#Step dad and housewife material???

[coachbeards]

I AM NOT SAYING JANE WAS AT ALL RIGHT but if i saw my boyfriend hanging out w his boy best friend looking like a housewife…I’d have some concerns lmao

[buckgasms]

...god forbid soemone hurt bunny and buckys littlest girl. Bunny recently has come into a phase of pretending to be a perfect stay at home mum who bakes all day! Naturaly she just pretends that she's made all the cakes and pastries when really it was kitchen staff. She bought a cute apron and everything! Her and bucky first foster is a cute little 7 year old girl that they both adore, sadly the school she's going to is treating her pretty poorly. She was bullied a lot before they got her and no one did anything about it- the first incident of a teacher being horrible to their little rabbit made them see red. So naturaly when that same teacher pages a visit to the strip club bunny had to make herself known and hurt the bastard.

After the incident bucky got a private teacher who'd come to their home and teach their little rabbit away from prying eyes.

I can see the two becoming yandere parents if I'm honest

Omg nonnie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You absolutely sold me on the idea 🤣 i really really love this.

Bunny playing housewife is amazing, because yes she has mellowed but she still has her cute little quirks. She wants to create the absolute perfect home but has none of the patience to do it, so yeah store bought dished out onto an expensive crockery is the best she can do.

I feel like when they bring in a new foster the other kids have to explain that we all just pretend she cooks the food herself and makes their beds and all that normal stuff.

They don't mind though, because as a couple they all know Bucky and Bunny have their backs no matter what. It's not about the material stuff, it's the fierce love and devotion they are given without question that the kids all love.

And it's funny because normally they adopt teens but they took a chance on a little girl, only 7, obsessed with princesses and Disney, and they realised how much they love this little rabbit and would burn the world down to make her happy.

Oh just imagine.

She comes home from school, quiet and red eyed. None of her usual peppy chatter about some artwork she created or a game she played in the school yard.

None of the other kids can get her to explain what's up, so they tell Bunny.

Bunny sweeps her little rabbit into her arms and cuddles her tight and comforts her until she feels better. Bunny's heart pounds as she hears about this dumb ass substitute teacher who told their rabbit to stop talking, criticised her handwriting, told her stickers were not appropriate for her maths book.

Tears abound.

And when Bucky finds out about it?? Heads are gonna roll.

Obviously Bucky has plenty of cuddles for their littlest rabbit and assures her that the teacher won't be there tomorrow to upset her but of course she can have a week of school to recover if she likes.

That evening Bunny is in the passenger seat of Bucky's car, driving through the city, down some grubby streets until he pulls to a stop outside a unimpressive brownstone.

"Is this a good idea? Are we setting a good example for the kids?" Bucky asks as he steps out, reaching for your hand as he joins you on the sidewalk.

You lean up and press a kiss to his cheek. "You are so hot when you're being a good dad... And they don't need to know about the specifics, they just need to know we've got their backs, no matter what..."

20 minutes later they are climbing back into his car. You take his hand in yours and press a kiss to his bloodied knuckles. You both feel satisfied he won't be upsetting more little kids, especially not your little rabbit.

You also probably have wild sex in the car before you get back too because you just have so much pent up energy and horniness at how fucking hot he is.

The next morning everyone is happy to see little rabbit laughing and giggling again with Bucky and you at breakfast over her favourite pancakes.

They don't mention the swollen knuckles or the buzzy look on your face as you hand them all packed lunches for the day and send them off with a kiss.

I feel like having a private tutor in their home wouldn't work because Bucky doesn't want strange adults in his house. I think once she goes back to school and everything is back to normal you are both satisfied.

Omg I'm also imagining if little rabbit does a few unhinged things that make them love her even more. Like she plays with Barbie's, but the storylines are all about spies and subterfuge and you walk in on her conducting a fake interrogation with a little flash light shining in Ken's face as she scowls at him??????

Omg I die, nonnie what have you done to me!!!!!

[ohifonlyx33]

It really seems like we (I) can't decide on Stancy/Jancy because the character dynamics keep changing.

Early on, goody-two-shoes Nancy wants a little bit of fun in her life and she thinks Steve is that bad boy she's rebelling with... even if she treads carefully. She's not even sure if she feels safe with Steve at first. And she likes that.

She doesn't necessarily think of Jonathan as a romantic option because he's quiet and passive and mundane. But she's willing to see him beyond first impressions.

Then when she's with Steve, she actually realizes maybe he's been the cliche guy that she's "supposed" to end up in suburbia with all along. Because he's a year older and his dad has a family business lined up. And since she lost Barb, she's felt like she's supposed to play the role of a happy girlfriend and pretend everything is ok when it's not. She shuts Steve out more and more and he's not exactly the best boyfriend material yet so they continue to fall apart. Especially as she and Jonathan grow closer.

As her friendship with Jonathan is growing deeper, he looks like the choice that will keep Nancy out of a cliché loveless marriage. He clearly cares about her, and they've been through a lot together and come to understand each other. She feels safe with him... and she also gets to take charge which she may like... until she has to pull Jonathan's teeth to get him to take action. But hey, they would certainly never end up in suburbia, at least. He's the alternative choice to what is expected of her.

But the thing about Jonathan is that his #1 priority is Will and his mom. That's a great thing. But he will always bend do what is expected of him. For someone so outside of society's box in season 1, Jonathan in some ways would rather stay in a box. It might not be a house in Suburbia that he lives in, but I believe he still would rather just have a quiet simple day with no conflict.

When Steve steps outside of his cliched role as Suburban Boyfriend, he's no longer following his parent's path. He's not stepping in their shadow. He's becoming his own person capable of making his own choices and learning to care about others. As a protector and defender, he will take risks and confront his problems. Like Nancy.

Except now Nancy is in a stable relationship with Jonathan. And there's no serious problems that would immediately cause them to break up. No one really expects them to break up at this point. But maybe it's starting to feel like a frog in hot water for both of them. Jonathan wants to stay doing what he's supposed to do, keeping his head down, hiding from his problems with pot. And while he doesn't want Nancy to give up her dreams for him, which is really sweet, part of Jonathan also wishes Nancy would at least get on a plane and join him. He won't tell her his future plans, but not because Nancy would actually change her plans... But because his future goals may not align with hers. It feels like this might be the trapped life she was so worried about... two people on different wavelengths with different needs and opinions staying together because why not? Of course, if they have love and passion, it could still work right? After all, they don't have any big fights or problems that they can't work through.

Meanwhile Nancy meets up with Steve in s4 and finds out how much he's grown up. And I think that's attractive to her. Nancy didn't want fake. She didn't want pretend. She didn't want BS. She thought that was all she would end up having with Steve. That's why she picked Jonathan.

But Steve's picture of packing into the Winnebago sounded nice to Nancy because it was so heartfelt and genuine. No. We are not getting hung up on the number of kids. No, we are not assuming that Steve would make Nancy have exactly 6 kids and be a 1950's housewife in the late 80's-early 90's. No, we are not assuming that just because Nancy didn't like her depressing family life, Nancy must forever believe that any and all families are bad and unhappy. Now, I don't know how Nancy feels about Steve exactly (and that is also very, very important), but I think she saw in Steve's confession the "most important thing" that her parents never actually had. The thing that sets Steve's dream apart from the one she explicitly doesn't want... His dream had Real, Genuine Love. Not a cliche role. Not built on the expectations of society. Just happy. And she sees that spark of love in the way he talks about it. Having kids to LOVE. Having a wife to LOVe. Having a life they all LOVE. And that love is something Steve has fairly consistently, patiently, quietly, hopelessly maintained for Nancy for 4 seasons. And she sees that Love is the main thing he wants in his idea of the future.

And I'm really for the idea of Steve and Nancy starting out as cliches, breaking up, and breaking out of their cliched roles only to find each other again.

But I'm still not going to hate Jancy because I can honestly understand that too... it just depends on what the writers are going for.

[daddysfangirls-marvel]

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[delos-mio]

Death of a Bachelor - Part 17

A/N: I’m on a roll, kids. But with that roll, it’s with a heavy heart I announce that there is only ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! Well, and an epilogue. But the end of DOAB is fast approaching. Enjoy a chapter with what I think is s fun little something different, and some gratuitous smut (oops). YES you read that right, there are sexy times ahead! Anyways, enjoy, gimme your thoughts, and tags at the end!

PEREZ EXCLUSIVE: Get ALL The Tea From The Delos Family Affair!

We weren’t the only ones caught off guard by Saturday night’s family shake up!

It’s been no secret that Delos patriarch and total Daddy™️ Jim Delos had plans to retire this fall. Recently we’d seen his soon-to-be son in law (maybe not anymore?), William, as the figure head at Delos events. Billionaire playboy and Jim’s own son, Logan Delos, looked like he was OUT of the picture. Poor baby, we’ll be your shoulder to cry on, right Perezcious readers?

So imagine Jim and William’s surprise the night of the retirement party when the Delos heir announces he bought daddy’s company with veteran entrepreneur John Collins?! Consider our wigs snatched!

Inside sources who were at the event Saturday night say a number of arguments broke out immediately after the bombshell was dropped- I can’t imagine Jim was too happy.

But the real fight occurred between William and his fiancé, Delos director Juliet Delos. Witnesses saw William leaving the party with the cute little blonde playing the piano and shards of glass in the hallway. Has William been playing his fiancé to get in good with Delos?! And the same little birdie told us that this affair may not be the first! Umm…no offense, but William? Not exactly on our hot list. Now, Logan, on the other hand…

Logan has a long history of rolling around in the sheets with anyone with a pulse. He’s been linked to everyone from Tristian West to Holly Decker.  But might the perpetual Delos bachelor be off the market?! Attendees of the event say Logan was accompanied by a woman he seemed quite taken with, some going so far as to say he “never left her side” and “looked at her with cartoon hearts in his eyes”.  Well, there’s a first time for everything!

O. M. G! A lover’s quarrel, a family coup d’etat, and Logan with a *gasp* girlfriend? Wish we could have been there!

So what do you think, my Perezcious readers? Will Delos sink or swim under new ownership? And are we witnessing the death of a bachelor with Logan Delos?

-----

“...So then, John gets up front to say thanks or whatever. And he goes ‘oh I’m just half of ownership, why don’t you come up here, L?’ So Logan goes to stand with him and Jim just blows the fuck up,” you smiled, biting down on your lip. You were back in your office with your beloved friend and assistant, dishing to Charles’ slack jaw as you recounted the events from the retirement party just a couple days ago.

“No way,” he laughs.

“Yes. And then William’s all ‘did you fucking know about this?!’ to Jules who is like, completely blindsided at this point. And Logan sees him yelling at her and gets in his face to get away from his sister,” you continued.

“Oh my god.”

“I go check on Logan to make sure he’s ok and he’s like yeah, yeah, but we should find Jules. So, we go back inside and Jules is screaming at the top of her lungs, throwing clothes, throwing vases...”

“Vases?!” Charles squeaked out.

“Vases. Because guess what? William was in there about to fuck the girl he brought in to play piano.” You leaned back in your seat and waited for Charles to process everything you just said. He sat, flabbergasted, for a moment before putting his hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Your life is more exciting than Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” he giggled. “Oh! When you guys get married, please give your job to me and become a Bravo housewife. You’d be so good at it!” You looked at Charles with an arched eyebrow that he waved off. “But really, that’s insane! I can’t believe all that happened in a night.”

“All of that specifically happened in like, 20 minutes,” you laughed.

“Jesus Lord. I’m so mad I wasn’t there!”

“You would have loved it.” It felt good to be able to laugh about that night with someone a little more removed from the drama. Someone in attendance at the party had to run to almost every gossip blog and tabloid peddling “exclusive” information about the events that unfolded. Most of it was true, some of it was false, but it was in no way a complete picture. Logan was annoyed at first that everything had been made so public so fast, but he was used to media scrutiny by this point in his life.

After William drove off, Logan pulled Juliet aside to talk about Delos. She was furious he didn’t tell her about him buying the company from under their dad’s nose, but given his history with Jim and William, she ultimately understood why Logan kept her out of it for as long as he did. Logan was clear he didn’t want to change anything about the business or take anything from her. No, his goal was to get Jim and William out of there, to make it a safe place for him and his sister to grow and thrive and lead.

“I’m going to be out for the rest of the day starting around 1. I told Logan I’d meet him for lunch. It’s his first day back in his office and I think he’s a little nervous.”

“The handsome, sexy, confident Logan Delos gets nervous?” Charles asked with a smile.

“Yes, he does. And stop hitting on my boyfriend. You’re his type and hot enough to steal him from me,” you laughed and tossed a pen at Charles.

“Yeah right. Like his entire world doesn’t start and end with you.” You looked up from your computer screen at Charles, who was grinning even broader this time.

“Shut up,” you mumbled and blushed.

“Well, have fun and tell the Mrs. I say hello.” Charles stood and moved to your office door, pausing before he let himself out. “Seriously though, tell him I said congrats too.”

“I will. He’ll appreciate that,” you said with a smile, watching as the door shut again behind Charles.

——-

The receptionist you’d come to know as Chloe beamed at you when you walked into the office. She looked like she had a spring in her step and couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

“Good afternoon, Chloe. How are you?”

“I’m excellent, thank you! Coming in today and finding out Mr.— sorry, William was no longer with Delos was a welcome surprise,” she said candidly. You guessed the switch from the formal address to just his first name was her way of saying he no longer warranted the respect. When you quirked your lips at her, she clamped a hand over her mouth. “That was so unprofessional of me. I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me,” you said sweetly. “And I’m sure Logan wouldn’t mind if he overheard you talking shit about William.”

“Thank you,” she exhaled. “Mr. Delos said to send you right in when you got here and that-“ she paused to pull up an email “I have specific orders to ��always let my princess in directly to me. Do not call me and tell me she’s here. Just send her in. And do not interrupt me while she’s here. If there’s an emergency, make it Juliet or John’s problem’,” she recited directly off her screen.

“He actually put princess in that?” you cringed.

“He did. He told me to follow his memo to the letter.” Her eyes darted back to the screen and you rolled your eyes fondly.

“Thank you, Chloe. Same office as before?”

“Yes, ma’am. And it’s my pleasure.” As you started to walk away, you heard her call out to you quietly.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to say I’m glad to see you here again.” Her cheeks painted pink and she looked down at her keyboard.

“The feeling is mutual, dear.” You smiled and made your way back to the corner office you knew had belonged to him before his dismissal. You gave a soft knock on the large oak door and heard Logan call from inside.

“That better be my princess.”

You laughed and opened the door just enough to slide in, shutting and locking it behind you. “You really had to use my pet name in a memo?” you asked, setting your bag down on the closest chair. “I get VIP access to the boss?”

“Read that to you, did she?” Logan was already on his feet and sweeping you into his arms. You nodded before his lips found yours and he pulled you into a searing kiss.

“You look good behind that desk,” you said, breathless.

“I think it’d look better with you on it,” he smirked.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Mr. Delos? You’re in charge here, are you not?” You teased, running a finger down his chest.

A feral look flashed in Logan’s eyes before he lifted you into his arms, walking you to his desk in front of the floor to ceiling windows and perching you on the edge. Your legs parted on their own accord so Logan could slot himself between them, pressing close to you as he kissed along your jaw.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to fuck you right here, just like this,” he breathed into your neck.

“Since the first day you met me? When you had that cute little crush on me,” you giggled and Logan nipped right below your ear.

“I still have a crush on you.” It shouldn’t have gotten to you the way it did, but Logan saying those words sent off butterflies in your stomach, making you dig your nails deeper on his back. Logan ran one of his large palms up the inside of your thigh, deftly using his long fingers to push aside the material of your underwear and run them teasingly through your folds. “Fuck, you’re already soaking wet baby,” he groaned, easily sliding his fingers inside you, keeping his thumb rubbing over your clit.

“Want you,” you moaned into his ear before taking the lobe between your teeth and tugging. Logan wasted no time reaching down and pushing up your skirt around your hips and pulling off your panties, letting them dangle crudely around one ankle. You fumbled with his belt and zipper, unwilling to stop kissing him for long enough to look at what you were trying to do. Logan eventually helped you out, pushing his suit pants just below his ass.

“God, you make me so fucking hard,” Logan panted as you fisted his already leaking cock. He couldn’t help looking down and watching you work him, loving the way it looked and felt to have you finally touching him after he fantasized about this very moment all morning. “Gonna let me fuck you right here, baby girl?” He unbuttoned the top few buttons of your blouse, just enough so he could slip a hand inside and palm your breast. The massaging turned you into putty in his hands and he knew it. Logan had definitely learned what to do to you to make sure he got his way.

“Yeah,” you whined, looping your arms over his shoulders and pressing your chest against him. “Please, Lo.”

“Such a good girl,” Logan sighed as he held his base and slid inside you in a single smooth stroke. You bit back a moan as he bottomed out, trying your best to be mindful that the walls were almost certainly not soundproof. “Always so good for me.” Logan shuddered as he pulled back out, really letting you savor the thick drag of him inside you before slamming in once more. His reentrance made you hiccup and pull Logan even closer, as if even a centimeter of space between you was too much space.

As hard as you tried to, you couldn’t stop the moans that bubbled from your lips. Logan felt too good inside you and the idea of him wanting you so bad you were both still mostly clothed was driving you wild. An accidental and particularly loud moan escaped you when Logan hit you just right deep inside. Logan reached up and placed his palm over your mouth, his eyes still full of lust, but now a bit softer. “Shh, shh, I know baby,” he whispered, his hips never relenting in their pace. “You feel so fucking tight and perfect. And trust me, baby, I want to hear you scream so fucking bad. But we have to be quiet, ok?” You nodded and Logan grinned, moving his hand away. “I love you.”

“Love you,” you sighed before kissing him again, desperate for something to keep your mouth occupied. Logan continued slamming into you, his movement becoming more and more erratic. You knew he was close by all those little signs you’d learned over the last year and change- how his breathing got shallow and his fingers dug in deep, how he always bit down on his bottom lip right before he came.

“I’m close, princess,” Logan huffed. His eyebrows were pulling together, trying to hold it off for as long as he could. “Where do you want me?”

“We still going to lunch?” you asked in a breath, rocking your hips against his teasingly.

“Mhmm,” he said with a nod.

“Then you should probably come in my mouth, don’t you think?” you smiled. “I don’t know how comfortable it’d be sitting for an hour with your load dripping out of me.” You knew putting the visual in his head would just push him closer to the edge. Maybe it wasn’t playing fair, but you couldn’t resist teasing him.

“Fuck, fuck,” he groaned, hips snapping even faster. “Knees, baby. Please,” he whined and pulled out of you entirely, gripping tight at his base.

You felt so empty now without him, but quickly dropped off the desk in front of him, opening your mouth for him. Logan ran his hand almost tenderly along your jaw and rested his thumb on your chin, pulling your jaw down just enough for him to enter your mouth and watch as your lips wrapped around his head. You took him all the way to the back of your throat, swallowing him there for a moment before pulling back and flicking your tongue over his slit. That was all it took for Logan to let out a long sigh and spill into your mouth. You waited patiently for every drop before swallowing and releasing his now softening cock. Logan held his hands out to you and helped you back to your feet, immediately kissing you, chasing his own taste with his tongue. You always did love that part of his post-orgasm ritual.

“I wish you knew how sexy you look on your knees like that, swallowing like my perfect girl,” he mused as his fingers reached down and found your pulsing clit, putting just a little pressure and rubbing in small circles. You gasped at the contact and bucked your hips into his hand. With a smirk, Logan used his other hand to hike up your leg, opening you up to him a little more. Truthfully, you weren’t too far from climax yourself. As Logan continued to work you, you clung tightly to him, burying your face in his jacket to muffle the noises you wanted to make. You let Logan know you were close by clawing at his back, sinking even closer to him. “That’s it baby. Just let go,” he whispered.

“Can I come for you?” you asked, your request a little muffled, but Logan knew exactly what you said.

“Fuck, you better,” he growled, pressing down a little harder. The increased pressure and Logan’s encouragement was more than enough to push you over the edge. You gripped his jacket tightly and rode out your high on his fingers, finally going limp against him. Logan placed your foot back on the floor and held you steady as your legs regained the ability to work. Once he was convinced you could hold yourself up, he brought his fingers to his mouth, licking them clean with a shit eating grin. “You good?”

“I’m good,” you smiled and leaned in to peck him sweetly. “I like this whole being able to fuck in your office because you’re the boss deal.”

“Oh, I’m loving that deal. I’m thinking next time, I can press you against the window and take you from behind,” he said nonchalantly, tucking himself back into his pants and smoothing out his jacket.

“It stinks like sex in here, though,” you said with an arched eyebrow. You checked your hair and makeup in the small mirror on the wall and touched up any spots that said ‘yes, I just let the CEO fuck me senseless in his office’.

“Good.” Logan kisses you once and hands you your bag. “Lunch, my dear?”

“Yes, please. Someone made me work up an appetite,” you teased. Logan couldn’t wipe the smug look off his face when he placed his hand on the small of your back and walked with you out to the reception area. You smiled at Chloe as you walk out and Logan took your hand, looking at you as he raised it to his lips, leaving a small kiss on the back of your hand.

“Have a nice lunch, Mr. Delos,” Chloe beamed.

“Thank you, Chloe. We will,” Logan smirked. “Oh, can you please forward any calls to my voicemail? I don’t think I’ll be back today.”

“Oh yeah?” you asked, squeezing his hand.

“Mhmm.” Logan kissed you softly.

“Of course, Mr. Delos. Enjoy your afternoon,” Chloe blushed, looking on at your PDA. It must have been an odd sight, seeing Logan be affectionate with you publicly after months of keeping your relationship on the down low when you first got together. But now Delos was his, and he’d be damned if he couldn’t kiss you whenever and wherever he wanted.

Though you originally made a reservation for lunch, after very quick discussion, you opted for picking up Thai food from the little place on the way home and sharing it out on the deck. Logan had pulled the cushions off the outdoor furniture and made a little nest for the two of you to sit on, practically on top of each other, and feed each other bits of food when something was particularly good. He couldn’t help himself from kissing away the bit of green curry at the corner of your lips, which you told him was disgusting, but Logan only laughed and continued his attack.

Once you finished, boxes set aside in favor of you laying between Logan’s legs with your back to his chest, you melted against him and let your eyes slip closed against the afternoon sun.

“You ready for Wisconsin again?” you asked quietly, tracing a random pattern on his forearm wrapped around your chest. On Wednesday, the two of you would be leaving for your hometown for Emily and Elliot’s wedding. It felt surreal that the day was finally approaching after all of the planning you knew Emily had done. She’d been blowing up your phone for the last couple weeks with questions and complaints and asking for your opinion on damn near everything. You loved your sister with your whole heart, but you were ready to get this wedding over and done with.

“Yeah, I’m getting excited.” Logan kissed your shoulder. “It’ll be nice to get away for a little bit. Not worry about LA or Delos drama.”

“You need a vacation already? I could have sworn you just started the job today,” you teased, poking him gently with your elbow.

“Be nice,” he laughed. “Is it a crime to want to jet set with my beautiful princess?”

“It’s a crime you consider going to Milwaukee jet setting.”

“I liked Milwaukee!”

“It’s ok,” you sighed. You turned in his arms to lay on his chest, looking up at his face. “But I want to go on real vacation. Like to Hawaii or Fiji or something. Em’s wedding is not vacation. She’s going to work me the whole time! You’ve seen her scary ass texts to me.”

“Aw, my poor girl,” Logan pouted, kissing your forehead. “Well, we should go on real vacation. I’m thinking somewhere with a cabana and private beach. Somewhere we don’t have to put clothes on the whole time. We can just, I don’t know, get drunk and fuck and pet sea turtles.”

“I like all those things.” You nod your head, smiling as you watch Logan mentally plan a tropical vacation for the two of you.

Just as he opened his mouth to continue on with the fantasy he was cooking up, you both heard the front door close and someone walking through the house. There were only three people with keys to the house, and two of them were tangled together on the deck. So it wasn’t a huge surprise to see Juliet pop her head out the sliding glass door and push her sunglasses back over her eyes.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked before sitting in one of the table chairs.

“Not yet,” Logan grinned.

“Gross.”

“Well, then perhaps you shouldn’t just let yourself in without notice, hmm?” Logan arched an eyebrow and Juliet just rolled her eyes. It was still odd to see her without her ring. Since the day you’d met, she had an obnoxiously huge engagement ring fixed on her finger. But, that was the first thing to go after Logan chased William out of the party.

“Ignore him,” you said, adjusting to sit up in Logan’s lap so you could actually talk to Juliet. “How are you holding up?”

“Is it weird to say I’m a little relieved?” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I think I loved him on some level, but having him and dad fuck off and to finally be able to breathe on my own? Kinda feels good.”

“I’m glad there’s a silver lining,” you smiled. Juliet nodded and managed an only slightly watery smile. “Were you just in the neighborhood and couldn’t resist our company?”

“Actually, I’m just here to ask a favor,” she laughed. “I know you guys are going to be out of town for a bit and I was wondering if I can stay here while you’re gone? William is supposed to be getting his shit this weekend and I’d rather not be there if I don’t have to be.”

“Yeah. Yeah of course,” Logan said immediately. He didn’t consider his answer for a second. “We won’t be back until Monday, right?” You nodded in confirmation. “You’re free to stay as long as you need to.” Logan was happy to accommodate any request if it got William out of his life and the lives of the people he loved.

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. I’ll make sure not to open any random drawers,” she winked.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Logan smiled and you shoved at his shoulder. “Really though, it’s no problem.”

“Cool. Well, I’ll leave you to do…whatever it was you guys were doing.” Juliet got up and gave you both a small salute. “Fly safe, fam.”

With that, she let herself out and you were left alone again, lounging in the slowly sinking sun. Logan was leaning back with his eyes closed, breaths even as he clung to you. He looked peaceful and actually relaxed, which was a rare sight recently. He’d gone through a lot in the last year and a half; maybe now he could finally enjoy some well-earned rest.

TAGGED: @thesandbeneathmytoes​ @marvelcapsicle​ @something-tofightfor​ @songtoyou​ @its-my-little-dumpster-fire​ @abroadcastofthemind​ @gollyderek​ @dylanobrusso​

[malvchis]

hello it’s violet Back with another late intro ! this is me from the future :-) i rewrote this intro like a little over three months ago and i’m too excited to play him to write it a third time so just like this post and i’ll come to you for plotting ! but until then here’s my angsty / lowkey softie / highkey garbage Son <3 for future reference i’d like to say this vine is also 1000% him okay thank u for ur time

a CHARLES MELTON lookalike just rolled into new york city in their PORSCHE 911 SPORT CLASSIC. MALACHI ROTHSCHILD just had a birthday bash for his TWENTY-THIRD  birthday. i doubt he’ll make it here in new york city since i hear he tends to be DOGMATIC, but on the other hand he is STOIC. ( cismale & he/him )  

「 *.:｡*𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓽𝓼. 」

FULL NAME: malachi saul rothschild. NICKNAME(S): mal, m, kai. AGE: twenty two. DATE OF BIRTH: july 15th, 1996. ASTROLOGY SIGN: cancer sun, aries moon, capricorn rising. GENDER: male. PRONOUNS: he / him / his. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: heterosexual. LANGUAGES SPOKEN: english, spanish, some greek. OCCUPATION: musician. BIOLOGICAL PARENTS: cassandra & wren rothschild. STEP PARENT(S): tba. SIBLINGS: lilia rothschild ( sixteen ). PET(S): none. CHILDREN: none. RELIGION: grew up in a catholic household, but agnostic. DRINK / DRUGS / SEX: yes / yes / yes. FACECLAIM: calum hood. EYE COLOR: brown. HAIR: brunette. HEIGHT: 6′2. RIGHT/LEFT HANDED: right. TATTOOS: i’ll come up with this later but he def has a spongebob tattoo on his ankle he got when he was drunk TRAITS: diligent, altruistic, reverent, dogmatic, taciturn, brooding. NOTABLE HABITS: smokes at least three cigarettes a day, zones out during most conversations, drums his fingers against any surface when he’s nervous. NECESSITIES: pack of marlboro cigarettes, airpods, vintage band tees. LIKES: sweatshirts, naps, driving, adrenaline, performing in front of huge crowds. DISLIKES: cantaloupe, sleeping alone, not meeting someone’s standards, materialism. DISORDER(S): generalized anxiety.

「 *.:｡*𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂. 」  

so my backstory is gonna be pretty similar since i haven’t changed that at all and it’s already pretty fleshed out heh

basically malachi’s parents are well-known by his father owning one of the top 10 law firms in the us and his mom is a child actress turned real housewife star ( think brandi glanville or kyle richards if u watch rhobh )

growing up with a younger sister, he was expected to be the golden child of the family and for a little while he was just that

he got good grades and did whatever his dad told him to do like growing up malachi looked up to his dad so much that was his idol

so taking over the law firm and all was fine because he wanted to be just like him u know

then one day at a friend’s house he played guitar hero and his life changed…. Forever :-)

i wish i was kidding but it literally did

he bought the game and would play it for HOURS straight but it wasn’t a real guitar so he went out a bought one and the rest is history <3

malachi was taught to always say the right thing and never truly learned how to express himself so he did it through writing and eventually the guitar and writing kinda tied in together

and of course his dad didn’t approve heh ! which was understandable at first because his grades started slipping in middle school and he kinda got lost in music

also he kinda stopped taking himself so serious and lowkey became the class clown charm is all apart of the rockstar lifestyle it makes sense fight me

so he was getting in trouble more frequently and his dad was getting sick of paying off whoever he needed to make it all go away u know

and i feel like malachi was given internships to go to every summer when he turned 15/16 and he never went to those :-)

it got to the point where his dad would like physically throw his guitar to smash it and he’d threaten to cut malachi off if he didn’t take his future seriously ( tw: drug mention ) and so malachi had to resort to selling his mom’s antidepressants at parties to pay for his equipment because his dad was cutting him off

and he’d try to reach out to his mom but she’s honestly off in her own world and she loves pretending everything’s fine sdjksk it’s a lil dark but it’s FINE

so i think for the sake of keeping the family intact he played along for a little and was basically his dad’s puppet for his junior/senior year of hs

but he dropped out last minute and moved to new york to start his music career all by himself fun :-)

he’s lived in new york for about 5 years now so keep that in mind ok omg i think that’s all

「 *.:｡*𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂. 」

before i start i’d just like to say his vc is joji but for purposes of him performing at coachella with his boys, his second vc is mac demarco !

i’m picky and idk which voice i like better for malachi so we’ll see :)

ok so in my first intro i said he’s a lowkey softie but i was wrong

he’s a HUGE softie 90% of the time it’s bad but my excuse is that he’s a cancer so he’s sensitive aubrey

he doesn’t really show it unless it’s through song writing though because he’s a cliche but that’s the best way for him to do it

he’s a very boombox over the shoulder kind of person 

definitely a mix of being rebellious and stubborn ! he doesn’t really know how to listen to anybody besides himself because listening to himself has gotten this far so u know

basically that gifset of kim k going “thanks for your lovely advice but i’m not gonna take it”

relationship-wise it takes him months of fully getting over someone but it also takes him .5 seconds to fall in love with someone new he’s gross

omg he’s also super protective of people he cares about that’s his redeeming quality for sure

he’ll fully punch out anybody that messes with his friends and he’s done it before

oh also he somehow always gets into bar fights ? like 90% of the time without fail it’s either his drunk ass picking on some guy 10 times bigger than him or the other way around so that’s his life honestly

he’s not /as/ reckless as he used to be but if anyone does something dumb he’s definitely there encouraging it

but he’s also the type to just stay home for 3 days straight playing video games or writing music or napping since he loves those

don’t get me wrong though if he’s in the mood to party he’ll go all out and do c*ke off of everyone

he’s a very all or nothing person like there’s no such thing as moderation with him and he doesn’t know her

also he’s kinda oblivious most of the time because he’s off in his own world

basically he’s dumb and he never listens to anyone ever thanks

okay so thank god i actually wrote out some wanted connections and honestly most of them are open now so let’s go to town and just mash a bunch of plots together skdjsk

any brotp plot like “the boys are back” hsm 3 kinda thing thanks

brotps apply to any gender though he needs friends akjskdk

family friends

cousins maybe idk?? anything familial is fine with me

childhood friends <3 <3

one-sided crush that’s probably on his side

first love / exes

literally any exes plot i have pretty good ideas for these that mostly ended badly because of him rip

i just have so many songs that i wanna dedicate to people for plots please

BUT we can do exes that ended good or bad because of your muse i’m not picky

good / bad influence

roommates omg if u have to live with mal good luck but it’ll be FUN someone volunteer

enemies or some kind of rivalry/competition thing

frenemies :-)

fwb but also enemies with benefits

crushes that never went anywhere

omg a summer fling hello please

just tell me what u want and i’ll come up with something hehe <3

[idramaticasian-blog]

OUR VIEW ON GENDER ROLE IN SOCIETY & POLITICS

It’s not surprising or even a debatable topic that we live in a heterosexual male dominating world. One doesn’t have to look far to see how or why it’s happening. We all experience it in our daily lives, families, educational communities and politics.

      In today’s political landscape, motherhood is often deployed as a tool to highlight the ‘sacred nature of a subject, ranging from the Gau Mata to Bharat Mata and Ganga Mata. At the same time, issues around women’s rights and empowerment, varying from triple talaq to Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, are regular topics of conversation in Political circles. But an important question remains- do the men in Indian Politics only want to talk about women, or are they also willing to make an effort to share power with them?

      Yes, we are moving towards women empowerment to achieve gender equality step by step. But that’s still just a perception; even today the vast majority of Indians (64%) are of the view that the role of women in society is to become good mothers and wives and they should focus mainly on home, according to the findings of a global survey by Ipsos. The Ipsos global trend survey 2017 examined attitudes towards the role of women, parenting, and family across 22 countries, interviewing 18,180 adults.

      “More Indian women may be moving out of their homes, seeking employment and carving out a niche for themselves at workspaces, but society sees them more as accomplished mothers and wives in primary role, relegating other roles to secondary positions,” Executive Director, Ipso Public Affairs, said in a sentence

      From personal experience, in my household, my mother is a business owner and my dad a government employee. No doubt that my mother plays the role of a housewife, mother and a badass boss. But still even today when it comes to decision making she hands it over to my father. It’s more like a system is fixed in women’s head that the final decision has to come from the man of the house. And I’m pretty sure this must be the case in most of the liberated and slightly upper-class families like mine. I’m not denying that there aren’t exceptions but, yes these things happen around us all the time.

      Now, when it comes to politics, in India, nine out of ten legislators are men. While, Indian politicians are eager to talk about women’s empowerment and the political legacies of India’s female politicians like Sushma Swaraj, Indira Gandhi or Pratibha Patil, these women remain largely anomalies in the Indian political landscape rather than a norm.

      Among our South Asian Neighbors, we rank fifth in the women’s political representation in parliament falling behind Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal. On the other hand, while many countries around the world gasped at the idea of a female head of state, India was the second country in the world to elect a female head of state, Indira Gandhi. Presently, women in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet lead some of the most important ministries, from defense to foreign affairs. Yet still, cases of violence against women increased by 40 percent from 2012 to 2016, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. A woman was raped every 13 minutes, a bride was murdered for dowery every 69 minutes, and six women are gang-raped every day in India.

      Politically, women have been making their presence felt in voter turnouts. According to the Election Commission data from 2014 General Elections, the female voter turnout was higher than male turnout in 16 states and union territories out of 35. However, women remain underrepresented in state and national decision-making bodies. The decision making which is done from ministry for women and children is done by men. When someone looks at you suggestively regardless of what you are wearing, just because you have a bigger chest and ass compared to that person, or travelling alone no matter what time of the day while a man following you or listening to comments being passed on or being looked down on by your colleagues at workspace, colleges or even schools by men for being a female and not having a penis; why should those very men make decision for an entire county where 55 percent of work is done by women. So obviously, women remain underrepresented in state and national decision-making bodies. India’s handful of female politicians have occupied some of the highest seats of power but their rise, like many of their counterparts in Asia, has often been through the patronage of the family legacy.

      The barriers of entry for the female politicians are much higher as they contend with multiple other surface and structural issues. According to the Economic Survey 2018, prevailing cultural attitudes regarding gender roles, domestic responsibilities, female illiteracy, lack of confidence or finances and the threat of violence, are just some of the obstacles women face.

      One way to combat this disparity is through quotas.

      In 1994, India ratified the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Indian Constitution, granting women 1/3 reservation in rural and urban democratic bodies. This was followed in 1996 by the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill that would reserve 33 percent of seats in Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for women on a rotational basis.

      After much contestation, the bill finally passes in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but lapsed in 2014 with the dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha. It continues to languish-22 years since the initial proposal.

      One thing so far is clear as water, that we need female representation in Politics because we need women who have experienced all the problems a female goes through from being a girl to a woman. It’s not just about representation, but to initiate gender equality at the highest rank, for transgender and non-binary citizens to step up and represent their communities. Role model effect also erases the gender disparity in educational attainment of young girls.

      While quotas allow women access to positions of power, according to some detractors, they also weaken the ideas of the election based on merit in democracy. There is concern that women in government may compromise growth as pro-female and pro-family policies are often associated with welfare. However, many women run for the local governments, because of pressure from relatives eager to keep a particular seat in the family or gain material benefit. Their spouses, the “panchayat patis”, often control the position, wielding power through the women’s position. Furthermore, once elected, women often run again for political office even after their constituencies have been de-reserved. While the reservation for women is only for 33 percent of the seats, women make up 46 percent of the elected representatives in Panchayati Raj institutions, exhibiting active participation and leadership at local governments levels.

      Presently, the two largest political parties of India, the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC), support the women’s reservation bill in their rhetoric. However, contrary to the popular rhetoric support, India Today finds that in the 2014 General Elections, BJP gave only 8.8 percent tickets to women candidate and Congress just 12.9 percent.

      The Times of India reported that BJP was planning to field at least 25 percent women candidates in Madhya Pradesh for the 230 seats. BJP’s past record, however, remains a shoddy record.

      In the Karnataka state elections in May, only 6 of the 224 candidates fielded by the BJP were women, less than 3 percent of their total candidature. Ironically, Prime Minister Modi’s slogans as he kicked off the state election campaign were, “Beta, Beti Ek Saman” (Son and Daughter are equal). The other two big parties in Karnataka elections didn’t fare much better when it came to representing women. The INC and JD(S), fielded 15 and 4 female candidates respectively.

      In August, the INC president, Rahul Gandhi, penned a scathing letter to Modi urging him to “walk his walk” on Women’s empowerment and pass the bill. Like BJP, in practice, only 14 percent of the newly formed Congress Workers’ Committee leaders are women, despite the constitution of the INC calling off for 33 percent reservation for the party’s committees.

      Studies show that for women to have a meaningful impact in Parliament, they need to reach at least a 30 percent threshold.

      “We want respect and to be treated on par with another citizen. That  I defeated a person, who is not a transgender shows people love me” these are the words spoken by Dnyaneshwar Kamble, a 40-year-old transgender women elected as Maharashtra’s first ever transgender Sarpanch on 17th October 2018 in the gram panchayat elections in Tarangfal villege of Solapur. Kamble intends to focus on lok sevs (welfare of people) and gram seva (welfare of the village/society). Villagers in her area still defecate in the open- Kamble said she would concentrate on making her village open defecation. She is a Standard VII dropout, but she regrets not completing her education. Kamble would also focus on providing better education to the villagers.

      The Logical Indian community appreciates the fact of how people have chosen Kamble as their representative. Kamble and many others have been on the receiving end of social ignorance. A move like this works as an encouragement for the entire society. We hope this acts a precedent for other communities as well.

      In short, representation matters. Either you are gay, lesbian, binary, non- binary or whatever, we as a whole are citizens of a country which doesn’t allow or even recognizes that representation is the key to a progressive nation and be recognized as a first world country as we should be.

REFERENCES:

https://thediplomat.com/2018/10/where-are-indias-women-politicians/

https://thelogicalindian.com/news/transgender-sarpanch-maharashtra/?amp

https://thewire.in/gender/politics-womens-representation/amp/

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG vs. Brotherhood: Greed’s Demise (OG 34, BH 14)

We're finally here: the divergence point.

FMA Brotherhood Episode 14: "Those Who Lurk Underground"

Bradley and Armstrong lead a team of state military soldiers to raid Greed's hideout, although Bradley uses it as cover to hunt for Greed. Bradley goes into the sewage passageway beneath the hideout and duels with Greed. Surprised by the abilities of Bradley the Führer, Greed is severely weakened by Bradley who reveals his true identity as Wrath. Roa and Dolcetto attempt to save Greed, but are killed by the Führer. Martel, who is still inside Alphonse, attempts to choke Bradley to death with Alphonse's armor, but she is stabbed by Bradley. Her blood splashes on Alphonse's blood seal and unlocks his forgotten memories. Later, Alphonse reveals to Edward that he managed to recover his former memories, prior to their failed attempt at human transmutation to revive their mother. Greed is taken as a captive to Father, who was disappointed in him after he deserted the rest of the homunculi. When Greed refuses to rejoin the homunculi, he is melted alive to a liquid philosopher's stone, which is then consumed by Father.

We open with MUSTANG because of course we do. He is bothered by peoples' perceptions of him, except he smirks after thinking about them, so I guess not? He reports to the Fuhrer's secretary, who is not important in this continuity, and learns that he's traveled to the south.

The chimeras are taking Al through the sewers. Roa sniffs to find the way.

We cut to Bradley leading a raid on the Devil's Nest.

Greed decides to run away. LOL.

They prepare to chase after him, but Izumi starts vomiting, played absurdly comedically. Life-threatening illnesses during serious battles, so hilarious!!!

Cut to Al struggling with Martel. Where did the others go?

Al looks stunned when Martel lifts his helmet off, but he's been able to move without it before.

Roa and Dolcetto apparently left to find an escape route?

And suddenly Bradley shows up. How did he get here so fast?

Bradley tells the air that he's 60 and his body has started to slow down with age, so he wants to get this done quickly so he can go home. I guess he just likes grandstanding, or he likes bragging about being a special homunculi?

Bradley attacks and it's villain sue time. Despite clearly being several steps away in the previous shot, he's able to instantly slice off Greed's hand as soon as he starts hardening. From there, he just keeps cutting Greed's hands off with his swords that are, I dunno, adamantium given they can cut clean through bone repeatedly without damage. Since Greed can't harden and regenerate, and apparently can't harden unless he's fully healed, Greed is totally helpless during this time.

We cut to Armstrong fighting Dolcetto. He transmutes Dolcetto's hammer into a statue of himself, because Armstrong. Even the statue has bishie sparkles. LOL. Dolcetto throws it away and switches to fisticuffs.

Dolcetto hulks out and… grows horns. I don't think splicing alchemy should work that way. It's pretty clearly only merging existing parts together, not letting you transform at will.

We cut to soldiers gunning down chimeras.

Dolcetto manages to hit Armstrong hard enough to make him bleed.

Armstrong tells him to surrender, but the military show up and shoot at him. His beefy fists can block bullets, apparently. Roa slices through some but not all of the soldiers, who proceed to… somehow completely miss him despite shooting tons of bullets in his direction.

Greed knocks Bradley's eyepatch off and he namedrops the Ultimate Eye. He says it is the reason he was able to dodge bullets on the battlefield and survive long enough to be promoted to his current position. So… Father didn't just install him? What's the point of making a country if you have to appoint your puppet kings through legitimate channels?

Bradley asks how many more times Greed has to be killed before he dies, foreshadowing that their regeneration can be exhausted and also that all future homunculi battles are just going to be people punching them for ages until the author decides they run out of HP.

Martel sees Bradley continuing to just wail on Greed and freaks out. Al tries to keep her hidden.

Roa and Dolcetto show up. Roa does have some bullet wounds, so I guess some did land. He… cuts Al's chains… with his sword that I guess is also adamantium… and tells him to get Martel to safety.

Martel demands Al let her out so she can fight.

Bradley cuts Roa cleanly in half with his magic swords.

Greed taunts Bradley while he's still regenerating because, I dunno, he figures he's going to die anyway? His hand takes ridiculously long to regenerate compared to his brain, which you'd think would be more complex.

Greed gives a speech about how while he's not attached to the chimeras, they're his possessions and he doesn't like Bradley wrecking his stuff.

Greed starts hardening and Bradley charges forward again with super speed. So in addition to being able to dodge bullets and cut through anything, he has super speed so he is not even limited by the range of his magic swords. Greed actually does successfully block the attack, but stops hardening because…?

Bradley stabs Greed, which incapacitates him even though Lust is never knocked unconscious despite explicitly being on her last life later because what is consistency.

Al tries to run away but Martel tries to strangle Bradley, because the irrational woman is too overcome with grief to not immediately jump for the suicide attack.

Bradley is totally unaffected by the strangling even though he is not supposed to have homunculi endurance and stabs Martel to death. It looks really weird; he just sticks the sword in and then blood gushes out all at once.

Some of the blood splatters on Al's bloodseal and this activates his memories of the Gate because…? He did not get knowledge of human transmutation either, so methinks the theory that you get more for paying more is bunk. We then get a shot of him in the created body, implying that thing didn't have a soul to begin with. More on that later.

Then we cut to Al waking up outside. Ed is bandaged and injured. Al says Ed's covered in blood, and then we look down and see Al is too. I think that's an effective sequence.

Al has a breakdown over being unable to save Martel. Ed tries to tell him it'll be okay but it doesn't work.

Bradley shows up to be evil and intimidating. He wants to know if Ed made any deals with Greed, because…? I guess maybe he's worried Greed spilled the beans about Father's plan. But he has no way of knowing if Ed is lying here (unless that's also covered by the Ultimate Sue Eye), so this doesn't seem to accomplish anything but telling Ed he has something to hide. Bradley also asks them if they did human transmutation, which the homunculi must already know if he's already marked for sacrifice, so again this is just giving Ed information.

Bradley offers Izumi a position as State Alchemist. She gets out of it by saying she's just a housewife, but Bradley pointedly says he will return to see if she's changed her mind. Why not just do whatever coercion he has planned now? He has a regiment of soldiers outside already.

Ed mentions he told Hughes about the homunculi. Armstrong gets weird and tells him to be cautious, but nothing more.

Now Al explains his memories have come back. He echoes their earlier cartoon pose about it being awful. He says he didn't learn anything about human transmutation, so it's useless and accomplished nothing. YEP IT SURE DID. The only difference is that now he can do circleless alchemy, because combat upgrades are what really matter.

The brothers then rationally examine how strange it is that the military massacred everyone instead of capturing them for interrogation, and why the Fuhrer came down for such a small operation. Ed says he guesses they'll stick with the military for a while, implying he plans to leave eventually, because military dictatorships will totally let you walk away whenever you want.

Then we get the scene with Father. It is pretty useful to explicitly run over all the homunculi so we can confirm what we know so far. Greed asks why Sloth is missing and we get a shot of him digging the tunnels, foreshadowing that. Why doesn't he ask about Pride, though?

Bradley is apparently new, so was there just not a Wrath before? Greed notes that an aging homunculi is special.

Envy gets mad at being called ugly. The envy demon is vain, geddit, wow such deep symbolism here.

Envy looks more muscular here, more brawler and less prettyboy.

Greed nearly goads Envy into revealing his "true form", but Father stops them. So that's tantalizing us for a future reveal.

Father sits in a chair connected to a bunch of pipes.

Father asks why Greed betrayed him and left, and Greed just says he's only behaving how he was created: greedy. Why is Father purposefully creating things based around fatal flaws?

Greed refuses to return to Father's employ. Father activates some clockwork contraption that lowers Greed into a crucible. As he's melted down, his Philosopher's Stone is extracted into… wine? that Father drinks, using some complicated distillation apparatus. He does realize you get holdup in every step of a process, right? He is losing Philosopher's Stone material every time he does this.

Greed's chains melt as he enters the crucible, but not Bradley's swords. So I guess they really are adamantium.

This is all just way too over-the-top for me. Why does Father need this elaborate getup? It's… intimidating? I guess? But there doesn't seem to actually be much point to it. It's a lot of pretty cruft with no real purpose.

Then we cut to Bradley talking with his family. His wife says he should retire, then Selim nerds out about how Ed is so cool and he wants to learn alchemy so he can help out his dad. I don't… I don't even. Why is Pride doing this. Is he just screwing with Bradley? Does he get off on pretending to be an innocent kid? Is the wife not in on any of this? How did the wife not know she gave birth to a freaky shadow monster? I'm not entirely clear on the mechanics of Pride so I guess I'll have to watch his intro episode later, but this looks really bizarre to me.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 34: "Theory of Avarice"

Archer has Edward as well as Izumi and Sig Curtis in custody. Archer reinstates Tucker as a state alchemist under his command and orders his men to take no prisoners hunting down Greed and his associates. As Greed tries to escape with his cohorts, Strongarm burst through the wall and battles with Law until Law collapses the wall, ensuring the group's escape. While Greed and co. recover in a small shack, Lust and Gluttony appear. Dolcetto and Law unwaveringly step up and sacrifice themselves allowing Greed, Al, and Marta (who is still inside of Al's armor) to escape. In a forest, Greed instructs Al to wait for him until sunrise, and for Marta to watch after him while he goes to take care of business. Marta realizes he is headed for Dante's house and tries to go after him, but Al refuses to allow her to do so. When Greed arrives at Dante's, he is greeted by Lyra, who knows his purpose for returning to Dante's. She guides him to a parlor, where he discovers Dante's body split down the middle, seemingly by a sword, and a complex alchemy circle on the ceiling and floor. Before he has time to react, Lyra uses alchemy to forcibly eject the Philosopher's Stone fragments that Greed has consumed in his life. She exits, leaving him in pain, as Ed enters. Shocked at Dante's corpse, he blames her death on Greed. While they fight, Ed discovers the secret to his human shield through logic, and uses alchemy to undo it. He manages to stab Greed in through the chest, which surprisingly causes Greed to collapse in pain. Greed explains to Edward that the only way to kill a homunculus without its regeneration is to physically murder one near the human remains that it was created with, and he also reveals that he let Al go. Greed departs this information with Ed in hopes of ensuring the deaths of the rest of the homunculi, and then he dies, much to the shock of Ed who has never killed before. At sunrise, Marta gets up and leaves Al, knowing that Greed isn't returning. The brothers reunite and, together with Winry, Izumi, and Sig, bury Greed and Dante. They bid Izumi and Sig goodbye, saying they will next find the Ishbalans.

Winry sulks in the meat shop, hoping for a call from Ed.

Archer orders the military to gun down anyone who opposes them. We helpfully get an internal monologue where he thinks he can make as many of them as he wants if he has Tucker, and Greed can't lay a hand on him as long as he has the skull. (So I guess Kimblee did tell him about the weakness?) Eh, kinda tacky. I don't like actually getting into characters' heads for exposition, it's too blunt. It's much more effective when the audience can piece these things together from context clues.

Bido is seen bleeding out in the sewer.

The military guns down chimeras. They catch up to Greed, and Roa stays behind to buy them time. Armstrong cuts them off, and demands they return Al.

Lust says Sloth was responsible for letting Greed escape?

Armstrong's battle with Dolcetto is similar, but the statue doesn't get bishie sparkles. How sad. Armstrong also does not bleed from getting smashed into the wall.

After the battle, Dolcetto caves in the tunnel and escapes with Greed.

We cut to the bar. Soldiers have killed all the patrons. Outside, Ed has slipped off and put dummies in the cloaks.

Greed hides out in a cabin in the woods. We get thoughts AGAIN, this time just him wondering what he can do now.

Lust and Gluttony show up to menace him. They say his only options are to be imprisoned again or be destroyed, because Dante is pissed at him for rebelling.

Roa still slices off Al's chains.

Greed is surprised to see Roa and Dolcetto willing to sacrifice themselves to help him escape. This is where Roa mentions he was fused with a dog and gives his line about loyalty. We don't see them die, just a smash to black.

Al escapes with Greed. Greed tells Martel to stay put until sunrise, and leave if he doesn't come back. This is where we get the scene of Martel trying to escape.

Dante confirms her house is where Greed was born. So she's been sitting here for a while.

Looks like Dante had to split.

I love Dante's theme music. It's so subtly creepy.

Greed looks sick even before Dante activates the circle. Mere proximity to the remains weakens them.

The sealing circle is on the ceiling, which blindsides Greed. Always look up when you’re entering a dungeon! Greed realizes Dante's jumped to Lyra.

The red stones disintegrate when Greed vomits them up. Seems wasteful.

Ah, the circle sigil is Izumi's tattoo. So I guess we can presume she got it from Dante.

Greed smashes Ed's automail pretty bad, and the hand breaks when Ed tries to punch the shield. Ed notes that Winry is awesome because he can still move his arm after that.

Ed figures out how to break Greed's shield, explicitly noting that he can't create something from nothing, so the shield must come from somewhere.

Ed has a breakdown when he realizes he's killed someone.

Greed's body melts into red liquid. We cut to Archer, who notices that the skull has spontaneously disintegrated. Oh, so I guess that actually does answer a question I had: the remains seem linked to the homunculi's life, so they can't just destroy them.

Ed makes two graves. One for Greed?

Ed warns Izumi the military might be after her, and tells her to go into hiding.

Conclusion

On a large scale, these episodes are similar in events, but they're incredibly different in details. Most notably, I much prefer how OG handles the military side of things. It's far more subtle, and raises more questions of what Ed signed on for instead of just pitting him against them. Brotherhood is too sudden: the military is good, now suddenly it's evil, and the only difference is that this might cause problems for Ed. OG's coverage focuses on personal culpability, the ease with which the military can corrupt, the lengths to which the characters will go. Ed has to come to terms with killing people; Mustang must come to terms with the possibility he is starting another massacre. These are hard questions that challenge the characters. In Brotherhood, it's just "You thought Greed was the boss fight, but psyche, this other dude is even scarier!" That's impressive if what's engaging you is who can beat whom, but that's not what engages me about stories.

We even end with a preview of our respective villains, though OG is, as usual, subtler. We know there is some connection between Dante (or at least her house) and the homunculi, and Greed notices that something very weird is going on with Lyra. The pieces are starting to come together.

Even the fights are better in OG, in my opinion. Brotherhood is much too manic and features too many superhuman acrobatics. An even fight is also just so much more interesting than Bradly effortlessly pwning someone.

And I think this is important: Ed gets to defeat the villain. This is something that exasperated me as Brotherhood continued: Ed becomes more and more of a spectator in his own narrative, despite being the only hero I was really interested in. OG keeps Ed at the center of the narrative and allows him crucial victories, and I think that makes OG a tighter narrative overall.

On representation: In Brotherhood, Martel dies stupidly and pointlessly. In OG, she is the sole survivor of an otherwise all-male group, and gets to live for another arc.

Also… now that we've gotten to our first homunculi death, I think it'd be a good time to bring up the theme of irony. Everyone says the homunculi meet ironic fates in Brotherhood. They do not. They just don't, okay? Irony means a situation is different than you expected. "They are the thing they're named after" is the exact opposite of that. You'd have to build up something where they claim to be above their own sin, so it's ironic that they end up succumbing to them or something… but that's not really what happens. They're just either killed by their sin, or killed by someone who embodies their sin better. When you don't actually engage with the sin theme at all and just use them as motifs because you think they're cool, that is not deep meaningful symbolism. "It's just cool" is a fine reason to do or enjoy something, but that doesn't automatically make it have substance. Step back a little, guys, please.

OG is not much better, granted, but I do think it's a lot more meaningful when the homunculi actually do come from alchemists' sins. I always got the impression Dante used the sin theme as a commentary on how or why they were made. Lust was the guy's girlfriend; Sloth was put together poorly (or perhaps it's a jab at Hoenheim, for not coming back to save her?); Pride was an experiment to show how awesome she was; and we know she made Greed, so perhaps that was also a purposeful experiment, perhaps just to make a full set? It's not as blatant because it doesn't matter as much because OG isn't as interested in cool things for the sake of it, but there are ways you can engage with it.

With that in mind, though, I think you can make a case that the homunculi's fates in OG actually are ironic, or at least poetic in a more meaningful way. Let's begin with:

Greed is wasted.

We don't know why Dante made Greed, but we know she did make him. She kept him imprisoned because she didn't want to kill him the first time, but now she cuts her losses and disposes of him. Now, an important component of greed to me is hoarding, the inability to give things up. Greed could have still been useful; certainly, Dante invested all those red stones in him that are now gone. He seemed to be hoping that that would work in his favor and get Dante to spare him, but Dante didn't care. He is killed by a lack of greed. Even narratively, he is wasted: his only purpose is to die to teach Ed, and us, how homunculi can be killed.

[nebris]

How Cleaning Out My Hoarder Mother-in-Law’s Junk Caused My Own Marriage to Crumble

As we plowed through decades of her extreme clutter, I began to notice similar tendencies in my husband. And once I saw the hoarder in him, there was no turning back.

There’s a snapshot Aiden took of me a few days after our wedding on Christmas Eve, 2009. I’m standing outside his mother’s house wearing disposable coveralls, gloves, and a particulate mask. In the background is a dumpster. The ground is thick with dead, brown palm fronds. I am beaming at the camera.    

           I wished so much that I could have met Ruth, my mother in law. I knew she was a bright, adventurous woman who never found work to suit her lively intelligence. She was a 1960’s housewife fascinated by history and art and ideas. She loved dogs. She suffered from untreated depression and agoraphobia.    

           The day Ruth died, her family just locked up the house and walked away. Now, five years later, it’s still standing empty. Aiden worries about it. I worry about him. No one, I think, should have to clear out a parent’s house alone. His brothers are no help at all.    

           “You and I can do it together,” I say. “It’ll be our honeymoon. We’ll take a month and just get it done.”    

           And now we’re here.    

           The front door opens into the living room — an ironic name for such an uninhabitable place. I’ve never seen anything like this. There are LPs, stained mattresses, mountains of canned food, ripped cushions, dog crates, and hundreds upon hundreds of boxes. All fading back into the darkness. The smell is beyond staleness or rot. It’s the stench of sickness, of time lost.    

           I’d fantasized about meeting my mother in law. Now I’m getting my wish, but in the most macabre way. As I dig through her belongings, I feel I’m excavating Ruth herself. Every room in that house — every pile of garbage, every broken sofa, every packed closet — seems saturated with her spirit. Each stratum we uncover reveals more of the woman who raised my husband — a woman whom I will otherwise never know.    

           I haven’t yet heard of obsessive-compulsive hoarding. I have no idea that there’s a clinical name for what I’m looking at. I only know that Ruth’s house feels like a map of a disturbed mind.    

           Why, I wonder, is the floor of the den covered in newspapers three feet deep?    

           “That’s for the dogs,” Aiden explains, as if it makes perfect sense. We start hacking the newspaper out, a job that requires pickaxes and shovels. Clouds of powdered filth fill the air. The whole thing is a petrified matt of paper, urine and excrement. Decades ago, Ruth crammed her ever-growing collection of dogs — eighteen? twenty? — into this single modest-sized room and left them to do their thing. When the floor got bad, she simply added another layer of paper.    

           In another room, I find notebooks. Boxes of them, all densely crammed with faint, microscopic handwriting. They’re lists of words.    

           “Oh, Mom was always learning languages,” Aiden tells me. Some of the word-lists are in English. Others are in Spanish, German, Polish, Norwegian. Clearly the work of an intelligent and gifted person. The thing is, I can’t see anyone actually using them for anything. They’re barely legible. It’s as if Ruth was collecting words just for the sake of having them.    

           Further in, there’s a stack of maybe thirty cardboard boxes, wrapped in paper and swathed in packing tape. What was Ruth storing with such special care? Even with my mat knife, it takes a long time to get the first one open. I tear off the paper. Underneath there’s more tape. Then tissue paper. Gently, I turn back the layers.    

           Palm fronds. The box is full of dead palm fronds from the yard outside, carefully folded and packed.    

           I spend the next hour cutting open more boxes. They all contain more of the same. As I work, I keep twisting to glance behind me.    

           Back in the den I find Aiden crouched down, frowning at the heaps of crud that we’ve hacked out of the floor.    

           “We need to go through all this by hand,” he says earnestly.    

           I stare. “You mean the whole room? All of it?”    

           “There could be something important buried here,” he says. “Get a bag.”    

           I get a bag. As I start sifting, I try to think of something to say. We can’t do this. We’ll never get through it all. This is crazy.

           I pry up a wad of rat-chewed newsprint. Underneath, gazing up at me, are Aiden’s eyes.    

           It’s a photograph, half buried in the muck. It can’t be Aiden, though.    

           The picture is old, taken maybe around 1920. But the resemblance is eerie. Same curly brown hair, same beautiful eyes. The guy is obviously a relative. Aiden has no idea who he is.    

           Later on, we show the picture to Aiden’s dad. “That’s your Great Uncle Norman,” he says. “He had some problems.” Problems? Apparently, Ruth’s uncle committed suicide sometime before the Second World War.    

           I’m sorry to hear it. But what really disturbs me is the vision of my sweetie buried under a pile of garbage in that house. Those eyes, hidden down there for decades. Sad eyes. A genetic heritage.    

           At the end of January, after about a month of excavation, we run out of time. The whole process has been traumatic for Aiden, and to what end? We’ve filled one corner of the dumpster, which means we’ve thrown away the equivalent of about one closet’s worth of stuff. The rest of the house we leave as it was, relocking the door behind us. I feel defeated. Aiden is silent.    

           Back in London, our cluttered apartment is starting to worry me.    

           “I’m remodeling, so everything’s kind of up in the air,” Aiden had told me months before, the first time I saw where he lived: before it became where we lived. I’d been impressed to learn that he was doing all the work himself. Naturally the place was messy now, I thought. I could see it was going to be beautiful when it was done.    

           But time passed, and the remodel began to seem like the labor of Sisyphus: a project that could absorb any amount of time and work without ever reaching completion.    

           Now we’ve returned from California and moved into a construction site. It’s uncomfortable. There’s no room for my stuff. Aiden urges patience as he keeps accumulating tools and crates and building materials salvaged from neighborhood trash cans. One night, I come home and am bewildered to see what looks like a pile of car parts in the living room.    

           I’m starting to understand that, for my husband, the chaos of the remodel is not a temporary stage on the way to a cozy shared living space. It’s the way he lives.    

           When I shake out a blanket, clouds of dust and mold fly up. We have fleabites. Without consulting me, Aiden adopts two dogs, which are never housebroken. Now I have to wear clogs all day, stepping over puddles on my way to the kitchen.    

           I offer to do all the cleaning myself. “This is not your project,” Aiden responds. I try to negotiate for one clutter-free room. For the first time, I see my husband truly furious. Once, I rearrange a couple of pictures on the wall. After that, Aiden doesn’t speak to me for a week. He feels that I’m a feckless control freak. I feel unwelcome and unvalued. Much as I love him, I’m sliding into chronic depression. Angry depression.    

           Through it all I can’t get Ruth, or her house, out of my mind.    

           Finally, two years later, our marriage ends. I’ve been fighting hard to clear away the obstacles — physical and emotional — that stand between us. To Aiden, I’ve realized at last, my efforts feel like an attack on the core of his being.    

           The hoarder crowds his life with rubbish in an effort to keep other things out of his life. Things like spontaneity, and the spiritual intimacy reflected in a shared living space. Love and friendship don’t stand a chance. The need to barricade oneself — literally and psychologically — overrides everything else.    

           I grieved our loss for a long time. But today I’m sitting in a tranquil room full of clean surfaces. There’s open space. There’s sunlight. I luxuriate in having exactly what I need and no more — my books, my teakwood desk, my glass pen jar. Best of all, my thoughts have room to spread and blossom.    

Freya Shipley is a writer, editor, and speech coach in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she works with a wide range of freelance clients in all three fields. Freya loves helping individuals and organizations develop communication skills that do justice to their ideas.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-cleaning-out-my-hoarder-mother-in-law-s-junk-caused-my-own-marriage-to-crumble?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[todaynewsstories]

Growing up poor, fighting naysayers and injustices: BooksActually’s Kenny Leck goes On the Record

SINGAPORE: Kenny Leck looks nothing like a conventional businessman but in his field he is considered a formidable force. In an era where many major bookstores have closed down, his independent bookstore BooksActually has survived and is going strong after 13 years.

When I arrive there, he is behind a stack of books next to the cashier. He wears a nondescript T-shirt and glasses. The only thing that is easily visible from afar is his spiky black hair.

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It’s a weekday and only a handful of people are browsing the rows of books that stretch from floor to ceiling at BooksActually at Yong Siak Street in Tiong Bahru.

We move into a backroom to talk. The 40-year-old answers questions with aplomb, but it feels as if I’m speaking with someone who is more a booklover than a businessman.

However, to survive in this business, you “necessarily have to be both”, he concedes. 

To listen to the full interview, click here.

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The business turned a modest profit of S$80,000 last year. For a single bookstore, “that’s actually quite ok”, he says. To a great extent, the figure is modest because he has been pumping more money into boosting the bookstore’s publishing arm, Math Paper Press, through which he often publishes local work that may not always make money, but that he considers important to “put out there”.

“When someone sends you a manuscript, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, or a children’s book, they are trying to tell a story. Especially if it is a Singaporean who has submitted the manuscript to you, they’re trying to tell you a particular narrative of their own. And that narrative is as important as us winning an Olympic gold medal. Because that’s part of who we are, that’s part of our history.” 

Investing in publishing has slowed down his progress towards buying a permanent retail property for the bookstore. 

While he and his co-founder have been making the business work entirely on their own dime so far, they recently started a fundraising effort to rope in investors to help them do this. 

“It’s more sustainable than paying rent and we hope we can do this through this crowdfunding effort.”

Over the last 13 years, they have moved three times, each time due to an increase in rent but for the last seven years, they’ve managed to establish some stability in Tiong Bahru.

The current rent is about S$10,000 a month but he’s not complaining.

“If you’re a good business owner, regardless of what the rent is, low or high, (if) you know that the location works for you and the numbers are proving right, you’ll just stay. So for now, it’s fine. But in the future, we don’t know what’s going to happen and who wants to be a sucker to any landlord who’s going to increase your rent by 50 to a 100 per cent?”

While he bemoans high rents, he doesn’t believe, as some businessmen do, that the authorities should intervene to control them.

“That’s just how the free market economy works. If you expect the landlords to reduce rent or if you ask the Government to intervene to reduce retail rents, you’re just being lazy and asking to be spoon-fed. We have to remember that it’s not free money. Rental subsidies will have to come from taxpayers. 

“Business people should just accept this is the way it is, crunch your numbers well and do more to make your business successful. That’s what we have been trying to do. But if the price is too high, then you have to move. That’s just how the economy is. But we also want to explore other options such as having our own property.”

I remark that his public fundraising effort for this could be construed as “asking to be spoon-fed”. 

He disagrees. 

“We are aware that nobody owes us a living. It’s your private money. If you decide to help or invest, then do it. If you decide not to help, it’s fine too,” he says decisively.

We talk more about the numbers and his strategy to convince people to help later but to understand Mr Leck’s motivations it’s necessary to take a step back.

Kenny Leck, owner of BooksActually has also started a publishing arm, Math Paper Press.

WOULD HE AMOUNT TO NOTHING?

He came from a low-income family. His father was a taxi-driver and his mother a housewife. They both recognised the importance of reading.

“My mum was a typical parent who read a lot of self-help books about parenting. While she encouraged me to spend a lot of time in the library, she was also never stingy when it came to buying books for me.”

He attributes his desire to own books instead of simply borrowing them from the library, to a “covetous” instinct that he believes many book lovers possess.

“My mother would never say no. She would crunch her own numbers and figure out how she can transfer money from her household expenses to buy me books. I remember in school when there was an opportunity to buy several sets of encyclopedias, she bought them for me on a three-year instalment plan.”

He dropped out of an accountancy and taxation diploma course in a local polytechnic just two semesters before graduation and went to work at Borders before co-founding BooksActually in 2005.

He picked the polytechnic course for a very specific reason.

“My dad fell very ill when I was 17 so the family needed me to come up with a solid income after National Service (NS). I chose all the business-related courses, and I ended up with Accounting and Taxation. It was a very clear route. If you’re there, after NS you can just go on to do your accounting papers, and eventually you can become a chartered accountant which pays really well.”

But things changed. His father became better and landed a well-paying job at a church. This helped seal his decision to turn his back on school to pursue his dreams.

His polytechnic course manager at the time actually told him he would amount to nothing. His memories of this are still very vivid.

“I remember this person, but I understand why she said it. It was the context of that time. I think many people didn’t believe that you could succeed without paper qualifications. I was actually doing well in school. I was probably one of the top 10 students and I enjoyed studying things like taxation. But I also knew it’s not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

His parents seemed to understand his decision.

“I told my dad I wanted to quit, and broke down the number of years that would be saved if I were to quit immediately, and he told me to go ahead. That’s what my parents have given to me. Since I was a kid, they’ve always trusted me to make my own mistakes, and to own them to make decisions, whether good or bad.”

BOOKSTORES HAVE ONLY THEMSELVES TO BLAME

Working at major bookstores such as Borders and Tower Books taught him what not to do.

He has said in previous interviews that the mistake many of these stores made was to sell non-book merchandise such as stationery, movie posters, gadgets and even snacks.

He admits now that he was guilty of this too, albeit to a much more limited extent today.

“Booksellers are guilty. All of us are guilty. There were phases of this bookstore when we brought in non-book products because they brought in the money. As we went on, we realised that we are a bookstore, so why are we selling all these things? If we’re a bookstore, let’s work harder at selling books.”

His focus is on displaying and marketing the books well and to that end, he sets up pop-up stores around the island. He believes that consumers should not be blamed for losing interest in reading or in physical books.

“The bookstores that haven’t made it have only themselves to blame. I’m in the business so I know. Sometimes, they receive stock and they don’t display it.  They’ll leave it somewhere in a box. Three months later, they’ll tell you that the books don’t sell. So who is to blame? Is it the consumer, or is it the bookstore manager that managed the outlet? Or is it the top not managing the business well enough to ensure that when the books come in, they get processed and displayed? 

“And not just displayed in terms of shoving it in, but making a nice visual display, and doing enough marketing and branding.”

“The bookstores that haven’t made it have only themselves to blame. Sometimes, they receive stock and they don’t display it. They’ll leave it somewhere in a box. Three months later, they’ll tell you that the books don’t sell,” says Kenny Leck of BooksActually. (Photo: Facebook / BooksActually)

FEAR AND ANXIETY

He set up his first bookstore in Telok Ayer Street with less than S$25,000.

“We borrowed $20,000 from my co-founder’s mom. We had maybe S$1,000 in our bank accounts. I borrowed S$700 from my dad. I remember because my dad had to take the loan from a fellow church member, and I had to pay it back within the month, so the number was very clear-cut.

“We picked up quite a bit of contractor skills. We actually made our display tables from discarded wood mounted on Ikea shelving units. We did quite a fair bit of painting ourselves. A lot of our marketing materials were made in-house. The do-it-yourself philosophy became more pronounced as the years went by. The current wooden wine crates that you see in the bookstore today were all mounted and put together by us. We sourced the wine crates, planned the layout, and then fitted it into the walls.”

When they first started out, there would be days when there would be no sales whatsoever.

He remembers the fear and anxiety he felt then.

“I think for any retailer, bookstore or otherwise, that’s the scariest thing that could ever happen. I remember that happening a few times in that first year. One day I fell ill, so I decided to take a break. The second day, I was actually feeling okay, but I was feeling so demoralised that I decided to stay at home another day. Then another. On the fourth morning, I woke up and I decided I shouldn’t do that, no matter if there are sales or not. I should just suck it up, open it up because you never know what’s going to happen.”

He calls that period a turning point.

“If I was serious about running the business and if there’s zero sales, it means that I’ve to do something about it whether it is organising an event, doing more marketing, doing more branding, get people in and get the sales.”

He was to face even more challenges later though.

He sold a 3-room HDB flat that his mother left him when she died and with the S$200,000 he made from it, he set up a second bookstore at Club Street which failed.

“I miscalculated. The space there was huge and we had to buy stocks from scratch. We had to buy a lot to fill up that huge space that we had. And the money burned faster than you could ever think.”

They had to close it eventually, but thankfully have managed to continue sustaining at least one store till today.

WHY INVEST IN A BOOKSTORE?

I ask how his fundraising efforts to purchase a commercial retail property for the bookstore are going.

The BooksActually Shophouse Fund has only made S$20,000 to date. They’ll need much more for a downpayment. 

“An ideal location in Jalan Besar where it’s got a good vibe and slightly, but not totally gentrified, in total, will set us back about S$5 million. For a not-so-ideal location, but a location that we still like, it’ll be about S$2 million.”

He is considering the Balestier area.

I ask him what his proposition to donors is. Why should people contribute to this fund?

“I guess it’s about possibilities. Over time, we have connected with a lot of people, formed relationships and we have discovered simple things. For example, just two months ago, a customer who used to visit us at our previous location came back from the UK after completing her studies and she told us that she’s so happy to see us still around, because now she can show her kid what the bookstore meant to her when she was still studying in Singapore.”

I remark that it all sounds merely sentimental. What’s the business rationale?

“There’s no business rationale. There’s only that very intangible part of it. Everybody’s always asking where are our roots? Where is our commonality in this country, right? If they like to ask that but they tell you that actually we have no roots in this country because everything is changing so fast and places are disappearing, they are obviously not looking hard enough or not investing in it. 

“Maybe someone down the road that you might be married to, or your kid might end up being a writer, might end up being a musician, might end up being an artist who we end up supporting. When you invest in us, it comes back around to you.”

But it seems as if he hasn’t managed to convince many people with that argument.

He ascribes the dismal contributions to a lack of publicity for the fundraising efforts and intends to ramp them up progressively.

A book launch at BooksActually. (Photo: Facebook / BooksActually)

STANDING FOR SOMETHING

But he reveals that “quite a handful” of private investors have actually offered to contribute, but once they realised what he stood for, they retreated.

“Bookstores tend to have a certain amount of character, and the character here is derived heavily from me – the person running it. For example, I am against discrimination and injustice, so a few years ago when the National Library Board pulled some books from their shelves because they highlighted different types of families including same-sex parents, we took a stand. We went to Amazon and bought all the 300-odd copies of And Tango Makes Three left in stock and sold them at our bookstore.

“We stand up against anything that discriminates against another person but some of our potential investors with deep pockets are of a certain social standing, and they are not comfortable aligning themselves with such causes.”

He clearly would rather reject the money than relinquish his ideals.

For now, he concedes that his modest profits will not get them far in terms of acquiring property, but he is determined to soldier on.

His ultimate goal is to have one large bookstore modeled after The Strand Bookstore in New York City.

In other respects, he is happy to continue living humbly.

“I currently only draw an allowance that covers food and transport, and I rent an apartment near the bookstore which doubles up as our publishing office, and storage area for our book stocks, plus bookstore supplies. 

“I don’t take any holidays. For the first nine years of the bookstore’s existence, I did not travel because that was an unnecessary expense. When I had the chance to go to Bangkok after being invited to be a speaker in 2015 for the Bangkok Literary Festival they paid for all my expenses.”

Considering that at this time, he can’t afford to expand or buy his own retail property, clearly the bookselling business, on the scale he does it, has its limitations. 

I ask if wealth is even a goal of his.

“I want to achieve wealth but I want to achieve wealth that enables me or the bookstore to help those who need it most because I’ve experienced what it’s like to grow up in a low-income family. I’ve seen how my folks struggled to make ends meet and not deprive their two kids of basic material comforts.

“The lowest point was when my father fell ill, nearly died, and with the loss of the sole-breadwinner in the family, we were suddenly at a loss. I was 17 that year doing my ‘O’ levels. We were either very, very lucky or blessed or both. His major hospital bills were close to 80 per cent subsidised by the government based on our income level, and for the rest, our church stepped in. That kind of support meant that my mother could ease her way into a job.”

Experiencing this “lack of wealth” has put him on a path to be as self-sufficient as possible but it has also ingrained in him a deep belief that any wealth gained must be used to help another person in need.

In his business, he classifies budding writers as “those in need”.

Through the publishing arm, Math Paper Press, he goes out of his way to help them in spite of the fact that some of the work lacks quality.

“There’s definitely a quality deficit. Over the years, it has of course improved by leaps and bounds, especially in the last decade. But we’re always going to have a quality deficit because there’s not enough being pushed out. How are you going to reach higher standards when you only have three or four serious publishers, compared to a city like London where they have many more. They also have a longer history than us.

“But we already have some really good work too that gets ignored because sometimes local publishers don’t push it hard enough. We have to do a better job.”

In the meantime, he sees it as his responsibility to give all writers a “good debut”.

He contributes to society in other ways by sponsoring books for community reading programmes for children from low-income families. Recently, he also contributed several thousand dollars to helping pay rent for a shelter for transgender individuals.

Kenny Leck is regularly seen at book fairs and events, a necessary part of his bookstore’s outreach efforts. (Photo: Facebook / BooksActually)

STAYING RELEVANT

As we turn to talking business again, he concedes that in some quarters it’s believed that physical books will become passé no matter how well they are marketed.

“I think the covetous side of book lovers – the fact that we are tactile beings – will ensure there’ll be a market for books. But I also know that there are questions about how environmentally-friendly all this is.”

I point out that e-books have a carbon footprint too, but ask him to justify why he continues his business in spite of his concerns.

He thinks the trade-offs are worth it.

“With books, we push knowledge and insight. All of us have been impacted by one or a handful of books. I think that’s where the value is. You are consuming resources, but we are producing books for pushing conversations, for keeping narratives, for pushing the envelope. Using paper to produce a book is much more valuable than using the same resources to produce a memo-pad.”

Some suggest that in a country with very good public libraries, buying books may in fact be wasteful too.

But he insists that book lovers’ covetous instincts that he alluded to earlier can make bookselling a viable business long into the future.

In fact, he welcomes competition.  

“If we want to become a nation of readers, you need to have more bookstores. People today would rather open a cupcake shop than a bookshop, but they don’t know how to crunch numbers. They’ll always tell you that there’s a great number of people who will eat cupcakes, but soon many of these businesses will fold. I believe if they crunch the numbers right and did the right marketing and publicity, they’ll see bookselling can be viable.”

Competition, he believes, will also keep him and his team from becoming complacent.

His advice to budding business owners is simple.

“Don’t go in with the mindset of trying it for just two to three years and falling back on something else you’re more familiar with. If you go in with that mindset, you’re setting yourself up for an easy failure.  If you’re faced with a life-and-death situation, you will think of more ways to stay alive, right? In business it’s the same thing, if you are presented with one problem, there can be multiple solutions. But if you go in with that mindset, you won’t even be able to see these solutions. You’ll just give up.”

While running a sustainable business is clearly important to him, when asked what impact he’d like to ultimately make in the industry, his answer has very little to do with monetary concerns.

“I always say the best way to die is to be just sitting in a chair reading a book, and to suddenly just expire. But throughout my life, I remember the individuals who’ve left a huge mark on me, whether teachers, parents or friends. I think that’s the most valuable thing. In your toughest times, you look back and know that those individuals have propped you up, put you on their shoulders so you can walk better. Hopefully, I can be that support for others in my personal and business life.”

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