#though i live in ottawa

[intersectionalpraxis]

"Rt. Hon. Prime Minister @/JustinTrudeau at today's #YomHashoah commemoration in Ottawa."

"In a country like Canada, it should be and it must be, safe to declare oneself a Zionist - Jewish or not. Zionism is not a dirty word or something anyone should be targeted for agreeing with. It is the belief, at its simplest, that Jewish people, like all peoples, have a right to determine their own future."

"You can be a Zionist and strongly support the creation of a Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel - a view I know is shared by many in the Jewish community and across Canada. It is my belief too."

Trudeau is a genocidal apologist, aids and doesn't condemn war criminals, and is watering zionism down as though it isn't a violent ideology that is responsible for the mass displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people... the way the Canadian government has been and continues to respond to what is happening in Palestine is beyond despicable.

[swissboyhisch]

All-Star Love

Pairing: Matthew Tkachuck x Lemiuex!Reader

Summary: The NHL All Star weekend is always fun. But bring in a romance... Then that's when it becomes interesting.

Word Count: 1742

Warnings: None I think. Please tell me if I'm wrong.

A/N: This comes from a fanific I've written myself. I adjusted it for this but I loved this idea/scene.

THE MASTERLIST JOIN THE TAGLIST HOCKEY DISCORD

All-Star weekend 2020. This year it was being held in St. Louis. You had arrived on the Pittsburgh plane with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Tristan Jarry since you were currently working with the team. Despite being Lemiuex’s child, you had earned yourself a position as an assistant coach at such a young age. You grew up playing the game. Now you were also the captain of the Canadian Women’s team. 

The last few years, you had attended the games alongside Sidney, who was an older brother after he lived with you and your family after he was drafted in 2005. It was a staple weekend in the season schedule. You had the chance to see all the friends and players you were close with and get to have some fun. Often you could even find yourself doing media stuff. 

This year the NHL had introduced the Elite Women’s 3 on 3. You were the youngest on the Canadian team by 5 years. They also have allowed the women on the teams to compete in the skills competitions. You had been placed into the Shooting Stars event. This meant that you were competing against your boyfriend, Matt, and his brother, Brady. Others in the skills competition include Mitch Marner, Patrick Kane, Tyler Seguin, David Perron, Hillary Knight, Danid Pastrnak and Ryan O’Reilly. 

Right now you were dressed in a pair of jeans and your team jersey. Standing in line waiting to be called to the stage where you’d be shooting from. With Mitch, Matt and Brady in front of you, the four of you were chatting and laughing. Each of you were excited to shoot off the platform. 

“Now your Gatorade Shooting Stars… from your St. Louis Blues, number 57, David Perron!”

The arena came to life, all cheering on one of the home team players. Perron, with his son in his arms, made his way up the stairs from ice levels. Handing out beanies and high fiving the fans as he went up to the platform.

“From the Toronto Maple Leafs, number 16, Mitch Marner.” 

Mitch followed Perron up the steps. Handing out hats as he went. Matt stepped forward to the bottom of the stars, looking up at all the fans. He had a hand on your lower back. Brady had let your stand next to your boyfriend whilst you three waited.

“From the Calgary Flames, number 19, Matthew Tkachuk.” Matt follows Mitch up. “From the Ottawa Senators, number 7, Brady Tkachuk.”

“The Canadian Women’s All Star, number 11, (Y/N) Lemieux.”

As you walked up the many stairs, you handed out rolled up t-shirts to fans. It was weird to have this many cameras in your face though. If you were honest, the walk up to the platform looked a lot shorter from the bottom. Especially the amount of stairs you had to climb. You reached the platform and waited for the rest of the players to join herself,Matt, Brady, Mitch and Perron. When everyone had gotten there, it went straight into the competition. First to shoot was Perron. He scored a total of 14 points. Mitch was next on the platform. He scored an awesome 22 points.

“Our next shooter, Matthew Tkachuk,” Nick started. “Your brother Brady is following you so we thought, hey, why not get one more Tkachuk up here. Why not bring up your Dad. Give it up St. Louis, for all-star Kieth Tkachuk!”

Yourself and Brady grin, tapping your sticks as you watched Keith join Matt on the platform, an arm around his shoulder with a wide smile on his face. Nick motioned for Brady to join them as well. You decided to give him a light shove as a joke.

“You should be up here as well,” Brady commented as he joined his brother and father.

You laughed at Brady’s comment. Sending a wink to Matt as well who had the biggest smile on his face.

Keith turned to face you, giving you a joking look, “I think we’re missing someone up here.”

“I ain’t no Tkachuck,” You reply. “Enjoy the moment, big guy.”

Matt stepped forward from where he was standing, holding his hand out for you. “Well, maybe we should change that, hey?”

“What?”

Keith, Brady and Nick stepped back from the platform and Matt grabbed your hand, pulling you to the centre of the platform they were standing on. Your hands flew to your mouth as you watched Matt slowly kneel to one knee and open a ring box. In the box sat the most perfect engagement ring you had ever seen.

“No way,” you breathed, looking at Matt who had the biggest smile on his face.

“You’ve been my best friend since we met all those years ago right here in this very arena. When little (Y/N) bumped into me as she ran to get away from her dad. You’ve been considered part of this family since then but I think I need to make it official, make sure you don’t stand out too much with that last name. Will you do me the greatest honour of changing your last name from Lemieux to Tkachuk?”

You nodded, too shocked to answer in words. The arena roared to life when Matt stood up and kissed you. He pulled the ring out of the box as you dropped your gloves. You cried as Matt slid the ring on your finger. Once he had sealed the deal, you lunged at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders excitedly.

The players around them and on the bench, as well as the whole arena, were screaming and cheering. Mitch and Brady made sure they were heard over everyone else. 

“I can’t believe you,” You laughed as you pulled away from Matt. Brady was the first to hug you congratulations. He had the biggest grin as well. The smile gave him away. “You knew!”

“Of course I did,” Brady chuckles, “I helped choose the ring.”

Brady was interrupted when Keith pulled you into a hug. “I think you should just keep your last name, it’s more recognisable.”

“Tkachuk is better, that's for sure.”

Nick soon joined the happy group. You were tucked into Matt’s side like usual. Nick held his hand out to Matt who shook it happily before handing Matt a new jersey. It was a grey All-Star Canadian jersey like you were wearing. You grabbed it from Matt, checking the back which now had Tkachuk on it.

“Oh my god,” You grinned, pulling off your current jersey for the new one.

“Hey, have a look at the photo up on the board you guys.” There was a photo of Keith kneeling by the bench in front of a young Brady, Matt and yourself. You had attended the weekend with her father and hung out with the boys. One of the rare times you got to see the Tkachuk brothers as a kid. “How exciting is it to be on this platform being here, history in the making, with your sons and soon to be in-law?”

“I’m so proud of these guys,” Keith stated, smiling at you three. “They’ve earned being here. Matt and Brady grew up here, watched me play here. I mean, Matt met (Y/N) just outside the home change rooms in this arena.” At that, there was a picture of Matt, Brady and Taryn, the youngest Tkachuk, standing with Keith now on the screen.  “I love these guys. I know they love the Blues deep down.”

“Oh, we’re excited to have you here. 18000 people wanna know, how many pucks can Tkachuk chuck, chuck? So why don’t you have a go at this.” Keith took Matt’s stick from him as the three young adults stepped back. “Come on, Keith Tkachuk everybody!”

Keith shot the puck, nearly getting it in the 10 pointer net. “Not a lot of love for that arch there Tkachuk,” You chirped as he turned to give Matt his stick back.

He hugged the three of you before Matt stepped up to the platform. But only after a kiss from you. Keith’s arm wrapped around your shoulder as they watched Matt drop his gloves.

“How characteristic…” You giggles, stopping when he pulls off his Calgary jersey to reveal an old St. Louis Cardinals jersey.

“Who’d he fight?” Keith laughed. “He won’t touch you.”

“He’ll fight me,” Brady mumbled from beside you.

The three of you chuckled as you watched Matt take his first shot. As he took his next few shots, you listened to Brady and Keith chirp your boyfriend, well now Fiance. Matt ended up with 24, getting a 10 on his last one.

“Look at you go,” You smiled, pecking Matt when he switched spots with Brady. 

Brady stepped up to the plate. Matt pulled from under his dad’s arm into his. Having you stand in front of him with his arms around you. When Brady took his first shot, Matt laughed at the fact his brother didn’t do anything special as a tribute to their hometown. 

“Next up we have the last of the three musketeers.”

You stepped onto the platform, with a good luck kiss from Matthew. You had 7 shots to hit the targets laid out on the ice below. With the first shot you hit a 5. After your 6 other shots, you came to a total of 24 as well. Tie with Matthew. After everyone else had taken their shot, it was only Matthew and yourself that had the highest score. No-one had outshot you two. 

“Since you both scored an amazing 24 points, we go to a sudden death shootout. One shot. Highest score wins.”

Matt shot first, missing the arch but a hair. You shot next. The puck went flying over the arch. Actually hitting Jarry who was chilling at the end of the end with some of the other goalies. 

“Injure your goalie, why don’t ya?” Matt chirps as he steps up once again. 

Round two. Matt shoots and hits the 5 points. Only way for you to beat that was to score the same or hit the arch for 10 points. You took a moment before finally shooting the puck. It went straight into the arch. You grin, cheering as you turn to where Matt was standing.

“Better luck next time Tkachuk!”

He smiled, coming up to congratulate you. He pressed a kiss to your lips. “Next time, you’ll be a Tkachuk as well.”

TAG LIST:

@findapenny @mp0625 @hischierhaze @11zegras @lvrzegras @francesfarhadi @cixrosie @daisysthings

[thebunnycruise]

Less of a question and more of a comment, Im sorry if its in the wrong spot lol, I just had to say this. I promise it’s not a hate comment, and sorry for the length.

I have never in my life seen something that has made me feel so physically ill. I feel genuinely sick reading this, and mentally exhausted from it. I have never read anything that has ever made me want to do something about these topics so badly. I hate this comic, and feel every fiber of my body crumble that I can’t do anything to help these women. It’s such an uncomfortable and painful feeling to see such heinous acts being done to people who i know are just down on their luck and never deserved this. I hate to sound cliche, but this was the eye opener of the fucking century.

You should be proud of your work, you’re doing something that I haven’t ever seen work as effectively and as potently as this.

One question I guess; I unfortunately can’t donate, but what else could us readers do? This comic destroyed me and I’m genuinely desperate at this point to see some happy ending come out of this, and I don’t know what I can do.

Thank you for this question! And sorry for ruining your mood, I think... TL/DR: Giving a shit is free. I recall this one lady being interviewed by a local news reporter regarding her views on the homeless problem in her neighbourhood, and she said something that stuck in my mind: "The more I have to [pick up] human feces, the less empathy I have." I think that one comment really hit home why we're at this point in society. People connect with the characters on the Bunny Cruise because we see their backstories, how they got to where they are, what they've lost along the way, what they dream of for the future, and how they've suffered in trying to reach for that dream. But, even though we know the guy OD'ing on the sidewalk passed out in his own sick must have had a life, have dreams, it's not something we think of in the moment. The difference between the Cruise and real life is that the girls have each other to support them through it, but we will walk over or side-step the heroin addict on the sidewalk without a second glance. That "mentally drained" and "physically ill" feeling is the cognitive dissonance talking. It's when we're forced to confront an perspective that challenges our way of thinking, or in this case, face a fear that perhaps the only difference between us and 67, 10, the twins, or that guy on the sidewalk, is just pure luck. For a lot of us, this is something very uncomfortable, and it's much easier to put it out of our heads and move on with our lives. And politicians take advantage of this fear and apathy far too often. Famously, Mark Sutcliffe (Calling you out, asshole), the recently elected Mayor of Ottawa, campaigned on zoning land for more large, single-family homes rather than more compact, affordable housing. He called it "preserving the community and keeping it safe", but we all know what that really means by now. Or they will call for increased police spending and promise to be tougher on crime (which Sutcliffe also did). Because having bad luck or being neglected and abused by capitalism is a crime now... I think the easiest thing to do, is to just think about it, and speak up when the issue comes up. All too often, things like homeless shelters, affordable housing projects, and safe injection sites, don't get built because people don't want to think about the people living on the fringe of society. But the thing is, people with nowhere to go have to go somewhere.

I donate to a women's shelter because I've worked with women fleeing violence in the past, and it's an important cause for me. I also realize that I am in a very fortunate position to be able to pay rent and have a little left over to put toward charity work. But speaking up and spreading the word is free. The next time someone wants to veto a safe injection site project, speak up against them, ask them what millionaire real estate firm is lining their pockets. Vote for that city councilor campaigning to build shelters and affordable homes. Have a relative who says "the homeless deserve what's happening to them"? Shut them down, ruin that christmas dinner. They sound like a dick anyway.

It's not much, but I think if we can all treat our fellow humans a little better instead of kicking them to the curb, we can make a bit of a difference in the world.

[misted-buttercup-enjoyer]

If you can possibly spare even ONE dollar, it would be greatly appreciated! This person is trying to evacuate their childhood friend and his family from Gaza!!! Even a tiny donation would be appreciated. Sharing helps and is appreciated, too, though donating is most important.

[wanderingmind867]

A character idea I had at school today:

A person wakes up on an isolated area somewhere in North Ontario. This would be weird enough on it's own, except that he quickly discovers that he also has a body which is seemingly impervious to harm (and slightly graying). After a run-in with a criminal gang in the forest, the shocking truth becomes clear: he's an Android. A very lifelike looking android, with no memories of his life before today.

The only thing he has to identify himself is an identification mark on his exoskeleton. An identification mark branding him "Subject Delta #5". Knowing he'll need to enter human society to figure out who he is, he steals the identity of a dead man after he broke into a cemetery. He is now William Nielsen, a man who died in 1983 with next to no living family. (Although he might have some distant relatives still around).

Using this identity, our android man heads for the Ottawa area, hoping to blend in and try to figure out his real identity. He tries to infiltrate the government and ends up as a member of the liaison team assigned to the Justice League Canada under his new identity of William Nielsen.

After like maybe a year or two of espionage, "William" gives away his secret in order to save the Justice League from an attack by a powerful supervillian. And even though he knows Red Tornado is an android who may understand his predicament, he flees Ottawa immediately after this and goes on the run as a fugitive.

This leads to him getting his own comic for at least 10-20 issues, as he becomes a fugitive from the law, traveling the globe searching for answers to his condition. His book is just one long story arc that ends shortly after he finds the answers to his existence.

My one problem, I don't yet know any of the answers to "William's" condition and existence myself. Hopefully at some point answers will come to me. If not, I will gladly let someone else try to resolve the story of "William Nielsen", the amnesiac android.

[msmargaretmurry]

"when summer" - Quinn/Brady

this is a futurefic. are u surprised.

technically, it is a futurefic spin on the new classic genre of "hughes bros lakehouse shenanigans." it is set like a decade in the future. brady and quinn are still close, they still call each other best friends, but they have had these whole adult lives mostly apart from each other: brady captaining ottawa into a force to be reckoned with in the east; quinn captaining vancouver to more middling success in the west. (quinn still isn't sure if staying was the right decision — he still gets jealous, sometimes, of jack and luke together in new jersey, without him — but he mostly doesn't regret it. he stayed and accepted the c because he wasn't sure he trusted anyone else to look after his teammates the way they should be looked after, and he still feels that way, even as age has started to wear him down.) brady got married. (quinn was there, obviously.) brady had a kid. (quinn mostly knows the kid through facetime.) brady got divorced. (quinn wasn't there, and it was several years ago now, but he still feels guilty for not being there.) the once-daily texting and weekly facetimes have long since become more sporadic; they get dinner every time they play each other, hang out when they're at nhl events together, but it's a rare occasion that they see each other away from hockey. it's been a few years since that happened at this point.

and then jack and quinn decide to sell the lakehouse. for non-dramatic reasons that i don't feel like figuring out; maybe they just found a place they like better, and something something property values, whatever. but they're selling. it's kind of bittersweet — they grew up in that house almost as much as they grew up in their parents' house, in a way, spending the past ten summers there as they turned from kids who thought they were so grown up into real adults. brady gets his kid for most of the summer, since he's so busy during the season, and he's telling quinn on the phone about how stir-crazy he's gonna go for the two weeks his ex-wife has the kid in early august, so quinn says, hey, why don't you come up here? help me pack, say goodbye to the lakehouse with me. i'll put you to work, keep you distracted.

ten years, and brady's never actually made it out to the lakehouse before. it feels weird, having a place in quinn's life that brady hasn't touched, but then it also feels weird when he gets there. he's out of place. quinn can't figure out why. they're still the same as they ever were, laughing and bickering and needling each other, wrestling over the tv remote, falling into companionable silences. but it's different. quinn can't put his finger on what.

it's a particularly hot summer that year. the humidity is thick, heavy. heavier than it's been in all of quinn's michigan summers. brady helps him sort through all the junk that's accumulated in the garage — keep, donate, toss — his t-shirt sticking to him in dark, sweaty patches. quinn has spent half his life not looking, and he shouldn't start now.

quinn never did settle down. well. he hates putting it like that; he feels plenty settled. he never found a partner. never committed to a long-term romantic relationship. he doesn't think there's anything particularly sad about it, like some people seem to. he has all the things that are most important to him. packing up the house with brady, though, he gets a little lost imagining that this is almost what it would feel like. someone with him doing the quiet, annoying, domestic tasks that it takes to keep life moving along. it's not the first time he's put thought he'd like to have brady like that, but it is the first time in years. he's spent the last decade not thinking that, and he shouldn't start again now.

except it's brady who kisses him, sitting out on the dock at sunset, two beers in, their feet dangling above the water. it's romantic as hell, except then brady sticks a hand down quinn's shorts, which is not romantic, but quinn's not complaining. he doesn't really care about romance anyway. they spend a lot of the rest of the time they should be packing having sex all over the lakehouse, and quinn keeps thinking maybe it's a good thing they're selling the place, so when he and brady snap out of this weird hot summer daze, he won't have to relive it every off-season.

but they are adults now, so instead of leaving things hanging and hurting each other, they actually do have the long hard conversation about what brady wants and what quinn wants and how they can fit those things into their lives, with teams on opposite sides of the continent, with a kid involved, with such different needs when it comes to relationships like this. but they'll figure it out.

[batmanshole]

hey, i'm wanting to move to canada from the uk in the next couple years. you mentioned public transport isn't great – do you know if there any areas/cities where it's more accessible? i will likely never be able to drive lol

hi anon!!

it really depends what you're looking for :-) montreal actually has a REALLY good subway system, but the problem is the entire fucking city is like... super inaccessible to wheelchairs / strollers / other mobility aids. if that's an issue for you then uhh montreal might not be the best bet :( especially downtown. which SUCKS because montreal is SUCH a cool city and i actually like it more than toronto LOL.

public transit in toronto is... scary. the subway isn't as good as montreal and rent/cost of living is WAY worse. toronto is scary as fuck im ngl and idk how good the busses are? i know there's streetcars sometimes but also the GTA is huuge so it might depend where you are

ottawa has decent busses, but that might just be because I'm used to them. the rail line is TERRIBLE here though. like the company did not make them good enough to withstand the canadian winter 😭 it's not too bad but they DO have a website where u can plan your trip and that's pretty useful.

winnipeg does NOT have a subway system, and idk how good the busses are either. almost everyone i know there drives.

there are trains between cities, but those are like actual trains lol.

i can't really say much for western canada, and my experience on the east coast has been favourable but the cities there are also a lot smaller.

[9116]

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza announced today his retirement from the National Hockey League after 19 seasons. With his announcement, Spezza will be joining the Maple Leafs' front office as Special Assistant to General Manager Kyle Dubas effective immediately.

"It is difficult to describe just how much of a lasting and positive impact that Jason Spezza made in his three seasons with the Maple Leafs," said General Manager Kyle Dubas. "Jason's passion for the game of hockey, his desire to continuously push himself and his teammates to improve, as well as his capacity to make strong connections with all members of the organization, have been invaluable. Though today marks the end of his tenure with us as a player, it is a pleasure to have him join our front office to impart all that he has to offer."

Spezza, 38, recorded 995 points (363G, 632A) through 1,248 career regular season NHL games split between the Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars and Ottawa Senators while collecting 76 points (28G, 48A) in 97 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. The two-time NHL All-Star (2008, 2012) ranks in the top 100 on the NHL's all-time list for games played (t-96th), assists (80th) and points (94th). In addition to serving as the eighth captain in Senators franchise history, Spezza sits sixth in all-time club games played (686), and second in goals (251), assists (436) and points (687) through his 11 seasons in Ottawa.

Internationally, Spezza has represented Canada at the IIHF World Championship four times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2015), the IIHF World Junior Championship three times (2000, 2001, 2002) and the Spengler Cup in 2012. Spezza won a gold (2015) and two silver medals (2008, 2009) at the IIHF World Championship and captured a silver (2002) and two bronze medals (2000, 2001) at the IIHF World Junior Championship. He also won the 2012 Spengler Cup with Team Canada.

Spezza was originally selected by Ottawa in the first round (2nd overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft.

Statement from Jason Spezza:

"I love hockey. Since the age of three, I've been lucky enough to live out my dream and do what I love for so many years," said Spezza. "I eat, sleep, dream hockey and it's always been there for me. There are too many people to thank individually but I'm forever grateful and indebted to the Ottawa Senators, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and Hockey Canada for their support and belief in me as a player and person. To my teammates, coaches, support staff, trainers and equipment staff - a heartful thank you for everything. Through countless hours at the rink - whether on the ice or with those behind the scenes - I have been so fortunate to have forged friendships for life.

Hockey has been my life's work and to be able to come home to Toronto and bookend my playing career where it started was incredible. To the fans - in Ottawa, Dallas, Toronto and across the league - your impact on the game is immeasurable. I'll never be able to replicate that feeling of stepping onto the ice to the roar of the crowd, but it is something I'll always remember. Thank you.

Looking forward, I'm very grateful to the Leafs for the amazing opportunity to transition into this new role. It enables me to continue to follow my passion; learn and live new experiences within the game I love.

Lastly, none of this happens without the unwavering support of my parents, siblings, wife, and kids. You have always been my cornerstone."

[mywifeleftme]

101: Parts Found in Sea // Seat of the Writing Man

Seat of the Writing Man Parts Found in Sea 1984, Between

Named for a headline describing an airplane that crashed into the ocean, Parts Found in Sea were a mellow post-punk/college rock band that worked the Toronto club circuit hard throughout the 1980s before fading into obscurity. Their small catalogue (two EPs, an LP, and a live album) turns up around used shops in the GTA with fair frequency, and there are a few fond remembrances online from author/activist Cory Doctorow and the wonderful ‘80s indie blog Wilfully Obscure (which I was delighted to learn is still in business).

Parts are a very vibey band—meandering tempos, no hooks to speak of, plenty of glutenous bass to sway dreamily to. They’re not quite goth though—vocalist Steve Cowal is both melancholy and a poet, but seems like he would just look confused if you told him most people start bands to get laid. As Doctorow notes, most of Parts’ songs feel less like verse/chorus/verse/chorus affairs and more like a series of movements. It’s most notable on side-closers “Satellite” and “Body Sends Us,” which have jammy structures that give modest guitarist David Currie (not the former Ottawa Symphony Orchestra conductor, which, I know, you were thinking) a chance to scratch away at his instrument in the spotlight.

In retrospect, Parts Found in Sea sound like one of those transitional bands between European post-punk and the forthcoming wave of predominantly North American post-rock bands. If they’d come along a little later, they might’ve alighted on some ideas that could’ve expanded and abstracted their sound in interesting ways—but as it is, they left behind a catalogue full of pleasant surprises for aficionados of gloomy, thoughtful ‘80s alternative.

101/365

[bropunzeling]

For the prompt thing, what about Brady/Quinn and Werewolf? 😌🙏

"I thought you were the Wolverines," Brady says.

Quinn has heard Brady make this joke approximately one thousand times. It has not gotten funnier. "Can I have my shorts?" Quinn asks.

From his spot by the pile of clothes next to the deck chairs, Brady hands over Quinn's shorts. In the full moonlight, it's easier to see his face -- tired, some, but not too bad.

"Did we keep you up?" Quinn asks, more out of curiosity than anything else. Brady's known for years about Quinn -- hard not to, when Quinn was living in his basement and his pockets all through high school -- but he's only been around for Quinn, really. Quinn and Jack and Luke and Trevor and some of Luke's dumbass friends from college -- well, they can be a bit much. Especially on a moon run.

"Nah, wasn't too bad." Brady leans back in his chair. "The howling chilled out pretty quick." He yawns, looking around the backyard. "They gonna be a while?"

"Yeah." Part of the point of the lake house is it's easier to go run around than at home. Normally Quinn would be out there until dawn, wrestling and running and eating things he tries not to think about when he's on two legs. It's what makes summer, summer.

This summer, though, Brady is here. And wherever Brady is, so's Quinn.

Jack had something to say about that, a few days ago. "You're different, when he's here," he'd hissed, before stealing a bite of Quinn's sandwich.

Quinn had rolled his eyes, then. But he has to admit Jack might have a point. Ever since Brady got to Michigan, Quinn's been tugged to him, unable to pull away.

"You gonna stay up?" Brady asks, yawning again. He waves a hand at Quinn; Quinn grabs it, hauling him up out of the deck chair. Brady staggers to his feet, then braces himself on Quinn's shoulders, chin digging into the top of Quinn's head. "Fuck, you're warm," he says.

"Wolf," Quinn points out. His face is shoved into the curve of Brady's neck. Here, he can smell Brady's soap, and toothpaste, and underneath it all, the part of Brady that will always smell the same, like the earth just after it rains. Here, he can feel the thud of Brady's pulse, know how easy it would be to open his mouth and scrape down with his teeth. The way he's thought about doing since he was sixteen.

There's a word for that, for the way Quinn is stuck on Brady. Deeper than friendship, longer than a crush. But come September, Brady will be in Ottawa, and Quinn in Vancouver. It's simpler not to say anything, better not to let this get out of Quinn's control. He can get by with just the summer.

[tsunflowers]

Okay, I watched that Video on the France French pronunciation of Gratin, and that definitely is different from how it is pronounced here. It may be the type of thing where the influence of English in the Ottawa-Gatineau accent makes it sound like that.

It should also be noted that a native speaker of Canadian French and Canadian who learned it as a second language may still have different accents & even vocabulary, because in school here in Ontario the French we are taught is closer to France French. For example, we are taught that the word for a car is “une voiture”, while a native Québécois would just say “un char” (but we are taught “souliers” for shoes even though in France they are normally called “chaussures”).

While many Québécois terms are anglicismes, sometimes it is the opposite, and Québec kept an old/obscure/regional French term that got anglicized or or lost in France for various reasons like the standardization of the language during Napoleon’s time. For example, in France the word for a ferryboat is “ferry-boat”, while in Québec it is "traversier".

-

I think they should teach Québécois French in Canadian schools. bc if you live in ontario are you more likely to go to France or Québec? you can’t be talking about voitures when you go to the next province over

it’s really a fascinating language difference... especially the times when Québécois actually has the more “historical” French. I don’t think it’s different enough to be considered a “dialect” but to me it seems worth learning. or at least worth learning about

[tianshiisdead]

5, 7 and 36!

5. how accurately is your country depicted?

(For Canada) He fits the global stereotype but, like some people have pointed out, I'd have expected him to be a bit more rugged and woodsy loll the amount of people I grew up with who just hiked and camped and mountain climbed and hunted all over the place all the time every weekend 🤯 I'm also from Alb*rta though so my opinions basically mean nothing! Now that I'm living in Ottawa for school, I think Canada should've been meaner underneath his veneer of shy politeness (noah fence to Ontarians I'm just not used to how you guys interact with each other kdjslhgf)

(For China) Hmm this is a difficult question ngl LOL there are some things that I was super pleasantly surprised about, Hima once said he made China more cold and cruel/intimidating seeming but after meeting actual Chinese people ended up making him more cutesy, I think the affection for pandas and hello kitty and cute things is accurate, these things are popular in China! I like that he's a little bad-tempered and irritable with western countries and the way he's proud and overbearing and clearly ancient both in a humourous grandpa way and in a serious and slightly tragic way.

However, parts of his characterization bother me a little... low-hanging fruit, but I hate 'aru' deeply and with a passion, whether or not the concept of Chinese people saying 'aru' really did come from the colonial era, it's just tired either way and I cringe whenever I hear it. I don't love how clumsy and stupid he acts, like I think it's cute in an isolated way, but in the greater context...

Ultimately, I don't think it's horribly egregious. A lot of Chinese and Sino diaspo fans enjoy his character and/or have interpretations that still clearly have their roots in canon, and I'm personally fairly satisfied with it. Oh, and one thing I loved is how originally all of the provinces were supposed to be their own characters who live in China's house! I wish Hima had brought that up more than once, I love that idea.

7. food-related headcanons?

MAN ok hmm! China has 8 great food regions, Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Szechuan and Zhejiang, and I'd imagine he can cook them all, but as Han Chinese culture has always been more concentrated in the vaguely more Southern regions, I'd imagine he'd prefer relatively more Southern food... dishes from Dongbei and Inner Mongolia, the north, in general, all have heavy influences from Mongolia and northern groups, and tend to be more wheat, butter, and milk heavy. and I'd imagine he's lactose intolerant and prefers rice LOL although he still enjoys Northern food that he can digest! For an example, breakfast.

I think China likes to make food from scratch sometimes taking days at a time to cook, but also enjoys instant noodles (though he modifies them and adds eggs and veggies) and pre-made food but he would never admit it. This is based off of canon, but he also likes fusion food and international food! Hotpot with cheese-filled rice cake and fried chicken, salmon sashimi was popular in parts of China for a while recently iirc, he's just a big foodie who likes a variety of flavours. He's very adventurous.

I think he likes to cook most of his meals but goes out for breakfast a lot, before a meeting or while out on his morning walk he just swings by one of Beijing's many breakfast stalls for a doufunao, some youtiao, shaobing, some doujiang, etc. I can't speak on Southern breakfasts, but when he spends time down there, I imagine they would also have a lot of cheap and fast breakfast shops, though the food is very different.

General headcanons: I think when he's tired he just gets a flavourless bowl of congee with some salted duck egg for breakfast, and that when one of his kids are sick he makes them steamed eggs and boiled pear soup. He has a strong grasp on the different elements of food in Chinese medicine and can integrate it into his cooking easily! He also makes his own xiancai (pickled veg) and has a doujiang machine for homemade fast soy milk. His cabinet filled with spices and vinegars and chili oils and cooking wine and so on and so forth is this huge walk-in closet of a place organized with homemade labels and filled from the top to the bottom. When he cooks, he has several stoves going at a time, frying and boiling and steaming and chopping all at once, before celebrations like new years he spends days in the kitchen. The only thing he doesn't make from scratch himself for celebrations are dumplings, while he's working away everyone gathers around the cleared-off dining table and Macau shapes the dough and they all make dumplings together and Hong Kong puts weird fillings in some dumplings as pranks and Taiwan folds them into cute little animal shapes and fills them with brown sugar.

I have a lot of things to say about food but if I say anymore it'll turn into a book, so I'll leave it at that for now hehe maybe I'll make a proper post on it's own sometime!

36. if you could, what event would you host?

Hmm maybe one for OCs, or minority/native culture OCs! I don't think it would get enough traction, but I'd also love to host a China based event LOL I just don't think there would be enough people to participate :')

[hopetorun]

time after time for home by now! maybe say...3 years on? what are matthew and leon up to? how are brady and quinn doing?

i'm always so interested in hearing more about that fic and its universe (i'm the person doing the line by line re-read commentary :)) life's gotten very busy since i started but hopefully i'll be able to get back to it soon!)

okay well first of all you're an angel! i hope you get some free time back soon but i deeply understand that life gets busy sometimes ❤

anyway three years on from home by now! that's the beginning of the 2029-30 nhl season, which sounds extremely made up. the blues have been drifting somewhere in the muddy middle for a few years -- it's fun for my made-up story, but giving up tons of assets and cap space for a couple of guys in their late 20s/early 30s isn't actually ideal asset management in a hard cap league. but they've got too many good players to be horrible, and they're scraping into the playoffs most years. no cups, though, and both matthew and leon are looking at the remainders of their contracts and -- wondering. leon especially.

he'll be 36 when his current deal is up, and he does want to win. and he doesn't know if that's going to happen with the blues. it's not an easy conversation to have, though. does leon want to ask for a trade in his final year? before that? does he want a real shot at a cup more than he wants to keep waking up next to matthew every morning? there's no right answers.

matthew feels clingy and petulant about the idea of being left, but he also wants to win. he hasn't quite given up on the idea of winning in st louis with leon, the childhood fantasy of it all. they still both have four years left on their contracts! leon's aging pretty well, without too many injuries grinding him down yet, he could sign a short deal after!

so they're muddling through all that, and it's not the first thing they've fought about but it's definitely the fight that's lasted the longest. and matthew's touchy about it, because st louis is his in a way that it isn't for leon. but they're pretty good at this stuff by now. they're not gonna break up about it. leon would prefer it if keith had input on fewer parts of his life, but he's not going to begrudge matthew being close to his family, he's just going to gripe a little privately, and sometimes tell keith to fuck off. (keith takes this with aplomb, since it's not like matthew doesn't tell him to fuck off. the rest of the family thinks it's hilarious.)

in the intervening three years, quinn gets himself over to the eastern conference. pick your poison here, maybe he signs as a free agent, maybe he tells the canucks he won't sign an extension and gets traded. his whole family's there, brady's there, so on and so forth. not detroit -- he and brady have an agreement that neither of them will go to the places their families live unless it's both of them, because they're not going to start building that life unless it's together -- but maybe toronto or montreal? toronto would be funnier for me but montreal is closer to ottawa. either way, much closer to brady! they see each other so much more, even if it's sometimes stressful when they're in a playoff race or something. they've dodged any actual series against each other, at least. not that they couldn't handle it, but they'd both rather not.

something that was surprisingly hard for brady was getting to watch matthew just trip sideways into a stage of life that's basically on hold for brady until at least one of him and quinn retires. matthew fucked around and instead of finding out he got a hot boyfriend on his team that he gets to see every day and have over for family dinners and live with. he's happy for matthew, but the first time matthew complains about how hard they have to work to get space ... brady does not handle it as gracefully as would be ideal.

but overall everyone's doing pretty good, y'know? no one's winning it all~~ but they're aiming their lives in the ways they want. taryn has a new boyfriend that everyone would be very happy if she married. matthew and leon got a second dog, who is somehow even more teddy bear shaped. they mostly don't bother to pretend they aren't together, but at least half the guys on the team think they're just really close friends because sports are Like That. brady thinks it's hilarious when people ask him about it like, did you think your brother would end up such good friends with draisaitl after all that rivalry? and he's just like, friends, sure, yeah. love and hate are two sides of the same coin or whatever.

[atlanticcanada]

'Where's the accountability?' Deadline looms for mass shooting inquiry recommendation

In the coming days, the federal and Nova Scotia governments will face the first deadline for action recommended by the inquiry that investigated the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.

The Mass Casualty Commission, which tabled its final report last month, has called on the two levels of government to deal with the "unmet need for mental health, grief and bereavement supports" in northern and central Nova Scotia, where 22 people were shot dead on April 18-19, 2020.

It remains unclear what, if anything, will happen when the deadline arrives on Monday, but one thing is certain: Serena Lewis will be watching.

The registered social worker was the province's grief and bereavement coordinator in northern Nova Scotia three years ago when a gunman disguised as a Mountie went on a 13-hour rampage through the largely rural area.

"I've dedicated my career to (dealing with) grief, but it's very difficult with something of this magnitude," Lewis said in a recent interview, recalling the countless hours she spent trying to help people devastated by the tragedy, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was taking hold.

"I was committing to people that they were going to get the help that was needed."

But that never happened. Even though she drafted a provincial grief strategy and submitted it to the Nova Scotia government in December 2020, the plan was shelved.

"As my term was coming to an end, I asked if we were going to mobilize the strategy, and I got no word on anything," said Lewis, who left the role in 2021. "I can't answer why things are not moving."

The commission of inquiry concluded that the government's inaction led to a prolonged "public health emergency" in the counties where the killings occurred -- Colchester, Cumberland and Hants.

"Many people continue to be affected by this incident," the commission's report says. "While most of them describe its impact as a decline in mental health and/or well-being, others say it has affected the way they live their lives."

Among other things, the commission found the province gave very little support to the most affected residents, and there were delays in providing what was available. For example, people were simply given a list of counsellors rather than help in connecting with one. And some residents had to recount their traumatic experiences repeatedly as they navigated the support system.

Darcy Dobson, the daughter of victim Heather O'Brien, told the inquiry she did not get the help she needed.

"There is definitely a mental-health resource problem in this country, and in this province," she said. "And something needs to be done about it. You never expect a mass casualty to happen, but it does. We're living proof that there was nobody who knew how to handle the mass of mental health issues that came with it."

The commission found that "governmental support has been inadequate, leading to a healing deficit and ... broken trust." The report goes on to say the long-term implications include "the potential to lead to further cycles of violence and trauma."

That's why the commission recommended that the federal and Nova Scotia governments start by funding a multidisciplinary team of health professionals who can provide urgent support, and then transition to a long-term strategy.

Lewis said the commission's proposal is exactly what she has been pushing for.

"That's what we've needed since Day 1," she said.

A spokesperson for Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of mental health and addictions, issued a statement saying Ottawa is reviewing the recommendations and "will work closely with Nova Scotia and with the people and the communities affected."

The statement pointed to Ottawa's new Wellness Together Canada portal and the PocketWell app, which provides free, round-the-clock access to support.

"We know the pain, trauma, and heartbreaking loss will never truly go away, but we stand with you," the statement said. There is no reference to the commission's recommendations or the May 1 deadline.

As for the provincial government, the minister responsible for addictions and mental health, Brian Comer, declined a request for an interview. He issued a statement saying a team of deputy ministers is reviewing the recommendations.

"This includes meeting the May 1 deadline for the recommendation noted," Comer's statement said, offering no details. The province's justice minister offered a similar statement Tuesday.

Alec Stratford, executive director of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers, said the province has moved too slowly.

"This is work that should have started long ago," he said. "It takes time to build these systems ... And all of this is not going to come into play by May 1."

Stratford said it's important to recognize that the sense of grief many Nova Scotians are still feeling has been complicated by the traumatic nature of what happened and the social isolation caused by the pandemic.

"The ceremonies that we have in our society to bring closure never happened," he said. "Those communities suffered this egregious loss, (and) all of this trauma was followed by a lack of coherent care."

He fears the province's poor response could result in more cases of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts.

Lewis said that's why the commission's work is so important.

"If we don't mobilize those recommendations, then what good was it?" she asked. "Where is the accountability?"

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2023.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/dwXbski

[idolsummons]

Records of Professor William Jones: 2001

The following selection of journal entries, letters and photographs are property of one Professor William Jones, a lecturer of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa. Please note that, in the interest of succinctness, many entries have been excluded.

Saturday, March 17, 2001

At long last, my search has borne fruit.

In my last week in France, I have found a young woman who claims to hold knowledge of La Cour de la Lune. She claims to be a worshipper of Vh’thra, the deity of death and rebirth, and quite a devout one at that. Upon explaining who I was and my current undertaking, the woman, who I later learned to be named Sylvie Delecroix, was more than eager to tell me all she could of Vh’thra, the Tribunal and their extended system of beliefs. She even went so far as to invite me into their commune for their ritual upon the coming of the new moon; alas, my time here is short, and so I have had to settle for exchanging contact details with the promise of writing to her at a later date.

Though I have been successful in this regard, I must not rest on my laurels! I cannot put all of my faith in one woman who worships a single god. I understand La Cour de la Lune to be quite a complex polytheistic system. If I am to make the most of my time in Europe, I must not waste a single day.

Tuesday, March 20, 2001

Oh, but I could not wait a day longer! My intention had been to contact Ms Delecroix once comfortably back in my quarters in Ottawa; however, my excitement is too much to bear, and the greatest gift of all will be the possible response upon my return home! For the sake of keeping an accurate record, I shall attach copies of letters from both myself and Sylvie to this journal.

Ms Delecroix,

I hope my letter finds you well.

As discussed, I am more than eager to begin learning of La Cour de la Lune and your god from you as soon as possible. Before I get into that, however, I do wish for you to know that I am not entirely oblivious to the teachings of Es’cath: thanks to my role at the university, I have a copy at hand, though I must confess that the translation is not the easiest to understand.

I look forward to hearing all you know of La Cour de la Lune, and more so of Vh’thra, of whom the text is vague.

I have attached my best address for your response, but do know that I won’t be back in Canada for some months yet. I shall await your reply upon my return eagerly.

Kind regards,

Professor William Jones

Thursday, May 10, 2001

It is with a heavy heart that I must confess that, apart from my contact with Ms Delecroix, my latest voyage to Europe had been a failure. Though I am glad to have returned to the comfort of my quarters, I do wish that my time had been better spent than simply pouring over my copy of Es’cath and making what little progress I had with the text.

But all is not lost! Upon my return, I had correspondence from Ms Delecroix waiting for me.

Professor Jones,

This is really quite exciting - I’ve never had a pen pal before! I’ll do what I can to help you. Let me know if there is anything you want cleared up.

I can’t tell you so much about La Cour de la Lune, as I only understand this as a system that Vh’thra is connected to, but I do understand her place as a god of death and reincarnation among seven others like herself.

I think the best way to describe Vh’thra is as the caretaker of life. She can bring an end to any living being, as the god of death, but she just as well breathes new life into the earth. She uses the souls of the departed for this job, so death isn’t something to fear, knowing we will come back as something entirely new and beautiful.

Her letter continues on in quite some detail about Vh’thra, though none of this I have found terribly relevant for the purposes of this journal, and thus have created copies of only what I’ve found useful for my research.

What does catch my eye, though, is the photograph Ms Delecroix has sent with her letter. Drawn in the dirt is what appears to be some symbol which is foreign even to my eye, and in the centre is some kind of stone table. Upon it is a deer, bound so that it might not escape, and presumably still alive; its eyes are open, there appears to be no kind of blood or offal in the surrounds (except for dried blood on the stone table which I don’t believe could have come from this very creature). On the back of the photo, Ms Delecroix has scrawled:

A beautiful creature we are returning to the Tribunal in the hopes that Vh’thra might grant him new life. This is what you missed out on!

Despite my curiosity, I am quite glad I was not witness to the slaughtering of such a majestic beast.

Ms Delecroix,

I thank you greatly for your response, along with your detailed descriptions of Vh’thra and your attached photograph.

I hope that it is not too much to trouble you once again. Unfortunately, my travels around Europe in the hopes of discovering information relating to La Cour de la Lune wasn’t entirely successful, other than my meeting with yourself. I am not in the financial position that I might abandon my job whenever I so please in order to conduct such investigations, and so I was hoping I might ask you to gather some more information in my stead - I am certain you needn’t look too far. It is possible you might have contacts who are able to assist in this regard.

While Vh’thra is of great interest and I am more than happy to hear of anything you might be able to tell me of her, my interests as a professor of Religious Studies lends itself to learning of many deities and religious beliefs, and so I would like to also learn of other deities related to Vh’thra and the Tribunal - Vh’al-rutl, Yi’al-trul and Ql’zalusz are particularly of great interest to me.

I understand if these are matters that you do not wish to look into, or that might otherwise take some time. Even if you are unable to learn much or anything at all, I would be glad to hear from you again.

Kind regards,

Professor William Jones

[messenger-of-stupidity]

One word.

Wendigos.

Okay thank you for coming to my TED TALK

HAHAHAHAHHA YEAH RIGHT 

I have more about wendigos because I have a problem. No yall dont get to know what the problem is. That’s a secret for the winner of the hunt

pleasesendhelpihaventsleptfor27hours

FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT WENDIGOS WITH MESSENGER!

1) It has Native American origin. Specifically the Native American tribes that spoke Algonquin (A dialect of Ojibwa spoken by the Algonquins. Which, if you didn’t know, are the Indigenous people living in Canada along the Ottawa River and its tributaries and westward to the north of Lake Superior.) The other tribes that had the wendigo in their folklore are the Saulteaux, the Cree, the Ojibwe, the Naskapi,  and the Innu (if I remember the last two right. Like I said, getting really sleep deprived and this is from memory. But I need to get it out of my brain and on here because I have the aforementioned problem.)

2) It has several names! They all are like some variation of Wendigo though. But the names are; Windigo, Witigo, Witiko, and Wee-Tee-Go. All of these roughly translate to “the evil spirit that devours mankind.”

3) As with most folklore, depending on the legend, the appearance of the Wendigo changes. But some describe the wendigo as an emaciated figure with ashen flesh. Others describe it as a giant creature up to 15 feet (4.5 metres) tall or as a beast that grows larger the more it eats. It may have sunken or glowing eyes and sharp yellowed fangs and claws. There are some that say it’s may appear as a monster with some human characteristics or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them monstrous. 3a) The Algonquian legend describes it as: “a giant with a heart of ice; sometimes, it is thought to be entirely made of ice. Its body is skeletal and deformed, with missing lips and toes.”  3b) The Ojibwa describe it as: “It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jagged teeth. Its breath was a strange hiss, its footprints full of blood, and it ate any man, woman, or child who ventured into its territory. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person instead, and then the luckless individual became a Wendigo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh.”

4) I know what you’re thinking. Wow Messenger! How does a wendigo possess a human? Going back to that whole “spirit that devours mankind” thing, keep that in your mind along with possession. Now, a wendigo is historically associated with cannibalism, murder, insatiable greed, and cultural taboos against such behaviors. Those kind of things might devour your humanity, and if you exhibit such behaviors, you must be possessed by a wendigo! Although they are called the Flesheaters of the Forest for a reason soooo.. devouring is in the literal sense as well.

5) A legit medical condition borrowed the name Wendigo! It’s called Wendigo psychosis. Some psychiatrists consider it a syndrome that creates an intense craving for human flesh and a fear of becoming a cannibal. Ironically, this psychosis occurs in people living around the Great Lakes of Canada and the United States. Wendigo psychosis usually develops in the winter in individuals isolated by heavy snow for long periods. The initial symptoms are poor appetite, nausea, and vomiting. Subsequently, the individual develops a delusion of being transformed into a Wendigo monster. People who have Wendigo psychosis increasingly see others around them as being edible. At the same time, they have an exaggerated fear of becoming cannibals.The most common response when a person showed signs of Wendigo psychosis was a curing attempt by traditional native healers. In past cases, if these attempts failed and the possessed person began to threaten those around them or to act violently or anti-socially, they were executed. There have been reports regarding this psychosis dating back hundreds of years (as far back as 1661).