#yes this is about america and Cameron

[skyhawkstragedy]

people on twitter fail to consider that a person can consent to some things but not other things. when you encroach on someone’s set boundaries, that’s when it’s problematic

[schmweed]

[fanficfish]

explaining characters in hetalia badly: family member archtype edition

an incomplete list for funsies

just imagine they're all at a big family reunion lol

Germany: The closeted cousin who still hasn't figured it out.

Prussia: The cool older cousin who's jacked up on the remnants of the energy drinks he chugged during finals week trying to study for his med school exams. Probably specialized in kids medicine, but he's too jittery to confirm.

Italy V: The cousin who's a cousin because someone married someone a couple months ago and has no idea about all the ettiquette rules ye and what not to discuss in front of Great Aunt Sarah.

China: Great Aunt Sarah

Italy R: The cousin who's just hit his highschool years, and has decided MHA and Valorant is his whole personality.

England: The one manning the grill.

France: The one actually manning the grill.

America: The guy who's young enough to be your older brother but old enough that he's a dad. Don't worry, he's cool- he won't make you babysit, but he's gonna show up with those kids in biker jackets and they'll do a fun dance to entertain everyone halfway through dinner.

Russia: The uncle that apparently is a war vet. Definitely saw things he shouldn't have seen and you don't leave your kids with him. Tells the wildest stories over dinner though.

Canada: The cousin who you forget exists because he's actually normal. Actuality has probably spiked something.

Japan: The one hiding in a room playing video games. He might share if you ask nicely.

Lithuania: Someone's spouse. Not sure whose, but he made a nice caserole.

Sweden: That one distant relative who you almost forgot to invite.

Finland: The guy who showed up and you're not sure where he came from, but he's kinda fun so no one questions it.

Norway: The one who was forced to tag along with the rest of the family.

Iceland: The one who pretends he doesn't want to be there but he'd show up even if he wasn't invited because the food is kinda good.

Denmark: The one bringing the alcohol and manning the bar you didn't kow you had.

Latvia: The one trying to sneak underage drinks.

Estonia: The one pretending to be a normal person with his "honor student" and "full ride scholarship next year" but is secretly helping Latvia sneak a drink.

Spain: The uncle who's been married ten times.

Switzerland: The one who only showed up because he was begged to. Either ends up in the corner watching the game or in the middle of the table retelling some grand tale.

Liechtenstein: The one bringing all the delicious deserts and a fruit tray and forced Switzerland to socialize.

Austria: The one insisting on putting on the radio the moment the "go ahead" for the food is said. Might have even called up everyone to remind them to bring their instruments.

Hungary: The one who gets everyone dancing the moment Austria whips out the fiddle tunes.

Seychelles: The one who innocently suggested a board game after the dance-off winds down.

Hong Kong: The cousin who sticks around long enough to say hello to the aunts and uncles and grandparents and get some food before hiding in the room with Japan.

Belarus: The cousin who's a movie-cutter highschool "popular girl" and spends the whole time on her phone texting her boyfriend.

Ukraine: The aunt that break up the board game fights and bans it from future events.

Luxenberg: You don't know what he does for a living, but he brings cool stuff for everyone.

Netherlands: The globetrotting uncle who you're pretty sure knows everyone and everything.

Belgium: The cool aunt who's single and living life.

Phillipines and Thailand: The fresh-out-of-collegers cousin who keeps taking photos of everything.

Malaysia: The fresh-out-of-colleger cousin also taking photos but only aesthetic ones.

Taiwan: The aunt that starts making smoothies unprompted.

Monaco: The cousin who brings a book to read in the corenr.

Cameron: The uncle you don't want to get into an argument about sports with. Switzerland does not head this warning.

Greece: The uncle who drove all day and night to get here with a full car, and is now knocked out on the couch.

Turkey: The funny wine grandpa.

Cyprus: The college dropout who now works at a seven-eleven.

Egypt: The cousin who's studying history and is pretty average except you have photographic evidence that he sat next to a pond and talked to ducks for half an hour and was very serious about it.

[thewingedwolf]

for people without access to feeds or who have been ignoring them bc this week is stupid…cameron really stepped up the creepery today. was making constant jabs at cory - called america cory’s mom, made a lot of comments about age, weirdo shit like that - and said he thinks cory feels “weird” about them talking, moved so he could sit next to america who got up and sat next to cory and then cameron stood there seething and went “good job cory proud of you” (cory turned it into a self deprecating moment), then cameron like, poured his half drunk wine into america’s glass unprompted and jag, bowie, AND production all said to stop that, it’s weird. then he implied he and america were gonna hook up at jury. then she said cory was her main man and she’s gonna try to visit him a lot after the show & cameron kind of brushed past it to make a joke about like, coming in his pants over america. she said yuck and started nervously sipping her water bottle and jag came out then and cory went to sit back down by america.

it’s just been. so gross all day. then jared said to blue earlier “oh i caught cameron trying it on america. he-“ and feeds completely cut away so we have NO IDEA what he said, just this sort of implication he thought it was weird. yes JARED noticed something so weird about cameron’s behavior he said something to blue. i’m praying cameron fails the puzzle and jared comes in atp bc america clearly is uncomfortable and unsure of what to do.

[byaahrs]

Locked up with Rafe Cameron

Warning! If you still haven’t watched season 3 of Outer Banks, and you’re planning to soon, I advise you not to read this fanfiction, as it could contain major spoilers of that season.

Word count : ~3000 SFW From Aahrs, Love ! 🌴🌺🌴

Contextualization : Rafe Cameron had been keeping you locked in his house for days. Basically, he was using you — a friend of Sarah’s — to gather valuable information about the Pogues and their upcoming plan. Ever since they had met in South America and discovered El Dorado, Rafe was furious; the only person he ever cared about - and above all, the only one he admired - had just passed away. Indeed, his father, by trying to save his daughter Sarah, died, Rayan’s bullet passing through his heart. And even though he was trying to hide it as best he could, Rafe found himself shaken. Traumatized to say the least. As payback, he had taken you, the first Pogue whom he got his hands on. While waiting for your friends to come and save you from him, you had to obey him. But most importantly, you had to be wise. After all, in the past, Sarah had told you about her brother's wild and cruel nature; Rafe was mentally unstable. One wrong move, and he could easily end your life. If you wanted to live, you had to play it safe. 

Behind your kidnapping, Rafe had one goal in mind : kill each of the Pogues to avenge Ward Cameron and save his honor. At the beginning of your captivity, he did not even want to speak to you. In his eyes, you were literally disgusting. If he dared talk to you, it was only to throw insults and threats, when he had drunk way too much. However, as the days passed, certainly very alone in the world, he became more inclined to conversation. While you thought you could get out of this unfortunate situation by creating a bond - a sincere friendship - with him, one night, you heard him talk to Topper in the living room opposite to your bedroom. In order to hear their words correctly, you put your ear against the wall. And when you finally got to perceive them correctly, you let out a gasp. Rafe had just sworn to kill you if you did not reveal the location of the Pogues quickly.

Although you knew he was insane, you were no less shocked. Just when you thought you and he were beginning to get along, he was betraying you. But it was your fault, and yours only. Why would you believe the guy who abducted you in the first place ? Between you and Rafe, maybe you were the most insane. 

That evening, panicked, you couldn't sleep. You thought about the discussion of Topper and Rafe all night. One single solution presented itself to you; if you cared about your life, you’d have to kill him before he had a chance to come after you.

Locked up

Out of breath, it felt impossible to calm the pulse of your pounding heart. What had you done ? You raised your head slowly, to estimate the situation. You peeked at Rafe, who was already staring at you in a hostile manner. Standing, he was not moving an inch. From afar, he did not even seem to be breathing. He was like a corpse in the middle of the room; pale. Livid.

“Damn”, you muttered quietly to yourself. You knew. You knew you had just signed your death warrant. It was only a matter of seconds before Rafe caught up the distance that separated the two of you, and chocked you with his massive thick hands. At the thought of his grip tightening your neck, you swallowed. Rafe was impulsive. He only reacted out of emotion, even more when he was angry. Yes, it was very likely that he ended up strangling you.

Picturing that was not very clever of you. Even though you were already trying to calm down, this thought doubled your anxiety. Your heart was henceforth beating so hard against your chest that you were physically suffering. At this point, it was so loud you wouldn't even be surprised if Rafe, at the other end of the room, could hear it. It was like dying of fear. You were feeling nauseous. Fortunately, the lack of food in your stomach kept you from vomiting. Indeed, you had nothing to throw up but acid. 

Although the last few seconds had passed like hours, Rafe startled you when, in a sudden and beastly gesture, he hit the vase of flowers to his right. He picked it up, and then crushed it on the floor against the hard and cold tiles. The sound of it breaking was bitter. But compared to the tone of his voice, it was nothing. 

“Is that how you want me to react?” Rafe yelled violently.

His words were vibrant with scorn and anger. You could have heard him from outside. He took a step forward.

“Because that is the impression you’re giving me” he continued.

What were you supposed to say in return ? No, instead, how were you supposed to react to that ? At first, indifference seemed to be the best option. That was until Rafe screamed once again. 

“Don’t you dare stay silent! Answer me!”

The vehemence in his tone forced you to face reality: at this very moment, you were so vulnerable. You were nothing more than a hungry young woman, in a room she didn’t know. In a house she didn’t know. If you tried to escape, Rafe, near the frame, would easily stop you. He would grab your wrist before breaking it in a second. The worst part of it was that he wouldn't feel remorse afterwards. 

If you tried jumping over a window, you would also miserably fail. Despite the fall - if your legs were intact, which already seemed impossible -, you would not know where to go to escape from the neighborhood. How would you find the Pogues without your phone? You didn’t even know the way to John B’s house. Or Kiara’s. Rafe would always be one step ahead of you. Even though his father had passed away, he still had Ward’s last name, he was a Cameron. And with it came the benefits. The contacts. One call would be enough to find you and exterminate you for good. Yes, you had no doubt about it; you were trapped with him for good.

To you, it felt atrocious to admit it, but in any case, you would get killed. Wherever you may go, whatever you decided to do, it was over for you. Especially since you had nothing left to protect yourself. If you’d been a little smarter, you might have survived his fists. But no, you had to break your only useful weapon, which now, had become totally useless. What was a knife without its blade ? A minute ago, when Rafe had entered your room in the middle of the night, you literally panicked. Hearing the door crack, the steps approaching the bed… More and more… It had been awful for you. Since you caught his discussion with Topper, you had been making a knife in your spare time, behind Rafe’s back. It had not been no small task. However, with the help of several elements in the room, you had succeeded.

So when you heard Rafe lean towards you, that night, you turned around to jump on him. Unfortunately, you couldn’t even make a move that he broke your weapon in half. As if he had planned each of your actions.

Seriously though, what was going through your head at that moment ? Did you really think you could have gotten rid of Rafe Cameron, the boy who had chased the Pogues to the other side of the world ? It was stupid. You were so stupid, to go after him. For thinking you actually had a chance to beat him. Anf from now on, you would have to face the consequences. Even after your death, you would regret that night. 

“No.” You wanted your answer to be simple, only because you did not know what to respond. “Because you deserve it.”

Rafe’s eyes slowly widened. In fact, he was as astonished as you were. Where did you get the strength to come up with such a response ? The nerves you had !

The moment you opened your mouth, you regretted it. In one simple step, Rafe swallowed the few inches that separated you from him. Good job ! Thanks to your answer, the little sense of security your had — if any remained at all — just disappeared for good. 

Rafe was making you shiver, and in the wrong meaning of the word. He was unbelievably big… Much taller than you, he made you feel dominated. It was like you were a thing he was toying with, and it scared you to death. Fear had paralyzed you, prevented you from raising your chin again and challenging him. You could not physically face him by looking at him in the eyes.

However, on the contrary, Rafe did not stop devouring you with his eyes. As if he was looking one last time at his prey before eating it, you could feel his gaze burning your skin. His heart throbbed intensely too. The attack you had planned on him must have startled him. Right ? He was sulking; taking in deep breaths, so deep that you could clearly hear them. Was it intentional ?

“You saw what I did to that vase a second ago, right ?” Rafe asked. 

And again, you couldn’t react.

Hoping he could force you to reply, Rafe imprisoned your jaw with his venous hand. If he lifted it a little high, he could have blocked your mouth without any difficulty.

“...I must have heard you wrong. What did you just say?”

“Yes, I have seen what you’ve done, Rafe.” Your voice was getting increasingly weak.

“Well I could do a thousand times worse. To you.”

That was it. It was the end. Rafe was going to tighten his grip until he blew your face out.

You chuckled nervously. “Really?”

Rafe gave a simple laugh. A hearty, loud laugh. A bitter one too. As if you suddenly regained your assurance, you scanned the room from left to right. You were looking for a shelter, an object that would allow you to face Rafe without putting yourself in danger.

Not knowing how, Rafe guessed your intentions the second your gaze left his. Cursing, he grabbed your arm aggressively. It was so painful that a guttural sound escaped your throat.

“Now, tell me where the fucking money is!” Rafe barked, furious. “I’m running out of time. And out of patience.”

Just like a dog, he showed the fangs.

“Let go of me!” you shouted.

If Rafe thought you would help him by betraying the Pogues, he thought wrong. Even if it meant being severely hurt, you would remain faithful to your friends.

“You know you’re risking your life here, don't you? If you don’t want to end up like Peterkin, speak up!”

“I have no idea where they might be now. They haven’t tried contacting me again.”

You were lying and Rafe knew it.

“Bullshit!” he muttered stormily.

He gave you a skeptical look. It was amazing how cold and sharp his blue eyes could be sometimes. You wondered: was there a time when they were nothing but caring? Warm, perhaps? God, what were you thinking! While you fantasized about him, the guy was choking you! Rafe only knew nonchalance and vehemence. Comparing him to a nice guy was like comparing a cat to a dragon.

Rafe then knelt to the ground and picked up the small blade. As he was scrutinizing it, he laughed. “Is that what you tried to fuck me up with?”

You let your gaze fall on him. You were too embarrassed to respond.

“Impossible,” Rafe whispered, truly taken aback. “Don’t you see there’s a high difference in size and power between the two of us? Even if I hadn’t countered your attack, I wouldn’t have been badly hurt. What were you expecting, seriously?”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you. I just wanted to hurt you enough for me to get away.”

Skeptical, Rafe frowned. 

“Are you hysterical?”

“See that blood stain on your cheek? The only one hysterical here is you.”

Teeth clenched, Rafe gawked at you, which sent shivers down your spine.

“If you want to shoot me, go ahead," you shouted. "Do it, Rafe! Quickly! I don’t understand why you want to steal this money so much, since you are rich, but whatever! Why is it so interesting, in your view? For little money, you’ve gone this far. Killing people, causing disasters… You even destroyed a historical gem, the Cross of Santo Domingo! And now, you’re going to finish off the girl you took captive. Great. What an achiever.”

“Even if you tried, you would never understand.” Rafe grunted in reply. “Don’t speak to me that way. The Pogues killed my father. The real monsters, here, are by your side. Not mine.”

After he reluctantly mentioned the death of Ward, which was his trauma, Rafe’s forehand began to drip with sweat. “I had to prove to him that I was a son he could be proud of.” he explained, more sincere than ever. “All I did was in order to please him. Satisfy him. I had to become an improved version of him. But all he ever saw was Sarah. All he ever found himself concerned about was Sarah’s fate, not mine! Still, I tried. And these Pogues… they… they killed him. Sarah, his beloved daughter, had its part in the crime. She betrayed me. She betrayed my father, and for that I will not forgive her!”

The grip of his hand around your arm became firmer. At this point, his nails were so deep in they were scratching your skin. Rafe seemed more tense than annoyed. When he spoke again, his voice sounded so weak, so fragile, that you had to focus on it to hear it.

“That's why… you have to tell me where the Pogues are. For me, for my father.”

Despite the emotion of the moment, you stayed lucid. Not wasting time before Rafe snapped, in a sudden gesture, you managed to push him back. He stumbled and fell to the ground. You tried to run in the corridor, but because of Rafe’s hand finding your tibia, you were forced to stop.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he roared. “Stop!”

When he said that last word, you picked up the blade. Yes, the one you found useless a minute ago. Yet, it was your only weapon, a way for you to defend yourself against the psychopath who had been wanting to kill you for days.

“What is it like to be in the position of victim?” you asked while you toyed with it.

Riled up, Rafe struck the air with his fist. A blow hit you, you endured it. The adrenaline that flowed in your veins helped you greatly. As you knelt and were about to stab Rafe in the trachea, you interrupted. 

What the hell were you doing?

As if you had been burned, you broke free of Rafe’s grip. You could have killed him. One second too late, and you would have cut short the life of another human being. No matter how rotten he was, Rafe did not deserve that. You could have become a monster, and that thought terrified you.

“Why…” 

A feverish voice had come to you. You turned back. Unlike before, Rafe was not looking at you proudly, but wept. 

“Why did you try to attack me?”

Your eyes widened in shock. The pinch you felt in your heart was scarier than everything you experienced until then. 

“Don’t play dumb,” you said. “I knew about your plan. I caught you talking with Topper.”

“So you heard nothing! He persuaded me not to kill you. Clearly, I shouldn’t have listened to that asshole. Anyway, he never gave good advice.”

“So it took a friend's words for you not to kill an innocent woman? You pretended to get close to me and stab me in the back. That’s supposed to be the victim’s technique. Didn't know you were such a coward."

You wanted to be sure of yourself. Unfortunately, the trembling voice that came out of your mouth proved otherwise.

“No!” he defended himself. “I was saying something offhand. I wasn’t seriously going to kill you. Are you stupid? In order to reach out to the Pogues, I have to keep you alive and well.”

Then Rafe looked at you.

“When I came into this room, I just wanted to tell you…”

“What is it ?”

“I want you to stay. There, with me.”

“I beg your pardon?”

As you waited for him to carry on, time stood still.

“We’re having a good time together, aren’t we?” he asked.

Without being able to talk, the words were cluttering in your mouth. Rafe was a professional at leaving you stunned. What was he on about ? Complicity ? You just thought he was going to kill you!

To fill the heavy blank, Rafe continued. “I… I’m lost. I don’t know where Rose went. After she stole all the money, she flew off to some fucking country, and she didn’t even try to contact me. As if I wasn’t worth her time... And as for Topper, he’s not a real friend whom I can count on. He would rather save Sarah than me. I have no one, and I feel so alone... At least, even if you are a Pogue, having you here is my only company. It gives me someone to talk to, someone to take care of, and I want that to stay that way. With you by my side, I feel useful.”

“We could have been friends,” you replied. “Whether you kept me away from my friends or not. You didn’t need to go to such an extent! Who would want to befriend you after this?”

“I don't like Pogues. Even if you consider yourself one, you’re more like me, a Kook, because of your rich parents. You have to admit it… You just can’t leave.”

“That is not how you maintain a healthy and stable friendship, you know ? Also, you are aware that I am friends with Sarah. You’re criticizing Topper, but in a certain way, I’m the same as him.”

“Sure. But you weren’t there when they killed Ward. You joined later. Besides, until then, you were the nicest to me.”

Again, you were lost at sea. How could Rafe go from one emotion to another so rapidly ? Before you could escape the house, he pulled you to him and you fell on his lap. His eyes, hungry, went from your eyes to your mouth. You knew what he was going after. You could have pulled away, but no. Instead, you stayed there.

Rafe leant towards you, sealing his lips to yours. Just like him, it had a bitter taste. It was like kissing grapefruit, wet and sour. As the sound of guilt came ringing to your ears, you became more stiff.

Before he locked you up, how many times did you fantasize about Sarah’s brother? More than once, that was for sure. And for that reason only, you gave in.

Damn, he was such a hottie.

You can find me on : Instagram : byaahrs Wattpad : ByAahrs

Thank you for reading <3!

From Aahrs, Love ! 🌴🌺🌴

[tyhxrondxle]

REREADING LADY MIDNIGHT BUT I would kill myself and everyone else in this world to keep Julian Blackthorn protected AND appreciated by those to whom he has given so much (yes Mark, I’m talking to you)

Part 3😘😊

i swear to god there are some scenes that I can’t remember ever reading. But hey, in one of those Emma realizes she wants Jules!! Go baby!!!

THE SCENE WHERE CRISTINA CUTS MARKS HAIR???/?2€2!2!2€:€ Okay, hear me out. When I read this book for the first time back in 2016 I had already spend over two years obsessing over Julian and Emma, and I must admit I did not give a shit about anyone else until I read Lord of shadows BUT NOW THAT IM OLDER AND WISER CRISTINA AND MARK IN THIS SCENE MADE ME GIGGLE LIKE A TEENAGER. "You would be lovely in the Court” Mark Blackthorn get a grip.

THE CAR/IRATZE/JULIAN DYING SCENE. i’ve spent years obsessing over this scene. it has played in replay in my mind so many times that by the time I reread it I was sure it had been a fever dream of mine. but no, here’s Julian Simp Blackthorn being the horniest for Emma while also fucking dying???:!2&2!/! He’s so in love I might actually die.

Cassie foreshadowing Livvy and Cameron’s relationship in Thule (it might not have been intentional but let’s pretend) *clears throat* and I quote: “In Emma’s defense, Cameron’s annoying, but he’s hot. I mean, if you like guys who look like a redheaded Captain America, which I…don’t? (Livvy speaking)

kieran and mark my beloveds. Cristina looking at Kieran while he was looking at Mark and thinking “Never had a faerie looked so human to Cristina as Kieran did then”. I screamed actually

okay looK!!! I have a thing about a very specific trope which fits exactly with Emma and Jules, being childhood best friends to lovers but the man is and has always been a total SIMP. well, i’m gonna quote Julian thinking about Emma’s hair and i’m gonna pretend i did not cry while reading it: “emma’s hair. maybe because she took it down so rarely, maybe because emma with her hair down was one of the first things he’d ever wanted to paint”

julian and his siblings relationship has always been something that made my heart physically ache. So Julian falling with Tavvy on the stairs and hitting himself to protect Tavvy but also immediately checking if HIS baby is okay. you can not fucking tell me he should not be loved for eternity by fucking everyone

the fact that Julian can’t be physically close to emma without mentally collapsing. i mean, the man was dancing with her and he was floating. the intimacy, the CONNECTION, THE TOUCHING *chef’s kiss*

also, last but not least. alexa play When Emma falls in love by taylor swift.

okay, i’m done, shutting up now, goodbye till tomorrow I hope (also, would love to know your opinions on the scenes I talk about and shit, I’d love to make friends that feel ass passionate about tda as I do🥺)

[contemplatingoutlander]

Jonathan Pie (Tom Walker): 'It's 50 Shades of Beige.' Meet Britain's New Prime Minister. | NYT Opinion | July 5, 2024

Tom Walker does another satirical turn as "fictional newscaster" Jonathan Pie to report about how, after 14 years, Labour finally beat the Tories in a landslide. I wish Pie were a "real" newscaster, he'd be a blast to watch on the evening news.😉 Below are some gifs of select moments in the video:

Below the cut are some more gifs in which "Jonathan Pie" talks about right-wing populism, and why it was eventually discredited in the U.K. But this one gif sums up the major reason it lost favor in Britain:

See more gifs under the cut.

[edited]

[Obviously, I like to make gifs. But this video was so spot on, I just couldn't resist.🤷🏻‍♀️]

TRANSCRIPT USED FOR GIFS:

After 14 years of Conservative rule, the Labour Party have resoundingly won the U.K. election this morning, leaving the Tories with their worst defeat ever—  I’m sorry. I’m just going to do that again without a smile on my face. Sorry. I’m a professional. [PHONE RINGS] Well, the results are still coming in. Hey. Dum, dum, dum, another one bites the dust. It’s a bloodbath. It’s an absolute bloodbath. [...] But the people have spoken. Meet our new prime minister. Yes, it’s fifty shades of beige, Captain Whitebread, Sir Keir Starmer. […] Never heard of him? Don’t worry, neither have we. If he was a vegetable, he’d be a potato. But a little bit of dull and boring is exactly what the doctor ordered. […] [PHONE RINGS] Oh. This is brutal. This is like the opening of "Saving Private Ryan’." I’d almost feel sorry for them...if they weren’t seriously awful people. This morning’s Labour landslide bucks an international trend, a resounding rejection of right-wing populism...kind of. Yes. Whilst countries like Italy, Hungary, France, and Germany are having passionate love affairs with right-wing populism, and in America, you’re seriously considering a second helping, here in the U.K., we’ve been in an abusive relationship with it for some years. […]      The Tories took office in 2010. And prime minister David Cameron declared, "we’re all in this together," before implementing brutal austerity on the country’s poorest people.      Resentment and anger took hold. And populism thrives on little else.      Then Brexit, which gave all the fringe voices of British politics a mainstream platform with which to promise the world without fear they’d ever have to deliver.      That’s how populism works. It promises the moon, and instead, it hands you a DVD copy of ‘Apollo 13’.      Soon, the Looney Tunes who sold us the idea in the first place, were running the asylum.

[mariacallous]

The Times has a rather odd piece today about Radek Sikorski, the new Polish foreign minister. Headlined “Why Poland’s new foreign minister reminds people of Boris Johnson,” it points out that Radek, like Johnson and indeed David Cameron, went to Oxford and joined the Bullingdon Club.

Well, yes, he did, and thank you for reminding us, but we should not hold that against him because there is one glaring and obvious difference between Boris Johnson and Radek Sikorski. Unlike so many Conservatives and Republicans, Sikorski did not succumb to populism. His return to power in Poland is an optimistic moment as it came as part of the regime change that drove the crank right law and justice party from power.

Sikorski fell out with Johnson over Brexit. He knew perfectly well that Johnson did not believe in leaving the EU because had Johnson had told him as much. But then 2016 rolled along and Johnson realised that Brexit was the cause that could propel him to power.

The story of their relationship is told by Sikorski’s wife Anne Applebaum in her memoir Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends, one of the best accounts of the rise of the new right in Europe, the UK and the US I have read.

When I gave it a glowing review in the Observer, a few readers complained. Why was I praising a conservative? I pointed out that her background meant that she understood the extent of the right’s betrayal of free markets and free societies better than any leftist. Give me a compromised insider over a purist outsider any day. The insiders know where the bodies are buried.

Here is what I wrote

Anne Applebaum can look at the wreck of democratic politics and understand it with a completeness few contemporary writers can match. When she asks who sent Britain into the unending Brexit crisis, or inflicted the Trump administration on America, or turned Poland and Hungary into one-party states, she does not need to search press cuttings. Her friends did it, she replies. Or, rather, her former friends. For if they are now embarrassed to have once known her, the feeling is reciprocated.

Applebaum’s latest book, Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends, opens with a scene a novelist could steal. On 31 December 1999, Applebaum and her husband, Radosław Sikorski, a minister in Poland’s then centre-right government, threw a party. It was a Millennium Eve housewarming for a manor house in the western Poland they had helped rebuild from ruins. The company of Poles, Brits, Americans and Russians could say that they had rebuilt a ruined world. Unlike the bulk of the left of the age, they had stood up against the Soviet empire and played a part in the fall of a cruel and suffocating tyranny. They had supported free markets, free elections, the rule of law and democracies sticking together in the EU and Nato, because these causes – surely – were the best ways for nations to help their people lead better lives as they faced Russian and Chinese power, Islamism and climate change.

They were young and happy. History’s winners. “At about three in the morning,” Applebaum recalls, “one of the wackier Polish guests pulled a pistol from her handbag and shot blanks into the air out of sheer exuberance.”

Applebaum was at the centre of the overlapping circles of guests. For the Americans, she was a child of the Republican establishment. Her father was a lawyer in Washington DC and she was educated at Yale and Oxford universities. Now her Republican friends are divided between a principled minority, who know that defeating Trump is the only way to save the American constitution, and the rest, who have, to use a word she repeats often, “collaborated” as surely as the east Europeans she studied as a historian collaborated with the invading Soviet forces after 1945.

Even when she was young, you could see the signs of the inquiring spirit that has made her a great historian. She went to work as a freelance journalist in eastern Europe while it was still under Soviet occupation and too drab and secretive a posting for most young reporters. She then made a standard career move and joined the Economist. But it was too dull for her liking and she moved to the Spectator in the early 1990s. The dilettante style of English conservatism charmed her. “These people don’t take themselves seriously and could never do serious harm,” she thought, as she watched Simon Heffer and his colleagues compete to see who could deliver the best Enoch Powell impersonation. She came to know the conservative philosopher Roger Scruton and Margaret Thatcher’s speechwriter John O’Sullivan, figures taken with unwarranted seriousness at the time. They had helped east European dissidents struggling against Soviet power in the 1980s and appeared to believe in democracy. Why would she doubt it? How could she foresee that Scruton and O’Sullivan would one day accept honours from Viktor Orbán, as he established a dictatorship in Hungary, whose rigged elections and state-controlled judiciary and media are now not so far away from the communists’ one-party state.

What was life in the English right like then, I asked in a call to her Polish lockdown in that restored manor house in the countryside between Warsaw and the German border. “It was fun,” she said.

It isn’t now.

Her husband knew Boris Johnson. They were both members of the Bullingdon Club at Oxford. She assumed that he was as much a liberal internationalist as Sikorski was. When the couple met Johnson for dinner in 2014, she noted his laziness and “all-consuming narcissism”, as well as the undoubted charisma that was to seduce and then ruin his country. In those days, Johnson appeared friendly. He was alarmed by the global challenge to democracy, he told them, and wanted to defend “the culture of freedom and openness and tolerance”. They asked about Europe. “No one serious wants to leave the EU,” he replied, which was true enough as Johnson was to prove when he came out for Brexit.

As for the Poles at the party, they knew Applebaum as a friend who had co-authored a Polish cookbook, and published histories of communism, which never forgot its victims.

Today she is a heretical figure across the right in Europe and America. Many of her guests would damage their careers if they admitted to their new masters they had once broken bread at her table.

Heretics make the best writers. They understand a movement better than outsiders, and can relate its faults because they have seen them close up. Religions can tolerate pagans. They are mere unbelievers who have never known the way, the truth and the light. The heretic has the advantages of the inside trader. She can use her knowledge to expose and betray the faithful. One question always hangs in the air, however: who is betraying whom? Although Applebaum has left the right, and stopped voting Conservative in Britain in 2015 and Republican in the US in 2008, she can make a convincing case that the right betrayed her.

In person, Applebaum combines intense concentration with an exuberant delight in human folly. You can be in the middle of a deadly serious conversation and suddenly she will break into a grin as the memory of a politician’s hypocrisy or an incomprehensible stupidity hits her. As the western crisis has deepened, the intensity has come to dominate her writing as she provides urgently needed insights.

You can read thousands of discussions of the “root causes” of what we insipidly call “populism”. The academic studies aren’t all wrong, although too many are suspiciously partial. The left says austerity and inequality caused Brexit and Trump, proving they had always been right to oppose austerity and inequality. The right blames woke politics and excessive immigration, and again you can hear the self-satisfaction in the explanation.

Applebaum offers an overdue corrective. She knows the personal behind the political. She understands that the nationalist counter-revolution did not just happen. Politicians hungry for office, plutocrats wanting the world to obey their commands, second-rate journalists sniffing a chance of recognition after years of obscurity, and Twitter mob-raisers and fake news fraudsters, who find a sadist’s pleasure in humiliating their opponents, propelled causes that would satisfy them.

Applebaum let out a snort that must have been heard for miles around her Polish home when I mentioned the journalist and author David Goodhart’s pro-Brexit formulation that we are living through an uprising by the “people from somewhere” against the “people from nowhere” – a modern variant on the old communist condemnations of “rootless cosmopolitans”, incidentally. It’s a war of one part of the elite against another part of the elite, she says. Brexit was an elite project. “The game was to get everyone to go along with it”. Were all the southern Tories who voted for it a part of the oppressed masses? “And who do you think funded the campaign?”

She is as wary of the commonplace view that supporters of Trump, say, are conformists, who have been brainwashed online or by Fox News. They may be now in some part, but brainwashing does not explain how populist movements begin. Their leaders weren’t from small towns full of abandoned shops and drug-ridden streets. They were metropolitans, with degrees from Oxford in the case of Johnson and Dominic Cummings. The men and women Applebaum knew were not loyal drones but filled with a dark restlessness. They may pose as the tribunes of the common people now but they were members of the intellectual and educated elite willing to launch a war on the rest of the intellectual and educated elite.

Populist activists are outsiders only in that they feel insufficiently rewarded. And their opponents should never underestimate what their self-pitying vanity can make them do.

One of Applebaum’s closest Polish friends, the godmother of one of her children, and a guest at the 1999 party, provided her with the most striking example. She moved from being a comfortable but obscure figure to become a celebrated Warsaw hostess and a confidante to Poland’s new rulers. She signalled her break and opened her prospects for advancement with a call to Applebaum within days of the Smolensk air crash of April 2010. She let her know she was adopting a conspiracy theory that would make future friendship impossible.

Outsiders need to take a deep breath before trying to understand it. Among the dead was Lech Kaczyński, the president of Poland, who controlled the rightwing populist party Law and Justice with his twin brother, Jarosław Kaczyński. The party has grown to dominate Polish politics, and the supposedly independent courts, media and civil service. The flight recorder showed that the pilot had come in too low in thick fog, and that was an end to it. Jarosław Kaczyński and his underlings insist that the Russians were behind the crash, or that political rivals in Warsaw, including Applebaum’s husband, allowed the president to fly in a faulty plane, or that it was an assassination. Repeating the lie was the price of admission to Law and Justice’s ruling circles and the public sector jobs they controlled. As Applebaum noted in the Atlantic magazine: “Sometimes the point isn’t to make people believe a lie – it’s to make people fear the liar.” Acknowledge the liar’s power, and your career takes off without the need to pass exams or to display an elementary level of competence.

Other friends from the party showed their fealty to the new order by promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. The darker their fantasies became, the more airtime Polish state broadcasters gave them. “They had not suffered or been ‘left behind’ in any way,” Applebaum says. Yet they happily worked for propaganda sites that targeted her family. Because she is married to a political opponent of Law and Justice, and because she writes critical pieces in the international press, Applebaum, who had faced no racism in Poland until Law and Justice came to power, was turned by the regime’s creatures into the clandestine Jewish coordinator of “anti-Polish activity”.

I once believed you should never let politics destroy a friendship. But that maxim depends on politics not turning into a danger to you and those you love. Applebaum could not stay friends with women who would not protest as the state they supported went for her and husband.

The Anglo-Saxon world is not so different from Poland and Hungary. Britain has handled Covid-19 so disastrously because only servile nobodies, willing to pretend that a no-deal Brexit would not harm the country, could gain admittance to Boris Johnson’s cabinet. As Johnson politicises the public sector, showing “fear of the liar” looks like becoming the best way to secure a job in the higher ranks of the civil service as well. American Republicans have had to go along with every lie Trump has told since his birther slur on Barack Obama. As for breaking friendships, British Jews broke theirs when they watched friends in Labour cheer on Jeremy Corbyn and thought: “If they ever came for me and my family, you would stand by, wouldn’t you?”

Careerism is too glib an explanation for selling out, and Applebaum is too good a historian to offer it. Likewise, bigotry and racial prejudice were never enough on their own to move her friends away from liberal democracy. Among Applebaum’s acquaintances is one of Orbán’s greatest cheerleaders. She has a gay son, but that has not stopped her espousing the cause of a homophobic regime. Laura Ingraham, a Fox News presenter, became one of the earliest supporters of Trump, despite the fact that she has adopted three immigrant children.

Rather than grab at standard explanations, Applebaum understands that a society based on merit may sound fine if you want to live in a country run by talented people. But what if you are not yourself talented? Since the 1950s, criticisms of meritocracy have become so commonplace they have passed into cliche. Not one I have read or indeed written stops to consider how one-party states represent the anti-meritocratic society in its purest form. Among her friends who became the servants of authoritarian movements, Applebaum sees the consequences of the lust for status among resentful men and women, who believe the old world never gave them their due.

They were privileged by normal standards but nowhere near as privileged as they expected to be. Talking to Applebaum, I imagined a British government abolishing press freedom and the independence of the judiciary and the civil service. I didn’t doubt for a moment that there would be thousands of mediocre journalists, broadcasters, lawyers and administrators who would happily work for the new regime if it pandered to their vanity by giving them the jobs they could never have taken on merit. Hannah Arendt wrote of the communists and fascists that they replaced “first-rate talents” with “crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity” was the best guarantee of their loyalty. She might have been talking about contemporary Poland, Britain and America.

“Given the right conditions any society can turn against democracy,” Applebaum says, and explains why better than any modern writer I know. To the political consequences of offended vanity – Why am I not more important? Why does the BBC never call? – a sense of despair is vital. If you believe, like the American right, that godless enemies want to destroy your Christian country, and prove their malice by not giving you the rewards you deserve, or think, like Scruton and the Telegraph crowd of the 1990s, that English culture and history is being thrown in the bin, and you are being chucked away with it, or agree with the supporters of the new tyrants of eastern Europe that a liberal elite is plotting to extinguish your culture by importing Muslim immigrants, and proving its contempt for all that is decent by laughing at you, then any swine will do as long as the swine can stop it. You will pay any price and abandon any principle in the struggle against a demonic enemy.

Shouldn’t she have seen it coming, I ask her. Shouldn’t she have realised that the world she inhabited included authoritarians, who would turn on her and everything she believed in. Typically, instead of huffing, puffing, and trying to pretend she has never been in the wrong, she laughs and admits that she probably should have asked harder questions sooner of her former friends.

Readers should be glad she bided her time. Applebaum can bring a candle into the darkness of the populist right precisely because she stayed on the right for so long. She does not know whether it can be beaten. She’s a journalist not a soothsayer. But I know that if you want to fight it, her writing is an arsenal that stores the sharpest weapons to hand.

[mugiwara-lucy]

Good morning everyone!

I'd just like to remind everyone that while Biden isn't a godsend, Trump is NOT the answer for our country and NOT voting in this election I feel is basically a vote for him given how obsessive his cult is.

Go read Project 2025 and the bullshit him and his cult have planned.

The guy who "joked" (he wasn't joking but let's humor his republican sheep) about being a dictator is NOT who should be trusted with our country and while yes I'm a white woman and have initial privilege based on the color of my skin, I'm also an Agnostic Bisexual woman (although recently I have leaned more gay) as well as someone who's a registered Democrat.

Project 2025 doesn't just want to send the military into major cities to deport immigrants BUT it also wants to take children from SINGLE MOTHER HOUSEHOLDS (Which is EVIL BULLSHIT because what about the mothers that want to get any from ABUSIVE AND TOXIC MEN!?), wants a military police state, wants to illegalize abortion (because why should women have a right to do what they want with their body, right? sarcasm), wants to disfigure EVERYTHING the LGBTQXIA+ Community have FOUGHT FOR and wants to push traditional marriage nonsense. (Do we look like Candace Cameron Bure)??

FUCK THAT.

We're in America, a place that's supposed to be a DEMOCRACY and Trump and his cronies will turn this country into a FASCIST DICTATORSHIP.

And that's ONLY IF PEOPLE GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote in your local and state elections.

A non vote is basically one more vote for Trump and his cronies so PLEASE DO NOT BE LAZY AND COMPLACENT.

I'm sorry for getting more political on my blog but as a gay woman, and as a person who has Trans, Single Mom and POC friends, I do NOT want their lives being compromised (even more so than they already are), and we should ALL FIGHT TO STOP A WANNABE DICTATOR FROM COMING INTO OFFICE.

Do we want to be like 1940s Germany, North Korea or Russia?

[rrcenic]

dead poets society as things my friends/family have said

huge trigger warning for discussion of suicide

-

neil: fuck fuck fuck

todd: what’s wrong?

neil: my workload was too much so i switched from honors algebra 2 to regular algebra 2 and i don’t know how to tell my dad

todd: you’re still two years ahead in math though

neil: yeah but my dad gets so mad when i don’t take every academic opportunity i can

todd: dude you just got out of the psych ward. i think he’ll understand!

neil: hhhhngg

-

neil: bro i didn’t even realize i had daddy issues til i became unnaturally infatuated with my english teacher

-

cameron: greetings fellow fraternity males. i am not working for your landlord and i simply want to hang out with fellow “dudes.” on an unrelated note are any of you in possession of illegal drugs and/or alcohol?

knox: yeah check under the chair

cameron: alright “broski” i will be simply taking photos of this not for reporting reasons and for personal reasons

pitts: do you have like a fetish or something

cameron: yes um a fetish i am not working for your landlord

-

todd: oh he’s so pretty! it’s so sad that he killed himself

todd: i mean obviously because like. killing yourself is never the answer

todd: but mainly because he was so pretty!!

-

charlie: i call this poem “every day i wake up and dream of olive garden”

-

meeks: this is literally the most autistic group i’ve ever been in and i love it

neil: oh i’m neurodivergent in many ways but the ‘tisim is surprisingly not one of them

-

charlie: shakespeare sucks ass

neil: i will stab you

-

neil: i can’t hang out today, i have therapy

pitts: you? therapy? but you’re so happy!

neil: …

neil: i’ve tried to kill myself like 5 times

pitts: WHAT

neil: did. did you not know that?!?!

-

knox: hey dyou wanna watch a tv show with me

neil: what’s it about?

knox: there’s lots of pretty women

neil: …

knox: …

neil: …

knox: and pretty men

neil: i’m in

-

charlie: america is fucked. our society is literally being ripped apart by capitalism. trans people are being criminalized more every day

knox: it’s not that bad

charlie: name one good thing that has happened to the trans community in the past year. i’ll wait

knox: …

knox: well um some politicians support trans people

charlie: THATS NOT ENOUGH

-

keating: *texting to the group chat* so technically since most of you are my former students i’m not allowed to be friends with you

keating: but you all rock so my excuse is we work on creative projects as a group outside of school

keating: however i can’t just chat with you when you’re bored

*that night*

todd: hey i’m really sorry for contacting you about non creative stuff but i just had a panic attack and don’t know what to do

keating: oh that bullshit? nah man you’re fine text whenever

-

cameron: charlie just gave me this plastic spoon and ran away does anyone know what it means

gloria: lucky i wish nuwanda had given ME the spoon

cameron: WHAT DOES IT MEAN

-

neil: i know what we’re gonna do after group therapy. we’re gonna have a poetry contest. we’ll call it psych ward poetry. i’m going to beat all of you with my mad poetry skills

-

meeks: oh and pooh represents… hm, i actually can’t remember

charlie: google it

meeks: yeah but we can’t have our phones

knox: hey mr mcallister? could you use your phone to google what mental illness the winnie the pooh characters represent?

mcallister: what the actual hell are you talking about

[annashadowstar]

This is a hybrid Au that I’m working on. It will be a comic and story. This is part 1 of Hybrid Au. Hope you like it.

Cameron Calvin -@rarestdoge

Danny, Mirage, and Annesa Felizima - @capturecharlesau

Ulle, Jay, Crusher and Scottie - @jaytoons7

Accordion and Violin -@bluetorchsky

Amelia Copperbottom -@androidcharles

Brutus-@smoresthehalloweenqueen

Nicole-@lovelygirlnicole15

———————————————————

Chapter 1: Vocation

Hybrids. A rare creature mixed with humans and another species. Everyone knows hybrids are really rare. You could be born as a hybrid. Another way to become a hybrid is a more painful way. Being experimented on. Most of the hybrids were being experimented on as a test subject. A lot of hybrids escape the lad and live on their own life, hiding their hybrid form to blend in as a human. Mirage and his siblings were one of them, and so were most of his friends. Mirage was running down the hall, so he was told to be in Reginald’s office in 10 minutes. He knocks three times when Mirage stands in front of the office door.

”Come in!” Mirage opens the office door and closes it, facing the chief. “Come sit down.” Mirage takes the seat and faces Reginald. “Sir, what do you need me for?” Mirage asks, curious and confused. Maybe is one of the missions? “No, I don’t need you for anything.” Mirage raises one of his eyes brows. “Then why do you call me…?” Reginald fold his hand and place them on the table. “Well, you and your siblings had been working in the Clan for almost 2 years, correct?” Mirage nods. “Well, RHM and I had talked a little and decided that you and your siblings will go on a break for all the hard work you three give the Clan.”

A break. Mirage can’t believe his ears. The Chief decided to give the Felizima siblings a break from the crime. “Are you sure about this, sir?” Mirage asked. “Yes, I’m sure, Mirage. You and your siblings have done enough crimes for the past 2 years. So we decide to give you guys a break.” Reginald told him. Before Mirage could question where they would live, Reginald beat him.

“And don’t worry about the government or CCC. You guys will be living near a forest which makes it very easy for others to get lost. I’m pretty sure you can handle yourself since I’ll give you a map.”

Reginald looks at RHM and gives him a nod. RHM walked to one of the drawers and grabbed a tan color map then handed the map to Mirage. Mirage opens the map and looks through it. They are gonna live somewhere in North America. Mirage folds the map looks at his chief and gives him a bow. “Thank you so much, sir,”

“You’re welcome, Mirage. You’re dismissed.” Mirage walks up to the door, exits it, and then closes it. “Yes!” Mirage then ran to the cafeteria to meet up with his siblings. “Oi, Danny!! Annesa!! I got some good news!!”

The kitchen door flew open as a waiter, Danny, came out from the door. “Hey, bro! What’s the good news? Can we maybe talk somewhere-“

“DANNY FELIZIMA!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!” Mirage looks at the kitchen and then back to Danny. “What did you do this time?” Danny nervously looks at Mirage. “Oh… you know… just accidentally eat a fish?”

“Oh boy…” Mirage looked up and saw a very angry Scottie stomping out of the kitchen. “Didn’t I tell you those fish are for the CUSTOMERS?!” Scottie looks like they’re gonna explode. “This is the SECOND TIME THIS WEEK!!” Mirage quickly stepped in. “Heyy, Scottie! You can’t blame us, can you? We’re still part of a cat!” Scottie glared at Mirage. “So?”

“So? Cat eats fish sometimes, Danny is a cheetah after all!” Scottie didn’t say anything and crossed their arm. “… Fine, I will let this one slide. But if I caught you again, not even the chief can save you.” Scottie points their knife at Danny and then walks back to the kitchen. “Thanks for the save. Anyways, what’s the good news?” Annesa appeared behind Danny. “Well, as ya can see, Chief Reginald decided to give us a break!”

“Really?” Danny ask. “Yeah! Awesome, right?”

“You do know that everyone is getting a break, right?” Accordion appeared behind the Felizima siblings, making all of them jump. “Accordion?! Where the hell did you come from?” Accordion chuckles with Violin next to him. “We just got here. So, where would you be living? Accordion and I was gonna live somewhere in North America.” Mirage looks up. “Us too. Chief even gave us a map.”

Annesa pulls out her notebook. ‘Wait… how long is the break?’

“Oh, it’s gonna be a year, at least that’s what I heard,” Mirage answered her question. “And when are we gonna leave?” Danny adds in. “We have until next week to pack. So in the meantime, we can get ready now.” Violin told him. Scottie comes out from the kitchen with some snacks. They put them on the table next to everyone. “Might just eat something before we start packing.” Everyone sits down and begins to chat. Scottie still glaring at Danny about the fish. The cafeteria door was opened by Crusher, Danny’s boyfriend, Jay, Ulle, Nicole, Brutus, who is holding Cameron’s hand, and Amelia, who is glaring at Cameron. Seems like those two got into a fight again.

“Hey, love.” Crusher came over to Danny and kissed him on his cheek. It has been a while since those two started dating. “Could you two, like, stop fighting for 5 seconds?!” Scottie gives Cameron and Amelia a harsh glare and quickly shuts them up about who’s the favorite child. Everyone takes a seat. So, we all know where we’re gonna live?” Violin asks, making everyone nod. “Let’s start with Jay first.”

“Well, I’m gonna live in North America. What about everyone else?” Ulle starts next. “Gonna live with Jay since he doesn’t mind me living with him.” Ulle points at Jay. “Accordion and I were gonna live together. Cameron and Brutus are gonna live with us. What about you, Scottie? Do you want to live with us?” Violin kindly asks Scottie. “Um… I would like to live with Jay and Ulle if that’s not troubling you two.” Ulle gives them a wave. “Of course not! And Amelia, where are you gonna live?” Once Amelia heard her name, she stopped glaring at Cameron and looked at everyone else. “Oh, I’m gonna live with…”

“Wasn’t your fathers gonna take you with them?” Danny ask. “Oh, no. They want a vacation by themself. I don’t want to bother them so I told them I’m gonna live with one of you guys. I might live with Danny, though. If you guys won’t mind.” Amelia awkwardly looks at the Felizima siblings. “Oh, no, it’s ok. We got a lot of rooms in that house.”

“Crusher, Nicole, where are you guys gonna live?”

“I’m gonna live with my sweetheart.” Oh no… Mirage sigh. “And I’m gonna live with Jay, Ulle, and Scottie. Ulle and I already talk about this.”

“So everyone has a place to live in?” Everyone nods. “Great! Now let's get packing. Don’t want to pack too late.” Everyone got up from their seat and started heading toward their room, while Danny and Scottie left behind to deal with the dishes. Mirage got his luggage and started packing. He got the things he needed, like clothes, toothpaste, toothbrush, some extra money for just in case, shampoo, etc. He wonders how big the house is. It says that it has at least 5 or more bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. A large kitchen, a backyard with a swimming pool,(don’t think they’re gonna use it), and a forest. ‘Why is there a forest behind the house?’ Mirage couldn’t think much anymore. He needs to stretch. He makes sure he locks the door and transforms into his hybrid form.

Mirage is a bobcat hybrid, and maybe living next to a forest isn’t that bad. He swigs his short tail and uses a hair brush to brush his ears. “Next week, we get to leave and enjoy ourselves. Mirage grabs a remote turns on the TV and watches the news. “Breaking news. A factory has been destroyed by three giant bird-like monsters. The police officers searched for the survivors but found none. They guess they were being killed by those monsters.”

“Bird monsters? Brutus is the only bird hybrid we know of. Then there must be other hybrids like us… wonder where they are.”

The next weeks came pretty quickly. Everyone was waving goodbye as they got in their drop ship. Once they arrive at their location for the year, they start to get ready. When they arrived, they were kinda surprised that they were all neighbors. Danny, Mirage, Crusher, Amelia, and Annase start looking around the house, which is more like a mansion. There are 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a backyard with a big swimming pool, a balcony, a large living room, and a kitchen. There’s also a third floor. The third floor has some extra room, a good room to hangout or work out with. But there's one bad thing about this mansion. There's dust everywhere. When they first step into the house, dust hit their faces. Mirage went to the backyard and took a good look at the forest.

“It’s a pretty big house for the four of us, no?” Crusher asked, looking at where Mirage was looking. Mirage rolled his eyes. “It would be better if you weren’t here.”

“Why do you hate my guts so damn much?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you’re the one that got me in jail for a year?” Crusher slowly chuckles. Mirage felt a pull on his shirt looked down, and saw Annesa holding her sketchbook. ‘You guys should put away your tophat before someone sees you.’ Mirage and Crusher look at each other before running back to their room and putting away their tophat. Mirage then closed the window carbon and himself back to his hybrid form. "Guys! It's time for lunch!!"

Oh yeah. It takes almost 2 hours to travel here. Mirage walks to the living room. Annesa and Amelia was already there, eating. Well, not Amelia. "Remember to wash your hands, Mirage." Danny put two plates on the table and went back to the kitchen and grab the last plate. After Mirage finished washing his hands, he went back to his siblings and Crusher and sat down. "So, have you guys heard the news?" Crusher asked, with food in his mouth.

"Dear, don't talk with your mouth full. Yeah, I have heard the news about that factory. It was destroyed by a bird monster. Do you guys think it's a hybrid?" Danny asks, rolling his pasta with his fork.

"Yeah. But Brutus is the only bird hybrid that we know in that factory and he is with us all the time." Amelia points out. 'Should we go and find the hybrid?' Annesa asks with her sketchbook in hand. Everyone looks around at each other. "...Maybe we should. Who knows what people will do to them. But the world is so big. How are we suppose to find them?"

Silents. No one talks. "Let's just force on the vocation right now. We can talk about this later." Danny stood up and took his plate to the sink. Annesa and Crusher followed. Mirage looked at his food and began to poke them. "Brother, stop poking your food. It's gonna get cold." Mirage smiles and continues eating his food.

After he finished, Mirage decided to grab a seat and sit down, facing the forest while sunbathing without his hybrid form show since he didn't want anyone to find out. He then slowly started to relax until he heard something. "Crusher, I swear if you-" He opens his eyes and looks around, notice Crusher isn't here. Weird... He could have sworn he heard something.

Mirage turned back to the forest and saw something yellow. "Che diamine…" Mirage stood up and went into the forest for a closer look, but he couldn't find anything. He looked down and saw a feather. A yellow feather. It's not an aqua feather and it's too big to be a hummingbird feather. Mirage pick it up and begin to get a closer look on this strange feather.

“What do you find?” Amelia appeared behind Mirage. “A feather. It’s not Brutus’s feather.” Mirage shows her the feather he found. “Maybe it’s mine?” Mirage knew Amelia was joking since she’s a mouse hybrid… Computer mouse hybrid.

"Mirage? Amelia?" Mirage and Amelia turned back to their house as he heard Danny calling for them. "Can you guys help us clean the house?" Mirage turns back to the forest and walks back with the feather in his pocket. "Coming bro..." Two pairs of eyes watch him leave. “Wanna bet I will clean faster without a break?” Amelia challenge. Mirage rolled his eyes. “You’re a android. Of course, you don’t need a break.” Amelia chuckles and begins to run back. Let’s hope they don’t need a day to clean the house.

--------------------------------

Clearing the entire is tiring!!! Most of the places in this mansion are dirty. When was the last time people lived in this mansion?! "Tired already?" Crusher asked, sitting on the couch with Mirage. "You're the one to talk!" Mirage look at Crusher. "So, what were you doing out there?"

"Huh?"

"What were you and Amelia doing out there before Danny called us to clean the house?"

“Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.”

“… Amelia and I went into the forest and found a yellow feather.” This got Crusher’s interest. “A yellow feather?”

”Yeah!” Amelia joins in and sits next to Mirage. “A light yellow feather. Mirage found it and I’m trying to figure it out which bird it belongs to.” Crusher hums. “Can I see the feather?” Mirage reaches for his pocket pulls out the feather he found on the ground and gives it to Crusher. He took it and analyzed the size and the color. “You think it’s a duck hybrid?” Amelia struggle. “It might be. But don’t think so.” Crusher gives the feather back to Mirage. Amelia stood up and reach for her pocket and took out two different feathers. A blue feather and an aqua-green feather. “Where did you find those?”

“I found it in the forest, but not that deep,” Amelia answered. “Are lunch, I went inside the forest and got some fresh air. Then I saw something or someone moved so I chased after it to get a better look then I found those feathers.” Amelia explain. “Can you give me those for a moment?”

“Here.” Amelia gives both feathers to Mirage. He then compares the size to three different feathers. “What are you guys doing?” Danny and Annesa asked. Danny goes behind Crusher and lies on the chair with his arm crossed while Annesa sits across Crusher. “Amelia and I found three different feathers in the forest.”

“Feathers?” Danny asked, looking at the table. “Yes, dear.” Danny hums and opens his mouth again. “Do you think it belongs to a parrot?” Everyone looks at Danny. “Because think about it. There’s a forest behind this mansion and there must be a lot of animals. Parrots might be one of them. "

"I don't think so. Parrots live in a rainforest, I think." Amelia points out. "Let's just get some rest. It's pretty late. And, if you want to call the others, there's a cell phone in the kitchen. Good night!" Danny walked up to a bathroom and went to take a shower. Crusher followed behind. Annesa told Mirage and Amelia, saying that she would be in her room. Amelia stood up. "Whew. I'm gonna go and charge myself up. You can keep those feathers. Night!" Mirage wave at Amelia and took the feathers and went to his room.

He placed three feathers next to his bed and went to the bathroom, to take a shower. After he finished, he sat down on his bed and pulled over his blanket. He was about to close his eyes but saw a glow. A yellow glow. Mirage sat up and saw three feathers glow. His eyes widened a bit. Those feathers belong to a hybrid. A magical hybrid Animal feather doesn't glow. The reason why it glowed was still unknown to Mirage. He picks up the yellow feather, and stares at it, before putting it next to his pillow.

"I will tell the others tomorrow. It's late at night right now." Mirage slowly closes his eyes and drowns in sleep. A figure was watching him for a second before flying away into the forest.

Next

----------------------------------

I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Hybrid Au. See you in the next chapter or comic!

[brian-in-finance]

Screenshot: Outlander-Online

S04E02 America The Beautiful • 11 November 2018 Official Script

Outlander Rewatch 2023 Countdown To Season 7

Favourite Word

And you and your wife may join them for commission of the same crime, Mr. Fraser, for if your intransigence persists, I will insist Mr. Campbell draw up a warrant for your arrest. — Lieutenant Wolff

Screenshot: Outlander-Online

Favourite Line

Jenny was right about you. You are a peculiar lass. — Jocasta

Gif: @fraserstanclub

Favourite Image

I was no more than a bairn when last you saw me. Had nowhere to go but up. — Jamie

Gif: @scotsmanandsassenach

Remember… I am now gifted with hearing that would be the envy of many a gossip, and the ability to scent truth from lies, if ye catch my meanin'. — Jocasta Cameron

44th of 75 • Tuesday, 16 May 2023

[lepartidelamort]

Netanyahu Tells West Israel Will Decide How to “Defend” Itself (i.e., Israel Will Decide If the West Goes to War)

By Andrew Anglin

This means “Israel will decide how to deploy the US military.”

The US is locked into a suicide pact with Israel, which means that if Israel starts a war, the US has to join.

Everyone knows this.

What Netanyahu is saying here is just gibberish. He’s not deciding for Israel. Israel would be barely involved in a war with Iran (yes, they have a bunch of high-tech missile stuff – all gifted by the American taxpayer – but their military is small and they don’t have a bunch of ships like the US). He is deciding for Americans if we will have a war with Iran.

This is evil Nazi propaganda. It’s also an accurate portrayal of the way the world works. But if you notice it, you’re evil.

It’s just absurd that this discussion is even possible. Or rather, it is absurd that the real discussion surrounding Israel, and the Jewish stranglehold on America, is impossible.

Reuters:

Israel will make its own decisions about how to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as Western countries pleaded for restraint in responding to a volley of attacks from Iran. The United States, European Union and G7 group of industrialised nations all announced plans to consider tighter sanctions on Iran, seen as aimed at mollifying Israel and persuading it to rein in its retaliation for the first ever direct Iranian strikes after decades of confrontation by proxy. Netanyahu met the German and British foreign ministers, who both travelled to Israel as part of a coordinated push to keep confrontation between Israel and Iran from escalating into a regional conflict fueled by the Gaza war.

Netanyahu’s office said he thanked David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock for their support, while telling them: “I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.” Earlier, Cameron said it was now apparent Israel planned to retaliate for the Iranian missile and drone strikes, which Tehran launched on Saturday in response to a presumed Israeli airstrike that killed military officers at its embassy in Syria. Baerbock said escalation “would serve no one, not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime, and not the third countries in the region who simply want to live in peace.”

Britain and Germany are also in this suicide pact with the Jews, because they are both subsidiaries of Washington, Inc.

No one wants the Jews to start this war.

But they are going to start this war.

As I’ve said six million times: there is no reason they would have allowed Hamas to attack in the first place if they weren’t planning on maximally escalating.

The Israelis are aware that both:

US support for Israel is failing

The US itself is failing

They are running out of time to clear out all their enemies, and their biggest enemy is Iran. In fact, that’s the enemy that fuels all their other enemies, including Hamas (even though Hamas is a Sunni group, it’s primarily funded by Shias, because Shias are the only ones in the region who will actually do anything about these Jews).

The hilarious thing is that all of these people who are begging Bibi to stop are obsessed with the Ukraine war, and if this Middle East mania pops off, there won’t be any Ukraine war. There is no possible way the West can keep up two major wars at once.

Never mind their plans for starting a war in the Pacific by using the Filipinos as sharkbait.

The next big war the West gets dragged into will be its last war. All three of its enemies are capable of either:

Winning, or

Making sure the West does not win

And it’s the same thing.

If the West does not win, they lose, because they are going to have to keep pouring resources into a bottomless pit, looking like lunatics in front of the rest of the world, while the Chinese stand by shaking their heads and making ultra-money.

People are sick of these wars, and everyone knows that Washington is causing all of them. No one else in the world wants them. Israel wouldn’t exist without Washington, nor would the Ukraine, and the Filipinos would be begging the Chinese for investment money rather than threatening them with a war.

The same is even true of smaller conflicts with little global relevance, such as in Armenia or Kosovo (Serbia, actually). The Washington Jews are now telling Thailand to invade Cambodia. They are backing the terrorists in Bangladesh.

No one else wants all of these wars. People are sick of it.

Everyone in the world is cheering Hamas, they are cheering Iran, they are cheering Russia. Meanwhile, they’re all trying to get rich with the Chinese.

We stand at the precipice.

A new world order is coming into view.

There is This One Thing I’ve Been Thinking About Though…

It’s not made any sense to me how these people were creating all this chaos and obviously destroying America, which is their only hope for world domination.

Then I read the books from the show Silo.

I didn’t really like the show (too blacked), but I found the mysterious cliffhanger ending super annoying, so I got these books and read them. In the books, you find out that the people who built the Silos – underground fallout bunkers designed to last for hundreds of years – purposefully started a nuclear war to eliminate all life on the surface.

I started thinking “well, that is actually possibly the plan of people in Washington…” It’s the only thing that would make any sense.

Then, I watched the new Fallout series – it’s the same plot. This was not in the games, but in the shows, the people who built the fallout shelters – Vault-Tec – purposefully started a nuclear war so they could wipe the surface of the Earth clean and then repopulate it.

The basic explanation, in both cases, is that elites in America decided to end all war and save natural resources by totally killing everyone on Earth save for a small group of people.

I’m not saying this is what is going on. But it’s very interesting that there are two popular shows with this same plot.

Remember when Channel Four made a show about the government faking a flu virus so they could distribute a vaccine that would reduce the population?

Remember when the X-Files spin-off The Lone Gunmen featured the government flying planes into the World Trade Center to blame it on Moslems and start an “international war on terrorism”?

This stuff shows up in TV shows, for whatever reason. (The reason why is a whole other thing. I don’t think it’s a satanic ritual, as many people who point out this phenomenon of shows predicting reality will claim. It probably has more to do with the CIA and just Jews in general being involved in Hollywood, and people having a bit too much to drink.)

The idea that Silo and Fallout are showing a real apocalypse agenda is really just a wild theory. There is no reason to believe it’s true. It just seems plausible, if you think about it. Most likely, the people in Washington are as insane as they look. But I did find it intriguing.

It’s worth looking on 4chan for posts about a secret system of underground fallout shelters designed to sustain a population for hundreds of years.

[romilly-jay]

Knight and Day's "[Lack of] Noble Artistic Intentions" and Knives Out - not the movie kind - for Tom Cruise (Discuss)

***spoilers*** [but also, this film is from 2010, so...??]

This evening (at time of writing) we watched Knight and Day.

Yes, all the way to the end. This was because I wasn't watching on my own and so my tendency to hit pause or bail was over-ridden by S's tendency to Finish Things. Which makes it sound like we didn't enjoy it. That's not true or fair. I enjoyed it. S enjoyed it rather less.

His conclusion was that it went on for roughly 30 mins too long and since I mostly agree with him, I'd have been okay bailing early.

IMO there are at minimum two action-y sequences more than are really useful. Feels to me like we'd all have been much better off if it could have been Big Fight On A Train *or* Car Chase With Bulls - but not ??both?? Yeah, I get it - we can't have the Gal Gadot set up scene on the train because if we do, probably he could still have delivered CD home in time for her sister's wedding but not the cool little sliver about TC's character being Really Good At Holding His Breath.

Oh, and if we'd stopped early, we'd have missed the Redemption Sequence where TC is the helpless one and CD knocks him out and then rescues him. It's shot for shot deliberately close to the sequence in the middle where he drugs her and spirits her away to his island.

This is important because Drugging Women "For Their Own Good" is WRONG - the film dances a deliberate but tricky line around the question of whether TC is the Bad Guy or a Pure-cut American Hero.

That said, I do VERY much enjoy seeing CD and TC playing off each other - I agree with the observation (from the time, below) that the film is "graced by terrific chemistry from the two romantic leads".

Most of that article is dissecting the dislike of the movie expressed by many contemporary pundits, which the writer links to the TC PR problem still lingering from his sofa-bouncing exploits from 2005.

A good example of the kind of not-love this movie received is still found on the internet, as per this collaged article from August 2023:

Shocking movie-buffs everywhere, the article concludes that this flick was made not for any noble artistic purpose but to cash in on the star power of its leads.

Well, that certainly almost never happens (??). Honestly, if it's amusing, fine by me. Worked for me - if not really for anyone under the age of 30 - with The Fall Guy, for example (earlier blog refers).

What do I like about this movie?

The sparkiness between the leads. YES, definitely. The evidence that he takes good care of people - suggested in how he saves CD in the plane scene near the beginning and resolves the situation with her fireman ex-boyf near the end of the ?second act? - confirmed by how he is revealed to have looked after CD in getting her home and his parents over many years and his persistence in rescuing PD.

The airport scene near the beginning. The reveal about them 'driving' across America (in a car on a delivery lorry). The end.

But far and above all of these moments, it's the plane scene.

Said this to S just after we'd seen it and I'd laughed like a loon from start to finish, but I reeellli do think I'm the perfect, ideal target audience for this sequence. The intersection of the two entirely different movies that the two leads are in / believe they are in... <3

[shamelessrabbithole]

About the last post about Noel's career and financial status:

You always summarize things perfectly or very understandable, I like that a lot about you. Now my clumsy thoughts put together lol: We should also not forget, that successfull actors get paid in a short time much more than most of us "normies" in 5 or 10 years. An average working family can live in a house too, plus have kids+pets. So isn't it pretty standard to have a house in America? Maybe he bought it, when he was at his peak with shameless and now he only has to pay for his monthly fixed costs like gas, electricity, insurance plus some grocieres. I don't think, that the house was exorbitant expensive. And as i said in a comment before, he doesn't live in a exclusive celebritie area, it's a normal neighbourhood. And as i said in a comment before, he doesn't live in a exclusive celebritie area, it's a normal neighbourhood, at least this is what i know from other sources.

He and Layla doesn't look like people who spend hundreds of dollars on new clothes monthly and I doubt, that they go out a lot at fancy restaurants. Maybe Layla wouldn't mind a more fancy lifestyle, if the opportunity was given, but I think Noel is a very simple man and he is just happy with his coffee and a good book or maybe some good inexpensive Mexican food. I understand that you are worried about him, because he is taking an obviously long break and whatever Layla does (sorry, I'm still not her bestie), but I don't worry too much about them anymore. Hell, if I would earn 204,000 per year, I would take a long break too. I don't even have half of this per year and i live a pretty good life too! We really shouldn't worry or pity actors too much for financial reasons lol, they are fine, they earn much more than most of us. Is he waisting talent and precious years of his youth, because he is such a good actor and we all want to see him work again? Yes. Do we want him to be more active on social media, even if he just posts nonsense or doing handstands or reading a book in his stupid backyard? Yes. Am i getting too emotional again, because he obviously doesn't care what we, his fans, want or think? Yes 😂 That's all for now 🤣

Thank you for the compliment. 😊 He does live in a relatively modest house that he purchased years ago, and I also don't recall him spending big bucks on renovations. Also, even though this quote is very old, he talks about how he's been driving the same car since 2002. https://noelfisherfans.com/fun-stuff-about-noel/

Not every actor in LA is earning money hand over fist. And many do have to work multiple jobs in order to stay afloat while they keep auditioning. But Noel has 70 IMDB listings to his name. Some were probably low-paying, some much higher, but Shameless in particular earned several of the actors up to $250k-$350k per episode (Emmy and Bill). This wasn't a low-budget indie show and it lasted 11 seasons, which is the longest-running show in Showtime's history. Somehow I doubt Noel was shortchanged salary-wise, especially at the end when the show needed him and Cameron to keep it from being canceled after Emmy's departure.

I don't think Noel is wasting his talent or his youth. I just feel it's not as easy to book roles as people seem to think. I was listening to one of Cam's friends, Madisen Beaty, do a TikTok live a few months ago in which she said that even before the actor and writer's strikes, a lot of Hollywood TV and film production was on pause because everyone knew the strikes were coming. So there's been a longer lull than even most people realize.

I also wish he'd post literally anything just to give us something to cling to. It sucks that he doesn't. He's turning 40 soon. Hopefully, it'll be a big enough reason for him to get out of hibernation and make some noise about it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[sunnyie-eve]

500-year-old mystery(Pt.25)

Series: Never Leave You | OBX

Paring: (JJ Maybank x OFC! Rafe Cameron x OFC!)

Word Count: 1664

Warnings: fluff, death, comforting

A/N: Last one till Season 4 comes out but I'm going to make a Rafe Cameron story next

Last

"We're gonna be landing about a couple of hours out of Tres Rocas, at a farm. It's right here." JJ shows the girls on a map.

"A couple of hours?" Kiara looks at him.

"Yeah, but Barracuda Mike says there's a bus into town we should be able to catch, so..." JJ adds.

"What if they're not there?" Callie asks.

"If they're not there... free vacation. We're on an adventure, baby. Come on now."

When they land the three get on the bus to Tres Rocas and when they arrive JJ sees Pope and Cleo running, "You gotta be kidding me. We haven't been here for two minutes!" JJ laughs, "Como estas, amigos." JJ leans out the bus.

"What the..."Pope says then tells the three they gotta run already so they do going to hide. "By the way, Rafe says be safe." Pope looks over at Callie.

"He brought Ward hurt to the plane because he was spotted." Cleo adds.

"Ward is in South America?' Kiara looks at them. 

"Yes, back at the plane." Pope adds. 

JJ takes them back to Barracuda Mike to get a boat to go to where the others went with Big John. "Do you trust Ward?" Pope asks Callie as they follow the directions to El Tesoro.

"Hell, no. Just because I have this newly friendship with Rafe doesn't mean I suddenly like and trust Ward. And please don't think I forgot about what Rafe did to you because I don't. I give him shit still." Callie lets him know.

"Not to mention some of the money he got melting down the cross he gave to Tess to get the doctor Will bribed to tell the truth 

so Will gets not right to Callie." Kiara lets Pope know.

"Well, at least it's for a good cause."

When they get to the right place JJ and the other hide and see Singh and his men looking for John B so over night they come up with a plan to distract then men wait at the water with fireworks to make it seem like they were getting shot at.

"Wow, they're fast." Callie says out of breathe walking with Kie and JJ while Pope and Cleo were ahead of them.

"I hate this." Kie huffs as JJ uses his machete to whack at grass. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I want to go back to the OBX." JJ sighs. 

"Same." The girls say.

Catching up to Pope and Cleo, who found a path, they all walk together again following. Finally after some time the group find the other three at gun point with Ward so they pull out their machetes running at Ward.

"You're out numbered Ward. What are you gonna do shoot us all?" Callie tells him. 

Ward still points the gun at John B so Sarah steps in front of him placing the gun at her chests knowing her father wouldn't pull the trigger. One of Carlos' men shows up trying to shoot Sarah but Ward jumps in front of her and gets shot in the chest. As he falls, he tackles one of Carlos' men and they fall off a cliff.

They all look over to see the two dead on the ground. Callie felt sorry for Sarah as she cried and knew Rafe was going to be upset at the news as well. Which Big John hurting from his wound he got they head back to the boat. Sadly Big John  dies from the wound on the boat with the group. The group makes a spot for a reminder for Big John even for Ward too.

When they get back to the OBX Tess did get the doctor to confess Will paid him to lie so Callie was free from Will and had a restraining order against him. At the moment Callie was on her way to Tannyhill to see Rafe. As soon as he opened the door seeing her he pulls her into a hug.

"I have some news to share with you." She pulls out of the hug walling inside. 

"What is it?" He asks worried she choose JJ instead of taking time.

"It's about Ward..." She turn to face him.

"What happened?"

"He's dead...for real this time." She watches him sit down, "One of Carlos' men was going to shoot Sarah but he jumped in front of her to save her. He tackled the man off the cliff. He died being a good father." Callie's eyes get glassy, "I'm sorry, Rafe. I even helped Sarah put up a cross for him." Rafe stands up pulling her into a hug to cry so she comforts him.

"He said I was a good boy... I'm in control now. I'm the man. All of it is mine, everything here. That I proved myself... He loves me. He knows I'm a good boy because you see something in me and care for me."

"He's right and I do. At least your last conversion was good. He was finally proud of you. You got what you wanted from him. And thank you for giving my aunt money." Callie rubs his back.

"Of course."

-

"Tess is still on her vacation?" JJ walks into Callie's place.

"She comes back in a few days so I'm stuck running the gift shop for a little longer. I mean Rafe helps at times and you but still." Callie walks into the room looking a mess.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" JJ laughs at her.

"Trying to bake stupid snacks we sell at the shop. I don't understand how she does this." Callie walks back into the kitchen. 

It's been 18 months since everything and Callie was just being friends with JJ and Rafe. For ten months Callie actually went away with her aunt just to be alone on a family vacation going around the world. When she got back there was no more little hookups between Rafe and her. Rafe still had feelings for her but her was fine as long as he still had her around. JJ still loved her but lowered his flirting down some not wanting to push her.  She still cared for both boys but JJ still had her heart.

"I thought women knew how to bake." JJ laughs looking at everything so she throws flower at his face. He just stands there before wiping his face, "You wanna play like that?" He does the same to her so they run around the kitchen making a bigger mess.

Callie slips falling down onto her back making JJ laugh so she trips him making him fall next to her, "How does that fell? Hurts, huh?" She groans in pain looking at him. 

"You gotta little something in your hair." JJ leans over her pulling out a pretzel stick.

Callie just stares at him before pulling him down so his lips will met her then starts kissing him, very slowly, very softly.

JJ moved his lips just the way she was doing it, like he was following her moves. On the inside he was dying missing her lips. Callie pulls away, making it a short kiss. It was their first kiss in 18 months after all. JJ opened his eyes and looked at her.

Suddenly, they were brought back from their own little world when they heard Tess enter the room, "I come home earlier to this! Really guys." 

They both get up from the floor looking around the room, "JJ started it."

"You threw the flower first!" JJ lightly shoves her.

"Just clean this up while I settle in then clean yourselves up." Tess shakes her head leaving the room.

The two start cleaning up the kitchen in silence not talking about what just happened between them. When they were finished they go take showers to clean themselves up. Afterwards JJ walks into Callie's room as she combs her hair.

"Are we gonna talk about it or act like it never happened?" 

"No, we should talk." She looks over at him so he goes in shutting the door behind him.

"Why'd you do it?"

"My heart told me too. The entire time we were gone for those ten months I thought long and hard. I'll never not love you. I care about Rafe but I think it's impossible for him to steal my heart like you have." She explains to him.

"Can you kiss me again?" JJ smiles so Callie leans over kissing him.

"Let's not rush and enjoy being together." 

JJ takes his necklace off putting it back onto her, "You look better with this on." He kisses her forehead. "Now I gotta go check on my boat. I'll be back for dinner." He kissed her quickly before leaving.

Callie heads off to her gift shop to open it and first was Rafe to walk in to help, "Right on time." He smiles then sees the necklace, "You're back with JJ?" 

She looks down at it, "We're going slow this time so it's not a wedding ring anymore." 

"If he hurts you..." Rafe walks up to her, "I will jump him and you can't stop me. Got it?" He looks down at her so she pulls him into a hug.

"You're still stuck with me though. I'm not going anywhere." She lets him know.

"Fine by me princess." He goes to organize the store. 

-

"An expedition of one man, John Routledge, and a group of teenagers, who are with us today. Locals, who grew up here and who succeeded where centuries of conquistadors, explorers, and admirals failed. Today, we come together to celebrate theses teens, friends from both sides of the island who came together to solve this 500-year-old mystery. Let's here it for them." The group stands as everyone cheers for them.

The way the group celebrates was to smoke one of being recognized. As they stand around they see a man walk over to Sarah and John B so they go over to see what's it about. He complimenting their discovery of El Dorado and everything. He then asks them to look at something of his. He has a proposition for them to help him find Blackbeard's treasure.

They all just look at each other, "God damn." John B smiles.