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kus-babygirl · 3 months ago

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I am so fucking nervous to post this, as it is the first one shot that I have ever written, so please be gentle. Thank you so much to @enchantedflameandflower who heavily edited this and encouraged me to post it and also who I couldnt do it without you. I know I am not suppose to love Vincent Stevens, I can’t help but love him so much. (Think Karl is the reason for it, don’t judge me, we all love some very questionable characters) And this idea has been in my head for two days, and I had to write it (Also song isn’t mine, credit it goes to the amazing Adele)

Vincent Stevens (The Loft) x Reader

Upon entering the bar for your 15th school reunion, you couldn’t help but feel an absolutely overwhelming wave of nervous energy as you look around at all the people from your past.

You had changed since seeing your old school friends - you’re curvier, changed your hair colour and have a couple tattoos…

But more than anything - you’re nervous to see him.

Him being your ex boyfriend, from when you were in school together, Vincent Stevens.

You had dated for about 4 years while in school, and he had been the perfect boyfriend, but after graduation, you broke up as you wanted different things. He wanted to go far away to college to become a architect, which he did, and you wanted to travel. But after what had happened with the murder in his loft, and all of the affairs that came out after, he had fallen far from grace. He still had his company, but no one respected him as much. Still he was slowly crawling his way back up the respect ladder.

Of course you keep tabs on him, he was your first ever love, and still is. You wanted to travel the world, and you did, you had quite a bit of money that your grandpa had left you when he passed away a year after you graduated, and so you took off, saying goodbye to your parents, your friends and even Vincent. You traveled to the UK, Thailand, South Africa, India, Thailand, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and you spent a couple of months in each place before heading back to the states.

Now looking around the huge bar, you take everything in. There is a dance floor to the right, a curved dark oak bar with bottles upon bottles of alcohol to the left, and the bar also has a karaoke machine with a stage right in the middle of the bar and dance floor. You smile seeing some of your old friends, but not seeing Vincent yet.

So you spend a good hour, catching up and drinking with them, before finally the door of the bar opens, and Vincent walks in. It seems like everybody turns to look at him, some with happy faces and some with disgusted faces, but you…you have to turn away. It’s too much. As he approaches the bar you make a run toward the bathroom, taking a much needed breather.

You stay in there for a good 10 minutes, splashing copious amounts of cold water on your face. Taking a deep breath, you head out of the bathroom and back towards the bar, where you see Vincent having a drink with the same people you were just chatting and drinking with.

He looks over at you and gives you a small concerned smile. His hazel eyes seem to glimmer in the low light in the bar, and they’re beautiful. You give a small smile back. As he starts to head toward you, you dart away and walk over to the karaoke machine.

With a deep breath, you ask the attendant running it to put a song on for you, and he happily smiles and nods in reply. You take to the stage, gently taking the mic into your hands, and start singing:

‘Everybody loves the things you do. From the way you talk. To the way you move. Everybody here is watching you. 'Cause you feel like home. You're like a dream come true. But if by chance you're here alone. Can I have a moment? Before I go? 'Cause I've been by myself all night long. Hoping you're someone I used to know.

You look like a movie. You sound like a song. My God this reminds me, of when we were young.’

As you sing everyone stops what they’re doing and is looking at you. But you’re looking straight at Vincent, singing this to him…

‘Let me photograph you in this light. In case it is the last time. That we might be exactly like we were. Before we realized. We were scared of getting old. It made us restless. It was just like a movie. It was just like a song.’

Vincent is looking at you with a mournful expression on his face, watching you intently. He must know that it hurt you deeply when you broke up, even though it was mutual.

‘I was so scared to face my fears. Nobody told me that you'd be here. And I'd swear you moved overseas. That's what you said, when you left me.’ You are tearing up badly, and knew you couldn’t finish the whole song.

‘You still look like a movie. You still sound like a song. My God, this reminds me, of when we were young. Let me photograph you in this light. In case it is the la-,’

You start crying, dropping the mic and hearing loud ringing it makes. Running out of the bar, you walk down the street, wiping your face, trying to stop the onslaught of tears.

Suddenly, you hear your name being called by the one person you didn’t want to see you like this, but you turn around anyway and look straight at him. “V, please don’t.”

“I know you don’t want to see me right at this moment, but please let me explain everything.”

You sigh, thinking for a bit before nodding your head.

“I know us breaking up hurt you badly, and I regret that every single day. I should have put a ring on that finger when we graduated. I knew it should have been you walking down that aisle, in that wedding dress, not Barbara. All through out our married life, I kept thinking of you. Even when having sex with her…I…” he lifted his hand to rub at the back of his neck, “I even muttered your name a couple of times. We had fights because of it, and I think that’s why I had the affairs. I used each woman to fill this hole in me, using them so I could mutter your name without them caring. ‘Cause if I’m being honest with you and myself, I am still in love with you.”

You gasp, looking up at him. You weren’t ready for that confessions. “What about the murder?” you ask.

He sighs. “That was horrible pay back from my friends from college, ‘cause I am not going to lie to you, I slept with their wives, but I was thinking of you each time. I know that doesn’t justify what I’ve done. Please baby girl…”

You shiver at the nickname, squeezing your hands together to try to keep from reaching for him as he continues.

“...you make me a better man. I need you.”

Vincent is looking at you with such heartfelt emotion and love in his eyes, you can’t help but listen.

“V, I don’t know if I can. What if you go back to your old ways? I couldn’t cope if we broke up again,” you say, starting to cry again.

He quickly moves in front of you, cupping your cheeks with his big hands and leaning his forehead against yours. “I promise that will never happen. I won’t go back to my old ways. I never cheated on you when we were together. I swear on my life, please, I’ll prove to you, every single day. Please, I love you, baby-girl.”

You close your eyes, but you let him wrap you up in his arms while he lets you think. He happily let you, just standing there with you, holding you.

Finally, you sigh. “Alright, I’ll give you one chance, V, but the moment you step out of line, we are done for good, ‘cause I can’t handle it, if you did. But I love you so much.”

‘Thank you, baby-girl. I promise, I will show you that I have changed, because I love you so much too.” He gently leans down, looking in your eyes for permission and you nod your head. He smiles and kisses you so gently, but still full of passion. It is like he is making every promise to you with this one kiss.

And after that night and so forth, he treats you like a queen. He shows you his phone with his private messages and his private and personal emails every day to prove to you that he isn’t having affairs, and he loves you more than you ever thought possible.

@negansbabydoll66 @urban-trek-thru-middle-earth @bohemianblasphemy @ghostwriter2203 @shirley-girly @bluemerakis

#karl urban #the loft #vincent stevens x reader #vincent stevens

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weirdestbooks · 3 months ago

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Confessions (Wattpad | Ao3)

America’s father was strange and persistent. Ever since the end of last year, he had been messaging America and the other so-called “favorites,” asking them to meet him at his house so he could tell them something important. America had asked some of his other siblings and niblings if they had gotten the invitation, but none of them had, which just made America more curious as to why Britain wanted all of them to meet up.

It had taken a while, but they had finally reached the point where they could all show up at his house at the same time.

“Okay, does anyone have any idea of what is happening?” America asked New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, and Australia who had arrived before he had. New South Wales shook his head.

“Nah, mate. None of us Australians know shit. Have you asked the Canadians? Or the Kiwi?” America nodded, and New South Wales sighed.

“Why is Grandpa so insistent that we have to be here today at the same time? It's not like he invited any of the other favorites. It’s just some Canadians, some Australians, Kiwi, and you.” South Australia commented, crossing his arms.

“Maybe he has something he wants to tell all of you at once?” Caleb suggested for the thousandth time. Normally, America would tell him that they have nothing in common that would require them to be here simultaneously, but he didn't want to look insane in front of his family.

“You told the world you had DID ages ago. Why does it matter?” James asked, his voice gentle like aways.

“Yeah, they already know. They ain’t gonna think you’re crazy,” Conch Republic added.

Ignoring the fact that James was right, America began to start small talk with his Australian family as they waited for the invited Canadians and New Zealand to show up.

“Hey guys! Have you figured out why Dad is so insistent on us showing up today?” British Columbia, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, and Northwest Territories, said as he approached them.

“No, we were waiting for the rest of you since Dad was so insistent that we all show up together,” Western Australia said with a small smile.

“He’s been a nuisance about that,” Tasmania said. Australia wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“The great British Empire, reduced to begging for his former colonies to come and see him, ain't that right, Tassy?” He said.

“What do you mean, ‘former colonies’? If I recall correctly, none of you have left the Commonwealth yet, which means I'm the only true former colony.”

“We get it, America. You have an ego,” New Zealand said from behind them, finally arriving. Some of America’s family members began snickering at that, along with some of the other alters. America rolled his eyes.

“Ha ha, that's so funny. Well, we’re all here now. Let’s see what Dad wants. I hope it’s quick, though, because I have things I need to do,” he said.

“Delly said it's okay if you need to miss his pseudo birthday. He knows you fought to get a different date, and it's not like anyone remembers this is his pseudo birthday anyways.” Molossia commented.

“Like what, inflate your ego some more?” South Australia asked, causing another round of snickering.

“He probably wants to since we are all attacking it. You can’t see how he's trying to say he doesn't have an ego.” Queensland said.

Queensland was, unfortunately, right. America flipped her off and then opened the door to their father’s house. Tasmania had picked the lock while they were making small talk earlier.

“Grandfather! We are here! Please tell us why you wanted us all here!” New Zealand yelled.

“In the kitchen! Take off your shoes at the door, especially the Australians!”

“Calling us out specifically, huh, Grandpa?” Queensland asked.

“You are all crazy and spend half your time doing dangerous stunts that will get you killed,” Their father yelled back at her.

“You’re right, but hey!” Australia said, not making any moves to remove his shoes, tracking dirt everywhere. America tried his best to hold down his snickers, as he had also not removed his shoes.

“People said he was basically an American colony during World War Two for a reason,” Caleb commented, prompting a snort of laughter from Eastport.

Well, pushing aside the fact that America might have semi-adopted his nephew, their group made their way into the kitchen, where England and Britain were arguing in sign language.

“If you guys are going to argue, we can come back later,” Manitoba said, stopping the argument in its tracks.

“Wow, if they had stopped arguing, they must have really wanted us here," Newfoundland and Labrador whispered to Western Australia, who did her best to stifle her giggles.

“I can hear you,” their father said, his tone lacking amusement.

“Good,” Western Australia shot back. Their father rolled his eyes, and England slunk out of the room, giving their father one last glance.

“What was that about?” Northwest Territories asked. Their father waved his hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it, Northwest. That’s something me and England have to work out ourselves. Now, for why I called you here.”

“Finally.” South Australia said, straightening up. Their father exhaled once, looking like he was trying to calm his nerves.

“I’ve been lying to you for a long time.” He said. America snorted as James murmured no shit.

“Yeah, we know you are a liar. But you’ve been getting better at that.” America said.

“Yeah, Uncle Ame is right. You’ve been better at that. If that is all you needed to say, Grandfather, I think you might be disappointed to know we already knew that.” New Zealand added.

“Yes, I knew you were aware of that. But this is more of a secret England wanted me to keep. It’s part of why we were arguing when you came in.” Their father said. America could see several members of the group perk up at that.

“And you are telling us?” Australia asked.

“Yes…all of you were called ‘favorites’ by many of my former colonies. I know not all of the so-called favorites are here right now, but there’s a reason for that. See, you twelve are the colonies I tried to protect by keeping secrets from you. The fact that you had another parent.”

America froze.

“WHAT?” New South Wales exclaimed, baring his teeth. Their father raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

“My children, I never wanted to hurt you with this, but I believe you have finally matured into wonderful people who were ready to learn that uncomfortable fact. Rest assured, though, I did this to protect and help you.” His father put a hand on America’s cheek and smiled at him, and America felt sick. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn’t. He was frozen in place, shaking legs and a pressure in his throat. He wanted to cry and scream and stop feeling comforted by the hand on his face.

But America just stood there and stared into his father’s eyes, which were empty of regret.

“I did this out of love. It’s what allowed you to be so well-behaved and favorites as well,” he said, pulling his hand back before crossing his arms, looking smug as he did so.

“Dad…please tell me you’re lying…” Manitoba said

“He has to be! My kids are here! If they had other parents, we would know!” New South Wales insisted.

“Hey, yeah, Dad’s right. If we had other parents, we would know. After all, Northwest's kids knew!” Tasmania said.

“Well, he did. Once upon a time. But he planned to tell you before you were mature enough to understand that. I tried to convince him to back down, but he refused. So I fixed that. As for Northwest, well they chose to stay silent. It was a smart choice on their part. After all, they were always mature.” Britain said. New South Wales collapsed as Queensland and South Australia rushed to catch him, chest heaving as he fought off what looked like a panic attack.

“And yet I wasn’t told about my other parent.” Northwest Territories said quietly. Britain shot him a small smile.

“Well, you didn't need to know that. You just needed to know your place, lest you end up like him,” Britain said, gesturing to New South Wales.

“What did you do to me?” Said the state in a broken tone, clearly hurt by the betrayal. America was too and was half convinced James and Caleb were the only reason they were still standing. As they slowly began fronting, the Conch Republic threatened murder against Britain.

“I just fixed your problems and removed some corruption. I know this might hurt to hear, but I do love you, NSW. That's why I had to hurt you, even though I didn’t want to,” Britain said, his words sounding like empty promises.

But you could hear it in his voice.

“He is actually serious about what he’s saying! He actually believes that what was most likely torture was for some bullshit greater good and actually thinks it helped his son. He’s delusional! I know he abused you despite you being a favorite, but I didn't realize that other favorites were treated worse!” Molossia ranted, anger in his voice.

“I wasn’t abused,” Ameriac said softly, not knowing if it was him trying to convince the clothes or him trying to convince him. America lowered his head to make eye contact with his father. “I wasn’t abused, right?”

“America…” James murmured.

America hated how small and weak his voice sounded. Britain looked offended at America, even suggesting that.

“Of course not!” He said, causing relief to fill America’s body, relief that was quickly replaced by horror as he continued his statement, “I mean, even though you might have known, England used your martial law to fix that, so we wouldn’t have to hurt you, and that way you wouldn’t go running off with the natives and get yourself killed.”

America’s knees finally gave out, and Australia scrambled to catch them, tears rolling down the Australian’s face. Was he crying for America or his father? America didn’t know. But did he really ever know anything?

Tears were appearing in his eyes, and his breath began to get more and more uneven and shaky.

“America breathe. You have to breathe.” James said.

America…he didn’t think the marital law had affected him that badly. What else did England force him to believe…and to forget?

“What else?” America asked shakily, in a small moment where his breathing evened out.

“What else what?” his father asked, the same fucking smile on his face as if he hadn’t just told America that England mind-controlled him into forgetting he had a mother, mind-controlled him into forgetting so much about himself.

“What else did England do to me?” America snarled out as someone else began co-fronting, helping them stay standing as fury pumped through their veins.

“He just ensured you’d be loyal to the church and the government. It’s no big deal. Honestly, you twelve are being so dramatic. It’s not like you can even talk to your other parents. They’re most likely dead. And if they aren’t, well, I don’t remember who they were. It was useless information. You can find out on your own.”

“But what if they're dead?” Newfoundland and Labrador asked, her arms wrapped tightly across her body.

“Well, I think that’s more your fault than mine. Canada and America were always better at hurting the natives than I was. If you North Americans need someone to blame for the deaths of your family, blame them.” Their father said casually. A loud ringing began in America's ears, and he pulled away, letting whoever was co-fronting take charge.

He had to get away. America needed to get away.

—————————

America was in his bedroom now, in his apartment in Washington. He had left the country world. The ringing in his ears was still present but quieter than it had been before.

“Guys.” America asked softly, “What happened?"

“You started having a panic attack. I know you don’t like anyone seeing them, so James began co-fronting and left the group. You’ve been asleep for a little while since then.” Unorganized Territory explained.

“You also missed Northwest Territories decking Britain!” Molossia exclaimed.

America exhaled a little sigh of relief before smiling slightly at Molossia’s comments, although the smile quickly faded.

“Thanks, James. You’re a lifesaver.” America said before curling up in the fetal position.

“He knows…but are you alright, America?” Caleb asked, his voice gentle

“No. I feel sick and betrayed and…and…I can’t believe…England fucking took advantage of the martial law to like…fucking brainwash me or some shit. Is this even my real personality? How much of me did he change? Why didn’t I fucking notice something was wrong?” America stood up and left the bedroom, pacing around the room as he tried to control his growing anxiety.

“He couldn't have changed everything. Besides, you’ve grown a lot since then. Any of your real self that was buried can and probably has come back.” Conch Republic pointed out.

“You aren’t as changed as he wants you to think, either. I knew you then, and I know you now. Not everything gone is dead. Besides, we have Yapam still, so it’s still there somewhere,” James added, and America could tell from his tone of voice that he was smiling gently.

America passed by the open door to the bathroom and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He paused and then walked into the room, flicking on the lights as he did so. America was still in his country form, his stars moving around frantically, a sign of his anxiety.

America dropped his country form, letting his human form appear. America looked at himself in the mirror and burst into tears.

How was America so fucking stupid as to not see it before?

Did England use the martial law to ensure that America wouldn't see it until he and Britain wanted him to?

How did America not see how non-white he was?

And what Britain had said before James began fronting.

America killed his mother.

“He’s a manipulative liar! Why are you trusting him? Why are you blaming England and yourself but not him?” Molossia ranted.

“Because he’s right. I killed my mother. I…I…this is my fault.” America said panic swelling. He couldn’t be here. He couldn’t—

America brought himself back to the country world, in his house, trying his best to block out the others' attempts to make him think he wasn't at fault when he so clearly was.

They were wrong. America was a monster.

#countryhumans #countryhumans america #countryhumans britain #countryhumans australia #oneshots by weird #historical countryhumans

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londonspirit · 1 year ago

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Inside Rita Ora and Taika Waititi’s Intimate, Never-Before-Seen Los Angeles Wedding

“She proposed to me, and I said yes instantly,” filmmaker Taika Waititi says of how he and singer-songwriter Rita Ora became engaged. While the pair first met at a barbecue in 2018 that Taika hosted at his house in L.A., it wasn’t until 2021, when they were both filming in Australia, that they began dating. Rita popped the question while the pair were on vacation in Palm Springs in the summer of 2022, and they planned an impromptu wedding to be held in Los Angeles a few weeks later, on August 4. “It wasn’t in London or in France like everyone reported,” Taika clarifies. “It was in L.A. with a small group of friends.”

“At our home!” Rita notes.

“Our address was…no, I’m just joking,” Taika says, laughing.

Over the past year, the two have gotten a kick out of the misinformation about their nuptials that has spread like wildfire across the internet. “It’s actually been quite entertaining for us to see the different stories people made up and all the while getting to keep it to ourselves,” Rita admits. “And, I love that we now get to share what really happened—and to do it on our one-year anniversary, no less!”

As far as the planning process goes, there wasn’t one: The entire event was dreamed up and executed in just two weeks. “There were about eight people there—just close friends and family, and parents on Zoom,” Taika says, noting he was particularly thrilled to have his best friend Jemaine Clement fly all the way over from New Zealand for the last-minute ceremony. “It was really us and my sister, Elena,” Rita says. “Elena to the rescue!”

The bride wore a Tom Ford dress and Lorraine Schwartz jewels for the intimate ceremony. “Tom Ford is one of my favorite designers of all time and favorite humans in general,” Rita says. “He’s now one of my close friends, and I adore and admire him so much. To get married in his dress was a dream come true. And because it wasn’t planned, I didn’t know if the right dress was even going to be in town, and I just took the risk and went to the Tom Ford shop, and they had it perfectly waiting with the veil, in my size, no alterations needed to be done. I mean, it was like it was meant to be, to be honest. And it just made me so happy.”

Sami Knight styled the bride’s hair in soft, loose curls, and Anthony H. Nguyen created a natural, glowy makeup look. Meanwhile, the groom wore Brunello Cucinelli (and received a touch-up or two from Rita’s makeup artist along the way).

For the ceremony itself, the couple kept things simple. “I wore my mum’s pearls that she got married in. My sister, Elena, put [the bracelet] on my wrist. It was beautiful,” Rita says. “My sister walked me down the aisle, and it was just really simple and blissful and calm and private and fun.”

“Yeah, it was beautiful,” Taika adds. “Just having close friends and not having it too big. We didn’t have table settings or any of the stressful things that go along with weddings, and it was nice to just have it super-simple. My daughters were there, and they made everything really fun and easy: I think just because we didn’t have the pressure of having caterers and all of these things, you know, people turning up late, and all of the different moving parts.”

“I felt really peaceful actually,” Rita says. “It was almost like another day. We just all dressed up and got married.”

After the ceremony, Rita and Taika went to their friend Guy Oseary’s house for a dinner party. “He was so kind to host us at the last minute,” says Rita. “We got a group of people together, and we just had a great time!” As a surprise wedding gift from a friend, an Elvis impersonator showed up to serenade them, before everyone danced the night away to a playlist of the couple’s own making.

A year later, they both are still reveling in newlywed bliss. “It’s still working!” Taika exclaims. “I can’t believe it’s been a year.”

“Same. I can’t believe it’s been a year,” Rita says. “It feels like nothing’s changed since the day I met him at the barbecue. It just feels so good to be with my best friend.”

youtube

#taika waititi #rita ora #vogue wedding #vogue article #taika and rita wedding #Youtube

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disco-cola · 5 months ago

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honestly my anxiety and depression is at an all time high like it’s been there for years and me era struggling in this decade and knowing I will never be able to actually truly have or at least try to have my dream life is one big reason and whereas I know horrible things have always happened and will continue to always happen but basically witnessing the gaza genocide on livestream and the reactions and vile justification of the world until today is also playing a big role now on top of that (and also simultaneously learning about congo, sudan, and more indigenous history regarding hawaii specifically, the „boarding schools“ in the us and canada, and the native history of australia and new zealand and that’s not even all there is to know) is also now playing a huge role and a friend said to me today „you should stop dealing with this stuff if it breaks you this is not good for you mental health“ but i CANT once you know how can you go back from it this is precisely what white privilege is and i reject the normalization of that also its just crazy to me how i got hit with the „I can’t look at this stuff“ when I mentioned how the videos from gaza and the west bank devastated me I was like „do you think i just CAN?“ I just think my feelings and comfort and mental health arent more important than other peoples lives even if it makes me struggle that hard we need to bear witness bc there won’t be a we did not know and that being said I also know my mental and physical reactions to this abyss of recent history is absolutely normal like let’s be real I rather am worried about the people being completely unfazed by this but in my real life I genuinely feel as if I am screaming into a void and made to almost feel ashamed bc the genocide and other issues and upcoming elections and politics is nearly all I can talk and think about currently when i am with people and apparently that’s a „vibe killer“ like I feel like I am annoying people and also everybody around me is just moving on with their lives and enjoying themselves and constantly doing fun things while now not just my era struggle but also the general state of the world is just sucking up my will to live idk man I just needed to rant but is anyone else feeling like this??

#like i genuinely just want someone irl who feels the same about this as I do #is that too much to ask #like pls good send me a comrade??

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theygender · 10 months ago

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2023 Tumblr Top 10

1. 104,722 notes - Mar 1 2023

2. 88,448 notes - Jan 30 2023

Anyone else feel like things have been Very recently? Like it's all just getting a little Too for me

3. 39,294 notes - Nov 6 2023

In the club saying shit like "frankly" and "in all honesty"

4. 33,427 notes - Jul 6 2023

If you ever find yourself thinking "oh it's only ██:00, I still have plenty of time before this turns into sleep deprivation" that is the devil speaking. Go to bed NOW before it’s too late

5. 2,403 notes - Jan 24 2023

Nona is the most character ever. She's been alive for 6 months but her body is 19 years old and her soul is 10,002 years old and her soul’s original body is 4.6 billion years old. She’s existed long enough to know everything but she hasn’t been alive long enough to understand it. She knows every human language but she just learned to talk last month and she still can’t read or write. She knows humans better than they know themselves but she’s still figuring out the being human part. She’s unfathomably old and incredibly young all at once. Her birthday is in five days and she wants you to be there

6. 874 notes - May 21 2023

TLT fans: did you guys know about the real Wake? I hadn’t heard about her until we covered World War II in my world civ class this semester

Nancy Grace Augusta Wake (1912-2011) was a covert operative who was at the top of the Nazi’s most wanted list in WW2, nicknamed “The White Mouse” for her ability to repeatedly evade capture. She was born in New Zealand with Māori heritage, grew up in Australia, and joined the Resistance after traveling to Europe and witnessing the harsh treatment of Jews in Vienna by the Nazis

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7. 692 notes - Feb 22 2023

Thinking about the way that John Gaius went from being an avid anti-capitalist, environmentalist, and humanist; the only person left in existence who may have been able to keep Earth and all of her children alive through the coming apocalypse and had the drive to keep working on saving the world even when it seemed hopeless, no matter what obstacles were thrown his way… To becoming not only the person who pulled the trigger to personally kill the Earth and everyone left on it, but also becoming the god-king of a colonialist murdering empire of his own making, killing every planet that crosses his path? I’m chewing through my power cable and it’s gonna make me short circuit

8. 368 notes - Jun 6 2023

I accidentally set the time limit to 24 hours on the last one so it's time for round 2

How tall are you?

...

9. 248 notes - Aug 9 2023

10. 153 notes - Mar 7 2023

Certified autism moment. I finally got through all the training modules in my new job and got to move on to the FUN part of messing around with excel. I’ve spent the last 7 hours coding excel sheets and I am over the fucking moon happy about it. This is like the equivalent of playing in a sandbox for me

Created by TumblrTop10

#tumblrtop10 #year in review #tumblr2023 #rambling #this has been a big year for me lol #i just passed 8k followers like last night. who are you people (hi)

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alienorstyx · 1 year ago

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The Ocean of fate

Previous part: 3

Chapter 3: Finally on the Island

The fresh morning air awakened America, who wondered if all that had just happened was a simple dream, or a vulgar nightmare due to all the sweets devoured with New Zealand at last night’s dinner. However, it was not her fault that France had brought so many sweets, such as chocolate, marshmallow bears, fruit candies, fruit pastes, Italian biscuits (to make anyone addicted), a few lollipops, and cupcakes, all these treats were intended for the birthday of New Zealand, which had just celebrated her 8th birthday. Their father only tasted the various cupcakes, and the one he liked the most was the lemon one, while her brothers ate some sweets and cakes with their girlfriends. And France like their father only ate some cupcake, but she nevertheless preferred the chocolate/ coconut one. The rest of the treats were swallowed up by New Zealand and America, eating almost everything,if the United Kingdom hadn't prevented them to do it. It was necessary that some remains for breakfast otherwise there would be only simple rusks to put under the tooth.

With difficulty she opened her eyelids, as her body wanted to stay here to sleep, exhausted by all the efforts made to survive. Last night’s dining room was now dark. Yet it was time to rise, the sun had been shining for several hours on the surface. The fish were swimming over America’s head. We were supposed to be around 8:00 am.

I feel like it’s cold and wet today. It’s weird, I feel like I’m surrounded by water. Iiikkk!!! What just got in my hair?!! It keeps moving!

Her fingers brushed against the unknown creature. She just hoped it wasn’t some sort of insect, and especially not a cockroach, she hated them, this mistake of nature. How many times had it happened to her, that those filthy beasts climbed on her while she was sleeping peacefully. Their little paws twisting in her thick hair. A real war to remove them. Too many times it happened that she stop keeping track of it.

It’s a dream! It’s not possible that this is what I’m thinking. It's skin looks like a snake or a fish, so cold, so slippery. These are scales! I will put my hand in the fire!

Her eyes opened wide, as she reflexively raised her upper body. Her head hit an oil lamp, that was turned off. Thus she could see a light flickering like a lighthouse in the darkness. The lamp was found to be hanging on one of the bearing walls. The girl tried to stand up. Without much success. Realizing too late that her legs were non-existent.

Instead, she could not see what was holding her against the ground. But whatever it might be, the weight that put her down, was enough to anguish the girl. To reassure herself, the American touched with her trembling hand what should have been her right leg , sadly she had the unpleasant feeling of touching thick scales.

What is it that... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ! I’m still in the middle of a nightmare! My legs... I can’t feel them anymore. I have to drag myself to the light to see more clearly! Let’s go a little courage, you can do it girl. it’s only a few meters. It must just be a small flood, It often happens on these islands during bad weather. I hope New Zealand and Dad are all right. Canada and Australia will be fine, they are like cockroaches, indestructible and boring. With difficulty, She crawled, getting hit by absolutely all the objects that floated.

Finally arriving under the light, it was with shock that she discovered what her legs looked like. From the top of her belly to the bottom of what was previously her feet, rested a huge and long green and golden tail. The fins had golden tips while the rest was transparent.

Ring ring ring

America opened her eyes to the sound of the alarm, hoping to be back in reality, her eyes stared at the arched ceiling. What a funny dream. Me, becoming a mermaid? It would be pure science fiction, I’m not in one of those B-movies, where after suffering a near death experience, a poor girl finds herself in a body that is not her own. All her senses are altered and she decides to take revenge on the mad scientists who turned her into a monster. And all those who tried to oppose her revenge against the organization Y. To finally end up impaled by an alcoholic fisherman who is admired throughout the film by the blonde and brainless heroine, who falls madly in love with him, thinking that she could change him. Actually, no. He will remain a depressed alcoholic and their romance will be unhappy and short-lived. And there, the camera fades the happy vision of the two main characters and glides gently at the surface of the water, we see them now blurred, leaning over each other to kiss and then a shadow quickly passes on the screen. The camera stopped filming on a wreck. We heard resonant noises coming from inside the ruin. Which implies that a continuation is possible for a second movie. And finally, the credits of all the beautiful team that participated to write such a scenario. Well, it’s not all that. I should get up, nature calls me.

The American stretched her limbs out from under the thick sheet, not noticing the hand-stitched embroideries, representing small flowers and long perpendicular lines. The girl was still in the living room from the day before, the pot was at her feet, a thick copper lid now rested on it, to keep food safe from possible insects. Difficult to find under the sea. But you never know, if there was not one hidden in a crack.

The antiquity that served as an alarm clock still sounded loudly as America finally managed to stop it's infernal noise by pressing on the head of the small metal object. A small noise on the side, attracted the attention of the girl. Hidden under the sheet, was her kind hostess of the day before. The pretty woman must have fallen asleep shortly after America did. Her face seemed so peaceful. Her skin, as white as the moon, bore no trace of suffering or pain. In comparison, her lips were of the darkest red. So sensual. Her whole body seemed so silky, so soft to caress. That temptation was strong for the American.

Hold it together, America! You wouldn’t want a stranger to come and caress you while you sleep! Hold it. You don’t know what she’s thinking about you. Hell! You don’t even know if she’s attracted to girls at all. Don’t get the signs wrong. This could cause more embarrassment than anything else. You will normally chat with her when she wakes up. You’ll invite her for coffee or dinner to thank her for saving your life. And then you’ll see if there’s chemistry between you and her. We’re not just trying to do a one-night stand. Get to know her before you try your luck like a 44-year-old truck driver on a highway when he sees at the gas station, a pretty girl in a red convertible.

Slowly, the hostess awoke. Her eyelids shook twice before opening halfway. Her gaze turned directly to the American woman, who was standing in front of her, seating closely, and who avoided her gaze without great discretion. This amused Russia. Who rose gracefully from the carpet. Knowing full well that her tunic reflected wonderfully the curves of her body. This attracted without surprise the look of the American who contemplated it while blushing.

" For breakfast, I can offer you a very simple porridge with fruit. I’m sorry I can’t offer you more...but I haven’t made provisions for the next few months." Her gentle tone immediately conquered America who did not want to appear insolent, saying that she absolutely did not like porridge. Especially the half-burned one of her father, where she still didn't know how he managed to have such a result in the kitchen.

"That’s fine. I... I love porridge! Don’t worry!"

" Perfect. I will prepare it. If you want to wash, I can prepare a bath for you. It won’t be ready until after breakfast, I’m sorry."

"Thank you...thank you! A good bath can revitalize any woman! Ahaha..."

" Yes. " Without saying another word, Russia got up, lit the oil lamp and disappeared into the corridor.

Why did I say that? She’s going to think I’m weird. You couldn’t hold back! Huh! ? my damn brain! I have to break any misunderstanding. Or it will create even more embarrassing situation. Arg!! I do not know what to do...

While America was lost in her thoughts, her host worked to prepare the best fruit porridge. Looking for seasonal fruits in her boxes, she still had two pears, three apricots, an apple, a banana and a peach. That will do it perfectly fine. While cooking she waited for the water destined for the bath to heat. In about twenty minutes everything will be ready.

Russia quickly returned to the living room. She noticed that the sheet had been folded and put to the side, this little attention made her smile. With a calm gesture, she handed the bowl of porridge to America who took it and thanked her timidly. Hesitant, America took the first spoon of porridge.

"Hmpf! It's really good." She said, with the spoon still in her mouth. Before looking away, her whole face was bright red.

"I am glad to know that you liked my recipe."

"It’s delicious." It’s not just the recipe I like, you’re as appetizing as this dish. But it would be too embarrassing to say out loud.

Once breakfast was over, Russia showed America the bathroom. Which was a bit rustic. A simple bathtub in which Russia poured the last bucket of hot water.

" I hope the water will be at your temperature. I am afraid it will be too hot for a girl with as delicate a skin as you."

"That will do. My father says that my skin is as hard as the one of a bull. Eh eh!"

"Good. I will let you enjoy this bath. I will prepare your belongings, which are still damp, unfortunately. You can keep this dress."

"Thank you. But it is not necessary, I can wear my clothes very well, a little bit of moisture will not kill me."

"No, no. They smell too much like seawater and I’m not sure it’s very comfortable in the state they are right now."

"Oh, then could I offer you a coffee or dinner at the restaurant to thank you for all that you have done?"

" Uh... Okay. Just in a little crowded place."

"All right. Are we discussing this later?"

"Yes, take a bath before the water gets cold."

The hot water did America a great feel. She relaxed completely. Once out of the bath, she took the towel on the wooden stool. Dried quickly. And joined Russia in the living room. The two young women decided to meet the next morning for a coffee near the city center and then lunch at the port or in one of the alleys of the city.

To get to the surface, Russia showed America the simplest way and the one she used the least, but this little detail she did not specify to the other woman. Together, they climbed into the elevator, which after a few squeaks began to rise. Very quickly they were on the surface. Arriving in a small house. The door opened inside the living room. What surprised America was the very dusty state of the house, but she did not comment on it. The young woman indicated her which way to follow to reach the beach then her hotel. Wishing her good luck.

Happily, America crossed the thick forest following the hidden beacons against the trees or in the branches. Her bag full of wet clothing was hooking to all brambles and branches. As for her feet, they were hurting like she walked on glass but in about 30 minutes she could relax in the hotel and annoy her brothers and then play with New Zealand.

#countryhumans #The Ocean of fate #fanfic #AO3 fanfic #countryhumans russia #countryhumansrussiaxamerica #rusame #countryhumans america

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intheshadowofwar · 1 year ago

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28 May 2023

On Parade

Anzac Parade 28 May 2023

If there’s one thing every capital city needs, it’s a big ceremonial thoroughfare. Washington has the National Mall, London has the Mall, Paris has the Champs Elysees, and even humble Canberra has Anzac Parade. In times of less construction, one could stand on the steps of the War Memorial and have an unobstructed view of the long avenue, and then, across Lake Burley Griffin, to both the Old and New Parliament Houses.

It’s perhaps odd to consider that nearly none of this was intentional. Anzac Parade was part of Walter Burley Griffin’s plan for Canberra, which I’ll link to here - Griffin, it seemed, really liked his big avenues, and you can see most of the modern Canberra roads there. Looking at drawings by Marion Mahony Griffin, which are in Nicholas Brown’s History of Canberra, there doesn’t really seem to be anything in the spot where the memorial is, and a bizarre domed building that looks like a cross between the US Capitol and the Angkor Wat stands on Capital Hill. Even Old Parliament House was only intended to be temporary. Of course, the First World War intervened, and thus the War Memorial came to sit where it does now at the base of Mount Ainslie, while the permanent parliament house was not constructed until the 1980s, and certainly looks like the product of its decade.

Just as Anzac came to exist, so did Anzac Parade. Like much of Burley Griffin’s plan, it took until later to come into fruition - it was opened in 1965. Over time, it came to be lined with individual war memorials to specific services, battles or wars. They run the gauntlet from the traditional statuary of the Army Memorial to the modern, cubical Peacekeepers Memorial; from the traditional heroic imagery of the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial to the sombre, ambiguous concrete monoliths that form the Vietnam War Memorial.

My uncle has been in town recently, so I took him up and down Anzac Parade to look at the array of memorials. It was a good opportunity to reorientate myself with them - and it’s a fairly good walk besides.

We started on the left side of the road (facing towards Mount Ainslie.) At the start of Anzac Parade there are two giant basket handles on either side of the road, forming the Australia-New Zealand Memorial. It’s perhaps fitting that we start with the oft-forgotten ‘NZ’ part of ANZAC; a healthy reminder that Gallipoli and the Western Front are just as important in Wellington as they are here. Moving along, one passes the Boer War Memorial. This is a very recent addition indeed - it was well into the 21st century before the South African War had its memorial in the national capital. Past that is the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial.

I’m going to go a little deeper into this one, as there’s not much scope for the discussion of the Palestine campaign anywhere else. The Desert Mounted Corps, initially the Desert Column, operated in the Sinai Desert, Palestine and Syria between December 1916 and the end of the war, fighting against the Ottoman Empire. Initially the force was commanded by General Chetwode, but in mid-1917 General Harry Chauvel took command, the first Australian to command a corps. (Lawrence of Arabia, apparently, was not a big fan of him.) The Corps consisted of three divisions - two ANZAC and one British. An additional British division and an Indian brigade were added in mid-1918, and I believe there were detachments of French Colonial troops, although I can’t seem to confirm this right now. I tell you this because you would not know from looking at the memorial, which is entirely an Australian and New Zealand affair. Grumbling about the omitting of nationalities aside, a big reason the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial is of particular interest is because it’s actually a replica. The original was erected at Port Said in Egypt after the war, but during the Suez Crisis, it was targeted and destroyed by Egyptian nationalists as a symbol of the British Empire. The destruction of statutory, despite what some might say, is by no means a 21st century phenomenon.

Moving along, one passes the grey, funereal Vietnam Memorial, which asks visitors to walk inside it, and in which the names of the dead are gathered on a ring above. Then you pass the Korean War Memorial, with its army, navy and air force figures surrounded by tall steel poles that look like rain, and after that the comparatively conventional memorial to the army. At the end of Anzac Parade, nestled into the corner, is the Hellenic Memorial, which commemorates the battles of Greece and Crete during the Second World War. It’s built to resemble an amphitheatre, with a pillar marked with the Greek Orthodox cross and pair of steel beams in the middle. A map of the Aegean, almost stained glass in appearance, is made from tiles on the floor.

Perhaps entertainingly if one knows the history of Greco-Turkish relations, it’s positioned directly across the road from the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Memorial. There probably aren’t many western democracies, with the obvious exception of Germany, that have memorials to the enemy in their capital - still less to an autocratic dictator. Yet Ataturk holds a key position in Anzac mythology. As a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Ottoman Army, he played a role in the defence of Gallipoli against the British and Anzac forces. After the war, he became a key figure in the Turkish nationalist movement, and eventually the President. I have to be very careful what I say here, as I have to load and edit this in Turkey where it is illegal to defame Ataturk, so I’ll focus my discussion on the inscription on the memorial.

It’s a long one, and it’s a little hard to see on my photograph, so I’ll just type it out.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway counties, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom, and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.

Beautiful sentiment, right? The only problem is that Ataturk almost certainly didn’t say them. I’ll link to an excellent article on the subject at Honest History (and honestly, I’d recommend that website for a lot of things) but the basic gist of the problem is that knows when he said it, or if he dictated it to someone else, or if it was a letter, or really anything else about the providence of the quote, and it really seems to have started being kicked around in the 1980s. There is no evidence prior to 1953 of the speech (or letter, or dictation, or lavatory graffiti) existing.

So why, when we know he probably say it, is it still there? I think it’s because it’s comforting. It’s a little bit of myth making that serves to make the past a little more bearable. To imagine your father or grandfather lying in the bosom of a friendly nation is palatable. To imagine him buried in an enemy country, whose soldiers killed him, is less so.

Traveling back down Anzac Parade, one next passes the memorial to the Royal Australian Navy Memorial, a mishmash of flesh and steel shapes which includes a fountain. Beyond that is the ‘shower curtain’ - the derogatory name a veteran nurse gave to the Nurse’s Memorial. This is the most vertical of the memorials on Anzac Parade - a blue glass structure that visitors can walk into, listing the names of conflicts and postings of the nursing service and displaying images of nurses throughout Australian military history. It is worth pointing out that this is a memorial specifically to nurses in the Australian service, not Australian nurses - nurses who died in the British service are not commemorated either here or on the Roll of Honour. I know you’re getting sick of links by now, but here’s one to a video on that subject.

We then pass the Royal Australian Air Force Memorial, which I’ve never been a particular fan of - it just seems a bit dull to me, if I’m completely honest. Past that is the great tan monument to the Rats of Tobruk - the men of the 9th (and one brigade of the 7th) Division who defended Tobruk from the Nazi Afrika Korps in 1941. (I am going to get into so much trouble for calling Rommel’s Afrika Korps ‘Nazi,’ which is of course precisely why I did so.) Finally, one passes the impenetrably abstract Peacekeepers Memorial, before reaching the other side of the New Zealand Memorial.

This walk took us about an hour, and on the way home, we decided to try to find the Air Crash Memorial in the Pialligo Forest. The key word was ‘try,’ because it turns out there’s no road access and it’s a 3.2km walk to reach it. As we’d already been walking, we decided to call it a day. The air crash in question was the Canberra Air Disaster - a Lockheed Hudson crashed on approach to Canberra airport on the 13th of August 1940, killing three members of the cabinet and Chief of the General Staff General Sir Brudenell White. This is another name we’ll probably come back to. Suffice it to say, it was a major body blow to Robert Menzies’ first government and probably contributed to its fall the following year (although Menzies buggering off to London for several months to pester Churchill probably didn’t help either.)

All in all, it was a good day. I don’t know when I’ll write again, though I’m hoping soon - otherwise I shall see you in two weeks, as there’s a few thoughts I might want to get onto paper while I’m in Sydney.

#anzac parade #australian war memorial #first world war #second world war #vietnam war #korean war #australian army #royal australian navy #royal australian air force #new zealand #australia #greece #turkey #mustafa kemal atatürk

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mariacallous · 2 years ago

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Of the 20 games Australia played on its journey to qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, 16 games were held abroad. Australia has been a member of the Asian Football Confederation since 2005, and its players’ passports include stamps from Kuwait, Taiwan, Jordan, Vietnam, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. But several members of the Australian team can claim an even longer journey to the tournament.

“Pressure is me as an 18-month-old baby fleeing a war. Pressure is me as a 6-year-old being in the middle of a war. Pressure isn’t a must-win football game because you can win or lose, but I don’t think anyone’s going to die,” defender Milos Degenek told ESPN before Australia’s Nov. 26 group-stage game against Tunisia.

Degenek was born in Knin, Croatia, in 1994. The city was the self-declared capital of the unrecognized Republic of Serbian Krajina during the 1991 to 1995 conflict that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia and was taken by the Croatian military in 1995. Degenek’s family fled to Belgrade, Serbia, in 1995 to avoid the worst of the war before immigrating to Australia as refugees when he was 7 years old.

“I can remember pretty much everything from that time,” Degenek said in a 2017 interview with FIFA.com. “Not knowing if you are going to wake up tomorrow because of the bombings. You would see a lot of crazy things the next morning when you woke up. A lot of things in flames. And a lot of things that a normal human mind can’t comprehend. You just have to deal with it at a young age.”

Australia’s national soccer team has long revealed the country’s migrant history. Its teams of the 1960s and 1970s featured mostly first-generation migrants from Europe. At the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, Australia’s squad included a roll call of immigrants from England, Scotland, Germany, and then-Yugoslavia—with Australian-born players a minority. Decades later, Australia’s 2006 “golden generation”—who reached the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time ever—included just one player born outside Australia, New Zealand-born Archie Thompson. But the team nevertheless championed its multicultural origins. Soccer was a constant presence in migrant families, and Australian-born children and grandchildren played soccer rather than rugby or Australian rules football. Media coverage at the time celebrated how this particular team reflected Australia’s makeup rather than the cricket or rugby teams.

Australia’s 2022 squad is diverse once again. And if the results of today’s group stage matchups hold, the team may also advance to the knockout rounds. Four players were born in Africa, and three of those were refugees. Forward Awer Mabil was born in 1995 in the United Nations-run Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya after his family fled war in Sudan. Mabil lived at Kakuma until the age of 10, when his family received asylum in Australia. Defender Thomas Deng was similarly born in Kenya in 1997 to parents who had fled Sudan and moved to Australia in 2003.

Garang Kuol is the third Australian player with Sudanese heritage. Kuol was born in Egypt to South Sudanese parents in 2004 before moving to Australia with his family at the age of 6. Twelve years later, during the closing minutes of Australia’s 4-1 loss to France last week, he took the field to become the youngest player to represent the Socceroos at a World Cup. After Australia qualified for the tournament in June 2022, Mabil said the country had given him and his family “a chance of life.” In January, he will join the English Premier League Newcastle United.

“On the journey my mum and her parents went through to reach the camp, many people died,” Mabil told the Guardian in an interview. “They were captured by the rebels trying to leave. The way they escaped, we could talk about it all night. It sounds like something from a movie, but it’s something they actually went through. The war, the journey, what they faced. For me, hearing it, it’s like: ‘Woah.’ What people do to keep their kids safe, what they sacrifice to give them a better life. They didn’t know how long they would be in the refugee camp; they thought they would return home. But there’s no returning home.”

The racial makeup of Australia’s 2022 team reveals an uncomfortable truth about the country’s immigration history. In 1901, the Immigration Restriction Act became one of the first laws of the new Australian federation. Alfred Deakin, then attorney-general and soon-to-be prime minister, said the new law “means the prohibition of all alien colored immigration … the policy of securing a ‘white Australia.’” It was not until 1975 that the Gough Whitlam government formally ended the policy with the introduction of the Racial Discrimination Act. Local Black faces are rarely seen in mainstream media in Australia, and while Australians with Indigenous or Pacific Islander heritage have played prominent roles in the sport, it is only in recent years that African Australians have stepped into the spotlight.

Australia’s more recent policies toward refugees and asylum-seekers have also been mired in controversy. Players like Mabil entered Australia through formal offshore refugee application programs, but informal arrivals to Australia face huge hurdles that have often proved insurmountable. The government began detaining asylum-seekers who arrived on the country’s shores by boat in 1992. The policy was politicized and hardened by then-Prime Minister John Howard, who governed from 1996 to 2007, and had a no-compromise approach to asylum-seekers who arrived in Australia by boat.

In 2001, in the run-up to the federal election, Howard’s government refused to grant permission to the MV Tampa, a Norwegian cargo ship, to enter Australian waters. The Tampa had rescued more than 400 mostly Afghan refugees from a fishing vessel stranded in the Indian Ocean. Australia’s stance sparked a diplomatic incident among Australia, Norway, and Indonesia over which country had responsibility for the initial rescue and subsequent destination of the asylum-seekers. Ultimately, New Zealand accepted many of the refugees with the remainder detained by Australia on the Pacific island of Nauru. In another incident in 2001, top officials in the Howard government claimed refugees had thrown “children overboard” when a Royal Australian Navy ship intercepted another boat carrying asylum-seekers. An Australian Senate inquiry later found the story to be untrue.

“We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come,” Howard said in 2001, announcing what would become known as Australia’s Pacific Solution. It included establishing an Australian-run offshore detention center on Nauru, the third-smallest country in the world, and on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. The Manus Island facility became infamous for its brutality—in 2014, an asylum-seeker was murdered by facility workers during a riot protesting living conditions, and in 2015, detainees held a hunger strike by sewing their lips together—and was briefly shuttered between 2008 and 2012. In 2021, the Australian government handed control of the Manus Island facility to the government of Papua New Guinea. Nauru’s detention center remains open.

The Pacific Solution has remained popular with the Australian electorate even as asylum-seekers are held indefinitely without charge and criticism that conditions are inhumane remain. Detention centers on Australian soil have also been criticized for being dangerous; asylum claims take an average of 761 days to process, and asylum-seekers are held in what are effectively jails for that time. The new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said he’s investigating alternatives.

Australia’s soccer players put a positive face on the refugee experience in Australia, and Mabil acknowledges that his story is alluring to the media.

“I’ve got that title now of ‘oh, refugee kid,’” he told the Guardian. “It’s more for the headlines, for people to try to feel sorry for me, but they never try to understand who I am. … I want to tell that story too, inspire people from my country, my mother’s country, around the world.”

Mabil, Deng, and Kuol are prominent positive examples of African Australian success. Since the mid-1990s, approximately 30,000 people identifying as South Sudanese have immigrated to Australia. The community has produced top athletes in multiple sports, fashion models, musicians, and prominent lawyers. It has also been marginalized, associated with crime and violence in the media, and subjected to racism.

“There were times where I’d play for [Melbourne] Victory [his local team] on the weekend, then I’d be walking through the shops and there will be security guards looking at me strangely or following me around, thinking that I’m going to steal something,” Deng said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “I’ve had that multiple times in my life, but I’ve just learned to ignore it. … I’ve tried to block it out.”

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mmhaterade · 2 years ago

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The 2023 Hater's Guide to the West Region

This blog is not in any way affiliated with the NCAA, its entities, subsidiaries, or member institutions. This is a humor site and should be treated as such. We’re all on our way out – act accordingly.

1. Kansas (28-6). When Texas beat Kansas to end the Big 12 (8?) regular season, the intrepid videographer shooting the game happened to catch a KU coed wearing a t-shirt which read “I (heart) Dick.” A-fucking-mazing. Look, I don’t have to tell you KU fans need this one seed, need the wins, need a title more than anything to justify their continued existence. They live in Kansas for fuck’s sake – Interstate 70 ends in Lawrence and you are stuck wandering the plains like Denzel Washington in Book of Eli until you reach Colorado, and the interstate magically appears again. There is NOTHING to do here other than watch basketball, and that says a lot, because I live in Iowa!

2. UCLA (29-5). This is a Bruin, right? With that face, I am 100% sure his name is “Crick Monin.”

3. Gonzaga (28-5). There is a new Constitutional amendment which clearly states you are no longer allowed to refer to Gonzaga as a Cinderella school. It’s been twenty five years - I think the slipper finally broke. They’ve now been in every final AP poll since the 2008-09 season, and have appeared in every weekly AP poll since 2016-17, a streak of 115 consecutive weeks. I will never stop laughing when eighth year senior Drew Timme appears on my TV screen. All I see is TIMMY from South Park. Fuck John Stockton.

4. UConn (25-8). Go back to the AAC! Biggest group of crybabies in the country and it isn’t even close. When their women’s team had an injury plagued season (lost five games including back-to-back games for the first time in 30 years), Geno Auriemma vented to the media and to his team, telling them they had three days before the conference tournament to fix things. Then he got in his car and drove home to Manchester, wishing he could continue westward. “The way I felt was I want to wake up in California in three days,” he said. “I just want to keep driving, I don’t want to do anything, I don’t want to come to practice.” Jesus man, just fucking quit already and move away from that awful place. Twitter account CrimsonCast put it best: UConn continues to fail to shake the perception that they are simply an analytics darling. Like an east coast version of the Mountain West.

5. Saint Mary’s (26-7). Every bracket, no matter the site, always lists this school as “Saint Mary’s (CA).” Why? No one is confusing this school for the archaeological dig site posing as a university in Maryland, or the all-women’s college in north-central Indiana where many of the enrolled students play for nearby Leprechaun U, also known as Notre Dame. No, this is the school – in California – that gets exclusive coverage on ESPN Australia/New Zealand. Sixty percent of the student body is involved in organized athletics here, so it’s a good chance you’ll be handed a scholarship and some sort of ball upon move-in. It’s either that or forced labor washing jockstraps.

6. TCU (21-12). Their coach gives out a pair of “charge socks” when a Horned Frog player takes a charge. There’s a big bucket of these colorful dress socks in the TCU locker room. Charge socks? You have to be kidding me. You are in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, you can’t find a bag of blow or an extra couple of c-notes for your athletes? (Producer cuts in…garbled static…). Pardon me, I’ve just been informed that the “C” in TCU stands for “Christian.” There is no cocaine on campus. But NIL is legal now, surely you can find something other than a pair of sweaty dress socks to reward your unpaid employees. Perhaps a sad handjob from a coed who has already put on the freshman 15+15+15?

7. Northwestern (21-11). Congratulations, you finished top three in the Big Ten for the first time since 1960. You won your last conference championship 90 (!) years ago. You have made one (1) NCAA tournament and had to be retroactively selected as something called the Helms National Champion. Your most successful head coach played for Phog Allen at Kansas – in 1917! Northwestern basketball is the definition of futility. They are the Chicago Cubs of the NCAA; fitting for a program that markets itself as “Chicago’s Big Ten team” (insert jerking off hand motion here). Even if Northwestern won 25 games a season for the next 25 years, they would still have a losing record.

8. Arkansas (20-13). It is against state law to mispronounce “Arkansas'' while in the state, yet their residents pronounce jalapeno “Holla-PEE-no.” Gun to my head, I wouldn’t be able to look at Sarah Huckabee Sanders naked, playing with a hula hoop, for more than a second.

9. Illinois (20-12). Brad Underwood is a bargain-bin Gene Keady who is very upset about “booty ball.” Every press conference he attends ends with him making a wet fart sound into the microphone.

10. Boise State (24-9). No one gives a shit about this team unless tater tots rise to $6 a bag – then it’s time to storm the blue court. I know exactly one person from Idaho and their personality matches that of the official state produce. This person is incapable of being corrected. They are always right. You are always wrong. If you say the sky is blue, their response will no doubt begin with “well, actually…” Boise is also not a state, you arrogant fuckhead.

11. Arizona State (20-12) or Nevada (23-9). Over 60% of the student body at ASU has some form of herpes. Unless you are a model, they throw you in an engineering building for four years. If you hate Duke just like the rest of America, you generally hate Christian Laettner and Grant Hill. But there’s one player from those early-90s teams everyone forgot: Bobby Hurley. As I’ve aged, my hatred for Hurley has waned, but I’ll always wish maximum pain for whatever team he coaches.

With the growth of legalized sports gambling across the United States, the University of Nevada has introduced several new classes for the 2023-24 school year: Kneecap Relocation, Intermediate Hammer Smashing Techniques, and Advanced Vig Calculation. Another new course addition as of Thursday morning: Getting Your Shit Pushed In By A Sun Devil Pitchfork. Too soon? Probably.

12. VCU (27-7). VCU stands for Very Completely Underwhelming. This isn’t a college, it’s an industrial laundry that has tricked 28,000 students into paying the institution to “work.” If you want a perfect example of the bloat in higher education administration, consider there are over 11,000 non-academic staff at VCU. Never trust a doctor from this school; they only practiced on centaurs.

13. Iona (27-7). Someone is going to give Rick Pitino the best 14 seconds of his life to coach for them.

14. Grand Canyon (24-11). By employing buzzer-beating Valpo alum Bryce Drew, this pretend university has already accomplished more in the NCAA Tournament than Mount Rushmore State, Hoover Dam U, Smokey Mountains College and SUNY-Niagara Falls.

15. UNC Asheville (27-7). Let’s have a quick check-in on how this college is doing. Student enrollment and retention are plunging at UNC-Asheville and top leadership is departing at the highest rate in the entire UNC system. While overall student enrollment in the UNC system has increased 7% since 2015, UNC-Asheville fell by a stunning 25%, the largest drop among the 16 public universities in the system. Of the incoming students UNC-A is able to attract, a high number of them leave before graduation. Retention of students, measured as those returning for a second year of school, is now just 68.6%, the lowest in ten years. Jesus, even Trump University would laugh at these numbers.

16. Howard (22-12). Howard students recently had to protest living conditions in on-campus dorms – mold, mildew, and rats are apparently very commonplace in multiple residences. It is 2023; the only sensible reason these alarming conditions should be issues on your campus is when you have outsourced every part of the student life experience to a call center in the middle of the Himalayas.

#march madness #college basketball #college sports #march

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jawbone-xylophone · 1 year ago

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I definitely appreciate this post, but for my fellow kids who still have no idea what gay panic is I’m adding on the definition. Telling us the colloquial definition is wrong is helpful, yeah, but telling us it’s dangerous to be uneducated is less useful than giving a definition that explains WHY it’s dangerous.

Because you just know that most people on this website don’t look up things they don’t understand, they just reblog and move on at most. So! I’ll make this easy.

According to Wikipedia:

The gay panic defense or homosexual advance defence is a strategy of legal defense, which refers to a situation in which a heterosexual individual charged with a violent crime against a homosexual (or bisexual) individual claims they lost control and reacted violently because of an unwanted sexual advance that was made upon them.

And to make things worse:

The trans panic defense is a closely related legal strategy applied in cases of assault or murder of a transgender individual with whom the assailant(s) had engaged in or was close to engaging in sexual relations with and claim to have been unaware that the victim was transgender, producing in the attacker an alleged trans panic reaction, often a manifestation of transphobia.

Tl;dr, “this person is queer and it freaked me out so much I killed them” is a valid excuse in Real Murder Cases.

This is not unique to America, with South Australia banning the defense in 2020, New Zealand banning the defense in 2009, and the UK having a cute little name for it, calling it the “Portsmouth defense” or the “guardsman’s defense”.

From a quick look at the internet I’m not actually sure what the most recent case of it being used in court is, because American states are still voting on whether or not to ban the gay panic defense on an individual state-by-state basis, despite the fact that according to this article “In 2013, the American Bar Association unanimously approved a resolution that called on state legislatures to ban the defenses”.

2013.

I was in high school. That’s when Harlem Shake was a thing, Spiders Georg was born as a meme, and Pacific Rim came out in theatres.

I’m going to take a minute to plug my favorite book on queer history, The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America by Eric Cervini, if anyone wants to read up more on the topic.

📚 Others on the reading list:

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States by Samantha Allen

The Men with the Pink Triangle by Heinz Heger

The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government by David K. Johnson

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts

Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton

The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo

🎙️ For those of you who can’t read for various reasons, I have some podcasts:

Making Gay History

The Log Books

Memories from the Dance Floor

Good luck out there, my fellow queers.

The epidemic of young queers ignoring or cherrypicking queer history is really biting us all in the ass because Montana just tabled the bill that banned trans and gay panic, and many of the younger queers I’ve come across have no idea what gay panic really is, or what that means.

All they know about gay panic is the “Oh my gosh! I talked to a pretty girl/boy and I’m a girl/boy hehe so flustered” that at some point replaced the actual meaning of gay panic. Do you know how dangerous this is, that they don’t know of the dangers of trans and gay panic? It’s lethal.

As things in the US become more dire for the queer community, I’m begging the young queers: read up on queer - our, your - history. Talk to your elder queers. Really look into current politics surrounding the queer community. Don’t get all your info from social media, and absolutely do not take what you see on social media at face-value. Get yourself educated and prepared for what’s to come. It’ll save lives, I promise you.

#thrak speaks #lgbt rights #lgbtqia

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news365timesindia · 7 days ago

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[ad_1] Virat Kohli during one of his innings in the India vs New Zealand Test Series. Source: BCCI I have said this in the past, and I am saying it again. There can be no second Sachin Tendulkar in red-ball cricket. He was the greatest, and a genius of a very different magnitude. Having said that, Virat Kohli is also a once-in-a-generation player who must be hurting hugely after what happened against New Zealand. Much like Rohit Sharma, Kohli was not at his best. Or remotely close to it. But that’s where I think things will work for him and India in Australia. A proud performer, he will go back to the drawing board and figure it out. Do we have anyone to replace him for a tour like Australia? The answer is an overwhelming NO. The truth is that he is still the best we have, and the person to bank on for the Australia series. When Kohli failed in England in 2014, making just 134 runs in 10 innings, much was said about his frailties against the moving ball. It was also said that he isn’t the man for the next tour to Australia. His response was to score four hundreds Down Under, and take over the mantle of India’s batting great. Against New Zealand, he failed. And miserably. Much like the most of his teammates. And that’s where introspection must have started. He will hurt, and hurt a lot. Every champion has an ego and Kohli is no different. He will know that the New Zealand series was a black mark for him as a great of the game. He will seek redemption and go back to basics. He is still incredibly fit, and if Tendulkar could do it in 2010 at the age of 37, there’s no reason why Kohli can’t rediscover his mojo in Australia. In 2011-12, it was his first tour there with the senior team. And at Perth in January 2012, the Australians, as they often do, managed to get under Kohli’s skin. Not able to handle the heckling from spectators, Kohli descended to low-level combat – showing the middle finger to a particularly noisy section of the crowd after they called him a w***er. Such anger (mis)management was a feature of the early Kohli, and there were concerns it would get in the way of a full blossoming of his talent. Two months down the line, it was a very different story. Kohli had just scored a match-winning 183 against Pakistan in Dhaka in a match that had ended close to midnight. The media, present in strength, were waiting for the Kohli soundbite before filing their match reports. At Mirpur, the press conference enclosure is on the opposite side to the pavilion, and one has to trek across the ground to get there. On his way to the media centre, Kohli suddenly stopped, turned and started jogging towards a section of fans in the stands. Some 2,000 spectators had stayed back after the match and were still screaming “Kohli, Kohli” with gusto. Kohli, to the surprise of many present, decided to oblige them first with photographs and autographs before turning his attention to the media. He was fully aware, of course, of what he was doing, and he even apologised to the media contingent as soon as he entered the press conference room. Dejected Virat Kohli (PC: X) The transformation had begun. I remember having a conversation with him sometime after India had lost the World Cup semi-final to New Zealand in Manchester in July 2019. He had been dismissed for one by an incoming Trent Boult delivery, a ball that television replays showed clipping the top of the stump. The decision could have gone either way, and it was unfortunate for Kohli and India that the umpire’s dreaded finger had gone up. “Honestly, when we went to the World Cup, I had this very strong feeling in my heart that the team would need me in some game and it would be a chase,” he said. “I swear I had this feeling so strong that I am going to come not out at the end of the game and take India through that rough phase. And I really felt strong that was the game (semi-final vs New Zealand). “When I walked out to bat, I knew this is the game, but maybe that was my ego talking because

how can you predict something like that? You can only have a strong feeling, or maybe it was a strong desire of mine. But it did not turn out that way. My dismissal was really disappointing for me. This wasn’t because I hadn’t scored. It was because I had failed to contribute to the team, and we lost a match that we should have won.” The situation is very similar. More than ever, India need him to raise his bat in Australia and make it count. And on his birthday, may I say that all of us hope that he will. Happy Birthday, and all the very best. Also Read: IPL retention a red herring, when the real culprit is India getting trapped in a spin cycle The post After bitter taste of defeat, Kohli will go back to the drawing board, as in 2014 appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link

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news365times · 7 days ago

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xtruss · 5 months ago

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‘It Felt Like Bad News After Bad News’: Why Record Numbers Are Leaving New Zealand

Many young people are lured by hopes of better opportunities in Australia as experts worry a soft economy means departing Kiwis may not come back

— Pete McKenzie in Wellington, New Zealand | Thursday 20 June 2024

Auckland, New Zealand’s Largest City. Record numbers of people are leaving the country amid cost-of-living pressures, with more than half of the recent departures heading to Australia. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock

When New Zealand opened its borders after the pandemic, the departures began immediately. For Kirsty Frame, then a 24-year-old journalist for the country’s national broadcaster in Wellington, the sense of loss was constant.

“It was goodbye dinner after goodbye dinner, leaving drinks after leaving drinks, and I think that started to take a toll.”

For her, the city’s beauty came from its people. “If what made Wellington so great as a place to live and work was my community, and I feel I don’t have that here now and there’s a lot less people my age, what do I want to do?”

She considered moving to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, but heard it felt empty too. She mulled London, but Britain seemed too distant. Finally, in the middle of 2023, she moved to Melbourne.

The flow of departures from New Zealand has accelerated since then. Now, record numbers of people are leaving the country as cost-of-living pressures increase and residents grapple with limited job opportunities. Provisional figures from Statistics NZ show a net loss of 56,500 citizens in the year to April – up 12,000 from the previous record.

New Zealander Kirsty Frame moved to Melbourne where she found a higher-paying job and a flat with lower rent. Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Separate figures indicated that half of those who left New Zealand recently moved to Australia. Now, experts are worrying that a grim economic picture means departing Kiwis may not come back.

“We can’t compete with the salaries in Australia,” says David Cooper, director of immigration firm Malcolm Pacific. “Some people view that New Zealand has gone backwards, and so they’re voting with their feet.”

Frame says it “just felt like bad news after bad news” in New Zealand, and in Melbourne she found a higher-paying job in communications and a flat with lower rent.

“I could be happy here for a long time. I think I will be here for the long run.”

‘Grass Looks A Lot Greener’ In Australia

New Zealand has a tradition of young residents travelling for an overseas experience. According to Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at economics consultancy Infometrics, part of the reason the recent surge hit record levels is a backlog of people travelling abroad after delaying their plans due to travel restrictions and uncertainty amid the pandemic.

Among them is Joshua Scott, who weathered the pandemic in Wellington, then decided to move to the UK. The prospect of European adventures and a larger city beckoned, and the 29-year-old settled in east London last year, and found a job in healthcare.

The shift was made easier by the number of New Zealanders making a similar move. “I haven’t really made new friends here, beyond getting to people that I sort of knew from Wellington,” he says.

Shoppers in Sydney. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

But much of the record flow out of New Zealand, according to Cooper and Kiernan, is also due to the growing attraction of Australia. As New Zealand inches out a recent recession, many citizens have a perception that the cost of living is lower and salaries higher in Australia, says Keirnan, which might lead to more permanent shifts.

“It’s all very heavily in favour of people getting across the Tasman, because the grass looks a lot greener,” he says.

Emily Partridge is one of those who recently left New Zealand in search of opportunity. The 26-year-old, who grew up in Dunedin, made a professional calculation when the clothing company she worked for was sold to new owners.

“I was working in a relatively small industry in a small country,” she says. “Looking into the future five or 10 years, I’d think: I’m not sure how much growth there is down the line.”

She decided earlier this year to move to Sydney, where she works for a perfume brand.

Maia Vieregg, a 26-year-old geologist, doesn’t expect to return to New Zealand any time soon

“In New Zealand, you could either work for a cool company and get paid quite poorly, or you could work a job that’s less exciting but pays well. In Australia, because the economy is better, I can do both of those things.”

Fears New Zealanders Won’t Return

Maia Vieregg, a 26-year-old geologist, graduated university last year and struggled to find work in Wellington or elsewhere in the country. And when several conservative parties displaced New Zealand’s former progressive government at the last election, she felt “cynical and hopeless” about New Zealand’s future.

She had never planned to go overseas, but the combination pushed her to consider new options. In January, Vieregg moved to Newcastle – a couple of hours’ north of Sydney – where she found a job with a mining company that paid much better than anything she had seen at home. She has found Australia difficult to adjust to.

“New Zealand is a quite down-to-earth place,” she says, compared with Australia’s materialism. She plans to eventually return home – but does not expect that to happen any time soon.

Cooper worries that outflow might worsen an already severe skills shortage in the country.

“The record numbers of Kiwis leaving are not the desperate and dateless. They’re the young, skilled people,” he says.

“These are people who are well qualified, with good skills. It’s hard to attract the highly skilled people we need to replace the ones leaving.”

Kiernan agrees. “If we’re not able to keep people here because the economy isn’t going well and the cost of living is too high, it does reflect pretty poorly on our economic situation.”

For many of the young travellers, the pull of having children will probably be the driver to bring them home. Partridge does not expect to return to New Zealand unless she decides to have children, while Scott will also head back when he’s ready to start a family.

New Zealander Kirsty Frame moved to Melbourne about 12 months ago for financial reasons. Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Frame, meanwhile, says: “What might bring me back is that feeling of missing my family, or a new chapter of my life starting. Or just feeling homesick for the country and the smallness of it.”

In the meantime, she does not even need to return to New Zealand to get a taste of home.

“There’s so many New Zealanders here, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Frame says. “Bumping into people from Wellington here is almost an everyday event.”

In recent years, New Zealanders – particularly young professionals and graduates – reported leaving the country due to high living costs and job shortages. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images.

Record Number of People Leave New Zealand Amid Cost of Living Pressures

More than half those who left recently headed to Australia with promises of higher pay and better working conditions

— Eva Corlett in Wellington, New Zealand | Tuesday 11 June 2024

New Zealand Citizens are leaving the country in record numbers, with large numbers heading to Australia, new figures show.

Stats NZ’s provisional international migration data shows there were an estimated 130,600 migrant departures in the year to April – the highest on record for an annual period.

Of those leaving the country on a long-term basis, an estimated 81,200 were New Zealand citizens – a 41% increase on the previous year. The figure is a rise from the previous record of 72,400 departures in 2012.

With 24,800 New Zealand citizens arriving during the period, that put the net migration loss of citizens at 56,500 – exceeding the previous record of 44,400 in 2012.

Overall, there was annual net migration gain of 98,500 as 154,900 non-New Zealand citizens entered the country. Migrant arrivals from India were the largest group, followed by the Philippines and China.

On Wednesday, Stats NZ also released provisional data on migration with Australia. It showed in the year to September 2023, 53% of New Zealand citizen departures were to Australia.

In recent years, New Zealanders – particularly young professionals and graduates -reported leaving the country due to high living costs and ongoing job shortages. It is also considered a rite of passage for many young New Zealanders to head overseas once they finish school or higher education.

Stats NZ does not gather specific data from New Zealanders about why they are leaving, but said it can look at overall trends.

New Zealand Tightens Visa Rules After Migration Hits ‘Unsustainable’ Levels! Net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high in 2023 after a new temporary work visa was introduced after the pandemic. New Zealand immigration minister Erica Stanford said the system would be changed to tighten visa rules. Photograph: Ben Mckay/AAP. Eva Corlett in Wellington and agencies, Monday 8 April 2024

“Historically, changes in migration are typically due to a combination of factors – those include the relative economic and labour market conditions between New Zealand and the rest of the world,” said Tehseen Islam, Stats NZ’s population indicators manager.

Brad Olsen, Infometrics principal economist, said there are two main factors driving the migration overseas.

“There will be younger Kiwis going overseas for an overseas experience, or a delayed overseas experience, because there have been heavy disruptions over the last few years on that front,” he said.

But half of New Zealanders are moving to Australia, which suggests a greater number of people and families are looking for opportunities and making a more permanent move, he said.

Australian employers have frequently attempted to recruit New Zealand workers with offers of higher pay and better working conditions.

Olsen said while it is normal for New Zealanders to leave the country, it will be harder to convince people to return, if there are ongoing issues around housing affordability and job prospects.

That ‘brain drain’ could pose problems for society as the population ages, Olsen said.

“We need to have as many young people as we can who are still part of the economy … who are being innovative and bringing their new thinking to the game so we can be more productive,” he said.

“If we are losing our young talent and we’re not able to attract them back it makes all of [that] so much harder.”

#News 📰 🗞️#New Zealand 🇳🇿#Australia 🇦🇺#Asia Pacific #‘Unsustainable’ Levels Migration

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allovertheworldblog · 8 months ago

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South Korea to New Zealand via China

I take the brand new trainline to the airport.

The train is full of information, almost an overload.

On TV screens close to the door of each carriage departure times of planes are displayed.

Then it’s time for news headlines, sports news and world weather forecasts.

The news tells me that Switzerland has leased a pier in the north east of North Korea; Seoul shares inch up on institutional gains.

The other stories deal with college tuition fees; military medical services; household debt; North Korean military intentions; and that South Korea is to develop an unmanned research ship.

The airport is big, but doesn’t feel overwhelming.

There is much thought given to the traveller and it’s almost a pleasure to be there.

I have no onward flight out of New Zealand, because I don’t need one.

The lady who is checking me in for China Southern Airlines tells me that I should have one.

She’s pretty nice about it. It’s an advisory, not a strict requirement on the part of New Zealand she tells me but I can’t check in without one.

A lady from Korean Air can sell me a refundable ticket for 1 million Won, about 680 Euro.

Instead I buy a flight online myself, from New Zealand to Australia for 100 Euro.

There are no newspapers on sale in the airport.

There isn’t even a bookshop, so I read the newspaper on the plane, the Global Times, a Chinese government sponsored newspaper.

It’s full of wacky, weird and wonderful stories.

There’s a picture of Colonel Gadaffi playing chess with the Head of The World Chess Federation, who claims that chess is a gift from outer space, he also claims to have been abducted by aliens.

There’s news of a new high speed rail line to connect Beijing and Shanghai which goes at 300km/h, with tickets priced at 555 Yuan, or you can go business class for 1,750 Yuan.

There are also 250km/h trains that’ll cost you 410 and 650 Yuan depending on your class.

They say there’ll be 63 pairs of trains running at 300km/h.

The article talks about the massive debts that the Ministry of Railways has incurred. A university professor is quoted talking about ‘air/rail intermodality projects’.

Another story deals with the 8,653km long natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China which cost $22Bn, which is designed to 'feed China’s growth’.

Other stories include two Siberian tigers that are due to give birth in China; flooding in Hunan; the latest on Syria and Yemen; baby trafficking; bribery and corruption; financing of a 'shadow internet’ by the US.

The business pages deal with Chinese GDP, money supply, the CPI, and IPO’s; the growth of luxury spending in China, the fact that Louis Vuitton opened 27 shops in 22 Chinese cities in two years.

The United States is warned to stay out of any regional disputes that China may have with Vietnam and The Philippines.

'It would not be a wise move’ for the US to get involved.

Events to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party take up a full page.

I get the feeling that this story is only covered because they feel they have to, it’s all very low key.

When we land in Guangzhou there is powerful humidity in the air.

We’re so far from the airport that we have to board a small bus to bring us to the terminal.

All the likewise pasty foreigners who are just transiting through China are put aside and our passports taken away.

An official appears 20 minutes later with a stack of passports.

She tries to give passports back to people based on their passport pictures, it’s all a bit hopeless.

She doesn’t believe that I’m the same person as the person in the photo on my passport.

Eventually she gives me my passport.

I have about 7 hours to wait until my connecting flight to Auckland.

#travel #culture #photography

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