#to be clear everyone sucks here but i would love if any historian could be normal about this for once ever

[cqcandchill]

shocked but not surprised that shirer is so blatantly homophobic in “rise and fall of the third reich” by referring to the gay members of the SA as “sexual deviants” whose homosexuality apparently predisposed them to fascism or something, despite writing a 1,200 page book that talks about all the ways n^zism opposed deviancy of any kind. including how those people were very much deliberately purged by h^tler for being homosexuals after using their support to gain power.

like… sir… did you not see the irony or……..

[megan-is-mia]

Can I have a Yan!Malleus x Female S/o x F!Leona? She’s kidnapped, forced to be his wife, r*pe, of course she’s terrified and miserable. Malleus is constantly wanting her love and attention. Female Leona is there a lot and have become really close to S/o. It’s the only thing keeping her sane. Malleus and everyone except Leona is absolutely oblivious/no idea that S/o is a lesbian. Leona and her are more than friends if you know what I mean😏. Malleus just can’t seem to get his wife to love him and not gag every time he kiss her or have sex. I thought it funny because I keep thinking of “Historians: They were great friends.”

(i was mostly unable to decipher this request so... here’s the gist of what you’re gonna get. King Malleus and Queen Leona fuck a maid just trying to do her job in the castle. Hopefully, you’ll still enjoy this >_<) 72. “I’d burn the world for you.” 75. “Please stop looking at me with such disappointment in your eyes. I can’t take it.” 230. “You’re just so cute while you’re distracted.” 231. “Controlling myself around you is so fucking hard.” (Yandere! Malleus Draconia x Fem! S/o x Yandere! Fem! Leona Kingscholar) (WARNING NON-CON AND NSFW AHEAD)

Working as a maid for the King and Queen of Thorns wasn’t glamorous but it was an honest living in (Y/n)’s mind. Most days it was like any other position as a maid except when it was her turn to bring Queen Leona’s meals to her. It was still a bit of a mystery why the lioness-beastwoman was the queen of the fae but some sources said she was King Malleus’s high school sweetheart and that was a good enough answer as any if you were to have asked (Y/n).

Either way back to the matter at hand, bringing the queen her meal and then cleaning the room. It should have been simple enough. Keywords should have been. The lioness was making (Y/n) very uncomfortable with her constant staring. Not to mention that she was naked, the queen slept in the nude and (Y/n) had to keep her eyes down as she cleaned so she wouldn't look. That was her fatal mistake as when she finally reached the bed the queen attacked. “God, you really have no idea what fuck you do to me do you prey” Leona growled her breasts pressed firmly again (Y/n)’s as she pinned the maid’s hands above her head and against the pillows. “Controlling myself around you is so fucking hard. Every time I see that cute little butt of yours or those adorable mini-tits you’ve got I just want to press you against the wall and fuck you with my strap” she purred out her tail caressing the younger woman’s leg as the lioness leaned in for a hungry kiss. (Y/n) tried to free her hands to no avail, the queen was much stronger than her and the fear of getting in trouble made her more docile than she’d usually be in such a situation. Leona adjusted her grip on the maid’s wrists, holding both of the younger woman’s hands in just one of hers so she could start ridding (Y/n) of her uniform. Once she’d exposed the girl’s breasts, the lioness latched onto one of her nipples and sucked greedily making her partner let out a yelp of pleasure. As (Y/n) continued to try and get free, she unknowingly ground herself against the older woman all the while letting out cute noises to the queen’s delight. Leona let go of the maid’s nipple and then bit down on her neck with lustful intent and making (Y/n) let out another yelp, this one from pain. “Heh, sorry about that. You’re just so cute while you’re distracted” the lioness said not really remorseful of her actions as she continued playing with her prey even as the door to the bedroom opened and her husband walked in. “There you are you dumb lizard, I was wondering how long it would take for you to show up” Leona said looking at the doorway where Malleus stood with a surprised expression on his face as he stared at the two women on the bed. “K-k-king Malleus! Wait! It isn’t what it looks like! I-i-i can explain” (Y/n) stuttered out, her eyes wide with fear as she stared back at the draconic-fae. The maid tried to push Leona off her, to no avail but she tried nonetheless, her life depended on it after all. 

She’d heard what had happened to all of the queen’s male lovers, once the king caught the pair in bed it wasn’t long until the offending man was burned at the stake for his crimes. None had been spared, nobles, peasants, all who shared the queen’s bed met a gruesome fate. (Y/n) was sure even her status as a woman wouldn’t do her any good against the jealous Fae-king and so her only chance of survival was begging, begging until her voice went hoarse.

The king was silent as he closed the door behind him and locked it before approaching the bed. (Y/n)’s efforts to get away from the lioness on top of her intensified as she began to babble out half-coherent begs and explanations to the dragon who stopped at the side of the bed to stare down at her with an unreadable expression.  After a long moment, he stretched his hand out towards her face and she squeezed her eyes shut in preparation. This was it, he was going to kill her right here and now, without a stake.

“There’s no need to panic little one, I am not angry with you” Malleus cupping (Y/n)’s cheek and rubbing his thumb over the corner of her mouth. The maid’s eyes popped open in alarm and she stared at the king with a bewildered expression. “On the contrary, I'm very happy to see you” the dragon went on, his words only confusing the girl further. An annoyed growl from Leona drew his attention away from the young woman. “I’m very happy to see you as well Wildcat” he cooed, pressing a kiss to the lioness’s lips. “Whatever you sap, let's get on with the main attraction” Leona said, pressing a kiss of her own to the dragon’s lips as before letting go of (Y/n)’s wrists and moving off of her. The maid considered trying to make a break for it before all her clothes disappeared into thin air when Malleus snapped his fingers. She was flipped over onto her stomach, Leona pulling her down on top of her so their breasts were pressed against each other again and making out some more. 

“Little one, I want you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to say” the dragon-fae said, snapping his fingers again and making his own clothes disappear now as he made himself comfortable between the maid’s legs and pressing his chest against her back. “I love you, I love you so much I'd burn the world for you if you asked. I only want to make you feel good now, allow me to make you feel good” he finished, pressing a kiss to the nape of (Y/n)’s neck before he sat back and spread her cunt lips to expose her entrance. The draconic-fae licked his lips, even though there wasn’t as visible fluid yet he could still smell the delicious aroma of her pussy scenting the air. He pressed a light kiss to her clit, making her lurch forward in the kiss she was sharing with the lioness. The next thing Malleus did was to start probing the maid’s cunt with his tongue curious about how sensitive she would be. The answer was… quite sensitive, quite sensitive indeed. Her body was already starting to shake from only a little bit of stimulation. When the dragon shoved all of his tongue in, (Y/n) yelped. Her muscles squeezed down on the intruding appendage with vise-like force.  She had been aware that the king’s tongue was rather long,  but she hadn’t been aware it was long enough to hit the sweet spot deep inside her pussy in one go. Her cunt was already producing so much juice that it was dripping down her thighs and onto the mattress, making Malleus’s job of tongue fucking her easier than ever. Leona watched as her husband turned their new plaything into putty with clear amusement. She let go of the younger woman and pulled herself into a sitting position with her legs spread on either side of (Y/n)’s face. She grabbed the younger woman by the chin guiding her where she wanted her: face-first into the lioness’s cunt. The maid stared bewilderedly up at the queen for a few moments before obeying. What she lacked in experience, she made up in effort and Leona had to fight from cumming so quickly. (Y/n) tried to keep her brain blank as she was forced to eat out the queen and was eaten out by the king. She couldn’t fathom why she was in this strange situation, nor did she want to fathom how she was going to get out of this strange situation. She just did as she was told for the time being until Leona’s thighs locked around her head and she was sprayed in the face by the lioness’s fluids. The slight strangulation she experienced was enough to finally tip her over the edge so she in turn soaked the king in her cum. She would have babbled out an apology to the fae behind her if he hadn’t laughed and pressed another kiss to her nethers before beginning to reposition her again. She was lain back ontop of Leona who kissed her despite the fact her mouth was coated in the lioness’s release. The maid’s legs were made to straddle the older woman’s as Malleus began jerking himself off and moaning softly. (Y/n) broke away from the kiss with the queen to look back and was harshly reminded of an important fact about the king. Like the rest of his kind, the dragon-fae had two dicks and (Y/n) was pretty sure she knew what he was going to do with them. The young woman tried to lurch off the bed but Leona’s arms around her waist kept her firmly in place as Malleus lined himself up, one cock to go in his wife and one to go in their new mistress. The fae-king guided his tips in slowly, he knew the lioness could take it rough and even enjoyed a bit of pain but (Y/n) would not be of the same mindset. Bracing his other hand against the mattress, Malleus slowly sank into his women letting out a low growl when he was all the way in. (Y/n)’s insides tensed up sharply, even all the prep the fae had done with his tongue was no use. Fear and their different sizes made pleasant sex nearly impossible. Until the young woman felt a soothing vibration against her skin that made it easier to breathe. Leona, sensing her partner’s distress, had begun to purr softly as she pressed kisses to the maid’s throat and collarbone. (Y/n)’s body relaxed just enough that Malleus was able to move without causing her any internal harm. And move he did, thrusting in and out drawing moans from both women as he did so. He nibbled on the nape of the maid’s neck, leaving love bites as he continued fucking both her and the queen. Leona arched her hips a bit, in part to get Malleus deeper into her and in part to grind her clit against (Y/n)’s clit for extra pleasure. The younger woman let out a loud moan at this before turning red with embarrassment However, neither of her partners were willing to let that slide. The king and queen were egged on by her sweet voice and determined to hear more of it. The assault from both sides drove (Y/n) out of her mind and it was long until she was on the cusp of cumming then came without warning, Yet that wasn’t the end, no no no it was far from the end. Leona and Malleus continued toying with her and made her cum many times more before either of them were ready to quit as they covered her in scratches, bites, and bruises of their love.

When it was over and Malleus finally pulled out, (Y/n) was left to lay boneless on top of Leona who didn’t seem to mind in the slightest if her tail being curled around the maid’s leg and her loud purring was any indication of what she was feeling as cum dripped out of both their cunts to stain the bed. Malleus stared down at the two with a grin stretched wide across his features. The fae-king leaned down to press a kiss to his queen’s lips and then one to the maid’s cheek. Or at least he tried to kiss (Y/n)’s cheek. The young woman lurched away from the dragon’s attempt to kiss her. As the hormones of sex wore off and reality kicked back in as she stared unhappily at Malleus. “Little one… please stop looking at me with such disappointment in your eyes. I can’t take it” the fae said in a low voice grabbing her chin so she couldn’t move away from his next display of affection. “I apologize for how abrupt this was, but we couldn’t wait any longer little one. We had to take you, before someone else did” he finished with conviction. “Yeah chill out prey, you’re making a big deal out of nothing” Leona added, still purring and now running her fingers through the maid’s hair. “You weren’t cut out for the hard labor thing anyways. You might as well just accept your lot and stay where we want you. Being the king and queen’s mistress is a pretty cushy gig if you think about it” the lioness added her words smug but true. What else could (Y/n) do? Nothing that's what, she was totally at the mercy of the monarchs.“Yes your Majesties” the maid said with her head hung low… THE END

[epic-sorcerer]

Merlin would have been so much more gay if the writers stayed true to Celtic paganism(the historicaly accurate “old religion”)

Trigger warnings:

Main triggers: talk of sex, homophobia, religion, Catholics, colonization, anti Celtic, murder

Mention triggers: rape and sexual assault, creepy men, gore, insest, toxic masculinity

I will mark the sections with quick triggers with 2 red lines. Below the second one is when the trigger is gone.

_____________

I am posting this on December 21st, as today is the Winter Solstice, a Celtic Pagan holiday. It will be posted at 3:33 PM, as 3 is a sacred number among the celts. Because of the special occasion, I will be speaking on a subject that was important to many of them—homosexuality.

Some stuff first for introductions. Yes, yes, I know this may be boring but it helps with context. This religion didn’t have a name other than Celtic pagan or Celtic religion bc it seams everyone there believed it. This was until the Roman Empire concurred what is now the UK. Since Rome had adopted Christianity—more specifically, Roman Catholocism—they only allowed that religion to be practiced.

———(genocide)——

Once England was concurred in 43 A.D, the pagans were killed and their religion was surpressed. Not much is known about the pagans for this reason. However, we do know somethings from what the Romans have written down. Although, it is biased, as they believed the celts to be barbaric and also didn’t wright much about women.

——gore ——

First, we know they preformed human sacrifice on kings when the kingdom suffered along with some other groups.This could be from bad ruling to really bad weather. These kings died horribly, as they seamed to be stabbed multiple times, had thier nipples cut off, and left to die in a bog.

They had thier nipples cut off because the subjects would suck on the kings’ nipples to demonstrate submission, so cutting them off would fully dethrone the king.

—————

Now, background over. Here’s where it gets good.

Nipple sucking between too lovers or ‘special friends’ was seen as a preclemation of love, physical intimacy, and sexual expression. This, like other types of sex, was seen as something beutiful and sacred. Often, male soldiers would have these ‘special friend’ relationships with many fellow soldiers in groups. The Romans even observed that Celtic men seamed to prefer other males for love/sexual interest over women.

Nipple sucking was mostly described was between two men. Although, we must recognize that women may have been left out of written history. I would also like to point out, this may prove that aromantic people existed in that time, as these ‘special friends’ had sex and were not mentioned to be romantically involved.

The celts were known for their sex positivity and even eroticism because they loved it so much.This is one of the reasons why the pagans and the Chatholics clashed so badly.

Before the Romans really took over, Saint Patrick—yes, the Saint Patrick—started to try to convert the celts into Roman catholosim. He was appalled at the wide acceptance of polyamory(women were aloud to marry however many people they wanted) and homosexual relationships/marriages. Not to mention the celts could have sex with any one at any time as long as it is consensual.

——(Tw creepy men)——

That means no waiting til marriage, unless a Celtic chose to do so. Although we should take into consideration a statement made by Diodorus Siculus, an antient Greek historian, that “the young men will offer themselves to strangers and are insulted if the offer is refused.” In his series Bibliotheca historica. This could mean that either creepy men were comman place, or that homosexuality was so comman and done with everyone, it was wierd to be rejected.

————

Getting back to the Roman Catholics, the book Sextus Empiricus is published in the early 3th century and states,

“...amongst the Persians it is the habit to indulge in intercourse with males, but amongst the Romans it is forbidden by law to do so...”

It also goes on to say,

“...amongst us sodomy is regarded as shameful or rather illegal, but by the Germanic they say, it is not looked on as shameful but as a customary thing.”

For clarification, Germany is apart of Celtic society. So what we can infer is a very serious culture shock in terms of Rome and other places. During Emporor Serverus Alexander’s reign, openly homosexuals were deported.

In early 4th century, Emporor Constaine—the first Christian Roman Emperor—destroyed an Egyptian temple populated exclusively by femme, gay, pagan, priests. The Emproror then went on to eradicate all of them. However in 337 A.D., 3 emperors ruled, including Constantius II and Constans I, who where both in mlm relationships.

An odd thing these emporors went on to do was criminalize male bottoming during mlw sex 342 A.D.. 8 years later, Emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I, and Arcadius ferther punished this act by killing these men by Public burning at the stake.

———(Tw toxic masculinity)———

I believe this was because masculinity was very important and a man acting in a more feminine role was seen as emasculating and humiliating. For the average man, he had to fight and defend his masculinity. Not doing so was seen as a personal failure.

——————

The last ever known peice of European literature containing a positive representation of homosexuality for 1,000 years was a large epic poem by Nonnus of Panopolis. It was titled Dionysiaca and the first part was published in 390 A.D., the last in 405 A.D..

So yeah, The catholics were very selective in terms of sex. One can only imagine how badly the celts and Catholics clashed. Back to 435 A. D., Saint Patrick began to preach Catholism and around that time wrote in his Confessio. He recounted that he found a boat to get out of Ireland and refused to suck on the nipples of those aboard.

“And on the same day that I arrived, the ship was setting out from the place, and I said that I had the wherewithal to sail with them; and the steersman was displeased and replied in anger, sharply: ‘By no means attempt to go with us.’ Hearing this I left them to go to the hut where I was staying, and on the way I began to pray, and before the prayer was finished I heard one of them shouting loudly after me: ‘Come quickly because the men are calling you.’ And immediately I went back to them and they started to say to me: ‘Come, because we are admitting you out of good faith; make friendship with us in any way you wish.’ (And so, on that day, I refused to suck the breasts of these men from fear of God, but nevertheless I had hopes that they would come to faith in Jesus Christ, because they were barbarians.) And for this I continued with them, and forthwith we put to sea.”

—(Tw very mild rape/sex assault mention—

So, as you can see, Celtic and Catholic ways clashed horribly. Something seen as good and sacred to the indigenous tribes was seen as barbaric and sinful to Saint Patrick. Also, don’t worry, the celts did not press the issue ferther, or else this would be a very different story.

—————

This only snowballed into a much bigger issue much later in medival English sexuality. They were VERY picky on what sex was aloud. Missionary was the only aloud position and it has to be the least pleasurable as possible. Making out and masturbation wasn’t aloud either, as that was also seen as a sin. Here’s a low Rez chart to help figure out when sex was okay.

While we are discussing such a queer topic, I would like to bring up the topic of Anam Cara, or Soul Friends in Antient Celtic culture. A Soul Friend was a word used to describe a Philosophy in which one is not completely whole without thier “other half.” This person can be in a platonic, romantic, or familiar kind of love. Really, all it boils down to is that 2 poeple were made to be together since the beginning of time and will be at thier strongest when they become companions.

There is a Celtic legend that seams to depict a mlm Anam Cara relationship. It tells the story of Cuchulainn and Ferdiad, two male worriors who have known and loved each other a long time. But they must kill each other in a duel. Both are vary reluctant, as at least one of them will have to die.

————(Tw insest)———

Before I go on, it is important to mention there is a lot of debate on wether or not this is homosexual. Mainly because they were foster brothers, but since insest wasn’t as much of a taboo, I do not think this would be as much of a set back as it is today.

—————

They had tried to kill each other each day for 3 days, but they ended up hugging each other and kissing 3 times. On the fourth day, however, Cuchulainn killed Ferdiad. The man then holds Ferdiad in his arms and sings peoms for a long time. Here are some:

“We were heart-companions once,

We were comrades in the woods,

We were men that shared a bed

When we slept the heavy sleep

After hard and weary fights.

Into many lands, so strange,

And side by side we sallied forth

And we ranged the woodlands through,When with Scathach we learned arms!”

Heart companions seams to be similar or the same as soul freind, because of how it’s used. Although sleeping in the same bed isn’t inherently sexual, Cuchulainn then goes on to complement Ferdiad’s physical features.

“Dear to me thy noble blush,

Dear thy comely, perfect form;

Dear thine eye, blue-grey and clear,

Dear thy wisdom and thy speech”

Although this is deeply sweet I would also like to caution that Chuhulainn may have simply been commenting on his healthiness, but blush is an odd word considering he is now dead.

Two male lovers, one dead in the other’s arms. Soul friends, maybe. Reminds me of a certain show..I don’t know I just can’t put my finger on it...

I would also like to point out that because Celtics did not pressure others to have sex, and that a soul friend can be any type of love, I do think that an asexual or someone on that spectrum could live without judgment.Unfortunately, I could not find much about intersex, androgynous, or trans people. Perhaps if I find anything in the future and will make a new post.

In conclusion, if Merlin were more historicaly accurate, he definitely would have been queer. Especially because he is said to be magic itself, it would make sense for him to be the personification of Celtic values. That may include homosexuality, because as previously stated, Celtic men really liked other men.

I’m excited to see what will come of this post, seeing as not a lot of people in the fandom seem to know this. More fanfiction? More fanart? It would probably inspire a lot of creators. So, if you do make something because of this post, please notify me in the notes, an ask, an @ or something. Basically anything but a PM. I would be happy to see/read the creation.

Sources:

Sexuality and love in Celtic society:

Same Sex Celts

Druid Thoughts: of Sex and Druids

Anam Cara, what’s a soul mate?

Sexuality in Ancient Ireland

The Celts, Women, and Sex

LGBT history

Sexuality and love in Medival Society:

Getting down and medival: the sex lives of the Middle Ages

Sex in the Middle Ages

Here’s What Sex Was Like In Medieval Times. It’ll Make You Feel Glad You Weren’t Born Back Then!

General Celtic Society:

Who Were the Celts

Celtic Religion and Belieifs

Saint Patrick

17 Things You Probably Didnt know about Saint Patrick

Confession of Saint Patrick

Cuchulainn and Ferdiad

Cuchulainn and Ferdiad, Gay Lovers?

The Combat of Ferdiad and Cuchulain

Insest in Antient Celtic Society

Ancient Irish elite practiced incest, new genetic data from Neolithic tomb shows

Homosexuality in the Roman Empire

Timeline of LGBT history

Timeline of LGBT history in the United Kingdom

[qqueenofhades]

If/when they make a Joe/Nicky prequel movie, what are some of the Dos and Don’ts for them, with regards to historical accuracy. Like, what do you think they should include, and what do you think they should avoid?

Oof. This is a GREAT question, and also designed to give me a chance to ramble on in a deeply, deeply self-indulgent fashion. That is now what will proceed to happen. Consider yourself warned. So if they were miraculously to be like “well that qqueenofhades person on tumblr seems like she knows what she’s talking about, let’s hire her to consult on this production!”, here are some of the things I would tell them.

First off, a question I have in fact asked my students when teaching the crusades in class is whether you could actually show the sack of Jerusalem on screen. Like... if you’re making a film about the First Crusade, what kind of choices are you going to make? What narrative viewpoint are you going to uphold throughout the story? Are you actually going to show a slaughter of Muslim and Jewish inhabitants that some chroniclers described as causing enough blood to reach up to the knees of horses? (Whether it actually did this is beside the point; the point is that the sack went far beyond the accepted conventions of warfare and struck everybody involved in it as particularly horrific.) Because when you’re making a film about the crusades, you are also making it by nature for a modern audience that has particular understandings of Christian/Muslim conflict, religious warfare and/or tolerance, the War on Terror, the modern clash over ISIS, Trump’s Muslim ban, and so forth. The list goes on and on. So you’re never making a straight, unbiased historical adaptation, even if you’re going off the text of primary sources. You’re still constructing it and presenting it in a deliberate and curated fashion, and you can bet that whichever way you come down, your audience will pick up on that.

Let’s take the most recent example of a high-profile crusades film: Kingdom of Heaven from 2005. I’ve written a book chapter on how the narrative choices of KoH, aside from its extensive fictionalization of its subject matter to start with, make it crystal clear that it is a film made by a well-meaning Western liberal filmmaker (Ridley Scott) four years after 9/11 and two years after the invasion of Iraq, when the sympathy from 9/11 was wearing off and everyone saw America/Great Britain and the Bush/Blair coalition overreaching itself in yet another arrogant imperial adventure into the Middle East. Depending on how old you are, you may or may not remember the fact that Bush explicitly called the War on Terror a “crusade” at the start, and then was quickly forced to walk it back once it alarmed his European allies (yes, back then, as bad as America was, it still did have those) with its intellectual baggage. They KNEW exactly what images and tropes they were invoking. It is also partly why medieval crusade studies EXPLODED in popularity after 9/11. Everyone recognized that these two things had something to do with each other, or they made the connection somehow. So anyone watching KoH in 2005 wasn’t really watching a crusades film (it is set in the late 1180s and dramatizes the surrender of Jerusalem to Saladin) so much as a fictional film about the crusades made for an audience explicitly IN 2005. I have TONS to say on this subject (indeed, if you want a copy of my book chapter, DM me and I’ll be happy to send it.)

Ridley Scott basically sets it up as the Christian and Muslim secular leaders themselves aren’t evil, it’s all the religious fanatics (who are all made Templars, including Guy de Lusignan, going back to the “evil Templar” trope started by Sir Walter Scott and which we are all so very familiar with from Dan Brown and company). Orlando Bloom’s character shares a name (Balian de Ibelin) but very little else with the eponymous real-life crusader baron. One thing Scott did do very well was casting an actual and well-respected Syrian actor (Ghassan Massoud) to play Saladin and depicting him in essential fidelity to the historical figure’s reputed traits of justice, fairness, and mercy (there’s some article by a journalist who watched the film in Beirut with a Muslim audience and they LOVED the KoH Saladin). I do give him props for this, rather than making the Evil Muslim into the stock antagonist. However, Orlando Bloom’s Balian is redeemed from the religious extremist violence of the Templars (shorthand for all genuinely religious crusaders) by essentially being an atheistic/agnostic secular humanist who wants everyone to get along. As I said, this is a film about the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq made three years after 9/11 more than anything else, and you can really see that.

That said, enough about KoH, back to this presumable Joe/Nicky backstory. You would obviously run into the fact that it’s SUPER difficult to make a film about the crusades without offending SOMEBODY. The urge to paint in broad strokes and make it all about the evil Westerners invading is one route, but it would weaken the moral complexity of the story and would probably make it come off as pandering to guilty white liberal consciences. Are we gonna touch on the many decades of proto-crusading ventures in Iberia, Sicily, North Africa, and other places, and how the eleventh century, especially under Pope Gregory VII, made it even thinkable for a Christian to be a holy warrior in the first place? (It was NOT normal beforehand.) How are we going to avoid the “lololol all religion sucks and makes people do crazy things” axe to grind favoured by So Very Smart (tm) internet atheists? Yes, we have to demonstrate the ultimate horror of the crusade and the flawed premises it was based on, but we can’t do that by just showing the dirty, religiously zealot medieval people doing that because they don’t know any better and are being cynically manipulated in God’s Name. In other words (and the original TOG film did this very well) we can’t position ourselves to laugh at or mock the crusader characters or feel confident in looking down on them for being Dumb Zealots. They have to be relatable enough that we realize we could BE (and in fact already ARE) them, and THEN you slide into the horror and what compels them to do those kinds of things, and THAT’S when it hits. Because take a look at the news. This is happening around us right now.

Obviously, as I was doing in my First Crusade chapter in DVLA, a lot of this also has to spend time centering the Muslim point of view, the way they reacted to the crusade, the ways in which Yusuf as an Isma’ili Shia Muslim (Kaysani is the name of a branch of Isma’ili Shi’ites, he has a definite historical context and family lineage, and hence is almost surely, as I wrote him, a Fatimid from Egypt) is likewise not just A Stock Muslim. In this case, obviously: Get actual Muslims on the set to advise about the details. Don’t make stupid and/or obvious mistakes. Don’t necessarily make the Muslims less faithful or less virtuous than the Christians (even if this is supposed to praise them as being “less fanatic” than those bad religious Catholics). Don’t tokenize or trivialize their reaction to something as horrific as the sack of Jerusalem, and don’t just use dead brown bodies as graphic visual porn for cheap emotional points. Likewise, it goes without saying, and I don’t think they would anyway, but OH MY GOD DON’T MAKE THIS INTO GAME OF THRONES GRIMDARK!!!! OH MY GOD!!! THERE IS BEAUTY AND THERE IS LIGHT AND THERE IS POETRY AND THAT’S WHY IT HURTS SO MUCH WHEN IT’S DESTROYED! AND THE CHOICES THAT PEOPLE MAKE TO DESTROY THOSE THINGS HAVE TO BE TERRIFYINGLY PLAUSIBLE AND FAMILIAR, BECAUSE OH MY GOD!!

Next, re: Nicolo. Evidently he is a priest or a former priest or something of the sort in the graphic novel, which becomes a bit of a problem if we want him to actually FIGHT in the crusades for important and/or shallow and/or OTP purposes. (I don’t know if they address this somehow or Greg Rucka is not a medieval historian or whatever, but never mind.) It was a Major Thing that priests could not carry weapons, at least and especially bladed weapons. (In the Bayeux Tapestry, we have Odo, the bishop of Bayeux, fighting at the battle of Hastings with a truncheon because he’s a clergyman and can’t have a sword). They were super not supposed to shed blood, and a broadsword (such as the type that Nicky has and carries and is clearly very familiar with) is a knight’s weapon, not a clergyman’s. The thing about priests was that they were not supposed to get their hands dirty with physical warfare; they could (and often did) accompany crusade armies, bishops were secular overlords and important landholders, monks and hermits and other religious preachers were obviously part of a religious expedition, and yes, occasionally some priests would break the rules and fight in battle. But this was an exception FAR more than the rule. So if we’re going by accuracy, we have Nicky as a priest who doesn’t actively fight and doesn’t have a sword, we have him as a rule-breaking priest with a sword (which would have to be addressed, and the Templars, who were basically armed monks, weren’t founded until 1119 so he can’t be one of those yet if this is still 1099) or we just skip the priest part and have him as a crusader with a sword like any other soldier. If he was in fact a priest, he also wouldn’t be up to the same standard of sending into battle. Boys, especially younger sons of the nobility, often entered the church at relatively early ages (12 or 13), where it was treated as a career, and hence they stopped training in arms. So if Nicky is actually out there fighting and/or getting killed by Yusuf several times for Important Purposes, he’s... almost surely not a priest.

Iirc, they’ve already changed a few things from the graphic novel (I haven’t read it, but this is what I’ve heard) so they can also tweak things to make a new backstory or a hybrid-new backstory in film-verse. So once we’ve done all the above, we still have to decide how to handle the actual sack of Jerusalem and massacre of its inhabitants, the balance between violence comparable to the original TOG film and stopping short of being exploitative (which I think they would do well), and the aftermath of that and the founding of the new Latin Christian kingdom. It would have to, as again the original film does very well, avoid prioritizing the usual players and viewpoints in these events, and dig into presenting the experiences of the marginalized and way in which ordinary people are brought to the point of doing these things. It doesn’t (and frankly shouldn’t) preach at us that U.S. Invasions Of The Middle East Are Bad (especially since obviously none of the characters/people/places/events here are American at all). And as I said already but bears repeating: my god, don’t even THINK about making it GOT and marketing it as Gritty Dramatic Medieval History, You Know It’s Real Because They’re Dirty, Violent, and Bigoted!

Also, a couple tags I saw pop up were things like “Period-Typical Racism” and “Period-Typical Homophobia” and mmm okay obviously yes there are these elements, but what exactly is “period typical?” Does it mean “using these terms just because you figure everyone was less tolerant back then?” We know that I, with my endless pages of meta on medieval queer history, would definitely side-eye any attempts to paint these things as Worse Than Us, and the setting alone would convey a sense of the conflict without having to add on gratuitous microaggressions. I basically think the film needs to be made exactly like the original: centering the gay/queer perspectives of marginalized people and people of color, resisting the urge for crass jokes at the expense of the identity of its characters, and approaching it with an awareness of the deep complexity and personal meaning of these things to people in terms of the historical moment we’re in, while not making a film that ONLY prizes our response and our current crises. Because if we’re thinking about these historical genealogies, the least we can do (although we so often aren’t) is to be honest.

Thanks! I LOVED this question.

[bondsmagii]

Whats life like UK?

that’s a very broad question, and I have no idea how to do it justice lmao. I mean, for the most part it’s alright? for me, anyway, and that’s something to keep in mind because I am one person in a whole country. it’s alright. there’s a lot about the country that I’m not happy about, and there is so much to criticise, but like. there’s things I enjoy, too.

there’s a lot going on the UK. it’s a very diverse place, and there’s lots of influence from other cultures and worldviews. the downside to this, of course, is that there’s a not insignificant problem with racism and far-right political groups, but unfortunately that’s hardly unique anymore. most people I’ve met have been very tolerant, and so long as you avoid any middle-aged white people in the Home Counties or rural Lincolnshire, or anyone with a beer belly wearing a Union Jack, you should be alright. politically we’re a mess right now, but we also have some good stuff, like free health care which is something I never take for granted.

the weather sucks. like, that’s a given. it rains a lot, and when it’s not raining it’s threatening to rain. we have a heatwave every year (most people just call it “summer”) and our houses suck in them because they’re built to keep in heat, so basically you just suffer and die for the entire time and everyone is complaining about the weather even more than usual. we do occasionally get some pretty cool wild weather though: we actually get hurricane force storms here, and every so often an impressive snowstorm will show up.

socially we’re a fun bunch. I do like the fact that people in this country are always down for some fun (banter, if you will). we like to get together, we like to drink perhaps a little more than we should, and we’re very good at poking fun at ourselves. the sense of humour in the UK is an acquired taste, and I think that if you’re not used to it it can be kind of a lot, but we really do love snatching ourselves and we really love snatching our politicians. we have a very dark sense of humour, and perhaps a little risqué at times, but I’ve always appreciated it. it’s very useful for when things are tough. 

everywhere has a lot of history. as a historian, that’s obviously something I like. we’re an old country, and the evidence is everywhere. buildings that are centuries old are common in pretty much every major city, town, and even village. castles and manors are everywhere. ruins and ancient sites are everywhere. pretty much every major town or city has its own museum because it’s historically significant. you can dig in your garden and find 1,000-year-old coins. it’s pretty cool. 

we’re a very haunted country, too. ghost stories are everywhere, and pretty much any place you can point to on a map has at least a couple of ghost stories about it. the UK is said to be one of the most haunted countries in the world, and Scotland is said to be the most haunted country in the world, so if you like your paranormal encounters it’s definitely worth coming for a visit. it’s probably got something to do with all that history.

if I could criticise the place with something specific, it would be that we’re not very good at moving out of the past. this isn’t as bad with the younger generations (especially as immigration has helped in terms of the younger generations having more worldviews to interact with) but it’s certainly bad with the older generations, and of course it’s very much seen in policies and government. people in the UK like to find a way that works and stick to it, and we can be very slow to change. even with overwhelming evidence, our politicians and society leaders are reluctant to admit there’s an issue and take action to fix it; there’s still a very “stiff upper lip” attitude that seems to think that enduring a problem is better than preventing it, or acknowledging it and fixing it. I hope this is something that will die out with the older generations. 

there’s also like, a serious class divide. it’s not like it used to be back in the old days, but it’s sure as fuck still not great. there is an upper class here that’s just... kind of backwards, if I’m honest, and there’s a huge divide between the country’s rich and the country’s poor. I mean, we have people living in literal squalor and poverty, especially in the north. you can pretty much draw a line: the south (London and the surrounding counties) are rich, and the further north you get, the poorer it is. the government also doesn’t really seem to give a shit, surprise surprise. in London it’s especially clear. you can have dilapidated council houses (social housing) backing on to literal mansions; you can have huge gated houses with Lamborghinis in the driveway and there’s a homeless person sleeping on cardboard outside. it’s ridiculous, and I don’t know how it isn’t being addressed with more seriousness. 

but really, I don’t think there’s any problem unique to the UK. we have our own variables contributing to why they’re there, but overall most countries deal with this bullshit. there are certainly worse places to live, but the things I love about the country just makes me even more saddened to see the things that I hate about it. I like living here, overall, but I’m frustrated because we could be so much better as a society. but I’m sure I’m not alone in that, and I’m sure that pretty much anyone could say that about their own countries.

[lilacmoon83]

A Darker Curse

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 13: Late Night Musings

Mr. Gold left the station in a fury and became frustrated by his cane. He normally didn't mind his disability all that much. He had grown used to it, but it was times like these that he missed his magic most. If he could, he would have marched over to Cora's mansion and obliterated her. Of course, if there was magic, then she'd put up a fight. But his fury was so great that she wouldn't get the best of him like she had in the past. Whatever love or affection he had once had for her was so beyond destroyed that it was laughable. It was all frighteningly clear now. The fire at his house was just theatrics to obtain a drop of blood from him. She had located his son and sent her pirate lapdog to retrieve him. He could only imagine what she had planned to do with him if she had been able to keep him in her captivity. He knew she would have used him to get her way with him and he shuddered at that, because she would have succeeded.

Fortunately, Bae had managed to get away from Hook, but unfortunately, three hundred years seemingly had done nothing to ease his son's anger at him. He supposed he really couldn't blame him. It was an action that still haunted him and was the reason for any of this.

Letting someone like Cora rise to this kind of power was not a decision he had made lightly. She was never his first choice to cast the curse. Despite needing the curse, he didn't wish misery on most of the people that ended up as collateral damage. First and foremost, getting back to Bae was most important to him, but he had never sought to harm most of the people that lived in this town under Cora's terrifying rule. He had considered her evil husband at one time, but determined that his rule would have been even more devastating, especially for Snow. Cora wasn't much better and not even he could have anticipated the situation she bestowed upon David in revenge for getting Snow to safety with their child. But at the end of the day, Cora had been the only one with magic and evil enough to cast his curse. But the misery she had enacted was about to come back to her ten fold. No one would forgive her for the things she had done. Even before she was evil, Cora had never been particularly good either.

Her bitterness at being born a Miller's daughter had darkened her heart long before he had met her. There were things in her past that one might have had a note of sympathy for at one time, but he knew many others that had suffered far greater than her and still managed to be good people. Certain circumstances may have made Cora into a villain, but the woman had been born for darkness. And that was why she would receive little to no pity when she was finally ousted from her Throne. And with the election for Mayor being less than twenty-four hours away, he suspected that ousting would soon begin.

As he wandered the streets of Storybrooke, he hardly felt like going home and decided that a drink might calm him. He wasn't one to venture to the Rabbit Hole often. In fact, he usually only stopped there to collect the rent, but he was much too restless to go home right now.

As he stepped inside, a few of the patrons stopped briefly and watched him carefully, as he approached the bar.

"The boss isn't here," the bartender stated nervously.

"Relax...I'm not here to see Mr. Locke," he eased.

"Brandy…" he requested. The bartender looked at him and then poured the drink. He took a sip and turned to observe the few patrons in the bar and that's when he froze in disbelief. He blinked and shook his head, but she didn't disappear. If he had drank more than a sip, he would have definitely thought he was hallucinating, for the brunette in the racy blue dress was supposed to be dead.

"Belle…" he uttered, as he hobbled toward the table.

"Belle…" he said again, as her eyes met his with no recognition.

"I'm sorry?" she asked and he was at a loss for words. She was alive and had no memories.

"I'm...I'm sorry. You look like someone I know. Her name was Belle," he stated.

"Oh...well, sorry. I'm not Belle. The name is Lacey," she responded.

"Lacey…" he said, as the anger inside him threatened to boil over, as new and creative tortures for Cora cropped up in his mind.

"Hey babe...whaddya say we blow this joint and go back to my place?" a drunken Keith Notting said, as he stumbled up to her and slung an arm around her waist. Of course, Rumple knew this man to really be the Sheriff of Nottingham and he was now plotting his slow demise. Lacey smirked.

"You're drunk, which means you'll be spending your night in the bathroom. And that's not something I want any part of," she refuted, as she returned to the game.

"Oh come on...I'm not that drunk," he said, as he put his hand on her arm. The rage was blinding and Rumple raised his cane...

~*~

Emma huffed, as she stormed back into the station late that night. A walk had done nothing to calm her down and she decided that if she wasn't going to sleep that she could at least find something to do at the station. And that something meant finding a way to stop Cora.

"Hey…" Neal said from the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Can't sleep…" he replied. She snorted.

"Yeah...that seems to be a theme tonight," she retorted.

"Then maybe we should talk," he said, as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"You wanna talk?" she asked contentiously.

"Emma…" he started to say.

"No...let's talk," she said, as she sat down facing him.

"Okay...I was a coward and when August told me who you really were and that you were coming here as soon as you were able to find the place where the curse sent everyone...I panicked," he confessed.

"This curse...the Queen did it, but my father orchestrated it. Because of me," he added.

"I know that...August has been studying the curse since he was a kid! I mean, I didn't know that Baelfire was you, but you know what I mean. He's been transcribing all the stories from our land like some kind of fairy tale historian for years," she added. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Then you know what he did to me!" Neal responded.

"Yeah...he chose magic over you and that sucks," she replied. He looked at her indignantly, but wisely closed his mouth, because she was clearly not finished.

"But you know what also sucks? Every single thing my mother has endured because of this. Every single thing my father has endured because of this," she said.

"Then you get it! He's the reason for all of this!" he replied.

"I get that to a degree, but you're his kid and he'd do anything for you. And my Mom gets that. Cora is the real evil here," she added.

"I get that…" he started to say.

"No...I don't think you do," she retorted.

"Look...I get why you're pissed at him and what he did was really crappy. But he instantly regretted it," she told him. His eyes narrowed.

"How do you know that? Is that what he claims?" Neal questioned.

"Actually no...I know that, because of my brother," Emma revealed.

"I don't understand...I don't understand how August even knows any of that," he refuted.

"Maybe because not all magic is as bad as you think. I don't know how or why he was chosen, but August did all this," Emma revealed, as she pulled the brown leather book out of her bag.

"It just appeared to him blank one day. It was a rough time for him as a teen and he was still blaming himself for taking my dad's place in the wardrobe, even though it's never even entered Mom's mind to blame him," she explained, as Neal looked through it.

"How...how did he do all this? My story happened three-hundred years before either of you were born," Neal replied. She shrugged.

"I don't know, but it came with a pen that helps him out," Emma replied, as she recalled her mother telling her about the day August came to her with the book since she was only around six at the time.

~*~

Flashback

August hurried into the diner that afternoon and climbed into the usual empty booth he occupied in the afternoons while he waited for his Mom to get done with work. He saw her serving coffee to some of the regulars in the diner and he hated the way this particular, boisterous crowd treated her. They always tipped well, but his mother earned it. They always leered at her, said crude things, and even went as far as propositioning her for dates back at their place. There was another stab of guilt that ate at him for this. If David had come through the wardrobe with her, things might be very different.

"Hey sweetie…" Snow greeted, as she removed her apron and sat down beside him.

"Hi Mom…" he muttered, as he glowered at the men's eyes that were still wandering to his mother.

"Don't pay them any mind…" she said, as he sighed and then remembered why he had been so excited in the first place.

"Mom...I have something to show you and I think it might change everything," he replied, as he pulled the brown leather book out of his bag and set it in front of them.

"Once Upon a Time…" she read from the cover.

"Did you check this out from the library?" she asked.

"No...that's the thing, Mom. It just appeared in my locker today and it came with this," he whispered, as he looked around, before opening the book.

Snow gasped, as she saw the scene at the Troll Bridge and tears filled her eyes, as she gently touched the illustration of her husband.

"August...how is this possible?" she whispered.

"I don't know...but the book was blank and it came with this pen," he said, as he showed her.

"Then during study hall...I feel like I blacked out or something, cause when I came back, study hall was over and I think I did this. With the pen," he explained.

"Oh August...this is incredible. You got all the facts exactly right…" she told him, as she looked over the text.

"I didn't think magic was possible here...but maybe it's a sign, Mom. It's a sign that we're going to find David and everyone else!" he exclaimed.

"And this book is the answer," he added. She beamed at him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh honey...thank you. Thank you…" she said, as she sniffed and kissed his hair, as she continued to stare at the image of her and Charming at the Troll bridge as they were about to part ways.

"We're going to find you, my love," she promised.

~*~

"The Author…" Neal uttered.

"What?" Emma questioned.

"Uh...it sounds like August is the Author. I read a bit about this in my research," he revealed. Her brow furrowed.

"What research?" she asked. He sighed.

"The research I started doing after August told me about the curse. As it turns out, one of the largest libraries in New York has books that look just like these and they're all blank," he replied. She stared at him in disbelief and then shook her head.

"I...how is that possible?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Not many know about them. They're in a room that keeps a collection that's not open to the public," he replied.

"Then how did you get in?" she asked and then realized what she had just asked.

"Never mind...you were researching the curse?" she questioned. He nodded.

"I wanted to get ahead of it since I knew it meant my dad would be looking for me," he answered and she let that sink in.

"Emma...all that would have changed if I'd known about the baby," he added. She snorted.

"Sure…" she said, unbelieving of him.

"I'm serious," he insisted.

"Do you really think I'd willingly abandon my son the way my father abandoned me?" he questioned and she shifted uncomfortably.

"I guess not…" she admitted.

"Look...I know you don't believe me, but I love you...still. And even if you decide there is no chance for us in the future...I'm not leaving my son. I'm here for the duration," he promised. She sighed.

"So...are you going to fight me for custody?" she asked. His eyes widened.

"What? No!" he responded.

"It's all up to you. I would never try to take him away from you and I'm here to help undo all the damage my father did with this curse," he promised.

"Cora's the real evil and your father wants her to down as much as we do. He's even helping my parents," she replied. Neal snorted.

"He never helps anyone without getting something out of it," he warned.

"Yeah...he gets Cora's demise out of it like the rest of us. He and my Mom made a deal to work together against her," Emma revealed. His eyes widened in horror.

"Your mother made a deal with him?!" he exclaimed.

"You don't know what Cora did to my father! She trapped him an abusive marriage! Your father is his lawyer, because the only other lawyer in this town is Albert Spencer, who would never help him. But your father is helping him with his divorce, for free," she informed him. Neal sighed.

"Emma...I'm sorry. I had no idea that your Dad was in that kind of situation. But my father caused it and from what August told me, he had a lot to gain by making sure your parents are together," he replied.

"My parents are together, because they belong together. Not even Cora can stop them, though she's trying," Emma refuted.

"And like it or not, we're all family now, thanks to our son. So...either deal with your father or stay out the way," she added. Neal sighed and relented.

"You always did drive a hard bargain," he commented, with a chuckle.

"And I guess it's time that I deal with my past. I've been running for three-hundred years and I guess I finally have something to stop running for," he continued, as he looked at her.

"Okay...I'm in," he decided. She smirked.

"Good...cause we're going to destroy this bitch and break the curse," she stated, as the station phone rang and she answered it.

"Sheriff's station," she answered and listened to the irate person on the other end.

"Okay...I'll be right there," Emma said, as she stood up.

"Get your coat...there's trouble at the Rabbit Hole," she said.

"What kind of trouble?" Neal asked, as he put his coat on.

"Just your Dad beating the crap out of some guy," she revealed.

"Oh hell..." Neal cursed, as he followed her out in a hurry.

~*~

Snow gently put little David back down. He was mostly sleeping through the night by now, but there were times he still woke up in the middle of the night and this happened to be one of those nights. She didn't mind though. Emma wasn't home yet and neither was August, which left her restless and unable to sleep anyway. She had some comfort though since David was safe and asleep downstairs on the couch.

"Hey Mom…" August whispered, as he peered into the nursery.

"Auggie…" she said, as she went to him and hugged him gently.

"I finished that story. Cora's going to be livid, but I did it. If she wins tomorrow night, it will only be because she cheats," he said. She shook her head.

"She's not going to win...Regina is. I have a good feeling about that," she replied, as he looked down.

"Mom...about Neal…" he started to say.

"I know you were just trying to protect Emma," she replied.

"I should have told you...I should have told you that Neal was really Baelfire and the Dark One's son. But...when I couldn't find him, I thought maybe it was for the best. I honestly didn't think we'd ever see him again. He was pretty adamant that he was never going to let his father find him," August confessed. She nodded.

"I get it...but yes, you should have told us. I forgive you though...none of this is really your fault," she admonished.

"Do you think Emma will forgive me?" he asked.

"Give her some time...but yes, I know she will," Snow replied, as she kissed his cheek.

"Get some sleep," she told him.

"That goes double for you, Mom," he called.

"I'll try," she promised.

As she padded down the stairs, she smiled gently at David and had to resist the urge to caress his handsome face. She tiptoed back toward her bed and then heard his voice.

"Mary…" he called in a sleepy tone.

"I'm sorry if I woke you. Little David was fussing a bit, but then I'm not really able to sleep," she mentioned. He sat up and motioned to her, so she eagerly sat down beside him and let him cuddle her close. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. Gods how she had missed just being held by him and breathing him in. She used to wake up from dreams about him and swore she could smell him; that unique mix of leather and musk that was just uniquely Charming.

"You didn't wake me...but somehow, I guess I just sensed that you needed me. Is that weird?" he asked. She smiled and looked up at him.

"No...it's amazing. Having someone I love and trust to hold me again. I think my heart has been trying to find you for years and there were times that I wondered if it ever would," she confessed.

"I feel mine has to and it shouldn't make any sense...but it does. We just...I don't know if it's soul mates, or true love, or all of the above. But this is right...we're so right," he confessed in return. She finally let the tears flow at his words and felt like the weight of the last twenty-years on her shoulders being lifted away by his love. And not surprisingly, she was fast asleep in his embrace within mere moments...

[lilyvandersteen]

Puppy Eyes Chapter 13

This is again from Kurt’s point of view, and unbetaed because I’ve been typing ‘till the last minute.

Thank you so much to everyone who sends me feedback - you’re wonderful and you spur me on to keep writing :-)

This story is also on AO3 and on Fanfiction.net.

The other parts can be found here: Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12

Chapter 13: Near Misses

That very same day, Kurt called his dad and pumped him for information, after assuring him that he was better, yes, and no, Burt didn’t need to fly to New York to come and see him.

He blanched when Burt told him Blaine knew everything. “And I told him he’d better give you an honest chance.”

“Dad!”

“What? He knows you’re in love with him, and the two of you really click, but he’s slow to make a move, and you don’t want to egg him on, so someone has to.”

Kurt sighed.

“Any guy would be lucky to have you,” Burt insisted.

That made Kurt scoff. “Oh yeah, they’re just queuing up to date me.”

“They should! Maybe then Blaine would make a move!”

“Dad…”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve been ill and you’re still tired, I get it. Carole is nagging me to hang up and let you sleep. You rest up and feel better, ‘kay?”

“Okay. Night, Dad.”

K&B

Kurt felt awkward during dinner the next day. As well as he got along with Professor Scher, it was weird to have her over for dinner, and even weirder that she’d been looking after him while he was ill, however much he appreciated it.

Mostly, Kurt let the others talk, and that worked perfectly. They all assumed he was quiet because he was still feeling the effects of the flu he’d had.

Ashton was a laid-back guy with a great sense of humour and a flair for story-telling. They all laughed their heads off when he told the story of how his father, an art critic, and his mother, an art historian, met and hated each other on sight. “Seriously, it’s a miracle they ever got married!”

Trent proved to be a lot nicer than Kurt’s first impression of him had been, way back when he started walking ‘Devon’. Kurt greedily soaked up all the information Trent provided about Blaine, and listened open-mouthed as he told them anecdotes from his years as an ICU nurse.

“The doctor kept prodding her even after she’d told him it really hurt there,” Trent said. “Next thing we knew, she made this weird coughing noise, and the doctor looked up, and she projectile-vomited all over him. And then she turned to him and said, ‘I feel much better now.’ We had a good laugh about that at the nurse’s station later. Served him right!”

“But now you’re working at an art gallery, aren’t you?” Professor Scher asked. “So how did that career switch come about?”

“Well, after a few years, I was totally burnt out. We were short on staff, and each of us had to work for three. And I was so tired ALL THE TIME. Could never get used to working nights. So yeah, one morning when I came home from work, I saw this ‘Help wanted’ notice on the window of Vernon’s gallery, and it seemed like an absolute dream to work there, so I applied and got in, and I never looked back. My dad’s still mad about it, though. All those years of studying for nothing. All that money he paid for it.”

Kurt nodded thoughtfully, thinking of his father’s frown when he’d announced he wanted to study either musical theatre or fashion design. Burt had been a lot more enthusiastic when Kurt chose to sign up for a minor in graphic design.

“All parents are the same, I guess,” he said. “They want their children to study something that guarantees a good, stable, well-paying job. And the arts have a bad rep.”

Ashton nodded. “My mom insisted on me doing a minor in teaching, just so I’d have a back-up career. And I hated every minute of it”

“It might come in useful one day,” said Blaine, and Professor Scher added, “You never know.”

“That’s what my mother said,” Ashton pouted, and everyone laughed.

All in all, the dinner party was a success, and Kurt grinned and nodded when Blaine said, “We need to do this again soon.”

But the best part of his day was Blaine getting into bed with him and holding him close and tight. Kurt smiled as he closed his eyes and started to drift off. Just as he was on the cusp of falling asleep, Blaine kissed the top of his head and murmured, “I’m glad you’re better. I was so worried.”

Kurt’s smile widened, and he slipped into sleep happier than he’d ever felt before.

K&B

True to his word, Blaine invited Trent and Ashton over for dinner the following week, twice even, and the week after again. Soon it became a standing invitation: every Wednesday and every Sunday, the couple joined Kurt and Blaine for dinner.

After a few months, Kurt stopped thinking of Trent and Ashton as Blaine’s friends, and started to consider them his own friends, too. He met up with them for coffee or lunch, went jogging with Trent (and a few dog friends) every other evening and helped Ashton shop for clothes and gifts. In return, Ashton and Trent provided very welcome feedback on Kurt’s design projects both for school and for R/GA.

And then one day Ashton told Kurt that he’d inherited money from an aunt and had been looking to buy a commercial property, because it was Trent’s dream to have a gallery of his own. And would Kurt come along and check out a few properties with Ashton before he brought up the subject with Trent?

Well, of course Kurt would, and he went even further, using his free time the next few weeks to sketch how he envisioned the gallery, and to design a logo for it.

“I’ll do your website, too,” he promised Ashton, “once you start up your business.”

Ashton looked at the sketches and the logo, and beamed. “Thank you! Trent is going to love this so much!”

Trent did love it, and together, he and Ashton chose a property to buy. Then, while Ashton contacted contractors to renovate the building, Trent and Kurt teamed up to pick paint colours, light fixtures, furniture and everything else needed to kit out the future gallery.

Kurt tweaked his sketches according to Trent’s wishes, and grinned ear to ear when Ashton showed them to Blaine the next time he and Trent came over for dinner.

Blaine’s mouth fell open, and he shot Kurt a look he couldn’t really decipher before turning to his friends again and showing the required enthusiasm.

After they’d left, though, it became quite clear what the matter was. Blaine was jealous!

Usually, Blaine would sing and even dance while doing the dishes, but now he sulked and glared at the dishes he was scrubbing until Kurt rolled his eyes and said, “Seriously? You’re mad because I knew about the gallery before they told you?”

The corners of Blaine’s mouth went down, and he mumbled, “They were my friends first!”

Kurt laughed. “Come on, mister! Trent is still your best friend in the whole world. That doesn’t change because he’s now my friend, too. So stop pouting! How old are you, five?”

Blaine’s glower melted away to make room for a glint of mischief, and he flicked some sudsy water in Kurt’s direction. “Five and a half!”

Kurt yelped and then hastened to retaliate. They only stopped their water battle when the floor became so slippery that Kurt almost fell on his bum. Luckily, Blaine caught him just in time. Kurt giggled, because now it looked like they were dancing and Blaine had dipped him. And then Kurt forgot all about his merriment, because yes, that was Blaine glimpsing at Kurt’s lips for a second there. Would he? Would he really?

But Blaine just laughed and righted Kurt, saying, “We’ve made a bit of a mess, haven’t we? Sorry about that. It was fun, though.”

Kurt exhaled shakily and found a rag to wipe the floor with. His heart was still hammering, and it took a long while for it to quiet down.

K&B

For Kurt’s twenty-first birthday, Rachel insisted on throwing him a party at Callbacks. Elliott and Neil and Maizie were invited too. If it had been just an ordinary night out, Kurt would have looked forward to catching up with his friends and singing karaoke. But he knew, he just KNEW they’d want to get him as drunk as a skunk, and he didn’t like that prospect.

He confided his woes to Blaine, telling him about the one time he’d gotten drunk and then vomited all over a teacher’s shoes. “I don’t want that to happen again! And I don’t want to drink so much that I don’t remember anything the day after! Or that I lose my virginity to some random guy!”

Blaine nodded. “I understand.”

Kurt sighed. “I don’t get why people are so obsessed with alcohol. And me drinking it. I don’t like booze. It smells disgusting, it tastes vile, and it makes me puke. I want nothing to do with it, thank you very much.”

“Well, can’t you just tell them so?” Blaine suggested. “They’re your friends!”

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine. “They’re just going to tell me to suck it up and not be a party pooper.”

Blaine raised an eyebrow, his mouth a thin line. “They won’t respect your wishes?”

“Not about this, I’m sure. Didn’t your friends do that to you when you turned twenty-one?”

Blaine smiled. “The only friend I had at the time was Trent, and no, he didn’t do that.”

“Lucky you.”

“If you’re worried, I can make sure I’m there,” Blaine offered. “I’ll take Trent and Ashton with me. And as soon as you’re feeling uncomfortable, you come and tell me and I’ll take you home.”

“And if you turn into a dog all of a sudden?”

“Trent will look after me, and Ashton will look after you.

“Oh. Okay. Yes, please.”

The night of the party, Kurt went to Rachel’s loft to dress up to the nines and to pick an outfit for Rachel, too. Then, they both headed to Callbacks to meet their friends.

Once Kurt sat down at their table, his eyes roved over the crowd until he found Blaine, who smiled and winked at him. Kurt instantly felt better.

The party started with everyone taking turns singing karaoke. Kurt drank a diet coke, clapped and smiled and sang duets with Rachel and Elliott, and started to relax. Perhaps he could have a nice night out without being forced to do something he didn’t want.

But then more friends of Kurt’s turned up, out of the blue, among them Santana, and the first thing she did once she’d plopped down next to Kurt was sniff his drink and then taste it. “Porcelain, this is just coke. Why aren’t you doing shots? It’s your twenty-first birthday! Hey, bar tender, a round of shots for all of us!”

She collected the shot glasses the bar tender shoved at her and distributed them, slamming one into Kurt’s hand and shouting, “Bottom’s up!”

Kurt shot a frantic look at Blaine, who nodded at him and went up to the stage to sing a song. At first, Kurt didn’t understand how that could possibly help, but as usual, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Blaine, and when Blaine started singing, the corners of Kurt’s mouth turned up of their own accord.

As soon as everyone noticed his dopey grin, they followed his gaze to the stage, and his college friends smirked when they saw Blaine, and happily enlightened the others about Kurt’s humongous crush.

Kurt let them laugh and mock to their heart’s content, and used their distraction to exchange his full shot glass for an empty one. Brilliant, Blaine! Thank you!

When Blaine went back to his table, after a beautiful rendition of Teenage Dream that had Kurt’s heart twitterpating, Santana fixed Kurt with an intense stare, and he braced himself for what was coming.

“So you’re into Dapper Dan over there? Tell you what, Lady Lips, I’ll stop bugging you about drinking your weight in alcohol if you walk up to him right now and ask him to dance. And don’t worry, he doesn’t even have to take you up on the offer!”

The whole table laughed, and then they shouted encouragement at Kurt. “You can do this!” “Come on, Kurt, the worst that can happen is that he says no.” “Maybe he will dance with you, he’s such a sweetheart!” “You should try, I totes saw him looking at you during the song.”

So Kurt got up, made his way to Blaine’s table, and tapped the man on his shoulder. Blaine turned his head so fast it must have given him a crick in his neck, and looked concerned when he saw that it was Kurt. “Everything okay?”

Kurt smiled. “Santana dared me to ask you to dance. So, would you do me the honour?”

Kurt held out his hand, threw his shoulders back and put his poker face on. If Blaine said no, there was no harm done. He’d asked, so Santana had to leave him alone. But he really, really wanted Blaine to say yes.

Blaine stood up and took Kurt’s hand, to loud cheering from Kurt’s table. Up on stage, a girl was now crooning an Ed Sheeran song, soft and sweet. Kurt put his other hand on Blaine’s shoulder, felt Blaine splay his hand on his back, and started to slowly sway to the music. He was sure he was smiling like a fool again, but he so didn’t care. This felt amazing.

“Why did you take her up on that dare?” Blaine whispered, and when Kurt explained, he laughed. “I’m glad me being here helped!”

“Me too,” Kurt breathed, wishing that he could step a bit closer and feel Blaine against him. But there were too many eyes on him right now, so he kept a respectful distance.

Blaine leaned in a little. “You look amazing, by the way. That waistcoat is gorgeous, and it really brings out your eyes.”

Kurt’s cheeks heated up, and his lips felt dry as the desert all of a sudden, so he moistened them. Blaine’s eyes flicked down, and he moved a bit closer still.

Kurt tuned out everything around him and closed his eyes.

And then somebody bumped into him, hard, and a cold liquid hit his neck and trickled down his back, seeping into his clothes. His eyes flew open and he turned around, seeing a drunk girl who could barely stay upright, holding an empty martini glass.

The girl giggled and slurred a sorry, making her way to the bar again.

Kurt shivered, and Blaine was instantly there, soothing and offering help. “Do you want my jacket?”

Kurt shook his head. “I think I’m calling it a night. Thanks for the dance.”

He went to his table again, where he got congratulations and claps on the back, but all he said was, “I’m going to head out. I don’t know what she spilled on me, but I’m cold and gross, and I want to shower and treat my clothes for stains.”

Everyone nodded. Even Santana didn’t put up a protest. She only said, “I bet you’re glad I dared you, though. You’ve got game, Porcelain! You got your dance!”

Kurt grinned at her.

“Oh no, now his crush is gonna get even worse!” Neil moaned.

Elliott scoffed. “Like it could get any worse.”

“True, that.”

The whole table laughed again, and Kurt made his escape, the glowing ember of that dance keeping him warm until he got home.

K&B

Early July, the wedding invitation arrived, and Kurt was happily surprised to see his name on the envelope as well. “I get to come, too?”

Blaine grinned. “Of course you do. You’ve been best buds with Trent for months now. Also, you’re the back-up best man in case I turn into a dog!”

Kurt grinned back, and started planning his outfit.

The weather was perfect that day – sunny, but not too hot. The ceremony was beautiful, and Kurt teared up when Trent and Ashton exchanged vows, wishing fiercely that one day, it would be him standing there with Blaine. Not much chance of that, but he could hope, right?

Blaine was as affectionate and attentive as ever, offering Kurt a handkerchief when he cried, holding his hand in church and putting his arm around Kurt’s waist during the reception. Kurt’s nerve endings buzzed, and his smile worked overtime when the other wedding guests all took him for Blaine’s boyfriend, and Blaine didn’t correct them. Not once.

After dinner, Ashton announced that he had a surprise for his husband, and brought everyone to the garden. The surprise was a fireworks display. However spectacular it was, though, Kurt found himself distracted by Blaine hugging him from behind, hooking his chin over Kurt’s shoulder and whispering in his ear. Kurt so wanted to turn around and kiss him, but he knew the initiative had to come from Blaine.

When everyone went back inside, though, Kurt told Blaine he wanted to stay in the garden for a bit. He needed to get himself together again. Blaine, instead of leaving Kurt to his thoughts, stayed with him, and danced dorkily to the music until Kurt had a giggle fit.

And then Blaine asked Kurt to dance, and it was magical, swaying slowly among the flowers and under the stars. Kurt never wanted it to end, and drew nearer to Blaine of his own accord after the dance was over.

He gazed into Blaine’s eyes, and Blaine looked back, his eyes dark and his expression awed. Blaine circled Kurt’s waist and tugged him a bit closer still, and Kurt went willingly, closing his eyes and puckering up, because this was it, surely?

But there was no soft pressure on his lips, and Blaine let go of him, and then he let out… a whine?

Kurt’s eyes flew open, and he cursed when he saw Blaine had been turned into a dog again. Really? Now? Did Mr Zakharov sense Blaine was close to breaking the spell and did he want to stop that from happening?

Grumbling under his breath, Kurt took Blaine’s collar and leash out of his pocket and put it on. He collected Blaine’s clothes and folded them, then sent Trent and Ashton a text to tell them what had happened and headed home.

That night, when he got into bed, cuddling up to Blaine in his dog form, he was still grumpy. So close. I was so close! Not fair.

K&B

A new schoolyear started, and a few weeks before Christmas break, Professor Scher announced that she was going to invite Sebastian from R/GA to talk to all the students that were graduating that year about the job opportunities open to them in the field.

Kurt, who had by now seen Sebastian in action several times, flirting and harassing his colleagues at R/GA, wasn’t very pleased about this development. Would Sebastian still be interested in Blaine?

That Friday, he got answer. Yes, Sebastian was still interested, laying it on thicker than ever around Blaine, who blushed up a storm and lowered his eyes to look at Sebastian from under his lashes. Whether Blaine was flattered or just embarrassed, Kurt couldn’t tell, but the interaction made him simmer with rage.

After the wedding, Blaine hadn’t made any more overtures towards Kurt, and Kurt didn’t dare bring up the subject, though he viciously shut off the radio any time “You Can’t Hurry Love” played. Almost a year had passed, and what did he have to show for it? He and Blaine had grown closer, yes, undoubtedly, but any time he thought Blaine was about to kiss him, Blaine was scared back into his shell by circumstances. It was frustrating beyond belief. And now Mr Slimy McSlimeball thought he could charm his way into Blaine’s pants and ruin Kurt’s life? Ugh. Infuriating!

Kurt heard Sebastian invite both Professor Scher and Blaine to R/GA’s Christmas party on the 23rd, bragging about all the big names that would be present. Kurt had been invited too, but like last year, he didn’t want to go without Blaine and leave him alone all night, nor did he want to take Blaine along and watch Sebastian hit on him. It seemed like that choice was taken away from him, though. Both professors accepted the invitation eagerly, and there was no way Kurt would stay at home while Blaine was out being seduced by Mr Sleaze Extraordinaire!

That evening, when Blaine rambled on and on about the famous people he’d be meeting at the R/GA party, Kurt just nodded, and as soon as he could get a word in edgeways, he said drily that he’d be going too. “Ellie invited me months ago.”

Blaine seemed taken aback for a second, and then beamed, “That’s right! You work there! This is going to be so great!”

Kurt didn’t react to that statement, choosing instead to clear the table and carry the dishes to the sink. He may have set them down somewhat harder than usual, but Blaine, chattering excitedly again, never even noticed.

So great, huh? I hope Blaine’s right, but I have a bad feeling about that party. I think it’s a recipe for disaster.

[inkbucket]

On Civil Disobedience

A good friend of mine sent me this article the other day as a summary of what he believed about civil disobedience, and I disagreed with that position strongly enough to write a fairly lengthy (ok, an absurdly long) response.  This is not an abstract philosophical question in my particular community right now because many Christians are actively protesting the mask and social distancing orders, which they believe to be unconstitutional and un-American, by intentionally breaking the law right in front of police officers.  When the officers attempted to cite them, they refused to show ID and/or argued with the police long enough to apparently count as resisting and obstructing justice and were led away in handcuffs, which caused a bit of a national media scene.  So here we go:

If I had to summarize the article, it would be “Romans 13 No Longer Applies Because ‘Murica.” The first thing this article does is create a straw man and knock it around a bit - as far as I’m aware, no major Christian thinker has ever taught that obeying the magistrate is absolute and extends even to the point where Christians must commit murder or other sins when commanded by the magistrate. The position of the church has always been that when asked to sin by a magistrate, Christians must obey God rather than man. I can’t think of anyone who has ever taught that the fact that Christians are supposed to obey the magistrate morally justifies the magistrate’s actions, either (e.g. Joseph Stalin’s purges). The author is a historian, so it’s a bit surprising that he apparently doesn’t know the historic position of the church.

His next point is to argue that because America was founded as a constitutional republic, if the powers that be violate that constitution then Christians have no moral obligation to obey them. This is interesting because Paul wrote Romans under Nero, and the gradual failure of the roman republic was recent enough that the conspiracy that would later “trigger” Nero and start all the craziness had members who wanted to get rid of emperors and restore the republic. Augustus and Tiberius went to great lengths to keep up the fiction that Rome was still a republic, though that had tapered off by the time of Nero. So the emperors had gradually swallowed all the power and destroyed Rome’s historic form of republican government. But the Christians Paul and Peter wrote to were still supposed to obey and even honor them:

The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13)

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2)

So if Trump were to fulfill the liberals’ worst nightmares and declare himself Emperor Trump and an American Emperor eventually became the status quo, at some point we’d be called to believe that the Trump dynasty was established by God and submit to their authority. And a Christian who tried to assassinate emperor Trumpius IV and restore the constitution would be in the wrong. Right now, however, the constitution is the highest law of the land and receives at least lip service from the powers that be, so I agree with the author that it’s a fine way to call authorities to account - but it’s not a magic document and if it ever becomes clear that the constitution has been overthrown, our duty of civil obedience would eventually transfer to whoever did the overthrowing.

But in the messy period OF the overthrowing, who would we owe obedience to? That’s a good segway to his next argument, which is that because in America the power has been distributed between three branches of government, there will be conflicting commands and hence Romans 13 doesn’t apply. His opinion seems to be that America is special, as if never before in the history of the world have there been different magistrates stepping on each others’ toes. This argument can be disproved by pretty much any history book you pick up - communication was expensive in the ancient world and governors of far-flung provinces often had lots of leeway and not a lot of oversight and sometimes rebelled against the central government. Even in the trial of Jesus (and later of Paul) we see the tension and power balance between the judeo-hellenistic heredity kings (the Herods) and the roman-appointed governor (Pilate). Then you have tribunes and centurions carrying out their orders more-or-less accurately on the ground, with the result that, even though there was a single Emperor far away, I’m betting actual enforcement of law was far more arbitrary and less monolithic than today.

So choosing which magistrate to obey has always been necessary, and the apostles’ audience would have had to try to make wise decisions in the messy, tumultuous age they lived in (just as we do now). This article’s argument that it’s impossible to obey Romans 13 at all if you have more than one legitimate authority is ridiculous. As far as choosing which to obey, Peter is careful to rank civic authority so in general I think we should seek the highest authority in the sphere under question to obey.  

In the case of a successful Chinese invasion or coup, etc, I think God would allow us the benefit of the doubt in the messy transition period until a clear winner emerged, and until then I certainly hope we’d be shooting invaders/coupers with AR-15s.

But who’s in charge isn’t the issue right now - I think we’d all agree that we have legitimate local, state and federal governments. As far as the “problem of federalism” argument: choosing whether to obey Trump’s tweets or legitimately passed state and local legislation doesn’t require much wisdom, I think. And in cases like Kootenai where the sheriff says you don’t have to mask up even if your city tells you that you to, it’s also pretty obvious (given that he outranks city law enforcement and there’s no state-wide mask law above him to consider).

Now his next claim “Michigan courts needed private citizens and businesses to challenge Whitmer’s orders before they could act. Citizens had to go first.” requires a bit of research: here and here.

Unless I’m missing something, none of the plaintiffs in that document actually broke the law. There was a man who wanted a knee surgery and some doctors who wanted to do it for him but couldn’t legally. So they sued and won, and I 100% support their action. Christians aren’t supposed to sue one another, but our government allows lawsuits against the government as a form of redress and there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of that right that comes along with our citizenship.

So, given that the lawsuit that actually broke the governor’s seizure of power didn’t actually require civil disobedience, his claim about it being absolutely necessary seems pretty hollow.  

Civil disobedience shows up in scripture as the nuclear option - like the people of Israel refusing to let a deranged Saul kill Jonathan for no good reason. If someone is about to be murdered in front of you, then that’s an excellent time to consider civil disobedience.

But that’s not happening yet, and in our case we have multiple avenues of recourse - lawsuits, referendums, recalls, state laws, etc - we have many ways to seek justice while working within the law and without rebelling against any authority that God’s set over us. By using the term “right to protest”, the article attempts to conflate “right to peacefully assemble” with “right to ignore laws we believe are illegal based on higher laws”, but the latter is never guaranteed by the constitution or anywhere else. If a law is really illegal, then prove it in the courts! Sometimes we’ll be right (like Michigan), and sometimes (as in the very disappointing Supreme Court decision against the church in Nevada) we’ll be wrong, and something that sure seems like it should be illegal is ruled legal.

At that point, do we decide that our private interpretation of the constitution outranks that of the Supreme Court and disobey anyway? Or do we take the injustice as Christ calling us to suffer, and do our best to suck it up and suffer joyfully? “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:18)

That’s the end of the article, but since this has turned into a novel anyway, I’d like to throw in seven additional random musings about this situation:

First, we expect a child to obey their parents when said parents ask them to do something dumb but not immoral. We expect a wife to obey her husband when he asks her to do something dumb but not immoral. So why is it that when as citizens we’re asked to do something dumb but not immoral, we fly off the handle and start getting pretty theatrical? It’s like submission is all well and good as long as it’s someone else who’s being called to do the submitting.

Second, in the case of Daniel refusing to obey the blatantly immoral command of Nebuchadnezzar to pray to no one else, how does he go about it? Daniel 6 gives quite a bit of detail - he went to his upstairs room where the windows faced Jerusalem and continued to do exactly what he did before. Presumably the windows were still open, so he wasn’t embarrassed about what he was doing. But he did exactly what he had done before… he didn’t march into the throne room and start praying in public right before the king to make a statement, and then get very offended when he was led away in handcuffs. So if a swat team enters through an open church door on Sunday and arrests us all singing psalms, that seems like the proper way to get arrested.

Third, and on that note, we are commanded to meet together with other Christians outside our immediate household, so if the government really prevents that for an extended period then we’re required to disobey. And I believe that if they did sneaky things like requiring us to file a Request to Worship form with a 6-month waiting period before we’re allowed to interact with another Christian face-to-face, that would count as preventing worship. But I don’t believe that the existing fire codes which regulate a church building’s maximum occupancy are preventing worship, even though they are examples of the government controlling how many of us can worship together under one roof. So somewhere between those extremes is the point where we start disobeying, and that’s a question for careful thought and prayer.  If we need to split up and worship in groups of 20 for a few years in individual houses, might not God use that for good?  Under persecution Christians have done that sort of thing for thousands of years and the Church has often thrived in those circumstances.

Fourth, I’m pretty sure the devil giggles every time he hears the phrase “flexing my muscles” or “tip of the spear” being used. Those catchphrases seem an awful lot like excuses to not believe the best about other folks as loving your neighbor requires (since magistrates are people too). As long as there’s a reasonable chance that they’re going to leave us alone (like if the police get called to our churches multiple times but refuse to enter, for example), that seems like a great opportunity to believe the best about them… that maybe they’ll continue to leave us alone. Arguments supporting aggressive red-pill Christianity are mostly pragmatic - the bad things that will happen if we don’t do such-and-such RIGHT NOW and get the jump on the bad guys… but it’s important to remember that we’re responsible for our actions and not the the outcome of our actions: our job is just to obey God, and let Him worry about the outcome.

Fifth, because of our actions, the reputation of our local police department has been unjustly savaged in the national media.  I ran into the wife of a police officer the other day and asked her how her husband was doing - she said he’d spent the week after the protest getting yelled at by angry people calling in from all over the country.  As far as I can tell, though, the police didn’t actually do anything wrong - they calmly and professionally enforced a law on the books.  I certainly hope that this particular law will get shut down soon through lawsuit or referendum, etc - but it hasn’t yet, and whether it will be eventually ruled unjust and nullified is an open question.  If we allow misconceptions about what actually happened to exist unchallenged, then we’re complicit in the damage done to our police department’s reputation.

Sixth, the current arguments in favor of civil disobedience go against the teaching of Augustine, Luther and Calvin, and whenever those three guys agree on anything, we’d best pay attention. The Lutheran position is the best developed and makes allowances for lesser magistrates to interpose themselves against higher magistrates and then for individual Christians to choose to follow the lesser magistrate instead of the greater (but all this only justified in pretty extreme cases). But the Lutheran position never allows people as individuals to judge the law and refuse to obey it (unless, of course, the law requires them to sin).

Seventh, civil disobedience in the current circumstances has been framed as being a disagreement over whether a particular tactic was used wisely or not, and thus subject to Christian liberty. To me, it’s more akin to the issue of whether we should have female pastors or allow homosexuality in the church - it’s a question of “do you believe the plain reading of the Scriptures, or do you play the not-culturally-relevant card and nullify the commandment of God with the tradition of men?” So I think it’s important we work through this together and sort this stuff out.

On that note, I firmly believe that every time you unfriend another Christian on Facebook, the devil wins. Cutting people out of your life entirely is the world’s current therapy for dealing with disagreement, but it’s diametrically opposed to the Christian “love your enemy”, which treats even your enemy as another person, made in the image of God, and desires their good. And if we’re supposed to love our enemies, how much more our brothers and sisters in Christ!  However, loving someone sometimes means speaking hard words to them - to use an extreme case, loving a meth addict or an alcoholic will often be offensive (to them) and a messy business for everyone.  But that’s the sort of good mess we’re called to.  

When other Christians are believing and teaching things that are clearly in error when held up to the word of God, being silent sometimes isn’t loving them (e.g. Paul rebuking Peter).  Though sometimes, being silent in the face of error is exactly what we’re called to (e.g. the Christian wife with an unbelieving husband). So your relationship to the other person does matter and define what is and isn’t appropriate.  But remember, changing people’s hearts is a job for the Holy Spirt and the Scriptures, not dependent on our arguments or cleverness.  Doing our best to please God in the way we interact with other people (whether speaking out or staying silent), and trusting Him for the outcome, lets us avoid the strident, angry tone that’s so common out there right now.  

I’ll leave you with another passage from 1 Peter - this is what we’re shooting for in our interaction with the world.  We need to conform to the examples we’ve been given in order to be able to say with a clean conscience “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” (John 10:32) and “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.” (Acts 25:8).  

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled." But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3)

[theartificialdane]

Galactica, chapter 249

Deck the hall with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la, la la. The Puerto Ricon sun is shining, and christmas is celebrated in the land of Galactica!

Thank you to everyone who has been patient in the wait for this chapter, and thank you to @samrull @toriibelledarling and @veronicasanders for their help, creative minds and their writing skills <3!

“I don’t think I can do this.”

Fame held onto Patrick’s arm. The comfort of Jinkx’s family jet, that would normally calm her right down, was offset by her fear of flying in such a small aircraft, and with all the people in here? What exactly kept them from falling out of the sky. Patrick squeezed her hand, and Fame took a deep breath, trying to center herself like she had learned in her hypnosis class. She had to admit though, it was nice to be sitting in such a big, plush seat. Hopefully the sedative would kick in soon.

“Of course you can.” Patrick gently titled Fame’s head, giving her a kiss. “Everything will be fine.”

***

Courtney chattered excitedly with Adore, getting all the latest gossip about her band and the stunning goddess they’d found to play bass, when Bianca tried to catch her attention from the other side of the plane. “Hey, baby! We’re about to take off… You wanna come sit over here?” Bianca flashed her dimples, gesturing to the spot beside her.

“Uhh, thanks, I’m good,” Courtney said, kissing the top of Kylie’s head and turning back to Adore, who raised an eyebrow.

“Damn, B, what’d you do now?” Adore teased.

“Fuck off, Adore.”

“Now now, be nice, sis.” Adore flashed a cheeky grin.

***

“Baaaaaaaaabe, come ooon.” Pearl smiled as she leaned over the table. “Let me taste!”

“No! Katya is helping me make these for your mom.” Laila laughed, fighting Pearl off as she tried to get her hands on the small fruity cakes.

“Just a bite! I’ll do whatever you want.” Laila suddenly got a flash of Pearl in bed, her girlfriend panting above her as she rode the dildo that had become their favorite, the thick black silicone so familiar to Laila.

“Okay okay, you can have some.” Laila smiled and held out a small piece of vzvar, Pearl taking a bite and moaning in pleasure.

“Mmh.. Thanks babe.”

“You’re welcome, now get out.” Laila pushed Pearl. “I have to work.”

“Thank fuck. You guys are nauseatingly sweet.” They both turned to see Trixie standing at the kitchen counter, chopping potatoes for Ivan’s dinner. Laila blushed, her entire face going red as she realized Trixie had been there the whole time.

***

“So...Alaska…” Fame attempted to change the subject, turning to the slender blonde. “I’m so glad we get to spend this time together outside of the office.”

“Yeah,” Alaska agreed. “It’s gonna be...awesome.”

Fame cleared her throat, trying to think of something to say to her. “How...um...how are the spring palettes coming along?”

“Hey Alaska, I bet this is exactly what you were hoping for your vacation, eh?” Bianca taunted, pinching Fame’s thigh. “Just chatting about work with your boss?”

Alaska giggled, nervously sipping her champagne.

“Oh, stop it! I was just saying that she’s doing a great job! You’re such a beast!” Fame swatted Bianca’s hand away, getting into a play fight with her, Bianca happy that she could distract her friend from the horror of flying, Patrick giving Bianca a gentle smile as Alaska slipped away.

***

“These vegan spring rolls are delicious!” Courtney smiled at the flight attendant as she finished her lunch, before she turned to Jinkx, bouncing in her seat excitedly. “Omigod Jinky, guess what?! You know that theatre agent you set me up with? Well, he got me a meeting with that producer friend of yours, Sharon-”

Adore’s eyes got huge and she squeezed Courtney’s arm, whispering, “/Abort, abort!/”

Courtney gave her a confused look, asking, “Huh?” and then turning back to Jinkx, who had a terrified smile plastered across her face. “You know, the one producing Cabaret? Anyway, I met with her last week to talk about playing Sally and she’s so funny, and I think we totally hit it off. She’s a little worried about my accent, which is hilarious because most Americans can’t even tell the difference, and--WHAT?!” She glared at Adore, who was giving her frantic eyes and shaking her head violently, interrupting her amazing news for some reason.

“Alaska,” Fame said, tilting her head, looking at the blonde who was finishing her lunch. “Didn’t you and Sharon used to date? I’m sure I’ve heard about it somewhere.” Fame smiled, happy to have a topic she could discuss with Alaska that wasn’t about work.

Adore’s grip on Courtney’s arm tightened like a vice. “OW! Stop it!”

“Uh, yes, we did.” Alaska cleared her throat and polished off the rest of her champagne.

There was a long moment of silence.

“So…” Bianca began, attempting to break the tension, “Patrick...fuck any cute assistants lately?”

***

“Are you sure the gift for your mother is good enough?”

“I’m absolutely sure.” Sutan smiled as Violet looked at the silk scarf she had wrapped up for Christmas one last time, before finally putting it in the car. Sutan had come to get her at her apartment, her boyfriend driving the batman car Raja gifted to him for his birthday. “She loves scarves, and as you know, Muslim christmas is all about the gifts.”

Violet laughed. It was kind of weird to her that Sutan’s family celebrated christmas, but she wasn’t saying no to a few days on Long Island in Sutan’s mom’s cosy little yellow house.

Frida yipped, and Sutan picked her up, the chubby little dog that could no longer be described as a puppy wagging her tail as she was zipped into her doggy seat in the back.

***

Jane sipped on an iced coffee, watching some footage in the cramped Post Production offices, when her field producer, Jeremy, walked up behind her, holding a flash drive, a sly grin on his face. “Check out this sequence I just cut together,” he said.

Jane took the drive and popped it into her system, playing out the reel. It was a sequence over the course of three holiday parties, focused on Bianca Del Rio and her famous predilection for pretty blondes. She was flirting with models, business associates, laughing and flashing her killer dimples. Intercut was Courtney glaring on, looking more and more murderous in each shot, ending with a shot of her literally dragging Bianca away from a pretty young thing and throwing her against a wall. Jane burst out laughing. “This is amazing, remember when we thought she’d be the boring one this season?”

Jeremy nodded. “Yeah, and it gets better. So we found this girl…” he threw some tabloid pictures down of Bianca and a cute blonde making out in a club. “They seem to have had a thing during London fashion week, last year. She’s a singer, got a record deal remarkably soon after this little affair. Sound familiar? She’s also younger than Courtney, so that’s gotta hurt.”

“You’re /so/ evil,” Jane said. “So, what, you’re sending her to Puerto Rico?”

“Exactly. We’re there anyway to film Courtney’s concert. Might as well add some drama!”

Jane winked. “Good job, man. We may have to give you a raise.”

***

“Oh /man/,” Adore collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. “That was a long fucking day, trapped in a steel tube with those motherfuckers, and one of my presents got squashed! It sucks.”

“Tell me about it…” Alaska grumbled, rolling her eyes. “And I told you not to bring anything soft.”

“It’s not soft. It’s delicate.”

“That’s literally the same word.”

Jinkx sighed, halfway through removing her shoes, one heel in her hand, both Alaska and Adore looking at her. “I’m sorry about everything on the plane-”“

“I know,” Alaska replied tersely.

“I thought inviting that agent to Courtney’s concert was a nice thing, you know? I didn’t realize it was gonna mean Sharon—“

“I get it, Jinkx.”

“Well, I’m sorry. That’s all.”

“Fine.”

Adore groaned loudly, one arm covering her eyes. Both Jinkx and Alaska looked at her. “Can you guys, like, please just…not do this anymore? At least for the time we’re here? Because it’s really starting to take its toll on my fragile emotional state.”

Jinkx looked up at Alaska, whose face was suddenly filled with guilt. In the next instant, both of them were on the bed, tackling Adore and covering her with kisses.

She shrieked and giggled, lapping up the attention. “See, this is more like it…” she purred happily.

***

Courtney sank down into the warm water of the hot tub, the day’s tension melting away as the jets pounded against her sore muscles. She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air, admiring the beauty of the Caribbean sunset.

“Room for me?” Bianca asked, standing above her with two cocktails in her hands.

Courtney nodded, and Bianca slipped in beside her, handing her one of the drinks, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

“So...what do you think?”

Courtney leaned against her shoulder. “It’s even more beautiful than you described.”

Bianca smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Bianca, seriously! Did you have to put me next to Adore and her...whatever you wanna call that situation?” Eddy, Bianca’s brother, opened the sliding glass doors, holding his fiancée’s hand, making Courtney jump slightly.

Bianca looked up at her brother quizzically. “What exactly is your problem?” she asked. “Hi, Rose. How was your flight?”

“Great!” Rose exclaimed. She settled down at the edge of the hot tub, lifting up her skirt and dangling her feet in the water. “And I have no idea what he’s complaining about.”

“I’m complaining because I really don’t want to have to listen to my baby sister engaging in sexual deviancy on Jesus’s birthday.”

Eddy stood at the bar, pouring drinks for them, complaining loudly, when Fame and Patrick wandered outside as well. Courtney groaned, already annoyed with the lack of privacy, but it seemed like that was a big part of an American Christmas.

“If it helps, Eddy, most historians think that Jesus was actually born in the Spring. We just celebrate in December because of the Winter Solstice,” Courtney said.

“Are we really talking about Jesus?” Patrick wondered, settling into a lounge chair with a beer.

Rose giggled. “Eddy hasn’t been to church in 20 years. He’s just being a pain in the ass.”

“Sorry if I don’t think listening to Adore get double-teamed sounds like a relaxing vacation,” Eddy said.

“Gross, dude,” Bianca laughed, nuzzling into Courtney’s shoulder.

“Exactly!”

“Miss Bianca? Dinner will be ready in 5 minutes,” said Maria, the villa’s chef.

“Thanks!” Bianca called, rising from the water and wrapping a long flowing cover-up around her bathing suit. Fame snickered softly. “What, bitch?”

“No, nothing! It’s cute.”

“You got something to say, blondie?” Bianca walked over to Fame and poked her playfully with her foot.

“No! I just...I can never get used to seeing you in resort wear. It’s so...casual.”

“Oh, go fuck yourself!” Bianca bent down and began tickling her and she shrieked happily, slapping Bianca’s hands away.

Courtney clenched her fists under the water and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the cool tile.

***

“You see this one next.”

Violet gasped in delight as Sutan’s mom handed him a photo. “Oh my god!” Violet grabbed it, holding it into the light so she could see it properly. “Is that pink hair?”

Mani nodded, a smile on her face as well. Violet and Mani were sitting in the livingroom, Violet surrounded by photos of the twins, their mom having kept every tiny magazine mention they had ever gotten, and printed every photo they ever sent her. Frida was on the floor napping, snow falling outside the window. Violet and Sutan had gone up early, opting to spend the night at Mani’s so they could help her prepare for the christmas feast, and help her get everything she needed in order, though Sutan would never tell his mom directly that he was worried about her in her elderly years.

“Anada sometime silly boy, he think he was cool.”

Violet laughed, Sutan looked perfect in all of his awkward glory, his hair practically in a buzzcut and bright pink, Raja in the background of the party photo drinking beer.

“Can I take a picture of this?” Violet was already looking for her phone.

“You think that is best photo? Wait until you see high school times.” Violet’s eyes widened as Mani took yet another box.

“There’s more?”

“Anada look very cute in leopad pint.”

In that moment the door to the kitchen opened, Sutan walking in with a tray of tea and sweets that they had picked up on the way.

“... What are you guys doing? Is that my fucking high school yearbook? Mom!”

Mani and Violet both burst into laughter, Violet nearly doubling over as Sutan desperately tried to gather the pictures and speaking in rapid Indonesian.

***

“What the fuckin’ FUCK are you doing here?!” asked a delighted voice with a British accent.

Bianca spun around, and was suddenly greeted by an adorable young blonde, with perfect winged eyeliner and an angelic pixie-like face. Her mouth was open in surprise. She threw her arms around Bianca’s neck in drunken glee while the others looked on.

“Oh my GOD, it’s been ages! What a fuckin’ crazy-ass coincidence, eh?!” She pressed a kiss against the corner of Bianca’s mouth, giggling, then looked at Courtney, who was standing there as if she was trying to decide whether to throw up or stab her in the throat. “So this is the one who’s making an honest woman of you, huh Bianca?! Hi, I’m Zee. I had a sordid fling with your girlfriend back in her ‘I don’t do long term relationships’ days.” Zee threw back her head and laughed.

Courtney cleared her throat, wondering why Bianca wasn’t detangling herself from this pretty young thing, but determined to stay composed, especially in front of the Housewives cameras. “Hi, I’m Courtney…”

“It wasn’t that sordid...” Bianca said weakly, trying to keep things light.

“Whatever you say,” Zee winked, then exclaimed, “Omigod, Bianca! Remember that DJ at Egg? The crazy motherfucker with the gages?” She hugged her tighter around the waist, resting a chin on her shoulder.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Bianca flashed Courtney an apologetic look. The thing about Zee was, she was totally harmless, and tipsy, and having a good time. Sure, she might be crossing a line, but Bianca wasn’t about to be a dickhead to the girl. They’d ended on good terms.

Adore and Alaska stepped closer, clearly worried that something was about to go down. Alaska’s eyes drifted to Courtney’s hands, which were clenched into tight fists.

“I did what you said and slipped her my demos and she’s totally playing them all the time now! You’re a fuckin’ genius.” Zee stood on her tiptoes to kiss her again, and Bianca turned her face, making sure that the kiss landed on her cheek and not her mouth. Zee fluttered her lashes. “You’re such a tease…”

Adore finally couldn’t take it anymore. With an approving nod from Alaska, she stepped forward. “Zee, right? Hi, I’m Bianca’s sister. I /love/ your eye makeup.”

“Omigod, thanks!”

“You’re welcome! Can I buy you a drink?”

“Suuuuure!” Zee released the grip on Bianca’s waist and took Adore’s outstretched hand, following her to the bar. “Bianca, why didn’t you tell me you had such a hot sister?!” she called over her shoulder.

Bianca looked at Courtney, reaching for her hand. “Wanna dance, baby?” she asked softly.

“Not really, no.”

Fame and Jinkx wandered back over to the group with Rose, laughing.

Alaska grabbed Courtney’s arm and pulled her over to Jinkx, hoping to avoid any more tension. “Hey Court! Come tell us about your show! Maybe Jinkxy can help you rehearse tomorrow!”

***

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s not a good idea. It’s a great idea!” Pearl smiled and wrapped her scarf around Laila, pulling the other woman in for a kiss. Laila wanted to be annoyed and maybe even upset, but she couldn’t when Pearl was kissing her, the other's lips so soft. Pearl pulled away and took another sweater which she carelessly threw into her bag, even though Laila knew it had most likely cost more than Turbo’s last vet visit.

“Don’t worry cutie. My mom is going to love you.”

“If you say so.”

“I don’t say so. I know so, also you’re bringing her the most bitchin Christmas present!”

“I am?”

“Yup.” Pearl laughed and held up a small black box. “A Cartier nouvelle vintage bracelet that’s a complete replica of the one she wore to her college graduation.” Pearl opened the box, and Laila recognised diamonds immediately.

“Pearl, I- I can’t afford that. Why would you get that from me? What about you?”

“I’m giving her a hand painted worlds best mum mug, from that pottery class I did with Max.” Laila couldn’t help but smile. Pearl had always been horrible with gifts, her girlfriend generous to the extreme in her daily life, but she sucked horribly at presents. Pearl shut the box, a smile on her face. “You’re my favorite ladies. I want you to get along, and as they say. Diamonds are a girl's best friend.”

***

Courtney threw open the doors of the balcony and stepped outside, tilting her face to watch the first rays of sunlight peak over the horizon. She breathed in, feeling her nerves settle as the warmth of the sun crept into the purple sky. She lifted her dress up over her head and tossed it down on the lounge chair, letting the fresh air caress her body.

Arms slid around her waist, and she jumped slightly, then relaxed as Bianca’s lips found the back of her neck.

“Baby, please don’t be mad at me…” Bianca murmured into her skin, pressing against her from behind. “I can’t bear it.”

“B…” It wasn’t exactly that she was angry. She didn’t think that Bianca had done anything wrong, really. It was more that this was, again, a reminder of the constant doubt that plagued her. That girl had been vibrant and funny and beautiful, and the chemistry between them was real, and so...Courtney closed her eyes, turning around in Bianca’s arms, knowing that this same discussion would only exhaust her, only make her irritated. “I’m not mad.”

Bianca smiled, dimples deep in her cheeks. “Good. You know, it’s officially Christmas Eve now. How about I show my angel how thrilled I am to have her here?”

Courtney swallowed, could feel herself breaking apart. When would she stop feeling this way? Would she ever stop feeling this way? Like she was only here by luck, some ordinary girl who Bianca had chosen for an inexplicable reason and everything in her life was on borrowed time while she waited for the other shoe to drop. Because if one thing was clear to Courtney after tonight, it was how utterly, utterly replaceable she was.

Cupping her chin, Bianca brushed their lips together softly, whispering, “I love you, so fucking much…” She took both of her hands and pulled her into the room, leaving the doors open so that the gauzy curtains blew in the breeze, laying her gently down on the bed.

Bianca quickly shed the rest of her clothes, tossing them to the floor, sitting down on the bed and leaning back on her elbows, turning her head to look at Courtney with that seductive grin that never failed to make Courtney’s pulse quicken, especially when her eyes swept up and down the blonde’s body. Courtney took Bianca’s face in her hands, pushing her backwards, straddling her on all fours.

Bianca slid her hands up Courtney’s thighs, gently cupping her ass. Her mouth found a stiff nipple and she swirled her tongue around and around. Courtney shivered with desire as Bianca’s tongue continued to lick and toy with her nipple. A hand slid up to play with her other breast and Courtney arched into it, soft sighs and little whimpers escaping her mouth.

Bianca rubbed her knuckles gently around her entrance, already so wet, and then withdrew her hand, causing a pitiful moan. Courtney pressed their bodies together, grinding against her desperately.

Chucking gently, Bianca pushed her hips away, holding them apart. She moved her mouth to her second breast and sucked hard on her nipple. Courtney let out a whine as sparks raced through her body and caused her to thrust into the air, the swollen feeling in her abdomen growing.

“Oh god, Bianca, PLEASE!” She moaned as Bianca tossed her onto her back and used her knees to hold her thighs down. She bent down and kissed her, long and soft and deep, letting her hands wander over her body with a feather-light touch, her skin hot and flushed. She grinned as Courtney moaned again in tearful frustration.

“I love you…” Bianca whispered, kissing a trail down her jaw, rubbing her clit harder. “I love you,” Bianca repeated, mouth moving down her collarbone, hands sliding over her trembling skin. “I love you…” she added, lips pressed against Courtney’s belly, tight with tension so intense she felt it might burst open.

Courtney nodded, panting, as Bianca’s mouth finally found her swollen clit, tongue swirling around and around. Courtney gripped her hair like a vice, crying out in relief as she started to come. “Oh /GOD/…”

Bianca sucked on her, stroking her quivering thighs until her fingers loosened and her body went slack. Then she gathered her up into an embrace, kissing her temples, holding her close, murmuring, “Do you know how much I love you, angel?”

Curling tightly against her warm body, Courtney sighed contently. “Mmmhmm…”

Bianca held her tighter. “You’re the best Christmas present I’ve ever had, baby.”

***

“What a good boy Ivan, you’re such a good boy!” Trixie smiled brightly as he fed his son, little Ivan’s hair sticking up in all directions as he munched on a christmas morning feast of a bowl of fruit, his brand new Baymax shirt already filled with stains, but Ivan was giggly and happy. He and Katya had woken up at the crack of dawn, properly more excited than Ivan himself when they led him into the living room, the lights on the tree bright as they unpacked their presents, Ivan loving every single thing Katya had gotten him from the grocery store. Trixie picked Ivan up and took him to the sink, quickly rinsing off the little boy, as he was already falling asleep in his arms.

“Trixie?”

Trixie didn’t look up, too focused on making sure at least some of the food came out of the shirt.

“Trixie. Trix! I’m talking to you.”

Trixie looked up, and he almost dropped his jaw at the sight of his wife. Katya was wearing the exact outfit from the final scene of Grease, even her hair done in the perfect style. Katya had introduced him to the movie, and in a drunken state a few months ago, Trixie had confessed that he never seen anything sexier than that very outfit.

“Katya.. What are you?”

“Why don’t you tell me about it in the bedroom, stud?”

***

“Good moooorning, my loves, Merry Christmas!” Adore sang softly, climbing on top of her girlfriends, wearing a Santa hat and nothing else.

Alaska opened her eyes, a lazy grin on her face. “Morning…”

Jinkx whimpered a little. “I’m Jewish, can I sleep five more minutes?”

Giggling, Adore snuggled against her and kissed her cheek. “What if I tempt you with cocoa and marzipan coconut pastries?”

Jinkx sat up, red curls spilling down her back. “I’m up.”

Adore giggled and picked up a pastry from the tray, shoving it into her mouth. Alaska reached over and trailed a hand down Adore’s bare torso. “Cute outfit, li’l bear. Very festive.”

“Thank you,” Adore said, batting her lashes.

Alaska stretched, arching her back and continuing to dance her fingers teasingly over Adore’s soft skin. Adore leaned down and kissed her, hands tangling in her hair, pressing their bodies together. Jinkx pushed Adore’s hair off of her shoulder and bit down gently, wrapping an arm around her waist, the other one snaking down her belly.

Alaska’s hands were on Adore’s breasts, toying with her nipples as the younger girl began to pump her hips, rubbing against her vigorously, lips parted, whimpering. Alaska smirked at Jinkx conspiratorially, the redhead grinning back at her and scooting closer.

Jinkx slung a leg over both of them, continuing to wriggle her fingers between their thrusting hips, two fingers sliding easily inside Adore’s hot, wet pussy as a thumb rubbed her clit in circles.

Alaska buried her face in Adore’s neck, clutching her ass and grinding hard against the back of Jinkx’s hand. Jinkx sucked a bruise into Alaska’s pulse point, fingers moving subtly, patiently, her free hand trailing down the back of Adore’s milky thighs, then back up to her hair.

Adore whimpered, hips picking up speed. Alaska’s fingers moved back to her breasts, pinching her nipples. Adore’s eyes rolled back and she moaned, digging her fingers into Alaska’s shoulders. She turned her head to the side, capturing Jinkx’s mouth in a deep kiss, tongues struggling for dominance as she began to come, moaning into the redhead’s mouth, thighs squeezing Alaska’s hips tightly.

Jinkx withdrew her hand, pushing Adore onto her back, crawling down her body to lick her clean, sucking on her clit, holding down her thighs as she writhed and moaned. Alaska giggled, turning to her side and nibbling on her collarbone, fingers drifting over her slick, sweaty skin while she kissed her over and over. “Our pretty baby…” she murmured.

Adore moaned again, arching up against Jinkx’s mouth. “/Fuck!/”

The three girls suddenly jumped at several loud /BANGS/ on the wall. “HEY! CAN YOU PLEASE KNOCK IT OFF IN THERE!” yelled an irritated voice. “Some of us are trying to think about the baby Jesus!”

Adore raised herself up on her elbows, chest heaving, eyes narrowed. “SUCK MY DICK, EDDY!” she yelled back, then looked at the other girls and collapsed back on the bed in a fit of giggles, arms outstretched languidly. “Merry Christmas, babies…”

They grinned, snuggling in beside her and covering her face and neck with sweet kisses.

***

“Raj, move you legs!”

“Yes mom.”

Raja rolled her eyes, and Raven laughed as she snuggled into the side of her soon to be wife. They were all in the livingroom, gift wrapping all around them as they ate breakfast, little Frida napping on the floor, Violet completely absorbed in the books Sutan had given her, while Sutan was trying to teach Mani how to use the new food processor the twins had given her for christmas.

Raven couldn’t believe the wedding was only a few days away. In just a few days she would be Raven Amrull, and she couldn’t imagine a better Christmas presents... Except the new diamonds Raja gave her, and the fur coat, and the trip to Hawaii and also the most adorable Jimmy Choo’s, but Raven didn’t care about the material stuff in life. Not really, not when she had her Raja,

“What are you thinking about my angel?”

“That I’m the luckiest girl on earth.”

Raven smiled and turned her head, looking up at Raja and fluttering her lashes for good measure. Raja laughed and leaned down, their lips meeting in a tender kiss, and Raven sighed, happiness washing over her.

***

The gang piled into the limo, sighing. They’d just attended Courtney’s concert on their last full day in Puerto Rico, followed by an afterparty, and were all exhausted, none more than the pop princess herself, who stretched out with her feet in Adore’s lap and her head in Bianca’s, looking like she might pass out.

“Did I do good?” she asked sleepily, as Bianca kissed her fingers.

“So good,” Bianca answered.

“Incredible!” Adore agreed.

“That venue was HUGE!” Rose said. “I’d have died.”

“I sort of died a little when I saw it,” Courtney laughed.

“I’m dating myself here, but I was so jealous that you got to do a duet with Ricky Martin,” said Jinkx. “It was amazing.”

“I know, right?! I’m so lucky he was available. I think we might do a collab on my next album.”

“Really?” Bianca asked.

“Yeah. Latrice is working on it. Fingers crossed. We talked about doing a video where we’re both in drag. How cool would that be?” she giggled.

“That is so hot,” said Adore.

Bianca cleared her throat slightly, realizing that this might be an easy way for her to bring up a collaboration with Farrah. She’d been trying to put that obnoxious meeting with the girl and her mother out of her mind, but the truth was, they did have some pretty disturbing leverage on her. “Have you ever considered doing other collaborations?”

“Yeah, definitely. Latrice is talking to Ciara’s people too, and so we’ll see.”

“What about like, someone more in your wheelhouse? I mean, that kid I was talking to at the Galactica party, Farrah? She’s apparently obsessed with you. Her momager called me and practically begged me to set a meeting. I told them to call Latrice--”

“Yeah, why would they be calling you?”

Bianca shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“And she’s not even a singer. She’s a sitcom actress.”

“Emmy winning sitcom actress.”

Courtney paused, grinding her teeth slightly. “How about we play a game called ‘Let’s not talk about the teenagers who flirt with you at parties’? Hmmm? Rules are really simple!” Her eyes flashed darkly.

“Uhh...yeah, sure. You look really hot in red, by the way.” Bianca tugged at her top. “So let’s talk about that.”

Courtney’s lips twisted into a smirk. “See, you’re already winning,” she said, pulling Bianca down for a kiss.

***

“It was a hate crime.”

“It’s a perfectly acceptable gift.”

“Don’t defend her!”

“She’s my mom Betty.”

“And that just makes it so much worse!” Betty kicked her shoes off and threw her handbag on the kitchen counter as they were finally finally finally back from christmas with Shane’s family. “She knew exactly what she was doing, and even worse, she made me wear it!” Betty pointed to herself, the bright green fuzzy sweater with a big orange B making her look like an escaped muppet.

“I think mine is cool.”

“Of course you do.” Betty rolled her eyes as Shane pulled at his purple sweater, a yellow S on it nearly burning her eyes. Betty sighed. “Can’t we just drink leftover wine and dessert and celebrate that we survived another year?”

Shane smiled brightly, pulling Betty into a kiss. “A true Christmas miracle.”

***

Flipping on the kitchen light, Courtney jumped slightly at the sight of Patrick at the table, sipping a whiskey, partially obscured by a pile of Christmas presents. “Jesus!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Patrick said.

“No, it’s okay. I just didn’t expect anyone else to be up at 4 am. Plus you’re sitting in the dark.”

“Yeah, well…” he shrugged. “Sometimes you just need a minute, you know?”

“I’m sorry to bother you.” She bit her lip and turned around.

“Wait-”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have to go. Grab a drink. Take a load off.” Patrick gestured to the empty chair.

Courtney nodded, taking a coconut water from the fridge and walking over to the table. “Uh, sorry I’m not wearing bottoms,” she apologized awkwardly.

“Could be worse,” he said. “At least I am.”

She chuckled and then sat down with a deep sigh.

“So. Trouble sleeping?” Patrick asked.

“Something like that,” she said softly.

“You know…” he began, then paused.

“Yes?”

“I...don’t want to overstep.”

“Go ahead. It’ll be refreshing to hear a new opinion for a change,” Courtney said.

“Bianca is really happy with you.”

Courtney looked at him, fingers nervously peeling the label off the coconut water.

“Look, maybe I have the wrong idea, but it seems like there’s...like you don’t totally feel secure with her. And so I just want to tell you...it’s not an accident. She chose you on purpose. You’re giving her something that no one else ever has. Including my wife.”

Courtney bit her lip, looking slightly ashamed.

Patrick raised his eyebrows. “I’ve seen the way you watch them. I don’t blame you. It’s unsettling, especially if you don’t know the history. If you weren’t there when it happened.”

“What history?”

“Well...let’s just say that Fame didn’t have the perspective that she has now. I was across the country, but even I could see that she was starting to have feelings for Bianca, that this alleged ‘friends with benefits’ thing was turning into more for her. And so Bianca ended it. Which is the only reason they’re still friends. Otherwise it would have ended in disaster.”

“Oh.”

“But you know, I can’t tell you how to feel. I can only tell you what I know, and what I see. And that’s that you make my friend really fucking happy. So...cheers.” He held up his nearly empty glass, toasting Courtney’s bottle of coconut water.

“Thanks, Patrick. You know, I don’t care what Bianca and Raja said during your fight with Fame. You’re not a robotic number-crunching cheater.”

Patrick threw back his head and laughed. “Thanks. And you’re not an empty-headed gold digging sex doll.”

Courtney giggled. “Cheers. To a safe flight back for the wedding of the century.”

“Oh god, yes. Get ready for The Raven Show.” Patrick laughed, toasting her.

“I’m actually super excited. Is that weird? I mean say what you will about Raven, but she knows how to throw a party. I think it should be a lot of fun.”

Patrick raised an eyebrow. “I admire your optimism.”

[obscurum-passagium]

#cluecrewquestionnaire

hot damn i actually got tagged in an ask meme! cheers m8

rules: copy and paste, answer the questions, tag 10 mutuals to do the same!

1. What is your favorite Nancy Drew game and why?

It’s probably SSH tho SAW’s really been doing it for me lately. SSH feels like it has the biggest in-game world to me, it’s really realistic, the theme of “slightly sinister Maya history” is so unique and nothing in any other game really has something like it. SAW also has that great spooky atmosphere & fuckin amazing music. something about it is really soothing to me

2. Have you played all 32 games in the series? If not, which ones haven’t you played? If yes, which one did you play first?

i haven’t played all of them actually. i missed ICE, TRN, WAV and TOT, but i’ve seen walkthroughs of all of them & i don’t feel like i’m missing much

3. What is your favorite line from any character in the series?

all of Professor Hotchkiss’s dialogue from TRT pretty much, though there’s a lot of great banter in FIN too

4. If you could change the ending to any game, which one would it be (no spoilers, though)?

i’d change the culprit of CUR. great game but fucking weak ending.

5. Which game is your least favorite, and why?

LIE. i’ve talked about it before but it’s just so not my thing. in any way. it was  very unenjoyable to play

6. Which character is your favorite? Why?

professor hotchkiss for sure. she was a huge role model for me as a kid. and now i’m my own weird version of absent-minded (amateur) historian who gets fixated on certain foods and subjects (tho tbf this is probably my autism)

7. Which character is your least favorite? Why?

lisa from TRT is fucking terrible, though in a really laughable way. the entire cast of LIE kinda cheeses me off in different ways (maybe more how badly they’re written than any judgement on character, if that makes sense i guess. LIE is just written very very badly to me) i want to punch enrico from VEN right in the fucking face. i know scopa is rigged you fuck ass

8. How do you feel about the whole Nancy/Ned vs. Nancy/Frank situation? Do you ship her with someone else? Who, and why?

i don’t take shipping very seriously unless someone else takes it way too seriously and starts talking shit towards someone else. like chill out my dudes. no one needs to be nasty over these fuckin fictional slices of teenaged whitebread. that said, i have my own ideas and fondness for nancy and ned that doesn’t translate to the idea of frank and nancy. shipping is always projection, too, whether we’re aware of it or not, so to me, nancy’s also a queer pansexual person so shipping her w just one person doens’t make sense. she could date the entire cast of every game i don’t really give a shit. just don’t be nasty to other people over it.

9. Do you have any fun headcanons about any of the games or characters?

everyone is gay

10. If you could visit any of the locations of the games, which ones would they be and why?

the ryokan hiei, wickford castle, castle malloy, deception island

11. Did you read any of the original Nancy Drew books? If yes, do you like them? If no, would you consider reading one?

i read them as a kid yeah, but i can’t remember any of them for the life of me

12. What is one thing any good detective can’t live without?

a boyfriend with a big juicy ass

13. Which game had the best soundtrack?

SAW, HAU, FIN, SSH, TRT, CUR

14. What is one thing you wish HER would’ve included in any of the games (a conversation, interaction, location, feature, etc)?

dracula

I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD

15. Do you have any ideas for a future game? What is it?

ned gets kidnapped my dracula (see above)

16. How long does it take you to finish a game from start to finish?

i like really taking my time with them these days. wandering around, trying to get all the dialogue out of everyone. not really into speedy playing. i like savouring a game over a few days or week. no idea how that translates into hours tho

17. Did any of the games scare you? If yes, which ones? If no, why?

MHM made me cry when i was 12 (ghost in the mirror)

SSH made me cry when i was 12 (mummy ending)

CUR gave me the willies when i was around 15. dreams, hallway ghost, spOoKy red eyes!

GTH was a bit spooky but mainly jump scares (nancy gasping suddenly being the jump scare more than the ghost)

SAW was definitely unnerving too. the shoji puzzle with the ghost coming after you… yikes

18. Why did you join the Nancy Drew fandom here on tumblr?

just wanted to get in on all the sweet memes u know? but really, it was cool to find a whole bunch of people who i could talk to about the games. when i was a kid i played them with one of my best friends, but we grew apart and you know, whenever you find someone irl who’s played some ND it’s always like “oh yeah i tried one once but don’t remember it” or “yeah my cousin loves those! never played one myself!”

19. What is your favorite Nancy Drew joke (from in-game or even floating around the internet)?

that any of them are straight

20. Who is someone in the clue crew you’ve always wanted to get to know?

i’m not super social but i have gotten to know… almost everyone i’ve wanted to here? there are prob some cool kids that i could talk to more but i’m very shy

21. What are three unpopular opinions you hold about the games?

1) LIE is shit

[that specifically means “it is not a game for me” not “if you like it you are also shit” just to be clear]

2) HAU is great

3) dracula should be in  agame

(i don’t have a third)

22. Do you have any fun theories about any of the games?

everyone in them is gay

23. Who was your favorite animal character featured in the games?

gonna have to go with the phantom horse i think

24. Do other people in your life know about your love for Nancy Drew?

all like three thousand of my twitter followers know about this shit cause i talk about ND a lot lmao (i’m constantly trying to get other ppl into them). and my family knows of course, they consistently got me the games as birthday & xmas presents

25. How long have you been playing these games?

i started playing them when i was about 10 or 11 so that’s 17 or 18 years by now! 

i’m tagging uhhhh anyone who wants to do it? to be fucking honest i can’t for the life of me remember anyone’s handle here. or anywhere online. ever. my brain is made of wind. i can remember avatars but sadly those aren’t taggable. if you read this and want to do it, i tagged you.

[omegasupremeconservative]

Fake News Watch: CNN Says Trump Is Leading A Hate Movement Against The Media

CNN never ceases to amaze me at just how dedicated they are to putting out fake news. Sure you may find some truth “somewhere” in their reporting but they have such a blatant disregard for the principles of journalism and reporting it should be clear to everyone their agenda isn’t for the betterment of the American public.

It’s time we properly categorized what CNN largely is which is Opinion Journalism. As Wikipedia states this is the type of journalism that “makes no claim of objectivity”. “Unlike advocacy journalism, opinion journalism has a reduced focus on facts or research and its perspective is often of a more personalized variety. Its product may be only one component of a generally objective news outlet, rather than the dominant feature of an entire publication or broadcast network.”

At the same time most of the media in my analysis engages in Advocacy Journalism or a combination of advocacy journalism and opinion journalism.

“Advocacy journalism is a genre of journalism that intentionally and transparently adopts a non-objective viewpoint, usually for some social or political purpose. Because it is intended to be factual, it is distinguished from propaganda. It is also distinct from instances of media bias and failures of objectivity in media outlets, since the bias is intended. ”

I’m not sure there are any journalistic standards that CNN follows but the Canadian Association of Journalists offered some advice for advocacy journalists to follow:

Acknowledge your perspective up front.

Be truthful, accurate, and credible. Don’t spread propaganda, don’t take quotes or facts out of context, “don’t fabricate or falsify”, and “don’t judge or suppress vital facts or present half-truths”

Don’t give your opponents equal time, but don’t ignore them, either.

Explore arguments that challenge your perspective, and report embarrassing facts that support the opposition. Ask critical questions of people who agree with you.

Avoid slogans, ranting, and polemics. Instead, “articulate complex issues clearly and carefully.”

Be fair and thorough.

Make use of neutral sources to establish facts.

Let’s look at the latest claims from Brian Stetler a news anchor on CNN.

Stelter makes the connection that a Trump Tweet at 3:14am instigated and encouraged someone to stick a pipe bomb in the mail and send it to CNN.

Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, “it’s just not Presidential!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2018

Then we see Brian Stelter attempt to research more into Trump and his rallies by asking the question WHAT IS TRUMP ACCOMPLISHING WITH HIS RALLIES?

Notable quotes from his commentary:

“when your in that pen you really do feel like a zoo animal” he is referring to the area the press uses to record, shoot video and report on the event at the Trump rally.

“before the rally people are gawking at you, saying your fake news, enemy of the people”.

“parts of the crowd are primed to chant CNN sucks, but then after they did that one of the men walked over and said hey nothing personal”.

“Trump is leading a hate movement against the media” he does acknowledge that “not everyone in his crowd believes it but some do and that is dangerous”.

What is a hate movement? There is no common definition for a hate movement but Wikipedia defines a hate group as this “A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other designated sector of society. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a hate group’s “primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization.”

If you analyze the MAGA Make America Great Again movement you would find out that MAGA people love their country, they are very patriotic, they could be religious but not always, they believe in helping America First but they don’t hate or dislike our friends around the globe. Conservatives have been treated very unfairly in the media and yes many conservatives and Republicans HATE the media but in a way that someone would hate their in-laws or hate rush our traffic or hate their boss, or hate it when their taxes go up.

There is anger and resentment towards the mainstream media and cable news outlets like CNN and rightly so. CNN tries to be slick and suggest that Trumps creating a hate movement and the result is what we saw last week with various pipe bombs mailed to prominent critics of Donald Trump which CNN called TRUMPS TARGETS.

CNN needs to frame Trump and his supporters as a hate movement to subjugate MAGA. To remove any credibility of it being a peaceful movement. This is why CNN and other media outlets will be quick to highlight and use anything they can to point out that Trump is riling up his followers and making people hate the media.

The Real Problem The Media Has

More and more people everyday are beginning to distrust the media and Donald Trump has been very effective at challenging the ruling class in the press who aren’t used to being challenged. CNN can write a fake story and within an instance one of Trump’s tweets can vaporize the impact of it. Trump has shown that he is light years ahead of the mainstream media in terms of persuading and attracting loyal followers. PERSUATION IS THE KEY WORD.

Scott Adams does an amazing job of outling and explaining the difference between Trump’s persuasion skills and Hillary’s. Note Scott Adams is a trained hypnotist and persuasion expert along with being the creator of the cartoon Dilbert.

CNN Wants True Leadership

It is an important skill to look at someone whom you want to believe, someone who looks good or talks good, someone personable and likeable and be able to determine when they are telling you the truth or not.

Let’s analyze and summarize what social narrative engineer aka news anchor Anderson Cooper is trying to do here:

He tells us suspicious packages have been sent to very prominent opponents of Donald Trump.

Whoever sent them is still on the loose (not as of the date of writing this blog)

He tells us we are learning far more about the “pieces of this plot” (in other words who is responsible DONALD TRUMP)

He’s “keeping them honest” by focusing on what those “pieces add up to”. Insert the word circumstance for pieces.

He tells us that the President of the United States can’t seem to see what these “pieces add up to”. In other words why can’t Trump see HE is the problem.

He proceeds to engage his scare tactic by telling us to remember IF those devices had exploded the country would be making funeral arrangements right now for 2 MURDERED ex presidents, a former vice president, a former secretary of state, a sitting Congresswomen, a former head of the CIA, a renowned actor and the people we work alongside of everyday. Not to mention potentially postal workers, and police or any number of bystanders. The phrase 2 murdered ex presidents was included in his prewritten monologue to heighten the emotional response that the viewers would have.

Cooper then introduces an authority figure into his routine “as Presidential Historian Douglass Brinkley pointed out earlier today the sheer number of targets and devices is unprecendented and given who was being targeted this is the kind of event when Presidents traditionally might become aware of the awesome responsibility they have to all Americans of all political stripes. It is a moment that traditionally inspires deep humility, its a moment of leadership. I am reminded that Donald Trump is not a traditional President, nor right now is he acting like a traditional leader.

This is a play on words, Anderson Cooper suggests that in moments of crisis or events a leader is supposed to have deep humility. What he really means is this event happened to your critics why don’t you stop attacking them politically because something bad almost happened to them.

Watch the rest of the video and play it extra slow so you can begin to see he is artfully using language as a weapon to influence you in a calm sympathetic tone. CNN spends very little time discussing the actual culprit who has now been caught, the culprit in their eyes is Donald Trump.

Mark Levin Goes Postal On Left-Wing Caller

This is another instructive video, just listen to this short 7 minute video or you can read the transcript below. The liberal caller believes that the influence of the President is much greater than any senators, congress person, or anyone else in our society as such his rhetoric has triggered someone to commit acts of violence against his enemies. His example is when Donald Trump talked about punching someone in the face at one of his rallies. Yes it’s true. Barack Obama also talked about bringing a gun to a knife fight. Neither of these comments disturb me by the way.

Audio Transcript Courtesy of Trump Fan Network YouTube Channel

Robert Garland Texas the great WBA PA liberal GO.

Hello Marc I listen to your show often I don’t agree with you almost ever but I have up until now respected you greatly because I think that everything you said is sincere.

Okay right sir now don’t psychoanalyze me go ahead and make your point you don’t know me you know nothing about me I don’t know you just make your point.

My point is that you are trying to say that others in America whether they’re senators or whatever have the same amount of weight in what they say as the President of the United States.

I absolutely didn’t say that but I will say that the president of the United States has said nothing nothing that would trigger somebody to do something like this nothing.

At his rallies he has literally called and said I wish it was the time where we could just punch people in the face.

Yeah he mentioned once punching but let me ask you a question sir do you know who Oscar Lopez Rivera is?

Let me ask you question I want to have a discussion with you if you will allow it, do you know who Oscare Lopez Rivera is?

I’m gonna ask you one more time do you know who Oscar Lopez Rivera is it’s not a trick yes or no?

Yes but that is not what we are talking about.

Who is he who is he? Get him off the air he’s a liar.

He was the head of the FALN bombers in this country that resulted in the death of a police officer two police officers and several bombings and Barak Obama commuted his sentence and all the rest of them that were involved in that gang Bill Clinton pardoned them.

Now you want to talk about presidential responsibility let’s talk about presidential responsibility.

Barack Obama best buddies with Ayers another bomber Bernardine Dohrn another bomber commutes the sentence of Oscar Lopez Rivera who never recant who never backed off what he did even Clinton wouldn’t commute his sentence while commuting all the others.

I don’t need lectures from you people on the left and neither does the President of the United States you are full of it.

“The Presidents said punch somebody in the mouth” these guys were bombing the country! Civilians police officers and you elected Obama president and you reelected Clinton president shocking.

Absolutely shocking and I have to listen to the moral outrage of the left the moral outrage of the media it’s preposterous it’s disgusting it’s like this khashoggi matter you’ve this Iran that slaughters journalists left and right slaughters gay people left and right slaughters Christians left and right the second highest execution rate in the world behind China Obama facilitates a deal in which he gives them a hundred and fifty billion dollars and one and a half billion dollars in the cover of darkness what foreign currency they killed American soldiers and suddenly the left is upset with Trump’s rhetoric.

They’re not upset with their own rhetoric I never get a caller here from the left complaining about Antifa it is a violent left-wing militia group a Marxist militia group and we had individuals on CNN like Don Lemon people on MSNBC who downplayed their violence.

They train they come armed, excuses are made for them but Trump’s rhetoric you see is what’s pushing the country over the edge.

One of the biggest animals in human history is Adolf Hitler they call him Hitler they call American citizens who voted for him Nazis racists.

But it’s Trump you see if the left and the Democrats and the media had accepted the results of this last election in 2016 criticized a president of course but try to destroy him come up with Russian conspiracy theories.

Act like they’re the National Enquirer with every allegation try and force him from office talk about his mental illness and on and on and on.

If they accepted his legitimacy as president and criticized his policies or what he was saying that’s one thing but that’s not what’s going on in this country that’s not what’s going on in this country and we all know it.

So don’t call your little whiny ass to me and sayyes but Trump said you had no idea who Oscar Lopez Rivera was none and you don’t give a damn you didn’t care about Bill Ayers you didn’t care about Bernardine Dohrn Khalidi another one you don’t care about any of them.

Incredible really incredible really and what exactly has Trump said that would cause somebody to try and blow up 12 other people or threatened 12 other people.

What does he say? He says punch somebody in the face?

So when Obama said get in the face when holder said kick them when they’re down and I go on and on and on did that spark some Republican? No.

When Bernie Sanders goes on and on about how horrible America how about how unjust it is how people are discriminated against how racist we are on and on and on what kind of support does that build for a society or does it cause some nut to go to a baseball field in Alexandria Virginia with a sniper rifle and start shooting Republicans with a list in his pocket. We don’t need any lectures from you leftist that’s for sure or you clowns in the media I’ll be right back.

Not many people can go off like Mark Levin. CNN is going to lose this information battle. This battle for the minds of good Patriotic people. They will lose because the truth will always prevail.

The post Fake News Watch: CNN Says Trump Is Leading A Hate Movement Against The Media appeared first on Alternative News Source, Research and Analysis.

source http://ugetinformed.com/politics/fake-news-watch-cnn-says-trump-is-leading-a-hate-movement-against-the-media