#the USA should have MORE WOLVES!

[headspace-hotel]

it is pretty disappointing to read about conservation efforts in the USA vs. many countries in, say, Africa or many tropical regions of the globe, because it feels like Americans really don't appreciate or notice the value of their animals and ecosystems.

It is really ENCOURAGING to see how much progress is made with conservation around the world, but it casts the USA's ecosystems in a sad light. Red states' governments are largely totally indifferent to preserving their ecosystems, even though some of the reddest states have the most biodiverse and globally unique ecosystems. It's individual people organizing that's doing so much of the work

It's like Americans understand why it's important to save lions, tigers, elephants and zebras, but when it comes to cougars, bison, wapiti and wolves, it's like "Ehhhhh" and caring about them at all makes you a liberal commie.

anyway it feels like reintroducing wolves, bison etc. to historical parts of their range should be more of a priority and it's not and it makes me sad

[peakwealth]

You Run

Vladimir Putin, flanked by airline cabin crew (reportedly Aeroflot trainees), shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Two recent quotes stick in my mind. The first one was from an American woman who escaped from a mass shooting incident after the US Super Bowl in Kansas City. (One dead, twenty-two injured.) Interviewed minutes later on TV, she said: In this day and age, you run.

I forget where I saw the second quote but I thought of it after Donald Trump's threat to pull the plug on NATO, should he be re-elected this year. It's as if the devil had changed sides.

Near panic broke out across Europe. Trump was willing to throw European countries, previously known as America's allies, to the wolves.

Vladimir Putin, do as you please. Ukraine, prepare to be sacrificed. And by extension, Taiwan, your time is up.

I keep coming back to this: the West isn't what it used to be. I think of myself as fortunate to have grown up in a 'eurocentric' world order, or the outcome of the second world war if you prefer. It may have been delusional but it was printed on perfume bottles: PARIS - LONDON - NEW YORK.

In reality, eurocentrism and the colonial empires that created it were already faltering by the time I came into this world. It took, however, a long time to see and accept it. As for the 'American century', it ended in 2001 with the apocalyptic scenes of 9/11 in New York City. As the towers collapsed, the world pivoted into a new era. To put it differently, the world was changing hands.

---------------

On February 24 2022 I woke up in a small, no-nonsense hotel south of Granada and went downstairs to have coffee at the bar. I flipped open my tablet and there it was:

RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE

Until then I - we - had assumed there existed a fundamental contract with European history, immovably rooted in postwar reality: never again, no more major wars in Europe. No one in their right mind would want to mess with that contract.

Except that Vladimir Putin had just ordered his army across the border into Ukraine.

Now I wake up every day and want to hit my head against the wall as the Russian war of aggression grinds on. Grind, meat grinder, human waves, trench warfare. The words are all desperately wrong.

After two years of daily annihilation, hundreds of thousands of lives casually erased or ruined, it goes on and on. Both sides, it has been reported, are running short of young men to waste at the front.

We do not know exactly what goes on on those front lines. We hear about Russian soldiers dispatched to their deaths as a matter of course. But we do not get to see that, nor do we get any real casualty numbers. At the beginning of the war, things were more graphic, the bodies photographed where they had fallen. Two years on, we don't know. But the broken, blasted cities tell the story, as they do in Gaza: not many people walk away alive.

And now no one seems quite sure what to do about Ukraine. The war looks unwinnable because Putin does not care about the cost in human lives.

Why fight if you can't win? Is a negotiated settlement still possible? Land for peace would mean the partition of Ukraine accepted as a fait accompli. But can there be peace without justice for Ukraine, which would effectively be sacrificed in the hope of keeping Putin's Russia in check? Putin, however, cannot be trusted, nor can Trump for that matter.

Should Trump return to the White House, a new world order might emerge overwhelmingly inimical to the west or what would be left of it. It might not even be clear where the USA would position itself. As for the loss of Ukraine, in whole or in part, it would be like small change.

You can go on like this, endlessly turning over the options and arguments in your head, none of them acceptable: Ukraine's outright surrender? Or an indefinite ceasefire that would humiliate Kyiv but leave it attached to Europe?

Faced with a historic opportunity to rewrite everything, a moment of dizzying recalculation of how the planet works and who's boss, it is hard to imagine that China would hesitate to seize the moment. Others would follow, like India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, eventually lining up with Russia in an historic act of opportunism and Schadenfreude.

In this day and age, you run.

A lot is at stake in 2024.

[vivi-the-goblin]

Mr Rime's buttons blink when attacking or being attacked, his "eyes" never do, and one of the cards imply it breathes from the chest. That outfit is the actual face, it has a false head. That's why I'm posting this one out of order, it's the next spooky pokemon in line. Nothing with a false head trying to lure children to it is good. Mime Jr and Mr Mime are fine though, honestly Legends Arceus warmed me up to them. Apparently fear of clowns is near unheard of in Japan. Guess they don't have an uprising clowns every couple years, like the East Coast USA has for the past half century. Seriously, every few years for the past 60 we've had waves of people in clown costumes with machetes start appear. Rarely ends in any death, they're generally just trying to terrify people. Anyway, these clowns are here to make a fool out of wizards, so time for encounter ideas!

-Mime Jr are rascally but typically harmless, just following children around to play and harmless pranks. Lately things have been going missing from those it interacts with. (the townsfolk think it's mime jr, but it's actually a thief/monster taking advantage of the distraction) -Mr Mime are the jesters of the archfey courts. When the townspeople stopped leaving out offerings for her pixies, the jester was sent to make fools out of the town. Make this a mystery, the players have to figure it's a fey and how to contact/appease them. Or just fight the Mr Mime, but it will definitely retreat and keep coming back to harrass the town, good luck with that. And with retribution should they kill the court's jester. - Galarian Mr Mime have taken up residence in the local lake, kicking anyone more focused on ice fishing than their performance. The locals need help driving them off, either by appeasing them or attack. (bonus points- the Mr Mime becaomes a Mr Rime when they reach low health, refilling health like a Mythic Trait or a video game boss) - Mr Rime has been entertaining the village with its antics. People chalk up the frozen body appearing to yetis or winter wolves, relying on the entertainer for joy in this trying time. The Mr Rime is behind these disappearances, occasionally following the last member of its audience home to launch a cone of cold.

#mr mime #galarian mr mime #mime jr #mr rime #dnd 5e #dnd 5e homebrew #5e homebrew #homebrew #pokemon #5e #pokemon 5e #5e fey #5e aberration #cr 1/2 #cr 7 #cr 10

[eat-yourheart]

Alpha and Second

This is a repost because I was unhappy with the previous version and had to rewrite it. This is the first fic with my whump OCs that I used to explore their dynamic through a 'day in the life'.

A summary of the overarching plot: Alpha and Second are werewolves in a modern-day world where wolves have just begun to live and mingle with humans within the past 50-60 years. They currently live in a city area in Britain. 'Alpha' is very much against this notion and believes that wolves should still be living in the pack lifestyle out in the wild, as far away from discriminatory and violent humans as possible. She's considered a 'radical' in her ideals, and therefore was rejected from the majority of packs in her area. She formed the beginnings of a pack with her boyfriend, 'Second,' who, with her influence, has long since stopped using his human name. Alpha is a drug dealer in order to save up large sums of money to move them to the USA to run away into one of the national parks. This is highly unrealistic, and it is not feasible to survive out there with their human half's needs. But she is dead-set and convinced, so therefore, Second is too. This is not an A/B/O universe related story, rather, in this world, werewolves of the modern era tend to pack the way that captive wolves do. Rather than the traditional family groups from ye olden days, they are gathered as a group of otherwise strangers or friends under the leadership and care of an 'Alpha' figure.

CW: drugs, opiate use, cocaine use, abusive relationship, female abuser, fantasy discrimination (human's treating werewolves poorly), dehumanization, manipulation

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A door slams, disrupting the quiet haze of the house, and Second startles awake in Alpha's nest. It's very early in the morning, and the spotty sunlight makes him squint. Her footsteps go about halfway down the hall and stop, and Second buries himself in the blankets, pushing fear down his throat with his tongue, resisting the urge to shift into his wolf form in the hopes of his scent calming her. He hears her growling and muttering to herself in the hall and the sound of her throwing her clothes off. His heartbeat thumps within him twice as hard as clammy sweat rolls down his palms, his overgrown nails digging into Alpha's blankets at the thought of her confronting him in her wolf form. It always hurts so much worse.

The door opens, and she is in her human skin, her silver eyes glimmering at him. "Alpha," he whispers, more of an acknowledgment than a question. She isn't listening, and when she moves onto him, it's as swift as any alpha's fighting should be. She swipes him out of the bed, and he topples onto the floor with a yelp, half shifting in his panic, his bones groaning along with him. She draws him up by the throat and slaps him in the face before biting into his shoulder. He screams and presses at her chest as she whips her head around, tearing at his skin. She isn't even growling, just silently ripping at him. His instincts paralyze him as she forces submission through him down to his bones. He can't fight back against her, just laying limp and trying to bear his neck and appeal to her.

She grabs at the hands pressed to her, and her nails rip at them. Her eyes lose the fog over them as they flit over the bare, bleeding skin before her. His neck is fully bared, his eyes closed desperately. It soothes her, and she chuffs then takes a breath, stilling herself. "Second," she mutters, and he looks at her. She leans down and licks at his wounds, apologizing.

"It’s- it's okay, Alpha," he breathes, wiping his tears away as his jaw trembles faintly.

"Humans. Infuriating pieces of shit." Alpha kicks the bedside, her teeth shining in the sunlight.

"I know," Second agrees, nodding his head and shakily sitting up when she allows him. "Just come to the nest, lay down. We can-"

"No!" she growls, and he whines and flinches back from her with wide eyes. "It will only be fixed once we get out of here. I need to get out of here!" She stands suddenly, pacing the territory of her nest and rubbing at her temples, her teeth bared at nothing. She’s growing more and more restless the longer her escape is dangled in front of her on a string.

"Alpha," he says, quiet voice trying to soothe her, looking at the floor, not commanding, just suggesting. "Your selling is going well, and we- We’ll be gone. Gone far away, soon. We're close to it, you said." Truthfully Second doesn’t have any clue what funds they have right now, and she will certainly not clarify.

"Not close enough. I hate dealing to humans," she spits, biting her teeth on the words. "They're worse than wolf druggies, fucking disgusting things."

Second looks at the floor, his knees curled to his chest and hands rubbing at his calves. "Speaking of," he says, clearing his throat and rubbing at his quickly bruising cheek. Her eyes meet his nervous golden ones, and he looks at the floor as he continues. "Did you bring any for me today...?"

Alpha takes another breath and finally fully relaxes, the sight of him cowering comforting her a surprising amount. The rage drips off of her like wax and her face softens to him. "Of course I brought your medicine, sweetie." She steps into the hall and picks up her pants, cursing and rooting through the pockets until she finds a prescription pill bottle labeled 'diazepam' and a small baggie with white oval shaped pills. She steps back into his space and hands the bottle to him. "I even was able to get both this time, pup."

Second's demeanor instantly brightens, and he takes the bottle, immediately taking two of the pills dry. He sighs with relief, carding a hand through his sweaty hair. It's been about a week since he's had anything, and the shaking, puking, and all else has become unbearable. Alpha takes one of the pills in the bag. Her mellow scent of pine and lake water is already constantly poisoned and polluted to mud by the smell of the chemicals in the drugs, and it clouds even more as the pill settles in her stomach. As for Second, his scent is so run through with drugs and chemicals that even Alpha has trouble with recognizing his scent, the smell of blueberries and golden-brown baked goods is all but gone.

Second has leaned back against the wall, rubbing at the scabbing blood of the bite in his shoulder, a bruise forming on the side of his face where he was slapped. He traces his fingers on the bite, almost lovingly, reverently. The pain is never good, but his Alpha left that mark - so it must mean something, it must be a gift from her. It just has to be. His eyes are slowly hazing over, and he breathes out a frightfully exhausted sounding sigh, the chemical kitchen frying his brain.

"Second," he hears her voice call to him, wavering in the air around him, and he turns to see her in their nest, reaching for him, all glowing silver eyes and breathtaking dark hair. Second stands shakily and plants himself into her arms, a soft whine catching in his throat as he tries to not seem needy. He presses his head under her chin, scenting her, and she does the same to him, the mix of chemicals coagulating in the air and in their noses. Alpha breathes it in deep anyway, tasting it as the scent rolls over her tongue.

"Everything will be so much better once we get out of here," she hums, her voice far too calm, somewhere far away from Second, from their bed. "The trees and the dirt and the fresh air; it's where wolves are meant to be. Not anywhere near these fucking poor excuses for animals." Alpha's eyes shut, and the memories of being hit and spat at just for existing in public wash over her, fueling her anger, muted by opiates. A rock is thrown at her face; she bites at it, even though it does not exist here in this time and place.

"It will be better," Second agrees, squeezing her soft naked form in his arms, her skin thin and yet so tough to the world beneath his hold. Once we're out there, you won't have a reason to hit me, he thinks. Once we're there, you won't be angry anymore.

They are resting in a semi-warm silence when there is knocking on the front door. Alpha growls loud and snaps out a short barking sound. She shoves Second off of her and steps into the hall, throwing her clothes back on hastily.

The door opens to one of her fellow dealers in the wolf circles, the irritation in her look falling away slightly. "Oh, Noah,” she blinks at him hazily. She hadn’t expected him to be out of prison yet. Has it really been that long? Is she losing that much time to the stress? “What are you doing here?"

"Hey Irene," he says, his gaze playfully shifting around to see if anyone may be watching. He glimmers at her happily, his brown eyes reflecting the sun at her like he’s the happiest pup in the world. "We just got a shipment in, I was wonderin' if you were low on anything an' needed a fill-up." He has a thick Northern accent, thicker than hers, that rumbles in his chest. He speaks about drugs like it’s dinner table conversation. "Was also wonderin' how the plans are going," he adds, a biting disbelief in his voice.

Alpha sighs, closing her eyes for a moment as her drugged brain fights to keep up with him. "I do need to fill up on some inventory, but not now now. Don't you have an addiction program you should be doing? I t’ought your parole weren't flexible on that end." She itches at her neck and tries not to bare her teeth, not fond of how other Northerners always make her accent rear it’s head even harder.

Noah laughs, his long canines poking from under his lip. "’Parole,’ nah mate, whatever, my pack will lie for me."

"Fresh out and already in another pack?" Alpha says, leaning on the door frame and finding something more interesting to watch, such as the sunlight playing on the patio, or hell, even a gnat flying by if she’s lucky.

"Ah, yeah, you know how scents like mine are irresistible!" Noah's chest puffs out and Alpha rolls her eyes with a small bewildered smile as he lets out a bit of his fresh, natural scent of tree bark and sage. "I'm like a magnet for packs, they all want me in the mix."

"Uh huh, whatever Noah. Was the inventory all you needed to tell me? We have a meeting with everyone in a week so I don't know why you came over."

"Maybe I just missed yer stupid face, Irene, is that too much?"

"I'm kind of distracted as of late, Noah."

Noah chuffs and runs a hand over his blonde-tipped braids. "Well, 'scuse me, I just figured we-"

"We're still friends, yes, obviously. But you know I've got more important goals right now.” She clucks her tongue at him and runs a hand down her yellow-grey face. “I need to go lay down, okay? Had a late night."

Noah deflates on her patio, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just don't get so bloody obsessed over it, s'all, yeah? Take that boyfriend of yours out and have drinks with my pack sometime."

"Maybe," she lies. "Bye now, Noah."

The door closes on his dejected face and she stares at the back of the door with her teeth bared until his scent retreats. She sucks in air sharply, but the tenseness of her shoulders won't leave. She shakes out her hands and growls loudly, pacing, pacing, even if her territory isn’t in danger, she needs out, out, out, she needs-

"Alpha, who was that? Are you okay?" Second is at the corner of the hall that leads into the kitchen, his eyes raking over her nervously.

"Fine," she spits. "Just need to medicate." She stalks past him, her shoulder nearly bumping him as she restrains herself from hitting him just for being near her. "Cook me something," she mutters as she passes.

Second sucks down oxygen finally once she's entered the bedroom, his hackles raised by her strained and angry demeanor. He swallows heavily, his spit thick with hunger and thirst, and shakily stumbles to the fridge. Maybe he should eat. He's still so floaty and far away, but surely he can handle cooking. When he grabs through the air his hands feel far from his body, but he manages to open the small door and glances over the meager amounts of food left for him to use. There's meat, though, pork, and some barbecue sauce. He perks up a bit as the thought of hot food passes by his head like a cartoonish floating pie – as a bonus it will improve Alpha’s mood as well, or so he hopes. He tries to grab the pack of meat and misses, having to shake his head out with a tiny growl and try again.

He manages to set up the crock pot fine and sets the meat cooking in the sauce and some salt and pepper he managed to find in the cabinets. He sits at the table to wait, his head in his arms. Time passes like spoiled milk in texture, slow and thick with a hint of sourness that never leaves him. After several, or maybe just a few, moments, his shoulder burns with pain from the wound and with a breath to steel himself, he goes to the bathroom to at least try and clean it up.

The first aid kit is on its bare bones content wise, but there's antiseptic cream and bandages. His hands are shaking so much, and he keeps slipping as he tries to set the bandages right despite the awkward angle. Shaking out his head again, he tries to ground himself, leaning his hands against the sink, looking down at the porcelain. His foggy gaze traces up to the mirror, beholding himself in all his glory.

It's been hard to recognize that person in the glass lately. He still has golden eyes, at least. But he's so, so thin, and there are dark circles under his eyes even without the bruises. There are a few brown and yellow healing ones on his forehead and arms, making a collage of color with the new bright purple and red one blooming on his cheek and eye. His cheeks are a bit sunken, he notes while his eyes rest there, and he can see the ribs in his chest. His hair is still a bit dyed on the top – the one full piece of ‘himself’ he still insists on clinging to. The blonde is starting to grow out, though. He doesn't know if Alpha will budget in hair dye. With the fiftieth sigh of the day he closes his eyes to the bright lights of the bathroom.

In the yellow tinted light and slight grime of his home, Second goes back to bandaging, looking at himself having grounded him. He's able to wrap it properly this time, ending up having to go around his chest in order to secure it. I really look beaten up now, he chuckles to himself humorlessly, brushing his bangs out of his face.

It took a good hour to clean himself up, apparently, because the egg timer on the stove begins to go off as he stumbles back into the kitchen. The pork is soft and nice, and he smiles as he takes in the good scents, turning them over in his mind, proud of himself. The food smells divine to his hungry self, though it may just be the ever-good scent of barbecue.

"Alpha?" he calls, knocking on and opening the door to the dim bedroom. She's nearly limp on the bed, and her scent reeks. His nose wrinkles up and he clears his throat to hide a cough. "I'm done with the food, if you want me to bring it to you?” He steps into the room and walks over to her. The bedside table has a remnant of white powder and a rolled-up piece of paper, and Second wrings his hands. The cold sweat is clinging to his skin again as he wishes it were fur, out there in the wild like she says.

Alpha's pupils are wide, but she looks at him, smelling the air as though just processing his presence. She's on high alert despite that, and her hand shoots out to grab his arm, too tight, too tight.

"Sec- second," she grumbles. "What're you doing?"

"I cooked? L-like you asked?" He can feel his breath picking up in speed, teeth growing in his mouth as his survival mechanisms kick in and topple him wolfward.

"Cooked.” She blinks at him, slow, as her expression furls as if confused. “What?"

"There was pork, made- made barbecue," he says, resting a hand on her own as he tries to stay calm.

Alpha stands up, not letting go of his arm and pulling him along with her to the kitchen. Second stumbles with her with a soft yelp, heart pounding. Her hand releases him, and Second can feel another bruise forming on top of an old one. She approaches the crock pot, and she smells at it, eyes closed as she opens her mouth to let the scent in.

"Ha. Seems good, pup. Seems-" Alpha leans over suddenly with a groan, supporting herself on the kitchen counter. "Ugh, feel sick, fuck me." With a sudden belting of a laugh, she stands straight. She keeps shaking her hands out, eyes flitting around. "Serve me some," she snaps, stumbling to sit at the table.

Second jumps to action instantly, pulling down a plate with trembling hands, fumbling and cursing at himself.

"Calm down," she laughs.

"Sorry, sorry- Feel anxious, Alpha."

Alpha sighs languidly and, still in her pants from answering the door, she pulls the bag of white pills out. "Here, medicate. My sweet dumb thing."

Second nods and takes a pill from her. "What is it?" he asks only after swallowing it.

"Vicodin," she says. "Serve me, Second."

"Right, yes Alpha." Second prepares her plate and sets it in front of her, the pork being put onto slices of bread for her. Second shifts in place as his nakedness begins to embarrass him, at the dinner table like this. He's used to being naked, but he always feels so awkward whenever she's wearing clothes and he isn't. He hopes that he can put some clothes on before he sits down. “I might- might put some pants on. Can I have some when I’m back?"

Alpha snorts out a laugh, her teeth baring at him, her eyes sizing him up in a nonsensical disbelief. "'Can you have some,' did I tell you to make it for yourself, or me?" Second freezes, silent. "Answer me," she snaps.

"You said- you said to prepare it for you, but I-"

"That's right, dumb bastard, god," she groans heavily and stands, getting in his face. "You are such an entitled dog, Second. What do you think you've even done to earn food tonight?" She's smiling, uncanny and angry.

"I- I don't know? I'm sorry Alpha, I didn’t mean to- to upset you, I’m stupid-“

"Fucking right you are." Her hand grabs at his chin, a movement she makes commonly, and she pulls back his lip to look at his fangs, sizing him up as though he’s challenged her somehow. She's so small for a woman, but so big in Second's mind, and he begins to tremble. She blinks and pauses, before laughing. "What, are you scared? You're scared of me all of a sudden?!"

"No! No, ma'am, promise, I'm sorry, I can-"

"You can what? You can't do anything - I got you your drugs even though it loses me money, I get you everything you need- I give and give and give to you! All you do is take and then try to make me feel bad about it!"

"Alpha, Alpha, you just- j-just need to medicate. It's okay, I-"

"Don't tell me what to do," she growls, beginning to push him backward. His eyes flit to the cold concrete prison of the basement as the door looms behind him, the place he tries to push out of his mind the moment he’s out.

"Alpha," he whines, desperate, "Please, let's just go to our nest. Let's just lay down, and you can medicate again, okay?" he begs, trying to smile at her and calm her down, not crying yet by only a thread.

Alpha growls, deep in her throat, and it makes him silent immediately, baring his neck to her and closing his eyes. She snaps her teeth near his throat, and he whimpers. "No, you don't get the nest tonight, you don't get food, you don't get shite." She swings him to the side by the hold she has on his chin, opens the basement door, and points down the wood stairs. "Get,” she spits, the white of her teeth flashing at him and freezing him to the floor beneath his feet.

"Please, please, can we just go to bed? I want- I just want to go to bed." His mind is fogging over more and more from the newer opioid in his body taking effect, and he touches his face, feeling himself crying at last. Alpha glares at him hard, her teeth gritting as she stares sightlessly at his tears. She reaches up and grabs his hair, and he limply lets his alpha drag him where she wants.

She pushes him, and he falls down the stairs halfway, catching himself with a gasp and stopping his fall. "Please," he cries up to her. "Please, can we just go lay down, Alpha-"

The door slams, and Second hears her turn the lock and then stalk away to their bed. He curls in on himself on the stairs, panting as he silently cries and shivers. He can never do enough. He can never make her happy. He bites his knuckle, breathing heavily. She's right, probably. Alphas are always right. He deserves to be down here, alone and useless as he always proves to be.

It's dark in the basement despite it only being the early evening, as there is only one high window in the back corner. There is, however, a dog bed and a blanket in that corner, placed there for him specifically. Second slumps over, but then his body slumps even further, molding and reshaping his skeleton as he shifts fully into a wolf. His fur shines a deep brown with light patches on his chest and a few scars where fur will not grow. His yellow eyes glimmer forlornly in the darkness, and he puffs out a tired breath, walking to the bed.

Upstairs, Alpha has done another line, maybe two, but she wouldn't admit to using so much of her own supply. About half past ten, she starts to come down, and with that comes the awful feeling of guilt that she's hurt her second.

Alpha gets up and gets dressed, ties up her dark hair to look as put-together as she can to go out. Her face is sallow and exhausted as she tugs at it in the mirror, but she looks at least slightly decent. She hates feeling guilty, so she always goes to get him a treat after hurting him like that. She walks quickly in the dark to the closest petrol station and dings inside the door. The cashier wrinkles their nose at the smell of a wolf - flattened, earthy, and just animal-like with no nuances to humans - not hiding a grossed out "ugh" as she walks to the 'employees only' door to hide as long as possible. Alpha grits her teeth and pulls up the hood of her jacket.

She looks among the shelves and ends up picking out a bag of chicken jerky and a packaged pastry. She's walking up to the counter to wait for the cashier to decide keeping her job is more important than hating wolves when she's stopped by a shelf of trinkets. Neither her nor Second are smokers, but there's a lighter with a gold floral design that flows into the shape of a howling wolf that pauses her, staring at it. It's a useless purchase, but it might make him forgive her so she can stop feeling this disgusting guilt.

She ends up buying it, tensely exchanging pounds with a human that will barely get near her hands, as though she’s a lepper and not just a lycan. It will get better once they're in the woods, once they're living like wolves, like they're meant to. She fiddles with the gift in her hands as she walks home, flipping it and letting the warm fire flicker it’s reflection in her eyes. Things had better get better out there. They just have to.

Second wakes up with the gifts set beside his bed and the basement door unlocked. And he does forgive her, because there isn't any other option. He just... has to.

#alpha and second #whump #whumpee #whumper #werewolf whumpee #werewolf whumper #whumpee x whumper #my ocs #whumpblr #whump oc #nonhuman whumpee #nonhuman whumper #original characters #female whumper

[ouranbutworse]

Anime-Manga Comparisons, episode 13.

Oh boy, the Wonderland episode! Honestly, it’d be easier to write about the similarities between these two episodes rather than the differences, since these two episodes are so incredibly different. But both are actually pretty great in their own special ways, I just find it interesting and confusing why the anime decided to completely change the story.

For starters, in the manga it’s made clear from the beginning that the whole thing is just the hosts playing around. It starts off with the hosts breaking the fourth wall to explain that the theme was requested to them, and that the author wagered it’d be a safe choice since there are so many characters. Tamaki and the twins are excited to see Haruhi in a frilly dress, and she bemoans how the outfit is cumbersome, so the twins take over the role of Alice instead, because Haru just isn’t curious enough to ever follow a rabbit down a hole.

On the other hand, the anime starts with middle school Haru and light brown haired Ranka going to the academy to enrol her, with plenty of establishing shots of the school, inside and out. The painting behind her shows a similar little girl chasing a pink bunny, and before the zoom in we even see Kotoko under the tree on the left. I never noticed that before. It even looks like her appearance from the later Lobelia episode in her pink outfit. Ranka worries about her enjoying herself at Ouran, which is the overarching theme of this episode.

The manga and anime continue to be extremely different, as anime Haru chases Usa-chan as a living (living?) plush until he escapes via high powered motor, but the manga has the twins chasing White Rabbit Mistukuni (Mitsu-buni?) until he goes through a too small door and Nekozawa steps in as a mysterious merchant (who they point out was not a character) to give them a shrinking potion and offer them a Bereznoff puppet, Alice A (Hikaru) and Alice B (Kaoru) offer up Alice C (Tamaki) to drink it instead and then throw him to the wolves (The Roberia flowers) and abandon him.

Going back to the anime (Yeah, this is going to get very confusing, I foresee.) We see more callbacks to the earlier episodes, as Haruhi slips on a banana peel and falls into the hole left by the high powered motor and falls… into the same room to get her butt stuck in the vase. She then has to slither like a snail towards monkey Shiro (presumably the cause of all the bananas) to get help, and instead he eats a banana that causes him to shrink and runs off through a tiny door. Haruhi eats an entire bunch of five bananas, peels and all, and shrinks down, freeing herself from the vase, but not from the host club.

She then walks down a long, dark hallway, where we see the kanji for female in lightbulbs appear again, and then a final banana peel whisks her off to a long fall into a pool. I have Vietnam style flashbacks to the beach episode, and I think the overhead shot of her is meant to be a reference to her in the fountain looking for her wallet. The lack of music and focus on the water effects and the voices is actually pretty soothing. Haruhi and Kyoya both have very nice voices. Also Kyoya has very pretty lips.

I wonder if his warning about how Haruhi will be eaten in the pool isn’t strictly about the crocodiles, but rather about how so much grief can swallow you up. Maybe. Should I be analysing the silly homosexual supporting cast so much?

The roses would have been a nicer fit for the Lobelia girls (I’m using Lobelia as their anime names and Roberia as their manga names, aren’t I smart?) but I can’t deny it’s hilarious that they’re controlling robotic crocodiles rather than just being animals like the rest of the cast. Also hello to Kyoya in what is no doubt his silliest role of all time, and I’m including the live action drama in that.

It’s almost tragic that he looks like that, but honestly it’s still great, and it fits him. The manga just omits the caterpillar character altogether, which is weirder. In the original book the caterpillar is rude and and presented as mysterious and ambiguous, and in the movie he’s even more unhelpful and mean. In the anime Kyoya is presented as mysterious still, but Haruhi is aware of what he does, even if she can’t recall why. There’s ambiguity, but no sense of animosity between them. Also, Nekozawa becomes a baby and Kirimi becomes… ambiguously older. And bigger, in… certain areas. Kyoya forgoes the safety of a baby to flirt with a girl. Disaster bisexual at work. We'll return to him (or her) later.

Back to the manga and Tamaki-Alice. (Talice? Amaki?) he meets the Roberia roses, who are stunning and beautiful and I think I’d rather just stay here with them, but we must press on, unfortunately. Tamaki tells them he’s a man, and they call him a pervert for dressing up like that, which is rude! He looks great! And then they warn him about the black queen. Also they reveal Ranka is the red queen ahead of time, so there’s no big shock there. Even though the roses just attacked him, Tamaki is willing to save them from the black queen, until they show it’s Kyoya and Tamaki tries to chicken out because his gut tells him not to revolt. Finally everyone has had enough and they finally swap in Haruhi to play Alice’s role, and she looks so cute in that dress! So cute that the roses (Rose-beria? There’s so many puns to make here!) tell her to stay with them instead, but Haruhi goes off anyway. She’s not that interested in actually fighting the queen, but she’s true of heart and feels obliged to keep her promise, so she goes anyway. She meets up with some of the host club guests and Dr. Yabu from the physical exam episode to get information on how cruel the queen is, and finally to the well informed duchess, Renge! This is a similarity between the two, because she plays the exact same role in both and even dresses the same! The difference is that she’s going to court in the anime to be executed later, but Kyoya straight up sentences her to death in the manga with no court. Harsh, but fair. Hikaru also reappears here as her butler, and finally we see the biggest host of all: Mori! And he’s a very tiny baby named Moriko. Two guards come to take the duchess away, and her final cry for help to Haruhi is to gather a rescue team of gorgeous men to save her.

Ayanokoji appears here in the anime as a cook for Renge, but I’m not sure she ever reappears in the manga past her first appearance, I’d have to conduct a thorough investigation to be certain. She chucks a bunch of dishware at Renge, who is holding baby Nekozawa. Between her and Kyoya not giving a shit about babies, they should probably get together. Then again the baby turns into the curse doll, so maybe it’s fine he was in danger after all. I find it cute that Haruhi is still gentle with the doll and puts it down on a sofa before she leaves. She walks down another very long hallway while the twins bother her, but she’s quick to suss them out. They sound exactly alike in Japanese, but I don’t know if they do in the English dub. We also see Kanako dressed as a bird, floating in a teacup while staring wistfully into the sky and hoping Toru will come back soon. This seemingly adds nothing, but I like it anyway.

Back in the manga, Haruhi-Alice (Harice?) takes baby Moriko with her (who she says is ‘kinda cute’) on her quest to rescue the duchess, and then she meets the Cheshire Twins. They’re wearing almost the same outfits in each, except the anime gives them sleeves on their shirts, a bandana, and oversized cat paws. They tell Haruhi that they used to be a single person, until the queen split them in two after a prank. They also call the queen a grownup, which either means she’s actually an adult, or it’s a riff on Kyoya for being too mature for his age. Either works, really. Haruhi admits she’s starting to sympathise more with the queen. The twins try to get a reward for inviting themselves along on the adventure, but Mad Hatter Tamaki scolds them. Since Mistukuni is already playing the white rabbit, the march hare role instead goes to Shiro, but he’s called the May Rabbit instead… and he’s white. The twins call the hatter bogus and explain that he’s a fugitive who was jailed for performing some odd stage magic during a croquet game sponsored by the queen, but he broke out of jail. Tamaki offers to protect Haruhi and defeat the queen if she promises to marry him, which Kaoru points out is worse than them asking for money. Then the twins want to marry her.

Shiro then calls Moriko an ugly baby and causes him to cry. Shiro announces he’s going home while the others try to stop the crying, and Haruhi gives him a cookie from her pocket that causes him to grow into a man. A very naked man. The twins quickly clothe him, and he gives Haruhi a hug, and they all settle on whoever defeats the queen will secure Haru-Alice. She points out that there’s no more parallel and that it’s the old pattern remerging.

The anime scene is a little closer to the original, as Mad Hatter Tamaki and March Hare Honey announce there’s no room at the very long dining room table, or at any of the others. Haruhi, being who she is, simply accepts that and goes to leave until they demand she come back. They talk about her appearance, and Haruhi says it doesn’t matter whether she’s a girl or not, and then makes a callback to the last episode about his cavity, where Dormouse Mori wakes up to remind him to brush his teeth and then goes right back to sleep.

Mad Hatter Tamaki asks her a riddle about tuna, which isn’t really a riddle, and then yells at her when she gets it wrong, and the mannequin from the first beach episode returns, wearing the swimsuit Honey preferred, to offer wine. Hruhi points out it’s illegal for them to drink because they’re minors, and Tamaki and Honey say even though she’s not a very good Alice, she is pretty cute. The clocks strike three, and the hatter asks another riddle, how are he and her father similar?

He then asks her what else she’d do at Ouran, besides studying, and she’s confused by what else there is. And then we find out that the duchess is going to be executed.

Haruhi stands in as her lawyer, and a lot more presence is put onto the queen here. I wonder if this argument of a parent leaving their child for work was part of her own feelings, but she didn’t realise it. The king accuses her of breaking the vase, and Tamaki steps in to defend her, while also roasting the shit out of her for being boring. She then calls him by his name and the lights go up to reveal all the guests watching, and the other hosts appear and Ranka unmasks himself. He’s really happy to see her make ‘fine friends’. Until later on when he stands on Tamaki I guess, haha.

Of course, then we get the reveal that the queen is Kotoko, and for some reason it always makes me tear up. The clock chiming distantly as the dream fades out is sad.

And then we see the hosts dressed as their manga counterparts, which just makes me wish the black queen would step on me. I’d say enough about that, but now that the anime episode is over, it’s back to the manga, where black queen Kyoya is calling the team rats.

The team are immediately brought to the queen, to the dismay of Hikaru, who thought there’d be more action, and Kaoru bets it’s because they’re running out of pages. White rabbit Honey reappears with his double personality and dark mode, calling them vermin and telling them that if the queen had let him, he’d have finished them in an instant. The queen also justifies her executions and explains that everyone who’s caused trouble was also costing a lot of money, including the red queen. Haruhi feels the need to apologise for Ranka’s actions. Haruhi tells the queen that executions still aren’t right, and asks if she ever went to kindergarten (what kind of kindergarten teaches kids not to execute?) and the queen says no, she didn’t. The mad hatter then summons a giant griffon and it fights the black queen, and while that happens Haruhi finds a tiny Bereznoff eating a cookie in her pocket, and sends him to fight too. He grows large from the cookie, and presumably kills the queen? It’s not very clear. The last line explains that the queen and castle disappeared, and white rabbit Honey seems confused on where he goes, too. Nekozawa returns to become the White King, the Cheshire Twins, Mad Hatter, and White Rabbit argue over who’s going to marry Alice, only to turn around and find Alice is now Mori, and Haruhi wakes up from her dream to her mother Kyoya taking her home for dinner. The others are trapped in the dreamworld and Duchess Renge is still behind bars. Maybe the White King will save her, eh? Haha.

Episode 13… is a happy ending!

#ohshc #ouran high school host club #manga tag #comparisons series #writing tag

[wilderun]

how do you feel abt people crossing "subspecies" of wolves freely, especially eastern timber wolf, when there's more and more evidence it should be recognized as it's own species, bc they're so distinct from other grey wolves and more closely related to coyotes and red wolves?

there's not really any 'pure' subspecies wolfdogs/wolves in captivity in the US except for the very uncommon wild sourced animal. The lines were crossed and blended because once laws tightened on the ownership and sourcing of pure wolves, it became difficult to maintain enough diversity within the subspecies lines without mixing them to other subspecies. I couldn't show you a single animal in the USA that is labeled as an Arctic who doesn't have one or more other subspecies mixed in heavily, for instance. Zephyr has a large chunk of Eastern Timber in her background, as well as British Columbian, and then small amounts of Arctic, Tundra, and even a VERY tiny amount of Siberian wolf from am F1 GSD x wolf cross imported from Russia in the late 1950's.

#dogblr #wolfdog

[neobubz]

can i just rant here for two seconds?! but first let me say this…1.) i’m not the sharpest tool in the shed 2.) i don’t have a profound love for overly complicated words that have the MOST SIMPLEST OF MEANINGS… that being said…

one of the things i love doing is picking up a new book and diving into the author’s world. however, why is it that author’s seem to describe everything but the kitchen sink? why do they go and talk about everything and anything but what they should actually be describing? i love using my imagination a lot while reading and try super hard even in my fanfics to let you guys explore your imaginations but at the same time painting a pretty good picture for you (at least i attempt to do so) still…why do writers use these astronomically complex words when there are simple words to use? or why do they not take time to really describe something but instead use the name of an object assuming everyone (no matter where they are in this world) knows what it is.

like the story i’m reading used the word aswang because we all know what an aswang is right? this book has a vampire character yet at the same time the author talks about this character turning into a wild cat and eating a man’s heart. yes, i am from the usa and let me tell ya, wtf?!!! i thought is this truly a vampire? i’ve never read stories were a vampire actually eats bodily organs (at least i haven’t stumbled across it and yes I’ve read more than just twilight vamp stories) she didn’t tell us ANYTHING about an aswang which i would have loved to hear about. it’s the same as me using the term rougarou and assuming you guys have heard it before. however, in the context that i first heard that term it was a person who can shape shift into a wolf not a werewolf so think twilight wolves but regular sized lol i could have used lycan, lycanthrope, or to make it even more simple, werewolf. those would have been better words than rougarou… so, anyway, this author goes and uses the term ouroboros, do you guys know what that is? it’s that snake eating it’s tail emblem that means infinity 🤦🏽‍♀️ like girl you could have described a pretty cool trinket/emblem/patch whatever in the story even saying if it was golden or gilded for lack of better words but no…you just said ouroboros like (everyone knows what that means so i don’t need to describe it) b*tch i’ve never read/heard/spoken that word in my life! i know what it is after i looked it up like “ohhhh that’s what it is!!! i’ve seen that before but never knew it was called that,” i had an epiphany in that moment or should i use ephiphanically like this author 😑

why do people do this? like really?!!!put that thesaurus away and try writing like a NORMAL person and then vary your descriptive words but don’t go crazy… people shouldn’t have to constantly put down a book/stop reading (unless there’s a language barrier cuz it happens) just to read a book… or maybe i’m just stupid and it’s a me problem…what do you guys think? do you agree or disagree?

#neobubz #neobubz rant #reading rant

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Hobbit! Chapter 6

Welcome to another chapter! Please forgive any strangeness, I'm doing this from my tablet to see how feasible it might be.

Bilbo had escaped the goblins, but he did not know where he was. He had lost hood, cloak, food, pony, his buttons and his friends.

We all know it's the loss of buttons that's upsetting Bilbo most.

He wondered whether he ought not, now he had the magic ring, to go back into the horrible, horrible, tunnels and look for his friends.

Is this his conscience, or the ring desperately going, "I'd rather be with the goblins, thanks!"

“I will give them all a surprise,” he thought, as he crawled into the bushes at the edge of the dell.

You can tell that the Hobbit isn't pointlessly grimdark and/or the USA from the way that this little prank didn't get Bilbo killed.

...it was Balin doing look-out...

Best dwarf as ever.

“He has been more trouble than use so far,” said one.

He kept you all fed that one night, was the only one who didn't get troll-captured when Gandalf dicked off, and woke you all up when the goblins were coming. I'm not saying he's super helpful or competent but at the end of the day almost none of you have been any use at all and most of you have been trouble. Whichever dwarf said this is a jerk.

"Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you here to get out of the mess as best you can yourselves."

Gandalf literally has no choice. The dwarves aren't in a tight corner after all, and the wizard assumes Bilbo is.

He called to Balin and told him what he thought of a look-out man who let people walk right into them like that without warning.

He's still best dwarf, Gandalf.

"So I said: ‘what about your promise? Show me the way out!’"

I can't find anything that suggests this chapter was changed, but I suppose it must have been based on the original text. I should probably find an actual first edition Hobbit. I'm sure they're very easy to get one's hands on.

The wizard, to tell the truth, never minded explaining his cleverness more than once...

Five times though, is right out.

“I must see if I can’t find a more or less decent giant to block it up again,” said Gandalf, “or soon there will be no getting over the mountains at all.”

Rather a shame Tolkien didn't continue to use giants throughout the Legendarium, considering that they avoid the problems of orcish morality apparently.

"You lose track of time inside goblin-tunnels. Today’s Thursday, and it was Monday night or Tuesday morning that we were captured."

So excepting Bilbo's time spent unconscious, none of you all have rested in days? And you're not resting any time soon either? Goodness.

He nibbled a bit of sorrel, and he drank from a small mountain-stream that crossed the path, and he ate three wild strawberries that he found on its bank, but it was not much good.

That's barely enough for a mouse. Dwarves are lucky they've finally started respecting them or more insults would have gotten THEM eaten.

“Well! that has got us on a bit,” said Gandalf; “and even goblins tracking us will have a job to come down here quietly.”

On the downside, they've got a very easy time of tracking you now that you caused a landslide.

“Must we go any further?” asked Bilbo...

No Bilbo, now they're just walking it for fun.

One of his elder cousins (on the Took side), who had been a great traveller

Another Gandalf project? Or just the family craziness coming through?

Even magic rings are not much use against wolves...

But it's THE ring. Would the scent come through that well when Bilbo's literally popping off the mortal coil?

And Bilbo? He could not get into any tree, and was scuttling about from trunk to trunk, like a rabbit that has lost its hole and has a dog after it.

This is barely a simile, Mr. Tolkien. Bilbo is a rabbit that lost his hole (that means comfort) and has dogs after him.

Still Dori did not let Bilbo down.

Alright Dori, this makes up for your earlier fuck ups. You are now safely out of the Kili/Fili territory and back into the middle of the pack.

He spoke to them in the dreadful language of the Wargs.

And we come back into fairy tale territory, which is a shame because it's just a bit too kiddy right now and if this weren't going down everything would be terrifying.

I will tell you what Gandalf heard, though Bilbo did not understand it.

Show, Tolkien! Don't tell us about it, show it! This should be tenser and you're infodumping. All that matters is that they meant to see the goblins and they're late.

[Gandalf] gathered the huge pine-cones from the branches of the tree. Then he set one alight with bright blue fire, and threw it whizzing down among the circle of the wolves. It struck one on the back, and immediately his shaggy coat caught fire, and he was leaping to and fro yelping horribly.

Oh thank god, something is happening. It's a good thing there's no way to still be scared after all this infodumping or the immediate immolation of the once-terrifying enemy might have been whiplashy.

...they fled off down the slopes crying and yammering and looking for water.

Smokey the bear would be horrified at this. Must be a wet spring or else half the woods should be ablaze too.

The wolves that had caught fire and fled into the forest had set it alight in several places. It was high summer, and on this eastern side of the mountains there had been little rain for some time.

Oh. Well, way to go Gandalf.

[Other goblins] rushed round and stamped and beat, and beat and stamped, until nearly all the flames were put out

Gandalf, as someone who has spent so many summers under the oppressive smoke of wildfires, you've got me rooting for the goblins at this point. They're somehow the guys preserving nature.

Fifteen birds in five fir-trees

Seriously, listen to this song from now until you die. You'll never need other kinds of music with it anyway.

Here's a link.

"Also naughty little boys that play with fire get punished."

Yes, Gandalf. For example, you played with fire and now someone's turned it against you.

Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles swept down from above, seized him in his talons, and was gone.

I am convinced that from this moment forward, at least some of the dwarves were convinced that every one of Gandalf's disappearances and reappearances was eagle-based.

Poor little Bilbo was very nearly left behind again!

One of the unstated reasons for Frodo's rescue all those years later is that they felt bad for having nearly left his uncle to die in the confusion.

So you can imagine how his head swam now, when he looked down between his dangling toes and saw the dark lands opening wide underneath him, touched here and there with the light of the moon on a hill-side rock or a stream in the plains.

I dunno, I don't love heights either but looking down out of airplane windows isn't too bad at any point.

Of course, I have a floor and chair and Bilbo has neither.

“Now I know what a piece of bacon feels like when it is suddenly picked out of the pan on a fork and put back on the shelf!” “No you don’t!” he heard Dori answering, “because the bacon knows that it will get back in the pan sooner or later; and it is to be hoped we shan’t. Also eagles aren’t forks!”

Dori is awfully quick-witted for someone who should be just as hungry and oxygen-deprived as Bilbo. Did they have snack time without him?

He had just strength to wonder what the messenger had meant by ‘prisoners,’ and to begin to think of being torn up for supper like a rabbit, when his own turn came.

Don't get arrested in the Shire, I guess.

So you see ‘prisoners’ had meant ‘prisoners rescued from the goblins’ only, and not captives of the eagles.

It's cheap wordplay as a form of drama, JRRT. Come on now.

Bilbo was too weak to help, and anyway he was not much good at skinning rabbits or cutting up meat, being used to having it delivered by the butcher all ready to cook.

I'm deeply torn between going with the text and assuming he's only too weak to help because he's a dandy or again accusing the dwarves of having secret snack time without him. Sadly, the true answer is probably just he literally can't move his arms for having clung so much.

(Dwarves have never taken to matches even yet.)

And very shortly the technology will be lost to all Middle-Earth if the sequel is anything to go by!

But this is basically the end of the chapter, so I'll bid you all adieu. Next time, we move into the territory that the second Jackson film covers: Queer Lodgings. I think I've seen a porn called that.

I'm sad to say that this chapter is something of a nadir thus far, especially compared to its immediate predecessors. Tolkien undercuts his own drama with a bunch of infodumping to set up the climactic battle and goes overboard even in that light. Then when we should be feeling relief he goes for the cheap confusion about prisoners. Hopefully next chapter will be a return to form.

#the hobbit #bilbo baggins #gandalf #thorin oakenshield #let's read #j r r tolkien

[slimequeenofeverything]

#20: Wolves (2014)

Wolves, yet another werewolf movie with an extraordinarily generic name. I just call this one “the Jason Momoa one” cause Jason Momoa is in it. I also just realized it was written and directed by the voice of Snake from MGS, so that’s kinda freaking me out too. 

Anyhow this movie is pretty terrible and probably deserves to be way lower on this list, but I somehow found this movie weirdly compelling. Our protagonist, Cayden, has to flee his perfect life as a highschool senior in LA when werewolf puberty causes him to make a real mess of things. He ends up in a rural all-american town that is conveniently inhabited by werewolves. Here he must learn about his werewolf past and free his new werewolf girlfriend from her arranged werewolf marriage to Jason Momoa. 

Wolves is extremely white, and feels like an ode to small-town USA and heterosexual country romance. These things should make me dislike it, but the way the movie presents itself is very genuine in a surprisingly endearing way. It’s like Underworld for dudes who listen to stomp-clap country. This movie reminds me of the time in my life I would sing karaoke at dive bars around rural Georgia. Not really my scene, and definitely not a place to talk politics, but a fine opportunity to knock back some cheap beer and have a great time.

I don’t think I can actually recommend this movie when I think about it. The werewolf makeup and transformations are pretty bad. The acting is weak, and none of the characters are particularly interesting. But I found it to be one of the more entertaining movies throughout my pilgrimage, so that has to be worth something.

#werewolf pilgrimage #werewolves #wolves #jason momoa

[pajorko]

Popp as a AM? I think she a pure CF.

I did feel Joelle already pleyed good enough last season, especially she can play both rw and cb. I dont understand why she not in the Euro. She definitely better as a rb than Anyomi.

I just find out Dom gave 4 pen to opponent this season (each 2 for club and country), it very high risk to put her in our own box, since now wob have more defender, she maybe bench or play other positions.

Wob have 9 forward, i think the coach should use the usa style, chang all 3 forward at 60" without dropping the quality. They are already fast and with the fresh legs against the tired defender, that will be super scared. Just like Waßmuth/Pajor/Huth >>> Jónsdóttir/popp/Brand.

She was played in the midfield in Wob, so this is why I placed her there. But Wolfsburg are very fluid with changing positions during games, especially up front, so I wouldn't get attached to where they are placed in the initial line ups.

Tbh I don't think that Jo had a good season and I can see why she wasn't called up. I think that Maxi Rall could fit this role though, I still can't comprehend why she didn't go to the Euros.

Dom is a class player and she has been vital to the club in the recent seasons. We shouldn't forget that beside being Wob's CB, she's also the free kicks specialist and her brilliant free kicks are important to the team. Let's wait for the first games and see how she will be doing.

We will see what is Stroot's idea for the season. I gotta admit that I love this comfort of having so many great players, especially knowing how injury prone some Wolves are.

#askjorko

[whorelyyy]

Drunk crying at the bar is totally a normal & well adjusted thing to do, right?

Raz, fueled by a caffeine-induced buzz from unpacking well past midnight, found herself wide awake. She thought all her hard work deserved a reward, so she ventured to one of Oasis's only bars, The Watering Hole. The bar was walking distance from her new place, so she figured she could treat herself to a few drinks and not have to worry about driving. When she reached the bar, it was quiet. She ordered a vodka soda, a simple yet satisfying reward for her hard work.

Sipping her drink, she scanned the bar, taking in its plain, lackluster atmosphere. Was this a typical Wednesday night here? With only a handful of patrons, including herself and the bartender, the place felt lonely. As someone tinkered with the jukebox, she braced herself for the predictable twang of a pro-USA country anthem. To her surprise, the familiar chords of The Mountain Goats' "Up the Wolves" filled the air.

“How depressed do you have to be to play The Mountain Goats at the bar?” she whispered to herself, her irritation mounting with every note. The sheer absurdity of it made her angry, prompting her to question the sanity—or lack thereof—of whoever dared to play such an offbeat choice. “What a cry for help…” she whispered to herself, finishing her drink.

As the song played on she unconsciously found herself singing along, muscle memory from playing the song on repeat when she was younger and much more depressed.

“There's gonna come a day when you'll feel better, you'll rise up free and easy on that day and float from branch to branch, lighter than the air. Just when that day is coming, who can say? Who can say?”

As she choked out the last line, tears welled in her eyes. Damn it, this was the last thing she needed. No dredging up the past, just forward, always forward.

She angrily brushed away her tears, refusing to let some damn goat band ruin her night. Hell-bent on making the most of her hard-earned celebration, she ordered another vodka soda, this time a double. The bartender, with her generous pour, swiftly complied, and Raz welcomed the extra dose of liquid comfort. Yet, as she sipped her drink, her mood soured further when the same guy rose to select another song, this time he  chose "No Children" by the Mountain Goats.

“You’re fucking kidding me.” She fussed loudly.

The guy who played the song glanced her way, his eyes carrying a haunting emptiness. He offered no emotion, no acknowledgment, just drank his beer and crooned along to what can only be described as the epitome of despair. He kept his gaze locked on Raz before exchanging words with the bartender. Behind the counter, the woman swiftly filled four shot glasses with vodka. Uninterested in witnessing a man drown his sorrows, Raz turned her attention to her phone. No new messages. Not that she should be surprised; he had made sure she was alone right until the end.

“Can’t have you running off and telling someone our business, my business.” echoed in her head.

She shuddered, forcefully suppressing the memory. Before Raz could grasp the situation, two shots materialized before her. The bartender gestured toward the man orchestrating tonight's gloomy playlist as she darted off to serve another patron. Locking eyes with the man, he raised his glass, nodded, and downed the first shot in one swift motion, followed by the second. His gaze bore into her, waiting for her to join in.

She knew better and was well aware of the risks of accepting drinks from strange, depressing men in bars, but in that moment, she couldn't summon the energy to care. Offering the man a faint, uneasy smile, she knocked back both shots. Appearing somewhat satisfied, he returned a sad smile before turning his attention back to his beer.

“And I hope when you think of me years down the line you can't find one good thing to say and I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out, you'd stay the hell out of my way.”

The lyrics slammed into her like a freight train, shaking her to her very core. Unable to hold back, she crumbled under the weight of her emotions, tears streaming down her cheeks. Wonderful. What a fantastic first impression she was making. Hastily, she fled to the solitary bathroom in the bar. She refused to let this moment define her introduction to anyone in Oasis, not even some depressed weirdo at the bar.

Struggling to regain control, she attempted to calm her racing thoughts, grasping for stability. Counting five things she could see, smell, touch, and taste, she fought to ground herself. Just as she started to catch her breath amid her broken sobs, a knock reverberated through the door, shattering the peace she had managed to build.

"Hey, everything okay in there?" A low, gentle voice drifted through the door.

"I'm fine," she snapped back, her tone sharp with irritation.

"Doesn't sound fine," the voice persisted.

"I said I'm fine!" she practically yelled. "These songs are just fucking awful."

"Apologies for the tunes," the voice admitted. "I chose those songs. Looks like we're both drowning in the same melancholy. Let me grab you another drink? Misery loves company."

“No.” she said firmly, “please leave me the fuck alone.”

No response. Thank god he understood. She was in no place to make new friends, no matter how desperately she craved them. The longing to rely on someone other than herself was strong, but this wasn't the place, and she wouldn’t find that here and certainly not in some pathetic man singing sad songs at the bar on a Wednesday night.

She collected herself, giving her reflection a quick once-over in the mirror. It was hard to tell she'd just been a mess of tears, but why did the room feel like it was spinning? Exiting the bathroom, her vision blurred intermittently, not from tears this time, but from the bartender's generous pours. It was time to call it a night; crying and blacking out her first time out in Oasis was not the reputation she wanted. With unsteady steps, she made her way to the bar to settle her tab. Noticing the man from earlier was gone, she shrugged it off, too dazed to dwell on it. The bartender informed her that her drinks had been paid for. Strange, but she lacked the focus or energy to inquire further. All she wanted was to get home.

She stumbled her way home, unlocking the door to her beautiful new space. Unpacking had been a nightmare, but she couldn't deny her adoration for what she’d created here. Collapsing onto her bed, exhaustion didn't quite claim her yet. Opting for distraction, she reached for her phone, mindlessly scrolling through TikTok. What felt like a only 15 minutes turned into an hour of aimless consumption—reviews of eye cream, teasers for her favorite band's new album, snippets from her favorite TV shows, and insane nonsensical memes. The mindlessness was a welcome escape until a video of three childhood best friends, set to Alex Olsen's "someday i’ll get it" triggered tears for the third time that night. The crushing weight of loneliness consumed her, leaving her feeling utterly isolated. No friends, no family, no one to love, support, or uplift her. She was strong, but she was exhausted. Yearning for tenderness, for affection, for rest, she sobbed, drowning in her sadness and intoxication. She had to get these feeling out of her head, and Raz found the best way for her to do that was journaling. She reached for her laptop where she kept an anonymous personal blog, desperately needing to get this aching feeling out. In her depressed and inebriated state, she failed to realize she'd opened the wrong page…

The songs mentioned throughout the update:

#icecreamlegacychallenge #the sims 4 challenge #sims4 #oc #gen 1 #raz

[headspace-hotel]

Part of the reason why nonviolent protest is preferred over violence is PR: aggression gives the government a moral excuse to commit violence, whereas being nonviolent lets you claim moral high ground. It doesn’t help that a lot of the left-wingers who prefer violence to non-violence tend to be sex pests, because physical and sexual violence are intertwined.

I don't know what a "sex pest" is and i'm very reluctant to google it, but the whole way that statement is worded is weird. Are you implying that someone who condones violent political protest is more likely to be some kind of pervert or something?

Anyway, my one and only statement on the subject is that generally, violence has bad consequences and it gets innocent people hurt and killed and it can provoke extreme retaliation, but anyone saying that it doesn't "work" is full of shit. Violence Does Stuff—not only the stuff you want, but it Works.

But set aside whether or not it "works." Violence is something that always is and should be a possibility. What they say about dogs is that you should never, never, never punish a dog for growling, because a dog that growls is telling you that you're approaching the danger zone and giving you a chance to back off. Wolves in the wild seldom ever fight each other, because they have a system of escalating warnings they give other wolves before they resort to actual violence.

I, in my interpersonal relationships, have a threshold where I would bite another person. That threshold is "if I am being physically assaulted." I have a threshold where I would yell at someone. I have a threshold where I would be a cold-hearted bitch and be mean and stand my ground with someone. Recently I got into a very bad relationship and realized that I needed to work on being a dog that growls. I was so determined to be nice and to not be a bitch that I let someone basically ruin my whole life at the time.

Any relationship where a balance of power is being negotiated has this, or it should have this. The relationship between people and their government is the same.

Here's how peaceful protest works:

A wolf might not ever have to bite you, because it's a wolf.

This doesn't mean that a growl is a polite request. Wild animals don't appeal to the moral high grounds of other animals. A growl is giving you a chance to keep things peaceful. A growl is peaceful, but it is a reminder and a warning that you are fucking with a wolf.

In large numbers, there is power. When people assemble in large numbers and protest, however peacefully, this is a reminder to the Powers That Be that You Are Fucking With A Wolf.

But listen. Practically everything in nature does threat displays. A house cat fighting a fucking grizzly bear will puff up and hiss and growl, and a house cat CAN tear out that grizzly bear's eyeballs even if its chances of winning a fight are zero. It doesn't matter if you're a wolf or not, if you're cornered, all bets are off as to what you might do.

History teaches us that violence, with great regularity, happens. It happens. And I don't think it's ever "good," and we can try to reduce it, but if you make any creature feel desperate enough, scared enough, trapped enough, that creature will hurt you.

(The exceptions are dead.)

And I don't want civil unrest and violence. I know innocent people are going to get hurt and killed because that always happens. But in the USA we're reaching the point where our government has been ignoring the growls for a long time. They're suppressing voters and rolling back our rights. They're pushing and pushing and pushing how much they can get away with taking away from us. And people are suffering. And they're dying. And we're afraid.

Every great empire of the past was running around putting down rebellion after rebellion every minute of its existence like playing whack-a-mole. Sure, the Romans held together a surprisingly long time, but their preferred method of dealing with political dissent was nailing people to wooden crosses along roadsides and leaving them to die in agony over days.

And all of those empires held together at all because they usually allowed religious and cultural diversity and let local leaders mostly do their own thing. You can't oppress people so hard that they won't turn on you. You can't. People turn on their oppressors when they've had enough. If someone is starving, they will do anything to get food. If someone's child is being threatened, they will do anything to protect their child. If someone is truly desperate, they're beyond fearing your power.

So I don't believe in having arguments about whether violence is "right" or "wrong" because at no point in history has this mattered. If the Powers That Be ignore peaceful protest, people don't go "Aw, shucks" and go home. They start burning buildings, destroying property and rioting.

That's an open threat display. That's a dog snapping at air or a snake striking for show before the real venom comes out. You should be HAPPY they do that, because they could have just bitten you for real. Threat displays like this are a way of avoiding worse violence. Remember this. Understand it.

Someone destroying property over real, living, breathing humans being killed is giving their oppressors a chance to listen that is 100% undeserved. Remember this. Understand it.

The world is threatened by an existential fear for the future, and the government doesn't have very long before that becomes more powerful than the fear of what a government can do to hurt you. I believe more and more that this is inevitable. Not "right" or "wrong," unavoidable, the next step in a natural progression. I don't want it to go this way but the ball is not in my court right now.

If you get an animal cornered and terrified, poke it and hurt it and ignore its growls, you will get bit and it will be your fault. And that's all.

#politics

[crystalsandbubbletea]

Vent

You talk about politics all the time, especially issues that are personal for you.

Yet you talk about one personal issue less than the others.

Is it because you're still grieving the loss of your friends? Is it because you find it difficult to get information?

Or is it because you keep trying to forget about her? Your first love.

You were fourteen and a Indigenous American in the USA, meanwhile she was a girl your age, and she was a Ukrainian all the way in Ukraine. You met each other via TikTok, and then you eventually got each others Discords.

How many nights did you two stay up late talking to each other? Rambling about your countries histories, about cultures, about wolves?

Eventually you start to realize just how much you're in love with her. What made you love her? Was it her blonde hair? Her brown eyes? Her voice? Or did you love her because you and her were alike in terms of interests?

After some time, you get the guts to confess to her, and to your surprise, she loves you back. And so starts a love story that you think would last forever.

Then Russia invades Ukraine a year later.

You wake up in the middle of the night, feeling something is wrong. You see that your girlfriend wants to call you, so you call her, and she tells you what happened.

You fear for her, you pray every day for her and her family.

And you foolishly think that she'll live.

Your love story with her was short-lived, ended via Russia bombing her city. You don't find out about her death until a mutual friend of the two of you tells you.

You're left shattered, constantly trying to think about what you could have done, constantly blaming yourself even though it wasn't your fault. This causes you to hesitate about befriending Ukrainians, as you have no way of knowing if they will live or die.

Eventually, you try to forget about her. As an attempt to try to forget her, you rarely talk about Ukraine.

Until one day, after what feels like so many years, you're overcome by guilt. How would she feel about your silence? Your silence is a betrayal to her and the many friends who lost their lives.

It's because of this you realize that maybe you should start talking about Ukraine more. After all, your silence is deafening, and isn't helping anyone.

But even so, nothing can take away the pain you feel, the pain caused by your beloved's death.

#vent post #vent #crystals vents #crystal vents #bubble tea vents #bubble vents #tea vents #rian vents #ukraine #I miss her every day and I wish she was still here #Sometimes I wish I could swap our places and make it so that I had died instead of her #But that wouldn't change anything #That would still result in someone getting hurt

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Trump The Bible Salesman: The End Must Be Nie

Donald Trump is selling $60 bibles to the American public. If you wanted to witness the lowest point of this saga and American popular culture this is pretty close. This guy has no shame because he has a complete absence of integrity in the first place. Trump would sell his own mother if there was a buck in it. He cheats at golf, constantly, which defeats the whole purpose of playing the game. Trump the bible salesman: The end must be nie. The United States of America has become an international laughing stock. Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

How Low Can Donald Trump Go?

The love of Trump has to be founded on his decade of celebrity on TV. Deluded Americans have confused reality with reality TV. Believing in a compulsive liar and narcissist is a strange cult to follow. Trump selling bibles can be viewed as a desperate act or a weirdly American return to one’s roots. I think of Great Depression era salesmen selling bibles. The lowest of the low times and the selling of hope. Trump should have been a game show host – this is his true metier. He could have spruiked his rich mix of lies and ridiculous statements without damaging the nation that spawned him. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Golden Sneakers & Sixty Buck Bibles

Trump has been peddling golden sneakers too. Surely there is something in the bible about such dichotomies? "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits." - (Matthew 7. 15-20) Right now, Donald Trump is definitely a ravenous wolf, ravenous for your money. Found guilty of massive fraud in his business dealings. Found guilty of defaming a woman he raped and defaming her some more. These civil findings have cost him around half a billion dollars. This is why we see Donald hawking sneakers and bibles to the schmucks that follow him. The faithful have shut their minds and eyes to the facts before them. They will go to their graves believing the evil fruit Trump serves them. This is the sure sign of a downfall of a civilisation, when folk do not care to know the difference between truth and lies. Historians wonder at how such great civilisations can fall, like the Romans who had conquered half the known world. We can see the why and the how in what is happening in America at the moment. Ordinary people lose the ability to see what is what via the extreme influence of their beliefs. You cannot turn away from progress and seek the past – this is a recipe for a quick demise. Turning away from the challenges of the future to try and claw back the past is throughout history a sure sign of the imminent destruction of a civilisation. “The former president said every American needs to have a Bible in their home — and he has many copies available. “It’s my favorite book,” he said, later adding, “We have to bring Christianity back into our lives and back into what will be again a great nation.” The $60 Bible is the King James Version will include lyrics from Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” as well as the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance.” - (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4557605-trump-god-bless-usa-bibles/) The Death Of Democracy & Rise Of Autocracy False prophets peddling the politics of grievance, like Trump, are hastening the collapse of America. Democracy has always been the great experiment bubbling on the stove. De Tocqueville knew it and had the excesses and failures of the French Revolution to enrich his view of the nascent America. We have the extraordinary circumstances of a presidential race between a grifter and a very old man. The orange Jesus selling sixty buck bibles vs a fairly decent Joe Biden. A nation, which has the led the world for a century or more, now challenged by the rise of China and India not too far behind. Probably, the hawks and money men want a change from a democracy to an autocracy so that they can compete with China. Totalitarian regimes are easier to manage militarily and, perhaps, economically in the 21C. The economic superpower status of the USA has always been maintained via its military advantage over all other comers. The End Is Nie For America Trump the bible salesman: The end must be nie. The old testament is largely a potted history of the Jewish people and their adversaries. Dynasties and family histories designed in the telling to pump up the tyres of these oft benighted folk. The end of times and the dystopian view of America that Trump is pushing is well suited by a bible selling false prophet. The MAGA line demands an a priori acceptance of a spoiled America. An America betrayed by immoral liberals and lefties. These overfed fools who have never faced war or invasion on their lands, apart from their own Civil War, are indulging in dangerous fancies. The Trump cult is entrenching division down the old slaver state lines. A failed coup – the January 6th insurrection has pitted the militias and their supporters against the state, once already. Donald Trump has promised to free the gaoled insurrectionists. Politics has gazumped the rule of law it seems. The world is witnessing the ugly, white supremacist side of American culture and this time it is no Hollywood movie. Guns and money are the two great touchstones of America. Trump, the Teflon Don, has evaded criminal convictions but been bitten by civil proceedings and big fines.  Only money talks in the USA. Get your MAGA bible now! Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©MidasWord https://read.amazon.com.au/kp/embed?asin=B0CY8CMT33&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_2K12J9EM5063CJ5BHEGK Read the full article

#America #culturalidentity #religion #sellingbibles #Trump

[orthorexwolfie]

WOLVES' BIO

• TWs at bottom of post, under 'Disclaimer' section, written in purple •

I'm in my 20's, reside in USA, and I'm trying to get back on track after a massive binge episode.

ABOUT ME •

I'm a binary transman and have been on hormones since 2019.

420, INFP-T, loves animals, books, gaming, journaling, organizing, cleaning, spending time with my fiancé and polycule. Spent 2 years studying to become a veterinary technician, but had to drop out in the last semester.

I've been really obsessed with League of Legends lately. I also play modded Stardew Valley and modded Sims 4. I'm also Pokémon-obsessed and have been since age 7.

DIAGNOSES •

Orthorexia Nervosa, Autism, BPD, Gender Dysphoria, severe Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, severe Rejection Dysphoria

ED RELATED •

HW: 172lbs | LW: 119lbs | UGW: 88lbs

CW: 136.2lbs...

OTHER •

For now, I'm keeping my account pretty private, but the type of content I follow should be pretty obvious: orth0, malesp0, pr0ana, m3ntal h3alth. As I explore Tumblr more and get more comfortable, I may remove the private restrictions. Don't wanna get nuked by Tumblr though.

DISCLAIMER •

At the end of the day, this is my account, so I can post whatever I want. Don't like it? You don't have to follow.

TW: pr0ana, possible s3lf harm, cruel thoughts, fatph0bia, talk of dysphoria + talk of being ftm, transmedicalism.

You have been warned.

⛧ logs ⛧

helpful links -

[productsreviewings]

Managerless Southampton head to Stamford Bridge with Chelsea supervisor Graham Potter. Regardless of file spending, Chelsea discover themselves firmly in mid-table and preventing to avoid wasting their season, whereas Southampton are on the all-time low of the Premier League. Chelsea vs Southampton Dwell Stream Date, Time, ChannelChelsea vs Southampton reside stream will happen on Saturday, February 18.► the time 3pm GMT / 10am ET / 7am PT / 2am AEDT (February 19)• US — Watch on NBC or Peacock (opens in new tab) (Requires Premium Sub)• Watch Anyplace — Strive ExpressVPN 100% Threat Free (opens in new tab)After dropping to Borussia Dortmund within the week, Chelsea nonetheless have only one win in 2023. A 1-1 draw with West Ham of their final league recreation may very well be thought of unfortunate as a result of a questionable VAR determination, however Graham Potter wants his gamers to step up and take issues into their very own arms. In the meantime, Southampton parted firm with supervisor Nathan Jones after the ten-man 2-1 defeat by Wolves proved the ultimate straw. Saints have gained simply one in all their eight league video games, with them now three factors off the underside of the desk.Additionally, be sure to do not miss any of the EPL motion this weekend by testing our full the best way to watch Premier League reside stream hub. Methods to watch reside stream of Chelsea vs Southampton anyplaceChelsea vs Southampton reside stream will probably be proven on varied channels around the globe, however what if you're not in your house nation and wish to watch it in your ordinary service?The reply is to make use of a VPN, or digital non-public community. A VPN will allow you to connect with your private home protection irrespective of the place you might be — which means when you're overseas, you should utilize top-of-the-line VPN companies to look at the video games reside such as you're in your lounge.Our favourite for the time being ExpressVPN (opens in new tab), due to its mixture of nice velocity, nice customer support, and nice system help. It additionally presents a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back assure, so you may check it out with out signing up long-term.Utilizing a VPN is extremely simple.1. Set up the VPN of your selection. As we mentioned, ExpressVPN (opens in new tab) Our favourite.2. Select the situation you wish to connect with within the VPN app. For instance if you're within the UK and wish to view a US service, you would choose US from the checklist3. Sit again and benefit from the motion. Go to Peacock or one other service and watch the sport.Unique Tom's Information Low cost: Get three additional months free on ExpressVPN (opens in new tab)Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream by nationMethods to watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream in USA(Picture credit score: Shutterstock)Soccer followers in USA can watch reside stream of Chelsea vs Southampton on Peacock (opens in new tab), NBC's streaming service. To tune in, you will want to join a Premium subscription ($4.99/month) or Premium Plus ($9.99/month, which additionally removes advertisements). For those who're outdoors the US however nonetheless have a Proper Peacock subscription, you may watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream utilizing a VPN like ExpressVPN (opens in new tab).Methods to watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream in Canada(Picture credit score: Shutterstock)Canadians can watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream Fubo.TV (opens in new tab)The brand new residence of Premier League soccer in Canada. It is a change from final season, the place the motion was on DAZN, and ends in a barely greater worth of CAN$24.99 in comparison with DAZN's $20. That is for the Important plan, which will get you all Premier League matches, all Serie A matches and 29 channels together with BeINSports and MLB Community. The $39.99 Premium plan provides 20 leisure channels and extra.Canadians caught overseas who nonetheless

need their low-cost choices can use VPNs like ExpressVPN (opens in new tab) Tricking their streaming system into pondering it is again to the nice white reply.Methods to watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream in UK(Picture credit score: Shutterstock)Chelsea v Southampton kicks off at 3pm GMT within the UK, however the recreation isn't proven on any of the same old suppliers — Sky Sports activities, BT Sport and Amazon Prime.Nonetheless, if you're an American or Canadian (or from some other nation with a sound reside stream service for Chelsea vs Southampton) and are solely briefly within the UK, you may nonetheless watch the companies in your nation. All you want is without doubt one of the finest VPN companies like ExpressVPN (opens in new tab).Methods to watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream in Australia(Picture credit score: Shutterstock)Aussies can watch Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream Optus Sport (opens in new tab), which owns all 380 Premier League video games this season. Optus could be accessed through a devoted cellular or pill app and likewise on Chromecast and Apple TV and prices $24.99 AUD monthly. An annual cross can also be out there for $199 AUD/yr.Not in Australia now? You should use a VPN to view all exercise in your Optus account, as when you have been again at residence.Methods to watch Chelsea vs Southampton stream in New Zealand(Picture credit score: Shutterstock)Kiwis can entry Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream through Sky Sports activities (opens in new tab). It prices $60.98 NZD monthly, or you may go for the Sky Sport Now service, which solely offers you sports activities channels however for as little as $19.99/week/$39.99/month or $399/yr. Not at residence in New Zealand for the time being? You'll be able to nonetheless comply with each recreation utilizing top-of-the-line VPN companies like ExpressVPN (opens in new tab). Chelsea vs Southampton PreviewAfter shelling out a file Premier League charge for him, Chelsea will probably be delighted to make Enzo Fernandez's debut towards West Ham. The World Cup winner arrange new colleague Joao Felix for the opening purpose however Chelsea have been nonetheless unable to carry on for victory. For a group wealthy in attacking expertise, Chelsea have underperformed in entrance of purpose, conceding simply 23 objectives within the league to date. That is lower than half of league leaders Man Metropolis and Arsenal, the groups they anticipated to compete with this season. In equity, Chelsea have been injured in key gamers equivalent to full-back Ben Chilwell who might return for this recreation. After spending greater than a decade within the Premier League, Southampton are taking a look at risking a return to the Championship. With all-time low, managerless, and the second youngest squad within the division, it is arduous to see the place any revival will come for them. Nathan Jones was not a preferred determine among the many followers at St Mary's so maybe his departure will increase the temper. The Saints have some gifted gamers like captain James Ward-Prowse and new file signing Kamaldin Suleimana however they want to ensure their subsequent supervisor is the proper one. Southampton really beat Chelsea earlier this season, however each side have since modified managers and Saints are winless at Stamford Bridge since 2019.Each these groups want to show round their current kind, and the perfect place for them to begin is with a win right here, making the Chelsea vs Southampton reside stream a must-watch.