#Saint Paul Events

[chiinferno]

On May 5th, I was invited to participate in a Reading for Literary Bridges at Next Chapter Booksellers in St. Paul, Minnesota. There I read an excerpt from the first chapter of my upcoming novel Trial by Fire Academy. I was also surrounded by several other great writers and poets who provided readings for the event, and this video is a compilation of those who participated!

[thethief1996]

Israel has just bombed a hospital where hundreds of wounded and refugees were taking solace. Journalists in Gaza have reported there was hardly a single body whole in the aftermath (If you can stomach it, there's a video of a father holding what remains of his child). At least 500 people killed by IOF soldiers, who planned this action, got into an airplane and dropped that bomb willingly. The deadliest attack in five wars, according to the Ministry of Health.

Israel has denied ownership of the attack and said it was a misfired Hamas rocket. Originally, they celebrated it on their social media, saying they had destroyed a Hamas target, treating the deaths like an unfortunate collateral. After international backlash, they posted videos to their social media claiming it was a Hamas rocket. The video, though, shows a second explosion 40 minutes after the airstrike, and they edited it our of their tweet in a pathetic attempt at covering up.

Israel has said multiple times that they were going to bomb hospitals. They told doctors to evacuate and leave their patients to death because they were going to bomb, namely: Al Shifa, Shuhada Al Aqsa and the Quwaiti Hospital. Al Shifa housed at least 10.000 refugees and wounded, and worked as a hub for the press because it was one of the only hospitals that still had working generators. Medical crew worked with sirens blaring to signal the hospitals were not empty. This was a purposeful massacre. These people died hungry, thirsty and in pain because of the Israeli government's cruelty.

CNN and other media outlets already tried to pin the blame on Hamas, parroting back the pathetic propaganda being sold by the IOF. Even in death, Palestinians can't be respected and are used to further their own oppression. These people's deaths are not going to be in vain. Within our lifetimes, Palestine will be free.

Take action. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting today after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN GERMANY: Here's a toolkit to contact your representatives by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN POLAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN DENMARK: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN SWEDEN: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

Protests in support have already erupted in Beirut, Madrid and Rabat in response to the shelling of the hospital. Join your local protest and raise your voices. For people in the US, Israel has just asked for additional $10bi in aid on top of the annual $3.8bi already given to them. Palestinians are asking that you refuse this loudly, with their every breath.

Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Global calendar

USA calendar

Here are upcoming events:

WASHINGTON, DC: Outside Congress on 18/10 at 12 PM

WASHINGTON, DC: NATIONAL MARCH in front of the White House on 4/11 at 12 PM

SAN DIEGO: 2125 Pan American E Rd. (Spreckles Organ Pavillion) on 18/10 at 7 PM

NEW YORK: 72nd st. And 5th ave., Brooklyn on 21/10 at 2 PM

NEW YORK: CUNY Grad Building on 18/10 at 2 PM

NEW YORK: Oct 18, 5pm, Steinway & Astoria Blvd.

DALLAS: 1954 Commerce Street (Dallas Morning News Building) on 19/10 at 3 PM

[CAR RALLY] KITCHENER-WATERLOO: Fairview Park, 2960 Kingsway Dr. on 18/10 at 6 PM

KITCHENER-WATERLOO: CBC Building, 117 King St. W on 19/10 at 5 PM

HOUSTON: Zionist Consulate, 24 Greenway Plaza on 18/10 at 4 PM

OMAHA: 72nd St & Dodge St on 18/10 at 6 PM

SAINT PAUL, MN: Oct. 18, 5:30pm. State Capitol, 75 Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

BALTIMORE: Oct 20, 6pm. Baltimore City Hall

DUBLIN: Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 1 on 18/10 at 5 PM

THURLES: Liberty Square on 19/10 at 7 PM

LURGAN: Market Street on 21/10 at 3 PM

PORTO ALEGRE: Rua João Alfredo, 61 on 18/10 at 19h

RIO DE JANEIRO: Cinelândia on 19/10 at 17h

RECIFE: Parque Treze de Maio on 19/10 at 17h

MANAUS: Teatro Amazonas, Largo de São Sebastião on 19/10 at 17h

SÃO PAULO: Praça Oswaldo Cruz on 22/10 at 11h

FOZ DO IGUAÇU: Praça da Paz on 22/10 at 9h

TSHWANE: Belgrade Square Park, Jan Shoba Street on 20/10 at 10 AM

VEREENIGING: Roshnee Sports Grounds on 21/10 at 14h30

Feel free to add more resources

[pha55ed]

Is It Casual Now? || F2

type :: angst tw/cw :: suggestive/smut (paul) contains :: ollie, kimi, paul, arthur summary :: things that the boys do that make you question your entire relationship with them and yet they act like it was nothing - inspo: "casual" by chappell roan, literally the entire song - i know this song is for the girls but,,, shhh

f1 masterlist || f2 masterlist || more here!

Ollie Bearman | 03 Inviting you to all of his family events

Yet again, for the 4th time this month, you were leaving Ollie's house after having dinner with his family. That's not even counting the times you've gone out with his family to their beach house, their family events, and other places. You even dropped off his little brother to school at times when the family was busy. It was almost as if you were part of them.

At first, you thought it was in a best-friend way, but as the months progressed you couldn't help but feel an increase in tension between you and Ollie. How he looked at you first when he heard a funny joke, how he brushed the hair behind your ears when you ate pasta, or how he'd rest his head on top of yours when you were both waiting for his family.

You hated to admit it, but you fell for him hard, and you were confident he had fallen for you too. Besides the small gestures, the way he treated you has been sweeter than he's ever treated anyone else, even his ex girlfriend.

He started to buy you clothes that coincidentally matched his, perfect to wear when you hangout with his entire extended family. The matching rings you both wore on your right hand's ring finger, almost as if it was a promise ring. The way he called you beautiful under his breath whenever he would pick you up.

The signs were all pointing to one idea: he likes you.

So you finally took the first step, since you knew Ollie has always been quite shy with his crushes. As he opened your car door for you to exit, you stared into his eyes. Despite being pitch black outside, his eyes were still shiny somehow. It's as if God purposely gave him the sweetest and softest eyes ever.

Without thinking, you gave him a swift peck on the lips, hoping that it was good enough: you've never really kissed anyone before. You left the kiss with a small smile while Ollie was left in shock. Hoping he would kiss you back, just like the movies you've seen, but instead he did the opposite.

"Uhm..." He says, raising his hand to whip his lips from your touch. The way his fingers pushed harshly against his lips, like he was disgusted from the small peck. Instantly your heart broke, feeling the panic rush through your veins of possibly ruining your friendship.

But, still, as if Ollie had the heart of a saint he noticed the panic in your eyes and how you flinched back from his movements. "I-I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way." He says softly.

You heard him clearly, his words repeating in your head on loop. But you couldn't process it clearly. How could he not feel the same way when he just dropped you off from dinner with his family? How could he not feel the same way when you two slept in his childhood bed together since he refused to let you sleep on the cold couch in the living room?? How the fuck could he not feel the same when he literally said, "I love you", while brushing your hair as you two got ready for his great-grandfather's FUNERAL together???

It didn't matter, you guess none of those weeks mattered to him either. You ran inside, hiding from him for weeks on end, unable to face the embarrassment and humiliation you felt.

bad ending! | good ending!

Kimi Antonelli | 04 Spending hours alone teaching your Italian

Something Kimi loved to do for you, without you even needing to ask, was care for you in so many ways. So when you expressed how you felt so left out since you didn't understand Italian, he had no hesitation to volunteer to become your personal tutor. This was a dream come true, since he's always been a secret crush of yours.

You saw this as an opportunity to get closer to him whilst gaining a new skill. But looking back on it, you most likely would have never said yes if you knew it would end with you crying your eyes out.

The private sessions started out innocent, just visiting his house and learning basic phrases. But as the weeks and months passed, it became deeper, more intimate. The way he would gently touch your knees together as you studied. The way he would playfully steal your pencil and draw small hearts with your initials together. The way he'd stare at your lips while you spoke Italian, only to say that he could never get tired of you speaking.

It didn't help that as the more intimate the sessions became, the more he insisted that you study in different places. Like him taking you to a fancy Italian restaurant so you could practice ordering in Italian, only for him to introduce you as his girlfriend to the waiter. Even pushing it further to gently hold your hand for a minute as you laughed at a joke he told.

Or when he insisted you should come to his best friend's birthday, so you could practice conversing in Italian with a bunch of different people. And while you chatted with others, he would "grade" your Italian, meaning he rested his hands on your waist the entire party as you spoke to others: clearly establishing you belonged to Kimi.

Or when he begged you to meet his family so you could practice even more, despite being completely fluent at this point. But you went along anyways, with his hand resting on your thigh throughout the entire dinner. His eyes and smile widening every time you spoke, as if he was so proud to be able to show you off to his parents.

Or worst of all, how you refused to call you anything but "amore". Your name was never spoken again by him, only "amore". And looking back at it, you felt so stupid. So stupid to smile so brightly when he called you it, as if you no longer claimed your real name since him.

But you knew that "amore" wasn't commonly used with romantic partners, but instead "tesoro" was. You never wanted to push him on the subject, just assuming he got used to calling you so early. It's not that you minded "amore", but you wanted to test the waters and possibly playfully tease him like how he does to you: oh how wrong you were.

"Kimi," you called for him softly as you rested in his bed whilst he was busy packing for his next trip. His head peaked up, but his eyes stayed focus on his packing. "Why do you always call me "amore" and not "tesoro?"

Instantly, he let out a light scoff, as if you've said something that was basic common sense. He shook his head, still smiling from your statement as he kept packing, not even bothering to answer your question.

"What's so funny?" You say, copying his smile, completely innocent to his actual reason for his smirk. You thought it would be a sweet reason, maybe that he got used to it so fast or that "tesoro" didn't suit you.

"(Y/N)," he says finally looking at you while wearing a smirk, "Tesoro" is for girlfriends only." His smile spoke so many words to you.

Confused, your eyebrows furrowed, "But, are we not girlfriend and boyfriend...?" You said which made Kimi's eyes copy yours, except he was even more confused than you.

"Pfft, what?!" He says, you thought his smile couldn't get wider, but it did as he let out a chuckle, "I'd never date you,"

Instantly, a bang was heard in your heart. It was a critical hit, fatal damage onto your mind. The whiplash you were feeling from just one sentence alone was so overwhelming. As if he couldn't read how hurt you were he pushed even further,.

"Why...?" He asked, looking at you with a slightly concerned face but his smirk stayed on his face, "You didn't think we were actually together, did you?"

bad ending! | good ending!

Paul Aron | 17 Multiple one night stands

Being Paul's teammate for this year was filled with so many fun memories. You were scared at first, worried that you wouldn't be able to get along with him since he seemed cold. But the more you two talked the more you found in common.

Slowly, those forced bonding sessions became natural: even pushing you both to hangout outside of F2. One of your favorite things to do was to follow him to the club and watch him DJ. It was a side passion he had, even jokingly saying it's his backup plan if driving ever goes wrong.

But after one night of partying and getting wasted, you woke up in his bed. Not too odd since you've crashed at his house before, except you were both naked and cuddling in your sleep. When you both woke up, for some reason, neither of you screamed or freaked out. Almost as if you've both been wanting this but never had to guts to admit it. Despite knowing it was against the rules for you to date, you both didn't care.

That one night stand turned into teammates-with-benefits extremely fast. It was awkward at first, having sex while sober was completely different from being shit-face wasted. But despite that, you still felt comfortable with Paul: something that men barely made you feel.

Those nights became so common that even Hi-Tech began to get suspicious of how close you both were, but you constantly shrugged it off as "team bonding". But it so much more than that, much much more.

Unlike other one night stands you've had, it was as if Paul was actually your boyfriend. Telling you how beautiful you looked instead of "sexy" or "hot". Giving you small kisses across your face as you both calmed down from an intense round. Leaving markings on your chest and stomach to create a smiley face as a joke because "who will see?". He even allowed you to do the same, because once again, "who will see?". Establishing how he wasn't doing this with anyone else, and you knew it was wrong, but you were so happy when he admitted that.

Yet again, you two were laying down together in his bed, breathes unsteady from what just happened. His hand was caressing your face gently, as if he cherished you like a gem. His eyes stared into yours, but it didn't feel awkward at all, as if he was reading your soul and you allowed him. The way his lips were stuck in a soft smile as he looked at you spoke thousands of words to you.

So you did something stupid, something that goes against friends-with-benefits 101: asking what you are.

Paul's face quickly dropped his gentle smile and he had a puzzled look on his face, as if you just asked him an impossible math problem. His hand retracted from your face, like you were a hot stove that he touched on accident. The entire mood of the room shifted from loving to tense.

He got out of his bed, putting on his navy blue boxers as he didn't even bother to look up at you as he spoke. "(Y/N), you know we can't date." He says nonchalantly as he put his shirt back on, hiding the scratches you left on his chest. "It's against our contract."

Ironic, since you're there in his bed, naked. Ironic since this is the 10th time in a week that he's texted you to come over. Super ironic, since he was just mumbling how he wouldn't mind letting you have his kids one day. Ironic.

And yet you still felt so stupid. Stupid for asking, stupid for assuming that the man who just kissed you and worshipped you would actually love you.

bad ending! | good ending!

Arthur Leclerc | 65 Refers to you as his girlfriend to scare away fangirls

Being part of the infamous Leclerc family meant a lot of things, such as having girls throw themselves at him every chance they got. Arthur couldn't go to a single event without leaving with at least 20 girls numbers, not even counting the amount of men he also pulled. So one day, as a joke, he asked you to pretend to be his girlfriend.

And you, as a joke, couldn't help but agree, loving the thought of being a fake WAG. The thought of the free gifts, being able to pull off the craziest prank ever, that'd be so fun and funny. So you agreed, agreeing to his stupid joke that ended up ruining your friendship.

It started out easy, giggling as you both bought overly corny and cheesy matching outfits. Getting a gold plated necklace with each other's initials on it, as if you were claiming each other. Even going as far to get ugly pillows with photos of each other on it, something you saw only the corniest couples do.

It was so much fun, so fun to pretend to be a cheesy couple. So much so, that you even took it further than just buying little items and started to act as a couple. Arthur said, the fans would never believe you two were dating if there wasn't at least a pinch of PDA. So, as you both interlocked fingers for the first time, you both chuckled nervously, despite both of you having partners before, it felt different together. As if a secret underlying want has been fulfilled, but you both never spoke about it.

But hand holding wouldn't satisfy the fans, is what Arthur said, you needed to go even further. So Arthur took you on a few dates, which didn't feel too odd since you were close friends beforehand. But the scenery, the hand holding, and the forced acting made the "fake" date feel slightly more real. The way he called you stunning as he stared into your eyes whilst wearing the all black outfit you picked out for him, and you wearing the black dress he choose for you.

But dates wouldn't convince the fans fully, is what Arthur said, as he gently grabbed your face in the moonlight whilst taking a night ride on his boat. He stared into your eyes, as if he's been wanting this for ages, as if he's cherished you for decades. You didn't fight back, going along with this "acting" you both were committing to. So when his lips pressed onto yours, you couldn't help but smile into the kiss, which he quickly copied.

As you withdrew from the kiss, the moonlight reflecting into his hair and face, as if you two were in your own galaxy far from everyone else. The calm crashes of the cold water against the boat was the only sound for miles, if you didn't count how fast your heart was beating as you stared at him. As if he felt the same, he gently reached for your hand, his skin soft and warm, as he placed your palm on his chest: his heart rate was even quicker than yours.

As months passed, this silly "joke" became more and more real. As you casually kisses his cheek after he won a race. As he brushed your hair with his fingers as you fell asleep on his chest. As he gushed about you to interviewers that ever asked about his love life, instantly describing how beautiful you were, inside and out.

So, when you two sat alone on his boat again, staring out into the moonlight, your head resting on his shoulder, you sighed. A sigh of contentment, but also uncertainty. But Arthur knew you well, like the back of his hand, so he reached for your hand on instinct.

"Everything okay?" He asked, his touch still as warm and soft as the first time you first interlocked fingers.

"Arthur," You say with a slightly stern tone yet still filled with care. "What is,,, this." you ask him as you moved your head from his shoulder to sit upright to look at him.

He looked confused, as if he couldn't process what you asked. "What do you mean...?"

"This joke," You said, "This fake dating."

You were hoping he would instantly defend himself, possibly saying "fake?!" with an exaggerated tone of disbelief that you could view it that way. You wanted it to be like the romantic movies that you and Arthur always watched late at night. But instead, you two were the opposite.

"What about it?" He said, still confused, not understanding what you were implying at all. "Do you want to stop?"

"Yes," You say but then shook your head, "Well no, but not really??? I can't lie to you Arthur, you know that," You say, hesitating to continue, "But I, I really do like you."

As he heard that, his eyes widened as his body inched further away from you. It was like instinct, the opposite of what you wanted him to do in every possibly way. He shook his head and looked like he was in disbelief, even chuckling lightly to cope.

"(Y/N)," his sweet tone was gone, the way he said you name sounded condescending despite his smile. The same tone men use when a woman doesn't know how to play football or doesn't understand car mechanics, the stupid misogynistic tone you hated. "This is just for PR, you know that right?"

And instantly, you felt disappointment strike you like lightning, as you realized those months of "fake" dating were truly just that: fake dating. Those soft kisses on your lips as he held your hand down the streets of Monaco, all fake. Those matching outfits and necklaces you both wore 24/7, even in the shower and when you slept, fake. Those times he called you the love of his life to those interviewers which made your stomach do flips, fake.

You couldn't help the way that you eyes teared up, dropping down you face without your permission. As if Arthur suddenly did a complete 180, he backed up even further, as if he never had a empathic loving bone in his body. He was shocked, awkward, and frozen. Instead of even offering some comfort, he stood up and looked down at you with pity. He left you alone on the front of his ship, crying into the sleeves of his hoodie that he let you borrow.

bad ending! | good ending!

f1 masterlist || f2 masterlist || more here!

[imaginesig]

Documenting A Propsal

Paul Aron x Leclerc!Reader

Your engagement as documented by your brothers girlfriend.

I’m editing this while watching the Hungarian GP— Paul what are we doing?? This isn’t how we win championships?? Let’s come back better please

imessages

to Alex Saint Mleux

from Yn Leclerc

hey i was on instagram and im not able to see your account

Hey thats so weird

i just saw some stuff that insta is glitching

oh ok

it messes up all the time so im assuming this is one of those mass breaks

i guess your right

in that case can you let me know where you got that dress from your last post

the link is coming your way!!

alexandrasaintmleux (private)

liked by mama_leclerc, paularon_, charles_leclerc, and 123 others

alexandrasaintmleux: best part about dating someone with a little sister? She doesn't know she's getting proposed to in a week but I do!!!

tagged no one

mama_leclerc the sweetest!!! Just who my girl needs ❤️❤️

charles_leclerc she doesn’t know and I don’t know how to feel

Paularon_ thank you so much for agreeing to help!!

Alexandrasaintmleux planning on documenting the whole thing!! I hope she believes our lie and doesn’t find out she’s blocked 🤞🤞🤞

annaron_ I'm so unbelievably excited

alexandrasaintmleux same!! messaging you right now about a engament dinner theme

Load more

alexandrasaintmleux (private)

liked by maxverstappen1, charles_leclerc, annaron_, and 184 others

alexandrasaintmleux: just some fine tuning!! Thank you @/maxverstappen1 for distracting her while we walked through the plan

tagged no one

maxverstappen I’m never taking her to play paddle again

Charles_leclerc she’s a bit competitive

arthur_leclerc and mean

lorenzotl and intense

paularon_ and scary

Load more

alexandrasaintmleux (private)

liked by charles_leclerc, mama_leclerc, paularon_, and 142 others

alexandrasaintmleux: since Paul can't post it, "last race as bf-gf"

tagged: no one

paularon_ ❤️❤️

mama_leclerc beautiful pictures ❤️❤️

arthur_leclerc I don’t like how this makes me feel 😭

annaron_ crying

Load more

alexandrasaintmleux (private)

liked by nailartist, charles_leclerc, Francisca.cgomez, and 281 others

alexandrasaintmleux: wonderful job by @/nailartist!! Our girl is all photo ready 💅

tagged: no one

nailartist it was a honor to do these special nails!! They’re gonna be gorgeous with the bling 💍💍

alexandrasaintmleux thank you!!!

mama_leclerc I love the matching nails!!

Charles_leclerc beautiful

Alexandrasaintmleux ❤️❤️

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Alexandrasaintmleux (private)

liked by charles_leclerc, arthur_leclerc, lorenzotl, and 182 others

alexandrasaintmleux: first, a sister date (plus Leo) and now off to her special night!!

tagged: no one

fransica.cgomez so so excited!!

charles_leclerc im not ready

arthur_leclerc me either

Lorenzotl we can still stop them, steal the boat

alexandrasaintmleux who are you acting so big and bad for?? All of you cried when Paul told you he was proposing

charles_leclerc I was exposed by my own girlfriend 😭😭

Load more

alexandrasaintmleux (private)

liked by charles_leclerc, mama_leclerc, lorenzotl, and 173 others

alexandrasaintmleux: floral dinner party to celebrate 🩵

tagged: no one

charles_leclerc you’ve done a wonderful job planning and setting this up!!

mama_leclerc thank you sweet girl for all the work and time you’ve put into making this so special for Y/n!! Not only have you helped guide Paul and make his plans come to life, you planned a wonderful event to celebrate in a way Y/n will love!!!

alexandrasaintmleux 😭❤️❤️

Lorenzotl the floral theme came to life

annaaron_ we plan a great celebration!!

alexandrasaintmleux i say we start a bussiness

Load more

Alexandrasaintmleux posted a story

Caption: she said yes!!! My beautiful bride to be 🫶💍✨

Replies

ynleclerc

I’m crying I love you!!!!

Omg I just stalked your account, that’s so sweet😭😭

It was Paul’s idea to document everything but he couldn’t post it

You’re the best 🥹🥹

I love you baby sis

I love you too Alex

ynleclerc

Liked by charlie_leclerc, alexandrasaintmleux, paularon_, and 837, 948 others

ynleclerc: good time to say I have a crush on him??

Tagged: paularon_

Paularon_ 🩵🩵

arthur_leclerc can't you be normal

ynleclerc Paul wants me despite my quirks

Arthur_leclerc quirks?? girl thats mental illness

alexandreasaintmleux my gorgeous gorgeous bride to be!!

ynleclerc you are the best🫶💋

Charles_leclerc I cried the whole time you guys were gone

ynleclerc awww char 🫶

lorenzotl I love you baby sis

ynleclerc i love you too

comments have been limited

paularon_

Liked by aronralf, annaaron_, ynleclerc, and 823,928 others

Paularon_: my forever date 🩵

Tagged: ynleclerc

ynleclerc forever and always

annaaron_ i cant wait for a sister in law

paularon_ im scared for what you two can will get into

aronralf so proud! Congrats!!

paularon_ thank you!!

charles_leclerc the plan was perfect

arthur_leclerc you really know our sister

paularon_ i'd like to think so

comments have been limited

[creature-wizard]

Check this out, everybody - this is from the FOX 9 Minneapolis-Saint Paul YouTube channel today (August 7). Harris/Walz and JD Vance both held events in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and... well, just look at the view counts on these videos!

You love to see it!

But remember, don't get complacent! Thinking Trump had no chance to win in 2016 contributed to a low Democratic voter turnout, which was one of the factors that contributed to his election. We're not making the same mistake twice!

[familyrantise2003]

Please pay attention to this campaign, donate or share ⚘️❤️‍🩹.

I am the student Haya. I dreamed of graduating from the prestigious Islamic University, but the war destroyed everything. Today, I ask for your help to rebuild my future. Your donation will contribute to rebuilding the university and providing us with a suitable educational environment.

My campaign is vetted by: @bilal-salah0

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hayas-family-leave-gaza

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[youryurigoddess]

A nightingale sang in the London Blitz

When exactly was that certain night, the night Aziraphale and Crowley met — and spoke for the first time in 79 years in the midst of the London Blitz?

And what’s the deal with the nightingale’s song, really?

Grab something to drink and we’ll look for some Clues below.

The night they met

The Blitz, short for Blitzkrieg (literally: flash war) was a German aerial bombing campaign on British cities in the WW2, spanning between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941. The Luftwaffe attacks were carried out almost non stop, with great intensity meant to force a capitulation and similarly strong impact on British life and culture at the time.

Starting on 7 September 1940, London as the capital city was bombed for nearly 60 consecutive nights. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 20,000 civilians were killed, half of the total victims of this campaign.

The night of 29 December 1940 saw the most ferocity, becoming what is now known as the Second Great Fire of London. The opening shot of the S2 1941 minisode is a direct reference to recordings of that event, with the miraculously saved St Paul’s Cathedral in the upper left corner.

The actual raid lasted between 06:15 and 09:45 PM, but its aftermath continued for days. The old and dense architecture of this particular part of the city turned into a flaming inferno larger than the Great Fire of 1666. Multiple buildings, including churches, were destroyed in just one night by over 100,000 bombs.

Incendiary bombs fell also on St Dunstan-in-the-East church that night, the real-life location of this scene as intended by Neil. It was gutted and again claimed by fire in one of the last air rides on 10 May, when the bomb destroyed the nave and roof and blew out the stained glass windows. The ruins survived to this day as a memorial park to the Blitz.

Such a delightfully Crowley thing to do: saving a bag of books with a demonic miracle adding to the biggest catastrophe for the publishing and book trade in years. 5 million volumes were lost, multiple bookshops and publishing houses destroyed in the December 29th raid alone.

Even without this context, judging by the seemingly unending night, overwhelming cold and darkness, broken heating at the theatre, and seasonal clothing (like Aziraphale and Crowley’s extremely nice winter coats), it’s rather clear that it was the very beginning of the year 1941.

Everything suggests that Aziraphale and Crowley’s Blitz reunion happened exactly 1900 years after their meeting in Rome — which, according to the script book, took place between 1 and 24 January 41 (Crowley was right: emperor Caligula was a mad tyrant and didn't need any additional tempting; there's a reason why he was murdered by his closest advisors, including members of his Praetorian Guard, on 24 January 41).

Interestingly, both events involved a role reversal in their otherwise stable dynamic, with Aziraphale spontaneously taking the lead instead of letting the demon be the one to do all the tempting and saving, and ended with a toast.

The S2 Easter Egg with the nuns of the Chattering Order of St Beryl playing table tennis at the theatre suggests that the Blitz meeting happened on a Tuesday afternoon, which doesn’t match any of the above mentioned days, but sets the in-universe date for 7 January 1941 or later.

The Chattering Order of Saint Beryl is under a vow to emulate Saint Beryl at all times, except on Tuesday afternoons, for half an hour, when the nuns are permitted to shut up, and, if they wish, to play table tennis.

The nightingale

January means one thing: absolutely no migratory birds in Europe yet. They’re blissfully wintering in the warm sun of Northern Africa at the time. But, ironically, when the real nightingales flew off, a certain song about them suddenly gained popularity in the West End of London.

It might be a shock, but A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square wasn’t a hit from the start — even though its creators, Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin, were certainly established in their work at this point. The song was written in the then-small French fishing village of Le Lavandou shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War with first performance in the summer of 1939 in a local bar, where the melody was played on piano by the composer Manning Sherwin with the help of the resident saxophonist. Maschwitz sang his lyrics while holding a glass of wine, but nobody seemed impressed. It took time and a small miracle to change that.

Next year, the 23-year-old actress Judy Campbell had planned to perform a monologue of Dorothy Parker’s in the upcoming Eric Maschwitz revue „New Faces”. But somehow the script had been mislaid and, much to her horror, replaced with the song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. She had never professed to be a singer but even so, she gathered her courage and went out onto the moonlit set dressed in a white ball gown. Her heartfelt rendition of the now evocative ballad captured the audience’s imagination and catapulted her West End career to stardom.

It was precisely 11 April 1940 at the Comedy Theatre in Panton Street and the revue itself proved to be a great success — not only it kept playing two performances nightly through the Blitz, but also returned the next year. And the still operating Comedy Theatre is mere five minutes on foot from the Windmill Theatre, where Aziraphale performed in 1941, and not much longer from his bookshop.

Now, most Good Omens meta analyses focus on Vera Lynn’s version of the song from 5 June 1940, but it didn’t get much attention until autumn, specifically 15 November, when Glenn Miller and his orchestra published another recording. And Glenn Miller himself is a huge point of reference in Good Omens 2.

According to the official commentary the infamous credits scene is establishing Aziraphale and Crowley’s final resolve for the next season using the same narrative device The Glenn Miller Story (1954) does in its most crucial scene. It starts with the tune (and audio in general) totally flat, then adds a piano on one side, and gradually becomes fully multidimensional. The Good Omens credits not only emulate the same sound effect, but bring it to the visual side of the narrative by literally combining the individual perspectives of the two characters together. Even though they’re physically apart, their resolve — and love to each other — brings them even closer than before. Aziraphale smiles not because he’s being brainwashed, but because he knows exactly what to do next.

Some of you might have noticed that Tori Amos’s performance for Good Omens is actually a slightly shortened version of Miller’s recording — much less sorrowful than Vera Lynn’s full lyrics that include i.a. this bridge:

The dawn came stealing up

All gold and blue

To interrupt our rendez-vous

I still remember how you smiled and said

Was that a dream or was it true?

Which is a huge hint when it comes to what we can expect from the main romantic plot line in the Good Omens series. The original song introduces an element of the doubt — it seems like there was no nightingale at all, only the mirage woven by the singer clearly intoxicated with love, much like Aziraphale and Crowley for the length of the last six episodes. Crowley’s comment in the season finale might allude to that interpretation, stating that there are no nightingales — never have been. It was all a dream. But the version we’re working with here is short and sweet, and devoid of that doubt. In the Good Omens universe angels were actually dining at the Ritz, the streets were truly paved with stars (or will be shown as such in the next season), and a nightingale really sang in Berkeley Square, as the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent narrator, God Herself, had shown us.

All in all, it’s not an accident that the “modern” swing ballad activating Aziraphale’s memory and opening the 1941 minisode is the Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. It’s a track naturally associated with A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square when it comes to music style and the sentiment in the lyrics.

But why the sudden popularity? In the great uncertainty and hardship of the Blitz, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square provided solace and escapism for listeners, offering a glimpse of hope and love amidst the darkness of war. It became a universal anthem of resilience and a reminder of the power of love transcending difficulties. By January 1941 the whole city knew this tune by heart, including a certain West End aficionado with a cabinet full of theatre programs in his bookshop. Thanks to Maggie’s grandmother, he most probably had a record at hand to play during his spontaneous wine night with Crowley. We can only suspect the details, but it was was mutually established as their song exactly at that time or soon afterwards. Pretty sure we will see a third installment of that minisode for many, many reasons, but especially because of this “several days in 1941” answer by Neil:

The Man Hunt

In 1941 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square gained even more popularity as the romantic theme of the Fritz Lang’s newest film Man Hunt. The 1939 story by Geoffrey Household first appeared under the title “Rogue Male” as a serial in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine where it received widespread comment, soon becoming a world-wide phenomenon in novel form. Its premise criticizes Britain's pre-war policy of appeasement with Germany, ready to sacrifice its own innocent citizens to the tentative status quo. Sounds a bit like Heaven's politics, right?

Yes, I'm trying to make you watch old movies again — like all the other classics, Man Hunt (1941) is easily available on YouTube and other streaming websites.

The next part will include spoilers, so scroll down to the next picture if you prefer to avoid them.

The plot of the movie seems simple enough: the tall, dark, and handsome Alan Thorndike, who nearly assassinates Hitler, narrowly escapes Germany and back in London continues to evade the Nazi agents sent after him with the help of a young trench-clad “seamstress” named Jerry, bridging the class divide and becoming unlikely friends-partners-romantic interests. It doesn’t end well though.

Jerry's small London apartment serves as a hideout for Alan when he was being followed by Nazis, similarly to how Aziraphale's bookshop is a safe haven for both Crowley and Gabriel in S2. She helps the man navigate the streets and eventually out of London — by sacrificing herself and getting forcefully separated from him by a patrolling policeman. The last time they see each other, Alan watches Jerry look back at him yearningly and disappear in the fog, followed by the elderly officer.

Unfortunately in the next scene we learn that the latter is a Nazi collaborator and helps the agents apprehend Jerry in her own flat. Staying loyal to her love and uncooperative, she’s ultimately thrown out of a window to her death, but posthumously saves Alan once again — through the arrow-shaped hatpin he gifted her earlier that is presented to him as the evidence of her off-screen fate.

Long story short, thanks to Jerry’s sacrifice Alan not only survives, but is able to join the war that broke out in the meantime and go back to Germany, armed with a rifle and a final resolve to end what he started, no matter how long will it take. The justice will be served and the dictator will pay with his life for his sins.

I wouldn’t be myself without mentioning that the main villain has a Roman chariot statue similar to the one in Aziraphale’s bookshop, an antique sculpture of St Sebastian (well-known as the gayest Catholic Saint) foreshadowing his demise, and a chess set symbolizing the titular manhunt/game of tag with the protagonist.

Aziraphale’s song

Will Aziraphale sacrifice himself as well? Or has he already? If his coin magic trick can be any indicator, we should expect at least a shadow of a danger touching the angel’s wings soon.

Let’s sum up the 1941 events from Aziraphale’s perspective: the very first time they’ve interacted after almost a century, Crowley actively sabotaged his entire existence twice by stepping onto a holy ground and by being outed by agents of Hell, both on the very same night and both because of his undying dedication to the angel. That’s enough of a reason not only for performing an apology dance, but also maintaining a careful distance for Crowley’s sake for the next 26 years. Only when he heard that his idiot was planning to rob a church, he gave up since he “can't have him risking his life”.

That’s when Crowley, sitting in a car parked right under his bookshop, offered him a ride. It wasn’t even subtle anymore. It was supposed to be a date, this time both of them understood it. But Aziraphale wouldn’t risk Crowley’s safety for his own happiness, especially not when he can name his feelings towards him and knows that they are reciprocated — the biggest lesson he learnt back in 1941.

So he did what he’s best at, he cut Crowley off again, but this time with a promise of catching up to his speed at some point. Buddy Holly’s Everyday, which was originally planned to play afterwards instead of the Good Omens theme, adds additional context here:

No, thank you. Oh, don’t look so disappointed. Perhaps one day we could... I don't know… Go for a picnic. Dine at the Ritz.

Aziraphale, carefully looking around and feeling observed through the whole conversation in the Bentley, consciously used the “Dine at the Ritz” line from A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, from their song, as a code only the two of them understand. Not as a suggestion to go out for a meal, but a promise. A hope for the privilege of being openly in love and together — maybe someday, not now, when it’s too dangerous — even if it leads to a bad ending.

Fast forward to 2023 when for one dreadful moment Crowley’s “No nightingales” robbed Aziraphale even of that semblance of hope. He looked away, unable to stop his tears anymore. Only their kiss helped him pull himself together and make sure that a nightingale did sing the last time he turned — just like in their song — this time without a smile, as a goodbye.

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day

Saint Luke the Evangelist

Died: 85

Feast day: October 18

Patronage: artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, doctors, glassworkers, goldsmiths, notaries

Saint Luke, an early convert of paganism to Christianity, was a physician who was born in Antioch, Syria. Luke was a close companion of St. Paul, whom he accompanied in prison on two different occasions. St. Luke is the writer of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles; his account of events is firsthand history

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[bronzecats]

National Rainbow Week of Action in Canada

In this post I have compiled all the information I could find regarding upcoming events for the Rainbow Week of Action. There are two online events, and dozens on in-person events across the country.

"Within the Rainbow Week of Action, we are pushing governments and elected officials at every level to take action for Rainbow Equality and address rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate. As such, we have identified calls to action for every level of government. These calls to action can be reviewed here."

Event list below:

Events are listed in date order, provinces in general west-to-east order. I have included as much detail as possible, please reference the links at the bottom of the post. At this time, there are no events in N.W.T. and Nova Scotia. Last updated: May 14th, 9:53pm PDT. Please note that I am not officially affiliated with / an organizer of these events, I have simply compiled all the dates to share on tumblr. Original post content.

B.C. EVENTS:

15th: Fernie; Fernie Seniors Drop-In Centre, 572 3rd Avenue, 6:00PM. (Letter writing and Potluck)

17th: Vancouver; šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl'e7énḵ Square - Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza, 750 Hornby St, 5:30PM. (Rally)

19th, Sunday: Abbotsford; Jubilee Park, 5:00PM. (Rally)

ALBERTA EVENTS:

15th: Lethbridge; McKillop United Church, 2329 15th Ave S, 12:00-1:00PM (letter writing)

17th, Friday: Calgary; Central Memorial Park, 1221 2 St SW, 5:30PM. (Rally)

17th: Edmonton; Wilbert McIntyre Park, 8331 104 St NW, 6:00PM. (Rally)

SASKATCHEWAN EVENTS:

17th: Saskatoon; Vimy Memorial Park, 500 Spadina Crescent E, 5:30PM. (Rally)

17th: Regina; Legislative Grounds, 2405 Legislative Dr, 6:30PM. (Rally)

May 18th: Saskatoon; Grovenor Park United Church, 407 Cumberland Ave S, 6:00PM. (Art event)

MANITOBA EVENTS:

16th: Carman; Paul's Place, 20 1 Ave SW, 7:00-9:00PM. (Letter writing)

19th: Winnipeg; Manitoba Legislature, 450 Broadway, 12:00PM. (Rally)

ONTARIO EVENTS:

15th: Barrie; UPlift Black, 12 Dunlop St E, 6:00-7:30PM. (Letter writing)

15th: Chatham; CK Gay Pride Association, 48 Centre St, 5:00-6:30PM. (Letter writing)

15th: Peterborough; Trinity Community Centre, 360 Reid St, 12:00-3:00PM. (Letter writing)

16th: Midland; Midland Public Library, 4:30-7:30PM. (Letter writing and pizza)

16th: Ottawa; Impact Hub, 123 Slater Street, 2:00PM. (Letter writing)

16th: Toronto; Barbara Hall Park, 519 Church St, 11:30AM. (Rally)

17th, Friday: Barrie; City Hall, 70 Collier St, 6:00PM. (Rally)

17th: Cornwall; 167 Pitt St, 5:30PM. (Rally)

17th: Essex; St. Paul's Anglican Church, 92 St. Paul St, 6:00-8:00PM. (Letter writing and pizza)

17th: Hamilton; City Hall, 71 Main St W, 6:00PM. (Rally)

17th: Kitchener; City Hall, 200 King St W, 6:00PM. (Rally)

17th: London; City Hall, 300 Dufferin Ave, 6:00PM. (Rally)

17th: Sarnia; City Hall, 255 Christina St N, 1:00PM. (Rally)

17th: Sault Ste Marie; City Hall, 99 Foster Dr, 11:30AM. (Rally)

17th: Ottawa; Confederation Park, Elgin St, 5:30PM. (Rally)

22nd: Renfrew; 161 Raglan St. South, 7:00PM. (Letter writing, fashion and makeup event, and pizza)

QUEBEC EVENTS:

May 15th: Lachute; CDC Lachute, 57, rue Harriet, 12:30PM. (Letter writing event)

NEW BRUNSWICK EVENTS:

17th: Woodstock; Citizen's Square, Chapel St, Next to the L.P. Fisher Public Library, 12:00-1:00PM. (rally)

17th: Saint John; City Hall, 15 Market Square, 12:30PM. (Rally, flag raising)

18th, Saturday: Fredericton; Legislative Grounds, 706 Queen Street, 1:00PM. (Rally)

NOVA SCOTIA EVENTS:

May 17th: Middleton; NSCC AVC RM 121, 6:30-8:30PM (letter writing and pizza)

P.E.I. EVENTS:

May 15th: Charlottetown; Peers Alliance Office, 250B Queen Street, 6:00-8:00PM. (Adult drop-in)

May 16th: Charlottetown, Peers Alliance Office, 250B Queen Street, 6:00-7:00PM.

May 17th: Charlottetown; PEI Legislative Assembly, 165 Richmond St, 12:00PM. (Rally)

YUKON EVENTS:

16th: Whitehorse; The Cache, 4230 4 Ave, 2:00-7:00PM. (Letter writing)

NUNAVUT EVENTS:

May 16th, Thursday: Iqaluit; Four Corners, 922 Niaqunngusiariaq St, 5:00PM. (Letter writing)

Reference links:

About the Rainbow Week of Action.

Website letter writing events list (does not include all events)

General events website list (does not include all events)

Instagram general events image list

Instagram letter writing / pizza party image list

[bigtreefest]

Masterlist

Fluff 💞| Smut 🔥| Angst 🧊| Allusions to/smut-adjacent ❤️‍🔥 | Semi-dark ♟️| Light Angst ❄️

Series

Bucky Barnes

You Catch More Bees With Honey (Mob! Bucky x Farmer! Reader) part of the Outta Nowhere AU

Steve Rogers

The Rainmaker (Mob! Steve x Forensic Scientist! Reader) part of the Outta Nowhere AU

Kill for Me (Lloyd Hansen x Dark! Reader, Steve Rogers x Dark! Reader)

Good Things (lost love, bbf! Steve x reader) (coming soon)

Bodyguard Steve???

Stucky

Guardian Angel (Mafia! Stucky x Bodyguard! Reader) part of the Galvanized AU

Ari Levinson

Bigger Houses (Mountain Ranger! Ari x Reader) a series based off Dan and Shay’s latest Album

Curtis Everett

Handiwork (Mechanic! Farmhand! Curtis x Bartender! Reader) part of the Outta Nowhere AU

Jimmy Dobyne

The Banes of the Ball (Jimmy Dobyne x Heiress! Reader)

Lloyd Hansen

Kill for Me (Lloyd Hansen x Dark! Reader, Steve Rogers x Dark! Reader)

Jake Jensen

Pressed Code (Mafia! Jake Jensen x Bodyguard! Reader) part of the Galvanized AU

One-Shots

Bucky Barnes

…just a quickie 🔥 Bucky can’t keep his hands off you an an event. It’ll be quick, he promises.

Steve Rogers

Sick of It ❄️💞 Steve looks good in everything and you’re sick of it

A Celebration Just For Us 💞 You want to celebrate Steve’s actual birthday

Jake Jensen

Touch My Butt💞❤️‍🔥 Dating Jake is great, he’s such a gentleman

Wait Until We Get Home 🔥 (CT 2024) You promised Jake anything he wanted if he could keep his hands to himself until you got home

Marshmallow Dream 💞🔥 A rainy day can still be a good one if the right person knows how to turn it around. Jake’s Rough Days That Should Be Me

Can’t Fight the Moonlight 🔥💞 Your werewolf boyfriend can’t fight how badly he wants you when he sees you in your Halloween costume

In Your Arms ❤️‍🔥💞 Jake tries to treat you to a spa day on your honeymoon part of the Say I Do AU

Curtis Everett

From Both Ends 💞❄️ When work and responsibilities spill over, Curtis helps you clean it up

Morning Mewl 💞(PhD Candidate! Curtis) Curtis is nervous for his PhD defense

I’m So, So Proud of You 💞🔥 Curtis is proud of you for getting that job

Drip…and Lick 💞❤️‍🔥Curtis treats you to a truck bed date…and forgets to cut the watermelon

Pour Clueless Babes 💞❄️❤️‍🔥 (SB 2024) you and the broody bartender can’t help your want to be around each other

Why Not Both? 💞🔥 Curtis wants to treat you in your special day

A Well-deserved Treat 🔥 After a long day, you know exactly what Curtis needs

Comfort Cuddles in Bed💞

Ransom Drysdale

Meet the Parents 💞❤️‍🔥 You prep Ransom to meet your family

A What in Church? 💞🔥 (CT 2024) (can be read as a continuation of Meet the Parents or stand-alone) Ransom agrees to come to church with you and your family

Details 💞❤️‍🔥Ransom can’t help the way he pays such close attention to every detail regarding you

Rainy days and cozy sweaters 💞

Lloyd Hansen

Saint or Sinner? 🔥♟️ Lloyd wants to know how much it takes for a Saint to break

Ari Levinson

Whatever You Need 💞❄️ You want nothing more than couch cuddles with Ari after a long day

Sweet Coworker Ari and the car troubles

Bartender!Ari Thots

Andy Barber

Feral-ish Homecoming💞🔥

Paul Diskant

Moving Drabble ❄️💞Paul’s job stresses you out. Late nights and LA danger are too much

Random and Extras

Summer Lovin’ 300 Follower Celebration

The Great British Baking Show With the Babes

Movie Reviews

Sebastian Stan

Chris Evans

Fic Rec Masterlist 2

[georgiapeach30513]

Kinktober 2023 Masterlist

This year's Kinktober is going to be featuring moodboards that YOU guys help decide. Each of these were created by the moodboard events. Each day in the month of October you will get a new ONE shot. These are not one big universe. Each one will be a stand alone story. Without further adieu

The Girls Come Easy with Lloyd Hansen/Mickey Henry/Clark Kent Just Pull the Trigger with Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Take A Look with Paul Diskant The Spike in My Heart with Cole Turner We Don't Need No Thought Control with Ransom Drysdale Take the Time with Bucky Barnes This Hole In My Chest with Johnny Storm Losing My Mind with Ryan Ackerman Kiss the Stars with Ari Levinson An Open Page with Jefferson Nasty Naughty Boy with Andy Barber/Cole Turner Things I Can't Escape with Johnny Storm Last Night with Colin Shea Watch & See with Kyle How You Scream My Name with Jake Jensen No Privacy with Johnny Storm He Offers Me Protection with Dean Winchester/Soldier Boy Saints and Sinners with Curtis Everett Keep Coming Back For More with Lucas Lee Diamonds In His Watch with Steve Kemp Warm Up To Me with James Mace In Mysterious Ways with Mr. Freezy/Steve Kemp Fade Away with Ari Levinson It's Yours All Yours with Andy Barber Cause We're All Alone with Dayton White When I Crack That Whip with Mike Weiss What Lightning Sees with Frank Adler The Way You Did Last Night with Jimmy Dobyne Made To Be Mine with Jake Wyler Double Shot of Crown with Chase Collins Fear the Reaper with Ransom Drysdale/Curtis Everett

A/N: This one shots will have various forms of kink. They will range from sweeter kinks to dark. Read ALL warnings before each one shot. You are the one responsible for the content that you consume. Minors DNI!

[thewalrusespublicist]

Re: John and domestic abuse, and your tag: 'John as an abuser is something I don't think the fandom knows what to do with'. 

I think my big thing about why and how it's all so difficult to unpack this is that the stories predominantly stem from and around the Dakota years and that is an incredibly murky time, in terms of straight facts and reliable narrative. Most of what leaks out of there comes via blackmail or disgruntled ex employees who are then silenced with gag orders. I think only May Pang's version of events is the most clear cut, level headed. And for what it's worth, I think she describes a mutually abusive relationship between John and Yoko, which I can believe. (I also take from it that she was in an abusive relationship with John, but that’s my take and I’m not going to put words in her mouth). And I know that you link to AKOM's discussion about John's beatings and abuse of Yoko, where they read from Goldman's book, but I think it's worth saying that AKOM wrote a eleven episode series to highlight how important it is not to take Tune In at face value because of Mark Lewisohn's clear bias in favour of John, and against Paul, and how this bias can inform a narrative and therefore objective facts can become subjective statements... and then go and quote *directly* from Goldman, who plainly and nakedly despises John - even three year old John is held in utter contempt! That doesn't mean that I don't believe the stories aren't true; as you point out, John and Yoko themselves have openly discussed John's violence. But just like I can't use Lewisohn as a source, unless it’s for a specific recording date, say… I can’t use Goldman either. 

So with regards to fandom, yeah, many people don’t know how or where to put John’s violence and abusive behaviour. But that is true of *all* of the Beatles. It’s an undisputed fact that three quarters of the Beatles have been accused of, or admitted to domestic violence, yet it’s airbrushed from Paul and Ringo’s stories. Ringo will forever be a beloved king and no-one will bring up the fact that he beat his wife so hard that he believed he had killed her. And as for Paul and Heather Mills; while those allegations have a right to be strongly contested, it’s a fact (and I am old enough to remember), that Mill’s was utterly destroyed in the British press (Amber Heard has nothing on the sheer hatred that the media had for Mills), to the point that her testimony was obliterated and has been erased from any narrative to do with Paul. But Paul is a Blorbo, and no one wants to fold any negative character traits into his persona. And as for John - I’m not surprised you got it in the neck for saying that John had mental health issues - but I am surprised that it came from John stans! I got yelled at for trying to discuss John’s very likely mood disorder, but the yelling came from influential Beatle people who saw that as an ‘apology’ or defence of his behaviour (which it wasn’t). I actually think of all the arena’s of fandom, Tumblr has the healthiest approach None of them are held in reverence or as Saint’s, and they aren’t just out and out assholes either. 

t/w coercion, abuse, child abuse

Hi anon, thank you for your message and for putting forward your perspective! This is a difficult topic, and I am not an expert in these matters. However, I’m going to try and answer this the best I can and with the amount of sensitivity I think this conversation needs.

Just to start off,I totally agree with you that Tumblr is by far the best place in terms of their approach towards the Beatles and their behaviour. I think in other places like Reddit, some of the fans there are older and grew up with the ‘Saint John’ image put forward by the Lennon estate. If you have that context, the minute it’s revealed that maybe your hero wasn’t perfect, the natural response is to either deny it completely or start to demonise them. It’s not healthy or productive but it’s understandable. I also agree that the fandom does not know how to deal with the allegations of domestic abuse with all the Beatles and that is a widespread problem. In the case of Paul, I think his negative traits are acknowledged and there is good discussion about it, though equally some of these issues are played more for laughs. I’m also not the right person to do a deep dive on the flattening and cinnamon-rolling of Ringo in the fandom but I think one needs to be done. I do however want to put forward an alternative perspective on a couple of points that you mentioned.

Despite my belief that all of the Beatles probably engaged in terrible behaviour towards women (the repeated mentions of Paul’s control issues from multiple sources really concern me), what sets John apart from the others is the consistency and the severity of the allegations. With Paul and Ringo, the allegations or the incidents are, as far as we know, situated in the context of a crisis and not an established pattern. This could be wrong, but we don’t have any further information to dispute it properly (Paul’s long, adoring relationship with his first and third wives and his children suggest not in his case at least). The same can’t be said for John. You raise the point that AKOM cites Goldman and how this could be seen as hypocritical and that a lot of the information comes from the murky Dakota years. I understand where you’re coming from but I don’t think this is is 1000 percent accurate. On the AKOM point, I think this mischaracterises what the ladies were doing as they were citing direct reports from staff in Goldman’s book, not Goldman’s interpretation. As Beatles historian Erin Torkelson Weber states, Goldman was excellent in obtaining information, it’s how he construed the information that raises severe problems for his credibility. As the ladies said as well, whilst they acknowledge Goldman’s problems, the tapes with this information on are available in the archive. Still, he is a dodgy source, so the points need to be cross-referenced with other sources. In this instance, the sources are John and Yoko themselves.

It’s also true that a lot of the allegations for the Dakota years are from the disgruntled employees pack and so are harder to verify, however allegations of violence and abuse both predate this period and are corroborated later on. Whilst John Lennon fanboy of the decade Lewisohn tried to downplay it, John did hurl insults and abuse at one of his early girlfriends to try and force her to sleep with him. John did beat up a random woman in the Bob Wooler incident and barricaded Little Richard in his own dressing room whilst hurling mocking abuse at him. Further, whilst Cynthia said that John rarely hit her, John himself disputes that in Hunter Davies. Post Yoko, we have reports of continued violence from different sources like Nilsson that corroborate stories like John choking May. Mintz, who was/is doggedly loyal to Yoko, was the one to repeat the story of John purposefully humiliating Yoko at the party by loudly sleeping with a stranger. Then you have Sean and Julian’s own recollections of abuse. These aren’t one off incidents, this is a repeated pattern of documented abusive behaviour that exist throughout John’s lifetime as well as the well-worn pattern of victims trying desperately to defend his behaviour in language hauntingly familiar to most abuse victims (‘he didn’t mean it’, ‘he’s sensitive’, ‘he didn’t know what he was doing.’) In this context, it is hard to say why the disgruntled employees narratives should be seen as so outlandish.  This is what sets the conversation about John apart from the others as his pattern of abuse is inescapable and entrenched in all his close interpersonal dynamics (yes, including his relationship with Paul but that’s for another time).

I’m not saying all of this to demonise John, all of this has to be understood in the context of a man with a deeply traumatic childhood, who likely had a severe mood disorder as you said, was in what I believe was a mutually abusive relationship as you and May Pang posit, and was trying his best to improve in a time period that could not give him the support he needed. But this is a lot to ask a fandom to deal with and handle carefully so often it gets shoved down or outright ignored when it’s integral to understanding who John was and why we need to take so much care in certain discussions about him.

[beaft]

formative influences/things that live in my heart (inspired by @feytouched's syllabus)

movies

alice (1988) by jan svankmejer

the double (2013) by richard ayoade

nosferatu (1979) by werner herzog

withnail and i (1987) by bruce robinson

books

the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson

the lord of the rings by j. r. r. tolkien

deathless by catherynne valente

autobiography of red by anne carson

coraline by neil gaiman

grief is the thing with feathers by max porter

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry

a series of unfortunate events by lemony snicket

artworks

eine kleine nachtmusik by dorothea tanning

tell me the way by kay nielsen

the garden of earthly delights by hieronymous bosch

st george and the dragon by paolo uccello

poems

the love song of j. alfred prufrock by t. s. eliot

sunlight on the garden by louis macneice

i had a dream about you by richard siken

i'm not a religious person but by chen chen

songs

that unwanted animal by the amazing devil

go long by joanna newsom

spaceboy by smashing pumpkins

lord anthony by belle and sebastian

quick! by the magnetic fields

miscellaneous

sleeping beauty concept art by eyvind earle

jeremy miranda's winter paintings

the site-specific installations of rune guneriussen

colleen moore's fairy dollhouse

bird and blend's "campfires and vampires" tea

snowflakes are dancing by isao tomita (the whole album)

viktor wynd's wunderkabinet

in the realms of the unreal by henry darger

jean-paul gaultier 2007 collection

[romanreignseater]

Signature Here Please. (Part Two To “Signed Up”)

Roman Reigns x Reader

Rating: 18+

Warning: just ABSOLUTELY FILTHY SMUT

“You’ve been waiting for your punishment, and after a tense collision at the Royal Rumble… it’s happening. NOW!”

A/N: Thank you guys for the support on the first part, this is the finale to it and I hope it’s worth you while… cause, it’s a long read 😂😭.”

GIF: @litafan4ever

It’s been two months and Roman STILL hasn’t given you your punishment. You didn’t know where or when it was going to happen. Let’s just say… you were anxious.

“Get ready for punishment, cause you’ll never when it’s coming… and. Anything. Goes.” You smiled and say “I know what I signed up”. “Glad you do”.

Bitch… I don’t know what I signed up for. But, it’s the present day, the 2023 Royal Rumble, January 28th. Roman was going against Kevin Owens in the main event and after a quick trip from Manhattan following Ro’s appearance at the Tonight Show. We arrived at the Alamodome, and were in the Bloodline’s personal locker room. After the kickoff show, Pat McAfee returned home, the Men’s Royal Rumble was soon to begin and I need to get to my seat, when Roman sat beside me.

I smiled as I turned to face him. “You look so good tonight mama”, he said as he examined my tight, white tank top and form-fitting blue skinny jeans. Honey… his kids filled me out, but it was worth it in the end. He then softly, yet sensually kissed my lips. “Thank you, I’m super excited for your match tonight”, “I’m glad you’re excited, cause I sure am”, his face blazed with a menacing smile. “What are you up to Reigns?!”, you say curiously. “Little ole me…”, he crosses his legs, “I’m an absolute saint, I just plan on winning tonight baby”. I could never trust this man as far as I could throw him, and trust me his 265 compared to my 173. There’s NO way I could possibly throw him. “Are you okay?”, he asks me, “Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?!”. “Y/N, you’ve been staring off into space and biting your nails for the past minute and a half.”

Well, you were slightly nervous. One, because you’ve gone to like Sami in the Bloodline and was nervous to hear Roman say it was “Sami’s night”. Two, you knew Kevin brought out another side of Roman. And three, WHEN WAS YOUR PUNISHMENT COMING?! “Babe, you know I get pre-match jitters sometimes”, you say shaking to imitate those jitters. He looked absolutely puzzled, yet he doesn’t challenge your reasoning. “Well, alright I’m gonna go find security to escort me to my seat”, as I get up he smacks my ass and I lightly yelp. “Where you think you’re going without my fucking kiss?!”, he says sternly. “Aggressive much”, you bend over to give him a long kiss with a little tongue. “That’s more like it baby”, he said smiling loosely. I smiled back at him and headed out the door.

All Hell is about to break loose.

The time has arrived and let’s just say… it hasn’t been easy to watch. The match between Roman and Kevin started off a little slow, but soon picked up. The referee was taken out and that other side of Roman I spoke of, was OUT. Not only was Kevin hit below the belt, he was speared through the barricade… actually, he was speared multiple times. And probably the hardest part to watch was definitely Hardy’s performance, but Kevin’s head being banged against the steel steps, not once, but TWICE was definitely horrific. Sami’s face really showed what everyone was feeling watching that moment. Roman picked up the win, but by the look on his face I knew he wasn’t finished. The Usos and Solo arrived from backstage and Paul pulls out some handcuffs. They cuff Kevin to the top rope and begin an assault of super kicks. Despite Jey’s brilliant defense of Sami at the Tribal Court, Roman still needed to put Sami through the final test. When Sami refused to let Roman hit Kevin with the steel chair, he agrees with Sami that he is better than that and Sami should do it instead.

This wasn’t going to be good.

Sami just deflates and that angered Roman. It angered him so much that he put his hands on Sami. This was Sami’s final straw. As Roman turns around after telling Sami that he’s “theirs”, Sami did the unthinkable. The steel chair that I once remember going to Roman’s back nine years ago, hit him again. I stood still as the crowd erupted. Sami let go of the chair and apologized to Jey as he cried in confusion. Why he would do this after he’s had his back and finally trusted him? A super kick by Jimmy was soon plunged to the jaw of Sami and the WWE Universe was in utter disarray. Honorary Uce is No More. The Bloodline members soon took turns beating Sami and when it was Jey’s turn, he crumbled and left the ring. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing, but I knew the family would come together again. They had to.

“FUCK YOU ROMAN, FUCK YOU ROMAN, FUCK YOU ROMAN”!!

The biggest heel of our GENERATION. Those chants didn’t even faze him as he laid pieces of his lei upon Sami. He soon leaves the ring without two members of the Bloodline apart of his tow. I asked security to escort me backstage, where I catch Roman making a TikTok with Paul. Once they finished, he just walks past me. I scurried to follow them in my high heels. I reached their locker room and Roman coldly stares at me. He then addresses his wiseman to leave the room and they’ll speak later. Paul then exits the room

Still upset at the fact that he walked right past me, I decided to lay it on the table. “Ro, I understand you’re a little heated, but you had no right to walk past me like that!”, I said while stomping my heel to the ground trying to expel dominance. He chuckles as he says something that makes my heart skip a beat, “You remember that little ‘competition’ we had about… two months ago?”, I stood in shock. Of course I knew he did not forget, but it had been so long… “Y/N, answer me… NOW. Do you remember?!”, he slowly stood up and walked towards me. “Ye-s-s”, he stared into my eyes and smirked. He turned his back to me and went into his bag. He pulled out a rolled up piece of paper with his right hand, and grabbed my wrist with his left. He let the paper fall loose on the table in front of us.

“Sign your name here please.”, with no emotion to his face. “What is it?!”, you said confused. He lets out a deep breath and says, “Your punishment is laid out in this contract, that I have been meticulously planning for the past month now. Everything that I’ll do to you TONIGHT is all here.” I couldn’t believe my ears, what does he mean contract?! He hands me a pen, as I begin to read the short contract. At the top it says “PUNISHMENT CONTRACT” in bold letters, the body of this contract is just bullet points that say:

Bondage

Edging

Overstimulation

Cockwarming

Spanking

And… a WHOLE lot of hard fucking.

Sign signature below if you agree with conditions above:

X __________________________

P.S. no FOREPLAY

This was too much. Why NOW?! I hesitate as the pen in my hand is sure to snap due to my grip and sheer stress. He whispers in my ear, “Don’t let your mind grow out of proportion, just signnn on the dotted lineee”. I couldn’t say no, so I did it. He smiled and called our chauffeur. We soon end up at the hotel in the presidential suite. The car ride was torture as he counted from 1 to 2.9, describing the way he would edge me, like how he was nearly pinned in about 2.9999 seconds. I stand in front of the bed facing him as he demands me to remove my tank top, jeans, and panties. But, he wants my heels to stay on. I lay on the bed and spread my legs, but he smacks my thigh HARD and says, “The contract specifically said, NO FOREPLAY! We gettin’ straight to it. Ass up, face down…. NOW!” I complied with the Chief’s orders and assumed the position. I hear him laugh behind me and then, the sound of a belt being undone hits my ears.

“You better count bitch, cause I ain’t,”~SMACK~, “STOPPING!” He brings a brutal assault to my cheeks as I cry and beg for mercy. We were up to 25, when he thought it was enough. He then uses his belt and the LEGS of my jeans to tie me up to the bedposts. My pussy is sopping wet and I feel my essence run down my thighs. Roman can’t help but to smirk. “This pussy is all mine, right?!”, “Ye-e-ss, it’s all yours”. “What’s my name Y/N?!”, “Rom—“, you stopped mid sentence and shrieked as Roman started to spank you, switching from the palm side of his hand to the back side. “YOU KEEP TESTING ME!!”, he yells. He ceased his attack and asked me again, what his name was. “DADDY!! YOUR NAME IS DADDY!! I’m sorry…”, you cried and satisfied with that answer, you hear a zipper being pulled down and a thud of Roman’s pants falling to his ankles onto the floor.

You begin to squirm and whimper as the bed dips due to Roman’s massive frame. Tired of your constant whining, when you knew what you signed up for. Roman takes your panties from the floor and shoves it in your mouth. “That’ll teach you stop with that sour ass attitude like I told you”, he said oh-so calmly. Bringing himself back up, you feel the head of his massive cock rub sooo sweetly against your lips and clit. “Fuck mama, my dick is sliding so easily against MY pussy”, his filthy and sultry words, make you gush out another sample of wetness. As he tries to ease into your pussy, he just slides right in due to your entrance dripping waiting his arrival. He abuses your cunt and mind by slowly and softly sliding his mass into you. Then picks up the pace with his hard dick hitting your cervix and toned thighs slapping up against yours. You wanted to run, but had nowhere to go. And screaming wasn’t gonna do anything.

Here’s where the edging begins. The Tribal Chief starts to really get it in, as if he wanted another baby. To be honest, we could make it happen. He makes you count from 1 to 2.9, and as you get to 2.9, he stops and makes you start over again. It felt like this went on for a good ten minutes. “Come on baby, beg the Tribal Chief”, “Chief, p-lea-seeee, I need to C—UM!” “Go ahead o lo'u alofa, let it go”, he said with a slight hint of his Samoan heritage. Here’s the part you were dreading: OVERSTIMULATION. As you came, Roman entered a new glow, and sped up at an alarming rate. That boy was definitely going at least 20 MPH and you were not ready. You began squirting, as your panties fell from between your lips and you screamed. You begin to claw at the sheets and gnaw on your upper lip. You feel as if you’re going to pass out when Ro finally releases into your cunt. You’re able to breathe a sigh of relief. While you lay awaiting Roman’s next move, he untied your ankles and wrists while inside of you.

He then pulls out quickly and you moan at the loss of his warmth. He maneuvers his body underneath you and pulls you on top of him. “My favorite part”, he says really smiley, “You can’t help yourself?… Can you?!”, you said. “Nope”, with the pop of the “p”. He inserts himself back into you and let the cockwarming commence. Just as you both sensually make out with one another, there’s a knock on the door. “Who is it?!”, Roman boasts. “It’s Sami…”, another voice speaks and says “It’s Jey, we need to talk Uce”. You look at Roman absolutely bewildered, he puffs out a huge breath and removes himself from you, “You clean yourself up baby, I’ll be back.”, as he kissed your forehead you grabbed his wrist and told him “Remember what you signed up for… family.” He looked at you with complete understanding. “And more thing babe,” “Yeah.”, “Can’t answer the door with your dick out”, you said laughing. “Oh shit”. He grabs his pants from the ground and sends a wink your way as he exits the bedroom into the main room.

Jesus, what did I sign up for?!

THE END!!

WHEWWW, what a wild ride!! Like I said, I appreciate all your comments and compliments, it means everything to me 💕!! THANK YOU, LOVE YALL!

[385bookreviews]

2.279 Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

SPOILERS

Pages: 368

Time Read: 4 hours and 43 minutes

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ Storyline: ★★★★★ Dialogue: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★

Genre: YA Thriller

TWs for the book: Violence, gun violence, gore, injury IN DETAIL, murder, blood, transphobia, outing, deadnaming, F slur, police brutality, death, fire/fire injury, animal death, animal cruelty, body horror, classism, hate crimes, medical content, addiction, drug withdrawal, child death, grief, vomit, car accident, death of a parent, bullying, homophobia, torture, physical abuse, cursing, toxic relationship, toxic friendships, alcohol, mental illness, ableism, panic attacks, dysphoria, child abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, s*xual harassment, chronic illness, misogyny, body shaming, kidnapping, p*d*philia

POV: First Person

Time Period/Location: Twist Creek County, West Virginia in 2017.

First Line: When the sheriff of Twist Creek County--and all those other sons of bitches, the Baldwin-Felts agents and bloodthirsty strikebreakers--finally caught my great-great-grandfather and dragged his ass up from the mine to make a spectacle of his execution, they killed him by hammering a railroad spike through his mouth.

Transgender socialist Miles Abernathy lives in Twist Creek County, West Virginia. His great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, led a strike against the coal mine companies and tortured the sheriff's son for leverage. When he was caught, the sheriff executed him by driving a railroad spike through his mouth. This started a blood feud between the Davies family and the Abernathy family. Having just completed his junior year of high school, Miles sneaks out to go to the graduating party in the woods. But he hates social events, and he isn't going to celebrate. He meets up with his childhood friend Cooper O'Brien. Miles stole pictures that his dad took the night of the accident that killed Mrs. O'Brien that incriminate Sheriff Davies as being the one that ran them off the road. Cooper takes them and agrees to show his dad to maybe finally bring the Sheriff to justice. While they are talking, Noah Davies, the sheriff's son, and his two friends Eddie and Paul come to interrogate them about what they're doing. They lie, and Miles starts to walk home through the woods. Noah, Eddie, and Paul catch up with him though, and take a video of them beating and torturing Miles almost to death. Cooper finds Miles and brings him to the hospital. When he wakes up in the hospital, he sees the ghost of a coal miner shaking him awake. He has extensive injuries and experienced massive internal bleeding that caused him to need surgery.

Before he had departed for the party, Miles had sent an email to both of his parents coming out as trans. He brings it up to his mom, but she doesn't take it very well and doesn't want to discuss it. Sheriff Davies comes in while Miles' mom is out of the room, and threatens Miles into staying quiet about Noah and his friends beating him up. Miles tells him that with his head injury, he doesn't remember what happened. Miles eventually goes home and begins his recovery, periodically still seeing the mute ghost of the coal miner. Cooper checks up on him and their friendship begins to return, Miles even coming out to him as trans. Miles does get stir crazy and refuses to let the attack haunt him, so he goes to pick up his check from the restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. His boss tells him that he has the whole summer off and gives him extra money, saying she has temporarily hired someone to take his place, but just for the summer. Miles walks out the back door, and contemplates going back in to return the extra money, when Eddie walks out the door and reveals himself to be Miles' replacement for the summer. They get in an altercation, Miles breaking Eddie's nose and trying to threaten him to delete the video of his attack. Eddie is afraid at first, but realizes he has the upper hand with his connection to Noah and Sheriff Davies. This angers Miles further, and he tries to reach for Eddie to hit him, but Eddie backs away, slips on the gravel, and hits his head, which kills him instantly. Miles is mortified, but knows what Sheriff Davies will do to him and his family if the accident is discovered, so he drags Eddie's bodies behind the dumpsters and calls Cooper. Cooper comes immediately and helps Miles clean up the scene and they take the body. They dump Eddie's body down the old mineshaft where no one will ever go looking because of the structural instability. They then go back to Cooper's house where Miles takes a shower and Cooper helps him shave his head so his hair is more even after the head wound stitches. Cooper and Miles share a somewhat tender moment, and when Cooper leans in to kiss him, he reciprocates, logically deducing he must have a crush on Cooper because that's what he's supposed to do. After they kiss, Cooper says, "We've already killed one of them. What's a few more?" Miles is disgusted and angered by this notion and they fight before Miles leaves and goes home.

Soon after, Miles realizes that he has become reliant upon the opioids he was prescribed in the hospital, just like Mr. O'Brien is and like his father used to be. He quits cold turkey and spends time going through withdrawals. During which he finally is able to go out and see the ghost without him disappearing. After looking through old pictures he realizes that the ghost is Saint Abernathy, and he can't speak because of the railroad spike down his throat. Saint reveals to Miles that he was also trans, and leads him and his dog Lady to the burned down movie theatre where he was executed, and hands Miles a railroad spike. Miles then takes this as a sign to fight for his family and get his revenge, and texts Cooper that he's willing to move forward with the murders. He goes home, but his dad is awake. His dad begins to make an effort to use his new name and pronouns, and Miles is forced to confess his opioid withdrawal. The next morning, his mother is enraged that Miles didn't say anything about the drugs, and demands he has to start going to therapy. Miles refuses, and they argue until Sheriff Davies shows up to inquire about Eddie. They tell him they know nothing, and then Sheriff Davies asks where Miles is going to go to therapy once he sees the brochures. Miles chooses one at random, and once the sheriff leaves, his mom tells him that he is going.

The next day, his mom drops him off at a church for group therapy. He leaves halfway through out of anxiety and goes into the alley next door. A person comes out of the door to a restaurant, and Miles doesn't recognize them, but the person, Dallas, does. Dallas is their old friend from before the accident. When Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien, Miles' father, and Dallas were run off the road by Sheriff Davies, Dallas sustained a lot of burns and injuries, and Dallas' parents blamed Miles' father and family. They moved away and had no contact, but Dallas is back, living with their brother and his wife Amber, who is autistic. Dallas' brother and Amber have their own restaurant/bar that is entirely socialist and run by the workers, right under Sheriff Davies nose. Miles is glad to see his friend again, and also talk to another trans person, but is scared to be seen in the bar. Dallas says that on the Fourth of July, the biggest holiday in town, they would be throwing a "Fuck the Fourth" party to counteract it and call out Sheriff Davies. Miles rejects the invitation, but him and Dallas swap phone numbers, and he gives them Cooper's number.

Miles and Cooper meet up to plan the murders, deciding to use Miles' father's gun to shoot Paul on the Fourth of July when his parents are out of town. While they are talking in Cooper's convenience store, Paul and Noah turn up to harass them, further settling their decision. Miles spends the night with Cooper and they get drunk and make out. Miles then decides to also make a difference in another way, and goes back to the bar to speak with Amber. Amber tells him they are going to be handing out pamphlets with evidence of Sheriff Davies' and the police departments' corruption. Miles gives them copies of the pictures he gave to Cooper.

The night before the Fourth of July party that the Davies plan and throw every year, Cooper and Miles took the gun and drove up to Paul's house. The plan is for Cooper to shoot him, and then they would clean up and dump his body in the mineshaft like they did with Eddie. They arrive, and find Paul in his father's processing plant in the garage, skinning a dear. He says he knew that they had killed Eddie the whole time but that Noah didn't believe him, and he tells them to get it over with. Cooper chickens out and lowers the gun. Miles and Paul talk, and Paul talks about how he really doesn't have it any better than the Abernathy's. Sheriff Davies bought out his parents' land and makes them pay rent to him, and takes most of their wages, and Noah had threatened to kill Paul because Paul said he wanted to leave town. Miles feels for Paul, and agrees to spare his life and just make it look like they killed him if Paul leaves town that night. Paul agrees, looking relieved, and asks to grab some stuff, when Cooper regains his nerve and shoots Paul in the jaw, removing the entire lower half of his face. Miles is appalled, and Cooper insists that they leave Paul to bleed out on the floor. They run, but on the drive back Miles makes Cooper pull over so he can throw up. They fight about Cooper shooting Paul like that, and Miles trying to let Paul leave. Cooper becomes more and more deranged, shaking Miles and deadnaming him. Miles tells him to leave him there as he was going to have Dallas pick him up. Cooper leaves and Dallas and Amber race to come pick him up, not knowing what's wrong. Miles goes nonverbal and begins having a meltdown. When he gets to their house, he wants to shower but dreads the prospect of the sensory experience. Amber gives him some things to help and tells him he might be autistic like her. He spends the night in Dallas' bed with them, but Cooper keeps blowing up his phone, demanding to speak with him and leave Dallas' house so he can come get him, worried that Miles will snitch.

In the morning, Amber and Dallas take Miles home, and he returns the gun to the safe. Later in the day his family comes to the house to prepare to go to the Fourth of July party together. Cooper comes in, saying he is Miles' boyfriend, and quietly threatens Miles to keep his mouth shut. They walk to the party, where Dallas and Amber are handing out pamphlets with evidence of Sheriff Davies' crimes and advertising the Fuck the Fourth gathering. Cooper sees the pictures on the pamphlet and is enraged, and Miles' dog Lady has to come between them. He leaves, and Noah and Sheriff Davies get up on stage and announce Paul's death. Then they announce that they'll be giving out a citizen award to Miles, since he bravely recovered from a hate crime and for being a pillar to the transgender community. This outs Miles to the entire town and also to his grandparents, aunt, and uncle. They all quickly leave the party after telling Dallas to go home now. Once they arrive back home, their aunt and uncle are enraged and leave. Miles' grandparents, however, accept him and are enraged on his behalf. They discuss what they should do, and they decide that it's time to fight back, and go to the Fuck the Fourth gathering. They do the next day, and while his mother and father discuss what to do with Amber and her husband, Dallas and Miles enjoy the punk band performing, talk about trans issues and about Miles potentially being autistic and aromantic, and marvel at the fact that so many of the towns people showed up. A girl who's father was imprisoned by Sheriff Davies and a mother who's son was killed by him share their stories, and Miles decides to be brave and stand up on stage, showing off his still disfigured face and head and tells everyone finally that Noah Davies and his friends did this to him and that the sheriff threatened him and his family in order to cover it up. At that exact moment, Sheriff Davies walks in and starts demanding that people leave. Amber refuses and demands he leave, and Miles' mother and father start ushering him and Dallas towards the back door. Finally, Amber throws water in his face, and he pulls out his gun and shoots her. The crowd turns into a riot, and Miles' mother shoves him and Dallas into the kitchen and locks the door. They contemplate what happened to Amber and how to get back in, but then Noah enters, covered in blood, and lights a Molotov cocktail, setting the place ablaze. Miles and Dallas run outside, where people have finally started to come out, including his mother and father, Amber's husband, and Amber, who was shot in the shoulder. They drive back to their house separately. When Dallas, Miles, and his father arrive back at their house, they find Cooper's body, cracked open and gutted on their porch. The rest of them arrive, they call Miles' grandparents, and Mr. O'Brien to see the body of his son. Miles' mom takes care of Amber's shoulder, and Miles fesses up to him and Cooper killing Eddie and Paul. No one is really surprised, as the Davies and Abernathy's had been killing each other for years. They decide that enough is enough, and when Noah texts Miles to end this permanently by meeting him alone, they decide for them to meet in the abandoned mineshaft. They plan for Miles to trap Noah, and then use him as a negotiation tool to convince Sheriff Davies to leave town.

Miles goes down into the mineshaft with the gun. Noah meets him there and taunts him, saying that they'll leave his family alone forever if he agrees to go with him and his dad. He also tells Miles about how he tortured Cooper, gutted him like a deer while he was still alive, and Cooper confessed everything. Miles lets off a warning shot, and Noah attacks him. They fight, and Noah gets the gun, but Miles pulls a knife out and kills him with a stab to the neck. He leaves the mineshaft and tries desperately to call his family, but is then shot in the head by Sheriff Davies, taking out his eye. The Sheriff kidnaps him, and takes him to the abandoned movie theatre to hammer a railroad spike into his mouth, just like his ancestor did to Saint. Saint manifests in front of Sheriff Davies to distract him, just as Miles' family shows up, and Lady attacks the sheriff, ripping chunks out of him. By the time they recall Lady, the sheriff is dying, so Miles' grandpa shoots him in the head. The rest of the town witnesses it, but they all grab shovels and tarps to help them bury the body and hide the evidence.

Time skips forwards a bit to the town holding a meeting to decide what to do to ensure the corruption of the town ends. Miles is missing an eye now, and him and Dallas are in a queer platonic relationship. A state trooper shows up, but everyone at the meeting clams up and refuses to give any answers about Sheriff Davies.

Miles Abernathy (Sadie Abernathy): I love Andrew Joseph White's protagonists because they always feel so real. I, of course, connected with Miles due to his autism, but also due to his humanness in general. He's no where near perfect, making mistakes and even plotting murder, but he's also just a kid, doing his best in a near impossible situation. I also appreciate him showing different presentations of autism with his characters, between Nick in Hell Followed With Us, Silas and the gardener in The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, and Miles and Amber in Compound Fracture, you get different perspectives of people that live with the same thing, and for me as an autistic person, I am able to see different aspects of myself represented in each character. This also applies with Benji from Hell Followed With Us, Silas and Daphne from The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, and Miles and Dallas from Compound Fracture in how they all view their trans-ness differently and have different journeys with it.

Cooper O'Brien: I really wasn't expecting at first for Cooper's character to become so twisted, but you watched him spiral into a sort of madness in real time with Miles. He became wildly unpredictable, and anticipating his actions was a source of anxiety while reading (in a good, thriller kind of way). You almost became just as scared of Cooper as you did of Noah and the sheriff by the end.

Storyline: I finished this book in one sitting, staying up WAY past my bedtime because I just needed to know what happened. The plot kept you on your toes the entire time, even in the calm moments, because you had no clue when some kind of chaos or calamity was about to descend. The plot twists were genuinely brutal, especially with the vivid descriptions of the gore these teenagers were inflicting upon each other. The sheriff was written to be especially enraging and evil, a well done villain. You feel the characters' rage alongside them as the story progresses.

Representation: Miles is autistic, aromantic, and transgender (FtM), and ends up in a queer platonic relationship with Dallas at the end. He is also left disfigured in the face and head after the attack, and later on completely blinded in one eye when he is shot by the sheriff. Dallas is a burn survivor, and is disfigured because of it. They also are plus sized, have ADHD, and are queer and nonbinary. It is undetermined if Cooper is queer, or if he just sees Miles as a girl despite him coming out. Amber has autism. Miles' boss is described as visibly queer, but nothing is specified or confirmed. Miles' great-great-grandfather Saint Abernathy is trans and gay. Miles describes there being several queer people at his school, including a he/they lesbian, a queer girl, and a gay boy. One of the musicians in the punk band is a trans woman. Miles, his father, and Mr. O'Brien all struggle with opioid addiction.

Summary: Once again, Andrew Joseph White has written a masterpiece. His books have the incredible ability to suck you right into the story, making you feel like you're there and experiencing these events with the characters, and, for fellow trans and autistic people, at times it can even feel like you're the protagonist yourself. No characters are overlooked, and it feels like everyone in the story grows and develops, not just the protagonist.

Quotes: "...parents seem obsessed with performing their grief about a child's transition."-Miles Abernathy (p.66) "We've already killed one of them. What's a few more?"-Cooper O'Brien (p.102) "It's like everyone knows there's something off about me, and they don't like it, and they don't quite know what to do about it."-Miles Abernathy (p.149) "I wish Cooper had gotten to know the version of me that's going to exist one day."-Miles Abernathy (p.333)

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Quebec farmers are speaking out about what they’re calling an unprecedented and disastrous season. They say the massive amounts of rain they’ve received have been drowning their crops, and that the weather has been costing them millions.

Farm owners are calling on the Quebec government to offer them more support as they face the effects of climate change head-on.

“We lost hundreds of acres of broccoli. It’s completely destroyed,” said Julien Cousineau, operations director at Les Jardins Paul Cousineau, a large-scale vegetable farm in Saint-Constant, Que.

He showed Global News videos of fields annihilated by a hail storm Thursday night. Cousineau’s family has been farming for three generations, and he says they have never experienced weather this bad for business.

“In 50 years of farming, we have never seen that much rain,” he said.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid