#chicago fashion blog

[sarahjackson14]

the mafia wife aesthetic micro-trend to fashion month trend

There have already been so many well-articulated commentary videos and think pieces of this micro trend that TikTok has manifested almost out of thin air…did you catch my sarcasm? I hope so because let me tell you something as an older Gen Z with heavy influence from the millennial generation, this trend could’ve had a better name because news flash to the Italian American women who are quite…

[threech33rs]

Quick trip to Chicago

[adrianarodriguezp]

summer>winter

[memimade]

@memimade

Crochet Two Tone Beanie in the color combo Bubblegum Pink & Hot Pink 🧶

[bouncybongfairy]

Hello! Could I request some dark smut with Lip? I can also be more specific if you'd like! No worries if you don't want to write it! Also I just found your blog and love your writing! 💕

Fucked Back Into Reality

Lip Gallagher x Fem Reader

Summary: Your boyfriend Lip, hadn't talked to you in a couple of days. After having several conversations about this reoccuring problem, you decied to give him the cold shoulder. He reminds you why doing this is a riskey game.

Word Count: 2.0k+

TW: Rough Smut, Brat Kink, Masocism.

Ref Account: @kaionyx

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

It’s a bitterly cold day in Chicago’s south side. The type of cold where everyone at school is more concerned about staying warm than fashion. You were walking to school, both your parents left for work before you woke up. The school was too close to home for bus services so walking was really the only option. After trying to get in touch with Lip for the past two days, you were now on strike from being nice to him. You weren’t ignorant, Lip had a lot going on at home which meant his undivided attention was rare. Sometimes you wished he would just shoot you a text like: hey super busy day, love you / shits been crazy, talk to you when i can. Having this conversation in the past, you weren’t going to bother having it again. It surprised you to see Lip sitting on the front steps of the school; early which he never was. You started walking up the steps, he stood up and flicked his cigarette bud into the snow. 

“Hey,” he said, you just looked at him and kept walking to your locker. 

“Oh come one, you’re ignoring me?” he asked, leaning up against the mental lockers as you emptied your things into the locker. 

“Seems familiar doesn’t it,” you say, referencing him not reaching out for the past couple days. 

“Yeah but mine was accidental not bratty,” he chuckled. Maybe it was because you haven't eaten or smoked that morning but that comment enraged you. Slamming your locker and walking toward first period, leaving him in the hall. 

Just your luck to have chemistry as the first class of the day. The teacher took 20 minutes to calm the class down. Kids play fighting with each other or flirting in the back of the room. Groups of students in their cliques, not paying any mind to the instructions given. You felt bad for the teacher, I'm sure she thought an education career would help so many teens. Only to be placed in one of the most poorly funded schools in the state. You didn’t feel too bad though, it only meant less work for you. Lip liked the fact that you cared about your grades, that you had a plan after highschool. As stupid as Lip was acting, you also liked how smart he was. You complained about it alot but you liked how he didn’t fall for your little tricks and games. He doesn’t chase you, or let you push him over. Most guys were just so emotionally unintelligent, not to mention Lip was more mature when it came to sex. The last couple guys you were with didn’t even talk while you fucked. Didn’t know what foreplay was or understand a woman's body. Lip had a really good understanding of when to be gentle or rough. When he would whisper things in your ear it always felt so natural and smooth. There were times when your stomach would randomly flip when thinking about the nasty things he’d told or done to you. Maybe part of the reason you had some animosity towards Lip was because you had been sexually frustrated. For the past couple weeks you felt like you were practically throwing yourself at him and he wasn’t in the mood. Of course you respected that, you just missed him was all; maybe a specific part of him. At lunch he came up to you from behind and hugged you. Still feeling quite stubborn, you allowed it but acted like you didn’t care. 

“You still mad?” he whispers into your ear which makes your skin break out with goosebumps. He slides his hands down from your waist to your hips.

“I know we haven’t talked but I’m here now, let’s ditch for the rest of the day,” he said, pressing his lips against your neck. As much as you wanted to give in and agree, you still wanted to make a point. Pushing his hands away, you grab your backpack and walk away without acknowledging him. If he wanted to brand you as a brat then you’d give him his money's worth. 

It was the last period, and everyone was waiting for the bell to ring. Some kids just left when they were ready and the teacher didn’t care. He just sat there, staring with cold dead eyes at his computer. Daren was consistently trying his best to spark conversation with you, all he talked about was how he ran track but he was trying his best. The heaters were blasting inside the school because it was snowing. The classroom windows were wet with condensation which made you feel sticky. Becoming overstimulated you decide to leave early, excusing yourself and walking out. Daren followed you into the hallway, 

“Hey I was wondering if you wanted to stay after school and watch me practice? Maybe I can take you out after, or something?” he asks. 

“Oh sorry I can't. I actually have a ton of homework so, maybe next time?” you say walking away, happy that you’re avoiding the rush of people flooding out the front gates. 

Normally Lip would walk you home but you didn’t see him. Your willpower that was fueling your grudge was weakening. Pulling your phone out of your pocket and seeing if he texted you; he didn’t. Looking back you were feeling silly about your actions because look where they led you. It was really cold, snow sticking to your hair and eyelashes. Once you finally got home, Lip was waiting on the porch which took you by surprise. You went to greet him, this is when you noticed he looked angry. He didn’t even say anything to you, even after opening the door and letting the both of you in. 

“How’s Daren?” he asks, once you both get to your bedroom. 

“What?” you asked confused. 

“Well you talked to him all last period and even after you left,” he said, sitting on your bed and lighting a cig. 

“Okay first of all, I only talk to him for like two seconds. He asked me to watch him practice and I said no,” you defend yourself. 

“That’s two seconds more than you talked to me today,” he remarked. 

“Lip that’s not even fair,” you say, which made him smirk and shake his head as he took a drag. 

“Do you even hear yourself? ‘tHat’s nOt fAiR’ whining like a baby who didn’t get their way. Why were you so offended that I called you a brat even though you’re acting just like one,” he said.

“What are you trying to scare me?” you ask while laughing.

“Trying?” he asked rhetorically. 

You rolled your eyes and started to change into comfortable clothes. While you were only in your bra and underwear, Lip came behind you and ripped the lace material of the panties. You gasp and go to turn around but he presses you against the closet door. Intertwining his hand into your hair, gripping it so tight strands of hair were being pulled out. His dick was extremely hard and feeling it pressed against your ass immediately excited you. Moving your head slightly so he can start kissing and biting your neck. His breathing was hard and with his chest pressed against your back, you could feel his heartbeat. As he marked your neck, whimpers and moans were escaping your mouth. 

“Since you were feeling so brave today let’s hope you keep that energy,” he growled into your ear. 

“You gonna try and teach me a lesson?” you asked with a patronizing tone.

He chuckled and led you to the bed by your hair. Your heart was racing, your sexlife was by no means bland however, this was the first time he was this rough. It felt like the two of you were breaking the rules or something. Like discovering new and daunting territories. He reached his hand down and started feeling you through the hole in your panties he made. He let out a moan once he felt how wet you were. 

“You are such a fucking slut, good to know being put in your place is all it takes for you to soak your panties,” he said, letting go of your hair. 

He sat up onto his knees, instead of fully stripping his clothes, he just pulled his dick out of his zipper. Rubbing the tip against your pussy. Your chest was pressed against the mattress but your ass was pressed against his shaft. You start to rock your hips back and forth against him but he starts spanking his hands against your ass. The pain was so bad it burned, you thought he’d stop after a couple times but he kept going. Wanting to show you were handling the smacks, you try your best to take them without complaint. He was unrelenting and you finally begin to squirm away, which seemed to humor him,

“The more you fight and squirm, the more I wanna fuck you,” he said, running his nails down your now bright red ass. 

“Fuck just do it already then,” you whine, in response he spits at your face. 

“Cum slut’s don’t speak unless spoken to,” he said, pushing himself into your twitching and leaking pussy.

The feeling was enough to make your eyes roll back. After weeks of Lip blue-balling you, the sensation of being filled by him was pure bliss. He was going at a painfully slow rate, pulling himself fully in and out of you after every thrust. As pleasurable as it was, you’d do anything to get him to speed up. Unable to rock your own hips, you kick your feet a little in protest. This made him laugh and slow down even further. He grabbed your wrists and pressed them against your lower back, taking full control of your body. You were dripping down both thighs and tears pooled in your eyes. You were at your limit with his teasing, tightly clenching around him. He pulled out and flipped you onto your back, feeling too embarrassed to look him in the eye. Tears had stained your cheeks and your hair was in complete disarray from being yanked and pulled. He crawled on top of you and started pushing his tip in and out. You were bucking your hips up, tears coming back as he teased relentlessly. 

“You’re sensitive here? Perfect spot to abuse huh?” he asked sarcastically, using one hand to smack his cock against your pussy.

In your own little world, trying to cum with what little friction he was giving you. He finally stops and instead wraps his hands around your neck. Then starts pounding into you, slowly tightening his grip over time. You were feeling dizzy and foggy, letting out a moan every time his length fully pressed into you. He was grunting and groaning, a couple beads of sweat dropping onto the bed from how much he was exerting himself. The closer you got to your orgasm the tighter his grip on your throat became. Your face was bright red and a wheezing sound came out of your mouth with every inhale. He seemed to be hummored by this and started to mock you. 

“Can’t breathe? Good,” he chuckled. 

The mixture of degradation and the fast paced abuse on your cunt was enough to send you over the edge. Shockwaves of pure pleasure began to ripple throughout your body. Legs trembling and eyes rolling back. He was chasing his own climax, seeing and feeling you cum around his cock was enough for him. Rutting into you with no regard for you, as if you were nothing but a toy for him. Seeing how he turned you into such a slutty mess made him feel feral. It wasn’t until he was fully finished that he removed his hands from your neck. After a small coughing fit, you began to come too. Lip was already up, using his shirt to clean you up. Pulling your hair out of your face and into a messy bun. You were half dead, completely exhausted and worn down. He laid down next to you, rubbing your back and whispering affirmations into your ear. You wrapped your arms around his neck, trying to be as close to him as you could. 

“I’m glad I could fuck the attitude out of you,” he said, as you fell asleep.

[lucythornwalter]

Dear Reader, if you find yourself in any of the following positions:

You never quite grew out of your goth phase.

Your frequent friends at the library include (or included) Libba Bray and Karen Marie Moning.

The phrase “the best cup of English breakfast tea spiked and thrown against antique Victorian wallpaper” means anything to you.

You wish you were ten years older so you could remember the 2000s.

You yearn for the days when urban fantasy felt underground, low-budget, and countercultural.

You want to tear your childhood back from an idiot and a bigot.

You like faeries, but faeries the way that they were written 20 years ago.

You simply prefer to read stories about lesbians.

Then I will gladly extend an invitation to attend the Central Indiana Academy for Preternatural Studies. Here, on our spacious grounds, you shall find decades of academic tradition, the finest stock of artifacts and charms south of Chicago, and companionship. The details of our enrollment are forthcoming, contained within a book called Twilight in the Circle City.

In the meantime, watch this space and follow this blog - you’ll find witchy fashion, Indiana history, faerie tales both old and new, commentary upon culture and writing, and occasionally messages from our students and faculty of past and present.

Yours,

Elle Walter, Mistress of the Records and Keeper of the Pen

[meat-wentz]

FOB LORE POST Pt. 1

okay so tumblr ate the original ask i was responding to and now refuses to save/post all the edits i’ve made, so this post has to come out in two parts. i’d rate it surface level-knee deep lore (maybe some waist deep, maybe some neck deep idk we'll see)! i'll be focusing on pre-hiatus just cause post-hiatus is generally easier to find (but there will also be post-hiatus because i can't help myself). also curated to my tastes these are things that *i* always think about, so big disclaimer this is not everything. this part basically covers the fob extended universe (terms/people to know, blog links, and important texts here and there), links to unrealeased tracks/rares/covers, and a rundown on the origin story.

so here's some basic things to know:

FBR- Fueled by Ramen. baby's first record label. also host to a bunch of other notable acts from the scene.

FOBR- easy to mix up. literally just falloutboyrock.com, their website. hosted journal entries, updates, the webstore, and more.

Decaydance- record label owned by Patrick and Pete under FBR, founded in 2005 when Pete wanted to sign P!ATD and realized he didn't have label to do so. AWESOME ORAL HISTORY FEATURING PETE, TRAVIE, GABE, AND SPENCER. intro to Decaydance (included in article). relaunched as DCD2 in 2014.

FOE- friendsorenemies.com, let's do a quote about this one: "If you’re one of those types that have uttered the words, “I’m their biggest fan” in reference to post-punk popsters Fall Out Boy, then you’re in luck because there is a site where like-minded people can hang out. Honda Civic Tours has joined forces with Friendsorenemies.com, to create a user-generated worldwide fan community for the Chicago-based band. The site includes dozens of up-close and oh-so-personal videos of the band, along with exclusive, unscripted content that gives an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the Fall Out Boy’s latest tour… because pop stars shouldn’t have any privacy or down time." they have a youtube with SO MANY videos here (check out their playlists, they have a bunch of fob specific ones.

OCK- Overcast Kids, fob's official fan club, usually got exclusive content, merch, pre-orders, and more. you'll see some blog posts where pete makes references to overcast kids referring to the fans.

Fuck City- essentially Andy Hurley frat house/collective/brand. he has Fuck City tatted on his knuckles. there's primers out there i'd search for "Matt Mixon primer" and you'll probably find some livejournal links.

Clandestine Industries- Pete's clothing brand. there's a whole dvd about his collab with nordstrom and in it he states he wanted to aim for "unisex," if i ever found a rip of this i'll link it here. meanwhile here's a video about their landmark store. video that was on the site. 2010 fashion show.

Pete’s blog entries (best viewed in browser). there's also this masterpost (hint, if some links don't work in this, especially for fobomatic, try amending the url to "fobomatic-blog," and it should pop up). and this tumblr: @disloyalorderofpete

Joe’s blog entries

Patrick’s blog entries

important text: “We Liked You Better Fat: Confessions of a Pariah” written by Patrick post-Soul Punk, and kicked off talks of coming off hiatus between Pete and Patrick.

important text: “Fall Out Boy Forever” by Hanif Abdurraqib

important text: “The Boy With the Thorn in His Side” by Pete (his first book), you can read here, just scroll to the bottom to start: @clandestineindustriespresen-blog

important text: to you (unfinished, off the top of my head) arguably one of the most important Pete blog entries (to the fans and to ME at least)

you'll see some names around, so here's a few touring friends and crew you'll want to make note of: Charlie (security), Dirty (personal court jester and whipping boy, he seems to like it, i want to do a study on him, he has Pete's initials branded in his ass- Pete did it himself with a hanger), HeyChris (i'll probably give him is own section), Nick Scimeca (i've never really clear on him, i think he acted as web designer/bestie, but i know for sure he lived in the dirty ass tttyg apartment), Hemingway (Pete's dog), Matt Mixon (Andy's bestie/fuck city roommate). primary ones to know are bolded.

HeyChris: okay Chris is important because he was in Arma Angelus and was fob's first supporter, caught the name HeyChris through grenade jumper (which they wrote for him!). he tours with them for awhile, i *think* doing crew duties, running the merch stand, being one helluva hypeman. QUITE A DYNAMIC with pete. part of the World's Most Hated Crew which were crew members primarily shared between mcr and fob, who had bad reputations for 1) their proximity to the bands 2) being scene kings/queens 3) gossip and drama. 2006, he and Pete have a massive falling out over their blogs. since then they've made up, still talk every once in awhile. he runs the catcade in chicago and emerges out of the woodwork to stir shit up every now and then. here's his livejournal. and another one. he also has a tumblr. so go hunting if you want. most of his updates are through instagram, he loves to troll.

list of movie references in songs

because it's referenced so much i have to include the drunk history, but be warned it's Brendon, and a whole lot of him.

here’s some of my personal fave unreleased/covers/features:

hand of god (some very uhm breathy whiny patrick vocals in this that i can’t believe are legal)

austin we have a problem (also horny vocals and for what)

star 67

we don’t take hits we write them (listen the amount of blood i would spill to get a clear recording of this song)

save your generation (jawbreaker cover)

basket case (green day cover live)

under pressure (queen and david bowie cover, patrick does both vocal parts and and it’s so cunt)

what’s this? (nightmare revisited: nightmare before christmas cover album and US SPOTIFY REFUSES TO COUGH UP THE ONE FOB TRACK, however i still recommend korn’s version of kidnap the sandy claws and rise against’s version of making christmas)

lullabye (hidden track on folie a deux written pete’s son)

catch me if you can

mr. brightside (killers cover which they did live a few times, which is extremely funny because pete and brandon flowers were feuding after brandon said fob and emo were ‘dangerous’ and ‘poisoning the minds of the youth’ and that he wanted to ‘beat all those emo bands to death’)

i write sins not tragedies

tiffany blews bridge ft. patrick vocals

patrick covering i can make you a man from rocky horror

patrick feature on one day i’ll stay home by misery signals

patrick features on cupid’s chokehold and clothes off! by gym class heroes (these may be obvious to some but i’m including just in case and also because they slap)

patrick feature on one of THOSE nights by the cab, brendon jumpscare warning, but patrick’s vocals literally made me fucking insane here, also the amount that pete is featured in this video is so funny to me

fob feature on the hand crushed by a mallet remix by 100 gecs (the way i fucking lost my mind when this dropped)

these are on spotify but often get looked over/missed/are hard to find:

roxanne (police cover): spotify, youtube

start today (gorilla biscuits cover): spotify, youtube

snitches and talkers get stitches and walkers: spotify, youtube

the music or the misery: spotify, youtube

my heart is the worst kind of weapon: spotify, youtube

my heart will always be the b-side to my tongue

pax am days

lake effect kid

yule shoot your eye out: spotify, youtube

i wanna dance with somebody (whitney houston cover): spotify, youtube

the world's not waiting (for five tired boys in a broken down van)- literally my personal favorite off of EOWYG it makes me insane: spotify, youtube

some fun extras:

there’s also this fun little behind the scenes video for cobra starship where patrick is singing city at war

this uncomfortable video of patrick and pete singing womanizer with ellen degenres

this video of fob at the inaugural dinner for obama where they have light up instruments and patrick starts off i don’t care with a little snippet of womanizer (very cunt) which also has a part 2 where pete climbs a tree and they meet the president ajbdjdksndnd.

fall out boy on teen titans go: part 1, part 2, song

deep blue love (patrick wrote this for a movie! and it makes me need to lay down) "behind the scenes" here

patrick song in star vs. the forces of evil

patrick theme for spidey and his amazing friends

patrick musical episode of dead end paranormal park (most of the patrick demos are uploaded as well)

patrick features on robot chicken, also here's the uncensored version of blue rabbits fucking

you can also look up their rare/unreleased songs and get a whole lot more than provided here, and also patrick has done so many covers it’s wild there’s a playlist on youtube that’s 130 videos long and includes bangers such as this is how we do it, let’s dance, in the air tonight, kiss my sass, fob covers of we are the champions, don’t stop believin’ and more.

NOW. as far as origin stories go. let’s start with pete who was a notable figure in the chicago hardcore scene, having been in bands on bands on bands, and very notably RACETRAITOR. pete, joe, patrick (i still haven’t found the source for patrick but it’s on wikipedia so i’ll include him) and andy have all at varying points played in racetraitor, and andy still plays with racetraitor when they get together. joe and pete become friends, joe driving him around because his license is suspended, and right around that time pete starts ARMA ANGELUS and when heychris can’t make it on tour, pete convinces joe’s parents to let him fill in on bass and they all go out on the road. when they come back, arma’s kinda its last leg and this is when pete and joe start talks for a pop-punk project. joe will play guitar, pete will play bass, now they just need a drummer and a singer.

so very important lore here, joe’s hanging out in borders when he’s interrupted by none other than one patrick stump who starts a lecture on music to which joe starts lecturing back, THIS IS HOW THEY MEET. i’ll let joe tell it (click for full view):

this continues into another important bit of lore, which is that joe dragged pete to patrick’s house so he could audition and patrick answered the door wearing a sweater, shorts, and socks. this is important, it comes up time and time again, patrick answered the door in an sweater, shorts and socks. it’s important. to both me and pete. he proceeds to show them all his talents, but when he sings, that’s when it clicks and everyone in the room says you’ve got a massive set of pipes there, you’re our singer. now, patrick didn’t care about singing, in other bands he had primarily focused on drums. but he wanted to be in a band that would let him write music and he also had admired pete from afar on the scene and so he agreed to sing.

they finally pull andy when they start recording seriously and their drummer can’t make it so they ask andy to fill in. andy at this point is a notable drummer in the scene, like he plays in so many bands and is referred to as “the metal drummer.” pete and andy have known each other for a long while and they've had their eye on him since the beginning, it's just that he's in various other bands and going to school so he hasn't had the time. but they ask him to fill in and everything just falls into place. i’ll let patrick tell it:

and they've been the same lineup for two decades now (outside of fill-ins every now and again for emergencies etc). as legend goes, they had switched out names quite a few times, fall out boy being one of them, referencing the character from the simpsons. one night they came out, said "we are [insert long drawn out complicated name here]" and a fan yelled "fuck that! you're fall out boy!" and they have been ever since.

[ophernelia]

There’s so many people that follow me and have no idea what I do lmao. Not to mention it’s a lot of new people here too, so lemme do an updated introduction!

Helloooooo, I’m Brooklyn! I’m director and artist. I do both traditional art and 3D art. Recently I’ve started making poorly made free cc for TS4 that you can find over on @kiricheu. I post updates on stuff I’m working on here sometimes, but most stuff you’ll see on this blog is for my machinima series, Lykaia. Every single character you see on my page (that I’ve made ofc) is from said series. Most cc I post on Kiricheu is stuff I’ve just made for the series also. I’ve played TS4 for years (since it came out actually. and the sims in general too. My first game was TS2) but since I’ve started my series creating it is the only way I play really. Everything we do over here we do for Lykaia, girl. Go watch it.

Content stuff done, now onto personal stuff! I’m an Afro-Latina who can’t speak Spanish well. (Yes. I am a disappointment lmfao) I’m from Chicago. (Southside baby <3) I’m a research psychologist. I love my job. Proud member of the APA. I’ve lived a thousand different lives already so sometimes I’ll talk about old stuff I used to do. Like modeling, fashion stuff. (I was deep in the industry for a while until I left after getting tired of creeps.) Ummm I’m bi, but I currently have a boyfriend. I talk about him sometimes. If you ever see me say “my son” I mean my dog. Don’t want kids ever. Idk what else to put lol. I like to curse. Like a lot. Idk I’m pretty vulgar, but I try to keep it tame on here somewhat. I don’t consider myself a content creator like that. Just a girl sharing the shit she does, so I do talk my fair share of shit if something bothers me. I’m nice generally though. Unless you say something stupid, racist, sexist, etc. Don’t like racists, don’t like bigots, don’t like copycats. It’s tacky behavior and I will check you, with love tho. Sometimes lol. Idk I don’t bite. Unless you want me to. Don’t tell my man I said that either. Oh! I’m also autistic so that’s that lol. Also incredibly awkward. I also like talking about pop culture stuff too sometimes. So you might see a little of that here and there. I am also very vocal about Palestine and the plight of marginalized groups, so you’ll see a lot of that too. Lots of stuff about the black experience and black activism too because offline I’m an activist. I do a lot of community outreach with a few different orgs! (Proud member of the association of black psychologists. <333 Shout out to them specifically.)

And I think that’s it. Maybe idk. Anything else you wanna know then just ask!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Is antitrust anti-labor?

If you find the word “antitrust” has a dusty, old-fashioned feel, that’s only to be expected — after all, the word has its origins in the late 19th century, when the first billionaire was created: John D Rockefeller, who formed a “trust” with his oil industry competitors, through which they all agreed to stop competing with one another so they could concentrate on extracting more from their workers and their customers.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/14/aiming-at-dollars/#not-men

Trusts were an incredibly successful business structure. A bunch of competing companies would be sold to a new holding company (“the trust”), and the owners of those old standalone companies would get stock in this new trust. The trust would operate as a single entity, hiking prices and suppressing wages. If anyone tried fight the trust with a new, independent company, the trust could freeze them out, by selling goods below cost, or by doing exclusive deals with key suppliers and customers, or both. Once a trust sewed up an industry, no one could compete. The trust barons were rulers for life.

The first successful trust was Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, which amassed a 90% share of all US oil. Other “capitalists” got in on the game, forming the Cotton Seed Oil Trust (75% market share), the Sugar Trust (85%). Then came the Whiskey Trust and the Beef Trust. America was becoming a planned economy, run by a handful of unelected “industrialists” with lifetime appointments and the power to choose their successors.

A century after overthrowing the King, America had new kings: “kings over the production, transportation and sale of the necessities of life”. That’s how Senator John Sherman described the situation in 1890, when he was campaigning for the passage of the Sherman Act, the first “anti-trust” act. The Sherman Act wasn’t the first time American lawmakers tried to protect competition, but it was the first law passed after the failure of competition law led to the hijacking of the nation by people Sherman called the “autocrats of trade.”

https://marker.medium.com/we-should-not-endure-a-king-dfef34628153

The Sherman Act — and its successors, like the Clayton Act, are landmark laws in that they explicitly seek to protect workers and customers from corporate power. Antitrust is about making sure that no corporation gets so powerful that it’s too big to fail, nor too big to jail — that a company can’t get so big that it subverts the political process, capturing its own regulators:

https://doctorow.medium.com/small-government-fd5870a9462e

If American workers are derided as “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” who won’t join the fight against the rich because they assume they’ll soon join their ranks, then the American rich are “temporarily embarrassed aristocrats” who would welcome hereditary rule, provided they got to found one of the noble families. The goal of the American elite has always been to create a vast and durable dynasty, wealth so vast and well-insulated that even the most Habsburg-jawed failson can’t piss it away.

The American elite has always hated antitrust. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, abetted by Robert Bork and his co-conspirators at the Chicago School of Economics gutted antitrust through something called the “consumer welfare standard,” which ended anti-monopoly enforcement except in instances where price hikes could be directly and unarguably attributed to market power, which is, basically, never.

It’s been 40 years since Reagan took antitrust out behind the Lincoln Monument and shot it in the guts, and America has turned into the kind of aristocratic kleptocracy that Sherman railed against, where “great families” control the nation’s wealth and politics and even its Supreme Court judges:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/06/clarence-thomas/#harlan-crow

Anything that can’t go on forever will eventually stop. Monopoly threatens the living standards, health, freedom and prosperity of nearly every person in America. The undeniable enshittification of the country by its guillotine-ready finance ghouls, tech bros and pharma profiteers has led to a resurgence in antitrust, and a complete renewal of the @FTC and @JusticeATR:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

Key to the new and vibrant FTC is Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, who, along with Commissioner  Rebecca SlaughterFTC and Chairwoman Lina Khan, is part of the Democratic majority on the Commission. Bedoya has a background in tech and privacy and civil rights, and is a longtime advocate against predatory finance. He’s also a law professor and a sprightly scholarly writer.

Earlier this week, Bedoya gave a prepared speech for the Utah Project on Antitrust and Consumer Protection conference, entitled “Aiming at Dollars, Not Men.” It’s a banger:

https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/bedoya-aiming-dollars-not-men.pdf

Criticisms of the new antitrust don’t just come from America’s oligarchs — the labor movement is skeptical of antitrust as well, and with good cause. Antitrust law prohibits collusion among businesses to raise prices, and at many junctures since the passage of the Sherman Act, judges have willfully perverted antitrust to punish labor organizers, treating workers demanding better working conditions as if they were Rockefeller and his cronies conspiring to raise prices.

This is the subject of Bedoya’s speech, whose transcript is painstakingly footnoted, and whose text makes it crystal clear that this is not what antitrust is for, and we should not tolerate its perversion in service to crushing worker power. The title comes from a 1914 remark by Democratic Congressman Thomas Konop, who said, of antitrust: “We are aiming at the gigantic trusts and combinations of capital and not at associations of men for the betterment of their condition. We are aiming at the dollars and not at men.”

Konop was arguing for the passage of the Clayton Act, a successor to the Sherman Act, which was passed in part because judges refused to enforce the Sherman Act according to its plain language and its legislative intent, and kept using it against workers. In 1892, two years after the Sherman Act’s passage, it was used to crush the New Orleans General Strike, an interracial uprising against labor exploitation from longshoremen to printers to carpenters to hearse drivers.

Bosses went to a federal judge asking for an injunction against the strike. Though the judge admitted that the Sherman Act was designed to fight “the evils of massed capital,” he still issued the injunction.

The Sherman Act was used to clobber the Pullman Porters union, which organized Black workers who served on the Pullman cars on America’s railroads. The workers struck in 1894, after a 25% wage-cut, and they complained that they could no longer afford to eat and feed their families, so George Pullman fired them all. The workers struck, led by Eugene Debs. Pullman argued that the strike violated the Sherman Act. The Supreme Court voted 9:0 for Pullman, ordered the strike called off, and put Debs in prison.

In 1902, mercury-sickened hatters in Danbury, CT demanded better working conditions — after just a few years on the job, hatters would be disabled for life with mercury poisoning, with such bad tremors they couldn’t even feed themselves. 250 hatters at the DE Loewe company tried to unionize. Loewe sued them under the Sherman Act, and went to the Supreme Court, who awarded Loewe $6.8m in today’s money, which allowed Loewe to seize his former workers’ homes.

This is what sent Congress back to the drawing board to pass the Clayton Act. Though the Sherman Act was clear that it was about trustbusting, the courts kept interpreting it as a charter for union-busting. The Clayton Act explicitly permits workers to form unions, call for boycotts, and to organize sympathy strikes.

They made all this abundantly clear: writing in language so plain that judges had to understand the legislative intent. And yet…judges still managed to misread the Clayton Act, using it to block 2,100 strikes in the 1920s. It appears that passing the Clayton Act did not save a single strike that would have been killed by the bad (and bad faith) Sherman Act precedents that led to the Clayton Act in the first place.

The extent to which greedy bosses used the Clayton Act to attack their workers is genuinely ghastly. Bedoya describes one coal strike, against the Red Jacket Coal Company of Mingo, WV. The mine’s profits had grown by 600%, but workers’ wages weren’t keeping up with inflation. The miners sought a raise of $0.10 on the $0.66 they got paid for ever carload of coal they mined. The company didn’t even pay the workers with real money — just “company scrip”: coupons that could only be spent at the company store. Red Jacket gave its workers a $0.09/car raise — and raised prices at the company store by $0.25/item.

The workers struck, Red Jacket sued. The Fourth Circuit refused to apply the Clayton Act, following a precedent from a case called Duplex Printing that held that the Clayton Act only applied to people who stood “in the proximate relation of employer and employee.”

Congress was pissed. They passed the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932, with LaGuardia spitting about judges who “willfully disobeyed the law…emasculating it, taking out the meaning intended by Congress, making the law absolutely destructive of Congress’s intent.” Norris-LaGuardia creates an antitrust exemption for labor that applies “regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.” So, basically: “CONGRESS TO JUDGES, GET BENT.”

And yet, judges still found ways to use antitrust as a cudgel to beat up workers. In Columbia River Packers, the court held that fishermen weren’t protected by the exemption for workers, because they were selling “commodities” (e.g. fish) not their labor. Presumably, the fish just leapt into the boats without anyone doing any work.

The willingness of enforcers to misread antitrust continued down through the ages. In 1999, the FTC destroyed the hopes of the some of the country’s most abused workers: “independent” port truckers, who worked 80 hours/week and still couldn’t pay the bills. Truckers were only paid to move trailers around the ports, but they were required to do hours and hours of unpaid work — loading containers, hauling equipment for repair, all for free. The truckers tried to organize a union — and the FTC subpoenaed the organizers for an investigation of price-fixing.

But the problem wasn’t with the laws. It was with judges who set precedents that — as LaGuardia said, “willfully disobeyed the law…emasculating it, taking out the meaning intended by Congress, making the law absolutely destructive of Congress’s intent.”

Congress passed laws to strengthen workers and judges — temporarily embarrassed aristocrats — simply acted as if the law was intended to smash workers. But by 2016, judges had it figured out. That’s when jockeys at the Camarero racetrack in Canóvana, Puerto Rico went on strike, demanding pay parity with their mainland peers — Puerto Rican jockeys got $20 to risk their lives riding, a fifth of what riders on the mainland received.

Predictably, the horse owners and racetrack sued. The jockeys lost in the lower court, and the court ordered the jockeys to pay the owners and the track a million dollars. They even sued the jockeys’ spouses, so that they could go after their paychecks to get that million bucks.

The case went to the First Circuit appeals court and Judge Sandra Lynch said: you know what, it doesn’t matter if the jockeys are employers or contractors. It doesn’t matter if they sell a commodity or their labor. The jockeys have the right to strike, period. That’s what the Clayton Act says. She overturned the lower court and threw out the fines.

As Bedoya says, antitrust is “law written to rein in the oil trust, the sugar trust, the beef trust…the gigantic trusts and combinations of capital…dollars and not at men.” Congress made that plain, “not once, not twice, but three times, each time in a louder and clearer voice.”

Bedoya, part of the FTC’s Democratic majority, finishes: “Congress has made it clear that worker organizing and collective bargaining are not violations of the antitrust laws. When I vote, when I consider investigations and policy matters, that history will guide me.”

There's only three days left in the Kickstarter campaign for the audiobook of my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon's Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they're DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

[sarahjackson14]

to be dangerously charming

to be dangerously charming

What’s more dangerous than a charming woman? Oh, that’s right, nothing. Want a look that turns heads and demands confidence? I got you, sweetness! Let’s start with the base of this look of a feminine silhouette with a mock neck long sleeve and a pinstripe asymmetrical miniskirt. Layer up babes, next we have some sheer tights with knee-high socks and a vintage leather trench coat! Star of the…

[novy2sirius]

questions and answers

— status: open — [ask rules]

western or sidereal astrology

spouse’s appearance | venus/rising moodboards | in-laws

are my posts based on tropical or sidereal | spouses career

is astro seek good for doms | signs/houses for fashion

blog colors | will i meet my spouse in chicago, illinois

does my month numerology matter | trauma bonding

how to achieve my purpose as life path 6 born on 2 day

life path 5, talent number 11 | business success numbers

karmic debt numbers | talents of talent energy number 11

placidus or whole signs | mars in 1h/saturn in 5h composite

jupiter in 12h composite | virgo sun in 3h mc persona chart

high vibration question | is it possible for the nodes to be rx

should i believe my placidus placements or whole signs

expression numbers | astro-seek or astro.com dominants

so sweet | name pronunciation | 9h uranus conjunct mars sr

what are relocation charts and how do i find them

chiron in 4h relocation chart | adjacent sign compatibility

life path 11’s and 8’s together | life path 8 and life path 4

self sabotage | so sweet ily | gemini groom | dancing

what does a 0 degree placement mean | saturn in 2h exp

pluto in 4h solar return | best time to get ur hair cut

planet numerology | 11h sun beauty | numerical similarities

life path 8’s lessons during 2024 | pluto in 11h experience

what happens when someone doesn’t follow their numerical purpose | beauty degrees-where they’re placed

sun conjunct jupiter | mars square uranus cheating men

dynamic number 11 | using astrology as tool to navigate life

what are divorce indicators

[adrianarodriguezp]

sunny

[rosebudprincess]

(enter CENTER STAGE.) rosebudprincess

the actress: rosebudprincess

hi! i’m gabrielle, otherwise known as gabby!

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི 🇵🇭 + 20 + genderqueer femme lesbian from southeast asia + she/they/he (pronoun indifferent, prefers feminine compliments) + sagittarius sun, aquarius moon, sagittarius rising + enfj/2w3 + hufflepuff

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི single + femme4butch, resident romantic vampire, red roses personified, princess with golden skin, raven hair and crimson lips + professional manhater, lesbian lover and butch defender

the audience: interactions

PLEASE HAVE YOUR AGE IN YOUR BIO. NO AGE IS IMMEDIATE BLOCK.

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི i follow and like from @honeyedpoppies

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི DNI: men, minors, terfs, racists, fatphobes, ableists, israel supporters (immediate block)

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི BYF: i primarily post/reblog lesbian and femme4butch content with the occasional girlblogging on the side. some content is nsfw/nsft. for fandom related content (see below) and other general related stuff, you can follow my main blog (@honeyedpoppies yippee!!)

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི asks/anons are always open. dms are also open but please don’t be creepy, perverted or rude. sexual content is okay but at least introduce yourself first and strike up a conversation. playful flirting is okay!!

the screenplay: all about me

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི this blog is dedicated to the exploration of my sexuality (both in sexual and nonsexual ways) having recently discovered that i am a femme lesbian, this blog is for me to create friends in the femme4butch community but also to connect with other sapphics as well 🫶

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི besides that here are some of my interests + hobbies + recent hyperfixations: the color red, anything heart or ribbon shaped, roses in everything (scent, taste, etc.), love letters, lace and gingham, velvet and satin, vampires, princess x knight dynamic, 1920s and 1950s to 70s fashion, period dramas and regency romances, classic literature (austen, fitzgerald, shakespeare), fashion and costume history, musical theater (cabaret, chicago, burlesque, hadestown), harry potter and the wizarding world, interview with a vampire, marvel cinematic universe, grishaverse (specifcally six of crows/shadow and bone), disney animated movies (princess and the frog, frozen, hercules)

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི kinnies include but is not limited to stephen strange (mcu), lily evans (hp), nina zenik (soc/ck), megara (hercules), lestat de lioncourt (iwav), emma woodhouse (emma), tahani al-jamil (the good place), harleyquinn and poison ivy (dc), camilla morone (djats), cleo de nile (mh), stella (winx club)

behind the curtains: what to expect/i’m into

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི switch (sub leaning but currently exploring dominant side) bottom, femme4butch

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི brat, daddy kink (as a title), praise, breeding/corruption, primal play, guided/mutual masturbation, objectification, goddess like devotion, roleplay, somnophilia, free use, emphasis on being called princess + bunny + ma’am

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི ABSOLUTELY NOT: any play with bodily fluids, feet, noncon/dubcon, large age gaps

the prologue.

if roses were mortal, it would be she 🥀 connoisseur of lipstick kisses, forever smelling and tasting like roses, resident romantic vampire haunting the paintings of an abandoned library, raven haired princess adorned with gold and draped in crimson velvet.

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི dividers by @cafekitsune ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི

[themickey]

MICKEY JACQUEMIN ( RUBY CRUZ ) is a TWENTY SIX year-old AEROSPACE ENGINEER in MONTREAL, CANADA. They were brought under Richard’s care when they were only ELEVEN YEARS OLD. They are known as THE NOSTALGIC because they are UNDERSTANDING but also NAIEVE.

BASIC INFORMATION

Full Name: michèle jacquemin (she only allows richard and mrs tristian to call her michèle)

Nickname(s): mickey, mick, mj

Date of Birth: march 5th, 1979

Age: 26

Occupation: aerospace engineer

Current Residence: montréal, canada

Orientation: lesbian

pinterest

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: dark brown

Eyes: blue (maybe hazel, idk)

Height: 5'5"

Notable Features: full, expressive eyebrows. gay face

PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOR:

Strengths: kind, caring, understanding, loyal

Weaknesses: naive, gullible, too trusting, spacey

Quirks: always a bit fidgety, especially when excited or anxious. has an obnoxious french canadian accent

Vices: drinks occasionally and will never deny a drunk cigarette

INTEREST & HOBBIES:

Interests: space, comics, computers and the rise of new technology, music from the 90s, hockey (any good canadian should)

Hobbies: video games, mostly gameboy and the brand new nintendo ds. runs a myspace and livejournal like the military, always posting new "surveys" and blog posts daily even if no one reads them.

Special Skills/Talents: very good at math, can do long equations in her head without a calculator. can pick up most things pretty easily though she usually gets too distracted to keep up things for too long so she always had a bunch of unfinished projects or hobbies she gave up on

BECOMING A WARD

mickey, born in montreal, was raised by a single mother and never knew her dad. the only thing she knew about him was that he was american because she has dual citizenship. however, when she was seven years old, her mom passed of sudden heart attack. mickey was too young to really understand what happened but her life drastically changed. at first, cps tried to take her to her father in chicago, but he denied even knowing he had a kid and she was placed into foster care. she spent four years in foster care, some good homes and some bad but it never quite broke her spirit and generally positive outlook on the world. she caught richard's attention when he was visiting her school on a business trip and was intrigued by how bright she was and despite her teachers warning of how her hyperactivity makes it heard to teach her, richard decided to bring her to woodrow and give her the tools she needed to flourish.

LIFE AS A WARD

mickey was always seen as the naive ward, too trusting and gullible. she always seemed much younger than she really is and hates that people think she's the youngest even though she is quite young. she sees the others as her family but after much teasing from the other wards, she tries to keep those feelings to herself, she always wants the others to like her and make everyone happy. at first, she had trouble bonding with the other wards because english was not her first language, speaking mostly québécois french when she first came to the states but she quickly learned english and has since tried her best to connect with her fellow wards. there were many times she would get in trouble growing up because she's very easily influenced by the other wards, letting them drag her into their schemes and dumb ideas. if mickey wasn't a girl raised in the 80's and 90's she would probably be considered to have adhd and be autistic but since we didn't know as much about it back then, mickey was written off as being hyperactive and childish. she often visits woodrow even after moving away because it was the only place that has felt like home since she was a child. even though most of the wards are gone now, she still sees them all as a family. the last time she was home was just a few months before richard's passing.

AESTHETIC

mickey is never one to care about the latest fashion trend or what is in style, she prefers to be comfortable and wear things that make her feel good. she was always a tomboy growing up, would sometimes try to steal some of the boy wards' clothes until richard caught her and allowed her to shop in the boys' department of stores. she likes baggie clothes and will hide her body in layers. loves a good graphic tee over a long sleeve shirt. think of any classic 2000's teen heartthrob and put his wardrobe on a 5'5" girl. [pinterest inspo if you're curious] she's always preferred her hair on the shorter side, grateful that richard always allowed her to be herself and experiment with her looks. now it's cut past her chin and with swoopy bangs that she's always flicking out of her eyes. again, think of any 00's teen heartthrob with the classic vaguely scene boy hair cut

EDUCATION

mickey chose to go with the woodrow home schooling. she was never very good in a tradition school setting because her mind seemed to move faster than the teachers could teach which often got her into trouble for "acting out." so instead she liked that she could set her own pace with the teachers at woodrow and learn what she was interested in. after high school, she went on to go to richard's alma mater. she's always had a dream of going to space and working for nasa.

EXTRACURRICULARS 

mickey loved extracurriculars growing up, she did science club and science fairs, was a mathlete, even tried model un for a year but realized she didn't like geo political sciences. though, outside of her academic hobbies. as a child, she played hockey but was never quite big enough for it to get back into it as a teenager. instead, she found she loves fencing, which may seem out of character but as a young hyperactive teen, richard encouraged her to try a physical hobby to get her energy out and liked the idea of being able to swing a sword around.

THEIR LIFE NOW

after graduating college, mickey accepted a job at DART areospace in montreal. she didn't plan on going back home after spending so many years in america and being two and a half hours away from woodrow, but when the opportunity came, she couldn't say no. currently, she lives in an apartment in the city with her long term girlfriend, jessica, and their cat. unbeknownst to the other wards, however, mickey and her gf have not been on the best terms. they met while in college and when mickey took the job, jessica moved with her but moving to a new country has caused a lot of tension between them. jessica thinks mickey works too long of hours and doesn't give her the attention she deserves because even when she's not at work, she's talking and thinking about work. mickey's not perfect, but she loves jessica. before receiving the letter about richard's death, they had the talk about how they want different things in life and mickey knows their relationship is pretty much over. going back to woodrow for the funeral, she's not sure what she'll be coming home to and is scared that it will be nothing

[heretolurkandnothingmore]

Hello tumblr friend!

Sending this off to a few mutuals in efforts to be more social, so please enjoy a random ask :) No pressure to answer if you do not want to, of course!

Which SW movie is your favorite cinematically speaking, and which is your favorite just because it’s a good ol’ fashioned comfort movie? (quality be damned!) Either live action or animated.

Which is your least favorite? Could be for any reason. Wasted potential, acting, plot, directing, pacing, etc.

*pretends it’s my sw blog asking, signed @fem-anakin-skywalker*

Hi there! Good to hear from you! Yeah, no worries, I figured out the side blog thing a couple tag games ago) Thank you for sending this random ask, I am enjoying it 💜 Feel free to send more))

So, let's see...

Let's get the least favourite out of the way - I don't actually think of the sequels. Ever. Most of the times I forget they exist. It's not like the Star Trek Reboot (that sends me spiraling into the burning fury of a thousand suns), I don't hate the sequels, just have no real desire to watch them. So I guess that's that)

Now, to the positives.

Favourite cinematography-wise is RotS. Because so much of it is a carefully choreographed ballet, a sort of crescendo chord in a song with a damn long and complicated intro. This beauty rarely gleamed makes the goofier parts feel almost inevitable, like they're balancing out the weight of the tragedy you're watching unfold. I know every single prequel meme by heart at this point, and still weep a little at the ending. That's how it works out)

The comfort movie for me is a toss-up between AotC and ANH. AotC is actually eclipsed by TCW, but there's still something so enticing to my brain about the good times that are ending in this movie. Kind of like that scene in Merlin Season 4 where they celebrate a long period of prosperity - that happiness is so close we can taste it, but the story won't let us in to see it. Also, Coruscant as a setting just scratches an itch my inner architecture lover suffers every day. For tiered cities, futuristic nightclubs, all that jazz. (Now I'm thinking about Star Wars characters in Chicago the Movie Musical's outfits. Saving this as a drawing idea for later))

Anyway, I watched AotC while sick with a fever once and it altered my brain chemistry.

To explain ANH - I love the OT's movies equally, but the first one is the one I watch with the little ones most often, and it just has that nostalgia for me. Haven't seen it until adulthood, so it's not nostalgia for being young, it's more the aesthetic of old movies that I enjoy immensely. Practical effects especially (Star Trek TOS lover reporting for duty). The imperious ambitions coupled with shabbiness and dictatorship vibes remind me of my hometown :D

That's about it! What's your opinions on these movies? And what's your answer to your own questions, I want to know))