#but we get so many fake american bills going through that we had to get them
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I was showing a new associate how to process transactions when a customer wants to pay with foreign currency, and the american customer was very confused that we considered their currency foreign.
New associate: hey [Neil], what do I do if a customer is paying USD?
Me: okay, so first you're going to select foreign currency on the till, then USD, then type in the amount they've given you like you would normally
Customer: excuse me, it's not foreign currency
Me: we're not in america, so it is, in fact, considered foreign currency
Customer: but it's valid tender
Me: yes I know, however, because you're in a different country and we use a different currency, we have to process USD as foreign currency in our till so it will apply the exchange rate to the transaction and give you the correct change
Customer: but I don't understand why it's foreign currency, [other country that is also not america] takes it
This person simply could not get it through their head that yes, if you are outside america and paying with USD that it is considered a foreign currency
#they were also annoyed that I used the tester pen on their bills#but we get so many fake american bills going through that we had to get them#and we test every single one that comes through#because none of us are super familiar with american money and it's hard to tell real from fake#ace.txt
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VOyage Through the Disney Canon(1950-1959)
Now we enter the 50's looking at films 12-16
5.Cinderella-While this fiolm has grown on me this is not a movie I love .I like Cinderella herself finding her to be a sympathetic chararacter,Lady Tremain is a subtle yet creepy villain with how manipulative she is ,Verna Felton is fun as the Fairy Godmother,Lucifer is a fun secondary villain and the animation is pretty ......Problem is I dont like most of the side character and unfortunately they take up most of the movie.The prince is barely a character ,the king is a psychopath who I find more frightening then funny ,and ogh GOD ,I cant stand the mice,they are so grating to me and they are in so much of the movie I kind of wanted the cat to eat them .I get their are people who love this film,glad you like it,but their are better Cinderella films to me
4.Alice in Wonderland :I debated how high to put this film cause I do like it but I dont love it like others do .I love Alice herself who is played brillaintly by Katheryn Beaumont ,the Mad Tea Party scene is one of the funniest scenes of the Walt era due to the animation and vocal performances ofEd Wynn and Jerry Colona ,This is a great showcase for Disney regulars ,like J PAt O Malley showing his range as Tweedledee and Tweedle Dum/Walrus and Carpenter ,Bill Thompson is wonderfully pompous as the Dodo ,Sterling Holloway is great as the Cheshire Cat,and Verna Felton is scene stealingly good as the Queen of Hearts .As a film it is fun to see Disney get weird with great visuals (Hasts off to Mary Blaire ).....However I dont like the songs ,I never liked this takeon the Carterpiller,and while Bill Thompson is great as the Dodo I never thought his voice for the White Rabbit worked .I also think as an adaptation of the Alice stories go,its just a good version and not my favorite (the 99 TV movie is probably the winner there )
3.Peter Pan:So this was one of my favorites as a kid ,then I had a backlash to it ,now I like it but acknowledge it is flawed .Flaws first,the depiction of Native American ,specifically their song is really cringy and racist .....But now that I think about it,that is my biggest issue.I used to have a problem with Peter himself ,findinhim too unlikeable.....But honest this maybe my favorite version of Peter,now that I realize Peter isnt supposed to be likeable ,and in fact I think Bobby DRiscoll does a fine job balancing being both impishly charming and being smugly arrogant ,and I love the animation of him,how he will just float around.Katheryne Beaumont grounds the movie as Wendy,and I kind of love that Tinkerbell who has become a mascot for the company is a murderous little sociopath .I love the character animation of Nana the Dog ,the action is great,Smee maybe bBill Thopmpsons best role and the film has many great jokes.The scene stealer of the film has to be Captain Hook who is one of my absolute favorite Walt era villains ,he is threatening,he is stylish,he is funny and he is marveolusly voiced by the great Hans Conried ,I love his scenes with Smee,his duels with Peter and the hilarious chase scenes between him and Tick Tock the Croc who wants to gobble him up .I'll admit part of me might be putting this film this high for a mix of the villain and nostalgia....But I really like it
2.Lady and the Tramp:This canine romance is higher then I thought it would be but I love this movie ,bioth Lady and Tramp are likeable ,I love the side characters like Jock,Trusty,Boris (Whos played by Alan Reed AKA Fred Flinstone ),Peg,Joe and Tony .The songs are all good,the animation is solid ,voice acting is good and yeah the speghetti scene is iconic.I dont like the fake out near the end and yeah Si and Am suck .However the main love story make this one enjoyable for me
1.Sleeping Beauty-....SO this is my second favorite Film of Walts era ,and might be my favorite of the Princess movies .I like the trivk it pulld by the film being basically about the fairies instead of the Princess .I actually like Aurora and Phillip ,I love the ballet score ,the art style is beautiful,the kings are funny,Once Upon A DReam is one of my favorite Disney songs and the final battle against the dragon is awesome .Maleficent is a MAGNIFICENT VILLAIN voiced wonderfully by Elanore Audley whose true plan is one oif my favorite evil plans ever and she is wonderfully designed and animated by Marc Davis .My favorite characters however are the heroes ,that is to say the fairies,Flora,Fauna and Merryweather who are so fun and lovable (Though Merryweather is my favorite )
Agree ,disagree,comment and share your oppinion
@ariel-seagull-wings @amalthea9 @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @princesssarisa @the-blue-fairie @makingboneboy @themousefromfantasyland @filmcityworld1
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There a lot of racists in this country but if you really believe every single trump voter is a racist and voted based on only that, then we will not agree ever and there’s no point continuing the discussion.
Trump made huge gains with Latinos and black Americans talking about jobs and cultural issues. Are they racist too? Is everybody racist? Construction companies openly pay less to immigrants, so working class Americans lost the few jobs still available for them in our country. Is this racist? Maybe, just maybe, if democrats had dedicated their time in the last few decades making sure we had functional unions available to all, companies would have to pay the same good salary to everyone equally and there would not be a financial advantage in hiring desperate people and letting Americans with nothing.
Full employment? Where? Paying how much? Do people here understand there is a fucking huge country between cities and the coasts? Listen to our moderator here, she makes less than $24K! A big majority of our country makes very little money and has to really hustle to survive and pay bills and take care of their family. Yes, some are able to see the forest through the trees and understand republicans suck and don’t care about them at all (kudos to you TP), but many more don’t, they are too worried trying to make their meagre salary pay for groceries and THEY FUCKING VOTE.
This attitude pisses me off so much, because I WAS PERSONALLY working to elect Kamala. Not online, not behind my computer, in person, talking to people with little money and almost no hope. Non-paid work, every single day. And it’s fucking hard to convince people to give a chance to somebody who they saw as a incumbent, part of a government that didn’t do anything against inflation, and that believes we should bring more people in, that this same government is on their side. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I have to ask, how many people reading here really went out to red or purple areas once in their lives and talked and really listened to real people.
I will say again, racism, sexism, religion, hate, whatever exists and is the base of Trump party. These people are not enough to elect him, and I will die on this hill. Democrats need to leave their cities and coast, stop watching Maddox and never read Twitter again and GO TO THE swing states every fucking day and week and year and listen to what the people are complaining about, and find solutions to those problems that are still within the democrat umbrella, but offer solutions to THEIR problems, not Twitter fake issues.
And let’s stop with the gaslighting that cultural issues are racist when one example I’m talking about is trans issues that became mainstream ONLY when impacted trans WHITE PRIVILEGED woman. Give me a break.
Sorry TP, but I’m really upset with the worst D loss in many decades and their reaction of blaming everybody else but them.
And by the way, I’m very disappointed with PSA, they should have a pod last night, even if a short one. Are we all fighting this together or not?
I agree with everything you said. They should have had a pod last night. I 100% agree. I don't know why they didn't. Its worrisome. But maybe they'll explain it today when they record.
It's almost 7 am and I got out of my bed. So progressive? Next step breakfast. Then I'm gonna drown myself into films until the guys release a pod late in the fucking afternoon because they have to do everything on pacific time.
Does anyone know how to get money out of investments without tax penalties? I wouldn't have invested so much of my money from my dad if I thought in a million years this would happen.
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Here’s a few more I forgot to put in the original post:
There’s a total InfoWarrior who comes in to bum wifi off us. His car is plastered with shit like “Arrest Fauci” and “Alex Jones was right” plastered all over the car it looks like he lives out of.
A mean old lady who has harassed me for years, doing everything from cussing me out to throwing change at me. The managers refuse to ban her.
A cool dude with a cowboy hat who smokes a long pipe and always tells me to “have a blessed day.” One of my favs.
A nice old lady who always had to get coffee for her asshole boss.
An old Vietnam vet who asked me during fair week, “you get a lot of fairies coming through?” When I expressed confusion, he got annoyed and said, “I don’t mean fairies as in queers, I mean as in fairgoers!”
Another Vietnam vet, this one with a hat that read “Agent Orange.”
A customer who was so annoyed by the guy behind him he paid for and took the guy’s food.
A lady who left forty bucks and paid off a half dozen cars behind her with it.
A guy who said the number denoting a meal, rattled off a minute’s worth of customization before ending with “just the entree.” I work at a fast food restaurant and had no idea what I was talking about, so I confirmed he wanted just the burgers, but he kept smugly correcting me with “just the entree.” When I repeatedly tried to confirm, he said, “Are you ok?” in the most condescending tone.
A lady who was mad about something and tried to throw a can at a coworker (it hit the window thankfully). I turned around and threw her drink in her face.
A guy who was covered in growths that made him look demonic, but he had “God’s Not Dead” on his back window. He never once spoke to me.
Speaking of old people who refuse to acknowledge my existence, there’s another old man regular who gives me the silent treatment so much he paid for the wrong order and held up the line for at least five minutes. I’ve made sure to make his food as expensive as possible since.
A lady who my wife and I always seem to get stuck behind while driving or parking, she has a bumper sticker that says “I support traditional marriage” and another with a fake George Washington quote about God.
A customer who was going to call the cops on me because I accidentally handed her a fake ten without realizing it. She said I was suspicious because I folded the money… which I do so I don’t drop change.
A lady who refused to reach far enough to give me the money when we had plastic screen during Covid that made it hard for me to get out the window. She did an over the top fake scream while handing me cash to try and guilt me; I almost laughed.
A lady who pulled up and rudely responded when I read off her order, so I handed her back her card and deleted her order. She dropped her card, honked repeatedly, slammed on my window, but I ignored her.
A guy in a company van who was a regular until one day he said “I love you, guy.” Ne er saw him again after that.
A drunk guy who has a fit because management thought he was stealing our American flag.
These guys who threw rocks at the window because I wasn’t serving them (I was taking an order from another customer) and then tried to accuse me of being rude to them to them.
An old guy who regularly sits in the lobby pet a baby’s head on his way to leave. The dad asked a moment later, “Did that guy just touch our kid?”
SO MANY CUSTOMERS making a big stink over how we don’t accept bills over twenty dollar bills. Some even insist we totally do during the night (we don’t) or that a manager said it was okay (they didn’t).
A lady with a van plastered with conspiracy theory stickers, including a NASA logo that says “LIES.” I worry about her children.
Working on fast food I’ve met a lot of different people, especially when I worked overnights. Here are some of the customers I remember the best (some of them I still see around):
An actual Nazi with a swastika tattooed on his thumb. I always make sure he’s charged more when he comes through.
A guy who asked me to cum in his ice cream.
Two seperate old guys who harassed me while I used the bathroom. One gif banned for being racist to the cashiers up front, the other one tried to break into my stall.
A tired, bruised woman who seemed a bit on edge. There was a guy passed out next to her in the car. She told me to keep the change (it was a lot) and drove off. I never saw her again.
A woman who broke down sobbing because her daughter who had recently died of cerebral palsy loved the rain, and it was raining out.
A man who pulled up while on the phone and loudly shouted into it, “What do you mean I have AIDS?! …Is it the good kind?”
A dude on drugs who choked me against a wall because he thought I made a pass at his sister, smashed a window, got into a fistfight with a manager, and begged the cops to beat him to death when they showed up.
A couple who were exceptionally rude and harassed me, then tried to stalk me home. They got banned.
A drag queen who always wanted extra sauce. I gave it to them free even though the store I was at charged for it.
A kid with a confederate flag hat or shirt (this was over a decade ago, I can’t remember which). I gave him free sauce because I felt bad for him. If I saw him today, I’d charge him twice.
An anti-vaxxer who flipped out because we couldn’t do half hot, half iced water, got out of her car, and demanded to know what my problem was.
The main character of life, who came at a busy time, honked at everyone, and demanded I get a manager to move the line somehow.
A lady with massive breasts that were practically exploding out of her shirt who complained to a manager I was rude to her because I explained how a coupon worked.
A customer whose order was exactly correct, still asked for a manager, and then complained to the manager how I was rude because he overheard me explain to the manager I wasn’t sure what the problem was.
An old man who frequented the drive thru and was entirely innocuous until the day he harassed a woman to the point she was in tears and shaking.
An old guy who consistently pays for his order entirely with change and always drives off before I can count it. He is consistently short ten to twenty cents.
A man who insisted we served pizza.
A guy who tried to order lo mein.
A nice, sweet old Asian man whose initials are “KKK.” He’s one of my favorite customers.
A person whose name is “Barbarian.” Another favorite.
A person named “Icelyn Snow.” Yet another favorite.
A woman who comes through with her cats. Another fav.
A lady who came through with her pet skunk.
A guy with a bearded dragon in his cup holder.
An old man who held the line up for ten minutes because we don’t accept any bills over twenties. He insisted we legally had to and refused to budge even after two managers and I explained the rules to him, and who we had to walk around to get other customers. He finally left after the police were called.
A bunch of kids who jumped a teen in the lobby and ripped her earring out. There was blood on the floor.
A guy who tried to come through while being chased by cops. He caused an officer to chip a wall with their car before escaping.
A guy wit a studded hat that said “Hentai” with an ahegao seat cover to go with it.
A guy who insisted the confederacy weren’t losers and that they were making a comeback.
A guy who tried to hustle us out of ten bucks. I caught him, but he kept insisting I owed him money. He came back months later still yelling about it; I pretended to not know what he was talking about.
A man who came back through after being given sweet tea he was told was sweetened artificially (he and his wife were diabetic). Despite having to take his wife to the hospital due to high blood sugar, all he wanted was his tea fixed and an apology. I apologized profusely. My coworker insisted he was lying for free stuff.
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Ranboo: Do you want me to just reading random- Do you want me to just- I'm gonna just start texting you
Tubbo: Yeah, just start texting me random input on the space
Ranboo: *texts Tubbo*
Tubbo: "Microwave explode"? Yo, thank you. "This is awesome"? Ok, stop texting me now. You didn't even respond to my message I sent you this morning
Ranboo: That's 'cause I was asleep!
Tubbo: Yeah, but like.. *sigh* Maybe I should just go live on instagram
Ranboo: Eughhh!
Tubbo: What? Is that cringe?
Ranboo: Yes
Tubbo: Maybe I should just go live on TikTok
Ranboo: Ahhh! Ahhh!
Tubbo: Is that cringier? Is that- *laughs*
Ranboo: *laughs* You go "Is that cringe" to Instagram and your next one is TikTok
Tubbo: *laughs*
Ranboo: I can make fun of it 'cause that's where I was born
Tubbo: Pffft!
Ranboo: I was born there/on TikTok [?]
Tubbo: Do you ever look at someone and wonder what's going inside their head?
Ranboo: I was- I was born on TikTok [?]
Tubbo: *starts playing the piano* You gotta remember your roots
Tubbo: I want my grand piano back, electric piano is cringe
Ranboo: *coughs* [unintelligible]
Tubbo: He just- He just decides "Oh I'm going to spit my germs around the room"
Ranboo: Yep!
Tubbo: *giggles* Wow, wow. You're a bad- I suppose you're anti-vax as well while we're at it
Ranboo: I am literally- I am literally vaccinated
Tubbo: I'm not allowed to be vaccinated, leave me alone!
Ranboo: That's just a major L for you then
Tubbo: Ahhhh
Ranboo: You're/Keep on getting coughed on!
Tubbo: *starts to play the piano intensely*
Ranboo: That's what happens when you're not vaccinated, people will come up to you and cough
Tubbo: That is a terrible sentence. I despise everything about that sentence
Ranboo: *laughs*
Tubbo: *plays The Owl House theme song, then switches to City of Stars*
Ranboo: Ughhh
Tubbo: So..
Ranboo: Oh my gosh!
Tubbo: What?
Ranboo: I just found more food to order
Tubbo: Nooo! Oh my god, if I get one more Amazon box arrive at my door and it's like a 25 large sized bars of Rice Krispies treats or fucking those shitty cheese squares that you haven't even eaten I'm gonna lose it
Ranboo: It's ding dongs
Tubbo: What the fuck is a ding dong?! That sounds like slang for a dick! You're literally eating dick!
Ranboo: *laughs* I am not! Jesus Christ
Tubbo: Why!
Ranboo: That is so far from what it is
Tubbo: What is it with all this fucking BS American food! Twinkies? Oh yeah, let me just-
Ranboo: I didn't get those actually. I don't know where those came from
Tubbo: Where did the Twinkies come from!?
Ranboo: I'm gonna be entirely honest..
Tubbo: Where the fuck did they come from!?
Ranboo: ..I have no idea where those came from. I did not order- That is not what I ordered
Tubbo: Look, you've got your-you've got your Cheez-It's and your Twinkies and your fucking ding dongs. I'm gonna f- I'm gonna blow some shit up
Ranboo: Sorry, I'll make sure to order a plain cheese pizza the next time
Tubbo: Honestly, that would be so much- I'm actually- I've been really healthy. So far I've had a fruit pop for breakfast
Ranboo: That's good. I had.. *silence*
Tubbo: You haven't had breakfast yet
Ranboo: I haven't- I haven't eaten yet
Tubbo: You haven't eaten yet today, and your first meal of the day will be Taco Bell
Ranboo: No, it won't!
Tubbo: Will it not? Oh
Ranboo: Why do you think- Taco Bell doesn't even deliver here!
Tubbo: *sighs* Fair enough
Ranboo: Why would it- Why- Mkay..
Tubbo: American
Ranboo: I know that the algorithm on Amazon works too well because it was [unintelligible]
Tubbo: *starts playing City of Stars again* Oh no
Tubbo: City of staaars.. *laughs* That song- It kind of annoys me, I'll be honest
Ranboo: I'm looking at- I'm looking at the, um.. I'm looking at your- the Tubbo space hashtag and someone just sent this, like, chart of, like, eye colour but it is, like, the most low res thing that I have ever seen
Tubbo: But I don't know- I think my eyes change colour depending on what I'm wearing, I'll be honest. Is that weird? Because everyone on twitter asks me "Ah yes what is your eye colour" and I'm like "Uhh how the fuck am I supposed to know" and then
Ranboo: My eye colour is [?]
Tubbo: Then I went through a bunch of like- I went through a bunch of, uh.. like, old photos of me and they just change colour depending on how sunny it is, what I'm wearing.. like.. Yeah, so, I don't know
Ranboo: *laughs*
Tubbo: What?
Ranboo: Nothing
Tubbo: What?
Ranboo: *loudly typing* It's time to listen
Tubbo: Time to listen to what?
Ranboo: To my music, I'm just gonna listen to my music
Tubbo: You're not gonna listen to me? Listen to me. Stop dancing. Knock that off. Yo, keep your clothes on! Woah, why are you so- *laughs* sorry
Ranboo: Why do you do this!
Tubbo: 'Cause it's funny, 'cause there's no video
Ranboo: Why do you- why do you do this
Tubbo: and.. and there's no video
Ranboo: What did I- What did I ever do? Nothing
Tubbo: *laughs*
Tubbo: *reads something about chip shops?*
Tubbo: Why do people keep sending me, like, soviet bunnies as well? I don't wanna see bunnies from soviet Russia. What's with the soviet Russia bunnies?
Tubbo: Thoughts on him? Bill Cypher? Pretty fun loving lad- Why did you just mention me and write "awesome"?
Ranboo: I didn't- No, it's a response to a tweet
Tubbo: Oh
Tubbo: *sees Michael fan art* "Oink! Hello father" Oh, I see
Ranboo: Just buff Michael
Tubbo: Buff- *laughs* He went to prison from lack of parent supervision and he came out buff, oh no! Oh no! *laughs*
Ranboo: What do you mean lack of parent supervision? I'm gonna go brush my teeth
Tubbo: Oh ok.. Bye
[Video cuts directly to when Ranboo comes back]
Tubbo: Hello. You seem hollow. Your mother is here? Wait, I shouldn't have read that out. You just texted me that so I didn't read it- Ok, well.. She's here guys!
Ranboo: Ahhh! Why!
Tubbo: She's here!
Ranboo: There's a reason-
Tubbo: She's here! *laughs* Just thought I'd let you know! *laughs* She's raring to go! That's awfully exciting..
[Video cuts again to the next beeduo clip]
Tubbo: Guys, I want to- How does one get the- What is the max people that have been in a single space, like, ever?
Ranboo: I own the number two spot for that!
Tubbo: Do you? How many was it?
Ranboo: Yeah. It was during MCC, it was 36k I think
Tubbo: 36- guys, can we get 38k please?
Ranboo: *fakes being angry* Can't you let me have anything!? *laughs*
Tubbo: Wh- Ok, Mr. 100k subs, Jesus
Ranboo: I don't- I got that once
Tubbo: Twice
Ranboo: It was six times actually..
Tubbo: SIX TIMES!? Oh my god, ok..
Ranboo: Alright... Goodbye space people!
Tubbo: Bye!
Ranboo: Goodbye!
Tubbo: Bye! Leave
Ranboo: I'm leaving the U.K. actually
Tubbo: He's not
Ranboo: *laughs* I'm not.. Wouldn't that be just terrible?
Tubbo: You just said bye and left..
Ranboo: The whole time everyone thought that I was going in, like, October but then I actually just straight up just leave..
Tubbo: You wanna go home?
Ranboo: ..in the middle of August
Tubbo: You can just leave.. get out!
Ranboo: Ok..
Tubbo: Pffft
Ranboo: Bye!
Tubbo: Bye!
[Video cuts again to the next beeduo clip]
Ranboo: I'm back from the U.S.!
Tubbo: Oh, what did you forget?
Ranboo: My- my beloved locket
Tubbo: *mocks American Accent* and the AirPods *laughs*
Ranboo: Yes
Tubbo: Have you told them what you've called your AirPods? The name of them?
Ranboo: Oh yeah, no, it's because basically, right, if you put a slash and then an asterisk at the end of a word it will bleep it out, so, right, me of course being young I thought that was the funniest thing to have that. So whenever Siri said my name she would just go like "You [beep]" so I thought that was funny. So it's like beeping noise, yeah
Tubbo: Oh, I see. So is that why mine do that as well?
Ranboo: I guess so, yeah
Tubbo: Yeah
Ranboo: Yeah.. yeah..
Tubbo: I see.. So..
Ranboo: I'm gonna go now
Tubbo: Bye, again!
Ranboo: Bye! Back to the U.S. I go!
Tubbo: There's no "E" in Tubbo.. Just throwing it out there..
#beeduo#bee duo meetup#meetup#meet up#beeduo meetup#ranboo#tubbo#tubso#ranboosaysstuff#ranboo mcyt#ranboolive#tubbo underscore#tubbo mcyt#tubbo stream#ranboo and tubbo#uk#uk trip#ranboo uk#ranboo tubbo uk#uk meetup#mcyt#dsmp#dream smp#minecraft smp#tubbolive#bee duo#ranboo my beloved#tubbo my beloved#ranboo stream#beeduo my beloved
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HOW DOES THE LAUNDERING SCHEME WORK?
In 4x14 Dave and Phoebe explained to the girls how Nick and Rio’s system works. Which left the girls looking like:
And maybe some of you too.
Dave already gives the TL;DR explanation. What starts with street crime like drug dealings, petty theft and carjacking, moves up to counterfeiting and extortion. From there it goes to washing, laundering and contracts. Those contracts come from shell companies Nick owns, that get distributed to the legit companies to realize projects he gets approved by the city council. Easy enough right? 1. Stripper Heel: Street crime: Petty theft, drug deals, carjacking. 2. Cutlet: Counterfeit and washing through Sweet P’s. 3. Bills: Counterfeit Canadian money goes to Canada, and comes back clean (Dave uses a physical bill, but that doesn’t have to be the case.) 4. Nipple pasties: Laundering through companies like construction, electrics, materials. So the IRS wont drop by and ask any questions. 5. The Banker: Additional money comes in through those companies paying a monthly fee for protection. - This is where Rio’s work stops and Nick’s begins - 6. Body glitter and thongs: Laundering from point 4 happens because those companies get contracts from shell companies which are owned by Nick (or likely a patsy). 7. These shell companies are hired by the city for projects Nick gets approved. With these projects Nick can make money by undervaluing the construction, or he can bribe someone (say, a politician – likely if he intends to move up his political career) by overvaluing the project. Let’s break that down: 1. Street crimes, drug deals, carjacking, etc. We know Rio deals pills aside from the counterfeit business. Does he still do that? Ehh, lets just assume he does. Maybe he has some other shady businesses running too, we don’t know. Point is, this is the stage where money and goods come in that are needed for the girls to create the counterfeit. For the American money this is the source for the one dollar bills the girls mushed up to create the bigger bills. For the Canadian money this cash is likely used to pay legit suppliers under the table that legally place larger orders than they need for bleach, nail polish, and whatever else they need to make those bills.
2. Counterfeiting and washing through Sweet P’s. These are two different things that happen in the same physical place. We know that the girls use the back room to create counterfeit, I don’t think any of us need any explanation for that. Supplies are delivered by Rio and his boys, the girls create the counterfeit, and they exchange these and their cuts on set times during their drops. And, finally, finally, bless us all, the girls own a service-based business. Unlike Boland Motors and Boland Bubbles, that work with buying in goods and selling those directly to customers – Sweet P’s delivers a service to a customer. The big difference is that in both BM and BB there is a physical trail for law enforcement to follow (cars and hot tubs), while in Sweet P’s one cannot suddenly uncover a fake lap dance, because those are obviously intangible. There’s a reason a lot of real life washing goes through massage salons, barbers, phone repair stores, tanning salons, car repair shops – service-based with lots of cash payments. Those stores should be legit, because they act like a front. Sweet P’s is a legit business; it has employees, taxes are paid, all the works. But because it delivers a service there’s a few loop holes, I’ll get back to that in a sec. Because, what is the money that they are washing and how do they do it? First of all, it’s not the counterfeit Canadian money. But The Banker receives a lot of unexplainable money every month from extortion, money that one can’t deposit on a bank account, because what will the IRS think of that? In comes a business like Sweet P’s. One that can easily say that on a night they had 10 private rooms booked, even if in reality it was only five. It’s all paid in cash, so there’s no trace. So now the dirty crime money sits all white and clean on Sweet P’s bank account. That’s of no use to Nick as it is, because he can’t hire Sweet P’s to get back his money, that’s the opposite cashflow that he wants. In this case Sweet P’s will need to get a contract from one of Nick’s shell companies from point 6, so they pay him the money. Judging by Dave’s examples these shell companies are likely building constructors, so in theory the girls would “hire” one of those to “remodel” the bathroom. But the construction never happens, only they still pay the bill. Washing can obviously not go through Sweet P’s alone, I can imagine Nick and Rio manage a lot of different businesses that work through a similar construction. 3. Counterfeit Canadian money goes to Canada, and comes back clean. Okay, so we’ve seen one way this goes down: The girls drive the money over the border themselves, delivering (or, well, intending to) it to some kinds of middle-man over there. For the sake of that episode it looks like a lot of trouble, but I can imagine if you have customs officer in your pocket it will go a whole lot easier. Lets not pretend there’s no one working there that could use a bit of extra cash to let them pass without a search. We know how Rio had the American cash washed from how it went at Fine & Frugal. His boys delivered Boomer with a bag of fake cash (and a fee for Boomer himself for his troubles), and he switched out the real cash that came in for fake cash. The fake cash goes to the bank, the real cash goes back to Rio. It’s a swap, easy as that. Whoever receives the counterfeit from the girls must run a similar scheme in Canada, so the fake cash becomes real cash. Now we made real Canadian money, but it’s still across the border, so how does it come back? There’s three ways the money can come back: cash, digital or exchanged for materials. If it’s cash the legit Canadian money must be exchanged for legit American money. Which, honestly, sounds like a lot of labor. I doubt this is how it comes back because it takes a lot of time, people, various exchange points, and is the most liable from all the options. If it’s digital Nick must have shell companies and/or legit companies based in Canada to hire his American shell companies so they can digitally transfer the money. The cash will get washed like the example I gave for Sweet P’s, wiring that cash ‘legally’ to the Canadian companies account. So they can safely pay the contract they have with the American shell company. If it’s goods I can imagine Nick uses his shell companies, or more likely legit companies. For example, if Nick owns a tile-store in America, and washes trough a Kitchen & Bathroom store in Canada – he can have the latter overpay the former (The worth of the tiles he sends is below the worth on the contract) so the cash flows back to him. But! There’s also another option. If he buys property in Canada with cash, and resells that for digital money, it can flow back to the shell company too. And if he doesn’t need the money right away he could buy property in cash, rent it out, and wash the money like that – this even creates a steady cash flow. !! 5. The Banker: Additional money comes in through those companies paying a monthly fee for protection. I’ll tackle this point first before I start 4, 6 and 7. So, from the episode The Banker we can get a good impression what kind of businesses pay for protection. Many if not all are warehouses, looking like they are companies like in point 4 (see below). Or, like the one Penny’s mom owns, an electrical company. All kinds of companies Nick’s shell companies might use for various projects (point 6). Another thing that might be going on is that these companies are involved with other parts of the crime system. Like Boland Motors wasn’t just a way to launder money, but they also received the cars with the drugs. Paying the protection secures the warehouse from retaliating from law enforcement or other gangs that might try to steal this (both Nick and Rio can put their network on that). And secures them contracts for doing work tied to the City. 4. Laundering through companies like construction, electrics, materials. So the IRS won’t drop by and ask any questions. 6. Body glitter and thongs: Laundering from point 4 happens because those companies get contracts from shell companies* which are owned by Nick (or likely a patsy). 7. These shell companies are hired by the city for projects Nick gets approved. With these projects Nick can make money by undervaluing the construction, or he can bribe someone (say, a politician – likely if he intends to move up his political career) by overvaluing the project. Point 4, 6 and 7 are very closely connected, so I will try to explain this for the outcome of Nick earning money himself. For example, say Nick proposes a new project to the council: Building a new school. (He needs at least four votes in favor, including his own. Having Beth on the council obviously increases his chances of getting a project through, because he assumes she’ll sway towards his choices.) If the project gets a go the City of Detroit will need to hire a company to do the building plans and construction – Nick will make it happen that this goes through his shell company. And the shell company will hand out contracts to the companies listed under point 4. From what we know from Dave’s examples these companies are all ties to construction: electrics, plumbing, materials, and so on. As long as Nick is on the council getting his projects, these businesses have a work guarantee – it’s another reason they pay The Banker. How does Nick make money from that? His shell company will have to present the City with a quotation for the work (before the vote). Lets say this school would cost 30 million to built if it was legit. But that’s not what the shell company will say, they will say it costs 35 million. While 30 million from the city will flow back to all the contracted legit businesses, 5 million will stay with the shell company. Although, it won’t exactly stay there. Nick will have ways to move the money around, invest it, bounce between money mules etc. until it will get lost or find its way back to another shell company. What matters is that he’s using this whole system to rob the city to fund his own career (which, if he has the ambition to maybe become senator or more, which I think is a dead given, he will need a lot of money for in terms of campaigning and whatnot).
Any questions?
#quick disclaimer; am not a lawyer#or law enforcement#but I did a lot of research into this when i got an ask about how the laundering through boland motors worked#which i was still working on when CAME OUT THAT THE GIRLS NEVER SMURFED#so poof went all my hard work because honestly BM is the worst for laundering money#because they can buy the cars with cash#but they won't sell for cash#hardly any used car is payed in full#an overwhelming amount of people have a payment plan with the dealership#(which is - much like the use of credit cards - not really a European thing to do in general)#hot tubs arent a lot better#but because they are more of a high end good they are more often paid in full#thank gawd they have the strip club now!#gg analysis#gg meta#nbc good girls#also if you notice any flaws let me know!
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Hey. I'm Adam, Bubbz, Sam, Atticus, and many other nicknames, pseuds, and screen names, but most people call me Adam or Bubbz. I'm an intersex man, a witch, a reclaiming native guy (oceti sakowin, oglala lakota.) and I like educating people and advocating for healthy communication and thought. I like destigmatizing mental illness, and activism.
Native Americans were skilled with agriculture, far more than Europeans with monocrops
I'm a system. I have DID.
I MADE A GAME! PLAY IT! (This is the alpha version of chapter one)
FREE PALESTINE (NOW)
buy Internet for people in gaza
Anti Zionism is not antisemetism. No, really, it's not.
POISON AI
ART
IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT ME PLEASE FOLLOW MY WORK BLOG FULL OF EVERY CREATIVE ENDEAVOR I TAKE PART IN
My Ko-fi
MY ART STORE/COMMISSION INFO ON CARRD
My N$FM store
Fandom list ("get rid of the part of you that cringes, not the part that's cringe, my son")
Watchlist
Kin list
Kink list (warning: gross and unethical. I'm.. traumatized.)
My theme song!!
Hey there! Did you know I’m a person? If you’re a stupid terf or exclus or 9 year old sending a fucking hate anon, be more original than picking on my kinks like some puritanical conservative! (ง •̀_•́)ง
Fun fact all but one of my kinks go both ways. I'm a true switch. Oh yeah, check out my bsdm test results.
Two separate older black women have told me that I sound black. And also one white boy named Dilan who described my accent as "using ebonics" as if he had a problem with it.
Here's a get-to-know-me collage.
Religion
I'm a witch with Baptist roots and Buddhist beliefs. I like Alan Watts!
Pronouns: He/🍯/🧸/🍃/🐾/🌕
Politics
I'm an anarchocommunist idealistically, but I'd be happy with a capitalistic welfare state like norway, seeing as how, realistically, communism isn't going to be implemented into any country I'm going to live in any time soon. Just as long as the disabled are cared for, I'm happy with it. Antifa and proud.
My environmental wet dream
Fuck scrotus
BMI is meaningless and it's fake science
Shipping "politics"
Stop treating shipping like politic dogma and go touch grass. I'm part of the dead dove society. Meaning, that I go by the old (and updated, for the times.) rules of the fandom, before "antiship" or "proship" was even a thing.
Don't like, don't read.
Tag your dark content properly. Make sure that nobody could possibly stumble on it unless they are looking for it. Do NOT post dark content in the main tags.
Don't harass people for things you don't like. Block and move on.
Don't feel ashamed about complete fictional thoughts about fictional characters.
if you have a dark pairing don't fucking treat it like normal shipping. That's so tone deaf. Post proper warnings about the content.
CAREER and Dreams
I want to do so many things. Most of them involve drawing, or music, or making videos and video games. I'd love to be a successful YouTuber with animations and speed paints and playthroughs and podcasts and reaction videos and political videos.
Trublums
I am actively looking for a job
I have ADHD, DID, and Manic Depression. I have a lot of undiagnosed blood pressure, breathing, and chronic pain issues. My mom is in debt from medical bills, my grandma can hardly afford her insulin and blood sugar sensors. We are not far from being without electricity and food. Pretty pretty please donate or give me a commission by DMing me. I’m also trying to transition through all of this. Please help. paypal.me/bubbelpop3
(you can ignore my boundaries as long as you are respectful)
Boring specifics. Fun fact, these things are kind of the basis of being a respectful person.
Nazis, alt-right, and anybody who holds antisemitic views (commit die)
Anti Witch
Pro-contact zoos/pedos/necros
Racists, Homophobes, Transphobes, Islamophobes (change or commit die)
Anti-mogai (wow you're so good at keeping the community together by telling kids who dare to have neo pronouns to kys)
"queer is a slur" learn your culture and stop listening to terfs.
Anti cglre and agereg (other peoples kinks or coping mechanisms are not yours to judge)
Anti kink (consent is important)
"there is no sfw agereg" shut the fuck up and talk to a licensed therapist they'll tell you otherwise.
"Kill all men" You're gross whether or not you exclude trans men from that sentiment. [X] [X] [X]
Pro-cop (die fashie)
“I’m not obligated to be an activist.” It’s your duty as a human being.
"No kink at pride" shut the fuck up [x]
Antiship (I've had so many fucking harassments over absolute bullshit.) look at this [x] and this [x]
Anti-Endo (as long as you respect them and leave them alone/don’t harass or fakeclaim I don’t care what your personal opinions are. But know this is a safe place for people who ID as endo.)
"You shouldn't let minors view your blog"
Pro-capitalists
Christian centered blogs (you make me uncomfortable)
Cancel culture supporters (yes. sending death threats solves so many problems.
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cherry on top | choi jongho
genre: fluff, realistic fiction, humor
character: starbucks employee!jongho
description: Jongho has an interesting run-in with a Karen during his shift at Starbucks.
word count: 2k
warnings: mild swearing
author’s note: jongho as a coffee barista was swimming in my mind for quite some time, so here he is.
masterlist here!
There was something about that coffee stain on Jongho's employee shirt that made it impossible to get rid of. It was likely the mix of the ingredients that had stacked the receipt when it was printed, but Jongho couldn't help but feel she had somehow planned this as he scrubbed harder with bleach.
Jongho wouldn't have guessed the day to turn out as it did, but maybe he should have. Working with the public was always a gamble, but Jongho's optimism blinded him. Most customers were nice enough. Most customers gave a smile when he handed them their overpriced coffee. There weren't too many comments about his red and black hair, and he could shrug off all of them. The compliments were what he remembered.
The day started off normally - with Jongho's coworkers nudging him towards the mound of bagged coffee beans. "I could do it myself, but you just do it quicker, you know?" One of his coworkers had whined, twirling a piece of curly hair around her finger. "It" was picking up the bags of coffee beans to put into the grinder, and Jongho didn't mind it. As he slung a bag over his shoulder with ease and glanced at her, he could swear her face flushed. Perhaps it was just the sun. The sun hit her face like that when he broke apples in half with his bare hands too. It was strange how the universe liked her like that.
After his bean tasks, Jongho took to the drive-thru of the coffee shop. He was told he had a nice voice, but he doubted he sounded that heavenly through a cheap speaker that hadn't been changed for five years. Nonetheless, Jongho enjoyed doing the drive-thru and taking orders. When there were multiple drive-thru lanes open, he would challenge his coworkers to see who could get through orders the fastest. This caused him and his coworkers to resent vans - vans almost always meant there was a large order - a sure loss, unless Jongho's fingers could learn to dance very quickly on the ordering screen.
Taking orders via the drive thru took up his morning, and then he was released for his lunch break. His coworkers had become accustomed to bringing him apples for the sole purpose of him to break them. He didn't mind, and it allowed him to be more comfortable with his coworkers because he could sometimes be shy. "Is that why part of your hair is red?" A coworker had asked him one day after he had broken multiple apples in a row. Jongho shook his head.
"No. Just red," he shrugged, ignoring his coworker's eyebrow raise. "I just like the color red." He thought he looked good with it.
But not everyone agreed - there were some customers that liked to point it out, like he had never seen himself in a reflection before. "You missed the roots," an older woman had told him at the register and gestured to his hair. Jongho added fifty cents to her order.
But for this day in particular, his hair was the reason for his downfall. For the latter half of the day, Jongho would be at the register. He yearned to be in the bar making drinks because it could become so mindless at points, but he was placed in front of the register before he could say anything. He assumed it was because he was the longest working employee out of the staff today, and Jongho vaguely remembered a newbie was working with him. He guessed the manager didn't want them at the register. The register wasn't much different than the drive thru, but there was something about actually seeing the customer or touching their cash or credit card that made it not enjoyable for Jongho.
About an hour into working at the register, Karen walked in. Jongho saw her and his stomach dropped. She looked exactly like a Karen should look: bobbed blonde hair with caramel highlights that were too dark, opaque and round sunglasses, an obnoxiously pink phone case, and a tacky red American flag shirt that said something about how America was blessed. Jongho knew he shouldn't judge people so quickly, but he had dealt with this breed of women before. He had to brace himself for the worst and the unexpected.
"Hello, ma'am," he said cheerfully when Karen got to the front of the line. Her dark sunglasses obscured her eyes, but she was clearly paying attention to her phone instead of him. She suddenly realized she was in Starbucks and lifted up her glasses. She took one look at Jongho's name tag.
"Hello, John," she said, and Jongho had to bite his tongue to keep from making a noise.
"Jongho," he said.
"John," she continued, and listed off her order, Jongho begrudgingly typing it in as she spoke. It's not that hard of a name, he thought to himself as he kept typing. Why was Karen's order so long? Jongho kept translating her vegan, dairy-free, blood-of-firstborn, extra-expresso venti iced coffee into the system until she stopped talking, and even then she wasn't done.
"So is everyone your age just dying their hair like that?" Karen said without prologue. "I'd never let my kid dye their hair like that. It's so unprofessional."
"Thank you," Jongho said, dodging the question and not wanting to provoke her. He hoped his cheeks weren't also red. "Here's your total. Cash or credit?"
Karen pulled out her purse, but not without clicking her tongue in annoyance. "You all really should lower the prices. It's too damn expensive."
Then make your own, Jongho wanted to reply, but he held his tongue. "I wish I could," he said with a smile. Karen frowned in return, and, without warning, dumped her entire coin bag onto the counter. Jongho yelped and scrambled to keep flying pennies and quarters from rolling off of the counter. In the corner of his eye, a coworker ogled Karen.
"I used the bills to buy my groceries, so I'll pay in coins," Karen yawned while Jongho threw himself onto the floor to make sure no coins had reached there. He got up, plastering on a fake smile. He hadn't had a customer like this in a long time, but if he could just get through her, everything would be okay. He reached for her quarters first and began counting dollars. He knew for a fact that his manager wouldn't have tolerated this kind of behavior from a customer, but Jongho knew he could be too soft at times. Besides, her jangling keys on her wrist glimmered and showed off their sharpness. He swore he saw her teeth glimmer as well.
"Hurry up," Karen said after a few seconds. "Count faster."
Jongho considered shoving pennies into her eyes. "Certainly," he said, and tried to pick up his pace. He could feel her eyes burning on his neck as he shoved the change into the cash register. He pushed her receipt over to her and eagerly began with the customer behind her, glad to be ridden of her.
But his escape was short lived. He heard a whine from the corner of the store and knew it was the Karen immediately. He was currently helping out a different customer, but there was no one else in line behind them. He'd deal with it after the customer if things escalated with Karen.
"Are you sure you made this correctly?" Karen snarled at Jongho's coworker, her nostrils flailing. The coworker looked like she wanted to sink into the floor. "This doesn't taste like how it usually does. Make it again."
Jongho wouldn't have done anything - customers asked for drinks to be remade frequently. But this was Karen, and upon further inspection, this was the new employee that his manager had talked about. He couldn't leave her hanging, it would be rude as an older and more experienced employee. Jongho finished ringing up the final customer and went over to Karen and the other coworker.
"Cherry head," Karen growled, and Jongho only raised his eyebrows. That was a new one.
"I'll make a new one, ma'am, sorry," he said, taking the drink from her. "I'm sure you were fine," he muttered to the worried coworker and was pleased to see her smile.
Iced coffee wasn't difficult, and with the lack of new customers Jongho took the time to make sure the drink was entirely accurate. It's not that she deserved a drink, it's that he wanted her out of the store as soon as possible. He even had the temperature right, and gave it a perfect dairy-free whipped cream swirl at the top before handing it back to her.
Karen ogled the drink for a moment, looking back and forth at the cup and Jongho. Then she threw the drink at him.
The whipped cream top hit Jongho square in the face and he could taste it. Then came the slow and cold trickle of the coffee down his apron and shirt underneath, and at that moment, he was so glad she hadn't ordered anything hot.
"I said I didn't want whipped cream!" Karen bellowed, but Jongho's choir practice had made him desensitized to loud vocals. He wiped the whipped cream from his face and looked at Karen straight in the eyes.
"Get out," he said coldly. "There's a Dunkin across the parking lot. They can have your coins." He paused for a moment, and then his mouth twitched upward. "My name is John, you can write me up if you want. I don't care."
"I will be," Karen growled, red-faced and clutching her purse at her side like Jongho was going to reach out and nab it. he couldn't believe Karen thought that she was the victim here when Jongho had a new fluffy white beard adorning his face.
"John's right," a third coworker said, coming from behind. He could vaguely hear his laugh under his voice. "We don't tolerate harassment on our employees. You're the one that could end up in trouble."
Karen stared daggers at this new employee, and Jongho was surprised she didn't jump over the counter to tackle him. "Good riddance, I knew Starbucks was going downhill anyway." She gave one last snarl at Jongho, who fluffed up his hair at her glance, before walking out of the Starbucks.
The three employees were silent, and then Jongho felt a towel touch his arm. "Oh my God, Jongho, I'm sorry," the third coworker said.
"I don't think I've ever been drenched quite as much as I am now," he said, accepting the towel. He began to dry himself off as best he could, but he knew his face and clothes were going to be sticky for the remainder of the shift.
"I think there's another apron in the back," the new coworker said, and then scurried off to get it before Jongho could say anything.
"I'm just glad it wasn't her that got absolutely wrecked by coffee," the other coworker murmured. "I think she might have cried."
Jongho nodded, still drying himself off. It was a terrible feeling, the coffee all over his skin and clothes, but now that she was gone, he couldn't help but smile. It was comical, how insane the public could be. "I hope John gets hell for what he did," he smiled.
"Absolutely," the coworker agreed, laughing. The new coworker arrived back with the apron, which Jongho gratefully took.
"Give me a minute to clean up," he told the both of them before going to the back to inspect the wreckage on his clothes and face. It could have been better, but it also could have been worse. He licked a part of the whipped cream that was near his lips and grimaced at the flavor. Despite it all, Jongho was amused at the situation. It kept him on his toes. It would be a funny story to share at a party. Jongho wrote a note in his phone to re-dye his red tips when he got home. Then, smiling, he returned to work.
#prism.nw#ateez#jongho#coffee barista au#ateez scenario#jongho scenario#sfw#ateez one-shot#ateez fluff#jongho fluff#realistic fiction#humor#choi jongho#ateez imagines#jongho imagines#jongho is a queue-t 🐻#ateez drabble#jongho drabble#ateez blurbs#jongho blurbs
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StanQuest
Something clicked on in my brain a couple months ago and suddenly Sebastian Stan became the hottest man alive. So I decided to watch everything he’s ever been in. A friend and I called it StanQuest.
Here are my spoiler-free reviews for anyone considering something similar (in inverse chronological order starting with latest works and going back in time. The stars are an overall rating of the work, not of Sebastian’s performance.
This only lists things I could find streaming for free or a price I was willing to pay. It does not count after credits scenes, music videos, or works in which he was uncredited.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) - TV show - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This started it all. I very much enjoyed it. Good balance of humor and action, heart and heroics. I’ve watched it four times already, and will watch it again. Bucky Barnes is my favorite character of his and this is my favorite story of Bucky's so far. I can’t wait to see what he does next. (And I have a lot to say about how they treat his trauma in this show. I’ve definitely written about it before and may again.)
Monday (2020) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐ - This is the one where he gets naked. If that’s all you’re looking for, enjoy. It was a very realistic portrayal of a relationship between two deeply flawed people. It can get depressing. But hey, penis.
The Devil All the Time (2020) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - If you think Monday is depressing, this movie says “hold my beer”. But something about it is just captivating. It’s really disturbing, and if you’ve ever been screwed over by American Evangelical Christianity it might be more disturbing. Still, I’ve watched it twice. And as much of a bastard as Lee Bodecker is, he also looks really cuddly. He’s just barely in it.
The Last Full Measure (2019) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - You will cry. A lot. It’s based on a true story. Sebastian plays a man who cares more about his career than this weird quest dumped on his desk by his boss, but changes his mind and his heart as he investigates why a war hero was denied a medal of honor 34 years before. Definitely recommend.
Endings, Beginnings (2019) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - One of two love interests in the complicated life of Shailene Woodley’s Daphne, Sebastian is an adorable mess. The editing is interesting and fresh feeling. Watch it and you’ll see what I mean. Fair amount of sex in this movie, and you see his butt. It’s a very nice butt. I’ve watched this one a few times so far.
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - Movie - ⭐⭐ - There is no reason to watch this movie if you’re not familiar with at least most of the rest of the MCU. It plays merry hob with the rules of time travel, and only makes sense if you don’t really think about it. In my opinion, the ending is really freaking stupid comsidering his character’s history, but at least it sets up TFatWS, which was amazing.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018) - Movie - ⭐ - If you’re into movies that are creepy but also almost nothing happens for most of the movie, this is the one for you. Sebastian is handsome as hell, but also a complete asshole. As fine as he is, I’m not gonna watch this again. I fucking hated it.
Destroyer (2018) - Movie - ⭐⭐- I had a hard time paying attention to the plot because it seemed like they made this movie just to get Nicole Kidman an Oscar nomination for wearing ugly makeup and playing a complete mess of a person. It’s a fine movie, and all of the performances are good. Sebastian looks surprisingly good with the short hair and goatee. Ultimately, the plot is depressing and the whole movie seems kind of pointless.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - Movie - ⭐⭐- Again, no reason to watch this if you aren’t already familiar with all the movies leading up to it. It’s long and the villain looks like Grimace and a California Raisin had an evil baby. The ending made me scream with frustration that I had to wait until the next one came out. Now I just watch them back-to-back if I watch them at all. It’s not a good movie, but it is part of a long-form story that I enjoy in general.
I’m Not Here (2017) - Movie - ⭐⭐- Another depressing one. Told over the course of one man’s terrible life, it’s a sad account of how much your parents can fuck you up. Sebastian portrays the middle part of the man’s life. J.K. Simmons plays the current day part and unreliable narrator.. Do not watch unless you are fully prepared to be sad for a really long time after.
I, Tonya (2017) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐- This movie is hilarious. I mean, the true story is insane and really stupid. The spousal abuse is hard to watch, and Sebastian’s mustache in this is a war crime. But the acting is great and it’s a very engaging movie. The parts that aren’t horrifying are pretty funny.
Logan Lucky (2017) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Watch. This. Movie. Sebastian Stan is only in it a little, but it’s a really fun, clever caper/heist movie and everyone in it is fantastic. I don’t want to say anything else about it if you’re going in fresh. I’ll be rewatching this one a lot
Captain America: Civil War (2016) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - If you ignore how kind of silly the conflict over the Sokovia Accords is, this is a good Marvel movie. Sebastian gets a lot of screen time because Bucky is the more pressing concern/urgent point of contention than the Accords. Bucky is my favorite character of his partly because of this movie.
The Martian (2015) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I’m watching it(again) as I’m typing this. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched it. Sebastian Stan isn’t in it very much, but he’s very cute and so is his little story arc. Mostly I watch it because Ridley Scott made a fantastic movie. If you can get your hands on the Blu-Ray, it comes with a ton of extras. They made a very complete story that isn’t all seen in the movie. A lot of it is stuff about Mars, but there are also extra “crew” interviews, so there’s another chance to see more of Sebastian’s character.
Ricki and the Flash (2015) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - He’s not in this very much, but he’s very cute when he does appear. It’s all about the relationship between Ricki and her daughter. Definitely rewatchable. Meryl Streep is fantastic, because she’s Meryl Streep.
The Bronze (2015) - Movie - ⭐ - This is not a good movie. It’s about Olympic gymnastics, so it might be slightly more interesting right now while the Olympics are happening. Sebastian isn’t in it a lot, but his performance is certainly… memorable. Weirdest sex scene I’ve ever seen. Worth watching just for that.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This is the one I can watch over and over. I bought a Winter Soldier face mask for when I need to feel like a badass. Bucky’s story is really sad, but he’s also extremely sexy with the metal arm and determined walk.
Once Upon a Time (2012-2013) - TV Show - ⭐⭐⭐ - This show is so stupid, but it’s also fun. If you haven’t seen it, the premise is that fairy tale characters are real and live in another land. Snow White’s Evil Queen casts a spell to transport a bunch of them to a town she creates in Maine called Storybrooke, and gives them all fake memories so she can be mayor and watch them all not remember who they are. Sebastian plays Jefferson, a.k.a. The Mad Hatter. He’s in a few episodes in season 1 and 2, and doesn’t get a ton of screen time, but he’s really cute and tragic as Jefferson. It probably helps to watch the whole first season just to understand his episodes, but that’s up to your tolerance for weird shit. Note: IMDB says he’s in an episode uncredited, but I’ve watched it and didn’t see him anywhere in that one.
Labyrinth (2012) - TV Mini-Series - ⭐⭐⭐ - Two episodes that tell a complete story. Sebastian isn’t in this one a whole lot, but he is adorable. It’s a strange story about religious stuff and a sort of Holy Grail that’s three books. It’s hard to describe. It’s on Amazon Prime right now, but they’re taking it down August 8, 2021, so watch it while you can.
The Apparition (2012) - Movie - ⭐ - If you like horror movies, you might like this. I did not. From what I understand, it’s not a very good horror movie. Watch with caution and expect it to suck.
Political Animals (2012) - TV Mini-Series - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I had to buy this through Apple and watch it on a Mac, but it was worth it. Sebastian plays TJ Hammond, the out gay son of a former American president who is clearly based on Bill Clinton. Sigorney Weaver plays the former first lady and current secretary of state. TJ struggles with addiction and relationship problems. His performance is heart-wrenching. The whole show is pretty great. I wish there was more of it.
Gone (2012) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐ - More of a psychological thriller than a horror movie. Sebastian has a small amount of screen time as the worried boyfriend. Amanda Seyfried is good. She carries the film well on her own.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - If you haven’t seen this yet, I’d like to know what it’s like under your rock. This is a movie I can rewatch a lot, and have. I 100% cried in the theater. Sebastian looks fantastic in uniform as Bucky Barnes. This is his introduction and the start of his ultimately tragic story (before he’s saved by his best friend, again).
Black Swan (2010) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Sebastian is barely in this. He’s basically just in one scene in a dance club. But I watched it to try to complete StanQuest, and I had seen it before. It’s a good movie, but might induce some nightmares, depending on what scares you. If Natalie Portman didn’t at least get a nomination for an award she was robbed.
Gossip Girl (2007-2010) - TV Show - ⭐⭐ - Carter Baizen is a little shit. The episodes with Sebastian in them might have made more sense if I watched the show from the beginning, but I didn’t want to. His character is an asshole, but a very cute one.
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐- The people who made this movie are bad at math, and their rules of time travel are sketchy at best, but it is funny and entertaining. Sebastian plays a ski patrol bro who’s paranoid about the Russians, which is hilarious irony to me. Worth watching if you want to laugh at something dumb.
Kings (2009) - TV Show - ⭐⭐⭐- Sebastian plays Jack Benjamin, the closeted gay son of the king of a fictional place. It’s loosely based on the David and Goliath story from the Bible. Sebastian is so sad and so gay. His family makes his life a living hell. Ian McShane is a force of nature in this. It’s only one season. I’ve watched it twice. I will watch it again.
Spread (2009) - Movie - no stars - This movie was practically unwatchable. It stars Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche as a romantic couple, I guess? I ended up just skipping to Sebastian’s scenes and only watching those. Still painful.
The Covenant (2006) - Movie - ⭐⭐⭐ - This movie is so fuckig stupid, and I will watch it a ridiculous number of times. It’s about magic and teenagers, like The Craft for boys. Nothing about it makes sense. It’s terrible, almost irredeemable, but an evil Sebastian with magic powers is a siren song that will make me steer my boat right into the rocks.
And there you have it. There are a bunch of earlier things on IMDB that I just can’t find or don’t want to pay to rent. Maybe some day I’ll watch them and add them to this list.
#sebastian stan#bucky barnes#the winter soldier#the falcon and the winter soldier#james buchanan barnes#monday: movie#the devil all the time#the last full measure#we have always lived in the castle#destroyer#endings beginnings#i'm not here#i tonya#logan lucky#ricki and the flash#the martian#the bronze#once upon a time#the covenant#spread#kings: show#Labyrinth: show#hot tub time machine#black swan#gossip girl#gone: movie#political animals#the apparition#movie reviews#celebrity crushes
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Fault Line: Prologue - Steve Rogers x F!Enhanced!Reader
Prologue - chapter one
Masterlist
Plot: Y/n’s life is a game of hide and seek and so far she’s beaten everybody. But her winning streak may not last as long as she’d hoped it would.
Warnings: none
Word Count: 2.4k
A/N: OKAY. I have too many fics going at once but I got this idea and couldn’t let it go. I tried writing a Steve x Reader series a while back and it sucked quite frankly, so I spent a little more time developing this one. Steve doesn’t appear in this chapter but plenty of familiar faces do. Let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist! (no beta reader because we die like men.)
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Bosnian winters were brutal. It got down to freezing temperatures, the pavement was iced over, you couldn’t go a day without being hit by a snowstorm…It was by no means remote but if you were hiding from something, not many people thought to look there. Which meant I was safe.
I casually strolled through the crowded Sarajevo marketplace, the only care in my mind being what I should eat for lunch. As soon as I stepped foot into the city, I knew I was on borrowed time. Not that it mattered, quick escapes were my forte. I spotted a falafel stand run by a middle aged man, one of the only stalls I hadn’t stopped at in the last few days.
“Jedan, molim,” I said, smiling sweetly at the vendor as I watched him make the dish. As he prepared to hand me the finished product, I faked innocence and rushed to dig through the empty pockets of my coat. The man handed me the food wrapped in paper and raised his eyebrows expectantly. I looked up from my coat pockets and tilted my head, “Izvini.” Before he could understand why I was apologizing, I was gone…Having vanished into thin air.
When I reappeared, I was no longer in the marketplace. I was outside the abandoned shack in the Bosnian forest I’d been calling home the last couple days. I was living a ways out from the country’s capital so the search for the disappearing woman remained unsuccessful. Triumphant in having scored lunch, I turned on my heels to head inside my temporary home.
I hadn’t expected the dozen armed soldiers with their guns aimed at me.
“You boys wanna come in for a drink?” I quipped in English, gesturing to the front door, “I’m not sure I have enough for everyone but I can pop out to the store and get some more.” “I’d stay here if I were you,” a shadowed figure said from the front porch, “It didn’t take us long to track you and it won’t be hard to do it again.” Americans. In Bosnia. Interesting…
“Mind telling me who the hell you are?” I called, squinting to try and make the voice’s body out.
A man came forward, stepping in between two of the soldiers who still had yet to lower their weapons. He pushed back the hood of his winter coat to show his face, “Agent Coulson, we’re with S.H.I.E.L.D. We’d like you to come with us.” I looked behind and around me, waiting for someone to make a move. “So I’m supposed to just go with a group of soldiers with their guns pointed at my head? Is it that simple, Agent Coulson?” “It can if you want it to be,” he replied, for as threatening as he should have been he wore a small smile on his face, “We’d like to talk to you.” “About?”
“About how someone like you has been jumping from Russia to Colombia without a plane. Or India to Canada. Or Jamaica to Scotland.”
I raised an eyebrow and casually took a bite of the stolen falafel I still held, “So you have been tracking me.” “Miss Y/l/n, it would seem that you’re highly gifted,” Agent Coulson continued, taking a step closer to me, “We’re here to help you, not to hurt you. I’d like to bring you back to headquarters to talk to you about your abilities.” I smirked as I chewed, “I’m not a mercenary that organizations like yours can just hire for an assassination.” “That’s not why we’re here. It’s not what you can do for us, it’s what we can do for you.” “Hmm,” I sarcastically smiled, “And what is it that I’m getting out of going with you?”
“A life where you don’t have to steal baklava for lunch.”
Having lived how I had for so long, I prided myself on my good instincts. There was good, there was bad and every once in a while there was a grey area. A combination of right and wrong that was subjective to each person’s perspective. As my eyes scanned over Agent Coulson, a professional yet non threatening presence, and the soldiers ready to kill me if I dared to fight back, I decided that I had just landed in a very grey area. If I didn’t go with them, I wasn’t sure what they’d do. If I did, I wasn’t sure what they’d ask of me.
Then again, I was a bit of a grey area myself.
I held up my food, “It’s a falafel.”
————
It had been a long time since I’d been back in the states longer than the five seconds it took to steal a bag of Cheetos from a convenience store.
Agent Coulson had deposited me in a stark white interrogation room and promptly left. After the twenty minute mark passed without anyone entering, disappearing and landing in Cairo began to sound more and more attractive. Just as I was seriously considering it, the locked door opened.
“Miss Y/l/n,” a dark skinned man greeted, “You’re a hard one to pin down.” “Really? Cause according to Agent Coulson, it was as easy as breathing for you guys,” I replied, tightening my crossed arms.
“It got easier once we developed the right tech,” he said, coming to sit in the the chair directly across me, “But apparently you’d never heard of us until today ergo you didn’t know we were tracking you which begs the question…Who were you running from?”
“Wow,” I chuckled, “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” “I don’t like to waste time.” I snorted before giving him a once over. He wore an eyepatch, all jet black clothing complete with a matching trench coat. He looked the part of Man In Charge perfectly. “If you’re gonna ask me for my life story, I’m gonna need to know a little bit about you too.” “All you need to know about me right now is that I’m a man who sees potential in you.” “Potential?” “Potential.”
“That’s not what people typically see in me,” I narrowed my eyes and shook my head.
“No, they see a thief, a cheat, and I’m willing to bet,” the man leaned forward and put his arms on the table that separated us, “Somebody sees you as a threat.” Oh, if only he knew…
“If you’re a government agency then you already have a file on me, meaning that there’s not going to be much I have to say that you don’t already know,” I spoke up, making sure to continue matching the guy’s intense eye contact.
He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in concurrence before turning to the double sided glass window. It didn’t take more than five seconds before the door opened and Agent Coulson stepped through carrying a manila folder. He handed it to my questioner before disappearing through the doorway once again, I almost wished he would stay. He was the only person I knew at the moment.
“Looks like you’ve been all over,” the man observed as he flipped through the folder, “Gotten yourself into a lot of trouble and whenever someone catches you, poof! Like magic…”
I was excellent at hiding, but I knew when I was beat. As nice as leaving sounded, S.H.I.E.L.D knew too much about me for me to run.
“I don’t know,” I sighed, lowering my gaze to the table.
“Don’t know what?” “I don’t know who I’m running from,” I continued, “But they’re there. If I stay in one place for too long, someone breaks into whatever rusted shed I’m living in or ambushes me in the middle of a bazaar…Somebody wants me.” The man had stopped browsing my file and was intently watching me recount my story, “How long’ve you been on the run?” “Five years,” I explained, suddenly not comfortable with meeting him eye to eye “I was fifteen, woke up in God knows where with no memory of how I got there. While I was wandering around trying to figure out where I was, a group of men tried to grab me. Fortunately for me,” my lips twisted into a smirk, “I can make a quick getaway.”
“You remember where you’re from?” I inhaled deeply and shut my eyes as I exhaled, “No. Any memories before I started living like this are…blurred. I can almost make out a few, mostly from when I was a kid, but I don’t remember any details about my life other than my name and my age. Got anything in your almighty folder that can fill in the gaps?” “We only know what you’ve told us and what you’ve chosen to shown the world,” he replied as he reopened the packet, “Looks like disappearing isn’t the only trick you’ve got up your sleeve.”
“A girl’s gotta defend herself somehow,” I cocked an eyebrow, by now I’d relaxed my rigid posture and was tracing shapes on the table with a finger, “But if you’ve done as much research as you say you have then you should know I don’t bring any of that out unless I absolutely have to.” “Oh, I’ve seen the security cam footage,” he laughed, folding his hands together in front of him, “You put on quite a show. That’s that potential I was talking about.”
After a beat of silence, I finally asked the million dollar question. “What is it that you want from me, Director Fury?”
He should’ve been surprised, most people were, but it didn’t seem like me digging around in his mind was more of an event than eating breakfast was. “Only when you absolutely have to, huh?”
I gave him a small shrug and waited for him to answer. He kept his eyes locked on me, nodding his head ever so slightly. “Miss Y/l/n, whether you’ve thought about it or not, you have the ability do a lot more with yourself than skipping out on the dinner bill. You could be out there stopping the kind of people that are after you instead of running from them. And if you weren’t interested in the prospect of that even just a little, you wouldn’t still be sitting here.” Now there he was right. I agreed to come with Agent Coulson, I willingly let them bring me into an interrogation room, I’d discussed vulnerable details of my life with Director Fury…There was a small part of me that wanted to be a part of something.
“You wanna keep bouncing between continents praying that you don’t get caught? That’s fine, it’s no skin off my back,” Director Fury held his hands up in mock surrender and promptly lowered them back down, “But you stay and you can be a part of a world bigger than you could possibly imagine.”
The only world I’d ever known was spinning a globe, picking a random location, finding the most remote part of the county, stealing what I needed to get by and living in abandoned houses. I’d never had any sense of security. And while the life that Director Fury was offering me gave no guarantee that I’d live long enough to grow old, it didn’t require me to stay as paranoid as I was in the name of survival. I’d gotten by just fine on my own, but I’d never allowed myself to think of a future where I didn’t have to just get by…
“I already told Agent Coulson that I’m not a mercenary,” I began firmly, “I’m not a weapon for you to utilize whenever you want. I’m not joining some super secret spy organization only to find out after a while that I’m working for the bad guys,” I paused to take a slow breath, “But I don’t particularly enjoy being a criminal and if what you’re saying is true, I’m willing to give it a shot.” Director Fury gave me a single nod and just like that, I’d accepted a job without actually committing to sticking around. Fury turned once again to the double sided mirror and the door swung open, ushering in Agent Coulson, a redheaded woman and a blonde man I had yet to meet.
“You’ve already met Agent Coulson, I’d like to introduce you to Agent Romanoff,” he gestured to the woman, “And Agent Barton,” he looked towards the blonde, “He and Coulson will be some of the senior personnel personally overseeing your transition into S.H.I.E.L.D and I have a hunch you and Miss Romanoff will work well together.” “I work just fine on my own, thank you,” I stated, the thought of trusting someone to have my back sent the walls I’d just lowered shooting back up.
“I hate to break it to you but we work as a team here,” Agent Romanoff said, her voice cool and unaffected by my displeasure. If anything, it seemed like she found it slightly amusing, “Besides, you don’t have anything to worry about. Agent Barton’s my partner.”
Director Fury made for the door, Agent Romanoff and the still silent Agent Barton following promptly. “I’ll leave it to Coulson to get you settled, but I’ll be watching your progress closely.” I could give the man credit, he knew how to wear the whole Tall, Dark, Man-With-All-The-Secrets hat well except for one thing. He couldn’t keep any secrets from me. Once the room’s occupancy had lessened, my eyes flew to Agent Coulson.
“What’s the Avengers Initiative?”
He wore a small and knowing smile, “A work in progress. For now, let’s focus on getting you through training then we’ll work on finding you a partner.”
Standing up to follow him out the door, I protested against his checklist, “I already said-“ “I know, but there may come a time where you change your mind,” he interrupted, his tone had gone from professional to semi-friendly as we walked down the hall, “This job is rewarding, but it’s hard work. Having the right partner by your side makes it all a little easier. You’ll see…”
We approached a railing that overlooked the main floor of the headquarters. Coulson didn’t think twice about the view while I approached it curiously. There were people everywhere, more than I’d been around in a long time. Something about the sight of so many individuals dedicated to doing the right thing made something inside of me relax. Maybe for the first time in my life, I was right where I needed to be.
Agent Coulson must have sensed my peace, he came to stand beside me and turned his gaze to where mine was. “Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D.”
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Translations: Jedan, molim: One, please.
Izvini: Sorry.
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Hey so I really don’t know how to request stuff, but like I love your posts and I love Freddie so here we go
Freddie and the weasleys go visit the muggle world but the States and meet this amazing girl (aka y/n) while at a carnival. He falls head over heels the moment he sees her and they talk for a while, he believes she’s a muggle, however when they go back to hogwarts, she ends up being the new transfer student :o
But it’s okay if you don’t do it! It’s just a little idea maybe you can take some inspo off it ❤️
America was a lot bigger than Charlie told the Weasleys... And Harry. It was massive as they stood on the side walk. "airplanes. How fascinating!" Arthur said making all of the kids groan in response. "We. Know." Ginny sighed. "You talked about it for three hours on the plane!" Ron whined.
"Mum! Dad!" Someone said from across the street. He ran over and waved. "You guys made it!" Charlie said. "Yes and we're quite tired, where are we staying?" Molly asked. "Oh, it's two blocks from here, come on." Charlie said. The group walked, looking around at the scenery. "A carnival is in town tomorrow, you guys are totally going." Charlie said. Fred rose a brow. "Carnival? Like something from the movies?" He asked. "What expecting a summer romance?" Charlie asked jokingly. "No I--" Fred then noticed the long haired girl walking down the steps of the subway, face looking focused as you walked. "No." He cleared his throat. "Ohh he saw something pretty." Ginny teased. "Shut it." He said, roughing up her hair.
Fred didn't think much about the carnival idea. In fact this trip over all wasn't very exciting to him. Ron and Harry shared a room, Fred and George shared one and Ginny was the lucky one on her own. Fred looked out the window and Charlie walked in. "You guys ready to goooo?" He asked. "Yeah. Tell me this won't be dull." Fred said. "It won't be dull." Charlie assured.
So there Fred stood, screams of citizens going on as they rode rides, attractions that muggles of course found interesting with their naive minds and then... You. Fred didn't think much of this but you sat at a picnic table talking to someone. Your hair was in a ponytail, pulled back by a black ribbon and you wore a red cardigan despite the warm weather. Your smile was something he was captivated by, his lips parting as he saw it. Charlie rose a brow, following his brother's gaze before you looked over. "Charlie!" You said running over. Fred blinked.
"Y/n! Hi!" Charlie greeted. You gave him a small hug and you chuckled. "Glad to see you came, Sam's over there if you wanna talk to her." You said with finger guns. He chuckled and shook his head. "This is my brother Fred. Keep his sane will you?" Charlie asked. "I got it! Go go!" You shoved him to the table and ran back over. "What was that about?" Fred asked. "Charlie has a thing for my friend. This was a set up." You chuckled. You turned to Fred. "So you're Fred. Where's George?" You asked, cocking your head to the side like a confused dog. "...You know about George?" Fred asked. "Yeah, Charlie talks to me all the time." You nodded. "George is with Ginny." Fred said slowly, looking at you. "What's wrong?" You asked. "I... How do you know Charlie?" He asked. "My dad owns a coffee shop that I work at during the summer and Charlie is a regular." You said. Oh... So you were... A muggle.
Fred nodded and you rose a brow. "So, you wanna do something?" You asked curiously, bouncing back and forth on the balls of your heels. "uhh... Sure.. I don't know anything here though." He admitted. "Well in two hours there's going to be a banana derby." You said. Fred blinked. "A what?" He asked. "Spider monkeys riding on the back of dogs like it's a derby." You said. He blinked and gaped slightly. "What the hell are you Americans on?" Fred asked. "Freedom.... Too much freedom. But freedom." You answered. Fred snorted and you both started laughing.
"Well what's there to do now?" Fred finally asked. "Well there's rides but they're way too fucking loud and have a tendency to break down." You said. "No." Fred shuddered at the thought. Course he could easily fix something. "There's food that will cause you to probably die by thirty." You said. Fred rose a brow before seeing a kid walk by with a deep fried oreo. "I am understanding this 'too much freedom' comment you made." Fred said with a shudder. "There's games that are totally rigged but still kind of fun." You said. "That sounds kind of appealing compared to rotting your insides and potentially having a hospital trip." Fred said. "Rigged games it is!" You chuckled.
Fred followed you around, watching you laugh at many failed attempts with a baseball and hitting targets. "God your bad at this." You laughed. "Okay, you try it then!" Fred laughed. You picked up a baseball and hit the target making Fred raise a brow. "America's favorite pastime." You said, throwing the next ball up, it falling back into your hand and you hitting the next target. "How are you doing that?" Fred asked. You chuckled and stood behind Fred. "straighten your legs a little." You instructed. "Now pull your arm back." You said, guiding his arm with your hands. God they were so soft and small. "Wow..." You muttered, feeling the muscle that Fred had. Quidditch was a God send in this moment. "Like something?" He asked with a chuckle. "Throw the ball idiot." You blushed, letting go. He hit the target. "Pick your prize." The attendant said in a monotone voice. "What do you want?" Fred asked. "....Uuuh.. that weird ass mole platypus looking thing." You said pointing to the unidentifiable stuffed animal. "It's also a backpack." The attendant muttered. "BRO THAT'S SO COOL" you gaped, pulling it onto your back. Fred snorted, seeing you hop around with the creature on your back. If Fred weren't at a muggle based carnival he would almost call the backpack a niffler.
Fred spent most of the evening with you, talking to you and discovering you actually were moving to Scotland soon. Charlie befriended you so you'd know at least one person out there. "Why are you moving?" He asked. "Mom got a new job out there. She's an archeologist." You said. "Ah." Fred nodded. "what about you, what do your parents do?" You asked. "Uhm." Fuck, how should he answer that? "Mum's a stay at home mother and my dad... Works a desk job." He said. Not technically a lie. "Hmm." You nodded. "What do you want to be exactly?" Fred asked. "Welll... That's a little hard to explain." You admitted. "I'm used to weird." Fred chuckled. You smiled slightly. "Uhm... I want to study--" "Y/N!!!!!" someone called making you sigh. "I'll be right back." You huffed.
The girl from earlier was talking to you, smiling and you rolled your eyes. You came back over and snorted. "What was that?" Fred asked. "Charlie asked Sam out. Officially." You laughed. "and she needed to tell you?" Fred asked. "Sam tells me everything. I'm really going to miss her when I move." You said with a sigh. Fred put his hand over yours and you looked up, Fred giving you a reassuring look. You smiled at him and he kissed your knuckles. "On the bright side... I can see you in Scotland." Fred said. You smiled at that comment and laughed. "I suppose that is true."
The evening carried on, you and Fred watching the insane event of a 'Banana derby' before spending time in a photo booth. Fred had never taken muggle pictures that stayed still. He was smiling at you in most of them. But something crazy happened. You smiled back at him once you realized he was looking at you and before either of you knew it, his lips were on yours. The last flash made you two aware of where you were. You let out a breathless laugh against his forehead. "This is absolutely wild." You said. "I tend to like wild." Fred said. "Well clearly, you just kissed me." You snorted. You climbed out, handing him a photo strip. Fred smiled and you put another strip in your wallet.
"Fred! Time to go!" Someone called. You shifted and he pressed a kiss to you one last time. You savored that feeling. The warmth, the hold he made sure he had on you to make you feel secure, his breath. All of it. "Fred!" Someone called again. "I'll get your address and write to you from Charlie." You said. "okay." He said with a slightly pained smile. He ran off and you shook your head with a smile.
Fred was positive he wasn't going to see you again though. After all... You weren't a wizard. You wouldn't be walking the halls of Hogwarts, you'd be somewhere in Scotland with your family. Fred seemed disappointed as he thought about it more. He wasn't going to see you again.
The day finally came when he sat at the breakfast table in the burrow. Charlie was there to spend time at home for a little while. "So I heard from a little bird that you got along with Y/n." Charlie said. "Yeah." Fred said, seeming sad at the mention. "She's a crazy girl that one, she wants to do what I do." Charlie said. "What fake job did you give her?" George asked. Charlie rose a brow confused. "Wait, she's not--" "Get the car ready Arthur, they've got to go soon." Molly said. "God I miss hogwarts." Charlie said. "Honestly, me too." Bill agreed. Fred got up, getting dressed and finishing packing.
The train ride was long and silent, his thoughts of course drifting to you. What was Charlie going to say before Molly cut him off? He swore for a couple of seconds he saw you on the platform. He knew that wasn't possible. He sat in the great hall, head on his hand. "Oh my God, Fred. Stop moping." George sighed. "Sorry." Fred said not thinking. Dumbledore went through the sorting of first years and he applauded in silence. "And before we begin the opening feast I'd like to introduce Gryffindor's newest member." The door opened behind Dumbledore and Fred's eyes widened as you brushed ash off your cloak. "Y/n L/n.... Uhm... What happened?" Dumbledore asked as you coughed out smoke. "Charlie Weasley happened." You said making a few people laugh.
Dumbledore used a quick cleaning spell and you were as good as new before you saw Fred. He swallowed, looking at you and you stepped down, him getting up and practically sprinting to you. He scooped you into his arms and you laughed. "Surprised?" You asked. "When the hell were you going to tell me you were a wizard!?" Fred asked, cupping your face. You furrowed your brow. "Charlie never told you-- I am kicking your brother's ass." You said making him laugh. "I work part time with your brother during the summers. I'm on a scholarship for dragon studies. You seriously haven't heard about the girl who has the weird friendships with the dragons?" You asked. "Oh my God that was you!?" Fred asked. "Yes!" You laughed before Fred scattered kisses across your face. You smiled and George blinked. "SHE'S REAL!?" he asked making Fred look over. "YES YOU MORON!" Fred said making you laugh hard.
He spent his morning showing you around, him keeping an arm around you, or holding your hand the entire time. Fred would sometimes just look at you. No talking. No comments. Just look. And he knew instantly by listening to you that you were the one.
Taglist: @amhyeah @newtaholic-staygold @bbeauttyybbx @fleurho @yodeadxss @mariah-can-dream
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In Love | Joshua
requested: Hello, I hope you’re doing good 💙 Could I maybe request a cute fluff with Joshua? Maybe something were he realizes he’s in love with the reader and tells them, if that’s okay with you~
wc: 2190
a.n. I hope you like this anon!! Please let me know if you have any more requests! <3 This is unedited, so i’m sorry for any mistakes!
SEVENTEEN MASTERLIST
You, my dear reader, are in your afternoon music lesson. You tried your best to keep focus, however, it wasn’t going very well.
So when your phone started buzzing in your pocket, that was when you completely lost focus.
Your phone screen lights up with many notifications, however, the ones that stood out were the ones from the ironically titled group chat: Oh God Why.
Mingyu: how does everyone feel about pizza?
Vernon: I could go for pizza
y/n: omg yes pls
Joshua: aren’t you meant to be in class y/n?
y/n: don’t need to call me out like that, but yeah, I’m here
Mingyu: So pizza after y/n’s class yes or no?
Vernon, y/n: yes
Joshua: fine yes. y/nie, I’ll come pick you up after class
y/n: awe, thank you josh<3
Mingyu: simp
Joshua: STFU MINGYU
So you giggle to yourself as you read the exchange and you put your phone away in attempts to refocus. The idea of food and hanging out with your best friends at the forefront of your mind.
Finally, your lesson came to an end and like he said he would be. Joshua was there, outside waiting for you to meet him.
“So, how was class?” Joshua asks as you link your arm with his and you both make your way to his car.
“It was something,” you laugh.
It didn’t take you guys long to get to the small dinner that Mingyu demanded to go to. He mentioned how it sold authentic American style pizza. That no other pizza place could now compare.
None of you bothered to fight him on it as it was just easier to go along with the giant puppies’ demands. Plus you all knew you wouldn’t be able to say no to him either.
Once you got inside and were sat down, Mingyu and Vernon instantly went for the menu and began looking over it. However, you were fine just sitting there in the presence of everyone else.
Looking over, you see Joshua already looking at you with a small smile on his face.
“What?” you asked, returning his smile.
“Nothing,” he responded, turning his attention away from you. “Guys, stop hogging the menus, let us have a look.”
Ten minutes later, you’ve all ordered and are now sipping away at your drinks as you guys talk about your day. You laughed at the jokes Vernon said and how every time the door would open from the kitchen Mingyu’s head would be straight up and looking around like a meercat.
However, what you didn’t notice was the fact how when you weren’t looking, Joshua would take the time to glance at you, smile and look away before you could notice. You were so engrossed in the conversation that you failed to notice the smile that never left his lips.
So anyways, your pizza arrives and you guys slowly eat your food- well you slowly eat your food, the guys slowly and eating are never in the same sentence.
So once you’ve finished up, you all split the bill and make your way out of the dinner.
“Didn’t I tell you that place was great?” Mingyu gushes as he walks ahead of you with Vernon.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Vernon laughs.
You continue to smile as you watch the two boys before turning your attention towards your other best friend.
“You okay?” you ask. “You’ve been kinda quiet tonight.”
Joshua hums and shrugs his shoulders. He takes a moment to think before nodding his head.
“I’m good,” The smile never falls.
OKAY so, flash forward.
So it’s a Saturday, you don’t have lessons AND since you were good, you made sure to catch up on all of your work so you could have the weekend to chill and do nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
You didn’t want to think, you didn’t want to move an inch out of your apartment. The only thing that would get you out of your apartment was if the building was on fire and even then, you’d have to think about it.
So you queued up a drama on your tv and started on making a snack or two to keep you going and once that was all done, you made your way back to the living room and plopped yourself down on the couch with a blanket thrown over your lap.
You were twenty minutes into the first episode when your phone buzzed. You ignored it, thinking that if it was important they’d call back later. So you forgot about it for another ten or so minutes until it buzzed again.
Letting out a sigh, you pause the episode and lean over to grab your phone.
Your screen was full of notifications.
Some were random things from Twitter, others were from some random app you forgot you had on your phone, but the most recent ones were a string of text messages from Josh.
Joshua: You busy?
Joshua: You doing anything rn?
Joshua: you’re free right?
You whipped your hands on your blanket before you unlocked your phone and typed back a response.
y/n: define free?
Joshua: As in you’re not out and doing something??
y/n: then yeah, I’m free
Joshua: YES okay, do you want to do something? I thought maybe we could go to the aquarium?
You began to type out a message, before pressing backspace and deleting it all. You wanted to spend the day inside, but what was the worst that could happen? Plus, how could you ever say no to him?
y/n: yeah sure, meet me here in twenty?
Joshua: cool, for sure!
Locking your phone once more, you turn off your tv and take your snacks back to the kitchen before you headed to your room to get changed.
You put on a comfortable outfit and made sure to wear a jacket over the top as you knew it could sometimes get cold in the aquarium. So, by the time you were ready, a knock on your door didn’t come as much of a surprise.
Opening it up, you smile at Josh and invite him in.
“I’ll be one second, just gotta put my shoes on.”
He nods and sits himself down on the couch as he waits for you to finish and when you come back out with a small bag, you pick up your keys, purse and phone before shoving them in.
“You ready?” he asks causing you to nod in response.
So he drives and you guys get to the aquarium in no time.
Once you get inside and your tickets are brought, you start to make your way through.
Josh laughs to himself every time you saw a new animal and ran over to them in awe. He tried his best to keep beside you, however, once something caught your eye, you were off again in a flash.
He didn’t mind though, the look on your face and the pure joy that emanated from you was enough for him. Every little thing you did made him smile, every little thing you did made his heart jump around.
It wasn’t until you guys got to the underwater tunnel and the sight of you looking all around you with the largest smile he thought he had ever seen you smile, did it dawn to him.
He loves you.
No matter how much his heart and brain fought, no matter how much he wanted to deny it- he couldn’t. Not now, not whilst looking at you like this. Not when the water was reflecting on you in a way that enhanced your already beautiful self.
Mingyu and Vernon always joked that he was a simp for you and they were right. Not that Josh would ever tell them that, they didn’t need the ego boost.
So as Josh followed you around the aquarium, he smiled. He laughed to himself and the more time you guys spent the more it cemented in his mind.
He was in love and there was nothing he could do about it.
So flash forward an hour or two.
He’s dropped you home and you’ve gone on and on about how fun the day was. How much fun it was going there with him and it makes his heart expand like five sizes.
So after he drops you off, he heads back to his own apartment which he shares with Vernon and Mingyu. When he walks through the door, both boys are sat on the couch, playing the same game they were playing when Josh left.
“How was your date?” Mingyu sniggers, he, however, doesn’t turn his attention away from the tv as Josh walks over and lets himself fall into the love sweet.
“It wasn’t a date,” Josh responds before covering his face up with his hands.
“Is that why you looked so bummed?” Vernon asks.
Josh uncovers his face and sends a look to the younger boy. Vernon, who just shrugs says nothing more.
“I realised something today and I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing.”
“Let me guess,” Mingyu pauses the game which causes Vernon to gasp. “You’ve finally realised your love for y/n and now you’re in a state of shock”
Josh’s eyebrows furrow together as he slowly nods.
“How did you know?”
Both of the younger boys sigh in defeat.
“Because it’s obvious!” Vernon laughs. “You’ve been in love with them since what? The moment you guys saw each other?”
“That’s not true,” Josh fakes a laugh as he looks down at his hands.
“Yes, it is and don’t even try to deny it.” Mingyu states.
“And so what you like y/n, what’s so bad about that?” Vernon asks causing Josh to shrug once again.
“I don’t know, maybe I’m scared it’ll ruin our friendship.”
“There is nothing in this world that could end your friendship, you know why?” Mingyu asks, but he doesn’t wait for Josh to respond. “Because your guys’ friendship transcends any other thing. You guys are practically soulmates, don’t hide your feelings because of the anxieties.”
“He’s right,” Vernon speaks. “Let’s say you did confess and they didn’t feel the same way, that’s a whole lot better than sitting here wondering what could have been.”
Josh lets out a breath of air and nods his head slowly.
What the boys were saying was true.
What was the worst that could happen? You could say no and that Vernon was right. At least you can move on from a no, how can you move on from the thoughts of a what if?
Because what if he didn’t tell her and there was a day where he began to regret that decision? How could he live with himself if he never told you how much he truly loved you?
Josh shot up from his chair and sent a look to the two younger boys.
“I need to tell them,”
Vernon and Mingyu look at each other before looking at Josh with wide eyes.
“Like right now?” Mingyu asks.
Josh nods.
“Of course, when else am I going to tell them?”
Vernon laughs and claps his hands.
“Go on, go do it! Tell them, dude.”
“I’m doing it,” Josh said before walking out the door.
He came back in a moment later and picked up his car keys.
“I’m doing it now!” He said leaving once more.
Mingyu and Vernon looked at each other once more before speaking.
“He’s seriously going to do it,”
They looked back at the tv.
“Another game?”
“Sure.”
SO back to you!!
Since you’ve gotten back, you’ve put back on your drama, you’ve got your snacks back out and reclaimed your position on the couch. You’ve finally finished the first episode and you’re only into the second one by a minute or two when the sound of knocking on your door causes you to jump in fright.
“What is it now?” You mumble to yourself as you place the snacks on your coffee table and throw your blanket to the side.
Going to the door and opening it up, you make a face to yourself in shock at the sight of Josh standing behind it.
“Oh Josh hey, what’s up? It hasn’t even been an hour and a half, miss me that much?” You laughed at your own joke, but your smile dropped at how serious Josh was. “Are you ok-...”
He cuts you off, and your mouth drops.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” you giggle. “What’s up with you?”
“No, I mean, I love you, I’m in love with you. I look at you and my heart swells and I wouldn’t want anything more than to call you mine.”
You blink for a moment as your brain tries to catch up with the words Josh is saying.
“I-I…” You try to speak, but nothing came out.
Josh begins to frown and looks down. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to them, he thought to himself.
“I’m sorry, I shou-...”
However, this time you were the one to cut him off.
“I love you too.”
#seventeen#seventeen scenarios#seventeen x reader#seventeen fluff#seventeen imagines#seventeen requests#joshua#joshua hong#joshua x reader#joshua fluff#joshua scenarios#joshua imagines#seungcheol#jeonghan#wonwoo#junhui#soonyoung#jihoon#minghao#seokmin#mingyu#seungkwan#vernon#chan#dino#the8#woozi#hoshi#scoups#dk
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The crisis virus
written by Steven Black:
While you look around and get the impression that the whole world has gone crazy and is going nuts, you have to realize: This is all perfectly normal and has happened over and over again. With the pest plague, the cholera and the Spanish flu – people reacted with unreasonableness, resentment and rebellion, against ordered measures.
With the plague, people selectively believed that bad winds, an unfavorable constellation of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn or the contaminated water were to blame because the Jews were poisoning the wells. As a logical consequence of such thinking, persecution of Jews throughout Europe occurred. Entire Jewish quarters were burned down and their inhabitants murdered.
Oh yes, a punishment by God was also possible. Even then, in the early 14th century, quarantine and isolation were ordered – as a very late measure.
In the case of cholera, 1831, quarantine and isolation were also applied. From the chronicle of the german city Stettin of this time, one learns:
„The burial of the deceased, buried in a special newly built churchyard […] aroused fear and horror, especially among the lower classes of the inhabitants. These precautions were made even worse by the complete blockade of traffic, which deprived a large part of the inhabitants of their livelihoods and probably also their means of subsistence. The lower classes could not bear this state of affairs and, believing the most absurd rumors, saw in the precautions taken only the means to their perdition.
„The prolonged duration of the cordoning off increased the bitterness, the excitement grew with each passing day, so that the workers most affected were finally inclined to use force to overturn the hated coercive rules.
„…because the agitated crowd, misled by some troublemakers, was under the delusion that cholera and security measures were only being used „to exterminate the common rabble.
The Spanish Flu, 1918 – 1919, rolled over the globe in three successive waves and claimed millions of lives. Conjecture and conspiracy theories arose among the most diverse peoples. Some saw the disease as the devil’s work of German agents, and Germany was suspected of either using insidious biological weapons or poisoning aspirin tablets from the pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer in order to win the world war. Another theory, widespread at the time, was that the flu had been imported from Spain in tins, which had been poisoned by the Germans who had brought the Spanish canneries under their control. Or it was oraculated that the cause was consequential damages of the war by poison gas missions, which were caused by the exhalations from the mountains of corpses of the battlefields. And of course there was also the evergreen that it was a punishment from God …
First with the second wave, the danger was really recognized and flu alarm systems were introduced, quarantines were imposed over ports and railroad stations, isolation stations in hospitals were set up. „Social Distancing“ was ordered, mass gatherings were prohibited. Schools, theaters, markets and churches were closed. The use of face masks and disinfectants was recommended and in some areas made mandatory by law.
Those who refused to wear face masks were fined. By the way, later studies proved that the prohibition of mass events and the requirement to wear a mouth-and-nose mask reduced the death rate in American cities by up to 50 percent. Where it was not prescribed by law, i.e. only announced as a recommendation, there were many more deaths. The same thing is currently happening in Sweden.
The Corona Virus – today
100 years after the Spanish flu, a new medical crisis is entering the global stage. And just as with the plague, cholera and Spanish flu, where fear and uncertainty accompanied the daily events, the most colorful rumors and theories are flourishing. There seems to be a lid for every pot.
Some political party sees the Corona virus as an obvious foreigner epidemic. Logically, migrants must be to blame for it too. Within the extreme right groups the old perennial argument is active that the Jews are to blame for Corona.
Many vaccination critics freak out at the name Bill Gates, who allegedly wants to decimate humanity and enslave it with microchips. He has the WHO, the media and Angela Merkel personally in his pocket. Then there are people who believe that the new 5 G technology is the real cause of the Corona virus. The Qanon community believes that the virus is merely an excuse for Donald Trump to free thousands of poor, tortured children from underground tunnels.
There are an ever increasing number of people who believe that the virus is nothing more than a normal flu. There is also the idea that this Corona virus does not exist – it would all be just an excuse to get rid of cash and have a controlled financial crash. The usual suspects also know exactly from whom and why – of course to enforce the infamous New World Order, either by the „Deep State“, the „Kabale“ or the „Illuminati“.
A few fundamentalist church officials also took up the same cause:
In a text entitled „A Call for the Church and for the World – to Catholics and all people of good will“, signed among others by the German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller and initiated by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former Pontifical Ambassador to the USA, the Corona measures were sharply criticized. The signatories had previously spoken out against bans on worship because of the corona virus and they are all arch-conservative opponents of the current pope. The text stated: „It is a fact that under the pretext of the Covid 19 epidemic, in many cases inalienable rights of citizens have been violated and their fundamental freedoms have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted, including the right to freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of movement.
It was further stated that there is reason to believe „that there are forces that are interested in creating panic among the population. Their goal is to permanently enforce „forms of unacceptable restriction of freedom and the associated control over persons and the persecution of all their movements“. „These illiberal attempts at control are the disturbing prelude to the creation of a world government that eludes all control“.
Personal note: By the way – dear church idiots: What about the „forms of unacceptable restriction of freedom“ of my mind, by your religious doctrine? Or „the associated control over persons“, where you let people slide around on their knees and establish a sense of sacrifice by having a figure nailed to a cross worshiped? But a „God’s world government“ would be all right with you, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, I don’t really expect an answer to that. But what else you should know – the signatories represent an arch-conservative, right-wing current within the Catholic Church. They fervently hate the current pope because he accepts homosexuality and divorce as facts of life and is open to pro-migration and capitalism-critical positions. It is also no coincidence that these clerics of all people are waving their fear of a „new world order“ around. The whole thing is organized by a notorious ultra-right-wing populist – namely Steve Bannon. The man who brought Donald Trump to power through tons of fake news and conspiracy theories.
By the way, there are strong indications that the art product „QAnon“, a fictitious Internet personality, is a product of Steve Bannon. He is the thinking head and mastermind of the so-called new right.
The American government, led by Donald Trump, sees itself as the victim of a Chinese conspiracy initiated either by a mysterious „Deep State“ or preferably by the Democrats – which is one and the same thing in his case. Evangelical clerics see the Corona virus as a punishment from God for homosexuality. A handful of doctors contradict the official statements and believe that the Corona virus is little more than a common flu. The population would get scared over nothing and wearing masks would be very unhealthy. And in the chest tone of conviction, many an empathy-free idiot rambles that it would only affect pre-existing patients who would have died soon anyway. You know, just collateral damage …
In the USA, the president himself is the main accelerator of emotional states. There were protests against the curfews in several US cities and about 3000 demonstrators, some of them armed and wearing Trump campaign caps and flags, took to the streets in Michigan. Encouraged by Donald, who tweeted „Free Michigan,“ dozens of gunmen entered the parliament building in the city of Lansing.
In Germany and Austria, people suddenly took to the streets and demonstrated against the corona measures of their government. Against an alleged panic-mongering, against an allegedly intended compulsory vaccination, against the curtailment of their basic rights, against an allegedly threatened freedom of opinion, against the obligation to wear masks, against an alleged „Corona dictatorship“, against a „New World Order“ by Bill Gates and much more. What one would not have thought possible before, happened now:
People who call themselves „leftists“, right-wing conservatives, neo-Nazis, people of the freeman movement, spiritual people, and also people who had never been involved with any of the groups mentioned before, stood together in a public square and chanted „We are the people“. And of course they did not wear masks, and of course they did not keep a „minimum distance“. With righteous indignation they held flyers in their hands where „The Basic Law“ is written on them and lamented a loss of it. Although the basic right to personal liberties was only limited due to the situation and receded into the background in favor of the basic right to personal integrity of EVERYONE, suddenly not only the Corona virus seemed to mutate.
A wide range of people suddenly mutated into virus specialists and health experts, legal luminaries and political insiders. It was not at all helpful if individual physicians and virologists publicly held different views, which are not in accordance with the scientific consensus. These people were suddenly elevated to „heroes of „truth“ and made anti-witnesses of the establishment.
Like moths to a flame, all the discontented, angry opponents of the system, critics of capitalism, right-wing populists pouring oil on the fire, bawling bald-headed people and „Merkel must go“ yellers flocked together and mingled with yoga practitioners, meditators, as well as people who simply wanted a „better system“. Emotional fire accelerators like KenFM, Sven Liebich, Lügenstöckl, NPD offshoots and various AFD supporters moderated the „happening“ and it did not take long until this situation led to the foundation of a new party – called „Resistance 2020“. Founded by Victoria Hamm, the Sinsheim swindle doctor Bodo Schiffmann and the Leipzig lawyer Ralf Ludwig.
The appeal of „Resistance 2020“ continued as long as Covid 19 and the restrictions imposed by governments were highly active. In the meantime this has abated. First the chairwoman Victoria Hamm stepped down from the party (because of internal differences of opinion), her replacement, the chairwoman of the supervisory board of „Humanimity“, Sandra Wesolek, also threw in the towel soon after. And now also the founder and vice-chairman of the party, Bodo Schiffmann, has left Resistance 2020. Only Ralf Ludwig remains, who keeps the coma patient „Resistance 2020“ alive.
In conclusion – it will not yet be completely silent about the topic Covid – 19, but it slowly fades in its importance. At least for the moment. If we are lucky and there will be no 2nd or third wave, it will stay that way.
Crisis intensification
Another topic has now captured the attention of the world, people and media – a topic that has never been completely absent: racism and police brutality in the USA.
The violent death of the African-American George Floyd, after a police operation, was followed by peaceful protests in the USA, but there were also riots and looting. And as in dealing with the corona virus, Donald Trump shifts to denial of the structural problem, puts the blame on others and does just about anything to pour even more fire into the heated atmosphere.
Under the hashtag #blackllivesmatter, which has been known since 2013 and is a name for an African-American civil rights movement, people are gathering again to demonstrate against state arbitrariness, police brutality and unfair treatment of dark-skinned people. Previous slogans of the movement, such as „Hands up, don’t shoot“, „White silence is violence“, „No justice, no peace“, „Is my son next?“ are being used again, including the now popular „I can’t breathe“ and „BlackOutTuesday“.
It is no longer just a movement of the „black community“. Within just a few days, numerous politicians, celebrities and large companies have raised their voices and spoken out in favor of the BlackLivesMatter movement. More and more representatives of the video game industry are also joining in. Sony, for example, has refrained from presenting the new Playstation 5 due to the current situation. But also companies like Microsoft, Activision, EA, Massive Entertainment, Square Enix, Bethesda, Naughty Dog, Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros, and many other global big players made clear statements against racism and expressed their solidarity. Over 50 influential companies have donated large sums of money to the movement.
Yes, Soros‘ Open Society Foundation is one of them (about $33 million), but is rather outdone by all others, especially FORD Foundation and Borealis Philanthropy (about $100 million). Also worthy of mention are the Hill-Snowden Foundation, Solidaire, the NoVo Foundation, the Association of Black Foundation Executives, the Neighborhood Funders Group-Funders for Justice, Anonymous Donors, and many more.
It is already becoming apparent that this issue could potentially break Donald Trump’s neck and prevent his re-election. „Poor Donald“, after his mismanagement in the Corona crisis became visible to everyone, now police brutality and racism challenge him. And here again he reacts headlessly and impulse-driven instead of showing presidential leadership. Instead he meets the problem in the familiar perpetrator-victim reversal tactic.
Incidentally, the same thing happens as in the Covid 19 demonstrations in Austria and Germany – extreme right-wing „withe supremacy“ agitators mingle with the demonstrators. They incite people and loot, start brawls and set fire to buildings. Incited by Donald Trump, who simply claimed that it was „the ANTIFA“ that was firing up the demonstrations, his followers do everything in their power to discredit the movement and make it look bad in the eyes of the public.
In a series of messages, a Twitter account called „Antifa US“ had called on protesters to march into neighborhoods and „take what is ours“. Twitter itself had cleared up the fact that behind this account „American Identity Movement“ is the extreme right-wing formerly known as „Identity Evropa“, that was behind the protest and deleted the account.
Blacklivesmatter is a movement that I wholeheartedly endorse. What I find less good about it is that this conglomeration of people is happening on the streets while the corona virus is still highly active in the world. There is also no question of keeping a distance, a large majority can be seen wearing masks during the protests, but not all of them. I fear that this will have some unpleasant consequences. But the German demonstrations against a „Corona dictatorship“ and against police arbitrariness and brutality by blacklivesmatter could not be more different.
The sense of demonstrating against a world domination by Bill Gates and an alleged forced chippings or because one is forced to wear a mask temporarily stinks against blacklivesmatter. This is about addressing really important issues of the human species. The core statement of „Blacklivesmatter“ is – “ stop treating us like shit!“
It did not take long, of course, for the rumor mill to start bubbling on this topic as well and the „usual suspects“ went peddling „THE truth“ about it to everyone. You know, from „it’s all a government diversion“ to George Floyd wouldn’t be dead. It would all be a false flag operation and George Soros would be behind the protests. Xavier Naidoo also tells his followers about it and although the man from Mannheim had his own experiences with racism, he is not too stupid to devalue the blacklivesmatter movement. He described the demonstrators who are now taking to the streets against racism and police violence as hypocrites. And ends with a whataboutism rant – „anyone who comes up with an organization called Black lives matter is a divider“.
Naidoo justified his statement by saying that for him all lives count. Sounds plausible on the surface but clearly demonstrates that he did not understand the fundamental problem at all. Naidoo parrots something he has probably read or heard from Alex Jones or another opponent from the disinformation movement. The blacklivesmatter movement has been struggling with such whataboutism arguments from the beginning, since 2013. Not surprisingly, „All Lives Matter“ is often used as a counter-argument by the racist „white supremacy“ groups.
Barack Obama found good words for this: „I think the reason why the organizers use the term „Black Lives Matter“ was not because they wanted to imply that other lives do not matter. They are saying that there is a specific problem in the African American community that does not exist in other communities. This is a legitimate problem that we need to address.
Sounds logical, right? It is. Let’s say you broke your arm and you go to the doctor. He won’t tell you – „all bones count“, but will turn to the current problem. The bone that is just broken. If your house is on fire, the fire department will not tell you “ all houses caunt“ – they will simply put out the fire.
If you come to blacklivesmatter with alllivesmatter, you are part of the problem not the solution. This tries to ignore or disguise the problem by directing the criticism behind it to another topic.
It is definitely crisis – and virus time
A virus form that is completely unknown to most people is going around and is at least as infectious as Covid 19. They are mental and emotional viruses. Positive, negative, destructive and constructive viruses of all kinds. Created by humans every day and they influence all humans, more or less.
We are usually not used to accept the idea that our thoughts as well as our feelings and the words we utter have substantial meanings. Substantial is literally meant here – both thoughts, emotions and words contain substances that act as carriers of their expression. Through which the respective content of thoughts, feelings/emotions and words is transported, which always involves an „inaudible“, complex bundling of frequencies and takes on form, sound and tones. We do not „just think“, we generate a thought form for it, depending on the intensity of our respective thoughts – a kind of „pale being“.
And we do not „just feel“, we generate emotional signatures that can be perceived, „read“, felt and recognized by other people, consciously or unconsciously. We do not „just talk“, our words always convey a large context of mental and emotional content. Whoever listens carefully can often discover contradictions in the words, because the transported feelings are not in harmony with them.
As the person we are, we resemble a piano. We are a musical instrument with many keys and tones, with which the most diverse vibration frequencies can be expressed. Depending on how well we have learned to handle our instrument and how the individual tones are tuned, it will decide how harmonious or disharmonious our personal sound, our own melody, is. Everything we think, feel, say or do sounds through us and creates sounds that are received by others.
The more sensitive a person is or the better he can listen, the more contents of his counterpart he will be able to perceive. How aware someone is or is not of these levels, however, is basically irrelevant. The thought forms, emotional content, sounds and frequencies of other people are also perceived unconsciously. Basically, we all speak through individualized codes – the spoken or written words mean nothing in themselves. The linear arrangement of symbols (letters) that form words has a meaning for us because they are charged with emotional and mental sounds that form a kind of overall picture. We all encode such images on a daily basis and send them out from us. And we all decode every day a huge accumulation of sent consciousness images – which we have either seen, heard or read.
How much we are influenced by the opinions of other people or media – their generated images – depends to a large extent on our own identity structure. And on the respective topics that are founded in it.
Our exchange of information and images becomes a virus – either constructive or destructive – when it spreads in wide circles and becomes more and more emotionally charged. Our thoughts, emotions and the words we speak not only influence ourselves, but also other people. This means we infect other people with our ideas. And other people infect us with their ideas. If an idea or assertion fascinates, impresses, captivates or outrages us, it can go so far that we forget the origin and, spurred on by the charge of an idea, run amok with it.
All of us together are embedded in a collective frequency field, which is reflected in personal, national and global situations. None of us is virtually „an island“, we all manipulate and influence each other. We can hardly escape this, unless we have no contact to other people anymore. But even then it would probably be difficult to escape the collective astral field.
The collective field contains positive, negative, destructive and constructive viruses of all kinds. We encounter emotional and mental viruses all the time, but nowhere in such a concentrated form as in the „social media“. In this respect, the Internet is a single, gigantic virus slingshot. And all of us who make use of it cannot get away with it.
The opinion of others
The technical development of the Internet has made it possible for us to be exposed to a storm of opinions and views on a daily basis in a way that has never been possible before. About 22,510 GB of data are fed into the Internet every second. That is about 2 billion GB per day (exactly 1,944,864.00 GB [2015]). YouTube has a monthly data volume of about 16 Exabyte (Exabyte = 1018 Byte). About 3 million videos per hour are consumed on YouTube. There are 1. 012 315 000 websites on the net. About 16 million of these websites are hacked annually.
About 4 million new blog entries are written every day, 80 million photos are uploaded to Instagram, 618 million „tweets“ are posted – that is 7130 tweets per second. Facebook processes 2.5 billion pieces of content, 2.7 billion likes and 300 million photos every day. All in all, this adds up to a daily data volume of more than 500 terabytes, just for FB alone. About 4 billion search queries are made daily via Google and 10 billion videos are viewed on YouTube. And these numbers will increase, the rush on our inner senses will become more and more intense.
One drama after the other is being chased through the internet every day. An ever-increasing number of bloggers and websites vie for our daily attention. And hardly anybody takes the time to ask themselves, is it really true what I hear or read? What is it really about? And what would be even more important: Does it really have anything to do with ME? Is this really MINE? Or did I just get infected with an emotional virus that is related to a personal topic?
Although we humans generally assume that we have reasonable opinions and justifiable arguments, or that we see the world with clear eyes – this is rarely the case. Each of us lives in our own reality and we all believe that the world is as we secretly assume it to be. The perspective of how we see the world is largely based on the filter of our own beliefs.
One of the effects that has come through the Internet is the amazing development that many people have become aware of how the mainstream press often reports manipulatively or at least with omission – and sometimes doesn’t present the whole picture. By the way, this is not the fault of the press. Nobody can cover all sides of a story, and certainly not in a single article. If you want to know halfway exactly what’s going on, you have to make an effort yourself and look at different perspectives. But the same people then believe every shit that somebody says on YouTube. Actually, many people today don’t believe anything anymore.
But „alternative facts“ to the corona crisis, you believe them. Doctors who are not virologists or virologists who have not been up to date in this field for a long time, we listen to them more than to the top specialists.
We believe that a statesman who uses victim reversal as a means of perpetration. People who lament with a chest sound of the conviction that the Basic Law is in danger – we let ourselves be influenced by that. We reject a black civil rights movement because we allow ourselves to be persuaded that this means that not all lives count. One encounters „BlackLivesMatter“ with WhiteLivesMatter or „AllLivesMatter. Or if someone once again complains – „you’re not allowed to say all this anymore“ – we agree with indignation. Not realizing that he/she has just said it on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, blogs, etc. Which of course leads the statement ad absurdum, but somehow we don’t really notice it anymore.
A youth movement for environmental awareness, „Friday for future“, is met with „Friday for poverty in old age“. Renewable forms of energy, such as wind turbines that generate renewable electricity, are met with „but they kill innocent insects“. If you read somewhere, in any newspaper, that right-wing extremist violence has increased again in the last year, you don’t have to wait long for someone to comment „hey, what about left-wing violence? A women’s movement for sexual abuse and violence is countered with the argument that there is also abuse of women against men. An African-American movement against police brutality and structural racism is countered with „and what about racism against whites? Particularly deep-seated – „what about racism against Germans?
What is actually wrong with us?
Why do we let „whataboutism arguments“ manipulate us? Why can’t we see through the transparency of such cheap maneuvers and recognize that they distract us from the actual core of a situation or a justified criticism and divert our attention to another area?
Besides all the positive and constructive things the Internet stands for, there is also a dark side to it. Among other things it is misused for a modern form of witch hunts and witch burning. Angela Merkel, Greta Thunberg, Barack Obama, George Soros, Bill Gates, the Rothschilds, Rockefeller and many other public figures are burned at some Internet stake every day, applauded and cheered. And this comes not only from the right, but from all sides. If you look at the comments on such postings, you can observe the violent reactions, where a storm of indignation, anger and hatred is unleashed, which is then projected onto the designated persons.
The art of differentiation seems to have become a lost art.
There is such a variety of information and opinions, often colored by interests, sometimes just imaginatively lied about and only partially true, that it would basically take some time and energy to separate the facts from rumors and lies. A personal effort that hardly anyone is willing to put in, or perhaps doesn’t have the time.
But that is what we all have to learn.
Media competence
Without media competence, we run the risk of drowning in the flood of information. Not only reading texts, but also watching YouTube videos or films today requires more and more critical discernment. The critical filtering of information, comments, text content and the images offered in addition, is proving to be an ever increasing challenge. Today, for every x any topic, completely different and often contradictory opinions are in circulation. And we are experiencing the phenomenon that people often only read the headlines of articles and not the whole article. The attention threshold has become extremely low for some people. Headlines alone can lead to emotional convulsions …
It is important that we learn to understand how communication works and how information affects us. When we read or hear words, we don’t just sort the meaning of the words and sum them up in a particular context. We also record all the unsaid, the energetic, mental and emotional signatures that the speaker or writer gives to their words. It is already scientifically known that in communications, brains are synchronized. To a synchronization of brain waves that goes beyond mere speech processing. It will not be long before we discover that this synchronization does not only occur in spoken communication, but in any kind of communication, even when the information is transported via screens.
If we identify with what someone writes or says because something within us resonates with it, then synchronization occurs with the mental, intellectual and emotional content that is presented to us. Emotional content of all kinds affects the heart field, the glands and the electrochemical energies of the body, i.e. the energetic environment in the body, which causes either an increase or decrease of the personal energy level.
The question that arises is, what do I focus my personal attention on? And can I think for myself or do I simply take over every piece of information offered to me, which includes concepts and perspectives from other people that I usually don’t even know? If we take over everything that strangers prepare for us, we are condemned to walk around with concepts that are not our own.
But the only person who has a responsibility here, what kind of information he lets into his system, is me. The only person who is able to differentiate between the information and my personal feeling about it is me. The only one who can learn to check the opinions of others is me. Nobody will do that for me.
Nevertheless, it is also true that constant effort, investigation, checking and research is no guarantee for a secure knowledge – sometimes you are simply confronted with the fact that you cannot know at the moment! But you can learn to endure that.
What we see is in my eyes, in many respects, an expression of a massive crisis of orientation and a resulting upheaval. Humanity is beginning to define itself anew, once again. We are moving from an age where people were rather „prisoners of their consciousness“ and their experience, to an epoch where people understand that they are NOT their consciousness. But that his consciousness is an attribute, a quality, his very own being and his creative power. And how this is expressed, lies in his very personal responsibility.
The old psychological self of humanity, which accepted oppression of the weak, predator capitalism, perpetrator-victim conversion, wars, exploitation of earth and humanity, will be replaced. But this old energy is struggling for survival. Hard and fierce. We are far from being through this.
One thing can be sure – the next crisis is waiting. And again it will be driven through the Internet village in an over-dramatized way. Where will you stand then? To which side will you then give your spiritual support? What will you be guided by? Your reason and your own views after you have dealt with the situation to some extent or will you follow the emotional pull that was triggered by the opinions of others?
What kind of sound will you add to the overall melody?
Until next time same station
DISCLAIMER: Nothing you read here is THE truth. It is my truth. My perception and how I see things – now, in this moment.
THE INFORMATION SPACE
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Let’s talk about irony.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
The sky six hours from now will be illuminated by fireworks, annually, yet people are still surprised this is a thing that happens. Large groups of overworked middle class Americans taking their first and last sip of booze for months.
Irony.
We as a people, and even those “above” us, dictate what “worth” means to us.
This comes with how much we work, VS how much we’re paid, sided with a hotcake of WILL.
What are you willing to do for happiness? What are you willing to sacrifice?
I’m 27 years old and always seem to be in a battle with life. I used to think it was a battle with myself, but that's such a constant I usually don’t even give it the attention we all know it deserves.
Now I just battle life. Ya know, the ones your folks gave you without consideration of the awful traits they’d pass along with debilitating features they've both buried for years... oh.
I feel like the two of us signed up for a different post today, although this is usual, I figured that maybe I’d throw something new into the mix. Something a little more for my other blog.
YES, I have more than one blog. - This account was started when I was in 7th grade if I’m not mistaken, ugh theeverydayblues...I’m 27 now, and although Tumblr has become an alternate form of expression for me throughout the years, it still gets the job done..exactly how I need it to - EVERY-TIME.
It’s the 4th of July, again - I’m 27 years old.
What would you expect I was doing? Where would you think I am?
I’m currently at a restaurant, one I’ve avoided for a long time. The last memory-worthy relationship I was in was with my x; CHANG. We dated for almost 8 years, crazy to think that much time went by, but I guess when you’re being gaslighted nothing seems real.
Towards the end of our relationship I ended up finding out that the gym he went to daily, the one I always asked to join, he had met a nice young lady.. -
One who soon, less than a year later would be posing for the New Year in front of a IKEA photo he and I had bought for our apartment the first year we moved in years ago.
It’s funny, these days- Saying these things out loud and processing them just as well..
I’m sitting at a restaurant on 4th of July alone, across from a couple who you can tell has loved for many many years.
I’m usually the person to want to know the secret, to ask “What does it take?!” - Hopelessly in love with the idea of being in love..I’ve stumbled through my life not quite understanding it’s the basics you learn from that form your existence.
They sat as I was waiting for my desert, I’ve been working hard so I bought myself a bottle of wine and a steak to pair. My waiter had been charming and immediately caught my eye with his beautifully groomed Gentleman's stash. I noticed them because they were sat by the host at a four person table while I sat with what felt like selfishly at a two person booth.
Immediately they talked about how cold the place felt, how he wish he wore long pants instead of shorts and how she wondered if they’d be hated if they asked to move to a area with less of a draft.
It’s funny because for a period of my life in this industry I sat around and talked about how dramatic and selfish people with long left chapters felt about our air or seating. Usually when we’re going through something - we think selfishly. Even If it's just at a restaurant. We worry about ourselves.
She asked where the powder room was, after a glance at her empty seat. and empty feeling I’m sure he felt looking over at me, he journeyed off as well in hope of either not being alone, using the restroom, or both.
He came back quickly, anxiously looking around to make sure he didn't miss his love. The longest 15 minutes I’ve ever experienced.
When she returned, he made sure she was comfortable and ready to order. They chatted a little about the price and the indoor ambiance while waiting for the delightfully mustached server we both shared.
Their meal started off coy, he didn’t take a bite till she did, and she didn't ask for a bite from his food VS her salad. Her eyebrows were painted on with a color that didn’t quite match her hair, her expressions were misleading.
Although her relaxed face was writing the story of her 4th of July outing, her eyebrows seemed - uneasy.
I perfectly timed my glasses of wine to the bottle I ordered. I saved 2 1/2 glasses.
2 G - Desert
1/2 G - Waiting for bill.
After sitting alone, and watching them slowly start to talk and enjoy each others company throughout their meal, I melted.
I know what I deserve and what I’m capable of, but admiring a love everlasting like that really puts things into perspective.
The battles you choose, the selfishness you provide, if you want it - you’ll have it.
Nothing comes free, and sometimes sitting alone is the perfect way to remind yourself how you take care of yourself just fine - but not settling for the bare minimum from someone else feels just as good.
I overheard a intodroduction between the two of them and my server Adam, If I evesdropped just right - their names are Monte & Lana.
Those are gentle reminders, to be human, and to be selfless..
I’m going to go home now and watch some movies. Hopefully the text I just saw about us being open today are fake.
FML. CIAO
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FROM THE MONARCHIST LEAGUE OF CANADA
As this Ecomm went to publication, we received word of the death, at the great age of 96, of Bill Silver, a significant benefactor of the League from its early days, and for many years a pillar of our Ottawa Branch. We wished to remember him here: his ebullient spirit, fierce loyalty spoken gently, innate modesty and kindness. Indeed Chaucer might have had forethought of Bill in describing one of his characters as a “very parfitt gentle knight.” May his ardent spirit rest in peace, and his memory be a blessing and example to us all. LEAGUE ISSUES NEW FLYER: THE CASE FOR THE CROWN The League thought it timely and useful to issue, offer in its advertising and distribute as widely as possible - both via the website and in printed form - a new flyer which will give you, our members, ammunition to argue logically the case for the Crown in conversation with others, and, we hope, to distribute strategically. One never knows when such an item, left on a waiting room table at the doctor or dentist’s office, affixed to a supermarket or other community bulletin board, put through neighbours’ mail slots - the possibilities are many - will do good work for our cause. We hope you will both enjoy and profit from this item, and that many thousands will be distributed across the country. See item one in the WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE CANADIAN CROWN? section of this Ecomm, below, to read online and request printed copies. And special thanks to our wonderful team of no less than seven translators, all francophones from La Belle Province, who so kindly volunteered to make the French version one that is accurate in expression and eloquent in its prose. WHAT CAN I DO FOR THE CANADIAN CROWN? Some suggestions for member activity during these times. We invite members to send additional ideas by return of email. 1. How about asking the League to send you several print copies of our new flyer: THE CASE FOR THE CROWN, or print them on your home computer: https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php/publications and give them to others who may be unaware or sceptical of the importance of Canada’s constitutional monarchy, or even hostile to it. School teachers could be encouraged to read the League’s educational booklets, also available both online and in print at the same URL, or even to request a class set. 2. When you read an editorial, opinion column or letter to the editor in a newspaper, or a tweet or Facebook post, critical of the Crown, don’t get mad - get even! In other words, use a temperate tone and logical argument to refute the writer’s attack. Keep it brief: focus on the obvious flaws in reasoning, mis-statements of fact or name-calling substituting for logic. Same goes for radio talk shows. In the long run, on all media, whatever the provocation, whatever the momentary satisfaction of ”giving them a piece of my mind” - an old adage remains true: “You catch more flies with honey.” 3. Write your elected representative at the federal level to re-state briefly the reasons you support constitutional monarchy as our system of government, and asking the MP whether not your view is shared. 4. Once pandemic restrictions ease, try to make sure that Royal events - such as the upcoming 95th birthday of our Queen, 10th Wedding Anniversary of William and Catherine or 100th birthday of Prince Philip are celebrated both in your home but also among your wider family, your friends, your colleagues at the office, your place of worship/faith community or service club. The League generally sends you some ideas to mark these celebrations. Remember, as they are incorporated into family life and public life, the Crown becomes further embedded in the heart of the nation, and truly represents The Queen’s wish that it ”reflects all that is best and most admired in the Canadian ideal.” This is especially true when you go out of your way to include in your observance the newest members of our Canadian family, who generally are eager to participate in the traditions of their new homeland, and in turn to share their own traditions with the wider community. 5. Always use a Queen stamp when you write a letter or pay a bill by mail. 6. At events of ceremony, whether a Council meeting, a graduation, a civic celebration - whatever - make sure that the Royal Anthem is sung as well as the National Anthem. To the extent you can, discourage event organizers from having a soloist “perform” them. Far more pride and learning develop from the untrained voices of loyal folk singing together. In that way, the Anthems are sung “with heart and voice” and not merely listened to. A FINAL IDEA: AN ACT OF LOVING SUPPORT & THANKS Apart from the above, we think it would be enormously comforting and supportive for every one of us to write a kind letter to The Queen, expressing your thoughts at a difficult time: her beloved husband ailing, a grand-child chiding other family members via sensational television, the drumbeat of the tabloids and the restrictions on her busy life caused by the pandemic. A selection of letters, especially those from Commonwealth Realms, are indeed seen by The Queen - and their number and tone are summarized to Her Majesty. The address is - Her Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA, UK Theoretically you don’t need postage to write the Sovereign; in practice, it is safer to affix the international airmail stamp available from your local Canada Post outlet. AN INTERESTING OPINION PIECE FROM TODAY’S DAILY TELEGRAPHWe thought you might be interested to see the following strongly-worded opinion piece, reflecting a good deal of the tone of recent British public opinion, rather different from much of the Canadian and US commentary. Meghan’s fake interview has real-world effects The Sussexes’ claims have undermined the monarchy and done lasting damage to the Commonwealth by Tim Stanley, March 15, 2021 Two headlines appeared on the BBC News website on the same day. At the top: “Harry and Meghan rattle monarchy’s gilded cage”. At the bottom: “The kidnapped woman who defied Boko Haram”. Well, that puts the Sussexes' problems in perspective, doesn’t it? Yet across Africa, one reads, the Duchess’s story has revived memories of colonial racism, tarnishing the UK’s reputation, and has even lent weight to the campaign in some countries to drop the Queen as head of state. The only nation that seems to think a lot of nonsense was spoken is Britain. In the wake of an interview that Joe Biden’s administration called courageous, British popular opinion of Harry and Meghan fell to an all-time low, and the American format had a lot to do with it. Oprah Winfrey is not our idea of an interviewer. She flattered, fawned and displayed utter credulity. Imagine if it had been her, not Emily Maitlis, who interviewed Prince Andrew over the Jeffrey Epstein allegations. “You were in a Pizza Express that day? Oh my God, you MUST be innocent! Tell me, in all honesty, though...did you have the dough balls?” This wasn’t an interview, it was a commercial for a brand called Sussex, a pair of eco-friendly aristo-dolls that, if you pull the string, tell their truth – which isn’t the truth, because no one can entirely know that, but truth as they perceive it. “Life is about storytelling,” explained Meghan, “about the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we’re told, what we buy into.” Meghan is a postmodernist. Just as Jean Baudrillard said the Gulf War never happened, but was choreographed by the US media, so the Royal narrative she was forced to live was fake, her public happiness was fake and, following that logic, this interview might involve an element of performance, too. People have challenged her claims, alleging contradictions and improbabilities, but one of the malign effects of wokeness is that you have got to be very careful about pointing this out. Why? Because wokery insists on treating a subjective view as objective truth, or even as superior, because it’s based upon “lived experience”. To contradict that personal perspective is perceived as cruel, elitist and, in Meghan’s case, potentially racist, so it’s best to wait a few weeks to a year before applying a fact check. In the meantime, affect sympathy. People would rather you lied to their face than tell them what they don’t want to hear. The result is profoundly dishonest, for I have never known an event over which there is such a gulf between the official reception, as endorsed by the media and politics, and the reaction of average citizens, who are wisely keeping it to themselves. Into that vacuum of silence steps not the voice of reason but bullies and showmen – like Piers Morgan, who said some brash stuff about Meghan’s honesty and, after an unseemly row on Good Morning Britain, felt obliged to resign from his job. “If you’d like to show your support for me,” he wrote afterwards, “please order a copy of my book.” Dear Lord, was this row fake, too? I can no longer be sure, though I despised Good Morning Britain before and still do: it embodies the cynical confusion of emotion and fact, a show made for clicks, where even the weatherman has an opinion. So what is real in 2021? The Commonwealth, which does a lot of good in a divided world. The monarchy, which has been at its best during the pandemic, doing the boring stuff of cutting ribbons and thanking workers that, one suspects, Meghan never grew into (can you imagine her opening a supermarket in Beccles?). It contains flawed people, but that only adds to its realness, and they can adapt faster than you might think. Prince William got the ball rolling by telling reporters, who he is trained to ignore, that his family is not racist. His wife paid her respects to the murder victim Sarah Everard, demonstrating that she is neither cold nor silenced. I’d wager Kate does her duty, day after day, no complaint, not because she is “trapped”, as Harry uncharitably put it, but because she loves her family and believes in public service. Meghan and Harry have indeed prompted the Royal family to change: not in order to endorse their criticisms, however, but to answer them.
GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿
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