#and were it not for the fact that you need a visa to cross the borders i could've checked it off my list ages ago -

[bogkeep]

ask meme 9!

9. which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best?

i have been to pretty much every country within a fairly broad radius around norway EXCEPT russia, which is not particularly tempting right now for,, you know,,, reasons.... though i WOULD love to visit someday in the future. eagle eyed audience members may also be aware that i'm currently living in sweden for a couple years, so i'm getting to know it whether i'd like to or not haha.

i really like iceland and finland! would love to explore finland some more, actually. and åland! i've only visited åland (a tiny island between sweden and finland) for a brief couple days, but i remember it being absolutely lovely. i would also like to visit svalbard someday, although that counts as part of norway.

[themultifanshipper]

“You utter cunt!”

“Fuck you!”

That was how karting usually ended when you two were involved. No matter where either of you started on the grid, you and Liam always found a way to crash into each other.

I blacked out, and an hour later this monstrosity was born! Hope you enjoy

Also I used alpha tauri bc i refuse to put Visa Cash Card Paypal App Racing Redbulls in my goddamm fics.

Warnings: gn!reader, rough sex, lots of swearing, rivals to lovers, daddy kink, corruption kink, smidge of angst, like 2 seconds of fluff before it descends into madness

“That was my line!”

“You call that a line? Ha! My blind grandmother can see that’s a shit line!”

And you were only thirteen then. Now you were both in formula 1. But unfortunately, the insults hadn’t matured, and neither had you.

“You absolute wankstain! What the fuck was that?!”

“That was me having to crash into my teammate! Because my teammate is a shit driver who doesn’t leave me any room, you fucking prick!”

“Oh, dear! Looks like the alpha tauri duo are having a trackside screaming match... again.”

Crofty sighed. At this point it was almost a weekly occurrence. You and Liam were bitter rivals on track and had been since you started karting all those years ago. It always ended in a screaming match that usually lasted well into the evening, and sometimes all the way up the corridors of your hotel rooms, and one time, it ended with Liam shoving you into your room and fucking you right there on the carpet.

That was one time. And you and Liam had never talked about it. The next day you’d bickered on the private jet, as per usual, and just like that it was forgotten.

Except it wasn’t, not really.

The problem was that Liam had unknowingly taken your virginity that night. And it was, by default, the best sex you had ever had. But your relationship stayed the same and the two of you never even acknowledged what happened. You weren’t obsessed with the concept of virginity either of course, it was what it was, and he was you first, whatever. But it would be nice if he stopped being such a huge prick, you know?

Then came the end of season celebrations in Abu Dhabi. You’d been drinking heavily to forget this nightmare of a season and the fact that you (just you, not Liam) had essentially been threatened to stop fighting next season or you would be out of a seat faster than you could say ‘hypocrisy’.

You tried your best to avoid him all evening. But he kept appearing in your line of sight, on the dancefloor, getting drinks at the bar, shuffling off to the toilets every now and then. You kept drinking so that your vision would hopefully go so blurry you wouldn’t be able to see him at all, but of course with those drinks came the need to pee.

So, there you were in one of the stalls thinking about the face of the man you were trying hard not to think about. Then, said man walked in, crossed the room and the sound of him undoing his zipper was heard.

You knew it was him from his stupid shoes that you recognised very well, as he had once thrown them at your head. That was an incident worthy of getting fired....

Anyway, for some obscure reason (about 7 tequila cocktails) you thought it was a great idea to voice that thought out loud.

“I never told you, but those are the ugliest shoes on the fucking planet”.

There was a pause as he zipped his fly back up.

“Jesus, are you stalking me now? The fuck are you doing in there?”

“Pissing, obviously”

Another pause.

“Right” he said “anything else you want to tell me? Or can I get back to having fun now?”

You rolled your eyes “Yeah actually, you need to stop crashing into me, dickwad”.

He snorted. “And why the fuck would I do that”.

“Because I’m out of the seat next time we crash, and because you fucking owe me, so please just cool it with the- !”

“Wait, why the fuck do I owe you anything? It’s not my fault you can’t drive!”

“Because you fucking took my virginity Liam!”

Okay maybe you weren’t completely over it.

You could’ve heard a pin drop. You desperately hoped there wasn’t anyone else in the stalls.

“What?!”

You were so embarrassed you tried to get out of answering by flushing the toilet and waiting for him to leave.

Obviously, that didn’t work.

“Unlock the door, please” He sounded almost winded, which confused you so much you actually opened the door. He was leaning against the wall and as his eyes snapped to yours, you could see there were tears in them.

Your bewilderment must have been visible because he immediately wrapped his arms around you in a tight bear hug.

“I’m so sorry you’re first time was like that... I’m so, so sorry...”

You pushed him off enough to be able to breathe again “The sex was great Liam, what the fuck are you sorry for?”

He stroked your hair as he spoke, refusing to meet your eyes. “Because... I thought you hated me so I... Your first time shouldn’t be, you know, hate-sex. I thought that was the only way I would get to do it with you so I-   I didn’t know you’d never done it before- it was a spur of the moment thing”.

You were even more confused. “The only way you’d get to do it?  What the fuck does that mean?”

He finally looked at you and he seemed so weirdly vulnerable, so heartbroken that your brain started to catch up, and your breath caught in your throat.

“Do you...” your heart was beating fast as you scanned his face for a reaction “like me?”

He had a pained look on his face and just looked down at the floor. He didn’t like you. It went deeper than that.

“Liam look at me” He did. You didn’t know what to say so you just stared at him.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about that night, you know” he said softly. 

“Neither have I” you whispered, and your eyes met as he looked at you in shock.

You both moved at the same time, crashing your lips and bodies together as the years of tension finally washed away and you were on the same wavelength for the first time.

As you both caught your breath a minute later, he chuckled. “Come on, let’s get back to the hotel. I owe you a do-over”.

And do-over he did.

As in, he did you, over every surface.

It started out sweet enough. He carried you to the bed, undressed you slowly and took his time fucking you slowly, almost maddeningly so. But you both quickly realised that he’d already corrupted you the first time, and now you liked it rough. So he gave it to you. First he flipped you over on the bed, grabbed your hair and pushed you face down into the sheets as he pounded into you mercilessly from behind, occasionally leaving hand prints on your ass, then he took you standing up against the glass windows, one hand around your throat, the other sneaking down to touch you where you were making a mess of yourself.

“Fuck, you like it like this don’t you? You’re basically dripping onto the carpet”.

Then he flipped you and lifted you up, your legs hooking over his arms as he entered you again, the position giving you no choice but to just take it.

“Yes, take it baby, fuck- so tight around me, take my fucking cock” he growled and bit into your shoulder, making you moan. “You’d take anything I give you right? Such a fucking slut for it my god”

His hips stuttered as he had a thought.

“It’s my fault, isn’t it? My fault that you take it like you were made for it, fuck”  his thrusts became even harder as you both felt your highs quickly approaching, your hands were scrambling for purchase on his sweaty shoulders, settling in his hair to give it a sharp tug, his answer was a deep thrust that knocked the breath out of you.

“Fucking made for me. Only I get to see you like this now, don’t I? My little cockslut, all for me. Isn’t that right?”

You nodded quickly, but he made a noise of discontent.

“Words baby, I need words or I won’t let you come. Who do you belong to?”

“You Daddy, please I’m gonna come” you couldn’t help it, the name slipping out as his hips stuttered and he made a punched-out noise.

“Shit- say that again baby, that sounded good”.

You huffed out a whine, now was not the time to be embarrassed “Daddy please, please I need to come so bad”.

He groaned “Okay baby go ahead, come on daddy’s cock, now.”

You came so hard. All over yourself, and it ran down onto his thighs and the feeling of you dripping everywhere sent him over the edge, thrusting a couple more times before stilling, deep inside you as you felt him fill you up.

He carried you like that into the bathroom, setting you down gently in the shower, legs and hips sore from the position and you both spent an eternity in there, soaping each other up and kissing tenderly, trying to make up for lost time.

As you got into bed with him, you checked your phone and saw two things: the alarm for your flight was in 2 hours, and a text that read “does this mean you two will be cooperating from now on?”  from your performance engineer.

Your cheeks burned red, she had the room right next door.

[armins-main-hoe]

would you make katsuki x twinsister!reader? one where they're both equally talented and competitive 👉🏽👈🏽

Sorry for replying so late!!

I don’t think I can make a whole fic for this since I have 2 on going fics and already struggling to keep up with those but I’ll write it down in headcannon form, sorry :/

The Bakugo Twins

(not proofread)

Honestly as kids, you both were complete menaces. All the other kids in class would follow you both around, no kid would dare step up to you both. Though I can see that at some point it was half the class following katsuki and the other half following you. Talk about sibling rivalry...

You both got your quirk when you both were arguing, both equally hot headed, both shouting and screaming, suddenly bright sparks started coming out from your fists. You both were startled by this and forgot what you were arguing about in the first place.

You both bullied deku. Sorry, but I can only see you also have a superiority complex just like your brother. I mean you grew up in the same environment as your brother and you are expected by others to be just like him. No one has ever taught you otherwise so its was only natural for you to do whatever he does and think whatever he does and visa versa.

You both gave the poor quirkless boy a tough time...

Honestly, unlike how in the anime, Deku wasn't actually thinking about taking a swan dive off of the roof, with you also bullying him, it probably did cross his mind once or twice.

However, by middle school you both had developed your own personalities, though there was not much difference between you both to be honest.

He was a bully, ego as high as the sky, a hero nerd, a complete jerk to everyone and you were one of those popular girls who acted like a bitch with her friends laughing at the back. You were the prettiest girl in the school and you knew it.

Katsuki hated the fact that you were going to apply to UA too. You both had the same quirk, meaning that if you got in, he would constantly be compared to you and there would be nothing special about him since he would not be one of a kind. He didn't understand why you wanted to join UA either. Sure, you liked heroes too but you didn't have collectables like he did. You never showed much interest in becoming a hero while growing up, at least not as much as him anyway. So why would you even think about joining UA?

What he didn't know was that you were applying for UA because of more than just one reason. You both were twins, everyone knew Katsuki was going to to apply for UA since he wasn't exactly shy about it. So naturally everyone thought you were going to apply for UA too. Call yourself some odd variation of a people pleaser and you said "well duh, are you thick or something? Obviously I am."

Another reason was, your looks. Since you were labeled as the prettiest girl in middle school and it got to your head, your looks became an obsession for you. You had to look flawless all the time and you needed someone to compliment you about your looks at least 10 times a day.

What better way to get complimented on your looks than becoming a famous hero? Heros are more popular than any celebrity so obviously becoming a hero would give you more attention.

Another reason was your sibling rivalry, you hated it so much when he would come home first place in a competition that you also participated in. You hated it when he was clearly better than you at something. Since both of your quirks were so 'flashy' and 'dangerous', you both were always competing against each other on who can use their quirk better.

When it was the day of the UA results, you both were equally nervous. Though neither of you tried to show it, acting as if you just know you are 100% going to get in.

Both of you were hoping for the other to get rejected. However, to both of your dismany, you both got in.

You're parents were over the moon of course, both their kids getting into a school like UA was what they called their biggest achievement.

You felt happy too, but in your stomach you felt this uneasy feeling knowing your brother was coming to UA with you. Katsuki felt the same.

You both knew how much more you would have to fight each other for the spotlight. Middle school would be nothing compared to UA.

Upon coming to UA, you both struggled a lot in your own ways. In the first few weeks, everyone thought you both were the strongest (and scariest) in the whole class. Which is good. You wanted it to be that way

Imagine sibling rivalry plus class rivalry. Him in 1A and you in 1B. Both of you the strongest in your classes, both you the scariest in your classes. Everytime you cross one another, the hardest glares were thrown at each other.

The sports festival ended up a mess. Why? Simple, the Bakugo twins.

You both managed to get through most of the festival without killing anyone but once it got to the one to one matches...

The final match was one that everyone was dying to see, the twins facing each other. Two people with the same quirk. Everyone wanted to know who would win, everyone wanted to know who was better. Who was the better twin.

Class 1a were cheering for Katsuki and class 1b were cheering for you because while this match was mostly to see who was the better twin, it would also determine who was the better class since they had the winner in their class.

The only person who thought this was bad as Deku. The kid you both bullied was the only one who could see past the competitiveness and realise that this would end in a disaster. That this was doing more harm than good. That if either one of you were to win the match then it would break the thin sibling bond you both had.

You both began attacking each other left and right, at one point no one could see anything with the amount of debris and smoke filling up the stadium. All they could hear were loud explosions echoing throughout the entire stadium.

Some time later, the staff had to send a teacher down there to try and see what was going on in the match. Immediately the teacher called the match off and another teacher came to break you both off.

Were you both siblings or enemies sent on an mission to kill the other? Trust me when I say the fight got so bad they had to call if off and just say it was a draw.

Both of you were covered in cuts, bruises and burn marks. By the time the adrenaline wore off, you both collapsed, unconscious on the floor.

They had to tie you both up and All might somehow managed to out the single 1st place gold medal around your necks.

Much to everyone's dismay, no one got to find out who was the 'better twin' or 'better class'.

So for the next few weeks, it was the same as always, trying to prove to everyone that you are better while sending death glares to your brother.

UA destroyed your relationship with your brother.

When you were younger, you both would at least play with each other, you both would hold hands and run around, chasing other kids, you both would still comfort each other when the other was sad, you both used to be each other's biggest supporters and now its all gone.

It all probably began to fade during middle school and now is completely gone in UA.

You saw each other as enemies and nothing more.

Well that's what you thought until your brother got kidnapped by the league of villains.

You could never forget how you felt your heart drop when you heard the news. You even forgot to breath for a few seconds. You scared yourself with how much you got scared of losing him.

So when Kirishma, who you recognised as Katsuki's best friend, came up to you, asking if you would help him and a few other students from 1a, get Katsuki back, you agreed.

When you met up with the group, you were the last one to come along since it took you a little longer to sneak out of the house, you saw the wide eyes they looked at you with, since they were so used to seeing you and Katsuki hate on each other every day.

"I do have a heart you know." you rolled your eyes at them. "Come on, lets hurry before that dimwit starts crying like a baby." you turned around and started walking away.

"Um.. Y/n.. We have to go that way-" A black haired girl spoke up.

You were all were successful with getting Katsuki back, you really wanted to hug him or something but you felt like you couldn't. You felt like it was wrong of you to even think about hugging him after everything you did to him. So on the way back, you didn't say anything. Even while watching All Might fight All For One on a screen, you kept your distance from him, walking next to the black haired girl instead.

The walk back home was silent. He walked ahead while you followed a few feet behind, usually you wouldn't let that slide, you would try to out walk him in some way but right now your mind was filled with so many thoughts.

You were so out of it that you ended up bumping into Katsuki's back when he stopped walking. He turned around and looked at you, a softer look on his face but still glaring at you.

"Why did you come with them?" He asked.

How do you even answer that? 'even though I wished for your death like you wished for mine, i still cared. I still didn't actually want to lose you.' or maybe 'why wouldn't I? I mean sure I hated your guts and hoped everything bad happened to you but I didn't actually mean it.'

You didn't even realise when tears began falling down your cheeks while thinking. Katsuki was shocked to say the least.

"I thought I would lose you..." You spoke out in the weakest voice Katsuki had ever heard you use.

Katsuki's hand lifted up to wipe your tears away but he hesitated. Can he do that? Really? After everything he did to you? He couldn't. So he turned back around.

"Idiot. As if some little villain would ever manage to kill me." You didn't miss how his voice cracked in the middle of the sentence, nor did you miss how he subtly tried to wipe away his own tears.

Maybe you didn't get to hug him like you used to when you were younger, but at least you now know there is a chance that maybe, just maybe, you could fix your relationship with your brother.

[paper-mario-wiki]

Do you do farm stuff Scout? Or would you like to? Like owning chickens or tending an outdoor garden, that sort of thing?

From ages 7 to 19 I lived on farms, and was made to be an active participant in maintenance and usages of the facilities I don't know why the fuck I'm typing it like this, but I grew up on a farm. I was kinda in charge of everything, but slacked a lot and my brother had to cover for me. That said, I still spent a LOT of time doing chores.

At one point or another I've been responsible for most every farm chore you can really think of. All the basics like raking leaves, milking goats, collecting eggs, feeding chickens- but also the big stuff like moving tons of hay, herding flocks, caring for large animals such as llamas, alpacas, horses, and cows, as well as delivering babies, gutting and plucking fowl (only chickens and turkeys, though I've also cared for ducks and geese), dehoring, hoof cleaning, corpse transportation, crop maintenance, winter ice removal by breaking up frozen water troughs in 10 below weather (thought this was usually circumvented by anticipating the cold and setting up water heaters beforehand), constructing enclosures, slaughtering pigs, and etc etc etc etc etc all that shit. Bunnies snakes mini horses donkeys. All that shit. Farm stuff. Ya know.

Moved away when I went to college and immediately plunged into a mixed-zoning district in the Fushimi district in Kyoto. This was a really good transition from rural living to city living, because mixed zoning districts have blocks dedicated to apartment complexes and family homes right next to blocks of rice fields and ponds, which was behind the 7-Eleven I bought most of my food from.

Now I live in a SHITTY mixed zoning area in SHITTY America where we never stop hearing cars because there's a massive parking lot nearby and constant police sirens, not because the area is particularly dangerous, but because there's like 2 police stations nearby.

My ideal housing goal, which also happens to be my current goal in life, is to reach a slightly more rural version of the Kyoto living situation. The goals are very distinct:

0. I'm editing this one in after the fact to note that while I've used Kyoto as an example a few times in this post, I'm just looking for an area that feels right and would happily live in any prefecture that fits my needs.

I want to not be tied directly to a visa which would draw me away from doing whatever work I really want to do, like my student visa did later on when school started getting worse as professors were struggling to learn digital classroom mechanics. The visa I'm shooting for is dependent on a few ideas I have for businesses, but that's still kind of a long shot.

I want to be in a position of relative financial freedom so that I can spend enough time genuinely living there instead of just being tied to a computer all day, limiting me to the world I already know. This one's the big one, so I'm still workin on that. That said, recently I've been taking some pretty massive steps towards making this a more tangible circumstance. Fingers crossed.

I want to have a home that I own instead of renting, and I'd like to work with a Japanese architect to actually construct it. Again, these are big big plans, but I think a life goal is a thing worth thinking big about. And it's not like I'm trying to build a mansion, or even a family-sized house, I think I'd be content with three bedrooms, a kitchen, and common room. Of course, in keeping with the "dream big" spirit, in a world where I've got enough money to have a nicer, slightly bigger home, I can imagine as many as 5 bedrooms. It's nice to imagine in this "perfect" outcome that I've got a reason to have enough space for guests to sleep over. A local community, or an otherwise tangible, real-world web of relationships would be nice. Like, Real Adult Socializing Shit.

I want to have a significant emphasis on self-reliance on this home. As far solarpunk as I can reasonably go, without biting off more than I can chew as someone who's kinda limp-wristed. In a gay way and a feeble way. I figure this will come down to solar panels, water filtration, a well, and a garden (or at least the space to have gardening stuff like pots and soil). Some chickens would be nice too, but I don't know that I'd ever take on livestock proper.

I want to be properly submerged in trees without being more than a 5 minute bike ride from a train station. Somwhere like Yase-Hieizanguchi Station in north Kyoto is a good example of station that's on the edge of a metropolitan area and the forest. There was an apartment there I almost got, but backed out when covid hit cuz I decided moving across town would be a whack decision.

This is a BONUS goal, but I think it'd also be nice to not compromise on a single location, and instead have a home out in the inaka, while also having a small apartment rented in the city I can go between whenever I need to. In a world where I can afford a plot of land out in the country, but would still need to travel into town for business, that would be nice. Though in that scenario I'd likely need to also take on the arduous task of getting a Japanese drivers license. If I know far enough in advance that I want to take this specific route then I could bypass that last one by getting an international license before moving to Japan, but after moving to Japan you're barred from getting an international license.

I couldn't tell you in honesty that I'm a Salt of the Earth, Red Blooded American Farmer in my heart, and in fact I could not WAIT to move away from the farm. I hated that I didn't have a say in living on a farm, and was made to take care of animals. But what I DID enjoy about that life was the stillness. The opportunities of perfect silence. The stars unobstructed by light pollution. The ability to explore. Those things I was incredibly grateful for. And as such, in my perfect world, I would like to live on something like a farm again one day, just on my own terms.

[call-sign-jinx]

Endless Love (Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw) - Chapter 1

summary - Y/N Y/L/N and Bradley Bradshaw have had a rivalry ever since they both attended the same academy. Every chance they took, they always tried to one up each other. One day, Bradley takes the rivalry too far and Y/N ends up in the hospital with serious injuries. Will it make Y/N want to get him back twice as worse? Or will it make her realise that this rivalry between them is childish?

warnings - swearing, enemies to lovers, mention of serious injury, traumatic episodes, reader traumatised from what happened, smut, slowburn, seizures, flashbacks

a/n - hiya girliesss! this is my very FIRST series on here! i rlly hope u guys like it! enjoyyyyyy! xx

Bradley Bradshaw and I have always had a rivalry since we were at the academy. I think I'm better than him, he thinks he's better than me. However, on paper, we were just as good as each other. Same scores on all tests and practical tests. Same amount of medals. Same amount of almost everything. I realised that, but wanted to change the fact that we were the same. Because I earned my place at Top Gun. I literally flew from Greater Manchester to San Diego for Top Gun! I had to work hard enough for the money, enough money for the ticket, visa, small shitty apartment, furniture. Everything.

When I was talking to Cyclone the other day - because of an argument that me and Rooster had - he said that we were actually quite alike. I scoffed at the idea. How could me and Bradshaw me similar? I completely disagreed with Cyclone and voiced my opinions, knowing what the consequences of opposing my superior, but to my shock he respected me for standing up to him as not many people do these days. His words, not mine. 

It was now the first official day at Top Gun, well, not really, but everyone was going to be at the Hard Deck to meet each other and celebrate that we got into Top Gun, the best of the best.

I was one of the last to arrive (shit traffic) and my eyes immediately found another female aviator. Thank fucking God. So glad I'm not the only one. I confidently walked over and introduced myself.

"Hi, I'm Vandal. But you can call me Y/N." I stick my hand out for her to shake and I can tell she is just as relieved as me to not be the only woman here.

"Phoenix, but you can call me Nat." She had a confident smile on her face.

She told me everyone's names, Hangman (who she calls Bagman to piss him off), Coyote (basically Hangman's ass kisser, Nat's words not mine), Fanboy, Payback, Bob and then she pointed to the person I disliked most in the world, Bradshaw. Great, I knew he was coming to Top Gun because he tried to shove it in my face when he found out, but I just wish he wasn't here right now. Phoenix obviously saw the way I rolled my eyes with a groan. 

"What? You don't like the pornstache?" She has a smirk on her face as she points over to Bradshaw who is most definitely locking lips with some poor blonde girl who thinks he's into her for more than sex.

"Well, on top of that, we went to the same academy. He was a total prick. But so was I. In a way, we kind of have a rivalry going on. About who is better than who." Phoenix raised a brow as she listened.

"Oh so you're the 'British bitch' he's always complaining about!" Phoenix has a happy but surprised look on her face.

"British bitch? He needs some originality with insults." I roll my eyes as my gaze finds Bradshaw, as per, picking up girls after ditching the blonde. Guess he got bored of her.

"Why do you two have that rivalry anyway? I've asked Rooster about it but he never actually answers it." I roll my eyes again and sigh.

"Because we both can't put up with being the same, one of us has to be on top. It best be me though, I don't like coming second." I cross my arms as I glare at Bradshaw. I hate him. Why can't he just put up with being second? I mean, I had to most my life until I joined the academy, so it mustn't be that hard.

"Seems you're quite the competitive one." Phoenix has a smirk on her face as she crosses her arms. "Want a game of pool? Heard Bagman is 'undefeated' so I really hope you can burst his ego."

My ears immediately perk up at the mention of a competition. especially someone who is 'undefeated.' Not for any longer though.

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

"Oh come on! Beginners luck!" Hangman couldn't deal with the fact that someone actually beat him at pool, let alone a female. I smirk at him as I have just potted the winning ball.

"Come on Jake, you gotta just deal with finally being beaten." I raise a brow, my smirk growing bigger as Hangman's anger is seeping from him.

"What about a game of darts? Closest to... 180 wins." Hangman sticks out his hand for me to shake, I fake thinking about it for a second before eagerly shaking his hand.

"Ladies first." Hangman gestures for me to stand in front of the dart board.

"Age before beauty." I gesture for him to stand there, he stood in front of the dart board in defeat. He threw all 3 darts and scored 175. Now its my turn.

I take a deep breath and focus. I threw my first dart. It landed on a triple 20! Now I just have to get two more. I threw my second dart, landed on a triple 20 again. I could hear Hangman groan. Which only made my confidence grow. I threw my last dart. It landed on another triple 20!

"That's 180 Hangman! I win!" I had a triumphant smirk on my face as Hangman has all but defeat in his eyes.

"Aww don't be so upset Hangman, you're still second best." I had an evil smirk as Phoenix can't help but laugh.

"How? No one and I mean no one has ever beaten me at darts!" Hangman runs a hand through his hair as he gets a better look at the dart board to see if one of my darts was just close enough to the area above or below it. They weren't.

"Guess because I wasn't here." I pat him on his back and gesture to the bartender if I could get two more beers. One for me and one for Hangman.

"Here Bagman, to make you feel better." I giggle as I pass him the beer.

The rest of the night went by like a breeze. Hangman demanding a rematch every 10 minutes, me and Phoenix gossiping, Fanboy, Payback and Coyote playing pool, Bob sat near the wall nearly out of sight, and Bradshaw, at the piano with another girl on his lap as he sings Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis.

[demonqueenart]

hi! first of all, i'm so sorry you're feeling the way that you are. you've helped open my eyes to things i admittedly didn't know (dan's comment at wad, for example) or didn't notice. i'm glad you're receiving at least some support from other phans! i don't know if this helps at all (and it's not me trying to excuse dan), but i wanted to add some context to his "third-world country" reference. as an american, i can tell you that we grew up learning "this"third world" as the proper term. most of my colleagues, friends, family members, etc. STILL use it casually to refer to developing nations/the global south - we were literally taught to use it in school. of course it has since become obsolete, as the wording is incredibly offensive. i know about this because of my time in academia, but this awareness hasn't at all spread to the general population (especially in dan's/my generation of millennials and older). as smart as i do think dan is, i wonder if that's also the case in england. he has the responsibility to educate and inform himself and he needs to acknowledge that he's hurt and alienated a large proportion of his fanbase, so i still hope he'll do that soon.

as for the tour, one of my my best friends is mexican (and lives in mexico) and she was really disappointed during ii when they had to cancel the announced mexico dates. they had assumed the dates would work out, but - if i remember correctly - were presented with a lot of visa/permissions issues. they tried to make it work but it didn't, and they waited much too long to tell anyone. my guess is that they wanted to avoid a similar disappointment this time and not give anyone false hope, nor accidentally say anything negative about those countries as they explain their reasoning (which, of course, just comes off worse - ignoring is never the issue).

other artists have had similar issues with asian and middle eastern countries as well, as there is increased censorship and visa requirements. i've spent four years of my life in asian countries (and a few months in south america) and know that there are phans there who'd love to see them, but it might not be feasible.

ultimately, however, dan and phil owe everyone transparency and need to acknowledge if they're having difficulties with bookings in other countries and why. they usually go back and add dates later, so fingers crossed that they're trying to work out some dates in latam and may yet still add them.

It’s the lack of transparency that is the issue here. How am I supposed to trust them when they won’t tell me anything in the first place? And if they expect me to assume for the best, I don’t think I can do that. Not with all the time they tried to bury their mistakes when people have been hurt as if it’s nothing. I’m sorry but if they’re choosing to look good in the public eye before choosing us, then I don’t think I can trust them anymore. And it’s not that they’ll look bad when they’re talking about this stuff, but the fact they have never once talked about it ever really makes it feel like they want to keep this shut. And that hurts a lot.

Thank you for your perspective tho. I think it helps seeing where they can possibly come from.

Auto-message: This ask’s purpose is to acknowledge dnp’s past/present exclusivity, not to cancel them! But to embrace mistakes that they’ve made so that 1. we won’t exclude people in need in this community, and 2. we can normalize bringing up exclusivity so that improvement can happen. Hopefully this will one day help dnp realize that this is a safe space for them to talk about their mistakes, so that this space can become safe for people of all kinds too <3

*If you don’t understand what is happening, scroll through my blog for context. And I’ll be taking time to answer my asks, so don’t think I’m ignoring youuu*

[daidonzo]

Chapter 13 - Come love me [Chishiya x Reader]

You sat on the floor of Chishiya's room, your legs crossed, a pen in your right hand and a white piece of paper in front of you.

"What was what Kuina said again?" The blonde man asked, eyebrows raised.

"So, you have to draw a tree…" You started to do so. You drew roots, a trunk with a hole in the middle (there was a squirrel living there, but you were definitely not an artist and chose to leave that detail to the imagination of the viewer… Until you thought better about it and painted an arrow pointed at the hole, writing the world squirrel next to it, because not everyone would reach the same conclusion as you). "And the way you do it is supposed to tell you a lot about yourself."

"I see. Do you know you stick out your tongue when you concentrate on something?"

"Yes. Inheritance from dad."

He smiled, but you couldn't see it, fully invested in your painting as you were.

You had spent the day hanging out with Kuina and Tatta, Chishiya having been in an executive meeting for most of it. The Hatter had left for a game a few hours ago, having to finally renew his visa and you guessed he probably wanted to make sure everything would be okay during his absence.

That was when Kuina had told you about the tree-drawing theory, something a therapist had explained to her long ago.

And, since life without a phone or streaming services or a beautiful blonde man by your side was pretty boring, you had decided to try and psychoanalize yourself. Chishiya had entered the room when you were about to start.

You kept drawing, adding leaves here and there, but because it was autumn, most of them were on the ground. In your head, it all made sense.

"Finished!" You exclaimed, lifting the piece of paper and showing it to Chishiya.

He examined it for a few minutes, clearly amused.

"It looks like a tree." He declared, solemnly.

"Yes, I know! But what does it say about me?"

"I already told you, I'm not a psychologist."

"Well, but think! Give me your honest opinion."

"That you like squirrels?"

"Not really. They are fine. I just think everyone has a right to decent housing."

Chishiya's brown eyes focused on you, and for a moment, he turned serious.

"You really are fascinating."

"Was it the trunk that told you that?"

He chuckled. You laughed out loud.

"I think it doesn't work when you don't have the answers. Like, what does a hollow trunk were a squirrel lives mean? The fact that most leaves are on the ground?"

"I don't know."

You sighed, left the pen on the floor and climbed to bed with him, putting your face next to his to take another look at your drawing. And because you enjoyed proximity.

"It still is a work of art."

"If you say so."

You opened your mouth in surprise, pretending to be outraged by what he was saying.

"Are you implying my art is not good?"

"You want an honest answer?"

"No. Lie to me."

"Deserves to be in a museum."

You burst into laughter, dropping the act. You actually did not feel offended at all. You knew painting and drawing were not among your talents.

"You can keep it. So that it reminds you of me, just in case."

"As if I needed anything to remember you."

But, as he said those words, he folded the piece of paper in half and placed it on the pocket of his white hoodie, which turns out you had not ruined with your little emotional outburst from before, because tears dried and left no stains. Good to know.

You smiled from ear to ear. He couldn't have said anything better.

"You look happy."

"I'm so happy I could sing."

Chishiya frowned, slightly. "Didn't know you liked singing."

"Well, I was not really serious, but I do like singing. You have heard me many times."

His half smile told you he was about to mess with you, but nothing could have prepared you for what he said afterwards.

"Ah. Yes, what was it? Holding hands won't be enough…?"

"In a world giving head to a gun."

Your cheeks flushed red when you answered. You had sang that song the day you were hanging out after holding hands for the first time, as a way to discreetly tell him you were desperate for more physical contact. How did he remember? You thought he hadn't been paying you attention.

You felt mortified. So you did what you knew best - kept talking.

"It's from a band I like. They have a lot of love songs. They are like rock n' roll but like rock n' roll for when you like someone. It's romantic but not too sappy. Or well, it is sappy but in a very artistic way. Like poetry. Like… Well, the song made me think of you, so I just sang it. I was trying to express myself."

"Do you have any other songs you would like to dedicate to me, then?"

"You are not about to get an a cappella concert from me, especially not for free."

"I'll give you something in return."

You were about to say no, never in a million years, that maybe in his dreams you would… But you didn't. Because while a part of you was scared of actually confessing your feelings to him, another actually wanted to say many, many things that you couldn't put into words that easily.

"Okay, there's one. I usually would also play guitar while singing, but you are just going to have to imagine. Don't laugh. I said I liked singing, not that I'm any good at it. I'm also not good at playing guitar, or any instrument. Like, I'm not awful, but I'm not particularly good either, not by any means." You kept going, nervous as you were. You took a deep breath and…

Here lies a heart that feels Touched by fire, howling at the moon for you Caught in dusk, heartstrings out of tune From the abyss pirouette my way back to you Come love me numb Come love me till it hurts Dance the neon noir with me Come love me

That was awful. You had closed your eyes while you were singing and were almost afraid to open them and find him laughing. But you still did.

And he was staring at you, expresionless. And for the thousandth time, you wished he was a tiny bit easier to read. You felt like you were drowning and he was just looking at the water instead of helping.

He placed his hand on the back of your neck, making all the hairs on your body stand on end, pulling you closer.

And his lips were on yours.

The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds, the shock of it giving you no chance to react properly to it. A million thoughts running around your head, how wonderful it had been, how worth the wait, how you wanted many, many more…

"I feel like a siren." You whispered, remembering the mythological beings, half bird, half beautiful woman, that were known for their bewitching voices and that lured sailors to their death with their song.

You almost wanted to punch yourself right after. That's all you had to say after a first kiss!?

Chishiya laughed, luckily finding the comment a lot more endearing than you did.

"Like I said, you are fascinating."

[southeast-northwest]

I honestly don't think most people fully understand the point of gift giving and why it's done.

everyone's always stressing about picking a gift "they'd actually use" or "something practical" or even copping out at the last minute and buying a gift card (esp one of those visa gift cards that can be used anywhere).

like! no!! the point of a gift is not to buy something they could and would buy for themselves. in fact it's the exact opposite! you gift a person something they WOULDNT buy for themselves, something frivolous, something purely intended to bring joy.

giving "practical" gifts is a double edged sword, bc if it's something they'd buy anyway, it's something they've probably bought before and have an opinion about and unless you get it bang on you're probably not gonna make a good gift. Like for my birthday, one of my friends got me chain lubricant and mountain bike gloves (I'm a cyclist) and like.. cool... that's not the lube I've ever used and now it's a liability rather than a present bc I need to remember to use the gift instead of my normal one. but what if it's not what I look for? the person who bought it doesn't know squat about bikes.

but something purely indulgent? I don't mean expensive, I mean indulgent. a treat, something you wouldn't buy yourself normally but would be tempted to if you were less reluctant to spend cash. like a nice tea, a cute travel mug, a nice notebook or stationery, enamel pins, stickers, a piece of merch for media they like, a book you enjoyed, a hat, an accessory, a nice liqueur. this isn't a less personal decision, you still gotta pick something they'd enjoy. ideally it'd be something they'd make use of every now and then and have you cross their mind - I still have a keep cup I got gifted at a kris kringle two years ago, and though its not my favourite or go-to travel mug whenever I do use it I am filled with warm feelings for the friend who got it for me.

gifts should bring joy. that's their primary purpose. to bring joy and to bring the gifter and giftee closer emotionally.

[landwriter]

You wanted some nosy ones, so here we go: watermelon, bubblegum, hibiscus

pink themed asks

BLESS you, friend. (If we're not friends already we're friends now.)

watermelon— have you ever had to reject anyone romantically? how did it go? Lots of times, and visa versa! It's never fun but it's never gone poorly. On one memorable occasion I had already been loaned books by the person and had to awkwardly return them without having read them. The books were the Sandman comics lol

bubblegum— how do you feel about your love life right now? are you happy with it? I am, actually, which is wild to realize because I haven't gotten laid in six months and going strong, but I suppose this is the true blessing of totally lacking object permanence. I will feel more hungry and frustrated and distracted when I am seeing folks once every week or couple weeks than when it's been so long I've practically forgotten how. My ideal is hopelessly domestic and slutty, and the runner-up is, apparently, living as a monk.

I ended an LTR of common-law-married proportions just over a year ago (amicably! not that it helped with all the PAPERWORK), so I'm not in a hurry to jump into something serious at the minute. I am Not Looking in a very genre-aware way that probably actually cancels it out. Wanting nothing serious hasn't stopped me from getting feelings in little flings all the same, but I've come to accept the only thing that stops me from doing that is to hardly talk to or know a person at all, and unfortunately I love both talking to and knowing people. But overall I feel happily sure in what I want and need, in what is lovely but not exactly enough, and I hope to find That at some point in the next several years. I even have a little list. For cross-referencing.

hibiscus— what’s your favorite pet name, if any? why? Once spent a summer not-dating an emotionally compromised chef who was built like a brick shithouse and called me 'dear' and 'darlin'', and I am, in fact, still not over that. I love love love pet names and terms of endearment. Serious, soppy, goofy, made-up! All of 'em. I have a really bad habit however of also accidentally using them on my dogs. Have also found it endlessly funny in LTRs for years and years now to make 'babe' a multi-syllable word whenever I want to strike fear into my love's heart that I'm about to ask for an annoying favour. Am concerned exposure to Sandman fandom and Middle English has permanently raised my pet-name standards to an impossible level. If someone called me min hertis rote to my face I think I would perish.

[moviesessionwithmyhubby]

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant -Explained

It has been a while since my husband and I have had a night in to watch a movie together, so I decided to pick out the film for us to watch today; the title of the film is "Guy Ritchie's The Covenant."

The Covenant tells a story that unravels an incredible tale of survival, sacrifice, and redemption. It is a story about the strong bonds and deals made through blood, which can be described as a male melodrama.

The setting of the movie takes place in Afghanistan, where the United States is stationed, amidst the conflict with the Taliban. Rather than exploring the distinctions between who is right and who is wrong, military and political tactics, the director, Richie, emphasized the human morality during times of war. The film speaks to the immense sacrifice and the enduring pain that result from the war. The initial hour of this movie was an excellent war-action film, giving an immersive view of the dangers hanging over all involved. During the opening scene, John Kinley (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) and his team, who specialize in recovering explosives or weapons of mass destruction, are conducting roadside checks. During an attempt to get an Afghan truck driver to open his payload, the translator and two other soldiers were killed when a bomb was detonated. At this point, Ahmed (played by Dar Salim) makes his entrance and takes the vacant role. At first, it crossed my mind that Ahmed's motivation for accepting this job was purely financial gain and the opportunity to obtain a visa to the United States. But then, I came to realization that Ahmed shared the same goal as John Kinley in destroying the Taliban, as his son had been murdered by the group. The most crucial part of the movie is the last hour, which showcases two rescue missions carried out by Ahmed and John. This section of the film showcases superb cinematography, a spot-on score, and an exceptional music (I humbly pay respect to Christopher Benstead for his creation of Score - a magnificent and exquisite musical composition). The casting is also stellar, with outstanding performances by everyone, especially Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim. John's team was attacked by the Taliban, resulting in the deaths of almost all members except for John and Ahmed. John was severely injured and unable to walk or remain conscious. Despite the fact that it would have been easier for Ahmed to flee alone, he chose to stay with John. Ahmed made the decision to remain and carried John all the way back to the US troop. He had to avoid taking the trail or a car since it would be too conspicuous, and the Taliban could easily trace their whereabouts. Ahmed had no other option but to place John on a wooden trailer and pull it along a rough road, with only the bare essentials of food and drink. Ahmed did not abandon John even though they were in a dangerous situation and were being threatened by the Taliban. He made a commitment to John, saying "We are going home." My initial impression of The Covenant was that it was just a film about American exceptionalism; yet, with further inspection, I realized that it was much more than that. In spite of the chaos of war, Ahmed stood by John's side, refusing to abandon him in his time of need. However, despite his contributions and heroic actions in saving John's life, Ahmed found himself without any assistance from the U.S Army, he has become the top of the Taliban's list of targets, causing his family to run away in order to avoid danger. Upon Kinley's return to the US, he is unable to recall anyone or anything from his in Afghanistan except for a few fleeting memories and the recollection of Ahmed reassuring him, "We are going home." He began to experience feverish dreams that were chaotic and disorienting. The images were captured from unusual angles and the frames were alternately sped up and slowed down, creating a chaotic and overwhelming sensory experience.   “You think he blessed you. Well, he cursed me. I am the man who gets no rest.” - John Kinley This is the moment when John conversed with his wife. He does not believe that his survival is a result of God's blessings. He believes that he is under God's curse for abandoning the person who rescued him. Kinley gradually had a vague recollection of his experiences while suffering an injury. He can now recall how Ahmed put his own life in danger to rescue his. Then, in an effort to return his debt of gratitude, Kinley then started to make numerous attempts to obtain visas for Ahmed and his family in order to repay his debt of gratitude. But despite many phone calls from Kinley, the document and procedure were like pain in the ass. This shows how apathetic the system is toward Afghan translators. “I'm lying in this bed. I kiss my children before they go to school. And he's hiding in a hole somewhere. A hole he can never get out. The hole we put him in. And that wasn't the deal. The deal that we offered his family sanctuary. Then we tied a noose around his neck, and kicked the stool out from under him. I should be in this hole.” - John Kinley This situation is unjust and morally wrong. I have been thinking about the title of the movie, "The Covenant". What is the reason for the covenant? "The Covenant", which may also be translated as "the commitment" or "the promise." This commitment might be considered the unspoken connection that exists between Ahmed and Kinley. And for me, the word "commitment" holds great weight. It signifies more than just a written agreement signed with ink on paper; it represents a promise and an agreement that is sealed with blood. Ahmed fulfilled his obligation to this commitment; he made all effort possible and put his life in danger to save Kinley. But once he was saved, Kinley took a plane back to his house in the middle of the war, and Ahmed was left to face the consequences of the heroic deed he had performed by saving Kinley's life.  “That is not how this debt works. It demands a result, not an appeasement.” - John Kinley So, it is now Kinley's responsibility to save Ahmed and the rest of his family. Kinley makes his way back to Afghanistan with his wife providing moral support. He must fulfill his obligation under the covenant he signed with Ahmed, not through appeasement, but by returning and fulfilling his part of the covenant. “30 August 2021, the U.S Armed Force completed their departure from Afghanistan, marking the end of the 20-year long campaign. One month later, the Taliban seized back complete control. More than 300 interpreters and their families have been murdered for collaborating with the U.S military. Thousands more are still in hiding.” - Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant Through the narrative of Ahmed and Kinley, Ritchie describes a world in which the United States of America promises one thing, only to use up its ally and then cast them aside when they are no longer of any use to the United States. It's a tale that began unfolding around two years ago, when the United States withdrew its forces from Afghanistan, leaving behind a large number of collaborators who were at the mercy of the Taliban. In the bigger picture of director Ritchie, Kinley symbolizes the United States, Ahmed represents Afghanistan. Afghanistan fulfilled its obligations under the covenant, but in exchange it has gotten nothing but desertion from the United States. Did the war in Afghanistan come to an end when Kinley returned to the United States from Afghanistan? No, it has never stopped. Have people in Afghanistan like Ahmed, who collaborated with the U.S. army, been able to return to a peaceful and normal life? No, they have never had the opportunity.  “That is not how this debt works. It demands a result, not an appeasement.” - John Kinley For me, the movie serves as an emotional tribute to the selfless acts of Afghan interpreters and their family, emphasizing the significance of fulfilling the commitments made to them by the United States government. The film also effectively portrays the harsh reality of war, highlighting the brutality that both sides endure. There are no clear winners in such conflicts. And I personally believe that there is a hidden message conveyed throughout the film. If you noticed well, Afghans and even Taliban soldiers use an Arabic saying to greet each other. "As-Salaam-Alaikum". This is a common Islamic greeting that translates to “Peace be with you brother”. Peace. Peace. Peace. Throughout a movie about war, this greeting is frequently repeated that conveys the collective hope for peace and happiness among individuals of diverse races, countries, and religions.

[goblin-waifu]

Welcome to the new age Part 11

Arisu and Asuna had crossed paths a few times throughout their stay at the beach, but nothing major to really leave an impact. She watched as he defended Usagi in front of Niragi and Aguni, thinking he was stupid but brave. He seemed to care for the young girl, and that showed in his actions around her. Usagi seemed to care for him as well but was just as closed off as the rest of the people around.  

When an executive meeting had been called, she wasn’t shocked to see Arisu there. He was Hatters favorite at the moment, and that seemed to work well for him; especially when it came to keeping Usagi safe from her brother. Sitting on the arm of Chishiya’s chair, she watched her brother’s eye twitch as he glared that them, Chishiya looking innocent as always. 

It went unnoticed by most that Chishiya had his hand on her leg under the table, but it seemed like Niragi noticed the position of the blond man’s arm and the faint blush on his sister’s cheek. Since the kiss on the roof, the two ended up sharing a bed for the night. It seemed like they couldn’t part from one another and so they decided to curl up in each other’s arms and sleep. 

Waking up next to Chishiya was different. She had grown used to sleeping alone and once the moment of panic faded, she realized the arms around her waist belonged to someone she was starting to care for deeply. She watched him sleep, noting how relaxed he seemed as he slept. The contraptions they had been working on were forgotten not long after they started working on them, finding they wanted to spend time together. 

Hatter droned on about the cards, explaining that the last one aside from the face cards was the 10 of hearts. Ann mentioned it was hard to pinpoint which arena would hold that card, much to Hatter’s annoyance. Leaning back slightly, Asuna sighed, turning her attention to the number one man. 

“Consider what Hearts games entail, and the fact that it happens to be a card no one in Borderland has ever come across, logic dictates that it would be somewhere least expected. Probably some place where there is already tension rising. If there is already tension, then anything the game masters have in mind will make things worse. It could make or break us.” She stated simply, the bored expression on her face never leaving. 

Everyone seemed to take this in for a moment before Niragi started to laugh, leaning against the table. His nose was taped up, but you could see the bruising forming under his eyes. “You think you’re so smart Asuna.” He sneered, leaning back in his seat with a scoff. Asuna shrugged, her hands in her lap, one hand resting on Chishiya’s. 

“Well, I am a doctor.” She stated simply, earning a side glance from Ann. “Phycology.” She added, earning a nod from the other woman. Aguni glanced at Niragi who had rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath. Chishiya had to cough to cover up the laugh that had started, looking away from everyone for a moment. 

Hatter sighed after a moment and stood up. “Either way, my visa is about to expire. I’ll have to participate in one of the games to extend it, and I hope it is the 10 of hearts.” He seemed so excited at the idea but failed to notice the shared looks between the three militants in the room. Glancing at Chishiya, Asuna frowned slightly before looking at Hatter.  

“I’ll go with you. If the game requires someone to die, better me than you.” Asuna said as she stood up, earning a glare from Niragi and Chishiya. Hatter simply laughed and walked over, putting his hands on her shoulders. 

“Do you have little faith in my abilities?” he asked, the smile wide on his face. He was a cocky man, and it seemed that the longer he stayed as number one, the further from reality he got.  

“I know you can pass any game. But think of everyone here at the beach. They need you to keep us safe and get us home. You gave them hope when Borderland took that away. These games are life and death, and we cannot afford for you to die.” She stated simply, feeling the glare burning into the side of her head.  

Hatter patted her shoulders before looking at Aguni. “I’ll have the head of the Militants with me. I’ll come back safe. Don’t you worry your little head.” Turning, he walked to the wall with the cards painted on it, looking over it. “Tomorrow night, I will attend a game.” He said finally, motioning the end of the meeting. 

Walking out of the room, she caught the look Chishiya gave her and knew she had to find Kuina. Whatever he had been planning, she was now part of it, and it was time to get everything in motion. Finding the tall woman was easy, motioning for her to follow. In Chishiya’s room, they saw that Arisu was there as well, all four of them sitting in various spots. 

“Aguni is going to make his move tomorrow night.” Asuna said simply, running her fingers through her hair. Kuina hung her head while Arisu seemed confused. “The militants have wanted power over The Beach for some time. Whatever bond between Hatter and Aguni has been the only thing keeping the peace, but that bond is breaking. They plan to kill Hatter tomorrow night and take control.” she added, seeing the realization cross his face. 

Chishiya sat down, hands clasped in front of him. “That means Usagi will no longer be safe.” He cut right to the chase, looking at Arisu. The one thing the hopeful man had cared about in this broken world was the key to getting him to agree to help. “If you want to keep her safe, we need your help.” 

Arisu thought for a moment before nodding his head. “What do I need to do?” he asked, a fire in his eyes once more. 

“We need to steal the cards from Hatter’s room and leave.” 

[uboat53]

Quick question, what do you think the connection between illegal immigration and fentanyl overdoses is?

If you answered anything other than "nothing"… well that's what I want to address here because the reason most people can't give that accurate answer is because of a sustained barrage of misinformation mostly from conservatives and conservative media.

Now, I don't want to get too into the politics of this issue but I do want to address the misinformation and provide accurate information because I think it's influencing a good many people and not in a positive way. Here's a SHORT RANT (TM).

THE TWO ISSUES

So first off, we need to address each issue independently to understand them.

Illegal immigration generally involves two factors: people who enter the country legally and then overstay their visa and people who enter the country illegally. Generally when we speak about it, we speak about the latter.

The vast majority of illegal immigrants come from Mexico, although the proportion of those coming from Central America has increased in the last decade. These two countries are also the source of the vast majority of people who enter the country illegally, most illegal immigrants from other countries have entered the country legally and overstayed. (1)

Over the past decade and a half, and particularly since the pandemic, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States has declined significantly and the vast majority of them have been in the United States for a decade or more. (1)

Fentanyl is an issue related to the broader issue of illegal drug use in the United States. Fentanyl itself is a synthetic opioid that is extremely powerful. It is often used legally as a painkiller, usually injected via an IV. However, it is easy and cheap to manufacture and is now often found either sold on its own or mixed in with other drugs (either known or unknown to the user). Because of its high strength it causes both addiction and overdose fairly easily. (2)

The United States has been experiencing a crisis in the illegal use of opioids for a decade or more which was officially declared a public health emergency in 2017. Millions of Americans became addicted to opioids which were prescribed as painkillers starting in the 1990s and, when they could no longer obtain legal drugs, turned to the illegal market for supply. (3)

Opioids are particularly dangerous and the widespread use of them has caused an increase in drug overdose deaths of nearly 650% since 1999 (4) and fentanyl is one of the leading factors in overdoses.

THE FALSE CONNECTION

So the only real connection between the two is that Mexico is a significant source of both illegal immigrants and fentanyl. However, this connection, that they come from the same country, has been used by conservatives and conservative media to suggest that illegal immigrants who cross the southern border without visas are responsible for bringing fentanyl from Mexico into the United States.

Conservative politicians, even those associated with the more establishment side such as Kelly Loeffler (5), Ron DeSantis' Florida Republican Party (6), and more MAGA politicians like Blake Masters (7), conservative sheriffs (8), and conservative think tanks (9) have parroted this connection and conservative governors have even created government agencies and projects (10) based on this misrepresentation.

It's been a fairly effective misrepresentation, 60% of Republicans believe it. (11)

THE TRUTH

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of the fentanyl in the United States is smuggled not by illegal immigrants or asylum seekers, but by US citizens recruited by drug cartels. (12) Because of this, the vast majority of fentanyl doesn't come through the sparsely populated border regions, but through legal ports of entry. (13)

In fact, of 42 incidents between Dec. 2021 and May 2022 where the nationality of the smuggler was mentioned, 79% involved US citizens, of nearly 4,500 people charged with trafficking fentanyl from fiscal year 2015 through fiscal year 2021, just over 650 were noncitizens, and of all drug seizures between 2016 and 2020, 91% involved US citizens and only 4% involved "potentially removable people". (14)

CONCLUSION

Whatever your politics and whatever your personal beliefs are, I am of the opinion that they should be based on accurate information and, increasingly, our beliefs about both drug policy and immigration are based on demonstrably false information.

I hope you find this useful or, if you don't, at least interesting.

SOURCES

(1) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/13/key-facts-about-the-changing-u-s-unauthorized-immigrant-population/ (2) https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/fentanyl (3) https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/index.html (4) https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/drugoverdoses/data-details/ (5) https://twitter.com/KLoeffler/status/1578131733609820160?s=20&t=7xgtdZgh2swKVDNaKxdeDA (6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJNOd73iBTU (7) https://twitter.com/MastersPress/status/1585384337545236481 (8) https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-sheriff-fentanyl-weapon-mass-destruction-never-thought-see-anything-worse-meth?intcmp=tw_fnc (9) https://twitter.com/Heritage/status/1571940831455768576?s=20&t=7xgtdZgh2swKVDNaKxdeDA (10) https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/operation-lone-star-combats-growing-national-fentanyl-crisis (11) https://www.npr.org/2022/08/18/1118271910/many-americans-falsely-think-migrants-are-bringing-most-of-the-fentanyl-entering (12) https://www.cato.org/blog/fentanyl-smuggled-us-citizens-us-citizens-not-asylum-seekers (13) https://www.cato.org/commentary/no-bidens-immigration-policies-are-not-blame-fentanyl-crisis# (14) https://reason.com/2022/10/17/dont-blame-migrants-and-open-borders-for-fentanyl-entering-the-country/

[withleeknow]

JEN HAPPY MONDAY HAVE YOU SURIVEEEED OUR NYANGRACHA IN NEW YORK??!! the unfortunate T.H collab is haunting us once more but- they're glowing + i'm extra happy mimo got the chance to attend (his doe-like boba eyes are especially endearing at these public non-skz events 🥺) ✨️ I flipped my shit seeing this video: tinyurl.com/pehy3kd9

my face the entire time reading lifeline: 🥺 also what is up with you and your choice of last lines??? menace behaviour. and THE ROSEEE ref. 😭😭

[🍙 tmi: one of my biggest regrets of this year is not seeing the rose when they came to the o2 - I was distraught seeing clips of their coachella set one month later 😢 woosung's just announced his own solo tour this autumn + I am 100% vying for tickets when they go on sale 🫡 if you were london-bound I'd secure them for the both of us <3 😶‍🌫️]

no but thank you for accepting me into your safe space 🌱☁️ it's developed a more wholesome side of brainrotting where I'm gently reminded of you and/or your writing in random moments in the day w/ lyrics or uppie plushies or the fist-biting content of the algorithm- here you go: tinyurl.com/m5ecxxf8 I think this performance is a great rep. of experiencing the enha-rotation-dilemma: zero focus. cross-eyed. vocals + arms.

...i saw that exact video and sent it to everyone and fell to my knees screeching like a banshee.

in my defense i am in love with his face card and his pretty hair and his boba eyes and not so much the fit bc once again TH is the enemy of fun lmao, but yes oh my god look at nyangracha they're so beautiful 😭 i'm so glad that he was in nyc before me (according to my original plans i was supposed to be there at the same time) bc otherwise i would've actually exploded at the mere thought of being in the same city as him :D

if there's one thing i'm proud of with my writing it's my last lines!! sometimes i center whole fics around the last line 🤣 fun fact: lifeline - the rose is on the wt playlist :p

i would LOVE to see the rose live one day 😭 my friend went to see them in budapest back in march and it looked so fun!! she cried 😭 i would 100% take you up on your offer to see woosung in london but unfortunately homegirl requires a uk visa lolll that's why i need skz to have more shows in the schengen area 🤣

oh my gosh i keep thinking about our uppie skzoos holding hands COME ONNN 😭 i appreciate you very much and maybe this is my daily delusional hours but imagine 🍙🌱 in london WAHHHHHH 😭

i've accepted that i have a bias line in enha and it's heeseung/jay/sunghoon in no particular order and they're all just dragging me down the rabbit hole more and more each day my GOD

[merulast]

Planing #4 - The black P .. err ... Sea

(source: Wikipedia)

Since the beginning I wanted to cross the black Sea by using an Ferry. It is just convenient compared to bus journeys with 6 stops. Or trains with no beds. Not to speak of the fact that once you arrived on the ferry everything is just running: You move. You get food. You have a bed. All things that you would need attention otherwise.

No 'if my room booked' or 'does the bus come?' 'am I to late' and other worries. Just check in and leave your worries outside.

I mean. I would not expect and luxury cruise like most would if they think about a ferry. But it still sounds amazing, or not? Bonus is, that you can walk around! And it's still traveling. Like having 2 days 'off'. With some luck you could even watch dolphins!

Hahaha - OOOH how naive. This is the second when reality RKO's you thought a Table!!

(symbolic picture. replace water with lava!)

The Options

From Varna has a big Harbor and of course we could expect that a Ship will travel from there to Georgia. The NavBul offer(ed) this kind of service for decades!

On Burgas, an smal city on the coastline, you also can find a big Harbor with an other company that offers a ride :)

Last but not least. If everything breaks you could travel over Turkey via bus or train. Thanks e-visa and other options this should always be an nice solution.

The price for all options is almost equal at 200€ (with 100€ for hotels). On the time-side it will take 2-3 days to cross the Sea. Taking the Bus or Train wont take much more. In fact, it could be faster. Depends how much time you want to spend on the road.

NavBul

(actuall ferry)

Each ferry company has the same biz: Bring (mostly truckers and trucks) over the Sea. They all try to look like multi million dollar companies to the outside. But an short look to the actual place where you could hop onto the ship will open your eyes:

(google streetview)

They dont ship from the Habor. Oh now. They have a small beton-block far outside of Varna. You cannot reach that point with anything but a taxi. It is really in the middle of nowhere. Its basically a gigant field of old road with a smal house in front of it. Good luck!

But they do have a shedule, dont they? YES they had. But they were not matching the times. Last time I had a look on them, the ship was about 10 day's late. They don't tell you about that - but the international Navigation Satelite map for fessels told me. Imagine, arriving there and nobody is there. Nobody tells you anything. You are just lost.

Never got an reply to any email to them. You could call an Bulgarian cellphone number. Good luck with reaching someone on that!

I found some blog entries from others that had been on that ship. The most awesome line was 'And in the big room where we all had to spend our days was one TV where truckers where watching porn DVD's they had onto them. Too sad, that I had not saved that url :/

To be honest? I loved everything about that! It is so crazy apeshit. I would had loved to cross via Navbul. But too sad: They stopped the service in January 2024 :(

pbm Black Sea Ferry Services

(homepage of PBM - we are professional!)

So basically there is only one last company that offers shipping of private people over the black Sea. Only one. That is so crazy if you keep in mind how big the black Sea is.

PBM has a fixed schedule over the black Sea (each weekend from Burgas to Batumi) and an email adress where you actually can reach someone.

The office is not on the end of the world, but the company is not registered on any bigger selling platform. You want to 'book'? Then write an E-Mail. If you do that, they will reply that you should write again one week before the ship is moving. If you do THAT, they literally just write an Postit with your name one it.

Next step is to go to their office, on the day of departure before 6pm, and pay for the ticket. No cards. Cash. Euros are perfect. If you miss 6pm the reservation is void and you must hope that you still can hop on Board.

Even thought that the ship should leave on Fr Evening - They are ready when they are ready. I heard thats never before 10pm or 11pm. Sometimes even on the next day. Be prepared!

Otherwise. It seems to be okay there. The tickets start with 200€. All cabins are for four people. If you want to be alone PAY for it. They sell Wifi Access on the Burgas Office, but I wont bet, that it really works.

Yeah

I cant put in words how many days I spend collecting Info 'bout the ferries and how trustworthy they are. This is where adventure starts ;)

You could also spend the money on this plastic wall-picture of spiderman!

[locustheologicus]

Misinformation about Migrants and the Border Debunked 

There are so many lies and misinformation that are being put out there regarding the migrant issue. I am addressing some of these intentional attempts to spread lies and misinformation in order to correct this, Robert Reich offers this video addressing the issue including the infamous charges on drugs and crime that the conservative media loves to blame on immigrants. Exaggerations and intentional misinformation is what he uncovers in this short video. As you can imagine these misrepresented claims are coming from Republican talking points. 

Biden does not want to secure the border: NO! Republicans have actually voted to cut spending bills on border security and infamously blocked passage of the 106 Billion National Security Supplemental that included 14.5 Billion for Border funding.

Drug Crisis is resulting from Migrants: NO! 90% of drugs that come from acroos the border have come through official ports of entry. 86% of people convicted of traficking fentanyl are U.S. citizens.    

Undocumented Migrants are terrorist: NO! No terrorist attack has been committed by somebody who crossed the border illegally in the last 50 years. 

Immigrants are stealing American jobs: NO! The surge is not increasing unemployment as undocumented immigrants or asylees are not taking jobs that Americans want. The 6 construction workers who died with the Baltimore Bridge collapse were all immigrants and they are a witness to studies recognizing that Hispanic workers are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to die on the job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with construction being a particularly deadly industry.

Blame crime on Immigrants: NO! A 2020 study found that undocumented immigrants have substantially lower crime rates than native born citizens and legal immigrants. Americas homicide rate has fallen 13% since 2022, notwithstanding the immigration surge. Local law enforcement agencies are reporting drops in other violent crimes.   

There are some other items I also want to highlight. Our Catholic Charities team is seeing about 200 migrants a week and what we witness is extreme poverty and brutal hardship. The conservative media is making it seem that the government and agencies like our own are giving tremendous financial assistance that rewards new arrivals while poor Americans (and lets be honest, the conservative media has never cared about the poor but they love to pit them against others) struggle with no assistance. These are absolute lies as I will demonstrate below.  

Did Biden sign an Executive Order (9066) that gives migrants who illegally enter US $5K visa gift cards? No!

This is based on a video caption put forward by Mark Lamb, who was running for the Senate, He made these wild financial assertions. Luckily, Snopes uncovered the real story:

There is no truthful information contained within this caption... The mention of Executive Order 9066 jumped out at us immediately for two reasons: First, it is probably the most infamous executive order signed in the history of the United States; and second, it was signed in World War II and has absolutely nothing to do with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Then there is the lie that in NYC credit cards or exorbitant debit cards are given to these new arrivals (which the conservative media prefers to call “illegals”). Here are two stories clarifying this:

AP:  Migrants in New York City will receive prepaid debit cards, not credit cards, for designated goods

USA Today: New York debit cards for migrant families provide about $13 per person daily | Fact check

The fact checker here shows that meagre basic assistance is offered to assist with basic food and infant needs. 

The cards are a possible replacement for non-perishable food boxes the city currently provides to migrants. They will be loaded with an average of $12.52 per person, per day for 28 days.

As these migrants do not have access to the benefits that Americans do have attempting to pit one group (Veterans, the poor) against another (the migrants) is completely insincere and unjust. $12.52 is pittance here in NYC, it just allows us to help them sustain themselves, these are families who live in shelters and have nothing beyond a backpack that they call there own. They are desperately trying to work in order to become sustainable and to obtain some semblance of stability. It is good that the city offers these meagre assistance but it is criminal for the conservative media to intentionally spread falsehoods in order to spread fear, hatred, and sow division.  

The assertions that Kayleigh McEnany has been making have been particularly troublesome. Please do not take her at face value, instead recognize the fact that she has a particular agenda which is not to investigate the truth. Instead she support a particular political agenda and is willing to sow fear and division against good people who would normally support the poor and marginalized community. 

[mytruthandbeauty]

8, April 2023

In the past money had always been a problem for me and raising a family I was always broke. I always worked and sometimes held two jobs and my spouse worked as well, but we were never able to save. So money became a problem yet again in Montreal. After I found out I couldn’t apply for refugee status I considered a retirement visa as an alternative, but my income was insufficient to meet the government’s standards, so I had no choice, but to leave. My trans friend had suggested she could hook me up and I could become a bride of “convenience” but that didn’t sit right with me, so I declined her offer. Another acquaintance I had made while staying at a hostel told me I could just stay at his place and he would also help me find a doctor, because you need a doctor in Canada to get your medications as they require Canadian prescriptions. I declined his offer as well as I didn’t get the impression that the arrangement would be legal and I didn’t want to become an illegal alien in Canada as I did have family back in the states I wanted to see again, so I didn’t want to be stuck there. I’m mentioning all this to show that there are always ways, no matter how desperate things may appear, available to you to accomplish your goal of getting to a better situation in life. It’s a question of which is best for you. I returned to the states, but my determination had not waned in fact as I have already stated it had never been greater. I hadn’t yet accomplished my dream, but I had learned from the attempt, so I didn’t view it as a failure just a temporary set back.

New Orleans was still the same, I actually found an apartment in my old building. It was a tiny empty roach infested over-priced studio three levels up from the ground with no elevator, but it had a couple of large airy windows, so I moved in. The best feature of this unit was its proximity to Magazine Street where all the shopping was located and in the other direction Saint Charles Avenue ran and with it the streetcar line, that trolley could take you either to the CBD and the French Quarter on one end or Audubon Park and the Uptown neighborhood at the other end of the line. There were aspects of New Orleans that I loved liked the colorful shotgun houses, the antebellum mansions, the weather minus the hurricanes and the profusion of flowering bougainvillea‘s. I didn’t like the ever increasing housing prices, the fact that the closest grocery store was a mile away, the awful public transport, the forever being misgendered and the shameless intrusive behavior of some of the people. Oh and let me not forget, the lingering racism expressed by some whites like when a couple, when seeing my approach decided that it was better for them to cross the street, so as to not cross paths with me. I made it my business to observe them to see if they went into one of the nearby buildings or into a parked car, no they continued down the street for some distance, so I knew they just wanted to get away from me. And some white people to this day have the audacity to tell me that racism doesn’t exist. Things like this made me miss my time in Montreal and made me refocus my efforts to determine where could I go to permanently escape this place of endless psychological warfare, that didn’t seem to ever get any better.