#Sharon has yet to be given a name

[daydreamerdrew]

Tales of Suspense (1959) #86

[firingstars]

neighborly advice | ch. 4

bucky barnes x female reader

summary: bucky’s thinking about you while you’re thinking about him. a couple days later, you debrief with your best friend.

warnings: timeline is somewhere around the middle/end of fatws, language, alcohol, eventual smut, male masturbation, female masturbation, use of toys, male ejaculation, no use of y/n, mdni, shifting povs

word count: 3.6k

a/n: i’m boarding a flight right after i post this. i hope yall have fun reading!

previous chapter | next chapter

Bucky was already in a shitty mood that night. The lead that he and Sam had caught turned out to be another dead end, which meant they were stuck waiting on hearing for some more information from Sharon or Joaquin. Either way, that didn’t mean that there weren't some assholes that they ran into before getting out of that warehouse.

Now, Sam was grilling him about the new apartment. Asking stupid questions about decorating. The furniture— asked how the bed was, of all things. Sam got it for him, as a housewarming gift.

“I’m just saying, Buck,” Sam said as they walked towards the station, where they had their vehicles parked. “It would be better if you came back to the compound. It’ll be a hell of a lot easier on both of us if we can reach each other faster. Unless this has something to do with that neighbor of yours.”

“Drop it, Samuel.”

“Damn. Full name, Cyborg?” Sam grinned. Bucky wanted to kick him. “Can’t believe you let her stay at your place, though. Imagine my surprise when you were at the compound the other morning, sleeping on the couch.”

“I said to drop it,” Bucky groaned, dragging his hand over his face in irritation.

He shouldn’t have gone to the compound. He should’ve just wandered the streets until morning then went to work or hung out on the rooftop like some freak— or you know, stay in his own apartment, but in the living room. Bucky couldn’t. He didn’t know what to say if she woke up in the middle of night and saw him on the couch (the floor, actually) and decided the best course of action was to just leave entirely.

If she looked close enough, which he was certain she didn’t with how flushed and frantically she had given him those muffins, she would have seen there were at least thirty crumpled up pieces of paper in his trash bin. Failed notes that he wrote to leave her that he discarded for being too awkward, too long, too short, too… Bucky. He didn’t even want to try to figure out how long it took for him to settle on that note he finally left for her.

When Sam woke him up, asked him what the hell he was doing in the compound, Bucky made the blunder of telling the truth. In his half sleepy state, he had confessed he gave his bed to his drunk neighbor. And accidentally said she was a girl. Opened up an entire can of worms for Sam.

“So, tell me about her. She cute? Single? Pretty?” Sam said, poking at his side. Bucky was ready to give Sam another bruised rib to match the injury that he’d already sustained earlier in the day.

“Sam—“

“Let go of me!”

Both men stopped at the shriek, turning. They barely glanced at each other before they took off running towards the sound of the voice. She was down the block, around the corner, and right in front of an alleyway, trying to pull her arm away from a man bigger than her, but not bigger than him.

Bucky knew her. He knew from her voice, though he’d never heard her sound like that. He ran faster, hoping, praying that by some chance, it wasn’t her.

His throat tightened when he saw her face, white with fear and panicked, eyes filled with tears that hadn’t fallen yet— he moved before he could even think.

He couldn't help himself when it came to her, it seemed. In his arms, she smelt like a club. Cheap alcohol mixed with several different colognes and perfumes from the people around her, but under all of that— she smelt like summer peaches and fresh spring.

Bucky really needed to compose himself. He already broke this man’s arm, lodged it out of the socket. She was safe, but God, what if he wasn’t here? What if someone else hadn’t passed by? What if the worst had come to be?

“Are you seriously staring up my skirt right now?” she asked, disgust lining her voice. His jaw ticked, eye twitched.

“Wear some shorts when you wear a skirt then, slut—“

Briefly, all he could see was red and nothing else. Hot, deep, red anger coursed through his body. Bucky had heard more than enough and needed this man permanently silenced. The satisfying sound of his skull cracking against the cement did little to satiate the bloodlust rushing through his veins, but it would have to do for now.

He quietly walked behind the two of them, dragging the cuffed asshole behind him as he walked towards the station with them. Sam did all the talking with her, giving her charismatic smiles and doing his best to comfort her and make her smile despite all the things that could have happened to her tonight. Even if Bucky wanted to, he wasn’t in the best headspace to give her comfort. Not when he damn near just killed a man in front of her.

Bucky waited outside for her. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. Sam would be more than capable of bringing her home, but he wanted to see that duty out. It was the least he could do, he thought.

And watching her face grow flustered as she rambled on about obviously wearing shorts under her very short skirt, he couldn’t help but want to smile. The previous anger and annoyance he had earlier died quickly as he watched her. He forced his smile down, and put the helmet on her head.

He didn’t comment on the grip she had on his waist, though he could feel something in his chest with each tighten of her arms, with each press of her body against his.

Bucky didn’t remember the last time he felt… comfortable with someone new. Eating with them like this. No expectations. There wasn’t any mission for him to complete, no job that made them have some shared life experience and trauma bonding.

No, she was a stranger to him. He’d done background checks on all his neighbors, including her.

She was a researcher, though what she was researching wasn’t exactly public information. She was pursuing a masters degree and was so damn close to finishing her work there. She lived by herself, had two older siblings that were not affected by the Blip, and all of her living relatives were in her home country.

Nothing about his past tied with her family. He had no ties to her at all. Knowing she knew about him, and treated it so casually and even… was grateful for it? It made something blossom in his chest that he didn’t know was possible.

His neighbor was easy to talk to, he realized. And shit— she was smart.

Everything about her was fucking hot, and he was damn near going insane over it.

Bucky needed to avert his eyes when she took her jacket off and tossed it to the side. She had already tied her hair up, and he felt like a fucking child. She was still fully dressed, still in that damn tube top and mini skirt and black tights— but her neck was exposed and she had pretty collarbones and shoulders and was he a dog in heat?

He took a drink to distract himself from the fact he wanted to leave marks all over her skin.

The other times she’d come to him from her apartment, he’d always thought she was cute. He would never admit it, but slamming the door in her face was his short circuited response because she wore that damn small tank top again, and it was cold outside and he could clearly see that the bite of the air was touching her chest if he let his eyes wander down.

But clearly, he wasn’t the only one feeling something. At least, if she wasn’t, then he needed to go bury his head in some concrete because the way she was smirking at him with the bottle to her lips was really doing numbers to his head. He felt light headed and dizzy, as if he was drunk. He took a few moments to decide on what he wanted to do next. Weighed the pros and cons of the situation.

Yeah. He’ll deal with the repercussions of his actions later.

Right now, he just needed to feel her in his arms. If she pushed him away, he would deal with it. Apologize. Kill himself, maybe. But thankfully, she kissed him back with just as much fervor and passion and when she made that cute, small noise against his lips he wanted more from her.

Yet, after swapping beer and spit, she left him with tight pants, a smirk, and a sweet giggle before she left his apartment.

The shower he took did fucking nothing to calm him down as he laid in his bed, fighting his mental demons as he stared up at the ceiling. He could hear her on the other side of the wall.

He could hear her better at night, when the rest of the world was silent enough to allow him to focus on her. She was shuffling around in her apartment. She took a shower, moved some things around, plopped in her bed. It was quiet for a few moments. She must have gone to bed.

“Insane,” he murmured, draping his flesh arm over his eyes. Was this what this new world was like? You just make out with someone and they leave without feeling anything? Seriously? Meanwhile, he was here, still straining against his shorts and–

An unfamiliar buzz and vibration filled his ears and he froze. Then, the soft, muffled noise of a moan that he recognized, that he had heard clearly just an hour ago. The same moan that he had swallowed as he kissed her. The sound went straight to his cock, making it jump and twitch.

Yeah. He was insane, but so was she. Bucky felt dirty and gross, but if she could do it, then so could he. It wasn’t his fault that he could hear through the walls. Plus, it wasn’t wrong to self pleasure. He just had the wonderful advantage of being able to hear her. His dick was hard, he couldn’t sleep, and his neighbor wasn’t making this any easier for him.

Bucky’s hand trailed beneath his briefs, and pulled out the length. He closed his eyes, focusing on her. The soft moans she was making right at that time, and the feel of her body on top of his just moments ago.

Precum was spread down the shaft by his thumb and he imagined what she was doing at this time. What was she using? Was she stuffing herself with a bullet vibrator, while playing with her clit? Maybe she was even massaging her own tits, playing with a nipple as she fucked the vibrator in and out of the hole that he desperately wanted to be in. He was more than confident that he could fill her up better than any damn toy.

“Bucky…” she whimpered from the other side of the room.

He swallowed, jaw clenching. His fist tightened around his cock, and he sped up the pace, trying to match whatever speed he believed she was going at.

God, he wished she was here. Would she have stayed? Bucky wanted to be the one touching her, hands trailing all over her body, eliciting those sweet moans from her, not listening to some vibrator do what his rightful job is.

He should’ve ate his own words, why the fuck did he provoke her like that? Tell her not to start something she couldn’t finish— now he was the one suffering.

“Fuck,” he groaned, listening to her moan a little louder this time. He briefly stopped his stroking to spit in his own hand, then quickly got back to work.

How wet was she? She must be soaking, he realized, especially from that wet spot she left on his jeans after she got up from his lap earlier. He would be able to bury himself inside her without any prep, but he was a gentleman.

Bucky would take good care of her. Gently lay her down on his bed, work his fingers through her tight hole in a way that no fucking vibrator could and tip her over the edge and pull back. She would whine and beg and demand why he wasn’t letting her cum, and he would tell her it was punishment for being a fucking brat and torturing him like this from the other side of the wall.

Her moan shifted, a little higher, then soon after started almost sounding a bit muffled. She was trying to hide the noise in her pillow. Fuck, she was close.

His hand sped up on his cock, rubbing the length faster and harder, focusing on the whimpers and soft gasps. He imagined her writhing under him as he fucked her, tits bouncing as he took her without mercy, begging for him to let her please cum, and God, Bucky needed to cum at the same time she did or else he would go insane.

“Bucky!” she cried out, and his body tensed, a choked noise ripping from his throat as hot, thick ropes of white shot out and painted his stomach. His chest heaved up and down as his hand fell to the side of his body, and he closed his eyes, swallowing hard.

Shit. Now he gotta clean up the mess he made. He already fucking showered, too.

“Really sorry about this whole thing,” your team member said your name as he walked by with a box filled with his things. There wasn’t an ounce of real emotion in his voice. You gave him a tight smile and nodded, continuing to pack away the last of your things.

This really was it, for now.

You couldn’t fight for the spot in the lab any longer. Someone had already reserved the spot, paid the down payment and secured it for the next six months. You’d have to start looking into another lab in the same building, or you’d have to find one off campus. Which was a long shot, as those ones would be much more expensive since you were still a student.

Thankfully, you didn’t have too much to bring with you. The perks about being a workaholic meant a lot of the work was already at home. A lot of the important stuff. This was just the loose odds and ends.

When you got home, you decided you would mope. Maybe call Leah. You still needed a debrief, after all. She wanted to know why the guy was an asshole, you wanted to know how her night with her date went, and you wanted to tell her you made some positive progress with Bucky.

Bucky.

Just the name alone sent delightful shivers down your spine. It’d been just over a day since you’d last seen him, but it felt like an eternity. You weren’t anything to each other. You couldn’t even say you were friends, technically. You had one, maybe two conversations? Then you made out. Dry humped a little bit. Then masturbated that same night to the thought of him.

You pushed the thoughts out of your head as you continued walking down the street. You were closer to home than you expected, and your phone was already buzzing in your pocket. Leah. You carefully balanced the box in one hand before answering.

“Hey,” you said.

“I’m at your door. Open up.”

“I’m not even home. Give me like, five minutes. I had to grab my stuff from the lab,” you sighed, shaking your head even though she couldn't see you.

“Hurry up or I’m letting myself in.”

Leah hung up abruptly. If it was anyone else, you would’ve thought she was pissed. No. This was just typical Leah behavior.

When you finally got to your door, she took the box from you to allow you to open your door with ease.

“You really need to move somewhere with a working elevator. Or move to the first floor,” Leah said, frowning. You could see beads of sweat on her forehead. “Coming to your place is a workout. I wouldn’t even go to the gym if I lived here.”

“I don’t go to the gym, Leah.”

“Exactly,” she scoffed, entering your apartment behind you. You both kicked your shoes off, putting them on the shoe rack and she placed the box by the door as well. You’d deal with the contents later.

Leah made herself comfortable in your place, as she always did. She grabbed a blanket off of the blanket ladder, dropped onto the couch after wrapping herself up like a burrito, and waited for you to join her. You let out a small scoff at the scene. She was sweating just a moment ago, and you were certain she was going to complain your apartment was too cold in a few more minutes. Rolling your eyes, you went to the kitchen first, grabbing some drinks and snacks for your debrief session.

“You first,” you told her as you started to choose what to bring over, and she grinned.

“He was good,” she said, sighing dreamily. “Smaller than I’d like, but he lasted a while. Almost came, but I got tired at the end, so I just faked it.”

You made a face as you pulled some chips out of the pantry. “That’s what you count as good?”

“For the first time? I haven’t trained him yet,” she said your name with a roll of her eyes. “We talked about going on another two-man, but I said you might not be interested. He said he’s not sure if Derek is down either— said he hasn’t been answering his texts.”

Ah. So his name was Derek. Interesting. You were very wrong the entire night.

“Well, Derek’s in jail, so it makes sense why he hasn’t texted back,” you said casually, bringing the cans of soda and chips over to the couch. Leah froze in her spot, staring at you with wide eyes as you made yourself comfortable. “You want to open the hot cheetos or the potato chips first?”

“Wait, back up. Derek’s in jail?!” Leah stressed, sitting up straight. The blanket slid off her shoulders now. “What the fuck!? You didn’t say that!”

“Didn’t seem like the thing you’d say over text,” you shrugged, deciding on opening the bag of Lays chips first. You crunched on a chip with a hum, then held the bag open towards her. She stared at you in disbelief before taking the bag to grab some chips, too.

“Tell me. Now,” she demanded. You hummed, cracking open the cold can of soda in front of you and she whined out your name, impatient.

“Okay, okay.” You sighed, taking a quick sip. “Long story short, he tried dragging me into an alleyway outside the club. Told me that I owed him since he was nice to me the entire night, and this sounds so fucking crazy, but Captain America showed up and arrested the guy. Heard me scream, walked me to the station and everything.”

Leah stared at you, in disbelief. You didn’t blame her. The story sounded crazy, not the fact that Derek was a piece of shit, but that the stars and stripes man with a plan came out of nowhere.

“You’re lying.”

“I have his business card, if you want proof,” you said, reaching for your purse. You’d transferred the card into your wallet, and easily produced it for her to see.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, eyes wide as she stared at the card. She examined it, like she could decipher whether or not it was fake. “So, you got home safe, right? I mean, obviously, but.. You know.”

“Um. Bucky actually brought me home,” you added.

“Your neighbor?!” Leah shrieked, slamming her hands onto the cushion. You nodded slowly in response, unsure of how much truth to tell her now.

Bucky clearly didn’t want people to know who he was. He went around the neighborhood with leather gloves on his hands to hide the metal, and he never gave anyone his last name. His hair was cut short, his beard was reduced to stubble. He was trying to remain lowkey.

You didn’t want to be the one to out him, especially to someone that didn’t know him at all. He didn’t even want you to know— you just happened to find out by accident. You couldn’t forget how he looked at that moment. The fear that was on his face. How vulnerable and small he was. You didn’t want to force him out in the open when he wasn’t ready for it.

As much as it pained you, you would lie to your best friend’s face. At least, not tell the full truth. Keeping Bucky’s anonymity was more important than some gossip. This went beyond the crush building within you. This was just basic respect. You knew he would do the same for you. He wouldn’t tell the world about your family, and why you ran away. You’d keep his secrets, too.

“He saw me walk out of the station,” you settled on. It wasn’t a lie. He did. “And offered me a ride home. On his motorcycle.”

“You bitch. You had to choose between Captain America and your hot neighbor. Which one?”

“My neighbor, obviously!” you exclaimed. “I already inconvenienced our country’s hero more than enough for one night, and Bucky was going home anyways— or well, we stopped to get food first. Then we ate a late dinner together. In his apartment.”

“In his apartment?” Leah pressed, a smile forming on her face as she leaned closer. “Did you fuck?”

“Leah!” you shouted, frowning at her. “I’m not like you. I don’t fuck right away.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“We did make out, though.”

“You bitch!” she shrieked, slapping your arm rapidly as she jumped in her seat. You could only laugh as she giggled. “Tell me! Tell me everything!”

“No way. I don’t kiss and tell.”

“I just told you that Eric didn’t make me cum!” she complained.

“That’s on you. Not me,” you said with a shrug, and Leah whined your name in response, tugging on your arm now. You could only smile, deny her wishes, and continue to snack on your chips and drink.

“Good kisser though?” Leah asked after a bit.

“You wouldn’t even imagine. Dibs, though. I vaguely remember you giving him bedroom eyes when he was at Izzy’s that night,” you said, raising an eyebrow at her.

She held up her hands in defeat. “Listen, I didn’t even know he was your neighbor. If I did, I wouldn’t even have said all that in front of him. Shit, if he wasn’t though, I think we would’ve ended our friendship fighting over him.”

“Yeah, right,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. You’d never let that happen. She wouldn’t either. Ending your friendship over a man? Disgusting.

“You really didn’t get handsy with each other though?” Leah pressed.

“I’ll kick you out into the street,” you threatened.

Eventually, she gave up and opened her own drink. The debrief was over, and now she was wondering if it was even worth it to see Eric again. Birds of a feather fly together, right? Leah wondered if Eric was like Derek, deep down. It left a sour taste in both of your mouths to think about it.

Having Leah here was a good distraction, too. You knew she wouldn’t say it outright, but she called out of work. She knew you needed her, that the day you moved out of your lab would be one of your toughest days. If you were alone, you were sure to have spiraled into your own mind.

Not even the thought of Bucky would be able to pull you out of the depression you could feel coming on.

So, she was here. Present. Sitting beside you on the couch, cuddled up to your side as you both watched some shitty romance movies, ordered take out for dinner, and fell asleep with your heads resting against each other’s.

You would deal with everything else another day. The research lab, your work, Bucky. All of it could wait. Right now, you were just thankful for your friend and her quiet support.

next chapter

taglist: @iyskgd

[sapphickorro]

Office Affair´ˎ˗

pairing(s) - Assistant!Natasha Romanoff x fem!CEO!Reader, brief Wanda Maximoff x fem!Reader

summary: Being the CEO isn’t easy especially if your competitors are trying to sway you over, luckily your assistant is there to ground you when your brain gets fogged by lust.   warnings: 18+ MDNI, cursing, dirty talk, workplace affairs, fingering (R receiving), oral sex (R receiving), Dom!Natasha, Sub!Reader, smut! word count: 2,360

A/N: This fic had been in my inbox for like months, sorryyyyy :3 

ao3 - masterlist

Running a company was never going to get easier. Waking up early, leaving work late. Phone calls every hour, board meetings every week. Your daily schedule was hectic. You were just lucky to have an assistant who helped you work through it all. 

Natasha Romanoff had been working as your assistant for a little under a year now. Originally being your secretary, you had given her a raise due to your prior assistant slacking on the job and not meeting your demands. Natasha seemed to be able to meet your demands far better than your previous assistant, even going as far as knowing what you need before you even ask for it from her. 

This morning, Natasha had just dropped off your coffee. She knew your order by heart now and was making sure to deliver your coffee at the same time every morning. 

“Is there anything else you need from me, Y/N?” After a while of her working for you, you went on a first name basis with each other. You always felt as if the formalities were too posh for you. 

“No, thank you Natasha. I’ve got a meeting today so I’ll be needing you to watch over the office for a bit while I’m in it.” You sigh, your fingers rubbing over your temples. 

Natasha opens her mouth to ask if she could help you destress but before she could, a knock echoes through your office. You look up, motioning for Natasha to answer the door. She doesn’t hesitate and twists the door handle revealing your secretary. 

“Good morning, Ms. Y/L/N. Wanda Maximoff has arrived for your 10am meeting,” your secretary says as she hands you a clipboard of notes for the meeting. 

“Thank you, can you bring her in here?” You ask and she nods, walking away from the doorway to gather Wanda for your meeting. 

“I trust you to make sure my files are given to Sharon?” You ask Natasha as you stand up, leading her to the doorway. Sharon was your CTO and you had some rather important files to deliver before the evening. Natasha delivers a simple nod before exiting the door, passing Wanda Maximoff on her way down the hallway that leads to your office. 

Wanda was adorned in a red suit, a smug smirk plastered over her lips. Her eyes glazed over Natasha’s for a mere second before looking back at what was in front of her. 

Wanda enters your office, you greet her as you stand by the door. Her hand shoots out to shake yours and you notice how soft yet cold her palms were. You usher her into your office, shutting the door behind her. She takes a seat at the edge of your desk, her eyes not being subtle in the way they rake over your sheer button up shirt and pencil skirt that had a slit at the right side. Your hair was in a bun with two strands falling down the sides of your face. 

“You’re a sight to see,” Wanda utters with a sultry tone in her voice, still holding her smirk as she meets your eyes again. Wanda was known to be a flirt, it was her strongest trait. 

“Well, I can say the same for you,” you respond, matching her vigor. You walk to the side of your office opening a mini fridge with a different assortment of drinks inside. 

“You want anything to drink?” You lean down to grab yourself a bottle of whiskey. 

“Drinking in the morning? How naughty,” you flinch as her hand comes over your back, she glides it down your lower half ever so slightly. Before her palm can reach your ass though, you quickly straighten your posture, standing up again. 

“Whiskey?” You ask, grabbing two glass cups from your shelf of glassware. You advert your gaze from hers as you’re sure you’d fumble over your words when you turn to look at her again. Wanda doesn’t miss the dark shade of rose adorning your face. 

“That’d be great Y/N,” you pour two glasses of whiskey before turning to walk behind your desk, taking a seat at your office chair. You place the two glasses down on the table, taking a sip out of yours and leaving a light lipstick mark over the rim. 

Wanda comes around to your desk to take a seat at the edge again, this time adjacently beside you. 

“Let’s talk business?” You ask, trying to maintain eye contact with her but failing. 

“I was thinking of buying your patent on your most recent project,” Wanda speaks with a confidence in her voice, it was as if her voice was trying to lure you in. 

“I don’t know if that’s feasible, Wanda,” you’re shocked at her preposition. Wanda’s company being a rival company to yours made it so you were always constantly trying to one up each other on newer and better inventions. You had never thought that she would downright attempt to buy the patent on your latest project to hinder your company. 

“Name a price sweetheart,” you pause, her nickname causing your brain to jumble up again. 

“I don’t know Wanda, we’ve been working on this for a while now and-” she cuts you off with her thumb running over your lower lip. 

“You had some lipstick smudged,” she says, staring at your lips. Your face flushes, with your breathing getting heavier. Wanda’s hand drops down to your chin, lifting it up so she can face it directly. 

“How can the enemy of my company look… This. Good,” your breath hitches at your throat as Wanda’s face slowly drops down towards yours. Her eyes staring at your lips. She starts leaning in, close enough to feel the soft warmth of her breath hit your lips. 

Wanda gets cut off by the door before she can capture your lips into hers. The two of you snap your head towards the door, seeing Natasha standing at the other side. 

“Sorry to interrupt, your meeting’s gotta get cut short as it seems that we’ve double booked Y/N for another meeting during this time. So sorry,” her voice feigns sorrow but Wanda could tell that her facade was fake. You quickly turn away from Wanda, your face getting impossibly hotter. 

Wanda stands up, taking a look at you before looking back up to Natasha. “Please hurry, Y/N urgently needs to get ready for her second meeting.” 

Natasha’s smile doesn’t meet her eyes. She has a staredown with Wanda, their fake politeness not being noticed by you. 

“I’m sorry Wanda, we can discuss this another time?” You finally gather yourself to stand up, leading her out the door. Wanda nods, not answering as her eyes squint in anger at Natasha. 

Once Wanda leaves, Natasha slams the door shut. 

“What the fuck was that?” She stares at your eyes. Your eyes widen staring back at hers. 

“What was what?” You answer defensively at Natasha’s vulgar demeanor. 

“You were just gonna let her fuck you?” Natasha walks towards you, causing you to back up with every step she takes until your back hits the edge of your desk. 

“Were you spying on me?” You ask with even more fervor. “No! I was gathering your files for Sharon before I saw Wanda practically about to slobber all over you. You DO realize that you have glass for walls on one side of your office.” She gets impossibly closer to you, her tall body casting a shadow over you. 

“I-I don’t know what that was,” your voice falters. Your eyes look down to her chest, finding it impossible now to maintain eye contact with her out of shame. 

Natasha steps back, sighing loudly as her hand rubs her eyelids before running through her short hair. 

For a CEO, you certainly don’t look like one right now. Your eyes look down at your fingers fiddling with each other. Your guilt cast over your face as you’re unsure what Natasha is going to say next. 

Natasha catches a sight of your shriveled up demeanor and goes to close the curtains on your windowed wall. She locks the door to your office before sauntering towards you. Her body looms over you once again, this time her hand goes under your chin to lift your gaze towards her. 

No words are shared as she leans in and catches your lips into hers. Your eyes shoot wide for only a moment before closing them to kiss Natasha back with just as much passion. Your hands wrap over her neck as her free hand goes to grip your waist. 

You whimper into the kiss, allowing Natasha an opening to slide her tongue into your mouth. She instantly invades every corner of your mouth with her tongue, her hands slowly drift down your body until it reaches the waistband of your skirt. She slips her fingers through and slowly slides down your skirt alongside your panties. 

Her hand comes to cup your cunt, a moan exiting your mouth at the contact. You both lean back to catch some air, your eyes staring into each other. Natasha’s eyes slowly drift down to her palm as she starts to circle around your opening with her middle finger. 

“Shit, you’re drenched, boss. Is this all for me?” She looks back up at your eyes, lifting her hand back to show her glistening fingers. You nod coyly, the heat on your face being shown through your cheeks. 

Natasha stuffs her slick fingers into your mouth watching as you obediently take them in, sucking them clean. She groans, “god you’re so good for me.” 

Her praise causes your clit to pulsate, yearning for touch. Natasha spares you choosing not to torture you any longer, she pulls her hands back to give you multiple pecks over your face before dropping down onto her knees. 

Your hands lean behind you to grip onto the edge of the desk as Natasha lifts your leg over her shoulder. She peppers your thighs with kisses in hopes of leaving a mark. You watch her intently, wanting to ingrain every image of this event into your head. 

When Natasha finally reaches the area that had been aching for so long, she gives one quick swipe of her tongue from the back to the front. A whimper exits your mouth, your hands grip onto the desk turning your knuckles white. 

Natasha’s eyes bore into your lidded ones, drinking in the way she made you turn into mush from just a swipe of her tongue. She dives back in with her tongue to circle around your clit. Your breaths come out labored and heavy from her ministrations. 

A moan elicits from Natasha’s mouth as she moves her tongue to your cunt, your wet liquids seeping out. Your attempts at containing your moans turn into broken sobs and whimpers. Natasha leans back before prodding her fingertip into your soaked entrance. She inserts one finger at first to tease you further, her finger curls inside of you as she slowly pumps it in and out at an agonizing pace. Her eyes are fixated on her glistening finger as she watches it disappear and reappear from your hole, a mesmerizing sight for her. 

You groan, “please, Natty.” She smirks as she looks back up at you, “does your greedy little hole want more?” 

You nod fervently down at her, your pussy clenching at her single digit in anticipation of more. 

“Of course a greedy slut like you wants more,” she feigns her disgust at you, beaming internally at how much she’s able to turn you on.  

“But, since I’m so nice,” Natasha says as she inserts a second finger, a moan escaping your mouth at her dexterity. Natasha leans back in to leave soft kitten licks over your clit.

You whine again ready to beg for her to speed up her thrusts but before you can, Natasha notices your need and starts pumping her fingers into you at an intensified speed. The tip of her fingers hitting your spot every moment she curls into you. Her mouth starts to lap over your pussy at a rapid pace. 

“N-Natty fuck!” Your head tilts back at the sensations overtaking your body. 

“You gonna cum for me, slut?” 

Your mouth opens as broken words fall out, “y-yes! Please, please, please - fuck!” Your hips start grinding on her fingers, wanting her impossibly deeper inside of you. 

“You think Maximoff can make you cum the way I do?” She asks with a growl in her voice. When you don’t answer her, far too lost in your pleasure, she slows down her pace, “Answer me!” 

You look back down at her, shaking your head as you answer, “No! Only you Natty, only you.” 

Natasha soaks in your words as she feels her ego being fed. “If that’s the case then, cum for me. Let go.” She moves her head back onto your clit, sucking on it. Her fingers get impossibly faster, hitting your insides so perfectly. 

Your mouth opens again, strings of curses followed with Natasha’s nickname falling out. “F-Fuck! Natty!” You yell out as you feel your orgasm snapping, a strong wave of pleasure encompassing your entire body. Natasha’s eyes look up at you to memorize every expression of your face as you cum. 

Natasha’s fingers slow down as she lets your ride out your orgasm, your breaths getting slower and lighter by the second. Your knuckles release their grasp on the edge of the desk as Natasha stands up to place a hand over your waist, holding you up in place as you fall limp in her arms. 

The hand with her digits inside of you slides out causing you to whimper at the emptied feeling. You open your eyes to catch her lifting the fingers into her mouth, sucking them clean causing you to clench your now emptied hole. 

Natasha groans with an exaggerated eyeroll at your taste, “fuck you taste good, sweetheart.” 

You giggle at her, your face red and damp with sweat. She smiles back at you as you lean in to start dropping kisses over her neck.

“Let me return the favor?” 

[jackattack20writes]

So having spent a couple days thinking about it and also before I get into it I do just wanna acknowledge how it’s entirely reasonable to take issue with how Lalah was presented in the latest episode of Gquuuuuux. But I do think that with the context of Gquuuuuux Lalah staying in the brothel is incredibly important for what Gquuuuuux is trying to say. So a common thread for all the OYW/Gundam 79 vets shown in Gquuuuuux is that they’re stuck in the war. They haven’t been able to move past it, Challia’s still searching for char, Gihren and Kycilia are both still in the wartime fear of assassination and weapons development emphasised by Xavier saying they haven’t even met since the OYW and Lalah has stuck herself in the brothel waiting for char to come save her.

And topping it off the assumedly char character seems to still be trying to kill the Zabi’s and they’ve all been searching for the rose of Sharon this entire time. But all of them have made this choice and I believe that Lalah in this episode, similarly to how Zeon and the brothel have been used, is intended to emphasise this point further.

Like Kycilia and Gihren have chosen to continue on researching new weapons of war and preparing for a civil war by choice, sure it’s the prisoner’s dilemma but it’s still their choice. Similarly Challia rather than trying to actually do something to kill the Zabi’s like he and char planned has spent the last decade and a half searching for Char. Same with Lalah, rather than escaping either with Machu or any time before that she’s waiting for Char to come save her. And this is important because so much of Nyaan, Shuji and Machu’s story has been about finding a place for themselves. And just like how Anqi and Xavier and Deux are the worst possibilities for them, Anqi a jaded woman who trusts no one and is willing to sell people out once they lose their usefulness, Xavier a soldier whose sold his ideals and personhood for alleged safety, and Deux a girl who sacrificied everything in the name of experiencing the Kira Kira, the veterans are similarly advisory tales.

Challia is the man who gives up everything he cares about in the fruitless search for someone he’s centred his whole life around, Gihren and Kycilia show the downfalls of plunging into the war machine for a purpose no matter how noble you think it is, and Lalah is similarly to Challia the consequence of tying your worth to someone else. All of which are possible ends at current for really only Nyaan and Machu but still relevant to my point. These are all people showing potential end points for the protagonists and yet also advisory stories about why they shouldn’t end up like that

Like last ep Xavier basically was just making a case to Nyaan about why she doesn’t want to stay with Zeon and would rather go back to her friends just like how in this ep Lalah while also being a big exposition dump was showing Machu that she was right in taking grasp of her destiny when she did with the Gundam. Because otherwise she’d be stuck suffering waiting for someone else to save her.

This sort of thing is also why I am extremely confident Nyaan and Machu aren’t being set up to be Charmuro 2.0, the show is putting so much effort into showing how badly these people have suffered because of their inability to find good places for themselves where they truly thrive I A. Don’t see the show saying that yes the place for NyaChu is the exact same place that two other adults that suffered greatly from the same generation inhabited 40 years ago and B. I think it’s far too bleak an answer for a show that I think is at its core one of positivity. Like firstly it’s kind of insane to make a show at least partially aimed at teens and say their place in life is to die in a toxic Yuri explosion but also I think that with the subtle parts of it’s portrayals for Nyaan and Machu the show is giving a lot of grace to the idea that teenagers are smart enough to figure it out if they’re given the space to figure it out. And so I doubt the ending at its core character-wise for Nyaan and Machu at the very least will be not much more complicated than the two of them finding the space to figure out who they are and moving beyond the failings of Zeon and the Federation.

Likely together and depending on Shuji’s state at the end with or without him, as a very direct contrast to Charmuro they’ll either move past the loss without blaming each other and just accepting that he’s gone and filling the space he’s left with each other. Or they’ll, like in ep 7, show that Shuji isn’t something that’ll come between them, their bond is ultimately stronger than both of them having feelings for the same boy (likely because they have the same feelings for each tier too.)

Although I do also have to say at the end of this that with only three episodes left it’s entirely possible that they just completely fail to actually deliver on tany of this and instead it devolves into some multiverse bullshit but I do think I’m at least accurate with my read on Lalah. Because while I’m only part way through Utena from what I’ve heard and read about it the victimising inherent to certain roles that’s discussed in that anime is very similar to what’s going on with Lalah in Gquuuuuux and that by seeing the visions of char and Amuro and the OYW she’s relegated herself to this role as someone to be saved and taken away her own agency and this is supposed to be a bad thing for her to do. Similarly to how Challia has lost himself in the search for the red comet and failed to achieve anything that he and char talked about doing.

[trans-ralsei]

losing at chess to a dog named magnus carlsen, gqux edition

spoilers under the cut

We have the running mystery as to who *is* the voice in the Red Gundam.

We know it isn't Char:

That's good, because he doesn't actually seem like he's done anything to get there (in the OYW segments we don't see him doing much with the alpha psycommu to do that newtype transcendency stuff, he's just using them to shoot people, same with challia and the zero psycommu)

So who the hell has been speaking to Shuji? One theory:

It's Sayla

this is the most obvious thing in the world in hindsight i guess because artesia deikun was in the white guncannon during the luna two fight.

if we go back to the beginning of the series — the red gundam was using a ball and chain as a weapon in ep2 - the same ball and chain that the white guncannon used.

(sidenote: the ball and chain was a standard weapon for the rx78, and it would make sense for GQuX's EFF to give it out as standard issue, says ryo)

also - if the psycommu wasn't responding to Char, who was it responding to? there's no other possible candidate other than the rose of sharon, which we do see in this brief frame:

and we also see her in the next episode preview, which means she's not yet in the kira kira. (we also hear her. a lot. in the entire series)

so does this mean we'll get incredible lalah and sayla yuri? maybe!!!

also, this line holds extra meaning when you consider that it's sayla who is looking for lalah

but who's on the other side on the kira kira?

we know that the newtype transcendence char experiences in luna two will probably be related to char's sister to some degree. but consider these four lines of dialogue:

it could be sayla still — it's implied that the two never interacted before this moment, because char doesn't know who the pilot of the white guncannon is when they first meet. remember, there's no strange obession with the white guncannon given that char never really spent time on earth in this AU

but i don't know if it's sayla for sure. it *could* be lalah, given that she escaped the zabi's labs at that moment. it could also be any other character, or char might have only said the first two lines in pure confusion.

one reason i think sayla's also on the other side of the kira kira is that

a) well first she's not corporeal enough to pilot the red gundam, hence shuji

2) but also, shiiko doesn't respond with hostility at the person on the other side of the kira kira:

however brief shiiko's arc is, this moment sort of implies that shiiko found some closure. her end wasn't as violent as suggested, but she'd found her old Mav and her comrades on the other side, which would suggest that Sayla is there on the other side of the light to welcome her.

what happens next?

to be honest, i'm not certain that lalah has met sayla in this universe. maybe they have! maybe lalah was key to unlocking sayla's newtype powers! maybe like in MSG origin sayla met lalah way before the OYW.

the fact that the two are searching for each other makes this the most potent yuri imaginable, and damn if the series isn't going to make this a whole parallel with machu and nyaan:

sayla meets lalah -> they have incredible yuri together -> zeon captures lalah, mirroring the scene where machu and nyaan were split -> sayla tries to get lalah back from granada and the EFF succeeds but she sees that the plan to crash luna two on granada is going to fail and tries to stop char, causing the zeknova -> the events of gqux begins

and then

machu goes to earth with the omega psycommu -> nyaan continues training with the gFreD -> machu meets lalah and machu talks about how the red gundam was trying to reach her -> the EFF get involved somehow -> there's a plan to get back at the zabis relating to yomagn'tho and the EFF gets involved -> machu is reunited with nyaan as nyaan tries to trigger another zeknova per kycilia's request -> the zeknova explodes on yomagn'tho, stopping it from being fired

what might make me completely and utterly wrong?

the kira kira can spit people back out.

this means we are going to lose at chess to this dog when shuji comes back to life and the love triangle is back on!!! fuccckkkkkkkk

and yes the kira kira does spit someone back out, as we see later in the episode with shirouzu.

but this also means that lalah could be the red gundam, though i think it's unlikely.

anyway i hope you enjoyed reading. i have not engaged in theory this much since steven universe. thank you

[deepseafoamdiver]

I'm just going to blast out some mystical thoughts here as I've seen people talking quite a bit about this stuff in AAA.

Like we have the "black heart" which has appeared in different contexts, seemingly pointed at Rio and Billy. Or Billy not drinking in the house when everyone in the coven was supposed to. Or whether Sharon counts as a member of the coven at all. Etc.

I think what is being missed here, comically, is that this is magic(with a k, if you like). It isn't science, despite what the early MCU tried to say, or even how the 'sorcery' of Doctor Strange has been systemitized to the point that he and his cohorts largely just shoot sparky lasers, and whip sparky laser whips, and open sparky laser holes. This isn't even D&D style spells, where the variety is there but it is still just an encyclopedia of effects a user can cause.

The "black heart" has no intrinsic meaning. Whatever it has(significance, power, purpose) comes from what is ascribed to it, both within the story and with the audience. When Lilia wrote it down, who did she mean? Assuming it was Billy, Agatha took it to mean Rio. Rio is a black heart that beats for Agatha, Billy's boyfriend texts him a black heart, Lilia writes a black heart. They are all true, one does not supersede the other.

Same with the exact nature of the coven. The coven is a group of women witches who band together. Our group bands together but also includes a non-witch and a man. But they are all part of the group and sing the song and walk the road and do the trials.

As Agatha said(in a derogatory manner, lol) in the latest episode, it is subjective. Magic is an art and a craft, not a science ruled by laws.

Lilia has the gift of prophecy and knew/knows/will know/has known of her own death since she first got her gift. Despite the predestination trap, she still chooses to flip that card and flip that Tower. It might seem paradoxical to say she has seen how she dies and yet she still has a choice in the matter but that is magic, baby.

Everything has meaning when it is given meaning, the Tarot means nothing until it means everything. Agatha has been a queer character long before she explicitly set herself apart from a "straight lady".

Rio is Death. She is a Black Heart who climbs out of the grave of Mrs. Hart. And yet she is a Green Witch whose name can be roughly translated to "River of Life".

Magic and mysticism is sea of floating signifiers, it is the magician's, the wizard's, the witch's job to find meaning by giving meaning.

[mariacallous]

It may have been straight after Megxit – when Meghan and Harry decided to “step back” from the royal family in 2020; or it may have been a year later, when Oprah Winfrey stepped in to clear things up in a long interview that made everyone in and around the history of British royalty – basically all of us, everywhere – sound quite bad. Either way, it was a while ago that I decided to have no further view on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Or were we supposed to change their address once they’d left: Commoner and Commonness of Sussex? Not my concern: as I said, no further view.

Called upon to pick a side in any given culture war, you always have to gloss over certain complexities and contradictions, and nowhere more so than in this one. Inconveniently, it’s possible for all the things to be true. It’s possible that there are racists in the royal household, and for Meghan Markle to have been rude to members of it. It’s possible that Prince William bullied Prince Harry remorselessly, while Harry himself, in a different context – a Spotify production meeting, for instance – is the difficult one. It’s possible, indeed observable, that the British tabloid media waged a crusade against Meghan, attacking everything from her comportment while pregnant (according to the Express, she used “sneaky tricks to flaunt her bump”) to the implications of her vegetable preferences (the Daily Mail memorably associated her, via the avocado, with human rights abuses, drought and murder). It’s true that much of the red-tops’ coverage was racist, and plausible – as Meghan and Harry argue convincingly in their 2022 Netflix documentary – that this unleashed a tide of white-supremacist bile on social media.

Yet it’s also true that Harry and Meghan occupy a difficult position, dependent on media attention and yet disgusted by it. They’re questing after a status in which they’re talked about all the time, but they get to control what’s said. The royals in aggregate discovered this wasn’t possible at least 500 years ago; celebrities, meanwhile, have less riding on their innate superiority and the dignity of their office, so seem to cope better with an unruly narrative.

It’s been a heady cocktail, in other words, the marriage of royalty and small-screen stardom, and the Sussexes have sometimes come out of it looking a bit askew, words such as “entitled” and “attention-seeking” clustering round them as pejoratives, when that is the kernel of their existence. Royalty is defined by entitlement. Celebrity is the logical endpoint of attention: it couldn’t exist if nobody sought it. Nevertheless, the hostility meted out to them has been wildly disproportionate and ideologically driven, if we can call amorphous anti-wokery anything as grand as an “ideology”. All the criticisms and smears launched against everyone, by anonymous and named sources everywhere, have a plausible ring, and the safest thing in such a circumstance is to stay out of it – but the muddier it looks, the more people are driven to investigate.

Last week, Vanity Fair landed a new chapter of truth-behind-the-facade, in which we learn that the couple are nearly divorced, but still desperately in love; that they are terrible neighbours, while at the same time (per Sharon Stone) brilliant neighbours; that they are tricky characters to work with, but from another angle, it doesn’t sound like trickiness. One former Spotify employee complained that they “didn’t do what celebrities do on podcasts, which is turn on the mic and talk. They wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas.” It’s actually fair enough: you don’t have to be Nietzsche before you can say, “I’d rather not just drone on about my breakfast routine.”

The fact is, media demonisation creates the demons it needs. It spurs the defensiveness that’s obnoxious to behold. It summons the witnesses it needs, whose supply – since they’re anonymous – is infinite. It is the attention economy that it then castigates people for trying to monetise. It’s kind of impressive, magical even, a mill that can create its own grist. But it doesn’t seem very fair.

[nerdgatehobbit]

Right after Robert leaves Sharon's bedroom, Rubberband Man (quickly reverting to his Stringer appearance via his powers) shows up to say goodbye to Sharon as he wants to leave town. Sharon counters that he could do the remaining few months so that he doesn't have to continually evade law enforcement. While her view can be viewed as naïve, Sharon isn't wrong that by leaving, Stringer would only be making any eventual consequences worse for himself, even if it's 'just' the increasing stress of waiting to be found out.

Stringer admits that he broke out because he received mistreatment in the prison due to his metahuman status. His line of "everyone's against you" might be implying that he faced challenges from both fellow inmates and prison staff. Though I'm wondering if he's holding back another reason for him to be singled out, or if the show hadn't thought of an upcoming plot thread at this point.

Yay, the landline's back in place! Ahem. Sharon calls her dad to get his help in figuring out a safer way for Stringer to turn himself in.

Robert is frazzled, to put it mildly, but agrees to help. Unfortunately, none of them are aware that Puff and Onyx have been eavesdropping in a van. Onyx says that they borrowed it, but I am concerned that Puff lied to him.

When Virgil and Richie show up unexpectedly, Rubberband Man turns into a vacuum because he and Sharon don't want to risk them calling the cops before Robert can set up the deal. Virgil tries to apologize but Sharon hastily leaves with the 'vacuum'. The two guys are bemused by this.

In the living room, Rubberband Man turns into a chair that Virgil sits in, which quickly results in Rubberband Man revealing himself. It probably would have helped if Sharon acknowledged that her help involved getting a peaceful turning in, but given Virgil's upset reaction I can get why she didn't go into detail before she was interrupted by the doorbell. A disguised Puff is there, and things rapidly get out of control as seen below.

I really hope Robert has excellent house insurance.

Amidst the climatic battle of "Bent Out of Shape", Sharon and Rubberband Man do have a cute moment about how she's his reason to be careful. This could rapidly turn into a concerning 'morality pet' situation depending on how the show handles their relationship, but it also isn't necessarily wrong to want to be better for someone as a starting point when someone doesn't see the point of being better for their own sake, which is where I suspect Stringer was. I'm also cutting him some slack because of what I know will be established about what his previous 'support network' was like and how that likely skewed his perspective on a lot of things. I was slightly tempted to use his 'real name' on this episode's posts, but I decided that'd be a bit too confusing as that hasn't been revealed yet either.

I do like how Static tricks Puff into destroying the support beams of some bleachers in order to defeat her. There's a reminder that Static and Rubberband Man still hold a grudge against each other before Sharon shows up, making them both agree to put it on 'pause' for the time being. Rubberband Man brings up digging out Puff and Onyx, with Static noting that's "how good guys do things".

The episode ends with Robert letting his kids know that Stringer will be going to a different prison and will be out in months if things go well. Again: this is a kids' show made in the early 2000s, I'm not expecting it to align with current perspectives.

[jamiesfootball]

helloo :)

for the fic ask: 1,4 and 30!

Thankyoooooou

the last sentence you wrote

The pamphlets were dead unsettling, with titles like How to Make Space for You and Escaping the Spiral: Habits of Addicts and the People Who Love Them.

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

For the 'therapy' square I have on my bingo card, I am considering finally tackling an idea I've had kicking around for a while

Post s3, Roy finds himself in therapy telling Dr Sharon about his best friend……George. George, who definitely isn’t Jamie, because for fucks sake he already talks about Jamie all the time

Then it turns out that it's easier to say nice things about George than it is Jamie.

Then Jamie finds out that Roy has a secret best friend named George and feels betrayed. He bets this George isn't even that great anyways. Is he even any good at football?

To which Roy, caught between a rock and a compliment, lies and says, "He's alright."

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

oh god, you're gonna get it (you have not been given love) is the big baby and the pinned post on my blog and I never rec it because it feels weird to hype something that's taking me so long to write, but I swear I'm making progress on it please believe me

From this ask game

[yeeclaw]

An imposter died in Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #281, not Catseye

A theory I would still believe if not for Necrosha and Krakoa

(A repost from 2015, with minor edits)

Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #281 (October 1991) credits three writers: John Byrne, Jim Lee, and Whilce Portacio. I don’t know which one is responsible for Sharon’s dialogue, but whoever it is wrote possibly the most out of character panel I have read of any character, ever.

This may be a niche topic, but I will elaborate nonetheless, because I feel that Uncanny 281 was written four years prior to my birth specifically to torment me, personally.

Here is Sharon's only dialogue in the issue:

Problem #1

Sharon actually likes the X-Men. Emma once noted “Moreover, she as yet neither comprehends nor accepts the distinctions between Hellion and Xavier’s New Mutants; she does not understand why those who are her personal friends must be her team’s foes.” Personal friends. That was Emma’s biggest concern with Sharon. It was kinda a big deal.

Problem #2:

Sharon doesn’t hold grudges. In New Mutants #39, Sharon ran to Rahne’s side after she woke from a night terror. In her panic, Rahne attacked Sharon, knocking her across the room. The conversation went like this:

Sharon: Whouu--Sneaky Redfur fast as me, maybe. Strong, too. Rahne: You’re na’ mad, then? Sharon: Feh! Never get mad, always get even.

But even after that, the worst thing she did to Rahne was startle her at a party. Even then, she didn’t seem to realize it would frighten her friend, because when asked why she did it, Sharon replied: “Say hello, funny way, big-laugh, yes?” then hugged her. "Both sides have been spoiling for a fight for too long!" is not like Sharon. Yes, she likes fighting, and she gets caught up in the moment, but premeditating a fight is not her thing, and -- problem #1 again -- she doesn't consider there to be two sides.

Problem #3:

Sharon doesn’t call people by their names. I don’t mean “in general, Sharon uses nicknames,” I mean that out of every single issue I’ve read (through March 21, 2015), Sharon has not once called someone by their given name, or called anyone outside of the Hellions by a code name (and even then, she only called Empath and Jetstream by their codenames one time each).

If you don’t believe me, here is every name Sharon has called someone by, at least in the issues I've found:

Girl Furperson

Redfur

Little Redfur Furperson

Small Redfur Friend

Sneaky Redfur

Intruder

Noisyboys

Sneaky Badboy

Empath

Mutant Magikchild

Maidy-lady

Jetstream

Pretty Hottop

Pretty Person

Wingboy

Missy

Heart-twister

Problem #4

Sharon doesn’t look like that. Now, Sharon’s appearance varies a lot in the few issues she’s in, but never does she resemble her depiction in UXM. The muscle structure, the posture, the ears, the I-really-hope-that’s-her-other-arm-and-not-a-muscle-boob...it just doesn’t look like her!

Problem #5

Sharon doesn’t talk like that.

Sharon doesn’t talk like that.

Sharon doesn’t talk like that.

Sharon doesn’t talk like that.

If you haven’t noticed yet, Sharon doesn’t talk like that

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk

Bonus -- some of the original tags:

#not to mention that this led into an unneccesary jean grey death plot #a 15 year old was murdered and the words 'poor jean' were actually spoken #and then they lamented jean's death while other hellions were still being murdered #probs why emma hates jean #nothing to do with scott - everything to do with her dead students

[theactsoftheapostles]

"Aeneas." From the Acts of the Apostles 9: 32-35.

We transition from Saul, who realized New York City was the place to be. The next Act called Peter in Lydda and Joppa picks up from there.

Peter= Self-realized:

"The most remarkable conjunction of these two words petra and petros is in the famous scene of Matthew 16:13-20. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus asks the disciples what they think of him. The men rattle off a list of heroes but only Peter submits that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. Jesus responds by saying that he couldn't have obtained that insight from any human teacher, or even have figured it out by himself, but that it was given to him by God."

Lydda=mother cities/father kings, a mother's breast, the father's interest.

Joppa=beautiful

The Number is 1544, י״הםד‎, yhamad. ‎The Hebrew root חמד (hamad) means to desire, covet, or find something precious. The name "Yhamad" (if that is the intended name) would likely derive from this root, and thus mean  "desired," "coveted," or "precious." In Arabic, a related root (hammd) means to praise or be praiseworthy, which is also how the name Muhammad is derived. 

The text also mentions another Act called Aeneas. Aeneas means "the source of that which is beautiful and also horrible."

Peter, a spectacular saint turns him from one into the other:

Peter in Lydda and Joppa

32 Peter traveled everywhere, and on one occasion he went to visit God's people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had not been able to get out of bed for eight years. 

34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ makes you well. Get up and make your bed.” At once Aeneas got up. 35 All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Peter addresses the bipolar disease present in Aeneas who could not achieve success in his bed, not even for eight years.

Not able to get out of bed for eight years=1738, יז‎לח, yazlah, "successful", "has drawn out God's Sporting Element." The opposite of this is to be "slight, slender, of little value, useless."

Jesus dealt with such paralysis in the Gospels as well, stating one can be within the Spirit and also the Self and yet not be too happy. This is what causes stiffness or paralysis. The cure is "to free the dov."

Success, then is not enough. The Values in Gematria are:

v. 32-33: Peter traveled everywhere. The Number is 13302, יג‎שב‎, yeg‎shev‎, "You will think."

Recall in the former frame God wants us think of the Torah and the Gospels as "food for thought." Now He says this is true of the secular world as well.

v. 34-35: People living in Lydda and Sharon saw him. Meaning, "They saw him in happiness body armor." There is no greater testimony to the power of the Gospels than one is truly happy. Not "happy in Christ" that is bullshittery, there is no such thing, but just plain happy. If one wants to be happy about Jesus, one should be absorbed with gladness that He appeared and told the world He would not stand down while any one of us was being oppressed. Fly and be free was His message. And look at all the kooks who claim to follow Him, how they act and what they claim to stand for. It's disturbing.

The Number is 10034, י'‎לד‎, yaled, "the native son"= quintessentially Jewish.

The final Gemara is י״הםדיז‎לחיג‎שבי'‎לד, yethediz‎lechig‎shvi‎led, "I am going to visit you."

"In Hebrew, the word for "visit", פקדה (pequdda) to generally describe a visitation, mustering, or inspection. Other related words include פקיד (paqid) for overseer or inspector, and פקדים (pequdim) for inventory."

Visiting is introspection, a way of learning what one does not know. The entire planet is flipping its lid over my method of Gemara but nothing contrary to the general welfare has emerged. More than a few apostates and liars have to be removed from power, and the Church Liturgy needs to be augmented, but all I have done is turn the lights up. The Good News using this method is better than ever, and better still, is each person now has a chance to understand the Magthorah personally and arrive at the same concrete knowledge of the God of Israel and His people.

As the frame says this means we must know the Torah and its traditions, but go out into the world and know these as well. Each nodule of wisdom we acquire add to the items on the shelf called the Self. Like Aeneas, we need to know which make us happy. These, we keep.

[cleverhottubmiracle]

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a small excuse to talk about Dance Moms.Included in today’s issue: Ami Colé, Bond No. 9, Cocokind, Colourpop, Dr. Althea, Dr. Dennis Gross, Evereden, Farmacy, Glow Recipe, Hard Candy, Homecourt, IPL, Isle of Paradise, Just B., Kaja, Katherine Daniels, Kulfi, Juliette Has a Gun, Maison Margiela, Nudestix, Phlur, Prequel, RéVive, Rhode Skin, Saltair, Sheglam, Tatcha, U Beauty, Urban Decay, V&Co. Beauty, Westman Atelier and the little velvet hat from Shakespeare in Love. But first… The Real Housewives isn’t the only place for stylish drama. It’s also happening in beauty boardrooms as companies get acquired or restructured, new creative directors are appointed and founders exit the brands they’ve built — and the teams who’ve helped build them. “It’s like getting a new step parent,” said C., a product developer at a recently restructured beauty brand. C. is talking to me anonymously because what she’s telling me isn’t great: Her label’s new leadership “hasn’t given us any goals or ground rules yet, so we’re just racing around being like, ‘Do they like me?’ I haven’t felt this anxious since I was an intern at a print magazine, and by the way, I left that industry because I wanted a more stable office!” The unease mirrors that at fashion brands where new creative directors take the helm, allegedly setting up secret (and fully staffed) studios before the atelier can even meet with their new boss. But studies show that “secure attachment” isn’t just a parenting theory. When employees feel safer at work, they make brands more cash, according to multiple studies. Is there a way that new CEOs and creative leads can make their new-but-old teams feel better about the transition in leadership? And what are the advantages to keeping “already there” teams engaged and employed, even if the brand they’re building needs to pivot? I didn’t know the answer, so I called someone who would. Her name is Cyndi Isgrig, and she’s the new CEO of Dime Beauty, the Utah-based, influencer-built line by Baylee and Ryan Relf. The married couple started their skincare and fragrance brand in 2018 using minimal fonts, frosted glass tubes and easy-to-explain plant botanicals to establish a premium spa-girl vibe. In 2022, Dime got a cash infusion from Trilantic Capital, which mostly invests in energy holdings and in 2025 — alongside healthy acquisition odds, at least according to Crunchbase — Isgrid assumed the corner office, beginning as full-time CEO in March. Like, three weeks ago.Isgrig has done this before, first by building Dermstore out of Target, and then as a founding member of The Board, the semi-secret consultancy and matchmaker brands and beauty whisperers. She also served as interim chief executive for three months at the prestige cosmetics company Uoma Beauty, after its founder Sharon Chuter stepped down. “What I learned [at The Board] was how critical talent is,” she said. “The talent you already have in place at a brand can’t be taken for granted.” That’s especially true at a voice-driven brand like Dime, which has built a vocal, engaged community through specific language and deliberate product design. Isgrig advises asking the teams that have built those channels about their best practices before making changes, even if big operational shifts are inevitable. “I like telling the team that they’re the expert on what they’ve already built, not you,” Isgrig said. To ensure a seamless transition, Isgrig began working with Dime as an advisor before she assumed her CEO title and embedded with multiple teams before officially beginning her tenure. “That way, when it’s time to get to the next level of growth, you’re doing it with the grain of the company and not against,” she said. When it was time to start making changes, Isgrig framed the mandate as a team challenge in the face of a new situation, rather than an implication they were previously in the wrong, taking a page from Harvard Business School’s Resilience playbook (it’s a literal playbook, and actually pretty good); coaching over criticism. To prep the brand for its Ulta launch — and its exposure to a totally new potential customer — Isgrig decided to fine tune the brand’s education strategy, working with the team to make its marketing as approachable as possible for an audience that didn’t yet know the brand. “A lot of skincare confuses the crap out of the customer,” she said. “There are so many vaguely-worded claims and a purposeful information overload, just to sound scientific and ‘official.’ But everyone on the team agrees that life is already pretty complicated!” she laughed. “So we talked about how to make education easier. How to lead with simplicity and authenticity.” Fittingly, Isgrig notes that Dime’s new brand directive — “lead with simplicity and authenticity” — is also a useful mandate for a big company transition, especially if you’re a CEO at the top: “Make people feel included and informed,” she said.That advice would go a long way at company’s like C.’s, where “stepmonster” CEOs are so quick to establish their authority, they lose trust and creative output in the process. “We started pretending to go out for ‘smoke breaks’ on days when we’re in the office, just to blow off steam,” she says. “Imagine being so desperate to talk about your boss that you start pretending you smoke in 2024.” To be sure, C. and her colleagues understand that their beauty company is facing a tough market and needs to make changes — and that they’re at work, where the only thing guaranteed is a paycheck, not a route to emotional fulfillment. Still, there’s ample data to back up Isgrig’s more inclusive way of leading, especially when employees need to be nimble, creative, and loyal in order to get their brand to a higher level. That’s not going to happen if they’re too busy dealing with a CEO who’s acting like Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap… even if they’re trying to build cosmetics aimed at recreating her villainous but undeniable glamour. What else is new…SkincareSaltair’s moisturising body mists got three new “flavours” — Golden Hour (coconut), Seascape (grapefruit) and Salt Water Vanilla — on March 13. They retail for $15 each and promise to make everyone in your sorority house super jealous.Tatcha released a “travel size” of its Silk Sunscreen SPF 50 on March 17, but there’s a glitch: The regular size is 1.7 fl, which is only half the TSA carry-on limit. Why make a mini when the OG can safely board a plane? Because a $25 tube is way more likely to be an impulse buy than a $64 one, and those Sephora aisle bins aren’t going to fill themselves. Tatcha is smart to take advantage of that retail space, too, because they know this particular formula is excellent. Once you buy it, you’re not going back. Be gentle? Please. Dr. Althea debuted a Grinding Cleansing Balm (Ow! But good ow?) on March 17 that uses jojoba and camelia extracts as grist, and brings to mind an apothecary’s mortar and pestle… but not his Shakespeare in Love hat. (Anybody? Anybody?)Farmacy’s Green Clean Cleansing Balm hit the Sephora App on March 17, with a “sorbet-like” texture that sounds far more fun than a balm-to-gel formula… which it is. RéVive spun off its Vitamin C Brightening Serum into a $195 eye cream that uses the same ingredients to address dark circles and fine lines. Let’s call it the Frasier of skin formulas.Attention, skin zappers! The IPL Foreo debuted on March 18. It looks like a pink ‘80s hair dryer but comes with super-strong light beams to singe body hair off, reportedly for good. It’s $800 and scares me.Dr. Dennis Gross introduced its “DermInfusions” eye cream on March 18 that claims to fix problems like “bunny lines” and “elevens” that I didn’t even know existed. This will likely make the $64 formula even more coveted — who wants to admit they didn’t know all the ways their own skin was betraying them? (Enter essay by a noted TikTok feminist here.)Do we want to look like the characters we hate? U Beauty is testing that theory with Michelle Monaghan, the very kind TV actress playing a very bitchy TV actress on The White Lotus. She’s the new face of the brand, with a March 18 campaign showing the 48-year-old stunner applying luxury lip gloss from that famous metal tube. Good news for people who still use topicals instead of Botox: The British facialist Katherine Daniels dropped her own bakuchiol cream on March 19. It’s also got babassu oil and shea butter for extra moisture, and retails for about $70.Prequel launched its Reactive Skin Solutions 5% Ectoin Cream on March 19. It comes in a metal French pharmacy tube that resembles Glossier’s very first Balm Dotcom, and does the thing where it lists the percentage of its active ingredient in the name. Perhaps this is The Ordinary’s true legacy — Naturium started doing it, too. Isle of Paradise introduced a $29 bottle of self-tanning drops on March 19. They’re meant to be mixed into your regular moisturiser, and come with a video where the subjects of Reddit’s NYC Influencer Snark thread appear to ask for tanning advice. MakeupBlurred lips > blurred lines. On January 30, the Rhode Skin founder launched Peptide Lip Shape, the $24 crayon that social media praised for its “blurring” effect, which made lips look fuller and lusher, but not more angular. Like most of Mrs. Bieber’s inventory, the products became instant hits, and on March 18, Hard Candy debuted its $8 Lip Blur crayon, which it proudly called a Rhode “dupe” in email blasts. Then on March 20, Cocokind unveiled its own $12 formula — Ceramide Lip Blur Balm — in five glossy shades. I’ve tried it; it’s lovely. Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush serum hit stores on March 13. It’s got a glob of shimmer in its buildable rosy formula and a surprise retail partner — Kohl’s — along with Sephora. Worth noting: The Fashion Law reported that the K-beauty brand is suing makeup brand Makeup By Mario for infringing on their “Watermelon Glow” trademark, which they claim they’ve spent $56 million building into a gotta-have-it concept. Makeup By Mario named a lip serum shade “Watermelon Glow,” alongside other fruity hues like “Cherry Glow” and “Strawberry Glow.” Just B. introduced a powder highlight called Champagne Pigment Glow on March 14. It’s aiming to capture “South Asian and medium skin tones” but since it’s a neutral gold metallic, the $18 compact should work for complexions across the spectrum.Adventure Time is one of the Cartoon Network’s most successful shows, with individual episodes luring in over 3 million viewers each. Either Sheglam knows that, or its product development team really likes zonking out on the couch. Either way, the Singapore makeup brand has paired with the animated show on seven cosmetics, including blush, highlighter, lip gloss and a makeup sponge shaped like the Earl of Lemongrab which… I mean… amazing. They dropped on March 17.Ami Colé wants a slam dunk. The brand unveiled a March-Madness style bracket on March 17 that lets shoppers vote on a new lip gloss shade, which Ami Colé will make this summer. Paid partnerships with Spelman, Howard, UCLA, USC, Columbia, and the University of Georgia will amplify the competition, along with content from college influencers. Kaja’s Beauty Bento compacts now come in gray-blue and dusty rose shades. The two hues hit Nordstrom.com and Macys.com on March 18 for $28 each, and though that seems expensive, the product is doing well enough to warrant a shade extension.Tubing mascara continues to dominate new release lists, likely because the formulas do a better job staying put. Kulfi’s Badi Lash version rolled out on March 20 with castor oil and rambutan, a fruit with neon green and red “hair” that’s related to the lychee. I’ve been testing it this week, and I’d say the lash effect is geared more towards definition than length, and the ultimate one to beat is still from Tarte. Too Faced launches a new mascara on March 21, and its also a tuber: Called the Ribbon Wrapped Lash Extreme Length Tubing Mascara, its a follow-up to Better Than Sex, which outsold every other mascara in the world in 2024, according to Circana. ColourPop’s Toy Story collab hit shelves on March 20, with Buzz Lightyear eyeshadow, Pizza Planet lip masks, and green mascara for Rex, the goofy plastic dino who’s so beloved, he has his own Toy Story supercut with 2.5 million views. (It’s worth it.) Someone check on Urban Decay’s product development department. On March 20, the brand dropped its 24/7 Glaze-On Eyeshadows, which look like molten metal and come with a screw-top applicator that could double as a fake nail on a Disney villainess. March 21 brought another eye launch, Naked Shadow Sticks, which are neutral-toned crayons that come in matte and shimmery formulas. The blush rush continues. Westman Atelier’s cheeky Duos debut on March 21, featuring contrasting shades of peach, pink and bronze for maximum “ohhh, pretty” comments. HaircareIf you grew up being scolded for your curly, “expensive” hair, V&Co. Beauty would like to help heal your inner child. The Minnesota-based brand debuted a curl-tested Moisture Collection on March 13, that costs $8 on its website — and $9 at Amazon, CVS, Target and Walmart. FragranceEvereden, a beauty brand geared toward Gens Z, Alpha and younger, released a trio of $23 body mists on Amazon on March 18. They’re geared to Gen Alpha and Gen-Z, have names like “Main Character Energy” and “Supernova” and claim to be safe for kids as young as 8. The brand also makes face cream for babies… maybe to use during a baby facial.The ultimate sign of gentrification: Your Brooklyn neighborhood gets its own luxury perfume. Bond No. 9, the fragrance house with scents inspired by Chinatown, the Upper East Side and the Hamptons, mixed a new juice for Greenpoint, the land of artisanal pizza and third-generation Polish dive bars, which launched on March 18. It smells like a $470 mix of pear, bergamot, and the ink you used to sign a lease for $800 a month in 2005. Does your laundry need its own fragrance oil? Homecourt is going for it. The brand co-founded by Courteney Cox and Dr. Sarah Jahnke debuted its first laundry collection on March 19 and it includes neroli, cedarwood and rose scented oil options. Dear readers, a vibe shift: The ultra-chic perfume junkies at Maison Francis Kurkdjian are getting cutesy. On March 18, the luxury label unveiled Kurky, a peach-raspberry fragrance with doodle-covered packaging and marketing assets that look like a comic book spread. The scent is $245 at Bloomingdale’s — still pretty adult — but the messaging is clear: Luxury fragrance is going younger and sweeter, and combined with Louis Vuitton’s dopamine-fueled Murakami relaunch, its sense of escape doesn’t include much room for irony. (Or sex, for that matter.) Juliette Has a Gun boasts a naughty name, but its latest fragrance — Miami Shake — is equally declawed, with a strawberry top note, notes of whipped cream and a pastel bottle featuring cotton candy shades of pink and blue. If you are in the market for a straight-up lust trigger, maybe try Phlur. Its BDSM-tinged Rose Whip perfume debuted on March 21 with a spank of pink peppercorn and black currant, plus nutmeg, musk and blacklight imagery that hints at a 50 Shades prequel.Maddie Ziegler has booked her first fragrance campaign! The tween dance prodigy turned credible actress is now the face of Maison Margiela’s perfume line, which is licensed through L’Oréal. Her first campaign drops March 21, and it’s for Never Ending Summer, the $165 perfume that smells like an Aperol Spritz. And finally…Sunscreen charms are happening at Revolve and Urban Outfitters. Prada Beauty — perhaps get on this. Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis. Source link

[norajworld]

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a small excuse to talk about Dance Moms.Included in today’s issue: Ami Colé, Bond No. 9, Cocokind, Colourpop, Dr. Althea, Dr. Dennis Gross, Evereden, Farmacy, Glow Recipe, Hard Candy, Homecourt, IPL, Isle of Paradise, Just B., Kaja, Katherine Daniels, Kulfi, Juliette Has a Gun, Maison Margiela, Nudestix, Phlur, Prequel, RéVive, Rhode Skin, Saltair, Sheglam, Tatcha, U Beauty, Urban Decay, V&Co. Beauty, Westman Atelier and the little velvet hat from Shakespeare in Love. But first… The Real Housewives isn’t the only place for stylish drama. It’s also happening in beauty boardrooms as companies get acquired or restructured, new creative directors are appointed and founders exit the brands they’ve built — and the teams who’ve helped build them. “It’s like getting a new step parent,” said C., a product developer at a recently restructured beauty brand. C. is talking to me anonymously because what she’s telling me isn’t great: Her label’s new leadership “hasn’t given us any goals or ground rules yet, so we’re just racing around being like, ‘Do they like me?’ I haven’t felt this anxious since I was an intern at a print magazine, and by the way, I left that industry because I wanted a more stable office!” The unease mirrors that at fashion brands where new creative directors take the helm, allegedly setting up secret (and fully staffed) studios before the atelier can even meet with their new boss. But studies show that “secure attachment” isn’t just a parenting theory. When employees feel safer at work, they make brands more cash, according to multiple studies. Is there a way that new CEOs and creative leads can make their new-but-old teams feel better about the transition in leadership? And what are the advantages to keeping “already there” teams engaged and employed, even if the brand they’re building needs to pivot? I didn’t know the answer, so I called someone who would. Her name is Cyndi Isgrig, and she’s the new CEO of Dime Beauty, the Utah-based, influencer-built line by Baylee and Ryan Relf. The married couple started their skincare and fragrance brand in 2018 using minimal fonts, frosted glass tubes and easy-to-explain plant botanicals to establish a premium spa-girl vibe. In 2022, Dime got a cash infusion from Trilantic Capital, which mostly invests in energy holdings and in 2025 — alongside healthy acquisition odds, at least according to Crunchbase — Isgrid assumed the corner office, beginning as full-time CEO in March. Like, three weeks ago.Isgrig has done this before, first by building Dermstore out of Target, and then as a founding member of The Board, the semi-secret consultancy and matchmaker brands and beauty whisperers. She also served as interim chief executive for three months at the prestige cosmetics company Uoma Beauty, after its founder Sharon Chuter stepped down. “What I learned [at The Board] was how critical talent is,” she said. “The talent you already have in place at a brand can’t be taken for granted.” That’s especially true at a voice-driven brand like Dime, which has built a vocal, engaged community through specific language and deliberate product design. Isgrig advises asking the teams that have built those channels about their best practices before making changes, even if big operational shifts are inevitable. “I like telling the team that they’re the expert on what they’ve already built, not you,” Isgrig said. To ensure a seamless transition, Isgrig began working with Dime as an advisor before she assumed her CEO title and embedded with multiple teams before officially beginning her tenure. “That way, when it’s time to get to the next level of growth, you’re doing it with the grain of the company and not against,” she said. When it was time to start making changes, Isgrig framed the mandate as a team challenge in the face of a new situation, rather than an implication they were previously in the wrong, taking a page from Harvard Business School’s Resilience playbook (it’s a literal playbook, and actually pretty good); coaching over criticism. To prep the brand for its Ulta launch — and its exposure to a totally new potential customer — Isgrig decided to fine tune the brand’s education strategy, working with the team to make its marketing as approachable as possible for an audience that didn’t yet know the brand. “A lot of skincare confuses the crap out of the customer,” she said. “There are so many vaguely-worded claims and a purposeful information overload, just to sound scientific and ‘official.’ But everyone on the team agrees that life is already pretty complicated!” she laughed. “So we talked about how to make education easier. How to lead with simplicity and authenticity.” Fittingly, Isgrig notes that Dime’s new brand directive — “lead with simplicity and authenticity” — is also a useful mandate for a big company transition, especially if you’re a CEO at the top: “Make people feel included and informed,” she said.That advice would go a long way at company’s like C.’s, where “stepmonster” CEOs are so quick to establish their authority, they lose trust and creative output in the process. “We started pretending to go out for ‘smoke breaks’ on days when we’re in the office, just to blow off steam,” she says. “Imagine being so desperate to talk about your boss that you start pretending you smoke in 2024.” To be sure, C. and her colleagues understand that their beauty company is facing a tough market and needs to make changes — and that they’re at work, where the only thing guaranteed is a paycheck, not a route to emotional fulfillment. Still, there’s ample data to back up Isgrig’s more inclusive way of leading, especially when employees need to be nimble, creative, and loyal in order to get their brand to a higher level. That’s not going to happen if they’re too busy dealing with a CEO who’s acting like Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap… even if they’re trying to build cosmetics aimed at recreating her villainous but undeniable glamour. What else is new…SkincareSaltair’s moisturising body mists got three new “flavours” — Golden Hour (coconut), Seascape (grapefruit) and Salt Water Vanilla — on March 13. They retail for $15 each and promise to make everyone in your sorority house super jealous.Tatcha released a “travel size” of its Silk Sunscreen SPF 50 on March 17, but there’s a glitch: The regular size is 1.7 fl, which is only half the TSA carry-on limit. Why make a mini when the OG can safely board a plane? Because a $25 tube is way more likely to be an impulse buy than a $64 one, and those Sephora aisle bins aren’t going to fill themselves. Tatcha is smart to take advantage of that retail space, too, because they know this particular formula is excellent. Once you buy it, you’re not going back. Be gentle? Please. Dr. Althea debuted a Grinding Cleansing Balm (Ow! But good ow?) on March 17 that uses jojoba and camelia extracts as grist, and brings to mind an apothecary’s mortar and pestle… but not his Shakespeare in Love hat. (Anybody? Anybody?)Farmacy’s Green Clean Cleansing Balm hit the Sephora App on March 17, with a “sorbet-like” texture that sounds far more fun than a balm-to-gel formula… which it is. RéVive spun off its Vitamin C Brightening Serum into a $195 eye cream that uses the same ingredients to address dark circles and fine lines. Let’s call it the Frasier of skin formulas.Attention, skin zappers! The IPL Foreo debuted on March 18. It looks like a pink ‘80s hair dryer but comes with super-strong light beams to singe body hair off, reportedly for good. It’s $800 and scares me.Dr. Dennis Gross introduced its “DermInfusions” eye cream on March 18 that claims to fix problems like “bunny lines” and “elevens” that I didn’t even know existed. This will likely make the $64 formula even more coveted — who wants to admit they didn’t know all the ways their own skin was betraying them? (Enter essay by a noted TikTok feminist here.)Do we want to look like the characters we hate? U Beauty is testing that theory with Michelle Monaghan, the very kind TV actress playing a very bitchy TV actress on The White Lotus. She’s the new face of the brand, with a March 18 campaign showing the 48-year-old stunner applying luxury lip gloss from that famous metal tube. Good news for people who still use topicals instead of Botox: The British facialist Katherine Daniels dropped her own bakuchiol cream on March 19. It’s also got babassu oil and shea butter for extra moisture, and retails for about $70.Prequel launched its Reactive Skin Solutions 5% Ectoin Cream on March 19. It comes in a metal French pharmacy tube that resembles Glossier’s very first Balm Dotcom, and does the thing where it lists the percentage of its active ingredient in the name. Perhaps this is The Ordinary’s true legacy — Naturium started doing it, too. Isle of Paradise introduced a $29 bottle of self-tanning drops on March 19. They’re meant to be mixed into your regular moisturiser, and come with a video where the subjects of Reddit’s NYC Influencer Snark thread appear to ask for tanning advice. MakeupBlurred lips > blurred lines. On January 30, the Rhode Skin founder launched Peptide Lip Shape, the $24 crayon that social media praised for its “blurring” effect, which made lips look fuller and lusher, but not more angular. Like most of Mrs. Bieber’s inventory, the products became instant hits, and on March 18, Hard Candy debuted its $8 Lip Blur crayon, which it proudly called a Rhode “dupe” in email blasts. Then on March 20, Cocokind unveiled its own $12 formula — Ceramide Lip Blur Balm — in five glossy shades. I’ve tried it; it’s lovely. Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush serum hit stores on March 13. It’s got a glob of shimmer in its buildable rosy formula and a surprise retail partner — Kohl’s — along with Sephora. Worth noting: The Fashion Law reported that the K-beauty brand is suing makeup brand Makeup By Mario for infringing on their “Watermelon Glow” trademark, which they claim they’ve spent $56 million building into a gotta-have-it concept. Makeup By Mario named a lip serum shade “Watermelon Glow,” alongside other fruity hues like “Cherry Glow” and “Strawberry Glow.” Just B. introduced a powder highlight called Champagne Pigment Glow on March 14. It’s aiming to capture “South Asian and medium skin tones” but since it’s a neutral gold metallic, the $18 compact should work for complexions across the spectrum.Adventure Time is one of the Cartoon Network’s most successful shows, with individual episodes luring in over 3 million viewers each. Either Sheglam knows that, or its product development team really likes zonking out on the couch. Either way, the Singapore makeup brand has paired with the animated show on seven cosmetics, including blush, highlighter, lip gloss and a makeup sponge shaped like the Earl of Lemongrab which… I mean… amazing. They dropped on March 17.Ami Colé wants a slam dunk. The brand unveiled a March-Madness style bracket on March 17 that lets shoppers vote on a new lip gloss shade, which Ami Colé will make this summer. Paid partnerships with Spelman, Howard, UCLA, USC, Columbia, and the University of Georgia will amplify the competition, along with content from college influencers. Kaja’s Beauty Bento compacts now come in gray-blue and dusty rose shades. The two hues hit Nordstrom.com and Macys.com on March 18 for $28 each, and though that seems expensive, the product is doing well enough to warrant a shade extension.Tubing mascara continues to dominate new release lists, likely because the formulas do a better job staying put. Kulfi’s Badi Lash version rolled out on March 20 with castor oil and rambutan, a fruit with neon green and red “hair” that’s related to the lychee. I’ve been testing it this week, and I’d say the lash effect is geared more towards definition than length, and the ultimate one to beat is still from Tarte. Too Faced launches a new mascara on March 21, and its also a tuber: Called the Ribbon Wrapped Lash Extreme Length Tubing Mascara, its a follow-up to Better Than Sex, which outsold every other mascara in the world in 2024, according to Circana. ColourPop’s Toy Story collab hit shelves on March 20, with Buzz Lightyear eyeshadow, Pizza Planet lip masks, and green mascara for Rex, the goofy plastic dino who’s so beloved, he has his own Toy Story supercut with 2.5 million views. (It’s worth it.) Someone check on Urban Decay’s product development department. On March 20, the brand dropped its 24/7 Glaze-On Eyeshadows, which look like molten metal and come with a screw-top applicator that could double as a fake nail on a Disney villainess. March 21 brought another eye launch, Naked Shadow Sticks, which are neutral-toned crayons that come in matte and shimmery formulas. The blush rush continues. Westman Atelier’s cheeky Duos debut on March 21, featuring contrasting shades of peach, pink and bronze for maximum “ohhh, pretty” comments. HaircareIf you grew up being scolded for your curly, “expensive” hair, V&Co. Beauty would like to help heal your inner child. The Minnesota-based brand debuted a curl-tested Moisture Collection on March 13, that costs $8 on its website — and $9 at Amazon, CVS, Target and Walmart. FragranceEvereden, a beauty brand geared toward Gens Z, Alpha and younger, released a trio of $23 body mists on Amazon on March 18. They’re geared to Gen Alpha and Gen-Z, have names like “Main Character Energy” and “Supernova” and claim to be safe for kids as young as 8. The brand also makes face cream for babies… maybe to use during a baby facial.The ultimate sign of gentrification: Your Brooklyn neighborhood gets its own luxury perfume. Bond No. 9, the fragrance house with scents inspired by Chinatown, the Upper East Side and the Hamptons, mixed a new juice for Greenpoint, the land of artisanal pizza and third-generation Polish dive bars, which launched on March 18. It smells like a $470 mix of pear, bergamot, and the ink you used to sign a lease for $800 a month in 2005. Does your laundry need its own fragrance oil? Homecourt is going for it. The brand co-founded by Courteney Cox and Dr. Sarah Jahnke debuted its first laundry collection on March 19 and it includes neroli, cedarwood and rose scented oil options. Dear readers, a vibe shift: The ultra-chic perfume junkies at Maison Francis Kurkdjian are getting cutesy. On March 18, the luxury label unveiled Kurky, a peach-raspberry fragrance with doodle-covered packaging and marketing assets that look like a comic book spread. The scent is $245 at Bloomingdale’s — still pretty adult — but the messaging is clear: Luxury fragrance is going younger and sweeter, and combined with Louis Vuitton’s dopamine-fueled Murakami relaunch, its sense of escape doesn’t include much room for irony. (Or sex, for that matter.) Juliette Has a Gun boasts a naughty name, but its latest fragrance — Miami Shake — is equally declawed, with a strawberry top note, notes of whipped cream and a pastel bottle featuring cotton candy shades of pink and blue. If you are in the market for a straight-up lust trigger, maybe try Phlur. Its BDSM-tinged Rose Whip perfume debuted on March 21 with a spank of pink peppercorn and black currant, plus nutmeg, musk and blacklight imagery that hints at a 50 Shades prequel.Maddie Ziegler has booked her first fragrance campaign! The tween dance prodigy turned credible actress is now the face of Maison Margiela’s perfume line, which is licensed through L’Oréal. Her first campaign drops March 21, and it’s for Never Ending Summer, the $165 perfume that smells like an Aperol Spritz. And finally…Sunscreen charms are happening at Revolve and Urban Outfitters. Prada Beauty — perhaps get on this. Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis. Source link

[chilimili212]

Welcome back to Haul of Fame, your must-read beauty roundup for new products, new ideas and a small excuse to talk about Dance Moms.Included in today’s issue: Ami Colé, Bond No. 9, Cocokind, Colourpop, Dr. Althea, Dr. Dennis Gross, Evereden, Farmacy, Glow Recipe, Hard Candy, Homecourt, IPL, Isle of Paradise, Just B., Kaja, Katherine Daniels, Kulfi, Juliette Has a Gun, Maison Margiela, Nudestix, Phlur, Prequel, RéVive, Rhode Skin, Saltair, Sheglam, Tatcha, U Beauty, Urban Decay, V&Co. Beauty, Westman Atelier and the little velvet hat from Shakespeare in Love. But first… The Real Housewives isn’t the only place for stylish drama. It’s also happening in beauty boardrooms as companies get acquired or restructured, new creative directors are appointed and founders exit the brands they’ve built — and the teams who’ve helped build them. “It’s like getting a new step parent,” said C., a product developer at a recently restructured beauty brand. C. is talking to me anonymously because what she’s telling me isn’t great: Her label’s new leadership “hasn’t given us any goals or ground rules yet, so we’re just racing around being like, ‘Do they like me?’ I haven’t felt this anxious since I was an intern at a print magazine, and by the way, I left that industry because I wanted a more stable office!” The unease mirrors that at fashion brands where new creative directors take the helm, allegedly setting up secret (and fully staffed) studios before the atelier can even meet with their new boss. But studies show that “secure attachment” isn’t just a parenting theory. When employees feel safer at work, they make brands more cash, according to multiple studies. Is there a way that new CEOs and creative leads can make their new-but-old teams feel better about the transition in leadership? And what are the advantages to keeping “already there” teams engaged and employed, even if the brand they’re building needs to pivot? I didn’t know the answer, so I called someone who would. Her name is Cyndi Isgrig, and she’s the new CEO of Dime Beauty, the Utah-based, influencer-built line by Baylee and Ryan Relf. The married couple started their skincare and fragrance brand in 2018 using minimal fonts, frosted glass tubes and easy-to-explain plant botanicals to establish a premium spa-girl vibe. In 2022, Dime got a cash infusion from Trilantic Capital, which mostly invests in energy holdings and in 2025 — alongside healthy acquisition odds, at least according to Crunchbase — Isgrid assumed the corner office, beginning as full-time CEO in March. Like, three weeks ago.Isgrig has done this before, first by building Dermstore out of Target, and then as a founding member of The Board, the semi-secret consultancy and matchmaker brands and beauty whisperers. She also served as interim chief executive for three months at the prestige cosmetics company Uoma Beauty, after its founder Sharon Chuter stepped down. “What I learned [at The Board] was how critical talent is,” she said. “The talent you already have in place at a brand can’t be taken for granted.” That’s especially true at a voice-driven brand like Dime, which has built a vocal, engaged community through specific language and deliberate product design. Isgrig advises asking the teams that have built those channels about their best practices before making changes, even if big operational shifts are inevitable. “I like telling the team that they’re the expert on what they’ve already built, not you,” Isgrig said. To ensure a seamless transition, Isgrig began working with Dime as an advisor before she assumed her CEO title and embedded with multiple teams before officially beginning her tenure. “That way, when it’s time to get to the next level of growth, you’re doing it with the grain of the company and not against,” she said. When it was time to start making changes, Isgrig framed the mandate as a team challenge in the face of a new situation, rather than an implication they were previously in the wrong, taking a page from Harvard Business School’s Resilience playbook (it’s a literal playbook, and actually pretty good); coaching over criticism. To prep the brand for its Ulta launch — and its exposure to a totally new potential customer — Isgrig decided to fine tune the brand’s education strategy, working with the team to make its marketing as approachable as possible for an audience that didn’t yet know the brand. “A lot of skincare confuses the crap out of the customer,” she said. “There are so many vaguely-worded claims and a purposeful information overload, just to sound scientific and ‘official.’ But everyone on the team agrees that life is already pretty complicated!” she laughed. “So we talked about how to make education easier. How to lead with simplicity and authenticity.” Fittingly, Isgrig notes that Dime’s new brand directive — “lead with simplicity and authenticity” — is also a useful mandate for a big company transition, especially if you’re a CEO at the top: “Make people feel included and informed,” she said.That advice would go a long way at company’s like C.’s, where “stepmonster” CEOs are so quick to establish their authority, they lose trust and creative output in the process. “We started pretending to go out for ‘smoke breaks’ on days when we’re in the office, just to blow off steam,” she says. “Imagine being so desperate to talk about your boss that you start pretending you smoke in 2024.” To be sure, C. and her colleagues understand that their beauty company is facing a tough market and needs to make changes — and that they’re at work, where the only thing guaranteed is a paycheck, not a route to emotional fulfillment. Still, there’s ample data to back up Isgrig’s more inclusive way of leading, especially when employees need to be nimble, creative, and loyal in order to get their brand to a higher level. That’s not going to happen if they’re too busy dealing with a CEO who’s acting like Meredith Blake from The Parent Trap… even if they’re trying to build cosmetics aimed at recreating her villainous but undeniable glamour. What else is new…SkincareSaltair’s moisturising body mists got three new “flavours” — Golden Hour (coconut), Seascape (grapefruit) and Salt Water Vanilla — on March 13. They retail for $15 each and promise to make everyone in your sorority house super jealous.Tatcha released a “travel size” of its Silk Sunscreen SPF 50 on March 17, but there’s a glitch: The regular size is 1.7 fl, which is only half the TSA carry-on limit. Why make a mini when the OG can safely board a plane? Because a $25 tube is way more likely to be an impulse buy than a $64 one, and those Sephora aisle bins aren’t going to fill themselves. Tatcha is smart to take advantage of that retail space, too, because they know this particular formula is excellent. Once you buy it, you’re not going back. Be gentle? Please. Dr. Althea debuted a Grinding Cleansing Balm (Ow! But good ow?) on March 17 that uses jojoba and camelia extracts as grist, and brings to mind an apothecary’s mortar and pestle… but not his Shakespeare in Love hat. (Anybody? Anybody?)Farmacy’s Green Clean Cleansing Balm hit the Sephora App on March 17, with a “sorbet-like” texture that sounds far more fun than a balm-to-gel formula… which it is. RéVive spun off its Vitamin C Brightening Serum into a $195 eye cream that uses the same ingredients to address dark circles and fine lines. Let’s call it the Frasier of skin formulas.Attention, skin zappers! The IPL Foreo debuted on March 18. It looks like a pink ‘80s hair dryer but comes with super-strong light beams to singe body hair off, reportedly for good. It’s $800 and scares me.Dr. Dennis Gross introduced its “DermInfusions” eye cream on March 18 that claims to fix problems like “bunny lines” and “elevens” that I didn’t even know existed. This will likely make the $64 formula even more coveted — who wants to admit they didn’t know all the ways their own skin was betraying them? (Enter essay by a noted TikTok feminist here.)Do we want to look like the characters we hate? U Beauty is testing that theory with Michelle Monaghan, the very kind TV actress playing a very bitchy TV actress on The White Lotus. She’s the new face of the brand, with a March 18 campaign showing the 48-year-old stunner applying luxury lip gloss from that famous metal tube. Good news for people who still use topicals instead of Botox: The British facialist Katherine Daniels dropped her own bakuchiol cream on March 19. It’s also got babassu oil and shea butter for extra moisture, and retails for about $70.Prequel launched its Reactive Skin Solutions 5% Ectoin Cream on March 19. It comes in a metal French pharmacy tube that resembles Glossier’s very first Balm Dotcom, and does the thing where it lists the percentage of its active ingredient in the name. Perhaps this is The Ordinary’s true legacy — Naturium started doing it, too. Isle of Paradise introduced a $29 bottle of self-tanning drops on March 19. They’re meant to be mixed into your regular moisturiser, and come with a video where the subjects of Reddit’s NYC Influencer Snark thread appear to ask for tanning advice. MakeupBlurred lips > blurred lines. On January 30, the Rhode Skin founder launched Peptide Lip Shape, the $24 crayon that social media praised for its “blurring” effect, which made lips look fuller and lusher, but not more angular. Like most of Mrs. Bieber’s inventory, the products became instant hits, and on March 18, Hard Candy debuted its $8 Lip Blur crayon, which it proudly called a Rhode “dupe” in email blasts. Then on March 20, Cocokind unveiled its own $12 formula — Ceramide Lip Blur Balm — in five glossy shades. I’ve tried it; it’s lovely. Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush serum hit stores on March 13. It’s got a glob of shimmer in its buildable rosy formula and a surprise retail partner — Kohl’s — along with Sephora. Worth noting: The Fashion Law reported that the K-beauty brand is suing makeup brand Makeup By Mario for infringing on their “Watermelon Glow” trademark, which they claim they’ve spent $56 million building into a gotta-have-it concept. Makeup By Mario named a lip serum shade “Watermelon Glow,” alongside other fruity hues like “Cherry Glow” and “Strawberry Glow.” Just B. introduced a powder highlight called Champagne Pigment Glow on March 14. It’s aiming to capture “South Asian and medium skin tones” but since it’s a neutral gold metallic, the $18 compact should work for complexions across the spectrum.Adventure Time is one of the Cartoon Network’s most successful shows, with individual episodes luring in over 3 million viewers each. Either Sheglam knows that, or its product development team really likes zonking out on the couch. Either way, the Singapore makeup brand has paired with the animated show on seven cosmetics, including blush, highlighter, lip gloss and a makeup sponge shaped like the Earl of Lemongrab which… I mean… amazing. They dropped on March 17.Ami Colé wants a slam dunk. The brand unveiled a March-Madness style bracket on March 17 that lets shoppers vote on a new lip gloss shade, which Ami Colé will make this summer. Paid partnerships with Spelman, Howard, UCLA, USC, Columbia, and the University of Georgia will amplify the competition, along with content from college influencers. Kaja’s Beauty Bento compacts now come in gray-blue and dusty rose shades. The two hues hit Nordstrom.com and Macys.com on March 18 for $28 each, and though that seems expensive, the product is doing well enough to warrant a shade extension.Tubing mascara continues to dominate new release lists, likely because the formulas do a better job staying put. Kulfi’s Badi Lash version rolled out on March 20 with castor oil and rambutan, a fruit with neon green and red “hair” that’s related to the lychee. I’ve been testing it this week, and I’d say the lash effect is geared more towards definition than length, and the ultimate one to beat is still from Tarte. Too Faced launches a new mascara on March 21, and its also a tuber: Called the Ribbon Wrapped Lash Extreme Length Tubing Mascara, its a follow-up to Better Than Sex, which outsold every other mascara in the world in 2024, according to Circana. ColourPop’s Toy Story collab hit shelves on March 20, with Buzz Lightyear eyeshadow, Pizza Planet lip masks, and green mascara for Rex, the goofy plastic dino who’s so beloved, he has his own Toy Story supercut with 2.5 million views. (It’s worth it.) Someone check on Urban Decay’s product development department. On March 20, the brand dropped its 24/7 Glaze-On Eyeshadows, which look like molten metal and come with a screw-top applicator that could double as a fake nail on a Disney villainess. March 21 brought another eye launch, Naked Shadow Sticks, which are neutral-toned crayons that come in matte and shimmery formulas. The blush rush continues. Westman Atelier’s cheeky Duos debut on March 21, featuring contrasting shades of peach, pink and bronze for maximum “ohhh, pretty” comments. HaircareIf you grew up being scolded for your curly, “expensive” hair, V&Co. Beauty would like to help heal your inner child. The Minnesota-based brand debuted a curl-tested Moisture Collection on March 13, that costs $8 on its website — and $9 at Amazon, CVS, Target and Walmart. FragranceEvereden, a beauty brand geared toward Gens Z, Alpha and younger, released a trio of $23 body mists on Amazon on March 18. They’re geared to Gen Alpha and Gen-Z, have names like “Main Character Energy” and “Supernova” and claim to be safe for kids as young as 8. The brand also makes face cream for babies… maybe to use during a baby facial.The ultimate sign of gentrification: Your Brooklyn neighborhood gets its own luxury perfume. Bond No. 9, the fragrance house with scents inspired by Chinatown, the Upper East Side and the Hamptons, mixed a new juice for Greenpoint, the land of artisanal pizza and third-generation Polish dive bars, which launched on March 18. It smells like a $470 mix of pear, bergamot, and the ink you used to sign a lease for $800 a month in 2005. Does your laundry need its own fragrance oil? Homecourt is going for it. The brand co-founded by Courteney Cox and Dr. Sarah Jahnke debuted its first laundry collection on March 19 and it includes neroli, cedarwood and rose scented oil options. Dear readers, a vibe shift: The ultra-chic perfume junkies at Maison Francis Kurkdjian are getting cutesy. On March 18, the luxury label unveiled Kurky, a peach-raspberry fragrance with doodle-covered packaging and marketing assets that look like a comic book spread. The scent is $245 at Bloomingdale’s — still pretty adult — but the messaging is clear: Luxury fragrance is going younger and sweeter, and combined with Louis Vuitton’s dopamine-fueled Murakami relaunch, its sense of escape doesn’t include much room for irony. (Or sex, for that matter.) Juliette Has a Gun boasts a naughty name, but its latest fragrance — Miami Shake — is equally declawed, with a strawberry top note, notes of whipped cream and a pastel bottle featuring cotton candy shades of pink and blue. If you are in the market for a straight-up lust trigger, maybe try Phlur. Its BDSM-tinged Rose Whip perfume debuted on March 21 with a spank of pink peppercorn and black currant, plus nutmeg, musk and blacklight imagery that hints at a 50 Shades prequel.Maddie Ziegler has booked her first fragrance campaign! The tween dance prodigy turned credible actress is now the face of Maison Margiela’s perfume line, which is licensed through L’Oréal. Her first campaign drops March 21, and it’s for Never Ending Summer, the $165 perfume that smells like an Aperol Spritz. And finally…Sunscreen charms are happening at Revolve and Urban Outfitters. Prada Beauty — perhaps get on this. Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day’s most important beauty and wellness news and analysis. Source link

[authorstevenbirnie]

THROWBACK THURSDAYS

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ABOUT THE IMAGE

Not a morbid post. Just a thank you to family and friends. This was me in the hospital ICU at the end of 2018 on a breathing machine which left me with a brain injury. I went through a lot, but so too did my family, not just here at the house with Sharon and the kids, but our wider family and friends both online and local. I have been rehabbing ever since then and this year has been my best year yet, so a huge thank you to family and friends.

So in brief, in 2017 I went in for a hernia surgery after which I went septic and almost died. 2018 was spent nursing an open wound. Back to surgery at the end of 2018 and I woke up 2 and a half weeks later in an ICU. I had to learn how to walk, talk, and write my own name again as well as a lengthy rehab. Since then I still have the hernia, but also a brain injury due to my body overheating in the ICU. The doctors said I could die or have a serious brain injury, but would have to wait until or if I woke up. Back then I struggled to figure out stuff a 12 year old could, but this year has been my best yet. I really shouldn't complain given the great progress, but as you can imagine, coming out of the hospital barely able to think or walk took a lot to come back from! Check out our videos on our Birnie Family YouTube channel!

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BFF YOUTUBE FOR KIDS

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[openingpandorasbox1]

AUTUMN PART 2 (8)

After Dad broke up with Donna I didn’t hear from him in a long time so I thought it was possible that the police may have done something about it and I just didn’t know about it.

                More than a year passed when I was walking in Westfield and I walked past Samuel’s girlfriend who was pushing a pram. I was shocked at first and when I looked into the pram there was a baby inside. Doing basic maths, I realised this couldn’t have possibly have been the same baby that she had been pregnant with when Sharon and I had seen her that day on Australia Day. When I saw her pushing the pram in Westfield I only saw her for a couple of seconds but the baby looked young enough. Common sense told me that Samuel was probably the father; however, I knew she had previously had babies with several different men previously so I couldn’t be sure. Samuel wasn’t with her when I saw her that day, she was with a woman who I didn’t know (I didn’t really know Samuel’s girlfriend that well). I contacted Sharon and she was concerned like I was so I wrote on my Facebook how frustrated I was with the matter and that the police didn’t seem to be doing anything about it (to my knowledge). I wrote that I had already contacted the police and told them everything I knew but she had just had another baby and I think it might be his. My cousin loves children and works with them so she told me to contact DOCs. I don’t know what DOCs was and I didn’t know anything about DOCs but I decided it might be a good idea. I sent them an email and gave them all the information I knew but told them I have no evidence but gave them names and details of the people who knew what I knew. I pretty much told them the same as what I had already told the police. I sent it to them but it wasn’t long after that they replied and told me that I sent it to the wrong email address. So I sent it back and asked them if they could send it to the right location as this is about a matter concerning children’s safety and I do not know what the right address to send this information to. I sent it and they didn’t reply and I hoped they had forwarded to the right location.

                I just felt like I was doing everything in vain and I felt so powerless. I just felt with all the people who knew about Samuel and all those who had their suspicions should have gone forward to the police about it. If someone else had contacted the police and backed up this information with what they knew or witnessed it would have given strength to the situation.

                I don’t know if anything has happened to Samuel as I do not have any contact with Donna or Autumn and I haven’t seen Samuel or his girlfriend in years and I believe they have most likely moved away or perhaps he is in prison. If he hasn’t gone to prison yet, I do believe there is a possibility he will in the future, it will happen when it is too late when it could have been stopped years ago when I had first contacted the police (or when other people who knew about it should have contacted the police). The damage might have already been done and those kids could have their entire lives destroyed before they even become adults. I just hope someone who knows something will go to the police and do something about it. I don’t understand why all these people are turning a blind eye to it. If anything happens I have the gut feeling that it will be one of the children who will expose him. I don’t know where Samuel is living now but he has an extremely common name and it would be difficult to find his location on the internet and you can’t find him online (he doesn’t use Facebook). I don’t know his girlfriend’s name but I think her name was common as well. I don’t know the names of her two children she had living with her.

                A few years after I stopped being friends with Autumn I was having dinner with some family members and my cousin was talking about Autumn and she asked me about Samuel, “What is Samuel doing now? I imagine he’s just sitting around the house like a big fat slob and has a woman doing everything for him.” And I told her about Samuel and his interest in children. She told me at the Christmas family gatherings when us kids would be swimming in the pool that Samuel would go up to her and touch her all the time. She told me he was even creepy back then.