#a tank? really? for one canadian?

[one-pump-chump]

t shirt that says ask me about my thoughts on gta v’s overarching theme of real vs fake

[femmehepbvrn]

Isn't it funny how everything comes full circle eventually?

[dammarchy211]

The Think Tank Random Headcanon List

Two people asked for this so that means it happening 👍 your welcome, most if not all of these r prewar/brain tank

-this one’s pretty supported in canon but think Dala likes fashion and dressing up🫶. I love giving her a fun little outfit

Yay

-0 had back pains pre brain tank. Also a lot of fatigue. The certified professional sleeper. When he’s working on projects in his home he tends to do it lying on the floor.

-this one’s basically canon but 8 has arithmomania. I say basically canon bc things in his house in Higgs often come in sets of 8, as well as his house being the 8th house despite there not BEING 8 houses. I think this would also extend to counting to 8 on his fingers when he’s nervous and such.

-tied in I also believe 8 has ocd. Borous has bpd.

-Dala was pretty reserved growing up, as she grew up/especially in the looped personality she became for lack of better terms “bolder and more flirty” as compensation for having been so withdrawn previously.

-I am wishy washy with a lot of gender headcanons for characters, my brain kinda just goes well idk if they’re trans but they’re not Not trans. However I do feel quite definitively that Dala is nb transfem, and Mobius and 0 are trans men.

-I think all of their names have some tie to the names they had pre recursion loop. Canonically both Klein’s name and his prewar last name start with K. I think the other’s names have similar ties.

-on that note, I think Borous’s old name (/just his family in general) has Painfully Russian origins. It makes his McCarthyism thing so hilariously ironic

-I think 8 is Canadian, but he only lived there pre annexation of Canada, he was working at big MT and living at Higgs once it happened.

-0’s old last name used to be “O’something” and people still used to call him Dr. O then and he still hated it. Doomed fate

-re: Mobius being trans, i think his first name was Edward. He named himself after Dr. Morbius from the movie The Forbidden Planet

-Klein is a big wine guy, like obvious there’s wine bottles strewn about his house, but I mean like. He’s the kind of guy to just know things about every kind of wine.

-Klein is probably the best dressed after Dala, I think he just tries to be professional for the most part. 0 thinks he’s fashionable but he isn’t. Already mentioned but Mobius dresses like an old lighthouse keeper. Cableknit sweater and the works. I think he’d also like antique pipes

I’m probably gonna alter the Klein outfit but yeah you get the idea. Doodles

-I feel SO STRONGLY ABOUT THIS. But 0 and Borous went to high school together. 0’s one line mentioning Borous in high school was just way too telling.

-Klein and Mobius need reading glasses. Dala used to need glasses, didn’t wear them throughout her childhood until like college, and then switched to contacts after college

-The think tank are all very close and got along much better prewar than they do at the time of the game. They kinda Jean-Paul Sartre No Exit’d themselves and their personalities are stuck in an endless loop. To say the least they started getting on each other’s nerves after 200 years. But this isn’t to say they didn’t still bicker or anything prewar

-8 never really liked talking much. Possibly having selective mutism. This was mostly fine for him because pre brain tank you have facial expressions and hands and hand gestures that kinda make up for not talking at times. After the brain tanks he was kind just. Forced to talk to relay information. His speech was extremely awkward and stilted, which combined with the above head canon is why Dala made that comment about how they like him better now that his voice modulator is broken.

-they all have autism of some flavor tbh. To me. In my autistic mind.

-dead animal ment.// but I feel like Borous was that kid who like poked at dead squirrels and shit as a kid. It frames the Gabe and cyberdog thing well lol

-I’m an 8/0 head so I think they worked together a lot. Even if it’s not on the same project they would just do thinks at the same time together.

-the mentats on Klein’s bedside table are Mobius’s

-0 used to be a super big fan of House and RobCo when he was in high school. Obviously that is no longer true

-0 excels at making robots that are smaller. He doesn’t want to acknowledge this though. Muggy and his walking eyes (w/ wild wasteland) are both pretty small but they work well. The larger scale securitrons he’s tried to make obviously. Do not.

-I think the lounge music theme for the radio was a collective choice, but I feel like Dala especially likes music like that.

-Klein and Mobius used to play games like chess or checkers or card games “outside” in Higgs old person style.

-post brain tank one (woah) Klein has fleeting feelings of missing someone or something he can’t recognize. Any memories tying it to an image of a person he doesn’t quite remember. His brain just doesn’t connect that it’s Mobius and he usually just pushes the feeling down whenever it happens lol

If I think of more I’ll add them.

[wosowrites]

Against All Odds (Jessie Fleming x Reader)

warnings: none

prompt: in which reader is a super buff boxer but gets all soft around Jessie, making Jessie’s teammates tease her.

a/n: for @woso-scotland

Growing up with 5 older brothers meant one thing. Chaos. The only time you all got along was when you were watching boxing on the TV. However, when you were 11, the middle child, Jacob, died. You had never heard the house so quiet, it haunted you to this day. He had only been 15.

But, 11 year old you wanted to make your family feel better, she wanted to give her family back the five boxers for children they had before the accident.

That’s why when you told your father you wanted to take up boxing, he didn’t say no. Your dad was your biggest fan. He came to every game, gave you tips until you were too good for them, and supported you through everything including your coming out. You were the only person in the family that had continued boxing, your brothers turning into architects, police officers and family men while you stayed nose deep in the world of boxing.

By the time you were 20, you were incredibly well known in the boxing world, and at the same time, a certain 20 year old was growing a name for herself too. Only in the football industry. However you would only meet Jessie Fleming years later at a gym…

You were ripped, to say the least. But not the kind of ripped that would go noticed to everyone. You wore hoodies and sweatpants and it made your build discreet, but the second you were in a sports bra and shorts it was undeniable you could take anybody in a fight.

Jessie met you at the supermarket in London. It was the middle of COVID and your boxing season has been cut short. You were wearing light blue Columbia sweatpants and a matching crewneck with a black mask. Your sneakers were white, but just barely as you only left your house for essentials.

You had always lived in LA which made the sudden move to London, England shocked to your family. But you knew you needed to get away from the world during this virus thing.

You turned the corner, holding a basket in your hand which was filled with vegetables, milk, fruit and some protein bars. As you did, you felt a cart come crashing into your legs and sending you flying backwards, landing on the ground.

"Oh my god! I’m so sorry," the young woman squealed, quickly leaving her spot behind the cart and rushing to your side. "It’s okay, i’m fine," you laughed, rubbing you knees and standing up. "I’m- Im so sorry I was just lost in my own mind and I didn’t see you," she apologized again. "What are you, Canadian? Enough apologies. I’m okay," you teased. "How did you know?" she asked, helping you place your own groceries back into your basket. "Know what?" you questioned, only realizing now how beautiful the girl in front of you was, or at least what you could see of her was. "That i’m canadian?" she said.

"Oh. I didnt. I was just kidding, but that makes sense now, and the accent," you laughed. "Okay American," she clapped back, rolling her eyes teasingly. "I feel like i’ve seen you somewhere," you said to her, narrowing your eyes. "Uh- no. Probably not. I’m your average girl," she said.

"So am I," you said.

The next week, you saw her again. This time, you had just come from the gym so you had on shorts and a tank top, showing off your features. Jessie was there too. "Hey!" she said to you as you met her in. the dairy alley. "Hi. How are you?" you asked her. "I’m good. And you’re jacked," she said, not so discreetly passing her eyes over your body. Usually, someone staring at you like that would make you self conscious, but the way Jessie did it made you feel good.

"Uh, yeah," you laughed. "Oh my god. When I left here last week I thought i recognized you too. That’s because you… box, right? On TV! A few of my teammates have a crush on you. They hate boxing but they love watching you," she laughed. "Oh really now? Well I don’t really care what they think but I care what you do. Because I recognize you too. Jessie Fleming, olympic athlete, two times world cup attender, and Chelsea player," you said, listing her honours.

"Stalker," she accused. "Yeah," you smiled. "Okay well how about I get to know you through another mechanism than google," you suggested. "You mean a date?" she asked, clearly blushing. "I do,"

But then the whole world went into lockdown again and your dates were more like king calls till midnight and face time dates.

Everything worked out though, because on this day of April 14th 2023, you were dating and more in love than ever.

Jessie’s Canadian teammates found out first. You had travelled to Ottawa with her for the celebration tour of winning the Olympics. Jessie had a video of you screaming your guts out by yourself in your apparement when they won the games. You were yelling, crying, and got a noise complaint the next day. But you didn’t care. All you wanted to do with your life was support your girlfriend, and that’s all she wanted to do with hers.

So, that’s how you found yourself front row in tiny little place TD stadium, sitting on a chair that was a little tight on your quads. Jessie scored a penalty, mimicking the one she did at the Olympics and you yelled for that too. You were probably the only American that loved the Canadian team more than anything.

After the game, the team walked around clapping to the fans and when Jessie got to you she stopped and hugged you over the barrier. "Come down, the security here is light," she said to you. So you climbed over the railing and hopped onto the turf. "Janine!" Jessie called, ushering over a blonde who had been talking to a man who looked like her brother. Janine jogged over and looked at you with wide eyes. You were pretty menacing to people who didn’t know you. "This is… y/n, my girlfriend," Jessie said. "You’re- your what?!! How long have you been together?" Janine asked. "Um, well we’ve been taking it slow a year but we made it official like six months ago," Jessie said. "Six. Months?!" Janine whisper yelled. "Hi, I’m y/n," you said, sticking your hand out.

Janine had clearly forgotten you were there as her her snapped towards you in confusion. "Oh, sorry. Hi, I’m Janine Beckie," she said. "Y/n Y/l/n," you smiled, shaking it. "Like the boxer?" she asked. "Uh, yeah," you laughed.

The introductions were then made in the Canada locker room which was even scarier as what felt like hundreds of pairs of eyes were on you.

"Okay. So I don’t do this… it’s not my thing but I thought after keeping our… relationship… secret for months you guys deserved to know. This is my girlfriend, y/n. And yeah she’s the boxer," Jessie said.

You blushed furiously and smiled at the girls who started asking questions all at once. "How did you meet?"

"She hit me." you said. "Okay woah! You need to add context there," Jessie laughed. "She hit me with her shopping cart," you added.

"Okay and what are your intentions. Because this is Baby Canada right here and she can’t play with a broke heart," Chappy said, summoning her motherly side. "My intentions are to never let her go a day without feeling loved and supported. My intentions are to… watch her play with a smile on my face and make sure she knows that she is the most wonderful person I have ever met. My intentions are to go broke because I buy all of her jerseys," you said, ranting a little bit.

"Okay softie," Stephanie said, winking over at Jessie and giving her a thumbs up. "Sorry to do this y/n but the post game talk is just for players. Gotta kick you out," Bev said, heading towards the door. "Oh right. Okay well it was nice meeting you all," you said. You turned to Jessie and gave her a quick kiss on the lips which she responded by placing her hand against your abs and kissing back before you left the room.

The second you closed the door chatter erupted in the room. "Okay Fleming I see your type now," Vanessa teased.

Teasing and more teasing echoed in the room, Even Bev chipped in.

But eventually calm settled over TD place and Bev started the post game talk.

The Chelsea girls found out about Jessie’s relationship at the start of the season… by accident.

You had called her after practice to let her know that your car had broken down on the side of this little street in the middle of suburb London and you were lost. She answered your call in the changing room.

"Hey Jess, can you come get me? My car broke down and the car repair people came and got it but they couldn’t give me a ride. I’m literally standing in this random street that looks like it’s in the middle of a forest," you groaned down the phone. "What? Are you okay?" she asked. "Yeah. Im fine, just… it’s gonna rain soon Jess. I was coming home from visiting a friend and-"

"Babe, I’ll be there as soon as possible. Send me your location," Jessie said and then hung up.

"Babe?" Magda asked, the whole room silent. "Yeah. I have a girlfriend by the way and her car broke down so I gotta go get her," Jessie said, quickly putting on a matching adidas hoodie and shorts and stuffing her belongings into her gym bag. "Jessie! You’re giving four people a ride home. It’s your carpool day. Which means…" Niahm started saying.

"You are not coming with me." Jessie said sternly.

"Road trip!" Niahm, Lauren, Sam, Zecira and Emily said at once. "Wait. We want to come too, meet the girl," Pernille said, pointing between her and Magda.

"Please no," Jessie groaned. "Wait, who doesn’t want to come," she asked.

No one raised their hand.

"Everyone get in a car and follow mine," the Canadian exhaled.

Turns out you were thirty full minutes away, but that didn’t discourage anyone within the four cars trailing behind Jessie’s honda.

There was music blasting in every vehicle and when rain started pouring, Jessie knew you would be in a bad mood.

"Someone grab my phone and text y/n telling her i’m almost there," Jessie said, fumbling with her device and tossing it to Emily in the backseat.

Jessie saw you the second she turned the curve in the road. You had your hood up, your arms crossed and you looked ready to kill. She knew that you were just pissed off and would never hurt a soul, but to the other girls, you seemed positively menacing.

Jessie jumped out of her car and ran towards you, hugging you tightly. "I’m so sorry, everyone wanted to come and-"

That’s when you saw the four other cars behind your girlfriends, but you didn’t care, you just kept hugging her and let the tears of frustration mix with the raindrops on your face. "It’s okay baby, they were bound to meet me one day," you said, brushing her now wet curls out of her face.

You had excepted everyone to stay in their cars due to the insane amount of rain, but before you knew it, the entire Chelsea Women’s roster was in front of you in the street. Magda and Pernille hugged you gently, giving each other a wide eyed look as they both felt your muscle mass. "Holy shit. You’re the boxer. I watch you on TV like all the time," Guro said, eyes wide.

"Well so do I- I watch you, I mean. Not myself. I watch all of you guys," you laughed.

"Your Guro’s celebrity crush is what she’s saying," Jessie teased. "Well not anymore!" The Norwegian laughed.

You spent dozens of minute talking in the rain, the cold downpour not seeming so bad when you had Jessie’s hand in yours.

Eventually, you got into the front seat and banished Sam to Magda and Pernilles car to make room for you.

You talked to the girls in the car and answered questions that the Canadian team had already asked. But you didn’t mind because those questions just meant you were lucky enough to have Jessie Fleming sitting beside you.

"She gets super focused when she drives," Emily said. "I know, I think it’s because she’s a bad driver," you teased. "I’m not! It’s just the whole reverse thing is confusing. The cars go the opposite way then they do in Canada," she said, keeping her eyes fixed on the road.

You kept on looking at her, your eyes full of love. Jessie knew you were staring, but she just let the blush creep onto her cheeks and gave you a quick smile, returning the lovey dovey eyes.

Zecira snapped a picture from the backseat. The forest was clear through the windshield, and so were the droplets of rain. You could see Jessie’s blushing grin but not who it was directed too. She posted it to her story and closed her phone, enjoying the sound of the rain… and the one of Emily and Niahms arguing.

[ceasarslegion]

By the wishes of a few people, here's my advice post about living alone. Keep in mind I'm speaking from the perspective of a canadian urbanite, so this will not apply to absolutely everybody in every kind of culture, economy, living situation, those in rural areas, etc. This also is not assuming wealth disparities are a matter of personal attitude, i KNOW it's complicated. Get back with that shit right now, you know damn well this advice assumes you are able to achieve the financial means to live on your own and is not disparaging anyone who legitimately can't.

Let's cover the basics first.

Source of income:

This seems rather obvious, but your income should be regular and reliably the same or similar on a monthly basis. The most obvious way to achieve this is with a job, and I'm sorry but minimum wage is not going to cut it on your own anymore, which means you're going to have to swallow your pride and accept that you'll likely have to work for some industry or corporation with a dodgy moral record. Get used to it. There is no point in self-flagellation, the world is complicated, just take the 50-60k a year office job, no one actually expects you not to and nobody will hold it against you when the "moral" option is soul-crushing retail. The real world really doesn't give a shit what you have to do to afford a comfortable lifestyle as long as you do what good you can within your abilities, no one in the real world expects you to sacrifice your own wellbeing for a cause.

Salaried positions are your most reliable because you'll always pull the same amount, while hourly pay comes with the ability to pull overtime pay in exchange for more shifts, but if you run out of sick days you'll have to spend the rest of the year taking unpaid time off when you need to call in. Whichever one you choose depends on what's available to you and what's right for you physically and mentally, I can't make that call for you.

You also need a credit card. That is non-negotiable. If you don't have a credit score, you can't sign a lease. Bad credit is better than no credit. We can argue until the cows come home whether or not credit scores are good or bad, but it's just reality that you're going to need one. The good news is it's fairly easy to build credit from no credit: you just have to pay off your credit card in full on time every time. The bad news is it's equally as easy to tank your credit score, you just have to miss one or pay it too late, and it's very hard to build good credit back from bad credit. So don't see it as free money, only spend as much as you can pay back, and if you don't have credit right now, start with small things like lunch and little treats that you immediately pay off.

Looking for a place to live:

Once you have your regular and reliable source of income, you can start looking for your place. There's a few things you should keep in mind:

-Draw up a budget for how much you can spend on rent and bills. That includes all basic living expenses: rent, utilities, food, internet, phone, hygiene. Compare how much you make per month to what you can spend. 1/3 to 1/2 of your salary is a bit more realistic to expect to spend on rent alone nowadays, so work within that range when you apartment hunt. Think of everything when you're budgeting, like how much do you spend on haircuts per month? You probably didn't think of that, because I didn't either at first.

-Apartment buildings with some/all utilities included often have higher base rents. You have to keep in mind that this is so the landlord can balance out the utility bills of the whole building, which are unpredictable expenses and on them to pay every month. If you don't know how to budget yet or don't know how to do so with unpredictable bills, I highly recommend trying to find a place with utilities included so you know EXACTLY how much you'll need to pay every month and can plan in advance

-Older buildings tend to be both cheaper and more likely to have centralized utility systems, which means they have to include it in the price of rent because there's no way to tell who used how much of something. If it's your first place alone, you'll probably be tempted to get the brand new, expensive building down the road, but it won't actually make much of a difference when you move in. You will love it regardless.

-Never ever sign a lease until you've either seen THE unit you're considering, or one of the show units that is exactly the same layout. The last thing you want is to go off online photos only to move in and find out the building has a mold problem. You can arrange personal tours by contacting the building manager or the landlord directly. Phone calls are the best way to do this.

-If you want the unit after seeing it, you know you can afford it, there's nothing funny about the place, apply IMMEDIATELY. Places are usually on the market for a few days before they're snapped up by a new tenant, you have to strike while the iron's hot.

-If you've decided on the place you want and had your application accepted, read the lease carefully before you sign. Many places require tenant insurance that meet specific policy requirements, have registration rules about long-term guests, outline how the parking works, quiet hours, smoking rules, mail, laundry, all the way down to what kind of barbecues are allowed on your deck in the case of mine (I am in a wildfire danger zone, so any types that produce embers are strictly prohibited for fire safety reasons). Ask any question that comes to mind about the lease. Not everything in a lease is some human rights violation just because you don't like landlords, keep in mind you're living in the same building as dozens of other people, so there has to be ground rules established for everyone's sanity.

-Internet is often not considered a utility so you'll have a hard time finding any place that includes it. You can arrange to have your wifi set up in advance of a moving date on a specific time and date, do this right after you sign a lease so you don't forget. They won't charge you until you're actually hooked up to the network.

-If your utilities are NOT included, get those set up in advance too. The main ones are HVAC, water, and electricity. The companies that do this vary depending on where you live and what's available, so shop around online once you've signed your lease and sign up as soon as possible. The last thing you want is to forget this and then move into a dark freezing apartment with no water.

Budgeting:

After your living expenses are covered, you should have a comfortable amount of financial wiggle room leftover. If you wouldn't, the place you're looking at is either too expensive, or you're being overcharged elsewhere. It's completely normal for living expenses to take up most of your budget these days, you're doing just fine in the same boat as everybody else if that's the case, so don't panic yet. If you have absolutely NOTHING leftover though, then you're out of your price range.

You also need to set money aside for fun and saving. Do not forego fun money, your brain will try to kill you with hammers and knives if you never get or do things for yourself. And if you're on your own, you're the only one providing that for yourself now. And a solid building base of savings will only help you in the future, whether you lose your job, have an emergency, or even need a down payment on a house later in life. Don't be a doomer about your circumstances or the socioeconomic and generational cards that were dealt to you, chip away at it a little at a time. And don't fall for social media's insistence that anybody with anything at all is some bourgeois degenerate or that being fortunate enough to be able to have upward mobility makes you some ultra wealthy shithead, working towards a comfortable standard of living for yourself does not make you a rich elite or a bad person. You're working towards the standard we should all live as, not exploiting the poor or being a class traitor. I feel the need to add that last part since we're on the website of "struggling art students in NYC are bourgeois that are just bad with money and having a gaming computer makes you upper middle class." Don't listen to a word any of those people say, I know it comes from a place of very real hurt and pain for them but that doesn't make it grounded in absolute reality for absolutely everybody.

Social needs:

If you're by yourself, there's gonna be a lot more work you have to put in for your social and entertainment needs. I can not stress enough how important it is to give this the time and work it needs, do not neglect this.

Lots of libraries have clubs you can join that will get you out of the house and meeting new people regularly. They're either free or very inexpensive. This is a great place to start.

Take advantage of technology we have now. Hop on discord calls more frequently, make sure you're talking to your friends on the regular and try to make plans as much as you can.

Also, I advise finding lots of things you can do by yourself. You will be spending way more time alone than you ever have before, so find single-person hobbies. Go thrifting, get into knitting, go explore the city, read lots of books, do puzzles, just don't lock yourself inside all day in your free time. Even if you're doing it alone, going out and seeing that the world is bigger than your apartment and your workplace is very good for you.

Misc advice:

You don't need a conventional coffee pot maker. Single serving will suit you just fine.

Cleaning is easier when you have a routine. It doesn't all have to be done on the same day of the week, but having a regular schedule of what gets cleaned when for non-daily chores will help you keep on top of it. And please, god, don't neglect your cleaning and hygiene just because no one lives with you to see it. On that note, spray bottle all purpose cleaners are your best friend for daily spot cleaning and you should deep clean your washroom around every 2 weeks in my experience since that's where you'll be doing most of your personal hygiene. Also make your damn bed, yes you'll just get back into it at the end of the day but having a major part of your space neat and tidy will do wonders for your mental health.

Don't buy the cheap garbage bags. Some things you really do want the expensive shit for.

If you don't have a car, delivery service/rideshare subscriptions ARE worth it and legitimately economical in the long run. I do wanna circle back to square one and say that yes, most of them like prime and uber do have dodgy moral records, but sometimes you just gotta swallow your pride and accept that. Once again, no one in the real world expects you to spend your entire day on public transit looking for toilet paper that isnt 30 dollars a pack or lugging 50 pounds of groceries back on a bus just for a cause. It's not the fault of someone who needs these services for their quality of life that they do the things they do, don't put that responsibility on your or other's shoulders when the fault lies at the top of the corporate ladder.

When you're budgeting for living expenses, expect your income to be at the lowest and your expenses to be at the highest. I expect 2 call ins per month and to need to spend the max amount i have on groceries every time, that way I never fall short and never have to cut into my savings that I've dubbed my "oh shit, I'm broke" money. Your emergency reserve may look tempting to you, but as someone who has been in a position where they had to drain it to nothing in the past because of an unforeseen financial emergency, you REALLY are gonna want that untouched if and when shit hits the fan. Life is unpredictable, prepare to roll with the punches so they don't knock you out.

A few people wanted to be tagged in this, so here you go @lilsnatch and @kisstheashes <3

[sweetteainthesummerx]

THE LOVE LASTS SO LONG (15)

The penultimate chapter!!

series masterlist

★・・・・★・・・・ ★・・・・★

aubreyyang posted on their story

caption: back to reality

Ollie pushed her luggage to the side, his eyes tired behind a pair of blue light glasses. His hair was smushed a little from the drive over to the airport, but he looked handsome as always. 

They were back in Italy, Ollie starting training again before the Canadian Grand Prix. Aubrey had to go back to New York, catch up on classes and deal with auditions and bookings. 

“Don’t fall in love with some Manhattan fashion guy,” Ollie pouted, tugging her into him, cradling her head and waist. 

“Don’t be dramatic, babe. I’ll see you in like, a week and a half.” She sniffed into his hoodie, but she felt her heart carving itself out of her chest and wedging into his already. Nearly two weeks with Ollie, all tanned, shirtless and happy…now back to the sweltering, bustling city without him. She wanted to cry a little. This sweet boy made her life so much more, so abundant. It felt like time, almost. She knew that he loved her, and she most definitely loved him. But he knew her and he wanted to take it slow so she wouldn’t be spooked. She adored him for it. 

He must’ve felt her tense because he pressed quiet kisses into the crown of her head, smoothing her hair away from her face. 

“I can’t wait to win in your home country. Promise you’ll text me when you land?” He pressed one more kiss into her temple tenderly. 

“Okay, I will.” 

With one more squeeze, she rubbed her eyes and entered into the terminal, waving once more at Ollie. 

aubreyyang posted

aubreyyang SO AMERICAN MUSIC VIDEO! It was an honour to direct my first music video for my girl @oliviarodrigo ❤️

Even though I hate being mistaken as american, this song was too good to pass up 💋

GO WATCH NOW 🇺🇸🦅🗽

liked by oliviarodrigo, olliebearman, and 111,092 others

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user1 OH SO SHES SERVING SERVING HUH

livieelove OMG THE ULTIMATE COLLAB

aubreyyangcontent liv and Aubrey (successful gorgeous asian queens) 🤝 their golden retriever tall white bfs

-- olliebearmansgf CRYING BECAUSE THIS IS THEIR SHARED EXPERIENCEE

logansargeant we welcome you to America anytime 🤠

-- aubreyollie4eva YO STAY IN UR OWN LANE BRUV

olliebearman real ones know the Vancouver lore :)

-- aubreyyang downtown day when?

-- user2 MOM AND DAD PLSSS

MESSAGES

ollie

just watched the music video

it was so good

aubrey

well what can I say I relate to it hehe

ollie

really?

aubrey

well duh

I mean ig im from canada but ur from england

ollie

oh wow

aubrey

idk I kinda like having a muse for directing

it feels more personal

sorry did I make it weird?

ollie

no of course not love

come to the next gp with me

aubrey

ollie what

ollie

no im serious im having my Aubrey withdrawals

I really want you here

aubrey

okay

okay ill come to you

aubberieyaang posted

aubberieyaang highkey in love with my best friend 🤪

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alexandrasaintmleux I KNEW IT THATS WHY HES ALL RED AND GIGGLY

-- aubberieyaang wait really hehe

leosdad please just tell him this hurts my soul

-- aubberieyaang SOON I PROMISE

celine_diorr fine hes better than any of ur exes and he has my blessing

-- aubberieyaang TY BAE

chuck_bushes Ay he better watch his hands

-- aubberieyaang love u my honorary big bro

f1wagupdates posted

slide one: ollie and aubrey walking through the paddock; he is wearing a Ferrari polo and a backwards hat with jeans and sneakers, she is wearing a vintage Ferrari tank top with her dark hair loose around her shoulders. Her mini skirt is a light denim, and she has a pair of low doc Martens and scrunch white socks. A pair of sunglasses (as seen in her previous posts) pushes her hair back from her face. The picture is slightly blurry, but she is walking in front as he follows suit behind her, one hand on the small of her back. A black Prada handbag is in his hand, presumably Aubrey's.

slide two: a video of David Bearman and Aubrey Yang in the Ferrari garage as they stand side by side, both wearing red earmuffs as they stare enraptured at the screen. Someone moving boxes passes by, and David moves Aubrey behind him in a very fatherly way. She says something that makes him laugh, and he pats her shoulder as they focus back on the screen. The tags on the live TV shows David Bearman, Oliver Bearman's dad, and Aubrey Yang, Oliver Bearman's Partner.

f1wagupdate Aubrey Yang is once again seen in the paddock, this time in Montreal. She is seen with Ollie Bearman's father and Ollie before and during the race.

liked by ollieheartsaubrey, aubrey1fan and 88,092 others

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aubreyyangfanpage THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF FERRARI RAHHH the first pic is so cute

-- user1 THEYRE BOTH WEARING MERCH AND LOOKING GORGEOUS HOLY MOLY

user2 aww her and his dad are so sweet (when is it my turn PLEASE)

-- f1funnies00 shes so daughter in law coded I SWEAR THEYRE TOGETHER EVEN THE TAG HARD LAUNCHED THEM BROO

premababies hes holding her bag (gonna sleep on the highway tonight hehe)

★・・・・★・・・・ ★・・・・★

Taglist: @callsignwidow @iloveyou3000morgan @honethatty12 @taygrls @destinyg237 @ilivbullyingjeongin @eiaaasamantha @1uvsptnik @yla-aira @motorsportloverf1 @gigigreens

© sweetteainthesummerx.tumblr. all rights reserved. unauthorized copying, translation, or claiming of my writing or any works as your own is strictly prohibited.

[nurivamp]

I don’t know which one of y’all btches lied to me and told me, “Ooh, Tim is obsessed with Coffee.” ID JUST SEEN THAT MOTHERFKER

Hi, new fan again, new (not really) thoughts. Recently I’ve come to learn that Tim Drake’s obsession with coffee is actually one of the many common misconception spread out by the fandom, like the Lazarus madness with Jason Todd, that has semi slivered its way into the actual comics.

But I have learnt that Tim likes sweets and treat food; such as doughnuts, potato chips and Pizza with Canadian bacon and onion with artichoke hearts

Now, I don’t mind, people’s tastes over time can change DRASTICALLY as they grow older, but some people can get slightly frustrated with the mischaracterisation.

So, I say we fix this problem with a personal, realistic solution: Replace coffee with Monster Drinks as well as bring in treat food.

I REFUSE to believe that those drinks if enough consumed, won’t have you staring straight at the computer screen for a good 4 hours.

When I was younger I would annoyingly ask my uncle for money for the shops and whenever I entered there was most likely a tank full of energy/monster drinks with a pile-up of crisps (British chip packets) as he sat on his desk playing Call of Duty. This might sound unhealthy, obviously, but ofc he would put it away and get an entire 5hrs sleep for the rest of the day.

So I imagine it to be a LITTLE more pleasing to have better scenarios with Alfred/Other batfam members coming down to the cave and seeing a shrimp posture Tim throw another can into the slightly moved bin and then criticising him later for it.

I already know the possible rebuttals, ‘vamp, energy drinks and treat food are bad for you, what if he loses a bunch of energy and can’t do crime fighting?’ Babes I’ve seen a dude run down a flight of stairs in a blink of an eye after telling me he downs six in the morning. Besides, just because someone likes junk food doesn't always mean they don't have a healthy balance, he's not going to drink and eat those every chance he gets just like coffee.

Again, I am semi-new, so if you have your thoughts please do share.

[seat-safety-switch]

Olden times used to be a lot better for race car construction. Speeds were slower, and safety meant being able to re-use the driver after you won. Plus, nobody really knew what they were doing. You could throw an old fuel tank from an airplane onto an old truck frame, weld the two parts together, and once the fires were extinguished, you'd have a winning dragster.

Nowadays, decades of intense competition, workplace safety regulation, and the discovery of hyperfocus-related mental disorders have produced race cars that would have been completely unimaginable to our distant ancestors. You can zip down the straight faster than the aforementioned bomber plane could, slam into a copse of trees on the side of the road, and probably come out of it at least half alive. Winning? Yeah, you could do that too, but you'd need to be trained in the fine art of racecraft nearly from birth, unlike me.

I know a lot of people are tired of me complaining about how old garbage that you find on the side of the road is better than all the new garbage that you have to have a paying job in order to afford. I'm tired of saying it! Which is why I decided to put my money where my mouth is. Not literally, because I have no money and because the Canadian plastic currency has been chemically constructed to be disgusting to eat, but you get the idea.

In the interest of getting better at motorsport, I've decided to start from square one, myself. I went to the store, and I started welding some frame together, using the store demo welders. Naturally, I wore a reflective vest, so that everyone knew I was supposed to be there. I drove the resulting vehicle right out of the store, after a quick stop-off at the self-checkout to ring up a pair of overpriced Chapsticks. Then I've been driving my improvised rocket ship in the woods at night. It's hard work, but I figure eventually I'll learn what I did wrong with this piece of shit, and head back to do something better. By 2090 or so, I should be roughly caught up to the state of the art in 1925. For instance, I've already determined that my next race car should have headlights.

[irishmammonagenda]

Ritualistic-Obey Me x Reader

[picture creds] [dividers by @/riottsrph] Summary: You and your friends get a little too wrapped up in the spooky festivities of Halloween. Satan can't help but watch. ;) Word Count: 3.2k Content Warnings: MC is human and this is a different au. probably fem!MC idk i cant write men women are my default. also MC is stupid, like really fucking stupid icl. blood, rituals, implied animal sacrifice, implied gore and violence.

"This was a stupid idea." You think to yourself as you trudge through the dense forest behind your two best friends, avoiding branches and pausing every time you get caught on one.

Noticing your tension, Derek hums, carrying a rucksack on his back and offering you a sip of cider from the can he was holding. No doubt given to him by his Uncle Sam. "Want some? You seem thirsty."

Parched you accept, "Thanks, Derek."

He nods as his cousin Eric turns around from in front of you both, he grins at you, still carefully carrying that cardboard box that they refuse to tell you the contents of. "It's not much further, [Name], don't worry."

Most young adults would be watching horror movies with their friends, or going to a costume party on Halloween Night. But not you three.

You; [Name] [Last Name], Derek Wisconsin, and Eric Vancouver, had something more disturbing planned.

You were going to summon Satan.

Having freshly turned 19, and with Derek preparing to move back to Illinois and, Eric returning to Canada for college; this was your last hurra before being separated.

You shiver, half from the nerves and half from the cold. You should've worn something other than sweatpants and a tank top.

"C'mon [Name], don't be a scaredy cat. We're almost there." Derek teases, shoving you lightly, before throwing his empty can of cider on the forest floor. You glare at him. Sure, you were more naïve than most, but he didn't need to be rude about it!

Eric looks back once more, and shares a look with his cousin before the three of you continue to walk. Getting ever closer to the clearing the blond Canadian had been raving about.

Getting closer to the place you'd chosen for the ritual.

You gulp as you reach the clearing, taking a moment to collect yourself and avoid looking into the treelines, especially as the sky rapidly darkens. You don't want to see something you shouldn't, after all.

Derek grabs the box from his cousin's hands and sets it down gently on the ground beside the rucksack he’d thrown uncaringly in the leaves before adjusting his baseball cap. The redhead breathes in deeply, watching as his friend grabs a handful of straws of various lengths.

Eric scrunches his nose and nudges towards you. "We gotta see who's doin' it. Pick one." The half-canadian nudges to his closed fist, you nervously do so, pulling out a short, stubby straw.

Eric picks out a short straw, still longer than yours. Derek picks out the longest one, and subsequently starts grinning like a maniac. "Fuck yeah!" He whistles. "Oh Jeez....guess you're doing it, [Name]."

"Guess I am..." You pout, before blinking dumbly for a minute. "Wait, what am I doing'?"

Derek and Eric grin to each other with identical smiles before turning to face you. "The main part of the ritual." They say, before the Canadian gestures to the box.

The ginger grins wider, taking off his chicago cubs baseball cap and setting it down, revealling orange toned hair underneath. "But not yet! We gotta set up the summoning circle first!"

You bite your lip. "Are you guys sure this is a good idea?” You ask, eyeing Eric as he starts to copy out a summoning circle from the frayed, ancient looking spellbook.

Derek nods ambitiously. “Hell yeah. What could go wrong? Worst case scenario nothin’ happens and it’s all a hoax. Best case scenario, we summon Satan, make pacts with him and get rich!”

Eric sticks his tongue out in concentration. “Mhm… and don’t worry about havin’ to sell your soul. That’s where the box comes in handy.”

You shiver. Wrapping your arms around yourself in an attempt to keep warm as you and Derek watch as the blond finishes the summoning circle and places black candles down at integral points of the inner star.

The Canadian claps the chalk off of his hands, as Derek takes out the deck chair from the large rucksack and unfolds it, setting it in the middle of the circle. you and begin lighting the candles,he grabs an expensive looking ceremonial dagger from his backpack. When he notices you staring he smirks. “Got it from Ebay for 20 dollars. Now lets get started!”

Derek grins before the three of you stand over the book he’d just placed in the very middle of the summoning circle, placed on the foldable garden chair serving as an altar.

Your trio chant in Latin, reading out the words on the page of the book. The light breeze stops dead.

“Ready, [Name]?” Eric smiles, holding the dagger up as you nod offering your hand.

“Make it quick.” You look away. Face scrunched up in pain as the boy draws blood, you hiss in agony as he moves onto Derek and then himself.

The three of you let your blood drip onto the ground in the middle of the summoning circle as you invoke the Avatar of Wrath once more.

All the while being unaware of the emerald green eyes watching you from the shadows of the treeline.

After a few repetitions, Derek turns to you, gestering to the dagger. “You picked the shortest straw. You’re up, MC.”

“What do I do with it?” You tilt your head as you shakily grab the dagger. Growing more and more uncomfortable with the uncanny smiles your friends are sporting.

They hand you the cardboard box. “Open it.” Eric whispers.

You do.

Inside you find a small black kitten barely the size of your hand sleeping peacefully. A small pink ribbon as her makeshift collar. Unable to stop yourself, you reach out to shakily pet her. Derek grabs her. She meows as she’s woken up. The redhead hands you the kitten in your free arm.

“Pet store said her name was Inky.” Eric hums as she cuddles into your tanktop, looking for warmth.

You don’t miss the sinister glint in their eyes, yet you do miss the figure in the darkness growing larger, more demonic as he senses what’s about to happen to the kitten before you do.

You feel a sinking feeling in your gut even before Derek orders you in a dark tone. “Say the words in the book. Slit its throat.”

You gulp shakily, as you begin to chant, the wound on your hand aching and beginning to glow green and you swear you can hear a demonic growling sound from the treeline.

You finish chanting, tears welling up in your eyes as you slowly lift the dagger up, preparing to do the unthinkable.

The sky darkens, thunder sounds, a sinister fog begins to form around the ritual circle, reflecting in the pure evil of Derek and Eric’s shared expression.

Satan, who had been watching in the shadows as soon as the ritual began, growls in pure rage. A mere second away from stepping into the circle and gutting the three of you.

You blink away your tears, about the drag the dagger down into the kittens throat, before you meet her tiny amber eyes and she lets out the most pitiful meow. No doubt wanting food.

You break. Throwing the weapon on the ground and breaking off in a sprint. Rushing into the dense woods still cradling the poor kitten as your former friends make chase close behind you.

You wince as branches catch on your skin and leaving you with scratch marks all over. You don’t stop running though, especially after you hear the dagger being thrown at a tree right next to you.

Satan pauses. Shocked out of his growling as he stalks you from the shadows. A small, crooked smile spreads on his face as he watches you make your escape, defenseless kitten in hand.

You manage to get out of view and reach of Derek and Eric as you duck behind a log to catch your breath. Hearing the Canadian shout to his cousin from Illinois to ‘just leave it’ and ‘continue the ritual without the stupid cat’

Derek shouts exploitatives before agreeing and yelling into the woods. “You fucking bitch!- When I find you, [Name]-You’re fucking dead!-”

You hold your breath as their voices grow quieter and quieter. Petting Inky to steel your nerves you peek out and see no one.

Deciding to make your escape you slowly get out, walking dumbly like a baby deer as you slowly trudge further away from where you came.

Satan had been doing nothing in particular before having felt his name being provoked. He sighed, never getting a lot of downtime during Halloween thanks to idiots in the Human Realm summoning him day in and day out.

Allowing himself to be teleported to the area of the ritual. He stalked in the shadows of the treeline, noticing three young adults in the middle of the clearing chanting.

He watched. Prowling around the shadows, rage radiating from him as he hears the meowing of a cat and sees the third of the trio raise a dagger. Yet still, he watches.

His eyes grow green. Already in his demon form, his claws protract. Ready to maul those motherfuckers.

Only to stop when you throw the dagger and make a run for it. Rage simmering down to slight surprise, claws retracting.

You were a smart one, your friends, however, were not. He'd have to find you later, but for now; he stayed in the shadows, waiting, watching as the two boys continue the ritual without the cat they had planned to slaughter.

The ginger, Derek, begins once more, chanting in Latin as he reads from the book, Eric joins in, before a lightbulb goes off into his head.

The Canadian opens his phone and selects a photo of you, placing it on the ground in the centre of the ritual circle.

"A-ave Satanas! This is our sacrifice to you, [Name] [Last Name]!" Eric shouts into the forest, no doubt wanting you to hear in an attempt to punish you for ruining the ritual.

Satan raises an eyebrow. So that was your name? Interesting.

Still in demon form; he steps out of the shadows, revealling himself to the two boys.

He smirks at their shocked gasps, watching in amusement as they scramble to the book, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Where's the cat?" Is all Satan asks.

"T-that bitch-" Derek points to the photo of you on the ground. "She fuckin' ran off with it. Sorry Lord S-Satan....we were tryna sacrifice it for you.-"

Eric nods desperately in agreement.

Satan smirks, "Well then...I suppose I should reward my loyal followers." He says charmingly as his eyes glow a feral green and his claws protract once more.

He'd hang them by their entrails.

No one fucks with cats. Especially not on his watch.

You whimper in the dark woods, shakily bringing your phone out with one hand to use as a flashlight. It was colder now. Inky clung to you for warmth as you did the same to her and held the kitten tighter with one arm.

Having ran blindly from the clearing in random directions, it was safe to say you were lost.

"It's okay buddy…." You whisper to the kitten, whimpering when you hear the tortured screaming of your two friends.

The ritual must've worked.

Like a prey animal, you hunker down behind some bushes just in case. Turning off your phone light, you cradled Inky in your arms and clench your eyes shut in fear, trying not to listen to the screeching and pleading of your former friends.

Tears roll down your cheeks, although you couldn't tell if it was from grieving, anger or fear. Most likely the latter two.

You wait and wait, staying completely still in the dirt, uncaring of the staining in your clothes that would result of it. Leaves rustled softly with your breathing, as you tried to focus on the rise and fall of your chest instead of the nightmarish sounds from God knows how far away.

It keeps going, until it stops, leaving behind it a thick, deathly silence. You hold back a whimper, still much too scared to move, frozen in fear.

Your hair stands on end as a crunching of autumn leaves sounds. Footsteps approach you calmly.

You hold you breath, begging and praying to whatever ancient power out there that whatever that thing was that'd killed your friends wouldn't murder you too. That it would somehow miss your hiding spot.

It was truly a shame for you that the only ancient power in your vicinity was Satan himself.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. :)

To which he did. The footsteps get closer, before stopping at the bush you were hiding behind. You bite your lip to keep yourself from whimpering.

You hear a chuckle sound from the darkness, as you will yourself to open your eyes you see a man, as if by magic, he's in front of you.

You hadn't heard him move from the time it took him to approach you from behind.

Strange.

"You don't need to be scared." The handsome man smiles charmingly. He's not much older than you by the looks of it. "[Name], right?"

You nod dumbly, holding Inky as your emotional support. How did this man know your name? Was he stalking you?

He nods to the kitten in your arms, "Cute cat. Mind if I pet her?"

"Sure….Y-yeah that's fine…." You stiffen as his hand reaches towards you, but relax slightly as the man seems gentle with cats. Everyone knows men who are good with cats can be trusted, right? Inky seems to like him.

"Hmm…..you okay?" The blond man asks kindly. His emerald eyes glow an otherworldly green.

"….I'm lost…." You admit, rather tired from the whole idea.

"I see. Well I could always help you get out. I know these woods quite well…."

"Really? You don't sound like you're from here….." You say softly, finding your voice. Maybe you were too naïve and trusting, but nevertheless, you grab his outstretched hand and laugh a little as he shakes it.

You grin, having calmed your nerves slightly. Unknowing that you've just made a deal with the devil.

He helps you up and you begin to walk through the trees, still holding onto Inky. The man coos at her every now and again and the cat preens under his soft gaze.

You walk in a relatively comfortable silence, with the blond asking you questions here and there, and you answering and asking them back.

Realistically you should still be shaking and crying and traumatised. You'd just heard your two former best friends be murdered. Yet, some dark twisted part inside of you whispers that they were doomed the moment they drew that circle and took out that cat.

It scared you that you couldn't bring yourself to care.

"So what about you…? Do you have any siblings?" You ask quietly, as you both use your phones as flashlights through the woods. You don't feel as much like a headless chicken anymore.

"Yep." He smiles. "Six brothers. I'm the fourth oldest."

"Holy shit."

"Nothing holy about it, in my opinion." He laughs, it's contagious. You can't help but let out a chuckle.

"You're quite interesting, [Name]. Smart too. " The familiar stranger hums. "I like that."

You grin, laughing as humility coats your voice. " Oh really....I don't think I'm that smart....."

The handsome man's eye's glow with something for a second as his eyes fix on the kitten safe in your arms. "You should give yourself more credit, [Name], you've made better decisions than you would even believe tonight."

"....Thanks?" You tilt your head slightly. The Devil himself just hums softly in response as the two of you fall back into the rhythm of a comfortable silence, with you leading the way to your home as you got to the main road once more. It doesn't take long before the three of you reach it.

As you reach your home, the blond sees you and your newly acquired kitten to your door. You give him a small smile. "Well this is me...."

He nods, before grabbing your free hand, and speaking a phrase in Latin you almost recognise as he meets your gaze with a glowing green one of his own. He kisses your hand and grins as ink like emeralds form on your skin like a tattoo, swirling and dancing until they find purchase around your wrist in a symbol not unlike the ones in the summoning circle.

Your breath hitches. "Y-you're..."

The demon grins. "I'm Satan, yes." He replies, admiring the pact mark now on your hand. "And you might be one of my favourite devotees."

"....You're not gonna kill me...?" You ask in a small voice, clutching Inky as you open the door you had stupidly forgotten to lock before you went out.

The Avatar of Wrath only laughs in response, a soft look overriding his facial expression. "If I wanted to kill you I would've done so in the woods. Besides. You weren't stupid....like the other imbeciles who try to summon me." He reaches over to pet Inky once more, something he's done a lot within the short space of time you've gotten to know him.

"Huh?" You voice out your confusion, and he grins up at you. For the supposed Avatar of Wrath, he sure is charming. It was easy to trust him.

"Well...most people- actually every group or person who tries to summon me around Halloween time...sometimes even witches but especially inexperienced humans like you and your....friends...always make the fatal mistake of sacrificing cats during the ritual...." His eyes narrow as he thinks about it. A murderous expression creeps onto his face and a deathly aura surrounds him as you realise why he's named the Avatar of Wrath.

Satan takes a deep breath and continues. "But you didn't....I can appreciate and trust someone like you."

You nod, wondering what parenting mistakes your parents made that could've made you attracted to a literal Lord of Hell as you feel your cheeks heat up. "Do you wanna come inside for a bit?"

The corners of his lips twitch, "I'd love to...but Halloween is a busy time for me....summonings and all.....could I come back tomorrow?"

You nod. "Bring some treats for Inky?" You ask light-heartedly.

"Oh of course." He smiles, waving goodbye as you trek inside your home, placing the kitten down gently on the entrance mat of your hall.

"Well....bye for now, Satan..." You nod, at the now not so enigmatic stranger, he gives you another kiss on the back of your hand.

"Goodnight, [Name]." He says before slowly closing the door for you.

He'd come visit you again, after all, he had accepted your ritual and given you his pact mark. As the blond demon thinks to himself whilst traversing to yet another ritual preformed by stupid young adults abusing cats who were about to get mauled, he comes to the realisation that Lucifer said no to cats in the house. but he never said anything about a human and that said human's cat. ;)

🎃🦇samhain shona daoibh 🎃🦇

if you cant tell ive watched a lot of horror movies recently and made the ritual very not very realistic-ified for the sake of dramatic devices gng. (unrelated but im too scared to watch the exorcist)😔✊

real ones realised i reused derek wisconsin and eric vancouver from my summertime shennanigans fic. i am aware the names are horrible that's why i chose them.

can we all appreciate the fact i churned this out in like two days pretty please (oh the joys of getting 8 hours of sleep every night and being off school and not completely exhausted.)

no irish in this post bc halloween is irish enough anyways yipeeee!

anyways 😈

i made a poll yesterday asking if i should give you stinkers (said lovingly) a name like im some 2019 youtuber with a bunch of fans because i yearn for the silliness and nearly everyone said yes so yipeeee! also i need ideas or else you're being called péisteanna or something equally as stupid 😈

[axolotl-agere]

My theriotypes!

Hey Little guys! This post does imply reincarnation and the part that causes it :< so tw! Nothing graphic but figured I'd let you know!!

Meet the Canadian Snow Lynx! I was really old when I laid in the snow one last time! ^^

The "Minty Froggo" AKA the Mint Terribilis Dart Frog! I have memories of being in the rain as one!

A lavender axolotl! I'm actually not sure what type of axolotl this is, but it's me! I was really sad as one :< because my owner kept me in a yucky empty tank!

And now... I'm me! For me, being a therian is identifying as these animals on a spiritual level!

(These three pictures were found on Google! These aren't *literally* me but what animals I was!)

[mercurygray]

HBOWW2 Rewatch: June-August 1943

Since Week 2's episodes really only take us through 3 months of 1943 there's not a lot of big picture stuff to get caught up on.

But man, oh man, are there some big things happening elsewhere.

June: The Zoot Suit Riots take place in Los Angeles when a group of sailors on leave get into a fight with Mexican American youth near the waterfront, leading to retaliatory action from many more sailors and soldiers in the following days. The riots last ten days, and are only stopped when the Army and Navy declare L.A. off limits to military personnel. (This is not the only race-related act of violence this month, but it is certainly the most well known.)

Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud are named co-presidents of the French Committee of National Liberation. This institution would challenge the legitimacy of the Vichy government and provide a unifying force for French forces abroad and at home. It will also function as a provisional government in Algeria, which has recently been liberated during the North Africa campaign.

The Tuskegee Airmen have their first encounter with the Luftwaffe as six P-40 Warhawks are attacked over the island of Pantelleria by 12 German Focke-Wulf 190 fighters. Pantelleria has recently surrendered and will serve as a jumping off point for the invasion of Sicily, which begins in July. (Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz is currently serving as the head of Mediterranean Air Force Command.)

The invasion of Sicily starts on July 9th as a combined US, British and Canadian force lands at points around the island, starting a month-long race by General Patton's forces to move from Licata in the south to Messina in the north in an effort to catch the Germans before they can evacuate to the mainland. (Sadly, most of the Germans do make it off the island.) Both this campaign, and the North Africa campaign that preceded it, are launched to redirect resources away from the Eastern Front - a move that largely succeeds.

Speaking of the Eastern Front, the battle of Kursk begins on July 9. It is the single largest battle in the history of warfare, and is a turning point for the entire European war. The use of air support in what is largely a tank battle leads to one of the single costliest days of aerial combat.

On July 19, Allied Air Forces bomb Rome, which leads, in some large part, to the resignation of Mussolini as Prime Minister on July 25th, ending a 17 year dictatorship.

On July 27th and 28th, the RAF bomb Hamburg. High winds and drought conditions lead to the greatest single-day loss of life in wartime as more than 30,000 city residents burn to death after bombs set the entire town aflame.

Also in June, the new town of Oak Ridge, Tennesee, which will house workers for the Manhattan Project, officially receives its first residents, and "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer" by The Song Spinners tops the Billboard singles chart.

Heading into August, Operation Tidal Wave, the bombing of Ploesti, Romania, begins as 177 B-24 bombers attack the oil plant. This will be the first of many, many bombing runs on this target, which is a sigificant source of fuel for the Axis. (And you can't outrun Patton in Sicily or fight tank wars in Russia if you don't have fuel)

The United States Women's Air Service Pilots, or WASPS, is officially formed under the auspices of Jackie Cochran and Nancy Love. The program consolidates 2 previous groups in an attempt to leverage civilian pilots for ferrying duties.

So. It's August of 1943. The Allies are eyeing mainland Italy for their next assault. The Russians are slugging away in Kursk. The 8th Air Force has just gotten through the Regensberg- Schweinfurt raid. September will probably hold much of the same. Or ...will it?

[gay-jesus-probably]

What was your 9/11 sona

God, I wish I remembered. Unfortunately, while the whole mess is absolutely hilarious in hindsight, back in the day I just thought it was incredibly tasteless and an insult to the people who actually lost loved ones that day (which it absolutely was!), so I was mortified to have to participate in it. But I didn't want to argue the point, cause with how subjective English is, getting on the teachers bad side will just obliterate your grade, and I'd always been in the high 90's for english so I wasn't about to break that streak over a stupid insensitive writing assignment. So I grit my teeth, wrote some shitty, generic OC, gave them a tasteless, non-offensive eulogy, then tore up the paper and threw it out the second I got the marked assignment back.

And that was about a decade ago now, so I can't remember any details about my tragically deceased 9/11sona - all I can really remember about grade 9 english is the 9/11 stuff, the teacher being really weird about demanding we say 'zed' instead of 'zee' because we're Canadian, and the look of absolute shock on her face when she informed me that I'd gotten a perfect 100% on the reading comp part of the PAT exam (still lowkey proud of that lmao). Moral of the story, don't throw out really embarrassing school writing assignments; they might be hilarious in hindsight.

...The real punchline of all this is that while I went to all that effort to avoid pissing off my teacher and tanking my marks in grade 9, in grade 10 I hit that exact problem literally before my first class had started. I had english in the second semester that year, and my older sibling had given me the book version of Les Miserables as a christmas gift that year, and I was still working on it when school started back up. So I made the terrible mistake of walking into english class about ten minutes early, cracked open my book to pass the time... and then after a few minutes of watching some punk teenager casually reading les mis, the teacher got up, asked me to step out into the hall, then led me into the classroom next door to introduce me to the AP english teacher, and inform him that I was probably better suited for his class. I had to hastily clarify that no the fuck I was not, I had three core classes that semester and a mixup with my one elective meant I was stuck in the goddamn grade 12 band class, so if I didn't have one class I didn't need to put effort into, I would die of stress. Grade 10 english teacher tried to pressure me into taking the AP class anyways, and after I kept refusing, she eventually was like "fine, you can stay in my class, but I'm going to grade you like you're an AP student the whole time."

And for the entire semester, she refused to mark any of my work higher than an 80%. Can you tell I'm still angry about that, because I'm still really fucking angry about it.

[madhatterbri]

Valentine's Day Game | C.C.

Summary: Going to Valentine's Day hockey game as friends. Only as friends, of course, and nothing else. 😉

I changed it a little bit cause I had an idea pop in my head, and I really like it. Sorry if it isn't what you envisioned.

Requested by: @adamcolesbaybay

"We are just friends," you reminded your friend for the hundredth time. She didn't believe you. It's just a hockey game that happened to be on Valentine's Day. This was no big deal. He has season tickets, and one of his friends backed out.

"Then why is my friend putting on makeup for a friendly outing?" Your friend asked, eyeing you suspiciously. She had a fair point. Makeup was a very rare occasion for you. Most of the time, you dressed in basketball shorts and a tank top. You opened your mouth to defend yourself yet checked the time.

"Would you look at that? I gotta go," you sang. Your friend rolled her eyes at you.

"This isn't over. I'll call you tomorrow. Have fun," she told you.

You hung up and finished getting ready in peace. After a few minutes, chimes rang from your alarm system to signal a visitor. You looked on the screen to see Christian walking towards your front door. You opened the door. "Surprise,"

"I could say the same for you," He moved his hands from behind his back. A bouquet of red roses appeared before you. He had a sheepish smile on his face. Your eyes widened in shock.

Friendship flowers, you immediately thought, definitely friendship flowers. Maybe it's a Canadian thing.

"They are beautiful," you gushed and grabbed the flowers from him. The smell of roses happened to be your favorite. "Come in. I'm going to put them in the vase,"

He stepped inside and followed you to the kitchen. You grabbed a vase from the cabinet and filled it with water. Your eyes wandered over to him. He was dressed in a long sleeve black shirt and jeans.

"Should I change? You look so prim and proper, and I'm dressed like a hockey fan," you laughed and looked down at your Tampa Bay Lightning jersey and jeans. You placed the flowers in the vase.

"You look fine, good, great even. You look great," he complimented, catching himself stumbling. Christian rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He tried to change the subject. "We should go,"

The drive to the arena was filled with excitement about the game. You noticed all his nervousness washed away when the two of you talked about similar interests. Both of your arms rested on the arm rest. Your fingers brushed together. Neither of you even bothered to move.

"And here we are," he spoke, pulling into a parking space. He looked at you, holding his gaze while you turned to look at him.

"Is there something on me?" You asked, pulling the car mirror down to check your face. Your makeup still looked flawless.

"Nah, I'm just really happy you agreed to go out with me," he answered softly. You could see the sincerity in his eyes.

The two of you walked inside the arena. The place was a little quiet, given that it was Valentine's Day. You stood in line to get drinks and snacks. He paid for you despite your insisting that you could pay for yourself. You promised you would pay for the food at the next game. He loved the sound of their being a next one.

The game was just about to start when you sat in your seats. You couldn't remember the last time you went to one this exciting. For a holiday of love, there were plenty of fights on the ice. The refs were certainly working for their paychecks today. Both sides seemed to be more focused on beating each other up than playing.

His eyes lit up, and he smiled every time you got into the match. Your arms rested on the armrest with your fingers close together once more. You shivered, feeling the spark from your fingers touching. He frowned and looked at you in concern.

"Are you cold?" He asked. You nodded, trying to recover from looking like a spaz. He moved his arm away from the armrest and pulled you close to him. He rubbed your upper arm as the two of you continued to watch the game. "Better?"

You could barely hear him with how loud your heart pounded in your chest. Maybe this wasn't two friends with some serious tension just enjoying a hockey game. Your face paled, realizing how blind you are, and nodded.

All the good morning and good night calls and texts. The witty banter and going back and forth. The comfort the two of you had at your body's touching. The way his eyes would linger on you and allow you to catch him watching you.

Here goes nothing!

You rested your head against his shoulder. He rested his head against yours. His lips brushed the top of your head. Your fingers locked together. His thumb traced small circles against your skin.

The two of you remained this way throughout the game, never wanting to part. When it was clear, the Tampa Bay Lightning was going to win the two of you left. You walked out of the arena hand in hand towards his car.

"You know, I think we could make a pretty great team. We should stick together," he smiled and leaned against his car. His hand letting yours go. You scrunched your nose and smiled.

"You belong in the penalty box for that one," you giggled and leaned against his car next to him. Your eyes locked, and the two of you kissed softly.

[txttletale]

I know I sound dumb but this is a real question. I know some other people from my country (Canada) were supposedly arrested in China without cause and I’ve always thought I would avoid visiting because the government is too dangerous. Was that really all propaganda I fell for or is there truth to it?

the two michaels, who i assume you're thinking of, were 1. credibly charged with espionage (they both had ties, whether personal or financial, to NATO government officials) and 2. were arrested in clear retaliation / hostage-taking for the canadian arrest of huawei cfo meng wanzhou.

as long as you don't either a) spy on the chinese government or at least b) have a job where you could be credibly accused of spying on the chinese goverment for political purposes (one michael worked for a NATO-funded think tank, the other operated a north korean tour agency) and are not also c) in the country at the time of of an international extradition incident involving your home country you are only as likely to be arbitrarily arrested in china as you are in any other country

tldr: you're fine you as a tourist are in no more danger from the chinese government than you are from any other government

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Zack Beauchamp at Vox:

I met Raqib Naik, a journalist who had fled his native India, at a coffee shop in suburban Maryland. We sat at the same metal table where he once discussed the prospect of his assassination with FBI agents.

Naik is a Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state. In August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the state’s longstanding self-determination rights and temporarily imposed martial law. Indian officials arbitrarily detained thousands of Kashmiris, including many journalists. Through it all, Naik did his best to convey the reality in Kashmir to the outside world — a firsthand account of what was really going on in what’s often termed “the world’s largest democracy.” On August 15, 10 days after the crackdown in Kashmir began, Naik received the first of three visits from Indian military intelligence officers who interrogated him about his reporting. The harassment forced him underground; he eventually fled to the United States in the summer of 2020. But Modi wouldn’t let him go that easily. In September 2020, an Indian military official sent Naik a message saying “i have invited your father for a cup of tea.” In November 2020, a second intelligence officer said he too had contacted Naik’s father, vowing that he and Naik would “meet in person” even though Naik had moved to America. While traveling in another country in June 2022, Naik received an anonymous text message saying “you are being tracked and will be prosecuted.” He flew back to the US as quickly as possible.  [...]

India’s plot against America

I have spent the past several months investigating stories like Naik’s: critics of India who say the Indian government has reached across the Pacific Ocean to harass them on American soil. 

Interviews with political figures, experts, and activists revealed a sustained campaign where Narendra Modi’s government threatens American citizens and permanent residents who dare speak out on the declining state of the country’s democracy. This campaign has not been described publicly until now because many people in the community  — even prominent ones — are too afraid to talk about it. (The Indian government did not respond to repeated and detailed requests for comment.)  India’s efforts include a handful of high-profile incidents, most notably an assassination plot against American and Canadian activists. But more commonly, India engages in subtle forms of harassment that fly under the public radar. An American charity leader who spoke out on Indian human rights violations saw his Indian employees arrested en masse. An American journalist who worked on a documentary about India was put on a travel blacklist and deported. An American historian who studies 17th-century India received so many death threats that she could no longer speak without security. Even a member of Congress — and vocal critic of the Modi regime — said she was concerned about being banned from visiting her Indian parents.

[...]

And while Russian involvement in the 2016 election swayed few votes, there’s good reason to believe India’s campaign is working as intended — muting stateside criticism of India’s autocratic turn under Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

An American academic warned me that they couldn’t speak openly about India out of concern for family. An American think tank expert described numerous examples of censorship and self-censorship at prominent US institutions. These two sources, and many others, would only share their personal stories with me anonymously. All were concerned about the consequences for their careers, their loved ones, or even themselves — and they weren’t alone. “Indian Americans who are against the BJP, or oppose the BJP, have been intimidated and as a result routinely engage in self-censorship. I have heard them say as much to me,” says John Sifton, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “There are prominent Indian American intellectuals, writers, [and] celebrities who simply will not speak out against Modi because they are afraid that by doing so they will subject themselves to a torrent of online abuse and even death threats.” As a result, one of the most important developments of our time — Modi pushing the world’s largest democracy toward an authoritarian future — is receiving far less scrutiny in the United States than it should, especially at a time when Modi is running for a historic third term. 

India’s willingness to go after critics outside its borders — a practice political scientists call “transnational repression” — is a symptom of this democratic decline. Most sources told me that Indian harassment of Americans began in earnest after Modi took office in 2014, with most reported incidents happening in the past several years (when the prime minister became more aggressively authoritarian at home). Modi, a member of a prominent Hindu supremacist group since he was 8 years old, seems to believe he can act on the world stage in the same way he behaves at home. Despite the brazenness of India’s campaign — attacking Americans at home in a way that only the world’s worst authoritarian governments would dare — the Biden administration is putting little pressure on Modi to change his ways. Judging New Delhi too important in the fight against China, the US government has adopted its own unstated policy of avoiding fights with India over human rights and democracy. [...]

Modi’s “new India”

India was founded in 1947 as a secular democracy, with formal equality of all citizens enshrined in its constitution. But even before then, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had begun laying the groundwork for an alternative Hindu nationalist state. Narendra Modi has been a part of this fight since 1958, when he first got involved in his town’s RSS branch.

The RSS’s ideology, called Hindutva, holds that India must be a state principally for Hindus. It treats non-Hindus, especially Muslims, as foreign imports at best and invading forces at worst. The BJP is the RSS’s political wing, and it has worked extensively to bring the Indian state in line with Hindutva principles.  Making this dream into reality has been the purpose of Modi’s political career. Since becoming prime minister, he’s proven remarkably adept at it. The revocation of Kashmir’s autonomous status, and the subsequent crackdown that swept up Raqib Naik, is just one of many Hindutva victories during his tenure.  His government recently inaugurated a major new Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya, on the site of a mosque that was torn down by an RSS-aligned mob in 1992. It passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, a law that, among other things, set up discriminatory immigration rules for Muslims. In states across the country, local BJP governments have passed laws restricting interfaith marriage between Hindus and Muslims.

Vox exposes India’s siccing of Americans critical of its authoritarian turn under PM Narendra Modi.

[sergeifyodorov]

also furiously imagining what happens to the jets now bc like. they were seriously derailed by the mistreatment of pat laine -> his development was also really tanked by that and he went from possibly one of the best pure snipers in the game (pavel bure style) to like. adam fantilli's deadbeat but lovable older brother -> furthermore the jets in general during the beginning years of the wheeler captaincy Hated Each Other (buff and ekane feud) and I think in order to make it better we need to make it worse (tear it all down. kill them!) all that to say. jets end up breaking the canadian cup curse. conn smythe winner? cale m--