#cleanliness campaign

[townpostin]

Cleanliness Campaign Launched by Jugsalai Municipal Council

Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 initiative to promote cleanliness and health. Jugsalai Municipal Council has initiated the "Adopt Cleanliness, Drive Away Disease" campaign under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. JAMSHEDPUR – The Jugsalai Municipal Council has recently started a campaign called "Adopt Cleanliness, Drive Away Disease" as a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. The campaign is…

[delicatelysublimeforester]

A Heartfelt Thank You to Chris and Liz: Keeping Our Dog Park Clean

[rebel-bulletin]

बाबा जुमदेव यांची जयंती उत्साहात : ग्राम चिरेखनी येथे परमात्मा एक सेवक मंडळाने राबविले स्वच्छता अभियान, व्हिडीओ बघा

तिरोडा : मानव धर्माचे संस्थापक महान त्यागी बाबा जुमदेव यांची १०२ वी जयंती परम पूज्य परमात्मा एक सेवक मंडळ वर्धमान नगर नागपूर शाखा चिरेखनीच्या वतीने ग्राम चिरेखनी येथे उत्साहात साजरी करण्यात आली. या वेळी गावातील सर्व सेवक-सेविका व बाल-गोपाल उपस्थित होते. (Cleanliness campaign on Baba Jumdev Jayanti) कार्यक्रमाच्या पहिल्या दिवशी परम पूज्य परमात्मा एक सेवक मंडळातील सर्व सेवकांनी ग्राम स्वच्छता…

[daz4i]

tragic: this man tried to steal an idea from edgar allan poe to use in a puzzle for his ttrpg. however, he is not a poet nor as smart as poe, and is now agonizing over figuring this shit out

[gajananjogdand45]

https://marmikmaharashtra.com/special-campaign-in-the-district-for-cleanliness-special-gram-sabha-organized-on-22nd-december/

[clownsnake]

speaking of complex girl characters, check out the backstory/character expansion I did of my dnd character!!!! She's from the mob and SOOOO normal abt it <3 bardbarians unite!

[chaoticace2005]

Reasons Lucifer hates Alastor:

1. Annoyed about him “stealing” Charlie

2. Recognizes what a manipulative bastard he is and feels like the others don’t see it

2b. Able to read people’s true intentions, so knows Alastor is sus.

3. Alastor dissed him when he first arrived at the hotel, and Lucifer hates that

4. He just doesn’t like his vibes

5. Alastor is a prideful being, and Lucifer being the Sin of Pride can’t have someone being more prideful than him.

6. Just doesn’t like overlords

7. Got called a “short motherfucker who nobody likes” by Alastor

8. Alastor does have a past of sorts with Lilith and Lucifer knows it

9. Alastor is actually the one who served Lucifer the divorce papers for Lilith

10. He’s way too tall. It’s ridiculous

11. Alastor is Lilith, in disguise, and part of Lucifer recognizes this and is attracted to them, which feels like a betrayal.

11b. Alternatively, Alastor isn’t Lilith in disguise, but Lucifer still does feel some level of attraction for him.

12. He’s tired of seeing the guy’s face everywhere. He’s already gotten so many commissions with Alastor’s face attached ( @onesidedradiostatic )

13. Vox sent him an explicit drawing of Alastor naked for commissions and now Lucifer can never see the man the same way again.

14. Lucifer’s thing is red. Alastor can’t also be red. Or be redder than him.

15. He had a traumatic experience with a deer as a child and never recovered

16. Theories about Alastor being an angel are true— Lucifer recognizes this (and recognized that Vaggie was one) but sees that Alastor has yet to truly break away from Heaven

17. Lucifer is a stickler for cleanliness and can’t deal with the fact Alastor never bathes

18. Alastor’s scent is just really not good for the Autism

19. Lucifer had a traumatic experience with radios.

20. Lucifer just doesn’t like cannibals/serial killers

21. Heard Alastor speak French. Lucifer hates French people.

22. Alastor had a public campaign about how much ducks SUCK

23. One of Alastor’s many crimes as a human was duck abuse. So he’s permanently on Lucifer’s shitlist.

24. Alastor encouraged people to feed ducks bread, which is actually unhealthy for them.

25. Alastor actually spent the seven years harassing Lucifer and sending him hate mail

26. Lucifer just thinks his ears are stupid

27. Can sense true “evilness” from Al (could be malicious intent or could be that Al is working with Roo (the root of all evil))

28. Mistook Al for “A.I.” which he had heard was threatening creators (Alastor is threatening them, just in a different way.)

29. Alastor lied and betrayed Lucifer in an Among Us game one time and Lucifer never forgave him

[nebuladreamerrr]

Chicken wings| Kylian Mbappé x Fem Reader

Summary:��A small forgetfulness forces you to have to turn to Kylian to buy you some things, without knowing the confusion it will create.

Warnings: English is not my first language, and I got the inspiration through various TikToks that had been in my fyp. 

You had been grappling with menstrual cramps for weeks, but recent stress had sidelined them from your attention. At work, tensions were high with the onset of the new summer season and negotiations with prominent designers to boost sales. Additionally, your impending departure from the country with Kylian had triggered a flurry of packing at home, as you prepared to store away memories and swiftly transform your new residence into a comfortable haven. Despite your financial ease, you couldn't avoid the tedious task of deciding which items should remain in Paris until the season's end – your computer and attire for scheduled advertising campaigns – and what to leave behind until you settled into your new abode.

The flurry of events had caused you to overlook purchasing a box of pads and tampons. Since childhood, your periods have been lengthy but thankfully not too painful. Knowing the possibility of your period's imminent arrival, you understood the importance of being prepared to prevent any unwanted mishaps.

As you woke up this morning and felt something slick between your legs, you immediately grasped what had occurred. Hastily, you rose to prevent any further mess, relieved to find the pristine white linen sheets on your bed untouched. Seizing the opportunity while Kylian was at training, you swiftly changed them and tossed them into the washing machine. Despite their cleanliness, the lingering discomfort prompted you to make the switch.

After completing all these tasks, you made your way determinedly to the bathroom within the master bedroom, only to gasp at the realization of your oversight. You had forgotten to purchase your feminine hygiene products, leaving you feeling almost resigned to waiting until Kylian returned from training and noticed the situation. Yet, barely fifteen minutes had elapsed before you acknowledged the impossibility of remaining idle for so long.

You reached for your phone in an attempt to reach out to some friends, but they were all occupied with work or away from Paris. You even tried contacting your mother-in-law, attempting to downplay the situation due to the embarrassment it caused. However, Fayza had to inform you that she couldn't assist you, as she was attending Ethan's match. Despite her willingness to come over if necessary, you didn't want her to miss her youngest son's game. Grateful for her offer, you politely declined before ending the call and opting to message your partner instead.

You were aware that he likely wouldn't check his phone until an hour later, once training was over, especially if they had an early session that day. So you began composing the message, struggling with how to phrase it, as every attempt seemed too embarrassing. You and Kylian were quite close, but you had never asked him to purchase a box of sanitary pads for you. You were almost certain he hardly knew the model or brand you preferred, as you kept them tucked away in the same cupboard where various soaps and spare shampoos were stored, along with his beard shaver—items he typically paid little attention to. After much contemplation, you settled on this message:

"Hey baby, I forgot there were no pads and tampons left. Can you stop by the supermarket after training to buy tampons and pads with wings. Thank you so much, je t'aime".

You waited anxiously, attempting to distract yourself by experimenting with various nail polishes that had been sent to you for collaboration—an opportunity you hadn't yet had time to explore. "Make the most of the time" you reminded yourself, striving to find a silver lining in the situation. However, your thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a notification from your partner: "Perfect, darling, I've just finished. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Fifteen minutes later, the sound of the door opening and footsteps ascending the stairs caught your attention. Yet, it was the soothing tone of your boyfriend's voice that truly lifted your spirits, pulling you from your reverie. Politely, he sought permission to enter before gently presenting you with the pads and tampons he had purchased, his greeting marked by a tender kiss. With a considerate gesture, he then exited the bathroom, affording you some privacy. Though accustomed to seeing each other unclothed countless times before, he intuited your desire for a moment to freshen up and alleviate the mild discomfort you were experiencing.

You were surprised to find wingless pads, but you guessed that Kylian might not have been able to find them and felt too awkward to inquire about their whereabouts or your preferred brand. After a lengthy, soothing shower and making yourself comfortable, you made your way to the living room, relieved to finally stand up. There, you found your boyfriend flipping through TV channels in search of something engaging to watch. His expression suggested he was having trouble finding anything appealing, so your arrival seemed to brighten his mood.

"Everything alright, mon amour?" asked your boyfriend as he tried to decipher your expression.

"Yes, thank you very much, darling," you replied as you settled down next to him on the couch.

"I was surprised you asked for wings, as you usually hate greasy food when you have your period. But I left the bag defrosting, assuming that's what my girl would like for lunch," he explained as he snuggled into your arms.

You tried not to laugh, but you couldn't help it when you realized how confused Kylian had been. Your sudden startled reaction prompted him to ask, "What's wrong, sweetie? You're scaring me."

You felt embarrassed, knowing that Kylian wouldn't let the topic go until you explained. So, reluctantly, you decided to address it.

"Sweetheart, I didn't ask for chicken wings, I asked for pads with wings. But it's okay, honey, the wingless pads worked just the same," you explained, trying to downplay the situation.

"What? I'm so sorry, I thought you were asking me for three things, I wasn't quite sure where..." But you interrupted him with a kiss because you knew it wasn't either of your faults.

"It's all right, Kyky. Let's look on the bright side - we already have food for today."

OMGGG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT. I know that this story is shorter than usual but it was the best I could do in the amount of time I had. Remember that requests are open in case you want to send any ideas but dw cuz I got a lot of ideas written down for when I have more time.

❤️❤️❤️

[bitter-as-wormwood-13]

Some Palestinians who have reached out to me

Aya (currently unvetted but has reverse image searched cleanly, will update if that changes) €5,438/€55,000

Aseel @aseelo680 (Vetted) $107,325/$100,000 FUNDRAISER NO LONGER UP

Ahmed @ahmadmoneer (Vetted) €3,873/€30,000

Ghada @ghada-family (Vetted) €6,151/€20,000

Waleed @waleed-alanqar (Vetted) €3,105/€20,000

Monis @monis-family1 (Vetted) $20,347/$41,300

Hatem (Vetted) €2,135/€7,000

Shaima @shaimaasblog (Vetted) €4,674/€50,000

Mohammed @savemohammedsa (Vetted) €8,186/€10,000

Sama @Samaayyad15 (Vetted) €32,650/€45,000

Heba @hebanaseif (currently unvetted but has reverse image searched cleanly, will update if that changes) €5,762/€50,000

Israa (Vetted) £18,790/£20,000 CAMPAIGN OVER

Hazem @hazem-suhail (Vetted) €24,856/€50,000

Nada @nadafarra-66 (Vetted) €7,371/€20,000

Nader @nader4444444444 (Vetted) €63,532/€100,000

Asma @asma-jamal (currently unvetted but has reverse image searched cleanly, will update if that changes) €244/€50,000

Amal @amalfamilygaza (Vetted) €11,221/€50,000

Ahmad @ahmadallouhahmad (Vetted) €9,500/€50,000

Moamen @moomens-world (Vetted) €1,999/€30,000

Dr. Al-Deeb @tameraldeebs-blog (Vetted) €25,225/€40,000

Salwa @salwshani (Vetted) €2,182/€40,000

Hashem @hashemsamar (Vetted) €20,993/€45,000

Tahani @jamelwww (Vetted) €1,310/€60,000

Lana @lanamohanad7 (Vetted) €20,329/€25,000

Ahmed @leenmatar (Currently unvetted but has reverse image searched cleanly, will update if that changes) €3,848/€64,000

I will update the campaigns listed when I get an ask from someone new, and will try and go through the already listed campaigns every week (to update vetted status, funds obtained, new blogs, etc)

PART 2 OF THE LIST

PART 3 OF THE LIST

PART 4 OF THE LIST

PART 5 OF THE LIST

[townpostin]

Jamshedpur Launches Unique Cleanliness Drive in Sakchi Market

Social worker Pappu Sardar joins JNAC and Tata Steel UISL in awareness campaign A special cleanliness awareness campaign in Sakchi market aims to educate the public on maintaining hygiene in public spaces. JAMSHEDPUR – The Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) and Tata Steel UISL have initiated a distinctive cleanliness drive in Sakchi market, Tina Shed, and Sabzi Bazar areas. The campaign…

[communistkenobi]

If, as Isaac West observes, use of the public bathroom is “one of the most, if not the most, quotidian practices of citizenship,” then this chapter argues that surveillance criminalizing public bathroom use is one element of a larger effort to secure citizenship and spatial belonging through the apprehension of physical difference. [...]

Writing about the concept of civilization in the late nineteenth-century United States, Gail Bederman describes it as an “explicitly racial concept” that “denoted a precise stage in human racial evolution”: one that had evolved past primitive or barbaric characteristics. Drawing on Darwinism, this logic rationalized white supremacy through claims that people of color simply had not developed in the same ways or at the same rate as white people, situating civilization itself as a racial characteristic and producing and solidifying distinct racial categories. Bederman notes that gender was crucial in distinguishing civilized societies from the less advanced, with the former identified in part by clear binary gender divisions. [...] Moreover, in the era of formal Jim Crow, while bathrooms marked for white people were typically separated into men’s and women’s spaces, those labeled “colored” were often unmarked by gender at all, a practice that aligns with civilizational discourse. [...]

Yet citizenship status and gender status cannot be pulled apart [...]: just as the previous two chapters of this book traced specific aspects of the Department of Homeland Security that produce and rely on a gendered citizenship, we might consider how campaigns for neighborhood safety and family values regularly invoke a kind of good citizenship that is determined in part through gender attributes. [...]

We need only consider the emphasis on birth certificates to understand the extent to which anxieties about citizenship undergird these bathroom scenes, since those documents mark not only state-approved sex designation, but also legal citizen status. In the most formal sense, birth certificates purportedly confirm citizenship and thus one’s legal belonging to the nation-state. At the same time, they can serve as evidence of citizenship in a more informal or cultural sense: if producing appropriate paperwork is one way of complying with state regulations and requests, then doing so performs good citizenship. [...]

Discourses of bathroom contagion merge fears of “real germs” with “the fear of the other”; hence, public toilets provoke more anxiety than other germ-riddled public objects like computer terminals and doorknobs. Concerns about bathroom cleanliness are as much about bodily interactions and the difficulty of regulating public space as they are about actual dirt or waste. The racial integration of some U.S. workplaces during World War II, for example, prompted tremendous white anxiety about shared bathrooms, even as Black people had long cleaned toilets and beds, prepared food, and cared for children as part of their domestic work in white households. But this “private service work reinforced racialized gender hierarchies in ways that public intimacy undermined them.”

— Toby Beauchamp (2019), Going Stealth: Transgender Politics and US Surveillance Practices, pp. 81 - 101

In his book, Beauchamp argues that anti-trans bathroom bills should be understood as a form of state surveillance that is inextricable from anti-immigration and border security practices: these bills deputize members of the public to conduct bodily assessments of other people to determine whether they meet the criteria of a 'good citizen,' giving them the power to report 'fraudsters' to the authorities if a transgender person is found inhabiting a public bathroom. The criteria by which these assessments are conducted are explicitly white supremacist ones; not only because the imagined body of the 'good citizen' is one that reflects the ideals of white, bourgeois, cissexual bodies* (as clearly demarcated, binary gender roles is a sign of advanced white civilization, and perversion of these demarcations is a perversion of white civil life), but also because one of the primary forms of evidence that you belong in a gender-segregated public space (such as a bathroom) is a birth certificate, one issued by the state - as he says: "if producing appropriate paperwork is one way of complying with state regulations and requests, then doing so performs good citizenship." (p 93). Beauchamp criticizes the framing that trans people are treated like "second class citizens," as it accepts the white racial imaginary of (white) trans people being unfairly denied the benefits of full white citizenship; we should therefore understand gender segregated spaces not as a "remix" of "old" "historic" forms of racial segregation, but as a contemporary enforcement mechanism of it. Binaohan emphasizes this in their 2014 book Decolonizing Trans/Gender 101, arguing that non-white trans people are always "in public," denied any sort of private realm; they are always visible and marked as potential threats to white citizenship. (p. 39)

This is likewise reflected in Jenny Evang's 2022 work Is Gender Ideology Western Colonialism?, where she argues that anti-trans discourse situates the presumed natural state of 'sex' as being corrupted by an overly decadent form of Western cultural advancement, which is both degenerating the Western world and 'duping' the Global South into forsaking their relationship with nature, an argument that "[frames] “non-Western societies” as “more traditional” when it comes to gender, sexuality, and the family, since “gender ideology” has not yet gone as far there as in the West. Thus their argument relies on essentializing the very same conceptualization of “cultural difference” that structures femonationalist arguments in the first place, namely, that racialized, imagined elsewheres are stuck in a more traditional gender pattern, unable to keep up with the rampant development of the West." (p. 370). Locating the origin of transgenderism in the West reproduces notions of civilizational development, where the West is secure in its supreme cultural position but has merely gone "too far," "in the wrong direction," creating the circumstances of its own downfall - a downfall which is attributed both to mass immigration (particularly immigration of Muslims) and Marxism. (p. 372)

Fears of 'gender ideology' engulfing the Western world are inextricable from concerns about the maintenance of white social hygiene, as 'gender ideology' has been called "Ebola from Brussels" (p. 371), linking the corruption of binary, hierarchical, cissexual gender to a disease afflicting the body-politic of the white nation-state. The last paragraph of the quoted passage above from Beauchamp further demonstrates the fundamental interconnectedness between race, gender, and hygiene: The racial integration of some U.S. workplaces during World War II, for example, prompted tremendous white anxiety about shared bathrooms, even as Black people had long cleaned toilets and beds, prepared food, and cared for children as part of their domestic work in white households. But this private service work reinforced racialized gender hierarchies in ways that public intimacy undermined them." (p. 101) Discourses regarding public hygiene are civilizational discourses, as a clean world is a civilized world, and a civilized world can only be a white world.

*Beauchamp explicitly brings up that one of the 'problems' of using biometric data to scan the public for potential terrorists or 'fraudulent citizens' is the white inability to tell the difference between people belonging to different racial groups, i.e., the idea that all non-white people look too much alike and therefore must undergo even more intense scrutiny (p. 95).

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Do Not Go

Vax’ildan x Reader

Words: 2349

Part One of Two

Summary: Separated from the others in a brutal battle, Vax tries to save you before you fall to your injuries. 

Notes: You guys knew this had to be coming eventually. I have so much angst planned for this man, it isn’t even funny. Also, I’ve never written for an animated character before (let alone one based on a DND campaign) so hopefully this goes well. I’m playing around with jumping around in a timeline, so bear with me. I love Vax so much. 

-

“This way!” 

“No, you idiot. This way!” 

“Close the gate!” 

“Hurry!”

The voices shot over your head like the arrows that were actually shooting over your head. Ahead, the large metal gate began to lower. 

Shit shit shit shit. 

The whole group ran faster. 

Scanlan and Grog got under first, Grog nearly smacking his head against the bars. Then Pike, then Keyleth. Vex ducked under the closing bars. You and Vax were only seconds behind. You stopped when you heard him cry out. An arrow grazed his leg, making him fall. 

“Go!” He yelled to you, voice urgent and out of breath. 

You looked at the closing gate and turned on your heel, sprinting to his side. You grabbed a hold of his arm and helped him back to his feet. 

“I’m not leaving you.” 

The gate crashed down with a dooming thud. 

“Vax!” Vex screamed, reaching her hand through the bars.

 Soldiers descended upon you. 

“We’ll hold them off.” He told her, readying his daggers for a fight. 

She remained, along with the rest of the group, eyes wide and panicked. 

Vax put a hand on hers. “We will find another way around. Go.” 

Vex’s eyes snapped to you. “Keep him alive.” 

All you could do was nod and she reluctantly pried herself away from the gate. The group disappeared into the dark hall. 

Vax watched them go, keeping his back to the soldiers. He turned his head towards you. “How many?”

You scanned the crowd before you. “Fifteen, give or take.” You shrugged. 

He smirked. “Better get to it then.” He whipped around, throwing one of his daggers into a soldier’s eye. 

Arrows shot past your head, nearly slicing your cheek. Three soldiers with swords charged you. You cast a bolt into two of them and watched them crackle into dust. The third swung at you. His sword only collided with your wrist guard, but the impact knocked you backward into another guard. A sharp, burning pain radiated from where you collided with him. 

“Son of a-” You gasped. 

He charged you again. 

You grabbed both of them and cast your personal favorite spell. They both collapsed with a painful scream. 

Vax finished off another soldier, his dagger cleanly slicing open the man’s throat. Five more rushed down the hall towards you. 

“I thought you said there were only fifteen!” He yelled. 

“I believe that’s our cue, darling!” You shouted over the clashing metal. 

Vax took your hand and the two of you started to run. You cast a handful of ball bearings onto the floor, buying you at least a head start. 

You sprinted around corners and ducked into dark halls, hoping to lose them. Finally, Vax found an open door and pulled you through. It opened directly to a flight of stairs. Neither of you caught it in time and you both tumbled down into the dark. You caught the door with your foot, thankfully, closing it so the soldiers wouldn’t find you. 

You landed on a hard, stone floor. Pain radiated through your body. You could hardly move. Even when Vax helped you to your feet, there was a stinging, awful ache in your back. 

“Right. A little light, love?” Vax said. You cast a small fire and lit up the space. It appeared to be a cellar. “Perfect. We can wait for the soldiers to pass and then we can go find the others.” 

“Vax-”

“We make a pretty good team, don’t we?” He chuckled. “I have to say, I’m impressed. The way you handled yourself was incredible. That spell? Those men didn’t stand a chance.” His lips formed a victorious smirk. 

“Vax…” Your voice was weaker now. 

His hazel eyes turned from amused to worried in an instant. 

You took a step towards him and immediately collapsed into his arms. 

“Y/N, what is it?” He asked. As his hands reached to hold onto you, he felt a wetness below your ribs. His hand came away bloody. “No. Gods, no.” He gently lowered you to the ground, pulling you into his lap. 

“I guess,” you gasped in an attempt to laugh, “I guess adrenaline has more power than I thought. I hardly feel-” You cried out as another jolt of pain shot up your spine. 

Vax’s face contorted as if he too were feeling your suffering. “It’ll be alright. We’ll use that  healing potion you bought from Gilmore and everything will be-”

“I used it.” You coughed. “I used it on Keyleth during our last battle, remember?” 

“We’ll figure out something else. We’ll…” His voice broke into a panic. 

You reached up and touched his cheek. Your fingers were cold. 

“Shh,” You soothed. “Can you just… hold me?” You managed a small smile and hoped that his beautiful hazel eyes would be the last thing you saw- just as they had been the first when you met.

-

The fire lit only a small circle. The trees loomed over you like tall, ominous shadows. You’d never been a fan of darkness. Too much could await you. Too much of the unexpected lurked in the pitch. 

There, in the dark, you could see them. Staring at you. The rest of the group seemed unaware, but you couldn’t help but stare back. You weren’t frightened, exactly. There was no malicious intent in their eyes. Instead, there was a curiosity that equally intrigued you. 

“Oh, stop it with the theatrics, will you?” Percy scoffed. “That’s Scanlan’s job.” 

“Yeah!” The gnome agreed, giving you a wink. 

You laughed and rolled your eyes. You took another swig of ale but nearly choked on it. 

A figure stepped out of the darkness. From his alluring presence to his smirking lips, you found yourself utterly entranced. 

“Y/N, this is Vax’ildan, but everyone just calls him Vax. Vex'ahlia’s brother,” Percy said. 

“This little mouse is Y/F/N Y/L/N,” Vex snickered to her twin. “She’ll be joining us, apparently.” 

The woman half-elf’s skepticism towards you hadn’t gone unnoticed. Not that you blamed her. Times like these, everyone had to look out for themselves. Honestly, the only member of the group enthusiastic about your joining was Scanlan and you were pretty sure he was trying to bed you. 

But you couldn’t take your eyes off of the dark-haired rogue. 

He looked at you intently and you felt the burning heat of blush rush to your cheeks. You gave him an unbearably awkward wave. Fates, what were you doing? 

“Hm.” He dismissed you with a nod and took his place beside his sister. 

-

“Do you remember?” You laughed weakly. “Do you remember how nervous I was? All of them were intimidating, but you frightened me the most. With your dark gaze an-and your smolder. You fucking smoldered at me!” Your laughing turned into violent coughs. 

Vax held you closer. 

“I remember,” He said. The reassuring smile he gave you didn’t reach his eyes. “Try and hold still. The others will find us soon. You’re going to be fine.” 

“Vax, I-” 

Footsteps thundered overhead and Vax’s body jolted and you slid ever so slightly out of his grasp. The sudden movement sent another fit up your back. You muffled a pained scream by biting your lip so hard it nearly bled. 

“I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m sorry.” He muttered, arms wrapping tightly around you once again. “The others will be here soon. Pike will heal you. They’ll find us. Everything will be fine. They’ll find us.” His words were barely more than a whisper as if he were more reassuring himself than you. 

“It’s okay,” You said. You tucked a lock of his dark hair behind his ear. “I’m okay.” 

“Don’t…” He clenched his jaw to keep his chin from trembling. 

“There was a night- gods, it feels like it was yesterday-” You took a deep, shaking breath and tried not to wince. “There was a night in that awful tavern. Everyone had gone up to their rooms but us and we stood outside for what must have been hours. We talked about, well everything, and I can still remember your hand grabbing mine. I thought I’d surely stopped breathing.” You closed your eyes and smiled sadly. “I’m sure you don’t remember. The next morning we were both so hungover from all the ale and you didn’t seem to recall anything that had happened.” 

Vax felt a pang of guilt. That night, he’d let himself feel vulnerable in a way he hadn’t in years. It scared him. The next morning, he could hardly face you. He let you believe it didn’t mean anything. That the secrets you trusted him with were forgotten in a haze of the morning. It was one of his greatest regrets. 

“I remember.” His hand held yours and his lips pressed gently against your palm. “I remember.” 

Perhaps it was you who didn’t. Not entirely.

-

“Look there!” You exclaimed. You pointed to the sky so enthusiastically that you lost your balance and stumbled into him. You both, however, were too drunk to care. “Did you see it?”

“See what?” 

“The shooting star, silly! It was right there!” Your words were hardly understandable, but he still nodded, listening intently. “In my village, we used to say that shooting stars were souls being brought back from the dead.” Your goofy grin dimmed. “You know, for a long time, I’d see them and I would think that maybe, just maybe, those stars would be my parents coming back to me.” 

You felt his eyes on you and fell silent. You let your gaze fall back to the street around you. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know.”

“Nobody ever asked.” You shrugged. “And it’s not something I like to talk about, so…” You bumped your shoulder against his to try and play off the situation. “Unless I have a few drinks in me, apparently.” With a nervous laugh, you took another swig. 

The dark memory faded almost as quickly as it had come, thanks to the haze of intoxication floating around your head. 

Vax’s eyes didn’t leave your face as he took another drink of his ale. He’d lost count of how many he’d had, but he was fairly certain you’d had half as many. Yet drunken giggles tumbled out of your lips like flower petals in the wind and he couldn’t help but smile. 

“I used to be scared of you, you know. You and Vex,” you said. You laid your head on his shoulder with an absentminded snicker. “I’m still scared of her! But you,” you jabbed a finger at his chest, “you’re just a big softy, aren’t you? You act like you don’t care, but you do. I can tell.” 

You let your hand fall back to your side, but your head stayed on his shoulder. Both of you looked back at the sky. Something grazed your palm. Your breathing hitched. Vax’s fingers laced with yours and his warm skin sent shivers up your arm. 

Vax couldn’t move. Gods, he could hardly breathe. Just the feeling of holding your hand made his heart pound like it never had before. The urge to take you completely in his arms was fought only by the towering fear in his mind. He pressed his lips to your forehead and closed his eyes, trying to commit the feeling to memory before the darkness in him ruined it. 

He felt vulnerable when he was with you. Weak. He wanted to protect you. He never wanted to be without you. 

And that terrified him. 

You were right. He cared more than he cared too. 

-

You were growing paler by the second, which hardly seemed possible. 

Vax was covered in your blood.

The rest of the group was still nowhere in sight. 

“Vax,” You gasped. He lifted you slightly, holding the back of your head in his hand. 

“I’m right here, darling.” 

“I need you to tell them…” You winced. Just speaking was taking more energy than you had left. “I need you to tell Vox Machina that I- to tell them I-” 

“You’ll tell them as soon as they arrive and Pike heals you.” He didn’t let the hope in his voice falter. If he could convince you, maybe you could hold on just a little longer. 

Your expression saddened. “Tell them thank you. My life is richer for knowing each and every one of you.” 

“Please.” His voice cracked along with his heart. “Please, just hold on a little longer, Y/N.”

“Vax’ildan,” You used the rest of your strength to hold his face in your hands. “The things I should have told you sooner…”

“Y/N, I beg of you, do not go.” He held back a sob. 

“I’m afraid I don’t have a choice, my love.” Your words shot another arrow through his heart. Love. You weren’t afraid anymore. Your heart may be slowing, but it felt fuller than ever. “My Vax’ildan. How am I ever to repay you for what you have given me? For the love you have reminded me I am still capable of?” 

“Don’t leave me.” He pleaded. “You can make it. You’re so strong. Please. Don’t go. Please, Y/N, I…” His words caught in his throat. 

Your hands fell away from his face. Your head tilted back and one final breath parted your lips. 

Like that distant night, Vax couldn’t move. He was frozen, staring at your still body, and waiting for you to wake up again. But your skin was cold in his grip, slicked with your blood. 

“Y/N?” He put a hand on your cheek.

It was like ice.

“Don’t you dare leave,” Vax cried. “Don’t you do this. We need you. Please. Y/N.” He shook you gently. “Y/N, please!” His cry rang through the chamber. He pulled you to him, burying his face in your hair. He whispered against the coolness of your cheek. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love you.”

Everything fell silent, save for the sound of his sobs echoing back to him from every dark corner. Even the shadows seemed to mourn. 

[laraali8]

Please help me and my family from this damn war and help me spread my campaign and donate for us🥺🍉

●Hello everyone, I am Lara, 20 years old, studying software engineering👩‍💻. I was supposed to be in my third year and I was about to become an engineer until the damned destruction came and destroyed our lives, our future and our memories...

I want to share with you my story and my family's in this war🥺🍉💔

●In October, my family and I were displaced after the occupation spread leaflets and asked us to evacuate to the south. My family and I were displaced to Nusairat in a school and lived there for 3 months (where we lived 50 people in one row, imagine the number of people!! There was no privacy, no comfort, no sleep due to the heavy shelling. We also suffered from a flour crisis and a lot of suffering...)

●Then the school became unsafe. The occupation threw leaflets to evacuate the school and bombed and shelled us. Then we were displaced to Khan Yunis and spent days sleeping in the street until they donated a tent for us

(you know what it means for 8 people to live, my mother, father and sisters in a small tent... and here begins another suffering for my family, where there is no privacy, no cleanliness, no None of the necessities of life were present)

●We stayed in Khan Yunis for two months until the occupation used the tents of the displaced and our tent was hit by shrapnel, and my sisters and I sustained serious injuries. Then another suffering begins with displacement to another place. We were displaced to Deir al-Balah in a nylon tent on the beach that did not protect us from the cold of winter, the harsh air, the rain, the insects, or anything else.

《 At that time, our neighbor heard the news that the occupation had completely destroyed our neighborhood. Our house was destroyed, and with it our dreams, our children, and our future were destroyedAnd now we are homeless》

● Now we are suffering from high prices of food, flour, and detergents. We live on the tekke. We have no source of income (because my father's profession before the war was daily, and now he has lost his job and cannot work because he has become ill).

☆ Now I find myself in a position where I must humbly ask for your support for me and my family, to provide them with food and clothes because our clothes are worn out, and to obtain the simplest necessities of life that the occupation has prevented us from obtaining

☆ Every donation, no matter how small, will make a big difference in helping us rebuild our lives and provide necessities for my family. We are in a fragile situation, and your support during these extremely difficult times will give us hope in the midst of despair. Your generosity will not only help us get food and the necessities of life again, but will also restore our faith in the kindness of humanity.🥺🙏

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #241 )✅️

Please donate and share my campaign 😭👇

[lemon-russ]

not a request or anything, just something that appeared to me in a vision before i passed out last night;

Books started being found amongst the thralls on the flagship Hrafnkel. It was originally passed off as some written sagas the baselines had collected to keep themselves entertained during lulls, but a curious Fenryka took a closer look one day when one was left on a table.

It was a loosely bound bundle of cleanly cut parchment with finely written text, and to his horror was not sagas.

It was a raunchy bodice ripper featuring (Allfather willing) fictional relationships between four Space Wolves and a thrall, the former dramatically fighting over the swooning baseline.

He ripped the book apart in a rage before showing the damned shreds to his brothers. A burning campaign ensued on the ship, tossing the novels into furnaces and braziers. The ship was torn apart trying to find the author, but no one could explain where the books came from, just that they appeared.

After weeks of rooting out every last book, they were finally satisfied, much to the thralls' annoyance at having their midnight read taken from them. Everything was calm once again.

After the next warp jump, however, a new strain of book appeared featuring a fictional Wolf Lord and his bathing thrall, renewing the anger of the Vlka Fenryka and the delight of the thralls.

Slanesh hooking the thralls up with the "how to seduce the marines" guides hahaha, i love it

[psychotrenny]

https://gofund.me/816fbef2

‌Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #31

Hello, my name is Iman, and I am a mother of five children,. I live with my family in northern Gaza, where we are facing famine and hardships due to the harsh war on Gaza. We had lived a relatively peaceful life despite the challenges imposed by the long blockade on Gaza before the war.

We have been displaced eight times, moving from one school to another, and now we are living a life of homelessness and starvation. Even clean water is unavailable. 💔😭 My children are starving and suffer from malnutrition every day, going to bed hungry. I cry for my two-year-old daughter when she asks for milk, which we cannot provide. Her frail body survives on flour and stale bread, deprived of everything. My children crave vegetables, meat, and fruits; we haven't eaten any of these in 10 months, since the war started. Our bodies have deteriorated, our bones have weakened, and my son Mohamed's chest bones have become visible, along with the vertebrae of his spine. He also suffers from scabies due to the lack of cleanliness and medicine. Our bodies are filled with rashes from the heat because we are living with 40 people in a small, overcrowded classroom. My children have been deprived of education, even though they were all excelling in their studies

Your donations will be a beacon of hope for Iman and her family, offering them a chance to survive and live under these harsh conditions and high ك living costs. Even a very small contribution, every dollar, makes a difference in their lives. Please, join us in extending a helping hand during this difficult and challenging time.

We are in northern Gaza, bodies without life. Famine is killing us, from the old to the young. We desperately need your support, even if it’s something small.

---

This fundraiser is indeed legitimate (#31 on the doc as it says). Please consider donating to Iman's campaign if you can

[oeldeservesthenorris]

I absolutely despise that know-it-all blowhard Thomas Drance, so I rarely acknowledge his "insight", but for once he got it right and as an FYI so, enjoy this copy and paste article from The Athletic cause I really don't like to give them any more $$ than I have to:

Drance: Why Quinn Hughes has something to prove — ‘A lot of guys don’t watch the West’

SUNRISE, Fla. — There’s a quiet intensity to Quinn Hughes. It’s always been there, simmering a bit beneath the surface.

When it comes out, at least in terms of his public commentary, it’s expressed with almost stunning clarity.

Hughes lives hockey. His family lives hockey. There’s a reason he’s one of the smartest defenders in the game today, and it’s because he knows this sport inside and out. He tracks obscure records, he’s aware of the statistics and the conversation around the league, and yes, he noticed where he stood in recent lists of the best players in the NHL compiled both by ESPN and The Athletic.

“Oh yeah, I saw the lists, but I’m not going to comment on it,” Hughes said Saturday after playing his best game of the season, and perhaps the most complete single game of his career, in the Vancouver Canucks’ 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers. “Maybe at the end of the year.”

Regardless of where Hughes ranked in the preseason lists, two things are certain moving forward. The first is that the Canucks’ first-year captain is clearly out to prove something this season: that he’s among the NHL’s best defensemen and that he can lead this team to the playoffs.

The second is that if he plays like this consistently, and if this team succeeds on his back the way they did on Saturday night, Hughes’ two-way play and his standing as a dominant blueliner will be completely undeniable.

Hughes, after all, was dominant on Saturday. In a game that featured a legitimate MVP candidate in Matthew Tkachuk, a perennial Selke nominee in Aleksander Barkov and Vancouver’s two near-40-goal scorers in Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko — who broke the game open in multiple instances — Hughes was the best player on the ice. And it wasn’t close.

He had the game on a string and dictated the pace in all phases of the contest.

When the Canucks built their lead in the second period, it was Hughes who kept the puck alive on a Panthers clearing attempt, then walked the line when he retrieved the puck and uncorked a shot through multiple layers of the Panthers defense. His shot caused chaos in the Panthers crease and Florida took a penalty. Soon after, Vancouver took the lead.

Then as the Panthers pressed, dominating play in the third period, it was Hughes who proved capable of calming down the game. On multiple occasions he got in on the hands of Panthers wingers Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart along the wall, cleanly stripping them of the puck and turning play in the other direction.

It wasn’t perfect, and as the Panthers cranked up the pressure on Vancouver, Hughes was on the ice for a goal against. It was the first goal against that Hughes had been on the ice for all season. He’d logged 115:40 of total ice time in all situations to open the campaign before an opponent scored against the Canucks while he was on.

That may seem like an obscure stat, but it’s another one Hughes was aware of and tracking.

“Do you know that was the first goal against you were on the ice for this season?” I asked him postgame.

“Yeah, I was keeping track of that. By myself. I wanted to see how long I could go with that one,” Hughes admitted.

“Do you know how long you went?”

“Well, I know I went four games, 25 minutes a game, so that would be 100 … oh but wait, it’s only five-on-five …”

“Oh, I have the number for everything.”

“Whatever. OK, I was only tracking five-on-five. You counting everything?”

“Yeah, it’s 115:40.”

“Oh man, I was going to guess 118.”

“Pretty close, so you’re all over it.”

“Of course, I mean, I always hear it,” Hughes responded thoughtfully, that old chip on the shoulder beginning to show. “Y’know how it is. ‘He’s an offensive defenseman, but he’s not good at defending.’ And I’ve been plus the last two years, and playing big minutes. So for me, the stereotype is there. A lot of guys don’t watch the West, but I’m out here trying to do the best I can.”

Obviously, Hughes’ best is sensational, and not just offensively. Even traditional plus-minus — which dings a player with Hughes’ offensive profile given that he eats fake dashes for short-handed goals against and empty net goals deposited against Vancouver when it’s trailing — underrates his contributions. The simple fact of the matter is that last season when Hughes was on the ice five-on-five, the Canucks outscored their opponents 81 to 61 — for an on-ice goal differential of plus-20 (a far better statistic since it doesn’t arbitrarily mix game stats). When Hughes was taking a breather, Vancouver was outscored 88 to 131.

Or to put it simply, for those in the Eastern time zone: When Hughes was on the ice five-on-five over roughly 1,500 minutes, the Canucks outscored their opponents at a rate comparable to (and actually better than) what the Vegas Golden Knights accomplished as a team last season. When Hughes wasn’t on the ice five-on-five, Vancouver was outscored at a rate comparable to what the Anaheim Ducks accomplished as a team last season.

“He does some stuff though that’s world class,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet postgame. “And when he defends, he defends with quickness. And that’s OK — he can still win a Norris defending with quickness, you don’t have to kill a guy in the corner.

“I think Huggy, he’s got a little chip on his shoulder about (the idea) that he can’t defend,” Tocchet added later in his postgame briefing. “About the idea that he’s just an offensive defenseman and no, he can defend. And I like that.”

Honestly, it’s past time for Hughes’ savvy, well-rounded, two-way game to begin to garner the respect it’s due.

Of course, it also speaks to the extent to which Hughes’ control of the proceedings in Sunrise on Saturday night jumped right off of the ice sheet that we’ve yet to mention his goal — his first of the season — which opened the scoring.

The goal came after Hughes made one of the most preposterous keep-ins at the blue line that I’ve ever witnessed live; an absolute marvel of hand-eye coordination on which the broadcast angle on the play — which still captured how impressive the play was — did the degree of difficulty zero justice.

Later in the shift, Hughes received a pass from J.T. Miller, changed the angle on the wrist shot and stepped into that first goal.

“Walking the blue line and shooting, he’s got a couple of moves that he worked on this summer,” Tocchet said when asked about how dominant Hughes was on Saturday night in South Florida. “Man, he worked a lot, I don’t know if people realize how much he worked. I don’t want to tell you what he does, I’m not going to give the other team a pre-scout.

“I’m not trying to put pressure on him, but his capability of walking the blue line is outstanding.”

Hughes’ newfound shooting mentality has been one of the most noticeable evolutions in his game in the early going this season. Through five games, Hughes is averaging north of three shots per game and nearly an additional shot-and-a-half per contest above his career average going into this season.

“I’m shooting more for sure, but it’s more about putting myself in spots where I can beat a guy and then shoot,” Hughes said. “Connecting my feet and my hands, beating a guy. In the past when I’d beat a guy, I wouldn’t be in a position to shoot it. I’m focused in on that now.”

Of course, there’s a balance. Hughes’ best skill is his passing and on a team loaded with world-class finishers, there’s a balance he has to strike in terms of distributing the puck. Of course, that’s a balance that comes naturally to a signal caller of Hughes’ calibre.

“I think the more I shoot, the more will open up,” Hughes said when I asked him if his new shooting mentality could open up additional passing lanes. “It’s more than my shot, it’s rebounds and tips. But on the power play, pre-scout, if I’m shooting a bit more they have to worry about that.

“That said, I have to be aware. Like would you rather my shot or Petey’s slap shot? It’s going to be Petey’s slap shot every time. And his slap shot opens up my shot, and when that happens, I’m going to try and use it.”

While Hughes managed to beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a point blast for his first of the year, his evolution as a shooter is about more than just his goal on Saturday. It’s that, in truth, he could have two or three already in this young season.

“Honestly, I think I could’ve scored in every game,” Hughes said. “I know the exact plays, too. I could’ve scored in Philly, I should’ve scored in Edmonton, I hit the post in Philly, but I also had a mini breakaway and should’ve just tried to go five-hole. I know I’m getting my looks so I know it’s going to come. And I’m getting more looks because of my mindset.”

Getting his first goal of the year was also something of a weight off of his shoulders. It took him until Dec. 27 last season to score his first of the campaign.

When he finally scored, he was nearing an ignominious record. It was a milestone Hughes was aware of, though it received little meaningful media coverage as it approached.

“It feels good (to score my first), I mean obviously I almost broke the record last year,” Hughes said when asked how he viewed his first goal.

“Huh, what record?” I interrupted, confused.

“Most games by a guy scoring a point per game without a goal.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. No, I think I was two or three games away, and that’s not a record you want to break.”

“Wait, were you tracking that?”

“No, but the trainers were busting my balls about it.”

There will be no ignominious goal-less milestones for Hughes to sidestep this season. And no ignoring Hughes’ dominance — on offence and in his own end, too — if he keeps playing like this.