#freshers 2019

[imogenkol]

FLUFFTOBER — DAY 8 PROMPT: RAINY DAY

words: 2.4k rating: m warnings: light intimacy, mentions of sex

Nadya was woken up by a gentle shake of her shoulder. Groaning at whoever dared to disturb her, she blindly reached up to bat the hand away in refusal. Sleep was the only priority on her mind. Her body still teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, she could easily allow herself to slip back into precious slumber. The person who attempted to rouse her was persistent, though.

“Nadya,” Jayde called softly. She shifted closer from where she lay behind the tired human. This time her hand went to the girl’s waist, squeezing her and placing a kiss to the back of her shoulder. “Babe, wake up.” There was a hint of excitement in her voice that Nadya tried to ignore.

“No,” Nadya mumbled into her pillow and buried herself deeper in the blankets.

That only succeeded in making Jayde quietly laugh. “It’s raining,” she whispered with a smile in her voice.

That got Nadya’s attention. The past summer had been long and dry. She didn’t hate sunshine, but her heart yearned for an overcast sky and the joys of rainfall. It felt like ages since the last storm, so at Jayde’s words, Nadya went still and listened for it. The soft patter of eager raindrops against the window confirmed her claim. A smile came across her face as she finally opened her eyes.

A warm contentment settled in the human’s chest and she turned around in Jayde’s arms to face her. Jayde propped herself up on one elbow, watching her girlfriend struggle through drowsiness with adoration in her midnight eyes. Jayde didn’t look sleepy at all, which made Nadya wonder.

“When did you wake up?” she asked through a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

“About an hour ago,” Jayde answered. Her hand brushed through Nadya’s messy hair, moving it out of her face. When her thumb caressed her cheek, the human happily curled into her more to savor the supernatural heat of her body with the sound of the rain in their ears.

“Why so long?” Nadya felt slightly concerned that bad dreams may have haunted her again.

“I sensed the storm before it came,” she explained, her rough voice adding to the soothing warmth she emitted. “I wanted to wait until it really hit to wake you. And maybe I just wanted to stay in bed with you a while longer.”

Smiling again, Nadya placed a kiss to her collarbone. “Okay, fifteen more minutes in bed. Then coffee. Then we can go play in the rain.”

“Or,” Jayde countered with a soft chuckle, “We go play in it now, then coffee and curling up by the fire.”

Nadya let out a half-hearted grumble. “You drive a hard bargain. Five more minutes, then we go.”

“Deal,” she agreed.

Jayde lasted about thirty seconds before she became too restless to let either of them stay still. Her hand started to wander in an effort to rouse her girlfriend. For the most part, it worked. Her touch always stirred Nadya’s senses no matter how out of she was, but then Jayde started to inch closer to the most ticklish spot on her side.

“Don’t even think about it,” Nadya warned.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean,” Nadya scolded, wise to her intentions.

“You’re so grumpy in the morning, I’m just trying to lighten you up,” Jayde teased.

Nadya leaned back to glare at her sarcastically. “Oh, really? I’ll show you grumpy.”

Before she could reply with another retort, Nadya snatched both of the werewolf’s wrists and used her weight to put Jayde on her back. Nadya pinned her hands up by her shoulders to prevent her from retaliating and leaned in to place her mouth on her neck. Jayde sucked in a sharp breath as Nadya took her flesh between her teeth, giving her a hard nip. 

Jayde’s exhale turned into another amused chuckle. “Aren’t I the werewolf? I thought biting was supposed to be my thing.”

The human let go long enough to say, “Some of your bad habits rub off on me.” Her teeth grazed the pulse point again to discourage any vengeful tickling once she released her wrists. Jayde hummed and the vibration of her voice against Nadya’s lips made her hesitate to release her for a moment longer. She placed gentle kisses where she had bitten, soothing any potential red marks.

Her grip finally loosened and Jayde’s hands immediately shot down to her waist. Her thumb went underneath Nadya’s shirt and brushed over her skin, making the butterflies in the girl’s stomach flutter like mad. If it weren’t for the rain, she would’ve let them stay in bed. But they both craved the freshness of a storm on their skin. So, they indulged in a minute of sweet morning kisses before they got up and out of bed.

After she pulled a thick sweater over her head, Nadya caught a glimmer of something mischievous in the wolf’s eyes. “What’s that for,” she asked, reaching out to poke the subtle upturn at the corner of her girlfriend’s mouth.

Jayde leaned in and kissed her with more of a fervor. The familiar sensations overtook Nadya just as it had so many times before. Their lips moved together in tandem and Jayde’s hands squeezed her hips to encourage the temptation to get lost in each other. Nadya loved that she could just let herself go and get drunk on these remarkable feelings. She forgot whatever she had just said or thought. Especially when she felt the barest brush of Jayde’s hot tongue against hers.

Suddenly, Jayde gripped the bottom of Nadya’s sweater and pulled it off of her in one smooth motion. Nadya blinked a few times after she broke away from the kiss, trying to recover from her utterly flustered state. She saw Jayde turn the sweater right side out, which she thought was more considerate of her than usual, but otherwise dismissed the unusual action. Jayde flashed her a crooked grin and just when Nadya expected them to crash together once more, Jayde proceeded to put the sweater on herself.

Nadya laughed in disbelief. “Did you just steal the clothes right off my back?”

“You steal my clothes all the time,” Jayde pointed out with a shrug. “I want to wear something of yours for a change.”

“I haven’t stolen your clothes when you're wearing them!”

Jayde looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You totally have.”

Nadya narrowed her eyes at the implication in her stare. “Sex doesn’t count. If it touches the floor, it doesn’t count.”

Jayde gave her best sure eye-roll. “Look at you, making up the rules.”

“You better watch yourself before I steal that back.” Nadya said, pointing a finger at her chest. “I really like that one.”

“I bet you like this more.” Jayde pecked the tip of her nose and walked over to the closet where she pulled out Nadya’s favorite flannel – Jayde’s flannel that was a mixture of earthly browns and greens – and handed it to her with a smile. “The rain awaits us, my love.”

The rainfall had gotten heavier since Nadya woke up. As soon as they stepped outside the Lodge, they were pelted by large drops of water and quickly drenched. Nadya couldn’t hide the massive grin that appeared on her face. She eagerly ran out into the driveway, making sure there were no roofs or trees to separate her from the sky. With arms stretched out, she tilted her head upwards to the clouds that hung above them. Mist trickled through the edges of the forest and the air was freezing. Nadya could see every breath she exhaled. Soon the rain would make her colder, but she didn’t care.

“Oh, it’s perfect!” Nadya exclaimed, taking in a deep breath of wet pines and soil. Everything about it made her feel alive. It rejuvenated her. It was worth getting up early for. And the best part of it all was the werewolf at her side.

She turned and realized that Jayde watched her with a look that Nadya had grown so familiar with. She remembered the very first time she ever saw that look. Before they were together, Nayda caught her staring with a soft intensity in her eyes that made her wonder what she could have possibly done to garner such an expression. Jayde had given her that look countless times since, growing less shy about the human noticing as time went on. Now, she did it shamelessly. It took a while, but Nadya eventually understood. It was a look of immeasurable love.

Though Nadya didn’t know what her version of that expression looked like, she always knew she bore it when she felt warmth flood through my chest. Jayde looked gorgeous in the rain. So carefree and happy as damp wisps of blonde hair clung to her wet cheeks. She was the kind of person that belonged in all kinds of nature. Just like Nadya. The sky sent down her love and it made them both glow.

Nadya’s legs carried her towards Jayde, but after a couple steps her foot found a puddle deep enough for a considerable amount of water to seep into her shoe and dampen her sock. She looked down and shook her head with an amused sigh, realizing she had been in too much of a rush to remember her rain boots. At least the Den had a fireplace that she could dry her shoes by.

Jayde noticed and scoffed. “You should really watch where you’re going.”

Nadya fixed her with a playful scowl. As she noted that Jayde only stood a few inches away from the puddle, an idea formed. “You should really watch where you’re standing,” Nadya shot back and jumped.

The splash got her as much as it did Jayde, but the look of shock and mock offense on Jayde’s face made it worth it. Her eyes flashed mischievously and she tried to snatch Nadya’s arms to hold her in place. Even through uncontrollable giggles, Nadya managed to escape her grasp and skipped back out of her reach. Jayde resorted to kicking the puddle at her. It sent the water flying all the way up to Nadya’s face, causing her to flinch away, and Jayde laughed triumphantly.

The werewolf came after her with a rare and unabashed grin – a smile Nadya would do anything for. She avoided her advance and circled back to the puddle, making sure she didn’t run too far ahead of her. The next splash she made had a little bit more volume thanks to her momentum and she was rewarded with a gasp of displeasure from behind her.

When Nadya turned around, prepared to stomp in the puddle again, Jayde’s strong arms wrapped around her waist. Nadya barely had a moment to react before she effortlessly threw her over her shoulder, making her cry out in surprised delight. Her laughter turned to hysterics when Jayde started to spin them around. The world flew by in a dizzying blur.

“You better not drop me!” Nadya shouted in between giggles.

“You barely weigh anything to me. Werewolf strength, remember?” Jayde replied, slowing to a stop and jumping in the puddle to prove her point. The splash caught Nadya in the face again and she laughed, smacking Jayde’s thigh for the offense. “I won’t drop you,” she promised.

“Well, if I’m ever dangling over a pit of lava, I know who to call.”

“Nobody’s dangling you over a pit of lava. Now, a deeper puddle that someone just spotted, maybe,” Jayde said and started towards a new direction.

Nadya strained to get a look, wiggling in her grip and causing Jayde to tighten her hold. Then she saw the puddle. It would be more accurate to call it a lake. She started to squirm more desperately. “Jay!”

“Stay still,” Jayde laughed.

When they got to the large puddle, Jayde plopped her down in it and the water easily went up to her calves. Nadya couldn’t even be mildly annoyed because the splash had been the most satisfying one thus far. She giggled gleefully and jumped a second time. Unfortunately, she failed to notice the slick mud at the bottom. All it took was a slightly awkward landing to take her off balance. Nadya’s foot slipped in the mud and swept her right off her feet. Jayde reached out to catch her, but the sudden downward momentum caught her off guard and it just brought them both down right in the middle of the muddy water with a chaotic splash.

Jayde tried her best not to land too hard on top of her human and Nadya did her best to cushion the werewolf’s fall. It wasn’t graceful by any means. They were both completely drenched and muddy. Yet all they could do was half laugh, half groan in pain at their own clumsiness.

“You okay?” Jayde chuckled, wiping some mud off Nadya’s cheek.

Nadya grimaced a bit as she leaned up on her elbows. There might be a bruise or two later. “I think I’ll live,” she answered with a grin, now shivering in the cold.

“Sorry about that.” Their faces were inches apart. Jayde kept glancing down at Nadya’s lips, a hint of hunger in her eyes.

Nadya wanted to kiss her, too. So, she did. Closing the distance between them, she pressed her lips to Jayde’s. They kissed long enough to taste a mixture of sweetness and rainwater on the softness of the other’s lips — the perfect combination of earth and sky. Nadya loved how gentle and sure Jayde was with her, the heat from her proximity already chasing away the chill that shook her spine. Jayde heard their heartbeats fall into the same rhythm as she deepened the cadence of their kiss and her senses bloomed to take in every single detail of the girl in her arms.

“I forgive you,” Nadya muttered against her lips with a smile.

She felt Jayde smile as well and took the opportunity to playfully reach out to her side and splash water at her. Jayde flinched as brown flecks dotted half her face. Even though Nadya took her by surprise, she saw her eyes flash with retribution. Jayde sat up and used both her hands to create an even bigger wave of muddy puddle water directed right at her.

Soon, they were in a full-blown water fight on the side of the driveway, laughing like children as the rain continued to pour down on them. A few people going to and from the Lodge gave the two young women odd looks when they noticed the display, but neither of them cared about how ridiculous they looked in the slightest.

[naukrisambad]

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[otterandterrierwrites]

happy female orgasm day, y'all!

here are most of my fics were Leia is getting some, if you need inspiration to get it on ;)

hanleia

What it takes to come alive Pre-ESB - Han and Leia decide to take a last chance while trapped and surrounded by hungry monsters. [wc 4,884, 2020]

keep with me forward (all through the night) Pre-ESB - After kissing during an undercover mission, Han and Leia struggle to ignore their feelings as they infiltrate a masquerade gala [wc 19,716, 2019]

All work and no play Pre-ESB - Secretly showering together in the communal 'fresher on base. [wc 2,924, 2021]

Night at the Grand Regent Hotel Sex pollen fic! [wc 7,854, 2022]

A lesson ESB - Leia shows Han what she likes on the trip to Bespin. [wc 710, 2017]

Not quite dirty talk ESB - During the trip to Bespin, Leia accidentally shuts Han out. Luckily, he knows how to draw her out of her shell again. [wc 2,354, 2023]

Dreamscape ESB - Last night together in Cloud City. [wc 986, 2018]

the static of your arms, it is the catalyst RotJ - Reunion sex and feelings after Han is released from the medcenter [wc 3,995, 2020]

Alone time Post-RotJ - Han and Leia find some alone time in a ‘fresher (again) [wc 1,792, 2018]

Something's electric in your blood Post-RotJ - A walk on the beach is interrupted by a storm, and Han and Leia wait it out in a cave. [wc 3,529, 2017]

The best right in a million wrongs Smutty follow-up to the book “Last Shot”. [wc 4,479, 2022]

honey don't feed me (I will come back) vampire AU! [wc 36,000, 2024]

Courting Princess Leia COPL fix-it! [wc 6,940, 2023]

leia/evaan

Hold me tight ‘cause I’m just holding on for tonight Leia deals with her grief and finds comfort in the arms of a fellow Alderaanian woman.[wc 8,406, 2020]

Here comes the spark before the dark Evaan and Leia dress up fancy, and have a hard time keeping their hands off each other. [wc 1,023, 2021]

[boxboxblog]

In Depth: Undercut and Overcut

Alright, this post is a response to an ask about overcuts and undercuts. Enjoy!

So, many of you have probably heard a these two words before. They are a major part of pit stop strategy, and can make or break a race. But how do they work exactly and why are they used?

Undercut:

An undercut happens when a driver pits before their rival, most often when they are behind them on track. Usually, they are hoping that getting fresher tires on first will allow them to build up speed throughout the next couple of laps, and then when their rival does eventually pit, they have created enough of a net gap to be in front upon their pit exit. Teams choose this strategy in order to take the advantage of fresher tires for a few laps, gain more positions, and use the rivals tire wear to their advantage. The best way to perform an undercut is to time it perfectly. They want to do this when they know their rival will have to pit soon, but not quite yet, so that they can chase them down on fresh tires, but not wear their new ones out too much before the rival is on fresh ones. While this strategy often works, they must keep tire management post pit in mind and not pit too early, because late in the race their rival will have fresher tires, and possibly more speed.

Successful vs Unsuccessful:

Successful: At the 2019 Chinese GP Sebastain Vettel undercut teammate Charles Leclerc with an early pit, and so when Leclerc finally came in, he had built up enough time to pass him during the outlap. This was a good undercut because Vettel picked the exactly correct time based on his knowledge of Leclerc's tire deg and when he would eventually need to pit.

Unsuccessful: During the 2021 French GP Lewis Hamilton attempted to undercut Max Verstappen. Although he did gain track position upon pit exit, Verstappen's late pit allowed him to have much fresher tires later in the race, and overtake Hamilton eventually.

Overcut:

Overcuts are the exact opposite of an undercut. With this strategy, drivers stay out longer than their rival in order to take the highest advantage from track positioning. They usually do this when their tires are still relatively solid, so they can keep up pace. This strategy works best when track position is more important than tire life or if the competitor is struggling on their new tires. Teams will use this strategy most when their driver has clean air, when they know their rival has particularly poor tire management, or when their driver is very good at managing tires. Often times even if they do not get position immediately, they use the fresher tires for advantage later in the race. The best way to deliver on this strategy is to have a flawless pit stop, push on laps as much as possible before pitting, and keep tire deg low pre pit.

Successful vs Unsuccessful

Successful: At the 2018 Monaco GP Daniel Riccardo overcut several cars by staying on track longer and using the clean air. He maintained his tires and was still putting in fantastic lap times, which allowed him to get ahead of multiple drivers even after he finally pit.

Unsuccessful: At the 2022 Hungarian GP Carlos Sainz attempted to overcut by staying out longer, but poor tire management meant he lost more time than gained. When he eventually did pit, his rivals had already started setting faster times on fresh tires, and he lost any advantage.

But why one over the other? Well, it mostly has to do with track conditions and weather. For track conditions, when overtaking is difficult many teams will prioritize track position (an overcut) over tire management (an undercut). Street circuits like Monaco are where we see a lot of overcuts due to lack of overtaking opportunities. In a classic circuit like COTA, overtaking is easiar and tire deg is high so they go for undercuts more. The speed of circuits also has an effect, and a quick track like Monza usually sees higher tire deg, so more undercuts, but a slow track like the Hungaroring, with it's many twists and turns, sees more overcuts. Finally, weather has a big effect, as higher temperature means higher tire deg. Circuits like Bahrain, where the heat is extreme, lead most teams to choose an undercut due to the high tire deg. On the other hand, tracks like the ones in Montreal or Spa often have colder weather, so they put less stress on tires and lead teams to do overcuts.

I hope I explained everything clearly so you have a better understanding of this strategy move. Every decision made by a team is complex, but these are basics of what they are and why they are chosen.

Cheers,

-B

[hysterical-cats]

🎷and 🐾 for Cats ask

🎷 Have you ever seen Cats live? If more than once, which was your favorite?

I've seen it live twice!!! Both the 6th US Tour, but the first time was with the second cast and the second time was with the third cast. I would say that my second time seeing it was my favorite just because that cast had SO many standouts (not to say the second cast didnt!!! they were also WONDERFUL!!) and it probably also helps that it's a little fresher in my memory. Nora Degreen Demeter you will ALWAYS be famous

🐾 How did you 'discover' Cats?

siggghhh I got into cats because I watched Lindsey Ellis' video essay about Cats 2019 and the bits she showed of the 1998 film had me like i NEED to watch this. and then it was all downhill from there

[baiuzensenn]

Source: Ins @ alpinef1team / @ lilianspotting. Shaved Sebastian Vettel at Imola GP 2024 vs shaved Charles Leclerc spotted in Monaco on July 1st.

There must be someone telling Charlie you’ll become fresher you’ll look 10 years younger if you shaved like me so Charlie decided to get back to his beardless sugar baby version in 2019😌

[1percentcharge]

I’ve been on tumblr since 2019 which is kind of weird to think about because I was definitely “late” to the platform like I joined it after all these people left (and I was 15, so, while it’s not ideal to use it at a younger age, it would’ve been feasible for me to join earlier) and for a while I was like… “new” on this platform where there were a lot of established jokes and longtime users (and I feel like that must have been a different experience for them, being new at a time when nearly everyone was).

But now I’ve been here for nearly four years so, while that fact doesn’t go back and change the date that I joined the platform on, I’m not really new anymore lol. Not to mention the recent phenomenon of twitter to tumblr transplants- there’s fresher fish to fry

[writingontheclouds]

Chapter 4: How To Finally Get the Girl

The finale of my fic "How You Get The Girl" that I started in 2019 when I was a wee fresher in college. It is finally over. *phew* I hope this story stops haunting me now.

Read it on AO3.

...

The clock in her room read 7:39pm when Lily watched Isis disappear into the horizon, soaring higher and higher above the identical houses of Cokeworth.

She wasn't sure which part of her brain was working overtime when she thought of sending a letter through Isis. Or when she thought of the idea. She just remembers Sirius holding her by her shoulders and shaking with excitement at the idea as he exited her room and her house and disapparated from her front yard with a distinct pop.

She should have checked around if anyone saw him disappear. She should have berated him for being so careless in a muggle neighbourhood, *her* neighbourhood, as he apparated back at the same position exactly 12 minutes later with a grey owl sitting gleefully on her shoulder, playing with his black hair. But words suddenly seemed foreign to her.

Despite her newly found resolve and the shadow of a black haired boy peaking behind her shoulder, she had hesitated. Multiple times. Her quill broke twice. Isis fluttered around her room from her bed to the shelves. Sirius paced the small length of her bedroom muttering, "Good god woman, you don't have be Shakespeare."

She couldn't shake the guilt looming in her stomach, making her nauseous. *What if he truly has moved on?*

Sirius had been ecstatic, almost jumping off the walls of her bedroom as Isis flew out her window. "He's going to come as soon as he gets it, I promise."

Lily knew Isis was pretty fast, even for a magical owl. And after conveying her urgency in getting the letter delivered as soon as possible, Lily was almost sure she saw Isis' eyes become determined. She loved a challenge, that feisty little thing. Lily promised her an entire box of her favourite treats and off she flew, feathers fluttering to an inch of her face.

Her mother came in announcing dinner just 10 minutes later, asking Sirius to join them. 30 minutes and multiple pointless conversations later, she was ready to stab herself in the thigh with a fork.

"So there is actually a magical giant squid that lives in the lake at Hogwarts?" Her mother asked, absolutely aghast.

"Oh yes, my mate James and I arm wrestled one of his tentacles last year," Sirius responded as-a-matter-of-fact. Even Petunia, whose usual response to any time Hogwarts came up on the dinner table was a scowl, looked shocked.

"You what?" Her mother asked, looking at her for confirmation.

"They did," Lily told her mother nonchalantly, moving the contents of her plate from one corner to another, "Though they mostly just annoyed it. It got bored and dumped them on the shore and went back inside."

Almost an hour later, she couldn't take it anymore and went outside for fresh air. Surely Isis must have reached James by now? He was in the middle of London, not a cave up in the mountains.

It was 10pm when Sirius joined her outside on the front yard, after relaying some more Hogwarts stories to her mother.

"Maybe Isis is having a hard time finding him," He said softly, sitting down next to her on the grass. She just hummed in response, her heart hammering against her chest.

By 11pm, even Sirius seemed to have ran out of reasons. Isis should have reached James by now. Hell, she would have reached London by now if she had taken the train. And she was a witch. If only she knew where to go IN London. She could have just run around Leicester Square screaming his name like a deranged pelican.

At 11:58pm, a sudden movement caught the corner of her eye and before she knew it, a grey feathered blob landed directly in front of them. Isis looked ecstatic and proud. And as happy as Lily was to see her, her excitement lasted for 2 seconds exactly until she noticed the empty talon.

Her heart sank into her stomach. The answer was staring right in her face.

"Lily, maybe he got stuck-"

"Don't." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and her vision started to blur. Sirius wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she hid her face in his shoulder. “Don’t."

"I'm sorry."

---

It took a very long time to convince Sirius that she was fine. Or, it took a very long time to tell a convincing lie to Sirius that she was fine. But he finally departed around 1am, with a promise to take her out for ice cream the next day to cheer her up.

She had already planned not to leave her bed for the next 3 days, to sleep as much as she could and to be awake as less as she could help it. But unfortunately, the world seemed adamant to not let her have her way, because despite her plans to be unconscious, but she was still wide awake at 2:30am.

Lily rolled over for the hundredth time, facing the pink wall of her bedroom and closed her eyes. She tried to go to her happy place, back to Hogwarts and its hallways and her friends, when a light tap sounded behind her. At first, she thought she had imagined it, the silence of the night deafening her and playing tricks on her mind. But the tap happened again, and again, and that's when her heart sank and her mind took a much darker turn.

She had heard of the rumours of muggle borns and the news of the 'disappearances', and suddenly, each name she had read in the newspapers flashed at the back of her head as she grabbed her wand, remembering every hex in the books. Tomorrow, she was sure, her name would be added to that never ending list. She slowly pulled the curtain above her desk to peak out at the offending noise.

But there, floating right outside the window in the middle of the night, was a boy holding a lit wand with a goofy grin. A grin she unfortunately knew way too well.

"POTTER!" she whispered angrily, half on instinct, but the sound wouldn't reach him. She put her wand aside and slid the window open.

"Potter! What in Merlin's pants are you doing?" she hissed, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Can we talk?" he asked, his voice barely audible over the wind.

"You are floating outside my window," she stated, still processing the sight before her.

"Yes, I'm on my broom," he replied nonchalantly.

"You are floating outside my window on a broom," she repeated, her tone incredulous.

"Great observation skills, Evans," he remarked, a hint of a grin tugging at his lips.

"You are FLOATING outside my window IN A MUGGLE NEIGHBOURHOOD on a BROOM.”

"Oh. Yes. That. Uhh," he stuttered, looking around nervously, "Can I come in?"

"Can it not wait till tomorrow?"

"I would highly prefer today.”

"Today, right now? As opposed to today noon at Diagon Alley with butterbeer?"

"Today, right now.”

She sighed impatiently, backing up and gesturing him to come inside. While James was ambling his frame into her very small window, knocking down books and pencil stands as he came inside, alarm bells were ringing in her head.

"SHHH!" She shushed him, and he stopped for a second before continuing to get his other leg inside the window and pas her study table.

Bollocks. He was here. The reality of the situation was settling in now. What did he want to talk about? Did he want to apologise? Tell her thank you, but no thank you?

She glanced down at her worn out blue pyjama set, deciding she didn't care how she looked. Even if it wasn't, she wasn't going to change to be let down. How pathetic would that be?

"Cute room, Evans." He said once he had manoeuvred his broom inside her room and started inspecting everything.

"You better have a very good reason for this, Potter."

He just looked at her bemused, eyebrows raised, reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

"Oh, I have a very very good reason, Evans."

"Look-"

"Oh no, here is where I will talk and you will listen." That shut her up real quick.

"So, I was sitting in this quaint little restaurant in the middle of muggle London, on a date with this wonderful girl. She's pretty, funny and she loves Quidditch- and guess what?- she supports Puddlemere, I was sold by then and the date had hardly started. She's a splendid conversationalist, did you know? We didn't have any of those awful awkward silences, those are always a deal breaker for me. So we laughed all through the main course-"

"-I'm going to toss you out the window if you've come here to tell me about your new girlfriend-"

"-I swear the manager wanted to throw us out of there-"

"-You have Sirius to discuss the nitty gritties about your dates-"

"-and we were waiting for desert, when I look out the window and to my surprise, I see Isis there."

He looked right in her eyes, and Lily was sure he could see the blush colouring her cheeks despite the low light in the room. Hell, he could have spotted it from a mile away on his broom at this point.

He took a step in her direction, and she instinctively look a step back.

"Yes, Isis with a letter. She singlehandedly unleashed havoc in the restaurant, you should have been there, there was spaghetti flying around and people were slipping on spilled pasta sauce, all for a letter. Clearly, someone asked her to deliver it urgently.”

"Now, you must know how that scared the living daylights out of me, because what could be so important that couldn't till the end of the night? It's a difficult time in our world, you know," James Potter continued babbling animately, his usual self, but Lily's heart was threatening to beat out of her chest, matching James steps, as he continued to step closer to her and she continued to backtrack.

"So, we ran out the restaurant before we were arrested, though what for I still have no idea, but I must be completely pale and speaking gibberish because Emily said she couldn't understand what I said, and frankly neither could I."

"So, with trembling hands, I opened the letter, a million different worse case scenarios playing in my head, and can you guess what it said?" He asked, holding open the parchment and Lily could make out her hasty scrawl.

"Uhh.." Lily's back hit the door to her room and she realised she had nowhere to go now.

"It was from this rather infuriating bird, with bright red hair and a temper to level the entire city of London, who does not lose a single chance to wound my ego, who has spent the last 6 years hating me and my guts, and if that was not enough, for some weird reason I've fancied all that time?"

"Now, I had imagined this particular scenario many times in my head. My personal favorite ending in passionate and wild lovemaking, but never had I imagined this happening on a letter that I thought was the worst news I'll ever receive, when I was on a date with another girl I was about to ask to be my girlfriend. Now do you understand my anger?" James had closed the distance between the two, and Lily could smell broom polish on him. And his cologne. She was pointedly trying not to think about his cologne. She was sure she was hallucinating at this point.

"Well, if you put it that way.."

"..yes?" He put the parchment back into his pocket, and rested his right arm by her head, boxing her in.

"..I might have not have thought this through." She whispered, looking into his hazel eyes, forcing herself to not glance at his lips.

"Of course you didn't," He whispered back.

Lily cleared her throat and looked down, arms folding around her chest defensively. She couldn't look him in the eye while saying this. "Look, James, if you flew all the way here just to say this, you needn't have come. I got your message, loud and clear."

"Message? What message?"

"It's fine, I'm happy for you."

"Happy for me?"

"Yes, I promise I will keep my distance at Hogwarts. She need not worry, neither do you."

"You know, for a brilliant witch, you can be so dense sometimes." Lily's face contorted, taking offence, and ready to spew out some witty come back that would be weirdly accurate, but he put both his hands on either side of her face, and tilted her head up slightly, ensuring their eyes met.

"Lily, why do you think I am here?" There was a tender intensity in his hazel eyes, a silent promise.

Lily's eyes widened, one hand subconsciously coming to rest on his arm, holding it there, holding her.

"I.." She stumbled, staring into his eyes, unable to come up with any response, much less a rational explanation of his presence here.

He waited patiently for Lily to reply, his thumb softly brushing her cheeks.

"You didn't reply." She whispered finally.

"This is something I wanted to tell you in person," he said, nudging her nose with his. "I also had to escort Emily back to her place."

"Out of all the times, this was the one you chose to be a gentleman," Lily replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm always a gentleman," he retorted with a playful smirk.

Lily actually snorted. "SURE."

"I could always go back, you know, if I'm not wanted here. I'm sure Emily would love a good night stroll-" James teased, backing away and turning towards the window. But Lily grabbed him and pulled him towards her, his arms instinctively wrapping around her waist.

"Just shut up and kiss me," she whispered, her lips a hair's breadth from his. James grinned, his eyes sparkling with mischief and affection. He closed the gap between them, his lips brushing softly against hers at first. The gentle touch sent a shiver down Lily's spine, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt impatient, and deepened the kiss and her heart actually skipped a beat when James responded equally enthusiastically. She forgot that she was in her tiny bedroom, that she was wearing her old battered night suit, that 5 minutes ago she wasn’t sure how her last year at Hogwarts would pass.

But he was here. It felt impossible, but he was here and he was kissing her, and by Merlin, it felt more glorious than she could ever have imagined. James's hands slid up her back, pulling her closer, while Lily's fingers tangled in his hair, those black locks that she had dreamed of running her fingers through.

When they finally broke apart, both breathless, their foreheads resting against each other. Lily's cheeks were flushed, and James’s grin had softened into a tender smile.

"I’m getting this letter framed.” He murmured into her lips and Lily chuckled.

"I'm going to buy Isis the whole store."

[bunnimew]

We were tagged by @9haharharley1 and @overmooneleven who could not have foreseen what a production this was going to turn into 😂 Thank you!!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

*Gets out the record player* There's required listening while scrolling this list...

Now that the mood has been appropriately set, here we go!

Warm Bodies 10 Edit9It'sYourBoyJackFrostAightSo High Seas Hijinks pt 2 Android Pitch Neon Ideas Von Kaiser Mix Tape If you don't dance, no romance Jack Frost and the Quest for the Stanley Cup Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide YA Novel Merman/Nature Elf Baby It's Cold Inside Everything but the fresher sink Halloween bodyswap Saiyuki Fantasy AU Coffee and Fruit Snacks Untitled Document Blackice ABOlive Garden Concerned Neighbor AU Obsolete Force Monsters Donut Saga 2022 RotG Bingo RotG Bingo 2021 Free Day Light Magic Soulmate AU Sleight of Hand Android AU Wing fic space vampire arranged marriage fake ppl scifi book pogo kylux AU Hope Week 2022 Let's Play AU Clydeland Ghost roommate Omega hux Techwear AU Original magic apocalypse Holiday kylux Pink hair hux Goose steals the staff Quarantine Kylux twitfic college au ST/Kylux Omega hux sequel cyborg hux Fuck this I'm outtie hux Loud AF kylux Loud AF blackice Every floor is Loud AF Loud AF Zag and Than Angel/Demon AU Gymnast hux Parkour hux 5 times hux blows kylo A/B/O Hades Kylux A/B/Olive Garden Disney Princess Hux Hutt slave Mitaka Femlux Afterlife Bloom Halloween2020 sen aid + sen kid kylux Trivia and Other Flirtations Gertrude Pink hair Jack + Hux Teacher/Teacher Merge ST and EU frank/strange Bingo Fancy Dinner Matchmaker Cape Selection AU Senate Takeover Manny Moonbear's Pizzaria Guardians in Black Party fancy pitch Jasper/Lapis Suzalulu week 2016 horror ideas Untitled Terminator Game Terminator Ideas Frank/Strange coffee shop au Ideas for erotic stabbing Suzalulu week 2017 Zell birthday Gratuitous sleepytime Lulu the professional hand model au Peter has two dads au RotG Coffee shop AU Veelamate AU Sorceress Jack Guardian of the D Blanket Scenario i think Saiyuki bang 10k Clover AU Wizards unite AU X/1999/RotG [Redacted] Pitch's New Groove PoGo AU spacerace magic repo RotGRepo! Colormate AU Overqualified Merlin Caffeine and High Fructose Corn Syrup O2: Teammates Spideypool Bingo 2019 B1: Personal Trainer Spideypool Bingo 2019 Spideypool fairy AU Tie fix Soulmate tattoo AU 3 5 10 AU idea Silent Hill AU O1: Met at the Dog Park Spideypool Bingo 2019 ff8 werewolf au Buffate 2 Kink series Dance All Night Let Me and Your Body Talk Pounded in the Butt by the Physical Manifestation of the Fear That I Will Never be Good Enough While He Tells me I am Good Enough Also He's British  Silent Hill AU Bathtime Evening Horror Husbands Fic art 1 Morning cuddle Fic art 2 Spinel Jack Cover art Croptops Spiderman kiss Gargoyles

We literally do not know as many people as we have WIPs. I'd have to pull out the yearbook and start tagging people from high school and we're not going to do that. But we do have to tag @seekerseekingsomething for reasons they will understand and @askmyname @quillienvii @pheasantmadness for Other Unsaid Reasons ❤

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Steve Brodner

* * * *

RISE OF "THE BRAT PACK DEMOCRATS"

TCinLA

Aug 19, 2024

This is from Anand Giridharadas’ Substack, “The Ink.” I for one am glad to see the rise of what he calls “The Brat Pack” Democrats. This is the kind of Democratic Party I’ve been wanting to see since the Yuppie Democrats first showed up in the 1970s.

THE RISE OF THE "BRAT PACK" — AND A NEW DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL STYLE

At the DNC, a political approach long relegated to the wings takes center stage

By Anand Giridharadas

The great political story of 2024 is President Biden’s decision to stand aside in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. It is a story of selflessness, of a generational transition in the rise of Harris, and of a woman who has at times struggled to command the narrative coming into her own in a way that has energized the party, turned the race upside down, and roused deadened souls.

But this story, as dramatic as it is, may obscure the deeper story, which is less about the transition from one leader to another and more about the ascendance of a new political style at the top of the Democratic Party. We are witnessing the rise of what I’m calling the Brat Pack, and with it a new approach that elevates attention over restraint, storytelling over self-explanatory policy mindedness, fight picking over always taking the high road, and thrilling the base over diluting for moderates.

For years, I have reported on a quiet civil war within the Democratic Party. If I had to sum up the schism, I would say that one side was defined by sobriety, risk aversion, a focus on doing the work rather than talking about it, staying high-minded, and refusing to compete for attention with a carnival barker. The other side was more interested in risk-taking, storytelling as a paramount goal, speaking to emotion, making people feel things and want to sing from the rooftops, grabbing and holding attention. In recent years, the former camp has been firmly in command.

But the other faction was lurking around all along. Perhaps they were deputies rather than principals, and they went with the dominant approach despite their yearning to try something new. Often they were earlier in their careers, and they told themselves that they were putting in their time, and one day they would usher in the new ways.

My best, most distilled understanding of what has happened in the transition to a Kamala Harris campaign is that the civil war has turned. Harris may have inherited much of Biden’s campaign apparatus and its players, but many at the top are new — Harris’s people. And in the giant threadbare temporary startup that is a presidential campaign, the faction that long wanted a different, fresher way seems to be winning.

With apologies to the earlier incarnation, I’ll call them the Brat Pack, after the campaign’s embrace of a pop star’s embrace of Harris. I believe their rise is the most underrated story of this race, and the real subtext of what we’re about to see at the convention this week. And so in what follows I wanted to break down some of the defining features of the new Brat Pack approach — the new style and orientation that is taking over the Democratic Party.

There are several elements we can point to as part of the Brat Pack way, and close readers of The Ink over these years will have heard us champion some of them.

STORYTELLING. The Brat Pack approach emphasizes storytelling over the idea that good policies and good results should be self-explanatory. We are seeing a shift from a view of “The work should speak for itself” to “Nothing speaks for itself. You’ve got to tell the story.” I often detected in my conversations with high-level Democrats a contempt for story. It took different forms. In 2019, I wrote about Bernie Sanders’s near-refusal to tell his own personal family story, even though it would have helped him tremendously, as many of his staffers believed and argued to him. The Biden administration was huge on tangible accomplishments and improvements in inflation numbers and relatively less interested in touting these things in ways that broke through — which you can blame on the media, but when you’re blaming the media, you’re losing. My best-faith understanding of this way is that it comes from a sense that voters should be treated with respect, as reasoning creatures who will appreciate actual achievements and will reward you for what the documented progress actually is. The Brat Pack is moving away from this “nose to the grindstone” approach. Sometimes you’ve got to rise from the grindstone and sing for all to hear.

ATTENTION. The Brat Pack stresses attention. Its approach reflects an overriding interest in commanding it. Too many of us in the media and in politics and in book publishing and many of the other worlds I know best are still living in the past. Stuck in a world in which Walter Cronkite told millions of people what they needed to know and how to think. We have not adjusted to a new media world whose fundamental quality is fragmentation and whose most precious resource, therefore, is human attention. The until-now-dominant approach didn’t see the pursuit of attention as an end in itself. Sure, you wanted people to know about your policies and vision, but you wouldn’t necessarily contort yourself to make people notice. You wouldn’t make weird videos, try weird stuff. You wouldn’t experiment, as I have long urged President Biden to do, with reviving FDR’s Fireside Chats for the twenty-first century. You wouldn’t take the risk of doing a stunt or being hyper-reactive for the sake of commanding notice. There was a sneering at the attention-seizers. When someone like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rose on the strength of her attentional intelligence, some dismissed her and others struggled to emulate her, showing the distance between the mainstream and her. Under Harris, the Brat Pack is showing a complete break from the old approach. The new style centers the pursuit of attention, embraces memes, is willing to try weird things, and, above all, understands that you win when people cannot look away. We are finally not having Trump’s conversation.

EMOTION. One of the most interesting debates I’ve had in recent years, with people who think deeply about fighting authoritarianism, is about whether pro-democracy movements can and should seek to compete with autocrats’ skill at catering to the emotions. My former New York Times colleague Roger Cohen and I had a spirited back-and-forth about this not long ago, after he wrote about fascism’s power to “get the blood up” and democracy’s relative dullness, its almost purposeful dullness. Roger channeled a view that has been very influential in general, including at the highest levels of the Democratic Party: that you don’t want to become like the fascists in fighting the fascists (which, fair enough), and (here I get more skeptical) that this means carrying yourself as the sober counter to their electric pursuit of sentiment. This is where I, along with many of the people lurking in the wings whom I’ve been reporting on, disagree. I believe it is totally possible to make people feel big feels for the democratic cause, and I don’t think it’s dangerous. But the vibes faction wasn’t in charge all these years. And now, in the rise of the Brat Pack, they are. If I understand them right, they believe at bottom that you can, and indeed must, seek to compete with fascists for the emotional life of people, that you must take an organizer’s approach to helping people process a bewildering age and the dislocations of change and the resentments that come with progress and the pain of capitalist predation. The new style recognizes emotional labor, if you will, as vital to political work. That is why Harris and Governor Tim Walz are constantly talking about “joy.” That is why the campaign has embraced the notion of the centrality of vibes, not just policy. The Brat Pack doesn’t have any disdain for emotion.

CULTURE. The Brat Pack wants to play in the culture. A constant lament of organizers and activists and electoral campaigners on the broad left in recent years has been the lack of savvy engagement in the culture. The right has its MAGA hats. Where were the left’s hats? The right has racist songs about small towns. What anthems have risen to the fore and held the nation in thrall to represent values of pluralism, multi-racial democracy, and freedom? For some years now, Democrats have been absent from the culture of the nation in a way that makes no sense given the party’s near-monopoly on top-tier artists who side with them. In the rise of the Brat Pack, you’re seeing a total shift. Memes are back, and there is a willingness to engage with them, in spite of the risk of backfiring or losing a little dignity. There is a Beyoncé anthem that makes the campaign’s rallying cry of “freedom” something that can be felt in the body, not just known in the mind. You can imagine prior generations of Democratic campaigns that would have tried to rein in Vice President Harris’s laugh because of right-wing attacks on it, or told Governor Walz to stop his hilarious habit of doing a Broadway-style leg kick on stage. But this is no longer that kind of Democratic campaign. Something, once again, has shifted. There is on the upswing a view that if you can leap from politics into the culture, always take that deal.

GOING LOW. The Brat Pack is worried about going high when they go low. Former first lady Michelle Obama has said she was misunderstood when she said, “When they go low, we go high.” She said she never meant it as a call for unilateral disarmament. But that notion of going high and staying high, even in the face of true depredation from the extreme right, has felt like the dominant approach in recent years — and often a very frustrating one. Many Democrats in recent years have been hesitant to punch back, wary of name-calling, averse to impugning motives and tarring genuinely un-American policies as un-American. As Senator Chris Murphy told me some time ago, “Democrats, we believe in subtleties. We don’t believe in good and evil. We believe in relativity. That needs to change.” Well, it’s a’changing right now. The Brat Pack is breaking from Michelle Obama’s famous phrase. It is not interested in going high no matter what. It is not interested in staying above the fray. It has finally embraced the kind of rapid reaction to Trump’s madness that has long been called for. And the tone of the Harris campaign’s statements is breathtakingly fresh, a true and very notable break from the “go high” way.

MOBISUASION. Perhaps the most politically significant element of the Brat Pack’s way is the rise of what one of its leading gurus, Anat Shenker-Osorio, calls “mobisuasion.” This is the theory that Democrats should not seek to persuade by diluting their offerings to reach out to the middle, the moderates, the centrists, whatever. Rather, they should seek to “animate the base to persuade the middle.” You mobilize your own people, your core supporters, offering them things that genuinely excite them, and you trust that their excitement will be infectious, creating a contagion that eventually touches their more conservatives relatives and neighbors and friends. Anat, who is no stranger to Ink readers, is perhaps the person who has recently experienced the biggest shift from ��excellent advice not being listened to” to “excellent advice now steering the whole ship.” She is the philosopher-queen of the Brat Pack, and in some sense what we are seeing now is the triumph of her and her allies’ approach, at last. You don’t have to know whether the people running the Harris campaign are listening to Anat’s methods to know that they clearly are.

In theory, Mobisuasion sounds great, right? But it hasn’t really been embraced at the highest levels in recent years. Instead, what has dominated is a fetish for courting Ohio-Diner Americans — white-working-class, moderate or even right-leaning voters who tend to think Democrats are communists and God haters. Memo: Those people often fail to come around, despite the attention lavished on them, and in the meantime, the courting of them, and the dilution it requires, depresses the hell out of your base, and nobody is left very happy. The Brat Pack, thanks to Anat’s long campaign of persuasion to change how Democrats seek to persuade, is embracing mobisuasion. If you look closely, you will notice that this campaign is the first in memory seemingly not to worry a lot about the Ohio-Diner American vote. Which is not to say they are not courting it. But they are not tempering the message for white-working-class voters. They are inviting them to come aboard the joy train. It is a campaign that is not centered on reassuring the people the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King called the “white moderate.” In selecting Walz as her running mate, Harris instead seemed to choose an approach of showing many white-working-class voters that they can be who they are and be part of a pluralist future and be allies. They can join the future. The future won’t stop for them.

RECLAIMING. The Brat Pack is helping Harris reclaim the mistakenly forsaken frames of patriotism and freedom. As two insightful recent reports in The Times have observed, Harris has embraced the language of freedom typically heard from Republicans and embraced the language of patriotism also claimed by the right — finding her own progressive incarnations of these ideas. These twin embraces have been championed by voices like Anat’s in recent years, but they have struggled to come to pass for a few reasons. One is that elements of the progressive left are deeply uncomfortable with patriotism and with a frame of freedom, finding them right-wingy and cringe. Another is that more moderate elements of the left sometimes do talk in this way but end up adopting Republican frames in the process that undermine Democrats’ goals. It’s not helpful to talk about patriotism if you’re going to use that to support draconian counterterrorism policies; it’s not helpful to talk up freedom if you’re going to use that to undercut universal healthcare. What is happening now, and perhaps reflects the Brat Pack’s way, is an interest in claiming patriotism but making it one’s own, a progressive patriotism for a multiracial democracy that is still in the works, a way of talking about American democracy that doesn’t erase what’s wrong nor skip over all that’s right. In many ways, it is a way of talking about patriotism that grows out of communities of color and stretches back to the Civil Rights Movement, where Dr. King found ingenious ways of honoring the American founding fathers and documents while invoking them to summon the nation to resolve unfinished business:

“When the architects of our great republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir…Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given its colored people a bad check, a check that has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt…So we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom…”

These are the elements of change as I see them. Admittedly, it’s early days. And I can only see what I see from the outside, observing the results of the work. I am not privy to the mechanics of how a new crop of strategists is overturning the old ways. And, of course, many of the people driving these changes have been in campaigns all along. This is not a question of old staff being replaced by new staff. It is, from what I gather from people close to the process, a matter of old ideas being replaced by new ones, and the new ideas being carried out by a team of old and new hands, some of whom have long been waiting for this day to come.

Beyond the specific elements, a final word about what they add up to. The Brat Pack is pushing the Democratic Party in a more dice-rolling direction. Take the risk, try the weird thing, shock people a little, channel your inner Bonnie Raitt and let’s give ’em something to talk about. It is the rise, perhaps, of a more fearless Democratic Party: fearless about how it communicates and crafts statements, fearless about not pandering to the white moderate, fearless in picking a vice presidential nominee based on chemistry rather than electoral calculus, fearless about hitting back and even being deservedly vicious, fearless about making jokes about Walz’s inability to eat spices and trusting that people will appreciate the playful ribbing rather than believe, with Ben Shapiro, that whiteness is under attack, fearless in shaking things up on the assumption that the old ways won’t beat fascism.

Yes, we have a new candidate in Harris. But don’t sleep on the deeper shift. A new political style is on the rise. The Brat Pack has a plan to defeat Trump. Will it work?

[TCinLA]

[touchlikethesun]

random but in putting together my room today i came across a letter someone had written for me in freshers, and frankly it is one of the nicest most heartfelt letters i think anyone has ever written to me, and the last line is “i know you’re pessimistic and you don’t have a lot of faith that we’ll be friends in 5 years, but i really hope we will be.”

they wrote that letter in 2019. it’s 2024. it’s been five years. we still call every month and i’m seeing them in three weeks. it’s been five years and we are still friends.

just goes to show doesn’t it

[msclaritea]

Levi Strauss heir will reportedly challenge London Breed in 2024

SF Mayor London Breed will reportedly face another 2024 challenger: a Levi Strauss heir

Alec Regimbal, SFGATE

Updated: July 18, 2023 10:02 a.m.

"An heir to the Levi Strauss fortune will reportedly challenge San Francisco Mayor London Breed for her seat in next year’s election, according to a report from the San Francisco Standard. 

What to know about the Pier 39 sea lions

The report said Daniel Lurie has yet to formally announce his candidacy or file the paperwork necessary to begin raising money, but several sources who have knowledge of his plans told the Standard that he’s been “hosting gatherings to rally support.” The Standard also reported that Lurie has begun recruiting staff and is being helped by Tyler Law — a political consultant whose firm has assisted in state and national races, including the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Pete Buttigieg. 

A San Francisco native, Lurie is the founder of Tipping Point Community, a nonprofit aimed at combating poverty in the Bay Area. Lurie is also the son of Mimi Haas, who married the late philanthropist Peter Haas — the great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss — after her divorce from Brian Lurie, a prominent rabbi. Mimi Haas owns 11% of Levi Strauss & Co. shares, making her the single largest shareholder in a company that’s worth more than $5 billion today.  

Lurie did not reply to a request for comment from SFGATE.  

The news that Lurie is reportedly planning to launch a campaign comes at time when San Francisco voters are largely unhappy with Breed’s performance as mayor. A pair of recently released polls show that voters are concerned primarily about drugs, public safety, homelessness and housing affordability, and generally disapprove of the way Breed is handling those issues. The mayor’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment from SFGATE about Lurie’s reported plans.

The only prominent challenger to Breed who has formally announced their campaign for mayor is District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who told the San Francisco Chronicle in May, “People are very dissatisfied with the current mayor, dissatisfied with the condition of the city, and they’re looking for change.” (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

Safaí, like Breed, is seen as a moderate Democrat, which sets them apart from the more progressive members of the city’s political arena. A source close to Lurie told the Standard that they believe he can offer a “similar but fresher alternative to the moderate Democratic platform of Breed.” That means, unless a prominent progressive enters the race, voters might be choosing among candidates with similar platforms.

Apart from his work with Tipping Point Community — he stepped down as CEO in 2019 — Lurie is mostly known for his ties to the Levi Strauss fortune. In 2021, he reportedly purchased an estate in Point Dume, a promontory on the coast of Malibu, for $15.5 million.

The Standard reported that Lurie lives in Potrero Hill with his wife Becca Prowda, who works for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and their two kids."

And Governor Gavin Newsom is a World Economic Forum puppet, having been involved with that totally unregulated, foreign body who become giddy at the thought of running the entire planet. I don't get San Franciscans not understanding what's going on. I looked up Mayor London Breed, and while she's not perfect, Breed has enacted a lot of policy changes to improve the city. The fact that there are so many local 'Progressives' against her, tells me Mayor Breed is actually worth keeping. Note that it's not just Progressives but the Predatory classes, like Musk and his Silicon Valley ilk who are trying to run her out of office. We all saw similar coups go down in New York and Chicago and the jury is still out on Mayor Eric Adams, who recently tried cutting the budget of N.Y. libraries. But Mayor Breed stopped a new private prison from being built. I thought that was something these faketivists wanted.

COVID-19 response

'San Francisco issued a state of emergency because of COVID-19 in February 2020, before the federal government suggested doing so, and San Francisco became one of the first American cities to go into lockdown. On March 2, Breed advised residents, "Prepare for possible disruption from an outbreak". Under the state of emergency, private gyms were required to shut down, but the city government petitioned Cal/OSHA for a waiver to allow various government employees to continue to use gyms in city-owned facilities, which were allowed to continue to operate.

On April 24, 2020, Breed reported that her city's PPE orders had been diverted to other cities and countries. She said, "We’ve had issues of our orders being relocated by our suppliers in China. For example, we had isolation gowns on their way to San Francisco and they were diverted to France. We’ve had situations when things we’ve ordered that have gone through Customs were confiscated by FEMA to be diverted to other locations." Wiki

We never got an investigation into what was going on with the PPE gowns and other equipment during covid. I'm guessing certain parties don't want it brought up because someone has to explain why, if Trump and Kushner were only sending equipment to states that support him, while having their Chinese allies block delivery to cities such as San Francisco, how did Bernie Sanders and Vermont come out on top? There were NO interruptions in their supply.

How much is the Strauss family worth?

$4 billion

Their collective net worth is over $4 billion. And revenues are up nearly 30% from 2020. There are also plans in motion to expand and innovate the business by offering a more convenient shopping experience using AI. The company has also acquired the major active wear brand, Beyond Yoga.Apr 1, 2022

[yourvassal]

never apologize for bringing ycgma into smth

also... to ask more abt the au, I'm not rlly familiar w/ the source material, but from what I've read there's the original Finish comic and then a Japanese animated series was made loosely based off it.

which one is your au most similar to?

well the most recent version i had watched was the 2019 animated series so that's fresher in my mind, but i'm in love with the 90s one i just think the writing and animation is so charming and comforting and because of that i think it's the world i picture the au in most. though the themes between snufkin and moomin are similar to me across all the versions and it's my favorite thing about the series. a lot of the more complex details about who the characters are and how they think is interpretation, i guess? but it's based off the real developments in the writing

[otterandterrierwrites]

otterandterrier’s fics: bedroom hymns

A thematic self-rec list.

SMUT

Ignite my circuits and start a flame Anthology of shorts based on prompts, going from before ESB to after RotJ (not all are smutty). [wc 9,587, E, 2019]

What it takes to come alive Pre-ESB - Han and Leia decide to take a last chance while trapped and surrounded by hungry monsters. [wc 4,884, E, 2020]

keep with me forward (all through the night) Pre-ESB - After kissing during an undercover mission, Han and Leia struggle to ignore their feelings as they infiltrate a masquerade gala [wc 19,716, E, 2019]

All work and no play Pre-ESB - Secretly showering together in the communal 'fresher on base. [wc 2,924, E, 2021]

Night at the Grand Regent Hotel Sex pollen fic, set during the comic "Rebels and Rogues". [wc 7,854, E, 2022]

A lesson ESB - Leia shows Han what she likes on the trip to Bespin. (this fic is outdated to what I think today, but it was a big deal to me at the time) [wc 710, M, 2017]

Not quite dirty talk ESB - During the trip to Bespin, Leia accidentally shuts Han out. Luckily, he knows how to draw her out of her shell again. [wc 2,354, E, 2023]

Dreamscape ESB - Last night together in Cloud City. [wc 986, M, 2018]

the static of your arms, it is the catalyst RotJ - Reunion sex and feelings after Han is released from the medcenter [wc 3,995, E, 2020]

Alone time Post-RotJ - Han and Leia find some alone time in a ‘fresher (again) [wc 1,792, E, 2018]

Something's electric in your blood Post-RotJ - A walk on the beach is interrupted by a storm, and Han and Leia wait it out in a cave. [wc 3,529, E, 2017]

The best right in a million wrongs Smutty follow-up to the book “Last Shot”. [wc 4,479, E, 2022]

Leather and lace Post-RotJ - While Han rambles on about the Millennium Falcon, Leia decides to let him know how much he turns her on. [wc 1,885, E, 2019]

[silentreigns]

George fans talk about prioritizing, I actually had more than one cases of Merc prioritizing Russell before Lewis.

The one I will use is Brazil 2022. Yeah, usually esp Merc will always pit the leading car in every pit under normal situation and in this race there was exception. Merc in their second chose to pit Lewis who had fresher tires bc late first pit and obviously can use it as an advantage in remnant laps by late pit and in the hindsight, if he did that, he can actually get a free pit bc the sc. But Merc somehow took that away by changing the pit call order to make Lewis pit for the second stint first, making sure he can’t attack Russell for win bc he didn’t have tires advantage which was gained by himself, after getting crashed into by Max and with car damage, he still managed to close the gap with front by himself, and Merc just took that away bc they want a solid finish without potential inner fight.

Back to Singapore 2023, obvs Russell got the prior of being leading car in the team, first pit every time, even though Lewis will lose time bc Merc slow double pits. And the smartest strategy is to pit Lewis and keep Russell out, but I think with Russell he would insist to pit bc he wanted to win. Unfortunately Merc is so used to this strategy with Lewis, who can always make this kind of hunting happen that made Merc think maybe the other driver can make it work too. And We have Bottas who failed to make it in Bahrain 2017( or 18? ) and Monza 2019 and now we had Russell crumbled under pressure too. Just show that not everyone suits this strategy.

I have a lot of thoughts on this and they're pretty scattered but walk with me

Mercedes needs to quit with these long pitstops. These 3-5 second pitstops aren't cute and they need to resolve that issue 😭😭😭. Double stacking is not their strong suit so that made me even more nervous

I only remember a couple of things about Brazil 2022, so I might not be completely accurate. I think George and Lewis were allowed to fight for the win. I don't know if it was possible for Lewis to win though even if he didn't have contact with Max. Lewis only led for a few laps and George was having one of the best races of his career. Too bad there was so much drama in the paddock that it completely overshadowed his win 😭

In hindsight, maybe it would have been better for George to stay out and for Lewis to pit in the final stint yesterday. Maybe George didn't have a good outlap so that ruined his chances of catching Lando. Mercedes took a gamble and it did pay off until it didn't 🤷‍♀️

I will never get mad at George for being ambitious and pushing himself to be the best driver. I'll get annoyed about him suggesting team orders, but I understand that he just wants to maximize the amount of points

But I do need to recognize that this season he's made a lot of mistakes that have cost him considerably. Colliding in a wall with Canada, contact with Lando at Zandvoort then proceeding to cause an incident with Yuki which resulting in Yuki getting penalized somehow, hitting a wall in Singapore, and I can go on. I feel like he's been off this whole season, and it's hard to explain what I mean

We know George is talented but his impulsive decisions this season have me scratching my head. I don't think he's crumbling under pressure because he has been qualifying way better since the summer break. He just needs to... calm down. Like we know you're a great driver and that you're in high pressure situations. He just needs to be in a better headspace.

[myrefersofficial]

KL Rahul Weds Athiya Shetty: Another Bolly-Cricket Love Story 

People in India are obsessed with Bollywood and cricket, having a high degree of glitz and glamor. Fans will go to any lengths to take a picture with their favorite cricketer or Bollywood star, and they will do anything to have a sight of them or to take a picture with them. 

Bollywood and cricket are linked because the celebrities who work in both fields enjoy a strong connection with one another. There have been many affairs between Bollywood stars and cricketers, and most of those couples have gone on to get married after a romantic relationship. 

Some examples of these couples include Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, Geeta Basra and Harbhajan Singh, and many others. Most of these couples are enjoying a happy married life and the freshers to join the gang are the newly wed Athiya Shetty and KL Rahul. 

Read our blog on "Stunning Wives of Cricketers From the Bollywood & Entertainment Industry" to learn about such sassy couples. 

The Beginning Of Athiya And KL Rahul's Romance 

Reportedly beginning their relationship in 2019, cricketer KL Rahul and actor Athiya Shetty were introduced to one another by a mutual acquaintance. In December 2019, the pair shared their first Instagram post, which quickly garnered much attention. 

It was stated that the pair celebrated the arrival of the year 2020 in Thailand with some of their close friends. Fans kept wondering about the couple's relationship because they celebrated birthdays and vacations together. 

After that, Athiya and Rahul shared images of themselves on their social media accounts, which led to speculation that the two were dating. Although the pair never acknowledged their relationship in public, they also never denied that it existed.

As fresh photographs of the couple circulated on social media, speculation about their relationship intensified. After that, Athiya started traveling with Rahul on the international tours of Team India. In 2021, Rahul and Athiya collaborated for an endorsement. 

They were spotted advertising the luxury eyewear brand NUMI Paris. In December 2021, Rahul and Athiya made their first appearance in public during the film "Tadap" screening the following year. On the red carpet, they were seen walking hand in hand with one another.

When it was Athiya's 29th birthday, the couple made their relationship public when Rahul uploaded a post on social media that was specifically devoted to Athiya. Afterward, the couple can be seen posting their emotional images together on their respective social media accounts.

Shetty Anna's Reviews Regarding Daughter's Choice

Both Bollywood starlet Athiya Shetty, the daughter of actor Sunil Shetty, and cricketer K.L. Rahul have been dating for over three years. There have been multiple reports regarding the pair's wedding over the past few days, and it was reported that their wedding would take place soon.

Although the speculation about the wedding has been circulating on social media for the past few months, neither she nor Rahul has spoken. On the other hand, the actress's father, Sunil Shetty, has recently disclosed the actress's engagement to K.L. Rahul. 

He went on to say that at the moment, Rahul is scheduled to play in several tournaments, including the World Cup, the Asia Cup, the South African Tour, and the Australian Tour, and that the couple plans to be married as soon as they have a break from their responsibilities.

When rumors began to spread about the marriage, Athiya responded to them via her Instagram story by writing, "I hope I'm invited to this wedding that's taking place in three months, lol." However, her father recently disclosed that he approves of their intentions to wed.

Celebration Of KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty's Wedding

On January 21, the festivities surrounding KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty's wedding got underway. The wedding festivities were held with a low profile to protect the privacy of the newlyweds. Though, immediate family members and close friends attended the functions. 

Athiya and KL Rahul invited their guests for a sangeet the night before the wedding. During the celebrations, Suniel and his wife Mana, with Athiya's best friends Krishna Shroff and Akansha Ranjan, lit the dance floor on fire.

On the wedding day i.e. January 23, it was seen that the pair was color-coding their wedding attire. Anamika Khanna, a well-known Indian fashion designer, was responsible for the bridal attire of the couple. Athiya adored a chickankari lehenga in pink tones with embellishments.

She matched it with a full-sleeved blouse with a sweetheart neckline and an uneven hemline, and she topped it off with a semi-translucent dupatta. The actress finished off her ensemble with a maang tikka, a delicate kaleerey, and a hefty stone-studded choker with dangling earrings.

The newlyweds Athiya Shetty and KL Rahul appeared in front of the excited paparazzi waiting outside the venue. Following the conclusion of the ceremonies, the newlyweds made their way out of the restricted area to strike poses for the photographers.

KL Rahul was wearing an ivory sherwani to complement his new bride. The couple complimented each other exceptionally well and appeared to have a good time together. It has been reported that KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty will throw an extravagant after-party.

Rahul shared photos from the wedding and wrote, "'In your light, I learn how to love...' Today, with our most loved ones, we got married in the home that’s given us immense joy and serenity. With a heart full of gratitude and love, we seek your blessings on this journey of togetherness."

Kartik Aaryan, Alia Bhatt, Kiara Advani, Kriti Sanon, Parineeti Chopra, Ananya Panday, and Kareena Kapoor were among the numerous Bollywood superstars who were present to offer their wishes to the newlywed pair as they exchanged their vows. 

Many famous people rushed to their social media platforms to send well wishes to a recently married pair. Anushka and Virat Kohli both congratulated the couple on their social media accounts. There are showers of blessings from both communities. 

The newlywed couple will have a reception party in Mumbai for their pals in the industry and their buddies who play cricket for the Indian national team. The reception party will be attended by numerous relatives, close friends, and acquaintances.

Wrapping Up

MyRefers wishes the couple a very delightful married life and a serene bond of togetherness. Stay connected for more such trending news and articles entertaining you to the fullest and letting people get a sneak peek into the lives of your favorite celebrities.