#field hockey is brutal

[chyirly]

TMNT, except it's one of those cliche ‘I Was Transmigrated As the Villainous Lazy Prince!’ with the main character being Mikey.

Orenji, Mikeys real world name, is reading one of the most cliche ‘Normal girl is summoned to a fantasy world as the Saint that will fight against an evil darkness. Gaining her own harem of powerful figures along the way.’ novels.

The villain is Prince Michelangelo who made a deal with a demon in order to gain more power before being taken over by the demon.

Orenji then goes to sleep after reaching the end of the novel and then wakes up in the world of the ‘insert cliche name’ in the body of Prince Michelangelo.

He's surrounded by maids telling him he was in a coma after falling from his balcony. None of his family come in, which fits with the plot of the novel. He decides to fake amnesia.

Before he realizes that the beginning of the story already began. This is bad because by then Prince Michelangelo had already begun antagonizing the Saint for getting close to his brothers.

Blah blah blah, the usual plot, NOW HERES THE INTERESTING STUFF! (under cut)

- Leo is the Crown prince that is never around, but still knows everything going on, he's calculating in nature and is the first to notice that Michelangelo's amnesia is fake/not an actual thing

- Raph is a war general that is known for his brutality is busy fighting on the outskirts to care about drama in the palace

- Donnie is the royal scientist that has greatly improved the scientific field, with microscopic help from the Saint, using her for experiments, he is too trapped in his world to care about what’s going on outside

- Casey is Raphs second in command, following him to war, and in his spare time is a part of the palaces guard, he's obsessed

- April is Donnie's assistant and is also apart of the secret guard

- Splinter is the heartbroken King that tries to be there for his children but sometimes pushes them away

- The brothers do care for each other, especially Michelangelo because he is the youngest, they spoiled him rotten and distanced themselves after realizing that they were the reason the Michelangelo had changed so much

- This broke Michelangelo's heart, who saw his brothers as the lights of his life and saw their separation as them abandoning him

- After waking up, Mikey sought to give himself a better life then both of the ones before by getting close to background influential charcaters, beginning with Donnie

- Donnie tried to figure out why Mikey had amnesia, pushing himself to find a ‘cure’, even through darker means

- Raph was in a war when he got the news of Mikey's amnesia, so he got a bit more bloody just so that he could return earlier then the plot

- Leo might have put a few secret guards around Mikey, but nobody has any proof of that

- Michelangelo and Mikey have very different interests and dislikes, some are flipped for the person, which is what puts suspicion on Mikey not being Michelangelo

- The brothers might have visions of the past timeline

Orenji’s life

- Hes a single child

- He's friends with a pair of twins and a member of the wrestling club, as well as a member of the newspaper club, a member of the hockey club and their cousin

- He was part of the art club, which is why he read the novel, was tasked to draw his favorite scene from an assigned book

- He was popular with other students and staff, being the person that they could go to when they wanted to express their feelings

- He has a part-time job at the local restaurant/bakery, with the shop being a regular participant in the local cook-off competition

- Draxum is his dad, but due to being a well-known scientist he's out of town most of the time, so to not feel lonely Orenji would crash at his friend's house

- Michelangelo might be living his life now

[rreskk]

TREVOR PHILIPS: “He was the smartest, toughest, weirdest kid in Canada.”

HEADCANONS: Teenage Trevor Philips

~Basically lived at the arcades trying to compete against other players all of his summer breaks.

~His hockey team used him as a weapon during games. They always relied on Trevor to DEMOLISH the opposing players. And when I mean demolish... He gets brutal. Blood, sweat, tears...

~Got kicked out of the team obviously...

~Played bass in his free time. Was talented but quit when he found interest in planes and pilots.

~Never attended classes but when he did, he was surprisingly intelligent. (Was a master in physics, maths, physical education, and social sciences).

~Was adored by all female teachers (due to his charisma and attachments to them).

~His full-time job was scaring school councillors into cancelling his "therapy" sessions.

~Lone wolf. He used to make friends but he was always moving schools.

~With that... He's known as "that transferred kid" who intimidates everyone.

~Probably had a few... Close scandals with female teachers as well...

~After school hours, he was always graffitiing on the school walls.

~He's a head teachers worst fear...

~Was a leather jacket teenager (bonus if he wore fingerless gloves as well).

~Trevor mostly spent his time getting high on a random field instead of attending school. His mother was barely at home and his brother (Ryan - Still alive during this era) would also be flunking his lessons, just somewhere else.

~He had one school fight and it ended with death. The kid threatened him and... Well... Trevor made him choke on the schools choco milk in front of everyone in the cafeteria. He was sent to juvenile hall (like Michael) but many times... (For reasons surrounding drugs and aggression).

~Dropped out when he was 16.

[dertaglichedan]

Girls’ Field Hockey Team Forfeits Game Against Team With Male Player

A girls’ field hockey team from Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School in Massachusetts (D-R) has forfeited a planned game on September 17th because their opponent, Somerset-Berkley, has a male on their team.

Dighton-Rehoboth cited its new policy, approved on June 25, that allows players and/or coaches to opt out of competitions if the opposing team includes a member of the opposite sex.

The policy was enacted after the brutal injury of a female D-R field hockey player by a male last season.

A biological male playing for Swampscott hit a female D-R player girl in the face leaving her with serious injuries and knocking out some of her teeth.

[theseyellowdays]

Im sorry but the one thing I will always choose to ignore is that exy courts are the size of soccer fields. Have you seen how big a soccer field is?? And how slow the game play is bc of that?? Exy is brutal!! You can only hold the ball for 10 steps!! It's fast and violent and ticks at a pace you can't get of the pitch is that large!! Not to even fucking mention all the times Neil talks about rebounding the ball to himself off the wall; pray tell how you do that if the wall is in fucking timbuktu half the time?? In my mind an exy court will always be the size of a hockey rink (with the curved walls bc who's got the fucking time for accidental dead play but thats a separate rant) and I can never be convinced otherwise

[misteria247]

Oroku Siblings AU but in the distant future aka what happened after the final battle with the Super Shredder (spoilers for the show obviously):

Splinter had managed to survive the final battle with his ex brother and enemy however at a price. Due to the fierceness and brutality of the battle Splinter had ended up being severally injured. So much so that once the battle was over the rat had been forced to somewhat retire from the field of ninjutsu. While he's still the head of the Hamato clan and still teaches his students, he's unable to go out and join any future battles due to the severity of his injuries. He now spends his days showering his grandchildren in affection and helping guide his sons and daughters in their training.

Raph ended up getting together with his girlfriend Mona Lisa, and after a few years the two got married. It wasn't long before Raph and Mona had children of their own which Splinter spoils to the highest degree. Since things have cooled down with the Foot clan and the Kraang's major projects have been derailed, Raph instead goes on night patrols with his brothers and continue to protect NYC. Raph has become a huge family man and he adores his children and his wife to bits and pieces. Raph has even opened an online store where he sells his artwork anonymously for a rather pretty penny.

Donnie ended up getting together with Casey and the two have been together ever since. Donnie now runs his own little tech business, fixing broken gadgets and knickknacks that are sent to him. Whenever he's not working on things like this he's usually out on patrol with his brothers and protects the city that never sleeps right alongside them. Donnie has also officially retired as the leader of the team, having had his fill during his teen years. No one really blames him for it. He honestly doesn't mind too much and instead revels in the decrease of stress he now gets.

Casey had ended up becoming a professional hockey player, and he's known to be a coach as well for kids who have shown an interest in the sport. Casey still does his vigilante work on the side and currently lives happily next to Donnie. While he's cooled down over the years he's still known to be a bit hot headed. He's also constantly spoiling Raph's children and has been dubbed as Uncle Casey the cool uncle.

April ended up continuing her ninja training, and once the battle was over she'd ended up quite bluntly telling Leo that she was in love with him. The two afterwards have been in a somewhat tentative relationship that's going extremely well. April also attends college and takes classes for literature, wanting to become a writer someday. She still helps the boys out in protecting the city and visits her father who's moved into the farmhouse after all the insanity he's been through.

Karai much like in the original timeline ends up taking over the Foot clan, becoming the official leader of it. With her girlfriend Shinigami as her second in command and with her favorite little brother Leo as a consultant, Karai starts to try and bring honor back to the Foot clan and will often times be either in NYC or back in Japan to do this. She still keeps in close contact with Splinter and the rest of her family and shortly after the battle had officially started addressing herself as Karai Hamato instead of Karai Oroku.

Mikey surprisingly enough becomes a comic book artist. Illustrating the many adventures of him and his family and tweaking a few major events and changing characters names, Mikey's comic books blew up in popularity. With the help of April who helps him get them published Mikey enjoys his career to the fullest. When he's not doing that he's of course helping his brothers to protect the city as well as be an assistant to Leo for his dojo. Mikey will often times be caught playing around with the children at the dojo and poking fun at his older brother with a cheeky laugh. Mikey has also begun to see Renet on a more serious romantic note.

Leo ends up becoming a teacher in the art of ninjutsu just as he's been wanting to do ever since he was a child. Leo's opened up a dojo in the underground mutant community where Mondo Gecko and Leatherhead and many other mutants reside in. Many mutants and mutant children are always coming through his doors to learn what they can and when he's not teaching his students he spends time with his girlfriend April, and his brothers and father, getting to know them better and making up for lost time. Leo has also put away the usual black clothing and mask he wears and has instead taken up the original blue mask and inherited the two black katanas that belonged to his father. He's also taken up the team leader role however he doesn't need to use it much.

[laresearchette]

Monday, April 01, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: VANDERPUMP VILLA (Disney + Star) THE SYNANON FIX (HBO Canada) 9:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: 2024 iHeartRadio MUSIC AWARDS (FOX Feed) LOVERS AND LIARS (CW Feed) ALL AMERICAN (Premiering on April 08 on Showcase at 8:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA ALLAN QUATERMAIN & THE LOST CITY OF GOLD AT CLOSE RANGE BLAME IT ON RIO BLOODSPORT BREATHLESS BULLETPROOF MONK CASINO CLASS DARK BLUE DARK ANGEL DR. SEUSS’ THE CAT IN THE HAT EYE OF THE NEEDLE FLAWLESS FLESH+BLOOD HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THE MARLBORO MAN KOYAANISQATSI THE LAST WALTZ LOL: CHI RIDE E FUORI (Season 4) MOBY DICK NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER THE PARTY ROLLING THUNDER TOP GEAR (Seasons 14-25) THE TRAIN VALLEY GIRL VAMPIRE’S KISS WARCRAFT WHITE NIGHT

CBC GEM DYLAN’S PLAYTIME ADVENTURES

CRAVE TV LITTLE JESUS THE SYNANON FIX (Season 1, Episode 1)

DISNEY + STAR VANDERPUMP VILLA (Three-Episode Premiere)

NETFLIX CANADA THE MAGIC PRANK SHOW WITH JUSTIN WILLMAN

CURLING (TSN/TSN5) 8:00am: LGT World Men's Curling Championship: Canada vs. Italy

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 7:00pm: Panthers vs. Leafs (SN Now) 9:00pm: Oilers vs. Blues (TSN3) 9:00pm: Kings vs. Jets

MLB BASEBALL (SN1) 8:00pm: Jays vs. Pirates (SN Now) 10:00pm: Giants vs. Dodgers

NBA BASKETBALL (SN Now) 8:00pm: Suns vs. Pelicans

MURDOCH MYSTERIES (CBC) 8:00pm: After a man dies in a drunken brawl at the Starbright Lounge, Murdoch's suspect is another detective.

WARDENS OF THE NORTH (Discovery Canada) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Conservation officers crack down on boaters not complying with the law; a routine fishing patrol has officers tracking down over-the-limit anglers; a kayaker is reminded that lifejackets work best when worn, even when close to home.

SOCIAL MEDIA MURDERS (T&E) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Alex Rodda, a 15-year-old teenager, is murdered by 18-year-old Matthew Mason in December 2019, six weeks after they first exchange messages via social media.

SECRETS IN THE ICE (Super Chanel Fuse) 8:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): A grim discovery in a Swedish lake reveals ancient practices; in the Canadian Arctic, the fossil of a previously unknown mammal is found; bizarre ice formations in the Antarctic Ocean; a discovery off the east coast of Canada.

BELGRAVIA: THE NEXT CHAPTER (CBC) 9:00pm (SEASON FINALE): As Frederick grieves the loss of Clara, Enright receives a letter that pushes Frederick to confront his past; Clara and Davison adapt to life in the North, as Clara grapples with happy memories of home.

OUTBACK OPAL HUNTERS (Discovery Canada) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): The Bushmen bring in an explosives expert to blast through the toughest rock in Grawin; plus, a brand-new team brings cutting edge technology to the opal fields.

SPOOKED IRELAND (DTour) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): The team ventures to Charleville Castle, where they face a multitude of spirits who seem to have turned against the castle's current occupants by trapping them in cupboards and keeping them up at night with screams and singing.

EXPEDITION X (Discovery Canada) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): Phil and Jess explore the world's most haunted forest near the site of the Dracula legend and where Josh Gates had his most terrifying experience; during a night investigation, Jess finds herself being watched by someone or something sinister.

THE PLAYBOY MURDERS (Investigation Discovery) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): In the late '90s, Playboy twins Sandy and Mandy Bentley's fame soars until an affair with a Vegas High Roller leads to a fall from fame, stolen jewels, a shadowy buyer and a brutal double murder in the Hollywood hills.

MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA (CTV Life) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): A group of 12 home cooks will compete with 12 former contestants.

MURDER AT MY DOOR WITH KYM MARSH (documentary) 10:00pm/11:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): The story of 17-year-old Thomas Griffiths, who killed his girlfriend and arranged the crime scene to look like a suicide after she broke up with him. In Episode Two, 19-year-old Mundill Mahil lures a young TV executive to his death in an act of revenge following an attempted rape six months earlier.

[noporovi]

I tried googling what wáw'kish was, but couldn't find anything about it. What's the game about?

Wáw'kish is the 'atáaxum pomtéelangax (Luiseño) word for shinny, the predecessor to hockey in North America!

"Shinny" is kind of a catch-all term for all the different variations of the game, so I always just call it by our name to be specific to the cultural region I live in

Wáw'kish is basically hockey: you have two goals and two teams on opposite ends of one field, and the goal is to hit the ball through the goal for a point. Your sticks are simple tree branches with a hooked end, and the ball is either stone or wood sometimes wrapped in leather or rawhide.

Simple, yet unlike hockey which has various rules and regulations for play, wáw'kish has no rules at all! This even extends to the field as there are no boundaries telling you where to play, and any attempt to adhere to boundaries is only a courtesy to not disturb or hit onlookers. This freeform-style allows some downright insane plays like "checking" someone by bumping into each other (very roughly, in my experience 😭), stealing someone's stick from their hands and tossing or breaking it, scoring from behind the goal, fighting your own teammates, you get the idea. Additionally, while most people play with assigned roles like "goalie," there are no actual roles which makes for some very brutal teamwide pushes that leave their goal defenseless.

My tribe buries the ball in the center of the field before each round, making each team run from their goals to dig and find the ball first using their sticks. We also run a "no kicking the ball" and "no swinging above the waist" rule just to protect people's heads. Historically, sports games were a vital part of our societies with its culture as strong as fútbol in Latin American circles. Select fields have been said to span a mile or longer to accommodate for a village's worth of a team against another village, whose games lasted days or weeks to settle.

Today, it's a very popular past-time among both my tribe and the ones I've visited and played against across Southern California and Arizona, and is played at almost every gathering and cultural celebration.

Unfortunately, I don't have any videos of mine that I can share, but I found this Youtube video of Tohono O'odham women playing tóka, their version of shinny!

[starscreeam]

four hounds afterschool extracurriculars:

griss: bowling team. . . change my mind

zephia: lacrosse or field hockey. BRUTAL on the field no matter what tho

mauvier: band (at veyles insistence; plays percussion). also dabbles in stagehanding/stage crew to keep an eye on veyle

marni: also band (with mauvier! plays the clarinet).

veyle: band AND theater. plays the flute :>

[southernlynxx]

15 Questions // 15 Mutuals

Got tagged by @picnokinesis​  - I actually saw this one 🤣

1) Are you named after anyone?

My first name if after an 80s Marillion, one of my middle names is the French version of my nanna’s name.

2) When was the last time you cried?

I’m not too sure, I’m not usually much of a crier unless super stressed out. The last I can probably recall is January, but there may have been something between then and now (April) that set me off.

3) Do you have kids? 

I have a bunny and I love her.

4) Do you use sarcasm a lot?

More than I probably should, but it’s not as chronic as my swearing!

5) What sports do you play/have played?

Oh man, time for my undiagnosed childhood ADHD to surface; Running, Basketball, Mixed Martial Arts, Horse Riding, Football, Field Hockey, Volleyball, Rock Climbing, dance & Pole Dance (classing these as a sports/fitness activity). And though I never did it competitively, I swam *a lot* as a child.

6) What's the first thing you notice about other people?

Probably their hair or height. Or their present presentation. Whatever is the most super-obvious visual detail because I am not observant.

7) What's your eye color?

A greenish-blue.

8) Scary movies or happy endings?

I do love scary movies (scary, not gory or brutal fetish-fests), but ultimately I’m a happy-ending kinda person. Put me through the emotional wringer, but leave me feeling satisfied. Even if I can appreciate a tragic or bittersweet ending for it’s narrative or artistic means, I need to leave happy.

9) Any special talents?

Nothing in particular special comes to mind, but I’m pretty good under pressure and taking control when things start breaking down. I like solving problems, finding solutions, and I’m not usually one to flustered or stressed out in unpredictable situations.

10) Where were you born?

Hospital in Edinburgh. 2.02 AM and about a week late (a quality that will stick with me to this day).

11) What are your hobbies?

Hello ADHD is that you. My ongoing hobbies include DIY (nothing is safe, things are being painted, renovated, re-tiled, decorated, I have no idea what I’m doing). Gardening (mostly keeping our plants alive), writing/drawing (very sparse, these are very stressful hobbies for me), crafting (learning to sew, and still have a calligraphy set and pyrography pen to use), Making lists (at this point it’s more a hobby than practical!), Fandom events/activities (comes with fandom server management), video games (so many video games), Reading (mostly fanfic, but I hope to get back to books at some point), yoga. Past hobbies include horse riding, violin, origami, knitting, puzzles, pole dance, dance, cycling, acting/improv, amv/video editing, online roleplay, film making, plus some others I probably forgot.

12) Do you have any pets? 

YES. I HAVE A CUTE SASSY BUNDLE OF OPINION AND CALIGA AND I LOVE HER

13) How tall are you?

Just pushing 5′3″ ):

14) Favourite subject in school?

Either Art, P.E, or Media Studies, depending on what we were doing at the time (fuck you beep test)

15) Dream job?

Don’t really know anymore; whatever pays me decently and doesn’t take up my life so I can live comfortably, travel, and keep up my hobbies.

Tags, in case you’re interested! @purplecatdad​ | @sweet-by-and-by​ | @avengertonystark​ | @gaslightwestern​ | @krystal-callahan​ | @sunspott​ | @mephistia-arts​ | @littlestarofthewest​ | @theyoftenwhisper​

[widgenstain]

@nextraordinaire tagged me like a month ago but even after eleven years on this site I can’t respond on time to memes, somehow?

1. are you named after anyone?

Yes, my paternal grandmother and my godmother, as it is usual for good Catholic girls.

2. when was the last time you cried?

can’t remember, probably a year ago out of anger? I hardly ever cry, which was really funny when I was fired, because they somewhat expected me to cry and... no? Not even if I was actually sad?

3. do you have kids?

No. And I’m not sure anymore how I feel about that.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Way too much.

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

The way they carry themselves. Like, I can spot my father 100 metres away in a crowd like that, despite my failing eyesight. I look at how people walk and stand.Then the eyes. 

6. what’s your eye color?

Had a drunk recently wax on about my beautiful brown eyes. Fucker, they’re green, they only look brown because of my central heterochromia.

7. scary movies or happy endings?

going to give the same answer as the person before me: neither. ambiguous/open endings, please.

8. any special talents?

I can reach the top shelves, but also fold myself into one? I’m tall yet bendy.

9. where were you born?

Austria.

10. what are your hobbies?

wasting time on the internet, cycling, reading, being social.

11. have you any pets?

no. aside from the cats that visit my garden and the adorable songbirds that soon will end up in their stomachs, I don’t have any pet. (Also I’m so sorry nextra!)

12. what sports do you play/have you played?

so many, the ones I like most are the brutal ones, like martial arts and field hockey. A little known fact about me though is that I did ballet for roughly 8 years and was asked to be a cheerleader for a professional but small basketball team. So I can do both.

13. how tall are you?

6′.

14. favorite subject in school?

Always depended on the teacher, I was a nerd and good in all of them.

15. dream job?

Andrew Scott’s professional armpit sniffer.

tagging everyone who reads this, seriously, I mean it, tag me if you’re done!

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

Liberals WAR against Women, or more accurately, WAR on girls.

"Dighton-Rehoboth cited its new policy, approved on June 25, that allows players and/or coaches to opt out of competitions if the opposing team includes a member of the opposite sex.

The policy was enacted after the brutal injury of a female D-R field hockey player by a male last season.

A biological male playing for Swampscott hit a female D-R player girl in the face leaving her with serious injuries and knocking out some of her teeth."

[newstfionline]

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Top defence contractors set to rake in record cash after orders soar (Financial Times) The world’s largest aerospace and defence companies are set to rake in record levels of cash over the next three years as they benefit from a surge in government orders for new weapons amid rising geopolitical tensions. The leading 15 defence contractors are forecast to log free cash flow of $52bn in 2026, according to analysis by Vertical Research Partners for the Financial Times—almost double their combined cash flow at the end of 2021. Five top US defence contractors are forecast to generate cash flow of $26bn by the end of 2026, more than double the amount in 2021. The industry is benefiting from a sharp increase in military spending as governments increase their budgets in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and escalating tensions in the Middle East and Asia.

Residents in Boston suburb raised $20K after town officials shut down boy’s ice cream stand (AP) Bored and looking for something to do this summer, Danny Doherty hatched a plan to raise money for his brother’s hockey team by selling homemade ice cream. But a few days after setting up a stand and serving up vanilla, shaved chocolate and fluffernutter to about 20 people, Danny’s family received a letter from the Norwood Board of Health ordering it shut down. Town officials had received a complaint and said that the 12-year-old’s scheme violated the Massachusetts Food Code, a state regulation. Danny’s mom, Nancy Doherty, who had encouraged her son to start the stand as long as he donated half of the proceeds to charity, was taken aback. “Somebody complained. That was the most disappointing part for us was that somebody thought it necessary to complain about a child’s stand,” she said. “It seemed a little, you know, crazy if you ask me.” Rather than give up, Danny decided to give away the ice cream and accept donations for the Boston Bear Cubs, a team featuring players with physical and developmental disabilities—including his brother, who is autistic. That’s when the neighborhood fundraiser blew up and became the talk of Norwood, a suburban town about an hour from Boston, and raised $20,000 in the end.

Haiti’s army wants recruits to fight gangs, and youths jump at the rare job offer (AP) The announcement that Haiti’s military wanted recruits crackled through a small radio perched on a street stall in downtown Port-au-Prince where Maurenceley Clerge repairs and sells smartphones. It was early morning, and the 21-year-old paused, eager to hear the details. He envisioned earning enough to afford his own food and rent. Two weeks later, he completed the required paperwork and stood in line with hundreds of other Haitians under a brutal sun for the chance to join up. Thousands of young Haitians are jumping at the chance to become soldiers as widespread gang violence creates a rare job opportunity in a deeply impoverished country where work is scarce. Brushing aside the possibility they could be kidnapped, tortured or killed, Haiti’s youngest generation is answering the call of a government seeking to rebuild a once-reviled military, reinstated just years ago with the aim to crush gangs.

In drought-hit Greece, water trucks are keeping crops alive (AP) Six weeks before harvest, there’s no water left in the ground for farmer Dimitris Papadakis’ olive grove in northern Greece, so he has started a new morning routine. Joined by his teenage son, he uses a truck to bring water from nearby areas. Using a small generator, he connects the vehicle to irrigation pipes to save what’s left of his thirsty crop. “Our boreholes have almost dried up ... We now depend on tankers to irrigate our fields,” says Papadakis, who heads an agricultural cooperative in a village in Halkidiki, a three-fingered peninsula in northern Greece which is popular with tourists. This summer, southern Europe has been hammered by successive heat waves, following on from below-average rainfall for up to three years. Drought spots on the map of the region have expanded. In Greece, the effects include water shortages, dried-up lakes, and even the death of wild horses.

For Russia, Repelling Incursion Matters Less Than Advancing in Donbas (NYT) The barrage of airstrikes that Russia launched against Ukraine over the past two days, with hundreds of drones and missiles, provided punishing evidence of Moscow’s enduring military might. Yet for all that firepower, Russia is still struggling to reclaim a small patch of territory in its Kursk region that Ukraine seized earlier this month. And on Tuesday, its military faced attempts by Kyiv’s forces to break into the Belgorod region of Russia. Precisely why Russia has so far failed to repel the biggest foreign incursion into its country since World War II appears to be not just a matter of personnel and lack of battlefield intelligence, but also of priorities, according to Western officials and military experts. While caught off guard by the offensive into Kursk, Russia remains more intent on capturing Pokrovsk, a city that serves as a key logistics hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, and its leaders have been reluctant to pull troops from that front, the Western officials and military experts said.

Korea’s birth rate drive struggles to sway ‘YOLO’ generation (Reuters) As South Korea scrambles to halt the sharp decline in its birth rate, policymakers are having a hard time convincing many in their 20s and 30s that parenthood is a better investment than stylish clothes or fancy restaurants. Asia’s fourth-largest economy plans to launch a new government ministry dedicated to demographic challenges after years of incentives failed to ease the baby crisis. But for Park Yeon, a 28-year-old fashion Instagrammer and aspiring singer, spending choices are guided mostly by her appetites for clothing and travel, leaving little budget for marriage and babies. “I’m all about YOLO (you only live once),” said Park as she sells her Supreme T-shirts at a thrift fashion festival in Seoul’s high-fashion enclave of Seongsu-dong. “There isn’t enough left to save each month after I do things to reward myself. Getting married might happen at some point but being happy right now—that’s more important, right?” South Korea continues to break its own record for having the world’s lowest birth rate, which hit a fresh low last year.

Shanghai’s Lonely Seniors Are Looking for Love (NYT) For Shanghai’s lonely and retired, love is elusive. Divorced or widowed residents gather in a dating corner in People’s Park every weekend looking for a chat. They mill about an Ikea canteen on Tuesdays in search of some fun. They arrive dressed a little nicer than usual, ready to talk about their virtues, their past lives and the future. Many downplay any yearning to find love. More than a few say they have lost hope. It should not be this hard. There are more people in China who are 65 or older than there are in any other country. And Shanghai has more older adults than any other Chinese city. Most of these residents stopped working long ago because China has one of the lowest retirement ages in the world, and many are either widowed or divorced. Everyone seems to be lonely, the children and grandchildren too busy with their own lives to visit. The pool of older singles in China is only becoming bigger. Within the next three decades, the population of people who are 65 or older is expected to reach 400 million, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Typhoon Shanshan Barrels Into Japan (NYT) Nearly a million people in Japan were under evacuation orders Thursday morning as Typhoon Shanshan approached the mainland with hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and the threat of landslides, with the authorities warning that the storm could produce a large-scale disaster. Meteorological officials issued rare emergency warnings for the powerful storm as it churned north along the shore of Kyushu, the southernmost main island of Japan, on Thursday. Emergency warnings were issued for storm surge and high waves in Kagoshima Prefecture, and are the highest category of warnings possible in Japan. Such advisories are usually only issued once every few decades in a given region, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Japan’s high-speed rail network, the Shinkansen, suspended some trains on Wednesday, and its operators warned that services could be disrupted into the weekend. Toll and expressway operators lifted some earlier closures but warned residents to check traffic information this week before traveling. Postal services were also disrupted.

U.S. military, on Tinder, says to swipe left on Iran-backed militants (Washington Post) The warning appeared online last week in Arabic beneath pictures of U.S. warplanes: “Do not take up arms against the United States or its partners,” it said, noting that America “will protect its partners in the face of threats from the Iranian regime and its proxies.” And to underscore the message: Central Command is “fully prepared” and ready to employ F-16 and A-10 aircraft “currently in the region.” The warning may not have been that surprising. What raised eyebrows was the platform: Tinder. The ad on the U.S.-based dating app, which gave the world the phrases “swipe right” (to approve a match) and “swipe left” (to reject), has raised fresh questions about the U.S. military’s online information operations, which are aimed at influencing the views of overseas audiences and countering what the government perceives as misleading narratives from foreign adversaries. Part of a broader campaign in what is commonly called psychological operations or military information support operations, the ad belonged to Centcom. One U.S. military psyops officer scoffed at the effort. “On its face I doubt it would be very effective,” said the officer. “What message is it that they think will resonate here?” the officer said. “This is just an in-your-face ‘don’t mess with me.’”

Land being seized under cover of war (BBC) Israel began settling the West Bank soon after capturing it from Jordan more than five decades ago. In July, the UN’s top court found for the first time this occupation was illegal and said Israel should halt all settlement activity and withdraw. But Israeli authorities have rejected the ruling and announced plans for five new settlements. In the Palestinian village of Battir, where ancient terraces are irrigated by a natural spring, life carries on as it has for centuries. Part of a Unesco World Heritage site, Battir is known for its olive groves and vineyards. But now it is the latest flashpoint over settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel has approved a new Jewish settlement here, taking away privately owned land for new settler houses, and new outposts have been set up without even Israeli authorisation. “They are stealing our land to build their dreams on our catastrophe,” says Ghassan Olyan, whose property is among those seized. Unesco says it is concerned by the settlers’ plans around Battir, but the village is far from an isolated example.

Far-Right Israeli Minister Draws Anger for Comments on Disputed Holy Site (NYT) Israel’s far-right national security minister has drawn outrage for agreeing that he would like to build a synagogue at a disputed holy site in Jerusalem that has long been a flashpoint between Jews and Muslims. In an interview on Monday on Israeli Army Radio, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, was asked if he would build a temple at a site sacred for both Jews and Muslims, known as the Aqsa Mosque complex by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews. “Yes, yes, yes!” Mr. Ben-Gvir replied. Almost immediately after the interview, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that there was no change to the status quo at the site, where two ancient Jewish temples once stood. Senior rabbis generally oppose Jews even walking on top of the Temple Mount, but some religious Jews want to build a third Jewish temple, a move seen as offensive to Muslims.

Africa’s Debt Crisis (NYT) After a new tax increase incited weeks of deadly riots in Kenya early this summer, President William Ruto announced that he was reversing course. He abandoned the finance law he had proposed, and then he shook up his cabinet. Last week, the government reversed itself again. The newly appointed finance minister announced that some of those discarded tax increases would be reintroduced. The Ruto administration is desperately trying to raise revenue to pay off billions of dollars in public debt and avoid defaulting on its loans, even as critical public assistance and services are being cut. Governments throughout Africa are facing the same dilemma. The continent’s foreign debt reached more than $1.1 trillion at the end of last year. More than two dozen countries have excessive debt or are at high risk of it, according to the African Development Bank Group. And roughly 900 million people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on health care or education. In Africa, a continent pulsating with potential and peril, debt overshadows nearly everything that happens.

[bi4bihankking]

We Ride Upon Sticks Summary:

A high school girls field hockey team is really tired of sucking so they make a deal with the devil to win as recounted by the team 30 years later. Simultaneously exactly what being IN high school is like and what looking back on high school is like. Idk how Quan Barry did it either.

Into the Drowning Deep Summary:

After her sister disappears on a mysterious voyage to “document” mermaids, the boat returns empty with security footage showing brutal gory scenes of carnage befalling the passengers. Tory is chosen to go on the next ship out to discredit those findings. Uh oh!

[whimsyandmetaphor]

I'm gonna go ahead and share an anecdote that I was reminded of today. It's about a formative experience of mine as a writer, that I think might be ... not unique, but definitely unusual, and probably more so these days.

I was .... about fifteen, sixteen when this happened, in the later 2000s (decade, not century). I'd written (and finished!) my first novel, a YA portal fantasy. It was pretty good, for my age, as far as I remember. I've deliberately not looked at that thing in years.

I knew, at the time, that I wanted to be a professional writer. And my parents were very supportive of that, but they were also extremely practical people, especially my mother, and one of their goals was always to give me a reasonable expectation for how hard things would be, and an appreciation for the reality of a creative career. Not to discourage me, but to equip me.

Both my father and I played hockey (field, not ice) for the same club at that time, and either one of my father's teammates, or the father of one of the teenage players, ran a book distribution business. Basically his job was to read books and tell publishers if they were likely to sell, and where they should sell them, and convince bookstores to buy them. I might be getting the details wrong, but I recall that that was a big part of his job.

So my parents decided I should have a chat with him. By which I mean, they asked him if he'd be open, and then they passed on his details to me, and got me to organise the whole thing. I had to call him (or e-mail him, I don't recall which), set a day and time after school, and organise how to get there on public transport. He was lovely, really helpful and nice, and sent me pictures of the storefront because it kind of looked like an abandoned building rather than a 'store'. (Actually, I think it was more of an office-plus-warehouse than a storefront).

Before I went to the meeting, I sent him a copy of that novel for him to read and give me advice. I remember being so excited, and completely unsure if I should be expecting praise, or if I should be expecting him to hate it completely. This was my first ever contact with the actual publishing industry, and I had absolutely no idea if I was going to measure up.

The office-slash-warehouse was full of books on little free-standing triangular shelves, and there were boxes scattered all around the floor. He had to finish something before talking to me, so I looked over the books on the shelves, all brand-new, all sci-fi and fantasy, all so professional-looking and weirdly out of place in this barely-lit, no-windows building painted lurid purple on the front with graffiti on all the walls and bars on the windows.

When the meeting started, there was only one chair, which he was using, so I stood, leaving my school bag against the wall, in my uniform, while we talked.

The first thing he asked me was "How brutal would you like me to be?"

I responded, "Be pretty brutal, I'm fine with it."

Ever since then, that's been one of my calibrating questions when people ask me for advice on their writing.

So he told me, "It's not there yet. This could be an amazing book, and it could get published one day. Or something else you write will definitely get published. But this still reads like teenage writing, and you need to keep practicing for a while before you get to publishing quality."

I genuinely don't remember any of his actual advice, but I remember that part. I remember feeling the queasy sensation, ice running down my throat kind of sensation, that is sort of inevitable when you get criticism like that. I equal parts felt snubbed, like I'd done something wrong by giving him the book, and also like I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, a real sense of pride and hope.

I went home that day still feeling that conflict, still feeling like I'd been put in my place, but also feeling more driven and determined than I had before I'd walked into that little shop. That was the first time I'd ever given my writing to someone who wasn't family or a friend (or a teacher). It hit different: it came with the inherent feeling of truth that comes with getting good advice from someone that doesn't know you from a bar of soap, but knows about what you do and does still want you to succeed, even in the general, impersonal sense of wanting to always help out a new writer when it's possible.

I don't really have a motive for sharing this, except that I was reminded of it and got inspired to blog it. But I want to draw out a few things that are super important to me, as a writer.

First, I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to interact with trusted older writers when I was still a teenager. Actually being able to interact, alone and on my own terms, with knowledgeable adults, did so much for me when I was that age, and I'm so grateful that I have these experiences.

Second, being told that I was good but not there yet was simultaneously the biggest blow to my ego that whole year and also exactly the thing I needed to hear at that time. That's a pretty personal thing, obviously, and I don't have thoughts that I can articulate quickly on it, but I believe in the power of being told "You're on the right track, but you still have a ways to walk."

Third, I don't think I can express just how much getting that kind of impartial feedback from people outside my circle, not just in this environment but others as well, affected how I think about criticism. That incident in particular, because it was face to face, it wasn't over an Internet connection, and it was someone with the weight of authority and experience, really stands out to me as the day that I started to learn how to really process feedback mindfully, how to take it and use it to analyse what I was doing, not just as a list of individual changes to be made.

I'm not sure there's any point to this except to throw it out there and see who it resonates with. I don't know if I have enough of a finger on the pulse of what's normal for young people anymore to know if this is lamenting some sort of way of doing things that I feel is lost -- actually I feel like this sort of thing might have been uncommon even when I was a kid. It certainly took a very specific attitude both from my parents and the friend of my Dad's. Maybe it's just hitting hard today for some reason, and that's why I'm venting it out.

Anyway.

Have a story. Do with it as you will.

[significant-narratives]

thank you. more on the other timeline happy ending, bittersweet and complicated?

ask and you shall receive

(cw for mentions of trauma and panic attacks below the cut)

i could write a doctoral thesis trying to explain the bittersweet nature of this ending the exile timeline ending, but some general story beats i can touch on include:

-> willy loses hockey. which, as another blogger once said (i can't remember who but if anyone does please lmk and i will credit them accordingly), 'taking a hockey player out of hockey feels like writing major character death'. willy's whole career blows up overnight. hockey has been her whole life since she was a literal infant and it's taken from her in a very brutal, very public way. while she does ultimately figure out a future for herself that works for her, she still has to grieve the loss of her career and her childhood dream* (*unless i decide to go with the pure wish-fulfilment ending but uh. that might discredit the larger themes of this au. we'll see.)

-> she also cuts herself off from her friends and family for years. her father doesn't even know where she is! she misses her little sister's wedding! the only person she keeps in regular contact with is her mom! she's haunted by the fact that she destroyed not only her legacy, but also tainted her father's. she's the Eldest Daughter. who is she if she's not a sibling!! even when she eventually is able to reunite / reconcile with them, the time they lost isn't coming back and she just has to live with that

-> no matter how much time passes, her name is always going to be linked back to that scandal. with time people do end up looking at it differently (there's a lot of 'did we fail william nylander?' retrospectives many years down the line) but that isn't until much later.

to underline the impact this has on her, a plot point bes and i have discussed in the DMs is that while in her self-imposed exile, willy stops going by her own name and starts using her sister's name instead (jacky). and that's something that willy spends a lot of time grappling with. she's so afraid to ever be known as william nylander ever again!

the fact that like. okay, imagine the worst thing you've ever done. now imagine you did that thing because you were just so incredibly in love. now imagine everyone in your professional field (+ the rest of the world) finds out about this terrible thing you've done, then they go on to spend literal months --years even -- dissecting and analyzing every angle of this terrible thing. and the person who you did this terrible thing for just gets to bounce back like nothing happened.

you lose everything and they go on to achieve a world of professional and personal success despite the fact that they were just as much, if not more, complacent in this as you were (that uh. 11 year age gap sure is something!).

willy does eventually rebuild her life into one that she loves and she is able to heal and come to terms with like... this idea of how do we forgive ourselves and grow from our mistakes when no salvation / external forgiveness is coming our way, but. at the end of the day. she's still lost something that she's never going to get back. there are still some wounds that will never heal. she still has bad days where she feels deeply unworthy of the love and devotion that auston has for her and questions everything about their relationship. there are days where even the mention of hockey makes her stomach turn. there are days when even the thought of like... being recognized on the street gives her a panic attack (she is in therapy if that counts for anything 😭). idk like. trauma is a very difficult and complicated thing and learning how to live with it is often a lifelong endeavour.

-> i know this sounds super bleak but i swear there's some sweetness in here too 😭 love is Real and Alive in the state of arizona!! willy in this au is So brave and So nuanced and i truly feel like i'm not doing her justice here tbh!! just know that she's a fighter and the love that she and auston have for each other is truly incredible.

i hope this answers your question anon! i'll be honest it's hard to talk about this au in a succinct way because it does span literal years in-universe, but i hope this at least gives you an idea of some of the elements at play here. also it is Very Late and i'm sleep deprived so forgive me for rambling

[28mindgames]

name one interest other than Louis and the upcoming documentary and tour that you’re excited about or following? completely non Louis related. want to get to know my fellow louies better ☺️

well a few things

i just saw on ig that a band i really like (peces raros) it's coming to my city the same month as one of my all time favorite bands (babasónicos) so i'm excited! i went twice last year to see babasónicos and it's always an incredible experience. also i can't wait for the new album (!!!) of a band called usted señalemelo (i'm waiting for new music since 2019)

the last few days i was researching to study at the film school but the schedules would clash with my university schedules, so i'm going to see if i can find a course that is more accessible.

i'm trying to run everyday - or most days of the week - for the first time in my life. i played field hockey for many years but i was never a sports person. so besides doing pilates i've been looking for ways to stay active.

for some reason i'm also obsessed with brutalism so i'm looking for a good book on that while i finish one on krautrock.