#man cave uk

[rcghin]

Sometimes it's hard not to envy Robin in a way, like could you imagine all the first time "discoveries" he's gone through. Think about all the inventions and technology (including recipes and ingredients for food) he must've witnessed.

Robin could've become jaded about the whole thing too "oh something new, always happening, who cares?" Yet he always looks at the small world he's stuck in with a sense of appreciation and awe. He also tries to learn about it too. Even if in his ghost-time it might be irrelevant in only a short time, he makes an effort to understand.

Also he genuinely seems to care about others when again in all his years he could've become jaded to others as well. He cares about the people in the house in his own way, he listens to their problems, and tries to say hello if they become ghosts themselves. With Mary getting sucked off we knows he cares about that too and each person who gets sucked off he remembers them with a place in the stars.

This doesn't just extend to people but to other life too. He cares about his mouse family, has fun with the dogs on the property, and enjoys a squirrel chase every so often.

You'd think his countless years of being a ghost would jade, cynical, and numb him to the world around him but it hasn't. He remains kind, curious, and empathetic. Even towards those who may never see him and those he may never get to directly interact with.

[good--merits-accumulated]

the boyTM

[jaffyshaji1277]

Margate Series- 2 - 📍 Margate Caves

Inspiration for journey through a space. First time experience through a cave.

[ur-mag]

How one man spent 40 years digging a massive CAVE PALACE on his land – and no one knows why he did it | In Trend Today

How one man spent 40 years digging a massive CAVE PALACE on his land – and no one knows why he did it Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[spacelazarwolf]

"it's 2024 antisemitism isn't a problem anymore you just want to be oppressed."

here's a non-exhaustive list of antisemitic incidents, attacks, and pogroms during my lifetime. if you're not jewish, i am guilting you into reading this entire list. i really do not care if it takes forever or makes you feel bad. read it.

1993

state farm settles a $30mil lawsuit after it was revealed that state farm kept a list of prominent jewish lawyers referred to within state farm as "the jewish lawyers list" where any claims made by those attorneys were automatically forwarded to state farm's fraud unit, purely on the basis of the attorney's jewish identity. state farm employees testified confirming the list had been used to discriminate against ethnic minorities.

1994

four days after the cave of patriarchs massacre, a man shot at a van full of jewish students, killing one and injuring three others. he is reported to have shouted "kill the jews" as revenge for the cave of patriarchs massacre.

a white supremacist fired ten rounds at a synagogue in eugene, oregon.

a jewish community center in buenos aires, argentina was bombed, killing 85 people and injuring 300.

1995

a japanese magazine ran an article that stated "the 'holocaust' is a fabrication. there were no execution gas chambers in auschwitz or in any other concentration camp. today, what are displaced as 'gas chambers' at the remaints of the auschwitz camp in poland are a post-war fabrication by the polish communist regime or by the soviet union, which controlled the country. not once, neither at auschwitz nor in any territory controlled by the germans during the second world war, was there 'mass murder of jews' in 'gas chambers'."

1996

in turkey, an islamic preacher distributed thousands of copies of a book called "the holocaust lie."

1997

jean-marie le pen was convicted and fined for remarks minimizing the holocaust, and then accused the president of france of being "on the payroll of jewish organizations, and particularly of b'nai b'rith."

1998

osama bin laden stated that israel's ultimate goal was to annex the arabian peninsula and the middle east and enslave its peoples. he claimed that the us state department and department of defense were controlled by jews for the sole purpose of serving israel's goals. he also claimed that israeli jews controlled the governments of the us and uk, directing them to kill as many muslims as they could.

1999

iran arrested 13 iranian jews, accusing them of being spies for israel, including a 16 year old boy. ten of them were sentenced to 4-13 years in prison, and eventually when they were freed they left iran for israel.

a man was arrested in paris for attacking a bartender because he "believed she was jewish."

several synagogues in sacramento were set on fire by a group of eight or nine men.

a man shot and killed one person and injured five at a jewish community center in los angeles.

2000

a man broke into a jewish woman's house, shot and killed her, then set her house on fire. he then drove to the synagogue where she was a member and fired into the windows of the synagogue, then exited his car and spray-painted two red swastikas on the building. he drove to another synagogue where he shot and shattered the synagogue's glass windows.

on yom kippur, two molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue.

a synagogue in syracuse, new york was set on fire by a man who reportedly yelled "i did this for you, god!"

a sukkah was destroyed at a synagogue in st. paul, minnesota.

a synagogue in harrisburg, pennsylvania was set on fire before yom kippur.

during the 2000 presidential election, lee alcorn, president of the dallas naacp branch, criticized al gore's selection of senator joe lieberman for his vice-presidential candidate because lieberman was jewish. alcorn said "if we get a jew person, then what i'm wondering is, i mean, what is this movement for, you know? does it have anything to do with the failed peace talks?" ... "so i think we need to be very suspicious of any kind of partnerships between the jews at that kind of level because we know that their interest primarily has to do with money and these kinds of things."

2001

in belgium, the vice president of one of the country's largest parties gave an interview on dutch tv where he cast doubt over the number of jews murdered by the nazis during the holocaust. in the same interview he questioned the scale of the nazis' use of gas chambers and the authenticity of anne frank's diary.

2002

osama bin laden stated in a letter that jews controlled the civilian media outlets, politics, and economic institutions of the united states.

a synagogue was set on fire in toronto, ontario, canada.

men rammed two cars through the courtyard gates of a synagogue in lyon, france, then rammed one of the cars into the prayer hall before setting the vehicles on fire. eyewitnesses reported seeing between 12 and 15 attackers. this was the first of a series of attacks on jewish targets in france in a single week - which coincided with passover - including at least five other synagogues.

a synagogue in marseille, france was burned to the ground.

a synagogue in strasbourg was set on fire.

a synagogue in paris was firebombed.

"richard nixon tapes" were declassified, which confirmed that billy graham, a famous evangelist and civil rights advocate, had agreed with nixon that jews controll the american media, calling it a "stranglehold."

a synagogue in tunisia was bombed, killing 20 and injuring 30.

a gunman opened fire at the airline ticket counter of el al, israel's national airline, at the la international airport. two people were killed and four were injured. federal investigators concluded that the gunman had hoped to influence us government policy in favor of palestinians and that the incident was a terror attack.

in an interview for a french magazine, a french actor, comedian, and activist dieudonne m'bala m'bala described "the jews" as "a sect, a fraud, which is the worst of all because it was the first."

white supremacists planned to bomb a series of institutions and people associated with the black and jewish communities. targets included the united states holocaust museum, the new england holocaust memorial, and steven spielberg.

2003

terrorists attempted to bomb a jewish cemetery, and succeeded in bombing a jewish community center and jewish-owned italian restaurant in morocco. 45 people in total were killed.

a molotov cocktail was thrown through the windows of a synagogue in los angeles, california.

the prime minister of malaysia drew a standing ovation for his speech. an excerpt: "[muslims] are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. the nazis killed 6 million jews out of 12 million. but today the jews rule this world by proxy. they get others to fight and die for them. they invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong so they may enjoy equal rights with others. with these they have now gained control over the most powerful countries. and they, this tiny community, have become a world power."

two synagogues in turkey were bombed, killing 55 and injuring over 750.

2004

romania officially denied the holocaust occurred on its territory up until 2004.

the film 'the passion of the christ' was released, causing backlash against the jewish community for protesting the antisemitic tones of the movie.

a jewish school library was firebombed in montreal, quebec, canada.

jewish cemeteries were defaced with swastikas and a funeral home set on fire in wellington new zealand.

2005

m'bala claimed during a press conference that the central council of french jews was a "mafia" that had "total control over french policy exercise", called the commemoration of the holocaust "memorial pornography" and claimed that the "zionists of the centre national de la cinematographie" which "control french cinema" prevented him from making a film about the slave trade.

the muslim brotherhood leader denounced what he called "the myth of the holocaust" in defending iranian president's denial of the holocaust.

a polish radio station during the polish election promoted antisemitic views, including denial of the jedwabne pogrom. their support of right-wing conservative law and justice party is considered a major factor in their electoral victory.

a group of 15 members of the state duma of russia demanded that judaism and jewish orgqanizations be banned from the country. 500 prominent russians demanded that the state prosecutor investigate ancient jewish texts as "anti-russian" and ban judaism.

islamic extremists planned to bomb a number of synagogues and an israeli consulate in california.

iranian president denied the holocaust during a speech in zahedan. "they have invented a myth that jews were massacred and palce this above god, religions and the prophets." he suggested that if the holocaust had occurred, that it was the responsibility of europeans to offer up territory to the jews.

2006

a man stabbed nine people at a synagogue in russia.

the iranian state-sponsored "international conference to review the global vision of the holocaust" opened, with its focus being to question the facts of the holocaust. the iranian foreign ministry spokesperson stated "the holocaust is not a sacred issue that one can't touch. i have visited the nazi camps in eastern europe. i think it is exaggerated."

mel gibson was arrested for a dui, and reportedly yelled at the police officer, "fucking jews... the jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. are you a jew?"

m'bala was fined for defamation after calling a prominent jewish tv presenter a "secret donor of the child-murdering israeli army."

ilan halimi, a french moroccan jew, was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. he was dumped on the side of the road, 80% of his body covered in burns, and died from his injuries on his way to the hospital. the kisnappers thought halimi was wealthy because he came from a jewish family, and the gang confessed that they believed all jews to be rich which motivated them to target several jews. the halimi family reports being told that if they could not raise the money for the ransom then they should get it from the jewish community.

a man targeted the jewish federation of seattle when the organization showed up in search results after he typed the phrase "something jewish" into a search engine. he forced his way through the building's security door with several guns, a knife, and ammunition, taking a 14 year old girl as a hostage. he is reported to have said "i'm only doing this for a statement" and "i'm a muslim american; i'm angry at israel" before the shooting spree began. he then took a pregnant woman hostage, saying "now since you don't know how to... listen, now you're the hostage, and i don't give a fuck if i kill you or your baby." the woman reported him stating "that he was a muslim, and this was his personal statement against jews and the bush administration for giving money to jews, and for us jews for giving money to israel, about hozbollah, the war in iraq, and he wanted to talk to cnn."

2007

holocaust survivor elie wiesel was attacked by a holocaust denier in san francisco.

jewish professor elizabeth midlarsky had a swastika spray painted on her office door.

2008 - gaza war

a leading member of hamas made a statement that israelis "have legitimized the murder of their own children by killing the children of palestine... they have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people."

a belgian jewish magazine received a dozen death threats on its website, including a threat to carry out a suicide attack to "avenge the suffering of the palestinians."

protestors in indonesia shut down the country's only synagogue, threatening to drive out the country's jews. they stated that "if israel refuses to stop its attacks and oppression of the palestinian people, we don't need to defend [the synagogue's' presence here." the synagogue has been shuttered since.

a man sent a letter threatening to bo b the ida crown jewish academy in chicago. the letter said that explosives would be set off around the school unless violence in gaza stopped by january 15 2009.

south african deputy foreign minister was quoted saying "[jews] in fact control [america], no matter which government comes into power, whether republican or democratic, whether barack obama or george bush... the control of america, just like the control of most western countries, is in the hands of jewish money and if jewish money controls their country then you cannot expect anything else." she later claimed she "conflated zionist pressure with jewish influence."

antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas, appeared all over turkey. a sign was put up at the door of a civic group's office saying "jews cannot enter, dogs can." anti-jewish articles began appearing in turkish newspapers, and there were several hundred documented examples of antisemitic messages. as a result, turkish jewish immigration to israel increased.

in yemen, jews experienced verbal and physical harassment. jewish children were injured, one seriously, when muslim students threw stones at them. anti-israel protestors also attacked several jewish homes, smashing windows and pelting them with rocks, and injuring at least one jewish residence. a yemeni jewish family was extricated from yemen to israel after suffering continuous antisemitic attacks and death threats. a grenade was also thrown into the courtyard of the family's home in raydah.

a molotov cocktail was thrown. at a synagogue in brussels. rocks and other objects were thrown at a jewish school. a jewish home was the subject of arson. afterwards, hundreds of protestors tried to march toward the jewish neighborhood but were held off by police.

a man opened fire on three israeli cosmetics salesmen and two customers in a shopping mall. the shooting, which followed a period of harassment against the cosmetic stand, resulted in two israelis being hit by the shots. the perpatrator explained that he was motivated by the middle east situation.

sixty-six antisemitic incidents were reported in france, home to europe's largest muslim and jewish populations. numerous synagogues were attacked with petrol bombs and damaged in various towns. a car was rammed into the gates of a synagogue in toulouse and set on fire. a petrol bomb was thrown at a synagogue which set fire to an adjacent jewish restaurant. offensive graffiti was also sprayed on synagogues throughout the country. in paris, a rabbi's car was torched, a. jewish student was attacked and stabbed four times, and a 15-year old girl was assaulted by a gang.

a jewish community in germany was daubed and later stoned, and the central council of jews in german reported a significant increase in the number of hate mails and death threats during the conflict.

synagogues in multiple cities in greece were vandalized and suffered arson attacks. in athens, the walls of a jewish cemetery were sprayed with antisemitic graffiti "jews israelites murderers." neo-nazi slogans like "ax and fire to the jewish dogs" were used at anti-israel protests. a monument commemorating the murder of greek jews was vandalized with slogans like "greece - palestine no jew will remain." a seminar at the jewish museum of thessaloniki was cancelled after receiving threats, and the leftist parliamentary party of coalition of the radical left declined to attend the greek national day of remembrance of holocaust heroes and martyrs because of the attendance of the israeli ambassador. in ioannina the local jewish cemetery was vandalized with several tombs broken. the corfu synagogue was vandalized with graffiti such as "shit on israel" "jews nazis" and "murderers." the shoah memorial was also vandalized with graffiti regarding gaza. in larisa both grouns from the extreme right and extreme left targeted the local community. leftist and palestinian demonstrators attempted to vandalize the synagogue during a march, while later the same day groups linked to neo-nazi groups vandalized the shoah monyment and organized protests in front of the synagogue asking for the expulsion of jews from larisa. jews were attacked as "christ killers" and "smelling of blood" "they are the worst thing of the 20th century" and an eminent member of the greek orthodox church spoke of "zionist monsters with sharp claws" and "jews puhished for killing christ" and being "god killers."

italian trade union flaica-cub issued a call to boycott jewish-owned shops in rome in protest at the israeli offensive. it was condemned as antisemitic and reminiscent of the italian race laws under fascism in the 1930s.

a molotov cocktail was thrown at a jewish owned building in amsterdam following an attempted arson of a jewish institution in arnhem. a synagogue and jewish owned building were targeted by stoning. at an anti-israel demonstration in utrecht, some demonstrators shouted "hamass, hamas, jews to the gas."

during the 2009 oslo riots, the largest anti-jewish riots in norwegian history, muslim youth attacked the israeli embassy and yelled anti-jewish slogans in arabic, including "death to the jews" "kill the jews" and "slaughter the jews." in one incident, young men beat a 73 year old man who was carrying an israeli flag while shouting "bloody jew - get him!" they only stopped attacking him when they realized he was not jewish.

a jewish burial chapel in sweden was the target of an arson attack and a jewish centor was set on fire twice in three days.

there were approximately 225 recorded antisemitic incidents in the uk during the war. synagogues were firebombed, jews received verbal and digital abuse, and a gang tried to force their way into jewish restaurants and shops, specifically focusing on the london jewish family centre. a jewish motorist was also dragged from his car and assaulted. antisemitic graffiti with slogans including "kill jews" "jews are scumbags" and "jihad 4 israel" were sprayed in jewish areas across london and manchester.

a molotov cocktail was thrown at a tample in chicago, and in lincolnwood a synagogue's glass doors were shattered by a brick and "free palestine" and "death to israel" were spraypainted on the building. a jewish preschool in california was graffitied with swastikas and antisemitic messages.

argentinian jews wearing kippot were physically attacked on public buses and jewish cemetaries were defaced. a gang attacked argentinian jews near the israeli embassy in buenos aires.

in bolivia, vandals removed a star of david from a monument from the plaza israel and started spraypainting "plaza palestina" on jewish murals.

during shabbat, the caracas synagogue, venezuela's oldest synagogue, was defaced with "property of islam", and an armed gang of 15 unidentified people broke in and the security guards were bound and gagged while the gang destroyed the offices and the repository where the holy books were stored. they daubed the walls with antisemitic and anti-israel graffiti that called for jews to be expelled from the country, and also stole a database that listed jews who lived in venezuela.

2008 - cont

the harvard crimson school paper ran a paid holocaust denial ad.

a chabad house in mumbai was taken over by two attackers and several residents were held hostage. a rabbi and his wife, who was six months pregnant, were murdered with four other hostages in the house by the attackers. according to radio transmissions, the attackers "would be told by their handlers in pakistan that the lives of jews were worth 50 times those of non jews." injuries on some of the bodies indicated that they may have been tortured.

2009

hamas refused to allow palestinian children to learn about the holocaust, which it called "a lie invented by the zionists" and referred to holocaust education as a "war crime."

an irish journalist claimed "there was no holocaust... and six million jews were not murdered by the third reich. these two statements of mine are irrefutable truths."

tapes were released in which billy graham is heard in conversation with richard nixon referring to jews as "the synagogue of satan."

four men were arrested in new york in connection with a plot to blow up two synagogues in the bronx.

a neo nazi entered the united states holocaust memorial museum in washington dc and shot and fatally wounded a security officer.

2010

the last surviving romaniote synagogue in greece was targeted for an arson attack.

a synagogue in cairo, egypt was bombed.

a synagogue in sweden was attacked with explosives.

2011

six jewish institutions were attacked by vandals in montreal, including four synagogues and a school.

j.z. knight stated "fuck god's chosen people! i think they have earned enough cash to have paid their way out of the goddamned gas chambers by now."

the manhattan terrorism plot to bomb various targets in manhattan, including a synagogue.

2012

a man killed four jews, including three children, outside a school in toulouse, france.

a synagogue in sweden was attacked with an explosive decide, shattering a window.

2013

alice walker expressed appreciation for the works of antisemitic conspiracy theorist david icke. she said that icke's book "human race get off your knees" would be her choice if she could have only one book. the book promotes the theory that the earth is ruled by shapeshifting reptilian humanoids and "rothschild zionists."

louis farrakhan delivered an antisemitic speech, referring to jews as "satanic jews" and "the synagogue of satan", controlling america's government and other sectors, reportedly saying that president obama "surrounded himself with satan... members of the jewish community." farrakhan also said that the jewish people "have mastered the civilization now, but they've mastered it in evil... who's the owner of hollywood that creates images and makes the people think that what is created on screen is the way we should live? that's satan... satan has devoured so much of humanity. ... the people that own hollywood are the same people that control your press, the same people that control your media, the same people who are the publishers, the same people who are the distributors, the same synagogue of satan, and they put you before the world in this disgraceful manner. ... jesus was the last hope for the jewish people but they rejected him. they are now in control of the media and the airwaves, gaining access to the 'sacred territory' which is in the minds of the people."

the supreme leader of iran grand ayatollah ali khamenei questioned the validity of the holocaust, saying "the holocaust is an event whose reality is uncertain and if it has happened, it's uncertain how it has happened."

2014

kkk leader killed three non jewish people at a jewish community center and jewish retirement home in kansas, the day before passover.

residents of a village in spain called "castrillo matajudios" ("jew-killer camp") since 1627 voted to change the name of the village.

2015

four jews were killed when a gunman attacked a kosher supermarket in paris where the gunman held 15 other hostages and demanded that the kouachi brothers not be harmed.

iran organized the international holocaust cartoon competition, a competition in which artists were encouraged to submit cartoons on the theme of holocaust denial.

louis farrakhan accused jews of involvement in sept 11 attacks.

swastikas were spraypainted on a jewish fraternity at uc davis on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz.

a french settlement named "la mort aux juifs" or "death to jews" finally changed its name after a denied attempt in 1992.

a synagogue in copenhagen was taken by a gunman during a bat mitzvah celebration where one jewish man on security duty was killed.

stanford university student senate candidate molly horwitz was asked by a student group how being jewish would affect her decision-making.

two synagogues and a jewish neighborhood in san antonio, texas were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.

2016

natasha waldorf of alameda was subjected to two boys sending her text messages that included antisemitic slurs, two other students joked about the holocaust and when she confronted them they told her that "hitler should have finished the job."

the campus chapter of students for justice in palestine at the university of california irvine was sanctioned because they disrupted a program hosted by a jewish campus group and intimidated jewish students.

2017

alice walker published a poem on her blog titled "it is our (frightful) duty to study the talmud", recommending that the reader should start with youtube to learn about the evils of the talmud.

a huge wave of threats, including bomb threats, were made against jewish community centers and other institutions in the united states around the high holy days.

sarah halimi was murdered in paris.

the chicago dyke march organizers singled out and approached a group of women carrying jewish pride flags and began to question them on their political stance in regards to zionism and israel, and then expelled them from the event. the organizers attributed the reasoning to the star of david on the flag as a "zionist expression." the organization's twitter account also used the phrase "zio tears" in a now deleted tweet. "zio" is a slur originated by david duke.

the new england holocaust memorial was smashed with a rock.

in ukraine, the space of synagogues holocaust memorial display was vandalized by neo nazis.

the chairpersons of the chicago slutwalk wrote, "we still stand behind dyke march chicago's decision to remove the zionist contingent from their event, and we won't allow zionist displays at ours." the organizers made the following declaration about the star of david: "its connections to the oppression enacted by israel is too strong for it to be neutral."

a jewish cemetery in missouri was vandalized.

the unite the right rally took place in charlottesville, virginia, where white nationalists chanted slogans like "blood and soil" "jews will not replace us" "the goyim know" "the jewish media is going down."

a synagogue in sweden was firebombed.

2018

trayon white, an american politician, posted a video to his official facebook page showing snow flurries following, and alluding to the rothschild family conspiring to manipulate the weather.

an israeli man wearing a yarmulke was attacked in berlin; the attacker reportedly beat him with a belt and shouted "yehudi" ("jew")

tamika mallory, an american activist and one of the organizers of the womens march, attended an antisemitic speech by louis farrakhan, a figure she had previously refused to denounce. during the three hour speech, farrakhan claimed that "the powerful jews are my enemy" "the jews have control over agencies of those angencies of government" like the fbi, thta jews are "the mother and father of apartheid" and that jews are responsible for "degenerate behavior in hollywood turning men into women and women into men."

a republican candidate for senate in california openly called for a united states "free from jews."

11 people were murdered at the tree of life synagogue. on social media, several people made the claim that they "should not be mourned if they were zionists."

2019

belgium outlawed kosher slaughter.

rep ilhan omar tweeted an allegation that american support for israel was rooted in money spent by pro israel lobbying organizations.

several mps quit the labor party under jeremy corbyn citing "culture of extreme antisemitism and intolerance."

a subway poster in brooklyn with a picture of ruth bader ginsburg was valdalized with the writing "die jew bitch" and a swastika.

multiple violent attacks occured in brooklyn.

a synagogue in turkey is attacked with a molotov cocktail.

one person was killed and three were injured during a shooting at a passover seder in california.

a synagogue was attacked by a lone shooter in germany.

a kosher grocery store in jersey city, new jersey was attacked and five people were killed.

jersey city mayor steve fullop said a trustee of the jersey city board of education should resign in the wake of her comment after the above shooting about "jew brutes" that according to her have "threatened, intimidated, and harassed" black residents. the trustee asked whether the public is "brave enough" to listen to the shooters' message, and said the local rabbis were selling body parts. she remained on the board until 2022.

a jewish elder was killed and four others were injured at the home of a hasidic rabbi during hanukkah in new york.

2020

the tomb of esther and mordechai in iran was subjected to an arson attack.

the jewish center at the unitersity of delaware was subjected to an arson attack.

six igbo synagogues in nigeria were razed by soldiers, and at least 50 people were killed.

a synagogue in portland was subjected to an arson attack.

2021

george washington university's chapter of tau kappa epsilon fraternity reported that their house was broken into and vandalized, and their sefer torah destroyed.

2022

four hostages were taken at a synagogue in colleyville, texas. the attacker believed that the rabbi could call another rabbi in new york and secure the release of aafia siddiqui, a pakistani operative imprisoned for attempted murder and other crimes. siddiqui tried to dismiss her lawyers on the grounds that they were jewish. she said the case against her was a jewish conspiracy theory, demanded that no jews be allowed on the jury, and that all prospective jurors be dna tested and excluded from the jury at her trial if they had "zionist or israeli" dna. she wrote a letter to president obama, asserting, "study the history of the jews. they have always back-stabbed everyone who has taken pity on them and make the fatal error of giving them shelter... and it is this cruel, ungrateful back-stabbing of the jews that has caused them to be mercilessly expelled from wherever they gain strength. this is why 'holocausts' keep happening to them repeatedly! if they would only learn to be grateful and change their behavior!"

kanye west states that he "likes hitler" and is a "nazi." he still occasionally goes on an antisemitic twitter bender.

2023-2024 - current war

in october, an egyptian police officer shot and killed two israeli tourists and an egyptial tour guide in alexandria.

a jewish man walking to synagogue in johannesburg was accosted by a male jogger screaming antisemitic insults at him. the jogger then assaulted the man, knocked him over, and kicked and punched him while he lay on the ground.

a jewish cricket player was stripped of the captaincy by cricket south africa, claimed to have been a measure to reduce protests at the world cup.

a synagogue in tunisia was severely damaged during anti-israel riots with hundreds of people filmed setting fire to the building.

in armenia, unknown assailants set fire to a synagogue in yerevan and disseminated the arson attack on social media.

the associated press noted a rise in antisemitism on chinese social media. an israeli employee of the israeli embasee in beijing was stabbed and injured on october 13.

a 16 year old in australia was arrested after planning to attack a synagogue in vienna.

gravestones in belgium were damaged and many stars of david were stolen from a cemetery. only the jewish section was vandalized.

danish police arrested at least four operatives who were planning attacks on jewish or israeli targets in denmark.

in paris, stars of david were painted on multipe spots on several building fronts in a southern district. similar tags appeared over the weekend in other suburbs. antisemitic chants were filmed on the paris metro, "fuck the jews and fuck your mother, long live palestine. we are nazis and proud of it." a woman in lyon was stabbed and a swastika was graffitied on her home.

overall, french jews have noted a huge increase in antisemitism, with a surge of 1200% since october 7.

in berlin, the houses of several jews were marked with a star of david. two molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue.

israeli students in riga, latvia reported receiving hate texts and threats from other students.

lectures on the holocaust at utrecht university of applied sciences in the netherlands were postponed indefinitely.

a norwegian medical student at a rally in warsaw was pictured holding a poster of the flag of israel in a trash can alongside the text "keep the world clean." far right polish lawmaker grzegorz braun used a fire extinguisher on a lit menorah and removed it from the wall during a hanukkah celebration, saying "there can be no pace for the acts of this racist, tribal, wild talmudic cult."

residents of dagestan gathered near the flamingo hotel after reports that refugees from israel were being accomodated there. the protesters demanded that all hotel residents come to the windows to look at them. when the guests did not do this, stones were thrown into the building. the residents demanded to check the basements and let them into the hotel. police arrived and allowed protestors to check the hotel to make sure it was "jew free", and after this a message was posted outside the hotel that jews were prohibited from entering.

an antisemitic ralley was held in cherkessk, demanding the "eviction of ethnic jews."

a local jewish religious national-cultural community center under construction was set on fire in nalchik with the attackers writing "death to the yahuds" on the wall.

a mob stormed the uytash airport in dagestan after the arrival of a red wings flight from tel aviv. messages spread on telegram that a direct flight from israel was arriving, with calls to come to the airport and prevent the plane from landing. dozens of protestors stormed the airport and reached the runway, some of whom managed to climb up onto the plane's wings. 20 people were injured, two of whom were seriously injured. there are reports from passengers of rioters checking cars going to and from the airport for jews.

a synagogue in melillah, a spanish enclave in north africa, was attacked by a mob chanting "murderous israel" while waving palestinian flags.

pro palestinian demonstrators burned an israeli flag and chanted "bomb israel" outside a synagogue in. sweden.

i have to break up the sections because tumblr apparently has a character limit.

multiple cases of antisemitism were reported by students at concordia university with jewish students facing verbal and physical threats from both other students and faculty members. footage of a professor yanise arab shouting at jewish concordia students to "go back to poland, sharmuta (whore)" went viral alongside another video of a student using the slur "kike."

two jewish schools in montreal were targeted with gunfire overnight, and one was struck with gunfire a second time a few days later.

a jewish community center in montreal was attacked with a molotov cocktail.

jewish students and teachers of the peel district school board reported antisemitism and violent threats, including a teacher posting "jews are the problem" in a private facebook group.

a sukkah at caltech was vandalized with anti-israel graffiti. a man threw rocks through the glass doors of a synagogue and cafe in fresno, the second with a note reading "all jewish businesses will be targeted."

at columbia university, a woman assaulted an israeli man with a stick after he confronted her for ripping down posters with pictures and information abuot kidnapped israelis.

a man was arrested for sending threatening emails to a. synagogue in charlotte, north carolina.

a man in new york's grand central terminal punched a woman in the face and told her it was because she was jewish.

seven members of "white lives matter" california held a demonstration, holding up signs reading "no more wars for i$rael."

professor russell rickford spoke at a rally, saying he had found hamas's attack "exhilarating."

the illinois comptroller's office fired one of its lawyers, sarah chowdhurt, over antisemitic remarks she made on the instagram of another lawyer who is jewish.

a building next to a jewish fraternity at upenn was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti reading "the jews r nazis."

a man broke into a jewish family's home in los angeles, yelling "free palestine" and "kill jews."

threats against the jewish community at cornell university were posted online, threatening to shoot rape, and murder jewish students and encouraging violence against them.

paul kessler, an elderly jewish man, was killed at a rally after being struck in the head by a megaphone by a pro palestine protester, causing him to fall.

a woman was arrested after ramming her car into a black hebrew israelite school in indiana, mistakenly believing it to be an "israel school."

a man fired two rounds from a shotgun into the air outside a synagogue in albany and made threatening statements. he is alleged to have said "free palestine" at some point during the attack.

a game between the girls' varsity teams from the leffell school and roosevelt high school early college studies in yonkers was stopped when roosevelt students began to hurl antisemitic slurs at leffell students, with one yelling "i support hamas, you fucking jew", and during the third quarter became aggressive and violent during the play resulting in injuries of leffell's players.

participants in a pro-palestine rally in sydney changed "gas the jews", and several individuals in melbourne made death threats against jews, one group harassing a rabbi and his son, and another asking where to find jews, saying they were "hunting for jews."

a man in new south wales threatened to kill four jewish teenagers in a car with an israeli flag draped on it.

neo nazis marched in melbourne, displaying a banner reading "expose jewish power" and distributing neo nazi literature.

a sydney jewish man was verbally abused for wearing a kippah.

pro palestine graffiti was spray painted on the fence of a synagogue in auckland, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to set the property on fire. google maps had mistakenly listed the property as the local israeli consulate.

new zealand jews report a surge in antisemitic threats.

in new zealand, one child was physically assaulted and another had a swastika and a star of david drawn side by side on their school shirt. children were greeted by their peers with nazi salutes, being called "dirty jews", being told "jews control the world", and jokes about jews being gassed, and the blood libel claim that jews "chop off babies heads."

the us and israeli embassies in buenos aires received bomb threats via email, including one which said "jews we are going. tokill you all."

three people were arrested under suspicion of planning an attack on the maccabiah games.

brazilian authorities arrested two suspects in a. hezbollah backed terror plot to attack synagogues and other jewish targets in the country.

a column on the israeli embassy on colombia was vandalized with a swastika, start of david, and the word "terror" in hebrew.

if you made it to the bottom of this list and actually read everything, reblog with the tag "heard." that's really it. i just want to know that people hear us begging for people to speak up.

[shadowtriovibes]

as our lives change, come whatever

Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x f!MC

Word Count: 2.4k

Rating: E

Warnings: 18+, aged-up characters, teen drinking (though probably legal in the UK idk), explicit sexual content, unprotected PIV sex

Summary: The night you graduate from Hogwarts, you indulge in a bit too much Firewhiskey and have to sleep it off upstairs at the Three Broomsticks.

“Come on, Sirona, please,” Sebastian whines, leaning on the worn edge of the bar as he tries to charm Sirona into giving him the key to the private room upstairs. “Just so we can rest for a while.” “Sebastian,” the weary proprietor sighs. “Unlike you, I may not have graduated today, but I wasn’t born yesterday." “What are you implying, Miss Ryan?” the now former Hogwarts student asks with a teasing grin. “I would never try to get up to anything untoward in your pub, I swear.”

“Come on, Sirona, please,” Sebastian whines, leaning on the worn edge of the bar as he tries to charm Sirona into giving him the key to the private room upstairs. “Just so we can rest for a while.”

“Sebastian,” the weary proprietor sighs. “Unlike you, I may not have graduated today, but I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“What are you implying, Miss Ryan?” the now former Hogwarts student asks with a teasing grin. “I would never try to get up to anything untoward in your pub, I swear.”

She scoffs, rolling her eyes at the young man while she dries an empty Butterbeer mug.

“Just look at the state of her,” Sebastian offers, glancing sidelong at his group of friends crowded around a far table. “I just need somewhere she can rest, I promise it’s all above board.”

Currently, you’re slumped haphazardly between Ominis and Natty, your head resting on the drowsy Slytherin man’s shoulder as you slur something about your formal robes cutting off the circulation in your wrists. Natty laces her fingers with yours and tugs your hand into her lap, clumsily ripping open the cuffs while you laugh, delighted.

“Seems she can take on a fully-grown mountain troll on her own, but she can’t handle her Firewhiskey,” Sirona deduces.

“I can’t Apparate her home like this, Merlin knows where she’d end up if we tried to Floo, and she’d fall right off her broom somewhere over Irondale if we even got that far,” he says, trying to reason with her. “Just until sunrise, and then I’ll take her home.”

Just then you hiccup and startle Natty and yourself into another round of giggles, and Sirona shakes her head good-naturedly.

“Merlin’s beard,” she sighs. “Fine, Sallow, you can have the key for one night. But when I come back to open up in the morning, I want to see no trace I ever caved to you.”

Sebastian quickly takes the key offered to him before she can change her mind. “This is why you’re one of the good ones, Sirona.”

Just a few hours ago, you and your friends had officially graduated and become mature witches and wizards in the eyes of the Ministry. While it isn’t the first time you’ve ever tried the spicy sweetness of Firewhiskey, it is the first time you’ve been able to purchase a bottle at the Three Broomsticks.

(It’s a lot more convenient than having sweet Poppy distract the disgruntled barman at the Hog’s Head in order to pilfer a bottle in exchange for a handful of galleons left behind the bar).

So, perhaps you’d all had a bit too much while celebrating your newfound freedom, and now that the end of the night drew near, only Sebastian had retained enough of his sense to see everyone off.

“Natty,” he asks, sliding back into the booth. “You’re off to Hogwarts for the night, then?”

“It seems I cannot escape,” she laughs. “I will stay with my mother in her quarters until I find a flat in London.”

“Our newest Auror!” you exclaim, tugging Natty’s arm to your chest.

“And you, Ominis?” Sebastian continues.

“Not with my mother, that’s for sure,” he demurs. “Off to Feldcroft for the night, I think.”

“With Aaaaaaann,” you coo, and Sebastian politely – generously, in fact – ignores how Ominis’ cheeks go red.

“Right then,” he grumbles. “Obviously this one is in no state to travel, so Sirona’s agreed to let us stay upstairs for the night.”

“Upstairs?” you breathe, reaching across Natty to take Sebastian’s hand. “The private room?”

“Be good,” he says firmly. “You’re just going to sleep.”

“Fat chance,” Ominis mumbles into his mug.

“Shouldn’t you be going?” Sebastian asks pointedly, throwing some extra galleons onto the table for the young wizard who’d been bringing them rounds of drinks. “It’s quite late, and I believe Ann was expecting you at ten.”

“...What time is it?” Ominis asks, sounding slightly panicked – the Sallow siblings aren’t exactly known for their patience.

“After ten,” Natty laughs.

Just like that, Ominis curses under his breath and Disapparates right from his seat.

“Need a hand getting her upstairs?” Natty offers, but Sebastian quickly waves her off, insisting she Floo home and get some rest herself. As soon as she disappears in a quick burst of green flames from the fireplace at the end of the pub, Sebastian hauls you out of the booth and starts to walk you upstairs.

“S’not even that late,” you whine. “We graduated today Seb, s’a big deal!”

“I know, love,” he replies fondly. “But I think it’s time for you to call it a night.”

You’re quite the handful to get upstairs, occasionally tripping on the pub’s ancient wooden stairs – not to mention protesting the entire time.

Once Sebastian manages to get you into the private room, he quickly locks the door and enchants the small loveseat along the far wall into a modest-sized bed for the night.

“Sit,” he insists, wrangling you toward the bed and kneeling in front of you. “Boots off.”

He barely gets one of your shoes free before you drape your leg over his shoulder with a sly grin, trying to pull him in closer.

“Not a chance, dearest,” he drawls. “You’ve had so much Firewhiskey tonight I could light a match off of your breath.”

“But it’s graduation night,” you protest. “S’the most important night of our lives!”

“I’m not sure I agree,” he counters as he tugs off your other boot, thinking of a much more special night he’d like to have with you a few more years down the line, when you’re both ready. Once you’ve established yourselves, he thinks.

(Once he’s earned it, his inner voice tells him.)

“But I want you,” you whine, trying one last time to coax him into trouble.

And Sebastian will admit, he’s far from a perfect man. It’s certainly tempting.

But he manages to make himself focus on helping you out of your cloak and robes, and thank Merlin that wrestling you free of your corset takes long enough that your eyelids start to droop. He nudges you onto your side while he strips off his own cloak and dress shirt, eventually joining you to wrap his arm around your waist and tug you back against his chest like he’s done nearly every night for the past year.

“Sleep, you little minx,” he groans tiredly, his nose buried in your hair.

—

In the morning, Sebastian wakes up to your hand down the front of his trousers.

It might not even be morning yet, he thinks blearily. It’s still somewhat dark in the small private room, its sparse furnishings barely visible in the weak light from the two windows high above him.

“Good morning, Seb,” you whisper, nosing along his neck before pressing a lingering kiss to the hinge of his jaw.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” he asks, his voice hoarse from sleep.

“It’s early, Sirona won’t come to kick us out for another hour or so,” you offer.

Sebastian realizes you’ve got your hand wrapped around his cock only when you start to stroke him, and any argument he’d had against letting you have your way with him starts to go murky in the back of his mind.

“Are you still drunk?” he asks, his head tipping back against the pillow.

“No,” you insist, mouthing at his jawline. “Promise.”

You’ve already thrown one of your legs across his lap and you’re wearing nothing but your undergarments. Sebastian doesn’t stand a chance, and he knows it.

He groans softly as you kiss your way from his jaw up to his plush lips, distracting him while you clumsily tug your underwear off with your free hand and wiggle your way fully onto his lap.

“How long have you been up?” he asks.

“Oh, just a little longer than you’ve been up,” you answer, pointedly stroking him again.

“I had no idea you could be so crude,” Sebastian laughs. “What happened to my good little witch, hm?”

“She’s not a student anymore,” you answer, extracting your hand so you can finish undoing the front of Sebastian’s trousers.

Leaning back onto his thighs, you pull his trousers down as far as you can and then his underwear as well, until his bare cock rests against the lowest part of his stomach, glistening wet at the tip.

“Like this?” he asks hopefully, sliding a hand up your bare thigh to your hip to coax you forward again.

“Yes,” you whisper, leaning down to kiss him gently at first, and then rougher when his grip on your hip tightens to encourage you to grind your wet core against him.

When you can’t take the teasing anymore, you quickly sit up and lift your hips so you can reach between your thighs and take Sebastian in your hand. Holding his cock steady, you meet Sebastian’s gaze as you line him up against your entrance and start to sink down.

He’s stunned silent – a rare occasion.

Truthfully, you’ve been ready for him since you awoke, but a bit of teasing from your own fingers while he slept helped make sure you could take him straight away. You didn’t want to waste any of your precious time in the pub’s private room on anything other than having him inside you.

You gasp softly once he’s fully inside, your ass pressed to the tops of his thighs as his hands roam hungrily over your hips, your legs, and even your chest.

“You really needed it, didn’t you?” Sebastian asks, his voice still a bit hoarse. “You woke up this wet for me, love, that’s… fuck.”

“Yes,” you whimper, starting to rock up and down to let yourself feel the fullness of him inside before you start to ride him in earnest. “It’s all I wanted, all night.”

“Take it, then,” he says smugly, removing his hands from your body to fold his arms behind his head. “I want to see you take what you want.”

You both know your relationship thrives on a bit of healthy competition, it always has. So when he issues a challenge like that, you have to meet it. Narrowing your eyes at his knowing gaze, you trail your own hands up your body – he likes a bit of a show, of course – and start to ride him properly.

Despite the usual hustle and bustle of Hogsmeade, it’s silent in the early morning hours. All you can hear are the sounds coming from the bed: your panting breaths, Sebastian’s low groans, the addictive sound of bare skin on skin, and the dubious creaking of the conjured bed’s wooden frame.

“How’s that, love?” Sebastian asks lazily, watching you throw your head back in pleasure as you grind down on him over and over. “Is that enough for you, or do you need more?”

“More,” you slur without even thinking. Whatever he wants to give you, you’ll take it, no questions asked.

He laughs softly before reaching out to press one of his large hands to the crease of your hip, rubbing his thumb gently against your clit. When you moan encouragingly, he presses a little harder.

“Like that?” he asks. “You want to come on my cock like this?”

“Please,” you beg, and you’re not even sure what it is you’re begging for. You’re full of him, you’ve got his hands on your body, you’ve got his fiery gaze all over you… it’s nearly too much, but not quite enough.

But Sebastian knows. He always knows just what you need.

He sinks the fingers of his free hand into your hair at the base of your neck and pulls you down to him, messily kissing you and nipping at your bottom lip until you open up and let him devour your desperate moans. This angle, bent over his body like this, it’s exactly what you need.

Sebastian grins victoriously as you come apart on top of him, biting gently along your neck when you throw your head back and cry out helplessly.

“That’s it, good girl,” he moans, wrapping an arm around your waist so he can keep you pressed close to him.

He shifts you forward so that he can plant his feet on the bed, fucking up into you the second your leverage is gone. You figure he’s probably close, he’s usually desperate to follow you once he’s gotten you off.

“Sebastian,” you whine against his cheek. “Please.”

“Please what?” he grits out, the arm around your waist drifting lower to roughly grab at your ass. “You need more, you greedy thing?”

“Please, come in me,” you keen, and Sebastian nearly chokes.

He manages a few more precise thrusts before his rhythm is gone and he simply buries himself in you, his core taught while he finishes with a low groan. You press sweet, aimless kisses across his cheeks, his forehead, his jaw until he goes boneless.

“That’s a hell of a good morning,” he breathes, and you blush a little, tucking your face against his neck. “Maybe I should let the barman overserve you more often.”

“Overserve me?” you protest. “And just who was pouring all those shots, hm?”

“Couldn’t possibly have been me, I’m quite responsible,” he drawls, and you playfully elbow him in the side. “Speaking of which, you need to eat some breakfast soon or you’ll be useless the entire day, and last night you offered to help Natty look at flats this afternoon.”

“I did?” you groan.

“Well, I figured while we’re with her, maybe we could see if there’s any we like for us,” Sebastian says hesitantly. “I mean, if – if you still want to.”

When you delightedly throw your arms around him and roll him toward the clean side of the bed, he assumes that it’s still a yes.

—

Sirona cautiously steps into her pub an hour later, listening intently for any sounds of passion lest she become further scarred by Hogwarts’ hormonal teens than she already has been over the years.

Thankfully, the Three Broomsticks is quiet, and there’s a note on the bar next to a fresh bottle of ink from Scrivenshaft’s.

Sirona,

Thank you so much for letting Sebastian and me sleep upstairs last night. We’re taking off for now, but I wanted to gift you some new ink so that you’ll write to us in London – any exciting gossip is of course appreciated, but if there’s ever anything we can do to help out in Hogsmeade, please don’t hesitate to write.

P.S. Apologies about the loveseat. I promise we used Scourgify.

[megumimania]

AOT LONDON BOY HCS PT 2

featuring: reiner, onyankopon, armin

a/n: this is part two of these hcs, part one is here! thanks for tuning in its kinda rushed my bad 😪, likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

ARMIN

-armin would be from islington or finchley maybe even south, but I don’t see him living in like bougie areas such as kensington or chelsea or like richmond

- him and eren went to the same primary and secondary together

-armin was literally his get out of jail free card because of his stellar reputation in academics

-he always gets free stuff from the corner shop or the chicken and chip shop

-doesn’t own a car, he either bikes or takes the tube because he cares about the environment and doesn’t want to add onto the extra pollution in london

-his dress sense is very casual like a t shirt, a pair of loose fitted trousers and some trainers but when he cant be bothered he’ll wear a tech fleece

-he has a very good sense of direction, like he knows the fastest routes for anything, like when eren and connie dragged him to carni (if you went this year im saur jealous 😩 but anyways) and it was time to get home armin found a quicker route that got them back pretty fast

-knows all the best secret spots in london for anything! which makes hanging out with him more fun because you experience a new part of london when you’re together

-he isnt a fan of eren’s scamming ways but when eren asks for help he always answers as long as he’s not a part of it

-london men i feel like are terrible with their feelings but armin is the exception, he would be very open with you about his feelings and such

-reads so much, you’ll catch him at hyde park or greenwich park reading till the sun sets

-he smokes cigarettes but he’s trying to cut it out for you

-his playlist would be very diverse since he’s been brought up in a multicultural area, like it would go from bashment, to rnb, drill to pop

-unlike his unserious counterparts *cough cough* eren and connie, he’s very loyal!

ONYANKOPON

-my ghanaian king, shoutout to my ghanaians!!

-he speaks twi so well that people forget he was brought up in the uk

-he would be from peckham or lewisham for suree, he’s deffo been dragged around by his mum round rye lane market on a saturday morning carrying that trolley with him

-he goes to a pentecostal church, he’s always leading youth service and helping out at church events.

-the aunties love him for this because he’s the perfect son that they don’t have and they just love him in general

-ony can cook and im being for real, so you guys never eat out unless ony wants to show you to a new niche restaurant somewhere

-he has snap but doesn’t have a bitmoji because he thinks it’s immature 😕 but eventually he caves and makes one because you ask him too

-hes always promoting his boys stuff whether that be music,

-he deffo went to an all boys secondary and then he went to a mixed sixth form after, he gives me those vibes

-he used to go to the library to link girls after school 😭 he had a big playboy phase but hes calmed down

-he used to be one of those people at stratford westfield trying to sell you magazines before you enter

-hes not stingy with his money, hes always spoiling the people he loves

-he has a bunch of caps and grills that he likes to rotate out weekly, he has great style

-he works in corporate london so its rare that you dont see him outside of a suit and tie but he always makes time for you

-ony is always holding your bag for dear life when you go to bait areas like oxford street or westfields or like the tourist spots because people be getting their shit stolen loool

-he loves late night tesco trips anything that he can do at night i.e late night walks, drives etc

-bossman is always giving him discounts on stuff because ony is loyal customer.

REINER

-look at that man and tell me he wouldnt be from essex tell me!! like thats pure dagenham material right there

-if you search up a typical person from essex, he would come up

-he probably owns those skintight chinos with those ugly polos with the church shoes

-he tries to downplay his accent a bit since sometimes its hard to understand him but when hes upset his accent comes through in full force

-always at spoons or at the club till early hours

-reiner gives me bricklayer vibes so thats what im gonna roll with

-when he comes home from work in summer hes like hot and sweaty but it makes his biceps glow so its kinda sexy idk

-has a bunch of tattoos, most of them are birthdays of family members and a picture of his grandma who passed away

-has a british bulldog called belle, the dog is fucking scary but reiner thinks the world of her and thinks she can do no wrong

-listens to mainly dnb, garage, techno

-downs pints at the pub like it’s nothing, he has a high alcohol tolerance

-proper geezer that’s all i have to say tbh!

[post-punk-author-anthony-day]

Includes Interpol, Talking Heads, Lowlife UK, Joy Division, molchat doma, ,Iceage, Fontaines DC, Shame, Squid, Ploho, The Horrors, Bitchevsky Park, Bambara, A Projection, Protomartyr, makthaverskan , The Feelies, New Order, The Mission, Preoccupations, Black Midi, Editors, White Lies, The Strokes, KILLING JOKE, king krule, The National, Two Door Cinema Club, The Fall, Bauhaus , Nick Cave, Essential Logic, ESG, Viagra Boys and More !

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/74rrLIgdHwrq4WwmcAtK1h?si=HrVNNozpSS-TJ3k2qUanrQ&pi=u-gADXcJnmTEOq

Quintessential post punk playlist. The very best curated by the heart of darkest, the blackest, a real brother. I got the skin to match the bleed….

[leclerc-s]

track 002. clean

 ─── ❝ gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean ❞  ───

series masterlist // previous //next

zoya can remember when she got the first letter. she was 8 and in 3rd grade, the teacher announced they would be getting pen pals. zoya had no clue what that meant but it sounded so cool, she went home and told her mom all about it that day. the next day her teacher had placed a hat in front of her and her classmates telling them it would be luck. zoya had crossed her fingers she would get a girl her age, instead she nearly cried when she saw the words logan, florida.

she wrote a small letter introducing herself and silently hoped he would never reply, she didn't want to talk to a boy. maybe if logan didn't reply she would get a new pen pal and maybe it would be a girl. but it would be just her luck that he would reply, she left the letter unopened until her dad almost ripped it, that was when she jumped and opened it. logan seemed nice, but all he did was talk about cars and formula 1. it wasn't zoya's biggest interest but she had talked about her american girl dolls her entire letter. for some strange reason, that she still couldn't explain, zoya had replied and the two struck up a good friendship.

logan may have been across the country but he quickly became her best friend. one of his last physical letters had been him begging for an email address to talk to her because he would be living in the uk for a long time, he didn't know if he would come back to live in states. zoya had pleaded with her mom to let her have an email, and when she caved, the communication with logan was non-stop. of course he always talked about formula 1 but now there was a boy named oscar added into the mix, and he NEVER shut up about him. if zoya hadn't heard of the many girls logan had crushed on she would've thought he was in love with oscar.

zoya torres talks about pen pals, drivers license, and formula one

posted march 2021

comments

username it's so cute that zoya's still friends with her old pen pal.

↳ username right? i stopped talking to my old pen pal when i was 10.

username this isn't weird at all zoya. it's so cute!

username love that the majority of the interview was zoya talking about her pen pal.

username love that she took every opportunity to call this man a basic white boy.

username how many facts does she know about formula one. like how many things did this guy tell her and they just stuck?

↳ username not very many, she said so herself towards the end of the interview. they also don't talk much these days because of her career and his career path is also demanding.

lando norris i spiraled and watched a bunch of zoya's interviews, so zoya, who's your penpal?

zoya torres HOW FAR BACK DID YOU GO?

natalia ruiz aww you have a penpal? that's so cute.

oscar piastri logan has a penpal to

logan sargeant traitor

freya vettel that's cute. how long have you two had your penpals for?

logan sargeant since i was 10 zoya torres i was 8

daniel jones-ricciardo holy shit, that's so fucking cute.

bailey winters fun fact: hope ur okay was inspired by zoya's penpal because they briefly fell out of touch back in 2020

zoya torres traitor

isabella perez I LOVE THAT SONG!

ollie bearman no, you just like crying to sad music isabella perez ollie shut the fuck up

freya vettel i caught her crying to tolerate it the other day

mae jones her dickhead ex showed up in miami, and she's allowed one sad song per day

zoya torres therapy helps!

isabella perez I DON'T NEED THERAPY!!

mick schumacher i needed therapy after the whole haas thing. sebastian vettel you didn't even go mick. you cried over a pint of ice cream for 2 hours mick schumacher but theoretically, i needed therapy. max verstappen i'd need therapy after dealing with maze-spin as my teammate

charles leclerc zoya has corrupted my daughter.

daphne jones-ricciardo she's 4 months old charles, there's nothing about her to corrupt natalia ruiz he means she can't sleep unless there's music playing.

charles leclerc i regret ever letting zoya live with us.

freya vettel that's bullshit and we all know it.

logan sargeant i don't see a problem, charles plays the piano??

natalia ruiz she can't sleep unless it's seven.

max verstappen I TOLD YOU I SHOULD'VE BEEN GODFATHER BUT NO YOU HAD TO GO WITH BITCHIARDO!! daniel jones-ricciardo fuck you verstappen

mae jones they only went with daniel because they wanted daphne as godmother...

natalia ruiz not true, it was either pierre or daniel because i got to pick little jewel's godmother.

pierre gasly IT COULD'VE BEEN ME?! charles leclerc but then you got drunkenly married in vegas and i knew daniel was the right choice

rowan todd that shit's going to haunt us for the rest of our lives

zoya torres digital footprint haunts you forever.

mae jones we should know zoya torres ooh let's not go there

lando norris i'm nosy, so how exactly did you two become friends?

zoya torres interesting question. i'm not answering. i like mystery.

mae jones ooh i agree!

lando norris boo!

zoyatorres posted new stories

forza ferrari something like that.

praying i don't get lost again. i do not need a repeat of miami

red boots to support dad, a gift from daniel in case you weren't sure. we should've saved them for austin.

liked by nataliaruiz, isabellaperez, maejones and others

zoyatorres i'm embracing the ferrari lifestyle at this point

view all comments

user07 every time she's posted charles she's made fun of him and i love that.

↳ zoyatorres someone needs to humble il predestinato and it's gonna be me!

freyavettel it sucks you in zoya, you have no choice but to let it swallow you whole.

↳ zoyatorres see i thought you were all joking, but you're not.

isabellaperez i demand pic credits for that one picture of you!

↳ zoyatorres my bad 📸 to zoya for the second picture!

charles_leclerc WHEN DID YOU GET IN MY CAR??

↳ zoyatorres te-he

↳ isabellaperez crimes were committed mr. leclerc

user87 the commitment to making fun of charles is everything to me

user99 nah cause my mind still can't wrap my head around zoya becoming friends with charles fucking leclerc

user19 she looks so good in red

lilymhe she's an icon

↳ zoyatorres marry me. i'll be a better wag for you than alex could ever be.

↳ alex_albon i will fight you torres. i am not afraid to resort to physical violence

↳ zoyatorres i could take you

maejones pretty girl ❤️

↳ zoyatorres call me ms. steal yo girl because i'm coming for every driver's girlfriends and wives. ricciardo-jones, you're next

↳ danieljricciardo what the hell did i ever do to deserve this?

↳ zoyatorres marry daphne fucking jones

↳ user28 she's so valid for that

user32 she looks so much happier these days and i don’t know what it is.

↳ user80 right? she dumped her ex an instantly became so happy.

↳ user51 not to mention she’s probably got all her frustrations and anger out when she was writing her new album

↳ user32 good for her, she deserves to be happy

↳ user51 facts, zoya deserves all the happiness in the world

taglist: @burningcupcakefire @arkhammaid @sunflower-golden-vol6 @applopie @lorarri @mypage-myfandoms @bb-swift @thewannabewriter @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @stopeatread @hobiismyhopeu @lilsiz @alessioayla @niniluvsainz @au-ghosttype @cowboylikemets1989 @justtprachisblog @rmeddar123 @nichmeddar @landonorizzz @unluckyyoshi @Mimolovescookies @brekkers-whore @natcha888 @camdensreg @mycenterfold @dear-fifi @prongsvault @kaa212 @anxxiousaries @julesbabey1 @julesbabey @georgeparisole @Smnthnclj @dan3avocado @melissayalene @nothanqks @nikfigueiredo @bella-1 @namgification @jensonsonlybutton @chezmardybum @d3kstar @weekendlusting @ragioniera

strikethrough means i couldn't tag you

¡leclerc-s speaks! this one’s more of a filler but it does give you an insight on how logan and zoya became pen-pals. which i think is cute, so it's okay that this one is a filler.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[lisbeth-kk]

May Prompts (27) Jealousy

The Luckiest Girl in the World (chapter27)

Summary: Rosie and Timothy travel the Greek islands. An intriguing experience on Santorini, puzzles and irks Rosie immensely. When Timothy doesn't react to her liking, there's only one option on how to move forward.

Twenty-Seven Years Old

To celebrate my birthday and my new fulltime job as a political risk analyst, Timothy and I went island-hopping in Greece. Liwia and her girlfriend had done it last year, and it appealed to us both. Having nothing but the flights planned, made me feel a bit reckless but it was quite freeing as well.

The only thing we’d decided on was to stick to the Cyclades and we started our journey by taking a ferry to the small island Antiparos. Several people who let out rooms stood waiting on the quay as we disembarked. An elderly and friendly looking man caught our attention, and the room he had to offer was more than sufficient.

Our first breakfast is one I’ll remember forever. The small restaurant was situated by the seafront where the fishing boats came in with their catch. Faded coloured fishing nets hung to dry in the sun, the scent of salt weaving its way to our nostrils.

Freshly pressed orange juice and the fluffiest omelette I’d ever come across, ensured the perfect start of our day.

We hired a moped to explore a little. The trip took us through a landscape of olive trees and flowers we didn’t have in the UK. Our destination was the famous cave with stalagmites and stalactites. The stalagmite at the entrance is apparently 45 million years old, the oldest in Europe. 

We were warm and a bit sweaty after standing out in the sun, while we waited for our guide. The air inside was pleasantly chill and got even colder as we descended the 411 steps to the heart of the cave. It was a mesmerising sight, and knowing that this was the nature’s own doing, left me amazed and humble.

At a cosy taverna we ate the best Greek salad to date. The ripe tomatoes paired with the salty feta cheese, olives, onions, the rich olive oil and the homemade bread, almost made me religious for a moment.

The beach close to our quarters, was small, secluded and blessedly free of crowds. We had taken a boat to a famous beach the day before, but we’d barely found a free space to lay down our blankets, so this felt like paradise in comparison. 

Another short boat ride away was the bigger island Paros. We took the bus to the other side of the island. I don’t remember anything else from that trip than the hours we spent in Naoussa. Several boats painted in bright colours lay bobbing in the water close to the restaurants that encircled the bay. It may sound simple, but it was the most beautiful view, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. We sat there for hours, eating seafood and drinking Greek white wine. 

***

So far, it had been a “normal” vacation, or tedious as Papa would’ve called it. That all ended when we sat foot on Santorini. Getting a room was easy enough, and relieved of our heavy rucksacks we went for a stroll in the main street of Fira. Every other shop was a jewellery shop, and the necklaces displayed bore the resemblance to what pharaohs and Cleopatra wore. Heavy, massive and ridiculously expensive. For each shop they seemed to grow bigger and uglier. We had quite a laugh at that.

The most peculiar thing happened at the restaurant we had lunch. It was a terrace with a breathtaking view over the Aegean Sea. We’d decided to stay for a while and ordered more iced tea, making ourselves comfortable under the big parasol. We had both brought a book, and for a while we read in silence. A repetitive sound of paper being ripped, caught my attention.

An elderly woman had taken up residence at the table next to ours. She had short frizzy hair, more grey than brown now, her glasses were round with a white frame. The summer dress she wore had big patterns in green, red, white, and orange. On her feet were white flip-flops. 

“Stop staring,” Timothy whispered.

He startled me and I looked annoyed at him, but averted my eyes and took a sip of my drink. The moment the sound of ripped paper reached my ears again, my eyes were drawn to the spectacle at the other table.

The woman read a book too. A paperback. The curious thing I almost couldn’t fathom, was that whenever she finished a page, she ripped it out and placed it in a pile under her plate. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? What if you needed to go back some pages to look up something you’ve missed. It could never be read by another person, since she apparently left pages wherever she sat down to read. It bore no logic, and it irked me.

“Aren’t you curious about why she does it?” I whispered to Timothy.

“Not particularly. My book is far too interesting, and you won’t get an answer unless you ask her, and I guess you aren’t inclined to do that,” was his phlegmatic answer.

Timothy’s ability to turn off the world and disappear into his reading or writing, was admirable, but now it almost made me jealous of his book. I wanted to speculate with someone, solve this odd conundrum. There would be no more reading on my part after this, so I took out my phone instead.

Want to solve a mystery for me?

Pray tell! I’m bored to death and about to shoot the wall. P

Also available on AO3

Friendly warning: after 25 years the mystery is still unsolved. Don’t be shy about suggesting what the meaning of this appalling behaviour could be 🤭

@calaisreno @totallysilvergirl @keirgreeneyes @helloliriels @raina-at

More tags in the replies

[niftynellie]

• Bubble-hawk •

Pairings: reader x Jude Bellingham

Warnings: fluff

Moving in together was something you and Jude had spent alot of your relationship fantasising about, those dreams only increasing in need and want when Jude made the move over to Dortmund and you began university. The two of you would squeeze in facetimes and text messages every second you could find in your busy schedules, and almost always the conversation would move to how much easier and simpler your relationship would be if there wasn't a literal ocean between you. Of course you both traveled back and fourth between the UK and Germany whenever you could but it still wasn't the same. You even found yourslef wishing on a few occasions that he still lived at home with his parents like he did before. When you would sneak in through his bedroom window each night just to fall asleep beside him and leave in the morning before either of your mums would notice.

Years after those little "I can't wait until I can come home to you everydays" began, it was finally your reality. Thought the first week had been nothing less of a nightmare. But even With shipping companys delivering late and a cupbaord shelf caving in causing a landslide of plates crashing to the ground, you couldn't be happier that you were finally settled in and the weekend had arrived. There was still little bits of work that needed to be done around the house before you would fully consider yourself moved in but after spending the first week with Jude everything was quickly becoming home to you.

One of the many things that drew you and Jude to the house, were the bathrooms. They were gorgeous. You particularly felt drawn to the larger then life bathtub in the en suit for yours and Judes bedroom. Instantly picturing how relaxing your sunday self care sessions would be in a bath of that size.

You'd been looking forward to it for much longer than you cared to admit. So when sunday evening rolled around you basically skipped up the stairs after you'd put the dishes from dinner into the washer and left Judes waiting for him on the side, knowing he wasn't far away from being home after a he'd played in a match earlier in the day.

Once in the bathroom you closed the door behind you, not really caring to much about locking it, your first step in the never changing routine was to set up your playlist the sound of SZA's voice filled the room as you happily danced around grabbing everything you needed.

You weren't aware of how long exactly you'd taken to gather everything and start running the bubble bath and you were sure it hadn't been to long. But soon enough with your back to the door you heared it creep open. you were looking down at the tub checking you hadn't run it to hot or cold, when you felt Jude's arms wrap around your waist and his chin drop down onto your shoulder.

"hey baby" you spoke softly spinning in his grip to face him placing a sweet kiss on his pouty lips. "you started without me" he teased nodding over to the skincare you'd laid out on the side. "I didn't think you were serious when you said you wanted to join in" you huffed a laugh "let me just have my bath then we'll start" you said unraveling from the mans arms as you remembered it was in fact still running behind you. You turned the tap off satisfied with the depth, warmth and bubble ratio.

But by the time you'd done that Jude was already tugging his shirt up over his head, "we'll just share to save time" he joked, his joggers quickly falling to the floor beside his discarded shirt. Jude slide into the bath first as you still stood in your robe. His arms stretched out to rest along the edge of the bath has he leant back sighing happily the bubbles covering him. He looked up at you with a smirk reaching out and tugging the tie on your robe making it fall open. "come on baby get in, cold without you"

You shook your head laughing as you left your robe hung on the side and went to get into the bath, your original idea was to sit opposite Jude and face him. But as you stepped in his hands went to your waist rearanging you sit between his legs. Tugging you so your back rested against his chest. "much better" he stated. The two of your wearing matching smiles, as you both relished in the comfort of the warm water and eachothers presence. you silently praising whoever chose to build such a large tub, it really was the perfect size for two.

No words were spoken for a few moments, you both sat in silence listening to whatever song was now playing. Judes hands left the tub edge and came forward his fingers playing with the tips of your hair that floated ontop of the water. "want me to wash your hair" he asked, though it sounded more like a statement rather then a question. You sat up slightly and looked over your shoulder at him, "only if you let me do yours too" you countered, knowing that as much as he loved to take care of you he was also tired from a long day and needed the care and attention aswell.

Jude nodded in agreement before he went to reach for the shampoo, though he hesitated slightly when he saw the amount if bottles beside him. You laughed before picking up the right bottle and handed it to him. He squeezed out the product and got to work lathering it into your roots. His fingers massaging your scalp at the same time, you let out a sigh releshing in the feeling, making him grin. Jude rinsed the shampoo out from your hair and continued on with the conditioner. A smile never left your lips and you were having a hard time telling if it was the water that was keeping you so warm or if it was the growing feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Jude finished and you switched places your back now against the edge and Jude between your legs. He sat scooping up bubbled in his hands as you worked your way through his hair routine, blowing them out of his palms and getting them all over the bathroom floor. When you were done Jude spun around and sat opposite you, a cheeky smirk replacing his smile. He scooped up another handful of bubbles and blew them over into your face. Laughing as you wiped them out fo your eyes. A playful frown tugging at your features had him lunging forward clutching even more bubbles, so many you were surprised that there were even any left in the bath after his antics. He dumped the handful ontop of your head and another cackle left his lips. Jude grabbed your wrists and stopped you from swiping the bubbles away.

"you know..." he trailed off his tingue poking his cheek in concentration as he reached up and started shaping the blob of bubbles. "...maybe a mohawk is the look for you" he chuckled sitting back and admiring his work. You laughed along with him as you caught sight of yourself in the mirror. "It's definitely a look. I dont know about it being the look" you giggled shaking the blob from ontop your head.

"no no, I think we're onto something here, the bubble mohawk is really gonna catch on" he teased his hands dropping onto your knees as they were proped up beside him.

"the bubble-hawk" you mocked, his eyes instantly lighting up as he laughed.

[ancaporado]

I know that many ancaps/libertarians are pro population growth and pro development, I however think that the global population and megacities are a government abomination. I keep thinking that places like the UK/Beltway/LA of USA are so fucked up because they don't have any real wilderness left. it's just a cultivated grid of human housing, industry, agriculture, the largest undomesticated creature being a racoon or fox or something pathetically small and unthreatening. Even the meme "birds aren't real" I think is a riff on this; you live in a 100% man-made environment, even the birds might as well be government spy robots.

When you fundamentally have to interact with an artificial rules based world all the time you have a tendency to systematize everything, and believe the lie that imaginary things like laws and governments are real physical things, and not just the whims of the police officer on the corner. Somewhat like abuse victims internalize the rules of their abuser to avoid punishment and cope. The urban landscape is the breeding ground of the cancerous and parasitic human survival strategy we identify as socialism/collectivism/progressivism.

The only real laws are those of nature, physics, chemistry, biology, evolution. Humans are an animal and we adapt to our environment, which is a mouse utopia. The modern world is so sick and against nature because our power to wall it out of our lives has created a hubris to rebel against these things. Progressivism in a sense, is rejection of natural order, a rejection of subjection to nature or nature's God. This is how you get to where we are today. I don't need to list the examples, but the unreality of thinking we can abolish scarcity, inequality, sex, the family, etc...

I don't want civilization and cities and humans not to exist. I just want radical concentrations of those things. We had 2.5% the global population in antiquity and still got innovative and talented thinkers that we still discuss today, artists, engineers, etc. These people had ample access to an untamed world, one that was unpredictable, and challenged them.

The urban human is a domesticated one. They have no real self-determination. Without a world unmade by humans, they have no reference for something beyond the imagination of another human, no blank canvas to make their own. Like the shadows of Plato's cave I'd wager it's like a person forced to look into a mirror their entire life. They would have no ability to identify themselves in the mirror as they have no reference that the mirror isn't just the entire world.

Climbing mountains, navigating rapids, scaling rock walls, skiing couloirs... the physical conquest of nature yields a surprise that cannot be claimed from an artificial challenge.

Think of the sweating, yelling, heaving mass of Cairo,

Bangladesh

Lagos

Mexico city

You might just assume they make great films, music, art, thinkers, engineers, and we just don't hear about them because they don't get distributed here or something. No it's just a mass of human flesh consuming the natural world, no ability to reflect and create, just consume.

Almost all of these places import food from the temperate climates of developed nations. A two year breakdown of global supply chains would result in them starving in the millions.

Even here in western civilization we yield the prime 'high-density walkable" real-estate to degenerates via council and section 8 housing.

Government programs of fiat currency, the welfare-warfare state, followed by deindustrialization has resulted in a massive mismatch in human population and economic/environmental capacity. Sure, here's where someone could politely chime in that "humans have infinite creative capacity, we just need to unlock their potential and your Malthusian doomsday is no more" and I grant that to a degree.

But massive declines in human population, the standard of living, and technology are regular historical occurrences. Western science has had an absolute "ick" towards actually understanding and implementing Darwinism towards human populations. Country-wide datasets of IQ probably remain stable due to the continuing rise/Flynn effect of the middle/upper class offsetting the sliding downward of the welfare class. There's no evolutionary biologist who wouldn't recognize that the market economy selects for intelligence and the welfare state was our feeble altruistic effort to carry the "but I did have breakfast" population along with us.

We've had nearly a century and, in some cases of repeated teen pregnancies, 6 or 7 generations who were never asked to provide for themselves meaningfully. They live in an ever more confusing world of late payments, cash advances, welfare office applications, prison stints, evictions, and unplanned pregnancies. Each generation more befuddled than the last. Recent studies show that there have been population bottlenecks through human evolution. In the bronze age as few as 1 in 17 men reproduced at all.

Biological imperatives of reproduction rule over all other sentiments and altruistic masochism. For the silent generation and the boomers, the welfare state was a token price they agreed to pay to keep the peace and they could afford it as they got race-rioted out of their downtown homes into the suburbs. Now the jig is up and millennials en-masse are finding that they can't afford to have kids *intentionally*. They look at their pay stub getting taxed at 40% so that, over at the section 8 housing, "baby mamas" collect government checks for the consequence of a hookup with serial felons, who are also housed and fed with working people's taxes. The boomers made a devil's bargain, they cucked their children!

Now we enter the final death spiral of empires and welfare states: below replacement fertility rates and above GDP national debt!

The group most prepared for the coming calamity, the group who predicted it, and who will emerge as victors are those who are internally pro-growth/pro population but maintain in-group preferences. The stats bear out:

Now this shift isn't just conservatives but libertarians also. In a couple generations we have gone from 1% in the 70's to 10% in the 2010s and now easily 25% in the 2020's (many libertarians simply don't vote or vote republican). We will replace left-wingers, who only reproduce vampirically via public education, in the next generation. There is hope at the end of this journey but it will be difficult in the mean time. Prepare yourself accordingly.

[theoutcastrogue]

Tagged by @st-just (thanks!) to just press shuffle on my general listening playlist 10 times and relate the results.

Thing is, I don't have a general playlist, only current ones, and I'm currently making a mixtape of execution ballads. So sadly, you're not getting any variety. You're either getting a preview of the project (I wanna make a booklet for this, I'm aiming for the moon, baby!), OR, since the grander the project the higher the chances of me never finishing it, a taste of what could have been.

The Dubliners - Sam Hall (a classic execution ballad with many versions, some of which brim with rage, while this one is rather stoic and dignified)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Up jumped the devil (a song about a man doomed from the start to play the villain's part, and the origin of this blog's #swinging from the gallows tree tag)

Johnny Cash - 25 minutes to go (peak gallows humour at Folsom Prison, uproariously funny and defiant, and somehow still conveying the terror of a man who doesn't want to die)

Let's Play Dead - Heaven and Hell (an execution ballad recently written for the series Harlots)

Brown Bird - Gallows (an alt-folk song not strictly about gallows, but adjacent)

Joan Baez - Long black veil (a country ballad about a man falsely accused of murder, who lets himself get dragged to gallows because he won't reveal his alibi: an affair with his best friend's wife)

Ewan MacColl - Go down ye murderers (a folk song about Tim Evans, who hanged for the murder of his wife and child in 1950; the real murderer confessed 3 years later, and the case played a major role in abolishing capital punishment in the UK)

The Tiger Lillies - Hang tomorrow (the pioneers of dark cabaret reimagine Brecht's Threepenny Opera, and here, disturbingly, take all the suaveness out of Macheath)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat (the Mercy Seat is the electric chair, and this is a torrent of a song, a whirlwind, a masterpiece, a 7-minute cynic snarl)

Saga de Ragnar Lodbrock - Ballade des pendus - The OG Ballad of the Hanged, written in the 15th century by the OG poète maudit, François Villon. It paints an indelible picture:

Tagging: @tuulikki, @lafcadiosadventures, @niannianyabao, @honourablejester, @swordsagedachsie,

@mrspookyfox, @vanwolffen, @ffxiv-swarm, @thelivingautomaton, everyone at @weareadventurers and anyone who wants to

[coochiequeens]

Yet another case for SheWon.com. Not just any case, one where a grown ass white dude was allowed to compete against an 11 year old girl of color in the name of inclusiveness.

By Amy Hamm February 22, 2024

A trans-identified male is set to compete against women as the reigning Women’s Snooker Champion at the English Women’s Snooker Championship on May 24 in Walsall, UK. Jamie Hunter, 27, became the top women’s player following a semifinal victory against a young girl last year.

Hunter first rose to prominence during the English Women’s Snooker Champion finals in 2023 after he came out victorious against Mary Talbot-Deegan, finishing 3-1. Hunter had managed to make it to the finals after he beat out Ellise Scott, an 11-year-old rising star in the snooker world, taking 2-0 against her in the semifinal grouping. The event had been Scott’s debut in the tournament, and, prior to her match against Hunter, she had achieved three match victories against experienced female opponents.

Hunter had been participating in women’s cue sports since 2021, just one year after he “came out” as transgender.

Prior to transitioning, Hunter played in a mixed-sex amateur league for five years. Speaking with Snooker Zone in 2021, Hunter admitted that he had no intention of competing professionally until he discovered that there was a women’s tour.

“Until this year, cue sports was just a hobby, something I done once, maybe twice a week, but now finding out about the Women’s snooker tour, I believe that will change,” he said at the time. “They make out as if I played snooker as a man, I was rubbish, so decided to do it in the women’s instead. I changed my gender for my wellbeing and my life, not for anything else.”

Hunter received significant backlash after his 2022 US Women’s Open win, when former women’s world champion Maria Catalano criticized the policies enabling males to compete against females. In an interview with The Sportsman, Catalano argued that women’s snooker should exclude males from female categories, as some rugby leagues have, to ensure fairness for women. 

“We have fought so hard for our rights in the past – myself, Reanne Evans and others got people to write letters to allow us to play in leagues and clubs that banned women. I don’t believe that women can compete against men on a level playing field in sport. We are wired differently, we think differently. We are mentally different,” said Catalano. 

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) publishes a mixed sex international ranking of players. The highest-ranking female on their current list, Mink Nutcharut, is listed at 119.

In response to the criticism of his wins against women, Hunter has framed the backlash as transphobia.

“Everybody’s human. Regardless of what choices you make. You should treat everybody with respect,” said Hunter speaking to a BBC journalist last fall. Bizarrely, Hunter was interviewed while he sat in a gaming chair in a dark bedroom — which he refers to as “the dark girl cave.” The room has a transgender pride flag pinned up on the wall behind him.

The upcoming English Women’s Snooker Championship is set for May 24, 2024. It is being organized by the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards (EPSB), which is the national governing body for the sport in England. They describe their goal as creating a “structured coaching environment that will inspire all regardless of gender, ability, or ethnicity to fulfil their potential in our sport.” 

The EPSB has a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy with a lengthy section on discrimination, including a ban on any “condition, rule or practice [that]… particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic.” As for their list of protected characteristics, the EPSB includes “gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, HIV positivity, working pattern, caring responsibilities, trade union activity or political beliefs.”  

The English Women’s Championship is set to take place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, UK, on May 24.

This is not the first time a male has dominated women’s cue sports, sparking backlash from players and fans.

Last November, a female pool player refused to compete against a trans-identified male opponent at a women’s championship in Wales. Lynne Pinches received an outpouring of support as video began to circulate showing her walking away from the table after being matched to play against Chris Haynes.

Days later, two more female pool players refused to compete against Haynes in solidarity with Pinches during the Ultimate Pool tournament in Blackpool, UK.

In January, Pinches headed an effort to launch a lawsuit against the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) and Ultimate Pool Group (UPG), accusing the governing bodies of subjecting women “to direct sex discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex.”

What does he have to gain from this?

ENTRY FEES AND PRIZE MONEY

Entry: £30

Winner: £200 

Runner-Up: £100 

Semi-Finalists: £50

[merlincersei]

Merlin BBC UK TV Show - Opinion Piece Part 7 - How The 2008 Series Reinterprets and Subverts Arthurian Legends

I was talking to a mutual friend about movies and TV shows in the fantasy genre and this friend bought up the fact how Arthurian legends have influenced most of them.

As that conversation progressed, we both agreed that the best adaptation of Arthurian legend was John Boorman’s 1981 classic "Excalibur".

However he seemed very amused when I told him that I was a huge fan of the 2008 BBC TV series Merlin. His opinion was that the TV series was "so childish, historically inaccurate and farcical" when he watched it.

I disagreed with him profusely and decided to make this post to outline my love of the TV series. I will share this post with this person so we can have further discussions on this topic. So here it goes:

Creators wanted to reinterpret Arthurian legend.

PROOF:

Julian Murphy, co-creator and executive producer: It all began in a restaurant on Kensington Church street, where I had lunch with the writer Jake Michie. And the pitch I gave him was very simple - It was 'I'd like to do the Arthurian story, but as an origin story in the same way that the Superman story had been done in [US TV series] Smallville.' And I think from there, it evolved.

But the decision that I think was at the heart of it, which was to make Arthur and Merlin contemporaries, rather than make Merlin the old man looking after the young Arthur, was there from the very beginning.

Source : https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/merlin-at-10-the-cast-and-creatives-on-how-they-made-the-bbcs-boy-wizard-drama/

If you are a fan of the series i would recommend to read the article above for more information and details about the TV Show.

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There has never been a concise Arthurian story. The legends are an amalgam of numerous versions, the most popular of them being as follows:

 History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey’s account of the legendary king contains the first appearance of many of the iconic features of the Arthurian legend, including the wizard Merlin.

Lancelot by Chrétien de Troyes

Geoffrey of Monmouth never mentions Arthur’s most famous knight, and it wasn’t until Chrétien de Troyes wrote Lancelot and introduced the idea of an affair between Guinevere and Arthur’s most noble knight that Arthurian legend really got the ‘romantic’ treatment

The Mabinogion by Anonymous

The Arthur we glimpse in the Mabinogion is usually a marginal figure so it’s worth reading if you’re a fan of early legends containing King Arthur.

Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

This is a vast prose retelling of the story of King Arthur and the Round Table.

Idylls of the King by Lord Tennyson

Here we find the stories of Lancelot and Elaine, Geraint and Enid, Merlin and Vivien

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So for the 2008 series to collect Arthurian stories from various sources and try to repackage it to a modern audience is nothing new as the trend has already been established through works of T. H. White in The Once and Future King, Mary Stewart in The Crystal Cave, Mark Twain in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court etc...

But it is through reinterpreting Merlin & Guinevere's storylines and using Magic as a motif that we get a brand new Arthurian story.

Guinevere

The name Guinevere means The Fair One in old Welsh.

To cast Angel Coulby, a woman of color as one of the most famous white woman in history was a revolutionary act by 2008 British TV standards.

In the legends, Guinevere is of royal blood. Gwen in the TV series is a servant of common birth who ascends to become a queen.

Here the audience come to see Gwen as the fair one based on the strength of her character and not the color of her skin.

In the TV show Arthur forgives Gwen's infidelity with Lancelot rather than having her sent to a nunnery or worse having her die. The old male authors were okay with Arthur bedding several women but expectation of chasteness placed on Guinevere always contained an undercurrent of misogyny.

In the TV Show, Gwen leads Camelot into the golden age, instead of being blamed for the downfall of Camelot due to her affair with Lancelot

PROOF : Excerpt From Hyable Article:

Meanwhile of course, Guinevere was left to lead Camelot into the golden age. “We’ve had that in our minds for about three series,” Julian Murphy says. “We felt that to take Gwen from a servant girl to a powerful and strong queen, a person who can bind the kingdom together, was the journey we wanted to do, and I think Angel [Coulby] delivered that brilliantly.”

Merlin

By having Merlin be of a contemporary age to Arthur they effectively changed Merlin from being a father figure to being a companion of Arthur.

The close bond that Merlin shares with Arthur in the TV Show effectively replicates Lancelot's close bond with Arthur in the historical legends.

Bradley James here confirms how in some legends Lancelot was in love with Arthur.

The gay subtext that was prevalent between Lancelot and Arthur in the historical legends is played out in all its glory between Merlin and Arthur .

Motiff of Magic

Throughout the history of Abrahamic religions, there has been a connection between magic and (deviant) sexual practices. From the osculum inafme (kissing of donkey’s anuses and kissing the Devil’s anus) to witches who were supposedly inserting hallucinogenous mushrooms into their vaginas. The series association between magic and non heteronormative people becomes pronounced as series progresses.

And therein lies the appeal of the 2008 Merlin TV Series. With this modern retelling it succeeds in addressing certain historical wrongs, make it more representational, address issues and highlight subtext that have been historically ignored in popular media for the time frame it aired.

Arthurian legends no longer becomes the domain of a patriarchal Judeo Abrahamic narrative about a return to the good old days but of class mobility, race, feminism, queer acceptance and the belief of a better world to come in context of the TV Show.

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 3 July 1918, a general strike began on the British dependency, the Isle of Man. Sailors, dockers, school workers, transport workers, shop assistants and others walked out on strike demanding that the price of bread remain at 9p – the same price it was in the UK, where flour was subsidised by the state. Previous agitation on the Isle of Man had pressured the local government to implement a subsidy as well for six months to match the price, amidst rising prices during World War I. But that subsidy just expired and the price was scheduled to be increased to 1 shilling (12p). Businesses that attempted to remain open were invaded by crowds of pickets and shut down. Fishing boats were allowed to dock, but fish had to be sold at prices set by a strike committee which was established by the workers. The strike committee also permitted shops in working class areas to open between the hours of 7 AM and 9 AM to allow people to buy food. On the second day of the strike, the governor approached the strike committee and offered them 10.5p per loaf. But this was refused. The governor then met with the legislative council, which caved in and agreed to restore the 9p price. As a result the strike ended on July 5. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7941/Isle-of-Man-general-strike https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654850353354850&set=a.602588028581083&type=3