#‘but some women and some men’ NOPE we are not talking about the exceptions

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

Deeply concerned by the number of people (especially women) who genuinely believe that women and men have the same capacity for physical strength

and who think you’re being sexist if you point out that they don’t

ma’am the only one equating physical strength with innate value here is you

it’s concerning that you think strength has anything to do with value

and if the men in your life ever stop being decent you are setting yourself up to be in so much more danger

[this-acuteneurosis]

So Im all here for the Pretty Ladies who dress nicely doing all the politics, wonderful court intrigue right here, are we gonna talk about in the back ground the majority known Male characters are in War killing dying thing? this story IS about the back room deals and others as main setting, (although we should tease you about dodging the wars in Star Wars sometimes just as a little poke.) curious cause the 4 main Male politco 2 are enemies in Rush and Palps. Kamino had a fem evil Senator! use??

Who wants to talk about ✨🌈Palpatine🌈✨!

There haven't been a lot of opportunities to talk about the structure and the influence of our main villain textually in the story, because Leia is kinda blind to her own bias, and also a lot of stuff that I have as part of his character just...doesn't come up.

So, keep two things in mind as I talk about DLB Chancellor Sheev Palpatine and pull back the curtain just a little.

His character is coming pretty exclusively from the OT and PT movies (with minor exceptions).

I'm taking advantage of a lot of silences and time period circumstances to draw conclusions about his character, so don't be surprised if I say something that isn't said out loud at some point.

Ready? Let's go!!

The OT features an overabundance of male humans in positions of power in Palpatine's government. This may have been balanced out slightly by novels that I haven't read or newer shows that I haven't watched, but the people Palps promoted to his special seats of power (Moffs, military leaders) are overwhelming human men. If we stretch canon to include the two Clone Wars cartoon series, the only women brought into Palpatine's plots are brought in by Dooku or other associates, not Palpatine himself. Of the three apprentices Palpatine has, two are human and one is humanoid.

I don't think I'm breaking anyone's brain to assert that Palpatine is sexist and racist. I know I'm not the first person to suggest or write this sort of character.

What I'm going to assert, beyond those points, is that Palpatine is only really impressed with himself, and assumes that anyone lacking qualities that he has is progressively less useful and important than him. So he's also, for lack of a better word, Force-ist.

(Ugh, nope. I still don't like it, but I don't have anything else.)

Palpatine absolutely has loyalists and panderers that are women. But as far as DLB is concerned, he's not promoting them, searching them out, or impressed by them. So women are going to be antagonists in this story more incidentally. On a small scale. Major antagonists are going to end up frequently being male and human. And I'm not going to try and change that.

Only tangentially related, but a little important because Leia comes into the Senate through Padmé's office, because of the prejudices listed above, I will pretty much die on the hill that Palpatine loathes Padmé. And he really loathes that he loathes her. That he has to have any feelings about her at all.

She's young. She's a girl. She isn't Force sensitive. He plucked her out and carefully curated her early political experience and was probably violently influential in her success in getting elected the first time. He had a tiny, fragile, 14 year old stumbling under the weight of the crown, ready to start his civil war and initiate the end of the Republic. She gets him elected. His plan is flawless.

Until it turns out that she has a spine, and humility. She has the courage to face danger and the grace to bow to another sovereign power. She trusts Jar Jar Binks when he suggests that the gungans have an army. Like this is somehow a viable plan for taking back her people, when Jar Jar isn't even slightly popular or powerful.

And she wins. Palpatine loses Maul, he loses Naboo, and he loses the opportunity to start a war. She sets him back a solid decade, at 14. On a hope and a the thinnest apology.

DLB isn't so much about creating a perfectly equitable Star Wars universe. I'm not equipped for that, and it wasn't the goal. This story is about a bunch of ladies doing politics and kicking Palpatine's plans to the curb because he was always vulnerable to the people he dismissed the most.

Palpatine's plans had the Jedi and the Senate in a steel trap of lose-lose situations. But he loses, over and over, to kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and diplomacy. He's stymied by it. He literally can't plan for it. I've had all sorts of fun having Leia and Padmé do "mother-daughter" politics together, but I love that in RotJ Luke Skywalker looked the Emperor dead in the eyes and said, "No. No you can't make me do this." Like his mother would have. It had to drive Palpatine completely nuts. And it worked.

Anyway, all that to say, there's a lot of story left, and I'm not going to give away all of Palpatine's plans and plots. But part of how Leia got this far without any resistance was that Palpatine saw a short, unconnected woman from the outer rim, had no idea she could use the Force, and went, "Not important."

And he was very, very, very wrong. :D

[destructrice]

When I talk about lesbian loneliness I’m not talking about how hard it is to find a partner (hard but not THAT hard), or even lack of “sapphic” media (even though it’s part of the problem). I think it boils down to what Alison Bechdel meant in that comic that became the reference for the Bechdel test. It’s lonely being a lesbian because every fucking thing is about men. Movies and songs and books, everything is about how men feel, how men think, what men do, what men desire, and it’s all taken as the pinnacle of human expression. Damn, even works by women frequently revolve about men, criticizing them or not. Wanting to have NOTHING to do with men at all means not relating to 99% of the big media. Even a lot of sapphic media find a way to put a love triangle with a man, and it’s fair bisexuals have their representation, they also need it, but it doesn’t change the fact that being a lesbian is being alienated from everything everyone else is into or having to submit to it because there are few other options. And if you want to escape that you have to make an active effort of only reading and listening to lesbians, and it shrinks your world a little because they are so few and so hard to find, if you don’t make exceptions, you’ll probably listen to the same 5 musicians and read the same 10 fictional books for your whole life and never having anything to talk to your other friends. Have you seen that show? Nope. That movie? Nope. Would you like to read that book? No. And there comes the loneliness again, the lack of connection to the people around you.

It also means having a weird perspective on our own gender. Everything in female socialization, and I really mean EVERYTHING, is about attracting men, and sometimes society gets too loud and we wonder “how can I be a woman if I don’t conform to the core of what the whole world considers womanhood that is wanting a man”. This make us feel alienated from OSA women, because they can’t relate with the feeling of failing the most important thing society imposed on you. Some of us find a way of forming a lesbian community, and everyone tries to take that from them all the time, because how come it’s not a LGBT+ community, do you have anything against the other letters? And I don’t think they realize the other option is living with a crushing loneliness all the time, we might even find a partner and dedicate most of our energy towards that relationship, but the loneliness doesn’t go away because it’s not about dating, it’s about feeling like an alien in a society that revolves about men, who they desire and who desires them. It gets better. Sometimes. There are small solaces we sometimes stumble upon. And sometimes it doesn’t get better and we just get used to it.

[quercus-queer]

The main theme of Stranger Things is summed up by Eddie: “Forced conformity, that’s what’s killing kids.” The central characters of Stranger Things are outcasts of society. They’re either poor, queer, black, “soft” men, unapologetic women, weird, crazy, or a mix of these undesirable traits.

The Byers and Nancy embody this explicitly enough for the general audience to understand every season. Jonathon and Will are pretty self explanatory. Joyce is always the social pariah of the town and her dynamic with Police Chief Jim Hopper the “Everyman” is draining at times. It’s draining because Joyce is right and we know she’s right but the rules, the laws, and “common sense” which Hopper is meant to represent, say otherwise. And every season Hopper’s resistance is broken down and he works with Joyce. If he doesn’t work WITH Joyce he nearly dies. If he doesn’t believe her at all, bodies start dropping. You have to go “behind the curtain” and accept the weird to survive or make progress as a general narrative rule, the entire show.

With Nancy, her motivations are justice (which the world is not ready for) and rebelling against the perfectly structured boxes society has put in place. These two go hand in hand, she can’t get justice because people don’t want a disruption to their neatly structured lives. Working around the common people is a nuisance for her. She talks often with Jonathon about how she can’t conform to the lifestyle her parents do (implied racist + homophobic without actually having to say/show it explicitly in the show through the support of Regan and Karen’s Thatcher convo) how the cookie cutter lives with reality shuttered out would kill her.

With Lucas in s4, he is trying to save himself from being othered by conforming in the most palatable way he can without sacrificing his own happiness. Him trying to be “better” isn’t framed as bad thing (which is how the audience seems to be taking it for some reason), it’s framed as a hopeless endeavor because it’s never going to be enough. Even if he’s not being targeted at the moment, people he loves are and regardless of what he does it’ll circle back to him eventually.

Eddie is the “worst of society”. He’s a poor good for nothing loud mouthed idiot, obnoxious, disrespectful to authority, crazy drug dealer, and gay (implied). But he’s idolized by Mike + Dustin and the narrative makes him very human and kind. He’s also the only one that gives any relief to Chrissy who is literally cracking under the pressure of acting normal. No one except Eddie and Max notice or says she’s acting weird, no one except Eddie and the counselor try to help her, and Eddie is the only one to make her feel even the slightest bit better. And the reaction to her cracking from her peers is to blame the crazy person instead of admitting she wasn’t perfect which is framed as a ridiculous and violent cult mentality.

This is all to say that every character we are meant to like is a social reject and have a sense of solidarity with other social pariahs… meaning that none of the central characters or “heroes” of Stranger Things are gonna be purposefully or blatantly homophobic or racist. It is the 80s (minorities still existed btw) but it is also a FICTIONAL show. They dropped the ball using a slur towards indigenous people of the arctic, but before that racism and homophobia were punished by the narrative.

Billy was racist. It’s not up for debate. He was racist, among other things, and he was punished dearly for it. The bullies are punished for being racist and homophobic and then never seen or mentioned again. Is that realistic? Nope, but they’re not important after they’ve been punished. The one character we’re meant to like that has been homophobic was immediately beaten up for it and after development has an arc accepting a queer woman.

Steve went from a perfect stereotypical jock and bully unhappy with his life and relationships, to a happy loser working in a video store with a weird kid and a lesbian for best friends. When he gave up trying to fit a mold, he became a better person and his life became infinitely better and he is consistently told how great it is that he’s changed. We don’t ever see his parents reactions or his old friends after he ditches them because their opinions don’t matter. We only see the praise he’s gotten and the fact he’s happier. Is that realistic? No. But it’s the narrative being made.

You know what is realistic though? A tight knit friend group that grew up being ostracized and bullied, witnessing their friend they’re devoted to being bullied for maybe being gay. Even more realistic is that the gay kid is still loved by those friends regardless of whether the bullies had some truth to their taunts. These kids are genuinely hated by most people and only have each other to depend on, every issue they’ve had they’ve gotten over. They apologize to each other ALL the time and they all have a surprising amount of emotional intelligence (yes even Mike, he’s a dick because of trauma + internalized homophobia and he’s aware he’s being a dick and takes responsibility for it when it’s not jeopardizing what he’s feeling is his safety).

In conclusion, none of the characters are going to be homophobic, sorry to ruin your fantasies. It’s unrealistic, out of character, and goes against the core themes of friendship and unconformity set up in the show.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

What do you think about the book 'A Caution for young girls' written by Lady Coryanne Wylde?

Nope, anon, I don’t like it.

I feel that some feminist critics talked to GRRM about the lack of known female authors in Westeros as compared to the real life European Middle Ages; women—often of the cloth—were writing since at least the 8th century about their relationships with G-d, medicine (particularly related to women), advice on rulership, plays, biographies/pilgrimages, rules for their monastery, philosophy, fantastical long poems, both plainchants and polyphonic music; it’s estimated that 10% of all troubadours may’ve been women. The first autobiography written in English is supposedly Margery Kempe’s, dictated to a scribe in about 1440. In Westeros, until the release of Fire and Blood, all known authors were male (with the exception of Daenys the Dreamer, who wrote the lost book Signs and Portents) and there were only a handful of professional female singers (it’s unknown if they wrote their own songs). However, as I’ve explained in another post about GRRM going out of his way to mock certain American feminist iconography in Fire and Blood, he introduces 2 alleged female authors with Coryanne Wylde and Rue, both allegedly septas…and they write about 1) her alleged “erotic adventures” including being sold into sex slavery or 2) a supposedly inaccurate and sexually-charged biography of a great man who was probably her lover. What variety, especially compared to real life female authors.

I’ll mention that the bulk of “A Caution for Young Girls”, while allegedly written by Coryanne, probably wasn’t. The first copy appeared in 90, about 40 years after she’d disappeared in the Disputed Lands. There are four versions of it around, and the first shorter one that says she was the handmaid to a queen (Alysanne) and paramour to a young knight (Howard Bullock) who fled to Essos at least match up with what we know of her life. The others are longer, since apparently mummers decided to add more erotic incidents to the story, probably those after she’s been abandoned in Myr and seemingly enslaved. “A Caution for Young Girls”, like the famous 1936 film “Tell Your Children” (better known as Reefer Madness), belongs to the genre of faux-morality exploitation; allegedly being a warning for young women to not engage in intercourse with married men or else facing terrible consequences; however, considering Baelor ordered copies burnt and it’s more popular with brothel people and mummers than the pious, it’s really a series of titillating (or, considering it’s known for depravity, possibly including disgusting or anatomically impossible sex scenes ala Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom) “adventures” that allegedly (but probably not, if you think about it) happened to one woman. And just like Reefer Madness, which is laughably inaccurate about the effects of marijuana, “A Caution for Young Girls” seems to gloss over the real horrors of slavery in Volantis, Lys, Qarth, and the Basilisk Isles in favor of eroticism. Considering slavery is a huge part in the main series, and a lot of Book 5 is devoted to how cruel and unstable it is, with enslaved women treated as sexually expendable trash…having one of the few female writers mentioned in the series seemingly make light of it isn’t that amusing to me. Yes, cruel reality being made palatable into songs is a big part of the series, but Fire and Blood isn’t written in a way that makes us empathize with Coryanne’s pain or struggles the way it does the sympathetic characters of the main series.

That the first English autobiography by a woman involved visions from her faith, her struggle with postpartum depression, meeting with other great Holy Women (Julian of Norwich), getting tried for heresy due to her faith multiple times but managing to be acquitted each time…there’s no comparison between Kempe and GRRM’s alleged female autobiographer. Kempe is her own person; Coryanne is a vehicle for sexual adventures (most of which are probably made up by people unaware of the reality of slavery), just like Rue is the scribe writing about the sexual adventures of Alyn Stu Velaryon. GRRM could’ve taken more from history and had in-universe female authors write about their visions (not just Daenys), music, plays, woods witches writing down medical knowledge, rules for motherhouse living, advice on government, etc; it would’ve gone a long way to convincing me Alysanne actually made positive lasting change for women, had she patronized female authors or artists (why is Coryanne the only one of her companions who wrote anything when most of them were septas?)

I can’t help but feel that some feminist critic complained to GRRM about no in-universe female authors, and he wrote Coryanne and Rue—known for highly inaccurate sexually charged biographies—to piss them off. Between the Maiden’s Day Cattle Show, the watered down versions of famous historical women (Eleanor of Aquitaine got imprisoned for 16 years because she encouraged her sons to rebel against their father, contrast Alysanne Targaryen; Mathilde of Boulogne rescued Stephen I’s cause by raising an army to chase Empress Matilda out of the city, then exchanging Stephen for Matilda’s strongest supporter, contrast Helaena/Alicent; Joan of Arc led the French to victory within months and defended herself Heroically on trial for heresy, contrast Jeyne Poore/Jonquil Darke), then naming an incompetent easily fooled knight who got brutally killed after the creator of Wonder Woman (Professor William Moulton Marston)…GRRM just showed how little he cares for the historical tradition that have inspired Western women for generations. Coryanne’s “writing” is just one example of that mockery.

[crashdevlin]

Gone Girl 2- Fight Club

Author’s Note: Here we go, down the Walker hole!

Summary: Cordell gets in a bit of trouble tracking down some missing men.

Pairing: none yet

Word Count: 2853

Story Warnings: mentions of homicides and abductions (Cordy is law enforcement, after all), abduction, being drugged, canon-level violence

~~~~

"The mayor’s son is missing?" Cordell asked as he finished reading the case file.

"From the same bar as our second victim, Daniel Pierce." Micki sat on the edge of his desk and adjusted her belts.

"Guess we should go check out that bar." He stood and smiled down at her. Micki just gave him a bit of side eye before standing and walking away. "So, this is political. We got called in because Richardson wants to make sure his son doesn't end up the same as the others."

"Don't you?" Micki asked. "Don't you wanna make sure no one else has to go through that?"

"Well, yeah, but come on! I hate politics. I hate that those four men in the morgue weren't important enough for APD to ask us to help, but as soon as someone with a bit of clout gets affected, we better be jumping to help."

Micki didn't argue it, just getting in the car and pulling up the address for Black Rock Bar on her nav app. The twenty- minute drive was filled with Walker talking about Stella's soccer team and August's photography talent.

"He'll probably be just as good as his mother was eventually," he said as they got out of the car, adjusting their hats.

The bar was dirty, Walker could tell before he even opened the door. The vibe said 'dive' from the moment they pulled off the highway. "Interesting place for the mayor's son to frequent," Micki said, pulling open the door.

"Maybe he wanted to be around folks who don't care about money, or taste, or…" Walker grimaced a bit as he looked around the inside of the bar. "Dusting or black mold inspections."

"We ain't open yet," a voice called from the back as the door to the musty-smelling bar closed behind them.

"We're with the Rangers. We need to ask you a few questions," Micki called out.

"If this is about Danny," the man said, walking out from the back with a keg in his arms. "I already talked to the cops 'bout 'im."

"Walker and Ramirez...We're Texas Rangers, not police." Micki stood tall as the man dropped the keg and turned to them. "And we are here to ask about Daniel Pierce and Seth Richardson."

"Seth got hisself killed, too?"

"Got himself disappeared. So, you know Seth?" Walker asked.

"He's in a few times a week." The large man scratched at his beard and looked around. "Runs a tab up, starts fights, great guy."

"How big of a tab?" Micki asked.

"Couple hundred. He always settles up at the end of the week."

"And there anybody specific he was starting fights with?" Walker tried.

"Nope," the man dismissed quickly.

"Is there anything you can tell us about either of the men that might be helpful?"

"Nope," he responded again.

Micki and Walker looked at each other. Unhelpful, uncooperative people were nothing new, but it was something that neither enjoyed. They stuck around to ask a few more basic questions, getting short answers for each before they bid the man a good day and left.

"Seems like he's hiding something to you?" Walker asked as they settled in the car.

"Might just have been anti-authority."

He nodded. "Maybe. I think I'm gonna give this place a look after happy hour, see what kind of patrons Richardson might have been picking fights with."

Micki agreed that coming in that night in plainclothes would be the best bet to get some recon done.

His black Stetson went well with his light blue plaid shirt and his dark blue jeans. He nodded at Micki from across the bar. She was wearing a black tank top and a tight pair of jeans, her hair down in waves. There were a handful of patrons at the bar and a few small groups scattered between the pool tables, dartboard, and tables. They seemed like hardworking men and women...except the group of four bikers in the back.

Walker focused on the bikers, trying to get close enough to hear their conversation without drawing attention to himself, but there was no way to do that. He settled for drawing attention intentionally, grabbing a pool cue and approaching the group. "Any of y'all up for a game?"

"Fuck off, pretty boy,” the woman in the middle of the group snapped.

"Come on!" he whined. "I got an hour before the old lady starts blowing up my phone about where I am and I just wanna play a round or two.”

The bikers didn’t bite at his invitation, scoffing and looking away, ignoring him completely as they kept drinking. The fact that they weren’t paying him any mind made it easier for him to listen in on their conversation...which involved drugs, their Harleys, the crazy bitch who’s been trying to get child support out of the largest of the men, and the Mexican outlaw bikers that they seemed to have a rivalry with...but nothing about Daniel Pierce or Seth Richardson.

He sighed and set the pool cue back against the wall, heading into the back to use the restroom. He was barely past the entrance to the dark hallway when pain exploded across the back of his skull and the world went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His head was swimming as Walker came to his senses. Not just a concussion, he could feel that. He knew what a concussion felt like. He also knew what sedative hangover felt like. The heavy limbs, like he was moving through pudding, the way he felt a bit bobble headed, the way his focus was hard to find. He knew he’d been drugged.

He ran his tongue across the top of his mouth, trying to get saliva flowing in his bone-dry mouth as his eyes fluttered open.

“Thank god, you’re awake,” a voice whispered. The voice didn’t seem too excited though. “Fuckin’ huge, aren’t you?”

Walker’s hand went to the back of his head as he sat up. “Where’m I?” He looked around his surroundings. He was in a cage along a wall made of cinder blocks. Down the wall, there were three more cages in a line. Each steel enclosure had a large man in it. He recognized the one closest to him.

Seth Richardson sighed and leaned back against the bars. “It’s where they keep us until it’s time to fight.”

“Fight?”

“Cage matches, man,” one of the others responded. “Bigger cage, obviously.”

“Modern-day gladiatorial combat.” Seth ran his hand down his bruised face. “I hope they don’t put me against you. You work out, right?”

“Wait, they...blindsided me, abducted us...to force us to fight?” Maybe it was the head wound, maybe it was the drugs, but he couldn’t see the reasoning.

“We’re worth a lot of money. They take bets.”

“‘They’? Who’s ‘they’?”

“No names. We don’t even have names now that they got us.” The man in the furthest cage groaned. “They’ll give you an animal title. I’m Bear.”

“Puma.”

“Bull,” Seth said.

“Well, I hope I get something badass. Like a moose or something.” Walker chuckled at his own little joke and licked his lips. “Okay, so...they, whoever they are, make you fight each other? What, to the death?”

“Only after we stop making them money. They give the kill order when we don’t have people bet on us anymore,” Bear said.

“How often does-”

“Stop asking questions! If you don’t make waves, you’ll last longer,” Puma hissed.

Walker sighed, trying to clear his head enough to figure out a way to get out. “Any y’all tried to break out?”

“No, we just sit on our asses all fuckin’ day. There’s no out.”

“There’s always an out.”

“Except when there’s not,” a new voice said as the door on the far end of the room opened. Walker blinked to clear his eyes as a short, balding man walked in. “You’re a big one, Gator.”

“My name is-”

“Your name is Gator. You’re gonna make me a lot of money...after I drug you up and let Bull beat you to shit.”

“Give him a lot, ‘cause I mean...look at ‘im!” Seth exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, Bull. You’re winning this one.”

“Look, man, you don’t need to give me any drugs because I’m not fighting anybody,” Walker said.

The balding man just chuckled. “Okay. You don’t fight, you die anyway.” A gun was suddenly in the man’s hand. “I got no problem putting down a gator.” He took Walker’s silence as fear, so he laughed. “You’ll fight. You all fight for your lives.”

He didn’t have a lot of choice. Not in the sedatives entering his muscle in his arm, nor the bag over his head, or the cuffs on his wrists as he was dragged out of the small cage and away toward the sound of a raucous crowd. He fell to his knees as he was pushed into the larger cage and the bag was removed. The cuffs were undone as the cage was opened on the other side and Seth was pushed in, no bag or cuffs hindering him.

“We don’t have t-to do this,” Walker tried as the cage was closed and locked, leaving just ‘Gator’ and ‘Bull’ in the enclosure.

“You don’t know, man. Shut the fuck up.” Seth’s foot connected with Walker’s chin and his head snapped back.

He did what he could to fend off the mayor’s son, but eventually Walker had no choice but to hit back. His head fuzzy from diazepam and injury, it took him a few tries to get to his feet. In that time, Bull’s fists connected with his cheek and chin multiple times. Seth was pulling no punches as they landed in his gut and Walker’s initial impulse was to hit back with everything he had. The thought that it wasn’t Seth’s fault stayed the Ranger’s hand. ‘Fighting for survival’ was quite literal in the situation Seth and Walker were in.

Cordell’s hand zipped out, aiming for his opponent’s mouth, and caught Seth’s eye instead. The man was stunned for a moment and Walker took the opportunity to grab him, grappling him into a chokehold. Seth scratched and scrabbled, reaching to get a grip and try to get away.

“Stop. Stop, Seth,” Walker grunted into the smaller man’s ear. “Stop fighting. Just...I’m with the Rangers. Stop.”

“Wha-” The words seemed to get through. “Really?”

“Stop. Just stop.” Walker dropped Seth and stumbled backward.

Seth looked up at him, fear and hope in his brown eyes. “Really?” he asked as the crowd exploded into boos.

“What are you doing?!” the balding man demanded, drawing his gun and walking up to the cage. “Fight!”

He didn’t have time to use his weapon against them, though, as the room was suddenly flooded with officers in tactical gear, bearing semiautomatic weapons. Walker let out a heavy sigh of relief, dropping to a knee as soon as his eyes fell on his partner following in the APD SWAT members.

“This whole ‘me saving your ass’ thing is getting to be habit,” she said with a smile.

“How’d you find me?” he asked as she opened the cage and stepped inside.

“They didn’t trash your phone until after they got you here. Rookie move on their part. I followed your GPS,” she said, leaning down to examine his face. “He got some good licks in.”

“Well, yeah but...I was drugged...pretty heavily, actually.”

“If you need to blame the drugs to justify getting your ass handed to you by the rich kid, by all means, Walker.”

“I was winning that,” he defended as Micki went to check on Seth. “Ramirez, I was winning. He was on the mat when you guys came in.” He winced as he stood. “You saw that, right?”

“There’s two more in the back,” Seth said.

“Micki. I was winning!” Walker called after Micki as Seth pointed her to the back area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my!" The gasp was loud enough to hear over the Luke Combs song pumping through Side Step and Cordell's eyebrow went up. "What happened to you?" Y/n cooed as she rushed up to him before he had a chance to take a seat at the bar.

"You should see the other guy," he responded, chuckling and immediately wincing when the action caused pops of pain across his abs and bruised ribs. "Could I get a double, neat, of the cheapest rye you got back there?"

"Most certainly not," she answered and his eyebrows shot up. He hadn't been denied a drink in a bar since he was a teenager with a bad fake ID. She put a finger up to tell him to wait and ran back around behind the bar. "Alcohol doesn’t even properly numb pain like that, Ranger."

"Yeah, but it makes me feel better and isn't that the real relief?" he tried to joke as Y/n dumped a hefty scoop of ice into a clean bar mop and took the corners together to make a cold pack.

"Thins the blood, makes for bigger bruises, gives a moment of 'relief' an' then three weeks of trying to hide the thing," she said, coming around the bar again to offer him the ice. "Cold keeps the bruises from spreading. Can't do much for the cuts, but there's an ointment, DerMend, that'll cut the healing time on the bruises down by half. Those look real bad, but...any little bit will help ya."

As he took the ice from Y/n and placed it over his cheek, Cordell couldn’t help but wonder how she got all the information she was giving out. He was a cowboy, a Texas Ranger, a damn rodeo star in another life, and no one had ever imparted the wisdom of bruises to him. How had she learned? Was it something innocuous, like curiosity, or was it necessity?

"How'd you know all that? You a nurse or something?"

Her eyes immediately downcast at the question and she smiled tightly before turning to get behind the bar again. "No. Not-not a nurse. Just...I just know some stuff. Don't know a lot, but I know some useful stuff, Ranger."

"Walker." He smiled what he hoped was a soothing smile as he took a seat on the closest barstool. She didn't really answer that question, deflecting subtly so she wouldn't have to explain her knowledge of heavy bruises. "Can't have whiskey, huh? Can I have a beer?"

"No, sir, you cannot," she responded firmly, starting to wash her hands. Walker took note of the faint lines on her left ring finger and the way she flinched and tensed when the door to the bar opened, relaxing only when two women walked in and the door closed behind them. "I can make you...a Shirley Temple or a virgin margarita. On me, of course. You shouldn't have to pay when you've had such a rough day protectin' Texas."

"Hell, why not? Been years since I had a Shirley Temple."

"Okay. Would you rather the original recipe like my daddy taught me to make it, with the ginger ale, or do you want it like Miss Broussard taught me to make it, with Sprite and orange juice?"

"Dealer's choice."

She smiled as she grabbed a glass and scooped ice into it. He could hear her muttering under her breath, "Ginger, grenadine, cherry, smile." over and over as she moved and made the drink for him. She stuck a straw in the pink drink and smiled brightly, quite obviously fakely, as she set it on the bar in front of him.

"There you go! Shirley Temple."

"Looks great," Cordell started as he set the ice pack down on the bar. "But don't call me 'Shirley'."

She looked confused for a second before she giggled. "Oh! That's silly! You're funny, Ranger Walker. Enjoy your drink!" she said before walking down the bar to help the women sitting on the opposite end.

He watched as she interacted with the other patrons of the bar. She was still stiff and seemed uncomfortable, but her smile never faltered. She was good at putting up a mask of happiness. He had to wonder how she got so good at faking that.

"So, where'd you come from, Miss Salama?" Walker asked, mimicking her proper use of titles as he took a sip of the second Shirley Temple she made him. "You an Austin local?"

"Oh! No, not at all. I grew up in-in Dallas, actually." She pulled the ice pack off the bar and wrung it out in the sink before grabbing another scoop of ice and handing the refreshed pack to Cordell.

"Oh? I have a few buddies from Dallas. Where'd you graduate?"

"Ummm...W. T. White. It, um...was...not the best but it got me through." She looked away and cleared her throat. "Enjoy your drink, Ranger Walker. Let me know if there's anything I can get for you," she said before walking away.

"That’s evasive," Cordell said under his breath. He took a sip of his mocktail and hummed. "Curiosity piqued."

The Kitchen Sink Tags- @flamencodiva @sacriceria @lyarr24 @440mxs-wife @nancymcl @stephv213 @mariekoukie6661 @beachy2014 @alwayskeepfightingsweetheart @cosicas-cuquis @queenoftheunderdark @myheartbelongsintz @squirrelnotsam @akshi8278 @muhahaha303 @agirlwithdemonblood @this-is-me19 @mrswhozeewhatsis

[crowwritesaway]

Steve Kemp x Original Character Pt. 1

“I’m not sure what you want from me.” Noa asked you. Riley frowned, leaning against the wall. “I don’t want anything except your cooperation. Behave.” Riley grinned.

“I know this is fucked up situation but I just can’t understand how you didn’t notice how off Steve us.” Noa stared at her in disbelief. “Are you seriously blaming me?”

“Partially. Of course, Steve was the one who snatched you.” Riley told her, taking a sip of her juice. “What about you?” Noa snapped, her body shaking. Riley put her cup down. “What about me?”

“You’re just as bad as he is.” Riley thought about it. “Yeah. I guess if we are comparing.”

“You should eat. I mean, if that kind of yours is scavenging for the best way to escape. You would eat and use that rage to escape.” Riley said, standing up from the floor. Riley pointed at her head to emphasize her message.

“It’s not someone if that’s what’s keeping you from eating.” Riley told her, exiting the room. Noa looked at the food, a laugh escaped her. As if I can trust her.

Riley walked up the steps. She rolled her eyes. Betty is so fucking stupid. Fooling around with Steve. The nerve of her to send me to help him. I mean, she kills men and he, he kills women. I guess, they’re feel some connection.

“Hey.” Steve greeted her. Riley nodded at him. “Did she eat anything?” Riley shook her head. “Nope. I mean, who would have an appetite after meeting you.” Riley sarcastically said, taking a seat. Steve glared at her. He pointed his knife at her. “Watch it. Unless you want me to make room for you there.”

Riley chuckled. “I’m sure Betty would love that.” He growled, shaking his head. “Speaking of Betty, where is she. She hasn’t answered my calls.”

“Probably hunting.�� Riley looked around his kitchen. He put the knife down. “Hmm…”

“Is this all?” Riley told him, snapping him of his thoughts. “I’ve been meaning to ask. Do you eat meat?” He asked her, looking at her with dark eyes.

Riley grinned. “I’ve tried it. Didn’t like it. I’m sure Betty can tell you all about it.” “Maybe it was prepared by the wrong person. I cook the best.” Steve swore to her, throwing his hands up. Riley chuckled, shaking her head. “Bravo.” She sarcastically said, clapping her hands.

He smiled. “How about this? I’ll cook you something? Some wine and we’ll see how it goes.”

She lazily looked up at him. “I don’t drink. And I don’t eat that meat. Now, it seems like I’m done. I’m off.” She dismissed him, getting up.

“Ohh, come on. Just one taste.” Steve insisted, coming around the table. She took his approach as a threat. She sighed, rubbing her temple, “I’m in no mood to argue nor talk.”

“Come on. Let me cook you something.” She could hear the excitement in his voice. She grumbled. If I say no, what stops him from going after me.

“Alright.” She accepted. He grinned. “You won’t regret this. I promise.” She clicked her tongue. “Hmm…we’ll see.” “Wait here. I’ll go prepare the food.” She waved him off. “I’m gonna make a call.” She informed him to avoid him suspecting her of betraying him.

“Yeah. I’ll go get the wine.” Steve dismissed her. She glared at him. Fuck. He doesn’t listen. Ugh.

[bacchicly]

Ok super super unpopular and way too earnest and not fun take about Kevin Lynch and the rhetoric around his character and his and Pen's relationship as presented by the CM writers below the cut. I totally understand why my fellow fans hate him - in fact I think the intention is that we are supposed to hate him - but I don't think the nerdy boy character is treated much better than our nerdy girl...here's why...

....and yeah it is all about the tropes I usually explore and yeah it is Not Fun™ and I am taking issue with some common arguments and understandable arguments put forward as justification for hating Kevin - but I NEED to get these thoughts out - because right now they are all jumbled and it is driving me crazy and I don't want to be a spoil sport on a "We hate Kevin post" cus I get it! I "hate" it that Penny had to go through a shitty relationship - but that is par for the course for most of the characters on the show. Shitty relationships are the norm on CM - and that actually is logical based on the trauma these characters are regularly subjected to - the outliers are actually the good relationships! And here I would pretty much only include Matt & Kristy and Kate & what's his name and a few others - but they are hard won and the characters often had to go through a bunch of duds first.). Ok so here we go... You have been warned!!! And I have turned off reblogs mostly because I really am not attacking anyone - except maybe younger me - who would have been the first in line in the "I hate Kevin" fan club.

Edit: I have changed my mind and turned back on re-blogs. If you want to come at me or state an opposing opinion. Go nuts. I was a coward at first.

So I am fully aware I may be the only Garvez/Penelope Garcia fan on earth who doesn't hate Kevin Lunch or the writer's construction of him. Do I love him? Nope. Do I think he hurt Penelope? Yep. But I also refuse to pile on him and his behavior.

Here's why:

1. The relationship was fucked in the end - but my beloved Penny is not without a hand in that - and the final fuckery does not negate the good things about that fairly long relationship. I am really worried about the tendency for any relationship that ends or isn't all sunshine and roses to be deemed as a "waste or toxic" - I think it hurts people in real life. Relationships are not pass / fail. For me, that Penelope and Kevin figured out how to be friends - even imperfectly is testament to me that their relationship was "Not A Waste™" (and I trust her opinions and the writers on this - more about this later...) Also important note: yes - in both real life and fiction - there are truly harmful relationships and abusive partners but that is different from two people being flawed humans and a romantic relationship not working out - which I think is a fair description of Penelope and Kevin's relationship. I just re-read Crichton's Airframe and the protagonist talks about how most air accidents are not caused by a single event but a cascade of small happenings and choices that eventually lead to the accident...and that most journalism (at the time of the novel) did not report it that way was an issue. I would say this is similar to why relationships "succeed" or "fail" - it is rarely a single event but a complicated series of factors that ebb and flow. And I would argue that the writers actually did a fairly good job of depicting this within the context of the series. I love that Penelope and Kevin despite everything does what they can to stay friends after the breakdown of their romantic relationship - I think it does them both credit.

2. Both characters have strengths and flaws but IMO the writers developed them in a way consistent with their key characteristics and both reacted in ways consistent with societal pressure on both "nerdy women" and "nerdy men". Again both were imperfect and made mistakes - as did perhaps the writers - but if we demand perfect characters and relationships - where is the fun in that? I would argue that actually Penelope was painted as much more sympathetic and desirable than Kevin ever was (which makes sense since she is a core protagonist).

For example:

Kevin was given "a lot" of girlfriends after Penny... but I would argue that it was done more in a "slut shaming" mode than a "let's build him up as a player / cool guy" mode. Here's my argument: Nerdy Men are rarely granted the type of "player status" or even "good partner / parent" that "hot" male characters are granted; I would argue that this is a form of toxic masculinity at work. "Nerdy Men" are portrayed as not "deserving" healthy relationships in a way that is different than "Nerdy Women" but they are still rarely depicted as being in healthy relationships - and it is even less talked about than the negative depictions of "Nerdy Women". Yes, we see the Kevin character acting out - having multiple girlfriends - trying to be macho with Pen - but it was always done in a way that is consistent with the "jealous of Morgan" character that was crafted and, I would argue, consistent with someone who really wants a long-term stable relationship with one person but either is not great with relationships or is not able to be with someone they idealize in the way they idealize (in this case MARRIED TO PENNY). As such, the # of girlfriends in my view is not the writers "rewarding" him for his crappy behaviour but punishing him for it. It is offered as evidence of his lack of masculinity. Should Penelope have been given more or better love interests? Maybe. But that is seperate from whether or not Kevin is deserving of "hate".

3. I am super uncomfortable with the "Luke is worthy of Penelope because he is hot and nice" and "Kevin is not worthy of Penelope because he was not hot and not nice" rhetoric. The logic is based on the same flawed arguments that people who are not fans of Penelope Garcia make: she is not conventionally attractive and sometimes kinda mean (both moderately true statements) therefore she does not deserve to be admired or loved or respected (wrong). It doesn't matter if someone finds Luke attractive and Kevin not attractive - Penelope found both attractive and that's what matters. What if instead of Luke - we are given an even more sympathetic perfect partner (and I mean someone she likes, loves, and is attracted to and who likes, loves and is attracted to her - where both of them treat each other supportively and respectfully) for Penelope who was played by a very fat actor - and Penelope choses them after a relationship with Luke ends amicably ...not because Luke is bad...or their relationship wasn't very good...or they didn't love each other... But because life is complicated and fitting more than one life together - especially with their jobs - is not an easy feat... Do we hate them? Do we hate Luke? Do we demonize the writers for not giving Pen "a hot guy"? What if the writers are brave and at the same time Luke ends up happily with someone who is perfect for him and maybe even less conventionally attractive than Penelope? How do we feel?

I guess what I am saying is - love Luke and Penelope all you want...I do. I really really do...but it might be healthy for us to be very careful about completely hating on the Kevin or Lisa characters at the same time...definately not as fun... but revolutionary and self loving.

What if we and the fictional characters we love could chose the type of relationships (1 true love, serial monogomy, multiple partners) that work for us in a way that is respectful and loving of both ourselves and our partners? What if there stops needing to be a villain for relationships to end? What if ending a relationship didn't negate the good parts of the relationship - regardless of whether a relationship ends badly or not?

I don't know. I just want people to stop being in such pain about all of this in their own lives and challenging ourselves to engage with media in a way that is less fun but healthier...could maybe be a step in that direction? You are worthy of love and respect even if you aren't perfect. That doesn't mean you get a free pass to be shitty - but stop thinking only perfect people and perfect relationships are worthwhile. It's just not true.

Ok thank you for coming to my rambly no fun ted talk. Please go back to your regularly scheduled lives and enjoyment of the fandom.

[suhmayzooka]

in middle school we had a required health class and i was relatively sheltered, as in i didn’t realize the phrase “drinking” meant “drinking alcohol” (like: “do you drink?” my sheltered mind: “yes i drink water”)

so in class there was this big case of drugs. the closest image i can find online is this drug identification kit... thing... but ours had more drugs. 

i am positive ours contained shrooms... i don’t remember much because i was literally TERRIFIED of the case, like i thought just being near it was exposing me to too much.

now don’t get me wrong. health education is VITAL. but i was totally, totally learning all this stuff for the first time. i had NO IDEA you could get high off all this stuff. i didn’t know all this stuff EXISTED. the teachers were all operating under the, i guess understandable assumption that we all had a base idea of what drugs were. NOPE. not this one.

moving on to sex ed: i was similarly sheltered, except i’ve also had a special interest in big cats since i was a little child so i have seen tigers in all stages of life, including mating. also my mom wanted me to be a doctor so she got me a BUNCH of books about the human body. annnd i had some....traumatic experiences......earlier in life so had a basic idea of what sex Was. but i FULLY remember learning about oral sex in school because they were talking about flavored condoms. obviously all the other kids were in on the joke and laughing and stuff but i was just there realizing for the first time: PEOPLE PUT THEIR MOUTHS DOWN THERE???????

but those weren’t damaging experiences.... i think this health class had good intentions with body positivity, but i was totally, tOTALLY unaware of everything.

i had NEVER even CONSIDERED being ashamed of my appearance. firstly i wasn’t interested in makeup nor dressing cool nor being cool (i was watching free!, okay), and my mom never encouraged it. as a matter of fact, as a child i was prohibited from watching shows on disney channel and nickelodeon (like drake and josh, icarly, all that), just PBS kids (and regular PBS for nature and nova. science!!). alllll aspects of teenage drama and bullying and exclusion and popularity was totally, completely over my head. also i was yknow Not Neurotypical.

for example: in middle school the teacher tried to do a body positivity lesson on why we shouldn’t be ashamed of not having a thigh gap. i had NEVER heard of a thigh gap (i wasn’t on this area of social media). i became fixated on my thighs then. wtf was a thigh gap??? this thing i never even knew existed...

so like. in high school we had this health teacher whose whole thing was that he was a rightwinger (yeah..). he played it up for jokes but he was like Edgy and Not a Snowflake and no participation trophies!! this is real.

anyway. he had to do a lesson on body positivity where the message was essentially, “don’t have an eating disorder.”

do you know how he went about this?

when we arrived in class he had written a bunch of female celebrities’ (btw i had no idea who half these ppl were ahsdlaskhd) and numbers next to their names. he announced that these were the women’s “sizes.”

i was like... what? what sizes?? what are sizes??? 

and then he was like:

“DOES ANY GIRL WANT TO WRITE WHAT HER SIZE IS?”

no one answered, because this was clearly a very strange ‘lesson,’ but all i was thinking was... “what is my size???” 

the teacher then said that it was just as he hypothesized! in all the years of teaching NO GIRL had revealed her “size”!! this was clearly a sign that we were all ashamed of our bodies!!!

meanwhile i was totally confused. i wasn’t ashamed. i had no idea what my “size” was. 

then the teacher started talking about some study about how men prefer overweight women to underweight women so it was better to be heavy than to starve ourselves. 

but i was like..... am i supposed to be ashamed of my “size” ???????

i was a swimmer at the time; i inherited my mom’s broad shoulders. but i was sent down rabbit holes of learning about all the reasons i was supposed to hate my body. i never CONSIDERED most of these. apparently my shoulders were manly and ugly. well i never thought of that before but now it was in my head!! hip dips!!! wtf are hip dips?? no fucking idea but apparently i was ugly for having them (BONES. BONES).

sometimes i scroll through body positivity things that i KNOW are supposed to be uplifting, but i’m just learning about more “problems” that i didn’t even KNOW existed until i was told that they’re okay. buccal fat. wide ribcages. noses and jawlines. 

sometimes i wish i could go back to being naive to all of this...

is that wrong? the only way we can fix these issues is to confront them, but i feel like i’m confronting things that shouldn’t even need to be confronted and the body dysmorphia rears its ugly head.

but at the same time i was so free before i knew any of this

[smokinholsters]

The Lucky Horseshoes - A Heartland Season 16 AU - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Considering his smile as she walked up the short steps to the porch Amy couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. He sat on a two person bench and moved his hat to an empty chair on his left.

“Do we have time to sit for a few minutes ?”

“If you’re not too hungry, I don’t have a firm time set for Isaak.” She said sitting on the small bench and in turn dropping her hat to the empty chair beside her.

“I’m fine for now, can I get you coffee or something ?”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“Busy weekend coming up ?” He asked.

“I have a few client horses I’m dealing with and picking one more up today, you ?”

“All booked up for tomorrow, pretty free for Sunday though, need some help ?”

She smiled “You don’t need a pretense Finn.”

“No pretense then, want to get together Sunday ?”

“How about a trail ride with Lyndy and me, maybe a picnic lunch and then dinner with the family later on ?”

She glanced over and saw him smile. It wasn’t the biggest bench, they had room but Amy couldn’t help feel the closeness between them. She glanced down when she felt his arm flex and saw his hand turn palm up and his finger’s spread and smiled as she lay her hand on his and their fingers joined. His hands were farrier hands and she felt the leathery toughness and calluses along with the gentleness in his touch and the heat that rose from the connection.

“PBJ’s for lunch ?” He asked smiling.

“I could probably do better than PBJ’s, how about turkey sandwiches ?”

“Turkey huh ? Hmmmm, I like turkey.”

“So, it’s a date ?”

“Well, if you’re gonna fuss over turkey sandwiches how can I say no.”

“Uhm, the family dinner part ……” Finn smiled and his finger’s snugged a drop tighter around hers “I get the family dinner part Amy, if you’re ready ?”

“I don’t want to sneak around Finn.”

“Open and above board then, it’ll be Ok with the family ?”

“The women are on board and the men, well, the women are on board.” She answered with a laugh. “We should go though, I want to try to get home for Lyndy so I don’t want to be too late to the Fraser ranch.”

“The women ?” He asked walking to the truck after insisting on paying the bill.

“Lisa and Jessica.”

“And your sister ?”

“She’s either heard or will tonight I guess. Oh and Cass obviously knows.”

“The women.”

“My women.”

Once they returned to Heartland Finn stayed with her long enough to unload Brandy, Isaak Fraser’s horse into a doubled up outside stall she had prepared, then park and disconnect the Heartland trailer before hopping back into Amy’s truck for a ride home. Much as work was involved they both had a good time, from their moment on the porch to lunch at the Saskatoon Farm Café where they ate and then split a slice of Saskatoon berry pie with Saskatoon ice cream, to Amy’s recommendation and introduction of Finn to Isaak to trailering Brandy back to Heartland.

The 20 minute ride to Al’s house took 10 without the trailer and as Amy had learned Finn wasn’t much for front seat talking so he got out and walked around the truck where she rolled down her window and a moment later he was leaning on the truck, his hat now on the cab roof so that it didn’t bump the door frame.

“You have to get back, I know it was part work but I had a really good day Amy.”

“So did I.”

“As a matter of fact it was such a good time that ordinarily I would imagine, that I uh would …..”

“Kiss me ?”

“Is that an answer or a request ?”

“Both.” Amy answered, a sudden nervousness creeping up her spine.

It took hardly a moment before his lips touched hers and over just as a fast but It was enough to raise goosebumps up her arms. She was happy that he leaned in again for a more prolonged kiss which lingered for a second as their tongues touched.

They looked at each other for a second after and the world disappeared for her momentarily except for him and his expression.

“You’d better go.” She heard him whisper bringing her back into the now.

“I’d better, we’ll talk later ?”

He nodded and stood, reached for his hat that he settled on his head and tapped the door.

“I’ll talk to you later Amy.” He smiled at her for a second before turning towards the back of the truck. She saw him wave as he passed the side again and then stopped to watch as she drove off.

She passed the bus that had obviously just dropped off the kids and waved at the driver as she went by and then turning into Heartland spotted Katie and Lyndy walking down the dirt road hand in hand. They waved as she drove slowly past them giving them a wide berth and pulled up to the house. A moment later she stepped out and righted her hat when Lyndy who ran down the hill leaped into her arms and Katie walked up with a big smile on her face.

“Hey Amy, you look happy.”

“I am happy Katie, it’s been a good day.”

Lisa and Jessica both stepped out onto the porch as Amy let Lyndy down and they all headed through the small gate and up the stairs.

“Snacks ?” Lisa asked.

They settled at the small table in the kitchen and Lisa put out 2 sliced apples, a container of milk and a small plate of cheese. Jessica leaned against the sink after putting out glasses and small plates and was joined by Lisa a moment later.

“How was everyone’s day ?” Jessica asked.

“My day was great !!” Lyndy exclaimed and then explained how they started out with book reading about a turkey taking a plane ride which she thought was very funny. “Maybe we should get that book so we have it to read at home ?” Amy asked and with Lyndy’s nod continued “I’ll send an email to your teacher and ask for the name of the book and we can get one.”

Lyndy went on to talk about maths circle where they counted and singalong, writing and recess and even the ride home on the bus.

Katie on the other hand answered as expected “It was school.” Which made them all smile.

“How was your day mama ?”

“My day was amazing and I have a new horse named Brandy to work with.”

“What’s wrong with the horse momma ?”

“I’m not sure anything’s wrong with her sweetheart but her owner can’t seem to find anything she likes doing so he can’t find her a new home.”

Katie smiled “Sounds like being a freshman in high school, I don’t know what I want to do either.”

Amy nodded “You’ll figure it out Katie, follow your heart. Lyndy, go wash up and change into ranch clothes, they’re on your bed, and put those school clothes in the hamper.”

“Ok mama.” She sang and hopped off her stool.

“Where did you go for lunch Amy ?” Lisa asked while she moved aside and watched Lyndy take her milk glass and her small plate to the sink and then turn to skip out of the kitchen.

“Saskatoon Farm Café.”

“I love that place.” Lisa added.

Jessica noted “Worth mentioning it to Tim, I’m tired of steakhouses and pizza. Is it upscale ?”

“Not really.” Amy answered “It’s a real farm, I mean it’s nice, I wouldn’t go straight from a cattle drive, casual, clean clothes. We both wore jeans and flannels.”

“Who’s we ?” Katie asked.

“Oh, Finn and I. Have you met him Katie ?”

“The cute lumberjack.”

Amy smiled “Actually his grandfather’s the lumberjack, Finn’s a farrier.”

“The cute farrier then. Wait, was this a date ?”

Amy scrunched up her face a second thinking “I guess part date, part work, he came along to my client to help with the horse and so that I could introduce them. My client’s a stock middleman.”

Katie smiled “Well, that’s great, a first date, how was it ?”

“Not officially a first date, we’ve been, uhm, seeing each other for the past few weeks.”

“So you’re seeing each other, is it like official ?”

Amy glanced over to Jessica and Lisa who had again returned to leaning on the counter once Lyndy left and were both smiling at her.

“Define official ?”

“Would you introduce him as your friend or your boyfriend ?”

“At this stage I would introduce him as my boyfriend.”

“So you’ve kissed ?”

Amy smiled and noticed both Lisa and Jessica lean forward just a bit as if they wouldn’t hear the answer sighed “What the hell, yes, we’ve kissed, and before you ask it gave me goosebumps.”

Katie smiled “Goosebumps are good.”

Amy then stood up “I’m going to check on Lyndy, Katie, go do your homework.”

“So I guess the conversation’s over ?”

“Go Katie, now.” Amy said as she collected Katie’s glass and plate and turned to the sink.

“Dinner Sunday ?” Lisa asked.

“Dinner Sunday.” Amy answered. “Any other questions ?”

Jessica smiled “the kiss, goosebumps ?”

“It was a nice kiss Jess.” She answered before turning towards the rest of the house to see how Lyndy was doing on her own and grabbing her for chores.

She loved afternoons like this, out amongst the horses with Lyndy, brushing them down and putting them back into nice clean stalls after a day in the meadow. Her daughter’s almost endless banter directed right at the horses as if they understood her every word. Amy smiled remembering back to when she was Lyndy’s age and doing the same, mimicking her mother’s vocal cadence which is what actually elicited their responses rather than any deep understanding of what she was saying. Horses were smart and empathic but they learned emotionally and by rote and learning this was really the heart of understanding them and the secret to what she did.

Katie was setting the dinner table when they got back to the house. She had seen Jack and Tim riding in from the north when she and Lyndy left the barn and mentioned to Lisa that they were back and probably putting up their horses.

“Jess went back to the loft a little while ago to get washed up and changed, we weeded the vegetable bed.”

“It needed it.” Amy said. “Lou ?”

“Late meeting in town but on her way back, Peter’s coming tomorrow, did you know that ?”

“I think it was up in the air last I heard, maybe I’ll shower tonight with Lyndy and avoid the morning rush.”

“Probably a good idea, you have work tomorrow I guess, maybe I’ll take Lyndy to the farmer’s market in the morning.”

“She’ll love that, I’ve gotta get washed up and see that she’s clean for dinner. Can I help with something before I go ?”

“Katie’s setting the table and it’s stew which is done, I’m just going to pop in the rolls. Go get ready, we’ll be eating soon.”

After making sure that Lyndy had done as Amy had asked she left her sweetheart with her dolls and her vivid imagination and washed up before heading to her room. Behind closed doors she pulled out her phone and texted Finn while she changed. “Well Katie knows which means Georgie knows and possibly Lou. More of my women.”

“How many more are there ?”

“You know, I think that’s about it, just the men left. You ?”

“Me, let’s see. I mentioned it to Grandpa who patted me on the shoulder and said “she’s special Finn, go slowly and get it right.” My mom said “I knew you weren’t staying there for Al.”

“That’s it ?”

“Dad wasn’t home and that’s the A team aside from friends, that can wait.”

“I envy you.”

“I envy me too and not for the family part.”

Amy smiled “That was sweet Finn.”

“Let me know how it goes.”

“I will, bye for now.”

She ran a brush through her hair a couple times and pulled it back into a ponytail, put on her moccasins and walked next door to join Lyndy in her fantasy until dinner.

“Two.” Lyndy said when Amy laid a roll on her plate.

“One until you eat some stew and green beans.”

“Ok Mama.”

“Ok.” Amy said with a smile.

“I noticed a new horse in a double on my way back in.” Jack mentioned.

“Her name’s Brandy, one of Isaak Fraser’s. I picked her up this afternoon.”

“I probably could have helped.”

“I took Finn Cotter, I wanted to introduce him to Isaak.”

“You sure that was smart, your recommendation carries some weight Amy.”

“Finn’s an excellent farrier Grandpa and I have no problem recommending him. Lisa used him and he totally fixed Spartan.”

Lisa nodded “Did a real good job that day at Fairfield, didn’t waste all day and didn’t charge through the nose. Amy’s invited him to Sunday dinner.”

“We’re going on a trail ride first !!” Lyndy added. “Can I have another roll please I finished my green beans.”

Amy smiled and reached for a roll “here you go sweetie.”

Lyndy took it and immediately bit down.

“Hey what do you say ?”

“Phank ou” She answered her mouth half full.

“Please swallow before speaking next time Lyndy.” Amy answered “And you’re welcome.”

“A trail ride ? What kind of trail ride ?”

“I don’t know Dad, a trail ride, how many kinds are there ?”

“Sunday dinner Amy ?”

“Yes Lou, Sunday dinner, I want Finn to meet the family.”

“Is this uhm, something ?”

“We’ve been seeing each other.”

“Finn’s nice, his horse’s name is Night.” Lyndy added.

“Seeing each other, is that like dating ?” Tim asked.

“Well, I’m not in high school anymore so dating doesn’t seem to fit.”

“I thought he lived in Saskatchewan?”

“He’s staying with Al Grandpa, he’s getting on in years and lives all alone.”

“How serious are you about this ?”

“I’m not even sure I know how to answer that, we’ve been seeing each other, it’s been nice.”

“Well, he’s gorgeous.” Katie added.

Jack looked over “aren’t you a bit young ?”

Katie smiled “nope, I’m definitely old enough to notice good looking men GG.” “Good for you Katie, you pick a winner.” Amy answered with a smile getting a small scowl from Lou.

“How do I not know about this ?”

“I didn’t really tell anybody Lou but I don’t want to sneak around so I’ve invited him to Sunday dinner to meet the family.”

“What do you know about him, this seems awful fast ?”

Amy stopped for a moment, this really shouldn’t be this hard she thought, she wasn’t 15, she was a widowed single mother at 27 and about to turn 30.

“Katie, how about you take Lyndy into her room and we’ll bring dessert to you when we’re ready ?”

Katie looked at Amy for a second and nodded “Got it, come on Lyndy, let’s pick a book.”

With the kids out of earshot Amy turned to Jack. “What’s the problem ?”

“Just that I’ve dealt with his family before.”

“His family ?”

“Al, his grandfather used to work here, did you know that ?”

“Nope, when was this ?”

“Back in the 50’s.”

“70 years ago, those 50’s ? That’s a lot of years ago Grandpa. I’m afraid I’m lost, did he steal ?”

“He chased after Lyndy.”

“After you were married ?”

“No he asked her out when I was dating her and he knew I was serious.”

“Let me get this straight, 70 years ago before you were married he asked Grandma Lyndy out. I assume she said no ?”

“Of course she said no but she also knew I was getting ready to propose and so did he.”

“But she said no.”

“All I’m saying is that the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, that’s all.”

“Really Grandpa, at this table, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree ?”

“What’s that supposed to mean ?”

“Let’s see, your father, my GG so to speak was a violent drunk. My father, who abandoned me at 5, was addicted to pills and alcohol and was thrown out, by you, and my husband literally came with a juvenile probation officer because he tried to beat his step father to death and you’re concerned about Finn because 70 years ago his grandfather asked out a beautiful single woman you were dating, who said no and who happened to marry you soon after ? Are you serious right now ?”

“Does sound pretty lame Jack.” Tim said “and I didn’t abandon you Amy, I was thrown out.”

“You know dad I had no contact with you from when I was 5 until I was 15, I actually think that qualifies as abandonment and this is neither the time or place to discuss it so I’m laying down the law, here and now, you will both treat Finn with respect or deal with me.”

“Respect, what does that mean exactly ?” Tim asked.

“It means that there won’t be a nickname or hay stacking or giving him the gears or any of the other childish games you’ve played.”

“And what about Lyndy and Ty ?”

“I will talk to Lyndy as things progress and you don’t have to make this harder for me than it already is Grandpa, Ty’s dead.”

“You’re still wearing his rings Amy.” Jack said softly.

The exclamations of “Jack” and “Grandpa” came simultaneously from both Lisa and Lou who were shocked that he pointed that out knowing how hard this must be for Amy.

“Fine.” Amy muttered and immediately worked at getting her now snug rings off and when they came she got up and walked over to Lisa holding them out for her to take “I know you have a bank lock box Lisa, could you please hold these safe for Lyndy. Good enough Grandpa ?”

“Amy, I …..” Jack started.

“I’ve heard enough, let me get my daughter some dessert and to bed, thanks by the way, I was having a good day and this sucked.”

[papirouge]

Make no mistake Candace will embrace zionism again if Palestine falls and Palestinians are forgotten. She is by nature simply a contrarian - she will ALWAYS take the other side regardless of what that side is. If Tate suddenly becomes mainstream and accepted, she will inevitably speak out against him. If feminism goes underground, she will be a feminist. Her grift is to be loud and go against the popular for views and attention. Her husband from what I’ve seen is pretty submissive (very funny how ALL of the married “trad” girls I know of that pander to the right and claim they only love aggressive masculine and traditionally dominant men never marry them, they always find the quiet submissive men that are house husbands that don’t really work) so nothing he will say will matter to her either. Her running back or trying to run back to black spaces is because she doesn’t want to be attacked now for being a black woman now that she’s vulnerable. Yet she still wants to bring white peoples feelings in those spaces too so she can stay on racist white people’s good graces because that’s her nature - to always to be the opposite. Black spaces are for black feelings, she knows this yet she will do the opposite anyway. All for attention. Just a pathetic person

She reminds me of an old friend I had. My friends and I started a gaming group for just ourselves, just black girls gaming and having fun without any worries. It was so much fun except when my ex friend tried to invite and get her white male friend involved. We told her no, this space was for black women only. She called us racist and sexist while her white friend just moved on He never cared about joining since he wasn’t even a gamer, it was all her idea. We had to block her and move on too 💀

Wait a minute- are you talking about the black gamer girl discord group drama ? Are you aware this drama came over tiktok?? 👀 Why am i only half surprised that a fellow black girl shoved this white dude there though ? 💀 Not that white men trying to invade black (female) space is unprecedented, but as I always said, Black women are EXTREMELY male identified (probably more than any other race) so I'm not shocked this black woman did the most for her White male friend.. TRAGIC.

YOU ARE SO SPOT ON FOR CANDACE 🎯

It's so confusing to see her talk about her husband and how she chose him because he was her match intellectually speaking when he doesn't strike as such 💀 He's definitely not stupid, but I feel like there's a major dissonance between how she "sells" him, and reality. Their dynamic is very loopsided : he only talks about her, while she's -very publicly- taking all the attention. Sorry but there's nothing less submissive or traditional in this marriage dynamic. Even the way her own camp talks about her doesn't reflect any idea of feminity - they talk about her like an attack dog. A smart, eloquent one, but still a dog. When Shapiro and his Daily Wire clique turned against then dumped her, nobody felt sorry for her. Even those who defended her knew she was the Strong Black Woman™️ and would ultimately get back on her feet. Candace herself is so energyetically masculine she didn't remotely think about leveraging her femininity to grasp some sympathy (emotions) by saying how she felt betrayed or left out. Nope. Like a soldier, she got back on her feet and started campaigning to fund her next venture.... If anything, Candace is the posterchild of feminism. Nothing about her screams traditional or feminine.

And it makes sense bc Candace is so bigger than life that she would hardly be able to find someone to match her level - especially among conservative men who absolutely don't come off as the intellectual type.... To reach that goal, she would've had more chance with Asian men since she said before her boyfriend all her earlier boyfriends were Asians (Korean and Japanese) lol

And yeah, that's exactly it : she's a contrarian. That's why her opinions have no consistency whatsoever. Like, you can't blame feminism and try to reinforce traditional gender roles onto society......while defending a lover boy/pimp/porn producer/fornicator aka Andrew Tate.

That's why contrarian are so politically stupid btw. They're often lumped with the right, but rightoids at least have a set of value tenants that won't change depending on whether they're popular or not. But contrarians? They'll hate things to the point of cognitive dissonance. We witnessed it A LOT these last few years. For example, tpeople who were against the c0vid shot and (rightfully) called out the msm propaganda and lies to push it, often used the fact of being against the "popular opinion" (=getting the vaccine) as a proof they were right. Well it was pretty shocking to see a lot of them turned out to be big supporters of Israel/Zionism, and sided with the very same msm they bitched against non stop a few years before. Their primitive contrarian mindset made them believe that because they were against Palestine (= the popular opinion) they were right once again..... And they have the same pattern with Musk, Trump, Take and every problematic/controversial figure they think unabashedly supporting means they're doing right against the MatRix - or whatever it is.

And this issue isn't only with right leaning people : it was extremely disappointing and disgraceful to see people support the TikTok ban in some wack intellectual superiority move, and (indirectly) campaign for the same US government they were shitting on FOR MONTHS over what it's been doing in Palestine. Mind you, they are the same crowd saying shit like "yOu aRe nOt iMmuNe tO prOpagAndA uwu" when anyone with a IQ higher than room temperature would grasp that this ban was a way to CONTROL TikTok which is the least biased media platform when it comes to social commentary or news coverage (especially with what's going on Palestine right now). But nooooo, those idiots refuse to look at the bigger picture and want it shut down because of a handful of dumb tradwives and pro ana mentally ill girls. PLEASE.

I've said it and I'll say it again : nothing you see on TikTok is unique to TikTok or happens because of TikTok. I'm a millennial, I'm old enough to remember that social contagion/reproduction the most destructive trends always happened since the drawn of the internet. In 2002 it was on message board, forum, etc...in 2024 it happens on social media - not only TikTok. If anything, those big SNS corporation centralizing the lot of internet communication help having a better outlook on social trends. Instead of having to patrol gazillions of obscure group chat with no mail adresssed required to post shit, the special services only have to lurk on social media 🤷🏾‍♀️

Oh and one last thing: 99% of the shit ppl complain about TikTok I never see it on my dash. TikTok algorithm is INSANE and manages to spoon fed you what you like 9 times out of 10. So there's 2 possibilities : either 1) they're the problem and should stop entertaining content that harms their peace 2) they're lying and just rehash the stuff other people say without checking by themselves if that content is *that* pervasive on that app.

[imarawbu]

We had a conversation yesterday over the phone regarding my husband's best friend's marriage.

My husband was calling about a girl's night I held which I have tried to do every few weeks or so. I invited his friend's wife to join the group, which she did, but this was the first girls night she had ever come to.

My husband was asking me about details from my friends, like juicy gossip details or whatever. We don't go into stuff like that in my friends group anyways and if we do sometimes, I don't really tell him, obviously.

My husband and his best friend talk about everything except when it comes to relationships so since his best friend got married a few months ago, he has been thinking this marriage would have lots of problems because my husband's best friend is also from the same country and in some ways is more "fresh off the boat" than my husband is, his wife is from not the same country (but same culture) but born and raised here in the US, the second part of this which is the problem. If you know anything about this ethnicity, this is a well known issue as those from the home country don't like those who are born here because those born here are more liberal. For example, she doesn't like traditional foods much, she doesn't cook, she's the youngest daughter of a doctor-which means she's very spoiled and grew up rich, etc. My husband sees so many issues with their clashing personalities he had discussed that the marriage would probably not work out.

He was asking me stuff about her, why they have not invited us to their house since they got married (for context, my husband and his best friend used to come to our place nearly every day and I would cook, before his best friend's marriage they would invite each other to their houses multiple times a week and his friend would cook if it was at his place or if it was at ours, he'd eat the food I made. Because we have not been invited now that he is married, it means if we were to be invited, he would be cooking, so this is not traditional...etc.) and said his best friend must be being punished like other men who marry wives who basically don't do everything for them. As he has other friends and I have other friends who are not basically slaves for their husbands. I brought up that some men actually do things and help out in the house because they love their wives but his response is the men just do it to avoid arguing constantly.

As he has said before, that he feels he is being punished because I don't cook enough fresh dishes for every meal and I don't make breakfast, etc. but his punishment is less than most....

Yeah, I wanted to get married and wanted to do everything house and cooking related because I wanted to do it out of love meaning that the other person would reciprocate, see the lengths I went to and sacrifices I made, and want to help when things became overwhelming for me. Nope. I said since he thinks doing the minimum amount of work at home is " God's punishment" then what is it for me and other women who do all things work? His response is that their jobs and they should be grateful they don't have to work and provide. So just misogyny.

[aspenmissing]

𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢 (𝙿𝚝 𝟷)

Sam lies on the bed, eyes closed. Blood drops onto his forehead, and when he opens his eyes, he sees Jess above him.

"Why, Sam? Why, Sam?"

"No!" Jess bursts into flames.

"Why, Sam? Why, Sam?"

"Sam, wake up." Sam wakes up confused. He sits up and looks around. He's sitting in the back of the Impala, which is parked in front of a large building.

"I take it; I was having a nightmare."

"Yeah, another one," Y/N says.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep."

"You know, sooner or later we're going to have to talk about this," Y/N says.

"Are we here?"

"Yup. Welcome to Toledo, Ohio." Sam picks up a newspaper with Steven Shoemaker's obituary circled.

"So, what do you think happened to this guy?"

"That's what we're going to find out. Let's go." The three get out of the car and head up to the building.

===

Sam, Dean, and Y/N head into room 144, marked Morgue. There are two desks. The empty one had a nameplate that said Dr. D. Feiklowcz. The other one has the mortuary technician.

"Hey."

"Hey," Y/N says.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. We're the, uh…med students.”

"Sorry?"

"Oh, Doctor," Dean stumbles over the name "Figlavitch didn't tell you."

"We talked to him on the phone. He, uh, we're from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the shoemaker's corpse. It's for our paper," Y/N adds.

"Well, I'm sorry, he's at lunch.”

"Oh well, he said, uh-oh well, you know, it doesn't matter," Dean says.

"You don't mind just showing us the body, do you?" Y/N says, batting her eyelashes.

"Sorry, I can't. Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him if you want.”

"An hour? Ooh. We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then," Dean says, looking at Sam and Y/N.

"Yeah," Sam says, and Y/N nods.

"Uh, look, man, this paper's like half our grade, if you don't mind helping us out."

"Uh, look, miss…no." Y/N laughs a little. She then turns and mumbles.

"I'm going to hit him in the face, I swear." Sam hits Y/N on the arm. Sam steps in front of the twins and opens his wallet, pulling out some twenties. He lays at least five down on the mortuary tech's desk, who picks them up.

"Follow me." The mortuary tech gets up and leaves. Dean grabbed Sam before he could follow.

"Dude, I earned that money.”

"You won it in a poker game."

"Yeah," Sam says, then follows the Mortuary Tech.

===

"Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." The mortuary tech pulls back the sheet over Steven's face.

"More than that. They practically liquefied."

"Any signs of struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" Dean says.

"Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone.”

"What's the official cause of death?" Y/N asks.

"Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke—maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure.”

"What do you mean?"

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen.”

"The eyes match; what would cause something like that?"

"Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims.”

"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean asks.

"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor."

"Hey, think we could take a look at that police report? You know for, uh, our paper.”

"I'm not supposed to show you that." Y/N shakes her head and looks at Sam, who pulls out his wallet, annoyed.

===

Sam, Y/N, and Dean are walking down the stairs.

"It might not be one of ours. It might just be some freak medical thing," Sam says.

"How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean asks.

"Uh, rarely."

"Exactly."

"All right, let's go talk to the daughter."

===

The three walk into the funeral. There is a picture of Steven Shoemaker on the desk. The attendees are all men in black suits and women in black dresses, except Dean, Sam, and Y/N.

"Feel like we're underdressed." They keep walking through the house towards the back. They ask someone where Steven's daughter is, and he points them towards Donna and Lily Shoemaker, who are with their friends Jill and Charlie.

"You must be Donna, right?" Y/N asks.

"Yeah."

"Hi, uh, we're sorry.”

"Thank you."

"I'm Sam; this is Dean and Y/N. We worked with your dad." Donna looks at Charlie, then back at Sam, Dean, and Y/N.

"You did?"

"Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke.”

"I don't think she wants to talk about this right now," Charlie says.

"It's okay. I'm okay."

"Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" Y/N asks.

"No." Lilly turns around.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke," she says.

"Lily, don't say that.”

"What?" Y/N asks.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset."

"No, it happened because of me.”

"Sweetie, it didn't."

"Lilly." Sam gets down to eye level with Lily. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Right before he died, I said it."

"You said what?"

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror." Y/N and Dean look at each other and say, "She took his eyes; that's what she does."

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault.”

"I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?"

"No, I don't think so.”

===

Sam pushed the door open. There is still some dried blood on the floor.

"The Bloody Mary legend… did you ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asks.

"Not that we know of," Dean replies, looking at Y/N, who's shaking her head. Dean walks into the bathroom, followed by Sam and Y/N, who kneel and touch the dried blood.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody dies from it."

"Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's happening."

"The place where the legend began?" Y/N shrugs and opens the medicine cabinet. "But according to legend, the person who says B-" Sam looks at the medicine cabinet mirror, which now faces him, and closes it. " The person who says you know what gets it. But here-"

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah," Dean says.

"Right."

"I never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out," Y/N says.

"It's worth checking in to," Dean, Y/N, and Sam leave the bathroom but are stopped by one of Donna's friends.

"What are you doing up here?" She speaks.

"We had to go to the bathroom," Dean says, making Y/N mentally facepalm.

"Who are you?"

"As we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad."

"He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself.”

"No, I know, I meant-"

"And all those weird questions downstairs—what was that? So, you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming.”

"All right, all right. We think something happened to Donna's dad," Sam says.

"Yeah, a stroke."

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else.”

"Like what?"

"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth."

"So, if you're going to scream, go right ahead," Y/N says.

"Who are you, cops?" Sam looks over his shoulder at Dean and Y/N.

"Something like that."

"I'll tell you what. Here." Sam reaches into his pocket, pulls out a paper and pen, and starts writing down his cell number. "If you think of anything, or you or your friends notice anything strange or out of the ordinary, just give us a call." Sam hands her the paper as he, Dean, and Y/N walk down the hallway.

===

"All right, say Bloody Mary is haunting this town. There's going to be some sort of proof, like a local woman who died nasty.”

"Yeah, but for a legend this widespread, it's hard. I mean, there are like 50 versions of who she is. One story says she's a witch; another says she's a mutilated bride; there's a lot more," Sam says as they walk into the library.

"All right, so what are we supposed to be looking for?"

"Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So, we've got to search local newspapers for public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill," Y/N says.

"Well, that sounds annoying.”

"No, it won't be so bad, as long as we…" Sam looks at the computers, which all say, "Out of Order." "I take it back. This will be very annoying.”.

===

Dean is reading through a couple of books in their motel room, while Y/N is lying in bed with Sam on her lap, asleep, combing her fingers through his hair. Suddenly, he wakes up, looking at both Dean and Y/N.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?"

"Because we're awesome siblings. So, what did you dream about?" Y/N asks.

"Lollipops and candy canes."

"Yeah, sure," Dean says.

"Did you find anything?"

"Oh, besides a whole new level of frustration?" Sam sits up. "No. I've looked at everything. A few local women, Laura and Catherine, committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but uh, no Mary." Sam falls back onto the bed and onto Y/N's lap.

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet," he says.

"I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know—eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Sam's cell phone then rings, and he answers it.

"Hello?" A look of concern comes across Sam's face.

===

Charlie is sitting on a park bench, Dean is sitting on the back of it, Sam is standing there, and Y/N is sitting next to Charlie, comforting her as she cries.

"And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her-her eyes. They were gone." She sobs.

"I'm sorry," Y/N says.

"And she said it." Y/N looks up at Dean and Sam. "I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?"

"No, you're not insane.”

"Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse.”

"Look. We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained," Sam says.

"And we're going to stop it, but we could use your help," Y/N adds, smiling softly at Charlie.

===

Charlie comes into Jill's room and locks the door. She then goes over to the window and opens it, where Sam, Dean, and Y/N are waiting to enter. Sam enters first, followed by Dean and then Y/N, who throws Sam a duffel bag. Sam sets it on the bed and starts going through it.

"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Sam asks.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things." Sam pulls something out of the bag, and Dean shuts the curtains. "I hate lying to her."

"Trust us; this is for the greater good. Hit the lights." Charlie goes over to turn the light off.

"What are you guys looking for?"

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it," Y/N says. Sam has a digital camera ready and hands it to her.

"Hey, night vision," Y/N turns on the night vision for him. "Perfect." The digital camera is aimed at Dean.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Sam walks away with the camera. He opens Jill's closet door and begins filming around the mirror.

"So, I don't get it. I mean, the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" Sam wonders.

"Beats me," Dean says as Sam closes the closet door.

"I want to know why Jill said it in the first place," Y/N says.

"It's just a joke."

"Yeah, well, somebody's going to say it again; it's just a matter of time." Sam is in the bathroom filming around the mirror when he stops and sees trickles of something running out from behind the mirror.

"Hey," Dean, Y/N, and Charlie turn to look at him. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?" Sam carries the mirror out to Jill's bed and lays it on the bed upside down. Dean throws him a black light, and Sam rips off the brown paper that is on the back of the mirror. He then shines the black light over the back of the mirror, revealing a handprint and the words "Gary Bryman.”.

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie mutters.

"You know who that is?" Sam asks.

"No."

===

Theo and Charlie are sitting on a bench as Sam and Dean come up behind them.

"So, Gary Bryman was an 8-year-old boy. Two years ago, he was killed in a hit-and-run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver," Sam says.

"Oh, my God."

"What?" Dean says.

"Jill drove that car.”.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house," Y/N says.

==

Sam, Dean, and Y/N are hunched over the back of the mirror with a black light. There is a handprint on it and the words "Linda Shoemaker.”.

"Linda Shoemaker." They walk downstairs to Donna and Charlie.

"Why are you asking me this?" Donna asks.

"Look, we're sorry, but it's important," Y/N says.

"Yeah. Linda's my mom, okay? She overdosed on sleeping pills; it was an accident, and that's it. I think you should leave.”.

"Now, Donna, just listen."

"Get out of my house," Donna says as she runs upstairs.

"Oh, my God. Do you think her dad could've killed her mom?"

"Maybe"

"I think I should stick around."

"All right. Whatever you do,  don't." Y/N says.

"Believe me, I won't say it.”.

[justinmoviereviews]

The best movies of 2022

I made a list of every movie I watched in 2022, ranked from least favorite to favorite. With the exception of the last three of four on this list, I basically liked every one of these. A pretty good film year, I’d say.

I’m gonna add little sentence punctuations to some of these, wherever it’s fun to do so.

67. Blonde

Oh buddy did this movie suck.

66. Elvis 65. The Batman 64. Black Adam 63. Emily the Criminal

Weird to me that everyone liked this so much. It was a B action movie with a couple lines about student debt, and that’s apparently all it took for people to call it timely.

62. The Good Nurse 61. The Wonder 60. The Invitation

The worst thing I can say about this year is that the streamers started to feel produced by technology, but this one will stand out for me for being a great example of when the algorithm breaks. The program said people like vampires and British royalty, so let’s mash them up.  

59. Smile 58. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

A very good movie I did not like at all.

57. Sick 56. Watcher 55. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio 54. Confess, Fletch 53. Argentina, 1985 52. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 51. Vengeance 50. Prey 49. Bodies Bodies Bodies 48. The Fabelmans 47. Father of the Bride 46. Top Gun: Maverick 45. Hustle 44. Benediction 43. Dog 42. Nanny 41. Empire of Light 40. Causeway 39. Bros 38. White Noise 37. Living 36. Petit Maman 35. Ambulance 34. The Cathedral 33. Pleasure 32. Amsterdam 31. Spiderhead 30. KIMI 29. To Leslie 28. The Northman 27. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 26. Happening 25. The Whale 24. Women Talking 23. Saint Omer 22. Crimes of the Future

I might rank this higher on a future rewatch.

21. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 20. Bullet Train

Just so fucking fun.

19. Stars at Noon

The most curious film of the year.

18. Nope

This still feels like a throat cleanser to me, but I imagine that’s good for his career in the long term. He’s easily the most exciting director currently working.

17. Triangle of Sadness

I think time will vindicate this one, which is more a farce about society than a farce about wealth.

16. Armageddon Time

I wasn’t prepared for this to be as sharp or well-observed or frankly dark as it was.

15. Don’t Worry Darling

This movie rocked. Maybe one day people will give it a second chance.

14. Decision to Leave

No question the best made film of the year.

13. Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

A disaster, but a gorgeous and ambitious disaster. The antidote to the Invitation problem described above.

12. Tar

Sort of the opposite of Bardo. A tight and exquisitely made film.

11. The Eternal Daughter

A really cool idea. I liked this one a lot.

10. X

2022 was a great year for horror.

9. RRR

It’s so cool to me that this ended up being a crossover hit.

8. Babylon

I’m honestly not sure why I rate this one as high as I do.

7. The Menu

2022 was a really great year for horror.

6. Aftersun

The one emotionally devastating movie I allow on a list like this of the year.

5. All Quiet on the Western Front

The best war movie since Dunkirk.

4. The Banshees of Inisherin

Great film.

3. Everything Everywhere All at Once

I suspect this will be the movie we associate with this year forever, and its worthy, though it is not my favorite.

2. Barbarian

Holy shit 2022 was a good year for horror.

1. Men

What an insane masterpiece. This is the one I want to hang on my wall.

[septicbro1005]

Vent under the cut

TW: Transphobia

So, for context, I'm gonna audition for another show relatively soon, and it's gonna be The Outsiders. Now, I've loved that book ever since I was a kid, it was my favorite. The characters, the story, it all felt amazing. I realized as I read that book more when I got older that part of the reason I liked it so much was that I wanted to be part of that found family the boys created together. I wanted to be friends with them all, but obviously, that can't happen. And with a fairly recent reflection, I've found that every time I have pictured myself as a part of their crew, I've been a man. I've been male, and I've been another brother.

You can imagine my excitement about possibly being a part of this show, right?

And my mom asked me today who I was planning on auditioning for. I know some friends of mine who are younger who are planning on auditioning for some roles, so I figure I wouldn't be the best option for Johnny or Ponyboy. So I started to explain that and before I can even finish (mind you, I'm in the car with my mom on the way to a very important appointment, so I can't exactly walk away from this conversation) my mom scoffs. And then she says something so fucking out of left field that it feels like a smack in the fucking face.

"You know you're never gonna look like a man, right?"

... pardon?

She continues on about how I'll never look like a man, no matter what "chemicals" I take or whatever surgery I get. I'll always look like a young boy or an effeminate man because of my stature and my figure. I get it, I'm a short person (5' 2" or about 157 cm) and most of the fat I have goes to my hips and backside. She also talks about how she knows I "feel like a boy" but I'm genetically female so that's all I'll ever be, no matter what I try to do.

And then when I go fucking silent because I have no clue how to respond to her, she then says "Y'know, I feel like you want me to have these conversations with you, but you get mad at me whenever I do just because I don't share the same perspective as you."

While we do have different perspectives, yes, it's not as though I haven't tried to see it from her perspective. I know I look feminine. I know that. I wish it wasn't true and I hate even thinking about it, but I know that I do. I've tried to shove myself back into that "female mold" and it worked for two years. And I was fucking miserable.

I also understand that she has had less exposure to transgender people than me. I also understand that we have different political beliefs. That's all fine. But it's not like my mom has tried to see any of this from my perspective, at least not to my knowledge.

She's never asked me further questions about how I feel about my gender like my dad has, she's never bothered to look into what testosterone does and what the side effects are, and she's never talked to me about being transgender except for when she wants to essentially scold me for it.

She still thinks I'm a fucking lesbian. I've never thought about being a lesbian because I know damn well I'm not. Men are great! I like men! I also happen to like women! I think they're amazing too! Anyone else who has a gender that doesn't fit in the traditional gender binary is amazing too!

But here she is, still calling me a fucking lesbian. She knows I bind my chest, she knows I prefer a more masculine name, she knows that I prefer to be regarded as male if I can't be regarded neutrally.

But nope. No, I'm not allowed to be referred to in a way that makes me feel comfortable at home because it's either "too hard" or it's "bullshit that people on the internet make up for attention."

I've always uncomfortably brushed aside the minor transphobic comments she's made about me and the community as well as some other bigger ones about me. I've always told myself "oh, it's fine, she'll come around eventually" and some stupid part thinks that maybe she will. But it's gonna take years for that to happen. And I think the only way it would ever fucking happen would be if I transitioned medically and showed her "hey, testosterone does more than just make your voice deeper and give you a beard. it actually changes fat placement, body shape, body odor, and loads of other shit too!"

But that's not happening. Not soon, anyway. So for now, I just have to keep fucking brushing those comments off and hope that I don't fucking snap one day.

[alliements]

Arkansas

We had a great week exploring the beautiful state of Arkansas hiking, spa’ing, and art-ing. Hot Springs in the Ouachita Mountains was bohemian, outdoorsy, and fun. The trailheads are directly behind bath house row. Goat Rock Trail is a great hike, you could see natural springs bubbling up at various places. We visited two bathhouses, Buckstaff, and the Quapaw. At Buckstaff you soak in tubs, and are given a toga-sheet to wrap up in as you go from station to station (steam, sitz, etc). Quapaw has 5 large communal pools and everyone wears a bathing suit. Tbh, Buckstaff was the Gulag of spas. Everything was cold except the water they gave you to drink. My towel got wet, which made it even colder, and my attendant refused my request for a dry towel. I sipped my ketchup cup of hot water and tried to relax. The folks at Quapaw were delightful and we went all in.

Bentonville, a 4 hour drive north, has poured big money into developing mountain biking trails. It has a cute downtown with great restaurants, bike shops, etc. If you don’t mountain bike, the only thing to do is the Crystal Bridges Museum, but you can make a day of it hiking their 120 acre estate with trails and outdoor sculpture. They had a nighttime interactive exhibit called the Listening Forest which was beautiful. The museum itself is stunning architecturally, and the contemporary art collection is outstanding. It’s all American art—think Thomas Moran/Hudson River School and Georgia OKeefe.

Founded by Alice Walton, the WalMart empress, the museum is built with Walmart money, celebrates everything American, and as one might expect, is quite flashy. The building itself is stunning, and it seems the building is perhaps of greater value than what’s inside. Some of the exhibits are as much American history as they are art, so one might guess, bias exists. Remember that money talks, and in this case, this is a private museum with a single conservative donor. I am sure the curators walk on eggshells a bit. While I appreciate this massive support for the arts by one of America’s largest corporations, it just can’t go unsaid that money talks, and is this case, so does one of Walmart’s largest stockholders who funded a rather white-washed exhibit on American democracy.

·        The exhibit We the People is called a “diverse perspective of equality and democracy.” It includes documents and art about the struggle for civil liberties in America. There were wonderful pieces about the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, art by indigenous Americans, and Japanese Americans during the WWII internment camps.

·        Shockingly, there was NO mention of women’s rights. the 19th amendment, or the ERA, other than one painting of suffragettes; and nor do they mention LGBTGA rights. As I exited, I thought, surely there must be another room? Nope. So, I turned around and went back in via the exit door to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I didn’t. I did enjoy seeing the Mark Bradford painting in that section. There is some hidden  text, but it is obscured to such a degree that the reference is unknown. Bradford is one of my favorite painters but I don’t understand the meaning of this piece in this exhibit.

·        I did some research. This exhibit is sponsored by Kenneth C Griffin, a wealthy hedge fund manager who owns a large stake of WalMart stock and is one of the richest men in the world. He bought the copy of the Constitution on display ($43 million) and is also a GOP mega doner. It sounds like the museum curator attended the Sotheby’s auction alongside Griffin when he purchased it.

·        Also of note is the exhibit does not state the documents are copies, it implies they are originals which is rather showy, IMHO. There are 26 copies of the Declaration of Independence, 11 of the Constitution, and whew, they can be bought. I don’t get it.

·        I like my art hung at eye-level where I can see it. They got fancy and thought it would look good to hang art all the way up some 20 foot walls. It does look good but I can’t actually see it.

·        Some sections had NO tags identifying the painting, just one QR code for the entire section, and it was difficult to navigate. QR codes should be used in addition to tags not in lieu of.

·        Lastly…half the main building is dedicated a snack bar.

Headed home we again saw the lovely Bass Pro Shops Memphis Pyramid Mega Store complete with saltwater aquarium, indoor quail hunting, a piranha pool, zip line over an alligator pit. And the floor is hot lava, I hear.

‘Merica, baby!