#followed by massive hamburgers

[girlvinland]

I have my first actual date date with a woman next weekend (that isn’t just like. Friends hanging out and it being that weird space in-between/where there’s some intimacy but you’re not really a thing lol idk iykyk).

For the record, I’m still not really wanting to like, start up some new long-term thing right now, but I really wanted to meet people and put myself out there/practice dating after so long and everything, especially since aspects of this are new to me and I want to learn to do the pursuing rather than just waiting around for someone to pursue me. I feel like it will be good to build up my confidence with stuff like that.

But yeah, this girl has been really cool to talk to, so I just went for it and asked her, and now we have plans next Saturday! I feel proud of myself and excited to hang out with her.

[yetanotherexhaustedalchemist]

a question about Riddle I've been pondering for a while

So it's obvious that Riddle's mother instilled in him a massive fear of breaking rules. But I wonder if she specifically taught him the Queen of Hearts' nonsensical rules? She seems like a relatively practical person, so I can't see why she would do that other than to just... reinforce the idea that all rules need to be followed, or to reinstate her control over him.

Which would be super messed up as it is, but the alternative would be that Riddle was so scared of breaking any rules that he automatically treated even nonsensical rules as absolute. How conditioned or scared does someone need to be to read "never eat a hamburger on a Tuesday" and think "Yes that's reasonable, I cannot allow anyone to break this rule or all hell would break loose"?

Similarly, it in Book 6 we learn that Riddle's mother has been working to make Riddle a powerful mage since he was in the womb, and it's pretty clear she was intentionally malnourishing him (she's a doctor, she knew what she was doing). Wouldn't that be counterproductive to her goal? She's obviously an intelligent woman, so I can't help but think that she must have been aware of the danger creating such a powerful mage would bring - what if he grew too strong and rebelled, and she was overpowered? Maybe she was starving him to keep him weak enough to be unable to fight back against her.

Basically, I'm going to fight her one day.

[girlactionfigure]

The picture below is as an actual photo from Gaza, as the truthfulness of the Palestinians claims about "indiscriminate bombing". Those claims are, well, entirely false. 

A simple look at several numbers of real indiscriminate bombing events, shows that pretty clearly.

During Feb. 13th-15th 1945, the allies dropped on the German city of Dresden a total of 3,100 tons of bombs, killing 25,000-35,000 civilians. The area of Dresden is 328.8 Km², and its population before the bombing was 567,000.

Let's take a look at another similar event from WW2. During operation Gomorrah, the allies dropped 2,326 tons of bombs on the city of Hamburg, killing 34,000-45,000 people. The area of Hamburg is 755.2 Km², and its population before the bombing was 634,000 people. 

Now, back to Gaza. 3 days ago, the Gazan Hamas government media office claimed Israel had dropped 65,000 tons of bombs, and reported about 22,313 casualties. The area of the Gaza strip is 365 Km² (slightly larger than Dresden) and its population before the war was 2.3 million people (according to several sources). 

I guess you can see where this is going: the population density in Gaza was 6,301 People/Km², which even increased after the massive evacuations of Gazans.

That's 3.6 (!) times the population density of Dresden, and 7.5 (!) times the population density of Hamburg, before the bombings. 

So according to the Palestinians and their supporters: 21 times (!) the bombs dropped on Dresden, and 28 (!) times of bombs dropped on Hamburg, in an area with a population density 3.6 times larger than Dresden and 7.5 larger than Hamburg, caused less deaths than the smallest casualties number verification after the bombing of Dresden in 1945. The numbers are entirely absurd, and if they are true, that's the least indiscriminate bombings I've seen in my life.

As a conclusion, I'd like to ask several questions: 

1 According to what absurd logic, the Hamas propaganda is treated as even somewhat believable?

2 How does the Palestinians know the exact bomb weights, simply from looking at explosions?

3 If the Hamas ministry of health said on Nov. 21st they've lost the ability to count their dead, how they are still reporting exact casualties numbers?

4 What alien technology are they using, to know exactly how many people are under the rubble, as they claim?

5 If Israel identification of almost 1200 victims took about 3 months and is still going, how exactly Hamas is reporting exact casualties less than an hour after each attack, and at the end of each day?

6 So far it seems that almost only women and children are killed, according to Hamas, and almost no men and no Hamas eliminated terrorists appear in the reports? Are they invincible, or hiding too good behind the women and children? For my followers, I really appreciate your support. Thank you for helping me combatting propaganda. The sources, as always, are attached below.

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Source 4

Source 5

Source 6

Shlomo Fishman

@shlomo_fishman

[annab-nana]

Tom holland and prompt 13 from List C please 🧡 (domestic list)

you got it babe :)

prompt: one putting on weight although the other is the one that is actually pregnant

warnings: not proofread, pregnant!reader, kinda short, talks of diets and changes in diets and gaining weight so if that is triggering for you, please don't read this, pregnancy hormones, use of pet names (darling)

❀ masterlist ❀

"is it good?" tom inquired, watching you take a bite of your burger. you had been talking about getting a hamburger since two in the morning when the initial craving hit and you were finally getting to eat it.

"so good," you responded after you swallowed down your previous bite. your eyes glanced down to his plate to see that his platter matched yours to a t.

from an outside eye, that probably wasn't too odd to see. it was just a man and a woman, both delving into a massive burger and fries. but you knew tom. he stuck to a fairly strict diet to keep in shape. he had his occasional cheat days, but he seemed to be having more cheat days than not lately. you didn't think he was wrong nor were you disgusted by this. you were just curious about the change.

"i am not judging you by any means, but i thought you were on a diet? like a harsh one?" you inquired before popping a fry into your mouth.

"i was," he prefaced, "but you know we're in everything together, even this pregnancy, so if you have to gain weight, so do i."

"tom, you don't have to do that," you spoke softly as you reached across the table to hold his hand. "the people need their spider-man," you joked.

his thumb rubbed over your skin so delicately, it almost tickled. his head shook lightly at you before he responded, "maybe, but you need me more."

"tom," you said in awe as tears lined your eyes, pregnancy hormones coming in a rush. "goodness, you know you can't be too sweet to me or else i'll cry."

"sorry, darling," he responded, a chuckle following his words before teasingly adding, "i'll try to keep the sweetness to a minimum."

remember to support writers & reblog :)

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tag list: @bradleybeachbabe @marjorie189 @lifeineverycolor

[trainsinanime]

The shapes of railway networks

A while ago @ariadsishereagain asked me about countries that have no railway networks, and what I think of them. That's a fascinating question that has been in my mind ever since, because the truth is you can tell a lot about a country and in particular it's history during the 19th and early 20th century by its railway network. So let's do that. And the best way to do that is by looking at the incredibly detailed open-source world railway map OpenRailwayMap, a part of the OpenStreetMap project. I really recommend it! And let's start with one of my favorite examples of how railway networks differ:

At this zoom level the site sadly only shows incomprehensible internal abbreviations rather than city names, so let me explain: What we have here are France and Germany, along with some of the UK and Italy, some of various neighbouring countries and all of Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

France and Germany are the ones that I find the most interesting, because the shapes of their networks are so different. Not only is the german one much more dense, but you can see completely different patterns.

In France, the job of railroads is to bring people to Paris (PLY, short for Paris Gare de Lyon) The lines stretch out into every part of the country, but almost all of them converge onto mainlines going into Paris. You can see some lines along the coasts and the borders, and there is a medium distances circle around Paris (passing MZ, DN, TO, short for Metz, Dijon, Tours). This whole pattern is known as the Legrande Star, after Baptiste Alexis Victor Legrande, the french government official who designed it. His goal was to provide great access to Paris, the nation's undisputed political, cultural and economical centre. A couple of decades later, Charles de Freycinet added plans to connect all departments to the railway network, but he still followed the idea that the ultimate goal of almost every rail line was Paris. And so it was, and largely remained. Even the high speed lines, in red, follow this pattern to this day.

A result is that you will have to go to Paris whether you want to or not. Lille-Strasbourg? You're going through Paris. Bordeaux-Dijon?

You're going through Paris, and get to make your own way from Gare Montparnasse to Gare de Lyon on the Metro (and it isn't even a direct metro, you have to change trains). It's a massive detour but it's not like you have a choice.

Even if there is a direct TGV or a connection outside the main stations of Paris, you're still ending up very much near Paris; the difference is just that you're not going via the city centre, but rather via Disneyland. Legrande wanted to bring people to Paris; he was less concerned about connecting other places with each other.

Now compare Germany, and you will see a network that is more dense, but most importantly, utterly chaotic. You can see hints of a France-like star around Berlin (BSPD, short for Berlin Spandau, which isn't the most important station but what can you do), but it's really only dominating its immediate surroundings, the region of Brandenburg. You can see vague hints of a similar star around Hamburg (AH; don't ask) or Munich (MH), but also a massive tangle around the Rhine-Ruhr industrial area (around KD), or around the Frankfurt am Main area (FF). Red high speed lines are essentially random. Some of them do go to Berlin, sure. But many, like the one from Cologne to Frankfurt (KD to FF) or the one from Hanover (HH) south, do not.

And that really reflects the history. Germany wasn't a unified country when railroad construction began, and even though it did unify shortly thereafter, there's no hiding that its different parts developed separately, with no central planning, ever since the middle ages. Germany doesn't have a single central city like France. Berlin is the biggest and most important city, but not by far. Hamburg has huge cultural and industrial influence, Frankfurt is the most important financial centre and airport, Munich is huge, and there are agglomerations like the Rhine-Ruhr region that used to beat all of them in terms of industry. And the rail network, with no single central focus point, reflects that.

That doesn't mean Germany doesn't have its own blind spots. Due to being split in two, the east-west links aren't great. Getting e.g. from Cologne (near KD) to Dresden (DH) is pretty painful. Ironically, Berlin is one of the places that really suffers from this. There are plenty of trains to it from Cologne but they take forever, and you can see why: A lot of the route isn't high speed, it's just more or less upgraded normal lines. If you have a single destination, then it's easy to build all the lines there. If you want high-speed connections between everything, that's more difficult. (Also, our government isn't investing anywhere near enough into the rail network, both compared internationally and on its own terms, but that's a different issue)

Other countries in Europe tend to be somewhere between the extremes. Spain is fairly centralised around Madrid.

The UK is just as focused on London as France is on Paris, but it has strong regional networks around Leeds and Sheffield, and the weirdness in Scotland (four different lines between Glasgow and Edinburgh and counting!).

Italy, especially south of the Po valley, almost looks like a ladder: Lines are either on the one side of the Apennines or the other, with a few brave ones crossing through.

This works overseas as well. Describing the continental US as "like Germany" is certainly going to raise some eyebrows, but the map doesn't lie:

It's all on a completely different scale, but it's also a federal country with no one single clear centre. Yes, New York and Los Angeles are big and important, but neither is an all-powerful centre of the nation. What's fun about the US is that it's almost gradient-like: The more west you go, the fewer the railroads get. You can also nicely see the Alleghenies by the shadow they cast: Just a few brave rail lines managed to make their way through or around. Other characteristic items are the huge tangle that is Chicago, the closest thing the US has to a railroad capital; and the many places where lines are almost duplicated (just count how many different ways you can get from Chicago to Memphis, or Chicago to Cleveland), thanks to different competing railway companies that all hated (and sometimes still hate) each other's guts.

So that's what's mostly considered the "western world" or "industrialised world". I skipped Japan, China and India because the post is going to get too long no matter what, but they're all fascinating as well.

But if we go away from there look at countries where the colonialism was less settlers and more exploit mostly from afar, we see another very odd pattern emerge, like here in sub-saharan Africa:

The selection is somewhat arbitrary because you can find the same pattern everywhere south of the Sahara, and in one case (Mauretania) even in the Sahara: A railroad that goes straight to the coast. (The isolated sections inland are due to issues with the map software, they're all connected to one of the lines to the coast)

This kind of railroad is designed to extract a country's resources, and not much else. In Mauretania (not in this picture), that's iron ore. Elsewhere it might have been other ores, precious metals, gemstones, but also very often agricultural products, spices, dyes. The railway line exists to take these things, and bring them to a port. The line is not designed to actually help the nation grow economically. Think about it: All things being equal, you're probably just as likely to want to go parallel to the coast as perpendicular to it.

Also, each of these lines were built because there's something interesting at the end of it, or at least someone suspected there might be. If you wanted to develop the area, it would make sense to trade the interesting stuff in Togo with the interesting stuff in Benin. But the railway lines are not set up for that at all. The goal is to get the interesting stuff to a ship, and occasionally soldiers to the place where the interesting stuff comes from.

These days, the area that I screenshotted here is actually massive, full of people. The city of Abidjan has more than four million inhabitants (more than Berlin), Lomé has 1.7 million, Cotonou and Porto-Novo come close to a million if taken together, and nobody's quite sure about Lagos, but it's at least 14 million, and the metropolitan region might be 24 million. This is a band of cities that researchers think might, in the next few decodes, become on par with Washington-Philadelphia-New York-Boston in the US, or the Tokyo-Osaka in Japan.

And the rail connections in this region do not reflect this at all. A high speed passenger line and/or a heavy duty freight line could allow all these places to do business with each other, allow people to move to or visit each other, and just spur a lot of economic development. But the powers that built the lines, the colonial powers, were not interested. They had their harbour, and the region behind it, and they just wanted to extract whatever was there.

To be clear, that does not mean the railroads are evil now. Selling natural resources is still better than bringing no money into the country. And there are a lot of places where railroad junctions and depots became the point where cities were founded, so in some countries these lines do end up connecting the most important cities, more or less by accident. It's just that other lines or more lines are sorely missing.

A simple example for how this could look like is provided by Australia, where the colonists were settlers and did want to develop the land economically:

You have the lines from the coast inland, and sometimes quite a lot of them. But you can also see a line along the east coast, connecting the cities, and you can see that someone said "we need to build a railroad across the entire continent. No, two actually". That is not to say that Australia does everything right with railroads, they have a lot of weirdness there. But you can see that the railroads had more jobs than to just move resources to ships.

(The big exception is the Pilbara region, in the north west, with its odd tangle of lines. Those are all just resource extraction lines, where the world's heaviest freight trains haul iron ore from various mines to various ports. The mines and ports are owned by different mining companies that don't like each other, so everybody has their own line from their own harbour to their own mine, even if a different line would have been shorter. That's why you get the tangle there.)

So, that's basically it. The railroad map of a country shows you a lot about how a country works, and more specifically how it worked during the late 19th and early 20th century, when most railroads were built. Where they lead to and where they don't reflects what planners thought of as important, and in turn, it has shaped the way these countries developed. And personally, I always find this endlessly fascinating.

[the-cat-at-the-theatre-door]

❤️,💛, 🧵, 🎁, 🎬,📌, 💎

Thank you for the abundance! I'll answer under a read more to avoid getting too long.

❤️ What's your favorite romantical ship?

I already answered this one here, however as close runners up, I also wish for the following kitties to kiss:

💛 What's your favorite familial ship?

I also love Sillabub being the daughter of Alonzo/Demeter, because that makes most sense to me, especially in her older Broadway and Hamburg iterations where she was more golden coloured (like Alonzo and Demeter are):

🧵 What's your favorite production and why?

Any production of CATS is pretty much swell in my book, so I do like a grand majority of them (including things like the original Italian Tour which is fab), but the Original Broadway production owns my entire ass. There is a richness and pop-culture history with that one that is...indescribable. Every one saw it or heard of it. It was so *massive*, its replicas significantly outnumbered London ones for a time, yet now it's sort of quietly slunk into the shadows. Sad.

🎁 If you could give any of the ensemble cats a song, who would it be? What would it be about?

Jellylorum would get her own song because she had her own poem so that seems like a logical shoe-in, no? By all technicality she sings *Gus'* song, so she already has one, but I want one for her specifically and she deserves one - being cheerful and helpful and bright. Running with theme, probably swing it in a way where she thinks she's "helping" her humans out by straightening picture frames and moving vases and dusting things with her tail, but the tongue in cheek twist is that her rummaging around is just standard kitty messing with things and the owners being exasperated by it.

🎬 What's your favorite moment from the show? (can be from any production)

I love you entirety of Gus the Theatre Cat - to me you will always be famous (this is always number one in my book - just Gus the Theatre Cat though, excluding any of the other numbers in it. My main love is that number).

I also love you Alonzo Shadow Dance, I love you patter portion of Skimbleshanks, I love you Gumbie Tap solo, I love you Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats, I love you updated Pas de Deux, I love yo- <3

📌 What was Cats 2019's biggest mistake, in your opinion? (OTHER than 'bad cgi') If you don't think it made any notable mistakes, what's your favorite thing about it?

Hiring Tom Hooper to direct. That's the long and short of it. That man barely squeaked by with his Les Misérables shenanigans, and suddenly he's a "musical movie director" with one qualification (who does not even like musicals - which I mean isn't a criteria but you know...helps a bit in how to execute).

💎 If Andrew Lloyd Webber coughed up a sequel to Cats (as he did Phantom) would you go see it?

Would I *pay* to go see it? Probably not. That would be travel, lodging and ticket expenses for an ALW sequel, which already has a 0% track record. I know for a fact it would likely LOOK pretty, but the substance would be....questionable.

However, would I see it through...other means? Perhaps I could be persuaded.

[endlessnightlock]

P- Pool noodle!

Thanks for the prompt @thelettersfromnoone

Peeta wanted to woop for joy. He couldn't believe his luck! He hadn't crossed paths with her at all this summer. But there she was.

Waiting about a dozen people ahead of where he and his brothers were in line for the city pool were Katniss Everdeen and her little sister Prim.

He wiped away the beads of sweat forming at the base of his neck. Man, it was hot out.

Both of the girls had towels wrapped around their bodies, Prim's tucked into her armpits because she was so tiny---she was going into third grade this year but looked younger---while Katniss's towel was wrapped around the waist over her blue-striped bathing suit. Her skin had turned an even darker shade than it was during the winter, he noticed. Peeta was jealous of anyone who didn't burn in the sun without layers of zinc oxide, even if he was half in love with her. Prim's hair had bleached into a shocking white blond, the same way he used to get when he was her age. Funny how the girls had such different coloring but otherwise looked so similar. He had a feeling Prim was going to be just as pretty as Katniss one day; she was a dead ringer for her older sister at that age. Peeta would know. He's pined after Katniss since preschool.

Katniss hadn't caught a glimpse of him yet, but why would she. He was the one with a crush so massive his heart felt like it'd swelled up times a hundred and was trying to break through his chest and land on the sidewalk where it would sizzle like a hamburger in the mid-August heat.

Peeta glanced at his brothers, wondering if they had noticed Katniss waiting in line. He wasn't sure if he wanted them to see her. They might tease him relentlessly. More likely, he realized, they would be too busy checking out the high school girls to bother him at all. Peeta snorted. Mark was going to be a freshman this year and already acted like he was hot shit or something.

Soon Katniss and Prim disappeared around the corner into the girl's locker room and were already in the pool once he, Mark, and Tim emerged from the guys changing room. He was glad Katniss had a head start. It gave him time to talk himself into striking up a conversation with her.

Instead of heading towards the deep end of the pool with Mark and Tim because his brothers could be jackasses, Peeta found a spot to drop their stuff. The pool was filling up quickly today; almost every lawn chair was loaded with older girls or parents and their little kids.

Peeta spotted his friend Vick Hawthorne with his family and was relieved someone else was here he knew. Vick's mom was busy slathering his baby sister Posy down with sunscreen. Vick waved at Peeta and then turned to say something to his mom before hopping up from the corner of the chair he was sitting on and trotting his way. His younger brother Rory followed on his heels, a shorter, wiry version of his brother.

“Whatcha doing?” Vick asked, giving Peeta a gap-toothed grin and jabbing him in the shoulder lightly.

He pretend-winced and returned the gesture. “Don’t know. Just got here,” he admitted. The three boys lingered near the edge of the pool. Peeta was trying not to stare at Katniss, who he located at the shallower end of the pool with Prim. The girls had a pool noodle Prim was holding onto and kicking her legs furiously behind her. Katniss had a patient smile on her face. She must be teaching her sister to swim.

Peeta was too busy not looking (but definitely looking) at Katniss to miss the devious look Vick shot Rory. “Us too," Vick said, winking at Rory. "Want to go off the diving boards?” The line for the boards was pretty long, clear down the length of the chain link fence, but yeah, Peeta would go off the diving board. Vick was a better swimmer than him; tall and thin with ropey muscles, he could dive into the water and barely crack the surface. Peeta was more of a canon baller.

The three boys got in line for the diving board and weren't waiting as long as Peeta expected they would. The lifeguard assigned to keep an eye on them kept everyone moving. Soon, Peeta made his way onto the board after Rory and Vick insisted he go before either of them.

He was almost at the end of the board, staring down into the flat blue water of the deep end of the swimming pool, when he heard Rory pipe up from behind him, loud. The volume of his voice reminded Peeta of a bullhorn.

"Hey, Katniss! Katniss! Your boyfriend is up! Make sure you watch him!"

Peeta stood at the end of the board, dumbfounded, as his eyes connected with Katniss's from across the pool. Vick hooted behind him with laughter, the boys smacking palms like they'd pulled off the heist of the century. Katniss quickly looked away from Peeta, mouth set in a firm line. Prim was grinning at him.

He wasn't given any time to think about what any of this meant. "Into the water kid," the lifeguard reminded him and stupidly, Peeta bouned off the board, forgetting to plug his nose as he went in feet first.

Chlorinated water shot up his nostrils as he went down, down, before pushing himself back to the surface of the water. His sinuses, his eyes, everything in his head burned as he resurfaced. He spit the excess water from his lungs back into the pool and swam toward the edge.

Behind him, he heard Vick bounced once on the board, lightly, before diving into the pool. Sure, now he was going to be quiet, now that he'd humiliated Peeta.

He was pulling himself out of the water as his friend swam up behind him. "Why did you do that dumbass?" he hissed, mortified. Sure Vick had probably figured out he liked Katniss, but that didn't explain him calling him her boyfriend.

Peeta's eyes raked the length of the pool, finally catching a glimpse of Katniss with her back toward them. He wondered if that was deliberate on her part. He hoped she wasn't mad at him.

Vick grinned, running a hand through his wet hair once they were both on the concrete walkway again. The two of them stepped aside to let other swimmers, including Rory, climb out of the water. "She likes you," he said. shrugging.

"No she doesn't," Peeta said, confused. She's never said a word to him, hardly looks his way. Of course she notices him looking at her sometimes. He stares at her a lot.

"She really does," Rory insists, appearing at his brother's side. "Prim told me she told her that you were the cutest boy in her class, and she thought you were nice, too."

"Seriously?"

"Serious. See, she's watching you right now," Vick said, pointing over Peeta's shoulder. Peeta glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch Katniss snapping her face forward. "I know you like her too. Go talk to her!"

For a few seconds Peeta considered the sudden turn of events. He wouldn't have dreamed Katniss liked him, she was so standoffish, but Vick wasn't a liar.

"She's shy, dude. If you like her—“

Rory laughed, interrupting his brother. “Come on, you know he likes her.”

“You're going to have to make the first move," Vick added, giving Peeta a light, playful shrug. You had to be careful at the pool. They would throw you out quick for rough-housing.

"Okay," Peeta breathed out, glancing over his shoulder at Katniss once again. Tentatively she met his eye this time. He smiled at her; she smiled back.

Peeta nodded his head so firmly Vick and Rory snorted. He ignored them. "Okay, I'll do it."

[black-arcana]

POWERWOLF Releases Cinematic Music Video For '1589' Single From 'Wake Up The Wicked' Album

POWERWOLF has released the long-awaited first single from its upcoming studio album, "Wake Up The Wicked", due out July 26, 2024 via Napalm Records. "1589" tells the story of Peter Stump, who lived near Cologne, Germany in the 16th century and is known today as the Werewolf Of Bedburg. After being defamed as a werewolf, the farmer confessed to several murders under torture and was cruelly executed on October 31, 1589. This morbid story has fascinated people all over the world ever since and has been picked up by National Geographic, among others.

For the video for "1589", POWERWOLF traveled to England to stage Stump's fate in the dark woods in a cinematic way. With carefully selected locations, countless actors and crew members, and impressive special effects, it marks the most elaborate music video production in the band's history to date — and thus offers a worthy first taste of what fans can expect with "Wake Up The Wicked".

"Wake Up The Wicked" — the highly anticipated follow-up to the extremely successful "Call Of The Wild" (2021) — will arrive just in time for the award-winning band's first-ever full North American tour, starting in August 2024, followed by their biggest European headline tour to date, the "Wolfsnächte 2024".

"Wake Up The Wicked" was once again produced by Joost Van Den Broek at Sandlane Recording Facilities and marks a new benchmark and undisputed career highlight for the band. The new album is hard, surprising and full of variety. While staying true to their established, loved sound, POWERWOLF go one step further and showcase a different facet of their deft musical and technical skills. This is evident, for example, on the outstanding single "1589", which is based on a true story from the 16th century.

20 years after their formation in 2004, POWERWOLF are expanding their repertoire with the highest quality and adding many future live hits to their extraordinary discography. "Wake Up The Wicked" is yet another statement cementing the status of the band as a leading force in the world of heavy metal

"Wake Up The Wicked" track listing:

01. Bless 'Em With The Blade 02. Sinners Of The Seven Seas 03. Kyrie Klitorem 04. Heretic Hunters 05. 1589 06. Viva Vulgata 07. Wake Up The Wicked 08. Joan Of Arc 09. Thunderpriest 10. We Don't Wanna Be No Saints 11. Vargamor

POWERWOLF are undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and successful heavy metal bands of the last decade. Multiple No. 1 album chart entries, gold and platinum records, huge sold-out arena shows, as well as headline slots at the biggest festivals have paved their way. In less than 20 years of band history, POWERWOLF has made it to the very highest league of heavy metal.

POWERWOLF has conquered countless stages at the world's biggest summer festivals, and their last "Wolfsnächte" headline tours (2019, 2022),as well as their aforementioned North American debut in early 2023, were almost completely sold out — resulting in a massive triumph. They have performed headlining sets at Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze, as well as held premium slots at genre festival giants such as Hellfest, Graspop Metal Meeting, Masters Of Rock and many more, captivating enormous audiences. No other German metal band has been able to write a success story even remotely comparable in recent years.

Following their onslaught of North America, POWERWOLF will embark on their most impressive European tour yet in celebration of their highly anticipated 2024 studio album. Amid 16 shows in total, the tour will visit colossal venues in Munich, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Hamburg and Antwerp. POWERWOLF will be accompanied by Swedish heavy metal legends HAMMERFALL as special guests, with support from viral rising stars, dwarven metallers WIND ROSE.

The story of the frontrunners of today's German metal scene, POWERWOLF, began in 2004 and only knows one direction: ever upwards. Their trajectory may seem like something out of a fairytale, but it is the result of the band embodying the highest quality of heavy metal in the universe. Outstanding album production, bombastic live shows and a tireless drive for perfection on and behind the stage are what this exceptional band is known for around the world.

Over the course of their career, the band has not only fascinated metal fans, but has also won over international press and critics. Countless cover stories in the most important magazines, critics' awards such as the Metal Hammer Award, and effusive album and concert reviews underpin POWERWOLF's outstanding international status.

POWERWOLF is:

Attila Dorn - vocals Falk Maria Schlegel - organ Charles Greywolf - guitar Matthew Greywolf - guitar Roel van Helden - drums

Photo credit: VDPictures

[literaryfandomangel]

The Promise - Chapter Sixteen

*TW * indepth talk about ED in this chapter

We entered the diner, Marko and Paul behind me as if they were sentries, ensuring the Princess didn't bolt. I swallowed as I followed David and Dwayne to a table in the restaurant's corner. David sat down first, then Dwayne on the opposite side. I slid into the booth beside David, Marko following. Paul pouted but sat beside Dwayne

. 

David handed me a sticky menu. The four guys each took a menu to peruse while my hands trembled as I forced myself to open it. All I could see were photographs of food. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes, BLTs.

My brain revolted, screaming at me to get out of that diner. My stomach roiled at the thought of this food anywhere near my lips, even while my hunger lashed out, demanding to be fed. 

Look at all those calories. You were doing so good. Don't let them touch your lips. Don't let them turn you fat! My thoughts were wild with the fear of food and self-deprecating. I didn't know how I would get out of this mess. But my thoughts were stifled by the appearance of the waitress. 

"Drinks?" She snapped gum behind her red lips. "What drinks can I get for ya?"

"Water!" I blurted out, dropping the sticky menu. "I just want a water." 

The other guys got soda. It hurt them to witness their mate in such turmoil and distress. A different distress than that which occurred on the Boardwalk. They could protect their mate from unwelcome advances - but they couldn't protect their mate from their own mind. 

My enemy wasn't a tangible thing. It was a thought. A thought that bled into my actions. Telling me that the food was terrible. David attempted to push his abilities onto me, but it wouldn't work due to the intense fear flooding my body. Their abilities were dampened when it came to mates, but it was startling for it not to work. 

Dwayne reached across the table with his massive hand. He grasped my left hand within his, providing comfort. I was seconds away from devolving into a full-blown panic attack at the thought of eating. Especially once I had seen the menu and mentally calculated the calories of each item. 

"Look at me," Dwayne commanded, his voice as smooth and rich as velvet. Something about his tone had me turning and looking into Dwayne's honey-brown eyes. "Why are you panicking right now, princess?"

"Don't want -" I gasped, throat closing as I shook my head. I couldn't - wouldn't - articulate why I was spiraling in the middle of a diner. Especially not in front of guys that I hadn't known for a long time. Regardless of the safety they enveloped me in, nor the familiarity of their touch. Even my closest friends in Phoenix had no idea about how bad I was getting until I was put into the inpatient program. 

"Food?" Paul asked, voice soft and serious. I looked at the wild-maned blonde man to see his mischievous look replaced by concern. I nodded, feeling Markos' hand rubbing circles into my back as a form of comfort.

"Let's look at the menu, kitten," David suggested, but I shook my head, eyes widening. The waitress came over with the drinks, still snapping gum. 

"You want to order yet?" She demanded, tone sounding bored. 

"No," Marko's cherubic face darkened as he bared his teeth at the waitress. She stepped back, feeling her instincts want to flee at the barely concealed predator beneath the surface. 

"Give us a bit more time," Dwayne cooed at the waitress. She nodded, slinking back behind the counter. David's hand came behind my head, smacking Marko sharply. He yelped, but that dark look was gone. 

"What about scrambled eggs?" Marko suggested, looking through his menu as I staunchly refused to open mine. "Dry toast?"

I stared at Marko for a moment, dumbfounded. These four men were more understanding than my own father. They were taking the time to find items on the menu that wouldn't send me into a complete meltdown. My father had pushed me to eat things on the menu that he knew I wouldn't eat, but these four seamlessly work together. Marko knew not to push, Dwayne wanted to discover why my meltdown, Paul guessed the issue, and David was the rock. 

My heart ached as I realized I wouldn't be pushed into eating. Or at least pushed into ordering something that I would never eat. My body relaxed, and my breathing slowed as I registered the situation around me. 

"Oh," I whispered, emotionally drained from that panic attack. I mentally calculated the amount of calories in the suggested meal. After a quick and estimated deduction, I decided it was the safest option. I nodded, telling Marko that would be fine. 

Paul snapped his fingers for the waitress. When she finally came over, the guys acted like she didn't exist. David ordered a cheeseburger and then placed my straightforward order. I smiled, happy that he had taken charge of the order. That would have made me self-conscious. The other three guys all ordered - Marko chose Belgian waffles. Paul got an American Breakfast with blueberry pancakes and a chocolate milkshake. Dwayne chose the Turkey Club. 

Listening to their orders made me realize how much those meals embodied the four men. Marko was sweet - cherubic and mischievous. But he had a dark side. Paul was both sweet and manly but liked to be childish and goofy. Dwayne was such a classical guy - turkey club on rye. And then David was the typical male specimen ordering a cheeseburger. The waitress huffed, marching to the kitchens for the food. 

"Do you think," I cut myself off mid-sentence, twiddling my thumbs. 

"Think what, love?" Paul asked, encouraging me to speak. All four men loved the cadence of their mate's voices and hoped to motivate me to speak more often. I was already talking more than I had before moving to Santa Carla. 

"Think she'll spit in the food?" I worried. The table erupted into amused laughter at my innocent question. I just blinked at them. It was a legitimate question. She really hated the five of us at this table. For what reason, I'm sure it had to do with the four guys. 

“Nah, mia cara,” Marko winked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. His hand played with a lock of auburn hair hanging by my collarbone. “She wouldn’t dare.”

“But she seems to hate you all?” I questioned, sounding small as I asked that question. I wondered if they would think that I was jealous of that waitress. 

In that moment I caught a glimpse of why others seemed afraid of the group. There was something predatory, glinting in their eyes. My heart started to beat a little faster, a natural human response, but I wasn’t scared of them. They had been nothing but gentle with me. I could understand that these four men were rough around the edges - the punks of the Boardwalk - but they were total sweethearts while I was their focus. I can’t deny that their protectiveness made me feel loved, cherished. 

I listened while Paul went on a tangent about how the waitress thought she had a chance with David. A pang of something, jealousy no doubt, erupted in my heart, but I realized that she never had a chance with David. Therefore, I had nothing to be jealous about. David and the other three were pouring their attention into me, not other girls. Once Paul had finished his story, they started talking amongst themselves. 

I was content to just listen to their conversation about nothing. Feeling bold, I leaned against Marko’s side, soaking up his warmth. I looked up, seeing his golden locks, curling in the light. I was fascinated with Marko’s hair because my own hair wouldn’t hold a curl. It would take an entire bottle of Aquanet and mousse to keep my hair curly. Then I would be a hazard the second anyone lit a cigarette, spontaneously combusting due to the chemicals sprayed on my hair. 

I reached up and grasped a lock of his curly hair. I moved it every which way, entranced by the way it appeared to be liquid gold under the light. It was truly mesmerizing with the shimmer running through the curls. Marko’s hair was long, almost to his midback. The length of Marko’s hair rivaled my own auburn hair. 

I could feel the coils in his hair where a natural curl would begin when I held the strands straight. It was so foreign to realize that this was all natural. He didn’t curl it or perm it. I imagined that the back was brushed regularly since the curls were lighter in his longer hair. Directly on top of Marko’s head the curls were dense and tightly wound. Marko had felt my ministrations, starting to lightly purr at the feeling of my fingers in his hair. It wasn’t audible to my human ears, but the other three supernatural creatures could hear their brother purring for their human mate. 

“Orders!” The waitress said brusquely. I let my fingers slip from Marko’s hair, missing the pout on his face at the loss of feeling. The waitress plopped the plates of our food down, almost throwing them in her haste to retreat. The four guys began to dig into their food, but I just stared down at the stuff on my own plate. 

Slowly I unrolled the silverware. Then I began to cut the eggs into tiny pieces, before abandoning the idea of eating any of them as the grease shone under the light. I picked at the dry toast, putting mere crumbs into my mouth. The guys surreptitiously watched my habits, studying the way their mate ate. 

They noticed how I spent more time playing with my food. How I could make it appear as if I were actually eating more food than went into my mouth. They smirked, enjoying the manipulation tactics employed by their mate. They could only imagine how their mate’s manipulation tactics would aid in her undead life. But this display only made them concerned, since the four men realized that they might lose their human to this mental disease. 

“You want some strawberries, kitten?” David decided to try to cajole me into eating some more food. He slid the bowl of cut strawberries towards me. I nodded, feeling that strawberries were safe. I chewed each slice slowly and thoroughly, washing it down with a gulp of water. By the time that I was finished with my meal, I had probably eaten about half a slice of toast and half of the strawberries. 

When Paul got up to pay the bill, I asked if he could grab a cup of coffee, black, to-go. He nodded with a wink, before disappearing towards the counter where the waitress sighed. About five minutes later, Paul returned, holding a to-go cup of coffee in his hand. 

“Ready?” David drawled, in no rush to leave. He was eyeing the mostly full plate of food that was left in my wake. I nodded, smiling brightly as I took the cup of coffee from Paul. 

Chapter Seventeen

[germanpostwarmodern]

Some 70 kilometers from mainland Northern Germany lies the small archipelago of Heligoland, an island with an interesting history: on 1 July 1890 it was ceded by Britain to the German Empire which in the decades following developed the island into a major naval base and a popular retreat for intellectuals and wealthy people. 

During the 1930s the National Socialists further fortified Heligoland and also established a submarine base, a circumstance that sealed its fate during WWII: on 18 April 1945 it was the target of a massive air raid that completely destroyed the inhabited areas and required the evacuation of all inhabitants. After the German capitulation the island fell within the British occupation zone and on 18 April 1947 the Royal Navy detonated 6,700 tons of explosives to destroy all military installations.

In 1952 Heligoland returned to German control and a competition was organized to obtain plans and ideas for the reconstruction of the island. The competition was won by Hamburg architect Georg Wellhausen whose plan left the landscape as found and changed by the war and who retained the historical density of the built-up areas. Together with Ingeborg & Friedrich Spengelin, Helmut & Traute Bunje as well as local engineers and other architects a number of experimental housing projects as well as reinterpretations of the traditional colorful „Hummerbuden“ at the inner harbor were realized. All of them are connected by gently sloping steeped roofs and a color concept designed by Johannes Ufer.

These aspects, Heligoland’s history as well as its most significant buildings are covered by Jan Lubitz in his architectural guide „Architektur auf Helgoland“, published in 2014 by Rickmers Verlag. Beyond a comprehensive account of the history as well as the reconstruction of the island Lubitz gathers 50 buildings from the postwar years up until the present and thus offers a cross-section of Heligoland’s architectural development. At the same time the author also discusses the heritage status of the architecture but also doesn’t omit the problems hotel and house owners face in view of touristic developments. THE book on Heligoland’s architecture.

[jhsdcugsdvbsdaviheq]

We Can't do This to Him!

About: Nick, Chris, and Y/N go to Taras Yummys party, and Y/N and Chris get EXTREMELY drunk. Chris starts to confess his feelings for Y/N despite her being in a 2 years relationship with his brother Matt. Things begin to get heated sexually until Chris says something that makes you think about Matt and you change your mind last minute.

Background: Nick reached out to Y/N on her workpage to see if she can give him some tattoos which she said yes to. You started to become friends with Nick after that and he introduced you to his brothers. After 3 months of being friends with them all, Chris admitted to you that he has feelings for you. You rejected him and told him you actually have your eyes on Matt. Chris went and told Matt about it and after that, Matt asked you on a date. Now it has been 2 years since then.

Contains: Kissing, FIngering, Alcohal use, Cheating, spit kink, and more that I'm prolly forgetting.

We Can't Do This!

It has offically been 2 years since Matt and I have been dating. The 2 years have been truly breathtaking. He was the sweetest, most animal-loving, sassiest man you knew, and I loved everything about it. Being with him has brought me one of my 2 closest best friends, Nick and Chris.

We met when Nick followed my tattoo page and asked me to give him some tattoos. At first, it was awkward but after about 30 minutes of me giving Nick his tattoo, we started to warm up to each other. After that, we would hang out constantly which is how I became so close to his brothers and even started dating one.

Matt isn't a very social individual unless he knows you well and he prefers quiet areas with not too many people there, so it wasn't a surprise Matt turned down Tara's invitation to her party. However you on the other hand wanted to go since you always heard how magnificent her parties are.

"Matt come on! Victoria can't go since she has work that day.!", y/n said in a whiney voice, trying to persuade him, knowing that he was still going to say no.

"No, I'm not going to that party!", Matt spat at me as he walked over to me and sat on the couch next to me. "I don't even see the point of me going anyway. I don't drink, I don't smoke, or do any type of hardcore drugs and I don't dance in front of randoms. All I would do is stand there and watch people make a fool of themselves", Matt said as he grabbed the remote from coffetable and turned on the TV.

"Nick and I are going. Wanna come with us?", Chris asked from the kitchen as he was eavesdropped on our conversation. "You know Nick wouldn't mind.", Chris stated as he stuffs his hamburger in his face.

"See you have a solution to your problem already!", Matt said as he went on to Netflix and started to type in Bojack Horseman

"Shut up!", I said in a playful tone and slightly nudged him away from me, causing him to laugh a little. "Of course, I would like to go with you guys. Thanks for letting me.", I said to Chris as I smiled at him. He just put his thumb up since his mouth was full of his hamburger that he took a massive bite out of.

Matt scooches closer to me and rests his arm on the top of the couch. I leaned my head back onto his arm and leaned my body to the left a little to lay on Matt. He gave me a peck on my head as he turned on The Vampire Diaries.

Before the Party

I heard a knock on my door as I put on my right earring. "Victoria, could you get that for me! I think it's Nick and Chris!", I screamed out to my roommate who was in the kitchen.

I hear Victoria start walking towards the front door and open it. "Hey Nick, Y/N is still getting ready in her room.", Victoria states as the 2 boys walk into her house and close the door for her.

"Hey Vicky!", Nick said as he went and wrapped his arms around her to give her a hug. "How are you? I haven't seen you in weeks. I've missed you so much." Nick stated as he let go of her and stepped back.

"I've been doing good for the most part just been working my ass off recently.", Victoria answered as she tried to avoid eye contact with Chris since she could tell he was giving her his stank face. No one knew or understood why Chris and Victoria didn't like each other but they just didn't. It's the weirdest thing too because they used to get along great when we all first met. Hell, I'd even say that they were like the duo of the group till their falling out.

"How much longer till she is ready?", Nick asked as he walked deeper into Victoria's and my apartment. Just then I opened my door and walked out into the living room.

"Sorry for taking a little long but beauty takes time and patience," I said. I was wearing a tight, dark blue dress that stopped a little above my kneecaps, that outlined my curvy body. I had my gold septum nose ring, golden hooped earrings, and a golden bracelet with a pair of blue high heels.

"Wow!", Chris exclaimed quietly enough for you not to hear but not so quietly that Victoria and Nick couldn't hear. Nick slightly slapped the side of Chris's arm.

"That is your brother's girlfriend, pull yourself together and act accordingly!", Nick whispered passive-aggressively in Chris's ear causing him to look back at Nick and shoot him the same look he gave Victoria when he first arrived. "You look beautiful in that dress y/n. Blue really suits you.", Nick said ignoring the look that he is receiving from Chris right now.

"Thank you, Nick! You guys don't look too bad yourself", I said as I looked at the outfits they were wearing. Mainly Chris's outfit. Chris was wearing an all-white suit, with a light blue tie and some suspenders. Chris had looked extra sharp today.

"So uhh are you ready to go or what?", Chris asked as he started to repeatedly tap his foot against the ground to stop his boner from forming.

"Yes I am, come one lets go!", I said excitedly as I started to walk over to the front door and opened it. "Bye Victoria! I'll see you when I get home.", I stated before leaving Victoria all alone.

"Bye guys, hope you guys have fun and don't get too lit," Victoria said walking up to the door. "But still take a shot for me guys!", she yelled out as she closed the door and locked it.

"Jesus she is so fucking annoying. I don't know how you can live with her y/n", Chris said as we walked to the car, making a statement that pissed me off.

"If anything Chris, I don't know how Matt and Nick could live with you when you leave all your shit-stained underwear around the house!", I said in defense of my roommate. He had no right to talk about her or her being annoying since he is the yapper of all yappers and doesn't know when to shut the fuck up.

"Damn she got you there Chris", Nick said instigating Chris and me into a big argument about Victoria the entire drive to Tara's party.

At The Party

All 3 of us got out of the car and closed the door. Nick made sure to leave 6 bottles of water in the car for when Chris and I try to sober up. Lucky Nick doesn't drink, so he is our driver for tonight.

"Look I don't care or wanna hear your opinions on Victoria! Just shut the FUCK up and let's go get fucked up!", I said as I started to walk towards her house.

"You only want to stop now because you know I'm right and that you'll never be able to prove me wrong," Chris said as he followed behind me trying to get another rise out of me.

"UGHHHHH I DON'T CARE GOD!", I screamed out as I started to speed walk to Tara's front door, leaving Chris and Nick behind. I opened the door and saw all the different influencers here. And more importantly, the amount of alcohol and weed that was there.

I walked into the house and started taking as many shots as I could. Once Chris came into the house he quickly followed behind me. I lost count of how many shots we took after our 12th one.

....

It has now been 2 hours since we first arrived I am truly and royally fucked. My vision was now blurry and my words were all scrambled. I could barely hold myself up without falling all over the place and Chris wasn't looking much good either. He was jumping up all over the place and calling it dancing which was definitely not what he was doing. He fell all the way from the top of the stairs to the bottom in front of everybody. It was just flat-out embarrassing and hilarious.

As I was looking for a bedroom or a bathroom... or maybe it was the kitchen? I don't even remember what I was looking for but I know it was something with a door. I made my way up the stairs without completely falling all the way down, before realizing, I hadn't seen Chris in a hour since he fell.

"My head and stomach is fucking killing me," I mumbled as I'm stumbled down the hallway. As I keep walking down the hallway, I open one of the doors only to see 2 girls making out.

"Ahhh!", one of them screamed out when they saw me in the doorway kneeling over while holding my stomach.

"Oh ughhhh.... Im so .... fuck ugh.... I'll just leave," I said as I realized there is nothing to say to make the situation any better. I then close the door and stumble into the next room. To my surprise, Chris is there just in the dark pitch black room staring out of the window in silence.

"Chris? What the hell I thought you fell downstairs", I said making a statement that made me chuckle as I remember what he looked look like falling down.

"Fuck!", Chris shouted as he turned his head a little startled. "You have....to like knock or something before you interrupt a person!", Chris said trying his best to not slur his words but doing a terrible job at it.

"What am I interrupting even?", I said as I went to turn on the lights and examined the room. "What are you even doing in Taras room anyway? Are you like depressed or something? Do I have to get Nick ?", I asked as I walked over to the bed and sat next to him.

He didn't respond to any of my questions. It concerned me. Instead he just sat there and rested his head on my shoulder. This was weird would've been weird if we were sober but we're not and it's not like Chris and I would do anything. Im in love with his brother.

"You know.... I really appreciate you y/n. Like truly", Chris stated as he pulled out his Fryd Donut and took a hit. This wasn't the first time Chris has told me how much he appreciated me but it alway touched my heart when he did.

"Thank you Chris. I appreciate you too", I said as I rested my arm around his neck but just then he took his head off my shoulder and sat back up. He turned his head and just look at me. His eyes were so beautiful. My favorite thing about the triplets were always their eyes. I feel like I could get lost in them forever. It's like looking into a lagoon .

"No I don't think you understand me when I say that", he says which causes me to give him a confused look.

"Chris what do you mean by that?", I asked hoping that what I think he meant isn't what he actually means.

"You've really been there for me these past 2 years and you have no idea how much that has helped me", Chris says as he grabbed my hand and just kept staring at me. "But how much it hurts to see you with Matt. To see you two cuddled up on the couch the other day, to hear you guys fucking from my room".

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I must've drunk too much or something cause Chris would never do this to Matt. He loves Matt. I love Matt. He was the best thing to ever happen to me.

"Chris I don't th---", I was about to speak untill Chris interrupted me.

"No please just listen to me, I've wanted to say this for 2 years now", Chris states as he lets go of my hand and moves it to the left side of my cheek. He slowly started to caress my face. "I wanted you first but you wanted my brother and that really fucking hurt y/n. And the reason it crushed me so much was because.... well IS because I love you."

I was now speechless. Completely and underly speechless. I didn't know how to react or if I should take his hand off my face. I'm just in pure shock right now.

"If you don't say anything back, I'm taking it as a sign that you want me to kiss you right now", Chris says causing you to try to speak. You start to open your mouth but you don't even know what to say. Now I'm just sitting on Taras bed with Chris's hand on my cheek and him just staring at me. I really should've just stay home and spent the day with Matt. At least then I wouldn't have anything surprising coming my way.

I feel my head being pulled into Chris lips. I don't make an attempt to try and pull away. I dont know why but I didn't. Our lips now gently pressed together . Chris's lips are extremely soft, even softer than Matts. I've always wondered if Chris and Matt both kiss the same or not. I don't know why I wondered it but I did.

Chris deepens the kiss as he opened his mouth against mine and grazed the tip of his tounge against my lips, asking me for entrance without saying it. I allow it and open my mouth. My mouth now full of Chris wet, slimy tounge . I could tatse the Casamigos on his breathe and loved every molecule that I was tasting.

The kiss quickly turned from a gentle kiss to a kiss of desire and despreatiness. Chris was tryna fuck and me being drunk.... I'm 110 percent behind it. Chris pulled away from the kiss and started to unbutton his white suit. As I wait for Chris to take off his shirt, I can feel my inner core start to become wet.

Chris's shirt is now off and he climbs on top of me. "Open your mouth", he demands as he grabbed my jaw to help me open my mouth. I listen to him and open my mouth as wide as I could and stuck my tounge out. "Ugh Fuck your so fucking hot baby", Chris says as he admires how sexy I look as I wait for his hot spit to go down my throat.

"Hwak Tuah", Chris spat into my mouth and then smirked. I took my fingers and put them in my mouth and start to suck on them. Getting my fingers all nice, wet, and slimly turned Chris on even more. I could tell with the way his hard-on was pressing against lower stomach. I pulled my fingers out of my mouth and brought them to the thong. I pulled to the side and slowly started to circle around my clit, teasing myself. I moaned a little to get a rise outta Chris and it was working.

Chris grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my pussy. "I don't want you to have to do any work. Just lay back and let me make you feel good. Okay y/n?", Chris said as he lowered himself a little and started kissing your neck softly, causing you to whimper.

"Okay Chris", I say in a whipering voice as I run my hand through his hair with my spit and pussy juice on it still. Chris began to nibble and suck on my neck which started to form little marks. I push Chris's head away since I can't let him give me any hickeys. "Don't suck on me or you'll give my a hickey". I say as I rub the wet mark off my neck.

"Sorry I got too carried away", Chrs said in a excited voice. He began to move his hand above my mouth and stuck his middle and index finger in it. "Suck on them baby", he said in a seductive but dark voice. I obeyed and sucked on them. Once I was done, he pulled his fingers out of me and brought them to my pussy.

He softly grazed the lips of my pussy causing me to shudder. He then used his thumb and started to rub my clit in a circluar motion. "oh fuck", I quietly moaned as I wait for more. Chris then uses his middle and index finger and jams his finger inside of you without warning.

"OHH FUCK CHRIS", I screamed out at the sudden feeling of him inside me. He started to make a come here motion, pressing his fingers against my tight, sticky walls while examining my body.

"Tell me how fucking good I make you", Chris demands in a harsh tone, while still slurring his words.

"You make me... feel so fucking ..... good baby", I say in between moans and gasps. I start to feel a knot in my stomach from the way Chris is handling me. My body can no longer stay still from all this pleasure.

"Tell me you love me", Chris says in a voice of desperation and desire. This demand caught me off guard. I mean sure I love him, but like friend type of love. I don't think I could ever love Chris the way he wants me to.

Why am I doing this? I don't love him, I love Matt. Oh My God. MATT! I am getting FINGERED by his brother in Tara's bed. How much of a horrible person can I be?

"Wait, Chris get off me", I say as I grab his arm and push it away from me, causing his fingers to slip out of me. I sit back up while Chris sits back on the bed.

"What's the problem? Was I aggresive or something?", Chris asks while having a confused look on his face.

"The problem is that I'm dating your brother and I'm getting fingered by you!", I yell out as I stand up and back away from him.

"You didn't have a problem when I kissed you, or took my shirt off, or when I stuck my fingers inside of you, so why now? Lets just finish", Chris says in a loudly, angry tone. He now has gotten off the bed and grabbed his shirt to put back on.

"Look we can't do this. We both love Matt so much and he would be scarred if he ever found out", I state in a shaky voice.

"He isn't going to find out y/n. He would only find out if one of us told him which we won't", Chris says in a voice that makes me feel dumb.

"No Chris. Your just saying these things because your drunk. We both are drunk ok? We just made a mistake but we don't have to continue this mistake", I say trying to get Chris to see how wrong this is.

"I may be drunk now but I have always felt this way about you. I just never told anyone", Chris announced as he grab my hand. I pull my hands away immediately and take 2 steps back.

"Well keep it that way and don't ever mention it again. To anyone. EVER!," I say as I start to walk out towards the door to walk out before turning back to say one last thing to him. "Look I'm sorry and I wish things were different but they aren't. We both drank too much and it got the best of us. Lets just go find Nick and dip and never talk about this night again okay?", I say softly as I know it might hurt to hear in his shoes.

"Yeah lets do that", Chris responded in a sad tone as he walked out the door with me to go find Nick. His face now slightly red and his eye now watery.

It hurt to know that I am the cause of Chris pain right now but what can I do?. I just hope that this was a result of him having one too many shots tonight and not him actually being in love with me.

Authors Note:This is the first fan fic I've ever written so if you have any tips to help me write better, im all ears.

[legend-the-dumb-jock]

@mollymangle

You wish to be like max but without the garbage and the sweat? Well I can arrange that. But dear boy do you remember all that was done to max ? I’ll give you exactly what you wish while your fattening fingers franticly go find every piece of his disgusting curse that will happen to you. Because like you said, you want everything”but without the sweat, and the garbage.” And of course mostly the fat. So yeah. Scroll away and find his curse while I remind our reader exactly what is about to happen to you.

You’re swiping so fast through tumblr trying to find Max’s curse the phone slips from your hands and lands on the floor. You bend down to pick it up and that’s when you feel that first wave of change hit you. What where the words you used again? Mostly fat ? You feel your body get heavier as you feel your sink into the carpet on all fours. Your calf’s losing all definition and are you butt begins to expand outwards. Your abs balloon out as a soft gut forms abs moobs follow behind. Your arms begin to jiggle as you manage to grab the phone and you have to heave you up off the floor. Something you’ve never had to do before. As most of the weight has seemed to focus on your gut for the time being. Again you go back to fumbling through tumblr. You’re shoes begin to get tighter and you start to panic and you finally land on maxes series of punishments. Only then realizing what you’ve done. As a loud burp and fart erupt from your body as the same time make the room smell around you. In horror your reminded “permanent rancid milk breathe, bacne, unstable diet, massive stinking feet, a pig nose and ears, a horrible under bite, and a serious decreases in your intelligence, permanent hamburger grease on your chin “. None of which fall under sweat or garbage. Not to mention the permanent dick cheese. Tears begin to well up in you eyes as you try to think of a way to stop this as your stomach growls and you moan as another 15 pounds drops into you gut making it sag. Your shirt now tight and you gut poking out from under your shirt. You have to stop this change. But a smell hits your nose. Rotten milk. It’s your own breathe. Another curse has taken hold. And curse the name of the wish master you asked to do this to you.

Without even knowing it the unhealthy dirty curse had finalized and now every time you eat something regardless of how healthy it is, it will become u healthy in your stomach. A bottle of water will pack the calories content of a triple cholesterol milkshake. A salad had the same calorie content of 3 double bacon cheese burgers and pizza. Everything to force you to be the fat freak you wished to be. While chin begins to shine as the geese curse takes effect and a red blister takes hold from permanent grease spots forming. Instead of sweating you will never sweat. Actually causing your to retain water and get even fatter than before. Everything you could ever want. Another 30 pounds instantly dropped into your stomach and now gut hangs out of your shirt completely. Bulging out in front of you sagging loosely. While you mr arms and legs continue to fatten up still and your moobs continue to grow. Your bacne starts to catch up as you blurry break way and continue to get bigger. The smell from them hitting you. Not that you can tell but the dick cheese is already in place and won’t be going away. But you still have sooo much more changes to go through. Sitting down on you couch. Head in your hands trying to think about what you’re going to do. How will you live with this curse. You got what you wanted. Exactly what you wished for. You don’t even realize it but your iq is steadily dropping. Now being at about 275 it’s time to really get you to that fat freak size you wished for though isn’t it ? As if your body kicks into hyper fat gaining mode your gut begins to expands rapids. Pushing beyond all means possible while you’re moobs sag and your arms and legs blubber up. A thin pathetic beard grows on your face that fattens you with more than one chins while a table of a gut is forced onto you making you lead back while you feet finish growing to that size extra 16 stinking wide. And right before you’re too dumb to even form words anymore you beg not to have the pig snout, ears, and underbite. But I’m not merciful. You get what you ask for and in a snap of my finger you get exactly that. An altered freakish look to match that fat freakish body you wished for. And you’ll never be able to drop below 400 pounds again. In fact. Every pound you gain from here on out is permanent

So be careful when wishing yo be like one of my other creatures 😈

June 15th, 2022 11:00pm

[mask131]

Max Ernst's "One Week of Kindness"

Which could also be called "A Week of Benevolence" - the original French being "Une semaine de bonté".

This post is a follow-up to a reblog I made, right here. Please go read this reblog first, because this post continues from all the info I placed there. If you don't go check it out first, you'll be slightly or massively confused.

I wanted to expand a bit on this fascinating piece of art, and to do so I'll use the info the Musée d'Orsay shared and put on their website when they organized an exposition of Une semaine de bonté.

An expo that deserves its own mention due to how exceptional it was. It was a 2008-2009 exposition of the original collages of Max Ernst the booklets were reproductions of. It was a grand world-tour that started in the Albertina palace of Vienna and ended in the Musée d'Orsay of Paris, passing by Brühl, Hamburg and Madrid. Why was it such a big deal? Because this was the second exposition of Ernst' work - the only other exposition of Une semaine de bonté's collages was in 1936, in the Museo de Arte Moderno of Madrid, just before the Spanish Civil War. It had been organized by Paul Eluard, who loved Ernst' work, but five of the illustrations couldn't be part of the exposition - due to being deemed too "indecent" or "blasphemous". And since this date, the works had never seen the light of day anymore, being preserved in private collections... It explains why the second exposition was such a big deal.

A few more sources for this collage-work I forgot to talk about: Beyond the general category of covers and illustrations of investigation stories/crime novels/polar tales, we also know that Ernst used illustrations of Sade's novels, the caricatures of Grandville, and the illustrations of Fantomas.

As with typical surrealist work, Une semaine de bonté offers a work of onirism that transcends the limits and categorizations imposed by society, by science, by our very conception of reality, and rather offers nonsensical visions and extraordinary wonders. It was the third "roman-collage" of Ernst, after "La femme 100 têtes" of 1929 and "Rêve d'une petite fille qui voulut entrer au Carmel" (1930). Throughout the illustrations, we find many references to the Bible, to famed legends, to fairy tales, to Greco-Roman mythology, but mixed with Ernst' recurring and favorite themes. More precisely, his strong rejections and dislikes: his rejection of the Church, his hatred of the bourgeoisie, his dislike of the traditional family, his refusal of patriotism...

Because Une semaine de bonté is actually a denunciation work, a great critique, a satirical caricature of the French society of the 1930s. Ernst superposes, subverts and reverses all sorts of stereotypical and cliches depictions, of either the "good society", or of the evil, the crime, the monster. Now, of course, there is no actual "real" or "good" story for this work. It is open to interpretation and everybody has to and must find their own meaning in it - as with all proper surrealist work... But there is still strong themes that form recurring motifs, and a message Ernst wasn't so subtle about.

The satirical, ironical, cynical, biting nature of the work can be read in the very title, which plays on two levels. One, on a Christian level: "Seven capital elements" is, as I said, a parody of the "seven deadly sins/seven capital sins" ; the motif of a work centered around a week alerts that there will be numerous references to the Biblical genesis, but most importantly "One week of kindness" is a reference to "La semaine de bonté", The Week of Kindness, a 1927 association creating for social help. Tied to this subversion of typical Christan morals, ideas and values, is the second level of irony in the title: this collage-novel is called "One week of kindness"... And yet it depicts all sorts of violences and abuses. Its pages are filled with murders, tortures and natural disasters - and Ernst doesn't hesitate to subtly denounce the sensationalism of a society obsessed with depictions and illustrations of the most horrible and criminal sides of humanity.

It also is no wonder that this work was created during the 1930s. The ghosts of the World Wars are haunting this piece. On one side, Ernst was seeing with an anxious and angry eye the rise of violent nationalist movements and of brutal, discriminatory dictatorships - the very ones that would cause World War II. On the other side, Ernst was of this generation that inherited the trauma and memories of World War I, had to live with the broken and disfigured survivors of the "Great War". Ernst himself had served in the German army during the Great War (if you don't know, while Ernst was born and raised in Germany, he ended up having a triple-nationality, German, American and French). One can almost read in this book Ernst' vitriolic take on a society that distracts itself with materialism, excessive pleasures and sensationalism, in an attempt to bury the wraiths of its past, and to stay blind to the dangers ahead...

It is only by the last day of the week that the atrocities fade away, and that we return to pure oniric poetry, in a set of illustrations focusing on voluptuousness and fantasy, inviting to or glorifying freedom and dreams... Now let's take a look at the structure of the Week in more details.

Day 1: Sunday. Element: Mud. Example: The Lion of Belfort

(The Lion of Belfort is a commemorative statue of the Alsacian town of Belfort in France, in homage to how the city had been assieged by the Prussians during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870)

Another Christian subversion: the week doesn't begin here on a Monday, but on a Sunday. We also see some of the games Ernst has with the Biblical Genesis not just by waking the "last" day of Genesis the first day of the week, but also by associating to Sunday (the day of rest for a God that created everything already) the day of the "mud" (understand, the primordial mud from before the world was created, the "chaos", the "primordial soup" from which the universe had to be sculpted). Not only that, but Sunday, the holiest day of the week for Christians, is filled with brutal deaths, sadistic violence and blasphemous imagery.

More precisely, this booklet/day explores the relationships between men and women, male and females. And... let's just say Ernst has a bad view of it, since all the interactions between male and female characters in this booklet can be summarized by: persecution, seduction, theft, punishment, torture, death. Since the Lion of Belfort is the recurring theme, there is a recurring character throughout the illustrations of a lion-faced man. He is always in a position of power and domination, and it is no surprise: we often see him wear military decorations, political medals or even religious symbols such as the Sacred Heart. As a result, the lion-man clearly embodies all the dominating, oppressive and violent male-dominated organizations of the time: the political world, the military and the Church.

(If you are curious, the Musée d'Orsay offered the original picture on which the one above was based. It was taken from the Mémoire de Monsieur Claude:

Day two: Monday. Element: Water. Example: Water.

Unlike the male-dominated first booklet, this one is filled with female figures, making it the most "feminine" of all the days. There is still a lot of violence in it - but it is not a man-made violence anymore. Rather Ernst presents the violence of nature, the brutality of natural disasters - through water, a water that is seen flooding bedrooms, destroying bridges, or drowning entire streets of Paris.

Day three: Tuesday. Element: Fire. Example: The dragon's courtyard/The court of the dragon.

La Cour du Dragon, The Dragon's Courtyard is actually - or rather was - a famous street of Paris. It doesn't exist anymore, but it was in the 6th arrondissement, between today's Rue du Dragon and Rue de Rennes. This street was called as such because of a famous dragon-sculpture located at the top of one of its entrances - the dragon can still be seen at the Louvres I believe. And it is within illustrations of this "Dragon's courtyard" that the booklet begins.

The dragon is one of the recurring symbols of the booklet, with variations: dragons and snakes of all shapes and size that follow the characters around ; humans with various dragon or snake-like features ; or simply the presence of bat wings reminding of demons, sometimes counterbalanced by angelic characters with bird wings. Here, the caricature, in terms of setting and characters, clearly is of the bourgeoisie. Not only is Ernst making the world of the bourgeoisie "Hellish" by filling it with snakes, dragons, demons and flames, but he also seems to use the symbolism of the fire as a way to denote the cliche of the "passion bourgeoisie", the violence of passions, emotions and desires within the bourgeois world, leading to tragedies. (Opposing the "natural forces" of the water, here fire seems to be the human forces) It is no wonder that this booklet has a great emphasis on walls and doors, often decorated by surrealist symbols: they are here to evoke a cloistered, walled-up, compartimented world where walls and doors hide and try to restrain things such as fears, desires or dreams...

Day four: Wednesday. Element: Blood. Example: Oedipus.

This booklet is entirely driven by the myth of Oedipus (that we know to have been one of the surrealists' favorite Greek myth). All the illustrations have one element or another of the legend, and keep retelling specific episodes of Oedipus' adventures. Oedipus killing his own father, the riddle of the Sphinx, or baby-Oedipus being abandoned at birth... Oedipus himself is symbolized in the collages as a bird-headed man.

One of the most famous collages of this booklet is the one that retranscribes the part of the legend that gave Oedipus his name, "swollen feet" or "swollen ankles", due to receiving a wound there as a baby. In Ernst's work, the bird-headed man (Oedipus) rather stabs in the foot a woman:

Day five: Thursday. Element: Black. Example: The laughter of the rooster ; followed by "Easter Island".

This is where we reach the last three days placed in one same booklet. It is also only in this last booklet that Ernst placed text, in the form of quotes or poems from other authors. This day has three quotes. In the "Laughter of the Rooster" segment, two. One from Marcel Shwob's L'Anarchie: "Those of them that are joyful sometimes rise their behind up to the sky and thow their feces at the face of other men ; than they lightly hit their bellies." Another from Schwob's Le Rire: "Laughter is probably fated to disappear." The third quote comes from the Easter Island segment, and is from Arp: "Stones are filled with entrails. Bravo. Bravo."

Here the symbols seem to again represent men or organizations of power. On one side, you have the recurring rooster - which is of course the symbol of France, and thus can be seen as a representation of the French government or French state. On the other side you have cruel and brutal men with the head or faces of the Easter Island statues, reflecting them not just being humans made of stone - but being literal "stones idols" (in the religious sense of the term, the sin of idolatry, again a Christian subversion).

Day 6: Friday. Element: Sight. Example: The inside of the sight / The interior of the view.

Again, three quotes here. One from Professors O. Decroly and R. Buyse's "Les tests mentaux": "If three is greater than six, make a circle around the cross, and if water extinguishes fire, draw a line from the sceal to the candle, passing above the knife, then make a cross on the ladder." One from Paul Eluard's "Comme deux gouttes d'eau": "And to love I oppose / Already-made images / Instead of images to be made" (The text is much more poetic and punny in the original French). The final quote is from André Breton's "Le revolver aux cheveux blancs": "A man and a woman absolutely white."

Unlike the previous booklets which presented dynamic, violent, active, interactive scenes, here we are in more still, contemplative images. Symbols, visions and settings to be looked at and gazed at, as the title of the section indicates.

Final day: Saturday. Element: Unknown. Example: The key of songs (again, a pun on "The key of fields", a French expression)

Only one quote: "........ / ........ / ........ / ......" from Pétrus Borel's "Was-ist-das".

For this part, the Musée d'Orsay used a quote by André Breton to explain Ernst's intentions: from the Surrealism Manifesto, "Glory to hysteria and its cohort of young, naked women sliding down the roofs. The problem of womankind is, to the world, everything there is of wonderful and troubled/murky." In this final day, we see women, always leaving a bed or bedroom or resting place, and either flying away or entering landscapes where gravity does not work. There is clearly here a work on the "clinal hysteria", and Ernst' own take on the surealists great obsession with hysteria, that they deemed to be disease, yes, but an illness that brought both freedom and inspiration. This idea of being set free is within the section's very title: "Prendre la clé des champs", "To take the key of the fields" is an expression meaning to go away (especially to go away from an oppressing or suffocating, unpleasant situation), to flee, escape, disappear (with the connotation of the fields as a vast, open space of great possibilities and endless horizon).

[beardedmrbean]

Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was met with massive crowds of protesters Saturday, after a report revealed it had discussed deporting millions of immigrants, including German citizens, late last year. 

Investigative journalism group Correctiv published a report Wednesday on the meeting between AfD and the Identitarian Movement (IM) in November, claiming IM member Martin Sellner presented a plan for "re-migration" of immigrants out of Germany, including those who already have citizenship, but have failed to integrate.

AfD has confirmed the meeting, which was allegedly captured on hidden cameras, took place but rejected assertions that it reflects their party policy.

"The AfD won't change its position on immigration policy because of a single opinion at a non-AfD meeting," a spokesperson told Reuters.

Protesters across Germany held signs on Saturday that read "Never Again is Now," "Defend Democracy" and "Against Hate" as the meeting garners comparisons with the Nazis. 

A protest in Frankfurt on Saturday had around 35,000 people and one in Hamburg had around 50,000, police said. Others took place in cities like Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Hannover. 

Hamburg’s demonstration ended early over crowd size safety concerns. 

Large protests in cities like Berlin and Munich are also planned for Sunday. 

The report and subsequent protests have also renewed calls for a ban on the AfD in the country. 

The AfD was founded in 2013 and polling suggests it has around 23% support in the country. 

AfD was the first right-wing party since the Nazis to win a mayoral and district council election when it did last year. It has also made significant gains in state elections in Bavaria and Hesse. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the AfD and Identarian Movement in a statement on social media last week, comparing them to the Third Reich.

"We protect everyone — regardless of origin, skin color or how uncomfortable someone is for fanatics with assimilation fantasies," said Scholz. 

Although immigration is a top issue in the country, Scholz himself previously admitted "too many are coming." 

[winemom-culture]

The economy debate is the most insane I’ve felt on Twitter in a long time. The core of the argument seems to be “we can’t judge an economy based on vibes,” which, alright, fair. But then there’s a contingent that takes it a bridge further to say “well, people SHOULD be happy with the economy because we’ve returned to a pre-covid state that’s comparable/better than 2019. You’re just doing bad faith hatred of the Democratic Party if you’re not happy with the economy now.”

This group always seems to conveniently gloss over the relatively massive increase in our welfare state from ~2020-2022, which is now slowly being axed bit by bit. I think it follows to say when you have a population that is drowning, throw them a bone and then rip it back away- the return to the “norm” is going to produce bad economic sentiment, and that’s totally reasonable.

Instead of talking about that at all, they’re QTing TikTok screencaps of 15 year olds complaining about the economy through the lens of McDonald Hamburger and going “gotcha leftists! There’s more to economy than just McDonald’s Hamburger!” without pausing for one second and using that big adult brain to realize maybe that’s NOT someone who has a fundamental understanding of the core problem yet, and blindly sees prices around them soaring.

I don’t know if it’s intentionally disingenuous or just primarily a group of people lucky enough to have not felt a tangible improvement in their quality of life with stimulus, child tax credit, Medicaid continuous coverage, etc., so maybe it really doesn’t occur to them. But I don’t think arguing and going “well actually…,” in the face of parents who got pushed back below the poverty line between 2021 and 2022 is conducive to the Leftist/Socialist/whatever mission for any reason at all, really, even if the stats do technically support it.

[randomdudesmoviereviews]

First Movie Review: "When Trumpets Fade (1998)

This movie was a HBO made for television movie directed by John Irvin, the same director who made "Hamburger Hill" and "The Dogs of War". Released in 1998, the movie is set in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest during World War II in fall of 1944. For those unaware, the Battle of Hurtgen Forest was the longest battle the US Army had fought from September to December of 1944 that occurred in Hurtgen Forest along the Belgian-German Border where the notorious Siegfried Line was set up. The Siegfried Line was a massive network of bunkers, tank traps and minefields established by the Germans that forced the allies into a grind as multiple assaults and attacks were made on fortified border. The battle of Hurtgen Forest was an attempt by the US First Army to pin German forces down to prevent reinforcements to arrive to the Battle of Aachen while for the Germans, they were forcing the allies to a standstill to defend the staging ground of a major counter offensive which would eventually become the Battle of the Bulge. American casualties were considered to be from 33,000 to 55,000 men killed or wounded while Germans were estimated to have suffered 28,000 casualties making the battle a major allied defeat.

The movie pretty much follows one Private David Manning in the 28th Infantry Division who emerges as the sole survivor of his squad after a failed assault on the line. Right off the bat, Manning is shown to be someone who cares about only himself and isn't afraid to say it or show it. When his company commander promotes him to sergeant to take charge of a squad of new replacements, he tries to disagree and begs for a section eight to get discharge to which the commander refuses. Furthermore, other characters call him out on his actions of being cowardly or only serving of self interest. Eventually we see how bad the battles are in the movie and why there is such a high casualty rate as well as more defining moments of both Manning and a few others present. I won't spoil the film's plot as much given it is pretty decent and I would recommend seeing it.

Pretty much the movie doesn't glamorize anything about this battle and just shows how brutal it is. You see lines of dead bodies and mangled corpses across the battlefields and along the sides of the roads. The effects are decent and pretty graphic at times and the acting is very well done to show just have intense and nerve racking war is. A few characters we actually see break down and how it can affect others in both combat and outside of it. The character development and how the movie ends ties up things perfectly just how bleak the Battle of Hurtgen was for the American troops that fought there and died.

Now for the more historical accuracy side of things, for the most part, the uniforms and equipment are solid and look like they fit in save for the German tanks and artillery guns. However given how most German artillery and tanks were blown up during the war and there are only so few left in the world that work. The story around Manning and his events is fictionalized naturally but for a television made movie, it works fine. Overall I'd give the movie an 8/10.