#when in Central Michigan

[nice-bright-colors]

Tonight’s reward for dealing with my Father starting to argue politics with my BIL, my sister complaining about having to have diversity at her work place for neurodivergent people while just being Gen-X and getting your work done. My BIL stating that every other country in the world calls Alzheimer’s Disease, Type 3 diabetes. (If there’s any truth to that please enlighten me).

This quadruple had me at bourbon.

So I get to engage Dad tomorrow for lunch. Hopefully I’ll just have my cousin, and her family from here on out this week.

Oh yeah, my 85 y.o. Aunt is saying she’s ready for the home, and having many problems every day. So I guess Thursday I’ll get to tour some facilities where she could go and live.

I really didn’t want to come here this week, but I guess I made the right decision.

[tumblboone]

Lake Superior glamour shots from Memorial Day weekend

[spoonstrek]

Lol, the movie The Five-Year Engagement with Jason Segel and Emily Blunt was largely filmed and set in my college town (Ann Arbor, Michigan, US) and came out when I was in college. So I watched it in a theater in town surrounded by people who are familiar with the town. People were stoked to see Ann Arbor in a movie.

There was a lot that was incorrect or moderately offensive about how the town was presented, including the time they have sex on the kitchen counter of a beloved local deli and townies being presented as backwoods, conservative, and simple folk instead of generally overeducated and hyperliberal.

When the scene cut to them walking west away from campus, neither away from the area they were coming from nor towards a place they could live, there was general murmuring. Then they have an intense conversation on the corner near the homeless encampment and there was tittering about how awkward that spot would be to have that conversation. Then they resolve their conversation by romantically tumbling into a snowbank, that at the time I watched was a spot immediately behind a lime green tent. A friend and I locked eyes and went "oh no, not by hobo park!"

when a film or tv show takes place somewhere where you have been, it is your sacred duty as viewer to say “i’ve been there” every time you recognize a place

[reasonsforhope]

"With a swath of U.S. cities adopting policies that would outlaw homeless encampments, advocates for unhoused people are working to fight stigmas against “tent cities.”

A new study out of the University of Colorado shows that involuntary sweeps of these camps do not improve public safety, for instance. And in San Diego, initiatives like safe sleeping camps work to provide transitional support to people with nowhere else to go.

Now, the city of Saginaw, Michigan, is taking a similar approach to address homelessness. 

The City Council has announced a community partnership to establish temporary legal encampments for homeless residents displaced from a site under an interstate overpass.

“We decided to be proactive and try to establish a place where we can provide some very basic amenities that drastically improve the health, safety, and dignity of the folks in that area,” City Councilwoman Carly Rose Hammond told Mid-Michigan Now. 

She added that the initiative aims to “have a positive impact on all the neighborhoods and businesses surrounding it.”

Hammond acknowledged that the plan is not designed to be a permanent solution, but it does allow those experiencing homelessness at least a little more dignity and support.

“What a legal encampment allows us to do is say, ‘Hey, we already know that these people are here. Even if we come out and destroy people’s stuff, they’re going to come back,” she told WNEM 5. 

“So, what can we do to provide some basic amenities and some necessities to help so that the environment is relatively clean and relatively safe?’”

Saginaw is not a major city, but it is part of the Greater Tri-Cities Region of Central Michigan, which has an estimated population of about 378,000 people. 

According to Saginaw’s 2024 Point in Time Count, there are approximately 325 individuals experiencing homelessness at any given time. And with the housing crisis on the rise, officials are hoping this move will provide more relief.

“We’ve seen the housing crisis climb and climb and climb, we’ve had more and more fallout from those social issues,” Hammond added to Mid-Michigan Now. “So [we’re] addressing this problem head-on, providing a temporary solution, and a pathway forward.”

Organizations like La Misión are part of the city’s plan to include nonprofits, businesses, community advocates, and neighbors in ensuring the success of the initiative. 

Veronica Vela, who leads La Misión, said legal and accessible encampments are vital to connecting with people who need urgent resources.

“We’re out here. We actually know names there. They know us,” Vela told Mid-Michigan Now. “So when they see my truck, they’re gonna come up to my truck. So it’s more of a relationship that we have with them.”

By allowing people the space to build community in a designated and safe location, caseworkers and on-the-ground advocates can get people the help they need with more speed and consistency.

The city also plans to form a permanent subcommittee to address homelessness — ideally before it begins.

While the timeline of this new initiative — as well as the specific services it will provide — remain unclear at this time, Hammond promises a step in the right direction.

“What’s going to come out of this is a healthier, safer environment for everyone,” she told Mid-Michigan now. “We can work on long-term solutions, rather than just kicking the problem around and kicking it down the road.”"

-via March 14, 2025

[afriblaq]

A long road took nine children out of the cotton fields, out of poverty, out of Mississippi. But roads go both ways, and this Thanksgiving weekend, they all returned. This is about Thanksgiving, and coming home.

“There’s my daddy,” says Gloria Chandler Coleman, master of arts, University of Missouri, a teacher in Kansas City. All nine children had memories of a sharecropper’s cabin and nothing to wear and nothing to eat. All nine are college graduates. Cooking the meal in the kitchen of the new house the children built for their parents four years ago is Bessie Chandler Beasley, BA Tuskegee, MA Central Michigan, dietician at a veterans hospital, married to a PhD. And helping out, Princess Chandler Norman, MA Indiana University, a schoolteacher in Gary, Indiana.

Alex Chandler remembers the time when he had a horse and a cow and tried to buy a mule and couldn’t make the payments and lost the mule, the horse, and the cow. And about that time, Cleveland, the first son, decided he wanted to go to college. “We didn’t have any money,” says Alex. “And we went to town; he wanted to catch the bus to go on up there. And so we went to town and borrowed two dollars and a half from her niece, and bought him a bus ticket. And when he got there, that’s all he had.”

From that beginning, he became Dr. Cleveland Chandler. He is chairman of the economics department at Howard University. How did they do it, starting on one of the poorest farms in the poorest part of the poorest state in America? “We worked,” says Princess Chandler Norman.

Source: WAFB 9 @theblackdetournews

@sooooooomississippi

[onenicebugperday]

i have absolutely no idea if its possible without a photo, but could you give me some insight on a bug i used to see a lot as a kid? i live in relatively central michigan. my family had yucca plants, and when they bloomed, the flowers would always get a ton of these little white fluffy bugs. i believe they have wings and a longer slender body and for some reason i always called them moths. do you think you could help?

It doesn't ring a bell for me. About how big were they?

You could try scrolling through the insects found in central Michigan here. Maybe you'll spot what you were seeing

[pillow-ghost-nan]

VERY LONG wolfstar fic rec list PART 2

PART 1

PART 3

Again, since I almost exclusively read smut, most of these are M or E lol

Please let me know if any link needs fixing or if there are any mistakes

Multi-chapter:

Carry Me Away by greyeyedmonster18

Rating: M, 105k words “You know I need you, and that's for sure, you’re just the kind of crazy I’ve been looking for.” Sirius had devised the perfect plan. Two weeks in London before he started University. Two weeks of bars and football games and time spent out from under his parents gaze. Two weeks without rules or expectations. He concocted the perfect ruse to fool everyone about his whereabouts. And then he met Remus. And suddenly two weeks couldn't have ever been enough time. (non-magic, AU; Sirius is a sheltered posh boy on his first rebellion, Remus is an attractive stranger who make's him re-think all his plans).

Sacrifice by abyss_valkyrie (Technomancer28), muse_in_absentia

Rating: E, 48k words In a world where Demons are the top of the food chain, the Shadow Demons are in charge of it all. Sirius, the heir apparent, would really like to shake that up, with a little help from his friends, of course.

For the Love of Ducks by viwrites

Rating: E, 74k words Remus Lupin is freshly twenty years old and sitting on a park bench in central London, he has a squashed pastry bag next to him and a cup of tea clutched between perpetually cold fingers. He moved to London eight months ago in search of a new doctor after having grown up on a little farm in Wales, and he hasn’t taken well to city life. He's taken to this park mostly because the trees are dense, the people are sparse, and there are birds. Nice ones that sing and hop from bench to bench scavenging for dropped bits of food or else pulling worms from the earth. Today he’s watching a pair of ducks glide easily across the pond. He thinks they must have a nest nearby, and in a few weeks there will be ducklings. Or... Remus Lupin has always been sick, and he'd just like to feel normal for once. Sirius Black seems like the perfect man with a perfect, exciting life.

'tis the damn season by moonymoment

Rating: T, 72k words “Where are you going?” Remus turns. Sirius looks delightful; wine-flush and December drizzle painting his pale, pretty face the deepest carmine red. His spindly hands are twiddling at his front, as if he doesn’t know quite what to do with them. He sniffs, and exhales corporeal ice that sends a shiver running down Remus’ spine. He’s not sure if it’s from the cold or the alcohol or… something else. and it always leads to you, and my hometown

ten reasons (to go to michigan) by greyeyedmonster18

Rating: M, 59k words Best-selling novelist Remus Lupin, distraught and torn after his relationship of 10 years ends in nothing but doubt and litigation leaves the bustle of New York City, and retreats to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in hopes of reconnecting to his childhood and getting his writing spark back. Sirius Black is a local ceramicist and single parent with a backstory all his own, who happens to frequent the coffee shop Remus grew up studying in. Remus for the first time in his life didn't have a plan when he booked a one way plane ticket--except for maybe the plan to never fall in love again. Except... A story of simple pleasures, love, and home. (Modern, Adult Wolfstar AU; set in the states)

Notting Hill by WrappedUp

Rating: M, 23k words Of course, Remus has seen his films and has always thought he's... well, fabulous. But a million miles away from the world he lives in; here, in Notting Hill.

Enigma Variations by Coriaria

Rating: Not rated (officially but actually E), 68k words When Sirius Black is unmasked as a spy, it seems that nearly everyone in Bletchley Park knew all along that something wasn't right about him. But Lily Evans thinks otherwise. She knows that if Black really was a spy, he'd have done it properly, and would have never been caught. Remus Lupin doesn't believe Sirius is a spy either. According to the landlady, she found the stolen ciphers in his room between the pages of a magazine filled with photos of half-naked women. And Remus knows that such a magazine would hold no interest for Sirius. It's not much to go on, but both Remus and Lily are determined to get to the truth. A man's life depends upon it.

Blind and Deaf by Cocomouse

Rating: E, 18k words Remus doesn't do blind dates. They must be the worst possible social situation humankind has ever invented: two strangers some people have decided that maybe they should get in a committed relationship. You have two hours. So no, he wouldn't touch that with a ten yard stick, not if he can help it. But he knows better than to try and argue with Lily, so, here he is.

Text Talk by merlywhirls

Rating: T, 141k words Sirius is in boarding school, Remus is in hospital, and they don't know each other until Sirius texts the wrong number.

Seventeen Hours by eyra

Rating: E, 16k words They had a year in Berlin, and then Orion ordered Sirius back to England to help set up a new department under the firm's South American division. Sirius had been thrilled when Remus turned up in London three weeks later, shrugging and telling him that he'd tired of Berlin, and something in the grey capital had sparked back to life when Sirius returned from reunion drinks at the pub with James and Peter to find Remus - key acquired from Sirius's secretary, he later uncovered - naked on the bed in Sirius's room, head cushioned on folded arms on the silk sheets, knees tucked under and waiting. Sirius and Remus have an arrangement, of sorts. But they’re definitely not together.

Meet Me In The Exosphere by EuripidesTrousers

Rating: E, 108k words “Black, status”, the controller calmly requested. He gritted his teeth and panted as evenly as he could, sounding like he’d just run a marathon, “Maintaining descent… four three zero.” “Copy.” He levelled out just above the 10,000 foot deck and veered right, craning his neck over his shoulder to see Remus’ plane not far behind. Remus’ voice crackled through the comms, deep and smooth, and he had the audacity to sound amused. “Alright, Black? Sound a bit out of breath.” Sirius’ stomach somersaulted. “S’cakewalk, Lupin.” “Good”, Remus rumbled, dropping an octave, “Warm up’s over.” The year is 1996 and Sirius Black is adrift, bouncing numbly between deployments to aircraft carriers with his best friend James Potter, existing purely for the thrill of flying. The year is 1996 and Remus Lupin is desperately holding his aviator career together with all the determination and stubbornness of someone told "You don't belong", in a place that he carved out for himself with his own two hands. When they meet, it's dislike at first sight. Somehow, it ends up being a love story.

Practical Oddities by lurikko

Rating: M, 48k words Regulus needs a place to stay, Remus needs to get over Sirius. It’s August 1979 and things are getting out of hands.

Pas de Deux in the Upper West Side by wilteddaisy (taotu)

Rating: E, 31k words Remus Lupin is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. A lead role comes up for grabs in the company's newest ballet and Remus is determined to have it. But only when Sirius Black — oozing talent, charisma and all the elements of a world-class distraction — joins the company does it hang in the balance.

Disarm You With a Smile by five_ht

Rating: E, 45k words Me: hi mr lupin 😊 Mr. Lupin: Hello Mr. Lupin: Are you going to tell me who you are today? Me: i have another hint for you Me: i don't have a dad, but i could sure use a daddy ❤️ Mr. Lupin: And you figure I'm the man for that job? Me: 😜 Me: you tell me

Wilder than Mountain Thyme by TracingPatterns

Rating: E, 110k words Remus Lupin is a disillusioned werewolf who has mostly turned his back on the Wizarding society, content to work his mundane muggle job. That is until his best friend convinces him to join an exclusive study on the Wolfsbane potion at the well-renowned centre outside of Edinburgh. Sirius Black is wizarding royalty, or at least he was until he walked away from his pureblood family to follow his own path in life. After travelling the world and pursuing a career in Magizoology he now finds himself working at one of the highest-ranked centres for magical creatures in the Wizarding world. Their first meeting makes sparks of disdain crackle between them and it seems unlikely that anything, not even the old magic of Edinburgh, will be enough to bridge over the reality of who they are and where they come from.

Beneath a Big Blue Sky by eyra

Rating: E, 68k words The four-by-four heaves its way down long, twisting lanes, little more than dirt tracks scuffed into the surrounding fields and hemmed in by serpentine walls of flat, grey stone. They truly are in the middle of nowhere: the countryside rushes past, all rolling green hills and vast, endless skies, and it's odious. Sirius wants to murder James with his bare hands. Sirius and James accidentally find themselves on a Yorkshire farm during lambing season. The farmer’s son thinks that’s a bit annoying, actually.

To All a Good Night by MsAlexWP

Rating: E, 36k words Sirius Black was supposed to spend Christmas in a luxury Airbnb in Vermont with his best friends. Instead, there's a record-breaking snowstorm, a tiny cabin with no electricity, a viral video, a mysterious last-minute breakup, and sharing a bed with Remus Lupin.

Blends by rvltn909

Rating: M, 192k words Words got in the way sometimes, but Remus got the sense Sirius knew what he was trying to say. - Another coffee shop au.

Heatwave by Krethes

Rating: E, 9k words "Remus strips the soaked shirt from his back, shimmies out of the snitch-emblemed boxers, and pads out into the humid hallway. Despite the temperature outside, it still shouldn’t be so hot in here -- they were wizards, weren't they, and they’d only put about a thousand-and-one bloody cooling charms on this place when they moved in. He pauses at the top of the stairs and sighs -- that had been some thirty-five years ago now, he realizes with a pang of misery that comes when one remembers just how old they are. Grumbling to himself about aging people and aging spells and the absolute unfairness of it all, Remus fetches his wand from the dresser before walking through the entire house. He performs detecting charms in every corner of the house, each room revealing that yes, indeed, there were once cooling charms here, but that they are no longer active. Well, fuck." OR: Another installment of DILF/Mid-Fifties Wolfstar getting their happy ending! Broken cooling charms, a bit of roleplay, and shower sex keep a man young.

call it fate, call it karma by veridity

Rating: E, 103k words Remus wants to be a journalist and Sirius wants revenge. They absolutely hate each other, but they have something in common; an appetite for justice. Or; a University AU in which enemies join forces to take down a corrupt and influential empire through the power of journalistic integrity and unresolved sexual tension.

The Art of Falling in Love by MessusMinnow

Rating: M, 68k words Sirius is a loose cannon who can’t seem to tame himself or actually let people in. Moony is his texting pen pal who he’s never met and is slowly falling for. Remus is slow to trust and scared to be open with anyone except for his mystery pen pal Padfoot.

Forever Live and Die by wolfpants

Rating: E, 84k words It's 1990, and Petunia and Dudley Dursley have been killed in a car crash. Remus Lupin is now Harry's reluctant ward. Thrown back into a world he has long since abandoned, he's forced to confront some painful truths of his past. Or, "what if the Dursleys died and Remus and Sirius reunited earlier"?

My Moony by Whoops_e

Rating: E, 43k words For all that the teasing in the Great Hall hurt him, two words float back to Remus’ memory making him ache. ‘My Moony.’ Remus stares pointedly back into his book. He knows he won’t be able to look at Sirius and not cave. “Remus, darling,” Sirius starts with a teasing melodrama, effectively punching Remus in the stomach. “You have got to start talking to me again.” Don’t look at him. “Because someone used a sticking charm on the Potters and they physically cannot be parted. Peter is snogging now, and all the girls hate me.” ‘You’re better company than being completely alone, I guess,’ is what Remus hears. It’s better this way. “And I miss you,” Sirius adds quietly. - In which Remus loves Sirius so much it hurts, and Sirius can’t figure out why Remus doesn’t want to be his friend anymore.

wading in waist-high water by colgatebluemintygel

Rating: E, 82k words Remus is a PhD student and hobbyist baker who finds himself adrift following his father’s death. On a whim, he enters the Great British Bake Off and is swept up in a flurry of curdled custard, shrunken souffle, and under-proved dough. Remus expects to be challenged and to embarrass himself on public television. What he doesn’t account for are the friendships he develops with the other contestants and the deep connection he forms with his teenage crush, Sirius Black: charming ex-boy band member and Bake Off presenter. or, Sirius groans, dropping his head back into his hands. “It’s the dough,” he mumbles into the skin of his palms. “It’s the kneading. It’s his hands. They’re obscene.” Lily laughs. “They are a bit, aren’t they?”

Fuck It, It’s Fine by R33sesPieces

Rating: E, 25k words Sirius and Remus are madly in love, until they’re not. But even then, they can’t seem to stay away from each other. They’re perfect together, if only everything would stop falling apart. Something that feels so good can’t be a bad idea, right?

tearing air from air by Anonymous

Rating: M, 18k words “Stop,” he spits viciously at the empty room, “fucking haunting me!” or, Sirius is stuck in the Veil and Remus is stuck on the other side. An exploration of grief, family, and loving people even when they want to kill you.

All the Good Things by lurikko

Rating: E, 44k words The summer of 1999: Remus loses his flat and Sirius asks him to stay in Grimmauld Place.

Drifting by Eniaos

Rating: E, 44k words The marauders have been slowly falling apart as they start to build their adult lives. Remus doesn't know if he should fight for his old friends or let them go. A weekend stuck in Edinburgh alone with Sirius changes everything.

Of Bookshelves and Baby Carriers by poppunkpadfoot (StormVandal)

Rating: T, 12k words The customer standing in front of him is quite possibly the most beautiful man Remus has ever seen. Like, he looks like a model or something. He has long, black hair, flattened by water, and just the slightest amount of scruff on his face, and… And a baby strapped to his chest. Okay.

You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks by orphan_account

Rating: E, 21 k words This was written for the R/S Kink 2013 challenge. The prompt was: remus / sirius sexy skype call while one is on a mission for the order [this is obviously a modern au] i dont care who gets naked but it’s gotta happen

Just what the doctor ordered by WrappedUp

Rating: E, 97k words This is the story of how Sirius Black finds a dog. Except, it's not really that. This is the story of how Sirius Black finds a dog and meets a skilled veterinary surgeon with crinkly eyes and dimples in his cheeks. Except, that's not really it either. This is the story of how Sirius black finds a dog, meets a skilled veterinary surgeon with crinkly eyes and dimples in his cheeks, and grows the fuck up (at least a little bit).

The Fragile House of Black Series by Fantismal, Jormandugr

Rating: from G to E, 557k words Following the lives of Sirius and (to a lesser extent) Regulus Black as they navigate their family, Hogwarts, and the first wizarding war. Everything follows the story as you know it... until Kreacher decides the young Master Regulus is not going to die tomorrow. This series will get dark. It was also have moments of light. There will be character death and character birth and Remus/Sirius. There will be trust and betrayal and curses and torture and smut and love. But first, you need the childhood. I recommend to start this series with Power the Dark Lord Knows Not

Oneshots:

The Incomplete Recounting of Four Nonconsecutive Tuesdays in the Spring of 2002 by BrujaBanter

Rating: M, 11k words A Few Reasons Remus Suggested They Pursue Couple's Counseling: 1. Sirius was DEAD (no matter how many times he says he wasn't, which is a lot), so that's bloody complicated. 2. They're a "blended family" now and, well, that's also bloody complicated. 3. Sirius Black is an utter fucking mess. 4. They can't just have sex all the time. They can't. Well, maybe they....no, no. They really can't.

Then I Would Come and Find You by RuinsPlume

Rating: M, 3k words This is what saves them every time.

Indiana Lupin and the Search for the Conqueror by nerakrose

Rating: E, 67k words Remus Lupin is an undercover archaeologist for the British Museum and is sent to Greenland to investigate a Roman shipwreck. In Greenland he meets Sirius Black, makes a real discovery and soon enough the two of them are racing through the world in search of the remains of the Library of Alexandria with Remus’ arch-enemy right at their heels.

Gold and Silver Days by busaikko

Rating: E, 2k words Prior to Christmas at Grimmauld Place: Watching the light from the fire play over Remus' hair and face had been what had started the memories. He didn't have many good ones left, and he liked to savour them.

Almost an Accident by lurikko

Rating: E, 5k words A shared bed, a full moon, and a declaration of love, not necessarily in that order.

Frog and Toad Aren't Friends Anymore by swordfishtrombones

Rating: M, 10k words “Is this really all because I wouldn’t live with you?” Remus is still feeling a little fuzzy, but he’s beginning to get chilly and fed up, and he wants to be on common ground. “Some people just aren’t good flatmates. I wasn’t trying to say I liked Adrian and Mary better than you, or whatever you’re thinking.” Sirius runs a hand through his hair and squints at the streetlight, twisting his mouth like Remus is truly hopeless. “It hurt,” says Sirius, “my feelings.”

Sex and Dying in High Society by fluorescentgrey

Rating: M, 12k words London, 1980. It's not yesterday anymore, or: a retrospective as told through '77 punk.

Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again by Anonymous

Rating: E, 6k words “I still don’t trust you to begin a brew after you singed off James’ eyebrows when you forgot to start with water.” “That was one time and I was sixteen.” “That was last spring and you were barred from volatile substances for a month.” Remus mimics the pitch of Sirius’ toshy scoff with such virulent accuracy that Sirius almost drops to one knee and proposes. — Potions: love it or love to hate it, Sirius Black is a sap with an entire Christmas break to brush up on skills he needs to sharpen. If, along the way, he sweeps his favorite prefect ever further off his feet, he won’t complain about it.

Ways to be Gentle by Quietlemonhush

Rating: E, 4k words It wasn’t usually like this. It was usually a little rougher than this. Usually Sirius didn’t really consider it fucking until Remus bit him, until his arm was pulled behind his back. They’re rough together, pushing and snarling even in jest. Even when it was simple, when it was just sex, Remus knew Sirius liked to be held down, to be grounded beneath him, and Sirius knew Remus liked to see a lovemark on the column of his neck. And when it wasn’t simple, when it was more play than sex, then Sirius expected to be thrown against walls, desks, couches, to bounce off the mattress, to shake apart under the force of Remus around him. This was nothing like that. — Sirius has a bad day. Remus reminds him what softness feels like.

Born Under Punches by orestesfasting

Rating: M, 13k words The truth is that he’s kept this love on the back burner of his heart for so many years that he’s grown accustomed to the smell and can sometimes almost ignore it completely. He likes to think he’s made peace with the fact that he’ll never know what it tastes like.

Harmonicas, Hinky-punks, and Heather by mblematic

Rating: M, 24k words Sirius and Remus get stranded in Scotland on Order business, and decide to walk to Hogwarts. Featuring the Brontës, a harmonica, a shrinking tent, and some self-discovery.

two imperfect souls might touch perfection by soloorganaas

Rating: E, 13k words The war is over and Remus is busy running a school for abandoned wizarding youth with his friends. Or rather - they're busy. Remus is trying to figure out who he is after years of his youth were stolen... and how to finally find the words for what he feels for Sirius

tip of my tongue by trustingno1

Rating: E, 3k words "I want to lick you," Sirius announces, and Remus glances up from his parchment. "You do," he says, briskly, "Frequently. In fact, it’s nothing short of miraculous that I don't have worms." "Padfoot does not have worms," Sirius replies. That is an outrageous attack upon his person - his Animagus? - but he won't let the blatant slander sidetrack him - "Not as Padfoot," he persists. "As a sex thing. Sexy licking." Sirius wants to rim Remus. He just wishes he had the words to explain that.

in lieu of beaujolais by aeridi0nis

Rating: M, 19k words Somewhere, there is a very long, meticulously catalogued list of things that Sirius Black does not know. It spans several volumes, actually, page after page bound up in pristine leather, scrawled, dog-eared entries, including (but by no means limited to): what they’re doing here, with all this. How long this could possibly last. What he’ll do when it ends. What he does know, however, is this: he knows that Remus keeps his toothbrush with Sirius’, in the cup by the sink, and his jacket next to Sirius’, on the stand by the front door. He knows he feels odd. If he were to be honest instead of eighteen, perhaps he knows why. or: In which flat-sharing after graduation entails green-tiled bathrooms, cheap red wine and indolence. In which such novelties might be enough to distract a luckier man from his flatmate in the bedroom over. And in which Sirius Black is not a luckier man.

The Great Gay Pornstar Twitter Feud of 2020 by Vixeree

Rating: E, 9k words “So what I’m hearing is that you’ve got a date with your hot, clever, fellow porn-star twitter nemesis, of whom you once said ‘I’d rather die than let that pretentious knobcloud touch my dick’... is that about right?” “... Yes.”  Or; Remus Lupin forgets to turn the fucking camera on.

We Build Our Own Unfolding by imochan

Rating: M, 18k words A welcome overstayed, a funeral at the farmhouse, a diary, a welcome overstayed (again), and a long walk over the hills.

The Rivers of Your Palms by estas_absentis

Rating: E, 5k words 1979: Remus has been away for the Order, Sirius welcomes him home.

[peachhcs]

the new guy | the wonder years

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

will finds out about samy's new boyfriend kevin after thinking there might be a chance for them after they kissing at her senior year kickoff party

wc: 1.7k

cooked this up because 1. i love wonder years and 2. i don’t think i’ve ever written everyone meeting kevin for the first time (i’m also running out of pics so im resorting to gifs lol)

au masterlist

it was a typical friday night for the boys. they raced home after their game to change and make it to samy's first soccer game of the season that started promptly at 7. their goal this season was to make to every single one of her games that didn't coincide with their own games. ryan's mom's suv was definitely going to be put to good use.

the seven of them piled in and were on the road by 6:15 which was record time for them considering their game just finished at 5:30. will was feeling a bit giddy tonight. he had a great game with two goals and an assist and now he was about to see samy for the first time since last weekend. he was still thinking about that drunken kiss they shared.

he knew they were just playing with one another like back in april during that seven minutes in heaven, but will couldn't help thinking that maybe it meant something more this time. it'd been on his mind since last weekend when it happened and the boy started wondering what exactly the relationship he had with the girl was. they were friends, yeah, but..could there be a possibility for something more?

will's never really thought of her that way. maybe that one time when they were twelve, but that didn't count because they were twelve. all he knew was that she'd been on his mind a lot more recently and he started wondering what it meant or if it was even normal to be thinking of his best friend that much? surely it was because he thought of all the guys in the car with him a fair amount. either way, will was excited to see her.

they pulled into the already full lot exactly fifteen minutes before kick off. gabe was texting marcie and riley asking where they were sitting as they walked towards the bleachers. they spotted the two girls in the student section and quickly joined them.

"i'm surprised you guys made it in time," marcie teased and made room for the seven of them.

"you should've seen will barking us around. he was not playing around," ryan teases the blonde who flushed. he scanned the field for samy.

she was by the bench talking with some of the girls. her captain band was wrapped proudly around the top of her shin before her socks started. will knew how hard samy worked for that honor this season and he was proud of her for finally being able to show it off and lead the girls to another successful season in her last year.

"this should be an easy sweep. central michigan has always had a shitty defense," marcie mumbled as the boys' gazes swept over to the other team warming up.

will's gaze followed the other students in the stands. he recognized some of them from the parties samy dragged him to. being in the student section really made the boys feel like they were in high school which was another reason why they wanted to go to the games because they got to experience high school traditions the dev program didn't give them.

samy finally waved up at the stands to the boys who eagerly waved back at her. will smiled widely when he caught her gaze. he watched her gaze fall to the other side to wave at her parents and then the next person she waved at caught him off guard.

it was a guy with brunette hair about three rows down from them. he was taller and stood with some friends that looked to be on the boy's soccer team. samy was smiling widely at him and will's stomach twisted seeing her wave at him.

but he tried to not think about it too much. maybe he was just  a friend? yeah, a friend. she could have friends. will was thinking about this too much.

the game was a clean sweep like marcie said. samy's team scored three goals, one of them being from samy and she assisted the other two. the students cheered for them as they ran up to the bleachers to give out high-fives before running back to the benches. the students began filing out of the bleachers to meet the players in the parking lot after their post game debrief.

the boys talked with marcie and riley waiting for samy to come out. her parents joined them a second later where ellen and jim happily greeted them and thanked them for coming. will was too immersed in his conversation with drew and aram that he didn't see samy come out and turn her attention to the boy she waved to before the game started.

she greeted him with a warm hug and blushed when he gave her flowers. will didn't see them coming until gabe nudged his shoulder and marcie ran to hug her best friend.

"you played so well!" the girl exclaimed making samy flush.

"thanks for coming guys. i didn't actually think you'd make it on time," the soccer player said the the boys.

"thank will. he got us moving," ryan clapped his friend's shoulder. the blonde smiled softly at her. she returned it before directing her gaze back to the boy will saw earlier.

he quickly noticed the flowers in her hand and the shy expressions on both of their faces. that twist in will's stomach quickly returned as he put the pieces together.

"there's someone i want you guys to meet. this is kevin," samy introduced him and he shyly waved at everyone.

for a second, everyone looked at will while the blonde had a blank expression on his face. the excitement he had earlier started fading as he realized what this meant.

"nice to meet you. we're samy's hockey friends," ryan finally said and held his hand out. he was always the one to break the ice first. kevin shook his hand.

"good to meet you guys. samy talks highly of all of you," kevin chuckled.

will struggled to meet samy's gaze that he knew was on him because she was searching for his approval. he didn't really know what to think.

it was dumb to think that maybe he had a chance with her. samy was right. those two kisses were just for fun because they were drunk half the time anyway. it didn't mean anything and will shouldn't have thought it did. he swallowed and sucked up his pride.

"didn't know samy had a new fling," drew chirped up with a small, teasing smirk.

"we've been talking for a few weeks," the girl giggled and then will's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. a few weeks? she's been talking to this guy a few weeks and they still made out in her friend's bathroom last weekend. were they even official then?

"we've been keeping it on the down low until making it official a few days ago," kevin slung his arm around her shoulders.

will found gabe's gaze beside him. the dark-haired boy spoke with his eyes like he knew exactly what will was thinking. gabe didn't really know about the drunk make-outs will and samy have done, but he could probably take a guess. it was fairly obvious whenever the two came back out of the bathroom. all gabe did was place a hand on his friend's shoulder and offered a tight-lipped smile to the new guy in front of them.

"well, it's nice to meet you, kevin. hopefully we'll see you around more," gabe said.

"we're gonna head out, but thanks a lot for coming guys. i always like seeing you guys up there," samy grinned and walked back through the parking lot with kevin.

ellen and jim wished the others goodbye and safe travels back to plymouth. the boys glanced between one another.

"sorry i didn't mention anything. samy wanted to like..surprise you guys," marcie said and looked at will. everyone seemed to be looking at will.

"it's fine. he seems cool," the blonde finally said.

"i know you guys are..and we tease you guys about.."

"no, we're just friends, you know that. all of that doesn't mean anything to us," will cut marcie off, managing his best smile. the others exchanged quick glances before deciding to let it go for now. they said goodbye to marcie and riley before climbing back into ryan's suv to head back.

the car ride was a bit silent. will stared out the window suddenly rethinking everything. he should've known him and samy's relationship would just be a friendship and nothing more than that. it was stupid of him to even think otherwise. they hardly even talked too. usually, samy would be all over him after the game and wanted to talk until they had to leave.

she just left without even saying a word to him really. that did kind of hurt.

ryan dropped everyone back off at their houses. the two boys walked back into the house in silence. ryan didn't want to prod, but he's also never seen will so quiet before.

"look, i know it's not my business, but are you good?" the brunette raised his eyebrow when they were away from the prying ears of their moms.

"i'm fine, why?" will didn't meet his gaze.

"you're just weirdly quiet," ryan mumbled.

"i'm fine. it's nothing," the blonde shrugged and as much as ryan hated prying, he kept talking.

"look, i know the teasing we make at you is all in good fun about samy, but..i didn't know she was talking to someone. i'm sorry."

"why are you sorry? it's not like we were like together or liked each other," will said quickly and ryan gave him a look that both of them knew the blonde was not telling the full truth or at least that ryan saw right through him.

"right, yeah," the brunette mumbled. they left the conversation at that because ryan wasn't gonna poke anymore. will was left to think about ryan's words and what exactly they meant to him because surely, he didn't actually like samy like that.

right?

[deesea-ao3]

Fun Lore Ideas for Fawcett City

I've been sitting on these concepts for ages and need to get them out of my system. For my current WIP, it was important that I have a strong concept for what kind of city Fawcett was going to be. While the plot isn't technically taking place in Fawcett, a huge amount of my lore interpretations/characterisations rely on there being a solid original setting to draw from. Also, it's super fun to extrapolate history and economy for a fictional magic city to try and make it feel as plausible as possible.

Now, to start with, I had to establish where the city would actually be located. Fawcett is typically represented and/or thought of as being in the Midwest, so I was able to whittle down my options even more. I couldn't have it too close to Central City, Keystone City, or Smallville since I wanted Fawcett to retain its isolated feel. It'd be harder for it to get away with being magic if it was a stones throw from speedster stomping grounds, for instance. In the end, I looked up old maps of America DC Comics had officially released for inspiration. What I got were these:

The first didn't have Fawcett at all, and the second had it placed near the border of Wisconsin. The latter was serviceable for my purposes. However, I wanted something more to draw from. I wanted to make Fawcett feel like an actual city with history before I slapped on the magic superhero. It technically was just an ordinary city until Shazam placed a portal there after all.

My second go of looking for inspiration was much more fruitful. I looked at a few fan-made maps and eventually stumbled upon this one in a reddit forum:

Upon closer inspection, I realised something.

That's fucking Chicago.

The idea that then formed was brilliant, my best one maybe ever. If I don't want to write a 2K+ document detailing an organic history of fictional Fawcett City, coupled with local industry and culture to boot, I can just STEAL a real one!

The existence of IRL Chicago is not necessary for my story, and its absence would be barely noteworthy in the grand scheme of things. Functionally, it wouldn't even be gone. Its location and major historical events would still have occurred, just under a different name. It not only saves me tons of labour as a writer, it's also fucking hilarious.

The heart of ALL of magic lies in an abdoned subway station in downtown Chicago Fawcett, the Windy city that houses pagan subcultures, talking animals, cursed objects and people who still think it's 1945.

Southern Lake Michigan has freshwater mermaids. The flat lands of the city proper are surrounded by bluffs as old as the ice age, which thrum with prehistoric magic. The sunset is always pink, and moonbeams are brighter somehow here. In the river that flows through art-nouveau styled skyscrapers swim fish with rainbow scales. The people are happy and chatty and full of little secrets, kept close and safe for rainy days. The woman who dresses in leaves and sleeps on park benches is liable to be simply human, but the jolly old milkman who visits you every morning is fae through and through. Weird is normal and normal is weird.

All while in Chicago, Illinois, one of the most populous, wealthy cities in America since the 1870s. The mechanic who enchanted your car to not break down anymore was raised by regular steel mill workers. The politician who dreams of addressing the city's entrenched class divides is stuck doing paperwork to establish legal protections for the local gnome population's tree houses. When it snows in winter, Yetis clear driveways and salt the sidewalks. No one talks about it much because what is noteworthy about public servants doing their jobs? So what if they're Yetis? You got a problem with that?

Fawcett blows Gotham out the goddamn water for weirdness, but because they're so nonchalant and humble about it, Gothamites walk around smugly assured of their tolerance for insanity, unaware of the bigger fish, which is the average Fawcett citizen. When tourists come to visit, the very genre of reality changes the second they step foot within city lines.

Fawcett solos, tbh. DC writers are weaksauce for not seeing the vision that is mystic Chicago city, home to all of magic.

[ominousvibez]

Okay I'm still thinking about the Amity Park in Ohio thing so here's my proposal for this idea:

Reasons That Amity Park Should Be in Ohio (By Someone Who's Lived In Ohio For 2+ Years)

#1 It's Definitely A Great Lake State

Amity Park has never been stated to be officially in one specific state, just vaguely central United States, possibly somewhere around the Great Lakes area. That specific area is often referenced by other characters in the show. Urban Jungle shows Undergrowth's roots stretching out from this general area, and the Lake Eerie mentioned in the show might just literally be Lake Erie.

Of course it's kinda cartoony and I honestly have no idea if those mountains in the bottom right corner are meant to be the Appalachia area or not but it vaugely looks like the Great Lakes area

Because of this screenshot, I think most of the fandom headcanons Amity Park to be somewhere in Illinois, possibly close to Chicago, but we can basically point at any Great Lakes state and say "yeah that fits".

For my non-American friends, it's this general area of America (specifically Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio)

But I'd also like to say that cartoons do have a tendency to fudge some details about geography (or completely change the states a la Steven Universe) so the map might not be 100% accurate. But with the map, it could technically be any Great Lakes State, so why not OHIO?

Which btw I'm going to be counting as a Midwest state for this analysis. Some people can argue it isn't, but from my experience living here in Ohio there are a lot of Midwestern tendencies. It's more like Ohio is the border state between the Eastern states and the Midwest, so it gets a mix of both.

B*tch H*rtman (as much as we don't like to talk about him) was also born in Michigan, which is a state in the Midwest, so some of Amity Park could be based (consciously or not) on the towns he grew up in there. But because of him I'm ruling out Michigan the state as a whole and Wisconsin for states Amity Park could be in.

#2 It Takes Four Days To Get To Wisconsin, Apparently?

In Season 1, Episode 7, when they travel to Vlad's mansion in Wisconsin, Jazz says it will take "four days" to get from Amity Park to Vlad's Mansion (Somewhere in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, basically). The geography is a little off for every midwestern/Great Lakes state except maybe New York if you're gonna count that but Amity Park does not feel like it'd be in New York state.

Ohio is the furthest Midwest Great Lakes state from Wisconsin. Case closed there. Of course, it doesn't take four days to get from Ohio to Wisconsin. It can roughly vary from 10 to 15 hours, depending on route options (such as avoiding highways and stuff), but still.

It's a road trip, so it makes more sense that they'd take longer to get there-- plus realistically people don't tend to drive 10 hours on a road trip, they probably stopped through the trip and spent the night in their RV.

#3 They Got Beaches?

Amity Park does exist near a body of water. It isn't clear if it's a lake, river, or ocean in the show. It could be a lake. There's also the area in Frightmare, where Nocturne literally takes up space in some sort of port building/factory that gives the audience the assumption that it's on a pier/port. So they're really next to a body of water.

There is also the summer camp that Danny and his friends attend in Claw of the Wild which is said to be on Lake "Eerie". Which could easily just be Lake Erie, the lake that Ohio is on.

Also Camp Skull and Crossbones?? What an iconic camp name. You could say the name is pretty,,,,,, camp (ba dum tss).

#4 Ohio's Just Like... Very Haunted

Ohio has kinda become a meme recently. Not just one specific part of Ohio, but the entire state. The memes are mostly good fun-- like how the state is mostly just corn -- but I think some of the ~vibes~ of Ohio just fit right.

Like, there's no definite way to say which U.S. State is the most haunted (I think either the New England area or maybe Louisiana could take the #1 spot) but Ohio is definitely something else. Of course, we have the baby bridges and the haunted penitentiaries like Ohio State Penitentiary, but there are some interesting places that could be played with, too.

For one, there's an entire abandoned town called Helltown, Ohio, where rumors are cultists perform Satantic rituals, mutant creatures roaming the city created by an oil spill, and even a giant snake? There's also a place literally called the Gateway to Hell, too, which is right behind a Tim Horton's (oddly fitting).

Bobby Mackey's is also in Ohio! If you've ever seen Buzzfeed Unsolved, you know what I'm talking about.

There are also less hell-related spooky things in Ohio. Like, Lake Erie has its own Monster! We call her Bessie. Danny could definitely befriend Bessie!!!

#5 It'd Be Funny

It'd be funny for Amity Park to be in Ohio. The Most Haunted Place in America to be in Ohio is just kinda funny. With how "cursed" of a reputation Ohio seems to have in a larger cultural context, doesn't it kinda just fit?

TLDR:

Ohio is a very cursed state, has a lot of supernatural lore to it, and I think Amity Park would fit in both thematically and almost geographically. Of course, other Midwestern States like Illinois do fit the bill, too, in this argument. But I am a firm "Amity Park is in Ohio" supporter.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #11

March 22-29 2024

The Administration, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the lead responded to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Working with Governor Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott (both Democrats) The Department of Transportation promises to clear the harbor and rebuild the bride. DoT has already released $60 million in emergency funds as a "down payment" and President Biden is expected to seek $1 billion from Congress.

Vice President Harris announced a number of actions and investments designed to improve the quality of life of the peoples of northern central America. driven by poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and out of control crime people in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras are taking great risks and trusting criminal human traffickers to try to reach the US. The Administration is working to improve conditions in the Northern Triangle so that is no longer necessary. Vice President Harris announced $1 billion dollars in new investments as part of the Central America Forward public-private partnership, since 2021 it has invested $5.2 billion in the region. Harris also announced $175 million dollars of direct aid from the US to Guatemala at a meeting with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo.

The Department of Energy announced a $1.5 billion dollar loan to help restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant. This would mark the first time a nuclear power plant was brought back online after being decommissioned. The hope is keep the plant running till 2051, this 100% green power source is projected to prevent 111 million tons of CO2 emissions in its new life time, the same as taking 100,000 cars off the road. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer touted it as key for her state reaching its goal of 100% clean energy by 2040.

Vice President Harris launched a social media push to inform the public about the Biden-Harris Administration's SAVE Plan. The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan was launched last year as part of President Biden's efforts to bring student loan forgiveness to millions of borrowers. Currently 7.7 million people are enrolled in SAVE, under which anyone making $16 a hour or less has a monthly payment of $0 on their student loans. 4.5 million SAVE enrollees are making $0 a month payments and another 1 million pay less than $100 a month on their loan repayment, over 150,000 people so far have had their loans totally forgiven. Republicans are suing to try to shut down the SAVE Plan

President Biden took keep steps to ensure quality healthcare this week. Biden extended the window for low-income Americans to apply for Obamacare. The original deadline of July 31st has been pushed back to November 30th. Biden also rolled back Trump era rules that allowed subsidies for "Junk Health insurance" These plans offer very little coverage and often mislead consumers into believing they have insurance when they aren't covered. These short term plans also don't have meet Obamacare standards and can refuse coverage for preexisting conditions.

The EPA announced new regulations aimed at "turbocharging" the number of electric trucks on the road. The new rules aim to have 25% of new long-haul trucks, the heaviest often diesel trucks on the road, and 40% of medium-size trucks (box trucks and landscaping vehicles) be nonpolluting by 2032, currently just 2% are. The regulation would apply to more than 100 types of vehicles including tractor-trailers, ambulances, R.V.s, garbage trucks and moving vans. The new tailpipe limits are expected to prevent about a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2055.

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services  announced that thanks to President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, 41 different drugs will coast those on Medicare Part B less money than it did last year.  An estimated 763,700 people on Medicare use at least one of these drugs every year. Some enrollees will save as much as $3,575 per dose.

The Department of Energy announced $6 billion for an effort to decarbonize energy-intensive industries. The investment in 33 projects across 20 states will eliminate 14 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year when finished. Each project is meant to be highly replicable and serve as a blueprint for future private sector ventures. 

President Biden signed an Executive Order to Strengthen the Recognition of Women’s History. The Order will launch a review of all historic sites run by the National Parks Service to determine ways to better highlight the role of women, from all backgrounds, in American History.

The Senate Confirmed President Biden's nominees, Ernesto Gonzalez, and Leon Schydlower to federal judgeships in Texas. This brings the total number of federal judges appointed by President Biden to 190.

[whirlpool-blogs]

How NHL Draft prospect Will Smith’s family optimized his hockey potential, ‘48 eggs at a time’

LEXINGTON, Mass. — By dinnertime, for much of September and October of 2021, discouragement and exhaustion made Will Smith slump at the kitchen table.

Smith and his Under-17 U.S. National Team Development Program teammates lost nine of their first 10 games in 2021-22. There was the 8-1 hammering against Youngstown (USHL). The 6-0 setback to Madison (USHL). The Michigan-to-Louisiana bus ride that preceded back-to-back losses to Shreveport (NAHL).

It wasn’t just that. Smith was grinding through practices and two-hour weightlifting sessions at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich. While his friends at St. Sebastian’s School were on campus in Needham, Mass., the 16-year-old was taking online classes at the arena with his teammates. The native of Lexington, a Boston suburb, was adjusting to life in Novi, about 15 minutes away from the rink.

It helped that teammates and fellow Massachusetts boys Will Vote (Arlington) and Ryan Leonard (Amherst), usually in similar states of physical and mental weariness, shared Smith’s table as his housemates. 

The three friends replenished with chicken and steak cooked by Colleen Smith, Will’s mother. At 9 p.m., they would top off with Colleen’s recovery shakes, which followed U.S. NTDP director of sports science Brian Galivan’s recipe: almond milk, protein powder, Greek yogurt, blueberries, spinach, hemp seeds, flax seeds and chia seeds.

When Smith, Vote and Leonard were ready for bed, each retired to his room. Even though Lexington was 700 miles away, Smith was literally in his family home.

Natural talent

Smith is a 6-foot, 180-pound center. For the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, he is No. 3 on NHL Central Scouting’s list of North American skaters after Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli. The offensive dynamo’s 191 points over two seasons places him second in U.S. NTDP history after Jack Hughes(228), ahead of previous program prodigies such as Patrick Kane and Auston Matthews.

Smith originally committed to Northeastern when he was 14 years old. NCAA rules have changed since then. Schools must wait until August prior to a player’s junior year before making their offers.

Smith will be a freshman at Boston College this fall. He will be the 14th family member to attend BC. His Chestnut Hill residence may not last very long.

It goes without saying, then, that Smith has always had a hockey knack, ever since he first hit the ice at 4 years old.

“Pretty early, I knew he was good,” father Bill Smith said of his son, the younger of his two children (daughter Grace will be a BC senior). “I could tell he could play. He was always one of the top kids on the team. He was always producing. He loved the big moments.”

Bill played baseball at Lexington High School and Worcester Academy. Colleen was a swimmer at Creighton University. Neither played hockey. As proof of that, Bill likes to tell the story of how he and Will once prepared at a local rink for the Brick Tournament, the annual summer showcase in Edmonton.

As father and son stepped onto the ice, Bill hit the deck. He got up. He fell again. Leaving your skate guards on will do that to you.

A fellow skater rushed to check on Bill. It was ex-NHLer Freddy Meyer.

To become a possible top-five NHL draft pick, though, requires more than natural talent. For nine seasons, Smith played for the Junior Eagles, one of the Boston area’s strongest minor hockey programs. Montreal general manager Kent Hughes, then an agent, was one of Smith’s coaches. At St. Sebastian’s, Smith played for former Harvard assistant coach Sean McCann. Smith’s teammates included future BC commits Nolan Joyce and Tim Delay.

The family traveled regularly for Smith’s games: Connecticut for showdowns against Mid-Fairfield; Tampa, Fla., for Eagles tournaments; Waterloo, Quebec, for the annual peewee extravaganza.

All of this would advance to a different tier in 2021 when Smith made the U.S. NTDP. 

“The Program,” as it is known, is the premier destination for 16- and 17-year-old American players. Eight of the NHL’s top 10 U.S.-born scorers in 2022-23 (Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, Tage Thompson, Clayton Keller, Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, J.T. Miller, Alex Tuch) are alums. NHL coaches Greg Cronin, Don Granato and David Quinn coached at the program. Dan Muse, who would be Smith’s coach, was hired this week as an assistant by the Rangers.

Attendance, equipment, education and travel are free. But the U.S. NTDP is not for every 16-year-old. 

The competition is older. Training is intense. Pressure is high. Homesickness can set in. Rigor is the keyword to describe the culture.

“They make it really hard,” Bill Smith said of the U17 introductory year. “It’s like boot camp.”

The Smiths recognized the magnitude of the opportunity. They heard the line that Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, a U.S. NTDP parent (son Ryan played in 2019-20 and 2020-21), used to say: “There’s no better place in America to develop, Monday through Thursday, than the program.”

They believed an on-site support system would maximize what their son would get out of his residency. 

It just so happened that Bill Smith was a professional.

Will Smith at the 2023 BioSteel All-American hockey game. (Mike Mulholland / Getty Images)

Making the move

Until the recent sale of his business, Bill Smith was a principal at Boyd/Smith, a Boston real estate firm that specializes in luxury housing and commercial properties. His father, who was also named Bill, founded the company. 

Boyd/Smith’s headquarters is on Massachusetts Ave., a slap shot away from Northeastern’s Matthews Arena. When he was younger, Will’s summer duties included tending the grounds and servicing the air conditioning at Boyd/Smith’s building.

The man with real estate in his blood, then, knew better than most that buying a house in Michigan would serve his family well.

It used to be that most, if not all, U.S. NTDP players lived with billet families. The shift toward remote work has helped to encourage some parents with the means to rent or buy Michigan property and live with their children. 

Colleen felt that being with Will would ease his transition. Bill knew that buying would be better than renting.

“I’ve been doing this my entire life,” Bill Smith said. “You can go out there and rent, and spend $3,500 or $4,000 a month. After two years, it’s basically money all down the drain. I felt like the market was pretty strong and we could buy a place out there. Our goal, in two years, all we cared about was that we just break even.”

The Smiths looked in Plymouth. Through a family connection, they learned of a five-bedroom house in Novi with a finished basement. The Smiths completed the transaction in 2021. The Vote and Leonard families were on board.

Colleen Smith and Deb Childs, Vote’s mother, came up with a plan. Each would spend two weeks per month in Novi to watch over the three boys.

At first, it was harder than they expected.

‘If you’re not cooking, you’re shopping’

The way Colleen Smith remembers the early days of 2021-22, the U17s had to change in the hallways of USA Hockey Arena. A month passed before Muse and his staff determined the players had earned the right to their dressing room.

On the ice, Muse rolled his lines against NAHL and USHL competition. Development, not winning, was the priority. All of a sudden, 16-year-olds used to collecting trophies and being the best players on the ice were losing — badly, at that.

At the same time, Colleen Smith was adjusting to her own life away from home. During her two-week Novi segments, Smith cooked eight steaks at dinner instead of three, saving the rest to slice up for the boys to take to the rink for lunch the next day. She bought 48 eggs at a time instead of a dozen. 

“If you’re not cooking, you’re shopping for the food you’re going to cook,” Smith said. “It just continues. Then you think, ‘You just spent $500 at Costco and it’s gone in two days.’ You’re thinking, ‘Where did it go?'”

Meanwhile, Bill Smith was regularly home alone in Lexington. Colleen, Will and Rigs, the Smiths’ energetic white Cavachon, were in Michigan. Grace was at BC. 

Smith became a regular on Delta’s Boston-Detroit leg to attend Will’s games. For one game, Bill cut it so close that Colleen booked his flight while he was driving to Logan Airport.

Smith and his teammates, though, turned a corner before Thanksgiving of 2021. They traveled to Finland for their first international tournament. The Americans won all four games. 

A month later, they won two of three games in Slovakia. Their performance against their age group gave the Americans confidence.

Smith was on his way to scoring 37 points in 35 games. He and his teammates were playing well against their age group in international competition. 

Colleen Smith and Childs found their rhythm, guided by the five-color-coded spreadsheet that mapped out everyone’s flights and house schedules. At the end of a two-week shift, when it came time for Colleen to return to Lexington, she would drive the car they shared to Detroit International Airport, take a picture of where she parked and send the location to Childs. Once Childs landed, she would find the car and drive to Novi. Sometimes they passed each other in the airport.

“Having the house, it was instrumental in the whole story and how it ended,” Colleen Smith said. “Having that whole living situation with Deb and I there, easing the burden of anything else. They really just had to focus on their health, playing hockey, getting their studies done. That was the main focus of being there.”

What’s next?

Sometime last season, when Will Smith and the U18s were playing against a college team, it struck Bill Smith how much his son was growing. During the national anthem, all the players removed their helmets. Most of Smith’s college opponents had beards. Some of them were bald.

Butting heads with older players hardened Smith in 2022-23. He scored 51 goals and 127 points in 60 games. At the U18 World Championship in Switzerland, Smith helped the Americans win gold by scoring 20 points in seven games. His parents were there, just like they had been in Finland and Germany for other tournaments.

This fall, Smith will be joined by five U.S. NTDP teammates at BC: Vote, Leonard, Drew Fortescue, Aram Minnetian and Gabe Perreault.

Smith projects to be a No. 1 NHL center. Come the first round, he could be reunited with Hughes, his former junior coach, in Montreal. The Canadiens own the fifth pick.

Smith missed out on a normal high school experience. He gained hockey and life perspective, though, he would not have gotten at home.

“Prep hockey’s good. But it’s seasonal,” Bill Smith said. “You’re not going to get the development you’re going to get when it’s basically 24/7 hockey. You’re playing the best of the best every day. You’re getting trained by unbelievable trainers who are there full-time. I remember a couple boys said when they got out there, they didn’t realize that everybody in that facility — from the trainers to the equipment managers to the coaches — they’re all there for them. It’s like, ‘Wow, these people, their jobs, everything — they’re there for us.'”

The Smiths have since sold the Novi house. They bought a place in Harwich on Cape Cod. For Will, this new home will help him catch his breath away from hockey, not get closer to it.

But even if Smith’s U.S. NTDP experience is over, its imprint on his family will not go away.

“When are you ever going to have this experience with your 17-, 18-year-old son in this unbelievably exciting (situation)?” Colleen Smith asked. “And be experiencing it with them, not just from afar. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing that we’ll never forget.”

The Smiths recently attended orientation at BC. They saw Vote and Leonard. Both gave Colleen a hug. She feels like she has two more sons.

Bill Smith recalled sending a boy away to Michigan two years ago. Will Smith came home this spring as a man. What happens next is up to him.

[of-stars-and-dust]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2025 April 21

Galaxy Lenses Galaxy from Webb

What looks like a single spiral galaxy is shown with a white center surrounded by inner blue arms and outer red arms.

Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Mahler

Explanation: Is this one galaxy or two? Although it looks like one, the answer is two. One path to this happening is when a small galaxy collides with a larger galaxy and ends up in the center. But in the featured image, something more rare is going on. Here, the central light-colored elliptical galaxy is much closer than the blue and red-colored spiral galaxy that surrounds it. This can happen when near and far galaxies are exactly aligned, causing the gravity of the near galaxy to pull the light from the far galaxy around it in an effect called gravitational lensing. The featured galaxy double was taken by the Webb Space Telescope and shows a complete Einstein ring, with great detail visible for both galaxies. Galaxy lenses like this can reveal new information about the mass distribution of the foreground lens and the light distribution of the background source.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)

NASA Official: Amber Straughn

A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,

NASA Science Activation

& Michigan Tech. U.

[reasonsforhope]

"The U.S. government is entering a new era of collaboration with Native American and Alaska Native leaders in managing public lands and other resources, with top federal officials saying that incorporating more Indigenous knowledge into decision-making can help spur conservation and combat climate change.

Federal emergency managers on Thursday also announced updates to recovery policies to aid tribal communities in the repair or rebuilding of traditional homes or ceremonial buildings after a series of wildfires, floods and other disasters around the country.

With hundreds of tribal leaders gathering in Washington this week for an annual summit, the Biden administration is celebrating nearly 200 new agreements that are designed to boost federal cooperation with tribes nationwide.

The agreements cover everything from fishery restoration projects in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to management of new national monuments in the Southwestern U.S., seed collection work in Montana and plant restoration in the Great Smoky Mountains.

“The United States manages hundreds of millions of acres of what we call federal public lands. Why wouldn’t we want added capacity, added expertise, millennia of knowledge and understanding of how to manage those lands?” U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland said during a panel discussion.

The new co-management and co-stewardship agreements announced this week mark a tenfold increase over what had been inked just a year earlier, and officials said more are in the pipeline.

Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community in northern Michigan, said each agreement is unique. He said each arrangement is tailored to a tribe’s needs and capacity for helping to manage public lands — and at the very least assures their presence at the table when decisions are made.

The federal government is not looking to dictate to tribal leaders what a partnership should look like, he said...

The U.S. government controls more than a quarter of the land in the United States, with much of that encompassing the ancestral homelands of federally recognized tribes...

Tribes and advocacy groups have been pushing for arrangements that go beyond the consultation requirements mandated by federal law.

Researchers at the University of Washington and legal experts with the Native American Rights Fund have put together a new clearinghouse on the topic. They point out that public lands now central to the country’s national heritage originated from the dispossession and displacement of Indigenous people and that co-management could present on opportunity for the U.S. to reckon with that complicated legacy...

In an attempt to address complaints about chronic underfunding across Indian Country, President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order on the first day of the summit that will make it easier for tribes to find and access grants.

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told tribal leaders Thursday that her agency [FEMA] began work this year to upgrade its disaster guidance particularly in response to tribal needs.

The Indigenous people of Hawaii have increasingly been under siege from disasters, most recently a devastating fire that killed dozens of people and leveled an entire town. Just last month, another blaze scorched a stretch of irreplaceable rainforest on Oahu.

Tribes in California and Oregon also were forced to seek disaster declarations earlier this year after severe storms resulted in flooding and mudslides...

Criswell said the new guidance includes a pathway for Native American, Alaska Native and Hawaiian communities to request presidential disaster declarations, providing them with access to emergency federal relief funding. [Note: This alone is potentially a huge deal. A presidential disaster declaration unlocks literally millions of dollars in federal aid and does a lot to speed up the response.]

The agency also is now accepting tribal self-certified damage assessments and cost estimates for restoring ceremonial buildings or traditional homes, while not requiring site inspections, maps or other details that might compromise culturally sensitive data."

-via AP, December 7, 2023

[bettercallstan]

V.II Snail - Second to One

Armoured Core 6 has an excellent story. The themes are well realised, the plot flows naturally, the world is coherent, but most of all the characters are layered and consistent. When you ask people who their favourite character from the game was most people will pick either V.IV Rusty, Handler Walter, Ayre, G1 Michigan, or G5 Iguazu. Armoured Core 6 has three endings and four major antagonists. The Fires of Raven ending has Ayre as the central antagonist, Alexa Lacta Est has Iguazu and Allmind, but the Liberator of Rubicon ending likely has the best antagonist in V.II Snail. Snail is the second in command of Arquebus’ Vespers and is often cited as a well written but fairly two dimensional character.

The first time Snail is introduced is just before Operation Wallclimber, where Walter is negotiating to send independent mercenary C4-621 on the mission. During the conversation Walter says ‘I hear you’re deploying V.I again. Must be rough having only one good pilot to rely on.’ He says this to insult Snail, as V.I Freud is the only person Snail can never be better than. Freud is ranked number one in the arena, he’s the highest ranked Vesper, and he’s both of those things without any of the augmentation that makes piloting an AC even possible for most people. Snail has many augments but despite that he can never catch up to Freud. In response Snail says ‘Are you suggesting your dog can take Freud’s place?’ This line is very interesting due to the similarities between Freud and 621. Freud may be the highest ranked Vesper but he isn’t loyal to Arquebus; he’s an expert AC pilot who only cares about getting to fight people he deems to be worthy opponents. 621 – the player’s avatar – is much the same, as what else is the player here for but for cool mech fights? Equally, 621 is a Gen 4 augmented human, a generation seen as outdated and subpar. So whilst not unaugmented, 621 needs significantly less augments than Snail to pilot an AC at the same level of mastery as Freud. Snail likely sees Freud in 621, and this is why he chooses to let 621 take Freud’s place on Operation Wallclimber. During the fight with the Juggernaut, Snail lies to V.IV Rusty about needing him to intercept incoming reinforcements, which causes him to leave 621 to fight the Juggernaut alone. Unfortunately for Snail, 621 wins, his plan fails.

After this failure, Snail becomes much less antagonistic towards 621. He takes a back seat in the story until the final mission of Chapter 3, Destroy the Ice Worm. In this mission Arquebus and Balam have agreed to cooperate, with Balam leading the mission under the command of G1 Michigan. Snail manages to nab himself the position of ground leader, and works with 621 and three other AC pilots to take down the Ice Worm. He’s mostly absent during Chapter 4’s descent into Watchpoint Alpha, because Arquebus have agreed to let Balam take the first shot at reaching the convergence. In fact Arquebus don’t even enter the watchpoint until halfway through the chapter. This is important as Snail seems to represent the ideology of Arquebus. His callsign – Snail. Snails are best known for being slow, and both Arquebus and Snail seem to embody the ‘slow and steady wins the race,’ mentality. This can best be seen when Snail lets his colleague V.VI Maeterlinck die so that 621 can defeat the Ibis series CEL-240 that guards the convergence. After the CEL-240 is downed, Snail ambushes 621 at the opportune moment and captures them, much like how Arquebus waited for the opportune moment to take down Balam by killing G1 Michigan earlier in the chapter.

At the beginning of Chapter 5, 621 escapes the Arquebus reeducation that Snail himself oversees. If that wasn’t already enough of an embarrassment, the player can choose to fight him on the Xylem and destroy his AC or ignore him. Both of these are incredibly humiliating for Snail; either he got his AC destroyed by an outdated pilot, or said pilot decided he wasn’t even worth their time. The other side of Snail’s callsign is that Snails are small, weak creatures that retreat into their shell when they feel threatened. In response to the incident on the Xylem, Snail retrieves the prototype Arquebus Balteus to try and finally put 621 to rest. This is a perfect conclusion for his character for a few reasons. Firstly, the main gimmick of the Balteus mech is its pulse armour; a spherical pulse shield that protects the mech from all damage, much like the shell of a Snail. But secondly, it relates back to his god complex being born of a feeling of inferiority. Snail sees Freud in 621 but even with this immensely powerful mech at his disposal, he can never overcome 621. He still loses. During his final fight he says ‘Raven the independent mercenary, you’re not the mutt I thought you were. You’re below that, you are vermin!’ During his conversation with Walter he called him a ‘meagre dog-sitter,’ so this shows how his hatred of 621 has deepened; he started off derogating 621 as just a dog, but now sees him as even worse than that because the only way he can feel better about himself is to put others down. No matter how hard he tries he can never be better than Freud or 621, so the only course is to bring them down to his level. During the fight he goes on a tirade, saying ‘Out of my sight vermin! That traitor V.IV, those dolts at command, but worst of all – you! The pest of Rubicon who stirred the cinders, you sicken me, all of you! I’ll crush you underfoot, I am Arquebus!’ Being stepped on is a common fear for Snails, so it seems he may be projecting somewhat here. Snails are incapable of ever crushing anything underfoot, just like how Snail can never beat 621 like he wants to.

However, the most interesting line to me is when he says ‘I am Arquebus.’ It’s worth noting that whilst Freud is V.I, Snail is the one with the power. Freud just does what he’s told if it involves cool mech fights, Snail is the one calling the shots at the Vespers. In practice he is the highest ranked member of Arquebus that we see in game. During his final fight, Rusty says ‘Snail may be V.II but he’s second to none.’ This is interesting because we know for a fact that’s not true – Freud is canonically the better pilot in every way that matters. What this actually tells us is that Snail, whilst not as skilled as Freud, was still skilled enough to gain Rusty’s respect. Snail had everything. He was respected as an ace pilot, he was in charge of the Vespers and of his rival, but he couldn’t see any of it because he wasn’t V.I. He was so obsessed with something that ultimately didn’t really matter that he failed to see just how much he has because at his core he is greedy, nothing he gets will ever be enough to satiate his inferiority complex, and it manifests in an arrogant, god complex personality that no one wants to be around. He ever says that 621’s greatest crime is trying to kill or ignore him. He can’t see how 621’s actions affect anything other than himself, and ultimately he dies inside Balteus for this failing.

In conclusion, V.II Snail is not as two dimensional as people say. He isn’t just arrogant, he isn’t just a man with a god complex. His character goes much, much deeper than that, and it’s one of the many reasons why I believe him to be Armoured Core 6’s best villain.

[arinzeture]

JACK DANIELS HOLSCLAW (1918-1998)

Tuskegee Airman Jack Daniels Holsclaw was born in Spokane, Washington, on March 21, 1918. His father, Charles, was a clerk in a downtown store, and his mother, Nell, was a manager at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph. Holsclaw attended North Central High School in Spokane, where he excelled both academically and athletically. When he was 15, he became the first black person in Spokane to earn the Eagle Scout badge.

Holsclaw entered Whitworth College in 1935 but transferred to Washington State College (now Washington State University) in 1936 to play baseball. Beginning in his junior year, he played center field and helped the Cougars finish as co-champions of the Northern Division, Pacific Coast Conference. He was the second African American earn a varsity letter in baseball at the college.

In 1939, Holsclaw transferred to a chiropractic program at Western States College in Portland, Oregon, where he met his wife, Bernice Williams. They had one son, Glen. Holsclaw completed the chiropractic program in 1942 and passed the Oregon state board examination.

While there, he enrolled in a government sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program at Multnomah College and earned his pilot’s license. On October 5, 1942, he enlisted in the army as a private and entered flight school, training at Tuskegee Army Airfield, Alabama. After completing his training, he received his wings and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on July 28, 1943. Lieutenant Holsclaw received advanced training at Selfridge Field near Detroit, Michigan before his squadron was shipped to Italy in December 1943.

Lieutenant Holsclaw flew in the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332d Fighter Group, an all-black pursuit squadron. Holsclaw named his favorite P-51 “Bernice Baby” in honor of his wife. The 332d Fighter Group had distinctive red tails giving them the nickname “Red Tails.” The 332d Fighter Group escorted bombers on their runs over enemy territory, shielding them from German fighters. To the bomber crews that were protected by them they were the “Red Tail Angels.”

On July 18, 1944, in an aerial battle over Italy, Holsclaw shot down two German fighters. For this action he received the Distinguished Flying Cross. By December 1944, Holsclaw had completed 68 combat missions, nearing the limit of 70, when he became Assistant Operations Officer, an important administrative position that included aerial mission planning. In January 1945, Holsclaw was promoted to captain.

Captain Holsclaw returned to the United States in June 1945 to serve as assistant base operations officer at Godman Field, Fort Knox, Kentucky. He served as an Air Force ROTC instructor at Tuskegee Institute and then Tennessee State College.

From 1954 to 1957, Holsclaw was assigned to Japan, and from May 1962 to the end of 1964, he served as chief of the training division, Sixth Air Force Reserve Region at Hamilton Air Force Base, California. He directed the preparation of two textbooks to guide incoming air force personnel. Holsclaw retired from the Air Force on December 31, 1964 as a Lieutenant Colonel.

From 1965 to 1973 Holsclaw served as a manager in the Marin County Housing Authority, California. In 1973, he and Bernice returned to Washington where Holsclaw joined the staff at the People’s National Bank in Bellevue. He remained there until his second retirement in 1983. He and Bernice took up residence in Arizona, where Jack Holsclaw died on April 7, 1998, at the age of 80.

In August 2019, the Jonas Babcock Chapter, NSDAR, dedicated a historical marker in the memory of Lt. Col. Holsclaw at the site of his childhood home in Spokane.