#seek magazine 7

[venomousnakes]

Happy Bday Jjong!

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(throwback) SHINee Seek Magazine Vol. 7

[femsolid]

Well that's disappointing. 7 years ago Alicia Keys decided to stop wearing make-up. She was protesting against feminine beauty standards pressuring her to look a certain way creating insecurities and shame. She also stopped straightening her hair.

She was brave enough to pose for magazine covers, go to big celebrity events, on TV and award shows without make up, to perform without make up and she even wrote a song about it.

Now, not only is she wearing make up again but she's selling make up. She actually started her own make up line. Yep. It's called "Make You". Get it? Cause now you don't wear make up to cover your imperfections, you wear make up to express yourself.

When asked why the sudden change, she explained that beauty is what you make of it, if it's your choice and your own personal version of beauty (which just happens to be the exact same version as everyone else and what the beauty industry wants you to seek) then it's okay. She said all those years without make up have helped her rebuild her self confidence and she's now ready to... wear make up again for some reason? She's doing it for herself this time and is redefining what wearing make up is about. Her make up is different because there's a philosophy behind it. Which is what every brand is selling these days by the way: it's not a product, it's a ~lifestyle~.

She showcased her make up collection at the Met Gala 2022.

It might seem like a personal journey, that's certainly the way she perceives it, but it's neoliberalism in a nutshell: don't try to solve the issue, change the way you think about the issue instead. And find a way to profit from it.

It's such a shame. She must have felt pretty lonely in her endeavour. I mean look at this shit:

Or this one, missing the point entirely:

At least she tried and talked about the issue. She did something most have not. I just wish she wasn't selling it now. How can she do that to others after admitting how much pain it caused her in the past? You just slap some pseudo-feminist slogans on it and call it a day I guess.

Alicia Keys - Girl Can't Be Herself

[laurolive]

And They Said It Wouldn’t Work

Came across this lovely photo of Linda on the cover of the April 30, 1977, issue of the U.K. weekly Woman. Her interview is titled “All you Need is Love, and a Beatle called Paul: Linda McCartney's story” by Bonnie Estridge (p. 28).

That’s all the info I have since the story is not reproduced anywhere online that I can see (though it’s obtainable from other sources).

______________________________________

Turning my attention to the cover text, when “they” said the marriage wouldn’t work, “they” were not without just cause, IMO. Circumstances pointed to a relationship destined for failure.

______________________________________

McCartney juggled multiple girlfriends simultaneously and had never practiced commitment in his adult life. Linda counted among her lovers many of the rock musicians she photographed. McCartney pursued and slept with Linda (among others) while engaged to someone else (Jane Asher).

So here we have a courtship, begun in deceit and sneaking around, between two people who still appeared to be enjoying the free love era. “If he’ll cheat WITH you, he’ll cheat ON you” goes the adage. The guy couldn’t even stay faithful to his fiancée. Is this the behaviour of a future responsible family man?

Beatles biographer Hunter Davies didn’t think the marriage would last [link]. John Lennon gave it two years [link]. The civil wedding seemed to be arranged in a rush with a bride who was three months’ pregnant. The night before the big day, the couple had such a huge argument they nearly canceled the ceremony [link]. No wonder the marriage was given such poor prospects.

______________________________________

Yet it became rock music’s most famous love affair and its most enduring monogamous union. HOW? For one, it goes to show that it’s easy to make predictions based on superficial knowledge.

Observers saw a womanizing Beatle rock star who would never settle down with one woman. It turns out McCartney had deeper layers than met the eye, and they meshed with Linda’s. We just didn’t know his REAL values in life until he talked about them.

______________________________________

Some men are womanizers and stay womanizers. That’s who they are deep down inside. Monogamy has no appeal.

Some men are womanizers when young. It’s an experience to try, not a routine to live by. I think Paul falls into this category. Deep inside, he was a family man. Going by his interviews, where he often speaks tenderly of Linda and rhapsodizes about fatherhood, one can sense that he believed in romantic love. He wanted a soulmate; he wanted children. He matured, and his ingrained values came to the forefront.

He didn’t become husband material right off the bat. It was a process, probably a difficult one given his status. When he played the field in the later 60s, perhaps it was not totally to have fun, but also to seek out girlfriends with whom he had a real connection. These he called his “serious relationships” [link]. Some of those girlfriends claimed he wanted to marry them [link1, link2]; yet even when he did get engaged, he seemed to be unsure and still searching. (I guess he didn’t consider it cheating if he wasn’t married.) Recalling those days for the 2001 documentary Wingspan, McCartney tells his interviewer (who is also his daughter Mary) that it was time to get serious; and he especially felt that way with her mother. He didn’t want to remain a bachelor playboy all his life.

______________________________________

And so he got serious. Once he committed, he was husband and father all the way.

“I had my wild life,” he declared in a 1974 interview [New York News magazine: Just an Old-Fashioned Beatle, April 7, 1974]. “But I told Linda everything about that and all the rest. I have no secrets from Linda. I had my time, in my time. But I am much happier now. This new life means more to me.”

______________________________________

He expressed similar sentiments in other interviews over the years, such as TV interview with Barbara Howar, Aug. 23, 1986 and The Guardian: After Linda by Simon Hattenstone, Sept. 11, 2000, just to name two.

________________________________________

©️ laurolive, laurolive.tumblr.com, www.tumblr.com/laurolive, www.tumblr.com/blog/laurolive, 2024

________________________________________

[beybaldes]

a soft place to land

summer sleepover masterlist

roy kent x gn!reader

summary: “i’m never more at peace than i am in your arms.”

content warning : me once more deciding Roy’s sister is called Molly

an : technically a part 2 to ‘but never not sweet for the trust funds and punishers’ requested by the ever so lovely @onceuponaoneshotfanfic !! But can be read as a stand-alone fic too

Roy had never been good at emotions, let alone being comforted. He can remember being 8 years old and scraping his knee; he cleaned off the scrape and applied the plaster all by himself. And when Molly noticed the blue plaster covered in spaceships adorned on his knee and offered to kiss it better, like she could remember their mum doing for her before, he gave a very loud ‘no’ and ran right back out into the garden.

He just wasn’t good at it, at accepting the love people tried to offer him. At least, until you had come along.

Roy had been at Chelsea for approximately 5 weeks when he finally had the chance to meet you, his new neighbour, and even back then he’d been his gruff and gloomy self.

Roy had been at Chelsea for approximately 7 weeks when you showed up on his doorstep with a case of his favourite beer in hand and a bag full of takeout after barely having spoken more then two words to him.

“Regardless of if you’ve read the article or not, I’m coming in and we’re talking about it.” His face twisted in confusion, to which you pulled out a rolled up magazine from under you arm, the title reading in big, black font ‘Roy Kent; legend in the making and in the bedroom.’

“Some people will do anything for their five minutes of fame.” You’d scoffed, waiting for Roy to hand you two plates so that you could serve up the takeaway you’d brought over. “I hope you know this says nothing about you and everything about the shithead who sold out on you.”

Roy was silent the whole time, only grunting a response when it actually occurred to you to ask him if he even liked Chinese food; which, of course he did. You had to practically guide him to his couch and force him to eat, let alone talk to you about it.

“How are you feeling, Roy-o?” At some point, though Roy couldn’t remember when, you’d finished your meal and saddled up next to him, your knees pressed against his thigh as you sat facing him. “I mean, at best the whole of England knows you’re an absolute sex god. But i can imagine it’s not nice being on the front page of a magazine for gossip, or being sold out by whoever you were seeing.”

You finally elicited a response from Roy when you moved your hand to the back of his neck, settling your fingers in his hair which had him crashing back to reality and jumping away from you. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Um, comforting you? What the fuck does it look like you prick?”

And just like that, you’d worked your way into his heart and he knew he was never going to get you back out of it.

Despite that being years and years ago, Roy had only just reached a point where he would seek you out for comfort when he needed it. More then a decade on, he still had girls left, right, and centre fucking him, stealing from him and then selling the story of it to the press. And he still had you, waiting with open arms and a listening ear to make it all go away.

Like tonight, he was once again laying between your legs, his head against your chest and your fingers combing through his hair. This time though, there was no one night stand selling his sex stories or stealing his Rolex, he simply just wanted to be with you, in your arms.

“I’m never more at peace then I am in your arms.” He whispered. The confession was out of left field for Roy; he didn’t do soft. Well, you knew that wasn’t entirely true, he was always soft with you, even if it had taken you years to show him that was okay and convince him he didn’t have to wait for you to hug him first. But saying it instead of showing it? This was an entirely different realm of braveness for Roy. “I know I’m not the best at, talking, I guess, but you make life easier. Would stay here forever if I could.”

Tears threatened to cloud your vision and it felt like your throat was closing up. It was unbelievable, to see Roy become the person he had, from way back when he’d just arrived to Chelsea to now, at Richmond as a coach. It almost felt like you had an entirely different person before you. But you didn’t. His hair still felt the same when you ran your fingers through it, he still had the same deep and gruff voice and he still threw his head back with laughter and a wide smile every-time you watched stepbrothers. Roy was still the Roy he always had been, but now he was better at showing people that version of himself.

“Will do all that I can to keep you here forever, Roy-o.” You tilted his head back, keeping your hands cupping each side of his face as you leant forward, pressing a slow and soft kiss to his lips. They were slightly chapped and the scruff of his beard tickled your skin, and the hand that moved to cup the back of your head and keep you kissing him rid of the ounce of worry you had that you’d read too much into things. “I love you, Roy. I have for a long time.”

There was a long moment of silence between the two of you, but it didn’t worry you in the slightest. Whether or not Roy was able to say it, you knew that he loved you. The blush that coated his cheeks told you enough if his actions and words across the years hadn’t.

“Aw you’re blushing, you must love me.”

“Fuck off.” Roy turned his attention back to the tv, not containing the smile that pulled at his lips at the thought alone - you loved him. He intertwined his fingers with yours, pulling your hand to cup his face again and pressing a kiss to the inside of your wrist. “I love you too.”

[rottenpumpkin13]

Your Genesis angst was beautiful (I. will admit to almost crying) and got me thinking.

So, what if one day Genesis is working on a project and it just. Isn't. Going. Right. It's supposed to be perfect, it's supposed to be amazing, this was the one thing he'd been excited about all day but it isn't perfect. He's horrible at everything and he's a failure. He's spent hours and hours, hasn't eaten, hasn't drank, hasn't done jackshit for himself.

And of course, because his friends love him very much, they go to check on him, only for Genesis to burst out sobbing, telling them about all his insecurities because they just can't stay inside anymore. How would they react?

Cathartic fluff be upon ye .・゜-: ✧ :-

• Genesis received an invitation to write a thought-provoking article for an esteemed magazine. As a prominent scholar in the study of Loveless, high expectations accompanied the request.

• But while he typically articulated his ideas effortlessly, this particular task wasn't going well.

• Struggling with writer's block, he neglected sleep and food, consumed by a relentless focus on writing 24/7. This ceaseless dedication took a toll on him, and when the article was finally completed, self-doubt crept in. He despised his work, questioning his abilities, feeling like a fraud, and constantly comparing himself to an unattainable standard.

• Angeal was the first to notice that there was something wrong. It happened after their lunch break—Genesis had skipped it, but Angeal and Sephiroth chalked it up to him being busy with his bustling social life, a lunch date with one of his admirers undoubtedly.

• But Angeal found Genesis in his office, the exact same place he had left him an hour prior. He was curled up on his desk chair, with blood-shot eyes staring at his computer screen. Something told Angeal that the red wasn't due to eyestrain from staring at the screen for too long. His eyes were too glassy, too wet for it to be that. He had been crying.

• Then came Sephiroth. He had noticed the cafeteria had a selection of fresh Banora White's, a rarity to find in Midgar. Genesis was again absent, so Sephiroth decided to grab one for him. But when he brought it up to Genesis's office, the man flat-out refused the fruit, claiming not to be hungry.

• Sephiroth was well-acquainted with a lost appetite under extreme stress, which is why his concern led him to seek out Angeal and tell him that Genesis was not well.

"So you noticed it too, huh?" Angeal remarked.

"Has he shown any other signs of distress?" Sephiroth asked.

Angeal nodded, "I might have seen him crying the other day, remember when he skipped lunch? I went to check up on him after."

A frown tugged Sephiroth's lips. "He hadn't eaten that day?"

"Doesn't seem like it," Angeal admitted. "Zack told me he saw him leave his office at 4 AM the other day."

Sephiroth sighed, realizing the gravity of the situation. "Which means he's been neglecting sleep."

Angeal confirmed with a nod.

A contemplative silence enveloped Sephiroth as he crossed his arms, looking to the side and parting his lips hesitantly.

"What is it?" Angeal asked.

"It's just... he's usually light." Sephiroth's tone was heavy. "Now... he's dim."

The words weighed on Angeal, who then and there decided to put an end to their problem at once.

He forced an understanding smile, placing a firm hand on Sephiroth's shoulder as he stood. "I know what you mean. Come on, let's go talk to him."

• When they returned to Genesis's office as a duo, he was still there. They didn't bother knocking, gently pushing the door open to see Genesis seated at his desk, surrounded by scattered papers and dimly lit by a single lamp. His auburn hair seemed dulled, mirroring the weariness in his eyes.

• Genesis glanced up as they entered, a mixture of surprise and exhaustion etched on his face. "Oh. What do you guys need?"

Sephiroth fought the urge to wince. Even his voice sounded hoarse and lifeless.

Angeal approached with a gentle smile. "Gen, you haven't given yourself a break from writing that article, have you?" His tone conveyed both understanding and worry.

Genesis sat up straighter. He looked wounded, opening his mouth to respond, but being cut off by Sephiroth.

"I haven't seen you at lunch, nor have you appeared at dinner. You haven't been eating properly either." His usually stoic demeanor softened by genuine worry on his face.

Genesis wordlessly glanced to the dozen of empty coffee cups on the floor by his desk.

Sephiroth huffed. "Coffee does not constitute as a meal."

Genesis sunk down into his seat again, pulling both if his legs up and hugging his knees.

As Genesis buried his face, they exchanged a meaningful look before Angeal spoke again. "We're just worried, Gen. You're not yourself lately. What's wrong?"

Genesis's only response is a small sniffle.

Sephiroth and Angeal exchanged alarmed glances as Genesis, seemingly unable to contain his emotions any longer, began sobbing into his knees.

His nails dug into his legs, the sounds of genuine distress filling the room, a stark contrast to the confident persona they were accustomed to.

Sephiroth and Angeal, immediately concerned, move closer, unsure of how to comfort their friend who now seemed so vulnerable, unraveling like a wounded child.

"Genesis," Angeal whispers softly, kneeling down beside his chair. Sephiroth does the same on the opposite side.

The room is filled with a heavy silence, broken only by Genesis's deep sobs. Angeal gently places a hand on his friend's shoulder, while Sephiroth works to remove Genesis's fingers from his knees before he can harm himself.

He was still crying when he leaned over and hugged Sephiroth, burying his face in his neck. Sephiroth responded with a gentle embrace, holding him close. The three of them found themselves on the floor. While Sephiroth held him, Angeal shushed Genesis reassuringly, his soothing words accompanied by the comforting gesture of carding his fingers through Genesis's hair.

"You're okay," Angeal whispered, his tone reminiscent of how one would speak to a child. "We're here now. If you want to tell us what's wrong, we're here for you."

Sephiroth frowned, stroking his friend's back. "If you don't want to tell us anything, that's fine too."

Tears streamed down Genesis's face as he poured out his frustration. "I can't take it anymore. Everything I write comes out wrong. I've written this damn article fifteen times now, and I can't get it right. I can't do anything right. Ever!"

Angeal nudged him gently. "Gen, you're very tired right now. You need to take a break from writing this and come back to it later."

"Taking a break won't fix me!" Genesis snapped his despair palpable as angry tears steamed down his face.

Angeal fell silent, unsure of how to respond.

Sephiroth was quick to jump in. "You don't need to be fixed. You're perfect the way you are."

"Easier for you to say!" Genesis snapped back. "There isn't a single flaw that graces your being, is there, Sephiroth? Everything you do is perfect. I thought writing and literature were the things I had over everyone, but I can't even do that right."

Now Sephiroth was the speechless one, looking to Angeal for help. Angeal, in turn, sensed the weight of their friend's struggles. "Genesis, is this how you've been feeling? Like you're not good enough?"

"It's not a feeling, Angeal, it's just what I am," Genesis confessed, vulnerability clear in his tone. "And I'm tired of it. I really am. I'm tired of not being enough, tired of competing with everyone who I think is better than me. I'm sick of thinking everyone is better than me. I'm exhausted."

After a moment's hesitation where not even Angeal knew what to say, Sephiroth tentively found the words.

"If you are tired of yourself, are you tired of lighting up every room you enter?" He asked earnestly, managing a small smile as he wiped a stray tear from Genesis's cheek.

Angeal nodded with a smile. "Are you tired of always knowing just what to say to make us feel better?"

Sephiroth continued. "You must be tired of being the bravest man I know, and not to mention the one I admire the most."

Genesis looked at him, wide-eyed, as Sephiroth smiled and rubbed his back.

Angeal chimed in, flicking a stray lock of hair from Genesis's eyes. "In that case, certainly you're tired of being the most skilled mage this program has ever had. And you must be tired of being one of the most accomplished scholars in your field."

Sephiroth shrugged gently. "And since you're sick of being Genesis, that means you're sick of being our best friend."

"Our one-of-a-kind, necessary half," Angeal added.

Sephiroth nodded. "Our equal."

Finally, Genesis sighed, defeated. "Well, when you say things like that, I look stupid."

Angeal met his gaze with a mix of frustration and, surprisingly, a laugh. "Gen, you're not incapable of looking stupid. In fact, you say stupid shit for most of the time you're alive."

Genesis's shoulders slumped.

"But," Angeal added, "you are fundamentally one of a kind. A rare, beautiful person inside and out." He frowned, looking genuinely hurt. "I hate that you don't see that."

Sephiroth leaned them both against the desk, still hugging him. "I can somewhat understand the supposed envy, Genesis, but not the competition. There is no competing with me, Genesis."

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks, Seph."

Sephiroth laughed. "I mean because you're my equal. You're a piece of me, Genesis, that I did not know was missing before I met you. Both of you. Where I would be without you and Angeal in my life... is not something I enjoy thinking about."

"Really?" Genesis looked up.

Sephiroth nodded, giving hima reassuring smile.

"Really."

Genesis looked a bit brighter as his sniffles began to subside.

"And about the article, Gen," Angeal said, continuing to stroke his hair. "If there's anyone who can do it, it's you. You're the artistically gifted one out of the three of us, and the magazine picked you because they know that you're the best at what you do. If the words don't sound right now, that's okay. How long do you have to turn it in?"

"Four days," Genesis replied quietly.

Sephiroth squeezed his shoulder. "Four days is more than enough time to edit what you have. Angeal and I will help you."

Genesis looked surprised. "You will?"

"Duh," Angeal said with a smirk. "But first, we're going back to your place."

"What? Why?" Genesis inquired. Sephiroth gently pulled him off, and Angeal began to lift him up.

"I'm going to draw you a bath." Angeal wrapped his arm around Genesis. "And Sephiroth is going to order a lot of takeout."

"Copy." Sephiroth also wrapped an arm around Genesis.

"Then, you're going to sleep for at least a day. We'll tell Lazard you're taking the day off tomorrow," Angeal continued.

Sephiroth hummed. "Perhaps we can stay over. To make sure you'll actually be sleeping and not binge-watching TV."

"That sounds like a plan!" Angeal agreed.

Genesis faltered, his legs nearly giving out as his heart swelled. He choked one last cry, pulling them both into a tight hug, tears streaming down his face. Angeal and Sephiroth squeezed him right, taking advantage of how they towered over him to completely encase him in warmth.

"Thank you," Genesis whispered. "I don't deserve you two."

Sephiroth felt a tear roll down his cheek. He looked up, meeting Angeal's equally glassy eyes before whispering:

"What are friends for?"

[transgenderer]

Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States.[7] The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census.[8] Trinidad lies 21 mi (34 km) north of Raton, New Mexico, and 195 mi (314 km) south of Denver.

Trinidad was dubbed the "Sex Change Capital of the World",[25] because a local doctor had an international reputation for performing sex reassignment surgery. In the 1960s, Stanley Biber, a veteran surgeon returning from Korea, decided to move to Trinidad because he had heard that the town needed a surgeon. In 1969 a local social worker asked him to perform the surgery for her, which he learned by consulting diagrams and a New York surgeon. Biber attained a reputation as a good surgeon at a time when very few doctors were performing sex-change operations. At his peak he averaged four sex-change operations a day, and the term "taking a trip to Trinidad" became a euphemism for some seeking the procedures he offered.

Drop City, a counterculture artists' community, was formed in 1965 on land about 4 mi (6.4 km) north of Trinidad. Founded by art students and filmmakers from the University of Kansas and University of Colorado at Boulder, Drop City became known as the first rural "hippie commune",[27] and received attention from Life and Time magazines, as well as from reporters around the world.[28]

In 2015 Trinidad started to experience a new boom due to the marijuana industry. The town raised $4.4 million in tax revenue from $44 million in annual marijuana sales, about 5.13% of the state's total sales.[29][30] In 2018 High Times called Trinidad "Weed Town, USA", noting that its 23 licensed retail marijuana dispensaries serving less than 10,000 people amounts to one dispensary per 352 people. "In one downtown block alone along Commercial Street, there were five dispensaries in a single building in town which the owner referred to as the "World's First Pot Mini Mall",[31] others call it the 'weed mall'.[32]

what is going on with trinidad colorado

[gottagobackintime]

Tedependent (and bi Ted) in season 3 episode 7

We have Ted whistling and being impressed by a man's hair “Look at that head of hair”. Ted and Trent have both talked about Trent's hair before "Because of the hair and the whole vibe?" and Ted's: "You know, they got a big old Ziploc bag full of your hair ties down at the lost and found. You should pop on down, if you still want 'em." As far as I can remember they are the only ones who has ever talked about Trent's hair in the show (correct me if I'm wrong). To compare it to another scene, we have a scene between Roy and Keeley, which is meant to be seen romantically between them where they say this: "Yeah. Woman with the hair." "Keeley Jones, The Independent Woman Magazine." A scene set in the pressroom where most of Ted and Trent's interactions, with a few exceptions, take place during season 1 and 2. She also uses The Independent as a joke about her being independent while still looking to be in a relationship. Which is similar to Trent always introducing himself in the pressroom with "Trent Crimm, The Independent." And Ted and Trent's last scene of season 2: "You know what this makes you now, though, right?" "Trent Crimm. Independent." Hair is also talked about with other couples we're supposed to look at romantically. Roy and Keeley, Higgins and his wife, Sam and Rebecca.

More under the cut:

When Beard is talking about Jane dropping hints and Ted thinks he’s talking about marriage but Beard is talking about pegging and Ted doesn’t seemed shocked or outraged or anything he just “Oh. Well, still.” Ted have been pegged confirmed??? (And then he asks what magazines contains the topic of pegging, just for normal reasons, no big deal). And while pegging can be enjoyed by people of all sexualities, I find it interesting that they brought that up and the "straight man in middle America" isn't at all fazed by that. Not even a double take, just "yup, that's a big commitment", with all the other hints that Ted is not straight... yeah...

“Hey, Trent” “Hello Ted” Now this isn't really evidence, because even non queer people say hello to each other. But I wanted to include it because it's just Ted that acknowledges that Trent is standing there. Beard and Roy doesn't say anything, nor does Trent say anything to them. It's an interesting moment to include, if they hadn't said anything no one would have really noticed. Because you'd just assume that they'd seen each other earlier that day so there is no need to say hello again. But they did include it. It's about Trent being present and Ted noticing it. It's like the scene in the last episode of season 2 when Trent is absent from the pressroom. Ted notices and he stops speaking for a moment while looking worried/confused. Only for him to be happy to see him, even admitting that he was worried he'd been injured. Ted's excitement when he sees Trent in Rebecca's office in season 3 episode 2. We see them talking after the match against West Ham (they could have had him talking to anyone, but he was talking to Trent). It's Trent being the one to notice and the first to acknowledge that something is wrong when Ted gets the text about Henry being in a bullying incident. It's the fact that these two seem to be drawn to each other, seeking each other out and noticing each other.

Ted not knowing what step number four is yet and Trent being obsessed with finding out what number four is. We even get to see his notes about it, something we haven’t seen before. And with Trent's newfound confidence since his talk with Colin, he's being more comfortable around Ted and Ted rewards him with smiling and even a touch to the shoulder (that Trent even reacts to by looking at his shoulder afterwards). Just look at the way he runs after Ted and just gushes over Ted's work as a coach. (Would he have done that pre-Amsterdam, I doubt it.)

Ted talking about people being put in boxes since an early age. (Children are always assumed to be straight and are often told to stay in that box for the rest of their lives). In Sunflowers Colin talks about not wanting to be a spokesperson, he just wants to live his life, to have his two lives combined. But if he were to come out he'd be a spokesperson whether he wants to or not. Because he'd be put in a box, his box would be "gay footballer". What boxes are Ted put into? American? White? Straight? Which one of those boxes are something he could have actually have been forced into? Straight. He may or may not have already realised that it's not a box he fits into. But to have him talk about being put into boxes when we know that he's being looked at as straight by everyone around him, including the TV audience...

Trent asking Ted if he thinks that it's a good idea to use a tactic the boys don't understand and while doing so he's holding his glasses with his little finger out (while we can see the two threads of red on Ted's jacket). Later Ted explains to the team: "In Japanese culture, they have a myth where they believe that all soulmates are connected by an invisible red string. And those strings are attached to each of their little fingers."

"Well, Trent, the way I see it, it's kind of like taking a hike with Robert Frost. It could go either way." That's a very bi thing to say, Ted. Also this poem by Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Two roads, coming back to the other one another day, not knowing if you'll come back. Taken a road less traveled and that made all the difference. Pretty queer if you ask me. Especially considering bi people are constantly told to pick one, pick one side and stay there, you're either gay or straight, you can't walk both roads.

Ted feeling the need to express his individuality by growing facial hair. He didn’t go for the beard (because he didn’t want to hide his sexuality aka use a beard because Beard already had that) so he went with a goatee. And then Beard pointed out that he shouldn’t have a goatee right before he was about to walk down the isle (get married to a woman) and instead he went with a moustache. When we think of bisexuality and moustaches, who do we think of? Who do we know that Ted saw perform at Wembley in 1985? "I remember being a little kid, sitting in front of the television and watching Queen perform right over there during Live Aid." Who in Queen famously had a moustache? Freddie Mercury. Freddie Mercury who wrote "Love of my Life" for Mary Austin, his then girlfriend. Freddie who, as we all know later got together with Jim Hutton and they were together until he passed away. Ted has said that he will always love Michelle, because they are still family. He still loves her, but they are no longer together.

Trent running after Ted to excitedly tell him that it's going to work. Telling him how he's noticed what Ted has been doing for three seasons (again, it's about being seen). How he's created a space that is filled with trust and support, something he himself has been the recipient of. Ted has both trusted him (allowing Trent to write a book about the team, having him follow them around even after Trent wrote that article) and supported him (when Rebecca, Higgins and Keeley wanted him to say no to Trent and he said yes anyway, him telling Roy to knock it off with his treatment of Trent, Ted inviting him in to share his ideas).

“Yeah, but he’s our dork.” Ted says smiling fondly. It's about the fondness. Roy is the one who refers to Trent as a dork first, but Ted is the one who turns it into something that is only positive. He's smiling and to him, having Trent be their dork is something that makes him happy. The other two are more like "yeah, I guess he's cool" *shrugs*.

Does this mean that Ted and Trent will get together? No. But I do find it interesting to find all of these small details that connects the two of them. It's the way Trent went from "Is this a fucking joke?" to excitedly telling Ted that "It's going to work!". Ted changed Trent's life, and in a way I believe that Trent changed his. Trent doesn't have a problem asking the hard questions, but he also sees Ted. He can see that Ted is a mess (when it comes to coaching and possibly also on a personal level) and yet he believes in him. He challenges him on his tactics and his way of doing things, but he believes him and the thought of Ted succeeding makes him excited enough to run after him to tell him that he's done something with the team that is going to work. Something he could have told him calmly and in private, but he couldn't wait. He had to tell Ted right at that moment. It's the running through the airport at the end of the movie.

And as for Ted being bi or not. Well, I know that he's referred to himself as both straight and an ally. But as someone who once thought they were both straight and an ally before they realised that they were in fact bi, because they fell in love with a girl... he might not feel ready to deal with that, or like me he knew about his attraction to women in his case, men in mine and so we must be straight, and then just assumed that all straight people think that people of the same sex/gender are attractive.

[readingsquotes]

"When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

...Now, an investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret “war” against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.

Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.

..

Since it was established in 2002, the ICC has served as a permanent court of last resort for the prosecution of individuals accused of some of the world’s worst atrocities. It has charged the former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, the late Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi and most recently, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

Khan’s decision to seek warrants against Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas leaders implicated in the 7 October attack, marks the first time an ICC prosecutor has sought arrest warrants against the leader of a close western ally.

The allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity that Khan has levelled against Netanyahu and Gallant all relate to Israel’s eight-month war in Gaza, which according to the territory’s health authority has killed more than 35,000 people.

...

Hacked emails and monitored calls

Five sources familiar with Israel’s intelligence activities said it routinely spied on the phone calls made by Bensouda and her staff with Palestinians. Blocked by Israel from accessing Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the ICC was forced to conduct much of its research by telephone, which made it more susceptible to surveillance.

Thanks to their comprehensive access to Palestinian telecoms infrastructure, the sources said, intelligence operatives could capture the calls without installing spyware on the ICC official’s devices.

“If Fatou Bensouda spoke to any person in the West Bank or Gaza, then that phone call would enter [intercept] systems,” one source said. Another said there was no hesitation internally over spying on the prosecutor, adding: “With Bensouda, she’s black and African, so who cares?”. ......

One of the sources said the Shin Bet even installed Pegasus spyware, developed by the private-sector NSO Group, on the phones of multiple Palestinian NGO employees, as well as two senior Palestinian Authority officials.

Keeping tabs on the Palestinian submissions to the ICC’s inquiry was viewed as part of the Shin Bet’s mandate, but some army officials were concerned that spying on a foreign civilian entity crossed a line, as it had little to do with military operations.

“It has nothing to do with Hamas, it has nothing to do with stability in the West Bank,” one military source said of the ICC surveillance. Another added: “We used our resources to spy on Fatou Bensouda – this isn’t something legitimate to do as military intelligence.”

...

Three sources briefed on Cohen’s activities said they understood the spy chief had tried to recruit Bensouda into complying with Israel’s demands during the period in which she was waiting for a ruling from the pre-trial chamber.

They said he became more threatening after he began to realise the prosecutor would not be persuaded to abandon the investigation. At one stage, Cohen is said to have made comments about Bensouda’s security and thinly veiled threats about the consequences for her career if she proceeded.

[venomousnakes]

Happy Bday Jjong!

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

(throwback) SHINee Seek Magazine Vol. 7

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Fredi Washington

Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African American descent. She was one of the first Black Americans to gain recognition for film and stage work in the 1920s and 1930s. Washington was active in the Harlem Renaissance, her best known role being Peola in the 1934 film version of Imitation of Life, where she plays a young light-skinned Black woman who decides to pass as white. Her last film role was in One Mile from Heaven (1937), after which she left Hollywood and returned to New York to work in theatre and civil rights activism.

Fredi Washington was born in 1903 in Savannah, Georgia, to Robert T. Washington, a postal worker, and Harriet "Hattie" Walker Ward, a dancer. Both were of African American and European ancestry. Washington was the second of their five children. Her mother died when Fredi was 11 years old. As the oldest girl in her family, she helped raise her younger siblings, Isabel, Rosebud, and Robert, with the help of their grandmother. After their mother's death, Fredi and her sister Isabel were sent to the St. Elizabeth's Convent School for Colored Girls in Cornwells Heights, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

While still in school in Philadelphia, Washington's family moved north to Harlem, New York. Washington graduated from Julia Richman High School in New York City.

Washington's entertainment career began in 1921 as a chorus girl in the Broadway musical Shuffle Along. She was hired by dancer Josephine Baker as a member of the "Happy Honeysuckles," a cabaret group. Baker became a friend and mentor to her. Washington's collaboration with Baker led to her being discovered by producer Lee Shubert. In 1926, she was recommended for a co-starring role on the Broadway stage with Paul Robeson in the play Black Boy. She quickly became a popular, featured dancer, and toured internationally with her dancing partner, Al Moiret.

Washington turned to acting in the late 1920s. Her first movie role was in Black and Tan (1929), in which she played a Cotton Club dancer who was dying. She acted in a small role in The Emperor Jones (1933) starring Robeson. In 1933, Washington married Lawrence Brown, the trombonist in Duke Ellington's jazz orchestra. That marriage ended in divorce. Washington also played Cab Calloway's love interest in the musical short Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (1934).

Her best-known role was in the 1934 movie Imitation of Life. Washington played a young light-skinned Black woman who chose to pass as white to seek more opportunities in a society restricted by legal and social racial segregation. As Washington had visible European ancestry, the role was considered perfect for her, but it led to her being typecast by filmmakers. Moviegoers sometimes assumed from Washington's appearance—her blue-gray eyes, pale complexion, and light brown hair—that she might have passed in real life. In 1934, she said the role did not reflect her off-screen life, but "If I made Peola seem real enough to merit such statements, I consider such statements compliments and makes me feel I've done my job fairly well." She told reporters in 1949 that she identified as Black "...because I'm honest, firstly, and secondly, you don't have to be white to be good. I've spent most of my life trying to prove to those who think otherwise ... I am a Negro and I am proud of it."[7] Imitation of Life was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, but it did not win. Years later, in 2007, Time magazine ranked it as among "The 25 Most Important Films on Race."

Washington's experiences in the film industry and theater led her to become a civil rights activist. In an effort to help other Black actors and actresses find more opportunities, in 1937 Washington co-founded the Negro Actors Guild of America, with Noble Sissle, W. C. Handy, Paul Robeson, and Ethel Waters. The organization's mission included speaking out against stereotyping and advocating for a wider range of roles. Washington served as the organization's first executive secretary. She was also heavily involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, widely known as the NAACP. While working with the NAACP, Fredi fought for more representation and better treatment of Black actors in Hollywood because she was one of the few Black actors in Hollywood who had some influence with white studio executives. Aside from working with those organizations to fight for the rights of Black actors, Washington also advocated for the federal protection of Black Americans and was a lobbyist for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which the NAACP supported.

Despite receiving critical acclaim, she was unable to find much work in the Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s; Black actresses were expected to have dark skin, and were usually typecast as maids. Directors were concerned about casting a light-skinned Black actress in a romantic role with a white leading man; the film production code prohibited suggestions of miscegenation. Hollywood directors did not offer her any romantic roles. As one modern critic explained, Fredi Washington was "...too beautiful and not dark enough to play maids, but rather too light to act in all-Black movies..."

Washington was a theater writer, and the entertainment editor for The People's Voice (1942–1948), a newspaper for African Americans founded by Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a Baptist minister and politician in New York City who was married to her sister Isabel Washington Powell. She was outspoken about racism faced by African Americans and worked closely with Walter White, then president of the NAACP, to address pressing issues facing Black people in America.

In 1952, Washington married a Stamford dentist, Hugh Anthony Bell, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.

Fredi Washington Bell died, aged 90, on June 28, 1994. She died from pneumonia following a series of strokes at St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, Connecticut.

[everythingblackblack]

Aoko x Kaito headcannons...platonic ones are very much appreciated too.

I don't usually think much about the romantic Aoko x Kaito, although I like it, I prefer them platonic, but here are both, feel free to think of the platonic ones as romantic if you want! Romantic: 1. They wear matching clothes, Kaito always complains that Aoko copies him, Aoko always defends herself saying that is not the case… Kaito is the one who copies her color to match her!

2. Kaito has painted portraits of Aoko, people are impressed when they see them, because Kaito draws Aoko in the most beautiful way he can, he wants everyone to see her. Platonic: 1. Aoko is the one who teaches Kaito how to cook. Kaito has never liked it, but Aoko tells him "You need to cook to survive, I won't be with you forever to keep you alive." And reluctantly, but agreeing with her, he learns to cook.

Aoko shares the Nakamori family recipes with him! 2. I really like the idea of ​​them both going out to flirt with cute girls or boys, mostly helping each other get a love interest or going on double dates.

Kaito forced Aoko to learn the rose trick, and they have a whole performance together to get dates. 3. They have lightsaber fights, and act out dramatic scenes saying things like:

"I expected this from everyone, but not from you, you my sister…!"

"This is the end bro, I always hated you."

Then the inspector shows up, and says:

"Children, dinner is ready, come eat."

Then they run and push each other, yes, they are 17 years old.

4. I really like the idea of ​​these two going on road trips, I feel like while Kaito drives, he and Aoko sing and "dance" to 80s songs.

5. Kaito played with Aoko with dolls, he was embarrassed, but he had a lot of fun. 6. Since Aoko is quite insecure about herself, I like to think that Kaito dresses like her and fixes himself up so that she can see herself the way he sees her. 7. They braid each other's hair. Kaito wears a wig! 8. Aoko has named some of Kaito's pigeons. 9. Aoko once shot an arrow at Kaito on Valentine's Day. (I have the headcanon that she practices archery, I don't know, it just came out of nowhere.)

Aoko was crying desperately screaming, "You're going to lose your arm, you're going to lose your arm!"

And all Kaito said to try to calm her down was, "That was close, any closer and you'd have my heart!"

Aoko cried more. Kaito started to panic. It was a Valentine's Day joke, it didn't come out well.

And yes, I really like the idea that Kaito has a bad time on February 14th. 10. After meeting Akako, they get a little (a lot) carried away on Halloween, creating some pretty convincing scary costumes full of wounds, both seeking Akako's approving opinion.

11. I have this idea about Aoko as a trans man in my head, I hope to turn it into a story someday, but I'll tell you about it.

When Aoko comes out to Kaito, he starts discreetly leaving men's fashion magazines in Aoko's room.

He also offers his house if things don't work out when he comes out to he parents and makes it clear that they are friends no matter what.

I also like to think that Kaito and Hakuba end up in the school principal's office because they got into a fight over defending Aoko (Aoi), then they get scolded by him, but they all hug each other because he appreciates how much they care.

[haggishlyhagging]

“Miriam Kramnick (1978) is one of the few commentators on Wollstonecraft who outlines the nature of the ridicule she was subjected to and the significance of this form of sexual harassment. Wollstonecraft was the recipient of 'barely printable insults', states Kramnick. ‘Her own contemporaries called her a shameless wanton, a "hyena in petticoats", a "philosophizing serpent" or wrote jibing epigrams in the Anti-Jacobin Review, like

For Mary verily would wear the breeches

God help poor silly men for such usurping b…..s

Twentieth-century readers have called her an archetypal castrating female, "God's angry woman", a man hater whose feminist crusade was inspired by nothing more than a hopeless, incurable affliction — penis envy’ (ibid., p. 7).

Even feminists have been careful about associating with her and: ‘The name "Wollstonecraft", once considered synonymous with the destruction of all sacred virtues, disowned by the feminist movement as it marched for votes or pressed for admission to universities, became an obscure reference indeed’ (ibid., p. 8). When women sought to convince men that they were honourable, respectable, and deserving of equal representation in the institutions men had created for themselves, there was little room for Wollstonecraft, who had challenged those institutions and who had gained a ‘reputation.’

Like many of the reviews of Aphra Behn, some of the reviews of Wollstonecraft's work and life, on her death, were vicious. Her work should be read, declared the Historical Magazine (1799), ‘with disgust by any female who has any pretensions to delicacy; with detestation by everyone attached to the interests of religion and morality, and with indignation by anyone who might feel any regard for the unhappy woman, whose frailties should have been buried in oblivion’ (vol. I, p. 34). This was about as far as critics could go in the pre-Freudian days, but once he had made his priceless contribution, the attack on women who did not conform to the precepts dictated by men assumed a new and greater ferocity.

‘Mary Wollstonecraft was an extreme neurotic of a compulsive type,' argue Ferdinand Lundberg and Marynia Farnham (1959) in Modern Woman: The Lost Sex. Out of her illness arose the ideology of feminism, which was to express the feelings of so many women in years to come. Unconsciously ... Mary and the feminists wanted ... to turn on men and injure them.... Underneath her aggressive writings, Mary was a masochist like her mother, as indeed all the leading feminist theorists were in fact.... By behaving as she did Mary indicated.... that she was unconsciously seeking to deprive the male of his power, to castrate him. It came out in her round scolding of men. The feminists have ever since symbolically slain their fathers by verbally consigning all men to perdition as monsters' (pp. 159-61). Really?

With the framework formulated by Freud, it again became easy to ridicule and harass women who developed any analysis of patriarchy, to dismiss them without having to refute their ideas. The scientific dogma took over from the religious dogma which had been seriously discredited (by women like Wollstonecraft) and both these male-decreed belief systems have been used ruthlessly against individual women and against women collectively. In her own day Mary Wollstonecraft was maligned for her moral sickness; with the advent of Freud it was her mental sickness. The principle is the same and it was a principle that Wollstonecraft herself identified and discredited - the principle that if women do not cheerfully confine themselves to the place to which men have relegated them, then there is something wrong with the women rather than the place they are expected to occupy. Mary Wollstonecraft understood that women would continue to be perceived as abnormal while the limited experience of men was treated as the sum total of human experience. One of her main protests was that men did not know how the world looked to women and, while they insisted that it looked no different from the way it looked to men, women were without space to discuss, share and confirm their feelings and ideas. And in this, Wollstonecraft is one of a long line of women who have come to understand the significance of male power to name the world and to say what is and what is not important, valuable, and ‘logical’.”

-Dale Spender, Women of Ideas and What Men Have Done to Them

[nine-aetharia]

OPEN CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

HELLO WRITEBLR. HERE IS A SMALL LIST OF MAGAZINES / ANTHOLOGIES OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS.

Legend:

PAYING - pay for accepted stories

NON-PAYING - currently not a paying market

CATEGORY - may be fiction, nonfiction, reviews, art, etc

GENRE - genres accepted

WORDCOUNT - wc limit

These have a deadline for their submission calls, so this post may not always be useful, but perhaps you can use it to keep an eye on these presses!

INKEDINGRAY

DEADLINE: MARCH 30, 2024

THEMED SUBMISSION: AFFECTION

PAYING | FICTION | ADULT OR YA SCI-FI OR FANTASY | UP TO 8K WORDS

FUSION FRAGMENT

DEADLINE: NOT STATED

PAYING | FICTION | SCI-FI, FANTASY | 2K - 15K

FLAME TREE PRESS

DEADLINE: APRIL 7, 2024

THEMED SUBMISSION: SUN RISING

PAYING | FICTION | SCI-FI, FANTASY, FOLKLORE, AND MYTH | 2K - 4K WORDS

FLAME TREE PRESS

DEADLINE: APRIL 7, 2024

THEMED SUBMISSION: MOON FALLING

PAYING | FICTION | SCI-FI, FANTASY, FOLKLORE, AND MYTH | 2K - 4K WORDS

FLASH FICTION ONLINE

DEADLINE: APRIL 22, 2024

THEMED SUBMISSION: WEIRD HORROR

PAYING | FICTION | HORROR | 500 - 1000 WORDS

There are a couple more litmags / presses open for submissions, but this seems like a good place to start with posting these (I'm currently building a spreadsheet because I just realized I have too many bookmarks lmao). You don't need prior experience of submitting stories for publication, you just need a submission-ready story. If anyone needs a template for the cover letter, I can post the one I've been using (thankfully short story letters aren't as mindmelting to craft as full manuscript query letters lmao so don't be intimidated!).

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #68: 2017

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: Ed Sheeran, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar, The Chainsmokers, Migos, The Chainsmokers, Sam Hunt, Imagine Dragons, Post Malone. End description]

More information about this blog here

It's easier more than ever to see the effects of streaming on the pop charts. As electropop and club music become a distant memory, the pop music of the late 2010's works better with individual listening. As mentioned before, streaming works better for album listening, much more than the iTunes era which encouraged the purchasing of individual songs (which was great for singles artists, but not necessarily for albums). Some artists were able to hack this system. For example, Drake's Views (featured on the previous poll) was notable for having 20 songs on its tracklist -- which is a lot for a pop release. Unlike the iTunes era or even the CD era before, longer albums with shorter songs flourish more in the streaming landscape.

Streaming also helped to continue blurring the line between genres and audiences. Without going too much into it (because this is a topic I could ramble on about endlessly), genres were not handed down to us from Mount Olympus or something. Genre is a tool of marketing, and the lines drawn between them can have a variety of cultural, racial, economic, gender, religious, and other variables between them. These lines were more prominent in previous years before streaming made it easier to access just about every kind of music at once. This is when we start to see the rise of a concept known as the "monogenre". In order to cater to as wide an audience as possible, everything starts to sound like everything. A little rock, a little indie, a little trap, a little tropical house, a little festival EDM. There were also those who criticized the streaming era in how it promotes a more "passive" listening style, since playlists and algorithms could continue playing ad infinitum without the listener needing to seek out new music themselves. While I certainly see the evidence of that on the charts, I don't think this tells the complete story.

As a less cynical counter-argument, streaming has made it easier for listeners to find music that otherwise wouldn't have been marketed to them. I believe that this could be one of the factors behind reggaeton finding a growing audience among English speakers. Obviously reggaeton did not originate this year. The roots of the genre can be traced back to the 1980's in Panama where it would later grow an even larger audience in Puerto Rico. The genre would grow in popularity in the States as well, especially in the early 2000's. But if you weren't paying attention to Spanish language music (and you didn't grow up in the Southwest), it was easy for mainstream audiences to miss it. Reggaeton includes influences from dancehall and hip-hop, so it makes sense that the genre would find a mainstream English-speaking audience when those two genres were also shaping pop music. Because Despacito wasn't just big for a reggaeton song. It wasn't even big for a Latin pop song. Despacito led to Daddy Yankee becoming the sixth most listened-to artist on Spotify in 2017, and led to an influx of Latin and reggaeton artists who were able to cross over without English language remixes. Billboard magazine has an article here about the "Despacito Effect".