#onward to canada

[mayweneverdie]

Onward to Canada!

Part 2

Cw: video game accurate violence, guns, curse word, no beta read but i tried to weed out any inconsistencies or errors

Notes: head hurt (owie), written on mobile (as always) so the format might be wonky? Idk

—

A cool breeze blew against your skin, a reminder of what’s to come. It was relatively quiet aside from some squeaky wheels and the clopping of horse hooves. You ride in the back of the caravan, keeping an eye out for any soldiers seeking vengeance. After scanning the dark for the umpteenth time you tilt your head to the sky and take a long, deep breath.

This seemed to be the most calm it’s been in your life despite all the circumstances. You can’t remember the last time you weren’t under someone else’s influence or control. You just hope it would only get calmer from here.

Until you remember you have to change out Eagle Flies’s bandage soon. A small sigh escapes your lips before you tilt your head back down. You turn your attention down to the wagon a few feet in front of you, his head barely visible from where you’re situated.

You gently spur your horse forward, just enough to be side by side with the small wagon. He seemed to be sleeping fine, a little cramped, but fine. You lean down a little and gently brush some of his hair back. It felt less than fresh, but what else would you expect? Your hand drifts down to his blanket, pulling it back to reveal a crusty and crimson bandage.

“Is he ok back there?” The older man asks, a bit of worry and tiredness in his tone. He slows the wagon down a little.

“He is, but I need to change his bandage soon,” You assure him, “No one’s given us trouble yet, we can pull off the road for a minute or two.” He thinks for a moment, his lips purse in contemplation.

“Alright.” He nods, pull the wagon off the trail and a bit into some shrubs. You offer him a smile and a nod before sliding down the side of your horse. While you dig around in your saddle bags for some bandages, you hear some groans and mumbles.

“Why did we stop?” Eagle Flies asks with a voice so tired and raspy you would’ve thought he had a sore throat.

“I need to change your bandage.” You reply with an even tone. Finally, you’ve found your rolls of gauze and bandage. You take a few steps over to the wagon and peel back the old bandage.

“How’re you feeling now?” You ask as you toss the bandages to the ground, making a mental note to get those later.

“Horrible,” He answers with a chuckle only to wince moments after, “I’ll be fine soon enough.” He finishes. Just as you finished the first wrap, you could hear some horses and voices of men. Your brow furrows.

“Who’s that?” You whisper to the older man.

“I’m not sure…” He mutters as he strains his eyes to see. Feeling a pit form in your stomach, you snatch up his arm and pull him towards yourself.

“Keep wrapping him up, I’ll make sure it’s nothing.” You quietly demand, a jittery tone obvious in your voice. The sounds only got louder, you could hear a bit of what they were saying too.

“Keep an eye out, they need to be dealt with quickly and silently.”

Shit.

You turn your head and sigh in relief seeing a thick tree cover them from anyone coming up the road. With just a bit of time to think, you step up onto the wheel and see a small mallet laying out. With swiftness, you dropped down to your knees and quickly dig out some of the looser pegs and began to nail them back in.

“What’s that over there?” One of them asked among the group. Your heart beat quickened with every second they got closer. With a bit of courage, maybe idiocy, you turn your head just a little and see just three men to the patrol.

“Who are you and what is your business out so late?” A gruff voice calls out, “Mighty peculiar seeing someone traveling all alone.” He adds on.

“Just… some wagon troubles,” You choke out, “Wheel came off… you know how it is.” You swallow, your throat tightens.

“Is that so?” Another voice asks, the sound of them dismounting rings clear to your ears. With your heart pounding hard, you stand up and turn to face them. It’s a miracle you haven’t been discovered yet.

“It’s my pa’s, he had me collect some uh…” you took a look at what was sticking out, “Had me collect some furs and tools from a family friend.” You say with such nerve you were almost certain they knew. They had to be taunting you now.

“Mind if we take a look-”

“No! My pa is very, very particular about these things.” You interject.

“Then what’s with the extra horse?” A squeaky voice interrogates. Just as you were about to answer, a loud shot and a wet thump is heard. Your now terrified horse kicks the scrawnier man to a near instant death. The soldier’s horses whinny and bolt in all different directions.

Both you and the last soldier freeze for a moment, but just a moment. Your body seems to move on its own as you tackle the big man to the ground, whipping your pistol from the holster.

Thwack

His head falls back into the soft dirt while his head bleeds slowly from the wound on his temple. A loud pulse thumps in your ears as you sit up, you never killed someone this close before. You swallow thickly as you get to your feet.

“Holy shit.” Was the only thing you could say right then. You pause for a few moments, collecting yourself before speaking.

“Did you get him wrapped?” You ask with the same nerve in your voice. The older man shakes his head.

“I froze, thankfully he found his rifle.” He speaks, directing his attention to Eagle Flies for a moment. He seemed a little spooked.

“You good?” You ask, placing a hand on his knee to comfort him.

“I’m fine, just need this bandage done.” He tries to assure, though you can see how tired he is.

“You sure?” You press more, your eye contact unfairly as you hand the mallet to the older man to replace the pegs.

“It’s fine, it felt good to know I’m not completely useless.” He spoke in a much softer tone of voice. It was almost foreign to you. You sigh and squeeze his knee before slipping your hand from his own.

“Let’s get you wrapped up and going,” You say lowly as you finish wrapping the cloth around his waist, “Hungry?” You ask as you pin the bandage secure.

“A little bit, but I’ll live without.” Eagle Flies answers, his hand waving to dismiss the idea of taking your food.

“Well, I have some extra jerky if you’d like.” You shrug, looking to the older man get back on to lead the wagon. Eagle Flies smiles at the offer, but shakes his head.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” He says with a grin, his words gentle but strong. You would have said more if it wasn’t for the fact that the older man seemed to be keen on leaving.

“See you in the morning.” You whisper before mounting up again. The driver sighed in relief before prompting the horse to move forward. You take a deep breath in as you prepared for the rest of tonight.

—

Holy shit i didn’t think i’d write this much

I hope this chapter was satisfactory 🙏

[veradune]

@aka-maggie I was homeschooled, do tumblr mutuals count as someone you know?

If you could answer this, put your country/state in the tags, and share this it would be appreciated! I'm an ex-homeschooler from Texas and I'm genuinely curious on what people from outside of America think about homeschooling or if it's even a thing elsewhere

[nyxxnights]

remember when trump said that people would move out of ny if they couldn’t vote for him. I think people should move out of New York. All the way to Canada out of this horrible country.

[kamotecue]

cute instagram live ∞ j. fleming

pairing: jessie fleming x fem!reader

summary: in which the two lovers (private, but not really a secret) actually confirm their relationship on an instagram live. american!reader, basketball!reader

jessie alexandra fleming, everyone knows her as baby canada or one of chelsea's best midfielders. but you? you best know her as your childhood friend, naturally your mother and her father had been friends since their college years - having to have met at a common organization. she was the shy one, the quiet one while you were the complete opposite - the unfazed, cheerful and out-going one. you remembered the first time you had met the canadian, it was a get together between your family and hers, it's been a while since they've seen each other so they had opted for a reunion.

you were standing there in blue overalls, clinging to your mother who had simply guided you throughout the crowd. as much of an extrovert you were, you disliked being in rooms filled with adults - rather wanted to be near people your age. and so, you did, your eyes had locked onto a certain fleming - her noticeable freckles are what caught your attention, thinking it was cute and that it suited her. yes - that's when you first started liking her, you thought you just wanted to be friends, but little did the canadian know, she had your heart the moment you set your eyes on her.

"n/n, this is jessie fleming." your mother's voice was heard as you stepped aside, greeting the canadian with a handout. she flushed as you looked at her a bit confused, usually this is when someone would reciprocate the handshake. it had only taken her a few seconds to grab your hand, softly shaking it as you introduced yourself, earning a shy grin from her.

"i'm y/n l/n." "as you heard, jessie fleming"

that was the introduction of a century, everyone knew it was a start of a great friendship - and it was. but as you grew older, the feelings you unknowingly held started to grow stronger. it was noticeable for you, and surely it was noticeable to her chelsea teammates. her teammates would tease the canadian midfielder, who was completely unaware of your feelings, thinking that it was a joke, but it wasn't. and she secretly wished that it wasn't a joke, that maybe a part of you did reciprocate it. unlike the midfielder, your interest was in another sport - basketball, you had joined the senior national team in 2016, making the roster for that year's olympics and onwards.

snapping out of your thoughts, you waved at the camera, the instagram live had already started. fans from both worlds (football & basketball) had started flooding in, knowing it was always a live duo, you were never one without the other and vice versa. you watched her facial expressions, as she shyly started conversating with the ones flooding the comments - a few people from her club had joined, commenting a few things.

"n/n, there's a question for you." jessie said, as she locked eyes with you. in that moment, you felt your breath get taken away. quickly flushing, you looked at the comments, ignoring how a few fans had noticed that, your face was undoubtably red.

"are you and jessie a thing?" you read the comment out loud, as jessie hummed. you grinned at them, the two of you had been talking if you'd want to go out in public as a couple. and you agreed, knowing if she was or wasn't okay with it - but thankfully she was.

"yes, we are." you softly said, as jessie kissed the crown of your head, which your eyes widened. she's not really one for public affection, but she knew it was something you loved.

"you know what i find crazy, love?" you asked, you didn't look at the comments instead of the eyes you had fell for. her eyebrows perked, obviously waiting for your response.

"you used to rub dirt on me, and now you're proclaiming your love towards me." you teased, chuckling as jessie flushed red - quickly denying it, even though it's true.

"in my case, i was rubbing dirt on you because i love you." you furrowed your eyebrows, not understanding her words as she chuckled at your confusion, looking back at the comments who gushed over your words.

just wanted to do a short blurb, or fic since i've been swamped up with college works. hope you enjoyed it!

[housepartyprotocol]

Romeo and Juliet - Part 2

Lando Norris X Ferarri Driver!Reader

Y/N is a powerhouse driver in F1, an icon dressed in Ferarri red. So when a driver in blue (and orange) has eyes for her, how will she react? How will the public react? With twists and turns and ships, how will this story end, let's hope not how the original story ends.

Part one

Masterlist / TipJar

ynusername

liked by landonorris, charlesleclerc, lewishamilton and 453,772 others

ynusername one more year done, many more to come. Thank you to my friends and family for a lovely evening xx

view all 12,548 others

user1 Happy 25th lovely!

scuderiaferarri Happy birthday to our principessa

ynusername Thank you my lovely team

charlesleclerc A lovely evening, me and my love where incredible grateful for the invite. I hope you loved our gift

ynusername It was a puppy! charlesleclerc A friend for Leo!

landonorris Thank you for letting me tag along good looking

ynusername You are most welcome x user2 You can't tell me they aren't dating user3 Isn't she dating Lewis Hamilton user4 Not confirmed

lewishamilton Happy birthday girly

liked by ynusername user5 why can't they be together ! They would be so hot !

landonorris

liked by ynusername, charlesleclerc, georgerussell and 363,362 others

landonorris Birthday celebrations for the best (only) girl on the grid

view all 5,236 comments

user6 Goddamn he's hot

georgerussell Cropped me out of the photo wow

landonorris Gotta keep in the money maker liked by ynusername georgerussell Harsh ! hah user7 Y/N liked that...

ynusername Glad you had a fun time

landonorris Of course

lewishamilton Nice photos Lando

user8 I want my parents together

ynusername

liked by ynusername, charlesleclerc, lewishamilton, 603,983 others

ynusername Canada is so kind. Let it be kind on the track

view all 6,397 comments

user9 Oh Canada!!

landonorris I hope you win, not, really I hope I win (I hope you do well)

ynusername Wow, thank you ? liked by landonorris

scuderiaferarri Picturing podiums as part of the process

ynusername Always. Always. user10 Ferarri fan for life

charlesleclerc I see us win (where is Leo's pal?)

ynusername Vettel is sleeping back home at Monaco user11 The puppy is called Vettel! landonorris Vettel is so cute liked by ynusername

user12 Any updates about Lewis

user13 I don't believe the rumours personally user14 I think they are slow soft launching user15 No I like her with Lando more user16 She's allowed not to have anyone

f1news

liked by 7,962 users

f1news Snippets from Lewis Hamilton most recent interview. He speaks so highly about Y/N, it’s adorable. People are focusing on the final clip from the interview where he dodges a question about Y/N and him by calling her a “completely breathtaking” girl. Are they not together?

view all 488 comments

user17 Sir Lewis Hamilton is delicious, downright edible

user18 How is he not in love with her? He sounds it

user19 I’m holding out for Lando they have a much better chemistry recently user18 and your evidence for that is a couple interactions in comment sections and in the paddock user19 That's the same evidence we have for Lewis x Y/N aside from this

landonorris

liked by ynusername, georgerussell, charlesleclerc and 438,627 others

landonorris Disappointing DNF for us today, but relaxing with the best person

view all 8,300 comments

georgerussell Sorry about you DNF mate, happy to see you happy

landonorris I am very

user20 I bet that's Y/N

user21 It better not be, Y/N should be with Lewis user22 Lando doesn't deserve her user23 We don't know if it is

user24 Aww this is so cute

mclaren Spain next Lando!

landonorris Onwards and Upwards liked by ynusername

ynusersame <3

liked by landonorris user25 Guys It must be her user26 She commented the same hearts on Lewis' soft launch user27 Y/N x Lewis superiority user28 Awwww

ynusername

liked by landonorris, charlesleclerc, carlossainzjr, and 698,253 others

ynusername @.landonorris <3

view all 7,607 comments

lewishamilton Happy for you kid

user29 He's happy for her, my heart ! user30 Lewis >>> Lando user31 STFU xx

landonorris Sunshine <3

user32 I'm dead, bury me 6 foot deep user33 PR stunt, it cannot be a real relationship user33 She is probably moving to McLaren user34 That makes no sense

scuderiaferrari A beautiful couple

liked by mclaren

charlesleclerc Gross take it off my feed

charlesleclerc Happy you two came to your senses ynusername What do you mean? charlesleclerc You two were gushing over each other behind each others back user35 Adorable user36 I want to be adopted

user37 This is upsetting and gross, they aren't good together

landonorris

liked by ynusername, charlesleclerc, georgerussell, and 403,639 others

landonorris Summer break with puppy cuddles

view all 4,398 comments

ynusername Give my Vettel baby back

landonorris You are confused that is my puppy ynusername I know where you live landonorris 😏 user38 Gag (Cute)

user39 Sickly sweet, I love it

georgerussell Too close for my liking children

ynusername Sorry dad, we will kiss in private georgerussell Good, daughter landonorris What the fuck is this ynusername Parenting 101 user40 HHAHAH WTF

user41 PR stunt

user42 I bet that's not her and she's dating Lewis

user42 They are a hotter cuter couple user43 Please get your head out of the grimy gutter liked by ynusername

f1news

liked by 1,353 users

f1news Sending our love and congratulations to Y/N L/N as she wins her first world championship with Ferarri. After a tight season against Max Verstappen, she wins by a 10-point lead. Her maiden championship, and I only see more for our queen.

view all 306 comments

user44 OUR Y/N, THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER

user45 Is she with Lando?

user46 She just won the entire year and all you can care about is her love life, leave it alone

user47 FERRARI

user48 The only true icon is red

user48 Ferarri red user49 Queen!

landonorris

liked by ynusername, lewishamilton, charlesleclerc, and 434,236 others

landonorris My sunshine, I have loved you since we were in F2 and you were the kinda scary but amazing driver who was winning races, but wouldn't give me the time of day. I later learnt you were told some incorrect things about me that built your walls up. After a racing incident in F1 years later, you heard me out, and here we are. Young, in love, a race winner and a world championship winner.

We've been through a lot already but I will always be by your side for eternity. I will love you forever my sunshine.

view all 6,380 comments

ynusername My cutie xx

user50 CuTiE ?!?!? landonorris Love you forever liked by ynusername

lewishamilton You two have my heart

landonorris How's your wife? lewishamilton She's brilliant, we will have you around soon ynusername Please, you've been keeping her from me lewishamilton Wow, just because you introduced us ynusername YES liked by landonorris

user51 My standards have boomed

charlesleclerc My non-bio sister and her tramp aww

landonorris Dude wtf ynusername What, its accurate x user52 Charles popping out to throw some shade at Lando user53 I love it

mclaren Beautiful couple

(a/n Ah, so this is done, I may revisit this world later in life but for now, read away. I was quite happy with this one, I think i have better ones coming for lando and other drivers but this is still brilliant. I hope you all like it x)

(taglist: @moonylightmoon @smw-96 @formulaal @fall-bambi @erin-odonnell04 @wondergirl101ks @chaoticmessneutralplease @hwalllllllelujah )

[flem17ng]

would love love love a jessie x dancer!r pls & thankyou 💖 ps I love your work

strength and grace: Jflem x dancer!reader

note: This was so fun to write anon! Thanks for the prompt x

summary: jessie passes the same dance studio every day on her walk and admires the dancers. It never occurred to her that one of them was admiring her back. 

word count: 2.7k

The snow was thick on the pavement that morning and jessie thanked the poor bastard who’d taken the time to salt the path the night before. The snow made banks in both sides as she trudged onward. Her hands were shoved deep in her pockets and she hid her face in the collar of her jumper. Training never stopped, even in winter when the wind was sub zero and the field had to be heated. She was passing a small row of shops when gentle music made her pause. It echoed strangely through the empty street. It came from a stone building with large windows. She’d seen it before but had never taken the time to admire the dancers within. 

The glass was almost frosted over, but she leaned up to see inside. 

A lone figure stood in the warm light dressed in a half zipped hoodie and sweatpants. Her hair was in a messy bun that seemed to be slipping from the hair-tie. The woman moved to the music like water: graceful and fluid. every so often she paused, pressed a button on her phone and started the dance again. 

Jessie could have stayed there for hours watching that girl dance. But eventually her fingers started going numb and she was rudely reminded that she had to get to the training ground. 

She loved being back home in Canada, loved it even more when she was home for winter. Everything was so quiet and cold. The hockey season was kicking off, the ski fields opened up. Unfortunately it did mean training her ass off in freezing rain most mornings and today was no different. the raindrops started falling heavily as she pulled herself away from the dance studio window and she wished, randomly, that she was in there with that strange dancer instead of out in the cold. 

***

No matter how many times you practiced the move, you couldn’t pin it down. The studio was empty that morning because you had come in so early. You’d had to hype yourself up to get out of the house because of all the snow on the road. You have never been so grateful for the studios heating system. 

“fuck” you groaned. One second off the beat! Maybe you were being a perfectionist but it needed to be perfect. You pressed play again. The music filled the room in waves: piano, strange vocals, guitar. 

You lifted your hands above your head and moved. The dance wasn’t for a competition or anything, more of a passion project. You danced to get out emotions, to release. You moved to the music fluidly, feeling it, understanding. The tricky part was coming up again and you scrunched your eyebrows, focusing. 

“ugh” you groaned again and rubbed your eyes. you psyched yourself out again. You looked around the empty studio and caught movement in the corner of your eye: a woman walking past the window, bundled up in the cold. For a second you thought your eyes met but she kept walking. maybe she was watching you dance, you thought and smiled. 

***

Jessie stood with her teammates as they made their lap of the stadium. The game had gone well and the energy was always fantastic during a home game. It was extra special for her because the game was so close to home. The crowd was full of family and friends. Fans who traveled to be there held large signs and decorated themselves with maple leaves and red paint. 

It was no small secret that you were a big fan of women’s soccer. Specifically that you were a big fan of Jessie Fleming. You first watched her play in the olympics a few years ago and from then on went to as many games as possible. Your friends often teased you about it, and sure, maybe it was a little silly. The truth was you just loved to watch her move. The way she ran across the pitch, the way her legs seemed to go wherever she needed to be. her muscles stretched and contracted and  her arms- Ok so maybe it wasn’t just about her soccer skills. 

The game had been a good one, you’d managed to get tickets right at the front and now the whole team was standing just a few metres away waving to the crowd. 

“omg Y/n i think that player you like is looking at you” your friend whispered with a smirk. You scanned the team and sure enough Jessie Fleming was watching you. She had a strange expression on her face, as if she was looking for someone she knew. Her cheeks were red and her hair was messy from the game. Dispite the cold air, she had pushed up her sleeves to sit above her shoulders making you blush.

She kept looking at you before shaking her head and giving you a grin. 

“what was that about” your friend laughed and slapped your arm. You would have replied but at that moment you were far too busy reminding your heart how to beat properly. 

Down on the field Jessie was tugged away by Quinn. they were talking about something, ball movement or something along that line but jessie was still thinking about the girl in the crowd. Maybe she was being crazy but she could have sworn that was the dancer from the studio in her town. The way You had smiled at her left her feeling a little dizzy. 

“hello Jeffy? are you listening at all?” Quinn laughed giving Jessie a small shove. 

“What of course I am! Ball something right?” 

Quinn shook their head with a smile. 

“You’ve been out of it since i caught you staring all gooey eyed at that lady in the stands! Do you know her?”

“I was not gooey eyed! also no one says that anymore. I don’t know i think she’s from my town.” jessie explained with a humph. 

“well i’m pretty sure she was wearing your jersey. Must be a fan” Jessie blushed but brushed them off. She was a grown woman! she wasn’t getting ‘gooey eyed’ over a pretty stranger who happened to dance like an angel. 

*** 

The next day Jessie made her way up the street to the studio with a purpose. She needed to see you. Even if she didn’t know you, even if she didn’t speak to you, She wanted to see you, To make sure it really was you at the game. 

When she reached the window she didn’t hesitate to lean into the glass and look into the warmly lit room. Instead of an empty room like a few day before, there where lots of young children in tiny too-toos. The music was light and bouncing and the kids laughed and screamed as they pointed their toes and spun around. It was a moment before the instructor came into view and, just as jessie had thought, it was you. You stood at the front of the room in a  skirt that matched the children’s, a glowing grin covered your face as you corrected the movements of a few stray kids. 

Jessie couldn’t help but smile as she watched you dance around the group, movements just as fluid as before but playful, full of joy, childish. 

She blinked and you disappeared, the class still dancing to the music inside. 

“excuse me? can i help you” You asked, head sticking out the door into the frosty air. Jessie turned, startled, only to watch your face change into a similar look of surprise. 

“I’m so sorry! I walk by here to get to my work and i usually stop to watch you dance! I didn’t want to interfere.” Jessie squeaked, feeling suddenly guilty. 

“no no! don’t worry i just- I’m sorry I’m y/n.” You smiled and stepped onto the front step, your breath making clouds in the air. 

“I’m jessie” she grinned and held out a hand for you to shake. You blushed and took it. 

“Jessie…” you breathed. “well Jessie, I wish i could chat for a while but these kids might light something on fire if i’m gone too long!” You began to turn back inside when she touched your arm to stop you. 

“i’m sorry this is so unusual but… Did you go to a football game last night by any chance?” Jessie questioned, wondering if there really was any way to ask this in a not creepy way. 

“i did yes. My uh, My favourite player was playing” you grinned and turned back inside. Jessie stood there on the step for a minute after you closed the door. It was you she had seen in the crowd, and you had a favourite player… Jessie wasn’t sure why that made her stomach flip. She wanted to be your favourite player. The thought hit her like a tone of bricks. She barely knew you for christs sake! yet here she was, standing in the snow outside your studio thinking of every way she could make you like her. 

***

The next match came faster than expected. It was a friendly up in toronto and the team was buzzing. Jessie had spent the past few travel days planning how she could impress you. Honestly this wasn’t her thing and maybe she was being crazy but that didn’t stop her. The day of the game was cold, the pitch was hard and the game itself even harder. 

It was second half when the penalty was given to canada: the wall was set up and jessie (the designated kicker) was lining up the shot. 

The crowd roared and she spared a glance at the stands. It was then that she spotted you, sitting right by the goal in a thick Canada jumper. 

The whistle blew and jessie kicked. The ball sailed through the air, spinning and spinning. The crowd had already begun the rise when it slipped past the goalies fingers and slammed into the back of the net. 

Jessie ran forward towards the crowd and lifted her hands above her head, arching up into her toes and lifting her head to the sky mimicking the movement of a ballet dancer. At the last second, before the team ran into her, she looked at you, making sure you had seen the celebration. Sure enough, you stood in your seat, grin plastered across your face giving jessie a thumbs up. It was pretty easy to say that was the best game all season. 

***

The damn heating system had broken down. On the plus side, the kids classes had been canceled that morning because of the snow, on the down side: You now had an extra hour of empty studio time in the freezing Canada cold.  You switched the music on, adjusted your jumper and started to dance. You had finally finished the number, ironed out the kinks and gotten past the tricky timing. The movement flowed easily and you let your muscles relax and you danced. You were so engrossed in the music that you didn’t hear the door open or the footsteps on the floorboards. Only after the dance ended did your intruder announce herself. 

“sorry i didn’t know your coffee order so i just got hot chocolate” You wizzed around at the sound of her voice and saw her leaning against the mirror with to steaming cups and a sheepish smile. 

“Jesus Jessie! you scared me!” You tried to look angry but couldn’t, instead breaking into a grin and grabbing a cup from her outstretched hand. The drink warmed up your hands and you took a moment to let the heat seep through your bones. 

“you look so peaceful when you dance” Jessie all but whispered, looking down at her own cup. 

“oh… Thank you. I use dance to… center myself i think.” You leant against the mirror next to her and watched her watch you for a moment. “Nice goal the other day by the way. Very impressive. The celebration was a nice touch even if your form was a little off” 

Jessie blushed and rolled her eyes at herself, still in disbelief that she had done that. 

“well, I needed something to get your attention didn’t i?” she muttered. 

“you already had all my attention. I told you i was there to see my favourite player didn’t I?” You unzipped your number and turned around showing her the large “17” on your back. Jessie opened her mouth into a little ‘o’. 

“oh! I’m your favourite?” She smiled with wide eyes. You just laughed and shook your head.

“of course you are!” 

jessie grinned and ducked her head, embarrassed. Here she was making a fool out of herself for a pretty girl who already liked her. 

When she looked up she found you watching her with warm eyes. You admired her for a moment: Even in the cold of the audio Jessie seemed to radiate a warmth, a cozy energy. Her cheeks were pink (from blush or cold you couldn’t tell) and her eyes sparkled in the warm light. 

“I love hot chocolate by the way” you stated, holding up the cup. 

“oh yeah? Lucky guess i suppose.” Jessie took a large gulp of her own drink leaving a fine line of chocolate froth of her top lip. 

“oh wait you have- let me” Before you could think, you leant forward and wiped the foam from her top lip with your thump. Jessie let out a sharp breath making you pause, thumb still resting near her mouth. you looked at each-other for a long moment, your hand not moving, your eyes traveling from jessie’s eyes to her lips and back again. 

The door opened with a bang causing you both to jump apart. 

“Y/n!! we need to get the bloody heater working before tomorrow or i will freeze!” One of the other dancers yelled before noticing the awkward air in the room. “oh i’m sorry i didn’t know you had a… guest?”

Jessie coughed and stepped back. “no that’s ok I was just leaving” she turning and walked towards the door quickly. 

“wait jessie-“

“see you later y/n” jessie gave you a wave and a lopsided smile before stepping outside and out of view.

***

You couldn’t make it to the next game because it was in another province but you watched on TV. Jessie was glowing the whole game: running like lightning, tackling the opposition seamlessly. When she made an epic assist you stood on your sofa and cheered. And when the ball hit the net and the whole Canada team copied Jessie’s celebration from the other night (arms up, toes pointed like a squad of muscly ballerinas) you couldn’t help but gasp and slap a hand over your mouth. She knew you would be watching, Of course she did. 

Maybe it was this elation that possessed you to walk to the training center in the small hours of the morning on the day the team was set to arrive back. Maybe the thought of jessie smiling as she pretended to dance on the field was the thing that had you waiting for the bus to pull up and the doors to open. Whatever it was, there you were: the sun not yet risen, freezing in your ‘Fleming’ jersey in sub zero temperatures as jessie, looking tired and sore, got off the bus with her team. 

You waited no time running towards her, pausing only a second so she could drop her bags and open her arms. When you hugged her, all of a sudden you felt like no music or dance in the world could explain your feelings. 

“Jessie- I saw on TV! Did you ask them to do that with you? I saw-“

Jessie cut you off, placing a hand on your neck and finally putting her lips of yours. Her lips were cold and yours tasted like lip balm but you didn’t care. You pulled her closer and kissed her. Vaguely you could hear the team cheering but you paid it no mind, holding your girl close. 

This was all you needed. She was all you needed.

[artbyblastweave]

So the retro-futurism faux-50s aesthetic of fallout is baked in even to the very early games, it’s the first thing you see in fallout 1, the dissonant cheer of that newsreel where the American soldiers are executing civilians in annexed Canada. The whole intro of fallout 2. From day one it’s a quasi-period piece for the eternal 50s. But on many levels the first two games are also aesthetically a very very 90s look at the post apocalypse. There’s a near-liefeldian bent to the sprites and armors and weaponry. The super mutants are a very 90s comic-book way to design a human mutant. A lot of stuff like that. It sort of unintentionally became a nested period piece, the 50s through the eyes of the 90s. So part of me is wondering, first, about a contemporary fallout game that tried to double dip both eras; a fallout game about how people in the 90s were thinking about the 50s. And part of me is wondering what elements of contemporary aesthetics have been fused into the current games that I don’t have the objectivity or distance to notice yet. Part of my thesis going into this post is that it’s at least partly technical, and the contemporary games actually have enough LOD to play up the 50s look in the environment in a way the older games were somewhat hard pressed to; you can go giga-fifties when you can model the individual nuts and bolts on a protectron, for example. But the more I think about it the greater the odds that there’s gonna be some really obvious hallmark of 2000s and 2010s aesthetic sensibilities baked into the designs of 3 onwards that people in the 2040s are going to be picking apart. The green filter, for example.

[coldsaturn]

Okay but tell me WHY the Olympics are such a big thing in exy. Like is exy being grouped in with sports like figure skating? Or does it get group with sports like soccer where there is the World Cup. No one really cares about Olympics soccer. It’s all the World Cup (and Continental Cups).

That's a very interesting question.

I think the Olympics are A Thing for two main reasons. These all take the point of view of the writer, and not the canon world (even though I'm not in Nora's head, of course, so this is just what makes sense to me): 1) Exy was conceptualized as a Japan thing first and foremost 2) Once the US became the setting, the sport needed to have international standing

Japan is big on Olympics. It took part in basically every single Game from 1912 onward.

No one cares for Olympic soccer but you can still find youtube reaction videos of Americans being flabbergasted that the World Cup is bigger than Super Bowl. Hockey, one of Exy's big brothers, has different and independent world championships going on which are just chaos to me. Ice Hockey "World Cup of Hockey" managed to see the light of day only 3 times. Did you know that Lacrosse has a World Championship? I didn't. It's only after 1998 that people outside US-Canada-Australia-England started participating.

At the end of the day, if you need a trophy that instantly gives international reputation and social standing to a sport based on people's perception of "How big are you if you win X", then the Olympics are the obvious choice, because everything else is considered big based on national trophies.

If you want to consider the canon world:

"The first professional teams were formed around the graduates of the first university teams. Two years later the national team, the US Court, was born. The following year Exy made its first appearance at the Olympics, where Japan took home the gold."

The Olympics bridged the gap between Japan (where the sport was born) and the teams on the other side of the world, allowing them to compete against each other. They could have organized a world championship, sure, but the Olympics sound so much better and more distinguished lol

[mancalledhoss]

Looking Glass - Nez Perce: (1832-1877) leader of war parties during the Nez Perce War of 1877. He, along with Chief Joseph, directed the 1877 retreat from eastern Oregon into Montana and onward toward the Canada–US border during the Nez Perce War.

[raapija]

Strollonso au, but I actually wrote something...

Lance and Fernando's night out in Sendai OR a very drunk tall Canadian being carried back home by a not-so-drunk short Spaniard.

This is very short, so give it a quick read ! ✨

Fluffy to the point of almost throwing up ❤️

"I'm tired..." Lance groaned from across the table and slid down a little further in his seat. Fernando chuckled at him and called for the total to pay the bill for their drinks.

"No wonder," the Spaniard started as their bartender brought the bill. "You drank enough beer for the whole of Canada tonight."

"Hah..." Lance huffed and waited for the man to pay. Fernando always paid, every single night out or dinner for the past five years, the man was insistent on it and Lance had long ago decided not to bother.

"Come on, vamos." Fernando got up and offered Lance a steady hand to grab onto and heave his lanky body up from the leather covered seat. The younger man weighed heavy on his side as they said their good byes to the nice staff at the little Kokubuncho bar.

***

"Oofff... My feet don't work?" Lance muttered as he struggled to keep up with Fernando's strides in the chill night air. It was pretty quiet,only a few people passing them in the usually bustling bar district.

Fernando glanced behind to see Lance had stopped a little back and was looking back at him helpless.

"Ay, let me." the Spaniard walked over to him and motioned him to hop onto his back to carry him.

"You're not gonna CARRY me back, stupid." Lance exclaimed but Fernando kept his cool. The drunk Canadian was easy enough to convince. "Fine. But carrying a man half your size is YOUR problem."

"Yeah, you are my problem..." Fernando muttered under his breath in Spanish. "Giddy up."

"Giddy up? Hah, you're insane." Lance laughed at the sudden expression. He tried jumping up a few times and almost toppling them both over before Fernando could finally catch a proper hold of his legs and Lance wrapped his arms around the older man's shoulders.

"Onward!" the Canadian yelled and pointed towards the general direction of their hotel. Fernando carried him with surprising ease and garnered a couple of entertaining looks from the people passing by. Not very often do they see two foreigners in such a ridiculous situation.

"My strong man..." Lance hummed into Fernando's ear and nuzzled his neck. He sounded so content with the whole thing and Fernando could feel the weight increasing as the man relaxed. Or was he falling asleep?

"Anything for my princesa." the Spaniard said and earned one last chuckle from the younger man before he was completely out. Steady stream of warm, beer scented breath against his neck.

Hey... This might be absolutely dogshit bc I just woke up, but I HAD to get this out of my system 😭

[nukacoola]

I know that writer who “confirmed” the idea that the male sole survivor was a war criminal in Canada was know for his crazy takes and obviously that was retracted like a day after it was put out but he literally would be.

All of those soldiers at that time were forced to put down civilian protesters in Canada as America annexed the country. Depending on when the male sosu got out of the military he would have been doing war crimes at home too as in 2076 and onwards power armor and military units were being used to put down protesters in American cities. There is no good soldier and bad soldier in American wars and that rule is not excepted in Fallout. The American soldiers who defected were rounded up and sent to military prison camps. One couldn’t just chose to do the right thing and not do war crimes, much like the real life American military.

[mayweneverdie]

Onward To Canada!

Part 1

Cw: game canon violence, what you’d expect in a chapter about fleeing

Notes: Sorry for deleting the og series, but I have the strongest urge to revamp my work

—

Soft, grey puffs of campfire smoke was all Eagle Flies could focus on. His pain worsens with every pulse despite the tonics you had given him minutes prior. You kept a gentle hold on him, his body heavy against yours.

It was excruciating, physically and emotionally.

Every gasp of air felt like smoke infiltrating his lungs. Through bleary eyes, he could see men and women alike tearing down their homes and shoving what they could in bags and baskets. Guilt consumes him. He couldn’t do anything.

The sound of his father’s voice rang clear to him despite everything. Rains Fall tried to be gentle, but the nerve was heard easily. He urged him to get up, holding his arms out so he could support him. Begrudgingly, Eagle Flies allows you and his father to help him up.

“Why?” He heaved, throat dry and sore, “Why is it never enough?” A cough rips through his chest. Neither of you could think of an answer that would satisfy him. Giving him a gentle pat on his shoulder, you help him up into the back of a cart. It’s pretty cramped, but it was either that or nothing. You look up to Rains Fall, his eyes glossy and his lips pressed in a thin line as he watches his son lay there in pain.

“Rest now.” Rains Fall pleads, bringing him close in a hug. His son nods, lying back against some baskets and furs. Even with the bandage, you knew those furs would be stained by the morning.

“[Name], help me grab what’s left.” Charles hollers, his voice making your head whip in his direction. You look back for a moment to the sight of Rains Fall watching over his son as if he was a sick baby.

“Alright…” You whisper, nervous for what the morning holds. Staring just a moment longer before leaving to scavenge the last bits of food and supplies. Charles offers you a glance before handing you some pelts. He takes some cans and a crate for himself.

“We’re not sure where we’re going, but we can’t stay here.” He informs you, voice a little shaken as he walks to the horses.

“Are we just gonna keep moving until we can’t anymore?” You ask, tossing the pelts over the back of your horse. He nods and stuffs the cans in his saddlebags, the crate sitting wobbly on the backside.

“We’ll be on watch for any soldiers, I hope you aren’t tired.” He adds. You nod and mount up before checking yourself over, a nervous habit of yours. On your third time checking yourself over, Charles places a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“We’re going to be ok.” He whispers in a low, soothing voice. A small sigh escapes your lips.

“I’m more worried for Eagle Flies,” You admit with a bit of nerve, “I… I care for him.” Your voice is barely a whisper now, but he understands it all the same.

“He’s lucky to have you,” Charles reaffirms, dropping his hand from your shoulder back to his side. Noticing everything and everyone is ready, he sighs, “Let’s get to it.”

—

Oh em gee, first part of the new rendition of onward to canada?! I hope this is much better than the og part one.

[inqilabi]

I think people misunderstand marxism / communism and I don't blame them. In the dominant public perception it's just a mix of vague leftist principles. And I do think that the ruling class did a great job at blurring the lines between actual Marxism and what is their own ideology - liberalism, through academia and involvement in "revolutionary politics" themselves. Yes the ruling class was very much involved in civil rights movement and onwards. The woke capitalist politics you see today are not a co-optation. It is the ideology of the bourgeoisie. The bourgeois is very much "revolutionary" in their optics.

So the writers strike of Hollywood eg. People think that this is what a leftist revolutionary strike looks like. No. Hollywood is an arm of empire. So from a Marxist pov these are petty bourgeois or labor aristocracy (the folks who benefit from imperialism) fighting for top dollar wages (which itself extracted from imperialism ie dollar hegemony).

In the north america, marxism would look like reinvestment in production. Since imperialism resulted in deindustrialization. Hence the entire economies of US and Canada are service based. Not based in productive output. So this means investment in agriculture, industry, infrastructure. Labor. This is usually your American that is not urban. It's the rural folks doing productive labor. These are the people when they strike will strike fear. Like the UPS strike.

Also tax the rich is a useless phrase. Taxing the rich wouldn't do anything. That's just even more powerful ruling class families making a couple of multi-millionares into a scapegoat for public placation. China has billionaires ever since market reforms but they answer to and are beholdened to the party. Taxing isn't the answer. It's a total overhaul of production and who owns they production.

[fatehbaz]

Regarding this post going around:

Recommend checking out an article by Kasey Keeler and Ryan Hellenbrand, published at Edge Effects in 2021, which, aside from addressing the Ojibwe story about the Nanabozho fighting against logging, also describes the origin of Paul Bunyan as an icon of clear-cutting timber industry and, later, as a symbol of the advent of the US federal government’s “German-style” forestry management.

Some quick tidbits from their article:

- References to Bunyan appear in local print media from the 1890s onward, but Bunyan became more widely known in 1916 after a scholarly publication about the folklore. In the same year, 1916, an important mass media pictorial representation was made in a promotional pamphlet by the marketing team of a major logging company as a move to give them a folksly and “local” charm as the corporation expanded from Minnesota to California.

- That same logging company had owned the land that would become both Paul Bunyan State Forest and Chippewa National Forest.

- The first national forest created by act of Congress rather than presidential proclamation was actually Chippewa National Forest, which has been described as “a laboratory” to solve “the Indian problem” and discipline/contain Ojibwe people.

- Paul Bunyan was a sort of icon of German folklore in the region. Ironically, even though Bunyan was originally associated with clear-cutting, it would in fact be "German-style” forestry policy that (in Minnesota and later across the US) replaced the original clear-cutting industrial extraction methods with a "modern" and "sustainable" management approach meant for "sustained yield" (which still just treats forests as a resource to be extracted for profit).

---

Anyway, some images, captions, and text from the article [all text below is excerpted from the article]:

Across the Northwoods, a geography that spans the U.S.-Canada border, stories are used to make and claim space. [...] Throughout northern Minnesota, legends of Paul Bunyan, the fictional giant lumberjack, have been used to claim space. [...] Bunyan has been credited with creating Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Grand Canyon, while simultaneously logging millions of acres of forest. [...] Together, we juxtapose the history of two forests -- the Paul Bunyan State Forest and the Chippewa National Forest -- to reveal how German settlement, logging, and forestry have contributed to placemaking narratives, and how [...] nostalgia links past and present. Paul Bunyan’s literal and figurative imaginings advance American Indian erasure narratives, leading to the invisibility of these same communities today. [...] The Northwoods have been popularized and imagined as America’s version of northern Europe. [...] Across Minnesota, towns like New Ulm, New Munich, Heidelberg, and Luxemburg bear witness [...]. More recently, Native scholars Michael Dockry and Christopher Caldwell have examined [...] “the Menominee people’s profound sense of place and their intimate relationship with place.”   [...]

---

Ojibwe dispossession, well underway by the late nineteenth century, is not told in any Paul Bunyan story. [...] The "heroic labor" of logging formed a significant portion of Great Lakes region economies [...] on the heels of, and entangled with, Ojibwe dispossession. [...] Formally established in 1908, the 1.6-million-acre Chippewa National Forest (CNF) lies nearly contiguous with the Leech Lake Reservation. [...] [T]he CNF was the first national forest created "for the benefit of [American] Indian people." [...] In 1902 came the Morris Act. Authored by [a] Duluth congressman [...], the act "created the first forest reserve established by congressional action rather than presidential proclamation." The act established the 225,000-acre Minnesota Forest Reserve as a “compromise,” a way to tackle the “Indian problem” while allowing for timber harvest. Here, Ojibwe homelands became “a laboratory for the first comprehensive forest management plans undertaken by a federal agency.” In 1928, the forest was renamed the Chippewa National Forest, as it remains today.

---

While the Chippewa National Forest forces us to consider the many ways logging and forestry has usurped American Indian peoples’ access to land, the nearby Paul Bunyan State Forest encapsulates the material legacy of symbolic myth. [...]

Officially recognized in 1935, the Paul Bunyan State Forest evolved from the site of the Red River Lumber Company sawmill. Founded in 1884, the Red River Lumber Company (RRLC) directly participated in and contributed to Ojibwe dispossession. By the end of the nineteenth century, he RRLC had purchased most of the land that comprises the present-day Pual Bunyan State Forest, milling millions of board feet of lumber at the company town of Akeley. [...]

The expansion of RRLC to California precipitated another key move: using Paul Bunyan in their marketing. William B. Laughead (pronounced Log-head), advertising manager in 1914 and a logger himself, spun another Paul Bunyan tale for the promotional booklet “Introducing Mr. Paul Bunyan of Westwood, Cal,” which included Bunyan’s first pictorial representation. This marketing campaign relied on the new and growing nostalgia for the grand logging days in the Great Lakes to keep the transcontinental corporation rooted in place.

With logging long established throughout the Great Lakes region, the ecological damage was clear. To remedy this, in the mid-1930s (German) forestry was introduced to manage timber on a sustained yield base. This, then, is the irony of the Paul Bunyan State Forest: named for an American legends who is said to have literally cleared the path for settlement, forest management now proposes to maintain the integrity of the forest. [...]

Though Paul Bunyan narratives dominate the landscape of the Northwoods, if we look closely we can see the ways Native people resist the legendary exploits. Indeed, a lesser-known Ojibwe oral story reminds us that the Anishinaabe people, their culture, and their histories will always prevail over dispossession and logging. In the story, Nanabozho, an Ojibwe trickster or cultural figure, confronts Paul Bunyan, who had already logged off most of the northeastern states before making his way to Minnesota. Nanabozho tells Paul to leave, to not log any more timber. A fight ensues, and [...] Nanabozho swings a Red Lake walleye at Paul, knocking him off his feet. As Paul stumbles, Nanabozho pulls at Paul’s whiskers, making him promise to leave the area. This is why, today, Paul Bunyan does not have a beard and why he is facing west at the statue on Lake Bemidji, as he prepares to leave the region.

This is also why we have the Chippewa National Forest, because Nanabozho and his Ojibwe kinsmen saved it from being logged. It is this contemporary narrative that highlights the complexity of Ojibwe storytelling [...].

---

Images, captions, and text as published by: Kasey Keeler and Ryan Hellenbrand. “Paul Bunyan and Settler Nostalgia in the Northwoods.” Edge Effects. 2 December 2021. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks added by me.]

[going-to-superhell]

Whats happened is terrifying and if you feel like you need to leave the US and can here is a list of countries you can stay in without a visa while you get everything sorted out. Feel free to correct or add any information or resources. Note that Barbados only allows visa free entry for six months for citizens of countries within the Commonwealth of Nations which the US never joined.

The Marshall Islands - You can stay as long as you like with a US passport

Georgia - One year

Bermuda - Six months - Need a ticket for return or onward travel, to stay longer or work, study, travel for business or other reasons, you must meet the Bermudian government's entry requirements

Canada - Six months with a US passport

Mexico - 180 days. You'll receive a visa on arrival, authorities advise to avoid being detained or deported, you must complete an online Multiple Immigration Form (FMM) and obtain a QR code

Fiji - Four months - Authorities will issue a visa when you arrive, to get a visa on arrival, you must show proof of booked accommodation and a return ticket

St. Lucia - Six weeks - Must hold a passport valid for at least six months beyond your date of country exit and with one blank visa page

If you want to move to Europe and move freely throughout certain countries then look into moving to one of the countries in The Schengen Area

Note: The Australian government is terrible with immigrants and will take a long time to get a visa here even if you hold a US passport (the wife one of my dads colleagues had to wait 10 years) there probably success stories but we are also fucked down here

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The federal government is expanding a list of Iranian officials that are inadmissible to Canada. Ottawa first introduced measures under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in November 2022 that barred a number of senior Iranian officials from entering Canada. Those measures applied to people who were senior members of the Iranian government from November 2019 onward.  But the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced Sunday that its pushing that date back to June 23, 2003.

Continue Reading.

Tagging:: @newsfromstolenland