but she could probably hear there were strong emotions behind it.

She placed her cigarette in the corner of her mouth and unfolded the newspaper so she could see the picture. She cleared her throat but didn't say anything.

"That is Francesca. He saved her on the ship. And also several others."

Marta was still quiet. She took one more drag from her cigarette then laid it in the ashtray. A small tea cup platter with pink roses.

"So he just walks around saving people." I said with a mocking voice. Marta looked up at me and then sighed.

"I think maybe you might want to know how I met Gordan."

*

"I was confused after my husband had died… I was all alone and it was a big change for me. Not really because he and I spent so much time together, but I had put all my time into caring for him. Even when he retired he continued to be a busy man and it was my job to take care of him. When he died… I didn’t have anything left. I had never had any real friends and many of the interests I had as a young woman I didn't have anymore because my time had gone to being the perfect wife. I became quite isolated…"

Marta took a break and watched the sky and I sat quietly, waiting for her to continue.

"One day an acquaintance of my husband called and said he knew a young man who was in need of a room to live in. He assured me that he was a polite young man, a special young man. I had never said to anyone I had a room for rent but I agreed to see the young man for a coffee…"

"Gordan," I said with a low voice. Marta gave me a nod.

"He wasn't at all what I had expected and just his first smile made me… Feel something I hadn't felt in decades. I guess it was happiness and on top of that…" She squirmed in her chair like it pained her to say it.

"He probably was the first man I really felt an attraction to. It didn't matter that he was so much younger… He was beautiful like a work of art and nothing like the men I had been surrounded by. I let him move in. There was never anything else for me. I finally had something to live for… Something to really live for."

I nodded a bit, it felt strange to hear her say this about the man I love but I also understood everything she said. He had such a unique beauty but on top of that he also had the power to create happiness and peace.

"But why were you never happy with your husband?"

Marta sighed a bit and I could see her eyes starting to water.

"He was never selected by me so I was never in love but he also did the worst thing to me…"

She took a deep breath and wiped away a tear. Her hands shook.

"He killed our child. It was a different time then, men of power had the power over everything and all human lives weren't worth as much��� Our child was born sick. Today she would have gotten help so she would live a good life but then everyone saw that sickness as something ugly and wrong… They said the child died but I know it was him… I know he couldn't bear the thought of people seeing him with such a child…"

Marta cried now but when I tried to squeeze her hand she pulled away and just continued her story.

"After that he just saw me as the woman that couldn't give him a child… But the both of us were forced to continue the charade."

"Wasn't his death a relief then?" I asked carefully.

"...I see that now but right after I was just so groundless. I was just his wife. And then came Gordan… He treated me well, as a woman, as an equal. He was interested in me, my interests and he challenged me to become my own person…"

"A guardian angel," I whispered. Marta sat quiet with the tears still streaming down her cheeks. I looked at her. I had hated her when I moved in but now I could really see what a remarkable woman she was. I had let an interesting man block what a fantastic woman had been living here too.

"Marta, you should give yourself more credit. It's you that have lived with this and still you are here, being so strong and beautiful. Maybe Gordan helped you but it's you that have carried this, not him. You are amazing."

I cried too and now she took my hand in hers and hugged it.

*

Marta's story was a lot to comprehend but I really appreciated her even more after that. She had given me just as much as Gordan, just in another way. I even began to accept that a man like Gordan was someone you couldn't claim as your own, that others needed him too. Still I continued to feel strange. Like something wasn't right. Though it wasn't necessarily a really bad feeling either. I even wondered if Gordan was close by because I felt the same sort of feelings as when I felt his presence but he never came. But neither did my period and I understood why I had that strange feeling in my body.

*

[ghost-proofbaby]

christmas tree (roman godfrey x reader)

pairing: roman godfrey x reader 

word count: 1,105

warnings: cursing, mentions/hints of childhood trauma/neglect, vague sexual innuendo at the end? (nothing too crazy)

request: “roman + christmas traditions” by anon :-) 

a/n: i just wanna say thank you to anyone who enjoyed my last lil blurb with merkel, you’re all too sweet!! this one was originally meant to be more angsty, but i was listening to christmas music while writing it, and well… it’s hard to be angsty while listening to fun jazz. once again, please enjoy and any feedback or requests are not only appreciated but encouraged!!!

---------------------------------------------------------

“I still think this is stupid.” 

You laugh at the umpteenth complaint of the hour from your boyfriend, Roman, as you continue to prick your fingers against the fake branches of the Christmas tree you two had set up in the living room. You’d been working at “fluffing” the tree the entire time while Roman sat on the couch, bitter and pouting like a toddler. 

“I asked you if you’d prefer a real one and you said-” 

“I’m not calling the fact that it’s fake stupid. I think the entire holiday is stupid,” Roman interrupts you as you finally give in and turn to face him. 

“Didn’t you celebrate Christmas as a child?” you muse, walking over to him as he continues to avoid your gaze. 

“Yes. That’s precisely the issue,” he fidgets as he says this, hands clasped uncomfortably in his lap, knuckles growing white. 

You suddenly realize that Roman isn’t just complaining to annoy you like you’d been assuming. His shoulders are tense, even his jokes had been unlike him, flat and delivered in monotone. 

“I know your mom isn’t the comforting type but…” you trail off, taking the seat beside him, “Did she really ruin Christmas for you?”

He doesn’t reply, grunting in return as his glare stays focused on the half done tree. The bottom half is spread out, and can almost pass for a real tree, but the top is still flattened from packaging. You watch Roman’s eyes travel upward, and his scowl only grows. 

“She just had all these ridiculous traditions, that weren’t even truly about the family, just for show most of the time,” he hesitantly explains, turning his head and meeting your eyes finally, “I’m convinced everything that has to do with ‘celebrating’ Christmas is purely selfish.” 

You smile sadly, shaking your head immediately, “No, no it doesn’t have to be, Rome. For your mom it might have been, but not for me,” you stand up, startling him in the slightest. He stares up at you, blank stare, as you reach out your hand, “Let me show you, yeah?” 

You’re shocked when he actually does take your hand, standing up and yet still looking incredibly lost. It hadn’t gone over your head that him opening up like that was out of character, that it probably had been fairly hard for him. In all the years you’d known Roman, he hated speaking of his mother. Finding out what exactly had earned that hate from him had been like pulling teeth, constantly balancing between considering that that had just been who Roman Godfrey was, full of hate and all, and the possibility that his mother had been the one full of hate. 

It hadn’t taken long to figure out it had been the latter. 

Roman follows you over the tree, watching carefully as you mutter out a ‘watch me’, showing him how to unfold the branches. You repeat the action on a second branch, before motioning for him to try. 

“You’re really trying to make me fall in love with a holiday through physical labor?” he complains, hands nonetheless making their way to another smushed branch and beginning to work on it. 

“Hush,” you scold before making your way over to the stereo in the living room. 

You turn it on to the holiday station, immediately hearing Roman groan across the room. 

“Did I mention I hate the music? I hate that shit,” he calls out over his shoulder. You stay frozen in place, however, paying his complaint no mind as he continues to fluff the tree. 

This was who Roman Godfrey was. Stubborn, grumpy, but especially malleable to those he loves. As he finished up the tree with ease, working at double the pace you had been, you can’t help but smile softly at him. His tongue pokes out between his lips in concentration as he reaches the tallest branches, stretching the slightest to guarantee their perfect. 

You knew if he didn’t want to at least try for you, he wouldn’t have. He would still be on the couch, maybe even a beer in hand to quench his bitterness. 

“Now what?” he questions, snapping you out of your daze as he turns to face you, backlit with a finished tree, barren and ready for decorations. 

“Now,” you motion to a box on the floor you’d pulled from your garage, “for the fun part; we decorate.” 

“Fun? That sounds like more physical labor.” 

You roll your eyes, smiling widely and picking up the box of ornaments and garlands to place it on the couch to be more accessible, “Do we want gold or silver garland?” 

Roman’s reply is immediate. “Gold. My mother always favored silver decorations so… definitely gold.” 

“Gold it is,” you nod, pulling out the shiny and gouache garland from the box, handing it to him to start to place on the tree. 

The two of you work quietly for a moment, allowing Christmas music and rustling of decorations fill the silence in the room instead. Roman only breaks it once you’ve started to put ornaments on the tree, looking particularly fondly at one from your childhood. 

“Are there any other traditions your family did that you’d want to… You know, do, I guess?” he���s not as confident as he usually is, coming off a bit shy in a sincere way. 

“Mostly all the sickeningly sweet family classics. Hot chocolate, movie marathons, those scented pinecones…” you pause to think of some more, but Roman interrupts you with sudden excitement. 

“I wouldn’t mind those pinecones. The ones that smell like cinnamon or fucking whatever, right?” 

You’re smiling wide enough that you can see Roman begin to fight his own grin, “Yeah, those.” 

“I always wanted those. We should get some,” he mumbles, focused on looping a hook onto an ornament, the ghost of the smile still evident on his face. 

“You know, we could always make our own traditions, too. They don’t all have to be passed down,” you say slyly, waiting until Roman looks back up at you, fully intrigued. 

“Whaddya mean?” 

“I mean, whipped cream isn’t just good on hot chocolate,” you play it off innocent, grabbing another shiny, red ball to hook on a branch, but Roman’s hand reaches out  and grabs your wrist firmly to stop you in your tracks. 

“Yeah? How would you know?” he’s got a devilish grin now, eyes trailing up and down your body before he licks his lips slowly. 

“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” you tease, starting to pull away your wrist. 

However, Roman’s grip only squeezes tighter as he pulls you against him, whispering, “That I would.”  

[bopinion]

2021 / 17

Aperçu of the Week:

"Problems can never be solved by the same way of thinking that created them."

Albert Einstein

Bad News of the Week:

Unawareness, ignorance, hubris, bad luck.... there are many factors for India currently collapsing under the Corona pandemic like no other country before. The images are staggering: people with makeshift care lying in the dirt on the floor in front of overcrowded hospitals. People whose bodies are being burned in the middle of a park in New Delhi because the crematoria are overloaded. People who are simply suffocating and by the look in their eyes you can tell they know what is in store for them. People who are experiencing unimaginable suffering - and we have already seen so much of it in this pandemic.

One of the things that upsets me most about this is the fact that the shortage of vaccine in India - actually a major producer - is largely due to the fact that the U.S. had banned exports of an essential raw material. "America first" thus lives on even with a more sympathetic poster boy. It almost seems like a mockery when the USA now also brings aid supplies to India in order to "stand by our Indian friends in these difficult times".

Good News of the Week:

The German government has passed a law. With all democratic steps. With good will. With the agreement in principle even of the opposition. Then there is only one possibility in our constitutional system to stop such a law: one has to sue in our supreme court, the Federal Constitutional Court. This is rather limited, since the court "only" monitors whether this law is in conformity with the constitution. Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled a brand new law unconstitutional. Although it is the "climate protection law". So about something actually positive. And very many citizens and parliamentarians are happy about the rejection, even parts of the government are satisfied. What's going on?

Our current Chancellor Angela Merkel was Minister for the Environment and Nature Conservation in the 1990s. In the face of considerable resistance, she pushed through the end of coal and nuclear energy, roughly at the same time. Backs the European Union in its ecological reorientation. So she has well earned her reputation as "climate chancellor". And now, of all things, her government's climate protection law has been overturned. Among other things, this was supposed to be the basis for achieving the goals of the Paris climate protection agreement. Is that supposed to be good news?

The decisive aspect of the Federal Constitutional Court's rejection of the Climate Protection Act is the reasoning behind the ruling. The law is dismissed as "not ambitious enough". For example, it does not tackle CO2 reduction "resolutely enough". This would not sufficiently take into account the interests of younger generations, and the law is therefore unconstitutional. It is no coincidence that the lawsuit was brought by, among others, the young climate activists of Fridays for Future. "We are here, we are loud - because you are stealing our future!" ("Wir sind hier, wir sind laut - weil Ihr uns die Zukunft klaut!") I also shouted with the children at our first environmental protection demonstration. Even though I'm one of the thieves.

The first reaction from the cabinet came from Economics Minister Peter Altmaier: "The decision gives us the chance to ensure more intergenerational justice." He, too, has been environment minister. As was his boss. So you might well wonder why they didn't come up with this idea in the first place. But I'd still rather see a second, more decisive attempt that goes in the right direction than a hypocritical "just keep it going".

Personal happy Moment of the Week:

And the Oscar goes to... Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - and Jon Batiste! Just in time for 12/25/2020, we had subscribed to Disney+. To see on a cozy holiday with the kids "Soul". Whereas every Pixar film is a must-see for us anyway, this one was a highlight. Unlike its predecessor "Onward", which was just a nice movie, this animated film shined with a really new story with surprising twists, outstanding visuals and a great soundtrack with - oh, yeah! - a lot of jazz. Responsible for this is my personal new musical discovery of the last time, namely that very Jon Batiste (see Album of the Month in April 2021). Although I consider myself objectively style-sure - although my daughter regularly points out to me that this is narcissistic, since there is no such thing as objectivity - I am nevertheless happy that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences proved me right and awarded not only the Oscar to the film itself, but also to its soundtrack.

As I write this...

...the month of May begins. It has the nickname "Wonnemonat" (wonderful month) and it is rainy-cold. It starts with the "Labor Day" and nobody works because it is a holiday. And because of the pandemic, the tradition of setting up the maypole is cancelled this year as well. Weird, all this...

[ultimaa]

OFFSIDE

Two shot

PART I

Summary: "You’re young, attractive and rich, but Martinique stands between you and the love of your life. Damn, I'm happy I'm not you."

Eren had two sacred rules during his holidays: no football, no social media and no England. These purposes involved moving a thousand kilometers from his apartment in Liverpool to enjoy a peaceful summer in his native Shigansina, a small town in southern Germany where everyone knew each other. There he was simply Dr. Grisha's boy. "Really? Come on, man, go to French Polynesia or Dubai," his partner Connie Springer said. "Shigan-what? Okay, don't mind me. I’m sure parties are great in your town..." Honestly, Eren spent his days off sleeping and playing video games. Sometimes he jogged — after all, he earned his salary thanks to his body — and drunk HB beer, but what he liked most was the feeling of making up for lost time. He loved football and played in one of the best clubs in the world, history would seat him at the same table as Ian Rush, Michael Owen or Steven Gerrard. He loved Anfield, but he was too young when he said goodbye to the field of earth soccer and was taken to Melwood, where his parents visited him once a month. At the age of twenty-six, with a brilliant career, Eren Jaeger returned to Germany like an elephant going to die in a cave, with his family, and then repeated the cycle of nostalgia. However, that year would be different.

The Jaeger couple celebrated their 25th anniversary and they organized a small party with relatives and close friends. Only Eren Kruger, best man, who was in a submarine five thousand meters deep, was absent. As for the others, they all attended: Zeke and Pieck, who had come from Berlin, Aunt Faye, Keith Shadis (Eren’s Godfather), Tom Xaver (Zeke’s Godfather), Hannes, Armin and his grandfather, Kuchel Ackerman (bridesmaid), Kenny Ackerman (usher) and Levi Ackerman. Grisha did not like parties, but Carla settled the discussion with a resounding statement: "Silver anniversary aren’t celebrated every day, darling."

While Hannes, old Arlet, Pieck and Kuchel made a beef stew and the couple danced to the sound of Wiener Blut in the sitting room, Eren opened a bottle of beer and toasted with Armin and Zeke.

"You’re the only one, brother," Zeke pointed out. "You’ll retire bachelor. With ten Golden Balls, but a bachelor."

"The golden bachelor," Eren corrected. "Hey, Armin, you're single too."

"Annie and I are taking some time." His best friend shrugged.

Zeke laughed. He was a cardiologist. "I understand the heart much better than you... in all aspects," he used to say. And it was probably true: he was married to Pieck and the ring did not bother him yet.

"Really? She has been in Australia for two months. Do you know how long Australians last in bed, huh? About seventeen minutes, behind only the Americans, the Canadians and the English. As for the Germans, only eight percent have participated in a trio. If I were you, I'd start to worry."

"Did you just tell me I'm a bad lover?"

"No. Statistics, Armin. Information."

"This dude is like that." Eren took a sip. "He throw the stone and hides the hand."

"I have no interest in offending the virility of the Germans. I'm German, in case you haven't noticed. Siegfried is my grandfather and every Friday I go drinking with Wagner, but not all women know how to appreciate the Central European charm. Also, Melbourne is one of the best cities to live."

"Annie is in Sydney."

"See? That's precisely the problem." Zeke finished his beer and put a hand on Arlet's shoulder. "You know exactly where she is, but does she remember you? When a woman puts fifteen thousand kilometers between her and her partner, she only has one goal: to forget. And while she builds her new beginning, you water her plants."

"I still wonder how you seduced Pieck," Eren said. "Did you take her to dinner with Kaiser Wilhelm and Angela Merkel?"

"Actually, she won me. Well, I fell into the trap. I thought I could escape later. I was wrong and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I ain’t immune to women either."

Zeke showed a wide smile. He was blond and had a magnificent bearing. When the waltz was over, he congratulated Grisha and gave him a beer. Then he hugged Carla and cleared his voice. They all looked at him.

"This woman you see here is suicidal: marrying a Jaeger is dangerous, but marrying a divorced Jaeger with a child is deadly. The first time I saw her I was seven years old and I thought: Will she be like Miss Rottenmeier? No, thanks to God. I had always been Ezekiel, but she started calling me Zeke and that's how my friends, my coworkers and my wife call me. In a way, he baptized me. She ain’t my father's wife or my stepmother. Sorry, Eren; Being an only child is wonderful, but she’s also my mother and I would like us to toast her, the woman who brought us together here today. Cheers! Who’s in charge of the music? Auntie, put Spring’s Voices on. Eren and I are gonna dance."

"Wonderful idea." Armin laughed. "Football? As Martha Graham said, dance is the hidden language of the soul."

"You bastards." Eren took his brother's hand.

"Don't step on my shoes."

Among the music and the wild laughter of Kenny and Hannes, Eren did not realize what was about to happen. No clairvoyant would have guessed it. He looked sideways and saw her appear: black hair, aviator sunglasses, and a cigarette between her lips. White rolled-up shirt, capri pants and strappy sandals. He lost concentration and Zeke roared with laughter. He knew, of course. The last time he saw her was on the eve of her trip to Martinique, where she had spent the past year. The waltz ended and they both bowed. Eren did not want to raise the head. Why had no one warned him?

"Levi told me she came back last night," Zeke whispered.

Eren did not even hear the applause. He quickly returned to Armin, who was chatting with Keith Shadis, a retired military man, about the Ardennes Counteroffensive and the Nuremberg Trials. "I am almost sure," said his friend, a historian, "that Franz von Papen died in '69."

"Mikasa is here," Eren hissed.

"I know," he nodded, "and I'm gonna greet her, she's my lifelong friend and I'm glad to see her. You should do the same. Don't think about what happened."

"Did you know? Armin!"

His friend approached her. Great. Eren slipped out into the garden with a couple of beer cans and sat down on a wooden bench. Pretend you don't care, he thought. It belongs to the past, that's it! Fuck! You have to call it by its name: pain. Before she left, they drank like a fish and ended up going to bed. That was last summer. They had not spoken about it since then. He could already hear wise and eminent Zeke Jaeger’s voice: "So you haven’t had a girlfriend since Christ was crucified, but you shag with your best friend. Da ya need to talk, Eren?" Shit! Maybe he needed to tell someone how much her decision to go to Martinique hurt when he declared her love. She had a degree in Arts, so she was offered to do a study about Paul Gauguin, who spent a time on the island. So Zeke would say: "The Caribbean? I'm sorry, brother, I'm so sorry. You and Armin can cry together."

Eren was in love with her. It is one of those truths that one understands with a broken heart. And this led him to reject the insinuations of several, too many women in recent months. There were rumors that he was gay.

"Look who's here: Reds’ Hunter," Mikasa greeted him. "Can I sit?"

"You can do whatever you want." Eren was not angry, but a little drunk. He scratched his right arm; Delacroix's Liberty was tattooed from shoulder to elbow; Lower down, on the forearm, Goya’s Colossus collapses the Berlin Wall. On the inside of the doll, an M. Again, he could hear his brother's voice calling him an idiot.

Mikasa sat next to him. Her skin was not as pale as before: Caribbean tan. The serious mouth was the same and the gray eyes had not changed. She had a fine scar on her right cheek.

"Congratulations on winning the Premier."

"Yeah, well, first in Liverpool's history." Eren groaned. "How did it go with Gauguin?"

"Excellently. Van Gogh said that Gauguin didn’t paint with the brush, but with the phallus. However, mayby he didn’t die of syphilis..."

"Are you kidding me? Do you congratulate me on the championship and talk about Gauguin's cock?" He let out a sardonic laugh. "If that's all you have to tell me after all this time..."

"This is neither the time nor the place".

"I don’t care. We fucked, Mikasa."

"I know. I was there."

"Really? Because sometimes I think about it and it seems a mirage. You've been avoiging the matter a whole year, a fucking year. You show up at my parents' party like nothing's wrong and talking about fucking Gauguin." Eren paused. "Annie is in Australia. Do you know how long Australians last in bed? Seventeen minutes. How long do Martinicans last?"

"I know what you're implying," Mikasa said seriously, "and you're wrong, Eren. You’re very wrong. Do you think I would be able to do that after sleeping with you?"

Carla Jaeger interrupted them; the meal was ready. They were not hungry, but an inexplicable feeling oppressed them: Eren's blood boiled; Mikasa's was frozen.

"When you want us to talk as adults, let me know," she said.

Adults! Eren said nothing. He sat between Zeke and Armin, who gave him a questioning look. Eren sighed and started eating. He remained oblivious to all the conversations, sharing looks with Mikasa, sitting next to her uncle Kenny. One year had passed and perhaps he was angry, but he winked al her. She smiled and caught the kiss Eren discreetly sent her, and showed her thumb.

"Okay," Zeke said, after wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Have I ever told you about friendship between men and women? No, because it’s impossible. Were you and Annie ever friends, Armin?"

"Huh… Yeah?"

"No. You wanted to have sex, but you didn't tell her."

"I know you know," Eren whispered.

"I’ve known for a long time. In fact, I knew it before you did, bro. You were like Heidi and Peter, and now, if you were alone, this would become ​Nine and a half Weeks.

For Zeke it was too obvious, but what about the others? Eren looked at them closely. They talked about politics, football, past... Levi was the only one who remained silent. He was not a very talkative man, unlike his mother and uncle. Kuchel and Kenny talked and laughed like no one else. As for Mikasa, whose premature orphanhood led her to grow up with them, her character was soft; silent, good listener and without his cousin’s curtness. Did she tell someone what happened? Maybe Sasha Braus? After the meal, Eren felt adult enough.

The whole evening passed pleasant between anecdotes and skat hands. Keith Shadis left around six in the afternoon; He had to return to Munich for work. As for the others, Carla insisted that they stay for dinner. While Grisha and Zeke had a scholarly conversation about the latest advances in medicine, Kenny was laughing loudly with Mikasa by his side.

"I never imagined that we would have an artist in the family."

"I'm an art historian," Mikasa pointed out.

"If God doesn’t give you children, Devil gives you nephews." Kenny lit a cigarette. "Ackermans have always been country people. Levi was the first to go to university; He was already a whiz since childhood. Fortunately, Mikasa followed suit.

"What is Martinique like?" Carla asked.

"Quiet. When it rains, goodbye internet and light, and of course I have to mention mosquitoes, humidity, heat and earthquakes," she paused, "but people are lovely and the landscapes are spectacular. They are exactly like on postcards. Oh, and the accra is very good."

"We could go on vacation, honey." Zeke looked at Pieck. "I'm tired of Sardinia."

"But you have to be careful with snakes," Mikasa continued, smiling. "I was bitten by a eyelash viper. Nothing serious, but I wouldn’t repeat the experience."

"One year has been enough, hasn't it?" Eren, who was playing cards with Armin, had his ears set on the conversation.

"Yes. For now I will stay here I’ll go to Munich in September to work at the Alte Pinakothek."

"It's fantastic," said Armin.

"And you’ll be close," added Kuchel.

So Munich. However, Mikasa commented on the possibility of another trip. She specialized in Impressionism and did not rule out settling in France. After dinner, when it was time to say goodbye, Eren pulled out his cell phone and wrote her a message: "Do you wanna talk?" She looked sidelong at him and replied, "Come home tomorrow. We will be alone." Jaeger thought about that last one; He smiled, pleased, and quickly typed, "Good."

They all left except for Zeke and Pieck, who would spend a few days in the village before returning to Berlin. It was like going back fifteen years ago, when they still crowd around under one ceiling. Carla loved having them all there. Her good character led her to have an excellent relationship with her daughter-in-law. Grisha was pleased with the situation; He played chess with Zeke for hours, in total silence. Eren used to watch them, attentive to the gestures, wondering how they could drag on a duel that long. And it all ended with one word: "Checkmate."

Zeke followed him into the garden with a cigarette on the lips. He had tried to stop smoking, but there are things a man can never give up, like mentholated Camel.

"You don't smoke, do you? What a pity. One or two cigarettes once in a while doesn't hurt anyone, Mr. Perfect Abs." Zeke blew out the smoke. "Munich. A wonderful city, especially in October."

"We’re gonna talk tomorrow."

"One day I take a look at the yellow press and I see you with Historia Reiss, and I think you're a lucky bastard. You’re young, attractive and rich, but Martinique stands between you and the love of your life. Damn, I’m happy I’m not you."

"I love you too." Eren frowned.

"I’m trying to help you. Don't screw it up, okay? A bad step now and you will regret it all your life." His brother clapped him on the back. "Now If you can excuse me, I'm going to make love to my wife in my fifteen-year-old room."

"I didn't need to know that."

…

Having the house to herself, Mikasa went down to have black tea. Frugal breakfast, as always. She felt like an intruder in her own town and jet lag was not benevolent. She wanted to stay in bed, she’s just got ants in her pants. She did push-ups and thought about the last exhausting year. Operation Gauguin, as she called it, had been a true odyssey. Fuck the Caribbean. She had missed Europe, her family and friends, but duty is duty. As for Eren, she could not reproach him for anything. He was angry. She should not have slept with him before she left; Mikasa kept thinking about it for a moment. Secrets and sex are a bad combination for consciousness. Besides, she left without saying goodbye. She behaved like a real motherfucker and would do it again: sentimentality is not advisable before a possible trip with no return. No, she couldn't listen to Eren's feelings before getting on the plane. Deep down, she suffered from the greatest weakness: love.

She lay down on the floor and closed his eyes. God, the cold slabs were nicer than any bed in the Caribbean. The woman forgot the physical and mental exhaustion when Eren touched the knocker. She took a breath and decided to improvise. The first thing Mikasa noticed was Dior's perfume. He was wearing an unbuttoned black polo shirt, gray jeans, and deck shoes. The three-day beard and dapper cut fit him very well. Those tropical eyes ... Shit!

Silence. Glances. It was inevitable. Eren closed the door behind him and received her kiss in a frenzy. Mikasa bit his lips, tugged at his hair. The man held her prisoner in his arms, sliding his hands down her back, her hips and her neck, anxious and needy. Their mouths were lost in each other's. Eren threw his head back and went deeper, searching for lost time. He licked her lips from corner to corner. The touch of tongues was deadly like a sword dance. They parted, face to face, panting, obscene. Mikasa wanted to make love to him in the middle of the hall and tell him how much she had missed him.

"Did you want to talk?" Eren planted another kiss.

"Yes," Mikasa replied. "I’m so sorry. I fucked up. I have a very interesting story to tell you, but I don't know if it will be more exciting than winning the English league."

"Ok, you know I prefer Monet, but..."

"It has nothing to do with Gauguin." Mikasa took his hand and led him into the living room. If she thought about it, it was a concise thing, but difficult to assimilate. Eren sat down on the sofa. She made him coffee and moved to his side, maturing the words in her head. "It's complicated. If you don't believe it, I get it. I’ve spent more time in Cuba than in Martinique. I haven’t done any study about Gauguin."

"What?" Eren looked at her seriously. "What's going on, Mikasa?"

"I've been working for Interpol for a couple of years. No one knows, only you. Crimes against cultural heritage."

"I don’t get it. What does that have to do with Martinique and Cuba?"

"During Nazism many degenerate works were plundered. Gauguin, Chagall, Klee... Some works were located last year. There was a certain black market for art among many American magnates. That is why I went to Cuba together with a team, to find out the whereabouts of some Gauguin works lost since 38."

"It’s definitely more interesting than winning the Premier." Eren drank from his mug thoughtfully, still amazed. "Was it dangerous?"

"Not much. At least not for me. My job is to see, evaluate and give a verdict, not shooting. Do you think I'm out there drinking Martini and driving an Aston Martin?"

"The idea excites me." The man touched the scar on her face. "And this? I don't remember it. It’s not on the maps that I have of your whole body."

"Then you will have to add it." Mikasa took the cup from him, put it on the table and leaned against him, kissing him calmly and sweetly. For a moment she thought she would never see him again, or maybe he would see her repatriated corpse with a bullet in the head. God! She hugged him and rested her head on his heart. Eren stroked her hair and she trembled at the memory. "It was a shot. I don't know how I'm still alive. I was so lucky..."

"My God," Eren whispered. "Why did you not tell me? Don’t trust me?"

"I know you. Worry wouldn't let you focus."

"Of course not. And now that I know why you left, it will take me a few weeks to recover from my fright. Damn, it hurt so much when you answered my messages as if nothing... I wanted to tell you about my feelings, but you always talked about trivial issues and I thought you didn't care what happened between us. Why?"

"I was scared. I didn't want to think about you or our plans. What would have happened to all those words if I had died? Look at this scar. It’s a miracle I’m still alive. It happened a few days after arriving. It shouldn't have happened, but it did. A rich man held a clandestine exhibition, I infiltrated and they discovered me. I didn't want to tell you that I love you and then die. I don't do things that way."

"And how do you do it?"

"Like this." Mikasa kissed him again.

[jkottke]

When We Look Back on This...

In remarks to the German parliament today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel advocated for tighter Covid-19 restrictions, as cases & deaths in Germany reach new peaks. The restrictions she's referring to were recommended by "a national academy of scientists and academics" and are intended at reducing the spread of Covid-19 over the December holidays. The impassioned argument that she makes in this short video clip (full report here) is difficult for me to find fault with (even though conservative members of her parliament and Twitter commenters disagree). Here's a partial transcript:

If the price we pay is 590 deaths per day, then that is unacceptable in my view. And when scientists are practically begging us to reduce our contacts for a week before we see Grandma and Grandpa, grandparents and older people at Christmas, then perhaps we really should think again about whether we can't find a way to start the school holidays on the 16th instead of the 19th. What will we say when we look back on this once-in-a-century event if we weren't able to find a solution for these three days? And it may be the case that sending children home is the wrong thing to do, if so then it will have to be digital lessons or something else. I don't know, this is not my area of expertise and I don't want to interfere. I only want to say: if we have too many contacts now, in the run-up to Christmas, and it ends up being the last Christmas with our grandparents, then we will have done something wrong. She should not let this happen.

I teared up watching her talk. In the US, we are dealing with many more cases (which will turn into eventual deaths) and deaths than Germany, both in absolute and per capita terms. It's like 10 fully-loaded passenger planes a day are crashing with no survivors and there are small things that we all can do to keep many of those people alive and ... many of us just don't want to do those things!

Like Merkel says, we are going to look back on this and be completely ashamed that we didn't do these things and that we elected people that won't advocate for these things on our behalf and that we let 300-400,000 Americans die and countless others lose loved ones and go bankrupt and get evicted and lose their businesses and be chronically ill and be food insecure and and and. If we aren't ashamed, if we don't reckon with all of this someday, then maybe nothing can redeem us and we deserved it all.

[storybookstalker]

MasterList

Fandom List / what you can ask for/request - Needs to be Updated

Yandere Anons/Messages

Human Flesh Lamp

Jealous Face Carving

Happy toothbrush

Yum Yum Darling’s essence  

DC 

Big Brother! Jason Todd ft. Sister! Reader

Werewolf! Jason Todd headcanons

Batman x Hero! Reader 

Arkhamverse! Joker Headcanons

Riddler ft Hero!Reader small Imagine

Penguin ft Winged Hero!Reader small imagine

Riddler Headcanons #1

Scarecrow ft Fearless!Reader Imagine

Contin. of Scarecrow ft Fearless!Reader Imagine

Scarecrow ft Amnesiac!Reader Imagine

Mad Hatter ft Psychologist!Reader

Riddler ft Super Flexible Batfam!Reader 

Contin. of Riddler ft Super Flexible Batfam!Reader 

Penguin ft Winged Hero!Reader Headcanons

Brother EYE Headcanons #1

Penguin ft Neon(?) Hero!Reader

Scarecrow x reader headcanons 

Scarecrow ft Caught!Reader headcanons

Mad Hatter NSFW Headcanons

Mad Hatter Headcanons Before vs After Capture of Obsession

Jason Todd SFW + NSFW + Nicknames #1

Jason Todd SFW + NSFW + Rouge Nicknames #2

Jason Todd NSFW 

Killer Croc SFW + NSFW Headcanons

Two-Face ft Civilian!Reader 

Black Mask Headcanons

Scarecrow / Mad Hatter headcanons (separate) 

Black Mask NSFW Headcanons

Ra’s al Ghul Headcanons

Arkhamverse!Jason Todd Headcanons

Riddler General Headcanons

Scarebeast Headcanons

Poly Scarecrow + Mad Hatter Headcanons

(Some of the) Batfam as Monsters Headcanons

Mad Hatter ft Dark Haired!Reader

Scarecrow letter list - S

Scarecrow letter list - O

The Riddler Letter list - S

Scarecrow letter list - B + F

Scarecrow ft Horror Lover!Reader

Rag Doll / Peter Merkel letter list - G

Riddler ft someone who actually likes him

Jason Todd / Older!Damian Wayne letter list - V, H, A, B, + F

Marvel

Bucky Barnes ft EX Cult!Reader

Peter Parker ft Reader singing Lullaby of Broadway

Natasha Romanoff ft chubby + curvy!Reader

Steve Rogers ft Pararescue!Reader 

(separate) Mysterio / Iron man ft Runaway obsession 

Mysterio letter list - G

Mysterio letter list - A + T

Poly Steve Rogers + Bucky Barnes headcanons

Overwatch

Jessi Mccree Imagine

Assassin’s Creed

Haytham Kenway Letter list - P 

My Hero Academia 

Present Mic Headcanons

Present Mic ft Student!Reader

Present Mid ft Villain!Reader

Shinsou Hitoshi Headcanons

Eraserhead ft Technopath!Reader

Amaijki Tamaki Headcanons

Plantonic!All Might Ft His Biological Kid!Reader

The Outsiders 

Two Bit Headcanons

Jealous Two Bit Headcanons

Far Cry 5

Faith Seed and Jess Black Punishment Headcanons

Jess Black Headcanons

Seed Family Short Headcanons

Creepypasta

Hobo Heart ft nervous romantic! Reader

Dark Web Yandere

1st Dark Web Yandere Imagine

Continuation of 1st Dark Web Imagine

1# Headcanon

NSFW Imagine 

Mars

Rei Kashino General + NSFW headcanons

You

Joe Goldberg Imagine 

Black Butler / Kuroshitsuji

Sebastian Michaelis Headcanons

Holidays

Mother’s Day Imagine 

Father’s Day Imagine

Concepts / Imagines

Cunning Yandere With Friends in High Places

Popular Golden College Boy

 Fae ex Lover 

Jock + Supernatural AU

Scarecrow’s Crow Escapes VIA Batman

Yan!King vs Yan!Vampire

Delusional Yanderes are delusional

Darling: [doesn’t speak the yandere’s language]  Yandere: Haha, this won’t stop me because I have the power of love!

Scarecrow’s “tapes” 

Scarecrow’s “one night stand”

Batman ft Hero!Reader

can we get an F in the chat for DC darlings

How to manipulate a Yandere

How to get frisky with a Yandere

Soft yanderes

Scarecrow joins a bookclub

Court Of Owls 

Ghost Scarecrow

Vampire Mad Hatter

Christmas with Scarecrow

One of the reasons I started my Choose Your Own Adventure story on a sideblog

Another reason

I have a bad habit of wanting to do Fics for everything I love

The Birds and The Bees

Pets

Cats are yandere you just won’t admit it

Memes

Kermit Cooks His Rival

Local Yandere Werewolf is dumb af

When your yandere’s moves are so sick you let them catch up to you

Yandere Assigned Big Bird

Mccree has had enough of your shit

When Your Obsession Doesn’t Love You :/

UH OH SISTERS!

This isn’t really yandere nor a meme but It’s important to me

When you under arrest for murder but ya gurl’s parent’s aren’t home

You: is slightly sad or lonely

Call off the guyssss with the crOw bArs

Darling/Obsession: “No.”

Yandere Blog + Edgy Blogs

Dark!Steve meme from a REALLY FUCKING GOOD BLOG

Darling -YEET 

Buncha Memes

Gen Z darling

Not yandere but extremely important

Me, Randomly hyperfixating on miraculous ladybug 

Life-consuming obsession

Yandere’s Religion 

COWABUNGA

A surprise tool!

Monster Fuckers Where You At??

Wow I can’t believe how hard it is to pick up my crush’s signals 

Modern problems require modern solutions 

Yandere Tik Tok

Protective yanderes be like

G O D ?

Darling: I need a favor from you

Tell your friends and family bout em

Only my darling 

This sign won’t stop me because I can’t read!

Otome games 

Pile of memes

A Single Soldier...

How To Make Really Good Cookies.

[floraone]

are there any topics you avoid because of differing opinions like abortion, age differences, trans characters?

Nah I generally don't avoid topics. I'm a blunt and open German and been socialised to be very direct lol.

And, being blunt and direct, the following is going to be political. I've come to understand this deserves a warning in a context where Americans can read it. So consider yourselves warned.

I'm European and socialised here, I consider myself a feminist and a socialist, so most my views are very much on the FAR left from a current American standpoint (which, curiously, doesn't at ALL align with what's considered "far" left HERE tho, of course) in the way that I'm not only "for" these things, they're our status quo and I couldn't FATHOM living without these standards: public health care for all, free education, the right for women and others with a uterus to unconditionally decide over their own body, the right for people to express their individual alignment on the (biological AND social) gender SPECTRUM in any way they choose, paid holidays by law, 14 months paid parental leave by law, etc etc. Most of these have always been a standard here for as long as I've been alive and longer, and I have very good experiences with all of them. (And having these things isn't considered particularly "left" here. We've had a mostly conservative government under Merkel for going on 16 years and many of these things have been progressing under her.)

However, not everything always comes up in fanfic, of course. Especially since not everything feels in-character for the OTP and some things would feel forced (at least for me) to adress in Usamamo fanfic. (Tho obviously, prove me wrong. And also gimme ALL the Three Lights Trans* AUs.)

As to age difference? I'm very much against the sexualisation of youth in general. Western society fetishizes youth enough as it is and I think we can do better. So, when the age difference includes a minor or someone who LOOKS like a minor, or a woman's beauty being tied to her perceived youth in general while the man can be ancient, I rather don't want to see it depicted in media and fiction. Individually, of course, as long as you're not endangering minors and it's all consensual, do what you want. And depicted in fiction, I'm ABSOLUTELY ok with age differences as long as both parties are BOTH adult-body-having people. (My own husband is 7 years older than I am, for one. When we met when I was 23, tho, you wouldn't have been able to tell an age difference from appearance, and you still can't today, and the age difference is nothing we're EVER consciously are aware of, there's no power imbalance between us at all.) With Usamamo, these two were BOTH teenagers in any canon (14 and 16 at the start the manga (my preferred age gap for them!), 14 and 18 at the start of the anime) and I want them either both depicted as those teenagers or both as adults. I hate that especially the North American Dic dub and also the fact they dressed him quite literally in a non-teenager's actual clothes (the famous green jacket, for one, was actually Ikuhara's in real life!) all made him seem much older than he actually was.

[el-pintor]

Covid-19 politics.

Germany has not been hit as badly by the virus as other countries, that's right.

Somehow this lead to an act of arrogance by some politicans...Although Merkel does a good job (and I usually don't like her)

So the government thinks about erasing coronavirus curbs.

What would be one of the first measures?

Logical! Opening schools! 🙄

(And if the infection numbers go up, you can close them again.)

Did I mentioned the we have a government but federal states?

The states want to act in union but one prime minister acts on his own. In the state with the second highest rate of infected.

Schools have to open immediately after the holidays on the 20th april, of course. Instead of may, like Merkel want..

We are not the only one (Denmark too), but still... Our schools are extremely dilapidated and do not have the necessary prerequisites, especially in Hygiene measures.

[ageingdragons]

What if a Dragon Age companion became the next president of the US?

Part 1: Dragon Age Origins

Leliana: All her political adversaries suddenly go missing or die under mysterious circumstances. Discrimination is now extremely harshly punished.

Zevran: Inauguration orgy in the White House. Need I say more?

Oghren: Causes several diplomatic incidents by drunkenly hitting on every female head of state, ever. Not his fault Merkel's boobs are always staring at him like that, right?

Morrigan: Is doing a fine job as long as she feels like it. Doesn't feel like diplomacy on most days, though.

Shale: Actually declares war on pigeons. They are then hunted to extinction by the US Army.

Sten: Tries to make the US part of the Qun. Gets impeached. Was also way too blunt and honest anyways.

Wynne: Somebody mistakes her for a weak old lady once. No one ever underestimates her again.

Alistair: Declares a national cheese holiday. He hates his job but does it anyway because someone told him to.

Dog: ...No. Just no.

[sciencespies]

In Europe, Tech Battle Against Coronavirus Clashes With Privacy Culture

https://sciencespies.com/news/in-europe-tech-battle-against-coronavirus-clashes-with-privacy-culture/

In Europe, Tech Battle Against Coronavirus Clashes With Privacy Culture

Governments across Europe are turning to technology to track the spread of the coronavirus and monitor people under quarantine, an approach that seeks to learn from Asia but is also putting the region’s privacy rules to the test.

From Helsinki to Madrid, applications are being developed for people to report their symptoms to doctors and researchers; to trace and model the spread of the flu-like virus; and ensure that those under quarantine stay at home.

Yet progress has been patchy, there is scant coordination, and privacy advocates caution there is a trade-off between any benefits to public health and digital surveillance that the European Union’s privacy rulebook, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), seeks to prevent.

Take Poland: The government has just launched a smartphone app, called Home Quarantine, for citizens returning from abroad who have since March 15 been required to self-isolate for two weeks.

To register, they upload personal details and a photo. They are then sent reminders via text message and should respond within 20 minutes by uploading a new selfie. This is verified by facial recognition and its location stamp is checked against the registered address.

Kamil Pokora, a product manager who has just returned to Gdansk from a holiday in Thailand, said police were checking in on him, as is mandatory. He is also using Home Quarantine, which is voluntary, but finds that it doesn’t work properly.

“It has many errors,” said Pokora, 37. “I keep getting asked to perform tasks which are not even included in the app. It isn’t user friendly.”

Poland’s Personal Data Protection Office, responsible for enforcing the GDPR, said it was not consulted about Home Quarantine. Spokesman Adam Sanocki said it would monitor the deployment and, should it find irregularities, would take action to ensure personal data are protected.

Asked about the criticisms, Poland’s digital ministry said it constantly monitored the system and improved it when necessary, helped by feedback from users.

Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said on Wednesday the government planned to make Home Quarantine compulsory for everyone under quarantine.

The Asian way Home Quarantine copies the proactive and, so far, effective approach taken by Taiwan, which has just upgraded its arsenal with a mobile phone-based “electronic fence” to keep at-risk individuals at home.

Taiwan, which has one of the lowest coronavirus tolls in Asia, already requires arrivals from abroad to download a questionnaire and report the airport they came from, their 14-day travel history and health symptoms.

Those assessed to have low risk get a text message telling them they are free to travel. Those deemed to pose a risk must self-isolate for 14 days, with their compliance monitored using location data from their smartphones.

Under the GDPR, consent to processing sensitive personal data should be freely given and there are far-ranging constraints on its use. For example, it should not be stored indefinitely or used for another purpose.

Berlin-based privacy expert Frederike Kaltheuner, a tech policy fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, said there needed to be clear evidence tech solutions were worth privacy compromises: “In other words: we need to know that these tools actually work.”

In Finland, national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and software developer Futurice are close to launching a Web and mobile service for people to report their respiratory symptoms.

The only personal information that people report is their age and postcode, information the app’s backers say will help map the spread of the pandemic. The government, while supportive, has not yet officially backed the initiative.

‘Spying law’Elsewhere, governments are rushing to pass emergency laws to allow the use of individual smartphone data to trace contacts and enforce quarantines – even if they haven’t yet obtained the technology to do so.

Slovakia this week proposed temporary legislation that would allow individual movements to be tracked for the duration of the pandemic.

This represents a huge infringement of human rights and freedoms, Justice Minister Maria Kolikova told parliament, adding, however, that she believed the right to life was absolute.

Former Prime Minister Robert Fico slammed the legislation as a “spying law”.

A proposal by German Health Minister Jens Spahn to allow individual smartphone tracking without a judicial order was blocked by the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition.

“This would be a wide-ranging intrusion into civic rights,” said Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht of the SPD.

Germany’s leading virologist, Christian Drosten, said the use of individual location data for contact tracing, as in South Korea, would still need to be backed up by well staffed health teams able to interview large numbers of coronavirus victims and trace people who may have been exposed to them.

Germany lacks those resources, and so “for me, the question as to whether we can learn something from them is a bit futile,” Drosten, director of the Institute of Virology at Berlin’s Charite hospital in Berlin, said in a podcast for NDR radio.

Hackathons, grassroot initiatives Alarmed by an explosion in infections and fatalities, several countries have launched ‘hackathons’, or brainstorming sessions where software developers team up to search for new technology solutions.

In hardest-hit Italy, the government has appealed to companies to come forward with solutions, while data scientist Ottavio Crivaro is leading a grassroots appeal for people to donate their data to help map the pandemic.

Experts note some of these problems have already been solved elsewhere – Singapore for example has launched the TraceTogether app that collects smartphone location and Bluetooth data from volunteers to check whether they have been in proximity with someone infected with coronavirus.

A focus on technology may also detract from simpler answers.

India, for example, allows the use of indelible ink to stamp the hands of people in quarantine – a variation on its system to prevent people voting more than once in elections.

“There’s often a low-tech solution to these problems,” said Edin Omanovic, advocacy director at Privacy International, a non-governmental organisation. “With quarantine, sometimes the best thing is just to go and have a look.”

© Thomson Reuters 2020

#News

[skarsgard-daydreams]

I humbly request some headcanons on how Merkel's coat obsession started. I can see him sneaking into his grandma's coat closet as a teen and touching everything, trying a few on, his skinny (and probably still short) ass completely swamped by the fabric, and absolutely loving it... (this isn't overtly holiday themed, but it could be if you wanted!)

Ohhh, I love this thought.

"Verboten"

It started in 1969, when his grandfather bought his grandmother a long sable fur coat for Christmas. No one was sure where he got it, though later in life Merkel would come to realize that his grandfather had mysterious connections that allowed him access to the black market and kept him out of trouble for his Wehrmacht associations after the war. Merkel was nine years old at the time, and he had buried his small fingers in the soft, dark fur when his grandmother tried the coat on and sat beside him on the couch. "Don't play with that," his mother had said.

Suddenly, the coat took on the allure of something verboten. It became irresistible to him. Merkel would sneak upstairs while his grandmother was giving a piano lesson and take the coat out of her closet. When he tried it on, the hem swept the floor, and the sleeves swallowed his hands. He loved how heavy it was, how it made him feel like a warrior who had slain a beast and slung its pelt around his shoulders like a trophy. He loved its softness and warmth, and the opulent extravagance it conveyed as it hung in the closet among his grandmother's collection of monochromatic and threadbare structured coats. It seemed at odds with the drab formality that permeated every part of life in East Germany—something that was not lost on his grandmother, for she never once wore it out of the house.

He only tried the garment on a few times before he was caught by his grandfather. The sight of his grandson standing in front of a mirror in a woman's coat made a blood vessel strain in the man's forehead. After the beating he received that day, Merkel never touched that particular coat again. It would be many years before he procured a fur coat of his own. Before that came a denim jacket that his father burned and another in black leather that Merkel kept carefully hidden inside of a grey overcoat in his closet.

It wasn't until Sonja turned up at the warehouse wearing a statement piece in faux leopard print that he tried on such a garment again. She shrugged it off her shoulders when she saw the way he stared at it. "Try it on," she told him. He looked at her doubtfully. "It won't fit," he said, passing the joint of hash and tobacco between them. Sonja rolled her eyes. "You're as thin as a fence post." She took a hit from the joint. "Just try it." Merkel took off his worn leather jacket and carefully put on the fur coat. The fabric stretched slightly across his shoulders, but other than that, it managed to fit his lanky body surprisingly well. He brushed his fingers over the faux fur and promised himself he'd get one for himself—something big and bulky and ridiculous and made of silver fox fur—just as soon as he knew where to hide it.

[newstfionline]

Headlines

Protesters Debate What Comes Next (NYT) The unrest in America’s cities showed no signs of fading on Tuesday as embattled police forces from Atlanta to Los Angeles struggled to reclaim the streets and as protesters debated the future of the week-old uprising. As the demographics of the movement have expanded to include a far more diverse population, the goals have also broadened. Some demonstrators are demanding that all four officers involved in Mr. Floyd’s death be thrown in jail, not just the single officer charged last week. “All four,” they shouted at protests. Many others are calling for the entire system of inequality that they view as the ultimate cause of Mr. Floyd’s death to be torn down and rebuilt. What began as a protest over one man’s death in police custody in Minneapolis has grown into a nationwide movement with diverse activists, tactics and demands.

Embattled at Home, Trump Finds Himself Isolated Abroad, Too (NYT) With American cities burning and the coronavirus still raging, killing more people than in any other country, President Trump also has growing problems overseas. In Europe, after years of snubs and American unilateralism, America’s traditional allies have stopped looking to him for leadership and are turning their backs on him. That was evidenced most obviously this week by the decision of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, not to attend the Group of 7 meeting Mr. Trump wanted so badly in Washington this month to show that the virus was behind him and the world was returning to normal. Ms. Merkel cited the lingering threat of the virus, but a senior German official who spoke on the condition of anonymity made clear that she had other reasons to decline: She believed that proper diplomatic preparations had not been made; she did not want to be part of an anti-China display; she opposed Mr. Trump’s idea of inviting the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin; she did not want to be seen as interfering in American domestic politics. As Mr. Trump threatens to call in the military against his own citizens, he has become a president that some of America’s closest allies prefer to keep at arms’ length, unsure of what he will do next and unwilling to be dragged into his campaign for re-election. “Leaders in allied nations now think that criticizing Trump is to their advantage,” said Marietje Schaake, a former Dutch European legislator, especially now with the unrest in American cities and demonstrations supporting those protests in many European cities, including Amsterdam.

As Protests Engulf the United States, China Revels in the Unrest (NYT) The cartoon shows the Statue of Liberty cracking into pieces, a police officer breaking through its copper robe. A man’s head lies on the ground in front of the White House, its facade splattered with blood. “Beneath human rights,” says the title of the cartoon, which was published by People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, and circulated widely on social media sites this week. As protests over police violence engulf hundreds of cities in the United States, China is reveling in the moment, seizing on the unrest to tout the strength of its authoritarian system and to portray the turmoil as yet another sign of American hypocrisy and decline. It is a narrative that conveniently ignores many of the country’s own problems, including its history of ethnic discrimination, its record on human rights and its efforts to suppress protests in Hong Kong. Chinese officials are trolling their American counterparts with protest slogans like “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.” The state-run media is featuring stories about the “double standards” of the United States for supporting the Hong Kong demonstrators. Prominent Chinese commentators are arguing that American-style democracy is a sham, pointing to the country’s bungled response to the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing racial tensions. The propaganda push is the latest skirmish in a longstanding power struggle between China and the United States, with relations between the two countries at their lowest point in decades.

Mexico Coronavirus Cases Spike (Foreign Policy) On Tuesday Carissa Etienne, the World Health Organization’s regional director for the Americas warned that the coronavirus pandemic in the Western Hemisphere was only likely to get worse. The number of coronavirus cases in the United States and Brazil—which together account for over one-third of cases worldwide—has grabbed headlines, but it’s in Mexico where the pandemic could find its next epicenter. On Tuesday, Mexico’s health ministry reported 3,891 new coronavirus cases, its highest daily number since the outbreak began. At over 10,000, the number of recorded deaths from coronavirus in Mexico is the third-highest in the Americas, behind United States and Brazil.

My rabbit for your detergent? Cubans turn to barter as shortages worsen (Reuters) Nelson Aguilar used to sell the rabbits that he raises on his Havana rooftop to restaurants. Now, with an ongoing pandemic, the 70-year-old uses them as currency, exchanging them for food or detergent to avoid multi-hour queues at poorly stocked shops. He’s not alone. More Cubans are turning to bartering to meet their shopping needs, be it in person or on social media groups, as the novel coronavirus crisis worsens existing shortages of basic goods in the Communist-run island. Shoppers had already faced long lines for some staple goods over the last year-and-a-half as Cuba’s economic situation worsened with the implosion of ally Venezuela and amid tougher U.S. sanctions under President Donald Trump. Now, the pandemic has halted tourism, slowed remittances and raised shipping costs, plunging Cuba into its worst economic crisis since the fall of its former benefactor, the Soviet Union, in the 1990s.

Sea, sand and social distancing (Reuters) A cluster of Caribbean islands are reopening this month for international tourism, hoping to burnish their reputations as oases of tranquility after containing their coronavirus outbreaks and implementing strict new public health protocols. The Caribbean is the most tourism dependent region in the world. The move is a pilot test for other regions planning to restart tourism after pandemic-induced lockdowns. Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Lucia are the first to reopen this week. Jamaica and Aruba are set to follow later in the month, with July target dates for the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

EU lawmaker reveals more than intended in video call (Reuters) A European Union lawmaker on Tuesday was reminded of the perils of videoconferencing when he appeared to be wearing no trousers as he discussed policy matters with his peers. The European Parliament’s official live broadcast showed Ireland’s Luke Ming Flanagan wearing a shirt and sitting on the edge of an unmade bed with his legs crossed, rubbing his thighs as he addressed an agriculture committee for two minutes. “I was just back from a run so was in my shorts. Decided to put on a shirt to look kinda respectable! That didn’t work out very well!,” Flanagan told Reuters. His light-hearted response won him sympathy on social media where many people shared their own struggles with video calls and working from home amid the pandemic.

Germany and the Netherlands lift some coronavirus travel warnings (AP) The German government announced Wednesday it will ease a global travel warning starting June 15, with cautions set to be lifted for most European countries. Other countries, including the Netherlands, have prepared similar steps this week. In both Germany and the Netherlands, authorities continue to advise against nonessential travel to Britain, which has announced a 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving in the country. The lifting of travel warnings does not automatically result in a return to borderless travel in the 26 European states that make up the Schengen area, which was restricted in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Some countries, including Spain, are expected to keep travel restrictions on tourists in place until July. In Norway, most restrictions could even remain in place until August.

Italy reopens borders (Euronews/AFP) Italy reopened its borders to European travellers on Wednesday as the country attempts to rescue its tourism industry. It now faces the challenge of enticing visitors back, as it looks to the summer holiday season as a possible route to some sort of economic recovery. Italy is currently facing the worst recession since the Second World War. On top of reopening its borders to European travellers, Italy has lifted restrictions on movement between regions. International flights are expected to resume in just three major cities: Milan, Rome and Naples.

Cyclone lashes India’s business capital (AP) The first cyclone in more than a century to hit India’s financial capital of Mumbai appeared to have largely spared the metropolis on Wednesday. No deaths or major damages were reported as workers began clearing fallen trees and other debris from affected areas along India’s western coastline. In the state capital, Mumbai, home to Bollywood, India’s largest stock exchange and more than 18 million residents, high winds whipped skyscrapers and ripped apart shanties near the beach. The storm lost much of its power after slamming ashore near the city of Alibag, about 98 kilometers (60 miles) south of Mumbai, the Meteorological Department said.

UK to welcome Hong Kong citizens (SCMP) Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he’s ready to change immigration rules for the nearly 3 million Hong Kong citizens eligible for a British National Overseas passport, allowing them to live and work in the UK, if China imposes its national security law.

With buses inadequate, Filipinos go back to work on bikes—and make their own lanes (AP) The end of a 2½ month lockdown in Manila has been accompanied by crippling traffic jams with restrictions on public transportation, so many people can’t get to work. As hundreds of thousands are stranded from the lack of seats on public transport, cycling has become an increasingly popular alternative. Bike sales have surged under the lockdown. One initiative, Life Cycles, distributed hundreds of bikes to front line health-care workers to get them to their jobs. Biking on traffic choked streets of Manila is not easy, so when Philippine traffic officials did not put up a protected bike lane, one group took matters into their own hands. Bikers United Marshals set up makeshift markers along a major avenue, then deployed volunteers to ensure road safety.

U.N. misses Yemen aid target (Foreign Policy) The United Nations has fallen roughly $1 billion short of its target to help fund humanitarian operations in Yemen. Speaking before the donor conference, Lise Grande, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen said the UN’s operations would face “catastrophic cutback” if less than $1.6 billion was raised. “We won’t be able to provide the food people need to survive, or the health care they need or the water or sanitation or the nutrition support which helps to keep 2 million malnourished children from dying,” she said. Saudi Arabia’s spending on waging war in Yemen to date is believed to be at least $265 billion.