#hamilton free speech

[wejustvibing]

brazil riding harder for its honorary citizen than its actual one is very telling lmao

[coochiequeens]

Scottish Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton told the crowd that the case of double rapist Isla Bryson, who was a man known as Adam Graham at the time of the offences, exposed "major flaws" in current policy.” She spoke the truth

Campaigners have gathered outside Holyrood to protest against transgender criminals in female prisons. Women's rights campaigners with For Women Scotland joined with reform group Keep Prisons Safe and chanted "shame" at the decision to place prisoners who have self-identified as female in Cornton Vale, Scotland's only all-female jail. 

The group said urgent questions must be answered on how the Scottish Prison Service, which assesses transgender allocation based on "risk", deemed the placements suitable. Scottish Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton told the crowd that the case of double rapist Isla Bryson, who was a man known as Adam Graham at the time of the offences, exposed "major flaws" in current policy. 

The rally, attended by SNP MSPs Michelle Thomson, Ash Regan and Kenneth Gibson and a handful of Conservative politicians, followed public outcry after Bryson was housed in segregation at Cornton Vale before being moved to the men's estate to await sentencing.

Following the case, a Scottish Government pause on the housing of trans prisoners with a history of violence against women in the female estate was put in place. Ms Hamilton, who warned of the potential consequences of self-ID during the Holyrood debate last year on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act, said: "It is absolutely clear that the case of Adam Graham, who now identifies as Isla Bryson, highlights the major flaws in the current policy. 

"Whilst this Government has tried to wash their hands of responsibility, I want to make it clear that whatever they say, it is undeniably clear that this Government has ministerial oversight of the Scottish Prison Service. It is absurd and offensive that a double rapist was sent to Cornton Vale. It is because of a flawed policy."

For Women Scotland co-director Susan Smith accused the Scottish Government of "abdicating responsibility" as she urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to get her "head out of the clouds". The gender-critical campaigner said: "I think Nicola Sturgeon intervened in the case of Isla Bryson out of pure embarrassment because it exposed the idiocy, frankly, of these kinds of policies.

[menagerofmischief]

hi!! i have a big order i hope it’s not too much trouble :’)

could i get a charcuterie board (but maybe married instead of dating) with a cold appetizer? for the mains, i’d like lobster, gyros, sausage rolls, and sarma. and for drinks: white wine, fanta, coca cola, coke zero and a strawberry lemonade all served by sir lewis hamilton, please and thank you!!

my favourite track on the calendar is zandvoort because of the banked curves 😋

charcuterie board dating/married cold appetizer rough sex lobster "I love watching my cum leak out from your pussy" gyros "Gonna fill you up" sausage rolls "I'll make it fit" sarma "Gonna put a baby in you" white wine sir kink fanta size kink coca cola somnophillia coke zero free use strawberry lemonade breeding kink + sweet tea morning sex

lewis hamilton x wife!reader

cw: somno, waking up with sex, no plot just porn, seriously straight to smut no intro, oral sex f!receiving, PiV, unprotected sex, cumming inside, bit of breeding, aftercare implied not included

wc: 0.9k

a/n: back to diner orders because I have over a 100 in my inbox and they're fun. this is short, and probably shit, but I hope you enjoy.

You woke up with a gasp, mouth falling open as a moan slid past your lips, body jerking upwards as pleasure coiled in your belly.

“Fuck, ah, Lewis!” You moaned, fingers tightening around the edges of the blanket as you lifted it up, your eyes meeting his. Your husband looks up at you, his strong hands pushing apart your thighs, lips wrapped around your clit

You go to speak when he nips at your clit and then sucks immediately afterwards, like he’s trying to soothe you, and your head falls further back into the pillow, a gasp of pleasure slipping past your lips. 

You push your tongue out, running it over you lips as Lewis continues to eat you with more excitement that he’s ever shown any food. Finally you find your voice to speak. “Holy shit!” You breathe out, pushing the blanket completely aside and bringing one hand down to rest on his hair, careful of the braids. “Good morning, baby.”

He hummed in reply, sending vibrations straight into your core. “Good morning,” he said, pulling back a bit, a string of saliva still connecting him to your clit. He flashed you a smile before dipping his head back down and pushing his tongue inside of you, his thumb coming up to rub your clit. 

It’s not long after that your legs are shaking, still held down by his hands, and you can feel your gut tighten with every stroke of his thumb and tongue. “I’m gonna cum!” You whine, fingers grasping onto the bed sheets.

“If you wanna cum then go ahead and beg for it,” he orders, thrusting two fingers into you and stroking against your g-spot as he wraps his lips around your clit and sucks.

He doesn’t really have to say anything more, you already know what he wants. And like rehearsed speech, pleas start falling from your lips as you beg for your approaching orgasm. “Oh sir!” You whine, your voice high pitched. “Please let me cum, sir. I wanna cum for you, please.”

“Cum,” he uttered, his voice muffled by his face being buried in your folds. That was all it took for your orgasm to crash over you, tipping you over the edge.

Lewis pulls back, giving you a few moments to calm down before he’s pulling down his sleep shorts and briefs and crawling over you. He leans down to kiss you, lips pressing against your in a gentle show of affection and you can taste your arousal on him.

His cock slides through your folds, the tip nudging against your overworked clit, which has you whining as you grab onto his biceps. “Too big, Lew.” You whine, feeling his hardness pressing against you.

He chuckles his eyes meeting yours as he guides the tip of his leaking cock to your entrance, the mushroom head barely slipping in. “Don’t worry baby,” he cooed, his lips brushing against your forehead in a calming manner. “I’ll make it fit, yeah. I always make it fit.”

Lewis pushed himself inside inch by inch until his hips were flush with yours. After all this time, taking him fully was still a stretch. One you would welcome with open arms every time.

He started thrusting slowly, groaning leaving his mouth. “Fuck you feel so good, baby, so tight. Squeezing my dick so well.”

You nodded back at him, too overwhelmed with pleasure to properly speak and he started speeding up his actions. His thrusts holding a bit more power behind them now as he fucked you into the mattress, shaking the bed with each thrust and driving the headboard into the wall.

It wasn’t long until you felt your orgasm approaching, wrapping your legs around his waist and throwing your head back in pleasure. “Fuck, Lew, gonna cum. Cum with me please.” You begged, your nails digging into the skin of his back.

“You gonna cum, baby?” He teased, the rhythm of his hips not slowing down. “Go on, be a good girl and cum for me. Then I’m gonna fill you up.”

You moaned at his words, clenching around him as your second orgasm crashed over you, eyes rolling back in pleasure as you clawed at his back. Still, he kept thrusting.

“Yeah, you want that. Don’t worry, sweet girl, you’ll get my cum.” He groaned, his hips faltering as his dick twitched inside of you before you felt his cum spilling along your walls. “Gonna put a baby in you, you want that? Want to be all round and swollen with my child. You’d look so good, the prettiest mama.”

He pulled his now softening dick out of the warmth of your pussy, his cum spilling immediately now that his dick was no longer acting like a makeshift plug. He groaned at the sight, his fingers sliding down to collect the spilled cum and push it back into you, making you whine at the overstimulation he was providing. 

He hummed, bringing his coated fingers up to your lips. You wasted no time to lean forward and take his fingers into your mouth, licking them clean. “I love to watch my cum leak out from your pussy.” He told you, his words making you shiver in delight.

Lewis leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips, his hands stroking the skin of your arms. “Let me pamper you a little, baby.” He asked, and you found yourself nodding back at him. It was a very good morning, indeed.

[eveningalchemist]

Black Sails ended in 2017. Vine died in 2017.

Coincidence?? I think NOT!!!

[Video Description: a compilation of clips from Black Sails, with the audio replaced by Vines. transitions are a ship, the Walrus, exploding. a full description of each Vine is written beneath the cut. end ID]

I think we're gonna be friends kazoo kid vine over Silver and Flint in the we might be friends by then scene.

Screaming kid good morning vine over Joshua trying to jump scare Gates.

Don't fuck with me vine over Jack Rackham fighting for his first prize with another pirate captain.

The fuck this shit I'm out song over Silver watching Flint beat Singleton to death. Silver jumps overboard after.

The when will you learn vine over Max shouting at Eleanor during their break-up scene.

The yeet vine over Flint tossing Richard Guthrie's wig off the boat.

The free your mind vine over Vane's speech before he fights the logging camp leader. Fast-forward though the fight to Vane getting his face kicked in.

Sail! vine over a beautiful opening shot of the Walrus. A crew member shouts. Cut to the Walrus being blasted apart with cannon-fire.

Today I will be playing Mozart vine over Miranda about to play on her clavichord before being interrupted by Flint collapsing at her door.

Kitty! I want to sing you a song vine over various scenes of Randall and Betsy, the ship cat.

Do you ever want to talk about your emotions vine over Gates chastising Flint outside in Nassau, cut with Billy interrupting.

Gimme your fucking money vine over Eleanor arguing with a pirate crew, followed by Vane throwing Ned Lowe across his cabin, cutting to his warning sign that reads, I angered Charles Vane

Saw you hanging out with Katelyn yesterday vine over Billy confronting Dufresne about his betrayal, with pirates reacting in the background.

I am the sand guardian vine over Flint and Silver on the beach after the Walrus is wrecked, cutting to Dufresne walking away from them.

It is Wednesday my dudes vine over the island's Puritan priest practicing his sermon in a field looking distressed, overlaid with the scene of Miranda seducing him.

Barbecue sauce on my tittles vine over the scene of Gates and Flint drinking during the storm, with Gates giving a solemn speech. Cutting to Flint laughing drunkenly.

Welcome to Chili's vine over Anne going to Max's room, interrupted by Jack appearing while they are in bed.

Harry what's for dindin vine over a crew member walking up to Silver while he's giving his goings-on report. He punches Silver in the gut and Flint makes an 'oh' face.

Bop-It! vine over quick cut scenes of Jack, Anne, and Vane, including various fuck-you jack moments.

Welcome to my meet or greet vine over Colonel Rhett of Charlestown welcoming Flint into the city, unfriendly.

Dad look, it's the good kush! vine over Vane rolling a cigar, cutting to Blackbeard standing in his tent looking tired.

It's an avocado vine over Woodes Rogers receiving Eleanor's embroidery attempt.

Do you have any ice? vine over Thomas Hamilton explaining his plan to pardon the pirates to Flint, who looks baffled.

Somebody left an ice cube on the ground vine over Silver walking into Nassau's tavern to call-out the pirates for taking pardons. He hits Dufresne with a mug.

Get on top of the fridge vine over Flint yelling at Billy during the storm. Cut to Billy clinging onto a yard as the ship nearly capsizes.

Look at this graph vine over Silver trying to use navigation instruments and explaining them to Madi. Madi looks increasingly concerned.

Road work ahead? vine over Jack in Roger's carriage as they are approached by pirates on horseback. The carriage crashes.

You should get the orange soda vine over Eleanor and Max talking in her office after Eleanor's return from London. Eleanor is the orange soda woman and Rogers is the waiter.

Two bros chillin' in the hot tub vine over quick cuts of scenes of Silver and Flint, including sitting on the beach after the doldrums, staring at each other across a gap, and Madi in between them giving Silver a pointed look.

Release all of those sounds that are trapped in your mind vine over Vane talking to Eleanor while he's in prison. Cut to Eleanor screaming in the corner.

The fuck is in the air vine over Jack arriving in Boston and complaining about the snow.

I love you, bitch, vine over Vane getting punched by Eleanor, then getting a noose slipping around his neck as she watches.

It's finals week vine over Silver scenes across all seasons, from pleading his innocence in season 1, to getting his leg removed, to trying to save Muldoon from drowning, and then pulling a gun on Flint in the final episode.

[spoonfulofmilo]

Could you do fic for Toto Wolff with wife reader? He opted to hold her hand during the celebration of the Merc's double podium because there were too many people. "Move through the crowd while holding hands so as to not lose one another – and not letting go afterwards". Just something fluff and comfort. Add something if it's not right. Tag me later!! Thanks :)))

sorry it's so short! but I loved writing this fluff, and honestly churned it out in like 1 hour.

also if you have older requests i am working on them, I am just also working on school work.

luckily, all my assessments are nearly done, and holidays are next week so yay! more updates :)

my masterlist can be accessed here

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

toto wolff x wife!reader

“AND THAT IS A MERCEDES 1-2 TO THROW THIS CHAMPIONSHIP WIDE OPEN AT THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX AND 3 YEARS AFTER WINNING HIS LAST GRAND PRIX HERE, LEWIS HAMILTON HAS WON HIS 104TH CAREER VICTORY AND WHAT A WAY TO DO IT IN HIS LAST SEASON WITH MERCEDES.”

The rest of Crofty’s speech was drowned out by the cheers of the garage around Y/N as the team who had gone so long without winning, especially Lewis’ side of the garage cheered and yelled and as the pit mechanics came back from where they’d been on the fence yelling and contributed to more noise.

Y/N felt a little overwhelmed. She hadn’t really been in the garage since 2021, due to her husband’s tensions during the year and her wish to continue to just focus on her own career. She tried to insist she was the team’s bad luck charm after Abu Dhabi, until people had pointed out that she’d also been there during the dominant 2020 season. And as she had spent 2022 and 2023, which also were not great years for Mercedes, she’d agreed to do a lot more of her work remotely and come to the grand prixs. She insisted that she was bad luck at the first grand prix, and Toto had basically dragged her along to Saudi.

Maybe she was their good luck charm, she thought, as the garage exploded when Max and Sergio had crashed into each other, making both the red bulls retire. The Ferrari’s had been having problems all weekend but no one truly hoped even when they were sitting in a 1-2.

At least until they’d crossed the line. And then they’d had hope. And then the celebrations had begun. Someone had already found champagne and begun spraying it around, no one thinking about the podium, until all of a sudden everyone was and they were all rushing around and Y/N was all caught up in the rush and being pushed around by everyone, trying to find Toto until she felt a hand slip into hers.

She jumped back, not wanting some strange man holding her hand until she looked up and realised that it was in fact her husband who was trying to hold her hand.

“Sorry…didn’t realise it was you.”

“That’s okay Liebe. I’ve got you. Now lets go watch Lewis on the podium, okay?”

The second she nodded in agreement, Toto slipped his hand back into Y/N’s as he tried to push through the crowd again. Being tall and the team principal helped, and as they weren't coming for the pre podium celebrations, which is where everyone else was rushing towards. As the drivers were hugged and yelled at again by the mechanics (honestly how were they going to have voices tomorrow, and how were the red bull mechanics’ voices not very raspy after doing this practically every week for the past few years). Y/N thought she was going to have to cancel her meetings for the next few weeks as she would just be unable to talk.

Toto pushed through the throng of mechanics, pushing through the Mercedes and Williams colours everywhere, trying to get a good position at the front, and then the announcers began, and Toto and Y/N were wedged against the barrier and they decided to stop and watch the podium.

Y/N watched as Albon mounted the podium, grinning to the feral screams of the Williams mechanics to her left. She’d ended up wedged between James and Toto, smiling at James’ excitement on Alex being on the podium. She smiled at him as the noise from the Williams side of the podium celebration. He smiled back, almost bouncing up and down by the excitement of what Williams was achieving. And as Lewis, George and Bono bounded onto the podium, bringing up a round of screaming and even Y/N raised her hands. And as she raised her right hand, she could feel Toto’s hand, still intertwined with hers. She smiled, locking eyes with Toto.

His eyes twinkled as he smiled down, before his attention was brought back to the podium and yelling at the drivers.

The German and British anthems blared out, and while Y/N knew most of the words of the British anthem (it was mostly just the same words on repeat ‘god save our king’). And while Toto was able to sing the German anthem while Y/N butchered it here and there. She loved listening to her husband singing or talking in his natural language. It was very hot, if Y/N had to admit it.

As they left the podium to go back to the garage, Toto had still not let go of her hand as they continued winding between what felt like millions of people crowding the pit lane.

When they finally returned to the Mercedes garage, and walked up to Toto’s office, Toto finally let go of Y/N’s hand and started to gather up his work and laptop to get ready to return to the hotel.

“Hey, toto?”

“Yes liebe?”

“Why were you holding my hand?”

“Well, I didn’t want to get lost, and I didn’t want you to get lost, liebe.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t you let go of my hand when we got to the podium”

“Do I need an excuse to hold your hand, darling?”

“No but…”

“Then I kept holding your hand because I wanted to keep holding your hand. Is that a good enough excuse?”

“Okay Liebe.”

Toto put all his files and laptop in his left hand after shrugging on his overcoat, and then offered his right hand to Y/N.

“Can I keep holding your hand liebe?”

“Of course you can darling.”

---

taglist: @leosxrealm, @pear-1206, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3

[thegeorgiatennantblog]

*Clanking pots and pans together *

I have a message for all the tin hatters and misogynists in the Tumblr fandom.

28th August, The Year of Our Nerd 2024

To Whom It May Concern

It has been precisely one year and one month to the fact that I first came across this malady that has been plaguing our fandom. Other fandoms have been more or less unfortunate in this regard. What started as a lighthearted joke has now turned into a toxic, vile, festering wound. For a long time I either ignored these blogs and their opinions or very politely tried to dismiss them. For an even longer time I was made to feel that I was in the wrong. After all we live in a free society and all of us believe int he idea of freedom of speech, freedom to hold whatever views and beliefs, and freedom to express those views and beliefs. But the very same citizens of these free society's in today's world are also facing a dilemma: how far does this right go? Is it unconditional? Is it absolute? Or does it qualify to some form of check or some form of necessary derogation under exceptional circumstances? When do those circumstances arise?

Most of us have come to an understanding in regard to the question, though all of us may not agree to it: it is understood that where your right to exercise your freedom offends and restricts my right to do or causes in any way for me or anyone else to feel endangered, then that is where we draw the line.

Reading @do-angels-dream-of-starry-seas 's post today I have come to the conclusion that the time has come to draw that line. It is a question on where we stand as a fandom if we let such bigotry and such hate prevail any longer.

I want to let everyone know where I stand. I have nothing against fanfiction. I have nothing against RPF. People have been creating RPF since time immemorial. If not for RPF a large amount of literature, film, music and other forms of art would not exist. Shakespear's Histories are essentially RPF, Hamilton is RPF, Netflix's The Crown is RPF, Le Morte d'Arthur is RPF, Baz Luhrman's Elvis is RPF and so is Andrew Dominic's Blonde. You may like some of it, you might dislike some of it. You might even be vehemently against some of it. But that's all it is at the end of the day; fiction. It doesn't hurt anyone. The real problem arises when people start becoming unbale to differentiate between fiction and reality. And that's no better than thinking that just cz someone played a serial killer in a movie means they're evil irl too.

It becomes suffocating for others to exist in these spaces when the delusion that the RFP is real transcends to take an even worse shape namely hating the real people involved in said person's life. How could you justify hating on their real life partners just so you can satisfy your delusional belief that these men are actually in love with each other.

Maybe it springs from a need to justify our lives in terms of conspiracy theories in this growing pandemic of untruths and fake news. Maybe it springs from some deep rooted internalized misogyny. Who can say?

Before I move on I want to highlight some problems with the wntire tinhatter discourse.

The existence of a PR. I want to clarify this here and now. PR works for important, famous, insanely rich people whose global fame makes their identity a part of the public domain so much that their entire image needs to be curated to meet certain requirements. PR works for Taylor Swift and Leonardo DiCaprio and Barak Obama. Who is does NOT work for are people who are only locally well known, live reasonably ordinary lifestyles, and have a painfully insignificant following outside their own cultural context.

The idea that one picture or a five second video can tell the truth about someone's entire personal life. It cannot. It never will. Body language is not even a science. Body language is misleading. Facial expressions are misleading. I am writing this right now with the most bland expression on my face. People around me think I'm writing an email. My internal emotions right now are another story. Moreover no one owes anyone any sort of information on their personal life, their love life, their mood, their life choices or whatever. Their lives are not public property. Please respect that.

The women are the villains. This blatant misogyny has become intolerable as the days go by considering most of these posts are written by women themselves. The whole controlling wife, poor meek guy trope is so fckng infuriating. When did we wake up to a world where women hold the reigns and an adult white upper middle class male cannot tell her that he wants a divorce. I thought this only happened to unprivileged women in third world countries who cannot file a divorce bcs then she will be left penniless and socially disgraced. The women baby trapped them. Of course they feel responsibility for the kids now. Child birth is the second most painful experience after being burnt to death. No woman does it for the pleasure of it nor for some strategic benefit that it will serve her. And giving birth to not just one but many. And then raising them. That's not easy! Secondly, having children is a mutual decision and process. If only women could make babies, we'd get rid of men for good lol! (this is a joke plz don't @ me) If someone decides to have children with someone, and we're not talking just one accidental pregnancy or sth... we're talking several kids over the years.... then they probably have that level of attachment, love and commitment to their partner. It's just common sense.

Absolute cynicism. Anything Georgia and Anna do is met with cynicism and their words are deliberately twisted to mean the opposite. While D and M will be applauded for speaking up for a cause, when G and A do the same, they are shouted down as pretentious or that PR made them do it. When D and M show affection towards each other that's all real and true but when G and A show affection to their partners it fake and a PR stunt. Moreover, the way they interact with their partners is also completely misunderstood. Anna is more private and subtle about her gestures of praise and affection. But from what she does show publicly we know that she absolutely adores her partner and her kids. Georgia on the other hand has her own way. She teases, makes jokes, pokes fun at him, but she's also literally the woman that is being ultra-horny for him on Twitter and Instagram in front of everyone else. And I think that comes from the fact that they were friends first and lovers second and they have maintained that playful friendly relationship with each other. Still, she is accused of never being appreciative, being cringey, possessive, creepy and always bringing him down. Oh, and we never talk about how Michael next to never promotes Davis's achievements. In fact, no one else I know does it. Literally the only person is Georgia jumping up and down going "This is my partner! Have you seen them! Have you seen how awesome they are! I love them!" Not just that, these tinhatters have such double standards that while D's neurodivergent traits are being praised, G takes the rap for it. She's a careless mum, an unworthy partner; none of her professional achievements matter. She is fighting her dyslexia and neurodivergence to achieve something but the tinhatters will make ableist remarks to bring her down. But they don't just stop there. They accuse her of abuse, rape and cyber harassment. Pray that she doesn't find out because accusing someone of that can get you behind the bars hon!

I know that none of this is going to disappear over night. We fight the fight every day and we hope that tumblr goes back to being the safe space it once was. But till then, it is important that we stay strong and stay together. I have had people come into my ds with links and other stuff that made me want to jump off a cliff. I have been subjected to some horrendous lies, all in a bid to 'convert' me. Sadly that's not happening babes.

So I just want these tinhatters to know that if you're here, then we're here too. And no matter how much of this toxic bile you keep spewing we'll keep washing it away. And that @dtmsrpfcringe and @goodomenswarning don't have to do it alone. If you wanna go at them then come at me bitches!

And I'm not scared to call y'all out @ingravinoveritas @letscoffeebreak @nightgoodomens

@invisibleicewands @climb-dtennant-like-a-tree @thetardisisbluandroseistoo and others but mainly you guys cz you're the ring leaders. Go on block me if you want to I don't care! Or better, send me some of those creepy asks you guys send Tori. At least it would take the burden off her!

Oh and, before I go, @dtmsrpfcringe you're a champ and we love you and we stand with you!!!

Yours Sincerely,

Meena. x

curator of TheGeorgiaTennantBlog

[sweetreveriee]

Grayson Hawthorne headcanons before I go to bed!!

• Grayson uses a bathrobe instead of a normal towel because it shows off his slutty waist

• Penwhore.

• He created his own cologne

• Grayson absolutely LOVES fashion. Like when the whole gang goes to the mall he's the one going around with boba and a dozen bags on his arms.

• Speaking of boba, Grayson actually really likes it, but only from one specific place and he orders the same thing everytime (idk what he would get, pls suggest in comments)

• Has a watch collection

• Is offended when people take pictures using phone cameras

• Has been on the cover of several swim magazines (just magazines in general)

• Was the first brother to win Sexiest Man Alive (a few months before Avery came into the picture, Nash has never won it)

• Grayson makes the best fettucine alfredo

• and he's just a good cook in general

• He taught Xander how to bake scones

• Wakes up at 4:00 am

• He goes to the gym and is like the first one there, and then comes back home and swims until everyone else gets up

• Doesn't drink water, he survives off coffee and boba

• Doesn't like tea, he thinks its for people too weak for coffee

• Sometimes he'll go to a random elementary school and gives things to the kids (money, toys, etc)

• Kids absolutely love him

• When he was like 14 and Em*ly was with her parents he had a short lived phase where he dated like twenty different girls (he broke up with them after a week)

• His emo phase started when he was 12 because Tobias wouldn't build him a new pool. It lasted for a month before he became so disgusted with his fashion choices he had to stop.

• Gray knows seven languages (English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Latin, Russian, and Greek)

• Hated Hamilton because it was too historically inaccurate ("They never had cabinet rap battles!")

• Skye and Tobias thought he had a speech impediment because it wasn't until six years old that he started talking. He always knew how, but never wanted to talk to anyone

thats all i could think of for now! feel free to add ur own <3

[dragoninahumancostume]

I'm bored so

All years referenced in Hamilton:

(directly from the songs)

1776, Aaron Burr, Sir

1780, Winter's Ball

1781, Yorktown (The World Turned Upside-Down)

1785, I Know Him

1789, What'd I Miss

1791, We Know

1800, The Election of 1800

(by event/lyric, assuming Alexander was born in 1757, in order of events. This might be a bit confusing so feel free to ask clarification)

1754, I was given my first command I led my men straight into a massacre

1766, when he was ten his father split

1768, his mother went quick

1768-1835, Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (Angelica's brother, son of Philip Schuyler. Philip had like 15 children apparently, including the sisters and Philip)

1769, the cousin committed suicide

1769, as a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war ("I wish there was a war", letter to Edward Stevens)

1771, they placed him in charge of a trading charter

1772, a hurricane destroyed Hamilton's town

1772, ship is in the harbor now see if you can spot him

1773, I am Hercules Mulligan

1773, your tea which you hurl in the sea (Boston Tea Party)

1775, Farmer Refuted

1775, yo let's steal their cannons

1775, I was a captain under general Montgomery until he caught a bullet in the neck in Quebec

1776, British Admiral Howe's got 32000 troops in New York harbor

1776, he promotes Charles Lee makes him second-in-command

1777, I need someone like you to lighten the load (Alex becomes Washington's right hand man)

1777, I'm John Laurens in the place to be

1777, je m'apelle Lafayette

1778, Theodosia meets Burr

1778, Battle of Monmouth

1778, duel between Laurens and Lee

1779, Laurens i like you a lot (letter from Alex to John, "I wish, my dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by actions rather than words, to convince you that I love you")

1780, give it up for the maid of honor (Alexander and Eliza's wedding)

1781, Hamilton leaves Washington (due to his lack of command)

1781, we fought with him

1782, Philip's birth

1782, me I died for him

1783, Theodosia's birth

1785, I am sailing off to London

1787, at the constitutional convention, goes and proposes his own form of government

(October-August) 1787-1788, write a series of essays titled The Federalist Papers

1789, Hamilton runs the state department

1789-1792, life without the monarchy

1790, Cabinet Battle #1

1791, Burr becomes senator

1791, Hamilton meets Ms. Reynolds

1793, Cabinet Battle #2

1793, Thomas Jefferson resings

1797, Washington's presidency ends

1797-1801, Adams' administration

1797, The Reynolds Pamphlets

1799, George Washington's death

1800, the first murder trial of our brand new nation (Levi Weeks' trial)

(March) 1801, death of Peggy Schuyler

(July) 1801, George Eacker's 4th of July speech

(23th November) 1801, George and Philip's duel

(24th November) 1801, Philip's death

1804, Alexander Hamilton's death

1810, You're making me mad (King George III actually goes mad)

1820, I'll love you til my dying days (King George dies)

I tried my best to get most of the dates, but tell me if I missed any! :)

[pjsk-headcanons]

i think we should get more theater kid kohane. like imagine early on in vbs akito still doesnt believe in her singing abilities so challenges her to sing a whole song without breathing. and theres very few songs she knows the whole way through and well enough to sing them faster to make it. so she sighs heavily, resigns herself to this fate, and quietly whispers "seventeen seventy six. new york city." before looking up at him with the most determined eyes and singing at the top of her lungs (while staring directily at him) "pardon me are you arron burr sir that depends whos asking oh sure sir im alexander hamilton im at your service sir i have been looking for youimgettingnervoussiriheard you name the princetown i was seeking an excellerratedcourse of study whn i got sort of out of sorts with a buddy of yours i may have punched him its a blur sir he handles the financials you punched the bursur yes i wanted to do what you did graduate in two and join the revolution he looked at me like i was stupid" (this section very pointed) "im not stupid." (BREATH) "so howd you do it howd you graduate so fast it was my parents dying wish before they passed youre an orphan of course i wish there was a war then we could prove that were worth more than anyone bargined for can i buy you a drink that would be nice while were talking let me offer you some free advice" (this section said with regular rythmn bc it is a crime not to) "talk less. what. smile more dont let them know what youre against or what youre for you cant be serious you wanna get ahead yes fools who run their mouths off wind up dead" "a yayowyayoa what time is it" (finger guns toya) "showtime!! like i said ayayowyayayow yo im john lawrence in the place to be a two pints a sam addams and im workin on three ya those redcoats dont wanna believe that i will bam chickabam those hats till im free a oui oui mon ami jmmapelle laffeyete" (i dont speak french idk man sorry) "the lancelot of the revolutionary set i came from afar just to say bon swa to the king cassoutire whos the best say moi brah brah i am hercules mulligan upping it loving it yeah i heard your mother say come again ayy kinda hard to have intercourse o'er four sets o coursets wow no more sex pour me another brew son lets raise a couple more to the revolution well if it aint the prodigy of bryston college arron burr drop a verse drop some knowledge" (BREATH) "well good luck with that youre taking a stand you spit imma sit well see where we land well the revolutions imminant whadda stall for if you stand for nothing burr whatll you fall for o who are you who are you who are you o who is this kid and whats hes gonna do i am not throwin away my shot i am not throwin away my shot yk im just like this country im young scrappy and hungry and im not thrownin away my shot imma get a scholarship to kings colledge prolly shouldnt brag but dawg i amaze i astonish problem is i gotta lotta brains but no polish gotta holler just to heard with every word i drop knowledge im a diamond in the rough shinin piece o coal tryin reach a goal pow'r speech unimpeachable only nineteen but ma mind is older these new york city streets gimme colder a shoulder every burden every disadvantage i have learnt to manage i dont have a gun to brandish i walk these streets famished the power to ponder to spark a new flame but damn its gettin dark so let me spell out my name i am the ay el! ee ex! ee en dee! ee ar we are! meant to be a coleny that runs independantly who needs britan keep shittin on us endlessly essentially they tax us relelntlessly then king george turns around and runs a spendin spree they aint never gonna set our decendents free so there will be a revolution in this century and to me he says in parenthisis dont be shocked when your history book mentions me i will lay down my life just to set us free eventually youll see my acendency!" (BREATH) "do you want me to keep going because i can" "i am both impressed and horrified."

kohane proceeds to teach toya the entirety of six. theres a specific line that gets stuck in his head every time and kohane spits out her drink when toya mumbles "all you wanna do, all you wanna do baby - touch me, love me, dont say maybe" while running his hand through akitos hair (who is oblivious)

minori and kohane scamper away to a hidden corner of miya at lunch break and shiho walks in on them singing a combanation of cringy idol songs and overhyped theater songs.

also she rearearaeearreally likes beetlejuice. vbs have a warmup where they take turns singing the song thats stuck in their head at that moment. kohane glances around. an gives her the thumbs up. "MOM. DEAD MOOOOOMOMOMOM I NEED A LITTLE HELP HERE. are you really in the ground? cause i feeeeeeeel you all areound me are you hear dead moooom dead mom. in skipping the middle. CAUSE DADDY'S IN DENIAL, DADDY DOESN'T WANNA FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL HE WANTS ME TO SMILE AND CLAP LIKE A PERFORMING SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAL IGNORED IT FOR A WHILE BUT DADDYS LOST HIS MIND FOR REAL FOR REAL FOR REEEEAAAAAAAL YOU WONT BELEIVE THE MESS THAT WEVE BECOME DUN DUN DUN DUN" toya sitting there sweating and hoping that neither an nor akito can understand english that well because it would most definately bring up some unwanted memories.

and because its canon. she also LOVES wanadashow. going to school with OOTORI FUCKING EMU makes her a mess every time. her current vocal stims are "haha! you are king~" and "RULERRULERRULER ITS SHOW TIME HIGHERHIGHERHIGHER ITS SHOW TIME CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY" and that just repeats until someone ducktapes her mouth

oh and! if someone asks her what time it is she'll always say "it's showtime." arata does this too and everyone thinks she picked it up from him. nope. its both a wanadashow and hamilton reference. (he'll never admit it but arata is also a hamilton fan. he saw it while he was in the states and something about it entranced him. probably how well the rap is written. it heavily inspires a lot of his music and kohane makes the homophobic dog face every time. thats why she was so surprised in walk on and on with soumas unfinished track!!!)

no i dont project onto her whahahahahahahahhahaahaaaaaat. my theater kid phase is coming back. - 🎲 anon

.

[gay-witches-are-the-best]

So I had a Thought. Feel free to read the Thought.

So for those who have read KotLC and heard/watched Hamilton, this will appeal to you. Even if you haven't, it's fine. I'll explain what I'm trying to say anyway.

So: In "The World Was Wide Enough" from the end of Hamilton, right as Burr fires his gun, the time slows down, and Hamilton says all of the thoughts whirling through his mind at once. If you change/get rid of a few words, then it fits perfectly with what I think went through Keefe's mind in Legacy as the shadow and light consumed him on the throne. If you haven't heard the song, here is the speech, but modified to fit Keefe:

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev'ral feet ahead of me? I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be? There is no beat, no melody Burr My mother, my first friend, my enemy Maybe the last face I ever see If I throw away my shot, is this how you'll remember me? What if this bullet is my legacy?

Legacy, what is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me You let me make a difference, a place where even orphan immigrants Can leave their fingerprints and rise up I'm running out of time, I'm running, and my time's up Wise up, eyes up I catch a glimpse of the other side Laurens leads a soldiers' chorus on the other side My son is on the other side He's with my mother on the other side Washington is watching from the other side Teach me how to say goodbye Rise up, rise up, rise up, Eliza!

My love, take your time I'll see you on the other side Raise a glass to freedom

So yes, that seems like something Keefe would be thinking, especially since he thinks he's probably about to die, and that his own mom killed him. (the angst but in song form)

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Dion J. Pierre

During Wednesday’s interview with the Algemeiner, Davidai defended his approach as a genuine expression of grief and concern for the welfare of Jewish students.

“People are free to see exactly the videos and see, you know, what did or did not happen and judge for themselves,” he said. “That is why I call this a clear act or retaliation. My lawyers got on a phone call with them on Oct. 7 [of this year] and were told that the university is going to suspend my ability to be on campus. On that day, the university found that the most important thing is to remove me from campus. I am, to the best of my knowledge, the only professor who has been removed from campus since Oct. 7 [2023].”

Davidai went on to point to faculty conduct which has been covered by The Algemeiner, including Columbia professor Joseph Massad publishing in Electronic Intifada an essay cheering Hamas’s atrocities as “awesome” and describing men who paraglided into a music festival to kill young people as “the air force of the Palestinian resistance.”

Davidai continued, “The only person who was removed from campus is the one that exposed the chief operating officer’s antisemitic problem. And I say this, you know, I don’t know if he is or isn’t an antisemite. I do know that he’s awfully comfortable with antisemitism and that he has an antisemitism problem.”

According to Columbia University, the campus ban, which does not affect Davidai’s compensation or employment status, was prompted by “threats of intimidation, harassment, or other threatening behavior.”

Samantha Slater, a university spokesperson, continued: “Columbia has consistently and continually respected Assistant Professor Davidai’s right to free speech and to express his views. His freedom of speech has not been limited and is not being limited now. Columbia, however, does not tolerate threats of intimidation, harassment, or other threatening behavior by its employees. Because Assistant Professor Davidai repeatedly harassed and intimidated university employees in violation of university policy, we have temporarily limited his access to campus while he undertakes appropriate training on our policies governing the behavior of our employees.”

This latest clash between Davidai and Columbia University comes during what has been widely described as an unprecedented “crisis” at the school which, since Oct. 7, 2023, has undermined its credibility with the public and drawn the scrutiny of federal lawmakers.

In April, an anti-Zionist group occupied Hamilton Hall, forcing then-university president Minouche Shafik to call on the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for help, a decision she hesitated to make and which led to over 108 arrests. However, according to documents shared in August by the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce, 18 of the 22 students slapped with disciplinary charges for their role in the incident remain in “good standing” despite the university’s earlier pledge to expel them. Another 31 of 35 who were suspended for illegally occupying the campus with a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” remain in good standing too.

In August, Shafik resigned as president of the university, and just two months prior, in June, its legal counsel reached an out of court settlement with a student who accused administrators of neglecting their obligation to foster a safe learning environment during the final weeks of last spring semester. While stopping short of admitting guilt, the settlement virtually conceded to the plaintiff her argument that the campus was unsafe for Jewish students, agreeing to provide her and others “Safe Passage Liaisons” tasked with protecting them from racist abuse and violence.

Amid this cluster of scandals and conflagrations, Davidai has allegedly received a lion’s share of the university’s attention. Last semester, it launched an investigation of his conduct, which he called a persecution that “reveals the depths of its hostility towards its Jewish community.” He has since retained counsel to guard his rights and prevent being bulldozed by one of the wealthiest and powerful universities in the world. Despite his troubles, however, he told The Algemeiner on Wednesday that Columbia is redeemable.

[hamiltonconfessions-but-better]

so. hello and welcome!

to start with, i have two main reasons for making this:

a) i know of a great many confession blogs, and every single one of them has at some point made me go "i would do this differently". as a result, for the past few months i've been wanting to try my hand at modding a confession blog myself

b) the old hamilton blog was a disaster, and the new blog's moderation so far leaves much to be desired. there are several things i would change about it and its rules, hence why i decided to start this project

an overview of the events surrounding the old hamilton confessions blog + proof that @\hamiltonconfessions was instrumental in its destruction

now. rules:

no name-dropping members of the fandom in a negative/critical context. vague descriptions are allowed. if you reblog/reply with a name, you will be blocked. this is to prevent harassment.

nothing that breaks tumblr's tos and guidelines. meaning no bigotry or hate speech of any kind, threats of violence or harm, doxxing, etc. this goes for replies as well.

no nsfw and kink content. mild mentions of nsfw are allowed insofar as you may hear them in normal conversation, and will be tagged #topic.suggestive.

all confessions must be at least tangentially related to either the hamilton fandom or a conversation happening on this blog

opinions confessed do not reflect my own. do not ask me to remove a confession solely because you disagree with it. i will not.

to have a poll attached to your confession, use the following format: 🗳️ [question] ([option 1] / [option 2] / [...]). e.g.: 🗳️ do you like cats? ( yes / no / what a stupid question). a "see results" option will be included by default. as such, you may request a maximum of 11 options of your own. all other rules of this blog also apply.

tags:

#c.[character]

#s.[ship]

#[topic].neg - negativity about a character, ship, etc.

#topic.[topic] - topic tag, e.g. topic.ship wars

#mod response masterlist of tags currently in use

if you have any suggestions regarding the tags, rules, blog layout, or anything at all to say, really, feel free to send an ask!

other than that, happy confessing!

[libbytwq]

♡》 Bonjour fellow mortal organisms :] 《♡

-♡♡♡-

♡》 Welcome to my blog! 《♡

》 You can call me either Lore or Libby :] 《

》 she/her/any 《

》 🎂 Oct 4 (currently 17) 🎈 《

》 bi/ace, genderfluid 《

》 Maryland, USA 🇺🇸 (I am the white baby that shouldn't be talking like that) 《

》 Artist, Animator, Writer, Composer, Theatre Kid, Marching Band Kid 《

》 I make art, animation, and music! But mostly art and animations (I also sometimes write things) 《

》 Lately I've been on an SMG4 hyperfixation, so thats gonna be mostly what im posting about until im normal again (which will not be anytime soon) 《

-♡♡♡-

♡》 Things I Enjoy 《♡

》 Shows • "SMG4", "Murder Drones", "The Amazing Digital Circus", "Sonic Prime", "Ramshackle", "Lackadaisy", "Atlas and the Stars", "Hazbin Hotel", "Helluva Boss", "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared", "The Owl House", "Stranger Things", "Chikn Nuggit" 《

》 Movies • "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", "Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers", "The Lego Movie" 《

》 Video Games • Minecraft, Frog Detective, Sonic the Hedgehog, Five Nights at Freddy's, Cuphead, Amanda the Adventurer, Andy's Apple Farm 《

》 Plays/Musicals • "The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals", "Black Friday", "Nerdy Prudes Must Die", "Hamilton", "Ride the Cyclone", "The Addams Family Musical", ""Les Miserables", "Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic", "Mean Girls", "Twisted", "Firebringer" 《

》 Musical Artists • AJR, Tally Hall, CG5, Caravan Palace, Miracle Musical, Chappell Roan, Tom Cardy, Mystery Skulls, Jakeneutron, Jack Stauber 《

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♡》 Ref Sheets 《♡

》 Lore ref sheet 《

》 Main OCs ref sheets masterpost 《

》 SMGL:E ref sheet 《

》 speaking of SMGL:E, heres a masterpost to all their lore! 《

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♡》 Boundaries 《♡

》 DNI: MAPs, pedophiles, proshippers, groomers, racists, homophobes/transphobes, misogynists, nsfw accounts, porn accounts, anybody who promotes general hate speech 《

》 Please keep in mind that I am a minor. If you are a legal adult, please don't thirst for any of my personas or any of my minor OCs. (I rarely even draw thirst art for this characters, im not sure why you would do that-) Also do not request me to draw blatant NSFW. 《

》 If you violate these boundaries, you will be blocked. 《

-♡♡♡-

♡》 Inbox 《♡

》 Feel free to ask me things in my ask box! About my characters, my interests, art requests (maybe.... heavily depends on the request), or any general comments you feel the need to tell me! Just don't ask me weird shit. 《

》 I may be a teensy bit slow with asks but i promise i see every single one! I will try and get thru every one of them, just be patient with me! <3 《

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♡》 Socials 《♡

》 My Reblog/Rant/Writing Account: @libbys-braincell-loss 《

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♡》 My Mooties 《♡

》 Tomm Tired Smash Brothers 《

》 My Mango Is To Blow Up 《

》 NEO!!!!! 《

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》 That Mf Who Keeps Asking For Hexore /silly 《

》 MatPat (Blue Version) 《

♡》 My Main Tags 《♡

》 General Tags 《

》 #lore reblogs -- anything I reblog on this account, mostly @'s and fanart of my characters/AUs. 《 》 #lore has the answers -- answers from my ask box! 《

》 SMGL:E (SMG4 OC/AU) 《

》 #smgl:e 《 》 #smgl:e x karen + #smgloren 《 》 #smgl:e ignatius 《 》 #smgl:e x ignatius 《

》 Libby The Wolf Queen (My own original storyline/OCs) 《

》 #libby the wolf queen 《 》 #libby campbell ltwq 《 》 #haco lotus ltwq 《 》 #inu quicksilver ltwq 《 》 #ceecee skies ltwq 《 》 #parca ltwq 《 》 #ahren miller ltwq 《 》 #taiyo soterios ltwq 《 》 #nikki drossel ltwq 《 》 #kuma nanuk ltwq 《 》 #river lotus ltwq 《 》 #ingrid drossel ltwq 《

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♡》 thanks for reading, have a swell day :] 《♡

[almosthonest]

If Peart Had a Song/Moment in the Musical ...

this idea has been marinating in my brain for quite some time now (but i will be writing more misadventures with peart, but i gotta let this flow first so).

peart's whole thing is questioning authority. he's always questioning authority. if they're right, if they're wrong. he's all about standing ground and doing what is right and that even trickles down to when he joins the rogues, and luther clearly doesn't like how peart questions his motives, however, peart sees luther as a figure of authority in the crew, and how his crew basically cower in fear when they do something he doesn't like.

i don't think it's more of a song persay, but a moment simultaneously to the world was wide enough from hamilton. the legacy monologue that alexander hamilton has before he dies.

i am not lin manuel miranda and i don't have the same writing capabilities that he does, but peart uses the theme of sheep, and how sheep basically follow their shepherd in whatever they say, whatever they do. and peart? well, he's not a sheep. (or a chicken, which mercy would say).

" sheep. i ain't no sheep / sheep don't have free speech, but i see 'em screech . / they screech , but the mood will sour and they cower real quick / it almost makes me sick . "

peart is trying to gather the understanding that some people are just that. sheep. they're scared, they bow before whoever is leading them and it makes him want to vomit.

and then he asks the question of would he have been down for a truce. his answer is yes, and cyrus is known as the streets' jesus. and asks the question of does that make him a sheep? he wants what cyrus wants. was he going to bow down to her?

" a truce . she wanted a truce . / would it have been a good use? / and i agreed with it . i agree with peace / would that make me a sheep , too? "

he's so confused. for the first time he's actually letting it sink in that cyrus was using her power for good. and secretly how he sort of looked up to that. but noooo he couldn't say that to the rogues or else he'd probably get shot up just like cyrus. or, maybe not. because he's a white face. and that makes him even more sick.

peart is a person who's been raised in discriminating others, even people like himself (he's unfortunately a homophobic homosexual you guys) especially since he was kicked out for being a sexually repressed homosexual by his father. so he's always questioned authority. but he didn't question cyrus. and that scared him.

[mariacallous]

In October of 2023, weeks after the Hamas attacks on Israel, Columbia University’s brand-new president, Minouche Shafik, asked Nicholas Lemann, dean emeritus of the journalism school, to co-chair a Task Force on Antisemitism. Like elite campuses around the country, Columbia was roiled by campus protests; students and faculty were trading letters about Israel and many pro-Israel students began raising concerns about antisemitism.

Lemann said he felt obligated to say yes as a faculty member and as a Jew who had been engaged in previous campus debates over Israel, countering colleagues who supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

“I believe you have an obligation to stand up for what you believe in, even if it’s unpleasant,” Lemann told me in a recent interview. 

In the year that followed, the campus environment only got more heated, with a spreading pro-Palestinian encampment movement, anti-Israel protests on or near the campus and, in late April, a student takeover of the school’s Hamilton Hall that was broken up by the NYPD. Shafik stepped down in August, citing “a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.”

The task force (whose other co-chairs are Ester Fuchs, director of the Urban and Social Policy Program at the School of International and Public Affairs, and David Schizer, the Law School dean emeritus) released its first report in March. It detailed the “isolation and pain” experienced by Jewish students and the “particularly terrible treatment” meted out to Israeli students. The report concluded that the university was not doing enough to discipline unauthorized protests. 

A second report in September, issued after listening sessions with close to 500 students, said pervasive antisemitism on campus “affected the entire university community.”

“We heard about crushing encounters that have crippled students’ academic achievement,” read the report. “We heard about students being avoided and avoiding others, about exclusion from clubs and activities, isolation and even intimidation.”

Aggrieved members of the Jewish community welcomed the task force’s conclusions; critics said its report’s definition of antisemitism would stifle legitimate criticism of Israel.

Two more reports are due, including one this month.

While other Ivy League campuses have been convulsed by the protests, Columbia — located in the heart of the country’s largest Jewish community — has become the epicenter of a range of debates surrounding Oct. 7 and the war that followed: how to define and combat antisemitism; whether and how to cap free speech, campus protest and academic freedom; the discourse around political diversity and charges that elite universities have become hotbeds of “wokeness.”

Lemann and I discussed these and other issues after his recent appearance at Limmud New York, an all-day festival of Jewish learning held at Manhattan’s JCC on the Upper West Side, where he lives. There he attends Minyan M’at, an egalitarian service that meets at Ansche Chesed, a Conservative synagogue. 

 Before serving as the dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism from 2003 to 2013, Lemann worked variously as a writer and editor at Texas Monthly, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker, where he is a staff writer. He graduated Harvard College in 1976, and wrote about higher education and standardized testing in “The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy (1999), among other books.   

Our conversation was edited for length and clarity.

How are things on campus these days? What’s the mood and how heavy are the protests?

 It’s been fairly quiet, as it has been at other campuses. Most protest in the center of the campus is much smaller, much less visible than it was last year. However, the campus is locked, you have to have a valid ID to get into the campus. And when you enter the campus, there’s a lot of private security people all over the place. So the big question is, if you didn’t have the campus locked and you didn’t have the private security people, what would happen? 

Behind the scenes, or less visibly, there’s a pretty intense disagreement about what the rules for protest are and what body within the university owns them and enforces them. 

How do you respond to readers who are inclined to condemn the pro-Palestinian protests on campus, and to condemn the institutions for not doing more to clamp down on threatening rhetoric, or to chalk up the anti-Israel sentiment to a sort of far-left takeover of the liberal arts. What might they be missing?

I have a lot of conversations about this, and I often get some kind of theory about why this issue is playing out in the way it is at Columbia and other elite universities. One that I hear a lot is it’s all about funding from Qatar. Another theory is that it’s all about DEI offices, or post-colonial theory. I don’t want to discount any of those completely, but I want to give a somewhat different big picture. 

It’s what I call the blind man and the elephant theory of major private universities [in which key players only perceive their own small part of a larger truth]. Universities like Columbia are blessed with a whole bunch of different stakeholders, all of whom do things that help make the university work and are really essential. So the one you hear about from the left is the fabled “Zionist donors.” But that’s only one group, and it’s not that big of a group. Much bigger groups include alumni, parents, staff, students and government officials at all levels. All these folks are crucial players at the university, but they rarely encounter each other directly, and each has quite a different vision of what the university is and what its core mission and values are. This particular conflict really brings that into the sunlight, and that’s one reason why it’s been so divisive.

Why is that? Why did that kind of confluence — and divergence — of all these stakeholders exacerbate what happened after Oct. 7?

Protest is constant at Columbia, but the level of protest we were seeing last year was by far the highest I’ve ever seen in my 21 years at Columbia. Most of the causes that sweep through the university are on the left, and this one is too. But in most cases, these stakeholder groups that I mentioned are pretty much on the same side of the issue — everybody’s against climate change, or supported the post-George Floyd wave, and things like that. In the case of [Israel and Palestine], significant stakeholders or subgroups within the stakeholder groups 100% passionately disagree about the question at hand. That’s uncharacteristic of most of these university protest waves.

That sounds like a liberal consensus on the part of students, faculty, administration and donors broke down over Israel. Does that support or contradict the conservative critique that the Ivies are hotbeds of “wokeness?” At Limmud I heard you say that colleges have become undergraduate business schools.

At the Ivies, the percent of students majoring in the humanities and the softer social sciences is, in almost all cases, the smallest it’s ever been in the history of these universities. You’ve seen a massive switch in undergraduate interest into predominantly two fields: economics and computer science. I don’t know what the number is. My joke is that if you stop a student on the campus and say, “Can you tell me the starting pay at Google, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey,” they’re going to be able to tell you. 

And paradoxically, or maybe naturally, the more diverse these universities get, the more this is going to be true. If mom and dad are multi-millionaires, it’s okay to major in English or history or classics. But if you’re the first person in the family to go to college or your parents are in debt, they want you to do something that’s going to get you a well-paying job right after you graduate. 

As a result, the humanities and the less quantitative social sciences feel beleaguered and abandoned and marginalized within the university. They don’t have as many faculty slots as they’d like to have. They can’t accept as many PhD students as they’d like to. They have trouble placing their PhD students after they get their degree. And as a result of that, the faculty in these departments, feeling isolated, tend to move further to the left. 

That’s an explanation for the humanities faculty moving left: because they are not the heart and soul of the university anymore, they feel abandoned and ideologically in opposition to the rest of the campus. But what about student activists? Is their activism spurred by this sense of marginalization? 

It might be that many of the [pro-Palestinian] protesters are themselves pre-business majors. The way I put it is, it’s a long running part of the culture of elite universities, going back to their religious roots, that they see themselves as sort of moral beacons unto the world. You’re trained to think of yourself as an unusually talented person who has a right or an obligation to stand up against injustice and make their voice loud and proud, even though, on many of these issues, they haven’t really studied that particular issue. Some of what happened last year is that many students see this as a morally urgent moment in which Israel is clearly in the wrong, but they couldn’t pass a detailed test on the history of Israel or the conflict.

I hear complaints from parents of Jewish students that the university classroom has become a place of indoctrination. There are calls from donors like Bill Ackman at Harvard or anti-antisemitism groups to punish or remove faculty for participating in the pro-Palestinian protests, or for expressing views that were construed as antisemitic or incendiary. On the other side, it’s a bedrock principle among faculty that they should be able to investigate, discuss and teach issues in their field without interference from administrators, boards of trustees, donors or anyone else. Do you see a shift in how universities view academic freedom, and is it even possible?

If you ask the average Columbia parent, “Have you ever heard the term academic freedom?” — I think a lot of them would say no. And a lot who have heard of it couldn’t define it. Meanwhile, and paradoxically, faculty members believe that academic freedom is the core inviolable principle of the university.

Academic freedom and free speech are not the exact same thing. Generally, freedom of speech is uncurated and academic freedom is curated. Freedom of speech means anybody can get up in the public square and say whatever they want. Academic freedom means something different: If you do a tremendous amount of work and cross a lot of bars in your academic field, you’re given the right to teach what you want in the classroom. But that’s not the same as saying any professor can do anything and it’s protected by academic freedom. Academic freedom is about classroom teaching and research. You can’t propagandize in class, or you shouldn’t. There’s a power imbalance. The job of the professor is to get the student thinking, not tell the student what to think. It’s quite possible to articulate that set of values around classroom teaching, but within the university that is quite difficult, because there’s a very, very strong tradition of faculty autonomy in teaching and research. 

Has your antisemitism task force addressed the distinction between free speech protection and academic freedom protection?

We said in our last report that was published right before Labor Day that we were going to address what goes on in classrooms in a subsequent report. 

Do you worry that Jewish donors and Jewish parents and stakeholders are representing a set of illiberal values that the Jewish community is not usually associated with? Going back to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Jews have rallied around the idea that their own safety is tied into the democratic idea of free speech and that the cure for bad speech is more speech, or, as Brandeis put it, “the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones.” Is putting limits on speech or academic freedom a place Jews want to find themselves in?

I get letters all day from parents and alums who say Professor So-and-So gave a speech, you know, 1,500 miles away from the Columbia campus. And here’s the text, and why aren’t they fired? And my position would be that’s not part of their academic life as a Columbia professor, so they should have some protection. 

The best you can hope for is to have very clear rules for how the university works, and to try to create a greater degree of shared understanding than there is now around what are the values of the university. Even if you say “Jewish parents and stakeholders and others should not think these things,” you can’t just turn that off. There’s an educational process that is needed that would take a while and has to be conducted by very senior leadership figures in higher ed. 

And does that go both ways — persuading outsiders of the value of academic freedom and telling insiders that it has limits?

Yes, defining it precisely, and telling people the history, and making the case that this institution they want to be part of is based on academic freedom, so you know you should be careful if you’re against it, and then, on the other hand, the term shouldn’t be used sloppily to mean faculty members have an absolute grant of autonomy in all senses.

One criticism of the second report has to do with how you define antisemitism, and the objection that anti-Israel criticism can be too easily construed as antisemitism. The report says that antisemitism could manifest as “targeting Jews or Israelis for violence or celebrating violence against them” and “exclusion or discrimination based on Jewish identity or ancestry or real or perceived ties to Israel.” How did you try to separate antisemitism from anti-Zionism? Are you satisfied with the definition that you came up with? 

Our co-chair, David Schizer, is a lawyer, and he’s been the owner of the definition question. What we get from the other side is the charge that any definition that imagines there can be any relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism will be used as a pretext to shut down all criticism of the state of Israel on campus. We’ve never been associated with trying to do that. And in my own Jewish life, everybody I know does nothing but criticize the state of Israel, 24/7. So I do think it’s a red herring to say that our real goal is to prevent anybody from being allowed to criticize the state of Israel and its policies.

But at what point do they cross the line? 

First of all, our task force’s job is not to solve the Middle East and to come up with Middle East policies. Our job is to think about the campus climate generally, and the comfort level of Jewish students in particular. The university has an existing toolkit for this kind of thing, which is built around the vocabulary of impact and intent. The standard in that case is that it’s not just what you meant by a comment — it’s how the person received it. That’s not the same as saying in all cases that a remark that has a negative impact is absolutely banned. Rather, it is a consideration of the impact that things have on identity-based groups. If a critical mass of people are experiencing something that makes them feel intensely uncomfortable, then we need to talk about it.

Your second report included testimonies from many Jewish students about their experiences of feeling threatened or excluded or discriminated against for their support or perceived support for Israel and Israelis. I am assuming you included that in order to describe and explain that discomfort, and how identification with Israel is a normative aspect of being an American Jew.

It’s a very difficult issue to explain to people. I don’t need to explain to people in my congregation that being Jewish and the state of Israel are not two completely unrelated topics. But a lot of people at Columbia are completely mystified, or pretend to be, by why so many Jewish people think there’s a connection. They don’t know much about Jewish life or Jewish history, or what it means to be Jewish. 

Are you still bullish on the idea of the Ivies? I ask this because we’re hearing anecdotally that there’s some erosion within the Jewish community, some of whose members feel the elite schools may not be a home for Jews anymore. 

I would say it depends on who you are, what kind of experience you have, and what you expect. Jewish kids come in a lot of different flavors. For some of them, it’s a very, very lightly worn identity. People like that I don’t think would feel uncomfortable at Columbia. 

But if you are in another part of the Jewish world where you come from a more observant family, you went to a day school, you had a gap year in Israel, you might say, “I just really don’t want to be around people constantly professing anti-Zionist sentiments.” Maybe you wouldn’t be that comfortable.

On the other hand, [that same kind of person might say], “I love being in an environment where there are a lot of loud and proud anti-Zionists, because I want to fight, not with my fists, but engage with those people and really be part of a big political debate on campus.” 

Let me ask you to put your journalist hat on: Is there any story that hasn’t come out that you wish people would know — that, amid all the sound and fury, there’s something on campus that’s just not being reported? It could be good news. It could be bad news. 

You know the journalistic maxim: When a plane lands safely, that’s not news. So there’s all sorts of wonderful things happening at Columbia, but they’re what you’d expect. So I’m not advocating that they be news. What I see missing the most goes back to our conversation about the nature of universities. Daily news coverage tends to focus on incidents, and it’s hard to understand incidents if they’re disconnected from each other. So one day, the protesters dump red paint on the Alma Mater statue, so they look bad, and then another day, the police come and haul away the encampments, so maybe the protesters look like innocent victims. It seesaws back and forth, and it’s hard to see how this fits into the context of what a university is. That’s what I see missing the most.

[ilottthepilot]

ilottthepilot's Motorsport Moments of the Year: 2024

This is a list of events from F1, WEC and Indycar that I either, loved, hated, or was just shook by in general. This is by no means an objective list, you might find that some items are completely irrelevant to you. It is also heavily biased towards my faves. Think of this as a recap in my personal diary. This is also not a ranking, I just tried to find a semi-chronological order that makes sense. Enjoy!💞

1. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Announcement

Has there ever been a better day to refresh every app 100 times and scroll all day? What started off as just a sketchy rumour grew throughout the day as more and more mysterious leaks surfaced. There were journalists camping out at Mercedes HQ when Toto Wolff scheduled a meeting with the team. And in the end this crazy bit of chatter actually turned out to be true. What a way to start the season! I love Carlos Sainz, but I love plot twists more!

Rating:🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

2. Bus Bros Divorce

Where do I even start with these two? If you are not familiar, I suggest this post, which gives a good summary. TLDR: they were besties with a youtube channel up until 2023, when Josef managed to win the Indy 500, but Scott was ahead in the champioship. In the beginning of 2024 Josef decides to cut out all distractions, so he unfollows everyone on social media, ends the youtube channel, and the two stop talking.

Weeks after the first race of the season, which Josef wins, it is revealed that their team had been cheating with software which illegaly allows the drivers to use push-to-pass on restarts, and they both get disqualified for using it. P2Pgate becomes the topic that won't disappear and everyone is arguing if it is possible that the drivers were not aware. Scott decides to die on the hill that he noticed nothing. Josef gives a tearful press conference admitting that he was aware of the push-to-pass when he pressed the button and it would have been impossible not to.

From there on out the energy between the two stays tense and they mostly avoid each other, including leading up to the Indy 500, when Scott breaks the qualifying record and gets pole and Josef wins the race the second year in a row. Then suddenly, when Josef gives his winner's speech at the Indy 500 banquet, he drops the "i still love you, my bus bro" and everyone goes wild. The season ends with Scott finishing 3rd, losing out on the championship due to the P2Pgate disqualification (if my math is right). Josef is 8th. It seems like the refocusing and cutting out distractions did not work. What version of Josef and Team Penske will we see in 2025? Will they ever be bros again?

Rating: 🤔🤔⁉️❓❓

3. Carlos Sainz Appendicitis and Melbourne Win

Carlos has been one of my favourite drivers ever since I became an F1 fan. Seeing him lose the Ferrari seat was a bit sad and seeing him lose out on one of his last races with the team did not help. Especially considering how painful appendicitis is and how it in theory seems like a huge obstacle to race fitness. So of couse I absolutely lost my mind when Carlos won the first race after getting back into the car.

I will admit right away that I did not actually watch the Australian GP because I was up until like 2am watching the figure skating world championships, particularly the free skate points record being broken (another sporting event I lost my mind over) but the moment I grabbed my phone to look up the results in the morning was like drugs.

Rating: 😱🤩😍🤯🤯

4. Georgina the Mannequin

Some racing moments are memorable because they are joyous, some are memorable because they are devastating. Some are just simply so bizarre that you could not have ever predicted them. If you have somehow gone all year without seeing a mannequin fall onto a racetrack in the middle of an Indycar race, I would suggest you check out the video right now. It's also the souce of some of my favourite silly race commentary of the year. "Imagine if she stuck the landing"

Rating: Tens across the board

5. #12 Wins the 6 Hours of Spa

I will tell you right now that I'm not really a WEC fan. I get fomo when I miss races and I simply do not have time to spend my entire weekend in front of a screen. But after I found out that my favourite driver got a ride in WEC I had to check it out.

The Spa race was a bit strange, as there was a long red flag around two hours before the scheduled end and instead of the timer running out, it was reset to the time of the red flag, allowing for more racing. This was a huge advantage for the #12 Jota, driven by Callum Ilott and Will Stevens, which got its first win and the first ever privateer Hypercar win. While I couldn't watch the end of the race live (I was at a classical concert with my phone off. I was stressed and manifesting), I feel like I have replayed the clip of the final lap 100 times. "Callum Ilott, you superstar" still lives rent free in my mind. It's one thing to become a fan of a driver that many people say is talented, with plenty of wins in his junior career. It's another to actually see that driver get a win and his hard work pay off. Spa 2024, you will always be famous.

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

6. Pato O'Ward Loses the Indy 500 Win on the Last Lap

This year I had many busy weekends and I missed out on a lot of racing, but the one that I was the most sad about missing was the motorsports super bowl double feature Monaco GP Indy 500 Sunday. While Monaco turned out to be the feel good story of Charles beating his hometown curse, the Indy 500 wrote a much sadder story. Pato O'Ward managed to overtake Josef Newgarden for the lead going into the final lap, ready to cement his place in history, only to lose the the position to the defending Indy 500 champion moments later.

The look on Pato's face after the race, all that sadness and disappointment really captured the fanbase and reminded everyone why we watch sports. How a single overtake can mean the world and change someone's life. I think about the video of Pato and Alexander Rossi, who finished 4th, hugging like every day. Either one could have had fate on their side that day and taken the victory, but it wasn't meant to be.

Rating: 💔💔💔💔💔

7. #12 Car Le Mans Wreck

I'm sure it's fun to be a superfan of an athlete or a team where everything runs smoothly and they win all the time. I wouldn't know.

As previously mentioned, I was on top of the world when my boy Callum won Spa. I was ready for him and the #12 Jota team to take that energy to the next race, the big one. I was so excited, I even followed qualifying. The #12 lucked its way into Hyperpole qualifying, after the #7 had all its lap times deleted. Time to breathe easy, right? Just a bit more practice and then time to throw everything at Hyperpole the next day, right? RIGHT? WRONG! My guy, my fave, my one and only spun during night practice and absolutely totalled the car. The team had to completely rebuild the car around a spare chassis that was provided by a different team. This process is supposed to take 3 weeks. The team did it in 48 hours, just in time to start the 24 hours of Le Mans. As they missed hyperpole and the other practice sessions, Jota got permission to shake down the newly rebuilt car at a nearby airfield, leading to some cool pictures.

While the Le Mans results table doesn't reflect a feel good story about overcoming setbacks, I am not going to forget what those mechanics pulled off.

Rating: 💔💔🥹🥹🥹

8. Lewis Hamilton Wins Silverstone

I have always admired Lewis Hamilton and his accomplishments, but I have always found it hard to root for him, ever since I started watching in 2023. If a guy has over 100 wins, why should I care if he puts his mediocre car in p4 or p3? What I will say is that I was sad that I had never watched a single one of those many wins live.

This win during his last season with Mercedes, after a two year drought, at his home race where he holds the record for most wins, was simply perfect. I don't fault anyone for getting emotional at that.

Rating: 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

9. Arrow Mclaren #6 Car Saga

I have spent so much time yapping about this all year, so I am not gonna summarize it again. You can read all about it here. As much of a mess as this was, I do think it's time to acknowledge the positive sides. Most importantly, Callum Ilott, my favourite driver, in case anyone has not yet noticed, got to race the Indy 500 in a competitieve car. Did it go completely smoothly? No. He had a problem with the steering wheel during the warm up lap and had to start from the back of the grid, where he had contact at the beginning of the race. All things considered, I really can't complain about a P11 finish. And nothing can compare to the moment Callum teased that he would be doing the 500 in his post win interview in Spa. Lives were changed.

The other great thing to come out of the #6 car mess was Théo Pourchaire's introduction to Indycar. Last year my feelings towards Théo where mostly ambivalent when he was fighting for the F2 championship. I primarily spent most of my time asking everyone why he was so unpopular amongst F2 fans. Well, the same can't be said for Indycar, where he was instantly embraced and given a silly nickname (that honestly got old after about 3 days). Nobody has ever seemed this happy to be driving in Alabama. His excitement was contagious and even famously grumpy Alexander Rossi referred to him as the nicest person he had ever met

Rating: 😢😍🤠🧐🤯

9.b Mclaren's Broken Bones and July 21

Jumping off the previous point, I simply can't make this list without mentioning the comically insane number of broken bone incidents throughout the different Mclaren teams. Of course the Indycar silly season would have gone very differently, had David Malukas not fallen off that bike and broken his hand, which eventually got him fired the same weekend as Sam Bird broke his hand in Formula E, giving Taylor Barnard the chance to shine.

A third broken hand hit Mclaren on July 21, with Alexander Rossi out for the rest of the Toronto Indycar weekend after hitting the wall in qualifying. This of course gave Théo Pourchaire the chance to make a glorious return in form of a mad dash from France to Toronto, just in time to qualify a car he had never driven, with an entirely new type of power unit, on a track he had never seen before with absolutely no practice beforehand. The race is a huge mess of crashes, with Théo not only not finishing last, but also being the only Mclaren driver to not total his car. And if there wasn't enough going on during that race, Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential race in the middle of it.

Hands are not the only bones Mclaren drivers can break and Oscar Piastri shocked the entire F1 fanbase when he revealed during the summer break that he had been driving with a broken rib, including the day he won his first race.

Rating: 🦴🚫🫠🤪👍

10. Oscar's First Win aka July 21 pt II

Roll the clip back for a moment. A few hours before the crashfest that was the Indycar Toronto GP, while Théo Pourchaire was probably flying over the Atlantic ocean, there was another eventful race. While Lando Norris got pole position, Oscar Piastri showed what he's made of at the start and snatched the lead away from him. As Oscar quickly built a healthy gap, the first win seemed inevitable until a confusing stategy call led to Lando retaking the lead with an undercut. Why am I recapping this, we all watched it. The following laps filled with endless radio messages pleading with lando to give the position back were some of the most excruciating minutes of racing i have ever watched. While I was so hyped for an Oscar win at the start of the race, watching Lando give that position back gave me second hand embarrassment to the highest degree.

What really surprised me after the race was that my opinion (Lando should have absolutely not given that position back, racing sometimes means grabbing every advantage that falls into your lap) was nowhere near as popular as I expected it to be. I saw so many people say that Lando should have given the position back immediately. While the incident as a whole was pretty bizarre, I stand by the fact that the moment you have the best car on the grid and a plausible chance (even if it's a long shot) of winning the championship, you need to smell blood and start biting.

Rating: 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴

11. Franco Colapinto replacing Logan Sargeant

2024 was an eventful year in motorsports and some people really went through it. Not many people were having as bad of a time as Logan and Williams though. The moment something seems to be going well for he team you already know that they are about to encounter unbelievable horrors a week later. When Logan had to give his car to Alex in Melbourne the tone was set for the rest of the season.

2024 was the year when sweet, soft spoken James Vowles got his claws out and showed the kind of ruthless ambition that gets you into a team principal position. Firing someone mid season is always harsh, but it's not necesarily a bad decision. When Franco Colapinto got in that car he immediately made a splash, outscoring Logan's career points by his second race and winning the hearts of the eintire F1 community.

Unfortunately the euphoria of those first few races quickly wore off and Williams had one of the worst finishes to a season imaginable, with five DNFs and a DNS across the last five races. I hope the mechanics got the most relaxing christmas possible. With a dissappointing end to his year and no seat, things could be better for Franco, but I doubt we have seen the last of him. Ironically, I think he paved the way for many of theyoung drivers on the grid instead of him in 2025.

Rating: literally traumatizing.

12. The Thing With Liam Lawson

I will start this off by saying that I like a villain. It is very unlikely for me to hate an athlete because of his ego or entitlement. You can argue for day if a driver has that dog in him, or is simply an arrogant dick, I don't care. I want to see someone who beliees in his own skills and potential and fights to prove himself.

When Liam got that seat he knew exactly that these six races could catapult his career to new heights or ruin it forever. With Checo on his way out, Liam saw a chance to rip that Red Bull seat out of his hands and he was willing to do so, unafraid to make enemies along the way. Sure, we all know Yuki deserved his shot, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to see Liam give his all next to Max. Who knows, will he be the one to hold his own, or will that seat open up for Yuki after all in six months?

Rating: 🔥🔥🔥

13. Brazilian Grand Prix

I love Max Verstappen, but I coudn't root for him in 2023 because I was so bored of the predictable race results. I only became an F1 fan in 2022, so I was so glad that I finally got to see Max fight for something this year, and oh my god, it is remarkable. I don't think I've ever had this much fun watching F1.

The highlight, of course, was the Brazilian GP, with it's sunday morning qualifying, endless rain and yellow flags, an Alpine double podium (??) and of course Max going 17th to 1st. What. A. Day. (I also choose to ignore everything that happened beween Alpine and Esteban Ocon after this.)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. George and Max Beef

If you have followed me for a while, you have probably seen me daydream about a Max/George title fight. There is just something about the way they have opposite personalities but still match each other's energies that is so compelling to me, that, with the right cars, I think would lead to the most toxic but entertaining championship battle.

Well, turns out that such a title fight is not even necessary to to create the type of toxic mess I was predicting. I refuse to pick a side between "I have never seen somene try to scew another driver over like that" and "max is a bully", because I love them both equally. I did however have so much fun watching them trow insults at each other. And what coulld be a better time for a pregnancy announcement?

Rating: i love mess