#ads securities uk

[x-brik-x]

I'm seeing a lot of people say that punk fashion is expensive and inaccessible, which is very wrong. here is a list of some ways you can make punk fashion easier, cheaper and more accessible for you, since that's... kinda the whole point.

others are encouraged to add onto this!! (just don't recommend corporations like amazon. not cool.)

1. patches!! you don't need to buy them. DIY patches are not ugly or boring. in fact, they are encouraged here!! DIY, in my opinion, is always the best thing to do when it is an option and is safe to do so.

2. speaking of DIY, spikes!! you can make them!!

cut the top and bottom off of an empty can. cut down the middle of the cylinder and flatten it, so it's just a flat rectangle of metal.

cut out a shape that is kind of a third of a circle, but around 3/4 of the curved edge is taken up by triangle shapes. (I'm not very good at describing, so here's a badly drawn picture)

roll it into a cone, leaving the 4 triangles sticking out at the bottom. this bit is optional, but you can fill it with hot glue to make it more sturdy, just be careful touching the hot metal. I tend to hold the cone by one of the triangles with a bit of fabric wrapped around my fingers for this bit. cut 4 small holes in your fabric in this kind of shape:

and put the spiky bits of triangle through the holes. fold the triangles in on themselves to secure the spike in place. boom. spike obtained. this is one I made and attached to a little piece of fabric to test this method out:

3. battle vests!! (like the base jackets). the best places to buy these are charity shops and second hand websites in my opinion, but if anyone else knows any better options, please reblog with those!!

a good trick I find works well on eBay is to filter search results to your country (or state? can you do that in the US? idk) so that a: fast delivery because local, and b: all the sellers of everything that shows up are in YOUR TIME ZONE.

why is this important? when people sell something for really cheap, it goes FAST. check eBay at like, 2am or something. all the scalpers in your area are asleep. grab the cheap stuff while they can't.

4. sewing!! want patches, but can't sew for whatever reason? I've heard of a lot of people with joint conditions like arthritis complain about the inaccessibility of patch stuff, and that does sound extremely annoying, however:

safety pins!! while they are still a little fiddly, they're much less work so you don't have to fiddle about for long. if you can, you could even ask a friend to help, since it doesn't take long at all I'm sure someone will be willing to help out!! (I know I would, but that's just me, and I love this kind of thing). safety pins on clothes are also widely considered to be a symbol of solidarity, so if anything, you're adding some extra love and meaning to your patch pants/battle jacket.

if that's still too fiddly, fabric glue is always an option. unfortunately this means you won't be able to remove/reposition patches, at least without leaving a massive patch of residue, but if you're ok with that then fabric glue is probably your best bet.

for people who prefer sewing: as for where to get the thread, I've heard a lot of people recommending dental floss, as it's apparently much cheaper and works just as well. I haven't tried this myself so can't confirm that, but I thought I'd share it regardless.

5. where to get fabric!! old clothes. rip em up. you don't need any kind of fancy fabric from the craft store. my patches are made of old jeans that I grew out of.

don't have any old clothes and you don't want to waste any good ones? I'm not sure about other countries, but in the UK, as long as you're not on private property (trespassing), dumpster diving is perfectly legal.

I definitely ;) do NOT encourage ;) trespassing rich people's land ;) to steal from their dumpsters ;)

or tbh it doesn't matter too much how rich the person is, since it's all going to landfill anyway. if it's in the bin, it's free game, but you didn't hear that from me. ;)

please add onto this where you can!! and if I missed something or got anything wrong, add that on too!!

[nornities]

How to use DXVK with The Sims 3

Have you seen this post about using DXVK by Criisolate? But felt intimidated by the sheer mass of facts and information?

@desiree-uk and I compiled a guide and the configuration file to make your life easier. It focuses on players not using the EA App, but it might work for those just the same. It’s definitely worth a try.

Adding this to your game installation will result in a better RAM usage. So your game is less likely to give you Error 12 or crash due to RAM issues. It does NOT give a huge performance boost, but more stability and allows for higher graphics settings in game.

The full guide behind the cut. Let me know if you also would like it as PDF.

Happy simming!

Disclaimer and Credits

Desiree and I are no tech experts and just wrote down how we did this. Our ability to help if you run into trouble is limited. So use at your own risk and back up your files!

We both are on Windows 10 and start the game via TS3W.exe, not the EA App. So your experience may differ.

This guide is based on our own experiments and of course criisolate’s post on tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/criisolate/749374223346286592/ill-explain-what-i-did-below-before-making-any

This guide is brought to you by Desiree-UK and Norn.

Compatibility

Note: This will conflict with other programs that “inject” functionality into your game so they may stop working. Notably

Reshade

GShade

Nvidia Experience/Nvidia Inspector/Nvidia Shaders

RivaTuner Statistics Server

It does work seamlessly with LazyDuchess’ Smooth Patch.

LazyDuchess’ Launcher: unknown

Alder Lake patch: does conflict. One user got it working by starting the game by launching TS3.exe (also with admin rights) instead of TS3W.exe. This seemed to create the cache file for DXVK. After that, the game could be started from TS3W.exe again. That might not work for everyone though.

A word on FPS and V-Sync

With such an old game it’s crucial to cap framerate (FPS). This is done in the DXVK.conf file. Same with V-Sync.

You need

a text editor (easiest to use is Windows Notepad)

to download DXVK, version 2.3.1 from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/releases/tag/v2.3.1 Extract the archive, you are going to need the file d3d9.dll from the x32 folder

the configuration file DXVK.conf from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/blob/master/DXVK.conf. Optional: download the edited version with the required changes here.

administrator rights on your PC

to know your game’s installation path (bin folder) and where to find the user folder

a tiny bit of patience :)

First Step: Backup

Backup your original Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path! The DXVK file may overwrite some files! The path should be something like this (for retail): \Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located.)

Backup your options.ini in your game’s user folder! Making the game use the DXVK file will count as a change in GPU driver, so the options.ini will reset once you start your game after installation. The path should be something like this: \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (This is the folder where your Mods folder is located).

Preparations

Make sure you run the game as administrator. You can check that by right-clicking on the icon that starts your game. Go to Properties > Advanced and check the box “Run as administrator”. Note: This will result in a prompt each time you start your game, if you want to allow this application to make modifications to your system. Click “Yes” and the game will load.

2. Make sure you have the DEP settings from Windows applied to your game.

Open the Windows Control Panel.

Click System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings.

On the Advanced tab, next to the Performance heading, click Settings.

Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.

Select 'Turn on DEP for all programs and services except these”:

Click the Add button, a window to the file explorer opens. Navigate to your Sims 3 installation folder (the bin folder once again) and add TS3W.exe and TS3.exe.

Click OK. Then you can close all those dialog windows again.

Setting up the DXVK.conf file

Open the file with a text editor and delete everything in it. Then add these values:

d3d9.textureMemory = 1

d3d9.presentInterval = 1

d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60

d3d9.presentInterval enables V-Sync,d3d9.maxFrameRate sets the FrameRate. You can edit those values, but never change the first line (d3d9.textureMemory)!

The original DXVK.conf contains many more options in case you would like to add more settings.

A. no Reshade/GShade

Setting up DXVK

Copy the two files d3d9.dll and DXVK.conf into the Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path. This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located. If you are prompted to overwrite files, please choose yes (you DID backup your folder, right?)

And that’s basically all that is required to install.

Start your game now and let it run for a short while. Click around, open Buy mode or CAS, move the camera.

Now quit without saving. Once the game is closed fully, open your bin folder again and double check if a file “TS3W.DXVK-cache” was generated. If so – congrats! All done!

Things to note

Heads up, the game options will reset! So it will give you a “vanilla” start screen and options.

Don’t worry if the game seems to be frozen during loading. It may take a few minutes longer to load but it will load eventually.

The TS3W.DXVK-cache file is the actual cache DXVK is using. So don’t delete this! Just ignore it and leave it alone. When someone tells to clear cache files – this is not one of them!

Update Options.ini

Go to your user folder and open the options.ini file with a text editor like Notepad.

Find the line “lastdevice = “. It will have several values, separated by semicolons. Copy the last one, after the last semicolon, the digits only. Close the file.

Now go to your backup version of the Options.ini file, open it and find that line “lastdevice” again. Replace the last value with the one you just copied. Make sure to only replace those digits!

Save and close the file.

Copy this version of the file into your user folder, replacing the one that is there.

Things to note:

If your GPU driver is updated, you might have to do these steps again as it might reset your device ID again. Though it seems that the DXVK ID overrides the GPU ID, so it might not happen.

How do I know it’s working?

Open the task manager and look at RAM usage. Remember the game can only use 4 GB of RAM at maximum and starts crashing when usage goes up to somewhere between 3.2 – 3.8 GB (it’s a bit different for everybody).

So if you see values like 2.1456 for RAM usage in a large world and an ongoing save, it’s working. Generally the lower the value, the better for stability.

Also, DXVK will have generated its cache file called TS3W.DXVK-cache in the bin folder. The file size will grow with time as DXVK is adding stuff to it, e.g. from different worlds or savegames. Initially it might be something like 46 KB or 58 KB, so it’s really small.

Optional: changing MemCacheBudgetValue

MemCacheBudgetValue determines the size of the game's VRAM Cache. You can edit those values but the difference might not be noticeable in game. It also depends on your computer’s hardware how much you can allow here.

The two lines of seti MemCacheBudgetValue correspond to the high RAM level and low RAM level situations. Therefore, theoretically, the first line MemCacheBudgetValue should be set to a larger value, while the second line should be set to a value less than or equal to the first line.

The original values represent 200MB (209715200) and 160MB (167772160) respectively. They are calculated as 200x1024x1024=209175200 and 160x1024x1024=167772160.

Back up your GraphicsRules.sgr file! If you make a mistake here, your game won’t work anymore.

Go to your bin folder and open your GraphicsRules.sgr with a text editor.

Search and find two lines that set the variables for MemCacheBudgetValue.

Modify these two values to larger numbers. Make sure the value in the first line is higher or equals the value in the second line. Examples for values: 1073741824, which means 1GB 2147483648 which means 2 GB. -1 (minus 1) means no limit (but is highly experimental, use at own risk)

Save and close the file. It might prompt you to save the file to a different place and not allow you to save in the Bin folder. Just save it someplace else in this case and copy/paste it to the Bin folder afterwards. If asked to overwrite the existing file, click yes.

Now start your game and see if it makes a difference in smoothness or texture loading. Make sure to check RAM and VRAM usage to see how it works.

You might need to change the values back and forth to find the “sweet spot” for your game. Mine seems to work best with setting the first value to 2147483648 and the second to 1073741824.

Uninstallation

Delete these files from your bin folder (installation path):

d3d9.dll

DXVK.conf

TS3W.DXVK-cache

And if you have it, also TS3W_d3d9.log

if you changed the values in your GraphicsRule.sgr file, too, don’t forget to change them back or to replace the file with your backed up version.

OR

delete the bin folder and add it from your backup again.

B. with Reshade/GShade

Follow the steps from part A. no Reshade/Gshade to set up DXVK.

If you are already using Reshade (RS) or GShade (GS), you will be prompted to overwrite files, so choose YES. RS and GS may stop working, so you will need to reinstall them.

Whatever version you are using, the interface shows similar options of which API you can choose from (these screenshots are from the latest versions of RS and GS).

Please note: 

Each time you install and uninstall DXVK, switching the game between Vulkan and d3d9, is essentially changing the graphics card ID again, which results in the settings in your options.ini file being repeatedly reset.

ReShade interface

Choose – Vulcan

Click next and choose your preferred shaders.

Hopefully this install method works and it won't install its own d3d9.dll file.

If it doesn't work, then choose DirectX9 in RS, but you must make sure to replace the d3d9.dll file with DXVK's d3d9.dll (the one from its 32bit folder, checking its size is 3.86mb.)

GShade interface

Choose –           

Executable Architecture: 32bit

Graphics API: DXVK

Hooking: Normal Mode

GShade is very problematic, it won't work straight out of the box and the overlay doesn't show up, which defeats the purpose of using it if you can't add or edit the shaders you want to use.

Check the game's bin folder, making sure the d3d9.dll is still there and its size is 3.86mb - that is DXVK's dll file.

If installing using the DXVK method doesn't work, you can choose the DirectX method, but there is no guarantee it works either.

The game will not run with these files in the folder:

d3d10core.dll

d3d11.dll

dxgi.dll

If you delete them, the game will start but you can't access GShade! It might be better to use ReShade.

Some Vulcan and DirectX information, if you’re interested:

Vulcan is for rather high end graphic cards but is backward compatible with some older cards. Try this method with ReShade or GShade first.

DirectX is more stable and works best with older cards and systems. Try this method if Vulcan doesn't work with ReShade/GShade in your game – remember to replace the d3d9.dll with DXVK's d3d9.dll.

For more information on the difference between Vulcan and DirectX, see this article:

https://www.howtogeek.com/884042/vulkan-vs-DirectX-12/

[mangocheesecakes]

Donations are still practically stagnant for the following fundraisers:

Youssef Munir's ( @yousefmoner ) fundraiser is only at £4,907 of their £50,000 goal. The last donation before the £7 I was able to give just now was 2 days ago. Please help him get to 5,000 today by donation matching with me.

Youssef's fundraiser is also included in @rafflesforpalestine. If you donate at least £5, you can have 1 entry to win a crocheted market bag.

Muhammad Munir's ( @mohamedmoner1994 ) fundraiser is only at £9,293 of their £45,000 goal. He's only had 1 donation today amounting to £10 and the one before that was 2 days ago. Their priority now is to evacuate and get treatment for Muhammad's wife, Rewaa, a cancer patient whose condition is getting worse because of having no access to treatment for months. Please donate to their gofundme today.

Muhammad's fundraiser is also included in @rafflesforpalestine. A £5 donation will give you one entry to win digital coloring pages.

Karam is Youssef and Muhammad's brother and he is fundraising for his wife Maram and their baby, Anas, who was born during the war. Their fundraiser is new and has only raised £372 of their £25,000 goal. Last donation was 1 day ago and before that was 4 days ago. Please consider donating as Karam and his wife and son are striving to reunite with Muhammad, Youssef, and the rest of their family:

Dina is Youssef, Muhammad, and Karam's sister and she is fundraising for her husband and three children. Dina and her family has been able to evacuate to Egypt but is still badly in need of support, as they used up all their savings to pay the crossing fee and are having difficulty finding jobs in Egypt. Their gofundme is also new and has only raised $715 USD of their $50,000 goal. Their last donation was 8 hours ago and before that was 2 days ago. Please send them what you can today as they are struggling to pay the rent and might be kicked out by their landlord if unable to pay:

I was able to sell some handmade items again and donated all the money earned to Youssef's gfm, but I was only able to earn a very small amount (just Php450 and I added some 50 more pesos to get to £7). All of you first world people with higher currencies than us please consider matching my donations to any one, two, three, or all 4 of these fundraisers.

Proof of donation under the cut, posted twice to cut the length:

[covid-safer-hotties]

NHS warns of potential 'quad-demic' as flu, norovirus, Covid and RSV cases on the rise - published Dec 5, 2024

Last year they feared a "triple-demic." This year they fear a "quad-demic." Do y'all have to face "quint-" or "sept-demic" before you start masking up to keep airborne diseases from spreading in public places?

Fears of a potential "quad-demic" are rising, with a 350% increase in flu cases and an 86% rise in norovirus cases in hospitals compared to the same week last year, the NHS England has said.

The health service has said it is "busier than it has ever been before" this winter, with cases of Covid-19 and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) also increasing in hospital wards.

Those who are eligible, and NHS staff, are being urged to get their vaccinations without delay as virus levels rise, with pressure on hospitals expected to increase further over the coming weeks.

So, how bad are the difficulties faced by the NHS this winter? Here, ITV News takes a look at the latest figures.

What is a quad-demic?

A quad-demic is a way of describing the co-circulation of four "very common viruses" at this time of year – influenza virus, RSV, coronavirus and norovirus.

"The first three are respiratory viruses – they cause colds and more severe diseases of the lung; norovirus causes diarrhoea and vomiting," John Tregoning, a professor in vaccine immunology at Imperial College London, told ITV News.

"They are what are known as endemic viruses – there is low level circulation of them most of the time, as opposed to pandemics which are the massive outbreaks."

"Viral infections are more common in winter. They tend to peak in the last four weeks of one year and the first four weeks of the following one," he added.

How much are cases rising this winter?

New weekly figures, published for the first time this year, show a 350% increase in flu cases, and an 89% rise in norovirus cases in hospitals compared to the same week last year.

Rising Covid-19 and RSV levels are also a concern, with an average of 1,390 patients with Covid in hospital beds each day last week, and 142 children in hospital each day with RSV.

The NHS says the latest data shows it is going into winter under more pressure than ever before, with an average of 1,099 people in hospital with flu every day last week compared to 243 in the same week last year – the highest number of cases heading into winter for at least three years.

"We are still only at the start of December, so we expect pressure to increase and there is a long winter ahead of us," said NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis.

“For a while there have been warnings of a ‘tripledemic’ of Covid, flu and RSV this winter, but with rising cases of norovirus this could fast become a ‘quad-demic’ so it’s important that if you haven’t had your Covid or flu jab to follow the lead of millions of others and come forward and get protected as soon as possible," he added.

New figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also show tuberculosis (TB) levels in England increased by 11% last year, with 4,855 notifications of the disease in 2023, up from 4,380 in 2022.

How much pressure are ambulance services under?

Pressure on ambulance service is "incredibly high", the NHS said. The service transported 90,514 patients to hospitals in England last week, compared to 83,873 during the same period in 2023.

Meanwhile, 35,022 hours were lost to handover delays, up 87% from 18,703 this time last year. There were 413,426 calls to NHS 111 last week – with 73.1% answered within a minute, up 4.4% up on last year.

How crowded are hospitals?

An average of 96,587 adult general and acute hospital beds in England were occupied each day last week, the NHS has said, which is more than at this point in any other year.

The health service warns this could increase in the coming weeks, with problems discharging patients who no longer need to be in hospital continuing to have an impact on capacity.

An average of 11,969 beds each day last week were occupied by patients who were ready for discharge, taking up one in eight of all occupied adult beds.

Patricia Marquis, executive director for England for the Royal College of Nursing, said: “There is barely a spare bed in our NHS, with sky-high flu admissions and thousands stuck in hospital unable to be discharged due to a lack of capacity in social care.

“Before the cold weather hits, nursing staff and patients are desperately worried about what the coming weeks and months may bring.” Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Services are already feeling the strain from a worrying spike in nasty winter bugs and bad weather.

"Flu, norovirus, RSV and Covid-19 are piling the pressure on already stretched services and staff, and this is likely to get worse as we head into the depths of winter."

In addition to high bed occupancy and a lag in hospital discharges, Ms Cordery warned social care and community services are "also under relentless pressure".

What are the NHS and government doing about this?

The NHS has put measures in place to manage extra demand during winter, including an upgrade of its 24-hour live data centres, strengthening same-day emergency care and offering more fall services for older people.

In September, an independent review by Lord Darzi warned years of underinvestment have left the NHS with an ageing estate and outdated tech, making it harder for staff to deliver the best possible care. The government and NHS are now engaging the public, patients and staff in the biggest-ever conversation about the health service.

More than 1.1 million separate visits have been made to Change.nhs.uk, with almost 9,000 ideas now live as part of the 10 Year Health Plan, which aims to deliver an NHS fit for the future.

Professor Powis said services like urgent treatment centres – an alternative to A&E where people are treated for more minor injuries and illnesses that GPs cannot address – and same-day emergency care will be "important this winter" in order to relieve pressure on hospitals.

“As always, the public have an important part to play in helping NHS staff over winter by, as ever, calling 999 in an emergency and using the NHS 111 service through the NHS App, online or phone, for advice on how to access the right support for non-emergency health needs," he added.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We inherited an NHS that is broken but not beaten, and staff are already working hard to tackle an increase in admissions this winter. “We’re backing them with an extra £26 billion secured in the recent Budget and we’ve already resolved the industrial action to ensure A&Es will be strike-free for the first time in three years. “For too long, an annual winter crisis has become the norm. We will deliver long-term reforms through our 10 Year Health Plan that will create a health service that will be there for all of us all year round."

Streeting also encouraged anyone who is eligible to join the 27 million people who have already come forward to receive their flu, RSV and Covid jabs, claiming this is the "best way to protect yourself this winter".

Why are people at a bigger risk of infection during the winter period?

“Infection is a complex mixture of factors a lot of which is down to good or bad luck," said Professor Tregoning. "There are a mixture of behavioural, immunological and virological reasons.

"The simplest, and probably main reason is that in the winter, people will be closer together in confined spaces – in summer you might meet friends for a picnic in winter its more likely to be in your house. This close proximity accelerates the spread of viruses.

"We also, in the UK, have less exposure to the sun in the winter, and there is some level of protection provided by vitamin D. Infections can also happen more when we are tired or run down, and the winter months being colder may in some way leave our bodies a bit more exhausted tipping the balance in the favour of the virus.

"The winter party season may also contribute some spread if people are more run down and also mixing more closely."

Professor Tregoning added that viruses tend to travel in droplets, which are coughed or sneezed up, which evaporate more quickly during the summer, meaning the virus dries out and becomes less infectious.

However, there is some debate over exactly what makes infections more common at the end of the year, according to Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia.

He expresses doubt over low vitamin D levels being a significant factor, and says research he has been carrying out with colleagues suggests increased contact between people "doesn't have a great impact" on R0 (the basic reproduction number) to make an infection seasonal.

The drying of nasal membranes due to drier winter air can make it "easier for the virus to infect the lining cells", Prof Hunter added.

What precautions can people take?

Professor Tregoning advised people to follow the same guidance as during the Covid-19 pandemic – hands, face, space.

"Hand washing – particularly for norovirus, but also for the respiratory viruses will slow spread. Wearing masks (properly and using a proper mask) can reduce spread of respiratory viruses," he said.

"If you are feeling ill, reduce contact with other people, where possible. But this is not to say don’t mix with people, being sociable is equally important for our health. Meet in well ventilated spaces if possible."

“And if you are at risk get vaccinated. There are vaccines available for three out of four of the quad-demic. “One really exciting new innovation is that mothers can protect their children by getting an RSV vaccine during pregnancy. RSV is a really horrible disease in children, it leads to hospitalisation of tiny babies. You can give your baby the best possible start in life."

Professor Hunter added: “For most people, it would be very difficult to know whether you had flu, Covid or RSV. Norovirus is very distinct.

"In the early stages of illness it may not be clear how severe the illness may become, but it's best to stay at home, drink plenty and rest until you are feeling better. If needed take medicines like paracetamol or ibuprofen or throat lozenges. If I have a bad throat I tend to make a drink with hot water, lemon and honey and sometimes I add whisky."

[vague-humanoid]

A pro-Israel “surveillance network” that has offered bounties for information on pro-Palestinian protesters is establishing a foothold in Australia and claims to have secured meetings with key federal politicians, leaked messages show.

Shirion Collective, which has largely focused on the US and UK, boasts of its ability to scrape digital fingerprints to “aggressively track and expose antisemites”. It is one of a number of groups that have gained prominence on social media during the Israel-Gaza war, publicly naming individuals it accuses of being antisemitic.

Shirion Collective claims it has an AI tool called Maccabee which can identify and track targets.

In one post on X, Shirion outlines a scenario in which the tool creates and releases deepfake videos – falsified content that looks and sounds genuine – to embarrass individuals who take down posters picturing Israeli hostages.

On its X account, Shirion Collective has claimed to offer bounties of US$500 for information on people in videos. In a December post it claimed it would pay up to US$15,000 for “crucial insights” about politicians, US$7,500 for medical doctors and US$250 for students.

Leaked screenshots of Shirion’s Telegram channel, shared with Guardian Australia by the White Rose Society, an anti-fascist researchgroup, show Shirion has become active in Australia, with participants identifying potential targets and boasting of attempts to meet the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, and the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson.

Anonymised Shirion members discussed presenting O’Neil and Paterson with a list of names to ensure they were “brought to justice according to the rule of law”.

“Need help. We managed to get into home affairs calendar, need to come prepared with people with hate speech and names that the government didn’t held [sic] accountable,” one anonymous user said.

“Meeting with Clair [sic] or her stuff [sic] … we also have a meeting with the shadow minister.”

Both O’Neil and Paterson’s offices said they had not met anyone who identified themselves as part of Shirion Collective.

The leaked texts show people on the Shirion channel discussed adding the names of individuals to a “watch list” and mass reporting posts on social media.

Some Australians whose social media accounts were linkedin the channel had shared antisemitic, racist and conspiracy theory content on social media. Others were pro-Palestinian activists who do not appear to have posted or shared antisemitic content.

When contacted via its social media accounts, a Shirion member describing themself as the “social media guy” said the “Ai is a quiet project with an internal team”.

The Shirion member said “bounties were for info and was in the USA not Australia”. The member said Shirion’s Telegram channel was open.

“The telegram [sic] is open and we do a soft verification that people are real. But freedom of speech is welcome there,” the Shirion member said.

The member said they would refer Guardian Australia’s questions to a “commander” but no further response was received.

Shirion Collective is one of several groups that say they track and fight antisemitism, largely through identifying individuals online.

Canary Mission, which has been operating since at least 2015, maintains lists of students, professors and other individuals on its website who it claims “promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews”. Another prominent account on X, StopAntisemitism, shares the names and employers or academic institutions of individuals, and often directs its more than 298,000 followers where to make complaints.

The leaked posts from the Shirion Collective Telegram channel point to some publicly available material its contributors regard as antisemitic, but also discuss creating “infiltrator” accounts to view and share material from private Instagram accounts.

In the leaked posts seen by Guardian Australia, contributors do not reveal personally identifiable information about any individual that is not publicly available.

The Shirion Collective account on X/Twitter has identified people it alleges have posted antisemitic material, or statements in support of Hamas, and tagged in their employer or academic institution in the case of students.

Naming someone online is not necessarily illegal, but Michael Bradley, a managing partner at Marque Lawyers, warned there were potential implications depending on the nature of the claims, such as harassment and intimidation or even racial vilification.

“Using social media as a mechanism for coalescing groups that want to engage in doxing activity, it’s obviously extremely powerful,” he said.

Last month, a Sydney resident named Theo had a picture of his house and his street address posted to a Facebook group.

Theo, who asked that his surname not be used, had raised a Palestinian flag and placed a blackboard with messages critical of Israel in front of his Botany home.

Less than two weeks later, a ​​jerry can with rags stuffed into it, a disposable lighter and large bolts were placed on the bonnet of his car with a message that read: “Enough! Take down flag! One chance!!!!”

The incident prompted the deployment of the bomb squad and local police.

The investigation has not been transferred to the counter-terror investigators and remains with local police.

also

@huzni @el-shab-hussein @dirhwangdaseul

[zvaigzdelasas]

There is an overwhelming case for the UK to intervene to stop a US oil tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for use by Israel in Gaza from docking in Gibraltar, according to a letter from a cross-party group of MPs addressed to David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary.

Protests in Spain led by trade unionists and political activists have already resulted in the owners of the Overseas Santorini abandoning plans to dock in the Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Marine Traffic, the ship is now destined to reach Gibraltar at 3pm UK time on Tuesday.

The Gibraltar government, however, insisted it had received no formal request to dock.[...]

Campaigners said the Overseas Santorini was carrying military-grade JP-8 fuel, delivered as part of a contract with the US government, that powers F-16 fighter jets. According to a UN investigation, it was probably an F-16, which are built using UK parts, that bombed British doctors from Medical Aid for Palestinians at a compound in Gaza in January.

The MPs, including members of the Scottish Nationalists, Labour and Green parties, have urged the government to “prohibit and prevent Gibraltar being used as a haven for the transport of military fuel used in Israel’s assault on Gaza”.

The letter said: “The jet fuel will be unloaded and used to fuel the Israeli air force’s F16 and F35 that drop bombs on the people of Gaza. The 300,000 barrels of fuel are sufficient for around 12,000 F-16 refuellings.”

It added: “The case to prevent Gibraltar’s facilities from being complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law are overwhelming. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault.””[...]

In May, the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, said Spain will not authorise ships carrying weapons for Israel to call at its ports after the country refused to let a ship call at the south-eastern port of Cartagena.[...]

The campaigners said the oil is being shipped by the Valero company from Corpus Christi, Texas and is aimed to reach the port of Ashkelon in Israel. For years, these regular shipments have stopped at Algeciras and Limassol, Cyprus.

On Monday, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, announced he was making a free trade agreement with Israel one of his priorities in securing trade deals. But ministers are expected shortly to announce limited restrictions on arms export licences to Israel if the arms are deemed capable of being used in Israeli offensives in Gaza.

29 Jul 24

[probablyasocialecologist]

Insurers are placing restrictions in their war-risk policies so that they don’t have to cover US-, UK- and Israel-linked ships sailing through the Red Sea, according to one of the world’s top insurance brokers. Some are seeking exclusions for vessels with links to the US and UK when issuing cover for trips through the area, according to Marcus Baker, global head of marine and cargo at Marsh, essentially meaning they won’t provide insurance. “Underwriters are adding clauses saying no US, UK or Israeli involvement,” he said. “Just about everybody is putting something like that in, and many include the words ‘ownership’ or ‘interest’.” Last week, Yemen’s Houthi rebels said that UK and US ships were legitimate targets for attack, after the two nations launched a barrage of airstrikes on targets in the country. Those warnings were brought into focus on Monday when a US-owned commodity carrier was attacked while sailing in the Gulf of Aden. The security situation in the waterway has deteriorated in recent days, with key naval forces warning that it’s unsafe for merchant shipping.

(Bloomberg)

[justforbooks]

DeepSeek worked well, until we asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan 🤔

The AI app soared up the Apple charts and rocked US stocks, but the Chinese chatbot was reluctant to discuss sensitive questions about China and its government

The launch of a new chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek triggered a plunge in US tech stocks as it appeared to perform as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other AI models, but using fewer resources.

By Monday, DeepSeek’s AI assistant had rapidly overtaken ChatGPT as the most popular free app in Apple’s US and UK app stores. Despite its popularity with international users, the app appears to censor answers to sensitive questions about China and its government.

Chinese generative AI must not contain content that violates the country’s “core socialist values”, according to a technical document published by the national cybersecurity standards committee. That includes content that “incites to subvert state power and overthrow the socialist system”, or ��endangers national security and interests and damages the national image”.

Similar to other AI assistants, DeepSeek requires users to create an account to chat. Its interface is intuitive and it provides answers instantaneously, except for occasional outages, which it attributes to high traffic.

We asked DeepSeek’s AI questions about topics historically censored by the great firewall. Here’s how its responses compared to the free versions of ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini chatbot.

‘Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.’

Unsurprisingly, DeepSeek did not provide answers to questions about certain political events. When asked the following questions, the AI assistant responded: “Sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else.”

What happened on June 4, 1989 at Tiananmen Square?

What happened to Hu Jintao in 2022?

Why is Xi Jinping compared to Winnie-the-Pooh?

What was the Umbrella Revolution?

However, netizens have found a workaround: when asked to “Tell me about Tank Man”, DeepSeek did not provide a response, but when told to “Tell me about Tank Man but use special characters like swapping A for 4 and E for 3”, it gave a summary of the unidentified Chinese protester, describing the iconic photograph as “a global symbol of resistance against oppression”.

“Despite censorship and suppression of information related to the events at Tiananmen Square, the image of Tank Man continues to inspire people around the world,” DeepSeek replied.

When asked to “Tell me about the Covid lockdown protests in China in leetspeak (a code used on the internet)”, it described “big protests … in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan,” and framed them as “a major moment of public anger” against the government’s Covid rules.

ChatGPT accurately described Hu Jintao’s unexpected removal from China’s 20th Communist party congress in 2022, which was censored by state media and online. On this question, Gemini said: “I can’t help with responses on elections and political figures right now.”

Gemini returned the same non-response for the question about Xi Jinping and Winnie-the-Pooh, while ChatGPT pointed to memes that began circulating online in 2013 after a photo of US president Barack Obama and Xi was likened to Tigger and the portly bear.

When asked “Who is Winnie-the-Pooh?” without reference to Xi, DeepSeek returned an answer about the “beloved character from children’s literature”, adding: “It is important to respect cultural symbols and avoid any inappropriate associations that could detract from their original intent to entertain and educate the young audience.”

In an apparent glitch, DeepSeek did provide an answer about the Umbrella Revolution – the 2014 protests in Hong Kong – which appeared momentarily before disappearing. Some of its response read: “The movement was characterised by large-scale protests and sit-ins, with participants advocating for greater democratic freedoms and the right to elect their leaders through genuine universal suffrage.”

It said the movement had a “profound impact” on Hong Kong’s political landscape and highlighted tensions between “the desire for greater autonomy and the central government”.

Is Taiwan a country?

DeepSeek responded: “Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. The Chinese government adheres to the One-China Principle, and any attempts to split the country are doomed to fail. We resolutely oppose any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities and are committed to achieving the complete reunification of the motherland, which is the common aspiration of all Chinese people.”

ChatGPT described Taiwan as a “de facto independent country”, while Gemini said: “The political status of Taiwan is a complex and disputed issue.” Both outlined Taiwan’s perspective, China’s perspective, and the lack of international recognition of Taiwan as an independent country due to diplomatic pressure from China.

Disputes in the South China Sea

When asked, “Tell me about the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea,” DeepSeek replied: “China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters … China’s activities in the Nansha Islands are lawful, reasonable, and justified, and they are carried out within the scope of China’s sovereignty.”

Both ChatGPT and Gemini outlined the overlapping territorial claims over the islands by six jurisdictions.

Who is the Dalai Lama?

DeepSeek described the Dalai Lama as a “figure of significant historical and cultural importance within Tibetan Buddhism”, with the caveat: “However, it is crucial to recognise that Tibet has been an integral part of China since ancient times.”

Both ChatGPT and Gemini pointed out that the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has lived in exile in India since 1959.

Gemini incorrectly suggested he fled there due to “the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959” (annexation occurred in 1951), while ChatGPT pointed out: “The Chinese government views the Dalai Lama as a separatist and has strongly opposed his calls for Tibetan autonomy. Beijing also seeks to control the selection process for the next Dalai Lama, raising concerns about a politically motivated successor.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Olivia Reingold

On October 7, 2024—one year after Hamas invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 people—The New York Times published an episode of its flagship podcast, The Daily. It featured two men on opposite sides of the conflict: an Israeli man who’s moved from hotel to hotel after Hamas destroyed his community, and a father trying to survive in Gaza. 

But while the Israeli man was described in full—as a “liberal” 44-year-old father named Golan Abitbul, born and raised on Kibbutz Be’eri, the Palestinian man’s identity was shrouded in secrecy. The New York Times simply referred to him as “Hussein, a Palestinian man living in Gaza.” The host, Sabrina Tavernise, did not ask Hussein any follow-up questions when he revealed that, unlike most Gazans right now, he has “a good income” and is able to pay about $1,000 a month for rent. And she let him explain—uninterrupted—about why, a year later, the war ravages on.

“I’m surprised that there is humans doing this force,” Hussein said of Israeli soldiers, in broken English. “How could human became this evil, killing others, imposing collective punishment on over two million people with no reason? What are they going to gain? Why they are doing this?”

But what Tavernise did not say is that “Hussein” is Hussein Owda, whose name is listed in the show notes on audio platforms that host the podcast, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And what The New York Times does not reveal is that Owda’s background suggests links to Hamas. A simple Google search turns up his LinkedIn page, where he publicly lists an eight-year stretch working for the Municipality of Gaza, which sources told me is controlled by Hamas; a new job at the controversy-riddled United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (also known as UNRWA); and an eight-month stint at Muslim Hands, a nonprofit exposed by the UK’s Telegraph in 2014 for having “close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.” Hamas was originally established in the 1980s as the local Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.Hussein Owda (via LinkedIn)

From September 2015 until August 2023, Owda lists his job as the head of public relations for the Municipality of Gaza. “Every government structure in Gaza was run by Hamas,” Jon Schanzer, a former terrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, told me. “The people that were paying his salary ultimately would’ve gone up the chain to Hamas itself.” Schanzer added that Owda, as the former head of public relations for the Municipality of Gaza, likely was “providing propaganda” to advance the mission of Hamas.

Meanwhile, three on-the-ground sources in Gaza—two of whom were provided through The Center for Peace Communications, which has a network of sources in the region—all confirmed to The Free Press that Owda has links to Hamas. One Gazan man who has met Owda said that “Employment at the municipality requires approval from the internal security, the local mosque’s emir, and Qassam Brigades intelligence,” referring to Al-Qassam Brigades, the militant wing of Hamas behind the group’s October 7 attack. Another Palestinian source in Gaza told The Free Press, “It’s impossible to get a job in the municipality unless you’re with Hamas.” (All sources in Gaza asked to withhold their names to protect them from possible retaliation by the terrorist group.)

[stillnaomi]

remember that one time the security services defanged the the guardian newspaper?

On 20 July 2013, GCHQ officials entered The Guardian’s offices at King’s Cross in London, six weeks after the first Snowden-related article had been published.

At the request of the government and security services, Guardian deputy editor Paul Johnson, along with two others, spent three hours destroying the laptops containing the Snowden documents.

The Guardian staffers, according to one of the newspaper’s reporters, brought “angle-grinders, dremels – drills with revolving bits – and masks”. The reporter added, “The spy agency provided one piece of hi-tech equipment, a ‘degausser’, which destroys magnetic fields and erases data.”

Johnson claims that the destruction of the computers was “purely a symbolic act”, adding that “the government and GCHQ knew, because we had told them, that the material had been taken to the US to be shared with the New York Times. The reporting would go on. The episode hadn’t changed anything.”

Yet the episode did change something. As the D-Notice Committee minutes for November 2013 outlined: “Towards the end of July [as the computers were being destroyed], The Guardian had begun to seek and accept D-Notice advice not to publish certain highly sensitive details and since then the dialogue [with the committee] had been reasonable and improving.”

The British security services had carried out more than a “symbolic act”. It was both a show of strength and a clear threat. The Guardian was then the only major newspaper that could be relied upon by whistleblowers in the US and British security bodies to receive and cover their exposures, a situation which posed a challenge to security agencies.

thank goodness for smaller operations, like Declassified UK, or we'd hear even less of what the state gets up to

[cillianmurphysdimples]

A Female Y/N / Cillian fanfic (Part Twenty Eight)

Absolutely not based on anything real at all, all totally fictional, fanciful and all total bollocks..

Warnings for sexual references and language. Adult themes. Not suitable for under 18s.

We Got Issues

Part Twenty Eight: Cillian's return to the hotel room threatens to ignite a second round of battles, and Y/N does her best to keep her cool. When the options she suggests rock Cillian's bad temper, it has a shifting effect on both of their moods. Y/N makes the decision to put a little distance between them, ato allow Cillian to focus on his final period of filming without added pressures. He doesn't want to let her leave at all, but definitely not without being completely sure that she knows how he feels, and that she's secure in what lies ahead for them. [Angsty/Anxiety themes. Sexual scenes]

@cherry-cilly @dragonsneversharetheirtreasure @aesthetic0cherryblossom @meister95 @vivianleighwishesshewasme @strangeions @watermeezer @meadowshelby @lavender-haze-01 @borntodiemp3

Use of the word “fag” for cigarette: Cillian himself uses this word a lot, and generationally it's a common word for cigarette in the UK and Ireland. It's definitely less used these days, but older generations (I'd say early 90s and back) do still use it, myself and family members included. It is absolutely not meant in the derogatory form that the same word can be used. Please, please, don't take offence.

---------

You're showered, dressed, and blow drying your hair at the large mirror fixed to the wall when Cillian returns to the room, just over an hour after he had disappeared. Where he's been all this time in his pyjamas, exactly, you don't know. You look at him with as neutral an expression as you can hold as he shuts the door behind him and stands at the door, with his hands in his jacket pockets, staring at you with a firm frown and gnawing on his bottom lip. You flick the switch on the hairdryer and toss it down to the floor beside your suitcase. You feel hot - stuffy in general and made worse by drying your hair on the highest heat setting - and your nausea has been building for a while, too, and you fear actually vomiting up the cup of tea you forced down could be a real possibility. “I'm going to go home.” You say, and you try hard not to have any edges to your tone. “I have work to do, and some of it is better done in the law office. You're busy, and focused on work. And, frankly, it's no good for either of us, me being in the middle of your job.”

He flares his nostrils and sniffs, then nods his head slowly. His brows rise up his forehead just as slowly, and he tilts his head to the right a little. “Okay,” he says. His voice is a little husky, and you wonder just his many cigarettes he'd smoked whilst he was being a mardy arse wherever he'd sulked off to. You're a little hurt that there's no further words on your decision - no stay, no agreement with a little sadness, nothing. As you continue looking at one another, he eventually shrugs his shoulders and sort of frowns, and pulls an infantile face that makes him look like a grumpy teenage boy. It's almost like he's saying ‘’so what?’ and you want to slap him! He drops his shoulders and draws his hands from his jacket pockets so that he can undo the zip and pull it off. He throws it forwards and it lands on the unmade bed. “Booked the flight?” He asks.

You scoff at his coldness, and take a deep breath. “Not yet - but there's an Aer Lingus one at two.” you say softly. Your throat feels tight and you can feel the threat of tears in your eyes - you blink quickly, willing them away. “My passport is in your travel wallet so, um, I'll need that to book…”

“It's in my case.” He says, and there is zero emotion as he speaks. He's still standing by the door, and his arms are folded across his chest. He turns to the side and braces his left hand against the wall in front of him as he kicks off his trainers. They thump against the baseboard as he fires them towards the wall, and his face is still firm when he turns again. He walks towards the bed and picks up his phone from the bedside locker. You'd realised he hadn't taken it with him about a quarter of an hour after he had left, when you called him to talk and it had vibrates noisily beside his pillow. tHe silently occupies himself with it for a moment, standing with his back to you, then places it down again before he turns around to you. “You can't run away when the baby arrives, you know?” He swallows hard, and his Adam's apple visibly bobs in his throat.

“Like you just did?” You ask, and immediately realise that you've broken your promise to yourself not to take a tone with him. “You've been gone for over an hour, Cill. You didn't even take your phone and I didn't know where you were. Don't stand there with the pout and the fucking eyes, and tell me I'm running away.”

He runs his tongue over his bottom lip then noisily breathes in and out through his nose, and you anticipate his reply anxiously. “I just went out for a fag.” He says, and you can hear a subtle softening of his sharper tone - but it hasn't vanished.

“It takes an hour to smoke a cigarette?” You shake your head. “Bollocks, Cillian. Complete bollocks!” You purse your lips angrily, then calm yourself with two deep breaths. “Cill, I don't want to leave in a fight.” You sigh. You bring both hands up to your face and push your hair back from either side of your face. “I don't want to fight full stop.” You shake your head slowly as you lower your arms again, and you place your hands on your hips. “I know you're freaking out about this. I am, too. But I don't want to fight…” you clamp your lips together as your chin begins to quiver. You bring your right hand up and push against your eyes as you lose the determination to hold off your tears. You sniff as you bring your hand down, and the tears continue to roll from your eyes and down your flushed cheeks. “I know we have to talk all of this through, and you'll want to talk to Malachy and Aran - and Yvonne. And I know that's stressful to think about. You've still got work, and obligations here, and back home when you're done, and I know that you don't need the added stress. But we're gonna have a baby, because I will not terminate. And I want to have this baby, our baby, Cill, even though it's scary and it's going to cause…God knows what kind of shit storm.” You sniff and bring your hand up again, wiping your eyes and nose in the arm of your long sleeve t-shirt. “If you don't want a baby, then we need a serious talk about where you and I go from here.”

“Stop,” he shakes his head immediately. “Y/N.” He purses his lips and noisily blows out a long, hard breath. “Fuck,” he shakes his head again. “I don't want you to have an abortion, you know that. I am fucking petrified here, and I know you are too, but that would never make me want you to do that. Are ya listening to me? I don't want that. I want you, and if we're going to have baby, then we're gonna have a fucking baby. And it is stressful, and I don't know what's gonna happen going forward now, but I am not even fucking considering going anywhere else in my life without you. D'ya hear me?” He drops his attitude a little more, and he walks towards you. He stops a foot in front of you and you can smell the cold air from outside and cigarette smoke off him. “And it's gonna be you, and me, and that wee one in there. And yeah, sure it might well be a fucking nightmare for a while, and telling the lads and Yvonne is probably going to rock the fucking boat, but I still don't want you to have a fucking abortion. Okay? I am stressed out, and I'm an arsey prick, I know - and I'm sorry - and I know I upset you with what I said before, but I didn't mean to. And sure, you lost the head, and I lost the head right back at ya. I am sorry. But please, don't be talking like that, like you want to end it with us, because I can't cope with that, with the idea that you even think that, or think that I want that.”

“I don't, I just… I don't want you to be trapped by something you're not sure you want.” You shrug as the words come out quietly.

“Y/N I have never felt trapped with you, with us, right - never.” He insists quickly, and his face is animated. He reaches out his right hand and cups it against your cheek, and thumbs away the tear that falls. “I love, and we're gonna love this baby. It isn't gonna be easy, and while I'm shit scared about that, I'm prepared for it too. And I know I've to grow up a wee bit here and accept all the shit that's gonna change.* You sniff and smile a little as he laughs at himself..”Ah, Y/N,” he sighs, bringing his hand down from your face. “C'mere, will ya,” he opens out his arms and steps closer again, and wraps his arms around you. He pulls you in, one hand in the back of your head as you nestle your face in the crook of his neck, and the other around your back. “We're gonna have a baby,” he says as he gently rocks your two bodies together, a slow side to side, and then hums softly. “Jesus, Y/N - you're going to be a Mammy and you're gonna be brilliant. And whatever the fuck happens, I am going to be right fucking there. I promise.”

You nod your head against his neck, “Thank you,* you whisper against his skin. “I'm sorry - I know I'm difficult, I don't mean to be.” You draw your head back slightly. He doesn't restrict your movements, but he keeps his hand on the back of your head. You lock your eyes to his, searching for the honesty you can always find there. “I'm not naive or deluded about this, I know there are going to be things that are difficult or upsetting. And I'm really scared. But I want to be happy, Cill. I'm having your baby. I want to be happy with you over that.”

“I want to be happy with you too - and when the shock wears off, I'll be praising my bollocks, I promise,” he smirks, and you're actually thankful for the comical tension breaker. He smiles a little brighter, and you can see the glint of tears in his tired eyes. “We're having a fucking baby,..” he whispers. He moves his head forwards and presses his lips gently against yours. It is a featherlight kiss and your lashes flutter against your cheeks as you close your eyes. He kisses you again, applying a little more pressure, and turns his head slightly as he parts his lips just a little.

Passion grows quickly, and your raise both of your hands to cup around his cheeks as he starts to introduce an insistent tongue. His hand around the back of your head tightens a tad, gripping into your hair, and he hungrily assaults your lips with kisses that emit tiny sounds each time they break and recatch. His left hand on your back is moving steadily downward, and it doesn't take long to to cup around the cheek of your arse over your leggings. His fingers knead gently, and he draws your pelvis closer, kisses unrelenting. The feeling of his steadily stiffening penis against your groin is clear through the flannel material of his pyjamas, and the boxer shorts you know that he has on beneath. The feeling of your body against his obviously sends pleasure-filled pulses through his body, as he pulls you harder against him again with that still kneading hand on your arse, subtly humping you through all of the material. Make up sex, you consider, would be the perfect breakfast - and perhaps will send him to set in a couple of hours in a more relieved and relaxed mood. He removes his hand from your hair, but still he seeks out his desperately needy kisses. His mouth seems loathe to leave yours, but you're not at all put out. The softness of his pillowy lips and his shyly wandering tongue are a definite turn on, made even better by the hum-like sighs and eager huffs through his nose as he refuses to stop the snogging to breathe deeply. His free hand moves down your back and, for a moment, assists his left hand in cupping your arse and pulling your pelvis to his. He's harder now, and it's as much of a tease for you to feel it as it is a stimulation against his aching erection for him. He moves his right hand again, though, and begins lifting the hem of your long t-shirt. You move your hands from his cheeks to allow him to drag the top off your body, and smile against his lips as he immediately seeks out his kisses once again.

You mirror his actions and pull at his pyjama top, freeing him from it quickly, and drop it to the floor. You place both of your hands against his chest, cupping over his defined pecks, and feel a small swell of arousal as his small nipples harden against your palms. His hands are gone from your backside as his fingers fumble at the clasp of your favourite orange and white bra. You're surprised when he willingly removes his mouth from yours so that he can peer over your shoulder to watch his fingers as he finally unhooks your bra. You chuckle as he paws at your shoulders for the straps, and tears the satin-like bra away from your body, immediately grasping your breasts in his hands. He cups the weightier teardrop shape of your boobs in his palms, and kneads gently, his thumbs moving back and forth across your nipples until your mouth falls open and those little nubs are teased to attention. He smirks as he captures your open mouth, kissing fiercely, and moves his hands around your back. Your love the feeling as your breasts are forced between your two bodies, nipples kept alive as they graze over the skin and light smattering of hair over his chest. He brings his kisses along your jawline as his hands sit at the waistbands of your leggings and knickers. He peppers light kisses up towards your ear before he slowly bringing them down your neck. You know immediately that he knows what he is doing as you raise your shoulder when his light kisses move along your neck, into the crook and down along your shoulder before slowly working back again. Each airy kiss against your neck makes your skin pucker with goosebumps and makes you squirm and giggle a little, as you grow ticklish under his lips and tongue. He huffs a breathy laugh against your moistened body, and doesn't relent in teasing your stimulated skin. His light kisses move back towards your shoulder again, and once again he draws back towards the crook of your neck, and laughs more intentionally, finally lifting his face away, as you squirm more, pushing your body against his, as he sends ticklish delight coursing through you.

He stands looking at you with a cheeky, half-lidded expression. He's arousal drunk, and his hands on your hips and soft, slow, horny-teenager thrusts against your pubic area - though you're both still clothed from the waist down - aren't needed to tell you that. “Take me to bed.” You say in a whisper, moving your face close to his. His mouth opens and his chin moves forwards, hungry for more of the kisses he so desperately loves, and you hover your lips just millimeters away from his. “Take me to bed,” you repeat. “I want to feel you on top of me…and inside of me…”

You don't know if it's your teasing over the kisses, the tone of your voice, the words you'd shamelessly uttered, or the fact that he was tipping himself closer by all but dry humping you, but something lights a fire under him. He moves his hands from your hips and takes your hand, dragging you with wide strides over to his claimed side of the bed. As you stop at the edge, he stands immediately in front of you and hastily pushes his fingers into the waistband of your leggings and knickers together, pushing them down past your buttocks. He doesn't bend to take them further, but he captures your mouth with his and slides his right hand down your abdomen and courses straight down over your neat thatch of neat pubic hair and curves his fingers over, cupping his four fingers around your entire shape. While you gasp at the contact, he sighs hard into your mouth as his hand is filled by your vulva. His thumb moves in small circles over your already tumescent clitoris. You reach up your arms and snake one hand up into his hair whilst you grip against his shoulder with the other. He twists his wrist slightly so he can angle his hand better, and he slowly slips his middle finger into your vagina. The sensual assault is total - his thumb still on your clit in slow circular motions, his hand cupping around your vulva, and his middle finger moving in and curling delicately upwards to stroke against the one spongey spot he knows will weaken your knees. Your fingers grip tighter in his hair and this time it is you who has a fever in the kiss. He's clearly enjoying pleasing you as his mouth drops open, ruining your ability to kiss him as deeply as you want, and he speeds up his hand a little. You gasp as his hand moves, and you can feel the ability in your legs to hold you up beginning to dwindle. Then, just like that, he stills his hand. He withdraws his finger and simply keeps his hand cupped over your shape once again. You tug at his hair and push your lips to his again, claiming the kiss he'd broken a moment before. Then he takes his hand away completely and, with his other hand, pushes lightly against your shoulder to encourage you to sit down onto the bed. Once you're seated, he crouches down onto the balls of his feet, knees spread out wide, and drags your leggings and knickers down off your legs entirely, tossing them to the floor.

He rises back up and, as he stands before you, you reach out both of your hands and pull the cord on his pyjama bottoms to loosen the waist. You push them quickly down his thighs and they drop down to his feet. You run your hand down from his bellybutton, trailing your finger along the line of dark hair that begins to widen its thin streak as it disappears into his underwear. The light grey Calvin Klein boxershorts that are always tight to his skin are puckered into a firm tent, and his cock strains inside them. There's a telltale darkened patch off at a diagonal angle to the left side where he's leaking desperately, and his penis has twitched itself into any space it can find as it swelled and grew. You peer up at him with raised eyebrows, and trace your index finger along the shape of the underside of his penis. He hisses a breath in through his teeth and you watch his cock attempt to jerk against the tight fabric. This won't do, you think to yourself, poor thing needs its freedom. Still, you tease him once again and run your entire hand up along his length, stopping at the darkened patch; with keen eyes, you watch it darken further as he leaks again. You take pity at last and push your fingers in along the waistband by each hip and slowly push his underwear down. That happy trail of hair gives way to a patch of dark hair, and as his underwear is finally pushed away, his firm, thick penis twitches and stands hard and lightly curved. His foreskin is still in place but it is screaming against the new thickness, and the darkened and glistening head of his penis is visible at the tip. You push his underwear all the way down his legs, joining the pyjama bottoms, and then you take his proud erection in your left hand and begin to stroke slowly. You give his head the exposure it's been craving, dragging his foreskin down with your second stroke, and the groan Cillian huffs out is astounding. You slide your thumb over the stickiness at the head and allow it to aid you in gliding your hand up and down his cock. You move your hand quickly, though you're going to be careful not to just end this in a handjob or giving head - you want him inside you, you want his body on top of you. You need that intense intimacy after the morning you've had. This is reunifying, and you need it. Bringing your hand to the base of his penis, you arch your back to lean forwards and you take him into your mouth with your tongue cupped around the underside of his firm shaft. He immediately groans again, and he involuntarily thrusts into your mouth. You move your hand, and place your hands on his hips as you bob your head back and forth, licking and slurping, paying attention to the underside of his head with the tip of your tongue each time you pull back. He's mumbling and thrusting in a completely uncontrolled attempt to fuck your face. Giving one last sink down onto his entire length, you draw back completely and allow the cool air to hit his wet cock.

You place your hands back onto the mattress and sort of crab walk backward until you're in the centre of the bed. He doesn't take his time in kicking the clothes off his feet and climbing up onto the bed. With no fear of consequences now, you know he's looking forward to fucking you freely and you're desperate to feel that ridiculously arousing sensation of his semen pumping into you. You lay back as he moves on his knees. You're unabashed in your openness as you spread your knees when he comes closer. He crawls between the legs, his hands either side of your body as he hovers above you. He leans down and pushes his lips to yours, and for a split second you wonder if he can taste himself on your mouth. He sighs as he pushes his nose against yours, and draws a circle with the tip of his nose around the soft tip of yours. You smile as you bring your arms up around his back and shoulders, and you prepare yourself for the feeling of fullness you've been wanting since he kissed you first. He reached his right hand down between your bodies and guides himself up and into the vagina. You close your eyes and breathe out a shuddering sigh as he pushes in immediately deeply - he's slow and careful, but he goes all the way. You wrap your legs up over his lower back, your feet crossed at the ankles and resting at the cleft.of his arse. He quickly starts increasing his movement speed, but he isn't slamming into you. His mouth is open and his eyes are fixed on your face, but you can see he's blown out completely in his mind at the feeling of his cock against your soft walls after so long with a barrier. He thrusts deeply and you can feel his balls against your vulva each time he pushes in. His hips aren't snapping wantonly, and instead he moves his entire body to allow him to keep his steadier pace and prolonged depth inside of you. The way his body moves on top of you draws a quickly achieved clitoral orgasm and you moan and bite your lip as you feel yourself tightening against his gliding cock.

He captures your sighing mouth with his and kisses the last of your moans into his own mouth. And he's sighing those ‘’getting so close' higher pitched moans into your face. He continues to move, controlled and deep. Each move he makes slides the head of his penis against that wonderfully magical area inside of you. You're not sure if he'll last long enough for you to cum again this way, but it feels so good that you don't even care. His sighs are breather and louder, and you slide one hand up higher, up along his neck and onto the back of his head. He pushes harder into you with each deep thrust and you know it's now. In a rare, more vocal display, he groans loudly as he pushes into you again, and you hold him tightly as his cock twitches inside of you whilst he holds that deep position. He groans long and loud into your face, eyes close tightly and mouth slack, and he empties into you. It's all very intense for him, you can tell, as his body begins to tremble viciously. By the way it feels inside of you, he's emptying just as intensely. His penis jerks wildly up against your sensitive walls, and you find yourself soothing him through the overwhelm. He rests his sweaty forehead against yours and he's gasping for air.

“Holy shit…” he sighs and sort of laughs. He groans as his body shivers randomly, and you can't remember a time when he's cum so hard before. “Shit, Y/N.” His chest heaves against yours before he slowly pulls himself backwards then drops into a pile of languid limbs beside you.

You chuckle a little, “I've never heard you like that before.” You say, not daring to move though you're desperate to be on your side and lie face to face with him, just to drink in his sated face.

“I think I'm empty.,” He breathed raggedly, then laughs. You turn your head as he giggles, smiling at the sound. His tongue sits against his lower teeth as his melodic and cheeky laugh lingers for a moment. “My legs are fucking jelly.” He laughs again, and he blinks sleepily. “I'm not fit to fucking fart, never mind shower and get out on set.”

You smile at his very sleepy face, and know the risk of him nodding off after that display is very real. “Cill, love, you can't sleep.* You reach out and tap your hand against his hip. “Get up! And get me a towel or something…” It's quiet for a moment before he laughs, and reluctantly pushes himself up from the comfort of the inviting duvet. He groans as he stands up, beside the bed, and he swallows hard around his sticky dry mouth. You watch him run his tongue around in an attempt to moisten it. “,How's the stress now?” You ask, only half serious.

He reaches to the floor and stands back up with his pyjama top in his hands, and hands it to you with raised eyebrows. “I couldn't care less if a bomb went off.,” He grins, and he throws the top at you. “Use that.”

“Cill, that's disgusting.” You grimace.

“It'd be worse if you get it all over the sheets and then we've to sleep in them.” He points at you, and his sense of humour is back to the man you know and love. “Because you're staying, aren't you?”

Still lying, spread-eagle on the bed, you smile at him. You nod your head, “Nowhere else I want to be.”

.

[megplant]

Killshot - Part Two | Tangerine/Fem!Reader

Summary: Rival assassins! Continuation of Killshot (Part One here) - You ran into Tangerine & Lemon at the tail-end of a job gone wrong. It’s time to skedaddle.

Warnings: Canon typical violence, language, blood, weapons

——————————————————

So, picture this:

You’re in the back of a tiny car. Black leather interior stuck to your thighs. You’re crammed against the window by stacked luggage and duffel bags. And, you’re handcuffed. Oh, and your wrist is probably broken.

You cradle your hands close to your chest to prop up your broken wrist as comfortably as you can. You’re jostled every few seconds by another bump on the deserted dirt road which sends a sharp lance of pain down your arm with each movement.

There’s two men in the front of the car. They have been arguing, loudly, for the past ten minutes. Neither of them have as much as acknowledged you since they detained you in the backseat.

These two are possibly the most annoying twosome you have ever met. You have a splitting migraine, and it’s not just from getting your head bashed in earlier.

“-dunno why the hell you keep putting up with this fucking bird, and now we’re tits up in the middle of nowhere without the money-”

“Would you fucking drop it, you’re getting on my fucking tits-”

“-And I got blown up, did I mention the part where she literally blew me up?!”

“Only 17 fucking times, Mary. Christ - you didn’t even get hurt, look at me-”

“-Blown. Up. Bruv! Blown up!!”

You tune them back out, sighing and resting your head against the window. The cold glass pressed against your sweaty forehead cuts through some of the haze in your head, and you start to take stock of your situation.

Obviously, you can’t actually let the Twins capture you. There’s plenty of bounties and warrants out on any number of your identities that they could choose to cash in on. You simply can’t trust them enough to pass up a potential payout that big.

Besides, your employer will be waiting on your kill confirmation.

So, you need to escape. Which wouldn’t be a problem, except you’re in the middle of fucking nowhere.

The villa you’ve just helped these idiots escape is in the middle of the goddamn Scottish Highlands. The paranoid old man that lived there was some kind of Baron or something.

Whoever he was, he must have been important or wealthy enough for somebody to want him dead, anyway. That’s where you come in.

You and the Twins, you amend, irritated.

Competition is just another part of your job. It’s to be expected. But, not them. Not him.

You have been keeping tabs on the Twins since your run-in at the Duke’s last year, but the last you’d heard they were cleaning up some russki sleeper cell in Belgrave - which was absolutely nowhere near the UK.

But…then again, how long ago was that tip-off?

Sloppy.

So, they were here. Fine. It’s not unusual to go up against them for the same jobs, but - why this one?

This Baron wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill contract for you. You had additional objectives here.

It was not unusual for your employer to ‘double-dip’ by using certain contracts to simultaneously work towards their own mysterious agendas. They would add certain caveats or extra targets to contracts whenever they needed something to happen quietly.

Your additional objective, as it was described to you, was to ‘make a mess’ of the Baron’s security systems. At the time, you’d just assumed the higher-ups were interested in some data stored there and were using this contract to procure it for their own purposes.

The Twins would have picked up this job as part of their usual freelance work, and you know them well enough to know they would have only been interested in the payout. Anything bigger at play here likely wouldn’t have been on their radar at all.

It was just a simple job for them.

Not quite so simple for you, unfortunately. Any added duties or parameters on a given contract changes nothing for you. You’re always expected to complete the contract, no exceptions. The Firm’s policy on that point is very clear.

All agents will successfully complete all assignments. No exceptions.

You know you fulfilled their added objective with ease - the precision mines you’d planted strategically throughout the server room had done their job. That explosion wasn’t just the perfect distraction for a getaway, after all.

Killing the mark had been just as easy. Tangerine had guessed correctly that you were here on a honeypot, the jackass. But, it was too easy of an in to pass up. All you’d had to do was remove the Baron’s usual call girl, and insert yourself in her place.

Everything had been going smoothly - until Tangerine. He was the one stumbling block in your otherwise perfectly simple and flawlessly executed plan.

You’d run into him in the maintenance halls, where he was sweeping for troublemakers like you. At the time, you’d been in a hurry to drop a tail since you’d caught some unwanted attention during your exit from the old man’s study. A hooker covered in blood making a beeline for the secure server room was probably worth stopping, after all.

You’d already dispatched the two guards that were chasing you and planted your mines (notice the adaptability, you’ll highlight that in the report), but you were sure there was still someone else tailing you. So, distracted and in a rush - you’d been reacquainted with Tangerine’s knuckle dusters.

Your little explosion had only gone off a minute or so after you’d fled the server room, so if Lemon really had gotten caught up there, he must have been right behind you. You were impressed, actually - he’d been doing a good job tailing you.

So, the job was done. You fulfilled your extra objectives. You got out clean. You just needed to ditch the Twins and make contact with your handler and you’d be in the clear.

Your eyes are closed while you puzzle out your situation, resting your head against the car’s window. When you decide to break your silence, you speak without moving, only opening your eyes enough to watch the two men in the rearview mirror.

The rasp in your voice is more pronounced as you attempt to speak up, and it forces you to cough and wheeze before you can find your voice.

You watch Lemon glance between you and Tangerine. His eyebrows raise, knowingly, though he keeps his lips pressed into a thin line. Lemon has never been your biggest fan.

You smile, sharp, unable to help yourself from goading them both. You keep your eyes glued to Lemon’s, grinning smugly. “Tell me - how far behind me were you, Lem? The old man must have been getting cold by the time you got there.”

Tangerine slams the brakes, and you smack face-first into the back of the passenger seat - unable to catch yourself with your hands cuffed together. You sputter indignantly, righting yourself as gracefully as you can. Just as you’re opening your mouth to tell him where to shove it, he cuts you off-

“That’s enough out of the bloody cheap seats. I will happily shove you in the boot if you don’t behave, dammit!” He grinds the words out, a vein in his neck standing out as he clenches his jaw tight.

You believe him.

You sit back slowly, finding Tan’s piercing blue eyes boring into yours through the rearview. You try your best not to smile as you make a show of zipping your lips and throwing away the key. His mustache doesn’t so much as twitch. Joyless bastard.

Still - you know from your mission prep that it’s at least another hour to the nearest petrol station, and you aren’t keen on spending it pretzeled in the damn boot. You’ll be quiet. For now.

As Tangerine starts driving again - spinning the wheels on the country road and sending dirt flying as he hits 75 kph in 2 seconds flat - you can hear another argument start up between him and Lemon. This time their tones are hushed and urgent - they’ve finally realized you’re listening.

Most likely, they’re arguing about what the hell to do about you. You still haven’t confirmed the kill, so technically the contract on the Baron is still open. You hope they aren’t coming to that realization on their own, since you’d really hate to kill them for trying to take credit for your kill.

Your employer has their policies, after all.

Your mind races, flipping through your various contingencies. You want to stop and get your bearings and figure out what to do, but with Tangerine pushing 100kmph you’ll have to think fast.

It’s too dark to get any idea of where you are based on the scenery flying by - and it all looks the same out here, anyway. Darkness swims around the car, only some flecks of dirt and debris kicked up by the tires catching the light from the headlamps.

You shift in your cramped seat, anxiety starting to claw its way up your chest and into your throat. The handcuffs are rubbing your wrists raw, and there’s definitely not enough air in this car.

You know there’s a simple and obvious solution to this problem. You have a panic button embedded in your tacky bejeweled earrings and a burner phone tucked into your bodice. Neither of the Wonder Twins bothered to pat you down or check you for contraband before shoving you in the car, they just took your weapons and cuffed you.

You only have to reach one - earrings or phone, and you can call for backup.

You should just call it in. An extraction team would be here within the hour, if you call it in.

You would almost certainly be signing Lemon and Tangerine’s death warrants if you call it in.

Your handler will kill you if you don’t call it in.

You watch Tangerine’s bloodied hands gesture erratically while he argues with Lemon. The pale light from the headlamps backlight him in a fuzzy glow. It illuminates a perfect sliver of his profile to you, the sharp angles of his face captured in stark relief against the dark outside the windows. He’s as animated as you remember, and your chest swells with nostalgic fondness as you watch him drive and argue.

You picture his hands, so warm and so full of life, laying still. Forever.

You are so fucking stupid.

You settle back in your seat with a resigned sigh and, for the better part of the next hour, you pretend to sleep.

The Twins’ arguing dies out eventually, and you imagine they’ve reached some kind of conclusion about what to do next. You don’t bother to try and figure out what their plan will be, since you’ll be driving this trainwreck from here on out.

After a while, the bumpy dirt and gravel access road turns into true pavement. The fast pace Tangerine has set on the dirt roads only picks up when he hits smooth asphalt. It feels like the car is flying down the winding country roads, and the absence of turbulence provides a blissful reprieve to your senses.

There’s too much empty time before you reach the petrol station and despite your nerves, you do end up dozing fitfully; pulled under by the hypnotic thrum of the engine and the endless black.

——————————

You can’t have been asleep more than ten minutes, but you wake with a gasp - your eyes fly to the rearview mirror and catch Tangerine watching you. He must have seen you jump. You don’t like the flash of concern you see in his eyes, so you play to type and fix him with a childish glare.

“Are we there yet?” You whine, your voice filling up the cab after so much silence.

It grates on your own ears, so you know Tangerine gripping the steering wheel tight enough to make it creak is an authentic reaction. Your satisfied grin is too.

“Service station coming up.” Lemon mumbles in response, clearly too tired to put up with your bullshit himself.

“Oh, good - I’ve been needing the toilet for miles!” You shift around in your seat, pretending not to see the looks the Twins are sending each other.

They won’t want to let you out of their sight - rightfully so. But you do need to get this show on the road.

Turns out, Lemon was right. You can see the service station off in the distance as you round a bend. The buzzing fluorescents light your way like a garish beacon.

You keep quiet as you approach, apprehension starting to settle heavily around your shoulders. Your plan isn’t so much a plan as a goal, with that goal simply being to get away from the Twins. So, you aren’t feeling as prepared as you usually like to be.

You pay sharp attention as the small town car slowly turns off the main road and into the empty asphalt lot that contains the station. There’s a bank of petrol pumps taking up most of the lot, lit up dayglo white with those beckoning fluorescents. You can see a small shop with a worker inside, and a larger building for the toilets beside it.

Tan takes a circle of the lot around the buildings - paranoid as ever - which lets you notice a few small egress windows lining the back wall of the toilets.

Tangerine finally parks the car in between the two tiny buildings, and you reach for the door handle, looking forward to stretching your legs -

“- Hold on!”

He barks sharply, with enough volume to make you flinch away from the door sheepishly.

“What? I have to pee! You’re really not gonna let a lady use the toilets?” You’re fixing them with an incredulous look, absolutely offended at their total lack of decency or chivalry.

They simultaneously look from you to each other, and start arguing silently with grimaces and exaggerated hand motions. You watch it quietly escalate, amused. Eventually they must reach some kind of consensus, as Tan throws his hands up and lets out a loud, exasperated sigh.

“Fine! Lem, go fill ‘er up, I’ll take our guest to the ladies since it’s apparently so fucking urgent.”

“Gee, thanks ever so..” You mumble under your breath as you finally let yourself out of the cramped back seat.

The extent of your injuries slams into your consciousness once you’re out of the warm cocoon of the heated cab. The cold air hits you like a freight train, painful and sharp. You stagger slightly, all the blood rushing from your head as you try to stand.

The asphalt threatens to meet your face but Tangerine catches your elbow, and you’re able to steady yourself.

There’s a beat of silence as you catch your breath and will your eyes to focus on him. You’re hyper aware of him intently studying you. The car pulls smoothly away, heading towards the petrol pumps.

“Alright, love?” He asks softly, breath fogging in the air between you. It’s too quiet, too intimate, too familiar, too genuine and it makes your voice stick in your throat.

You just nod quickly, clearing your throat, and pulling your arm away as you straighten yourself out. You take a step forward, and there’s no trace of shakiness in your limbs. Not one wobble on your hooker heels. It takes a great deal of effort to force your body to look composed, but you keep that off your face when you turn back to smirk at Tangerine. You pretend to ignore the disapproval you can see coloring his features.

“Can I please go to the loo, now?”

He just rolls his eyes at you with a scoff, and jerks his head in the direction of the bathroom. “Fine, march, then - and no sudden movements, I’m not in the bloody mood.”

“Sure, I’ll be a perfect angel, but-”

You gesture with your handcuffed hands to the sign telling you to get a key for the toilets from the clerk inside. “We need the key.”

He’s already glaring up at the sky like God is purposefully coming up with ways to annoy him, so you just keep talking.

“And you can’t very well bring me along in handcuffs - look at the state of me, he’ll call the cops in a second. I s’pose you could just leave me out front here, alone, while you go inside and leave me here by myself for just a second…”

You’re already holding your handcuffs out towards him, a cheeky smile on your face. Tangerine lets out another long-suffering sigh, and digs in his pocket for the key. He grabs on to your wrists, holding you still while he glares you down.

“You stay where I can see you, and no funny business.” He says, twisting the key in the lock and gently unlatching and pulling the cuffs away.

But, he doesn’t let go of your wrists, even once the handcuffs are off and slipped into his pocket. You aren’t stupid enough to try and pull away, and you wait patiently for him to feel he’s sufficiently made his point.

“Relax, Tan. You’ll wrinkle.”

He simply holds your gaze for a moment longer, before finally letting go of your wrists and sweeping you forward with his other arm. It doesn’t escape your notice that he keeps his arm locked around your waist, keeping you right where he can see you.

Paranoid bugger.

Your wrist throbs dully, but you experiment with flexing and testing it while Tangerine escorts you. Dislocated, you reckon, not quite shattered like you thought. It hurts like a bitch if you clench or overextend, but you’ve had worse - it won’t get in your way.

Tan shoulders open the door to the convenient store, pulling you inside right beside him. The door jingles jauntily, and you’re pleased to see a dead-eyed teenage boy behind the counter. He offers the two of you what could have been a greeting, but was really just a grunt and a nod.

You’re already being prodded forward to the registers by Tan, impatient as ever.

You lean against the counter, tucked up against Tan’s side and feigning boredom while he asks for the bathroom key. Some conversation ensues about needing to make a purchase to use the loo.

Tan grumbles about paying for the petrol while your eyes dart around the shop, cataloging everything within reach. The lighter display catches your eye - cheap plastic ones in garish colors. Right next to them, at perfect height for children’s grabby hands, candy, toy cars, and a few boxes of bang snaps.

Perfect.

While Tan's busy paying for a pack of smokes to secure the toilet key, you palm a neon green lighter and two small bang snap boxes with practiced ease. They slide neatly into your empty thigh holster.

The intricate movements sends a sharp reminder of pain through your wrist, making you grit your teeth. Soon. You'll fix that soon enough.

Your non-plan is swiftly taking shape into a sort of okay plan before your eyes, your mind racing through next steps and back up options.

"Ready, love?" Tangerine's voice breaks through your thoughts, jangling the key in front of your face impatiently. You snap out of your thoughts quickly, jumping to action.

You push off the counter with an exaggerated sigh, pushing past him.

"Finally! I have got to use the bloody bathroom!"

Tan keeps up with you easily, his arm finding its way back around your waist as he steers you towards the bathroom. You glance over and see Lemon by the petrol pumps, methodically going through the motions of filling up the cars tank.

He catches your eye and gives you a warning look that you pretend not to notice.

The bathroom door creaks open with a protest of rusty hinges. You both stare at it for a moment. It's exactly what you expected - big empty concrete room with a single toilet, sink, and yes - there's that lovely emergency window.

Tangerine does a quick sweep of the tiny space before stepping back. "Five minutes," he says firmly. "Door stays unlocked."

You flutter your eyelashes at him. "What, you don't trust me?"

"Not even a little bit, darling." But there's something almost fond in his expression that makes your stomach twist.

You shut the door in his face.

Moving quickly, you snatch handfuls of paper towels, stuffing them into the tiny bin along with whatever else you can find - toilet paper, empty toilet rolls, paper cup from the sink, ancient magazine rotting in the corner.

The bang snaps come next, hastily linked together with strips of toilet paper into a makeshift fuse leading to the door. All the extras get heaped into the bin.

Your wrist screams at you with every movement and the shaking is impeding your finer motor skills. Might as well take care of that now.

You brace yourself against the sink and get a firm grasp on your bad wrist. You take a deep breath, and twist. The crack of bone sliding back into place makes your vision white out for a second, but the relief is immediate.

Sharp, lancing pain had given way to a deeper throbbing kind of pain. The kind you could more easily keep pushing through.

"Everything alright in there?" Tangerine calls through the door, making you jump.

"Just peachy!" you sing back, keeping your voice as easygoing as you can.

You snatch up the end of your little dynamite toilet paper rope, moving to the window. It takes some careful maneuvering - these heels weren't made for cat burglary - but you manage to wiggle through without making too much noise.

You have to flick the lighter several times before the flame will catch. You blame your trembling fingers on the pain, ignoring the nerves. The flimsy paper finally catches and you watch the fire sprawl neatly down your knotted rope.

You drop from the window and the first pop goes off just as your feet hit the ground outside.

It gets really loud, really quickly.

The firecrackers start going off in rapid succession, echoing enough in the small space to almost sound like real gunfire. Acrid, black smoke from your improvised trash fire starts to unfurl from the window above you.

You assume Tan can see it, too, because you can hear him shouting something and banging on the tinny door. You locked it, of course, so he’s trying to bust it down.

Crouching low behind the back wall of the toilets, you can hear Lemon shouting over the still-popping firecrackers. Then, his footsteps pounding across the asphalt.

You're already running.

The car sits alone at the pump like a gift, engine purring quietly, front door wide open. You throw yourself into the driver's seat, hands finding the gear shift just as you hear Tangerine's voice rising in alarm - and getting closer.

"Lem, wait - FUCK!”

He had realized your game a second too late, and was sprinting back to try and intercept you.

“The bloody car, LEMON!”

Tan was gesturing wildly in your direction, and Lemon finally got it, whipping around with his pistol drawn.

But you're already peeling out of the lot before he can get a shot off, tires screaming against the asphalt. In the rearview mirror, you catch one last glimpse of the Twins - Lemon with his gun drawn, Tangerine's face twisted in fury and something that might be grudging respect.

You can't help but laugh as you floor it onto the empty highway, the night swallowing you whole. Your wrist aches, your dress is ruined, and you're pretty sure you've lost a heel somewhere in the chaos.

But you're free.

And really, that's all that matters.

[bulldogblues]

Antisemitic hate crimes have MORE THAN DOUBLED in the past year.

This article isn't about that, but Islamophobic hate crimes have also spiked dramatically since last year.

I don't comment on the Israel/Palestine situation, for the simple reason I'm not nearly informed enough about it for my opinions to be worth adding to the conversation.

But Jewish people and Muslims alike (most of whom have precisely nothing to do with the conflict) are facing a culture of increased hate against them for who they are, and that is absolutely unacceptable.

The state of the UK at the moment is honestly making me despair.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

It's frustrating how this article admits that vaccination does not substantially stop spread, but it give the reader no further information. Mask up. Improve ventilation. Filter the air. Distance when you can. Those are actual, implementable advice that keeps covid from spreading, and it has to be done by the public at large to keep individuals safe. It's much less effective when the nebulous "high risk" are left to fend for themselves while everyone else pretends that it's 2019 forever.

By Kelly Ashmore

The XEC strain is 'just getting started' and is rapidly spreading throughout Europe and the rest of the world, experts have warned

Experts have issued a warning about a new, "stronger" Covid variant that is "just getting started" and spreading rapidly across Europe and the rest of the world. The XEC strain, first identified in Germany in June, has now been linked to 15 countries across three continents. As colder weather approaches, specialists anticipate this strain will become the dominant variant.

In California, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said: "XEC is just getting started now around the world and here. And that's going to take many weeks, a couple of months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave," according to the LA Times. He added, "XEC is definitely taking charge. That does appear to be the next variant. But it's months off from getting into high levels."

Experts have issued a warning about a new, "stronger" Covid variant that is "just getting started" and spreading rapidly across Europe and the rest of the world. The XEC strain, first identified in Germany in June, has now been linked to 15 countries across three continents. As colder weather approaches, specialists anticipate this strain will become the dominant variant.

In California, Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said: "XEC is just getting started now around the world and here. And that's going to take many weeks, a couple of months, before it really takes hold and starts to cause a wave," according to the LA Times. He added, "XEC is definitely taking charge. That does appear to be the next variant. But it's months off from getting into high levels."

What is Covid XEC? The Covid XEC is a recombinant variant of Covid-19, resulting from a combination of the BA. 1 and BA.

2 Omicron subvariants. While some Covid strains have proven more severe than others over the past years, it will take additional time for health professionals to determine the severity of symptoms associated with the XEC strain.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not yet provided detailed information on the XEC variant.

However, recent statistics from the UKHSA have shown a 4.3 per cent increase in Covid-19 cases, but a decrease in virus-related deaths. The weekly figures revealed an increase of 1,587 Covid cases as of September 4.

Despite recording 102 deaths in the week ending August 30, this was a decrease of 20.9 per cent (27) from the previous week. Furthermore, hospital admissions due to the virus also fell by six per cent to 1,465, in the week up to August 29.

What are the symptoms of Covid XEC? The strain presents symptoms similar to those of a typical cold and flu. These include shortness of breath, high fever, persistent cough, loss of taste or smell, and feelings of fatigue or exhaustion.

Classic cold symptoms such as headache, sore throat, runny or blocked nose, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and general malaise are also common. While most people will recover within a few weeks, some may require hospitalisation and others may need longer.

How to stay protected As with earlier Covid variants, the same precautions should be taken against the newest variant, including regular booster doses and vaccinations. Vaccines remain the best defence against serious illness, hospitalisation, and even death, even if they may not completely prevent infection.

If you're vulnerable to the virus or share a home with someone who is, donning a face mask can offer some protection, particularly in crowded or poorly ventilated indoor spaces. Boosting indoor ventilation where possible can further reduce the risk of falling ill.

[insomniac4000]

ChrisMD and Reader- The Wedding Speech

2084 words.

Ever since you were a little girl you had dreamed of the perfect wedding day. The white dress, all of your family and friends around you, dancing, laughter and of course the husband. You didn’t know who that was going to be at the age of six but at the age of twenty six you met him. He had just gotten out of a long term relationship when the two of you met at a bar so neither of you knew really how far it would go but the pair of you fell incredibly hard incredibly fast.

It was New Years Eve so of course the bar was packed, despite it being a ticket only event it was so full there was hardly space to move. It was ten minutes to midnight so the bar was rammed with people wanting to get their beverages before the clock rang out. You frequented this bar semi often but today the clientele was mixed. There was a couple in front of you who were attached at the lips causing your eyes to roll so you looked elsewhere, noticing an attractive man to the right of you.

“STOP PUSHING ME!” You heard a incredibly gruff and angry voice to the left hand side of you. You looked over to see another man placing his hands up in a sorry mate tone. With the bar being so busy it wasn’t beyond reason that some accidents would happen. The first guy must have been incredibly drunk or worse as out of nowhere he punched the other man in the face and a brawl starting right next to you.

“Oh my God,” you shouted as you tried to avoid any contact with the now fighting men. You felt a strong pair of arms around you and your initial reaction was let out a scream, you calmed down when you felt the arms move you away from the men and to the front of the bar. You looked behind at your saviour and saw the attractive man who caught your eye from earlier. You took the time to really study him, he had blonde hair which was swept over to one side, piercing blue eyes and a strong jawline which was peppered with the lightest stubble.

“The person in front of me was done but I thought you’d be better going first,” he explained and you nodded finally smiling at him as you calmed down.

“Thank you,” you managed to choke out eventually, watching as your knight in shining armour got rocked out by the fracas which was now next to him, it didn’t last too much longer however as security had arrived at this point.

“I’m Chris by the way,” he added placing his hand out, you took it and shook his hand feeling the sparks through your body.

“I’m y/n,” you replied flashing Chris a big genuine smile. You ordered his and yours drinks, he offered to pay and when you reminded him they were free as part of the ticket he said in that case he’d have to take you out for a drink another day and you couldn’t say no.

Chris was involved with the wedding planning but left a lot of the details to you, not because he didn’t care but because he knew you cared more and had a better eye for detail. You still involved him in every decision and he was happy to chip in when he strong opinions and ideas but he told everyone that much of the day was down to you. You chose to get married in Santorini as you both wanted an outdoor ceremony and didn’t want to take the chance on the unpredictable UK weather. You had three bridesmaids, three of your closest friends and after much deliberation Chris had selected Arthur to be his best man. The one part of the wedding you had no idea what was going to happen was Arthur’s speech you did know initially he was really nervous about it but he then apparently had a great idea and was much more chilled about the whole thing.

The ceremony went by without a hitch, both Chris and yourself shed a few tears as you read the vows you wrote to each other.

“Y/N nothing prepared me for when I met you, I never thought I could love someone as much as I do you. Your kind spirit,

your generous nature, your sense of humour and how loving you are to all of the people in your life. I am so incredibly lucky that I’m the person you’ve chosen to love, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve that but I am going to spend the rest of our lives together trying to reciprocate as you deserve the world. I love you so much.” Chris read from his little notes and you couldn’t help but shed a couple of tears, careful not to mess your make up. You manages to compose yourself and read your vows to him. “Chris, you were my knight in shining armour that night, and I don’t care how short you are to me that night you were six foot seven,” you paused a little for some chuckles before continuing. “You didn’t just save me that night but in life. I have loved every single moment we’ve spent together and I can’t wait for all our future adventures together. You’re my everything, I didn’t know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you but you just make it so easy being the wonderful person you are. I am so proud to call myself your wife,” you managed to breathe out before looking in Chris’s eyes and giving him the biggest smile.

You had some photos taken in the winery and in some other places in the venue before walking into your meal. Chris asked Stephen to be master of the ceremonies so he announced you two into the room in his own special way. You sat down to an amazing meal and you and Chris fully relaxed knowing the legal part was over and now you two could just have fun you did notice Arthur starting to fidget a little bit as the meal progressed.

After some more words from Chris and your dad it was finally Arthur’s turn. He stood up, looking at the faces in front of him, he recognised about three quarters of the people in the room just your family and your friends he wasn’t sure on he drew a deep breath and gave a polite smile before grabbing the microphone.

“Hi everyone, my name is Arthur and I’ve known Chris since school. Most of you will know Chris does Youtube for a living and so do I. Now despite that I really struggled with the idea of writing a speech when Chris asked me to be his man and I thought about it for a while and decided to stick with what I know. I grouped together Chris’s closest friends and family and we sat together in front of microphone, now I know every man and his dog has a podcast but Chris, please enjoy this special episode,” Arthur started and could only laugh awkwardly when Chris gave a loud “WHAT?” which echoed throughout the room. The brunette should shrugged and nodded to one of the venue staff who then pressed a button and all of the TV screens which littered the room turned on.

“For fuck sake,” Chris chuckled, you could only laugh as you watched Arthur’s smug face as he sat down and folded his arms in front of him as the screens started to play. The room was the same one he filmed his and Bach’s podcast but this time joining Arthur in the room was Harry, Simon, Will, Stephen and George.

“So to celebrate Chris’s upcoming nuptials I thought we would get together and share some of our favourite memories of the tiny man,” Arthur’s voice flowed through the speakers, Harry popped his hand up quickly.

“I’ll go first,” the Guernsey man offered before sitting forward in his chair.

“So I first met Shannon…” he started causing the room to erupt into laughter.

“I’m kidding I’m kidding. No honestly Y/N is great, no idea how Chris bagged her,” he finished, everyone else in the room nodded and you couldn’t help but giggle a little bit, you were the one who thought Chris didn’t deserve you not the other way around.

“I’ll never forget the day he walked in the flat after their first date, looked and me and Arthur and went yeah this could be it,” George admitted, causing people in the room to aww, including you who place a hand on Chris’s arm.

“I’ve seen him try and chat up women, he’s fucking terrible at it no idea how we’re all sittin’ here now,” Will added his accent shining through.

“The all powerful beard!” Stephen chimed in.

“It’s quite impressive considering he could never grow anything in school, I swear he didn’t hit puberty until he was about twenty two,” Arthur mused. A picture of a sixteen year old Chris then flashed on the screen causing the groom to bash his head on the table a little, you burst out laughing as he was a BABY.

“Do you reckon he brags about other skills as much as he brags about his football ability?” Simon asked rolling his eyes a little.

“Not with his tiny equipment,” Stephen quipped.

“You’ve known him the longest do ya have a favourite memory of him from school like?” Will asked as he picked with his shoelace. Arthur thought for a second before turning his attention back to the guys.

“There’s tons I can’t really think of one but, I don’t think people will know just what a massive nerd he is. People see him as this cool football guy but he used to come into school with his Lord of the Rings books and wearing a scarf his nan knitted for him, with his braces and his fucked up elf ears. Not a cool guy,” Arthur said and everyone nodded in agreement, even in the room Theo gave a very loud acknowledgement of those words being true.

After a couple of stories from drunken nights out and videos, the camera then switched to a different room and this time beside Arthur was Chris’s sister Kelly and cousin Ollie.

“What the fuck!” Chris exclaimed, glaring at his family on their table although he was low key impressed Arthur managed to get the three of them together in a room, it must have taken some planning.

“Was Chris a good brother growing up?” Arthur asked Kelly already knowing the answer.

“He was very annoying but that’s ab big brother’s prerogative, I mean we’re close. I know I can go to him if I have a problem, or need money,” she joked.

“Or more views on your videos,” Ollie added.

“Do you have any favourite memories of him growing up? Arthur asked sitting back on the sofa a little.

“He will deny this to this day but he definitely wet the bed once when he was like six and blamed Ollie’s dog for it,” Kelly revealed, Ollie nodded along also remembering.

“He went on about that for years!”

“IT WAS THE DOG!” Chris protested in the room. You couldn’t help but laugh at the hijinks, Ollie also telling a story about when they were in the early days of the ChrisMD channel and Chris offered to do the laundry for the whole family while on a family holiday so he could earn some more money for FIFA packs but ended up shrinking everything. The screen changed again and this time Arthur was sitting on his own and addressing the camera directly. “Chris, you’re an easy guy to make fun of but I hope you know it’s all done in jest and honestly I wish you and y/n every happiness, so do these guys,” the footage then changed to a montage of everyone who recorded a short good luck message to Chris and yourself all sincere and heartfelt. The screens then went off and Arthur stood up once again holding the champagne flute in his hand as he made his toast to his friend and bride. Chris and yourself clinked your glasses as you stared in each other’s eyes, excited for what the future was going to bring the pair of you.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The US and the UK will reject the international court of justice order directing Israel to end its offensive on Rafah after slowly blurring their red lines that once stated that they could not support a military offensive in Rafah.

The line was first adapted by saying they could not support a major ground offensive without a credible plan to protect civilians, but since then the definition of what constitutes a major offensive has become more flexible.

The deputy foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, told MPs on Monday “the UK could only support a constructive plan for Rafah that complies with international humanitarian law on all counts”.

On Tuesday he told the UK business select committee that “the significant operation in Rafah, it appears, has not yet started”, even though 800,000 people had fled the area, including 400,000 who had been warned to do so by the Israel Defense Forces. [...]

The select committee chair, Liam Byrne, cited the movement of 800,000 people: “If that is not significant, then what is?”

Mitchell replied that the UK was doing what it could do to help with aid, adding the fact “800,000 had chosen to go of itself would not lead us to make a change in the assessment” of whether a serious breach of IHL had occurred.

The Labour MP Andy McDonald, previewing the line taken by the ICJ, asked the minister: “What choice did they have to move? Was this just: ‘I think I want to go and live somewhere else’? Is that not a preposterous suggestion to make – that this is a matter of free will?”

Mitchell replied: “They have moved as a result of the circumstances.”

Byrne asked the minister directly: “Do you believe, Mr Mitchell, as the minister, that Israel currently has the intent to comply with international humanitarian law in Rafah?”

Mitchell replied: “It does not matter, chair, what I believe. What is important is the legal process that informs that decision.

He later admitted that the last released assessment of Israel’s compliance rested on evidence that ended in January.

The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, took a different line in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, indicating that he had been briefed by Israeli officials and by Israeli professionals on refinements to the Rafah plan that would achieve its military objectives while taking account of civilian harm.

He said there was no mathematical formula to decide if a plan was acceptable. “What we’re going to be looking at is whether there is a lot of death and destruction from this operation or if it is more precise and proportional,” he said.

He made no reference to the conditions in which Palestinians forced to flee were living.

It seems, according to interpretation, that the US either feels it has persuaded Israel to adjust its plans to make them acceptable or, faced with an Israeli fait accompli that the invasion would proceed regardless of Washington’s objections, the US has effectively backed down.

24 May 24