#felix week 2022

[hanjisungs-bigtittyg0thgf]

Kinktober Day 7: Phone sex with Felix

Trigger warnings: n/a

Content warnings: names (baby, baby girl, princess, sweetheart, dirty girl, pretty girl), guided/mutual masturbation, dirty talk, mc chokes herself for lix, they exchange nudes?, really just pushing gamer!lix honestly like this whole thing is entirely self-indulgent.

Summary: After meeting a sweet guy while gaming, you both finally work up the courage to let the conversation shift to a more intimate topic

Word count: 3.1k

A/N: hi all 🥰 after much consideration, i’ve decided to repost my kinktober 2022 stories. i had a great time writing these a couple years ago and want to share them again now that it’s been a while and i’ve had time to fall in love with them again. i hope you all enjoy! and by all means, feel free to send a message or comment here if you’d like to be part of the new tag list!

Tags: @bahng-chrizz

Smut below the cut

mikasaswife: happy seven months of having me in your life 💁🏻‍♀️

✨lixie✨ is online

✨lixie✨ is typing…

✨lixie✨: you said that last month, dork 😆

✨lixie✨ is typing…

✨lixie✨: i’ve been keeping track of it too 🙊 wanna play for a bit? i’m off today so i’ve got all the time in the world 😝

mikasaswife: ofc! lemme grab something rq and i’ll hop on 🥰

✨lixie✨ is typing…

✨lixie✨: hah cute

You didn’t see his message until you returned and your cheeks went a soft pink. You’d met seven months ago over Rocket League and grew close pretty quickly. You followed each other on various social media platforms and you learned he lived in Australia, which was disheartening considering you were on the other side of the world.

Within about three weeks, he started subtly flirting with you, telling you how good you looked in your latest Instagram post and acting surprised that you were single when you got on the topic of sexuality and your dating history. It was always little remarks and you always welcomed it, oftentimes giving him the same energy, but you weren’t sure how to address your feelings with him.

mikasaswife: not as cute as you but ok

✨lixie✨ is typing…

✨lixie✨: lies but ok 🥴

✨lixie✨ is typing…

✨lixie✨: i’m calling now 😌

You accepted the call as soon as it came in, already on the home screen and waiting for him to join. “Hey cutie.” As soon as you heard his deep voice, you smiled softly. “How was your day?”

“It was good except for that coworker I told you about a few weeks ago. How’d you sleep?” You hoped he’d just answer the question instead of trying to discuss what happened but you weren’t that lucky.

“I slept fine. You should really report him, y/n.” His voice was laced with concern and you sighed softly.

“I can’t. You know I work in a male-dominated field, that’ll just paint a target on my back.” You shook your head. “Plus it was online, they probably can’t even do anything about it. It’s fine, Lix.”

“It’s far from fine if you’re still having issues with him three weeks later.” He pointed out bluntly. “But I understand you don’t wanna talk about it so I’ll leave it alone.”

“Thank you.” A comfortable silence settled between you as you prepared for your first match until he finally spoke.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I made you upset.” Okay, maybe the silence was only comfortable for you.

“I’m not upset, I promise.” You smiled as you spoke, hoping it carried over in your voice. “I can’t be mad at you even if I wanted to be.”

“Is that so?” He sounded like he believed you. You could imagine the smile he was wearing right now and your heart fluttered.

“Mhm. I’ve tried.” You hummed as the game started. He got the jump on the ball and the battle began. It didn’t take long for your opponents to snag the ball and Felix went after them.

“You’ve tried to be mad at me?”

“Well it’s not fair how perfect you are.” You shrugged, assisting him as he made a play that sent the ball well over halfway down the field. You watched as he scored the first goal and grinned.

“I’m not perfect.” He chuckled softly, quietly cheering over his victory a moment later. The sound sent a delicious chill down your spine as your mind raced with inappropriate thoughts. “Now go steal the ball, princess.”

You wanted to protest but the name surprised you and you simply complied, racing towards the center of the field. Your opponents got the jump but after a few seconds of chasing, Felix came to your rescue and you ran the ball to the goal, scoring a second time. The game was halfway over by then. “Atta girl!”

You bit your lip at the praise, trying to suppress a smile. It was ridiculous how he was getting under your skin. By the end of the game, you were a mess. You had a massive crush and it was times like these that made it painfully obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that you were really into Felix.

You were back on the home page when you decided to bug him a little. “So…’princess’ huh?”

“You seem like the princess type.” He hummed in response, not backing down like you’d anticipated. “I noticed you didn’t argue back when I said it, did you like it that much?” He teased, his tone dripping with playfulness. Now was your chance.

“Maybe I did.” You tried your hardest to sound nonchalant but you weren’t sure it was very effective.

“Just maybe? I guess I’ll have to try harder then.”

“I guess so.” You slumped in your seat as you listened to his breathing on the other end of the call.

“Can I be honest with you?” You felt anxiety settle in your belly at the thought of him telling you he was only messing around but assured him he could confide in you, not expecting what he said next. “I haven’t explicitly said it, I’ve only made cheeky comments here and there but…I really like you and I’ve been trying to keep this PG for months but I want you and I feel like I’m gonna fall to pieces if I don’t make a move.”

Your stomach and heart flipped simultaneously at his confession as your breath hitched. The silence was long and awkward but finally you found your voice. “You’re not teasing me are you?”

“One hundred percent God's honest truth. I can’t seem to get you out of my mind and right now I’m thinking of some less-than-innocent things.” You weren’t sure how it was possible for his voice to sound any deeper, but it did and it went straight to your pussy.

“Lixie…” You heard his breath hitch at the name and your imagination began to run wild. He’d look so pretty with his head thrown back, right on the edge from just your hands... “I don’t think it’s any secret that I feel the same way, that I’m thinking about the same things, but…how are we supposed to navigate this?”

“I’ll come visit you or get you here somehow. I’ll figure it out, sweetheart, because I feel like I’ll go insane if I don't have you in my arms. But why don’t we just enjoy each other for now?” His voice was warm and inviting and you couldn’t bring yourself to say no to him. You didn’t want to.

“Yeah okay…” You bit your lip and shifted in your seat, stifling a sigh when the seam of your jeans pulled taught across your already-aching cunt. “Can we? I want you too…”

“I’d be an idiot to turn you down.” You could hear his smile in his voice before his tone changed to one of more concern. “If you feel uncomfortable at any point, please tell me, okay?”

“I will, Lix.” You assured him and heard him shift in his seat.

“I like when you use nicknames instead of my full name.” He sighed. “Is it okay if I do the same?” You hummed an affirmation and he continued. “Tell me what you’re wearing, baby.”

“I’m in jeans and that purple crop top you like so much.”

“Can you send me a picture?” He would’ve asked you to turn your camera on for a video chat but he wanted to be able to look back at this for a while. You didn’t hesitate to grab your phone and take a picture on Snapchat, posing so your face wasn’t in the frame and your fingers loosely curled around the spaghetti strap of your crop top. You giggled softly as he cursed softly and saved the photo in the chat before speaking again. “So pretty…anything underneath?”

“Just a lacy black thong, no bra.” You offered up quietly and listened as he took a sharp inhale, placing your phone back on the desk.

“You’ll have to show me sometime, baby. That sounds hot as fuck.” He groaned softly and you shuddered, shifting in your seat again so your jeans hit just the right spot. “Why don’t you pull your top up and give your tits a little squeeze for me, hmm?”

You did as he asked, sliding your hands up your torso and under your shirt. You lifted it, bunching it below your chin, and let out a hum of contentment as you cupped your breasts and gently squeezed them. You then wet your middle fingers and teased your nipples, gasping at the sensation. “How’s it feel, princess?”

“Feels good, Lixie.” You sighed, letting your head rest against the back of the chair. “Wish it was you though. It’d be so much better if it was your mouth on my skin instead of my hands…”

“It would…” He agreed. “I’ll make it happen one way or another, baby girl, don’t worry.” You whined softly at the name and he chuckled. “You like that name?” You nodded but remembered he couldn’t see you so you offered a pathetic ‘mhm’ and he laughed again, deep and rich, drawing another sound from you. “Do you wanna take off those jeans, baby girl?”

You didn’t bother to respond, immediately standing up and taking your pants off. You opened Snapchat again and set the camera to record, making sure your face was out of frame as you hooked your thumbs in the waistband of your thong. You swiveled your hips teasingly, pretending to take your panties off before turning around. You showed off your ass, jiggling your cheeks with your hands, and then pulled your top off before cutting off the camera.

“Baby? You still with me?”

“I am. I’m with you, Lixie.” He groaned at the name as you quickly cut the end of the video so it didn’t catch you turning around and hit send as you sat back down. You didn’t say anything else as you waited for him to open your message. You heard his phone buzz on his desk and bit your lip as you listened, watching the message change from ‘sent’ to ‘opened’.

He inhaled sharply through his nose then cursed under his breath. “Jesus, y/n, you’re killing me. Can I save this?”

“You can.” As soon as the words left your mouth, you got the notification and giggled softly. You didn’t expect him to send anything back but you were pleasantly surprised when he sent a photo of his tented gray sweats, captioned ‘this is your fault, princess’. After a beat of silence, during which you admired his bulge and his hand resting on his thigh, you spoke again. “Can I save this?”

“You can.” You immediately hit save and leaned back in your chair, placing your phone back on your desk. “I want you to run your hands down your body and tease your thighs, baby girl. Tell me how it feels, what exactly you’re doing.”

You wasted no time in running your hands down your torso before allowing your fingertips to graze along the insides of your thighs. You gasped at the sensation and lightly dragged your nails over the skin there. “Feels good…’m just barely touching my thighs, lightly scratching myself and imagining it’s your hands instead.”

You were starting to sound worked up and by this point, he was so hard it hurt. “Tell me more. Do you wanna touch yourself?”

“I do…can I?”

“You don’t need my permission, baby. Go ahead and touch yourself. Tell me all about it.”

“Are you?” You asked quietly as you slipped a hand into your panties. “Can you tell me what you’re doing too?”

“I am.” He confirmed, taking a stilted breath. “I’m just touching myself through my sweatpants right now, listening to your pretty sounds. I’m so fucking hard right now…”

His soft groan made you impossibly wetter and you whimpered as you finally ghosted your middle finger over your clit. “Good…I can’t be the only one this turned on.”

“And just how turned on are you?” His voice was a low rumble in your ears and you clenched around nothing as your free hand adjusted your headset.

“I’m fucking dripping, Lixie.” You whined, a small pout forming on your lips as you dipped a finger into your wetness. You dragged your arousal up to your clit and sighed at the sensation. “God I wish you were here right now, I just know your hands would feel so good…”

“Mm what about my mouth? I could eat you out forever if you’d let me.” You whimpered at the thought and stood abruptly, shoving your panties down your legs and dropping them with your jeans. You settled back in and draped your legs over the armrests of your gaming chair, immediately slipping your hand back between your legs. “Hey baby?” You hummed in response as your fingers circled your clit before teasing at your entrance. “Can you moan my name? I’m dying to hear it.”

You let your eyes slip shut and slid two fingers in your dripping cunt, a small moan tumbling from your lips as your palm ground against your clit while you stretched yourself open. You allowed yourself to imagine him knelt between your legs, fingers plunged deep inside you, and called out his name as you clenched at the thought. “Fuck, Felix, please…” Just as you moaned for him, your phone buzzed. You grabbed it and opened the Snapchat video he sent you, biting your lip when you saw the tip of his cock peeking out from his waistband, already drooling on his belly as his thumb brushed back and forth across his sweats. “Oh- can I save it?”

“Of course, princess.” You quickly saved it and bit your lip as you contemplated what you were about to ask. Before you could speak though, he beat you to it. “Baby…can we turn our cameras on? We don’t have to but I’d certainly like to see you.”

“I was about to ask the same thing…” As soon as the words left your lips, he switched his camera on and you were met with the most beautiful sight you’d ever seen. He was reclined in his gaming chair, shirtless and with his dick out. You wanted to reach through the screen the second you saw him. He settled back and waited for you to turn your camera on, wrapping his hand around his thick shaft as you tried to force your eyes away long enough to complete the task at hand. “You’re so fucking pretty, Lixie…” You whispered as you turned your camera on.

You saw his cock twitch in his hand and you weren’t sure if it was because of what you said or because of the way you presented yourself to him. Your LED lights paired with a lamp in the corner made you glow and your pussy glistened in the purple lighting. “Holy shit, baby girl…” His voice was strained as gave his cock a single tug before releasing it. “God I want a taste…can you tell me how you taste, princess?”

You eagerly stuffed your messy fingers in your mouth and sucked them clean with a moan, your free hand kneading your breasts. “So fucking sweet. It’s so good, Lix.” You watched as he began to slowly work his dick, resting his head back against his chair and peeking out at you.

“I’m gonna get you out here so I can taste you for myself, I swear.” He let out a moan in a pitch you weren’t expecting as he jerked off and your pussy clenched. “Bury my head between your legs for hours and make you shake…”

“Please do.” You slid your fingers back inside yourself and curled them, searching for your g-spot. You gasped when you found it and called his name as if it was him touching you. You heard his breathing grow ragged as he watched you, both of you barreling towards the edge as you fingered yourself.

The image of him fucking his hand would forever be burned into your mind and you couldn’t even pretend to be mad about it. He was turned on by you. You were the reason he was touching himself. You were the reason he called out to you and warned you of his impending orgasm. “Gonna fuckin’ cum, princess-”

“Do it. Show me how gorgeous you look when you let go, Lixie.” You begged, eyes locked on the image of his angry red cock on your screen. Your words sent him spiraling and you watched as his cum landed all over his belly and hand, more desperate moans falling from his lips.

A lazy smile spread across his face as his moan turned into a chuckle. “Your turn, sweetheart.” He teased, obliging you when you asked him to taste himself. “It’s good but I’m willing to bet it’d be a thousand percent better mixed with yours. Maybe I’ll cum inside and eat it out of your pretty pussy.” You made a pathetic sound and he smirked. “You like that idea?” You nodded and gasped when you gently pinched your nipple.

“Fucking love it…” You nodded, your free hand moving to your throat. “I’m so fucking close, oh my god-” You keened, carefully restricting blood flow as you choked yourself.

“Yeah? My dirty girl gonna cum for me?” The name was the last straw and you cried out an affirmation as your legs clamped shut around your hand, liquid bliss filling your veins as you came undone. “Look how pretty you are when you cum…I can’t wait to get you like this by my own hands, princess.”

He coached you through your orgasm and listened as you repeated his name over and over, trying his damndest not to get hard again. After a couple minutes, your breathing began to even out and he sat up properly in his chair, grabbing a couple tissues to clean up with. “You did such a good job, pretty girl.” He cooed and you smiled softly. “Why don’t you clean yourself up and if you’re feeling up to it we can play another round or watch something together? Or if you’d rather go to sleep we can hang up and-”

“I do wanna sleep but if you hang up on Discord it better be to call me back on Snapchat and talk with me until I nod off.” You teased as you righted yourself in your chair. “Your voice is so warm and comforting. It’s nice to fall asleep to…” You added and he smiled softly at you, eyes full of adoration.

“Okay, I’ll call you there. Go get cleaned up and let me know when you’re ready.” You nodded and muttered a soft ‘goodbye’ before he ended the call.

✨lixie✨ is offline

<-d-6 | d-8->

[colinodonoghue]

222aghoststory & colinodonoghue1: 🚨 MEET YOUR DUBLIN CAST 🚨 @shonabmx @birdspotting @colinodonoghue1 @thewhitmore will be taking #222AGhostStory to Dublin’s @3olympiatheatre this Summer, 21 June - 11 Aug. For a strictly limited run 🚨Do you dare to join us? Book your tickets now! Link in bio 👻📸 @seamusphoto

Colinodonoghue1: Woohoo!! So excited to be a part of this show!!

[Get your tickets here!!!]

Runaway Entertainment in association with 3Olympia Theatre presents

2:22 - A GHOST STORY

Shona McGarty, Jay McGuiness, Colin O’Donoghue, Laura Whitmore, Announced for The Very Special, Standalone Irish Production

The smash hit play by Danny Robins Makes Irish Debut At 3Olympia Theatre This Summer For a Strictly Limited Run

Directed by Matthew Dunster & Isabel Marr

“A slick, chilling, romp of a play” The Guardian

‘A modern classic’ Sunday Times

Producer Runaway Entertainment is delighted to announce the stellar cast for the critically acclaimed, smash hit, supernatural thriller 2:22 - A Ghost Story opening at Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre this summer for its debut Irish performances.

Shona McGarty (Eastenders) will play Jenny, Jay McGuiness (The Wanted, BIG! The Musical, Rip It Up), who is currently on the UK tour in 2:22 - A Ghost Story, will play Ben, Colin O'Donoghue (Once Upon A Time, The Tudors, The Right Stuff, The Gray House) will play Sam with Laura Whitmore (Love Island, Finding Joy, Queenie, and Jenny in 2.22: A Ghost Story in her West End debut) stepping into the role of Lauren.

The very special, standalone Irish production, produced for Dublin’s 3Olympia Theatre, will open on Thursday 20th June 2024 with performances until Sunday 11th August 2024 - for a strictly limited run only.

Full list of performances below. Age Suitability: 12+ 

Tickets priced from €26.50 including booking fee and €1.50 restoration levy on sale now with Ticketmaster Ireland

2:22 - A Ghost Story began in summer 2021 at the Noël Coward Theatre, starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood, and where it won the WhatsOnStage award for Best Play. It then transferred to the Gielgud Theatre for 10 weeks from 4 December 2021. The production there starring Stephanie Beatriz, James Buckley, Elliot Cowan and Giovanna Fletcher completed its run on 12 February 2022. For the first season at the Criterion (May - September 2022) the cast was Tom Felton, Mandip GIll, Sam Swainsbury and Beatriz Romilly. In late September Laura Whitmore, Matt Willis, Felix Scott and Tamsin Carroll took over. 

The box office record-breaking run at the Lyric starring Cheryl, Jake Wood, Scott Karim, and Louise Ford, concluded its run on 23 April. The West End season at the Apollo Theatre starred Sophia Bush, Frankie Bridge, Ricky Champ, Clifford Samuel and Jaime Winstone, and set off on its UK tour in Autumn 2023 with Joe Absolom, Charlene Boyd, Nathaniel Curtis and Louisa Lytton in the cast. Current cast on the UK tour: Vera Chok (Lauren); Jay McGuiness (Ben); George Rainsford (Sam); Fiona Wade (Jenny).

2:22 is written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist, and is directed by Matthew Dunster and Isabel Marr; it’s an adrenaline-filled night where secrets emerge and ghosts may or may not appear…

Danny Robins said: ‘I'm really looking forward to seeing how Dublin audiences respond to 2:22 this summer. The tour continues to be a great success and I can't think of a better place to round off the journey in 2024 than here with a brand new cast to be announced soon!'

What do you believe? And do you dare discover the truth?

“THERE’S SOMETHING IN OUR HOUSE. I HEAR IT EVERY NIGHT, AT THE SAME TIME"

Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they’re going to stay up... until 2:22... and then they’ll know.

2:22 - A Ghost Story features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound and illusions by Chris Fisher. Casting by Matilda James.

2:22 - A Ghost Story is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon.  [source]      

[mariacallous]

Far-right extremists have spent the past week harassing and threatening migrants on the United States border with Mexico while making money by livestreaming it on YouTube and Rumble.

“Anybody in there,” said Dennis Yarbery, one of the YouTubers, as he approached a migrant camp at night in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, near the border last week. Yarbery was livestreaming to thousands of people. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”

Yarbery is one of three men who split off from the Take Our Border Back convoy in Texas and, according to their livestreams, spent days driving along the border in Arizona and California to harass migrants and volunteers with nonprofit groups.

“We’re illegal hunters,” Yarbery told a store clerk while livestreaming at a Subway sandwich counter in Jacumba Hot Springs. “I’ve hunted a lot in my life, but I’ve never actually hunted people, and that’s what we’re doing now.”

Yarbery, who is known online as both MasterGrifter and Big D and says he joined the People’s Convoy, a group that protested Covid lockdown measures and disrupted traffic, in 2022, was joined by Josh Fulfer, known as OreoExpress, and Joe Felix, known as Taco Joe, who runs 1st Responders Media, an outlet focused on livestreaming far-right events.

Throughout the hours-long broadcasts from the border in Arizona and California, these livestreamers regularly asked for donations from their supporters, which they claimed was being used to continue their work “covering” the crisis.

Even while in the middle of harassing the migrants, the livestreamers could still be heard thanking those who were sending them money via YouTube’s Super Chat function or through other platforms like Venmo and the Christian-aligned crowdfunding site GiveSendGo. In one situation, while Fulfer was shouting at migrants in Arizona telling them to go home, he stopped briefly to call out a supporter who had sent him $50 on Venmo.

These livestreamers come after weeks of inflamed rhetoric from both the far-right community and Republican lawmakers about immigration at the Texas border with Mexico. This year, the situation has erupted: After Texas governor Greg Abbott refused to heed the Biden administration’s calls to remove razor wire along the border, a dozen GOP governors publicly declared support for Abbott, and the Take Our Border Back convoy traveled from Virginia to Texas. Though the convoy petered out, the violent anti-immigrant rhetoric, which experts have warned would have long-term impacts, has only heightened.

“The post-convoy terror campaign against immigrants at the border follows an all-too-familiar pattern we’ve tracked for the past couple of decades,” Devin Burghart, the executive director at the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, tells WIRED. “Public bragging about ‘hunting people’ is a descent into a dangerous new low for armed vigilantes. Left unchecked, armed far-right vigilantes will spill more blood.”

After the livestreamers left Texas, they went to Sasabe in Arizona and a migrant camp run by No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization that provides support for migrants crossing the border.

During an hours-long livestream at night, Yarbery, Fulfer, and Felix all shouted at the migrants and accused them of human trafficking. Yarbery even tried to sell cigarettes to the migrants for $20 each. At one point, Fulfer threatened violence against a migrant who was shining a torch at their cameras.

The trio also verbally attacked a volunteer who worked with the organization, following her around as she phoned for help from US Border Patrol, according to livestreams of the incident viewed by WIRED before they were taken offline.

Yarbery, Felix, and Fulfer didn’t respond to WIRED’s requests for comment about their actions at the border.

Laurie Cantillo, a board member from Humane Borders, says the organization, which maintains water stations along migrant routes near the border, is aware of the allegations of harassment. “We have noticed an increase in vandalism of our permitted water stations along the border,�� Cantillo tells WIRED. “Our 55-gallon barrels have been shot, stabbed, drained, and stolen. It’s a sad state of affairs when someone sabotages water that can save a human life.”

US Border Patrol and No More Deaths did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the incident. One former volunteer with No More Deaths, who did not want to be identified due to safety concerns, told WIRED that they were not surprised no one replied, as the organization “may not want to draw extra attention to this event.”

After departing Arizona, the trio of livestreamers headed to California, where they continued to try and track down migrant camps. On several days their searches were fruitless, though they continued to broadcast and solicit donations through YouTube.

After Fulfer and Felix departed, Yarbery continued to “hunt,” as he called it, and during one broadcast over the weekend, he livestreamed with his partner and their baby while driving toward the border in Jacumba Hot Springs.

While there, Yarbery met with locals to discuss the migrant situation, and in one conversation a man could be heard on the livestream saying, “I say we shoot ’em all,” before Yarbery told him to be quiet as he was broadcasting live on YouTube.

YouTube told WIRED that it terminated Fulfer and Felix’s accounts after WIRED asked about the livestreamers, but it did not take action on Yarbery’s account. All of Yarbery’s videos, YouTube said, were set to private by the account holder. Yarbery has also created a backup channel, and told his followers in a YouTube chat where they could continue to follow him on the platform.

For years, extremism experts have been tracking how violent rhetoric around the border and migrants has led directly to violence, dating back to the 2000s when fear-mongering attacks on immigrants led to the mobilization of far-right paramilitary groups, one of which brutally murdered Raul Flores and his 9-year-old daughter Brisenia.

“Sadly, this cycle of violence has become so common that it tends to go unnoticed outside of the communities targeted by far-right vigilantes,” Burghart said. “This time around, the Black Mirror-like difference is that tech advances now allow [people like Yarbery, Fulfer, and Felix] to stream and monetize their cruelty to a far-right fanbase that craves more.”

[savvthedate]

Hey guys a quick announcement

I just needed some help with my Christmas series and I don't know which member to write for (thinking about bangchan but idk)

Also concerning my skz small town AU, I understand that RN it's my most popular post and I'm trying to release the work as soon as possible, so I'm just asking for all to be patient please, I'm trying to write the first 3 chapters for it (it'll probably be a long series) so I'm hoping to release the small town au along the same week as the Christmas special

@skz-2022 @thesleepystarsuniverse @hyuuukais

[priintaniere]

collab i did with @/dryltt3 on twitter for originally a prompt for the 2022 Sylvix Week, you can read their fic “bathe a body” here (also known as  titsout_miserable.jpg)

summary:  sylvain spends most of the first year of his marriage away in sreng, bypassing the honeymoon phase and going right to angst upon returning to felix’s side

※ please do not repost my art ※  ➜ commission and ko-fi links in bio

[feelbokkie]

For the entire year that I've been following your blog I have no idea how you became a STAY. So here I am asking for Allie's STAY origin story 🤲🏽

Hm, it’s not exactly a cute or happy story so if that’s what you were hoping for, sorry to disappoint.

The short story is that I became a STAY in February 2023 after a rough few months because of Lee Felix Yongbok.

The longer story…

I know I’ve mentioned this a few times so if you already know the Allie lore, you can go ahead and skip

Technically, I found out about skz in late 2022. I just say December bc it’s easier but honestly the second half of that year is a blur so I don’t know exactly when. I just remember scrolling through reels while waiting for my professors to walk in or procrastinating on my assignments.

But so much was happening between September-December with graduate school, work, and my brother being in the hospital that I quite literally didn’t have the energy to really focus on anything else so I kinda just ignored them for the most part. I can’t remember if I stopped watching reels or if I stopped getting them but I forgot about skz for a bit.

And then my brother died right before Christmas and it was bad. I was bad. I was quite literally on autopilot. I don’t even remember much of those months. I don’t know if you’ve watched or read the Twilight series but it was very much like that montage of when Bella was staring at the window when Edward was gone. Everything was grey. I didn’t talk. I didn’t eat. I only had enough energy to go to work and then go home. I was on a long winter break but if I had been in school I probably would’ve flunked out. It was the lowest I had been in a while. Even my screen time was down, I couldn’t even listen to music. I did go to a Harry Styles concert because my original show was canceled (and when that happened I thought that was the worst thing to happen for me) but I was still pretty numb. I even reread Ouran High School to feel something.

I don’t remember why but I started using my phone again and going on reels. I saw clips from Case 143, Maniac, and Christmas EveL and I liked them. But it wasn’t until I saw Felix’s mischievous ass during kingdom week when he called his mom to have hher call Changbin’s mom so could call him and win his challenge. And honestly I know that moment isn’t that funny but it was the first time I laughed in months. Like actually laughed. It caused something to switch in my brain and I went and watched the entirety of kingdom week. And then kingdom. And then I went and listened to all of their music. And I watched so many tiktoks and reels.

Honestly it kinda felt like I was Frankenstein’s monster and SKZ was the electricity to bring me (back??) to life. I went out to target and bought my first physical kpop album, Maxident (I had been listening to Got7 since 2014 but that was back when I would buy music on iTunes). I watched more videos and got to know the boys more through that and found comfort in their bond with each other and their music. I started reading fics on tumblr in an effort to seek more comfort and without even realizing it I found myself with a home in Stayville and now, almost 2 years later I’m terrorizing Stayblr with my fics

I’m still not completely fine but SKZ made things a lot more bearable and I literally would not be here without them.

I know there’s a saying that you don’t find Stray Kids, they come and find you when you need them most and for me, that’s so very true. Stray Kids made me stay in every sense of the phrase.

I know it’s a lot, I kinda got carried away 😅 sorry

[hekateinhell]

you already know why i’m here. our house chapter seven please please please i’m nothing

I do know LMAO. As soon as I wrote it, I knew if anyone asked for it, it was going to be you. 🥹 So this would have been the immediate next chapter after what's already up on ao3. I started writing this version I think September 2022 and I just never continued?

We've seen Armand explore his feminine side and his relationship to that a bit already, so in this chapter, I wanted to focus on his more masculine side just for a minute. I also wanted to illustrate a bit of their lives outside of each other. I'll just put everything I have in the doc here, just for you! ♥️

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Well, I think it’s cute,” Daniel bent down to press a kiss to Armand’s scruffy cheek, the first time in four years he’d ever actually seen the product of Armand forgoing shaving for an entire week.

It took a moment’s getting used to; not quite a five-o-clock shadow anymore, not quite a beard yet, darker than the auburn on his head by a couple tones.

Armand sighed, shifting so that his lips caught Daniel’s, more touching, resting in place, than kissing. “I wish you could work home from today,” he whispered. “I keep thinking something’s going to happen. I know I’m crazy but…” Armand trailed off, his forehead coming to rest against Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel gently rubbed his back, feeling the tension he was carrying.

“I know, baby,” hard for Armand not to be tense these days, given everything. “It’s a short day for me, and then I’ll meet you at Dr. Lydia’s at 3:30?”

He tangled his fingers through Armand’s wild hair, trying to soothe him as if he were one of the cats. Armand hadn’t felt the house in a week, and it showed. Decided he could delegate the physical tasks to a temp and do everything else virtually.

Daniel didn’t think it was depression, exactly. Armand certainly seemed happy and animated whenever Daniel was around. He still showered, ate, and slept. His appetite, in regards to food and sex, was as healthy as could be. He wasn’t starved for company either; in fact, Daniel hadn’t come home to an apartment with less than five people in it all week.

Some people he knew well, some he didn’t. Bianca, Laurent, Felix, Santiago. Armand’s European friends. As soon as Daniel’s key turned in the lock, the crew cleared out with an overlapping chorus of hellos and goodbyes — did nobody work anymore? Daniel had asked and Armand had shrugged and said, “They get by, I suppose.” Then he hurled himself at Daniel, demanding to be carried to the bedroom for a pre-dinner romp.

It seemed to Daniel he was getting laid a lot lately. There had always been a disparity in their libidos, once the honeymoon phase wore off. And to be fair, when they’d met, Daniel was trying and failing at AA and snorting conspicuous amounts of coke to compensate. He might as well as have been on Viagra those first three months. Set some very unrealistic expectations, bit of false advertising and all that.

They hadn’t clued right away after he’d started NA, because for the first time in his life, this wasn’t a relationship he wanted to escape from. He wanted to do better, see what might happen if he showed up as his best, sober self.

Only Armand’s whining and bouncing on his lap, overlappingly sleep-deprived and aroused because Daniel’s been fucking his brains out since midnight and it was 3 AM and couldn’t they go one more round please oh please? Just like last time and the time before that and the time before that!

What was different tonight?

It had been so weird to say, looking down at his limp dick that was doing most of the talking as it was, “It doesn’t wanna work, babe, I don’t know what to tell you.” Hadn’t run into this problem in years.

Armand gave him a childish pout that Daniel was sure was more real than fake. He’d rolled off him and curled by his side, pressing his face against Daniel’s neck. Giggling when he said, “I ought to give you a hickey,” like they were teenagers.

“Go for it.”

He did, sucking hard at the skin on Daniel’s throat, subconsciously and then not-so-subconsciously humping Daniel’s hip until he finished a fourth time with a low, deep moan, finally satiated and worn out.

Lucky it was January, seeing as Daniel had to wear turtlenecks for the next two days after Armand had massacred him. The little vampire.

“I’m not sure I can keep up with you,” he’d mumbled over the cereal the next morning.

“What are you talking about?” Armand’s smiling at him, having opted to bring his chair beside Daniel’s instead of staying at the opposite end.

It hurt a bit to say, “What if I can’t keep with you, like with your sex drive, and you just get bored of me?”

“You can’t be serious!” Armand laughed before the look on Daniel’s face stopped him cold. “Danny,” he reached for Daniel’s much larger hand, intertwining their fingers and pressing their palms together.

“Danny, look…” He stared down at the granola in front of him, as if it might grant him the strength to get through what he was about to say. “I like you. I am a lot, I know that! But I don’t need you to ‘keep up with me’. I’m perfectly capable of keeping up with myself.”

[warningsine]

As world leaders scramble to avert a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, there is another conflict on a scale perhaps unimaginable to many they should rush to prevent as well.

It is a repeat, like Israel-Hezbollah in 2006, of a war that raged between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda between August 1998 and July 2003. By the time it ended, nine African countries and 20 rebel groups were involved. At least 5.4 million people died as a result of fighting, disease and malnutrition and 7 million were displaced. Africa’s World War — or the Great War of Africa, as it came to be known — was the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Today, conflict between Congolese and Rwandan leaders has sharpened dangerously, peace initiatives have collapsed, an arms race is underway and deadly clashes between both sides and militias aligned to them are frequent. All the warning lights for a repeat of the 1998-2003 war are flashing.

Tensions have been simmering for years, with frequent reports of serious cross-border clashes in the eastern provinces of Congo. War talk and violence ramped up in the run-up to the Congolese election in December and have intensified over the past seven months. Weeks before the poll, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said Rwandan President Paul Kagame was behaving like Adolf Hitler and had ambitions to expand Rwanda into eastern Congo.

"I promise he will end up like Hitler,” Tshisekedi warned. Rwanda said the Congolese president’s words were a "loud and clear threat."

On July 9, a United Nations expert report confirmed widely circulated accusations that Uganda and Rwanda are backing the powerful M23 rebel group in eastern Congo. The report warned that the crisis "carried the risk of triggering a wider regional conflict." Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo responded that Tshisekedi had "consistently threatened to declare war on Rwanda" and that her country "will continue to defend itself."

The reasons for the fighting are decades-old and complex, yet currently boil down to various players’ bid to dominate Congo’s abundant mineral resources.

After the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 1 million ethnic Tutsi were killed by mainly Hutu ethnic groups, militias implicated in the murders fled into eastern Congo. The Rwandan army pursued them, arguing that it had to arrest perpetrators of the genocide and destroy their networks. This happened again in 1998, triggering the great war and spawning a web of vested interests involving neighboring nations and armed militias, mercenaries, mining companies, local and regional politicians, China, the United States and other global powers seeking a toehold in the region. Large parts of Congo have since been occupied by ruthless armed groups profiting from illegal mining.

The country produces nearly 70% of the world’s cobalt, while the Great Lakes region that Congo is a part of is rich with tin, tantalum, tungsten, lithium and gold — all of which are key components of electric vehicle batteries, cell phones, refrigerators, jewelry, airplane parts, cars and other goods. As of 2020, Chinese firms owned or had stakes in 15 of the 19 cobalt producing mines in Congo. Between 2022 and 2050, demand for nickel will double, cobalt will triple and lithium rise tenfold, according to the International Energy Agency.

A conflagration will potentially affect or draw in other countries. Apart from Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, a plethora of armed groups is already in the region. The 11,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission (which goes by the French acronym MONUSCO) was supposed to leave the country by year-end, but has been asked by the Congolese government to stay on indefinitely.

South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania already have troops in Congo as part of the Southern African Development Community’s peacekeeping mission deployed there last December. Congo’s neighbors Angola, the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia could be pulled into the fighting. An East African Community Regional Force exited Congo in December and may be drawn back in.

That’s not all. The Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect, a nongovernmental organization, says that there are at least 120 armed militias operating in the region, while mercenaries such as those of Russia’s Wagner Group have been contracted by various players. And worryingly, Congo has been stocking up on arms. The country’s military spending experienced the highest increase in the world last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Spending on armored vehicles, drones and other military equipment more than doubled in a year to $794 million.

The 1998-2003 conflict ended because strong continental leaders intervened through dialogue. In 2000, African leaders adopted the Lome Declaration that expressly outlawed coups, thus giving the African Union the authority to stand up to belligerents.

The current political climate, called "an epidemic” of coups by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, makes it harder to intervene. Continental leadership of the type of the early 2000s is also lacking. In its last meeting on July 12, the African Union — its authority already undermined by swaggering coup leaders in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and other nations experiencing democratic backsliding — failed to even place the Great Lakes crisis on its agenda.

Attempts to strike a new peace deal have floundered. On July 27, Tshisekedi told a meeting in Paris: "There are two processes. There was the Nairobi Process driven by Uhuru Kenyatta which, unfortunately, was subsequently managed by the new president William Ruto. He managed it very badly. The process is almost dead."

The second initiative, the Luanda Process led by Angolan President Joao Lourenco, has made little headway after a disastrous meeting in February.

What now? At the request of the U.S., the belligerents have been observing a humanitarian truce for nearly a month, but clashes have continued. This truce should be used by international leaders — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has admirably been heavily involved with Lourenco — to encourage Tshisekedi and Kagame to dial down the rhetoric and come to the table.

China, which has sold arms to both sides this year and is the dominant foreign economic player in Congo’s mining sector, should do the same. Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates (both of which have mining interests in Congo) should also be acting. Crucially, other regional leaders such as South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya should be taking a leadership role alongside Angola’s president to avert a deterioration and assert Africa’s interests.

With 7.2 million people in the region already displaced by the war — 700,000 of them in just the first three months of this year — a further escalation would spell disaster for the continent.

[bitsandbobcats]

Fortune/Failure (Felinette Week 2022) (892 words) by BitsandBobcats Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Félix (PV) Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Félix (Miraculous Ladybug PV), Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug) Additional Tags: Reveal AU, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Revealed as Ladybug Summary: In which Marinette finds an unlikely new friend in the prickly transfer from London AND In which Felix must overcome his self doubt to save Ladybug and the entire city of Paris

[invisible-pink-toast]

was going through my files and found some unfinished old fics from maybeequeen week back in 2022! i'm going to work on finishing a couple of them but probably will never complete this one, still it's just a little snapshot into chloe's life and her relationships. it was for the birthday prompt:

On Chloe’s 11th birthday, the best part of the day was supposed to be that her mother had promised to be there. Audrey was in London doing some fashion critic thing with British Vogue. Normally the flight over from New York was too long, but the flight from London to Paris was only an hour.

But around lunchtime, Chloe got a voicemail from her mother’s assistant, saying that Audrey was busy with a fashion show, but she wished Chloe a happy 10th birthday. Chloe had curled up on her bed, holding Mr Cuddly as tight as she could, as she tried not to cry. Her mother hated crying. 

In the evening, Andre Bourgeois threw Chloe a party. It was very fancy and sophisticated and Chloe felt very grown up. Unfortunately most of the people who’d been invited where her father’s friends, business associates, political sponsors. And given that it was an eleven-year-olds birthday, all of their wives and husbands and partners and children were invited too. A family event.  ‘We should never waste an opportunity to network, sweetheart.’ Her father had said, fixing his cufflinks, as a stylist did Chloe’s hair. It’s not like the other kids from school would have wanted to come anyway. At least Sabrina, Adrien and Felix were going to be there. 

When the party started, Chloe went around with her father and smiled and introduced herself. She answered the polite and uninteresting questions, gracefully accepted birthday wishes and clenched her teeth as her cheeks got pinched by women who had apparently known her since she was a baby, even though she was sure she’d never seen them before.

Sabrina arrived and Chloe showed off her new dress and new jewelry and told Sabrina all about her new presents, as Sabrina gasped and admired and begged to borrow things. But the real best part of the day was the surprise Chloe got was when the Agreste’s showed up. 

She’s in the middle of falsely smiling at one of the hotel board members when hands grab her around the middle from behind. She yelps, but is only pulled into a hug by a laughing Adrien. 

‘Happy birthday, Chlo!’ He yells in her ear, and then she’s laughing too. A real one, not the simpering little giggle she’s been putting on all night. She turns in his arms and hugs him back. 

‘Adrikins! You came!’ 

‘Of course! But you’ll never believe who else did…’ He says mysteriously, before grabbing her hand and pulling her through the crowd. 

Aunt Emilie has been awfully sick. She’s been sick for a long time now, but whenever Chloe would ask about it, her godmother would wave away her concerns and say she was fine. Chloe still doesn’t know what she’s sick with. Over the last few years, Emilie’s only gotten worse. She has terrible coughing fits, bouts of confusion or anger that come out of nowhere, and terrible spells that Uncle Gabe calls “episodes”. Chloe has never seen one of the episodes, but Adrien told her they were awful, and made him so scared that he couldn’t get them out of his head.

Several months ago, Emilie took time off of work so she could stay at home, to try to rest to get better. Chloe thought that was a good idea, when she was sick she got to stay home and eat as many sweet things as she ordered, at it always made her feel better. Adrien stopped going out as much, staying at home to keep his mother company. At first Chloe would go over all the time to see them. But as the months passed, Emilie didn’t seem to be getting better. So Uncle Gabe said his wife needed proper rest, and that Chloe should give her the space to do so. Chloe started shortening her visits, then decreasing her visits - first to twice a week, then once a week, then every fortnight - always under her godfather’s watchful and disapproving gaze. Her last visit got cancelled because Emilie needed a visit from the doctor, so Chloe hasn’t seen her for almost a month. 

So when Adrien pulls Chloe through the crowd, she’s expecting to see someone like Jagged Stone or the President. Instead she sees Uncle Gabe, frowning like he always does nowadays, but beside him, grinning without a care in the world, is her Aunt Emilie. 

Chloe gasps and races forwards (in a very undignified way) and throws her arms around Emilie. 

‘Careful, Chloe!’ Gabriel snaps, steadying Emilie with his hand, but Emilie shushes him and wraps her arms tightly around the birthday girl. 

‘I didn’t think you could come?!’ Chloe says, her face still buried in her aunt’s jacket. Emilie runs a hand over Chloe’s fancy hairdo. 

‘Well, I couldn’t miss your 11th birthday now, could I?’ Emilie says, tucking a strand of Chloe’s hair back into place, and Chloe smiles up at her. ‘It’s a very important occasion. Happy birthday, dear.’ 

‘Yes, happy birthday.’ Gabriel echoes. 

Chloe sniffs, and steps back, remembering herself and smoothing out her skirt. ‘Thank you for coming.’ She says politely, but she’s still smiling brightly. That’s when she gets a good look at her aunt. She’s very pale, supporting most of her weight on her cane, and she’s wearing a winter coat even though it’s September. But her smile is just the same as ever, so Chloe puts it out of her mind, and eagerly shows off her party and her presents to her new guests. 

[mappingthemoon]

Movies/TV Watched 2024

Asteroid City (Wes Anderson, 2023)

Nomadland (Chloé Zhao, 2020)

Cordelia (Adrian Shergold, 2019)

The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)*

Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992)*

Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)

Child’s Play (Tom Holland, 1988)*

Train (Gideon Raff, 2008)

Silent Hill (Christophe Gans, 2006)

Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV (PBS American Masters) (Amanda Kim, 2023)

Past Lives (Celine Song, 2023)

Basic Instinct [Director’s Cut] (Paul Verhoeven, 1992)*

In Cold Blood (Richard Brooks, 1967)

What Lies Beneath (Robert Zemeckis, 2000)

Fellini Satyricon (Federico Fellini, 1969)

Significant Other (Dan Berk, Robert Olsen; 2022)

The Mimic (Huh Jung, 2017)

Extinction (Miguel Ángel Vivas, 2015)

The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015)

The Hole in the Ground (Lee Cronin, 2019)

Batman (Tim Burton, 1989)

Cronos (Guillermo del Toro, 1993)

Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)

Our Flag Means Death [szn 2] (2023)

Wes Craven Presents: They (Robert Harmon, 2002)

Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962)

Leviathan (George P. Cosmatos, 1989)

Rick and Morty [szn 5] (2021)

Dark Skies (Scott Stewart, 2013)

Insidious: Chapter 2 (James Wan, 2013)*?

Insidious: Chapter 3 (Leigh Whannell, 2015)

Insidious: The Last Key (Adam Robitel, 2018)

Insidious: The Red Door (Patrick Wilson, 2023)

American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973)*?

The Pope’s Exorcist (Julius Avery, 2023)

Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996)*

Men in Black (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1997)*

The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)*

Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023)

Angels & Insects (Philip Haas, 1995)*?

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (Eli Craig, 2010)

The Purge (James DeMonaco, 2013)

4/20 Massacre (Dylan Reynolds, 2018)

The Fast and the Furious (Rob Cohen, 2001)

Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal (PBS American Experience) (Jamila Ephron, 2024)

Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 1988)*

The Signal (William Eubank, 2014)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Tim Burton, 2024)

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Stephen Hillenburg, Mark Osborne; 2004)

Felix the Cat: The Movie (Tibor Hernádi, 1988)

Speak No Evil (James Watkins, 2024)

Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)*?

The Portrait of a Lady (Jane Campion, 1996)

Sisters with Transistors (Lisa Rovner, 2020)

Holy Smoke! (Jane Campion, 1999)

Shock Treatment (Jim Sharman, 1981)*

Space: The Longest Goodbye (Ido Mizrahy, 2023)

House of Wax (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2005)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Bill Melendez, 1979)*

Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker (Chris McKim, 2020)

Longlegs (Osgood Perkins, 2024)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen, 2000)*

Tess (Roman Polanski, 1979)

Barbarian (Zach Cregger, 2022)

Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 1990)*

Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009)

Rick and Morty [szn 6] (2022)

The Seeding (Barnaby Clay, 2024)

Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990)*

Beatles ’64 (David Tedeschi, 2024)

Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara (Erin Lee Carr, 2024)

Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (Richard Williams, 1977)*

Rick and Morty [szn 7] (2023)

Five Nights at Freddy’s (Emma Tammi, 2023)

Immaculate (Michael Mohan, 2024)

Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told (P. Frank Williams, 2024)

The Booksellers (D. W. Young, 2019)*

His House (Remi Weekes, 2020)

Time Cut (Hannah MacPherson, 2024)

Don’t Move (Adam Schindler, Brian Netto; 2024)

Carry-On (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2024)

Subservience (S. K. Dale, 2024)

The Muppet Christmas Carol (Brian Henson, 1992)*

May December (Todd Haynes, 2023)

Horse Girl (Jeff Baena, 2020)

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)*

Movies/TV watched 2024; asterisks * are rewatches, asterisks w/question marks *? are rewatches I couldn’t remember having seen before but had a vague sense of familiarity and/or I found evidence of watching elsewhere in my archive. Struck titles were unfinished (I absolutely loved the book In Cold Blood but dozed off a bunch during the movie; Under the Skin seemed promising but I had to turn it off because I could NOT emotionally deal with the baby on the beach.)

This year I treated myself to some old weird nostalgia movies on VHS (YouTube or Internet Archive links provided when available). We have a decent collection of thrifted DVDs and we borrow a lot of movies from the library. Occasionally I’ll sign up for a month of a streaming service if there’s something ~exclusive~ we want to watch, and then we’ll end up watching whatever horror garbage is offered. Honestly, I think “meh, it was okay” was my main reaction to a lot of the movies I watched this year? Kind of a bummer.

Favorites in 2024: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE!!!!! I just loved everything about it :D I thought it was aesthetically the right amount of Tim Burton without being *too much* Tim Burton, ya know? (Love movie environments that feel like a dark ride!) Beetlejuice is a forever favorite, one of my earliest “crushes” (proving that I have absolutely never had good taste in men & that as early as age 4 I yearned for a witty dirtbag prankster to show up and “promptly whisk [me] off from [my] ordinary life into wacky adventures in the land of the dead” [description from the box set of the animated series, yikes lmao; my other fave beginning around this time was Doctor Who lol, obvious underlying theme is obvious]). ANYway, BJ BJ was also the first movie we saw in theatres post-covid! Not necessarily due to covid-related concerns, but just like, idk, being busy and frugal homebodies. And I guess since more theatres are offering restaurant food nowadays, they’re making it more difficult to sneak food in (no bags allowed), booooo.

Other faves: Asteroid City (I’m not usually a Wes Anderson person but this was visually stunning), His House, Poor Things. The Seeding was pretty wild, if heavy-handed. Tho I kind of thought *everything* about male/female relationships in horror movies I saw this year was getting pretty heavy-handed :/ Sisters with Transistors was a cool documentary about women (Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Wendy Carlos, Pauline Oliveros, et al.) in the early days of electronic music, dreamily narrated by Laurie Anderson (*heart-eyes*). Beatles ’64 was surprisingly okay! I *really* appreciated the interviews with people who were young Beatlemaniacs back in the ‘60s, hearing (mostly) women talk about how the Beatles represented a new way of being masculine, how liking the Beatles could provide a sense of agency for women navigating their own desires, etc. That was a cool perspective which I do not personally encounter very often in the Beatles cinematic universe. (For background: My two most recent long-term relationships have been with indie musicians who just happen to be extremely obsessed with the Beatles, so I’ve spent the past 17+ years absorbing deep dives about how great they are, and while I like many of their songs and Understand Their Position of Importance in the History of Pop/Rock/Human Culture, I just do not give a fuuuck on a personal level. But I do still begrudgingly respect my partner’s interest enough to occasionally watch a Beatles documentary with him.)

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Five

Week 29:

Film(s): Five (Dir. Arch Oboler, 1951, USA)

Viewing Format: Streaming Video (Amazon)

Date Watched: 2022-02-11

Rationale for Inclusion:

Late in the runtime of last week's film, The Thing From Another World (Dir. Christian Nyby, 1951, USA), as part of a monologue trying to convince his fellow occupants of the Arctic base not to destroy the carnivorous plant alien that has already drained the blood of multiple scientists and sled dogs, Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) concludes his plea for the importance of the pursuit of knowledge at all costs with, "We split the atom." At which point, one of the airmen, Lt. Eddie Dykes (James Young), cuts in with, "Yes, and that sure made the world happy, didn't it?" The sardonic quip stops Carrington cold.

In 1951, only six years had passed since the United States had deployed atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August of 1945. Whilst news of the destruction and atrocities were initially slow to spread, by the time the film takes place the scientists and airmen in The Thing no doubt knew the horrors inflicted upon Japan. Furthermore, the Soviet Union had detonated its first nuclear weapon in 1949, and the Cold War was very much underway.

With this cultural context in place, it follows that the post-apocalyptic film would make a comeback in the 1950s. Rocketship X-M (Dir. Kurt Neumann, 1950, USA) featured a post nuclear disaster society on Mars, but this survey has not featured a film where the central narrative is built around people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world since natural disaster film Deluge (Dir. Felix E. Feist, 1933, USA). So when I encountered Five (Dir. Arch Oboler, 1951, USA) described as the "first to depict the aftermath of an Earthly atomic bomb catastrophe" whilst perusing Wikipedia's science fiction cinema list, I knew it was an essential film to view.

Five was an independent film written, directed and produced by Arch Oboler, a successful radio dramatist who followed in Orson Welles' footsteps in transitioning to filmmaking. Oboler had directed three films prior to Five, and to keep costs down on the production the cast featured relatively unknown working actors, the crew was recruited from recent University of Southern California graduates, and the primary filming location was a Frank Lloyd Wright designed guest house on Oboler's Malibu ranch.

Reactions:

With its limited cast and locations, Five is dominantly the kind of no frills character study that would become more commonplace during the 1960s. It is simply and competently made with aesthetics that may remind modern day audiences of episodes of anthology television series, like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits.

As implied by the title of the film, the small cast of characters includes five people: the pregnant Roseanne Rogers (Susan Douglas Rubeš), white everyman Michael Rogin (William Phipps), the aged bank clerk Oliver P. Barnstaple (Earl Lee), black everyman Charles (Charles Lampkin), and supposedly affluent adventurer Eric (James Anderson). Roseanne's sex and Charles' race become sources of drama, mostly because Eric exhibits a behavior described decades later by sociologists as "elite panic."

Lee Clarke and Caron Chess of Rutgers University coined the term in a 2008 journal article, in which based on available research and case studies of disasters from the 1950s through 2001 they determined that the source of panic in these scenarios was not the general public devolving into a mob, but by elites, fearing that their power and wealth would be violently stripped from them by a mob. Clarke and Chess specifically identify three relationships with panic that occur during disasters: elites fearing panic, elites causing panic, and elites panicking. My introduction to this concept came via an episode of the podcast Behind the Bastards recorded during November of 2020, when amid the COVID-19 pandemic and stress around the presidential election having a reminder that the majority of people are inherently giving, caring, communal creatures was a huge comfort.

In Five, after an initially violent encounter, Michael and Roseanne band together for survival, with Oliver and Charles later joining them. They compassionately deal with Roseanne's pregnancy and Oliver's mental dissociation and decline from radiation sickness amid their limited resources. Oliver's dying request to visit the nearby ocean results in the old man having as peaceful a death as available under the circumstances, and the discovery of a man washed ashore, Eric.

The injured Eric's explanation for how he survived the atomic bombing is bizarre compared to the banality of the others' explanations, who were shielded from the blast via being in an elevator, lead-lined hospital x-ray room, and bank vault, respectively. Instead Eric was actively climbing Mount Everest alone when a blizzard stranded him. When he made it back to basecamp he found other climbers dead. On foot and via abandoned conveyances Eric had made his way back to America, encountering no other survivors along the way, just dead bodies.

Eric's journey in its entirety sounds highly unlikely, but at first only one aspect utterly defied my credulity: who climbs Mount Everest alone? Mountaineering is not a pet topic of research for me, but I know enough to know that no serious climber attempts Everest without guides, frequently members of the local Sherpa community. "What happened to his sherpa?" I demanded aloud when we got to this point in the film. "Did he eat them?"

Given that Eric is gradually revealed to be a greedy opportunist, in retrospect his story may have been nothing but lies. It seems more likely he was in the United States the entire time and leapfrogged from one pocket of resources and survivors to another until he ended up washing up on the beach. Regardless of whether he actually was a billionaire or not--and the film does nothing to disprove his account--he nevertheless has an elite mentality: trying to hoard resources (including Roseanne) to himself. 

Eric is the sociopathic evolution of the wandering rapists from Deluge, and ultimately serves the narrative role of Michael's doppelganger. Michael may have initially tried to sexually assault Roseanne, but spends the rest of the film making up for that feral moment. Eric is predatory and ends up becoming a murderer in the course of the narrative; after being banished by the others, he goes back to steal supplies and kills Charles when he is caught. Michael is spared having to also become a murderer by the reveal near the end of the film that Eric has radiation poisoning and likely does not have much time left. The film makes it clear that Michael is a good man, and deserving of being the new Adam of the post-apocalyptic world.

Roseanne earns her new Eve status in part by being the token female, and in part because she is devoted to her missing husband until she finds definitive proof that he died in the bombing. Her dedication to her husband and baby are all that is needed to qualify her as a good woman. 

Unfortunately, her newborn dies for reasons of narrative convenience. Apparently it was too much to ask for Michael to be father to a baby he did not conceive. Instead it ends with Michael and Roseanne left alone. Despite the tragedies and threat of radiation sickness lingering, Five closes conservatively and reasonably optimistically: life will go on.

Before I wrap up, I would be remiss if I did not spend more time discussing Charles. His presence is itself a progressive act, given how the casts of most mainstream films surveyed thus far have been all or mostly white. However, he is introduced in a subservient role to an old white man, and spends the remainder of his time in the narrative as a litmus test to show who is the superior white man to repopulate the world: Michael or Eric. The notion that Charles might be a candidate for Roseanne's mate is never so much as suggested. For all the indignities Charles suffers throughout Five, he at least is spared the trope frequently placed on black men of being the first to die. Overall, Charles is a minor step forward for black representation in science fiction cinema.

Five, on the other hand, is a solid first representation of the post-nuclear apocalypse narrative. Later films built on the premise, like On the Beach (Dir. Stanley Kramer, 1959) and The World, the Flesh and the Devil (Dir. Ranald MacDougall, 1959), would result in better movies, but Five deserves greater attention within the sub-genre.

[mariacallous]

Germany remains a central focus of Russian disinformation efforts, and Kremlin-backed campaigns continue to grow in scope and intensity.

That was the warning that senior security officials and lawmakers issued this week during a public session of the German parliament's committee responsible for overseeing the country's intelligence agencies.

"We have long recognized the threat to Germany from foreign influence and hybrid warfare, especially from Russia," said Konstantin von Notz, a Green Party lawmaker and the committee's chairman.

"However, we are now witnessing a new level of intensity, and this development is deeply worrying for all of us."

Germany perceived 'as an enemy' by the Kremlin

Heads of Germany's intelligence services echoed von Notz's sentiments.

As Germany has emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kremlin has increasingly perceived Germany "as an enemy" and treated it as one, said Bruno Kahl, president of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

Kahl explained that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long waged a "hybrid war" against countries in the West to "create a new world order." To achieve this end, Putin is using Russia's secret service agencies "as the spearhead in the fight against the West, with a state mandate, with all the means at their disposal, without legal restrictions and, above all, without any conscience."

This has led to a "dramatic increase in the number and quality of cyberattacks by Russian state actors and their proxies," Kahl added.

At the same time, cyberattacks are just one method that Russia is using to assert its influence. 

Thomas Haldenwang, president of Germany's Federal domestic intelligence agency, warned of "influence operations" to spread pro-Russian disinformation: coordinated efforts to sway public opinion that blend cyber activities with the spread of disinformation.

He cited the example of one such campaign, dubbed "Doppelgänger," which was recently uncovered and involved cloned websites, fabricated articles, and misleading social media posts that mimicked established European media outlets to push pro-Russian narratives.

Growing influence of pro-Russian voices

Researchers say the majority of pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns targeting German audiences have one of three objectives, researchers say: weakening support for Ukraine, tarnishing NATO's image or amplifying pro-Russian voices across Germany.

"We see that this strategy is gradually achieving its goals, and the public debate in Germany is increasingly shifting in a direction that serves the Kremlin's interests," said Felix Kartte, a political analyst and senior fellow at Germany's Mercator Foundation.

"Two parties that represent pro-Kremlin positions, the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, are now also getting significant attention in traditional media," he told DW. Both the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party and the left-wing nationalist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) achieved record results in recent state elections.

How to combat Russian influence

So far, Germany has failed to develop "a comprehensive government strategy that recognizes, analyzes and effectively counteracts the campaigns" launched by Russia, Kartte said.

He stressed that such a strategy to counter Russian influence operations would need to address the issue on multiple levels.

"This would include better regulation of online platforms, strengthening independent media — especially local journalism — and better analysis of the financial support of prominent pro-Kremlin figures in Germanyby security and intelligence agencies," he said.

[trackandfieldimage]

2022 USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene. Allyson Felix 400 meters, in her final US Champs. Coming up next week in Eugene, Oregon, is the 2023 US outdoors. Be there!! . . . . #allysonfelix #usatf #usatfoutdoors #trackandfield #athletics #400meters #jeffcohenphoto #bysaysh #goat @allysonfelix @usatf — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/MYzWBud

[simshousewindsor]

Rowena, Queen Mother was on-hand at Felix Court to present the winners trophy and give a royal welcome to fans in Easton at both the Women's and Men's Brambledon finals this weekend.

As patron of the All Windenburg Lawn Tennis Club, Her Majesty has presented trophy's to the Champions for the last 9 years of The Championships Brambledon.

Accompanying the Queen Mother in the royal box on both days this year was her lady-in-waiting, Lady Sonja Adler.

On Saturday, Naomi Osimka, who has won 4 Grand Slam singles titles, beat the Women's world No. 1 and defending champ, Serena Wilson, to win her 1st Brambledon title.

In 2022, Wilson, of Windenburg, beat Osimka 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 defending the title to win her 8th Brambledon. Wilson defeated Simona Halzep 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in 2021 to win her 7th. Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any female player in the Open Era.

The current world No. 2, of Mt Komorebi, won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, after being down 1-4 in the final set, in a riveting 3rd set tie-breaker.

While players at Brambledon are required to wear white, The Queen Mother chose a different color for both of her 2024 appearances at the tennis tournament: green!

But green wasn't the only thing both of her outfits had in common. For each appearance, Her Majesty accessorized with the bow tie pin representing her role with the All Windenburg Lawn Tennis Club. The pin features the club's official colors — purple and dark green — and is perhaps the inspiration behind the Queen Mother's green streak.

In addition to her 1st Brambledon, Osimka has 3 Americreek Open titles and 1 O.S. Open title.

Along with the Brambledon title, Osimka took home a check for §1.9m simoleons.

On Sunday, Her Majesty delivered Zen Miller his 2nd Grand Slam singles title.

The tennis newcomer won 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, to beat the defending champ, and tennis goat, Rafa Nastal.

Nastal, of Oasis Springs, is the current world No. 3 in Men's singles tennis and has 22 Grand Slam singles titles; 5 of which are Brambledon titles.

Miller, 20, burst on the scene in 2021 and quickly made a name for himself as an all-court player.

Sticking to the green theme, the Queen Mother rocked another @rustys-cc original, the Princess of VIII dress in an emerald shade.

When Her Majesty headed down to Centre Court to present Zen Miller with the winner's trophy, she gave an even better look at her head-to-toe look.

Miller, a native of Windenburg, became world No. 2 in September after beating Novak Markovik to win his 1st Grand Slam at the Americreek Open.

Markovik, the current world No. 1, has 21 Grand Slam singles titles; 9 of which are Brambledon titles, will drop to world No. 2 after 203 weeks.

Miller has now won 2 Grand Slam singles titles, 3 Masters 1000s, and 6 Masters 500s, and on Monday will become the new Men's world No. 1.

Previous | Beginning | Next

[ussjellyfish]

new job?

I interviewed at a different district on Friday. (I'm a math teacher). I have been teaching 7th/8th, with the advanced classes, because no one wants them, so the fun stuff like geometry and fancy algebra). I've had 4 different classes in the past year, which was a lot, but I did a good job.

I interviewed at a suburban district where my brother lives with his wife and kids. I have been teaching in St. Paul, big urban district. 3rd biggest in my state, 30,000+ students, 8 middle schools, BIG district.

My school has about 600 students, and 5 math teachers.

Potential new school has 1000 students, and 7 or 8 math teachers. It's wealthier. Myold school is in a nice neighborhood (too nice for me to ever afford a house) but it's very mixed economically and racially. It's in an odd position because there are some really privileged students who are really advanced and need one set of things and other students who have really strong needs another way. It's a difficult balance. The kids are great.

I'm sure the kids at the new school would be great. It's wealthier, newer building, more resources. I probably wouldn't have to fight to get whiteboard markers.

more under a cut

Murray (current school) - upsides and downsides

Upsides

I know everyone. I really like most of my coworkers. They're great. I have a work best friend. We're gaining a really fantastic 8th grade history teacher that I could work with, which would help my floor.

I'll get to teach more interesting math. I'm the department head. I have a lot of power (sort of) and I get to pick the interesting classes and can really reshape the department. (partially because no one else cares, but it's fun).

It's the least effort, I'm set up to go back there, I have a plan that works for Felix (he goes to a new school in the 4 year old program. He gets to ride the bus home, which is a big step and I'd have a much easier commute immediately.

I could move to a smaller apartment near work and walk. (in January). I'd still have to drive Felix until he's in kindergarten, but he'd go to a really good elementary school, and I'd be in a really nice little walkable neighborhood. Great little grocery store, taco place, parks, playground, walking distance to work best friend's house.

Pension/retirement here is really good, like, stunningly good.

Downsides

My principal is incompetent, tone deaf and really difficult to work with. He's incredibly privileged, lives in the suburbs (the far out rich suburbs), he has a fancy car, he loves to hear himself talk. He's...someone I avoid rather than enjoy talking to.

Assistant principal thinks she's saving the world while is literally the embodiment of every meme about terrible admin. She's the one who gives a kid a cookie when they cuss you out. She's dragging the building down in so many ways and principal can't do anything to stop her. (there's something weird where she's kind of blackmailed the district? she can't be fired, but desperately needs to retire and won't. She's saving the world, the rest of us are terrible. (she seems to genuinely believe this and it is weird).

We had to go on strike to get a 2% raise in 2020. Our contract is up again and we're negotiating, and we nearly went on strike in 2022 but they gaved at the last minute. With the economy being what it is we're probably going to ask for 5%, and not get it and...there's some uncertainty.

I don't have tenure and will finally get it after this year. (This is in the middle, I guess?)

I am CONSTANTLY asked to cover other classes because we don't get enough substitutes. (like...once or twice a week, it's a lot).

New School SLP -

Upsides

Principal seems amazing. I've only met her for an hour and half, but she trained with my favorite principal ever. She's new to the school and very excited to be there.

Math department is really competent and the way they do teaching and grading is awesome. Really neat program of self reflection for students. I'd be walking into something made by people who know what they are doing and I wouldn't have to make it. I could just use theirs.

They asked my pronouns in the meeting. I had to argue to get current job to talk about them.

I drive to visit my brother's family at least once a week, and it's 20 minutes one way (with freeway). It would be about 10 minutes, no freeway. We could walk on a nice day.

I could move in January (my current lease doesn't run out until then and the penalties are stiff). I have a wide variety of apartments to chose from, near parks, near schools, some of them are in nice walkable areas. It's the suburbs, so slightly different lifestyle. I could definitely bike to work, good paths for that.

If we live in SLP we're much closer to brother and that would even out some of the responsibilities for Dad. I'm definitely moving, by myself in January, so dad needs his own plan by then, but, who knows what he'll chose.

Downsides

Absolute chaos in the near term. I'd need to leave one job (turn everything in, exit, meet with new HR, etc etc. We're going to Scotland on Wednesday so it would be fast and furious for awhile.

I don't know anyone at new place. (I will but...that's scary in the middle term).

Felix would need a different school. So I'd have to find one. I think I can make it work, but it'll be annoying for me.

My commute will be awful until January.

It will be harder (though not impossible) to hang out with my one friend from old work.

I'm struggling here, so this one is probably better?

6th grade math is less interesting, but less behavior problems. They're squirrels, but they're cute at that age.

smaller district? if it sucks, it'll really suck. (but I don't know yet).

Pension is less good. Any salary gains I got would be gone in how much I'd have to put away for retirement.

Brother #1 who lives in Iowa says it's okay to have two decent choices, and they kind of are. It matters how much admin/work culture influences my job, and where I want Felix to go to school. (there is a push that sububrbs would be better for him, I thnk he'd be fine anywhere, he's a good kid).

The short term chaos would be a LOT. (I can do it , it's just a LOT).