#and we don’t need bullshit like talking our words and making them ‘inclusive’ by trying to distance them from their origin

[thebookworm0001]

Hi hello queer southerner here:

The word y’all is already inclusive. if I see one of y’all using “y’xll” because you don’t want to associate with the south, I’m smacking you with my cast iron skillet.

You’re not better than us because you’re from a northern/blue state.

[popculturebuffet]

You Should In Fact Say Gay All The Damn Time Special : Fire and Ice/Father Figures (COTC and PF: LAP)

Hello you beautiful technicolor rainbow. I’m Jake, I review animation, comics and other media. And as you can tell by the title today’s reviews are a response to recent events over in the state that god and shirts forgot, florida. As you all likely know but i’ll repeat for any latecomers, a bill passed, dubbed by the public as the “don’t say gay” bill, a bill that prohibits education on LBGTQ+ topics from kindergarten to third grade and allows parents to sue the school if they don’t like what their teaching. In other words a barely concealed way to prevent LBGTQ children from getting critical need to know information to make their lives better, to feel normal and to help straight children learn things every child should know, disguised as...

Bullshit that , ONCE AGAIN, tries to paint gayness as a topic JUST for adults and that kids can’t POSSIBLY queer. Spoilers they can, are and I know some.  As you can tell i’m just a tensy bit absolutely pissed off about this whole mess despite living far from florida, especially since this comes as Texas is trying to pass a transphobic and homophobic bill that would force teachers to out students. 

And while Don’t Say Gay hasn’t been signed yet by Flordia’s Govenor Ron DeSantis, it’s all but guaranteed he’ll sign it. DeSantis has spent the pandemic proving he cares nothing for human lives,doing the right thing or shutting the hell up, uincluding a recent incident where he yelled at teenagers for wearing masks at an event, so even possible pressure from coprorations probably wont’ stop him. Thankfully the LBGTQ+ community of flordia HAS rallied against this nonsense and is prepared to fight any stupid lawsuits and sue the state itself, so we have that at least but it’s still a very bleak moment in an already bleak time for this country. 

And of course what would a slap in the face to LBGTQ+ people everywhere be without Disney somehow making it worse? During this mess since Disney has a lot of stake in florida, Disney Fans were HOPING the company would speak up against the bill, maybe even use their signifigant pull in the state and vast money bins to combat it in some way. Granted we knew we were likely setting ourselves up for disapointment: this is the company that killed one of it’s finest shows and its possible headliner for being gay as shit, and had about 87 “FIRST GAY CHARACTERS” in various franchises that are either just queer coded or could easily be edited out of foreign dubs and releases in homophobic countries before FINALLY balling up and having Phastos be openly gay in a way that can’t be written out for eternals. If there’s something remotely queer in something on D+, they do not put anything about it in the summary to avoid offending the right.. forgetting that this happens anytime they see something remotely gay

So hiding it isn’t going to make them any less homophobic. But while not suprising, CEO Bob Chapek’s comments aren’t any less disgusting: 

“I want to be crystal clear: I and the entire leadership team unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities. And, we are committed to creating a more inclusive company — and world. We all share the same goal of a more tolerant, respectful world. Where we may differ is in the tactics to get there. And because this struggle is much bigger than any one bill in any one state, I believe the best way for our company to bring about lasting change is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create, and the diverse community organizations we support.”

To break down all the ways Bob is talking bull patties in this statment:

1) “ we are committed to creating a more inclusive company “ You have canceled 2/3 shows that have had a queer character prominently in the cast so far, with the only one you haven’t still up in the air and would not let ducktales outright confirm a character was a lesbian nor gravity falls confirm two characters were gay till the very last minute. You took 20 films into the mcu, not including pre+ shows you barely controlled or cared about, to have an out gay character. And of course we have this clusterfuck from pride last year

2)  “ I and the entire leadership team unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities.” Again the owl house debalce, where at leat one exec hate dit being gay so much he canceled it and you either were him or did nothing to stop it. 

3)  Where we may differ is in the tactics to get there. And because this struggle is much bigger than any one bill in any one state” Yes it is.. but “it’s a big ongoing, neverending battle for progress” isn’t an excuse for not doing shit on a smaller scale ESPECIALLY when you do tons of buisness in said state. You have more power than ANYONE other than Ron DeSantis himself to stop this bill and did nothing. even condeming it alone would send DeSantis poll numbers down further into the gutter simply because you create tons of jobs in said state just by existing. And shit like this spirals: other states might be emblodened to do their own version of it. Small thigns can grow into large problems. You should know this, you own fucking ant man. Furthermore, as a wise man once said “the only way for evil to win is for good men to do nothing” By doing nothing.. your enabling this to happen adn impliciitly condoning it. You care more about the money you’d loose making an actual stand, money that would be a drop in the damn bucket for you, than actual decency

4)  I believe the best way for our company to bring about lasting change is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create, and the diverse community organizations we support.” The first part IS a good way to go about things. But again your not doing it now and have no clear plans for queer content we can see right now. You might have something up your sleeve and in that case good. But your history of burying queer content or canceling it tells me you aren’t really changing. I’ll belivie it and praise it when I see it. 

Furthermore said content.. dosen’t come from you. It comes from the creators, many of the biggest having come out to condemn this shit. Alex retweeted the tweet I used, Dana posted a heartbreaking video about how draining this is, Matt Braly posted in support and Bruce of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder posted on his twitter a message from the crew condeming the bill.. on the same day an episode aired about gay dads. No one planned for this, it was on the schedule for some time, but Bruce certainly loved the timing. 

My point is Disney fucked up royally... UPDATE: This review was originally SUPPOSED to be published thursday but a day long bout of sickness so bad I was unconcious during mos tof that day and in pain when I wasn’t , so naturally the above rant wasn’t published with Chapek’s apology in mind. I”m still going through with this both because said bill passed.. and becaue it took severe and notable backlash from disney’s own creators, staff and the general public for him to actually take a stand against it and by the time he has it’s too late to fix anything. Now if he GENINELY doubles down on queer content and actually trying to make a change after this, I will fully credit him for that but for now it comes off like half hearted ass saving from a man who could’ve done so much more so much sooner As such today’s double feature is dedicated to both showcasing some truly great queer content from recent months, including as recent as yesterday no less, as well as using both episodes to shoot down the bullshit of the bill and disney respectively. So join me under the cut as we get extra super triple gay and super salty at disney and florida shall we?

Craig of the Creek: Fire and Ice

So our first episode up is the most recent episode of Craig of the Creek at the time of this writing, a show I haven’t really covered since I got super behind on it for a while. Like the second part of this double feature I INTENDED to save this for Pride Month.. but it was so relevant to the issue at hand I just had to bump it up. 

And COTC has never been remotely shy about Queer content. We’ve had gender nonconforming characters, non-binary characters, and TONS of gay characters: Raj and Shawn, Laura and Cat, the Witches, Jasmine. All supporting sure but all nicely understated and all very present. It’s not hidden or coded, it’s just there as it should be. Proud and beautiful. 

The one exception to the shows out and proud nature was Kelsey, brave warrior, bird enthussit and loyal friend. She’s also in third grade, which gives you some context already as to why I felt this one was extra relevant, but more on that soon. She’s also been transparently gay since the show started, having subtext with her friend, archivest and closest frined outside our main trio stacks, and having what amounted to a very obvious crush on wildernessa. The creators even outright confirmed both Kelsey and Stacks were lebsians last year in word of god posts. The question was would the show be able to pull the trigger. While Cartoon Network has gotten better at representation, they could still be gunshy about having a child be openly gay given the whole stupid, entirley wrong school of thought that “Gays should be only a thing adults talk about”. 

Fire and Ice’s response was “Yup, one of our three main characters is gay.”. Not the first time, see steven universe, but unlike steven there’s no space rock buffer here: this is a queer child, one of the main characters and she’s gay beyond any resonable shadow of a doubt. 

And thus for an event of this weight we do get an episode actually struggling with Kelsey’s sexuality in a painfully realistic way, especially since I myself was in denial for some time and despite being twice kelsey’s age if not more, panicked at the idea I was into men as well as women. I”ve obviously fully accepted it by now, but it was still terrifying. So imagine being a kid who likely knows gay people exist but never realized she was one NAD realizing those feelings because you suddenly realize your in love with one of the only people in your life who it’d destroy you to loose. 

And that my friends is the episodes brilliant and heartbrekaing central conflict: At the creek’s secret book club, because of course this recess style book club has a secret book club that was started entirely to trick Kelsey’s friends into reading, the kids are all reading their own books they made. And part of the show, and this episodes strength is it’s built on previous continuity. every other episodes with Stacks has built here and built their relationship to this point: She first bonded with Kesley over reading, helped trick Craig and JP into finally reading a book which lead to said club expanding, then helped kelsey sneak her own book into the library which lead to a kids section after the librarian found out kids wer emaking their own books, and finally their last major ep together, not counting the mercurial halloween special, had Stacks confront kelsey on being left out and thus get included more.  Every step here is paved on previous stories in a way that’s accesible, you can watch this episode without having read them, but that still rewards you for taking the trip to get here. 

So it’s not a huge shock after tons of romantic subtext and time together that the two’s epic, she ra-esque fantasy story about brave warrior fire and her beloved wizard companion ice takes a turn for the romantic for the duo as they fight a dragon , nor that Craig obllivously points out just how similar kelsey and stacks are to fire and ice.. something that would normally be no problem. Kelsey’s entire life is one long larp. But here it makes Kelsey scream internally as she finally puts the pieces together... and promptly runs the fuck away and tells Stacks she can’t write for a while, musing over the idea, in dramatic monologue of course, that she really could like stacks. Naturally Craig and JP, who badly want a solution to the cliffhanger the story end on, are no help, trying to put themselves ihnto the story (which Kelsey shoudl consider overall, they’d make great supporting cast, but now isn’t the time). We then get what I find an intresting moment.. when kelsey admits she’s stuck, JP knows just who to call: his sister Laura’s girlfriend Kat, who we met way back in season 1, casually introduced as Laura’s childhood friend and longtime friend of the mercers turned girlfriend. And what’s intresting to me is i’ts ambigous: did JP send kelsey to her because she’s a writer.. or because kat is gay and he could sense what was really going on, but knew just taking Kesley over there for what she REALLY needs help with, accepting that she’s gay and her feelings are normal, would just scare her more. And yes JP is legally brain dead half the time... but he has shown he can be wise with romance and not only was pratically raised by his gay sister, but has a stable relationship. Pun unintended. I’d like to think he did. 

So from that we get the bets scene of the episode, Kat talking with Kelsey over her work and being geninely impressed while JP plays with his cat Goo, who we need to see more often. It’s a gentle, touching scene as Kat admit’s it’s impressive.. and also not only gets the character thing.. but gets what’s going on. But both her and Laura, who naturally also helps because she’s the best, ease Kelsey into it: Kat simply gently backs Kelsey away from trying to make it not resembler herself, and talks ther through WHY Kesley wants to change it: she’s scared of her feelings. Laura points out what she feels.. is good and it’s not wrong to feel it. And what I like is the angst dosen’t come from the outside but the in... it can be hard to accept what you are even if you know those you love will accept you no matter what. And this beauitful scene of having two experince lesbians help a younger one see what she is is beautiful and she should embrace it.. it’s so damn sweet. 

And i’ts why I choose this: because even if flordia wants to pretend gay children don’t exist.. they do and they need someone to reach out to. To guide them and tell them what they are is normal, not hide it because “oh kids can’t be gay”. To embrace it. It really is sad when a , if brilliant, children’s cartoon is doing more to actually educate kids on queerness than the actual goverment running the schools. 

Anyways the episode ends on a touching note: Kelsey , now accepting she gay, finishes the story with the two heroes confessing.. and then tells stacks the truth while the rest of the club is distracted.. nad Stacks reciporcates, closing the episode with the two cutely and awkardly holding hands. And this sin’t the end.  She hasn’t told craig, Jp or most importantly her daddy guy yet. The journey isn’t done... nad I can’t wait to see where it goes. As if you coudln’t tell this episode is truly excellent, Noel does some of her finest work here, check it out immedeitly. 

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder: A Rope of Sand: Father Figures

So onto disney getting shot in the groin with a gun it designed, manufactured and handed to the shooter. 

So we open with Felix’s first role of note since the revivial began. While he had a small cameo last episode coaching the opposing team, this time he’s actual integral to the plot as Oscar lures him to his garage and traps him in there and won’t let him go till he invests in Oscar’s newest scheme: Snackland

Naturally Felix has no intrest in this and Oscar is only trying to dupe his best friend into it because he has such horrifying credit he can only get the loan needed for this latest disaster if someone cosigns. Felix naturally wants no part of this and thankfully before things can turn into a psychological horror movie real fast, Felix tunnels out bugs bunny style. 

Unfortunatley for Felix, Oscar is ALSO skilled at bugs bunnying and tunnels into Felix’s house to stalk him some more. Felix still swiftly turns him down before getting into his marriage issues, as he DIRECTLY PUTS IT ‘Sunset... she’s... happy!” 

Now I get the original show had these kinda jokes with Felix and sunset.. but it wasn’t funny then.. and almost 20 years have passed. Comedy has evolved to thankfully expunge this shit for the most part. While ther’es stil plenty of ...

The whole terrible married life played for sitcommy laughs trope has died out in all btu the most hackned of sitcoms and shows. So choosing to keep this of ALL THIGNS, especailly when they eased up on it for the most part with Oscar and Trudy is just utterly baffling. You’ve had 20 years to see this is stupid, why did you not think this through. Just because we liked the show dosen’t mean you can’t fix up things and if the creators didn’t think that, they wouldn’t of added needed representation. This kind of shit died out for a reason.

Anyways the reason Felix is worried is that he fears Sunset is cheating on her with her new partner Barry, aka the sexiset dad in disney history. Right above evil ranting moth dad. Which of course somehow leads to the second overplayed cliche as the punchline becomes

Another outdated and offensive joke. It also is to the show’s credit that despite these jokes.. Barry and his Husband Randall.. have a completely beliviable and wholesome relationship. Whenever we see the two together it’s clear they love each other almost more than anything, with only their kids being as important in their eyes and in a show where the romances and gender politics are handled about as well as that crate full of osolots Oscar illegally imported last week, and while the episode has misteps, it’s handing of these two and their relationship, as well as how they ar eis parents, is not one. We’ll get to the latter in a second. 

So while this was going on the kids were competting for tickets via an online video using Lacienga, who after being symathetic in the first ep... is back to her usual self centerted bitchtastic self, calling the others her “followers” and putting her face over zoey’s flute solo. 

Naturally given Lil WIzzy is the other competior, our heroines loose but Barry just happens to be working security as a side hustle and invites the girls to come along, with Sunset shooting down an attepmt to provent laceinga to go by felix.  God this part of the plot makes me age 10 years I swear.

Okay so at the Pink I Concert, who I like a bit probably because both pink hair and freckles are a thing for me, our heroes meet Randall, KG and Maya’s other dad. We also get great KG content as while Maya is still in resting bitch face towards our heroes for stupid reasons.. despite you know having hung out with one of them last episode for no reason, KG warmly introduces his dad.. which everyone but Djonay gets as them having two dads. It takes her about two minutes to get it. 

This ends up being a bad thing though as while their all leaving, Djonay tries to snap a pick of the happy family together, which itself is a really nice moment, showing the dads holding their daughters up after the concert. It’s also a humanizing moment for Maya, one of two in this episode, as it shows her being vunerable for the first time all season. She may be angry around penny and co... but she loves her dads and appricates them. 

Penny EXPLICITLY tells her not to and for good reason: While Djonay tries to reflect with “it’s the roaring 2020′s” penny isn’t that naive: just because we’ve come a long way dosen’t mean bigotry dosen’t exist and evne if it didn’t.. it’s still NEVER okay to out someone or their parents. Naturally the second Penny’s not looking after SWEARING not to tell.. Djonay texts everyone she can the picture.

The show does get credit though in how the outing comes out: while there’s a few bigoted dicks, most people either fully accept they have two dads or geninley don’t care because why should they. Someone having two dads should be perfectly normal. 

But i’ts clear from Maya and KG’s walk into school the next day i’ts not so easy: social media is one thing but real life.. is a bit more complicated. It’s clear from Maya and Kg’s expressions they know exactly what’s happened: once again someone’s outed their dads, and while ther’es plenty of approving looks from most of the students.. there’s also a nasty message left on KG’s locker. It makes the message painfully obvious but in a way that dosen’t feel overblown: just because most people have grown accepting dosen’t mean everyone accepts lbgtq people or their children, and that this kinda bigotry is just something the two will have to put up with their whole lives, just as their dads have... and i’ts something their used to.

Penny , despite having every reason to hate maya.. feels bad for BOTH of them, getting that as much as she can’t stand her rival’s self righteousness.. no one deserves this, getting only worse when a character I don’t remember from the first series but Penny mentoins having liked so I assume we’re supposed to know him bullies KG. Though KG’s response.. cements how much I love this freaking kid as while he was releatable comic relif before.. this episode fleshes him out as a person. HIs response to being bullied is to actively challenge Frankie to step outside and while Frankie says he’s “nothing to me” and walks out.. it’s very clear the asshole did not expect KG to actually want to fight and feared he’d actually take him. 

So Penny tries to figure out who dunnit.. and it takes all of two seconds to realize it was Djonay. And look Djonay did a LOT of shitty things in the original series.. but outing two people’s parents and not giving a shit about the damage she caused is the lowest the fucker has ever sunk. And she outright REFUSES to go sit with them in solidarity when penny offers despite being DIRECTLY RESPONSEIBLE FOR THIS SHIT. Like my god they’d actually put work in to making Djonay less obnoxious, even toning down her stalking after episode 1, but this.... I haven’t seen a character crater this fast since

Oh yes that’ll do. Oh and none of them but micheal stand by her on this. Lacienga I get, she’s just selfish as hell, but Zoey? I get she got peer pressured before but here that’s not the excuse. Her excuse is and I quote “I’m running for class president and have to stay neutral on this issue”. and much like bob she only turns around on the issue when i’ts convient for her. Disney could not have crafted a bullet better shaped for their nuts if they tried. 

And yes ONCE AGAIN penny’s friends betray her and look terrible.. I know this suprises few people but.. I GENINELY thought the show had abandoned this shit.. and god does it suck to be proven wrong. Again you had 20 years and fans SCREAMING AT YOU about how bad of a friend Djonay was.. nad you didn’t fix it. What a waste. 

Thankfully Micheal stands up for them but Penny’s attempts at making jokes fall flat.. and we get yet another fucking fire bit from KG as while Maya just storms off KG at least explains: While he appricates them sitting down and actually trying to support them, they don’t know them well enough to joke about it.. especially not having a mom as it turns out ,to my suprise as I thought the two were adopted as babies, part of Maya’s anger.. comes from being adopted and likely bounced around in the hell that is the foster system. Of not knowing who her birth parents were and why they abandoned her and then finding loving, wonderful parents.. only for the world to mock and scorn them just for being who they are. 

Speaking of which as Penny heads home, Trudy and Oscar are fighting... and Trudy telling her to not fill their daughters head with his nonsense makes it damn clear Oscar, despite Penny thinking otherwise, is a homophobic ass, as proven when he tries to tell her not to hang out with maya and KG. And this is where the ep really shines for me as the homphobia is portrayed realistically: the kids bully at school but only where they can’t get caught, in public sure but not where any teachers are, while Oscar tries to not outright SAY he’s against this to his daughter.. even though ti’s clear he is and the most he can say about KG and Maya’s bullying is “life isn’t fair”.. which EVERYONE glares at him for, knowing i’ts a bullshit way of saying “It’s their parents fault for being gay”. And it fits oscar: he’s been prejudiced, sexist and other stupid shit before. Him being homophobic is not suprising. And for once his mom’s abuse comes off justified saying “this is why I don’t like telling people your my son”. Most other times she’s said that shit it was bad, still is... but here her son is being a bigoted dickhead and refuses to stand down or listen on the topic. 

It also shows how even if a parent can teach good values.. they sometimes don’t practice them. Oscar and Trudy taught Penny to respect other people and to hav eempathy.. but when the time comes to man up and show empathy to two men and two kids who need it.. oscar has none. I also give the episode credit for NOT making the main cast exempt from fuckups. Granted I WOUL’DVE liked Djonay to actually suffer for her actions, but when you look at it one of our main family is homophobic, and all but the pansexual one among Penny’s friends, while not against gay people, aren’t willing to actually stand with them if it risks their own comfort or saftey. It shows that sometimes homophobia.. is just doing jack shit about queer problems. And with Penny’s blunder at the lunch table it also shows sometimes even well meaning allies can fuck up. Even if I don’t like Penny’s friends betraying her for the 888th time, I can appricate the creators not holding back and having major characters be bigoted or have bystandar syndrome despite the heavy risk of doing so. 

So the next day the family, including the twins and puff, ignore Oscar as he prepares to go try and get his loan anyway.. from Randall who he’s unaware is gay. 

We also have Oscar outright trying to suck up to him by putting on sterotypical african garb to just try and score points.. something I actually talked about with my friend @cipher-club who is from africa and enjoyed the bit for how stupid it makes oscar look and added a lair to the gag: Oscar is putting on a costume literally an dfiguartively, not bothering to check his heritage or anything just wanting to score points, something Randall no sells. Randall does geninely bond with oscar, seing oscar as the good natured determined idiot he is and gladly singing the lone. But naturally being this is oscar his biggest enemy is himself.. and upon Barry showing up and the dots connecting in his head, Oscar’s brain about explodes.. and finally does, along with his eyes shattering, when the two kiss, with Randall swiftly taking in the loan. And I like Randall a lot.. and not just because he’d make a good three way with his husband. Seriously he’s like a cuddly bear. No he’s also just a good, genine person whose willing to give Oscar a chance when most wouldn’t.. but will not take homophobic bullcrap for a moment, not getting shouty with oscar but not giving the guy a win either for his blatant prejudice. 

So that night, Penny and friends head home from school and see Maya getting jacked by the gross sisters. once again her friends want to stand by and do nothing

But Penny finally shames them into doing the right thing, starting with fake-ass zoey and trickling down. Turns out though the Gross Sisters aren’t jacking Maya for having gay dads.. but the fact Penny was willing to stand up to the three of them on that premise does geninely suprise Maya, shattering her half baked notions of penny and seeing the real person for the first time. The real reason is hilarously simple: their dads both make decent money as a police officer and banker respectively, thus Maya has more to give. Still Maya dosen’t back down, but Barry shows up and Maya dosen’t snitch, earning the sisters respect... for a second till KJ dosen’t want to return ole’s affections because SEXUAL HARRASMENT IS FUNNY RIte. So maya GENINELY thanks penny and we get a great bit about penny standing on a soap box. 

So we end on a truly amazing scene, as what was supposed to be a small get together for the neighbors, ended up being most of the neighbors showing up for Gumbo, with the bigoted bully from earlier apologizing and Oscar still being blind from earlier and still trying not to go in. But what I like most is how oscar breaks from his bigotry. As the party linedances to Earth Wind and Fire’s all time banger september, as you do, Randall admits he approved oscars loan afterall as thanks for what Penny did for his kid, recognizing that while Oscar might be an idiot.. he raised a good kid and maybe he CAN change... and recommends he do so by seeing it from penny’s eyes. And it’s by seeing all his friends nad familyd ancing, treating these two men as normal.. that oscar’s vision symolically and literally clears and he sees the two men kiss crying as he does. Is it a bit over the top? Sure. Is it any less poginant, showing Oscar finally realize how stupid he was to judge these kind wonderful men by their orentation, and to not listen to his daughter? NOPE. The following talk betwene penny and oscar is likewise really sweet

Penny: Daddy, I know you don't agree with me. But you and momma taught me to treat other people the way I wanted to be treated. Oscar: Mm-hmm. I know, baby-girl. I'm just glad you listen to the smart things that we say, and ignore the dumb stuff.

It’s a geninely touching ending. Will the prejudice for the Lebowitz-Jenkins end entirely? Probably not. But by one person having the courage to do what’s right.. another realized they were wrong. And sometimes that’s enough

Final Thoughts: As if yo ucoudlnt’ tell this episode is excellent, it’s only issues being ones from the series as a whole they haven’t fixed rather than anything. It’s one of the first shows for kids to geninely tackle bigotry. While I appricate other shows showing everyone being causally acepting, and that still rocks sometimes you still have to tackle bigotry head on if you want to get anywhere.. and they did so with flying colors here. See you next time

Patreon. Please join I’m broke as oscar. 

[starshipsofstarlord]

Okay rockstars, settle down

rockstar!bucky barnes x assistant!reader x rockstar!loki laufeyson / masterlist

summary; having previously worked for loki, it causes a heat to burn within bucky’s already accumulated hate towards the musician / warnings; threesome, smut, mxf and mxm sex, mentions of sex with other characters, oral sex (male and female receiving), creampie, unprotected sex, double penetration, degradation, swearing, orgasm denial, cum eating

“Can’t believe you worked for that wanker.” Snarked Bucky as an image of the well known, musically spread, and acoustically acclaimed, Loki Laufeyson was shown on the screen of the dressing room television, as the other artist stretched his clothing bare arms across the back of the couch. “Come here sweet cheeks.”

At his command, you dismissed the paper work for a moment, trailing over and straddling the inked hunk’s chain belted lap, digging your manicured set of nails into his shoulders, as you seated yourself over his crotch. “I’m happy I work for you now Buck, you treat me so good.”

Punctuating your words, you pressed your teeth into your bottom lip, giving it the appearance of being more plump, as you batted your dark eyelashes up at your employer. “I do, don’t I?” He rhetorically asked, skimming his fingers across the length of your arms, before moving them to sloppily cup your jaw, ensuring that you would not look away from his wild and dilated pupils. “Tell me what I do better than the lead singer of the god of mischief.”

At his words, a small yet peaceful contortion of uncomfortableness split a skin grafted line through the centre of your forehead, stating that you had no wish to do so. And thus, as punishment for your self aversive silence, Barnes braced his knuckles into your skin, causing you to keen out, and tap his shoulders in verification for surrender.

In turn, you lowered your hands, dragging the tips of your nails, absentmindedly running them down the expanse of his waxed chest, conveniently passing the silver hoops that were attached to his nipples on the trail to a less dominant ground. “I prefer the way that your songs have a heavier bass and-“

“Uh uh uh, not the music. Think of something that has you, let’s say, screaming, but definitely not in a crowd. Though, we may have to try that one sometime; show the world how hungry you are to assist me.”

“You, James Bucky Barnes,” he loosened his grip to your relief, which lead to you hugging in spite, “are the best fuck I have ever endured. Loki has nothing on you, he deems himself a god of the arts, but he doesn’t see how you paint me so perfectly with your cum, nor how you bend my body to your whim, as though I am a tool in the midst of your creations, useful, but disposable.”

“I like the sound of that doll. Disposable, now that really does you make you sound like my personal cum dump.”

“That’s was certainly interesting to listen to...”that voice had your body jolting in shock, and it appeared that Bucky too was surprised by the presence, though, he steadied his well versed hands on your hips, claiming you to the intimate spot.

“What the fuck are you doing in my dressing room you greasy haired weasel?” Bucky sneered, his nose turning up at the sight alone of his competition in the lyrical world. Loki, he had graced you with his presence, and you had to look away; he admittedly looked good.

His shirt was open chested, leaving you with the memorable impression of all the times that you had left crescent marks upon that particular surface, a few times you had even drawn blood, but that had only fuelled his mission to fuck you into a propeller of urgency.

“Our new album Laufey has just been released, I can confirm my dear, you shoulda stayed around and knelt in our success. The records are certainly going to have more sales than what was it called again? Ah yes, the red star. I could tell it was about this one, so much passion, a sultry tune, that did little to justify what it means to be with her.”

Loki’s hands waved around as he spoke, and you could only picture the past whence he penetrated your with those long and talented fingers of his. He had drawn orgasm after orgasm out of you, resulting you to be nothing more than a withering mess, as he digressed the option to simply stop. There was nothing simple about him, nor the time that he demanded that he shared you with his brother.

That thought alone had you mindlessly grinding upon Bucky’s covered cock, plucking at your lip with the keys of your teeth, though Bucky’s voice brought you back to reality, causing you to pause your movements embarrassingly, venting a clear out of your head to process the situation that was before you. The two were bickering like two teenage girls, and it was quite exhausting to listen to.

“Answer the question trickster, else I’ll have you fed to the infamous black panther, and let’s just say that he is the best bodyguard I have ever hired. So, are you going to speak, or will I have you dragged out of here like a damned serpent with a noose around its neck?” Bucky threatened, gritting his teeth together, his nose straining in frustration, drawing more attention to the small stud on the right side of his nose.

“Looks like she needs me Barnes, perhaps your reputation does not proceed you. But to answer in full, my band have made quite the rise, and I thought it would be... fitting to pay you a visit. Though I had no idea that this wonderful woman would be here, pining on your lap like some feline in heat. I see she’s fucking you now, after all my suspicions are never wrong. Or we’ll, Heimdall’s train of thought always ends up at the right station.”

“Can the pair of you stop, for one goddamn minute!” Your hands obscured a path into your hair, as you glared back and forth between the pair of rival rockstars. “I am here, dammit! Stop talking about me as though I am not here, a part of me wishes that I wasn’t so I didn’t have to listen to your bitching.”

Without any thought, you clambered from your perch on Bucky’s lap, walking towards the raven haired gentleman, pointing your finger in his face as you accused him. “You’ve got your point across, but I’ll tell you something. If you don’t leave, Heimdall will see me putting my foot up your ass.”

“Does she speak to you like this Barnes? I thought she had loosened up in more ways than one when I allowed Thor to stretch her cunt, but it appears that that mouth of hers has gotten a little out of hand also. You should do something about that, or else you’ll lose her to someone else like a did. Who knows, could be Romanoff, heard she has a thing for brats.”

Natasha Romanoff, a diverse woman in her ways and songs. She was the queen of the rock culture, tormenting her workers with her verbal abuse and it would undoubtedly be no different for her assistant. If you were to be under her employment, it was certain that you would not get out alive, nor work for another talented person for the rest of your life. To cross her, was a vow to sign your own death certificate, it was plain stupidity, yet people still hustled with her and her limits, resulting in their chances of ever getting hired for any job, vastly slim to none.

At the lack of defence that Bucky provided you, you felt small, your shoulders slacked as you were tortured with Loki’s cold and silky gaze, more so when the man stood up, pressing his bare chest against your back. You could feel the rings that hung off the buds that adorned his chest coil and dig into your back, shrouding your demeanour substantially.

A part of you wanted nothing more than for Bucky to abuse Loki’s face with his fist, specifically the right, since it was the bearer to a chunky silver ring. It’d leave quite the print, however, the unexpected unravelled as his enquiring tone was aimed not at you, but Loki instead.

“You let your brother fuck her, hmm. Maybe she should learn her manners by being shared, that way her retrospective spattering of bullshit may be contained, to a limit of course.” It was unbelievably, you could not believe that Bucky was conferring with the enemy! And not only that, they were talking about experiences of having you literally become speechless from their unprofessional administrations upon your body. “I’d get T’Challa in here, but I know she’s already fucked him. Can’t quite fire him for it though, because who could ever say no to those pretty eyes, and that mouth, god, it is definitely one of her most persuasive attributes.”

“Bu-“ you didn’t even get to finish imploring his name off your lips, about to defend yourself and your previous actions, though, you were interrupted, starved from the opportunity of coming up with an explanation.

“No.” Loki told you, the roles now reversed as he was the one with his index finger aimed at you. He tapped your nose with it, as he began to pace in the room, his wild locks remaining in their place as he spun, before facing Bucky, a sly tranquility of a truce veining out from the pools of his evergreen orbs. “You don’t speak a word to me y/n, not whilst I’m having a conversation with James here.”

James. It was too far a polite way for him to address your boss. They were all hot and ready to tear out each other’s throats a moment ago, and now here they were, having a silent conversation without your inclusion. It had you reeling your mind as to why, until Bucky gathered your hair in his hand to the side, sliding you y/h/c locks over your shoulder, and finally deemed it acceptable for you to hear his voice.

Though, he still was not directing his tensive words in your direction. “Since you had dealt with this subordinate behaviour from her, perhaps you’d like to join us; help me train her to become more...” His breath fanned your the top of your ear, making your skin crawl by not only his warm and inviting breath, but also the offer that he had supposed to the other man.

“Obedient?” Loki asked in turn of his wispy ended offer of optimism, his leather, sharp tipped boots taking a prominent, heart clenching step towards you. He reached his finger out, grasping a loose strand that had fallen out of Bucky’s grip and before your face, tugging lightly on it, as his lips came dangerously close to your own. “Rules aren’t your forfeit, are they my dear? The best assistant I ever hired, with all those unique ideas floating around in that independent head of yours, but you’ve always been troublesome. I remember the time that you bit my cock that day you had attitude. I reckon Bucky here could do a better job.”

“Then why doesn’t he?” You hissed as said man tugged on his handful of your hair, instantly making you regret your phrase in the moment. To a halting surprise however, Bucky released you, lightly shoving you to cause you to fumble forwards, and away from him.

“Maybe I will.” He dared, earning a nod from Loki, whom seductively began to unzip his loose trousers, as Bucky descended to the ground, his hands running up his rival’s thighs, as the material dropped around Loki’s ankles. It would seem, that he had gone commando, and as Bucky grasped Loki’s shaft, you felt a pull in your chest inherently demanding that you play some part in this fornication.

“Wait.” Your hand shot out, as though you had some force to stop them from continuing with their war path to exact all of their developed spit onto you. “What about me?” You were ss

“Oh no doll, you are not pulling any strings here, if you wanna do something useful, come here and warm my cock, you can watch me blow your old associate.” A slither of a whimper fell from your lips, it wasn’t exactly what you were prying towards, but you sure as hell were not going to refuse the contact that Bucky was obliged to give you.

Thus you wandered towards him, your pinkies curling around one another, as you sashayed to the ground beside him, watching as he paid Loki no mind for a moment, ruthlessly in a desperation fuelled motion, unbuckled his thick belt, and shoved the material of his leather trousers to be held accountable against his lower thighs, just above his tense knees.

He too, as their exteriors supposed, had forgone the extra layer that kept his cock tucked away, though it was exposed as he tugged those tight trousers down, and the sight of both his and Loki’s cocks bobbing in the same vicinity had you close to quivering.

It was somewhat of a dream portrayed in the viscous space of reality, the two men half undressed in then proximity of yourself, it was something that you had always imagined, even before you had left Loki’s side, and opted to work for Bucky, but the idea was definitely short lived. They hated each other, but apparently they were willing to put all their issues aside to prohibit you from freely running your mouth.

Bucky’s cock twitched as he patted his own thigh, ordering you without the aid of his voice to commence it as a servant’s throne, or in your case, a stool for you to rest on as he tended to intimate needs of the man that you had once worked for. Finally, with the decision of better judgement, you allowed your grey jumper dress to slide down your body, leaving you nude, and the aspect of the two men’s unforgiving and locked gazes.

“No underwear, and you wonder why your men have no difficulty in her allowing them to fuck her.” Bucky took ahold of his cock, squeezing his cock with one hand, whilst his other aided you in sitting on his muscular legs, as he lightly growled up at the opposing rockstar.

From the stiff grip that Bucky affirmed around his sceptre, Loki gasped, his pale lips instantly shutting once the sound wantonly abandoned him. The last thing that he wanted was for Bucky to see him in vulnerable poise, though with that said, it’d be rather difficult considering the smutty circumstances.

Bucky took Loki’s long, alabaster prick into his mouth, starting from the primrose tip and descending down, reciprocating the action that you did yourself as you sheathed yourself onto his cock, but instead with his lips. A grunt rendered along Loki’s length as the man bit back a whimper, the vibrations running through his veins like a transpiring pulse of sorcery.

Bucky opted for bobbing his head, as you endured the liberation of his very slightly gyrating movement inside of you. Though, despite him being almost completely still and leaving you full to the brim with his thick length, his balls resting against the partition where he was delved into you, you remained transfixed.

The motion image, recording first hand through your own eyes, of him blowing Loki was sinful, but you were drawn to it. If that made you a sinner, one endorsed by the graphic scene, licking your lips from the sight of Bucky running his studded tongue up the length of Loki, dipping the ball of silver metal into his slit, then so be it.

Your heart raced as you were met with an opportunity. A globe of saliva, strung by the lapping muscle of Bucky’s tongue dropped down; you practically saw its fall in slow motion. It was done before you could register your actions, you had leant forwards, catching the trickle of spit in your mouth, thinking not for a moment as you gulped the subjective liquid down.

Bucky’s pace increased, he gagged lightly as he jolted him further down his throat. Loki hummed, harshly grabbing Bucky’s dark brunette locks, biting his lip as he reimagined your little catch. It had him feeling close, and just as he was about to finish, precum furiously pooling out of his tip, Bucky pulled back, a smirk marking his features.

“You’re not cumming in my mouth, I don’t mind sucking dick, nor swallowing, but I have to practically listen to you jizz over your own talent, and prowl over my girl.” The name he labelled you with had your heart fluttering, but not nearly as much as when he lightly pulled out of you, infuriating you with the lack of any pleasurable esteem. “Don’t you worry babes, you can finish with me inside of you, like always.”

That used to be him, Loki thought with a brewing rage in his chest. Though he instead shrugged out of his dull patterned striped shirt that was already loose on his shoulders. The fabric hit the floor, leaving all of you barren to the subject of nudity.

“Always doesn’t suppose the past Barnes.” Loki stated, referring to all the various times that he had found refuge in your spongey walls, you willingly clenching around him, and pleading for him to hit a deeper spot within you. “And I do not prowl, I don’t need to. The evidence is there between her legs, coiling in juices surrounding her ever so willing folds, that are prepared to endure the harshest of penetrations.”

“What are you trying to do, write a fucking song about this?” Scoffed Bucky, rolling his crystallised orbs at the guts that this man had. If he so much as wanted to, he could stop this passage into a three way all together, but he did not, at least he had yet to. He was enjoying the way that you were squirming to yourself, thinking that he didn’t notice, squeezing the sides of your thighs together in an aroused matrimony.

“A fucking song would’ve the correct term - literally.” Was the affirmed words of Loki, as he shoved Bucky to be sat beside you, tilting his messy brush of crazed hair, his untrustworthy eyes drifting to you. “Who’d you want to fuck you, you fangirling slut?”

It was truthfully a difficult decision. “Both.” You admitted, your bones jumping as Bucky pinched one of your erect nipples, continuing to hold a sturdy clasp of his pads around the sensitive flesh; you couldn’t jut choose one of them. Not when they were both in such close range, bore in nothing more than their birthdays suits, talking about your quivering and diversely accepting cunt.

They knew that you couldn’t possibly refuse one or the other. You were vastly too hungry to be filled like you had never been before, shagged by two of three most well known artists in the industry, earnestly and mindlessly earning yourself a title within the circle of uptight yet simultaneously chill performers.

Perhaps, if Bucky we to ever potentially fire you, there would be another pursuer for your articulating talents on standby, awaiting for the moment that you walked out of his complex door to swoop you up as though they were a predatory falcon, flying off into a stationed sunset, those around seeing you as nothing more than a shadow of the ambient orb, but the one who had employed you finding you to be a sufficing inspiration.

Large hands swallows your hips, firmly controlling their angle as they grasped you in their strong, almost super human hold, lifting you so that you were tentatively tucked in a reverse cowgirl position on Bucky’s lap. It was the third time that you had been this close to him, it would almost be intimate, if your legs weren’t strewn in an open, all revealing splay, so that Loki could see your boss tease his tip around your entrance before sliding you down his length, extracting a strong wail from your churning throat.

Your own hand resented down, applying swirls of pressure down on your clit; it appeared that they were willing you to continue without interruption. Bucky lightly, despite the power that he was promoted to in this position, began to bounce you on his shaft, spewing small mewls out from your agape mouth.

Fisting his cock, Loki approached, Bucky reachin this seen hands down to spread te lips of your pussy, so that the other man was guaranteed a crude glimpse of you being stufffed. Though, you weren’t quite filled enough, for Bucky raised a brow and prompted Loki to allow himself to be pulled closer by your axed and whining aura.

He brushed his tip languidly against your buzzing clit, dragging through your slick and jab i at your delicate fingers before probing at the base of Bucky’s cock, and pushing inside, right along his rival’s length, the pair moaning out in a pleasured union. On the other and, you had tears falling from the crescents of your eyes, the stretch so much that it was a blistering pain to your cunt.

“Don’t go all meek dear, you and i both know this is far from the first instance where you’ve had more than one cock in this nasty, betraying cunt of yours.” Loki taunted, gripping the vulnerable expanse of your throat from behind, his icy glazed skin sending provocative shivers down your spine, making your pussy pulse from the chill that ran through your body.

And then, i a split instant, both cocks began to piston into your walls, as though you were nothing more than a rag doll, meant o be thrown around and handled in a disorderly fashion. They ere ruthless, groaning out symphonies in the cursive air around you, as your walls engulfed their pricks more than snugly.

You felt so wide down there, they were taking a pirating toll on your body stealing every breath that dared wither from your lips, tweezing their nimble fingered around various parts of your body, all in due retrospect or coerce you into fucking them back, making all actions in the mass of bodies a mutual effort.

Loki lowered his head down meeting Bucky for a sloppy, brash kiss. It was clear they were simply doing that part to fulfil a greedy desire in your stomach, but you were not one that minded. It was, like the rest of their frenzy of collaborations, a competitive mess. They nipped harshly at each other’s lips, ravenously all in the meanwhile ploughing your body with their har girths.

“Fuck, that’s hot.” Your tongue dribbled, earning satisfied, lust induced smirks from both parties that were currently penetrating you, making you writhe harder against their lengths a new flow of moisture weeping out from your hole, lubricating their movements further, it encouraging them to do nothing more than continue what they were doing, despite their better judgements.

The truth was, they were rockstars. They had no better judgement, which is why everyone like them needed someone like you. Their thought were clouded with one mission, and for once in their spent lifetimes, it was not to beat the others, at least not to a certain extent anyways. It was their assignment, delivered by their own hands, to bring you to the edge, and that’s physically what they reformed to do.

One of them were groping your nipples, whilst the other confined the same treatment to your ass cheeks. Loki found your Rocky enables of positive feedback to be icicles and they were beautiful, he stared at them, as though they were divine ploys extracted from the mythical kingdom of Jotunheim, their residence in the realm to be the peacemakers of all bountiful creatures, much like himself and Barnes.

A rich euphoric groan exuberated from Bucky as he allowed himself to spoil, but he tutted whence he watched Loki’s features suppose that he was to follow shortly behind. “Not inside of her.” Bucky growled, sufficing Loki to roll his eyes, and pull out, the man behind you furiously replacing your hand, rolling our clit in his grasp until a sinful scream enveloped the air, commencing them all to the fact that you had just came.

Loki found the show to be unfair, and instead, spilled his priceless seed onto the huffing skin of your stomach, you eyes fluttered shut at the warm feeling pooling onto you. You leant back, drawing your neck into a crooked angle as you swiped your tongue wordlessly over the piercing on Bucky’s right nipple, metal providing a relief to the heat that your body was and had been swarmed with. “ Last chance you’re gonna have t taste her sweet cunt.”

“You do certainly have some faith in this one Barnes, but I do doubt that it will be the last instance in which i am todo so.” His silver tongue pried at your cum soaked flesh, drinking up all the essence that you had to offer, onshore the flavour that Bucky had brought to the table, i the form of a succulent drizzling of Snow White cum.

As Loki finishes swabbing his tongue over your cunt, Bucky adoringly kisses you, much sweeter than he has before. It was sort, and almost chaste, but his blue eyes roamed your face, delicately observing the high points of your face, that were covered with a sheen of great force making you as he would put it, glow.

The pair of you weer exhausted, there was still some swollen was to his lips from where he had sucked off Loki. His hands cradled you around your waist, his feet kicking Loki back as you whimpered from opaque sensitivity. “I guess that was you bidding me a dew.” Sneered the trickster, fishing for his clothes, as he spared you a spark filled glare, to which you ignored.

Once he was situated back into his attire, he left the sex scented room,a hollow smirk chapping his lips as he strutted th a purpose out into the hallway, taking a left instead of a right, and creeping into barnes’ studio to see what the man was working on in the midst of his enduring tour/ He was always the trickster, and nothing different was to ever be expected out of him.

“That was good.” You mumbled, rubbing your ode lovingly across the scruff that coated his jaw. His fingers made small circles upon your tummy, humming contently as he remained sheathed inside of you. He had to admit, he preferred it when it was just him, but his lonesome, sheathed within your walls, feeling the small trembles of your walls around him. It was practically heaven, and he would say so if he believed in such a place.

A deliberate knock ruined the moment, as the man entered,he quarrelled with himself where her to casually look in the direction of the pair of you or to avert his sight around, and blankly at the all. “What is it T’Challa?” Grumbled the man inside of you, quirking a thin brow at the timing of his presence.

“Loki; he managed to get into ur data, and he’s leaked a whole bunch of your music.” Of course, Loki would not come here to simply gloat, there was alas something extra up his green sleeve, and now it was revealed.

“Son of a bitch!” Bucky made a move to stand, but instead prohibited a whimper out of you as hi ships jutted angrily tip on instinct. “Get Odin on the phone, we’re going to have a little chat about his slippery hands son!” Barked Bucky, prepared t do anything to bring his greatest threat down, compiling him into the put of hate industry, until he was forgotten about, unable to ever produce new music again.

“Talk to Sif.” You whispered, becoming the image of his assistant once more, even if his cum lathered cock was prevailing within a rut of required stress relief, growing in the conjunction of your wall with his body guard there. “She loathes him, and rightfully so. He got her kicked out and she has dirt on him that nobody else has ever heard. If you want to take I’m down, she is your in.”

The strict tone grammatically supported by your logical information was definitely turning Bucky on again. He could handle you more than fine without Loki’s aid, he was just a means to an end, as it was clearly shown in his priorities.

[simpingforsoftboys]

Too Little Too Late

ft. IwaOi

G/N reader

TW: Neglect, manipulation, toxicity in general, swearing

Read this first

tysm for the request anon! It’s about time Y/n stood up for themselves don’t you think? That’s the thing about relationships like these. It’s so hard to get out of them once you’re in deep- even if you can see every single red flag clear as day.

Also I’ve decided that since these are lengthy- there will be separate parts for Kuroken, SakuAtsu, and OsaSuna in the future.

 This one is something I actually turned into a two shot: part one and part two. So same plot line, just goes more in depth on the “break up” part.

This was it, you were finally going to do it. After two decades of following your soon to be ex boyfriends around, it was time for you to step out of their shadow- into the limelight of independency. Still, you felt like a coward- leaving them while neither were even in the country. It was petty perhaps, but deep down within your heart- the vindictive, evil, and cruel part of you whispered that this was what they deserved. You were nearly finished packing- two suitcases stuffed to the max with your clothing and any small, expensive purchase you bought for yourself. Now all you needed to do was shove anything else that could fit into your duffel bag. 

This wasn’t a new idea. Leaving them that is. In fact, you’d been thinking about it for years already. Honestly, you doubted you’d have even begun noticing just how unbalanced your current dynamic with your two “lovers” was, until a stranger- turned friend had pointed it out. 

His name had been Miya Atsumu- he had gone to Tokyo University just like you and was the starting setter for their volleyball team. He was flirty at first, acting like a stereotypical frat boy. Despite telling him you had not one- but two partners- he hadn’t left you alone at that fateful party. 

“Wait... yer datin’ that newbie setter from Argentina? AND Iwaizumi... the one who’s boutta transfer over to that American university?” Atsumu questioned incredulously, nearly doing a spit take, he leans over your figure and places his red solo cup down on the counter behind you. 

“Yeah... I know it’s not a normal relationship-” You begin, already used to defending you and your lovers. 

“Nah, that’s not what I’m sayin’ darlin.” The blonde replies, his words make him seem as though he’s hitting on you but somehow there’s an undertone of genuine concern. “Neither of em have even spared ya a glance since ya got here! Seems like they’re the ones in love- not the three of ya.”

You had frowned at his words, shaking them off easily. The three of you were in love, besides, no stranger could have deduced that at first glance- if anything he was just trying to meddle in your happy relationship... so why did his words continue to plague you that night, and for many nights after that? 

Looking back on it now, you should have listened to Atsumu sooner. 

You had countless discussions with Hajime and Toru after the night of the party. They had seemed genuinely sorry and made an effort to be more inclusive. However, they slowly fell back into old habits- time and time again- as if they had forgotten the promises they had made. 

There would be no more discussions, no more nights staying up, waiting for them to come back home from their date. 

There would be no more of the three of you- just Hajime and Toru. 

That thought prevented you from picking up the framed photo on your bedside- the one of you three. It had been taken at a children’s festival that the three of you had taken Takeru too. It was probably the last photo where you had been so blinded by your love for them that you completely glossed over the fact that the only people they were looking at were each other. 

“Y/n... what are you doing?” A raspy voice called from the bedroom’s doorway, startling you from your memories. Body shaking, you turned around to face the owner of the voice. “We came home early to surprise you... only to find you packing your bags?” 

The same two people that you didn’t want to see stood before you. Both toted suitcases and smelt like the airport. You couldn’t find it within yourself to look them in the eyes, fearing that if you did you’d lose your strength, turn around, and begin unpacking.

“Y/n... prince(ss), what’s going on? Talk to us.” Toru whispered, speaking to you as if you were a cornered animal. That analogy wasn’t wrong per say but it did nothing to help you calm your nerves. 

You knew it shouldn’t have but for some reason his tone had made your heart skip a beat.

“Yeah babe, let’s put the bags down and take a seat... we can talk about this right after me and Toru shower.” Hajime agreed, his poor choice of words stirring anger within your soul- intense and smoldering like Zeus’s lightning bolts.

“No!” You cry, tears of pent up anger, hurt, and every other negative repressed emotion, begins to well up in your eyes. “I’m going to say this one last time- then I’m going to leave. We won’t talk. I’m not going to... to wait until you finish showering. I’m sick and tired of this- this absolute fucking BULLSHIT!” 

They stare at you wide eyed, not quite knowing how to respond. You don’t even give them the chance to think about how to do so- instead you opt to continue your rant. 

“I love you two so damn much. So, so much- to the point that it hurts me.” Your gaze flickered between the two of them. “Loving you... it breaks my heart. I can’t do it anymore Toru, Hajime. I wanted too- God knows I do. But I can’t keep doing this-”

Toru lets his carry on drop to the floor and races over, attempting to embrace you in a hug. Every bone, every fiber, literally every part of you is begging you to stay trapped in his arms. He’s warm and he’s here. It’s all you’ve ever wanted. 

Too little too late.

You shove him off, biting back sobs. Hajime hurries behind him, catching the taller male as he falls. 

“Y/n calm down what’s going on? What did we do?” Olive green eyes flit over to meet yours, they’re just as lovely as they have always been. But you notice that they’re also cold, like jade bracelets and old watered down matcha tea. 

“It’s what you didn’t do Haji.” You say and they can see the heart ache on your face. “I love you but you don’t love me- not as much as I love you at least.” Both of them look like they want to argue but you shake your head- effectively silencing them. The picture on the night stand stares back at you tauntingly- ignorance was indeed bliss it seems. Grasping it lightly you place it on the ground and kicked it gently, letting it slide over to where Toru and Hajime are still seated on the ground. The brunette takes it in his hands and examines it. 

“This was when we took Takeru to the children’s festival!” 

“Yeah... we were so happy then... where did that go wrong Y/n? When did you stop smiling like this?” Hajime whispers. 

“I stopped smiling like that when I realized the truth- about us.” They watch as you take a deep breath, composing yourself. “It took me a long while, but I’ve been coming to terms with it.” A choked gasp escapes your lips, leading you to quickly spill the rest of your well kept insecurities. “This... this thing we have going on- it’s a toxic, endless cycle. There’s no us- it’s just Hajime and Toru plus Y/n.”

Toru’s expression morphs from empathetic to down right murderous. He’s offended that you would dare imply something like that. Deep down, you’re sure he knows you’re actually right, and he’s just acting like that to save his pride. A pang of shame hits you- when had you begun thinking mean thoughts like that?

“How could you say that?” He spits, tone devoid of sweetness, now replaced with lethal venom. “Everything we do is for you. We give you money, this nice home, space, time- our love. And you have the fucking gall to say we’re ostracizing you from our relationship? What the hell are you thinking Y/n?” 

You’ve never seen him this angry- not in all the years you’ve known the setter. It sorta terrifies you. Hajime doesn’t bother to reprimand Toru for his tone like usual, instead he looks like he agrees with him. 

“He’s right Y/n, everything we do is for you. Are you mad because we didn’t take you to a wedding? Guess what- that’s just business. Stop being so damn jealous for no reason. You can’t be selfish in our sort of relationship. Didn’t you know that in the first place?” 

They don’t- won’t see things from your point of view. Honestly, what were you even expecting.

“When have I EVER been selfish? I cook, clean, and practically orbit around the two of you. I’m not mad just because of a FUCKING WEDDING! I’m upset- and hurt because you can’t ever see from my eyes. Don’t think I haven’t seen the differences between the looks you give me verses each other. The date nights you forget to include me in- the stolen kisses in the morning you give each other without even thinking about me. Even when I try to initiate something I’m ‘too clingy’ or you’re ‘too busy.’ FUCK THAT. I deserve better. So I think I deserve to be selfish just this once- because this is something I need to do for me. Not for you.” 

They’re stunned, unable to speak. So they say nothing at all, watching you zip up your duffel bag and single handedly take all your baggage out into the living room by yourself. Neither of them say anything when there’s a knock on the door and they can hear your best friend enter their home and help you take your stuff down to their car. 

There’s nothing they can do. So they go to bed without showering, thinking about the things you said and reflecting. You made it quite clear to them. It’s over- the three of you.

[allsassnoclass]

The Inherent Domesticity of Target’s Home Decor Section

Pairing: Michael Clifford/Calum Hood Rating: Teen Word Count: 2076 Read on AO3

Michael has mixed feelings about Target.  On one hand, Target is better than Walmart, and he appreciates that they get to design different album covers and sell special editions there.  On the other hand, walking into Target makes him feel like he should have his life together more.  That’s not to say that his life is a disaster; his life is actually pretty great, and he feels like a fully functioning adult.  However, the store still gives him the niggling feeling that he should buy a planner and some post-it notes and turn into a suburban mom.

“Do you think I should buy a planner?” he asks.  Calum hums, reading the back of a DVD that’s on sale for $5.  When he shifts to put it back on the shelf, Michael shifts right with him, arms around his stomach and cheek plastered against his shoulder.  It’s earlier in the morning than Michael would like, so Calum gets the privilege of holding him up as punishment for dragging him out into the world at this time of day.

“Why do you need a planner?  Ashton takes care of that stuff for the band,” Calum says.  He picks up another DVD and flips it over.

“Yeah, but maybe I should put down everyone’s birthday or something,” he says.  Calum snorts and Michael pinches his side, because he’s apologized for forgetting his birthday that one time sincerely and profusely and gave Calum a pretty spectacular blowjob to make up for it.

“Would you even use it?” Calum asks.  Michael considers and has to concede his point.

They look at DVDs for a few more minutes because Calum gets a kick out of what a place like Target choses to stock in their meger selection.  Michael lets him slip some animated thing he thinks he watched once as a kid into the basket, content to stand there while Calum takes his time and just breathe him in.  He loves being close to Calum, letting his familiar smell fill his nostrils and leeching body heat.  He lets their breathing sync up and imagines that he can hear his heartbeat, slow and steady and almost putting him to sleep standing up.

Nowhere feels like home quite like Calum does.  Even in the middle of Target, Michael feels better than he ever has alone in his house.  It makes him wonder why he’s even living alone, and why Calum pulled away and they stopped messing around when neither of them have girlfriends.

The bottom line is that he misses Calum nearly every moment they’re apart, but he doesn’t know how to articulate this without the crushing fear of rejection.  Calum loves him, and he knows that a significant part of Calum’s world revolves around Michael, but that doesn’t mean they necessarily love each other in the same way.  Michael wants grocery shopping and kisses and late night cuddles regardless of if they have somewhere to be in the morning and lazy sex and laughing at each other’s ridiculousness so hard that he can’t breathe.  Calum wants a platonic best friend.

“What else do we still need to get?” Calum asks, shaking Michael out of his reverie.

“Toothpaste, I think.  And vitamins.”

“Look at you, being healthy and shit.”

Michael pokes his side and Calum tries to wriggle away, giggling because Michael knows exactly which spot tickles the most.

“Just because I don’t let Ashton drag me to yoga like you do doesn’t mean I’m unhealthy.  I get the most sleep out of any of us and I drink a fuckton of water.”

“I know, I know,” Calum says.  “Want to check the CDs?”

It’s a distraction tactic, because Michael will always check the one-shelf CD selection, especially so soon after one of their own releases.  Michael makes the conscious decision to allow himself to be distracted.

“Okay.  CDs, then toothpaste, then vitamins, then I want to look at the home decor.”

“What do you want to look at the home decor for?”

Michael shrugs, knowing that Calum can feel it.  There’s just no non-incriminating way to say I like to see your reactions and pretend that we’re picking out stuff for our house because I might be fully in love with you and I want you in every single crevice of my life.

That’s the issue with Target: it makes him feel domestic and long for things he can’t have.

“Excuse me?” a new voice says, and Michael first feels a twinge of annoyance at someone interrupting his moment and then a twinge of panic that it could be a fan when he definitely doesn’t have the emotional or physical energy to put on a public persona.  One look at the owner of the voice dispels that notion.  The woman is on the later side of middle-aged and looks pretty much exactly like the kind of woman who cooks meatloaf and has 3 cats and actually does go to Target to buy planners.  As inclusive as the band tries to make their music, Michael can admit that she’s not exactly in their immediate wheelhouse for fans.  Nevertheless, he straightens up a bit, but the woman is smiling so he thinks he can maybe get away with still locking his arms around Calum’s waist.

“Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to say that you boys make such a cute couple!  It’s so nice to see young people in love.”

Michael stiffens, but Calum puts a hand on his arm, effectively anchoring him in place before he can pull away.

“Thank you.  It’s nice to be in love,” Calum says, and Michael’s breath stutters in his throat.

The woman beams and for a moment Michael thinks she’s going to reach out and pinch Calum’s cheeks, but she just bids them a good day and continues towards the books.

“CDs?” Calum asks, casual as anything.  Michael nods and fully pulls away, not trusting himself to speak or to touch.

It was just a nice thing to say to a romantic woman, but it’s nice to be in love plays on repeat in his head like a broken record.  He knows, he knows that it doesn’t mean anything, but Michael would give almost anything to have it be the truth.

There are five copies of the Target exclusive edition of CALM on the shelf.  There’s also a Neil Diamond greatest hits collection and a few random soundtracks that Calum points out, but Michael can barely focus.  He kind of wants to skip the toothpaste and go straight home, but he also doesn’t want Calum to question why that small interaction with the woman threw him so off kilter.  By the time they make it through the checkout and back to Michael’s car, he feels like he’s going to vibrate out of his skin.

Calum waits until they’re out of the parking lot to start talking.

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable earlier.  That wasn’t my intention.  I just figured that was the easiest response.  I know we’re not--I know we don’t do that anymore.”

In a different world where Michael hasn’t kept a very tight lid on his feelings for his best friend for the past eight years, he would have crashed the car.

“I know,” he says instead.  Silence fills the space, heavy and uncomfortable.  Michael keeps his eyes resolutely on the road and tries not to read too much into how Calum keeps taking a breath as if he wants to talk before cutting himself off.

“And I understand,” Calum says suddenly, almost causing Michael to swerve.  “I understand why we’re not together anymore.”

“What,” Michael says.

“I’m not trying to get you back, or whatever.  I know you don’t think of me like that.”

“That I don’t--” Michael chokes.  “I’m sorry, what?”

“Come on, don’t make me say it,” Calum says, shifting in his seat.

“No, hang on.  I don’t understand what you’re saying to me right now.”

“Mike, stop it.  Now you’re just being mean.”

“Calum, you’re the one who pulled away from me.  Personally, I don’t understand why we’re not together anymore.  I didn’t even know that we were!”

“That’s bullshit!  What did you think we were, if not together?”

“I don’t know, fucking around?  I thought we stopped because you got bored of me.”

“Michael, we stopped because we got asked about ships in an interview and you got really weird about it.”

“Yeah, because I’ve been in love with you for half my life!”

Silence descends, and Michael absolutely cannot look at Calum right now.  The only things that exist are the steering wheel in his grip and the strip of road in front of him.  There’s still a good ten minutes until he reaches his house, and Michael is very content to spend those ten minutes pretending like he is alone and has not just revealed his biggest secret during an argument that he still doesn’t quite understand.

“Pull over.”

No such luck, apparently.

“Michael, pull over right now.”

He eases over and puts the car in park, letting his hands fall into his lap.

“You’re in love with me?” Calum asks.  Michael nods.  “We’re so stupid.”

“What?” Michael asks, finally looking over at Calum.  He doesn’t look uncomfortable or sad, he looks exasperated.  Michael isn’t sure what that’s supposed to mean.

“We’re idiots.  We could’ve been happily dating this whole time.  Hell, we probably could’ve been married by now,” Calum says.  “I’m in love with you, too.”

Michael blinks at him and really wishes his brain was operating a bit faster.

“Calum,” he says, for lack of anything else.

“Michael,” Calum grins right back.

“Are you serious?” he asks.  Calum rolls his eyes.

“Why would I joke about this?”

Michael shrugs helplessly.

“Michael,” Calum says seriously.  “I made you park the car.  We just had a conversation that obviously made you uncomfortable.  Why the fuck would I be joking right now?”

Michael shrugs helplessly again.

“You love me?” he asks.  Calum reaches over and grabs one of his hands.

“I’m head over heels, crazy in love with you.  It’s pathetic.  It’s ridiculous.  I want to jump you in this car right now.”

Michael laughs.

“Not in broad daylight,” he says.  Calum smiles in a way that makes something settle in Michael’s stomach, something that he hadn’t realized had been unsettled ever since they stopped seeing each other.

Fuck.  He’s so lucky.

“I’m in love with you, too,” he says.  Calum’s smile widens.

“I know,” he says.  “You just told me that.”

“Well, I wanted to tell you again.”

“Well, I’m in love with you, too.”

They’re talking in circles now--wonderful, love-sick circles--and Michael is thankful for multiple reasons when Calum breaks it by leaning over the center console to kiss him.  Calum’s lips are familiar under his, and even after months without feeling them Michael has them memorized.  This kiss feels different, though.  There’s a surety to it that they haven’t had before, a question and agreement that thrills him.

“You’re sure you don’t want to roll around in the back seat right now?” Calum asks softly when they part.  Michael grins and knocks their foreheads together.

“You’re funny,” he says.  “Ha, ha.”

Calum kisses him again.  Michael could definitely get used to this.  If their previous conversation is any indication, he’ll have plenty of time and opportunity to get used to this.

This time when the kiss breaks, Calum fully leans back rather than keep breathing his air.

“Okay,” he says.  “Let’s go home, Michael.  We’ve got years of a honeymoon phase to catch up on.”

Michael puts the car in drive and eases back onto the road.  They’ll have time to drive around again later, because Michael definitely wants to do another circuit of the Target home decor section with this new revelation.  Maybe he’ll try to find a card for the woman who confused them for a couple, just in case they happen to run into her by the post-it notes or planners.

Either way, Michael thinks that Target might be his favorite store now.  He glances at Calum to find him already looking at him and his chest warms.

Yeah, Target is definitely his favorite store, but he’d be okay with never setting foot in it again if it meant he could keep spending time with his favorite person.

Thankfully, the way that Calum leans over to kiss him at a red light seems to mean that he agrees.

[kouhaiofcolor]

2020's finally over. Can we not go into 2021 pacifying texturism w "It's just hair" tho?

It was "just hair" until Black Women started exercising the freedom to discover the unique needs & maintenance beneficial to our hair. Then as soon as non black women got wind of it & the nerve to lurk on platforms the natural hair community was uprising thru, nowadays you've got all these non black women bandwagoning & hashtagging literally everything under the sun w/ this fake ass inclusiveness, advocacy, relatability & support for textured hair. Like all women have suffered oppression around wearing their real hair 😒. Like all races of women have been socially targeted in blatant discriminations against their hair texture, complexion, & how acceptable they are or are not together. I hate the "All Hair (Matters/Is Beautiful/Is 'Good Hair')" clout bc it talks over & totally overwrites the foundational issue around hair & toxic femininity that, at its misogynoir core, has always been that textured hair is unprofessional, unkempt, unmanageable, & ugly. Colorism also erases the initial creators of the movement — which were Monoracial Brown & Dark Skinned Black Women; put some respek onnat, period. Straight hair is not oppressed; wavy hair is not oppressed; all hair is not oppressed. Black hair is. This "all hair is good hair" bullshit is so monotonous & inconsiderate bc its almost like a passive aggressive refusal to acknowledge what antiblackness imposed on Black Women alone. None of you non black know what it's like in depth to be the descendants of a race of ppl who's features, traits & harmless existence have always been insulted, hated & envied by the whole world. Esp not all at once. That is something totally unique to us inflicted & imposed by everyone else since the beginning of time. So why be out here chasing clout under tags & movements & in spaces you are no real part of? Why wanna be a part of the Black Girl Experience that bad? Yall have identities in everything outside of us. Why vulture off of this like you even have reasons to be there? We were investing in ourselves & trying to teach generations of Monoracial Black People how to manage their hair texture & develop cathartic habits thru self care. Nb ppl ruined that.

Looser hair textures have omnipresent representation & acceptance all, over, the, world. There is no lack of being seen, romanticized or exemplified for having texture 1a-3b hair; esp on the prevalent basis around colorism we see regularly on social media & on tv. Yet what remains of the community as it stands is today the furthest thing from textured or Black at all. At this point we owe the decline (if not death) of the natural hair community to the parasitic latching of non black women, the infiltration of "pick me's" & antiblackness generally — but I still be feeling like even that's not direct enough. We're talking ab something authentic & wholesome for Monoracial Black Women created by us for us being straight up sabotaged by races of women the cause was totally irrelevant to & in regard of. Bc that's how cosmetic industries have been towards us for centuries. Bc we were always excluded & thought of least & last. By other women. By all other women; don't get it twisted. So we set out on figuring ourselves out. Doing research on our own. Incorporating self care & beneficial habits in our lives to nourish & feel better ab ourselves & disprove the racist shit non black cultures & ppl either ignorantly surmise, make up or project ab Black Girls. That includes Black Men too in case yall thought yall were safe. Yall are some of the most toxic & prevalent faces behind colorism, antiblackness & misogynoir among black ppl specifically.

But anyhow. At first a lot of the initiation of the vulturing in the nhc light skinned women were the face of. Esp w the clout around having 4c hair amongst the beige-est, most ambiguously or straight up non black individuals, good lord. Then it went mainstream for huwight ppl, whom enevitably invited themselves, & following were the masses of non black women looking to pillage for themselves while the community was being swallowed by the crowdedness & irrelevant content being put out there (specifically on YouTube, Twitter & Instagram) by "hair gurus" of the light skinned, biracial or non black texture 1a-3b variety. Hair gurus who literally may as well've fallen from the sky & met social media stardom overnight based on their hair texture & complexion alone they're so brand new. Hair gurus who aren't even in the community for legitimately informative reasons or purposes unionized in Blackness. They're whole natural hair niche be — as a favorite natural of mine put it — manipulating textured hair into a sort of submission to appear or behave like looser textures do. They'll swear by 'game changer' products they both mention & only use like once & insist you should invest in a $30 8oz. bottle of clarifying shampoo or a $35 cowash if you want your hair to behave & look like theirs. Again, mind you, these types of individuals casually claim having texture 4 hair when they're anything but, just for the attention it brings from both ppl who will gullibly follow their every word & who know what kind of scamming to look for & won't.

If it's "just hair", how come so many of you that are non black are riding the wave? If it's just hair, why have so many of you found refuge in using the hashtags & participating/contributing uninvited? How come so many ran to get a seat at the table w Black Women only to kick them to the side the more popular it became if its just hair? How come nobody was calling it natural hair before Black Women created the nhc & started growing their own? Why was there no natural hair community before Black Women coined it, reminder, for ourselves? If it's just hair, how come so many ran to youtube to begin w to start channels for their own non-textured journeys? If its just hair, why is the nhc so damn obsessed w defining curls & length than overall health & gradual growth? If its just hair, why are white girls anywhere near this? Yall are the most out of place of anyone, honestly. Even if you're curly. Why do light skinned girls get to both represent textured hair & "good hair"? How does that even make sense? Thats just putting monoracial black girls in isolated boxes they're not even allowed to be symbols of or in. If its just hair, why's it so unheard of to see the roles of Black female characters in just ab anything played by actual Black Women? If its just hair, why have so many non or partially Black women worked in ignorant succession to water down & essentially wash out the Monoracial Black Women vital to the community's relevance at all? I really do not get the involvement of non black women in this movement at all — esp when culturally you have no reason to call your hair natural. There are no & have never been prejudice notions around having or growing texture 1a-3b hair. There's nothing oppressive ab it, either. Yall have gotta stop w that. You've already made a mockery of something that was supposed to be beautiful by making yourselves comfortable in & hijacking our space itfp. Theres far too much misrepresentation of textured hair to keep up w now. This is why i say the nhc (as well as culture vulturing generally) has just become nbwoc copying white women copying light skinned women copying Black Women, bc the audacity is unreal.

Its not just hair tho. To those it applies to, yall proved that the minute Black Women started going public w their growth journeys. The minute conversations ab "shrinkage this & 4c that" broadened & went mainstream. Yall couldn't move all at once fast enough when you realized you weren't as special as you thought & had always been told — esp w melanin at its modern value. Now all yall either "natural", seeking black men for either casual sex or cultural infiltration via fetishised reproduction, certain you have texture 4 hair or know the best tips for a DIY silk press 🤭😂 yall can't sit w us. You don't belong here. I'm calling yall out on allll the bs around this "All Hair Matters" garbage, cus yall are now sputtering the same shit while literally wearing your own non black hair in black styles. Be consistent. Make some fucking sense. I don't wanna be part of this fake ass girl squad propaganda that says every other woman never looked at Black Women's hair like it was bottomest of the barrel, foh. We're not on the same team & yall know it.

[babybatscreationsv2]

A King on a Leash ch3

Marvel | Starker

Tony Stark is a powerful man with a beautiful husband and a loyal crime  family, but it looks like he didn't keep his husband on a short enough  leash. After turning Peter lose on a Cuban gang leader, Peter's life is  in danger. The real trouble is that Tony now realizes that Peter is the  only thing in this world that he cares about and he never meant for that  to happen.  

Rating: Explicit

Full Fic

A Doll on a String

Warnings under the cut*

Warnings this chapter: mentions of violence and murder

Tony at sat at the dining table and stared at the far wall caught between a daydream and a serious self-flogging. He was the fucking Boss of a motherfucking crime family and here he was pouting and daydreaming about his husband. Peter had only been gone a few hours. He'd given him a kiss and then ran off to the theater for practice. Maybe he should start going to Peter's meetings. No... no Peter deserved the time and the privacy with his friends.

Tony took a deep breath and he caught scent of Peter's skin still clinging to him. He had scratches on his back from his manicured nails. Tony could hear the echoes of his cries as he'd clung to him, near sobbing in pain and pleasure. Tony licked his lips. Fuck, the way his angel had slaughtered that whole boat for his sake. God, he was hard.

He could call him and Peter would come running home. He could grab him, strip him down, lick every inch of his skin.

He couldn't do that though. They had the trust that they did because neither of them pulled stupid shit like that. He couldn't interrupt something important because he was needy and Peter's dancing was important to him.

Tony groaned. He slapped his own face. "Get it together, Stark. There's work to do."

He pulled himself up from his chair and went to take a shower. He indulged himself a little more, thinking about Peter waiting for him in a lounge chair, splattered with their enemy's blood. He got himself off then he washed away Peter's scent from his skin. No more distractions.

Dressed in his suit, all black to balance Peter's taste for pure while, he finally went to take care of business.

He drove himself, followed loosely by a guard. They made their way into the city and down to the warehouse. Tony stepped out of the car and smoothed the lapels of his suit. He let the guard enter first to check the room before he stepped inside. The day's product was being packaged. There were the gold bars that Peter had recovered, whatever drugs Bucky was peddling, not a lot going out of the warehouse today, but that wasn't really where the money was at anyway. The money was in the casinos, Sam Wilson's jewelry shop, Steve's cafe. Legitimate businesses, until you went into the back. The casinos were rigged, Sam sold illegal and precious jewels, and Steve had his girls. That was the funny thing about Steve. He was so straight laced and caring, but he made his money in prostitutes. He treated them well though. Well enough that even Natasha never bothered him about it.

Tony strode his way into the back, ignoring the greetings of the associates on the floor. He preferred them to fear him. If they thought he was friendly, then they would be inclined to betray him. They would expect mercy where they would find none.

Rhodey was waiting for him outside the office.

"You gotta put that boy on a leash, Tony," he said, not for the first time.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Who did he kill now?" He pushed open the door and Rhodey followed him inside.

"I'm talking about Suarez."

Tony turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "That second rate gang banger?"

Rhodey closed the door and stepped further into the room. "His men are going wild trying to track Peter down. They're not stupid. They know Peter was on that boat, they know he was an outsider, and they know that their boss never came home."

"So they haven't found his body yet?" Tony sat at his desk and picked up his book. Yinsen must have been too busy to stick around this morning. Sometimes he just dropped it off.

"They will. They have divers going down there this afternoon. From the story that's circulating the boys, it's gonna be pretty damn obvious what happened."

Tony asked, pointedly ignoring him. "Did Fisk get his diamonds back?"

Rhodey stared.

Tony sighed. "What's the big deal? They don't even know Peter's last name and there's a million Peters in New York. They'll never find him. They won't come after us. And if they do, I'm sure it'll be no big deal to sweep them off the board."

"You don't get it, Tony. Your boy goes and fucks with powerful people and then we all get fucked. When they find out who did it and then come looking for trouble we're gonna lose good people. I know you don't give a damn about our soldiers, but what happens when it's one of your Capos? The people you do give a shit about? What the fuck kind of family doesn't take care of their own?"

"You're going too fucking far, Rhodes," Tony snapped. He ground his teeth. He didn't want to fight with Rhodey, not him. He was the only one that ever made sense. Only now he wasn't.

"You stay the fuck out of my husband's business. Capiche?"

Rhodey took a step back. "Right. Got it?"

"Now, did Fisk get his diamonds?"

"Yeah, he got the fucking diamonds. Sent a fucking convoy to deliver them late last night. Didn't figure he'd wanna wait until morning."

"That's a good call. He'll appreciate that."

Rhodey sighed. "Why are you trying to win his favor anyway? He's a piece of shit. Word is he's still trafficking. Kids even."

Tony hardened himself, refused to hear the truth in it, refused to let it bother him. "I need someone to back me up at the meeting this weekend."

"What's going on?"

"Toomes keeps prodding at the whole Octavius bullshit."

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks Peter should pay for killing him, despite what happened."

Rhodey gave him a very 'I told you so look'.

"What? I'm supposed to throw him to the wolves? If it hadn't been him, it would have been you and you I can't protect."

"I'm not convinced you would try."

Tony ignored that too. He had enough to deal with. "He keeps trying to cast doubts on. Make him seem disloyal. I'm inclined to cut out his tongue for how many times he's put Peter's name in his mouth."

"You can't keep killing Bosses, Tony."

"I know that. But Toomes needs to be put in his place. He's getting too bold. Having Fisk on my side helps. Everyone respects him, or fears him at least."

Rhodey didn't say what Tony knew he was thinking. 'They used to respect you.' Maybe he did need to reign Peter in a little. At least make sure he doesn't murder anymore gang leaders. Let him keep pruning the weeds among the associates. Profits had been up since Peter joined the family. Plus it made his angel happy. It gave him a way to feel like he was protecting Tony without being in harm's way. Which meant that it was exactly what he needed to be doing. And he couldn't say he didn't like watching his baby go to town on some snitch... He had to stop thinking about Peter if he was going to get the books done.

Rhodey left him alone, though he left with a grim expression on his face. Tony cleared his mind and returned to his work.

Yinsen kept detailed records of every penny that came and went. He kept up with what each Capo was doing every day and made sure that proper records were kept of money and of behavior. Any suspicious activity from any Capo or soldier was reported to Tony twice per week. Unless of course, it were more serious. That's what the book was for. Yinsen insisted on keep paper records only. Things that could be destroyed at a moment's notice and could not be simply hacked into for information. It was occasionally inconvenient, but Tony understood his reasoning. Besides, Yinsen was one of the only people Tony had genuine trust for. After all, he'd been tortured near to death for Tony's sake. That had been Obediah's doing.

The books looked fairly clean. Money was flowing exactly as it should, but Yinsen had caught wind of a solider belonging to Steve who was misbehaving. Steve had already put him in check once. That meant it was Tony's turn and if Tony couldn't get him to fall in line, then Tony would let Peter have him.

It was a good system. One that Rhodey had no business questioning. He could be so soft sometimes.

Tony tucked the book away in his safe and stepped out of the office. His guards followed behind. They drove on down the road to park in the back of Steve's cafe 'Patriot Brew'. The name drew a handful of white supremacists who Steve was quick to take out back and deal with. The thing that amused Tony was that he hadn't picked the name as a sort of trap for domestic terrorists, he was just the sort who genuinely believed in his country. If Tony admired anything about the states, it was how easy it was for organized crime to thrive, but he didn't give a fuck about patriotism.

He knocked on the backdoor and was let in after a moment. He allowed one of his guards to enter first. Steve was in the kitchen, pulling cookies out of the oven. Tony leaned against counter and plucked up a cookie that was already cooled.

"Nice mitts, soldier boy." Tony pulled a piece off of his cookie and chewed it.

Steve set down his tray and each of his star-spangled oven mitts. "Do we really have to do it like this? Mark's a good guy?"

"You couldn't get him in line so now I have to," Tony said with a mouthful of cookie.

His shoulders sagged. "Would it really be so bad if he opened his own business?"

"Do I really have to answer that?" Tony took another bite of his cookie. "We both know he's not looking to open a bakery. And with him trying to go behind your back like that? How did you punish him anyway? Make him mop the floors?"

Steve stared. It was a look that conveyed both 'I'm not going to answer that' and 'You wouldn't like the answer' yet with Steve these things were not necessarily mutually inclusive.

"If a soldier wants to open a business you make him lick your boots first and then cut you thirty percent. Keep being soft on your boys and you'll wake up with a knife in your back."

"I encourage my people to be successful and on their own terms."

"They ask permission and they pay their dues. We have a system for a reason. What happens when your boy opens up a shop across the street? Who's gonna come here when there's something hot and new nearby? We don't create competition within the family. He could have had a place where he could have gotten all ambitious, but he lied and he went behind your back. He's lucky to be getting another chance."

Steve folded his arms across his chest. "If Peter had it his way, he wouldn't get another chance."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Why is everyone so soft today? We're the fucking mob, get used to it. Now where's your boy? Mark, was it?"

Steven sighed. "Make it clear I'm not allowing him to have his own girls, I don't trust anyone else with that."

"Why couldn't you tell him yourself, Rogers? Anyone else would have had this handled."

"So, I'm soft on my guys, alright? Does that make you happy? They're all the family I have."

"Family," Tony grumbled. "We're all a family. And sometimes moms and dads have to discipline the children."

"And who disciplines us?"

"God?" Tony shrugged. He walked past the man. "Box up some cookies for Peter. He likes the blue sprinkles."

He heard Steve huff when he left the room. If he didn't know how much his men liked Peter, he would worry about the way they talked. Maybe they thought he was a little wild, but they would let themselves get caught holding the knife to protect him. If he thought otherwise, he would kill every last one of them.

[godsporncollection]

Saturday Morning Session

(personal commentary in italics) (sorry for how inconsistent i am at this, i’m trying new medication, so my focus comes and goes unpredictably, but i didn’t want this to take weeks)

Russel M Nelson -  strengthen your testimony (?)

"I understand better what he meant when he said 'behold, i will hasten my work in this time.'" 

Y'all have been strengthening your testimonies and i, and your children, thank you. did that inclusion of "your children" feel off to anyone else?

I can see the work on the temple outside my window and that makes me think about how we need to remove the old debris from our lives. I too think of the temple as 'old debris' that should be removed from my life.

"the gospel is a message of joy" I cannot roll my eyes hard enough

that was short. what was the topic? blab for a five minutes?

Dieter F. Uchdorf - god is Among Us

I had to move lots when I was a kid because there was a war on. i thought about the missionaries who came to the country of their enemies to bring us the gospel.

i was a kid in a war-torn country > missionaries > god has not forgotten us > we will be heirs of god > how could we complain when we have that? > the atonement > mistakes are okay, just gotta keep repenting.

what would jesus teach if he was among us today? the same thing he's always taught. "the savior always teaches timeless truths, to everyone, a message of hope and belonging, a testament that god has not abandoned his children that god is Among Us."

jesus says to love one another and to be full of charity towards all men. i would like to see it.

anyone else feel like these talks are just. empty? like, they're not feeling it either?

if jesus came into your home today, he would see into your heart and i'm gonna waste a couple more minutes by expanding on that. one look into his eyes and we would be forever changed by the realization that god is Among Us.

back to me, i wish i could go back and tell myself to stay on the right track because god is Among Us, so i'm gonna tell you instead. god is Among Us.

"line upon line" *gag*

god is Among Us

Joy D Jones - abuse is wrong unless you use it to teach kids about the gospel

"have you ever wondered why we call 'primary' 'primary'?" as someone who understands how language works, no.

because kids are importanter than everything else

god trusts us to be nice to our kids; that means no abuse, even if we're angry. whoever needed this reminder should be shot.

hey, maybe you can "combat the evils of abuse" by not fucking raising your kids in an abusive cult!

analogy of a kid who fell out of bed because he "didn't get far enough in" = he wasn't indoctrinated enough, with awkward collage of pics of kids for a minute.

eyring said to get 'em while they're young

love all the pics of black people that try to say "see? we don't think black people are inherently evil (anymore)!"

analogy of a soldier in boot camp. drill seargants are mean, but that was necessary because apparantly it's the only way this guy can learn how to hide. also, apparently this guy is "our friend". not my friend, thanks.

"how can we do the same for our children?" don't fucking act like a drill seargent to your kids! ffs

"wouldn't we rather have them sweat in the safe learning environment of the home than bleed on the battlefields of life?" first of all, fuck you. second, dramatic much? third, fuck you, kids shouldn't have to learn about life in a hostile environment. does this woman have kids? are they okay? fucking hell, five kids were raised by a woman with this mentality. what a bitch.

"eternity is the wrong thing to be wrong about." i got news for you. of course, if i ever spoke to this machine, that topic wouldn't be my top priority.

I need a fucking drink.

Jan Eric Newman - teaching the gospel is good, but you can't force a testimony on others

anecdote about a local old woman getting birthday gifts. she taught us some good things when we were growing up, so thanks, sister davis.

another teacher, at college, was a "master teacher." he loved me and the lord. he taught me to learn doctrine on my own and that "changed me forever."

just sayin', if you're taught how to learn on your own, but didn't exercise enough critical thought to gtfo of this cult, maybe the teacher wasn't the best.

it's good to have good teachers.

the ancient nephites and lamanites had good teachers, and "there was no contention among them!"

"how can we teach more like the savior and help others become more deeply converted?" nope, nope. nope.

1st, "learn all you can about the master teacher hismelf." so, we're sticking with the term "master teacher." cool. doesn't sound weird at all.

ask yourself questions about how he taught, then do that.

read "teaching in the savoir's way."

2nd, use bullshit stories. oh, no, it's a story about how somebody is grateful for the pandemic because her adult child read the BoM for the first time during it. she said it had made "literal miracles."

3rd, "remember that conversion must come from within." guess jan and "joy" should have compared notes before speaking.

"children inheret many things, but a testimony is not one of them. we can't give our children a testimony any more than we can make a seed grow; but we can provide a nourishing environment, with good soil, free of thorns that would choke the word."

Gary E. Stevenson - kindness

story about a study where rabbits were fed a high-fat diet, but those under the care of a loving researcher didn't gain as much weight.

only christians can intuitively understand that this means there's a reason to be kind to others.

jesus said love one another.

addressing primary kids - be kind. here's a story about a kid who stopped being a bully because the bullied kid said it hurt.

to the teens - social media makes bullying worse, clearly satan is using social media against your generation. do what you can t make these spaces safer. if you're a bully, "stop it."

to the adults- "we have a primary responsibility to set a tone and be role models of kindness (get wrecked "joy"), inclusion and civility."

from ballard- "i have never heard members of this church to be anything but loving, kind, tolerant and benevolent to our friends and neighbors of other faiths." k, but, like, you know it's not just a difference of religious belief that’s the problem, right?

i'm heartbroken to hear about prejudice against blackasianlatino people or of any other group. i love how that section was really only about race, with a blanket "any other group" thrown in as an afterthought so they can't be accused of being homophobic.

in the winter of 1838, jo smith was in prison and why do you think that happened, gary?

church members were driven from their homes and the residents of a town across the river gave them food and shelter. that generosity saved the lives of many of them.

god is a compassionate care-giver.

Gerrit W. Gong - disjointed anecdotes of human experiences, idk

i miss my dad. he was adventurous, except regarding food.

i saw a guy be mean to a lady selling ice cream. he smashed all of her cones. the image of her trying to salvage the cones haunts me to this day.

story of the good samaritan.

be like christ this easter.

"we recieve inspiration as we counsel together, listening to each person, including each sister and the spirit."

does this guy have a topic?

he’s is just giving a list of random human experiences and parables.

*displays a lack of understanding of instagram.*

he's listing something throughout this, like, he keeps counting, but i have no idea what and his voice is making my adhd medication run away, so i'm not listening to this again.

Henry B. Eyring - temple worthiness

today i'm feeling light and hope, like the first day i went to the salt lake temple

i'm an oblivious fucker who didn't notice my name being pinned on me, so i thought the woman who greeted me was an angel because she knew my name.

thought he could remember being in the temple before, but a voice that was not his own (that's how you know it's true and not something he just told himself) told him he was remembering heaven.

confused "holiness to the lord" with "this is a holy place." i know both phrases use the word 'holy', but like, those contexts mean separate things.

i also had this feeling during my wedding in the logan temple.

i think henry should get checked out, he suffers from frequent hallucinations and it's good to know how your brain works differently from others when in a leadership position.

during my wedding, i had a vision of a house and the officiant said to live in a way that you can walk away easily. a year later, my father in law bought the exact house and my wife and i lived in the guest house for ten years. then i got the call to move somewhere else on assignment from the church and we walked away easily.

scripture from jesus about temples.

if you're unworthy in the temple, you won't be "able to see, by the power of the holy ghost, the spiritual teaching of the savior that we can recieve in the temple."

"when we are worthy to recieve such teaching, there can grow, through our temple experience, hope, joy, and optimism throughout our lives. that hope, joy, and optimism are available only through accepting the ordinances performed in holy temples."

i forgot how simple a baptism is, so i'm gonna tell you how amazed (and a little concerned) i was when my youngest daughter stayed to do baptism for the dead for all of the names on the list that day. maybe i'm just super comfortable in the water, but that doesn't sound hard, actually. i used to almost enjoy doing those.

quotes the primary song 'i love to see the temple.'

remember to be worthy so you can live with your family forever.

[briek58454521]

Let’s rant about bigotry in media and fake allies.

.Look. I get it. You want to believe that your cartoons, media and celebs are completely perfect darlings that can do no wrong, but let me be frank. I don’t care how much you don’t want to talk about it. I care about the creators who keep inviting the discourse their way through their idiocy. Whenever a creator gets in trouble for doing shit like making jokes about slave hats on a live stream, or including a blackface caricature in an art book, or killing off their gays the very episode they come out or are introduced, there’s always a subset of people who say shit like, “it was a mistake, they didn’t mean it. It kinda gives us as a leftist community a bad name when we keep attacking each other like this”.

Let’s dismantle that. And let’s break this down in three basic points I’ll use throughout. 1. It is not your place to accept an apology that was not for you, especially when in regards to racism, sexism, anti-LGBTA+ bigotry, and anti-semitism. 2. We need to stop lumping in actual criticism with alt-right idiots being shitty about marginalized groups existing, because ultimately, infighting is not the end of the world, and disagreements are not inherently bad. They are a fact of life. 3.  Most importantly of all, just because these people claim to be allies, that does not mean that they are. Because make no mistake. CARTOONS ARE NOT ANY LESS EFFECTED BY THE BIASES OF THE ENVIRONMENTS WHICH PRODUCED THEM THAN ANY OTHER WORK OF ART.

Now. Let’s break down that shit completely.

1. I used those examples as a jumping-off point, but in general, this shit always happens. A creator fucks up, they get criticism which was unquestionably earned, they get rightfully dragged, and the creator uses the backlash to garner sympathy from their audiences and paint their critics in a bad light and whine about Cancel Culture. NOW, I already talked about that in another post, but basically, it doesn’t exist, and is used as a weaponized shield from criticism. 

Thing about all of that as well is when the creators keep bringing up how they didn’t mean it like that. Most people would answer this with, “doesn’t matter, what matters is what you did”, but there’s something else that people don’t talk about. This is usually a bunch of white people excusing this shit. Or otherwise, a bunch of people who weren’t actually affected by the latest controversy. And therein lies the rub. Allies, let me put it this way. WHEN THE SUBJECT OF THE CRITICISM IS ABOUT THE PORTRAYAL OF MINORITIES IN MEDIA, YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO EXPECT SAID MINORITIES TO FORGIVE THOSE CREATORS WHEN YOU WERE NOT AFFECTED BY IT.

Remember the Lana Del Rey controversy, where her dumbass ended up getting shit for her statement filled with venom towards other artists? Could have been cleared up if she had just accepted that she messed up and didn’t word her statement correctly, but no. She lashed out at the people who told her it was kinda racist to lump a bunch of black female artists into a conglomerate of artists who just, “twerk, cheat, have sex, and get money”, and dismissing feminism as needing to accommodate women “like her, who were more delicate”, perpetuating inadvertently to the idea that black women are less delicate, white women are petite, demure, and need to have a place above the others. AND LOOK, it’s how she responded that sealed it. Accusing her critics of being the actual racists, who hate women, and conflating the criticism with.....ugh....a FUCKING RACE WAR. Do I EVEN need to explain the problem with that?

The point is that it was idiotic of her to assume that she didn’t deserve the criticism because she “technically didn’t mean it”, when ultimately, she wasn’t the victim, she wasn’t the one who ACTUALLY got hurt by all of this, and that most of the criticism WAS NOT ANYWHERE NEAR as vitriolic as Lana accused it of being. And people do this to minorities all the fucking time. Where the praise for the work is what matters, but then they’re just upset and looking to be upset about things when they....sorry, when WE have shit to say about the fuckups. Constantly, minorities are expected to praise bare minimum bullshit lest we have self proclaimed “””””allies””””” get pissy that we aren’t playing along. Well, sorry, but, I think it be time to stop with that shit. It doesn’t matter how pure you think that person is. If the people who are the actual part of the controversy have shit to say about it, MAYBE LISTEN TO THEM instead of trying to force people to accept the apology that wasn’t even yours to accept, nor was it for you to shove in our faces to shut us up. And if you dislike that I’m saying that, just know. That’s exactly what you’re doing when you pull that shit.

2. As simply as I can put it, complaining about how a trans person is portrayed badly is not the same as complaining ABOUT the presence of a trans person, and to lump that shit onto the other pile is dishonest and willfully ignorant. When we keep getting upset about the tone, or upset about, “WAAAH, they said a me-no-like”, and lump that in with the actual facists looking to erase us from the history books, we are doing half of their job for them, and normalizing shit like what I saw the other day, where on Twitter, some asshole complained, “Anime is supposed to be an escape from reality. Adding black people to it kinda ruins the point.”

I’m gonna talk about it in the next point, but for now, understand this. NO ONE says shit like that just out of the blue without having it come from somewhere, and that attitude is all too prevalent.

In cartoons especially, criticism of the NB lizard from She-Ra is not being bigoted towards non-binary people, because the use of a fucking lizard to portray them is the ACTUALLY bigoted thing. And to lump in criticism of that with the criticism of She-Ra not being conventionally attractive enough for men to masturbate to the fucking minor is only going to long-term HARM any discourse. Because having these conversations as well as discussing these issues and educating each other about them is how we AVOID THEM. Criticism is not just a vector for asshole conservatives to be pissy about your existence. It’s also a veritable TREASURE TROVE for how not to fuck your shit up. And when we all get it, we learn. I get it, you don’t want to do shit wrong, but when you do, as everyone will, the backlash will burn itself out, and once you’ve fixed it, people will be very forgiving. Because, and it’s gonna sound mean....THAT’S HOW AUDIENCES WORK. THEY WANT TO FORGIVE YOU FOR WHEN YOU DO SHIT WRONG. So just...fix it. And listen. Yeah, you’ll get called stupid, you’ll get called “moron”, but you will have saved yourself from getting that shit ten times worse later on down the line. BEAR IN MIND, THOUGH, any of you already typing about how that’s enabling cyberbullying under the guise of critique, IT’S NOT. There’s a wealth of difference between the two, and trying to distract from the point with that is just a red herring. So stop with that.

And now....for the biggest one of all.

3. See...here’s the thing. About that anime douche. That doesn’t happen in JUST anime. It’s been around for decades, and has been a thing to this day. The WoW community got upset about womz being in power for the past 15 years, and have gotten on their high horse about black people being in the game, stating that if they were around sooner, maybe it wouldn’t, “SEEM TOO POLITICAL”, with that Asmongold jackass trying to start a second wave of GamerGate because one of the people at Blizzard said, “Black Lives Matter”. Fantasy as a genre has been so rooted in racism, that the inclusion of goblins for the most part is synonymous with anti-semitism towards Jewish people. Captain Marvel was pilloried for the past two years because the mean lady said that shit needs to change and wasn’t too nice, and also, me don’t like her too much. Basically, tone policing over a personality that we still give Howard Stern a platform for. In cartoons, the inclusion of black people is seen as an inherently political opinion. The rumors of Gen 6 Apple Jack possibly having a black voice actress prompted comments such as:

“The thiing with AJ is clearly anti-white/conservatist as a response to Trump America. What is opposite of country redneck female? Of course, and urban black woman.”

“It’s the fact that she’s black that bothers me.”

“Killing a blonde freckled Southern character for some political agenda is the last thing I want to see.”

The news of Velma Dinkley being gay was immediately pounced upon with shit about a homosexual agenda, and constant bullshit about how it was so forced, or whatever. This shit always happens, and is gonna keep happening. You know why?

Because the entertainment industry is not ready to accept minorities. The games industry is not ready to accept minorities. Cartoons are still not ready to accept minorities. They accept them for a moment, until those minorities challenge someone’s ego. Fans embrace a character until they’re a woman, or a POC, or on the spectrum, or LGBTA+. The existence of us is denigrating to these idiots’ escape, not from reality, but from us. It’s bad enough that they have to put up with us in the real world, but even worse that they have to see us in fictional shows that aren’t real.’ Us merely BEING AROUND is a bad thing, and to ask for some improvements is met with bemoaning about agendas.

Supposed allies begin and end their support with how much money we put in their wallets and how much we stroke their egos about how woke they are, and actual allies are lumped in with actual offenders. If we get upset that a show they’ve posited as so enlightening is actually the utter pits and not in any way healthy, they get upset. Tell a Reylo they’re shipping something toxic and dangerous, they’ll get upset and yell racial slurs at John Boyega for sitting next to Daisy Ridley. Say, “Fuck Arthas”, people get upset jump down your throat about how you hate forgiveness. Tell people that the Grinch ought not to be forgiven, people get upset you’re strawmaned about how you hate forgiveness.

They just don’t understand, or care about the essential fact about all of this. As I said earlier. The environments which produce the worst of offenders in these fields, and the problems we hate seeing so much are in no way less affected by the biases that they were cultivated by. And media has never been any more ready to accept minorities as people and as worthy of being portrayed as people than literally anywhere else right now. And speaking up about that is what gets these fake allies mad, especially when they LIKE the media. What makes these people so mad is not the troubling portrayal of POC, or women, or minorities. Not that we are routinely ostracized for existing in cartoons, not that this shit happens at all. They don’t give a flying fuck about any of that. It’s the thing that they have to put up with as a result of that that makes them the most upset.

Criticism. And they don’t like that.

And no matter whether or not these cartoons are made by bootlickers, or this movie was made by a TERF,  or if this creator has a history of blackface, racism, or has made garbage statements about women, if you aren’t nice and considerate enough towards their feelings, you’ll make them, and us, the allies, feel uncomfortable. NO DWAMA, just not too divisive feedback that’s ultimately worthless as it was made purely to try to appease idiots and the people most affected by these issues at the same time, meaning it had to be watered down past the point of no return in order for us to factor it in with our jaded mindsets and worldviews that are the direct cause of the problems we complain about, yet keep exacerbating through our ignorance and unwillingness to change.

If you aren’t like that, and don’t believe you should be lumped in with that, don’t behave as if you are that sort of person. But, even then, if you aren’t...listen to the actual experts. Stop listening to some white guy’s idiotic hot takes about black rep, and actually listen to black people. Listen to trans people instead of some cis white chick with no understanding of trans issues. Stop platforming the worst of offenders within these communities as the bestest ever. And most importantly....

remember that horses don’t exist.

[morgan-reblog]

“Quebecker students wears skirt to send a message of feminism and tolerance ” 

Source (in french)

Saying that lately I have been bummed out because of the way people talk from where I come from (and from my generation), stumbling upon this link on Facebook made me smile.

Am so proud and happy to see young men from where I come from doing stuff like that, give me some fucking hope that shit can actually change, but also that our generation will maybe change this bashing coming from other provinces one day.

“ Three days ago, a secondary school student from the province, posted a video and a picture on his Instagram account of him and his friends proudly displaying their outfits with a feminist and inclusive message: the skirt to denounce the antiquated and sexist dress code of Quebec secondary schools, as well as to underline the tolerance that should be in place towards all genders and all ways of dressing. ”

The dressing code is absolute bullshit and female students (or at least those seen as female students) are always the one with the most restriction, where the male one don’t have too much of a problems unless it goes a little too far. Kind of restrictions that are there since my mother's generation (and older obviously), but people are always saying “yes well it was like that for me too” as if it was an argument for it to not change.

I hope we can see more of this in years to come, having the boys standing up with the girls against all this bullshit that have been in place for fucking decade without changing. Like, 2020 as been shit and society suck in general, but stuff like this makes me smile and gives me some hope that shit can actually change one day.

For those interested, I’ll leave a translated (by myself, since it’s an more Quebecker french in some parts it is a little harder to translate than France french) under the cut. Word already in English will be but in italic

==========================

“Quebecker students wears skirt to send a message of feminism and tolerance ”

[two picture from Instagram showing young men wearing skirt at school. credit towards @/guillaume.dery and @/hd.mot from Instagram]

article by Camille-Ly Drainville, Oct 6 2020 - 10:22

Three days ago,Tom Ducret-Hillman, a secondary school student from the province, posted a video and a picture on his Instagram account of him and his friends proudly displaying their outfits with a feminist and inclusive message: the skirt to denounce the outdated and sexist dress code of Quebec secondary schools, as well as to underline the tolerance that should be in place towards all genders and all ways of dressing.

[insertion of an Instagram post. First a video of the young men in a skirt, saying something unintelligible in french to the camera while doing on jump on his skitboard. The second one is a picture from a young men in skirt, doing a cartoonish shy pose. The last picture is the same as the one used at the top of the article, two young men in skirts face the camera.

The caption goes as such: In a skirt, in class, with a ✨FUCKED UP✨ system.🙈😙😃💞😻 Dress code is the most none-sensed things I've ever seen in my life and so, we need to change it! It's by doing little things like this that we are going to be able to change these things. Everybody that didn't do it, what are you waiting for? It's not because you're a boy and you wear a skirt that "OmG thaT's So FucKiNg gAy". Betch clothes has no gender so change your mentality! In addition to the matter of seeing some skin, what’s the point, It's exciting you Mrs./Mr. the professor? Just close your mouth thank you xx. EVERYONE SHOULD DRESS HOW THEY FEEL HOW TO DRESS, PERIODT. fhanks have a nice day :3

The same text is repeated but in English this time, with some differences]

(The article copy-pasted the (french) Instagram caption here)

Shared many times and counting near 8′000 likes on Instagram, the publication as rapidly inspired other adolescents from the famous Gen Z generation to do the same thing in their school to wear the skirt as a protestation sign:

[insertion of an Instagram post. First is a picture of a group of young men wearing skirt in a school bathroom, used in the article header. The second one is the same setting put in a different angle.

The caption goes as such: Society treats women as if they were responsible from the actions others have towards them when the reality is very different. It is not the length of their skirt that should decide whether boys are apt to listen in class. It is not because a girl is wearing short shorts that men have the right to talk badly to her on the street. The responsibility for these acts rests with those who took the action and not with those who suffered it.]

This time, it’s Guillaume Déry and his classmates in secondary 4 of the Collège Saint-Paul, in Varennes, that we see in a publication that has instantly become viral, with more than 45,000 likes and many shares. We see them all wearing skirts, to express their displeasure with these unfair school rules and to demonstrate that anyone has the right to wear anything (within the limits of decency, of course).

“ In my school, there have been many stories with the dress codes. Girls who get kicked out of class because of the length of their skirts, others who get totally inappropriate comments from the direction: “Look at you, how improperly you are”. Often, girls are told that they disturb the boys with the way they dress and we totally disagree. We believe that it’s up to the boys to concentrate on their own and that this responsibility doesn’t belong to the girls. The boys wear skirts to show their support towards girls, and that you can be a guy and be a feminist at the same time. We also try to convey a message of tolerance. If you want to wear a skirt, you can do it even if you’re a guy. ” Explained Guillaume to NIGHTLIFE.CA.

The Gen Z Quebecker are proving once again that they knows how to do much more than just TikTok choreographies, and it makes us immensely happy and proud to see that the generation of the future is concerned with social and feminist issues.

Young girls should not be deprived of their right to education (like being taken out of class for a bare shoulder), and it is important to continue to fight for changes and egalitarian regulation between guys and girls, especially in schools.

We are with you guys, WE STAN!

==========================

(T/N: “Look at you, how improperly you are”. the original was "Regarde-toi comment t’as pas d’allure". The later part is a little harder to translate and if you try it word-for-word it will give you “look at you, how bad you look” which isn’t exactly what it means.

Allure is used in reference to the appearance (and as an adjective, something chic/elegant), but in THIS context it’s doesn’t exactly mean looking bad. It’s most likely used as a way to say that the [girl’s] clothes aren’t decent enough for them.

In other context it can mean looking bad, as in your clothes are messy, don’t match, etc.)

[thisiskatsblog]

Hi Kat, I often come to seek your wisdom and thoughts on matters such as these because you were the first Larry blog I ever found and the last time I did, you really seemed to understand me and my conflicting emotions and messiness haha. So. My question is what are your thoughts on the Ray and SBB twitter accounts? I found them a few months back when I found a thread explaining a theory of why it's L&H and go back now and again to see what is being posted. I am the darkest Larrie there is, yet

contd: I always prefer to be a cynic because I know just how devastating it is when you put your hope in something only to have it crumbled. And in this fandom, you can't trust anything or anyone unless there is hardcore evidence and proof (aka every millisecond of footage of fetus Larry). There is talk about clues, numbers, iphone/androids and these cryptic riddles and hidden meanings. People do admit in the comments it feels like they're clowning yet I also see thousands resting their hopes contd: on these obscure tweets. I will admit the proof thread I originally read made it seem believable but I then I thought 'who am I kidding, there's no way it could genuinely by H&L'. It doesn't seem like something they would risk, nor something either of them would actually do. It seems like two people baiting Larries and giving us false hope (because in this era where we never get public interaction, many have become far more gullible and willing to believe anything, no matter how far

fetched. Ahh I don't know. It just seems far too good to be true that the two of them are communicating with us through cryptic pictures and riddles and messages. Yes I do believe they both have always found ways to communicate with us, whether it is through songs or body language, because we opened our eyes, we were by their sides and stay strong for them because this is a fight they will win, but I really don't know. It's very cruel if someone is indeed baiting us. Thanks x

 (^^^ March 23rd) 

2.       Anonymous said:

March 25th 2020, 7:06:01 am · a month ago

okay so I just read some master posts explaining RBB and SBB in detail (I didn't get why people were hanging onto every word of Ray and Seymour's tweets like that) and my mind is literally going INSANE trying to process it all. As usual their reactions when asked about it directly on that christmas sweater interview told me all I needed to know back when I watched it but had no idea the sheer significance of these bears until now. It's crazy all the ways L&H showed us the truth all along, to

this day it's just mind-blowing to me. Like they were screaming in the midst of drowning (cough cough Director's Cut), desperate for us to listen and thank God so many of us weren't blind. Sometimes I do feel like maybe I am going crazy or I am delusional for believing in this, as FIMQ said, the cognitive dissonance is real. My mind spirals catastrophically and I doubt my own sanity, and then my mind plays all these touches and glances, slipped words and monumental actions on a loop, far too

much evidence to dispute, and I know I can never go back, how can I, when I've never in my whole life witnessed such magnificent, almost otherworldly love, never cared about any celebrity's love life yet this is far more than that, it is fighting for their love, because they should have never had to be that strong, to endure so much pain, so so young, but they weren't that strong for us to be weak. And I can't wait for the day they are free. No one on this earth deserves it more than L&H.

 3.        Anonymous said:

March 26th 2020, 12:44:47 pm · a month ago

Even I am the darkest Larrie (and yes there is no going back, ever) sometimes I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Loving and supporting and fighting so fucking hard for a love that is as tragic and excruciating as it is the most beautiful, magnificent thing I have ever witnessed. I wonder, did I get it all wrong and what if they don't find their way back to each other, my waking moments are haunted by memories of them, so young, so clearly smitten, like who the fuck finds their soulmate at

that age? What if even if it is 'always going to be h for Lou', even if they were 'too young to know they had everything' but h doesn't forgive him or remember that yes, their love is worth it? Sometimes I feel I am teetering on the brink of insanity, what if Lou actually has a kid? And Harry's album was about a horrible woman who never deserved him? I think I'll be strong for them, even if I have to wait ten or twenty years but I also feel so much pain thinking about it all. I have never

doubted my own sanity in my life, but lately I wonder so often if I am delusional for having faith in the love of two boys who we're fated to meet and fall in love. I can't even watch them in their baby boyfriends stage or watch edits anymore because I feel physical pain because they never deserved that. I feel pain thinking about their pain, no one should have to face that so young. To be that strong. I want to be strong yet and I try so hard but i also feel I am going mad. I don't even know.

______________________________

Three anons that I suspect are the same person (and maybe even the same one I just answered). Big hugs to you dear anonymous person! And thanks for the compliment. And the patience. I’m so sorry it took me so long to answer. Not sure if I have anything helpful to say, still, except: the fact that you’ve started doubting your sanity, that cognitive dissonance you feel, that dizzy head nauseous gut feeling you get when what you see and what you hear and what you read, just doesn’t match up but you haven’t been able to rationally unravel it yet. That feeling is probably your best proof that something is very amiss, and that Louis’ and Harry’s relationship is very real. We all know that feeling, and it tends to get worse the more caught up in fandom you get.

Your sanity is worth preserving though, so - in my view - it’s better to leave the fandom for a while, however short, to take care of yourself, and be strong for yourself when you feel like it’s draining you too much. You can do that by physically leaving social media, or by taking emotional, and mental distance on a regular basis.

I always remind myself that I have no influence over whether Louis and Harry eventually make it together. And next to no influence over their careers, management, label. I can decide what I do, and have a wee tiny bit of influence on the modest amount of followers of this blog, and then a wee little bit more through the other one - but all in all, my actions, the person they matter most to, the person they influence most, is me. So I try to do, in life, and in this fandom, the things that make me happy. Worrying, does not make me happy. Arguing with hets rads antis and all the other new abbreviations i don’t really get, doesnt make me happy either - I only do it when I’m having one of those days or one of them really sets me off like the other day. But in general, what makes me happy is focusing on the positive. What this fandom has brought me. And has brought other LGBTQ+ people. What are we learning here, what stories do we tell eachother, how are we making eachother better here. 

All of that said: Louis, and Harry, have both sung, in this past year, that they “made it”, and referenced eachother’s music videos in important ways. So I honestly don’t think there’s much to worry about. I think that, whatever was causing them difficulties, they already “found their way back”. I think they are allright.

And I want us to be allright to. That’s something we can influence, that we can do for eachother. So I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you

I enjoyed reading your SBB post, talking about the sweater interview. That part of it was wonderful, and everything we needed to know. I took RBB and SBB with a big grain of salt in the beginning, but I have reason to believe it was them, or someone very close to them, and that interview did confirm that.

With or without permission, that’s difficult to say. Was it queerbaiting? I’ve been asked that question so many times. In a sense noo, because they are LGBTQ+ themselves - but there is the fact that RBB & SSB very deliberately engaged with LGBTQ+ fans and kept them here while they must have known, at least after bullshit 2.0 happened, that they were going to stay closeted. 

I don’t know exactly how I feel about that. It was a crazy ride, and some of it was enjoyable, and I think the support is important to them, so I do want to stay around. But I also  think it’s shit that LGBTQ+ fans in this fandom have done SO much to support them, and are getting so much shit in return, still, not from them, not at all, but in this environment - and no one is stopping it. 

And that’s not just the case in Louis’ fandom, where we’re definitely experiencing enormous amounts of cognitive dissonance with the bearding and babygate. But also in Harry’s. When LGBTQ+ fans bring rainbows night after night, but it’s constantly portrayed as if Harry is the one bringing them, and when it’s LGBTQ+ fans organising to light up arena’s night after night across Europe, but the only time that gets featured is when it’s two straight girls organising it, insisting they are not doing it for queer fans but because we should be one happy family inclusiveness all around.. I can understand the frustration, the impression of queerbaiting, the feeling of being taken for granted, that made some people leave Harry’s fandom. I will stay, I think he’s amazing, and I think he needs and is grateful for the support, but as an LGBTQ+ fan, I still feel like I am in a hostile environment - knowing he is with Louis, and that he cannot speak about it, has never spoken about any concrete relationship with a man. That’s... - that still tells LGBTQ+ people they are not 100% legit. 

And that’s probably not a lot better for the straight fans who see what we see: a beautiful relationship they can’t speak about and that’s denied all the time. That, too, tells you your thoughts are not legit, and therefore you are not legit. The gaslighting... it’s probably the most poisonous, detrimental aspect of this fandom. Coming back after more than a year off, I was shocked, at how clear things seemed to me again, compared to how doubtful I had been about my own opinions when I left. Taking time off is not abandoning them. Remember that. For me, it made me stronger, and it allows me to support them now. 

So I hope this gets better. Soon. I am still convinced they want that too. And when I start doubting, I listen to Only The Brave... 

[livsoulsecrets]

Incantava AU - Chapter 3: My soul is in the sky

Masterpost

Previous Chapter

Summary: Eleonora is in London for some days for her brother’s photograph exposition. In her last night in the city, she is convinced by her friends to go out by herself and have some fun. Unexpectedly, she meets other Italian there, a charming boy named Edoardo. Not knowing much else about him, she takes her friends’ advice and has a one night stand with him, not expecting to see the boy after that. Little did she know they were bound to meet each other again.

August 22nd

21:58

For some crazy reason, it was ridiculously easy for Eleonora to talk to Edoardo. She usually took a lot of time being comfortable with people until getting to the point she was okay with making a fool of herself.

Weirdly enough, Edoardo could manage to make her do that easily.

During their walk until the said square, they had started talking about the city and how different it felt. Edoardo had told her about his work with his dad and how it drove him crazy sometimes, making it very clear his father was a difficult person to deal with. Ele told him about Filo, his chaos and swetness, how he made her pick up a damn plane to come to his exposition even if she was just one week away from starting college.

They never ran out of things to talk about and that itself was more than enough to make Eleonora feel a bit dizzy. The way he was looking at her wasn’t helping, though.

— Okay, so you are either leading me to the place where you will murder my defenseless self or this square is in Narnia. — Eleonora joked, trying to keep herself together.

— What makes you think I’m the serial killer here? Maybe you are the physco who is playing the defenseless part to murder me. — Edo barely hid his smile and Ele felt pleased with herself for that.

— It is so nice of you to know women can be serial killers too, we totally appreciate the inclusion. — Their shoulders bumped while Ele sarcastically answered him.

— You are very welcome. — He replied, stopping to walk and pointing at the square in front of them. — Anyway, let’s drop our paranoias! We arrived. This place’s sky is not so polluted for some miracle, so we can actually look at the stars.

— And at those heavy clouds, huh? Do you think it is going to rain? — Ele looked up to the cloud, a bit worried about the weather.

— Honestly… When is it not raining here?

— You do have a point.

Edo kept walking and they finally sat down at the bench, side by side.

Ele felt peaceful while looking at the intensity of the sky above them.

— Okay, so the whole our souls being at the sky thing is done. — Ele spoke up after the two of them spent a couple of moments admiring the sky.

— You’re away too impatient, you know? — Edo joked, sending an electric pulse through Ele’s body when he jokingly shoved her, making the sides of their bodies touch completely. — To actually see something, you need to pay attention.

— You sound like a poorly written self help book.

— And you’re away too good at insulting me. — Edoardo laughed at the way Ele rolled her eyes at him, not being able to see the grin that formed in her face shortly after.

— Thank you, it has been years of practice.

— Guess you’ve been preparing for me.

— Guess you think the world revolves around you.

— I do get this a lot. — If Edo realizes Ele’s eyes keep being attracted to his lips, he doesn’t show so. His arms are spread in the bench and his hand is softly touching Ele’s shoulder. — Anyway, if you want to do something, we can just do our thing again.

— Our thing, huh? — Ele makes fun of him, despite the way her heart is racing with the suggestion.

— Yeah, the book thing. — Her grin gets wider and Edo rolls his eyes. — Just do it.

Eleonora doesn’t say a thing, but she reachs into her bag and takes the book out.

— Okay, this time I will just open in a random page and see what it says. — Ele offers and Edo bows closer to spy at the book, almost breathing down her neck, only the fragile light of the street lamps illuminating them.

— As you please. — He complies.

— “We will meet; and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously.” — Ele carefully reads every word out loud, feeling herself blush when Edo lets out a hoarse laugh.

She doesn’t know what she is supposed to do after that, but, luckly, Edo comes to her rescue.

— Well… We should be courageous then.

— What do you mean with that? — Ele’s voice gets weirdly high and she curses herself for that.

— I mean: we should play a game! — Edo suggests and Ele crooks an eyebrow at him, surprised.

— Don’t you dare trying to push “20 questions” down my throat!

— Too late, that is what we are doing. If you don’t answer the questions I make… Then I can post something on your social media.

— Same thing for me? — Edo nods. — Okay, then, I’m in. But, can we please go to somewhere safer than an empty square at night? — Ele demand and Edo nods, agreeing to her.

They walk for a bit in silence until finding a restaurant to hang out at.

— Okay, I’ll take it easy on you. Worst pain you ever felt? — Edo asks once they find a good table, away from everyone else.

— When I was 12, I had appendicitis. I thought I was going to die, it was horrible! Nothing ever came close to it ever since. — Ele lets out the part where she had to take a taxi to get to the hospital because she had nobody to go with her, but the thought wanders in her mind for a bit longer.

— It’s your turn now. — Edo says, seeming to notice she became distant for a bit.

— Alright… If you had to be trapped on a desert island, who would you take there with you?

— That’s easy. My best friend, Fede. He’s annoying as fuck, but that is good to fill all the silence, right? Who would you take?

— My brother… Probably for the same reason. Favorite cartoon growing up?

It is weird to think of Edo as a kid, but there’s a certain light in his eyes and a levity in his features that make him seem so young at certain moments despite his facade. Eleonora wonders what made him put that facade on in the first place.

— Okay, don’t laugh at me! — He asks and Ele gets pulled out of her thoughts.

— I won’t, come on, say it!

— It was Winx. — Ele almost gasps because of how unlike him it sounds. — My dad didn’t want me to watch it, he said it was a “girls’ show”, but I would do it anyway. Every time he entered the living room, I would just change it to Mickey Mouse or some shit.

— Are you kidding me? — Ele wonders again.

— What? Are you saying you agree with him? — Edo dramatically puts a hand on his chest, pretending to be disappointed.

— Of course not, that’s bullshit. But… Winx was my favorite show growing up too. — Ele says back and they both laugh at another coincidence bonding them.

— Flora was my favorite.

— Oh, darling, I was Flora! I would fight anyone that tried to be her when I was a kid while we played together.

— Oh, someone was taking it too seriously! — He looks delighted with the story, though.

— Look, she is the best one, okay? The guardian of the nature!

— The Fairy of Flowers! All of that! — Edoardo completes her without hesitating.

At that moment, Ele feels young. Maybe it is being out in the middle of the night in a beautiful city. Or perhaps it is the memories of the times where she was a easy going and happy kid that do it to her.

It could as well be Edo’s company.

— Hum… First kiss? — Edoardo asks this time and Ele freezes on the spot.

The memories that come back to her this time are not very pleasant. Ele thinks back to Francesco and her heart aches a bit. Everytime she thinks she’s over him, over what he did to her, life finds a way to bring all the pain right back to her.

— Guess I’ll take the challenge. — Ele says, quickly reaching for her phone to open her Twitter app.

— Oh, that bad?

— Just do it. — Ele faked a smile and handled him the phone. Edo typed fast, a mischievous smile never leaving his lips.

— And it’s done! — He seemed too excited for it to be a good thing, but Ele took a look at it anyway.

— Oh my god, you just ruined my life. For the next weeks, that’s all my brother will be talking about! Filo will never let it go. — Ele grunts, but Edo keeps laughing at how red her face got. — Asshole! — She curses over her breath when their eyes cross again. — Okay… I’ll end you now: worst lie you ever told your mom?

Edoardo bites his lip when he hears the question and Ele is sure he’s about to burst out some dumb joke, but he stays silent.

She is confused by his reaction, until he pulls his phone out just like she did before and handles it to her.

— Well, if I didn’t tell my mom about it, I certainly can’t tell a stranger. — Edo says, the stupidly gorgeous smile returning to his face, as if his previous silence meant nothing.

— Ow, you hurt me like this. You know my name, what my favorite show is and who I would take to a desert island with me. I went to high school with people I knew less about, do you know that? — Ele teases him just because she doesn’t like the worried bow that was in his face before.

Her idea works, because he immediately laughs in return, his head being thrown back during it.

— Alright, I will post something in your Instagram, but you gotta take the picture. — Ele says, telling Edo what he should do next. He gets oddly quiet while she posts the pic he took. — What? Was the picture not good?

— No. It was awesome. You’re awesome, I mean. — Edo said, swallowing nervously.

— Oh… Thanks. — She answers, an unexpected shyness taking over her when she posts the picture with a ironic caption on his Instagram.

— Here it is. — Their hands brush when she handles Edo his phone. If he takes notice of that, he doesn’t show.

— Alright. Your turn. — Edo says, his chair somehow getting closer to hers in the process.

— Fine… Do you have a secret?

— Oh… That’s deep. — Edo says, surprised.

— You act so mysteriously sometimes. Guess the question fits you. — Ele shakes her shoulder, her whole body aware of Edo’s arm resting in her chair.

— Alright, I suppose you’re right. You know… I do have a couple of secrets, but I can only think of one right now. — She was nervously aware of how close he was right now.

Surprisingly enough, Eleonora wouldn’t mind if he somehow managed to get closer.

That was the moment the waitress decided to come close to them, letting them know the bar was closing off.

Edo almost jumped away from her, given how unexpected the interruption was, but he managed to keep his voice normal while talking to the waitress. They paid the bill in an awkward silence.

Her stomach was turning and her hands were sweating. Ele was so nervous she didn’t realize it had started raining outside.

— Shit. Can’t believe it started raining already. — Edo said.

— It’s not too strong, if we hurry, I think we won’t catch the worst part of it. — Ele suggests, trying to focus on something other than the fact Edo was about to kiss her.

Or better: that she was about to let him.

— Yes, it’s better if we leave before it gets heavier.

— My hotel is over there. — She pointed to the upper street.

— So is my apartment. — With that, they both took some courage and left the bar behind, doing their best to avoid getting soaked with the rain.

At certain point, Ele wasn’t able to see a thing and her body collapsed in Edo’s arms. He catches her out of reflex, they both almost falling down.

They were standing in the middle of the pouring rain that had no signal of stopping.

Ele’s dress was getting tighter and tighter as she stood there, Edo’s hands still on her lap, hers on his shoulders.

— We should go. — Edo whispered, but he didn’t make any move.

— Yes, we should.

— Will we? — He asked cautiously.

— What was it the book was saying again? — She gives him another question instead of an answer, but he seems satisfied with it by the smile on his face.

— “We will meet; and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously.” — Edo quoted, his eyes not leaving hers.

— We met. Maybe it’s time for the rehearse. — Ele whispers, barely registering the confusion on Edo’s eyes.

She reaches out and pulls him into her, her hands moving to his neck as their lips crash against each other.

Ele only has a second of lucid thoughts to consider the insanity of what she’s going, but that moment is quickly gone, forgotten by the overlying sensation of being held so fiercely. The feeling of being lost and found all at once.

Maybe it’s insane. Maybe it’s stupid.

But when Edo takes her off her feet, Eleonora couldn’t care less about logic.

Previous Chapter

[foresthearth]

Review: “Witch”, by Lisa Lister

Coming in three years after publication, ‘cause that’s how I roll.

Okay, I have to mention, I HATE these matte covers that pick up fingerprints like you wouldn’t believe. Ugh. Why do this to me and my greasy little hands?!

Moving on.

TL;DR: If you are a cisgender, AFAB woman with a fully functioning reproductive system, who finds this fact to be intrinsic to your parsing of femininity and spirituality, this book will probs be great for you.

Everyone else? This book is bad. Yes, there is some nuance to this and the WHY of its badness (and all reviews are subject to reviewer bias), but overall, in summation? It’s bad.

To start off, the kinda dubious but overall not so bad: it doesn’t really tell you anything. It bills itself as sort of a cultural studies text crossed with an intro to witchcraft; however, for me, it fails at both. As a textbook, it does not cite sources, though there is a “Bookshelf” section at the end – the text itself, however, really just serves as a place for Lister to talk about her perceptions of the female and feminine power throughout history. Which in and of itself is FINE, but don’t say you’re going to explain “the history behind witchcraft” (literally in the back cover blurb) and not actually back that history up with sources. You can talk all you want about persecution of women, but when putting it in a specific context such as the age of witch trials, or referring to societies that used to venerate women before the patriarchy took hold, it really helps to have some primary or secondary source to back up what you’re saying. You may think that we’re all drawing from a common knowledge, but not everyone has access to that knowledge pool, nor has the same background and learning. Just back up what you’re saying, or even just reference further reading that people can do if they want to learn more about what you’re pulling from. (I compare this to one of my books on Queer Magic – it also doesn’t have a bibliography, but that is due to the fact that it IS primary source material, essays from queer folks on *their magic*. Witch is not trying to be a primary source, therefore Lister should really acknowledge where she’s found her information.)

Now, the intro to witchcraft bit. Personally, none of the spells resonated with me – except for the Ostara honeycakes recipe because they are delicious – but that has more to do with how I practise magic. Lister’s practise and mine are very different, and her formalised spells/rituals do absolutely nothing for me. BUT if you are new to witchcraft, and looking for step-by-step guidance for certain issues, or rituals for a sabbat, these could be helpful, or at least give a jumping off point. However, it’s useful to keep in mind that this is not following any specific path within witchcraft – so if you are starting out and want to learn something formalised, this isn’t the book for it. Which is why I say it fails as being an intro to witchcraft: it’s showing you a few spells with no background into the wherefore, no reasoning as to what gives these things the power for this spell. And I feel like that’s because Lister isn’t trying for a tradition-based book, in that she herself works intuitively. So the spellcraft doesn’t really work for me, and I feel like it doesn’t give a firm enough foundation to be considered an introductory book. That being said, it does give just enough information to pique curiosity, so that you may have an idea of where to start further research.

 There is one aspect of Witch that I do find pretty good, which is the constant reiteration of finding your own power and believing yourself and trusting your intuition. This is what I think is the strong point of the book overall – Lister says it’s to help women “reclaim the word ‘witch’”, but witchcraft aside, I definitely feel it’s got some good points about not letting yourself be silenced, and moving into trusting yourself and your ways of knowing.

 BUT.

There is a MAJOR issue that I have with this book, and that is the transphobia and gender essentialism. And this is what, for me, makes it a bad book.

Let me quote a bit for you, from right near the beginning:

“Yet, as I was pulling my pages and pages of handwritten notes… I felt an overwhelming need to apologize for writing a book specifically about women as witches… I’ll piss off the transgender community for not addressing them… That thought? That need to apologize? That’s the very reason why I HAVE to write this book. What I share is NOT intended to exclude others. But trying to be all-inclusive would totally miss the point.” (Witch, pp. xvii-xviii)

Sigh. If you’re going into something with the feeling that you’re being exclusive and need to apologize, maybe that’s a sign to take a step back and look at who you’re excluding and why. If, to you, “the essence of a witch is someone who trusts their inner authority and uses their own personal magic to navigate and negotiate the environment they currently find themselves in” (ibid. p. xix), then why the need to specifically mention that witches power comes from their womb? Why keep bringing it back to “pussy power” and tying everything back to menstrual cycles? Why? And maybe – MAYBE – if there had only been this passing reference in the intro, it could be overlooked. But the references to pussy power, to wombs, tying power to biology, is constant throughout the book:

“Blessed be my womb for being the holy grail, cauldron and keeper of the mysteries.” (p. xxii)

“One sister is chanting the various names given to the Mother God: ‘Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Innana’ over and over, from deep down in her womb. (p. xxiii)

“There were no fanfares, marching bands or big applause: just pussy-deep truth.” (p. 3)

“You can only find your power when you plug yourself back into the motherboard. When your feet touch Mumma Earth, and your womb and heart connect with her.” (p. 16)

“Generations of women have been disconnected from the power that lies between their thighs – their lady landscape, their womb and their menstrual cycle. They’ve lost connection with their ability to create life (and everything else) in their wombs, which means their minds can be easily manipulated and indoctrinated by Patriarchy.” (p. 75)

I could go on, but believe me when I say this is pervasive throughout the entire book.

You can’t have it both ways. You cannot give an inclusive definition of what you think a witch is, and then go on to say ‘oh, but you’re only a witch if you have this biological aspect’ and venerate that biological aspect in an exclusionary way. This book is either only for AFAB, cis women with fully working parts, or it’s for everyone.

I am a queer, cisgender woman with pretty severe endocrine issues which have basically fucked my reproductive system. The amount of time that Lister spends in this book, talking about how our feminine power comes from this same reproductive system is absolutely distasteful, as well as being reductive and exclusionary. I’ve spent enough of my life feeling useless and not enough, due to my physical issues, that I really don’t need a book about reclaiming my feminine power to ALSO say that my feminine power is rooted in a fundamentally broken part of my body. Yes, the menstrual cycle/organs are powerful and have strong magic, but they are NOT what makes someone a woman. To say that it is not only excludes those who either don’t have or have ill-functioning systems, as well as reducing women to nothing more than their reproductive systems… And isn’t that what Lister’s trying to get away from, what with reclaiming feminine power and blasting the patriarchy?

And if I feel this way? I cannot even imagine what my trans family would feel like, expecting a book on witchcraft and the feminine, only to be told mid-text, that they’re not valid or wanted.

I’m not saying that you can’t write a book about the power inherent in the reproductive systems. But just be sure to make it very clear that that’s what you’re doing. Don’t play coy and hide your TERF views in the text, put them on the cover so we don’t pay money for exclusionary bullshit.

And for further reading:

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095846595

https://medium.com/@pennyred/terf-wars-why-transphobia-has-no-place-in-feminism-60d3156ad06e

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/pantheon/2011/03/transgender-issues-in-pagan-religions/

https://godsandradicals.org/2016/02/10/its-all-about-sex-feminism-paganism-and-trans-exclusion/

https://www.hercampus.com/school/york-u/women-wicca-transphobia-and-other-issues

[redhoodssweetheart]

Colorful Pain

Genre: Soulmate AU

Pairing: Natasha x Fem!Rogers!Reader

Word Count:  1.5K

Requested: Anon

Warnings: Angst with a happy ending

Description:  Whenever your soulmate touches you a rainbow of colors appears where they touch you.  You’ve known for years that Natasha was your soulmate, but you were too afraid to tell her until one day she accidentally discovers your secret. 

A/N:  So the Reader is Steve’s sister, but I imagine that she’s adopted so that way she’s more inclusive for those of us who are not blonde or blue eyed to be able to enjoy this story as well.  I never make references to her being white, blonde, or blue eyed.

*** DO NOT REPOST MY WORK ***

Taglists: Are open, please send an ask and see this post for more information.

You had avoided any skin to skin contact with Natasha after accidentally discovering that she was your soulmate one day.  You were surprised that she didn’t know as well.  She was always so observant that you thought for sure that she would have noticed it.

You had gone crying to your brother, Steve, telling him about it.  You were scared, what if Natasha didn’t want to be with you?  You were Steve’s little sister after all maybe she didn’t want to get involved with you.  Plus in the past she had mentioned things about not wanting to be in relationships, that she was too focused on her work and thought that someone might get in the way of that.

It had been a year and so far you had successfully avoided her finding out the truth about what you were.  Although you were now scheduled to train with her, Steve normally ran interference and trained you, but he was away on a mission and Tony had left no room for discussion.  

“Steve’s away and you can’t always rely on him to train with you.  Plus it’s not good to train with just one person, Nat can teach you all kinds of tricks and moves that will come in handy,” Tony had patted your shoulder and left you alone to let what he had said sink in.

Now you were walking toward the gym shaking as you thought about how you could avoid Natasha touching you.  You stepped into the spacious room and saw her standing on the mats stretching.  “You can do this,” you whispered as you stepped over to where she was.

She looked your way when she heard you approach, “Ready to start our training session?”  You nodded and stood there nervously.  Natasha came at you and you dodged each of her attacks.  “Attack me!”  She shouted at you when she saw you were fighting back.  She kept trying to come at you, but you weren’t budging at all, that was when she hit you right in the face.  “Y/N!  Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”  She froze when you looked up at her.  Where she had hit you vibrant colors bloomed on your skin.  Blues shifted from green to yellow to red to so many more.  She knew instantly what those colors met and she almost didn’t want to believe what she was seeing.

“I have to go,” you whispered as you turned and fled from the room.

Natasha normally would have gone running after you, but she stayed frozen to her spot, staring after you as you ran from the gym.  How had she not know that you were her soulmate?  Why hadn’t you said anything to her?

She went to her gym bag and pulled her phone out dialing Steve’s number.  “Did you know?”  She asked when he picked up the phone.

“Did I know what?”  He sounded groggy like he had been asleep when she called.

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers!  Did you know Y/N and I were soulmates?”  Steve was quiet on the other end telling Natasha all she needed to know.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She asked me not too, I love both of you, but that was something you two needed to work out on your own.  She has a right to worry Natasha, your notorious for not wanting to be in a relationship with anyone, plus she wasn’t sure if you’d want to be with my little sister.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to be with my soulmate?”  Natasha hissed.

“Look Nat, you’re going to have to talk to her about this.  But maybe consider all the things you’ve said over the years about hoping you never found your soulmate, and never wanting to be in a relationship.”  Steve hung up the phone leaving Natasha feeling lost and confused.

A few days later Steve returned from his mission and heard from Bucky that you hadn’t come out of your room since the incident with Natasha.  “I’ve been taking her food,” Bucky assured him.  “And she’s been eating, it’s just that she’s worried that Nat will ambush her.”

“So they haven’t talked?”

Bucky shook his head, “Yeah, she’s had F.R.I.D.A.Y. keep Natasha locked out of her room and it’s about to drive Nat up a wall.”

Steve sighed, “These two, I swear.  All right, I’m gonna go talk to her and see if I can talk some sense into my sister.”  He hurried down the hall toward your room to check and make sure you were okay first and foremost.  “Y/N, it’s Steve, can I come in?”

He heard the click of the lock and then you pulled him inside before slamming the door and locking it again.  Your arms went around him and squeezed him tightly.  “Hi Stevie,” you whispered.

“Y/N/N, you can’t stay in here like this, you gotta face Nat some time,” he said.

You shook your head, “No I don’t, I can leave and she’ll never find me and then I won’t get hurt when she tells me thanks, but no thanks.”

“She’s not going to do that to you,” Steve insisted.

You pulled away from him, “And you don’t know for sure.  I’m not taking that chance, Steve.  Do you know how hard it would be for me to hear my soulmate say she doesn’t want to be with me?”

“No, but I know what life is like without your soulmate, and I can say it’s a hell of a lot more painful.”

“Steve, I’m sorry,” you stammered.  You had completely forgotten that Steve had had a soulmate, but he had lost her and how painful that had been for him.  “But you knew Peggy loved you, I don’t know if Nat will ever love me.”

He left the room shortly after, you curled up in a chair thinking about what he had told you.

The next day you came out of your room, you had hidden away enough and it was time to face the music.  You had to know what Natasha was going to say to you and you had to explain why you had never told her.

You found them all in the common room, Natasha was staring blankly at the wall, but as soon as she heard the door open her head snapped up hoping it would be you.  She needed to talk to you, to see you and she had been watching the doorways like a hawk hoping it would be you.

Steve cleared his throat, “Who wants lunch?”

“I could go for some lunch,” Sam jumped up and started following Steve out.  “You comin’ Buck?”

“Yep,” Bucky went running out of the room.  The others trailing behind after him.

Natasha stood, “Y/N, I--”  You held up a hand and cut her off.

“Can I go first?”  She nodded her head and took a seat on the couch again.  You sat on the other end, making sure you weren’t close to her as you twisted your hands together.  “You have to understand that I didn’t want to keep this from you.  At first, I was ecstatic that I had found my soulmate, but then the realization crashed down around me that you had said you never wanted to be with anyone.  You even once said you hoped you’d never find me… I spent the entire night crying because that had been the day I was going to tell you the truth about what we were.”

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.  “I never thought that I’d find someone who was supposedly my soulmate.  I never thought that that would be in the cards for me.  I’ve done so many horrible things that I believed my soulmate was better off never finding me.”

“Shouldn’t that be up to me though?  To the person whose soul was made for yours?”  You found yourself scooting closer.  “Nat those things never mattered to me because what you did before you came here before you became apart of this team, weren’t really you.  Just like how the Winter Soldier wasn’t really Bucky.”

Natasha wiped a tear away and said, “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

You reached out slowly and watched the colors form across her skin where your finger ran.  She watched as you gently made the colors appear, so different from the painful way she had made the colors appear on your skin.  “Say the word and I’ll leave, I’ll take a position somewhere else and move on with my life, we never have to see one another again.  You can pretend like this never happened and I’ll move on.”

Natasha looked away from the colors on her skin to your eyes, her hand came up shakily and cupped your cheek, the colors now appearing on your skin, greens, blues, reds, purples, and every color in between rippling across your skin.  “Please stay,” she whispered.  “I can’t live without you, not when I’ve just found you.”

You cupped her hand with yours and gave her a sweet smile, your lips brushing her cheek, “Okay.”

She pulled you into her arms and held you for the longest time.  Finally, you asked her if she wanted to go get dinner with you and she agreed.  The two of you walked out of the compound together hand in hand talking about anything and everything.  You were relieved with the turn of events and were so happy that she hadn’t broken your heart in the process, and you hoped that this happiness continued for years to come.

[butyouvealwaysbeenthecaretaker]

nettlepatchwork...

I'm sorry, this is not a great take. XR has been criticized for encouraging protestors to get arrested, without sufficient concern about the extra risk this poses to black members. BLM protests are organized with this in mind. White protestors are asked to form "human shields." My friends who are EXTREMELY active in the climate movement also have reservations about XR for this reason... of course some - perhaps many - people are using these concerns as an excuse not to get involved in any activism. It's true that people with decry a movement as "problematic" and then sit at home doing nothing. But this post comes across as dismissing real concerns, and suggesting that black people should be willing to risk murder for actions largely organized by white people.

Thank you as ever for disagreement friend, and this is a reply I definitely want to amplify. <3

I had a wall of text written out in reply, but I don’t think it does good to post it. It’s a good response, and I don’t want to detract/distract from it by making it a conversation instead of a statement.

(But i took my meds today, so my “I just have a few thoughts...” second pass is also quite unwieldy)

The critiques I am talking about absolutely implied that activism, as a kind of nice hobby, should be inclusive as a sports club or a band and, therefore, because direct action protest carried greater risks for some people than others, it was exclusionary, and should not be done. I have not encountered the idea that direct action can be consciously better designed by marginalised people for their own needs, and that the context of participating in a white-dominated campaign might produce avoidable problems. This is fantastic (& I’m going to pass the human shield bit on). But, if this is what the other critiques meant to communicate - then that may be a failure of me to understand nuance, or of how it was written. As written, it comes out as...”you should stop doing any form of risky direct action because it excludes people, just like when the local gay book group chooses to meet in a cafe that doesn’t have a ramp”.

& this plays into what modern climate change denial looks like in Europe: “It’s happening, of course, but we can’t do anything about it”, with “do” standing in for everything from green energy, to agriculture, to car culture when you’re talking to powerful people; and then for ordinary folks, like, “of course it’s happening, but you can’t expect me to give up my three holidays abroad every year”, or whatever this looks like on a personal level. “Of course it’s happening, but you can’t expect me to risk adverse confrontations with a bigoted social system”. “Of course it’s happening, but I would prefer to stand in solidarity with marginalised people by not joining your campaign”. “Of course it’s happening, but I can’t join your campaign unless you also campaign on {these other things}”. Some of these complaints are more legit than others, but they all stem from the same sense that climate action is nice to do because we’re good people - but not real, or urgent, at all. It’s not polite to say in Europe that climate change is fake; but no one really behaves as if they believe in it either. And after a while, it does all blur into one big reason why we’re going to kick this down the road so the next government can deal with it.

It’s not positive to be grumpy about things without trying to look for a productive endpoint, so I guess my question back would be...

What can XR do to resolve this issue in future, if experienced white anti-racists and black environmentalists choose not to participate? And what effective - not just performative - steps do we need to take to increase that participation?

Decentralised volunteer campaigns are shaped by the people in the room, and succeed or fail by the efforts of people spotting things that need doing, and getting them done. If you have identified a problem, then decentralised culture relies on you not sitting on the sidelines and complaining, but taking ownership of it. So, the frustration for me is - a great many people making criticisms, which is easy, but none of them then show up at their local group branch and say “I am going to take the lead on making change”. Which is hard work!

I do not believe that a white-dominated group can be effectively anti-racist. For the culture to feel *authentically* diverse, not just nice words, you need large numbers of people there - shaping the culture, the words, the priorities - and also in leadership roles. It can’t be christmas decorations, it can’t be a performance, it certainly can’t be a room full of nice white people talking about racism. It has to be - at its core, innately, organically, rooted in the priorities and language of the minority group in question. You can’t fake a thing like that. It’s in your bones, a feeling of “home”.

I think about this a lot; but it keeps coming back to this chicken and egg. The idea of “don’t expect marginalised people to do the labour of making the space safe; make it safe, then we’ll show up” - I understand why that’s desired, but it isn’t practical. No one else is going to do it as well as people speaking from their own experiences, about their own needs.

So ultimately, if I’ve misunderstood the critique I was whining about, I’m glad to be corrected (& I’m going to talk to some of my folks about maybe getting in contact with BLM for like, some advice on running a demo); but I still don’t know how a group with a majority white presence could *ever* resolve this issue, without black participants taking the lead on our action design. And that comes back to: the importance of narratives being shared and promoted, which seem to have the effect of discouraging participation from the very people most able to resolve it.

But yeah. I sincerely welcome any resources people reading this and rolling their eyes at my bullshit have for improving on this, and especially things that have worked for other campaigns historically because, like. It isn’t just us. Alternatively, high profile environment groups built by people of colour who have a presence in Wales. And above all, of course dear readers, you looking up your local XR chapter and taking on an organising role to work on this issue.

[dippedanddripped]

On June 4, the Council of Fashion Designers of America released a statement along with action steps the organization would take to address racism, promote inclusivity, and create opportunities for Black talent in the fashion industry. Among the initiatives are an “in-house employment program specifically charged with placing Black talent in the fashion industry,” mentorship and internship programs pairing Black students and graduates with established companies, and a diversity and inclusion training program it would implement and make available to its members.

According to Pyer Moss founder Kerby Jean-Raymond, the CFDA still isn’t doing enough. As one of the most prominent Black members of the council, the designer isn’t afraid to speak truth to power, or use his platform to amplify the interests of the Black community. He attended the June 2 meeting where the CFDA wanted to discuss the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests and the systemic racism that has long been prevalent in the fashion industry.

He says he worked with other members of the CFDA — like Virgil Abloh, designer Prabal Gurung, and Public School’s Dao-Yi Chow — to craft a list of reasonable, actionable demands that CFDA members and its associated companies could be held accountable for. The points they outlined are as follows:

1. We’re calling on all U.S. retailers to train and instruct their employees to not make frivolous 911 calls for non-violent infractions.

2. We’re calling on all companies to not hire off-duty police officers in their retail locations.

3. We’re requiring that all CFDA affiliated companies commit to having 15% of their senior leadership staff be Black, the representation of what we are in the population.

4. We’re no longer accepting brands into the CFDA that do not meet these bare minimum standards of diversity.

5. We’re calling on all US retailers to commit 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands.

6. We will create a placement division with the CFDA that pairs Black talent with companies looking to hire.

7. We will be creating a program that pairs Black talent with established Black talent in the fashion industry.

Instead, the CFDA chose to ignore these requests, and released what Jean-Raymond calls a “fucking watered-down, bubblegum-ass statement that didn’t address the issues.”

In addition to creating more opportunities for Black talent, these requests specifically diminish the involvement between the fashion and retail industries with the police. The abolishment of the police force is Jean-Raymond’s most urgent objective of the moment, and talking about how to do it is the only reason he even agreed to this interview.

The outline for what a world without police looks like already exists, as multiple examples on social media have shown us. Reallocating inflated police budgets to youth programs, education, and healthcare would do more to diminish crime and create self-sustaining communities more akin to the suburbs, according to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“Affluent white communities already live in a world where they choose to fund youth, health, housing etc more than they fund police,” Ocasio-Cortez explained in an Instagram Story. “White communities bend over backwards to find alternatives to incarceration for their loved ones to ‘protect their future,’ like community service or rehab or restorative measures. Why don’t we treat Black and Brown people the same way?”

It’s a sentiment that is quickly turning into action. Cities like Los Angeles and New York have vowed to cut police budgets and reallocate those funds. The Minneapolis City Council voted to dismantle its police force. Reform laws named for Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor, two Black lives lost to police brutality, have recently been passed. But Jean-Raymond knows that there’s still a long march ahead towards police abolishment, and he’s going to do everything he can to make sure no one loses sight of the goal posts.

All over the country we’re seeing states actively taking steps to dismantle police departments or reallocating budgets away from them. Broadly speaking, how do we even start working towards abolishing the police?

It’s a multi-step process, and it requires all hands on deck for it to happen quickly. There are the immediate, short-term solutions that you see with #8CantWait and Campaign Zero’s harm reduction programs that have been around forever, but it’s really a smart approach to a bigger problem.

Semantics and words matter. Seeing catchy phrases and things like that do work. We live in a meme society, and the revolution will be memed — I think it’s important for us to have a deep dive into all of these pieces that lead to the bigger solution, which is community policing, community safety, demilitarization of the police, abolishing the police,  and all of the things we can agree society needs right now.

That’s definitely something we’re seeing in how information is being spread and the Black history narratives going viral on social media.

All of these different facts are coming to light in bite-sized, tangible bits. You’re getting it in memes and people are reposting at a rate that’s dangerously fast. We’re getting a lot of historical information thrown at us that the public may have ignored before.

And I think our collective consciousness is understanding that police are trained like a cult. We just saw that in Buffalo with the older gentleman who was pushed down — 57 officers essentially turned in their resignation because they wanted to protect [their fellow cops].

This “blue wall of silence” is a proper cult. Just like MAGA is a cult, just like Kabbalah is a cult, and just like Jim Jones had a cult. One of the things that we have to look at — and why we have to disband our current police and create completely new community-serving public safety measures — is because these people are not trained to do what they were supposed to do in the first place. Something went wrong. They’re not serving their communities, they’re not living amongst the people, they’re only serving each other. Why would you become a cop just so you could protect other cops?

““These people are not trained to do what they were supposed to do. Something went wrong. They’re not serving their communities, they’re only serving each other. Why would you become a cop just so you could protect other cops?””

It’s clear that reform isn’t enough. Campaigns for police reform like #8CantWait have their fair share of criticism, but we’ve also seen laws passed in honor of Eric Garner and Breonna Taylor that ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants.

With #8CantWait specifically, their approach is to deal with the things that we can immediately address overnight. Mayors can put these things into effect. Banning chokeholds doesn’t mean that the violence is going to stop — I don’t think anybody believes that means the violence is going to stop — but with chokeholds clearly banned, it makes it a lot harder for the [police] unions and their legal defense to justify those actions. It’s an effective thing that can reduce harm to individuals almost immediately.

The common denominator is that people in power usually agree that these killings are wrong and egregious, but what we don’t talk about enough is how powerful these police unions are and these pre-negotiated collective bargaining agreements that keep police officers from facing accountability.

So ultimately, defunding the police is about taking power away from those unions?

Defunding the police is the ultimate goal, but we also have to remember that politicians and people in power have been trying to fight these police unions and these corrupt police departments all around the country forever. So it’s super important to give credit to these organizations, like Campaign Zero and the Know Your Rights campaign, who are using tactical approaches and playing chess with the system.

At the same time, we have to give credit to the people on the street who are making noise and doing whatever the fuck they need to do to get attention. We all know that America respects money, and if they fuck with somebody’s pocket, they’re going to pay attention. We need universal pressure being put on corporations and businesses that support police.

How do we keep putting that pressure on?

One of the things that we can implement specifically in fashion and retail is to no longer call the police for non-violent offenses. [George Floyd] shouldn’t have had the police called on him for a $20 counterfeit bill in the first place, especially when we know what police have done to Black men and women historically.

Speaking of accountability, you also took the CFDA to task for ignoring the list of demands you helped put together and instead issuing a statement you found totally inadequate. In many ways, these institutions continue to fail the Black community.

It’s fucking lip service to the movement, and it’s bullshit. Honestly, this is probably one of the biggest slaps in the face that I’ve ever gotten, and me and Virgil [Abloh] are going back and forth on this thing like, “What the fuck do we do?”

As far as the way that they conducted themselves and chose to omit specific language that can make Black people feel advocated for? A governing body like the CFDA holds so much prestige within the fashion space, and for them not to advocate in the proper way leads Black people to believe that there’s not going to be any help when we get here — or if we can ever get there at all.

““This is divine intervention. We got a pandemic, no distractions. We never had a movement free of distractions the way that we do now. Now all you can do is pick a side — and if you don’t pick a side, that means you picked a side.””

Not for nothing, the CFDA also has Black people in positions of power, however oftentimes these roles can be marginalized in their organizational influence.

I’m not going to speak too much on it, but what I will say is in my experience with working within these industries, the few people of color who are there are very scared to speak out, because they’re usually retaliated against in micro-aggressive ways. And I don’t blame them for not being able to speak out.

I have a privilege because I have rights to my own company, I don’t really answer to anybody — I’ve never had to — but for a lot of people, this is a new thing. Getting by and getting up is a means of survival for a lot of Black people, so I can’t fault them for showing up in spaces and not feeling like they can be their complete selves when the removal of all of their progress can be done in a swift instant.

One of the very first things you posted when the worldwide protests were gaining steam was “

Don’t get tired

.” We’re all trying to maintain this energy and sentiment as long as we can — why do you think it’s been so sustained?

The revolution needs to take naps. We went back to school, we went back to work, and if you were very outspoken about Black shit at home and how we were being mistreated by the system, then the next day, you had to take the LIRR and go into your racist, micro-aggressive office and deal with people — you got tired.

Now, this is divine intervention. We got a pandemic, no sports, no distractions, no new movies coming out, no concerts — nothing. The world has to focus on the same Black shit we’ve been trying to get done for the past several years. We never had this before. Not in the Civil Rights era, nowhere. We never had a movement free of distractions the way that we do. Now all you can do is pick a side — and if you don’t pick a side, that means you picked a side.

Jenna Wortham described this extraordinary moment as

“a glorious poetic rage.”

How does this feel different to you than what was going on in Ferguson six years ago?

We’re at a turning point in history where it’s like: Where do you want to be in this chapter? Where do you want to tell your grandkids you stood? And who do you really think is going to win? I’d bet on the winning team, if I was you.

Here’s the thing: If evil prevails, there will be no history books. In order for there to even be a history book where we’re talking about 2020, good has to win over evil before 2050. We have to accept it as a moral issue. I don’t want to liken this to other genocides and other tragedies that have happened in the course of global history, but a lot of us would feel like if we could go back and undo certain parts of human history, we would. We’re at one of those points right now. We can collectively make the change we need to make: completely dismantle the current policing system.

Only 5 percent of 911 calls are for violent crime, so why does an officer need to show up at your house with a gun? Why do you need to pull me over for a speeding ticket with a gun drawn? Why do you need to come investigate a missing child with a gun drawn? The same way you can gauge whether to send a firetruck or an ambulance, you can gauge whether to send somebody with a loaded gun or somebody with a pen and a pad.

This is a fight you’ve been engaging in through Pyer Moss for nearly a decade now, even back in 2015 with the “They Have Names” T-shirt. How do you stay so consistent and mission-driven?

Right now, I’m only lending you my likeness so that you can bring attention to defunding the police. That’s the trade-off. This is not a self-serving mission; this is something that needs to change in my lifetime. I’m terrified of bringing children into this world.

My nephew is 15 years old, and I started this fight when he was in the nut sac. He likes Odell Beckham a lot, so he dyed the top of his hair blonde, and now he has braids at the top. He likes NLE Choppa and he’s putting me onto all these young rappers that I didn’t even know existed, TikTok challenges, and things like that.

He’s stepping into adolescence, but to some random, trigger-happy cop who’s never lived in his neighborhood in Mount Vernon, who’s on their third week of the job, that little boy becomes a grown-ass threat. That story is not unique to all these mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and grandmothers who are genuinely terrified for themselves and for everyone else just trying to conduct their normal, everyday lives. This shit is scary, and it has to stop. Anything else is not worth talking about.

““We’re in a turning point in history where it’s like: Where do you want to be in this chapter? We can collectively make the change.””

Between brands, stores, and publications, there’s certainly a renewed desire to leverage the equity of the Black community as a way to show support. But as you’ve

called out on Twitter

, there’s an egregious amount of virtue signaling and performative allyship.

I’ve remarked on it [happening] with clothing stores specifically, the ones who are now touting all these Black brands that they’ve never carried or even gone to see themselves. Magazines I’ve never even heard of are putting me in these round-ups, and it’s so disrespectful because they’re not even categorized; it’s just “Black designers.”

It’s detrimental to those who have put in the work to differentiate themselves and carve their own lanes. People who are doing really unique, gender-defying and poetic work like Telfar are being put in the same breath as a single-product DTC, venture-backed company. They’re not giving them any differentiation — just grouping them all together because they’re Black.

If they wanted to have a little bit more respect, they should admit they never supported us, and follow that up with why they’re going to start, and why you should, too. They should educate people about what we do instead of just putting us on these erroneous fucking lists. You can guilt people into buying things because we’re Black, but that can harm our businesses, because once these people feel like this “trend” is over, then they have a pass to forget about us.