#historic baseball pictures

[allurlsaregone-blog]

Lou Gehrig shakes Babe Ruth hand after his "called shot" in the 1932 World Series.

#mlb baseball #mlb #photography #photooftheday #my photos #my photographs #baseball #historical baseball #historic baseball pictures #major league baseball #baseball history #mlb american league #mlb players

[buckysegan]

With all my gratitude, hope and returned adoration - Part Two

Summary: John writes back to his friend from home and we hear from our friend across the way. John x She. Word Count: 1.2k. A/N: we are def rolling with some historical inaccuracies in regards to letters here but sue me. he deserves it. pstttt also should we name her? do you all want to send me random john prompts. my baby isn't ok and i'm not ok. Part one linked here. Part three linked here.

John was sure he wasn't sweating a normal amount as he looked down at the piece of paper that Buck had offered him. It had taken two whole days of questions from the man for Bucky to even decide that he was going to reply. He’d been offered the hope, what more could he ask of her. Could he ask more? There had been a return address on the letter which Buck had insisted was there for a reason and she had opened herself out for a reply from him but the Major couldn’t help but be unsure.

It was an odd feeling for him, before the war he hadn't been unsure of anything and since he’d been here? Well he hadn’t been sober enough to doubt anything that he had done. These days though Bucky felt like he doubted every single thing. The thing was, he wasn't sure that he could afford to doubt this, to look past the life line that had been offered to him. Not when each day he could feel his mind draw a little further toward the edge no matter how much he or Buck tried to keep it in check.

With a sigh he pulled the pen into his hand, eyes locked on the page for a moment before he began to scrawl.

Dear Friend From Home 

You’re gunna have to forgive me because I ain’t going to be as good as this as you are. I’ve written so many letters this war you would think that I’d have gotten a handle on it by now but I find myself at a loss when it comes to what to say to you. 

I think the first thing I got to say is thank you. I don’t know if the words I can put on paper are ever going to really tell you how much your letter meant to me. See I was a certain type of man that didn’t think much to pen pals. I figured that I’d be ok, you know, that with my boys I’d have what I needed to make it through the hard days but watching the letters for everyone else roll in has been harder than I thought it might. 

There are things that I can’t tell you cause I don’t know who might read these letters, and where I am I can’t get you no picture but I can tell you that my favorite dish is a meat and potato pie, simple I know but really I’m a simple hearty kind of guy. What makes me laugh, you asked? That’s kind of simple for me too, just good company, myself sometimes, Buck, he’s my best friend, he makes me laugh a lot. What makes you laugh? I’d like to know that. 

May I know where you are? I know that might be a big ask but you said I could ask anything I know and if I get out of here…we get some leave, I’d like to know where I need to ask for me leave to be. Then I can show you what I sound and look like and know that in return. 

If this letter doesn’t reach you for a while, know you’ve been with me the whole time. 

With all my gratitude, hope and returned adoration

Major John Egan 

“What if she doesn’t get it?” He found himself questioning quietly to Buck as he handed over the letter to make it out of camp. His best friend settled him with a soft look, one that always made Bucky feel like he had some worldly knowledge the rest of them had missed out on, that assured him everything was going to be alright. “You just gotta have hope she will John, she’ll get it.” 

With a huff Bucky nodded, pulling his hat on as he watched his letter vanish from his view all together. “Alright well I can’t sit here and wonder, I’m off to play baseball or something.”

The letter that Bucky had so carefully handed over changed hands many more times, some fingers as rough as the pilots, some dirtier, some softer, but the last set of fingers to slide the letter from her post box had perfectly manicured fingers. Her flicking of her post was greedy as she looked for the same thing that she had every day since she’d posted her own letter.

At first, her hopes of finding what she was looking for had been unrealistic; she knew that, it hadn’t even been long enough for her letter to be received, let alone for him to get one back to her, then the other girls at the centre, they’d gotten letters back, notes, anything. That was when she had allowed her hope to return, for a moment at least. Days without anything had turned into weeks and then weeks had turned into months. Anything could have happened, that was what she tried to tell herself, he might not have gotten her letter, he might have thought it was weird and had chosen not to reply. That thought was enough to miff her, he could have at least said thank you. When she had decided no one could be that mean, her diminishing hope had turned to worry, what if he hadn't been able to receive her letter.

Flicking through each white envelope today, she almost missed it, how she didn't know because it was clearly different from the rest of them, maybe she hadn't wanted to look. "Not…" Trailing off she flicked back to the second to last letter, her eyes taking in the scrawling of her address, her eyes checking the postage before she was taring inside. "It's here, he wrote it's here." She called through the halls to the other girls that she lived with, all of which had been holding their breath with her. "Oh god I can't read it, what if he's telling me I was weird!" She cried, thrusting the unopened letter into the hands of her eager friend.

"Don't be dramatic, he's going to be throwing down his gratitude at you being a doll, you should have attached a picture with it I told you!" Meg beamed easily back at her, the same sense of reservation missing from her actions as she tore into the letter so that it could be read to the group. "Dear Friend From Home. You’re gunna have to forgive me because I ain’t going to be as good as this as you are. I’ve written so many letters this war you would think that I’d have gotten a handle on it by now but I find myself at a loss when it comes to what to say to you." That was enough, pulling the letter from Megs hands she was quick to scramble away from the group once more, locking herself into her room as re-read the opening line herself, the tears in her eyes only welling even further as she continued.

An ache in her chest formed as she read the words once more, taking in each strike of his pen where he had corrected himself or smudge from whatever he'd had on his fingers. The state of the letter was enough to make her wonder, but at least for now, she knew her friend was ok. He was alive, and he wanted to hear more from her. It couldn't have been normal, to feel this level of emotion for a man that she had never met, but she had found herself here regardless and in the middle of so much uncertainty, she wasn't going to question the pull she felt across the way to England.

Pushing from her bed she moved to her desk, paper pulled from her stationary pot, the quicker she could post this the quicker it could get to him.

"Dear Major Egan,

I'm delighted to hear I'm with you. I hope you know, that you've been with me too…"

#john egan x reader #john egan #master of the air #mota #mota drabble #callum turner #bucky egan

[farm-witches-fic-recs]

Farm witch friends, you have done the coven proud.

We've got so many good recs it's going to take a few weeks to share them all!

Starting with these that were recommended more than once, if you haven't spend some time with these fan favorites, you should check them out now! And leave the authors some love, of course.

========

Everyday Magic (houdini74/@mostlyinthemorning)

Each magic story is so unique, so sweet, so... D&P! 

I couldn’t pick just one of these wonderfully variable scenarios that all include just a little (or maybe a lot of) magic added to the perfect scene setting and banter. 

Favored Nations (@blueink3)

ALL OF IT! It’s my go-to when I’m feeling down, when I need to revise our boys. The characters, writing, and plot are all amazing. 

Amazing world building, very in character slow burn.

The ultimate slow burn, the perfect love story set amongst the wonders of Broadway and NYC.

It’s just so, so good!  I am a sucker for secret romance fics, and this one has that and so much more.  Add in some Shakespearean theater with a twist and just the right amount of angst and sexiness, it’s just perfect! I love it so much.  

This author knows David, Patrick, and the NY theater world inside and out. The volume and level of specificity, volume, tenderness, anxiety, and love of these characters and worlds is astounding. The characterization is so vivid, it's the easiest fic to forget isn't canon.

Fifteen hundred miles (morehuman)

I go back to this fic a lot! I just love the idea of them both challenging themselves and finding out what they are capable of.

The most incredible journey, a gift to go along with them in it.

I carry these heart-shapes only for you (@ladyflowdi and @ships-to-sail)

I love this transportative, visual feast of historic fiction. Luscious WW2 Paris is so vividly portayed and David’s wild, wealthy, LGBTIQ+out flamboyance juxtaposed to the farm-boy turned military-man Patrick is sexy and sweet. It undoes me every time. I actually first came to the piece via FairManor’s outstanding podfic. Both the text and the podfic are high art. It’s not just one of my favorite fan-fics. It’s one of my favorite stories of ALL time in any genre. I read/listen and I am at the Gaston, riding on the back of Patrick’s motorcycle, kissing in windmills, eating crepes, touring junk shops & dancing naked to 40’s blues. I’d give anything to see this as a film with Dan & Noah & cast. I want a leather bound print copy of it. Also - The epilogue is progressive, heartbreaking thoughtful genius. I’ve just finished rereading & listening to it again. Each time there are new Easter eggs to be found. Joyous. 

It's just the most beautiful piece of writing ever written. Descriptive, lyrical, hot, stunning, heartbreaking. It has everything. 

I’d swing with you for the fences (@nontoxic-writes)

Achingly sweet and fluffy all set in the perfect baseball/famous AU with secret relationship AND musician Patrick. I come back to reread this one a lot!

What isn't there to love?  Baseball, long distance relationship, sex, songs, coming out to the parents, coming out to the team, coming out to the world, excellent use of side characters....I could go on and on.  There are so many amazing fics out there, but I've read this one at least a dozen times! 

Incorrect (@lisamc-21)

You can hear David saying it, but now picture the Maldives.

A beautifully written story of our boys meeting on vacation. Their trip is so sweet and so hot, and when they say goodbye, it's heartbreaking. The twist- they are both famous in their own worlds but don’t recognize each other so don’t realize who the other has hooked up with. When their week ends, they try to maintain a long-distance friendship as they learn who the other is. What was a hot hookup becomes a slow burn, and it’s amazing!!

The Last Rose Video (@distractivate)

Gorgeous writing, the perfect mix of canon and AU, clever plot, great dialogue.  The fic I read over and over.  It’s as comforting as a warm blanket. 

Swoon. SWOON.

Strike Anywhere (@madlori)

Hot firefighters. Hot sex. Hot romance. But like in a Sandra loves Keanu sliding out of a speeding bus kind of way.

Hot hot hot!  That’s the first work. Then- the author developed a prequel that is also hot but is also funny, loving, sweet. Love fireman Patrick!

This enemies-to-lovers-to-secret-husbands story featuring Patrick Brewer as a firefighter, is deliciously tropey and blazing hot, but also it’s written with such authentic emotion and perfect banter that it keeps me coming back to read it whenever I need a mood lift. 

Such great heights (@likerealpeopledo-on-ao3)

Great story, the very best jokes, and the wedding date chapter is so good it would work as a stand alone fic. 

It's got the mother of all fake dating scenarios, and Stevie in this in among the best I've ever read her. It's also very very funny. All the times when they say Feel The Air crack me up every time!

Sustineo (@rockinhamburger)

This is a perfectly paced one-shot AU that builds a world in which David is a brilliant, stormy, reclusive artist whose whose treatment by the press (and one Sebastien Raine) has made him unwilling to engage with the world…. Until he meets an intuitive and kind art writer who sees him for everything that he is (and can be). All of characters here are perfect and I love the descriptions of David’s art. 

Incredibly hot art fic.

You can fall (sweetsirius/@wordthieve)

It takes the David and Patrick rescue each other theme of the show and makes the stakes even higher. Plus it's just a genuinely beautiful piece of writing.

The story arc and pacing are fantastic. I love how David and Patrick's relationship develops and how Patrick learns to open himself up again after grief. It's incredibly well written. I've read it so many times, from full read thrus to dipping in and out of my favorite moments and chapters.

Patrick is so heartbroken, but then he meets David. So romantic, and feels lived in.

#friends of farm witches fic recs #sc fanfic #sc fic rec #schitt's creek fanfic #schitts creek fic #schitt's creek fic #sc fic #david rose #patrick brewer #david x patrick

[popculturelib]

Matchbook Cover Collection

Patented in 1892 by lawyer Joshua Pusey, the matchbook, a seemingly insignificant piece of cardboard enclosing a handful of disposable paper matches, quickly became the staple advertising space at the dawn of the 20th century. Beginning with beer company Pabst and tobacco company Bull Durham, businesses big and small started to purchase printings of books from match companies such as Diamond and Ohio which found their way into millions of coat pockets, hotel rooms, and restaurant ashtrays.

As the butane lighter usurped the match as the portable cigarette light of choice and radio and television became the new frontier of advertising (not to mention the decline in the ubiquity of smoking), matchbooks fell out of favor, now only commercially used as a boutique novelty advertisements for high-end or niche establishments hoping to invoke a sense of the past.

Collectors known as phillumenists (“lovers of light”) still seek out the cardboard rectangles, however, for reasons as diverse as the pictures on their covers. For some, the images on the matchbooks are art in and of themselves; for others, the specific company advertised is of interest, or the category of good and services. Still others attempt to complete sets of novelty books, with the matches themselves printed with or in the shape of such images as bowling pins or ladies’ stockings, or commemorative books, featuring images of historical figures or celebrating such events as a World’s Fair. Whatever the reason, people have come to adore the matchbook in the same way as the baseball card, as a snapshot in history.

The Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL), founded in 1969, is the most comprehensive archive of its kind in the United States.  Our focus and mission is to acquire and preserve research materials on American Popular Culture (post 1876) for curricular and research use. Visit our website at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/pcl.html.

#bgsu #libraries on tumblr #matchbook covers #collection showcase

[ghostgorlsworld]

Johnny Boy (part 4)

Werewolf! Johnny x reader

part one is here

Once upon a time, you would've done anything for John Mctavish. He had been your older brother's cool best friend, and you were always desperate for him to see you as more--until one fateful night that ends up with you pregnant and him...gone. Fast forward six years and you've made a good life for yourself with your daughter Emma, with Johnny none the wiser. Until he decides to knock on your door.

Part 4

Chapter 4

 Charlie hung around you at work, keeping you company while you shared the load of reshelving books. Usually, it was the intern’s job but the holidays had left you short-staffed.

He was funny in a bashful way, blushing whenever he made you laugh. It was nice to see that you were still desirable sometimes, that men didn’t repel away from you just because you were a single mother.

“So, what are your plans tonight?” He asked, straightening up a section of R.L Stine books. “I’m supposed to have supper with my gran, she made me promise to bring chinese.”

“Emma’s father is in for a bit,” you said casually. “He’s coming to the house to see her.” He was going to find out eventually, might as well get it out of the way before your date later this week. Charlie paused mid-shelf, raising a brow. “I thought he was out of the picture.”

“He was supposed to be,” you sighed. “Tom brought him back, and I couldn’t keep it from him anymore.” Charlie knew your story, he spent two years weaseling it out of you while you were just coworkers. You knew he had a little crush on you, but you hadn’t expected him to actually ask you out until, well, he did.

“That’s shitty,” Charlie said, frowning. “So, what is he threatening legal action?” Johnny probably would, to get to Emma. But you shook your head, “No, I just couldn’t bring myself to keep him away. She had already seen him and smelled him and was asking questions–I figured it was time.” “I see,” Charlie said, even-tempered as always. “Is he good with her?” You shrugged. “I suppose. I mean he’ll probably see her a few weeks out of the year, so I don’t know if it matters much if I allow him around her. I just don’t want her to resent me when she’s older.” “It sounds like you’re being very fair,” he responded. “I don’t know if I would’ve reacted half as well if an ex girlfriend showed up wanting to see our kid.” This was why you liked Charlie, he was so, so reasonable. He was older than you by a handful of years, in his thirties with a bachelor pad apartment and an obsession with historical fiction. The only downside about him was the fact he played rugby on his off days and his team was…sleezy, at best. They were all thirty-somethings that spent more time at the bar than the field. 

“Thank you,” you said, smiling. “I feel like dousing him in gasoline and tossing the match, but I think I’m hiding it quite well, aren’t I?” Charlie laughed, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear. “Very well, I think.”

On your way home, you stopped at the store for a pint of Emma’s favorite ice cream, strawberries and cream, and a pint of fudge brownie for yourself. You would eat it when Emma goes to bed and Johnny leaves, so you could fall asleep on the couch like a loser with your ice cream and Bridget Jones’s Diary on the telly.

Johnny was waiting at your house already, pacing like a caged dog. He looked up while you approached with Emma in hand, his eyes reflecting eerily off the street lights. 

He calmed when he looked at the two of you, the jitteriness smoothing away in an instant as he smiled. Emma let go of your hand to reach him first, digging through her backpack to show off the A+ drawing she had gotten in art class.

You frowned and moved closer–she hadn’t shown you earlier.

“Me and Mum,” she said, gesturing to your vague figure wielding what looked to be a baseball bat, Emma standing behind you looking scared. “That time when she hit that scary man really, really hard.”

The bottom of your stomach dropped out, your hands breaking out in a cold sweat at just the mention of that horrible night. You winced when Johnny looked at you questioningly, his posture straightening as if to intimidate.“Emma, hon, that doesn’t look like a good memory to me,” you said, shaking your head at him. Please don’t ask.

“I like it,” she said, tracing your stick figure’s stern features. “You haven’t got any teeth or claws but it didn’t matter.”

“Your mum never let little things like that bother ‘er,” Johnny said, bemused. “She used to brawl with her brother like a grown man.” Emma smiled. “She still does.”

“Okay, Emma,” you interjected, cocking a brow at her. “The ice cream is melting, time to go inside.” She nodded, disappearing into her room to shuck her school clothes and dig the clips out of her hair. Johnny caught your arm as you took the pints out of the paper sack. “Whassat she’s talking ‘bout, kitty?” “Oh, it’s…I don’t like to relive it, John.” “C’mon, hen, it sounded pretty fuckin’ important.” You sighed. “She got away from me at a grocery store last year, just bolted when I tried to catch her. I chased her around the store until I heard...well, I heard a scream.” Johnny’s hand tightened around your arm, almost to the point of bruising. 

“A man had cornered her in the parking lot. He was one of those wolf catchers, I think, the ones that take them and put them in those fighting cages.” You placed the ice cream in the freezer, your eyes clouded over with the memory. “I dunno what happened, I just…I saw red. There was a pipe on the dumpster and I grabbed it and swung and swung until there wasn’t much left.”

You remembered the feeling of blood on your hands, your daughter crawling into your arms to lick the tears off your face, trying to comfort, to bring you back to earth.

Johnny gripped your shoulders so he could look into your eyes, tilting your chin up with one of his calloused fingers. “You killed ‘im?” You nodded. “The police…they already had warrants out for his arrest and there was a video documenting everything. I got off scot-free but Emma…Emma saw the whole thing. I still can’t forgive myself for it.” “The fucker deserved it, love, trust me. You kept our daughter safe without teeth or claws.” Johnny brought you in for a hug for the first time in six years, his chest warm and broad and comforting. “And Emma will be fine, lass, I promise. She’s not like a human bairn–in her mind, you proved your strength as a mother, that you would do anythin’ for ‘er.”

Is that how they really thought? You relaxed in his hold without thinking, his shirt smelling like sweat and cologne and the unmistakable musk of a wolf. “I don’t even remember it, really. Apparently he got a few hits in before…but I never felt it–at least not until the hospital afterwards.”

Johnny gripped you tighter, his arms crushing your shoulders into his chest. “I’m sorry, kitty.”

“For what?” You asked dizzily, captivated by his warmth and smell. It was like he was putting off some kind of hormones, drawing you in closer. 

“Fer not bein’ here. You’ve done it all alone.” His hand came to caress your face, thumb snagging on your lower lip. “You won’t be alone again, kitty.” That made you pause. You stiffened in his hold, stepping away. God, he was still so dangerous for you. You were pathetic, this was pathetic, he didn’t want you–he wanted Emma. He never would have come back for you.

“Sorry, John,” you said, forcing a smile. “Got a wee bit emotional there.” But Johnny didn’t say a word. Just looked at you with his too-bright blue eyes and nodded, his jaw clenched with tension. 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be…touching. Especially in front of Emma. The girls at school are already giving her the wrong ideas about you and I.” You leaned your hip against the counter, trying to be casual. “I don’t want to confuse her.” You tensed, preparing for a classic Johnny display of the short temper he used to have. 

Instead, Johnny smiled understandingly. “Of course, kitty, I’ll do what you need me to.” He really was a different man. Perhaps all the war and killing really was good for his temperament.

You smiled at him, this one genuine. “Okay. I think I’m going to order in, how does Chinese sound?”

Johnny sat on your couch, eating beef Lo mein with your daughter on his lap. He seemed perfectly content, sharing his food with her and answering her ceaseless questions about explosives–Emma had found out that was what he specialized in. 

A Christmas movie was on the telly, one of your favorites, and it was nice to be able to eat a meal without Emma snuggling into your hip and picking the meat out of your noodles. 

Your earlier conversation with Johnny had lightened your mood, so you left them to the couch, curling up on the loveseat instead. You had been too distracted to eat at lunch so you got to work on your takeout, only feeling a brief bit of weirdness that Johnny had absolutely insisted on paying for the food.

Your phone rang from the countertop you had left it on. You sighed, setting aside your fried rice to answer it.

It was Charlie. A part of you warmed–you needed a distraction from Johnny. 

You slipped into your bedroom, leaving the door cracked so you could still keep an eye on Emma. “Hey, Charlie,” you said, cupping the phone to your ear.

“Hey, honey, sorry for calling so late,” Charlie said, the soft noises of an elderly woman speaking in the background. “I was just thinking about you and thought I would see what you’re up to.”

“Takeout and Home Alone,” You said, sitting back against your bed. It was small and only really had room for you–which was a deterrent against men who ever wanted to stay the night. “How is Gran?” “She’s fantastic, she’s eating pizza and watching Doctor Who on the telly, it’s our perfect night in.” You laughed, enjoying the thought of a man who would routinely eat dinner with his grandmother two nights a week. “That sounds nice.” “It is. What’s the bear up to?”

Emma and Charlie got along quite well, he was good with kids and Emma referred to him as “the book man.” “John is over spending time with her, I’ve left them to it.” “Ah, that’s right, I had forgotten. Do you need to go?” “No, no, they’ll be fine for a bit. I needed a break anyway.” You chatted to Charlie for a few minutes further before you returned to the living room, getting back to your fried rice without looking once at Johnny. 

“Who was that, Mum?” Emma the Nose asked, eyeing your shrimp in a way that had you rolling your eyes.

“Charlie,” you said. “From work.” You refused to blush, knowing that Emma liked to tease, much like her father. “A coworker?” Johnny rumbled, his eyes half-lidded and lazy. “Didn’t sound like it.” You leveled a look at him, a look that clearly said none of your fucking business. 

Johnny’s mouth quirked, though there was no humor in his eyes. “Sounds like a nice chap,” he said dryly, turning back to the telly.

#cod x reader #soap mactavish #john soap mactavish #soap x reader #cod mw3 #Johnny Mactavish x reader

[oldhalloweentape]

🪨Venture (OW II) x (fem) reader ⛏️

(Gyaru Reader Edition!)

(Picture’s not mine!)

(Request here! This kind of fashion is so cute, good, and creative, seriously don’t understand the hate.)

- When y’all first met they were so amazed by you, I mean you looked like you strutted straight out of the 1990s and 2000s, in a good way of course.

- Getting together entails them wanting to be as helpful as possible, as well as taking the time to admire all the work you put in your style. You have them wrapped around your finger.

- An obvious one is that they buy you stuff all the time, absolutely gushing over how you look whenever you wear the stuff they give you— Clapping their hands excitedly when you pose and give them a twirl or two when you first put the stuff on.

- Stares at you intently when you’re doing your makeup, giggling when you give them a look because their staring is distracting as all hell.

- If you want to practice on a face that isn’t your own, they will happily volunteer! I think they’d look cute with Gyaru makeup on!

- Excitably tells you things about historical facts about makeup like, “You know— Egyptians used to apply their eyeliner with a thin painting brush! Though the way you do it is way prettier!”

- They’d also let you do their hair, and be over the moon with the final product every time <3.

-Do yours in return. Not as great as you do it but they still do a pretty good job (cause like, look at their hair, fluffy and healthy while digging holes and just being dirty in general, they know how to take care of hair).

- Eats up any information they can, a given really, but I can see them reading a crap ton of magazines like Egg, PopSister, etc.

- In general when it comes to what you like, they are hungry for any information about it. They want to understand it and understand it they shall.

- Will get you matching accessories (gem or history themed ofc), there’s no doubt about that, it’s absolutely adorable.

- Thinks the music tied to Gyaru fashion is just so good in general that they immediately want to make a playlist with you so they can listen more to it.

- Whenever they hold hands with you they will absentmindedly play with any little charms or gems on your nails, running their fingers over them— Enjoying the grooves and bumps as they walk alongside you.

- Speaking about walking together, it’s definitely a sight seeing such different people walking hand in hand. Like, there’s you, tanned skin, phenomenal makeup, long manicured nails, white fluffy boots that almost go up to your knees, nice baby pink ruffled skirt with a cheetah print belt, a short white frilly shirt, and a small soft pink fuzzy coat with cheetah prints on it as well— Just all nice and glammed up while….

- There’s Sloane, looking like Adam Sandler, with a baseball cap, basketball shorts, and some random shirt that has a lame ass rock pun on it. And we love them for that.

- A funny ass sight in my honest opinion—

- Anyways, if anyone starts bad mouthing you and your fashion, especially if they call it “trashy”, they’re going to give them one warning before bopping them on the head.

- The amount of disrespect and negativity other people have for Gyaru fashion is just so crazy to Venture.

- From what they’ve seen from both you and other people who partake in it, y’all are so pretty and fashionable! If you ever get discouraged you can always count on this rock muncher being your number one fan.

- Says things along the lines of “You look absolutely breathtaking sweetness! You put the most precious gems to shame, sucks that some people have their brains submerged in the Earth's mantle like them.”

(I hope I gave you guys justice with this one! Love y’all!! 💋)

#Spotify #overwatch x reader #venture overwatch #venture x reader #overwatch 2 #venture ow2

[gilligould]

there’s already so much discourse about john, and the roles barry and sally have adopted as new parents, and i’m almost certainly echoing what so many of you are already saying… but the very fact that he exists is like, undoubtedly the most disturbing aspect of the show thus far and it’s not even close??? in spite of their shared delusion, they made a conscious decision to have a CHILD, and thereby codify this devastatingly toxic and indulgent arrangement they call love. and i think that, historically, shows about anti-heroes can shy away from exploring the trauma their children inherit as a result of their actions for the sake of maintaining their role as sympathetic perpetrator. breaking bad, for example. flynn’s unawareness regarding his father’s criminality leaves room for a devastating and undeniably brilliant narrative turn in their series’ final few episodes. but it also conveniently reserves the emotional violence for the adult characters. on some subconscious level, perhaps, we believe them more equipped to handle such things; but how might the average viewer’s perception of walt have changed if we had been FORCED to watch the sins of the father torment flynn as explicitly as they did… say….. anthony jr. of the sopranos? i guess my point is that barry is doing just that—it’s forcing you to step into the shoes of a boy named john, and you just want to play baseball with the other kids, and instead must endure a grossly manufactured existence consisting of a father who manipulates your every waking moment and a mother who can barely stand to touch you. and it’s all because of what you represent. the product of two hopeless people pretending they are anything but, who can’t help but recognize one another and choose to call it love... who gaze out over lone and level sands, and insist that it’s a paradise….. who wear hair over their hair and hide guns in the drywall and sleep curled up in the bathtub and maintain that this is the picture of contentment.

violence corrupts and corrodes everything that it touches, even children. in a media landscape flush with anti-heroes, it’s a sentiment with which we’re all familiar. and yet so many shows stop just short of examining how that really manifests. because it is so hard to watch, and because it effectively eradicates any sympathy viewers may have left for the protagonist. barry crosses that line and it does so confidently, and despite those fleeting moments of comedy or the astounding elegance of the cinematography, i can’t help but think it’s one of the most disturbing, upsetting examinations of violence i’ve seen put to screen.

#let the record reflect: ​this is NOT!!! a brba diss #i do wish flynn’s trauma had been examined more thoroughly #but the show is not lesser for failing to do so #iykwim #likewise… i don’t think the sopranos is superior simply because it examined aj’s trauma / mental health #with respect to tony’s actions #but those father / son relationships have an undeniable impact on how the audience sympathizes with the perpetrator #i’m rambling 😶 ENOUGH ALREADY #barry #barry spoilers #brba #the sopranos #k.txt #100

[gotjacobian]

Travel journal-type posting, just describing some of the stuff I've gotten to do in Japan.

Day 1: Got off the plane, got through passport control and customs with minimum issues (I fucked up my entry date bc time zones and had to hold up the line while I fixed it whoops). Took the subway to Yokohama, also screwed that up because I was hopped up on benadryl and still only managed to sleep for 2 hours at a time max on the plane. Unscrewed it up with the help of a very patient attendant, made it to the hotel. I bought takoyaki and a highball from a place across the street from the hotel, which reminded me that I don’t actually like takoyaki. It’s too mushy. Then passed out.

Day 2: This was my full day in Yokohama before the conference. I beelined for a 7-11 to get the canned coffee I like and can only get here (and some pastries), then went to a park by the baseball stadium to eat it. Then I took off to try and at least see the (closed :( ) gundam factory exhibit. There was a triathalon in the way, so I spent awhile wandering through parks to get around it and get close enough for a picture. There were tons of beautiful gardens, and lots of people taking photos of their costumed dogs there? Like, 3 dog photoshoots for every presumed child/romantic partner photoshoot. They all seemed very happy to chill in the flowers and get fussed over.

In general Yokohama is really well suited to my kind of travel wandering - going along the harbor coast takes you through a couple different gorgeous parks and past a few museums, and also gives you a great view of the water. I ended up going into the doll museum, and immediately learned I had vastly overestimated the amount of english they’d have on the exhibits based on their website. I speak basically no Japanese, so used an image translate app a lot. That’s wasn’t an option the last time I was in Japan in 2019 - it was really useful! I drained my battery using it on basically every single plaque in the museum. The style of the exhibit captions felt different than I’d expect from a US museum. They were often more anecdotes from an artist or curator than they were descriptions. I’m curious to what extent that was cultural or was something lost in translation? The translations I got definitely weren’t perfect, and seemed to get worse the more anecdotal or conversational the material was.

The exhibit that attracted me to the doll museum was called “Why do we create objects that look like humans?”. It had exhibits of historical dolls and sculptures, as well as installations from modern artist and dollmakers. A lot of it touched on an inherent alienation in recreating the human in the nonhuman, and the ways all depictions of the human form are exaggerated in ways we sort after the fact into “beautiful” or “grotesque.” I liked it, but honestly wanted it to be more like, embodiment philosophy-y. Very much a me problem.

On the way back, I stopped by Yokohama’s Chinatown. I feel like it was much more of a tourist attraction than the equivalent in Boston or SF - lots of street food stands and people hawking specific restaurants or palm-reading services. Lots of panda-themed merch. It was VERY crowded. I bought a single pork bun for lunch, wandered through a few stores, and then ditched to try and find somewhere calmer.

A friend recommended that I check out Kaganecho, the arts district about a half an hour walk along the canal from where I was staying, so I went that way. I immediately saw a lot of signs advertising an “Art Bazaar” that was supposed to be happening in the area. There were people wandering around with tickets and brochures. It took me an hour to figure out how to get one - I was saved by stumbling on a performance piece that was part of the exhibit, a woman playing a song by hitting a series of bowls with wooden mallets, that just happened to be scheduled right then. It was right under the train line, so you got the loud rumbling drowning her out every few minutes, and also the ambient city sounds of bikes and children and wind under her playing. When she finished, I stalked some people who were watching with me and finally found the office that could sell me a ticket.

The “art bazaar” is a yearly exhibition in a series of apartments converted into studios in the few blocks around a particular train station. You’re given a ticket and a map where some of the buildings were marked. You wander around to find them, go in, and there’s Art there. I’ll probably post separately about this, honestly. It was one of the coolest gallery experiences I’ve ever had. The theme of the exhibits was “The world through no art”, and a lot of the material directly engaged with the history of the area - a neighborhood that housed a lot of bars, brothels, etc starting from the US occupation in the city post WWII, which were forcibly evicted in the 2000s, then later replaced with the studios as part of a city initiative to ‘rejuvenate’ the area. I went to every single exhibit that was open and stayed until I was about to pass out from the combination of walking and art feelings. I chickened out of going to a restaurant alone when I was already exhausted, and instead grabbed a katsu sandwich from 7-11 to eat in my hotel room.

Day 3: Start of the conference. It was raining horribly, and I have big fears about walking in the rain with my laptop, so I skipped the first couple hours until it calmed enough that I felt okay buying and using an umbrella. The conference was in this giant exhibition hall on a peninsula in the city that was all fancy hotels, shopping centers, and an amusement park. My maps app kept trying to get me to walk THROUGH the amusement park to get there, which was a kind of ominous experience when it was empty and raining. I met with some friends and labmates, we got Singaporean food for lunch (chicken and rice), and went to some of the afternoon talks. There was a welcome banquet where a guy performed with Kendamas (japanese toy/prop with a wooden ball attached to a wooden thing with cups and a spike). He did a bunch of poi tricks with them, and seemed to be having the time of his life. They also opened the expo, where I discovered they did at least have the gundam head from the gundam factory exhibit left over (still cannot believe they would close it a month before the robotics conference). Me and one of my former labmates got dinner at a katsu place that claimed to be the oldest in the city. We had to split from the group to get it, since there weren’t any vegetarian options there, but it was really good. I discovered that my hotel is like 1/10th as fancy as any of the other conference hotels, idk what happened. Very jealous of the main venue hotel people who had a room overlooking the harbor.

Day 4: Got there in the morning, did some conference stuff. We got sushi for lunch in this giant mall right next to the venue. I ditched for half an hour in the afternoon to wander through a different park by the harbor, which was also very pretty. All the greenery is very green and the water is very blue. I took another break to try and work some on my paper, since I feel bad for not doing more of that, but finding a place with decent wifi is hard. I meet back up with my labmates to get dinner, at a nearby ramen place with vegan options. I got their signature yuzu shio ramen, which was good, but I still prefer the pork-based styles.

Day 5: Is the day I’m helping present. I go to my coauthor’s presentation and then stand with him at the poster session, and get to talk to a few people. I’m surprised how fast the paper comes back to me, even though I haven’t really thought about it for at least a year at this point. I get lunch with another labmate at a milk-themed restaurant in the mall. I’m weirdly charmed that in Japan, “milk” is a flavor? And that there are prefectures proud of their local milk? The restaurant has both western-style food with cheese or cream as ingredients, and a milk and cheese bar where you can get bread, spreadable cheese, and toppings. I run back to the hotel before the conference banquet, get lost in the other hotel the banquet is in, finally arrive and realize all my labmates are either ditching or got a different banquet venue, so I sit with a very nice person from the university of edinburgh I met at the poster earlier that day. I talk about firespinning and mugs because I’m incapable of not doing so. Every one of the venues has a different style of food and performance - ours performance is actually a lion dance, which is notably… not japanese, put on by students from a school in the local chinatown. It’s still really impressive, especially given that they did it between the tables people were eating at. Like, I’ve attempted to be a base for a cheerleading toss once, and it was hard for 3 people to hold one up - these performers were jumping on each other’s shoulders the whole time, while puppeting the giant lion. They kept having it pretend to eat the heads of the people it walked past, it was a good time.

I spend an hour or two that night on my Quest, which is that I saw some kind of peach jelly drink in exactly one vending machine early in the trip and didn’t buy it. Now I want it, so I’ve been wandering through the city inspecting vending machines to try and find it again. Tonight I wander up and down this shopping center street that has a lot of them, in the rain, but no dice. I buy peach flavored ice cream at the 7-11 instead and reaffirm my mission.

Day 6: I wake up feeling bad, in both a stress and a physical way. I stay at the hotel and work on my paper, then go to a nearby cafe and try to work on my paper, but they don’t have wifi. I go back and end up sleeping, which I feel bad about, but probably needed - I can get disconnected from my own tiredness levels when I’m doing extended crunch time for a project, and I’m trying to be more aware of that. I don’t go to any of the conference stuff, but do leave at one point to get the local kind of ramen from a place I saw recommended online. The style is called ie-kei, and is an emulsified mix of pork broth and shoyu with chicken oil, served with pork, seaweed, short noodles, and spinach on top. I redeem myself by ordering and eating in the restaurant alone. It’s good in a comfort food way. I go back to the hotel and alternate working and sleeping, and end up skipping dinner with my labmates because I still feel gross.

Day 7: I feel better when I wake up, but have already committed to skipping this day of the conference because I’m going to Osaka. I find another cafe that actually has wifi, and eat there to do some work in the morning. Tangent - people really go nuts for the egg salad sandwiches here, and I don’t get it. I tried one and thought it was tasteless and had that bad cooked egg yolk texture. Super not for me.

I check out of the hotel and take the subway to Tokyo station. I get there an hour early because I forgot when my train was, so wander around the station for a while. It is SO crowded and there are SO MANY stores selling train bento, souvenirs, boxes of desserts to give as gifts, etc, and every single one has a designated salesperson shouting into the void. It is the most sensory-overloading, maze-like place I have been in my entire life. I take great pride in managing to eventually actually find the internet-recommended places to get ekibento for the train. I buy one with more traditional food, and one kids one that comes in a fake JR train freight container, because I really want the fake freight container. I also get an apple-custard pastry and a crepe with cream and melon ball topping. And then I am exhausted, and still too early for my train, so I stand by the platform and am extremely confused when someone asks me for directions (correctly assigned english-speaking person who knows where the ekibento are at the tokyo shinkansen station, I guess).

I do get on the train eventually, and eat one of the bento (I save the second because I am worried the person sitting next to me is gonna judge me for eating 2 bento, one of which is definitely meant for children, but I will eat it eventually). I said I was gonna do work but instead I’m writing this and watching out the window of the train. I feel like everyone has their travel fixation - my grandparents laugh about how when my mom and brother would go on trips as kids, they’d get disposable cameras. And when they developed the photos, all of them were of ponds, lakes, coastlines, because they grew up in the west texas desert. I grew up in the flat, flat Texas plains, and now I’m like that about mountains. This train goes straight through them, and right past Mt Fuji. It gets to me how distinctive the landscape in japan is - I’ve looked at a lot of traditional japanese art as like, a precursor to modern styles in comics, because I find it interesting. And I feel like I looked at some elements of that style - atmospheric perspective, depth through stacking flat layers of scenery, the specific abstract-seeming way Mt Fuji gets drawn - and assumed it was entirely an artistic choice. But like… Mt Fuji just looks like that. The landscape just looks like that, with the fog and the layered mountains. The green is such a specific shade of green, and the blue is a specific shade of blue, and the buildings are all such a particular faded palette in a way I feel like must make Japan instantly recognizable on geoguessr, a game I am very bad at. I love looking at the cities and buildings, too - I wish I knew the words to describe the specifics of the style and design. I feel like I'm getting increasing city architecture obsessed these days, despite not having that language. Getting to see it is the bit of travel that really makes me feel like I'm experiencing something I couldn't anywhere else. I'm gonna find my hotel in Osaka once I get there, hunt down some food, then will probably try and do some more work before bed. Then tomorrow, in theory, Osaka castle and whatever else seems compelling.

#misc: gamergirlectoplasm said merge is the way about all drinks that american tourists are about vending machine drinks in japan #and i feel called out by it every single time I walk past one. it’s me i’m the person who is too soft about being able #to get colorful cans with unfamiliar and tasty things inside out of boxes i can just find on the side of the street #complaining

[fannyyann]

Tkachuk feels connection to Jimmy Butler: ‘We both play the game with very high emotion’

Miami Herald article by David Wilson 

Matthew Tkachuk is one of the fiercest, most ferocious competitors in the NHL, so there was some appreciation when he saw the pictures of Jimmy Butler, one of the fiercest competitors in the NBA, wearing his jersey during a workout Thursday in Massachusetts. 

The similarities — not just between the parallel postseason runs of the Florida Panthers and Heat as No. 8 seeds in the Eastern Conference, but also play style and attitudes of their two star forwards — are Tkachuk does feel some level of connection to Butler. 

“We both play the game with very high emotion,” the superstar right wing said before the Panthers faced the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday at PNC Arena. 

The pictures of Butler in Tkachuk’s jersey were a hit in Florida’s locker room and Tkachuk, who admits he hasn’t “paid attention too much” to all the specifics of Miami’s season because of how often the team’s games overlap, made sure to watch as much of Game 2 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals Friday. 

What he saw was Butler distilled down to his purest form. The 33-year-old forward scored 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists, nabbed three steals, blocked two shots and got into a forehead-to-forehead shouting match with Celtics forward Grant Williams in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s 111-106 win in Boston.

It all felt pretty similar to what Tkachuk did to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins last month in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. The 25-year-old winger had five goals, six assists, four power-play points, 22 shots, a plus-minus of plus-5, 20 hits and two blocked shots, and assisted on the series-winning overtime goal in Game 7 to finish off a historic upset in Boston.

Less than three weeks later, Tkachuk delivered another historic moment in Game 1 of the NHL’s East finals, scoring a game-winning goal to beat the Hurricanes in the sixth longest game in NHL history early Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, just barely 21 hours before Butler’s show at TD Garden.

“They’re in a very similar spot as us. They’re like the underdogs and going into each series, and kind of just believing in their team. And he’s one of the leaders in that and kind of like the emotional leader,” Tkachuk said. “I love watching him play, especially more being down in Florida, seeing him more than I ever have. I’m very impressed with him. He’s a gamer. He’s pretty dialed in with what he’s done these playoffs. Last night was a big example. That was fun to watch.”

As a child, Tkachuk looked up to NHL stars like Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Rangers left wing Patrick Kane, who was a superstar for the Blackhawks back then, and also Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman David Ortiz because he rooted for the Red Sox. He loved how Ortiz thrived in clutch moments and tries to emulate it. 

He did a pretty good job to kick of the NHL Conference Finals earlier this week. 

“You want to be that guy at big moments,” Tkachuk said. “Jimmy and David Ortiz are two of the best at that. It was cool seeing Jimmy wearing my jersey. The guys got a big kick out of it.”

Tkachuk has one other connection to the Heat-Celtics series: He went to high school outside St. Louis with Boston superstar Jayson Tatum and they still keep in touch. 

The last time they talked, he said, was before Game 7 of Round 1, right before Tkachuk and the Panthers eliminated Boston with Tatum in attendance.

#i paid one whole dollar to unpaywall this and i'm not about to lose that to the abyss once my month is up #so i might as well share it instead of archiving it on gdocs lol #matthew tkachuk #jimmy butler #he saw jimmy in his tight little shorts and a tkachuk jersey and said yeah i'm a heat fan now #getting chirped about it in the locker room :'))

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

Spicy Peru request! Lemme know if you want a part 2 for days two and three ;) ~ Belgianon

Four days. Four fucking days. Four days straight of hiking on a trip that was supposed to be a nice little relaxing rest for the two of us. I wasn’t angry, per se – just… I hadn’t prepared, okay?!

Evan told me to pack light, since we’d be in a warm climate, and sure, I was hiking ready in the sense that I had boots and what not – but four damned days of climbing… ugh. I’d have done some preparation on the stairmaster back home if I’d known. Still, my protests didn’t stop Evan from packing two camping rucksacks with everything the tour guides had said we’d need for the Inca Trail. It surprised me, actually, that Evan even wanted to do something like this; he wasn’t abundantly sporty in the sense that he enjoyed the Great Outdoors, but then I was always learning things about him as he grew more comfortable with me.

Four day hikes along gorgeous backdrops with a local tour guide taking us off-piste for a special tour hadn’t been on my bingo card for the year. But then I learned that donkeys would be involved, and it all clicked into place.

“Ready to go?” Evan asked, pulling a baseball cap over his curls. He’d had them cut down a bit for the trip so he wouldn’t get too hot, but he’d left enough for me to hold onto when it mattered most.

“Sure,” I replied, picking up my rucksack. Evan slapped my ass as I walked past.

“You’re hot with that on.”

“You’d find a fucking chipmunk hot at this point.” I still stuck my ass out at him as we left the AirBnb he’d found. Evan usually took care of all the travel planning, since he had a strange knack for finding hidden gems away from the press and the absolutely insane fans.

The first day into the trip was a huge historical overload, with facts and stories told by a guide who painted the brightest, golden picture of Peru’s Incan history. I found myself lost in a world I knew nothing about as we wandered around ancient ruins that seemed to vibrate and pulse with thousands of years of energy… And when we set up camp for the night, we were so deep into the jungle-like surroundings that we got the treat of a lifetime: the glittering backdrop of billions of stars. Evan’s eyes were glued to me most of the evening, as I stared at the skies in love.

Day two… well, let’s just say, Evan being in his element asking questions and being a goof had me a little hot and heavy when we got onto the donkeys. The sway of the animal put my mind firmly on the sway of a certain someone beneath me, on top of me, behind me… I couldn’t shake it. Something about Peru’s breathtaking landscapes, and the fact that we were almost entirely alone except for this local guide… it was giving waterfalls.

“Stop thinking about it,” Evan murmured, moving his donkey beside mine while the guide went into the trees a bit to pee.

“About what?”

“About me fucking you against one of those trees over there in a bit…” Evan reached over and squeezed my bare thigh.

“I mean, if you’re offering…”

“Be good and we’ll see.” He grinned at me wolfishly and trotted on ahead, stretching up so I could see the damned work he’d been doing in the damned gym for a damned role he had coming up. Damn.

We reached a little clearing, and it was time for lunch. Lunch usually meant our guide buggered off for a bit on his own, and Evan and I were able to be alone, too. Our guide went down to a little ravine with one of the books he’d brought. We knew the part of the trail that was safe for us to be on, and so I wandered off a bit, pulling my top off to reveal a bikini underneath (literally no-one had time for anything more in that heat). I draped my top on a tree branch, fully aware that Evan was watching me.

I didn’t look back, though.

As I stepped through the lush foliage, Evan rushed behind me, pantsed me, and pinned me against a tree. He picked me up, wasting no time in freeing himself. He didn’t even give me a chance to get him going – he was already there, rock hard against my ass. He looked me in the eyes, his hand somehow rubbing me up in all the right places, spreading the slickness around my clit so much so that my head hit the tree behind me, and I had to fight to not scream Evan’s name deep into the fucking trees as he slid a finger into me.

“Can you f-fucking not,” I breathed. Evan laughed, attacking my bare throat and chest as he replaced his finger painfully slowly with his dick, adjusting his grip on my ass. It was thrilling, the breeze on my bare ass and breasts, the idea that at any point, anyone could come and find us… god, I nearly came before he even started moving.

“I just wanna savour this,” he murmured. “Scream my name.”

“No! No –“

“Come on,” he groaned, moving inside me. He felt fucking amazing, every sense heightened as he drove into me, his hat falling to the floor. I ran my fingers through his hair, grinning as his hips grew more and more urgent. “Scream for me, baby, come on…”

“S-some m-might he-ear,” I panted, face flushing with colour at the thought of the guide hearing me. We still had two days to spend with him.

“G-go on… d-dare you,” Evan growled, kissing my jaw. “Dare you.”

“F-fuck – Evan! EVAN!” The bastard had reached down and, with a very well-placed thumb, pressed down on my clit. I didn’t care about the noise then. The world could hear me. The ghosts of the Incas who undoubtedly surrounded us could hear me. I didn’t care.

“That’s it, baby,” Evan growled, grinning. “Fucking – c-come – come f-for me, baby –“

Entirely at his mercy, his thrusts turned sloppy, and his thumb circling my clit faltered a little as he tried to hold back, but couldn’t. Evan buried his face in my neck, trembling as he came, his breath hot against my already-hot skin. I could feel him dripping out of me, and it felt downright fucking sinful… I tried to move against him, teetering on the edge myself. He looked down at me, a gleam in his eye.

“Don’t you dare,” I whispered. “Don’t you dare leave me like this…” I was stuck.

“I kinda like it,” he murmured, stroking my damp face. “All needy and desperate…” He reached between us and stroked me slowly, stoking the fire that nearly made my body snap. “But I don’t remember hearing my name…” Motherfucker.

“Evan, Evan,” I breathed, desperate for him to speed up. Even a little bit. “Evan – Evan!”

“Come on… louder…” He pressed a little harder. He moved a little bit inside me.

“Ev-AN! EVAN!”

“Who do you belong to?”

“EVAN!” With that, he gave me the rough circle and thrust that I needed, and I came far harder than I’d expected to. I blacked out for a second, but when I came back to my senses, Evan was holding my face against his chest, chuckling.

“Good girl,” he murmured. “I think that noise scared a couple goats.”

“Shut… the fuck… up… about fucking… goats…” I panted, leaning against him. I looked to the side… and five goats were stood, watching, chewing on grass or whatever. “Oh god…”

“Come on. We should get back to the donkeys… before the goats take us to their leader…” Evan slid out of me, and the noise was unholy. I grimaced, feeling him drip a little bit down my thigh. He produced a packet of wet wipes from his back pocket. I cleaned up a bit, then put my shorts back on.

Our guide was, thankfully, sleeping by the ravine when we got back to the donkeys. Evan held my hand the entire way back, and as we lay in the sun for a bit, enjoying the sounds of nature, I couldn’t help but feel just a little more in love with him.

we’ve been blessed again 🫶🏼

#fics

[allurlsaregone-blog]

Joe DiMaggio eats a meal prepared by his mother, Rosalie, in 1934.

#mlb american league #ny yankees #yankees #joe dimaggio #baseball history #historic baseball pictures

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #57: July 23rd - July 29th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from July 23 - July 29, 2023! Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing! 

Challenges/Prompts:

The following is a roundup of open challenges/prompts. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from July 23 - July 29. 

Allison Janney posted a video of the new SAG-AFTRA strike anthem by Diane Warren.

Amy Landecker posted photos of herself and Brad at a Savannah Bananas baseball game. 

Janel Moloney posted photos of a cave in Brazil from her trip there. 

Josh Malina posted a photo of himself at the Geffen Playhouse with some of his Leopoldstadt castmates. 

Marlee Matlin posted a photo of herself with MJ Grant. 

Marlee Matlin posted a video in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. 

Marlee Matlin posted photos from the Chicago SAG-AFTRA picket lines. 

Peter James Smith posted a pretzel from Shappy Pretzel Co. in support of the SAG-AFTRA strike. 

Peter James Smith posted historic strike pictures featuring famous actors, including Alan Alda. 

Donna Moss Daily: July 23 | July 24 | July 25 | July 26 | July 27 | July 28 | July 29 

Daily Josh Lyman: July 23 | July 24 | July 25 | July 26 | July 27 | July 28 | July 29 

No Context BWhit: July 23 | July 24 | July 25 | July 26 | July 27 | July 28 | July 29 

@twwarchive: July 23 | July 24 | July 25 | July 26 | July 27 | July 28 | July 29 

Edits/Artwork:

#CJCREGG x “I’m the Press Secretary Boo-Boo.” by @kennysroys [VIDEO EDIT] #JOSHLYMAN: “Turns out I was fine.” by @kennysroys [VIDEO EDIT] #joshlyman x #donnamoss : “you’re still here” by @carolshathways [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice: 

Bartlet for America! This week we’re sharing some of our favorite fics centered around the first Bartlet campaign. 

right on time (and out of nowhere) by joshatella (shuuuliet) for BeneathAnOrangeSky | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | "He's clinging to the dates, clinging to that red circle on his calendar, with a little note that said "Madison--find D.M.?" next to it, like it's something sturdy that he can hold on to, like it's the ground under his feet." Donna goes back to her old boyfriend. Josh mopes aimlessly.

as long as there's light (from a neon moon) by sam_writes_fics | Rated T | C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler | Complete | CJ sports an amused smile as the kid walks to the other side of the bar and she turns her chin just enough to look over at Toby as he sits down next to her. “You’re late,” she jokes. “I planned it that way,” he nods to the bartender and orders a scotch. // in response to the prompt: “borrow a quote from another ship/character from a different piece of media and apply it to your ship”

fresh starts by LemongrassAndSleep  | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | When Donna Moss packed up her belongings and drove from Wisconsin to New Hampshire to join the Bartlet for America campaign, the last thing she was expecting was to make lifelong friendships. But how did those friendships start out?

First Impressions by ETraytin | Rated G | Gen Fic (No Pairings Listed) | Complete | Sam arrives at the Bartlet For America headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire. He's the last senior staff member on board, and is determined to make a good impression.

Seven Days in July by JessBakesCakes | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | This shouldn’t be so hard. They’ve had their fair share of almosts and their maybes and their moments to ignore. If she could even consider them that, knowing he doesn’t feel the same way. Or, a look into the minds of Josh and Donna during the week of Josh and Mandy's July 9th breakup.

moonrise avenue by myrmeraki | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | Complete | A snapshot from the Bartlet For America's first campaign trail if Sam and Josh were in a semi-established yet secret relationship. A thought process of what happens when you won't give up politics for the man you love, and he would never want you to. They're already living on borrowed time but that doesn't mean they can't pretend otherwise.

Please stay tuned until we reblog this post with this weeks' fics!

[canichangemyblogname]

I just saw someone selling a T-Shirt that read, "Chicago; City of Wind," and I just stared at it. As a city native, I understood why the shirt said this, but I also understood why it was incorrect.

The city's official motto is urbs in horto or “city in a garden,” at it's a reference to the city's extensive and historic parks and boulevard system. You can see the system pictured below:

When you go to Google Maps, you can see the parks system as well as all the green space along the lakeshore.

Chicago does have a rival, unofficial motto: "I will." It was adopted after Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to represent the determination of Chicagoans to overcome the destruction and rebuild the city.

Chicago also has a couple nicknames, and I think the city's nicknames are where this T-shirt designer got the idea to call Chicago "The City of Wind."

One of the city's more well-known nicknames is "The Second City," a name that influential travelers and natives of New York City bestowed upon Chicago as a commentary on how the city couldn’t keep up with "The Big Apple." Chicagoans adopted it in an act of ironic self-deprecation, and it evolved from its negative connotation of "less-than-best" to a commentary on what Chicago does well and how the city and its contributions to America are successful and influential in their own right.

Chicago is also popularly called "The Windy City," and while the city is quite breezy, the name does not come from Chicago's local weather patterns. Most people assume it's a commentary on the breezes coming off Lake Michigan, but the term initially held a double meaning meant to highlight both its breezy weather and how local politicians and speakers were "full of wind." We can thank Cincinnati for helping popularize this name. A running rivalry in baseball and the meat-packing industry in the late 1800s led to some scathing articles in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Like "The Second City," Chicago has come to embrace this nickname as a point of pride.

Chicago has also been called "The City of Big Shoulders" (or "Broad Shoulders") in reference to the poem Chicago by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg. Other nicknames include shortened versions of the city's name: Chicago, with some suffix added to it. Chi-town has been used for big events but is not popular among locals. Chi-beria is a portmanteau of "Chicago" and "Siberia" and a commentary on its cold winter weather, but also not a popular name among locals. Chi-raq is a very controversial portmanteau of "Chicago" and "Iraq" that was intended to compare the city's crime rate to the death rate in war-torn Iraq. It stems from misleading war statistics that completely ignored the civilian death rate in Iraq during the US invasion. The term saw its highest usage among the American public during the American occupation of Iraq and only some usage among musicians and filmmakers. It is most commonly used in right-wing arguments about the supposed danger of "minority" or "democrat-run" cities and the supposed "ineffectiveness" of gun regulation.

#Chicago #Illinois #The United States of America #American cities

[phant0m-l0rd]

thank u @minuutti for the tag <3 (finally getting around to it :D)

what book are you currently reading?

I'm still reading Moby Dick even though I started it months ago, simply because I unintentionally took a big break from it at one point (and read a few other books). also reading Agir et Penser Comme Un Chat by Stéphane Garnier and Le Voleur d'ombres by Marc Levy.

what’s your favourite movie you saw in theatres this year?

I went to the cinema a few weeks ago for the first time in over 4 or 5yrs. therefore, the only movie I've seen in theatres in all these years is the new Mario movie so that's my pick by default (it was fun though).

what do you usually wear?

jeans, shirt. + a hoodie if it's cold.

how tall are you?

175cm/5'9

what’s your star sign? do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

cancer! my 11th birthday was the day Michael Jackson passed away and I remember how depressing that was.

do you go by your name or a nickname?

just my name, it's too short to nickname. some friends try to give me nicknames but they almost always end up longer or the same length as my name lol

did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

I think so yes, I don't see how it could've gone any other way tbh!

are you in a relationship? if not, who is your crush if you have one?

no, and I do have a crush but will not reveal it publicly like that lol

what’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

cooking vs. stress management

dogs or cats?

both are amazing but I love cats sm and desperately need one

if you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favourite picture/favourite line/favourite etc. from something you created this year?

so far it has to be the most recent digital art I made of Kyo just cuz I feel like I've finally started getting the hang of digital art even though my comfort zone still lies in traditional art.

what’s something you’d like to create content for?

nothing specific, just anything I'm interested in in the moment.

what’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

this is really fkn random coming from me but. watching baseball. I've never been a sports person, never watched sports except during world cups or the olympics. but ever since a few days ago I've found a new hyperfixation I guess, completely unexpectedly and out of my control 😭

what’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

idk tbh, can't think of anything rn. I haven't been that excited for anything lately.

what’s a hidden talent of yours?

I can mimick trumpet sounds well? 😭

are you religious?

not really, I don't follow a specific religion

what’s something you wish to have at this moment?

for all my anxieties to be alleviated so I can finally live a normal life again.

tagging @ranuunculus , @cupofteaandstars (no pressure ofc) and anyone else who feels like it :D ~

#i realised a few of my answers overlapped w yours minuutti lmao- jeans and shirts ftw!! #something i truly didnt have on my bingo list for 2023 would be that id become a sports fan of any sort... who am i anymore #just baseball tho- it's very relaxing yet incredibly engaging imo #did watching hot stove league a few months ago unconsciously influence the emergence of this subsequent obsession... perhaps #tag game #personal

[ingek73]

From ferret electricians to landmine-sniffing rats – meet the extraordinary animals that work for a living

Sometimes the right person for the job isn’t a person at all …

Magawa, a recently retired mine-detecting rat, plays with his former handler in Cambodia. Photograph: Cindy Liu/Reuters

by Emma Beddington

Thu 19 Oct 2023 11.00 CEST

Our relationship with animals is deeply peculiar, spanning the spectrum from besotted to breezily exploitative. Whether they are friends, pests, assets, dinner or catnip content creators, the relationship tends to be heavily skewed in our favour. We might look after our pets devotedly, but most animals aren’t so lucky in their encounters with us.

There are a few instances, however, where human interests and animals’ natural behaviours and inclinations more or less align. Most aren’t technically “mutualistic” interactions between two species that benefit both, like a clownfish hiding in and cleaning up its sea anemone. Even so, there is a cheering amount of win-win in a handful of our relationships with the natural world. Let’s take a look at some of that mutual back-scratching.

Bat librarians

Careful curators … bats have lived in the Joanina library at the University of Coimbra in Portugal for centuries. Photograph: Marcin Jamkowski/Adventure Pictures/Alamy

The baroque Joanina Library at the University of Coimbra in Portugal is well known for its exquisitely detailed gilding and woodwork, but also for what its deputy director, António Maia do Amaral, calls its “honorary librarians”: bats. Amaral explains that there are two small colonies – free-tailed bats and pipistrelles – living in Joanina. They have been there for centuries: 18th-century library paperwork documents an order of large leather sheets from Russia; these sheets, known as “moscovias”, are still unrolled at night to protect the huge embossed tropical wood tables from bat droppings.

Literary wingman … a pipistrelle bat, one of two species found at Joanina. Photograph: Rudmer Zwerver/Alamy

Whether the bat librarians are actually helping is a moot point. The assumption is that they feed on book-eating insects that could damage the library’s precious collection, but their droppings have never been analysed to check. “As far as I know, it has always been a peaceful coexistence, even if their role in pest control is maybe marginal,” says Amaral. “We cannot trust bats alone to preserve the books from flying insects. For that purpose, we have a six-cubic-metre anoxic chamber for cleaning the books.”

The bats are part of the library anyway, even if they are only occasionally spotted (usually at evening events, when they flutter out from the shelves to entertain guests). Visitors are intrigued – you can even get a baseball cap with a Joanina bat on it – but opinions within the library vary. “My first director was always very annoyed when asked about the bats’ existence,” says Amaral. “He felt that bats were the least important thing in the library, because he was such a cultured man. Nowadays, people are more often benevolent and amused with the bat story. Personally, I’m very happy with the bats and pray for their good health.”

The bats weren’t the only honorary librarians in previous centuries, Amaral adds. Historical library records included an annual sum in the budget for feeding Joanina’s mouse-hunting cats; you can still spot “cat doors” cut into the woodwork.

Ferret electricians

The cutest cable guys … ferrets strut their stuff on Channel 4.

“Ferrets are, if you want to be polite, inquisitive; if you want to be blunt, they’re nosy little devils,” says James McKay of the National Ferret School. “When you put them in any opening, they want to go through and see what’s at the other end.” Their curiosity, shape and sinuous flexibility mean they can get to places and do jobs no human could manage. Felicia the ferret became a furry pipe cleaner for the Fermilab particle accelerator in Illinois in 1971; ferrets wriggled under the floor of St Paul’s Cathedral to enable TV transmission of the royal wedding in 1981 and cabled the Millennium Dome (the work of three called Beckham, Posh and Baby).

Naturally inquisitive … ferrets can squeeze into spaces that humans can’t. Photograph: Farlap/Alamy

How does the cabling work? The ferret wears a harness attached to a long, light nylon line. Once it has threaded the line through a duct, the line is attached to a heavier pull rope to thread the cable. Although there is some training involved – the school has a training area with a range of vertical and split pipes and cul-de-sacs – it is really a case of capitalising on the ferrets’ natural inclination to investigate holes. A bit of salmon oil at the far end of a long pipe as a reward can help them find their way. The furthest one of McKay’s ferrets has travelled is about 250 metres: “We’ve never had one get halfway and decide to come back.”

The school’s business (the delightful collective noun for ferrets) numbers about 50 and McKay usually takes half a dozen along on a job in case someone isn’t in the mood. The hobs (males, which are larger) can pull lines longer distances, while the smaller jills (females) are better at wriggling through the narrowest spaces. Does he have a favourite ferret? “They’re all as good as each other.”

Winemaking ducks and spiders

How winemaking ducks help Vergenoegd Löw vineyard – video

At the Vergenoegd Löw winery in South Africa, pest control on the vines is the responsibility of a flock of more than 1,000 Indian runner duck “soldiers”. They emerge in a cacophony of honks every morning and spend the day eating aphids, snails and worms, keeping the vines pest-free and healthy. They circulate in a 14-day loop around different areas of the vineyard, with their droppings providing a bonus fertiliser. The ducks take a break only during harvest – grapes are just too tempting – when they get a holiday to swim in a nearby lake, forage on farmland and, er, work on producing the next generation of vineyard soldiers.

A corking idea … gigantic cobwebs drape the cellar walls at R López de Heredia winery in La Rioja, Spain. Photograph: Agefotostock/Alamy

Meanwhile, at the R López de Heredia winery in La Rioja, gigantic cobwebs drape the cellar walls and yet more cover the bottles. They aren’t Halloween props or atmospheric decor: they are home to the spiders who help the López de Heredia family keep their barrels and corks free from cork-eating moths – “the mortal enemy of long‑ageing wine”.

Diagnostic technician and demining rats

Another fruitful endeavour … one of Apopo’s rats gets a tasty treat for identifying an inactive mine in Cambodia. Photograph: Taylor Weidman/Getty Images

The 300 African giant pouched rats employed by the NGO Apopo are multitalented. Not only have they worked on mine clearance in south-east Asia and Africa, but they also sniff out positive tuberculosis sputum samples.

Why are they so good at the job? “They’ve very smart; they’re sociable; they have an excellent sense of smell,” says Lily Shallom of Apopo. “In the past, we’ve found that they can smell a picogram of TNT – a trillionth of a gram.” The rats are “very motivated by food. They like to stuff their cheeks; they have a sweet tooth and they love anything that’s got a really high fat and protein content.” Peanuts and bananas are particular favourites.

The rats signal when they have found a mine by scratching at the surface of the ground. (Weighing a maximum of 1.5kg, the rats are much too light to set off a mine; none have been hurt in the field.) A TB sample, meanwhile, is flagged as potentially positive if a rat hovers over it for three seconds.

Reporting for duty … Apopo’s life-saving rats.

It’s a nice life for these highly sociable creatures. Training (which takes nine months on average) or work make up a tiny portion of the rats’ day: mine detection sessions last about 20 minutes, building up to half an hour. Assessing 100 TB samples – the standard batch size – takes a maximum of 20 minutes, but could take a human technician up to four days. The rest of the rats’ day is devoted to free play, hanging out with other rats, snacking and napping.

Apopo is always exploring potential uses for the rats’ special skillset at its training and research centre in Tanzania. Projects include searching for survivors of natural disasters, detecting illegally trafficked pangolin scales and decontaminating land, with the rats deployed to detect specific concentrations of hydrocarbons in soil.

Honey-hunting birds

Birds of a feather … a honey hunter studies a greater honeyguide at the Niassa national reserve in Mozambique. Photograph: Claire Spottiswoode/AP

Humans and greater honeyguides have a genuinely mutualistic relationship: the small, brown‑ish African relative of the woodpecker flutters in front of people, tweeting to guide them to bees’ nests in hollow tree trunks. The humans then smoke out the potentially dangerous bees and take the honey. The honeyguide watches and waits until they have finished, then enjoys its preferred food: beeswax.

On song … how honeyguides talk to people.

In 2016, a research team at the University of Cambridge discovered that communication between honeyguides and humans goes both ways. They learned that honey hunters from the Yao community in Mozambique have a better chance of attracting honeyguides, and finding honey, if they use a specific sound: “A loud trill followed by a short grunt: brrr-hmm.” The call increased the overall chance of finding honey from 16% to 54% compared with control sounds. “The ‘brrr-hmm’ call more than tripled the chances of a successful interaction, yielding honey for the humans and wax for the bird,” reported Dr Claire Spottiswoode, who led the project.

Hawk bouncers

Top flight … a working hawk at the Hayward Gallery, London. Photograph: Stephen Chung/Alamy

Why do pigeons need to be deterred? According to Citihawk’s Leigh Holmes, they represent a twofold health hazard: “Pigeon fouling contains horrendous amounts of bacteria and parasites – and when wet it becomes very slippery,” she says. The hawks aren’t there to attack or eat the pigeons – that never happens, according to Holmes. They would rather fly back for chicken pieces held by their handlers. The aim is to scare them off and discourage them from returning. The theory, says Holmes, is that “pigeons see a natural predator that they are in-built to be fearful of … They disappear to find somewhere safer to roost, nest and feed.”

The hawks fly free, exploring wherever they like on the day’s site. “They love the exercise; they love getting out and flying,” says Holmes. She thinks they particularly relish working in urban areas. “They really enjoy some of the hustle and bustle, because they fly exceptionally well.” That freedom does mean they sometimes go awol. “They can be quite childlike at times and see a pigeon a street away or on another roof. They will literally just go to scare off other birds.” The hawks are fitted with trackers, so the handlers can follow their movements in real time.

Harris’s hawks are good at this work because they are naturally gregarious and used to hunting collaboratively in the wild, says Holmes. When trained by humans, they view their falconer as part of their hunting team. “They learn to read each other,” she says. “It’s incredible. It’s an amazing feeling for the staff members.”

Another big part of the falconer’s job is interacting with amazed and delighted members of the public: “The amount of photographs taken, the amount of interest and the amount of love for birds of prey … People just love it.”

#the guardian #animals #bats #rats #ferrets #geese #hawks #birds #wildlife #Youtube

[ichabodjane]

This is a combo post of two tag games I was tagged in by @helenvader and @somebirdortheother! One is posting your lockscreen/phone wallpaper, the last song you played, and the last photo you took. The other is your lockscreen/wallpaper and some get to know you questions!

Phone homescreen: This is Razberry, a gremlin disguising herself as my dog.

The last pic I took: Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Treated ourselves to good seats for our first game of the season!

Last song I played: "I Can Hew" traditional song, this rendition by Windborne (I listen to a loooot of folk music and sea shanties and the like).

Currently reading: Re-reading Fellowship of the Ring

Last movie: Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (very fun!)

Last show: Uhhhh I can't recall. It's baseball and AFL season, so I flip between the two most of the time.

Craving: An early bedtime

What are you wearing right now: Pajamas (large men's t-shirt and cotton pj bottoms)

How tall are you: 5'3" / 160cm (just like Morfydd Clark lol)

Piercings: Two sets in my ears, unfortunately partly closed now (thanks, Claire's). I'm planning on getting them redone by a professional next year.

Tattoos: None as of now. I may turn an old PICC line scar into an osprey in the future.

Glasses, contacts: Glasses. I like contacts but haven't been able to wear them in awhile cause of health stuff.

Last thing you ate: Pumpkin pie muffins I made.

Favourite Colour: All sorts of rich or deep greens, jewel tones in general

Current obsession: Making historical clothing for my everyday wardrobe. Current projection is 16th cen kirtle/petticoat dress. Also Waldreg the mechanical spider from @somebirdortheother 's Mysteries of the Mechanical Wonder.

Any pets: Raz the Spazz, the gremlin dog pictured above. She is my toddler atm.

Favourite Fictional Character: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PICK JUST- Eowyn, it's Eowyn, it's always Eowyn.

The last place you travelled: I can't travel very far rn thanks to health stuff so I guess it was a day trip to the mountains a couple hours west of where I live.

Tagging anyone else who would like to participate!

#tag games #about me #thanks for the tag! #Youtube