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wondercircuit · 2 months

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lance and the ferrari driver academy: a brief timeline

this covers lance getting scouted into ferrari, his junior career at prema, and the surrounding connections he's had from his fda days that were pretty notable for his development up to his f1 debut in williams. i wrote this as personal reference for myself at first a while ago while writing something else, thus the added subjective commentary in a few bits, but if anyone is interested and can count some of this as useful information for his ferrari-related lore, then great. feel free to tell me if anything is inaccurate!

2008 - 2009: lance jacob strulovitch started competing in canadian karting was winning canadian national karting championships before this, such as the coupe de montreal and coupe du quebec micro max championship in 2008 and 2009. he placed 6th in a world finals at lonato, italy in the mini roc category and in addition, he was winning championships in florida karting competitions. racing coach and karting champion mike wilson tutored lance and mentioned that lance was born with that “killing instinct, and was surprised at the determination he had as a child to fight the back of a pack," comparing this attitude to a young fernando alonso, (who mike had also mentored (interview source ; you can read a brief version without paywall here).

2010: lance was scouted by ferrari at 11 years old, the youngest person signed to an f1 development programme at the time. luca baldisserri, ferrari’s chief track engineer and former engineer to michael schumacher was running the academy as director. lance was allegedly said to be an experiment for the fda to see if they can mold potential into developing an f1 driver from a young age.

baldisserri said the programme to nurture and shape kids with potential was never originally a part of the culture of ferrari and said it was a shot in the dark, knowing how young lance was. it was mentioned as well that mclaren offered lance a spot for their development programme, but lance chose ferrari's offer:

"Though Lance was eager to accept, his parents were reluctant. He was still a boy, and this was a major commitment. "I wanted Lance to digest it," [Lawrence] Stroll says. "With the time and money Ferrari is spending, you've really got to know you want to do this." But Ferrari wasn't the only one interested. Within days, Ferrari's bitter F1 rival, McLaren, heard what transpired in Florida and lobbed in a competing offer. After mulling his options, Lance chose Ferrari, and a few months later, boarded a plane for his first training session at the academy."

— The grooming of Canada's next Formula One driver, The Globe and Mail, 2011.

lawrence initially thought that the scout's offer for lance to join the fda was fake and a scam: "[Lawrence] Stroll didn't believe it. This man was a con artist, a fraud. He was incensed. "I told him, you're full of [expletive] this isn't true," the father recalls. It took a phone call from Italy later that afternoon to change his mind." the article also goes through the sort of training ferrari started him out with and talks about how luca gave lance the token red racing suit when he joined, but lance preferred to stick to not wearing the color, which i think is interesting:

"With the eyes of the racing world upon him, Lance is now trying to keep a low profile. When Ferrari welcomed Lance to its team, Baldisserri presented him with the rarest of gifts: a bright red Ferrari racing suit, just like the one Villeneuve wore. It is the most famous uniform in racing. But Lance told Ferrari it's probably better if he doesn't wear it. "It's like having a bull's-eye on my back," he explains. "The other kids are going to be saying: 'He's a Ferrari driver – go and get him.' " Baldisserri agreed. Everyone is chasing Lance Stroll. So on race day, the famous red suit stays at home and he zips himself into an anonymous blue-and-white uniform."

lance wearing the chiesa corse overalls with the tiny ferrari logo

in the same year, lance participated in a 'friendly' staff karting event at montreal where he's karted with fernando and felipe massa.

(L), lance in 2010 at a staff kart race organised by ferrari in montreal. lance scored p2 in this race behind fernando | (R), fernando and felipe massa who got p3, pictured with lance at the kart race

the ferrari driver academy was very newly established--aside from lance, the programme had checo perez and jules bianchi, who were in sauber and manor, the one other team using ferrari's engine respectively in f1 at the time.

2011 - 2014: lance continued to compete in karting and won the SKUSA supernationals in 2012. throughout this, he continued to train with ferrari. by now the fda had gained a total of 5 members with brandon maisano (who would then go on to be lance's teammate in prema) and rafael marciello added to their roster. jules was the eldest out of the five at 23 years old, while lance had been the youngest at 13.

(L) lance pictured with a few fellow fda members and ferrari drivers of different categories, including (R) giancarlo fisichella and fernando on ferrari's passion day event (essentially an exclusive event shared with fans at mugello) (2012)

one of the trainers at the fda, andrea ferrari (i'm so serious, his last name is literally ferrari) talked about how the five academy drivers had unique training sessions specific to their ages and classes. he's mentioned how he occasionally gets to work with the "senior" driver team aka fernando and massa and the time he spends with them and fernando's physio helps him construct the training plans: "The opportunities of dealing with Alonso and Massa are occasional but significant, according to his accounts. “When Fernando comes to Maranello he has some training sessions with us. We often go for a bike ride in a group of 5-6 people and, needless to say, Fernando always wants to win”, Andrea states. “In addition, I’ve to say he’s a very sociable person. He creates a very friendly environment when we go out for a dinner or five-a-side matches among Ferrari staff members" — (source) fernando has mentioned training at the strolls' home in mont-tremblant, canada after the 2014 canadian grand prix — (source). in the same year, prema released a fun short little interview of lance in f4 where he mentions that his favorite driver is fernando. (even aston martin's team principal mike krack has acknowledged that their meeting in ferrari and the strolls maintaining that connection with fernando since then was an important catalyst to their present time at aston.)

lance debuted in single-seater racing in that year's florida winter series, which was not a championship series, but was organised by the fda. max and nicholas latifi also participated in this series (here is a comprehensive post on lance in the 2014 florida winter series that @lil-shiro kindly put together). lance competed in the italian f4 championship and took 13 podium finishes with prema racing, thus winning the champion title that year.

lance at the podium in 2014, adria, italian f4

2015: lance competes and wins in the 2015 toyota racing series in new zealand in the winter, which consisted of 5 rounds. he competes in f3 europe and ended 5th in the standings for his first f3 season. it was around this year where there were rumours of the fda discontinuing; for context of the situation, luca baldisserri was stepping down from his director's role at the academy, checo left when he signed on to mclaren in 2013. lance also left the fda to sign on to the williams driver development programme in november that year with the aim of getting to work closer with an f1 team. lance described ferrari's training programme to be 'basic' and he was looking for more intensive sim work and actual testing for f1 cars, which the williams' junior programme offered.

on the topic of who else was leaving ferrari, felipe massa was in williams by 2014, and fernando in mclaren in 2015. the strolls still continued to visit fernando in f1 races here and there to show their support:

(L) lance and fernando at the monaco gp, 2015, and lawrence with fernando at the canadian gp, 2015

2016: by now, it was known that luca moved on to race-engineering for lance and working with him directly throughout his f3 euro season that year. luca also had a hand in prema racing's dominance for the respective gp2 and f3 euro categories where he acted as a consultant for the prema junior development team and helped manage structures there, which looked to be a testament of how effective luca was in nurturing and managing young talent, despite having left the fda which he himself had allegedly 'masterminded'. luca was also overseeing mick schumacher's development. there wasn't other known reasons as to why luca stepped down from the fda other than the sources i found implying that the decision was supposedly, or at least partly influenced, by lance choosing to leave ferrari. luca then continued to help oversee lance's development himself even when he signed on to williams junior programme. lance talked about luca a bit here in an autosport article:

"It's extremely important to have him with us and it's great that he will continue working with us. "He's been with me since a very young age, when he chose me to come on the Ferrari programme. "He's very good at watching what's going on between the team and the driver - he's quiet when he has to be, but when it's time to speak up he says some very good things."

— source, Autosport, 2015

it makes sense to want to fully continue seeing through a young kid's development to successfully graduate them into f1 despite it being with a different team. the fda was a new programme, and in comparison to other teams' driver academies eg. williams, mclaren's, red bull junior's programme etc, ferrari doesn't promote rookies directly to their f1 seat, assigning them instead to sauber or haas first before offering opportunities. lance also mentions how he knew it was pretty unlikely that ferrari would let a driver with less experience into the team. i think this says things about ferrari's culture, at least in comparison to the other teams that are more willing to put rookies in their seat (this is constantly debated by fans and pundits across the sport to be extremely pressurizing for young talent but i do feel that you have to also question the alternative that seems to be ferrari's methods. again, all this is highly dependent on other factors as well involving a single driver's experiences and their individual junior trajectory so ultimately, the debate to whether or not a young driver is 'ready' for f1 before they're even actually there is personally moot to me. but alas, i do find it vaguely interesting......)

i'm only focusing on lance's development here so i can't say much on the fda now except for an added anecdote that charles leclerc is currently the only graduate so far to be promoted to the ferrari seat after the obligatory sauber stint for his rookie year. again, solely speaking from a point of comparison to other driver programme's success rates on getting their talent into their f1 team, it makes the fda's effectiveness look a little bit questionable.

anyway, here's more of what lance said on his switch to williams:

“I feel like we can be closer right now with Williams, and I’m working with them rather than just being part of a training camp like at Ferrari. For the future, it’s the right move.” And Stroll also feels Ferrari is unlikely to promote a rookie driver into one of its race seats, while Williams has a proven track record with the likes of Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button. "Williams has a great history of believing in young drivers, they’ve given many rookie drivers a chance in Formula 1. That was important for us, because Ferrari has a different approach; they tend to take more veteran drivers to fight for the championship."

— source, f1i.com (2016)

[Question] Tell me about your role with Williams… [Lance:] "It’s been a great eight months with them. It’s been fantastic. The cooperation with me in F3 is great, they have the right understanding of me focusing 100 percent on F3 and not getting distracted with Formula 1. They just want me to finish the championship, they’re not pressuring me to jump in an F1 car and doing testing and things like that. They want me to focus on one thing at a time, and that’s great."

[Question] If the opportunity to jump into a Formula 1 race seat in 2017 came up, do you feel you’ll be ready? [Lance:] I do… but it’s easy to say it. I haven’t driven an F1 car yet, so I don’t have a complete understanding of what it’s like. Once I have a couple of tests under my belt, a bit more experience, then I’ll have a much better idea of if I’m ready to make that step just yet or not. At the moment I’m blind in terms of F1. I’ve driven F3, I’ve driven a couple of other categories, but I’ve never really sat in an F1 car. So I don’t know how much different it is to what I’m doing now, how much more complicated it is, how much tougher it is. They are all things I’ll figure out along the road. But if… if it is just another step, and if I’m comfortable in the car, then why not? F3 is a very high level, we’ve seen guys like Max – and I don’t want to use him as the example every time because maybe he’s an exception – but even guys like Ocon, Rosenqvist, these are guys that could do it as well."

— source, Motorsport, 2016

the headline for the motorsport excerpt above is extremely misleading but i think the interview shows pretty good insight to lance's attitude towards his own development and how he's got a good head on his shoulders with self-awareness of his own capabilities, despite having had more opportunities and the financial advantage that motorsports typically needs. he also talks about his former prema teammates felix rosenqvist (currently in indycar) and jake dennis (currently competing in formula e) and how instrumental they were to him in learning about his race craft during his first year in f3. here is a clip on lance back in prema talking about his teammates feat. esteban and lance's long-time driver coach nuno pinto.

at the end of his race season, lance won the f3 euro championship in 2016, the first north-american who's won in the category.

lance celebrating his championship win for f3 euro in 2016.

2017: lance accumulated enough points by then to get a super licence for f1 (which allowed him to skip f2, like max did). this makes lance the second-youngest driver to debut in f1 at 18 years old. while lance isn't tied to ferrari anymore, luca baldisserri continued to be his race engineer for lance at williams to keep seeing through lance's development in his rookie and sophomore years.

lance with luca on the paddock and garages (2017)

overall, the 2017 williams had a decent car (they were 5th in the wcc that year) and lance managed to score his first points at his home race. he also became the second-youngest to win a podium in f1:

lance's first podium at baku, 2017.

that's it! the rest is truly history ♡

if you're interested, here is an external post off tumblr that briefly and neatly goes through lance's f1 career including his racing strengths, driving style and teammate relationships up to the present, written by @strulovic and linked with her permission. i'm sharing it here just because i've found it to be personally useful myself as a starting point when i went down the rabbit hole of digging up research of his fda days.

#lance stroll #ferrari driver academy #a lot of this was canonical reference i was using while writing 1418 f***** au #and i thought to put it up here and share a bit of history* in a condensed fashion #*important and fundamental info i compiled the week after i kept staring at dave's life-changing fanart of ferrari au #*info #disclaimer i don't know how ferrari runs their programme now under jock clear so my own feelings of side-eyeing the fda still remains

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melodymunson · 15 days

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older! Rockstar Eddie Munson x fem! reader x eventual older Steve x fem!reader.

(Eddie is 38 and the reader is 25.) The year is 2008. All 21 chapters are on ao3. Only chapter 1 will be on tumblr.

series title: Love Buzz

chapters 1 and preview of chapter 2 (5K words)

chapter 1: like a dream come true

series summary: Corroded Coffin have a reunion tour with none other than doom/gothic metal legends Type O' Negative. Reader recently finished college with a bachelor's degree in the music business. After being interviewed by none other than Eddie Munson himself, you get the job as their touring band manager. What starts as a business relationship grows into friendship and eventually an epic romance. Steve Harrington is CC's bodyguard. Eventual Steddie x fem! reader. Multi-series.

Ao3 link

The sound of your alarm clock blared in your ears as you removed your eye mask and stretched. You turned it off, then got up and put on your house slippers, then made your way to your shower to get ready for the day. Gone were the days of doing pole dancing and burlesque for money to pay for college. Your college debt was all paid for and you had a temporary, yet steady job working at your best friend's family-owned restaurant. Pay and tips were good, but today you were interviewing for your dream job. You couldn't wait to meet the frontman and lead guitarist of the legendary 80s metal band Corroded Coffin- Eddie Munson. They toured with so many amazing bands back in the day before they reunited, such as Carnivore, Cinderella, Whitesnake, The Scorpions, Bon Jovi, W.A.S.P., and even the Prince of Darkness himself- Ozzy Osbourne. The 80s were a bit of an obsession to you, even though you only grew up late in the decade and were just a kid when the 80s were about to end. The 90s were just fine, but you had the fondest memories of your childhood in the 80s. Once you washed your hair and used your favorite body wash, you shave your legs and blow dry your hair before applying your favorite scent of perfume and lotion. The interview flyer said to dress casually, so you dressed in your favorite pair of black leather pants and a Black Sabbath tour shirt. You paired it with your most worn and metal pin-decorated black leather jacket. Although you were a bit apprehensive about anything that could go wrong, you instead decided to focus on all the good. After getting some breakfast, you headed out to go to the drive-thru and pick up your favorite coffee order then go to Eddie's studio for the interview. Corroded Coffin was recording a brand new EP and it was the first music they would release in over 10 years, since their last show and album was back in 1995. The original lineup was back together, though and they needed a new manager- someone reliable. With your degree and experience working a little in the music industry throughout college and in your 2-year internship.

When you arrived at their studio, Eddie's uncle Wayne led you into the recording studio and told you to make yourself comfortable. You had a short phone interview with Eddie but this second interview would be the last one to see if you would get the position. That summer Corroded Coffin had a 30-date North American tour that was sold out, including 4 dates in Canada. Traveling was something you wanted to do much more of and this would be the perfect opportunity for that. Your last relationship ended only two months ago and you couldn't wait to find more things to do to keep yourself busy. This dream job would hopefully be the best distraction. As you walked into the studio, Eddie saw smiled at you as he looked you up and down. He was quite impressed with what he was seeing. When you sat down in the room opposite the recording booth, Eddie put his guitar down and made his way over to the room you were in. You stood up as soon as he entered and Wayne left. Eddie looked even more attractive in person. He had the most stunning tattoos and his curly locks of hair were something else. When you were younger, you had a big crush on him, but now you felt like you were smitten. Seeing him in magazines, on posters, in interviews, and even in music videos didn't do him enough justice. He was not just hot and sexy he was a very handsome man and his stubble only added to the allure. His ripped Ozzy shirt complimented his pair of spandex jeans quite well.

"Sit down, please. I'd like to get this interview started and after you can stay if you'd like and hear us record a new song. How does that sound?" He asked as he sits down in a chair opposite from yours.

"Yes, sir. I mean Mr. Munson. I would like that very much."

"No, no, don't call me sir, or Mr. Munson. That's my father and sir just makes me feel like an old man," he admitted, trying to hold back a slight chuckle.

You sat back down and nodded your agreement, waiting pensively for the interview to start. Even though no one else was around or super close by, you couldn't help but feel your nerves get the better of you. Here this beautiful rockstar and guitar Adonis was sitting right in front of you, and it was making you nervous. It was a good thing you had some time before the studio to do your makeup- some black eyeshadow, lipstick, and foundation.

"Well, to be quite honest with you, judging from your resume, you are one of the two most qualified so this interview will be the last one before I make my final decision. I will call you with the news by tonight after talking it over with the rest of the guys. Now my first question is, are you completely dedicated to being on a full-length all-summer tour across North America with Canada included?" He asked with a raise of his brows.

His brown button eyes were so gorgeous. You couldn't fall for him though. He was your potential boss after all. If you didn't end up getting the job, then you probably wouldn't hear from him again unless you went to one of their shows.

"I know I am qualified for this job and I am very dedicated to my job. At the moment, I work at a restaurant, but I can give my week's notice and be there for you at the start of the tour and throughout the summer, Eddie. I also have my passport renewed and ready at my disposal now if you'd like to check it out."

"That won't be necessary." He clears his throat, then eyes you up and down again with a small smirk on his lips. "I need to have you sign an NDA otherwise known as a nondisclosure agreement. What happens and what is said on tour and in the studio stays on tour and in the studio. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Eddie. I understand that fully. I am familiar with NDA and I could sign one."

"Good, because we wouldn't want my band's new songs to be leaked, now would we? The album isn't being released until the very end of the summer after all. Not even the song track titles," he explains to you as he gestures with his hands for emphasis. His metal and sterling silver rings were a sight to see and you liked his style.

"I completely understand. I can keep it a secret."

"Now there's no set uniform for this job, but just to let you know I like your style and would like to see you wear similar outfits on the tour. Just throwing that out there. I've seen your references, resume, as well as your degree in music and your GPA, and I am highly impressed. I just have one last question for you. Are you prepared for long days and some grueling nights? Can you keep up with that sort of lifestyle with little sleep some nights, well most nights actually, and being around as well as managing 4 crazy old dude rockers?"

He didn't want to scare you off or make you nervous. Those things were far from his true intentions, but he wanted to know that he had someone reliable for him. Someone who truly was a person he could count on, because there were so many people he couldn't even trust.

"Yes, Eddie. I can be the manager that you and Corroded Coffin need."

He got up and put out his hand for you to shake. You took it and shook his hand.

"I'll be in touch. We are about to record our guitar and drum solos for the new track and I think you should stay."

"I will. Thank you."

He nodded and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. As they recorded, you watched in amazement and fascination, as you banged your head along to the music. His eyes met yours as he played his solo, and a wicked grin was on his face whenever he made eye contact with you. Later on, he talked to his bandmates and they decided on the new band touring manager.

Eddie's POV:

I like her already. She has a good personality, likes great music, she seems reliable and trustworthy, and even better she certainly has the look to be my band manager. I just wonder if she will have what it takes to survive out on the road with the 4 of us crazy rockers. The relationship is going to be professional and I won't let myself stray from my music and my job but God if I said I didn't want to take her out I would be lying. She is drop-dead gorgeous and I feel like she is the perfect fit for our band. Once I call Miranda and let her know the job position has been filled, I will call her to let her know she has the gig.

Your phone rang almost right after you had finished up your dinner and watched one of your favorite movies on DVD. You picked it up almost instantly once Eddie's name showed up on the caller ID.

"Hello?" You asked.

"It's me, Eddie. I just got off the phone with the other interviewee and I had to let her down easily. You got the job."

You muted your mic for a few seconds to do a happy dance and scream before unmuting him.

"Great. When do I start?"

"I'm glad you still want the job. Two weeks from tomorrow, we start tour prep, and two days after that we are off on the road. Are you sure you're ready for this and fully committed to it?"

"I am. I swear."

"Good now get some rest and I will call you in about a few with some more details."

"Thanks, Eddie."

"Good night. Take care of yourself."

"You too, Eddie."

You hung up and danced all around your house before you called your best friend to celebrate. She came over for celebratory drinks and hugged you before she left. She more than understood you calling it quits with your job at her family's restaurant and things were great between the two of you. You slept well that night.

Your best friend couldn't help but gush about it with you when you revealed you had gotten the job, and that you were now officially the touring band manager of Corroded Coffin. She was so happy for you and it was going to be the best thing ever to go out on tour with one of your favorite bands. The summer tour started in Los Angeles, California, and ended in Brooklyn, New York, with some other dates. Of course, there would be a stop in Hawkins, Indiana, the band's hometown. Your friend couldn't help but talk about just how hot she thought Eddie was, especially in recent interviews and magazine print photos. She was so jealous of you and you promised her a backstage pass in New York. Eddie and his fellow bandmates had moved to Brooklyn in the early 2000s because of the great music scene there. The tour with Type O' Negative was a co-headliner with the bands switching stage times each night of the tour. Of course, you thought Eddie was great looking and getting to know him better throughout the tour, which you imagined would happen, was going to be pretty great. According to the tabloids, he was recently single but of course, your relationship with him was going to be professional. You didn't dare ask an almost stranger about his relationship status. Eddie was formerly married with no children. His ex-wife, Hailey, supposedly could be a real bitch, and you hoped you would never have to cross paths with her. It was going to be the summer of a lifetime guaranteed and as you packed for your trip, you listened to Corroded Coffin as your bestie and roommate helped you get ready for the tour. The way he smelled at the interview was a mixture of nicotine and a nice spicy cologne and aftershave. His hands were calloused from playing the guitar, but it seemed like he had the tried and true hands of a real guitarist. What you wouldn't give to have his hands in yours. You fantasized about him at night and thought about his big and strong arms wrapped around you, but of course, that couldn't be possible, right? He was your boss and good-looking, but still, you didn't want to jeopardize your dream job. You would keep your hands to yourself. For all you knew, he probably had a girlfriend, and in a low-key relationship, he hid from the public's view. Either way, there would probably still be groupies on tour.

A few nights later, just days before the tour, Eddie called you post-band rehearsal.

"Hi, Eddie. I hope you are doing well."

"Thank you, and I am. I just wanted to get in touch to talk to you about a few things. The plane and itinerary that you have received in the mail are all paid for up-front and included in your salary. Is now a good time to talk?"

"Definitely. I wasn't busy doing anything."

"Good. I assume you also got the checklist for what you need to bring on tour and what's suggested, what you should probably leave behind?"

"I did. I received it in the mail today," you told him sounding eager in your tone as you lay on your bed.

You took another sip of your glass of red wine, as Eddie took another puff of his joint.

"Well, great then. Now on this tour, family and friends can be invited backstage, and on the tour bus, but we have a strict schedule, with a limited number of days off. I was just making sure it's understood that you run it by me first before any family or friends come backstage?"

Secretly, you wondered if Eddie liked younger women but quickly dismissed this thought.

"That's perfectly understandable and I will let you know in advance. My best friend wants to come to the New York show. Is that alright?"

"In Brooklyn? Definitely. I just have one more question for you." He paused for a few brief moments, and took another drag, before placing the joint down on his ashtray and continuing. The suspense was killing you. It sounded like he was smoking, and his voice was smoky, but in a good way. "Well, since all the technicalities are already taken care of, and the traveling logistics, as well as the food budget, I was just wondering if you would be interested in directing and being in our next music video?"

At that moment, you wanted so badly to jump up and down in excitement- and to scream, but contained yourself, and calmed down before you responded to him.

"That sounds pretty amazing. I'd love to direct and star in your new music video," you told him, sounding very intrigued.

"Great and finally, I just wanted to make sure you don't have any further questions for me."

"Not at the moment. My best friend will take care of my dog and I will be there for the full duration of the job. No one will come in between my job or be in the way."

"Well, you are still pretty young. You'll be pretty great for the job then. I have one more thing to say. You'll be one of the very first people to hear the new album in its entirety, including bonus tracks and all. Also, I wanted to tell you about one of my good friends. Steve. Steve Harrington. He's going to be our merch guy. Just letting you know."

"Great. I can't wait to meet him."

"Me too. Take care and I'll see you at the airport on Saturday?"

"Definitely. See you then. Good night Eddie."

"Good night, Y/N."

As you counted down the days on your calendar until the next time you would see Eddie again, you made the most of it. You spent each day with your best friend, until the day of the flight. After a nice shopping trip together and buying some new clothes, as well as shoes for your trip, you had a sleepover and reminisced about old times. When the day finally came to see Corroded Coffin and meet up with the band at the airport, you put on your best perfume after your shower. You changed into your favorite band tee, along with ripped jeans, your best black leather jacket, and platform boots. You took a taxi to the airport, and when you arrived at JFK international airport, you checked in through security and met Eddie, Jeff their guitarist, Gareth their drummer, and their bassist, Grant, by the gates.

Everyone ended up being nice in the band, and as a late arrival, Steve showed up.

"Hi, I'm Steve. You must be the new band manager, Y/N."

He extended his hand for you to shake, which you accepted.

"Eddie mentioned you. Nice to meet you."

As everyone sat around waiting for the plane to board, Eddie went to the nearest snack machine and brought bag packs of chips and bottles of water for everyone. You thanked him, glad to have a snack. Soon the plane was called to board and you got on soon finding your seat in first class. It was amazing to be sitting next to Eddie, and you felt like rock royalty, as you were in that section with the band. You didn't quite feel worthy, but you felt so at ease around him and near him. The faint smells of both tobacco and a nice cologne were coming off of Eddie. It was so comforting to you and as the plane took off and emerged into the air, you felt more calm than ever before. Soon you had champagne, and after your first big swig of it, you could feel the alcohol hit you. It was a nice feeling to have. The movie Playing on the flight was a horror film called The Devil's Rejects, and it was pretty enjoyable so far. You wanted to pace yourself and had just one glass as opposed to the other guys having between 1-3. Soon it was lunchtime, and after you ate you fell asleep and napped for the next few hours. The total flight time was about 6 hours. When you woke up close to the time of the plane landing, you were resting against Eddie's shoulder. Startled a little bit by your position, you looked up into his chocolate-brown eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"I slept well," you replied, trying your best to not make anything seem awkward as you smiled back at him.

Eddie said nothing about the way you were sleeping and instead looked out of the window. Soon the plane made its descent, and you felt a mixture of emotions, including apprehension and happiness, but also a feeling of euphoria. After all, you were in the city of Angels and you felt like anything was possible. The following night was the first day of the tour at The Mayan. It was a sold-out show and would have close to 2000 attendees. The night after was Vegas, and you were looking forward to seeing some of the West Coast.

"So, are you ready to hit up the hotel and then maybe go out after for some drinks?" Eddie asked you.

"Oh, that would be great."

"Good. You have your room at the hotel, of course, and with the best view."

"Thanks, Eddie." You wondered if the bar meet-up would be with just Eddie or some of the other guys as well.

As you got off the plane and went to collect your luggage at the airport, Eddie stayed close to your side. He couldn't wait to take a smoke break, but right now, his priority was getting everyone safely to the hotel. He hailed a cab for you and him, along with Jeff. Gareth and Grant would take the next one though. L.A. was so busy and crowded, but as the traffic lightened up a little bit, you soon found yourself at the entrance to the Sheraton Hotel. The place was very nice, and after checking in with the hotel staff at the front desk, you took the elevator with Eddie to your rooms on the fourth floor. Once you parted ways with him, you explored your room and unpacked, before freshening up just a little bit. He texted you he would be at the local bar at the Virgil in downtown L.A. around 630 p.m. You texted back you would be there. Soon you left for the club and when you arrived, you found Eddie outside smoking. As you walked up to him you noticed the song playing in the bar was a Corroded Coffin song.

"Sounds like they are playing your song."

"Yep, they sure are. Shall we go in?"

You nodded your approval and walk with him into the bar. Soon you sat down, and the bartender came over to ask for your drink orders and ids. You showed her your ID, and she took your order of a mojito and Eddie's order of a triple shot of bourbon.

"So, what do you like to do for fun?"

"I'm very into art, cinema, photography, makeup, concerts, and shopping. That sort of stuff."

"Nice. Pretty much the same for me except makeup and shopping aren't all that bad. It just depends on what you are shopping for I guess. I love record stores."

"Me too. Swap meets, garage sales, and vinyl record shows can be pretty fun too."

"I agree. Great minds think alike."

With drinks in hand now, he gave you a toast.

"To us."

"To us," you repeated after him right before clinking your glasses together, then taking a big sip of your mojito. It was delicious, and most importantly, refreshing.

He loved how his bourbon tasted on his tongue, and he loved the feeling of the liquor in his system. A good drink after a nice smoke was just what he needed.

After a long silent pause, the song Master of Puppets began playing in the club. Eddie's head banged along to it and you smiled at him warmly, feeling a slight buzz from the liquor as you took another big sip of it and so did Eddie.

"This is my favorite to cover live especially," he mentioned with a slight hum, as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I love this song and I'm sure the cover live is great. Hopefully, I will hear it on this tour."

He nodded in agreement as a big smirk formed on his face.

"Definitely. You sure will," he told you as he lifted his glass again to clink against yours.

He drank and leaned his head against his hand as he looked at you with his beautiful chocolate-brown eyes.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious as he stared at you.

You took a big gulp of your drink, practically finishing it now, then set it down on the counter.

"I'm thinking about dancing. Head banging. I mean Metallica is awesome and makes me want to move. Know what I mean?"

"Sure. Why not?"

He got up and offered his hand for you to take. As soon as your hand met his and you made contact, you let him escort you to the dance floor.

As you moved in time to the music and danced close to him, you spun around, then bravely bumped and ground against him, with your back facing towards his chest. You boldly moved against him and leaned your head back. He enjoyed the close contact as the song's second verse wrapped up and the chorus kicked in again. He sang along to the music, and his head banged as you continued to move against him, but almost lost your balance. Catching you instantly, Eddie whispered in your ear.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine."

"I think we should dance a bit more, then head back to the hotel," he suggested.

You nodded in agreement, then continued dancing as he held onto your hips so you wouldn't fall. Eddie was all smiles as you danced for him. He was just so happy. You felt so excited and felt that at that moment, anything was possible. It was getting late and the tour was starting tomorrow. Right now you were going to live it up.

More songs came on, and with each one, you danced close to him, getting so close that your lips almost brushed against his. The way he smiled at you made you smile. He made you feel so safe with him. It was getting late, and soon you said goodbye and parted ways. The next day would be the first day of the tour and it would hopefully be amazing.

You slept well that night. Morning light soon came into your window and without hesitation, you turned off your alarm clock, eager to start the day. You checked your phone- finding a text from Eddie.

It was great to spend time with you last night. Eager for tonight. Let's rock!

His text made you smile, and you texted him back.

Can't wait for tonight. It's going to be the most metal show ever! :)

Eddie soon read your text, eager to see you again. Getting a good morning text from you was the best way to start his day, and you felt the same way about him.

After the concert, there would be a meet and greet. As the manager, you had to run that, but hopefully, it would go by well without a hitch. Beautiful women who were around were sure to be throwing themselves at Eddie. At least those that would give him their numbers. He was your coworker though. You had no right to get worked up about this. You wanted to look out for Eddie. You didn't want him to get used by any woman. Spending more time with him was all you wanted, and if anything more happened between the two of you, then so be it. Everything was going to work out and your dream job was starting today. You needed to be focused, but hopefully, later there would be time for some fun and getting to know Ed's better. As for Eddie, he was glad to have a dedicated person to be Corroded Coffin's tour manager. With you, he had just that.

chapter 2 title and preview: rock n roll all nite

Summary- Corroded Coffin put on their first concert of the tour. After Eddie has a fun night at the show he seeks comfort in someone else but realizes he needs you.

The club was one of the nicest you had ever seen. Everything about being there felt like home to Eddie. Playing gigs and living it up every night as a rockstar was his calling. His life revolved around Corroded Coffin, and his band meant everything to him. Without his bandmates, he wouldn't be where he was after so many years of putting both his heart and soul into his music. The hard work paid off, and he could launch a successful musical project even with all the turmoil of his past and being the town freak. Saving Hawkins from the likes of Vecna, and all the destruction that came from Hawkins' lab- he still had received no acknowledgment for any of it. Left for dead in the upside down, he eventually made his way out of the other side alive by some miracle. After extensive healing, he made a full recovery and healed. Music kept him going. Tonight was special. Type O Negative was one of the most respected bands from the east coast and Brooklyn. Being around the band and finally meeting them was one of Eddie's best experiences. Peter Steele was an influence of his. Doom Metal meant a lot to Eddie, with his favorite band being Black Sabbath. They were also the biggest influence on Peter and Type O Negative. The day had finally come that they would play a show- a co-headliner no less with these doom metal legends. The soundcheck went by without a hitch and everyone had a good time. You had the best view and once they had played through a few of their big hits; they took a short break before the VIP guests would arrive. Most of the tour had been a sell-out already, with the meet and greets sold out.

The meet and greets were very exclusive, but Eddie was going to meet every fan individually, along with Jeff, Gareth, and Grant. Everyone arrived in a timely fashion. To no one's surprise, at least half of the guests were women. All of them were so pretty. No doubt Eddie would have a groupie or two, maybe even more tonight. As a manager of the band, you had to be professional. Some girls had him sign their boobs, which was nothing new for him as to be expected. Many had magazines and posters to sign and when you took their group pictures, some women hugged him. The women were at least classy enough to not flash anyone.

One woman had fan art for Eddie and she got a backstage pass from him. Everything about Eddie was charming, so it was no surprise this was happening. Once the meet and greet ended, you accommodated all the guests back outside and assured them they would have an early entry. Eddie was too old for all the groupie stuff, but he wanted to meet every fan that wanted to meet him.

the rest of this chapter and the full 21 chapter series can all be found on ao3

tag list: @corneliuswatkins @jadeylovesmarvelxo @ali-r3n @somethingvicked @mrprettywhenhecries

@keeryatmosphere @daisy-is-a-writer @lovemesomeeddiemunson @koskeepsake @munson-mjstan

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#eddie munson x reader #steve harrington x reader #stranger things #eddie munson series #rockstar eddie #bodyguard steve harrington #rockstar eddie munson #steve harrington x fem reader #eddie munson x fem reader #older eddie x younger reader #stranger things fic #stranger things au #stranger things alternate universe #steddie #steddie x fem reader #older steddie #steddie x reader #older steve harrington #older eddie munson

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mwebber · 10 months

Note

what are your favourite martian moments? 😺

thank u for asking eve i'm so glad i get to talk about two of my favourite people on god's green earth <3 in no particular order just off the top of my head...

#1: ABU DHABI 2022 i cannot state just how much brain damage this moment did to me. like i vividly remember freaking the fuck out about the martian interview on sky and talking to the besties and barbi @brawn-gp was like omg another moment do u want me to clip. and i was like YEAH YES. PLEASE. I LOVE YOU (i love you <3) and then i saw it and blacked out and when i awoke it was to this. unparalleled brainrot Truly there will never ever be another

#2. MARRIAGE QUOTE do i need to say anything else. when i saw this for the first time i think i nearly had an aneurysm

#3. SINGAPORE 2008 their first real red bull date.......... i think about them sitting on that couples rickshaw every monday giggling with each other generally being blushy messes sharing secretive smiles like they're the only ones in on a joke. also mark pretending to push seb off a building only to catch him STOP my heart is melting

(tumblr is being dumb and won't credit the gifs properly but they're from thnx-mate-blog)

#4. VLAD RYS GEORGIA K MOMENT this is unironically my favourite pic of seb to ever seb. and of course he's looking at mark. no further comments

#4.5 THE OTHER VLAD RYS GEORGIA K MOMENT. this photo is still so mind-boggling like why the fuck are you looking at each other like that. hi. hello?

#5. MONACO 2010 HUG.

#6. MAKE LOVE TO EACH OTHER / ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST TIME. it's literally so fucking funny to me that red bull saw everybody's martian brainrot and was like. wouldn't it be so fucked up if we dropped that mark buttered seb's muffin after china 2009. twirls hair. haha wouldn't it be soooo random. if we did that

#7. WHATEVER THE FUCK THIS IMAGE IS. i can't even look at it for too long i start feeling funny in my tummy

#8. SEB'S LONGING STARE. i ccant believe i forgot this one it should be higher up perhaps

#9. AUSTRALIA 2016/2017. their podiums are SSOOOOOOO.

#10. MATCHING PORSCHES. is it hot in here? do you feel feverish? i feel feverish

#11. RIGHT ONE'S HEAVIER. monaco 2021 when mark casually revealed how much he knows seb still after all this time that seb was like ".. yeah!" like he himself was pleasantly surprised that mark still cares and oh god. somebody hold me

#12. NEARLY SKINNY DIPPING AU CANADA. caliss de tabarnak attache ta tuque mark nhabille pas des sous vetements criss de tabarnak de caliss d'esti de sacrament de

(from thnx-mate-blog)

13. VERY GOOD. i just know they had a Conversation after mark retired that was soo insightful and healing that they still reference to this day. they're very good with each other. btw. if u didn't know.

14. LOVER'S TIFFS. i can't. i can't think about them anymore i think i need to be put in a straightjacket and locked up

#15. 2013 PRIZE GIVING. the way they look at each other...... i'd write 5 million words of rpf too

there's literally so many more moments i want to include on here like mark's "i hope when i'm 70 they're not still asking if i love sebastian" or top gear when mark was like "my dad always said you shouldn't hit boys mate" or when seb and mark were at hangar 7 post 2010 and he went for the wettest limpest high five hand hold known to man or when mark massaged seb's shoulder in australia 2009 or their 1-2 podiums in 2009 or in 2020 when mark was like i've moved on from ferrari for u or "seb didnt expect sex in monaco" or china 2010 when they were bitching with each other or when seb was like i don't understand what he's saying half the time or when seb was on mark's shoulders for a red bull stunt or when they played cricket in australia 2012 or when mark was like we're very well-suited to each other both very handsome in that one magazine or when mark addressed their relationship in like 2014 and said we wished each other well in austria as you do or after multi 21 when seb was like i was racing i was faster i passed him i won and mark was like a cheetah never changes its spots we'll be fine or early on when mark was like we'll get hot chocolate together and i'll be going on about smth that happened before seb was born and he'll roll his eyes or when seb was like i learned a lot from mark or when seb said he'd give mark free hotel toiletries for his bday or when they copied each other trying to put stickers on their car or when someone changed seb's wikipedia page to say he's dating mark or when they did their pepe jeans butt ad or turkey 2011 when they all but caressed each other in 4k or the brazil 2011 cheek cradle or their websites i haven't even talked about their websites yet [I AM FORCIBLY DRAGGED AWAY]

#im not putting this under a read more. martian favs be upon ye #inbox #martian

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grandtreeangel · 3 days

Note

wait what’s the love lockdown show

Good morning anon, thanks for asking! Before I get to your question, I feel a little backstory on the Love Lockdown cover is important here, so let's start at the beginning shall we? 🤓

First off Patrick dropped a cover of Love Lockdown by Kayne West Sept 21, 2008 during the promo for Folie. Where he had this to say about it:

And this:

@dykepatrickstump has a great post about Patrick cover songs that discusses the timing of Patrick posting the Love Lockdown cover and subsequent posts made by Pete to both his main blog and private blogs the same day and a few days after. It's very....interesting and IMO pretty critical to the whole narrative.

Hopefully you're still with me anon. Back to your original question.

To promo the release of Folie, they did a run of small venue secret shows and tv engagements which included a show for Much Music Canada (woo Canada mention), Live in the Lot on Oct 28, 2008. During that set Patrick played the Love Lockdown cover and after he finishes playing it says "that's for you Pete" 👀. It should also be noted that it seems Love Lockdown was played during a commercial break and not during the televised set.

As an aside, the Live in the Lot show was the second show they played the Love Lockdown cover. It was live debuted at Wembley on Oct 22, 2008. Those are the only two shows it was played at (to my knowledge at least).

Oh my gosh this has gotten away from me. Back to the timeline. The best man speech video post from yesterday is from the Harper's Ferry secret show in Boston on Nov 6, 2008, which according to setlist FM, was the show immediately after the Love Lockdown show on Oct 28, 2008.

Thanks for staying with me anon. There was certainly.....something....about these early folie era shows because there's a lot of interesting moments that came out of them 🩵💙

#always happy to chat live show snippets and p2 #i spend way too much time listening to live performances and i'm always on the look out for little unique moments #ask #anon #love lockdown #folie era #peterick

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thekillingvote · 9 months

Text

Tʜᴇ Kɪʟʟɪɴɢ Vᴏᴛᴇ

Thirty-five years ago, DC Comics opened a phone poll to kill Batman's child sidekick, Robin.

The poll was open to paying callers in the U.S. and Canada for a window of 35 hours, starting on 15 September 1988 at 9AM EST. There were two premium-rate phone numbers—one for Robin's survival, and one for Robin's death. Each paying caller could call multiple times. The results were decided by a margin of 72 votes out of a total 10,614 votes—the difference was just under 0.68%.

Now you decide.

KILL ROBIN

Jerry Smith of Covington, Kentucky claims to have sold his Mercedes-Benz to pay for votes to kill Robin

"Who Killed Cock(y) Robin? I Killed Cock(y) Robin" article by Glen Weldon (2008)

"1-800-DEAD-ROBIN" autobiographical comic by Tony Wolf (2015)

"We killed Jason Todd" feature by Matt Markman (2021)

SAVE ROBIN

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a noted Bat-fan and scholar, denounced the episode as a "Roman gladiator-like readers vote."

"I loved him [...] I personally voted for him to live 100 times, and my mom flipped when she saw the phone bill," says magazine writer Savas Abadsidis.

MJG6 said: I was dead broke, working my way through college, but I voted. My first job was at a comic book store, making me an OG fan girl, I guess, and I encouraged people to vote to save him. [...] Because killing a teen, in a role kids are supposed to identify with, that was just sick.

Further Reading

"A Death in the Family, or: How DC Comics Let a Phone Vote Kill Robin" via r/HobbyDrama

"Living Dead Boy: Jason Todd vs. The Culture That Killed (and Resurrected) Him" on Women Write About Comics

"The Vote to Kill Robin" - trivia, misconceptions, opinions by comic-commentary

Some fan letter columns from Jason's later times as Robin

No Birds Allowed: Batman without Robin

"A lot like Robin if you close your eyes": Displacement of meaning in the Post-Modern Age by Mary Borsellino, an essay on dead Robins, sexism, and classism

🦞 The Tale of Larry the Lobster 🦞

Submitted arguments below:

Kill Robin

Anonymous propaganda IN FAVOR of killing the lobster the Robin!

I love Jason Todd. I love his post-crisis Robin days, I love his sense of justice and his adorable love of learning and his silly curly bangs! I say this to emphasize that I don't want him killed out of any dislike of the character.

I want him dead out of a love for storytelling that gets to stick to its guns and doesn't pull its punches. In context of the poll we readers have just seen Dick Grayson get kicked out of the role due to Bruce's fear of him getting hurt, then he turns around and gets a new Robin anyways because he misses him! I really like that Bruce is being messy and hypocritical! Let that have some real consequences please!

If there were no real consequences then Dick got shoved out of being Robin for what? Hairbrained overprotective worry? Why even change the way he graduated into being Nightwing so much then or heck why even kick him out in the first place?

One might argue that we haven't even given this Robin proper time to develop, that instead he might be taken in new and interesting directions as his own unique Robin shaping the mantle into a legacy rather than just something that was Dick's. I admit this is a very good point, and we are cutting off some possible interesting avenues. As I mentioned, I do like this character! But are we really going to get that?

If DC is already prepared to toss him out of this mortal coil and through the pearly gates after such a short while, do we really think we're going to get much more love and care applied to him?

I say let's roll the dice for something new! May the comics world and all these characters have to deal with the ramifications for many years to come!

Save Robin

robin’s death (and subsequent resurrection) is, frankly, an insult to robin fans of that era. to want to see this child get killed in a brutal manner for no apparent reason, to see jason essentially removed from the narrative so batman could go back to being gritty and depressed—this is awful to me. he hadn’t even been robin for very long!

but that’s not why he should’ve lived.

the resurrection of jason todd as the red hood was narratively interesting enough that it kept most fans of the original jason hooked, and it still does! he has become a prime example of a trauma survivor: his death changed him, and those who loved him have difficulty accepting that.

but there is no resolution to that story, nor was there a resolution to jason’s tenure as robin. dick chose to leave robin behind and take on a new mantle. tim, steph, both had robin taken away from them (and let’s forget about how tim is still robin, because that doesn’t matter right now). damian’s role as robin conflicts with his misconception of his role in the family. everyone else has had an ending, and jason’s death…well. after his resurrection, he has somehow remained stagnant and wildly inconsistent at the same time. this applies to under the red hood too.

at its core, utrh is a deeply classist retelling of jason’s life pre-death in the family. winick makes him a villain—albeit a sympathetic one—who fucks over or kills people that he would’ve thrown himself in front of to save as robin. in utrh, the implication is that jason had always been violent and angry (and morally compromised), and that he was destined to become worse.

it sometimes feels that jason’s transition into being the red hood (and all the characterization that comes with that) was a decision dc made for shock value. just from jason’s robin run, it’s difficult to imagine jason becoming the red hood. it doesn’t feel inevitable. it’s tragic.

ultimately, i believe that jason never should have died, and that his death was a stunt by dc for its shock value. jim starlin wanted jason dead because to him a child sidekick, in a medium that was originally made for children, was “sheer insanity”. he was fridged, plain and simple.

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mariacallous · 1 month

Text

On the same day U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever United States-Japan-Philippines summit at the White House, a much less conspicuous meeting to strengthen the U.S. alliance network in the Indo-Pacific took place a few blocks away.

On April 11, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken convened for talks at the State Department, declaring in a joint statement that their two countries are “working more closely than ever.” In almost any other case, this could be dismissed as meaningless diplomatic boilerplate. But in this case, it was a clear sign that a new era in New Zealand’s foreign policy was underway. Given that U.S.-New Zealand relations have long been strained—in part because Wellington charted a China-friendly course—the meeting was the latest example of Beijing’s behavior in the region driving countries into Washington’s welcoming arms.

The frostiness between New Zealand and the United States dates back to the 1980s, when a Labour government in Wellington declared its part of the Pacific a nuclear-free, disarmed zone and refused to allow port visits by U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. The Reagan administration, in turn, suspended U.S. obligations to New Zealand under the Australia-New Zealand-United States security treaty. The estrangement lasted many decades as New Zealand parted ways not only with the United States but also neighboring Australia to pursue a nonaligned foreign policy.

Relations began to thaw in 2010, when New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s government signed the Wellington Declaration, which called for elevated strategic engagement and practical cooperation with the United States in the Pacific. Two years later, the two countries followed up with the Washington Declaration, which specifically strengthened defense cooperation and lifted a Reagan-era ban on New Zealand warships in U.S. ports—while leaving Wellington’s nuclear-free zone intact.

The rapprochement also survived the transition back to a Labour Party prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. In fact, the Ardern administration doubled down on the new policy. In 2022, Ardern became the first New Zealand prime minister to attend a NATO summit. Her Labour successor, Chris Hipkins, did so again in 2023. At these summits, New Zealand’s leaders expressed serious concerns about not only Russia but China as well, with Ardern in 2022 stating: “China has in recent times also become more assertive and more willing to challenge international rules and norms. Here, we must respond to the actions we see.”

Criticizing Beijing is a new tactic in New Zealand’s playbook. In 2008, the two countries signed a free trade agreement—Beijing’s first with a Western state. Since then, New Zealand has generally focused on business ties while ignoring or minimizing China’s worsening repression at home and rising assertiveness abroad. To its ostensible Western allies, Wellington’s “supine” attitude toward China was unnerving. In 2018, a Canadian government report called New Zealand the “soft underbelly” of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, which also includes Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States.

Wellington might have continued on this course, were it not for Beijing’s own actions that made it think twice about engaging—a clear trend that most recently pushed the Philippines to seek closer military relations with Japan and the United States. In New Zealand, it was the discovery of widespread Chinese political interference in the 2017 national elections that began to shift the China narrative from opportunity to concern. It also turned out that a Chinese-born member of the New Zealand Parliament until 2020, Jian Yang, who sat on the foreign affairs, defense, and trade committee, was not only once a member of the Chinese Communist Party but also worked as a trainer of People’s Liberation Army spies. These incidents, as well as Beijing’s turn to bullying smaller countries in the region, awakened New Zealand to the potential geostrategic threat posed by China, including in its own neighborhood.

These developments prompted Ardern to go against the grain of her country’s dovish China policy. In May 2022, New Zealand became a founding member of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework—a limited policy that seeks to enhance trade and investment relations among friendly countries, not including China, while stopping short of being an actual free trade agreement. Addressing China directly, Ardern and Biden agreed in Washington that “the United States and New Zealand share a concern that the establishment of a persistent military presence in the Pacific by a state that does not share our values or security interests would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region and pose national-security concerns to both our countries.” A month later, New Zealand also joined the Biden administration’s Partners in the Blue Pacific—a group of countries coordinating on Pacific islands strategy, including Australia, Britain, and Japan.

Wellington’s harder line on China now permeates the government. In July 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a new strategic foreign-policy assessment that cited Beijing’s growing assertiveness throughout the Indo-Pacific region as the “primary driver of strategic competition,” adding that the “risk of a shift in the strategic balance in the Pacific is now a present and serious concern in the region.” One month later, Wellington released a first-ever National Security Strategy, arguing that Beijing has become “more assertive and more willing to challenge existing international rules and norms.” A simultaneously released defense strategy implied increased defense spending to meet the emerging China threat.

More recently, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his conservative coalition government, elected in October 2023, are sending strong signals that they plan to stay on this track, in spite of previously promoting China-friendly policies. The appointment of Peters as foreign minister, for example, does not bode well for Beijing. In 2018, Peters was the mastermind behind Wellington’s Pacific reset strategy designed to counter Beijing’s growing clout in the Pacific islands region. In a recent speech, Peters questioned the very basis of Wellington’s foreign policy: progressivism and nonalignment. While this policy has played especially well in the postcolonial, post-Cold War Pacific islands region, Peters seems intent on trading it in for aligning New Zealand in great-power competition against China.

Specifically, Peters has called for Wellington to elevate its role in Five Eyes, the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) security pact, and NATO. AUKUS could soon see New Zealand cooperating on nonnuclear security topics, including cyberwar, hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, undersea capabilities, and others. On his first overseas visit in Australia, Luxon strongly suggested that Wellington was moving forward on AUKUS cooperation. Defense Minister Judith Collins has been more circumspect on AUKUS, but her recent contacts with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell have deepened the intrigue.

Peters also confirmed this month that New Zealand is pursuing a formal partnership program with NATO. If the agreement is concluded before Luxon’s participation in the NATO summit this summer, it would be another monumental shift in Wellington’s foreign policy away from nonalignment and toward integration with other democratic nations.

From a U.S. perspective, it is easy to get overly excited by these developments and conclude that a restored ANZUS alliance is near. But New Zealand and the United States still seem far apart on restoring a formal alliance, and there have been no public indications that any such step is afoot. A signal of this magnitude to China that New Zealand is siding against it is probably a bridge too far for Wellington, which still seeks to maintain a healthy economic relationship with Beijing and not endanger economic growth.

Still, Wellington’s strategic pivot is good news for Washington and its allies—even if it is still unclear how, exactly, New Zealand’s pivot will support concrete U.S. objectives in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. However, the United States should temper its expectations: New Zealand is likely to continue to preserve productive relations with China while it emphasizes the importance of stronger security ties with Washington.

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 9 months

Text

By: Nicole Brockbank, Angelina King

Published: Sep 13, 2023

Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Those are all examples of books Reina Takata says she can no longer find in her public high school library in Mississauga, Ont., which she visits on her lunch hour most days.

In May, Takata says the shelves at Erindale Secondary School were full of books, but she noticed that they had gradually started to disappear. When she returned to school this fall, things were more stark.

"This year, I came into my school library and there are rows and rows of empty shelves with absolutely no books," said Takata, who started Grade 10 last week.

She estimates more than 50 per cent of her school's library books are gone.

In the spring, Takata says students were told by staff that "if the shelves look emptier right now it's because we have to remove all books [published] prior to 2008."

Takata is one of several Peel District School Board (PDSB) students, parents and community members CBC Toronto spoke to who are concerned about a seemingly inconsistent approach to a new equity-based book weeding process implemented by the board last spring in response to a provincial directive from the Minister of Education.

They say the new process, intended to ensure library books are inclusive, appears to have led some schools to remove thousands of books solely because they were published in 2008 or earlier.

Parents and students are looking for answers as to why this happened, and what the board plans to do moving forward.

Prior to publication, neither Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce's office, nor the Education Ministry, would comment on PDSB's implementation of Lecce's directive when contacted by CBC Toronto.

But in a statement Wednesday, the education minister said he has written to the board to immediately end this practice.

"Ontario is committed to ensuring that the addition of new books better reflects the rich diversity of our communities," said Lecce.

"It is offensive, illogical and counterintuitive to remove books from years past that educate students on Canada's history, antisemitism or celebrated literary classics."

Weeding books by publication date raises concerns

The process of weeding books from a library isn't new.

Libraries across the country follow weeding plans to dispose of damaged, mouldy and outdated books and to ensure their collections remain a trusted source of current information.

But Takata, who is of Japanese descent, is concerned weeding by publication date doesn't follow that norm and will erase important history.

"I think that authors who wrote about Japanese internment camps are going to be erased and the entire events that went on historically for Japanese Canadians are going to be removed," she said.

"That worries me a lot."

Libraries not Landfills, a group of parents, retired teachers and community members says it supports standard weeding, but shares Takata's concerns about both fiction and nonfiction books being removed based solely on their publication date.

The group is also concerned about how subjective criteria like inclusivity will be interpreted from school to school in the later stages of the equity-based weeding process.

Tom Ellard, a PDSB parent and the founder of Libraries not Landfills, said teachers reached out to them to help raise awareness about the weeding process.

"Who's the arbiter of what's the right material to go in the library, and who's the arbiter of what's wrong in our libraries? That's unclear," he said. "It's not clear to the teachers who've provided us this material, and it's not clear to me as a parent or as a taxpayer."

Ellard says he's talked to the parent council, his son's principal and his school board trustee. He's also contacted members of the provincial government, but says he hasn't received a substantial response about what happened in the spring and how the process is intended to work.

School board defends process

CBC Toronto requested an interview with the PDSB to discuss how the weeding process works and how the board plans to proceed in the wake of concerns from parents and students. A spokesperson said staff were not available to speak as they were "focusing on students and school families this week."

The board did not address questions about empty shelves, the volume of books removed and reports about weeding books based on the date of publication.

Instead, the board issued statements explaining that the process of weeding books from school libraries was completed in June and has always been a part of teacher librarian responsibilities within PDSB and at school boards across the country.

"Books published prior to 2008 that are damaged, inaccurate, or do not have strong circulation data (are not being checked out by students) are removed," said the board in its statement.

If damaged books have strong circulation the board says they can be replaced regardless of publication date, and older titles can stay in the collection if they are "accurate, serve the curriculum, align with board initiatives and are responsive to student interest and engagement."

"The Peel District School Board works to ensure that the books available in our school libraries are culturally responsive, relevant, inclusive, and reflective of the diversity of our school communities and the broader society," said the board.

Weeding a response to minister's directive

CBC Toronto reviewed a copy of the internal PDSB documents Ellard's group obtained, which includes frequently asked questions and answers provided to school staff by the board, and a more detailed manual for the process titled "Weeding and Audit of Resource in the Library Learning Commons collection."

The documents lay out an "equitable curation cycle" for weeding, which it says was created to support Directive 18 from the Minister of Education based on a 2020 Ministry review and report on widespread issues of systematic discrimination within the PDSB.

Directive 18 instructs the board to complete a diversity audit of schools, which includes libraries.

"The Board shall evaluate books, media and all other resources currently in use for teaching and learning English, History and Social Sciences for the purpose of utilizing resources that are inclusive and culturally responsive, relevant and reflective of students, and the Board's broader school communities," reads the directive.

How weeding works

PDSB's "equitable curation cycle" is described generally in the board document as "a three-step process that holds Peel staff accountable for being critically conscious of how systems operate, so that we can dismantle inequities and foster practices that are culturally responsive and relevant."

First, teacher librarians were instructed to focus on reviewing books that were published 15 or more years ago — so in 2008 or earlier.

Then, librarians were to go through each of those books and consider the widely-used "MUSTIE'' acronym adapted from Canadian School Libraries. The letters stand for the criteria librarians are supposed to consider, and they include:

• Misleading – information may be factually inaccurate or obsolete. • Unpleasant – refers to the physical condition of the book, may require replacement. • Superseded – book been overtaken by a new edition or a more current resource. • Trivial – of no discernible literary or scientific merit; poorly written or presented. • Irrelevant – doesn't meet the needs and interests of the library's community. • Elsewhere – the book or the material in it may be better obtained from other sources.

The deadline to complete this step was the end of June, according to the document.

[ Dianne Lawson, a member of Libraries not Landfills, says teachers told her The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle were removed from their school libraries as part of the PDSB weeding process. ]

Step two of curation is an anti-racist and inclusive audit, where quality is defined by "resources that promote anti-racism, cultural responsiveness and inclusivity." And step three is a representation audit of how books and other resources reflect student diversity.

When it comes to disposing of the books that are weeded, the board documents say the resources are "causing harm," either as a health hazard because of the condition of the book or because "they are not inclusive, culturally responsive, relevant or accurate."

For those reasons, the documents say the books cannot be donated, as "they are not suitable for any learners."

A PDSB spokesperson said the board supports its schools "in the disposal of books in a responsible manner by following Peel Region's recycling guidelines." Peel Region allows for the recycling of book paper, as long as hard covers and any other plastics are removed first and put in the garbage.

Books removed based on date, board heard

It was during the first stage of the new equitable curation cycle, that Takata, Libraries not Landfills, and at least one trustee, say some schools were removing books strictly based on publication date.

CBC Toronto recently reviewed a recording of a May 8 board committee meeting focused on the new equitable weeding process. In it, trustee Karla Bailey noted "there are so many empty shelves," when she walks into schools.

"When you talk to the librarian in the library, the books are being weeded by the date, no other criteria," Bailey told the committee.

"That is where many of us have a real issue. None of us have an issue with removing books that are musty, torn, or racist, outdated. But by weeding a book, removing a book from a shelf, based simply on this date is unacceptable. And yes, I witnessed it."

Bernadette Smith, superintendent of innovation and research for PDSB, is heard responding on the recording, saying it was "very disappointing" to hear that, because she said that's not the direction the board is giving in its training for the process.

Dianne Lawson, another member of Libraries not Landfills, told CBC Toronto weeding by publication date in some schools must have occurred in order to explain why a middle school teacher told her The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank was removed from shelves. She also says a kindergarten teacher told her The Very Hungry Caterpillar had been removed as well.

"She has read it to her classes for years, they love it," Lawson said, referring to the Eric Carle picture book.

"I can't find any sedition in it, or any reason why you would pull this book."

Process 'rolled out wrong,' trustee chair says

Trustee and chair of the board, David Green, told CBC Toronto the weeding process itself "rolled out wrong."

That's why he says trustees briefly paused the process until the board could get a better understanding of what was actually going on.

A motion was passed at a May 24 board meeting to ensure that, going forward, those weeding books during the anti-racist and inclusive audit in the second phase of the curation cycle would need to document the title and reason for removal before any books were disposed of.

"We have to make sure that we are meeting the needs of the students and not just rolling something out because we were told to do it," said Green.

When it comes to removing all books published in 2008 or earlier, Green said the board of trustees has heard that, too.

"We have asked the Director [of Education] again to make sure that if that is taking place, then that is stopped, and then the proper process is followed," he said.

Green also said they have plans to communicate with parents about the weeding process.

In the meantime, students like Takata are left with half-empty shelves and questions about why they weren't consulted about their own libraries.

"No one asked for our opinions," she said. "I feel that taking away books without anyone's knowledge is considered censorship."

Even given it was "rolled out wrong," it's interesting that some librarians saw no issue with the actions they took.

Which doesn't bode well for the overtly ideological "second phase," in which classic and of-the-time literature is judged through the shallow, postmodern "microaggressions" of present-day activist librarians.

It's always been the people who most want to ban books like "To Kill A Mockingbird" who are the ones who most need to read them.

This is what a purge of history looks like.

#libraries #censorship #literature #microaggressions #history purge #diversity #equity #inclusion #diversity equity and inclusion #antiracism #antiracism as religion #woke #wokeism #cult of woke #wokeness as religion #religion is a mental illness

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rabbitcruiser · 1 year

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National Poutine Day

In Canada, particularly in Quebec, poutine is a staple food, if not also an iconic one. It has become a popular food in America as well as in other countries, and we celebrate it today, on National Poutine Day. Standard poutine is made up of fresh-cut french fries, squeaky fresh cheese curds, and brown gravy, but there are many variations of the dish. Among other possibilities, the name may have come from the word "pudding," which is spelled pouding in French, or from poutine, which is slang for "mess" in Quebec. It is pronounced "pou-tin" in the French-dominated regions of Quebec and New Brunswick, but as "poo-teen" elsewhere.

According to the most widely known and accepted story, poutine was first served at L’Idéal (Café Ideal)—a restaurant that later changed its name to Le Lutin Qui Rit (The Laughing Elf)—in 1957, in the small town of Warwick, in Arthabaska County, Quebec, a town known for producing squeaky cheese curds. A usual customer, Eddy Lainsesse, requested curds on top of his fries. The restaurant owner, Fernand Lachance, supposedly replied, "Ça va faire une maudite poutine," which roughly translates to "That's going to make a dreadful mess." A variation of the story says that Lainsesse asked for the curds and fries to be thrown together in a paper bag, upon which Lachance looked into the bag and said, "This is poutine." The dish started being sold in a bag and soon caught on. Patrons began adding ketchup and vinegar to it. In 1963, Lachance began serving it on plates. Customers soon noticed that the fries got cold quickly, so Lachance added gravy to keep them warm.

According to another story, poutine was created by Jean-Paul Roy, owner of Le Roy Jucep, a drive-in restaurant in Drummondville, Quebec. He had been serving a dish of gravy and french fries called patate-sauce since 1958, and in 1964 noticed that some of his diners were adding cheese curds to it. He soon added a dish that contained all three ingredients and named it fromage-patate-sauce.

No matter how poutine got its start, it soon could be found being sold as street food in Canada. By 1969 it was being sold in Quebec City at the Ashton Snack Bar food truck on Boulevard Wilfred-Hamel, and it was being sold in Montreal by 1983. By the early 1980s, it had become a widely popular street food in Ontario and Quebec.

It made its debut in Canadian chain restaurants in 1985, appearing on the menu at Frits, a now-defunct Quebec-based chain. By the 1990s, poutine had reached mass popularization in the country, after its inclusion on the menus of other chains. It first appeared on a Burger King menu in 1987 in Quebec, and soon spread to other locations of the chain. The same happened with McDonald's in 1990. Canadian fast-food chain Harvey's debuted it on menus across the country in 1992.

But poutine wasn't to remain only as street food and fast food. By the early 2000s, it was appearing in high-end Canadian restaurants. It was put on the menu at Aud Pied de Cochon in Montreal in 2002, where it was topped with foie gras. Other high-end Montreal restaurants followed suit. Garde Manger began serving an Iron Chef America-winning lobster poutine, and Pub Quartier Latin put poutine made with steak, truffles, and red wine demi-glace on their menu.

Some Canadian restaurants have made poutine their main focus. La Banquise in Montreal began serving it in the 1980s. They started with the standard version and an Italian version with bolognese sauce instead of gravy. They have since expanded to serving 30 types. Smoke's Poutinerie was started in Toronto in 2008, the first poutine-only restaurant in that city. Other poutine-only restaurants that followed in Canada are Poutini's House of Poutine, La Poutinerie, and Poutineville.

Poutine made its first foray into the United States in New Jersey and New York, where a variation of the recipe called "Disco Fries" became popular. This version substituted mozzarella or cheddar cheese for the curds. Poutine has since become relatively common in the States, and took hold in other countries as well, such as the United Kingdom and Russia.

As mentioned, there are various types of poutine besides the usual french fries, cheese curds, and gravy combination. Different types of potatoes, cheese, and sauces can be used. Italian poutine may use spaghetti sauce instead of gravy; veggie poutine is made with mushroom sauce and vegetables; Irish poutine is made with lardons. La galvaude is from Gaspésie and is made with chicken and green peas. A variation in Montreal uses smoked meat.

Festivals devoted to poutine are held across Canada throughout the year. Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto are some cities that hold them. On National Poutine Day, events are held and specials are available at restaurants in countries like Canada and the United States. For example, My Meatball Place in Toronto has given away free samples of meatball and vegan poutine, and The Hops Spot in Syracuse has offered half-price poutine. With so many types of poutine—and so many restaurants that serve it in some parts of the world—there is no reason to remain hungry on National Poutine Day.

How to Observe National Poutine Day (Canada)

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate the day:

Make your own poutine. You could make the original version or another variation of the dish. You could even make Disco Fries, the Americanized version of the dish.

Check if there is a place near you that serves poutine.

Enjoy poutine at a Canadian restaurant that specializes in the dish, such as La Banquise, Smoke's Poutinerie, Poutini's House of Poutine, La Poutinerie, or Poutineville. Smoke's Poutinerie also has some locations in the United States.

Have poutine at a restaurant in Warwick, Quebec, the town where the dish is said to have originated, or have it at Le Roy Jucep in Drummondville, Quebec, the other location where it is said to have gotten its start.

Eat some poutine at Harvey's or at another fast food restaurant in Canada.

Enjoy poutine at a high-end Canadian restaurant such as Aud Pied de Cochon, Garde Manger, or Pub Quartier Latin.

See if there are any specials on poutine today at restaurants such as My Meatball Place in Toronto or The Hops Spot in Syracuse.

Plan a trip to an upcoming poutine fest, such as Montreal's Le Grand Poutinefest, Ottawa Poutine Fest, or Toronto Poutine Fest.

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homomenhommes · 4 months

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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … February 11

1873 – UK: Simeon Solomon was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire as well as a poet. Solomon and George Roberts, a stableman, are arrested on this day at a public urinal in London and charged with the Crime of Buggery.

John Wallowitch (L) and Bertram Ross

1926 – John Wallowitch (d.2007) was an American songwriter and cabaret performer. He wrote over 2,000 songs; his works include Bruce, I See the World through Your Eyes, Back on the Town and Mary's Bar.

For over 50 years, he played and sang a catalogue of original songs at nightspots around New York City with his longtime partner, Bertram Ross. Ross was the principal male dancer for Martha Graham for over twenty years. In 1953 he replaced Graham's former partner and husband , going on to create many great roles such as he created leading roles in many of her works.

Ross and Wallowitch sang in nightspots ranging from London's Pizza on the Park to the Ballroom in New York City. A CD of their performance cabaret, Wallowitch and Ross (Miranda Music) was released in 2003 to accompany the documentary film of the couple, Wallowitch & Ross: This Moment.

Wallowitch lived and performed in New York City with Ross, until Ross's death on April 20, 2003, at 82 years old. Wallowitch died on August 15, 2007 in New York City. They are buried together at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York (Actors Fund Lot).

Justin Ryan (L) and Colin McAllister

1967 – Justin Ryan and Colin McAllister (born 10 January 1968) are Scottish interior decorators and television presenters. McAllister and Ryan have incorporated their trademark behaviour, which includes their frequent bickering, fussiness, tantrums, mild innuendo and light-hearted put-downs, as comic relief into most of their programmes.

As well as being co-hosts, McAllister and Ryan have also been in a relationship since April 1985 and are credited as introducing laminate flooring to British households. On 15 February 2008, they had a private civil partnership ceremony in London followed by a Caribbean honeymoon. After leaving 2009's edition of I'm A Celebrity contest on ITV, they announced that they were to renew their vows on their 25th anniversary, 28 April 2010.

Although their main residence is Glasgow, they divide their time between there and London in their own homes in both cities. The two also own a downtown loft in Toronto where they are currently devising new formats for 2013 North American broadcast. They have filmed 4 * 13 episode series of Colin and Justin's Home Heist for HGTV, which is broadcast in approximately 25 countries.

In 2011 Colin McAllister & Justin Ryan confirmed that after 22 years together, they are officially married. It was their experience in Canada that make the couple decide that they wanted to make their union official.

"I'm not sure if we would have decided to get married if we hadn't moved to, and fallen in love with Canada. After a year of living in Toronto, filming Home Heist, it became clear to us that it was time to tie the knot. Canada is such a progressive nation, so welcoming and open-mindedly liberal about gay marriage, that we felt thoroughly inspired," says Ryan.

McAllister added, "Previously every time someone asked us about getting married, I'd joke that even after such a long time I still wasn't sure if Justin was the right man! Let's just say that this year, I'm SURE."

The pair also write a weekly column in the Friday and Sunday editions of the Toronto Sun, offering up their suggestions for sprucing up homes. The column syndicates to 24 Hours Vancouver, 24 Hours Toronto and The London Free Press. The column is also available online. Colin and Justin contribute a weekly column to The Huffington Post and to Cottage Life Magazine as a companion to their current Cottage Life TV show.

1976 – Brice Beckham is an American actor most famous for his role as Wesley T. Owens in the television sitcom Mr. Belvedere and for his role as Corey in I Hate My 30's. He lives in Los Angeles and is a member of LA's Namaste theater group.

Born in Long Beach, California, Beckham attended Minnie Gant Elementary School, College Intermediate School, Walter B. Hill Junior High School, and Wilson High School, in Long Beach, California. While in high school, he came in first place in the California High School Speech State Finals in 1993. He attended the University of Southern California, majoring in theater.

Beckham began his acting career in school plays. He later went on to do an assortment of radio commercials, and would later appear on an episode of the TV sitcom Alice. He starred in Mr. Belvedere as Wesley T. Owens. The show aired from 1985 to 1990. He appeared in an episode of Win, Lose, or Draw in 1989, and in a guest role in American Dreamer in 1991. In 1992, he starred in an episode of CBS Schoolbreak Special, called "Two Teens and a Baby".

In 2007, he starred in the VH1 series I Hate My 30s.In 2012, Beckham was one of several former child actors who appeared in a Funny or Die video called "CCOKC", which stood for Child Celebrities Opposing Kirk Cameron. A counterpoint to Kirk Cameron's stance on homosexuality, the humorous video aimed to spread the message that gay individuals are not a threat to anyone. Keith Coogan, Josie Davis, Jeremy Licht, Kenn Michael, Christine Lakin, and Maureen Flannigan also appeared in the video.

1977 – Ari Gold (d.2021) was an the award-winning, openly gay, independent recording artist who fashioned himself a high-octane career. An Orthodox Jew who was a successful child vocalist, Gold struggled with his gay identity both within the Jewish community and in the music industry. He starred in an autobiographical theater production Ari Gold – Untitled: The Making of a Gay Pop Star.

Gold declared, "Labels don't have to define us. They simply describe us—they shouldn't confine us. I for one am proud to be known as a gay artist . . . . I am done with hiding and done with shame in any form."

Born and raised in the Bronx in New York City, Gold's teacher parents both loved show business. Gold calls his parents "show Jews." When Gold was born, his birth announcement read like a show bill:

METRO GOLD WINNING PRODUCTIONS Proudly Present "Another Smash Hit" OUR THREE SONS With the brilliant new star ARI GOLD

At seven, Gold sang back-up for Diana Ross when she needed a children's choir for her Swept Away album. The same year he sang in the "My Buddy" jingle for Jell-O Pudding Pops with Bill Cosby. As a child, he sang over 400 jingles.

When he was eight, Gold did girls' voices for a syndicated cartoon series. He also recorded a girl's voice for the talking Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. You could dial the Cabbage Patch Kids talking telephone and hear Gold say, "Hi, I'm Sybil Sadie. Want to come play with me?"

Gold attended Yeshiva High School in Manhattan where he tried to downplay his music career. He was afraid that boys might make fun of him, especially for voicing girls. He tried not to talk about his work at school, and when he went to work he hid his yarmulke. It seemed ironic to Gold even then that he was hiding two essential aspects of his identity in an effort to be as "all-American" as he could at work and in school.

One of the first songs he wrote, at 14, is called "Experienced Girl," about an ex-girlfriend, who recently asked Gold to sing another of his songs, "Bashert (Meant to Be)," from his 2004 album, Space Under Sun, at her traditional Jewish wedding to another woman. "That's right," Gold says. "My first girlfriend turned out to be a lesbian."

In high school, Gold had two girlfriends, which he thought kept him safe from being outed as a "homo." Gold says, "I can joke about it now, but at the time I felt quite tortured and felt that if anyone found out my secret of being gay I would be ex-communicated from my friends, my school, my community, and my family."

Gold came out to his best friend when he was sixteen. Two years later, he came out to his family in an 18-page letter. Gold says his family's reaction was "fairly accepting." "My Mom was proud of me because she thought it wasn't healthy to keep a secret like that," Gold says, "but when I stopped being religious, that was a lot more difficult for them."

His first album, Ari Gold included explicit gay love songs, such as "Write Me a Love Song" and "Home." In the former, Gold sings openly about his lover asking him to write him a song about love between men.

In 2004, Gold released Space Under Sun on his own label, Gold18 Records. It debuted as #1 on the Outvoice Charts, and Gold was featured on the covers of many gay magazines. The album solidified Gold as an emerging gay musical star. The album includes songs about such subjects as a man and woman fighting over the same man ("He's on My Team") and the trauma of getting caught by the cops having sex in public ("Caught"). It also includes the tender ballad "Bashert (Meant to Be)," which reflects Gold's Jewish identity.

In 2007, Gold released his third studio album Transport Systems. The songs on this album are about such topics as the down low, gay relationships, crystal meth addiction, gender identity, and spirituality.

As for being a gay artist, Gold said he saw his gayness as a gift. "As long as my friends are being beaten on the street, as long as there are still kids killing themselves because of shame, and as long as we are still fighting for our basic civil and human rights, I will continue to shout [my gayness] from the queer roof tops."

Gold died from leukemia on February 14, 2021, three days after his 47th birthday. RuPaul, whom Gold had described as a mentor, was among those to express condolences on social media.

1983 – Robert Sepúlveda Jr. is a former fashion model, interior designer, creative director, and LGBTQ activist.

He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He grew up in Lake City, Florida where he attended Columbia High School. He received his degree in interior design from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, graduating summa cum laude. During his college years Sepúlveda Jr. worked as an escort to pay his way through college and to pay his rent.

Sepúlveda began his career at Valley Forge Fabrics, a supplier of decorative upholstery fabrics for the hospitality industry. There, he created and executed interior design schemes for hoteliers. In 2008 Sepúlveda moved to New York City where he began working with fashion houses Polo Ralph Lauren, Rugby Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, and Kenneth Cole, eventually assuming the role of acting Global Visual Manager of the Calvin Klein Home Collection. Sepúlveda has since founded RSJdesign, LLC, his interior design firm specializing in luxury residential and commercial spaces.

In September 2016, Sepúlveda Jr. starred on the dating show Finding Prince Charming, which airs on the network Logo. The series depicted Sepúlveda Jr. getting to know thirteen gay men and each week he has to eliminate 1 in a ceremony. The show shares the similar format to The Bachelor, however it is the first all gay-cast dating show. Prior to the series airing, controversy arose surrounding Sepúlveda Jr with his past work as an escort being revealed and his personal videos were released by an ex-partner. Logo has spoken out on that matter claiming they were fully aware of his history and explained that the series is reality and consists of many discussions such as "first time love to coming to terms with one’s past, fear of commitment and even HIV."

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beautifullache · 2 months

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🦄The Sims 4🦄

🥪Sub Bundle🥪

💕Early Release 5.10.2024💕

Subway

The Subway® restaurant chain is the world's largest submarine sandwich franchise, with more than 28,500 locations in 86 countries. In 2002, the Subway® chain surpassed McDonald's in the number of restaurants open in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Milford, Conn., the Subway® restaurant chain was co-founded by Fred DeLuca and Dr. Peter Buck in 1965. The Subway® chain was named the number one global franchise opportunity by Entrepreneur magazine in its Annual Franchise 500 Ranking for 2008.

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Family owned and loved since 1976, Jason’s Deli works hard to ensure that our employees are rewarded with advancement, recognition and quality of life. We’re looking for people who want more than just a job. If you possess energy, drive and the will to lead, we want to talk to youWe set the standard for our niche and we continue to work hard to give our employees and customers the appreciation they deserve! Advancement with Jason’s Deli is based on performance, knowledge and leadership. If you possess energy, drive and the will to lead, Jason’s is the company for you! Jason’s appreciates our managers, and we reward them with advancement, recognition and quality of life!

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Jersey Mike's

Jersey Mike’s, a fast-casual sub sandwich franchise with more than 2,000 locations open and under development nationwide, has a long history of community involvement and support. Started at the Jersey Shore in 1956, Jersey Mike’s serves authentic East Coast-style subs on fresh baked bread – the same recipe it started with over 60 years ago. The company’s mission is to bring its customers the highest quality, freshest made sub in the industry and give back to the communities in which it operates.

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Jimmy John's

Freaky Fast! Freaky Fresh!™ Jimmy John’s is all about fresh, fast, tasty sandwiches. We hand-slice fresh meats and veggies daily, and we bake our homemade bread all day, every day, so it’s always served fresh. We greet our customers genuinely when they come in the door, and then we make them one of the fast, flawless sandwiches that Jimmy John’s is famous for! Everything we do goes back to serving our customers. That means fast service, high-quality products, and a consistent customer experience to keep ‘em coming back. And none of it would be possible without the rockstar teams in the stores making it happen every day.

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fratboybeezer · 7 months

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Flyers Primer - Text Version

Presentation version here

featuring many of my personal opinions on players & some phantoms i find notable

*edit: fuck carter hart and i was very harsh on sam for no reason also there’s a lot of typos sorry

Cam Atkinson

forward (rw), #89

drafted 157th overall to CBJ in 2008

amazing instagram comment-er

on the nhl player inclusion coalition

played for torts in cbus

seems just happy to be here

basically #1 gritty fan

Sean Couturier

forward (c), #14

coots, couter, no chest

drafted 8th overall to PHI in 2011

playing this season after being on ir for like a season and a half

should have an a or c

used to live with now gm danny b

last of my fav ginger trio (him, g, and jakey)

toothless

Marc Staal

defenseman, #18

drafted 12th overall to NYR in 2005

2nd of 4 staals

homophobic, boycotted pride night with his brother eric in florida last season

career overall +/- of +50, over 1100 games played

Scott Laughton

forward (c), #21

our one and only a

laughts, laughtsy, scotty tatum

drafted 20th overall to PHI in 2012

passionate LGBTQ+ ally

always the one to put up the pride flag in front of the farg

first guests of the season were a lesbian couple celebrating their 1 year wedding anniversary

best drip on the roster (decided by me after that horrid drip night they had)

kinda reminds me of a cat idk

drinks a black, hot coffee

let atkinson wear his a for atkinson’s first game back in cbus after being traded to philly (back when we had a c and 2 a’s)

had an a with team canada at world’s

has a cat named brucey

Travis Konecny

forward (rw), #11

tk, teeks, tiki bar

drafted 24th overall to PHI in 2015

literally one of the best (if not the best) player on our roster idc argue with the wall

called a “short king” (he is 5’10, there’s shorter guys on the roster)

certified DILF!!

my mom’s fav flyer (she can only name 3 total)

once lost his shoes on the plane and therefore postponed press

pest/rat/raccoon (affectionate)

lives in penalty box yet an absolute goal scorer

his best on ice comparison is a chihuahua

best flow on the roster idc

our media rep this year!!! Slay!!

best chirps on the roster

Joel Farabee

forward (lw), #86

beezer, young beezer, bee, young beezy

drafted 14th overall to PHI in 2018

my favorite player i could go on and on about him

had neck surgery after 21-22 season and came back and played all 82 games in 22-23 season

is already becoming a leader on the team

bought a house from coots early 22 and now it’s a hub for the young guys on the team

gives off frat boy vibes in the best way

is such a teammate guy

asg shootout hater

has (at least 1) tattoo

his game day coffee order is an iced coffee with almond milk, no sweetener, on off days gets a brown sugar shaken espresso, prefers iced over hot coffee, and never met a coffee he didn’t like

grew up liking the flyers & phillies and really wanted to be drafted to philly

“i thank my lucky stars” -bee when talking about getting drafted to philly

claimed in a tk mic’d up that he was dropping a mixtape and never dropped it :(

silliest guy on instagram

Carter Hart

goalie, #79

hartsy, cahtah haht

drafted 48th overall by PHI in 2016

our starter <3 love him

as i’m making this is injured but is practicing with the team so hopefully he’ll be back soon

deserves better than philly but you can pry him from my cold dead hands

@st-louis has a great primer about him

Samuel Ersson

goalie, #33

drafted 143rd overall to PHI in 2018

not the best but he’s trying (i think)

would benefit from some time down with the phantoms

tbh shouldn’t be our #2

Cal Petersen

goalie, #40

drafted 129th overall to BUF in 2013

looks like he would blow away in the wind ngl

me and my friend hate him i’m sorry (sorta)

has spent most of his career so far with the kings

Felix Sandstrom

#32

drafted 70th overall to PHI in 2015

he should be our #2 idc

or down with the phantoms to improve

i can’t think of him without thinking of those pics @mad-bee posted of him like

👁️👁️

Bobby Brink

forward (rw), #10

drafted 34th overall to PHI in 2019

a baby!! (is a 22 y/o man)

my friend knows him specifically as “our rookie”

a REAL short king (5’8)

university of denver

Cam York

defenseman, #8

yorkie, yam cork

drafted 14th overall to PHI in 2019

umich boy, would’ve graduated with team 101

also a usndtp boy

i’m too lazy to look for evidence but probably part of the hughes summer club

Tyson Foerster

forward (rw), #71

drafted 23 overall to PHI in 2020

even more of a baby than brink (he’s a 21 y/o man)

roomies with beezer, stayed in philly during the off-season

i don’t think he stops smiling

described by beezer as “like a little adhd kid”

seems to be besties with yorkie

Egor Zamula

defenseman, #5

undrafted

was super excited to play alongside pr*vorov when he got called up from the Phantoms

part of beezer’s summer group

Nicolas Deslauriers

forward (lw), #44

nic, des, delo

drafted 84th overall to LAK in 2009

french canadian

hit 600 games 10/10!!

usually one of the top guys on the team in hits, pim, fights

has a career overall of -91 but like isn’t a goal scorer so. averages about 6 points per game in overall career

great fighter very hot 10/10

Nick Seeler

defenseman, #24

seels, seal team

drafted 131st overall to MIN in 2011

underrated!!!!!!!!

another great fighter that’s very hot 10/10

there’s not much to him other than punches but that’s ok i love him

fought des when des was playing with the wild

Noah Cates

forward (lw), #27

catesy

drafted 137th overall to PHI in 2017

has a brother who was with the organization but now is with bridgeport in the ahl (got to play some nhl games together!!!!)

once said flyers locker room lacked the “swagger of the winning mentality” which is a fucking hilarious way to word it

was on 2022 us men’s olympic roster

Morgan Frost

forward (c), #48

frosty

drafted 27th overall to PHI in 2017

never captions his instagram posts

angered torts or something because he keeps getting benched with no chance to properly prove himself

flyers hater

Travis Sanheim

defenseman, #6

sanny, sandy, sandra

drafted 17th overall by PHI in 2014

besties + neighbors with tk (known together as travii or travis²)

whl boy

besties with tk’s oldest kid

Owen Tippett

forward (rw), #74

tippy, tipper

drafted 10th overall to FLA in 2017

got him when we traded our captain :,( miss you G

hair looks unnatural but like i’m 90% it is natural

Garnet Hathaway

forward (rw), #19

undrafted

signed as free agent in july

part of phd line (w/ des & poehling)

UHM HIS FIRST NAME IS FUCKING JOHN?!

i don’t like him please don’t ask why i don’t have an answer

Ryan Poehling

forward (c), #25

drafted 25th overall to MTL in 2017

another guy signed in july

saved him from the penguins 🫶🏻

phd line

honestly i don’t know much abt him

Louie Belpedio

defenseman, #37

drafted 80th overall to MIN in 2014

has like 3 nhl games under his belt (12? as i’m making this)

signed july 2022 but has chilling in lehigh valley

went to miami of ohio

has a totally of 3 points but like i said only 11 games he’s got a lot of space for more

Victor Mete

defenseman, #98

drafted 100th overall to MTL in 2016

signed as a free agent in july

more of an assists guy than a goals guy and honestly i’m content with that

career overall +/- of +19

about 250 games under his belt

Sean Walker

defenseman, #26

walks

undrafted

bgsu grad & 2 seasons as captain there

his trade helped us send pr*vorov on his way, hope the door hit him on the way out

not rly talked abt but i think he’s cool (i’m going to bgsu lol)

Long term IR Boys

Ryan Ellis

defenseman, #94

drafted 11th overall to NSH in 2009

i don’t think he’s played a single game with us

like was injured when he was drafted and has been on ir the whole time

we lost phil myers for him (and nolpat too ig)

back injury? i think?

i have no thoughts on him ngl

Rasmus Ristolainen

defenseman, #55

drafted 8th overall to BUF in 2013

horrid career overall +/- (-176)

traded robert hagg & 2 draft pics for him?

i like him tho ig

looks like a different person in like every photo i’ve ever seen of him

his injury is undisclosed

The Phantoms

Wade Allison

forward (rw), #19 (#17 with flyers)

wader, ally, ally cat

drafted 52nd overall to PHI in 2016

he’s my girlfriend i miss him

lived in beezer’s basement last season

part of the fratboys (w/ frosty & beezer)

wmu boy

spent all of last season with the flyers

Tanner Laczynski

forward (c), #9 (#58 with the flyers)

drafted 169th overall to PHI in 2016

OSU boy (ew)

has never spent a whole season up with the flyers :(

my mom once told me he looked like a loser before finding out he was an nhl player

buds with wader

Zayde Wisdom

forward (rw), #14

drafted 94th overall to PHI in 2020

used to live with foerster?

he would cook and tyson would clean

i need him to be called up so we have that duo back

scored 29 goals in his second ohl season

Emil Andrae

defenseman, #6 (#36 with flyers)

drafted 54th overall to PHI in 2020

played 4 games with us this season

not much of a goal scorer but can do it

kinda looks very stereotypical swede

Ronnie Attard

defenseman, #12

drafted 72nd overall to PHI in 2019

was tri-city storm captain for the 18-19 season

another wmu boy — played a season there with ally in 19-20

played 2 games with the flyers last season and 15 the year before

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