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willtay · 3 months ago

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Sustainable Food Assistance in Melbourne

Hare Krishna Melbourne’s Food For Life (FFL) program shines as a beacon of sustainable food assistance in the heart of Melbourne. This initiative not only provides nutritional and affordable meals but does so with a deep respect for the health of individuals and the environment. By prioritising vegan and vegetarian meals, FFL Melbourne offers a compassionate response to human hunger that also aligns with eco-friendly values.

The Green Impact of Vegan and Vegetarian Meals

The choice of vegan and vegetarian meals by the FFL Melbourne is a testament to our commitment to environmental stewardship. These plant-based meals significantly lower the ecological footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and land exploitation typically associated with meat production.

Plant-based diets are efficient in converting plants into energy, making them a more sustainable option for feeding the community. By offering these environmentally friendly meal choices, the program not only supports individual health and well-being but also promotes a more sustainable and compassionate food system. This effort aligns with global calls for more eco-conscious living, demonstrating that every meal can be a step towards a healthier planet.

Reducing Waste with South Melbourne Market Collaboration

In an inspiring partnership with the South Melbourne Market, the FFL program turns potential food waste into a usable resource. Vendors at the market donate their surplus produce, which is then skillfully transformed by FFL Melbourne team into nutritious meals servicing the community in need. This initiative addresses the critical issue of food waste but also ensures that high-quality, fresh produce is used to its fullest potential, without any wastage.

By converting what would otherwise be discarded into meals for those in need, FFL Melbourne showcases an effective, community-driven solution to food insecurity. This approach benefits the environment by reducing waste and strengthening the local community, fostering a culture of collaboration, sharing and sustainability. It’s a practical demonstration of how environmental sustainability and social welfare can go hand in hand.

Locally Sourced, Eco-Friendly Meals

FFL Melbourne’s commitment to sustainability is further evidenced by its dedication to using locally sourced produce in the preparation of its meals. This practice not only minimises the carbon footprint associated with the transportation of food items but also supports local farmers and producers, thereby bolstering the local economy.

By choosing local ingredients, FFL Melbourne ensures the freshness and nutritional value of its meals, providing those in need with high-quality food options. This approach also promotes biodiversity by encouraging the use of a variety of local produce. It’s a testament to how communities and organizations can collaborate, creating local solutions that address local and global challenges. The results, are sustainable food systems that support the health of the local community and the planet alike.

Food For Life at Hare Krishna Melbourne

Hare Krishna Melbourne’s FFL program stands out as a model of sustainable food assistance. Through its commitment to vegan and vegetarian meals, innovative waste reduction strategies, and the use of locally sourced produce, FFL Melbourne demonstrates the power of compassionate action aligned with environmental sustainability.

Our FFL Program is supported by generous donations from members of the public. If you are willing and able, you can donate to this important cause today.

Discover more on Food Assistanace Melbourne.

#foodforlife #foodreliefMelbourne #foodassistanacemelbourne #harekrishnamelbourne

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traveltrainsandcoffee · 10 months ago

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THE EURO FFL 2024 REVIEW

Picking the teams was a big challenge this time, in the old days it was easier to tell players positions, but much harder now. Confusion over who were forwards, Midfielders and even defenders. Newbie Team Aroma barista Tilda tried to pick Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, but he wasn’t in the Euros, because he’s from Brazil. To add to the mix we had a general election going on at the same time. Good news Rishi, the euros are on BBC and ITV, so you don’t need Sky. As the Euro’s got closer the sad news broke that Liverpool and Scotland Legend Alan Hansen was seriously ill in hospital. Former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell was also seriously ill in hospital. He sadly died on the first weekend of the euros.

So who were the favourites? The current Euro FFL champion was Steve Tatham, but he hadn’t really challenged much since winning it. Colin Fenwick was a contender, back in April he won the FA Cup. Could Kieron Mullin win the only FFL title he’d never won before? Jon Thomson had come very close in the main league before coming second to Kieron. Before the kick off most of Scotland seemed to go to Munich. I got a text from a German friend saying ‘I saw a drunken Scotsman in a kilt in the street at 6am.’ The news seemed to be full of my favourite places full of drunken Scott’s, from The Augustiner Keller to swimming in the fountains in Marienplatz. Oh yes sir, the Scotts were boogieing all over Germany. Then there was the English in their campervans. One family on the BBC news had just been to Lidls. How strange, they have Lidl and Aldi in Germany, whatever next.

With all the teams in I sat in the mailbox with Team Aroma’s Olivia and Shann to watch the mighty Deutschland completely destroy Scotland 5v1. Sorry Liv. After game one Chris Geoghegan was top. Senol Durmush then proved he didn’t know his Hawks from his Grimsby Romas. Spain, Portugal and the Dutch made good starts. England in a slightly under par performance beat Serbia with a Bellingham goal. VAR disallowed 2 Lukaku goals, costing Belgium, meanwhile Austria were knocking hell out of the French players. Lots of kicking, Griezmann was pushed into the advertising board, cutting his face. Then Mbappe had his nose broken and would miss the next game. Christian Eriksen had pretty much died on the field at the last Euro’s. Amazingly after those horrible scenes he made a full recovery and scored for Denmark at these Euro’s. Tuesday morning and Team Aroma got a mention on BBC Radio 5Live, ooohh Kolsch. The first full league table of the Euros saw Colin Fenwick top, with Paul Taylor 2nd, Jon Thomson 3rd and Senol Durmush 4th. Team Aroma were bottom.

Round 2 started with a bit of controversy. Scotland scored what look very much like an own goal, but the UEFA goals committee gave it to McTomiany, Pleasing Blessing who had picked him. These dodgy goals committees once gave Crespo a goal, which he didn’t really touch, resulting in Kieron Mullin winning the 2006 World cup by just 1 point. Thursday night, in the Mailbox, with a few members of Team Aroma. Kane scored, but Denmark battled back for a poor draw. England were very poor and the folks back home weren’t sticking by them. All across England fans got very angry, even Shearer and Lineker were having a go, like a pair of angry uncles at a wedding.. Even in our FFL group chat people were saying how boring England were and should Southgate be sacked right now. Then things got a bit weird, Barista Sarah called for Positivity. Manifest a win, align our Chakras. Chakra? Didn’t they sing, I feel for you and I’m every woman? Well you cant say Manifest without thinking of succulent Chinese meals. In the end the call was to ‘get your hands off my portico pizza’. All this fun couldn’t takeaway how poor England had been and how unhappy England fans were. Another unhappy person was Dutch Manager Ronald Koeman. A very dodgy bit of VAR stopped the dutch beating Mbappeless French, get used to that Ronny. Turkey scored a terrible own goal in their 3 nil defeat to Portugal. The match will also be remembered for loads of Ronaldo selfie hunting pitch invaders running on the pitch during the game. At the end of round two Paul Taylor was top, 3 points ahead of Jon Thomson, with Senol 3rd ,Our Grimsby Roma 4th and Danny Lawson 5th.

Round 3 and Germany were through, but the Scotts were out. Austria won the group of Death and amazingly Georgia beat Portugal. A poor performance by England and a draw resulted in them winning the group unbeaten and in the easier looking half of the knock out draw. All good news, well the England fans didn’t see it that way. Boos, gestures, abuse, calls for Southgate’s sacking and some even started throwing things at Southgate and the team. Whatever happened to backing and supporting your country? In Euro FFL, Jon Thomson was still top, but facing a strong challenge from Colin Fenwick, Paul Taylor and Pam Taylor. Team Aroma were off the bottom at the expense of Holly Shakeshaft. Good news as Alan Hansen was now out of Hospital and recovering.

Round 4 and it was the weather that was making the headlines. I’ve never seen so much rain in Germany, not in all my visits. It poured down, even thunder and Lightning. It got so bad that the Germany Denmark game had to be suspended for 20 minutes. When they returned back to the field Germany beat Denmark. Defending champions Italy had been very disappointing and were now out. Also on that Saturday night Chris Geoghegan posted some very strange photos of Tattoos and urinals, no idea why, but he seemed to be “loving it, loving it, loving it”. England were terrible against Slovakia. Even Bellingham was poor, somehow Southgate had turned him into Carlton Palmer. Slovakia were winning and England looked out, but with seconds to go, Bellingham scored an amazing overhead kick goal. Kane scored in extra time and somehow England had turned things around. Belgium were out, while France and Portugal were through. Several FFL managers had picked Ronaldo, but he couldn’t score. To try and cheer the England team up and improve the mood, Ed Sheeran turned up at the England camp. I’m not sure that helped much. In our league Jon Thomson was still top and 3 points clear of the Hawk, with Danny Lawson 3rd, Our Grimsby Roma 4th.

Round 5 and in one of the best games of the Euros, so far, Spain beat Germany. So as Rishi was being kicked out of number 10, the hosts were being knocked out of the Euros. After a great game, followed a terrible game. France beat Portugal in a bore draw. Was this the end of Ronaldo and FFL??? Mbappe or Batman as I like to call him seemed very out of sorts, who knew that a broken nose would have such an affect. England took on Switzerland and went behind, but a great Saka goal took the game to penalties. England won and Saka got his penalty redemption like Stuart Pearce did in Euro96, was it coming home? Jon Thomson who had led for most of the Euro’s was still top and 5 points clear. After leading the FFL back in April and letting it slip he wasn’t counting any chickens, even quoting A Tribe call quest. The main competition for the title was coming from Danny Lawson and Sally Sands. England would play the Netherlands in the semi finals.

Round 6 and with only 3 games to go Jon was top of the league, but not that confident of victory. France who had been terrible and broken nose Batman couldn’t save them. Spain were through to the final and 16 year old rising start Yamal was shining. Remember those pitch invaders from the earlier rounds? Well another one ran onto the pitch to celebrate victory, chased by security men. One of which lost his footing and two footed crashed into Morata, hurting him. Would he be fit for the final. The England semi and I was in The mailbox with some of Team Aroma. Many went to Lincoln castle including Our Grimsby Roma, who even made the BBC. Blessing said that England were always getting away with it. Yet another 90s song reference. Netherlands took the lead, but a controversial VAR penalty from Kane got England level. In a tight game it was Super sub Watkins who scored a winner right at the end. Amazing scenes as England made the final again. Jon Thomson top and 5 points clear of Sally Sands. All the 90s references and Jon and Sally top, it felt like the old days of 90s Tesco Lincoln 1. Oh the memories of England Spain penalty shootout on the radio in the staff canteen, while the shop floor was left empty. 1 point behind Sally stood Kieron Mullin, Danny Lawson, The Hawk and Ashton Lawson. At the bottom Holly was still adrift , 7 points behind Ollie Taylor Yassin and 13 behind Lee Ritchie.

So just the final to go. Off to Germany I went. Saturday morning and lots of England fans getting the Eurostar to Brussels, then Cologne. I spent the night in Cologne even saw the fan zone. Sunday morning and as I was getting the I.C.E to Munich the Spanish were getting the I.C.E to Berlin. Me and Ducklan Rice went to the Augustiner Keller very early and got a great seat. Caught the end of the tennis, but it was the football that matters. Having to explain to the Germans why I had a small yellow duck next to my beer was funny.

The final kicked off and the beer garden was packed, well over a thousand there. England had plenty of the ball, but couldn’t really do much with it. Few chances. In the FFL Jon was still clear and closing in on his first trophy since winning the champions league in 2002. Spain scored and lots of Spanish and Spanish supporting Germans cheered. England scored and lots of English and English supporting Germans cheered. Unfortunately for England, Spain were just too good and scored again. The side which had beaten Germany and France, had now beaten England. Back to back euro final defeats. Spain won their 4th major title in 16 years. Jon Thomson won Euro FFL 2024. He was 5 points better than the man who had snatched the FFL title from him in the final weeks of last season Kieron Mullin. Then came a couple of Lawsons, Sally Sands, the Hawk and our Grimsby Roma. The wooden spoon went to Holly Shakeshaft.

So that’s it, the Euros are over. I’m on holiday across Europe for the next 2 weeks and when I return we’ll be starting to think about the next season of FFL. Thank you for being part of Euro FFL 2024, I hope you’ve all enjoyed it as much as I have.

Final thought

60 years of hurt

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buyingafirearmonline · 1 year ago

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7 Tips to Get Prepared Before You buying a firearm online

Holiday shopping, groceries, and even firearms are just a click away. However, sometimes buying a firearm online can be more of a hassle. Delayed shipments, legal regulations, and more can put a big hamper on an online buy. Believe it or not, it’s perfectly legal to buy firearms over the internet under federal law. It’s also fairly easy to do. With that said it can be not very safe to purchase a handgun over the internet. Luckily for you, we’re here to help. So keep on reading and we’ll take you through our top tips for buying online firearms. Read on to learn all about buying a firearm online or in person.

Preparation and Purpose: The first thing you need to do before starting your online search for weapons for sale is to know what you want to do with your purchase. Are you looking for home defense, recreation, hunting, or an antique to add to your collection? If you know what you want but don’t know what you need to begin with, it’s always best to talk to someone with the right expertise to make the best purchase. Whether you’re an experienced gun buyer or a first-timer, navigating online gun marketplaces can be challenging. It’s often difficult to find exactly what you need, and you may end up settling for what’s available among the firearm for sale during your search. Know what you want before you start shopping.

Research laws and regulations: Before starting the online purchasing process, you’re going to want to thoroughly research the federal, state, and local laws that pertain to firearm sales in your area. Familiarize yourself with eligibility requirements, waiting periods, and any restrictions that may apply to you.

Pick An FFL In Your State: When you’re buying a handgun online, you’re going to need to find a willing FFL (Federal Firearms License) dealer in your area. Basically, when you buy a gun online, it isn’t shipped straight to your door. Instead, the gun is shipped to a gun store. There, an FFL dealer will run a background check on you and transfer the gun into your possession. The FFL needs to be willing to accept transfers that are shipped to you. Some FFLs don’t want to be part of this because online gun companies are their competitors. With that said, many FFLs will charge you a fee for their service and time.

Buy the firearm from a Trusted Seller: Buying a handgun online is no trivial matter. You want to ensure you’re buying a handgun from a seller with a great reputation and one you know you can trust. Shopping online comes with its risks. The same goes for purchasing firearms online. You will want to ensure that you're purchasing from a reputable online retailer that holds a Federal Firearms License (FFL). This license is essential for legally facilitating the sale of the firearm. Make sure you verify the retailer's credentials to guarantee their legitimacy.

Arrange The Firearm Transfer: After you’ve found a willing FFL, you’ll have to arrange the transfer. To do this, just let the FFL know that you want to buy the handgun online and you’ll have it shipped to them, Give the FFL your contact information so that they know how to get a hold of you after the gun comes in. They’ll usually give you a copy of their FFL to use.

You Will Need Ammo: What and Where to Buy It? Buying guns online from a reputable retailer is important, but what about ammo? Can you buy ammo online? Yes. Ammo is a separate type of purchase that can be purchased online and shipped directly to your home. The best option, if available, is to buy your ammo from the same place you can buy guns online. If the online dealer doesn’t sell ammo, check out the local dealer you use to complete the purchase transfer. Furthermore, it will help you build a relationship with the local business owner and ensure you get the right one.

Make a Shopping List of Additional Supplies Before You Pick up: If you’re lucky, the gun you buy online will come with a small carrying case and maybe an extra mag. Aside from that, you will need to check a few things off your shopping list before bringing your new purchase home. A case to fit your weapon and your transport needs, A good cleaning kit that fits the weapon specifically – and generic refill supplies. A holster if you bought a handgun and intend to CCW or open carry on your person. A gun vault or safe for home safety and storage. A bug-out bag or a range bag for traveling to and from wherever you shoot. Considering accessories as you get used to your gun is good practice. Do you want a scope for long-range shots, a red dot sight to pinpoint your aim, or a range finder to ensure you can hit your target? Buying a gun online opens the door for personalizing your gun, but you can’t always guarantee you will find what you need online.

#firearm online

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fanfictionlibrary01 · 6 months ago

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November Challenge: Longfic month!

Our comment challenge is over, our 4 Seasons Challenge is in full swing while our OTP year challenge is starting it's second to last month- and yet we can't leave November be.

Keeping with tradition, November is Longfic month at the FFL! Come gather around the warm fire, make yourself a tea, make yourself comfortable in a blanket- or grab yourself some ice cream and enjoy the bliss of a/c, if you're within the southern hemisphere. Whether it's the heat or the cold, it's a shit time to stay outside. So instead, go full writer mode with us this month, join in on our writing sprints and write a longfic!

Rules

Your goal is to write 20,000 new words for a fic in November

You can work on an old project or start a new one, as long as you write!

We are a fanfic community tho, so fanfiction only!

There’s no maximum limit to the number of words you can write for this challenge, so even if you hit 20k words, keep going!

If you have any questions regarding the challenge, feel free to ask! All Challenge works written by our server members on Ao3 for our challenges are gathered in our Ao3 Collections. You can check out works from our earlier challenges there too!

Come join our Discord Server for some extra motivation, there's a whole event channel of people cheering you on waiting for you! Everyone can start a writing sprint on our server, so there will be plenty around to stay motivated, but every sunday we also have some officially scheduled writing time so you can't escape your WIP... at least not this month!

#fanfictionlibrary #discordserver #fanfiction #community #fanfic #ao3 #writing #writing challenge #fanfiction prompts #fanfiction challenge #fanfic prompt #fanfic challenge #challenge #ffl challenge #long fic #long fic challenge #longfic #longfic challenge #november writing challenge

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siyasims · 2 years ago

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family-orientated 🏠

#ffl #hamartia #rudy #ts4 #ts4 legacy challenge #ts4 legacy

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fitandfaithfulliving · 5 years ago

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Staying home is challenging through this #COVID19 pandemic but we’re keeping them engaged in healthy living....but they did it! • • Check out our DiscoverU21 Youth Ambassadors “Stay Home Get Fit” challenge! #StayHome #GetFit #challenge #FFL #Dallas #DiscoverU21 #WeAreFFL #DallasNonprofit #DFW #DallasKids #fitness #Afterschool #AfterSchoolWorks #igdallas #dallastx #enrichment #vision #wholistic #wholistickids #family #health #GrowSouth #SEL #mindfulness #Covid19 #coronavirus #StayHome https://www.instagram.com/p/B-HzGPaHyTH/?igshid=1l7v22t7vg65p

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dhr-ao3 · 11 months ago

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Bloody Gryffindors

Bloody Gryffindors https://ift.tt/QTNCfOE by person_bookworm Draco asks Hermione out. Words: 311, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 6 of OTP Dramione Challenge - FFL OTP Year Challenge 2024 Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: Post-Second Wizarding War with Voldemort (Harry Potter), Nervous Draco Malfoy, This is very short, but its a cute moment via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/YL0Zm6z June 03, 2024 at 10:55PM

#IFTTT #Dramione #Draco x Hermione

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cryptotheism · 2 years ago

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I had a dream that there was a huge TikTok challenge thing for "Joining the French foreign legion" like people were getting concerned that all these teenagers were joining the French foreign legion as a meme. It became a culture war issue were alt-right chuds were mad that kids with blue hair were joining, which made the FFL "soy now"

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pyrofics · 2 years ago

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Pyrofics Masterlist (pyrophobia on AO3)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* all of my works in one place *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

ꜜ・゜゜✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* open here *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ゜゜・．ꜜ

♥*♡∞:｡.｡ｓｅｏｎｇｊｏｏｎｇ / ｊｏｏｎｇｈｗａ｡.｡:∞♡*♥

Title: Inked Words: 15,286 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Explicit Summary: Hongjoong wanted a back tattoo and Seonghwa agreed to help him with aftercare. Which meant months of showering together and daily back rubs that might've turned into a little something more.

Title: Calling Me Home (To You) Words: 65,629 Chapters: 7/7 Rating: Explicit Summary: Kim Hongjoong has devoted his life to rehabilitating mermaids and mermen back to their clans, going out of his way to support every aspect of the process he can, and wanting nothing more than to see them back to the sea that calls to them. Until he meets Park Seonghwa, a merman with a tragic past and a mysterious secret that teaches Hongjoong to find balance amid the rough waves that have sent them crashing into one another.

Title: Bound by Bullets Words: 108,809 Chapters: 12/12 Rating: Explicit Summary: Seonghwa, a gun dealer working for a licensed FFL holder, finds himself swept up in a world of illegal dealings after he became just a bit too curious about their favorite customer, Kim Hongjoong.

Title: Stay Here, Stay Near Words: 57,599 Chapters: 3/3 Rating: Explicit Summary: Hongjoong gets displaced after a fire in his apartment building, resulting in him being homeless over night. He turns to the only friends he can trust, Seonghwa and Yeosang, to help him out in his time of need, but his one concern is that the Omega, Seonghwa, is pregnant with another Alpha's child. Without many other options at such short notice, he reaches out to them, asking for their help until he can straighten things out with his insurance company, and they are happy to lend a hand for as long as Hongjoong needs, leaving the Alpha forever indebted to them. During his stay, he figures out a way to repay them.

Title: Filling In (Filling Up) Words: 60,874 Chapters: 3/3 Rating: Explicit Summary: Seonghwa started an OnlyFans while in university to help him and his roommate, Hongjoong, make ends meet, not anticipating his side-hustle to quickly spiral out of control, becoming his full-time job. His OnlyFans account gains him lucrative income, adoring fans, and a tight-knit team to help him grow even larger on the platform. But as time passes, Seonghwa is starting to get burnt out, and his manager suggests changing things up by doing a challenge going around the platform. The only problem is, it requires a partner, something Seonghwa has refused time and time again with the same excuses-he doesn't have a partner, he doesn't trust anyone, he is afraid a collaboration will go south-shooting the idea down for the nth time. Until one day his trusted photographer can't make it to their shoot, and Seonghwa is left to do it on his own, something he hasn't done in a while. But his roommate steps in, and offers to fill in for her last minute. Seonghwa is skeptical at first, since Hongjoong stays far, far removed from Seonghwa's profession, but when things go well-better than he could've imagined-Seonghwa doesn't see the harm in simply asking Hongjoong to help out a little more.

♥*♡∞:｡.｡ｗｏｏｓａｎ｡.｡:∞♡*♥

Title: Nothing Beats the Real Thing Words: 21,648 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Explicit Summary: Wooyoung hasn't been dicked down in a while after a bad breakup & is losing his fucking mind because dildos just aren't cutting it and he's spent so much money trying to find a dildo that comes even close to pleasing him like a real cock would because he's sworn off men after his dickwad of an ex, but it's hopeless... until his friends set him up on a blind date that turns out to be the cute florist whose shop he passes every day on his way to work and who sometimes offers him pretty flowers out of his arrangements. Originally Wooyoung writes him off as being too sweet, too soft, too perfect, but eventually San melts his heart and fulfills his fantasies.

Title: Getting Into the Swing of Things Words: 17,719 Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Explicit Summary: San is a club owner in need of a bartender for a VIP swingers party he hosts at his club every other Monday and Wooyoung volunteers for the extra pay, completely unaware what kind of swinger San was talking about, and finds himself catching the eyes of a few party goers, but one particular pair of eyes being none other than his boss, Choi San.

Title: Of Demons and Bee Gee Boards Words: 28,475 Chapters: 2/2 Rating: Explicit Summary: Wooyoung is a troubled university student by day, stripper by night, who jokingly summons a demon with his roommate, Yunho, and best friend, Yeosang, to fight his demons for him. What he doesn't expect is to summon San, a demon who can't stop annoying him with innuendos and corny jokes, who eventually does take care of him, but not how Wooyoung originally planned.

#nsfwtiny #seongjoong #woosan #seongjoong fanfic #woosan fanfic #masterlist #pyrofics masterlist #pyrophobia masterlist #ateez fanfic #ateez smut #wooyoung x san #seonghwa x hongjoong #jung wooyoung #park seonghwa #kim hongjoong #choi san #writiny #ao3 #fanfic masterlist

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traveltrainsandcoffee · 11 months ago

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THE FFL END OF SEASON REVIEW 2023/24

The summer of 2023. Australia had retained the Ashes, bloody Manchester rain and a very controversial stumping. In football Man City had won the treble in May, but the big talk in the Premiership and FFL was about Harry Kane. Kane had been in most people’s teams for many years, but was probably leaving Spurs, but where? City, United? Spain? Germany or the Saudi Pro league. Several stars followed CR7 to Saudi Arabia, including Manager Steven Gerrard with his dodgy attempted Arabic and Jordon Henderson who caused a stir after always supporting LGBT+ then moving to a country which strictly banned such things.

The FFL had been won by a Colin for the last 3 seasons. The Hawk had the title and back in May he stated that he was only a couple of dodgy weekends off the treble. Could he go even better, what about Our Grimsby Roma. In 2022 he set a world record point’s score in winning the league. Mark Taylor had led the league, but ran out of steam and players finishing second, could he challenge again. Senol Durmush and Andy Flanagan had both won cups and were among the favourites. Could Kieron Mullin get back to winning ways?

The Euros awaiting at the end of the season, but just before the season started sad news. Former work colleague and friend Steven Spence died. Spenny won the 2004 Euro FFL. Rest in peace mate.

New managers joined FFL, both had had a go in the World cup, now the real thing for Holly Shakeshaft and Blessing Charumbira. FFL had now had members from Europe, North America, South America and now Africa. It then looked like Kane was staying, but just at the deadline Kane went to Germany and my phone exploded with managers frantically changing their strikers, well a couple missed the deadline and had to start with only 20 players. Thanks Harry. Milner was still in FFL, 3 years after I said it was the end for him Barista Sarah put him in the Team Aroma. So as England were battling and eventually losing in the final of the Women's World cup, The FFL started, with The Hawk as the early leader, with Senol, Paul Taylor and The Knightrider best of the rest.

September started with the return of Origi to the Premier league with Forest. Some managers in FFL seemed more interested in the size of his err, appendage than his football skills. The Hawk was starting ok, but behind the scenes all was not well, angry worried texts from him showed how many players were missing. His team was falling apart and in real trouble. A very understrength Hawk was beaten by Senol Durmush in the Bennett's Shield and went into freefall. Senol was going very well at the top of the league, but with many players injured, many FFL teams were suffering penalty points already. After a poor start Mark Taylor went for an Ice-cream with Harry Maguire at Mablethorpe. By the end of September Senol was still top, facing an unlikely challenge from Team Aroma, yes Team Aroma were doing well. That will never last.

October and VAR madness was in the headlines. A complete breakdown in communications between the VAR bunker and the ref resulted in a total mess. Liverpool and Liverpool fans felt a total injustice. Disco Lee Ritchie had a good online moan. The PGMOL stated that human error was to blame. In the champion’s league first group stage, Tappy, Sally Sands, Andy Flanagan and Mark Taylor were top of the groups. The Hawk was having a nightmare and was out. The month also saw the passing of Francis Lee and Bill Kenwright, along with World cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton. Bobby was probably England’s greatest ever player. In the league only 1 point between the top three of Jon Thomson, Team Aroma and Senol Durmush. Yes Team Aroma were still challenging.

November and three things I didn’t expect to be saying. Cameron back in the cabinet, Farage going into the jungle and Team Aroma top of the league. Our Grimsby Roma questioned how on earth have they done this? This would be a start of a great run by Team Aroma. Aroma famous for always doing badly, famous for some very dodgy player picks were top, clear and pulling away. Definitely their greatest FFL run in their history. Not so great news for Everton as they were deducted a record 10 points for spending far less than Chelsea, and Man City, but more than their Premiership allowance would permit. That’s fair play for you. Everton would get 4 points back on appeal, but have another 2 points taken for the same reason during mostly the same time period??? Forest had points deducted too. Imagine how many points they would have been deducted if they had spent as much as Chelsea have in the last two seasons? Man City had 115 charges hanging over their head, but this may take till the end of time to deal with. FFP and VAR would really spoil this season.

More sad news as former England manager Terry Venables sadly died. I don’t think anyone our age will forget the summer of 96. Early December and a bad injury to Goalkeeper Pope would have a huge impact on many teams. With Ramsdale not playing, Allison injured and so many defenders missing, this season would see more penalty points than ever before. In the champions league second group stages it was very tight. The final games saw last season’s winner Andy Flanagan along with Sally Sands, Kieron Mullin and Colin Fenwick through to the semi-finals. Mary Earps won SPOTY and had a Nottingham tram named after her. The AROMA TRAIN kept on rolling, they were now 30 points clear at the top and the Christmas number one. Could this be a Leicester city moment, could anyone stop them?

Over Christmas and New Year so much happened. Rishi came to Lincoln and even met Blessing’s mum in Sainsburys.. Orange netting flapping around in the wind caused panic at Blackpool tower, Klopp broke Tsimikas collarbone and the world was being introduced to the oldest looking 16 year old, Luke ‘the nuke’ Littler. Joey Barton started mouthing off against women in football and generally making a fool of himself. My German trip didn’t go very well. Firstly Harry Kane didn’t join me in the Augustiner Keller, then angry farmers, rail strikes, delays and rail replacement buses brought misery. More sad news as one of the world’s greatest ever players Franz Beckenbauer passed away. Back in Lincoln for my birthday and that life size cut out of Divock Origi was still stalking me from behind the bar in Red5. During all this time Team Aroma were top and clear. Barista Shann wanted to make room for the trophy, Olivia started writing a Team Aroma chant. There was even talk of an open top TVR ride along Guildhall Street with the trophy, if they won. You can almost see Andy driving, with Sarah and Shann in the back holding up the trophy. January ended with the news that Klopp would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season. Lots of tears from Disco, Holly and half of Merseyside. Jordan Henderson hadn’t settled in Saudi and wanted out. I donated to Stonewall and ActionAid again, when asked on the website why I was donating I simply put ‘disappointed with Jordan Henderson’. A bit of edge crept into FFL. A few digs at Team Aroma from some managers including Colin Fenwick comparing it to an infinite number of monkeys writing the complete works of Shakespeare. Team Aroma’s Sarah came firing back. Not with Keegan style madness, but with Shakespeare. Not since the days of Flannery , Padgham and Burnett battling with Flynny and Mullin had we seen such scenes.

The FA cup. Team Aroma, Our Grimsby Roma and Jon Thomson got first round byes. The first leg of both champions league semi-finals were both draws. The FA CUP 1st round saw wins for Duncan Mackenzie who beat Gareth Dyke, Danny Lawson hammered Holly, Pam Taylor beat Andy Flanagan and Kieron beat Blessing. The tie of the round saw FA cup holder Senol beat Disco Lee Ritchie by 2 points. Blessing overlooked this disappointment and started crowing about Arsenal winning the league this season. Colin Fenwick won his champions league semi against holder Andy Flanagan, while Kieron beat Sally in the other semi. These were good days for Our Grimsby Roma, a Champions league final, starting to close the gap on Team Aroma and last 8 in the FA cup. Possible treble? The second round saw Jon beat Duncan, Kieron beat Danny and Colin beat Pam. Senol beat Team Aroma. More bad news for Aroma as the lead was being chipped away. Sad news as German world cup winner Andres Brehme died. Under pressure Roy Hodgson ended up in hospital and eventually left Palace. Liverpool WON the EFL cup, ‘beating the blue billion dollar bottle jobs’ Chelsea, not my words, but the words of Gary Neville.

In the FFL, the dream was over. After leading for 3 and a half months, key injuries saw Team Aroma slide down the table. Both Kieron Mullin and Colin Fenwick were going for the treble. The champion’s league first leg saw Kieron get a 2 point lead. Penalty points were hurting so many teams. Jon Thomson was 3 points clear of Kieron with Danny Lawson 3rd. The FA Cup semi-final saw Jon beat Kieron and Colin beat Senol. This ended Kieron’s treble dream and Senol’s hold on the FA cup. As Easter approached Jon had 15 point lead at the top.

Easter and it's very tight at the top. The penalty points have kept scores lower this year, but it’s very close between Jon Thomson, Kieron Mullin, Colin Fenwick and Danny Lawson. There was a national outcry as Nike changed the England Flag on the England shirt, not to mention the price £125. In FFL in one week every single manager apart from Holly got penalty points. Kieron Mullin won the first trophy of 2024 in winning the champions league. This was Kieron's 13th FFL trophy, an FFL record and the end of Colin Fenwick treble dream. It was also around this time that we were all introduced to the term 'Pickfordsexual' now I'm pretty clued up on the modern gender and sexual spectrum, but this one was new to me.

Harry Kane left spurs to win titles, unfortunately as the saying goes 'you can take the boy from Spurs, but you can’t take the Spurs from the boy' for the first time in 12 years Bayern München didn't win the league. Poor Harry, you really should have joined me for that beer at the Augustiner Keller.

By April Jon was 13 clear at the top of the league and preparing for an FA Cup final. Possible double. A bad couple of games for Arsenal saw them lose ground in the league and out of Europe. Blessing who had been very confident of their success was crushed, so much so that he started quoting Friedrich Nietzsche. This along with Sarah Henderson quoting Shakespeare makes you think ' whatever happened to the days of people shouting I would Love it if we beat them, love it.' More sad news as Joe Kinnear died, I remember seeing him as a manager on the touchline at a couple of games.

Late April and something very strange happened. Everton who started to improve beat Forest 2 nil. However 3 possible Forest penalty shouts were not given and VAR didn’t get involved. Forest issued a statement after the game accusing the Premier league of putting a Luton fan in the VAR box and that they were considering their options. This felt like full on tinfoil hat conspiracy time. Who was to blame for this very miss-guided statement? Nuno, The strange Greek owner or Mark Clattenburg in his vague ref advisory role at Forest. Most of the footballing world came out and condemned Forest. The FA talked of charging them with bringing the game into disrepute. Then shortly afterwards Clattenburg left his role at Forest. 'Clattenburg, you will go on my first whistle.' The FA Cup final was an all Italian affair as Juvejon played Our Grimsby Roma. Klopp and Salah had their touch line bust up, I was watching the game in a pub in Norwich with Holly Shakeshaft. We were given the true London stadium feel as the TV screen was about 5 miles from where we were sat. Colin Fenwick won the FA cup final by 4 points to win his 3rd FFL. Liverpool had found Klopps replacement, A Dutchman who looks like a cross between MVG and Matt Lucas called. Arne Slot.

May and the FFL was becoming a 2 maybe 3 horse race. Jon Thomson was top, with Kieron Mullin 2nd and Our Grimsby Roma 3rd, but 15 points back. Leicester City were heading back to the Premiership, Bayern were knocked out of Europe and Kane would again finish trophyless. The hammer blow, the KO came in the final few Man City games. Defender Gvardiol, who had missed a chunk of the season started scoring goals and keeping clean sheets. He got Kieron 12 points in only 2 games. Going into the final Premiership weekend Kieron was 15 points clear of Jon at the top.

The final weekend of the season saw Usyk beat Fury, Man City win their 4th Premier title in a row and Liverpool fans said their tearful goodbyes to Klopp. Kieron Mullin had all but wrapped up the FFL title. A now 17 point lead and with similar players left in the FA Cup meant he couldn’t really be caught. Moyes left West Ham, Pochettino was sacked. Luke Littler won the Premier League of darts and Rishi called a general Election. During his attempt at being a normal bloke he asked a group of Welsh guys if they were looking forward to the football (Euros). Wales haven't qualified.

The FA Cup final saw a mix up in City's defence and Utd go one up, two, no its offside , but soon it was two nil. Final few minutes and it 2v1. Utd hang on and win the FA Cup. No double for City, but is Ten Hag still getting the sack?

So Kieron added The FFL title to his Champions League title a record 14th career trophy, amazing when you consider he got -50 in penalty points. Jon Thomson took second place and Colin Fenwick 3rd. Colin also won the FA Cup. Team Aroma had their highest ever finish of 8th and made the champions league for the first time ever. A brilliant season for them, but it all felt disappointing after once being 30 points clear at the top, Andrew, Sarah, Shann, Olivia and the rest lamenting what might have been. The final champions league spot went to Blessing, by just 2 points over Tappy.

Thank you for a great Season, really great fun, soon be time for Euro FFL and we go again for the main event starting again in August

2 Final thoughts.

1. Will Kane ever win a trophy?

2. Can Team Aroma repeat this again next season?

0 notes