#minister of finance: what the fuck

[fauvester]

Not sure if you meant for the questions to be askes BUT 9 for like iskra or something would be interesting since there is a mix of human and cardassian culture, does julian celebrate any terran holidays with them?

omg I wish I was a better worldbuilder, people come up with so many fun fake little holidays. Thanks to that one throwaway line in ST:D I've unilaterally decided that Cardassian culture is very food-centric, so you know baby Iskra got taken to lots of street food festivals celebrating military victories and elections..

Julian trying to figure out which terran holidays can be safely transported and re-potted on post-Fire Cardassia (I feel like he still tries to celebrate Federation day at home just so the kids can have some positive associations. Cue him and Lim trying to figure out how to cook a desert lungfish without soliciting their neighbors' help with removing the fibrous capsule..)

Halloween is a safe bet, I think. Scaring the spirits away is vaguely Hebetian and the locals enjoy both tricks and treats. Julian gives his coworkers at the hospital candy to distribute to her.

Still got to be lots of nationalist holidays to celebrate after the war, but now they're very much tinged with bitter memories. Now they're more of an opportunity to complain about the current administration and get drunk (both activities Iskra vigorously enjoys as an adult)

#dee s 9 #garashir adoption au #happy gul dukat day where we burn gul dukat in effigy all across the continent <3 #man i shouldve drawn that... Beat Gul Dukat With A Stick day to drive the bad spirits out of government #not seen on Halloween: lim in julians old scrubs (doctor) and 6 month old idan dressed in a beautiful kukalaka inspired snuggie garak sews #as an american who does not celebrate the 4th of july because [history major reasons] i will still do red white and blue shots. fuck da gov #iskra is less anarcho-antiestablishment than young elim... but thats cause shes like. a government agent. theyre her boss #OHHHH YOU KNOW JULIAN BREAKS OUT THE BABY PHOTOS EVERY HALLOWEEN! #Lim and garak make precious little costumes for lims half dozen kids. spreading the Halloween spirit thru the entire district #its a moment its a movement #the Castellans House is decked OUT with fake spiders and cobwebs. garak and lim united on this front #the rest of garaks cabinet. who has never seen a spider and have no idea what halloween is: #lim poking his head in does anyone want blood punch? it's normal punch. but i put grapes in painted to look like eyeballs #minister of finance: what the fuck

[ofmdtereomaori]

shout out to Kiri Allen's suits

#soft butch #also as an Old Queer its so fucking cool how the Ministers of Justice and Health are both lesbians of colour and thats just normal #plus the Minister of Finance is A Gay #i remember when it was a huge deal that there were 3 openly queer MPs and now there's at least that many on the front bench #and everyone is basically sure its cool I suppose what about this RMA replacement

[qqueenofhades]

i do genuinely hesitate to ask, as i am sure i will find out more than i meant to in time, but atm my various feeds and an uninformed google are not telling me what most recently exploded about the british government, so if you have the time and the inclination i'm agog for your summary/take

HOO BOY. It has been a Things Exploding In the British Government day to the extent that in the hour-odd between my previous post and this one, I had to go back and check if anything ELSE had exploded while I wasn't looking. Everything that they are currently denying will probably be confirmed within the next 12 hours or less, though, so nobody get too comfortable.

Anyway, we all remember how Liz Truss succeeded Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, met the Queen, the Queen immediately fucking croaked which honestly was the funniest time she could possibly have done it, the country ground to a total halt for ten days, and then when it got going again, Truss and her chancellor (aka finance minister, for those of you happily ignorant of British politics), Kwasi Kwarteng, proposed a Thatcherite wet-dream economic plan of unfunded massive tax cuts for rich people, because something something Stimulate Growth. We are also generally aware that this crashed the pound through the floor, blew up people's mortgages and other mildly important bills, and did nothing to deal with the actual energy bills/cost of living crisis currently engulfing the UK. Oops.

After absolutely everybody, including the commie socialists at the Bank of England, screamed OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU MORONS DOING???, and the day after Kwarteng insisted he would absolutely remain in post and he had 100% confidence in the Plan, he... got sacked for creating this, the Plan that Truss had asked him to deliver and which had won her the Tory party members' election. This made him officially the second-shortest serving chancellor in UK history aside from the guy who literally died in office. Womp womp. That will be a pub quiz answer for you. You're welcome.

Having spent all this time hiding from the press, then giving eight-minute press conferences during which you could literally track the pound crashing in real time, and performing more U-turns than a dancing dashboard hood ornament, Liz Truss took a break from her busy schedule of conducting the Economic Disaster Waltz in the key of B Fucked to appoint Jeremy Hunt as the new chancellor. Jeremy Hunt is mostly notable for being a Tory who can put his pants on without assistance and being a genteel failure at all the previous cabinet posts he's held, which is why he is now regarded as a "safe pair of hands" in a party that has dissolved into a lot of shit-flinging coked-up gibbons who can only scream BREXIT BREXIT BREXIT and IMMIGRATION IS BAD!!! (Side note: they recently had to cancel a festival designed to "celebrate the freedoms of Brexit" due to logistics issues associated with, you guessed it, Brexit. That is not directly relevant to the current clusterfuck, but it is too funny not to include.)

To nobody's surprise, Jeremy Hunt then ripped up the entire economic plan and offered a new one, which was not measurably better than the last one but at least reversed some of the most egregious cuts, and which made everyone ask if Liz Truss had been tied up and duct-taped in the boot of a Range Rover and/or if Hunt had secretly staged a coup with the help of Larry the Downing Street Cat and taken over the government. Probably nobody in the Tory party would mind very much if he had, because they were all busy either planning how to oust Truss or publicly denying that they were indeed planning to oust Truss. One of the popular names for her successor? Boris Johnson! No, I am not making this up. Maybe this has all been a horrible dream and we're going to wake up and find that BoZo is back in charge, after massive public scandal for being a serial liar, which he had been from Day 1, finally made him resign. I repeat, what even the hell is going on here. Nobody knows. Meanwhile, Hunt is warning about even more budget austerity and "eye-watering" cuts to public services that can least afford it, because the last decade didn't result in quite enough preventable deaths for the Tories' tastes, and because they have been forced into this by a car crash completely of their own making.

....anyway. This brings us, more or less, to today. Yesterday, Truss refused to commit to protecting something called the pensions triple lock, which guarantees that old-age pensions (the UK form of social security) will rise in line with inflation, costs, or earnings. A) Inflation in the UK is now at a whopping 10.1%, and B) given as old people are literally the only demographic still willing to vote for the Tories, this miiiiiight seem like an even more unnecessarily stupid and self-sabotaging idea. Sure enough, U-Turn Number Eight Million was duly performed this morning, and Truss insisted she had always intended for the triple lock to be protected. But would Universal Credit and other welfare/benefits programs also be adjusted upward for inflation? HELL NAH! THOSE ARE FOR POOR PEOPLE! GROSS!

This, however, was only the beginning of the unpeeling of the latest idiot banana. Keir Starmer, riding high on the back of recent polls that have given Labour a 36-point lead and predicted that the Tories could be left with as few as 22 seats in Parliament if a general election was called tomorrow (leaving the SNP as the official opposition), appeared at Prime Minister's Questions and got to shoot fish in a barrel. Truss did not dissolve into a pile of goo on the floor and/or have a bucket of water thrown on her and melt into Margaret Thatcher, so that was taken as a win. Well, at least for two hours or so. Then Suella Braverman, the ex-Attorney General who had briefly run for the leadership when BoZo resigned, and who exists along with Priti Patel in order to prove that in the modern Tory party, women of color can heroically be just as much as awful xenophobic monsters as crusty old white dudes, resigned as Home Secretary. Did you even know she was Home Secretary? Neither did she. She took over Patel's job in a bid to apparently make Patel look cute and cuddly by comparison, as she is even more determined to do horrible things to migrants as much as possible. The official reason given for her resignation was that she sent an official document from her personal email account, and this had something to do with immigration and/or the Office of Budget Responsibility forecast that the Tories have, in the valiant spirit of freedom, resisted actually publishing for any of their current economic plans. CONSERVATIVES ARE GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY!! yell people on both sides of the Atlantic. Oh-kay.

Anyway, Braverman used her resignation letter to blast Truss for pretending that everything was fine and dandy, which means the BUT HER EEEEEEMAILS was absolutely just an excuse and even she wanted off this sinking ship as fast as possible. Grant Shapps is now the Home Secretary. It's not important. The point is, if more ministers start resigning, the government will probably implode just as it did when they deserted BoZo en masse. What the hell happens then? Fuck if anyone knows. Since they will, as noted, get absolutely cosmically annihilated if they call a General Election, the Tories will resist doing that with all their might (the next one isn't due until 2024, which is about 1004329 years away at the current rate that time is passing here). Truss was already elected by a tiny minority of the country (about 160,000 Tory party members). STICK RISHI SUNAK IN THERE AND CHANGE THE RULES AGAIN?? HECK, SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN! KEEP THOSE MUSICAL CHAIRS COMING, CHAPS!

(Also: we will recall the Daily Star's Lettuce Cam, where a picture of Liz Truss has been placed next to a head of lettuce to see if she is kicked out of office before it rots away. It now has a special companion, Tofu. This is because Braverman, just yesterday, gave a speech attacking the latest round of climate protesters as being spurred on by Labour, the Lib Dems, and the "Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati," which she doubtless thought was a very clever line at the time. Because British Twitter is British Twitter, the Tofu: 1, Braverman: 0 jokes have been rife.)

And since we are still not done: tonight, Labour forced a vote on a fracking ban which was being treated as a de facto confidence vote in the government. Aka if the Tories voted for it, they would be considered to be defying the government. Because Britain is a cartoon country run by clowns, the method of Parliamentary voting literally involves walking through Door A for Aye and Door B for Nay. The "whips," or the people whose job it is to assure that party members vote according to the government's position, have thus been known to physically stuff recalcitrant MPs through these doors, because Hail Britannia, or something. So we soon had reports that the anti-fracking vote was, dare I say it, a total clusterfrack, and the Tory whips were literally throwing crying Tory MPs through the Nay door so they would Vote To Support The Government. This sounds like a beginning to a Monty Python sketch, but it is just another ordinary evening in British politics in 2022! (Did Truss herself vote? Or BoZo, Patel, or any of the other Tory big beasts? Nope. Evidently she was "too distracted" with all the other crises going on, which probably means she just didn't want to show her face or she might get killed. Hard to blame her.)

So: the fracking ban was defeated, Labour MPs were like "oh my god the sheer clownery," even Tory MPs were spitting mad, we soon had more rumors that both the Tory chief whip and the deputy chief whip had resigned (currently in the Official Denial stage, so yeah, that will be confirmed before tomorrow morning), and I haven't even mentioned the part where one of Liz Truss's press aides admitted that they used to lie about various relatives of hers having just died so Truss didn't have to do interviews (actual quote: "just aunts and cousins, not any major relatives!"). We all wondered if that wasn't actually a lie but the minor members of the Truss family had voluntarily decided to die rather than have anyone know that they were related to her. Either that or she just sent MI6 after them. It's entirely possible.

#rionsanura #ask #politics for ts #uk politics #i truly cannot explain the magnitude of this clown show #truly #long post

[silviakundera]

Now that the final SoKP episodes have passed thru my eyes... Things I miss from the novel:

* Sorry but Jiang Xuening should have killed You Fangyin's murderer with her own hands.

* Jiang Xuening becoming obsessed with Xie Wei's cooking, such that she loves to quietly hang out in the kitchen with him whenever there's a break in the scheming. It's their safe space.

* Jiang Xuening going from being in the palace and part of the target/victims of the rebellion in Life 1 to being one of the financial backers of it in Life 2 and accompanying their fighting forces as they move up through the country as Xie Wei outsmarts the emperor & Xue family & Lord Pingnan's forces at the same time. Spending her 2 years away building the capital needed to help spearhead the rescue of the princess and then go to fuck up the emperor who sent his sister a letter to end her life for the benefit of the country.... (chef's kiss)

* The glorious revolution and making the royal family kill each other to save themselves in order to demonstrate the type of people they are

* Jiang Xuening moving into Kunning Palace at the end, as basically the unofficial minister of finance. She ended up in the same place at the end, but hearts & minds are changed and so the result is different

* Jiang Xuening putting the pieces together that the princess died in the 1st life due to her pregnancy & the emperor cutting ties (intrigue!) Team Fuck The System helping her safely give birth to her son, who she loves despite his origin. Our fav lesbian never has to get married to another dude and can just chill with her son, the cabinet of ministers, and her Ning Ning (with psycho husband in tow, but hey nobody's perfect 😂). Using her power to spread schools for women's literacy with Xie Wei terrifying the detractors into submission.

* When they try to use the Jiang family in the capital to threaten XW and he's like, so what? I was gonna pay back those bastards next for Ning'er so you're saving me time lmaaaaaaoooo

* Speaking of which tbh I prefer the lack of a last ditch bandaid on the Jiang family relationship. She's let all of the pain of the past go and isn't personally seeking to take anything away from them in this life... but she is just done with it. Dad is nicer but he's let his wife behave like this and has been mostly hands off. Feels sorta like Story of Minglan to me - letting the favoritism & emotional abuse happen while playing nice guy. In both novel & drama, he spends years not protesting how Jiang Xuening is cast as the troublesome, uncouth, inferior model. But then the drama decides to rehabilitate them. (Though to be fair, even the drama was half-hearted on this 'wash', cause at the end she's mentioning they're not close and in the last scenes the parents are with the sister and Ning'er is with her found family.)

Improvements in the drama:

* I liked that we got to see Jiang Xuening tell multiple people that she loves XW before she gives him her answer. The angst of it being uncertain what conversations she's having with the princess & ZZ, the risk that she's going to abandon XW for being a hot mess... it made for good dramatic tension in the novel. But for the ROMANCE and creating a sense that the feelings he has are truly returned... It makes the ship better.

* The relationship that FL and ML had with the fake Xue Dingfei was richer. He was a standout for me.

* Yan Lin had a happier ending. He really stole my heart in this 2nd life and like Jiang Xuening I felt no need to see him haunted by his vile actions in another universe. It was emotionally satisfying in the drama to see him at peace. You got us all rooting for him.

* Consolidated the Lord Pingnan plot! We really didn't need to get into their factions and introduce more antagonists.

* Consolidated the You Fangyin romantic interests - no need for a marriage of convenience with 1 dude and then Xie Wei's buddy also carrying a torch.

* I felt like the drama gave Zhang Zhe more personality and I did find it delightful when he was "fighting" side by side with Xie Wei.

* Xue Shu (the Xue daughter) felt like a more developed, fully realized antagonist.

* As much as it "sings" in the narrative to have her end up in Kunning Palace with power in the government at the end of the novel (that was brilliant)... maybe emotionally it spoke to me more to see her initial wish from the start of her rebirth fulfilled. Her original reborn goal was to avoid reentering the palace & exit-out of everything to have a quiet life of peace. None of that power ever made her happy.

* Marriage scenes of the otp thank uuuuuuuuu

* No and actually.. After her royal marriage in the 1st life she definitely doesn't need another big celebration. And with her messed up family relationships and his dead parents... Them doing the marriage ceremony all on their own, cause it's another pact between them, makes a lot of sense and I dig it.

* The reverse callback of whispering while she's waiting for a kiss to say "I'm yours" instead of "get out" 👌👌👌

#story of kunning palace #cdrama #spoilers #im one of those people who really likes to see the same story #adapted in different medias #its just fun

[ered]

in case you've missed it, and I'm assuming most of you have, we're having a presidential election here in Finland. First round is currently going on, so I thought I'd give you a quick run down of our candidates!

(in alphabetical order, party in parentheses)

Mika Aaltola (independent): Has mainly worked in academia and apparently has experience in international politics, which is good for the job. I honestly know next to nothing about this dude, but he seems to positively radiate Just Some Guy energy. What would be interesting about him winning: I have no idea. Chances of winning: Ehhh - but it wouldn't be the first time we get a president from outside the daily politics.

Li Andersson (Left Alliance): current leader of the Left Alliance, former Minister of Education. What most people seem to say about her: "she's clearly the best choice, but has no chance of winning so I won't be voting for her." What would be interesting about her winning: first Left Alliance president Chances of winning: Unfortunately slim. Left Alliance is a small party and half of the country still seems to think they're Evil Communists.

Sari Essayah (Christian Democrats): she's also the leader of her party. Most known for being a former racewalker and religious. What would be interesting about her winning: How the hell did it happen??? Chances of winning: zero.

Pekka Haavisto (Green League): Former Minister of the Environment, International Development, and Foreign Affairs (three different terms, not all at once). He was born in 1958 and hasn't done much beyond politics. He's been in the presidential race twice already too, both times losing to our current president, Sauli Niinistö. What would be interesting about him winning: first gay president. Chances of winning: he made it to the final round twice already, so maybe third time's a charm? He has been polling first this time around.

Jussi Halla-aho (Finns Party): a prominent rightwing blogger, a Slavic linguist by education, and the current Speaker of the Parliament. He's "immigration critical" in the same vein "gender criticals" tend to be. He's is considered something of an intellectual in the rightwing circles despite having the vibes of an anthropomorphic raisin, and has amassed a cult following - who literally call him Mestari (master, but in Finnish the vibes are more a master of a trade and not some dude who spanks you in the bedroom. What would be interesting about him winning: finding out if I can immigrate to Denmark. Chances of winning: none if I can help it, but like I said, he does have a very solid fanbase.

Hjallis Harkimo (Movement Now): best known for being the owner of an ice-hockey team or something. His real name is Harry and for some reason he has been elected into the parliament twice. I assume it's the famous allure of a "successful businessman" or because he's something of a celebrity? Who knows. What would be interesting about him winning: How did it happen? Chances of winning: slim.

Olli Rehn (Centre Party): Served as the Minister of Economic Affairs for like a year under our most fuck-witted prime minister in recent history. Not much else to say about it. Somehow seems older than Pekka Haavisto tho he's actually younger. What would be interesting about him winning: absolutely nothing. He's so dull it's almost offensive. Chances of winning: who knows? Maybe he'll be a dark horse if all other candidates fall flat.

Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party): Former Prime Minister, and former Minister of Finance. He's ehhhhhh not the worst possible option, honestly, and is on the more liberal side of the Rich Getting Richer party. What would be interesting about him winning: how will he be different from our current (National Coalition Party) president, I guess Chances of winning: last I checked, he was polling second, so I guess it's a possibility?

Jutta Urpilainen (Social Democratic Party): Former Minister of Finance. Social Democrats are one of the biggest parties we have, but they took a while deciding on who to pick. She's alright. Social Democrats are usually fine, and she'a long term Social Democrat. What would be interesting about her winning: uhh... possibly the first president to have released a Christmas album? Chances of winning: I just don't think she's that popular, to be honest. But she might make it into top three at least, like I said, it's one of the biggest parties behind her.

#finnish presidential elections #long post #political opinions #political onions #i wrote this and did not take my evening meds on time so if i don't sleep tonight this is why

[other-peoples-coats]

A brief auspol interlude

it has been ~3.5 months since the Australian election when the LNP got fucking bodied and Scomo lost his job, so probably we're done hearing about him, right? You'd think that right? like, ex-pm circuit nonsense (baring knife fight lib-spills, which we're really about due for), but nothing new under the sun... lmao wrong! turns out he secretly appointed himself to three (+ ministerial portfolios including the portfolio of health and the portfolio of finance during the course of the pandemic (when he uhhh wasn't doing his actual fucking job as PM) which is.....questionable....for obvious reasons.

Even more questionable (but also very funny); some of the ministers responsible for the portfolios scomo put himself in charge of....didn't know they were sharing their job with the PM. The resources minister found out via a press conference.

Anyway, story evolving, etc etc, investigation underway, ABC as ever has a decent 'what we know' explainer and the guardian's got a fair bit of coverage on the liveblog, though the latter is interspersed with all the other news of the day.

#auspol #not sw #like I'm from qld we've already done the minister for everything #(russ hinze jsyk gotta love the state hobby of corruption) #but also. 😬😬 big yikes #that said: l o l tear each others dicks off!! all the lnp getting mad very funny to watch

[shutup-andletme-go]

you know what you should do

you should follow batshit auspol

you know you want tooooooooo i bet new zealand doesn’t have our level of political fuckery share with us in this awe inducing hell of party affiliations love you <333

perhaps not but we have the queen chlöe swarbrick who pulls things out like "OK boomer" in parliament

ALSO also one of the national ministers... nicola? She's kinda renown for her terrible quotes in parliament like "I want to know exactly how big Grant Robertson's (finance minister at the time) hole is" and there was also one about the size of sausages the other day...

there was also a poster campaign this election unrelated to any political party but it was a mugshot of luxon with the words "out of touch. Too much risk."

anyway it's always better to laugh at another countries political fuck ups so maybe I will go follow them

#also a few years ago we had a labour (centre left) and nz first (harddd right) coalition #tay the rizzlord #<new tag for u it's probably gonna inflate ur ego but that's a risk i'll have to take <33

[billthedrake]

BACHELOR PAD (PART ONE)

It's fucked up, but we didn't even talk about it for a whole year. Pretty much every night my father and I were having sex, and we didn't begin to process it.

Dad was living with me after the divorce. He was a high school math teacher and soccer coach, as well as a youth pastor in our church. Loved in the school and the community. Married with three kids. Until he got caught having an affair with a former male student. Matt Adams, a soccer jock two years younger than me. Cute fucker - Dad had good taste, I'll give him that.

It was a hell of a way to come out. Apparently the two had been having an affair for a few years, back even when Matt was a senior and one of Dad's students. It was the town scandal, and Dad lost his job immediately. Mom was devastated and I got a teary, desperate phone call from Dad, apologizing for wrecking our lives.

"I hate to ask, Joe... but is there anyway I can come stay with you for a couple of days? Amy and Eric have stopped talking to me," he said, referencing my sister and younger brother. "I don't have anywhere else to turn."

Maybe I should have been upset at Dad, too. I mean he did the stupidest thing imaginable. Matt fucking Adams? Like my whole hometown wouldn't find out. But I'm gay and had a tough time coming out. I could only imagine what it was like for a man my father's age, in such a conservative, religious environment.

I'd been the one to move an hour and a half away, to the big city, to escape all that. My family accepted me in a quiet, maybe begrudging way. They'd be less accepting now if I took Dad in, but fuck that.

"Of course, Dad," I said. "Stay as long as you like."

"It'll just be a couple of days, till I figure things out," he said.

***

It was more than a couple of days, a lot more.

Dad looked like hell when he showed up. He still was wearing his normal button-down, pleated khakis and dad sneakers, but looked like a lost soul out of place. He gave me a long, tight hug. "Thanks, Joe... this means the world to me, buddy." I felt almost embarrassed. But I deflected by playing host. I didn't have a big place but tried to set up the couch to make it as comfortable to sleep on as possible. I showed Dad where the fresh towels were and told him I'd stock up on groceries the next day.

That seemed to get him. He held back tears, but barely. I got the sense Dad was dead broke. Mom was always the one to handle the finances and I wouldn't be surprised if she froze him out of the joint accounts.

"Thanks, buddy," he said, mustering the determination to look me in the eye. "OK, if I get some sleep? You have your workday tomorrow."

"Yeah," I agreed. Another tight hug, then I went to my bedroom. I was way concerned and wondered if I was doing the right thing. I mean, I didn't condone what Dad did. But I knew I'd want my parents to love me even if I fucked up. I was going to be there for Dad, even if the rest of my family stopped talking to me.

Dad was already up and showered when I got up for work. The coffee maker was going and I saw Dad folding the sheets up neatly. He was wearing only a pair of shorts and I stopped in surprise at how fit Dad was. His thick ex-jock body was now trim, and I could see the muscle in his back ripple with his motions. The man had always had a solid build, and in my moments of self-awareness I knew he very much defined the kind of ideal man for me. But he'd clearly hit the gym lately, and watched his diet. I wondered how much of that was for Matt Adams, or other men.

The view of the front as he turned around was just as spectacular. Round pecs, just the right amount of fur, taut core, kept from six-pack perfection only by the kind of normal padding middle-aged guys have. That body was incredible on anyone, but for 50 it was an achievement.

"Hey son," he greeted, more chipper in the morning. "Early bird gets the worm right?" For such a stud, Dad could be hokey as hell. It's what worked for him as a teacher and youth minister. It was hard for me to square that version of the man with the one who cheats on his wife of 27 years with an 18-year-old ex-student.

"Sleep OK?" I asked.

"Like a lamb," he said. "I think I needed a good night's sleep. It's been a while." Unlike last night, the sad statement was accompanied by Dad's normal, positive demeanor.

"Glad to hear." I heard the coffee maker gurgling from the other room. "Ready for some coffee?" I asked. I wasn't good for much conversation before my first cup.

"Definitely."

I wasn't too chatty, still waking up. After graduation, I adjusted from being a college night owl to a 9 to 5 schedule, but I wouldn't say the adjustment was easy. Dad kept up the conversation for the two of us, telling me his plan for the day, to go out and look for a job.

"I'll get out of your hair soon, Joe, promise," Dad said contritely, his blue eyes having both a youthful vitality and grown-up maturity I hadn't seen before. I knew it had to kill him inside to have the parent-son relationship reversed.

"You're not in my hair, Dad," I sighed, standing up and patting him on the shoulder. "Seriously, it's great to have you here. Maybe not the best circumstance, but great nonetheless." I gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I do have to shower up... my morning schedule's pretty tight. But make yourself at home."

Dad nodded.

"Love you, Dad," I added. I'd said those words many times over the years, but I figured Dad could use them now.

"Love you, too, son."

***

It took three days, but Dad was all smiles when I got home on Friday. He was dressed in his preppy khakis shorts and polo shirt. I wondered if he'd ever stop dressing like a youth pastor.

"You are looking at an officially employed man," he beamed as soon as I set down my keys and mail and joined him in the living area.

"For real?" I said. I knew it had been weighing on him, and I was glad for my father.

He nodded, excited, like a kid. "Let's get some dinner and I'll tell you about it."

We kept dinner casual. I wasn't sure of Dad's budget, and I reserved nicer meals for when I had a big date, which unfortunately hadn't been in a while. But we enjoyed tacos and a beer in the warm spring evening. And Dad filled me in on his job.

I figured Dad was blacklisted from teaching, and he confirmed that he didn't exactly have the best job references now. But there was a landscaping company that needed strong hands. Dad fit the bill, and I guess his hokey can-do spirit paid off.

"I start tomorrow," he said. "It's their busy season, so it'll be 7 days a week at first, lots of overtime." For a man committing to a grueling job, he seemed strangely excited. "The pay's OK... it might take me a while to save a deposit for an apartment here.... I took a look at rents here, wow... pretty steep."

"Yeah," I laughed sympathetically. "But seriously, Dad, stay at my place as long as you like."

"I may need to," he admitted. "But thanks, Joe. I don't want to make it any longer than I need to. You're a good looking single guy, you don't need your dad cramping your style," he teased.

"You're not cramping anything, Dad," I assured him. "It's been a dry spell lately. But when I want to go on a date or whatever, I'll do it."

Dad got a sly look. "Even the 'whatever'," he grinned. "You want to have a guy over, just let me know and I'll give you as much privacy as you need." This was a total 180 from the man who took me aside and told me quietly that my parents weren't ready for me to bring a boyfriend home on holidays.

"Dad..." I laughed nervously. I wasn't used to my sex life being under my parents' scrutiny.

Dad wouldn't let up though. He got that hokey teacher expression. "All right I get it... you gay guys sure have nice, chaste courtships these days."

I laughed though a part of me wondered if Dad included himself in the "gay guys" category. And cynically, I thought he should have been a little more chaste, so he wouldn't be in the predicament he's in now.

***

Dad was on his job almost a week before I took pity on him. He had back-breaking work, even tougher for a man his age, despite his physical fitness. Sleeping on the couch wasn't helping. So as he got the sheets out to set up the couch, I stopped.

"Come on, Dad, you can share my bed," I offered.

"Son..." he started to object.

"It's big enough, and you need a proper sleep. Come on." I was too weary for an argument, this just made more sense. Dad acquiesced and followed me to the bedroom, us turning off the lights behind us.

I didn't want to perv on my old man, but it was nice seeing him slip down to some snug briefs as we got ready for bed. Maybe I was imagining it, but Dad seemed to be appraising my body. I kept in shape and hit the gym regularly and was starting to get a trim, muscular build I was proud of. Dad's eyes made me prouder, even if it was a normal parent's assessment of how much his kid's grown up.

We slipped into bed. I was tired after a long and ready for sleep. But Dad seemed more awake.

"Thanks again for everything, Joe," he said, not mopey, not hokey. Just completely sincere.

"Dad..." I objected. I wanted him not to feel so much in my debt.

But he scooted in and gave me a hug. It was nice. The affection from my father. But it was more than that. His warm, muscular body. That soft fur. His masculine scent.

I'd been working though some daddy issues, I guess. I mean, I tended to date guys my own age, but it was incredible hot to hook up with an older man. But none were as hot as my father. I knew my dick was firming up but I figured I had a couple of seconds before Dad would notice.

Dad didn't give me a couple of seconds. He pulled back and his mouth found mine. I don't know if he somehow read my desire for him. Maybe he was just thinking with his dick, like he had with Matt Adams. Because we were outright kissing now. Lips parting, tongues meeting.

Holy mindfuck. I knew incest was wrong, or at least very forbidden. But that forbidden nature just made me hard as nails as we made out and our warm bodies came together.

Then, I felt Dad's palm cup my hardon in my briefs. This was not a tentative man. Dad was horny and very openly massaging my cock.

I leaned back and watched Dad playfully slip my underwear down over my hardon, down my legs. I helped him the rest of the way, kicking them off as Dad got naked, too.

My eyes widened to see his cock, my father's cock, erect and ready for sex. Still, a nervousness hit me, along with an awareness that Dad and I were about to cross a line we couldn't uncross.

Dad crossed it for me, quickly leaning over and gripping the base of my cock to pull it toward his lips and right into his mouth.

I watched wide eyed as my father blew me, bobbing his head up and down several inches of dick in steady, amazing strokes.

I have to admit, I was never very much an oral sex kind of guy. I liked licking and sucking on a man a little as foreplay, and sure, I'd enjoy that treatment, too. But I'd never had a man who sucked me like Dad. Maybe this is what I was missing the whole time, I thought as I leaned back and felt his steady, skilled motion and suction bring me off.

"Oh fuck!" I hissed and like that I was cumming in Dad's mouth, hard. Seriously, I didn't know coming from head could feel this good. It was a different kind of intense than fucking, and I knew I was hooked now.

Dad finally pulled off, a proud smile on his face. A wicked part of me wondered how much practice he had.

It certainly turned him on, cause he had a coating of his own seed in his fist as he relinquished his cock.

***

I couldn't help it. I guess Dad couldn't either. We repeated it the next night. And again the following. It became a nightly routine for us. Stripping down, even past our underwear. Me throwing hard before I even got into bad. Dad as well, most of the time. Sometimes we were in a playful mood, sometimes it was matter of fact. We kissed briefly before sex but never after. We didn't really talk about anything, we just had oral sex.

But each night we became more open about it. Keeping the sheets off. Leaving the lights on and the blinds closed so we could appraise each other. Then Dad and I would scoot our bodies together and make out. Not taking our time and not rushing it. In due time Dad would move down and start taking me into his mouth. Slowly, lovingly working me to orgasm.

I returned the favor a couple of times and loved it. The excitement of having my own father's dick in my mouth was an incredible thrill. Feeling his cum pulse into my mouth was even more mind blowing. Dad seemed to realize, because once he came he looked down at my renewed erection. "You need another go, son?" he offered. I nodded and knelt up to offer him my dick once more.

That became my favorite position, I decided. Dad's head propped back on a couple of pillows and the head board as I fed him my prick. The next night, I repeated it for my first round, silently gesturing Dad into place before we even met for a kiss, I knelt up and offered Dad my hard cock. The man's strong hands were on my thighs, telling me he was good to go. So I fucked his mouth for a deep, quick orgasm.

***

I knew it was wrong, and I spent half of each morning going through my head a plan to stop it. Dad wasn't forcing himself on me, I could easily say no. But I was having the secret affair of a lifetime. And the damage was done. Dad and I had already crossed the line. Repeatedly. What was another blowjob, another kiss?

Still, we kept some unspoken boundaries. We didn't talk about sex. Even at night in the bedroom, it was mostly silent communication between us. Outside my room, it was just me and Dad being son and father, even if our relationship had changed now that Dad was living with me.

The man worked hard, I'll give him that. His normal hokey self was quieter now when he got home from an overtime shift. He was physically drained, and I gave him space. And he somehow sensed when to give me mine.

One night I did mention something to him about his long days.

"Overtime," he replied with a game shrug.

"Been doing a lot of that this week," I observed.

He nodded. "Yeah, Joe. I'll take as much work as they throw my way. Divorce lawyers are expensive as hell. At least the good ones."

"Sorry, Dad," I said, regretting I'd brought up a sore subject.

"Nothing for you to be sorry about, son," Dad said, getting that tone he'd given when he'd lectured me or my siblings growing up. "It's my own dang fault I'm in this mess."

That night was the first night in a week and a half that Dad and I didn't have sex.

***

I was a little down the next day. Maybe I'd become addicted to Dad's blowjobs, but deep down I knew a good thing couldn't last. Particularly when that good thing was goddamn incest.

Emotionally, I wanted to see my father happy. I knew it would take him a while to get to that space, but I was glad to help him out. Indeed, the rest of my family was giving me the silent treatment. I'd occasionally get a terse text from my sister Amy, and I gathered she'd been designated the one to communicate with me. I was down about the whole thing, but I also knew I'd done the stand-up thing.

I guess my mood had picked up by the time I got home, but it didn't match Dad's chipper mood. It was Friday evening, so I wasn't surprised to see him home before me, but I was surprised to see he'd already started on a beer. Growing up, Dad would occasionally indulge in one Bud Light when the occasion called for it, but now he was popping open a cold one like a real blue collar dude.

"Hi there, Joe. Got paid today," he announced with a proud smile, nodding down to a fat envelope on the table. "Half went to my lawyer," he said. "But the rest is for you. Should at least cover groceries and utilities."

"Dad..." I objected, taking a seat across from him.

"I'm serious, Joe," Dad said firmly. "I may not be Father of the Year right now, but I'm not gonna sponge off my own son. At least not too much," he winked.

I saw how much this meant to Dad. He'd lost his whole life, he didn't want to lose his pride, too. I picked up the envelope. "All right... as long as I get to treat us to dinner tonight."

"Deal," my father said. He took one more swig of beer and stood up. "Let me clean up," he said and peeled off his gray-heather T-shirt from his landscaping company.

God, my dad was hot as fuck, I had to admit. Somehow the manual labor had made his body even harder and fitter since he'd moved in. I tried not to stare, but he seemed to invite my gaze. Furry muscle that was getting more toned by the day, tan lines developing on his arm and neck. My initial thought was Matt Adams had been one lucky bastard. Then, I thought, more evilly, I was even luckier. Cause this was my Dad. Dirty blond, blue eyed math teacher with a dark side.

As he made his way to the hall to go shower off, I popped a boner. Looking at my own father. I massaged it a little, teasing its hardness, then figured I needed to get myself under control and go to change into something more casual myself.

Dinner was our regular casual taco spot. My father couldn't stop talking, but I was glad to see him in a cheerier mode. He even gave me the blow-by-blow with the divorce proceedings, but instead of the normal wistful tone, he had that fighter mentality I'd rarely seen in him. At least not in a long time. I didn't take his side entirely - I mean, Dad fucking cheated on Mom, and she had every right to be hurt and angry and unforgiving. But I also knew their separation was complete and permanent, and Dad needed this final break to move on.

"Listen to me, talking your ear off, Joe," he finally caught himself, leaning forward. I remember being so attracted to him at that moment. His clean-cut youth minister looks, his hunky DILF body, his furry knotted forearms. "Tell me everything about work."

I was very independent, almost defiantly so since coming out. I never asked my parents for career advice, but that evening I opened up to Dad, getting his feedback as I weighed the possibility of looking for a higher paying job elsewhere.

I could see his reaction, visible if silent. Happiness I was bringing him into my life like that. I could see I'd hurt him by walling him off for the last six years, but he also knew at that moment he'd hurt me. A lot went unsaid that evening, but we just enjoyed talking, and Dad - Mr. One and Done - lifted up his beer glass.

"Another, son?" he asked. "It's been a hell of a week."

"How about back home?" I offered. "I'm driving."

Dad's good mood was infectious, and even though it was still early when we got home, I looked at him with a smile. "What do you think of getting into bed a little early?" This was the closest we'd come to discussing our sleeping arrangement.

Dad's eyes twinkled. "You bet," he said. With a lustful look toward me, he pulled up the hem of his polo shirt and lifted it off. There was that amazing furry upper body again, displayed for me. I followed suit and got an ego boost as Dad looked me up and down.

"You have an amazing body, Joe," he said softly. "Perfect, really."

I stepped up and reached out to touch his bare flank. His flesh was warm and felt great. We met for a kiss, the first time we'd kissed outside of my bedroom and that felt extra taboo for a reason.

Dad and I made out, feeling a strange, stronger passion than normal. I almost didn't want to break our kiss, but I finally pulled and patted his side. "Let's go back to the bedroom," I said.

Dad got undressed first, leaning back onto the mattress and spreading his meaty legs some. His dick stood straight up. It looked so much like my own, but clearly an older man's cock - hairier crotch, lower balls. I wanted to suck him.

Slowly I climbed on bed and ran my hands up his calves and quads as he smiled down on me. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, Joe. Like you couldn't believe," he said.

"Is that why you're having sex with me?" I asked in a worry. "To pay me back?"

He shook his head, almost nervously. "No. I guess I've always fantasized about this... just seems so unreal it would happen."

I leaned in and licked dad's nuts, which made him exhale a sharp breath in excitement. "Fuck yes, son." Dad usually only cursed when he was really mad. Or in bed, it turns out.

I playfully ran my tongue along those furry testicles, getting off on the idea that they'd made the seed that had fathered me. It was a magical connection.

I pulled back and stared at those magnificent paternal genitals. Dad erect, nuts hanging in perfect readiness beneath his thick stalk. "I've jacked off to roleplay porn... you know dad-son stuff... but it doesn't hold a candle to this." For all we'd done, it still felt like I was taking a chance mentioning this.

"No it doesn't," Dad said simply. I looked up at him. A sexual look was on his face, but so was pure affection. This was fucking with my head in the biggest way, but I was gonna embrace this. Ever bit of messiness of fucking around with my own dad. "I watched porn like that too," he said softly. "A lot. Only I couldn't find much where the son's the top." The man seemed to shake with his own admission.

My body was shaking now, too. I watched Dad question me with his eyes. "Yeah, I prefer it that way too," I said. Letting the words hang right there between us.

Dad grinned and spread his legs and started pulling them back. His body hair is light colored and fine so the thickness of it leading from his balls to his pucker was a real sight. I leaned in and I kissed my father's asshole.

"Oh fuck, Joe!" I heard and that was all the encouragement I needed. I started eating Dad out. Really going to town munching his hot hole. I didn't know how much Dad got fucked. I had a pretty good sense Matt Adams had done the honors. My goal was to make Dad forget Matt fucking Adams.

The more I licked and tongued him, the more Dad leaned back and pulled his legs back and wide, giving me full access. Finally, I withdrew a few inches to visually examine the spit-wet daddy hole.

Dad's voice was hoarse with need. "You gonna fuck me, son?"

I looked up into his eyes. There was Dad, my loving father, but it was also like I was looking at a different man. Horny. Needy. A muscle hairy piece of fuck meat. A million fantasies clashed in my brain and made my hardon surge.

I took my time lubing Dad's hole up. He just lay back and spread his legs and let me at it. "You've got an amazing cock, son," he hissed.

I responded by nudging my erection into the soft crinkled hole and pressing right inside him. Holy fuck, this was incredible. The physical sensation of the heat and soft grip of his anus, but the mental side, too. Topping my father.

For all the roleplay I'd fantasized about, this was a mostly silent fuck, me and Dad communicating with our eyes and our bodies as my thrusts slowly built up speed and urgency. He held his legs back and explored my chest and sides and that clear interest in my body fueled my own desire.

As we fucked and climbed closer to orgasm, I savored every second. The evil part of me was now glad my parents were divorcing. Dad was mine now.

That idea made my nuts boil over. "Dad...!" I cried urgently, warning him without putting into words that I was about to cum.

That got a deep growl out of my old man. "Go for it, Joe.... fucking seed my ass!"

I did, my lungs groaning like trampled bagpipes. I was riding the high of one of the best cums of my left. Maybe THE best cum of my life. But Dad wasn't far behind. Driven to new heights of lust he frigged his cock and then I watched, blurry eyed as heavy ropes of my father's sperm flew all over that chest hair.

"Damn," Dad hissed when I finally pulled out and rested on my haunches and my dong fell soft and satisfied between my legs. "Can't believe we just did that."

I ran my hands up his shins now that his legs were resting back on the bed. "Regrets?" I was scared of the answer but man enough to know I needed to find out.

He shook his head. "Not really. I mean, I should, but... fuck."

"Yeah..." I grunted leaning forward to embrace him. "Fuck."

#drakestories

[ranmagender]

why the fuck is bjarni ben even our foreign affairs minister. his backround is in finance why is he even allowed to be in charge of our foreign affairs.

why is our prime minister who calls herself pro-palestine not idk calling for a þingrof or something because clearly theres a divide within the government and the wishes of the people are not being heard.

abstaining from voting in un for ceasefire, blocking funding to unrwa because of mere allegations until "investagations have occurred" its all bullshit and clearly not what the people they are meant to represent want.

oh but being too pro-palestine might get daddy america upset, they need their development funds and co-operations uwu

ive said it for years but Iceland is America's lapdog and the government continues to prove me right.

#iceland #icelandic politics #i hate it #palestine

[bard-llama]

WiP Wednesday: Brother

This fic was inspired by Toph declaring Zuko her brother in A Second Chance at Family. I started thinking about what Azula would think of that... so cue this fic. This is post-canon, where Azula is working with Zuko as a political advisor.

Aaaaaand tumblr's shitty new post editor won't let me indent the story without removing all the spacing. Fucking hate this stupid thing and you can no longer opt out of it, so that's great. Thanks @staff. This platform progressively gets worse and worse. It's literally becoming LESS functional.

Anyway, have a snip:

“He’s my brother, not yours,” Azula hissed at the earthbender who was clinging inappropriately to Zuzu’s side. 

Zuzu looked surprised, but the earthbender just grinned a smug grin that made Azula want to set her on fire.

“You lost siblingship rights,” the earthbender shrugged, “you know, when you tried to murder him.”

“Toph,” Zuzu hissed, probably able to tell that Azula was very close to incinerating her. Such an insult could not go unanswered.

Azula raised herself up tall. “Zuko is my blood,” she sniffed haughtily. 

“Literally who gives a fuck?” Toph snorted. “Your bloodline is fucked up. We’re better family to him than you’ve ever been.”

“Nonsense,” Azula scoffed. “Family isn’t something you choose.”

Zuzu coughed. “Um. Yeah, it kinda is.”

She glared at him and he winced. 

“Just saying,” he muttered. “Can we please move on from this and deal with the actual issues on our plates?”

“No,” Toph said simply, pointing at Azula. “You think your blood entitles you to him? Fuck that. What have you ever done to earn the title of sister?”

“I don’t have to earn it,” Azula sneered.

“See, that kind of entitlement is exactly why I’m the real sister,” Toph said and Azula saw red.

“Guys!” Zuzu said loudly. “Come on, we’ve got actual fucking work to do!”

Azula’s eyes narrowed at him. “You agree with her,” she said, something threatening in her voice.

“Um.” Zuzu shrugged. “You’re both my sisters, okay? Now come on, I have a meeting with the finance minister in an hour and we need to figure out–”

“No,” Azula cut him off, incensed. “I’m your blood. How can you call this – this mudgrubber ‘sister’!?”

“Oh, I’ll show you mud,” Toph began, but Zuzu stepped between them, pushing them back from each other. Azula almost set him on fire in payment for the indignity of it.

“Guys, seriously!”

“Family is a title that’s earned,” Toph said coldly. “You’ve never done shit to be deserving of it.”

Puffing up in offense, Azula let the threat of lightning crackle in the air around her – but it backfired when Zuzu said sternly, “stop it! Neither of you are helping right now! Let’s just move on and–”

Azula’s face twisted with something she couldn’t define, but it was bitter and jealous and angry. “I refuse,” she said tightly. “I refuse to have anything to do with a pretender who tries to steal other people’s families!”

“Good,” Toph snapped, “then the trash can walk itself out.”

“How dare you–”

“Guys, come on!” Zuzu stood between them again, face stressed. “We have real actual problems to deal with! Like how to fund–”

“Forget it,” Azula said icily. “As long as she’s around, I won’t be involved.”

Zuzu blinked like he was surprised at her ultimatum, but Toph’s smirk just widened. 

“Fine,” Toph said easily. “Bye then. C’mon, Sparky, let’s deal with your finance minister.” She turned and started walking towards Zuzu’s office – and Zuzu hesitated, looking between them.

Azula remained with her nose stubbornly in the air – but then Zuko took a step towards Toph. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I’ve gotta deal with this meeting.”

And then he left, following after that brother-stealing earthbender, and Azula felt the sudden need to set the corridor on fire. 

Servants and staff ran from the area – but Zuko did not return and Azula’s rage was complete. He was her blood! How could he choose Toph over her!?

With a snarl, Azula set off to find something she could burn, leaving a smoldering section of hallway behind her.

#atla #wip wednesday #i'm so sick of losing functionality with every fucking update #fuck tumblr

[eddieydewr]

You know stantwt has rocks for brains when they see someone say "he had a conversation with us 2 times about us being the only fans there and asking us to take pics and signing and stuff" about noah and understood it as "he had to beg 2 fans who came to his event for pictures" (@hooyosnotproud and @pynchyaoi r being idiotic and wording exactly that! Bunch of close-minded black and white thinkers). Like how the hell would you interpret 2 TIMES AS 2 PERSON?? Even little kids who aren't fluent in english wouldn't interpret it like that 😭 Like I genuinely don't know if people on that app has their brains overly rotten from talking about stranger things way too much that they're now incapable of having the most basic understanding and comprehension of the things they read or they're just being stupid on purpose and twist someone's words so they could go with that narrative of how much of a loser noah is. One of the people who was actually there said there were like 50 people at the event and it wasn't even a meet and greet. Like they could go hate on him idc, but the way they're spending way too much time and energy making false narratives about celebs they hate INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING TO HELP OUT is pissing me tf off. Like go share masterlinks, share donation drives, watch youtube videos wherein the revenues from the ad go to the Palestinian organizations, encourage others to boycott brands that finance the Israeli government. But no they decide to make fun of someone instead and think that that's enough activism. I see videos of Palestinians especially kids being killed, injured, and traumatized and my first thought wasn't to mock a fucking celebrity but to look for ways on how to help out and idk curse, insult and say all the bad things known to existence about the IDF and the prime minister who ACTUALLY DO THE KILLINGS themselves. I haven't seen anyone who tell the IDF and the prime minister to fuck themselves off and to kill themselves like what they do to celebrities btw. Seems like these people's priority is to hate on celebrities rather than to help which is sad because Palestine is suffering right now and what they're doing isn't productive.

lmao i think i saw the tweets you’re talking about. acting like it was a comic con when it was something to do with startups and entrepreneurship? not exactly a meet and greet with an actor when he was there for the TBH brand. and you’re right; none of it helps palestine. not even when they tag noah in tweets containing gory pictures and videos of palestinian victims. completely counterproductive and noah never alluded to wanting palestinians to die, and being gleeful about it. whatever they seem to think of noah, he is not that kinda person. they’re just determined to hate on him and assume the worst 🤷🏻‍♀️

i notice millie is getting a lot of accusatory comments about not caring about what’s happening, and being an UNICEF spokesperson, she ought to do better 🙈 girly isn’t even on social media. whereas there’s barely anything for finn and stan twitter LOVES to complain about him every 5 business days because he’s friends with “problematic” people. none of it makes sense.

i know i keep saying it but online activism just pisses me off.

#noah schnapp

[idiotlittleme]

Hearing that now the British prime minister want to come to Israel/Palestine is like

What, he wants to come to finish the job?

[Moment of history: the British colonization in Israel/Palestine is also known by elitist idiots as the British mandate because the UN gave them authority on this land until the local, or idiot laymen as they thought of us, will be able to operate as one or two states. SO, basically, when they arrived here, they manifested what was called as "the white book agenda", it's also common on other british-controlled areas, and it just states their policies, distribution of finances, and basically their plans for the place. And so, they singlehandedly distributed the idea that this is a zero sum game -- if Arabs get something it means Jewish people can't and vise-versa. Now, the white book agenda did change every now and again according to British wants and needs, so it made everything here extremely more difficult and unstable. And basically, if you want to trace down where the jewish-arab hate for one another began -- START WITH THE FUCKING BRITISH]

#israel #palestine #british empire #britain #mandate #colonization #war #postcolonial #fuck i hate this bullshit

[bopinion]

2022 / 45

Aperçu of the Week:

"He who talks a lot ends up believing what he says."

(Honoré de Balzac)

Bad News of the Week:

Sometimes I anticipate in advance when Bad News are developing. Unfortunately. That can't be good. Unfortunately. And this time, too, I'm probably right. Unfortunately. After all, it's all about the future of humanity. Or to put it less dramatically: about the UN Climate Conference COP27 in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt. Usually, hopes are associated with this event. Not this time, pessimism was already spreading in the run-up to the event. A week earlier, for example, an essential marine protection agreement for the Antarctic had already failed due to the blockade by - guess who! - Russia and China. So the omens were set.

The first journalistic impressions on the ground seemed absurd: a gigantic camp in the midst of sweltering heat that is extremely downplayed. Guess from which energy source the air conditioners are fed. And then two frightening numbers are floating around. One is 2.7 degrees. Indeed, an increasing number of experts (including the UN climate agency) are suggesting that this figure - rather than the much-vaunted 1.5 degrees - is a realistic marker for global temperature trends unless action against it improves rapidly and fundamentally. The other is 34%. According to a calculation by Christian Aid, the gross domestic product of African countries will collapse by this percentage by the end of the century because of climate change. If it would stay at the 1.5 degrees. Which it currently does not, see above.

Then there are currently more and more scientists who assume that the first tipping points - points of no return - have already been reached. This means that specific climate damage can no longer be reversed, even if all human factors were to be reduced to zero immediately. Glaciers in the Alps? Summer ice in the Arctic? Ice shelf on Greenland? All already lost. Irretrievably. Game over.

And in Sharm-El-Sheikh, they're mainly haggling over money right now. According to the motto: "You break it, you buy it". Meaning that the industrialized nations, whose wealth is based on environmental damage, should/must make concrete financial commitments to the poorer southern countries, which are more strongly affected by climate change, for the consequences of their actions (or rather their inactions today). Objectively correct. But in times of Ukraine war, inflation, energy price explosion, supply chain disruptions, digitalization efforts, demographic aging, etc., no finance minister is happy to find even more demands in his incoming mail.

In his long-awaited keynote speech (which was even billed as "inspiring"), Joe Biden, after in all seriousness attesting to the U.S.'s pioneering role in climate protection, was also all about money. He wants to invest $37 billion a year in climate protection at home. For the support of poorer countries, he wants to invest just 8 billion, although the USA's share would be 40 billion. Yes, that's right: five times as much. If even the richest country in the world does not meet its obligations, it will definitely not be enough over all. Because that's the sad thing: none of the so called economists has yet understood that the consequences of unchecked climate change will be much more expensive than active measures against it. Not to mention the effects on the literal "quality of life".

Good News of the Week:

"Who the fuck is Chase Oliver?" is certainly on the minds of many political observers currently following the race for the final three Senate seats in the midterms. The candidate of the "Libertarians" in Georgia has done a disservice to the Democrats (to whom they are undoubtedly much closer than to the Republicans). For thanks to the 2.1% he achieved, neither the Reverend Raphael Warnock (he is only 0.5% short, according to CNN today) nor amateur gynecologist Herschel Walker were able to clear the necessary 50% hurdle and must now go to a runoff election on December 6.

That means a general hanging game. Because if you follow the current projections of the other two open Senate seats, Arizona goes to the Democrats by a solid margin and Nevada razor thin to the Republicans (Recount!). Which causes a stalemate - 50 seats red, 49+1 seats (Kamala Harris as chair has an extra vote) - until Georgia is decided. So you can bet that this already absurdly expensive and polarizing campaign will intensify in the coming weeks. To which Warnock can be sure of his party's broad support. And Walker is not. After all, the latter has accumulated an extensive assortment of scandals in recent weeks, which could ensure that the Republican establishment formally supports him, but personal enthusiastic commitment at campaign events, for example, could rather lap along.

Speaking of lapping: The feared "big red wave" on which Donald Trump would have liked to surf on with his anticipated candidacy failed to materialize. And that's the Good News. For the U.S. and the whole world. Typically, midterms always punish the current federal government - even if it's not on the ballot. And often makes the incumbent president a lame duck who is considerably restricted in his political freedom of movement. That's exactly what pollsters expected this time around, too. After all, Joe Biden's approval ratings are in the basement, inflation is causing fundamental discontent, expensive military aid to Ukraine is losing support, and on and on. Good thing it didn't turn out that way. Because the message that this time it's all about the big picture - i.e., preserving a fair and transparent democracy - apparently caught on strongly enough.

Personal happy moment of the week:

What could have been my happy moment this week? That I wasn't involved in an accident? That I solved Wordle every day? That we still manage without (gas) heating? That we still have a season of Working Moms ahead of us? That my dad is slowly recovering from a serious illness? That a few days ago I laughed at a delicious joke that I already don't remember? That I beat my son in check after a long time? Mmmh... There are just weeks that are full of gray clouds and the sun is struggling.

I couldn't care less...

...about Elon Musk. This guy starts to get on my nerves more and more. Because he is so incredibly smart. And therefore has solutions for everything. From the Ukraine conflict (Boxing match with Putin or at least referendums under UN supervision!) to the Corona virus (People worried about it are dumb!) and international politicians (Likening Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler!) to law enforcement (Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked by a disgruntled callboy!). And now the head of Twitter is single-handedly defining how true free speech works. For example, finding hate speech better than fact-checks. Or letting everyone impersonate someone else, preferably a celebrity. Great. I'd love to place my advertising dollars in that kind of environment, too. The bird is freed? I don't think so.

As I write this...

...our neighbor's cat Filou is stroking around my feet. It's obviously getting too cold outside. And that's why he prefers to take his midday nap at our place. You are welcome.

Post Scriptum:

Russia (or to be fair: Vladimir Putin and his lemmings) loses. Morally anyway. Financially more and more. And now militarily, too. The first terrain gains of the Ukrainian counteroffensive were still explained by the Russian side as changed priorities and first territorial tasks as regroupings. However, the fact that the Red Army is now retreating to the eastern bank of the Dnieper is now justified by the protection of its own soldiers. Which is in fact the first acknowledgement of a partial strategic defeat. Stay tuned.

#thoughts #aperçu #good news #bad news #news of the week #happy moments #politics #honore de balzac #climate change #cop27 #sharm el sheikh #global warming #joe biden #chase oliver #midterms #united states #red wave #gray clouds #elon musk #twitter #cat #russia #ukraine #vladimir putin #reparations #georgia #senate #elections #fair share #united nations

[thessalian]

Thess vs the New Cabinet

Further on the UK politics front ... there is some good news, and there is some bad news.

Good news:

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Victorian undertaker-looking motherfucker, has resigned and is now haunting the back benches instead of taking a place in cabinet. This is a good thing to a point because at least I don’t have to look at his smug-ass face anymore, hopefully. He is one of the few people on this planet upon whom I actively wish death. I do not say that lightly. See, he recently put in what some people are calling a “vanity bill” that, if retained and passed, stands to scrap our employee rights, safety standards (food, workplace, and everything else), environmental standards and rights in general, all in the name of Sovereignty or whatever the fuck (basically nuking every regulation we have that was taken from the EU standards on such things). When called on it recently, he said, and I quote, “Do you really think we’re going to make children work up chimneys? Do you really think we think the British public are that stupid?” Answer: A RESOUNDING YES TO BOTH.

Bad News:

Sunak, who is now our Prime Minister, was actually for a more all-encompassing version of this exact course of action which makes me wish Rees-Mogg would just ... fall into a vat of pigshit and die.

Sunak (again, Prime Minister) was the one who said that our anti-terrorist group should be keeping an eye on “anyone who vilifies the UK”. Fine. Let ‘em fucking deport me.

Sunak did his cabinet reshuffle. Rees-Mogg’s resignation is the only good thing in it. Let’s start with Jeremy Hunt still being Chancellor. Between him and Sunak, we’re looking at Austerity 2.0 at a time when the NHS is saying point blank that “there is no more fat to trim” and that they’d have to discontinue services if this shit keeps up. Which will probably happen because gods forbid “Prime Minister Hedge Fund Manager” and “They Literally Use His Name In Cockney Rhyming Slang When They Mean ‘Cunt’“ actually tax the people and companies who can afford it to fill the gap that twelve years of Tory government has left in the public finances because they plead the need for austerity and then give profligate amounts of money to their mates.

Suella Braverman - the one whose “dream and obsession” it is to send refugees to Rwanda - is the fucking Home Secretary.

Dominic Raab - the one who doesn’t think we should have rights - is the Deputy PM.

Grant Schapps - whose history includes supporting the bedroom tax and cutting benefits to the point of trying to (and bragging about succeeding at) forcing people on incapacity benefits off those benefits - is now Business Secretary, in Rees-Mogg’s place. Given the whole thing where there is literally a bill being looked at that will rip up all of our rights and protections in terms of employment and pay, to be rewritten at the whims of the Tories, I HAVE CONCERNS.

But most concerning? Michael Gove, who has gone on record repeatedly as wanting to dismantle the NHS for a US-style insurance system, is Health Secretary.

So ... y’know ... a lot of people seem to be relieved that “at least we have an actual grown-up with some fiscal responsibility in 10 Downing Street”. However, that combination, up there? That it took me about five minutes to double-check on Google? That says things about the direction they want to take this country. Put it together with the voter suppression and criminalisation of protest, and it says a lot more. Most people don’t look or listen, it seems. I, however, need to know exactly what’s coming.

I know, or at least have a very good idea. And I am terrified. And I’m sorry, but everyone else who lives here should be terrified too.

EDIT: Thank you to @lazybrainsoup for flagging up that no, thank the gods, Gove isn’t Health Secretary. Panic and fibro fog are not a good combination for my anxiety levels. However, we do have Steve Barclay. Apparently, the primary quote about him is “Steve Barclay is NHS leadership’s worst nightmare”, so not sure that’s better.

#Thess on politics #Thess vs the Tories

[realasslesbian]

Gonna get on my Australian politics for a minute here, but the entire media narrative irt That Shooting and how anti-authoritarians are responsible for it is actually getting kinda ridiculous.

But firstly, lemme just express my sympathy for those two fresh outta the academy cops and the innocent old man who died at the hands of these legitimate lunatics. Because I ain’t defending that. What I’m complaining about is the inaccuracy and disingenuity of laying the blame for this sorry situation (and every other sorry situation of the past couple years) squarely at the feet of anti-authoritarianism. 

There is good fucking reason to have a healthy dose of anti-authoritarianism in this country. Increasingly over the last decade our government have be doing some very shady things and quietly bringing in a lot of very invasive laws. For example:

The Greenfields Foundation and all the subsequent fake charities whose sole purpose is to funnel Australia tax-payer dollars directly into the bank accounts of politicians

That time Australia withdrew from widely ratified international treaties so it could take East Timor hostage for its oil fields, and even went so far as to plant listening devices in the East Timor Prime Minister’s office, and when one of Australia’s spies snitched to the East Timor PM about it (bc apparently that was too evil even for an ASIS spy), instead of showing any remorse Australian authorities aggressively pursued that spy and his legal team, even raiding their offices and homes so they could destroy evidence

The ongoing situation where people who are assessed to have incapacity irt their finances (which is often a very flimsy assessment in itself) have their estates taken over by the Public Trustee who then force these unfortunate souls to live in poverty while the government frivolously spends their money, banning them or anyone else from speaking publicly on it, and ignoring/deliberately making it difficult to prove return to capacity

The entire Robodebt Scandal wherein people forced to live in the abject poverty afforded by welfare payments were then deliberately shackled with fake debts by authorities and forced to pay money they did not in fact owe on pain of jail time, a lot of people (myself included) still have not been released from these fake debts

Speaking of arbitrary jail time for Robodebt victims, statistics show that women are twice as likely to be jailed for ‘welfare fraud’ than men and that the ‘welfare crackdown’ (aka the Robodebt Scandal) is pretty much solely responsible for the huge inflation in Australia’s female prisoner population

The continuing wrongful imprisonment of Kathleen Folbigg who was falsely accused of killing her four children and is now halfway through a forty year jail sentence with no signs of authorities intending to release her, despite evidence having since proven her children died of natural causes

And what about the new and extensive laws which punish ‘unauthorised protesting’ with YEARS in jail, especially if any coal mining companies were inconvenienced

That time an Australian politician got upset when a comedian made some jokes about him so he had plain clothes federal police abduct said comedian from his home, assault his mother and his dog in the process, load him into a black car and drive off, and this was all perfectly legal and actually the politician then went on to successfully sue this comedian for defamation

*not an exhaustive list, there’s definitely more

So, as you can see, there is plenty reason to be questioning the Australian government. And yet the primary narrative irt this shooting and any other situation that might make authorities look bad is to blame it on the conveniently faceless boogeyman of ‘crazy extremist anti-authoritarian anti-vaxxer right-wing conspiracy theorists from the US’. Despite that being such a fantastical mash-up of conflicting ideologies, that’s what the media are going with for a strawman (probably at the behest of the government who in fact can utilise gag laws and imprison journalists who don’t comply). 

Without free and open journalism to offer critical insight into how Australian authorities are at fault and could do better you get other explanations gaining traction. And, for certain demographics, these other explanations can seem more believable than the government-approved message. These are demographics who are often from low socio-economic backgrounds (most people living in those Tara bush blocks are living in poverty), are from First Nations backgrounds (the offenders had Aboriginal heritage), are extremely disenfranchised women (Stacey Train was being abused by the male offenders), or otherwise from various vulnerable demographics, aka the usual choice of punching bag for a government whose apparent sole purpose is to move money from poor people to rich people. These are people who know something isn’t right, have maybe already been victims of the government, but perhaps don’t have the education or resources to form an accurate critical opinion. So instead their opinion is ‘I can just not pay my traffic fines and violently defend my land because subsection SovCit of the US Constitution applies in Australia’ or whatever other crazy shit (which tbh as crazy as some of this shit is, the government cover stories are often even crazier, hence why we got articles about anyone without a sewerage connection being sus)

So when the Australian government has displayed such an obvious lack of transparency, when they keep making mistakes and trying to cover them up, and even when they can no longer hide they don’t show any remorse, no matter how blatantly evil the shit they’ve done is, then you can see why their favourite demographic of underdog punching bags might develop some reactionary views.

In any case, I think rather than trying to turn anyone questioning the Australian government into the new societal pariahs, a better use of journalist resources would be to seriously consider questions like:

a) how were authorities not aware of previous government employees, who posted frequently about their violent views, and who had been reported to police multiple times

b) what truth is their to the accusation that police had been ‘casing the joint out’, which probably resulted in the Trains deciding to fortify their property

c) who made the decision to send two rookie cops into a ‘routine’ missing persons check (as if there is such a thing lmao)

d) why are Australian authorities trying to purchase the property this took place on, and don’t tell me it’s gonna be a ‘beauty spa for stressed coppers’ when it’s surrounded on all sides by similarly anti-authoritarian preppers 

e) and while we’re questioning the government why don’t we start asking these type of questions BEFORE people start dying, not after, whether that’s irt police shootings or robodebt victims who committed suicide, or people dying of starvation in East Timor as a result of our government’s actions, or people rotting in prison cells despite being innocent, etc, etc, etc

Anyway, call me a right-wing anti-authoritarian conspiracy nutjob, I guess. But imo the Australian authorities are just as responsible for this situation as any ‘crazy hillbillys’, and if they actually stopped for a moment to consider putting the welfare of the Australian people before their profits then this and plenty of other bullshit might not have happened.

#auspol #anti-authoritarianism #also hello to the ASIS employee reading this

[i-read-shitty-comics]

Least Favorite reads of 2022

Before we get to any of the placements, I just want to say that almost all the things on this list are things I dropped. Now, someone might say “But you didn’t even read it until the end, you are not allowed to have an opinion!”

And after we have dropped those people off at the daycare, the adults can have a serious discussion about your opinions on a work of art still being valid and worth hearing out because not finishing it also makes a statement about the quality of what you read.

But more importantly, why the fuck should I force myself to read something that makes me want to scratch my eyes out, dude? My time on this planet is limited and I don’t see why I should spend that time cursing myself for my own decisions more times than I already do to the point it makes me want to bash my head against the wall.

10: Pigtails

Average Rating: 7.13/10

Synopsis:

The manga tells the story of a pigtail-braid girl after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

My Rating: none

My Opinion:

The concept of seeing the story of a person through their everyday objects is fun, however if I wanted to know the feelings of my mittens I could just talk to them. Dunno what exactly they would say but it would be more fun and gripping than watching clothespins have a war against each other.

This actually happens in the first chapter, and I know what you’re thinking but sadly it wasn’t so ridiculous that it’s funny, so you can’t even read it ironically.

This is just boring and the interesting things are overshadowed by the weird but not funny weird stuff that’s going on.

9: Akumetsu

Average Rating: 8.16/10

Synopsis:

Due to an economic downturn plaguing Japan, Shiina Nagasawa decides to take up prostitution as a means to support her family after her father goes bankrupt. To this end, she attends a party where the high-profile government members in attendance are all eager to satisfy their carnal desires.

As Shiina degrades herself, an intruder wearing an exotic mask crashes the party, and she recognizes him as her classmate Shou Hazama. Claiming to be "Akumetsu," he interrogates Japan's former finance minister about all the evil deeds the other has committed. He then proceeds to brutally murder the man and drag his body to the lobby. When Akumetsu is shot, he somehow blows his own head off afterward.

Still in disbelief, Shiina manages to go to school the next day. But in a shocking turn of events, Shou Hazama is there to greet her in the classroom. How is he alive, and what does he intend to do next?

My Rating: none

My Opinion:

I don’t get the appeal of this. The story mostly relied on shock value in the beginning and I like corrupt politicians and police getting tortured and killed as much as the next person, but if that’s the only thing the story has going for, it gets pretty old pretty fast. The trauma that comes with certain events does not get treated appropriately and this blog is funnier than all the jokes I have encountered in the 5 volumes I read of this. 

And just in case you didn’t notice, my attempted humor is  terrible.

8: Vampire Knight

Average Rating: 7.45/10

Synopsis:

Cross Academy is an elite boarding school with two separate, isolated classes: the Day Class and the Night Class. On the surface, Yuuki Cross and Zero Kiryuu are prefects of the academy, and attempt to keep order between the students as classes rotate in the evenings. As the Night Class is full of utterly gorgeous elites, this can sometimes prove to be a bit difficult. It is completely necessary, however, as those "elites" are actually vampires. Yuuki and Zero act as guardians, protecting the secrets of the Night Class and the safety of their ignorant morning counterparts.

As the adopted daughter of the academy's chairman, Yuuki takes her job with a serious and energetic attitude. It also allows her to interact with her secret crush and savior, the president of the Night students' dorm, Kaname Kuran. Zero, on the other hand, has a deep-rooted hatred against vampires, and at times, does not hesitate to kill.

Can vampires and humans co-exist, even in the strict setup of the Cross Academy? Only time will tell

My Rating: none

My Opinion:

I don’t really have an opinion on this. I dropped it before even finishing chapter 2, because I really don’t like the classic 00’s shoujo art style for some reason. However, I still think it says a lot that when I looked it up to see if the story was worth continuing despite my eyes screaming at every page, all I got was people talking about how both outcomes of the love triangle are incest.

Now, I have spent too much time consuming Japanese media to put something down just because it has incest, but the fact that this was the only thing people talked about really says more than I ever could.

7: The Doll

Average Rating: 7.44/10 (goodreads)

Synopsis:

None found online.

My Rating: 3/10

My Opinion:

The premise of a bounty hunter searching for some scientists sentient sex doll is cool and all but can we please have more plot in the forefront instead of everyone being horny?

6: Cantarella

Average Rating: 6.68/10

Synopsis:

Legend tells of frightful Borgia family, and the poison "Cantarella" that is passed down from successor to successor...

The eldest son of the Borgia family, Cesare, is to be the next successor. Rejected and ostracized by the public, Cesare's life is a lonely one. But his unexpected salvation may possibly come in the form of his younger sister, Lucrezia, who had been separated from him since birth.

Indeed, Lucrezia's return to the castle could have been a new beginning for him, if not for his terrible secret...

My Rating: 4/10

My Opinion:

The song slaps, the manga puts me to sleep.

How can you make the Cantarella story boring? Honestly the writer deserves an award for executing a premise like that and makeing it just a little bit more interesting than watching paint dry.

5: Ten Count

Average Rating: 7.93/10

Synopsis: 

Tadaomi Shirotani is the secretary to the company president of Tosawa Corporation—and is a severe mysophobe. His obsessive-compulsive disorder has limited him in every aspect, from being unable to leave the house without a pair of gloves on, to cleaning his hands vigorously enough to make them bleed.

When the president gets into an accident, he is saved by a mysterious young man who departs as quickly as he appears. Ordered to go after him, Shirotani meets Riku Kurose, a man who is able to quickly identify his mysophobia. Begrudgingly taking his advice to seek help from a professional, Shirotani visits Shimada Psychosomatics with the hope of seeing a psychiatrist. When he once again runs into Kurose there, the man reveals that he himself is a counselor at the clinic, and offers to treat Shirotani's condition.

Kurose asks him to write a list of 10 things he is reluctant to do—thus beginning his course of exposure therapy. Yet, Shirotani wonders why Kurose would show such kindness to a stranger. After all, the two have barely met, and Kurose does not deny the accusations of an ulterior motive.

With number 10 on the list left blank by an undecided Shirotani, Kurose issues a challenge. Once Shirotani figures out the last item, the thing he would hate to do the most, only then will his newfound counselor finally tell him the truth.

My Rating: no<3/10

My Opinion:

This is mainly so low for making me genuinely care about the relationship only to have the love interest rape the mc and then later have the mc jerk off thinking about him because this is yaoi land and consent doesn’t matter.

It’s not like there was much else besides the relationship I cared about, so I dropped it after that.

4: Days of Love at Seagull Villa

Average Rating: 6.92/10

Synopsis:

Mayumi lost her fiancee to the only person she called a friend. Throwing everything away, running from it all, and starting a new life in the countryside was her plan, but what awaits her is a blonde yankee, Rin (the manager of the housing complex Seagull Villa), that she doesn't deal well with. A story about the daily lives and the relationship between these two women as well as the people in this seaside town!

My Rating: none

My Opinion:

I have met horny gay men who talk less about boobs (male or female) than the first chapter of this.

3: Yaotsukumo

Average Rating: 6.51/10

Synopsis:

Tachibana Tsukumo, a girl who cannot feel pain. Yao, an immortal boy whose only wish is to die. What will happen when these two meet.

My Rating: ew/10

My Opinion:

The dad of the mc gropes his own teenage daughter on the second page. It is played as a joke. 

That is all you need to know about this story and it’s also all I know because after that I didn’t even think of touching that shit ever again.

2: Merman in My Tub

Average Rating: 7.55/10

Synopsis:

What happens when an intruder from the sea stakes claim to your bathtub? A cool yet demure teenage boy named Tatsumi must learn to live with the self-obsessed and playful merman, Wakasa, in a small Tokyo apartment. These two dissimilar young men will learn what it takes to deal with one another in their everyday lives. Of course, impromptu visits by Wakasa's ocean friends―an anthropomorphised octopus, jelly fish, and hermit crab―do not make things easier. Welcome to Tatsumi's bathtub. It's getting crowded.

My Rating: wtf?/10

My Opinion:

I almost got through the first volume … then they did an ecchi scene with the mc’s sister who still goes to elementary school. One that is fairly explicit as well …

Also weirdly sexist comments were made.

Just no.

1: Digimon Survive

Average Rating (VNStat): 7.42/10

Synopsis (vndb):

Takuma Momotsuka is a middle school student who attends a historical studies extracurricular activities camp during spring break.

On the second day of camp, Takuma and other camp kids visit a shrine where a festival surrounding the local “Beast Gods” will be held. While exploring the shrine, he encounters a mysterious monster named Koromon.

Immediately following, they hear a scream and find more of their friends being attacked by monsters. Upon realizing he has to save everyone, Koromon evolves into Agumon to fight.

With the help of Agumon, Takuma managed to repel the monsters, but he soon realized that the surrounding area was covered in fog and he had gotten lost in an unknown world…

My Rating: 2/10

My Opinion:

I could write a book longer than the bible about how much I hate this game but to cut myself short: the characters are boring and uninteresting versions of archetypes the franchise has already done way better, there is sooooooo much useless dialogue that could have been cut, the battle system is incredibly basic and has no depth, a lot of the story and characters only work if you have watched Digimon Adventure and realize how hard the game rides the nostalgia cootails of the player to the point the game just gives you really basic stuff and doesn’t feel like putting in any effort because it reminds you of this good thing you like so now you think it is exactly like this good thing you like, right?

It sucks and I do not trust people who say that the game is good.

#manga review #manga recommendation #lgbt manga #boys' love #visual novel #digimon #achillian #achillean #digimon survive #vampire knight #ten count #vocaloid