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grandmaster-anne · 1 year

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QUEEN ELIZABETH II

By Steve Dougherty and Larry Sutton | Published 17 September 2022

Time Magazine International Edition

QUEEN ELIZABETH II WAS THE WORLD’S LONGEST-serving head of state when she died at 96 on Sept. 8. She had led her subjects for more than seven decades—an extraordinary reign that began in 1952, and spanned 15 British Prime Ministers and 14 U.S. Presidents. She inherited the throne of a country almost broken by the legacy of war, and remained upon it through a time of epochal change for both the U.K. and the world.

When Elizabeth took the throne, the U.K. was the seat of an empire that straddled the globe. Today, Britain is a smaller player on the world’s stage, but she remained the sovereign leader of 15 nations—including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand—and head of a Commonwealth of more than 50 nations. She traveled the globe as an ambassador for British achievements, acts of charity, and values. She was also devoted to upholding the “special relationship” between the U.K. and the U.S., engaging with every President from Harry Truman to Joe Biden over a period of more than 70 years. And even as the world changed in profound ways, many saw her as a steadfast rock of patriotic duty. As her grandson Prince William wrote in the preface to a 2015 biography, “I think I speak for my generation when I say that the example and continuity provided by the Queen is not only very rare among leaders but a great source of pride and reassurance … I am privileged to have the Queen as a model for a life of service to the public.”

ELIZABETH ALEXANDRA MARY WINDSOR was born by cesarean section at 2:40 a.m. on April 21, 1926. She was an heir to the throne, but third in the line of succession. Her father Prince Albert—Bertie to friends and family—was the second son of the reigning monarch, King George V. His older brother David, known by his royal appellation Edward of Wales, was first in line to the throne—but also single, childless, and already rumored to have little interest in inheriting his father’s crown.

The early life of Princess Elizabeth was chronicled with zeal both by the British press and in the former colonies. “The water was from the River Jordan,” TIME reported of the elaborate christening pageantry staged in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace. Sir Winston Churchill first met Elizabeth at Balmoral Castle in 1928, when she was 2, and proclaimed that he saw in her “an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant.”

No one in the realm was more enamored with the young Elizabeth than its monarch, who gave her the place of honor on his lap when they rode through the streets of London in his royal stretch Daimler. “No one else except the Queen rides out so often with the King,” TIME reported. Left out of the spotlight, not ungladly, was Lilibet’s father—the self-deprecating Bertie, who once told reporters, “My chief claim to fame seems to be that I am the father of Princess Elizabeth.”

Her reign as only child ended at age 4, in 1930, with the birth of her sister, Margaret Rose, at Glamis Castle in Scotland, their mother’s ancestral home. The girls romped together on the palace grounds and royal country estates, played with their terrier puppies and corgis—Elizabeth’s lifelong favorite. They also stabled, cared for, and learned to train a royal succession of pet ponies, and shared the same nannies and governesses.

In January 1936, upon the death of Lilibet’s grandfather George V, her uncle David became King Edward VIII. Almost immediately, his eldest niece and all the royal family became prime players in a 20th century succession drama. Edward’s tumultuous 10-month reign as King ended on Dec. 10, 1936, when he scandalized the world by abdicating the throne to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson. “I always told those idiots not to put me in a golden frame,” he said. Young Lilibet was only 10 when she learned she would become Queen after her father’s death.

ELIZABETH WAS BARELY A TEENAGER when, on Sept. 3, 1939, Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. The war’s threat had already thundered throughout Europe, and soon the kingdom Elizabeth would one day rule, along with much of the rest of the world, was engulfed in war. Less than a year later, Hitler entered Paris and promised to make Britain his next conquest. Soon the Blitz—day and night Luftwaffe bombing raids that rained fire and terror over cities throughout England—was at full roar.

And so the Princess spent her teens knitting socks for British soldiers, collecting tinfoil, and rolling bandages for the war effort. She would send portions of her 5-shilling weekly allowance to emergency child-welfare funds, wear secondhand clothes, adhere to the war-rations diet dictated for all Britons, and live frugally despite being a teenage Princess and heir to the British throne.

Even as bombs fell on Buckingham Palace, the royal couple refused entreaties to abandon London and evacuate Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret to Canada. “The children won’t go without me,” said the Queen. “I won’t leave without the King. And the King will never leave.”

The King’s decision to remain in England for the duration of the war, enduring its deprivations along with his subjects, endeared him to the beleaguered nation. But it also made the likelihood that Elizabeth might suddenly be called to the throne in the event of her father’s death seem palpable.

The future monarch began her public life with her first live BBC radio broadcast in October 1940. Displaying poise and pluck, she addressed the tens of thousands of children who were evacuated from their homes and separated from their families at the height of the Blitz. “My sister, Margaret Rose, and I feel so much for you as we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all,” she said in a clear voice that offered a hint of the calm and compassion that many would come to admire.

When in 1944 she reached military age at 18, Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, one of the wartime women’s units. She spent three weeks at the Mechanical Transport Training Center, where she trained as a mechanic and truck driver. The labor left her covered in grease and grime and not a little well-earned pride.

And she never partied so hard as she did a fortnight after her 19th birthday when, on May 8, 1945—Victory in Europe Day—she joined the ecstatic and rowdy street celebrations that swept London following Germany’s surrender. After standing in uniform on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to greet cheering crowds alongside the King, Queen, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, she, her sister, a group of friends, and a few guardians linked arms and ran among the crowds that surged through the city. For two nights in a row she “walked simply miles,” she wrote in her journal, “ate, partied, bed 3 a.m.!” These were, she would say 40 years later, among “the most memorable nights of my life.”

YEARS BEFORE, ELIZABETH had visited a naval college at Dartmouth where she had been greeted by a towering 18-year-old cadet.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921, nephew of King Constantine of Greece and distant relation to Britain’s Queen Victoria. As his family drifted apart he was sent, at the age of 9, to England to live with his grandmother, the widow of the great British naval commander and German Prince Louis Alexander Mountbatten. He was schooled in England, Germany, and Scotland, and became a fine young athlete—as Elizabeth would note to her governess, Crawfie, on that trip to Dartmouth: “How good he is, Crawfie. How high can he jump!”

Elizabeth corresponded with Philip throughout the war, and after its end the Prince was placed on shore duty at a naval base on England’s south coast. He often made the 100-mile trek to London in his small black MG, frequently stopping at Buckingham Palace. As the friendship grew into a romance, Elizabeth was delighted. Her father George? Not so much—at first. “His loud, boisterous laugh and his blunt, seagoing manners … irritated the gentle King,” TIME reported in 1957. Despite that chill, Elizabeth and Philip decided to marry after a short stay with her family at Balmoral Castle in the summer of 1946. The King’s lack of enthusiasm for Elizabeth’s beau—an attitude sparked, in part, by his concern over how the people of Britain would take to a foreign-born prince marrying the heiress to the throne—frustrated the Princess. “There was many a tense moment for George as Elizabeth moped about in tearful martyrdom while her mother and grandmother, the doughty old Queen Mary, fought her battle for her. At last, George decided that the young couple (she was 20, he 25) should wait six months to make sure of each other,” noted TIME.

There were obstacles to overcome, but none insurmountable. Philip became a British citizen, and public-opinion polls showed that a majority of the nation’s populace favored his marrying the Princess. The official announcement did not come until July 9, 1947, followed by the couple’s introduction at a Buckingham Palace garden party. The wedding took place that November, on the 20th. Philip had converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and Elizabeth’s father made the former member of the Greek and Danish royal families a British royal duke, the Duke of Edinburgh, to be called His Royal Highness, or simply Prince Philip.

As Elizabeth made her way to Westminster Abbey in the royal coach on her wedding day, thousands cheered from the neighboring sidewalks of London. Celebrations erupted throughout the globe, from Paris to Panama, from Shanghai to Manhattan—where thousands got out of bed at 6 a.m. to listen to the ceremony broadcast on the radio. Dignitaries—five Kings, six Queens, Prime Minister Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill—were in attendance. All of Britain celebrated, many seeing the wedding as a beacon of hope in the post–World War II recovery period.

ON FEB. 5, 1952, Princess Elizabeth went to bed in a tree hut nestled in Kenya’s Aberdare National Park and awoke the next day as the Queen of England. She was unaware of her new position, for news of the death of her father King George VI had not yet reached that outpost of the British Empire. That afternoon, at a lodge, Philip received a phone call informing him of George’s death. The Prince took his bride down to a nearby river’s edge and relayed the news. Shaken, but in full command of herself, Elizabeth returned to the lodge and began making arrangements for the long trip home.

Elizabeth arrived at London’s airport the following morning. Churchill was there to greet her, along with a small group of privy councilors—advisers to the monarchy. That night she rested; the next day she signed the oath of accession before the Privy Council, and an hour later her accession was formally proclaimed. In the months that followed, there was no hurry to arrange her formal coronation—she was already, technically, the Queen. So Elizabeth and the Palace allowed the focus to stay on King George and his 16 enormously popular years on the throne, and let the nation’s sadness ebb.

The ceremony finally took place on June 2, 1953, a day chosen in hopes of sunny spring weather. This being London, however, the nation settled for a traditional gray morning. At 11 a.m., a joyous fanfare of trumpets announced the arrival of Her Majesty. “Vivat Regina Elizabetha! Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!” shouted the Queen’s Westminster Scholars as she walked up the aisle, her long crimson train borne by six maids of honor. The Archbishop of Canterbury proceeded to ask Elizabeth if she would govern her people according to their laws and customs, execute law and justice in mercy, and maintain the laws of God. She knelt, kissed the Holy Bible before her, and swore to do so, “so help me God.” Finally, he held aloft the Imperial State Crown for all to see, then placed it on Elizabeth’s head. Cheers of “God Save the Queen” filled the abbey as trumpets blared; outside, and across the British Empire, bells pealed and cannons roared.

AS WELL AS the constitutional duties Elizabeth fulfilled as Britain’s head of state and the head of the Church of England, she spent long sections of the following decades traveling the world as her nation’s goodwill ambassador. The November after her coronation she embarked on a 45,000-mile tour of the British Commonwealth, presiding over state balls, garden parties, luncheons, banquets, and other occasions. Among her stops: Libya, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Jamaica, Uganda, and the Pacific island of Tonga. She did not return to London until May 15, 1954, almost six months after she departed.

In the fall of 1957, Elizabeth and Philip spent six days in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and parts of Virginia, where they celebrated the 350th anniversary of the founding of the first British colony in America. In Washington, they were guests of President Dwight D. Eisenhower—a friend since his days in London during World War II—for four nights at the White House. At the state dinner, Elizabeth praised Washington as “so often a focus for the aspirations of the free world.” Later, Vice President Richard Nixon hosted a luncheon at the Capitol, and Elizabeth sought to see how the average American enjoyed life, attending a college football game and stopping in a Giant supermarket.

Clearly, the travel bug had bitten. In 1961, Elizabeth visited India, and at the Ramlila Grounds near Old Delhi, a quarter of a million people came to see her speak. In the city of Jaipur, the Maharaja offered her a ride on a ceremonial elephant. Though the trip was a success for Elizabeth, it also put the Indian government on edge—it viewed such a display of colonial pageantry as undermining the country’s fledgling independence. Philip also drew negative publicity when official photos emerged of a tiger he’d killed on a hunt with the Maharaja.

In Ghana that same year, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah told the Queen, “The wind of change blowing through Africa has become a hurricane.” (Ghana had declared independence from the British Empire in 1957, though the legacy of colonialism still hung over the country.) Tanzania would declare independence later that year, joined by Kenya in 1962 and a series of other African nations throughout the 1960s.

In 1965, Elizabeth embarked on an 11-day tour of West Germany, the first state visit by a reigning British monarch since Edward VII had paid his last call on Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1909. The trip came a full two decades after the end of World War II, amid fears of lingering resentment between the U.K. and Germany. But those fears were misplaced. The Queen and German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard said all hostility between their countries had been healed in the 20 years since the war. It ended in triumph, with crowds cheering and chanting “Elizabet, Eliz-a-bet!” as she placed a wreath on a Beethoven monument near the Bonn city hall.

BUT ALL THAT TRAVELING would put a strain on her family. That world tour following her coronation took place when Charles was 5 and Anne only 3—and the children were left behind. They did chat with their traveling mother by radiotelephone. But this would go on to be characteristic of Elizabeth, who always tended to make work her priority.

Years later, in 1994, Prince Charles would allow his authorized biographer to disclose that the prince felt “emotionally estranged” from his parents. Close friends found the Duke’s behavior “inexplicably harsh” and called his manner toward Charles “very bullying.” His mother, the Queen, seemed “detached.” Elizabeth and Philip were reported to be hurt by this disclosure. Publicly, only Philip would comment: “We did our best.” Princess Anne exercised less restraint, defending Elizabeth from rumors that she was remote. “I simply don’t believe that there is any evidence whatsoever to suggest that she wasn’t caring,” she said in 2002. Yet even Anne might have acknowledged a warmth that was sometimes wanting on her part later in life—when a little more compassion, a little more kindness, might have been called for.

The early 1990s would bring all kinds of personal problems to the fore—most notably in 1992, which the Queen famously described in a speech as an “annus horribilis” (horrible year). This was the year when her second son, Andrew, separated from his wife Sarah; when daughter Anne divorced her husband Mark Phillips; when her son Charles and his wife Diana increasingly became a tabloid issue; and when public concern grew about the cost of the monarchy and who would pay to repair Windsor Castle, which caught fire that year.

The damage was significant. The Nov. 20 fire—on the Queen’s 45th wedding anniversary—gutted the northeast corner of the castle, parts of which were more than 900 years old. It took 250 firefighters 15 hours to bring it under control. In the end more than 100 rooms, covering an area of 1.7 acres, were damaged. When British citizens learned that they were about to foot the bill for repairs to Windsor Castle—to the tune of up to $78 million—they grumbled. Elizabeth rectified the issue by volunteering to pay income and capital gains tax from her private investments. It hurt, but not too much: Her net worth remained at about $500 million.

But these were simply matters of state. Matters of the heart caused greater grief for Elizabeth—particularly the travails of Charles and Di. Their courtship and 1981 marriage captivated the nation, if not the world. No less an authority than the Archbishop of Canterbury proclaimed, “Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made: the Prince and Princess on their wedding day.” But infidelity would intrude on both sides, and the ability to maintain the pretense of marriage for the sake of appearances became impossible. On Aug. 24, 1992, the transcript of a phone conversation between Diana and a close friend was published in the Sun, with Diana describing life with Charles as “real torture,” and saying she had caught the Queen Mother watching her “with a strange look in her eyes.” Diana and her young sons, William and Harry, continued to reside at Kensington Palace, while Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles was parsed by the tabloid press. The Prince and Princess of Wales officially separated on Dec. 9.

Diana’s decision to grant an interview to the BBC on Nov. 20, 1995, in which she confessed that she had been unfaithful to Charles, had upset the royal family, and Queen Elizabeth in particular. (Of course, Charles had admitted his own infidelity on a TV documentary the previous year, as Diana noted in the interview.) Within a month, the Queen wrote to both Charles and Diana, urging them to agree to an early divorce. Buckingham Palace released a statement saying Charles favored the divorce, but there was no official word from Diana. In February 1996—more than a year before Diana, her romantic partner Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul died in a car crash while being pursued by the paparazzi—she finally released her own statement saying she was ready to divorce too.

It took time for Elizabeth—a woman married seven decades to the same man—to adjust to modern mores. A longtime sticking point was Charles’ future bride Camilla; the press noted that Elizabeth was not enamored of her son’s consort. A shift occurred in 2002, when, by bringing Camilla to events celebrating Elizabeth’s 50 years on the throne, Charles provided strong evidence that he was gaining ground in his campaign to officially bring Camilla into the family fold.

Charles and Camilla got engaged around Christmas 2004, and before long the Queen issued a statement saying, “The Duke of Edinburgh and I are very happy that the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Parker Bowles are to marry.” She and Prince Philip did not attend their wedding at Windsor Guildhall on April 9, 2005, but they did attend a blessing of the couple at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle and held a reception for them at the castle.

A more festive wedding—and one more in keeping with Elizabeth’s sense of tradition—took place on April 29, 2011, when Elizabeth’s grandson William married Kate Middleton in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. And she remained her regal self at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s more modern wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018, which included a fiery sermon delivered by Bishop Michael Curry of Chicago, the first African American head of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.

But in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Harry and Meghan alleged that racism had tarnished their relationship with the Windsors. While the press hounded Meghan as they did Harry’s late mother, “no one from my family ever said anything,” Harry said.

The family was once again thrust into the spotlight when allegations surfaced about Andrew’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew stepped back from royal duties in late 2019, and in 2021 was served with a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, who accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17. According to the Daily Telegraph, the Queen contributed millions to her son’s legal defense, and agreed to contribute £2 million ($2.7 million) to a survivor-support charity as part of a settlement.

But family was also a source of comfort. As the Queen neared the end of her life, she doted on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “In a small room with close members of the family, then she is just a normal grandmother. Very relaxed,” Harry said before he and Meghan stepped back as working royals in early 2020. “She obviously takes a huge interest in what we all do.”

EVEN AFTER SHE ENTERED her ninth decade, Elizabeth continued with her royal duties, despite her age and a rapidly changing world.

For nearly all her reign, the Queen would read a selection of the 200 to 300 letters that she received daily, as well as review official papers and documents sent her way from government ministers and her representatives in foreign countries. Until she was forced to slow down by mobility issues and bouts of ill health, she would have 10- to 20-minute audiences with ambassadors, commissioners, and other officials, and there would be her weekly visit from the British Prime Minister.

Despite growing republican movements within the Commonwealth realms, the Queen herself remained a hugely popular figure in both the U.K. and beyond. And she remained a force for good, offering messages of inspiration and optimism in even the most trying times. In one of her last annual Christmas Day messages, she urged her subjects in Britain and across the Commonwealth to draw inspiration from “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

To many, she embodied the steadfastness she urged in others. At Prince Philip’s funeral, held shortly after he died on April 9, 2021, after 73 years of marriage, the monarch solemnly sat alone in a pew at Windsor Castle because of coronavirus restrictions. The image became instantly iconic, and further burnished her legacy as a stoic leader through good times and bad.

The Queen has been a constant figure in most of the British public’s living memory. Difficulty moving prevented her from attending the majority of Buckingham Palace’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, as the nation in June 2022 marked her 70th year on the throne—a first for a British monarch. But community celebrations were widespread across the U.K. Some 16,000 official street parties were organized, and almost 17 million people—about 1 in 4 Brits—took part in events.

The Queen did not lead an ordinary life, but she filled it with inspiring acts of duty both public and private—whether carrying out the requirements of the state from the trappings of the throne, or giving quiet words of encouragement to a well-wisher in a crowd. She “has been a rock of stability in an era in which our country has changed so much,” said Britain’s former Prime Minister David Cameron. “And we could not be more proud of her. She has served this country with unerring grace, dignity, and decency.” —With reporting by ELOISE BARRY, KATHY EHRICH DOWD, MADELINE ROACHE, and YASMEEN SERHAN

PHOTOGRAPH BY © CECIL BEATON—VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON

TOPICAL PRESS AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES

1956: INTERCONTINENTALE—AFP/GETTY IMAGES; 2019: PA WIRE/AP; SUCCESSION: GETTY IMAGES (13)

1941: LISA SHERIDAN—STUDIO LISA/GETTY IMAGES; 1945: MIRRORPIX/GETTY IMAGES

1947: HISTORIA/SHUTTERSTOCK; 1961: FOX PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES

LEFT TO RIGHT, FROM TOP LEFT: JULIAN PARKER—UK PRESS/GETTY IMAGES; GEORGE SKADDING—THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/SHUTTERSTOCK; UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; TOM STODDART—GETTY IMAGES; GAMMA-KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES; TIM GRAHAM PHOTO LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES; BETTMANN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; JANE BARLOW—POOL/AP

PHOTOGRAPH BY MAX MUMBY—INDIGO/GETTY IMAGES

#queen elizabeth ii #article #time magazine #tribute

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angelofghetto · 4 months

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Hosszú utazás

Sokszor leírtam már, mennyire szeretem a déli államokban játszódó amcsi filmeket. Mély emberi tartalmakat hordoznak, olyan értékeket mutatnak meg, amelyek már kiveszőben, elgondolkoztatnak, és érezni tanítanak. Olyan mélységeket kavarnak fel bennünk, amelyekről talán nem is tudtunk, vagy már elfelejtettük.

Kiskoromban imádtam hallgatni az öregek történeteit. Beleláthattam az ő szemükön át a történelembe, olyan korba, amely csak általuk idézhető fel hitelesen. Minden sárgult fotóhoz tartozott egy anekdota, ismeretlen, rég meghalt emberek mosolyogtak vagy hunyorogtak rám szépia-barnán, cakkos papírszélek közül. Mintha titkokat bíznának rám, amiket magammal kell vinnem, és talán továbbadnom egyszer. Mert ha már senki sem emlékszik a pillanatmorzsákba merevedett valóságukra, csak elmosódó foltok maradnak egy fényérzékeny felület rabságában. Személytelenné és lényegtelenné válnak valamennyien.

A Hosszú utazás (The Longest Ride, 2015) cselekménye nem bonyolult. Két idősíkon játszódik: a jelenben, és egy öregember felidézett emlékeiben. Egy fiatal párocska a randija végén talál rá a balesetet szenvedett autóra, és benne az öregúrra, akit kimentenek, és kimentik a dobozát, amihez görcsösen ragaszkodik. A dobozban levelek vannak, melyeket élete szerelmével váltottak, és leírják egész közös életüket. Furcsa párhuzamokat vet a jelen és a múlt, hatnak egymásra az életek, az emberek, a történetek. Elképzelések, vágyak, küzdelmek, megvalósulások és megvalósulatlanságok. Két generáció különös találkozása és kölcsönhatása, akik tanulnak egymástól, és adnak a másiknak valami.

Mi fontos igazán az életben? Hogy valaki felérjen a csúcsra a rodeón, újra és újra lesérülve mégis legyőzze a legvadabb bikát? Megkapja élete álommelóját New Yorkban? Végre saját gyereke legyen, akivel törődhet? Boldoggá tehesse a szerelmét még akkor is, ha maga nem része ennek? Mi az a jutalom, ami bármit megér?

Szeretjük a Szerelmünk lapjai típusú filmeket. Igen, még a pasik is, mert a klasszikus értékekről, erényekről, igazi összetartozásról, elfogadásról szólnak, amikor még a férfi férfi volt, és nő a nő. Ha az tetszett, ez is tetszeni fog.

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70s80sandbeyond · 1 year

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Scott Eastwood in The Longest Ride (2015)

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gordonthegreatesttracy · 1 year

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I posted 619 times in 2022

94 posts created (15%)

526 posts reblogged (85%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gordonthegreatesttracy

@cg29

@janetm74

@tbirds

@drileyf

I tagged 29 of my posts in 2022

#thunderbirds are go - 17 posts

#thunderbirds - 16 posts

#thunderbirds 2015 - 14 posts

#gordon tracy - 13 posts

#plush life - 11 posts

#sea bean - 8 posts

#scott tracy - 7 posts

#alan tracy - 7 posts

#the adventures of the sea bean - 7 posts

#team sea bean - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 69 characters

#i looked through my tag for any character meme that wasn't ship heavy

My Top Posts in 2022:

@drileyf @mrmustachious @janetm74 @soniabigcheese @ak47stylegirl @cg29 @tbirds @alexthefly @inertplanetary

This morning I woke up really early and decided to wake my brothers up with some classic Christmas music. This was one of my songs:

You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout

I’m telling you why

Scotty Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you’re sleeping

He knows if you’re awake

And if you say his name out loud

He’ll steal your birthday cake

For some reason Scotty didn’t like it 🤷‍♂️. He ordered Parker jr to take me out until I was “suitably exhausted” so she and Parker nessie took me into town for the winter fest to explore. Scott was so desperate for some peace and quiet that he gave Parker jr money to keep me entertained!

Unfortunately he didn’t give me enough for this really cool bag

But I found a puzzle, and a doughnut stand, then I went and played on the hook a duck to rescue a plushie. I won a shark, his name is Jaws. Then it started to rain so we went to costa for some lunch before I went to explore the market. Parker jr said I still had some money left so I chose a ride to go on. I went on the big wheel! It was so so fun!!!!

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41 notes - Posted November 20, 2022

Today was Scott’s big trip he has been organising for weeks for Parker Nessie’s birthday. Then John found out he was going to a museum and begged to go with him. Scott and he compromised as Scott was determined to have a day out on his own but wouldn’t tell Parker jr what he and John agreed too.

Then I found out they were going to a museum with boats and decided I needed to go so I asked Scott and he said “jfc (he really did say the F word) fine you can all come!

So we did!

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48 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

Today it is national Bean Day. So come come fellow Gordon’s let’s take over tumblr with our agordable Bean faces! @janetm74 @drileyf @cg29 @tbirds @mrmustachious @rachfielden-xo @ak47stylegirl @m-calculus @inertplanetary

48 notes - Posted January 6, 2022

There’s a red weather warning in the uk for high winds and we have been advised to keep warm and safe indoors and watch thunderbirds. @drileyf my best friend - squiddy, and my wife - lady Penelope would like to say thank you so much for finding them a forever home where they are loved and cherished 💛. The frogs and lizards are playing hide and seek in the truck!

@janetm74 @rachfielden-xo @cg29 @tbirds @mrmustachious @inertplanetary @ak47stylegirl @m-calculus @alexthefly @katblu42 stay safe! And make sure my cousins across the globe are all safe too!

48 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

@drileyf @mrmustachious @cg29 @tbirds @janetm74 @soniabigcheese @alexthefly @melmac78 @katblu42 @rachfielden-xo @m-calculus @ak47stylegirl today it is some English thingymabob where Parker jr throws us a party 🤷🏻‍♀️. John said it’s the queens platinum jubilee and that she has been the queen of England for 70 years (that’s even older than grandma!) Casey joined us for our picnic (which was supposed to be outdoors but it’s raining 🥺) so we moved the party indoors

We even got to wear these awesome crowns!

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68 notes - Posted June 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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lgbtawarenessproject · 11 months

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Part 3: China

so much research....

After this is Bhutan and Myanmar/Burma. Turkmenistan is going to be separate.

In 2020, ShanghaiPRIDE the longest lasting pride event in China, announced that it would be canceling all future events, and not planning any more. The announcement gave no information as to why.

In a letter to CNN, the organizers left this message,

“The decision was difficult to make but we have to protect the safety of all involved,” they wrote. “It’s been a great 12-year ride, and we are honored and proud to have traveled this journey of raising awareness and promoting diversity for the LGBTQ community.”

In another letter, this one to the China Project, an organizer left this,

“Pride has grown to a scale that was probably too visible, likely making an impact, and thus catching too much (unwanted) attention.”

Sources: 1 2

Additional resources: 1 2

China has a history of censorship, and it’s no different in LGBT+ spaces. In July of 2021 China shut down dozens of LGBT accounts on the app WeChat, which is China’s version of Twitter. When users attempted to access these accounts, several of which were club and group accounts run by universities, they were given the following message.

“After receiving relevant complaints, all content has been blocked and the account has been put out of service.”

These group and university accounts had run for years, sharing support, movie suggestions, and other things. According to one of the managers of an account, going by the pseudonym Cathy, their goal now is to survive and help LGBT people. No longer will they engage in radical activism.

Sources: 1 2 3

In May of this year(2023), the Beijing LGBT Center was shut down abruptly due to a “force majeure”, or situations outside of their control. The shutdown of this center was an attack from the Chinese government who have been cracking down on more and more LGBT things since 2015 when Xi Jinping was given power.

None of the news sites I have checked have been able to get in contact with organizers from the center. However, an anonymous volunteer told Bloomberg News that the shutdown was the result of long lasting pressure. LGBT+ citizens in China are scared.

As one activist put it, “They are not the first group, nor are they the largest, but because Beijing LGBT Center was in Beijing, it represented China’s LGBT movement,” this activist requested to stay anonymous out of fear for his safety, he continued, “In our political, economic and cultural center, to have this type of organization. It was a symbol of the LGBT movement’s presence.”

Beijing LGBT centers 2022 report said, “We experienced negative things such as forced relocation, canceled or postponed work for various reasons, and vilification of our team and members. These events have brought us to a collective emotional low, and it would be disingenuous to say that we are still ‘passionate’ about our work in this situation.”

Over the years, China has become more and more dangerous. Please, I encourage you if you can manage it, to read through the sources on this matter and educate yourself.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

First Part

Part 2<- ->Part 4

Please support the project by checking out the intro post and taking the survey in the link tree!

#project unknowing #current politics #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtqia+#queer #discrimination #trans discrimination #gay discrimination #bi discrimination #lesbian discrimination

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theinfinite1 · 11 months

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the eras of my life go as follows:

1. pre-memory (ages 0-4)

don’t really remember any of this but I’m led to believe I was a pretty joyful and curious child.

2. first dark age (5-12)

my first and longest dark age. a lot of this era is buried in my memory. it kinda starts with my parents’ separation and the introduction of my step-family. was v depressed, v lonely, v shy and awkward. this is when most of the physical and verbal abuse from my brother and cousin took place. lot of key character development. “emo phase”, if you will. got my first D in 6th grade. mental health declining throughout. climax is my attempted self-delete. and era ends with the beginning of 7th grade

3. first enlightenment era (12-16)

something clicked for me the summer before 7th grade. I think it had a lot to do w me finally getting good at call of duty and some of the YouTubers I’d watch back then inspiring me. I also started taking soccer more seriously and started to lose a lot of weight. my confidence started growing, I became more social, and by the start of 8th grade I felt on top of the world. This era goes from 7th grade up until my junior year of high school. there’s way too many important moments and details to include in this post but maybe some day I’ll make a whole post dedicated to each era. If not then when I die they can find my notebooks in which I outline them in further detail. The climax of this era would probably be getting my heart broken in the 10th grade (not my first but def worst till that point) and the transition period would be a trip to Hawaii during summer 2015 in which I began a relationship that would be the defining factor of the next era which is…

4. My second dark age (16-17)

perhaps my shortest era yet but also so jam packed it made 1 year feel like a lifetime. this era starts w a budding internet romance that would quickly turn into a hot but toxic roller coaster ride that lasted just under 12 months. some defining moments in this era include me smoking weed for the first time, losing my v-card, beginning my music journey, my high school friend group forming and falling apart, getting my license, making my first song, drama drama drama, and much much more. Climax of this era I would say is making my first song and it officially ends with the end of that roller coaster relationship during the summer of 2016

5. my second enlightenment era (17-20)

Probably my best era so far. It began with the end of that toxic relationship and kinda marks the beginning of my spiritual AND musical journey. I started my senior year and went vegan for 30 days with the help of my friend yesi. my senior year was all about growth, opening my 3rd eye, and having as much fun as possible. I threw 3 big ass parties at my house. started reading more and journaling everyday. Became obsessed with seeing signs from the universe. Took acid. Had some full circle moments. Went to Spain. Dropped my first mixtape. I also began college during this era. Joined a rap group. Threw my first concert. Joined Young Warriors. So so much. Honestly there’s way too much in this era. But the big thing would be meeting my twin flame and everything that came with that. There’s kinda multiple events that signify the end of this era. From September-December 2019, my nana eva passed away, my twin flame relationship ended, my nan passed away, and my first full length album released on all platforms. I kind of have 2 markers for the end of this era. 1 was my nans passing which was the same day DD&NM came out. And 2 was the album release party on Jan 3rd I think. Actually I think my nans passing + the album was like the climax and the release party was the official end of that era.

6. third dark age (20-23)

My third dark age. it’s like 2 am and I’m getting pretty tired so I don’t really feel like going into too much detail. basically, after all that happened at the end of 2019, I was super lost. when my nan died, so too did a part of me. Then what happens? Boom. The fucking pandemic. There is definitely a lot of growth during this era but I call it a dark age because it felt sort of like a cocoon. I made 3 albums during this era. Joined a new rap group. Fell in love again. Did therapy for a year. Stopped being vegetarian. Worked as a fry cook. Worked as a canvasser. Stopped smoking weed. Had a lot of falling outs. Made some new friends. Started to question and explore my sexuality and gender identity. Overall had to grow up a lot during this era. Again, this era maybe wasn’t as flamboyantly difficult as the previous dark age, but more like I was forced into a cocoon and had to really learn some hard lessons about myself. The climax of this era would be the falling out with my now ex-best friend and officially ends with the end of this relationship I was in. It was actually a really nice relationship. It was calm and comfortable. It didn’t end on bad terms. It maybe wasn’t as exciting or nail-biting as some of my other ones, but it was sweet and gentle and safe. It was also my longest so far. But yeah that breakup kinda marked the end of that era. And finallly

7. My third enlightenment era (23-?)

Where I currently find myself. I’m smarter and wiser than I ever have been. I have a rejuvenated sense of hunger and wonder. I’m excited to see all that this era brings. It’s already been so much fun and it’s only been a few months. I feel like all of my previous eras have been leading up to this one. This feels like it’s gonna be a good one. I can’t wait to experience it. Maybe I’ll come back to this post in a few years and tell you about it. A few things that have signified this era so far are: starting to play soccer consistently again (thanks to Luis from PB), meeting Sarahí, going out and meeting people like I used to, feeling a deep sense of self-love and gratitude, and beginning to eat healthy again. Also getting over my creative burn-out that I forgot to mention began towards the end of my previous era.

So yeah. Those are the eras of my life so far. Again, there is way too much to mention for each era in one single post. Maybe I’ll go in more depth for each one later. There’s so much context missing it really doesn’t do any of them justice. Also, idek if anyone will every read this or if anyone out there cares. This is more so for me anyways and like, I know all the context bc I was there so…. Whatevs. Okay. Bye <3333

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raiding · 1 year

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According to Strava, I was fitter at the end of my time in the Alps in 2022 than at any point in the decade I've been logging rides in Strava. Perhaps more accurately, I've been more active, and more intensely. The three next highest peaks in the chart correspond to the "classic cols" ride I did in the Picos in Spain in the autumn of 2015, LEL in 2017, and a week in the mountains of Mallorca in the Spring of 2018. So, I think the Alps got me back to pre-COVID fitness.

While I was fitter, I wasn't faster on the climbs. The reason: I was still to drop all the weight I gained in the worst of the COVID time. Returning to mountain riding is a good reminder and incentive for that.

The Ultrarandonneur bike, built for such trips, was in its element. It's a lower riding position than earlier bikes, but was comfortable even on the longest days, and for extended time in the drops. It's also really easy to pack into its box and reassemble at the other end. Em (one of our guides) has a Rokbox, too: we're both fans.

I was really stiff, a few months before the Alps, even finding it hard to swing a leg over my saddle. That wasn't an issue even on a multi-day trip: a good incentive to keep up stretching and Pilates. In fact, the working out I was doing in the worst of COVID was actually very good for me, except that I wasn't getting out and building fitness on the road.

Lots to learn from all that and a good challenge to build as much fitness as I can through to next Spring, and on to more mountains in the summer of 2023.

#auxalpes

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alikaheroes · 1 year

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I posted 4,911 times in 2022

That's 1,159 more posts than 2021!

210 posts created (4%)

4,701 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hecatemoon87

@bernthaltrash

@tomhaardy

I tagged 4,058 of my posts in 2022

Only 17% of my posts had no tags

#tom hardy - 1,151 posts

#best of - 740 posts

#matt smith - 558 posts

#house of the dragon - 520 posts

#daemon targaryen - 304 posts

#doctor who - 234 posts

#rhaenyra targaryen - 231 posts

#movies - 229 posts

#peaky blinders - 210 posts

#mad max fury road - 204 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#and if polly enjoys that for slightly unhealthy reasons bc she’s severely under appreciated & still grieving her children literally let her.

My Top Posts in 2022:

Tom Hardy as Reggie Kray in Legend (2015)

@potter-solomons @khanbike @hecatemoon87 @tomhardysforeheadlines @solomons-finest-rum @sciapod

92 notes - Posted February 20, 2022

The Ride (NSFW)

Request: Hello lovely, can I request a Eddie Brock smut, where Eddie and reader and some friends are out exploring the night life when it's time to go home, Eddie's bike gives up and the other guys can't find a cab that late so we're all stuffed into one car so we have to adjust and ladies have to sit on laps and it's all funn, music's loud, jokes. And then the reader feels Eddie's erection underneath her. P.S Eddie always had hots for the reader but never told her...

Take it from there <3

Warnings: NSFW Smut below cut, 18+ readers only, please

The flashing lights and pounding music echoed through the walls of the club as you were standing in the parking lot. Your friend, Eddie Brock hopped on his bike and tried to start it, but nothing was happening. In the meantime, the guys tried to call a taxi but with it being a Saturday night in San Francisco, the wait would be far too long.

"Man, I really don't want to call an Uber. They're gonna be like $200 tonight or some crap." Jason huffed. Eddie shrugged.

"I gotta call someone to tow my bike so I can get it fixed tomorrow. Besides, an Uber might be fun with all of us. We're already riled up so it can add more to this already crazy ass night!"

"Yeah!!" you chimed in, pressing down your skirt. "I just wanna get home and change and have some bath bombs!"

"Ooooh, nakey time, huh?" Eddie joked. You flipped him off, smirking, and the others all laughed.

"Please!" Sarah, one of the other friends added in. "It's pure Heaven to take a bath bomb!"

"Well while you’re all yapping about bath bombs, our ride is here! It's not that expensive, but we all gotta squeeze in. Ladies, sit on the guys' laps!" Jason cried out, right as the silver Toyota pulled up. There were 3 guys and 3 girls. The guys crammed inside as the girls sat on top of random guys.

Eddie, however, began to feel his heart race. You were sitting on top of him, and while he always loved to joke around with you, unknown to you at the time, he always had the hots for you. He felt you were gorgeous, funny, smart, and just a great friend. You met at work a few years ago where you were an intern then became a full fledged staff writer. He admired how smart you were and how you were always able to match his wit.

Soon the car began rolling.

"Ah you fellas out clubbing I see?" the Uber driver asked. "How about some of this?"

He turned on the radio and began playing some dance music. Loud. It suddenly became a party in the back seat. The girls...well, began wiggling their asses and the guys started dancing along as well.

"Oooh it's getting hot in herrrre" Jason sang to the tune of Nelly's song, completely off beat with the EDM music the driver was playing.

"You're so crazy, Jason!" Sarah, who was sitting on his lap, said, as she tried to make up her own lyrics to go with the EDM. Jokes were flying everywhere but Eddie was having a hard time concentrating.

You were sitting on him and you weren't just wiggling your ass--it felt like you were grinding into him. And Eddie was getting incredibly turned on by it. He felt himself getting hard and tried to move a bit away from you, but you kept grinding even harder. You knew what was going on. Suddenly, Eddie's heart almost stopped when he felt you reach down and grab him through his pants.

By now he had a full erection and you looked over at Eddie. He tried to look away but he couldn't resist feeling your stare.

"I'm sooo sorry, I got excited and---"

You cut him off, smiling.

"Oh, I can tell!" you just smiled at him, continuing to grind into him. Eddie was confused as to what you were doing.

"All right, take care!"

His thoughts were interrupted when the Uber driver pulled up at the apartment. Everyone got out the car and left, Eddie and you being the last ones to leave.

You lived on the same floor and quietly walked into the building. The others said their goodbyes and went into the elevator, but Eddie didn't even process what was happening with them. Their elevator left just as another one opened. You walked into it and he followed behind.

The minute the doors closed, you grabbed Eddie's head and pulled him in for a kiss. Eddie couldn't believe what was happening. It became passionate incredibly fast, your tongues dancing as if you'd been lovers for years. Suddenly, Eddie pulled away.

"Y/N....?" he whispered.

The bell of the elevator rang as you came to your floor and the doors opened.

"Come on!" you smiled, motioning your finger for him to follow you.

"To...?" Eddie asked.

See the full post

100 notes - Posted July 17, 2022