#where are the tourists

[sofipitch]

So we were on vacation visiting some pretty Catholic church not for mass but just to see and there was a spot for vigil candles and at the time they were like 25 cents (they are like one or two dollars now, even prayers get hit by inflation I guess) and my mom paid for both me and my brother (~5 yrs old at the time) to light one. She explained that it's usually for someone who died or you feel needs a prayer. I lit one for a family member who passed, I didn't remember but my mom told me a lot about her and really loved her. My mom was tearing up a little in happiness that that person was on my little kid mind. And my brother, who was obsessed with the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie lit one for Willy Wonka

[leroibobo]

the depopulation of the palestinian village of kawkab al-hawa (“the star of the jordan river”) is far from the only case in which a palestinian village was violently, entirely depopulated during the 1948 nakba. it's also not the only case in which neighboring kibbutz residents advocated for and even themselves participated in the destruction of houses, nor is it the only case in which elements of the village were only kept so they could serve a neighboring tourist attraction. however, it is a conspicuous case of all of the above, combined.

kawkab al-hawa happens to sit by belvoir castle, one of the best-preserved crusader castles in palestine. the village itself had been testified to in some shape or form from antiquity - the crusaders had referred to the village with the frankish name "belvoir", hence the name of the castle. after saladin retook it, the village as we know it today expanded into and around the castle's confines. by 1945, the castle had been in ruins for centuries, while the rural village housed 300, mostly farmers.

in the words of meron benvenisti: "In the Israeli context, it is preferable to immortalize those who exterminated the Jewish communities of Europe (in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries) and murdered the Jews of Jerusalem in 1099 than to preserve relics of the local Arab civilization with which today's Israelis coexist...Arab buildings spoil the myth of an occupied land under foreign rule, awaiting liberation at the hands of the Jews returning to their homeland."

[c-kiddo]

one of my fave things about cr2 i think is that tmn as characters are impossible to separate from their setting, wildemount . like its intrinsically part of all of them. beau and caleb want to try their bests to cut out the corruption in the empire despite knowing its deep-rooted, because they grew up there. veths from the empire too but from a smaller farming community, she's less connected to the government or politics in that way but her being from that town that was destroyed in the war is what makes esseks actions so severely hurt her. yasha sleeps on the floor for comfort and eats odd things because she's been nomadic her entire life. she recognises the big weird lumbering beasts they see in the wastes and just shrugs them off. jester and fjord are always relieved to see the menagerie coast again. jester has drawn that ocean view from her bedroom window so many times, she recommends shops and foods from nicodranas, and fjord worships the sea he grew up besides and worked on. caduceus listens to beau and caleb because he's from the north, outside of the empire, and trusts they understand the complicated political aspects more than he does. in exchange he shares his tea and food from home with them all, and when he's having winter clothes made he brings fabric from home as an example - his family have specific fabrics and patterns they pass down. his tea is only grown in the grove, his staff is from there, grew there with him. and his armour! and lichen! he carries his home with him everywhere. theyre all so rooted in the continent and i love that

[majickth]

So dark, no moon, no stars, no stars No sound, just hearts and walls of art

in which Grian goes to a small town and finds that things aren't as the seem.

[minglana]

this is the mindset of many foreign tourists. we dont speak their language. we complain about them making noise and fucking up the islands. its us that are in the wrong, obviously, and not them........😒

[khytal]

spongebob s6ep120a 2:33-2:40

(w/o glasses:)

[kidovna]

i went to edinburgh today and had a pint of cider at cask and barrel (where the resurrectionist scenes in good omens s2 were filmed) i’ve been excited about this for months!!

[rooksunday]

thire gets the idea after watching a group on the senate rotunda during another long shift. he brings it to fox when fox is too tired to find a reason to say no. uggggh leave me to perish is basically an enthusiastic yes, in fox speak.

thire’s next stop is thorn.

“‘guided tours’?” thorn repeats, like the words are the name of a virulent strain of space flu. “tours of what? you know commander fox won’t have natborns in the barracks. he barely lets vode in.”

thire waved his hands dismissively. “not here. the city. the upper levels. the mids and the quarters.”

“but we don’t know anything about those places. what are you going to tell them? ‘here is where a senator threw their coffee on me.’ ‘one time i petted a tooka down this street.’”

that thorn was simply refusing to see the genius of thire’s plan was an affront. thire perched on the edge of thorn’s desk and folded his arms across his chest. he kicked thorn gently on his shin guard.

“the natties are visiting for the day, thorn. maybe a few days. but that’s all. they don’t know anything about coruscant! they’re kriffin’ coruscant shinies.” thire tilted his bucket in a grin. “you know shinies pretty much believe anything we tell ‘em. just gotta say it right.”

thire had been promoted to commander because he had the commander voice locked cold.

thorn spun his seat from one side to the other slightly as he thought. he hummed under his breath.

“we could offer one tour a day, in shiny armour. meet a group, walk them around for an hour taking osik, what are they gonna know different?” thire added, not quite wheedling.

“and you’ll be charging for this?” thorn asked.

“of course.”

thorn stopped spinning. he nodded once and held out his hand. “let me look at the rates.”

thire gestured broadly to the statue of the torgruta behind him. “and this is the original founded of bolo-ball. she was banned from playing on three worlds after dirty tackles—very gory, don’t let your kids see—and that’s why all torgruta have to wear padding on their montrals. now if you’ll follow me to—“

“excuse me—“

“—just this way, mind the speeder—“

“excuse me that’s not right—“

thire glanced at the droid following him, who had been earwigging during his tour. he gestured for his group to go ahead and waited for the droid to catch up.

“you don’t pay, you don’t get to comment,” thire said flatly.

“but your facts are incorrect!” the droid protested.

thire sighed. “they’re the facts as i know ‘em., pal. got a problem, take it up with the guild.”

coruscant had a guild of tour guides. couldn’t exhale on the blasted planet without someone charging.

“i am with the guild!” the droid said. “i’m observing your tour as part of the registration confirmation.”

kriff.

thire shifted in place. “i—“

“and for a reasonable fee of 5% net, i will gladly endorse your tour, trooper,” the droid said, proffering the pad it was holding. “coruscant rewards initiative and entrepreneurship! if you’ll sign here?”

thire grinned behind the protection of his shiny bucket. he took the pad and signed with a flourish—thank you, commander grizzer—then returned it to the droid.

“i think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship,” thire said.

[bonefall]

it is healing to come onto this blog and see basic respect for diasbility after being in other corners of the fandom and reading the words “snowkit could never be a warrior because he wouldnt know what anything is. he wouldnt even know what a clan is because nobody could explain it to him” said in full seriousness

Im..... That statement is so ableist I cannot even imagine the worldview you'd need to have in order to come up with that.

They really think the only way anyone learns anything is through verbal-speaking-words-noises? No one has ever observed something before? Not even once?

This is beyond touching grass, this person just fell out of the fucking Jurassic Period when all they had was ferns and stegosaurs.

I just...

OH YES. I remember my first day of Society Lessons as a hearing person, where the everything was explained to me. Via Audiobook. FIRST they spoke and said, "you are standing on the ground." It was a life changing revelation, and the world began to spin.

But it did not stop.

THEN they said, "there are fingers on your hands." The sensation of flesh and bone crackling into existence is indescribable, but I did not yet know pain, until they told me, "that hurts." I began screaming immediately.

And yet... it continued.

They explained so much. Chairs. Tables. Walls. The sky. Frogs. Ionizing radiation. Breathing. I was told all of it, in one sitting, and only then did I understand. Only when my ears were bursting with normal hearing knowledges, did they begin... my final test.

A strange wall-chair-finger emerged from the sky-of-the-wall, stood on the ground several times, until it was in front of me. A second one came behind it, this one slimmer. The audiobook gave these things names;

Human. Father. Mother. Door. Walking. It was completely impossible to know what these things were until that very moment.

I watch a human dip a hook into water and produce a fish, and I recall my Society Lessons where they called that "fishing." I am decked in the face by a nefarious hooligan, and I have only the audiobook to thank when I know I have been "punched" by a "bad guy." It was only the magic of verbal-speaking-words-noise that made me understand that there are "other people" and that they "do stuff."

Sometimes, even, in "groups."

Before the Society Lessons Audiobook, I knew nothing. I was pure, innocent, uncorrupted by concepts such as "parents" and "door." I am grateful every day that there is no such concept as "being shown things" or "simple logical reasoning" or "looking."

Blessed be those amongst us who escape the horrors of the Society Lessons Audiobook. I pray that you never learn what anything is. Be free! Free as a bird, which also knows nothing and famously cannot learn. 🤗

DEAF/HOH FOLLOWERS I'm losing my mind do you want me to bump a 'Hearing Disabilities Herb Guide' to the top of my priorities? Something you can use to bludgeon whackadoodles like that. This is ridiculous

Obviously not a MEDICINE guide but like; common causes of hearing disability in clan cats. Accommodations for hearing loss vs congenital deafness. Actual difficulties of not having that sense Clan-by-Clan. Debunking of misconceptions like... not being able to learn APPARENTLY.

[zvezdacito]

TWST should have a body swap event tbh... The story and card concept potential would be crazy...

Like it would be kinda fun what character/dorm category would you technically put each bodyswapped character's card in since they'd have the looks and physical capabilities of the body but the mind and personality would obviously be someone else. Idk they could do so much new stuff even gameplay wise with it

[hyukasmiles]

—Taehyun—

Fem Reader

Warnings: NSFW // Oral (f) // pet names? (hun & wife) // NOT PROOFREAD

I used my full brain while writing this.

—

FARMER TAEHYUN WHO WORKS IN HIS FIELDS ALL DAY AND COMES HOME TO HIS PRETTY LITTLE WIFE!!

It’s really hard work, lots of menial tasks and physical labor but Taehyun loves it. It doesn’t matter how long he’s been working his fields he can’t help but get excited when the first little buds start to sprout up. He grows a little of everything to keep his little family sustained but the main thing he produces are tulips, and he is PROUD of them. Even the ones he deems unprofitable are gorgeous and you tell him that every night when he comes home with a giant bundle of the flowers in the crook of his elbow.

“These are even prettier than last nights!” You smile, moving to the hutch stuffed with vases in your dining room. “Supper is almost done, it’s your favorite.” And you could not have told him more exciting news, your husband smiling ear to ear as you fill the vase with water and flowers, searching for an empty spot to set them. Except as you look around you realize you’re out of space, yesterday's bouquet on a pile of books and the day before that’s on the floor next to your dining room fireplace. “Outside you think?”

“Wherever you want to put them, hun.” Taehyun gruffs, stepping into the kitchen. “It’s almost tourist season. Gotta start puttin’ the dogs up.” In all honesty you’re not too interested in the farm and your husband is more than aware of that.

“They’ll be ok, they love people.” You open the door and set the flowers down towards the side, breathing in the sweet air. “Oh! Mama didn’t come when I fed them earlier.” You lean back into your home. “We should look in the woods on our walk later, she’s probably giving birth right now.”

Taehyun doesn’t seem bothered, spooning the soup you made into two bowls. “She’s strong. Let’s eat.” You nod and shut the door, letting one of the farm cats slip in before you do.

This is how most of your days play out, you’ll cook and clean until your husband gets home, you’ll eat, you’ll talk, you’ll go on a walk, and you’ll end your night curled up in your bed, content with your perfect little life.

“Mama had her pups at a good time.” You murmur into Taehyun’s chest, your husband humming in return. “They’ll be old enough to wean when the tourists start coming.” Taehyun just hums again, leaning down to press a kiss on your shoulder. “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

Taehyun doesn’t answer, just kisses a trail up your shoulder and to your ear. “You’re so pretty.” He whispers, pulling you both to sit up. “Perfect for me. Do ya know that?”

“There’s no way I couldn’t know.” You laugh, letting your husband pick you up and set you on his lap. “You tell me all the time.”

“Have to, I never want you to forget it.” Taehyun kisses you softly, like you’re one of his precious flowers. “I can’t wait to grow old with you.” It’s not often he lets himself get sappy, he’s one of those people that just prefers to show his love, so you’ve learned to just listen when he does. He tucks a piece of hair behind your ear and cups your face, his expression squished up with love. “I love you.”

It’s so quiet. You’ve been married for years and still every time those words slip out of his mouth it’s like a punch to the gut. Tears well up in your eyes as you lean down to kiss him again but you’re smiling too much for it to last long. “I love you more.”

“Impossible.” You laugh at him as he wraps you up in a hug, swinging you back and forth before flipping the two of you over. Taehyun’s forearms cage you in as he leaves little kisses against your lips, over and over and over again before he moves to kiss each of your cheeks, lightly nipping at the fat of them. “Lemme show you how much I love you.” He mumbles, kissing down your neck into the dip of your collarbones.

You blush as Taehyun’s calloused hands push your nightgown up just over your breasts so his thumbs can graze against your hard nipples before he sucks one into his mouth. He nips and rolls your nipple between his teeth until it goes soft and then he switches to the other one, doing the same to it.

Whining, you push him away from your now stinging nipples, a huge grin on Taehyun’s face as he moves up a little to kiss you again. “Sorry.” He whispers before scooting down to kiss your stomach and then your hips and then the waistband of your flimsy underwear.

Carefully, Taehyun lifts your hips up and slips your underwear down your legs. “You're soaked.” He smiles, spreading open your thighs. “F’me?”

“For you.” You turn your head away from him too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Because Taehyun makes you feel like a teenager about to lose your virginity every time he has you like this.

You think you see Taehyun lick his lips out of the corner of your eye before he’s nuzzling into your cunt. He laps at your hole like he’s dehydrated, slurping up every drop of wetness before focusing on your clit, flattening his tongue against it before harshly pulling it in between your teeth.

Taehyun has you cumming before you can think about it, your voice caught in your throat as he throws you over the edge. “Fu-“ Your heart is pounding in your ears as he licks up your release. “Fuck- Hyun-“ Chest heaving you reach down to bury your fingers in his pretty hair. Your back arches off the bed when he blows cold air against your sensitive bundle of nerves.

He’s back in your pussy as soon as your breathing evens out a little bit, this time taking his time. Taehyun makes out with your cunt, pressing his tongue up into your warmth before switching to kiss at your swollen clit. Your thighs close around his head as your hands pull him in closer to you.

He’s moaning into you, and in between the tears in your waterline you can see Taehyun desperately humping the air. Your legs shake when he skims his teeth against your clit, tears finally slipping down your cheeks as he builds up your orgasm again. “Tae..” You gasp, pulling harder against his hair. “Please- please- Tae..” You don’t have to beg, you know he’ll make you cum no matter what, but the words are falling out of your mouth without thought.

Pure desperation has you grinding up against his face as you chase your impending release. You try to talk again but all that comes out is a strangled moan as you finally cum a second time.

Your body goes lax with relief as you cool down, Taehyun pulling his body up to lay on his side next to you. “My perfect wife.”

—

inbox is always open 🫶

[ssruis]

Really funny that tsukasa will be like “I’m so talented and great everyone praise me” & then when people try to thank him for something big outside of like. Acting or producing something. He’s like “I didn’t really do that much though”

(Specific context bc I’m not taking screenshots of two entire card stories: toya is thanking him for bringing him out w saki to the mall/arcade to cheer him up after main story akitoya divorce)

[utilitycaster]

the idea that Orym has a death wish has led to some of the most laughable meta I've seen. Orym tells his closest friend - who has a penchant for delightfully wild impulses, is possibly important to the enemy's plot, and is about to see her biological father, about whom she has all kinds of complicated feelings - to not take unnecessary risks and people are handing out pamphlets on "a Treatise on Orym's Belief in Doom; Being an Account of His Deep-seated Hypocritical Actions Regarding The Pact With Morrigan, Hag and Fatestitcher" and it's like. idk man maybe they're going to be separated in a very clearly dangerous scenario and she specifically is in an emotionally charged and tricky one and he is saying "be careful", a normal thing friends might say to each other.

[apoptoses]

Food in Venice is heavily seafood dominated, being that the city is man-made islands on the sea with no growing space of their own

Red Lobster was founded in 1968 and thus was already an established chain seafood restaurant in the US in the 70s and 80s

Armand enjoys having secondhand experiences via Daniel and would likely want to re-experience food familiar to him (seafood) served in 'modern' popular styles

Ipso facto, how many times was Daniel subjected to endless shrimp at different Red Lobster locations before the fascination of seeing the exact same restaurant in different places wore off for Armand and how unwell does the mere scent of cocktail sauce now make Daniel feel?

[givehimthemedicine]

free miracle cure for some of the takes & winning poll options that've been on my dash lately. get well soon

[my-darling-boy]

Have you had any ✨Ghost Experiences✨ in Scotland yet? Meet any new ghosts???

Ohhhh plenty, but far too many to list without going off on a ramble haha

We’ve done many overnights in castles and old buildings up and down the UK with a team of investigators which has led to really neat experiences, some of them absolutely poignant. I think my favourite interaction has been with a sweetheart of a young seaman called William aboard the RRS Discovery docked in Dundee, also the best K2 session I’ve ever had was there. But yeah, various castles, historic buildings, manors, prisons, etc with some really fascinating results.

I do like how it’s also putting the mediumship to the test which is something I still don’t really like bringing up in general to people but I have apparently shocked investigators/employees at these places with describing events, people, and other things with detail that is not even public or only known privately by people who frequent that location. Nearly all locations I’ve never been to and make a point not to read up on them before I go, which makes these instances more compelling? I often don’t even know the significance of what I’m (sheepishly) describing only to be told I just described a specific thing that happened in a room when there’s no way I could know about said thing. One of the best instances of this was on the RRS Discovery when trailing behind the group in the lower decks, I stopped suddenly. It felt as though something SMACKED very hard and very sudden right where I was standing, someone had lost their life in this very spot. I thought with the boilers around perhaps someone had been hit somehow and died or maybe fallen from the above platform and hit their head on the metal below but was told there were no known records of someone dying in that room and that the platforms didn’t exist at the time. I was perplexed by this as I was 100% sure something had happened there but I just ignored it, maybe I was wrong. We get up to the top deck finally and are told about a boy who, in 1901, tragically fell from the crows nest and died. The investigator and I suddenly realised I had been standing directly below the spot he would have hit on the upper deck when he fell. Another would be a nice young man I’d encountered at a private castle who seemed to be wearing some sort of chainmail and white tunic, followed me around for most of the night, and at one point I picked up on a story about a strange looking gold disc with all these markings on it on the alter in the chapel which he immediately told me not to ask about and refused to elaborate more, I had no idea why he was so adamant about this. I later learned after enquiry the castle historians have documented the place being used by the Templars and it’s a private fact at this location that the Templars have buried artefacts beneath the castle they are working to recover… most notably, beneath the chapel. I’d be talking for ages if I described the other occurrences, but that’s one I’ll always remember!

All and all, I do actually recommend doing it, even if you don’t believe in the stuff, because you get entire historic locations basically all to yourself, at night, which is cooler. I once sat for nearly an hour in a 200 year old jail on the floor, in the dark, at 2 AM, just chilling. On free roam while everyone is usually at base, I’ve been able to explore places by myself, in the dark, opening doors to rooms not even shown to us, panning my torch to old paintings and artefacts in basements to attics and bedrooms and so much more. I’ve sat alone in century old ships and played sea shanties which echoed hauntingly down the passageways. Sprawled out in the pews of medieval chapels in the pitch dark, wandered dark castle corridors alone, sometimes I’ll sing out old songs and just listen to it drift out through the halls and rooms. You feel like some character in a novel, it’s quite a liminal space! Like all these places where so many other people came before you, where people lived and died, sometimes even right where you’re sitting, and you’re able to lay out on the stones in the dark with it all and just feel connected to it yk?

Anyway that still ended up being a ramble HAHA so yeah! I recommend it for both believers and those less inclined because at the end of the day, you’ve basically got several hours of private access to historical locations, at night, no tourists, and sometimes to places the public isn’t allowed at all, and hey maybe something Strange will happen while you’re alone in the darkness.