#Shield Global School

[shieldglobalschool]

Shield Global School

Looking for Best Boarding School in Lucknow? Shield Global School is a full boarding school for boys and Girls, which specializes in boarding education for pupils aged 12-18.

[zillychu]

Consider for a moment: A slow-burn identity reveal “no one knows” AU with an emphasis on ghosts being taken seriously as an actual, world-changing threat.

Ghosts are treated as an exceedingly dangerous, but unavoidable force of nature. They can come and go without warning, through naturally occurring spontaneous portals. They're territorial, driven only by obsession and hunger for the living. Particularly powerful ghosts are on par with natural disasters.

Life goes on because there's simply no other option. All major buildings have varying levels of ghost shields, some stronger than others. Just about everyone has some form of personal shield, weapon, or general deterrent. For the most part, humanity takes this apocalypse in stride, barely keeping it all together because there's just enough safety to keep them all sane.

Which is why the rumors of Phantom being able to fully mimic a human body incites panic in Amity.

Phantom was already a nightmare as it was–one of the most powerful and intelligent ghosts on record. His territorial fights with other ghosts for haunting (hunting) grounds in Amity have made global news several times already. Powerful ghosts could appear more human–but to think he was transforming down to a cellular level? Hiding among them? Bypassing ghost shields and alarms? Picking them off one by one?

The focus is mostly with Lancer's class, and how the school deals with this new threat on top of everything else. Everyone is a suspect, no one is safe, and Danny Fenton in particular gets slowly more and more exhausted, apathetic, and… unnerving.

The stress, the lack of sleep, the fighting, no one to turn to, not even his best friends or family–it takes a toll on him. Starving himself doesn't help, but he refuses to do more than take small bites from the ambient life energy and emotion of the living around him. Nothing that won't actually do lasting harm. He begins to slip up more and more, which Sam and Tucker begin to notice but haven't quite connected the dots yet.

But, well. What else can Danny do when Pariah Dark comes knocking on Amity’s doorstep, and his whole class is in the line of fire?

[urhoneycombwitch]

heated touch

foreword: “but Lulu it’s not even summer yet how come you wrote a pool fic” okay first of all global warming. it’s absolutely summer rn. hush up and eat up. 👼

cw: R wears bikini top + skirt, Eddie is Down Bad™️, and is also touchstarved, brief use of the awkward miscommunication trope, R’s baby hairs mentioned but no color or texture, weed mention (Robin is a stoner canon change my mind u can’t), R uses sunscreen (no skin color mentioned), implied plus-sized reader

wc: 3.4k

___

It’s the first real, normal, non-apocalyptic summer that anyone can remember having in a long, long time. 

With the heat index at a sizzling 97 today, various members of the Party have taken over Steve’s half-shaded, half-pool extravaganza of a backyard. The kids are jumping in and out of the bright blue water, splashing and cackling, while you and Robin stretch out like house cats in a sunny patch of grass nearby.

You, mere yards away, in a swim top and sweet little pleated tennis skirt. All that lovely skin on display, glistening in the light. 

And Eddie is sulking, indoors, frozen with lovesickness. There’s condensation dripping from the forgotten can of beer in his left hand; through the window above the kitchen sink, Eddie observes the scene in mournful silence.

“Christ, you really are a pussy.”

Eddie whips around with a glare that would level a normal human being, shushing Steve with a panicked fierceness that only makes the guy chuckle harder at Eddie’s expense. 

“Y’know,” Steve continues with the insults, dipping into the fridge and reappearing with a Fanta and a shit-eating grin- “You might want to try leering like a creep from the garage window. That way no will hear you jack off-”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Harrington.” Eddie interrupts with a grade-A scoff and eye roll combo, rivaling Steve’s own bitchiness. “Wasn’t your last successful date back in high school, like, six years ago when you had better hair?”

Steve doesn’t even flinch. With condescending sympathy, he sighs and shakes his head of (beautiful-even-when-wet, damn him) hair, snapping the soda can tab with a flourish. “Might wanna hurry up and make a move. Can’t suppress my charm forever just ‘cuz you’re too chicken to man up- it’s not natural to keep all of this hidden away.”

Steve gestures to the broad expanse of his golden chest, dark thicket of hair sitting proud, the scars that he seems to have no qualms over showing off criss-cross along the flex of muscle at his sides. 

Realistically, Eddie knows Steve wouldn’t go after you, not even as a joke. It would defy the honorable and unmentioned Bro Code they’ve lived by ever since Eddie almost died in an alternate hell dimension and Steve valiantly pulled him back topside. 

Teasing, though? It’s Harrington’s godgiven right- especially since Eddie’s so hopelessly in love. It’s almost too easy to get him riled up, to light a fire under his ass to maybe finally get the situation some forward movement. 

Flames lick at the kindling. Steve walks backwards, shooting Eddie one last finger gun and wink before rejoining the boisterous outdoors crowd. Through the crack Steve’s left in the sliding glass door, Eddie can hear that asshole’s cheery voice ring out- “Lookin’ good, ladies!”- and your subsequent peal of laughter. 

Eddie can feel the heat through the black denim at his ass, sweat rushing to prickle at his pits underneath the light layer of tanktop- the one with a high-necked collar and sides long enough to conceal most of his scars. 

Not that he’s trying to hide ‘em, perse... they’re just sensitive to the sun. Plus his black jeans have holes in them, so they totally count as summer attire. He’s basically wearing shorts right now. Steve can suck it.

“Suck it, Steve,” Eddie grits out to no one for good measure, before taking a steadying gulp of beer and stepping bravely out beyond the glass doors. 

It’s shockingly bright, sun bouncing off the surface of the pool and rendering Eddie momentarily blind; he shields his eyes with his free hand in time to catch the tail end of Sinclair’s mid-air somersault.

“Five,” Max calls out, lounging safely out of the splash zone, waves from Lucas’s cannonball lapping at her pink donut pool float. Thick black prescription sunglasses take up half her face, expression unmoved even as her boyfriend splutters in the deep end.

“Are you kidding?” Lucas is indignant as he huffs and treads water. “Gimme at least an eight. Did you even see the flip?” 

“I saw it.” Unimpressed, Max shrugs a freckled shoulder. While Lucas devolves into swearing out his complaints (already with one elbow planted on the concrete to get out and make another attempt at a higher score), Max zeros in on Eddie, one brow arched high in searing appraisal. “You gonna swim with your boots on, too?”

“I’m- shut up, Red. Nice donut.”

Max’s triumphant smirk confirms what Eddie already knows (he totally bombed that comeback), but if there’s one thing in the world Eddie’s good at, it’s Pretending. A trait forged and perfected over the years of being reigning Dungeon Master; it’s served him well during D&D sessions, and when running from the law. 

And it’s coming in handy now, too, as Eddie walks past Steve (half-snoozing in a lounger) and the table of Baby Byers and Wheeler Jr. (playing an intense game of Slapjack), pretending to be totally Normal and Chill as he approaches you and Robin, a ways off from the bustling pool.

Go with what you know, Eddie tells himself, because if he focuses for more than two seconds on the fact that you’re stretched prone, sunlight filtering through the big tree overhead and illuminating the soft curves of your thighs just visible under the Spandex hem of your skirt, he’s gonna have a pressing issue that will be anything but pretend.

Robin’s lying on her back on the beach towel next to yours, a tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice held up close, obscuring her field of vision. Using this to his advantage, Eddie crouches on his haunches, then leans in to press his cold can of beer to the tender arch of Robin’s bare foot.

She yelps, kicking out on instinct (which Eddie was expecting). He manages to take the brunt of the hit with a forearm block, but doesn’t see the paperback coming until it’s hitting the side of his face.

“Ow, christ, Buckley,” he moans, slumping to sit on Robin’s towel, hamming up the victim act for your sake and sympathy while Robin snatches up her book and gives him another solid thwack, pages fluttering.

At the commotion, you’d lifted your head from your arms, leaning into them now with the weight of your upper half. Eddie tries really, really valiantly to not stare at your swimsuit top (practically a bra), and instead distracts himself with the fact that you were giggling. At him. 

Give the boy an inch and he’ll take a mile, Wayne is wont to say of his nephew. Never been truer than now, as Eddie gets drunk off your attention and humors, crowding familiarly and rudely into Robin’s space just to piss her off more and to keep your twinkling-eyed focus.

“Yech.” Robin gags. “I’m not gonna sit here and watch you two flirt up close. I just ate lunch.”

Eddie’s worried that comment will embarrass you into pulling away but apparently, you’re not shying from the accusations of his affection anymore. 

A snort and a sardonic eye roll is what you dish back, and Eddie latches on, delighted to have a Shit Starter in Crime, pushing an honest hand to his chest in faux-shock- “Flirting? Me? I’d never. What an accusation. You’re getting crazier by the day, Buckley.”

The peal of laughter that ripples from you is like a song, vibrating the frequencies between Eddie’s ears, scrambling all the channels with its aching beauty.

Goddamn addictive, he thinks, as the white-out of his hearing fades back to normal. A light, warm wind rustles through the big oak overhead, leaves shushing together; allowing himself a glance at your stretched form, Eddie’s (un)luckily close enough to see the smattering of goosebumps rise on the skin of your arms. 

To observe the way sweat curls the baby hairs near your temple, at the nape of your neck. To see the little creases near the corner of your eyes as you close them, turning your face into the wind, a quiet expression of summer bliss on your face.

Eddie could sit here for hours like a (happy) creep just taking in every minute detail, but Robin starts bitching at him about the weed he still owes her from ages ago, poking her cold toes into the holes of his jeans, mischievous and irritating.

Eddie smacks at her ankles until she pulls them back, matching her argument point for point; it’s not about the weed, of which he’d gladly give- it’s about keeping that smile on your face even as you sit up to start digging through your nearby tote bag.

“And plus,” Robin’s saying, sticking a finger into the dimple of Eddie’s left cheek like the obnoxious little sister he never asked for, “You scratched the everliving hell out of my bike last month when you insisted you were sober enough to ride it home.”

“What’d you want me to do, drink and drive? Not very Just Say No Club of you.” Eddie is operating on autopilot with his responses, absorbed in the way your delicate fingers move inside the canvas of the bag. 

“I wanted the same thing that I currently. Want.” Two more ice-cold prods of her toes into the same spot of his exposed knee. “Three grams, pre-rolled, plus an apology.”

Eddie is about to give in with the promise of the rest of his sizable stash and a bike waxing regimine with his own spit thrown into the mix to get Robin off his case, when the sound of your voice cuts through the bickering. 

In your hand, held aloft and out between the three of you, is a bottle of sun lotion. Your focus is fixed on shaking displaced items back into your bag, not looking as you make a request:

“Babe, would you do my back?”

Eddie moves on instinct before he even has time to process the ask, reaching out towards the palm tree-printed plastic- but for some reason, Robin’s hand collides with his mid-air. Goddammit, Buckley. 

His annoyance at Robin quickly gives way to confusion, then roiling embarrassment as two sets of eyes whip to him, your mouth slightly parted in an o shape and Robin making a squeak of awkward alarm.

You were talking to Robin. Obviously, you were talking to your girl friend to rub you down with lotion. 

Jesus christ, Munson, get a grip.

Eddie lets go at the same time Robin and you draw back, the three of you stammering half-sentences over the thunk of the bottle hitting the ground.

“I meant- sorry, god, sorry, I meant Robin-”

“Fucking- jesus, of course you meant Robin, I’m sorry-”

“Oh god! I can do it! It’s fine!”

There’s a brief pause where all of you stare down at the bottle, as if it holds some great mystery of the world. Or is perhaps concealing a time-bending device that will let Eddie go back twenty seconds to kick himself in the head.

He’s just about to make some lame excuse to fuck off forever when Robin beats him to it, jumping up with a spastic, nervous energy. “Um. Steve’s calling me. So I gotta… see what that dingus wants. You’re good?”

This last part, directed at you; with a quick, reassuring nod, you say “I’m good.” 

Seemingly recouped from the whole debacle, you squint up at Robin- “Eddie’s got it,” and then fixing Eddie with a disarmingly beatific smile- “Right?”

It’s like looking into the sun. Eddie is pretty sure his neurons haven’t been firing properly ever since he caught a glimpse of your thighs earlier. By some miracle, he manages coherence- “Uh-huh. Yep. Right.”

“O-o-kay.” Robin lets the word expand, then gives a dorky two-finger salute and makes for the empty pool lounger next to a snoring Steve.

Then it’s just you and Eddie, blinking at each other from your seats on opposing towels, until you lean to pick up the bottle, this time handing it directly to him. 

An invitation, paired with a smile that still pulls at the corners of your mouth.

Someone jumps noisily into the pool, a few scattered cheers accompanying the crashing water. Red’s distant “Nine-five!” echoes through the backyard and this, of all things, spurs Eddie into unfreezing.

He takes the proffered lotion, shifting to kneel in the strip of grass not covered by either of your towels, waiting and watching for your approval. 

Like something out of a dream, you lower yourself face-down again, hands tucking themselves sweetly into the space between the hollows of your shoulders and the ground. Eyes half-lidded as Eddie scooches closer.

“Just on your back?” He asks, soft, like you’re a deer about to spook (although based on the way his hands are trembling, Eddie’s the more likely candidate for chickening out and running for the hills).

“Mhm. Please.”

Fumbling under your sidelong gaze, Eddie wiggles all the rings from his fingers, stuffing them into his pocket. 

“Too cold,” he explains, feeling fidgety from your eye contact, rubbing his hands together briskly to bring out the warmth and give them something to do other than shake.

Eddie pines for a cigarette, a quick burst of nicotine to steel his nerves. Instead, he picks up the sunscreen, squeezes a quarter-sized puddle into his left hand, and shifts to kneel close as he can without actually bumping his knees into your side.

The sunscreen is already warmed from being out in the heat of the day, so Eddie starts on your left shoulder. Dips his fingers into the puddle, spreads a thin layer on the blade of your shoulder, and rubs it in. 

At first, his touch is gentle and apprehensive, but when your eyes drift shut on the second pass of his fingers, Eddie gets a bit bolder. On your right shoulder, another layer of suncream goes on, but this time, Eddie lets his thumb slip into the grooves under your shoulder blade. 

He runs his thumb along the stripe of muscle next to your scapula, still with pressure light enough to feign keeping to his task, thrilled when you make a soft noise of satisfaction.

“I would’ve asked you, y’know.” 

Eddie pauses, hand resting at the top of your spine, the skin of your neck freshly glistening and tacky from his work. “Asked me what?”

“To do this.” You shrug a shoulder, pointing in a roundabout way at your back. “I just… I didn’t think you’d say yes.”

“Why the hell would I say no to this?” The words are out before Eddie can bite them back and find a much more cool and normal thing to say. He can feel your chuckle, the vibrations of it, the way it causes the muscles in your upper back to move.

Eddie tries to cover his lameness by refocusing on the mission he’s been given, like a heroic knight bestowed with a great honor by a fair maiden… on second thought, he’s got to cut out the fantasy metaphors. This situation is wild and tempting enough as-is without adding a potentially very horny layer to the mix.

“You can get under my top, if you want,” you murmur, lashes dark against your cheek in profile, voice all honeyed and fair-maiden-like. 

Eddie swallows hard. Distributes the rest of the lotion between two palms, rests them just below the black fabric, and then slides up. Underneath the top, your skin is the same- smooth and pliant and sweet. 

“Feels nice,” you whisper, eyes still closed in reverie, sounding sleepy and relaxed.

Eddie is entranced with the way your muscles move under his touch. He applies a bit more pressure to the mid-back area of your spine, dragging his thumbs down on either side. You make another noise, this one closer to a moan, and Eddie’s really glad he’s practiced at the skill of Boner Killer On Command because he wouldn’t dare sully the atmosphere with ill-timed arousal (though his limits are certainly being tested today).

“Sorry about the callouses,” he says, a bit of self-deprecation to fill the air because he’s gotta focus on something other than the way his hand fits perfectly in the center of your low back.

“S’okay. I like them, actually. You’re good with your hands.”

Not for the first time, Eddie is relieved that you’re not looking at him- his ears are burning, on their way to bright pink. Same with his cheeks. “Cool, yeah. That’s good. Um. I play guitar, y’know so… I get around.”

After cringing at himself, Eddie watches the apple of your cheek round upwards with a smile, a sharp flash of your teeth as you say, “I can tell.”

There’s an amiable quiet that falls over the two of you; in the background, splashes and chattering from the pool group float in the air, muted by the warm winds shushing through overhead branches. 

At one point, Eddie realizes he’s covered your whole back in sunscreen and is now just trailing his fingertips over the notches of your spine, starting low and ending near your neck, following the path down again in a loop. If you mind, you don’t say anything, seemingly sated by his touch. 

There’s an aching behind Eddie’s ribs. It squeezes at his heart, makes his next breath pinch- he wants to touch you like this all the time. He’s already hooked. 

All too soon, you’re peeling yourself from the blanket, sitting up with a sheepish smile. Eddie can’t tell if you’re getting shy on him from the touch alone, or if it’s the fact that he’s the one that’s been touching. 

Either way, if Eddie could find a more chill way to say “I’d like to do that every minute for the rest of my life if you’ll let me,” he’d say it to appease any worries you may have. 

Bare knees pulled to your chest, you gesture at the bottle still in Eddie’s hand. “I could… do you, if you wanted?”

Eddie scratches the back of his neck, through the heated curtain of curls. “Nah, that’s okay. My abs won’t be ready to debut until the end of summer. 1993.”

He’s expecting at least a chuckle out of you, but instead, he’s fixed with a kind, all-knowing look. 

The two of you are face to face, your shin close enough to brush Eddie’s ribs as you state, “Not a fan of the heat, are you.”

“What gave it away?” Eddie gestures animatedly at the humidity-fed frizz of his hair, then shakes his head like a wet dog. 

When you catch one of his curls between two fingers he freezes, heart slamming to a pause as you loop it around a knuckle.

“I have some deep conditioner at my place. Could help you out if you wanna come by some time.”

Mere inches from his cheek as you lean in, Eddie squeezes his eyes shut, trying to memorize how you smell- coconutty from the lotion, a bit sweaty, a faint hint of deodorant and the vanilla perfume you spray in the mornings. 

He’s never been this close before. 

He feels electric. Or more accurately, like he’s been electrocuted, and he’s waiting for you to restart his heart. 

“Does that sound good, Eddie? You, me, some hair care… maybe a movie? I can steal some from Family Video. I know a guy.”

At his ear now, your voice is low as you wrap a hand around the inside of Eddie’s arm- it’s his turn to break into goosebumps. “Oh yeah? Willing to steal for me already?”

This earns him a stellar laugh, head tipped back to show the curve of your perfect neck. You shove at him playfully, and he’s about to snap up your hand to bite as payback when your name is yelled from across the yard.

“Come on, we need another unbiased judge!” Max waves urgently from the pool as Lucas and Dustin get into an increasingly loud argument over the Olympic grading system. 

“Goddamn kids.” This comes out much more growly than Eddie intended; you just chuckle and squeeze his arm before pulling away to stand.

Eddie mourns the loss of your body heat until you extend a hand towards him, saying, “Let’s go humor our goddamn kids, and we can talk about dinner afterwards.”

It’s like your hand is made to fit inside Eddie’s. He follows close on your heels, heart thudding a steady, overjoyed rhythm once more. 

[girlactionfigure]

Open your eyes!!

- Israel: “UN workers took part in 10/7!”

The world: “Oh shut up already with that crap!”

The UN six months later: “Um, this is awkward. Yea, so about that…”

- Israel: “Stop lying about us and the made up casualty numbers in Gaza! We did not kill tens of thousands of innocent people!”

The world: “Oh shut up, you genocidal maniacs!”

The UN six months later: “Um, so yea, about that… Pardon us while we quietly reduce the number we previously reported…”

- Israel: “Hamas operates from within civilian infrastructure and uses human shields.”

The world: “Oh shut up already with those lies…”

The UN six months later: “So, there may have been some instances of Hamas using UNRWA schools to attack Israel.”

- Israel: “Hamas committed horrible crimes against humanity on 10/7 including violent sex crimes against innocent women and children.”

The world: “Yea, right. Show me evidence.”

The global press six months later: “So yea, there seems to be overwhelming evidence that Hamas did indeed commit those crimes.”

- Israel: Hamas steals foreign aid to build highly sophisticated terror tunnels instead of feeding the people of Gaza!”

The world: “Again with those tunnel conspiracies?”

The media six months later: “Ok, those are some serious tunnels!”

Israel doesn’t make stuff up. If Israel says it, nine and a half out of ten times, it’s 100% accurate. If Israel reports something that turns out to be anything but 100% accurate, it’ll be the first to admit and apologize. 

When Israel says something, you can rest assured that it’s true. 

Israel’s enemies, on the other hand. Want to know when they lie? When they open their mouths. 

This tunnel to and from Egypt was discovered this week in Gaza. 

“Egypt didn’t know.”

Yea, ok. 

Also, I have a bridge to sell you if you’re in the market.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Ruthie Blum

Following the strike on Saturday in Gaza that eliminated 19 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, international media outlets promptly published the lie told to them by residents of the Strip about the number and identity of the casualties. Nothing novel about that.

Since the start of the war on Oct. 7, the press has cited Gaza Health Ministry figures—and the global bodies that gleefully buy them—to bolster false accusations of crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces against civilians in the Hamas-run enclave. Nor has factual evidence caused the claims to dissipate.

This is partly the fault of the IDF, which is often very late in refuting the rumors. Worse, its spokesman’s unit rarely seems to prepare in advance for the anti-Israel propaganda onslaught that always comes on the heels of military moves that provide photos of rubble—whether or not the images even depict the areas under discussion. Indeed, sometimes, the pictures are taken from other countries and conflicts.

What makes this failure of preemption especially disturbing is that IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari is always quick to announce the launch of investigations relating to the potentially inappropriate behavior of soldiers in and beyond the battlefield. The phenomenon is part of Israel’s obsession with having the “most moral,” rather than fiercest, army in the world.

Since Israel’s ethics are intact, it shouldn’t be necessary to prove it at every juncture, especially not to those who wish it ill or never give it the benefit of the doubt. Still, playing catch-up with sensationalist reports is both exhausting and ultimately pointless.

After all, once a piece of juicy slander is out there, it’s hard to reverse its damage. The current deception is a perfect case in point.

Take CNN’s headline on the incident, for example, which reads: “Israeli strike on mosque and school in Gaza kills scores, sparking international outrage.”

Then there’s the post on X by chief European Union Israel-basher Josep Borrell, who hastened to write: “Horrified by images from a sheltering school in Gaza hit by an Israeli strike, w/ reportedly dozens of Palestinian victims. At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres.”

The predictable list goes on.

But here’s what actually happened. The IDF and Israel Security Agency carried out a pinpoint attack on a Hamas command-and-control center that was embedded in a mosque inside a school compound. As Hagari’s office explained, albeit with customary tardiness, “The strike was carried out using three precise munitions, which … cannot cause the amount of damage that is being reported by the Hamas-run Government Information Office in Gaza.”

Furthermore, it added, “no severe damage was caused to the compound where the terrorists were situated. Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of a small warhead, aerial surveillance and intelligence.”

That’s not all. It turns out that men, women and children were located on different floors of the building in question, and Israel’s security forces targeted and hit only the level on which the terrorists were located. It’s the kind of feat for which the IDF continues to arouse awe among urban-combat experts.

By now, anyone who denies that Hamas purposely ensconces its warriors in schools, mosques and hospitals, using the people it controls as human shields, is either sympathetic to the terrorists’ goal of annihilating the Jewish state or serves as a fellow traveler on that pernicious journey.

All other arguments about what’s going on in Gaza constitute ill-intentioned background noise that should be ignored.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

The IDF confirmed that yesterday's barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv and its vicinity was fired out of a zone that it defined as "humanitairan" (meaning an area it encouraged civilians to evacuate to).

We're seeing more and more Palestinians who speak up against Hamas. In the past (even during this war), Al-Jazeera "journalists" cut off Gazans who were criticizng Hamas. Now we have a small shift, where this journalist is still trying to persuade this woman not to criticize Hamas, but he doesn't cut her off as she insists on expressing her anger, that all of the aid to Gazans is being stolen by Hamas terrorists:

After a battle with terrorists inside a UN school in the neighborhood of Shujayiah in Gaza, IDF soldiers documented finding weapons hidden inside a teddy bear (first vid in this article).

As you might remember, I work at Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust museum, research and education center, which also studies Jewish history in general, a subject that obviously includes the history of antisemitism. However, the scope of the history we covered always stopped roughly at when the last Jewish Holocaust survivor left the last DP (displaced persons) camp, which is 1956. The assumption was always that we will research historical antisemitism, and people will be able to take that knowledge, learn from it, and apply it to current ("new") antisemitism, without us tackling it directly. Following the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the global rise in amtisemitic attacks in reaction to it, and the academic rot we have witnessed in dealing with antisemitism on the campuses of some of the most important universities in the world, this is going to change. YV will expand the work of our research institute into new antisemitism (anti-Zionism, really).

Yesterday, three Hezbollah terrorists were killed in a strike in Syria. You absolutely should be asking yourself why Hezbollah, a terrorist organization that claims to be the "defender of Lebanon," had a unit operating in Syria. Just a reminder: there have been rockets fired at Israel from Syria.

Another thing that happened yesterday, is that we got confirmation Hamas is also using female terrorists. So when you hear, "This is the number of children killed! This is the number of women killed!" (beyond a healthy suspicision we should all have of the uncorroborated figures provided by a terrorist organization), remember that Hamas uses teenagers and women as terrorists, not just as human shields. And it will NEVER report them as such. It barely recognizes that any terrorists were killed in this war, even though independent estimates indicate that "above 5,000 terrorists" is the most conservative estimate on this matter.

Unlike Hamas, which doesn't admit when women fight and die for it, Israel is proud of its female fighters. Here's a vid about a group of soldiers who made history on Oct 7, being the first female tankists in the world to fight in an armored battle.

This is 25 years old Sahar Baruch.

On Oct 7, he was kidnapped to Gaza. Hamas has published a vid that first showed sahar captured, and then showed his lifeless and bloodied body, indicating that he was murdered in captivity. May his memory be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[hexjulia]

reading more about atomic gardening and this is so much fun. to read about that is. it also seems fun to do, but. you know. anyway:

"The story of these citizen-pioneers of mutagenesis (the technical term for creating genetic change through the application of chemical, physical, and biological agents) is full of fantastic details, from Muriel Howorth’s propagandising ballet-mime, Isotopia, which involved a cast of Knowledge, Electron, Proton, Neutron, Rat, and Cow, as well as a working geiger counter, to Tennessee-based atomic entrepreneur C.J. Speas irradiating trays of seedlings into his backyard bunker.

IMAGE: C.J. Speas giving a tour of his radioactive bunker to high school students, photo by Grey Villet for Life, via Pruned.

Perhaps the most bizarre detail in the interview, however, is the news that these gamma gardens are still in operation, relatively unchanged in design since the 50s, in the grounds of national laboratories today. Their circular form, which, as Johnson notes, bears more than a passing resemblance to the atomic danger symbol, “was simply based upon the need to arrange the plants in concentric circles around the radiation source which stood like a totem in the center of the field.”

It was basically a slug of radioactive material within a pole; when workers needed to enter the field it was lowered below ground into a lead lined chamber. There were a series of fences and alarms to keep people from entering the field when the source was above ground. The amount of radiation received by the plants naturally varied according to how close they were to the pole. So usually a single variety would be arranged as a ‘wedge’ leading away from the pole, so that the effects of a range of radiation levels could be evaluated. Most of the plants close to the pole simply died. A little further away, they would be so genetically altered that they were riddled with tumors and other growth abnormalities. It was generally the rows where the plants ‘looked’ normal, but still had genetic alterations, that were of the most interest, that were ‘just right’ as far as mutation breeding was concerned!

Over at GOOD, Peter Smith recently described a similar layout at the still-active Institute of Radiation Breeding, in Hitachiohmiya, Japan, which has “has a 88.8 Terabecquerel Cobalt-60 source, ringed by a 3,608-foot radius Gamma field (the world’s largest), and a 28-foot high shield dike around the perimeter.”

IMAGE: A gamma garden at Brookhaven National Labs, New York, c. 1958; image provided by Paige Johnson, via Pruned.

IMAGE: Aerial view of the Institute of Radiation Breeding, Hitachiohmiya, Japan.

As it turns out, far from being a fantastic fossil from the future that never was, along with jetpacks and flying cars, atomic gardening is alive and well today. According to a 2007 New York Times story, which quotes Dr. Pierre Lagoda, head of plant breeding and genetics at the International Atomic Energy Agency, radiation breeding is actually experiencing a renaissance, due to the introduction of “new methods that speed up the identification of mutants.”

IMAGE: Mutant crop varieties mapped by The New York Times.

What’s more, the Times adds, nearly 2,000 gamma radiation-induced mutant crop varieties have been registered around the world, including Calrose 76, a dwarf varietal that accounts for about half the rice grown in California, and the popular Star Ruby and Rio Red grapefruits, whose deep colour is a mutation produced through radiation breeding in the 1970s. Similarly, Johnson tells Pruned that “most of the global production of mint oil,” with an annual market value estimated at $930 million, is extracted from the “wilt-resistant ‘Todd’s Mitcham’ cultivar, a product of thermal neutron irradiation.” She adds that “the exact nature of the genetic changes that cause it to be wilt-resistant remain unknown.”

IMAGE: “Pierre Lagoda, the head of plant breeding and genetics at the International Atomic Energy Agency, showing mutated plants at a greenhouse in Austria,” photo by Herwig Prammer for The New York Times."

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

These calls accompany Victor’s High School SSR “Carefree Years,” but don’t contain any spoilers from the story itself~ ❤️

⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for content yet to be released on the global server! ⌚

•─────⋅◍♡◍⋅─────•

【1ST CALL】

Victor: The playlist a certain someone just shared with me seems to be a bit different from her usual taste. 

Victor: “Melodies that accompanied us through those years of youth” ... 

Victor: What’s gotten you so nostalgic suddenly? 

MC: Haha, I stumbled upon this through random notifications and found it quite fascinating~ 

MC: So, speaking of which, what kind of stuff would you usually have playing on your earphones back when you were at school? It wouldn’t be all English listening exercises, right? 

Victor: Set your wild thoughts aside, and yes, of course, I would also listen to music sometimes. 

Victor: But there were also times when I would have nothing playing at all. 

MC: You mean like simply leaving them in your ears? 

Victor: Yeah. Seeing you with your earphones on, some of the individuals who are tactful enough won’t come forward to initiate a conversation again. 

Victor: Doing this is convenient to save yourself from a lot of unnecessary hassles. 

MC: Turns out, it can also be used as a shielding device! What a cool way to pull a “switcheroo”! Speaking of which, I’ve had similar experiences too. 

MC: Victor, do you know what other things an electronic dictionary can be handy for besides looking up words? 

Victor: Importing e-books in .txt format. 

MC: Ah, so, you did this too! 

Victor: Nope. I caught people in the act. 

MC: You wouldn’t be... 

Victor: Mm-hmm. I was in charge of inspecting such rule-breaching activities back then. 

MC: ...humph, I have nothing more to discuss with someone who used to be an inspector. 

MC: But out of curiosity, what would happen if I were to be caught red-handed by you? 

Victor: I would most likely rap on your desk, signaling for you to step outside with me. 

Victor: And then, I would confiscate the electronic dictionary and hand you a registration form. 

Victor: [putting on a voice but doesn’t sound strict at all, subconsciously reminding himself she is my girlfriend and I’d get hell later LMAO] “Classmate, write your name here, and remember not to get caught by me again.” 

MC: That strict? What if I plead with the Discipline Inspector for leniency~ 

MC: [you’re supposed to put on a cute voice here haha] “I bought this with the pocket money I saved for a long time! Please, inspector classmate, let me off the hook, pretty please, sob sob sob~” 

Victor: Based solely on your tone over the phone call, I can’t feel much sincerity or remorse. 

Victor: I’ll be home shortly, and I’m looking forward to your in-person demonstration. 

Victor: Then, I’ll carefully mull it over whether to let you off the hook, or not. 

—

—

【2ND CALL】

Victor: MC, your package just arrived, and it had some damage to the box when it was delivered. So, I went ahead and unpacked it for you. 

Victor: But why did you buy a whole box of steam eye masks and eye patches? 

MC: Well, the seller happened to be running a promotion, and I couldn’t resist the temptation... 

Victor: Mm-hmm, you do get tempted very easily. 

Victor: If not for that, we wouldn’t have a stockpile of “buy three, get one free” laundry detergent at home, nor would we have those Hawaiian-themed bath towels as “freebies for signing up.” 

Victor: Let’s make it clear beforehand, don’t pull me into “using them up” together when the time comes. 

MC: Victor, don’t be so heartless. I’ve put a lot of thought into selecting these items this time. 

MC: You may not be aware, but steam eye masks come in many different scents nowadays. 

Victor: Chamomile, rose, eucalyptus... I can understand how these floral scents might work, but coffee aroma? Are you sure it can help with sleep? 

MC: Oh no, that one’s for keeping you energized! I hadn’t heard of this one before, so I decided to purchase it and give it a try~ 

MC: They claim its effectiveness is on par with the eye exercises we used to do in our student days; it not only provides eye protection but also refreshes and sharpens the mind. 

Victor: In that case, why don’t you consider resuming the eye exercises twice a day from now on? Who knows, it might yield even better results. 

MC: In the world of adults, it’s very challenging to squeeze out time for exercise. 

Victor: I’m not entirely convinced of that. 

Victor: If you utilize all this time you spend shopping impulsively on online sites, it will be sufficient. 

MC: Humph, when I get home tonight, I’m gonna make you join me for an eye mask evaluating session! 

Victor: I’m afraid my eyes won’t be able to handle such a heavy responsibility. 

MC: Well, even though a certain someone says that, in the end, he will still cooperate with me~ 

MC: When the time comes, I will have the aromatherapy and candles prepared, and we’ll start with the eyepatches to kickstart the relaxation process. 

MC: After that, we’ll apply the eye masks for a complete relaxation session. 

Victor: ...couldn’t we perhaps spend this time better participating in some outdoor activities, something that genuinely focuses on eye health and relaxation? 

Victor: Instead of relying on flashy remedies, it’s more effective to go out and do some physical activities. 

MC: Hehe, have you realized that we have already mapped out a perfect weekend itinerary? 

MC: Why don’t we just go to that camping site we’ve been wanting to go fishing for a long time! Hold on, I’ll call to make a reservation shortly. 

Victor: It seems like a certain someone had this all planned out in advance, am I right? 

MC: It’s all thanks to CEO Victor’s guidance that this small idea was implemented in reality so efficiently~ 

Victor: I think I’d prefer to experience your “efficiency” in other aspects. 

Victor: Why don’t you start by making a checklist of the camping essentials we’ll need? 

Victor: And after you’re off work, try to get back home a bit earlier. I’ll have the aromatherapy and candles prepared in advance to create a cozy work-friendly atmosphere for a certain someone. 

────────────

[writingmochi]

a terra incognita character introduction

cast: jake ✗ fem.reader

synopsis: as the world entered the middle of the 21st century, many things have changed for the better or for worse in the newly united korea peninsula: the preparation for the succession of the new conglomerates of the past decade, the uprising of deviant androids, and the new layer of life shield by walls of codes. in the middle of it, two beings are trying to understand each other and the situation of the world they live in; an unknown territory

genre: cyberpunk, cyber noir, psychological thriller, science fiction, dystopian future, politics and philosophies regarding artificial intelligence and humanity, romance, drama, angst, mature content (war and revolution, explicit smut)

based on: video game cyberpunk 2077 (2020) and detroit: become human (2018), anime serial experiments lain (1998), and tv show succession (2018-2023)

masterlist

from south seoul

shim laboratories is a korean multinational megacorporation dealing in manufacturers of machinery and artificial intelligence. the company is also one of the largest distributors of androids in the global market, pioneering the creation and usage of androids to be used on a day-to-day basis such as in domestic activities or even as soldiers. prior to the release of their android products, they also excelled in the usage of artificial intelligence in day-to-day life including hardware manufacturing or machinery used for city facilities, home appliances, and military technology such as drones that were used in the cyber war of 2027-2030.

jake

name: shim jaeyun ; jake shim

aliases: wolfe (cyberspace)

age: 20

species: human

gender: male

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), yoon (sister; alive)

affiliation: shim laboratories, shim conglomerate

backstory: born in 2030, jake is the eldest of the shim siblings and will succeed his father as the ceo of shim laboratories. a versatile man, he's currently doing a double major in business management and mechanical engineering at seoul national university while also doing training in the labs.

yoon

name: shim jayun ; nicole shim (portrayed by stayc's yoon)

aliases: gynger (cyberspace), yoon (nickname)

age: 18

species: human

gender: female

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), jake (brother; alive)

affiliation: shim laboratories, shim conglomerate

backstory: born in 2032, yoon is the youngest of the shim siblings and a so-called rebel among the conglomerate children. passionate in humanities, she wants to study anthropology after graduating high school.

park corp is a korean multinational megacorporation specializing in police contracting, personal & corporate security, and security consultancy services. they invest in the military-industrial manufacturing of advanced defence tools in united korea, producing weapons used to help defend the korea soil in the cyber war of 2027-2030. their role is pivotal to protect high-ranking people in united korea, making them successful post-war as their services are also used by people worldwide.

jay

name: park jongseong ; jay park

aliases: blu (cyberspace)

age: 20

species: human

gender: male

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), seonghwa (brother; missing), uncle (alive), aunt (alive), chaeyoung (cousin; alive), sunghoon (cousin; alive)

affiliation: park corp, park conglomerate

backstory: born in 2030, jay is the youngest of the park siblings and will succeed his dad to be the co-ceo of park corp, specializing in defence and weapons manufacturing, who works alongside his uncle (sunghoon's dad). studying business management and law, jay was pushed forward in the line of succession as his brother, park seonghwa (b. 2026), is currently missing.

sunghoon

name: park sunghoon ; benjamin park

aliases: frost (cyberspace)

age: 20

species: human

gender: male

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), chaeyoung (sister; alive), uncle (alive), aunt (alive), seonghwa (cousin; missing), jay (cousin; alive)

affiliation: park corp, park conglomerate

backstory: born in 2030, sunghoon is the youngest of the park siblings and will succeed his dad to be the co-ceo of park corp, specializing in security services, who works alongside his uncle (jay's dad). studying business management and law, sunghoon was pushed forward in the line of succession as his sister, park chaeyoung (b. 2025), decided to drop out of the line to go and live in aotearoa.

intelee is a korean multinational megacorporation that is working in the manufacture of computer software, information technology, and computer networks. their role is pivotal as they created the cyber wall to protect united korea in the cyber war of 2027-2030, utilizing their intelligence to defend against cyber warfare attacks such as malware and viruses. after the war, they contributed to connecting the technological network of the korean peninsula and recovered the internet after it was shut down during the war. their protective software and platforms are sought after by governments globally as they recover the fastest after the war.

heeseung

name: lee heeseung ; evan lee

aliases: roe (cyberspace)

age: 21

species: human

gender: male

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), jaehee (sister; alive), uncle (alive), aunt (alive), soojin (cousin; alive)

affiliation: intelee, lee conglomerate

backstory: born in 2029, heeseung is the eldest of the lee siblings and will succeed his father as the ceo of intelee. he's currently majoring in business management and computer sciences.

jaehee

name: lee jaehee ; monica lee (portrayed by weeekly's jaehee)

aliases: dion (cyberspace)

age: 18

species: human

gender: female

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), heeseung (brother; alive),uncle (alive), aunt (alive), soojin (cousin; alive)

affiliation: intelee, lee conglomerate

backstory: born in 2032, jaehee is the youngest of the lee siblings. passionate about healthcare, she wants to study biological engineering after graduating high school.

OTHER CHARACTERS

soojin

name: lee soojin (portrayed by weeekly's soojin)

aliases: katt (cyberspace)

age: 21

species: human

gender: female

family: dad (alive), mom (alive), uncle (alive), aunt (alive), heeseung (cousin; alive), jaehee (cousin; alive)

affiliation: intelee, lee conglomerate

backstory: born in 2029, soojin is part of the lee conglomerate as the cousin of both heeseung and jaehee. currently studying business management specializing in finance, she is in the line of succession to replace her dad as cfo of intelee.

jimin

name: kim jimin (portrayed by weeekly's monday)

aliases: lin (cyberspace)

age: 20

species: human

gender: female

family: dad (alive), mom (alive)

affiliation: kim conglomerate

backstory: born in 2030, jimin is the only child of the kim conglomerate who controls the current largest media company in united korea. she's currently studying communications and business management and will succeed her mom as ceo.

taglist: @raeyunshm @endzii23 @fluffyywoo @camipendragon @hiqhkey @wccycc @cha0thicpisces @y4wnjunz @yeehawnana @beansworldsstuff @kimipxl @blurryriki @reallysmolrenjun @frukkoneeeeg

© writingmochi on tumblr, 2021-2024. all rights reserved

[eretzyisrael]

Seth J. Frantzman

  · 

It increasingly feels like Hamas was created as a proxy against Israel, at least in part with active support of some in the international community. The extent of the Hamas tunnels and terrorist infrastructure in Gaza is so massive that there's no way this could have happened without active support of very powerful agendas globally.

For instance, Hamas sought to use almost every hospital in Gaza as a kind of strategic fortress, to operate near and around. If other militaries have bastions and redoubts and bases, for Hamas each hospital was a bastion.

Hamas also sought to exploit almost every school and international facility, for its terrorist uses, often tunneling under them or storing weapons in them. This happened not in war time, but rather over the last ten years when Israel wasn't operating in Gaza. What that means is that most of the terror infrastructure built in Gaza was built as internationals looked on. We hear their stories of "we didn't see it" or "we didn't know what was underneath our facility."

But none of this can be believed. The huge mountain of weapons found everywhere, the huge number of tunnels underneath every civilian area, under schools and universities, hospitals and UNRWA facilities, is so large and systematic that one can only conclude this organization was a proxy.

It's obvious to me that when peace was on the agenda that many groups in the world who wanted to find an organization to wage genocidal war against israel, sought to turn Gaza into a Hamas enclave to use it as a stepping stone for genocide. Their goal was to put this group on steroids and advise it how to turn Gaza into the most armed site in the world per capita. What that means is that it wasn't just "Sinwar" who was released in 2011 who did this...this was done with active support and collaboration of countries...of international organizations that advised Hamas on the laws of war and likely told them to put all their terror sites under schools, hospitals and int'l facilities...because this was how they could then charge Israel with "war crimes" for targeting these facilities.

For a lot of these organizations the war in 1948 never ended, they were displeased with the defeat in 1948 and their attempt to destroy Israel that year and they set about trying to use others to destroy Israel, first working with Egypt and Syria and then with Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

The amount of money and power that went into the Hamas infrastructure is the kind of thing that is used to build countries and cities, not terror groups. That means that Al Shabab or Boko Haram never had these kinds of resources. Hamas resources to build such extensive tunnels cost more than the budget of countries...which means countries are likely involved.

It's also why we see this huge lobby now to prevent Israel's operation in Rafah which is the last Hamas stronghold. It's also why more IDPs in Gaza were funneled toward Rafah by the groups that have worked with Hamas for years...this is their last massive human shield, 1.4 million people crowded into one area to protect the Hamas leadership and its 136 hostages.

I'm not saying the whole world is somehow invested in keeping Hamas in Gaza, but a portion of the world is invested in this agenda. Hamas is their proxy. The proxy to fight Israel. Part of the reason Israel is not at peace is because of this.

The addiction to Hamas is also clear from the fact that the organization itself and its leaders like Sinwar-Haniyeh etc are not that interesting unto themselves. It's clear that a lot more expertise and thought went into the Hamas empire of terror than just Sinwar and Haniyeh.

[shieldglobalschool]

How To Build A Growth Mindset In Kids?

Building a growth mindset in children is a powerful way to provide them with the resilience and motivation needed to lead life’s challenges and embrace learning at every opportunity. A growth mindset, a term coined by psychologist Carol Dweck, refers to the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work.

[babyarmybabbles]

Barista Soulmate (Dream Part) a1 d1

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: Reader owns a café in Seoul, known for being private, discreet, and delicious among those in the entertainment industry. The owner happens to be the final piece of the well-known 7-member soulmate cluster and global superstars BTS. Not that anyone knows that.

Word Count: 1,034

Notes: This is really just one really long stream of consciousness as I tried to flesh out some ideas. Way too much exposition, not enough BTS lol. It doesn't capture the vibe I want at all, a bit to factual. I'll have to tap into my education in poetry for this when I come back to it lol. I think a lot of the exposition here will be saved for when BTS and Reader actually start talking lol

Warnings: None that I know of?

Masterlist Link <3 | Prev Part Link c: | Next Part Link [not written </3]

You open your eyes to a meadow. Today, the weather is beatific, the soft rustling of the breeze caressing the grass peaceful and calming. The shade of the single massive oak tree shields you from the sun overhead and keeps you comfortable. Warm, but not hot. Cool, but not cold. You look out and can see for forever, if not for the fuzzy edges of your vision and the gentle fog obscuring the ground.

A soft snore comes from your lap and you look down, already smiling indulgently. You’re met with the head of a man, fast asleep and not to wake any time soon. Around you are six other, similarly slumbering, men in various stages of sprawled out and cuddled up on the large picnic blanket.

You don’t remember when you started having this dream. It must of been somewhen during high school, but you never could remember the timing. The meadow hadn’t been a meadow back then, just an endless expanse of foggy white and a ground made of clouds.

The grass still felt like clouds when you laid on it, you knew. It always would, you hoped.

The development of this place had been as gradual as your own growth. The grass had been first, the first time the fog had receded enough to see more than your own hands in front of your face. It must have been around the time you’d discovered your love of baking.

You’d felt so alone and lost back then. Scared of the future, of change and of time. It’d been your grandfather who’d pulled out the dusty cookbook of the grandmother you’d never known and taught you how to create magic with just her ghost by his side. You could never truly express how much you loved him for that.

Baking had saved you, given you love and direction and purpose. The day you’d realized you’d bake for eternity if given the chance, you’d gained ground, literally, in your dream.

It probably meant something you should speak to a therapist about, but this place was yours, and you would never share it. Another snore sounds out, this time from somewhere at your hip.

Well, you correct, you’d share it with your boys. No one else though.

To this day you had no idea who or what these seven men were meant to be, but they were yours. That’s all that really mattered to you here, in this simple space.

You’d found them not terribly long after you’d gained your ground. You’d been walking around, examining the tiny wildflowers that had begun popping up, on a day that the fog had cleared much more than it usually would.

They’d been sprawled all around, none closer than a few feet from the others. You’d found yourself unable to move them, and unwilling to leave them, alone and vulnerable. You’d sat yourself right there in the middle of them all, determined to keep watch over them.

You weren’t sure what you were protecting them from, but you’d been unmovable in your conviction that you would. That was the day your oak tree had begun to grow, long before you had ever dreamed of any sort of sky.

The first time it had rained in your dream had been a terrible affair. Your oak tree had still been just a sapling, offering you no shade from the harsh, ripping wind or the freezing rain. You’d started that dream sobbing into your knees. About what, you couldn’t remember now, but it had felt like the world was ending at the time.

After a moment you’d remembered about the seven men around you and realized that if you felt so horrible in the rain, then they must have too.

You weren’t always able to see the boys. Often they were obscured by the fog that obscured everything else in your dream. That day, in particular, you could barely see your own hands, let alone the boys scattered around.

Still, you’d stumbled around blindly, finding each one and covering them with soft blankets you didn’t remember having that somehow never got wet from the rain. You set up umbrellas to cover their faces and as much of their bodies as you could, and prayed that they’d be able to weather the storm with you this way.

Then you’d gone back to your post in the center of them all, curled up on the ground, and wept.

Ever since then you’d realized you could care for them, even if they only ever moved by some force you didn’t understand. You’d made sure to visit each one where they lay, soothing worry lines and talking about everything and nothing. Every time it stormed you were there to shelter them as best you could, and every sunny day you made sure nothing disturbed their peace.

Over time your oak tree grew, offering you shelter of your own, and the boys migrated closer and closer together by the day, centering on your long-held post between them. There were thousands of millions of tiny caring gestures between you now, though you doubt these men would ever know.

When they’d gotten close enough for you to touch all of them at once without leaving your spot you’d gained your little picnic blanket, an extra layer of comfort to the soft fuzziness calm days in this place bring.

These days your oak tree was so large that you couldn’t wrap around it even if there were three of you. You’d often end up with one man or another in your lap, snuggled into your hip, or otherwise draped over you. The others were often in different arrangements of snuggling amongst themselves or sprawled out in the sunlight. They remained deep in slumber, not one of them stirring for anything.

You absently pet the hair of the man in your lap and earn yourself a contented sigh. You can’t stop yourself from humming the tune of a lullaby as you rest your head against the trunk of the tree at your back.

You feel yourself being lulled to sleep yourself and smile at the prospect of a new day. Your days always started wonderfully when you had this dream.

[eleanorose123]

brother and i finished rewatching zexal- time for the second half thoughts lol

there is a LOT more this time around, so it's under a readmore

right off the bat, Zexal II gives off major sailor moon energy in terms of "haha you FOOLS! the power you used to defeat last season's antag is USELESS now!"

ah yes.......gilag's design.............

brother and i have a long running joke that the barian emperors as a whole are just doing a group project and constantly struggling with the basic shit that people face when DOING group projects (infighting in particular)

also fun fact, my brother DESPISES the sound effect they use for the barian door opening during the chaos xyz summons

i want to say that 85% of shingetsu's shenanigans were planned. he wanted to put yuma through so much hell

furry coach duelist, never forget

TAKASHI TODOROKI MY SWEET BOY

ah rio "i will not be used as a shield to my brother" kamishiro.....we were so hopeful back then

alit remains to be a raging bisexual, we love that for him

though it does raise the question- since gilag couldn't recognize alit initially due to them not seeing human forms until then, could vector tell who they were or did he just hear their names be mentioned and go "wait wtf"

the friendship tournament ep remains to be one of the best one off eps of season 4 i swear to god

remember when the barians were supposed to come and collect haruto? yeah me neither

mizael is peak theater kid. i love that he and kaito fight on equal grounds and then by the end of the series you're hit with "btw mizael is like 15 and kaito's still 18"

rio may have unexplained (at the time) prophecy powers, but shark's got "i can tell yuma is in danger" senses

WE LOVE SHARK BEING A LONGING DUMBASS IN THE HOSPITAL

god i know that like- yuma's already gone through 3 seasons of shark-related emotions, but i wouldn't be surprised at all if it was alit who made yuma first go "wait, do i like guys?"

shingetsu also did a number on yuma with the same emotions, but for much different reasons

"im here to help astral" "yay!" "but don't tell him about me" "ok!" yuma we gotta teach you what a red flag is. though you are 13 and have already gone through a lot of red flags (ex. giving haruto to a stranger)

you think vector had like, a bazillion questions for yuma after seeing no96 for the first time, or did he zip his lip

we establish that kaito has global surveillance and satellites that can just- fire lasers anywhere. tenjos man

takashi and tokunosuke are canonly some of the biggest shippers in the series which is peak hilarity to me, i love that for them

im surprised anna even bothered with the uniform considering she just barged into the tournament regardless. then again, zexal rly loves putting characters in these middle school uniforms

also season 4 is filled way too much with underaged fanservice ugh

SARGASSO DUEL MY BELOVED

mizael refusing to use the lighthouse card cause it was cowardly is hilarious cause durbe is just right there like "hey"

yuma and his very bad no good day

RUIN ARC TIME

my brother was analyzing every second of each ruin tbh

he has.............a lot of thoughts on alit's backstory in particular

why is durbe's ruin in columbia of all places tho

yuma and co skipped so many days of school, you think the rest of the numbers club were just there like "where'd they GO"

we love kazuma desecrating ruins by adding markers and leaving behind coins that future teams will assume to be part of the ruin's treasures (like it did for gilag's)

also they really REALLY never fucking explain WHY kazuma knows all this shit fjdkhdfjkhfd

vector cannot sit still at all

they rly did no96 so dirty in the series. i love that he's a character fandom decided to flesh out beyond what canon gave us, he deserved that much

i rly thought there was more mutinyship moments than there really were jfdkhfdhjdfkhk ah well. they're full of potential

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE YUMA DEPRESSION ARC i know that sounds fucked up to get excited over, but it's also FEARSOME FOUR TIME

ill never understand why they bothered to go be like "heartland took a picture with esper robin" unless they just didnt want us to forget that's a character

"how'd you get your barian crests back?" "with the power of science!" is still SO funny

numbers club trying to be helpful only to get punished is foreshadowing for their fates the rest of the show

you know, you'd think kurage would've realized ryoga was one of the people he killed considering like- he knew his and rio's names. and their faces. but ah well

tokunosuke building a grave for astral is not talked about enough imo, that's like, one of the strongest scenes of the numbers club characters

kaninja you continue to bring me pain, you wouldve won your duel if you didnt say you poisoned kaito

ngl chris, you abusing kaito for a week straight for the sake of "training" was pretty fucked up

i hate the eliphas duel, i hate the eliphas duel, i hate-

"time to be with your REAL allies" durbe plz stfu

they never really do explain how nasch died. we just assumed he did himself in after seeing vector go down which is uh. hm

ahhh toku......the first casualty of the war.........

i wouldve liked more heartland backstory but THATS JUST ME-

jkfkfdhjdkf i love that it rly was just kaninja who was the reason kaito was becoming blind. messed him up even in the afterlife

astral/yuma remains to be so tender

i feel like if you ever want to make vector peak uncomfortable, just stare at him in silence until he breaks

i know that's the point, but once ryoga unlocks "nasch", his drama levels go through the fucking roof

also fun fact, between eps 122 to 143, something like 23 prominent characters die (tokunosuke, heartland, tetsuo, anna, fuuya, droite, gauche, roku, yamikawa, iv, iii, v, alit, gilag, durbe, rio, orbital 7, kaito, vector, mizael, eliphas, don thousand, shark)

"ryoga, my best friend" iv, i rly feel like that's a onesided sort of situation

alit/gilag deserves more attention ffs

GILAG DESERVES BETTER IN GENERAL TBH

i remember being numb by the point of durbe/merag's deaths. that hasnt changed

KAITO'S death tho, that still hits. mainly cause of the music

i love that obomi's affection for orbital only kicked in cause akari....kicked her

akari who was still trying to be in the plot, bless her for trying

haruto is going to need so much therapy tbh

numeron dragon's story is still so sad, love that dragon

it took mizael like 5 eps to get to the moon and another 3 eps to get off it

shark watching vector's performance and just going "........." the whole time is still hilarious. you know that'll always just be their dynamic even post canon

don thousand...........your design is so good but you are still so lackluster......

nasch vs yuma tho- THAT'S a real satisfying boss battle djfkhdfkj love that finale to pieces

aaaaaand now it's just pain and smiles all the way until the end :'3

the growing up storyline of zexal just really, really hits you by those last episodes ugh

there's so much to work with with the finale, and i love it to this day

still the best ygo series, i will not take notes on that fact

if you read all this, thank you

kattobingu <3

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Melissa Chen: I Came to America for Freedom, but Now It’s Looking More Like the Country I Left

I grew up in Singapore, where I felt first-hand what it was like to live in a society where free speech is restricted. Social harmony is prioritized over civil liberties in Singapore's multi-cultural society, fomenting a culture of fear and self-censorship on top of legal prohibitions.

I moved to America for college when I was 17. I wanted a challenging education and a social milieu that valued the free exchange of ideas because I knew that was the only way to grow intellectually and cultivate emotional resiliency. It wasn’t until I was in graduate school that I realized that the America I had sought was increasingly resembling the conditions in which I grew up in in Singapore.

Across town from me in Boston, Harvard University had disinvited a record number of speakers, for reasons including their views on topics like immigration, Israel, and sexual orientation. Harvard’s guidelines banned “behavior evidently intended to dishonor such characteristics as race, gender, ethnic group, religious belief, or sexual orientation.” This guideline was nearly identical to what was law in Singapore.

But even worse than that, an intolerant ideology that promoted collective guilt and racial essentialism had begun to emerge. I noticed my white and male classmates were not being allowed to express opinions that addressed issues related to people of color or women. Phrases like “check your privilege” became a part of everyday conversation. This was something that I never witnessed in Singapore, a nation that was prosperous despite its faults because of its focus on the equality of all people.

After university, I co-founded an organization named Ideas Beyond Borders, where we translated and digitied texts about Enlightenment ideas into Arabic for free. We worked with translators who lived in places like Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Iraq. My exposure to so many failed states led me to see the common denominators that undergirded societal dysfunction and civil conflict; many of these places were severely dogged by extremism, intolerance, and sectarianism.

Even more than my life in Singapore, this provided me with an intense appreciation for the freedoms we have here in America. Why were the students around me so focused on the problems with my white male classmates and teachers, while they largely ignored the injustices I was witnessing around the world?

And since I’ve graduated, it seems like these trends have spread through our nation far beyond the reaches of academia. While so many were focused on American culture wars, including for example asking Disney to fire Gina Carano for supposedly offensive tweets, few were paying attention while Disney made deals to film with the government in Xinjiang, China, where Uighur Muslims were being held in concentration camps. 

This way of looking at the world has a goal of raising awareness of racial injustice. That’s laudable. But within this conception of the world there is also a simplistic and reductive understanding of power dynamics in which oppression must always come from people seen as  white, male, western, heterosexual, cisgender, or ablebodied – and be inflicted upon those seen as marginalized – people of color, colonized or indigenous people, women, LGBT, or the disabled. 

This lens ignores the struggle against real repression globally, including what I have witnessed in Singapore and the Middle East. In doing so, it empowers illiberal, authoritarian forces, from China, to Russia, to the stirrings of Islamist groups eager to rebuild their caliphate.

All around the world, from pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong to feminists in Egypt, countless people seek the freedoms that we in the West take for granted. Meanwhile, we are undoing the ideas that have made the modern West the most progressive place on the planet, while shielding the world’s most brazen abusers of human rights from criticism.

If you care about justice for oppressed people, it’s incumbent on us to push back against bad ideas. America has problems, and we need to improve, but the center of the struggle for human dignity isn’t here. Please, let’s keep America the country I wanted to come to.

I’m Melissa Chen. Join me in defending pro-human values at FairForAll.org.

[darling-frostbite]

Painful Love

You and Loki have been lovers for six months now. After the New York attack, Loki was banned from going back to Asgard and sentenced to stay in Midgard to do public service and to learn how to respect the people living on earth, or what he refers to as "mortals". While you are a special agent of SHIELD and now the new member of the Avengers, You're very good at combat and pretty smart, but when Loki arrived at the compound to stay there for the Avengers to keep an eye on him to avoid yet another global problem, you don't know what's gotten into you but feel like a high school teenager feeling butterflies in your stomach. As you watched him walk to the hall fully restrained, you thought to As you watched him walk to the hall fully restrained, you thought to yourself, "The way he walks is so hot." You both locked eyes at each other, and your heart skipped a bit. You couldn't help but smile, and you blushed when Loki gave you his signature sly smirk, but little did you know Loki felt flattered as well because your smile is so genuine and pure, and only his mother smiled at him like that, and it's been a long time ago. You don't know what happened to you at that moment—not the fact that Tony keeps saying "Y/n to Earth," but you don't care any less. Since that day, you keep on checking on him, sharing your books with him, and bringing food to his room, even though it will take almost forever before he opens the door, and you doubt that he will eat it because, after all, he loathes the humanities, thinking they are so weak and useless. But after months, he started talking to you. You and Loki became close to each other, and yes, you two became lovers. Loki is the best boyfriend any girl could ever imagine; he's very sweet, caring, loving, and loyal, and you love him more than yourself. Back to reality Now that you've watched yourself in the mirror, tears are running down your cheeks as memories come flooding back. It's been a month since the last time Loki and you had fun together. You don't know what happened or what you have done, but something has changed. Your clothes in his closet were moved to a mini drawer below when he used to like them next to his because he said he always missed your scent. He doesn't talk to you anymore, saying he's busy. When you sleep next to him, he doesn't even bother facing you, as if you have a disease or something. He doesn't read to you anymore, nor does he say, "Goodbye for now, my darling; I'll see you soon. Don't miss me so much." together with your favorite wink of him when he's living for a mission. All of it feels like hell, and the fact that you're losing him drives you insane. After locking yourself up for a whole day and saying you're sick when the Avengers asked, the truth is that you've just been crying all day, and now you're out of tears. You heard Loki's door crack open, so you immediately rose up from bed, fixed yourself, and got ready to talk to him about what really happened. You don't even bother to knock; you just open his door without a warning, and there he is, sitting on a single couch, reading his book as if he's so innocent of your feelings right now. "Hi Y/N," he simply greets without even looking at you.

"I need to talk to you," you said, forcing yourself to sound and look okay even though what you really want is to cry nonstop yet again.

 

"I'm tired," he answered. "So am I, Loki! you yelled.

 

"I'm so sick of these feelings! I don't know what happened or what I have done to you for you to make me feel this way! Tell me, Loki, what have I done wrong?!" Your voice cracked as your tears began to run down your cheeks as you remembered how much he loves you and promised that he will never let you be hurt again, yet this is happening.

 

He stands from his chair and looks at you emotionlessly, as if you're just a mere mortal standing in front of him compared to the way he looked at you before, full of admiration and love.

 

"You did nothing wrong, Y/N," he stated.

 

Y/n? He called me by my name. You thought to yourself, This is the first time he called you that since you started dating. A single tear runs down your cheeks again.

 

"Then WHY?!" you yelled as your knees, feeling weak, began to fall to the ground. "There must be a reason, Loki; please tell me." Your last words were almost a whisper as you begged.

 

Loki kneels beside you, looking at you with pity and guilt in his eyes. "Believe me, Y/N, you did nothing wrong, and there is nothing wrong with you." He pauses for a second, as if trying to find less sharp words that would hit your feelings. "It's on me; I just- I just feel like—" he stutters and takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I just don't love you anymore." he admits.

 

You laugh sarcastically and stand, shaking your head no. "Your lying! No! No! Loki please! Please stop this, tell me it's all a joke, that you're just playing games again, that this is just one of your stupid pranks!" you sobbed. Loki, I'm telling you this isn't funny anymore! "

You really hope this is a silly joke and he will start laughing and hugging you any moment now, but no, he's just standing in front of you looking at you full of pity. "Loki, please enough of this; you're hurting me" you whisper to him. You reached your hand to his left cheek and said, "I love you, Loki." This is your last card, and you really hoped you would hear the response you craved, but instead you heard what you feared: "I'm sorry, Y/N," he answered.

 

His words act like a queue for you, and you start running away as fast as you can. You can see the Avengers calling you, but you can't hear them. Everything is blurry due to your tears, and you can't hear anything other than Loki's hurtful words being repeat in your head like a loop. You don't know where you're going, but all you want is to escape from your feelings. You didn't even realize that you were now in the middle of the road and had been hit by a truck.

 

Loki's POV

 

After Y/N left, I fell to my knees, regretting every word I said, cursing myself, and thinking how foolish I was to push away the only love I ever had. I immediately stand and run after her, but she is fast as always, and I can't see her in the compound anymore. "Loki, what happened? Why is Y/N crying while running away? What have you done?!" " Stark asks me as I keep on looking for her all over the room, but I feel insulted by his words: "I only did what all of you always wanted! "I spat at him while looking at all of them full of disgust. I want to kill them all right now, but I know Y/N would be hurt if I did because they are her family, so I stop myself and run out of the compound to find the love of my life.

 

As I was running from the compound, I suddenly felt cold all over my body as I saw Y/N in the middle of the road, not aware of the truck that was coming her way. "Y/N!" I screamed at the top of my lungs to stop her, but it was too late. She got hit, and I saw with my own two eyes and heard a thud when her head hit the ground hard. I ran to her and saw her unconscious body bathed in her own blood. I kneeled beside her, trying all my healing power to heal her, but the damage was too much. My tears began to fall on my cheeks like a waterfall as I sobbed, holding her bloody hand. "Y/n! Y/n darling, please don't leave me, my love! Help! Somebody help my Y/n!" I pleaded as I kissed her hand. "Please, darling, I'm so sorry I didn't mean any of the words I told you earlier! I'm so sorry I hurt you! Y/N, I love you! "That's the last word that left my mouth as the heavy rain started to fall. I feel so numb right now that I cannot even feel the raindrops on my own face. My past is full of pain, but I think this is the most painful part because I lost the only person who loved me so much, my everything, and it's my fault. My life that used to be worthless became the complete opposite when Y/N arrived; she's the only reason I still want my heart to beat; without Y/N, I'll choose to die a thousand times. If only I could turn back time or have one last chance to once again protect my Y/N, I swear to all the gods I wouldn't fail. I would set fire to the nine realms for her.

[winter-angst]

Now for the real question:

Does Jack Rollins like Captain America??

(I have endless questions for you)

Much like for Brock, Steve was a prominent figure in history. He would have seen the old war propaganda and learned about his sacrifice in school. I feel like all boys (and girls) school-aged would be easily dazzled by a super hero and (my) Jack is a proud patriot so he stands behind what he did. At this point I wouldn’t think HYDRA would be an attractive force for him, easily convinced that Steve did was what was right, battling against Nazis.

But then Jack enlists, spends time abroad before being recruited to SHIELD that exposes him to all the corruption happening below the surface. He becomes aware that the reality that he thought he knew wasn’t true at all. That the government worked in the shadows and that the county (and world) is doomed with the way things currently on.

And then he gets assigned to SIC of STRIKE Delta and Jack actually meets Steve. At this point I imagine Jack feels very sour still about the current state of things but he’s still a bit star struck by standing side by side with a known hero. And then Brock opens his eyes to the HYDRA undercurrent and Pierce’s careful works under the guise of SHIELD and he’s easily swayed. He wants a better world; a peaceful one. And HYRA stands for that, for a reduction in crime and dangerous people with lethal abilities.

I can see him completely rejecting Steve at this point, whereas Brock (and some other HYRA members) wanted Steve on their side. (My) Jack is not very forgiving when it comes to what he deems right and wrong and Steve had crippled what he deemed to be a positive global change when he took down the jet into the ocean. And his dislike towards Steve increases after the elevator. That can be seen with how ready he was to pull the trigger on the street with Steve.

(Something that he will forever reflect bitterly on bc, perhaps if he had, their movement might have been successful)

While Jack might have started off rooting for Steve and appreciating his efforts, he quickly came to hate him. Especially after Steve’s actions crippled Brock. Jack would never forgive Steve for that.

(and feel free to ask whatever questions you like! this is soooooo fun 🤩)