#its not like... trendy (which isn't a bad thing either!) but that's not the right word

[trolagygirl2022]

Hello! I'm Luna! and I want to participate in the exchange game. I have followed all the rules and also sent my chart.

Here's your exchange:

Physical description of your fs.

Cards: Ace of swords, 5 of cups, knight of cups, 5 of pentacles, 4 of pentacles and 6 of wands.

Your fs might have dark hair. Such as dark brown or dark blonde etc. their eye can be blue or grey. Skin color can be olive or tan. Their body type can be midium built. They are medium height. They have long hair. Not too long but they can tie it well. They have more cups cup so I'm leaning forward to more softer look. Their clothing style is also trendy. Fulfilled with many different color and style. Might be too stylish. Cute cheeks. They remind me of timothee chalamet alot and also zendaya. Also while shuffling they seem very excited. So they have their youthful look in them. Their style isn't something to talk about but not to be ignored either. They have this charming look. They don't even try. also they have a mole beside their nose. Its their charming point.

Their aura/vibe.

Cards: 2 of pentacles, 10 of pentacles, 8 of cups, 8 of wands and 9 of swords.

They have this restlessness aura within them. Someone who is a bit restless. They are also maintained most of them. They are secretive to other people they don't know but can't be quite frank when they get to know eachother. Their aura screams succesful and wealthy. So many pentacle cards popped out. They have a chill aura surrounding them. But they are quite lonely so to describe it better, they pretend they are happy but they aren't. Deep down they longed for comfort which nobody ever shared or gave them to the slightest. But as I said they are quite youthful they have this innocent vibe. They are quite fast jumping from topics to another. so they are very interesting and lovely. They are like wind in a winter. Sharp and cold inside. It's quite hard to describe it in words.

How others describes them.

Cards: Page of swords, The sun, knight of Wands, knight of cups, 10 of pentacles and the emperor.

someone who's curious, full of fresh ideas and has knowledge over lots of things. again i heard the word youthful. People describes them with this word alot. Childlike with the close ones. Full of energy. People also describes them as passionate and brave. They aren't someone who gets afraid to speak up. Someone who knows what's right and what's not. Many people likes them but some of them gets jealous because they are effortless in many ways. some people also describes them as charming (I've mentioned it before), romantic, creative and inspiration for others. They are ambivert probably. (zoidac sign: leo, gemini, aquarius or Libra getting heavy earth energy) some people gets jealous of their wealth and success. so I do think there's some conflict here and there. People also uses them alot. But I think your fs let them. i think I have mentioned this too? they are very responsible and since I also stated that they let people use them? it's for a fact. They are very witty and knows what they are doing. They are a great leader.

Thank you!! Let me know if miss something!

That's really someone that I'd like! Thank you so much for your time and energy!

Physical Description: Ace of Pentacles rev, The Tower rev, 10 of Wands, 9 of Pentacles, 6 of Pentacles, Queen of Cups, 2 of Wands.

I don't know why a lot of cards popped out lol- So the first thing that came to mind with the reversals was "asymmetry". So they could have some of those with their face, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a bad thing. You can still have an asymmetric face and still be attractive. I also see a prominence of bone structure here, I'm seeing it being prominent in their face but also maybe in their stature? Getting a lanky structure and could be on a taller side. I'm seeing a bit of a copper skin tone. Something with their nose too, maybe a bit of a hooked nose? I also see this person being a foreigner. Could be native to west/south asia but I was thinking about the Mediterranean too. Their face really stands out as it's pretty striking.

Their aura/vibe: The Hanged Man, 5 of Pentacles, 7 of Cups, Page of Cups.

The energy is pretty laid back. I see this person coming off as pretty non-chalant and cool. They're someone that you might not want to bother or might not acknowledge at first as they can also come off as quite busy and reserved to many people. You might be a bit distant (or that's how they'll probably come off to you when you see him). However, that's not how they're really are. Your future spouse is really going to surprise you. The energy I'm getting is "guitarist in a band" type of vibe. You might see him carrying an instrument with him, it's something that he greatly enjoys. Pretty creative and they have a bit of a "childlike wonder" to them when you get to know them on a more deeper level.

What others think of them: Page of Pentacles, The Chariot rev, 5 of Swords, 7 of Pentacles.

People's thoughts on them seem to be pretty mixed. I dunno but I keep getting "college/uni student" vibes from here. So I see them possibly being there at the moment (or you'll probbaly meet there). People will see them as pretty resourceful, they don't play when it comes to their finances and they don't like to waste their money on things. I'm envisioning a slow turtle going at their own pace. People will notice that. I have a feeling he might be an exchange student or something like that, I feel like he also speaks another language too. People might think of him as a bit "slow" but that could be further from the truth. This person is pretty smart, they just like keeping to themself.

[graytheory]

this is serious question anon, i have a follow up (a long one, sorry). i don't 'identify' as radfem btw for various reasons (the teaming with/platforming conservatives, the mentally ill blackpillers, and unproductive myopic focus on trans people amongst others), i'm just curious because there are other kinds of feminism which focus on men's issues and it seems to be the only major type rn which doesn't.

i see your point with this but i was under the impression most trans men didn't appreciate being referred to as female and didn't want to be grouped in any way with cis women. i agree that anyone female is oppressed by the patriarchy and is directly harmed by misogyny on basis of being female, including trans men. but in that case, trans men are oppressed specifically (for example in terms of reproductive rights, being trans) because of the fact that they are trans men aka this is an intersectionality issue, not a men's issue in general imo. but to my understanding including trans men in feminism is considered problematic in some spaces when it is framed in a way that recognizes them as female because they don't want to be reduced to their reproductive organs. however conservatives and misogynists frame control of reproduction as a key axis of oppression and domination since forever and see both you and i as a walking uterus so i find it relevant to discuss...

yes, men can suffer from the patriarchy but they also benefit greatly from it on average. the reason the patriarchy is a stable system is because on average men have decided net benefit>net cost. the only men who suffer directly from sexism and misogyny are trans men. what other group of men did the rolling back of roe v wade affect directly?

feminism isn't a community or a club? it's a political ideology and/or sociological theory which exists to further the rights of female/AFAB/whatever term people and liberate us from the patriarchy. focus groups aren't 'divide and conquer' and 50% of the world is hardly tiny.

i have no issue with male allies (and many many issues with female traitors including the ones you listed) and i wish we had more, but oftentimes self-proclaimed 'male feminists' are not the guys who stood up for women in Iran and Afghanistan, not even the guys who will call out their friends' behavior, but instead MRAs who are just unhappy that not every political movement centers them. most cis men Do Not Care about misogyny (tbh a lot of women don't either until it bites them in the ass) and close ranks when shit hits the fan! the ones who acknowledge its existence and call out other men have female majority audiences and are seen as 'simps' or 'white knights.' for most men 'include me in feminism' doesn't translate into 'i will advocate for you and actively work against the patriarchy' it means 'tee hee free the nipple don't say against bad about men or i'll cry.'

i never? suggested separatism? not sure if you mixed me up with someone else? in fact i think most radfems would refer to me as a male reformist?

@ the person who reblogged... uh... women are shamed for their self-expression as well so that's not gender specific, if that was the worst of my issues i'd be grateful... and... i'm black, actually... the reason the 'men-specific issues need to be centered in feminism, feminism is for everyone and misogyny is directed at no one in particular' thing bothers me so much is because the constant derailing reminds me of when 'reverse racism' became trendy because white people felt like black activism was 'excluding' them and 'what about white lives,' and were constantly bringing up irrelevant discussions about classism as another axis of oppression so they could claim only rich white people benefit from racism and white people who 'pass as POC' whatever that means experience racism. it's made frank discussions about racism impossible. the rhetoric is eerily similar and a lot of (well-meaning) people parrot it unthinkingly and it's worrying in an era of anti-feminist backlash and the rise of MRAs (who btw are not advocating for the rights of trans men). saying the patriarchy oppresses everyone is like saying white supremacy or homophobia or transphobia or classism oppresses everyone (spoiler alert: it doesn't).

yes in a lot of cases white women have power over POC men but i really dislike how in online discussions of intersectionality people tend to forget black women exist even though a black woman literally created the concept of intersectionality. seriously. it's like we're an afterthought. yeah POC men are discriminated against in a way that is specific to their race/sex but they also benefit from patriarchy. that is intersectionality, the relationships between various identities are multifaceted. under patriarchy, white AND black AND other POC cis men have power over black women, but i rarely see misogynoir discussed in mainstream leftist circles (unless we bring it up) even though black women suffer so so fucking much under patriarchy and white supremacy because we can't even count on black cis men (or even white and other POC women half the time) to ally with us. to that end, what about Iran and Afghanistan where POC men are stripping POC women of their rights? what about South Korea and their MRA president? countries outside of the Anglosphere exist and so do black and POC woman and misogyny against us matters even if it's not committed by white men. if we're not in the mood to entertain or better yet center white and POC men's issues in the sphere of feminism after dealing with misogyny from them that's our business and you can't call POC women racist for feeling that way. people can advocate for more than one sphere of activism at a time.

i can't speak to being LGBT+ because i'm cishet. however, cis men's issues not being centered in feminism doesn't mean sex is the only axis of oppression. the ERA never passed in the US, and in post roe v wade america you cannot seriously say patriarchy has no winners aside from rupert murdoch with full chest. look up the stats on men's opinions on feminism and gender inequality. if cis men want to fight against patriarchy (most of them do not and actual allies are few and far between) i'm all for it but feminism is literally not about cis men's issues by definition. 'fem' aka female is in the damn word. we can and should fight sexism and racism and homophobia and transphobia and classism and etc etc etc and there should be allyship across movements but at the same time but definitions are important.

Hi Anon! I will do my best to reply.

Some trans men are female. Some are not. There is no universal "all trans men feel this way about what sex they are". A fact though, is that most trans men will need "female health" resources for their whole life. Most trans men experienced sex-based discrimination and misogyny before they came out, and most continue to experience it after they come out, whether or not they pass. Most trans men will face medical sexism and misogyny. - I don't know in what spaces trans men being in feminism is considered "problematic" - certainly not within the queer circles I am in. I bet radfem-leaning queer spaces might have issues, specifically "tirf" spaces, and some radfem transfemmes. But that is, on the whole, not the trend for the majority of the queer community. Trans men are accepted in feminism, and it matters to us. Not, trans men do not want to be reduced down to our reproductive organs, but neither do cis women feminists, either - except for the radfems, who seem very intent on reducing everyone down to their birth sex. -

"the only men who suffer directly from sexism and misogyny are trans men." Incorrect. Queer men of all kinds are routinely victims of misogyny and sexism. There is a reason femme gay men are so mocked in society - and it's misogyny and sexism combined with homophobia. "Men acting like women" suffer greatly in our society, no matter if they're a little boy who toe-walks because of a disability, or an effeminate adult man. Plus, the ways the patriarchy abuses black men and men of color is a whole other discussion not directly linked to misogyny/sexism. -

Yeah, half the world isn't tiny, so why are you excluding them from feminism? I also always love the underlying assumption here that every single afab person on the planet is inherently a feminist. They're not. And many afab people are anti-feminist. So if an amab person wants to join the cause, I say let them. Makes more sense to me than excluding them does. -

I do not personally care what reasons an amab person has for first becoming a feminist. I do not care if their reasons are completely selfish - once they are in the movement and learning feminist theory and fighting to take down the patriarchy, does their initial motivation really matter? No, it doesn't. -

You're on anon and I only check this inbox like once a week. I have no idea who you are at this point. I will say that many radfems are separatists, so I may have been referring to those movements as a whole and not specifically addressing you. -

I don't really know who you're referencing here. I will say "include men in feminism" does not and has never meant "center men" and I don't know why y'all always assume that's what it means. The words don't eeeeven mean the same thing. - Include does not equal center. -

Those specific examples are for discussing the power white women have over black men to showcase how gender is not the end-all-be-all of oppression and how other factors matter. I could just as easily say an abled woman has power over a disabled man, or a rich woman has power over a poor man. That specific example gets used a lot because most American radfems are white women who are incredibly racist and use feminism as a shield against racism. I've seen some horrific examples of white radfems defending a white woman being incredibly racist against a black man, and the radfems say "I didn't see race, I just saw a woman defending herself against a dangerous man" - when the man in question was doing absolutely nothing at all. -

Cool. So don't. Again, "include" does not equal "center", it never did, and it never will. Stop thinking that's what I'm saying, because it's literally not what I said.

[thecheckeredchaser]

Ch 3

Insured Gains

Chapter 4- Plenty to Hide

Alexis woke up the next morning, eager to get to work. She loved to be in Jake's presence. He was intoxicatingly hot, a true commander, and she loved to make him all mushy and embarrassed, the exact opposite of how he presented regularly.

She was applying light makeup when she got a text. She lit right up when she saw it was from Jake Andrews.

"Good morning Lexi,

Can I call you about something? It's important."

She was surprised he didn't sign the text, but called right away.

"Hey," he said, sounding flustered.

"Hey what's going on?"

"I'm gonna skip the part where I'm super mortified, because we have to be in the office in an hour. None of my suits fit. I need you to go to Coleman's and purchase me some, probably 4. Dark gray, black, blue, maybe a pattern. They know all my information in the system. Just one size up," he said, with an audible grimace.

"Of course I can do that. The store is right around the corner from me."

"Yea I know," he said, absentmindedly. Alexis paused.

"You know my address?"

Jake stuttered, "Oh! I just happened to notice your street when I got your file. I just know that area well. Nothing creepy, I promise." Alexis laughed.

"Ok, no worries. Should I bring them to your house?" she asked. She was disappointed when he said to meet him in the parking garage. He was very concerned with being late, which she understood because he was never late. He was typically 30 minutes early, and if he was late for being early, he was still on time by 5 minutes. She wondered how many things in those close mornings he prioritized work over. How many pots if coffee got left unpoured? Did he ever make the bed? He seemed the type to never forget either.

She hurried to Coleman's and walked briskly up to the counter, taking a moment to notice how fancy the men's formal store was. The benches to try on your shoes were practically full lounge couches. There were a few very important looking men browsing around.

"Good morning, I'd like to purchase some suits for Jake Andrews." The gentleman behind the counter smiled and started clacking on the computer. She gave him the colors he wanted.

"Same size on file?" the man asked.

"One size up," she said as evenly as she could. She didn't want to come off as celebratory, though she felt it. The man, Charles, she noticed his tag, lowered his eyes skeptically.

"Who are you?" He asked inoffensively.

"His personal assistant," she said. His look eased up.

"Listen, I work closely with Jake as well. This is not his first upgrade. I would recommend getting at least 2 more the next-next size. What do you think?" She could hear the genuine concern for Jake and any foreseen inconvenience that may be on its way.

"That is probably not a bad idea."

"Everyone loves Jake. But he needs to be honest with himself. He isn't guaranteed to stabilize just yet." She offered a small agreeing nod. She did think it was a bit wishful to buy 4 new suits only one size up, when he clearly had outgrown all his others, seemingly overnight. How long would he wear them?

"Let's get another gray and blue." They surprisingly had all available, and Alexis was on her way. She got to the garage with 20 minutes to spare. She parked next to Jake's SUV. And got out of her car, laying the suits on her arm. Jake came out to the passenger side of his car and accepted the garments. Alexis inspected his outfit, and giggled. He wore black jogger sweatpants, which were more trendy than she would expect, and a white t-shirt, that seemed to highlight his thickness without being tight at all. On his feet he was already wearing his brown dress shoes which seemed to stick out comically long from the tapered ankles of his sweats.

"Cute outfit," she giggled. He gave a playful look.

"You're teasing me. I feel like my clothes have been doing that all morning." He opened the spacious back seat up and put the suits on the seat, pulling the black shirt that was hanging from the interior hook. He started putting it on and she passed on the changes made to his order. "Charles suggested that?" He asked, a touch of concern in his voice. Alexis didn't want to get him in trouble.

"I think he was just looking out for you. So you weren't pulling the morning suit alarm again."

"No, it makes sense. I appreciate you making that decision." He looked at the items. "And you got the two extra in my favorite colors," Jake beamed.

"You look killer in them," she said, watching him put on his blue tie. Hot.

"Thanks Lexi," he said, smiling adorably. "Well I'm gonna put the rest on in the car. I'll see you up there in a few." She wanted to kiss him, but decided now was not the time. She turned to walk, and he caught her hand. "Thank you for your help Alexis." He held her gaze a moment and let her hand go.

"Anytime," she said warmly.

She got her computer warmed up and started gathering the materials for that day's meeting. Jake came in shortly after, walking, but giving the energy of someone twirling around. He stopped in front of her and actually spun around. "What do you think?"

"You are fishing for compliments you know you deserve. It looks great." The gray suit with the black, blue, and brown was working too well.

"It certainly feels great. I appreciate you not laughing at me on the phone. I spent 10 minutes debating if I had to ask you. Which only made me lose more time." He put his hands in his pockets.

"I'm here for you Jake. No matter what." He nodded and looked at his watch.

"I'm going to get ready before we go, in about an hour. You are going to take the minutes, correct?"

"Yes Mr. Andrews," she said, smirking.

"Excellent. We'll go in a bit." He went to his office and started his business.

Jake and Alexis made their way to the conference room to meet with the lawyers and representatives for Cedar Pines, an apartment complex. They had recently had a fire and the building needed major repairs. When they walked in, some people were already seated, chatting amongst themselves. The room got significantly quieter, which Jake had to be used to, since people didn't tend to speak freely in front of a CEO. Alexis sat next to him and took out her laptop.

A lawyer walked in and clapped Jake on the back before sitting near him. "I'm exhausted this morning, forgive any yawning from me."

"It's quite alright Brian. I hadn't had my coffee this morning either." Jake leaned toward Alexis his cologne entrancing her senses. "Are you up for a coffee run?" He asked her discreetly. She nodded. Jake asked the group for their orders and Alexis scribbled them down. "Get some kind of baked goods too."

She returned with the coffees and a platter of breakfast danishes and donuts for the group. Whatever they had been discussing in her absence, seemed to be put on hold.

"Jake, I had hoped that we'd get something special. Your company always pulls through," one meeting member said.

"Well Alexis is a super assistant. All thanks goes to her," he said looking at her with a subtle grin. Alexis beamed back and offered a welcoming smile to the rest who offered genuine thanks.

The meeting resumed and Alexis took very detailed notes. She felt like a stenographer in a courtroom, and with all the lawyers she figured it was pretty appropriate to feel that way. Brian really argued well for his company and was able to get them a mostly perfect deal. He and Jake had gotten slightly heated during a part of the negotiation relating to vandalism faced after the incident, requiring an additional claim. Jake remained firm and forced them to agree to the extra fees for the extra claim. Alexis was enamored by how he commanded the room, soaking up the power pouring out of him. He closed the meeting up and offered everyone to take more of the baked goods. Brian gathered his belongings and reached out to Jake for a shake.

"Softer edges does not mean softer in the meeting room, eh Jake. Still the "no bull' bull". Nice working with you, always."

"Been getting called soft more than the bull stuff lately. Don't know who started that nickname, but it was fun for a while. But it's also a pleasure to see you again Brian." When they cleared the room, he shot an annoyed look at Alexis, who he knew had been listening. "Little comments like that are starting to really annoy me,” he confided to her, flustered. He noticed the platter on the table with the desserts and sighed. "How are we gonna get rid of these?"

"Maybe I got too much," she said, worried she'd bothered him further.

"No, they were just being modest. People tear food up here. You can only fail without enough when it comes to corporate junkies. Coffee, donuts, bagels. It's the language they speak." Alexis transferred the remaining 7 treats onto a plate she found in one of the cupboards of the meeting room. They went back to their floor and she followed him into his office and placed the plate on his desk. "Is that a smart place?" he questioned.

"I know so," she said, taking a lemon filled danish and returning to her desk coyly. Alexis wanted to make sure that she was getting her job done, despite how thrilling it was to flirt all day at work. She had responsibilities that had pretty big consequences if she neglected them, mostly impacting Jake directly. After getting a few things done. She glanced over at the window into Jake's office and unfortunately could not see more than the length of his back. He was leaning over toward his second monitor. She wondered if he had taken any of the desserts. He wasn't the type to hold back, especially when he was alone. Alexis knew Jake consumed way more at home. He had to. She saw him eat plenty at work, but he was constantly thinking about the politics of eating food at work. She imagined at home, his consciousness was the only limit. She had really wanted to see his house that morning, just the outside would be enough. She liked messing around at work, but would kill to stretch out on a couch together, watch tv, and lazily make their way to bed. Her biggest fear was that the normal stuff was the biggest fantasy she had. Feed her boss and call him a pig, easily done. Get into a romantic relationship and be his genuine girlfriend, fully on pause. He had asked her before, and she put it fully on the table, but didn't want to open herself to rejection. She'd have to disappear if that happened.

She eventually convinced herself she had reason enough to go and see him, to confirm a date she was already sure of. She pushed open the door just as Jake picked up a treat. "What? Do you have a sixth sense?" Alexis giggled.

"I just wanted you to confirm," she trailed off, as he took a bite into the Boston cream donut. "I just wanted to see you," she said. honestly. Jake smiled, clearly flattered.

“I’m still getting used to that,” he thought a second and added, “Go get your laptop, or notebook, something.”

“What for?” she asked, ready to take the orders.

“So it looks like we are working in here,” he said confidently. Alexis hopped up and grabbed her laptop, notebook, colored pens, and pad of sticky notes. She scrambled back in and sat across from him. She surveyed the desk and could see there were two desserts left on the plate. She looked up at him and saw he had been watching her, his brows lowering. “Are you calculating? Desserts?” She smiled guiltily.

“I don’t even know how many I had,” he said, looking a touch concerned.

“Genuinely?” she asked, knowing the answer.

“I think I just had two….three,” he said, indicating the donut he just started. Alexis smiled at him, completely eating up the moment. She was thinking he must block out some of the things he eats. Maybe it was due to the pace he took.

“There were seven. I took one,” she said, holding up a finger. “Making six.” She looked down at the plate, his donut on the napkin, and shot a mockingly quizzical look at his belly. Jake could be seen running the numbers.

“This is my fourth?” he said, looking surprised. His arm brought the donut to his mouth and he took a bite, seemingly to help him think on it. Alexis giggled at this. “I know,” Jake said, laughing a little himself. “The worst part is, I was just starting to think about lunch.” Alexis felt herself getting hot. He really was indulgent.

“Worst part,” she said, fake confused. “Maybe you should finish what you are already eating before you decide that you are ready for lunch.” Jake looked at her in disbelief.

“I think I know. I’m not proud, per se, but I have been thinking about getting a grinder since this morning. And I know exactly where from,” he said, dreamily, taking another big bite.

"The Cut, on Wetmore street. If I had to take a guess." He raised his eyebrows. "I know you better than you think, Jake Andrews."

“I’m impressed. But I think you had ulterior motives encouraging your remembering,” he said with a pointed stare, finishing the donut.

“Sort of like my address?” Alexis said, smiling smugly.

“Fair.” He shrugged and looked at her. She stared back, blankly. Jake cleared his throat and clasped his hands. “I don’t wanna kick you to the road, but the sandwich situation needs to be prioritized. Emergency levels.”

“Are you actually that hungry?” she said getting up to leave. She was a little doubtful that he could truly be so famished.

“I thought you were supposed to be judgment free.”

“I am not judging you. I’m gone. Steak and cheese?” she asked, hanging on the frame. He gave her an affirming look, and she hurried out.

Alexis returned with the food. A whole grinder for Jake, and a salad for herself. She also got a bottle of coke and tea. Jake accepted the sandwich very gratefully. “Thank you for getting this. Sorry if I was a little hangry. I have just been waiting for this moment,” he said, rewrapping the paper around the first half of his sandwich.

“I find your enthusiasm very endearing.” He gave her a playful wink and started on the sandwich.

“Wow. It is better than I had been imagining.” Alexis was absolutely taken with the ravenousness her boss had been exhibiting. She noted that she had seen such behaviors within days of transferring to his office. His patterns became apparent pretty quickly. She just got a much more up close and exclusive view of him now. He was eating the grinder half so greedily that Alexis was starting to squirm in her chair. He reached for the Coke, and took a drink. He took another hungry bite, and was interrupted mid chew by a big burp. He put his hand on his belly and looked up at Alexis, cheeks slightly reddened. She couldn’t get over how hot he was.

“I am literally so turned on by you, Jake.”

“I know, I’m a huge pig,” he said, running his hands over his belly. “I am still a little surprised you find this so sexy,” he said, tearing another big bite out of the grinder, catching a drip of juice before it hit his shirt. “What’s the appealing part?” he asked curiously. Alexis was intrigued by the question.

Ch 5

[miekasa]

hello mie, would you tell us about your favorite styles and outfit staples when it comes to your fashion sense and style? 😍

I feel like I don’t... have any one/concrete fashion style 😭😭 I try to pick an aesthetic, but I really am all over the place; one day I’ll feel like wearing biker shorts, and the next day it’s trousers. I’ve come to embrace it tho; finding style and being happy with your clothes becomes so much easier when you dress how you feel like dressing.

As for staples, blazers... I am... obsessed with them. Definitely don’t mind splurging on them, either. Anything from a basic black blazer to a wool blazer, I’m about it. Slightly cold? Blazer. Feels like an outfit is missing a layer? Blazer. Wanna feel cool? Blazer. Dress it up? Blazer. Dress it down? Blazer. They’re just. So good.

Shoes are big for me, too, and also something I don’t mind spending money on. I... really like leather shoes, particularly boots/booties, but recently I’ve been into sneakers. Leather sneakers are a bonus. If your outfit feels like it’s missing something, putting on shoes that are really You can make the whole thing come full circle, trust me.

I also have two or three gold necklaces I wear almost every day, and same goes for earrings, so I would say those count. Sometimes all an outfit needs is a little bit of gold, honestly.

This isn’t any particular item, but I like prints/texture as an accessory...? Like a silk scarf a pretty print on it, or a dad hat with cool phrase or quote or just embroidery, or colorful/printed socks, or a brightly colored bag. If everything else in my outfit is pretty simple, adding those makes it feel unique; and if the outfit already has a lot going on, sometimes one more accessory can be the risk that takes it from good to memorable.

I guess... none of these have been “staples” like t-shirts and such, but if you catch me in the street, I’m more likely than not going to be wearing a blazer/some kind of layer, shoes... obviously, but just know that I ruminated on buying them for at least three weeks 😭😭 and gold jewelry!

[valleydean]

TW: will talk about S*exual A*ssault and I*ncest

I’m nervous too now about the Prequel bc of the w*ncest Robbie tweets.

Like in reality I feel like they are told to pander to that side of the fandom, bc let’s face it they’ve been around the longest. And for some reason that side only thinks in terms of it’s just fiction! Not realizing that every 9 minutes CPS receives evidence or claims of a child being SA, 34% of those are done by a family member(RAINN source). but sure it’s just fiction w no real world ramifications. 🙄

But honestly I wish someone higher up, either network level or creation entertainment level, Kripke, etc would just come out and say look we are no longer going to indulge into the glorification of I*ncest. There are real life victims that may turn to our show for comfort and it would be dangerous to make light of that abuse. These topics are no longer welcomed here.

I mean they put a stop to destiel talk for a while, why can’t they be just as harsh on the w*ncest talk. I just think it’s pass time we take the trash out.

yeah, i completely agree. just because that side of the fandom has been here longer doesn't mean they're the only fans anymore and it doesn't mean they're the biggest sect of the audience! and yeah, i mean, the fact that a normal gay ship has historically been treated with derision and kept all hush-hush, but then something like this, which has real trauma survivors and people going through it right now, is treated like "let's feed this flame for views/likes/viewership/money." like, none of these things i'm saying are new! it still just blows my mind though. and i really, really, really would hope that something like that wouldn't be carried out into the future with the way the landscape of society has changed since spn started in 2005 (re: the gay stuff, not the incest stuff because idk if that's been something that's been "deemed acceptable" since the 1800s.) but also, thanks to game of thrones, incest stories are "trendy," which is crazy. BUT!!!!!!! the fact of the matter is, this isn't a dark trope being explored within media like jamie and cersi of game of thrones, for example. it's fanon. it's not part of the narrative!! so it's not something that should be encouraged inside the scope of the official business model!

idk what i'm saying anymore. but yeah, i have agreed with you since i started watching this show in 2008, and i have agreed with you through every con and every attempts to gaslight by the creators of the show throughout the years. and i agree with you morally. i think now that the flagship show is over and we're moving onto new content, this would be a great time to kinda reset the tone. and look - like, i don't get it and i'm not trying to, but if people still wanna ship sam and dean and all that... i'm not a cop. i'm not gonna say you can't do that, if that's what you personally enjoy for whatever reason. but i don't think the catering to it and the power imbalanced its created that effects the decisions made at cons, in the show itself, in marketing, etc. is something that really needs to be put to the side in the year of our lord 2022 and beyond, because it's just........ not it, fam. even if the fans of that side of the fandom start bitching and moaning about not being catered to anymore or about seeing a ship that isn't that - because when they're mad, everyone's gotta know about it. but like, too bad. because with this younger show, you have the opportunity to bring in a new audience, and that is not necessarily a bad thing for the politics of this show.

[investmart007]

MONTAUK, N.Y. | AP Investigation: Fish billed as local isn't always local

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/fdjvzP

MONTAUK, N.Y. | AP Investigation: Fish billed as local isn't always local

MONTAUK, N.Y. — Even after winter storms left East Coast harbors thick with ice, some of the country’s top chefs and trendy restaurants were offering sushi-grade tuna supposedly pulled in fresh off the coast of New York.

But it was just an illusion. No tuna was landing there. The fish had long since migrated to warmer waters.

In a global industry plagued by fraud and deceit, conscientious consumers are increasingly paying top dollar for what they believe is local, sustainably caught seafood. But even in this fast-growing niche market, companies can hide behind murky supply chains that make it difficult to determine where any given fish comes from. That’s where national distributor Sea To Table stepped in, guaranteeing its products were wild and directly traceable to a U.S. dock — and sometimes the very boat that brought it in.

However, an Associated Press investigation found the company was linked to some of the same practices it vowed to fight. Preliminary DNA tests suggested some of its yellowfin tuna likely came from the other side of the world, and reporters traced the company’s supply chain to migrant fishermen in foreign waters who described labor abuses, poaching and the slaughter of sharks, whales and dolphins.

The New York-based distributor was also offering species in other parts of the country that were illegal to catch, out of season and farmed.

Over the years, Sea To Table has become a darling in the sustainable seafood movement, building an impressive list of clientele, including celebrity chef Rick Bayless, Chopt Creative Salad chain, top universities and the makers of home meal kits such as HelloFresh.

“It’s sad to me that this is what’s going on,” said Bayless, an award-winning chef who runs eight popular restaurants and hosts a PBS cooking series. He said he loved the idea of being directly tied to fishermen — and the pictures and “wonderful stories” about their catch. “This throws quite a wrench in all of that.”

As part of its reporting, the AP staked out America’s largest fish market, followed trucks and interviewed fishermen who worked on three continents. During a bone-chilling week, they set up a camera that shot more than 36,000 time-lapse photos of a Montauk harbor, showing no tuna boats docking. At the same time, AP worked with a chef to order fish supposedly coming from the seaside town. The boat listed on the receipt hadn’t been there in at least two years.

Reporters also tracked Sea To Table’s supply chain to fishermen abroad who earn as little as $1.50 a day working 22-hour shifts without proper food and water.

“We were treated like slaves,” said Sulistyo, an Indonesian fisherman forced to work on a foreign trawler that delivered fish to a Sea To Table supplier. He asked that only one name be used, fearing retaliation. “They treat us like robots without any conscience.”

Sea To Table owner Sean Dimin emphasized his suppliers are strictly prohibited from sending imports to customers and added violators would be terminated.

“We take this extremely seriously,” he said.

Dimin said he communicated clearly with his customers that some fish labeled as freshly landed at one port was actually caught and trucked in from other states, but some chefs denied this. Federal officials described it as mislabeling.

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A century ago, small-scale fisheries dotted America’s coasts and fed the country’s demand for seafood. But as time passed, overfishing, strict government regulations and outsourcing to developing countries changed the industry, making it nearly impossible for local fishermen to compete.

The U.S. seafood market is worth $17 billion annually, with imports making up more than 90 percent of that. Experts say one in five fish is caught illegally worldwide, and a study last year by the University of California, Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University found nearly half of all sushi samples tested in L.A. didn’t match the fish advertised on the menu.

Sea To Table offered a worry-free local solution that arrived from dock to doorstep by connecting chefs directly with more than 60 partners along U.S. coasts. While its mission is clear, scaling up to a national level while naming specific boats and docks is currently unrealistic. Still, the company is predicting rapid growth from $13 million in sales last year to $70 million by 2020, according to a confidential investor report obtained by the AP.

As its business expanded, AP found Sea To Table has been saying one thing but selling another.

For caterers hosting a ball for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who had successfully pushed through a law to combat seafood mislabeling, knowing where his fish came from was crucial.

The Montauk tuna arrived with a Sea To Table leaflet describing the romantic, seaside town and an email from a salesperson saying the fish was caught off North Carolina. But the boxes came from New York and there was no indication it had been landed in another state and driven more than 700 miles to Montauk. A week later the caterer ordered the Montauk tuna again. This time the invoice listed a boat whose owner later told AP he didn’t catch anything for Sea To Table at that time.

“I’m kind of in shock right now,” said Brandon LaVielle of Lavish Roots Catering. “We felt like we were supporting smaller fishing villages.”

Some of Sea To Table’s partner docks, it turns out, are not docks at all. Their seafood was advertised as “just landed” from wholesalers and retailers like Santa Barbara Fish Market — which also has imports — and Red’s Best in Boston. Both collect seafood at harbors and companies up and down their coasts.

Sea To Table also promoted fresh blue crab from Maryland in January, even though the season closed in November. In addition, the company said it never sells farmed seafood, citing concerns about antibiotics and hormones. But red abalone advertised from central California are actually grown in tanks — it’s been illegal to harvest commercially from the ocean since 1997. Rhode Island and Washington state also supply aquacultured seafood, such as oysters and mussels.

Dimin said farmed shellfish “is a very small part of our business, but it’s something that we’re open and clear about.” When asked to provide evidence that the company has been transparent about its use of farmed shellfish, he paused and then replied, “There’s nothing to hide there.”

However, days later, he said he decided to drop aquaculture from his business because it contradicts his “wild only” guarantee.

Private companies that mislead consumers, clients and potential investors could face lawsuits or criminal liability. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are charged with enforcing laws to prevent fish fraud. Sellers who know, or even should have known, that fish is mislabeled could be found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, mail fraud and wire fraud. The crimes carry potential fines and jail time.

Carl Safina, an award-winning author and leading marine conservationist at New York’s Stony Brook University, said companies that prey on consumers’ good intentions “deserve to be out of business immediately.”

A half dozen commercial fishermen and dealers in various regions of the country voiced concerns and, in some cases, anger about Sea To Table. Others have lashed out in the past using social media. Most spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety and their businesses in an industry where relationships often overlap.

Eric Hodge, a small-scale fisherman from Santa Barbara, said he considered partnering with Sea To Table a few years ago. He quickly changed his mind after seeing canary rockfish on the distributor’s chef lists when the fish was illegal to catch. He also learned Sea To Table was buying halibut from the fish market, which relies heavily on imports. He said he spoke to the company about his concerns.

“Honestly, they know. I just don’t think they care,” Hodge said. “They are making money on every shipment, and they are not going to ask questions. And in seafood, that’s a bad way to go about it because there is so much fraud.”

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The idea for Sea To Table began with a family vacation to Trinidad and Tobago more than two decades ago. Following a fishing trip there, Michael Dimin and his son, Sean, eventually started shipping fresh catch from the Caribbean nation to chefs in New York. Later, they shifted their model to work exclusively with small-scale American coastal fishermen.

Restaurants and other buyers demanding sustainable products were drawn to the company by a marketing campaign that provided a story not just about where the fish came from, but the romantic image of an American pastime. And they were willing to pay a lot — sometimes more than $20 a pound — for high-end species.

The New York Times, National Geographic, Bon Appetit magazine and many others singled out Sea To Table as the good guys in a notoriously bad industry. Larry Olmsted, author of the bestselling book “Real Food, Fake Food,” recommended it as an answer to fraud in a Forbes article.

After learning about the problems, Olmsted said he was disappointed, and that it made no difference to him if part of the business was legitimate: “It either is reliable, or it’s not.”

Sea To Table partnered with sustainability giants such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Marine Stewardship Council and the James Beard Foundation, which collaborated on events and referred to the distributor as an industry favorite. They expressed concern that suppliers who knowingly mislabel catch will damage the movement.

Sea To Table’s products are sold in almost every state, reaching everywhere from Roy’s seafood restaurants to Tacombi taco chain. It can be found at eateries inside the Empire State Building in New York and Chicago’s O’Hare airport, direct to consumers from its own website and even on Amazon for home cooks to order. In addition, more than 50 college campuses such as Yale, Ohio State and the University of Massachusetts have signed up. So have some of the biggest make-it-yourself meal kits, including Home Chef and Sun Basket, a rapidly growing market that Sea To Table says generates a third its revenues.

Whether they know it or not, a company spending money at any point in a long chain that begins with an abused fisherman and ends with a diner is inadvertently supporting the problem. Customers who responded to AP said they were frustrated and confused.

“Not ok,” Ken Toong, who is responsible for UMass Dining, said of Sea To Table. “We believed them.”

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AP’s investigation began with one of Sea To Table’s nearby suppliers. Located on New York’s eastern coast beyond the posh Hamptons, Bob Gosman Company opened in Montauk as a mom-and-pop clam shack more than six decades ago.

Now run by cousins Bryan and Asa Gosman, it is a small empire sitting on a multi-million dollar property. Oceanfront restaurants, shops and motels bustle with tourists in the summer. And its fish market, where 70 percent of the tuna is imported, has become one of the biggest wholesalers in the area.

Gosman’s gets most of its tuna along with other species from a place in the state where fish can always be found, regardless of the season: The New Fulton Fish Market. The nine-acre refrigerated warehouse just outside Manhattan is the second-largest facility of its kind, moving millions of pounds of seafood each night, much of it flown in from across the globe.

Beautiful maroon slabs of imported high-grade tuna were on display for several nights in December, January and February, as well as other times throughout last year, when AP reporters roamed the market. The frigid building buzzed with workers on forklifts zigzagging across slick concrete floors, stacking orders waiting to be picked up.

In the early hours, often between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., boxes of fish bearing foreign shipping labels from all over the world were arranged into piles with “Gosman” scribbled across them in black marker. They were later hoisted onto a waiting truck with the same name.

After a three-hour drive east, the AP watched the loads arrive at the company’s loading dock in Montauk, just as the sun was rising on the tip of Long Island.

The tuna, swordfish and other species were then ferried inside Gosman’s warehouse. They came from Blue Ocean in Brazil, Vietnam’s Hong Ngoc Seafood Co., and Land, Ice and Fish in Trinidad and Tobago. Occasionally, boxes showed up from Luen Thai Fishing Venture and Marshall Islands Fishing Venture, part of a Hong Kong-based conglomerate that’s a major supplier of sushi-grade tuna. Despite recent conservation partnerships, Luen Thai has a checkered past, including shark finning and a bribery scandal that resulted in the jailing of a former Cook Islands marine resources minister in 2016.

Bryan Gosman said Sea To Table stressed it would not take imports. But with no yellowfin tuna landed in New York during the coldest winter months — which a federal official confirmed — it was impossible to provide high-quality loins from Montauk.

“So in the beginning, there were times when we were trying to hustle around fish,” Gosman said. “Buying fish at different places, so it could be a legitimate business plan that they’re trying to follow.”

Eventually, with Dimin’s blessing, Gosman said he started getting fish from as far away as North Carolina and trucking it up to New York.

They stopped that arrangement in March. Gosman said it wasn’t profitable. Dimin said they wanted to avoid the “complexity of communicating” their sourcing.

Meanwhile, in the dead of winter, AP had turned to a chef to order $500 worth of fish on their behalf. Sea To Table provided a receipt and verbal assurances that the seafood — which arrived overnight in a box bearing the company’s name and logo — had been landed in Montauk the day before.

The invoice even listed the “Standin Up” as the boat that caught it. But the vessel’s owner said it was in another state at the time, hundreds of miles away.

“I know my name is being used,” said Robert Devlin, who was upset by the news. “A lot of people do fraud that way.”

The AP also shipped tuna samples supposedly from Montauk to two labs for analysis: Preliminary DNA testing suggested the fish likely came from the Indian Ocean or the Western Central Pacific. There are limitations with the data because using genetic markers to determine the origins of species is still an emerging science, but experts say the promising new research will eventually be used to help fight illegal activity in the industry.

Bryan Gosman said they keep Sea To Table’s fish separate, but acknowledged there’s always a chance some imported tuna can slip through with domestic.

“Can things get mixed up? It could get mixed up,” he said. “Is it an intentional thing? No, not at all.”

___

The investigation didn’t end in Montauk. One of the boxes in Gosman’s stack at the Fulton fish market was stamped with a little blue tuna logo above the words “Land, Ice and Fish,” out of Trinidad and Tobago.

This is where the AP traced companies in Sea To Table’s supply chain to slave-like working conditions and the destruction of marine life.

The global seafood industry is known for providing cheap fish that comes with another price. Unscrupulous foreign companies operate with virtually no oversight in vast swaths of international waters, as AP reported in a series of stories in 2015. Those reports helped free more than 2,000 enslaved fishermen in Indonesia.

Though it’s nearly impossible to tell where a specific fish ends up, or what percentage of a company’s seafood is fraudulent, experts say even one bad piece taints the entire supply chain.

On learning that Sea To Table’s supply chain could be tracked to businesses engaged in labor and environmental abuses, Dimin said it was “abhorrent and everything we stand against.”

He said he was temporarily suspending operations with two partners to conduct an audit.

During the investigation, reporters interviewed and obtained written complaints from more than a dozen current and former Indonesian fishermen — including Sulistyo — who were connected to companies in Sea To Table’s supply chain.

Sulistyo said his trawler plied waters between Africa and the Caribbean. Occasionally, it stopped in Trinidad and unloaded swordfish, yellowfin and bigeye tuna at Land, Ice and Fish.

Some crew members who docked there said they were beaten and forced to work when they were sick or hurt. At times, they said, migrant workers died on board and were tossed in the freezer with their catch while the boat continued to fish.

“You are out 500 miles or a thousand miles from shore, he is the law at that point,” John Duberg of Land, Ice and Fish said of individual captains. “And if he feels he has a misbehaving crew member, he may have to take disciplinary actions.”

Marine life was treated with even less respect. Some men said they were ordered to pull in as many sharks as they could catch and slice off their fins, which are a delicacy in Asia. The bodies were tossed back into the ocean, a practice banned by many countries.

Whales also were killed, their heads sometimes chopped off and their teeth extracted as good luck charms. The workers showed photos and videos of fishermen posing with mutilated sharks and whales. While some men appeared to celebrating, others said it left them feeling sickened.

Sulistyo endured the abuse and long hours for a year before jumping to another ship in 2017, demanding to be taken to port. He returned to Indonesia and was classified as a victim of trafficking by the International Organization for Migration.

After hearing that just 30 pounds of tuna could be sold in America for more than $600 — the amount Sulistyo earned during his entire year of work — he stared at the ground in disgust.

“I want to say to the Americans who eat that fish, please appreciate what we did to catch this fish with our sweat, with our lives,” Sulistyo said. “Please remember that.”

____

AP journalists Julie Jacobson in New York and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia contributed to this report

By ROBIN MCDOWELL, MARGIE MASON and MARTHA MENDOZA,

By Associated Press

___