#when it comes to mike it's a reference to the closet and how it provides him comfort bc it means he's protected from the unknown | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

heresalittlestory · 3 years

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The Gala Event

By The Scoop

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You’re at your desk at work one afternoon, taking a break to check your personal email. You get excited when you see that you have a message from Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. You’ve known him for a little over a decade, as you did some work for the Milarepa fund in the 90’s. You’re kind of surprised that you’ve casually stayed in touch with him for all of these years, and even though you’d call him more of an acquaintance than a friend, he’s always been very nice and sweet when you’ve spent time together. The last time you saw him was a few years ago, when his band was in town touring their To The 5 Boroughs album.

You see some other messages in your inbox, but click on Adam’s first. He writes that the Beastie Boys will be in your town this summer to tour their upcoming record, and wonders if you’d like to hang out then. He gives the date for the show, and refers to it a Gala Event, for which you should dress up. He says there will be another more casual show the night after, and you’re welcome to come to that one, too. You don’t want to come across as being too eager, but decide to write him back straight away that you’ll be around, and would love to see him in August.

The following week, you see a news announcement about Beastie Boys tour dates, and feel special that Adam gave you a heads up about them first. Since that message, you’ve been writing back and forth more frequently, catching each other up on how you’ve been for the past couple of years. He seems a little more communicative than he was around the time of the previous tour, and you try not to read too much into that. You’ve always thought he was very attractive, but kept things professional at first with him, and then platonic, assuming those feelings only went one way. You’ve also both been in relationships over the past decade, and Adam has a daughter, Lila. You’re not exactly sure about the current status of Adam’s relationship with Lila’s mom, as it’s not something he opens up about a lot, or that gets much attention in the press.

One day Adam sends an email asking whether you’ve picked out something nice to wear yet, and he adds a wink after the question. You feel your stomach flip, as you can’t tell whether or not he’s being flirtatious. It also reminds you that you still haven’t settled on your ensemble for the Gala. You generally don’t dress up too much and aren’t in love with anything in your closet, so decide to go shopping.

At the store, after trying on a lot of things, you settle on a red dress. The color choice seems a little bold, but you look good in red, and want to stand out from others who will probably be wearing a lot of black. You feel a little ridiculous also thinking about your undergarments, but decide to buy a new bra and panties for the show, too. Even if no one else sees them, they’ll make you feel good for that night.

As it gets closer to the date of the show, Adam calls you. You’re reminded how much you love the tone of his voice and trace of a New York accent. He mentions that the band will be busy with interviews beforehand, so he probably won’t get to see you till after the show. He says he’ll put you on his personal guest list, and to make sure you find him backstage later. You say that sounds like a plan. Before hanging up, he adds “Don’t forget to dress to impress.”

The day of the show comes, it’s a Friday, and you’re feeling a mix of nerves and excitement. You tell yourself you’re being silly and to calm down: there’s never been any funny business between you and Adam before, so why should this time be any different? You’ve been single for about a year now, but you’re still not sure of Adam’s status, and Google didn’t provide any help figuring that out. In any case, you can’t help but think that you’ve picked up on some flirtation in the correspondence, and something in your gut signals that maybe you should be expecting more than just a friendly hang out tonight.

You arrive at the venue early, and feel a sense of pride seeing your name on Adam’s list. You’re also handed an access pass to use later in the night. You make your way up toward the front of the concert hall and see Adam’s bass rig, noticing that a lot of the equipment is clear, which has a cool look. There are a few bass guitars on stage, including a large upright one. You’ve always thought Adam looked sexy on the bass, and you’re looking forward to seeing him play more of it tonight.

When the band comes out and takes their places, you spot Adam in a black suit and sunglasses, he appears very dapper. His hair is a little grown out and looks really nice. You glance at the others, and though they all look handsome in their suits, Adam Yauch definitely stands out the most to you.

The band starts playing an instrumental that sounds vaguely familiar. Adam is on the upright bass, and during the song, pulls out a bow with which to play it. You’re taken aback at how hot it is when he maneuvers the bow over the bass strings. The rich, deep sound resonates through your body.

Adam switches to another bass guitar, and the band starts playing a song off the new record. You enjoy watching Adam’s large, skillful hands on the bass. He flicks the strings a lot with his thumb, and it’s hard for your mind not to wander into the gutter seeing that repetitive motion. You look at Adam intently, wondering if you’ll catch his eye, but it’s hard to tell with the sunglasses on.

When the band begins a song with vocals, the crowd gets more pumped up, and you’re excited, too. It’s cool to see them rap while playing instruments. Adam’s bass strumming has been getting to you, and now his husky rapping is, too. After a few songs, he takes off his sunglasses and jacket. He’s wearing a short-sleeve striped shirt, and a tie with some design on it, with a tie pin. You’re trying to make the out the details on Adam’s tie, and think you see a lion on it, which reminds you that he’s a Leo. You remember back to when you once looked up your astrological compatibility, not that you entirely believe in those things. You look back up and see that Adam is staring in your direction, smiling. You mouth “hey” to him, and he nods in recognition.

You feel a small jolt of electricity as the band goes into the next instrumental. Maybe it’s something about the suave outfit and his long fingers on the bass, but you’re feeling more attracted to Adam than you’ve felt at previous Beastie Boys shows. You notice other details, like his persistent gum chewing, and how he’s been taking his ear piece in and out throughout the show. You brace yourself when the upright bass comes back out. You can’t deny that you’re turned on by the way Adam strokes the bass neck and moves his fingers across the strings. You try to calm down, as you’ll be seeing him after the show, and don’t want to feel embarrassed by such thoughts. It doesn’t help that from this close, you can see his sweat glistening.

The band gets to Sabotage, and you know it’ll be the last song of the night. You see out of the corner of your eye that their keyboardist is doing some crazy moves, but you can’t take your eyes off Adam. He takes his bass off at the end of the song and picks up a water bottle. You watch Adam wave as he walks off stage, and swear that you catch him winking at you.

As the crowd starts to file away, you get your access pass out of your purse and use it to get in the back area of the venue. You’re eventually let into a room where the band is. You admittedly feel some relief when you see that Adam’s partner (or former partner?) isn’t around, as both Mike’s and Adrock’s wives are there. Mike’s young sons are running around the room too. You’re feeling pretty dehydrated, but take a glass of champagne when a tray of it is passed by you. At least you have something to occupy your hands with now. You take some sips and try to get Adam to notice you. Your eyes meet and he wraps up the conversation he was having. He walks over to you and says, “Hey, red…,” instead of calling you by your name, “love the dress.” You blush a little and thank him. You notice he’s changed from the button down top into a polo shirt. He manages to look very cute and sexy all at once. You tell him how much you enjoyed the show and seeing the full band play throughout. “Oh thanks, you weren’t too bored? It seems like some people prefer the hip hop shows.”

You notice that the room is beginning to clear out. Adam mentions that some of the band and crew are heading to a nearby bar, “I said I’d be catching up with an old friend, if you’d rather bail on that.” You’re happy that he’s mentioned an out, though you’re not quite sure what he has in mind for you both. “Hang on a sec,” Adam says as he grabs his backpack, and also something that looks like an instrument holder, “just gonna take some things back with me.”

You step out the venue door and Adam gently touches the small of your back with his free hand. A shiver goes up your spine. Adam remarks that the hotel is nearby, so you walk the few blocks there. It’s one of the nicer hotels in town. This is the first time you’ve been back to a hotel with him. It seems like it could be the prelude to a hook up, but you still don’t want to get caught up in wishful thinking.

You and Adam get in the elevator and he pushes the button for a high floor. “And here we are,” he remarks, opening the door into a large suite. “Not too shabby,” you note, looking around. “Yeah, we do alright now,” Adam responds with a chuckle. He has the cutest sounding laugh, and you love how his smile is emphasized by his overbite. You don’t think of yourself as a very funny person, but you know that Adam can be, and you hope to joke with him and hear more of his laughter when you’re together. You realize you’ve gotten a little lightheaded from the champagne. As if reading your mind, Adam asks if you want something to eat or drink. There are several water bottles lined up on the counter, and he hands you one. He opens the door to the mini bar, which is pretty well stocked. You sit down and snack together.

The conversation flows easily enough. You share a lot of cultural interests, but also fill each other in on some things that the other hasn’t heard about. Adam recommends a documentary called the 11th hour, about how dire global warming has gotten and the opportunities we have to address the situation before it’s too late. You’re not surprised to hear him sound passionate on the topic. Meanwhile, you’re slightly distracted, as you can’t help but be really curious by now about his relationship status. He’s mentioned his daughter in emails, so you think of using kids as a way to broach the topic. You mention how you saw Mike’s sons backstage. “Oh yeah, they’ve been coming along, and Lila’s been with me some of the tour, but her mom has her now.” It sounds to you like they may not be an item anymore. All you say in response is, “Oh…,” and then Adam continues, “yeah, it’s been about a year and a half actually, things didn’t work out between us. But it was friendly, well, about as friendly as those things can be. We still live near each other in the city, and pretty much share custody, so it works out at least, in that way.” You want Adam to be happy and on the one hand, are sorry to hear that the relationship, which involved a kid, didn’t work out. But on the other hand, you feel glad, as selfish as it may be, that Adam could be available now. If he’s even interested in you in that way.

You tell him you’re sorry to hear what happened, but are glad he still gets to see Lila a lot. “Yeah, being a dad, it’s the greatest…,” he starts to say, and then trails off, looking at you as if what he said may have had some effect on you. You’re a single woman in your early 40’s, so the child-bearing window may be not open too much longer. You used to think that you’d be married and a mom by this point in your life, but after your longest, most serious relationships ended in your 30’s, you haven’t met anyone who’s been that great a prospect. Adam knows some of your story already. You don’t want to bore him with extra information about the ups and downs of your love life, so you mention that you haven’t been seeing anyone for a while, and really enjoy being an aunt to your niece and nephew.

Adam moves from the chair to a loveseat and motions for you to join him. He has his arm up on the sofa cushion, which you take as a cue to sit a little closer to him. “I was really looking forward to seeing you tonight. You know, red’s a really great color for you.” You feel his eyes scanning your body, and you’re flattered to be complimented by someone so attractive, talented, and intelligent. The conversation goes to how long you’ve known each other and how you always enjoy each other’s company. You wonder why you haven’t gotten together more often through the years. Adam’s hand moves down to your shoulder, and he seems to be looking at you more intently. He’s so gorgeous from this close, with large, soulful eyes, and full lips that you want to kiss so badly. You feel yourself flushing and swooning. You take your chances and move your face a little closer to his, and are delighted when you sense him lean in for a kiss.

Your lips touch softly at first. You detect a minty flavor, which must have lingered from his gum. You inhale and enjoy his smell, it’s slightly musky, and you think of how sweaty he got during the show. You normally prefer for guys to be cleaned up, but find it a turn on for Adam to be in this state. The kiss turns more passionate soon as your tongues meet and explore each other’s mouths.

You kiss and suck at each other more feverishly, feeling the heat from each other’s bodies. You run your hands through his thick hair, and up and down his lean back. He slides a hand down along your side, it grazes the edge of your breast and then settles on your thigh. Adam moves his hand to the inner side of your knee, just underneath your dress. You squeeze his hand between your thighs, thinking of how close his fingers are to where you really want to be touched. You usually don’t get wet as easily as you did when you were younger, but it’s like Adam has opened up the floodgates inside of you. You don’t necessarily buy into everything happening for a reason, but you’re glad you’re hooking up with Adam at this stage in your life. You feel more comfortable with yourself and sexually confident now. As much as you’re enjoying kissing Adam, you decide to back out of the embrace, and see if he’s game for something different. You’d be fine having any kind of sex with him, but you want to try to make the evening memorable. You also recall how great he looked playing the bass, and that gives you an idea.

“Is everything okay?” Adam asks. “Oh yeah, I’m good, really good,” you say, reassuring him that you’re pleased with the direction in which things are moving. “I was just thinking about the show again, and what a great bass player you are.”

“Me? I don’t know, I guess if you work at something long enough.”

You’re touched that he seems so humble about his talent. “It just looks complicated. I mean, especially that big bass. I can barely strum a few chords on the guitar.”

“It’s not so hard to pick up if you practice for a while, and…,” he trails off.

“And what?”

“Well, this might sound silly, but my hands are pretty big, which makes it easier to play, I guess.” Adam turns his hands over and you hold them in yours, as your mind moves back into the gutter. You don’t think you’ve ever been with a guy who has hands quite like his.

“Why don’t you show me?” you request, pulling Adam up from the couch. “What’s that song called, Sabrosa?”

“I don’t have the bass here with me.”

You look at him with a mischievous glint in your eyes, “I mean, demonstrate on me…”

Adam smirks in response, “Oh, I think I know what you’re getting at.” He stands behind you, and you ask, “Doesn’t Sabrosa mean tasty?”

“Something like that,” he answers with a

chuckle- it’s music to your ears to hear that laughter again. “Okay then, this is the hand that goes on the bass neck,” he states, putting his left hand on your breast. He arranges his dexterous fingers into some formation, as if he were playing bass notes. “And this one here, it plays the strings,” Adam continues, moving his right hand onto your crotch. He brushes his long fingers against you, as if he’s both swiping at and strumming you. Just as you’re wondering what kind of fuckery this is, Adam says, “And sometimes, you have to put your whole body into it.” He presses against you, and you feel his cock pulse against your backside. You can’t help but tremble from the ripples of pleasure coursing through you. Adam comments, “well, it goes something like that, playing the song, but the bass doesn’t move quite that much.” He giggles again. You didn’t want him to stop “playing” you, but you enjoy being teased.

“You know, I actually brought something with me,” Adam starts, and goes over to what you thought was an instrument case. He opens it and reveals the bow inside. If he doesn’t have his bass with him, you wonder why he brought the bow. You’re pleased at the forethought this would have required, and that his mind might be in the same kinky place as yours. “I like using this bow sometimes, you can get a really nice sound out of the bass with it.” Adam comes back over to you, gripping the bow as if he were about to use it on a bass. He rubs the bow string back and forth on your dress, right over your sensitive area. You make a pleased hum, and Adam brings the bow across you one more time, “Works like a charm.”

“I think you need to help me unzip my dress now,” you state. “Sure thing,” Adam replies, placing the bow back down. He undoes your zipper, but the dress still hangs loosely from your hips. “Maybe I can use this again,” Adam says, picking up the bow. You stand still as he uses the bow to nudge the dress down over your hips. Your breath quickens and you step out of the dress. You’re glad now that you splurged for the nice underwear. Adam eyes you up and down and gives a little whistle, “well you dressed to impress, and I’d say, this is also undressing to impress.” Your body isn’t as slim as it used to be, but you’re still in decent shape for your age. You’re glad he seems to appreciate you as you are.

“I think it’s your turn now,” you declare, and Adams removes his shirt and pants pretty quickly. He’s remained trim, but that doesn’t surprise you, as he’s always been a skinny guy. Seeing all his skin, and body hair, makes your groin ache even more. You get another idea, which seems a little crazy for foreplay, but you’re on a roll, and decide to speak up again. “Let’s go to the bedroom,” you declare, as you lead Adam by the hand to the king-sized bed. You tell him to lie on his back. You stand over him and strip off your bra and underwear. “I want to feel you all over, with my cunt,” you say, as you lower yourself down near his feet, “if you’re cool with that.” Adam looks at you expectantly and replies, “I’m game for whatever.”

You’re not quite sure what’s come over you. You realize you’ve had latent feelings for Adam for years, and they’re all bubbling to the surface now. And he’s so hot it’s like he’s awakened some primal instinct in you. Sure, you’ve humped guys’ thighs before when feeling frisky, or rubbed an arm against your crotch, but you’ve never done anything like what you’re planning now. You grab one of Adam’s feet, they’re large like his hands, with long toes. “So, do you have a foot thing?” Adam asks.

“No,” you blush a little, feeling kind of embarrassed, but Adam seems open-minded enough. “As I said, I just want to feel all your parts- here.” You take hold of his big toe, and move it toward your crotch. Adam’s propped up on his elbows and watching with interest. You press his toe against your labia, and rock back and forth against it. “Someone’s very wet,” Adam comments. You think how you’ll be leaving a trail along his body. You hold his foot as you move over his ankle, and then slowly slide up his shin, feeling his leg hair against you. You ask Adam to bend his legs so you can get onto his knee. “Knee fucking? Can’t say I’ve done that before,” Adam remarks, laughing again. Not in a laughing at you kind of way, but in an enjoying being your partner in crime kind of way.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” You feel kind of proud for debasing him, considering that he probably did some debauched things in his early years with the band. You move in small circles around his knee. You feel so wet and pliable, almost as if your cunt could swallow his kneecap. You’re in a nice zone where everything feels really good between your legs.

You continue with this body part exploration, sliding down his thigh. Adam’s boxers are still on and you can tell he’s semi-erect. As eager as you are to bring his cock into action, you move past it. You dip down to reach his concave torso, rubbing along the patch of hair that extends from over his waistband to above his navel. You feel the bump from his ribcage, and rub over a nipple as you move up. You ask Adam to sit up, admiring his bare shoulders. You lower yourself onto the bony part, and press against it for a while.

Adam has been watching you with bemusement. You get off his shoulder and position his arm so that his elbow juts out. You pull that protrusion into your crotch, liking how that feels as well. You’re excited to be getting close to his forearms, as you were looking at them with desire during the concert. You ask Adam to lie back down and move on top of one of his forearms. His arm hairs tickle your cunt as your slickness slides against him. You love how he’s not hairy all over but has furry forearms and legs. You feel kind of like a dog humping at him, but don’t care as it’s so pleasurable. Adam’s free hand grabs your ass. ��You move lower down to reach his wrist bone, too.

You get up and hold onto one of his oversized hands. You feel like your cunt could just devour it. You rub your thumb along the patch of hair that extends onto the back of his hand, and then press a few of Adam’s knuckles into your folds. You then grasp his index and middle fingers. You notice a crook in the top joint of his middle finger. These little features somehow make you hornier for him, if that’s even possible. You shove his fingers into your soaking cunt, and moan as you feel how deep inside of you they reach. Adam continues to let you be the driver; you know that he could make you come if he did something with his hands, but you’re still trying to delay that final gratification. You take his fingers out and bring them up to his mouth. You’re pleased that he reads the cue and licks at your wetness.

You motion for Adam to sit up, and brush his hair back to look more closely at his ear. Even the size and shape of this man’s ears get to you. You’ve never been so into all these details with any other guy before. It’s like he’s a perfectly beautiful creation. You position Adam’s head so you can get at his ear with your cunt, starting at the earlobe and working your way up along the outer edge. Adam shivers a little and you ask if he’s alright.

“Yeah, I guess I’m just sensitive there- a good sensitive.” You press against the ridge of his ear again and he emits a soft, low grunt.

You ask Adam to lie down once again. You’re still studying what a gorgeous face he has. You move your fingertip gently across his long eye lashes. “Yo, I’m not sure that’ll work,” Adam comments, and you both start laughing. “Okay, we’ll leave your eyes out of this,” you say, though catch him off guard as you move your groin over his hairline. You’ve been admiring his hair all evening, it looks adorable now sticking up in different directions. You feel its texture along your most intimate spots. You then position yourself above Adam’s nose- his lovely nose, with its long, strong line, and small bump near the top. Adam takes a big inhale and you gently ride his nose. You hit against his upper lip, but surprise him again by hopping off before getting to all of his mouth. “I’m moving here now,” you remark, as you sit back against the pillows and spread your legs, finally beckoning Adam to have his way with you.

“You know, I just remembered, I have one more thing in the case,” Adam says. You’re so ready for more now, but you wait as he goes into the other room to get whatever’s in the case. He comes back into the bedroom with his ear piece from the concert, dangling around his neck. That ear piece, that you watched him keep pulling out and pushing in, being turned on by the motions. Adam stands at the foot of the bed and takes off his underwear. You don’t always get that excited over the sight of a man’s cock, viewing it as more of a utilitarian appendage, but of course Adam’s looks just as nice as the rest of his body does.

“Maybe I should have gotten this out earlier, you’re probably too wet for it now,” Adam remarks, holding up one end of the ear piece. He continues, “I’ve got a spare, of course, but I don’t know what I’d tell the crew about how I wrecked this pair,” he laughs a little more. Adam comes onto the bed and rubs the ear piece along your leg, moving it up to your inner thigh. Once again, you’re thankful and pleased that he’s also had kinky ideas. The ear piece reaches the top of your thigh, then Adam places it in between your collar bones. He slides it down between your breasts, and stops above your crotch. You’re thinking how turned on you’d be if he pressed it against you there, but he touches with his finger and says, “yeah, too wet, as I knew, maybe another time.” At the mention of “another time,” it feels like your heart skips a beat.

You ask, “did you have anything else in that case?”

“Nah, that was it. I’d considered bringing a bass pick, too, but thought it could be a little too sharp,” and you both laugh together. You like how you can move seamlessly between funny and erotic moments with him. “Well, these look really soft,” you say, moving your fingers along his lips. Your cunt quivers as you trace his bow-shaped upper lip.

Adam places the ear piece on the night stand and brushes his slim fingers along your inner thighs. Then he brings his mouth to your thighs- kissing, licking, and taking little bites along the way. You’re so turned on already you feel like you might come almost as soon as his mouth touches your cunt. He’s taking his time getting to the sweet spot. He licks along where your thigh meets your groin on both sides. He then moves up and squeezes your breasts together. He starts sucking on one nipple while grabbing the other breast, and switches off. Your whole body feels on fire. Then he moves back down and kisses your labia, finally getting between them. When he starts licking and sucking at your depths, it feels amazing. You cry out in ecstasy, only wondering for a moment how soundproof the hotel walls are. You mutter “oh fuck” and “oh god” as Adam continues to satisfy you. He looks up at you, and it’s nearly too intense to meet his gaze. You grab a handful of his luscious hair as he buries his head in you again, and you rock against him. You sense the sweet release coming soon, and convulse as all the pleasure that’s been building up through the evening reaches a crescendo. You feel like you’re seeing stars.

As you slowly come back to your senses, Adam remarks, “well, I guess that worked out better than the ear piece.” You respond, “or the bass pick,” and playfully shove his shoulder. “You’ve really been great,” you say, placing your hand on his erect cock, “can I do something for you now?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ve been loving all this so far, and now I’m really ready to fuck you.”

You repeat his phrase about “another time,” and he smiles. He kneels in front of you, asking “you okay, doing it like this?” You tell him you’re on the pill, and it’s fine to proceed. You’re not even sure how functional your ovaries still are, but you’ve stayed on the pill, and trust Adam otherwise.

He doesn’t waste any time penetrating you fully, and it feels so good to be filled up by his length. As he starts moving in and out, you notice him glancing down to where the action is happening, and you think it’s hot that he’s looking. He holds onto and adjusts your legs, and begins thrusting more aggressively, emitting some low grunts. And you get noisy again as his cock hits against your deepest part. Adam tells you how great you feel. You close your eyes for a time, enjoying all the sensations.

Adam then slows the rhythm down and lies more directly on top of you. It’s nice to feel his weight. He looks into your eyes and it seems like it’s just the two of you on this planet. “I really like you,” he says, emphasizing the “really.” Your eyes tear up- you don’t want to appear too emotional- but can’t help it. One tear escapes, and Adam wipes it with his thumb, “It’s okay now.”

“It’s just, me too, I mean, I really like you, too,” you say back to him, feeling tongue-tied. The mood had recently been more playful and sexy, but you don’t mind this sentimental turn. You feel good and safe with Adam. And here you are, with him inside of you, hearing that he really likes you. You can’t deny that you’ve had interest in him over the years. Even when you were with other guys, you still occasionally thought about Adam, but never considered it a possibility that your friendship could go to another level. Maybe it could now. You don’t know if you just have this one night together, but you’re going to savor the moment while it lasts.

You kiss, and Adam’s tongue probes your mouth, just as his cock fills you deeply. He nibbles on your lip, and your cunt clenches around him. You grind into each other, with your breath hot against each other’s ears. You put your hand on his ass, like you want to press him even further into you. You wish to meld into one.

Adam rises back up into a kneeling position. He starts rubbing your clit in time with his movements. It’s almost too much to bear, and you sputter, “oh fuuuck…Adam.” You can see he’s happy that he’s turned you into a noisy, squirming mess. The pleasure grows into a final explosive burst, and Adam clasps one of your hands, as if to steady you.

You brace yourself to continue fucking; it feels like he’s already excavated a small cave inside of you. You’re not surprised at his stamina after witnessing his energy on stage. While you’re kind of tired, you go on moving your body in rhythm with his. His thrusting picks up in intensity, and then you feel his cock twitch inside of you as he lets out a raspy moan. He lowers his face to yours, and you kiss. He pushes into you a couple more times, and you delight in the warmth between your legs.

After he rolls off of you, you turn onto your side and move a hand to his small patch of chest hair, as he holds his arm around you. You breathe in his scent, feeling very satisfied. “I guess it’s a little late for me to go back now,” you say. Adam squeezes you and replies, “oh, you’re not going anywhere.” You think of how you haven’t brought anything for staying the night, but aren’t too concerned.

You ask, “So was this Gala a special enough event?” Adam smiles and answers, “For sure, it surpassed my expectations.” You lift your head to give him some soft, lingering kisses before cuddling against him again.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Adam begins, “but I usually like showering off after a gig, it’s not to do with you.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I was just going to use the bathroom-”

“Go ahead, I’ll go in after you.”

You get up to go to the bathroom, and think how you could join Adam in the shower. So after he takes his turn in the bathroom, you go in the shower together. You don’t expect anything else to happen at this hour after everything you’ve done, but it’s nice to be naked with him under the warm water. You stand in front of Adam as he lathers you up, slightly teasing you with his touch. You return the favor, and then face each other and kiss, with your bodies pressed tightly together.

After stepping out of the shower, you see two bathrobes hanging on the door hook. You put one on, and give the other to Adam, who giggles, and says, “oh, like his and hers?” He looks so adorable in the white bathrobe. “You can use my toothbrush, you know,” Adam offers. As intimate as you’ve been with him, you still feel a little funny taking his brush, so you say you’ll be fine, and just use your finger.

When you get back into the bedroom, Adam gets out a pair of pajamas and hands you the top, “we can split them.” You pull the shirt over your head as he slides into the pajama pants. You admire his build again, and blush a little thinking of how you were rubbing yourself all over him. You hope he doesn’t think you’re nuts, but he seemed to be into everything you were doing. Also, he’s the one who rubbed a bow across you.

While you’re drowsy, your mind is racing with thoughts about how much you like Adam, and wondering where things will go from here. You don’t want to go back to seeing him every few years on tour. You wonder if something will change now. You’re only a few hours from New York, so could see each other more often. You ponder whether he’s ready for a relationship after the break up. You’d even look forward to spending time with Lila, but know that’s getting way ahead of yourself. This is a start, and you’ll have to see what happens.

You get back into bed with Adam, in the spooning position. “Again, it was such a great night,” he tells you.

“You don’t think I’m crazy, I mean, that stuff I was doing?” You can’t help but be somewhat blunt to try to put the worries out of your mind.

“Sexy? Yes. Crazy? No. Besides, if you’re crazy, I guess that makes two of us.” You’re content with that answer. Adam continues, “I don’t have to be anywhere till later in the afternoon tomorrow, so we can have some more fun the first part of the day.” You tell him that sounds good, and say goodnight to each other. You drift off to sleep, anticipating what the new day will bring.

#beastie boys #nswf fanfiction #the scoop

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strangertheory · 3 years

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I’ll admit I’ve been very skeptical about the DID theory, but your most recent post discussing the “layers” was mind blowing to me. I’m still standing back to see how things play out, since it is a theory, but reading the first “layer”, I 100% can see that being part of the plot. The rest is a little more abstract and I’m curious to see how they would write it in if this theory is true. Thanks to you and Kaypeace for your posts on this theory, they’re interesting!

[This is a follow-up Ask referring to this earlier post.]

Thanks for Asking! I have a lot of thoughts on the possible “layers” going on in the story, but I find it challenging to put into words what my ideas are sometimes because I don’t consider myself a very good writer. I can’t promise that anything I write in this reply will make a lot of sense, but I will do my best! I’ve avoided trying to explain certain thoughts I have on the layers of the scenes because they’re complicated and I hadn’t been sure how many fans would have an interest in them since there’s already such a small number of fans interested in the interpretation that the story is about a DID System in the first place. This is yet a sub-theory of that theory! But I’m really excited that you asked. I will try to explain as best I can.

Please keep in mind that although kaypeace21 and I both theorize that Stranger Things is about a DID System (her blogpost about which characters are alters is excellent and I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it yet), we each have our own interpretations of the DID theory that are sometimes very different from each other’s. Her analyses are based on the theory that the alters, internal worlds, and traumas in Will’s mind have escaped his subconsciousness through supernatural means and have become real. I see her interpretation as one possible explanation for the events in the series and I do like that interpretation a lot. I think it’s a very compelling theory and interpretation of the events so far. But what I’m going to describe in the rest of this blogpost is not currently representative of what kaypeace21 theorizes is going on in the series. This “second layer” interpretation that I’ve considered is based on the idea that there are no real superpowers in the story at all and that they exist strictly within internal worlds or in the imagination of the storyteller.

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To explain my “second layer” theory which I also like referring to as my “story within a story” theory: I believe that some scenes (but not all scenes) that we see in Stranger Things might be metaphorical and not meant to be taken literally as they are shown, but rather seen as an artistic interpretation of certain concepts and scenarios.

Let’s look back at season 1. Imagine that a character (I’m going to say Mike because I do suspect he’s the one writing the story) is explaining the story of “what happened in 1983″ in a journal, and then a film crew had found what Mike had written down and adapted it into a series but the film crew did not know the original context of Mike’s story, and so the film crew was unaware that it was a story about Mike’s friend who has DID and that many of the characters in the story are actually alters.

“One day Will went missing and then a girl who said her name was Eleven showed up. She was scared and said that she knew Will but that he was ‘hiding’ and that she could help us find him in the ‘Upside Down.’ She told us that we absolutely couldn’t go tell any adults because it wasn’t safe and that ‘bad men’ were after her. I hid El in my closet upstairs when my mom came home unexpectedly. Mom told me that she wants me to feel like I can talk to her. (“All this that’s been going on with Will. I want you to feel like you can talk to me. I’m here for you!”) Later, Dustin and Lucas and I helped find clothes and a blonde wig for El. We made sure that my mom didn’t see El while she was at my house. We snuck into the school with El and tried to get to the radio in the AV Club Room, but Mr. Clarke found us and reminded us that we should be attending Will’s memorial assembly. Oops. (Thankfully Mr. Clarke didn’t ask too many questions about El and he believed our story that she’s a cousin from Sweden!) Attending Will’s funeral was a funny experience since we knew that he was actually alive after El channeled him on the walkie talkie (”Like Professor X!”) Eventually Nancy found out about El (”Is that my dress?”) and so did Joyce and Hopper and we worked together to put together a sensory deprivation tank because El remembered that she could enhance her ability to reach into the ‘Upside Down’ that way. We set up a sensory deprivation pool in the school gym. Joyce thanked El for everything that she was doing for Will and told her that if she ever got scared that she should let her know and that she’d be with her the whole time. El was able to reach out with her mind and find Will in the Upside Down. She found him in the Upside Down in Castle Byers, barely conscious. She told Will that his mom was coming to get him, and Will whispered back ‘hurry.’ Then El became upset as Will faded away into the darkness and her connection to him weakened. She took her goggles off and sat up in the water, panicking. Joyce held her close and told her that everything was ok. Joyce and Hopper went into the Upside Down to find Will and Hopper gave Will CPR until he regained consciousness. Then the Party got to visit Will at the hospital once he was feeling a bit better, and we told him all about the adventures that we’d had and that we’d “made a new friend” named “Eleven.” (”Like the number?”) Dustin said that El was “basically a wizard” but I insisted that she’s much more like a Yoda.”

So. I recognize that I skipped many scenes in the above example summary of how author Mike Wheeler might retell the story of “what happened in 1983,” but I skipped scenes because I want to primarily focus on the connection between El and Will that is represented in season 1 and set aside what is going on with the other characters for a moment. But if you re-read the summary that I wrote above you might realize that the way in which I described season 1 could be interpreted (at its core) as the non-fiction story of a bunch of kids finding their friend who went missing in the woods, realizing that the person they’re interacting with is no longer Will but a new individual (an alter, a distinctly separate state of consciousness and separate self), and then going on an adventure as they try to sort out the best way to “find Will” and bring him back while also becoming friends with El and protecting her from the “bad men” that she says are after her. The ‘Upside Down’ is a space in the DID System’s subconsciousness that is an internal world. The innocent creativity of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas as they try to find an outfit and a wig for El to wear to school is very sweet. The scene in which they accidentally run into Mr. Clarke when they are trying to break into the AV Club room becomes even more charming when you realize that Mr. Clarke does not appear to recognize El (but Mike, Dustin, and Lucas appear very nervous that he might realize something strange is going on!) Attending Will’s memorial service with El at their side gains an amusing layer of narrative irony, and Joyce’s protective parental affection for El gains new layers of significance. Every moment in the story changes if we imagine that the story we are seeing on screen is like a creative theater performance telling the story of “what happened” and each alter in the series is represented by their own individual actor on screen.

Are there moments in season 1 that break this “second layer” theory that I’ve considered? Arguably there are. I consider this a theory-in-progress. But the key concept of this “second layer” theory is that the story is perhaps not meant literally but is meant as a story that is artistically representative of the experiences that alters in a DID System might have. Many films and tv shows that portray fictional characters with DID approach telling their stories as an outside observer might and without taking into account the individuality of each alter, alters’ experiences in internal worlds, or the way that alters might have different understandings of our reality when they’re very new to the outside world and are fronting (controlling the body) for the first time. Perhaps Stranger Things is taking a new approach.

You’re probably wondering how I carry this “second layer” theory into season 2 and especially season 3 in which we finally see Will and El in more scenes together. I might write a longer blogpost about it at some point. But I believe that, if I were to assume that my “second layer” theory is correct (it’s just one of a few very different theories I’ve considered), that it is possible that significant portions of season 3 take place in an internal world or a dream in which characters that exist in Will’s life are now NPCs or alters. This would make Will’s statement “What if we locked him out here with us?” incorrect. What if Will should have technically said “What if we locked him in here with us?” What if “the Gate” is specifically the doorway through which alters need to pass in order to front in the body in the external world? As I’ve mentioned in a few other posts: I theorize that El is a gatekeeper alter. I suspect that Hopper is also a gatekeeper and that he has been mentoring El. In summary: I often wonder if Will is not always entirely “awake” and if many scenes are taking place in a liminal space between his conscious and subconscious, between reality and his dreamlike experiences in an internal world.

You might be interested in reading a summary of my observations regarding how Will and El do not interact with each other in any scenes in season 1 or season 2 directly in this older blogpost that I made about the parallels between El and Will. I think it might interest you a lot and provide more context to my “second layer” theory if you haven’t read this older post before. I am infinitely fascinated by how Will and El parallel each other so closely and yet rarely interact. I think that this is an intentional consequence of whatever secrets the writers have in store for us in future seasons and I cannot wait to find out what those secrets are. I hope that the connection between El and Will is going to be explored more in season 4.

How might we expect the layers to be peeled back in the series itself if the writers decided to reveal this “second layer” existed beneath the current story? I think that they could reveal things to us a few ways if this “second layer” does exist. Perhaps we could see a character meeting with a therapist and a medical professional would openly name the condition and describe what the characters have been dealing with in a way that provides very new “second layer” context to earlier events in the series. (Sidenote: Back in the 80s it was called “multiple personality disorder” and we might have characters in the series refer to it that way since it takes place in the 1980s, but that term is outdated and it should be referred to as “dissociative identity disorder” or “DID” today.) Perhaps we might see them artistically or literally represent concepts like co-consciousness (two alters being conscious and aware in the body at the same time) or have characters transform back and forth into each other while sitting in a chair in order to represent them taking turns fronting in the same body.

Or perhaps this “second layer” theory that I’ve described is insisting on too much artistry and metaphor and the real “second layer” is that the vast majority of the story so far has taken place in internal worlds and Hawkins itself is an internal world. (I have wondered if this might be why Hawkins doesn’t exist in the real world even though other locations referenced in Stranger Things do exist: Chicago, Indianapolis, etc.) If that were the case maybe we’ll see the shared body of the DID System for the first time in a future season which may (or may not) resemble any of the actors we’ve seen portray characters so far. But from everything that we have seen so far I theorize that the host is most often known by the name Will in the external world. (We've had both Will Byers and William "Billy" Hargrove canonically referred to as hosts. And we have "Will the Wise" who I suspect is also an alter.)

Thank you for your Ask! I hope that I was able to explain some my thoughts in a vaguely coherent way. I really should do a larger post breaking down every single scene between seasons 1 and 3 and how this “second layer” interpretation of the story could apply, but I haven’t had the time and I’ve been wary of doing it since I’m not sure how it would be received. But maybe I’ll do that sometime soon if enough people have an interest in it.

#stranger things #stranger things theories #the did theory

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hollymartinswrites · 5 years

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Chapters: 7/? Fandom: IT - Stephen King, IT (Movies - Muschietti) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh Characters: Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough, Mike Hanlon, Original Child Character(s) Additional Tags: Fix-It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Domestic, Light Angst, Family Feels, Childhood Trauma, Adoption, Kid Fic, Adopted Children, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Marriage, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier Are Parents, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Catholicism, Richie Tozier Has Issues, Extended Tozier Family, Medical Examinations, Stephen King References

Summary:

Eddie and Richie embark on the most terrifying experience of all—parenthood. Or, the author desperately needed a domestic, family fix-it for Richie and Eddie and it turned into a much longer, angstier exploration than I expected.

Chapter VII: Eddie struggles while he and Richie search for answers about their daughter. But perhaps there's light in the darkness.

“This is crazy,” Eddie muttered, straightening and walking away from the desk. “Absolutely fucking crazy.”

“Eds, come on,” Richie implored him, turning away from the open laptop screen where Mike’s face gazed up at him. “This is interesting stuff.”

“Interesting but bullshit.”

“You don’t know that,” Richie insisted.

“No, but I do know our daughter isn’t a fucking science experiment,” Eddie declared, whirling around, his hands waving wildly. “This is real life, not that show on Netflix.”

Richie sighed as Mike hurriedly said, “I’m not saying Tess is that, I’m just saying, we have evidence of children with...with…”

“Powers?” Eddie provided, raising an eyebrow. “Like fucking Superman or something? Come the fuck on.”

“Charlie McGee claimed to start exhibiting pyrokinetic abilities as a toddler,” Mike said, flipping through a stack of papers. “It’s all right here in that Rolling Stone article from 1980.”

“And in the same article, it’s explained that her parents were mentally ill drug addicts and that the ‘explosion’ she caused with her mind was from an anti-government terrorist attack, Mike,” Eddie continued. “It says it right there in the link you sent us. Besides, even if this is true, our daughter isn’t exactly setting things on fire with her mind.”

“No, but I did find something that sounds an awful lot like what Tess is doing,” Mike continued.

“She’s doing nothing but being a kid,” Eddie said, exasperated. He looked at Richie. “I’m done with this. You want to stay up all night talking conspiracy theories and thinking our daughter is something out of The X-Files, go ahead, but I’m not listening to anymore of this.”

“Why not?” Richie begged. “How is any of this any crazier than what we went through?”

Eddie closed his eyes and sighed, a prickling of fear spreading through his body. It had to be crazy, it had to be, because if it wasn’t, then Pennywise wasn’t the worst of what this universe was capable of.

“Here,” Mike said suddenly, “I’m sending you some more links.”

A new email appeared in Richie’s inbox and he quickly opened it, clicking the first link. It was an article from an academic journal.

“The fuck’s this?” Richie mumbled, trying to make sense of the scholarly jargon in the first paragraph.

“There’s a girl out there, well, a teenager, and she has exhibited a lot of the same things Tess has done,” Mike explained. “She’s been studied by several different universities and they all admit, no one has given such accurate results in multiple tests.”

“Tests in what?” Richie asked.

“ESP, telepathy, clairvoyance, even astral projection,” Mike said, sounding terribly excited. “And she’s not the only one. She claims there are others like her out there.”

“That’s it,” Eddie groaned, rubbing at his eyes, “I’m going to bed. You and Mike have fun. I’ll handle the Tooth Fairy tonight since you’re so busy.”

Richie waved his hand distractedly as he squinted at the screen, clearly engrossed with the article. Eddie rolled his eyes, said good night to Mike, and walked out of their home office. He glanced at his watch. It was near midnight. He hadn’t stayed up this late on purpose in a long fucking time.

Quietly, he inched into Lydia’s room and reached into his pocket for his wallet. She was fast asleep, starfished on her bed, and Eddie allowed himself a relieved smile. He glanced at her nightstand, on which sat a piece of paper with the words FOR THE TOOTH FAIRY written on it in crayon with an arrow pointing to said tooth. Eddie was once again grateful he had had the forethought years ago to insist that the Tooth Fairy was too busy to go digging under pillows all night. Quickly, he slipped the dollar bill in the tooth’s place and, just a quickly, crept out of her room and down the hall.

He passed the office, and could hear Richie and Mike talking behind the closed door. His shoulders drooped, and he fought the desire to walk in there and demand Richie stop freaking himself out and come to bed. But Eddie had the sneaking suspicion Richie needed this, even if it was all bullshit.

And it had to be. It was bad enough they lived in a world where an ageless entity from space could terrorize children, erase their memories, and know their deepest fears. Eddie had to draw the line somewhere. Superheroes, magic, whatever, didn’t exist. His daughter was just that; his daughter. A little girl...with just an odd ability that had to have a somewhat rational explanation.

He opened his hand and gazed down at the tooth in his palm. He sighed, went to their closet, and found the leather travel bag. He unzipped it, took out the tiny jar, unscrewed the top and placed the tooth in it. He returned the jar and bag back to the closet. He still found it a somewhat creepy practice to keep their daughter’s baby teeth but Richie had insisted it was totally normal (“Besides, she can make a necklace out of them when she gets older, Eds!”).

Eddie closed the closet door and turned towards the bed. It looked terribly inviting. He was about halfway to collapsing in it when the door creaked open, and a little face peeked through.

“Tess?” he said softly. He headed to the door and opened it fully. “What are you doing up, sweetheart? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Daddy,” she whispered, her voice thin.

“What is it?” he asked, crouching down. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Her mouth fell open, and for a split second, Eddie thought she was about to vomit. Instead, she slumped, as if she was a marionette whose strings had just been cut. She remained standing, but her eyes dimmed and her body appeared boneless.

“Tess? Tess, answer me,” Eddie said firmly, gripping her little arms as cold fear gripped his heart. “Tess, sweetheart, look at me. Answer me.”

A great shuddering gasp escaped her and this time, her legs gave out fully. He gathered her into his arms and stood, repeating her name desperately.

“Daddy,” she repeated, slurring slightly and her head lolling, “Papa’s...get ‘im.”

“Tess, baby, just breathe with me and keep your eyes open, okay?” Eddie hurried to the office and kicked open the door. Richie jumped and immediately paled when he saw Tess languid in his arms.

“Oh, God, Tess, Tess,” he gasped, rushing up to his husband and daughter. “Tess, look at me, please, kiddo.” “Get your car keys, and wake Lydia, we’re taking her back to the hospital,” Eddie said, shifting her in his arms.

Tess turned her bleary gaze to Richie. She reached out for him.

“Papa,” she mumbled.

“I’m right here, baby,” Richie said, his voice thick, taking her little face in his shaking hands.

“You…” she shuddered, blinked, and all at once, was their daughter again, her eyes clear and her voice strong. She burst into tears. “You almost flew away!” she wailed, as she all but launched herself out of Eddie’s arms and threw her own around Richie’s neck. Both men stumbled.

“Tess, I…” Richie looked at Eddie over her head, his own eyes wide and frightened. “I’m right here. It’s okay, kiddo, I’m right here. Are you alright? Does your head hurt or something?”

“Don’t fly away,” she begged through tears.

“Hold her,” Eddie said and maneuvered her into Richie’s arms. “I’m starting the car. We’re going to the hospital.”

“What was that?” Richie demanded over Tess’s sobs. “Another seizure?”

“I don’t know what it was,” Eddie said. “But I’m not waiting for another one.”

Pennywise couldn’t have been all-knowing, Eddie realized, because if It had, It would’ve shown Eddie and Richie this—their daughter sedated and lying, helpless and vulnerable, on the table before the yawning mouth of an MRI machine. This was worse than the leper or Paul Bunyan’s grinning razor-sharp teeth; worse than losing your childhood memories—because now, now they were really fucking helpless.

“It’ll take about ten days before we get the results back,” the neurologist explained. “And she’ll definitely be feeling the effects of the sedation afterwards. She should spend the next twenty-four hours resting.”

“Neither of us are working today,” Eddie muttered, clutching the shitty, cold coffee a nurse had given him earlier. He glanced back at Richie, but he was clearly lost inside his own head and not listening. He was sitting in a seat against the wall as they waited for the procedure to finish. Lydia—poor, patient Lydia who had been woken up in the middle of the night and thrilled by the sight of a dollar bill on her night stand, only to be told to put on her shoes, they were going to the hospital—was curled up, asleep in his lap, his jacket around her protectively.

Eddie sighed and rubbed at his forehead. The MRI technician smiled sympathetically at him.

“I know it seems to take forever,” he said, “but we’re nearly done.”

Eddie nodded. He was familiar with the process, having gone through it when the migraines became too much. Myra had insisted on second and third opinions. Eddie clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. The idea of Tess waking up after an MRI only to have Myra, or worse, his mother, waiting for her turned his stomach.

“How can she sleep through all that banging?” Richie muttered suddenly. Eddie remembered that Richie had never even seen an MRI machine until now.

“It’s loud, I know,” the technician said gently, “but between the earplugs and sedation, she doesn’t notice a thing.”

If he had said that to make them feel better, it only did the opposite. Eddie stood and stepped towards Richie, brushing his husband’s hair off his forehead.

“You need a haircut,” he muttered.

Richie glanced up and somehow, smiled.

“That’s the least of what I need right now,” he sighed.

Eddie leaned down and kissed the top of his head, uncaring that the technician was less than three feet away. Richie smiled again and for a moment, Eddie thought that if he could keep Richie smiling, then maybe they could get through this.

Recovery rooms had always been Eddie’s least favorite part of a hospital. He hated the waiting, the fact that you were trapped with other patients, that you had virtually no privacy. But now, he especially hated that they were surrounded by other children and their families, all nervous and on-edge.

Tess was one of the lucky ones. She hadn’t gone through surgery, but the doctor still wanted her to sufficiently recoup from the sedation before she went home. Richie and Eddie were miserable.

Eddie sighed and shifted Lydia, still sleeping, in his arms. Richie had needed a break and also desperately wanted to hold Tess’s hand as she slept. Eddie remembered how despondent he had been when he had woken up after surgery in Derry, only to discover he was the one patient in the recovery room without any visitors waiting for him. It was only later that he discovered the doctors had not allowed a single Loser in, seeing as they were not family and not listed as an emergency contact. Luckily, Mike knew one of the nurses, and when Eddie was transferred back to his own room, they were all there, beaming at him—except for Richie,who still looked terrified, as if certain he was gazing at a mirage.

“She looks so tiny,” Richie suddenly whispered.

Eddie blinked and turned his gaze to his youngest daughter, her little chest rising and falling steadily. He nodded.

“Even tinier than when we first got her,” he agreed.

“She was underweight,” Richie continued, his thumb running over her little hand. “Remember how light she was?”

Eddie nodded again and rested his cheek on the top of Lydia’s head. He closed his eyes and immediately saw Tess in their doorway, hours earlier. He sighed.

“She looked like you,” he whispered. Richie turned towards him, confusion on his face. “During her seizure tonight. She looked like you when you were caught…” he lowered his voice, “when you were in the deadlights.”

Richie swallowed.

“Maybe that’s what she saw,” he replied quietly.

“The deadlights?”

“No, me,” Richie said, reaching with his other hand to stroke Tess’s hair. “She said, don’t fly away. Maybe she saw me in the deadlights, too.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie noticed movement. He glanced over, and spotted a nurse hovering across the room, who quickly looked away. Eddie frowned. He doubted the nurse could overhear them, but he felt nervousness form in the pit of his stomach. Perhaps he was a fan of Richie’s, but surely no nurse would dare approach him in a recovery room, right?

“Eddie, that girl Mike told us about,” Richie whispered, his eyes wide, “I think you should read what he sent.”

“Rich, not now, please.”

“It sounds like...like this is real. She’s seeings things from before she was born. How is that possible?”

Eddie spotted the nurse again, who was making quite a show of reading a chart a few beds away. Eddie frowned.

“Can we at least wait for the MRI results before we jump to conclusions?” he begged.

Richie followed his gaze and spotted the hovering nurse, too. He swallowed and looked back down at their sleeping daughter.

“Alright, Eds,” he sighed. “Whatever you say.”

The next ten days went by in a blur of family visits and constant check-ins from the Losers. Apparently when a small child gets her brain scanned, it’s all hands on deck. Richie’s parents and sister babysat, brought food, and distracted the girls while Eddie and Richie walked around in a daze, waiting for the results that could potentially change their lives.

Mike Facetimed everyday, never bringing up any of his research, but simply listening. Bill, stuck in Europe with limited wifi on a movie shoot, sent goofy videos and uplifting emails when he could. Bev called multiple times a day and Ben fucking flew in, because he was just that sort of kind-hearted bastard.

“Bev can’t get away from work until Sunday,” he explained gently. The results were due to come in on Friday. “She wanted to be here.”

“It’s fine,” Richie said, faking a smile. “You guys are acting like this is a wedding. We’re just getting a bunch of paperwork telling us what the fuck is going on in our daughter’s brain. No big deal.”

Ben offered one of his patented You’re making jokes about being sad and that’s sad faces and Richie just shrugged.

“We’re glad you’re here,” Eddie admitted softly. “Besides, Lydia’s thrilled.”

“That’s true,” Richie said, “Lyds loves you, Ben. I think she wants you and Bev to adopt her.”

Ben laughed gently and ran a hand through his hair.

“Tess still needs to warm up to me,” he said.

“Tess still needs to warm up to me,” Richie shot back.

Eddie rolled his eyes.

“She adores you, Rich,” he said, brewing another pot of coffee. “She even lets you read to her now.”

“Yeah, Berenstain Bears, not Dr. Seuss,” Richie muttered. “I hate the fucking Berenstain Bears.”

Ben laughed and squeezed Richie’s shoulder affectionately.

“Having kids seems a lot more complicated than I thought,” he admitted.

“Trust me, man, you have no idea,” Richie said, scrubbing his hand over his face.

Friday came in a blink. Ben and Richie’s sister Sarah watched the girls while Richie and Eddie went to get the results. They drove together in tense silence, waited in the waiting room silently, and when they were finally called into the office, still said very little.

Later, Eddie would realize that for something that caused such overwhelming anxiety for so long, it was all very anticlimactic. The results showed nothing in Tess’s brain. Once again, the doctor insisted there was no physical reason for her apparent seizures. It was good news...right?

As they walked out, stunned and exhausted, both men were lost in their own thoughts. Eddie felt weak with relief but he still couldn’t get the image of his daughter in that MRI machine. Time to make another appointment with his therapist, he figured.

By the time he reached the door, he suddenly realized Richie was not beside him. He turned around and spotted Richie down the hall, hurrying after him.

“Where were you?” Eddie asked tiredly.

“Nowhere, nothing,” Richie said quickly. “Let’s go home.”

“Rich?”

“I wanna see the girls,” Richie continued, rushing through the doors.

Eddie sighed and shook his head, following his husband.

“But that’s good news!” Ben exclaimed when they got home. “Isn’t it?”

“It is,” Eddie said, running a hand through his hair. “I mean, she has nothing physically wrong in her brain so thank God. But we still don’t have clear answers.”

Sarah frowned and shook her head.

“There has to be one,” she insisted. “Did they talk about medication or anything?”

“A bit,” Eddie sighed. “I just...something about it feels wrong. I can’t explain it.”

“What does Richie think?” Ben asked.

“I...I don’t know,” Eddie admitted.

“Where is Richie?” Sarah asked, suddenly looking around her. She peeked into the living room where Lydia was playing with the Wii. “Lyds, did you see where your dad went?”

“I think he’s in Tess’s room,” she answered. “Aunt Sarah, it’s your turn to play. You promised.”

“I know but—”

“Please,” Lydia begged, putting on her best puppy dog eyes.

Sarah sighed but smiled affectionately. “Duty calls,” she said, and walked into the living room.

“I should go check on Richie,” Eddie said tiredly.

“Sure,” Ben said before placing his arm on Eddie’s shoulder. “Listen, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, but is there something else going on? Like, you and Richie don’t seem...yourselves.”

Eddie tried to offer a smile but Ben saw right through it. He looked genuinely concerned and Eddie had to admit, it was nice to have someone else worry, too.

“It’s fine, we’re just...figuring this out,” he admitted softly. “I’ll be right back.”

He walked down the hall and knocked on Tess’s half-opened door. He peeked in. Richie was sitting on her bed with Tess on his knee, speaking quietly to her.

“You two okay?” he asked.

“Eds, come here,” Richie said quickly. “And close the door.”

Eddie did so with a sense of unease. He stepped towards the bed and gazed down at his husband and daughter expectantly. Richie turned back to Tess.

“Now, kiddo, tell Daddy what you told me,” he said gently. “Just the same.”

“Okay,” Tess said, shrugging as she looked up at Eddie. “‘Member when I fell down?”

Eddie huffed a laugh.

“Yes, I definitely remember that, sweetheart,” he said.

“Well,” Tess began, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, “I fell because Papa fell and it hurted.”

“Papa fell?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Yep, he was flying,” she said. She turned back to Richie. “How come you don’t fly at home?”

Richie shook his head.

“Because I can’t really fly,” he admitted.

“But you did in the cave.”

“I wasn’t flying,” Richie explained gently. “I was floating.”

A wave of nausea rolled in Eddie’s stomach.

“Richie, stop this,” he insisted.

“Wait, listen, go on, Tess. Tell Daddy the rest.”

“Daddy saved you,” she said, shrugging. “And then Daddy got hurted. And you was sad but now it’s okay.”

“Yes, it’s all okay now,” Richie agreed, kissing her on her forehead. “Why did Daddy float?”

“‘Cause of the light. Aunt Bev saw it, too,” she answered nonchalantly. “Can I have a snack?”

“Of course you can,” Richie said happily, hugging her tightly before placing her on her feet. “Go on, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ben are in the kitchen.”

She rushed out. Richie and Eddie stared at one another.

“You can’t deny it, Eds,” Richie said, his voice oddly light. “She sees our past. I don’t know how or why, but she does.”

Eddie swallowed and suddenly realized his hands were shaking. He closed them into fists.

“It?” he whispered.

Richie shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “This is something else. Like something you’re born with.”

“Richie…”

“And earlier, at the hospital, a nurse stopped me,” he said, standing and reaching into his pocket. “He was in the recovery room with us last week. I saw him looking over at us and I thought he was just being a dick but he heard us. He stopped me on our way out today and gave me this.”

He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out and handed it to Eddie. Eddie looked down at an unfamiliar name.

“What’s this supposed to be?” he asked.

“He said he used to work with this guy, he has what Tess has,” Richie said excitedly.

“For fuck’s sake,” Eddie sighed. “This could just be a crazy person. That nurse could be a crazy person.”

“His name is in one of the articles Mike sent us,” Richie insisted. “About that girl.”

“And? What are we supposed to do about it?”

“We can reach out to them.”

“No fucking way,” Eddie said, raisng his voice in shock. “You wanna read articles or look up theories on the Internet, fucking fine, but there is no way we are opening ourselves to some fucking lunatics. Especially when it comes to our daughter.”

“I’m not saying we introduce Tess to them, I’m saying we ask some questions.”

“Absolutely not,” Eddie hissed.

“So what do you want to do?” Richie asked angrily. “Wait around until this happens again? Throw some meds at her and hope for the best?”

Eddie threw his hands up and turned away.

“This is crazy, Rich, totally fucking crazy,” he gasped.

“Eds—”

A knock at the door. Ben stuck his head in.

“You guys want lunch or something?” Ben asked gently. “Tess and Lyds are hungry.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Richie said, taking a deep breath. “We’ll be right there.”

He nodded, gave a penetrating look at his two friends, and left. Richie stood and gazed down at Eddie, his eyes soft. He took Eddie’s face in his hands, caressing his cheekbones with this thumbs.

“We need to figure this out,” he whispered, “and I can’t do it alone.”

Eddie sighed, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. He didn’t see Richie smile but he felt it in his kiss.

Life went back to normal—or as normal as it ever was in the Tozier household. Bev still offered to fly out but there wasn’t any point, so after thanking him profusely and offering to visit soon, Richie and Eddie sent Ben back home to his wife. He looked oddly reluctant to leave, but he hugged his two friends tightly and told them he loved them before his flight. Eddie caught Richie blinking rapidly before turning away.

Sarah still visited often, along with Richie’s mother, but they had their own responsibilities, too. And, as far as the medical world as concerned, Tess was physically fine.

Soon, they had less than a week until the new school year, and the Tozier family was busy. Last minute supplies had to be bought, schedules finalized, Tess reassured constantly about the safety and fun of preschool, and teachers informed about her seizures. The preschool took the information well, and assured them that they had plenty of experience with children with epilepsy. Richie and Eddie considered explaining that Tess did not have that, but let it go. Perhaps it was easier to pretend she had an ordinary diagnosis.

Lydia and Tess’s first days started together and, in an effort to make the preschool drop off as easy and meltdown-free as possible, Richie volunteered to take Tess alone. She’d still freak out but it wouldn’t be as violent if Eddie was there, they figured. Eddie agreed reluctantly. He hated the idea of his daughter breaking down at the front steps of the preschool, but he hated the idea of missing her first day even more.

“I’ll film everything,” Richie promised. “It’s only for half a day, anyway.”

Eddie nodded and finished packing her snacks and blanket. Lydia was practically vibrating with excitement, showing off her back to school outfits and re-organizing her Batman backpack. She was, both men had to admit, better at distracting and empowering Tess than they were. She spent their last day of summer vacation going on and on about the excitement of school, of how much fun she has with her friends and the nice teachers, and when Tess starts kindergarten next year, she’ll just love it.

Tess listened carefully and asked many questions. Lydia, always a fan of being in charge and all-knowing, was in her element. Eddie smiled and felt his heart twist as he watched his two daughters. Perhaps everything will be okay, he thought hopefully.

That night, he and Richie helped the girls wash up, change into their pjs, lay out their first day clothes, and climb into bed. Lydia needed very little encouragement and simply kissed them both good night before asking for her copy of Ramona Quimby, Age 8, and promising not to stay up late reading. They left her room, content in the knowledge that Lydia was quite fearless and adept at rolling with the punches.

In their younger daughter’s room, Richie tucked Tess into her bed, her night light on and her eyes heavy. Eddie brushed her hair from her face and she smiled sleepily.

“You’re going to have a great day tomorrow,” he said gently.

“Yeah, you’re going to have so much fun,” Richie agreed. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Tess yawned.

“Yep,” she said, “a good day.”

“And you’re so smart and brave,” Richie continued. “You’re gonna blow everyone away tomorrow.”

“I know,” Tess replied, rubbing at her eye with the back of her hand. “‘M not scared. ‘M not scared of anything anymore.”

“Good,” Eddie said, impressed. Lydia should become a motivational speaker, he thought briefly. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”

“Nope,” Tess replied. “The nice girl showed me.”

Unease, like a blanket, fell over Richie and Eddie. They glanced at one another, both frozen. Richie licked his lips and swallowed before asking, “What girl?”

“The girl who visited me,” she yawned. “She showed me lots.”

“What did she show you?” Eddie whispered, terrified of the answer.

“Magic,” Tess replied, closing her eyes. “She says I’m magic, too.”

“Tess…”

She smiled as her breathing slowly evened out, and they knew she was falling asleep.

“She says I shine like her,” Tess whispered.

#Reddie #Reddie Fanfic #richie tozier #Eddie Kaspbrak #it chapter 2

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theteablogger · 6 years

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Diversity and character death in DAYD

(Or, “DAYD’s diversity iz pastede on yay”.)

This long-as-fuck post has been sitting in my drafts since sometime in 2015. I decided to finish and publish it because an ex-DAYDian suggested that it might still be useful. The initial idea was to examine how Andy's portrayal of various characters’ gender and sexuality had changed over time. Later, I expanded it to look at a number of different “diversity labels” that Andy applied to his characters, and how they related to who lived or died. When counting casualties, I have excluded those who were resurrected after Druim Cett.

On gender and sexuality:

First, here is each instance that I am aware of in which Andy listed his LGBTQIA characters. Unfortunately, I don’t have links for everything: most of the “20 Random Facts” lists are no longer online, I don’t want to link to chats that include DAYDians’ real names, and I only have some of the Tumblr posts in the form of .docs compiled by DAYDians on the Facebook group.

Undated: In “20 Random Facts About Luna Lovegood”, Luna is described as bisexual, but “she never [got] around to acting on it”. (A DAYDian wrote that list with Andy’s approval and with information provided by him. Later, Andy seemingly forgot about that and wrote another one that didn’t mention her sexuality.) In Susan, Colin, and Icarus’s “20 Random Facts”, Andy says that they are also bisexual. Derek’s says that he is gay, and Rowan’s implies that she is only attracted to girls. Stephen and Gwen’s “20 Random Facts” were each written by other DAYDians with Andy’s approval. Stephen’s says that he’s gay, and Gwen’s seems to imply that she dates both boys and girls, but prefers boys. Much later, in a Tumblr list of his LGBTQIA characters, Andy said that Gwen is a lesbian.

Sometime between April 2008 and July 2009: In his FAQ, Andy said, “I have no problem with slash or homosexuality. Rowan Glynnis and Malcolm Braddock both 'stir their cauldrons in their own direction.' IMHO, both Colin and Luna are bisexual.”

July 14, 2009: In the comments to his “Slash Goggles” post, Andy said, “Luna sees herself as pansexual. Gender is entirely irrelevant when she is looking for a partner of any kind, especially as she doesn't see it as a binary construct, or even a continuum, but as a physical detail as irrelevant to personhood as the color of one's hair. Colin honestly died too young to really know...certainly, he was bicurious, and he certainly liked girls, but where his sexuality would have developed can't be known when it never finished developing.” He also said that Colin, Luna, Stephen, Derek, Victoria, Rowan, Dean, and Gertie are the only characters that “fall under some form of ‘queer’” and that it would be “tokenism” to include a trans person in a group the size of Dumbledore’s Army.

July 17, 2010: Andy said that Derek, Dean, Susan, Stephen, Rowan, Vicky, Colin, and Icarus are “not strictly heteronormative”.

May 26, 2011: In the midst of a post about a lot of other things, including the Trail of Tears hike, Andy listed his "LGBTQ-spectrum characters” as follows: “Derek, Stephen, and Dean were gay, Susan, Icarus, and Colin bisexual, Michael and Terry bicurious, and Victoria and Rowan lesbians, and several of the characters have challenged the socially dictated gender roles, like Ricky fighting to keep his daughter as a single father and Susan heading up the farm and fund after Ernie’s death.”

June 5, 2011: In a chat with several DAYDians, Andy said that his LGBTQIA characters were Derek, Stephen, Dean, Icarus, Colin, Susan, Rowan, and Vicky. He further stated that Derek and Dean are gay; Icarus and Susan are bisexual; Colin is bicurious; Rowan is a “baby bull dyke”*; and Victoria could be either a lesbian or bisexual, but we’ll never know for sure because she died in the Battle of Hogwarts. He didn’t state Stephen’s specific orientation in the chat. In the comments to the LJ post in which the chat was shared, Andy acknowledged that he’d previously said that Luna is bisexual. He also mentioned for the first time that Terry is asexual.

June 15, 2011: In another chat, Andy clarified that Stephen was gay, as was Derek. He also said that Colin was bicurious, but considered himself bisexual.

September 22, 2012: In a Tumblr post listing DAYD characters and their labels, Andy said that Derek, Stephen, and Dean are gay; Malcolm is genderqueer; Terry is homoromantic/asexual; Michael is homoromantic/heterosexual; Colin, Icarus, and Victoria are bisexual; Rowan is a lesbian; and Luna is “pansexually identified”.

Later that month: In response to a Tumblr ask, Andy confirmed that Terry is homoromantic/asexual. In another response around the same time, he listed his LGBTQIA characters as follows: “Dean, Derek, Stephen, Colin, Susan, Icarus, Vicky, and Rowan out, Gwen deeply closeted maybe-lesbian-maybe-bi, Malcolm heterosexual but genderqueer, and Luna panfashionable…she likes to think of herself as pansexual but has never actually gotten the warm tinglies for anything that wasn’t cismale.” Shortly thereafter, he referred to Susan as “openly bi”.

March 5, 2013: Andy repeated that Malcolm is genderqueer/heterosexual and mentioned for the first time that they’d changed their name to Morgan.

January - February 2014: Over the course of several Tumblr asks, Andy repeated two or three times that Michael is homoromantic/heterosexual and Terry is homoromantic/asexual (but they “could be fairly called ‘a queer couple’”). He also referred to Malcolm as genderfluid.

Here’s a breakdown by character.

Colin: Bisexual according to the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ and his “20 Random Facts”, but bicurious in July 2009. Bisexual in May 2011. Bicurious in June 2011. Bicurious, but self-identifying as bisexual, later that month. Bisexual in September 2012. He is also included on the nonspecific July 2009 and July 2010 lists. Colin dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. He is very prominent in DAYD and a number of side stories, and appears as a ghost in A Peccatis.

Dean, Derek, and Stephen: Derek and Stephen are both described as gay in their “20 Random Facts” lists (Dean doesn’t have one). They are not mentioned in the FAQ post. All three are “some form of ‘queer’” in July 2009 and “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010. Starting in May 2011, they were consistently described as gay whenever Andy was specific about their sexuality. They all die during the Battle of Hogwarts. Derek and Stephen barely appear in DAYD, although they’re both in “Reasons”. Derek also has his own “Rank and File” story and appears in “Boys Will Be”. Stephen briefly shows up in a couple of Mike-and-Terry fics and appears in a flashback at the beginning of A Peccatis. Dean only comes into DAYD for the battle and is not present in any of Andy’s other fic.

Gertie: First referred to as “some form of ‘queer’” in July 2009 and never mentioned as LGBTQIA before or after that. Her gender identification and sexuality are unspecified. She dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. Gertie doesn’t appear in DAYD at all, but has three whole lines in a side story (”Turning the Tide”).

Gwen: Dates both boys and girls, but prefers boys, according to her “20 Random Facts”. She is a lesbian, according to an undated Tumblr post. Andy describes her as “deeply closeted maybe-lesbian-maybe-bi” as of September 2012, but her sexuality is not mentioned on his “labels” list that month. She is also absent from the FAQ post and the July 2009, July 2010, May 2011, and June 2011 lists. Gwen dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. She is only mentioned once in DAYD. Her sole significant appearance in any of Andy’s fic is in “Wanted”, which portrays a sexual encounter between her and Jack Sloper.

Icarus: Bisexual according to his “20 Random Facts”. He is absent from the FAQ post and from the list of “queer” characters in July 2009, but is described as “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010. Icarus is consistently referred to as bisexual starting in May 2011. He is murdered in Sluagh (before Druim Cett, so he isn’t resurrected). He is only mentioned once in DAYD, but is fairly important in Sluagh and features in a couple of side stories.

Luna: Bisexual in the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ post and her “20 Random Facts”, pansexual in July 2009, “pansexually identified” in September 2012, and “panfashionable” later that month. She is absent from the July 2010 and May 2011 lists of non-heteronormative and/or LGBTQIA characters, and Andy explicitly stated that she never actually feels sexual attraction for anyone other than cisgender men. luna survives DAYD, in which she is very much present, and is out of the country during Sluagh. She also appears in A Peccatis and some side stories.

Malcolm/Morgan: Implied to be gay in the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ post. First mentioned as genderqueer and heterosexual in September 2012 and consistently described as genderqueer (or genderfluid) and heterosexual thereafter. Absent from the July 2009, July 2010, May 2011, and June 2011 lists. Their gender identification is never mentioned in fic; it only appears in three responses to Tumblr asks and an infodump on the Facebook group. Morgan is also one of only two Slytherins to join Dumbledore’s Army: Andy portrayed them as an effeminate stereotype alongside Terrence Runcorn’s hypermasculinity. They live, perhaps only because they become too frightened to remain in the DA following the murder of their housemate. Morgan is barely in DAYD, and their only other appearances are in a snippet with Renny and in a short fic recounting their departure from the DA.

Michael and Terry: See this post. They both die in the Battle of Hogwarts. They are very prominent in DAYD and Andy’s other fic, and they also appear in a flashback at the beginning of A Peccatis. Andy had planned to write another fic, called Oubliette, in which the two of them would turn out to have been in limbo since the Battle of Hogwarts, and a “voodoo queen” named Mama Nola (yes, really) would offer to resurrect them ~for a price~.

Rowan: Her “20 Random Facts” heavily implies that she is attracted to girls. She’s implied to be a lesbian in the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ post, first specifically called a lesbian in May 2011, and consistently described as such after that. She is also included on the nonspecific July 2009 and July 2010 lists. Rowan dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. She has an important role in DAYD, but is not very prominent in spite of that. Rowan appears in a few side stories and shows up in A Peccatis as a horribly mutilated ghost.

Susan: Bisexual according to her “20 Random Facts”. She is absent from the July 2009 list, but is described as “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010 and as bisexual in May 2011 and thereafter--except that Andy didn’t mention it in the September 2012 “labels” list. Susan never feels or expresses attraction to anyone but cisgender men in fic: although her “20 Random Facts” does say that she sleeps with women after Ernie dies, that is the only time it’s ever mentioned. Later, Andy did some Supernatural crossover Susan/Ruby fanart that may or may not be considered DAYD canon. Susan survives DAYD and Sluagh and is extremely important throughout the entire trilogy. She also appears in quite a few side stories.

Victoria: “Some form of ‘queer’ in July 2009 and “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010. She is called a lesbian in May 2011, but described as either a lesbian or bisexual in June 2011, and bisexual in September 2012. She dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. Her only actual appearance in DAYD is when she faints on the Hogwarts Express, and she’s only in one side story and a snippet with Rowan.

The three most prominent LGBTQIA characters not involved with Dumbledore’s Army are Robin (Icarus’s Sluagh-era fuckbuddy, always referred to as gay), Brian (Irish auror who is revealed to be gay during A Peccatis), and Emerson (Malcolm’s partner, always described as genderqueer or genderfluid). Neither Robin nor Emerson appears in Andy’s fic, although Robin is in a very brief snippet written in response to a Tumblr ask. Brian died at Druim Cett, but was apparently resurrected along with everyone else.

As a side note, the “defying gender roles” business mentioned in the May 2011 LJ post is only noteworthy because Andy and all of his DAYDverse stories are so very, very gender essentialist. The examples that he gave are especially amusing to me because they both represent extremely common tropes in romance novels. For years, Harlequin and similar publishing houses have been churning out single dad romances by the dozen because they’re so popular. There are entire publishing lines dedicated to them! Also ubiquitous is the tragic young widow who “defiantly” chooses to run her late husband’s farm and raise their child single-handedly until a big, strapping, manly man (with optional Dark Past) comes along to help her. My own mother has several of those books on her shelf, most of the historical and/or Christian romance subgenres.

That was as far as I got in 2015. More recently, I looked back at Andy’s LJ post from July 17, 2010, in which he broke down the cast list by which labels fit them: people of color, non-Protestants, people with disabilities, etc. I cross-referenced those lists with casualty lists from DAYD and Sluagh. I have to admit that I haven’t read A Peccatis very closely, so if any of these characters died in that fic, I missed it.

* No, it is not okay for Andy to say things like this. Yes, he still uses this kind of language a lot.

On diversity and death:

Andy’s DA has 78 members, of which 36 are female and 42 are male (although one of the guys later identifies as genderqueer). 12 members of the canonical DA who have already graduated return for the Battle of Hogwarts. 5 of those are female; 7 are male. Of the 90 total DA members, 56 (62%) die in DAYD and Sluagh.

I’ve already noted that of the 14 LGBTQIA members of Dumbledore’s Army, 11 die. One of the three survivors (Morgan) isn’t in any fic other than DAYD, in which they exist only to make Renny look more manly, and a couple of short side stories. Susan and Luna’s sexuality is informed-only, and Andy waffled about Luna a lot.

Of 15 characters of color--Andy omitted Cho Chang--seven (Stephen, Dean, Tommy, Padma, Parvati, Romilda, and Cho) die in DAYD. Two more of these characters are maimed: Tony Goldstein loses both legs and Li Su (called Su Li in canon) loses her entire body below the waist. They later get married. Emma sustains a traumatic brain injury and her back is severely scarred. Salome is so badly injured that it takes her a year to recover.

Of the 21 non-Protestant characters on this list, 13 (Stewart, Terry, Michael, Stephen, Leslie, Wayne, Oisin, Tommy, Camellia, Padma, Parvati, Romilda, and Icarus) die and two more (Tony and Li again) are severely maimed. Salome is injured as mentioned above. Neville is scarred to the point that he develops severe, chronic back problems as a result.

Of eight characters who are themselves immigrants to the UK, or are first-generation children of immigrants, five (Ritchie, Stephen, Tommy, Padma, and Parvati) die. Li and Salome survive with severe injuries, as described above. Fritz Bagman (an OC) survives, but loses both hands.

Of four characters born with physical disabilities, two (Jack and Ernie) die. Emma is injured and scarred as previously mentioned.

Every single one of the six characters that Andy says had psychological conditions prior to DAYD (Anna, Terry, Gwen, Gertie, Jack, and Perseus) dies during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Andy also lists ten characters who are extremely rich or poor in his fic, and five of those (Ernie, Michael, Katie, Orla, and Hal) die. He indicates that six characters have criminal pasts, and two of them (Rose and Icarus) die in Sluagh. Of five characters who have substance abuse problems in DAYDverse, only one (Terry) dies.

Finally, Andy names all of the characters who are “their own definition of feminist”, i.e., every female character in Andy’s version of Dumbledore’s Army except Anna, but apparently none of the women from the canonical DA who’d already graduated, and no men at all. Again, Andy’s DA has 36 female members (of 78 total). 23 of them (too many to list) die in the Battle of Hogwarts and two more (Rose and Rachel) at Druim Cett. Another female member of Andy’s DA (Laura) dies four years after the Battle of Hogwarts from injuries sustained therein. In addition, five of the 12 original DA members who return to Hogwarts for the battle are female, and three of them (Katie, Alicia, and Cho) die.

The only student deaths in DAYD that also occur in canon are Colin Creevey’s and Fred Weasley’s. (Lavender Brown dies in part two of the film version of DH, but the book is unclear as to whether she survives being mauled by Fenrir Greyback.) Rowling does indicate that besides Fred, Colin, Tonks, and Lupin, the death toll on the side fighting against Voldemort is about fifty; however, none of the others is named. It is very unlikely that all or even most of the remaining dead are students. There were the Order of the Phoenix, staff members, Hogsmeade villagers, Aurors, house elves, centaurs, and others fighting at Hogwarts as well. Oh, and the only students below year seven who were actually present were Colin and Ginny. It was entirely Andy’s choice to have fifty-plus Hogwarts students, many as young as 14, die between the Battle of Hogwarts and Druim Cett. It was also his choice to kill them in a variety of horrible, disgusting, often degrading ways, all described in graphic detail. The text on this promotional image may as well end with, “...but they probably die horrifically.”

Most of these characters’ backgrounds are entirely of Andy’s own making, as well. Other than a handful of POC characters and one who Rowling specifically said was Jewish (Tony), the Harry Potter series is pretty terrible with regard to representation. On the surface, that seems to make Andy look pretty good. It’s important to note, though, that most of the above information about these characters is not actually included in DAYD, Sluagh, A Peccatis, or even Andy’s side stories. It mostly came up after the fact on Andy’s LJ or tumblr, in chat, in Q&As, or in “20 Random Facts” lists about the characters. Later, one of his readers might use that information in a fic of their own. When a mention of someone’s ethnicity, etc. does show up in the main trilogy, it is often presented in a problematic way, with stereotyping and fetishization of people from “exotic” races or cultures. The Patil twins are the most obvious examples of this, but someone also recently pointed out to me that the DA members constantly refer to Romilda using an ethnic slur. So while Andy’s fanfiction does have greater representation across the board than Rowling’s novels do, he handles it very poorly and it’s obvious that much of it is an afterthought. Given that he was building a cult around his fanfiction, I believe his motives were most likely to widen the DAYDverse’s demographic appeal and to get people as emotionally invested in the characters and the ‘verse as possible--and ultimately in him, because he literally called himself God in the fandom.

TL;DR: I don’t think Andy deserves much credit for “great representation” when a) it was actually hugely problematic, and b) he killed or severely injured most of his diverse cast in such gratuitously terrible ways that large chunks of both DAYD and Sluagh can only be described as torture porn.

A few other items of note:

Others have written about how despite his alleged commitment to diversity, Andy’s art and writing make it abundantly clear that everyone in his version of the DA is gorgeous and athletic. The only DA member who gains weight (Icarus) does so after the events of DAYD and as a deliberate choice for armchair-psychology reasons. Only the villains are unattractive.

Andy does casually kill off a lot of characters off-screen or with a quick one-line reference, despite criticizing Rowling for doing exactly that.

I learned from this post by ladyloveandjustice that one of the characters that Andy killed off-screen was based on a real child who had a terminal illness, wrote to JKR, and died before receiving a reply. JKR gave her a cameo in one of the novels as a tribute, and Andy added her name to a list of “the fallen” without a second thought. (Ladyloveandjustice’s sporking of all of DAYD is worth a read, actually. Or just see the wrap-up post, which nicely summarizes some of the major issues with DAYD.)

#daydverse #andythanfiction #thanfiction #andrewblake #andrewmblake #andy blake

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samtheflamingomain · 3 years

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remember when tik tok was a song?

A lot has changed in my short time on this planet. I grew up to the sound of the ole dial-up and now I can watch someone talk about why the Earth is flat for an hour from anywhere on the disc!

The way we create, consume and criticize media is one of the things whose recent evolution is probably what piques my interest the most. Not necessarily the content of the media, which is always changing, but trends in the structure behind it.

Tech has obviously improved exponentially. Health, science, education - all significantly changed in the past few decades. But same goes for the past few centuries.

Media has, necessarily, been slower to evolve. Can't have TV shows without a TV. It basically went from book to newspaper to radio to TV to Internet. There's at least a few decades between all those things, if not longer. However, from TV to today is what I'm most interested in.

For decades, for generations, TV was channel-surfing via an antenna or a satellite dish served by your cable provider. A lot of those words mean nothing to a teenager now.

I'm 26. I started with cable (10 channels), then we got satellite (500 channels), then by the time I was 16 or 17, Netflix the streaming service came out. So I'm in a very small window of people who were young enough for all of these things to happen in my childhood. 5 years older than me and you didn't get Netflix as a teen. 5 years younger and you didn't have cable as a teen. Maybe 10 years. You see the point.

Then realize that the 16 year-old of today hasn't grown up without Netflix being a household word. If the 16 year-old of today wanted to watch Peter Pan, he would boot up Disney+. I would've gone to Blockbuster and rented it for $3. If he wanted to see a kitten falling down stairs and then doing a backflip, that's probably somewhere on Youtube. If I wanted to see that as a kid, well, I'd better start looking for a very gymnastic cat with all its lives.

So to sum up so far, a lot has changed very quickly - about how we consume media. What about how it's formatted?

And how we consume it always necessarily comes before what it is we're consuming changes. Remember when "Netflix Originals" didn't exist? The platform was built, the people came, and then new media came from it.

We've seen TV shows go from the binary of "22 minutes or 44 minutes" to "however long we fucking want". The disintegration of the binary of "comedy or drama". When I was a kid, sitcoms had seasons of 22 episodes, once a week, in the fall. Drama shows usually had 16 episodes. Now Netflix puts out "Mike Tyson Mysteries", with any number of episodes in a season, with each only 11-13 minutes long, pretty much at random. Letterkenny puts out 6-episode seasons once a year on Christmas. Back in my day, we never knew if this season would be the last. Even if the last episode was a cliffhanger, there was no promise of a resolution. Sitcoms kissed the rings of the networks every year hoping to be renewed. The other day South Park announced it was making 6 more seasons and a bunch of movies.

There are a few TV formats that I consider "evolution proof" - game shows (not reality, game), soap operas, late night and standup. All of these date back to radio times and have rarely if ever changed format. I'm personally hoping that, within my lifetime, I'm able to see a change in the way standup is done. We've seen very few attempts to break the mold, and the only example I can think of right now is Mulaney's Sack Lunch Bunch, and to be honest I think it left a lot to be desired. But that's to be expected if media itself is going to change formats - it'll take a lot of trial-and-error.

Quick tangent: I'm not talking about comedy itself. Comedy is constantly changing formats. Vine made absolute stars out of SIX SECOND-LONG content creators. I mean standup. I'd like to see its definition change from "70 minutes of uncut, unedited, scripted jokes told in story form on a stage in front of an audience with a microphone and maybe a few props done by one person, with pauses for laughter and applause, sometimes with audience interaction" to "long-format comedic content delivered by one person to an audience", taking away the mic, the stage, the very structured format. With the exception of maybe Bo Burnham, even if you've never seen a specific comedian, you know what to expect and when to expect it. You can Just Tell when the last joke is about to begin. You're not going to be surprised when the guy picks someone out of the crowd to make a few jokes with. You probably even know the definition of a call-back by name because they're so common. I don't know how it would necessarily change, but I don't think it's impossible.

Back to the main post for one more point: fandom. We've talked about the evolution of the consumption of media and what format we're watching it in. We know the content has evolved. But I think one of the most interesting changes in this category is the way we interact with shows now.

I'm currently sitting in my Simpsons-character-covered tracksuit I bought for $15 on Wish, next to my closet which contains about 15-20 t-shirts. At least 8 of them are Simpsons-themed. When I started building this collection, it started about 5 years ago when I saw my very first Simpsons shirt in a Bluenotes, and it was the only one I had for a few years. I would buy any Simpsons shirt I saw for a while. Today I went to the mall, and if I still had that policy I'd have blown through my savings in one trip.

I actually consider myself lucky; The Simpsons isn't as popular on merch you'd find at the mall as say Rick and Morty, Adventure Time, or Spongebob. I've seen giant stuffed Pickle Ricks, but never an oversized Homer.

My point being, I'm a superfan, but of a slightly older show that isn't nearly as popular as it used to be. If you walk into a Hot Topic, you can probably find any pop culture property on a t-shirt, mug, keychain and temporary face tattoo. This was not the case 10 years ago.

And that's just fandom with regard to the physical world. Did you know that John Mulaney, who did 3 Netflix specials 4 years ago, has THREE subreddits? Every time I get into something new it used to cross my mind, "Hey, I wonder if there's a subreddit for this yet". Now it's "I wonder which of the several subreddits that surely exist for this show/movie/vague concept is best".

A lot of the time when I see the concept of fandom discussed in mainstream media, it's still a severely outdated depiction. Even documentaries tend to stop at "and then Comic-con was invented. The End". I hate to praise it for anything, but if it did anything good, The Big Bang Theory did properly define "fandom" for the world.

I remember when 99% of people polled would not have heard of "fan fiction". I started writing it at 12 when the category for Harry Potter fan fiction on fanfiction.net had but a few thousand entries. My show of choice, Death Note, had a few hundred. I got in on the ground floor and built my way to the top. I abandoned that account 6 years ago and I still get 10-20 story comments or favorites per week.

Now try finding someone who hasn't heard of fan fiction. Find someone who's too old to have written on AO3.

Finally, and I know it's been a long ramble but bear with me, I want to address the homicidal, drunk-driving, pregnant-wife-killing elephant in the room: stans.

If you don't get the reference I just made, please google "origin of the term stan". Caught up? Good, so now answer me this: how did we take a term that refers so very, very obviously to a very, very negative situation and turn it into something someone says casually or even proudly of themselves?

Obviously when I say I stan Green Day that doesn't mean I'm going to write Billie Joe threatening letters and kill my girlfriend, it means I consider myself one of their biggest fans. I think in all of English vocabulary, there's only one other word that's taken such a 180 in definition and it's one I can't say.

Anyway, that's me done. Now that there's more streaming platforms than people who've fucked your mom, I'm interested to see where we go from here.

Stay Greater, Flamingos.

#media #media consumption #evolution of media #tv #sam

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catholicismabusedestiny · 3 years

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What Happened...

12.01.1999

Up until the age of 10 or 11, after the last child was born (and about the same time where my father came to deeply resent my “responsibility for the kids” – which was beat into me for as far back as I can remember); however, once it threatened his role or, more precisely once I started to get a voice, my father did a 180 degree turn and anything I did around the house or with the kids was not likely to get me in trouble.

I’ve spent a life-time being disappointed about various issues pertaining to my family; however, none has been as painful as the adult relationships (or lack thereof) I have with my siblings; therefore, this has been one of the top three topics discussed over 26 years of therapy and I think it’s finally coming into focus thanks to my Minister, Therapist and two close friends.

To begin with, my father’s verbal and emotional abuse is not disputed; it’s to what extent and how it was carried out which appears to be the issue people differ on. As stated, those first 10, 11 years were the hardest of their marriage and on one another; they were untrained, ill-prepared and almost desperate at times and it was something open discussed about by relative and friends – particularly after one of many crisis’s (i.e. 6 births, the house fire, Dad’s accident, the accident the day Patty was born etc.,). Dad would refer to that time as his “Irish luck” but, suffice it to say, those first 12 years were the most difficult for them.

During these difficult times – before my Dad had to be cognizant of who was around and where he was before going off on me – Dad did a lot of yelling and even more criticizing. It was during these years when he developed and began trying out his many phrases he had for me. His unrelenting criticism and disappointment of me was not new and was widely known within the family and beyond. Therefore, in getting back to whether he loved me unconditionally during that time I’d have to say “No, he didn’t show me unconditional love during my early childhood”.

As a result, to those that were horrified by what I said earlier, the only thing I can say is that “you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Moreover, his total lack of respect for me was not only felt but was picked up by all of my siblings; they all knew from the time they could walk and talk that Dad disliked Mike, makes fun of Mike and disrespects Mike; therefore, they, in turn, also disrespected me and it’s only grown worse and has even been passed down to the next generation who will not return a message from me. They were unconscious taught to believe the things Dad said of me; then, by my mid-20’s while in therapy, I confronted my parents on the abuse and came out of the closet.

From the time I engaged in those activities, the abuse factor transferred from Dad to Mom who disapproved of everything I did or said. Although, it was the confronting them on the abuse that she got stuck on; she knew that I knew (or remembered) those early years when all of the physical and verbal abuse was followed by screams from me wanting my Mother. While she still blamed me for what went on, she knew that if I repeated this info to others outside the family that it would negatively reflect on her and that’s not something she could tolerate.

In fact, I think it’s that very point as to why she wanted me to visit more often, as well as all the pressure she put on me to move back to Chicago. More to the point, however, she constantly criticized me (jobs, where I lived, what I did etc.,) and never-ever wanted to hear anything I had to say (I was not to speak with I visited UNLESS it was about kids or marriage). She so resented me that anything she said about me was done with heavy doses of disapproval, accusations I was lying, and a consistent tone that I was not accepted, respected or approved.

With me being gone for all of those decades, there was never anyone to comment on her accusations or to stick up for me; thus, everything was said and taken as gospel. Ironic too that the entire reason why I stayed away (as well as all of those times when I was actually in Chicago but didn’t go home because my Mother refused to allow me to bring anyone with me when I’d visit; and, when I did visit, there were strict instructions about what I could and couldn’t say.

Yet, each Sunday night, after I listened to 20 minutes about babies and weddings, she’d give me shit for not visiting more often AGAIN! Finally, I obviously had to be more direct with her so I said “Mom, you wonder why I don’t visit more often or why I won’t move back and, the truth of the matter is it’s you Mom… you refuse to allow me to bring my bf with me and then you get mad if/when anyone asks me a direct question about my volunteer work, the AID’s epidemic, gay rights etc., etc., So, if my significant other is banned/not welcomed and I’m prevented from talking about my passions and all of the good things I’m doing for the cause of AID’s than why would I even want to attend?”

It’s as though my Mother wants me to be present but she doesn’t want me; she wants me at 19 or 20 – before I came out. “I cannot flip-on or flip-off my life just because you don’t like it…” Moreover, because of this dichotomy between who I am and what my Mother wants me to be, I return home from these visits and fall into a deep depression knowing that I’m not accepted (or respected) for who I am. My friends are well acquainted with the depths of those depression episodes after I visit Chicago and, thus, will give me a few days to myself when I return but, after that, they go all out to force me out of that state of funk.

It wasn’t all that long ago when someone referred to the unconditional love one receives from their father and I stated that I was “unsure” about that; you’d thought I said “Kill All The Babies!” Immediately, my sister and her husband became extremely upset with me and, as such, I became quite irritated with them.

I’m unsure what “con” was played on them while I was gone for 30 years but, one thing is certain:

Ø None of them were around for the first 7 – 8 years of my life; therefore, they have absolutely no idea what took place. Accordingly, I deeply resent anyone telling me what I relive in my bed on a daily basis is not true.

Ø Yes, I did carry around a lot of guilt for decades that Dad’s temper, behavior and his anger ridden tirades were - in some way - my fault (as both of my parents attempted to allege which, in and of itself, every therapist states is abuse). Furthermore, over the years, Therapists have continually stated that I was not responsible for Dad’s behavior or conduct in any way, shape of form.

§ All of this changed permanently, however, on January 12, 2012 when Uncle Chuck asked me “How was your childhood?” That pandora’s box opened up a whole host of bad things that my father had done to me before I was 18 months old.

§ It was further shaped by the very odd or weird things some of Mom and Dad’s life-long friends and extended family members said to me as I became the point person for the dissemination of information re: My Parents Health.

· As they became more comfortable with me – especially since most of them hadn’t spoken to me in decades; and, overtime, I heard things such as: “it’s so good you’re here for your parents now given some of the things that happened in the past...” OR “your Dad was so hard on you growing up; I’m so glad to see that you’re doing well and that you and your father have resolved things…” OR “Mike, I’m proud of you, you’ve been able to put the past behind you and are now working to help your parents… given some of the things that occurred, that’s quite impressive…”

· What I came to realize (or actually remember), any neighbors we had on either Quincy or Thurlow would have (and did) hear, listen and witness things that they’ve not forgotten. I knew that in the summer, with the windows open, that neighbors 10’ away would have heard the loud arguments and much more since my blue bedroom (where most of the physical and verbal abuse took place) was < 10’ from our neighbor to the North on Quincy. On Thurlow, when I was older and learned to always sit near an entrance, I would run outside every time Dad would blow up so his verbal abuse from across the street was legendary. Each time he’d throw me out, disown me and tell the world that I was not his son and that I was just a huge embarrassment that he was ashamed of, was all done outside where everyone around heard and listened. Moreover, Dad’s favorite put-downs and “phrases” such as “you’re worthless and will never amount to anything” were (at least during those first 10 – 12 years when we were on Quincy) said to me at any time and anywhere; it didn’t matter is cousins or Aunt and Uncles were around; although, after about 12 years (or about the time we moved to Thurlow), Mom had been influential in getting Dad to stop saying certain things about the kids outside of our immediate family, thus, he was coached on how bad his behavior reflected upon him and he became more cognizant of who was present when he’d go off.

Ø Therefore, between my bad dreams, my memories, those repressed memories retrieved via hypnosis, countless therapist opinions, my Minister (actually two of those), dozens of self-help books and self-actualization seminars/workshops/courses on being your best and being yourself and more than 3,000 diary entries, I believe I know who I am and I remain very disappointed that my siblings cannot see how their everyday actions of excluding me, not showing me respect and accusing me of lying are all actions intended to provide cover for Mom and Dad’s conduct and behavior.

§ What they don’t see is that I don’t blame out parents; however, they’d have to go through my writings to understand why I believe that’s true and that my actual intent for talking about any of these things is not only to seek truth and knowledge but to break down barriers, demonstrate how much of what went on was handed down from the previous generation and that the ONLY thing I want to ensure is that the dysfunctional, negative, critical and homophobic attitudes DO NOT get handed down to my nieces and nephews. Mom would ask “why do you bring that up?” “Mom, I bring it up because no one has brought it up previously, thus, it becomes engrained and passed down to the next generation. I DO NOT WANT ANY NIECE OR NEPHEW TO GO THROUGH EVEN SOME OF WHAT I DID; I WANT THEM TO FEEL BUILT-UP, NOT TORN DOWN!!

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mastcomm · 4 years

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Wuhan Coronavirus, Impeachment, Kobe Bryant: Your Monday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We’re covering the first cases of the Wuhan coronavirus in Europe, the results of a key election in Italy and the death of the retired basketball star Kobe Bryant.

Coronavirus outbreak intensifies and spreads to France

As of this morning, the outbreak of a mysterious coronavirus has killed at least 80 people in China, sickened thousands and spread to at least 10 countries. That includes three confirmed cases in France, the first European country on that growing international roster. Here’s the latest.

Almost all of the worldwide infections involve people who traveled from China. A top health official in Beijing warned on Sunday that the spread of the disease was accelerating, partly because it was being carried and transmitted by seemingly healthy people.

Yesterday: Five million people left Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originated, before travel was restricted, the city’s mayor said — a stunning disclosure that intensified questions about the government’s delayed response.

Related: China’s flawed response to the outbreak may be another sign of how President Xi Jinping’s political dominance hampers internal debate over key policy decisions, analysts tell our correspondents based in Beijing.

What’s next: The Chinese government has extended the end of the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday by three days, to next Sunday, in an effort to to temporarily limit travel.

Italy’s League party loses a key election

The party of the nationalist leader Matteo Salvini lost a regional election on Sunday that he had hoped would set the stage for his return to power — a prospect that once thrilled Europe’s populists and menaced its establishment.

Mr. Salvini had campaigned feverishly before the vote, in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, in the hope that a victory would provide ammunition in his calls for early national elections. But voters there, who have typically supported communist and leftist parties, rejected his anti-migrant League party’s candidate by a margin of around five percentage points.

Go deeper: Five Star, an anti-establishment party in Italy’s governing coalition, was humiliated in the election, raising more questions about its viability in the wake of its leader’s resignation last week.

How Iran covered up its deadly mistake

Come clean or I’ll resign. That’s what President Hassan Rouhani of Iran told top commanders who had been covering up the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet over Tehran.

It was only then — three days after the plane crashed in early January — that the country’s supreme leader ordered the government to acknowledge its fatal mistake.

We have an in-depth report on the cover-up and its political implications. Key takeaway: The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, an elite force charged with defending Iran’s clerical rule at home and abroad, effectively sidelined the elected government in a moment of national crisis.

How we know: Our reporter interviewed current and former Iranian officials, ranking members of the Revolutionary Guards and people close to the supreme leader’s inner circle.

In Baghdad: In a protest organized by an anti-American Shiite cleric and armed groups with ties to Iran, an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 Iraqis gathered on Friday to protest the United States military presence in the country. (An American drone strike that killed a top Iranian commander in the Iraqi capital on Jan. 3 has prompted widespread public anger.)

How solid are Europe’s post-Holocaust values?

World leaders and dignitaries will gather today for a solemn ceremony at Auschwitz in Poland to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the former Nazi death camp.

But these days, our Warsaw bureau chief writes, some worry that Europe’s post-Holocaust values are being eroded amid a surge of anti-Semitism and dehumanizing political rhetoric on the Continent and in the United States.

Even the memory of Auschwitz — where 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered — has been weaponized. Case in point: A ceremony at a Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem last week was clouded by a bitter dispute over World War II history between Poland and Russia.

Yesterday: Mark Rutte of the Netherlands became the first Dutch prime minister to apologize for his country’s role during the Holocaust and its lack of action against the persecution of Jews.

Related: In the first installment of “Beyond the World War II We Know,” a new Times series, a United States Navy veteran looks at how her family fled Nazi Germany weeks before Hitler invaded Poland.

If you have 8 minutes, this is worth it

The risky journey to Europe

After the great migration of 2015 — in which more than a million undocumented people landed in Europe — the authorities in Turkey, Greece and Hungary responded by reducing undocumented migration by more than 90 percent.

Now, migrants who risk the journey to Europe travel up and over the icy hills and mountains that line Bosnia’s border with Croatia.

The terrain, pictured above, contains land mines from the Balkan wars. And the Croatian authorities typically force all who cross safely to turn around, without letting them apply for asylum.

Here’s what else is happening

Impeachment: John Bolton, the former U.S. national security adviser, writes in a book draft that President Trump wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there investigated his political rivals. The revelation could complicate the case that Mr. Trump’s lawyers plan to make at his impeachment trial.

Israeli politics: Middle East experts see the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan for the region — which the president is expected to lay out when he meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Washington today — mainly as a “booster shot” for Mr. Netanyahu’s desperate campaign to stay in power.

Retired basketball star dies: Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter were among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles on Sunday. His death generated an outpouring of grief across the United States and beyond.

Surveillance in London: Privacy groups criticized a decision by the city’s Police Department to begin using facial recognition technology that identifies people on a police watch list as soon as they are filmed on a video camera.

Grammy Awards: Billie Eilish won record, album and song of the year, but Kobe Bryant’s death overshadowed the ceremony. We have live updates, a rundown of who won and a look at red carpet fashion.

What we’re reading: This Boston Globe investigation of the government’s inaction on E. coli outbreaks. The story of a 2-year-old boy who ate some of his father’s salad and developed the illness is “heartbreaking, terrifying and riveting,” writes our Times Insider editor, Jennifer Krauss.

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Slow cooker red beans and rice takes only about 20 minutes to set up in the morning.

Go: Our critic writes that the Berlin Philharmonic is playing with “enthusiasm and virtually flawless precision” under its new chief conductor, Kirill Petrenko.

Smarter Living: Wirecutter recommends five cheap(ish) things to radically make over your cluttered closet.

And now for the Back Story on …

Bill Clinton’s impeachment

We asked Peter Baker, our chief White House correspondent, to reflect on a major moment in the lead-up to the last presidential impeachment and compare it with the current trial. He has covered both.

Twenty-two years ago this week came a milestone moment in the last presidential impeachment drama. President Bill Clinton was on the defensive after The Washington Post, where I was working then, broke the news that Ken Starr was investigating whether he committed perjury to cover up an affair with a onetime White House intern.

Mr. Clinton took to the microphone at the end of an event, glared angrily at the reporters in the room, wagged his finger and, with Hillary Clinton standing behind him, forcefully said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”

We were struck by two things: One, that he seemed to briefly blank on her name, referring to her as “that woman,” before summoning it. But the second was the intensity of his denial. He was white-hot mad. At that time, before the DNA and the grand jury testimony, we didn’t know if the story we were pursuing was bogus or if the president of the United States was lying to us and to the country. Of course, later we found out which it was.

Now, as Ken Starr re-emerges as a lawyer for President Trump in the current impeachment trial, and the administration’s explanations of what happened continue to fluctuate, it’s hard not to feel déjà vu.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Mike

Thank you To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about how the issue of fracking could determine who wins the swing state of Pennsylvania in the 2020 election. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Chunk of ice (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Monica Mark is our next Johannesburg bureau chief. She has covered some of the biggest stories in Africa for Bloomberg News, The Guardian and BuzzFeed News.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/event/wuhan-coronavirus-impeachment-kobe-bryant-your-monday-briefing/

#Event

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cryptnus-blog · 6 years

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Ripple and XRP: The convoluted truth behind XRP's creation

New Post has been published on https://cryptnus.com/2018/12/ripple-and-xrp-the-convoluted-truth-behind-xrps-creation/

Ripple and XRP: The convoluted truth behind XRP's creation

Opinion: XRP, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has been facing a ton of speculation from the beginning, and the stories have resurfaced as SEC has revamped their hunt for fraudulent ICOs to help investors from losing funds.

The origin of Ripple and XRP has always been unclear, as the facts available say one thing, but the company officials say another.

Although the CEO of Ripple, Chris Larsen, and the chief market strategist, Cory Johnson, have made it sufficiently clear in recent days by their media tours that XRP is in fact not issued and created by Ripple, they still have a lot of explaining to do with respect to the skeletons of the past that are crawling out of the closet.

The infographic below shows the evidence of conflicting ideas around Ripple and XRP.

To avoid further confusion in the community, Jed McCaleb and Cory Johnson went on a media tour clarifying that XRP is not a security and that it was not created by Ripple.

One such example is the letter by CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, which lists reasons as to why XRP is not a security.

1. “If Ripple, the company, shut down tomorrow, the XRP ledger would continue to operate. It’s open-source, decentralized technology that exists independent of Ripple.”

2. “The people buying XRP, they don’t think they’re buying shares of Ripple. There’s a company called Ripple, we are a private company, we have investors… but buying XRP doesn’t give you ownership of Ripple, it doesn’t give you access to dividends or profits that come from Ripple.”

3. “XRP is solving a problem. There’s no utility in a security.”

The Rebuttal

In reply to Mike Dudas’ Tweet, Dr. T [XRPTrump] denied the proof of Ripple creating XRP and said that it was created long before the company Ripple and also provides proof with a GitHub repository which shows that 100 billion XRP was indeed created in May 2012 and that Ripple was created in September 2012.

In addition to the GitHub repository, Dr. T also refers to The Founder’s Agreement created by Jed McCaleb, Chris Larsen, and Arthur Britto, which sheds light on how the XRP was created and distributed among founders.

David Schwartz, the CTO of Ripple, agreed with Dr. T and said:

“It’s a very weird series of superficially apparent contradictions presented as if they were some great mystery and there was no way to tell what is true. Many of them can be readily cleared up just by looking at the project’s public github history.”

He continued:

“It’s not surprising that when discussing things where the distinction is not relevant (such as the mechanics of the XRP supply) one wouldn’t distinguish between what Ripple the company did and what people who became founders and employees did before the formation of the company.”

XRP The Standard [XRP Community]

As reported in the XRP community blog, Hodor, a prominent XRP enthusiast, said that the “share of ownership of the company [Ripple] is only known by the insiders”, while he also stated that the company is still kept “private”. He had said:

“… we can surmise that the earlier the investor, the greater the potential share, generally; however, the significant amount of money infused in later rounds might have resulted in a material share of the company ownership as well; only company insiders really know for sure.”

The blog also stated that the founders of Ripple and XRP allocated a portion of XRP to themselves while donating most of it to the company Ripple [previously called OpenCoin].

OpenCoin was given 80 billion XRP while Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen were given 9 billion and 7 billion XRP respectively. Jesse Powell, who was also on the board at Ripple, put out a letter which questions why Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen allocated the XRP to themselves. Powell said:

“In my view, the two stole company assets when they took XRP without the approval of early investors, and without sharing the allocation amongst the other shareholders.”

But then again, it was just a view, and like Hodor says “only the company insiders know for sure”.

Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]

During the Consensus Invest 2018, SEC’s Jay Clayton was asked multiple times about how and when XRP will be classified, to which he replied:

“We are open to people coming in to see us with their particular situation and I will tell you, some of these questions take time.”

The Howey Test is open to interpretation and by stating facts and pointing out that XRP is a security doesn’t make it so. Only time can tell as to what SEC will decide, and if it does decide to classify it as a security, what the implications could be for XRP and the community.

Implications:

XRP is a security

If XRP is classified as a security, the first thing that will happen is that there will be a massive FUD in the community and the price might take a steep decline, but the use case for XRP will remain the same nonetheless.

Clayton’s “no comment” response on XRP could mean that the asset is under investigation, and Bakkt recently showed interest in listing cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, knowing that Bakkt is backed by the parent company ICE and conveniently owns New York Stock Exchange. If we put two and two together, it could mean that SEC might be waiting for Bakkt to launch. But then again, this is pure speculation and most of all, this is a big if.

Furthermore, as per the SEC’s rules, XRP will be delisted from all the cryptocurrency exchanges and the legal framework governing securities would mean that Ripple would have to comply with the fiduciary obligations to their so-called shareholder. Significantly, a security classification would be a disaster for Ripple because, as per the US SEC security laws, hodling XRP would come with an entitlement to ownership, income, dividends, interest etc.

Although the above situation sounds grim it could also be a safe haven for XRP and Ripple as they will now be backed by the SEC and hence create a conducive trust-atmosphere around the asset, which could trigger investments by major institutions who wouldn’t otherwise invest in cryptocurrencies.

XRP is not a security

If the SEC rules that XRP is not a security and just another utility, the workings of XRP wouldn’t change, and all the FUD surrounding XRP and Ripple and the creation of XRP would be done with once and for all.

The upside of not being classified as a security could cause ripples [pun intended] in the XRP community and cause the prices to spike and hence push mass adoption of XRP and more partnerships with Ripple.

Institutional investors would invest in it no matter what its classified as, and instead of buying it from securities exchange they would buy it from exchanges like Binance, Coinbase or OTC.

Moreover, it would reduce the regulatory uncertainty in the space and lead to more investments in the asset.

Subscribe to AMBCrypto’s Newsletter

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couplestherapy373-blog · 7 years

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Our variety of coffee makers includes the vibrant and bright kMix collection which showcases ThermoGen and also OptiTemp technology and also anti-drip device. So, anywhere you go, you could nonetheless appreciate your yummy warm coffee whenever you allow it to be humans resources earlier. Although countless individuals favor a much deeper, far more extreme coffee for French press, I've discovered that normally one of the most favored could be the lighter, fruitier coffees, as coming to be a Kenyan or Ethiopian coffee. Browse as many sites as you can then, call a reputable as well as expert distributor for coffee machine lease. On this website I would truly want to share around wonderful product Coffee Scoops on the marketplace. Check this article for best espresso machine under 300 dollars.

We have in our residence a specialist cappuccino maker, I indicate the substantial one you would certainly locate in a coffee bar or Italian coffee shop'. Its a gift thats good to the last dropLast year for Xmas, my husband provided me with the specific very same coffee maker Mike Thomas referred to in his column (Uneasy Native, Dec Since it brews gourmet coffee residence coffee with the benefit of developing promptly in your very own kitchen, the Keurig coffee manufacturer is an awesome brand-new and also ingenious way to brew coffee.

Compact, efficient and magnificent to look at, the aqua kMix CM023 Coffee machine is an exceptional addition to your cooking area. On the listing of wonderful product's all of us discovered, Bodum coffee mill black 5679-01 BK is among the greatest products on the marketplace. I really wish that Breville and its designers had tried this device for about a month before pushing it out onto unwary clients like me. Absolutely a coffee device that's to be avoided and also I do not advise it whatsoever. Think about when shopping how much coffee you brew, which includes matter, and also style.

There is nothing even worse compared to tasting plastic inside your favored make of coffee, specifically when you just got a brand-new manufacturer that is apparently made to extract possibly most likely one of the most flavorful mug of coffee feasible.

Single-serve mobile coffee machine for automobile, workplace, or outdoors Use a 12V cars and truck or 120V adapter or rechargeable battery Brew fresh coffee anywhere with mojoe. On this website I 'd truly like to show to you about among the far better Coffee Scoops on the marketplace.

Additionally, you must take into consideration the pressure degrees of the coffee maker you are getting. Some coffee makers obtain obstructed in the burner with lime( powdered rock) down payments. Praise the gift of a coffee maker with a variety of costs coffee and also tea blends. Adhering to suppliers' guidelines for just how much coffee to make use of in each design, we brewed coffee in all of the devices using the very same fresh roasted batch of high-grade light-medium-roast beans. There are three points you need to think about when acquiring a coffee maker: rate, top quality of coffee, as well as ease.

Reference: http://coffeemakerbuy.com/best-espresso-machine-under-200-dollars/

Adding water or coffee to some designs meant removaling them away from any type of obstructions: One coffee machine needs 2 feet of vertical room; one more device requires over half a foot of clearance on the side-- nuisances if your coffee maker need to live under a counter top closet or wedged in between various other home appliances.

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ronicompliance-blog · 7 years

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FAILURE TO LAUNCH: WHAT THE LACK OF PROPER ONBOARDING IS DOING TO YOUR STAFF

I had a job at wonderful company, with a great corporate culture, but I was not satisfied professionally. So, I did what many professionals in their mid-30’s who are feeling unfulfilled do- I started window shopping, and randomly throwing my resume out when I saw something interesting. I was surprised when I received a call from one of the largest, richest, most well-known companies in the world, I will refer to them as “Xco.” I interviewed and got the job.

When I arrived on Day 1, I had to wait in the lobby for my new supervisor, Mike, to come get me. I waited for almost an hour before suspecting they had forgotten I was there. Eventually Mike appeared, and apologized for not coming sooner, he had forgotten that it was my first day. Mike advised that he had been reassigned to a different department and he was taking me to meet Marc, who was going to be my supervisor. He introduced me to Marc, and promptly disappeared.

Marc showed me down the row of cubicles to an empty spot near the end. The cubicle was completely bare; no chair, no phone, no computer. Marc said he had to make some calls to try to get my computer, and I could go to the supply room for a chair. He went back to his desk, leaving me standing at my empty cubicle. I thought he was coming back but he didn’t. I asked around and eventually found the supply closet where I had to sort through office chairs that were in various stages of disrepair, missing castors, rips in the seats, arm rests missing or completely worn out.

I found a chair that seemed to have some life left in it, and I rolled it back to my spot. I was also advised that employees bring in their own office supplies, none are provided. The cubicle next to mine that had been empty was now inhabited. Marc appeared and introduced me to my cube-neighbor, and motioned for me to follow him. Back at his desk Marc explained to me that Sara was the manager, and that I am also the manager- same level, but different responsibilities. I was hired to write and deliver training on a new software system, and that Sara’s position was to continue to train and support the old software that was not changing for a few more years. Apparently, no one had advised Sara that I was being hired, and from the moment she met me, until the day I left, she was annoyed by that. I learned a great deal about HR, team building, how to deal with difficult people, on-boarding, and employee relations thanks to Sara.

No one showed me where anything was. I found out by accident while searching for a bathroom, that the office had a dry cleaner and a place you could rent movies. I sat alone at lunch, my team sat with Sara.

It would be more than a week before I had a computer. I had no direction. I would try to ask Sara questions, but she would ignore me, if I persisted she would tell me to figure it out. I tried to talk to Marc, who said that it was their fault for not handling the situation differently with Sara before my first day, that she had no idea I was being hired. Admitting responsibility for the problem was a great first step, the second step would be to have done something to correct the problem, that was a step never taken.

After 6 months of isolation and being ignored by the team, I did go to HR to discuss my working conditions. Sara was called in, and she told them that she did not like me or want me there. Other members of the team validated my grievance, and told HR that I was being ostracized. HR said that there was really nothing that they could do. I was told to try harder to get along with Sara, that this situation was not her fault either. The situation was not her fault, but she should have been held to account for her actions, and she wasn’t.

One Friday, I was sitting at my desk, listening to Sara and the other ladies chatting away about their weekend plans, and when I tried to contribute, they all stopped talking and went back to clicking away on their keyboards. I wrote my resignation letter, effective immediately, and I put it, along with my badge, on Marc’s desk on my way out.

I learned many valuable things from my experience at Xco, the most significant being the necessity to properly on-board new staff. This should not start on day 1, this process should begin before someone is hired. Finding someone with knowledge is not hard to do, but finding a cultural and personality fit is. Regardless if this person is going to lead a team or simply join as a member, let the team be involved. The first time your new hire sees the inside of the office beyond the room where they interviewed, their new work station, and their new team should never be on their first day.

Years later I took another senior level position, with yet another large organization, and again I was handed a badge and shown to my desk. I found out over a month in, that the building has a gym and a café that I never knew existed. Unfortunately, this was after I had already decided that this organization is not a fit for me.

You can’t just pull a pre-packaged ‘on-boarding tool-kit’ off the internet; on-boarding should be tailored to your organization’s size, industry, culture, and to the position. After more than 17 years working in HR management, I have learned that failure to properly bring your new staff on-board, sets them up to leave. I have seen it happen to others, and it has happened to me. Now I spend my time building on-boarding programs for companies in hopes of breaking this cycle.

#onboarding firingstaff workplaceviolence badbosses

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itsiotrecords-blog · 7 years

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http://ift.tt/2ut0xiy

Designer fashion houses and labels tend to cultivate a persona which is aloof and elegant. They want to be seen as an entity about it all – offering fashion that transcends daily life. Many fashion brands have been around for generations, only getting stronger with each new designer that becomes the creative head. That doesn’t mean, however, that they aren’t run by human beings. They very much are, and where humanity is involved, there’s always a chance of something going terribly wrong. That’s why these designer brands have big dirty secrets hiding in their closets. They don’t like for those secrets to come to the forefront, and that’s why everything is often glossed over with the sheen of high fashion glitz and glamour. Under the surface, though, those stories are still lurking – and there are plenty of people who still remember what really happened. Some of these brands have made ethical mistakes with their sourcing and the creation of their clothes. In some cases, it’s the brand’s founder or a member of the executive management who was caught out doing something they shouldn’t have been. In other cases, it’s their dubious connections with shady political parties that have left them red-faced. Whether they are dissing their customers, talking down to celebrities, or being forced into public apologies for how they do business, these brands all wish you didn’t know what we are about to reveal.

These are 15 designer brands with the biggest dirty secrets of all time – and you won’t expect what’s coming up.

#1 Coco Chanel Dated A Nazi Officer In World War II, the fashion industry experienced a bit of a shut-down. The major fashion houses of France, the UK, and Italy had more important things to worry about – and had lost most of their workers, besides. Chanel had already gone through the economic troubles of the 1930s and decided to shut down her company when the war broke out. Living in a German-occupied area of France, she managed to obtain special permission to stay in her Hotel Ritz apartment. Why? Probably because she was romantically involved with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a German military officer. Many have speculated that she may have been a Nazi collaborator or even a spy. She was cleared after interrogation. Many suspect, however, that her friend Winston Churchill was instrumental in clearing his name behind the scenes. Though she did not face charges, many viewed her as having betrayed her country, and she was forced to leave Paris for some time. She did not return to the world of fashion until she was 70 years old.

#2 John Galliano Is Racist AF John Galliano was at one time the designer behind Dior, until an incident in February 2011 lead to him being dropped by the label. He drunkenly rowed with a couple at a café – a Jewish woman and her Asian boyfriend. He said things like “Dirty Jewish face, you should be dead”, “I love Hitler… People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers would all be fucking gassed”, and “Asian bastard, I will kill you”. That’s when videos surfaced of him praising Hitler in another incident, and more victims spoke up about his verbal racist attacks. He was also sacked from his own namesake label which just happened to be owned by Dior at a rate of 91%. He eventually appeared in court and was sentenced, though not jailed. He is now back working in the fashion industry after the briefest of absences, working for Maison Margiela as their creative director.

#3 Designers And The Cruellest Fur In The World *This Might Offend Some Readers Karakul lambskin is known as the cruellest type of fur produced in the world. The problem lies in the way that it is harvested. As the name suggests, only lambs are used in the production as they have the softest fur, before it develops into a more woolly texture. The lambs are killed when they are either still in the womb or within a few days after they have been born. Often, the mother is also slaughtered in order to get to the lamb inside her. The baby is skinned right away. As with many animals used in the fur industry, it is normally considered too expensive to administer anaesthetic or even to kill the lamb before it is skinned alive. Of course, that kind of treatment might damage the fur. Some of the brands who have been caught using this fur include Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Armani, Prada, and Dolce and Gabbana.

#4 Abercrombie & Fitch Fat-Shamed Their Customers The CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, got the brand into hot water in 2013. Strangely enough, he actually made comments in an interview in 2006 which only really picked up press attention in 2013. He had said that the company didn’t want ugly, fat, uncool, or un-American people wearing their clothes. He also used the word ‘kids’ to describe his customers, which implies that only teens are supposed to be shopping at their stores. He got into a lot of trouble for these comments, which many saw as hugely disparaging to the average customer. While it’s easy to imagine a couturier only wanting the richest, hottest, and most famous people in their clothes, when it’s more of a high street designer, that attitude just doesn’t work. Still, Abercrombie & Fitch seem to have brushed the incident under the rug, and don’t seem to have suffered any long-term consequences.

#5 Patrizia Gucci Ordered The Murder Of Her Husband Guccio Gucci was the founder of Gucci and the original fashion designer behind it, and he made his descendants very wealthy indeed. His grandson, Maurizio Gucci, ended up becoming head of the fashion house until 1993. That’s when he sold his stock to Investcorp for $170 million. Unfortunately, he could only enjoy the proceeds for a year and a half. He had left his wife Patrizia for another woman and then divorced her in 1991, but clearly she still held a grudge over it. She hired a hitman to shoot and kill him on the steps of his office as he was going in to work on September 23, 1995. She was arrested in 1997 over the killing and was convicted a year later. She was given a sentence of 29 years in prison. She has been given the chance to move to an open prison, but refused – stating, “I’ve never worked in my life and I’m certainly not going to start now”.

#6 Urban Outfitters Just Has The Poorest Taste Urban Outfitters has got into trouble more than once for the dodgy decisions they make towards selling certain items of clothing. One item that ended up getting pulled from the store was a blanket tapestry which had pink triangles placed over grey and white stripes. The problem? It closely resembled the uniform that gay prisoners were forced to wear in concentration camps, which outraged LGBTQ+ shoppers. Back in 2014 they also courted controversy with their Kent State sweatshirts that were spattered with blood and bullet holes. This was a reference to the deaths of four students at the university back in 1970. There can’t really be any poorer taste than inciting your fans to dress up like Holocaust prisoners and school shooting victims. Once the clothes were dropped from their line, however, it seems that everything was forgotten once more. These brands really have the knack of using PR to put scandals behind them quickly.

#7 Dolce & Gabbana Don’t Believe In IVF Domenico Dolce is one half of the design duo known as Dolce & Gabbana. He once made comments to an Italian magazine which angered many of his fans. He said that children who are conceived through IVF are merely “synthetic children”. The highest-profile reaction to this came from Elton John, who of course has two children conceived via IVF with his partner David Furnish. He went straight onto Twitter and called for a boycott of the brand. He said, “How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ‘synthetic.’”. Now that some time has passed by, many people do not recall this incident when going shopping or watching their fashion shows. The brand seems to have gotten away with the incident, though it’s not clear whether Elton John has forgiven them or started to wear their clothes again yet. If they were to make those comments again now, it’s likely that more of a furore would be raised.

#8 Hugo Boss Designed For The Nazi Party There’s a persistent myth that Hugo Boss designed the iconic Nazi uniforms. It isn’t exactly true – it’s a very simplified version of events – but the Boss label certainly had its origin in the party’s past. Hugo Boss opened his first clothing factory in 1924 after World War I. One of his first big clients was a textiles distributor who wanted him to make brown shirts for the National Socialist Party. History buffs will know that this is what the Nazi party was known as before Hitler took them to power. Boss later provided the uniforms for the SS, the Hitler Youth, and the Brownshirts. Things got even more shameful during WWII, when Boss resorted to using forced labour from concentration camps in his workshops. Hygiene conditions were very poor, food was insufficient, working hours were long, and the workers were not even allowed healthcare or shelter during raids. Boss himself was a registered member of the Nazi party.

#9 Karl Lagerfeld Fat-Shamed Adele Another incident of fat-shaming in the fashion industry would perhaps not come as a surprise to those who know the industry from the inside. Obsessed with making women look smaller, fashion houses and agencies often put so much pressure on models to stay thin that they end up with eating disorders or health issues. Lagerfeld reinforced this position when he said in an interview that “nobody wants to see curvy women on the runway,” and that Adele was “a little too fat.” He has never really taken his comments back, and later said of the controversy, “But after that she lost eight kilo, so I think the message was not that bad.”. Lagerfeld is known for his own brand, but is also the creative director behind Chanel as well as Fendi. He also uses fur in his collections despite not wearing it himself and abstaining from eating all but a little meat.

#10 Victoria’s Secret Uses Child Labour And Sweatshops A lot of brands came under fire when the collapse of a textile factory in Bangladesh claimed the lives of workers crammed into the unstable condition. As a result, a spotlight was shone on brands and where their clothing was made. It turns out that factory workers for Victoria’s Secret in Jordan were being forced to do five or more hours of overtime a day, with no extra pay. They were also slapped or beaten if their work was not up to scratch. If that was not bad enough, it was later revealed that their cotton was picked by children in Burkina Faso. This is the material that makes up their lingerie. Of course, both operations have such been shut down, but that’s no guarantee that their new suppliers are not exactly the same. This is a big problem for high street brands too, as the cheaper products are often made at a low cost in sweatshops with labourers paid hardly anything for their work.

#11 Karl Lagerfeld And Yves Saint Laurent’s Secret Rivalry In 2006, Alicia Drake published an expose called The Beautiful Fall – Fashion, Genius, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris. It was the passages about Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent that caught the eye of most. While industry insiders were already aware about their long-standing rivalry, members of the public had no idea what it was all about. The book spilled the beans: they had been fighting over a man during the 1970s. Jacques de Bascher was a nobleman who was attractive enough to catch the eyes of both designers, each of whom wanted him for themselves. Their bitter rivalry came to a head when Karl Lagerfeld ended up claiming Jacques’ heart. Sadly for him, it was not to last. Jacques became another victim of the AIDS epidemic, dying in 1989. Funnily enough, Yves and Karl are often mentioned in the same breath as the most influential and important designers of the second half of the 20th century.

#12 Anand Jon Is A Rapist Anand Jon was once a rising name in fashion. He graduated the from Parsons The New School of Design under the mentorship of Tim Gunn, and debuted his first collection in 1999. He was given help by Gianni Versace and Giorgio Armani, amongst others. He even appeared on America’s Next Top Model. One of the muses that walked his runway before being catapulted into fame was none other than Ivanka Trump. It all came crashing down in 2007 when he was arrested in California on rape charges. He was convicted on one count of rape of an adult woman, unlawful conduct, and contributing to delinquency of minors (though he was accused of raping many models, most of them underage). In 2009, he was given a sentence of 59 years to life. He has protested his innocence and asked for a retrial on grounds of false evidence, but this was never granted.

#13 Yves Saint Laurent Was An Alcoholic With A Cocaine Addiction Yves Saint Laurent may have been a fashion guru, but he certainly wasn’t the kind of person whose life you would want to emulate. The designer was once even reported as dead, so poor was his health in 1977 when he was taken off to rehab. His cocaine and alcohol addictions, as well as his naturally nervous and high-strung state, were almost the death of him. In the same year, he shocked the world by bringing out a new perfume called Opium – tongue-in-cheek dig at his own health problems. The tagline for the perfume read “Opium, for those who are addicted to Yves Saint Laurent”. Addiction certainly isn’t funny, and neither is poor health brought on by drug use, but Yves seemed to think so. So did his fans, considering that the brand is still going strong today. Oddly, he managed to survive his brutal treatment of his own body, only to die of brain cancer at age 71 in 2008.

#14 Halston Was A Party Animal Like No Other Known simply as Halston for his eponymous line, Roy Halston Frowick was a legendary designer in the 1970s. His brand still continues today and even experienced something of a resurgence, despite his death in 1990. There have been plenty of ups and downs in the brand’s history, but his own life was far more dramatic. There are countless stories of the parties that used to go down at his house, which normally included orgies as well as lines of cocaine distributed amongst the guests. To make matters even more scandalous, he employed an Arab houseboy to serve the lines. Funnily enough, despite all of that, it was a deal with J C Penny designed to produce more affordable collections of his clothing that ended up sounding the death knoll for the brand in that era. It was not until years after his death that it was relaunched and became more of a commercial success once more.

#15 Gianni Versace Was Murdered Many people today only know of Donatella Versace as the grossly over-done face of plastic surgery. Any other member of the family behind the brand is less well-known. In the late 1990s, however, Gianni Versace, the original designer and head of the brand, was dominating the news. In 1997, he woke up on the 15th of July in an unusually happy mood. He decided to go to the coffee shop to grab his morning papers, a task that was normally left to his assistant. As he returned home from his walk, a serial killer named Andrew Cunanan stepped out and shot him dead in cold blood. Though we know Cunanan was the perpetrator, we have no idea of his motive. No one can ask, as he shot himself dead after 8 days on the run using the same gun. Niece Allegra Versace was left half of his fashion empire, which she inherited in 2004 when she reached the age of 18.

Source: TheRichest

#IoTRecords

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ruubzway-blog · 7 years

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Becoming a black man: as more people of color transition between genders, the ways that racism is different for men and women come to the surface.

He also believed in which God created miracles. 7 train in Queens, she realized that she was becoming followed by a man. they [Black trans men] can speak with us concerning being women, along with we could talk to them about DWB." Mitchell concurs. What he we had not counted in had been changing the means by which he drove. Within a number of months involving starting male hormones, "I got pulled over 300 % a lot much more than I had in the prior 23 many many years of driving, almost immediately. in Brazil, a court ruled within August 2007 that sexual-reassignment surgery will be covered by the particular constitution as being a healthcare right. "More than the actual usual trans man, I'm any Black man," Mitchell says. so he had been somewhat surprised about the changes that will came after he began taking injections with the hormone testosterone--the degree in order to which in turn he became any target as well as the emotional changes he felt like a Black man. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Near the finish involving 1970, when Mitchell was 18 a extended time old, he hitchhiked with a pal in order to Corpus Christi. Finally, he could be taken seriously through the guys at House Depot. Regarding example, your woman says, there is actually lots of hostility within the white transgender neighborhood towards Christianity, and some of the will be justified. Talking to Mitchell, it's straightforward to imagine him in the pulpit. With the actual chronilogical age of three or perhaps 4, he knew that he would become a boy, no matter having been born into a girl's body. "Many with the items that I notice in the globe and lots of of the items that I react to in the world have an overabundance to accomplish using how I am treated as a Black man as opposed to how I am handled as a trans man." Roberts also highlights yet another tiny however important detail associated with trans life for folks involving color: There's any amount of animosity between trans ladies as well as men inside the white community that does not are present to the identical diploma inside the Black community. "We had been almost all raised inside a church." Trans men of colour are finding which some things stay the same on both facets in the gender equation. "I'd maintain intensive treatment by the time these people realized I was a new trans man." She concedes your woman knew which Asian women had been exoticized, but "it's a essential factor reading with regards to some thing in the guide and another to end up being operating along the street." Mitchell furthermore finds in which he's inside a special situation now to mentor small Black men. Gomez says that a guy would phone him a new "bitch" and then leave it from that. Regarding example, several a lengthy time before transitioning, he ended up questioned by a cop for simply sitting in his own car late at night. Cultural expectations, with regard to example, are hard to shake. Inside typical men's locker-room humor, his sergeant produced a penalty jar where the cops needed to deposit 0.25 if they referred to Ward by method of a female pronoun. At the conclusion of the day, Roberts furthermore says, "People don't see me like a trans woman. This ended up being the first occasion the health-related clinic in the United States performed the particular surgery, and thus while it remained uncommon in order to be approved with regard to surgery, it was at least a possibility. Listening to always be able to Monica Roberts, it's difficult to imagine a time when she wasn't a new leader. She's adamant which Black trans people need their own spaces. "She sees here is man, nevertheless your woman understands this man can be the girl daughter." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Prado Gomez, the 33-year-old Chicano that transitioned throughout 2001, describes the actual circumstance along with racism and also violence as a "trade off." Now Park finds herself occasionally the target around the subways inside New York City, where the lady lives. "At a few point they would discover I was female" as well as that might diffuse your situation. At the actual time, a Black transsexual woman had already been the first person to be able to undertake sex reassignment surgery in John Hopkins University, according for you to Joanne Meyerowitz's classic book How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States. Avon Wilson's transition in 1966 with John Hopkins marked any turning point pertaining to the transsexual community. Your transition around the job had been no small feat, since it meant relocating for the men's locker space along with showers. But Ward's coworkers and supervisors, like his family, accepted him. He didn't want to run the risk of drawing awareness of himself as a Black man and the girl as a mixed-race Latina that sometimes is actually perceived as white. . I can't be likely 90 miles an hour or so along the highway. Maybe it was due for the toll that living in the "tranny closet" had taken on the girl self-esteem. Texas, in which the legal drinking age group was lower than within California. Left largely unexamined, however, has been your issue regarding racism and how trans men and some women encounter it. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] He fulfilled several Black trans men at a conference nevertheless took many many years to think concerning his own transition. "Cops known as me an asshole until they will noticed the particular F on my license," he recalls, and small verbal fights on the trail back then didn't escalate. It's difficult to say how many regarding these tend to be individuals of color, yet 1 on your internet group pertaining to Black trans people called Transsistahs-Transbrothas features about 300 members, and another group specifically regarding Latino trans men provides 98 members. It's distinct with regard to Black transsexuals, Roberts says. "There's a new great deal of information sharing ... while trans women inside many cultures get been marginally accepted, they will have been mostly limited to traditionally feminine roles as caretakers--a scenario which is changing now throughout places like Ixhuatan, Mexico, where Amaranta Gomex, any muxe, or even trans woman, ran for political office throughout 2003. Whenever he and the wife moved via California in order to the East Coast, Mitchell refused to allow the woman's drive around the cross-country trip. "She drives too fast," he says, chuckling and also adding, "I didn't want to get pulled over. He anticipated which he'd develop a beard, which usually he eventually would and enjoys now. she got positive reactions, your woman says, "because I was basically doing the actual classic perform involving Black females inside the community in terms associated with uplifting the race." Experiencing racism as a Black man, though, doesn't necessarily give Mitchell and also Ward the bond with their peers, which grew up in Black male bodies, experiencing racism as Black boys after which men. He finds that people now look at him along with concern in bars and restaurants where he when utilized to go for a excellent time. As somebody who came regarding get older inside the lesbian community and it has feminist politics, Mitchell jokes with Black boys who talk about "fags" and also reference women as "bitches." He pulls the teenagers aside as well as uses a little reverse psychology, telling them that will it's okay if they're gay. I became the enemy." Targeted pertaining to "driving while Black" wasn't new to Mitchell, who is 46 years old. "It is much more with regards to integrity and a a sensation of becoming the truest individual I could be," he says, adding that his gender transition has been concerning "having my insides and my outsides match finally." Rather than see himself as joining a bunch associated with men that are perpetual targets, he feels he's joined a new community associated with men which are strong however, not embarrassed with their tenderness. The transgender neighborhood provides experienced any boom inside visibility in the final decade. Louis Mitchell is the type of man who right away puts folks at ease as he advises them about how exactly inexpensive the housing is within Massachusetts. He calls himself "a large Black man" (he's 5 feet 9 inches tall and also 250 pounds). Several involving this originates with regards to through well-liked culture, including the particular acclaimed 1999 film Boys Don't Cry plus more recently with Mike Penner, the actual Los Angeles times sports columnist that arrived on the scene as transgender and it is now referred to become able to as Christine. Several of that is due for the fact that white trans females in many cases are dealing using a loss associated with energy within public life, while white trans men tend to be coming in order to positions involving energy and all its ensuing emotions and also consequences. Now, Mitchell finds which he doesn't engage within small transgressions similar to jaywalking or even spitting about the sidewalk. Inside 2006, after much soul searching, he began attending divinity school. "You may use a minister up here pontificating about the pulpit about Sunday," your woman says, "but the particular real energy at the rear of the throne will become the women's auxiliary that's meeting on Tuesday." Trans people involving color are usually discovering which they come along with an extremely different relationship to become able to gender transition when compared with white people. In case I'm going 56, I want being concerned." "More when compared with I'm the trans man, I'm a new Black man," he says. He knew his voice would deepen and that his relationship along together with his partner, family along with friends would change in subtle and, he hoped, good ways, all involving which in turn happened. Monica Roberts, who is 45 many years old, transitioned in 1994. Once the teens protest that will they're not, Mitchell says, "You have no respect for women, and you're simply fixated about gay men. It was astounding," says Mitchell, who's Black and transitioned while living inside the Bay Area region along with now resides in Springfield, Massachusetts. In short, individuals associated with color know that racism functions differently for men and women, as well as transgender folks such as Mitchell and also Ward are generally getting to experience this coming from each facets with the gender equation. "I perform a great offer of online shopping now," says Ward, that got tired of getting followed within e-book as well as garments stores. In the final 4 years, there's in addition been an boost in the number of individuals seeking top surgeries, or even elimination of their own breasts, according to Michael Brownstein. most of the particular leadership within the Black community is actually made up regarding very powerful women. she ran house and slammed the doorway shut. "I often wear shoes I may operate in," Park says. Johnnie Pratt, any Black trans man who lives in the San Francisco area, additionally jokes he now enjoys certain perks. "What I did not prepare for had been becoming a new Black man," he says. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Becomingablackman:asmorepeopleofcolortransitionbetween...-a0173677740 However, Mitchell continued to spot as being a butch, even though he felt he has been masquerading as a lesbian. They Will observe me as Black ... There, he satisfied drag queens, and in which he felt hopeful for the really first time. Throughout the particular cross-country trip along using his wife Krysia, he refrained from being affectionate with asian tranny her throughout public. He will be simultaneously warmhearted along with sure of himself. The Actual widespread use of the World wide web and additionally the new on the internet social networks may additionally be helping to break the isolation that will trans individuals usually feel inside their own communities. Being an effeminate Asian male, Park says, "tends to--if anything--put an individual either in invisibility or derision, ridicule [and] harassment. but in the wedding it arrives for you to Black trans folks, she says, it's impossible to merely disappear from your church. "You can't omit Christians in the wedding you want individuals of color" from a conference, your woman says. The idea just is. He could offer a new two-bedroom condo just as easily as convincing a congregation to become honest using God. Roberts as well as the woman's Black trans-women pals possess experienced something else since transitioning: "We've noticed the power shift," your woman says. a small exchange associated with words could lead for you to more violence. A 44-year-old police officer, Ward began hormone treatment options inside 2004 and transitioned although operating for the LAPD, where he's now an instructor with law enforcement academy. The Lady in addition writes these days for a nearby LGBT outlet and also sites at transgriot.blogspot.com. and that's the thing that folks notice. Just what am I supposed to think?" Her father, any nearby radio commentator, attemptedto groom Roberts for leadership as his eldest child. "I didn't feel regarding it therefore much," he says with regards to cops. She didn't determine it had been as they observed the woman's as an Asian woman as well as a transgender Asian woman. The Lady understood the influence of Black women. I am a new Black man, and therefore if one thing can be stolen although I'm in the neighborhood, then I am the suspect." These social and also political changes possess ushered inside a period when it is increasingly suitable for men and a number of women to improve their physical bodies to complement his or her gender identity. He had grown used to ladies clutching their purses at the sight of him. Yet Roberts furthermore noticed a difference within the responses the girl received using their own company individuals to her leadership as a Black woman. but in case an individual are perceived being an Asian woman, what happens will be the exact opposite, which is sexual fascination and also even harassment." Mitchell already had a goatee without getting hormones along with had been used to getting followed in stores. "I never know if they're just awaiting one thing to occur in order to roll up, and also I do n't need locate myself in custody. There's a lot of this during my hometown." As Well As consequently as Roberts transitioned, she has stepped into that role. "I am the only one my mother trusts," he says. It's similar to gravity. "When people are afraid of you, a person quit wanting for you to hang out in these places," Ward says. Growing up within West Covina in Southern California, Mitchell attended church together using his mother and also devoured history books. That Will would be just precarious along with dangerous throughout so many ways." Ward, similar to Mitchell as well as Gomez, felt he had planned pertaining to just about each and also every adjust that will belly using transitioning. In certain countries, trans activists are going in order to court as well as winning crucial changes in public policies. Therefore he prayed which he'd develop into a boy's body when he reached puberty. but "he did certainly not really sweat me too much once he came up towards the automobile as well as divined that I was female," Mitchell recalls. Just as crucial continues for you to be the task regarding transgender individuals themselves, who have transitioned due for the a lot more widespread availability of hormones and surgeries. Park is currently 46 years old along with a founding member of the particular The Huge Apple Association regarding Gender Rights Advocacy, which in turn got legislation passed throughout The Huge Apple Town to protect transgender folks through discrimination within housing and employment. Mitchell says his manhood isn't concerning the racism he encounters. In transitioning via living as an Asian man to an Asian woman, Park found that she ended up being finally capable of have "the joy regarding actualizing something I've often wished to be," Yet the lady additionally finds that they has gone coming from invisibility to a visibility that's at times unwelcomed. When living in San Francisco, he moved out in the historical gay neighborhood of the Castro while he got tired of being followed in stores. While is common with regard to Latinas, Gomez features raised his brother's 2 kids together using his partner, Mariah, and is now taking care associated with his mom, which suffers via Alzheimer's disease, Gomez sees no contradiction inside the fact that like a man, he bathes his 60-year-old mother. Now in the Black male body, however, Mitchell may be pulled aside for little infractions. Her mother is a teacher, and he or even she has been surrounded by females who were historians and leaders in the community. The Actual important thing is, we're Black first." Pauline Park additionally found that transitioning to become able to become a woman of color altered the woman's place within the world. "I'll become capable of walk down the trail and never end up being raped, unless they are totally aware my status [as a new trans man]", he says. Inside 2006, she took over as third Black individual for you to get your Trinity Award, which recognizes individuals with regard to their contributions for the transgender community. A Korean adoptee who had been raised in the Midwest, Park transitioned in 1997 yet made a selection to not necessarily physically alter your ex body. The idea required a bit bit longer [to drive cross-country] 'cause I had to drive like a Black man. "It's will simply no longer some strange factor that they notice. Recently, when she got off the actual No. "But there's any various type of threat coming from men." LOUIS MITCHELL EXPECTED the great offer of adjust when he started taking injections regarding hormones eight years back for you to transition from a female body to the male one. London Dexter Ward, an LAPD cop who transitioned within 2004, sums it this way: a white person who transitions to a male physique "just became a man." Through contrast, he says, "I became the Black man. in current years, there's also been the developing number of memoirs, such as the Testosterone Files by the particular Chicano as well as American-Indian poet Max Valerio, as well as more academic publications on the subject, similar to the Transgender Research Reader. Roberts was raised throughout Houston, Texas, and in the Black church. Yet, it absolutely was merely following transitioning that Roberts felt in a position to adopt on this kind of leadership role. Now, Gomez is aware of he offers to be a lot more careful. Rather when compared with passing as heterosexual, an escalating number of these inside the final decade have got identified as "trans" and begun support, advocacy and also legal-rights groups. Then, 15 years ago, any friend of his began the complete procedure of transitioning into a male body. As more people regarding colour transition, Mitchell's experience is becoming an increasingly typical one. The exposure to racism is actually flipped in any few ways pertaining to Black trans women. In 2005, Roberts and other transsexual along with transgender activists started the initial conference with regard to Black trans people. "Black culture will be matriarchal-based ... Since a Black woman, she is satisfied for you to will simply no longer become considered, as the girl says, "a suspect." Since transitioning, she's got certainly not been pulled over for "driving while Black," although the lady rapidly adds that it has happened in order to a buddy whom can also be the Black trans woman. "It's a few living with regard to them, at this point," Mitchell says. that didn't happen, significantly to always be able to his surprise. While it's incredibly difficult to say how many individuals identify as transgender, your National Middle with regard to Transgender Equality has estimated that will around three million people are transgender nowadays in the United States. Prior To transitioning, he says, "They'd always be considering me like, 'Shut up girl.' Now they want to talk to me." Before transitioning, Gomez was utilized to getting pulled over within the car along along with his brothers simply by cops within San Francisco. any well-known physician specializing in gender surgeries throughout San Francisco. He can with regards to four for you to six top surgeries any week, and the particular man notes which although 3 decades ago, trans people would come to his office alone, these people are actually arriving together with partners, siblings and also buddies with regard to moral support. He didn't consider a lot of about racism. "That lit a new fire which I couldn't place out," he says now. The racism in which Black trans men encounter is just section of the story, regarding course. He considered the particular consequences of transitioning, which includes your impact on his mother, who he's very attached to, as well as the loss regarding him associated with his lesbian community. Daisy Hernandez is actually managing editor involving ColorLines. London Dexter Ward in inclusion has seen his lifestyle change because involving the ways in which racism is gendered. In Asia, Latin America and also Africa, the actual place associated with transgender people is likewise changing. In case your queens might be women, his thinking went, then there may be options for him to live as being a man. Before transitioning, Mitchell recalls becoming "cavalier and reckless" by what he would in public areas along with with regards to his interactions with police officers. The idea happened in Louisville, Kentucky, exactly where she now lives

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melindarowens · 7 years

Text

The Corporate Media Continues To Torch Its Reputation

Authored by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

Last December, I noted the following in the post, ‘Then We Will Fight in the Shade’ – A Guide to Winning the Media Wars:

It is when you get desperate, scared and panicky that you make the biggest mistakes, and the legacy media is currently desperate, scared and panicky. As Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly said:

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

Whether or not he actually said them, those words still ring true. We mustn’t get in the way of the legacy media’s inevitable self-destruction. Part of this means that we do not self-destruct in the process. We need to recognize that there’s a reason independent, alternative media is winning the battle of ideas in the first place. For all the warts, mistakes and bad actors, the emergence of the internet is indeed the historical equivalent of the invention of the printing press on steroids.

Only a clueless self-important elitist actually believes that the smartest, most informed people in America are the pundits on tv and the journalists employed by the mainstream media. With a handful of companies and a few oligarchs in charge, you’d have to be the most naive fool on earth to not understand that legacy media is driven by well defined narratives, and that these narratives are not in your best interest. The rest of us understand that the Internet has served as a much needed countervailing force, and has been an incredible blessing to human knowledge, connectivity and the marketplace of ideas. Just because some people can’t distinguish truth from fiction, doesn’t negate the incredible progress that decentralized information dissemination provides. It is only those who do not wish to engage in public debate on the issues themselves who want to censor stuff. The rest of us are more than happy to have an open discussion.

In a pathetic attempt to reinflate the discredited and failed neoliberal/neocon status quo bubble it supports, corporate media has been relentless in its attacks on anything or anyone that offers an alternative vision. These attacks more often than not focus on Donald Trump, but it’s important to note that contempt for Bernie Sanders and his supporters is not far behind. It doesn’t matter what the alternative vision is, if it falls outside the neoliberal/neocon status quo, it must be demonized and destroyed by the likes of billionaire-owned media properties such as The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The alarm bells really went off for me regarding the hatred of Sanders by the New York Times upon reading the paper’s nonsensical endorsement of Hillary Clinton during the primary. You should read the entire article, but here’s some of what I wrote at the time:

One of the biggest trends of the post financial crisis period has been a plunge in the American public’s perception of the country’s powerful institutions. The establishment often admits this reality with a mixture of bewilderment and erroneous conclusions, ultimately settling on the idea people are upset because “Washington can’t get anything done.” However, nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to corruption and serving big monied interests, both Congress and the President are very, very good at getting things done. Yes it’s true Congress doesn’t get anything done on behalf of the people, but this is no accident. The government doesn’t work for the people.

With its dishonest and shifty endorsement of Hillary Clinton, I believe the New York Times has finally come out of the closet as an unabashed gatekeeper of the status quo. I suppose this makes sense since the paper has become the ultimate status quo journalistic publication. The sad truth is the publication has been living on borrowed time and a borrowed reputation for a long time. Long on prestige, it remains very short on substance when it comes to fighting difficult battles in the public interest. Content with its position of power and influence within the current paradigm, the paper doesn’t want to rock the boat. What the New York Times is actually telling its readers with the Hillary Clinton endorsement is that it likes things just the way they are, and will fight hard to keep them that way. It is as much a part of the American establishment as any government institution.

Truth be told, the paper continues to act just as upset about Sanders as it is about Donald Trump. What really seems to get under the skin of people of who write there is that her highness, Hillary Clinton, had her coronation disrupted. As such, the paper’s writers seem to be throwing daily temper tantrums filled with lies and misdirection at anyone who doesn’t swallow status quo neoliberal/neocon garbage.

Earlier this week, I highlighted one recent case in the post, Lee Camp Explains How The New York Times Manufactures “Hit Piece Propaganda.” Then yesterday, we had yet another embarrassing example. Here’s the title of the much maligned, and utterly shameful article, written by Yamiche Al Cindor.

If that title doesn’t betray that what’s to follow is a piece of unabashed propaganda, I don’t know what does. Then here’s how the piece begins…

WASHINGTON — The most ardent supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders have long been outspoken about their anger toward Republicans — and in some cases toward Democrats. Their idol, the senator from Vermont, has called President Trump a “demagogue” and said recently that he was “perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country.”

Now, in Mr. Sanders’s world, his fans have something concrete to grapple with: James T. Hodgkinson, a former volunteer for Mr. Sanders’s presidential campaign, is suspected of opening fire on Republican lawmakers practicing baseball in Alexandria, Va.

My lord, where to begin. First of all, the vitriol and conspiracy theories directed at Donald Trump have been far worse from Hillary cultists and NeverTrump neocons than from Sanders supporters. In fact, the Sanders supporters are far more focused on taking over the Democratic Party and pushing aside discredited neoliberals than they are about demonizing Trump. If any group of people is singularly obsessed with removing Trump from office it is establishment, corporate Democrats, not Sanders supporters. As such, Sanders fans have absolutely nothing unique to grapple with, and to suggest otherwise is shady and dishonest. Then there’s this.

That shooting on Wednesday, which wounded four people, may prove to be an unexpected test for a movement born out of Mr. Sanders’s left-wing, populist politics and a moment for liberals to figure out how to balance anger at Mr. Trump with inciting violence.

Again, this is ridiculous. While I do think the political dialogue in this country has descended into a dangerous gutter and must be reexamined, the notion that this pertains particularly to Sanders supporters is simply preposterous. But it gets even worse.

But long before the shooting on Wednesday, some of Mr. Sanders’s supporters had earned a belligerent reputation for their criticism of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party and others who they believed disagreed with their ideas. Sanders fans, sometimes referred to derogatorily as “Bernie Bros” or “Bernie Bots,” at times harassed reporters covering Mr. Sanders and flooded social media with angry posts directed at the “corporate media,” a term often used by the senator.

Sorry, what’s wrong with accurately describing corporate media for what it is. This clearly seems to have gotten under the author’s skin. Meanwhile…

The suspect in the shooting in Virginia put a new spotlight on the rage buried in some corners of the progressive left.

Mr. Hodgkinson filled his Facebook page with photographs of the senator and quotes from his speeches. Mr. Hodgkinson also wrote messages filled with expletives directed at the president, and a post in March said: “Trump is a traitor. Trump has destroyed our democracy. It’s time to destroy Trump & co.”

Perhaps we should ask the question, which wing of the Democratic Party tends to use this sort of language most often, Hillary dead-enders or Bernie supporters? The answer is obvious.

Next we have this gem.

On Tuesday, Mr. Hodgkinson posted a cartoon on Facebook explaining “How does a bill work?” “That’s an easy one, Billy,” the cartoon reads. “Corporations write the bill and then bribe Congress until it becomes law.”

“That’s Exactly How It Works. ….” Mr. Hodgkinson wrote.

That is not far from Mr. Sanders’s own message.

But that is exactly how it works. Are we supposed to pretend that’s not the case just because some lunatic went on a shooting spree?

Recall: Citigroup Written Legislation Moves Through the House of Representatives.

Remarkably, it isn’t until the final two paragraphs that the truth is finally able to peak its stubborn head above the drivel.

RoseAnn DeMoro, the executive director of National Nurses United, a union that campaigned heavily for Mr. Sanders and continues to work with him, said some were hoping to discredit Mr. Sanders to slow down the continuing success of his brand of politics. She called it a “boldface lie” to connect the shooting to Mr. Sanders’s push for opposing Mr. Trump’s proposals.

“He’s the most popular politician in America,” Ms. DeMoro said of Mr. Sanders. “That doesn’t sit well with establishment Democrats or Republicans. They are trying to delegitimize and discredit anyone who is speaking out for a better society. That’s what’s happening.”

Winner, winner chicken dinner. This is the real issue. A lot of very powerful people are extremely concerned that Sanders might dare run again in 2020, so the attacks must escalate to bury him ahead of time. It won’t work.

Finally, I think the following tweet sums it up perfectly.

The NYT is uncomfortable because some psycho took their Russophobia at face value, so their shining the spotlight elsewhere.

— Brian Eppert (@BrianEppert) June 15, 2017

source http://capitalisthq.com/the-corporate-media-continues-to-torch-its-reputation/ from CapitalistHQ http://capitalisthq.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-corporate-media-continues-to-torch.html

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everettwilkinson · 7 years

Text

The Corporate Media Continues To Torch Its Reputation

Authored by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

Last December, I noted the following in the post, ‘Then We Will Fight in the Shade’ – A Guide to Winning the Media Wars:

It is when you get desperate, scared and panicky that you make the biggest mistakes, and the legacy media is currently desperate, scared and panicky. As Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly said:

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

If that title doesn’t betray that what’s to follow is a piece of unabashed propaganda, I don’t know what does. Then here’s how the piece begins…

Sorry, what’s wrong with accurately describing corporate media for what it is. This clearly seems to have gotten under the author’s skin. Meanwhile…

The suspect in the shooting in Virginia put a new spotlight on the rage buried in some corners of the progressive left.

Perhaps we should ask the question, which wing of the Democratic Party tends to use this sort of language most often, Hillary dead-enders or Bernie supporters? The answer is obvious.

Next we have this gem.

“That’s Exactly How It Works. ….” Mr. Hodgkinson wrote.

That is not far from Mr. Sanders’s own message.

But that is exactly how it works. Are we supposed to pretend that’s not the case just because some lunatic went on a shooting spree?

Recall: Citigroup Written Legislation Moves Through the House of Representatives.

Remarkably, it isn’t until the final two paragraphs that the truth is finally able to peak its stubborn head above the drivel.

Finally, I think the following tweet sums it up perfectly.

The NYT is uncomfortable because some psycho took their Russophobia at face value, so their shining the spotlight elsewhere.

— Brian Eppert (@BrianEppert) June 15, 2017

from CapitalistHQ.com http://capitalisthq.com/the-corporate-media-continues-to-torch-its-reputation/

#TrumpNews #CapitalistHQ.com

0 notes